Thriving In My Thrifty Week–December 22, 2020

We have spent the past few days exchanging Christmas gifts with family and friends. It’s so nice to have them all purchased and wrapped and almost all handed out! There’s a little more delivering to do, but that will be soon finished. It was nice to have mini-visits with some people as they either dropped things off or we did.

I made up a huge batch of rice/bean/cheese burritos for the freezer. One bag was sent off as part of a gift, along with some banana-chocolate chip bread. The rest were frozen for later. Patsy will eat these every couple of days and they make a quick lunch or supper. When I sent Rob to the store a couple of weeks ago for tortillas, they were quite expensive–over $2.50 for one package, and I had asked for 2. He got them, because he was there and we are limiting our store trips. They were soon eaten because Patsy absolutely loves them. I needed a better solution for mass production of burritos for gifts or mass consumption by Patsy! Thankfully, while he was in the Dollar Tree getting a few items for Christmas, he found them for $1 per package. He grabbed a handful, and I was in the burrito business!

I spent a couple of hours perusing old magazines for recipes that used foods I have on hand. I found at least 20 recipes I could make that looked good, marked them with sticky notes and added them to my menu plan. I went ahead and menu-planned for the next 2 weeks, and Rob picked up the groceries I needed. I should be done for the year now:). Sounds funny, doesn’t it? It’s amazing that the the year went both so slowly at times, and so quickly at others.

Jake needed an “ugly sweater” for his Zoom class for school. His dad fixed him up with lights over his normal shirt, and they promptly quit working, so Rob fixed him up with yet another string of lights at our house. He also has a bow, as you can see, and he was pleased as punch with himself and his “sweater. ” He showed his class, then we put it all away and no one was stuck with a sweater that would not be worn again. He does about an hour and a half on the computer, and does homeschool the rest of the time. I supervise/help on Thursdays. I concentrate of Language Arts, and do whatever his mother tells me to do. I read, read, read to him for one thing. We recently finished the book, “Caddie Woodlawn” and are now working on the Wright Brothers.

We were given several squash. Rob cut 2 up and we baked them and ground them with the Foley Food Mill.

Even though each time we cook squash, we eat a lot of it immediately, I am getting a good amount frozen now. One of these was much sweeter than the other, so I froze the sweeter one for eating in cartons, and the less sweet one in baggies for baking. That way, it all will be used and enjoyed.

While I was at it, I cut up a Butternut and roasted it with olive oil and salt.

We snack on the cubes and put them on salads.

We picked the first batch of lettuce from Rob’s planting in the greenhouse. This is a kind from Territorial called Yukon Blend, promised to do well in cooler weather, plus some Buttercrunch. So far, the greenhouse has been completely unheated. The weather has been quite mild for this time of year.

But, it’s definitely cool enough to enjoy chili and cornbread along with other soups and stews.

Patsy and Michaela made cinnamon rolls for Christmas Day. Patsy’s been banned from making them lately, since they are WAY TOO GOOD! But, hey…Christmas, right? We are always looking for projects to do with Michaela, so Patsy has painted her nails red and green a couple of times lately. She did it again this week.

Rob also took them to McDonald’s for the free McFlurry’s today. Well, not quite free…you had to make a $1 purchase. It was a great, inexpensive outing.

Have a wonderful Christmas, everyone! We are planning a quiet one, but a fun one. I hope yours is fun, too.

10 thoughts on “Thriving In My Thrifty Week–December 22, 2020”

  1. What a brilliant idea for the ugly sweater. That seems an interesting request, with people being told to stay out of stores, other than essential shopping. Not to mention a waste of funds during a pandemic year, with so many struggling. I admire your creativity in meeting the request.

    1. I have to give credit to his daddy! He thought of it. I guess they were assuming that people might have one already? I heard the teacher say, “this is not an ugly sweater. It’s my favorite sweater.” And, “Mrs. so and so isn’t wearing an ugly sweater, either…she’s wearing____”. Those special needs his are very literal. I think they just wanted a fun activity and are really searching because of Covid. They also had a “party” where the teachers dropped hot chocolate on their doorsteps and they all joined in on Zoom at 2:30 to drink it all together. They are being pretty creative.

  2. Happy Christmas, Becky!

    One year, I needed an ‘ugly’ sweater for a Christmas party; because I didn’t want to spend money to buy one, I simply basted two Christmas stockings that I had on to the front and back of a sweater I already had!

  3. Merry Christmas. I live in the Roseburg area in Oregon. I am growing territorial seeds also in my greenhouse. I have had great success with this company. Wishing you a blessed New Year. Denise

    1. I love Territorial seeds, too! Years ago, we even visited the trial grounds when you used to be able to do that. It was fun. Good luck with your greenhouse, and I hope you have a great New Year, as well.

  4. Hi, I am a long time reader but usually don’t comment. I have to let you know though that I saw you mentioned (on Brandy’s blog) your husband fixed a highchair that had it’s footrest missing. When my daughter was a baby (over 10 years ago!) she had a highchair that had safety recall sent out – the child could push on the footrest and separate the legs from the chair, causing the chair to fall to the ground. The solution from the company was for consumers to remove the footrest and throw it out. Please check to make sure your highchair is not of this type!

  5. Becky, I enjoy reading your blog!
    The next time you run out of tortillas, perhaps you can make your own! They are really very simple and inexpensive to make! I roll them out with a rolling pin and they are never perfect circles, but they still work! Many different recipes are available online.
    Enjoy your dear family and I wish you all a happy new year!

    1. Thank you so much for the tip! I was looking for flour tortillas this time. I don’t even have regular flour in the house anymore because I get so sick from it–our entire house is gluten-free these days, except for when I buy some already made up, such as bread or tortillas. In the past, I’ve been sick for days when flour got accidentally sprinkled around the kitchen and it cross-contanimated my food. Sad, but true:(. So, I need to buy them.

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