Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for October

Friday

• frozen corn dogs
• sweet potato fries
• cinnamon applesauce

Saturday

• scrambled eggs
• *roasted potatoes
• *tomatoes, *zucchini, and Brussels sprouts sauteed together

Sunday

• *vegetable and bean soup
• crackers
• plums 
• lettuce, cucumber, and *tomato salad

Monday

• peanut butter and *strawberry jam sandwiches
• *apple wedges
• lettuce, cucumber, and *tomato salad

Tuesday

• ramen, vegetable, and egg soup
• crackers
• applesauce

Wednesday

• sausage, pumpkin, mushroom, sage sauce over pasta
• *tomato and cucumber salad

Thursday

• homemade hamburgers on buns, with *tomato slices
• coleslaw
• *winter squash

*indicates item is from our garden

Late at night, when I couldn't sleep, I calculated the cost of our homemade burgers. (I know, some folks count sheep. I count dollars and cents.) Anyway, I used 1 pound of ground beef, at $2.24/lb, 4 buns, on markdown for 35 cents/4, tomatoes from our garden, some seasonings, dried onions, and garlic powder, at about 10 cents. So, for 4 quarter-pounders we spent $2.69, or 67 cents each. That's a super deal!

Do you ever calculate the cost of your meals? If so, what do you think is an especially high-value meal to make at home?

Update on Remanufactured Ink Cartridges for Home Printers

It was just about this time, last year, that I posted on buying remanufactured ink jet cartridges for our old, but-still-running-well, printer. I bought a 3-pack for about $10 dollars per cartridge. (This post.) We have had a very good experience with these cartridges. They lasted about as long as full-priced ones from Office Depot (currently selling for $53.99 each at OD), and the problems have been minor and may have been the fault of the printer and not the cartridge. The issue we had was an ink smear on a couple of pages, and like I said, this may have been the fault of the very old printer (from c. late 1990s). Otherwise, the remanufactured cartridges worked as well for us as the HP brand.

In the comments of that initial post, it was mentioned that HP printers have had a "dynamic security feature" for the last 10 years or so. This "feature" renders no-name brand cartridges ineffective in more recent HP printers. However, older HP printers are some of the most durable printers made, continuing to work for decades (ours is a prime example -- about 20 years old, and going strong). I occasionally see HP printers at thrift stores. So, if someone is needing a printer for basic home use and only wants to spend a few dollars, buying a used HP at Goodwill or the like could be very affordable, especially when combined with remanufactured ink cartridges. It would be advantageous to check HP's website for info on a model sold second-hand, to see if that model had the "dynamic security feature." Here's a link to HP's site which indicates the models with the feature that prevents the use of remanufactured cartridges. At the bottom of that page, there is information on removing the security feature for printers which are listed.

I bring this all us because this week I had to order another batch of cartridges. Amazon was out of the 3-pack, so I bought a 2-pack for $18.74, including tax. That's less than $10 per cartridge. They're due to arrive in a week, so I'll let you know of any issues. If this batch works as well as the last, then the savings will be over $40 per cartridge. I think that's pretty good.

Don't You Just Love Free Piles?

One evening this past summer, I was driving out to pick up my daughter from her bus when I spied a nice-looking, very large basket on the ground. This corner of our neighborhood is known as the "free pile corner." It sits adjacent to the little library box (which is also awesome) and is known to have some good free stuff. The large basket caught my eye. I could tell there were more items; however, it was dark, and I didn't have time to stop.

After collecting my daughter, we decided to grab that basket, then check the rest of the pile. Oh, the free pile was awesome! In addition to this great big basket, there was a large flashlight (with functioning battery), a Sony portable radio, a pair of glass candlesticks, multiple candles (pillar and taper), a bunch of cleaning supplies, and some other stuff that we didn't need. We took all of the above-described items with us. When we got home, I discovered that amongst the cleaning supplies, that there was an almost full bottle of Mrs. Meyer's Lemon Verbena spray, toilet cleaner, and window cleaner.

I am most thrilled by the Mrs. Meyer's spray as it makes the bathroom or kitchen smell so nice when I'm using it. The candles had all been previously burned, somewhat. But, you know, who cares about that, really. It's not like we're going to be eating them. Previously-used candles for free is great. (One daughter has been using the pillar candles when she takes luxurious baths.) The radio, flashlight, and glass candlesticks will be nice to have. And the basket has become the catchall kitchen basket. We actually have room for a large basket on the floor near the kitchen table. So, when I'm clearing the table of clutter (usually the junk mail that I still need to sort), I can pop it all into the basket. Our kitchen table is reclaimed for dining.

I am saddened that with the rainy weather comes an end to the free piles. Until next summer. . .

Weekend Morning at the Pumpkin Farm

Thank goodness I wore my retired sneakers, because the mud was a bit squishy in the pumpkin field.

The four of us made last-minute plans to visit the pumpkin farm, as everyone had the morning free. (It's rare when that happens for us. You probably have a similar situation), and the weather for Saturday looked promising, after a rainy Friday. The plan was to walk out the door by 9:00, and we did pretty well, leaving about 9:15. We've been to this farm before and remembered that their prices on treats were kind of high -- a buttered ear of corn on a stick for $3.50 and a cake donut for $1.00. So, en route, we stopped at Fred Meyer and bought a six-pack of Pumpkin-Spice donuts for $2.29 (or 38 cents each), less than half the price of the pumpkin farm donuts. And really, could you get any more appropriate with the donut flavor, than pumpkin for a trip to the pumpkin patch? On top of the donuts, we were each responsible for our own snacks and beverages (cheese, bananas, coffee, milk, or juice).

Admission to the farm was free, but there are a whole slew of activities for a price. You know me, we skipped any activity that had a charge, but we enjoyed the baby animals, looked through the gift shop, ate the free samples, and walked through the pumpkin field (yes, it was muddy), for free. We stopped by the fresh produce stand where my daughters each picked out a mini pumpkin for fall decor for their rooms (75 cents each), and then headed home.

A fun family outing that wasn't too expensive. We kept our costs down by bringing our snacks and beverages from home and buying a box of seasonal donuts from the grocery store. While I could have spent less on the mini pumpkins by buying them at the grocery store, this was an expense that I thought would create a nicer memory-impact, by actually choosing their little pumpkins at the farm. Of course, the cashier asked if we were waiting till later in the month to buy our jack-o-lanterns, and I replied that we grew pumpkins this summer and have them from our own garden. (The farm wanted between $2 and $25, depending on size, for pumpkins!) In past years, I've bought winter squash at this farm, inexpensively. Not so, this year. I'll just wait for a good deal at the grocery store, later in the month.

Morning was definitely the right time to go, as there was plenty of parking and little traffic. And at the far end of the pumpkin field, it felt like we were the only ones there. For someone who dislikes crowds, this was a perfect time to make family memories.

Will you do anything special to create autumn memories with your loved ones this year?

Shopping the Ethnic Food Aisle

I know I mentioned this before, concerning buying spices in the Hispanic section, you can often get great deals in the Ethnic section of the grocery store. Well, this past week I tried some cookies from the Hispanic section. I have to say, these are delicious. They are a lightly sweet tea cookie. For 65 cents a package, they are a steal. I had been buying a similar cookie in the Kosher section. But the price on that brand has gradually inched up to 85 cents a package (about same size as the Hispanic ones). These are a bargain and I will definitely be buying more.

I bought these at Fred Meyer. I didn't think to check the same section at WinCo, but my guess is they are even a few cents less there.

Do you shop the ethnic food aisles? If so, what products or types of products are a good deal for you?

Cheap and Cheerful Suppers for the First Week of October

pan-roasted Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.

It was a delicious week of autumnal foods. The weather turned chilly on Tuesday. I was eating dinner with one daughter and we were talking about the tomatoes in the garden, thinking they should be picked right away. So, we took a break from eating and went out to the garden to pick the rest of the large tomatoes. I'm so glad that we did, because the weather did not grow warmer, only wetter. The Brussels sprouts were on markdown -- such a treat to have! Oh and so were the mushrooms. I bought 3  1/2 pounds of marked down mushrooms. Now I'm getting hungry!

Here's what we ate this past week. Anything autumnal on your menu?

Saturday

• Kielbasa
• *Hashbrowns
• Corn tortillas topped with cheese and *tomato slices
• *Plums
• *Kale

Sunday

• Bean soup with *veggies
• *Apple wedges and *plum halves
• Crackers

Monday

• *Vegetable, egg and tofu fried rice
• leftover cake

Tuesday

• Beef, sausage, mushroom stew, with assorted *vegetables
• Bread
• *Apple wedges

Wednesday

• Chicken thighs in mushroom gravy (made double of the chicken and veggies, and froze a dinner for 4) -- I used a mushroom gravy mix, fresh mushrooms, celery, and green onions for the sauce. The gravy mix was 69 cents, a bargain considering it made for a simple meal.
• Roasted Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes
• *Tossed salad
• Homemade Rice-a-roni

Thursday

• Beef and bean chili, using garden *tomatoes (made double, freezing leftovers for another dinner for 4)
• Crackers
• Applesauce

Friday (easy supper night, fast food without the drive-thru or expense)

• Corn dogs (WinCo -- 25 cents each)
• Sweet potato fries (Dollar Tree -- small bag, but enough for a family of four, $1)
• Tossed salad of *cucumber and *tomato from the garden and lettuce from WinCo, dressing made with mix from WinCo's bulk bins (about 50 cents for the salad and dressing)
• update on price of supper -- I decided to add 4 strips of turkey bacon to the salad, extra protein and flavor. That extra adds about 39 cents to the cost of dinner, and 2 grams of protein for each person. For dessert, we also added 4 chocolates from some Dollar Tree boxed chocolates (yes, you can sometimes buy boxed chocolates at Dollar Tree!), adding about 29 cents, total. The cost per person for dinner, then, is about 79 cents, plus beverages (2 members of the family may have a glass of milk each, the others stick to water; add 10 cents per glass of milk). Under $1 per person for a quick, easy, and fast food-ish meal.

*indicates item is from our garden or fruit trees

chicken thighs in mushroom gravy

Proud of Myself for Not Buying More Holiday Decorations

When it comes to holiday decorations I am not nearly as disciplined as I am with buying groceries. I like to pick up a new thing or two for the various holidays, even if its just at the dollar store. But this year, I resisted the impulse to buy any more fall holiday decorations, and just reused all of the decor that I've bought in previous years. I mixed it up a bit to make it look fresh for this year, putting decor pieces in different places. In the early years of making a home this is how I kept our space looking fresh, by moving things around.

For me, for right now, this is not as much about not spending money, but more about not accumulating more stuff. So, my rule for fall decorating is "don't unnecessarily add to the accumulation of stuff." The non-spoken part of that rule is that I "can" buy consumable items to use as holiday decor, such as pretty squashes. Besides, I think that natural items, such as squash and pumpkins, make some of the loveliest of fall decorations. They just have an upside, and that is that you get to eat them as fall turns over into winter.

Here's my kitchen door. Nothing fancy, but it makes coming and going through the kitchen (which, let's face it, our kitchen door is used by family and guests more than our front door) so pleasant. The faux leaf garland was from Dollar Tree the year before last, and used to wrap around the front "Welcome" sign. The bow at the top, also from DollarTree, graced an outdoor light fixture the past two years. The faux pumpkin is a must for outdoor pumpkins in our neighborhood (squirrels like to nibble on pumpkins left outside), and is from three years ago. And the window clings I already mentioned (you can't see them in the big photo, but they're on the upper portion of the glass inset). It's homey, did not cost me a penny this year, and won't add to the stuff in storage after fall is over.

P.S. I am so proud of myself for not buying more stuff. I have a bit of a "stuff addiction."

An October Afternoon

(These are the window clings that I bought last year at Dollar Tree. I saved them on their original plastic sheet, tucked in a drawer. Took me all of 5 minutes to put them up for the season. Second year using them -- if I use them for ten years, the cost will amortize to 10 cents per year. Not bad!))

Hi friends!
I'm back, that is, back in the best capacity that I can be for now.

One of my thoughts has been centered around how I can continue blogging when I'm down, tired, busy, or sick. I'm just going to try a few simpler things. For today, I'll catch you up on my start for October.

Okay, only the 3rd of October, and I am 3/4 done with October's grocery shopping. I have 4 stores at which I shop, and I've been to 3 so far. I hit Dollar Tree and bought all of the snacky stuff, plus a bunch of breakfast items, and bread, loads of bread. I hit the jackpot with their bread rack. They hd just put out a bunch of Oroweat -- English muffins, bread, bagels -- and I really stocked up. I think we may have enough bread in the freezer for 2 months. At $1 per loaf, it was a steal. They even had one of my all-time favorites, Honey Wheatberry.

Following Dollar Tree, I hit up WinCo for their great deals. WinCo has a fabulous bulk bin section. Some of the items in the bulk bins are as inexpensive as buying the institutional sized package at Cash and Carry. I keep a mental price book for the various staples. With this, I can quickly determine if something is a great buy or not. So, at WinCo this month I picked up various bulk bin staples, like whole wheat flour, ranch style dressing mix, chicken soup base, dried veggie soup mix (good for quick lunches or snacks for one), TVP, and some candy for Halloween treats. I also bought bagged cereal, frozen juice concentrate, breakfast sausage and turkey bacon, kielbasa, corn tortillas, produce, and a few other pantry items.

Next stop, Fred Meyer for Senior discount day. I as able to get out early for my shopping at Fred Meyer. I have found that this is key for getting the marked down deals and regular sale items, especially now that our Fred Meyer has switched their sale-cycle to Wednesday through Tuesday. FM sale-cycle used to run Sunday through Saturday. So, on Senior day, there would still be plenty of the sale items available. Now with the sale cycle completing on Tuesday, (the day for senior discount), they are often out of the sale item. They will give me a raincheck, but when I come back to buy the raincheck item, it's no longer senior day, so I don't get the senior discount. Anyway, something peeving me about FM these days. So, I did get out early -- ran a brush through my hair, no shower, no make-up, grabbed my shoes and jacket and left. I bout enough milk, eggs and butter to get through the month, as well as coffee (decaf for me), more produce, hot dogs, applesauce, apple juice, and lots of meat. I found Italian and breakfast sausage on clearance, plus got a great deal on ground beef and chicken thighs. Yesterday afternoon, I spent some time dividing up the ground beef. This afternoon, I've been diving up the chicken thighs while cooking a couple of chicken and mushroom casseroles (one for tonight and leftovers for tomorrow, and the other for the freezer).

My last shopping stop will be Cash and Carry. But that will have to wait until we have room in the fridge and freezer. We're topped out right now. In recent months, I have limited my shopping to one stop per month at each of the 4 stores. I make these stops at the very beginning of the month, and I believe that this is working out pretty well for us. I buy a wide variety of produce, and we eat the short-keepers first, like berries, leafy greens, bananas, and any marked down produce I found on the rack. By the end of the month, we're eating cabbage, celery, carrots, onions, squash, apples, and oranges, as well as frozen and dried produce.

Among my chores this afternoon, I also washed a bunch of salad greens to keep in the fridge. I break leaves off of a head of Romaine, wash, then wrap in a tea towel and keep in the fridge in a plastic bag. I was tempted to buy the bagged lettuce for quick lunch salads, but I knew that if I spent 5-10 minutes washing my own lettuce, I would save a couple of dollars on salad greens.

I did buy lots of fun foods. For example, I bought a box of frozen corndogs from WinCo and some bags of sweet potato fries from Dollar Tree. You see where I'm heading with this, right? Friday night, a night when everyone wants a restaurant dinner (fast food or other), I have corndogs and fries planned. add in some apple wedges and a salad and my total cost for the family is under $3 ( with free apples and tomatoes from our garden). And I still have an easy dinner night.

Well, dinner is in the oven and on the stove. I need to clean up the kitchen before serving, so I'll wrap this up. I hope that you are having a wonderful October. Another time, I'll post some fun things that we're doing this month. Have a lovely evening!

An August sentiment: Where did these gigantic zucchini come from?

For those of you who keep vegetable gardens, you'll be able to appreciate this August sentiment -- each mammoth zucchini seems to be larger than the last. Wednesday, I thought I had "caught up" on all of the zucchini. Then Thursday afternoon I was picking tomatoes for dinner and found yet another mammoth zucchini hiding under the leaves. So, what's a cook to do?

Besides zucchini bread, relish, and veggie medleys, here's something really delicious that will use one very large zucchini in one blow -- baked, stuffed zucchini.

Here's the size of one from a couple of weeks ago. I put a banana next to it to give you an indication of size.

To stuff:
I used a melon baller to scoop out the center of each half. (Those scoops of zucchini flesh were then later chopped and added to vegetable soup.)
I stuffed mine with a mixture of cooked, chopped chicken breast, bread crumbs, herbs, garlic, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese. After filling, I topped with additional Parmesan.
On an oiled baking sheet, I baked the stuffed halves for about 35 minutes, at about 350 degrees, until the cheese was browned on top. The zucchini part was crisp-tender.

You can also stuff with loose Italian sausage, or bread crumbs, herbs and cheese. Since you want the zucchini part to cook well, keep your fillings dense. So, if just doing bread crumbs with cheese, add a bit of milk, beaten egg, or just water to the crumb mixture. This way the filling and the zucchini will cook to about the same doneness.

Bumps in the transition from one cook to many cooks

When there was just one person in the home procuring, managing, and cooking all of the food, staying on top of all of the supplies was fairly straightforward. I knew what I had prepared, what was leftover, and what needed using up. Now, we have multiple cooks in the house, but still one person doing the procuring and managing of supplies. It's not readily known by the rest of the crew what we have in abundance or what needs using ASAP. Asking me what they can use is a regular occurrence. Not that this is bad, but it does put me in the position of saying, "don't use that" or "I'm saving that." Those kinds of statements make me sound like an ogre, when in fact all I'm really doing is trying to manage our stock until the next month rolls around, so that we can all enjoy the foods in the house.

My solution has been to create a weekly list of what we have in abundance and should be used. It's a simple list, kept on the refrigerator. I preface the list with a statement reflecting that the first items in each category are ones that should be used first. I also indicate that not everything is in ready-to-use condition, and may need harvesting. This week, in produce we have apples that need using, and in protein sources, we have lots of eggs. I've also included items that are saved for specific recipes, so those won't be used indiscriminately. Hopefully, this makes me seem less like an ogre about food.

My list focuses on produce and protein sources, as those are the items most frequently asked about. The produce is significant because we have items that won't keep terribly long. And the protein is asked about because it is not self-evident. Meat/eggs may be stored in the freezer, the fridge, or even pantry (canned meat). To complicate matters more, we have 3 freezers, 2 refrigerators, and multiple cabinets in the kitchen, along with 2 pantries. Everyone seems to figure out the grains and dairy products on their own. The bonus to making this list is the act of reading the list, by the cook on duty, stimulates thoughts on what to make. Since sometimes food is just food, reading a list that says we need to use eggs, zucchini, and apples may make a cook whose feeling less-than-inspired to simply scramble some eggs, steam zucchini, chop apples, and serve with bread. Just food, but it gets the job done.

We're seeing the financial benefit, as well, and wasting less fresh produce, which is super important right now as the garden is in high production. Just thought I'd share what is working for us.

Taking a vacation when there is not enough time or money for a full-fledged one

This past year has been busy and expensive, leaving little time or money to get away. So, how do we do a summer vacation under those circumstances? We take a one-day vacation. We choose a nearby tourist location, about 1 hour away from us. Then we get up with the birds and drive to that destination, staying as long as we feel like it. By the time we leave to come home, we often do feel like we've been on a vacation.

Because we don't have a hotel or even a campground stay, and our vacation is just one long day, we can afford a few luxuries which we would otherwise forgo. For example, we bring coffee, milk, and fresh fruit with us, but make our first stop of the day at a local bakery or donut shop, where everyone makes their selection. Then, we take our breakfast to a public park, preferably one with a nice view. The day before our mini-trip, we make a stop at the grocery store to buy snacks. I may spend as much as $15 on snacks for one day. But that cost is less than what we'd spend for one stop at a restaurant for snacks for all of us, let alone multiple stops. We also pack a picnic cooler full of lunch items, ice water, and juice, then find a nice park in which to picnic. In the late afternoon, when we're hot and tired, we stop in an ice cream shop for a cone, each. As a result of keeping our costs so low, we also treat ourselves to a souvenir or two, or splurge on admission tickets to some sort of entertainment, or a nice dinner out.

Why am I telling you all of this? This is the week that we're taking our one-day vacation. We've been planning this all summer, and now the time has arrived. Yep, I'm pretty excited to go away for a day.

We're going to a small tourist town by the name of Poulsbo. It's a 30-minute ferry ride, plus 30 minutes or so in driving from our house. It's on a bay, has a large public park on the waterfront, second-hand shops, tourist-type shops, art galleries, an aquarium, an historical museum, a church tower with bells ringing every hour, a Scandinavian bakery, lots of restaurants, a walking trail along the water's edge of the bay, and sometimes live entertainment outdoors.

If you had to choose one spot, about an hour-drive away from where you live, with lots to do to fill one day, where would you go?

Now this is summer to me -- fresh basil pesto

Another specialty food I like to make in summer is pesto. You can buy cheap pesto in the supermarket, the kind that comes in jars, priced around $3 for 6-8 ounces. But if you check the label, the ingredient list contains ingredients other than the basic basil leaves, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, salt and pepper that you find in a recipe for this condiment. And if you read the reviews you'll find that the flavor can be very "off" on some of the jarred brands. You can also buy "fresh" pesto, the kind that comes in a plastic tub and must be kept refrigerated. Those are good, and in checking the ingredient list, the manufacturers stick to the basic pesto recipe. But they cost about $5 for a 6-oz plastic tub.

Pesto is super easy to make, and if you grow your own basil, and shop carefully for the other ingredients you can make a batch for about half of the supermarket price, in about 5 minutes (including washing the basil leaves), using a food processor.

How I buy the ingredients economically:

pine nuts -- I use about half the recommended amount because I don't like a super strong pine nut flavor. I like to just barely detect the pine nuts. You can buy pine nuts in bulk bins at some stores, for around $20/lb. That sounds like highway robbery, I know. If you go light on the pine nuts (like I do), you can get by with about a dollar's worth to make a batch of pesto. The the price does not seem so terrible, for the authentic pine nut pesto.  (You can also buy pine nuts through Amazon in an 8-oz packet for about $10. Pine nuts freeze very well, and since their flavor is so distinct, in our house, at least, they're not likely to get snacked on.) For more frugal pesto, almonds and/or walnuts are also good a choice and about 1/3 of the price of pine nuts. In fact, almonds are my "usual" nut for pesto.

olive oil --most recipes call for extra virgin olive oil. I use a blend of 3 parts olive oil to 1 part regular vegetable oil. I do this so that the pesto remains spreadable when refrigerated. But it also holds the cost down a bit. In addition, I use about 2/3 the amount of oil in the recipe, for a less oily condiment, and that also brings my cost down. I've been buying olive oil in the bulk section of WinCo. They have dispensers for a few liquid items, such as honey, olive oil, and agave syrup. It's a good price and I can buy however much I need.

Parmesan cheese -- I wait until I find a good sale, buy from bulk bins at WinCo, or I buy a large bag at Cash & Carry. The bulk bin kind of Parmesan is the powdery kind and not as good, IMO, as the fresh shreds. Fred Meyer had a coupon last week for 50 cents off Kroger brand Parmesan. The coupon combined with my Senior discount made the price reasonable-enough. I have also subbed some mozzarella for about half of the Parmesan, before, and still had a very delicious result.

basil -- if I didn't grown my own basil, I wouldn't buy fresh basil for the purpose of making pesto. There are alternative greens which can be used, but the basil flavor will not be there. I know someone who makes pesto with a variety of greens, and they enjoy it immensely. I do have basil in large pots on my deck, and there are more leaves that we can eat, unless I make pesto.

garlic -- for ease and price, I use dried garlic granules, bought in a bag in the Hispanic section. It's good, and super easy to use.

So, all totaled, the batch of authentic pesto that I made the other day (loosely following Ina Garten's recipe) using about half of the pine nuts, and no walnuts (allergy), not the full amount of oil, and in a 3:1 olive oil (from WinCo)/ vegetable oil ratio, Parmesan shreds bought on sale, with coupon, and with discount, garden basil, garlic granules, and some salt, I figured my 6-oz batch cost about $2.50, or about half the price of commercial fresh pesto.

A tip for keeping fresh pesto -- basil leaves oxidize and turn a very un-pretty brownish green. After each use, shake the contents down to level the top surface, then drizzle with a bit of oil and tilt the jar around a bit to coat the entire top surface of the pesto. When you use it again, stir the oil into the pesto first. Then after use, top with a bit of oil, again, as before. Kept refrigerated, pesto will last about a week. It can be frozen for about four months.

When is buying fruit for making preserves the frugal thing?

There are two kinds of jam that I think is frugal to make. 1) jam with any kind of free fruit. This would include fruit from our bushes and trees, foraged fruit, and any fresh fruit that is going soft and I would enjoy in jam. 2) The second kind of jam that I like to make does use purchased fruit. However, it is frugal if the only commercial versions of this flavor of jam are an expensive brand, such as cherry preserves or blueberry jam. Both of those flavors are only available in "gourmet" brands of jam, in my area.

A week ago I posted a photo of some Bonne Maman preserves jars.
This is a très expensive brand of jam. For some flavors, this is the only brand available in regular supermarkets.

I love blueberry jam. The 13-oz jars of Bonne Maman Blueberry Preserves are $4.99 at Fred Meyer or $4.69 at WinCo.

By making my own blueberry jam with purchased, fresh blueberries, I can make about 3 of those jars-worth of blueberry preserves for about $3.80, including berries, sugar, lemon juice, pectin, and new lids for the previously-used jars, for almost one-quarter of the cost. That's $1.27 for 13 ounces of homemade blueberry preserves. I use several sizes of jars in one batch, so some jars can be for our consumption, while others make perfect gifts.

   

While it may not be very frugal to make many types of jam with purchased fruit, it can be frugal to buy fruit to make specialty preserves. And, well, sometimes I'm just a "specialty" kind of gal. (Not that I'm high maintenance! ha ha)

July 2018 Grocery Journal

Okay, so last month I scrapped the idea of a journal, as I was buying for 3 major celebration events. Plan -- get back on track for the month of July. we'll see how I did.

July 3. Senior shopping day at Fred Meyer. I bought 3 cans of tuna (80 cents each), 1 can pineapple chunks (1.16), 3 jars peanut butter (2.06), 1 box graham crackers (1.79), 1 can Amp energy drink (freebie), 1 19-ct granola bars (2.69), 2 cans frozen orange juice concentrate (1.35), 2 large jars applesauce (1.59), 16-ct frozen corn dogs (3.68), 1 gallon ice cream (4.49), 12 lbs various shapes pasta (33 cents/lb), 1 large zucchini(98 cents), 5 lbs baby potatoes (3.14), 1 cucumber (79cents), 1 green pepper (89 cents), 8 oz sliced mushrooms (1.29), 1 container salad tomatoes (2.69), 1 lb. baby portobello mushrooms (3.05), 2 quarts yogurt (1.79), 4 individual soy yogurt (1.39), 2 quarts soy yogurt (5.99), 3 gallons milk (2.33), half-gallon soy milk (1.70), 3 packages kielbasa (1.79),3 packages hot dogs (75 cents), almost 13 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (25.43 total), 4 dozen eggs (1.79), 6 bananas (67 cents total), 2 loaves Italian bread (1.19), 4 loaves whole wheat bread (1.61), 1 loaf whole grain bread (freebie), container of blueberries (2.00). Also bought, as special items for family members -- 2 lbs turkey breakfast sausage ($3 total), 4 pot pies (89 cents each), 2 packages all-beef hot dogs (6.00 total). Total spent --  $139.17

July 8. snacky stuff from Dollar Tree -- marshmallows, pop tarts, a large dark chocolate bar -- spent $5

July 12. Cash and Carry wholesaler. 10 lbs baby red potatoes (4.83), large container grape tomatoes (4.08), 1 lb garlic granules (5.69), 3 lbs bing cherries (4.98), 3 lb bag boiler onions (1.46), dozen kiwi fruit (5.75), 3 18-oz containers tofu (1.69), 3 lbs broccoli florets (4.98), 2.5 lbs sliced mushrooms (6.37), 5 lbs shredded mozzarella (11.28), 5 lbs bulk Italian pork sausage (9.69), 5 lbs loaf sharp cheddar (12.77), #10 can tomato paste (5.09), #10 can diced tomatoes (2.97), 10 lbs carrots (3.75), 3-pack celery (1.78). total spent $90.54

July 18. Fred Meyer, get freebie of Ghirardelli chocolate squares, 2-pack, and 2 gallons milk (1.29). Spent $2.58

July 20. Stopped in Fred Meyer, while in the same shopping/banking complex, just to pick up 2 Friday freebies -- 2 bags of candy, 1 Swedish fish, the other a sour gummy candy. We'll save these for a movie night. spent $0

July 31. Was going to buy the chicken breasts on sale, but they were out (got a raincheck). But I also picked up last week's Friday freebie, a Kind bar. spent $0


So, total for the month spent -- $237.29

Not too terrible. I had a regular budget of $225, plus an additional amount of $10 to go towards 4th of July special foods, bringing me up to $235. I had $26.37 extra going into the month, leftover from May, giving me a total allowable amount of $261.37.
Bottom line -- I have $24.08 surplus now going into August.

We are back to a family of four eating almost every meal from home. I've increased the grocery budget so I can buy more produce and meat. I've also allowed for $5 at Dollar Tree for snacky stuff. This next month I've had requests for chips and pop tarts. $5 is pretty much a bargain, considering it keeps us satisfied with eating at home. I also feel that several of us at home need a pick-me-up these days. We're doing that with food. I'm buying things I never would have bought, or would not have bought as much, to satisfy our wants. I am trying to do that economically, however.

This next month -- I'll pick up the boneless skinless chicken breasts for which I have a raincheck. I'll also be looking for fresh peaches (August is the month I find great deals on peaches, here), and watermelon (good, inexpensive fruit, IMO), honey, olive oil, and all of our regular items. I'll be shopping at Fred Meyer (for senior discount day on Tuesday), WinCo (I can buy honey and olive oil in the bulk section, they supply the container), Cash and Carry (for potatoes, celery, broccoli florets, sliced mushrooms, tofu, butter, olives, and Parmesan cheese), and Dollar Tree (for snacky stuff).

Our garden is doing well, and provides a fair amount of produce. This month we're picking red apples, pears, tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, kale, swiss chard, lettuce, figs, and blackberries.

How did your grocery spending go this past month? Any special foods you're looking forward to buying in August?

When I have too many salvaged jars . . .

In the comments from the other day, live and learn asked if I ever get too many jars to store, and then what I do. When space is at a premium, I save the prettiest jars, recycle the stinky, ordinary jars (like pickle or salsa jars), and I start making gifts with the ordinary, but not stinky, jars (like peanut butter jars).

Every so often I find a great deal on Adams natural-style peanut butter. We prefer the natural kind, so my "usual" is Fred Meyer natural. But sometimes there's a great deal on Adams which beats the FM price. Adams still uses glass jars. I reuse these glass jars as long as I have storage room for them. But when I don't have room. . .

This was a gift to someone recently. I had baked maple-pecan cookies, and I wanted to share. The cookies are in an Adams jar, with the lid ribbon-tied with a square of muslin. Nothing fancy or time-consuming. But it made the gift of a few cookies, prettier, and the jar could then just be tossed into recycling when they were done with the cookies. Not shown in the photo, I used a thin piece of black ribbon to tie 2 tea bags to the entire jar. I think the recipient liked the gift. I made someone smile, and my monetary cost was next to nothing.

Salvaged jars

You already know that I love glass jars. Many of my repurposed jars are just ordinary peanut butter, pickle, or salsa jars. Here are a few of the less-than-ordinary ones, and what I'm using them for.

These tiny jars are perfect when packing lunches or snacks. We use them for small amounts of dip for vegetables, or for a handful of raisins or peanuts. The jars are small enough to fit into my small-ish handbag.  These jars are hard to come by. One of them held a small amount of sea salt, and the other two came with boxed breakfasts at a convention (one holding a single portion of honey and the other, a single portion of jam).

The next set of jars were scrounged from several sources. One jar came from a free pile in the neighborhood, another two were from Goodwill for 20cents, each, and I have a fourth jar, needing emptying, from preserves bought for an event that I hosted. These are Bonne Maman preserve jars. I love the jars, but the preserves are kind of pricey.  All the more reason to reuse the jars for something else. My plan is to make some candle jar gifts for this coming autumn and winter holidays.

I had been pricing  nice candle jars online, and found something I liked that were about $1.50 per jar, plus shipping. So when I saw a bunch of the Bonne Maman jars at Goodwill, I was more than willing to find a couple, for 20 cents each. I think I like the Bonne Maman ones better than what I saw online. The repurposed preserve jars have a wider opening, which I think is nicer for a candle.

image retrieved from : http://www.quirkylifestyle.com/2013/07/diy-scented-candle.html

I was not the only one who had this thought to repurpose Bonne Maman jars into candle jars. Beautiful, don't you think?

Quitting caffeine

Ask yourself this question: what does it take for you to give up something you really enjoy? The answer for me is vanity and comfort.

I mentioned quitting caffeine in the comments the other day, and said I would follow up on it. This past year, hot flashes and night sweats began for me. (The fun of menopause, yay!) One month I could be totally composed when talking with friends and acquaintances, and the next I was a sporadically-sweaty mess. I don't just mean underarm sweat, I mean full-body, face, neck, just under the bra-line. If I wore a dark t-shirt, the sweat on my mid-section showed through. If I stood in sunlight, even if indoors by a window, I broke into a sweat and had to begin disrobing. I remember one Sunday, working at our welcome center in church, I was talking with a woman that I only barely know, and the flashes began. I had dressed in layers, but still I had to begin peeling them off. Fortunately, this woman is near my age, so if she hasn't begun this phase of our bodies, she will soon. That's the vanity part.

Comfort is the other motivating component for me. At night, waking up as I feel the heat rising, it's like someone is turning a dial which is raising my body temperature. Then feeling cruddy for the rest of the night. And two other comfort-related things that I didn't even connect to my caffeine consumption, heart palpitations and muscle twitches. Since I was in my early 20s I have had occasional heart palpitations. It would feel like my heart was racing, beating extra hard, or fluttering. This would last about 20 to 30 seconds. I was in college the first time I noticed the palpitations. I went to the health center and the nurse just said it was probably stress and not to worry. My mom told me she had the same thing for years. So I just lived with them, thinking this was just part of the "normal" of my own body. Well, guess what? Quitting caffeine has also put a stop (or almost stop) to the heart palpitations. I have had 1 event of extra hard beating (when at rest) in the last 6 months. In comparison, this used to happen to me once per week or more. I had no idea that my caffeine consumption was doing this.

The other caffeine-related comfort item that I dealt with for many years, but didn't know it was the caffeine, was muscle twitches. When I was in my 30s I developed a chronic and painful muscle twitch in the thumb of my right hand. It was so painful that I brought it up to my doctor. I was referred to a neurologist. Both my primary and the specialist said it wasn't anything significant and would likely go away on its own. Gee, thanks. That twitching (and associated pain) lasted for months, and then would come back from time to time (every other month, for a day or two). At about the same time, I developed other twitches, although most of these would last about 2 weeks, and then disappear as mysteriously as they came. Since quitting caffeine I have only had a couple of minor incidents of muscle-twitching. The twitching in my hand has not returned at all in 6 months. This is a complete change. Even when the twitching was not so severe as to cause pain, I could look at my hand at any given time and see the muscle contracting under the skin. It's completely at rest now.

So, I wondered, did quitting caffeine bring about these positive changes? I went to doctor google and found that yes, caffeine can cause both heart palpitations and muscle twitches or spasms. The twitching may have been an indirect result of caffeine consumption, as caffeine is a diuretic, which can result in an imbalance in electrolytes. And the heart palpitations may have been too much stimulant running through my body.

These issues weren't so significant that I would think to discuss them with my doctor, except for the painful twitching which got me referred to a neurologist. I brushed them off as just part of my body. I wasn't really drinking all that much caffeinated coffee or tea, a few cups per day, spread out over the whole day. I never would have guessed that I would benefit as much as I have from quitting caffeine.And when I say quitting, I really mean, making a severe reduction in consumption. I still drink decaf coffee, and have small amounts of chocolate, both have some caffeine, but not in the league of fully-caffeinated coffee or even tea.

One other benefit I have noticed, I'm a restless sleeper. About 2-3 nights per week, on average, I wake around 3 or 4 AM, and lie there awake for an hour or more. I used to become so irritable when I would have a wakeful period in the night. It bugged me, terribly. Now, I don't feel that irritability. I lay there awake and think about things for a bit, then pleasantly drift back off to sleep. My sleep is more relaxing. This change also happened as soon as I was off fully-caffeinated coffee.

So, what caffeine do I drink/eat and what do I avoid? I never drink caffeinated coffee. I ask and double check, when ordering decaf coffee in a restaurant. This is one area about which I am vigilant. It feels weird to have to draw such a hard line on it, but I know myself, this is the only way I can keep my caffeine consumption mega-low. I always choose decaf. I know there is decaffeinated black and green tea, but I have stayed away from it, for the most part. Again, I think I just don't want to tempt myself and think, "well, 1 cup of regular tea can't hurt me" then the slippery slope begins. Eventually I'll feel more sure of myself with this. Instead, I drink herb teas. I like the fruity ones (I think its Celestial Seasonings that has some wonderful fruity herb teas), plus mint tea, lemon balm, and lavender/camomile blend. I grow the ingredients for the last 3 teas. I also like spicy infusions, like part of a cinnamon stick, a couple of whole cloves, and a few slices of fresh tart apple infused in a pot of simmering water.

For the most part, I don't drink soda. The sugared ones give me a tummy ache, and the diet ones give me a headache. If I want a sweetened, chilled drink, it's either iced herb tea, juice or lemonade. I still have a little chocolate, here and there. I make soy cocoa, by the cup for myself, when I want it, using 1  1/2 teaspoons of cocoa powder. I have an occasional dish of chocolate ice cream (by occasional I mean that I've had one dish of it this summer), I eat a few pieces of chocolate per month, like a dozen Hershey's Kisses spread out over a month. Instead, I am making the deliberate choice to select a different-flavored sweet, like black licorice or fruity flavored baked goods and candy. I love Australian-style black licorice. WinCo carries it in the bulk bins for a really good price. When I'm not near WinCo, the next best price on Australian black licorice is at Dollar Tree. I think I kind of got stuck in a rut of always choosing chocolate for candy. Lately, I've been thinking about the types of treats I would choose when I was a child and young teen. It wasn't so chocolate heavy, but instead I enjoyed more of the fruity flavors.

How did I quit caffeine, and did I get a headache? I quit gradually, over many months. I began by mixing regular coffee, half and half with decaf coffee. Then after a few months I reduced the regular coffee to about 1/4, and so on, until one week I just decided, "this is the  week" and I just started making myself decaf coffee all of the time. At that point I also stopped the caffeinated teas, and reduced my chocolate consumption. Not a single headache which was related to cutting out caffeine. I'm not as alert as I used to be in the mornings. I would never schedule something which required a keen focus before 10 AM. But I just accept that. I can do normal stuff in the early hours, I'm just not super alert. And speaking of headaches, my migraines are now less frequent, and they last 1 day less (2-day migraines instead of 3-day). I don't know if that has anything to do with the caffeine. It could also be a hormone adjustment with this phase of my body.

As for those hot flashes and night sweats, I noticed an immediate benefit. Drinking a cup of coffee was a hot flash trigger for me. I would have just finished half a cup and a flash would begin.  I still have hot flashes and night sweats, but they seem less intense, and less frequent. It was a few flashes per hour with the caffeine. It's now a few times per day, and not so bad. I haven't had an embarrassing moment of a huge drench of public sweat since the first of the year, which is exactly when I quit the caffeine. Some of this may be due to my body adapting to the hormone shift, but I also believe that part of it is the lack of caffeine coursing through my veins at all times.

I have also learned which clothing items are a no-go for me right now. Fleece is pretty bad for hot flashes. It traps too much body heat, which can also be a trigger. I wear a lot of cotton. I almost bought a super pretty dress to wear to my daughter's graduation. But the fabric was too sweat-inducing, I thought. In the end, I wore cotton pants and a cotton top. I sleep in cotton sleep-shorts and a baggy cotton t-shirt, which makes sense for summer, but in winter I was also sleeping in lightweight clothing. 

So, my vanity and my comfort motivated me to do something really good for my body. I never could have given up caffeine if it had just been because maybe it would be better for my health. I was able to quit temporarily with each pregnancy, but that was it. For 35 years I drank a lot of coffee.

For comparison sake, how much caffeine is in various food and drink?


for 8 oz beverages:

herb tea, root beer, citrus soda -- 0
decaf coffee or decaf black tea -- 2-5 mg
cocoa made with 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder -- 8 mg
brewed green tea --  25-29 mg
cola -- 24-46 mg
brewed black tea -- 25-48 mg
instant coffee -- 63 mg
brewed coffee -- 95-165 mg

for chocolate treats:

half-cup of chocolate ice cream -- 2 mg
1 Hershey's Special Dark Miniature or 4 Hershey's Kisses, milk chocolate -- 4 mg
chocolate cake with chocolate frosting -- 9 mg
1 oz dark chocolate 69-85% cacao (like Lindt) -- 23 mg


Keep in mind, the stronger the brewed coffee or tea, the more caffeine. So, if you use loose-leaf tea and use more than what would be in a tea bag, your cup will have more caffeine. Percolated and boiled (Greek or Turkish) coffee has more caffeine than drip or French press. If you're getting a Starbucks coffee beverage, your drink may have more than 8 oz of coffee. A 24 oz Frappuccino, made with regular coffee has 130 mg caffeine. As well, different beans and different roasts have different amounts of caffeine, for example, 8 oz. of Starbucks Pike Place roast has 155 mg caffeine, 8 oz of Starbucks Clover brewed coffee has 170 mg caffeine, while 8 oz of the Blond Roast has 180 mg. And the size names don't indicate quantity. The Short isn't even on the printed menu. But it's the 8-oz size beverage at Starbucks. You have to ask for it, specifically. The Tall is 12 oz, the Grande is 16 oz, and the Venti is 24 oz. For your information, a Venti Blond Roast has 475 mg caffeine.

I wasn't drinking Venti Blond Roasts, daily, but I was consuming in the neighborhood of 400 mg of caffeine each day. It didn't seem like a lot, as it was spread out over the whole day. My coffee mugs hold about 12 oz, so my one cup of coffee was really 1  1/2 cups.

It should also be noted that chocolate has theobromine, another stimulant. Some people are more sensitive to it than others.

Anyway, that's my story of quitting (or mostly quitting) caffeine. I'm not legalistic about it. I realize that I am still getting maybe 15 to 25 mg of caffeine per day, but that is about 1/20 of what I had been consuming. And with fewer and less intense migraines, practically no heart palpitations or muscle twitches, less intense and fewer hot flashes/night sweats, I think this was well-worth making the change. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer.