Smashing all myths that cooking from scratch takes all day

Now to smash all those myths that you can't cook from scratch quickly. Today we had to run an errand in the morning, leaving at 10am and returned home around 12:45pm. Once home, we had to collect clothes off the clothesline, getting the load in the washer, wrung out and hung on the line. Then Cortney and I went to our separate tasks. I began cutting tomatoes and running through the mill, while Cortney headed out to the hoop house to collect all the tomatoes left on the vines because it's forecasted to freeze and freeze hard tonight with our low into the low 30's to high 20's F. Since we've decided not to heat the hoop house this year, I didn't want to chance the loss of any of the beautiful tomatoes left on the vines. Much to my surprise, Cortney also went ahead and pulled up the vines, stakes and did all the clean up for me as well, what a blessing :o)  After the tomatoes were all milled and the Victorio all cleaned up, I proceeded to start a fire in the stove for two purposes; first to simmer the tomato sauce down  so it's thick enough for chili sauce, enchilada sauce and thick tomato sauce, and secondly because the indoor thermometer was reading 59F and it's forecasted to keep dropping in temperature outside. When the fire was going and shutdown, I headed outside to retrieve a package of chuck steak from the freezer. We've been out of burger for months and have an excess of steak in the freezer, some of which is over a year old already, so we've decided to thaw and grind burger on an "As Needed Basis."  Today burger is needed for our supper. 

 Tomato sauce simmering- Check

 Chuck steak thawed( enough) in hot water, cut into chunks and ground into burger-Check

 Burger cooked and seasoning added- Check

Home canned pinto beans, ready for mashing, mashed-Check

Mashed pinto beans added to burger in preparation for Enchiladas :o)

 Burger and beans mixed and simmered, ready to fill the..... okay I admit we did use store bought tortilla shells that we had in the freezer*wink*

 Home canned Enchilada sauce, recipe found here, ready to be opened and cheese grated

     The finished product before being baked in the wood cook stove oven :o)   Now all of this plus another load of laundry was washed and wrung out before 4pm.  Feeling quit good about all we'd accomplished in such a short period of time, Cortney and I treated ourselves to one episode, of the 9th season of The Walton's  *wink*  Then it was off to do evening chores, Mike coming home and enjoying our homemade supper :o)