Saving Money

Saving Money–Week Ending December 6, 2015

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I am still enjoying my zinnias from last summer–just in pictures now.  This peppermint-stiped one makes me think of candy canes, with it’s beautiful stripes.

I was pretty sick for the first half of the week, and am still coughing a bit.  I had to skip work for the most part, and only ended up giving one lesson the entire week.  That made it even more important to be careful with my money for the rest of the week.  Being self-employed means that if I don’t work, I don’t get paid.

I soaked white navy beans last Sunday.  On Monday, I found I had soaked way too many!  I ended up making ham and beans, and white bean chicken chili.  We ate those for several days and I froze enough for 2 meals, at least.

I was able to get several of my hoped-for grocery items. At Fred Meyers,  I got mini chocolate chips for $2/bag, milk for 99c for 1/2 gallon, oj for the same price,  and some M & M’s for $2/bag, some spices from the bulk section, and a few other things I needed.  I did pay $1.25 for a few cream cheeses, and then, of course, it came on for 99c today!

At Safeway, I had a $10/off $50 that I used.  I got 2 large laundry soaps,  4 apple juices for $1.25 each, 2 puddings and 2 jellos and a free bag of sugar with those items.  The last jello lasted us about 4 years.  We don’t use it much, so it will be nice to have it if a recipe calls for it.  The best thing was 10 lb bags of frozen thighs and drumsticks for $5.  That is 50 cents a pound–by far the best price I’ve seen here for years!  I got 3 of those and a few other things. I thawed and cooked one right away. With the coupon, it came in around $50, so I got around $60 worth of groceries at that store.

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I watched a lot of Andy Griffith shows on library DVD’s.  I embroidered dish towels while I did that.  I used a LOT of  tissues someone gave us for free a while back.  I also drank a lot of fizzy seltzer water the same person gave us.  I just put a little bit of juice or lemonade in the glass with ice, and filled it with seltzer.  It is like fake pop to me, and kept me drinking all day long.

I made a roast, the bean soups, used the rest of the turkey from Thanksgiving in turkey salad for sandwiches or salads, served some hot dogs that have been around a while. I did not make pizza as our menu plan called for, as we had enough food without it.  I did made  lasagna from some ricotta I had hanging around and took it to my sister’s today.  I buy ricotta from Cash and Carry.  It is much less expensive, but you get a LOT.  There was a little left from the last container I bought  about 6 weeks ago.  It lasts a long time as long as I am careful to not get anything in it that would contaminate it.

I did quite a bit of sewing.  I got Michaela’s pajamas done.  I sewed a pillowcase for a service project.  We tied a blanket for the service project, and Patsy made one for herself. I made a doll dress and a doll sleeping bag. I cut out pajamas for Lovana.  I have a lot left, but I will be working this week, so I’ll do my best.

Rob and the girls visited a cut-your-own Christmas tree farm and got ours for only $10.

Ja’Ana was able to sell a few pies for a fundraiser she participated in to start earning money for a retreat at church she wants to attend.  I’m still waiting to see how much she gets towards her trip.

I hope you were able to find some ways to save money this week, as well.  What did you do?

 

 

Holidays, Projects

Service Project for Christmas, 2015

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Every year, our family usually chooses some kind of service project to do at Christmas time.  This year, since we have changed churches, some of the opportunities we usually do were no longer as readily available.  So, we chose one from the new church we have been attending.  It was very different because they wanted each child–well over 100–to receive the same 4 items.  They asked everyone to get a pillow, pillowcase, blanket and some socks.  They told us what age and size the child was and if it was a boy or girl.  We chose an 11-year-old girl, because that is Patsy’s age and we thought it would be fun to help out someone the same age as she is.

We were able to easily find the socks and pillow at a Walmart near the church last Sunday.  The blanket was made and tied from fleece I had on hand from a JoAnn’s sale a while back.  I am happy to report that I am now out of plain-colored fleece.  There is still lots of printed choices in my stash.  The kids voted that a hand-made blanket would be better than buying one.  They love theirs that they have made or received as gifts.  I totally agreed with them.  I love it when they can participate in the giving somehow.  I also love giving hand-made items.  It makes it more personal, to me.

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Today, I was able to sew the pillowcase.  I was able to use up 2 left-over pieces of fabric from other projects, as well as some lace I had on hand.  I was able to find pretty, pastel colors and we hope the little girl that receives them will enjoy having them as much as we enjoyed making them.

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Projects

Playing With Dolls

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I could not resist making some doll clothes for a young friend of ours for Christmas.  Patsy has an American Girl doll and graciously offered to have her doll, Rose, model the finished product.   We had a pretty good time setting Rose up for her photo shoot.

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Then I made a sleeping bag and pillow for the 18″ doll.  It was a little tricky, especially putting the zipper in, but it all worked out.

Both of these items were made from commercial patterns I have had for a long time.  I used scraps of cloth and lace, and a zipper I already had.  It was a large separating zipper.  I think a smaller zipper would work well, but that is what I had.  My stash comes from projects not completed, things bought by mistake, garage sales and thrift shops, and gifts from people who don’t want to sew anymore.  I have a large supply of sewing things, and I’m trying to use some of them up, and have been for the last few years.  Because of this, I paid no money out of pocket for these doll things.  They did, however, take quite a bit of time.  It was very fun to play with dolls, and I hope to get a few other things made before Christmas.

animals, food preservation

From Turkey to Burger

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On Monday morning, Rob loaded up the 18 turkeys he has been raising.  Their time had come.  With a pickup load of cages, he and Ja’Ana set off for the processing plant we use.  It is 1-1/2 hours from our home.  We use them because 1)They do an excellent job, 2)They are extremely reasonable in their pricing, 3)There aren’t many places around here that specialize in poultry.

It only took them about 1-1/2 hours to do the job.   He had 5 cut up for us to grind into turkey burger, 1 cut in 1/2 (for the 2 single people on our gift list), and the rest left whole. Rob and Ja’Ana killed the wait time in a little diner, eating breakfast and visiting.  It was good daddy-daughter time, for sure.

On the way home, they delivered turkeys to the relatives who were receiving them for Christmas. Last year, we did chickens and they were much appreciated.   Ja’Ana wisely used the time to sell pies to all the relatives–she’s earning money for a retreat she wants to go on in January, and that is the fund-raiser to help with the cost of that.  They picked Lovana up from work, and went to a friend’s house to borrow a meat grinder.  It was a long day.  They didn’t get home until around 6:30, where they got white bean chili or ham and beans from the crock pots.  (I soaked too many navy beans, so made 2 things and will freeze the extra).

The 5 whole turkeys we are keeping, plus the 1 undelivered one went into the emptied chest freezer in the garage.  The 5 cut-up ones went on ice in coolers until Tuesday morning.

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On Tuesday morning, Rob cut the bones out of the breasts and thighs of the 5 turkeys.  The drumsticks and wings were frozen in zip-top bags for future meals, 2 per package.  The bones that were cut off, plus the necks and backs were frozen for broth making another day.

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Then he ground it 2 times.  We had 3 of these large Tupperware bowls full of the first grind.  While he was grinding, he removed any tendons, stringy muscles, etc., whatever didn’t look like we wanted to eat it.  He ground it twice to get those undesirable things out, and also to get a good mix between the light and dark meat.

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During the second grind, Ja’Ana held the bags over the end of the grinder, and the finished burger was pushed into the bags by the machine.  I wrote on the bags, twist-tied them, and generally ran back and forth, fetching and carrying things for Rob.  I also took the finished bags, bones, meat pieces, etc. to the freezer and loaded it up.  There was a pretty big mess to clean up afterwards.

When we were done, we had 32 approximately 1-pound packages (we did not weigh, but filled to a marked line on the bag) and Rob made 2 pans of meatloaf.  We also have 5 whole turkeys, 10 drumsticks and 10 wings.  I will get a lot of broth one of these days, and I will pressure can it into both pints and quarts.  It was a very productive day and my 1 empty freezer is now full with the fruits of Rob’s labors.

Saving Money

Saving Money–Week of November 30

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You may notice there is no dead tree in this picture.   It’s gone, and along with it, Rob’s worries  about it falling on our house, cars, and especially, Lovana’s bedroom!  It was a significant savings, too.  The loggers would not touch it, they said it was a  “widow-maker” and we should get a tree service to bring it down right away.  The first company wanted to charge us $1,200 to bring it down, and really weren’t very interested in the job–looked too dangerous.  On Wednesday, Rob drove by a tree service working in a neighbor’s yard.  He stopped and talked to them, and they drove right over and looked and quoted us $600.  They told him to call on Thanksgiving to finalize plans, so he did and they came Friday and took care of it!  What a blessing.  The pieces are laying on the ground, but that is no problem for us!  It was cheaper that way.

I planned menus for the week.

I did not shop for Thanksgiving.  Everything was from the freezer, pantry, etc. or other people brought it. I did spend about $50 on Saturday at Grocery Outlet to get a few things I needed, including gluten-free pretzels for an upcoming 4H community service project.  I will buy milk and butter if it comes on a good sale, otherwise, I’m done.

I made gluten-free stuffing with apples and water chestnuts.  I figure I saved about $15 by making my own stuffing croutons instead of buying 4 boxes for gluten-free stuffing mix for about $5 per box.IMG_1755 I got some flour sack dish towels to embroider at Walmart–10 towels for about $8.  I seldom go to Walmart as it is out of my way.  I was delighted that they were still very reasonable to buy there.  I love to embroider on them, compared to other towels,  since they wipe dishes so well.  They are pretty and very useful as gifts.

I got some good bargains at JoAnn’s, but did not over-do it.  I got a couple of craft kits/items to use as gifts for 50% off.  I was able to use several pieces of my fabric stash I already had at home for gifts, children’s projects, etc.  I still have quite a few gifts to work on.   I have a bad cold today, so stayed home from work.  I hope to sew a little in-between drinking tea and resting.  It’s just a cold, but it’s hard to teach piano when you are having trouble talking, since that’s all I do all day when I teach:)

I cooked another squash.  We were blessed with so many.

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Sewing with kids

Patsy’s Blanket

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Patsy has been wanting to make a tied fleece blanket in the same way that Michaela, her cousin, made her pillow.  I did not have time last week when the cousins were here to help her, and she was feeling left out, so we got busy last evening.  We used about 2-1/4 yards to make hers, but the amount can be larger or smaller.  Ours was determined by the amount of solid pink I had in my stash.  She bought the swirled fabric a while back and we paired it with the pink I already had.

We laid the pink on top of the swirled and I cut it off evenly.  Then, I helped her cut out 6″ squares from the corners and cut 1″ x 6″ strips all the way around, cutting through both layers.  Some were a little crooked, wobbly, not quite the same as the others, but it doesn’t matter in the end.  It turned out great!  We both cut and cut until we were done.  Then, she sat down on the floor in front of the t.v. and tied the strips together while she watched a movie.  She got it done last evening and immediately wrapped it around herself and wanted me to take a picture.

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Gluten free, recipes, Slow Cooker

Slow Cooker Taco Soup

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Yesterday, I decided to make taco soup in the slow cooker.  It is heavy on the pinto beans, as my husband got a 50 pound bag last summer for only $22.

I spent quite a bit of time trying to burn a slash pile with the family, and we were all glad for a hot meal at the end of a long afternoon.  Sadly, it did not burn all the way up.  We got some of it burned, but not all.  Bummer.  The soup was still excellent.  This turned out quite thick and some family members chose to fish out the beans and turn it into nachos instead.

Taco Soup

2 quart-sized bags of cooked pinto beans (soaked, cooked and frozen previously)  Probably 4-15 ounce cans would work

1 onion, chopped

2 Anaheim peppers, diced

1 Jalepeno pepper, diced

1 quart home-canned tomatoes (a 32 ounce can would work)

2 cups beef broth (I had frozen I had made, but you could use 1 15-oz. can)

1/2 pound cooked, leftover turkey taco meat, seasoned with taco seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

Extra taco seasoning, or cumin, if desired

Sour cream, cheese, and olives to garnish (optional)

Put all ingredients in crock pot.  Turn on “low” and leave for 6-8 hours. My slow cooker will automatically turn to “keep warm” when the time is up, and I left this on all day long, probably about 10 hours, until we were ready to eat.  Since everything is cooked, except the vegetables, there would be no danger if you needed to eat it sooner.  It also holds a long time  if your dinner time gets pushed off.  Makes 10-12 servings.  (Actually the 5 of us didn’t have much left last night, but we had been outside working hard for several hours and ate more than 1 serving each, I’m pretty sure!)

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This is what it looked like as a nacho.  They did drain out the liquid from the beans before they dumped it on the chips.  We get the mega-bag of chips from Costco, divide into zip-topped bags, and can enjoy corn chips for a reasonable price, without them getting stale, for several weeks.

Menu plans, Saving Money

Menu Plan–Week of Nov. 29-Dec.5, 2015

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IMG_4698This week is going to  be another busy one around here!  All of our weeks are busy, but this one has some things to do that are unusual and interesting.   On Monday, our 18 turkeys are going to be butchered.  We had 1 left from the last time we butchered that we used on Thanksgiving, so we were ok with waiting until after the big holiday for our appointment.  Rob and Ja’Ana will drive 1-1/2 hours to the butchering company we use, after her guitar lesson in the morning, and get that done.  We have freezers to rearrange this afternoon to make sure they will all fit in.  Several of these turkeys are gifts for people for Christmas, so he will deliver some tomorrow after they are processed so we have less to fit into our freezers.  We are talking about a LOT of turkey. We are borrowing a grinder, and will spend quite a bit of time Tuesday grinding turkey burger from the breasts and thighs, and making  broth, if we can possibly find enough energy.

I work Monday and Wednesday this week.  Ja’Ana has her homeschool to do.  I need to work with her quite a bit on Tuesday and Thursday on that. I set her up for independent work on the days I’m teaching piano, and then do more math explanations, etc. on the days when I’m not.  Patsy goes to school Monday-Thursday, as usual, and we have some appointments on Friday, as we often do.  Then, there is youth group, dance classes, and an extra choir practice for the girls as well, plus that fact that Lovana works 30 minutes from home and doesn’t drive, so some days we can combine trips, but often drive 2 extra hours a day to take her to and from work. To top it off, I have quite a few projects in the works that I need to make progress on for Christmas.

So, this week’s meals need to be quick, use lots of freezer ingredients to make space for turkeys, or cook in the slow cooker so the food is ready in a hurry each evening.  Although eggs are a choice each morning, everyone doesn’t always choose to eat them.  I actually let them choose leftovers, if they prefer.  I also have cereal; most of us don’t enjoy it, but it is a choice, if desired.

Sunday:  Fried potatoes, eggs, turkey bacon l.o. from 4H

Dinner with extended family after church

Leftovers from Thanksgiving

Monday:   eggs, muffins from freezer, canned fruit

Pack lunches:  salad or sandwiches topped with l.o. ham, cheese, turkey, etc., carrot sticks, etc.

Ham and beans in the crockpot from Thanksgiving ham bone

salad or green beans

Tuesday:  eggs, fried ham

leftover ham and beans (pack Patsy’s lunch)

roast beef in crock pot, carrots, potatoes, salad

Wednesday:  eggs, pumpkin muffins, fruit

Salad or sandwiches (pack lunch for Patsy)

leftovers

Thursday: eggs, oatmeal, toast or more pumpkin muffins

leftover soup (pack lunch for Patsy)

(dance night–home at 6:30):Turkey-rice soup in crock pot

Friday:  yogurt, cereal, egg (if desired)

leftovers, salad or sandwiches

pizza (make 2 so we have leftovers)

Saturday:  choice of eggs, cereal, toast or muffins

leftovers (pizza, roast, soups, ham and beans)

leftovers (more of the above, or make French dip with roast)

If there are not enough leftovers for Saturday, I might make a vegetable-beef soup with the rest of the roast.  I will also grind the leftover roast beef in the food processor, mix with mayonnaise and relish, and make sandwiches from it, so I’ll see how the week goes and what’s left by Saturday.  We have quite a few hot dogs I can pull out in case we are burning another pile next weekend and want to roast them.

I cook vegetables each night, sometimes 2 different ones.  I will pull from home-canned green beans, home frozen cauliflower, broccoli or corn, carrots from the garden (in fridge)and salad ingredients (boughten), which I have.  We still have a few tomatoes ripening in the garage from the green ones I picked a month ago, but they are mostly gone.

To make:  pumpkin muffins, using squash I cooked the day before Thanksgiving.

To buy:  If milk or butter comes on sale, I will buy that.  Otherwise, I have enough of everything for the week.

Gluten free, Holidays, recipes

Gluten-Free Stuffing With Apples and Water Chestnuts

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I wanted to make stuffing for Thanksgiving.  I needed it to be gluten-free, but I didn’t want to pay the price for packages of gluten-free stuffing mix (I would have needed several boxes at around $5/package) and I didn’t want it to be either too dry or gummy.

I decided to take a loaf of gluten-free bread I had in the freezer.  My daughter made multiple loaves during the summer because she was practicing for the fair, and we just froze them all.  It was unsliced, so I sliced and cubed it.  I divided the cubes between 2 cookie trays, drizzled a little butter over them and sprinkled on some seasoning.  I used poultry seasoning on one tray and Bragg’s mixed seasoning on the other.  My plan was to use one batch for croutons if it made more than I needed, but I ended up using it all.  Then, I baked those trays at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

The bread cubes were definitely dried out and crisp, but a little chewy in the middle.  I had 1/2 pan left of the gluten-free cornbread my mom had brought over.  I had some frozen broth from a time when Rob had cooked a chicken with apples and onions, so it was apple-flavored chicken broth.  Regular chicken broth would work well, also.

Thursday morning, I made the stuffing.

2 quarts homemade stuffing cubes

1/2 of a 9″ x 13″ pan of gluten free cornbread, crumbled

2 onions, diced

4 stalks celery, diced

1 can sliced water chestnuts

2 large apples, cubed

2 cups broth

2 Tablespoons poultry seasoning

1/4 cup melted butter

salt and pepper to taste

Salute the celery and onions until soft in a little vegetable oil.  Pour bread cubes, cornbread, the vegetables, apples and water chestnuts into a very large bowl.  Sprinkle with poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.  Mix thoroughly.  Drizzle with the melted butter.  Pour  1/2 of the broth over the mixture and stir.  Check to see how moist it is.  If it is still very dry, add the rest of the broth.  Check again.  Add more broth if needed.  Mine took about 2 cups of broth.  The cornbread I had was quite moist but the cubes were quite dry.  I did not want the cornbread to be gummy so I stopped adding broth when there was still some definition to the cubes–the stuffing was not all stuck together into 1 big ball when I mounded it on a spoon, but it did not just fall apart, either.    The cornbread broke down into little bits that kind of held the cubes together.  I poured it into a flat pan–mine is larger than 9″ x 13″ and baked it for about 1 hour at 350 degrees.  IMG_1755.JPG

It turned out amazing!  It had wonderful flavor from the apples, onions and celery and a nice crunch from the water chestnuts.  It was not gooey or too dry.  It was economical, too, when I used the homemade croutons.  I was very pleased with the results.

Holidays, Uncategorized

A Successful, Happy Thanksgiving 2015

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IMG_1771I could ask myself what constitutes a “happy” Thanksgiving.  Is it the food? The decorations? The company?  In our family, I have to say it is all of that, plus more.  As I looked around the table and into the next room, which was overflowing with more company, I realized that there were people in those rooms with chronic diseases, job losses, dehibilitating special needs, schedules that were overwhelming to them, sick people, exhausted people, people with spouses missing for different reasons, lonely people and those who had suffered deep, grievious loss. And, that was only the ones who could come!  But, each and every one of those people had a hard time choosing which blessing they wanted to share when Rob asked them to share before the prayer.  There were so many choices!  Even the youngest had no problem choosing things, such as good water, food, a house, etc.

IMG_1752.We took the meat off the bones last evening and they were placed into our 2 crockpots. Then we filled them with water, salted them, and then put them on low for the night.  This morning, Abbie (my eldest) and I picked the meat off the bones and froze the broth into cartons.  I smell soup coming up!

After we ate, we cleaned up and everyone sat around eating dessert and visiting.  The 2 big cousins went and picked Lovana up from work and that was a great surprise for her, as one of her close cousins is just in from California for the weekend. Everyone enjoyed being with her for the day!

IMG_5007Patsy did a great job in her play at school on Tuesday afternoon.  It lasted 6-10 minutes so was just the right length for the young cousins to enjoy.  It was really cute and it really put us in the Thanksgiving mood!

Today,  after things were put away, and people had visited as long as they wanted to, they went home leaving me with a super-clean house.  Amazing.  To me, it was more than just  a happy day–it was a successful, happy Thanksgiving.  I hope you had a great day, too.

Making My Home A Haven