Saving Money and Weekly Update–November 11, 2017

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There’s nothing like a good library visit!  I don’t know if your family has discovered the Elephant and Piggie books, but Jake sure loves them.  They are pretty funny, and very easy for him to read himself.

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None of the kids, or Rob, had school on Friday, due to Veteran’s Day.  We did some errands, got some groceries, and stopped by to feed the nutria and ducks at a pond.  As we were picking Jake up, his mom handed us a big bag of old hot dog buns, since I had to confess I had forgotten my old bread at home.  The kids loved throwing them to the animals.  4 other kids showed up, armed with their own bags of stale bread bits and they all had a blast.  They even shared with Jake when he used ours up.  I though that was really nice of them.

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We saw mallards, 2 different kinds of wood ducks, a pair of domesticated ducks and 1 lonely sea gull that travelled far from the ocean, along with the nutria.

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It is time to fill shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  They need to be filled and back to the church by November 19.  I went out to the shop, dug around in my fabric and patterns, and made 2 little skirts, using the same piece of fabric, and the same pattern–just 2 different sizes.  I hoped to use the piece up, but there’s probably enough for 1 more skirt left….but I only need 2.  The girls have been selecting items at various stores for the boxes and we will pack them this week.  Although I certainly plan to spend money when I fill the boxes each year, I love being able to put in skirts that will be nice for the recipient that cost me nothing out of pocket.

I have a busy week ahead, full of fun things like a field trip to the state capitol building, and some other things.  I’ve been doing some extra cleaning and getting ready for Thanksgiving, as that’s suddenly right around the corner.  Rob cleaned in the shop for a few hours today, as well as grabbed some of the buy 10, get $5 off items at Fred Meyers.  I bought 10 items earlier in the week, but milk was on the deal, and it made them 99c for each 1/2 gallon, so I wanted 4 more since we used up a lot of what was purchased earlier.  Butter was $2.50 with the deal, so he got 2.  There was gluten-free clam chowder for 99c/can, and I grabbed a couple of cans of broth.  I take the little cans camping with me because it’s more convenient than large frozen cartons. I also occasionally drink a can when my tummy is upset–and I don’t want to thaw anything then.  They ended up 49c/can.

We did 2 exercise classes at the YMCA.  We’ve been in that class for over 2 months now.  We are taking Pilates twice a week for the girls’ PE.  I seriously stink at Pilates.  I have very little coordination or flexibility.    The girls are better at it.  BUT, it’s exercise, I can already tell I’m less stiff than I was, and I can do more of the things each time.  The teacher is patient and kind, and I haven’t fallen off my exercise ball lately, which is always a bonus!  Things are looking up:)  Lovana works out a few times a week there, and it’s all included on our membership.

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I cooked several items today for tomorrow’s Family Sunday Dinner.  I didn’t need to cook anything for today’s meals except eggs for breakfast, there were plenty of leftovers from the week.  I continue thawing and using items from the freezer.  Our 1/4 beef is at the butcher, so that will be ready in a couple of weeks–so I need to keep emptying to make space.  So, I pulled out meatballs and sauce for tomorrow evening, meat, broth, bread, berries, etc. this week to keep using it up.  Rob dug around a bit in the chest freezer and unearthed a few things that I should make a plan for soon.  He found both the turkey and the ham that I knew were in there, so Thanksgiving is set.  I targeted some apples today, as the box we got has a few that are starting to get soft.

How about you?  Do you have any foods you need to specifically, purposefully use up before they get too old, or go bad?  Are you filling a shoebox and putting something interesting in?

 

What Did We Eat? November 10, 2017

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This week, it was all about potatoes! I decided to use up the purple potatoes we grew in our garden.  I don’t know if they are good “keepers” or not.  I do know the red ones sprout easily.  As of Wednesday, they were all cooked into something.  I also had a few red ones from my sister, and the bottom of a bag of russets from the store that I was targeting. They are now gone, too.   Last Saturday, I got 3-10 pound bags from the store.  They are in the garage, all covered up with a blanket, ready for the next couple of weeks and Thanksgiving dinner.   I made fried potatoes, with a mix of white and purple one morning.  I made cheesy potato soup for lunch one day, and the rest went down the hatch for dinner that night.  I made lots of faintly purple mashed potatoes  from a mix of purple, red and white.  I used around 7 lbs for last Sunday’s Family Sunday Dinner to make mashed potatoes.  I guess the extended family loves potatoes, as there was about 1/2 cup – 1 cup left.  Wow!  Just Wow!  Best 75c I’ve spent in a while:)

The soup theme continued as well, with the cheesy potato soup, and a pot of turkey-rice. I always make enough for more than one meal, when I make soup.  I can’t seem to help myself.  Ja’Ana made cornbread again this week, and my sister made some on Sunday.

On Sunday, along with all those potatoes, I did baked, breaded chicken, which was a hit as well.   I think we were all in the mood for heartier fare–fall is certainly here along with it’s rain, and wind, interspersed with a little sunshine now and then.

One day, I put round steak into the crock pot and made Swiss Steak.  I made some gravy to go with it, and those purple mashed potatoes.  There is still some of that left, so we will probably eat it again tomorrow.

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Jake convinced me to make Rice Krispie treats (from gluten-free Malt-0-Meal Rice Krispies), and he took a big plate full home for his Mama.  He hung with us today, as there was no school. We did a slew of errands–everything from getting medicine, to getting the oil changed in the car.  We slipped in some duck-feeding, and had lots of library books in the car to make it fun.  We got him a Happy Meal–I had a coupon for buy one, get one free, so he and Patsy both had one.  She’s old enough to actually be able to eat more than that, but it satisfied her to get to have it and he was literally starving today–nice!

There were lots of salads this week–for lunches with chicken or for dinner along with the other food, cooked home-canned green beans, home-canned peaches and applesauce, hot dogs, sandwiches, corn chips with salsa, and pork and beans.  Patsy eats cold cereal almost every day, and Rob and I eat eggs almost every day for breakfast.  Lovana gets a crepe or sandwich for free from work on the days she works, and pretty much makes her own food the rest of the time. Sometimes, I eat at my sister’s house in the evening, as I don’t get done until 6,  and everyone at home just makes their own, or eats leftovers.  Sometimes, I go home and make a salad, or warm up leftovers on the days I work.  It has turned out that I only really need to cook 4-5 main recipes a week, and there is enough for the week to just warm up leftovers.

This coming week, it’s going to be all about cleaning out the fridge so we can fit the Thanksgiving food in there the following week.  I’m not sure what I’m making, yet, but I’ll work on some planning tomorrow, and hopefully, I won’t get carried away, as I have an entire day at home….at least that’s what my planner says.  So, if I decided to go somewhere, it will be purely for fun.  Should be a great day, either way.

 

Saving Money and Weekly Update–November 4, 2017

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Rob got the garden tilled around all the winter veggies in between rain storms!  I am so delighted.  I did not think he was going to be able to do it, but Monday night, when I came home from work……there it was!  It’s been pouring ever since!  Now, we are going to spread the compost pile over it, and keep throwing scraps and weeds on it, and he will till all that in in the spring, when it has rotted a bit.  He also is going to build a compost bin system for me like I had at the old house.  Then, I will be able to hide it while it decomposes.  He used old, free pallets last time.  We shall see what he does this time.

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Today was Patsy’s day.  I had been feeling that she needed some time from me, and today was the day.  We went to the mall.  Twice.  We smelled every single scent, and some twice, (it felt like) at Bath and Body Works.   Two times.  We used a coupon I had, and bought something I wanted from some money I had saved from my birthday.  We both tried on clearance clothing at Macy’s.  She got 2 tops and a dress she needed.  I got a top I wanted.  We got great prices.  We went to JoAnn’s and she used a gift card she had been saving from her birthday.  (That was in June.  We don’t go shopping much, except for groceries).  The 2nd mall had a photo opportunity set up and I took her picture for free.  On the back side of this display, there was one for Halloween pictures.  It was nice they offered both.   We got some socks we had been searching for that are for a little friend of ours.  We shared a nacho and a dish of ice cream at the food court.  The items we bought were few.  It all fit in one bag.  I’m hoping the memory is large, and long-lasting.  It was a fun day.

Then, we went to Fred Meyers and got groceries.  They had a LOT of things on sale for $1/each.  We got 1/2 gallons of milk. We got packages of cookies.  We got a cake mix.  All for $1/each. We even got a few things for 50c, like broth.  I only bought 4 of those, since I have quite a bit and make my own most of the time.  Occasionally, I do need a small can for a food drive, taking with me on a trip, etc.  I got the rice mix for the Friday Freebie, along with last week’s caffeine-filled soda drink.  I can’t eat the rice mix (wheat) so will take it to church for the monthly food drive.  It will be good food for someone.

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On Friday, my sister, Rosalie, Ja’Ana and myself went to see Harnet and Danait.  It was CRAZY busy there!  Harnet had the day (and us) really organized!  Harnet had a citizenship tutor coming to work with her, and we were the “keep Danait busy” crew so Mama could study.  So, her Harnet had it set up for her to go to toddler storytime at a nearby library and we took her.  Then, we took her to McDonald’s and used my buy one, get one free Happy Meal coupon from the app.  Rosalie and I didn’t eat there, except for snitching a few fries, but the girls did.  After that, we went back to Harnet’s and ate lunch.  She had cooked one dish that contained greens (maybe collards?), rice, and lentils.  There was injera bread for those who could have it.  The tutor stayed for lunch, too, and we all had a nice chat.  Of course, we had coffee before we went, during lunch, and after the all the others left.  After while, another lady showed up.  She is someone who helps Harnet with things like phone calls, appointments, etc.  I’m not exactly which group/agency she comes from, but Harnet  was glad to have the appointment with her, and I can see why.  She is very knowledgable about how different agencies work, and how to access them.  We chatted and talked with her, too. Harnet fed her lunch, too, and we all had coffee again.

Ja’Ana and the tutor tried to set up an internet box that had been sent to Harnet so she can have wifi.  JaAna and Miss Callie, the tutor, tried for about an hour, at which point Miss Val picked up her phone and set up a installer for next week. It didn’t work, but the effort was appreciated. In the meanwhile, Danait was having a lot of fun playing hide and seek with Rosalie a lot, and me a little.  Her favorite place to hide was in an empty box.  She had so much fun.  After both ladies left, Rosalie and Ja’Ana took Danait back to the library because they had not chosen any books earlier.  This is because Harnet wanted me to study with her and work on homework.  We worked on it for almost 2 hours, so they returned before we were done.  At least we finished, so she can relax this weekend.  We put more appointments, times to get together, etc. on the calandar.  I was excited to show her the post about coffee-making and she liked it.  There is one thing I will fix in the post.

Again, this week, I was able to enjoy many things for absolutely free.

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I enjoyed the fall colors.

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I enjoyed making soup and muffins during the cooler weather.

I was glad to have a nice, warm fire in the wood stove this week.

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The trees are changing into deeper red, yellows, then turn bare.  It won’t  be long until these branches are bare.  It was a busy week, but a good one.

 

 

What Did We Eat? November 4, 2017

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This week was a wild and crazy, unusual week.  Between Halloween celebrations, a visit to Harnet, lots of school, exercise classes and more, there wasn’t much time to concentrate on food.  So, frankly, we ate a LOT of soup:)

The week was a blur, but I remember a big pot of turkey-vegetable soup, along with a batch of yellow split pea soup.

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The split pea soup was very simple.  It was yellow split peas (green work, too), onion, potato, a carrot, celery, water and boullion cubes.  I always add a little thyme, salt and pepper to the mix.  After it cooked down, it was smooth with a few chunks.

The turkey vegetable was simple, too.  It was made from frozen chunks of turkey, broth, onion, carrots, celery, green beans, and a pint of crushed tomatoes.  There was water, salt and pepper, of course, and Italian seasoning.  That one turned out great as well.

We ate both of those soups many times for dinner and lunches.  Rob took some in his lunch, along with other items.

On Halloween, my sister made a taco bar, and I made some cookies with the kids.

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There were a couple of times when the Portland Trail Blazers scored over 100 points in a game, and the McDonald’s app offered a Sausage McGriddle for free.  So, we got a couple of those.  I can’t eat them, but others can.

When Rosalie, my sister, Ja’Ana and I took little Danait to McDonald’s to play while her mom studied citizenship with her tutor, we used the buy one, get one free Happy Meal coupon off the app.  Rosalie and I got to enjoy Harnet’s yummy food back at the house, but Ja’Ana and Danait ate the Happy Meals.  Mostly, we were looking for a dry, fun place to let some of the wiggles out after the library storytime we went to, and I think she had fun.  I know we did!  It was really quite comical to see 3 of us chase 1 little dynamo!!

I did make the same marinated chicken I made last week.  It was good, simple, and quick!  And, I had all the ingredients on hand.  It used up the rest of the package of buns I had, and everyone enjoyed chicken sandwiches this week.

I made mini blueberry muffins, and we ate some and took the rest up to add to the lunch at Harnet’s.  We ate them with coffee.  I can’t forget the coffee…..that deserves a sentence of its own:)  I showed her the coffee-making post, and we found a small error in my description, so I will be fixing that soon.  She enjoyed seeing it, and I’m glad.  It’s a big deal to me to post someone else’s story and I wanted to make sure it was correct.

Ja’Ana made another batch of cornbread, and I cubed and toasted about 1/2 of the pan and froze it for Thanksgiving stuffing.

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I want to have as much ready ahead of time for the big day, as I am super busy during the days before the holiday.

Whenever anyone said they were hungry, I just said, “go get some more canned fruit” and I think we all got fed just fine:)

A Simple, Home-made Halloween–2017

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Yesterday, we celebrated Halloween.  Now, I must confess, Halloween is both Rob and my least favorite holiday.  For many, many years, we hosted an alternative harvest party of some sort, took the kids to one at church, or just did our own thing that night.  One time, in 20 years, we took the kids, including the nieces and nephew, trick-or-treating and we were completely worn out by the end, so we did not do it again.  To be fair, we tried to take them to every relative that lived within an hour’s drive of each other–lots of places, really far apart, nursing homes included, etc.   We were driving for hours, unloading them, visiting, and off again.  They were little, and it was just plain a lot of work.  All the relatives did enjoy the costumes, especially the elderly relatives who were in homes.  So, we went back to our regular ways.

However, when we got Patsy 4 years ago, Halloween was one of her most favorite things–a rare, good memory of times with her birth mother, a special evening she much looked forward to, a MAJOR BIG DEAL to her.  So, we decided that we would try to let her have some fun on that day/night, in a way we could all enjoy.  We saw no reason to remove one of the few happy memories/traditions she had from her past, but we did want to change the focus a bit from scary, gory, and dark to light, happy and fun.  In other words, keep the fun part, get rid of the rest.  To be truthful, we still don’t like Halloween much, but we do like our daughter and her feelings more than we don’t like Halloween, if you get what I mean.

For the past few years, we have spent the evening with the cousins.

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This year, Patsy was a princess, using an old dress I made years ago for Ja’Ana.  Alissa dressed up in her pajamas.  She recently got a job at a daycare for 2-1/2 hours each afternoon, and they were having the toddlers and staff wear pajamas Tuesday.  Jake, is Darth Vader, in a pair of pajamas, a cape, a mask and a light saber.  Just don’t call him that!  His name is Jake, and he is still under there, in case I was wondering:)

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Last year, Uncle Rob started a tradition with Michaela.  She really, really wants to be involved with the whole trick-or-treat project, but after all, she is 20 now.  Kind of old.  So, she and Uncle got a bag of Reese’s peanut butter cups and drove around, following Jake and his helpers (anyone who would get out of the van and take him up to doors, from his sister Caitlyn, to Alissa, and of course, Patsy).  This year, he also had Heath bars, Snickers, assorted candy, and Starburst in the van for all of the, well, helpers?  This year, again, she scarfed down candy, this time with Lovana (who isn’t actually eating much candy right now, to be fair to her), Caitlyn, Alissa, Ja’Ana, J’s friend Angel, Patsy……. Yes, a party in the van, all for the sake of Jake and Michaela.  Of course, Jake and Michaela.  Anything for Jake and Michaela.  Lots of eager volunteers for this task:)

Earlier in the day, Michaela and I had cut out the pumpkin cookies, and baked them.  Jake was offered the opportunity of decorating them, but he was too excited for the party to start.  So, Caitlyn and I decorated them.  My sister made a taco bar, and we had everyone eat dinner before Uncle took off with them.  I stayed back at the house with my sister and brother-in-law,  handing out candy.  It was fun to see the kids in their costumes, and admire the pumpkins my niece had carved.

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The kids coming up to the door enjoyed them, too, and she received a lot of compliments on her carving, which I passed on to her when she got back.

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Patsy lit up her pumpkin as soon as we got home.  It’s about done for, already, but that’s ok.  Another Halloween is past, and now we are moving forward towards Thanksgiving, one of my absolute favorite holidays in the whole world.  I can’t wait.

Saving Money–Weekly Update–October 29, 2017

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Rob spent some time cutting up the boards we scavenged for free into stove-friendly sizes.

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Jake thought the noise from the saw was too loud, so he put on some of Patsy’s ear muffs while he built Legos on the sunny deck.  I though he made quite a fashion statement.

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I got enough flowers for another small bouquet.  Although we were hit by a couple of light frosts, only some of the flowers were killed and there are a few more scragglers still hanging on out there.  I hope to get another bouquet tomorrow since this one is looking sad today.

There were many things to see this week that were absolutely free.

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I enjoyed fall colors…..

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Geese flying…

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Watching logs float down the rain-swollen river at my sister’s house….

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A mist-covered spider web…

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The freshly-mown lawn that Patsy did herself this time…and saw so much more.

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I made waffles using the Mickey Mouse waffle iron I got at a garage sale last weekend.  I used a gluten-free pancake/waffle mix I got off the clearance rack at Fred Meyers and used a few of the 79c/dozen eggs we scored last week.  The bacon has been frozen for a while–it was an amazing find at Grocery Outlet a while back.  We had Jake for the last couple of days since his parents were very involved with the High School Harvest Party at church.  So, even though the girls were at their respective parties, Rob, I and Jake had a nice, fun, breakfast for dinner last night.

In between other things this week, I was able to do some embroidery and some extra cleaning.  I cooked meals, as normal, and picked up a couple of items to put in my gift stash.  The garden is almost done, and yet I’m still getting a few things.  We did pull up the hoses, and had high hopes of tilling it up, but it never got dry enough, and just rained again today.  So, we may just need to put compost on it (like old plants, grass, etc.) and till it up in the spring.

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The cabbage looks good.

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If you look closely, you can see the multitude of baby green onions to the left of the cabbage.  A while back, I put some compost on there and buried the seed heads from last year’s onions.  Many of them came up!  Lots of promise for spring since they are pretty hardy.  We will see!!

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It was a good week.  How did yours go?

 

 

 

 

What Did We Eat? Week of October 28, 2017

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There’s just nothing like cheesy scalloped potatoes!  I made these on Monday night after work and thought they would be for Tuesday.  Little did I know that most of the crew had not eaten dinner (or wanted another dinner–who knows?) and ….whoosh….most of them were gone that night!  Monday’s plan was leftovers for dinner.  I can see why they wanted these:)

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On Tuesday, Ja’Ana made cornbread again.  No one can get enough of it lately!!   Lovana made apple crisp, which you can see behind some other stuff. I pulled a small container of very old ham and bean soup from the shop freezer, and we used it up!  Very gratifying, but I wouldn’t say my favorite.  At least it’s gone;)

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I marinated chicken breast, cut thin, in lime juice, olive oil, cilantro, salt, pepper and garlic.  Then, I just fried it up in a pan.  I cooked pink rice and mixed vegetables.  I also offered these chicken filets up in buns for those who wanted them that way–with toppings like lettuce, etc.  Patsy and Rob went for them that way.

On Thursday, everyone got what they wanted for themselves as they left to take Ja’Ana to tap dance class before I got home.  Patsy told me she made an egg salad sandwich from some eggs I boiled and left in there.  I sauted up a few shrimp we had lingering in the freezer and had salad and a baked potato Rob left.  So, I’m guessing he had potatoes?  Or leftovers? Anyway, everyone ate!

On Friday night, Rob and I slipped away for a while.  I ordered a milkshake and nipped some of his fries.  (Awful, I know, but oh, so tasty!)

On Saturday night, I made waffles, eggs and bacon.  I will put up a picture of the waffles soon–they were so cute!  I made them in a Mickey Mouse waffle iron I got at a yard sale last weekend.  Jake was here for dinner, but the girls were not.  They had harvest parties and got their dinner there.  He ate an ear from Mickey, a few eggs, and lots of bacon.  Later in the evening, he ate a bagel, too.  I try to always keep them here for him, as he eats one almost every time.

I made a berry cobbler and a rice salad with the leftover pink rice to take for Family Sunday Dinner tomorrow.

I also ground some turkey I found in the freezer so it will be handy for sandwiches.

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Last weekend, I made this mixture of turkey burger, celery, yellow peppers, kidney beans, chili powder and crushed tomatoes.  I was going to make tamale pie one night by just putting cornbread on top and baking.  Instead, it got used at odd times for baked potatoes, tacos, salad, on a plate….I’m fine with that.  It got used, but for a little bit, and made grabbing something for lunch very easy.  I could have added macaroni, too, for chili mac.  I will probably make another batch of it soon.  IMG_5872

I picked a cabbage today.  It is in great condition.  I plan to use it for coleslaw this next week.

I feel like we ate well last week, and that I have a good handle on the upcoming one.  By the end of tomorrow…I should be in super-great shape as far as the food for the week in concerned.

 

 

Eritrean Coffee–SO GOOD

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Last week, when my sister, Rosalie, myself, and my daughter, Ja’Ana, went to visit our friend, Harnet, she served us yummy coffee, as she often does.  I asked her if I could take lots of pictures to better describe and show the process, and she graciously agree.   She got her new coffee table out, and set it up for coffee making.

Now, you must understand, coffee making and drinking it is not just to get something warm to drink first thing in the morning.  It is done in her country, Eritrea, Africa, as a way to socialize, and is somewhat of a ceremony. There may be more reasons, too, but I’m still learning all about the whole process and may not know them, yet.  We were told  that it is customary to have coffee 3 times during a day’s visit, and that that brings a blessing with it.  I always feel very blessed when we visit with her while sipping coffee.

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The beans are green coffee beans that she buys at an Ethiopian grocery store.  Eritrea is near Ethiopia, and there seems to be some things that are done the same way in both countries.  She set up her burner and started roasting the beans.

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Pretty soon, the beans begin popping and snapping and get darker in color.  She shakes the pan, presumably so they don’t burn. The beans begin to emit a wonderful scent.

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In just a few short minutes, the beans get quite dark, and Harnet deems them roasted to her satisfaction.

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She pours them into a special basket so they can cool.  While they are cooling, she carries them around to each of us so we can inhale the amazing odor.  She always does this.

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The roasted beans are ground.

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Coffee grounds are put into the special coffee jug, with water, and placed back on the burner.  (I’m sorry, I don’t know how much water and how much coffee—but its a LOT of coffee–it is very strong.)

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It is poured into the small pitcher, and back into the jug to boil again.  Milk is heated on the burner.  Then, sugar is placed into the bottom of the little coffee cup, the coffee is put in next and the milk is added last.  To keep the coffee grounds from getting into the cups, a piece of an old onion bag is scrunched up in the spout of the jug and it works amazingly well.  Little spoons are given to each person so they can stir their coffee, and the cups are placed on saucers.

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Then, we sit and sip our coffee.  We visit and chat, and just enjoy the moment.  We talk about what we have done since we last got together, and share our happy moments and bewail our woes.  We talk about homework that needs to be done, whether or not the mail is important, discuss times for future visits, and how the children are doing,  and laugh about the time I handed out 10 Advil tablets because I thought she wanted them, when in fact, she wanted 2!  Sometimes, we talk of family members near and far, and look at pictures of them.  We discuss last summer’s visit to the forest and falls, all with little Danuit climbing all over the couch and us, demanding coffee, which she gets about 1 teaspoon-ful of, with a lot of milk.  She’d really like the big girls to put their heads on the floor, and their feet up into the air, and do a flip off the couch, as she does.  They usually don’t, but once in a while, give in.  That’s quite a sight!  Coffee is not something to be rushed–no one is in a hurry.  Often, several cups are consumed. This process is repeated several times during the day–3 or more, if we can fit it in.  Otherwise, when time is tight,  we enjoy having it once.  Funny thing is–it is very relaxing, even though the coffee is chock-full of caffeine!  My sister has to call it quits long before the last cup is offered out, or she ends up awake at 1 a.m., still jacked up from all the coffee!! When the last cup of coffee from the special jug is consumed, we either go off to an appointment, eat our lunch, or….it all starts over again a few minutes later.  I expect that part of the appeal of it all  is just that….in my hectic, busy life, I rarely take the time to just sit down and visit.  And, you know what?  It feels good when I do.  So good, in fact, that when she offered to bring the entire set-up to Thanksgiving dinner, we jumped at the offer and told her to forget all about all the other things she was going to bring—just bring coffee!!!

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Saving Money and Weekly Update–October 21, 2017

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We finally made it to the apple orchard to u-pick some apples.  My sister and I and niece, Caitlyn, took Michaela and Jake out to a nearby farm.  The trees were loaded with apples, so everyone picked to their heart’s content.  Michaela especially likes Red Delicious, so she stuck to that row to pick her apples.  They got some apples for a youth group event and themselves, and I got a bucket for us.  They were very reasonable–$12 for the large bucket-full, around 50c/lb.

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Ja’Ana and Alissa each made an apple galette from some of the apples.  I’m having several recipes tested by them, or myself, in anticipation of Thanksgiving.  I’m trying to figure out a good gluten-free pie crust recipe, and the second one was much flakier and tastier than the first one, so I think we are close to perfection:)

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There is a business in town that puts scraps out in tote bins for people to take for free.  When we checked this morning, the bins were full.  We grabbed as many as we could stack up in the very back of the van, choosing the larger ones because they are easier to handle than the itty bitty pieces and Rob can cut them down if they are too long for our stove.  A couple of other people were also collecting—one man for fire wood like we were, and a lady for pieces for her son to make bird houses out of.   This is the second time we have collected wood from there, and it works very well when first building a fire in the morning.  Also, some of the pieces are large enough to burn for a while, extending our firewood supply.  All 3 groups of wood-gathers were really friendly and cheerful to each other, which was so nice.

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Even with the extremely windy and rainy conditions this morning, we found one garage sale.  I got these little pumpkin decorations for $1.

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We found this skirt for Patsy for $2.  We also got games for $1 each and a few other items for just a few dollars.  I think the people were wanting to sell things quickly–as the man stated, “We didn’t WANT to have a garage sale today, but we are moving next weekend.”  Yikes!  No pressure there:)  Glad it wasn’t me.

On Friday, my sister, Rosalie, Ja’Ana and I went to see our friend, Harnet.  She made some of her wonderful coffee for us, as well as yummy Eritrean food.  I took lots of pictures this time, so will be posting the coffee-making process soon. She is such a good hostess, and always makes us feel so welcome.  When you enter her house, there is a smell from the beri-beri spice she uses.  After I went home, the scent lingered on me, and I felt warm and comforted every time I smelled it.  It is hard to explain how much she makes me fell welcomed, and loved, and it’s interesting how I’m beginning to associate that smell with comfort and warmth.    She had gone to great trouble to make me gluten-free injera bread–she used sorghum and teff flour, which was served with the lentils she always makes, along with a chicken/beri-beri/egg dish and a beef chunk dish.  She had cooked extra because she knew it was Rosalie’s birthday and wanted to surprise her with a little party.  I was asked to bring cake and balloons, and to keep it a surprise, which I did.   We had a fun, relaxing day, with lots of good conversation.  She and I had a good chuckle about the other night when she called me up for homework help, and it took me a little while to understand what she wanted from me.  (I was getting mixed up thinking the sample problems she was reading to me were true, and not examples, but I finally got it–and I was so proud of myself–it was pretty funny!)  Rosalie and I made a few phone calls for her, gathering information she needed, and we studied citizenship questions because she is working hard towards that goal.  Oh boy!!! Some of those questions are hard, and there were a couple that I was super happy to see had answers on the back, because I didn’t know the answers!  Thankfully, I knew most of them, and tried to explain the historical facts as we studied.  We plugged along, and I can see she has been studying.  There is another lady who helps with that project, but she is eager to get in all the practice she could, so Rosalie and I quizzed her for quite a while.

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Of course, we had a blast with the little princess:)

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Lovana and Patsy made a lot of caramel corn for our family to eat, and for the 4H bake sale.  We were not able to help at the sale this year, as we usually do, so we just dropped our contributions off.  It tastes so good.  We make it almost every year, and it sells well.  It has become a fall tradition for our family, as well.

So….we went through a LOT of butter between the caramel corn and the 2 batches of Double Chocolate Loaf Cake and pie crust we made this week.  Luckily, the local store had it on sale for 2/$5.  Rob and I each bought 2, the limit, so we are back into business with butter…at least for now.  I still want to find it for $2/lb, but $2.50 wasn’t too bad.  They also had Bandon cheese (owned by and just like Tillamook Cheese) for $4.99/2 lb. loaf.  So, we got those, too.

I spent my grocery money for the week and a little more.  I’m a bit baffled at the eating habits of the kids right now.  Everyone is hungrier than normal.  Everyone is eating things they don’t usually want to eat.  They are NOT eating the things they normally want to eat.  Hmmmm.  So, I’ve had to buy extra of certain things, and other things I bought are just sitting there…..one of life’s mysteries:)  I would say chili (like the whole batch was gone in a flash this time–it was even going down the hatch at breakfast time), tacos (that one is normal), tortillas, tons of milk, caramel corn, tuna fish, sandwiches, butter and cheese are right at the top of the list of desired items right now, so…how nice dairy products were on sale.

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I was able to arrange several pictures we found when cleaning the shop last weekend.  I want to put new photos in the lowest frame, but that will be done in time.  Rob and I have some other ideas to make the living room more functional, and are working on implementing them soon.  It was nice to be able to use some things I already had to make the living room look better.  I was also happy to pass on the 80’s pictures of the little goose girl, and several others that were not longer my taste.  So, they went off to Goodwill, along with a bunch of other items.  It’s nice to have what I want out of those boxes and have the rest go away!

Rob worked on the bath-tub drain today.  It gets clogged with the girls’ hair.  It is better now.  He also replaced the caulking behind the kitchen sink.  Whatever the previous owner used was not the right caulking.  It has become increasingly moldy, both under, and beside it and recently started to crack.  It looks SO good tonight–all dry, nice and white, and NOT moldy!  He has also been hanging pictures up for me whenever I find one I want to hang.  All of these home repairs save us money, as well as make things nicer for us here in our home.

All in all, it was a pretty satisfying week.  How did your week go?

 

 

What Did We Eat? October 20, 2017

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This week was full of baking.  We tried several new recipes.  The girls made apple galettes on Wednesday.  They each made one.  We found it worked the best to make it in a pie pan, and to roll that gluten-free crust out on a sheet of freezer paper, then turn it upside down into a pie pan before we filled it.

We also baked gluten-free rolls, but I will never be sharing that recipe for what I think were actually hockey pucks, not fresh rolls:)  I’ve had success before, I just have to find that recipe and try again.  I did have success with macaroons dipped in chocolate, and my tried and true recipe for double chocolate loaf cake.

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Last Sunday, for family Sunday dinner, we had taco bar.  We did eat leftovers of the refried beans on tortillas or chips all week.  On Monday, Rob barbequed hamburgers.  We had those again another night.  On Tuesday, I baked potatoes.  Wednesday, at noon, Ja’Ana made coconut shrimp, we had bread sticks, and Alissa made salad.   For dinner, I made tacos again.  We were in a big hurry to get dinner made after a doctor’s appointment and before church.   The girls each made an apple galette.  Thursday, I made myself an omelette after work.  I don’t know what they ate.  Friday, Rob and I went out for dinner.  We left all 3 kids home.  It was a rare treat!  Lots of caramel corn was made for the 4H bake sale.  We sent quite a few batches to the sale, and kept some to eat. Patsy made Muddy Buddies last night.  Yum!  Actually, I’m needing to clear some of these sweets out of here, since we are enjoying the extra treats a little too much:)

Today, at lunch time, my Eritrean (Africa) friend made my sister, Ja’Ana and I a delicious meal of authentic Eritrean food.   It was great, as always.  She made us coffee, and I took lots of pictures for those of you who have been curious about that process.  I’ll post that soon, once I get those pictures loaded. All in all, it’s been a great week of eating.  As I type, I’m still stuffed to the gills!

Making My Home A Haven

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