Saturday: I didn't have time to prep foods for today due to our commitments yesterday. No matter. I did have an easily prepared meal in the freezer. I thawed and heated spaghetti sauce. It took a minimum of preparation to make our dinner.
We had our supper this evening on the back porch. It was so nice to sit there in the shade, listening to the birds, catching the slight breeze and eat our meal. It was what we dreamed of when we sat on the covered patio at the sandwich shop early last Spring.
In the interest of being nearer the temperature we expect to keep the house this summer we bumped the thermostat on the AC up by 2 degrees today. We also did not turn on the heat at all this morning, choosing instead to put on sweaters until the sun warmed the house.
Sunday: Morning came early today. I made John's breakfast, packed his lunch for work.
Spent time cleaning then made out a short grocery list and headed to the grocery. I bought a Sunday paper, the items needed for our Passover Seder plate, and all the produce, dairy and grocery items I thought we'd need over the coming two weeks. I do not plan to return to the store for further items.
Priced lamb...I really wanted lamb and it wasn't badly priced but it seemed a big expense compared to a deli roasted chicken. I opted for the chicken. I figured we'd use the leg bone on our Seder plate and the chicken would serve for dinner on Passover day.
I stopped on my way home for dinner and I had far too much food to eat. I put half the entree in the freezer for a future day alone.
The only yeast left in my home today was a loaf of bread and a packet of dry soup mix. It was far too warm to consider eating soup. I had toast for supper, planned French toast for tomorrow's breakfast. And then the bread will go in to the dumpster. I am so pleased to find I have only two items to throw out this year. It took planning but was worthwhile.
Monday: French toast for breakfast.
Harvest Day for us. Checks come out on Monday afternoons. John got off early this morning. We drove down to pick up his check and deposited at the bank branch in that town. We also dropped off an item at the post office to mail, picked up horseradish at the grocery in that town (I forgot it yesterday and there was none to be had locally), and took off trash. As usual we made our trip away from home count.
John stopped at the local hardware store. With his music ministry he needed a folding music stand. In the meantime he's been taking his current music stand which is permanently set up. Smart man priced folding music stands ($34) and then the trip to the hardware store where he purchased a butterfly wing nut and another screw and nut to replace those in his current music stand. Cost $2.30. Savings $31.70.
We came home and had Harvest. It was a much easier one than a month ago. I'd planned better on my side which meant we had a little bigger margin at the end. Whew! It really is a matter of rethinking what we've been used to and discovering what the 'new normal' is.
I hadn't planned anything at all for supper. I'd been so busy thinking about cleaning, about Passover Seder plate, about Harvest that I'd completely let supper slip my mind. I made big salads for us.
Tuesday: Toasted leftover muffins for our breakfast bread.
Our dinner today was deli roasted chicken, which I bought to use the leg bone on our Seder plate. The chicken reheated as asparagus roasted in the oven.
Ran one brief errand today. I took a different route that allowed me to do a bit of sightseeing along the way.
I had to boil an egg for potato salad...so why not boil six? Takes the same amount of time, the same amount of gas. The extra water used became a calcium rich tea for the African violets. I'll use one egg for the potato salad, one for chicken salad (from the leftover chicken) and the rest for egg salad.
Wednesday: It was quite cool this morning. I turned on the propane heater first thing.
Oatmeal for breakfast. I won't care for a hot bowl of oatmeal come summer, but it is a lovely thing on a cold spring morning.
John requested tacos for lunch this week. I didn't buy a package of taco shells. I purchased corn tortillas to fry my own shells. They are much more tasty than the stale boxed sort.
Made both chicken salad and egg salad today for sandwich fillings.
I set aside the remaining taco meat and refried beans to be used later this weekend to make Taco pizzas using tortillas as the base.
I decided to rearrange my foodstuffs slightly today. I moved one or two of items from my pantry to the kitchen cabinet. This should eliminate the need to run to pantry each time I need an item and I can keep a running list of items to restock. It should also cut down slightly on any failure to not use an item I have stocked since it will be in the kitchen right where I can clearly see it and realize it should be planned into menus.
Thursday: Washed a full load of clothes this morning after John left for work. Sheets and towels.
Packed John's lunch and made him breakfast before he left.
When the clothes were washed I hung a few to dry. I pulled the drying rack over to the sunny window and draped the wash and dish cloths and towels over it. The sun's warmth magnified through the glass dried those things in record time.
I didn't have room to air dry all the laundry and didn't want to hang outdoors in the pollen filled air. I dried sheets and towels in stages. At the end I turned off the dryer and let the clothes stay in the hot machine to finish drying any damp spots until the machine was cool.
I knew Mama's plan for the day: shopping. I looked over my closet hard to determine just what I might need: a plain white t-shirt, a brown leather look bag. I checked my balances to be sure of what I could afford. I found the white t-shirt and a bag right away. I also found a lovely maxi skirt. Surprise for me: Mama insisted on buying all three of those items for me.
My turn to treat Mama to lunch. I paid for the meal from my allowance.
Prepared my supper from leftovers.
Brewed a single cup of coffee.
Friday: Used some leftover potatoes from our potato salad to make hash browns for breakfast.
Sat down and determined what we had in fridge that should be planned into weekend meals.
Checked freezer for meat. We're running pretty low on beef and chicken. I pulled out a roast and some chicken breast pieces to thaw for dinners, and a package of Brunswick Stew for a supper.
I shopped at home from my pantry: coffee, syrup, mayonnaise, canned whole chicken, and my freezer: 1 gallon of milk.
Chopped vegetables for today's chicken stir fry meal, I also took time to chop a few extra for chicken pot pie.
Put away leftover rice in the fridge. I plan to combine with the
Boned and skinned the canned chicken. Added a few of the partially cooked vegetables, some frozen peas. I reduced the broth from the can to make gravy. It proved to be too salty, so I diced half of a potato to add to it. That should help a lot.
The remaining portion of potato was sliced into fries and put in water to stay in fridge. I'll make oven fries to go with one of our meals from those.
Used last of taco meat and refried beans to make nachos tonight. I combined chips from both a whole wheat chip bag and corn tortillas to make enough for the two of us.
Made a cocoa ripple coffee cake for tomorrow morning's breakfast. I used up some powdered chocolate milk mix I'd made at the beginning of winter.
Sunday: Morning came early today. I made John's breakfast, packed his lunch for work.
Spent time cleaning then made out a short grocery list and headed to the grocery. I bought a Sunday paper, the items needed for our Passover Seder plate, and all the produce, dairy and grocery items I thought we'd need over the coming two weeks. I do not plan to return to the store for further items.
Priced lamb...I really wanted lamb and it wasn't badly priced but it seemed a big expense compared to a deli roasted chicken. I opted for the chicken. I figured we'd use the leg bone on our Seder plate and the chicken would serve for dinner on Passover day.
I stopped on my way home for dinner and I had far too much food to eat. I put half the entree in the freezer for a future day alone.
The only yeast left in my home today was a loaf of bread and a packet of dry soup mix. It was far too warm to consider eating soup. I had toast for supper, planned French toast for tomorrow's breakfast. And then the bread will go in to the dumpster. I am so pleased to find I have only two items to throw out this year. It took planning but was worthwhile.
Monday: French toast for breakfast.
Harvest Day for us. Checks come out on Monday afternoons. John got off early this morning. We drove down to pick up his check and deposited at the bank branch in that town. We also dropped off an item at the post office to mail, picked up horseradish at the grocery in that town (I forgot it yesterday and there was none to be had locally), and took off trash. As usual we made our trip away from home count.
John stopped at the local hardware store. With his music ministry he needed a folding music stand. In the meantime he's been taking his current music stand which is permanently set up. Smart man priced folding music stands ($34) and then the trip to the hardware store where he purchased a butterfly wing nut and another screw and nut to replace those in his current music stand. Cost $2.30. Savings $31.70.
We came home and had Harvest. It was a much easier one than a month ago. I'd planned better on my side which meant we had a little bigger margin at the end. Whew! It really is a matter of rethinking what we've been used to and discovering what the 'new normal' is.
I hadn't planned anything at all for supper. I'd been so busy thinking about cleaning, about Passover Seder plate, about Harvest that I'd completely let supper slip my mind. I made big salads for us.
Tuesday: Toasted leftover muffins for our breakfast bread.
Our dinner today was deli roasted chicken, which I bought to use the leg bone on our Seder plate. The chicken reheated as asparagus roasted in the oven.
Ran one brief errand today. I took a different route that allowed me to do a bit of sightseeing along the way.
I had to boil an egg for potato salad...so why not boil six? Takes the same amount of time, the same amount of gas. The extra water used became a calcium rich tea for the African violets. I'll use one egg for the potato salad, one for chicken salad (from the leftover chicken) and the rest for egg salad.
Wednesday: It was quite cool this morning. I turned on the propane heater first thing.
Oatmeal for breakfast. I won't care for a hot bowl of oatmeal come summer, but it is a lovely thing on a cold spring morning.
John requested tacos for lunch this week. I didn't buy a package of taco shells. I purchased corn tortillas to fry my own shells. They are much more tasty than the stale boxed sort.
Made both chicken salad and egg salad today for sandwich fillings.
I set aside the remaining taco meat and refried beans to be used later this weekend to make Taco pizzas using tortillas as the base.
I decided to rearrange my foodstuffs slightly today. I moved one or two of items from my pantry to the kitchen cabinet. This should eliminate the need to run to pantry each time I need an item and I can keep a running list of items to restock. It should also cut down slightly on any failure to not use an item I have stocked since it will be in the kitchen right where I can clearly see it and realize it should be planned into menus.
Thursday: Washed a full load of clothes this morning after John left for work. Sheets and towels.
Packed John's lunch and made him breakfast before he left.
When the clothes were washed I hung a few to dry. I pulled the drying rack over to the sunny window and draped the wash and dish cloths and towels over it. The sun's warmth magnified through the glass dried those things in record time.
I didn't have room to air dry all the laundry and didn't want to hang outdoors in the pollen filled air. I dried sheets and towels in stages. At the end I turned off the dryer and let the clothes stay in the hot machine to finish drying any damp spots until the machine was cool.
I knew Mama's plan for the day: shopping. I looked over my closet hard to determine just what I might need: a plain white t-shirt, a brown leather look bag. I checked my balances to be sure of what I could afford. I found the white t-shirt and a bag right away. I also found a lovely maxi skirt. Surprise for me: Mama insisted on buying all three of those items for me.
My turn to treat Mama to lunch. I paid for the meal from my allowance.
Prepared my supper from leftovers.
Brewed a single cup of coffee.
Friday: Used some leftover potatoes from our potato salad to make hash browns for breakfast.
Sat down and determined what we had in fridge that should be planned into weekend meals.
Checked freezer for meat. We're running pretty low on beef and chicken. I pulled out a roast and some chicken breast pieces to thaw for dinners, and a package of Brunswick Stew for a supper.
I shopped at home from my pantry: coffee, syrup, mayonnaise, canned whole chicken, and my freezer: 1 gallon of milk.
Chopped vegetables for today's chicken stir fry meal, I also took time to chop a few extra for chicken pot pie.
Put away leftover rice in the fridge. I plan to combine with the
Boned and skinned the canned chicken. Added a few of the partially cooked vegetables, some frozen peas. I reduced the broth from the can to make gravy. It proved to be too salty, so I diced half of a potato to add to it. That should help a lot.
The remaining portion of potato was sliced into fries and put in water to stay in fridge. I'll make oven fries to go with one of our meals from those.
Used last of taco meat and refried beans to make nachos tonight. I combined chips from both a whole wheat chip bag and corn tortillas to make enough for the two of us.
Made a cocoa ripple coffee cake for tomorrow morning's breakfast. I used up some powdered chocolate milk mix I'd made at the beginning of winter.
Opened junk mail and discovered four greeting cards, address labels in two different pieces.
Took surveys from NFS and Pinecone Research to add to my points balances. Worked periodically on ?Swagbucks to earn points there.
Used Swagbucks shop and earn to earn shopping points for granddaughter's birthday present.
Took surveys from NFS and Pinecone Research to add to my points balances. Worked periodically on ?Swagbucks to earn points there.
Used Swagbucks shop and earn to earn shopping points for granddaughter's birthday present.
2 comments:
We aren't Jewish, but we did a Passover feast a few years ago. We studied a bit about Israel, made a Seder plate, did the readings, and made some traditional dishes for dinner. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and the kids have asked for "herbs and salt water" (I think we used celery) as a snack every so often, lol.
Good job this week! And, it is nice to have a smart husband-great savings on the music stand.
Hope you had a wonderful Easter!
Love when you said "had to boil an egg today- so why not boil six?" That is so, so true. I am reading a book called The Everlasting Meal and the author says that a lot- when you roast vegetables, roast a bunch! Then, pop in some nuts to roast as the oven cools down. Then, open the door to warm the room (which I have always done...)
It's a good thing.
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