Thrifty Thursday: This and That

 

We had the kiddos on Saturday afternoon for just a few short hours.  Pizza was the menu, as it so often is for those three.  I had a portion of pizza dough in the freezer that I'd saved when making pizza last time they were over.  I let it thaw in the fridge overnight, set it out at room temperature about an hour prior to cooking and it rose up like a champion.

On Sunday, we went into the grocery to pick up lunch.  BAD idea.  I picked up extras.  A Carrot bar cake (reasonable) but I could have bought at least 10pounds of carrots for the price.  Sandwiches, chips.  John had said "It will be cheaper than eating out."  Uhm...NO, it was not.  But we did get two meals off the stuff so there's that.

John and I took 40 minutes and 'set to' with work.  He knocked out vacuuming while I swept the hard floors.  I knew I had two ground beef entrees on the menu, so I went ahead and browned and cooked my beef.  Both required bell pepper, onions, garlic.  I divided the meat after I browned it and the vegetables.  Then I mixed up a portion for the Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes and the rest was made into spaghetti sauce.

A couple of weeks ago at our local store they had the family sized 48-ounce jars of Prego spaghetti sauce as a special.  I opened one large jar once home and I've used it for pizza sauce, Chicken Parmigiana, Meatloaf, Pizza again and took the last of the jar to make the spaghetti sauce for this week.  I rinsed the jar with water to get the last bit of goodness from it.

We bought sub sandwiches for lunch on Sunday.  John always gets far more than we need.  He has bigger ideas about what we can eat.  As it happened, we had leftovers of sandwiches for our lunch on Monday.  

Before I left home, I got my vegetables chopped and chicken in the roasting pan and left it roasting while I was gone.  When I returned, it was just done to perfection.  I did fair with the quantity of vegetables.  We had about a pint leftover, but I think I will puree and add to soup, though it might not be this week as I'd planned.  Temperatures are moving upwards into mid-80s this week and soup seems a bit to hearty and heavy for such temperatures.  That said, the only thing I can think I'd like to make with the leftover chicken is enchiladas.  I don't have tortillas though.  Do I want to take time to make them?  A recipe I haven't used in a long while is the Pumpkin Chicken and Bean Enchiladas.

I stripped the chicken off the bone and stored it but I did not save my frame. That might sound unusual and it is but I have several frames in the freezer that I haven't used just yet and don't really have room for even one more.  I also have a quart and a half of broth in the fridge and definitely don't need more to go into the freezer.  Sometime in the future I might just go on and make it, can it and be done but right now I'm not there yet.  

On Tuesday, I made bread and hamburger buns.  I was going to make a few hot dog buns and really wanted to make bagels, but I was feeling the chiro treatment I had yesterday and decided to just keep it simple.  I used some of the leftover chicken to make chicken salad for lunch which neither Millie nor Caleb would eat.  I have a portion left that Katie may take to lunch if she wishes.  

For supper this evening, hot dogs will always work with the children, barring pizza, a request which I turned down since we just had pizza on Saturday for them.  No complaints from them.  I used the last of the French Fries for their supper, made coleslaw and baked beans for the adults in lieu of fries.   Rather than offer up soda, I usually give the children Tang, Kool-aid, or Lemonade.  They generally drink water and it's just a special treat to have one of these other type of drinks at Gramma's house.

Wednesday was a quiet day compared to what all we've done since last weekend.  It was one of those odd days in which I accomplished a great deal unhindered and then had nothing to do come afternoon but rest.  I looked through my recipe book and decided to make a pan of Gingerbread.  I can't remember which cookbook I copied this particular recipe from, but it was NOT my favorite old cookbook.  I've tried several of the Gingerbread recipes from that book with results that were often dry, or too light.  I like a dark rich Gingerbread.  This recipe is perfect in color and texture which is almost velvety and more cake-like, but I think I might boost the spices in it just a wee bit next time I make it.  No complaints from the family about it, though.

The family were all off to the Fall Festival.  No need to prepare a supper really since Katie was meeting them all there and Sam and Bess made their own hamburgers to go for the kids on the road trip over.  Pretty darned clever I thought.  The Fall Festival at church was big and had rides and slides and food trucks and lots of candy to be passed out to kids.

I ordered Caleb's costume from Target earlier in September on a flash sale for just $5.  I think it ended being $7 with taxes.  It was a cute little black skeleton set with the skeleton bones painted onto the fabric.  It was a bit too long, but we took a nice pair of sewing shears and cut the legs and arms to fit him.  I wasn't worried about hemming, just in cutting them evenly.

Today I've wandered about the yard planning my winter strategy for keeping plants.  The orchids and Christmas cactus will come indoors.  I'll cut and try to root the three different types of coleuses and the Wandering Jew and then plant them as indoor plants for now.  I'll also take up the little begonia that started out about the size of a quarter and is not about as big as a whole roll of quarters.  I like its tenacity.  The spider plants will come indoors, too.   I'll get one of those big clear bins that I've used in the past and try to winter over the Ferns, the pepper plants and the smaller hydrangea.  All the roses, hibiscus and such will be well mulched with pine straw to try and protect them from frost.  

And I've decided to start a gardening budget for next year.  I won't have as much disposable cash next year, but I can set a little aside at a time.

We ate leftovers from hot dog night for lunch.  It was a simple but delicious lunch of homemade Beanie Weenies and toasted cheese hot dog buns.   I have NOT one clue what we'll eat for supper tonight.  The things I'd most like to make I lack key ingredients to make, and these are not the sort of things you can substitute for since even the subs are missing in my kitchen at present.  

I have about an hour to make a plan and start preparing dinner...

And that's our week this week.  Not a lot of spending, which is a good thing, and not any shopping to mention, also a good thing.

How was your week?  Good bargains?  Come tell us all about them.