Thrifty Thursday: A New Song

 

Friday: Today I cleared up a lot of the clutter in our bedroom and closet.  That was my big focus and made a huge difference.   I have a pile of things to go out into the shed in the next few days and then I think the room will cease to bother me so much.  I also took time to go through two boxes, retrieved pot lids and a 9x13 pan as well as my 12-cup muffin pan.  I'm calling that plenty good enough for now.

I baked bread and bagels.  The bagels aren't right at all.  I'm going to remake those, even though assures me he'll it the ones as they are.  I am pretty sure I know where I went wrong...

John generally doesn't want to eat before he performs but I know that we'll be very hungry by the time we get out of the meeting tonight at 9:30pm.  I made us a half sandwich each and insisted he eat before leaving home.  It did prevent us stopping on our way home tonight.

Saturday: We packed up donations to take with us today while we were out.  I wanted to also go by Lowe's to get soil for the other raised garden bed and a bin that I will fill and use to plant the rest of my fall crops.

John kept asking me if I needed anything more.  I assured him I was quite all right buying soil and pansies.  There's always something else I want, but I don't believe in buying too much at once for the simple reason that I want to make sure I get what I have at present attended to.  I can overwhelm myself with too much to be done.

While we were standing at checkout, John pointed out a roll of green cloth that bore the label, "Protective Frost Cover".  He suggested I might want some.  I looked it over really well, found an opening and checked.  "You know John, I'm pretty sure that's the same thing I've got at home to use as weed mat under mulch.  It's just a different color than what I have.  If it's the same, why can't I use what I have?"

At John's request, I put off grocery shopping until tomorrow.  We headed to the Mexican restaurant and had lunch.  We brought home half our entrees for a meal tomorrow.

Sunday:  Headed to the grocery right after church this morning.  The store is only about a mile from the church.  I wanted especially to shop in Kroger because they had some excellent sales on various items.  John had requested some doughnuts when I went in.  I found a half priced packaged of Sticky Buns on the bakery reduced price shelf.  

Here's what I bought and the prices, so you'll see why I purchased what I did: Russet potatoes, 40c a pound.  I bought ten pounds.  Mandarins for $3 a bag.  I bought two.  Jalapenos and Roma tomatoes, 99c/pound.

2 packages of Italian sausage $2.99 each, New York Strip steaks $9.99 a pound (family pack), cream cheese 99c a package, peanut butter 99c a jar, name brand chips $1.99 a bag, select frozen vegetables 99c a bag.  I also got Yoplait yogurt 10/$5.00.  I had a $3 off coupon, making them 20c a cup and then got an Ibotta refund of $2.50 so I made 50c on that deal.

I picked up a few more items but they weren't the things that drew me into the store.  I got coffee creamer, flowers, celery and an acorn squash, and Halloween candy to donate to the church for their Fall Festival.

We ate leftovers today for our lunch.  For supper, we'll have a Loaded Baked Potato.  

Monday:  The morning was cool enough that I decided to put the turkey in and bake it right away rather than wait.  I used a mixed of homegrown and storebought herbs that I chopped together and mixed with mayonnaise to rub the turkey breast.  It came out so nice, juicy and tender and perfectly browned.

I noted that the lettuce is up!  And I found one tiny pea as well as one tiny parsley sprout.  The autumn garden is beginning to show.  

I had a chiropractor appointment this afternoon, so I took mail out with me to post when I returned.  

I stopped at Wendy's for one of their good Frosty Cream Cold Brew coffees.  They taste every bit as good as the big-name coffee shop's coffee and cost less than half the price.  Yum!

Tuesday:  It's been a busy day today for me.  I dug the wreaths from the bin in the shed.  I'd forgotten entirely the really pretty hooked rug type Pumpkin hanging I got last year.  It's hung on the front door at present and one of the blue gingham wreaths in on the backdoor.

I noted that I had two big empty bins out there, both clear enough to qualify as a mini 'greenhouse' if I need one this winter.

I made Pumpkin Banana muffins.  I was going to make loaves but realized that I didn't pull out the smaller loaf pans, so I halved the recipe and made muffins instead.

While I was cooking a small package of cubed steak for sandwiches today, I went ahead and sliced or chopped the meat from the turkey breast.  I used reserved broth from the baking pan, gravy from supper last night and chopped meat to make Tetrazzini.  I was disappointed that the liquid was a little bit saucy.  I added water to the mixture, then put the pasta directly in that pan to cook.  I figured the pasta would absorb some of the salt.   And it did just what I'd hoped.  

Sam ran in, bringing us something called Millionaire shortbread bars which were so rich and delicious, and some Hungarian Cabbage rolls.  There seems to be enough Cabbage Rolls to make a full meal for the four of us.  I may replace one of my meal plans with these this week.

The propane gas truck came to top up our tank today.  He always puts a bit in the last week of September, before it starts to get really cool in the mornings.  The money I got back from the electric coop refund very nearly paid for all of it.  I need just $20 more.  

Wednesday:  Katie came home ill last night.  I had chicken soup in the freezer ready and she ate that for supper.  Not the cure-all she needed apparently.  She's out sick from work today.  She's been to Urgent Care today and has strep and tonsillitis, is having trouble keeping anything down.  I have instructed her to pick up some Gatorade to help reset her system and keep her hydrated when she picks up her prescriptions.  

Caleb and I went out this morning. I planted larkspur seeds, beets, and the pansies I bought last weekend.  I need to plant more beets, the yellow beans, radishes and even the mustard seed I was given the other day at church.  I plan to go look for some collard starts to put out too, but that shall wait I guess until the weekend.

Back indoors, I made up tacos for lunch, and while I was busy in the kitchen cooking one meal, I again started two more.  I mixed up the BBQ Cheddar Meatballs and started my red beans simmering with all the seasonings and such so they will be super flavorful tomorrow when we eat them.  I like to have the bulk of my supper for Thursdays made ahead, as it means if it ends being a hectic and tough day with small ones I can be more or less brain dead and still manage to put a meal on the table.

I used the Six Sisters recipe for BBQ Cheddar Meatballs.  Ruth Ann Zimmerman's simply use ketchup to top the meatballs she made.  I did make them large like she does her own.  From 1 pound ground meat I got 12 really large meatballs.  I have them in the oven now with the sauce the Six Sisters Use to make the meal.  It just sounded good to me and less like a meatloaf type sauce.

When John turned on the printer this afternoon, I told him to just leave it on when his print task was finished.  At that point, I printed out four or five recipes that we've tried and liked and will definitely be making once again.  Those are the only ones I will print out.  Some recipes don't make the cut on printing even though they are good, they just aren't something I foresee us eating frequently enough to warrant putting them on paper.

later:  Oh, these BBQ Meatballs are so good!  It's the perfect meal for a dreary cool day.  I'll definitely serve these again.   I'll either skip adding the shredded cheddar to the meatball mixture next time and perhaps top them with cheese OR I'll dice the cheese very finely, so it doesn't do the disappearing act the way the home shredded cheese does.

Thursday:  Has anything about today been frugal?  Not sure that it has!  I've got a new recipe in the slow cooker, an Apple Pudding Cake.  I found it last night scrolling around on Pinterest.  It required only things I had on hand already.  We'll see how this turns out.  If it's good, I'll share the recipe with you.

We were able to open the windows for a little bit this morning and let some fresh air into the house.

I finished filling all my bins and planters this morning. 

Cheap entertainment for the children this morning: Bubbles.  

That's my week this week, dears.  How did yours go?

Meals this week:

Herb Roasted Turkey, Mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce, stuffing.

Turkey Tetrazzini, Salad, Biscuits

BBQ Cheddar Meatballs, Mashed potatoes, Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I know that doesn't look like a week's worth of meals.  Well, it isn't.  We ate out, had leftovers and tonight's dinner is planned but not actually eaten just yet, so, not sharing that.  I tried to remember what we ate last week on Thursday and Friday but I can't.