Frugal Foodie

I am finding it difficult to believe that April is almost over. I'm not really sure what has happened with this month or even the "new" year so far, but boy, time is just flying by. Perhaps it is my age that makes it seem like this.

I've been staying busy doing things around here. I thought I was so clever today -- I planned to vacuum, dry mop, then wet mop the hardwood and vinyl and vaccum the two rooms with carpeting, and why not kill two birds with one stone and put one of those charcoal masks on my face. Well, all that labor made me perspire so now I'm trying to cool off so the mask will harden so I can peel it off. I guess the term "Epic Fail" would ring true.  Oh, well. The charcoal mask was a freebie that came with something else I bought. 

DH planted green onions and they didn't pop up last week due to cold temps and snow, but are really peeping out now which is good. We usually do two or three plantings through the growing season. 

We donated some things to a local thrift store. It used to be you could donate 6 days a week, but due to Covid, they only have 3 days and two different times in order to donate. But, it was nice getting rid of some things. Hopefully they will be good sellers and bring in money for our charity that runs the thrift store.

My church is hoping to have a rummage sale in June. Normally they have a luncheon and offered baked goods, but cannot this year for obvious reasons. I certainly hope we do make some money to give to the charities our Ladies' Guild wants to sponsor. Last fall, since we couldn't bake cookies for our cookie walk, and baked goods to sell, we were asked to donate what we would have spent on the ingredients so our Ladies Guild at least had some money to donate to a couple of charities because as I understand it, many of them were feeling the pinch of not getting enough donations. I am doing the PR for the sale so hopefully we will gets quite a few customers. 

Well, that's basically my life in a nutshell. Hope yours is going well!

Yesterday was a very spendy day for me. A couple of years ago when I renewed my driver's license, it was just the same way as always. A couple of months later, the state decided to institute the "real id" and it was to be done by October 2020 if you wanted to fly and didn't have a passport. Well, Covid struck, DMVs were shuttered, and so we waited for things to open up. Last fall, the DMVs opened up, and DH had to renew his license, and so we got the documents together and he got the real id. I was waiting for things to calm down since there was so much catch up, but then our governor shut down the state again and so I waited. Yesterday I decided it was time. I had a free afternoon. Darn good thing, because it took the whole dang afternoon.

I had read online what I needed and I headed to the county clerk's office to get a certified birth certificate. Cha ching...$23. So, went to the DMV to stand outside for over an hour and then 20 minutes inside before I was getting to see a clerk. I laid out all my paperwork only to be told that I needed a certified marriage license. So back to the county clerk's office and another $23 plus parking. Then back to the DMV to wait in line again. I guess I sort of understand why we need all this stuff, but to be honest, $46 for two pieces of paper to prove I am who I say I am, and it kind of makes me wonder if someone is getting a kick back or something.  Oh, well. That's done and I await my new license coming in the mail. 

We had a quiet Easter. We did attend Easter service and DH told me what he wanted for Easter dinner. We were fortunate to find a very small ham, and I mean very small. That being said, it still made for 4 meals, the last was today. DH likes ham a whole lot more than I do. It is OK, but I think from years before my gall bladder surgery of ham and pork making me sick, it kind of reminds me of that. Anyway, we finished up the last of the Easter leftovers today. We did our grocery shopping this morning and other than the normal stuff we buy each week like eggs, dairy, bread, and fruit, we did not need much. That is always good. 

I continue to work on making scarves for our church's knitting group. I am about out of yarn and will need to get some. I have some leftover pieces of skeins that I plan to use to crochet dish cloths. Last year we donated over 200 dish cloths for Christmas baskets for a food pantry. 

For my last birthday, a friend was generous to make us breakfast. That was better than any other gift I could think of because I certainly don't need anymore "things." So, I have a friend who is having a birthday tomorrow and I'm baking him a cake. He is helping take care of his mother so I doubt if anyone will think of a cake. I already checked with him and he said that would be great. 

Last fall I canned. A lot it seems, at least for us. The challenge was to find storage for all the jars of this and that and to be honest, we had some of it sitting on open shelves. I figured we weren't going to entertain so who cares if they are out.

Well, we've used a lot of the stuff I've canned and now I have empty jars. Fortunately I can store them somewhere besides the inside of the house.

We've bought other things with glass jars and my husband is always kidding me because I save them all. Well, you never know for what you are going to use them. We like honey and I have some smaller jars that are probably around a pint. Not a canning jar, but a jar. Well, I wanted to share some orange marmalade with some friends and they were perfect. I warned them due to the canning lid shortage I was giving them jars of the marmalade that had to be put in the fridge. But I sure prefer glass jars to plastic ones. 

I figure this is a good way to reuse something over and over. And to be honest, I just like jars. Guess I'm weird.

A few weeks ago I happened upon 3 books at a thrift store for 50 cents each: "The Tightwad Gazette," and the next two volumes. So, for the sum of $1.50 and tax, I had all three books. Normally I get books from the library, but our library has been getting rid of older books (I'm not happy about it either), so they do not have these books. 

I just finished reading them. Yes, I realize they were set in the 1990s, but some things still ring true. I honestly think a lot of the things we discuss here on SA would make Amy proud. 

One thing she mentioned was although when things were no longer tight as far as money, she continued being frugal because it was so ingrained in her lifestyle. I think for most of us, we would say the same. 

Now that I have finished them, I plan to donate them to a thrift store and hope someone else can get some good from them. I think for less than $2, I derived a lot of pleasure of learning some new things and having some things validated.

DH and I spent a big share of Saturday and Sunday working in the yard.

Let me make myself perfectly clear, I am not a yard person. I get sunburned easily, have allergies, and basically am not a happy camper. Yes, I wear a floppy hat and long sleeves. 

Anyway, we did get quite a bit done. When we moved into this house almost 23 years ago, the front had these ugly bushes with white rock around them. DH wanted to plant flowers, but rocks are not condusive to growing plants. We hired a friend to add garden timbers in front of this so he could plant some flowers. My friend was the kind of guy who always did everything exactly right. There were some garden timbers around the other side of the yard. Well, 23 plus years have taken a toll on the wood. We decided to pull the timbers and get rid of them. DH sawed them into small pieces to dispose of them. Except I think my friend must have buried the posts halfway to China because I couldn't find the bottom of them. Of course digging around plants makes it dicey to find the bottom. We decided to leave them. We had some limestone pieces we moved and that meant digging up the bottom pieces since it had sunk into the dirt. And those puppies were heavy pieces to begin with.

Well, two afternoons and we got them moved. We figure we saved about $1000 not hiring someone to do all this. It's not perfect, but works. 

We wanted to get it done before planting season because instead of flowers, DH has planted herbs in that area. Our Oregano comes up each year, but he plants others on each side. He had to trim the Oregano since it was starting to creep into the yard since the former rotten timbers no longer provided a barrier. 

We did wind up spending about $26 on bags of top soil becasue we had to fill in the areas where the bottom layer of limestone pieces were that we dug up. 

If nothing else, not having rotten timbers decaying does make the area look better. 

Last year my yard work was helping DH with the "dwarf" burning bushes that were over 12 feet tall. Sure glad he didn't buy regular size burning bushes years ago! LOL They had gotten away from him, so we spent days and days trimming and cleaning up the stuff. Other than our sweat and sore muscles, it didn't cost us anything. 

Just for the record, though, I'm not a good weekend warrior. I was ready for bed at 6 p.m. each night. LOL

Yesterday was frustrating. I read many of the blogs, but the site would not allow me to comment, told me try later, only after going through what seemed like a zillion of those recaptcha images. Egad.

The weekend wasn't an adventurous one by any means. Basically stayed around home. DH is a clothes horse. I noticed he has been wearing the same few pairs of slacks over and over and I know he has quite a stack. Well, he said he didn't want to disturb the pile by getting them down off the shelf. But, he has two shelves in his closet and he's tall enough he could be putting stuff on the top shelf. So, I suggested we go through his slacks and then put some on the top shelf. He tried on every pair. He found some don't fit or he doesn't like the way they fit. I will wash them and we will donate them. He had a bunch of balled up shirts he uses for his yard work, so I washed them all and folded them. His closet looked so much nicer and he can now wear other slacks because he can get to them. Of course that made me look at my closet. I went through it and pulled some things to wash so I can donate them too. I threw away three blouses because I had been using them to work around the house and they were just plain nasty. I think straightening the closet always makes me feel like I accomplished something.

We had our first small salad with our Aerogarden lettuce on Friday. I teased my husband it couldn't get mush fresher -- I picked it, washed it, dried, and tore it in smaller pieces for the salad and we ate it. 

I have been working on a small quilt project. A few months ago I bought a quilt top that had to be hand embroidered. I finished that and have been working on hand quilting it. I have not quilted before so it was a learning experience. It is a throw, so it isn't huge. I finished it and even with the mistakes, I'm a little proud of it. But, I'm glad it is finished because I want to go back to making hats and scarves for the knitting group at church. 

It rained over night and we needed it. Our lake is low so this precipitation is a good thing and I'm a happy person it isn't snow or ice. We had warmer temps this past week -- in the 50s -- so I think people are getting spring fever.

We had to have the plumber out and am awaiting that bill, but we have the money to pay. Other than that, just keeping up with the day to day expenses. My credit card bill was lower this past month and I think part of it is because we haven't spent as much on groceries. I have been trying to use a lot of what we have and making things stretch. Tonight is the third seating of the huge pot of vegetable soup. It started out with a beef roast and potatoes and carrots for the first meal, then after we had that, I used the leftover beef, broth, carrots, and potatoes as a starter for vegetable soup. What we have left from tonight will go in the freezer. The roast was kind of expensive, but if we get five meals from it, I think we did pretty well and it is far cheaper than eating out. Maybe even far healthier. 

I have been trying to learn to quilt. I started this project a few months ago. It is a throw and you embroider the top, then quilt the thing.  Although I have enjoyed it, it's been long enough that I'm sort of getting tired of working on it. Because of the close work, it tires my eyes and makes my fingers sore. I will be glad when and if it gets finished. I hate to not finish it and go on to something else because I don't want it sitting around taunting me. 

I keep checking online to see if there are canning lids in our local stores. I think I have enough for our own perosnal canning, but I normally give things away too, and if I don't have the extra lids, I don't think that is going to happen. Right now some of the stores have the cases of jars with rings and lids, but honestly, I do not want to buy more jars. I have plenty as it is. 

My church is doing this Red Letter Challenge. It is a workbook that has something for the 40 days of Lent and challenges. The Red Letter is about the red lettering of Jesus' words in the Bible. One of our projects (I skipped ahead) is to collect items for our local women's shelter. There are two places that house women and children who are either homeless or need to find a short term place to stay due to domestic abuse. One of the items requesteed was underwear. When I heard that, I thought, why didn't I think of that? Who would want to get used underwear, even if it has been washed? So, I'm trying to search out places to find reasonably priced underwear that we can buy that will be easy to take care of and sturdy. 

Last summer we found an Aerogarden at a local thrift store. It had one box of 3 pods with it unopened. It was for herbs. After our garden herbs froze, I decided to start these. Well, I guess the seeds must have been too old. Nothing happened. So, I used some leftover lettuce seeds and they went to town! I purchased three more pods to put with it, and if they grow as much as the original ones, we should be doing well for lettuce for some small salads. I'm kind of excited because that was the real reason I wanted the Aerogarden in the first place. So, all in, not counting the leftover lettuce seeds, I have less than $30 invested. I looked online and the same one lists for over $100 new. 

As you can see, this is one of those posts that has a lot of this and that. 

It's darn cold. And then another four letter word is also in our forecast: snow; they issued a winter storm warning for 6-10 inches.  I'm not a winter person, especially when it is this cold and then snow on top of it. Just hoping everyone stays safe. I'm scheduled to give blood tomorrow and I can predict if we get more than a few inches of snow, I will not be going. I know they need blood, but our road crews have not been good about keeping the roads cleared and I don't want to get stuck out somewhere on the way. Extreme cold and extreme heat bother my asthma. 

I may have mentioned that DH and I really like British mysteries. Awhile back we subscribed to the streaming service Acorn TV and have really enjoyed quite a few of their programs. I was looking the other day and I found one that wasn't a mystery, but look intriquing. It is called "Wartime Farm." It is a documentary by two British archeologists and one historian who live for a year as if they were running a farm during WWII near Southampton. My parents grew up during the Great Depression in the United States and of course told me about the war shortages and ration books here; well, after watching some of these episodes, the U.S. had it made compared to the English. The English before the war were having to import 2/3 of their food so when the war came and food supply chains were cut off, the English farmers were told to step up and grow more. Many had to get rid of their pigs and beef cattle because you could feed more people with plants than animals. The government stepped in and basically told the farmers what to plant and how much and if the farmers didn't meet the strict standards, they could lose all or part of their farm. I could go on and on, but it has been fascinating. I have one more left in the series, and I can honestly say I have really enjoyed it. I learned a lot. If you don't have Acorn TV, you can also find these on YouTube. There's also a book I guess. My library doesn't have it so I won't be getting to read it, but just an FYI. 

The interesting thing is I went to the library and checked out a murder mystery, British of course, and as I was reading, they mentioned "Lumberjills" which were women who cut trees in England since many of the men were off fighting the war. I had just seen an episode of "Wartime Farm" and it talked about the Lumberjills. 

One thing I really am enjoying is the creativity people had to use to make use of things that were originally cast off.  I think our world would be a better place if we recycled and reused more things. DH laughs at me because I'm always saving glass jars for this and that, but although I can recycle them, I really like having them around. I know I'm probably nuts, but I always thought soft drinks taste better in a cold, glass bottle, and I think milk does too. 

It's Valentine's Day and hopefully you have been greeted and remembered. DH and I exchange cards. I'm fixing a pasta dish and baked garlic bread to go with it for our Valentine's Day dinner. The beauty is these will probably make an encore performance later this week in some form. 

If you are in the path of bad weather, hope you are safe, warm, and cherished. 

Not a whole lot of new stuff to report. Been doing the cooking/cleaning/crafting circuit mostly. 

I am spending more and more time in the kitchen it seems because for some reason, we eat. OK, kidding aside. In order to keep things moving along, I am challenging myself to try and do different things. For example, yesterday I made orange marmalade. I had some extra oranges and two extra lemons and a box of pectin and some sugar, so why not? I was pleased with the results. I'm trying to make things that are healthy too. DH loves to snack after supper so I made an apple crumble so the topping was made with oatmeal. Not low calorie, but he doesn't need to watch his waistline and he would eat something sweet anyway, so figured I was helping him eat a little healthier. I made rye biscuits yesterday just to see how they would turn out. We had some with the beef stew I made yesterday and heated up for tonight's supper.

You wouldn't think with just the two of us I would need to clean as often, but it seems we tend to track in way too much stuff. Plus I'm kind of partial to clean clothes and sheets and towels. 

As far as crafting I have a big project, well for me a big one started. I bought one of those embroidery kits for a throw that after you embroider, you then quilt. I finished the embroidery part, now I am doing the quilting part. It is a bit pricey, but I am learning something different so I figure it might be worth it.  I can only do it so long before my eyes get tired. I loom knit and crochet some too. I have six scarves made for my church group. I'm trying to use up yarn I have and yarn the church has so I don't go out and buy stuff. 

I paid some bills today and was pleased we have a bit of a surplus as far as cash. Sometimes I worry that I've forgotten to pay something, but I look back and see we are where we should be. Maybe because we aren't going out and doing a whole lot it is saving us money. 

Illinois is one of the states that participates in the MegaMillions Lottery tickets. Sad to say, we didn't win. Of course, we didn't play either. I guess some lucky winner in Michigan will be the next millionaire. DH turned to me last night when they announced where the winning ticket was sold and said he bet that even if we won a jackpot like that, I would still shop at Aldi and clip coupons, and reuse bread bags. You know, he's right! He said being frugal is ingrained me and I don't doubt it. 

This week was spent doing things that are in effect, taking care of things. I have a few pairs of shoes that were expensive and are leather. I spent some time using some shoe cream on them and polishing them. One is a pair of ankle boots that I cannot even remember how old they are. They don't look perfect, but the fact that they look as good as they do I chalk up to using this shoe cream/polish on them. I know when I went in a year or so ago with a pair of leather shoes, the salesman recognized them as being quite a bit older and asked if I wore them a lot. I said yes, but I try to take care of them. He said that was the key. 

Twice a year I use a cleaner and polish on my wooden kitchen cabinets. They are 16 years old which probably isn't really old, but my kitchen gets a work out with all the cooking, baking, and canning I do. 

I have a couple of pots that belonged to my grandmother. I don't know when she got them, but I know they are at least over 60 years old. I wash them by hand. I try not to let them get scratched or burn stuff in them. It's amazing how quality stuff lasts when you take care of it. I have a Pyrex dish that also was my grandmother's. It still looks pretty nice. I have a set of wooden handled steak knives that are over 30 years old. They still look great because we hand wash them and I treat the handles with a special oil so they don't dry out.  I'm going to say that taking care of stuff also saves money because I don't have to buy a lot of new stuff when the older stuff keeps going. 

These are just a few examples of good maintenance. Do you have something you've taken care of that still looks and works great?

I haven't been eating from the pantry like many here on SA, but I have been making meals stretch. We stopped at Aldi on our way home the other day (not our normal shopping day) and bought a whole chicken so I could put it in the Crockpot. We have gotten 4 meals from it. The first night I just served some of the chicken and put cous cous, green beans, homemade bread, cottage cheese, and a fruit salad as sides. We had chicken salad one day for lunch. Then I used some of the broth as well as the chicken to make a decent pot of chicken and noodles. One time for a supper and one will be a lunch. I still have some broth leftover which I put in the freezer. I figured that was a good use of that chicken! 

I had found a pan that you make 6 small Bundt cakes at a thrift store. I washed it up and found a recipe on Pinterest. They turned out pretty well. DH has enjoyed them, and I gave two to a friend at church for her birthday since I figured she shouldn't have to make her own birthday treat and gave two to another friend as a way to support her since her sister is being in Hospice. I know the cakes aren't a solution, but just wanted her to know she is being thought of. I had everything I needed for these cakes in the fridge and pantry so no grocery shopping needed. 

Since we have been eating at home so much due to no indoor dining, I have tried to make different things and stretch our food budget as much as possible. I canned as much as I could this summer and fall and as glad as I am to have these items, I'm seeing so much of it dwindling. I guess that is good; it isn't going to waste, but then being the worry wart that I am, I hope I don't run out of stuff before the next gardening season. One good thing about DH is he never says no when I have purchased something for the kitchen. Our kitchen isn't huge by any means, but it is far larger than  the one in the house we bought when we first married. Some of the items like pans I have to hand wash and he's been good about helping me dry dishes and pans. He has discovered that I have stacked and nested things a certain way to make sure things fit in the cabinets. He's learning my system which is a good thing. 

For Christmas I gave away a lot of the jams and jellies I made over the summer and fall. I also made fudge and cookies to give away. I have a single friend who doesn't like to cook, so every so often, I make extra as far as our meal and take it over so she has a hot meal. She eats some of those frozen dinners and sometimes she just eats cereal. I would invite her over, but with the Pandemic, need I say more? I wear a mask when I do the drop off. 

I pulled some vegetable soup I made a couple of weeks ago from the freezer. We had two meals off of it before I froze the remainder. It will be our supper tonight. I baked herb biscuits while the bundt cakes were baking; figured if I was going to have the oven on, might as well make it work for me. DH was pleased because he likes lots of rolls, biscuits, and breads. Fortunately he has the metabolism that he can eat these and not gain weight. 

Well, that basically sums up my frolics in the kitchen the last few days. I guess it is good that I like to cook and bake. Hopefully my friends agree. 

Looks like 2021 has finally gotten here. 2020 was a challenging year on so many fronts and I think most of us hope that the new year is far healthier. 

One thing I noticed before Christmas were so many of the advertisements and emails and messages is how many claimed people deserved to buy this and that because "you deserve it" after the year we've had. I wonder how many succumbed to the persuasion. I have a friend who does subscribe to that theory, and has for years and then complains how he's running out fo money. 

I don't know if we deserved it or not, but we did trade cars. We felt we were treated fairly and got far more for our 8 year old car (only 35K miles) than we expected. We got a three year loan simply because we owe for nothing else and wanted to help our credit scores. 

That was the big news as far as finances for us. We continue to eat at home -- we really don't have a choice since Illinois only allows take out and to be honest, as much as we would like to help the local restaurants, after you order, go pick it up, bringing it home, reheat it, and then clean up, it just isn't worth the expense and trouble. 

My birthday is Tuesday and to be honest, it is going to be a little bit of a challenge. I'll be 60. It's weird, 40 and 50 didn't bother me, but for some reason, 60 is. One of my friends who has self taught herself on baking and decorating cookies brought some she made over; what a pleasant surprise. A far better one than the two we had this morning -- 6 inches of snow (we were to get a dusting to an inch) and no power for a few hours. Fortunately we did regain power. Hopefully the snow will melt in the next couple of days. 

Let's hope that 2021 is a wonderful year for all of us!

Two days after Christmas and well, you wouldn't know it to see our house. Yesterday DH took down his live tree. It had been up 3 weeks and it was starting to get dry and wasn't taking up much water. This afternoon I took down my tree and put away the rest of the Christmas decorations. I am going to miss the little twinkle lights on the trees; they seemed to make the rooms a little nicer on those gloomy days, but I wasn't going to leave stuff up. We put my tree in the sunroom and I had to pick a day where it was sort of warm to take off the ornaments and lights and garland so I wouldn't freeze. It's done and the house seems a little bigger.

One sad note is I broke an ornament. It wasn't valuable to anyone but me, but it was one my mom bought me years ago -- remember when Campbell Soup would let you buy an ornament and a calendar each year? Oh, well. Life goes on.

I paid some bills and noticed our electic and gas bill had gone up. I think it is because we had some colder days and the heat ran more, but I also think all those lovely twinkle lights probably contributed towards it. 

Leftover ham tonight for sandwiches. Then the rest will be freezer bound so I can make ham and beans at a later date. 

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are happy and healthy!

Merry Christmas to you and yours. As I type this, it is Christmas Eve. We are looking forward to Christmas Eve services -- we had to make reservations since we have a limit of how many can attend and we will socially distance and of course wear masks and use hand sanitizer both coming in and leaving. But, at least we have some sort of normalcy and can attend church. Easter just didn't seem like Easter when we had to worship online. 

We have two couples are friends with and this year we made homemade stuff for each other. I gave them banana bread and some jellies and jams. We got candy and a pumpkin pie from one couple. One couple gave us huge loaves of homemade bread. One was wheat and one was dill. I went to town finding ways to use these breads just to change things up. We sitll have part of a loaf in the freezer. But, what great gifts -- something we can use and enjoy and everyone used their talents.

Hopefully we will end December on a positive note financially. Last month was a good one for our investments, Hope December is likewise. 

DH and I have a Christmas Club account and we put money in it every month and then we have cash to spend. We do go all out since we pay cash for stuff. We ask each other what we want and I try to surprise him with other stuff too since he usually just says he wants clothes. I know I'm getting a couple things to replace some things in my kitchen -- I have a Crockpot that is about 25 years old. It still works, but the handles on the outside are starting to break. I looked into replacing them, but they don't make them anymore. So, I picked out a new one in the same size. I am also getting a counter top oven to replace the toaster oven and counter top oven that I have which are old and beat up. The counter top oven I bought to use at school when I baked with the kids and other classes borrowed it as well. Well, it looks like it has been well used. So, shiny and new is coming my way. 

Hope you and yours have a lovely Christmas!

Another cloudy day in Central Illinois. I think this is what makes winter so difficult, the gloominess. We won't mention the cold and the frozen precip, but...

I guess the cloud cover tends to make me feel a little blue. I have no reason to feel that way. 

The past couple of weeks have kept me busy delivering stuff for our church's group. In the past we went as a group to deliver hats to schools and non profits, but this year, I did it solo. I delivered hats and scarves to a school, then delivered dish cloths to a food pantry as well as some food and some hats, baby hats to a local hospital, baby and kids' hats to a health care group that works with those in high poverty, hats to our local cancer center, fidget sleeves to a nursing home, and cup cozies, candy, and beverage mixes to our local police department. We didn't make as many hats this year due to not being able to meet, but many of the ladies continued to work at home. Our totals are as follows:

Hats: 1089

Scarves: 291

Baby Hats: 132

Dish cloths: 210

Cup Cozies: 72

Fidget Sleeves: 18

I also dropped off some presents to some of our friends. Most were put on their porch. I delivered them when the weather was milder so stuff could sit out for a bit. I finished wrapping DH's gifts yesterday. He loves Grape Nehi in bottles and our local Cracker Barrel had 4 bottles in their gift shop. I will admit, I chickened out. I put them in a gift bag. But they and a few other items are under the tree. 

It's hard to believe Christmas is a week away.

I started some holiday baking. Here's a recipe I developed. It's a quick one. 

Chocolate Coffee Muffins

2/3 cup milk

5 T butter, melted

3 Tablespoons of freshly brewed coffee

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup sugar

1/2 bar baking chocolate chopped ( I used dark chocolate)

1/3 cup baking cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 to 2 cups flour

additional sugar for topping

Muffin tins with cupcake liners

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Mix wet ingredients together. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients to the wet. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more milk. 

Put into cupcake liners in your pans. I used an ice cream scoop to try and make them all the same size. I sprinkled some sugar on top and baked about 18 minutes or until the toothpick came out clean. 

I think this could be changed up by using different types of chocolate or even chocolate chips. My husband doesn't like coffee, but he likes stuff made with coffee. 

Hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving. It was a quiet one here, just the two of us. Our Pastor asked if we had a quiet one and I said, especially since my husband doesn't talk very much when he's eating. Pastor laughed out loud and said he was a kindred spirit.

I can't say we've honestly saved a lot of money the past few months. It seems although we aren't going anywhere on short trips or anything, other things have come up. Unexpected dentist bills and I needed new glasses -- mine were five years old and it was time -- I wasn't seeing very well. Currently our governor has said no indoor dining and although some places are offering tables outdoors, I don't like to be windblown or get super cold while trying to eat, so we aren't even doing that. We did some of the take out last spring when he instituted this rule and honestly, by the time we got the food home, it just wasn't as good, even if I reheated it. So, I'm on KP until further notice. I know our grocery bills have gone up because I have been trying to make different things so we don't get bored eating the same stuff. We did have a wild outing last week -- our grocery store choices are limited here in our city so we drove 45 minutes to Springfield and went to a large store where they have other things that our stores do not carry. It was kind of nice finding some things we like that normally cannot get. I have gotten more creative as far as reworking leftovers. I try to cook things that make more than one meal not only to save money, but also so I can save myself some time. 

My Christmas shopping is finished. Other than a few items I ordered online, most were purchased locally. I know a lot of people love the online shopping and convenience, but I guess I'm old enough to not care for it that much. Plus, I like to support local retailers. I just mailed over 50 Christmas cards. That was an ordeal -- addressing them all. For those I don't see either in person or on social media, I wrote letters in the cards. The U.S. Postal system ought to be pleased I bought so many stamps, right?

I have one more delivery for our knitting group at church. We made over 1,100 hats this year. Yes, that is less than the past couple of years, but honestly, the fact we hit over 1000 with the fact we didn't meet for months is amazing. Most of the ladies worked at home on hats.  Three schools were "adopted" and we also made 130 for a local group that puts together packages to send to soldiers. We included scarves and also bought 130 tuna packets to go in their boxes. We made some to give our cancer center for them to put out for patients to take too. We made over 200 dish cloths to go in food baskets that one of the food pantries gives out for Christmas and we also gave some to a women's homeless shelter as well as took some food there too. I need to sew buttons and beads on to some fidget sleeves and drop them off at a couple of nursing homes. So, take that Covid 2020 -- you didn't stop our group, Stitches of Love! Our ladies' group at church isn't having their holiday bazaar. We normally sell cookies by the pound and usually make quite a bit of money that we use for missions as well as other baked goods and gently used Christmas items. So, it was suggested that we donate the money we normally would have spent making the cookies and baked goods to the ladies' group so they have some money for some of the missions they support. So, other than some baking I plan to do to share with friends, most of my big Christmas stuff is done. I do need to wrap and mail two packages which I hope to get done this week. But, I have the stuff already so that shouldn't be an issue. 

I finally decided to go through two piles of papers in my area. I call my little room the bear room because I have some teddy bears there. I used to collect them. I gave away three fourths of them, but I kept some that had the most emotional hold. So, instead of my office, it's the bear room. I have a bad habit of letting papers pile up thinking I'll get to them later. Well, later was today. Yay! Lots went to the shred pile and some to recycling and my pile has diminished. 

So, that's what I've been doing. Nothing exciting, but it is the day to day living we all experience, right?

Hats, hats, and more hats! At least that is what it seems. We had our final meeting for the church looming knitting group last Thursday. Our totals are as follows:

Considering we don't have a huge group and that many were hampered due to the Pandemic, I thought that was a goodly amount of hats and scarves. The school district we normally give the bulk of the hats to is on remote learning so we are dropping some hats off, but are looking for other places that can use the hats immediately. We have been creative. One group is another church that puts together boxes to send to soldiers. We have been making hats and scarves in military colors (as requested by the group that does the boxes) and I will drop the 130 hats and the scarves off as well as some food to put in the boxes from our group. Some of the hats will go to the kids who are a part of the court appointed children's advocate since their workers see their kids in person. We did give some hats to a high school that is doing hybrid learning; the principal is a friend and I asked if he could hats and he said yes and gave me a count of which kids he figured would honestly wear them and needed them. We plan to give hats and scarves to a woman's shelter as well as the healthcare center that sees low income families. The whole purpose is to provide something new for these folks and hopefully help them get through the winter. The local TV station has already started the yearly coat drive so hopefully they will have hats, scarves, and coats for the winter.  We also are giving hats to the local cancer care center for them to put out for people to take and use. And the baby hats will go to the local hospital for the staff to give to parents to take home and use. 

I need to get into church and count the dishcloths. We were given a bunch of dish cloth cotton from another church and another lady and I worked on making those. We will give them to a local food pantry to put in the Christmas baskets. Hopefully all the knitting, looming, and crocheting will provide things for our community this year.

Throughout the year I worked on different Christmas gifts too. I did some embroidery on some towels for a friend who likes towels. Instead of Christmas towels, I did winter so he can use them for more than just Christmas. I also embroidered some napkins for friends who the husband is an amazing cook and they like to have the family over. I crocheted a bookmark for a friend in her favorite color. Another friend likes crocheted dish cloths so whatever yarn I have left over from this and that, I make a bunch to give him. 

It's a very blustery day here. It's in the 40s temperature wise, but the gusts of wind make it seem far colder. Glad I can sit here at my computer in a cozy house and drink a cup of tea while I write my blog. Hope your day is going well as well.

Currently we have weather that is above normal in temperatures and it has been so lovely -- sunny, warm, and replete with fall colors. I guess that is going to change tomorrow as a front comes in. Hope we don't get bad weather out of it.

I am trying to stay positive and think of things that I like doing that doesn't make me feel like I'm missing out on stuff due to Covid restrictions. I've concluded that my kitchen is my happy place. 

I know this summer I spent an awful lot of time canning and preserving stuff. I know I have a love affair with food and I've decided I'm going to try and challenge myself in making some new things. I said on Sunday that was I trying a Barefoot Contessa recipe with pork loin instead of lamb and many SA folks commented they like her too. She just has a calm, endearing attitude, doesn't she? Plus, she does a nice job teaching how to do things.

We ran a couple of errands (we had a CD come due and wanted to draw the money out since the interest rate was horrendous if it rolled over.) We came home and I got to work on vegetable soup. I had found a beef chuck roast in the freezer and I put it in the slow cooker overnight. I cut it up and took out all the fat and started a vegetable soup. I then worked on making a rum cake. I've never made one before and I saw a recipe using rum and thought, hey, I have a bottle in the pantry so why not make a rum cake. I hope it tastes as good as it looks. 

So, I got to spend a lot of time in my happy place. And I think it makes DH happy too, because he likes to eat!

It's hard to believe it is already November. A friend and I were discussing this at church this morning; it seems like this year has been so strange. I feel like my life has been on hold as we wait for the Pandemic to disappear and it hasn't and there doesn't seem like there is too much to look forward to as the holiday season approaches. Illinois' cases have been going up in staggering numbers. It is depressing to say the least.

I am glad that the election is over. Some of my candidates won and some did not. Just hope they all do their best for the good of our city, state, and country. 

As we have more mitigations due to the infection rate. , there are fewer things we can do. I've been cooking even way more than I had been since the choice is that or going to get food and bringing it home. That's OK, but not my favorite and it doesn't seem as good. So, I guess at this point I'd rather cook. I've been watching Barefoot Contessa shows, some on demand, to get ideas. I found a recipe on her recent tomato episode where she takes tomatoes and onions and puts them on the bottom of a roasting pan and then takes a lamb roast and puts it on top and makes a Rosemary and Dijon mustard topping. We don't eat lamb, but I thought, maybe I could use it on a pork loin roast. I've made so many of those lately, I'm kind of tired of our old way of making it. I tweaked a risotto recipe she made and used butternut squash and ground turkey instead of peas, asparagus, and sausage. DH loved it and we have enough for another meal. 

Are you planning on a big get together for Thanksgiving? We normally do not have one. The last couple of years we've invited another couple, but they are staying in due to health issues and I can't blame them. I wonder if Thanksgiving will be the big travel holiday it has in the past.

So, November is here. I'm trying find positives. Each day I post something on my Facebook account for which I am thankful. I really do have a lot to show gratitude for, it just seems sometimes life gets a bit challenging. 

Let me point out this is not a political post. 

That being said, I'm looking forward to election day because I'm simply tired of all the nasty political advertisement and social media posts. I want to tell them all, go back to kindergarten and learn how to play nice. It's not just one side, it is both sides. Egad. 

In other news, DH picked the last of the herbs and the leeks and green onions. We did a third planting of onions and they are small, but hey, food is food, right? I plan to use some of the onions and leeks and roast them with potatoes and bell peppers as part of our supper tonight. 

We had a nice time on Halloween. We put a bowl of candy in the middle of the driveway and sat in the opening to the garage door and instructed the kids to take two pieces of candy. It was fun seeing the kids dressed up and the kids and parents were very polite. We have quite a bit of candy left over. I have some cookie recipes on using it up, so I may put the candy in the freezer and then make Christmas cookies with the leftover stuff. 

Last week the stock market wasn't very good. Sure hope it rebounds. We haven't spent as much as usual simply because there isn't a lot we need or want. Almost all of my Christmas shopping is done. Just waiting on DH to tell me about a musical CD he wants so I can order it. I may start thinking about addressing Christmas cards in the next few days and will need to buy stamps. I guess I'm old fashioned. I like sending and receiving cards. One of my friend's daughter just started college and I have been mailing her a card each month and her mom visited her dorm room over the weekend and said she has the cards tacked to her bulletin board and was so happy to get "real mail." 

Hope your day is a good one.

I notice that many of our blogs are food oriented lately. Maybe it is the cooler weather or perhaps we are all foodies at heart. 

I was going through the freezer and noticed I still had some slices of ham there. I pulled them out to defrost and decided to use them for two different meals. One is for tonight -- quiche. It's dark and damp here today and nothing makes me happier than to have a hot meal from the oven when the weather is like this. Thursdays are usually egg night at our house anyway. I went out and pulled some green onions and chopped them as well as some Sage and Oregano. I added bell pepper and some chopped mushrooms and will add cheese to the eggs when I whip them with Half and Half. DH likes this type of quiche and it should be nutritious and filling.

The rest of the ham is being cooked with beans for ... ta da...ham and beans. OK, not original, but something good. I had some chicken broth in the fridge and thought, I better use it. A number of years ago we went to an Amish fundraiser and the Amish lady made ham and beans and besides chopped onion, she chopped celery. We had never had it with celery and I've made it that way ever since. I figure another vegetable won't hurt. I plan to make skillet cornbread the day we have the ham and beans. A cheap, economical meal and using up something from the freezer.

I notice I have quite a selection of soups in the freezer so we will be partaking of those in the next few days as well. It sure will help save on the grocery bill and using up some of the stuff will also help with the packed freezer. 

Are you having trick or treating on Halloween? So far we are allowed to have it as long as we do not hand out candy up close. Our plan is to put a bowl on a box in the driveway and put candy in it and sit back aways so we can greet the kids and see their costumes. Hopefully no one will empty the bowl for just themselves. If they do, they do. 

Well, nice we can again blog. I feel like I missed out on your lives.

I don't know if it is food, but I'm getting ready to fix a cup of tea. Reusing a tea bag of course. Frugal is as frugal does!

Years ago AT&T had a slogan, "Reach out and touch somebody." Of course the company wanted you to call and keep them in business. 

However, I think we need to stop and take this slogan to heart. As we still struggle with the Pandemic, there are an awfully lot of lonely people out there. For example, a lady at church asked about our looming group. She wanted to know if she had to come and make hats. I said no, come and visit with us. We sit over 6 feet apart and wear masks and have windows open. She got teary eyed and said she has been so lonesome and would like to come and talk with others. 

Another lady who had been with our group recently died. The sad fact was she took the sheltering at home to the point she didn't get her prescriptions refilled and therefore did not take her heart medicine for months. She was found dead at her kitchen table. I regret that I didn't message more; we weren't real close, but still, I feel maybe I could have offered to go pick up meds for her. 

I don't think it just has to be phone calls (sorry AT&T), but emails, letters, cards, messages, texts, or even a "Hi, ya" from a distance. Most of us are social beings and we need that interaction. 

So, as nice as you are all, hope you spread a little sunshine to those around you.