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Friday, October 10, 2025

2025 Frugal Friday File, October 10...

1.  When I opened the refrigerator on Thursday, it made me so happy and proud.  The produce drawers were darn near empty; there were two apples in one, and a bag of onions in the other.  I somehow managed to use up a crazy stuffed-with-produce refrigerator with minimal food waste!  It took some inventive meal planning.

2.  Then I had to think about restocking, so I prepared a menu plan, and placed my grocery order.  I'll be picking it up later today.  We haven't really had any lower temperatures yet (accept in the early mornings), but I am SO ready to switch my menu plans to more slow cooker meals.

3.  Wednesday was mammogram day.  Health insurance is a wonderful thing that I wish everyone had.  

4.  Monday was quilting at the library day.  Love that the library offers the room for us to meet.  I worked on a baby quilt using fabrics I already own.  I decided not to attend the quilt retreat that will be next month.  Though it is a very low-cost retreat, I'm still trying to build back up our cash reserves after the car purchase earlier this year. 

5.  I love not having a car payment, so it was worth shopping within our budget so that we could pay cash for it.  Also worth sacrificing a few fun things to build savings back up.

What we ate this past week:

Saturday:  family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Sunday:  leftovers

Monday:  Cabbage Bacon Skillet

Tuesday:  takeout BBQ Baked Potatoes

Wednesday:  Omelets

Thursday:  Grilled Cheese and Bacon Sandwiches

Friday:  Chicken Burrito Bowls

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

This one was heartily recommended by a friend.  I was very happy that it was available at the library with no wait.  I finished it this morning.  ✮

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Poems of Parenting by Loryn Brantz

I bought this as an e-book at a special low price.  I read the sample that Amazon offers online, then I wanted to be able to read its entirety to see if I would want to buy the printed book for a gift.  I enjoyed it.  Humorous.  I enjoyed some of the poems better than others, most of them discussed thoughts that I have had.  Like the kids bringing Mom breakfast in bed on Mothers Day; and Mom smiling as she is thinking, boy that glass of juice is going to be a mess when it spills on the bed linens, and the syrup, oy!  (Not that I have ever been served breakfast in bed.  I'd rather have an extra hour of sleep, while Dad takes the kids out for breakfast!  But you snooze, you lose out on precious memories.)  

I might buy it for a gift, but it would have to be for the right recipient.  I think the parents of toddlers may be about right, or kindergartners.  Parents of younger babies may be too exhausted to take it in.  Not that toddlers and kindergartners aren't exhausting, but parents of toddlers and above have learned some coping skills.  :)


82 Days on Okinawa
by Col. Art Shaw (Ret.) with Robert L Wise

I started reading this one on Sunday.  I'm over halfway through it.  I've been getting a lot of reading done as I have had a stomach ache the past couple of days, and so I've spent a lot of time lying down and reading.  Today I began wondering if maybe my stomach ache was because of this book.

It's not my usual genre.  I picked it up because my dad served in the Battle of Okinawa.  I'm over halfway through it, and I'm feeling like it is a miracle he made it home, and that I (and two of my sisters) were born.  It's very well written, but also definitely enough to give me stomach trouble.  I'm glad to know these things.  I wish I had asked my dad more questions.  I'll be glad to finish this one.

Friday, September 26, 2025

2025 Frugal Friday File, September 26...

 

1.  I keep thinking of things I want to do.  Then when it comes down to it, I don't want to all that bad, and talk myself into putting it off a week.  :)

2.  Reading library book.

3.  Doin' chores.

4.  Haven't killed anybody...saved attorney's fees.

5.  Got my Covid and Flu vaccines.

What we ate this past week:

Saturday:  Family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Sunday:  Chili

Monday:  frozen beef & broccolli

Tuesday:  Grilled Cheddar & Beau's Smoked Turkey Breast sandwiches, chips, apple

Wednesday:  **Vegetable Stir Fry

Thursday:  Frito Pie (with leftover chili)

Friday:  takeout sandwiches

**designates meatless meal+

Thursday, September 25, 2025

Fridge Fare (or using what you have)...

We had a lot of vegetables in the fridge.  I didn't want them to go to waste, and stir fry sounded really good to me last night.  And, most importantly, it's easy and quick.  I even had sugar snap peas.  I didn't have carrots, which is so out of the norm, and while I really wanted some, I did without.


It was exactly what I wanted.  I had looked up an easy stir fry sauce, and added that at the end, and let it thicken a little before removing from the heat.

The easy stir fry sauce is from Simply Whisked.  I threw it together using what I had, and leaving out what I didn't, and it still turned out great.

Recipe as it was published:
1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1 to 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 Tablespoon minced ginger
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil


I had the reduced sodium soy sauce, and used about 1/4 cup.

I used a teaspoon of chicken bouillion powder with about 1/4 cup water.

I had the cornstarch so added it.  (I would consider this essential for thickening, but not at all needed for flavor.)

Did not have time or energy to peel and mince fresh garlic, so I just threw in some dried minced garlic.

Didn't have fresh ginger, so I used about 1/4 teaspoon of really old powdered ginger.

I left out the brown sugar.

I had olive oil so added it.

I had rice wine vinegar so added it.  

I was out of sesame oil, so left it out.  (Though it would have been great!)

I am saying all this because I rarely follow a recipe to the letter, and at least 95% of the time no one but me would ever know.  Don't fret about it unless it's something essential like a leavening agent in a baked good.  In a pinch, I've even used another flavor of extract when I was out of vanilla.

Oh!  Here's a little confession.  For the past 49½ years, I have cooked rice and had it boil over...every...single...time.  I even bought a rice cooker for the microwave, and IT boiled over in the microwave!  Counting yesterday, I have twice prepared rice without a mess.  I've started rinsing the rice before adding it to the water in the saucepan.  It didn't boil over either time, and it didn't stick and clump together.

I'm sure I am the last person on earth to learn this.

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Fifty-first challenge finish of the year.

This one has been on my Kindle for exactly ten years (September of 2015).  You've already seen its cover picture a couple times lately on 'What I'm Reading Wednesday' posts.  I took my time reading it, because there were other priorities claiming my time.  

I enjoyed it very much.  The dual timeline was handled in a way that I found much less jarring than many others that I have read.  The characters were such that I would enjoy visiting with them over coffee (or another beverage).  I would happily read others by this author.


Fifty-second challenge finish of the year.

I had never read The Secret Garden.  I have heard a lot about it, but had assumed that it was a children's book.  It would be a good book to read aloud to children; I think a child reading it would have to be a pretty advanced reader to read and understand the Yorkshire accent that a lot of it was written in.  It also had some pretty advanced vocabulary.  Its plot dealt with lack of parental attention, improving health by being out in the sunshine and fresh air, exercise and healthy eating, using self-reflection and the will to change to improve our relationships with others, and treating others with respect.  Reading aloud to a child would be a great opportunity to ask them how they felt about how the characters dealt with these topics and changed through the story.

But it is not just a children's book.  I enjoyed it very, very much.  It was a pretty quick read at 281 pages, and I barely put it down.  I did not own this one, and couldn't find an e-book edition with formatting I liked from the library, so I shelled out a whole 69¢ for it from Amazon.


And that brings me to...
...the end of the challenge.  There have been additional prompts introduced through the year that one can carry on with, but I am happy to have finished the original 52.  There are so many other books I've come across this year that I want to move on to.

Before I heard about the challenge (thanks, Juhli!) my goal was to read 14 books (one per month, and two alternates) that had been lingering on my Kindle unread.  When I decided to do the challenge, I perused the prompts and my Kindle content to match as many prompts as I could with books I already own.  I have cleared at least 22, so exceding my original goal.  :)


Now going forward:
Friedrichsburg: A Novel by Friedrich Armand Strubberg
translated by James C Kearney

This one is a new acquisition at our library.  It is about the German immigrants who colonized the part of Texas we live in (and other parts as well).  So far I am still in the introduction.  The novel itself was published in Germany in 1867 by the first colonial director during the founding of the communities.  It is said to interweave his story with a fictional romance.

We live surrounded by original German settlements.  One church we attended regularly had a German-language service until the 1960s.  One of my favorite things about the area was sitting in the crowd of parents and grandparents (when our kids were younger and involved in community sports) and hearing German, Spanish, and English conversations going on around me.  So I had to be first in line to reserve this new addition to the library.

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

Restless by William Boyd

Halfway through with this WWII spy story.  Enjoying it.


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