Somebody likes his Grandpa. And, Grandpa likes him, too. Rob and I had the pleasure of spending some time with the baby this week–loved it! I’ve always called Rob the “Baby Whisperer.” I’ve seen absolute stranger babies leap for him on more than one occasion. It’s so cute to see them together.

I picked another large bowl of lettuce from the greenhouse. We mixed it with store lettuce and had many salads this week. I used some of our garden cabbage as well, in a stir-fry. It called for fresh broccoli, which I didn’t have, so put large chunks of cabbage in instead. It was great.

Our method of menu -planning this week was a mixture of all the ways I do it. I made a list of meals in my notebook, and I made a couple of recipes I had chosen and marked with sticky notes in magazines a while back. I referred to that list the first part of the week, then Rob went out to the big freezers in the shop and grabbed a whole chicken, some steak and hot dogs and we just cooked those the second part of the week. I made 2 soups–clam chowder and broccoli. We ate soup several times. It’s so easy during lunch times to just grab a bowl and microwave it. The broccoli and broth were some I’d frozen and the clams were given to us in some canned goods Rob’s mom couldn’t use and passed on a couple of months ago, added to potatoes and the milk that seems to be on sale constantly around here these days. Inexpensive meals, and really a treat this week. I plan to do a chicken-vegetable soup this week, since I boiled the bones of the chicken Rob took out of the freezer and I have tons of frozen garden vegetables.

He went to Safeway for the bargains. Our favorite one was a 3-lb package of bacon for under $6. He divided that into small baggies and froze them to pull out over time. He got yogurt for 37c/each, bread for 77c each (2), and a couple of other things we needed. Fred Meyers had butter for $1.77, so he got the 5 allowed, and topped it off with tortillas for $1 at the Dollar Store. He came out under $30 and that’s more than enough for this week. Last week’s shop was more extensive, but we are right on track for another month where we easily stay within our grocery budget and should be able to set some aside for bulk purchases later on.

We filled the yard debris bin again with clipped branches. Rob also took a chain saw to the fig tree in the front yard and removed the weak, dead branches and also worked on other bushes/shrubs. We are debating on whether to cut down the fig tree entirely, or just remove the weak and damaged parts, but don’t have to decide now. The bin only holds so much at one time. Since they will take that debris bin every week, for free, we love to fill it up as many weeks as we can.

Rob and I got our first Covid shot. We were offered the chance, due to our job–we are considered part of the health care workers, as we care for developmentally disabled clients. We were a little scared, as it’s so new and all, but so far, so good. (At least I was–I absolutely hate shots!) We go back in a few weeks for shot #2, and then I will be able to go out and about so much more freely. I know everyone doesn’t want one of those shots, but I have to admit, I’m excited to know that I won’t be spreading that nasty virus to any of my loved ones. That’s worth a lot to me.

We got our stimulus checks. We had an extensive repair done on the van, so…easy come, easy go. What a blessing to be able to drive a safe van! And, what a blessing to see the Lord provide for our needs in many ways. He just never fails us. Ever.

We’ve been enjoying our holiday around here! The kids came over on their usual days, and I did school with Jake on New Year’s Eve as I always do on Thursdays, but then we had our own little party. No one told him there wasn’t school, and he does very well with a routine, so his family got lots and lots of homeschool done this past couple of weeks since there was no distance learning with the public school, of course.

Rob stopped off and got a dozen donuts. We put out a plate full of candy and chips. They did a donut puzzle and I read the story about Homer Price and the Donut Machine. We had a game tournament where there were prizes for first, second, third, fourth, fifth and some prizes “just because.” I played Sorry with the girls, Rob played chess with Jake, then we all played Apples to Apples. Then, we watched “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” It was a rousing success of a party, and was over by 4:30. My kind of New Year’s party. I planned to go to bed early.

But……the dog was very disturbed by all the fireworks in the neighborhood and would not let me sleep until about 2:15 am. Poor thing. So I rang in the new year after all:)

Every single year since she was born, Alissa has celebrated her birthday with Rob, as they both have January birthdays. Hers is the 2nd, so we’ve always celebrated hers on or near the actual date. Then Jake joined in the January celebration when he was born. She wanted to continue the celebration. It was a teeny, tiny party compared to some years, but we had a great time. Isn’t that a cute cake their Mama made? Sadly, I dropped the cheesecake upside down while trying to take it out of it’s pan, and it did get a little beat up before Rob rescued it and flipped it over, but it tasted super good….thank goodness for blueberry sauce. It covers many flaws:)

She’s 20. Crazy!!! So, Rob taped 20 pennies, 20 nickels, 20 dimes, 20 quarters and 20 dollar bills together in a long, long strip and put them in a shoebox with a slit in it and she had to pull them all out. He wrapped the box in many, many layers first so she had to get through all that as well. With him and her, it’s all about who can give the silliest present sometimes…..they have fun, and she can certainly find somewhere to spend the money.

Even with our celebrations, we did get a few things done, and did some money-saving activities.

I made 2 kinds of soup and we ate those many times. I made home-made refried beans for the party. I did cook substantial meals a couple of other times, but we just ate lots of soup, leftovers, etc. for the most part. Rob got a cheap Little Caesar’s pizza for him and Patsy to eat New Year’s Eve. I ate an expensive frozen gluten-free one from Costco. That was still way less than buying a gluten-free one from a pizza place. I do make my own at times, but we wanted our own little celebration that night for Patsy.

I received a little spring form pan for Christmas for my Instant Pot. I used every last bit of cream cheese I had experimenting and made 2 little cheesecakes this past week. I used my home-made cherry filling for this one and my blueberry filling for the one I took to the party. It worked very well. It was also good to use the cream cheese, as it had been around for a while.

In the spirit of January, I cleaned quite a bit. One thing I did was sort the Tupperware cupboard. I received a few new containers for Christmas, so I put those in, and got rid of some things without lids, etc. and just got rid of a few things.

I worked several times on my pantry shelves in the garage where I keep my food storage. Patsy helped me one morning. We killed many spiders, wiped up little spills and organized it better. We filled up containers from bulk supplies. I was delighted to not find very many surprises, and that I didn’t have to throw away a lot of things–only one or two things that were hiding behind things. That’s why I go through it a couple of times a year. Sometimes, even though I have the best of intentions, things get put where they don’t belong or I just simply forget to use something, especially if it was given to me and it is not one of my usual items I cook with on a regular basis.

I’ve been holding off on grocery shopping for a while. I made a detailed list for Rob to fill today at Safeway. I was able to use the $10 off $50 coupon, many other coupons I downloaded onto my card, such as cereal for $1/box, milk for $1.99/gallon, eggs for $1.50 for 18, and many other bargains. He had to buy some things that were not on sale as well, but I was thrilled with the amount of groceries he got for what he spent. Now we are set again until the produce he bought gets used up.

They gave out free school lunches a few days over the holidays. We did not go every time, but did get a few of them. Today, they are back to their regular daily schedule, and I took Patsy for one.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We snack on the cubes and put them on salads.

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

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

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

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

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

We had another very quiet week around here. With the Covid numbers rising like they are, we feel it’s just best to stick to home for the most part. So, we concentrated on getting things done around here.

We went and got the school lunches several times. The small portions of canned peaches and pears from those lunches were stacking up in the fridge. Since we have so much canned fruit of our own, they are not on anyone’s list of foods to gobble down first. So, I froze a bunch of them on a cookie tray, then made a smoothie from some of them and saved the rest for another time. I also mixed raspberries with some and made more popsicles.

As I was making the smoothie, the mini-blender’s motor froze up. Rob tore it apart, fixed it, and hopefully we will have many more smoothies! It’s very old, and we have used it so much, it may be worn out, but for now, it’s working.

I did some sewing and made a Christmas gift using things I had on hand. I am very pleased with the gifts I have made, and especially pleased with the fact that I used some materials and supplies that I’ve had for years. I was able to get some supplies at JoAnn’s, such as several widths of elastic, this fall, and was glad I bought plenty. I don’t plan to go back any time soon.

I used a different method of menu planning this week. It was called the “I opened the little freezer on top of the fridge in the kitchen and tons of stuff fell on my feet” plan together with the “use it up before it goes bad” plan:). Every day , we ate some of the little bits of food I had saved at some point, mostly in little baggies (hence the avalanche!). They are slippery little guys! There were pork chops, hamburger and chicken breast in there, so I started with those, along with the 2 leftover bowls of soup in the fridge–split pea and chicken rice. There were little bits of various meats, rice and veggies, and assorted buns and breads. I added veggies and fruit as needed from the canning/freezing stash and made some strange combos.

I also roasted a Butternut squash and cooked a large Sweetmeat. I froze some of the Sweetmeat after I pureed it. We ate quite a bit of it during the week.

Rob had to go into the stores for the last few items to finish up the Christmas shopping. While there, he grabbed a couple of grocery items, but we needed very little as he had just shopped for us a few days ago. I did have him pick up 12 cans of Progresso gluten-free clam chowder, as they were on sale for 99c each and he was there anyway. That’s a very good price and we love to eat a can of that for lunch occasionally.

We organized and wrapped all the gifts and they are ready to drop off at people’s houses.

Patsy made some pretzels with white chocolate coating and bagged them up for Christmas. We used some pretzels purchased on clearance a while back and vaccuum-sealed for freshness, along with some white chocolate purchased on 49c on clearance a while back. It looks festive for pennies!

Some of Rob’s lettuce in the greenhouse is getting almost ready for us to eat. I’m excited! It’s not huge, but it’s not bad for an unheated greenhouse!

We ordered our seeds from Territorial as soon as their website opened up for orders. Today, we received all of it, but one packet. They said they are still packaging up seeds and will send us that one as soon as they get it packed up. Our seeds from Pinetree have arrived also. We are all set for another awesome growing season! Last winter, we ordered early, so were not caught in the frenzy of seed shortages. We did, however, have a hard time when we needed more of a few items mid-summer. All of the seed companies are stating that they expect high demand for seeds again this year, so we ordered even earlier than usual. We also ordered some fall veggie seeds as the fall/winter garden was a rousing success. We still have cabbage and celery out there. I’m going to pick more soon.

We also have a generous amount of seeds Rob saved last summer from part of our open-pollinated veggies, so we were able to order less than we usually would.

We continued our project of chopping our downed peach tree branches up and putting them out in the yard-debris bin. I think I will easily fit what’s left in next week and that job will be done.

We took lots of walks, in-between torrential rain showers, hail, cold sunshine, and fog. It’s getting challenging to get those in, but we are managing almost every day.

When Rob was out and about, chopping wood in the forest, he stopped by a couple of roadside produce stands. At one of our favorites, he got dry walnuts for only $1.75/pound, and grabbed 10 lbs. We’ve spent a couple of sessions cracking them out and have them all ready to freeze to keep them fresh for the year.

He also grabbed some squash and I cooked one on Saturday. They were only 35c/pound at one stand he found. I ground the baked squash with my food mill, and will freeze some and we will use some. I use winter squash like pumpkin, and was completely out in the freezer.

I cooked black beans and Patsy made taco soup, white beans in ham and bean soup, and split pea soup. It was all delicious and inexpensive, but this week will feature less bean-heavy meals. We ate bean meals multiple times, since there were leftovers along with the original meals.

After carefully menu-planning and shopping last week, and not planning to go again, I was thrilled to see in the Wednesday advertisements where we could get ham for 97c/lb at Safeway, one per family. It has been difficult to find good sales for ham this year, so Rob stopped in and got one for us, and one for my sister, as she does not go into stores right now. He also got the $1.47/lb butter, $5 Tillamook cheese, and inexpensive eggs and mandarins, since he was there. We chose to be flexible, and change our plans, since those prices are so rare around here. What we got was put into storage, either in the fridges or freezers, except the ham. We already started on that!

The library sent out an e-mail stating that they would be having a curb-side pick-up of a craft for all ages. The kids got polymer clay. They spent quite some time making things, and the next day, Michaela and Patsy enjoyed making things with the kit we got for her. One thing Patsy made was a set of 5 dice, then she and Michaela played Yahtzee with them. I thought that was creative!

The wood chopping continues. Rob now figures we have enough for the entire winter next year. The side of the shop is completely filled with a double row. He’s going to stop chopping for a little while, now that his area is full. We are burning the bone-dry wood in the woodshed. Once that empties out over this winter, we will likely move all of this wood into there to make sure it’s very, very dry. Rob has covered this new wood with tarps to protect it from the winter rains, and it will continue to dry out.

We saw a beautiful double rainbow one day. I thought of God’s promise to not flood the earth again, and did think that if I though Covid was bad and it was taking forever to get things “back to normal,” imagine how much worse it was for Noah and his family on the ark….just sayin’…..

Hang in there everybody and have a great Thanksgiving week.