Double Chocolate Candy Cane Crackles -- One of My Family's Favorite Christmas Cookies

Our church held its annual cookie walk this weekend and I volunteered to bring a batch of a family favorite holiday cookie -- Double Chocolate Candy Cane Crackles. This cookie is a wonderful use for broken candy canes, or as in my case, for one of the many boxes of candy canes that I buy for pennies on clearance each year in early January. The recipe is a drop cookie one, so for the most part, very easy.

1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, softened
1/3 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1  1/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 - 5 ounces of candy canes or peppermint hard candies, crushed (about 2/3 to 3/4 cup crushed), divided 3/4 for cookie dough, 1/4 to top dough
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided 2/3 cup, 1/3 cup
1 teaspoon vegetable shortening

Butter a large baking sheet. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder until no lumps of cocoa powder remain.

Stir in flour, 2/3 cup of chocolate chips, and 3/4 cup of crushed candy canes.

Form dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly. Sprinkle each flattened dough with a small amount of remaining crushed candy canes.

Bake for 9 to 12 minutes. Remove from baking sheet immediately and cool on racks. After cooled, trim or break off any cooked candy cane pieces to neaten up the edges of the cookies. 

In a microwaveable dish or cup, melt the remaining 1/3 cups of chocolate chips with the vegetable shortening in 10 to 15 second bursts, stirring in between. When chocolate is thoroughly melted, scoop into a snack-size baggie. Snip a tiny bit off of a corner of the baggie and drizzle melted chocolate onto the cooled cookies. (I place all of the cookies closely together on the wire rack over a clean baking sheet, tessellating the cookies as much as possible. When I drizzle the melted chocolate, I can do so over the entire match of cookies at once. Any chocolate drizzle that pools beneath the rack can be scraped up and remelted, adding to the baggie for continued piping.)

These cookies were a hit, I was told. I think anything that looks very chocolatey often is. There are definitely "prettier" holiday cookies. However, when it comes to taste, if you love mint and chocolate together, this is a winner.

Note: I bake on insulated baking sheets. If your oven runs hot, or you bake on darkened single sheets, make a test cookie for doneness on the cookie's bottom. Chocolate has a tendency to scorch, so your baking time should be set based on the doneness of the test cookie's underside.

Reclaiming Wrinkled Ribbon for Use Again and Other Stuff

I finished the bulk of December's grocery shopping on Thursday, with a stop at Cash & Carry Smart Foodservice. I bought everything that was priced on my list from earlier this week, adding 4 additional quarts of almond milk that were near expiry, so marked down to 50 cents each. There were actually several quarts marked down, but I figured 4 would be plenty for me. I poured off a bit from each carton into my current container, then froze the remaining in the cartons. I estimate that I now have enough non-dairy milk for my own use to last into March. 

For the month of December, I have spent $120.07 on food. I'll still need a ham, more oranges, and maybe another bag of tangerines.

I didn't take photos of our meals this past week. I was just plain old tired for several days. But I can tell you that we had lots of turkey, the accompanying leftovers, a large pot of vegetarian chili, a vegetarian pasta salad with eggs on the side, a pizza brought in by one daughter (Little Caesars), and a fried rice dish with garden kale (yep, still using fresh kale from the garden) and tofu.

Another tip, this time one that is useful for decorating and gift-wrapping -- using your iron to make used ribbon look presentable. 

Yes, you can iron some types of ribbon. There's the satin ribbon that is sold in fabric and craft stores that seems obviously iron-able. But also, there's a type of ribbon made from acetate. This ribbon is like a very stiff fabric made from plastic-like threads. It is woven and frays along the cut edge. (Diagonal cuts help considerably.) However, the side edges have been heat-fused to prevent fraying. 

Acetate ribbon is what many florists use because it s so easy to work with, holds beautiful, large loops in bows, and is water-resistant. Craft stores sell this kind of ribbon in rolls to use in crafting and gift-wrapping. It's often cheaper than wire-edge ribbon, so it's been a favorite for holiday decorating for me.

I needed 5 short lengths of red and green plaid ribbon for the light fixture that hangs over the kitchen table. The only plaid ribbon that I could find in my stash was previously used for what looks like a variety of purposes (1 large puffy bow and several odd lengths of crumpled ribbon). All of it was squashed at the bottom of a trunk of Christmas decorations.

I knew from previous experience that this ribbon would iron up nicely. I used the setting on my iron that was mid-way between nylon and polyester, so not too hot. 

Within just a few minutes, I had a nice selection of flat ribbon with which to work, tying nice bows onto the arms of our light fixture.

The other kind of ribbon with which most of us are familiar is that truly plastic, inexpensive ribbon that is also the stuff from which stick-on bows are often made. This type of ribbon melts unevenly when ironed, leaving ripples up and down its length. However, I've had some luck with flattening this ribbon using a pair of scissors in a similar way as curling ribbon. I pull the ribbon across one blade on the scissors, then flip the ribbon over and pull it across the blade again. Doing this curls the ribbon, then uncurls it, leaving it at least somewhat smoother for use on a new package.

My week has been filled with clean up from Thanksgiving, Christmas preparations, and grocery shopping. This is a busy time of year, for sure. What's been on your calendar this past week? Are you in the midst of holiday preparations, or is that for next week and beyond?

Wishing you all a lovely December weekend!!

Rehydrating Dried-Out Fruitcake Fruit

I've been trying to do just a little bit of holiday work every day. When I'm upstairs, I grab a handful of Christmas decorations from the holiday trunk and bring them downstairs to put out. Today, I baked a couple of loaves of almond and fruit bread for Christmas morning, which I'll store in the freezer until the 25th.

dried out fruitcake fruit

I didn't buy fruitcake fruit this year or last, but have continued to use up some that I bought 3 Christmas's ago. If refrigerated, fruitcake fruit doesn't spoil. And since it's so heavily candied, it also doesn't develop mold. The only evidence of its aging is that it gets dried out. That syrupy coating dries to crystals, and the fruit itself becomes tough and a bit leathery.

after 30 minutes

To fix my fruitcake fruit, I rehydrated the portion that I needed for my recipe in a bowl, with a tablespoon of boiling water added, and covered for an hour. I stirred the fruit from time to time, to make sure all of it came in contact with the water. 

left: dried out, right: rehydrated 1 hour

After about an hour, the fruit was mostly rehydrated, at least enough for baking purposes. The fruit soaked up the liquid, leaving just a trace of moisture at the bottom of the bowl.

This works with rock-hard raisins, dried cranberries, or other dried fruit that is no longer palatable due to their texture -- tooth-breakers I call 'em. For about 1/2 to 1 cup of dried fruit, steam with about 1 to 2 tablespoons of boiling water, covered for about an hour, stirring occasionally. This should bring the fruit back to a "normal" dried fruit texture, useful for baking.

Adding Evergreen Fragrance When Using Artificial Trees and Greenery

I love using an artificial Christmas tree. They don't need watering nor do they drop needles, and they can be exceptionally economical. We've used our tree for so many years that each year is now averaging about $9.50 from the original purchase price. That's a bargain compared to the cost of freshly-cut trees. The one drawback to an artificial tree is the lack of evergreen scent.

To address that issue, I use these oil-infused wooden sticks, designed to hang from the tree branches. However, I get the most bang for my buck in the scent department not by hanging the sticks from the branches of our tree, but by placing one or two of the sticks on the heat vent cover in the room where we place the tree. Two sticks really fill a large room with fragrance, while one stick is good for smaller rooms.

When the oil has mostly dissipated, the sticks begin to look a bit dried out. And if left on the heat vent for most of the year, as has been known to happen in my home, the color also fades. When not in use, I keep the leftover sticks in the plastic vial that they were originally packaged. 

The brand that I prefer is Scentsicles. You can buy them on Amazon, of course, but you'll get a much, much better price at a place like Michael's using a coupon or when on sale. (Michael's currently has them on sale for $4.99, compared to Amazon's price of $7.99.) Each tube has 6 sticks and comes packaged with small wire tree hangers. I bought 2 tubes five years ago, thinking I would need a lot of them in my house. I am certain that I could have bought just 1 tube and had enough scent for all of the rooms that I may want for my house. 

The sticks just keep on delivering fragrance. I've used some of these for 5 years. The faded and least fragrant of the sticks are used on the heat vents in the smallest rooms, such as the guest bathroom and the entry hall. I save the newer ones for the room where we set up our tree or use other faux greenery.

I originally paid about $4 for each vial, or $8 total. I expect the vials will last at least another 3 years, yielding a per year cost of about $1. When added to our annual cost for our artificial Christmas tree, it's roughly $10.50 per year for our tree and its added scent. This figure will continue to come down with additional years of use. 

Garden "Bouquet" in Winter

There may not be any flowers in my garden right now, but that doesn't mean I can't have bouquets in winter. 

There are plenty of evergreen boughs and shrubs or trees with red berries to cluster together in a vase. Evergreen bouquets make beautiful holiday decor, cost nothing, and are super quick to assemble.

In about 10 minutes, I "made" some holiday decor to cheer me on these short and cold days.

My Grocery Shopping Plans for December

For  November, I had a loose budget of $163.64 to $193.64 allocated for groceries. I spent $156.96. At the beginning of November, I decided to borrow $30 each from January's and February's grocery budgets, to cover holiday expenses for November and December. (I spend less in January and February, as there are far fewer special deals and no significant holidays that call for extra grocery spending.) With that in mind, I have $171.68 to spend for December's groceries.

I don't know about you, but our refrigerator and freezer is overflowing with food. There is little room to store any new purchases and few needs. I will buy some seasonal items plus a few basics to get through the month. In addition, I'll watch for deals and promotions throughout the month.

Our garden is still giving us a very small amount of produce, kale, radish greens, sorrel. However, I expect that will slow to an end over the next week or two. We also have our indoor sprouts and microgreens plus lots of squash and pumpkin.

With a dwindling garden and a small grocery budget, I'm looking for the less-expensive produce. In winter, that means lots of fresh cabbage, onions, carrots, avocados, and oranges, supplemented with some canned vegetables, such as green beans and tomatoes. I did not find any stellar deals on canned veggies before Thanksgiving. However, this week, Fred Meyer has the Kroger 4-packs of canned veggies for $1.99, or $1.79 with my Senior discount, working out to 44 cents per can. I'll be stocking up on canned green beans and corn at that price.

For meat, we have leftover turkey, chicken leg quarters, ground beef, canned tuna, and a small amount of smoked salmon in the freezers and pantry. The only meat that I'll be buying this month


Fred Meyer Senior Discount Day ($41.19)
milk, 4 gallons 2 %, 1 gallon whole, 2.06 each (10.30)
coffee, 2.69
canned green beans, Kroger 4-pack, 1.79, 10 (17.90)
canned corn, Kroger 4-pack, 1.79, 4 (7.16)
bacon, 16-oz, 3.14

Cash & Carry/Smart Foodservice ($49.26)
mozzarella cheese, 5-lb, 11.97
carrots, 10 lb, 4.55
cabbage, 2 heads, 1.65 each (3.30)
lentils, 25-lb, 17.45
all-purpose flour, 50-lb, 11.99

Walmart ($10.64)
decaf coffee, 2, 3.57 (7.14)
6 avocados, 50 cents ea (3.00)
1 bell pepper, 50 cents

Bartell Drugs ($16.98)
mixed nuts, Imperial, $2.50/14 oz, 6 cans (15.00)
almond milk, qt, 99 cents, 2 (1.98)


In addition, I'll be buying the following items later in the month, seeking out the best deals:

1 bag of tangerines
case of oranges
half ham
pretzels


So far, I've allocated $118.07. I expect with the above additions, my spending will rise to about $150 to $155. This still allows close to $20 for any special deals, extra milk, or holiday foods. 

If this looks like a meager list for a holiday month, keep in mind that I have some special items tucked away for making special meals and treats, such as canned pineapple, fruitcake fruit and whole almonds (for a loaf of holiday bread), and a couple of types of juice to go with our Christmas breakfast, dark, milk, and white chocolate chips, plus marshmallows, nuts, candy canes, food coloring, sprinkles, and peanut butter for baking and candy-making, some Christmas candy bought last year on clearance, ingredients for homemade cocoa mix, and lots of spices and flavorings. Those commercial cookies, sweet breads, cakes, and pies all look very tempting in the stores. However, with some effort, I can make a variation on most of what is found in shops right at home in my own kitchen.

That's what is on my shopping list. Are there any special items on your list for the month?

Slow and Steady Wins the Race . . .

Over the years, that's been my approach to getting everything put together for holidays. Everything gets made or set, and I don't feel totally exhausted. 

Sweet potato casserole, ready to top and bake

This year, I have a lot of help from my daughters for which to be thankful. The two of them are preparing a large part of Thursday's meal, then helping me with Friday's meal. In addition to all of their help, I'm preparing casseroles and sides today and tomorrow, to be baked at the last minute on Thursday or Friday.

this gooeyness is a praline topping for the sweet potato casserole -- brown sugar, butter, chopped pecans

The Thanksgiving dishes and glasses are now on the table. I like getting all of this done as early as I can.

I've also been cleaning over the past 10 days, leaving little sticky notes throughout the house, indicating those areas are off-limits as they've been cleaned. No sense burning out before we even sit down to eat on Thursday or Friday.

Of course, to compensate for this time spent preparing, our meals this week have been significantly simplified, as in we're having pancakes for dinner tonight. 

Throughout the week, I've been thinking about my gratitude list. Here is what I've come up with so far. I'm thankful for heated homes as commonplace, not just for the elite. I'm thankful for indoor plumbing. When I was out in the garden this afternoon, my fingers froze as I was cutting stems of kale. I can only imagine what going outdoors for the facilities several times per day in bad weather must've been like. I'm thankful for phones so I can hear the voices of people I care about but cannot see. And I'm thankful for the 55 cent postage stamp and 50 cent greeting cards from Dollar Tree, so I can send my love in a keep-able form to someone dear to me but nowhere near to me. I'm thankful for tears, because they mean that I care, and my heart has not hardened. I'm thankful for good jokes because laughter will pick me up on the downest days. I'm thankful for sugar and spice. I cannot imagine pumpkin pie without some sugar and a bit of spice. But most of all, I am thankful for those who love me and I can love back. Love without a place to put it is grief. I'm thankful for less grief and more love in my life. 

So, how are you plans for the holiday coming? What are you thankful for this year?

Wishing those of you in the USA a very happy Thanksgiving. And if you're not in the US, I'm sure you still have much for which to be thankful.

Pink Banana Squash

Have you ever seen a squash like this before? Its variety is commonly known as a banana squash. Believe it or not, this as the smallest of the banana squash when I was at the produce stand a month ago. I paid 33 cents per pound, which I think is a pretty good price for fresh veggies these days. I'm going to hack into it today, so I wanted to show it to you while I could. While this one is a pink banana squash, there are also blue-green and all-white varieties.

Banana squash are hard-skinned, so are considered to be long-keepers. As you may have noticed, it's not the most attractive of the squashes. Perhaps that explains why you just don't see these in markets much these days. The squash that seem to populate the produce bins in autumn in my grocery stores are all the thinner-skinned and much more attractive squash. Those also happen to be the short-keepers.

This one is almost 2 feet in length and weighs about 8 pounds. I believe that I'll be able to get about 5 family meals out of this one squash. Once the squash is cut, any unused/uncooked portion will keep in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. 



I could have kept this longer. However, I needed some vegetables for our dinners this week and this one was taking up a large share of the food storage space. While I said banana squash is hard-skinned, the shell is not as difficult to cut as Hubbard squash, if you're familiar with that variety. I was able to cut this one into 8-inch chunks, using my serrated bread knife. Its interior flesh is deep-orange and about 1  1/4 inches thick all around.

You may have bought banana squash from the produce department of your market at some point. Markets used to regularly sell 4 to 6-inch cut chunks of banana squash which were over-wrapped in plastic wrap. Back when I was single and living on my own, cut pieces of banana squash were the cheapest fresh vegetable in the produce department. As I had very little money in those days, I ate quite a lot of this variety of squash.

Banana squash are sweet and mild-flavored. I'll be using this one in soup, oven-roasted in chunks, and baked and mashed.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for November

As you know, on Tuesday, I went to Fred Meyer to get a free turkey. I made my minimum-spend primarily on non-food items, but I also bought 6 cans of cream of mushroom soup, 4 bottles of sparkling cider, 4 half-gallons of milk, some nutmeg from the bulk bins, and a bag of mini marshmallows, spending $16.92, along with my free turkey. I also went to Dollar Tree and bought 1 box of crackers, spending $1. This brings my November spending up to $130.35. I still need to go to one other store this month. Hopefully I can arrange for time with the car tomorrow morning and will take care of that last bit of shopping.

Friday
French toast
sweet potato fries
vanilla yogurt
orange juice

Saturday
assorted leftovers from dim sum with friends earlier in the day
scrambled eggs
steamed carrots
lentil sprout salad

Sunday
fried homemade flour tortillas, topped with
refried beans
hubbard squash

Monday
bean and squash soup, using all leftovers
leftover rice and egg casserole
orange wedges
blackberry cobbler

Tuesday (daughter's night)
pasta smothered with chicken in sage and winter squash sauce
orange wedges
leftover cobbler

Wednesday (other daughter was sick, so I stepped in for her at the last moment)
scrambled eggs with sausage, onions, garlic, and radish greens (from the trough planter on the deck)
fried brown rice and lentil sprouts
carrot sticks

Thursday
scratch waffles and syrup
scrambled eggs
orange wedges


I wasn't really in a cooking mood last night, so I made a batch of waffles. I have never bought pancake or biscuit mix, but have always made pancakes and waffles with a scratch batter. Mixing my own batter is really not any trouble and saves money over buying the boxed mixes. 

Cost of scratch waffles
Boxed biscuit mix contains flour, shortening, baking powder (or equivalent), salt, and sugar. Walmart sells a Great Value Biscuit Mix, 40-oz. for $2.50. This size box makes about 50 waffles, if following the Betty Crocker recipe on the Bisquick recipe site. Not including the egg, milk, and additional oil required by the recipe, the mix for a 12-waffle batch costs about 54 cents, or a single waffle about 5 cents. When I make waffles from scratch, my batter for an 8-waffle batch costs about 25 cents, not including the egg, milk, and 2 tablespoons of oil to make the comparison close to equal, for a cost of about 3 cents per each waffle's basic ingredients. In addition, my waffles are Belgian-style, so they are thicker and denser than the waffles on the Betty Crocker site. An 8-waffle batch is the right amount for our family of 4 for one meal. So, my savings for one family meal is about 16 cents. 16 cents doesn't sound like much. However, if I save 16 cents on each dinner for a year, I will have an extra $58 in my pocket. I recognize that you may have more lucrative things to do with your time than I do, so this savings may not be as meaningful to you.

Convenience factor of scratch vs. boxed waffles
A person still needs to add egg, a liquid (usually milk), plus additional oil if making waffles with a commercial biscuit mix -- that's a combination of 4 ingredients. The Betty Crocker website says that the prep time is 15 minutes. I can't imagine it taking 15 minutes to break an egg and measure oil, mix, and milk. So let's say using a mix takes 7 minutes. My own pancake/waffle recipe calls for flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, oil, egg, and milk/water, for a total of 7 ingredients, just 3 more than using a boxed mix. Since I've memorized the "recipe" (it's a rather loose recipe), the measuring and mixing process goes very quickly, faster than my waffle iron can preheat, in fact. I estimate that it takes about 9 minutes to measure and add all 7 ingredients, or 2 additional minutes. So, I save 8 cents per extra minute of time for making scratch waffles over boxed mix. 8 cents per minute works out to $4.80 per hour, if I were doing similar cost-saving tasks for an entire hour. Considering I probably waste at least an hour each day, spending the time to save money doesn't cut into my "real" money-earning time. For a batch of waffles, I think I can afford 2 extra minutes.

The taste of scratch waffles
Unless someone has been raised on commercial biscuit mix waffles, and therefore only feels that type of waffle would be palatable, scratch waffles have the potential to be so much tastier, heartier, and more nutritious than boxed mix ones. So, I save money and serve a better waffle by mixing a batter from scratch.


Onto other meal-subjects -- We are definitely into orange vegetable season. Sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots made into our dinners on 6 out of 7 nights this week. We still have some greens in the garden and on the deck, as well as the lentil sprouts and kale microgreens in the kitchen. The garden greens may be in the last week of their season, however.

For those of you who live where snow is a usual item in the winter forecast, it may be difficult to understand my excitement over next week's forecast for the Seattle area. We might get snow on Thanksgiving weekend! To put this in perspective for my area, we still have a few green leaves on otherwise deciduous trees and vines in the yard, and one of our rhododendron bushes has blossoms on it. A lot can change in a weather forecast in the PNW, so time will tell.


So, how was your week of meals? What was on your menu this past week? Anything especially good? Have you found that you're using a lot more orange vegetables this month, too?

Wishing you all a lovely, weekend!

Using Painters Tape on Paper for Stenciling

I just wanted to show you another use for spray-paint, this time to stencil light card stock for making gift tags. One of the days that I was spraying the gilded leaves, I thought I'd spray a strip of card stock, too. I just wanted to paint an edge down a long strip, so I could cut the strip into small card size rectangles. In order to keep the center portion of the strip free of paint, I used some painters tape.

This is a tip that I learned from my artist daughter. She uses painters tape when marking out an edge on a leaf of watercolor paper, sort of a frame for a work. Painters tape that is adhered to paper, as is, will likely damage the paper when removing it. So, one needs to make the tape slightly less-sticky. To do that, my daughter showed me how she presses the sticky side of the tape against a sweatshirt, t-shirt, or jeans' leg (basically any fabric that is slightly linty). The sticky side of the tape will pick up a small amount of lint, but still be able to adhere to paper. Once the artwork is completed, the tape pulls off the paper, leaving the paper in good shape, instead of peeling off the top layer of the paper with the tape.

So, to make these gilded-edge gift cards, I used a long strip of lightweight poster board that I had in my stack of scrap papers/board. I made a long strip of painters tape slightly less sticky by pressing onto my jeans' leg 2 or 3 times. Then I pressed the tape down the center of my board. 

I sprayed the strip, tape and all, and allowed the paint to dry. Upon peeling the painters tape off, I was left with a long strip of board that is edged in gold paint.

Once the strip was edged in gold, I cut it into sections to fold into small gift enclosure cards. Tip to fold stiff card stock: lightly score the top side of card, along the intended fold line with a craft knife, box cutter, or kitchen paring knife. The stock will fold neatly along the scored line.

I embellished my small cards with small, gold-painted leaves, attached with a glue dot. Rubber stamps or felt pens could also be used to include a simple message on the front of the card.

I "bought" my Thanksgiving turkey, and yes, it was free!

Yesterday morning, I got myself pulled together early, printed out my shopping list, and headed to Fred Meyer. The store was surprisingly uncrowded, perhaps because this was a second bonus Senior Shopping Discount Day. And to be honest, I, myself, was beginning to tire of getting up and out early on Tuesdays to snag whatever discounts there were for the previous two Senior Shopping Discount Days. 

You see, I share a car with my two adult daughters. They are both working and use my car to get to and from work as substitute teachers. Taking a city bus is not always convenient for their sub jobs, and in some cases, not even possible (as the buses don't even come close to a few of the schools where they can sub). On occasion, they find sub jobs at the same school or at a neighboring school. Other times, one will sub at one of two neighborhood schools that are within walking distance. And still other times, one will drop the other off at a school then travel on to their own school for subbing. Then there are the occasions where both of them find sub jobs along a city bus line. 

Most days, I don't have a car between 8 AM and 4 PM. On those days, I try to get up and out early if I have errands, so I can bring the car back for them before 8. That usually means that I leave the house early enough to be standing there at the store's doors before official opening. Our Fred Meyer tends to open a few minutes before 7 AM, even though 7 is the official opening time. If I have a list with me, I can get in and out of the store in about 45 minutes or less, leaving me just enough time to pull into our driveway for my daughters to help me unload the trunk, so they can take the car for work. Sometime in this next year, my daughters will either each buy their own car or will buy one car to share.

Anyways, back to getting my turkey. I had my list finalized and ready to print. Too early for me to even think clearly, I dressed as quickly as I could, pulled my hair into a ponytail, and grabbed what I needed for shopping. This was no time for silly things, like you know, eating breakfast. I made a cup of coffee to go and booked it out the door. Everything went as planned. Absolutely everything on my list was available. How often does that happen? Not often for me. As planned, I bought very little food. Instead, I bought mostly consumable, non-food items, such as LED lightbulbs (including some of those pricer indoor floodlight-style can lights), copy paper, OTC meds and supplements, dish detergent, carpet cleaner, and hair color. I also bought 2 gifts and about $16 in food. 

Absolutely everything that I bought either received a discount, was on sale, or both. In most cases, I bought a 6-month to 1-year supply of items. I spent $165, not including tax. On one of the gifts, if I find that item for less in the next 30 days, I will return this one to Fred Meyer and keep my free turkey, as I will still be beneath the $150 spending threshold.

I know that I've mentioned this before, the free turkey deal is one of the few "free major food item with a minimum purchase" deals available during the year. The stores near me never have similar promotions at Christmas or Easter. This is just a Thanksgiving deal. So, I work my long and short-range plans to take advantage of the deal without overspending to get there.

Since I can use non-food items to make the needed minimum purchase, it makes sense to allow our stock of non-food consumable items to be depleted during the late summer through fall months so that I can then restock during this free-turkey promotion.

One 21-pound turkey later, and I'm a pretty happy woman. In November's budget, I had allocated $12 to $14 for a turkey. Since the turkey was free, I put an additional $6 toward sparkling cider, which gives us enough sparkling cider now for Christmas, New Years, and Easter. That leaves me with $6 to $8 in surplus for the month's groceries, which I can "invest" in additional sale items as I see them.

You already know this -- these "deals" are only a deal if you don't overspend in order to meet the requirements. Stores wouldn't make these offers if enough people didn't do just that, go wild in their spending just to get that free item. Thanks to all of you who helped me stay on track with this!

Free Cellophane Gift Packaging from Boxes of Tea

more free gift packaging ideas

Do you have any food or spa gifts that you'd like to package in clear cellophane for gifting? This kind of gift-packaging can be very appealing for both homemade and commercially-made gifts. I can think of several commercially-made gifts that come in a large bag that could be divided up into smaller gifts by repackaging. Bath bombs, candies, nuts, and even tea bags often come several to a large package, making them ideal for divvying up into personal gifts.

Both large and small boxes of tea come over-wrapped in thin cellophane to preserve the freshness of the tea itself. This same cellophane can be carefully removed from the package and repurposed/recycled into gift packaging. Perhaps you recall seeing this post, where I showed you how I used the cellophane from a tea box to overwrap a bar of homemade soap. I carefully cut the cellophane off the box and wrapped the soap as one would a boxed gift, using glue stick to seal the cellophane wrapping in place of tape. I want to emphasize that you do have to carefully cut away this type of thin cellophane, as it can tear. With that said, it is free packaging for gifts. And free is always a good thing, right?



Yesterday, I was filling the birthday gift bag that I made from an H & M store shopping bag, and needed 2 small cellophane gift bags for repackaging commercial candy as part of the gift. I have these 2 small boxes of holiday tea that both came over-wrapped in cellophane. Once removed from the boxes, these would make perfect little gift bags for candy.

After turning the boxes on end, I carefully cut the top off of the cellophane from one of the ends of each, leaving the rest of the cellophane in an open box-like shape.

I carefully scrunched and slid the cellophane off of each box until I had an empty rectangular "bag" for each.

The bags were now ready for filling. Once I'd added the candy of my choosing, I straightened and cut an ordinary twist-tie in half and used these to secure the candy bags closed. Tied up with ribbons and I have a couple of nice-looking bags of candy for gifting.

Repurposing the cellophane packaging from my boxes of tea is not only a freebie, saving me money on gift wrap, but it also gives a second use to something that might otherwise go straight to a landfill.  So much of holiday gifting creates excess waste. I think that it's nice to add a few gifts that do something good for a change.

Transforming Paper Store Bags into Gift Bags with Spray-Paint

Do you have a bunch of store shopping bags, the kind that you get when you buy merchandise from a clothing or gift store? Since I have young adult daughters in my house, these bags find their way into our possession with moderate frequency. Some of them are quite nice as they are, and we reuse those bags for gifts within our family. Others are okay -- good bags, but with a prominent logo on each side. They're not as nice for gifting, especially outside of our immediate family. 

With a couple of cans of spray-paint (I used matte silver and matte gold), these store bags can be transformed into nice gift bags.

Here's an H & M store bag. There's not especially nice about the bag, except that it's in good conditions and has a nice gift bag-style handle (instead of just a plain paper sack).

I taped off the handle with painters tape because I wasn't sure how easy it would be to spray-paint or how well the spray-paint would adhere. For instance, I was concerned the spray-paint might rub off when being handled. So, I taped it with painters tape.

Next, I stuffed the bag with plastic bags and wraps from packages, such as the plastic wrap from a large package of bathroom tissue. With the top plastic bag, I fixed the plastic so that it was level with the top of the bag. The plastic bags and wrap protect the interior of the bag from overspray as well as hole the bag open completely, even on the sides.

After taping and stuffing the store bag, I gave it 3 light coats of one color (silver) of spray-paint. You can see that when the paint is still wet, the logo beneath shows through. 

When the paint dries, the logo basically vanishes.

(My indoor lighting is bad for photography, but IRL this bag is silver striped with gold.)

After the third coat of paint had dried, I used a second color of spray-paint (gold) to add some visual texture to the bag in the form of diagonal stripes. The purpose for this second color is to camouflage any of the logo that might show through. 

I am really pleased with how easy this was as well as how nice my new "gift bag" looks. This bag will soon be used, as I needed a gift bag for a birthday gift this week. I'll be rounding up the rest of my store bags later this week to make holiday gift bags.