Category Archives: Garden

Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–May 2, 2022

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I spent a lot of time in the garden one dry morning. The tomatoes plants were getting away from Rob, so I dug deep holes, we put in fertilizer, a little dirt and IO planted them deep. They will grow roots along the stem that is buried and should grow into nice big bushes, full of juicy tomatoes.

It has been a challenging year in the garden because it has been so wet. Even when I do get out into the garden or yard, I’m often digging in dirt that is close to mud, or, at best, slightly too wet to be ideal. Still, I have been able to get it done, slowly, bit by bit. Every year I put the tomatoes and other veggies closer and closer together to see how many veggies I can cram into the garden. Last year, I found that I had planted too closely and I didn’t get as good of a yield per bush and couldn’t walk between them, so this year, I spaced things out a little more. I’m always experimenting, and we will see if I have reached the ideal spacing, yet, or not:).

I was able to get the front flowerbed weeded and planted. I planted some geraniums Rob wintered over in the greenhouse, and marigolds he started from seed. I also added a few poppies to go with the 2 that came up volunteer.

Rob’s dahlias are starting to come up in the greenhouse. We have tubers that were given to us last year, tubers dug up from the corner of our garden, tubers from his birthday, tubers from the store and THEN his friend gave him a grocery bag half full of tubers.

That’s a lot of dahlia tubers. Some were very small and may not do much this year, but many will be gorgeous and the rest will grow. (He did not grow these in the picture, they are from a flower show, but he hopes his get this big!)

Rob got to go to a flower sale/show with his mom and got inspiration. He had a wonderful time looking at all the blooms.

This is one of the many pansies he grew this year. He is really enjoying working in the greenhouse more than ever and I’m happy with all the plants I’m getting.

Rob was able to get some clothes for the babies at a yard sale–about 10 garments for $2, some red rubber boots for $1 and some Mega Block toys for $3. Malcolm found the boots sitting on the floor and put them on right away– over his sleeper while he ate, wore them all day to play, wore them after his bath with nothing but a diaper and a scarf (quite the fashion statement) and wore them to church with his nice church shirt. We think he likes them. Rob’s already looking for a new, larger pair, as these won’t fit for long.

I cooked chili, chicken-rice soup, berry cobbler, tacos, tilapia, and many other meals. I have plenty to get me through several days, which is good because I’m super busy this week. One of my daughters is doing food for her friend’s college graduation party and wants some help from me. This is one of our former 4H kids, so I am super excited to be a part of this momentous occasion. Last week I printed off recipes as she sent them to me and made her a notebook. Today, we went shopping for the bulk of the food. She will do some cooking ahead in the evenings, we will shop again on Thursday for produce, then I will help her cook last minute things on Friday. The party is Saturday.

I was able to use many jars of home-canned and frozen food this week and buy minimal groceries. It’s a good thing I have so much food on hand. It really helps. Our stores have a few nice loss leaders, and we are grateful for them. I have noticed that the limits are lower–i.e. you can get 2 of the item instead of the 4 you used to be able to get, and that prices are going up, little-by-little every week or two. Still, in our area, I can still get plenty of food and stay in my budget, which makes me very happy.

Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week-April 25, 2022

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The weather finally perked up and we got outside a couple of times. Grandpa has a new helper who happily watered the pots.

Again….

And again…..

And again…..

You may notice he got a little wet and the pots got a LOT wet.

Even though the most fun is playing with the boys, we did do a few other things this week.

I cooked chicken-curry-rice casserole.

I baked peanut-butter chocolate chip cookies and banana muffins. There were just a few pieces of very brown, frozen bananas in a baggie that fell out of the freezer one day, and I found a better place for them to be–in muffins! We had BBQ’d chicken drumsticks, mashed potatoes and green beans several times. The girls brought take-and-bake pizza one day and that also lasted several days. Easter leftovers were eaten up and the fridge is about empty enough for me to cook a couple of things again.

I worked on some quilting projects and finished the chicken quilt. It was turned into the shop to be machine quilted. We took a few walks, and Rob took our niece down to the Kroc center to swim.

Rob continues to plant his little starts in pots and has put them here and there. They are going to be so pretty as they grow.

He saved many, many dahlia bulbs from some a friend gave us last summer plus the ones he dug up from the corner of the garden. He also received some for his birthday. They are starting to come up in the greenhouse and he has a few places he plans to plant them once they get larger.

Garden

Garden Update–April, 2022

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It has been a rainy, cold, challenging spring in my garden. In spite of that, the early, early planting I did is getting close to harvest time. The Boc Choi in the front of the picture really likes short days and cool weather. It has been very happy:).

Even a couple of weeks ago, the plants were just sitting there. Finally, we got a couple of warmer days and it stopped snowing, freezing, hailing and raining 24/7 and, WOW, what a difference!

I was able to take a couple of sessions to shovel out the rich, finished compost from one of my bins and spread it on part of the garden and one flowerbed.

I’ve also been putting all grass clippings on the garden to be tilled in. In the forefront, you can see the second planting I managed to get in somewhere along the line between weather events. That broccoli got hailed on so many times, I had to re-plant 2 of them because they got killed, but most of them prevailed.

You can see them on the upper left of this picture, still standing, and starting to grow. On the upper left of the picture, there are more seeds that are just beginning to emerge–sow peas, carrots, beets and lettuce.

Yesterday, our only really nice day, I pushed the envelope and planted some more. You can see from how the dirt is packed down so hard that it was a little wet, still. But, I did it anyway. I planted cabbages (Quick Start, Red Acre, and Pinetree Mix), some of the onion plants (Patterson), a tiny row of cilantro, a few more snow peas (Oregon Sugar Pod II) , lettuce (Buttercrunch, a mixture, and Drunken Frizzy-Headed Woman Lettuce) and 3 rows of English peas (Maestro) for shelling.

I don’t plant a long row of anything we eat fresh, such as lettuce or snow peas, at any one time. Instead, I continuously plant new seeds, about every 2 weeks, if I can. Normally, I have lettuce from spring until fall with very few, if any gaps in the production. And, if it gets hot and they bolt, there’s always a new planting coming on.

Yesterday was also a very busy Sunday with church, teaching Sunday school, an extra evening service we usually don’t attend, Patsy needing a ride back to her job at camp, and some time with the babies. It was a real challenge, but I had to become the fastest planter on the planet, and Rob and Patsy helped with the babies while I did it. We returned the babies, I had Rob run me through Taco Bell between camp and evening church, and all was well.

As predicted, it rained again during the night and we are in for a week of rainy weather, they say, so it was all worth it. Now if I can just keep those 2 pesky crows that showed up out of the seeds……..

Garden, Holidays, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–April 18, 2022

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We had a wonderful Easter Day, yesterday. We went to church, for the early service, and then came home to feast with our extended family.

I was especially happy with how the African violet my niece gave me for Christmas 2 years ago rose to the occasion and bloomed so festively. For decorations, I used several tablecloths I’ve had for years. They were either from yard sales or my grandmothers, and I love them.

One bunch of mini roses and one bunch of baby’s breath became additional bouquets for the tables. From those 2 bunches, I got 5 mini-bouquets and one large one.

I chose to use lots of real dishes this year. Although this decision was not made to save money, but to enjoy some pretty things I have, I was able to save the paper plates I bought for another occasion.

On Thursday, the egg-dippers did a wonderful job of coloring eggs. One dipped many.

One dipped only a very few, but they were very carefully decorated.

One was very new at the entire process, so just dropped lots of eggs into the yellow cup once he got the idea.

The supervisor supervised.

The 3 favorite eggs were given a “place of honor” on the mantle and enjoyed by all.

Many of the colored eggs were transformed and eaten on Easter. I still have several boiled ones in the fridge. With egg shortages and price hikes, I was super glad to have gotten 5 dozen for $5 a couple of weeks ago. This week, we found none on sale anywhere, and in fact, at 2 stores Rob visited for other items, he noticed there were no eggs at all in either store, except for a few super expensive organic ones.

As I mentioned last week, my menu was simple, and made ahead. Several people pitched in items, and I will say we ended up with so much dessert we all had several kinds:). There was purposefully way too much food, so everyone took home what they wanted and didn’t have to cook for a few days unless they wanted to.

My aunt brought lots of eggs stuffed with candy, as she does every year. It took Malcolm about 2 seconds to figure out that there was candy in those eggs. He quickly went over in a corner and started stuffing his mouth with chocolate. He did hunt for a few eggs, but quickly got distracted with the fact that there was CANDY in there Every. Single. Time.

Until there wasn’t:). Bummer!

Although much of my week was consumed with getting my house and food ready for Easter Day, we also a few other activities. We shopped for last minute items, but did not need much other than we got last week. We did pick up any great bargains that were offered, since we were at the store anyway.

Rob and I helped in the kitchen at a children’s event at church. We handed out donuts and fruit drink. Rob made coffee. They shot candy out of a cannon and the kids picked it up–like a glorified piñata. There was so much candy and sugar–the kids thought it was perfect! It was a little overwhelming for the Malcolm, so he happily got into my friend, Debbie’s wagon with her nephew, and they munched candy for a short time!

We experienced a crazy weather week. Although Portland, north of us, got a lot of snow, and made national news, we did get a light amount one morning. It hailed a LOT, several times. It was sunny and warm at times. It frosted hard several mornings.

Somehow my baby veggies survived it all, although some of my little broccoli plants look battered. If any of this early crop survives, it will be a bonus. I was able to pick overwintered spinach to mix with purchased head lettuce for our Easter salad. I also used lots of chives for our baked potato bar. I also put them in some chip/veggie dip I made and picked some parsley for that, as well.

It looks like a lot of rain coming our way this week, but soon I will be able to get out there in the garden and yard and really get busy growing things for this summer. I’m looking forward to it.

Garden, Quilting, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–March 27, 2022–The First Week of Spring!

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Many flowers are blooming right now. We took many walks this week and enjoyed looking at the various yards. I worked in our yard a little bit. There is so much to do this time of year! I planted a row of little pansies in a flowerbed. These were grown, by Rob, from seeds he saved from last year. They are not blooming yet, but they will. I also planted some Sweet William plants he grew. They are biannual, so won’t bloom this year, but will fill the area nicely and bloom next summer.

I’m very happy with how these primroses came back from previous years and are blooming so well. Sometimes, in the past, I haven’t had such good luck with them re-blooming, but these are gorgeous.

It’s always nice to see all the cheery daffodils. Years ago, we got most of these bulbs from my sister’s yard. They needed to be divided at that time. They have been so pretty every spring since. The tulips were here when we moved in. I dug up some from another flowerbed and transplanted them here last fall. I missed quite a few, though, so want to get the rest moved over here this year. This flower bed does not get watered in the summer, so the bulbs can grow with the spring rains, then dry up in the summer.

We took the boys for a walk and to the park to play and enjoy the nice weather and flowers along the way. They also enjoy kitties, birds and any dogs we see. Mac looks so sleepy in this picture. It must have been relaxing. We took bubbles to blow, he threw sticks into a little creek, and played on the equipment.

This week, we did a lot of extra laundry and cleaning. Patsy decided to wash most of her blankets, along with lots of clothes in preparation for camp. I had her work on deep cleaning her room, although there’s quite a bit still to clean in there. She officially departed on Tuesday, late in the day. Although she does not work on weekends, there was a first aid class she needed to take and some other things she needed to do on Saturday, so she only came home briefly to grab some things she forgot.

Rob and I have been on vacation ever since. A few weeks ago, we were supposed to have a little vacation, and ended up with a severe flu. We decided to do all the fun things we had planned, and didn’t get to do, this week to make up for it. We ordered Chinese food “to go” and watched a movie we checked out from the library. We went out to Mexican food another night, using a gift card we had. We took several long walks, including one that was several miles in a park that runs along the Willamette River corridor.

We spent a day with the boys and my Mom came over for lunch one day. Mom and I folded laundry while we chatted. There was so much this week with all of Patsy’s extra! We even went to the movies–the matinee, of course! It’s still quite expensive, but less. We have not been to a theatre for several years. We didn’t buy popcorn or anything this time, more because we didn’t want any than for any economical reasons.

One morning , Rob went to visit his Mom and I sewed on the quilt I’m currently constructing.

Even though we were on “party” mode for a few days, we still were able to do a few things around here in-between our more exciting activities.

I decided to deep clean the laundry room. There was so much dirt and grime on the floor and clutter covering the dryer. I cleaned and scrubbed and organized to my heart’s content and it looks much better now. I have several more areas in the house that need attention, and I want to tackle them one by one.

I cleaned the bathroom, which is now my chore every week, instead of every-other-week. Patsy and I used to switch off. There are a few other chores she usually did before she left, so Rob and I are working together to make sure they still get done. We used to pay her to mow the lawn, I did it yesterday. I put the clippings on the corner of the garden where the soil could use amending.

We both worked on cleaning our outside covered porch area. I recycled many boxes and empty milk jugs that were previously used to water the greenhouse. Rob got the automatic waterer going in the greenhouse, so we don’t need so many jugs filled with water. That porch area is where I do my canning in the summer and it’s a step closer to being ready for that. The plants are growing like crazy, and it will be time to plant some of them soon.

Rob spent some time cutting up onions. The red ones from last year’s garden are wanting to grow, so he froze 10 cups of chopped onion pieces. There are still lots of onions to use fresh. The yellow ones we grow keep longer than the red ones, so he targeted any soft red ones this time and will do this again another day to get them all saved and used. It’s also very handy during canning season to grab out the frozen 1 or 2-cup baggies to throw into relishes and salsas. I also use them when I’m making soup in a hurry sometimes, although right now, I’m grabbing and using any onions that seem to be getting soft or wanting to grow.

I made vegetable soup, chicken soup and potato soup this week. The potato soup is for Sunday, when my niece, Alissa is coming to lunch after church. It’s her favorite. I fed the other soups to the boys, and ate them for breakfasts and lunches. We had salads a few times. We cooked a pork roast I got for $1.99/lb. I made enchiladas, we sliced and ate it, had it on salad, and froze the rest for another day. Safeway was selling pizza for 8c. Rob stopped in and got that along with a few other things we needed. It’s not gluten-free, so it will be for him, and any kids who come over. Cheese was $5 for a 2-lb loaf, so we got a couple. We shopped a couple of times this week, gathering things we needed in smaller-than-usual quantities. I’m adjusting to feeding one less person and would rather shop more than waste food, as I make this adjustment in our family. We still have so many people though the house that I don’t think it’s going to be that drastic of a change, but I’ll find out. I don’t know if I will be sticking to the every-other-week shopping as I go through this transition, but I’d like to eventually make that work again, as I like doing that.

We went to the eye doctor. Both of us didn’t need new prescriptions as our vision had not changed much, but I always have to go each year for my diabetic eye exam. I had recently had my lenses replaced under warranty, after I got hit with a flying coaster launched by a baby, and Rob’s were just replaced under warranty as well. We had benefits available to use, though. I ended up getting new frames with lenses that are just for distance, with no reflective coatings or sunglass feature for absolutely free, covered by my insurance. They are for walks and driving on days when I don’t want my world darkened with sunglasses. Later, I can replace the lenses with a new prescription if I need to, and will need to pay for all the bells and whistles, but have this nice new pair of frames or my current frames to use when I do so. Rob did the same thing.

There’s never a dull moment around here, and this coming week is no exception. I plan to enjoy the spring weather that is expected and hope to be outside frequently. I love this time of year.

Happy spring to all of you readers!

Birthdays, Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–February 1, 2022

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My daughter asked me if I would help her do my grandson’s hair. So, yesterday, we did it! Since he was wiggling and squirming while we pressed snacks, toys and other treats on him, at the same time as singing to The Wiggles and trying to distract him in any way possible, I thought it turned out great! I washed his hair, Ja’Ana made parts and combed it, and we both started braiding like crazy from both sides. Now it’s clean, his head is moisturized, and he looks great! It’s a big job, but by doing it ourselves, we saved at least $75-$100. It brought back a lot of memories to me of years and years of doing hair….

My daughter has been at a new job for a few weeks now. She works mostly at night. This has been difficult, but we are all pitching in as we can to help with babysitting so she can keep her money in her pocket. I’ve been babysitting a lot as they have been calling her in due to people not coming to work due to Covid symptoms. These were afternoon shifts, so I was able to help her out. Patsy’s been babysitting a lot, as well, as has anyone else who will take a shift. Today, my sister and I had a great visit while she helped me with Jake, the boys, school, and life while my daughter got some sleep after working all night last night. My Mom helped while we visited last Friday. As you can see, we are using any one with arms that will come over:). They are happy to work for soup, so……..Seriously, I am very grateful for the help and J is, too.

We put Malcolm to work to help out (ha, ha). He’s happy to work for crackers, so the price is right. Rob ordered this little cleaning set and we’ve had so much fun watching him sweep and mop. Little brother was not amused today, when he got “swept” in the process.

Rob’s seeds are popping up like crazy in the greenhouse. Our second batch of ordered seeds arrived yesterday and he planted some of them today. I had forgotten to order the Carmen pepper seeds the first time. I got Rob some flower seeds while I was at it and he’s excited about them.

I successfully cooked the beans I was soaking. Now I have both red and black beans frozen for quick use. The previous post details a lot of what I cooked this past week. After I posted it, I ended up making a huge vegetable-pesto soup, cornbread, brownies and potato salad. Our neighbor with Covid is feeling a little better and has food from some other places, so I’m haven’t sent more over after today unless he runs out or feels worse. (Rob just talks to him on the phone and leaves it on the doorstep. He’s a truck driver and basically crept home feeling awful a few days ago and called asking if we had broth or chicken soup. He doesn’t keep much food in the house as he’s away so much. We were glad to help out.). The soup got away from me and become too large, so I shared with a couple of other people and there’s still plenty for us. I used onions, celery, hamburger, canned carrots, broth and tomato products, frozen beans and corn, frozen pesto, frozen white beans, Italian seasoning, water, salt and pepper and a little corn pasta in it.

We didn’t need many groceries from Safeway this past week. We are still using things from the freezers and pantry. I used the last of January’s grocery money for another Azure order of mostly bulk food products such as rice mix, white beans, popcorn, etc.

I read library books on line, and a couple actual books. We watched U-Tube, Netflix, etc. for entertainment…(We Don’t Talk About Bruno in 21 languages, anyone? Jake loves that song in English, Patsy in other languages….you see how it is). Thankfully, U-Tube is free so they can both have their way. I worked on a baby quilt a bit, using fabric I’ve had for years with just a couple of small pieces I bought to go with it. There is no baby in mind for this. At the rate I’m going, that’s just as well as they would be a teen before I get done. But, I cleaned up an entire basket of miscellaneous sewing items/scraps, along with going through a couple of other drawers of sewing things and found this fabric, some scraps from other projects that matched, so…why not?)

Rob’s been taking Lovana, our daughter, driving. She really wants to pursue getting her license. She’s a little older, but feels ready at this time. They delivered a meal to a family who needed it. That was good double use of time and gas.

Rob had a birthday. He had a great day. I made the cake he loves so much. It’s a sour cream chocolate cake and it’s great. You really cannot tell it’s gluten-free, or so they say:). Making it that way means I get some, too. Yum!

Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–January 18, 2022

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This week was filled with ordinary, everyday activities. One fun thing Rob did was to put up this bird feeder. He made it from a recycled juice container and some wood. Our grandson loves birds. We are hoping they find this feeder pretty soon, as it is right outside a window he can look out of easily. So far, he’s only seen 2 when he’s been here. But he loved both of them:)

Rob also finished up a dresser he’s been fixing up for the babies to put their clothes in. He got it free, rebuilt the drawers, sanded it, painted it glossy black (per our daughter’s wishes), and added drawer pulls. There weren’t any. He used wooded ones he had on hand and painted them dark, dark blue. He’s been working on this project for a few weeks, so it felt great to him to be able to deliver it the other day.

Like I said…..the week wasn’t super exciting, but I need weeks like that! I mended several items. Since Rob wears this shirt outside to get firewood from the woodpile and other chores, I just sewed up the tear he made, using the sewing machine. He promptly tore it again a couple of days later, so I sewed it up again.

I also mended some items for other family members and even a stuffed toy for Jake, my nephew. His stuffed toys keep developing tears at the seams. He’s convinced it is “bad fabric” and Auntie’s is better. I’m convinced the thread is weak, or the wear and tear is great….maybe a little bit of both:).

I spent some time tidying up in the garage. It’s used as an extra living area and often becomes a dumping ground for extra items, so I try to get out there and clean now and then.

I cooked quite a few things, as usual. I made this berry-apple crisp from some wild blackberries Rob picked last summer. I added pieces of various apples his sister gave us. I’ve never had apples that are pink and purple inside. This fall, she took a seasonal job at a large apple grower’s fruit stand up near Hood River, Oregon, where she lives and got to take 5 lbs of apples home, per day she worked. I guess they have fancy kinds, and I heard she had way more apples than she knew what to do with, so she sent some down for us. Of course, I thickened, and topped the crisp, but wanted to show the gorgeous apples and berries!

I made a tuna/white bean salad. I was in a hurry, but had nothing thawed, at one meal time, so chopped up celery, onions and some canned sweet peppers and mixed them into our home-canned tuna and a can of white beans. I dressed it with sun-dried tomato salad dressing I wanted to use up. It was different from what I usually make, but tasted good.

I made Chex mix from some Chex and a few pretzels that had been around for a while. I added some roasted hazelnuts.

I used lots of broth I had previously frozen, home-canned carrots, frozen bits of chicken, celery, rice and onion to make chicken-rice soup. My sister gave me some manicotti she made–yum–and I also made turkey meatballs and used my home-canned pasta sauce to make a penne pasta/meatball casserole.

As we do this time of year, we emptied many, many canning jars, and freezer cartons and baggies. Since I re-use the baggies if they are still in good shape, my sink has looked quite funny with bags draped over every tall cup or spoon:)

Last summer, we filled these crates with extra jars of various canned goods I made. This week, Rob and I spent some time rotating some empty jars into the bottom crates and putting more full ones on the shelves. If you look closely at my canning, you see a film of wood dust all over it….that’s what you get when you share space with someone who is sanding an old dresser:). Thankfully, it wipes off easily, but we have been throwing around some ideas about how to keep my jars from getting so dusty.

Rob paid Patsy to help him clean out the greenhouse and he planted some peppers and onions. I found I had forgotten to order my Carmen pepper seeds when I ordered. Oops! I ordered some yesterday. At least the Lola (light green),Mixed colors, California Wonder (green), Jalepeno, Ancho, Serrano, and Anaheim and planted. I have been planting Carmen for years, since they turn red earlier than most. They are a longer, Italian pepper and taste the same as other red peppers to me. I like to cut up mixed bags of pepper chunks for use in the winter.

This time, I ordered from Pinetree, as I really like them, as well. Since I was ordering anyway, and had to pay postage anyway, I ordered some flowers for him for his birthday. He seems to really enjoy growing things these past few years.

He went to the Dollar Store and things were still $1, vs. the $1.25 they keep threatening to raise the prices to. The seeds had arrived. He got a handful of different packets, including Danvers 1/2 Long carrots, dill, and some flowers. Danvers carrots work just fine for me in my garden. I do put coffee grounds down the rows, as I read to do a few years ago and it really does seem to help with the wireworm problem.

We used all the Bottle Drop money for groceries and spent the money we would have used for a 25 lb. bag of gluten free flour, about $50. It is what it is, and we were delighted to be able to get that this month!

I’m looking forward to another nice, ordinary week ahead.

Baby, Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–Nov. 1, 2021

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A cowboy….

…and his cow:)

Last night, we helped at a harvest party at the church. It was especially nice that the grandsons could come. I think the girls did a great job dressing them up. We signed up to help with whatever Miss Carol needed at the event, so along with set up and clean up. Rob and I were assigned the “treat walk.” We used piles and piles of cookies and treats many church ladies made and donated. We played the music, stopped it, drew numbers….and what do you know? Every single person won! :). :). There were so many treats, so why not? We had a ball. I was surprised at how many children did not know what a cakewalk was or how to play. So I ended up leading them around and around the circle. Since we had several hundred children come to the event, and the ones who chose to play this game could do it as many times as they wanted, I ended up with over 12,000 steps by the end of the evening when they were added to the walk and the lawn mowing I had done earlier in the day. It was a double bonus to me! Rob figured some of them were young enough that with things being cancelled for Covid, they likely had never played the kinds of games that were there (cakewalk, ring toss, etc.). There was also a super cool blown-up slide no one had to tell them how to play, and a parking lot full of trunk-or-treat cars, each with a game inside.

Although much of the week was filled with babysitting, I slipped out to the garden one day and was delighted to find some good lettuce and snow peas. I also kept pulling up old tomato plants and other spent bushes. There’s a lot of outside work left to do, but I’m cleaning out the old plants whenever I get a chance, between rain showers. While cleaning out one raised bed, I found some small onions. I thought I had planted some green onions there, but…small, round onions there were. So I pulled them and we are eating them fresh.

Although we do have a bin full of baby toys that were given to us, Malcolm has decided a partially emptied water jug is a really good toy. He carries it up and down the hall, in and out of the rooms……for quite a while.

He also has his own style when it comes to hats….although I’m sure the rain won’t stay out of that hat! (It’s a colander)

I continue cooking from the freezers and pantries. This crisp was made from lots of odds and ends of frozen fruit. It’s mostly blackberries, with a few raspberries, blueberries and peaches thrown in. Ice cream was 77c/carton this week, so we got some. We also got cheese for $5/brick, 67c/lb whole chickens, 97c frozen pizzas, cream cheese for $1/pkg and some other basic cooking things.

Of course, we used our pantry, home-canned and frozen food, and made lots of tasty meals. We cooked the last older chicken left in the freezers, boiled the bones and made chicken-noodle soup, chicken salads, and just plain roasted chicken. I got 2 new packages of ground turkey, so used an older one to make meatballs. I saved the last bit of spinach in a bag by using them in the meatballs, even though they had been placed in a bad spot in the fridge and were starting to freeze a bit. All this rotation, and constantly using things that are coming to the end of their days is a bit of work, but it’s what keeps us eating food that is not freezer burned or old, purchased at the lowest possible prices.

Peanut butter was $1 a jar, so I bought 10 and used 1 to make peanut-butter/chocolate chip cookies. Most were frozen. I only have to make these every 2-3 months, as we don’t eat many cookies, but I like to have some frozen for times when we want them for one reason or another.

I’ve had the pleasure of watching babies, mostly Malcolm, for the past 9 days, for at least a little while each day and one overnight, as his mama and auntie are packing. I mostly did that during the evenings, as Jake and Michaela were here for their usual times, plus Jake stayed over one night. Rob, Patsy, and a couple of friends’ kids are over there today, helping them actually move it over to the new place. They’ve been dropping in for meals at unexpected moments, so I’ve been cooking extra. I’m glad they are finally actually moving now, although I think it will take a few days for them to get settled and the old place cleaned all the way. With the housing market the way it is around here, we are more than thrilled that they finally found a place to move into. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t cheap. But, they have another roommate so they can split the cost, and that helps, so they were able to get a 3-bedroom house. I’m happy for them. I’m itching to get my fingers into their boxes and help them unpack, but they were convinced that it would be more help for me to watch the baby today, so….I’m having a pretty relaxing day after all.

Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My thrifty Week–October 12, 2021

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My plants are getting a little sad and sorry looking, but I’m still enjoying every last blossom I see. We had a pretty heavy frost this morning, the first of the fall, but many plants are still alive.

Since frost was predicted, yesterday I picked what I could find in the garden.

It’s looking pretty bad out there:)

I may still get a little more, but the nights are getting so cool that the growth rate of the veggies is very, very slow and the plants are looking about finished in most cases.

I’m glad I put the cover on the raised bed. I’m not sure what I’ll get from these tiny plants this fall, but they should be able to put on some growth in the spring if the slugs don’t consume them and I’ll have early veggies. I’m hoping the walnut shells will be discouraging to the slugs. It seemed to help last winter/spring.

I soaked pinto beans and made both refried beans and chili. At the beginning of Covid, we had a choice between 50 pounds of beans for about $23 or no beans at all. I’ve shared a few and we’ve eaten a lot, but trust me, I’ve still got lots of pinto beans to work my way through. I added peppers and onions from my garden to the refried beans to give them flavor. Later in the week, I made some enchiladas with some of them, we ate some and froze the rest. Our meals were very simple this week, as I was extra busy with many things.

I made salad a couple of times from this leaf lettuce mixed with a head of iceberg from the store.

food preservation, Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–September 21, 2021

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My garden looks like a complete mess! Still, on Sunday after church when I went out to pick a few things, I got all this and another huge bowl of beans. They were the surprise, since I found the bulk of them on the 3 short rows of bushes I just haven’t gotten time to pull out. They obviously bloomed again and reset more beans. So, among the dried-up, too-old beans was another batch of beautiful, just-right beans.

I cooked a pan full for eating. I gave a bag to my sister and one to my aunt. Then, I froze 4 bags. We don’t eat that many frozen beans, but always use a few each winter. I had only frozen about 4-6 previously this way, so these will be used with no problem. The pole beans should continue to give us enough for fresh eating for a few more weeks.

With my freezers groaning with all of this summer’s bounty, I need room! I pulled a turkey I purchased last fall when they were very inexpensive and Rob cooked it on the bbq. Then, I de-boned it, made broth and canned most of it. The rest was eaten fresh and some is for turkey enchiladas.

I used the boxes and bowls of tomatoes and finished up the salsa. I believe I have enough for these salsa-crazy people around here. With the few that were left over and what I made, I now have 72 jars of assorted sizes–everything from 1/2 pint to quart. Salsa is one of the more time-consuming things I can, so I’m glad to have that project finished.

I also got one canner load of tomato juice and one of crushed tomatoes. I need to do a few more whole tomatoes, but those are easy.

There are still tomatoes on the bushes, but they are winding down. There will be plenty for us and the extended family to eat for several more weeks, until frost.

I froze jalapeño peppers and Hungarian Wax peppers together, as they have about the same level of heat. It was very easy to pick and food-process them while I was making salsa. We don’t use very many of those in a winter, but it’s nice to have some. I package them very thin and flat in a quart-sized ziplock bag so I can break off little chunks when I want to throw just a few into a recipe.

Even though I’m still canning, and school is going full-force, meals need to be cooked. I made this breakfast “egg pie” with a frozen hash brown crust and eggs, a little ham, some leftover garlic cream cheese, spinach, ham and cheddar cheese. It came out great.

I’ve used all the chicken, meat and baked goods from the camper freezer, and am concentrating on using things from the house fridge freezer. It seems to cause an avalanche every time we open it, so it’s time:). Past time. Since we crack out our ice from ice cube trays and fill a Ziplock in the door, AND use a lot of ice daily, this can happen multiple of times each day. It’s getting annoying, to say the least. I can see why housewives of years gone by did fall cleaning. After all the food preservation and gardening, there are just too many areas that have been left to themselves around here.

The grocery money that was spent this week was for basics such as turmeric, salt, milk, eggs……you get the idea. As with most spices we buy, Rob was able to get the turmeric in bulk so it was not expensive. I don’t use much, but it was depleted in some of my pickles recently. It was nice to not need much else so I could fill those things up (and more) with my regular grocery budget. I did get a Coke Zero and some riced cauliflower for free from my Safeway card. The Coke Zero is long gone. The riced cauliflower—-hmmmmm. I’m going to try it soon so it doesn’t linger longer and make that freezer problem worse.