What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle 

by Jennifer Ryan

2024 Frugal Friday File, August 23...

 

1.  Wednesday I made a menu plan, and a grocery order, which I picked up on Thursday.  Salads and easy prep is still the name of the game.  The 100°+ temperatures here are just ridiculous, and is playing havoc with my energy levels.

2.  Rudy's beef shanks went into the slow cooker for bone broth (his homemade food base) as I was unpacking groceries yesterday.  Took the shanks out of the broth and put the chicken thighs in last night before I went to bed.  Will put in brown rice and vegetables before my doctor appointment today.  I should have several weeks' supply of his food packaged by the end of the day.

3.  I've been drinking lots of water since mid week last week.  I have a phlebotomy today (phlee-botomy, not low-botomy...don't want there to be any doubts...LOL).  I'm hopeful being fully hydrated helps the process; usually I forget to start drinking lots of water till the morning of.  It's a real process most times.  I swear the nurses draw straws in the back room when they see me walk in to see who gets stuck (pardon the pun) with me.  I was really hoping the new portacath would perform easier than the last one, but no such luck.  

This only made the frugal list, because drinking more water keeps me from drinking other things like soda.

4.  I had grilled chicken, bell pepper, and onions left over after the quesadillas last night.  I've never used chicken in a quiche before, but I looked it up, and turns out it is a thing.  So tonight we are having 'planned over' quiche.  (Plus I have a LOT of eggs and cheese in the fridge at the moment.)

5.  After finishing the book Old Souls, I looked up other books by the author (Tom Shroder), and I noticed that he had co-written a book about the Deepwater Horizon explosion for which the Kindle version was on special for $2.99.  Since I liked Mr. Shroder's journalistic writing style, and his co-author is an oil rig captain, I thought that it might be factual enough to suit Carey. (Since he worked on offshore oil production platforms for 20 years, he is completely uninterested in anything but accurate facts on the subject.)  And even if he wasn't interested, I would read it.  

He was SO thrilled.  He has started reading, and has been impressed so far.  He is also going to be spending extended time next month with an engineer who was employed as a consultant after the explosion to investigate, so Carey will happily have discussion topics in hand.

I haven't always had the best luck picking books I think he might like, so score one in the WIN column for me!

On the menu this week:

Saturday:  Homemade thin-crust pizza

Sunday:  Sunday family dinner at Kasey & Beau's

Monday:  takeout Tex-Mex

Tuesday:  Tuna Salad Sandwiches

Wednesday:  Tuna Salad Sandwiches

Thursday:  Quesadillas homemade

Friday:  Quiche

**designates meatless meal

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Death of a Gossip: A Hamish MacBeth Murder Mystery Book 1

by M. C. Beaton

I will be starting this one tonight.  I loved the television series starring Robert Carlyle (he was also the lead character in The Full Monty), and I have read a couple of the books in the series (there are 37 in all) and have enjoyed them.  A friend reminds me often that I should read the entire series.  Since the first four of the series are free on Kindle Unlimited, I thought I would start at the beginning.  I know our library has the majority of the series, so I can access those as well.

I just finished last week's book (Old Souls) tonight.  I really enjoyed it very much.  The writing style, though analytical and scientific as needed, was very well done, and such an interesting topic.  

2024 Frugal Friday File, August 16...

 

1.  We have always fed Rudy a combination of dry kibble and canned dog food.  A few weeks ago I made a large batch of homemade dog food for Rudy in the slow cooker.  It included homemade beef bone broth, chicken thighs, brown rice, carrots, peas, green beans, and broccoli.  Not sure it comes out cheaper than canned store bought, but when he went for his annual checkup last week, the vet approved all the ingredients and the switch. And since we have made the change he has had no more of what I call MEFs (malodorous events of flatulence), so that makes it TOTALLY worth it.  In the next week or so I will make another batch.  After cooking, I divide into pint containers, and freeze.  We thaw as needed, and a pint feeds him for about 2 days.  We still give him some dry kibble along with it, but less kibble than before and more of the home cooking.

2.  I am making very few outings due to the heat.  Using very little gasoline as a result.

3.  We ate a lot of leftovers this week.  We went out last night for supper.  Today we skipped lunch, since I had a doctor appointment in the next town over.  There is a great sushi restaurant next to the medical building, so we had a late lunch/early supper before heading home.

4.  STILL working on downsizing in the craft room.  Too.  Much.  Stuff.

5.  I'm back to sending letters to the now two granddaughters in college.  This week one was returned because it weighed 1.3 ounces, and therefore was short on postage.  I will be weighing each card/letter I send out now, and I will order 'additional ounce' stamps rather than using a two 1ounce stamps.

On the menu this week:

Saturday:  leftovers

Sunday:  Beef Stroganoff

Monday:  leftovers

Tuesday:  leftovers

Wednesday:  C-sandwich, me-cheese & crackers

Thursday:  out for Chinese food

Friday:  out for sushi

**designates meatless meal

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

Old Souls:  Compelling Evidence From Children 

Who Remember Past Lives by Tom Shroder

What I'm reading Wednesday...

I loved last week's book, Lula Dean's Little Library of Books by Kirsten Miller.  It was a satire about a small town and the people in it.  I'm not sure how to describe it really.  I didn't lose myself in it, since it was rather too good to be believable, but it was fun.  When I was a kid, I loved the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books by Betty MacDonald...they were kind of magical...about a town where misbehaved children came into contact with this sweet grandmotherly woman who had cures for what made them, well, bratty.  In an odd way, Lula Dean's Little Library of Books reminded me of those Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books.  The townspeople somehow found the exact books that they needed to fix their lives in that little library.

This week's books are:

 

What We Carry With Us by Karen J. Hasley

I just finished this one last night.  Enjoyed it, but then I almost always enjoy a book about Nebraska pioneers.  :)

The Widow's Weeds by Allie Cresswell

This is the third in a series about a group of women friends who travel together.  Though the books are about the group, each focuses mostly on the life of just one member of the group.  This one is about the most ornery of the group.

I'll be starting this one later today probably.

2024 Frugal Friday File, August 2...

 

1.  I hadn't done the grocery order last Sunday, and I was low on dessert makings in the pantry.  But I did have a couple of apples in the fridge, and I found a recipe I hadn't made in awhile for Cinnamon Apple Blondies.  Very easy and very yummy, and no special trip to the store.

2.  I have been staying home and out of the heat as much as possible.  (At least two more months of extreme heat here probably...ugh!)  Carey had finished a library book, and told me he was going to return it on his errand run on Wednesday.  I asked him to pick up my reserved book that I had just received an email notification for.

3.  While he ran his errands, I made a menu plan and grocery order.  I picked it up on Thursday.  And after I put them away, I put a roast in the slow cooker for supper.  It was a nice roast, and there was plenty leftover to add a planned-over meal to the list, so we will have Beef Stroganoff one evening soon.

4.  I had inadvertently added two roasts to the order, so I vacuum sealed the second one and it is now in the freezer awaiting a future roast dinner.  Not too frugal to over order, but nice to be able to store it in the freezer in a manner keeping its quality.

5.  I've been enjoying my cleaned off desk, and making lots of cards for birthdays coming up.

On the menu this week:

Saturday:  breakfast for dinner

Sunday:  Sunday family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Monday:  (I can't remember)

Tuesday:  Chicken Alfredo

Wednesday:  Quiche

Thursday:  Roast, potatoes, carrots

Friday:  Mexican Cornbread

**designates meatless meal