getting my sea legs back...

In the first year after Courtney died, I didn't spend much time in the kitchen on a regular basis. We lived off of the contents of the deep freezer and then when I went to work for the church, I spent more time eating at my desk than I did at our kitchen table. I have been home now for a month and I finally feel like I am getting my homemaking sea legs back again. 

This morning, after a rough night of insomnia and a serious neuropathy flare up, I was determined to start the week off well. I made a house cleaning schedule and then got to work on the upstairs bathroom. After scrubbing that clean, I put in the first load of laundry then headed into the kitchen to get to work on dinner. 

I had taken out a bag of ham bones I found in the deep freezer. I put one in the crock pot with carrots, onions and celery and a bag of dried 15 Bean Soup. Add in two dried bay leaves and a teaspoon of dried thyme. Covered with water, set it for eight hours and moved on. 

Next up, I put the other ham bone in a big pot on the stove with more carrots, onions, celery, dried bay leaf then added in a bag of dried split peas, put it on simmer and three hours later, we had lunch for the next week. 

I will be making rosemary and parmesan drop biscuits a bit later and dinner will be set for tonight. The leftovers will be put in glass mason jars and frozen for one night in the future when I need a quick meal for whatever reason. 

Feeling like I did well today in this re-establishment of my homemaking skills. My guys are both food people and this is definitely their love language. It feels good to show my love for them in this way. I know they are gonna be so very happy on this brisk fall evening. 

Soup for everyone!! 

As for tomorrow night's dinner?? 

Not a clue my friends. Time for a meal plan me thinks.