A Wonderful Box from Last Summer's Free Piles

One late-summer or early-fall evening while driving home, my daughter and I spied this box on a free pile. I snagged it without thoroughly looking through the contents, as I could see it was filled with nice Christmas crafting material. I put it in my trunk and left it there until last week.

Wow! This is full of wonderful material. There are spools of ribbon, several grapevine wreaths and balls, vines, silk flowers, pine cones, ornaments, pots, florist foam, and other tidbits. The stuff was all jumbled together, with tangled ribbon holding everything in large masses. After untangling the ribbon and separating items into piles, I could see that I had found a treasure trove of crafting material.

I have already begun using some of the contents, as you saw on the lid of the tin that I spruced up. So much fun to have new supplies! We'll be making wreaths later this week, and I have a kissing ball in mind with one of the grapevine balls, burgundy ribbon, and silk roses. Lots of fun times at no cost to me.

I had the opportunity to meet the woman who kept her free pile stocked all summer, when she held a garage sale in early July. Apparently, she and her young family were moving out of the area and, therefore, were lightening the load of what to bring to the new house. Not only does she have an interest in crafting, but she also shares my passion for studying art and artists. Their home was just a few blocks from ours, and I was so sorry to discover this kindred spirit just as she was leaving the area. She gave me a few of her art books for my own library, which I'll treasure as mementos of this chance encounter.

Super Easy, Garlic Cheesey Bread

This was a great accompaniment to a pot of homemade soup, this past week. Four ingredients, minimal effort, and very yummy.

1 can of biscuit dough
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
4-6 tablespoons shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 X 8-inch baking dish.

Melt butter and stir in garlic. Cut biscuits into quarters and dip into the melted butter/garlic. Place in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden.
I used Parmesan (what I had), but I think these would be delicious with cheddar -- more melty and gooey.

Serves 4.

The Finished Tins

So, yesterday I showed you the assortment of tins that I chose with which to build a treat tower and the results of spray painting 2 of the tins gold. Here's what I did to finish those tins.

The lid of the small round tin has an embossed design.

I covered that lid with a wreath of faux greenery, berries, and blossoms, using a hot glue gun.

I also hot-glued a red ribbon around the bottom part of the large square tin, so it would harmonize with the other tins. Here is a side view of the stack. (The lid does fit properly on the bottom tin. I just didn't want to press it on just yet -- waiting for the paint to harden.)

And here's what the top of the stack looks like. I think it's pretty. I could spray paint all of the tins gold, but I like the way this looks as it is. What do you think?

Reminder of what the tins looked like before.

My total cost for these tins? Nothing. The tins, spray paint, faux greenery, ribbon, and glue stick were items that I already had. I'm pretty pleased. When I make a gift, I try to make it as attractive as possible, so that even finicky recipients will be pleased.

The Treat Tower: The Tins

I've seen these in catalogs for years and always wanted to receive one. I know. The crazy things we wish for, right? Anyway, as mentioned yesterday, I am putting together a tower for a gift, using some of my stash of tins. Here's a photo of the tins that I think will work.

There are 5 tins altogether. The top one and bottom 3 (the poinsettia 2 are side by side) are vendor tins. The bottom and top one have labels on them, while the 2 poinsettia tins just say "Happy Holidays." My thought is I only need to paint the bottom and top tins in the photo, as the other 3 will look fine, as is. I'm using some gold spray paint on those two. I've just sprayed the first coat and will do a second coat in a bit. If any of the design shows through, I'll add some extra trim, like ribbon or spray "snow." The top tin has a raised design on the lid. I plan on covering that with a silk blossom, wreath of silk leaves, or large bow, hot-glued onto the top.

I just checked the tins, and the paint is looking good. Here are the bottoms to the tins. The color is kind of off in the photo. They are definitely gold, and not coppery.

No printing shows through, but I think I will wrap a band of red ribbon around the bottom tin to thematically tie it into the rest of the tins.

On spray painting tins -- I cleaned the interiors with soapy water and dried well, using a toothpick to clean out the crack where the base meets the side. I also used rubbing alcohol to thoroughly clean the exterior, so the paint would adhere evenly. I did not do anything else to prepare the tins. I place the tins, upside down, on boxes, in order to spray the sides evenly, without getting paint inside. I plan on leaving the tins open for a week or so, before putting lids back on, to let the paint thoroughly harden. I am very pleased with how the tins painted. As far as I can tell for now, this is a great solution for sprucing up tins.

Old-Time Spiced Nuts

This is one of my mother's recipes that she found in a ca. 1950s' cookbook. The original recipe called for pecan halves, but I've always used mixed nuts. If using salted nuts, reduce or omit the salt in the recipe. In addition, as there is egg white in the recipe, you may find the info on the foodsafety.gov to be reassuring. The recommendation is to heat an item containing raw, unpasteurized eggs to 160 F degrees. These nuts are baked at 250 degrees for an hour.

Here's the recipe:

Spiced Nuts

2 tablespoons cold water
1 slightly beaten egg white
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups nuts

Preheat oven to 250 F degrees. Butter a large, shallow baking sheet.

Add water to slightly beaten egg white. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and salt. Let stand 15 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved.

Dip the nuts into the mixture. Spread on prepared baking sheet. Bake in a slow oven (250 F degrees) until golden, about 1 hour. (You may need to reduce the baking time slightly for previously roasted nuts.)

That's it! Super simple and makes a delicious holiday treat with less sugar than cookies or candies.

I am making these nuts for a gift. (I'll make sure to make enough for leftovers for our family!) I am putting together a treat and snack tower, using holiday tins. Something along the lines of the below photo:

My tins are a motley assortment, so I plan to spiff a couple of them up with a coating of spray paint. (I have gold paint at home.) The spiced nuts will fill one of the top, smaller containers.

The Festive Holiday Foods that I Found in My Fridge and Freezer

One of my goals for the next few months is to use up everything in the fridges and freezers, saving some money on grocery purchases in the bargain. Here is what was lingering that I can turn into some festive holiday dishes:

• fruitcake fruit -- yes, I actually like fruitcake and intend to honor my mother's memory by making her recipe
• pecans and almonds for baking and Swedish Christmas rice pudding -- a Christmas Eve dessert
• almond paste for homemade, Christmas morning Danish pastry
• smoked salmon -- even though it's been frozen, when thawed and mixed with cream cheese it makes a good spread
• frozen mounds of whipped cream -- good for homemade eggnog
• frozen croissants
• a variety of sausages -- I'll use some in a savory New Year's Eve pie
• several types of homemade pickles, jams, and marmalades
• frozen berries -- the frozen, wild blackberries make a good pancake syrup for cold winter mornings
• cream cheese -- good for pumpkin cheesecake (my daughters make this and it is soooo good)
• mixed nuts -- I plan on making spiced nuts as a gift and for ourselves with these
• baking chocolate, dipping chocolate, and chocolate chips
• peppermint oil for making peppermint patties
• phyllo dough
• lots of standard baking supplies, such as flour, butter, granulated and powdered sugar, spices, extracts, oil, and crisco

With so many wonderful ingredients already in the house there is little I need to buy at the grocery store for holiday treats.

Today, I am . . .

• making pizza from scratch for my family's dinner 
• wrapping Christmas gifts with gently used wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows
• making gift tags out of the fronts of Christmas cards from years' past
• making new bows out of scraps of ribbon
• listening to Christmas music that I downloaded for free through our library's connection to Freegal
• number 5 on the holds' list at the library for a favorite Christmas movie
• wearing pants and a top that I got at the thrift store
• recovering from a busy but fun and frugal weekend
• enjoying the Advent calendar (new and in sealed package) that I bought last January at Goodwill for 25 cents
• back!

How's life been for you?

The Coin-less Sofa Cushions

My two daughters had a late night on Saturday, watching movies in the family room. They pulled the sofa cushions off of the sofa, to use on the floor in front of the tv. Anyway, on Sunday morning, one daughter was putting the room back to rights as I was passing the doorway. She asked why we never find money in our sofa, under the cushions. I wanted to answer with something quasi-humorous about us being so poor that even our sofa has no money. But that wouldn't be true. The answer is that we are simply so careful with our money that we take care with even the dimes and pennies. That doesn't mean we don't have an occasional unplanned expense or splurge. But it does mean that we are mindful with our money. We set some aside for those emergencies or repairs, and add an amount into our budget for splurges. And every penny is counted.

Perhaps it would be shocking for you to know that lately we have treated ourselves to lunch out after church each week. We have felt the need to connect at least once per week, as a way of bonding our family and enjoying time spent together. But we also didn't want to burden any one individual with meal prep or planning activities. (Plus, if we do something in our home, it is just too easy for one or more family members to excuse themselves from the group, in order to tend to something else.) Despite spending a little bit of money on this weekly treat, we are still keeping that expense pretty low. We frequent non-tipping restaurants, use coupons, and order judiciously. I think we all realize that it would be pretty spoiled of us to complain about any aspect of our frugal way of eating out. This once-per-week treat is accounted for in our budget. It is never a break-the-bank sort of outing. Yesterday, we spent about $14.50 for four of us to have burgers, fries, salads, and a parfait. The point of our outings is to connect, not gourmet-dine.

Back to the poverty of our sofa. I think if we ever so much as found a penny under its cushions, we'd mount it and hang it on the wall. I've found toys, hair ties, and scraps of paper under there, but no coins. This is a good thing for us, I think. It means that we continue to plan for the future and our expected/unexpected needs, watching the coins as well as the dollars. By doing so, we are still enjoying a treat, here and there, and able to give generously, where ever it is needed.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for Mid-October

Saturday

• nachos platter with chips, beans, rice, beef, peppers, tomatoes (no cheese -- all out)
• apple wedges
• celery sticks

Sunday

• oven-roasted sausage, vegetables, potatoes

Monday

• pumpkin and sausage soup
• brown rice or crackers

Tuesday

• waffles with blackberry sauce and yogurt topping
• bacon
• applesauce

Wednesday

• a delicious casserole of leftovers -- bacon, sausage, mushrooms, rice, zucchini, green onions, and turkey stock. You can't go wrong when leftovers are bacon and sausage.
• steamed cauliflower
• pecan pie

Thursday

• beef and bean chili from the freezer
• baby carrots, celery sticks, olives, ranch dip
• toast

Friday

• looks like it will be another Friday night, frozen corndog and sweet potato fries dinner tonight. It's easy, quick, and had minimal cost. I'll also add some steamed cauliflower.

As this third week of the month winds down I am turning to treats hidden in the "secret" pantry, frozen goodies, and canned items. I bring a couple of packaged treats out of that secret pantry once per week. Yesterday I pulled out a box of granola bars and wheat thin-type crackers, as well as a can of frozen pomegranate juice concentrate from the freezer. We still have a lot of tasty foods in the house, so all is well. 

Anything especially good on your menu this past week? Have a wonderful weekend!

Trading Early in the Week Evening Relaxing Time for Easier Supper Prep Later in the Week

Do you have a day of the week where you have more energy than the other days? I seem to have more energy on Mondays than any other day of the week. My energy quickly goes downhill as the work week progresses. Last week, instead of telling myself that I didn't have energy to cook on a Thursday or a Friday, I harnessed my Monday energy and prepared a couple of meals for the freezer, after everyone was done with dinner. When Thursday and Friday rolled around, I got the night off from cooking. Then this week, I continued with this program of late-evening cooking, and it looks like I will have another easy end of the week. The bonus was that I was able to use up more perishable ingredients before they expired.

I was thinking about what I would have done with my Monday evening. I likely would have read stuff online, played solitaire, or watched a show. I'll have other chances to do those kinds of activities later in the week. For now, I'm really glad that I spent my Monday evening cooking ahead. Curious what I made? I made a cheese, green pepper, and mushroom pizza and a rice, mushroom, and beef casserole.

Going Old-School with the Garage Door

My upper arms could use a work-out anyway. Our house was built in the late-1970s and has the original electric garage door opener. One problem, the handheld remotes are both broken. We bought a soldering gun several years ago, and I have been soldering a key wire into place, repeatedly. It breaks off, I solder it back on, etc. That worked for years. Not so, this past spring. It broke off and even after soldering it back on, the remote doesn't work. It looks like the contact pad is plain worn out.

For several months, I used the interior switch for the door openers, opening the garage door from inside the garage, backing the car out, getting out of the car, closing the garage door from the inside of the garage, going out a back door of the garage, around the house, and to the driveway. That works, but it was far from convenient.

The remotes are no longer available for our very old model, and now is not the time to buy a new garage door opener and have it installed. So, what to do. My daughter had some time this summer to do some jobs for me. So, she and I picked out some heavy-duty handles from Home Depot's website (for about $7.50 each), she went to the store, then came home and installed handles on both doors. Afterward, she unhooked the brace which attaches the electric opener to the door. We now open and close the garage door just as my parents did when I was a girl, with our muscles. It's actually a good stretch for me everyday. And I think it was a valuable lesson for my daughter to work with me on a workable solution to our problem that would not cost us a bunch of money, and didn't require any expertise to achieve.

So, is this any less inconvenient than using the interior switch inside the garage? I would have to say that the old-school way is slightly better. Obviously, having a working electric garage door would be preferable. But for now, we have a solution with which we're satisfied.

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.