Independence Challenge - Week 2

Hard to feel like I am making progress on this. Loads of family stress right now, and even sleep is hard to come by. But I guess each little thing moves us along.

Planted: zucchini, sweet potato slips, eggplant, yellow pepper
Harvested: leaf lettuce and lemon thyme (again)
Preserved: nothing - need to refine herb drying methods
Prepped: picked up a bag of adult t-shirts from FreeCycle
Cooked: new pork recipes for less-meat meals
Managed: extra bag of pinto beans
Systems: networked with gardening neighbor; looked up pick-your-own dates
Reduced Waste: trash-picked a plant stand for new fish box
Learned: all about pill bugs (ugh!)
Library: 50 Chowders

DD15 was the hero this week. I made a big batch of roasted pork stock, with about 5 pounds of neck bones. When it was time to strain, she fished out all the bones and picked the *tiny* little pieces of meat out of them, gleaning enough for a good-sized bowl of meat that I would have thrown away. Then she made an Asian-flavored dinner with fresh ginger and broccoli over rice, using some of the new stock in the sauce. Served three, where I would have missed a whole meal. The next day I made the broccoli-cheddar soup that they fight over, using the pork stock. Froze the remaining 6 quarts in bags.

I also salvaged a cup of very flavorful chicken pan drippings that I would normally throw away. Emptied a baking pan into a glass measuring cup and put it in the fridge. There were almost 2 inches of fat on top, but the rest was pure poultry goodness. I will do that whenever we roast or braise now.