Sometimes my title writing is a bit lame. Sorry about that.

This afternoon was gathering herbs and drying them. I found an article a couple of years ago on drying herbs in the microwave. We enjoy the herbs during the summer and I try to dry some for the winter. I like the fact I know what is going into my containers and it certainly saves me money.

No wicked stepmother here, of course, but after work I have been cleaning and washing, and doing laundry. Made me think of Cinderella!

The last few days have been crazy at work and by the time I get home I have been very tired. The schools buildings were extremely hot the first four days of this week and I write gleefully they cooled off today so it was bearable. Staff and students alike were grumpy most of the week because of their misery

DH went to Aldi today and we went to the other store for the few items he couldn't get. Between coupons and such, we spend less than $100 at both places, probably even less than $85 if I truly figured it. I have some ideas for menus for the weekend and next week. Nothing extraordinary, but we are fed and it is usually healthy. I think my menus are getting a little predictable so I need to change things up a bit.

Back to being Cindy...Instead of a ball, we are going to a chocolate tea tomorrow afternoon at a tea room. So, I don't think I need glass slippers and a fancy gown.

And fortunately, the carriage won't be turning into a pumpkin!

Rumor has it we are to get a cold front and the oppressive heat here in the Midwest may have a break. This week was horrendous with the heat and humidity. I think yesterday was the worse and it seemed to even hurt to breathe.

DH harvested some of his carrots and we had them as part of our supper. I cleaned them, boiled them in water until soft, then drained and coated with butter and honey. Yum! It was less than two hours from soil to table.

We had meatloaf last night as well. I baked it in a toaster oven which kept the kitchen from heating up. I made a bigger loaf so we have some for sandwiches this week.

We don't have big plans for Labor Day other than appreciating the day off and the fact DH had a good job before he retired and I have a good job. What are your Labor Day plans?

Today was a strange day. I had a meeting and not to bore you, let's just say I felt like I was ganged up on by some of the folks who are my peers because I do things differently than they. Basically, it was I needed to do things in the same manner. And in my humble opinion, I'm not sure they are doing accomplishing a whole lot. My boss did validate me and told me to keep doing what I was doing. As I sat in the meeting drinking my coffee from home, I noticed all those who brought stuff from fast food places. After our meeting, some were going to stop and buy lunch. Hmmm. These are the same folks who complain they don't have money before the next payday.

Supper was basically cleaning out the fridge frittata. I had leftover sausage patties, some leftover goat cheese, a lone small zucchini, part of a bell pepper, and a small onion. I sauted all (but the cheese) this together, then beat 4 eggs with a cup of Half and Half, cooked the egg and milk mixture with the vegetables, and then added the goat cheese and put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes. DH made toast, we had sliced tomatoes and called it a meal. DH loves eggs and I love using up stuff, so we were both happy.

A friend of mine at work said she was going home to water her plants and fix dinner. She commented she was very happy to be doing that and queried whether this was strange because she had no desire to do anything like shop or go out. I told her I thought it showed a person who found satisfaction in her life. What do you think?

It's pretty darn hot here in the Midwest. And cooking isn't something I want to do a lot of, not to mention eating big meals.

But, I don't want to go out every night or eat cold cuts.

Ah, the quandry. We had pork roast the other night. Not a huge amount left, but I absolutely hate wasting good food.

So, supper tonight was onion, bell pepper, mushrooms sauted with the pork that was cut into small chunks, made a sauce with a little butter and flour and broth, and put it on bowtie pasta. Since neither of us were super hungry, there is enough for two lunches.

DH planted tomatoes and he kept telling me he didn't understand why this one plant had huge tomatoes, but they never seemed to ripen. Seems they are some other type of tomato...kind of yellowish with red streaks. We studied them and said I thought they were a different kind so we picked them, washed, them and sliced them. Inside they have a splash of red in the middle with the yellow outside. They tasted just like a red tomato. What a nice surprise!

Hope if you are in the hot temps you are staying cool!

The weather has been so good for DH's garden! We have been so fortunate to have lots of cherry tomatoes and a few larger tomatoes, and so far, two bell peppers! We have had green onions and earlier we had lettuce and radishes. Plus, we have herbs! I've been using lots of herbs in breads, and in cooking. Tonight, we are having rosemary potatoes. I baked a pan of focciatta bread yesterday using basil, rosemary, and oregano.

DH has a small space so the garden is kind of limited, but we feel so blessed in having as much as we have.

I asked DH if we could grow peppermint because I like trying different teas. He has and I've been brewing peppermint tea with a green tea bag. I have been doing this in Mason jars and then putting them in the fridge for a refreshing iced tea. The other day I took a jar with me to a workshop so I could enjoy it after lunch. The kidding I got...sheesh! One person said it looked like urine and another asked if I was drinking moonshine. I gave each of them a taste in a paper cup and they immediately were amazed that someone could brew tea like that with homegrown peppermint. We have become a society far removed from homegrown it seems.

A friend has shared green beans and we have had quite a few meals from the "mess" she shared. Another friend gave us squash and zucchini that someone gave her since her husband refuses to order. I immediately made roasted squash one night. Tonight we are having roasted zucchini with onions and bell pepper. It sure smells good!

Other than some chicken and a few potatoes, most of supper was from the garden, either ours or someone else's. Yum!

Last night was Take Out Thursday. It was take leftovers out of the fridge type of supper. We had two kinds of meat: pork tenderloin roast and chicken breast, mashed potatoes and chicken gravy, zucchini casserole, and leftover homemade bread. I added some sliced cherry tomatoes from DH's garden and some cottage cheese. As hot as it is here, the last thing I wanted to do is heat up the kitchen and eating these leftovers is good for our budget as well as not wasting food.

For many of you on SA, you've had some very hot days. Well, Central Illinois is now having the heat and humidity! Can't say I'm thrilled, but it is summer in the midwest! DH mowed on Saturday when it was still in the 80s which helped.

The painter continues to work on our bathroom. He had to let things dry. So far we are pleased with what he has accomplished. If all goes well, he should finish today.

I put the ingredients to make oatmeal herb bread today. It is rising so I can bake it off. I have had homemade bread every week this summer. DH loves it and I can make it with more whole grains. Figure it helps with nutrition as well as the pocketbook.

I'm still working on reworking leftovers so we eat about everything. One of my friends put on Facebook that she refuses to go to the grocery store this week so they will eat up what is in the pantry and freezer. Hey, maybe this frugality is catching on!

I created a recipe using what we had. Our sage is going gangbusters! DH gave it his seal of approval.




Sage roasted potatoes

3-4 potatoes scrubbed, peeled, dried, and sliced thinly
2 tablespoons of fresh sage, chopped
2 scallions, chopped, both white and green
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of paprika
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
9 x 14 glass baking dish
Foil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Scrub potatoes and dry. Peel and slice thinly. Put in baking dish. Chop scallions and sage, put on potatoes. Sprinkle turmeric and paprika and then drizzle with olive oil. Cover with foil. Bake for an hour.

It's a pretty day here in the Central Illinois. I guess there is a 50% chance of rain, but right now, it is just lovely.

DH is a good gardener and the past few years he has grown herbs. I asked him if he would be willing to try peppermint. I thought it was would be good for flavoring water and tea. He has and it is. It is a refreshing water on a warm day. Last summer I dried a lot of herbs to use during the winter and I hope to do the same. A couple of weeks ago we visited a friend and took some fresh herbs to him; he was amazed and pleased to get them because in the grocery store, they are quite pricey.

Speaking of herbs, I've been making a lot of no knead bread and changing it by using different herbs and adding either rye or whole wheat flour. It is wonderful to enjoy and far cheaper than the price of artisan breads at the store or at restaurants. I told someone that I could bake a loaf for a lot less than the $3.50 to $5 being priced and they were shocked.

While DH went for a walk, I got out some paint and did some touchups to some of the walls. It was one of those projects where you plan to do it and then it doesn't get done. The paint has been put up and the brush cleaned and the biggest hassle was getting the top off the paint can, but I finally succeeded.

It's almost time to begin fixing supper. We are having sloppy joes made with ground chicken so I call them sloppy chicks. We will get at least two meals from this mix. Fortunately DH doesn't get tired of it.

It has been a nice Sunday so far...church, brunch at home...getting some projects finished...how was your Sunday?

We live in the Midwest and they are calling for strong storms this afternoon and evening. I certainly hope we do not receive them. The weather said it is likely 1 in 5 people will sustain damage. Those are not good odds.

We have been enjoying herbs, lettuce, and radishes from DH's garden. The rabbit ate most of the lettuce, but apparently the stinky stuff worked and the rabbit or rabbits decided to move on. Not only is that a good thing,the news had that some rabbits are carrying a disease harmful to both cats and humans. So, better to have no rabbits eating or spreading disease.

I think DH is really on board with eating at home as much as possible. He asked me Monday night what I planned on fixing for supper so he could determine what he would eat for lunch. Last night we had leftover turkey and I used it to make a stuffing casserole with creamed corn. Tonight we are having spaghetti made with the leftover sloppy chicks stuff we had Sunday night and for lunch. I love eating well and reasonably!

DH finally broke down and purchased something called "Invisible Fence" and sprayed it on the plants the bunny had been eating. It must take more than a day or our bunny must have had sinus issues because it was still around when he sprayed it.

Let's just say that it was aromatic and smelled very much like a mixture of a chicken and pig farm. Woowee!

Anyway, bunny had been hiding in the rose bushes so he sprayed it around there as well.

So far no more bunny since yesterday morning. He didn't want to really hurt the creature, just make it leave, so let's hope it is gone. He has gnawed down most of our lettuce and had eaten pepper plants as well as some of DH's flowers. One little rabbit sure did a lot of damage!

Pretty cheap jewelry suggested I start this...crazy ways to use up what is in the fridge so here goes...how do you use up what you have?

I often make frittatas or egg casseroles and use up vegetables, meats,and breads with eggs and milk and we often use bits and pieces of leftover cheese. If we have quite a few vegetables, I often make a stew.

What do you do?

Last night I was reading an article in Ladies Home Journal. The article was about the amount of food people waste. I'm not talking about simply throwing stuff out after it was on their plate, but buying fruits and vegetables and not using them, letting stuff in the pantry go to waste, and not using leftovers.

It was kind of shocking how much food is left uneatened. I think it is a minimum of 10 percent just for fresh fruits and vegetables. I can't imagine spending money on fresh fruit and letting it rot. Basically, it is folks buying it and instead of eating at home, eating out or buying fast food. It is sad.

My husband was kidding me tonight. Yesterday for lunch we had leftover sloppy chicks from Sunday night. For lunch today we had pulled pork sandwiches made from leftover pork we had at last night's supper. Tonight's supper was a casserole made with leftover turkey from Monday's meal. We also had mashed potatoes leftover from Monday's meal. He asked if I used everything up yet?

Saturday night I had roasted a chicken and I pulled the meat off. We had some of it for dinner and I had put some aside. A friend of ours had fallen and broken her hand and so with the leftover chicken and some broth I had made previously, I made a large dish of chicken and noodles. I had cooked potatoes with the chicken and made a few extra and mashed them to give them as well and also on Saturday, I had peeled a bunch of apples for apple juice and apple sauce. I gave them half of the apple sauce.

I hate wasting food. Not only because of the expense, but also because it is simply wasteful. Most of the time our meals with everything included run less than $10 for both of us. I believe in eating fairly healthy, so I don't think it is exorbinant. Some friends of ours eat out at least once a day and often twice a day. DH was figuring it up the other day. He said they probably spent almost $60 for those two meals. That's a lot of money for one day just to eat -- nothing special as a birthday party or going on vacation -- just eating. And these folks complain about money being tight.

DH might kid me about repurposing leftovers, but I noticed he had three helpings of the casserole tonight. Guess he liked it!

I stayed around home today and cleaned the garage. However, I did spend some money and no, I didn't order anything on-line.

The furnace and a/c guy came for the annual check so I paid for that. And, the lawn guy came and fertilized and I paid him for that.

Not very exciting stuff, and not unexpected. But, it is sad that I don't have to leave home and still spend money.

DH is ticked because we have rabbits eating his garden. Any suggestions on keeping them out of the vegetables?

Last night we had a chance to sample 4 radishes from DH's garden. They were delicious and we look forward to having more of them as they get ready. We had some lettuce last week as well. We had a lot of rain and horrible storms Friday night. We live in the Midwest and they are still determining whether we had a tornado go through the middle of our city -- a lot of damage. We were fortunate to only have the usual limbs, twigs, and leaves blown down and no damage to the garden.

There's the standing joke about folks trying to give away zucchini. We apparently don't know anyone who wants to give it away because we would take it. We eat a lot of it.

Last year my brother gave us some cucumbers. It was hot out so I made a cucumber soup. It wasn't too bad and since it was served cold, it was refreshing.

I found this recipe for a cucumber salad. I'm going to fix it because it sounds good.

Creamy Cucumber Salad

2 cucumbers, thinkly sliced
1 t salt
1 1/2 c (12 oz) sour cream
1/3 c thinly sliced red onion
1/4 c snipped fresh dill
2 T white wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 t coarsely ground pepper

Place cucmbers in a colander over a bowl; sprinkle with salt and toss. Let stand for 15 minutes. Squeeze and blot dry with a paper towel.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. stir in cucumbers. Refrigerate, covered, at least one hour.

It has been a rather wet Memorial Day weekend. It has rained quite a bit all three days. We did manage to finally get to the cemetery today and get our flowers out for our loved ones.

This is sort of a rant, but every year I say the same thing to DH: the owners of the cemetery his parents are buried in must have seen his mom coming when she purchased their plot. She bought the plot immediately after her husband's death and it is in a very nondesirable place. It is next to a drop off with a tree so it is super shady and no grass grows so it is muddy when it rains. And when it rains, the mud splashes upon the stone. With the recent rain and humidity, moss was growing on the stone. We took quite a bit of time to clean it today before putting down the flowers. It is sad that people in the funeral industry take advantage of someone in such a time of grief.

On to other things...

We made it to the library and I did get to check out some magazines. I found a couple more recipes to try. Since I was successful with the last tilapia recipe, I'm getting bold and trying another.

Spiced Tilapia

1/2 t sale
1/2 t ground chili pepper
1/2 t caynee pepper
1/2 t dried oregano
1/4 t garlic powder
14 t ground cumin
4 tilapia fillets

Combine dry ingredients, sprinkle over fillets. Cook fillets in a large nonstick skills coated with cooking spray over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes with a fork.

Sounds easy enough, doesn't it?

DH is pretty angry right now. The carrots he planted a couple of weeks ago were eaten by a rabbit. He had hoped to get some of them at least. He replanted them today in a pot hoping the bunny won't be jumping up there to enjoy.

After supper tonight we went to the grocery store. We actually frequent two: Aldi and County Market. DH went to Aldi yesterday with a substantial list and then I make out a list for CM to fill in for things we either couldn't get, or like better at the CM.

The last couple of weeks, Aldi's bananas have been very ripe, so we have bought them at CM. I have noticed that it seems like the bottom of the bananas have seemed bruised. I kind of wondered why two weeks in a row just the bottom ones were bruised, but I think I discovered the reason.

The cashier who my husband has gone to the past two weeks is not exactly gentle. Tonight I witnessed him pretty much manhandle our groceries. He set the bananas down pretty roughly to weigh them. So I imagine we will have ones bruised on the bottom again. He basically pitched our loaf of bread to the side. I was so appalled I didn't even say anything.

To top things off, one of the local schools had their football players bagging for groceries. I understand they need money, but can't someone give them a few tips on bagging? We use reusable bags and some are larger than others. In one of the larger ones they put three boxes of tissue and something else very thin and very light. But in one of the smaller ones, they put two half gallons of milk and a bottle of grape juice, a can of olives and a couple of other heavier things. Sheesh. Everything was a jumbled up mess.

Oh, well, I told DH we are not going into the cashier's lane again. I think part of the problem is he doesn't feel well a lot of the time so he probably doesn't care. I'm sorry about that and I don't want to cost him his job, especially in our town with a huge unemployment rate.

I found this recipe we are going to try tomorrow night:

Tilapia Rice Cakes

8 oz tilapia
1/2 cup broth
1 egg, beaten
1 cup Panko crumbs
1/2 c cooked wild rice
1/4 c chopped onion
2 T finely chopped bell pepper
2 T mayonnaise
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T Worchestershire sauce
1 t lemon juice

oil


Rinse fish, pat dry. Pour broth into a 2 quarter baking dish. Bake at 450 4-5 minutes per 1/2 inch thickness of fish until fish flakes when tested with a fork. Drain and break into pieces.

Combine fish, egg, panko, wild rice, pepper, mayo, mustard, Worchestershire and lemon juice. Shape into 6 3/4 inch patties. Chill for 2 hours. Heat oil, cook patties until golden brown, about 10 minutes total.

Sure hope they turn out.

Today I worked with a fifth grade classroom and we measured out the ingredients for white bread to put in the bread machines I bought.

Personally, I don't use a bread machine anymore because I have worn out three. It is just as easy to mix the ingredients and let it rise in the baking pans. But, I don't have an oven at school I can use, so I make do.

I had everything ready this morning when the kids arrived and they asked, what are we making? Are we cooking?

It was kind of sad when I worked with the two different groups that how many admitted they had never baked or cooked anything with anyone in their family. I showed them a glass measuring cup and explained that was for liquids, then a plastic measuring cup for solids, and measuring spoons.

They washed their hands and we read the recipe. We talked about where flour comes from, and what yeast does. I acted dumb and said if the recipe calls for 3/4 of teaspoon of something and I don't have a teaspoon with that, what can I use? They had no idea. One kid said just guess. I said I had a 1/4 teaspoon and they figured out if we filled it three separate times, it would equal 3/4. I congratulated them on their problem solving.

To say that the aroma of bread baking was popular in that end of our building is an understatement.

When the bread finished baking I sliced it and buttered it and took it down to the class while it was still warm.

It didn't take long for it to disappear. I asked them to compare and contrast the bread we made to the bread they buy at the grocery store. Most of them said this was better. One said they liked that it was warm. Another said she was surprised we could make bread out of so few ingredients.

But one little gal said this, "This bread was better because it was made with love."

I stopped asking questions right there. It was a good experience and they enjoyed eating their "homework." And if it means they have a sweet memory, that's all the better.

Yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch!

OK, let me explain...our school has been adopted by a church. The nice folks at the church decided to provide lunch for no other reason than they wanted to. So, they baked cookies which were wonderful, and had sandwiches, chips, and pop and tea. It was really nice of them.

I had taken peanut butter and saltines for lunch today so they will hold over for tomorrow for sure.

The best part is these folks stayed there and visited with us so we could thank them in person.

Currently I have two bread machines whirring away in my kitchen. No, I have not gone carb crazy...I bought both machines used and need to see how long it takes to make a loaf of white bread. I intend to take them to school and make bread with some of the classes. So many of our students have no idea that bread can be baked...if you ask them where bread comes from, they say from the store. It is sad they have little concept of how bread is made.

We had our usual Sunday brunch of scrambled eggs, sausage, cheesy grits, and toast today. I have leftover sausage so it will go into another dish this week. Probably a fritatta. I have a stew simmering on the stove for tomorrow night's supper. We had leftover pork roast from last night's supper. There's enough stew for supper and a lunch or two. I figure we will have some of the bread that is currently being baked. I plan on giving away the second loaf.

Our church will be getting a vicar in June. In our denomination, a vicar is like an intern or student teacher who works for a year learning the ropes. The ladies guild put out big plastic tubs and are encouraging us to help fill the pantry for the vicar and his wife and soon to be born baby. I think it is a lovely gesture. It reminds me of when I married almost 23 years ago. The staff of the school I worked with went in and bought a toaster, a paring knife, and a recipe box and they all included recipes, then they filled a laundry basket with canned goods and nonperishables. It was so thoughtful and practical. A few years later one of the ladies I worked with was getting married and she and her soon to be husband were going to buy a house. I bought bags of groceries to help fill their pantry instead of some of the fancy cookware she registered for. She was disappointed. She was polite, but I could tell she wasn't thrilled. One of the other teachers who was like a second mom to her told me she thought it was a great gift and she would appreciate it a little later. She was correct...after they ate all the cans of soup and pasta and used most of the stuff, she went to the store and tried to replace it. She later told me she didn't realize groceries were that expensive and that was over 15 years ago. I suggested to her then she needed to check the grocery ads and buy things on sale and stock up.

The hubster has been busy in the garden. He planted herbs and has also planted green onions, lettuce, radishes, and carrots. He said he's thinking of getting tomato plants this week. Tonight it is supposed to be pretty cool, but temps are going to be in the 80s starting Tuesday.

We hit Walgreens after brunch today. They had some things on sale that I also had coupons for. A couple of things we didn't need, but decided to stock up since they aren't going to go bad. Plus, I found a couple of things to put in the pile for the vicar's pantry. According to the receipt, we saved almost $30 with specials, coupons, and the loyalty card. Other than a couple of things I bought for the vicar's pantry, everything else was stuff we use. I will never achieve the Extreme Couponing success as they do on the television, but figure if I save a few dollars here and there, I'm doing decently.

It is sunny and a lovely day for all the mothers and grandmothers to be celebrated. Hope your day is wonderful as well.

DH and I have been grocery shopping for the past two nights. We do Aldi one night and County Market the next. I usually look at the grocery fliers from both places, plan a menu, and then make a grocery list. I think we spend a lot on groceries, but we eat a lot at home and most of our meals usually have leftovers for either another meal or for a lunch or two.

A lady I know doesn't go shopping until they are totally out of everything. It's kind of odd -- she seems proud of that fact, but then admits they go to fast food places to tide them over.

She thinks I'm rigid because we have a schedule for shopping. But, I like to know we have food in the house and plan a menu.

She has admitted they are having money problems. I wonder if her pell mell attitude to shopping and cooking is also her attitude in saving and investing.

Meals for this week include:

roasted chicken tenders
scrambled eggs and grits
sloppy chicks (sloppy joes made with ground chicken)
baked turkey breast
tuna cakes
turkey (left over) and couscous

The next item has nothing to do with money, but I was highly amused. A lady I work with has a small farm and horses. One horse leans on the fence and has loosened the wire to the extent he can put his head under it, stretch it out, put a leg through, then another and another and gets out of the fence without tearing up the fence or hurting itself. And you ask, where does this traveling horse wander to? The front yard because the grass is longer and hasn't been grazed. Guess he thinks the grass is truly greener (and longer) on the other side of the fence!

I knew last night that I would be arriving home a little later than usual since I was going to attend a workshop in another town about an hour away and wondered what to fix.

It was supposed to be rainy so I thought: SOUP!

We had a little pork roast leftover from the other night. And I had some tomatoes that were getting a bit squishy, some leftover mashed potatoes, some leftover green beans with their liquid...so I sauteed an onion, zucchini, carrots, celery, and mushrooms, added some tumeric, basil, and paprika, added the tomatoes and meat and green beans and some water and let it simmer for about an hour last night. A few minutes before I turned off the heat I added this small bit of elbow macaroni that was left in the jar -- not enough for a meal, but too much to throw out.

It was a good meal to heat up and service with crackers and a fruit salad and there was enough for DH's lunch tomorrow.

Yesterday we went to the library and I snagged a magazine I had not seen on the shelves before..."Mother Earth Living." It has some cool recipes and money saving articles.

One article outlined that old fashioned cooks cook with a budget in mind. The example is they serve pot roast instead of filet because you can use a cheaper cut of meat. They use what they have and try to make things stretch.

I thought this really described many of us on SA blogs.

I found a slow cooker recipe I really want to try:

Tuscan White Bean Soup
2 cups dried white beans such as great northern
6 cups water
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup olive oil
salt to taste
1 T chopped fresh rosemary for garnish

Rinse beans thoroughly and place them in a 7 quart slow cooker along with water, onion, garlic and bay leaf. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours or until beans are tender. Remove bay leaf. Either with an immersion blender or put in a blender or food processor, puree until desired consistency. Add salt to taste.

Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary.

There's something to be said about being comfortable in a rut. There's the familiar feeling of course. And, sometimes it is easier than making a chance.

I've decided my cooking is sort of in a rut. I seem to be fixing some of the same meals over and over.

Last night I fixed a vegetable fritatta and instead of regular toast, I made French toast. It was good, DH loved it, and it was different.

I think I need to pull out some recipes and try something different in the next few weeks.

Ever notice how many bottles of water are on a grocery store shelf? And now flavored waters are a big sell.

Yesterday someone posted on Facebook on making flavored waters. I decided to use one of the recipes because I had the ingredients.

10 cups of water
1 apple cut up in chunks
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 cinnamon sticks

Mix together and refrigerate overnight.

Well, I tried it and it is pretty good. And fairly reasonable.

I was thinking it would be good if I made tea with this flavored water a d probably more reasonable than fancy tea bags or mixes.

I have been grousing most of the evening. We came home from the regular grocery store to fill in its some items we couldn't get at Aldi last night,. It was $26 for bananas, raspberries, bell peppers, lactose free milk, 3 cans of tomato sauce, and whole wheat bread.

It just seems like we got so little for $26.

One of the local food pantry's reported their giving is up 17% since so many folks are coming in for food.

I can certainly see why.

I know we can afford it, but when your bring in two small bags of groceries, one wonders how families afford to eat.

We had an inservice day for the elementary schools in my district. Every teacher had to move to another school after lunch and it seemed like all of them were trying to figure out where they were eating lunch.

I took my handy lunch bag with peanut butter, crackers, apple, and a Thermos of water. I got to the location, ate my lunch, and could relax.

I am sure by the end of the week, many of these will be complaining they are running short on money. It wasn't an exciting lunch, but saving money and not having to rush made it worthwhile.

I received many positive comments on the new hardwood floors. I will say this week has been very busy trying to get the house back in order after the installer finished on Monday. We are so happy with the new flooring and now that things are starting to settle down, I have discovered a few things.

1. This made me truly go through many of our possessions and decide, do we need to keep this? Are we really using it or enjoying it? We donated a couple of pieces of furniture, plus some rugs, household items, and some clothes. This made me let go.

2. I threw away some items that should have been thrown away before. I was raised with the depression era mentality that one shouldn't throw stuff away in case we need it. Some of these items couldn't be reused by anyone else and truly needed to be pitched. It was emotional guilt keeping that from happening. Guess the new floors made me rethink the possession.

3. I washed up everything that could be washed before putting it away or up and it made me appreciate all the nice things I own and how fortunate I truly am.


I spent part of Friday night after the weekly trek to the grocery cleaning and finishing up. I like having a tidy house and that made my evening feel fulfilled.

Part of yesterday was spent fixing some things for meals for the week. I will say planning for meals while trying to put the house back together was a challenge because I was physically exhausted, but we've come so far with eating at home and saving money, I didn't want to get off track.

Our meals for this week:

Sunday:

Brunch: eggs, sausage, toast, grits, fruit salad
Supper: sloppy chicks and chips and fruit salad

Monday:
Lunch: peanut butter and saltines and an apple
Supper: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, fruit salad

Tuesday:
Lunch: leftover meatloaf and potatoes and green beans
Supper: Beef and barley vegetable soup, cottage cheese

Wednesday:
Lunch: leftover soup
Supper: chicken tenders, sweet potatoes, salad

Thursday:
Lunch: leftover chicken tenders, sweet potatoes
Supper: vegetable fritatta, cottage cheese, fruit salad

I'm not sure on Friday yet, although I'm sure lunch will be whatever is leftover in the fridge. It is usually my clean out the fridge type of lunch so I may have a smorgasboard of this and that.

We did our weekly grocery shopping. We spent around $100. We have the same things for breakfast so I didn't include them...DH has cereal and I have yogurt and take a Thermos of coffee with cream to work. I also take a piece of fruit in my lunch. Someone told me at work they are too tired to cook after school and I said I was pretty tired too, but making things ahead after figuring up a weekly menu sure helps.

Menu
Saturday night - pork loin roast, sweet potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, green beans, fruit salad
Sunday brunch - scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, cheesy grits, fruit salad
Sunday supper - Sloppy chicks (sloppy joes made with ground chicken), chips, cheese, fruit salad
Monday - lunch - leftover sausage and grits
Monday - supper- Yankee pot roast with carrots, mushrooms, onion, and celery, boiled potatoes, cottage cheese
Tuesday - leftover sloppy chicks
Tuesday - supper - chicken stew and crackers and cheese
Wednesday - lunch - leftover chicken stew
Wednesday - supper - leftover pork and gravy, mashed potatoes, salad, fruit salad
Thursday - lunch - leftover beef and vegetables
Thursday - supper - chicken and noodles, salad, cottage cheese, fruit salad
Friday - lunch - leftover chicken stew
Friday - supper...treat...we are going out. :-)

Fortunately DH doesn't balk too much about leftovers for lunch and if I rework something for leftovers into something else, he won't complain. And he loves eating at home.