The Homemaker's Week of Savings: Use What You Have

 

I was looking through my files for a picture to head this post and this one stopped me in my scan.  I was thinking what an economical cook she was to fill her oven so full and take full advantage of that heat!  A good reminder to me when the oven is in use to make the most of it, instead of using it for just one item at a time.  So, when I bake bread this week, perhaps I shall also put in muffins and some other items to bake alongside.

Thursday:  I pulled some of the things from the freezer basket that Sam had given us.  The guys ate Frudels (pastry with fruit filling).   I ended up with a burrito.  It was not a breakfast burrito as I'd supposed, lol.  It was a bean and cheese burrito.  And honestly, it's not a great bean and cheese burrito.

  

Caleb always helps me unload the dishwasher after breakfast if we've run a load the night before.  we worked on that task and then I hurried to do some minor housework before the children came over.  I thought I had a lunch plan in mind.

Come lunch time I realized I had all the hot dogs I thought I had but not a bit of bread.  I made up biscuit dough and we had pigs in blankets.  The kids were happy with those.   I made pink lemonade once the last of the juice was gone.  And two days later I find the package of hot dog buns I thought I had...sigh.

Went outdoors to check the garden and had no pests on any plants.  I was pleased to see I had a lovely pink Stargazer lily blooming.  I counted 20 tomatoes on the plants this morning.  I moved the one tomato plant I'd found was struggling into a pot all its own.  I'll see how it grows now.

I found a huge patch of sandspurs that were green.  I took time to pull up every one of them.  I'm sure there must be more about the yard, but these were right out front where Caleb likes to play most often, and I don't want him to discover how much they hurt.  Not to mention poor Rufus is so low to the ground that he'd pretty much gather them all once dried out.

John cut grass this afternoon. Even though the grass was still slightly damp, there were places where he stirred up dust.  There are puddles out there for goodness' sake, but there he was in a cloud of dust all the same.

Supper tonight was a fend for yourself affair.  We had a few leftovers in the fridge that we could choose from. 

Friday:  I've been on a mission the last few days to clear the kitchen of boxes.  We've had an Amazon delivery of Subscribe and Save items and coffee, have been storing things meant for the future kitchen in the room, and I've had boxes packed up and just sitting about.  Frankly the room had started to fill too full and chaotic even when I had cleaned and swept and straightened.   

Yesterday I sorted out the back entry.  I told John my plans for removing all the stuff in the entry and sitting area.   Today I made room in my bedroom where I can stack some of the boxes I've packed.  It's calmed me to see the kitchen looking less cluttered and neater.   You'd think the stack of boxes in the bedroom would bother me, too, but I spend far less time in that room than I do the living room/kitchen areas.

We won't be going out tomorrow since we'll have the house to ourselves, so we've decided to pick up a pizza on the way home tonight from dropping off Caleb.  I expect John will want me to order two. No, we won't eat them both.  We'll put one and a couple of slices or so aside for a meal later in this weekend.

Saturday:  There is enough pizza and salad to do four of us another meal so I guess the purchase of our pizza last night ended up being a better deal than I'd supposed it might.  I am happy to have the leftovers for Sunday's lunch.

John said after supper last night that we 'might' go somewhere today, but as it's now 4pm and we've been nowhere just yet, I'm assuming we are going to stay home.  This does not upset me.

I went outdoors and found the potato scraps with eyes looking green and healthy still, thanks to all the rain that has hit this week.  I planted them in a pot of soil, so we shall see how they do. 

I scrambled a bit to make enough supper from what I had.  I thought the packet I took from the freezer had two thin sirloin steaks.  No.  It was one.  I took out a package of Venison tenders and cut those into strips to cook too.   I had no mushrooms and ended up going to town to purchase some, but I called ahead to make sure that Dollar General had some in stock.  

Honestly their produce is pricey but how handy is it to run into town instead of having to drive 30-60 miles to get to another grocery?  We are supposed to have an IGA open soon after three long years without a grocery at all in our little town.

Since we were going into town, I took mail along to post.  In DG, I picked up a bottle of apple juice for Caleb for the week ahead and a can of spray oil for John who seldom cooks but always wants spray when he's frying eggs.  I didn't wander or look at things, but just grabbed those two things as I went to the register.  

I ordered the very last June birthday gift today.  It will be delivered directly to the recipient at her home and that is June done and dusted with birthdays!  Next month I have only one birthday and I can once more resume thinking about Christmas.

Sunday:  After church today, we made two stops.  One at Tractor Supply where John picked up dogfood for Rufus.  I was going to get out and go look at plants but then thought of the bulbs I got in last week's mail and the seeds I've still not planted, and the sweet potatoes that are just now ready to get planted and determined that I might as well make the savings of not looking and therefore not being tempted.  I sat in the shade in the car while John did that shopping duty.  It's amazing how well he can forgo looking at plants.

The other stop was for gasoline to top up our tank.  We do this every Sunday after church.  We didn't buy anything at that store.  Just gasoline.  

Once home, I reheated pizza and started cleaning the house up.  How can it disintegrate so much?  It looked positively untidy and downright dirty.

I went outdoors and planted the Tuberose (bulbs I bought last week), emptied the compost, checked over the tomatoes and flowers and found one tiny caterpillar willing to give his all to kill my tomatoes.  I came back indoors and did the dishes, wiped off the counters and wiped up a mess on the floor where a trash bag apparently had leaked.  Now I must check the fridge and plan our meals for the week ahead.  Woman's work...

This afternoon I baked a peach crisp, made refrigerator pickles out of the cucumbers Sam had given me reusing my original brine/sugar syrup mixture. I heated it to boiling on the stove.  I got a quart of pickles from two of the cucumbers and have one left to eat fresh.  I sorted out the fridge and determined we'd eat leftovers for supper.  

Monday:  In the house, I've been packing up the kitchen.  I emptied two big cabinets, and the little dish cabinet.  That has now moved to Katie's room to store her things, since the doors have childproof latches.  The dishes moved to the island with the bare minimum of cooking items I've left myself to use.  I packed two big boxes.  Then I cleaned out the cleaning cupboards and realized that I had four milk crates in that cabinet that I'd been using as shelving.  FREE to pack things up in.  

Katie laughed at me at one point, as I had Caleb crawl into the tiny opening to reach something that had fallen far back into that dead space of the cabinet next to the stove.  That was her job once upon a time, and Josh's too...I shall not miss having to recruit tiny humans to retrieve things in the future kitchen!

The more I work the more I realize how very much stuff I have.  And most of it is seldom used.  When it comes time to put things back, I really hope to edit things down hard.  I may start doing that when I'm limited in my ability to work in the kitchen.

John and I ate leftovers for lunch today.  I only had a little left in the fridge, but it was enough for the two of us.  Katie and Caleb were out for lunch today.

Bess came by this afternoon with bounty from the school.  We added more juice boxes, fruit cups, veggie packets, orange slices, cereal and lunch items to the pantry, fridge and freezer.  Bess brought everything in, and we split it right in half, but I did make sure there were three of each item in her bags so none of the children there would quarrel over not getting the same item as the others.  There's only Caleb here more often than not, so it's not as big a concern here if someone comes up short.

We put all the veggie packets of broccoli and cauliflower right into the freezer.  These will steam or roast for side dishes later on.  Caleb and John will enjoy celery sticks and baby carrots right from packets in the fridge.  Sometimes I put out dip or peanut butter but mostly they just eat them as they are straight from the packets.

Tonight's supper was Corned Beef Brisket, Potato Salad and Homemade Fridge pickles.  That quart jar got gone far quicker than it took to make it, lol.  John and I ate the last of the Peach Crisp after supper.  Those peaches might not have tasted very nice when eaten fresh, but cooking did improve their flavor and brought out the sweet tart flavor very nicely.

Tuesday:  Doggone horned worm ate his way across two of the smaller tomato plants of the six I planted in May.  Caleb was standing nearby when I snatched him off the plant and happily stomped him for me.  He also stomped a big Japanese beetle.   Unbelievably, everything needed to be watered even though we have had plenty of rain.  The heat and humidity yesterday took their toll on the plants and even the citronella leaves had started to curl up in order to conserve moisture.

John and I cut the tree branches (not really a branch but they are big twigs) from the wire mesh that covers the bottom of the back porch.  I've got a feeling we're going to have to remove that wire and get under there to cut, lay down heavy duty plastic sheeting and put out rocks or mulch to finally squelch those things.  Not something I want to contemplate, frankly and not something I'll be doing at all.  It's likely going to fall to a child or grandchild who will fit.

We sprayed a growth deterrent on them, but it's so tricky to do this about the flower beds.  I want it on what I want to die, not all the plants I've been carefully attending.  While I was buried at the backside of the corner bed cutting the twigs and weeds poking through the mesh, I noted that there were morning glories coming up in that bed.  I pulled those up and tossed them.  I love morning glory but do not want them twined up in the Gardenia and Hydrangea.  

Rufus has pretty much dug up the weed mat and moved all the mulch from last year out from about the plants.  I'll have to get out there to repair that damage.  Fortunately, I have both weed mat and more mulch to put down.  Hooray for buying more than I needed for the last project.

Have you noticed?  Tuna Cans are no longer 5.5-ounces but are now 4-ounce cans...I was rather surprised when I went to make tuna salad for the family today and discovered this.  I stared at the amount of tuna and noted that I was trying to serve four...2 ounces per person are not quite enough, but close.  I added in celery from yesterday's school lunch delivery, boiled eggs and one small apple and of course, mayonnaise.  That expanded it nicely.  Katie surprised me with the addition of a bit of lemon pepper and that was very tasty indeed.  She and I opted to have salad plates with saltines.  The guys had sandwiches and chips.  I added a couple of mini bell peppers to my plate.  Caleb opted to have that, celery and a carrot, while John ate baby carrots with his meal.  We were all quite full when we were done.

I packed a milk crate, and a big box.  Other than the small appliances I do use, and the foodstuffs, the kitchen is pretty much cleared, and I am now just waiting on the contractor to get in touch and say he's ready.

I made a huge 2-pound meat loaf today.  It's in the toaster oven right now baking.  I had planned to pot roast it with potatoes and carrots but there's no room!  Oh well, worth it to make different sides and keep the kitchen a bit cooler, right?   I've decided upon Italian Peasant Vegetables and Cornbread Muffins.

Wednesday:  Green horned worm patrol again this morning.  Discovered another of the pesky critters. He's been put to rest. As always, I checked over all the plants thoroughly and didn't see a thing, but I guess I'm going to have to either dust with Sevin or mix up a dish soap/cayenne pepper and water spray to douse the plants with.  

We had cereal for breakfast and then salads for lunch today.  Caleb had an Uncrustable, a cheese stick and an apple.  John, Caleb and I had Orange Julius drinks.  I know that salads seldom hold the adult family members until supper time, so I'll have to come up with some sort of snacking option this afternoon.  Perhaps I'll mix up some cream cheese and salsa dip for corned chips.    Supper tonight will be Chicken Curry, Rice, Naan, sliced cucumbers and roasted cauliflower/broccoli pieces.

I just mixed up the Naan and it is rising.  I could buy this on clearance often as not, but now that I know how very easy to make it is, I just can't consider purchasing it, even on sale.  

Brought my checkbook up to date.  Good problem to have: Bank says I have more money than I say I do.  I shall have to sort that out but how nice to have this sort of problem!  In years past, it was always the opposite issue.  At least I am assured it is my money in the account this time.

I made my own 'yellow' rice.  I added in tumeric and some chicken broth.  I was a bit cautious with the tumeric and might could have gone with a little more.  I find it can taste unpleasant if I overuse it.  Still, it went well with our Curried Chicken tonight.

I had to throw away my slow cooker. As I was washing it tonight, I found it had a crack through and through.  No clue when that happened.  I am reusing the cracked crock to set a plant in since it will still hold water.   The rest of the unit got tossed.  I'm done.  I have gone through so many slow cookers over the years.  Eventually I'd like to get a pretty enameled cast iron pan but, in the meantime, I have a standard cast iron Dutch Oven and that is what I will use.  Of course, it's not a prime time to have my slow cooker offline, what with the upcoming renovation and my plans to rely on it.  But it is what it is. 

John suggested I look for one with a metal pot.  My very first slow cooker, which I bought way back in 1977 with Premium Saltines proofs of purchase and a minimum amount of cash was a West Bend metal pot that sat on a hot plate type base.  I used that slow cooker for more years than I can count.  I'm pretty sure I only stopped using it because someone gave me one for Christmas after I'd used the first one for ten years.

And that's pretty much today.