I haven't been frugal this past week,

but then again, I haven't been not frugal (if that makes any sense).

I'm still here, just busy with a big assignment, taking care of the home and arranging repairs, and being a mom.

When I'm really busy, spending money on anything takes a back seat for a while. Shopping is time-consuming. We've eaten mostly from our supplies at home, with one very brief grocery shopping trip to pick up vegetables and fruit. If I had had more time, I might have browsed the store longer and found items that I thought we needed, and spent more. But as it turned out, we really didn't need more than some bananas, blueberries, carrots and broccoli to get through the week. I also didn't shop for anything for the house or personal stuff. Just no time. So there is an upside to being especially busy.

Simple meals at home often take less hands-on time to prepare than driving out to pick up dinner at a restaurant. My simple meals are not at all in the gourmet-league, more like fried hotdogs with rice and plain veggies, or ramen noodle soup enhanced with chicken and vegetables. Tonight it will be some sort of quick pasta dish, making a quickie marinara sauce from tomato paste, herbs and garlic powder, then poured over cooked noodles. A few more weeks and I will have more time for better meals again, and blogging more, too!

I hope all is well at your end.

I won't be around much for the next week. . .

I have a lot going on this week, and I'm struggling to do it all. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

It's Been Another Busy Week

I did not record any meals this week, again. With the 4th of July, Senior Shopping Day (which is an exhausting shopping excursion for me), a 3-hour meeting yesterday, and trying to get some other work taken care of meant that I got meals on the table, but not much time to record. I do have a pretty good memory, though.

What we ate (but not in this order) --

• baked chicken breasts, with rice pilaf, and leftover jello salad
• hot dogs cooked over a fire, s'mores, red, white & blue jello salad, potato chips, steamed broccoli, sparkling pear cider and 7-up
• chicken, black bean, Swiss chard and onion wrap sandwiches (using the leftover chicken from the baked chicken), fruit salad of blueberries, strawberries and baby bananas (these were marked down to 39 cents/lb, along with other aging bananas)
• ham and lentil soup, cheddar bay biscuits, lettuce and cabbage salad
• ham and scrambled eggs, green beans, brown rice
• peanuts and garlic noodles, deep-fried rhubarb, carrots and onions
• lentil burritos, cole slaw

On Senior Discount Day I picked up about 22 lbs of bone-in chicken breasts, at 87 cents/lb. The breasts are large, in total 16 of them, so over a pound each. I found that 2 baked breasts were enough meat for all of us, with some meaty bones remaining. Right after serving dinner, I popped the meaty bones into the crockpot, covered with 2 cups of water, and set to simmer overnight. By the next morning, the meat was falling off the bones, leaving me with about 1 1/2 cups of meat, and 2 cups of stock. This leftover meat was plenty for making 7 wrap sandwiches. I may be able to get 22 meals out of the chicken that I bought.

The other things that I bought on Senior Day included 7 loaves of bread (to freeze for later this month), more hot dogs, more flour tortillas, peanut butter, and several packages of fun-size candy bars (some for the family as a treat, and some for Hallowe'en). These candy bars were being discontinued by the store, so marked down to 49 cents/ package of 6. Believe it or not, October is only 3 months away!

I hope you had a wonderful week! What was on your menu this past week? Have a great weekend!

Substituting Herb Vinegar for Lemon Juice in a Chicken Recipe

I was making a Mediterranean-inspired baked chicken dish last night, the recipe for which calls for lemon juice. Maybe you recall, about a month ago I discovered that my jug of lemon juice no longer looked or smelled quite right, so it was allocated to cleaning supplies. I have yet to replace that jug.

So, thinking about pie recipes which were flavored with vinegar in the olden days, I thought maybe a variation on the vinegar would work in this recipe. I went online and found that yes, indeed, vinegar is used as a substitute for lemon juice in some instances. The cooks which suggested this often suggested half as much vinegar as a recipe would call for in lemon juice. that sounded a bit strong for me, so I went with about 1/4 to 1/3 of the amount of an herb vinegar, than what I would have used in lemon juice. This particular herb vinegar was made last summer using rosemary from my garden. The flavor was compatible with the other flavors in the dish that I was making.

The result -- it worked well. I did not taste like lemon, but it had that nice tang that lemon juice will give to a dish. In a pinch, this did work. Other substitutions which were offered for lemon juice included lime juice (of course), white wine, orange juice, and sherry. I also think that unsweetened, white grape juice might make a good substitution for lemon juice. The choice of any of these would depend on the type of dish one was modifying. And it helps to keep in mind that you are essentially creating a new dish, with new flavors, and not simply replicating the old one.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the vinegar substitution worked in the marinade for the baked chicken and the subsequent gravy.

Here's My Red, White, and Blue Jello Salad

Is it a salad if it tastes like dessert? Blue jello with fresh blueberries on the bottom layer, topped with whipped cream that I had frozen in mounds since late fall, then smoothed after thawing, and finally fresh strawberries from our garden. It looks pretty, I think. And it was simple to make. Here's a side view, too.

Happy 4th!

Wishing you a safe and sane holiday! I made a blue jello salad, filled with blueberries, and will top with whipped cream, and fresh strawberries from the garden, later today. The blue jello had been lingering in the pantry from some event 6 years ago! And the whipped cream is in the freezer, leftover from late fall. I did splurge on the blueberries, though. It was the best thing I could think of to use the blue jello. 

And of course, I'll get out my Liberty Blue dishes, and patriotic table runner. My plan is to set up a long table on the deck for dinner, then we can sit around the fire to toast marshmallows afterward.

Any special plans for you and yours? Stay safe!

Happy 4th of July!

June 2017 Grocery Spending Journal

June. 4. Picking up a daughter late on a Sunday. She needs her bus pass filled so we swing by QFC. Their bus/customer service desk is closed. Rats! I'll have to get up early tomorrow and take her to the transit center before she needs to get on a bus for class. Oh well, while here, I'll check some aisles. I buy milk, four 1/2 gals (99 cents each), 1 half gallon of almond milk (1.99), 12 "baking" bananas, 49 cents lb (I dug through all of them and found two bundles still in the okay-for-eating stage), and 1 large loaf of bread for $1.25. The price on bread is way too high, but we need bread, and I won't have time for even the simplest bread this evening. Bread, milk and bananas -- a person could live on that for a couple of days, if need be. I also bought some birthday candles for fall birthdays, on clearance. Total spent on food -- $9.26

June 6. Senior Discount Day at Fred Meyer. First thing, they brought back the coffee and cookies for seniors. They hadn't been offering that for the last several months. Having it again was a pleasant surprise. What I bought -- 10 half-gallons of milk, for 89 cents each, 1 half gallon almond milk, $2.25, 3 packages of store brand hot dogs for 80 cents each, 2 packages of Hebrew National hot dogs for $2.99 each (saving these for the 4th of July and maybe another cook-out), 1 package of hot dog buns for 80 cents, 1 16 oz can of frozen orange juice concentrate for $1.35, 15 bananas at 39 cents/lb, 1  1/4 lbs of strawberries for 99 cents, 4 dozen eggs for 89 cents/dozen, 3 packages of flour tortillas for 89 cents/package, 1 bag of sour chewy candy for free (a Friday Freebie), 4 5-ounce cans of tuna for 62 cents each, 2 bags of potato chips for $1.69 each, 3 boxes of graham crackers for $1.35 each, 1 box of saltines for 89 cents,  4 packages of ramen soup for 25 cents each, and 1 16-ct box of frozen corn dogs for $3.37.  Total spent -- $47.15

Yes, that was my shopping cart, and no, I haven't completely lost my mind. A couple of prompts for this diversion from my regular shopping. I noticed a week ago that one daughter had bought herself some ramen for a quick to make lunch. So I thought I would just keep some on hand for her. I also thought saltine crackers might be nice to have on hand to go with homemade soup or salads, or to make PPJ on crackers (always a favorite), or melted cheese on crackers, again quick lunch thought. The tuna was for easy to make sandwich dinners. I'm not a huge fan of tuna, but the rest of the family will like it, and tuna sandwiches or tuna salad on garden lettuce would be a quick and easy dinner. The graham crackers, potato chips and Hebrew Nationals were a special this week, so I thought I'd stock up for holiday BBQs (4th of July just around the corner). And the corn dogs were a great deal for super quick dinners that I know my family would love. After coupon and discount, they came out to 21 cents each. About as fast as getting any sort of take out, but a fraction of the price. A change from my regular shopping. But I think I should be able to stay within my spending allotment, even with this shopping. I'll make a run by the produce stand or ethnic market for produce soon.

June 12. Desperate for produce, but struggling with fatigue this week. I chose to go to Cash & Carry for produce as they have most of what I want, at okay prices (better than supermarkets, overall). I could have run to several stores, but the way I've been feeling, that just would not be sensible. I bought 50 lbs of yellow onions for $7.95, 10 lbs of potatoes for $1.57, 3 lbs of dried cranberries for $7.37, 18 oz of fresh blueberries for $4.28, 4 lbs of fresh strawberries for $5.98, 10 lbs of cooking carrots for $3.98, 5 lbs of baby carrots (snacking) for $3.28, 5 lbs of frozen peas for $3.99, 5 lbs of frozen green beans for $3.99, 2 lbs of frozen broccoli for $2.27, 1 head of Romain lettuce for $1.18, 2 head of green cabbage for $1.38 each, 12 bananas at 47 cents/lb, 5 lb block of mild cheddar for $11.18, and 25 lbs of salt for $4.59.

Yes, you read that last one correctly, 25 pounds of salt! For the past two senior discount days (May and June) I have had salt on my list, but somehow have spaced out and totally forgotten it. We have been using the popcorn salt, the pickling salt, the Kosher salt, all of the expensive salts, for ordinary cooking. When I got to Cash & Carry I thought I'd just pick up the salt there. But it was over a dollar for a canister (26 oz)! I'm used to paying 55 cents for a canister. So, I wondered, what's the price per pound on salt in the big bags? And how long would a big bag take us to use?  I got out my phone and used the calculator function to figure the cost per 26 oz, same as a canister. In the 25 lb bag, that much salt is 29 cents. That's a little over half price of buying salt with my discount at Fred Meyer. As for how long it would take us to use it all, I figured we would go through this much salt in no more than 3 years. I'm still in the "lots of baking and cooking from scratch" phase of life, so this is probably pretty accurate. And salt keeps indefinitely, plus I have the space.  Anyway, total spent at Cash & Carry -- $67.73

Total spent so far this month -- $124.14

June 14. My daughter suffered a concussion at work this week. The doctor recommended she eat a very healthy diet, while recovering, and especially blueberries.  She finished off the fresh blueberries bought 2 days ago, so I went out to buy frozen ones for smoothies. I went to Dollar Tree and bought 6 10-oz bags of blueberries, for $6.

June 15.  My husband and two of the kids are meeting the kids' aunt downtown for dinner. The third kid has a concussion and is resting so stayed home with me. I asked what she would most like for dinner and she agreed that burgers would be great. I picked up a large burger and large order of sweet potato fries for us to share. It's an expensive burger place but about the only fast food burgers that I like. $9.37 for our dinner.

June 16. One daughter wanted a ride to Fred Meyer after church to pick up something for her dad for Father's Day. While she was getting what she needed, I picked up a loaf of bread ($1.25) and 2 dozen eggs (79 cents/dozen). Total spent $2.83

June 23. After dropping a daughter off at work my son and I went by Fred Meyer. Eggs are on sale for 79 cents/dozen. My son got 2 dozen eggs, and I bought 2 dozen eggs, plus a loaf of bread (89 cents), 4 very ripe bananas at 39 cents/lb, 1 bottle of sparkling iced tea (freebie), 1 package of beef jerkey (freebie) and 1 large bottle of Ocean Spray juice (freebie). Total spent $4.71.

After we picked up our groceries at Fred Meyer, I went to Starbucks and bought an egg white-spinach wrap, and met my son at Five Guys where he got a burger, fries, water, and the free peanuts. Total spent $14.72. I grabbed the bottle of sparkling iced tea that I got for free at Fred Meyer and the two of us had a long lunch together on the lovely patio outside of Five Guys.

Total spent this month -- $161.77

June 24. Out running errands. I stop at Trader Joe's to buy bananas. I bought 14 bananas at 19 cents each, spending $2.66.

I also stopped at Grocery Outlet, to pick up Epsom Salts. I also bout an 11.5-oz can of vanilla-flavored coffee, for $1.58, and 3 17-oz bottles of sparkling flavored water, for 50 cents/each. (These last ones are a favorite treat of mine. I've gotten them as freebies from Fred Meyer on several occasions.) Total spent $3.08

This month, I used the grocery money to buy a couple of fast food meals to have with kids, on a one-on-one basis. It seemed like an appropriate time to do this. Financially, it worked out fine. I just hope this won't come back to bite me later.

June 26. One daughter and I spent a good part of the day at Pike Place market, in downtown Seattle before she went to her studio to paint for the afternoon. We snacked on all of the free samples and then bought ourselves some lunch. We stopped at a specialty cheese shop and bought the smallest package we could find of the smoked flagship cheddar, then went to the bakery and each chose a pastry, and finally stopped at a stand with fresh cherries and bought a tall cup of fresh cherries to share. We picked up free cups of ice water at every place that we went. I didn't track prices, but I started with a $20 bill, and I think I have about $2 and change leftover. So, I spent about $17.50. A "meal out" with each of my kids this month.

Total spent for June -- $185.01

What I bought

Produce
57 bananas
1 large can of orange juice concentrate
5  1/4 lbs of strawberries
50 lbs of onions
10 lbs potatoes
3 lbs dried cranberries
18 oz blueberries
10 lbs cooking carrots
5 lbs baby carrots
5 lbs frozen peas
5 lbs frozen green beans
2 lbs frozen broccoli
1 head Romaine lettuce
2 heads green cabbage
1 33 oz bottle of mixed flavor juice (freebie)
60 ounces frozen blueberries

Dairy
12 half gallons 2% milk
2 half gallons whole milk
2 half gallons almond milk
10 dozen eggs
5 lbs cheddar cheese

Meat
5 packages hot dogs
4 cans of tuna
16 corn dogs
a package of beef jerky (freebie)

Pantry
3 loaves of bread
30 flour tortillas
1 bag of sour chewy candy (freebie)
2 bags of potato chips
3 boxes of graham crackers
1 box of saltine crackers
4 packages of ramen soup
25 lbs salt
1 bottle sparkling iced tea (freebie)
small can of flavored coffee
3 individual bottles of sparkling flavored water

Other
3 meals out, 1 with each kid


The meals out with my kids were expensive for my budget, but worthwhile, for them and for me. I can afford it for right now. When I can no longer afford these, I'll figure something else out for one on one time with them.

I still had a surplus of $154.76, and a regular amount of $150, giving me a total of $304.76 for June available to spend. I spent $185.01, which leaves me with $119.75 in surplus to roll over into July.

Cheap & Cheerful Meals This Past Week

I didn't record what we ate, but I can remember most of it.

Over the weekend. . .

Entrees

rice and black beans

scrambled eggs

Side dishes

cooked carrots

cole slaw

brown rice

hashbrowns

green salad

During the week. . .

Entrees

baked ham (two nights)

ham, peas, macaroni and cheese casserole

bean, rice and cheese burritos

black bean pie (bean burger mixture baked in a pie pan)

Side dishes

sweet potato souffle

green beans

broccoli

fresh strawberries and bananas

brown rice

macaroni and broccoli in olive oil and garlic

green salad

Desserts all week

chocolate ice cream

brownies

vanilla pudding

caramel popcorn

The only desserts that I made was a large batch of vanilla pudding when it looked like some milk might turn sour soon. Someone else made the brownies and caramel corn, and the ice cream is from a purchase of buckets of ice cream in spring. The ham was in the freezer for a year and a half. It was mostly okay, but parts of it tasted more porky to me. The strawberries and salad greens are from the garden. I thought I also cooked some snow peas from the garden this week, but I don't remember how I served them. 

I'm already thinking toward the 4th. I've asked one daughter to work with siblings to make dinner that night, as I've got projects that I'm working on, and frankly, I need a break. She agreed. All they'll have to do is come up with a couple of side dishes. I have hot dogs in the fridge, and I'll buy buns. I have a bag of potato chips and everything needed to make s'mores. Sounds simple enough, right? For those of you in Canada, will you be doing a cookout on Saturday, for Canada Day?

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and if you're traveling, stay safe.

Successes With Making Yogurt After a Long Break

I hadn't made yogurt in at least a year. I just lost interest in making it, and my family wasn't eating it as readily. But in cleaning out the freezers, I found a few containers of homemade yogurt to use as starter. Combine that with early in the month I had picked up a gallon of whole milk. So . . .

The other day I did make yogurt, again, and had several areas of success that I thought I'd share.

• using old starter --the starter in my freezer was about one and a half years old, and it still worked! Who knew the starter would stay viable for so long?!
• chain yogurting for years -- the starter that I used this week is a direct descendant from my original container of Yoplait, bought in July of 2012. I think that's incredible. I never expected my starter to last for all of these years. Every few batches, the day after making yogurt I pack several small containers to use as starter for future batches, and keep in a 0 degree F freezer. It just keeps on going.
• incubating part of the yogurt for less time, to have some of it ready sooner -- I like to leave the yogurt to incubate overnight, but one daughter was asking if any would be ready for her to pack in her lunch, before morning. In that moment, I was thinking, well no, as I'd be leaving it in the incubator overnight, and then it would need to set up in the fridge for several hours. And then it occurred to me that I don't have to leave all of the jars in the incubator overnight. I could take one out after 3 or 4 hours and refrigerate, but leave the other 3 jars to incubate the length of time I prefer, for flavor and thickness. While this doesn't seem like such a monumental thing, it was to me as I was thinking outside of the box and doing one thing with part of the yogurt and another thing with the other part. When I think outside of my own boxes it makes me feel like I am opening up new opportunities for myself.
• adding milk powder to add extra nutrients to the yogurt -- two of my kids are not eating as much as they should (for completely different reasons), so I wanted to add a few extra nutrients to the foods that I prepare. I added dry milk powder to the heating milk. This isn't new or novel. A lot of yogurt-makers do this to thicken skim or low-fat milk in yogurt. But I've not done this before, and I was pleased with how well it worked. No noticeable change in texture or taste, except it is slightly thicker.

For anyone interested in my original attempts with making yogurt, this post covers what I did in July of 2012, along with a couple of follow-ups to that post.

Stretching a Small Can of Tuna

I know I am not the only one who does this; so tell me what do you add, to stretch a can of tuna?

The size of canned tuna that I have always thought was the "regular" can is now the 5-ounce can. It used to be 7 ounces. When I was growing up, there were three sizes, the jumbo, large family size ( I don't even know how many ounces that was), the "regular" size can, that up until a few years ago was 7 ounces, and the individual size can, which I think was about 3 ounces.  That "regular" can has shrunk over the years. A 7-ounce can used to be large enough to make 3 or 4 sandwiches.  Shrinking down to a 5-ounce size, it's pretty tough to get enough tuna for that many sandwiches. So, I stretch tuna.

Friday, I made tuna salad on beds of lettuce, to go with fresh-baked bread.  To the tuna, I added cooked rice, chopped celery, chives, lots of relish and mayo, and 1 chopped, boiled egg.  It was easily enough for 4 mounds of tuna. Obviously, we're not getting the amount of protein that we used to get from a 7-ounce can. However, I'm hopeful that by adding a chopped egg, we've added some protein.

So, what do you add to stretch a can of tuna?

Foreign Language Magazines to Use as Gift Wrap and Gift Tags

I snatched this from a free pile over the weekend.

We were returning home-I was tired-We passed a free pile in front of someone's home-One daughter asked if we could turn around-I obliged.

My daughter was after a pair of roller blades in the pile. My other daughter saw some bottles that she thought would make good sketching pieces. I just sat in the car and waited for the two of them to finish fishing through someone's trash free pile. One of them knocked on the window and said there were some cookbooks and crafting stuff. Okay. Got me. I'm not hugely keen on handling stuff that really does look like it could use a good washing up. Lucky me, though, this magazine was at the top of a stack.

Besides the fact that the photography in the magazine is truly beautiful, what makes a foreign language magazine or book so suitable for use in crafting, gift wrap or gift tags is that with text in another language, it adds to, rather than distracts from, the decorative aspect.

Do you remember the small, squat canning jars that I picked up on clearance a month ago? I mentioned they would become part of this Christmas's gifting, using some for beeswax candles. I'm thinking that maybe some of those jars would be nice filled with homemade mustard. Pages from this magazine would make nice wrapping for kitchen-inspired gifts.

Even the pages which are mostly text have decorative appeal.

When You Find Yourself Walking in the Darkness, Carry a Flashlight and Grab Onto Someone's Hand

A "flashlight" can come in many forms. For a person of faith, a flashlight might be their book of faith. I know for me, reading scriptures from my faith steadies me. My Bible is my main flashlight. There can be smaller flashlights to carry in the darkness, along with the main one.  In addition to having my words of faith to hold on to, I also am spending time with my thoughts, through journaling.  I recently began a very simple and brief journal.

What makes this journal effective is:

• It is very brief, no more than 2 sentences in the morning and 2 sentences at night. In fact, they needn't even be complete sentences. I can use phrases and keywords in place of sentences, if that is all I have. 
• It is a routine of twice per day, in the morning and in the evening. The routine works for me.
• The morning entry sets up my day.  In 1 or 2 sentences, I write my hope for the day. It can be a plan for something specific that day, like ordering new socks, or spending an hour with a family member. Or it can be more vague, like trying to only say positive things for the day. Because the morning entry is so brief and simple, I can easily check with myself, as the day is progressing, as to whether or not I am or have fulfilled my hope.
• The evening entry pushes me to reflect on the good from the day. In 1 or 2 sentences, I identify either a pleasant moment, an accomplishment, or a realization from the day. It's a gratitude entry.

Anyway, this is part of what I am doing to pull myself out of a dark place. Last week, you all reached your hands out to me, and I grabbed on. Thank you. 

Hi there . . .

Hi friends,
Thank you, all, so much for your thoughts and kindness. Life still sucks, big time. I can't change what other people are doing. I'm just stuck with it. Anyway, I am trying to pull myself up.

In the past couple of weeks, I have . . .

eaten way too many mug cakes (and let's face it, chocolate is the best when it comes to mug cakes).

the following week I began watching what I was eating as the pounds were creeping on. (I'm using myfitnesspal.com to track my foods and exercise. I'm down a couple of pounds already.)

I am trying to get outside everyday. I have pretty dahlias growing in a pot on the deck outside my room. I put some birdseed on the small table next to the dahlias, so I can watch the birds and squirrels come by for a snack. I have tried to get the garden all planted, but the slugs have been mighty opponents this year.

I have spent practically nothing on groceries in the last week, but am using what we have in stock at home.

We've had our share of ailments in the house: One daughter with a concussion; another daughter, son and myself with varying degrees of colds.

I've spent some time on pinterest looking for closet organizing and bathroom storage ideas. Does anyone here actually have enough shoes to need a separate closet just for shoes?

I did some online shopping for necessities, and saved on shipping. I ordered bras from Target, got free shipping, plus I was able to get more than one of the bras that I wanted in my size. Usually I find a style/size I like, but they only have one in my size. Ordering online not only saved on gas, but I was able to get more than one at a time. I knew what I wanted ahead of time. It's the same one I bought a couple of years ago, and they still carry it now.

I bought some Epsom Salts at Dollar Tree to use in baths for their magnesium benefit.

Meals this past week:

Burritos (twice, one with beef and beans, the other beans and rice), broccoli frittata, frozen corn dogs, hot dogs, homemade French fries, sandwiches -- all easy stuff.

I hope your weeks have been pleasant! And thank you all again for your kind thoughts and prayers. I'm okay, and will someday be better.

Sorry I haven't been around much lately

I'm tired, have a lot of work to do, am dealing with some rotten stuff in my life, and I'm pretty much a downer to be around.  What I know is this . . . life won't always be exactly as it is today. I'll be back very soon.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the Beginning of June

Friday

• hot dog taquitos
• cole slaw

Saturday (husband cooks)

• rice
• beans
• eggs
• rhubarb

Sunday (husband cooks)

• pumpkin rice souffle
• cole slaw

Monday

• Asian chicken noodle salad, on lettuce, with snow peas, celery, cabbage, chive blossoms, sesame seeds, garlic, with a chive blossom vinegar, soy sauce and oil dressing
• leftover pumpkin rice souffle

Tuesday

• corn dogs
• oven fried potatoes
• roasted carrots
• leftover pumpkin rice souffle
• strawberry and banana slices

Wednesday

• spinach, chive blossom and cheddar quiche
• brown rice
• strawberries and banana slices

Thursday

• waffles, topped with blackberries, pecans, whipped cream, and maple syrup
• banana slices

That's what we ate this past week. I have to say, my favorite meals this week were the frozen corn dogs and oven fries, and last night's waffles. I've done those waffles before, just like this with frozen blackberries, toasted pecans and whipped cream. They are pretty amazing. Even using kinda expensive ingredients, like the pecans, whipped cream and real maple syrup, I estimated hat a 2-waffle serving was still only about $1, which I think is not too bad.  The frozen corn dogs I bought in a 16-ct carton, at Fred Meyer, on sale, with electronic coupon and senior discount.  They came to about 21 cents each, which blows fast food out of the water, price-wise.

I hope you had a good week, and now have lovely plans for the weekend!

Grocery Shopping in Between the Holidays

This came up in discussion, here, recently.  In my area, I have found better sales a week or two outside of the holiday week, for those special holiday foods.  This week Fred Meyer (a Kroger affiliate) had Hebrew National hot dogs, potato chips, and graham crackers/marshmallows all on sale. These items are all what I think of as BBQ foods (graham crackers/marshmallows for s'mores).

Memorial Day was over a week ago, and we're still 3 weeks out from 4th of July week. My thinking is that the stores know they "have us" just before the holiday, but want to entice us outside of the holiday period, with season-specific sales, during those weeks when we might not be thinking cook-out.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I used this week, along with my discount for Senior Day, to grab some bargains to save until the 4th of July.  If I find these same items for less than I paid this week, it won't be by much. And if I don't find them at these prices, then I'm ahead of the game. Like with other treats, the potato chips and graham crackers are hidden in my "other" pantry, and the Hebrew Nationals have been designated "do not touch" and are in the garage fridge.

For some price comparisons -- with senior discount, I paid $1.35 for each box of graham crackers. when compared to Dollar Tree's graham crackers in a 10-oz box, the equivalent amount of Kroger's grahams (in a 14.4-oz box) were 93.75 cents, over 6 cents per box cheaper.  The Hebrew Nationals I am willing to spend as much as $3.99 per package. So I saved $1 per package.  The least expensive potato chips I can buy at Dollar Tree have 6 ounces in a bag.  The Kroger ones have 11.5 ounces in each bag.  I paid $1.69, with my discount.  A 6-ounce equivalent of the Kroger brand cost 88 cents. what I did not buy -- I did not buy the marshmallows. I can get a better deal at WinCo than $1 for the small bag advertised. And I make our own ketchup and buy mustard in gallon jars, so I save on those items outside of shopping Fred Meyer's "in-between" sale.

Roses, for Me? You Shouldn't Have!

Oh, you didn't.  I can count on one hand the number of purchased bouquets that I have received in the last couple of decades.  I really do love flowers. But I'm not about to sit around waiting for someone else to send me bouquets. So what does this bouquet-loving lady do?

Every spring and summer, I cut bouquets for myself every week. I keep them on the dresser in my room, or in the kitchen next to the sink, or in the bathroom next to the tub.  I put my own home-cut bouquets in the places where I most want to look at them. It simply makes me happy to have flowers in my spaces.

Earlier this spring, I had lilacs and irises. Monday was the first day of spring that I could cut enough roses for a small bouquet. This week, I have a half-dozen pink roses to bring cheer to my daily activities. Such a frugal but beautiful thing to do for myself.

Sesame Oil Flavor for a Salad by Toasting Hulled Sesame Seeds

(this 10-oz bottle sells for $5.53 on Amazon)

I was making a favorite Asian chicken and noodle salad for dinner last night and realized that I've been out of sesame oil for eons. At $4 or so for a small bottle, sesame oil has not been on my active shopping list since the early 2000s. It adds so much flavor to this salad, though, so I knew I'd be sad without that extra depth of flavor. To get that same sesame oil flavor I toasted hulled sesame seeds in a dry skillet until golden brown.

1/4 cup of toasted sesames added just the amount of flavor that I wanted for a family-size bowl of salad.

I was also out of green onions.

This time of year, my chive plants produce an abundance of blossoms. In addition to making flavored vinegar with the blossoms, I also add pulled apart blossoms to salads, soups and to top casseroles, for a little oniony flavor.

I don't know if you ever buy sesame oil, or if you happen across a recipe which calls for it. You can get a similar taste from toasting your own sesame seeds.  I buy sesame seeds in 1-lb bags for about $3 per pound. Sesame seeds keep in the freezer for a very long time, BTW.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the Last of May

Friday (just 2 for dinner)

• hot dogs in homemade buns 
• homemade French fries
• roasted carrot sticks
• sherbet

Saturday

• leftover pasta in sauce
• scrambled eggs
• frozen broccoli
• sherbet

Sunday (husband cooks)

• egg, cheese, and rice dish
• fried corn tortilla
• carrot sticks

Monday (Memorial Day)

• baked hot dogs in buns
• green salad (lettuce from garden), topped with olives, celery, roasted pecans, and prunes)
• sherbet

Tuesday

• black bean and cheese burritos
• roasted carrots
• olives
• sherbet

Wednesday

• baked chicken
• brown rice
• broccoli
• rhubarb pie

Thursday

• spinach frittata
• baked potatoes
• rhubarb pie
• what it really was -- waffles, whipped cream, frozen blackberries

Busy week. Life is having to take a back seat to some other situations and projects. I hope your week went well. What was on your menu this past week? Anything interesting? How do you change menus when the warm weather hits your area?

Have a wonderful weekend!

I've Got Something Major That I'm Working on Today

I'll be back tomorrow! What's on your plan for today? Happy first day of June!