I just read a piece on ground respiration yesterday. I never had thought about it. You are describing part of that process I believe. Temps, Pressure, Moisture all contribute. Might have been archived in some of the Rutgers stuff pt03 (Lloyd) had referenced to on another topic. __I just rototilled my garden spot. Its 38 degrees now .. last night 16 and tonight 13 predicted. Nothing growing, just trying to get that very last Bermuda grass (wire grass here) root to the top so it can kiss its fanny goodbye.

I made my first (ever!) batch of tomato sauce from garden tomatoes last night. I used my new KA attachment kit to process the tomatoes. I ran them through a second time to make sure I got all the good stuff. I was very happy with how this worked. It was easy to assemble, easy to use, and easy to clean up. I used Lunch Box determinate tomatoes, plus some Red Brandywines, Cherokee Purples and Japanese Black Trifeles- basically, all the ripe full size tomatoes that I had on the counter. I had close to six quarts raw, I didn't add anything to it, I just cooked it down to about 2.5 quarts. I divided it into 1 cup portions, put it in ziploc bags, laid them in a flat roasting pan, and then cooled them overnight. This morning, I put the roasting pan in my freezer. Tonight, I'll package them up in a larger bag using my foodsaver. Now I'm just sad that I may not have enough tomatoes for another batch of this size! Looking at what's left to ripen, I may be able to make about half this much in another week or so.

Some of my favorites are lasagna, meatloaf and making the hamburger/onion mix for all kinds of things, from quesadillas to sloppy joes to pizza or whatever. Another easy thing to do is cook a turkey or two, (or a ham, pork roast or even several chickens at a time, etc) pull all the meat off the bone and freeze in portioned bags. You can add it to pasta, quesadillas, pizza, hot turkey sandwiches or a full turkey dinner. Instant mashed potatoes and canned gravy, stuffing mix, frozen/canned veg and the like make a speedier preparation and a pretty luxurious meal. Oh and frozen meatballs are good for a lot of different things. By themself, as a meat ball sandwich, with spaghetti, in a casserole, etc. Most any casserole should freeze well, especially pasta. I would think a hashbrown casserole (with meat) would freeze well as would rice & meat casseroles. Boneless/skinless chicken breasts are a great convenience food. Use for a lot of different things. And there's always the store deli. Prepared chicken, meatloaf and other items are available for really bad days. Do you have an electric roaster? This would simplify things. Even a slow cooker, though I prefer the roaster for versatility. But pot roast can be put together and cook in the roaster/slow cooker. Soup, stew, chili and more. It doesn't all have to be frozen. Do a double amount and you'll have a second meal for a couple days later. Baking some sausage & potatoes takes little prep work and can cook together. Or steam a head of cauliflower and put some sausages in there with it. Braising ribs is easy to do. Country style ribs are easier (no membrane to remove or bones to bother). Put them in the oven, electric roaster or slow cooker or even do it on the stovetop. Braise them slowly and they're fabulous. An hour before they're done, pop some potatoes in with them and they'll cook together and 15-30 min before you can put in some corn on the cob (frozen saves you some prep work of husking). You can also flatten the country style ribs with a mallet, bread them, fry them and have a pork cutlet with more taste than a pork tenderloin. Is your son able to help with some cooking or at least prep work? Personally I think people do a disservice to their kids by not teaching them at least some basic cooking skills. A pot roast, chili, even a turkey doesn't take a Gordon Ramsay to put on the table. You don't have to be very old to husk some corn or peel potatoes. Perhaps it would be helpful to make out a meal plan. One easy way is to take a two week plan and just continue it. There's the old If it's Monday, it's spaghetti day for a weekly plan but it's really just as easy to do two weeks. Figure out some easy meals. Don't hesitate to make one day a week sandwich and salad day. Or a breakfast for supper day, whether it's bacon and eggs, breakfast casserole or even frozen waffles and brown & serve sausages. Frozen/canned veggies and bagged salads are great. The weekend cooking is a great idea but even when cooking, try to cook for at least two meals. Maybe some of these aren't the healthiest or as healthy as you'd desire, but any of them are far better than burgers and fries from a drive through. And hey, that's not to say that an occasional bucket from the Colonel is all bad either. By combining some freezer action, some simple to prepare meals, especially covering two days, some occasionl take out or delivery, hey, the time will pass quickly and you won't be feeling guilty. And you shouldn't feel guilty anyway. Good luck!

This is a traditional Greek sauce that is similar to Hollandaise in flavor but made with a roux, so it can stay warm and reheat without complications. Avgolemeno Sauce ⅓ cup flour ⅓ cup butter 2½ cups heated broth (chicken or vegetable) 2 eggs, beaten Juice of two lemons Salt and pepper to taste Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour, stirring mixture to blend well. Allow butter/flour mixture to cook and bubble at least one minute. Slowly pour in heated broth, stirring continuously. Cook mixture until thickened. Turn heat to low. Beat eggs in separate bowl with lemon juice until light and fluffy. Add hot sauce, ladleful by ladleful, to egg mixture. Incorporate at least one-third to one-half of sauce into eggs. Slowly pour back egg/sauce mixture into sauce in pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook over low heat for at least five minutes. Keep warm over very low heat. Add more lemon juice or broth to thin, if desired. Serve with cooked cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, artichokes, stuffed cabbage leaves, stuffed grape leaves, and baked or fried fish. Reheat leftover sauce over very low heat.