This Week In My Home: Frugal All the Time

Not my pantry but certainly mine is based on the same principle.  I just use what's available at the grocery store to stock my pantry and a few things put up from local farm stands.  Pantries are good strongholds for the frugal minded.

Saturday:  Our breakfast was made up of frozen leftover pancakes and French toast.  There was just enough of each for breakfast for one.  They thawed in the oven while I cooked sausage on the stove top.

We have apples that John just isn't eating.  I gathered up the halves in the fridge and piled them in to roast alongside potatoes, onions, garlic, and chicken for today's meal.

John had on the propane heat when I got up.  I left it on until later in the morning, when the house was up to our usual temperature, then I turned it off and made sure the heat pump was set to come on to keep the temperatures regulated.

I cut the stems of the flowers I bought 8 days ago, and gave them fresh water and preservative. For an $8 bouquet those flowers have lasted nicely.  It helps a lot that they are not in direct sunlight and the house is fairly cool, key to keeping cut flowers fresh and long lasting.

A great reminder from Sarah came in the comments of last week's frugal post and that is that I can buy sheet separates rather than sets.  Since it appears to be the fitted sheets that are the worse for wear I think I will buy two fitted sheets per flat and rotate those.

Sunday:  John off to work today.  I packed his lunch, and made him breakfast.

I don't always need to wash laundry.  Sometimes just hanging them out is enough to refresh them. Like bath towels.  They benefit from being hung outdoors to dry outdoors and seem to stay fresher longer so we can wash them a little less often.

Saved yesterday's pan drippings to pour over dog and cat food today.  It's an added treat for them.

As the sun came up today, I opened curtains and blinds and turned off the electric lights.  The house is bright enough to read easily without lights.

It mightn't sound like a frugal thing but I find it is true: the tidier my home the more satisfied I am with it overall.  It took me just a half hour of setting things right this morning and my satisfaction with my home grew and grew as I looked around afterward.



I didn't have a whole lot to do today, so I organized my genealogy notebook.  I'd bought extra dividers several weeks ago for this purpose.  I spent several different periods today organizing and adding notes from the composition books I have used during research.  I have a long way to go to finish this phase but I will pursue it steadily.

For my dinner today I combined leftovers and a chicken breast from the freezer to make Chicken Parmigiana.  I used leftover spaghetti sauce and leftover macaroni instead of cooking spaghetti.

I used some caramels John wouldn't eat to make turtle candies.

Made a single cup of coffee this afternoon.

Monday:  John late this morning from work. That's a few hours overtime for us this next check, so I didn't complain.

I sliced a small portion of Spam into thin slices and fried until almost crisp.  It's not that far from crisped turkey bacon really and was on hand.

We both feel unwell.  We're fighting it off by taking Zinc and extra Vitamin C and are using vaporised chest rub.  Lots of fluids and rest, too, just like all the old ads say to do.  It's still a good method of getting over a cold or virus.  We had grapefruit with our breakfast as an additional dose of Vitamin C.

I thawed meat out last night and what I thought was a package of  apple fritters.  Well, it wasn't.  It was meat and it stayed on the counter all night long. Wasted.  I learned my lesson.  Label foods when I put them in the freezer!

I made slider burgers for dinner.  1/2 pound of beef with a little onion and garlic added, rolled into golf ball sized balls and flattened.  I got 9 from that half pound of meat, enough for today's dinner and a few to serve one night for our supper.  I used rolls left from our company dinner two weeks ago that I'd frozen.

I had four apples that John hadn't eaten.  I cut them into slices and put them in the pie pan with raisins and cinnamon on top.  I put a streusel topping on top that I made with oatmeal.  It tasted like an oatmeal cookie atop the apples.  Very good.  I had enough to serve us a second portion tomorrow.

I saved the apple cores and put them in the freezer.  I will make jelly with them.  I save all apple cores and grapes and such we don't eat for this purpose.

Supper tonight: leftovers.  When I cleaned the refrigerator yesterday, I put all the leftovers together so that we would find them to use.

Those turtle candies I made yesterday are in danger of all being eaten today.  Funny how he didn't like the caramels but loves the turtle candy...Waste averted.

Tuesday:  I made Butterscotch Oatmeal this morning.  It was hot and filling and very easy on cold ridden bodies.  I messed up the formula but it worked out fine.

We continue with the Vitamin C. This morning I took more Orange Juice from the freezer to insure we have a double dose tomorrow morning as well.   We took Vitamin C in pill form, too.  I believe in mega doses of Vitamin C when I'm ill.

While I was shopping the pantry, I pulled out a can of tomato sauce and some green beans, as well as a can of pineapple slices.  Again with the Vitamin C in my day.

Not much has gotten done.  I managed meals and eventually dishes.  I'm so grateful for the life that allows me to rest and recuperate instead of feeling I must force myself to go to a job outside the home.

I shopped at home last night and ordered Amie's birthday gift sent directly to her.  I certainly didn't feel well enough to get out and shop and go to the post office.

I needed a quick, easy on the cook meal today.  Beef Stew filled the bill.  I put the ingredients in the crock pot and let that do the work.  I added a can of tomato sauce to the stew.  More Vitamin C...

There was enough stew for a second meal. Perhaps I can make it into a sort of shepherd or beef pot pie.

Wednesday:  Packed John's lunch and made him breakfast.

I thought I was out of cat food, but when I went to fetch a bag of dog food for Maddie from the food containers I found a full bag of cat food.  I was so pleased.

Talked to John who went into work.  He stopped during his lunchtime (not a set time for him but when he could) and bought tissues and bread, the two real needs (besides the cat food) I had today.

Went back to bed to nurse the cold this morning.

I am low on bread and out of several items.  I toasted a slice of biscuit bread for my breakfast this morning.

I ate half a grapefruit left from Sunday morning.

I sprinkled some Eucalyptus Oil on a dry wash cloth and folded it up.  I breathed in the aroma and found it helpful in loosening nasal passages from being so stuffy.

Thawed chicken broth and took two breasts from the freezer to make a big pot of chicken soup.  I had no noodles, so I broke fettuccine in half and used that as my noodles.

Went back to bed while the soup simmered (noodles added later).  I rubbed Vicks Vapor Rub on the soles of my feet and put on socks before crawling into bed.

Afternoon hours found the house very warm and sunny.  I opened windows and let the house air out, something we do normally anyway, but especially when we've sickness in the house.

Had more chicken soup for my supper.

Thursday:  Feeling somewhat better today.  We continue with the vapor rub on chest and feet, drinking plenty of fluids.  Dinner today was leftover chicken soup.  Not too shabby for 2 little chicken breasts to serve four BIG bowls of soup...Proof yet that many meals are not only good for you but very frugal as well.

Received product samples in the mail today from one of the research polling companies I deal with. There's two samples to be tried and reported on.  Since it's a food product we'll be trying them over the next few days.

Cashed in Coke points for a free set of 24 prints from Shutterfly and a free 12 pack of sodas.

Received my free Calendar from Shutterfly this week.  I love having a calendar with my own photos upon it.  John suggested I keep that one.  He was very impressed.  This is the calendar that came as a bonus for working on MyCokeRewards.  It cost me only shipping and has 12 lovely photos of our home/land.

Friday:  Not well, but John insisted we get out of the house for a few hours.  We stopped to buy bread and milk, got haircuts, took off trash, picked up mail, filled the car...As always we made our outing count.

Moved $25 Swagbucks Paypal into savings.  I now have enough to purchase my next to blinds.

Trip took a hard toll on this woman who spent the bulk of the trip soaking up the sun while sitting in the car.  I took a long nap this afternoon.

Saturday:  Asked John to take me to the next town to the drugstore.  I spent a lot of time reading labels on medications and looking at prices and finally determined that I was taking about the best combination, only needed more of it and could increase my dosage if needed per the very heavy priced name brand combination.  I bought store brand meds for myself and a brand name slightly different combo for John who is not medication sensitive and prefers an all in one sort of treatment.

While in the drugstore I did as John asked me to do:  I thought about all that I really needed and picked it all up while there.  The sale items I wanted were not available (and not part of their regular stock so no rain check), but I did get some grapefruit juice as an additional source of Vitamin C and some cookies for my husband who has had a lack of sweets this past week.  I used my CVS card which cut the price by $5 and then a $5 coupon and paid cash, using the last of the pay period's grocery funds.

We stopped at KFC for chicken dinner for ourselves.  I gave John cash to pay for it from my allowance but he came back outdoors and handed it to me saying that it would be 'our' treat to 'ourselves' instead.

We stretched that to cover two meals for us, so no cooking for me.

We both took long naps today.  I've always believed rest is good for most colds/viruses, namely because nights tend to be so broken up.

My sole occupation today aside from that short and tiring trip to town was to take advantage of a Shutterfly offer that landed in my inbox for a free personalized mouse pad.  I covered it with photos of the grandchildren and children.  The cost to me was just over $5 shipping and handling.  A small price to give John a pleasant surprise for his computer station.

Living Well

I'll skip this portion this week.  It's been as blessed a week as any other in my life, but a cold has taken it's toll on my thinking.