The Homemaker's Week of Savings

 

Thursday:  Last night, I made Beef Stroganoff for supper because I had all those mushrooms I'd bought on clearance and needed to use up.  I think mushrooms overall have a meaty sort of texture, especially the Baby Bella ones, but these were white mushrooms.  It certainly did stretch out the meat and the portions we had were generous and yet I still had leftovers.  I missed some of the leftover noodles with the remaining meat sauce and froze them in a pan for serving another night.  I also froze the remaining noodles.

This morning, the 'boys' dictated breakfast as cereal and yogurt and toast.  John doesn't eat yogurt, but Caleb and I did, along with blueberries.  The oatmeal bread I made on Tuesday was quite good.  I ad tried this recipe in the beginning of my bread machine baking and liked it but just hadn't made it since.  It's a nice change up from the plain white bread.  

We headed off to go to the Chiropractor and then we drove to a more distant Burger King to let Caleb have play time on the playground.  Lunch was on sale and well-priced for three.  Plus, we had the benefit of letting a little boy rid himself of some of his energy.

Tonight's supper:  I'll use the leftover fried chicken which I'll slice/dice up and will either make a Buffalo Chicken or some other sort of salad, but it's definitely including chicken.  My reluctance to make Buffalo chicken only has to do with not wanting to make up a salad dressing, but I'm going to have to do that regardless of what sort of salad we have because I don't have any other!

Friday:  No need to bake bread since I made two loaves this week and we're still eating from both.  Instead, I started a batch of dough, the same recipe I use for my pizza crust, and made that into bagels.  It was weird dough at first.  It just crumbled and though it was damp and I'd added the usual amount of water it just didn't ever form into a cohesive dough ball.  I added more water, decided to add a little more flour and then just turned up the speed of the mixer.  It finally came together.  I always let the mixer knead the dough for me and I let it go a bit longer than usual.  It looked smooth and glossy when I set it aside to rise.

I saved the water I boiled the bagels in.  I used that later in the day to cook the corn for supper.

Went out to water the garden.  Caleb was meant to play, but he saw a spider and wanted to go indoors.  I have blooms on several of the tomato plants, and my first tomato, just under the size of a golf ball.  Fingers crossed...

John did laundry.  John hung a partial load outdoors and another partial load in the laundry room doorway to dry.  He used the dryer too, but he never lets it run a full cycle.  He times it himself and generally he starts checking the clothes at about 20 minutes, removes any that are already dry, lets the rest run about 10 minutes more and takes out more dry clothes.  I think he runs the dryer about 35 minutes.  When I routinely did laundry, I always just put them in for 40 minutes or hung them all to dry.  But he does laundry his way and I don't have to bother with it at all.

We cleared out the fridge for lunch today.  The guys ate hot dogs, I had a Spam sandwich.  

I added a tomato that was a wee bit past prime to the sloppy joe mix and all of that second packet of mushrooms I'd found tucked in the back of a drawer.  I also put in a grated carrot, some chopped celery and onion.  I put a pint of the sloppy joe meat into the freezer for future lunch sandwiches.

I didn't have buns and didn't want to make any.  Instead, I found I had a packet of English Muffins in the freezer and I used those.

I trimmed and rearranged the flowers I bought two weeks ago.  I trimmed the lilies Katie had brought home (given to her by a date) and added them to my bouquet to fill it in a bit since I had to discard a good bit.  It looks very pretty.

Saturday:  Not quite as expensive a day as we've had of late for our Sanity day.  We drove to a lovely State Park a bit north of us...The picnic tables were very inviting, set out on thick green grass amongst the lovely shade, but we had nothing with us for a picnic.  John tells me we shall go prepared next time.  We walked over the grounds, but somehow missed the Spring house entirely and only saw it as we were leaving.

We drove back to Forsyth and had lunch at a sort of hometown fast food restaurant.  It's a small chain, largely in this region of Georgia.  Moderately prices.  I brought part of my lunch home and that's after I'd shared it with John.

We stopped at the Peach Shed.  I won't tell you I stuck to my $25 budget. I went a tiny bit over because John wanted a little something sweet but said he did not want ice cream.  I got him a hand pie.  That's what pushed my budgeted amount over the edge.  Never mind.  He quite enjoyed it and thanked me very nicely.  

I picked up 1/2 a peck of peaches, 2 green tomatoes, a pint each of blackberries and blueberries and a quart of strawberries.  The prices were not as cheap as at a grocery by any means, but I know that these items are locally grown.  The berries are ripe right now, the peaches will be ready to eat in a day or three.  When they do get ripe, they will all be ripe at once.  At that point, I'll pare and put some into the freezer or make a cobbler.

Supper tonight was super easy.  Katie was picking up takeout for herself before going to hang out with friends.  Caleb and John ate cereal, I had toast and some of the berries we brought home.  So good!

Meals today:  Breakfast:  Croissants (me), Bagels and Cream Cheese (John)

lunch:  We ate out at a local Fried Chicken Change.  I brought home leftovers.

supper:  a variety of things.  Caleb had cereal, Katie went out, John had something I can't recall and I made a cheese toast with sausage atop.

Sunday:  I took out the ham to thaw last night and realized that it was a lot smaller portion than I'd thought.  Just about enough to make sandwiches and not nearly big enough for a full meal.  So this morning I took one of the frozen Kroger Lasagna trays from the freezer and popped it into the oven.  I had two of these, meant to be a family day meal but I suppose it's just as well we tried it.  I love the thickness of the lasagna noodles and it's saucier than most, but the meat sauce has no real flavor to it.  I expect I'll doctor up the other one somewhat.  As well as the half that I put into a 9X9 pan and froze it.

I went outdoors and planted seeds I'd purchased.  Not quite all of them, but quite a few. I put basil seeds about the tomato plants, but not the one that has a plethora of marigolds coming up.  

Meals today:  Breakfast:  Scrambled Eggs, Hashbrowns (using up 1.5 leftover baked potatoes from last week, and chopped up fries from my lunch yesterday), a variety of fried Spam slices, a couple of slices Bacon, and Toast.  

Lasagna, Salad, Bread and Butter

Ham Sandwiches, Chips, Fruit

Monday:  I need to make bread but didn't this morning.  Instead, I pulled English Muffins from the freezer.  I had a smidgen of ham left from last night's sandwich supper.

After working outdoors this morning, I came back indoors to clean and organize the fridge.  I pulled out all the leftovers: baked beans, a half cup of browned pork sausage, beans and potatoes, tuna fish, half a sandwich John didn't eat on Friday, my chicken leftovers from lunch on Saturday.

I fed Caleb lunch separately while I was messing about with the fridge contents.  He had gone to his room for quiet time.  I'd just called John in to look out the window at the work I'd accomplished this morning.  Caleb said, "Here's Uncle Sam!"  

Sure enough, Sam came in with more bags of foodstuffs for us.  Again, he's only bringing me about four bags of the ten he receives.  This week's bags contained a variety of both shelf stable and frozen individual fruit juices.  I got orange, apple cherry, and apple.  Dried fruits: raisins, cherry flavored craisins, craisins.  Breakfast items: individually packaged pop tarts and cereals.  Frozen honey buns, waffles, sausage biscuits.  A variety of baked chips.  Cheese sticks.  And for lunches: frozen pizza hot pockets, Uncrustable sandwiches, little rectangular shaped pizzas and shredded Bbq sandwiches, carrots, broccoli, orange slices, apple slices and whole apples.  The one mystery item is burritos.  We're thinking they are likely breakfast burritos but we're not sure.  

Last week Sam had fussed.  This week he's seen the blessing in it.  "I've decided this is just too big a thing not to be thankful for.  I don't have to even think about what to make the kids for breakfast or lunch.  I've told the kids if they're hungry they can get a snack, even if they didn't eat dinner.  Truth is I'll probably end up making a lot less food.  And the stuff I bought for summer, will keep.  We can use it come fall when this bounty is over."

What I'm foreseeing is that I will have easy meals for those days when we don't have a stove to cook with...and some for just sheer convenience right now which is lovely.  I'm glad that my son decided to embrace thankfulness with this.  I think it's important to be grateful, a key ingredient in being frugal minded!

Meals today:  breakfast: Breakfast sandwiches (using the English Muffins, scrambled eggs with ham bits and cheese

lunch:  Caleb: PBJ, cranberries, pretzels, milk

me: Chicken tender, Beans and potatoes, applesauce

John: tuna salad sandwich (which he said was too fishy.  Imagine.), watermelon, pop tarts, and a PBJ

Supper:  Tuscan Chicken Pasta, Broccoli, Flat Bread.  This was delicious and a fairly frugal recipe as well.  It used the combination of butter and whole milk to sub in for heavy whipping cream.  I'll link to this recipe and include it on my recipe blog.  I had more than enough to serve three and a toddler, set aside a portion for Katie's work lunch and freeze a 9x9 panful as well.

Between the little bit of broccoli I'd held back last week, and the broccoli packets Sam brought in today, I had more than enough to serve as a side for our supper.   When I cooked it, I made the pasta first and removed it with a slotted spoon, then slipped a metal colander with a handle into the hot boiling water.  The broccoli was cooked to perfection and still a bit crisp tender but not undercooked.  I don't know why I haven't thought to re-use pots of water before, but it certainly is nice to feel I'm getting max use out of the water I run.

Tuesday:  Though I got up a bit later this morning, I still managed to produce something.  I made blueberry muffins and a loaf of bread.  

I took leftover baked beans and made Franks and Beans for lunch.  With a slice of homemade bread, a fresh peach and an individual bag of chips it made a far more filling meal than I thought it might.

I did a full pantry inventory and organized as I went.  I am sitting pretty on jelly, black beans and tomatoes and snacks. I have a sufficient amount of rice and flour for the next couple of months, and a little more on pasta.  I've plenty of drink mix, soup, condiments. I'm holding my own in many areas and that has made me feel I'm not nearly as far behind as I'd thought in getting my stocking up done.  

John's prescriptions are ready.  I'll have Katie pick them up for us after she gets off work today.  Her job is just a mile away and the store on her way home.  It saves us an hour's driving time and gasoline.

Meals:  Venison sausage, Blueberry Muffins.  There are muffins leftover which will be used for another breakfast and possibly snacks.

Homemade Beanie Weenies, chips (from the stash I've gotten from Sam), fresh bread with butter.  Caleb had milk with his meal.

Snack: Caleb had pretzels and a 'moovie'.  I used blueberries, frozen strawberries and frozen banana slices with a bit of milk and a dash of maple syrup.   That maple syrup is the game changer.   It added just the right amount of sweetness to offset the tart berries and a depth of flavor we've not found in a smoothie before.

Spinach Strata, Turkey Bacon, Fruit Salad.  It's a good thing the rest of this meal is so cost effective because that turkey bacon is the pricey one that I think is so very good.  On sale it's about 50c a slice.  The fruit salad was made up of Granny Smith and orange slices from Sam's food bags, and the lovely big blackberries I bought at the Farmer's Market.  I had to pick over the last of the bag of spinach leaves, rinse then cook down, bread cubes from ends and pieces, and a cheese bought on sale that John hasn't touched.  I used about half of that or about 1 cup.   This Strata turned out really good and will go on my rotation to serve in the future.

I laughed as I logged time preparing all of this.  I kept thinking this morning that this might be the more time efficient meal for Wednesday night.  Nope.  It took longer than you'd imagine putting all this together even though the bread had already been prepared ahead.

Wednesday: I've forgotten to ask myself my daily questions two days this week so last night I wrestled with the idea of exactly what we'd have for breakfast this morning.  I had a vague idea of what we might do after discarding a dozen or so ideas.  Main thing being at this point in time that I didn't want to try to figure out the protein portion of the meal.  I'm low on breakfast type meats per se and really am trying to avoid doing any extra shopping, plus trying to keep our food costs a little lower.  

Up early this morning and served up our meal.  I utilized what is plentiful in the house (eggs) and a breakfast item from Sam's donations to the household.

After doing a bit of work, I emptied one island drawer and half of the baking pans section and packed those things up.  I'll still be removing more items but it's a start.

I prepped lunch after doing an inventory of sorts on the cabinet underneath the baking center.  That's the only place in the kitchen I keep food other than the one small section devoted to snack foods.  

I saved the broth drained off the can of chicken and put it in the fridge.  I'll use it as my liquid in place of water tonight when I'm making supper.

Refilled the soap dispenser in the bathroom.  I just use 1/4 bottle of Dawn and then fill the bottle with water.   Since this is a foaming dispenser this works just fine for handwashing and it's one more thing I don't have to purchase, right?

Leftovers from supper tonight, so I've thrown all the cooked items into one pan.  The plan is to make burritos or enchiladas or some such thing.  Won't do that until tomorrow most likely.  We are flat out of of milk and Caleb has made it known he's not at all fond of the shelf stable Lactose free I had pulled out to use.  I'll use it for cooking and since he likes to drink his milk I'll get him a carton tomorrow.