Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for November

This photo is from our family trip to the pumpkin farm several weeks ago. I love this! The trees are so beautiful.

For those of you who shop at Fred Meyer, I'm really happy to report that there is another bonus Senior Discount Day, Tuesday, Nov. 19. AND, the turkey deals have been announced, so if you're buying your turkey at Fred Meyer and you're 55+, you can save on your turkey and everything else you might buy at Fred Meyer. Plus, there's a friends and family pass (discount in several departments) in the circular. See the front page of this week's circular.

I went to Fred Meyer for the first bonus Senior Discount shopping day on Tuesday and spent $18.75, bringing my spending up for the month to $112.43. (I bought sugar, eggs, and coffee.) My daughters paid me a couple of dollars for something, so I used that money to buy an additional gallon of milk for the month while I was at Fred Meyer.

Here are this week's evening meals.

Friday

Friday
meatloaf with gravy
freebie mashed potatoes
Swiss chard and onions
butternut squash

Saturday

Saturday
rice and beans
lentil sprouts in vinaigrette
orange segments

indoor lettuce in pots

Sunday
peanut noodles
lettuce (from indoor pots) with dressing

kale and apple salad

Monday
baked chicken leg quarters with gravy
fresh whole wheat bread
kale and apple salad (both garden items)
sweet potato fries
scratch brownies

Tuesday

Tuesday (daughter's night)
pumpkin, bean, and sausage soup
tossed salad using the last of the lettuce, plus some kale
zucchini bread from the freezer

Wednesday

Wednesday (other daughter's night)
chicken and vegetable soup (made with chicken bones from Monday, carrots, onions, and kale from garden)
scratch whole wheat and raisin muffins
chocolate chip cookies

gingered carrot and lentil sprout salad

Thursday
gingered carrot and lentil sprout salad
curried butternut squash and peanut butter soup
bread and butter
apple wedges and last of the homemade caramel sauce



You may have noticed, we have brownies often. I think this is one of my daughters' favorite thing to bake. About once per week, the two of them will hang out in the kitchen late at night, talk, and bake. Years from now, when they are both busy in their own lives, they'll remember all of those late nights together in the kitchen baking brownies.

Do you remember those 64-oz jars of peanut butter that I bought for $2 at a new dollar store in our area? They have an expiration date of January 2020, so I've been trying to use peanut butter in meals. This week, we did peanut noodles and a squash and peanut butter soup. I also made peanut butter granola yesterday to go with a fresh batch of yogurt (also made yesterday).

We finished off the potted lettuce this week. It did okay sitting in the window for over a month. It did, however, develop a small aphid problem, only noticeable when I was rinsing the leaves. We've now moved on to kale, chard, and sorrel (in garden) and radish greens (in planter on deck), plus sprouts and kale microgreens. All of the greens are generously supplemented with winter squash, canned pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and carrots. 

I continue to look for new ways to use the lentil sprouts, since these are so easy to grow in my kitchen. If you recall, last week I made a stir fried rice and lentil sprout dish. This is my go-to quick snack or lunch, when there's nothing easy to grab and I have leftover cooked rice on hand. This week, I made a carrot and lentil sprout salad which was very tasty. I'm sure that I will share many more creations that use lentil sprouts in the coming months. (And you're all sitting on the edge of your seats, waiting in anticipation for these fascinating lentil sprout reports -- ha ha!)

How has your week gone? Was there anything interesting on your menu this week? Any big plans for the weekend?

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Non-Food Items to Bulk up the Grocery Shopping and Get the Best Turkey Deal

The turkey deals have been announced. The best deals in my local stores involve very large (for me, at least) purchases in order to qualify. At Fred Meyer, if I spend $150, I can get a 20-lb turkey for free. If I spend just $50, I can get a turkey for 49 cents per pound. WinCo also has a free turkey deal, with a minimum spend of $100. I will be sticking with Fred Meyer for my turkey, though. Here's why. Fred Meyer is a department store, much like Target, selling an extensive variety of non-food goods in addition to groceries, whereas WinCo is more limited in what they carry.

The last two afternoons, I have brainstormed all of the products that I could possibly buy at FM (and not overpay per item) and spend that $150. I actually don't buy a lot of food at Fred Meyer, because frankly, I can do better, price-wise on food items at many of the other stores and markets in my area. But I do buy household items at Fred Meyer, because their store-brands of household items are quite good. For example, I buy Fred Meyer's Everyday Living LED lightbulbs and Office Works copy paper -- both are house-branded, priced well, and have performed well for me. 

So my list is comprised of almost exclusively non-food items that can be found at Fred Meyer and many other grocery stores. It occurred to me that some of you might also be considering whether or not you will be spending a substantial amount in order to qualify for a free or reduced-price turkey. I thought I'd share what I've come up with for bulking up my grocery list and snagging myself a free turkey.

I'll be buying my turkey (or rather, getting my free turkey) on this coming Tuesday, which happens to be another bonus 55+ shopping day at Fred Meyer. In putting together my shopping list, I have literally walked around my home and garage, opening drawers and cupboards and asked myself "is this something I would normally buy at Fred Meyer?" I discovered that there are quite a lot of non-food items that I buy over the course of a year, there, or in a similar store. Here's a list of items that I've come up with so far.

Bathroom

• bath tissue
• facial tissue
• hygiene supplies
• toothbrushes/paste/mouthwash/whitening strips
• personal items like lip balm, cosmetics, soap/body wash, shampoo/conditioner, hair color
• first aid, such as epsom salt, bandages, ointments, cotton or gauze balls/pads/swabs, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol
• OTC meds and supplements
• bathroom cleaners, sponges, toilet brushes, shower squeegees
• travel containers for vacations
• hair accessories, tools, and appliances
• razors
• baby supplies

Bedroom

• hangers
• moisture control products for the closet

General

• lightbulbs
• batteries
• cleaning solutions (hard surface and carpet/upholstery) and tools
• candles, matches, lighters, pressed logs, charcoal briquets, flashlights  

Office

• copy paper
• tape -- duct, Scotch, packing
• pens, highlighters, Sharpies
• sticky notes
• file folders
• scissors, rulers

Kitchen

• dishwashing liquid
• dishwashing powder
• paper towels, waxed paper, plastic wrap, foil, baggies, napkins, coffee filters
• small kitchen tools/gadgets, like can/bottle openers, rubber spatulas, pancake turners, mixing/serving spoons
• storage and lunch containers, glass or plastic
• small electric appliances -- mixers, kettles, stick blenders 
• bakeware, cutting boards, cooling racks

Garage

• motor oil, other car fluids
• chamois cloths
• gas cans
• ice scrapers for windshields
• bag of sand or kitty litter to keep in trunk for dealing with snow/ice
• spray paint, wall patch putty
• measuring tape
• snow shovel
• emergency auto supplies, like road flares

Holiday Specific

• holiday lights
• extension cords
• wrapping paper
• small gifts/stocking stuffers

Personal

• umbrella
• mittens
• socks
• shoe polish, shoe inserts

This isn't a list of everything I intend to buy, but simply a list of possibilities. Many of these items I buy at other stores, simply because they're less expensive at places like Dollar Tree, and I only need a basic level of quality for particular items. I left them on this list because they may be less expensive for you at the store with your best turkey-deal. 

Do you know what? I am extremely close to that $150 threshold for a free turkey. It helps that I've spent extraordinarily little on things like lightbulbs, bandaids and tape, and just allowing us to run out of many of these items over the past 6 months. In addition, I'll be buying a couple of holiday gifts at FM, ones that turn out to be less expensive there compared to other stores. I need just a couple more items to reach that spending threshold. I'm looking for suggestions for my list, if you can think of anything else. 

So, what else could I add to my list of possibilities?