Frugal Foodie

My dh has a wonderful garden of herbs. A friend of mine gave me a small bucket and basil seeds and I started the seeds last spring. My dh planted the basil plant in the ground and has taken very good care of it. Last week I made some pesto sauce. Well, sort of. I used basil and garlic, Parmesan, and olive oil and some seasonings, but didn't use the nuts. DH doesn't like nuts.

I know I can freeze the stuff, but there was such a small amount, I just had it in the fridge when I thought, why wouldn't that make a good marinade for some pork? So, I used it on both sides as a marinade and then cooked them with that in a dish with a little olive oil and two springs or rosemary (covered) in the toaster oven. It was pretty tasty.

My dh was watching the stock market numbers for the last half hour before it closed...dropping almost 513 points...newscasters claimed it was the biggest drop since 2008.

Tomorrow the unemployment numbers come out...I'm wondering if we need to fasten our seatbelt for yet another drop. I hope not, but things are looking grim. We were watching the news and they said veterans who have returned from oversees are coming back and having problems getting jobs. One gal said she has applied for 300 jobs -- she wants to be a chef, but said she'd be happy at a fast food restaurant, just to get a job and her foot in the door.

I hope tomorrow is a better day.

A friend emailed me a link about a product that can be used to "glue" cheaper pieces of meat to sell them as pricer cuts. I checked with snopes and truthorfiction and neither had anything except snopes listed a link about it as well. If this is happening, then the meat industry to overcharging and cheating the public.


http://www.dump.com/2011/04/14/meat-glue-secret-video/









Snopes and truthorfiction didn't have any comment, but snopes did send readers to:





http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/03/meat-glue-frankenstein-mea/

A week or so ago I posted about certain grocery prices on the rise and many responded you are seeing the same thing.

Last night as we watched Suze Orman, she predicted in 2012 that things might get worse. She said if gas prices continue to rise, groceries will as well, as much as 14-40%! She said that not only does the transporting of food go up, but petroleum products are used for make plastic containers for things that we buy. I never thought of that, but she is right.

As I'm fixing stuff, I'm thinking, am I going to be doing this because I want to save money or because I have to save money?

Suze Orman suggested that people stay conservative for 2012 because she thinks things could get tight. I read in the paper yesterday that the experts are now saying the recession was far worse than they originally thought. No kidding. One of our local food pantries is giving out 100-120 boxes of food each day.

So, do you think Suze is right on grocery prices going up as much as 40%? If she is, it is going to hurt the economy even more because housing and food are necessary items and people will be using their money to buy the necessities.

We are delighted that we are getting tomatoes from dh's garden. I had requested he plant more than one cherry tomato plant because I wanted to make tomato sauce...I made 3 batches last summer from one plant, and I was thinking I could more if we had two...

Anyway, I made my first batch and it looks yummy! I'm looking forward to serving it this week over some pasta. My husband's big tomatoes are starting to come on and we are getting enough for eating for meals which is wonderful.

We had chicken wings that I baked the other night. We didn't eat them all, so I put them and some celery that was getting a little bedraggled and a bell pepper from dh's garden, and an onion from dh's garden and some of our herbs and made some rich chicken broth. I took it out to the freezer so we have a supply of that. I love having my own -- no preservatives and I control the salt.

With the tomato sauce and the chicken stock, I think I better get busy making some pasta!

It's still warm here. So, the emails are starting about the heat! OK, I had two different people send this photo to my personal email...so I say, let's start this off and have a contest and say,

"You Know It's Hot When the Ice Cream Truck Melts!"




So, what do you say?

We just finished eating a bit of ago and cleaned up. I was trying to tally the cost of the meal. I have always kind of played at doing this, to see if it was an expensive one or a reasonable one, but ever since the restaurant owner claimed no one could eat at home for less than $10 each, I do it more frequently.

Our supper was pork chops, noodles, bread, sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob, cottage cheese, and saute'd mushrooms. The meat, of course, was the most expensive item, but I believe when I bought it, they were having a sale -- I had taken it out of the freezer.

The noodles were homemade -- I made them with basil. I told my husband that it is unbelieveable how much noodles cost that are considered homemade and I made a big batch for less than a $1. The basil was from our garden. The bread was homemade -- it was less than a $1 for the loaf and we didn't eat a lot of it. The tomatoes are from my husband's garden and the corn was a gift from a friend we had over for supper last week. He brought a dozen ears and we didn't use them all. The mushrooms were leftover from something I had bought it for so I just went ahead and used them. I think I spent about $4.00 each for a very hearty meal.

A decent meal and cost effective as well...can't beat that!

Yesterday we made our weekly trek to Aldi. I had my list for the items I wanted. We then pick up the items we can't get at another store. Since the heat is so bad, we decided to go to Aldi on one day and the other store today.

I noticed that some items at Aldi have risen since last week. Sugar went up. Portabella mushrooms went up over 40 cents. Butter went up a dime. Eggs had gone up a dime about three weeks ago. Lemons went up 40 cents. This isn't the complete list, but goodness, some of these are large hikes! I realize that some of the fresh produce is often priced on the growing and harvesting season, but eggs and butter?

Anyone else see grocery prices on the rise? Do you think this is a foretaste of the inflation to come?

Last week CNBC had a program on grocery stores and/or supermarkets. Interviewed were CEO's of large ones such as Whole Foods and also a gal who owned a little mom and pop. It was interesting to hear what each thought of their business.

They talked about research done for the big chains. It said that stores that provide extras seem to bring in people for those things -- recipes, samples, even entertainment. What they also said was the average person shops 3-4 times a week and overspends because they buy things they didn't originally plan to buy.

Well, we all know if one buys unplanned for things, it can blow the budget, but I'm curious, how many times do you shop? I try to do it once a week and usually be the end of the week, my fridge looks what I term "lonely" because it is getting empty. I just hate it if I have to stop and get something I forgot.

I've admitted I'm anal. I guess it gets pointed out to me on various occasions, but I am a planner. I like things to work out. Perhaps I'm a control freak, but I just know I like to have a plan.

This has come home to me a few times this summer. We do weekly grocery shopping -- usually a couple of stores. I figure out what's on sale, what I have on hand, and then try to work out a menu for the week's meals. We do eat out, probably more than we should, but I like to have that planned because I want it to be an "social experience" instead of just eating out and not cooking. I also try to eat things that are nutritous...not a lot of fried or junk foods and watch my salt intake.

Well, I think it is causing some problems. We have a couple we go out with every so often. She rarely cooks and they eat out. A lot. A lot of junk food. However, as to planning, they are pretty spontaneous. For example, they contacted us early afternoon and wanted us to go out to eat with them that evening. We already had meat thawing for supper. I guess that makes me an old stick in the mud. I have explained that I usually plan the week's menus by Thursday or Friday night the previous week so I know for what I will purchase.

We ate out last night with a friend. It had been planned last week. We all looked forward to it and it was a lot of fun visiting as well as enjoying the meal. I like to think it was an event.

I think purposeful planning saves us money by shopping for those things I plan to use, hopefully find them on sale, and as well as having a menu so supper isn't a last minute "gotta think of something" ordeal.

So, if I'm anal, I guess it's just a fact of life. I'm sorry I am not spontaneous, but then again, I like to feel I make wise decisions with my money.

Another steamy day in Central Illinois! In fact the whole week is supposed to be miserable, with heat warnings from last night until Friday night.

Being the Crockpot Queen (I have 5 in 5 different sizes), I thought this might be a good time to put them to use.

Today it is pork roast cooked with rosemary and thyme. My husband has the herbs growing in our yard so I went out this morning and picked some and pulled an onion to go with it. I picked lettuce this morning and washed it and put it in the fridge. That and the cherry tomatoes and slicing the other tomatoes, it should be a good supper on a hot Monday. I'm going to fix potatoes in another Crockpot. I was looking for different recipes. Here's the one I'm going to use, I think:

Crockpot Sage Potatoes

Cooking spray
6 medium brown potatoes (such as Idaho or Russet), peeled and sliced 1/ 4 inch thick
½ yellow onion, diced
1/3 cup flour
4 T (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2 ½ cups heavy cream or half and half
1 t Kosher salt
¼ t black pepper
1 t dried sage
1 ½ c shredded Greyere cheese
1 ½ c walnut halves

In a 4 quart slow cooker, spray the inside with cooking spray. Put the sliced potatoes and onion in the slow cooker. In a mixing bowl whisk the flour into the melted butter. Add the cream and salt, pepper, and sage to the bowl, mixing well. Pour the cream mixture into the slow cooker and toss with the potatoes and ion. Sprinkle the cheese and walnuts on the top. Cover and cook on high for 3-5 hours or until the potatoes are tender.


I don't have any walnuts so that will be ommitted and I'm going to use a different cheese because I don't have any Greyere and I'm not running to the store to get these. And, I'm using fresh sage because we have that in my husband's garden. I'm a firm believer in using what you have.

I am perusing recipes for other slow cooker meals. I did find one for squirrel. Not being a hunter, I don't think I'll try it, but if you are interested, it is on the allrecipes.com site. I realize I try to use what I have on hand, but I'm not sitting in the yard with a ball bat waiting for the squirrel...

With the recent onset of hot weather, my husband's tomatoes are starting to ripen. We've been blessed with a few cherry tomatoes -- enough for our salads made with his home grown lettuce. But today was the day he could pick his vine ripened regular tomatoes. So far, only two were ready, but we are looking forward to tasting them.

Last summer about this time I blogged that I wanted to new stove. Well, this summer it is a new dishwasher. Our dishwasher still works, so there isn't any hurry. Yet I have found that having a savings goal helps me plan plus lets me anticipate.

My husband is a rare breed -- he carries cash and he likes to pay in exact change. As a result he often has lots of change around the house. I noticed the other day when I was dusting, that his change bowl was overflowing and there seemed to be a lot of pennies. I asked him if I could have the pennies and he said sure. Since there were far more pennies than other coins, I thought this could help both of us out.

Last night I sorted through the change and pulled out the pennies -- over $2.30 worth of pennies. I did find two wheat pennies that I saved. They probably aren't worth anything, but they aren't as plentiful so I thought it would be nice to have two of them before they no longer are in circulation. My husband is a Lincoln buff and I found three pennies that had different Lincoln scenes on the back -- minted in 2009 for his 100th birthday, so I saved those three too.

I checked my wallet and had a few pennies and some extra coins so I threw that in the bag to take to the credit union. Our credit union has one of those change things, but you have to have an account for them to use it. I also had a few extra ones. So my dishwasher account is up to $141.73 (I have added to it previously too).

I know the gurus claim we prices haven't been going up, but I have noticed an increase in many items at the grocery store, plus Illinois increased income tax this spring. It is getting harder to save for nonessentials, so it will probably take me longer to save the money for the dishwasher I want.

Yet, that is OK. It gives me more time to think about and wish for it and appreciate it when I do get it.

With the recent higher temperatures, it is time to break out the Crockpot!

I am fixing shrimp creole for supper tonight. My recipe is pretty simple.

Shrimp Creole

1 large celery stalk, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 tablepoon of olive oil or canola oil

2 15 oz cans of stewed tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
shrimp
cooked rice

Try to chop the celery, onion, zucchini, and pepper about the same size. Saute in olive oil. Add tumeric and garlic near the end so it doesn't burn. Add to Crockpot. Add the stewed tomatoes and sugar and cover; cook on low 6-7 hours. Depending on the size of the shrimp, add the last 30-45 minutes of cooking. I'm using salad shrimp so it won't take long to heat up.

Service over cooked rice.

I will admit I do cut up the stewed tomatoes so they are the same size as the vegetables I chopped, but that's just a personal preference. Other than the shrimp, I had everything else on hand. I'm sure if you wanted to make more for a more servings, you could easily cut up more vegetables and add more tomatoes or tomato sauce. I have doubled the recipe before so I could take part of it to some relatives.

I'm looking forward to a cooler kitchen tonight!

Here in the Midwest with high dew points and even higher temps, it was miserable today. Just going outside to pick a few leaves of lettuce resulted in a warm sticky feeling and I was only outside a few minutes.

My goal today was to fix something for supper that didn't heat up the kitchen -- or me for that matter!

Fortunately my husband is starting to get cherry tomatoes so that added to the lettuce and a couple of other items already in the fridge made a good salad.

I fixed pork chops on the top of the stove and saute'd mushrooms with them, and then boiled two ears of corn. I made biscuits in the toaster oven. I made a fruit salad with strawberries, blueberries, grapes, bananas and added Greek yogurt and honey -- what a cool dessert.

The other day the owner of a restaurant we go to was telling me that no one can eat at home for less than $10 each. I just smiled because he's the type of guy who thinks he's never wrong...many of our meals are less than $10 total for the two of us! So, I figured eating at home also saved money.

I'm sure glad we ate at home...it's too hot to go anywhere, that's for sure!

Cool and refreshing is how I would describe the newest dessert I made.

It's an Italian Ice made with Lemon Zinger tea. Very easy:

4 Lemon Zinger Tea Bags
3 cups boiling water
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons of lemon juice


Steep the tea bags in the boiling water and sugar for an hour. Take out the bags and refrigerate the tea and sugar mixture for at least 8 hours or overnight. Take out and add the lemon juice.

You can then put in an ice cream freezer for 30 minutes or put in a metal pan and let it freeze hard. It was very refreshing.

I found the recipe in Living Well's diabetic cookbook. I thought it was so clever I am trying it with raspberry tea bags today.

Ever have one of those nights when you have a lots of odds and ends in the fridge and hate to see it go to waste? Last night was one of those nights at our house.

I have been working through the freezer and trying to use up some of the stuff we've had awhile, and crab cakes was the winner from the freezer roulette.

The fridge had a few different items. We had green beans from the night before, baked beans from lunch a couple of days ago (we had them for two meals before this), lettuce, tomatoes, and part of a red onion, a boiled egg, a small portion of Feta cheese, leftover biscuits, a small portion of cottage cheese, leftover roasted potatoes, leftover fruit salad, an overripe pear, and on the counter...very ripe bananas.

I heated the potatoes in a little olive oil and cut up part of the onion in them. The rest of the onion I used for the salad of lettuce, tomato, Feta cheese,and sliced the egg. I heated up both types of beans, and put the cottage cheese out in a little bowl. I nuked the biscuits.

I cut up the pear and bananas into the fruit salad.

There was ample food and little of it went to waste. I think I did pitch a couple of biscuits. I had made them a couple of days before with some flour, milk, baking powder, and herbs from our garden so I wasn't throwing out big money.

Not a gourmet meal, but full tummies and a cleaner fridge were the result.

I bet we could get people to think leftovers were gourmet undertakings if we could figure out a catchy phrase for it!

Yesterday we drove to a town about an hour away to nose around at the shops. On the return trip home, we stopped at a produce stand and bought a melon, green beans, and sweet corn.

It is so exciting to see locally grown produce for sale. Our city has a couple farmer's markets and we often go to them. One, unfortunately has a stand where I think the person isn't really selling locally grown items...I noticed he had the same type of boxes that the grocery stores have to unload the stuff and it seemed to be packed the same way. After seeing this, I decided I would avoid this stand. I think that is misleading.

I like buying locally. I think it is important to support those who live near us. Plus, the food is fresh...not having been shipped for days!

We enjoyed the green beans last night at supper. I snapped them, cooked them with chicken broth and bacon...yum! I look forward to cutting into the melon and having some of that sweet corn too! Ah, the joys of summer cooking!

Happy 235th birthday, USA!

I guess for countries, that isn't THAT old, but for a human, it's kind of ancient!

I hope that you are having a great holiday...I guess I should bake a birthday cake, eh?

Last weekend the paper had a list of antique shops and there was a new one in town. For me, that's a good thing.

Years ago this same house had been the "China House" and it had hundreds of pieces of dinnerware and China. We went every so often and it was fun looking at all the different dishes. I can't say we ever bought anything, but it was always fun to look. The lady retired and as far as we know, it has been vacant. However, apparently there's a new owner and he has opened. Well, sort of.

His hours are every day and go from about 9 until 4 or 4:30. We get there after 12:30. We notice there are bars on every window and there's bars over the backdoor. Yet, the ones on the back door do have a hinge, but it is closed.

It was a comedy of errors...we get there and it is locked up. The back door has bars over it and I look in and it looks like a store room. We figured maybe you had to walk in the front door and walk around to the street side...there are no steps to the porch to the front door. Hey, I'm all for adventure, but I'm not hopping on the front porch as a pole vaulter!

So, I whip out the cell phone, OK, maybe not whip it out because I, of course, didn't have it on, like usual. So I got it out, waited for it to come on and called the number. Whipping it out certainly has more of a ring to it, doesn't it? I guess I could stretch the truth since it is MY story.

The owner wasn't there. He was off eating lunch but would be back in 20 minutes. We go do something and come back. He's at the door waiting (back door). He had the bar thingy open this time. Good thing because I'm still not pole vaulting. We could barely get in because he doesn't have it organized. There are boxes everywhere. There is a small path, but even it is an obstacle course! What a hoot! He said his helper was in jail. I didn't even ask! I wanted to, but refrained. I can only imagine THAT story.

We talked for a bit and left. I wonder if he will be ready in a month. I will say one thing...I did save money because I couldn't find anything to buy!

It is interesting that one’s high school experience can still forge one’s lifetime decisions.

For many, high school was their greatest time of life – making friends, going to dances and parties and growing up. I made friends and learned an incredible amount of the politics of society. I wasn’t in the popular crowd. I didn’t go to dances. Some of the folks who were in the popular crowd were pretty snobby. I had friends and we did things and it was OK.

I’m 50, yet I’m surprised at how some people my age are still trying to relive their high school days. Someone I work with was a wanna be, in other words, she wanted to hang with the ”in” crowd. Well, she is trying to relive this time because someone she went to school with is someone she now works with, and they are now “friends.” Yet she copies everything this person does, right or wrong, because she still wants to be what she perceives as the “in” crowd. It is kind of sad, really. This person’s “friend” is accepting of her because she is using her, not because she really likes her. How incredibly shallow. I guess everyone wants a peep or two. And this person still wants to be accepted by their “hero.”

Some folks talk about high school being the best time of their life. And I’m sure it was. It wasn’t for me, but I learned that being popular isn’t always the most important. Doing what they consider boring isn’t always boring. It is often lonely standing up for what is right. I learned that even when a school district has little money, they will save the sports program at all costs, even if it cuts into academics, and that there is a pecking order in both the student body and the faculty. I saw emotional turmoil and such hatred in those who vied for the popular status and the hollowness of those fake friendships. And one day they were friends, the next day they were back biting, venomous enemies, only to start over the vicious cycle. Yet, I saw the depth of the good people I hung with who were not considered popular – they were the ones who stood by their friends, even if it meant getting made fun of. I saw teachers fighting for what was right. There was both good and bad and so much to be learned besides what was in the textbooks.

Some of these were not fun lessons, but they were certainly life lessons.

I have been working on those homemade pie crusts. I used a recipe from Ina Garten for "perfect pie crust". I don't know if it is perfect, but it is pretty darn good. I made enough for two last week and we had quiche on Saturday for lunch. It was pretty good.

Yesterday I tried it again and made blackberry pie. I'm learning more each time I try. I think I got it a little thinner this time. The crust was flaky and good. I'm sure practice will improve and isn't it a shame my husband has to be the taste tester? :-)

Goal two accomplished...on to goal three: pizza!

I was raised by frugal parents. They had to be, as their parents had to be.

My dad worked full-time and they also has a business on the side. For awhile it was a furniture store. Then it was an antique shop. We went to sales, auctions, etc., always looking for a bargain that could either benefit us personally or their shop financially. That was years ago and my parents have passed.

Last week we went "antiquing." I use the term loosely because many of the items in these antique shops really aren't antiques. We enjoy looking at older stuff whether it is from our childhood, or from over a generation ago.

I often buy my kitchen stuff used. Last year before Pyrex and Fire King and Corningware became popular again, I decided to try and get rid of most of the plastic containers in my kitchen. I keep a few, but for personal use, I use glass ones. I found some refrigerator dishes to store leftovers, and have found some Pyrex dishes for leftovers and some small Corningware dishes to bake in. I like using them because I feel a little safer -- the BPA thing kind of worries me -- but I also just like using glass.

Most of the casseroles and glass dishes in my kitchen were bought "used". They cleaned up great and I enjoy using them. Plus, being the klutz I often am, I figure if I drop one, I'm not out a lot if it breaks.

The other day I was remarking that I was also being a recycler of sorts because I was reusing something someone else didn't want. I don't care if my Pyrex or Corningware doesn't match. I got a great deal on a Corningware dish at the church's rummage sale: $1. It doesn't match anything in my kitchen, but it holds good stuff when I put it in there.

Since most of the stuff anymore isn't made in America, I like using stuff that had been, at one point, made in our country.

In a way, I'm being green. I use and reuse these dishes. I'm not throwing out disposables. And I adopted these unwanted items. I figure I save money by buying them used, and since I'm not buying disposable stuff, I'm not constantly replenishing it so I'm also being frugal. And, if I'm cooking at home, I'm probably saving some money there as well.

I have three cooking goals this summer: 1)homemade noodles, 2)pie crusts, and 3)homemade pizza. Last night I worked on the pie crusts.

I have tried to make pie crusts and they weren't flaky and I think I didn't roll them out thin enough. I tried again last night. We are having quiche for lunch using one of them, so we shall see. I guess practice makes perfect.

I am almost ashamed to admit this, but I have never made noodles from scratch. I have three cooking goals this summer and one of them was to make noodles.

So, last Sunday, I looked at recipes, printed one off, and went into the kitchen. I mixed the ingredients, rolled them out as thin as I could, and cut them and let them dry. While they were drying, I put a chicken in the Crockpot with some vegetables and herbs to let it cook and make some broth. That evening when the noodles were dry, I cooked them in the broth and put the chicken in there. I let it simmer for awhile. I then let it cool and put it in the fridge because I knew I'd be working Tuesday and wouldn't have a lot of time to cook when I got home.

We had them last night. I wasn't sure if dh would like it, but he had three helpings so I think my noodle experiment was a success.

Yesterday I was talking to a gal who said she made her noodles and how she admired her mom's talent -- she didn't measure anything, just made a mount of flower on the counter, added an egg, water, and salt and mixed it without getting flour everywhere. She said it was a great way to fill people up on a budget and I'm thinking she is so right!

Here's the recipe I used:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 pinch salt
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 T butter

Mix, knead for 5 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes. Roll out to desired thinness and cut. Allow to air dry before cooking.

I'm wondering what kinds of things I can add to make these noodles different...

Two trips...that's how many times we've been to the library in the past week...and in my life, that is wonderful!

Being cheap and green, I prefer borrowing magazines instead of purchasing them. We hit the jackpot the other day and actually got some of the newer ones. But, even if I'm a month or two behind, that's OK. My world doesn't end if I'm reading something that's not the most current. Plus, when I enjoy the magazines, I return them and do not have to worry about storing them or recycling them.

One of the things I like to look at is recipes. Yeah, go figure, right? So, I found one with one of my husband's favorite food groups...potatoes. It's a type of potato cake. I changed it a little to make a potato casserole because I like my potatoes creamier than the recipe called for.

Potato Casserole

3 lbs potatoes peeled, and parboiled
1/2 cup milk or cream
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp seasoning of your choice
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/4 lb thinly sliced salami, ham or other meat of your choice (optional)


Topping: 1/3 cup grated cheese
1 T seasoned bread crumbs
1 T melted butter

Parboil the potatoes and mash with the milk or cream. Add the beaten eggs. Add the seasoning. Grease a baking dish and add half of the potatoes. Layer the cheese (and meat) and then top with the rest of the potatoes. Spread the topping evenly.
Bake covered at 350 for 30 minutes, and then 5 minutes uncovered to let topping brown a bit. Take out of oven and let it sit for a few minutes.

I think this could be a side dish if you don't add the meat, or a main dish if you do. The original recipe called for fancy cheese, but I used what I had on hand. I wasn't planning on making an extra trip to the store. We usually have potatoes, eggs, cheese, and milk around the house.

I wonder if it could be made ahead and frozen before baking...this might be something to try.

Our friends just left. We invited them over for dinner and birthday cake. Our friend's birthday is this week and we wanted to celebrate with him and his wife.

Last night we had another friend over for dinner. It's interesting that so many folks are no longer used to being asked. I think we, as a society, overall have gotten used to going out to see friends. I wonder if that is good or not.

We spent a little more than we would have if it had been just us, but in the long run, we still saved money by eating in. We really didn't do it to save money, but because I like to cook and I like to control what goes onto my dinner plate. I made meatloaf tonight and bought a pound of beef and a pound of sausage. I sauted' onions and bell peppers and added that to the meat with eggs, oatmeal, bread crumbs, sage, and oregano. I had enough meat to make two loaves, so I wrapped one and froze it for another dinner. I baked bread using the flour our friends had given us from their trip to Michigan, and baked a cake from scratch. It was a good dinner and I think the two guys liked the meat and potatoes aspect of it, although we did have green beans and fruit salad too.

Last night we had pork roast and I fixed a potato casserole and we had a salad and some of the homemade bread. We had enough roast left over to send a slice home with our friend with some of the leftover potatoes, and enough for me to shred to make pulled pork sandwiches later on.

I know the restaurant industry would probably prefer people eat out, but it was nice being able to relax and visit and not worry about staying too long or not having good service or even the noise of other diners.

Are you inviting anyone over soon?

Twenty-one years ago we took our marriage vows and today we celebrate that decision. I'm glad we did. I am married to my best friend and can't imagine my life without him.

Our wedding was not big. We had my mom and dad and godparents and his mom, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. We had a reception for family and friends. We married in his mom's back yard and the reception was at a local community center where my parents lived. My folks didn't have money for a wedding so we paid for almost everything but the cake -- two sheet cakes is what we had.

Instead of a fancy dress, I wore something I had. I bought the cups, plates, and flatware at a discount store, as well as the decorations. A friend and I decorated the room.

We used the money to put a down payment on our first house. When the bank asked us back then if we had 20%, they were surprised that we did. Our goal was to buy less of a house than we could afford, and fix it up and still do things.

Twenty one years later I think we did OK. We are still married, we have moved to another house that is paid for, and we can do things we enjoy.

Sometimes I wish I had the big church wedding because I see the ones on television and in the movies and think they are beautiful. But in the long run, I'm married and we are happy and I think a lifetime of love and security is worth far more than an album of pretty pictures and possibly debt if we had gone wild.

Guess I'm a pragmatist at heart.

It's true. I drive my husband crazy.

When I get on a cleaning spree, I go nuts. Then I usually move things around. I tell him that it makes things look different and new and that I'm saving money doing so. He nods his head and agrees, but I really think he thinks I'm nuts. Maybe so, but I like to change things around. I used to change the furniture around a lot just to give rooms different looks. Our old house was a little bigger and I could do that. Can't do that so much with this house. Plus, my husband doesn't handle it when I move the bed because he says he can't find the bathroom at night when he's disorientated. I get that.

Yesterday I took orange oil cleaner to the kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets, and the woodwork in the kitchen, dining room, bedroom, bathrooms, and hallway. I was thinking how it seemed to refresh the wood and make it look nicer since it was cleaned. Although I spent the money on the cleaner, I felt like I saved money by taking care of something we have.

When I was growing up my parents instilled in me the idea of taking care of things. For example, you don't jump up and down on the sofa because it makes it eventually wear down. You don't do the same thing to a mattress because it can wear down the springs and possibly put too much stress on the rails. You use coasters when you have a drink so you don't have water marks. All these items are free, but can keep things looking nicer. I use trivets when I have hot foods so I don't burn my countertop or table.

I think taking care of things also saves money. I asked my husband not to beat on the wooden arm of his chair because he was scratching it. He thought I was being mean. He sat in my chair and looked at the arm and said, "You don't have have knicks or scratches on it." Yep, I don't. I try to take care of my chair.

During my first year of teaching we put up a tree in the room. That tree was a sorry example of a tree, but it was what was in the basement. I crocheted ornaments for every student to put on the tree and then take home, and we made ornaments. I remember this one student telling me it was the most beautiful tree he had ever seen. I took him seriously and asked why that was. He said that years before his mom had put up a tree, but he and his brother tore it up and mom said she wasn't going to spend money on another tree. I wonder if this student got the point of that lesson!

I may drive my husband crazy, but at least I save him money!

I remember an old Cat Stevens' song about it being Saturday night...guess I'm aging myself a bit. But, there's something exciting about a Saturday night.

Our Saturday nights are pretty tame. We usually spend the evening with Suze Orman and Gail Vaz-Oxlade. We listen to their discussions about money and budgeting.
It's kind of nice to relax. Usually we have most of our chores done by then and can look forward to Sunday.

Poor old Cat, in his song, said he had money but nobody. Hopefully you all, on this Saturday night, have both someone to love and love you back and some money too!

So, how's your Saturday night?