Road Trip

I was on the road all last week. I tried to keep up with my blog, but after a couple of days I just didn't have time. My family of 6 drove to Arizona to see my stepmom (my kids' grandma). Four of us took 3 days to drive there then 3 days back, while my son and daughter-in-law made the drive down in 2 days then 2 days back. Neither my husband nor I can see well enough for night driving on highways without streetlights, hence the 3 days each way. It was a good trip.

We did what we could to keep our costs down. For example, we chose to drive instead of fly. I booked places to stay that had free breakfasts plus a microwave and fridge in the room. In addition, we packed food for the rest of our meals on all traveling days. I brought bread, tortillas, crackers, pretzels, peanut butter, cheese, nuts, raisins, prunes, dried apples, dried cherries, canned vegetables, homemade refried beans, frozen hotdogs and buns, carrot sticks, sliced cabbage and slaw dressing, cookies, muffins, applesauce, juice, and instant coffee. There was a lot of repetition in our meals -- peanut butter sandwiches on either bread or crackers just about every day for lunch. Our dinners were only slightly more varied. one night we microwaved hotdogs to have with applesauce, Cole slaw, and canned green beans. Another night I made bean and cheese burritos in the microwave, served with carrot sticks, canned green beans, and dried fruit. And on yet another night, we used the last of the tortillas and some cheese to make quesadillas to serve with canned carrots, applesauce, and nuts. The final night we set out all of the remaining foods for us all to help ourselves to a snacky dinner. Whatever works, right? This trip was planned at the last minute, so I didn't have time to put together a more complex road trip menu. 

Every morning, before hitting the road, I made a large thermos of coffee and a smaller thermos of decaf. In addition, I handed out a 64-oz repurposed plastic juice bottle (the kind apple juice is packaged in) to each of the 4 of us filled with water. These became our personal water supply bottles for the drives. We each filled our own in the mornings before driving. 

As a result of packing so much food and drinks, we didn't need to buy any meals on the drive down or the drive back. We did buy a few candy items to share here and there when stopping for gas, spending about $15 total on candy. These small purchases perked us up when we needed it. By not spending much on food for the drives, we were able to splurge on a couple of meals with my stepmom. I guess that's how our frugality tends to work. We are careful in some areas so we can splurge in others.

We got home Sunday afternoon. I immediately started in on the laundry then grabbed a couple of items from the freezer to throw together a simple dinner -- a bean and canned tomato soup topped with cheese and homemade bread with butter. We were all so tried that this easy meal was all we really wanted before hitting the sack.

Being away from the vegetable garden for a week took its toll on some of my plants. I lost a couple, but am hopeful that the rest will recover. This morning I had to make up for lost gardening time. I leveled and raked the new pumpkin, corn, bean, and pepper patch. It's now ready and waiting for our weather to warm.  I pulled out the tail end of last fall's kale, plucking off the edible leaves to use in Monday's dinner, readying a spot for new seeds -- more kale, lettuce, and beets. My garden did have a happy surprise for me -- the carrot seeds sprouted while I was away.

Like I said, it was a good trip. But I'm happy to be home, sleeping in my own bed, and getting back to the work I have here on the old homestead.

Helping Myself Take Smaller Servings -- Better for My Health & Finances

This is an old dieter's trick, but it's also something I'm doing to save money on groceries. Serving myself portions in smaller containers.

I started this with coffee a while ago. I switched from the 12-oz mug on the left to the 8-oz cup on the right. I originally began this for health reasons. As it turns out, I'm also saving money. I drink far less coffee now that I'm using the smaller cup. Yes, I do get more refills in a day, but not enough to equal what I'd been drinking using a 12-oz mug. 

Another change for health reasons -- my morning yogurt. I'm lactose intolerant. Too much yogurt can be too much for me. I switched from a 6-oz custard cup (on the right) to a 4-oz canning container (on the left). I also now do this with pudding and ice cream. Smaller portions made simple. I'm eating slightly less, but not so much less that I feel deprived. 

Did you know that for many years in the USA a portion of ice cream was only a 1/2-cup or 4 ounces? It's been recently updated to reflect how much Americans actually consider a serving -- 2/3 cup. Meanwhile, commercial yogurt portions have been shrinking. Do you remember the days when individual portions of yogurt were sold in 8-oz containers? Then they went to 6 ounces, and most recently I've seen several 5-ounce containers of yogurt at the store. Using a 4-oz squat canning jar helps me portion my food better, whether it's ice cream, yogurt, pudding or anything else of which I should probably eat a smaller amount.

At lunch I've been choosing to use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate many days. This forces me to put less on my plate. So, if I'm having something like chips with soup or a sandwich, I automatically put fewer chips on my plate. I don't always use a salad plate, however. Sometimes I want to use the larger dinner plate so that I will eat more of something, like salad or fresh garden fruit or vegetables. But for the days that we are having some chips with lunch, we can get by with a smaller bag of chips by using smaller plates.

I'm doing something good for my health and saving money.