tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75365145110908972122024-03-17T14:09:00.483-08:00The "Make Do" Homemaker: When Life Gives You Lemons...What do you do when times get tight and it seems like life just keeps handing you lemons? You deal with it as best you are able. Welcome to my life! Here you'll read about my life, such as it is, and how we're getting by and making do with what we have and hopefully seeing light at the end of the financial tunnel sometime soon!Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.comBlogger857125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-5800714639940437262024-03-15T11:45:00.001-08:002024-03-16T11:54:09.376-08:00Frugal Friday: Money Saving Weekly Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWx5xPJfuiy7vm8KDMtFWcrSrPm4_3W7V2Dl28Rs2rjalR_ikuKgo6hz6lXip2oo1n_f7_nxiYgtyX4elDdezka8i1zOZq9AVhfNJGD_cxpK_NSyA8Mws97mRRb4WLybl5hFi6BrEgmGwCfAuVn5oR54bVd0e6I-DrFQQ0tioqUuo6W1A662K7Nkydb3uv/s1244/brownsugar1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWx5xPJfuiy7vm8KDMtFWcrSrPm4_3W7V2Dl28Rs2rjalR_ikuKgo6hz6lXip2oo1n_f7_nxiYgtyX4elDdezka8i1zOZq9AVhfNJGD_cxpK_NSyA8Mws97mRRb4WLybl5hFi6BrEgmGwCfAuVn5oR54bVd0e6I-DrFQQ0tioqUuo6W1A662K7Nkydb3uv/w640-h480/brownsugar1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Money is tight. I think everyone can agree with that statement. So, this is definitely one of those posts I'm going to try and do every week to, if for no other reason, to make myself feel good about that I'm doing things to save money. I've got so many things to pay for and our budget is down to brass tacks and there really isn't anything else to cut out, so now it's going to be a matter of thinking outside the box to save the money I need to pay off bills and save up for things we need. Wish me luck...I'm going to need it.</p><p>So, here is the list of things I've done this week. Enjoy!</p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. Used points for car parts. </b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We got a notice in the mail that we had a bunch of points toward parts at the car dealership that we could use for up to 100.00 worth of free parts. My husband, while trying to replace the injectors in his car (already a REALLY spendy thing to replace), broke a small (but expensive, of course) part in the process (which, from what he was able to dig up online was a really common thing to happen when replacing the injectors). He used the points that were accumulated to get the part for free. He got it in and put into the car this last weekend and, finally, after being without a car for over a month, he was able to drive his car again.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. Used gift cards to eat out.</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We got some gift cards to Red Robin for Christmas. We are not eating out much, but when we do, we have been using the gift cards to save money.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUYzw68nf1mPCP4CdA2WEI4ah3woaWeo_C3ZG2vtmo8dM53FFu9lLB6JkVBpe0jAzLF6fuk8xSb-wt-rieohpiUVfpB0VfwJ4DH09TIiGLjkB4T8MAn4qSKlEHas1RLf1eI4OTfnQlIxdkv1GvRE6feyuef3rwWsuYfujsZpUyyN_UqzPNgprg55p4ZkGX/s1089/frugalfrolics154.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUYzw68nf1mPCP4CdA2WEI4ah3woaWeo_C3ZG2vtmo8dM53FFu9lLB6JkVBpe0jAzLF6fuk8xSb-wt-rieohpiUVfpB0VfwJ4DH09TIiGLjkB4T8MAn4qSKlEHas1RLf1eI4OTfnQlIxdkv1GvRE6feyuef3rwWsuYfujsZpUyyN_UqzPNgprg55p4ZkGX/w480-h640/frugalfrolics154.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><b style="font-family: inherit;"><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></b></p>3. Mended holes in two pairs of pants, mended a broken seam in my son’s pants, replaced a button on my husband’s work shirt.</b><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My husband managed to tear two pairs of jeans. I went around the tear with thread to seal up the edges (to avoid the material just shredding and ripping out the mending I'd done) and then, after I had the edges of the material sealed up, I sewed the sides together. Works well. Does create a kind of ugly mend, but I've found it holds the best. </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. Reused an old patch to mend hole in a pair of my jeans.</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a good frugal tip. Patches you buy at like Jo-Ann Fabrics are expensive. But, go ahead and get one for whatever hole you need to mend up. Believe me, 9 times out of 10 that patch will actually outlive the thing you are mending., so don't waste it when the item is at the end of its lifespan! I had a pair of jeans that I'd mended that finally died on me, hard, and I didn't want to waste the patch (I have a few frog patches I really like and will use on casual clothing repairs) as it was still in good shape. I carefully seam ripped off the patch and have reused it three times now and it's still going. Definitely have gotten my 3.00 out of that patch over the years.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. Moved exercise bike upstairs to get more exercise in.</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I had moved our old, very beat, exercise bike out of storage last year to try and get in more exercise, but it was sitting down in the den where I just never got chances to use it. So, I moved it into our living room to get more exercise on it. It has worked really well so far and bonus is that my son is using it too and using a bike is one of his physical therapy goals, so I'm REALLY happy I moved the bike :).</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Ran out of sour cream.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Strained some plain yogurt to use instead.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>No one noticed.</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Place a wire mesh strainer over a bowl, line it with some paper towels and then pour in some plain yogurt. Fold the paper towels lightly over the yogurt and then place the bowl in the fridge for a few hours or ever over night and just keep checking it until it is the right consistency you want. You can make it into a kind of cheese if you let it sit long enough or you can strain it until thicker and use it as a sour cream substitute. It works well.</p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4FOkrG8-eEl4J9iSOs3HIgjhK_UlouVns7z30X3iP5xI_0X5CCfwbCD-fE__TzDWgtpsfsjRjzTwJLDusU_pQCl-6Dw48iaYCozXMxI34SUqQ1Ecx14_0zWXB_GfFB8nnUy9Zb4MG_h1cOrY2upCsRCoHdpFobw8uqxieOFcl-D4r_g-yKu5n2sO9x218/s1244/brownsugar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4FOkrG8-eEl4J9iSOs3HIgjhK_UlouVns7z30X3iP5xI_0X5CCfwbCD-fE__TzDWgtpsfsjRjzTwJLDusU_pQCl-6Dw48iaYCozXMxI34SUqQ1Ecx14_0zWXB_GfFB8nnUy9Zb4MG_h1cOrY2upCsRCoHdpFobw8uqxieOFcl-D4r_g-yKu5n2sO9x218/w640-h480/brownsugar.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">7. Made brown sugar instead of buying it.</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is way easier than you may think. I was nearly out of brown sugar a while ago (if you look at the pic above you'll see vegetable stock, so I know this pic was from Thanksgiving) and I looked at the price to buy some more and went, "No way" as it was up to ridiculous amounts. Instead I bought a 4 lb bag of sugar and used a bit of molasses I had around the house to make my own brown sugar. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I put about, I'd say, 3 lbs of sugar in my mixer (be sure to go lower with the amounts if you have a less powerful mixer than mine) and then just poured in a few tablespoons of molasses at a time and mixed it into the sugar until I got the color of brown sugar I wanted. It was SO much more cost effective to do it this way. I just made some more last week to see me through a bunch more baking in the future and the nice part? It comes out moist and stays that way, if I store it in airtight container, WAY longer than the stuff I buy from the store.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>8. Shopped around way ahead of time for the prom for my daughter.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Got everything picked out and have been picking them up slowly but surely with credit card points and gift cards.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Got everything really cheap as a result, or free (in the case of her dress).</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When we picked up the injectors for my husband's car, I was able to order them from Amazon on my Amazon credit card (not ideal, but I didn't have 800.00 to slap down on injectors otherwise) and so I used those credit card rewards to pick up a prom dress for her (on sale for 27.00 and it is really nice, actually...definitely happy with it), some shoes (20.00), a purse/bag (8.00 after coupon and sale) and a mask for her masquerade ball theme for the prom. I do need to shell out money for tickets, which I've slowly budgeted for and then hopefully she can go and have fun with her boyfriend without anxiety.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>9. Doctored up canned soup to make things stretch further.</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I've turned cream of mushroom soup into Beef Stroganoff via a recipe on the Campbell's site (not great, honestly) and have made it into mushroom sauce (just make the soup with 1/2 the milk called for on the can...works well) to have over pork chops and things. </p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Tomato soup I've doctored up to make into vegetable soup with frozen veggies and it has worked okay. Add in grilled cheese sandwiches and no one complained.</p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigIqa0p44L9jlSX7igkk1DbA7TcP37BnPd4oLsp29BSYz4OdxUNuxIDAut636z1LxGIzAWrqBKz6rS_E1XKvce_pH5vpTq-0ZKInmXIHX15J1GpNPgVqmXSK3F88oNlvGvIgPbFVPM-uMnIz5ZhuiX8NNXt2qo66lQ5d6i0XS7-BnSgr8WcOl8Q2WN3RIU/s1244/frugalfrolics151.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigIqa0p44L9jlSX7igkk1DbA7TcP37BnPd4oLsp29BSYz4OdxUNuxIDAut636z1LxGIzAWrqBKz6rS_E1XKvce_pH5vpTq-0ZKInmXIHX15J1GpNPgVqmXSK3F88oNlvGvIgPbFVPM-uMnIz5ZhuiX8NNXt2qo66lQ5d6i0XS7-BnSgr8WcOl8Q2WN3RIU/w640-h480/frugalfrolics151.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">10. Made fish pancakes for a “fancy” breakfast item with the Christmas gift the son got for me years ago.</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These were just regular sourdough pancakes and then I just made them in the fish mold my son got for me years ago for Christmas. It is the only thing he's ever picked out for me for a Christmas gift, so it was kind of special for me to use it finally to make the shaped pancakes. Alvah really got a kick out of watching me make them too :). I just put them into the freezer for now and we'll eat them on the weekends. I'm planning on making up some vanilla pudding to eat with them this weekend so we have kind of a deconstructed custard filled pancake. That's about where my skill level lies right now *laugh*.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVNn79-OofHxIb_d9hgnF2_7J6g5-qQJ3hia-9hrYwxUTOmc2roaYLN4ZEKfZfCA-WKGdjJu5A1r42VLzAtLPCeHE2hlbl-_h8Nqd5e0LWpbbcacChteqqtad1gvmToE0R_qpIQq1dko5Xt-BImX-LJ-4thVyo9JV042LjZY9eHFyJV8_8HNMBBMZa8xG/s1244/frugalfrolics152.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVNn79-OofHxIb_d9hgnF2_7J6g5-qQJ3hia-9hrYwxUTOmc2roaYLN4ZEKfZfCA-WKGdjJu5A1r42VLzAtLPCeHE2hlbl-_h8Nqd5e0LWpbbcacChteqqtad1gvmToE0R_qpIQq1dko5Xt-BImX-LJ-4thVyo9JV042LjZY9eHFyJV8_8HNMBBMZa8xG/w640-h480/frugalfrolics152.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>11. Used left over beer that my husband drank a few sips of at dinner and made beer pancakes for the freezer out of it.</b></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;">I made brats and some home made soft pretzels for a special dinner for my husband and he had a rare beer with dinner. He drank, maybe, 1/4 of the bottle, so I saved the left overs (he had poured the beer into a glass to drink it, so don't be grossed out *laugh*) . I added some sparkling water to the left over beer to make the proper amount I needed for the recipe (I used <a href="https://www.backpacker.com/breakfast-recipes/beer-perfect-camp-pancakes/">this recipe</a> as it looked the easiest) and it came out pretty tasty. No beer flavor to be had that we could detect, which was good. I put these into the freezer to also eat on the weekends for my husband as he's always up before the rest of us.</p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>12. Used leftover bread and made some French toast to put into the freezer (see pic for #11 for visuals).</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Some weeks we eat through two loaves of bread in five minutes, it seems, and some weeks it just kind of sits. Last week was one of those weeks where a loaf of bread just sat. I put it into the fridge to stop it from molding and as soon as I got the chance I sliced it up and made it into French toast and put that into the freezer. I am feeling pretty good about putting up so much breakfast stuff as we were out of breakfast items in the freezer, pretty much. This helps stop my husband from picking things up for a quick breakfast multiple times a week, which definitely saves money (especially as prices continue to rise).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>13. I have also been using more home milled flour and combining it with store bought to make bread.</b> It is still a learning curve for me as I'm trying to get rise times down and things, but I've gotten a TON of wheat berries over the years from Church members who were moving and things (LDS are big on wheat berries as a main food storage staple) and am determined to start working my way through the wheat to hopefully save money compared to buying it all from the store. </p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>14. I cut my son's and husband's hair.</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">During Covid and the lockdowns, I ended up having to cut my husband's hair for work, since...well...everything was closed. I got myself a pair of hair scissors off of Amazon and <a href="https://amzn.to/3TjaiMx">this guide tool</a> (associate link there) and it has been the most invaluable thing to saving money when it comes to my husband getting his hair cut. It is easy to use and it comes with a nice handy, dandy guide to show you how to make various haircuts by showing you how short or long to cut hair in what sections. Sure, it's not a professional barber hair cut when done, I know that, but it looks nice to non-professionals. My husband has also been happy that he can get a trim whenever he needs one versus whenever he can find time to track down a barber to give him a haircut too :).</p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Saving money is definitely the name of the game this year, so here's hoping every little bit helps.</p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Hope you all are doing well and hanging in there. </p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Enjoy!</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-9082202300298309132024-03-11T10:46:00.003-08:002024-03-11T10:49:15.439-08:00Our Trip to Seward, AK (a Few Pictures), October 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpV02hjcBm3VCkL3Gpl0ih6HiR6hg1PkJb3fXkeboD45jiPwJx-Uz6cYBFjsJdnpjpXqz9WBt2BnOk-o6iYEOseWHl2I5U_hGDfNg0HdZha_t8TS9B_oGG_Aw4vii4LsN_elkDIp9XOxWpub4k1Y2g3Vb-6GSyX5BpZrH7KIxZcBI6FnR_RzXqMSmvXloN/s1169/seward1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1169" data-original-width="877" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpV02hjcBm3VCkL3Gpl0ih6HiR6hg1PkJb3fXkeboD45jiPwJx-Uz6cYBFjsJdnpjpXqz9WBt2BnOk-o6iYEOseWHl2I5U_hGDfNg0HdZha_t8TS9B_oGG_Aw4vii4LsN_elkDIp9XOxWpub4k1Y2g3Vb-6GSyX5BpZrH7KIxZcBI6FnR_RzXqMSmvXloN/w480-h640/seward1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /> Yikes, was I late sharing these. Life getting in the way and all. But, enjoy, however late they may be :). This was actually scheduled to go up last week, but I was down all weekend with my back flared up really bad and ended up getting a migraine from it, sooooo this ended up being later than I wanted it to be. But, hey, now you get a few posts this week. Bonus!! *Laugh*.<p></p><p>*********************</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Our Trip to Seward, 2023</b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I know this is really late getting shared, but I thought I’d still post up a quick post with some of our pictures we got when we went to Seward last October.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Really, you guys are getting so see my pictures from the Sea Life Center, as that was the one indoor thing we did.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The rest of the trip it rained, a lot, so all of my outdoor pictures came out looking like rain and blurry stuff in the background.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So, enjoy the pictures of the fishies and other wildlife!</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCzdIczqd3LnsONOdbEv71huvp7izeHTFxr5FtfOL86T_9y1fqY4hL9yq5vU6EZSy2u6BT22rEW4H497vMyPoIIAuyeZ8QpUSpyIabImGKJBQsMk5Di5ii0fbI8BM0YyiSc1ng7hwc0ETwxsYHMzEstFC5B_WeFoQozPyfBTKhPYpZSv4qHBtCqiiIj5j/s1089/seward8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCzdIczqd3LnsONOdbEv71huvp7izeHTFxr5FtfOL86T_9y1fqY4hL9yq5vU6EZSy2u6BT22rEW4H497vMyPoIIAuyeZ8QpUSpyIabImGKJBQsMk5Di5ii0fbI8BM0YyiSc1ng7hwc0ETwxsYHMzEstFC5B_WeFoQozPyfBTKhPYpZSv4qHBtCqiiIj5j/w480-h640/seward8.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>First, I’ll spam you with some pictures of the birds.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7fCfdQ7W4nmWbCaSo9ClwWGDIosEEC6nmKcdpLK0Q0HB1XOJvzaWqENZy3xYazghTL7eYtfr7hbIfPYXSpRVU8tSJKR9tnU0fGf-doBnC9asVro-igf6i8Xo6VlMJsM3wIK-1_fVBMjpeOR3BU4tMucJLx575lCF9ZnGqJ3UuBM1_ZD0gzp9gO_j7ciOn/s1089/seward5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7fCfdQ7W4nmWbCaSo9ClwWGDIosEEC6nmKcdpLK0Q0HB1XOJvzaWqENZy3xYazghTL7eYtfr7hbIfPYXSpRVU8tSJKR9tnU0fGf-doBnC9asVro-igf6i8Xo6VlMJsM3wIK-1_fVBMjpeOR3BU4tMucJLx575lCF9ZnGqJ3UuBM1_ZD0gzp9gO_j7ciOn/w480-h640/seward5.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My younger sister has always loved puffins, she even had a stuffed one as a child, so I took a bunch of pictures of them to send to her.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXWIci4U94FJwCbICMf1KjeQqaKZ8mnAdpYSZOzurCraXN6vywThMrvqYerdpPSI_rpGHcRU0r0fDMBhOMlmxdk6bKX5aHK6wp7o2wqOjAPodJf8XVdxdXmNHMdpWQ1kbx6FJBPdvdVz6aWnstZ7dcGsQxP9QR6TccEYexvx6harL1ggd6AWN-9RHqqzn-/s1089/seward6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXWIci4U94FJwCbICMf1KjeQqaKZ8mnAdpYSZOzurCraXN6vywThMrvqYerdpPSI_rpGHcRU0r0fDMBhOMlmxdk6bKX5aHK6wp7o2wqOjAPodJf8XVdxdXmNHMdpWQ1kbx6FJBPdvdVz6aWnstZ7dcGsQxP9QR6TccEYexvx6harL1ggd6AWN-9RHqqzn-/w480-h640/seward6.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The birds were surprisingly friendly, although I had to try and get pictures of them from a few small angles as those were the places in the exhibit that had roof overhead to shield my phone from the rain.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0HswaPxukwkwOFzMjVW6tmGeP_EsRqroKy8f0Yf9jq635UU68wjl-nEyFcKNgx0s_gJ0dv28gwnUTOTH8YZxoSB3WWLVHdhLaCHRbMgzBVr84izJs1CX2D4DrTEzBS6Fy6JkVKXgAkSp8-vqgM1gf33YkdT1dGJMfCMUFyVcbKxSX4Xdrok3ANZQpZ-f/s1089/seward4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0HswaPxukwkwOFzMjVW6tmGeP_EsRqroKy8f0Yf9jq635UU68wjl-nEyFcKNgx0s_gJ0dv28gwnUTOTH8YZxoSB3WWLVHdhLaCHRbMgzBVr84izJs1CX2D4DrTEzBS6Fy6JkVKXgAkSp8-vqgM1gf33YkdT1dGJMfCMUFyVcbKxSX4Xdrok3ANZQpZ-f/w480-h640/seward4.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One thing I wish I could have gotten a shot of was the baby seals.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">They fell in love with Alvah and followed him around the tank, constantly watching him and acting like they wanted him to play with them.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was so stinking cute!</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unfortunately, those were some of the blurry photos that came out looking like I took them under water, so that was disappointing.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRkCNV3SrMJ9zdF9vzBvmYWlh-wRuErONLus85Vpj911Prb4rgAaReV5cmTPmLXq8FdwN1Gupipt7Tvb2ylRKar_wVbLI91V6U24t_EpKHbsNcel4OM44h6vEbJRo56Pm4W6eTywuR54FQrtrSgidU4RaKFwnp4hJDPLYtH9YAouPWog_0k0O21aSIG6D/s1089/seward2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRkCNV3SrMJ9zdF9vzBvmYWlh-wRuErONLus85Vpj911Prb4rgAaReV5cmTPmLXq8FdwN1Gupipt7Tvb2ylRKar_wVbLI91V6U24t_EpKHbsNcel4OM44h6vEbJRo56Pm4W6eTywuR54FQrtrSgidU4RaKFwnp4hJDPLYtH9YAouPWog_0k0O21aSIG6D/w480-h640/seward2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>This pretty neat looking fish was hard to get a shot of as he was more interested checking out the daughter than looking at me, but I got a few shots in. </span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgakNAYlCvMF15MX7YbJvyB4GlJX4g4ngpcrOaHOERvMwEc3JB2nUJw4g63Bh-ZQpL30GtKqfGjWIMK2s0Wsjb-W2Lp_V68VtSVCKZV9oddfkQTdLE5Uof-hkdH39oaPuDm6_c1cZYCslQg1xbxtrbvn59litca7xtlFEYXZ1lEX59-B_CR_r7L33BPVXM_/s1089/seward7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgakNAYlCvMF15MX7YbJvyB4GlJX4g4ngpcrOaHOERvMwEc3JB2nUJw4g63Bh-ZQpL30GtKqfGjWIMK2s0Wsjb-W2Lp_V68VtSVCKZV9oddfkQTdLE5Uof-hkdH39oaPuDm6_c1cZYCslQg1xbxtrbvn59litca7xtlFEYXZ1lEX59-B_CR_r7L33BPVXM_/w480-h640/seward7.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>This guy got jealous (it sure did seem that way) of the other fish getting its photo taken, so kept swimming right in front of my shot and staring at me.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I laughed and took its picture and then it seemed to happily swim away.</span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIekAHiiPhvb5Yscl7b8NkUP8HoRIZBYPGtB7ERtmdZdBWg-tzmbI-IdZ420FlF2LGr0ONQ2m3-HjxSzAgdFJBcNBzQWGZhGBq08BCBvFrtQFx1YUcxa2kktfuOkrJXjNoBp18HKnl9WIelMqP0U2G1F9BMNlXTLoQorj0jFKeYbOzSwzxpFa5mp3kXZKl/s1089/seward3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIekAHiiPhvb5Yscl7b8NkUP8HoRIZBYPGtB7ERtmdZdBWg-tzmbI-IdZ420FlF2LGr0ONQ2m3-HjxSzAgdFJBcNBzQWGZhGBq08BCBvFrtQFx1YUcxa2kktfuOkrJXjNoBp18HKnl9WIelMqP0U2G1F9BMNlXTLoQorj0jFKeYbOzSwzxpFa5mp3kXZKl/w480-h640/seward3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>We drove down to a boat launch on the other side of Seward, which ended up being a lot of fun as it’s out on a spit that you have to drive to, which ended up being a neat drive to take. This was a side trip I wanted to take as I wanted to go and actually see the beach. My husband then ran into an older gentleman who lived on that side of Seward who remembered an old friend of my husband’s family. They had a blast talking to each other about people who used to live in Seward and how it used to be</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">set up and things.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">While he talked to the older gentleman, the kids and I sat and watched a really amusing squirrel that was running all over the place, but I could never get it to sit still long enough to take a picture of it.</span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>Once we got to the boat launch area we went down and walked on the beach briefly.<span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was cold and rainy that day, so I didn’t get much in the way of awesome photos, but I did find a really neat bone on the shore, left over from some sea critter’s dinner I’m sure.</span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioPCa09yYsTWy-Z2YeGR_7ne0ll9v7J_z43CNvQLXX-7c_kdk65lddvyVzJmBRTB4HJiRWLuUTqlF3XCZdEqCKU_y17uRQdJMGpT0c2hdgkcY1PknKECtzIbMaAPzqRrLeaOe0dNOsb-xh6H1kqBUoayRb_BGZMsqgjeWM49Kd5EAthWuB96jZqut2VlFK/s1089/seward9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioPCa09yYsTWy-Z2YeGR_7ne0ll9v7J_z43CNvQLXX-7c_kdk65lddvyVzJmBRTB4HJiRWLuUTqlF3XCZdEqCKU_y17uRQdJMGpT0c2hdgkcY1PknKECtzIbMaAPzqRrLeaOe0dNOsb-xh6H1kqBUoayRb_BGZMsqgjeWM49Kd5EAthWuB96jZqut2VlFK/w480-h640/seward9.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On the road trip back, I did manage to shoot a few photos from the road and was impressed those came out well.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigzYPPvfQLTuxIDpWQ3aZd3NSavUmWmBAWqNtK_DJGbWU76nPrD4X5TmlBZFm3WP4cYe657KEsfhpM360wkTIpEcsOdFeMh8SrpiY7T7RPcs_LHZkxPB89LJ9IjDRdre6cN7Fp2_Vqug7D8lzmEROoZQWNuQUN1D5K-CZYTPSW8rTHM8W7tnZMownXqabY/s1169/seward1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1169" data-original-width="877" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigzYPPvfQLTuxIDpWQ3aZd3NSavUmWmBAWqNtK_DJGbWU76nPrD4X5TmlBZFm3WP4cYe657KEsfhpM360wkTIpEcsOdFeMh8SrpiY7T7RPcs_LHZkxPB89LJ9IjDRdre6cN7Fp2_Vqug7D8lzmEROoZQWNuQUN1D5K-CZYTPSW8rTHM8W7tnZMownXqabY/w480-h640/seward1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>Overall, it was a short trip, but it was a lot of fun.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was a shame that we managed to go about a week after the town had pretty much shut down for the winter, but we still got to see a decent amount of things and the kids had a lot of fun, especially Alvah.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">He had a smile on his face the entire trip and pretty much laughed the entire drive down, which was wonderful :).</span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, there you go folks. My little photo tour of our trip to Seward. It was a lot of fun and I hope that we can take some more road trips someday, hopefully soon as Alvah had SO much fun on that trip to Seward.</span></p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-35374401268256620392024-03-02T16:03:00.003-09:002024-03-02T16:04:44.352-09:00Freezer Cooking List for January (With links)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzpXv_EeKbsx3Tb8TkU1EuoitkzADG0C_d3YLHaZgNh7H86GxxGziMENRL9g3yHxY07VmoYTXU-kqnLPnM4q2VfwEVWCUCv9fT_JhFWDVSx_242QRdjJ0Nr6bjM8JQZPeMTTEcjtEduRABUh4aCLW0bYgBxWouhH3iuUkyJiiVistSxVdsiAb7Cd_5gGWi/s1244/2024goals2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzpXv_EeKbsx3Tb8TkU1EuoitkzADG0C_d3YLHaZgNh7H86GxxGziMENRL9g3yHxY07VmoYTXU-kqnLPnM4q2VfwEVWCUCv9fT_JhFWDVSx_242QRdjJ0Nr6bjM8JQZPeMTTEcjtEduRABUh4aCLW0bYgBxWouhH3iuUkyJiiVistSxVdsiAb7Cd_5gGWi/w640-h480/2024goals2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I decided it would be a good idea to catch up on back blogging before I moved onto the recent events, so I figured I might as well start off big and share the massive list of things I started out freezer cooking with for January and into February. This list might seem overwhelming, but trust me, a bunch of stuff on the list is really easy to put together (like the marinated meats) and others are as involved as simmering some hamburger in some seasonings for a bit or putting a bunch of ingredients into a bowl, mixing them up and shaping them (like the hamburgers) to freeze and use later.</p><p>One big thing that comes in handy with doing recipes like this is clearing a flat space in your freezer where you can put even a sheet of folded up cardboard on top of things to make a flat surface to freeze things on a cookie sheet or something. I used my small block freezer in my kitchen and froze things flat on my jelly roll pan for the most part, as it fits perfectly in my freezer from end to end so it gave me a nice, even surface to freeze on AND it didn't take up a ridiculous amount of room. Experiment and do what you can, but freezing things as flat as you can when it comes to meats and things will save you a bunch of room in your freezer later as you can stack them or turn them up on end and you can store them vertically like file folders in your freezer. </p><p>So, here you go folks. Some of the recipes are from old cookbooks my husband got me (or new cookbooks with no links available), but I'll work on sharing recipes from the old cookbooks in later posts so you can make them yourself if you want :).</p><p>Enjoy!</p><p>***************</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRmKs2uke54IPtrma0fjlmi01LfrysR1NNvqyFwPqXfJ6HEjBNMp6W2kd45ywgaXRTPSu4pjYpt6VO95MvFJodRXsNa1NBQJa737JLwlcV48BTSPwe9TIwnh7zwvxQ-n5ro6mOyYWnMvUC/s1600/freezerinventory2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRmKs2uke54IPtrma0fjlmi01LfrysR1NNvqyFwPqXfJ6HEjBNMp6W2kd45ywgaXRTPSu4pjYpt6VO95MvFJodRXsNa1NBQJa737JLwlcV48BTSPwe9TIwnh7zwvxQ-n5ro6mOyYWnMvUC/s640/freezerinventory2.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p><b><u>Freezer Cooking List for January and February </u></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.craftycookbook.com/easy-freezer-friendly-korean-beef/">Freezer Friendly "Korean" Beef</a>. Haven't eaten this yet, but the meat tasted great before I threw it into the freezer, so I'm hopeful the final dish will be delicious.</li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.foodiewithfamily.com/classic-slow-cooker-cuban-pork-make-ahead-mondays-highlight/">Cuban seasoned, pork or turkey for melts/fancy sloppy Joes</a> I made this with ground pork and simmered it in the sauce for a while. It came our powerful tasting, but I'm hoping that once I defrost it and simmer it with some added water to reheat it, it will make some yummy sliders for dinner. Here's hoping!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Ground beef sauce (German)/stroganoff base</b> (from <a href="https://amzn.to/48GpfO2">German Meals at Omas Cookbook,</a> Affiliate Link). I couldn't find a good equivalent recipe online, so I linked to the cookbook I used. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.quick-german-recipes.com/best-hamburger-recipe.html">Hamburg hamburgers</a> I froze these after shaping them into 6 patties and then when I prepared them I baked them in the oven covered with marinara sauce at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. They were SPECTACULAR! I did not cover them with the breadcrumbs before baking, though :).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Meat sauce for Italian dishes</b> (just winged this one with stuff I had around the house)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://makedohomemaker.blogspot.com/2015/04/super-easy-chili.html">Chili</a> (made and froze the entire recipe. Works well).</span></li><li><a href="https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/homemade-sweet-and-sour-pork/" style="font-family: inherit;">Sweet and sour chicken</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Just mix up marinade ingredients for the pork and pour over chicken chunks instead. I used boneless, skinless, chicken thighs and used 6 of them to make the marinade. Put in freezer and then when you go to make it, defrost overnight in fridge. I then did the rest of the recipe as written but used a can of pineapple, a can of carrots and some green bell peppers I had cut up and put into the freezer for later use...those I eyeballed. Came out better with the chicken than it had with the pork the recipe called for. Will DEFINITELY be making this again!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.budgetbytes.com/easy-homemade-teriyaki-sauce-or-marinade/">Teriyaki chicken</a> (I made the marinade, poured over chicken pieces and froze. After it was defrosted I fried it in a skillet and made the terriyaki sauce to go over the top as well. It came out wonderfully...we had it a few nights ago. Will put this on the freezer rotation as well).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://carlsbadcravings.com/hawaiian-chicken/">Hawaiian chicken</a>. This has quickly become one of our favorite recipes. Just mix up the marinade, throw it in with the chicken thighs and freeze. Once defrosted you can bake it or grill it. It is great grilled, but it bakes up awesome as well (to bake I just dump it in marinade and all and bake it like that....works great). I like to serve it with a can of tropical fruit and some rice I've cooked in coconut milk for a really fancy dinner.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Schnitzel chicken </b>(pounded chicken thighs flat in gallon sized freezer bags and then just put those freezer bags into another gallon sized freezer bag. Labeled said bag and froze so I have a really easy way to make schnitzel for dinner...or chicken piccata if I have the urge. Just did this when I was making schnitzel for dinner one night.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Cream/white sauce (</b>this is from a freezer cooking cookbook my husband bought for me at a used store for Christmas that is from the 70's. I'll share the recipe in a later post if it turns out when defrosted).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Baked nine grain cereal</b> (I just looked up a freezer friendly baked oatmeal recipe and I made it with my 9 grain cereal mix instead. I'll let you know how it turns out when I bake it).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Process oranges into orange juice (made some of the oranges into cranberry relish and others I just juiced and froze in ice cube trays. I then put the cubes into some quart mason jars in the freezer so I have small amounts of orange juice should I need it for glazes or something).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://makedohomemaker.blogspot.com/2015/11/cranberry-relish.html">Cranberry relish</a> (made a bunch of this out of frozen cranberries I dug out of the depths of my freezers and the oranges in the fridge. I am going to serve it with roast chicken and things throughout the year).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Process picante sauce </b>(had a huge jar of picante sauce I got super cheap on Amazon a while back and it was approaching its expiration date. I put it into freezer containers and froze it in about 1 1/2 cup to 2 cup portions to serve with chips and things.</span></li><li><a href="https://www.theflavorbender.com/halloween-monster-cookies/" style="font-family: inherit;">Oreo cookies/monster cookies</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. I bought some black cocoa powder to make into oreo cookie applications to try and get Alvah to eat more home made food. I tried these because they had good reviews, but I have to say I was underwhelmed. My daughter liked them, Alvah wouldn't even try them, but to me they just didn't have the depth of flavor I was expecting and they did not taste like oreos. Back to the recipe drawing board.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://littlespoonfarm.com/sourdough-chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe/">Chocolate chip cookies</a>. These sourdough chocolate chip cookies are awesome. I didn't make the recipe as written, though. I just made the recipe like you would a traditional cookie recipe (cream together butter and sugar, add eggs...and sourdough starter. Then add your dry ingredients and mix again and then stir in chocolate chips...and I added the typical bag of chocolate chips to the recipe. I DID refrigerate some dough and froze some dough and both ways turned out great. Will definitely make these again.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://sugarspunrun.com/thumbprint-cookies/">Thumbprint cookies</a>. Made some and just kept at the frozen stage. Baked from frozen after putting the jam in them and they turned out great. Got a ton of jams and jellies to use up, so am putting this one into rotation.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.thespruceeats.com/easy-chocolate-ice-cream-recipe-1945798">Chocolate ice cream</a> (easy no cook recipe). This is AWESOME, so easy and scoops so easily! My family loves it.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/140877/easy-eggless-strawberry-ice-cream/">Strawberry ice cream</a> (easy, no cook and no eggs). Another awesome recipe I found. Definitely a keeper.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://leitesculinaria.com/77240/recipes-applesauce-bread.html">Applesauce bread</a>. We have found we really like applesauce bread. I had tried Jessica's Recipe at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@threerivershomestead">Three River's Homestead</a>, but wanted to try another recipe. I actually think I like Jessica's better, but this one wasn't bad.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.spendwithpennies.com/homemade-carrot-bread/">Carrot cake bread</a>. We are eating this right now, actually. I made a cream cheese frosting to go on top of it and we are eating it for desserts. I had a bunch of carrots that were going floppy in the fridge so this was a great way to use them. I didn't want to make a huge cake, so I looked up if there was a sweet bread I could make instead and this popped up. It is tasty, so I'll keep it in mind if I need to use up carrots again.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/sourdough-scones">Sourdough Cranberry scones</a>. I used the basic scone recipe, but added some canned cranberries I had in the pantry to them. I'm going to make an orange glaze to go on top of them to serve. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://copykat.com/frozen-cole-slaw/">Freezer slaw</a>. I had some coleslaw mix in the fridge. I was planning to make fried chicken and make cole slaw and use the other bag to make egg rolls in a bowl for dinner one night. And then we all got sick and took forever to get well and I could not figure out what to do with the coleslaw before it went bad. So, I looked up freezer coleslaw and this popped up. We have eaten one bag of it. It IS good! Don't get me wrong. It just does not taste like coleslaw and I don't think adding mayo to it would make it taste like coleslaw either. But, it IS a REALLY good pickled cabbage. I am putting it onto my "make it again" list because it is tasty.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.food.com/recipe/hogs-in-blankets-379718">Sausage pancake rolls</a>. My husband found he loved the pancake sausage roll things from the gas stations and it was becoming a bit of a habit. So, I looked up this recipe and saw how it would be pretty easy to adapt any pancake recipe so long as you made the pancakes a bit flatter/less fluffy by adding more liquid to them. So, I actually made a batch of my favorite <a href="https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/classic-sourdough-waffles-or-pancakes-recipe">Classic Sourdough Pancakes</a> and then made up a container of breakfast sausage links from the store. I froze the wraps on my jelly roll pan and then once frozen I wrapped each one in aluminum foil and put them into a freezer bag so he could grab one easily. His work has an air fryer available in the employee lounge so he'll reheat them in that or take them out of the foil, wrap them in some paper towels and put them in the microwave. I was able to fit two sausages per pancake and made a total of seven wraps per package of sausages. My husband LOVES these. I've already had to make another batch of them.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/classic-sourdough-waffles-or-pancakes-recipe">Pancakes</a>. I've since actually used another recipe of these to make waffles as we are pretty much out of breakfast things in the freezer.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/homemade-breakfast-bowls/">Breakfast bowls</a>. Once again for my husband. I actually make these quite often, place individual portions in quart sized freezer bags, make them flat and place them in a gallon sized freezer bag. This way my husband can grab one, break it up, place it in a bowl and microwave it for breakfast in the morning before the rest of us are up and about for the day. I made these with <a href="https://www.food.com/recipe/frozen-hash-browns-homemade-oamc-128380">homemade frozen hash browns</a> that I make and put in the freezer whenever I need to use up some potatoes. This hash brown recipe turns out great for me every time. I put the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet to freezer and then put into gallon sized freezer bags. Works great.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/the-best-soft-sourdough-pretzels">Soft pretzels</a>. I made these for a special dinner for my husband one night and it makes a ton so I froze the left overs. These turned out GREAT and are now my favorite pretzel recipe. On anything Farmhouse on Boone with sourdough, I end up making a highbred recipe and add some instant yeast to the recipe and skipping the long ferment periods. I usually add 1 to 2 tsp of yeast to a recipe so I can do a short ferment instead. It works great, still gives you a wonderful texture to your baked goods from the sourdough and works within the confines of my busy schedule.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Breakfast sandwiches.</b> I make these with some home made <a href="https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-english-muffins-recipe">Sourdough English Muffins</a> and then just add ham, egg, cheese or sausage patties and cheese and then wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. My husband will take these and microwave them at work to reheat them. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://lilluna.com/ham-n-cheese-strata/">Ham and cheese strata, 2 </a>(leftover ham, getting older eggs and leftover bread bits). I made two of them since I had a ton of sourdough bits to use up and then I poured the mixture over the ham and bread and froze them. I'll defrost them in the fridge overnight and then bake per the instructions.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/frozen-blueberry-muffins/">Frozen blueberry muffins</a>. I have made these many times before. It makes a lot, but it is a really great recipe and freezes beautifully.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Farmer’s meatloaves. </b> Another recipe from my 70's freezer cookbook. I'll definitely be sharing this recipe later. I made one of the meatloaves (I made two and froze them raw) and we had it for dinner one night. It was awesome and my daughter LOVES it. It contains vegetables in the mixture even, so is a great way to sneak more of those in.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.forgottenwayfarms.com/forgotten-way-farms-blog/pour-over-pot-pie-crust-casserole-recipe">Chicken pot pie casserole, 1</a>. This is a recipe I ran across on YouTube and is a pour over pie crust recipe for your pot pie. So, I made one of these to try.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Chicken pot pie base, 1.</b> I made just a chicken pot pie sans the upper crust in case we don't like the pour over pie crust. I figure I'll make a good old biscuit crust if the other recipe isn't to our liking.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Chicken pot pie filling, 1.</b> This I froze in a freezer bag and will use as a quick chicken and dumplings base, or a chicken pot pie filling, or just as a creamy chicken soup when I defrost it.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.shelovesbiscotti.com/homemade-quebec-maple-baked-beans-sundaysupper/">Baked beans</a>. I found a ham hock in the freezer and a ham bone, so I cooked those in a slow cooker all day, removed the meat from the bones and then I tasted the stock and Oh My GOSH! It was SO wonderful! So, I refrigerated the stock overnight. The same night I rinsed and sorted and then soaked a bunch of pinto beans, figuring I'd make ham and beans for the freezer. But, once the beans had cooked in the stock all the next day they were SO, SO good, I had to do something with them. So, I made them into good old fashioned maple baked beans (a staple of my childhood in Maine :). I just took the seasonings in the recipe I linked and added them to the beans until they tasted awesome. I then put the beans into about 2 cup portions to use as side dishes with dinners and put them in the freezer. We've eaten one container so far and they are SO good! Sure pinto beans aren't traditional baked bean fair, but you know what...doesn't matter they still taste delicious!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Chicken stock</b>, I dug out all of the chicken carcasses I had in the freezer from rotisserie and regular chickens and made a big batch of chicken stock for the freezer. Glad to have it in there and it turned out really well.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/ranch-beans/">Ranch style beans</a>. I rinsed, sorted and soaked about 6 cups of dry beans overnight in a big bowl. I then split the beans between my big slow cooker and my electric pressure cooker. In the pressure cooker I pressure cooked just plain pinto beans and salt and just made regular beans to freeze to add to soups and other dishes. The rest of the beans I placed in my slow cooker and turned into ranch style beans, which I then put into the freezer in containers to use as side dishes later. My friend in Texas turned me onto Ranch Style Beans years ago and I managed to find them and try them here and fell in love with them. So, I decided it would be nice to have them in the meal rotation.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Plain pinto beans</b> (see the Ranch Style Bean explanation above).</span></li></ul><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You'll notice a bunch of beans getting cooked around here. I got some free food storage from people who were moving a while back and then I got some gifts of beans over the years from friends and things, so I have a lot of beans in my food storage. I finally decided it was time to start using them and making my grocery budget stretch, so that's why you'll see me using a lot of beans, especially pinto beans :).</span></p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-80566376517121529632024-02-20T11:57:00.004-09:002024-02-20T19:58:20.263-09:00Goals for 2024<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijHVj_kJ6n0VOunq0GJvszEvBS5h_LFpGcfLFcjun_bme1lZiRh5iRga4H07yIwND8N3YkK71CamPimSlgHXJHYZ6YdK32UN5Zor6jkWTUsAU9pPM4KwzLxXliw0h_LKsMVEfMlSbkoQ8wBGSAJH7esUBU3FdJKZeLyXAWmnh6mjbPk4SCbwSv2YLY0U3u/s1089/2024goals1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijHVj_kJ6n0VOunq0GJvszEvBS5h_LFpGcfLFcjun_bme1lZiRh5iRga4H07yIwND8N3YkK71CamPimSlgHXJHYZ6YdK32UN5Zor6jkWTUsAU9pPM4KwzLxXliw0h_LKsMVEfMlSbkoQ8wBGSAJH7esUBU3FdJKZeLyXAWmnh6mjbPk4SCbwSv2YLY0U3u/w480-h640/2024goals1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">Hey all, </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">Just a quick note before I start our regularly scheduled posting here. Posting has been delayed, again...it's been a real cruddy start to the year when it comes to stuff breaking around here (I'll get more into that below), so we've been busy rushing here and there and to and fro trying to find parts to fix things and stuff. My plan, at this point, is to basically start posting regularly come the beginning of March. I'm going to work on getting posts buttoned up around here for the next couple of weeks and then I'm hoping to release at least one post a week starting in March. Hopefully that will get me back to, finally, being more consistent with my blog and not worrying people when I go over a month between posts. I think I got a decent start on that, so here's hoping I can keep it up. So, yeah, stay tuned and we'll see if I fail at my blogging goals again *laugh*.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />And now, onto the post!</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />*****************<br /><b><u>Goals for 2024</u></b></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b>So, 2024, so far, has started not in a fun way.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Let me just do q quick recap on that one for you…<br /><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">My washing machine stopped spinning correctly, so I end up having to spin the laundry at least twice so it is not sopping wet going into the dryer.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My husband is pretty confident that the washer is just plain worn out.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We do a lot more laundry than most folks and so we abuse our washer and dryer pretty hard, but combine that with the fact that the washer is 40 years old and…yeah…it’s tired.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Hopefully my husband can get another machine running before the current one dies.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I’m just limping it along at this point.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span>My dryer wasn’t drying well, at all, and it would take me four times putting clothes through to get them tossed in air enough to get them dry.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Turns out, for some reason that baffles us (as it has worked fine for a long while before this problem popped up), the outside dryer vent screen kept getting clogged up with lint and was choking off air to the dryer.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I finally got fed up trying to dance around 6’ snow banks out in the yard to clean it, and just removed it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I know I’ll have to watch for birds trying to make nests and things in there now, but man…I just don’t have the bandwidth to try and figure out a way around the problem other than that.<br /><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">Our snow blower started self destructing and was plain out of commission for about a week before my husband could jerry rig it to hopefully last the rest of the winter.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This has been a really snowy and cold winter in South Central Alaska.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We are breaking snowfall records, which everyone is SO thrilled about after last winter…har.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We are all just counting down the days till Spring as the plows are running out of places to put snow at this point in winter and we still have months of winter left.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Not ideal.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />My husband’s car broke down.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Hard.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We are now waiting on parts, which has been a pain and the parts weren’t cheap to begin with.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My husband is going to have to do the work himself to save money as he doesn’t want to pay the nearly 3000.00 the garages wanted to do the job.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>At least we have home visits for speech therapy so my husband has been taking my truck to work the last three weeks.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span>My kitchen faucet has just given up working right.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We’ve replaced the sprayer on the sink, twice, in the last year, and it just does not work right for very long before it will just not turn on and you have to sit there and basically beat on the faucet to get the sprayer cartridge to give you water. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So, we finally broke down and ordered a new faucet, so we’ll have to install that (it came in the mail today).</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />The top rack of my dishwasher broke due to plastic fatigue and tried to collapse onto the bottom rack of my dishwasher randomly one day.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It was a miracle nothing broke as the dishwasher was full at the time.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Trying to figure out what replacement parts to buy was a nightmare for me, but my husband figured it out and we ordered the parts. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In the meantime my husband did wonders with zip ties and managed to keep the dishwasher together until the upgraded (metal versus plastic) parts came in the mail.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Hopefully he can install the new parts this weekend and the dishwasher will be in working order again as you have to be careful when opening the dishwasher so you don’t break the zip ties.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />We walked out of a store to find our rear taillight in our truck had gotten broke while we were in the store.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The person who hit us and broke said tail light did not leave a note.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So, we have to pick up the replacement taillight today so we can install that. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span>And to top it off, I walked into my laundry room to over an inch of water on the floor, slowly draining into our floor drain and my daughter and I finally figured out it was coming from the hot water heater, more specifically the supply line pipe that comes out of the hot water heater and feeds into the wall.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It had popped a leak in the top of the pipe coming out of the wall and was spewing water EVERYWHERE.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I need up turning off the hot water completely just to help stop the gallons of water that were dripping into my laundry room super fast (I tied a dishtowel around the leak, so that it would drip instead of spew everywhere).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Thank goodness my husband was able to get that working last weekend, but it sure wasn’t a fun weekend for him for sure. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span>Anyway, it’s been a year so far.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And we are a whole two months in.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Not great.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I did decide, when I found out the Lunar New Year was this month (I think it was like the 10th), that I was going to aim for that to get my cleaning and organizing done (since we were sick at the end of December) and just aim to start the new year with the Lunar New Year instead.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I feel pretty good as I did get a bunch of stuff done in the way of cleaning and organizing before the Lunar New Year, so I’ll try and share those projects here in a later post.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />But, yeah, let’s get onto the goals I set myself for this year.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span>I have been really working on getting more organized and streamlined around here.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The goal is for a few different reasons.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>One is a reduction of stress in trying to find room for things that I need.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And two is just to be more organized so that I don’t feel like I need this or that new thing to hopefully make things work better around here and so I can hopefully save money and pay off some debt.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I still have medical bills from last year sitting on credit card, my fridge is slowly wearing out, I need to get new gutters on the house and I NEED to start getting things accomplished for the sake of my sanity if nothing else.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So, that is the basis for my goals this year.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <b> </b></span><b>Save money, pay off debt and get stuff done.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Period.</b></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />So, here are my goals as they stand at the moment.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The list isn’t super long, but trust me there is a bunch of involvement in the list, so I definitely have some stuff to share on this stuff.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_QKB-0agmuYg0BKt9Ljg0uLBm7dZnQQnJLB-CkB2LCtEvg17YWjbv1OXJD5cAY2VgCrxNpXxh6ZuMy-4HgDvMoNy6hvtuG8id_BAdKlFavSXNVgolhEVlJxAv9lvGfA5bOUIi_gb1ygQeHnbyGK-p5NWzYLShHkYDuklzQCKLTxmom-7hipNKtceK4n7/s1244/2024goals2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_QKB-0agmuYg0BKt9Ljg0uLBm7dZnQQnJLB-CkB2LCtEvg17YWjbv1OXJD5cAY2VgCrxNpXxh6ZuMy-4HgDvMoNy6hvtuG8id_BAdKlFavSXNVgolhEVlJxAv9lvGfA5bOUIi_gb1ygQeHnbyGK-p5NWzYLShHkYDuklzQCKLTxmom-7hipNKtceK4n7/w640-h480/2024goals2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><b><br /><u><br />1. Start Freezer Cooking</u></b><br /><br /><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">I have messed around with freezer cooking in the past.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I’d get enamored with the idea and would really want to try recipes this or that blogger was making (or now a days, bloggers and vloggers) and I’d make a bunch of different recipes that, honestly, most of the time my family wasn’t fond of.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But I loved the idea of simplicity in cooking, so I’d do it for a while and then just give up on it.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />This time around, I decided I needed to do freezer cooking, but for real this time and get a good system down.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My daughter has had work pick up again, my son has a speech therapist come twice a week and stuff.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My life has gotten busier and with also making all of our baked goods around here…my days are really busy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So, I wanted to make meals that I could pull out for busy nights or days where the son hasn’t slept for weeks and I’m exhausted.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So, first, I pulled up the old freezer inventory sheets I wrote up pre-2020 craziness, and went over those to see if there were things I wanted to keep from those Idas.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I then sat down and figured out what things I could prepare in advance that my family would definitely eat and added those to the list of things I wanted to make.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I also made a list of things that we had that needed to be used up (like for January I still had a bunch of pears and oranges in the fridge that my family wasn’t eating and were going to go bad, so I made sure to put those on the “make these into something” list).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And I sat down and figured out what recipes I had bookmarked in cook books or online that I had really wanted to try making and picked out the ones that were made to be frozen or could be frozen and added those to the list too. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span>I then organized my freezers to make my life easier.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My fridge freezer is where I am putting things like soups in smaller containers or sauces, as I find putting those in my upright freezer downstairs just leads to them getting shuffled and then they fall out and get broken.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And I found that the freezer containers I ordered from Amazon stack perfectly in my fridge freezer so that was a definite win on my part. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span>The small block freezer in my kitchen is for baked goods.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I put sweet breads, waffles, pancakes, bread based snacks (like pretzels) and other things in there.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This keeps the stuff on the top of the freezer from being too heavy and crushing the bread products below them.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>With all the sourdough baking I do now a days, this is important to me as I want to make sure those things are rotated, used and also protected from harm. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I also am keeping my nine grain cereal in there that I bought last year (love it, but find myself only eating it in winter, so I go through it slow), so I know what is on the bottom of the freezer and things aren’t getting lost that way.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span>The upright freezer downstairs in the laundry room is where the majority of the freezer meals are going.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It has basically become a freezer meal, frozen fruit and vegetable and butter freezer with a few other miscellaneous things in there.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I’m still working through things in the freezer, but am feeling darned good about my progress. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span>The den freezer is primarily my meat freezer now a days.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I do keep my husband’s freezer breakfast items I make in there for him to be able to easily grab something on his way out the door to go to work.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I still need to pull everything out of the den freezer and defrost it this Spring as it has gotten some pretty good ice build up on it and I am collecting boxes to use to organize the freezer better when I do that as I am determined to waste NOTHING if I can help it and the best way to rotate through everything is being able to easily find it and see what you have. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span>Also, just a disclaimer here for those thinking that I might start doing some like major freezer cooking days like you see online?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Sorry but that isn’t going to happen that I can see around here.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I’m too busy and too tired to try that.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>What I did do during January was I worked really hard to get a few things done per day if I could and just mark a few items off of my list (I’ll share my master list with links in my beginning of 2024 freezer cooking post). Also, any new recipes I try, I'll probably do a quick summary of what we thought of the recipes as we try them, not only for the curious out there on how those recipes taste, but also for me as a reference to look up at a later date :).</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">Getting into freezer cooking and keeping up on baking with more sourdough are basically my two goals for the kitchen for this year when it comes to cooking. </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">Other kitchen goals (okay, goal as there is only one):</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><u>Organize and simplify. </u></b></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">My kitchen was a deconstructed mess, or so it felt and I was getting really frustrated with it. You had to go basically into the living room to get flatware for dinner, my appliances were all over the place and my counter space is limited, so I felt like I was tripping over everything. So, I've been working really hard on getting appliances put away and out of the way unless they are in use. I gutted my hallway closet (again) and am working on getting all of my appliances into it and out of the way to free up space around the kitchen. Exceptions to this rule are the coffee maker (it has a timer so my husband has hot coffee in the morning to take to work), the electric tea kettle (I use it tons during the day to make myself cups of tea and stuff) and my mixer (weighs a ton for one and I use it nearly every day, for two). I'll share the final results when everything is done, but at least I'm making progress :).</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"> I gutted my kitchen drawers and went through things kind of ruthlessly to only keep the things I use. I have too little space to collect things I don't use. I did keep a few things that my husband bought for me and stuck those in the back of a few drawers, but between the organizing and the windfall of finding a bigger in-drawer knife block to hold all of my good kitchen knives, I was able to reorganize the drawers in such a way that I was able to put the flatware into the kitchen to make accessing it easier. It sure does make scrambling an egg easier when you can get a fork just by opening a drawer instead of having to walk around the kitchen table to get one :).</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">I did a few other things, but will share that when I finally get everything done and will work on doing a quick kitchen tour (I'm waiting on getting the kitchen faucet in right now as the kitchen is a mess because of it as I have to keep things from around the sink in the hope my husband can get the new faucet in soon).</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">I'm working on all areas of my house this year (I actually started late last year, but am still going strong) to get things just cut down, streamlined and working better. I'm tired of everything feeling cluttered no matter what I do, so it is time.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><u>Sewing Goals:</u></b></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">These goals are kind of simple, but are going to be a challenge for me to find time to do them. But, they need to be done, so I'm determined to get them done.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">1. Make tablecloths.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">I have looked and looked online and at the used stores for the last year to find more tablecloths without luck. My table was my husband's grandfather's, so I try really hard to take good care of it and with Alvah...well tablecloths are the way to go until I can redo the finish on the table and put about 20 coats of poly on the top of it to protect it. Our tablecloths are getting pretty worn, so I want to try and make some more to put into rotation. I want to use a couple of our old tablecloths that fit both our table when it is at its smallest setting and also when there is a leaf in the table as a guide and make sure I make the tablecloths oval versus rectangular. The rectangular ones work, but are a pain as I'm always folding corners up and under the tablecloth so the corners aren't dragging on the floor and looking weird, so I'm going to try my hand at making oval ones.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">2. Break down son's crash pad into chairs.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">I bought Alvah a crash pad for Christmas years ago without really thinking about how much room it would take up...I just saw it was cheap and would ship to Alaska and I knew that Alvah loved crash pads at occupational therapy, so hey, why not? It is huge, it is heavy and, most important, Alvah doesn't use it much anymore. The cover is breaking down from age and the interior pillow case that holds the memory foam panel stuffing is just gone, so I thought a interesting way to repurpose it would be to make kind of like crash chairs/bean bag like chairs out of it to save it. So, that project is on my list this year as well.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdhfssjQo-cC_qdDIPeZAa3_eCsf2dxHrTMO9-STmDo8GNy7S6R_9PV4ea8ybbGtH3EgwPhMUCPfhYmd1TRH26FOYj2ENo4gwhKkYfXh5unLxOO-L4lFmsFaeT-2H1ZIzzzm-s2eDQp1KHhk3xNXdD5xFguVNRhx7WgiaKtUcnIu2YSt0UueA2saRMsOaJ/s1244/frugalfrolics44.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdhfssjQo-cC_qdDIPeZAa3_eCsf2dxHrTMO9-STmDo8GNy7S6R_9PV4ea8ybbGtH3EgwPhMUCPfhYmd1TRH26FOYj2ENo4gwhKkYfXh5unLxOO-L4lFmsFaeT-2H1ZIzzzm-s2eDQp1KHhk3xNXdD5xFguVNRhx7WgiaKtUcnIu2YSt0UueA2saRMsOaJ/w640-h480/frugalfrolics44.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><u>Garden Goals:</u></b></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">This I am actually quite excited about. The big breakthrough on the garden front this year is that the dump has finally raised their prices enough that getting weekly garbage pick up was basically the same price as doing our own garbage drops, so we signed up for garbage service for the first time in over a decade. It is great having the garbage get picked up every week now, it saves my poor husband time and physical exertion (doing the garbage was really starting to kill him as he gets older and with the snowfalls this winter...it's been awful) and, the big one for the garden, I got rid of all of the garbage cans that were on my deck taking up space AND it stops my husband from having to dance around the old garden beds to haul the garbage cans. So, my husband actually brought up the idea to start planting in the old garden beds again and he can now put up fencing to keep the animals out since he doesn't have to worry about the garbage anymore! </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">I took about 300.00 out of our tax return and decided to invest it in our deck and garden for more enjoyment during the summers as really, so far, we haven't been able to get much enjoyment out of our deck...I mean it's been over 10 years since we moved here...it's time to use the darned deck. So, I bought <a href="https://amzn.to/48obOlJ">these planters (Affiliate Link!)</a>, 2 of them, to put around the deck. I decided on these to try and stop the planters from leaving wet spots on the deck that don't dry out and can lead to rot on the deck. Once the deck gets refinished this summer (I hope the weather allows it this summer), I want to protect it from harm, so I'm hoping these beds will help to accomplish that. This will also, hopefully, be easier on my back and I can wheel them around if I need to, to protect them from falling hail or something. </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi75svWcNgnHcs2nVNfnZF4XkuI-CxruQU01U2kjtsmZn7yAwjPY3H0DpXUGsNQNfTjaBs5IFai7eVJYs3MSbP04lCF6bqfhkSK0zYLRjA2SctZZ-p3weGG5b0WfxB5gGItqgaQFCzeRG8oUC-dAw5UZuUUJ7T9HJD0MIWj4W1lv2EsgBDjXsTsI_XhjJH5/s1244/frugalfrolics40.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi75svWcNgnHcs2nVNfnZF4XkuI-CxruQU01U2kjtsmZn7yAwjPY3H0DpXUGsNQNfTjaBs5IFai7eVJYs3MSbP04lCF6bqfhkSK0zYLRjA2SctZZ-p3weGG5b0WfxB5gGItqgaQFCzeRG8oUC-dAw5UZuUUJ7T9HJD0MIWj4W1lv2EsgBDjXsTsI_XhjJH5/w640-h480/frugalfrolics40.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"> I'm not sure what I'm planting yet, except tomatoes are definitely on the list. I want to plant yet more patio tomatoes this year. I didn't get many ripe tomatoes last year, but the green tomatoes made really good relish and <a href="https://lovelygreens.com/spicy-green-tomato-chutney/">chutney</a> (green tomato chutney has been awesome in cooking!!!), so red or green tomatoes...I'll take them this year. I also broke down and got a second set of <a href="https://amzn.to/3SGsM9g">patio furniture (affiliate link)</a> so we'll have four places to sit out on the deck for all of us. My son loved sitting in the one set last year, so I'm hoping with four chairs we can all enjoy the deck this year.</span><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I used the rest of the money I had taken from the tax return and bought some random things I needed for the kitchen (pot holders, another ice cream scoop, another pizza cutter, things like that) and do not regret doing it. Hopefully all of the parts from the planters are in the box or that could get interesting later on since the return window would definitely be closed by that point. Here's hoping!</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">My only financial goal this year is to pay down debt and pay off bills, so I don't see the point in doing a different section for that. Here's hoping I can get things done on that front.</span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">And there you go folks. My basic goals for this year. I'm really determined to get these things accomplished this year, so hopefully I can get it all done. </span></div><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">How about you? Any goals for 2024?</span></div><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-60737544601700239802024-01-03T16:46:00.003-09:002024-01-03T16:46:32.947-09:00First Grocery Haul of 2024<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMKTqBMTuAXZTiNXXG2cOPcxgSQtKFYCAqt3e_BwDphI7huft22pqCjQl9N1_tmVtt00GS5ZXNaEkrc46YCxTvdH0lz04pATGNjZnzL9Bwj7RqqszNEDrH5hFJV-UrswhjhFQz0Z0Wg8O9RN-0mdOzFEr5URwCBGEX6hW8SGmbXDM41AZcI5R3hKWMar5/s1244/groceryshop1-2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMKTqBMTuAXZTiNXXG2cOPcxgSQtKFYCAqt3e_BwDphI7huft22pqCjQl9N1_tmVtt00GS5ZXNaEkrc46YCxTvdH0lz04pATGNjZnzL9Bwj7RqqszNEDrH5hFJV-UrswhjhFQz0Z0Wg8O9RN-0mdOzFEr5URwCBGEX6hW8SGmbXDM41AZcI5R3hKWMar5/w640-h480/groceryshop1-2024.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Happy, belated, Holidays and Happy (late) New Year everyone!</p><p>I had plans to blog some more coming up to Christmas and the holiday season, but my husband brought home the flu right before he got off for Christmas vacation and he and I ended up horribly sick (my husband and I did not get flu shots yet, which my husband especially regretted as he got it the worst of all of us) for the entire holiday season, which, to put it bluntly, sucked. We managed to get the gifts unwrapped on Christmas, I made lasagna and beef roast for Christmas Eve and Christmas and that was about it for holiday celebrations. The kids got sick, but to a much lesser extent than we did (yay flu vaccines), but they are both still tiring easily still. I have about one thing in me a day before my energy levels just bottom out right now, but at least I'm finally getting a sense of smell and taste back, which makes eating a lot more enjoyable and I got enough energy out of myself day before yesterday to get the laundry caught up (HUGE project after being sick for so long). Hopefully I can keep the cough at bay as I'm actively fighting it and trying to stop it from giving me the creeping crud for the remainder of the winter. Despite being sick, somehow I managed to keep cooking and getting food on the table for everyone (yay me), which saved us a ton of money that we didn't spend eating out or getting delivery. I just postponed my birthday cake for a later date as I didn't feel like making a cake I couldn't enjoy, so I'm hoping that I can maybe make that this weekend and be able to eat it and actually taste it. </p><p>I managed to go and get grocery shopping done for the next couple of weeks yesterday, so I thought I'd share what my grocery haul looked like (well part of it...I didn't take pictures of Alvah's food, a box of wet cat food and a bag of frozen cod fillets....that stuff was already in the freezer or put away). I do have blog posts lined up, some even half done (yay for progress!) and I actually figured out a few goals for this year that I'll share here, hopefully soon (I'm not making plans other than getting well and doing what I feel up to at this point), but watch for a hint on one of my goals for this year when I go over the shopping haul (ooooo!!! Excitement!!! *Laugh*).</p><p>So, without further ado, let's get to it!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizrKGEH2LrcjZTut3Qx74-DPpS1EVydC9v0QZqeUeo7XY3Ol8CG5DeMOYv6PYPTjQwvZm1MHg4dC_3tAubrWym4kB-8CIrAGsBAOiqUHDVDZSxuv_KRiWg4DqhU-8v7UGJjTdkiCFTjBcbCUyzE-E4qeBTyBMcIGo0sZMtqpR4TdKrLAyYV7f9-bDxXRjR/s1244/groceryshop1-2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizrKGEH2LrcjZTut3Qx74-DPpS1EVydC9v0QZqeUeo7XY3Ol8CG5DeMOYv6PYPTjQwvZm1MHg4dC_3tAubrWym4kB-8CIrAGsBAOiqUHDVDZSxuv_KRiWg4DqhU-8v7UGJjTdkiCFTjBcbCUyzE-E4qeBTyBMcIGo0sZMtqpR4TdKrLAyYV7f9-bDxXRjR/w640-h480/groceryshop1-2024.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>So, including what is above there and also Alvah's food and the aforementioned cat food and cod fillets, I spent a total of <b>233.01 after taxes, fees and the like</b>. I still have to pick up cheese at Three Bears (local Costco-like bulk store) and milk later on and I had to order a box of Zyrtec for Alvah from Amazon as Carrs was out of the dissolvable tablets (the only ones Alvah can take), so I'll probably be getting close to my usual 300.00 grocery budget for the next couple of weeks when those things are picked up/received.</p><p>You'll notice a lack of produce on the table. Reasons for that are simple. During sick time we didn't eat much at all, including produce and before the Christmas holiday Carrs had apples, oranges and pears on sale for 1.25 lb, which is UNHEARD of cheap, especially for this time of year, so I ended up buying a lot, so we still have fruit to go through around here. Also, I still have a bag of salad I bought last grocery trip that is still good and hasn't been used yet. I also have a few bags of coleslaw mix I bought as well that are still hanging in there in the fridge, so I'm going to work hard to use up the produce that is already in the fridge the next couple of weeks.</p><p>There are substitutions that Carrs put into my order as I guess they were out of the things I asked for, so I'll highlight those as I get to them.</p><p>Breaking it down by the numbers I got...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1T0mHIAp95-KZaFP_JJ0ujpGNzuYdJ1-NCYfEAL8IDbZnMFYWwwC8R2uNr482qSwEgWC_vc_HH_5bJdUY3URI6Q-ggKJ0O85NvYK8kCM6n4Tf_k0jwdp_brjSIaN11ycCJ8cK4IOlCxGZbJTVo2TIwn9u4qzRjgutrzoKz_IiNeVRu2rBpyt-MVhNKon/s1244/groceryshop1a-2023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1T0mHIAp95-KZaFP_JJ0ujpGNzuYdJ1-NCYfEAL8IDbZnMFYWwwC8R2uNr482qSwEgWC_vc_HH_5bJdUY3URI6Q-ggKJ0O85NvYK8kCM6n4Tf_k0jwdp_brjSIaN11ycCJ8cK4IOlCxGZbJTVo2TIwn9u4qzRjgutrzoKz_IiNeVRu2rBpyt-MVhNKon/w640-h480/groceryshop1a-2023.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>1. Three packages of boneless, skinless, chicken thighs. One of my goals this year is to do more freezer cooking, so these will be used partially for that. I got these on sale for 3.49 lb and on top of that I redeemed some fuel rewards (we weren't using them because of the aforementioned sickness, so I wanted to use them before they expired) for 7.00 off meat, so that took off a bit from each package as well. Also, they had a sale that if you spent 50.00 you got 10.00 off your shopping trip, so that took off some cost as well (on everything, so if you notice weird pricing that would be why). I paid right around 8.17 for each of them.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhru60u71K90HhiBOI2Jig2aIS2aouiViLNydj6_gAuDNYRFkUky7GLVYqIT7eT-qfbP8qlNR9Dl-Wtw_eF14hXFKHnWUX33_J9lBAZU83-Pq2hOqRHzVRcV6wkeBJNw_MNa-XTMPUkCnGivv0QZUbNh2OFiYd0lyCACPQctSgd0F3NxLoL6lf6Kqe8NqTw/s1244/groceryshop1b-2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhru60u71K90HhiBOI2Jig2aIS2aouiViLNydj6_gAuDNYRFkUky7GLVYqIT7eT-qfbP8qlNR9Dl-Wtw_eF14hXFKHnWUX33_J9lBAZU83-Pq2hOqRHzVRcV6wkeBJNw_MNa-XTMPUkCnGivv0QZUbNh2OFiYd0lyCACPQctSgd0F3NxLoL6lf6Kqe8NqTw/w640-h480/groceryshop1b-2024.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>2. Next up is two dozen eggs, which I ordered the regular store brand eggs and they subbed out the Eggland's Best eggs at no additional cost, so that was 4.01 for the two dozen (I had a personalized price on the eggs). </p><p>The Sheba cat food was free with a digital coupon, so hopefully my cats will eat it. </p><p>The ham is my daughter's preferred for sandwiches and we use it as a sub for Canadian bacon on pizzas on pizza night too. That cost me 4.99 after a sale and personalized price on the item. </p><p>The tortillas were such a disappointment to me. Tortillas went crazy in price, so I ordered the street taco tortillas as they were on sale and when I got them could see why they were only 3.82 as they are smaller than corn tortillas. We'll be having mini-tacos one night in the next couple of weeks and I'll be trying my hand at making tortillas here soon.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8_C2FmTSP2bQeqExqpxMVpkcCG2EE07njhsRf-o4eHYc4ltTrvk_alvZZOLUDtWTEwSw3ATBPXwrj6p_DHONVFqx-e5iAi9p94W48K1yQUE4lAUY8M9CKbOq8-8Pk6kEl1_gPRJ-Nq-RBsTc6hcBJtbaYlgWSNjALJRyT46Qi9ukuD0Oi1-nv4FHt-Tm/s1244/groceryshop1c-2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8_C2FmTSP2bQeqExqpxMVpkcCG2EE07njhsRf-o4eHYc4ltTrvk_alvZZOLUDtWTEwSw3ATBPXwrj6p_DHONVFqx-e5iAi9p94W48K1yQUE4lAUY8M9CKbOq8-8Pk6kEl1_gPRJ-Nq-RBsTc6hcBJtbaYlgWSNjALJRyT46Qi9ukuD0Oi1-nv4FHt-Tm/w640-h480/groceryshop1c-2024.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>3. Next up is a box of sandwich bags as I needed them. 3.82 for those.</p><p>I also got two bags of unbleached all purpose flour as I go through about a bag a week between baking bread and other baking projects. 6.19 for the two of those after a personalized price on flour for the week.</p><p>The Provolone cheese was for sandwiches I wanted to make. 2.64 on sale.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5SD8P6emSGyH8hAFs1YAFOs68BQ5GbPtPbr3XrH-zBqby0iKwYJZ121qe56tBiC433-Flkk71VDcT_2dB1671RvP7NIwePvErcZJUknOzgvUMnrXsnFbsDCe-29ZWm9gcCJkT5cIhlZ8CWOjWjk72iqEPi7qojf1UfSwPD7tu_o6WDJ-Ov_DqFChrmOmO/s1244/groceryshop1d-2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5SD8P6emSGyH8hAFs1YAFOs68BQ5GbPtPbr3XrH-zBqby0iKwYJZ121qe56tBiC433-Flkk71VDcT_2dB1671RvP7NIwePvErcZJUknOzgvUMnrXsnFbsDCe-29ZWm9gcCJkT5cIhlZ8CWOjWjk72iqEPi7qojf1UfSwPD7tu_o6WDJ-Ov_DqFChrmOmO/w640-h480/groceryshop1d-2024.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>4. The deodorant was for me as I am nearly out, 5.26 for that (and that was a cheap deodorant!!! My brain seized a bit when I saw those prices).</p><p>The vitamins my daughter needed and were on sale Buy 1 Get 1 Free, so 18.17 for the both of them.</p><p>The Parmesan cheese is something I buy every shopping trip. My son eats that on pasta, as a topping for bread sticks and such, so we go through quite a bit. 9.56 for that.</p><p>2 things of heavy cream. My husband uses cream in his coffee every day for work and I am also hoping to use some of it to make some ice cream in the next bit. 10.43 for both of those (I had a personalized price on these as well as the money off basket sale).</p><p>2, 1/2 gallons of 2% milk (they were out of whole milk, so subbed out the 2% instead). These were on sale for CHEAP so ended up spending 3.54 for both of them. These are something else I bought for freezer cooking as I prefer to use our nice, expensive, local milk for drinking as much as possible.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAReqUP-3K92qJSI-UVl5VATklC4jPZy-lCb9a_dUkyNn6mFRnGAry4p1gzEZM0t29b0lE_bXgBt_6vs8VDPj5dN3OdFvj-BnmzvCXwiaCMOc-SnDWlmG2aMRzGN4Jqj9-kumUbqjIuu0AUR0wf1drcPUm2J5eTxuZmJnBku7gltVKmzd8Mozr1jCY-MM8/s1244/groceryshop1e-2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAReqUP-3K92qJSI-UVl5VATklC4jPZy-lCb9a_dUkyNn6mFRnGAry4p1gzEZM0t29b0lE_bXgBt_6vs8VDPj5dN3OdFvj-BnmzvCXwiaCMOc-SnDWlmG2aMRzGN4Jqj9-kumUbqjIuu0AUR0wf1drcPUm2J5eTxuZmJnBku7gltVKmzd8Mozr1jCY-MM8/w640-h480/groceryshop1e-2024.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>5. 4 cans of sliced olives. These were substitutes for the Carrs brand olives. I had ordered three of one type of olive (ended up being 7.16 for those three) and I had ordered some chopped olives to try as they came with more in them, but they didn't have those so they gave me one more can of the sliced olives for 2.39 instead. We use these on pizza for pizza night and the daughter likes to have sliced olives on her ham sandwiches as well.</p><p>All Free and Clear laundry pods were 16.22 after a sale and a 1.00/1 digital coupon. These I got just to have one container ahead as I just opened my last container.</p><p>Cascade powder, 7.73. I had a personalized price on Cascade for the week, so I got it for cheaper than normal price.</p><p>And there you go folks. The prices I spent this week for groceries (well some of them anyway :). Stay tuned to see what I do with some of the stuff for a freezer cooking day (hoping to do it this weekend) and getting some stuff into my freezer to make my life easier when it comes to cooking when I'm busy :).</p><p>Hope you all had a great holiday season. Enjoy!</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-80266669906448348742023-12-20T13:23:00.004-09:002023-12-20T13:23:54.484-09:00Christmas 2023, Gift 4: Sourdough Bread<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3JO0NAZLU-WUIV0igddkHbzepLQ8MxdIE-b_iTn2FhSl2R5pfH8jr5DKLvSmcmZBQ_QvjA7sqXtnE7PIn6GsNDE2FvznmH3RqqIeP_r8sTTDHkS_emo-9hUfrIabm0EOl8JjOtB-OmUV94zJCt5_DCcDULsWsFgBNgUoz6ksNZXY95Z4QZ1CYsCis6hb/s1244/christmas2023-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3JO0NAZLU-WUIV0igddkHbzepLQ8MxdIE-b_iTn2FhSl2R5pfH8jr5DKLvSmcmZBQ_QvjA7sqXtnE7PIn6GsNDE2FvznmH3RqqIeP_r8sTTDHkS_emo-9hUfrIabm0EOl8JjOtB-OmUV94zJCt5_DCcDULsWsFgBNgUoz6ksNZXY95Z4QZ1CYsCis6hb/w640-h480/christmas2023-7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Today's gift is the bulk of the gifts I am giving this year. Immediate family is getting a loaf of sourdough bread per household this year as I want to spread the sourdough love :). Sourdough starter, to me, has become as precious as any precious metal people can name. Sourdough really is the best bread. I've tried so many recipes over the years, but once I started baking with sourdough I'm not going back to other methods of baking bread if I can help it. </p><p>I use <a href="https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/rustic-sourdough-bread-recipe">King Arthur Flour's Rustic Sourdough Bread Recipe</a>, but a while ago I made a change to the method because the original recipe has you bake it in the oven on sheet pans, which works, don't get me wrong, but I prefer the dutch oven method of baking sourdough as it gives a superior product. After the bread has gone through it's first initial rise, I get two bowls and place parchment paper in them and then form the dough into two circular loaves and place in the bowls (I use my kitchen scale, I will readily admit, to make sure the loaves are pretty much the same size) and then set a timer for 1/2 an hour for the bread to rise in the bowls (cover bowls with plastic wrap or a damp towel). </p><p>While the bread is rising, I place two 3 quart cast iron dutch ovens in the oven to heat up while the oven preheats to 425 F. After the 1/2 an hour is up and the bread has risen, I score the top of the loaves with a knife (I like to just do a good old "x" on the top). Remove the dutch ovens from the oven and place on the stovetop, carefully removing the lids (be careful to remember that those suckers are now 425 degrees so you don't get burned...I've heard horror stories). Then I lift the bread, parchment paper and all (lift by the parchment paper) and CAREFULLY place the loaves of bread into the dutch ovens. Place the lids back on the dutch ovens and put back into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes and then remove the lids. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove dutch ovens from oven and then remove the bread carefully from the dutch ovens (I lift them by the parchment paper) and place on cooling racks to cool (remove the parchment paper after you get them onto the cooling rack). Wait for the bread to cool for at least an hour before you cut into it for the best results (confession: A lot of times we make it about 20 minutes and then start slicing into it). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhejZxEPaFMo9NulaBXTFPKTMQN58Mf2_pZoBceTkEaUzo-l8zCIQTGNJpa255wZU9lDvQ57loGrdtR7vfgGX6n2jIeQfAUz6ejmzhifg6fs-jkEmYSeMi7HcGn0mWATQY0uPmjacAxt3ckn_Fs4n2M6aPQLsAuz9SAKLleHuXJyN-N2J6sBa-bnVxXYBKf/s1244/christmas2023-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhejZxEPaFMo9NulaBXTFPKTMQN58Mf2_pZoBceTkEaUzo-l8zCIQTGNJpa255wZU9lDvQ57loGrdtR7vfgGX6n2jIeQfAUz6ejmzhifg6fs-jkEmYSeMi7HcGn0mWATQY0uPmjacAxt3ckn_Fs4n2M6aPQLsAuz9SAKLleHuXJyN-N2J6sBa-bnVxXYBKf/w640-h480/christmas2023-8.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I don't do large scale sourdough starter, so baking sourdough loaves for everyone has actually taken a decent amount of time this year. I'd use a cup of sourdough starter, feed my starter, wait for it to get happy and then put back into the fridge until the next day, put the starter out on the counter to get warm and happy and start the whole process over again. After the loaves cooled I placed them in heavy duty bread bags, I use <a href="https://amzn.to/41yFevD">these</a> (affiliate link!) as they are the best bags I have found that help to keep the bread safe and fresh and used the ties that came with the bags to seal them. I then just stuck all of the loaves, as I made them, into the freezer for Christmas Day (so they don't have time to mold before than or get stale). I hope the family likes them as sourdough really is a labor of love :).</p><p>So, yeah, pics are of a couple of rounds of sourdough I'd done right before I went to put them into the freezer. I only have one more round of sourdough products to make and I'm done with Christmas gifts (woohoo!).</p><p>Enjoy all!</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-18011528407623971622023-12-19T10:29:00.001-09:002023-12-19T10:29:28.326-09:00Christmas 2023, Gift 3: Crocheted Christmas Tree Ornament<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5kkZujVNXqdyJ8P6P-ML7SDnMJft9HeUlBmXLsT14xJiQ7v_Dlz-8xWvD374caFq2E52uxG11hRtmcrhB8GwVsG1vzHryO9TxO5wVhcJt-x6TJvCiy_YLzIsuEUt-aPs6zAaxqmXosyHVm2Dynoj34rL80-smAZ1M7OdE0wMF8MW7WvNdnGhn30pMWHt/s1244/christmas2023-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5kkZujVNXqdyJ8P6P-ML7SDnMJft9HeUlBmXLsT14xJiQ7v_Dlz-8xWvD374caFq2E52uxG11hRtmcrhB8GwVsG1vzHryO9TxO5wVhcJt-x6TJvCiy_YLzIsuEUt-aPs6zAaxqmXosyHVm2Dynoj34rL80-smAZ1M7OdE0wMF8MW7WvNdnGhn30pMWHt/w640-h480/christmas2023-5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I can't take credit for this gift idea. I saw an ornament like this on Pinterest and thought it looked cute, easy and quick. And I was right on all accounts!</p><p>If you can knit a long row of stitches and bind off or you can crochet a single chain of stitches with any type of yarn you like, you can make these.</p><p>I just took a chunky yarn I had, crocheted a straight line and as I went I kept folding the chain I'd done over itself in a wavy type of line to make the Christmas tree. When I had it the length I wanted (and the tree was big enough for my tastes), I finished the chain, tied off, and then went to work with the line I made. I took another type of yarn I had in my stores in brown and then I made the Christmas tree on a flat surface so it was all lined up right. I then took my crochet hook and went down through the tree in the middle so the hook came out of the middle of the bottom "branch" of the tree. I then cut a length of my brown yarn so it was a decently long amount (better safe than sorry, I say) and knotted one end well so it wouldn't slip through the crocheted stitches that made up the tree. I then just started slowly pulling the crochet hook back through the tree with the brown yarn in tow. I'd stop between every layer and carefully put my crochet hook down (with the rest of the tree still on it) while I knotted the brown yarn in between the layers to create a "trunk" for the tree. From what I saw on Pinterest you could also use beads for this, but I couldn't find my beads, so I just went with good old knots instead. Once all the layers were done, the tree was essentially knotted together and done, but the ends of the tree looked weird just kind of hanging out in space, so I took a bit more green yarn and tied the hanging ends onto the branch above or below to make it look better. I then crocheted a little trunk for the tree (not necessary if you aren't experienced enough to do that) and then tied a hanging piece of yarn to it and voila! Tree ornament!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfcfYUZcSOrob5o727th9FyoM4XTJh1jDMArfXLKWJB3q0mmBVZamGCA58-H80P_30ZOLYx8imM9jZWBopx46WzzzJ04G2ZInpxkzt_zAbrdKJFJA8aMeWP-mtBVP5It42P9kAx7_Z8YcsLNCeVUKPrl6UMkXYD0-nc40CNT2mih1AofhfLo8GUaFcw0oq/s1244/christmas2023-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfcfYUZcSOrob5o727th9FyoM4XTJh1jDMArfXLKWJB3q0mmBVZamGCA58-H80P_30ZOLYx8imM9jZWBopx46WzzzJ04G2ZInpxkzt_zAbrdKJFJA8aMeWP-mtBVP5It42P9kAx7_Z8YcsLNCeVUKPrl6UMkXYD0-nc40CNT2mih1AofhfLo8GUaFcw0oq/w640-h480/christmas2023-6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The time this took was nothing, honestly, as I'm decently fast at crochet now a days. The biggest thing I had problems with was the green yarn LOVED to fray and separate on me, so I was having to be slow and careful to pull the yarn through the center of the tree. Overall, though, I think it turned out cute and didn't take up a lot of time. This went into a gift box with some of the cinnamon applesauce ornaments and another gift done! Yay!</p><p>I am sure there are more in depth patterns for these online if you do a quick search. I just eyeballed mine.</p><p>Enjoy!</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-63197432205478723182023-12-15T10:59:00.007-09:002023-12-15T10:59:45.055-09:00Christmas 2023, Gift Two: Roasted Candied Nuts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh07zh6beeafzdFoEJg63bszcGxSPnFK12IAdUL03uSycVNV1Ct5t2grqX9VTSxjJZkEl4uKLIlhhRomY3Tkp3vOecIV_mX8ZHhD6XOrbyuB7cnxFVPA9spHWbro1DE62rcbxrCX7hjZzYCsTTd-wEETeX9zK7BZwls43evqGPJcae7EX71fG5NNaQoRRV/s1244/christmas2023-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh07zh6beeafzdFoEJg63bszcGxSPnFK12IAdUL03uSycVNV1Ct5t2grqX9VTSxjJZkEl4uKLIlhhRomY3Tkp3vOecIV_mX8ZHhD6XOrbyuB7cnxFVPA9spHWbro1DE62rcbxrCX7hjZzYCsTTd-wEETeX9zK7BZwls43evqGPJcae7EX71fG5NNaQoRRV/w640-h480/christmas2023-4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>This is a recipe that I made up years ago when I ran a recipe blog to help me cope with my kids various food intolerances and allergies at the time (I am truly thankful that today we only have to deal with the peanut allergy when it comes to food instead of the garlic, corn, oat and other things I had to deal with back then). I made this around the holidays after thinking back on my time working in the college program at Walt Disney World (short version of that story: I did not have an enjoyable experience) and the roasted candied nut cart they used to have at Epcot Center where I fell in love with roasted candied nuts.</p><p>I have made these a few times throughout the years and decided to make some to give away in small baggies as kind of a snacky type of gift for a few people with a few other gifts. This was also a way to use up some nuts that had gotten buried in my freezer and I wanted to use up without me eating them all *ahem*. </p><p>A few things I learned this year with this recipe. One: This recipe had always turned out well for me in the past with the previous ovens I had, but I think I over browned the sugar mixture on the stovetop the first time I made it and so when I went to roast them in the oven the outer edge nuts ended up burning on me (which will make a nut lover like me want to cry) and I hadn't even roasted them the full time yet. So, do watch these when they are in the oven as nuts love to burn (which sometimes we just have to remember those lessons). I made a second batch and was way more careful watching them and they turned out well, (however I still had to pull them after the first initial roasting) so, once again be sure to watch them as oven temperatures vary. The last bit of roasting with the 300 degrees is basically to help candy the mixture, but if the mixture when you stir it after the first initial roasting, is sticking to a spoon and getting hard quickly like candy, feel free to pull the nuts as the candy mixture is set up and ready to go at that point.</p><p>So, here you go folks. This recipe does not call for sugar, instead it calls for maple syrup and honey (when this was written was the start of people avoiding refined sugar), which lends it a wonderful flavor. I also have started, when making this, to coat the final nuts in powdered sugar for added "snow like" effect.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWowKcOuZHzLHV0J_1SeSNE3b-Y5K2rg6tvNac11gSQL5hxXRmtNjNyk6VXKW3SoUeUnZAXL7qkEQFL4AFultc7189nl3z4vOPAej7suBRKSZZOz6VdzmNapsL1fiWXKZiV4pw6I5bpZkGDQhds-5A2jNWE6NxP8Hn_-OqEjYrvuovOkrdfCoSeGxKELi/s1244/christmas2023-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWowKcOuZHzLHV0J_1SeSNE3b-Y5K2rg6tvNac11gSQL5hxXRmtNjNyk6VXKW3SoUeUnZAXL7qkEQFL4AFultc7189nl3z4vOPAej7suBRKSZZOz6VdzmNapsL1fiWXKZiV4pw6I5bpZkGDQhds-5A2jNWE6NxP8Hn_-OqEjYrvuovOkrdfCoSeGxKELi/w640-h480/christmas2023-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><blockquote class="tr_bq"><u><b>Roasted Candied Nuts</b></u><br /></blockquote><blockquote><ul><li><b>2 Cups pecans or other nuts</b></li><li><b> 1/4 cup maple syrup</b></li><li><b>2 TBS honey</b></li><li><b>2 tsp. vanilla extract</b></li><li><b>1/2 tsp. kosher salt</b></li><li><b>3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon</b></li><li><b>pinch to 1/4 tsp (depending on heat preference) Cheyenne pepper</b></li></ul>Procedure: </blockquote><blockquote>1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F<br /><br />2. Combine maple syrup, honey, vanilla and salt in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture reaches a near boil. Add cinnamon and Cheyenne pepper, stir well and then add nuts to mixture. Stir well till all nuts are coated with the mixture. <br /><br />3. Bring mixture back to a simmer. Pour nuts onto a well greased parchment lined baking sheet that has a rimmed edge (grease pan, place parchment on pan and then grease parchment...trust me this stuff is sticky). Be sure to spread nuts into an even layer on baking sheet. Place in 400 degree oven for about 7 minutes or until nuts start to smell nutty. Stir nuts.<br /><br />4. Lower heat to 300 degrees. </blockquote><blockquote>5. Keep roasting and stirring nuts every few minutes until sugar mixture turns deep brown and clings to the nuts. Remove pan from oven and let nuts cool on pan. Mix nuts a couple of times as they cool (it'll stop them from sticking together as they cool). You can also sprinkle a little more salt on the nuts before they cool (if you like a bit of a salty flavor), but be gentle with it as you don't want the salty taste overpowering your sweet. Once cool, break nuts into individual nuts (or cluster sizes you like) and toss with powdered sugar (optional).</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">6. Place in a bowl and store at room temperature and serve or place in an airtight container for up to a week or place in decorative containers of choice (small cellophane bags are really cute with this) and give away as gifts at the holidays.</blockquote><p>Enjoy!!! </p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-44318676029506530242023-12-13T11:13:00.001-09:002023-12-13T11:14:22.764-09:00Christmas 2023 Gift One: Applesauce Cinnamon Ornaments<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgfaCdyRqXER1lmpeQR2H8oTbK3WdQ-9cJO0ZXTeI374Tzj_67FVqeskSa00ByF7xZpwK5CLEcpsl9qlenJX3xDINwhMAS_Ix14DrsY9rc9f5FYuoqz8QsfYwdvsDDrzvfsgFDsNcJWP0Aetvp783mLAn7lJeQaCO3RuppwQkenZy7uisQnw6qSX0xStL/s1244/christmas2023-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgfaCdyRqXER1lmpeQR2H8oTbK3WdQ-9cJO0ZXTeI374Tzj_67FVqeskSa00ByF7xZpwK5CLEcpsl9qlenJX3xDINwhMAS_Ix14DrsY9rc9f5FYuoqz8QsfYwdvsDDrzvfsgFDsNcJWP0Aetvp783mLAn7lJeQaCO3RuppwQkenZy7uisQnw6qSX0xStL/w640-h480/christmas2023-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>This is one of those recipes that is so easy that it will blow your mind, but also comes together in a really pretty and rustic type of decoration. I first made these ornaments years ago when my kids were small. We'd just invested in a bigger tree than our little apartment tree we'd used for years and I had next to no ornaments to put onto it. I wanted the tree to be pretty for the kids, but didn't have any money to spend for expensive boxes of ornaments. I found this recipe and gave it a try. And I loved it! The ornaments will make your entire house smell like cinnamon, they look pretty on the tree and you can pack them away and use them year after year. My old ornaments died years ago, due to the fact that Alvah decided he liked to eat them (PICA). Finally this year I thought back on these and decided to make them again to give some as gifts for his speech therapists and others. So, let me show you how to make them!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbOtonPwkH2jtAutcTYiAknQZfYzlSdzefaQyyeINqtrp1zKh7PHFgNrY0KifxdtPDW3J536WUN_lR2GsaJwr8rzHF9P2nZQ0uWDbzIG-SwwppuAD2B-82n6kO-3EOMFQa7IQ8PskGpH0vxJmvgDjwZemHoHFFg7V5E4cp9WRcjnuGxaoRTrkje-2C0kX/s1244/christmas2023-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbOtonPwkH2jtAutcTYiAknQZfYzlSdzefaQyyeINqtrp1zKh7PHFgNrY0KifxdtPDW3J536WUN_lR2GsaJwr8rzHF9P2nZQ0uWDbzIG-SwwppuAD2B-82n6kO-3EOMFQa7IQ8PskGpH0vxJmvgDjwZemHoHFFg7V5E4cp9WRcjnuGxaoRTrkje-2C0kX/w640-h480/christmas2023-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><b><u>Applesauce Ornaments</u></b></p><p><b>Ingredients:</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>1 Part Applesauce</li><li>1 Part Cinnamon</li><li>Optional add ins: A few dashes of nutmeg, cloves, other spices. </li></ul><p></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Procedure:</b></p><p></p><blockquote><p>1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.</p><p>2. In the bowl of a mixer, with a spoon (which is what I did this time) or other implement, mix the applesauce and cinnamon together to form a dough. Go slow if you use an electric mixer of any type or you will be inhaling way too much cinnamon for comfort and you will have a cinnamon coating over your entire kitchen. Once dough forms, mash it into a ball with your hands and, if you have a decent amount of dough, divide it into a few pieces so you don't have to roll out too much at once. Put dough ball you are working with between two pieces of parchment paper (you can also use plastic wrap, but I have better luck with parchment paper). </p><p>3. Roll out dough to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness (thicker will just take a bit more time to dry out/bake if you prefer thicker ornaments). Cut out with simple shaped cookie cutters (trust me, keep it simple. This dough loves to break and is crumbly, so if you try to get too elaborate you'll be reaching for the eggnog wayyyyy too much to battle frustration). Use a straw to cut a hole in each ornament so you ave a hole for string later on (after about three ornaments blow out the dough that will get caught in the straw to keep the straw open...it will help your holes cut cleaner). Use a spatula to transfer ornaments to parchment lined baking sheets (less likely to break that way).</p><p>4. Bake in 200 F oven for two hours or until the ornaments are well dried. Remove to cooling racks to cool completely.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>I used 1/2 cup of applesauce and 1/2 cup of cinnamon for my batch this time around and I ended up with about two dozen ornaments. Not bad at all. </p><p><b>Alternate method (non bake method):</b> Place ornaments on baking sheets and place somewhere out of the way that is dry for 3 to 4 days or until ornaments are well dried.</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-84241125388093282952023-12-12T13:00:00.003-09:002023-12-12T13:03:39.953-09:00Christmas Cookie Recipes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgREJyKtMs-16O5_pnbzXfqV9Jl5yRQ4EfuZRokKYJKFEh7TQ68PkF_Xa-mgXjpwHwnwMohA3_tpXs_L-tr42A-Hv_xEyYFCES0siESKD7fROotXxqpz5wUfAox5wkrV83MMGIauQq1bAm7XfZiwYDWwKg9wjIYwDHvxUVD-XYVEXVVdcvldDckwAeZ5mZ0/s1244/christmascookies1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgREJyKtMs-16O5_pnbzXfqV9Jl5yRQ4EfuZRokKYJKFEh7TQ68PkF_Xa-mgXjpwHwnwMohA3_tpXs_L-tr42A-Hv_xEyYFCES0siESKD7fROotXxqpz5wUfAox5wkrV83MMGIauQq1bAm7XfZiwYDWwKg9wjIYwDHvxUVD-XYVEXVVdcvldDckwAeZ5mZ0/w640-h480/christmascookies1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Hello again, all!</p><p>Blogging delayed, again. We've just been super duper mega busy around here. I've been turning and burning getting things decluttered around the house (I am determined to start out next year with a fresh and free type of feeling if I can), getting Christmas goodies made and all the things. I have to say I'm tired, but I feel good that the season so far has been a lot of fun for the kids, which is important to me. We have the tree up with the son's favorite candy canes on them (well...for about an hour until he eats them all...I have to do the flavored candy canes in stages or he'd make himself sick just gorging himself on those). Gingerbread houses are made (I'll share pictures of those on another post), the advent calendar has candies in it that the kids are having fun opening the drawers every day to get their Andes mint. Today I'm working on getting some Christmas gifts made as I am SO far behind on that. I am, literally, just starting home made gifts today, which yikes...not a great start. Hopefully I can get it done quickly this week as I really want to get some relaxation time in next week to just enjoy the holidays before they are here and over.</p><p>Now, onto what I did pretty much all of last week. Christmas cookies! I thought I'd share what I made in case you need some inspiration this year, so let's get to it! Links are provided for the recipes in case you want to make them :).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEiJUN9x-Ypx_B5CuUDWF6G1c_Sn1SHOaA8LIBpy7PNWuV5q-Sijd63Tq1fKJIG6nZgz-M6Px7VQBzDx1ZBTvvwnwnXrIwYrcoZ5l51V-mfesvjtwDWZuSYYZNIPSxUSxyxohuJndyIw57qihPiw6KAuEQ6s3Bo5X-32up17Ynbkrq2JQO_w90IlCNOUq0/s1244/christmascookies2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEiJUN9x-Ypx_B5CuUDWF6G1c_Sn1SHOaA8LIBpy7PNWuV5q-Sijd63Tq1fKJIG6nZgz-M6Px7VQBzDx1ZBTvvwnwnXrIwYrcoZ5l51V-mfesvjtwDWZuSYYZNIPSxUSxyxohuJndyIw57qihPiw6KAuEQ6s3Bo5X-32up17Ynbkrq2JQO_w90IlCNOUq0/w640-h480/christmascookies2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>1. <a href="https://www.bakedbyanintrovert.com/basic-butter-cookies">Basic Butter Cookies</a></p><p>Butter cookies are, by far, one of my favorite holiday treats. When I saw what the price was for one thing of the blue tinned Dansk cookies, I decided to find a recipe to make my own. </p><p>Opinions? These are delicious. Mine didn't turn out very flaky, but I did roll them out and cut them instead of putting them through a cookie gun (honestly, I just didn't want to clean the cookie gun...did I mention I am tired? Lol!). I'm mainly the one eating them right now, which I might be okay with *ahem*. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJy47Iaiu0U83empsVMgbZS15dd_WUBt06C0R6dhL5oDVpUNBjDZYMLwzauU3BWvtVcDKk3kAgE7itA08NSiPy9aCDaBFsC9N_PQAFI3jCVVapJ53u0ah0LVO1j27Jtg7IG5P7QyOvgN6SASYzo99Fi37V8pvcHXWvawCIdID1pqHQasI6AhVq0vJxniT2/s1244/christmascookies3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJy47Iaiu0U83empsVMgbZS15dd_WUBt06C0R6dhL5oDVpUNBjDZYMLwzauU3BWvtVcDKk3kAgE7itA08NSiPy9aCDaBFsC9N_PQAFI3jCVVapJ53u0ah0LVO1j27Jtg7IG5P7QyOvgN6SASYzo99Fi37V8pvcHXWvawCIdID1pqHQasI6AhVq0vJxniT2/w640-h480/christmascookies3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>2. <a href="https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chocolate_crinkles/">Chocolate Crinkle Cookies</a></p><p>This recipe made a ton. Like 53 cookies, ton. Since I made these the right way a few years ago (be sure to chill your dough overnight for the best results), these have become one of my daughter's favorite Christmas cookies. </p><p>These turned out really well. I used the espresso powder that was optional in the recipe, and it helped to probably boost up my cocoa powder, which was ancient. My husband and daughter really like these. I think they taste like a brownie cookie. Both my husband and daughter say they are better than brownies. You can make them and decide for yourself *laugh*.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS9nHLheD2VNXgCjSDsYWMsoRtCk15cx_GgED30uus0oIz2tX4cLkKq4JdkBML1dmgOOOLOEudE70TVnvexEs0B_qiiJOPvQEUjD4WSAib7KZrtV1IwOfLvVIsmLnXu4laT3DJVfmWu2iQQV3wEsgHXV7Xy7ogs2SKnenbDN9YUA0cFZ8GZ0ZOrZ1ZxsLW/s1244/christmascookies4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS9nHLheD2VNXgCjSDsYWMsoRtCk15cx_GgED30uus0oIz2tX4cLkKq4JdkBML1dmgOOOLOEudE70TVnvexEs0B_qiiJOPvQEUjD4WSAib7KZrtV1IwOfLvVIsmLnXu4laT3DJVfmWu2iQQV3wEsgHXV7Xy7ogs2SKnenbDN9YUA0cFZ8GZ0ZOrZ1ZxsLW/w640-h480/christmascookies4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>3. <a href="https://www.hersheyland.com/recipes/peanut-butter-blossoms.html">Cashew Butter Blossoms</a></p><p>I made these last year and they were a hit with the family, so I made them again this year. I took the classic peanut butter blossom recipe and just subbed out cashew butter for the peanut butter. This recipe made no where NEAR the 48 the recipe said they would. I got 23. But I think I made my cookies a lot bigger than called for (probably closer to a tablespoon as I couldn't find my melon baller, which is what I normally use to figure out a rounded teaspoon called for in recipes...I'm determined to organize my kitchen drawers next with a better system so I can find things). I'm glad I got a pic of these when I did as my daughter blew through them and they are already gone.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-2_eg6_TB9XMWQMucRYvOsNvTslmK0fBHaaJWEuNDp9HsLYALS5V2GpG6tPgJlo3j4Tj9uU1nNoqAAq3xsp3oQuGQZuEZPdZyKa80ZVzIywM27vTM9v6i_bRV-VmomdeG3eqQKMTotoBEIhIjuXKJfbFWOTP6Ng2UEzC3hGwkFJXcMUxUyi6t2AtVdI0/s1244/christmascookies5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-2_eg6_TB9XMWQMucRYvOsNvTslmK0fBHaaJWEuNDp9HsLYALS5V2GpG6tPgJlo3j4Tj9uU1nNoqAAq3xsp3oQuGQZuEZPdZyKa80ZVzIywM27vTM9v6i_bRV-VmomdeG3eqQKMTotoBEIhIjuXKJfbFWOTP6Ng2UEzC3hGwkFJXcMUxUyi6t2AtVdI0/w640-h480/christmascookies5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>4. <a href="https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gingerbread-house-recipe-1963254">Gingerbread Cookies</a></p><p>Technically this recipe is for a gingerbread house, but the first time I made a gingerbread house with the recipe, my family, especially Alvah, fell in love with the gingerbread. If you hate the ginger scented cardboard that a lot of gingerbread cookies end up being, you need to try this one. It reminds me of Pepparkakor (Swedish spice cookies). Let's just put it this way. One recipe of this stuff calls for one TABLESPOON of ground ginger and one TABLESPOON of ground cinnamon. Yeah, that heavily spiced. I made a double batch this year and we used 1/2 for the gingerbread houses and one half for gingerbread cookies. Alvah has already taken at least one bite out of each cookie, so I think he likes them *laugh*.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimr7wDkdG70ErheSpF91c0WslTe0MvrmT7JxiFaZVje64iSM67AxT-7cY8ylMvxCZsTWcxAnxeXajbJN48P29Y_9bn9kvuwkRM1kL29G6ThbvE9mnyHFmCRnBHkmw57vq8zfRslR7e245UybXDkZ-VH384I0jRyXUPlEK4R24a7Wh0aSq_S0rIxuxx_EA3/s1244/christmascookies6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimr7wDkdG70ErheSpF91c0WslTe0MvrmT7JxiFaZVje64iSM67AxT-7cY8ylMvxCZsTWcxAnxeXajbJN48P29Y_9bn9kvuwkRM1kL29G6ThbvE9mnyHFmCRnBHkmw57vq8zfRslR7e245UybXDkZ-VH384I0jRyXUPlEK4R24a7Wh0aSq_S0rIxuxx_EA3/w640-h480/christmascookies6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>5. <a href="http://makedohomemaker.blogspot.com/2015/12/sugar-cookies.html">Sugar Cookies</a></p><p>My husband's favorite Christmas cookie. I use his Grandma Molly's recipe for sugar cookies every year and these are always a hit. I did notice this year that Crisco has changed...it contains more water to pad out the weight, I think, and as a result I had to add more flour to get the right texture. I also added a bit of tallow to the frosting for the cookies as it too called for Crisco, just to make sure everything would turn out right. It did, but processed foods, yeesh. I don't buy many outside of chips for Alvah, and boy do I notice a difference in quality, quantity and price with those things. Irritating to say the least.</p><p>And yes, before some well intentioned individual pops in and says that Crisco is not good for you and such...I know. But, I only buy a little 16 oz thing of Crisco every year for Christmas baking, so I'm not too worried about it.</p><p>And there you go folks. The Christmas cookies I made this year. I'm still considering making some thumbprint cookies closer to Christmas so I can hopefully have some for my birthday (it's the week after Christmas) as I love those things, but we'll see how much I want to bake after the holidays are progressed further *laugh*.</p><p>Enjoy all!</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-84853371571200738232023-11-18T14:59:00.003-09:002023-11-18T14:59:14.689-09:00Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcEQQrNkg12KTySs9QicXZHgjZC_3CgdQu6pX_N3iKXa5pm4oNMRkQnVvYTAMFYSv-F3mdwYNCL0S1QXpIt3PVxH9gaBkTwruQXYyf9WenlqjXrE7Nc0p3LUkro3IAE29NrPw8-Jex_9Tx4T4culCQg-5UWAvFTXyT4tlH8vmE5Di_v40ut9hLi9Zqe-6t/s1244/frugalfrolics48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcEQQrNkg12KTySs9QicXZHgjZC_3CgdQu6pX_N3iKXa5pm4oNMRkQnVvYTAMFYSv-F3mdwYNCL0S1QXpIt3PVxH9gaBkTwruQXYyf9WenlqjXrE7Nc0p3LUkro3IAE29NrPw8-Jex_9Tx4T4culCQg-5UWAvFTXyT4tlH8vmE5Di_v40ut9hLi9Zqe-6t/w640-h480/frugalfrolics48.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Life has been hectic as usual around here. Winter came in hard, although it did come in late, which was nice. We've had bad combos of snow and ice the last week, making for some pretty hairy driving conditions and we've already had to shovel two feet of snow off of our deck, and it could probably use another shoveling already. Life in the North. What can you say *laugh*.</p><p>I do feel pretty darned good this year on my Thanksgiving preparations. Since the earthquake it has felt like we've just shot from one crisis to another (not excluding the 2018 quake). For some odd reason, even with my crazy welting incident a few months back, some horrible health issues my half sister is dealing with across the country and other stuff, I am still feeling pretty together this holiday season, which is nice. Lack of anxiety sure does help to make you feel better about the holidays. </p><p>This week I focused on getting some fun stuff done for Thanksgiving. I made four different desserts (we'll choose which one to eat for Thanksgiving and then eat the rest over the coming months for fun desserts) and also some sourdough rolls to eat with Thanksgiving dinner. The <a href="http://makedohomemaker.blogspot.com/2015/11/cranberry-relish.html">cranberry relish</a> is already made up and in the freezer from previous holidays (by the way that stuff freezes AWESOME! I am still using up cranberry relish from 2020 that still tastes great as soon as it is defrosted! I am super duper happy about with it!), ready to be pulled out and defrosted the night before Thanksgiving. The rolls are now in the freezer, ready to be pulled out on the big day. Stuffing is also all ready to go. Basically, on top of having some fun desserts to choose from (I've been using Farmhouse on Boone's recipe for <a href="https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/sourdough-pie-crust">sourdough pie crust</a> and it is awesome! I just mix mine all up in the food processor and it comes together great!), I already have done a bunch of things I always have to do for Thanksgiving (including getting the turkey into the fridge on Wednesday, so it has plenty of time to defrost before I put it into the brine the day before Thanksgiving). Basically, at this point all I have to do on Thanksgiving is make the turkey, the green beans, the cheesy potatoes and heat some stuff up. I'm thrilled as this will make my day a lot less stressful and a lot more relaxing :).</p><p>So, for fun, I thought it would be neat to share the dessert and treat recipes I have made for this holiday season so far, why I chose some of them and hopefully give you guys a few, actually pretty easy, recipes to make if you are trying to save time and sanity this holiday season.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg1L4w1TSsg2W2FldYxjPpki82hiMaOWFTkoYoHis8i0pUZe_2WLzPFpWxN571o1_TG7MbjkzM3SLIAtZ05if55iW6WhNJAUsh1PQ5ozEmuYTBtUaQZDy1eE75yhpvZgID0MAOYFm341DYk7_AN9auHKwYZ0ICEqaJDNMgpUA8akk9zkpaL0RaEAONiDQT/s1244/frugalfrolics48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg1L4w1TSsg2W2FldYxjPpki82hiMaOWFTkoYoHis8i0pUZe_2WLzPFpWxN571o1_TG7MbjkzM3SLIAtZ05if55iW6WhNJAUsh1PQ5ozEmuYTBtUaQZDy1eE75yhpvZgID0MAOYFm341DYk7_AN9auHKwYZ0ICEqaJDNMgpUA8akk9zkpaL0RaEAONiDQT/w640-h480/frugalfrolics48.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>1. <a href="https://www.midcenturymenu.com/mystery-pecan-pie-a-mid-century-thanksgiving-recipe-test/">Mystery Pecan Pie</a></p><p>This is, by far, one of my favorite holiday recipes to make as it is SO good!!! You would think that cheesecake in a pecan pie would make the pie incredibly heavy to the point it is inedible, but it is the exact opposite. It makes the pie lighter, somehow, and less sweet, so it is the perfect pie to me as I love both cheesecake and pecan pie :).</p><p>This year I took a page ala Alton Brown on an old Good Eats episode and replaced the corn syrup (I am out) with Lyle's Golden Syrup (it is kind of hard to source in the US, but if stores don't carry it, Amazon does, which is where I got mine). It came out looking so pretty and I can not wait to try it out :).</p><p>2. <a href="https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/23439/perfect-pumpkin-pie/">Perfect Pumpkin Pie</a></p><p>I made this recipe because my evaporated milk is in a container that is currently buried under about a cubic ton of donations for the used store that were sourced from my bedroom closet and I was just too tired to dig it out. So, I found this recipe that calls for sweetened condensed milk instead. That I have in the pantry, so I went with it. I have to say it came out looking wonderful from the oven. It didn't crack or anything. I forgot to take a picture before I wrapped it in tons of plastic wrap and aluminum foil for the freezer, but if you look at the pictures on the site, mine turned out pretty much just like theirs.</p><p>3. Apple pie</p><p>Really, I doubt that one needs a recipe link since I just used some canned pie filling, added a jar of home canned apple slices to it and then sprinkled some additional cinnamon on top of it before adding the top crust. It came out really nice, probably the prettiest from scratch pie crust I've ever made, but I forgot to take a picture of it before putting it into the freezer (I'll try to remember to share a picture when I serve it).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwv2Os-XSjmfzqOz_7x8hFK5L6DHy31vT4SJ7bIp_n_ecy0II_DfFjLU-M-pJ3UIuYani7Rl4VKUUm0ISh6HnM9KxeQY7s7rCOOSNXQvBHHN4MIYOEbUYbNbb9W7OL4Psq2HssICa9cEwDiP24BLmfeye_2j-tvYlQBIUvVwntjbSJxUG-66_YhUFV-gz/s1244/frugalfrolics150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwv2Os-XSjmfzqOz_7x8hFK5L6DHy31vT4SJ7bIp_n_ecy0II_DfFjLU-M-pJ3UIuYani7Rl4VKUUm0ISh6HnM9KxeQY7s7rCOOSNXQvBHHN4MIYOEbUYbNbb9W7OL4Psq2HssICa9cEwDiP24BLmfeye_2j-tvYlQBIUvVwntjbSJxUG-66_YhUFV-gz/w640-h480/frugalfrolics150.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>4. <a href="https://blindpigandtheacorn.com/grannys-no-bake-cheese-cake/">No Bake Cheesecake</a></p><p>This recipe is really good and it only takes a few minutes to put it all together, and the ingredients are few and simple. I've never tried to freeze it before, but I am going to and see how it goes. My plan is to serve it with fig jam on top as one of my favorite appetizers is to take some home made <a href="https://www.bernardin.ca/recipes/en/heavenly-fig-jam.htm">Heavenly Fig Jam</a> on top, so I figure that a fig cheesecake HAS to be good!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTW5pQqb1PXZoD4CysTxuS9zH0ryqGiEhBf55PfbXJvHlhu7PMk39MCrnNn_4AyZiXclJbc8ocOmU0xVNWxDD6xw8jCy_af3s1lHsxulVlzYEFg2IsUmHrZ7g83LEMdJzWJdTF_6c8zHF1n3lNN9TnKEWDLLy5eAV26AIx_iQlDkqIvweKtKrofgS3Ztc/s1244/frugalfrolics49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTW5pQqb1PXZoD4CysTxuS9zH0ryqGiEhBf55PfbXJvHlhu7PMk39MCrnNn_4AyZiXclJbc8ocOmU0xVNWxDD6xw8jCy_af3s1lHsxulVlzYEFg2IsUmHrZ7g83LEMdJzWJdTF_6c8zHF1n3lNN9TnKEWDLLy5eAV26AIx_iQlDkqIvweKtKrofgS3Ztc/w640-h480/frugalfrolics49.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>5. <a href="https://heartscontentfarmhouse.com/discard-sourdough-cheddar-crackers/">Sourdough Cheese Crackers</a></p><p>I made these so we'd have snacks on Thanksgiving. Have you guys SEEN the price on crackers lately??? No way, Jose for me. Way out of my budget. So, I did this instead. They came out OKAY...biggest complaint I have is that they needed more salt and came out kind of bland. I think they needed salt in the actual cracker itself (even 1/4 tsp would be enough I think), but I sprinkled Parmesan cheese on them while they were still warm and that helped to up the saltiness a tiny bit, which made them much less bland.</p><p>And there you go folks. Some of the things I've made this holiday season. My life has been hectic, so sorry about the erratic blogging schedule. Hopefully that will improve soon.</p><p>Hope you guys are having a great holiday season and getting to spend it with people (or animals) that you care about. If I'm not online next week, have a Happy Thanksgiving (for my friends in the US) and be safe and warm!</p><p>Enjoy!</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-19575624905640448792023-10-16T13:24:00.002-08:002023-10-16T13:24:22.983-08:00Frugal Accomplishments for the Last Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcqeV2NkuE81VQ8sySrO8YiBwG7nObXgE_DDOVaUNANXh7lFL1ufzMUnt-WXi4pbmKMq3EZ2IgV5O-kEjdyCymweLm3A9XYiUfmdPuNoGRs7N344Ik1mJikwdHx7qnDc4Kqi9VPfEgiFLWCInLbhFwjFKv7dDz_-TllLp9rYaG8bznI-dzsmZBZgviC91c/s1290/frugalfrolics46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="968" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcqeV2NkuE81VQ8sySrO8YiBwG7nObXgE_DDOVaUNANXh7lFL1ufzMUnt-WXi4pbmKMq3EZ2IgV5O-kEjdyCymweLm3A9XYiUfmdPuNoGRs7N344Ik1mJikwdHx7qnDc4Kqi9VPfEgiFLWCInLbhFwjFKv7dDz_-TllLp9rYaG8bznI-dzsmZBZgviC91c/w480-h640/frugalfrolics46.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>I keep thinking I’ll have time to think and get more blogging done, but then Alvah doesn’t sleep, I sleep as late as he does and the next thing I know I’m running around like a maniac all day and falling into bed exhausted at 2:00 am because rinse, lather and repeat. It has been even more crazy busy around my house than normal the last bit, so it’s been hard to find time to do much outside of household stuff. So, anyway, let’s break down some of what has been going on around here! </p><p>Probably should start with the pumpkin above. I'm actually making a point to buy more pumpkins this year than in previous years because I have found that I LOVE pumpkin butter! I really want to make a decent amount this year, so I am buying up pumpkins to do just that. I have found that if I get one pumpkin per pay period, it doesn't lead to spending a ton on them. This week we even got subbed out a Cinderella pumpkin for another type of pumpkin I had ordered (at no extra cost, which was nice), which is a really pretty decoration in our den now (I've seen YouTuber's use the Cinderalla pumpkin for eating pumpkins, so I'm hoping it will make good pumpkin butter!).</p>
<p>1. We started speech therapy a few weeks ago! Alvah is doing well and I’m thrilled to have speech therapists who know how to run LAMP, so he’s got a much better chance of getting ahead using it now. We are doing a combo of home visits and office visits to see which one he does the best with. He finally seems to be settling into the groove the last couple of sessions and he did really well on his session earlier this week. So, here’s hoping he gets forward progress accomplished.</p>
<p>I already feel better about speech with the LAMP emphasis, but also because I decided we weren’t doing feeding therapy this time around, so he’s not immediately hating his speech therapist. I figure at 6’2”, he can quit growing anytime now and I’ll be okay with it, so I’m not worried about him growing at this point, so he can continue to eat his ridiculously self-restricted diet and I’ll be okay with it until he wants to maybe expand it on his own.</p>
<p>2. I got the work samples done for both kids and into the home school earlier this week. Their contact teacher was happy with them. I apologized for starting late, but told her about my health problems back in August and she told me not to feel bad as like 90% of the families she overseas are behind due to health or other issues. I feel kind of bad that I feel good that I’m not alone in my inability to get the kids started early this year. Misery loves company, I guess *laugh*.</p>
<p>3. I took the kids in and got their flu vaccinations done for the year. Only my husband and I to go. Hopefully, even if I can’t find time to get one, my husband can get his done. With him working at the airport and around a bunch of different people and the public, I like for him to be as protected as possible, so he doesn’t (hopefully) bring home a nasty strain of the bug and then with the kids vaccinated, I at least feel like we got a few lines of defense in place against the flu. Alvah gets the flu horribly bad, so anything we can do to protect him at all, I do. </p><p> 4. I actually took advantage of Prime Days last week to get Alvah a new pair of sneakers in the next size up (his toes are at the end of his current ones) and a pair of jeans for my husband as they were on sale for decent prices and were cheaper than I’ve found in about a year. Hopefully everything comes in the mail okay and everything fits *fingers crossed*. I used saved up credit card rewards from the ridiculous amounts of medical bills I had to put onto them to help pay for those items and some Christmas gifts for the kids. </p><p> 5. Dividends came in and I used them to pay down credit cards with said medical bills on them. We did put a bit of money aside to finish Christmas shopping for the kids (which was good as I had not gotten anything accomplished in that area, yet) and to take a road trip down to Seward and see the Sea Life Center (my husband desperately needed to get away, so I’m very glad we did it for the sake of his stress levels) and the kids had an absolute blast. </p><p> It was only a one day trip, but we packed a lot into it and it was a good time. I made and packed all of our food and snacks, which definitely saved us a bunch of money (and I’m doubly glad I did it when we got there and we realized that most of the town was closed for winter already, so restaurants would have been hard to come by) and planned everything carefully so I knew exactly how much everything would cost.
I’ll share a few pictures that I took while we were there in another post (it was downpouring when we were there, so I got a few when the rain would pause or when we were inside the sea life center and that was about it), but yeah, it was fun. </p><p> I was even able to save up my gas rewards from grocery shopping all month in September so we were able to get 1.00 per gallon of gas. All totaled we spent like 56.00 on gas to go down there and I came back with ½ of a tank of gas. My truck got WAY better gas mileage than I thought it would, as I’m always driving it around town and not doing highway driving. For a nearly 20 year old vehicle, it did great (which was such a relief to me as I was nervous about anything happening to it as I need it for driving to speech therapy now on top of driving Armina to and from work). </p><p> 6. My husband hung up some outside lights he’d collected or been given over the years that he’d been meaning to hang up forever. The new lights have light sensors on them, which will save money in the winter as they’ll shut off when there is enough light to trigger the sensors. I would always forget, in the past, to turn off the back yard lights when it would get light out, so I’m super happy he put those up…they’ll do a MUCH better job than I would, that is for sure. </p><p> 7. There was a delay when my husband went to pick up our grocery order early last month, so Carrs sent us a digital coupon for 10.00 off our next order. I combined that with a 20.00 off when you spend 100.00 or more coupon from their weekly deals (like that is hard to hit anymore with inflation) to get 30.00 off of my order. There was also an online order promotion going on last week on the app as well, so by stacking everything together, I was able to save 100.00 off of my order. I had to pick up groceries on Monday versus Friday, but it was worth maybe having to pick up a bit of supplemental produce or something next week to save that much money on groceries. </p><p> 8. I have been working on doing yearly chores done around the house. This week I went and cleaned out my furnace with my vacuum cleaner and changed the filter on the furnace. I also cleaned out the cold air duct screen that I use to stop debris from falling into the cold air return on the furnace (it is just a big duct in front of my deck door in my kitchen that has a cover with decently large openings on it, so the screen makes a world of difference). Next week I’m going to clean my grill for preparation to store over the winter and to conglomerate and inventory the food storage/pantry. Feel good that I’m getting stuff done, anyway. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsPzACjMfFciV6jUvxGTjt-i_8g0O0hagv9iMdmYf2QM7-tMON5tp7wFzaRBSNBxDhOGt3K27p_NfeVHO8ZnZKESrMH4a9wQhU_sHnmgnbANt4MM29IrXvdPx5Ha9qYfss8-JQrI9VL7KdNxHsEtmSl33sFuNEntvH9ubLBhxrer_-_zq-els_a2SkGPZ/s2304/frugalfrolics47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="2304" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsPzACjMfFciV6jUvxGTjt-i_8g0O0hagv9iMdmYf2QM7-tMON5tp7wFzaRBSNBxDhOGt3K27p_NfeVHO8ZnZKESrMH4a9wQhU_sHnmgnbANt4MM29IrXvdPx5Ha9qYfss8-JQrI9VL7KdNxHsEtmSl33sFuNEntvH9ubLBhxrer_-_zq-els_a2SkGPZ/w640-h480/frugalfrolics47.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">9. Made nectarines into peach-blackberry pie filling (I mixed the nectarines into a can of blackberry pie filling when I got it ready for the freezer) to make into cobbler. a while ago and put it into the freezer</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> When I c</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">ooked the peaches/nectarines, I made them with brown sugar, some cinnamon and some rum extract to make them fancy. It was really good and we enjoyed eating it for dessert.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">10. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 13px;">T</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">urned half a loaf of sourdough bread that was going stale into bread cubes, which I dried in the oven, and then put through my food processor to make bread crumbs. By saving up my odds and ends of bread, I haven't had to buy bread crumbs for a long time now.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">11. Made a sourdough baguette to eat sandwiches on. I used my cast iron 9x13 pan to make them and then sprayed them with water before putting them into the pre-heated pan. They turned out well and I'm looking forward to experimenting more with doing things like that later on.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">12. Watched some of my favorite channels on YouTube when Alvah wasn't sleeping at night.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">13. I made sourdough bagels for the first time ever and put the majority of them in the freezer for quick breakfasts (or bagel sandwiches) later.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">14. We were out of English muffins and I thought for a moment of buying some because I was tired and really didn't want to make them. Until I saw the price of English muffins at the store. Yeah, I made English muffins. Bright side, the sourdough English muffin recipe from King Arthur Flour makes like two dozen English Muffins, so we'll be set for quite a while (once again, the majority of them ended up in the freezer).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">15. I scheduled our bi-yearly septic clean out for the end of October (the nearest date they had). I have budgeted and put aside money for it, so hopefully it won't be more than what I put aside for it *fingers crossed*.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">16. I took inventory of medicines and toiletries to see if there were any holes to fill. I found a few, which I'm slowly filling so that we will hopefully have six months to a year's worth of that item.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">And yeah, that's about it on the frugal accomplishments front. I'm feeling pretty good about it, overall. I hope your frugal endeavors are going well and you are all doing okay. Take care!</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-7189677585563794652023-10-14T11:15:00.004-08:002023-10-14T11:17:40.896-08:00Menu Plan for the Next Two Weeks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6BKlWoia7LwCXWRiJdHC1z9zKyBOR3U5CghJQsnjqatPHdGl-T45Ndryko-CbWTkzofPfK0_zrKekOBaLd6ZkB5rPMj7O-VtA2IqtKhTbLnuRxiwSDt0CLFj30jfxFVlz7c5OWo80U5yCTKTMtTwAuMXGkRsGqHKGjbpOKzHhLnsJ6y8MTavTzmJS2bjh/s1371/menuplan101323.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1371" data-original-width="1028" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6BKlWoia7LwCXWRiJdHC1z9zKyBOR3U5CghJQsnjqatPHdGl-T45Ndryko-CbWTkzofPfK0_zrKekOBaLd6ZkB5rPMj7O-VtA2IqtKhTbLnuRxiwSDt0CLFj30jfxFVlz7c5OWo80U5yCTKTMtTwAuMXGkRsGqHKGjbpOKzHhLnsJ6y8MTavTzmJS2bjh/w480-h640/menuplan101323.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>I really want to start sharing some of the things I’m buying every two weeks and then show what I’m going to make with those items, so you guys can get an idea of how I’m shopping now, but lately I’ve been so busy that I just plain haven’t had the time to put the groceries out and take pictures of them. I’m hoping to do better, but this time around, please enjoy the shot of the egg rolls I was able to get on sale cheap with a coupon (I'm hoping to make them last several meals, but if they are good my husband might just take some to work for lunch one day in the next few weeks...we shall see) to transition into what I’m making for dinner the next two weeks. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"> I’ve been trying to work in about four “fun”meals into the menu plan every two weeks, so that there’s a meal that I can pull out and have fun making and my family can enjoy something different from the usual pool of meals I can find myself pulling from.
So, here is the meals I’m going to be pulling from the next couple of weeks. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"></span></div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">1. These first two meals are using up left over beef roast that is in the fridge.</span> </div></blockquote><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">Asian beef shishkabobs (I’m doing an experiment to see if marinating rare cooked beef works to infuse different flavors into the meat...we shall see as I have some slices of beef marinating in the fridge right now for tomorrow) with rice and salad. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">2. Beef fajitas (cook up leftover chicken thighs with the beef to make chicken and beef fajitas), Spanish rice, refried beans and cornbread. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">3. Pad thai (I use almonds to make the nutty topping instead of peanuts) with shrimp and chicken. Egg rolls as a side. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">4. Manicotti (use leftover meat sauce from making spaghetti in the fridge), salad, garlic toast. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">5. Individual chicken pot pies (make a few for freezer if there is anything left over) with sourdough pie crust. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">6. German flavored pork roast, cabbage and apples, bread and butter.
Sloppy joes with homemade mac and cheese, corn on the cob. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">7. Cuban sandwiches (pull Cuban pork out of the freezer), potato chips or oven fries, canned fruit (of some type). </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">8. Swedish meatballs, over noodles (or home made mashed potaotes), cranberry relish (from freezer) with horseradish on the side. Cheese biscuits, creamy cauliflower soup. Sauteed greens (from freezer) </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">9. Chicken Caesar Salad. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">10. Malibu chicken? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">11. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, Julia Child’s creamed carrots. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">12. Chicken carbonara, salad or green beans </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">13. Hamburger Philly “Cheesesteak” sandwiches. Pavlova for dessert. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">14. Sourdough soft pretzels, bratwurst, sauerkraut.</span></div></blockquote><p>And there you go folks. My "tentative menu" for the next two weeks. I am thinking of updating the list with a link to recipes I used a bit later and give you my opinion on how the recipes turned out, so hopefully I can get to that.</p><p>Enjoy! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"></span></div>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-7243712680693608632023-09-14T16:35:00.002-08:002023-09-14T16:35:15.289-08:00Frugal Adventures for September so Far<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7NF_72S3Ww2c6BvfC8JRYaaFIuKCcghe0-hOQxnRv8wly2e72xH0swAcdRZiIjOGByZtA44XYsRiUmuPt6q4aFqef1lxVYkg_VqUugAq8POcdMXQXewn860-iNLUNivUirQjBKeKDkGjkFfmfqgMIJesClrn0uM8QTzJtr1YlHROz-8CwjDrTI4Myfwk-/s1244/frugalfrolics36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7NF_72S3Ww2c6BvfC8JRYaaFIuKCcghe0-hOQxnRv8wly2e72xH0swAcdRZiIjOGByZtA44XYsRiUmuPt6q4aFqef1lxVYkg_VqUugAq8POcdMXQXewn860-iNLUNivUirQjBKeKDkGjkFfmfqgMIJesClrn0uM8QTzJtr1YlHROz-8CwjDrTI4Myfwk-/w640-h480/frugalfrolics36.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> Well, I have had a gap in posting again, but I have been busy, so at least nothing catastrophic happened this time. We have been having issues with my father-in-laws health, but after visiting a neurologist today, hopefully we'll know more and have a plan of action moving forward to improve his quality of life. <p></p><p>My husband also went in for a CAT scan on his lungs as he just can't seem to shake his cough, but it came back good, so I was relieved when those results came back okay.</p><p>More on the immediate home front, I'm now down to a regular dose of Zyrtec every day until next Tuesday. So far, so good *knock on wood*, so hopefully I'm going to be okay here. The large doses of Zyrtec have definitely been getting to me the last month, so I'll be glad to see the end of this if I can.</p><p>We launched into fall with not much to show for it with changes in the weather. It rained all summer and it doesn't show any signs of stopping now. The amount of mold and pollen this year has been horrible. I scheduled to get our septic pumped next month after dividends come in and my husband and I are both dreading what the report will say about the state of our leech field. After constant rain the last two summers and then the masses of snow we had over last winter...I'm imagining that "saturated" is going to be a vast understatement. Poor leech field. I wish I could send all of you who are having weather on the opposing end of the spectrum some of our rain this year. Prayers are with you all.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlKKRwNAQ5dPZr67JMeaizPz5ApAkikS_zXZMNSPfUag7dKJLotwE-RuIt3rt0rx6DyRSqzfJlqfnj15W_saO3JwZA2dJJK18TThqEb96kpSfajsThluxHX8BdvyF1dyANFCpN_Wspjcdb2JJokyfc5vI8ysmxO-qYDZSYyh4oQBl1zWjsS9ZKOZCwLihE/s1244/frugalfrolics41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlKKRwNAQ5dPZr67JMeaizPz5ApAkikS_zXZMNSPfUag7dKJLotwE-RuIt3rt0rx6DyRSqzfJlqfnj15W_saO3JwZA2dJJK18TThqEb96kpSfajsThluxHX8BdvyF1dyANFCpN_Wspjcdb2JJokyfc5vI8ysmxO-qYDZSYyh4oQBl1zWjsS9ZKOZCwLihE/w640-h480/frugalfrolics41.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Quick garden update...there really isn't much to report. The garden didn't do much this year. We had rain all summer, which definitely impacted growing rates. The chard I got about three harvests from, but they were small and then it did get hot enough, despite the rain, to bolt. The lettuce was much the same...slow growing and then it bolted. The only plant that has seemed to just love the weather and performed wildly beyond my expectations was the parsley. It was amazing all summer long! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEydED965eGtlqkgXEqi6NrmoQjlCwQf_EEzqQNxSlHBkxORIem09Y0lhLapBeQxx6C-cikwL0Z1rdZc82Lcu-ur7UzypZ3MB3Qvx7MFQe_sdTyHDN6PDp3CaoTFDLCmGnLzLi1uCvwzwt9jpLyyJtq-GZDnduetepeFaIFInn4dHvr4O3vlZTs4EqSQTM/s1244/frugalfrolics37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEydED965eGtlqkgXEqi6NrmoQjlCwQf_EEzqQNxSlHBkxORIem09Y0lhLapBeQxx6C-cikwL0Z1rdZc82Lcu-ur7UzypZ3MB3Qvx7MFQe_sdTyHDN6PDp3CaoTFDLCmGnLzLi1uCvwzwt9jpLyyJtq-GZDnduetepeFaIFInn4dHvr4O3vlZTs4EqSQTM/w640-h480/frugalfrolics37.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I now have four pint jars jammed full of dehydrated parsley which will last me for quite a long while. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSP3BFniEjrXndktrdk04PhhjebsEE0rCOrBDhpqTiSpkp2jGllRJcqP56IhgjubMbWq5L1TIGy4ICRRKl0lP7yJhgweYq2GITDiZ4PJeRM1UZX76_Ya-ABOXCJR_-BZf-myaH2ZZBOfrztGmZqYOjXGKqajX-jUarLZXWuiSxui2NiQSUkZG2TCxgeH9/s1244/frugalfrolics42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSP3BFniEjrXndktrdk04PhhjebsEE0rCOrBDhpqTiSpkp2jGllRJcqP56IhgjubMbWq5L1TIGy4ICRRKl0lP7yJhgweYq2GITDiZ4PJeRM1UZX76_Ya-ABOXCJR_-BZf-myaH2ZZBOfrztGmZqYOjXGKqajX-jUarLZXWuiSxui2NiQSUkZG2TCxgeH9/w640-h480/frugalfrolics42.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The rosemary didn't do much, but I did get enough to dehydrate a tiny bit to add to my rosemary in the spice cabinet. The basil just pretty much shriveled to the plant and did nothing all summer long. It was just too cold and wet...it didn't like it. I got one small harvest off of the two plants I got which was enough for dinner one night, and that was it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_M8v1WpNHIRbcvQin_7I_fGDCWQsQjCN7cwi2tY1UUuwWx5KXrpjTaaKP_rh7hDOo53TcLBEVZXVDXeG2yj_Qh5JXNpuTJmNXT3Ao3gU6eqbg1PVg3Pm4akvaNWdBeIfNBxcHwf6Sff08-3q2YWrZVQCKOuThgHDp5-Q7YyFvoM6RG6m7_S2QjxcntjM/s1244/frugalfrolics40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_M8v1WpNHIRbcvQin_7I_fGDCWQsQjCN7cwi2tY1UUuwWx5KXrpjTaaKP_rh7hDOo53TcLBEVZXVDXeG2yj_Qh5JXNpuTJmNXT3Ao3gU6eqbg1PVg3Pm4akvaNWdBeIfNBxcHwf6Sff08-3q2YWrZVQCKOuThgHDp5-Q7YyFvoM6RG6m7_S2QjxcntjM/w640-h480/frugalfrolics40.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The tomatoes finally developed green tomatoes...and stayed at that state for months. I finally decided it was time to pull them as the tomatoes were starting to die off this last week and I found one ripe tomato, which thrilled me to no end. I got a total of six ripe tomatoes off of the two plants all summer long, but they were yummy. I harvested every single green tomato I could get off of the plants and then had to figure out what to do with green tomatoes. I found that the tomatoes were not ripening on the counter, but were rotting instead just because they had gotten so much rain this summer I think and it was still so humid in the house. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EWn3jJBOR49il_ZACgPDXX6bU2Gpx_d2xsXMifKcL2e3peelB8vU60XVCv_HdzAwcmT7DNTNn-XDDJxUdMEuhyzQVbh_MyZvN1FLW3owJ9junXlaqBcxT1BZe77Yq2wcRsgvQU9p2AuM2V2SwzC5EQblcNITnK7-iVeyyb5UpTvlthoDNsKeLXNJQWVN/s1244/frugalfrolics44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EWn3jJBOR49il_ZACgPDXX6bU2Gpx_d2xsXMifKcL2e3peelB8vU60XVCv_HdzAwcmT7DNTNn-XDDJxUdMEuhyzQVbh_MyZvN1FLW3owJ9junXlaqBcxT1BZe77Yq2wcRsgvQU9p2AuM2V2SwzC5EQblcNITnK7-iVeyyb5UpTvlthoDNsKeLXNJQWVN/w640-h480/frugalfrolics44.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I went through a bunch of different thoughts on what to do with them, but decided to settle on <a href="https://lovelygreens.com/spicy-green-tomato-chutney/">Easy Green Tomato Chutney</a>. I had enough tomatoes for a half recipe, so I went with those portions, but ended up using apple cider vinegar instead of malt vinegar and I used craisins instead of raisins because that is what I had on hand. I ended up adding some extra sugar when I tasted the final product because it was very sour still and then I cooked it down, put it in two pint jars and a half pint jar and threw them into the fridge to mellow out over the next month or so before I try to use it. Hopefully it will be tasty when it comes time to use it. I'll keep you informed.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ALfQT0I_nHRRv5SwIIOK_t9Wmgc8OGlReTP8ZfJlsvGTn0f0rdYfN_KApDLM0A3GHz1qB6W7oaQAaNgvPvbPj4bnkWV_nJ2zCW1iOZWCuEN_DpydXohDQADVF7pAITzjs8H7sOsrS7_IW0ePf-idc8MPXQrMtR3lDNqyHPJF_ScjtLir6I3fuCwPHD0j/s1244/frugalfrolics43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ALfQT0I_nHRRv5SwIIOK_t9Wmgc8OGlReTP8ZfJlsvGTn0f0rdYfN_KApDLM0A3GHz1qB6W7oaQAaNgvPvbPj4bnkWV_nJ2zCW1iOZWCuEN_DpydXohDQADVF7pAITzjs8H7sOsrS7_IW0ePf-idc8MPXQrMtR3lDNqyHPJF_ScjtLir6I3fuCwPHD0j/w640-h480/frugalfrolics43.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>After harvesting everything, I dumped out the soil into the old garden spot that I felt could use the additional soil, broke it down with a hoe and then stacked up the planters and furniture under the eves of the roof where it was protected from the weather. After everything was dry, I put it all up into storage for the winter. I feel accomplished a bit, I have to say, as this is the first year that I got the garden cleaned up before I was dumping out frozen hunks of soil into the woods to compost the following Spring or something and this is the first year with the container garden where I got all the containers put into the shed for safe keeping instead of putting them into a somewhat protected spot on the deck for the winter. </p><p>In other news...</p><p>1. I got my mending pile all caught up. This is the first time in years where every button, every tear and such was finally gotten to and items returned to the respective family members. I feel really good about getting that off of my plate :).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpArlIkF9iakXGmT9e0mLMwyytIb-a-UJJQCmlrZRtG05gK6ySzkuwiC-8ciIPWk6qLlwhNmCBtg5R644kM6wd_tib-wVO9OB6iJlyvfY0yw_QG9NKWSY9R3dKveFnwkKXjYpB70bZwC3QSR09yBsyHcZaBhN_TMfEYdV9qePPzJrRajMxGP5_xBwv7u8/s1244/frugalfrolics45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpArlIkF9iakXGmT9e0mLMwyytIb-a-UJJQCmlrZRtG05gK6ySzkuwiC-8ciIPWk6qLlwhNmCBtg5R644kM6wd_tib-wVO9OB6iJlyvfY0yw_QG9NKWSY9R3dKveFnwkKXjYpB70bZwC3QSR09yBsyHcZaBhN_TMfEYdV9qePPzJrRajMxGP5_xBwv7u8/w640-h480/frugalfrolics45.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>2. I have been working really hard at getting the screens cleaned off in the windows, and getting the window frames themselves cleaned out as good as I can get them in preparation for winter. Cottonwood pollen was awful this year (see above photo for evidence) and it got jammed into every little knook and cranny in the windows. I got all windows done now, with the exception of the living room window and I'm hoping to get to that this weekend. I even washed the windows on the ground floor as they needed it...they are right above ground level and get crud shot all over them from the weed whacker and the lawn mower and such. They've needed a good cleaning for a while, but I finally got to them, which I was happy about. I don't think people wash their windows much anymore as I got about five neighbors slowing down driving by who gave me odd looks *laugh*.</p><p>3. I had ordered things from Amazon last month for a monthly subscribe and save order in a bid to save money. It was a disaster. I had damaged items, a big box of stuff got damaged in transit and returned to Amazon...like I said a mess. I ended up having to call to get refunds and then I went and bought what I could locally at a higher price where I could. Frugal attempt and fail. </p><p>Inflation is getting so high that Amazon, I've found, isn't saving me much money on some items that I had been buying from them. So, I guess the experience was able to highlight that for me. </p><p>4. I think I found Alvah a speech therapy place! We go in for an eval next week, but this is the first speech therapy place I've found that lists LAMP in with their core abilities/skills, so I'm hopeful! Here's hoping we can get Alvah communicating better!!!</p><p>5. I rearranged our freezers and took inventory of what I had. One of the main things I did was to make sure I streamlined the fridge freezer as all of my freezer shelves have broken from plastic fatigue with age, so I'm trying to nurse the fridge along for as long as I can before purchasing a new one. I like how it is working out as with the shelves less cluttered I'm able to move meat that I need to use to the top shelf of the freezer so it is really easy to find for when I am making a menu plan for the week :).</p><p>6. I had to use a ham hock from when we bought a pork pack a few years back. I took some cans of baked beans and put them in the crock pot with the ham hock and just cooked it all day. I then took the ham hock out and cut off the meat, cutting it into small pieces (as there isn't much meat on a ham hock) and added it back into the beans. I then made corn bread to eat on the side. The meal was tasty and the husband didn't even complain about eating leftovers along with me (turned out the meal made a lot of food) as he kept saying how surprisingly filling the meal was. I might end up making the meal again as I have one more ham hock to use up in the freezer.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbniR-jEcXWevwkNo0PF7VfEdY02rY9M_uQL5KNUBHqENQAqgKmvLgOACyYS7YJR_5PULPVEhyktsS_w491b5RAlse0Hb5C9T9mMp8qZyB1SEJxekwkxS2gyIgCnPCyMDKm9dNjounHDhXJjZSjBygW6DX_vZeh6Q5Q8WjlsH8AW6cokrKja7D8GmDThPn/s1244/frugalfrolics39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbniR-jEcXWevwkNo0PF7VfEdY02rY9M_uQL5KNUBHqENQAqgKmvLgOACyYS7YJR_5PULPVEhyktsS_w491b5RAlse0Hb5C9T9mMp8qZyB1SEJxekwkxS2gyIgCnPCyMDKm9dNjounHDhXJjZSjBygW6DX_vZeh6Q5Q8WjlsH8AW6cokrKja7D8GmDThPn/w640-h480/frugalfrolics39.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>7. We were trying to get Alvah out of the house and decided to take him to a local used store. While there my daughter wanted to check out the books, so while she was looking at the fantasy books, I just happened to look over the DVD's and found a bunch of old Disney movies and they were only 2.00 a piece. Since we only have Snow White and some of the really old Disney movies on VHS and our VCR's have long since stopped working, I picked up a bunch for the kids to enjoy and I had fun talking to my daughter how animation used to be done and how Walt Disney revolutionized how animation was done back in the day (I used to, back in the day, want to be a Disney animator more than anything...then I worked for the college program one year and came to really hate how the modern company was run and still am not fond of it...but the old animated movies are still enjoyable).</p><p>8. We have been having a fun time, now that fall is officially here, watching Halloween cartoons on YouTube for free. I'm working on a list of some things we watch and listen to to share with you all, so hopefully I'll be able to get that done in the coming days as I know we are all trying desperately to watch our budgets anymore.</p><p>9. I got in contact with our care coordinator about TEFRA renewal and was happy I did as COVID screwed up our renewal schedule that we'd had for years and we were due to renew on the Federal end. So, I got that paperwork filled out and sent off yesterday and will wait for the state paperwork to come in the mail before filling it out.</p><p>10. I kept getting e-mails from Shutterfly saying that if you don't make one purchase a year from them that they would stop storing your photos. I finally had the brain bandwidth to go and look what was stored on the site and was amazed as photos I had thought were gone years ago from outfits like the Kodak Gallery were on there! I guess Shutterfly has bought out like every online photo outfit there is, apparently, as I had photos from like four different sites that were now available from Shutterfly. And the nice thing was that I could go on there and download the photos in the albums to my computer so that if something should happen to the site, I could still have the photos. I then ordered a few photo prints and used a code for free shipping, just as a security measure so that I could keep the photos on the site. </p><p>And there you go folks. Some of the things I've been up to around here. Now that the heat is kicking on with the colder weather and drying out the house a bit, I'm. hoping to get the painting done that I wanted to get done over the summer as I'd like to get the hallway and stair landing done. It's been really getting to me that those parts are the only parts in the house paint-wise that haven't been done yet.</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-91457024520105787272023-08-30T17:01:00.002-08:002023-08-30T17:01:08.882-08:00August Catch-Up and Preparing for September<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgut6gxAN9acm8Y6gzJlEQBUmLJXCSbxQW80qPBjJfgXZ93CMtZCpgD7xzdxYbKA6TgisETUzC_pRjp5mSgm9IpiBKIP6tKL-yI3-vy999Fg0q_KeoR3BG0cKyKNJGz9r2T8BCY2BNhVORzaFEQEZLKuLnZfbFcpwdelun8fFKpjuk_dq_jYe3tB8VQpOEf/s1244/frugalfrolics38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgut6gxAN9acm8Y6gzJlEQBUmLJXCSbxQW80qPBjJfgXZ93CMtZCpgD7xzdxYbKA6TgisETUzC_pRjp5mSgm9IpiBKIP6tKL-yI3-vy999Fg0q_KeoR3BG0cKyKNJGz9r2T8BCY2BNhVORzaFEQEZLKuLnZfbFcpwdelun8fFKpjuk_dq_jYe3tB8VQpOEf/w640-h480/frugalfrolics38.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> August is one of those months that will seriously go down in my own personal history as a month that I feel grateful that I survived. Literally.<p></p><p>A ton of things happened during August, unfortunately none of them good.</p><p>It all started when I went to the doctor the last days of July. I had gone out to talk to a Estonian exchange student about educational materials he was selling in my driveway. It was a nice day (which was a nice change of pace) and I had worn a t-shirt. Honestly, I didn't think much of it at the time. Later I noticed bug bites popping up, but this isn't really a new thing to me. It is a horrible year for mosquitos and no-see-ums, so when the bug bites popped up and started to welt, I wasn't alarmed. The last few years I've noticed I'm swelling up a lot more with bug bites...figured it was the result of getting older and just dealt with it. </p><p>Fast forward to the next day and I noticed that the back of my right hand was swelling up and I had a series of what looked like bug bites between my fingers on that hand. I cleaned it up the best I could and let it go. Until Saturday when I woke up with my hand really swollen on the back and the "bites" actively seeping fluid. So, I went to the doctor. He looked me over, decided that I did indeed have an allergic reaction the bug bites and he thought my hand was probably infected. He gave me a small steroid shot to help with the welts and gave me a script for antibiotics and sent me on my way.</p><p>Everything was going great. Until the steroid shot wore off.</p><p>What followed next was an absolute nightmare.</p><p>My body went completely bonkers. I became a big, itchy, hiving, human welt from the top of my scalp to the bottom of my feet. I welted and swelled to the point my breathing got impacted in the middle of the night from my throat and face swelling that I ended up having to use my son's epi-pen on myself. My arms and legs swelled up twice their normal size to the point I was having a hard time moving my wrists, elbows, ankles and knees. Every morning I'd wake up and immediately get my husband (if home) or my daughter to check out my back and areas I couldn't see to see how bad I was going to be that day with how the welts were going already in the day. My face swelled constantly. My ears swelled and I had welts down into my ears so everything sounded like I was listening through a swimming pool.</p><p>Nearly two weeks, a visit to the ER, three Urgent Care visits and two visits to an allergist later (thank you to my mother-in-law and my husband for everything as they drove me everywhere and my mother-in-law kept the kids company a LOT), along with copious amounts of antihistamines and way more Prednisone than one person should ever consume, and the welts finally subsided. I'm still on quadruple the dose of Zyrtec than a normal person normally takes and a double dose of Pepcid AC a day (turns out, it too, is a antihistamine...go figure), but today I am finally starting the long, very slow, process of weaning myself off of the antihistamines so that I can hopefully start to feel normal again. If I swell up or welt up again during this time, my diagnosis changes from "freaky weird event that happened" to something more serious that will result in a lot of allergy testing and trying to figure out what I'm suddenly allergic to. From what the allergist was telling me, once she assured me that the odds of dying from what was going on were extremely small and rare (which did a lot for my peace of mind, honestly), was that this type of event was usually caused by some type of infection. </p><p>This whole period of time has been confusing and utterly terrifying for me. I am used to my husband having allergies with his asthma, I am used to the kids having allergies and I can navigate eczema like a champ, but this entire *waves arms* ...thing that happened...is completely outside of anything I've ever dealt with in my life and I am hoping and praying that it does not come back. I was going to show some of my wonderful reel of facial swellings and welts popping up first thing in the morning (I had to take pics for the allergist), but instead I just decided to take a shot of my instruction sheet. Here's hoping weaning off the meds works and I can feel normal again. I have to admit I'm worried. My blood pressure has been running high through this entire thing. The allergist assures me that while elevated, my blood pressure isn't bad for the amount of meds I'm on, but I still worry I might have to re-evaluate my health after this and make sure my heart and things are okay after this. I was on a LOT more meds than a normal person should be on and I do worry about the long term impact of that. </p><p>All I can do is pray and see what happens.</p><p>With medical bills, this has been so stressful on top of everything. When I was sick, we ate out...we just didn't have an option with everything going on. My husband picked up the grocery haul I had scheduled the first week I got sick, but a lot went to waste because I wasn't up to making anything and none of us were really hungry around here. We didn't have an allergist in network out in the Valley, so I ended up basically having to cash them out. I've paid half of it, but am still waiting for the other bill to come in from that (the first visit was 400.00 so I'm hoping the second will be cheaper). And then there will be the ER visit, which I'm sure that bill(s) will cost me a bunch. I put one Urgent Care visit I had onto the credit card as they bill fast and don't take payments, along with medications and other things. I am scared to see what my balance is going to be next month. I still have other medical bills to pay off that are on my credit card from other stuff earlier in the year with the family, my husband ended up having to go to the doctor's last weekend due to his lungs and he might end up having to get a CT scan on those to check and see if there is something the doctor isn't catching. Medical bills never seem to end, do they?</p><p>And the fun didn't stop there, oh no. When it rains, it monsoons, as well all know.</p><p>Our TV broke, so we had to get a new one in the middle of everything because Alvah was already not taking me being sick for so long very well, so we sure didn't want another upset to his normal environment going on. My computer died (as you got from my last post, I'm sure) and we are still trying to get it to stop getting stuck in update mode, so I had to get a new computer and other things so it would work for what I needed it for. Thank goodness I was finally able to get the sourcing for Alvah's ILP done and get reimbursement stuff into the home school so I can put the money back onto the credit card from where I ordered his school books (at least once they finally approve the reimbursements and cut me a check). As soon as that happened, our old router died, so I had to replace that (thank goodness we were able to get one quickly so Alvah wasn't without the internet for very long...that would have been a VERY bad time for us as a major source of his sensory input comes from his I-Pad). The daughter's phone, the battery suddenly swelled something terrible so the battery pops the case off and pops itself out of its housing. The phone is old enough they don't make replacement batteries for it, so I had to order her a new phone so she has one for work, which wasn't cheap. My husband had car trouble that took him a good two weeks to get figured out and fixed, but thank goodness he did as if he had taken it to a garage we could have been looking at thousands of dollars in repairs. Then my tooth broke while eating cantaloupe last week so I ended up having to go in and get seated for another crown on Monday. </p><p>Honestly, I was really feeling like I had won the anti-lottery. My hair is even falling out as the scabs from the welts starts to heal, but at least a pony tail covers it. When I watched the news coming out of Maui, I felt so awful for what those folks have gone through and are going through (I do NOT want to even imagine what they are going through with so many missing, nor would I ever want to) that I somehow felt worse, but at the same time I felt like I should just be grateful that I'm alive and it helped me from getting too depressed.</p><p>It's been rough, but I'm hoping, at least, that things will improve and I'm hopefully better. I'd appreciate any prayers people can send my way right now as the next three weeks are going to be pretty stressful for me still in weaning off of the antihistamines and praying that nothing bad happens. Today was my first dose of three, versus four, pills of Zyrtec and so far, so good *knock on wood*, so hopefully this continues to go well. </p><p>So, yeah, that's how my August went. I sat down today and made a list for September, so watch for me to post more in September, if everything goes well. One thing I'm definitely going to have to address in the coming week is the garden. I'll give full details on how it did in the next few blog posts, but I got plants that are dying back and the weather is switching to fall very quickly, so I want to make sure I get things put to bed before I'm trying to find space to dump frozen planters on the property (not that I'd know anything about that...ahem). I've got a few more things to preserve up for later use and stuff, but the garden is definitely winding down for the year. </p><p>So, yeah, now that I have a computer that works, I'll talk to you folks soon. Take care and I certainly hope your month went better than mine (and prayers for those in the South with that new hurricane are definitely sent...I pray any of you that live there are doing okay).</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-28585937944835511042023-08-22T13:36:00.002-08:002023-08-22T13:36:58.899-08:00Quick note<p> Hey all!</p><p><br /></p><p>I’ve been getting worried e-mails, so wanted to drop a quick note about one of the things going on around here (yes, one…it’s been rough..I’ll fill you in later). The one thing is that my computer died on me a week ago. New computer came in, but I didn’t realize that it doesn’t have an SD card reader. I ordered one and it should be in Friday, but in the meantime I’m computer-less essentially. So, I’ll get back to blogging as soon as I can. I am making this note on my phone, so I hope it posts okay.</p><p>See you all soon,</p><p><br /></p><p>Erika</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-23293665684577142292023-07-11T15:26:00.007-08:002023-07-11T15:42:24.561-08:00Grocery Haul for the First Part of July and Menu Plan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsCTAf2vo08OAlVCyEi4OPeq4HVKEjDYp5ue9BF5Yj70jz-6E28WHH-osuIPA4GiW15_VePH_cBqvDSBWqqILqJXuIFxzUglrf_N1uVrmjAPm4MBQ3dUQNieOFHeMjAyOr036WOJGbzyIlGp0Sl72i90ttFNEu5E3Ji72x6F3f0nH4ZPMHm_ksUrKH7TGc/s1244/groceryhaul070723.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsCTAf2vo08OAlVCyEi4OPeq4HVKEjDYp5ue9BF5Yj70jz-6E28WHH-osuIPA4GiW15_VePH_cBqvDSBWqqILqJXuIFxzUglrf_N1uVrmjAPm4MBQ3dUQNieOFHeMjAyOr036WOJGbzyIlGp0Sl72i90ttFNEu5E3Ji72x6F3f0nH4ZPMHm_ksUrKH7TGc/w640-h480/groceryhaul070723.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>So, I have had people e-mail me and ask if I had any advice on saving money at the grocery store. </p><p>I find it funny, in an odd sort of way. Back when the kids were still in diapers, I ended up running a coupon blog for my area of Alaska. I and about three other people started blogs at the same time, realizing the need for bargain blogs in Alaska with how crazy things were going back then. Back then I'd run to three stores in a day, with little kids in tow, to get whatever bargains I could with coupons. It DID save me a bunch of money back then, I have to say that. Coupons were a means to save money back then. Unfortunately, coupons changed and getting good deals with coupons...it came to a point that I gave up on paper coupons for the most part at the store because they just weren't save me money anymore. </p><p>Then E-Coupons became a thing and those HAVE saved me money and I love the convenience of being able to load them to my shopping card every week to go shopping, so I haven't turned my back on coupons all together, but I just don't carry a coupon binder with me to the store anymore. And yes, I said "store". With the stage of life I am in, with two older kiddos and one who is over 6 ft tall and special needs, going to multiple stores anymore...I just don't have the energy, or the time, to do it. Years ago, I settled on Carrs/Safeway to do my shopping as I got better deals there on the things we normally bought, and back then I loved the fact that I could ask for someone to come out and help me load the groceries into my car while I got the kids into their car seats and got them somewhat content for the ride home.</p><p>Things started to change over the years. Amazon started shipping more grocery types of items to Alaska, so I was able to peruse it every day looking for those illusive deals (still do hit Amazon about twice a day to look), so I utilize Amazon for bulk shopping a lot around here. Covid happened and Pick up and Go became popular amongst the stores.</p><p>And thus leads me to what I am doing today to do grocery shopping.</p><p>My husband and I sat down a while ago and decided that with his two week pay schedule and how crazy inflation was, that it was just going to be worth our time to just do a "Pick Up and Go" order with Carrs once every two weeks and on the off week we'd pick up milk and that would be about it. We have made a change with milk and we started picking up locally sourced milk about a year ago. It is more expensive than the Lucerne milk we were buying (like 8.49 a gallon expensive), but the milk is unhomogenized, so it has more fat than normal whole milk you buy at the store, so the milk goes further around here and I find it keeps a LOT longer than the stuff we were getting trucked into Carrs from the Lower 48, which I was running into a problem with store bought milk going bad even before the expiration date on the milk last year, which is why we ended up switching. I got tired of throwing money away.</p><p>Anyway, I've found some really nice advantages to doing the every two week grocery pick ups. For one, I can put in my order a few days early (I normally do it on Wednesday) and I have till midnight that night to put in any edits I need to my grocery order. No more, "Oh shoot! I forgot..." moments after I get home from the store. I can add or delete items as I need to in the order that day to make sure I get everything I need, which is nice. I can also comparison shop right from the comfort of my living room on what items are on sale, which of this item is the best deal, etc. Second, if the store is out of this or that item, most times they will offer me substitutions on my order and a lot of times I get upgraded to a more expensive product without having to pay extra. One thing I've found to be a major advantage to this, as well, is that when meat is on sale, they have been out of things I wanted to get and they will substitute other packages of meat and not charge me extra (like chicken thighs were on sale B1G1 a few weeks ago and they substituted me out meat counter thighs, which were bigger and better trimmed, for no extra money on my part) . This, to me, is a great advantage to using the Pick Up and Go option as I can not relate how many times in the past years I've had to rush to the store at the first day of a sale to HOPEFULLY get that item before the store was sold out of it and I was out of luck. The final advantage I've found is one my husband loves probably more than I do. No more moments of me running into the store for "2 items" and coming out with 20 because they were marked down or I ran into a sale or something. We don't have to worry about having to get Alvah McDonald's to keep him happy or things like that. It has really simplified the shopping and with how I'm getting busier and busier, or so it seems to me, it really has helped to alleviate one more thing I'd have to go run and do. No more waiting in line with Alvah getting cranky because the person ahead of me is taking too long because of a price check or other things. Seriously, I love this new way of grocery shopping. </p><p>Am I missing out on deals? Oh, yes, I am sure I am. Do I think it is worth it, to me, to miss those deals? Absolutely!</p><p>So, in this post, I decided to show one of my big "every two week" hauls of groceries and what we have on the menu plan to use some of those groceries in the next couple of weeks. </p><p>First a warning. I am not showing all of the groceries I bought. Things I am not including in the pictures is my son's staple food items (frozen French fries, junk food) because they take up a ton of room to photograph. I'm also not including snack foods (popsicles, any chips I might get for my daughter's lunch, etc) as I don't really consider those to be important to the menu plans around here.</p><p>So, let's get into what I bought and you can compare it to prices in your area. Enjoy!</p><p>First up is the stuff I ended up sticking into the freezer or pantry downstairs as soon as I was done shooting the shot with my phone, so excuse the poor lighting...I didn't feel like hauling it upstairs just to haul it back downstairs.</p><p>So, I got...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyhrRkHpxi5h3HTSRjHP3I4ciJ8gX1HlMoclBweRjzrDL53oZPJjDel1DZ3YxKYjqZQWABgq7mHyrhn5aHyY00b63ezZ0uyQkLdl5U6BDZ1H0OHWH9s04ngMQd9WIN-k6sxx3c8ONwneA4DMs22uA95yk1Q_kXcMm5S9t9Bvu3mooYLsHYYUiiafkYVRPK/s1089/groceryhaul070723g.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1089" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyhrRkHpxi5h3HTSRjHP3I4ciJ8gX1HlMoclBweRjzrDL53oZPJjDel1DZ3YxKYjqZQWABgq7mHyrhn5aHyY00b63ezZ0uyQkLdl5U6BDZ1H0OHWH9s04ngMQd9WIN-k6sxx3c8ONwneA4DMs22uA95yk1Q_kXcMm5S9t9Bvu3mooYLsHYYUiiafkYVRPK/w640-h480/groceryhaul070723g.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>2 Packages Green Giant corn on the cob "nibblers". This was a substitution for a 12 pack of Signature Select mini corn on the cob that I had a coupon to get for free. So, total for those was $0.00.</li><li>1 package frozen chopped spinach: $2.75</li><li>2 packages Petite Broccoli Florets. These were steam in a bag florets, but were cheaper than just getting some bags of broccoli to eat with cheese sauce at dinner, so I got them instead. $4.51.</li><li>1 Corned Beef Brisket: $21.30</li><li>2 packages spaghetti (Alvah is blowing through pounds per week, so this is going to end up being a common item in my grocery hauls): $3.53</li></ul><div>I just shared the totals there and not cost per unit on the multiples.</div><div><br /></div><div>And now onto the main, very full table of stuff. You will notice that I'm buying the bowls of melon and berries a lot as I've found that I am getting decent quality items doing it this way and it saves me from having to throw away the fruit scraps and things, so to me, it is worth it. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHTbgONpytCIMa7BFQdyQN5qLAZ2MEszD8aGFCfIpf2tYIgkwITX1muiAO-jSo965WSxWxRxCssVkNHwyKmqzo73UsjTs-gTEi0yRCYTz8UJUnoRY5uQyw0eEsNPtK0wWRRgF-n17q0bPB9VAVPjrTeRESfuqLSCDffbojE7onTR6czFserAp-kApcfJCS/s1244/groceryhaul070723.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHTbgONpytCIMa7BFQdyQN5qLAZ2MEszD8aGFCfIpf2tYIgkwITX1muiAO-jSo965WSxWxRxCssVkNHwyKmqzo73UsjTs-gTEi0yRCYTz8UJUnoRY5uQyw0eEsNPtK0wWRRgF-n17q0bPB9VAVPjrTeRESfuqLSCDffbojE7onTR6czFserAp-kApcfJCS/w640-h480/groceryhaul070723.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>I will break this down by different parts of the table as it seems easier, so let's go!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibhmeNqxHJJlk8r7BkvM_Zs2pkw-TnsEA4wz0Ozm0y1aHIh3YQWrmCchNGJhLwxgxnuUFP6tJn2nnJA6fYGFpT7VToNpLxuhs3Ut64p3ippE18LkKo2pFaz9Fmd1RbBVOp83wwkJmDp2WUQ0JBuYtscepGwV3bIh0XUL0UYQqPK50ukIHyp97UxTNXOVKB/s1244/groceryhaul070723a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibhmeNqxHJJlk8r7BkvM_Zs2pkw-TnsEA4wz0Ozm0y1aHIh3YQWrmCchNGJhLwxgxnuUFP6tJn2nnJA6fYGFpT7VToNpLxuhs3Ut64p3ippE18LkKo2pFaz9Fmd1RbBVOp83wwkJmDp2WUQ0JBuYtscepGwV3bIh0XUL0UYQqPK50ukIHyp97UxTNXOVKB/w640-h480/groceryhaul070723a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>First up is the meat. The totals are going to be a bit off from the actual as I used some fuel rewards to get $7.00 off of meat and they tend to apply a bit to each package of meat you get in your order. So, the corned beef brisket had a bit off of it because of that too. Anyway, I got...</div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Land O' Frost Black Forest Ham (for my daughter's work sandwiches and also as a stand in for Canadian bacon on home made pizza): $5.25 after 1.00/1 coupon (I won a 1.00 off lunchmeat coupon on the Flavor Adventure online game).</li><li>2 Packages of Pork Chops on sale for $1.97 lb. They substituted in pork chops that were $2.49 lb instead, but only charged me for the $1.97 lb. $6.51 and $8.95 each.</li><li>Boneless, Skinless chicken thighs (I have started to buy these more as I've found them to be really versatile in my cooking and I don't end up throwing away anything at the end of dinner this way, so it is worth it to me to buy it this way): 13.05 for the value pack.</li><li>Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, two pack (I am going to butterfly them to make a pack of four when I go to cook them): $8.87 after a $2.00/1 coupon (won 2.00 off boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the Flavor Adventure game).</li><li>Waterfront Bistro Imitation Crab meat: $3.13. Put this into the freezer until I'm ready to use it this week.</li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHOZGwAfKQ-EyNIfam9k3SPW1WwTlDYdTwTAQCbvCQTi6FRqWtZ2oHoVAIwVslZqeuHhSDofWmvbHOCjBLCVmHudTB1rNMXeRzQGVS28ObXYhQeL36uYzafZ3vOxPX3WT-KHSGtwVX6G0sPWmNUkSR6pTjRBCi578jms5HHT-umjkHIIt6IXCUr0dFoq6/s1244/groceryhaul070723b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHOZGwAfKQ-EyNIfam9k3SPW1WwTlDYdTwTAQCbvCQTi6FRqWtZ2oHoVAIwVslZqeuHhSDofWmvbHOCjBLCVmHudTB1rNMXeRzQGVS28ObXYhQeL36uYzafZ3vOxPX3WT-KHSGtwVX6G0sPWmNUkSR6pTjRBCi578jms5HHT-umjkHIIt6IXCUr0dFoq6/w640-h480/groceryhaul070723b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Next up, working our way around the table a bit, we run into the produce. In the first round/picture, I got...</div></div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>2 Heads of cabbage: $8.37</li><li>1 Cucumber: $1.47</li><li>8 Roma Tomatoes: $2.96</li><li>1 Bell pepper: $1.47</li><li>1 bunch Cilantro: $1.47</li><li>1 large avocado: $2.75</li></ul><div>Next picture:</div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRpcIRIl29ZXmQXJbFpYeY0Niw3tKF1R6rOPXtozY_u3Sb1ohM5ycexFE0fmt2BbhmwbVqMA2jreyGn8eIH4omZfLJOk4y0hoL9eJQI-IwQgtqpQ9zg3YSB6CaCoox0lx1HuTWoESLcSJZjm0PyxPNpsT0L5kVIQ9Cx-l5aamkptNEtu5IuHpSQwQ1g7QV/s1244/groceryhaul070723f.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRpcIRIl29ZXmQXJbFpYeY0Niw3tKF1R6rOPXtozY_u3Sb1ohM5ycexFE0fmt2BbhmwbVqMA2jreyGn8eIH4omZfLJOk4y0hoL9eJQI-IwQgtqpQ9zg3YSB6CaCoox0lx1HuTWoESLcSJZjm0PyxPNpsT0L5kVIQ9Cx-l5aamkptNEtu5IuHpSQwQ1g7QV/w640-h480/groceryhaul070723f.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>1 Bag of spinach: $2.95</li><li>2 bunches green onions: $2.94</li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoWN8yNSJVMNsRteEjlWCva86pr2ExMwz74fEquGTLoXsfuT9JTAwu_OmoG6Xj-QdoTITkyVcYmwncYU_UqhnHJOmypVPfExlKgtypVahJ7DkCvayo6d13r057xRBJPtP4bk2cS0X_mk-GIpvufvUo2Y8MaKC25mSHsuvAGOyP7w3bNhmcxqRNxQ6ZZ4gQ/s1244/groceryhaul070723e.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoWN8yNSJVMNsRteEjlWCva86pr2ExMwz74fEquGTLoXsfuT9JTAwu_OmoG6Xj-QdoTITkyVcYmwncYU_UqhnHJOmypVPfExlKgtypVahJ7DkCvayo6d13r057xRBJPtP4bk2cS0X_mk-GIpvufvUo2Y8MaKC25mSHsuvAGOyP7w3bNhmcxqRNxQ6ZZ4gQ/w640-h480/groceryhaul070723e.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>1 bag Fuji apples: Free, from a coupon I redeemed last month for some fuel rewards that were going to expire.</li><li>Melon bowl, mixed: $6.88 (this is for snacking)</li><li>Strawberry bowl: $7.47, personalized price.</li><li>Cantaloupe bowl: Free (the bowls are B2G1)</li><li>Lighthouse Poppyseed Dressing: $5.90 (not the cheapest dressing, but it was cheaper than getting poppyseeds to make my own dressing).</li><li>Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive Oil: $8.84 after 1.00/1 coupon (this is for the son's pasta and Amazon was out of pretty much any olive oil for months when I went to see if I could order it, so this was the next best option).</li><li>2 cans black olives: $3.53</li><li>5lbs of Unbleached All Purpose Flour: $3.27 personalized price.</li><li>Buttermilk, 1/2 gallon: $3.99 (it was only .49 more than a quart, so I just went with it)</li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7wqLcKiMXDNBX_f8Bsw9x35ZG3KvxHB8EgUSD2spjtJgFKKmLQbWmoC9kCm5deVIGKtQvQX7WzH5hUgWEQvI_iEqosFkSxUn0rqEMxPusLiZJekyG3VhqlaK_IsuzsH8PHtogKR-E5aelbhwfbgde8knWXYjo4EFo-ApfDMHoudCzSEyD0eWF6whrVR9s/s1244/groceryhaul070723d.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7wqLcKiMXDNBX_f8Bsw9x35ZG3KvxHB8EgUSD2spjtJgFKKmLQbWmoC9kCm5deVIGKtQvQX7WzH5hUgWEQvI_iEqosFkSxUn0rqEMxPusLiZJekyG3VhqlaK_IsuzsH8PHtogKR-E5aelbhwfbgde8knWXYjo4EFo-ApfDMHoudCzSEyD0eWF6whrVR9s/w640-h480/groceryhaul070723d.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Continuing here...</div></div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>1 box, quart sized freezer bags: $3.19</li><li>1 box, gallon sized freezer bags: $3.93</li><li>1, 4 pack, canned peaches: $9.83</li><li>2 packages Lucerne European style salted butter: Free after a couple of won coupons from the Flavor Adventure game.</li><li>2 packages Danish Creamery European Style butter: $5.00 after a 2.00/2 coupon.</li><li>1 bag shredded Mozzarella cheese: $7.05 (I actually got this because Alvah has been on a kick where he wants to eat frozen cheese, and unlike the home grated stuff this stuff will separate and allow me to get him small bowls of cheese to eat straight from the freezer).</li></ul><div>Okay, and now onto some things that aren't shown:</div><div><br /></div><div>Ibuprofen and Tums (forgot to take pics before we put them away in the bathroom)</div><div>Alvah food and a bag of chips for the daughter's work lunches (she puts a big bag into small sandwich bags to give herself a treat to eat with her sandwiches).</div><div><br /></div><div>So, all totaled I spent:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>$311.61 after various coupons, discounts and other things were taken.</b></div><div><b><u>+$9.35 </u>taxes and fees</b></div><div><br /></div><b><i>$320.96 total spent.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>That seems like a lot every time I spend it, but my grocery budget has just gone up the worse inflation has gotten (as I know everyone is in that boat), so really $160.00 a week for groceries for a family of four with a special needs teen who eats constantly...I don't think I'm doing too bad, honestly. Sad, but true.</div><div><br /></div><div>Okay, so it's more like 168.49 a week as we are spending 17.00 for two gallons of milk as well, so keep that in mind.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, let's move onto some of the meals I'm going to make with these groceries :).</div><div><br /></div><div>1 For the following items, I'm going to be using them to make <a href="https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/lacto-fermented-salsa-recipe">Farmhouse On Boone's Lacto Fermented Salsa</a>. I made some of this a few months ago and my husband and I loved it and just used up the final bits of it, so it was time to ferment a new batch. So, for this recipe I'm going to be using...</div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>4 tomatoes (the rest of the tomatoes are slated for tomato sandwiches for my lunches)</li><li>The bell pepper</li><li>The Cilantro</li></ul></div><div>The rest of the ingredients I already have on hand.</div><div><br /></div><div>2. For the corned beef and one of the heads of cabbage I'm going to be making slow cooked corned beef brisket with potatoes, carrots and cabbage.</div><div><br /></div><div>3. The spinach and strawberries will be combined with some crumbled feta I have in the fridge and some of the dehydrated pecans I have in the freezer to make a spinach strawberry salad. I am going to put the poppyseed dressing on top of it to dress it. This will be my second time making said salad and my husband and I love it. </div><div><br /></div><div>4. The chicken breasts I'm going to slice in half butterfly wise and make four chicken breasts. I'm then going to pound them flat and turn them into schnitzel and soak them in some buttermilk to give them a bit of tang. I'm then going to bread them with some home ground sourdough breadcrumbs that I made. I'm then going to take a stick of the European butter to make a yummy compound butter with some herbs and we'll have that on top of the chicken to make a lazy man's Chicken Kiev out of it. </div><div><br /></div><div>5. Another half stick of butter is destined to make <a href="https://platedcravings.com/easy-lemon-curd-recipe/">Easy Lemon Curd</a>. I got lemons last week on a good sale price and I used a couple to make this recipe. I also got a really good deal on eggs a few weeks ago and bought five dozen to see us through for a while and so I used some of those in the recipe as well. It turned out GREAT and I'm going to use the lemon curd to make lemon and strawberry cheesecake for dessert tonight (I made the lemon curd last night so it'd have time to sit).</div><div><br /></div><div>6. I will be using some of the buttermilk in <a href="https://lilluna.com/lemon-zucchini-bread/">lemon zucchini bread</a>. I bought a few zucchini with groceries last month and didn't get a chance to use it, so I grated it and threw it into the freezer. Two tiny zucchini from the store netted me a cup of grated zucchini so I will pull that out of the freezer, ring it out and use it in the recipe as well. And I will use another lemon from my bag-o-lemons I bought in this recipe as well :).</div><div><br /></div><div>7. The avocado, cucumber and imitation crab meat I'm going to use tomorrow to make sushi, along with some miso soup, for dinner. I have some sushi nori (seaweed) to use up in the pantry, so I figured it would be a good time to use it. I'll also use some of the green onions in the miso soup and the rest I will put in the freezer to use over the winter.</div><div><br /></div><div>8. The all purpose flour will be used to make sourdough items. My two go-to recipes every week are <a href="https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/rustic-sourdough-bread-recipe">Rustic Sourdough</a> and <a href="https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-pizza-crust-recipe">Sourdough pizza crust</a>...I double the pizza crust recipe and make breadsticks for the son out of the same dough. Works great. I'll also use some of the ham for pizza nights and we'll use a can of the black olives for pizza nights as well. We tend to have pizza once a week around here, so we definitely keep stuff around to make it.</div><div><br /></div><div>9. The pork chops were gotten because they were cheap and will be used partially by marinating them in some type of marinade and grilling them later in the week (we are looking at the 70s and with how humid it has been this summer...that's not going to be a fun couple of days. I might be grilling in the rain, but if I had to, so be it).</div><div><br /></div><div>10. The second head of cabbage may be made into coleslaw or some other cold cabbage dish or I might ferment it into fresh sauerkraut or make it into hot seasoned cabbage to go with sausages or something one night. I'm still undecided, but I've found cabbage is a great versatile vegetable to have around.</div><div><br /></div><div>11. The melon bowls are for dessert or if my husband feels hungry after dinner at some point. The chicken thighs will be used for sure, if in nothing else than in baked chicken as my daughter's favorite cooked meat is chicken, quickly followed by fish.</div><div><br /></div><div>And there you go folks. My grocery haul and how I plan to use it (God willing the produce keeps). I'll probably be sharing grocery hauls more often to maybe give people some ideas. Never hurts to get inspiration, I say. </div><div><br /></div><div>Enjoy!</div><p></p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-52748140236371389292023-07-11T11:42:00.002-08:002023-07-11T11:47:32.279-08:00Quick Life Update: What's Been Going on Around Here<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIkX0e9jLArTVTk_eIYAGibExzusNc-DCetO3pKqgtTlr-Sk3sMKuEHivrcr6G_Y4Az_odK8Rw7FStwqvXldT5Zi-i8ARIzC2j9m8xm0Dl7ukMQTxE4XGvcdO1dh196LcqbvO0xv5IQPeNrndLYrIcQnNAgwAFwVfXngTgfCoM4gOiaY0kCmHLBhEQNNN/s1244/blackbeauty1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIkX0e9jLArTVTk_eIYAGibExzusNc-DCetO3pKqgtTlr-Sk3sMKuEHivrcr6G_Y4Az_odK8Rw7FStwqvXldT5Zi-i8ARIzC2j9m8xm0Dl7ukMQTxE4XGvcdO1dh196LcqbvO0xv5IQPeNrndLYrIcQnNAgwAFwVfXngTgfCoM4gOiaY0kCmHLBhEQNNN/w640-h480/blackbeauty1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>It's been nuts around here, per usual it seems. I'd share Frugal Accomplishments, but I have to say that the last few weeks, there really hasn't been very many, other than I got the kids in for their dental visits and cleanings and they were cavity free and doing well (thank goodness) and I got Alvah into the eye doctor for the first time in a while and he's doing good...his nearsightedness got a wee bit worse, but he's not even close to really needing glasses, so that was a relief and a half to hear as trying to get him to wear glasses would be a challenge and then some. <p></p><p>Bright side for those who want money saving tips, I'm going to have to come up with some as I had some unexpected things happen that cost me money the last few weeks. Let's get into some of that.</p><p>The first one was I ended up having to take Prince to the vet suddenly. I went to pet him one day and he yelped when I got near his mouth. I could tell he was in pain and kept an eye on him over the weekend and the pain wasn't going away and he wasn't eating much as I could tell it hurt him to chew. So, I ended up taking him to the vet. The vet didn't see any bad teeth or anything (which was what I suspected was going on, so I was happy to hear his teeth were okay) and that his teeth were in good shape and he couldn't really see anything really wrong (other than Prince is fat, which I already knew that one for sure). He suspected that Prince might have strep, so he gave him a long lasting antibiotic shot to see if that would clear things up and get him acting his old rambunctious self (it did) and gave him an updated rabies vaccine. That visit, while worth it, wasn't cheap, so I have that to pay off on top of the medical bills that I've been trying to pay down.</p><p>And then the next day (no joke) I was making bread and my mixer just stopped in its tracks and I barely got it shut off before it was going to start burning up on me. I couldn't get it to work right afterwards, so my husband took a look at it when he came home and after troubleshooting it said that it was just time to retire the old girl as something major was going in it this time. The actual loss of the mixer actually hit me kind of hard. That mixer made every batch of Christmas cookies my kids have ever eaten, it had made many batches of bread over the years, many birthday cakes and other goodies, and it had been a great mixer that I had used hard over the last 16 years. It just got past the point that my husband could fix it. Rest in peace old friend.</p><p>My husband took a look at the NutriMill I had bought after the earthquake and decided he didn't want me to use it as my everyday mixer as it was underpowered compared to a normal Bosche mixer and with how hard I ran my mixers, he didn't think it would live very long. So, we talked about what to do and how to replace the Viking as I am constantly using my mixer and really couldn't be without one around here. We thought about buying an actual Bosche, but I finally decided that I didn't want to go with a mixer that I might not be able to find replacement parts for, so after some debate (and my husband looking around to see what would be the best to go with for the sake of repair and maintenance), we settled on getting a KitchenAid. </p><p>Unfortunately, trying to FIND a decent sized KitchenAid for my needs wasn't easy, so my husband spent one afternoon canvasing Anchorage trying to find at least a 7 quart KitchenAid mixer for me (we didn't want to go smaller than my Viking mixer as I will sometimes max out a seven quart when doing big batches of things). He finally found a restaurant supply house that services the residential market too and we ended up getting an 8 quart Commercial KitchenAid mixer. We went with the commercial mixer because it was available (a BIG plus as it seems that most everything is at least a month out on order up here right now) and it was set up more simply then the Professional line of KitchenAid internally, which would make it easier to work on, all the attachments are stainless steel (so, able to be put through the dishwasher...which sometimes I put my bowl in the dishwasher multiple times a day, so that was a plus for me), and it has a nice, powerful motor that would do everything I wanted it to do over the next countless years. It is also really easy to clean as they didn't put on a bunch of plastic trim pieces or anything, so you can really clean it well in no time flat. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-j8kbqlbESqL5i1RcIXPT1KxXYUcscae9HPZv48YydYHfrpN3WXnwrUQNoC-CZbcBIUl8K_jrDxCIlrFUHfGWIkfHUpzVftE-B79pE-dNK-xmu6XwUelRYLd0WZe3a7qepXF1GeOQ0CRE9C_RgbRWmXR_5GdXRJT3PMIVNXaxii37YtvVHY56QnCHte1l/s1244/blackbeauty.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-j8kbqlbESqL5i1RcIXPT1KxXYUcscae9HPZv48YydYHfrpN3WXnwrUQNoC-CZbcBIUl8K_jrDxCIlrFUHfGWIkfHUpzVftE-B79pE-dNK-xmu6XwUelRYLd0WZe3a7qepXF1GeOQ0CRE9C_RgbRWmXR_5GdXRJT3PMIVNXaxii37YtvVHY56QnCHte1l/w640-h480/blackbeauty.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>And so, I welcome Black Beauty to my kitchen. I do love it, I have to admit. </p><p>The only downside is the price. It was NOT cheap. Neither was the Viking when I bought it so many years ago, but it still hurts to buy a piece of equipment like this. So, I am going to work hard over the next few months to hopefully get the mixer paid off as I feel terribly guilty that my husband bought me a mixer for our anniversary (just worked out that way for when the Viking died) instead of buying something cheaper, but at least it is practical I suppose and my husband was happy to get it for me, which was really sweet of him. I have used said mixer NUMEROUS times over the last few weeks and it works beautifully. A definite bright side compared to the Viking is that I can put some dough on to knead in the mixer and walk away to do other things instead of having to lean on the mixer so it doesn't try to skip off the countertop. And it is so MUCH quieter than my old mixer. I couldn't believe how quiet it is as it is doing its work. May it last many, many years and serve me as well as my Viking did.</p><p>So, yeah, it's been interesting around here. I didn't know where else to put the updates this time, so I decided to just do a quick post about what was going on and I'll get into money saving things, garden updates and some other (hopefully) more fun posts here in the next few posts. </p><p>I hope your summer is going well and you are all getting things done that is on your lists. Enjoy!</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-84822598758931134602023-06-22T13:06:00.001-08:002023-06-22T13:06:14.011-08:00Frugal Accomplishments the Last Three WeeksI<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpw08u3ZpLefZtqPPpQ5dJ3yZgTbEwBtuG2bNyQdp_SJtJzbhvxkRyL6XCDMwfXqVSXys3y33_XNr5y8tRFD92RwLEJuD4xHeFW-x2vZTyPi7nChs-8kTlbyIMLQD5HpbvPcrBYF74qaTQ9pvUc4pEDmLmjzhk7hdIC-JlbAKk1qCS0vmI0cLPmitykJZD/s1244/frugalfrolics27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpw08u3ZpLefZtqPPpQ5dJ3yZgTbEwBtuG2bNyQdp_SJtJzbhvxkRyL6XCDMwfXqVSXys3y33_XNr5y8tRFD92RwLEJuD4xHeFW-x2vZTyPi7nChs-8kTlbyIMLQD5HpbvPcrBYF74qaTQ9pvUc4pEDmLmjzhk7hdIC-JlbAKk1qCS0vmI0cLPmitykJZD/w640-h480/frugalfrolics27.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Wow, time slipped away from me this month. It's been rough around here with trying to get my husband well (he's finally on the mend, thank goodness) and then after he started feeling better I finally came down with the cold that I'd managed to avoid for a good month. I popped vitamins and worked really hard on getting well and thankfully this is the first time I've caught a cold in years where it did NOT go into a nasty cough for months that would finally land me at the doctor's, so yay for that!</p><p>I got a couple of e-mails the last couple of weeks and did not have time to reply to them, so wanted to apologize to those that were nice enough to write. I'll try to reply to them as soon as I have time to breathe around here. Between working on making up Alvah's learning plan for next school year (which, as any homeschooler will tell you, creating your own individual learning plan, or ILP for short, is a LOT of work), getting the daughter back and forth to work, driving practice with the daughter, getting the husband's car into the body shop to finally get repaired, Father's Day and other stuff...it's been crazy busy on top of people being sick.</p><p>But, yeah, let's fill you in on stuff that has been happening around here.</p><p>Summer, if you can call it that, is flying by. Where a bunch of people in the Lower 48 are dealing with hot weather and drought (prayers are with you all), we are dealing with cold weather and rain. Like constant rain and lows in the 40s at night. The mosquitos love it. Humans, not so much. Everyone I talk to is so tired of bad weather as we've had it constantly the last three years it seems. So far this Spring/Summer we've had four days of nice weather. Four. The last couple of them were last week and the trees finally leafed out completely so it looks like summer outside, which is nice. Unfortunately, Summer Solstice is now passed, so we are looking forward to the dark coming back, but we still haven't really had much sunny summer yet (Glen Allen even had snow just a bit ago...I mean geez!). Up North it seems like they are getting more sun in North Pole and Fairbanks (I watch Somer's in Alaska on YouTube), but around here in South Central/The Valley, the weather hasn't been grand and it is wearing on people's moods.</p><p>I have worked hard to keep things like the furnace turned off as much as I can around here, which has reduced our gas bills compared to last year at this time. Which, honestly, with how energy costs have gone up everywhere, I feel pretty good about that :).</p><p>Anyway, onto money saving matters around here...</p><p>1. I have been asked to share any tips I've been personally using to save money on groceries. I'll share a post about that, hopefully in the next few days. I'm not sure how helpful people will find it, but I'll share what is working for me and my family.</p><p>2. For Father's Day, instead of going out to eat, we stayed home and I made one of my husband's favorite meals, tempura cod and French fries (my version of fish and chips). I made a lemon pound cake from a mix I had in the pantry for dessert. The only purchase I ended up making that day was I bought the HBO mini-series "Chernobyl" off of Amazon (which I budgeted for :) for us to watch as my husband and I have really been wanting to see it (we've only watched two parts so far, but it is really good). </p><p>3. My daughter lost a button on her favorite shirt. She loved the buttons on the shirt as they are a very stylized silver colored button. I was pretty sure we were not going to be able to replace the button with one out of the button jar, but my husband, daughter and I went through all the buttons in our big button jar to try and find a button that she liked, would fit in the button holes on the shirt (they are smaller than a normal button hole and the shade of pink of the shirt is hard to match thread-wise, so I didn't want to expand a button hole if I could avoid it) and would go with the other buttons on said shirt. We finally found a pearl colored button that she liked, would fit the holes on the shirt and I figured if I rearranged the remaining buttons and put the pearl button on the top hole it would just add a bit of flair to the shirt. The daughter was happy with the results and I was happy that she was happy :).</p><p>4. I mended a shoddy seam on one of my husband's work shirt pockets.</p><p>5. I darned one of my son's favorite socks that he likes to wear over the bad eczema on his foot at night (the sock takes a lot of abuse because he itches his foot through it and then it gets pretty saturated with moisturizing lotion). He really likes the sock as it fits over his eczema just right so I was careful with the darning to make sure the sock would hold it's shape well. So far, he's been okay with the repair, so I'm happy.</p><p>6. I took remnants from the fridge that needed to be used up and made a breakfast casserole for breakfasts this week. I'm still new to the world of breakfast casseroles, so I over browned the cheese so it's kind of interesting to chew the exterior of the casserole, but the flavor is good.</p><p>7. A while ago I decided not to do a CSA this summer like I had in the last few years. I'm really glad I made the choice I did when I look at the weather, as I doubt the CSA members are going to be getting much produce this summer and goodness knows how delayed it would be in starting with the weather has gone. And not doing it saved me money up front, so there was that savings too.</p><p>8. I had bought a few new comforters, all the same size (Queen) to replace some that were falling apart (Alvah is hard on bedding as I end up having to wash comforters and things a LOT with him) from Amazon and then I ordered comforter covers/duvet covers for each bedroom. The comforters themselves were cheap (20.00 a pop), but were put together really cheap as well so I've had to re-sew a few of them on the edges as the seams are not great. Sadly, I had bought that particular brand/type as I've had one comforter in that brand on my bed for a long time and it's held up nicely for a cheap comforter...but they have definitely gone down hill in quality (items at the used stores having gotten so expensive, it really isn't worth my time to look there for things like comforters, unfortunately). Times like this I'm really glad to have basic sewing skills and a good store of thread. I figure I'll have to repair a few more, I'm sure, but at least the comforter covers will help cover up any repair work I've had to do and my seams should last a lot longer than the shoddy ones they came with :).</p><p>9. My son really scratched up one of his favorite Charlie and Lola discs. I tried to repair it, but failed. I was able to find a decent priced replacement on E-bay (the discs are getting harder and harder to come by and Amazon wanted a fortune for a used copy) and ordered it, but in the meantime I searched around and found that Roku has Charlie and Lola available to watch for free. So, he was able to watch his favorite episodes of the show on his TV while waiting for his replacement disc to come in the mail.</p><p>10. I gave my husband and son haircuts.</p><p>11. My daughter's desk drawer broke and we realized that it had a very specific runner part for the drawer that was made of plastic. I went searching around and actually found a bulk package of the part on Amazon for not much money at all on sale with a coupon. I ordered them and the part worked perfectly. My husband is also glad we have back up pieces for the drawer as we're not overly fond of plastic parts for longevity, so if it breaks again, at least we have back up repair parts.</p><p>12. A while ago I had bought replacement Rubbermaid containers for lunches to replace ones I had bought a looonnnnnggg time ago. We were down to not a lot of containers left as we had thrown them out over time as they got melted and things, so I ordered a big kit off of Amazon that was like 1/2 the asking price from the warehouse as the original packaging had gotten damaged (supposedly...I didn't find any damage to anything when it came in, so I was happy). We started using the new containers and they were NOT holding up well, at all. Combine that with me reading about micro-plastics and how they stick around in the human body and things and I just decided I didn't need my husband nuking his lunch in the plastic containers. </p><p>I decided to purchase some glass lunch containers for him. After much searching (I will readily admit I spend hours looking for a good bargain to save money...I'm cheap what can I say), I found <a href="https://amzn.to/3NLQwI0">these</a> (note: affiliate link) and ordered them. With the 10.00 off coupon (still active as of the posting of this post it looks like), the containers were only 19.99, they nest inside each other via shape (you get three sets of three; rectangles, squares and circular containers) for actually pretty convenient storage, the lids (so far) don't leak and they are working really well and my husband seems to really like them. The only drawback I am finding to glass containers is that I have to put like a paper towel or something over the food if I am worried about it spitting over the microwave as I haven't found any glass containers where the lids are microwavable yet. I am not worried about melting them in the dish washer as I don't use the drying function on my dishwasher, so I'm not sure how dishwasher safe they are (just a warning there). Will I replace all of my plastic containers with glass? Probably not. But for my husband's lunches, this is working out well.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdyLTFgsykvtMzHY-NpwdeIe48r-uRBAwWzRM1b1CYKu9GAc3CFRNZHshTE8fZ0pYoJ1uKg3QnSuUAXp8RxzBE7ZI5HpP2SyI_klQ_-15Z6ooGlX1IZOrOHWrMA4-lZG3YANC7uj7M8QzsocaNbcl7sMaKY2SDCHyCa2CZdWqJOND5brYP-icnQyMSIar/s1244/frugalfrolics35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdyLTFgsykvtMzHY-NpwdeIe48r-uRBAwWzRM1b1CYKu9GAc3CFRNZHshTE8fZ0pYoJ1uKg3QnSuUAXp8RxzBE7ZI5HpP2SyI_klQ_-15Z6ooGlX1IZOrOHWrMA4-lZG3YANC7uj7M8QzsocaNbcl7sMaKY2SDCHyCa2CZdWqJOND5brYP-icnQyMSIar/w640-h480/frugalfrolics35.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>13. I am always thinking of different ways to get nutrition into Alvah without him turning on food and things. I finally, after much debate, broke down and bought a 9x13 cast iron baking dish (tip to local peeps: If you want one, get it through Amazon. It is at least 10.00 cheaper than trying to buy one locally...I looked). The downside is trying to figure out how to store the sucker as it is heavy and bulky. At the moment it is parked solidly on my stovetop pretty much 24/7 as I really don't have room to store it somewhere else. </p><p>BUT, the upside to this thing is amazing! I am using this to bake my son's French fries in, am using it to bake home made breadsticks in (I bake breadsticks in a sheet and then cut it into strips to make them like Pizza Hut breadsticks...it was the best way to trick the son into eating home made breadsticks :), and using it for the intent I bought if or (to leach iron into his food). BUT, I've found so many more awesome uses for it in the kitchen. For one, I FINALLY have a roasting pan that can go from oven to stovetop and I was only out 30.00 versus the tons of money those things cost in stainless steel. I have used it for a griddle pan for smaller things that I didn't want to pull out my big cast iron griddle for. I'm even considering putting one of my bigger cast iron pieces on top of said pan in my oven and trying to make sourdough baguettes in the pan to get the oven rise/steam baking that only cast iron can give you. I never thought one pan would be so darned useful, but I am so glad I purchased it! I bought <a href="https://amzn.to/43Tr5d3">this one</a> (once again, affiliate link there). I love Lodge cast iron. The only piece I've ever been kind of disappointed in is I bought the 10" two handled skillet with a Christmas gift card last year and it feels like it is cheaper quality than any piece of Lodge cookware I've ever bought before. The handles, especially, are really thin compared to like my 12" pan. </p><p>So, yeah, I'm going to call it good there for now. I know there is more to this list, but I have a ton to do and can't find where I put my list (I'm sure it is somewhere safe...anyone else do that???). So, before we go let's get to a garden update!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1g5waIOqxomNApqGKbjb5BXEzJ5DwD8BcVqM2e2Yp8x9OVW84Jx3Ynb-ySGiJaGh3QfODflPOM37hSFEIwRapxCiAnycyy36d6iUEFJGNcT3IFEduh5G2kkqRwNoi1m_JkzM3Smdb6Tt3Lk2xrv64hWF1HTWOqavtl7yE1rRxIEkYaX6Xo6km5qXiYyc8/s1244/frugalfrolics28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1g5waIOqxomNApqGKbjb5BXEzJ5DwD8BcVqM2e2Yp8x9OVW84Jx3Ynb-ySGiJaGh3QfODflPOM37hSFEIwRapxCiAnycyy36d6iUEFJGNcT3IFEduh5G2kkqRwNoi1m_JkzM3Smdb6Tt3Lk2xrv64hWF1HTWOqavtl7yE1rRxIEkYaX6Xo6km5qXiYyc8/w640-h480/frugalfrolics28.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>First the flowers have been very happy with the amount of rain we've been getting and when we don't get rain, I've been taking the opportunity to fertilize everything. Petunias are heavy feeders, so every time I fertilize the plant, it goes nuts and produces more flowers. We've really been enjoying the basket of pretty we have out on the deck :). Also, enjoy the photo bombing cat. We were both in a hurry to get inside as it started to pour as I was trying to take pictures.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmq2aKlvZL1iE7_k2lV19bm3lFiG6S2h4HHQMVJPITCOe_razmknz5ffWdY4c4Vl7K5iZoTvtv0xg37dncfbKELpLMUYquOsOwOeLzhS_tiECUIlKkqjw9708zj-c3S_oua1l5inDoeD3hK_5mHawgj5zIMcLqd0-c2DPAWmuCieA49jdHxl2xr8x66Lh_/s1244/frugalfrolics29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmq2aKlvZL1iE7_k2lV19bm3lFiG6S2h4HHQMVJPITCOe_razmknz5ffWdY4c4Vl7K5iZoTvtv0xg37dncfbKELpLMUYquOsOwOeLzhS_tiECUIlKkqjw9708zj-c3S_oua1l5inDoeD3hK_5mHawgj5zIMcLqd0-c2DPAWmuCieA49jdHxl2xr8x66Lh_/w640-h480/frugalfrolics29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Next up, the tomato plants haven't done much with how cold it has been, unfortunately. The few sunny days we've had the tomato plants loved and put on some small teeny tiny tomatoes, but that's as far as they've gotten. Sad, but with tomato plants up here it is always a gamble with the weather. So far, this year, I'm losing.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgytHc_57Y7e4akCeNO2EIzRouDmbZKYIWj_ILe2ohOl08kdwJMzHtlXchUhYKT94eYWwTGDSY9wwPNDD5L7mIaf7IgQbxe-O_XeWHcTKRe2AjPMxLRnHYEX1ufqaMghRdwiiQLfHRHh6IJP0qiRTeBCeI9qdWqCDZTa6q5mgJyMkDye_f0sbkqFmpWi4s9/s1244/frugalfrolics30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgytHc_57Y7e4akCeNO2EIzRouDmbZKYIWj_ILe2ohOl08kdwJMzHtlXchUhYKT94eYWwTGDSY9wwPNDD5L7mIaf7IgQbxe-O_XeWHcTKRe2AjPMxLRnHYEX1ufqaMghRdwiiQLfHRHh6IJP0qiRTeBCeI9qdWqCDZTa6q5mgJyMkDye_f0sbkqFmpWi4s9/w640-h480/frugalfrolics30.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The parsley planter is going well, which is great as I am nearly out of parsley and really want to dehydrate and put up a bunch this year :).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBkINafVgJQnxWU0MO8edUI0rKtNPFe4dBEMFfyxloc9SRiWYK6MlVd5WwFlrRxb04o01-NofTTcWUJ6lbwFcKrKxvllDNHMoIwmioMaYinYfHQpAEtV-WWrynawnaL7lQdd9PaxW8PNqDoXfV4nPesHdEAm12lya_aYCS0ztsMuyXOaILhQ-7bUS18Oi2/s1244/frugalfrolics31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBkINafVgJQnxWU0MO8edUI0rKtNPFe4dBEMFfyxloc9SRiWYK6MlVd5WwFlrRxb04o01-NofTTcWUJ6lbwFcKrKxvllDNHMoIwmioMaYinYfHQpAEtV-WWrynawnaL7lQdd9PaxW8PNqDoXfV4nPesHdEAm12lya_aYCS0ztsMuyXOaILhQ-7bUS18Oi2/w640-h480/frugalfrolics31.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The second herb bed isn't doing great. The basil I was able to get one harvest off of for dinner one night, but it hasn't grown much, as in any that I have seen, since then, with the cold and rain. The rosemary has grown a teeny bit, but not much and even the parsley plant in that bed isn't doing much. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQJjKqtuMa5HgbEM22Q5ZaQQ5d-2wODjk_DjNUv95Qec4QtnJdm9tcAxcYgSJJZMLGsQNsZUg64SwJkzl_9hJEekkhsp3Yw0SdFh8Z1iJnomkANqqvvTv_aRezHpdeshOdQ00Xejl6dslODURP6R1RRQ9qJxCc6rMKi11femssW_MdT8_y8f7WyadYOLM/s1244/frugalfrolics32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQJjKqtuMa5HgbEM22Q5ZaQQ5d-2wODjk_DjNUv95Qec4QtnJdm9tcAxcYgSJJZMLGsQNsZUg64SwJkzl_9hJEekkhsp3Yw0SdFh8Z1iJnomkANqqvvTv_aRezHpdeshOdQ00Xejl6dslODURP6R1RRQ9qJxCc6rMKi11femssW_MdT8_y8f7WyadYOLM/w640-h480/frugalfrolics32.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The chard is growing and isn't minding the cold. It hasn't grown as much as I'd like as I'd love to start harvesting the outer leaves at some point, but we are getting there. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSERsvMQdDM90Sx_Fs7AyT9P0IrFjK_bi6HJllDMmYvlWFg0_eZ3uBUNsHpG3YyPu_Q9Eock25Y4phxtogstwbSpKxrRrb-dCLZKIqaXXNwMfLk2rXW7ACF95Olyi9F-S-iS1SMEzG_6d8_xabR2YdGNFh6AsMUGp5pO-XL6wMw4_HoIOaj8sWZDLFl6m/s1244/frugalfrolics33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSERsvMQdDM90Sx_Fs7AyT9P0IrFjK_bi6HJllDMmYvlWFg0_eZ3uBUNsHpG3YyPu_Q9Eock25Y4phxtogstwbSpKxrRrb-dCLZKIqaXXNwMfLk2rXW7ACF95Olyi9F-S-iS1SMEzG_6d8_xabR2YdGNFh6AsMUGp5pO-XL6wMw4_HoIOaj8sWZDLFl6m/w640-h480/frugalfrolics33.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>I am THRILLED that this week I'll be able to start harvesting lettuce, though as the planter has finally filled out to the point I think I can finally get a full salad out of the lettuce. I've been waiting excitedly for this time as lettuce at the store is expensive, so I'm going to enjoy eating our lettuce as long as I can. I mean look at how yummy this lettuce looks....</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8jKg_Prae5fowgBJMuq4EbIdbV2DJhnhxVzclQL5LZcV39yNBBBCzWTT8vvb2P_AZ8q5UGjHv97rCYOYC3Vecxk6qzMvZVR4iLS3urFV9RzgMXoZdgE1Tp3evq9LsaSFr0J4479zw3PeEFw1z_gNl5y8deLgNDQeaBSYi3pqeCDAx-AjN-2UIgqybafdN/s1244/frugalfrolics34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8jKg_Prae5fowgBJMuq4EbIdbV2DJhnhxVzclQL5LZcV39yNBBBCzWTT8vvb2P_AZ8q5UGjHv97rCYOYC3Vecxk6qzMvZVR4iLS3urFV9RzgMXoZdgE1Tp3evq9LsaSFr0J4479zw3PeEFw1z_gNl5y8deLgNDQeaBSYi3pqeCDAx-AjN-2UIgqybafdN/w640-h480/frugalfrolics34.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Yum!!!</p><p>The empty planters where the cabbages had been, I did, indeed plant seeds in. The seeds never germinated, probably due to the cold, and then the planters the ants found and decided to nest in (a new one on me for a container garden...I haven't had that problem since I left Pennsylvania years ago). We are definitely having ant problems this year as the diatomaceous earth I normally spread around the house just gets washed away with how much rain we're getting. We are looking into other means to eradicate them as carpenter ants are a real fear for us as we have a wooden foundation house, so yeah...a bit concerning on the ant front.</p><p>And there you go guys and gals. A quick update on our lives around here. I hope your summer is going okay (sorry to those effected by the smoke in Canada...we've been smoked out from wildfires a few times and it is horrible, so I really feel for you all) and you are able to have some fun and get things done as well.</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-78830970486752540512023-06-01T15:14:00.003-08:002023-06-01T15:17:10.077-08:00Frugal Stuff from the Rest of May and The Garden for 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQLNbuiavYvNUzpsP72NtSyt2TSFqYA5RH9CeAmvQst2wrQFj-Z_Ctn7_a1IjlJwg741J225Qsqky8XJvmdHyPVQpz441egtye2ETdzB0WdoXrRnpDg4rrNjmSPjU9icnO17Xi4VFW_GG5Vc5x8JbmwUbtXERgzRyh44vOcmIRT0O2XKMZE2VycrZRXg/s1244/frugalfrolics17.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQLNbuiavYvNUzpsP72NtSyt2TSFqYA5RH9CeAmvQst2wrQFj-Z_Ctn7_a1IjlJwg741J225Qsqky8XJvmdHyPVQpz441egtye2ETdzB0WdoXrRnpDg4rrNjmSPjU9icnO17Xi4VFW_GG5Vc5x8JbmwUbtXERgzRyh44vOcmIRT0O2XKMZE2VycrZRXg/w640-h480/frugalfrolics17.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Hello everyone.<p></p><p>What a month. Busy, hectic and a bunch of not great stuff happening around here.</p><p>I managed to get the kids through the rest of the school year and got final grades and work samples in. The first couple of days of Summer Break went great. We had a decent morning the first day, so I took the kids for a really pretty walk through different parts of Palmer, which was fun. Then the second day was the year end picnic for the home school, so I took the kids to that with some help from my mother-in-law. The kids had a good time, which was nice. Then immediately after that the kids came down with some of the most horrible colds they've had in a long time and were sick for two weeks between the two of them. Then, my husband skipped getting the actual cold part of the cold and went directly into getting a case of bronchitis that took him to the doctor. He got antibiotics and things, but wasn't feeling any better this week. In fact the cough keeps getting worse. He went back to the doctor's yesterday and his lungs are clear by the chest X-rays and things, but his cough is awful. I'm praying he doesn't end up in the hospital the way this is going :(.</p><p>Despite everything that has been happening around here, we did manage to get some stuff done. </p><p><b><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Please note before heading forward. The following contains affiliate links. If you order through these links, I will get a small commission from Amazon for shooting the sale their way. This costs you nothing extra. If you order through these links, thank you for supporting the blog :).</span></i></b></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkKS675KYCP9YexSqFxYmhpLub8K6o9ALqC6N3kvv_ZCg835r6I62ZVaC43Q1qiO6MvH8D_xeNrdPjBYaDVXLmt_1pBVuOym1OVqECZvigdsZr1xWuQdkG-IBGhStailAWvf4CJU_afNDRmFZ1Vir3ylv-miKHrZ_HGHGjQlHwbZWZQvqXnA0r5sdR_A/s1244/frugalfrolics17.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkKS675KYCP9YexSqFxYmhpLub8K6o9ALqC6N3kvv_ZCg835r6I62ZVaC43Q1qiO6MvH8D_xeNrdPjBYaDVXLmt_1pBVuOym1OVqECZvigdsZr1xWuQdkG-IBGhStailAWvf4CJU_afNDRmFZ1Vir3ylv-miKHrZ_HGHGjQlHwbZWZQvqXnA0r5sdR_A/w640-h480/frugalfrolics17.jpg" width="640" /></a></b></div>1. Mother's Day weekend wasn't terrible weather-wise (we have been getting rain and unseasonably cold temps this year...this morning it was 44 degrees outside at 10am...not good) and the temps were staying above freezing at night, so I decided we should go and get plants for the garden (unfortunately they haven't gone up any, pretty much, since then, which stinks). We ran into a problem I hadn't foreseen and that was that the horrible snow loads we had back in December...well a bunch of local green houses didn't make it. Including our local Lowes. So, seedlings were really tiny where we could find them, but I did find some, which was good and we were able to get some soil for the planters as well. <p></p><p>So, let's break down what the garden is looking like so far (I took the pictures when we had a decent break up in the clouds...sadly the plants have done pretty much nothing since I took the picture last week, it has been that cold and nasty out).</p><p>The biggest change to the deck this year was a gift from my sister as a Mother's Day gift. She got me a small wood bistro set I've had on my wish list for a long time on Amazon (<a href="https://amzn.to/42dSPrf">this one</a>). My husband was even impressed with the quality when it came in. I linked to it in case someone you know is looking for a decently inexpensive deck set as I looked a long time before I settled on that one. I'm hoping to save up and get another one at some point so we have enough chairs for the entire family, but so far with the medical bills and things that are piling up, it is not high on my list of priorities. But, even with the one bistro set, I have to say that is really pretties up the deck a lot :). We've already sat out on the deck several times and the son really loves it, so that was definitely a nice bonus.</p><p>I did buy a few new planters this year as the make shift ones I had last year are literally breaking apart every time you touch them. I felt bad as one woman who was standing next to me was in a mini-freak out about the cost of the planters and I had to explain to her what would raise the cost of plastics and she walked away swearing she was never going to throw anything away ever again. Looking at the state of the used store and how little inventory they have...I'd say that she's not alone in her thinking. </p><p>So, in the new planters I planted...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadO0-vA4d5ghqthFUdMfpFxIsx0S8NOOCWki8Z4wUz32nGdv3XK9ErPqMvfn6V4u_DlYprROS0tb9x1pa072vRpi5P0hGH0TJagPTFY-QCG3qpPXN1-5tYSf3wQJ55E8WlBvES3tLW_nPPEQQboPA5HcqQec-sVApi8Dr6GsySev0O-0ogjF9wFbDpA/s1244/frugalfrolics20.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadO0-vA4d5ghqthFUdMfpFxIsx0S8NOOCWki8Z4wUz32nGdv3XK9ErPqMvfn6V4u_DlYprROS0tb9x1pa072vRpi5P0hGH0TJagPTFY-QCG3qpPXN1-5tYSf3wQJ55E8WlBvES3tLW_nPPEQQboPA5HcqQec-sVApi8Dr6GsySev0O-0ogjF9wFbDpA/w640-h480/frugalfrolics20.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Lots of parsley. After all this time I'm finally running out of parsley in my spice cabinet. So, I want to grow enough to last me a long time after I dehydrate it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPG7uSfx4B82avcN8Y4A9A1sNXX9DPDKsTh5tvHLIIAkx-B5lABTebxPNBMUQam_YXdNapLfkzEYigDvj6nLbE0lWm-ysx3O0saDOTNO66e5KxJ2Z7BEdLFHUxHcXcr_m5XQRV0yty6UHkbqli3j4xU8CHEW9WdD75bDKHtuoQ2giESO0Dv6GkgH33gw/s1244/frugalfrolics26.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPG7uSfx4B82avcN8Y4A9A1sNXX9DPDKsTh5tvHLIIAkx-B5lABTebxPNBMUQam_YXdNapLfkzEYigDvj6nLbE0lWm-ysx3O0saDOTNO66e5KxJ2Z7BEdLFHUxHcXcr_m5XQRV0yty6UHkbqli3j4xU8CHEW9WdD75bDKHtuoQ2giESO0Dv6GkgH33gw/w640-h480/frugalfrolics26.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>In the next planter we have a few basil plants, which I planted to hopefully eat fresh more than dehydrating them as basil an herb I love, but traditionally I've been very good at killing without even trying. So far the plants are hanging in there, so I'm happy about that. I also have another parsley plant in this planter that came with a volunteer plant that I THINK might be dill? I'm not sure at this point, so I'm waiting to see how the volunteer grows as I can always remove it later. Lastly I got a rosemary plant, which is tiny, but hanging in there.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsyMtiY8-4OySWtVFX04jCc2rAh2ZiZychkqSegsjPtC87kkPf1LoaM3YGHp6mabYO1YGWBP6KAgAi4dM9sZKmkr-PSoaLkL9GMONZ2bcdi7el6boSyZWLmze2s0D---hwqOgrQWNm4h7agv6a0UjEcJSQuAE5tvjmzcmMVU6lEaNWyzWRCkqHKf9Qw/s1244/frugalfrolics21.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsyMtiY8-4OySWtVFX04jCc2rAh2ZiZychkqSegsjPtC87kkPf1LoaM3YGHp6mabYO1YGWBP6KAgAi4dM9sZKmkr-PSoaLkL9GMONZ2bcdi7el6boSyZWLmze2s0D---hwqOgrQWNm4h7agv6a0UjEcJSQuAE5tvjmzcmMVU6lEaNWyzWRCkqHKf9Qw/w640-h480/frugalfrolics21.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>I optimistically bought a few tomato plants as I love the Red Robin patio tomatoes, but so far they haven't died, but nor have they done anything since I planted them out in their planter homes. They won't do much, in my experience, until it goes above 50 at night, which we haven't come close to hitting yet, so we'll see how it goes. I am thinking about going and looking around in the storage van to see if I can find some heavy clear plastic that I could make some mini-greenhouses out of, but I haven't gotten a chance yet. Here's hoping I can do something to help the tomatoes to produce as I love having fresh tomatoes in the summertime. </p><p>Shot of tomato #2:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_VPlfiFNUQPPHD7n6DTsYlx3cbA67_X1GeXvaNKGYzWktyu-qN_VXzcaeYmmvWihp6oSzzTm7y1F4kysy2-r6JT1jyPph19EejPMNZaIsZtb_puCwkD0w2n3LSnIbpVdxymyEHQGD2XqX25SZ2unV0yTi2mbXTKU40k0sO7VhbUqmY_1p96aB6_vEg/s1244/frugalfrolics19.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_VPlfiFNUQPPHD7n6DTsYlx3cbA67_X1GeXvaNKGYzWktyu-qN_VXzcaeYmmvWihp6oSzzTm7y1F4kysy2-r6JT1jyPph19EejPMNZaIsZtb_puCwkD0w2n3LSnIbpVdxymyEHQGD2XqX25SZ2unV0yTi2mbXTKU40k0sO7VhbUqmY_1p96aB6_vEg/w640-h480/frugalfrolics19.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Right now onto the rest of the garden...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSmFZakZ2DJM76IxzdgO8saszvkdmkKp9XJKfz_6AbeCDijjPS5ls4HHMD-IuO00WEvh7rrUs550OrPZHaimN4MT8PLvqC5W1yyX70pIrQ2xM7_U0mLX3RlFRKYNXMcUK3swgnS8HIEaJHsmpXf-Si9_SUu75qclcukAvTSr5g1P2X46phuy7ZSLjXaQ/s1244/frugalfrolics21.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSmFZakZ2DJM76IxzdgO8saszvkdmkKp9XJKfz_6AbeCDijjPS5ls4HHMD-IuO00WEvh7rrUs550OrPZHaimN4MT8PLvqC5W1yyX70pIrQ2xM7_U0mLX3RlFRKYNXMcUK3swgnS8HIEaJHsmpXf-Si9_SUu75qclcukAvTSr5g1P2X46phuy7ZSLjXaQ/w640-h480/frugalfrolics21.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>In the black planters next to the tomato we have a bunch of swiss chard growing. These have grown a little bit so far, but not a huge amount. In the green planter is my lettuce seedlings, which ARE growing okay all things considered so far.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5iQUSK6H8CWBpRzGsWyX8I1y1pn7PA60HEkUzlrwqM0r6V7N-aRdFKz7jnrNOG5RUQyYtC7fdL21I0FrM2kQQ_MP-q8ZivP3qEoQIPMT4-MoMZssPcOK1Npe0gIRnCFxXC0PPM8E02koYK0zF2tUeX3IBkoPmGir4BhtMk4ju1lNjkclJ5ph1Tqt4mg/s1244/frugalfrolics18.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5iQUSK6H8CWBpRzGsWyX8I1y1pn7PA60HEkUzlrwqM0r6V7N-aRdFKz7jnrNOG5RUQyYtC7fdL21I0FrM2kQQ_MP-q8ZivP3qEoQIPMT4-MoMZssPcOK1Npe0gIRnCFxXC0PPM8E02koYK0zF2tUeX3IBkoPmGir4BhtMk4ju1lNjkclJ5ph1Tqt4mg/w640-h480/frugalfrolics18.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>On the table is my daughter's petunia basket, which is doing great. I love how pretty it makes the deck look. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4M3TFFSj1Ul3almlEdXvfn-kxvIsp3sVhz7yxM_3uj9ha4lfK2L5ADI6JE8qzs1ZcDuzWnYKCBUZCHVM3JAttNPSWnL4LNav5LBV4B2GeZc-pQ45pv19z6DcsWPqahqny5KH2F8QbsuxRRdeTDDvJnDhq9zoXQJ4FAOMSDOXfs0SFqRt_8L8CjPZwg/s1244/frugalfrolics22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4M3TFFSj1Ul3almlEdXvfn-kxvIsp3sVhz7yxM_3uj9ha4lfK2L5ADI6JE8qzs1ZcDuzWnYKCBUZCHVM3JAttNPSWnL4LNav5LBV4B2GeZc-pQ45pv19z6DcsWPqahqny5KH2F8QbsuxRRdeTDDvJnDhq9zoXQJ4FAOMSDOXfs0SFqRt_8L8CjPZwg/w640-h480/frugalfrolics22.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>And lastly, we have the cabbage graveyard. This has never happened to me before in all of my years of gardening. Normally I plant cabbages, do next to nothing with them and they grow and do great. This year, I planted the cabbage seedlings I bought and they all died within the span of a week no matter what I did to try and save them (I even brought them all inside out of the cold for a few days and it did nothing for them :(. I'm thinking that the seedlings came with a blight that just killed them, but I'm not sure. I don't really have the time, energy or money to go and buy more seedlings, so as soon as the temps go up a bit I'm probably going to plant some seeds out of my already existing seed stores.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkgmDWh1pLjV14ns1nGcKjvtym-4ZNv6-S91YIGKifso1Or7XMwa0ZckuCvWiLqKvr7rao2Npw-6ivLqbkfZL-WM7BMgYBpvsS8T4nQBnnim7E-wrNXHowFSjqCF77-UffE_W2jNWTHeu0SB_9_tX6zCNy-c03Udh_uvjIeiBeVT_R7dYjoK8Cx0Q1Zw/s1244/frugalfrolics25.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkgmDWh1pLjV14ns1nGcKjvtym-4ZNv6-S91YIGKifso1Or7XMwa0ZckuCvWiLqKvr7rao2Npw-6ivLqbkfZL-WM7BMgYBpvsS8T4nQBnnim7E-wrNXHowFSjqCF77-UffE_W2jNWTHeu0SB_9_tX6zCNy-c03Udh_uvjIeiBeVT_R7dYjoK8Cx0Q1Zw/w640-h480/frugalfrolics25.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The way the weather is going, I doubt I'm going to have time to grow out the cabbage seeds, so I think I'm just going to grow out some arugula and some thyme as I couldn't get any thyme seedlings at the nurseries this year. If they grow at least the soil doesn't go to waste and if they don't grow, I am not out anymore than I am right now, so I might as well gamble on it and see what happens.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupfNni-GuHVcqIWUc1raeroC3um5klHxOnGkNVtLXrsUZLioltlc2_FOqSHoIoRiPS_2Bg_HpmOFbRxNrOK_N-gxedYzoyT4r33Q9twoEN781-55QpjDt_57aQoDH8BAc7RqoqzSBcV6WGtTHJj3qL1EZITPZrSVoSxiLp8HHn3RaszZupA9G3wGZ5Q/s1244/frugalfrolics23.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupfNni-GuHVcqIWUc1raeroC3um5klHxOnGkNVtLXrsUZLioltlc2_FOqSHoIoRiPS_2Bg_HpmOFbRxNrOK_N-gxedYzoyT4r33Q9twoEN781-55QpjDt_57aQoDH8BAc7RqoqzSBcV6WGtTHJj3qL1EZITPZrSVoSxiLp8HHn3RaszZupA9G3wGZ5Q/w640-h480/frugalfrolics23.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Bright side, though is that the rhubarb is growing, so that's good!</p><p>So, yeah, that is where the garden stands at the moment. Not terrible, but not super wonderful either.</p><p>2. I got some good deals from Amazon, a couple of them like "holy crud I can't believe that worked" type of deals. One was a set of white, organic cotton, queen sheets for my bed that after a super sale and a 20.00 off coupon ended up costing me a total of 1.99 for the ENTIRE SET! I honestly ordered them and was convinced it was a rip off and wasn't going to work, but was super shocked when they came in, were really nice quality and was 100% legit! I got <a href="https://amzn.to/43dIAnY">these</a> in case you want to add them to your cart and stock the price to see if it goes back down into the 20.00 range so you can then check for coupons and things. Sorry I didn't share the deal on Facebook, but I honestly thought it was a scam and by the time I got the sheets it was all said and done.</p><p>I also got a decent deal on organic olive oil and was able to get a bottle of it for like 5.00 after a 40% off coupon and a subscribe and save discount.</p><p>3. I thought I had gotten a really good deal on pecans through Amazon. It was supposedly 5 lbs of pecans that were safe from peanut cross contamination, were farmed in the US and were on sale for 28.00. I LOVE pecans, so I was really happy to spend the money on the pecans for future salads and baking projects.</p><p>Then the pecans came in. Instead of 5 lbs of pecans, there were only 2.5 lbs. The pecans were not even the pecans I had ordered, so they were not free from cross contamination. I was not a happy camper especially when I saw that the pecans I HAD ordered were now up to 60.00 almost and Amazon wouldn't send me a replacement order. After getting off the phone with Amazon and a refund, I looked at the nuts and tried to figure out what in the heck to do with them as I didn't want to throw them out as I love pecans, but I was kind of afraid to use them for the sake of Alvah's safety. I remembered a conversation I had with someone earlier who had mentioned the process of soaking and then dehydrating nuts to up their digestibility, nutritional content and (best of all) since you rinsed and soaked the nuts beforehand you could remove the potential cross contamination of the peanuts. So, I looked up how to do it and pulled out my dehydrator to get to work. Unfortunately, my dehydrator, my cheapy Nesco that had served me well over the years, had finally kicked the bucket. My husband is going to try and fix it, again, but in the meantime I ended up having to buy another dehydrator as I wanted to have one for dehydrating herbs if nothing else. </p><p>I looked online and holy crap guys have you SEEN the price on dehydrators??? It is NUTS (no pun intended, but hey still funny)! I started to figure out EXACTLY what would fit my needs. I finally settled on <a href="https://amzn.to/3OPym8U">this one</a> as it had five trays, seemed like it would hold quite a bit for its size, had metal trays (which I figured was better than dehydrating on plastic, really) and had variable temperature controls. It also had a flat top, so I could put some light weight plastic storage containers on it before I got around to putting them away when not in use. And it was the right size to fit right next to the microwave. The biggest sell point to it, though, was that after using credit card rewards and some Amazon gift cards on top of a really nice coupon (20.00 off) it ended up costing me 45.00 out of pocket, which was about what I was hoping to spend on a dehydrator (well, really, I was hoping to spend nothing and have my old one work, but we do what we can). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKTxtpRlvOgOk8MYJ61KTiAsWf6VhHT8VhdE5oVwzqTdRGHJFPKfl7i-1Zxd4glPu0Dkb4ClABgqefHD593tGDIfxNVme2H_zQgsdfgcETNlRGE2S_6BhHQX3F3MUmY_Ln0R4rYh4Hh6CzwLvuOP_k5KcLMK33Un1hmZ2Y71xoa9Hmeykt0fpMw_6LEg/s1244/frugalfrolics15.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKTxtpRlvOgOk8MYJ61KTiAsWf6VhHT8VhdE5oVwzqTdRGHJFPKfl7i-1Zxd4glPu0Dkb4ClABgqefHD593tGDIfxNVme2H_zQgsdfgcETNlRGE2S_6BhHQX3F3MUmY_Ln0R4rYh4Hh6CzwLvuOP_k5KcLMK33Un1hmZ2Y71xoa9Hmeykt0fpMw_6LEg/w640-h480/frugalfrolics15.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>So, I took the pecans and got to work. I soaked them for about 24 hours in the fridge (I wasn't sure if you should leave them at room temperature for that long, so I soaked them on the counter for 10 and then popped them in the fridge over night).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtzOoUjULT9O7RoxfqjS2bBdCHTHwz9-8-mJEWuzej0ktWdOOJmHXk4B8wQCwmwvK6hPvbKclBTssmCfV6WdeggDrukD_AIJXYZennAMN8IkjwrV_EYUwExYuY_JvUTgYktG0DENhhneic_P5r37t8F1xys2ngnwBi_SECJ96jY4WG-NE_r1bkE7jPw/s1244/frugalfrolics16.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtzOoUjULT9O7RoxfqjS2bBdCHTHwz9-8-mJEWuzej0ktWdOOJmHXk4B8wQCwmwvK6hPvbKclBTssmCfV6WdeggDrukD_AIJXYZennAMN8IkjwrV_EYUwExYuY_JvUTgYktG0DENhhneic_P5r37t8F1xys2ngnwBi_SECJ96jY4WG-NE_r1bkE7jPw/w640-h480/frugalfrolics16.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The next morning I put them in the dehydrator and ended up dehydrating them at 130 F for 12 hours and they were nice and dry by that point. The biggest thing I found with this dehydrator is how QUIET it is! I barely noticed it was on at all the entire time it was running, which was a definite advantage over my old Nesco as that thing was so loud your ears would end up ringing after a while.</p><p>I put the dried and cooled nuts into some jars and put them in the freezer for storage and I've already used some in salads this summer, which is great and they really do come out tasty and easy to digest :).</p><p>4. You might notice, as a side note, that lately I've been getting into healthier eating (well I guess more traditional ways of preparing food would be a better way to put that). Part of that stems from the son and trying to get as much nutrition into his diet as possible (per usual) and I discovered the benefits of sourdough and fermented foods and such. Another is that I got the results of my physical back and found that my bad cholesterol was high but everything else was great, which threw me and I tried to figure out what to do about that. When I followed doctor's advice on how to lower my bad cholesterol, I ended up getting sick for pretty much all of February, which led me to researching things more and I discovered things about cholesterol, diet and things. It really has led me to get us to eat better around here and I've found that doing things like sourdough baking, soaking and dehydrating nuts and such, that it not only has helped my husband's acid reflux a LOT, has helped me digestive condition as well and it has also helped my daughter's digestive problems too. So, it has been totally worth trying these things. So, yeah, I hope you don't mind coming along for the ride as I'm learning new skills around here as I'm learning more and more every day :).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-i09uneknens1vs6EoTCPAvowk54P_4bZqyrRTeGfNZmMT9uS8EUlj17zmrzfpGBnnwJ-QpQa5Dp7IoTgNT77djeff_7A8D8M76Wi-gANt802gpzjmXDV-bA4OJ_LdDdOuiNGaMSzDvETbJAeZIVvQqmW4Gaznnd52wprzNXO0MpEKH94oZuOE9iIAw/s1244/frugalfrolics14.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-i09uneknens1vs6EoTCPAvowk54P_4bZqyrRTeGfNZmMT9uS8EUlj17zmrzfpGBnnwJ-QpQa5Dp7IoTgNT77djeff_7A8D8M76Wi-gANt802gpzjmXDV-bA4OJ_LdDdOuiNGaMSzDvETbJAeZIVvQqmW4Gaznnd52wprzNXO0MpEKH94oZuOE9iIAw/w640-h480/frugalfrolics14.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>A quick update on the pantry, speaking of food. I am so thoroughly disgusted by Ball lids I could spit. I have lost way too many jars to seal failures this year with the Ball lids. Like one jar of sauerkraut a week bad. I have been working really hard on using as much things out of the pantry as possible that have the Ball lids on them. While trying to figure out a way around canning foods (as honestly I'm really ticked that so much work has gone down the drain this last winter), in the meantime I ran into the many health benefits of fresh fermenting foods as well and how long they would stay good (up to a year in the fridge in some cases), once fermented. So, I decided to take a couple of heads of cabbage I had in the fridge, that I had gotten a really good personalized price on, and decided to make fresh sauerkraut (which was WAY easier than I thought it would be and I love the way you can control how tangy it gets by how long you ferment it for!). This I'm using as kind of a topper on other dishes (like sauerkraut and sausages/brats) to up the nutritional content (oh and I made a really good sauerkraut coleslaw with it too...I'll look up the recipe and share it later :), while also using up the things I have sealed with Ball lids. I had planned on my canned goods that I made last year lasting me two years, but anything with a ball lid I'm plain not trusting now, so yeah that is where that is at. Anything I put up with Denali canning lids, by the way, have been just fine and the seals are very solid when I go to use the food contained within. The same with the Golden Harvest lids my mom sent me from the Dollar Store, which I find ironic as Ball lids are expensive on top of everything.</p><p>5. I harvested a small handful of chives from the front yard to use on baked potatoes one night. So far they haven't really gotten big enough to get a decent harvest, but once they do I'm going to harvest them and freeze the chives for future use. I did that last year and the baggy of chives lasted us through baked potatoes up until a few weeks ago!</p><p>6. I mended a few holes in some comforters and some holes in some shirts around here. </p><p>7. I worked really hard on rearranging our den to make it easier for my husband to work on putting in the rest of the wood stove and at the same time making it easier for me to access the old exercise bike so I could get exercise in the morning as well. It has been nice to use the bike without feeling like I was completely closed in by everything that used to be in the laundry room. W are still working on getting a better washing machine installed in there as the old one is now overflowing at odd times and we end up with a big puddle of water in going down into the drain in the laundry room floor, so while I'm waiting on that getting done, I don't want to move anything back into the laundry room that would get in the way in the future, so the den is in a perpetual state of chaos anymore. </p><p>8. My daughter likes to take a ham sandwich to work for lunch every week, but if I buy a big thing of ham it goes bad before we can use it all (my husband and I don't eat much deli meat for the most part), so I took the package of ham we had just opened for the daughter's sandwich and separated it out into individual portions in sandwich bags. I then put the sandwich bags into a freezer bag and every night before the daughter is set to work we just pull out one of the sandwich bags with the individual serving of ham it for her sandwich the next day and put it overnight in the fridge to defrost. She loves it this way as she can pull out ham as she wants to for sandwiches, but doesn't get tired of eating them every day so the ham doesn't go bad and I love it because I don't have to worry about the lunch meat going bad when you aren't looking :).</p><p>9. I ended up picking up organic sour cream instead of non-organic as it turned out it was on sale cheaper than the non-organic type. Inflation is getting so bad that I have noticed that in a lot of cases organic foods are either cheaper, are the same price or not very much more money at all compared to non-organic options. So, for those who always thought, "I can't afford to eat organic" be sure to keep your eyes out for deals as it seems like they are out there. I am not one of those people who have an opinion of organic versus non organic foods, but if it is cheaper or the same price as the other, I have been opting to try the organic, I'll be the first to admit :).</p><p>10. Due to the rising cost of living, I am definitely to the point of making most of everything we eat at home. It is saving us money in one area of the budget so that we can spend that money in others (like on gas or other essentials).</p><p>And I'm going to call it good there as the son is getting grumpy. I hope everyone had a good May and hopefully I can get more blogging (and other things) done in June. Here's hoping!</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-84240687083453287842023-05-07T16:51:00.000-08:002023-05-07T16:51:02.003-08:00Frugal Accomplishments for the Last Few Weeks<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgBigNAYrz4Q-eExMrilH8kh3_YMmT3ZKcZPZBCWfe1ENkwggPne4_f_g3FJJBJ76BOnidCXs3J9axS51DvGDCJ6ywy0UvD6rNTCdG96KHRuMxeNl4sgQ1jp9YdCyRAwbR-XbHaI9mpXxWYLfsDq9zL689m6kV2NR0DWLOXf5-40QLqjtofLn_u-NT7g/s1244/frugalfrolics9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgBigNAYrz4Q-eExMrilH8kh3_YMmT3ZKcZPZBCWfe1ENkwggPne4_f_g3FJJBJ76BOnidCXs3J9axS51DvGDCJ6ywy0UvD6rNTCdG96KHRuMxeNl4sgQ1jp9YdCyRAwbR-XbHaI9mpXxWYLfsDq9zL689m6kV2NR0DWLOXf5-40QLqjtofLn_u-NT7g/w640-h480/frugalfrolics9.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Man, it's been a long couple of weeks. The masses of snow we have on the ground are finally, nearly, almost, gone, which is definitely a sight I've been waiting to see. We've still had snow fall the last week or so, but it didn't stay (thank goodness!) and it's now a waiting game to see if Spring/Summer is finally getting a move on or not. With the transitioning of the seasons comes Alvah not sleeping (I've heard this is pretty common among special needs people, but the only one I can say for sure is a definite "yes" on, is Alvah), which leads to him being grumpy (and me too, honestly). Added to that is the fact that the public pool (where he goes for Special Olympics swimming) seems to be irritating his eczema this year, so the bottom of his feet are very itchy and that doesn't put him in a good mood either.<p></p><p>Anyway, between that and just being super busy with the end of the school year approaching and trying to get cleaning and household projects done...it is amazing I remember my own name *laugh*.</p><p>So, anyhoo, let's get onto some of the things I've been up to around here.</p><p>1. One thing I have been doing is going through the pantry and cupboards to see if there are things I need to use up. When making cookies, I realized my pure vanilla extract was running low, so I went and dug out the new 10 pack of vanilla beans I had bought for this occasion. I strained out the old vanilla beans from my current bottle of vanilla to reuse them as well. I added the lot to a swing top bottle I've had for years and topped it off with some of the ginormous bottle of rum we bought a few years ago. The vanilla is now up on top of my cabinets in the kitchen steeping away. it will hopefully be ready around Christmas when is about the time I would need it :). Picture of said to-be vanilla seen up top there.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipou7N-BqkRWHlwPvawSbfXKhIjX33VU4V87UVe-WiuXm0c0UJTrGYE6qi9VWXtNOeOlZGZd_y5zCDe89cKnlQ5GWEJ6HoqODxjQbpgSANHfZHAG-fMN1myI0q6Aleh5Z4coamHSrrGNEvtlQWJCHydLIcd8Qu-A328pX1bHDnwgElayxB1YHvyArMZQ/s1244/frugalfrolics8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipou7N-BqkRWHlwPvawSbfXKhIjX33VU4V87UVe-WiuXm0c0UJTrGYE6qi9VWXtNOeOlZGZd_y5zCDe89cKnlQ5GWEJ6HoqODxjQbpgSANHfZHAG-fMN1myI0q6Aleh5Z4coamHSrrGNEvtlQWJCHydLIcd8Qu-A328pX1bHDnwgElayxB1YHvyArMZQ/w640-h480/frugalfrolics8.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>2. I found that the potatoes we had bought at Wholy Living were sprouting on me, so I decided I needed to use them for something. I had been wanting to stock up on diced hash brown potatoes to use in cooking and things (for instance I found a recipe that calls for a bag of the diced hash brown potatoes to make a really good loaded baked potato soup), but the price and availability on those types of potatoes were ridiculous, so I had kept putting off buying some. So, I <a href="https://www.food.com/recipe/frozen-hash-browns-homemade-oamc-128380">found this recipe</a> and went to work. The recipe turned out really good and I'm looking forward to using the potatoes in future recipes. Seen above is when I pulled the sheet pans from the freezer and were transitioning them into freezer bags for long term storage. I got two really full sheet pans full of diced potatoes out of the like 13 pounds of potatoes I had, so I was happy with the results :).</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijv4nJlwInEEz4EgjS-AF6coP2aeIP8vkQNEEthRCYuRRfpvgkZX4dgx0U_D1jvH8zbCWbZtqkv-5lsNImyRdnWZCPPhtqktBVD-LqEdSTTTW3GMWSVBk6PmatvdGpTWBf7uwYppCTLLmIC7BH_kawRlPKQYJ65g7e_7gXqvOZHhMC7TQKfP7l0nVIA/s1244/frugalfrolics13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijv4nJlwInEEz4EgjS-AF6coP2aeIP8vkQNEEthRCYuRRfpvgkZX4dgx0U_D1jvH8zbCWbZtqkv-5lsNImyRdnWZCPPhtqktBVD-LqEdSTTTW3GMWSVBk6PmatvdGpTWBf7uwYppCTLLmIC7BH_kawRlPKQYJ65g7e_7gXqvOZHhMC7TQKfP7l0nVIA/w640-h480/frugalfrolics13.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>3. I had some kefir starter that had been given to me and I had put off using for a while, but when I saw it was near its best by date, I decided to try and make some. This can be chalked up into an "epic fail" for me. I tried the first round to use some milk I had previously frozen because I needed to use it for something, but nothing, absolutely NOTHING happened after 48 hours after stirring in the culture. The second time I tried using the yogurt function on my electric pressure canner. After about 8, of the 12, hours the recipe I was following called for, I didn't have kefir, but I had really separated out (and not good tasting) curds and whey that was kind of like a grainy cottage cheese consistency. Not good, let's put it that way.<p></p><p>After that I didn't want to waste any more fresh milk, so I just plain gave up. I did want to try some kefir types of drinks, though, so I did get some probiotic drinkable yogurt when I went shopping. I found I really do like it, but I'm just going to try and make my yogurt more liquidy next time I make it and see if I can get something similar that way instead of doing the kefir thing. At least I can do yogurt *laugh*.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGks0oynjJW8h4FM6CJNrRby73J948WhQB-Hje4y3EFzdjW3hNtqxehhPu9KXzUSHuKmfC9v8ErJRC3ybZvs2R1Hmcdrq_3VcvHvcaM5-sq03NpUHayAzH_oEWwMfI71MA8KZK20ZheKQkNnRlf-uGAGavBqc841gfWn0RBkbWwtPU97RKTLivdjTfxg/s1244/frugalfrolics11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGks0oynjJW8h4FM6CJNrRby73J948WhQB-Hje4y3EFzdjW3hNtqxehhPu9KXzUSHuKmfC9v8ErJRC3ybZvs2R1Hmcdrq_3VcvHvcaM5-sq03NpUHayAzH_oEWwMfI71MA8KZK20ZheKQkNnRlf-uGAGavBqc841gfWn0RBkbWwtPU97RKTLivdjTfxg/w640-h480/frugalfrolics11.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>4. Speaking of yogurt, I have some boxed milk I need to use up, so I took a gallon and made a batch of home made yogurt. After straining it all, I got two quarts of Greek yogurt out of the gallon of boxed milk I was using. I put one quart in the freezer and have been enjoying the other quart fresh for all of my yogurt needs :). Next time I make it, I'm going to follow a reader's suggestion and try adding a bit of gelatin into the yogurt for a boost of nutrition. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQA6gFU9AIzb8jtAq_xtgWCAnBNE49ETuOV_6_OUFK0Gz0k3KR4V-watDlMBQ6_9cFMx_uv26O2S8JiLmqkRRfF0DO1cCK475z2ohIP7fR3cpt79HlI3_S_wmWv8oQxwlBOdOskpurGQ8Ud2hhXJtdORRs7ouz72x2gEFYkCM4ydGBGWFqf3MLMTbcg/s1244/frugalfrolics12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQA6gFU9AIzb8jtAq_xtgWCAnBNE49ETuOV_6_OUFK0Gz0k3KR4V-watDlMBQ6_9cFMx_uv26O2S8JiLmqkRRfF0DO1cCK475z2ohIP7fR3cpt79HlI3_S_wmWv8oQxwlBOdOskpurGQ8Ud2hhXJtdORRs7ouz72x2gEFYkCM4ydGBGWFqf3MLMTbcg/w640-h480/frugalfrolics12.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> 5. I took a cup of the hulless barley I got and cooked it in 3 1/2 cups of chicken broth on my stove for about two hours (I just turned it down to low after bringing it to a boil and let it simmer for the two hours with a lid on it), until the liquid was pretty much absorbed and the barley was done, but still a bit chewy. I took about 1/4 of a cup of it to use in the rice pilaf I made to go with dinner that night and the rest I refrigerated and then put into a freezer bag to store for future use. I'm going to add it when I want to add a little texture to a dish (along with some added nutrition) and especially when I make rice pilaf as I like the flavor it adds as well :).<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GMoj9QCDUJwlvrdivPHOG5Vb5bvaJSV9HdvDoh-J2RYYusiGQjHvQRqLHPoznzMJN6I_8npPJJYCghlhO7L1X7EpUQuPLLZTJ6NLAaMcM2HB7zgMlEi6G31nSsqrCyXCIjJ1hpzL8U2NbR60XTTpsWaf8t_SuNc0g-1jzoionOcH1ahvi794wrExPg/s1244/frugalfrolics10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GMoj9QCDUJwlvrdivPHOG5Vb5bvaJSV9HdvDoh-J2RYYusiGQjHvQRqLHPoznzMJN6I_8npPJJYCghlhO7L1X7EpUQuPLLZTJ6NLAaMcM2HB7zgMlEi6G31nSsqrCyXCIjJ1hpzL8U2NbR60XTTpsWaf8t_SuNc0g-1jzoionOcH1ahvi794wrExPg/w640-h480/frugalfrolics10.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>6. I went through things I wanted to use up and found a jar of honey we had gotten with our CSA box last year. I also found four eggs in the fridge that I wanted to use up and decided to make some honey sweetened homemade ice cream. I used <a href="https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/honey-ice-cream-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-104649">this recipe</a> and it turned out really good! I am going to mess with the recipe next time and make it in different flavors, but I loved the fact that it was sweetened with honey as I do have quite a bit of honey in my food storage, so it's great to have another way to use some of it :).</p><p>7. Some things I did that I don't have photos for include:</p><p>I mended a hole in one of my son's shirts.</p><p>8. I went through and tightened up the drawer pulls on the kid's dressers when I had a free moment. While there, I also started going through the son's clothes (and made the daughter go through hers) so we could start to put clothes that were too small into the donation pile.</p><p>9. I deep cleaned my bathrooms. I noticed that the shower curtain liners were getting grimy, but instead of purchasing new ones, I decided to gamble on seeing if I could wash them and get them clean that way. I just put them on like regular laundry, along with the shower curtains (as those are cloth) and made sure to immediately hang up the curtain liners to dry in the showers as soon as they were out of the washing machine. They came out nice and clean and saved me from having to spend money on new liners for a little while longer.</p><p>10. I have been trying to budget out money to get stain to re-stain and re-seal our deck and front stairs as they are in rough shape. I was checking my e-mail and found that our local paint place had stains and paint on sale for 30% off with an online coupon code. I immediately ordered it as that was the best sale I'd seen on stain since I'd been looking toward doing this project! It wasn't cheap as I bought a five gallon bucket (as we have to do the deck, the deck stairs and the front porch landing and stairs as well) and hope that is enough, but at least this will hopefully save the deck from getting completely destroyed from neglect. Now I just need to wait for better weather and I can get to work on that!</p><p>11. My step-mom sent me a box full of goodies she had collected for me (I swear it's like Christmas when I get these *laugh*). I got a frog shaped turner for the kitchen (it actually seems decently sturdy, so I'm hoping it will work as a pancake flipper), a new tablecloth (which I'm hoping will fit my kitchen table) and a really awesome book on sewing called "Sewing Made Easy" from the 1950's :). I just picked it up at the mail depot yesterday and I've already read about 1/4 of the way through the book *laugh*. I'm hoping to learn a lot from it!</p><p>12. I sat down and started to work on a plan to redo my master bedroom closet to work better (I'll give more information on that project as I get to it) and tried to come up with a potential budget in case I need to buy some shelves to place in the closet for storage. I'm going to see how far I can get with what I have around here first, though, before purchasing shelving or something, so we'll see how far I can get with what I already have.</p><p>And there you go folks. Some of the stuff I've been up to the last little bit. I'm hoping to get more done in the next couple of weeks, like hopefully getting some plant starts for the deck garden, but we'll see how the weather goes. So far this is the first week we'll have temps going above freezing at night, but we'll still be in the 30's at night, so yeah...I might be putting plants in and out of the house for a good portion of the summer the way it is going so far. We'll see how it goes.</p><p>Well, it is time for me to go and get stuff done around here, so I'm going to call that good. Hope things are going well for you all, truly. Hang in there.</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-7645894441837134372023-04-27T13:29:00.001-08:002023-04-27T13:29:06.797-08:00Thrifty Thursday: Thrift Store Finds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpByj7GLu8Ytn9OHl2s0f9rqeI01eSTMQPvkA28xBsUjEut9qif-ut50ygLaWJIGOup_hq1u6if3TCAc5iQv3L6IjY-ewlfAO86qGiiyXO_FKwTVpyS-TK2sPVaIxoDsN21pWuLOs6wGWaIH83NSNjHLpnu0gA22Ic2bqOVH_tvtNh3G1Y4JjsADz8Q/s1244/thriftythursday2023-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpByj7GLu8Ytn9OHl2s0f9rqeI01eSTMQPvkA28xBsUjEut9qif-ut50ygLaWJIGOup_hq1u6if3TCAc5iQv3L6IjY-ewlfAO86qGiiyXO_FKwTVpyS-TK2sPVaIxoDsN21pWuLOs6wGWaIH83NSNjHLpnu0gA22Ic2bqOVH_tvtNh3G1Y4JjsADz8Q/w640-h480/thriftythursday2023-7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>It has been kind of a rough week around here. Winter refuses to leave, although thank goodness it is getting warmer in the afternoons so the ridiculous amounts of snow we have are finally starting to melt. Our 10 foot snow drift that was burying our back door is now down to about 4 feet, so I call that progress! We are finally supposed to start staying above freezing at night here within the next few days, so if that holds for a week or so, I'm just going for it and I'm going to go buy some plants to put out on the deck. I figure worse comes to worse, I'll go and buy some heavy plastic and build myself some mini greenhouses around my tomatoes and things to help them grow this summer. I am really jiving for fresh produce fresh from the garden after how long this winter has felt.</p><p>I do have plans to get a frugal accomplishments post out this week, although it is probably going to be really late and hit on Saturday while my son is at Special Olympics with my husband, so I have the opportunity to think. In the meantime, though, I thought I'd actually share some small finds I actually got on E-bay the last week.</p><p>Anyone who has been around for a bit knows that I love Tupperware, especially vintage Tupperware. Unfortunately for me, others have caught on to how great the stuff is and it has been REALLY hard to find it at the used stores for the last year or so, which is par for the course with me. It seems every time I get into collecting something it eventually becomes trendy and then I can't find it anymore. I love Tupperware because it is darned near indestructible and super functional (well, okay, some pieces might not be, but I've really gotten into things that I buy have to be functional anymore or I feel like I'm wasting money, so Tupperware pieces I get I use...actually usually quite a bit). I can safely say as an endorsement for the products that my Tupperware containers survived the seven point earthquake without even popping open. They hit the floor and bounced. The ONLY container that actually came open and spilled its contents was my container that was full of popcorn and that was because the microwave flew off of my sideboard and landed on it. But, it survived and is still used today. I can't say that about my Pyrex and Corelle pieces I had collected at the time.</p><p>This last week, I found out that Tupperware (the company) is more than likely going out of business. They have hired professionals to try and turn the business around, but it is not looking good. This made me so sad when I heard about it, as the company has been around since the 40s. It also made me realize that the second hand market prices, if this happened, were doing nothing but going up, so if I wanted to fill the few gaps I had in pieces that I wanted, I had better figure it out now.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRWoaWfEBCMcDTXCmIbb7SBO7d-m_1TrF1Dlt5_P-dM9nKF_8POifBvjm9cUBvcjm206de9sV94n5kJHr92IiHTIUu_31pKXYsw2ZZGC7UJ8jWMohU_An5YNRL2iCRJc7FRCR8BXlS4FLQmCOGAuGFN5TGykCd7K8fllTiMOxxxxi7LPPwJhHy1dMWlg/s1244/thriftythursday2023-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRWoaWfEBCMcDTXCmIbb7SBO7d-m_1TrF1Dlt5_P-dM9nKF_8POifBvjm9cUBvcjm206de9sV94n5kJHr92IiHTIUu_31pKXYsw2ZZGC7UJ8jWMohU_An5YNRL2iCRJc7FRCR8BXlS4FLQmCOGAuGFN5TGykCd7K8fllTiMOxxxxi7LPPwJhHy1dMWlg/w640-h480/thriftythursday2023-7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>So, I went on E-bay to see what I could find for a couple more countertop containers as I needed some for flours and things I'm now using regularly (like I wanted to get one for unbleached all purpose flour since that is used all the time in my sourdough starter and things). And, for the first time EVER I found a really great deal on not one, but two blue counter containers. The blue color seems to be really rare and every time I saw listings for it on E-bay they were always way more money than I wanted, or could, spend on something like that. This time, though, I found two containers that were 14.00 for BOTH containers and the shipping was cheap! I am so thrilled with these as I've been wanting this color in my collection for years, and I mean years and they are now filled with flours and are being used every day pretty much, so I call it a definite win :).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcr5K-1qEAA3YI1GzJ40MQk6PgLGt1BWhBA8Qejou6IWNV_GR5bQfJ59LLp9KrC0lMwdB428DAsrE-0TeNcMtQwu0brshEqF-nxAEw3qc8mKF36wPlAFI30vJsIXONDfGHqJNmGqgAzAWhDMKOiFjq9LSiCUvNxsdIaz1Qmeorq_5T_pldFxzeEwlig/s1244/thriftythursday2023-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcr5K-1qEAA3YI1GzJ40MQk6PgLGt1BWhBA8Qejou6IWNV_GR5bQfJ59LLp9KrC0lMwdB428DAsrE-0TeNcMtQwu0brshEqF-nxAEw3qc8mKF36wPlAFI30vJsIXONDfGHqJNmGqgAzAWhDMKOiFjq9LSiCUvNxsdIaz1Qmeorq_5T_pldFxzeEwlig/w640-h480/thriftythursday2023-8.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The other small thing I managed to get was a lid for this brown container. My mother-in-law gave me the container as part of a trade a long time ago, but while taking the lid off one day it split and broke on me (turns out, looking into the lid I needed to replace on it, that it was a replacement lid that broke on it to begin with...wonder what happened to the original lid as I'm sure my mother-in-law got it at a used store years ago). I put the container aside and looked for a replacement lid ever since, but never could find one. I just happened to be looking on E-bay and found an original container with the lid where the person was nice enough to list the lid part number in the listing, which was a first for me to find. I went and searched for the lid part number, and while I couldn't find a clear or brown lid to go with the container (as it would have originally had on it), I DID find a golden yellow lid that would fit it and I called it good enough. It was only 4.00 with free shipping (I know, expensive for a lid, but trust me that isn't bad for Tupperware), so I ordered it and can now finally use my brown container again (it is already full of flour as well and is on my counter top being used *laugh*).</p><p>I was even able to use credit card rewards to help pay for the items, which got my costs even lower :).</p><p>So, yeah, not screaming deals this week, but things I did need for my kitchen to protect important things from bugs and mice, so I'm definitely not complaining. And the fact that the blue containers happened to be a color I had been looking for was a major bonus for me :).</p><p>Oh in a side note ,thank you to those who have chimed in on the hood paint and making sure it was high temperature rated. My husband has thought about tractor paint and "other alternatives" but hasn't settled on one yet, but we will definitely make sure the paint is rated for high temperatures. Thank you for the advice!</p><p>Also, I can't remember who asked this question (sorry) but someone asked if I had ever found a recipe for Red Robin seasoning that worked well enough for Alvah. No, no I haven't. I looked at the ingredients and the seasoning has malt extract powder, so I'm thinking that adds a depth of flavor I just plain can't replicate. I'm going to keep trying, though.</p><p>Enjoy!</p>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-55134167462181679772023-04-19T12:19:00.002-08:002023-04-19T12:30:50.138-08:00March Wholy Living Haul<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxOW8-YiPAcZytxyo0oG7u2BofxNMYbUPXdab6IStznMvNCB8198kYSlcUJTHYQbKqzjkErmoy9M5_1Jnxd9HU3jXccKcva5jr-aubJCw3-CfCDbZ9YaDIn5pZPzypXe3NTDzW6gFZELHOFBWaNQYOB5Obaqvaz6UKsYPuXDBLsMCIyKxgupIhHOv3g/s1290/wholyliving1a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="1290" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxOW8-YiPAcZytxyo0oG7u2BofxNMYbUPXdab6IStznMvNCB8198kYSlcUJTHYQbKqzjkErmoy9M5_1Jnxd9HU3jXccKcva5jr-aubJCw3-CfCDbZ9YaDIn5pZPzypXe3NTDzW6gFZELHOFBWaNQYOB5Obaqvaz6UKsYPuXDBLsMCIyKxgupIhHOv3g/w640-h480/wholyliving1a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>"Wholy Living?" you may ask, "What the Heck is that?"</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, if you are in Alaska, this might interest you :).</div><div><br /></div><div>Wholy Living is a whole foods dealer in Palmer, Alaska. I honestly didn't have a clue this place really existed until recently.</div><div><br /></div><div>It all started when I was watching <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@threerivershomestead/videos">Three Rivers Homstead</a> on YouTube. She was grinding wheat to use in baking. No biggie, I thought, I do that. BUT instead of going to the hand sifting step that I always had to go through to make the flour lighter and fluffier (and it makes a huge mess), she just popped the flour into a contraption that was attached to the top of her Bosch, ran it and the flour came out super light and fluffy. Without tons of hand sifting needed, which meant a lot less hand aches. Without all of the mess! </div><div><br /></div><div>The device she was using was a sifter that someone had developed for the Bosch, she explained, and she loved it. I looked over at my Nutrimill Artiste mixer (I bought it after the earthquake as my Viking mixer wasn't working properly, but once my husband fixed the Viking the NutriMill became my back up mixer :), went online and found out that the device would indeed attach to the Artiste mixer. I called my husband and told him straight that if I could find it, I was taking the money out of savings and buying it as the sifter would quickly pay for itself just in labor hours saved. Now, mind you, I do not normally look at an item brand new and say, "We are getting this". I can recall twice that has happened in my life. One was when I test drove our Equinox (now that was partly my husband's fault as he found the car *laugh*) and the other was this sifter.</div><div><br /></div><div>The hard part, for me, was finding somewhere to get one. I found a few outfits online, but their shipping on a 90.00 item was astronomical to Alaska, so I decided to call around, text my mother-in-law (who knows the Bosch way better than I do as she's had one for years), etc. My mother-in-law and Allen and Peterson (our local Kitchen appliance and kitchenware outfit), both came out with <a href="https://www.wholyliving.com/">Wholy Living</a> as my best bet for finding the attachment. And she did, indeed have it in stock! I was thrilled.</div><div><br /></div><div>I then started going through her site and realizing that there was things in her store that I could really use, so I started to compile a list of things to get. I pooled all of my money for March for bulk foods/pantry restock, and took the 90.00 out of savings to pay for the sifter on top of it. I managed to kidnap/convince my mother-in-law to help me find the place and we took off up Clark-Wolverine Road to go and get a sifter.</div><div><br /></div><div>When we got there, I had a list, which I think was the best way to do things as a bulk food store like that, without prices listed in the place...I could have easily gotten out of there spending wayyyyyy more than I planned on. I had prices written down from the site and had everything added up on top of it. The only thing I ended up buying that wasn't on my list was she had a bunch of local potatoes for .99 lb and my mother-in-law really wanted to get some, so I ended up with more potatoes when she insisted on splitting the bag with me *laugh*. Margaret (the owner of Wholy Living) also didn't have the size of Italian seasoning I wanted (she only had 4 oz bags, and only two at that, so instead of a pound of seasoning I ended up with 1/2 lb) so she took off 5.00 from the total to compensate. </div><div><br /></div><div>Funny enough, since she runs a co-op type of operation, she carries Azure Standard stuff (I never thought I'd be able to get those types of items), which was awesome as I really wanted to try out some of their products :). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhYdfxlJ0nUqVYlzq_zEa-F0zfNb-O9oTB8D91DyD4PC8BAjc12SNMyiZ99u0sBBuxD9T4uNCn9JXlsduqKLs3rfnUNYpPNv-Mt_JjXU2pg74MmC4YvpVJcnD4GSFGSPq5D3lBJ-V_5tezxH-7TA32PnQfV_pgzIgofpi2b56tK-ljmV3zn8bsvlNqw/s1290/wholyliving4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="1290" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhYdfxlJ0nUqVYlzq_zEa-F0zfNb-O9oTB8D91DyD4PC8BAjc12SNMyiZ99u0sBBuxD9T4uNCn9JXlsduqKLs3rfnUNYpPNv-Mt_JjXU2pg74MmC4YvpVJcnD4GSFGSPq5D3lBJ-V_5tezxH-7TA32PnQfV_pgzIgofpi2b56tK-ljmV3zn8bsvlNqw/w640-h480/wholyliving4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>In total, I spent 266.00 total, minus the sifter attachment the total up top cost me 176.00, which wasn't bad for what I got. The sifter was 90.00 and it is TOTALLY worth getting if you grind your own grain and have a Bosch or NutriMill Artiste mixer. I know it is a convenience item, but when you get into doing as much baking as I do anymore, this thing is just wonderful to have.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, let's break down what I got.</div><div><br /></div><div>1. <b>25 lbs, 9 grain cereal. </b> </div><div><br /></div><div>My husband and I have been eating the Bob's Red Mill 5 grain hot cereal for breakfast a lot, but the only place I could get it was Amazon and it was getting really spendy to buy as it came in one pound packages and cost like 25.00 for a box of four. When I saw that I could get 25 lbs of NINE grain cereal for like 33.00, I was thrilled! It was a MUCH better deal than what I was buying. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3T8UUIydNt0qlGWMIqH6znTanG34inLbOegyfDBEcIF3yBen9eSxwYSxVCM7MDjkMXonjKQ7XcCOPq5Uyd5XUGKhlzP2eF8oYq8fnhoHYQk5iNg-3a0A8ffn8zey3BRoxhwXlIspiy0T-u9_C-BX_fvhw8H6sCFtdWSv1QlKq_knaoElSWBZtaPvJw/s1244/aprilaccomplishments2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3T8UUIydNt0qlGWMIqH6znTanG34inLbOegyfDBEcIF3yBen9eSxwYSxVCM7MDjkMXonjKQ7XcCOPq5Uyd5XUGKhlzP2eF8oYq8fnhoHYQk5iNg-3a0A8ffn8zey3BRoxhwXlIspiy0T-u9_C-BX_fvhw8H6sCFtdWSv1QlKq_knaoElSWBZtaPvJw/w640-h480/aprilaccomplishments2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>I then took 1 lb out of the bag and put it into my cereal container to eat for breakfasts (it is also really good added to bread to make a nice whole grain bread). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie7r4RFZFIOApkK5GouCxNJsC2GvwxMQqGP31GEXRmaWMIUFeHL308-9aY7GKF0kvC-k08-SJdwlQ_ZrZuMol5My0P_ECgOHAI8kCJSDV0lKkQ43cqjiSxdqEFJ1KJ0QvN9zM0SH2eVrz6QSVYFruTfcbGOMCYon4EyAdqfxduLgu3yLzfieykagj3Ew/s1244/aprilaccomplishments3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie7r4RFZFIOApkK5GouCxNJsC2GvwxMQqGP31GEXRmaWMIUFeHL308-9aY7GKF0kvC-k08-SJdwlQ_ZrZuMol5My0P_ECgOHAI8kCJSDV0lKkQ43cqjiSxdqEFJ1KJ0QvN9zM0SH2eVrz6QSVYFruTfcbGOMCYon4EyAdqfxduLgu3yLzfieykagj3Ew/w640-h480/aprilaccomplishments3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Then, I separated out the rest into 1 lb increments in freezer bags and put them in the freezer to pull out as needed. I am thinking this will easily last us a year.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPTHY6T9EsZqcYaZP1m3hsecWHIQlRfHCERv0SmibeBUux8L7hPBvlAN1DADnR2mOc0YJ1JW95G73DxjZHU2C1CTe6AwpuUBrdnaLYFfay-RrAWLeuUswFXJrGFQsF2tJldKwZKXdJfxbzl-QMhrUpbB_BQnbZyUpZ-7fWGwbO-f69yLmuvEI4hSoLg/s968/wholyliving2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="726" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPTHY6T9EsZqcYaZP1m3hsecWHIQlRfHCERv0SmibeBUux8L7hPBvlAN1DADnR2mOc0YJ1JW95G73DxjZHU2C1CTe6AwpuUBrdnaLYFfay-RrAWLeuUswFXJrGFQsF2tJldKwZKXdJfxbzl-QMhrUpbB_BQnbZyUpZ-7fWGwbO-f69yLmuvEI4hSoLg/w480-h640/wholyliving2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /> 2. <b> 25 lbs of Alaska grown hulless barley (the white bag above).</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I was really happy to see this when I saw it as I have been wanting to get some barley from Alaska flour company, but to ship a bag to myself would have cost significantly more than the amount she was charging (I think it was like 30.00 or something close to that).</div><div><br /></div><div>This stuff takes a while to cook, but if you cook it in some chicken broth and get it tender, it is really good. And if you add it to rice pilaf or other dishes it lends a wonderful texture and flavor! I haven't even ground some into flour yet (the majority of it went into a five gallon bucket with some oxy absorbers and got sealed up tight for future use), but am looking forward to grinding some into flour for bread :).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlnPRr3_9qhl32T0GyQ9nRKSALlfswASQHi3_kiqDBMJ6rzSEsD2ZSM0u0jfg8yk0GuaZbTB6qSETKG33uH1HSH8GlnmXSfIRWOOkjfBev4owWjcKn3LgzXsbRNFEUdrW_Zh6heWc9izIl1W48tWaaiYxRWCoDT31lghRu4w-y1E5AW33PO9PO2aCy4g/s1089/wholyliving3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlnPRr3_9qhl32T0GyQ9nRKSALlfswASQHi3_kiqDBMJ6rzSEsD2ZSM0u0jfg8yk0GuaZbTB6qSETKG33uH1HSH8GlnmXSfIRWOOkjfBev4owWjcKn3LgzXsbRNFEUdrW_Zh6heWc9izIl1W48tWaaiYxRWCoDT31lghRu4w-y1E5AW33PO9PO2aCy4g/w480-h640/wholyliving3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>3.<b> 5 lbs of allergy free mini chocolate chips.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>This was for Alvah. He loves the Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips, but the bags not only get smaller (so it seems anyway), but they are terribly expensive, so I got these to use for bribes/snacks for him.</div><div><br /></div><div>4. <b> 1 lb beef gelatin. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>I got this to start making more home made jello and get in some added nutrition into our diets. I still haven't used it yet (waiting for closer to summer), but I really am looking forward to making it with some of my home canned raspberry juice. Yum!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>5.<b> Almond Extract, 8 oz.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I have been needing almond extract, but haven't had much luck finding it at the store, so I got it here. It is a big bottle and will last me for quite a while, I think.</div><div><br /></div><div>6.<b> Italian Seasoning, 4 oz packages, two total.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I was hoping to get the 1 lb package, but she only had two four oz packages left, so I went with those. I needed Italian seasoning (I use it all the time), so it was great being able to pick it up while I was there.</div><div><br /></div><div>7. <b> Montreal Steak Seasoning, 1 lb.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>This was another "I need that" as I was completely out, so I decided to give the Azure Market brand a try instead of going with my usual McCormick. I have to say it is really good and I'm enjoying it :).</div><div><br /></div><div>8. <b> SAF Instant Yeast, 1 lb.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I rarely pass up an opportunity to pick up another block of yeast when I get a chance, so I definitely took advantage and grabbed a pound there. For 8.00 it was cheaper than what I was finding on Amazon for yeast prices as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>9. And, of course, the star of the show...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGcDnMfrv6L21nUhL4VzlY2rKwexvmHYXzBJwwffSMEkAwA0gp7IV_CuxRHUleUTT-QpXZluehwEESvOlm8xCzgz7VMI1NYFWWwNfB0QDhIHDsLm0zjBWqvObc-uGLaFwZZvgeSh0Mkp8YivzOcFC7kMNkVPIu7QAuiIJJchKk6p6y8OamWaaP4LCpTg/s1244/sifter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGcDnMfrv6L21nUhL4VzlY2rKwexvmHYXzBJwwffSMEkAwA0gp7IV_CuxRHUleUTT-QpXZluehwEESvOlm8xCzgz7VMI1NYFWWwNfB0QDhIHDsLm0zjBWqvObc-uGLaFwZZvgeSh0Mkp8YivzOcFC7kMNkVPIu7QAuiIJJchKk6p6y8OamWaaP4LCpTg/w640-h480/sifter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><b>The sifter!!!</b> Seen here up top of my NutriMill in all of it's sifting glory!</div><div><br /></div><div>10. And, I almost forgot<b> the potatoes</b>...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0cAF6bRMLqZROkKxr9XBT14Hrjl2UHmsTrr6CTwYRLPJY9avn80VbmbhD3nGZMpMRlPwqx8Amf_WDsVEtD_L4lFJdGtxOz8Q3jwoEbHxzuZc-EncBTNgeL6C3_co78DgtXh40UAHy0EmxyyODXPOjxvP2BokKNXlzi4o_COdnrU32DaOruScDP_SbDg/s968/wholyliving1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="726" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0cAF6bRMLqZROkKxr9XBT14Hrjl2UHmsTrr6CTwYRLPJY9avn80VbmbhD3nGZMpMRlPwqx8Amf_WDsVEtD_L4lFJdGtxOz8Q3jwoEbHxzuZc-EncBTNgeL6C3_co78DgtXh40UAHy0EmxyyODXPOjxvP2BokKNXlzi4o_COdnrU32DaOruScDP_SbDg/w480-h640/wholyliving1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>The potatoes are nice potatoes and a lot of them are really large. I can't remember if we got Yukon gold or German Butterball, but either way the potatoes are nice potatoes. I split my mother-in-laws half into a box and kept my half in the burlap sack. I didn't really NEED potatoes and the potato drawer in my fridge was full up, so I ended up having to use them up quickly as they started to sprout and some were getting green (I'll show what I did with them in another post :).</div><div><br /></div><div>And there you go folks. My bulk shopping I did in March. I know it doesn't do a lot of people any good as they don't have Wholy Living to shop at, but I do encourage you to check in your local area to see what bulk foods outfits are available to you as with current inflation and things going the way they are, honestly buying in bulk might be a good option for a lot of us. I had no idea Wholy Living existed until others told me about it, so who knows what is hiding in your local area as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>Enjoy!</div>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-71281152856756586602023-04-17T13:35:00.004-08:002023-04-17T13:36:12.855-08:00Frugal Accomplishments For the Last Two Weeks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnoiGD5_Ik_Ma9n2wjeFc3MksORX21wD81Z2y76eT30cGa_ABJ5IqY93nZFsSbZIuWUJlrHCEdTKGb-tRS-2YDu7PD5fwSrPbgfMYK-24Uj85prPTBpwNfybhlNsye7W7zstreC1aJqRAJaL6nbhA35wxpFaGO0S_k0FktcFeFHhKVdsII8nYzkufJw/s1244/frugalfrolicsfrenchtoast.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnoiGD5_Ik_Ma9n2wjeFc3MksORX21wD81Z2y76eT30cGa_ABJ5IqY93nZFsSbZIuWUJlrHCEdTKGb-tRS-2YDu7PD5fwSrPbgfMYK-24Uj85prPTBpwNfybhlNsye7W7zstreC1aJqRAJaL6nbhA35wxpFaGO0S_k0FktcFeFHhKVdsII8nYzkufJw/w640-h480/frugalfrolicsfrenchtoast.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Since I didn't get to do a "Frugal Friday" post the last few weeks, I decided that I would compile the list together and share some things that I've done the last couple of weeks to save money :).</div><div><br /></div><div>1. I took a loaf of bread that wasn't getting eaten fast enough, sliced it and let it stale up a little bit more and turned the entire thing into a bunch of French Toast. My husband actually ate a ton of it for breakfasts last week and I ate the last two pieces for breakfast one morning. I was impressed we were able to go through so much of it, as my original plan was to freeze it *laugh*.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1TZIRGCDtLnvVutU6yRkvEnYxznffcHeLVN0znOrIBT8cOdt-jXIlggaIArH_nkFcRwILDoESZIY3mgHWobOgyQoN6ylr4z9Cnl_yBXaZp7AgVReoEJE9wb53w_ArOgUKriL32m8NVApctd-tjj_QFXJdQkVF_lUQSs6dcOfvpDoIsczQNJoIX5ZdPg/s1244/frugalfrolics2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1TZIRGCDtLnvVutU6yRkvEnYxznffcHeLVN0znOrIBT8cOdt-jXIlggaIArH_nkFcRwILDoESZIY3mgHWobOgyQoN6ylr4z9Cnl_yBXaZp7AgVReoEJE9wb53w_ArOgUKriL32m8NVApctd-tjj_QFXJdQkVF_lUQSs6dcOfvpDoIsczQNJoIX5ZdPg/w640-h480/frugalfrolics2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>2. Speaking of freezing things, my husband was running low on breakfast bowls in the freezer. I took a bag of off brand French fries we'd gotten last year when frozen French fries were in short supply. This particular brand my son didn't like (it was right before we got all of the free French fries that lasted us nearly a year! I've just started having to buy the son fries again the last few months and WOW have they gone up in price!!!) and decided I needed to do something with them. So, I took them and just used the fries as hash browns in <a href="https://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/breakfast-bowls/#mv-creation-274-jtr">Lynn's Kitchen Adventures Breakfast Bowl Recipe</a>. It made a huge bowl of breakfast bowl mix that I was able to split into a bunch of bags and put into the freezer. It passed the husband quality control test, so I'm calling it a win *laugh*.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrN6LpisRdE71I2tt-lcq-t9GEf6xhPHTZiFzqZkqK2BlW-XEe3jJQaEer6FSPfaaz9MRrPlTkEWKJvQxb6hIcZ2qIh5TAvouN6vGf3-zTXqnLfh5OMm-rTicwmBfTuntDhpjti9OPmjBYpToTShLPvjx05zmMRBjQEVBHAChzxNz9CsDbridVgToXA/s1089/groceryhaul41723.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1089" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrN6LpisRdE71I2tt-lcq-t9GEf6xhPHTZiFzqZkqK2BlW-XEe3jJQaEer6FSPfaaz9MRrPlTkEWKJvQxb6hIcZ2qIh5TAvouN6vGf3-zTXqnLfh5OMm-rTicwmBfTuntDhpjti9OPmjBYpToTShLPvjx05zmMRBjQEVBHAChzxNz9CsDbridVgToXA/w640-h480/groceryhaul41723.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>3. I got some pretty good deals for Easter this year. I already had a spiral sliced ham I got cheap (like .99 lb cheap) after New Years, but I completely spaced when Easter was this year, so forgot to get eggs during our normal "big shopping trip" week (since my husband gets paid every two weeks, I do one big shopping trip per pay period and then the next week just aim to buy milk and whatever essentials we might run low on, to conserve money). So, I actually checked the store ad for the week. I then saw they had a 1.00/1 coupon for eggs and also had asparagus on sale for 1.49 lb (it had a limit on it, though) and pork roasts and chops were on sale for 1.49 lb as well. I needed pork roasts as I was completely out in the freezer and I can always use another package of pork chops, so I put those in my pick up order. I also got some blocks of cheese as they were on sale decently cheap with a coupon, got my eggs (yay!) and I got a thing of Ready Whip to eat with our strawberry short cake for Easter (it was on sale for 3.00 and was the only one they had in stock, but I still felt ripped off when we got it as shrinkflation has hit that stuff hard. The bottle is SO much smaller now). I ended up spending around 60.00 for everything, which I was okay with to stock up on pork. </div><div><br /></div><div>We had the asparagus with Easter dinner roasted with some bacon pieces I had left over from breakfast (it was so yummy!) and they were thin enough I didn't need to take a peeler to hard parts or anything. It all got eaten in no time flat.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTKNfCvTOdciVGLCDliKWrybC5qbjnv_4PTgc_t-ZQV2C0lMVtBnNf6SwpVBaStcpB6MUTYdaxdJAuAqE5KDJEkk283yrrZAg3gh_bYxuFOWhbUCMyZnBskOC937s915oktpLzvypbspKp1WR-LeujTQUwkbPw50cTo1f_jfR4ZbyI5dBuU3n0wKnETA/s1244/frugalfrolics5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTKNfCvTOdciVGLCDliKWrybC5qbjnv_4PTgc_t-ZQV2C0lMVtBnNf6SwpVBaStcpB6MUTYdaxdJAuAqE5KDJEkk283yrrZAg3gh_bYxuFOWhbUCMyZnBskOC937s915oktpLzvypbspKp1WR-LeujTQUwkbPw50cTo1f_jfR4ZbyI5dBuU3n0wKnETA/w640-h480/frugalfrolics5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div>4. In the same "shopping" vein, one of the "essentials" on my list was some more Tilamook cheddar block cheese as Alvah will only eat that type of cheese (and since it is one of the whole foods he'll eat, you better believe I keep it in the house). I was going to buy it at Carrs, but the price on the cheese had gone up crazy, so I stopped off at Three Bears to pick up some blocks of cheese to grate myself. I got Tilamook there, but while looking at the other cheeses, I was astounded to see a big blocks of Provolone in with the other block cheese. What blew my mind was that for a nearly six pound loaf of cheese (they were like 5.83 lbs each), supposedly the price on them was only 9.57 each! I was convinced it was a mistake on the shelf tag and it was the price per lb or I was reading the unit of measure to the price wrong. I took one cautiously with me and had the cashier do a quick price scan on it before I bought it and was astounded to see that the entire loaf was, indeed, only 9.57!!! That worked out to be about 1.64 per lb of cheese! I only took one to save whatever I could for others. I sliced some and grated some, put it into freezer bags and stuck it into the freezer for the most part. I did keep some out for sandwiches, but the rest I froze and will use later for all kinds of things. I am SO thrilled with that purchase/deal as it is hard to find good deals on cheese :).</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJIujzfBdfgpLNlkbGE34mLl7_gs8t44nXvKdsuya541NA7v5LL4MNkD9lI_02lhktiHZCKMQmKQ_A0eXco0M-bmds3y73LEvlxXoBkIKRyT-UAXU-VRSGnx2_NJrZ4DnMsaKyzDgGxSMXIl_pZfwp-Px7TtoCFU_MiWPcK3eOXNLxqTuAEjMexRt6A/s1244/frugalfrolics6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJIujzfBdfgpLNlkbGE34mLl7_gs8t44nXvKdsuya541NA7v5LL4MNkD9lI_02lhktiHZCKMQmKQ_A0eXco0M-bmds3y73LEvlxXoBkIKRyT-UAXU-VRSGnx2_NJrZ4DnMsaKyzDgGxSMXIl_pZfwp-Px7TtoCFU_MiWPcK3eOXNLxqTuAEjMexRt6A/w640-h480/frugalfrolics6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>5. We dyed eggs with food coloring again this year. They came out prettier than the picture shows. This year we only died 8 eggs to save on egg costs, but it was still fun and everyone enjoyed themselves :). I found that the McCormick food coloring this time around actually had egg dye amounts right on the box to make different colors, so I stuck with those for the most part (I'm not very observant so they could have been there for years and I might not have noticed, unfortunately). I turned the eggs into egg salad and my husband and I really enjoyed it.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZs5hLVArIGQ_-JpXq3z8xZ8zNhpVyZKh4SwBSx7w8NN1v1TFMztN4cMGjpJjn6TTJF5IpBCdOB451rRIFD6z_l6dHHAdvReC9Ua8hfavu98F3mYh_0KuZ0NpiWhsixssvsfjD2PwmSTPaz0yv02QdQFqybYh37UsGBoAA5DX9J533vqbcOjI7FN16A/s1244/marchstuff.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZs5hLVArIGQ_-JpXq3z8xZ8zNhpVyZKh4SwBSx7w8NN1v1TFMztN4cMGjpJjn6TTJF5IpBCdOB451rRIFD6z_l6dHHAdvReC9Ua8hfavu98F3mYh_0KuZ0NpiWhsixssvsfjD2PwmSTPaz0yv02QdQFqybYh37UsGBoAA5DX9J533vqbcOjI7FN16A/w640-h480/marchstuff.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>6. I got some Spring cleaning done. I got up on top of my cabinets with a putty knife and cleaners in hand and got all of the old grease removed and the cabinets cleaned all nice and tidy. I took down my pudding molds and cleaned them really well and put them back up, etc. While cleaning my hood and deep cleaning it, I managed to strip the paint off of the hood without even trying (my husband thinks that it is just so old that the grease from cooking day to day over the past 10+ years we've lived here has just worked its way into the paint and made it peel off)...I mean it just wiped off with the cleaner. </div><div><br /></div><div>My husband and I finally realized that the hood is definitely a vent-less style hood by searching the model number and I realized that the filter that was in it previously was the wrong type (it was a reusable filter, but not for that type of hood) and I'd been buying the wrong type of replacement filters all this time because I'd just been buying what the previous owners had in the hood, thinking it was the right type! So, I ordered the proper type of filter, ordered a new shield for the light bulb in the hood (the old one was so old the plastic was brittle and breaking off pieces whenever you'd so much as touch it) and got everything but the horrible looking paint looking a lot better. It works as well as a vent-less hood can work now, so I am calling it a win and hopefully we can get it repainted soon.</div><div><br /></div><div>7. I used up some onions that were starting to sprout and made Chicken Lyonnaise for dinner one night (great way to use up onions by the way!).</div><div><br /></div><div>8. I sat down and planned out the kid's curriculums for next school year and I went and planned out what I needed to buy for the son for next school year (the daughter's stuff can be ordered directly through the homeschool and they'll take it out of our allotment so I don't have to worry about paying everything out of pocket and getting reimbursed for it). I then went and figured out what I would need to order for the son and how much it would cost me out of pocket, so I can hopefully start budgeting to pay for it all before July 1st rolls around (when you can start ordering for next school year).<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And I'm going to call it good there as I have a ton of housework to get caught up on. Enjoy!</div>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536514511090897212.post-15518952456833479632023-04-13T14:15:00.003-08:002023-04-13T14:17:09.728-08:00Thrifty Thursday: Thrift Store Finds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGBW4itf_Vc81QnMpDh-NEw4S45f6Ghd6jqcJ_AnPmijIqNfAFAlNNNSURDhqn--LHDeh3C8nV6R4kSdjlHklb81Kxd-3B4jU10Y-VByw445rzW_qf6z-_8fJUU7wTsNlJNXO4Fc4-ZDgr0GjbpJGDVEarmSFkbGOxaEqvi6bNM6rwwiYEs4_Vl8J0A/s1244/thriftythursday20234.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1244" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGBW4itf_Vc81QnMpDh-NEw4S45f6Ghd6jqcJ_AnPmijIqNfAFAlNNNSURDhqn--LHDeh3C8nV6R4kSdjlHklb81Kxd-3B4jU10Y-VByw445rzW_qf6z-_8fJUU7wTsNlJNXO4Fc4-ZDgr0GjbpJGDVEarmSFkbGOxaEqvi6bNM6rwwiYEs4_Vl8J0A/w640-h480/thriftythursday20234.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>For the last bit, I really haven't found much at the used stores. My husband has had much better luck finding tools and things while me, who really is just looking for certain things in the kitchen and all, hasn't found a whole lot. I did, however, find these at Value Village last week and was really thrilled to find them, so I thought I'd share.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was thrilled when I saw the cornflower blue pattern on the casserole dishes and quickly snagged them as I'm still trying to rebuild a collection of the dishes since the earthquake years ago. After carrying them for a few minutes, I was kind of surprised at their heft and that they more resembled stone ware types of items instead of the Corelle/Corningware I was used to feeling with that pattern on them. I flipped them over, wondering if I had actually picked up some weird knock off Corelle and was really surprised when I saw that the casserole dishes were in fact special edition casserole dishes to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the brand. So, double score! Especially since, surprisingly, I didn't pay much for them (1.99 for the small one and 3.99 for the large one), a rare thing for Value Village. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've actually already used the smaller casserole to make potatoes au gratin, and I loved the pretty presentation it made. Hopefully these hold up. Not being made of traditional Corelle material, I do worry that they are going to chip and die on me, but we'll see how it goes.</div><div><br /></div><div>How about you? Found anything good at the used stores of late?</div>Erika, "The Make Do Homemaker"http://www.blogger.com/profile/09303208981550053539noreply@blogger.com4