Wednesday, July 23, 2025
What I'm reading Wednesday...
Friday, July 18, 2025
2025 Frugal Friday File, July 18...
Oh well, the one with all the pieces can be donated to the library now. LOL
2. I did a rough inventory of the chest freezer. I had a sale turkey from 2024 holiday season in there taking up a good portion of the space. I decided to bite the bullet and roast it and use the FoodSaver to prepare small, usable amounts of the meat, and freeze them ready to use for casseroles and salads and sandwiches.
Additionally there is 20 pounds of flour in the freezer, along with several packages of bacon, sausages, a couple of large bags of pecans from Costco, various bags of frozen vegetables, and three Dreamsicles.
In my opinion upright freezers are much more efficient to organize and access, and the most useful thing about a chest freezer would be a scenario where you might have a dead body that need's hiding. I would dearly love to have an upright freezer, but as long as this one does the job it can stay.
3. Grocery total this month is lower than expected. I'm not sure why, but I've been a little creative in cooking with what we have. Mostly because I don't want to go out into the heat to restock.
4. Frugal fail: Carey took the new car in to get an estimate on replacing the passenger side external rearview mirror. Wish I didn't have to claim responsibility for that one...it was sheared off by the menu board/speaker while I was backing out of a Sonic parking spot. $1,200+.
5. Frugal fail: I caved and resubscribed to Audible. I have projects to do, but I need to be reading! I checked the library for the audio book, but I was something like 21 on the waiting list. :( Now if I can just find my earbuds. Found 'em! :)
On the menu this week:
Saturday: Family supper at Kasey & Beau's
Sunday: BLTs
Monday: Quiche (red onion, bell pepper, broccoli, cheddar & parm)
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: Turkey Penne Casserole
Thursday: out for Tex-Mex
Friday: leftovers
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
What I'm reading Wednesday...
Friday, July 11, 2025
2025 Frugal Friday File, July 11...
1. My first grandson's birthday was this week, and we celebrated it on Saturday night at Kasey and Beau's. I made him a card, a batch of Snack Crackers, and a pair of funny socks I had put back for him. He works with special-needs kids, and him wearing funny socks is one way to engage them.
2. Drove 500 miles to spend my sister's birthday with her. She broke her wrist a couple of weeks ago, so I was hoping I could be helpful to her, but she didn't let me do much. It was very nice to visit with her, and I loved getting to see her grandson (whom I hadn't seen since he was a little guy) and got to meet his wife and kiddoes.
My sister had supper planned for all of us, and only needed a little help in the kitchen. I had baked a cake at home before we left, and took it to have. I also took a couple of homecooked meals from our freezer, so she could take a couple of nights off from cooking when she wants to. Went back to see sis again, and got in another afternoon visit before heading back home.
3. A great friend of mine lives near my sister, so we got to meet for lunch while I was there, and talked non-stop.
4. While we were gone, Jared took care of Rudy for us.
5. Picked up sewing machines (2) from repairman yesterday. Not cheap, but worth it; and I'm really pleased to have found a good repair option. I have a backlog of projects to get going on.
What we ate this week:
Saturday: Family supper at Kasey & Beau's
Sunday: leftovers
Monday: supper at my sister's house
Tuesday: big lunch out w/ friend, so skipped supper
Wednesday: Tuna Salad Sandwiches
Thursday: Tuna Salad Sandwiches again (we love them)
Friday: Green Salad w/ remainders of vegetable tray I took to book club today.
**designates meatless meal
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
What I'm reading Wednesday...
Friday, July 4, 2025
2025 Frugal Friday File, July 4...
2. Speaking of phone bills...back in the day, my sister and I would have to try to never let our husbands get the mail for fear they would see our phone bills. Those were some big phone bills. In the past week, I have talked to her for about three hours (combined total), and to the other Kathleen for about an hour and a half (combined total). I am SO very happy we have unlimited talk and text nowadays.
I don't care that Carey gets the mail these days. Because not only are the phone bills lower now than they used to be, the bills come to my email inbox not the post box. LOL
3. There wasn't anything on the calendar this week, so mostly hung around the house; read, laundry, repeat.
4. I've been using the dregs of a bottle of shower gel (diluted) to clean the toilet. I don't do that if the toilet gets really dirty, but as per my FlyLady days, if you 'swish and swipe' the toilet daily, it never gets really dirty, and she also said "Soap is soap, so use up what you have."
5. I've kept the houseplants that I bought in spring 2024 alive for over a year now. My son thought all this time that the large monsteras (2) in the living room were artificial! He has not paid attention to how much they've grown! I saw a really large monstera either on the web or tv recently, and it scared me how big they get! If mine get much bigger, I may have to adopt them out to new homes before we have to carry machetes to hack our way through the jungle. :)
What we ate this week:
Saturday: Family supper at Kasey & Beau's
Sunday: Tortilla Soup
Monday: leftovers
Tuesday: takeout fried chicken
Wednesday: leftover Tortilla Soup
Thursday: takeout sandwiches
Friday: Chicken Curry
**designates meatless meal