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Friday, February 14, 2025

2025 Frugal Friday File, February 14...

 

1.  Made menu on Tuesday for part of this week and next, and picked up grocery order.  Came out at less than $150, which I thought was pretty good (compared to the last grocery order anyway).

2.  Thursday found me getting creative to use up bits and pieces that have been lingering in the kitchen, so that they wouldn't go to waste.  Small bits of different cheeses in the fridge, a partial package of grape tomatoes that had gotten pushed to the back of fridge a week or two ago, but were miraculously not wrinkled or mushy, a spaghetti squash that I've put off cooking due to energy or time constraints.  I put some chicken breasts in slow cooker to use for the spaghetti squash tonight, but also to go in a salad and another meal.  

I think Four Cheese Spaghetti Squash with Chicken and Roasted Vegetables, sounds a lot classier than the use-it-up-or-toss-it-out ingredients that went into it.  :)

3.  Since putting the planning into the 2025 Reading Challenge, matching books currently on my Kindle to the challenge's book prompts, I don't believe I've bought a single book, even from the Kindle special-deal emails.  

I even remembered to take a book with me when I knew I was going to a business that had a little free library out front, so that if I found something to borrow I'd have something to leave...but I didn't find anything.

I've borrowed a few from the library...just remembered I did buy two used books from the library book nook for $1.50 each.  I forgot about those, as I didn't have any cash, so Carey paid for them.  :)

4.  I window shopped (online) for window coverings.  I have an idea for a change in the guest room.  It is a very tall window with an arched top.  Currently there are only old fashioned, metal Venetian blinds in the non-arched part of the window.  They were here when we bought the house.  I am not in a hurry, and styles and/or my plans may change before I actually come across what I want at a price I want to pay.  It's never been a priority.  Still isn't.

5.  Last Saturday I was out running errands and purchased some extra heavy weight cardstock for making cards while it was 40% off (about a $7 savings).  After the purchase I was running some other errands, and I found myself near an Office Depot.  I took the cardstock into Office Depot to inquire if they could cut it in half for me while I waited.  I watched her place the entire package into their "industrial" paper cutter, and in one "zip" the entire ream of cardstock was cut into the size I use for card bases.  The employee handed me the cardstock, cut to the size I requested, and said there would be no charge for the single cut.  

So I saved on the original price of the package of cardstock, the price of having it cut to the size, all of the time it would have taken me to cut each sheet one piece at a time, AND probably half a dozen cutting blades for my paper cutter (as cutting really heavy cardstock dulls blades quicker than lighter papers).  

This was my favorite frugality of the week!  I'm ready to make cards!


On the menu this week:

Saturday:  takeout BBQ baked potatoes 

Sunday:  Sunday family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Monday:  Sausage, Onion, Kale, and Cheddar Quiche

Tuesday:  Salmon, Wild Rice, and Broccoli

Wednesday:  leftover quiche

Thursday:  Four Cheese Spaghetti Squash with Chicken and Roasted Vegetables

Friday:  Italian Meatloaf w/ Smashed Parmesan Potatoes

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

The Sinners All Bow:
Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne
by Kate Winkler Dawson

This is a recent release by the author, and I saw it available on our libraries recently-acquired list.  The author hosts a podcast that I listen to occasionally, and since this book's  real victim may have been the inspiration for Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, I thought I would give it a try.  

I'm not loving it.  For one thing it turns out I have read two other previous novels based on the event (in addition to The Scarlet Letter which I read ages ago), one of which leaned heavily on the transcripts from the trial of the accused.

Also this author keeps referring to her "co-author."  In actuality she's talking about a woman, who two years after the event ( which occurred in 1832) wrote an account of it.  For some reason, this annoys me; probably because it was so sincerely and often stated, that I took the time to research why this "co-author's" name was not listed on the cover of this current book.

Anyway, I will give it another chapter or two before deciding if I will finish it or not.


Friday, February 7, 2025

2025 Frugal Friday File, February 7...

 

1.  Changed the planned menu when our weather was in the eighties on Monday.  We were going to have tortilla soup, but I just wasn't in the mood for soup.  I had shredded cabbage, cooked chicken, and kale in the fridge; peeled a couple of oranges and tossed them in; made a peanut/soy/honey dressing; topped each serving with some chow mein noodles from the pantry.  Easy, health, filling, and not half bad.  And since the cabbage and kale hold up for a couple of days even with dressing on them, we had the leftovers for another supper on Wednesday.

2.  Quilted at the library.  Selected some fabric already in my 'collection' and figured out a pattern I could improvise to make a baby quilt...or maybe two.  No babies on the horizon, but my intent is to have baby quilts ready and waiting, so that when they are needed there will be a selection to choose from.

     This is frugal because I had everything I needed without any purchases.  We meet at the library, so no rental for the space.  No dues for membership.  

3.  Received two checks to reimburse part of my chiropractic costs.  Only fifty-ish dollars total, but every little bit helps.

4.  Oops...I lost #4 when I tried to paste something in here.  Can't recover it, and I'm too tired to try to start from scratch.  

5.  Still haven't gone for a haircut.


On the menu this week:

Saturday:  leftover spaghetti casserole

Sunday:  Sunday family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Monday:  Asian Chicken Slaw

Tuesday:  Spanish Rice

Wednesday:  leftover Asian Chicken Slaw

Thursday:  Breakfast for supper

Friday:  out for late lunch / early supper

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Time of the Child by Niall Williams

I am reading the library book pictured above when I'm not reading that other leviathan of a book.  I am currently at 50% reading progress in both of them.  

I was talking to a friend of mine about my slow progress in Moby Dick, whereupon she told me about her father's strategy of reading (and he read a lot).  Apparently her father only read the dialog; saying that the plot could be determined just by reading the dialog.  I personally like to read for things like setting and character development in the non-dialog prose, but I thought I would give his way a try this morning.  Wouldn't you know that the three chapters I read this morning had no dialog at all, so I had to read all the non-dialog to determine what was going on.  LOL  

I asked her if her father had read Moby Dick, and she said she was sure he had, but probably before he started his dialog-only strategy.  I replied that Moby Dick was quite possibly WHY he developed his dialog-only strategy!  LOL

Friday, January 31, 2025

2025 Frugal Friday File, January 31...

 

1.  I added https://www.libraryextension.com/ to my browser.  Now when I am book shopping online, it shows whether what I'm searching for is available at my library.  Mind blown!  No more opening another window to sign in to my library account and search the library catalog myself.  I can even borrow or place a hold at my library (if they have the book I'm looking at) right from the Amazon (or Barnes & Noble, etc.) page.  Free time and money saver! 

2.  On Tuesday night I planned upcoming menu and placed grocery order.  On Wednesday I picked up order and restocked the pantry and fridge/freezer...except for chicken breasts which I put immediately into the slow cooker and seasoned before cooking.  When they were done, I diced the three large breasts and placed in fridge.  They will be quick to add to burrito bowls (tonight) and tortilla soup another night (using the broth which I stored separately in the fridge).  It was a large grocery order, but we should be set for awhile now.

3.  Carey has been coming with me to volunteer at the library.  Though I originally was going to volunteer on my own, my start coincided with a huge donation to the library, so I asked Carey to come too and lift and tote boxes and bins.  He has enjoyed it, so he may continue at least sporadically as he has time.  And when we're done with our shift, we go out for a late lunch/early supper.  It has unexpectedly turned into a fun joint activity.

4.  Still no hair cut.

5.  Carey was sharing with me a conversation he had with his sister about walking in Walmart.  I've heard of mall walking back in the day, but we aren't near any malls.  So I will have to keep Walmart in mind for walking.


On the menu this week:

Saturday:  out for burgers

Sunday:  Sunday family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Monday:  Spaghetti Casserole w/ garlic bread

Tuesday:  out for lupper (late lunch/supper)

Wednesday:  Crab-stuffed Salmon, Rice Pilaf, Salad

Thursday:  Chili

Friday:  Chicken Burrito Bowls

**designates meatless meal

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

This would be the reason I haven't posted any finished books lately.  I am about 1/3 of the way through it.  Why, yes, it is the complete unabridged version.  😬  It's one of those that has been lingering on my Kindle for ages.  Occasionally I get it in my head that I should read a classic that I somehow got through school without reading.  

When I told my friend, the other Kathleen, what I was reading, she said her middle-school grandson had to read it recently for school.  Good God, surely they let kids read the abridged version!  Unabridged is something like 800+ pages.

I've had a library book that I had on reserve become available, so I will have to begin it soon.  

I may possibly read one chapter a day from Moby Dick, and then read my other challenge books the rest of the day, thus taking a long-way-about making my way through this one.

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