MicroPantry Meal Kit Idea: Vegetable Soup

MicroPantry Meal Kit Idea: Vegetable Soup

If your micro pantry has cans and cans of beans, this is a good meal kit to put together to help them move off the shelves.

Meal Kit Tips

• Use only shelf-stable, nonperishable items in your meal kits.
• Make sure all food containers are well sealed to avoid attracting bugs or other critters.
• Use clear plastic bags to group the items together.
• Print simple instructions for how to prepare the meal.
• Click here for PDF printable.

VEGETABLE SOUP 1 envelope vegetable beef soup mix 12 cups water 1 can sloppy joe sauce 1 can garbanzo beans, drained 1 can kidney beans Mix all ingredients together in a large soup pot (you can use a crock pot as well). Note: You can also add cooked beef or other types of canned or fresh vegetables.

MicroPantry Meal Kit Idea: Taco Soup

MicroPantry Meal Kit Idea: Taco Soup

If your micro pantry has cans and cans of kidney beans, this is a good meal kit to put together to help them move off the shelves.

Meal Kit Tips

• Use only shelf-stable, nonperishable items in your meal kits.
• Make sure all food containers are well sealed to avoid attracting bugs or other critters.
• Use clear plastic bags to group the items together.
• Print simple instructions for how to prepare the meal.
• Click here for PDF printable.

TACO SOUP Two cans of beans (kidney beans or pinto beans work well) Two can of tomatoes (Rotel tomatoes work great here) Can of corn Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning packet Taco seasoning packet Mix all ingredients together in a large soup pot. No need to drain or rinse any of the canned goods! Heat over medium heat for about 20 to 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

MicroPantry Meal Kit Idea: Chicken Casserole

MicroPantry Meal Kit Idea: Chicken Casserole

Boxed macaroni and cheese, with the powdered cheese packet, might sit on micro pantry shelves because it's best fixed with milk and butter.

Here is a recipe that uses boxed macaroni and cheese but does not call for milk or butter.
This makes a good sized meal and refrigerates well.

Meal Kit Tips

• Use only shelf-stable, nonperishable items in your meal kits.
• Make sure all food containers are well sealed to avoid attracting bugs or other critters.
• Use clear plastic bags to group the items together.
• Print simple instructions for how to prepare the meal.
• Click here for PDF printable.

CHICKEN CASSEROLE       No milk or butter needed! Two regular size boxes of macaroni and cheese (or one large box), including the cheese packet Canned chicken Can of creamed soup (mushroom, celery and chicken all work fine). Add the macaroni noodles to boiling water and cook until tender. Drain the noodles. Drain the chicken. Stir together the noodles, cheese packet, creamed soup and chicken. Mix well and enjoy.

MicroPantry Meal Kit Idea: Tuna Casserole

MicroPantry Meal Kit Idea: Tuna Casserole

Boxed macaroni and cheese, with the powdered cheese packet, might sit on micro pantry shelves because it's best fixed with milk and butter.

Here is a recipe that uses boxed macaroni and cheese but does not call for milk or butter.
This makes a good sized meal and refrigerates well.

Meal Kit Tips

• Use only shelf-stable, nonperishable items in your meal kits.
• Make sure all food containers are well sealed to avoid attracting bugs or other critters.
• Use clear plastic bags to group the items together.
• Print simple instructions for how to prepare the meal.
• Click here for printable PDF.

TUNA CASSEROLE       No milk or butter needed! Two regular size boxes of macaroni and cheese (or one large box), including the cheese packet Canned tuna Can of creamed soup (mushroom, celery and chicken all work fine). Add the macaroni noodles to boiling water and cook until tender. Drain the noodles. Drain the tuna. Stir together the noodles, cheese packet, creamed soup and tuna. Mix well and enjoy.

Labrador Retriever: Misdiagnosed Osteomyelitis, Stick in Paw

Maybe this will help someone who has an ongoing paw injury with their dog and isn't getting any good answers.

Our lab was running through the woods and went down hard and could barely walk. He was not putting weight on one paw. My husband took him to the vet emergency room and it was not clear what the injury was. We started taking him to our vet who did exploratory surgery and did not find any foreign objects. From that point on, the dog was treated for his secondary symptoms. He was also given medications to treat osteomyelitis, a bone infection (which he did not have). The dog was clearly in pain and could barely get around. We had to keep the paw wrapped and he kept removing the gauze. He managed to do this even when muzzled.

After nearly four months of various appointments and doctoring, we visited a different vet who determined there was a foreign object in the paw (it went in between two toes). He did surgery and removed a stick 2.25 inches long and a half inch wide.

The moral of the story - Get a second opinion!

Two months after injury

Three+ months after injury

Stick removed by the second vet to evaluate the dog

Knitting a Mary Poppins Scarf

Here is how I made my Mary Poppins scarf:
Size 15 needles.
CO 20 using 2 strands of fine mohair yarn.
For the stripes, I knit four rows of each color.

Yarn that I used:
- Debbie Bliss Angel yarn. Super kid mohair (76%) and silk (24%). Color: Terracotta
- Rowan Kidsilk Haze made with super kid mohair. Color: Marmalade

This scarf will narrow out quite a bit when you block it. The yarn is very wispy and fine. With the bigger needles, it knits up pretty quickly. I used more fringe than MP had on her scarf but it looked pretty wimpy without it.

Photo Board Alternative: Use a dress form to create a photo display

Photo display on a dress form

I borrowed an iron dress form to use as a photo display for a high school graduation party. It turned out so cute!

I chose fabric that was pretty forgiving of the fact that I'm not a seamstress (and the photos on top of the fabric hide any awkward stitching). The fabric also has a texture (little circular shapes) that allowed me to attach the pictures with super glue.

Black & white and sepia pictures were used on the red fabric. If you are pulling pictures from Facebook, the b&w/sepia tones hide some of Facebook's lesser quality (downsized images) when you print them. It's also a nice contrast on the red fabric. I cropped most of the pictures as four-inch squares and used about 50 total.

"Dolly" has a belt made of black ribbon. Her top is simply the remainder of the fabric I didn't use for the skirt pulled into the dress form's arms and draped inside. I needed about a yard and a half for the skirt and the top.

Pretty easy (although you'll need to google how to get super glue off your fingers). Very cute.