Frugal Friday File 2023, July 14...

1.  Did really well cooking at home all week.

2.  Jared's birthday was this week.  Even cooked his favorite meal at home, and made his favorite freezer pie.  Thankfully he loves the quick & easy freezer pie, so no baking involved.  When it is over 100º F having the oven on is crazy, and standing over a hot stove making a favorite meal is a true act of love.

3.  I re-used a gift bag for his present, and I made his birthday card.  The gift had been ordered far in advance, and delivered with another purchase, so no extra gasoline spent.

4.  While I was cleaning off the kitchen countertops, I found a bottle of shower gel.  Weird, right?  It had been there for awhile...like...a long while.  I think it was part of a gift basket, as it wasn't one of our usual brands.  Still, we were needing some, so I'm happy to use it up before buying more.

5.   I received another refund check from Medicare for chiropractic care paid out of pocket.  This one was for $13.  I had JUST deposited the previous checks, and another trip to the bank for such a small check seemed ludicrous.  But I did have another appointment this morning, so I stopped by bank while I was out.

On the menu this week:

Saturday:  late lunch, so ate watermelon for supper again

Sunday:  Spanish Rice

Monday:  Subscription meal

Tuesday:  Chicken Curry

Wednesday:  Taco Salad

Thursday:  Chicken Fried Steak w/ Mashed Potatoes, gravy & veg

Friday:  Beef Stroganoff

Kitchen reorganization continues...

A few days ago I said I would try to live with this cupboard for awhile.  However, I decided to move the canned goods to the pantry.  I liked having them near the stove (as they have been for the last few years), because it was nice to have frequently used ingredients close at hand when cooking.  But I will get used to the change.

Once I moved them to the pantry, I realized it made room for the cooking oils to move from the lazy Susan on the counter to the newly spacious cabinet.  

Above photo is the pantry Friday afternoon.  I forgot, as usual, to take a photo before I started.  I didn't even sit down after getting home from work.  I started straight in emptying everything from the pantry (except for the jars on the top shelf), and wiping down and sweeping it out to be ready to start reloading on Saturday.

I ordered the hanging shelf for the door last week.  I put it together (easy) and hung it first thing Saturday morning.  It said to wait 24 hours before filling baskets, as it has sticky pads to help secure it to the door that I guess needed some curing before putting any strain on them.  Really I think they just keep the shelves from swinging outward when the door is opened or closed.  Since I wasn't planning on having heavy items on the door, I gave it about 8 hours, while I began reorganizing the pantry interior shelves.

One white bin on the floor is for soiled kitchen towels and fabric napkins awaiting laundering.  The other bin is to contain bags of potatoes.  Everything else is pretty much where it was before, just better contained and labeled to try to prevent 'us' from just jamming things in willy nilly.

The door shelves have powdered milk, drink powders, seasoning packets, different sizes of ziplock bags, cloth napkins, peanut butter and jams (the heaviest things on door), and crackers.  Oh, I also have a cylinder bag clipped to the shelf unit on the right that holds plastic grocery bags that we reuse for small wastebasket liners.

Carey was visiting with his mom this weekend, so it was a good time to have the kitchen torn apart and then put back together.  There is still lots to do, but these are the ones that turned things upside down for awhile.  Now Carey can make his coffee in the morning without having a mess to work around.

Frugal Friday File, July 7...

 

1.  I worked Thursday & Friday at my previous office.  I will also work on Monday.  Just filling in for my replacement who had a pre-scheduled vacation before she was hired.   These three days of work will be a welcome paycheck.

2.  After going through the stack of printed recipes on my counter and putting them in my recipe binder, I found one for Hot Alaska Salmon Melts which is an open-faced sandwich recipe that my sister told me to try.  It had shifted to the bottom of the pile, so I was happy to find it.  AND I got to use up a can of salmon from the pantry instead of buying some.

3.  I received another (smaller) refund for part of my chiropractic care paid out of pocket.

4.  Carey finally let me check out a library e-book for his Kindle.  I had to check it out because the man doesn't have a library card.  (I could not live without mine!)  He prefers to buy used books donated to the library that they then sell in their "book nook",  which he reads and then donates back to the library.  There's not always a lot of selection that interests him.  Anyway, this is a step in the right direction.  Maybe he will have a library card someday.

5.  My sweet little Catiebug is moving into an apartment with three roommates next month to start college.  I told her to come raid my kitchen for duplicates that they may need, so they don't have to buy every little thing.  She just left here with my mother's set of stainless steel cookware (that stuff is pretty timeless, and it was just lounging in a guest room closet) that includes a large saucepan, a small saucepan, a large skillet, a small skillet, a dutch oven, and lids for all (but I do need to order a spare set of knobs and handles as those will probably break at some point), a non-stick skillet, a set of Rachael Ray casseroles (which look great, but I hated using, so if she didn't take them they were going to Goodwill), a set of air-tight canisters, a 9" x 13" cake pan, a muffin pan, a large cookie sheet, a mixing bowl, a liquid 4 cup measuring cup, a set of dry measuring cups, a set of measuring spoons, a can opener, wooden spoons, a large metal spoon, a pizza cutter, a large spatula, a small spatula, two of my favorite paring knives (I have about a dozen, they are the BEST, brand is Victorinox, very affordable), dish towels, hot pads, an oven mitt, and a vase.  I may have forgotten some; I only remember this much because she just got through packing the car up.  :)  This stuff is all out of my way as I am trying to get my kitchen in order.  YAY!  And I don't have to drive this stuff to Goodwill.  :)

On the menu this week:

Saturday:   takeout baked potatoes with bbq brisket

Sunday:  Sunday Supper at Kasey & Beau's

Monday:  takeout sandwiches

Tuesday:  Hot Alaska Salmon Melts w/ coleslaw

Wednesday:  leftovers

Thursday:  subscription meal

Friday:  watermelon

Kitchen reorganization, Part 3...

Eight years ago I wrote a blog post about assembling this recipe binder.  Sometime later, as I printed out and tried new recipes, I got into the bad habit of laying them in a particular place on the counter.  I always meant to go back and put them in the binder, but you know what they say about good intentions.  

I have now filed all of the quite-large stack into the binder's page protectors.  I am really happy to have this done.  As I was putting the printed recipes into the binder, I discarded ones I had tried and not loved or ones that I had never tried and didn't think I probably ever would in the future.  And as of now I can't print out new recipes (my printer is out of service), so I should be able to keep this under control (and off of my counter) now.  

 

Kitchen reorganization, part 1...

 

I really should have taken a before shot of the kitchen, but when the mood strikes to get going I'd better not get distracted.  I am tired of the cluttered countertops.  The cooking utensils above have been on the countertop in containers, and this drawer was previously used for spices.  (But the knife holder on the right has always been in this drawer.  I hate leaving knives visible on the countertops.  I watch too much scary television.)

Can I just say that the bamboo spring-loaded adjustable dividers above are ones I got from the Container Store years ago.  They are absolutely my favorite things; so easy to use and easy to reconfigure.  When the spices were in this drawer, I had a fifth divider in there.  I will use it in another drawer now.  I also got a new set of spring loaded dividers that can have perpendicular dividers that fit in slots.

I really liked this cupboard as I had been using it before, but since I had to make room for the spices, I had to change things up.  I may redo it again after living with it for a little while.

The upper shelf seen here is quite a stretch, and there's one above it that is unreachable without a step stool.  I should donate everything that is out of reach, because I haven't used any of them in years.  

Carey walked in the kitchen for supper, and said, "Uh-oh."  He is really good about unloading the dishwasher, so now he has to get used to new locations for things.  :)

I'll share updates as they come...

Kitchen reorganization, Part 2...

                             

Two more drawers today.  These are just to the right of the sink, and are the most accessible with wet hands, but are really too small for kitchen towels.  Hence, I previously had the towels in a container on the island.  But again, I am so tired of too much stuff on the counters that I decided that the one nearest the sink could hold at least a few towels.  I guess I'll keep the extra towels in the pantry or laundry room.

These two drawers both previously held a bit of a mishmash.  The one on the left had dishcloths and sponges along with matches and a couple of other things.  The one on the right had the kitchen scissors, tape, Sharpies & pencils, the lids to cover cans of dog food.  With the dividers, I managed to combine both drawers' contents into this one.

When I finished these, I took a minute to take a before photo of what I want to tackle next.  :)

If this is boring, I'm really sorry.  Sharing my progress gives me something to look back on later and kind of analyze the success (or lack thereof).

Frugal Friday File 2023, June 30...on Saturday again...

 

1.    I found two $50 amazon gift cards that I had purchased at the end of last year by redeeming points earned on my credit card over the last two (or three?) years.   These two were left over after I gifted several to the kids at Christmas.  I forgot all about them till I came across them the other day.  Happy, happy!

2.  I received a refund check from Medicare for my chiropractic treatment I've been paying out of pocket.  I've been going for about a month and a half now (semi-weekly at first, and now weekly). The practice doesn't accept Medicare, but they do file the payments that I pay them.  I was pleasantly surprised that I actually was refunded anything.  (And thrilled that my jaw is feeling better!)

3.  I filled up my e-shopping cart, and then waited.  I deleted most everything in the cart, and waited some more.  By tomorrow or the next day I may delete the rest of it.  LOL

4.  Still trying to combat food waste by using up what we have.  The freezer still has some useful things, but need to bring in some fresh produce.

5.   It's too hot to go out unless absolutely necessary for me, but Carey is still spreading the dirt in the heat.  I am making cards, and reorganizing the kitchen a bit (and putting some unused space wasters in the donation box as I go).

On the menu this week:

Saturday:  went out to favorite Tex-Mex restaurant

Sunday:  subscription meal

Monday:  breakfast for dinner

Tuesday:  frozen pizza

Wednesday:  Smoked Sausage & Rice skillet dinner

Thursday:  takeout hamburgers

Friday:  Taco Salad