Frugal Foodie

The last few evenings we have been viewing PBS' program on the Roosevelts by Ken Burns. Both of us enjoy history so it has been something to look forward to as well as enjoy.

We always knew Teddy was quite the character and this biographical flick validated and expanded on this.

Intermixed were stories of FDR and Eleanor the first couple of nights since they were still pretty young when Teddy was up and coming.

FDR has always been my favorite president and I think it stems from my father talking about growing up in the Depression and how FDR took some pretty strong action to try and help people work. I know I was devastated to learn years ago that he wasn't loyal to Eleanor and it still bothers me how such a smart person can make such stupid mistakes and have an affair. Nevertheless, I think FDR is someone who battled a lot to even become president.

The historian who wrote the series as well as one who is interviewed almost broke down in tears last night talking about how much FDR struggled with polio and how much pain he was in the rest of his life trying to appear "lame" instead of crippled so he could realize his dream of being president.

Yet I still believe seeing FDR and seeing history has become more real because of my dad's stories and his history. Often times things in the past are just things in the past, but my dad told about listening to FDR on the radio and how my uncle was a member of the CCC which had a project nearby -- refurbishing New Salem, IL.

The Depression was brought about by a number of things, but some of it was unsecured debt...sound familiar? People borrowing more than they could repay...Can we see in our own not to distant history our recession?

There's a quote about those who don't learn from history will repeat it (I'm paraphrasing) and this is so true. I know the economy goes in cycles and is unpredictable. But, folks who continue to make the same mistakes certainly aren't learning from them.

As I climb down from my soapbox, I look forward to another installment tonight of the Roosevelts.

This was a busy fall weekend around our place. We did grocery shopping and some cleaning. I did get a chance to can some tomatoes. I do not have nearly as many as some of you who have posted, but DH has a small garden.

I made pork stew out of some of our peppers, carrots, and tomatoes and leftover pork. I added some zucchini and mushrooms and it was quite good. We had it for supper on a fall like evening and even had enough for a couple of lunches.

We went to an estate sale over the weekend. The person who runs it has in his ads it is a prepriced tag sale and on Saturday the prices are 100%. On Sunday morning until noon the prices are 25% off and from 1-5 on Sunday, they are 50% off. We've been to a few of these and this has always been the case. Saturday we attended and found a small piece of furniture we thought we'd like, but not at 100%.

So yesterday we left early so we were first in line and we were delighted to see the piece still there...EXCEPT the guy who runs these sales wife informed us that there had been an offer of 30% off and if we wanted to place a higher bid, we might be considered. And she hinted instead of individual pieces, we should bid on the whole set. I told her this was not what the policy had been and on Saturday the pieces were individually priced and why now a bid and plus having to buy a whole set.

I don't need a whole bedroom set. I only wanted one piece at 50% off which was more fair than the other price. This was, after all, a used set, not something purchased from a retail store. When I asked the guy who runs things, he explained they had received a bid before noon and if we wanted to leave a bid we could. I pointed out this was a change in his policy and never before was this every brought up. I even went home and checked his website and the site said all items would be sold and nothing about leaving bids or having a bidding war.

To say we are disappointed in this person's character is an understatement. He had nothing posted that he was changing how the sale would be. There was nothing about holds or bidding. It isn't an auction. I emailed him yesterday afternoon and calmly explained again that I thought he needed to post when he changes things. DH and I did not get angry or make a scene at the sale nor did I get nasty in the email. I do think it was kind of dirty what he did, but I'm certainly not going to get into a fight over a piece of furniture. It would have been nice to have owned it, because I would have sold a piece I already have. But I'm not going to act undignified because someone else didn't follow his own rules. I look at it I saved money by not buying it.

We've had a lot of rain this weekend and today was soggy as well. Wish we could share some of our precipitation with the drought stricken states out west. With the rain I imagine our tomatoes will slow down even more. DH did pick some carrots. It's funny...he had better luck planting the carrots in large pots than the ones he planted in the ground.

It was a nice weekend and it certainly flew by.

One of the local grocery stores had a penny pincher booklet earlier this month. They had coupons on stuff that went beyond the regular sale price. On three of them, if you used your loyalty card, spent $20 overall, and used one of these coupons on the advertised item, you could receive another print out for 10% off your total grocery bill later on in the month, excluding alcohol and cigarettes. Not too bad of a deal.

So, DH and I went through the ad last night since this was the week the 10% ticket was good for. We made a list and I pulled coupons for stuff. We did a little stocking up on things we normally buy anyway, but with the coupons and the 10% off, we felt we had a good deal.

Last night we hit Kroger's and Walgreens for some of their loss leaders and he went to Aldi yesterday morning for our usual shopping. I like the idea of having a full pantry and getting bargains besides.

Today after our little stock up run, I reorganized the pantry and put the new stuff in. It is crowded, but I can at least see things.

Someone posted on Facebook a photo of a wall of canned goods from someone's garden. I will admit it, I drooled. Someday I hope to be adept enough at canning and have the produce to do that.

Besides the house we have shelves in the garage where we keep some of our things. I'm getting quite a collection of things that we bought on sale or had a deal. Nothing like Extreme Couponing and their stockpile, but it makes it nice to have things on hand so I don't have to buy some of the same things every week.

A gal I used to work with used to go the store before every meal. I wonder if she still does that with three kids and a full time job. I tried to convince her she needs to look at the grocery ads and plan her shopping that way and and if something nonperishable is on sale this week, buy a couple of extra so you have them instead of paying full price next week or the week after. She thought I was nuts. I wonder if she has changed her ways.

Where do you store your extra things?

A gal at work brought in some of her extra produce this week: tomatoes, zucchini, hot peppers. The first day the tomatoes were disappearing rapidly. The zucchini also left and the peppers...what peppers? The second day? Well, one of the two zucchini was taken and most of the small tomatoes were left. I took the second zucchini since no one else wanted it. I assumed people would gallop and get the rest of the tomatoes by the end of the day.

Nope. They were there yesterday and were starting to ge soft. They came home with me and I used them when I canned some of ours. I didn't have a huge amount to can and the extra 3-4 helped. I just hate seeing food go to waste. And I like the idea of having stuff preserved in some form. I have dried herbs and frozen some tomato sauce earlier as well as minced garlic and put it in olive oil in the fridge. I imagine I will be shredding the zucchini and freezing it for zucchini bread.

In our paper was some article about a Korean official eating Ramen noodles five times a week and how unhealthy they are and what poor choices he's making. Yeah, food high in preservatives can do that to a body. I heard a Pepsi commercial saying they are currently offering their product made with "real" sugar for a limited time. I wonder if the sales are good if they will continue to offer it. I wonder if many producers will get away from the mostly preservative laden processed lines. Probably not. I'm sure the bottom line will be profits. Plus people love cheap, even if it isn't healthy.

I realize some people have to have the Ramen noodle diet due to financial issues. But when there is free food available like the produce, I'm shocked that people don't want to be bothered with cooking or preserving it. There's something reassuring to me knowing I have a few things in the pantry ready for use. And free is always good!

Yesterday in nonfiction at our library was a book by Kevin O'Leary entitled, "The Cold Hard Truth On Men, Women, and Money." I read the book jacket, sounded good, and so I checked it out.

Let me preface this with I had no idea who Kevin O'Leary is. He is a business man who sold a company that I was familiar with since I'm in education. But I didn't realize he was on the Shark Tank.

But, after reading his book, I felt like we could be friends. He's similar to Larry Winget...he doesn't hold back, but he isn't as crude as Larry.

Most of what he had to say was common sense and I am, of course, kind of partial when he said women usually make the best investors.

One thing he pointed out, which most of us on SA already know, is people who spend Monday consistently on things like fancy coffees, lunches out, will have problems come retirement time. He said the folks in their 20s and 30s who have to spend big money on fancy coffees and lunches every day will probably be working pouring coffee or serving lunches into their 70s and beyond.

I finished the book in a couple of hours so it was an easy read. Nothing earth shattering, but good validation, especially when we sometimes need that in a society that is always pressuring us to keep up with someone.

Speaking of which, we were watching HGTV today. I said to my husband shows like Love it or list it and House Hunters probably make more homeowners dissatisfied with their homes than people who don't watch them. I know I've mentioned it before how frustrating it is to see these people who never ever want to compromise and have to have everything now. I really like my house. We have spent money to fix it up. I could have lived with some of the things, but we did update and remodel. But, we didn't take out loans to do it. We did it as we saved up for it. O'Leary mentioned that in his book too...people shouldn't be borrowing money to remodel if they don't have the money available to pay it back if something comes up. He said not to look at one's home as an investment because so many times the market fluctuates and one also has to figure in moving costs, closing costs, taxes.

School is back in session and the garden is going full guns. After work and a small trip to the grocery, I made tomato sauce with some of our surplus tomatoes. Today we had brunch out, went to the library, and hit a thrift store and a flea market, and came home. DH worked in the garden and yard and I continued my quest to dry some of our herbs. Right now I have rosemary, basil, oregano, and scallions dried and in jars. A friend of mine gave me some of her half pint jars and I had purchased some small jars at thrift shops to store them in.

It was difficult going back to work after a break, especially so early. Hopefully the temps won't be too miserable in the next few weeks. Most of our schools do not have air conditioning.

I had some very ripe bananas so while I was in the kitchen, I baked banana bread. Supper was pork loin roast, rosemary potatoes, green beans from a friend's garden, sliced tomatoes, and homemade no knead bread. We went to an Amish bulk food store and I like buying small packages of different kind of wheat. I bought a small bag of buck wheat flour and used that with all purpose flour to make the bread. It was pretty good. I just cannot get over how easy no knead bread is and how reasonable it is to make...one just needs to plan ahead.

A quiet evening here...reading and watching PBS.

Over the weekend we went to eat at a fancy restaurant to help family celebrate. Although more money than we preferred to spend, we had the money and it wasn't an issue.

What bothered me was the lack of manners displayed by a couple other guests. One person demanded refills and extra bread from the server, no please, no thank you, and did not even acknowledge the server. The server was attentive so there was no reason for this.Another was just like this...and between not talking to people around them, but too busy checking their phones and chewing with open mouths, I was appalled by this behavior. I know these people were raised better than this.

I didn't think it was my place to point out the lack of manners, but I will say it did spoil a good meal sitting across from these people.

For three days this week, I had training for school. So, I was delighted to have some time for some kitchen therapy today.

Many people I know do not like cooking, but I do, especially when I have time to take my time and work in my kitchen. A friend graciously shared some green beans with us from her garden. I cleaned and snapped them and cooked them in some chicken broth I made earlier this week.

DH's tomatoes are doing quite well, so I used some of them to make marinara sauce. He brought in some onions for me to use as well as basil. The kitchen sure smelled wonderful.

Kneading dough is relaxing so I have also baked some honey wheat bread for tonight's meal and beyond. What is it about the aroma of baking bread?

Supper tonight is turkey tenderloins, mashed potatoes, green beans, sliced tomatoes, bread, and cottage cheese.

Plus I think my stress level has dropped!

We will have leftover turkey for another couple of meals and extra bread...good sandwich making and saving some money as well!

For the record, I don't collect bricks.

My husband would disagree. He swore I put bricks in the garbage bag in the kitchen. I tried to tell him I was helping him stay healthy by doing some weight lifting, but he didn't buy it.

Actually, I'm not sure what was in the bag. I don't remember putting a lot of stuff in there. We recycle as much as we can and I don't use a large amount of stuff with wrapping. I think he just likes to gripe about something.

We had another meeting with our financial adviser today. After our discussion last week, we decided to move some of our money out of money markets and ladder CD's so it is still basically liquid, but makes a little more than the pittance we are getting now. We have our money in a bank and a credit union. The credit union was great, but the bank, well, they were a pain when we tried to make a withdrawal. They wanted us to work with their financial adviser whom they called over and he said he could put our money in an annuity. We explained we didn't want it tied up like that and he said it was our best bet. We asked if it was linked to an insurance company and he said yes and how wonderful it was.

Sorry, we aren't interested! It shouldn't be that difficult to withdraw your own money. We weren't taking it all out, just part of it and the hard sell didn't endear them to us.

I've worked with our financial adviser for 28 years. He was decent to me when I had little and is still nice...it isn't the money or investments. He's just a trustworthy, kind man.

DH was telling him how we shop at Aldi, hit loss leaders at the grocery store, and how I rework leftovers. Last week we had a pork tenderloin roast for one meal, then I cut it up and with the broth from the roast, cooked it with onions, carrots, zucchini, and celery to make a stew with crushed tomatoes. After the stew, I let it cook down a little more so it was thicker and served it over rice. Three different meals from one piece of meat.

I roasted squash tonight as well as potatoes. Since they were not all eaten, I put them with stew meat and other vegetables and some leftover green beans and we will have beef vegetable soup tomorrow night. I have been freezing the leftover soup so I can thaw and heat it up on those days when I get home too late to fix something. Fortunately DH loves soup.

Our squash plant is doing quite well and I look forward to making soup from it. Anyone have a good recipe they are willing to share?

Due to the garden and a local farm stand we've had some pretty amazing eats the past few days. We stopped at a farm stand the other day and picked up some fruits and vegetables as well as using things out of our garden. Last night I reheated some leftover sausage for the meat and we had fresh green beans, honey glazed carrots, and sliced cherry tomatoes with melon for dessert. For our evening snack we had fresh peaches from Southern Illinois.

Today's supper will be our Sunday night standby: sloppy chicks, but we are having corn on the cob with sliced cherry tomatoes as sides.

We live in a subdivision, but nonetheless we often have critters. A neighbor warned us there is a groundhog around. He/she sneaked into their garage when the door was open and it was after they closed the door and were in the house they heard something rustling around in the garage. The neighbor opened the door and saw the beast and it wouldn't get out. It jumped on their car and scratched the hood, top, and trunk, until they finally got it to leave. We have seen lots of rabbits too and DH spends a lot of time chasing them. I get free entertainment watching him yell and run after them! Anyway, DH as tried spices and moth balls, but finally broke down and bought some liquid fence stuff. Sheesh, is that stuff aromatic.

I pulled up half of our garlic and minced it and put it in olive oil. Our kitchen was pretty aromatic too!

Hopefully no rabbits, groundhogs or vampires will come around!

Supper tonight manifested a "big problem" for my husband. We stopped at a farm stand and bought some locally grown sweet corn. I fixed that with DH's tomatoes (sliced) and I roasted some of his squash with his onions and we had turkey tenderloin for supper. DH said he had a big problem...he wasn't sure what to eat first!

Seriously, it was a good meal and it was great eating fresh produce. If only all our problems were such.

We took a drive today and thought we would visit a small town and buy a couple of peach muffins at the local bakery. We used to buy them years ago. Seems the bakery has closed. There was also an antique shop we liked to peruse as well. Seems it also is shuttered. Kind of a sad situation, but not unheard of down in Central Illinois. Our own city has the highest unemployment rate for the state. So, I imagine small towns less than 90 miles away are part of the ripple effect.

We have a couple of farmer's markets near us on Saturday, but one of them I don't trust. It was begin before the other, but one of the vendors told me he grew the green beans. When I bought some, he reached underneath and got a box to fill up his stand...it looked identical to the box and packing that a local grocery store chain used. The place we went today is open every day and is grown right there by the family. So, although it was a bit of a drive, it was an added benefit of our little day trip. It was a beautiful day weatherwise and as I grow older, I enjoy seeing old barns among the corn and soybean fields...far better than a shopping mall any day!

Last week when we went to the library, I ran across a book in the new section entitled, "Bargain Fever" by Mark Ellwood. It stated that paying full price is so "passe'" It was an interesting read and as I told DH about it, he wanted to read it as well. It was a pretty easy ready and pointed out some interesting facts, so I would suggest it if you are going to the library. The author explained how some high end stores have secret sales and how Americans no long want to pay full price.

As far as bargains, I think I found one the other day. A friend was having a garage sale and we went. She had two new packages of sheer curtains and they were a dollar each. Just what I wanted for my husband's den. I had bought some curtains on sale a few months back and put them up, but didn't want to pay for sheers since they weren't on sale. So glad I waited.

We picked our first zucchini and our tomatoes are starting to come on as well.

We met with our financial advisor as he did a review and a projection. He felt we were in a good place and our frugality pays off. It was nice talking to someone who "gets" it. He understands about saving money, even the little stuff. It is always nice to be validated.

It must be Thursday because the fridge is looking bare.

It happens just about every week at this time. The fridge starts looking sparse. I just used up a bunch of this and that to make lasagna for supper tonight. We had sloppy chicks (sloppy joes made with ground chicken) left over so I added some cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, Greek yogurt and tomato sauce and cooked the few lasagna noodles and made a dish of lasagna. I shredded mozzarella cheese to put on top. Not a super expensive dish to make and it should be filling as well.

We had meatloaf the other night and we had enough for sandwiches yesterday. I think we have enough for lunch tomorrow as well. We have had leftover turkey from the other night we've enjoyed as sandwiches too.

We met with our financial advisor the other day and we are scheduled for another meeting so we can go over paperwork and stuff. He wants a written budget from us. I wonder what he will think when he sees ours. We eat out some, but nothing like most. My grocery budget seems high, but then again, we eat at home a lot and I use lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. The garden has helped this summer.

Stupid commercials are getting on my nerves.

Marie Osmond’s Nutrisystem ad is like fingernails on a chalkboard (wonder how long I will be able to use that simile?). She states that one day she discovered she was 50 pounds overweight. Really? She didn’t notice it before? How stupid does she think I am? I am overweight and believe me, it isn’t something I just discovered. Sheesh!

The ad about someone checking their credit score is about as ignorant. The father said he cosigns a credit card for dear daughter and her not making payments has messed up his credit score and now he can check it. Let’s see, daughter dear didn’t pay so he’s worried about his credit score and not the fact daughter can’t handle money? Dear dad must not be too bright to cosign anyway and possibly he didn’t raise daughter to handle money.

I understand the concept of commercials…they pay for time so we can have programs and they hope they entice us to buy what they are selling. Persuasive writing at its finest.

I have a real problem with Fred Thompson and Henry Winkler using their “credibility” to sell reverse mortgages. A lot of people know these actors and consider them trustworthy. Personally, I feel like they are selling out for buck. I get the need to make money, but I wonder how many people because they like these personalities are getting these reverse mortgages?

Same thing with some actor pushing silver. He goes on with the scare tactic of how nothing is safe, but silver is and what a great investment it is. Hasn’t silver dropped lately?
I was thinking back at some commercials I didn’t dislike like the “I’m a Pepper” and Coke’s “I’d like to teach the world to sing.” Both were to sell products and I imagine they got on people’s nerves too. I used the first one as part of a persuasion lesson with some classes a year or so ago at school and every staff member informed me they held me responsible for not getting that song out of their head that day!

Well, I’ve ranted. Best way to stay away from commercials is to turn media off and go read a book!

My dear husband has a very small area for a garden, but what he does have, he makes good use of. He was delighted tonight to bring in 5 ripe cherry tomatoes. With the lettuce and radishes from his garden, it made a nice salad for our supper.

I tried a new recipe tonight called parsley potatoes. DH planted parsley and I wanted to use some of it. He liked the recipe. I found it on this site:

http://www.copykat.com/2011/09/27/parsley-potatoes/

I also made herb biscuits with some of the herbs he has planted. The biscuit recipe is simple -- 1 cup of flour, a teaspoon of baking powder, 3/4 cup milk, 2 tablepoons of may, 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Mix together and bake in a greased muffin tin. I have baked them at 400 degrees and today I baked them at 325...just extended the length of the time ... I had them with turkey tenderloins as well as green beans and it made a good meal and lots of leftovers.

We recently returned from vacation. We saved and paid cash for the entire thing. It was a bus trip with a church group and we have traveled with them before. We had a great time and some fabulous meals. We toured the Biltmore, Charleston, Savannah, and Chattanooga. It was nice trip, but I am so happy to be home. A dear friend watched over DH's garden and watered from our rain barrel and things look lush.

DH has planted green onions, carrots, and bell peppers too and we look forward to enjoying those in the future. We planted garlic last fall and hope we get a good crop of that as well. It's nice eating homegrown stuff. And eventually, it pays for itself.

Ever notice how things seem like a good idea at the time? We went for a long bike ride today. I've been wanting a bike for a long time. I used to ride one for pleasure years and years ago, but between moves and this and that, my bike disappeared. My parents may have sold it.

Anyway, I have wanted one and DH and I bought bikes and helmets Friday and went for our first ride together. He was worried he wouldn't remember how; he said he hadn't been on a bike for over 50 years.

Fortunately he did and no training wheels needed. No ride last night because it started raining yesterday afternoon.

My husband is a walker and everyone is asking him if he's giving it up to ride his bike, but he said no, just to add to his exercise. I have an exercise bike I have been using, but it isn't the same as riding the real thing on rises and pavement.

Could we afford them? Yes. It wasn't an impulse buy. And we think that the exercise will also be beneficial. I don't regret the purchase.

As for the morning, we may be sore and may regret the longer ride tonight.

It is Thursday which means I use up what we have before getting ready to grocery shop. Supper was bits and pieces. I had some dry pasta in the pantry. I had leftover sausage and tomato sauce in the fridge as well as different types of cheese. So, I put the pasta in boiling water and crumbled up the sausage and added it to the tomato sauce. I did have to add some tomato sauce to the mixture that wasn't leftovers. I mixed this together with the drained pasta and put cheese on top. I baked it for 35minutes at 350. After taking from the oven, I put chopped parsley and cilantro on top.

I picked lettuce and radishes and with a tomato I had on hand I made a salad.

Not a bad supper and easy on the pocket book!

School is out and it is nice to know I can sort of take it easy for awhile.

Of course, Thursday was my first day off and we ran like crazy people. Not because we wanted to, but things came up at the last minute. My husband's high school principal died and he really wanted to attend the visitation. The man had a long, healthy life and died at 97...it was a good way for DH to remember him and the good memories of his high school days. Plus, he saw some of his classmates at the visitation.

I think one of the best things about being off is getting to do things around the house at a much more relaxed pace. It is nice shopping for different foods knowing I don't have to rush home and fix them after work. And I don't have to have a cleaning marathon every weekend.

DH had his yearly physical Friday morning so I went to Aldi while he was out. I found turkey tenderloins which are seasonal. I grilled them Saturday night as well as grilling potatoes and zucchini so I didn't heat up the house. I was as excited about this meal than if we had gone out to eat at a fancy restaurant. They were good -- I grilled them and then added barbecue sauce right before I took them off. Moist and flavorful and enough for at least another meal.

I was teasing DH we spent big money today. Actually, we did. Our property taxes are due. But, it is nice to know I could just take the money out of savings and pay them and it was taken care of. We also put money in our different savings accounts. We have a lot of different accounts...one is our basic emergency account, we have one we are using for home improvements and we call it our new roof account at this point. We have a vacation account and a Christmas club account and then there is a basic savings account we sometimes put money in just to keep it active. Someone told us we were crazy to have so many accounts, but I explained it helped us plan for things. We know we have a certain amount of money for vacation so if we didn't save enough, it means our spending stops and we don't do as much or go as far. We have a Christmas club so we have a set limit to spend and aren't tempted to spend more. Actually, DH uses half of it for Christmas and half of it for my birthday since my birthday is less than 12 days after Christmas. Of course the same friend who was telling us we didn't need all these accounts is the person who eats out at least once a day and puts everything on a credit card. Think I'll keep my multiple accounts and pay cash.

Is it just me, or does it seem there are a few new blogs that don't make sense? It seems like they have been copied and pasted from other places and one had an incomplete sentence at the end. If so, what is the purpose of this?

Happy Memorial Day!

How blessed we are to live in country that appreciates our veterans and the sacrifices our veterans have made to keep us free.

It has been a beautiful holiday weekend. Yet another blessing.

We took flowers to the graves yesterday. At my husband's dad's, a local veterans' group puts flags on each grave site of veterans so it was pretty heartwarming to see all the flags blowing in the breeze. Where DH's parents are buried, I think the cemetery didn't sell them a very nice plot. It is under the tree, uneven and the soil is very claylike. Grass doesn't grow there and when it rains, mud splashes up. We try to keep it clean, but we don't go out after every rain. I guess it was just a matter of taking advantage of someone when they were in grief.

There is something so satisfying about cleaning house and having things put away and orderly. I just finished cleaning and I like sitting here admiring how nice it looks.

DH is out working in the yard. We had some radishes and green onions from his garden last night. We are going to have some tonight too with our salad.

Speaking of radishes, how do you eat yours when you eat them raw? Both our families always ate them with salt, but a friend eats his with butter.

Hope you had a wonderful holiday.

After a dreary, wet week in the Midwest, today is absolutely glorious. Warmer, but not hot, and sunny. The plants seem to be saying, "A little sun on this leaf, and here too!" I like seeing the sun outside the kitchen window -- it is like a natural pep pill.

DH is out in the yard, his favorite place. He mowed and is trimming.

After church I fixed brunch of scrambled eggs, sausage, and pancakes with fruit. I cleaned up the kitchen and then put together dough for rye bread, cooked some pasta for a cucumber dill pasta salad, and thought I better use up some cherry tomatoes.

I remembered having a recipe for marinated tomatoes so I dug around and found it. I didn't have as many tomatoes as the recipe called for, so I used less of everything else too, but look forward to enjoying this dish. DH has planted herbs and green onions so I'm thrilled to be able to use some fresh ingredients.

We normally have sloppy chicks on Sunday night, but unfortunately our Aldi has been out of ground chicken. So, tonight I'm fixing a pork roast and will use the leftovers for pulled pork sandwiches. I thought the pasta salad would be good with it as well.

The pasta salad is easy. I don't have a true recipe because we had it a year or so ago at a tea room and I tried to recreate it. I cook some pasta and normally use whatever I have on hand. Depending on how much pasta, I thinly slice a cucumber. If you like cucumber, lots and if you can take it or leave it, less. I then toss with some mayonnaise and some dried dill and chill.

The marinated tomatoes:

4-6 large tomatoes cut into 6 wedges each
2-3 green onions, chopped
3 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons of fresh basil
3/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar

Mix the vinegar and oil together with the sugar. Pour over the tomatoes, onions and herbs. Refrigerate.

I'm sure if you like other herbs you can use them. I don't use a lot of salt so I don't add it, but if you like salt, you can probably add it while you are mixing it up.

I also made some sun tea. I like taking it in a Thermos in my lunch for a refreshing drink.

Another sunny Sunday in my kitchen!

There's a little ditty going around through email talking about an older person going through a grocery check out and how the young cashier told her she didn't know about being green and then it talked about growing up reusing stuff and returning bottles, etc.

Ah, gone are those days.

I saw on Facebook last night where someone posted about how could it be easier to have petroleum products mined, refined, sent to a manufacturing plant, and then the product sent to store where on buys it, uses it, and disposes of it...and the question was is it truly easier to do this than to wash the metal spoon and put it away.

Amen.

As many of you, I take my lunch. I take my utensils too. I have an old set of flatware I use just for that purpose. We bought a new set a number of years ago simply because we had so many spoons and knives go missing it was difficult to set the table.

DH and I were talking about what we do to try and save things, not only for frugality, but because it makes sense for the environment.

I go through a ton of kitchen towels to save on using paper towels. I often use dust cloths and I bought one of those mops that you can put the liquid in and reuse the pad by washing it.

We use cloth napkins for our meals. We use our dishware and I store stuff in glass. I take my coffee in a Thermos and do the same with water and iced tea. (My lunch bag gives me a work out with the glass and Thermoses, but oh well.

We try to use cloth bags for groceries.

We recycle as much as we can. Our city eased up on some of the requirements and take more types of plastic. The other night DH said he wasn't putting the garbage out because it was so windy and we had so little because so much had been recycled. The recycled bin, on the other hand, was pretty full.

I have a love affair with Mason Jars. There, I've said it. I have bunch of them. I started buying them at thrift shops reasonably priced and buy new lids. I use them for a ton of stuff. Right now I have two outside for sun tea. When I have leftover coffee I put it one and put it in the fridge for the makings of iced coffee. When I make chicken broth that I know I'm going to use within a day or two, in the Mason jar it goes.

I think I'm torn between trying to do what is right for the environment as well as save money. Why would I want to waste things?

So, are you green?

Where, oh where, is the weekend? It seemed like it was just Friday night with the anticipation of the weekend showing ahead. It is aleady Sunday night and I'm preparing for work tomorrow.

My dad used to quote this to me: "Saturday night is my delight and so is Sunday morning. Sunday noon comes much too soon, and so does Monday morning." I have not looked it up, but what a very accurate saying.

Our weekend flew. It was fun and the weather was delightful so that made it even better. We went to Arthur and Arcola where are small towns by us and looked around. We stopped at the Amish run bulk food store to stock up on a few things, and we browsed some different shops. Other than the bulk foods, we didn't spent a lot, but had a delightful time. We ate at a buffet called Yoder's which I don't believe it totally run by Amish, but it does have some Amish cooks and the food although not a huge selection, is quite tasty. We met another couple and had a nice time eating and visiting.

Today was church and then home to eat brunch. I had enough leftovers for two lunches. We had sausage, pancakes, and scrambled eggs and fruit salad for dessert. Last night I had snapped green beans, made a fruit salad, and made sloppy chicks because we planned to run around today. It was nice coming home this afternoon knowing all I had to do was heat up the sloppy chicks for supper and making a salad. While I was heating it up, I chopped vegetables and added my homemade chicken broth and some stew meat to the slow cooker. I have an eye doctor appointment tomorrow after school and I wanted to make something in the slow cooker so it would be ready. DH, fortunately, loves beef and barley vegetable soup, so that is what I put together. I made it in my huge one so we will have leftovers for lunch and possibly enough to freeze.

Last night I froze what we had leftover of pork stew. The pork stew was made of leftover pork roast and some vegetables. We had enough for supper and a lunch and still some leftover.

Since we don't eat out very much, it is a treat. Last night was fun not only because we ate out, but also because we met some good friends. They are like us...very frugal and she cooks a ton and they eat leftovers too. We know another couple who are to point they eat almost every meal out...they are the ones complaining they don't have money. No kidding.

Well, I guess I better get back to my school work. Monday will be here before you know it.

It is has been a hectic couple of weeks around here. School has kept me quite busy and then Easter. Last week we received a call saying the flooring guys would come Monday to lay the vinyl. On Saturday we received a call saying the carpeting came in and they would also lay it so Saturday afternoon and evening was spent moving stuff to prepare the areas.

We were concerned that our house would be torn up for days with work in 3 rooms. Two are small, but still...

We received a call saying they would come at 1 p.m. on Monday. DH and I looked at each other and figured they would come, deliver the stuff, tear up a room and leave.

The three rooms were the laundry room, a very small bathroom, and a bedroom. The first two were vinyl and the second was carpeting. The guys unloaded and the next thing we knew, all three rooms were torn up.

Yikes...but we were pleasantly surprised...the guys worked until 8:30 and finished everything. I'm probably going to offend some folks here, but not once did I see them take out their cell phones to check to their messages!!!!! Could it be they decided it made more sense to be productive?

Anyway, we were delighted and my husband gave them some money to get some food on the way home. It has taken the past few days to get everything in place, but we are extremely pleased. We have lived in our home for 16 years and we have replaced all the flooring. Some of it needed to be replaced before we did it, but we always save up and pay cash for it.

Last weekend before we moved everything I decided to try and organize my kitchen a little better. I checked out books from the library and studied them. I can say I was frustrated because these pantries and drawers looked perfect, then it dawned on me if they were being photographed for a book, of course they were show room perfect. DUH! Anyway, I have some things to donate and my pantry is a little better organized. I also re-seasoned my cast iron skillets since I was cleaning and organizing. I have decided that my pantry will not look show room perfect, but it works for me. Plus, many of my items aren't in perfect containers. I have many of my pastas in jars to keep them fresh and bug free. I do use my pantry and it isn't for show.

I saw a recipe on Facebook for making zucchini chips. Slice them thin, mix with 1 T of olive oil and salt and pepper, bake at 450...sounds yummy. I just happen to have some zucchini in the fridge so I think we will be trying this.

I had to share this chuckle before I write anything else...the neighbor was complaining that is seems like her kids' school is always sending home something for them to buy. I chuckled because every time these kids have a fundraiser, this parent sends them over to us to buy something...I believe the irony was lost on her, but I did get a chuckle out of it anyway.

We hit a bunch of different stores this weekend. Two are our regular haunts, but there were things on sale at others that we wanted, so we stopped and bought there as well.

I made out my grocery list for this week and planned the weekly menus:

Sunday brunch: scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, fruit
Sunday supper: sloppy chicks, salad, chips
Monday: chicken tenders with barbecue sauce, baked potatoes, green beans
Tuesday: pork tenderloin roast with carrots and onions, fingerling potatoes, green beans
Wednesday: pork stew made with leftover pork, carrots, onions, potatoes and zucchini and celery added.
Thursday: Salmon patties, cous cous, green beans, cottage cheese
Friday: Quiche made with leftover sausage, salad

Lunches will be made up of leftovers. I had scrambled eggs, sausage and pancakes leftover for two lunches.

Walgreens has eggs for 99 cents a dozen and they had canned salmon on sale. For Easter dinner we are going to have a ham; one of our extra stops was to buy a small ham before they are all picked over. Hence, so many stops.

DH planted onion sets yesterday. He had hoped to plant lettuce, radishes, and carrots today, but it rained pretty hard around lunch time today and things are kind of muddy. We don't have a huge garden spot, but DH uses what he has and I think it really helps with the grocery bills. We are starting some herbs from seeds too. Are you planting a garden this year?

Just typing the title makes me chuckle. It goes back many years ago when the rage was getting those electric warmers and buying those wax things to make your house smell nice...long before Scentsy...which was then a step up from buying dried leaves, buds, and flowers and soaking them in water and warming on the stove. A friend of ours wanted to know what that good smelling stuff was and we told him potpourri. He, though, to be the weirdo that he was, would pronounce it POT pooree. OK, I digress.

Another busy week at work, but that is OK. I did have some random thoughts this week.

We have a mix of ages at work. We have some young staff who are in the 20s, then we have a couple in the 30s, and the age goes all the way to 67. We have one gal who is near 50 and loves to brag that she wears her high school daughter's clothing. I've concluded that the fashion industry truly hates women. The whole skinny jean or skinny pant is one example. We have some gals who are not heavy or overweight, but when they wear these skinny jeans, it shows bulges and lumps and makes them look odd shaped. We have some who are wearing tights and are wearing either shirts or very short minidresses and there isn't much left to the imagination. Then there are those of us who are overweight. Recently there was an article in the paper saying that plus size teens are finding it difficult to locate age appropriate prom dresses simply because they aren't being made. I am not in the market for a prom dress, but I can tell you finding clothing if you are short and overweight is very difficult unless you want to wear stuff that is either ill fitting or huge designs. And I could go on about how much more clothing costs for women than men, but that is another post. Sheesh!

We hit a few flea markets and thrift shops yesterday. We didn't buy a whole lot, but it was nice getting out in the sunshine.

DH has been cleaning up the yard. It has been a hard winter for us and the yard and trees and bushes have taken a beating. But he did come in and tell me some good news! The garlic we planted last fall is coming up! Hope springs! He is now encouraged and is planning his vegetable garden.

We try to hit the library every week. Like everything else, our library has had to make budget cuts. As subscriptions to magazines run out, they aren't being renewed so the magazine selection is dwindling, but I'm still happy to read those that I can. Not only does it save us money, I feel like borrowing and returning the magazines also is a way I don't waste resources by having to figure out what to do with magazines. We get the AARP magazine one and I recycle it when we are finished, but I just feel like it is wasteful to have a ton of magazines.

On the new book selection at our library, I found one called "The Working Class Foodies Cookbook" by Rebecca Lando. It must be a popular one because the stamp says the library got it in July 2013, but I saw it Saturday for the first time.

It has a lot of common sense stuff that I already incorporate such as making my own stock, baking bread, etc. It also reminded me to get up and put the dough together for No Knead Bread.But it sure is nice to be validated. Especially in the past few weeks with some of the comments made about me.

One person told another that I was the frugal one like it was a bad thing. Another made a comment that I must be cheap to always bring my lunch. But this week it seems like the tide is turning. I attended a meeting and like usual, brought my lunch. Someone said she needs to start bringing her lunch since her husband has gotten on her about her spending. Another woman said she and her husband realized they have no savings and had hoped to take their family on vacation this year so she was going to scrounge for snacks at her desk. I kept my mouth shut...I could have given them ideas, but they didn't ask so I didn't offer. As the year progresses, perhaps they are thinking of saving since with the end of school coming, paychecks stop.

DH is itching for spring to get here because he wants to start his vegetable garden. It seems like spring is delayed with our below normal temps. Today is sunny which has lifted many spirits around here.

We don't have a coin jar like many of you on this site, but I have a bank and when it gets heavy, I empty it. I usually ask DH for pennies from his change bowl and he gives them up and usually other change too. He's going to take it to the credit union and put it in savings. I don't get a lot of change because I don't buy a lot of stuff on a daily basis, so it takes a long time for me to get very much change. It's a painless way to add to savings, that's for sure.

There are some weekends where we rarely buy much except groceries and then there are weekends like this one! Yikes!

Kohls sent a 20% off card which I've been waiting for. I need a new pair of sneakers. No, not want, but need. Mine are over two years old and they are hurting my feet. I really wanted to find a new pair and get not only the sale price, but the percentage off. That was accomplished Friday and then we went to the grocery store.

Saturday was expensive, but not unplanned. Staples had an ad last weekend for 15% off one item. My printer ink needed to be replenished so, used that for that as well as took the empty cartridges back for a refund. Then we hit Lowe's to buy a few things. Last spring we had hardwood floors put in. I really like them and want to keep them nice. So, we bought some hardwood cleaner. We've used it before and like it so wanted to keep using it, but needed to replenish it. DH needed a new garden tool. The one he had cracked last year and was not repairable. We also bought a few odds and ends that we needed, but had put off buying since this store is aways from our house. We have also been looking at replacing the vinyl in our laundry room. Former owners of the home decided to put carpeting there. Why anyone would put carpeting in a laundry room that is also the go between the house and the garage is beyond me. We have lived here over 16 years and we have been replacing things as we can afford them. Since the room is small and we will have a bunch of vinyl left over, we are going to ask about having the remainder put in the small bathroom and kill two birds with one stone. The guy in flooring was really nice and suggested vinyl tile because it was more economical, but DH and I are not handy, so it is better to spend the money and get it done correctly.

Our local Penney's is closing in May and they are having 40-70% mark downs. I did buy four curtain panels at 60% off to replace some of mine. I am sorry to see yet another business bite the dust in our city; we have the highest unemployment in the state and it seems more and more businesses are shuttering their doors.

Part of me shudders to think of the money we have spent, but then part of me wants to keep things maintained as well.

We did peruse a store with home decoration items yesterday too. We had no intention of buying anything, but like to look around and see what is out there. As we walked out, DH and I said those were some nice things, but so much higher than flea market and thrift store prices. Guess we didn't help that particular store, but such is life.

The past few weeks have been busy and stressful. My principal had knee replacement surgery and due to state testing coming up, there was a lot of work that needed to be completed paperwork wise before the actual testing. Besides the testing, other things were coming due and much of this has become my projects. I'm not complaining. I don't mind pitching in and helping out. But, I come home so exhausted and weekends are spent catching up on domestic things as well as working on school things.

I met someone who is truly someone who doesn't get it finance wise. She thinks she knows all. But it is sad. She gave me some career advice that was both unwanted as well as unnecessary -- I should become an administrator to get more money...that's where the money is. Well, yes, in the way, it is. But, to me there's more to taking a job than the money. Especially one in administration. I have the degree, but I decided that the stress of such a job would do major harm to my health because I am a worrier. Besides, to be a great school administrator one needs to be a leader who can motivate people to do things and know what is right for students. It's more than money.

Anyway, this gal was telling me how she knew she had to make more money so she wouldn't have to eat cat food. This was pretty laughable since she drives a newer Mercedes, has expensive clothes, has a very fancy manicure, and apparently likes to eat at fancy (read expensive) restaurants. Cat food indeed.

So, stress has been on the menu and I need to relax. But I thought I would check in...I have been reading posts here and there trying to keep up with everyone. Hope spring is coming and things slow down a bit.

It's another cold, winter Sunday in the Midwest. We received snow on Friday, a dusting last night, and the forecast for tomorrow is freezing rain. I'm saying it: "UNCLE!" I think we have about a foot of snow on the ground from all the snows. Our driveway is treacherous with snow over the ice.

OK, enough feeling sorry for myself. We have power and heat and we can still get out if we need to. We attended church this morning.

Brunch was scrambled eggs, sausage, and pancakes. DH was a happy boy. I have enough leftover eggs and pancakes for a lunch this week. Supper will be sloppy chicks and there will be leftover for a couple of lunches.

We hit Walgreens today because they had Maxwell House coffee on sale. DH said he read that coffee prices will probably go up since there has been a drought in Brazil. I normally wait until coffee is on sale anyway, so I have been waiting. I don't drink a pot a day, but I like having some every morning so I did get some while it was on sale. Our local paper had an article on a local business that roasts coffee beans and how they serve specialized coffees. I, apparently, am not a coffee prude. On Saturday I make a little extra and on Sunday I just microwave a cup before going to church. I'm sure the coffee experts are just cringing. I rarely throw out coffee...if I make too much, I often put it in the fridge and serve it over ice for iced coffee. Maybe I'm just a cheapskate. I just hate to waste stuff.

A few years ago I attended a conference and they served coffee and hot tea. With the tea, they even served little jars of honey. I love honey in my tea! So, I grabbed one and used it, but kept the little jar. It has come in handy when I take my leftover pancakes because it has a nice metal cap that seals. I put a little honey in it so I can put it on my pancake at lunch. See...I really hate to throw things away!