Frugal Foodie

School was called off today because of the cold temps. Someone posted on Facebook that the Farmer's Almanac is calling for 40 inches of snow in February. Not sure if that is true, but if the book says it, I hope it is wrong! That's a lot of snow! Yikes!

This morning was spent cleaning. I cleaned the bathrooms and wiped down the walls. I disinfected toothbrushes and door handles and washed rugs and towels.

This afternoon was tidying papers and cleaning up different spots. I did the coffee maker cleaning thing with vinegar and water and then more water. I need to scrub the pot and I'll be ready to put a filter, coffee, and water in it for tomorrow.

DH delivers books to a shut in once a month and he did that while I was cleaning. This afternoon he took some clothes to donate to the food pantry (they have a free clothing room) as well as egg cartons. They get large containers of eggs and need the cartons to use to give them away so we always save them. It's nice we can help out with something like that. It was on his way to the mall for his 4 mile walk. It is too cold to walk outside!

Judging from the comments on Facebook, my teacher friends are ready to return to work.

Lunch today was the leftover sloppy chicks. There isn't enough for DH's lunch another day so I'm going to add some tomato sauce and red beans for chili for my lunches this week. I fixed ham and beans yesterday for tonight's dinner so he will have leftovers of that for his lunch. I also need to brew tea for iced tea. We usually have 3 pitchers going. A few years back we used to meet some friends at a local sandwich/soup shop and when we would get ready to leave, the woman would always empty her glass of ice and take a glass of their tea home. I thought maybe it was because she liked the tea so well or the blend or something like that. Nope, she said it was too much trouble to brew tea at home so she would have it for a glass later. I tease DH that he is working me to death because I seem to make a lot of tea. We chuckle over it. We drink that with our meals...far more economical than soda and a lot healthier too!

School was called today due to the extreme temps. Although not a true "snow day", we are out.

My day has been spent getting caught up on all those little projects I have put off. We have to make up these days so it really isn't a "free" day.

I read a murder mystery that had some recipes. One was called a "hot dish" and I take it they call casseroles that in Minnesota. Is that true? Anyway, I am going to copy it down and see if we like it. If so, I will share it.

Since I'm staying in, I thought I could use the ham pieces we have in the freezer from Christmas and make ham and beans. It is bubbling away and will make a hearty meal tomorrow night, not to mention a cheap one. I made chicken broth Saturday night using bits and pieces from some chicken we had and some vegetables and herbs.

I didn't care for ham and beans growing up. In hindsight, I think it was because my mom didn't add anything but beans, water, and ham. I decided to revisit ham and beans this year with the huge amount of ham we had left and worked up my own recipe. I do the whole bean soaking thing ahead of time. Then, I saute some onion in a pot with canola oil, and then add the beans, chicken broth, and ham and let it simmer until the beans are soft and the broth has cooked down to what sort of looks like a gravy. I add cumin and tumeric to the cooking as well. Served with cornbread, it makes a hearty and easy meal. I can say, the flavorings do make the difference.

Yesterday was a busy day. We went to church and afterwards came home and I fixed brunch. We buy sausage patties from an Amish bulk goods store and we don't eat them all at one meal. So, I thought instead of cooking them all, I would reserve a couple to add to my ground beef for meatloaf. After eating and cleaning up, we went to Walgreens to get a few things that were on sale. I have their card and I wonder if they notice we only buy stuff on sale.

Anyway, the rest of the day was spent working. I did housework and laundry. And I got a few of our meals ready for the week. Last night was sloppy chicks (sloppy joes made with ground chicken). The leftovers will be a couple of lunches for DH. I put beef and barley vegetable soup on the slow cooker for Monday's meal. This will give us leftovers for lunches. I also mixed up the meatloaf to bake off Tuesday night. I will add potatoes and a friend gave me some homegrown and canned green beans so we will have that. Saturday night we had a pork tenderloin roast so I used that to make pork stew. I was cutting up vegetables for the soup so I just chopped a few more. I checked the freezer and we still have frozen tilipia so that will also be a meal.

We had hit some thrift stores Saturday and found a few items for our booth. My only complaint is one store doesn't seem to wash their items so they were sticky and grimy. I spent some time washing everything. I usually wash everything anyway, but I hate it when it is filthy. I marked the items after this.

At Christmas time my church has a bazaar and we usually go to the luncheon to support the women's mission work. While there I perused the second chance room of donated items for sale. I found one of those mini Crockpots that you can take with you for lunch. It was brand new in the box for $7. I have used it 5 times already and it is handy. It keeps soup hot, but not scalding and sure beats waiting for a microwave. Hence, the reason I am making lots if soups so I have lunches.

I went to bed pretty beat last night. I am glad I have today off for a holiday to rest up. I have already fired up the slow cooker and am ready for another day.

Another weekend has come and it means I had to plan meals and then plan the grocery lists. Thursdays around here before we hit the grocery on Friday are usually clean out the fridge type meals. Last Thursday I used some leftover sausage patties, eggs, and thought I would change things up and make pancakes. I tweaked a recipe I found. This supposedly makes 8 servings so I cut it in half, but it was a hit with DH.

Old fashioned pancakes
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 1/4 cups of buttermilk (made my own with milk ans vinegar)
1 egg
Cooking oil

Mix ingredients except cooking oil. Put oil in heated skilled and drop pancake mixture by desired size. I use a measuring cup and pour it in ...less than 1/4 of a cup for each, but go with what you want. Brown on both sides. I served with syrup and fruit as well as scrambled eggs and leftover sausage.

DH was a happy boy. Plus I used many of the items we had.

Someone on Friday asked me what we had for supper, I told them and they said it sounded good. The next comment was how did I know what we would have. I told them simply...planning.

I know from reading many blogs that thre is a lot of planning going on in other homes so I know I am not alone.

Since I cannot sleep, I was looking for some articles. The new year always has a plethora of articles on saving money.

This one states there are 5 ways stores can get you to spend more money. Some of them I've seen before, but all kind of interesting and worth a second look so I can be prepared. One of them talking about the flooring and shopping carts...here I thought a noisy shopping cart was a way to drive me nuts,

But, overall a quick read and another way to prepare for battle in the marketplace: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/10/how-stores-trick-you-into-buying-more_n_4557369.html

Supper tonight was a turkey casserole made with leftover turkey, gravy, dressing, and creamed corn. Pretty tasty on a cold, winter night plus enough leftover for DH's lunch. Tomorrow night is the turkey soup I blogged about earlier.

Lunch today was potato soup I made with turkey broth and leftover mashed potatoes. I was repeatedly asked if it was homemade.

We celebrated my birthday last night with friends last night...a week and a day delayed due to the bad weather. Finances came up and it was mentioned how people don't get it on how to save money. I see it every day. And yet, the spending is always rationalized...I worked late, it is only a dollar, I deserve it...our friends said they are seeing the same thing. We discussed how few folks actually cook and how many eat out every day. We don't because it costs extra, but also, eating out no longer is special when you eat out all the time.

Before Christmas a gal I work with did a staff invite to one of the hottest home parties in our area: you pay a set fee and attend the party and then when you get there you put together meals to stuff in your freezer so you have meals available. Supposedly you get ten meals at 5 servings each. The price is about $120.

I guess I'm an old prude, but it just doesn't appeal to me. I'm sure if you broke it down, the price isn't outrageous, but one is at the mercy of the host/hostess on what the chosen meals are. We don't like hot/spicy stuff and if that was on the agenda, that would be money wasted.

I'm all for free enterprise, but personally, I'm not paying someone to chop some vegetables and cut up meat and this sort of thing. And, I kind of wonder about the 5 servings, but alas, I'm a skeptic.

I have noticed quite a few sites popping up about cooking for a month or making stuff to put in jars. Someone posted this link on Facebook today and I did look at it and it looks like it has some possibilities:

http://www.savebiglivebetter.com/2013/04/472-easy-meals-in-a-jar-recipes.html

First of all, I like the fact jars are used. I do use plastic bags, but I really prefer using glass. But, I'm also kind of liking so much isn't in the freezer. Right now my freezer is kind of full of chicken stock, tomato sauce, and turkey breasts.

Anyway, eating at home saves money and I'm sure my friends probably saved money by heating up some of the stuff they did at the party, that is, if they remember to fix it. But, do you cook for a month or make many freezer meals in advance?

We actually saw a little sunshine today here in Central Illinois...after all the snow, frigid temps, high winds, and dreary days...it was a welcome sight. We had some rain yesterday and although folks were complaining about it, it did make a bunch of the snow go away!

I was upset last night because I thought I lost my scarf. In the winter I keep one with me because cold air bothers my breathing and I often have it over my mouth and nose. I did find it...not only did the expense of replacing it bother me, I'm not sure I would find another. This one is kind of old and it does not contain any acrylic. My skin breaks out when I get around acrylic.

We went to the grocery store last night. DH had hit Aldi and got most of the items we needed there, but there were a few things we needed that Aldi didn't provide. I left in a bad mood. I know the Feds claim there is no inflation, but it seems like we get less and less each time we go to the grocery.

I wanted a new Crockpot to replace one I have. Read: want, not need. DH walks at the mall in bad weather and he found one he thought I wanted, but we weren't sure it was the right size. Maybe on new ones they list the size, but on mine which is kind of old, I could not find the size. He chose well. We went to Sears, bought it, and I used a rewards card and got another dollar and some change off of it as well. I guess what shocked me was this chain store is like a third smaller than it used to be. I knew they hadn't been handling clothes like they used to, but it was scary. I wonder if Sears will be another store filing for bankruptcy soon.

We hit some thrift stores today. It doesn't seem like they are putting much new things out. One in particular we know has a huge storeroom full of things because they take things in year round and keep things for when the specific season is upon us. Are any of you finding the same thing?

We did treat ourselves to brunch out. It was nice to get out and visit before we did our running around. I put a turkey breast in the Crockpot this morning and that will be supper with potatoes and a vegetable and some fruit for dessert. We will have something else with the leftover turkey...I like to think we get our money's worth. I usually make a casserole with stuffing and the leftover gravy. Someone mentioned to me the other day they made turkey soup so I might have to look into that as well.

Years and years ago when in college, I remember asking my mom for a hot pot. She found one on sale. I think I got it for Christmas or my birthday. Since they are so close together, it is hard telling.

I was covetous of this white metal electric pot before I received it. It barely held two teacups of hot water, but this magic little pot in the dorm room meant hot tea or hot chocolate or hot water for instant soup. And believe me, when I got one, it was well used by both my roommate and me.

Back when I was in school, we had pop machines (soda vending to those of you not from Central Illinois) and that was about it on our college campus. My snack cache' consisted of a jar of peanut butter and saltines and an air popcorn popper and popcorn. I didn't have a fridge so I couldn't have butter and didn't know about the salt with the artificial butter. Money was tight for me back then. My parents didn't have a lot either. So, having the pleasure of hot tea or instant hot chocolate was such a treat.

I believe I wore that hot pot out and by then I was out of school. I thought I wouldn't need one because I had a stove and tea kettle.

And there's some pleasure to having the tea kettle boil and whistle...but it isn't as efficient or economical as a hot pot.

So a few years ago when a store was going out of business I decided to buy a hot pot to use at home. I got quite a bit off of it and I bought a Rival because I have had such good luck with Rival Crockpots. This puppy has to be almost ten years old and I use it frequently.

I brew tea for iced tea quite a few times a week. I love a cup of hot tea so I often use it for that. When I need hot water for something, out comes the hot pot and it is pressed into service.

A friend gave us some hot chocolate mix and DH loves anything with chocolate. He shoveled around the mailbox and said he was really cold. I suggested a cup of hot chocolate and he was all for it. I return to work tomorrow and I told him how he could use the hot pot for hot chocolate himself. He was astounded it was that easy.

I love DH dearly, but he's not a mechanical type of guy. He can make toast and reheat in the microwave, but other than that, I'm not sure he feels comfortable with appliances. He was pleased the hot pot was as easy as putting in some water, plugging it in, waiting for the water to get hot, and unplug and use.

I do think it saves us money. I can't imagine buying already made iced tea. And although you can put tea bags in water and it makes tea, I do think brewed tea has a little different flavor. Plus, since it doesn't take a lot of power and time to heat water, I think it is more economical than using the stove. I know someone could say use the microwave, but I'm always unsure of heating water in the microwave. I either get it too hot or it isn't hot enough. But that's just me.

So, something as simple as a hot pot is such a pleasure. And I think I hear another cup of tea calling my name!

I live in Central Illinois. We had a snowstorm yesterday and like much of the country, we have extremely cold temperatures. Wind chills are in double digit negative numbers. Brrrr!

Friday night and Saturday were interesting in our city; people posted photos of the run at grocery stores. I guess many of them ran out of things on the shelves.

Yesterday was my birthday and we originally had planned on going out for pizza with some friends. We changed our plans with the blowing snow, cold temps, and terrible conditions. Since I had anticipated going out, I didn't purchase buns at Aldi for our normal Sunday night sloppy chicks. We had them, but I had no buns, so I baked bread yesterday. I baked small round loaves that after cooling, we sliced for buns. Not too bad and certainly pretty reasonable money wise. I did not plan on hitting the stores Friday night or Saturday just for a package of buns! We had been watching the weather and did our grocery shopping Thursday since I'm off from school.

I imagine most of you have stuff in reserve in your pantry and freezer. I know we do. We eventually would need to replenish some things, but DH was talking last night about how we didn't have to brave the craziness at the grocery stores. I like to find things on sale and stock up.

We are going to pay someone to plow out our driveway. I'm sorry, with over 8 inches of snow received, and then drifting, I am not going to shovel in weather with wind chills of -35. The hospital bill will be more than what we pay the guy to plow our driveway. Maybe that's a weird way of looking at it, but I know it will make me sick if I get out there with my asthma. DH has a little heart condition that we don't want to make worse so I don't want him out in it either plus he froze his lungs a couple of years ago and can't handle extreme cold like he used to.

Hope everyone is warm and safe.

Like much of the country, it is cold out there! Brrr!

We received 5 inches of snow over night and did shovel the driveway and sidewalk up to the front door. We did it in two stages. We went out and did half and then came in and warmed up and then went back out and finished. We didn't want to overdo it because neither of us are in the best of health.

Lunch today was leftover soup from Tuesday which was great the second time around, and sandwiches made from the turkey breast we had last night for supper. Tonight's supper was a casserole made with the remainder of the turkey. DH said it was a hearty meal on a cold night. I think he liked it. It was a recipe I came up with simply to use what I had on hand.

Turkey and macaroni

2 cups of elbow macaroni -- cooked according to package directions or however you like it, drained
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 Parmesan -- shredded
Leftover turkey -- I believe I had about a cup or so
Buttery crackers -- one sleeve
1 cup turkey gravy
1 tablespoon of cornstarch

After cooking the macaroni, drain and put to the side.

Heat up milk and melt cheeses. If it is still soupy, add the cornstarch to thicken. When it gets to the consistency you like, add turkey and macaroni and stir until coated. Add this mixture to a greased casserole dish.

Crush the crackers and add to the top.

Depending on the depth of your casserole dish, base your baking time to this -- if it is a less deep dish, bake at 350 for 30 minutes, covered. If it is deeper, add some time, but be sure it covered.

It was pretty tasty and I think adding different cheeses could change the flavor. We have enough leftover for another meal. If you don't have the gravy, I imagine you could subsititute cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup.


For lunch tomorrow we are having pork stew -- just love using those bits and pieces from the fridge and pantry to make a hearty, reasonably priced meal. It is simmering on the stove. I had turkey broth from last night's turkey, so I am using it. DH made a comment that I certainly got plenty of meals from one small turkey breast.


Stay warm!

The last day of 2013. Wow. I'm a bit melancholy simply because change is often difficult. I was thinking about 2014 and although one always hopes it will be a good year, there is always the fear of the unknown. I could go into rational and irrational fears, but I won't because it could be a downer.

Last fall we were asked at a meeting to talk about something exciting we did over the summer. People had these grandiose stories. I felt like there was something wrong with me. We didn't do tons of stuff. We did take a short vacation and although it was enjoyable, I was happy to get home. I like being at home with my loving husband enjoying the simple things like coffee in the morning, cooking, and reading. It was enjoyable feasting on the stuff from DH's garden. We had fun getting stuff for the booth and setting it up. I am not an exciting person overall. I get more enthused about going to the library than going to the mall. I like to learn.

This morning my husband left to go deliver library books to a shut in. I was straightening up the kitchen and then getting stuff ready to put in a pot to make soup. I sort of reflected on how blessed I really am.

I have a loving spouse who is loyal and kind. I have wonderful friends who care for me. I have a nice home that is warm on these frigid days. I have enough to eat, and more clothes than I really need. I have a good job. I live in a country that allows me many freedoms and rights as well as responsibilities. So, I realize I am blessed.

Looking back on 2013 it was a good year. I saved money and spent money. I learned some new things. Hopefully 2014 will be equally as good.

Our soup is basically a mixture of frozen tomato sauce I made last summer from DH's tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, basil, and oregano. I cut up some celery we had in the fridge and added the remainder of the sloppy chicks (sloppy joes made with ground chicken) we didn't eatafter having it for two meals, and some pasta shells sitting in the pantry. Economical as well as healthy!

Life is kind of like that soup I am making. There are certain non exciting things that are the basis, yet other things that make it flavorful. Hope you have a delicious new year!

The new year is quickly approaching. I don't make resolutions because I'm a realist. If I decide to make a change, I don't do it because of a date on a calendar.

I was thinking of things to do this new year. I have some projects we've been saving for. When we bought our house over 15 years ago, one thing that really bugged me was the previous owners put carpeting in the utility/laundry room. This room is where we come into the house from the garage. Why in the world would they put berber carpeting, and light carpeting at that in there? Well, I think the reason is it made it look brighter and it probably was cheap. Anyway, I know that carpeting is not clean and I'm sick of it. I want plain old vinyl in there.

Another project is I'd like the door replaced on the side of the garage. I've painted it many times, but to be honest, it is an icky looking door and I don't think it is something that would keep anyone out if they wanted to get in. Of course with all the junk in front of it, a would be burglar would have a challenge getting in.

So, now the savings has begun. I noticed in the SA columns Jeffrey had talked about the 52 week challenge and having a separate account for it. I'm not doing the challenge, but I'm on board with having separate accounts. Our credit union is great about letting us have separate accounts. We have a Christmas Club, vacation, regular savings, Golden E, and money market. The first two are pretty self evident. The Golden E, because DH is over 55, gets a little better rate of return, not that any bank or credit union is paying much, so we decided that is our house fund. We've been putting in money to save up for stuff around the house. In a few years we will need a new roof. So, we add money each month to this account for around the house expenses.

Some friends of ours complained the other day that they needed some work done on their house and weren't sure where the money would come from unless they tapped their home equity loan again. Yes, I wrote again. They think we are weird because we pay cash for stuff. Of course they think I'm cheap because we eat at home so much. We could afford to eat out a whole lot more, but to be perfectly honest, I'd rather eat at home, know where the food came from, and have leftovers. And, I know we save a ton of money!

Do you have separate accounts for things?

A friend of mine had a birthday this week. Her daughter asked what she wanted and she said how about a tea party?

As a kid I remember having a little plastic tea set and the doll and I would imbibe, but I never have been to a true tea party.

DH asked if I had tea and crumpets (he certainly watches too much T.V.) and I said no, but there were three kinds of tea and scones and sandwiches and other goodies.

We all sort of dressed up. Dressing up wasn't a prerequisite, but I think the nature of the party made us all want to. Not everyone knew each other, but we all shared the affection for our friend. It was a delightful way to spend the afternoon. I wasn't too sure because I'm not a big party person, but everyone was friendly and we talked and mingled and it was just a very civilized afternoon.

There were vintage tea cups and we oohed and aahed over them. Most were handed down from different family members.

Maybe the English have the right idea after all!

Hope you and yours had a blessed Christmas. We had sufficient to suffice and it was very, very nice!

It's Christmas Eve and I'm doing yet another breathing treatment before I change clothes for Christmas Eve services.

So, to amuse myself, I decided to open the spam folder. Talk about surprises!

I can meet my love match on match.com! Hmmm. Bet my current love match who is cleaning up after supper would be surprised! Not that I'm looking...don't get me wrong. (BTW, DH cleans up after supper...I do all the cooking. Yes, I know, I am very blessed!) EHarmony is so excited they sent me two emails within an hour. I am a very popular person for never having visited either site!

I can keep my penis size forever or so the email says. Golly, that is something I've always wanted...not. I'm female and I don't have penis envy. There's another company with the same sort of offer. Talk about barking up the wrong tree...

My scholarship application is being processed. Even better! I've been out of college over 30 years. Wonder if it is retroactive to then? Imagine the interest on that money...bet I can get my Ph.D.!

There's a KIA clearance going on just for me. Land o'goshen...they apparently don't know me well. Personally, I try not to buy foreign made cars...long story, but my dad drilled in me to buy American. There's also an extend my auto warranty one...is that on my current vehicle or the new Kia?

Two emails from the same company about a platinum credit card...Wow, they really must want me own one. I have two credit cards and that's enough for me at this point. But wait...there's more! Someone is willing to loan me $2500 quickly...might need that if I get that credit card and use it for extension stuff.

Someone is offering me a special Kohls card...I am a popular gal...over 30 spam in one day, and here's another jewel...I can learn a foreign language in ten days. No offense, but I'm having problems remembering English...ask any teacher and we constantly question our own spelling and grammar because both have been butchered so much by students.

Well, I'm gratified to know I'm such a well rounded popular individual...it is always nice to be wanted.

My breathing treatment is over so it's time to get ready for the real stuff. But, thought I'd add a little levity.

Merry Christmas!

Santa came early around here...A friend stopped by Saturday night to drop off a gift. She has told me she didn't know what to get me this year. So, a big part of her gift was quarts of homegrown canned green beans. She also gave me a quart of applesauce and a quart of tomato sauce. All of which she worked hard on canning. Talk about a thoughtful gift! We love food around here and homegrown and canned is about as good as it gets. Little to no salt and no preservatives! Yay!

We are without a Christmas tree this year. No pity please. I'm not writing this for sorrow. It wasn't planned, but time and weather kept DH from getting a live tree this year. We are OK with it. He likes a live tree, but doesn't want to get one too early because it dries out. Two weekends ago we had a big snow and this weekend it rained and rained. He went yesterday when the rain let up and the tree farm he has always gotten one had closed for the season.

So many of the folks I work with have been so ill the past couple of weeks. I had hoped I would keep from getting ill, but Friday I started getting ill. Because of my asthma and allergies everything usually settles in my lungs so I'm trying to keep on top of it with breathing treatments. But, it could be so much worse.

In the newspaper today, a person who is in charge of a homeless drop in place said they have served over 2000 unduplicated patrons. For a city around the size of 74,000, that is a lot of homeless. It certainly makes me appreciate what I have so much more.

I haven't posted for a couple of weeks. Part of it is I haven't had much to add. Part of it is I have been fighting something that apparently won. I have been under the weather and hopefully with Christmas break will begin to rest up and feel better.

I hope all of you have Merry Christmas with lots of love and joy.

Today was a bit of a spendy Sunday. Not horrible, but...

This afternoon we went to a Christmas tea at one of the major historical homes in our city. It is always nice and basically free unless you buy something or donate money. It is always pretty lovely and a good way to visit this historical home.

After that we stopped at Walgreens. A few weeks ago they had flour on sale, but had run out. DH had gotten a rain check, and we have checked off on and on, but it hadn't come in. They had it today. They also had peanut butter and tomato sauce on sale, and also some allergy medicine and there was even a $5 coupon on the allergy medicine so we did some money. I've been trying to restock my pantry has things go on sale. A few weeks ago one store had Del Monte vegetables on sale for 69 cents a can. We bought some. Then another store sold them for 50 cents a can, but there was a limit. But we stocked up and have quite a few.

After we came home I paid some bills and renewed our AARP membership.

None of this was super expensive, but it all adds up.

We had a dusting of snow this morning. It was a bit slick in spots, but fortunately nothing like other parts of the country have been having.

Last week about every meal had some sort of leftover in it. One day we had a pork stew made with leftover broth and pork. Another day we had spaghetti made with the leftover sloppy chicks. One night we had leftover mashed potatoes that I mixed with cheese and baked like a twice baked potato. And when we didn't finish that, I made potato patties and rolled them in Panko and sauted them to go with the fritatta I made with leftover vegetables and sausage. And, we finished up the turkey and gravy by mixing it with dressing for another meal. DH said he thought I got more mileage out of most of these leftovers than ever.

Hope it's a good week for everyone.

This is a snarky entry. I'm apologizing in advance.

One neighbor claims she's broke. She and hubby have full time jobs and she is selling make up on the side. I think she's taken off days from her regular job to attend functions out of state for this make up company. Their car broke down and she posted how she needs to sell things to pay for repairs.

Yet, the extravaganza is up and lit across the street. Christmas lights across the front the house as well as lit decorations and a blow up thing. She usually has three blowups in her yard.

Most of the stuff she's had, but for someone who is pleading poverty, the extra on her electric bill has to come from somewhere.

That, of course, isn't counting the decorations she's had on inside her house and showing through the windows since before Thanksgiving that are plugged in 24/7.

Am I being a humbug or being practical?

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with plenty to eat and people to love.

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful; my brother and his wife joined us and we had a good meal and good fellowship. We are truly the dysfunctional family poster children. My brother is 19 years older than I am. We have the same mother, but different fathers. He was basically an adult when I came along so we didn't grow up together. When I was a little kid he and my mom got into some fight and they didn't talk to each other after that. Forty some years later my mom dies, I call him to tell him, and since then we have tried to work on building a relationship. I know that sound weird as adults, but my mom was the type of person if I had tried to be friendly to him while she was alive, she would have made my life absolutely miserable.

I did some baking yesterday. I tried a recipe I tore out of the paper a few months ago. It is a honey sweet bread and it was pretty good. Below is the recipe if you want to make it for yourself or for treats to give away for Christmas:

Honey loaf

3/4 cup coffee
3/4 cup honey
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teapoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Slowly add the wet ingredients and whisk smooth.

Scrape batter into a greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Bake about 45 minutes. If the top is starting to brown too much, at this point, cover with foil and bake another 15 minutes. Cool 30 minutes in the pan, then tip out and cool completely on a wire rack.

I served it with some butter spread on it...yum!

Three days (not counting today) until Thanksgiving. We have a typical menu and rarely stray from it. DH and I enjoy what we have and why change it?

Hubby made our weekly trip to Aldi for our normal weekly stuff last Friday. He said it was crazy busy. Of course it was...people were buying for their holiday. He said he was glad he wasn't fighting for turkeys or ham. We had bought ours earlier and bought other stuff ahead of time before the big rush. For those things that aren't perishable, it is nice to buy them on sale and have them on hand instead of fighting crowds and searching for this and that?

Anyway, we have invited some family and a couple of friends and we look forward to their company. Which brings me to this next item. We haven't heard from this one couple for awhile. No emails, no phone calls. Suddenly they want to see us. One hates to always think there is a motive, but... Anyway, part way in the conversation there was a hint of they didn't know what they would do for Thanksgiving. The hint was brought up and then expanded actually. They have family, but really, they don't want to fix a meal. Part of me is sorry we didn't invite them. But, in reality, we don't have room. It isn't like they have no where else to go.

I mentioned to DH that a few years ago when my mom died, two different friends invited us to Thanksgiving because they didn't want us to be alone. Very kind and very thoughtful. These friends are not the ones who gave us this hint of wanting to join us. So, I'm just going to live with my guilt.

In other things, one of the local credit unions is offering a CD for 2% for 54 months. I don't want to tie up our money for that long for 2%, but I am hoping it means maybe interest rates are starting to go up a bit.

It is really cold here...well below the usual average. I'm happy to be home and warm...let's say I'm thankful!

Just got off the phone with a friend who is a retired teacher. She has been retired 28 years and we were discussing the pension system in Illinois and the changes in insurance.

She and her husband were savers when they were young and when they retired, they had investments that were decent. Her husband has since died and she has been careful with both her pension and her savings. We were talking about how the market in the years before she retired went up and down and although they didn't save vast amounts at one time, the compounding interest throughout the years certainly paid off.

A person we both worked with retired ten years ago. His pension is over double what she draws. And he put nothing aside all those years although he made far more money than she did because he wasn't always in the classroom.

Right now Illinois has some major pension problems. One of the things the legislators are looking at is possibly doing away with the cost of living raise. It isn't that pensioners wouldn't get one, but it wouldn't be compounded like it is now. This person is scared that they will no longer compound because he isn't sure how he can make it.

It is sad, isn't it? No, I'm not saying it is sad about his worry about the cola. It is sad that he never planned ahead to put anything away in case something came up. Although he draws a large pension, he cannot make ends meet and often gets a loan from his home equity to give him spending money.

I find that scary. Especially since this is someone who is educated. Yet he lives for the moment and buys expensive toys. He has made fun of me for being "cheap." He's usually making fun of me for something so it really doesn't bother me, but we figure he has quite a balancing act when it comes to paying bills. Yikes!

Educated yes, but lacking common sense. Wouldn't you agree?

This has been a busy and spendy weekend. The expenditures were planned so I'm not going to beat myself up over them, however. Suze Orman might disagree, though!

We went to concert and I had purchased the tickets last summer. Since it was in a town an hour away, we decided to make a day of it. We had received our Christmas Club check so we did some Christmas shopping, had a nice dinner out, and went to the concert. It was a fun time, although a late night. It made getting up for church a little difficult, but we did it.

Today was spent cleaning and fixing. DH raked leaves and cleaning gutters. I did some housework as well and then replaced our mailbox. Seems the neighbor kids liked playing with the door a few years ago and weakened it. It finally fell off on one side. We bought the new mailbox last week as well as new towel rack that would replace the other one that we had tried to fix with no success. I have that replaced and clean towels. I also put peeled and cored apples in a Crockpot to make apple juice and applesauce, so I think it was a productive day.

My comment about Suze Orman...we watch her most Saturday nights and usually agree with her, but we have noticed she seems to want people to do nothing anymore, except save money. Or maybe that is just what we are picking up on. We have savings and investments, and our house is paid off and we don't carry balances on our credit cards. But somehow, I think she would say not to buy Christmas gifts, but invest the money instead. If we were in debt, I would agree, but I guess I'm getting to be a rebel to some extent. We think if we have money in the bank, no debt, we should feel like we can splurge and go out to eat once in awhile, take in a concert, and buy gifts.

Watching certain shows just appall me at times.

I'm a sucker for those home improvement shows, especially when they are redoing the kitchen. Yet, people love to tear up cabinets, sinks, countertops, etc. Now, granted some of the cabinets are pretty bad, but many are just considered "out of date". I'm not saying they should keep them in the kitchen, but why not remove them and recycle them? Years ago when we bought new cabinets, the neighbor asked if they could have them for the garage. Our contractor was thrilled because he didn't have to figure out a way to dispose of them...so he left them in the driveway and the neighbors came and got them. When they have their garage door open, I get to "visit" my cabinets.

There's a new show on the Food Network with Robert Irvine about restaurant redos and they take a charter bus and run over tables, chairs, and such for the ad. Why are we such a destructive society?

I was contemplating the things I try not to throw out. A local food pantry asks for egg cartons because they get eggs in bulk and can then divide them up by the dozen so we save our egg cartons to donate.

A gal I know runs a small restaurant since they cannot sell food that was made that day at another day, they are always looking for plastic lidded containers. I save our cottage cheese, sour cream, and other plastic lidded containers for them. They take the leftovers home and don't have a lot of money invested in the containers. They also have chicken broth they give away from the chickens they cook for chicken salad so they use these plastic containers for the giveaways. She in turn saves the box tops and bread labels that our school saves.

Whenever we have clothes that are so stained we no longer wear or would donate, I cut off the buttons. I've been doing this for years and kept them in a fruit jar. I sold the jar of buttons at our booth for $4 last month. I keep one for us for odd buttons too so if we lose a button we hopefully won't have to purchase a new one.

On some of the cooking shows, they mix something up and have quite a bit left in the mixing bowl and just throw it out. How wasteful. My DH's aunt who grew up in the Depression couldn't get over this wastefulness.

Unfortunately society in general has become fairly wasteful. So much of everything is disposable. My brother said they just bought a new appliance and were talking about how appliances don't last. My mil had a chest freezer that was over 30 years old and still working...it was disposed of because the bottom rusted out since it was in the garage and ... well, the moisture rusted it out. But, imagine, an appliance lasting 30 years? I realize it was an energy hog, but still...30 years??????

A few years ago I happened upon some overripe bananas and I pulled some kids from a class and asked if they wanted to bake with me. They were grossed out about the bananas...I told them they were far sweeter than ripe ones. We made the bread, talked about using up what we have, and when it was baked, they certainly enjoyed it.

I'm sure there are many ways to not waste things...what are some things that come to mind?

The last couple of weeks are sort of in my memory, but...

Between attending a day workshop, working on paperwork for my job, doing lessons for classes, and then having to deal with an illness, I can say the past couple of weeks are a blur.

I am feeling better, but I seem to have taken a couple of steps backwards. But, I think with some rest this weekend, I'll be OK.

One of the ladies I work with put an offer in on a house. She said the people counter offered because they didn't want to owe money at closing. She was kind of confused. I told her it sounded like they were either underwater with their offer or they had used the house for home equity loans. She looked at me like I was an alien at first. I explained we have a friend who will never get his home paid for...every year he needs spending money so he takes out a home equity loan. She said it was crazy and I would concur, but that is what he does.

DH went to Aldi today and we went to the other grocery tonight. The store was having some incentive that if you spent $300 over a set amount of months, you get $10 off the next time you shop there. I wasn't spending money for that, but I guess I finall hit the mark because I have the coupon for the $10. Not a bad deal overall, if one isn't spending money on stuff they don't need.

If you are in the Midwest, don't forget to "fall back" tomorrow night.

Or so they say. By they, I mean the weather forecasters. It is inevitable, since today is halfway through October in the Midwest.

I had been drying herbs here and there to keep some available for the winter. DH decided we needed more so he brought in a bunch today and I spent a big share of the afternoon drying them and putting them in jars. I have more sage than I can probably use, but I was thinking of making gift baskets with biscuit mix in them for Christmas, so maybe I can add some sage in a small bag to use if they wish.

He picked all the bell peppers we still had, pulled all the carrots and onions, and picked all the ripe tomatoes. My kitchen looks similar to a root cellar. Which is OK.

Tomorrow while I'm at work, he's going to pick the green tomates and wrap them in newspaper so hopefully we will continue to have some ripening after the freeze.

The past couple of weeks have been very busy with work. Plus, I broke a tooth and had to spring for a crown. I have a temporary crown until the permanent one is made. That was an unexpected $821! However, the dentist did point out, it might have been a blessing of sorts...my tooth was also cracked right where there was a root and it hadn't broken off, but he said seeing where it was, if it had, I probably would have had to have a root canal, so maybe this saved me money in the long run. At least I wasn't in any pain other than the financial one.

I have a relative who asks to eat out with them at the spur of the moment. We usually turn this person down. Like many of you, I plan my meals for the week. Often I have taken meat out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge and I don't want to put it back in the freezer or waste it. He complains how they are having money problems, yet they eat out every day. Hmmm...wonder if there is connection there? Anyway, I have repeatedly told him we eat most of our meals at home. I don't mean to be rude or thoughtless, but I hate the thought of wasting food.

I did score a lovely suit at a thrift shop a couple of weeks ago. I had to hem the slacks and then had it dry cleaned since there was a stain on the slack and it was dry clean only. I normally do not buy dry clean stuff, but it was well made, and lined and I will wear a blouse under the jacket. It is for cold weather. So, with the cost of dry cleaning and the original purchase, I have a nice suit for $23.50.

DH brought in some cherry tomatoes...guess I better get busy making tomato sauce!

It's true, I have a love affair with Mason.

Mason jars that is!

I find these jars the handiest things. Yesterday I had the opportunity to make 2 quarts of tomato sauce. What handy creatures those jars are for storage.

I use them to make tea and store in the fridge. When I make apple juice and apple sauce, they serve me well.

I have one where I throw extra buttons to keep them so when I need a button, I can find them.

I do have Mason jar envy, though. We visited a friend Saturday and she has been canning up a storm. She has over 40 quarts of green beans and over 40 quarts of tomatoes. There's a jewel like quality of seeing all those vegetables in those shiny glass jars!

On Pinterest there are always great ideas for decorating with Mason jars.

When I was growing up, the mayonnaise jars were glass and my mom used them for canning. She thought she had hit big time when she went to a rummage sale and bought a case of "real Mason jars." I wonder if that is where my esteem for them started.

So, DH isn't jealous of my crush on Mason jars. He says he reaps the benefits of my using them. Plus, it saves us money by using and reusing.

So, the love affair continues!

There's an article about paying with cash costing Americans money.

Not the surface kind of answer, but the fact people are paying fees to pay with cash. I can't figure out if the gist of the article is to go cashless or just reporting. I don't trust media anymore because gone are the days when they just reported the facts...so many stories are so biased.

Here is the URL:

http://www.today.com/money/paying-cash-costs-americans-200-billion-year-8C11363366

This has been a nice weekend, but I have spent money. We walked around our downtown area yesterday. We have lots of small locally owned shops. I like the idea of supporting local small businesses. One place had 20% off things and I did buy quite a few things, but they were things I would have purchased anyway. Two things were presents so saving the 20% was nice. We also went to a local wine store. We aren't wine drinkers, but we were looking around for a nice bottle to give as a present and found one, I think, this person will like. We made our way to the grocery store and came home so I could begin supper.

Today we hit a flea market and an antique mall. We didn't spend much, but we had a nice time looking. We came home to get to work.

DH picked cherry tomatoes. I dried parsley and put it in a jar for this winter. After DH brought in the tomatoes, I washed them and went out and picked some of the onions we have left, some basil, and DH picked a bell pepper. I made two quarts of tomato sauce...that is a lot of cherry tomatoes for that much sauce!

We had sloppy chicks for supper (sloppy joes made with ground chicken) and I used half of a quart of sauce. The leftovers will be lunches for this week. But, I will now have 11 quarts of tomato sauce in the freezer. Not bad for those little tomatoes!

Today was "Take Out Thursday" at our house.

I'm not talking about buying take out by any means, but taking stuff out of the fridge and using it.

Supper tonight was a pork stew. The pork was leftover from last night. I had roasted some yellow squash with onions a few days ago, and I took some leftover fresh vegetables (carrot, onion, mushrooms, celery, and zucchini) out of the fridge, saute'd them, and used the chicken broth I had made earlier in the week from leftover chicken parts. As it simmered last night, I also added a pint of my homemade tomato sauce I had made earlier in the week as well. DH said it was very good and bet I could sell it if need be. I don't know about that. To go with the stew we had crackers taken out of the pantry and sliced tomatoes taken out of garden and we finished up the fruit salad taken out of the fridge. There was even enough to DH to have a hearty lunch tomorrow. Not bad with bits of this and some leftovers.

I did try a new recipe this week for chicken casserole. It was pretty easy and DH liked it.

Chicken casserole

1 cup of cooked chicken, cut up
2 eggs
2 cups of dressing (or stuffing)
1 tablespoon of fresh sage
1/2 cup of milk or half and half
3/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons of butter

Whip eggs, milk, and sour cream together. Put dressing in a greased baking dish. Add chicken and mix with the egg mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes (covered). Take out of oven and put butter on top. Serve. It was pretty tasty and I think there could have been different things added to it to give it different flavors. It was easy and quick. I actually used raw chicken and baked for an hour and it was great.

There's something about fall smells and kitchen aromas!

Yesterday I made applesauce in the Crockpot. Today, I am baking pumpkin bread. Although we are still a little warm temperature wise, I'm ready for fall and I noticed I had a can of pumpkin and thought, "Why not?"

So I found this recipe for pumpkin bread:


Pumpkin bread

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8.5 x 4 x 2.5 inch loaf pans.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine pumpkin, eggs, oil, water, vanilla and sugar until well blended.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice until well combined.
4. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour batter into the prepared pans.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

This recipe came from "My baking addiction" .com and I can tell you, it smells wonderful!