My Frugal Week: March 8-14

Saturday:  I didn't make a fuss of breakfast for my visiting family.  I am assured each time they visit that they don't really eat a meal that time of day.  I set out a variety of cold boxed cereal, peanut butter, loaf bread, cream cheese and bagels, Pop Tarts (my guilty secret.  I buy pop tarts for ME, eat just one a week.  I will share with the grandchildren, lol).  Everyone was satisfied and happy and I was far more relaxed.

The parents took Daniel on a special museum visit and out to lunch. That left John, the twins and I for a meal here.  I had taken 2 pounds of hamburger from the freezer to thaw.  I used one pound to make burgers for the four of us.  I got three regular sized burgers and two toddler sized burgers from that.  The third burger was put into John's work lunch for tomorrow.

I bought burger buns, but the toddlers hardly need a big bun for a tiny burger. I used a biscuit cutter to cut loaf bread rounds that were just the size of their burger.

Coffee Chat - March In Like A Lamb

Come in, come in!  Time for coffee.  I don't know what weather is like where you are, but this past week has been  lovely for us.  I couldn't resist this outdoor coffee illustration, it's so like our own weather at present.  I'm not bragging but it couldn't possibly have been a better week to have a brand new porch to sit on.  There's a marble cake in the cake holder.  A recipe straight from a 1946 magazine and it's tasty.  I added a chocolate glaze to the top, but original recipe calls for it to be served plain.

Lovely weather was with us nearly a week and I enjoyed every minute of it. Then we plunged back down into cold which seemed three times as cold as it was also very damp misty rain wind sort of cold.  Then it all dried up this Friday and warmed up a lot.  A light sprinkling of pollen showed up on the cars, but it was nothing to sneeze at yet.  It will surely be something major in a couple of weeks but we enjoy open windows in the meantime.  I say enjoy but it's truly a necessity. I have only turned on the AC for about an hour towards evening when the heat indoors peaked what was outdoors.  As soon as we were level once more, it went off and stayed off.
 

The Modern Home Economist: Budget Home Decor

This week as I've been doing work on my own home, I thought it might be fun to not only show you my photos but share a few from vintage magazines.  Home is the essential ingredient in home economics and making home a cozy, inviting place to be while on a budget takes real skill.  That's why I intend to share so many things that would naturally be included in a home economics course.

This week I'd like to share with you our new porch.

John and I are big fans of having our coffee outdoors on summer mornings, picnics, etc.  Last year we stopped at a restaurant that had a big covered porch and we ate our lunch there.  It sparked a conversation about how much we enjoy eating al fresco, and how much we regretted the small floor space of our front porch.  We decided to think about what we could do to improve and enhance our outdoor spaces.  I started with the purchase of a nice iron table and four chairs from a flea market that went on our front patio.  We put up a big umbrella (Aldi's for $30) and that was a start but as summer came on it was just too sunny even with the umbrella.

Weekly Menu and Jobs Plan

It was a full week last week.  I finished it off feeling a little under the weather...then company came in and my under the weather went into hiding for a bit.  Who has time for feeling unwell when there are grandchildren running about?  We've really enjoyed this visit.  Most fun of all was the time the children spent outdoors running about.  They took Grandpa for a walk. Twice. lol  He got to see almost the whole of the place, I think.

We kept the twins for a few hours while the parents and oldest grandson went off on a special field trip.  I discovered that a piece of kraft paper and a piece of chalk was great fun for the twins.  It kept them occupied for about 45 minutes which is years in a toddler's life and a tired Gramma's, too!.  The next best fun we had was blowing bubbles on the front porch with all three and watching our granddaughter do her 'Bubble dance'. Gosh but this weekend flew past!

Frugal Week March 1 - 7

Saturday:  Turned on the propane heat when I got up since it was so chilly for showering without it.  It wasn't long before the propane was off though.  It warmed up early today.

Open windows from noon until well after dark.  There's a bit of pollen outdoors but no pine trees blooming yet.  This is a good thing.  I have a slight headache but no real allergy suffering yet.  In a week or two we'll no doubt have to keep windows shut for the next two months, so I'm taking advantage of fresh air and natural heating/cooling that comes in the windows.

I did renew our Netflix account after several mentioned they still send out dvd's.  They sent me a renewal offer and I get a full month free before the fee kicks in.  We received our first movie this week and watched it this morning.  It will be sent out tomorrow so the next one can be sent out.

We opened curtains (windows later) and cut off all the lights indoors, using natural light to read by.

Yesterday I picked up two frozen entree items on sale for today's dinner: chicken wings and pizza.  It cost $10 for both and there are leftovers enough for a second meal.  We couldn't have bought takeout for less than this.

Questions, Answers and Comments, Oh My!

Glenda made a comment on my first post of the month and flattered me when she said she'd spent two hours reading past posts.  You are welcome to stop by just any time Glenda.  Thirty-eight years of genealogy research!  I have thoroughly enjoyed doing this work and can see many years of pleasure from it.  I have, at the moment worked on my own family and have nearly filled a notebook with notes.  I confess that sometime I just sit and read different stories/bios from other sites as I'm researching or read excerpts from hundred year old (or older) newspapers and get lost in a different time and place as I'm doing so.

Sarah comments often and there's always a little gleaning to be gotten from her comments.  Please go read how she makes good use of pork roast/boneless chops...

The first frugal post of the month brought a number of comments, too.  Rebecca and Rhonda noted they don't strictly follow expiration dates.  Normally I'm not nearly so keen on them myself. I tend to go by smell and appearance first and second and taste, third.  I'm not inclined to throw foods away simply because they are expired by some unknown manufacturer's dating system.   However, since the baby foods were not being used in my household (I'd tried putting some in muffin batter and again in pancake batter and it didn't turn out well at all), I decided to toss the food that was expired and sent the unexpired food to my niece to use for her baby.  None of my grandbabies will be baby food eating age until those two jars are nearly a year past expiration.

Mar 2-8 Meal Plan and Job List

Italian Pepper Steak, Rice, Tossed Salad
I bought bell peppers last time we grocery shopped and they really need to be processed.  While I'm prepping them for the freezer, I'll just go ahead and use one for today's dinner.  This is a recipe Mama made up using breakfast steaks when I was young.  She made sandwiches, attempting to replicate a sandwich Daddy bought from a food vendor on base.  I morphed it to a main dish entree and it's been a favorite since my first homemaking year.  Slice steak in thin strips, brown in pan.  Remove and set aside.  Cook onion and bell pepper strips until just tender.  Put all back into pan and pour over the meat and vegetable fat free Italian dressing (I use about 1/2 for us. You'll want it 'saucy' for the rice).  Cover and cook until the meat slices are heated through.  Serve over rice.