The Homemaker's Week of Savings: Third Week of July

 

Thursday:  Well, it shall be the third week of July by the time this one is posted, so I'll just leave that there.

This morning, I did three things right away.  Mixed up pancake batter, laid out bacon on a baking sheet for the oven and mixed Jello for afternoon snack.  

I knew I had no syrup on the shelf and not much to speak of in the fridge.  I took some frozen blueberries, about 3 cups of water, the juice of one whole lemon and 1/3 cup of sugar and boiled that hard on the stove to reduce the water.  Then I added in a small amount of cornstarch slurry to just slightly thicken it.  That was very good!  The lemon made that syrup taste sooo good!

We've switched back to Pork Bacon.  I try to purchase it when it's on a really good sale, buy low sodium, etc.  I just can't justify the cost of the Turkey Bacon in my budget any longer.  The other bonus is that I can save the bacon grease that cooks out and reuse it.  I keep a jar in the fridge and make sure to pour that grease into it once it has cooled slightly.   This is bonus seasoning.  I grew up in households with jars of bacon grease and frankly it makes me feel nostalgic to have it in the fridge once more.

I can never really call Thursday's a 'good savings' day, but they aren't spendy either.   Lunch was super easy for me with things I had on hand already: Uncrustables, chips, bananas, Tang and cookies.   The children ate well today but no surprise there.  They'd run like animals through the house all morning long and that was bound to work up their appetites.

I'm sitting here trying to decide what I'll do for supper.  John asked for Tuna Pasta salad this week.  I have however, a good bit of leftover chicken and then there's also ham from last night's supper.  I'll wager no one wants ham again after we had it for dinner last night and today's sandwiches.  I think I need to put on my thinking cap again and think about what I want to do.  I'll dust the living room while I'm thinking.  Might as well think productively.

Friday:  I did think productively yesterday afternoon.  I dusted the living room, decluttered surfaces, went into the kitchen and made supper from scratch (Tuna pasta Salad), and later that evening, once Caleb was down for the night, I took soapy water and cleaned the fridge out really well, rearranged and organized it so that foods were in the best place for them.  I threw away more than I want to tell you about, mostly bread items that I never got around to dealing with and some items that had been hidden by the surplus.  And then I mopped the floor.

This morning, John wanted to go check the lawnmower shop in Perry for mower blades.  He'd paid nearly $90 last time he bought a set and had found another set for $60.  That was a trip that paid for itself!  He was able to buy blades for his mower for just $40 and even with breakfast for me, Caleb and himself thrown in we still came out ahead on gasoline for the ride over and everything.  

On our way home, Caleb mentioned the words Bess and store in the same sentence, and I told John we'd take him by the store to see her while I picked up the onions and potatoes I knew I was out of at home.   I didn't intentionally look about, but Bess pointed out some Rib Eyes that were marked down and I picked up those.  I happened to see a buggy full of discounted items including candy bars.  One of John's favorites (Hershey with Almonds) and one of mine (Skor) were on sale for 50c each.  I was going to buy Caleb a lollipop, but the cashier discouraged me because "I have a bucketful just meant for kids and I want to give one out!"

We came home and tackled housework.   John and I ate leftovers for lunch.  I put on a loaf of bread to bake and while I'd meant to bake it in the oven this afternoon, I didn't set the machine correctly and we got a lovely crusty pale loaf of French Bread.  It's very flattering to hear the family enthusing as I remove it from the machine.  Caleb said to his Grampa, "That smells good." And it did.  John, Caleb and Katie gathered around.  The loaf never got a chance to cool as everyone wanted some of it right away.   I looked at the mere half loaf left and said to myself, "Oh well.  Making bread is cheap enough and the family enjoys it.  I'll just bake another.

This evening I've a semi-homemade meal of Teriyaki Chicken Wings, Fried Rice and Egg Rolls.  The Fried Rice and Egg Rolls were frozen bought at Dollar General this afternoon.  Yes, it was a splurge.  I didn't cook rice this week, didn't have cabbage and failed to remember I was out when I went into the grocery twice this week.   I'll give Katie credit for the Dollar General purchase.  I was going to send her to the Chinese Restaurant in the next town to pick those items up.  She said, "No.  I'll go to the dollar store."  I probably saved money, but it was still like getting takeout.  The family was all quite happy with supper except Caleb.   He did take a bite of everything without prompting, then asked for applesauce which I gave him.

Saturday:   We had planned to go out today, but the weather forecast ahead calls for rain the next 7 days and John wanted to cut Sam's lawn one more time before the rain sets in.  Since we were just planning to get haircuts and go to Lowe's to check on flooring types and possibly purchase a shower head/handle (ours has been postponed until late August in shipping), I told John we could just go tomorrow after church and do things.  We'll be in the same area anyway.

I decided today would be a good time to make a Buffalo Chicken Pizza.  I'd tentatively planned it into the menu that is as yet not written down, but I had that leftover fried chicken, blue cheese and a wee bit of celery.  Making pizza dough is nothing to me anymore.  I've done it so often that these days, I literally toss in ingredients and let the mixer knead the dough until it looks 'right'.  I used to wonder how you know when it was 'right'.  Experience is the best teacher really, far more than pictures can ever be.  Fortunately, it's fairly mild outdoors and the oven will only be on for twenty minutes or so and then I can turn it off again, so no heavy heat will build up in the house.

I've assessed the fridge and think we can have Chef salads for supper tonight since I have ham.  As Lana noted last week, it's not a matter of how many salad greens you have but how much else can you add to them that makes the salad.  I know I have lettuce, red cabbage, carrots, chickpeas, the ham, eggs and cheese.  I may have a tomato ripe enough to add in as well.  It will make a rather pretty and hefty bowl of salad, even if all the ingredients are moderate in portion.  It's the whole that becomes substantial.  I will serve along with the crusty French Bread I made in the bread machine yesterday and that will make a lovely meal, I think.

From there I have no plans to do much of anything today except rest.    I've already gone out and done my morning walk about the yard.  The tomatoes are looking absolutely done, except those that have yet to bear.  The basil that struggled so has decided to hang in there after all.  I made a Margherita pizza for Caleb from a ripe tomato, and freshly picked basil.  I think he will appreciate that more than Buffalo Chicken.

Sunday:  The flooring for the bathroom is now purchased.  We could have bought a cheaper floor, but I was looking at one of the pieces that had just been pulled from the box for display.  It had chips all along the edge.  I quickly changed my mind.  I didn't care if I was saving money over the flooring we initially chose, I just didn't want anything that I was going to regret purchasing.

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We decided to forgo purchasing any flooring for the smaller bathroom.  I told John that I've made up my mind that if we are delayed longer in getting this work done, then I'll try to purchase a vanity and flooring over the intervening time and have that installed as we're having the rest of the work done.  Otherwise, we'll probably just purchase flooring, set it aside and wait.

We went to get our hair cut.  We went to a more distant salon.  It feels more distant anyway.  It's in semi-rural area.  I timed it today and we were only actually about 10 minutes away.  But yes, it was a little further.  I went there on purpose though.  I've been fairly unhappy with my hair the last two haircuts.  I know the stylists at this place, though the same chain, are super conscientious about how they cut hair.  

We stopped at Sonic for lunch.  It was a bit hot for a drive-in lunch, but we were just that darned hungry.  We brought half our lunches home.

The rain promised for the weekend and the week ahead has dwindled to nothing.  Everything outdoors was looking wilted.  I decided to kill two birds with one stone.  I set the sprinkler up so that Caleb could play in the water and at the same time, the sprinkler watered all my plants.  It even watered me every little now and then which was rather refreshing.

For supper tonight, I made German Potatoes, with ham bits in them, fried eggs and reheated leftover peach muffins.

Monday:  I made Peanut Butter Toast for breakfast, keeping it simple and light.  I was later than I'd supposed waking this morning.  

After breakfast I went back to my room and proceeded to clear surfaces on my side of the room.  It's not that I don't mean to clean John's side but that I had some kitchen tasks I wanted to attend to today and I knew I'd get too deeply involved in my room work.  I mean to sort out drawers and such, too.  I took time to bag up some donation items that I've been accumulating.  As I cleared the top of my dresser I added a few items to it, but I'll do more in depth work later in the week.

After doing housework, I sat down to read a little bit of my book, then got up and went out to the kitchen where I mixed up Chocolate Chip Banana Nut bread. I baked in two smaller loaves, today.  I realized as I poured the batter into the pan, that I wouldn't be able to fit both in my toaster oven.  I thought I'd just use the oven.  But then I thought, "Why not go on and mix up that casserole for upper and put it in, too?"  I wanted to make good use of the oven while it was on.  

I went outdoors to hang out rugs and came back in with another tomato that had begun to blush, as well as two green onions to use in my supper casserole dish. 

Sam brought in two bags of food items today.  More carrots...Carrot cake really does seem like a real possibility!  My family also likes carrot raisin muffins with a light glaze for breakfasts.

I am very grateful for everything he brings into us.  He asked if I was getting crowded with storage and I told him, "We're using it!"  I need to be more mindful about using it and that's the truth, but we are using it.  I told John this week we'll try to focus on using these foods for lunches and breakfasts.

I went through two areas of my freezer today.  I sorted out the shelf where I put odds and ends of leftovers from meals and organized that.  I pulled out one item that I'd frozen some time ago and had that as my lunch.  It was a Lentil curry over white Basmati rice.  Quite good!  I also sorted out the fruit/vegetable bin at the bottom of the freezer and noted what I had there.

Tuesday:  Breakfast was toast and eggs for most.  I had a poptart and 1 ounce of cheese with my coffee.  

John requested Chili Mac last week.  I made the chili ahead.  I realized I didn't want a LOAD of chili mac so I served up one pint of the cooked chili with 2 cups of pasta that I boiled until just tender.  This was delicious, gave us each just enough for one bowl which was sufficient for a lunch serving.  

I prepped our supper while I was working on lunch.  I can multi-task rather well in the kitchen.  I had chicken thighs cooking in the slow cooker, made the wild rice and chopped the vegetables for our casserole for supper.  I was pretty sure we wouldn't need all the chicken, but it will be a bonus to have chicken salad later this week.

I made up a salad, but didn't want to open a new head of lettuce. I added red cabbage and some sliced carrots to my shredded lettuce.

When I took the chicken out of the slow cooker, I drained off the broth that had accumulated and put that in the fridge.  Then I stripped the chicken skin from the meat and looked at it.  I remember watching an episode of Rachel Ray's travel series, $40/day on Food Network several years ago.  She was in California and visited a Mexican restaurant that served up fried chicken skins as a filler for breakfast sandwiches.   

I looked up the nutritional info on them today and found that 1 ounce of raw chicken skin has 90 calories and 4.4 ounces of protein.  That's not too bad...I stripped any loose fat from the skin, then crisped the pieces in a pan, allowing the natural fat to render and 'fry' them.  I salted them lightly and those skins made a lovely little crispy treat.

I find myself more and more lately wondering just what the butchers do with all the bones and fat and skin they remove from chicken (and beef and pork) since we are now a nation that wants 'boneless, skinless' everything.  I remember Miss Rosie (my late father-in-law's last wife) telling me that when they butchered hogs, they made use of everything from the oink to the tail.  

This is something I noted in reading Tamar Adler's Everlasting Feast and have watched firsthand with vloggers like Three Rivers Homestead and Farmhouse on Boone.  They use the bones, the fat, broths they render from bones and such.  They use stems and leaves as well as roots of many of the plants that most only eat roots of (Beets or Radishes for instance).  It's really impressive to see how they take all of what they have and use it to provide food for their families.  

All that said, will I make it my habit to 'fry' chicken skin?  Probably not.  For one thing, I seldom cook meat in the slow cooker.  But it's nice to know that it is edible and could be a treat at times.

Tonight's supper: Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole, Asparagus, Tossed Salad.   I found the asparagus in the freezer when I was sorting out the vegetable basket in the big freezer.  I'd forgotten I had put it in the freezer back in the spring when Asparagus was so inexpensive.

Wednesday:  I had pancakes in the freezer, so I heated those in the microwave and cooked smoked sausage.  I reheated last week's Blueberry syrup since I have no more maple syrup on my shelves.

Jotted a short list of things we are absolutely out of at or need to replace soon.  Toilet paper, paper towel (glad we use so few of these), waxed paper, aluminum foil, juice, maple syrup, creamed corn, pull-ups, juice for Caleb...The list is growing.  Some of these are needed sooner rather than later.

Went over to visit Mama.  It was hot.  It was miserable.  Enough said for right now.  

I was supposed to purchase a birthday card for my oldest grandson, but completely forgot to do so.

Went into Ross for Less which is new to that area and looked specifically for shirts I thought suitable for wearing around the house, yoga capris, bath rugs.  I found two shirts.  Nothing more and that's all I looked at.  I did not allow myself to browse.  It was too hot to think of shopping, really it was.

Went up to Kroger.  I purchased fresh fruit that was on sale, went over to dairy to pick up milk, cheese, eggs, and then realized I really needed to plan for the children tomorrow.  I walked back to the front of the store to look over meats at the deli.  That was too pricey, so I went back to the case at the back of the store and found some turkey luncheon meat marked down to half price.  Went to the other side of the store to get bread.

Total for what might have easily fit three bags was shocking.   Despite not picking up any extras, nor even any of the items I was nearly or completely out of, and purchasing only what was on sale and for which I also had additional coupons, I was surprised at the total.  I left shaking my head.

Grabbed a bottle of water to piece out what water I had in the car.  I was so thirsty and so hot at that point.  I am grateful, regardless of what people will say, that I can buy water to drink instead of having to rely on sodas or juices.  Once at the car, I also got a mandarin out of the bag and took time to eat that and hydrate before driving home.

We opted to have sandwiches tonight for supper.  I had leftovers and wanted to reheat those in the microwave, but John asked for sandwiches.  Glad I bought the bread.  I can't say having sandwiches saved me any work, but everyone ate.

And that's my week.  How was yours?