Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the Week

Spinach Frittata

Friday

• leftover Cabbage Patch soup
• orange wedges
• toast

Saturday

husband cooks

• egg, rice and cheese casserole
• cooked carrots
• cooked pumpkin

Sunday

husband cooks

• black bean tacos in home-fried shells, with
• cheddar cheese, canned tomatoes, and chopped cabbage
• carrot sticks

Monday

• spinach frittata topped with canned tomatoes and mozzarella
• brown rice
• orange wedges

Tuesday

• French toast, using some sourdough French that was given to us, and I've kept in the freezer
• topped with cream cheese, pineapple chunks, banana slices, orange segments, vanilla-rhubarb jam -- really yummy! 

Wednesday

• beef and black bean burritos (I had a cooked hamburger patty in the freezer, so I crumbled it up into the beans, onions, and canned tomatoes)
• orange segments

Thursday

• spinach frittata
• pasta with canned tomatoes
• jam thumbprint cookies, using some frozen dough, these baked while I assembled the frittata

What a week. Time is going by so quickly I can barely keep up. I am sure that you know the kind of week that I am talking about, right? But we always manage to get through everything.

So, thank you again for participating in my survey/poll. Do you want to know what your fellow readers, here, think? Here are the results. Over 50 people responded. The program only allowed me to see answers to the first 25 on Wednesday, and for the 18-20 who responded on Thursday. On Wednesday I received notification that my poll was full, and an additional 20 had responded or attempted to respond, without recording their votes. The message also said that I could pay a fee to get the results that went above 25. No thanks. My instructor said she'd accept as few as 12 participants. I archived the total from Wednesday, so I could allow those who wanted to participate a chance on Thursday.

Late last night, I tallied both days of polling, and he's the percentage breakdown.

What age do you think is too old to begin a new career?

• 0% said 40-50 years old
• 15% said 50-60 years old
• 85% said you're never too old to embark on a new career

What is more important in choosing a career?

• 16.5% said earning potential
• 65% said personal fulfillment
• 18.5% said service to others

How many different career paths have you taken?

• 25% said one
• 55% said two or three
• 20% said four or more

I thought the results were pretty interesting, myself. Not one of us thought that 40-50 is too old to change direction in a career. Obviously, at 45 years old it would be considerably more difficult to suddenly chose to become a surgeon. But many people have made significant career swings in their later years.

A few of us have just had one career path. That surprises me, as I have always been all over the place. Someone mentioned in the comments that perhaps career path needed definition. For instance, I worked in several fast food places between the age of 16 and 19. Does that mean that fast food was a career path of mine? I wouldn't consider it one, as I wasn't supporting myself at the time. However, in my early 20s, I was a restaurant manager for a year and a half. While I never set out for a career in restaurant management, this was a direction my employment took, to pay the bills and support myself. And I consider that time to be very valuable in learning how to manage businesses and employees. A couple of years after that job, I found myself in a management role again, this time in a department store. I managed the home division of a So. Cal. department store. My prior work in the restaurant was very beneficial in this new job. 

I was most happy to see that an overwhelming amount of us feel that no age is too old to start a new career. And I hope this goes for many of life's major pursuits, that we're never too old (with a couple of exceptions, like having kids, eventually we age out of that one).

Some of us feel that service to others is most important in choosing a career. That's a wonderful thing to know about this group. Many of us think personal fulfillment is most important. And a few of us think earning potential is most important. 

What I feel about these numbers is they are a snapshot of how each of felt when we clicked the buttons. In addition, they reflect our stages in life, our current living situations, and the struggles we've each endured. We're all on a journey, and likely some of our answers will change in a few years. Some of our answers would have been vastly different if we had been asked 20 years ago. My 30 year old self might have thought 45 years old would be too old to change direction and start a new career. My 25 year old self might have thought earning potential was most important.

Anyway, a lot of thoughts in my head about this. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for providing me with your thoughts. I am in the process of crystallizing my ideas of what my next step will be. I am getting an ever closer mental picture.

Have a great weekend!

When is Spending $3 on Lettuce Seedlings Actually a Good Deal?

When it means that we will have garden salads 6 weeks earlier than if I started from seeds right now.

This is supposed to be a six-pack, but I counted 15 seedlings
 in here. If I'm careful, i can tease each out separately,
and have 15 heads of lettuce for $3.

For various reasons, I didn't get lettuce seeds started indoors this winter to plant out this month. If I were to start seeds this week, I wouldn't have lettuce to harvest for another 8-10 weeks. With the seedlings, I should be able to harvest lettuce in about 3-4 weeks. In between those 3-4 weeks and the 8-10 weeks, I would still be needing leafy greens for my family; which means I would be buying lettuce or other greens in that time period. By buying the seedlings, I will save about a month of purchased greens, which could cost about $8, given two heads of lettuce or other greens per week, multiplied by 4 weeks, priced at about 99 cents/head. So, I come out $5 ahead after the cost of the seedlings.

There are times when buying the seedlings makes financial sense. Another example is in buying tomato seedlings. If those don't get started indoors early enough, there simply isn't time for them to produce very much, in short growing seasons.

I will be starting lettuce seeds in the same bed with the seedlings, so there won't be need to buy more lettuce seedlings.

P.S. if you couldn't access the poll yesterday, I've archived the results from yesterday and have opened the poll up for another day. There's a limit to how many people can access the poll, so this one may fill up too. Anyway, today I figured out how to embed it into my blog, to make things easier for you.

A Poll Today About Entering the Workforce Later in Life

You know that I've been taking classes off and on for the last 5 years or so. Sometimes the class is just because I want to learn to do something or learn about something. And other classes are geared toward me finding a new career path (aside from my Queen of the Palace job). I have no idea how hard this is going to be. But I am preparing myself to do this.

I'm at that point in my life when I'm looking around and thinking "you know, I think I still have something to offer this world." I've done a lot of volunteer work over the years, but I want more than even that. I want to be doing something that engages my mind and my spirit. Do you think it's too late for me? Am I too old to enter a new career?

I'm fortunate that I can choose to do whatever I can find myself qualified for. I mean, I am at a point where I can somewhat choose a field in which I want to work. My field has always been art appreciation/history and design. That's what I have always been drawn to. I also enjoy writing. My class in January and February highlighted where my writing still needs improvement. I've also been beefing up my knowledge of art, particularly everything that happened in the art world since the 1940s. (I don't know why, but when I was in school in the 80s, the art history classes ended when we hit the 1940s.)

I don't now how this will all work out, but I am having faith as I take each step, that I am moving toward a goal. I am taking another class toward this goal right now. It's a technology in the work place sort of class. I've put together a couple of presentations, and this week we've been asked to put together a poll, using web resources. As my focus right now is getting back into a career, at my advancing age, I put together a 3-question poll concerning that subject.

This quick poll is for anyone interested. It's through a polling website. All answers are anonymous (even I won't know what you think). You can answer the questions by going to:

PollEv.com/elizabethmou558

The survey will load and you just click on your answers. Not much to it. You can also do the poll through text. But you know me, if the web is free, and texting might cost money (if you have a pay as you go plan, or in another way pay per text), go for the free way. These are the questions. Don't answer here, but click the boxes at the website. If anyone is interested, I'll post the results in percentages on Monday or so. The poll/survey closes at midnight, Thursday.

What age is too old to embark upon a new career?

1) 40 to 50 years old
2) 50 to 60 years old
3) It's never too late to begin a new career


What is more important in choosing a career path?

1) earning potential
2) personal fulfillment
3) service to others


How many different career paths have you taken?

1) one
2) two to three
3) four or more



by web:   PollEv/elizabethmou558

you can text to enter the poll, but not necessary:    ELIZABETHMOU558 to 22333


And really, do you think that I am too old to make this change?

April's Shopping Plans

Today is Senior Shopping Day at Fred Meyer, so I'll be heading over there in a bit. I'm making out my list of needs for the month. At the top of the list is lightbulbs. The strangest thing happened last month; four bulbs in the kitchen all went out within 2 weeks of each other. We have a fixture above the kitchen table that uses 5 bulbs. Well, 3 of them went out. I need to bring our kitchen back up to brightness, so I'll be picking up replacement bulbs, using the 10% discount today. Other items on my list for the month:

• milk, regular and soy/almond
• feminine hygiene supplies
• bathroom tissue
• more eggs (they are on sale, and with discount will cost about 89 cents/dozen)
• bulk almonds (on sale, and I have a coupon to use in that department)
• a Lindt Easter treat (again, I have a coupon) and maybe one other treat
• carrots, celery, potatoes, frozen peas, and a little asparagus
• additional fruit (beyond what I bought last Friday)
• vitamins and supplements
• gardening supplies
• some inexpensive Easter gifts, from Daiso, likely
• raisins
• cocoa powder
• butter

In addition, last Friday, I stopped at Cash & Carry after an appointment. Everything that I bought there was put into April's grocery spending. I bought:

• 5-lb loaf of sharp cheddar
• 5-lb bag of shredded mozzarella
• 15 dozen case of large eggs
• 5-lb bag of Pink Lady apples
• 40-lb case of navel oranges
• 17 bananas

It's not a super big list, but then we still have a lot to use, at home. With eggs in abundance, we will once again be eating a lot of egg dishes for dinner. We had a spinach frittata last night, and it was delicious.

April and All of the Great Opportunities for Frugal Entertainment

April is the month of fruit tree blossoms in my garden. The month begins with the pears and cherries, and finishes with the plum and apple trees. From a frugal living standpoint, what I love about spring and summer is the opportunity for cheap or free entertainment. Some of my favorite frugal fun this time of year:

• weekend picnics at the park
• donut breakfasts at the beach
• visits to the botanical gardens
• croquet on the lawn
• cutting flowers from my garden
• planting the summer vegetable garden
• soaking up the sunshine on the deck
• Saturday night hot dog cook-outs around the fire ring
• a cup of coffee with a friend, sitting on the patio at the coffee shop, which overlooks the beach
• gallery strolling in the nearby, old town artsy area
• going to the "expensive" garden center to look and get ideas, then Home Depot to buy 

What would you add to a springtime frugal entertainment list?

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the End of March

Friday

• leftovers, using up the soup, fried rice, daughters's free lunch leftovers. There was enough to feed us all.

Saturday

husband cooks

• make your own burritos, with tortillas, cooked black beans, canned tomatoes, olives, cheese and a seasoned nut filling
• celery sticks

Sunday

husband cooks

• brown rice and black beans
• canned green beans

Monday

• lentil-vegetable soup
• glazed pumpkin muffins

Tuesday

• leftover soup
• toast
• orange wedges and bananas
• cucumber in Ranch dressing

Wednesday

• homemade hamburgers, on
• discount buns (59 cents/ package of 8)
• cole slaw
• steamed carrots
• oven fries

Thursday

• Cabbage Patch Soup, using a cooked hamburger patty and some lentils for the protein, and then added barley, canned tomatoes, onions, carrots, garlic, celery, and cabbage. It's quite tasty; and I made enough for two nights.
• toast

Some meals were better than others, this week. I guess that's the way it goes. We are at the end of the month, and my fridge and freezers are still annoyingly full. Who would ever think that having too much would be such a bad thing?! I continue to work at using up all of our surpluses. 

Can you believe that April begins tomorrow? April is my birth month. I have lovely memories of my birthdays as a child. My mother went above and beyond for all of our parties. I still very fondly remember my birthday cake from my 11th birthday. It was frosted in hot pinks, brilliant oranges and yellows, lime green and vibrant purple. I may never remove that image from my mind. That year, I was allowed my first slumber party. I invited all of the girls from my class for the night. For entertainment, we played a scavenger hunt in the neighborhood, going from door to door, asking for small, insignificant items on our lists, from each house. The lists had items like paper clips, an empty can, an envelope, etc. We split up into groups, and the first group to collect all of the things on their list and return home, won. I don't know if kids do these scavenger hunts any longer. Neighbors don't know each as well as they once did. I can't imagine sending my young kids out in the neighborhood to knock on doors for a game. When we returned from our hunt, we ate cake, drank soda pop, listened to music, and unrolled our sleeping bags on the family room floor. My mother slept on the couch, to ensure that we actually did sleep. Such a wonderful memory; if I could choose any time to return to, from my childhood, it would be that day. This year, I have promised myself that I will celebrate in small ways, all month long.

Just a walk down memory lane -- speaking of soda pop, do you remember when cans had pull tabs that peeled off of the tops, instead of poking inside the can? And how about cans of pop that had to be opened with a triangular punch-type can opener? And the cans were tin and not aluminum?

This is what I remember cans looking like from my early girlhood. take a look at the tops of the cans, if you can. The triangular holes have been punch with a can opener. You needed to punch two holes into the top, so liquid would pour out evenly. Just a walk down memory lane.

Have a lovely weekend!

March 2017 Grocery Budget Journal

I am posting this one day early as I will have another post tomorrow morning. Anything that I spend on groceries today or tomorrow will fall into April's budget.

Going into March, I have $343.65 for the month (this includes last month's surplus, plus my allotted $190 budget).

March 3. Stopped at WinCo after an appointment in that town. I remembered cash, this time, but forgot my bags. I could have saved 18 cents with my own bags! Oh well, next time. I bought a lot of fruit this time. I am hoping that this will be enough fresh fruit for 3 weeks. It may be. I bought an 8-lb bag of oranges for $5.78 (72 cents/lb), a 5-b bag of fuji apples, and a 5-lb bag of gala apples, each at $3.48 (69 cents/lb), 13 bananas at 48 cents/lb, a 5.25 lb bag of tangerines for $5.98 ($1.13/lb), and 1.72 lbs of red grapes, at $1.47/lb. The tangerines and grapes were not on my list, but I really wanted some variety in our fruit. The benefit with the tangerines is that they are so small that 1 bag has a lot of servings, in comparison to navel oranges. I also bought 1 bundle of celery for 78 cents. In the bulk section, I bought .41 lb of baking cocoa, at $3.08/lb, .86 lb of raw sunflower seeds, at $1.70/lb, 1.49 lbs of raisins, at $1.79/lb. WinCo's white vinegar is cheaper than Cash & Carry, so I bought 1 gallon of vinegar, at $2.38, plus a 72 ct package of corn tortillas (also cheaper than Cash & Carry), and a 5-dozen pack of medium eggs, at $4.48. I could have done better on the eggs, by about 20 cents, and for a larger size, at Cash & Carry, but I didn't have time to stop at C&C and I was low on eggs. Even at 89 cents/dozen for mediums, eggs are a cheap protein source, and easy for other family members to prepare for themselves. When I go to Cash & Carry, later this month, I'll pick up the other 5 dozen eggs that I need to get through a month. For all of the above, I spent $39.10. It sounds like a lot of money, to me, compared to many of my other shopping trips, but I did get a lot for that money. I filled 3 paper sacks, and didn't bother bagging the vinegar, oranges or eggs. If I had also bagged those items, I would have had about 5 bags of groceries.

March 7. Senior Discount Day at Fred Meyer, 10% off all house brand groceries, plus health and beauty and housewares. Milk was on sale, and we were very low, so I bought 7 half-gallons of 2% milk at 89 cents each, and 2 gallons of 2% for $1.80 each. I also bought 4 half-gallons of orange juice for 89 cents each. Right next to the dairy coolers are the markdown bins. Today, there was a lot of bread on markdown. I bought 2 packages of hotdog buns, 1 package of hamburger buns, and 6 loaves of a variety of bread, all at 59 cents per package. In addition, they had raisin English muffins for 49 cents per package. I bought 2 packs. I don't normally buy bread, but these were close to my price for baking from scratch. I froze almost all of it to use during a busy week coming up. Also in my cart today, 3 10-ct packages of flour tortillas (89 cents/package), 2 7-oz bags of pistachios (marked down to $2.49/bag, saving these for Easter baskets), a jar of powdered pectin (marked down from $4.99 to $2.99, good for another 2 years), 2 8-oz containers of sliced mushrooms (marked down to $1.29), a 3-pack of green bell peppers (marked down to $1), Chips Ahoy cookies (freebie), Lindt Easter egg (freebie), almost 18 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, at $1.47/lb, 2 half-gallons of soy milk (on sale, plus used 2 coupons, plus got my discount, so $1.79 each).  Total spent on edible groceries -- $63.63.

So far, for the month of March, I've spent $102.73

March 8. I was looking at my packages of chicken breasts that I bought yesterday, and I discovered that they overcharged me. I dug out my flyer and double-checked. I did the math, and it was nearly $7.00. I knew that I would be driving right past Fred Meyer later in the day, so I tore the labels off of the packages (3), and brought those, plus my receipt and the flyer to the customer service desk. The lady was happy to refund me, not the exact amount, but a rounded up amount, of $7.00 in cash. So, that brings my spending for the month down to $95.73. I love the customer service at Fred Meyer.

March 10. We really need a few items from Cash & Carry (laundry detergent, paper baking cups, plastic cling wrap, plus some food items). I bought 50-lbs of brown rice ($19.67), 28 bananas (42 cents/lb), 10 lbs of carrots ($4.08), 10 lbs of potatoes ($1.47), 1 head of Romaine lettuce ($1.47), 3 large heads of cabbage, around 3 lbs each ($1.28/head), two 3-lb boxes of frozen spinach ($3.08 each). I spent $41.26 on food items.

So far, this month I have spent $136.99 My refrigerator and freezer is very full. I might be able to get through the end of the month with only buying eggs and maybe cheese!

March 22. No shopping, but as I was thinking about what is still on my want-to-buy list for the month, I realized that we were gifted cheese last weekend, so I can do without buying that item. I will be buying eggs on Friday, though, and maybe more fresh produce.

March 24. Stopped by WinCo (and I remembered cash, and I had put two bags into the car after the last trip there). I bought 24 bananas, at 48 cents/lb, 6.57 lbs of gala apples, at 88 cents/lb, 1 large bundle of celery, 98 cents, a little over a pound of raisins, at $1.79/lb. I received a bag refund of 12 cents. Total spent, $12.67. Eggs were $4.98 for 5 dozen medium, which was more than I wanted to spend on eggs, so I skipped them, and will get eggs at Cash and Carry, another time. I've been reading some of your egg prices, and $1 a dozen for medium seems high to me. We still have eggs, here, so I'll just wait for a lower price. At the worst, eggs should be on sale for 99 cents/ dozen, large size beginning on April 9. I may even find more frozen eggs, as I rummage through the freezers.

While shopping at WinCo, I kept in mind that my produce stand would be opening in a week, so there was no need to buy too much produce. WinCo had asparagus for $1.88/lb. I'll wait to see what the produce stand has for asparagus before buying at WinCo. Broccoli was $1.99/lb at WinCo. I'm pretty certain that I can buy it for less at the produce stand. We still have carrots, celery, cabbage, onions, garlic and potatoes, in the fresh veg dept at home. Plus canned tomatoes, frozen spinach, canned yams and pumpkin. Lots to work with still.

Month to date spending is now $149.66

I've been thinking about this budget, for when my son and his fiancee get married. I will be lowering this budget to $160, I think.  I know he doesn't eat from home as much as the rest of us, as he is often with Angie; she cooks for the two of them and they eat out occasionally. Even so, I'm pretty certain that we can manage with $160 per month, for four of us.

This is where the spending ends for the month. Woo hoo! $149.66. That's under $5 per day, or 97 cents per person, per day. I'm $40.34 under budget. I'll roll that forward in the surplus; this gives us a surplus of $193.99. I'll add that amount to next month's budget.

What I Bought

Produce
8 lbs of oranges
16.57 lbs of apples
5.25 lbs of tangerines
65 bananas
1.72 lbs red grapes
2 bundles of celery
3 green peppers
2.60 lbs of raisins
4 half-gallons of orange juice
1 lb of mushrooms
10 lbs carrots
10 lbs potatoes
1 head of Romaine lettuce
3 heads of cabbage
6 lbs of frozen spinach

Meat
18 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Dairy
5 dozen eggs
7 half-gallons milk
2 gallons milk
2 half-gallons of soy milk

Pantry
.41 lb of baking cocoa
.86 lb of raw sunflower seeds
1 gallon white vinegar
72 corn tortillas
30 flour tortillas
6 loaves of bread
2 packages of hot dog buns
1 package hamburger buns
2 packages of English muffins
14 oz of pistachios
1 canister of pectin
1 package of Chips Ahoy cookies (Friday freebie)
1 Lindt Easter egg (Friday freebie)
50 lbs of brown rice

Are You Planning for Easter, Yet?

I am. In part because I will have a lot going on near Easter; so I need to plan ahead. Also, it's been such a dreary winter and now spring, that I really want a lovely Easter.  Even if I don't find any deals or sales, I know that I can pull something together. This is what I currently have that is being saved, or that will be growing well enough by mid-April for harvesting:

• ham from freezer 
• canned sweet potatoes 
• canned green beans and cream of mushroom soup for a casserole
• rhubarb from the garden for a pie
• Easter candy 

That covers most of the basics for easter dinner. I will be hoping for a good price on asparagus and potatoes. 

Some of this menu plan an be made ahead and frozen; and some can be made a day or two before, and heated at the last minute. The sweet potato casserole actually freezes quite well, as do the baked pies. Green bean casserole can be assembled a day or two ahead. That leaves the ham and anything extra for Easter Sunday.

For Easter breakfast, I think I will keep it simple, some canned pineapple juice from the freezer, and an overnight crockpot casserole, using potatoes, eggs and turkey bacon (freezer, again). 

E.O.T.M.

or, end of the month.

Can you relate? End of the month's grocery budget.  I've been trying to dream up yummy things, using what we have on hand. Last night, my plan was to make pumpkin muffins to go with lentil vegetable soup. But I didn't want just any pumpkin muffins. So I made a maple glaze for the muffins. Oh wow, yummy!

I am also running low on favorite flavored teas for my own consumption. I added a drop of maple extract to a cup of plain tea, and topped off with vanilla soy milk. That was a delicious maple tea latte which used only items from my pantry.

I got creative with the frozen sugar cookie dough the other evening. I cut it into squares (I'm too lazy to do shapes, ha ha), baked, then topped with milk chocolate chips. Once the chocolate chips were melty, I spread them with a knife, to make chocolate-topped sugar cookies.

No salsa in the house; so for some burritos at lunch yesterday, I mushed up canned tomatoes with some chili powder. It was a decent-enough salsa substitute.

Last of the eggs, too (when we run out of items, we run out of everything!). I made a large batch of the pumpkin muffins with just one medium egg, instead of two large eggs. They turned out just fine.

What are you running out of, and how are you improvising?

The Weekend's Freebies or Near Freebies

So, maybe I've mentioned my philosophy concerning using coupons to department stores, like Kohl's, or specialty stores like Bath & Body Works. If I haven't, this is how I feel: While I want to find something that I would really enjoy, that aspect doesn't matter too much, if I can pay nothing or next to nothing, and someone in my broad circle might enjoy it. I can always give it away, to friends, family, or the thrift store, if I decide it's not what I want to keep. With that in mind, I feel pretty confident that I can quickly find something for which to use a high-value coupon.

This weekend, I had a $10 off coupon for Kohl's, a free item coupon for Bath & Body Works, and two free bagel coupons for Panera (one coupon was actually my daughters, but she and I were together). It wasn't that I was needing anything from Kohl's; but I took my coupon there, anyways, while running errands, and I bee-lined for the home decor clearance section. I picked up the three hand towels, which were regularly priced at $19.99 each, but now on clearance. After coupon and taxes, I spent $4.34 for all three. that's $60 worth of towels, for under $5. One towel will likely be a gift, the other two are saved for a future bathroom redo, coming up soon.

I also wasn't needing anything at Bath & Body Works; however, as my daughters wanted to go to the mall on Saturday, to pick up a cheap umbrella at Daiso, I offered to drive. While the daughters were mall-ing, I dodged into B & BW, and chose my one free item. I chose something that will be a gift item for someone on my list. It had a $5 value, and was completely free, with coupon.

After we met up again, the day felt too lovely to go back home to dig into work again, so we decided to use our two coupons for free bagels at Panera. No, I wasn't in the mood for a bagel, not a whole one at least; but free is a mighty fine price. The daughter without a coupon said she's enjoy splitting one with me, so that's what we did. Two bagels, three ladies. I chose a chocolate chip bagel, got free butter and honey, and glasses of free water. We sat outside at the tables in the sun and had a smashing afternoon with no expense, except the purchase of a $3 umbrella (for which my daughter used a gift card from an auntie at Christmas).

One very swell day, with freebies for gifting, for redecorating, and for snacking. Now that's my kind of day at the mall!

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the Birthday Week

Friday
a birthday celebration

• takeout from a Chinese restaurant
• a salad that I made with cabbage, tangerines, and a dressing of soy sauce, oil, ginger and vinegar
• homemade birthday cake, and ice cream (which was hidden in the back of the freezer for a couple of months)

Saturday

husband cooks

• lentils and rice
• carrot sticks and ranch dressing
• leftover cake

Sunday
husband cooks

• lentils in a peanut butter sauce, over
• rice
• canned peas
• olives
• leftover cake

Monday

• ham slices from the freezer
• baked potatoes with butter and cream cheese
• vegetable medley of frozen spinach, onions, garlic and canned tomatoes
• cucumber, lettuce and parsley salad (cucumber gifted to us)

Tuesday

• baked chicken breasts (baked with the potatoes on Monday, then sliced and heated today), made into Inside-out Chicken Cordon Bleu
• leftover baked potatoes
• sauteed cabbage, onions and garlic (made Monday in same pan as veg medley, then saved to reheat)

Wednesday

• vegetarian chili from the freezer
• carrot sticks
• blackberry bread pudding

Thursday

• ham and egg fried rice, from the freezer
• canned pineapple

With the kids' birthdays we alternate going out to dinner with having a dinner served at home, from year to year. This was a year to have a restaurant meal for my daughters. We chose Chinese takeout, as it was a Friday night; with everyone coming home at a later hour than weekends, bringing takeout in saved us all from a very late night, and it allowed my daughters to work on school-related projects at an earlier hour. The expense for the restaurant meal comes out of a different budget than groceries. We have a budget specifically for holidays and celebrations.

When we have a birthday meal out, we try to keep the spending to about $45, which is incredibly hard to do for a family of six, if eating at a table service restaurant. My son's and his fiancee's birthday celebration was in November (also a joint celebration as they have birthdays 3 days apart). For that celebration, we chose a lunch meal, going to a local Greek restaurant which is part table service, part order at the counter, bringing the total bill down somewhat. I think we spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $65 for that meal.

Restaurant dining for our family is very expensive in the Seattle area, even when we're trying to keep the bill low. So, for my daughters, I knew we had to come in under budget, to help offset the overage from our fall celebration. I spent just under $35 for the Chinese takeout, which means we are only $10 over from the overall celebration budget. I made up that money with a cheap, at home Valentine's dinner this year. And most importantly, my daughters had a wonderful birthday, and were super duper excited that I got Chinese takeout for dinner that night! I love it when relatively small things make a big splash with my family.

The rest of the week was filled with simple, humble meals. I tried to cook extra whenever I had a chance. As well, I continue to use up items from the freezer. There is always something there to use up.

I've been feeling very blah about the foods that I've been cooking, lately. I'm eating simply because it's there. Oh well. Maybe soon I'll get back to cooking more interesting dishes.

How has the week been at your place? Anything particularly interesting on the menu? Anything seasonal yet? Have a great weekend!

Surplus of Bread, Surplus of Milk, Surplus of Frozen Blackberries

We were gifted 3 loaves of bread over the weekend. That combined with my family suddenly drinking far less milk than anticipated, and I needed to do something quick with ingredients. I froze part of the milk and bread, which will come in handy in another week. But the rest I needed to begin using.

Last night, I made a blackberry bread pudding to go with a dinner of semi-vegetarian chili (there's chicken cooking liquid in the chili, just no meat). It was very delicious, and made good use of these items that I have in abundance.

One of the aspects of making bread pudding that I appreciate is how un-hands-on this dessert is. Cube up some bread, and combine with egg, milk, sugar and salt. Maybe add some fruit. And bake. It takes about five minutes to get the whole thing into the oven. That's a time-bargain for me.

When You Have Just a Little Bit of Ham Leftover . . .

I've made this before, and it is always a hit. Last night was no different. I had two slices of ham leftover from the previous night, some baked chicken breasts, and some really awesome Irish cheese (which was gifted to us over the weekend).

I call this inside-out Chicken Cordon Bleu. It is so good, and so easy. Real stuffed chicken is a pain to make. You have to pound out the chicken breasts, place cheese and ham on the pounded-thin chicken, roll it all up, then secure with toothpicks or string, and bake. A real pain. This way is easy.

Take some baked chicken breasts, then slice, cube or chunk it onto a plate. Top with some shreds, cubes or slices of ham (I use thin shreds of the sliced ham, to make it stretch to feed a family). Lastly, top each pile of chicken and ham with a white cheese, Swiss being ideal, but a white cheddar is also very tasty. Heat until the cheese is melty. That's it.

I had baked the chicken breasts the night before, while baking potatoes, as a way to have something quick and easy to make the next night, as well as a way to use the oven's baking capacity (potatoes don't take very much room in the oven).  Just before serving, I sliced the chicken directly onto the plates, then topped with shreds of ham, and slices of cheese. I microwaved each plate, to heat through, and served. This is truly one of those dishes that my family thinks is fabulous. It's better than just ham, or just chicken. The combination of the two meats together, along with the cheese is amazing. Really good, really easy. Inside-out Chicken Cordon Bleu.

How to Make an Ordinary Birthday Cake Look Great, in Little Time

With very little time to devote to making a cake look pretty on a budget, I planned ahead with this latest one. I baked the cake layers a week ahead, and kept frozen. I had cans of frosting bought on clearance for 37 cents a can. I had some pretty doilies bought at 80% off after Christmas at Michael's Crafts  two years ago. I used a beautiful cake stand that was a wedding gift 30 years ago. I added artificial flowers which I already had, for the top decor.

On the morning of the birthday

An hour before frosting the cake, I took the layers out of the freezer and set on the counter to come to room temperature. At the time of frosting, I cleaned up the silver base of the cake pedestal with my jeweler's rouge polishing cloth and washed and dried the glass top.

I had gold and white doilies to choose from. I chose the gold as I thought it would make the cake look even more special. The doily cost about 5 cents.

On top of the gold doily, I set strips of waxed paper over the outside edge, to protect the doily from messy frosting. You'll see in a minute what this step does.

I set the bottom layer on the waxed paper and doily lined pedestal and began the frosting.  I used not quite two cans of frosting. The reason this frosting was on markdown, I believe is that it was an unusual flavor. It is cinnamon bun flavored frosting, to be used in conjunction with a cinnamon bun cookie mix, also promoted last fall. I bought several of each when I found them on clearance.

When using canned frosting to ice a cake, it's helpful to stir the can up, well, just before spreading. The frosting spreads more readily after stirring. I frosted the entire cake and smoothed the side and top with an offset spatula (easier to use for frosting than a table knife).

It was time to take the waxed paper out. I make sure the cake is centered on the pedestal, adjusting as needed. Holding onto the waxed paper strips on the far side of the cake, I gently slide the near waxed paper strip halfway out. If the frosting is coming away from the cake with the waxed paper, I simply "cut" it off with a table knife by scoring where I want the frosting to break. I go all around the cake and gently slide all pieces of waxed paper in this way, hanging onto the far sheets of waxed paper as I go (this keeps the cake from moving off center). Lastly, I finished pulling all of the waxed paper strips out.

These are the waxed paper strips which caught the excess frosting that would have otherwise looked messy on the cake pedestal and doily.

Last, the top of the cake needed decor. I took some inexpensive artificial flowers and pulled several blooms and leaves off of the stems.

These were dusty, so I washed them in the salad spinner, then patted dry. The reason I mention they were inexpensive is this variety can pull apart and then be put back together again, as opposed to being completely fused, stems to blossoms. I made a pile of blooms and leaves on top of the cake. And there it is, one homemade, reasonably easy and quick, lovely birthday cake that I think would rival any bakery cake.

Frugality doesn't always mean doing things the hard way. Sometimes, it just means doing things the smart and thoughtful way.

An Amazing Salad Using Some of That Bargain Cabbage From St. Patrick's Day

We had this salad on my daughters' birthday. Not an exact recipe, but more of a guideline; the dressing is definitely "to taste".

Ingredients:

shredded cabbage
2 tangerines, peeled, sectioned and halved (not only to make bite-size pieces, but also to release juice)
vegetable oil
ground ginger
soy sauce
vinegar

I combined the oil, ginger, soy sauce and vinegar in the bottom of a bowl. The I tossed with the cabbage and tangerine pieces. This made good use of some rather aging tangerines. They still tasted delicious, but the peels were less than attractive.

I served this salad with a Chinese dinner for their birthday. It was delicious, and inexpensive!

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for St.Patrick's Day Week

Friday

• black bean chili (I made an extra large batch for the freezer and lunches during the week)
• homemade corn tortilla chips 
• tangerines

Saturday

• leftover sandwiches, potato chips, veggies and dip and fresh fruit, from a luncheon at which I worked during the day

Sunday

husband cooks 

• pot roast, with carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and gravy
• fresh watermelon (gifted after working a luncheon)

Monday (leftover night)

• leftover pot roast and gravy
• leftover fresh fruit
• green salad (with gifted cherry tomatoes and lettuce that I bought)

Tuesday

husband cooks

• lentil and rice curried casserole
• chutney on the side
• watermelon, grapes and cherry tomatoes (all gifted to us)

Wednesday

• ham, egg and bread strata (from freezer)
• leftover curry/rice/lentil casserole, with choice of leftover pot roast gravy or chutney
• green salad
• bananas

Thursday

• lentil and ham soup from the freezer
• bread and butter
• bananas
• cole slaw

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I used the clearance sugar cookie dough from after Christmas (55 cents/package) and some clearance green sugar crystals from after Christmas several years ago, and made some treats for us yesterday. I ate way too many myself! But they were pretty good.

This was a clean out the refrigerator week for us. On Wednesday, I used up some lingering rhubarb sauce, cranberry sauce and orange juice in a smoothie. I discovered that the curried lentil and rice casserole was delicious with pot roast gravy at lunch, one day, so I offered that with a dinner one night. Today, I will use up the various non-sweet liquids in the fridge, along with the last of one bundle of limp celery, in a large pot of soup.

Another busy weekend coming up for me. I hope that you have a great weekend!

Revere Bowls

In the background of my picture of forsythia stems the other day, was a bowl that I've been using in decor for this past year. This is a Revere bowl. Several manufacturers have had these on the market over the years; many brides received one or many as wedding gifts, in the 1960s and 1970s.  Revere bowls come in graduated sizes, and are silver plate, for the most part. Their design is a simple, fluted bowl on a shallow pedestal base.

Brand new, an 8-inch diameter version can cost $100 or more. In vintage stores, I see them for sale, priced between $10 and $25, in this size. I also watch for them in thrift stores, and they do turn up. I have three bowls, now, all of different sizes. My last purchase, an 8-inch diameter Revere bowl from Value Village last summer, was $4.99.

I love the simplicity of design in these bowls. Without a lot of ornamental detail, the beauty is in the the silver.  At Thanksgiving, I used it as a serving bowl; lined with a cloth napkin, it held warm dinner rolls.  It sparkled at holiday time, filled with silver sleigh bells and red glass balls. I'm thinking in summer this bowl will be lovely holding some of my larger seashells, and a large aqua glass ball that always makes me think of glass fishnet floats.

Incidentally, it is silver plate and does tarnish. I know, who has time to polish silver, right? Almost 20 years ago, my mother-in-law gave me the handiest thing for polishing silver. It's called a jeweler's rouge polishing cloth. I've seen them on Amazon and at WalMart. If you have silver but don't use it due to the upkeep, these cloths are amazing. I am still using that original cloth, almost 20 years later. They cost between $6 and $10, but outlast multiple jars of commercial polish. Mine was a hand-me-down 20 years ago, and it is still going strong. I love the look of silver and so I am willing to take a few minutes per month to polish a small piece or two.

I'm a lover of polished silver, sparkling crystal, flickering candlelight, and bouquets of flowers. Fortunately, I can find all of the above at thrift stores, vintage shops, on clearance, or in my garden. Life's luxuries on a whisper thin budget.

Returning Food at the Grocery Store

Have you ever returned a food product to the grocery store? I think this sounds strange to a lot of people, perhaps because we undervalue our food supply.  I have been in that mental place, where I have wondered if it would be worth the effort to return a food item.

A week ago, boneless, skinless chicken breasts were on sale at Fred Meyer, for $1.47/lb. I bought 3 large packages, almost 18 pounds of chicken. By the time I was done shopping, my head was pretty tired. Most of the time, I will check my receipt thoroughly, as I'm walking out of the store. You know how it is, there's someone behind you wanting you to move out of the store faster, or give them your cart, or you just feel like you need to get your weary body home. It's not like the grocery store provides a nice little seating area, so that you can take a few-minute break, and look over your receipt.

The day after I bought the chicken, I was dividing up the packages into smaller bundles for the freezer. That's when I noticed the price tags didn't read $1.47/lb, but $1.99/lb. Ugh! This was a substantial difference in price, totaling almost $7 of overcharge.  I needed to go out that afternoon, and would be driving near the store. So, I tore the labels off of the packages, cleaned them up a bit, and wrapped in a paper towel. I grabbed my add and my receipt, and off I went to Fred Meyer. Fortunately, the store was practically empty and I had no wait at the customer service desk. The lady helping me was as nice as can be, and not only refunded the correct amount, but rounded it up to a full $7.

What I have heard from others is that if the food item that you want to return is of a perishable nature, you may not need the food itself, but part of the packaging along with your receipt. Timeliness goes a long way when presenting your case to the customer service desk. That is to say, if you bring evidence of your problem food product, like packaging and receipt, within a couple of days of purchase, you'll likely be offered a refund or replacement product.

Anyway, with my meat purchase, I only needed the label, not all of the packaging. If produce was purchased in a bag (like a bag of oranges), you may want to bring the rest of that bag back to the store. As it was still early in that sale cycle, the grocery store had the opportunity to make sure all the rest of the labels were correct, and my actions may have saved someone else the expense of mistakenly overpaying for chicken.

Cuttings From Our Very Delayed Late-Winter Garden

It has been an unusually cold winter, here. The crocus are just now in bloom; however, it is so chilly that I have no desire to go outside and look at them. I view those lovely harbingers of spring through my front window.

A week ago, I did get out and cut some branches of forsythia, to force into bloom indoors. Most of my living room is in shades of spa blue and cream. I thought a hit of yellow would be just the right splash for this room.  I put the cuttings into the mason jars that I painted in spa blue and sea foam green acrylics last fall.

My grandmother always took cuttings from her crabapple and cherry trees, and forsythia shrubs, to bring indoors in late winter. I knew it was almost spring when I visited and would find a beautiful vase of blossoming branches on the coffee table near her fireplace. Do you ever take cuttings of blossoming branches to bring indoors for their floral effects?

Almost as Convenient as a Bakery Cake

My two daughters will have a birthday later this week.  I have always baked my children's birthday cakes, even when time was short. There are a few ways to make a homemade cake more convenient for the cook. One can make an cake that is intended to be kept in the freezer, such as an ice cream cake. One can use a mix and canned frosting. Or, as I do, one can bake the layers, wrap in plastic film and keep in the freezer, well in advance, then thaw and ice on the big day.

The last couple of months have seen me struggling under a tightly-packed schedule. This hasn't changed. I am trying to fit everything in, yet also trying to make a big day, a special one. This is how I manage the cake.

About a week or two before their birthday,  I bake the cake layers, wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze until the day that I'm ready to frost. I cannot express just how convenient it really is to have the cake baked and ready to go. I bake the layers on a day when I do have spare time, and then it sits in the freezer, like convenience food, to be pulled out at the last minute. Frozen cake layers thaw in about 1 hour. All that is needed is some icing and candles.

One afternoon last week, I baked a couple of cakes. I was making a quick pumpkin snack cake for dessert that night, so I reused the mixing bowl to make the batter for the birthday cake. I had all of the cake-baking ingredients out and ready to use, anyway. It felt like no chore at all to be baking the extra cakes.

After the layers cooled, I wrapped them in plastic wrap and they now sit in the freezer, waiting for Friday. I'll use a can of clearance frosting (37 cents) to ice the cake, sticking to a tight budget on a tight schedule. Not only will my cake save us money, but it really won't take much time to get it frosted on their birthday.

The same freezer stash cooking that I use with casseroles and soups for busy upcoming days is applied to baking birthday cakes.



On another, related note, I bought plastic cling wrap in the large, commercial size for the first time. I've only bought plastic wrap in the small grocery store boxes, so buying in this very large size is a change for me. The standard grocery store box has 200 feet of film, and will last about 1 year in our household. This box has 2000 feet of film, so it should last for 10 years. That feels like such a long time. I sometimes have uneasy feelings about a purchase so far in advance. I'll get over it, and at some point, I will be grateful to have bought this. Price-wise, the last grocery store box of film cost $1.19 for 200 feet, on markdown for a damaged box. This box cost $7.95 for 2000 feet.  A 200-foot amount of this box cost about 79 cents, so I saved about 1/3 of the cost of buying my plastic wrap at the grocery store.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for Early March

Friday

• ham sandwiches on homemade French bread
• canned corn
• canned green beans
• cookies

Saturday

husband cooks

• vegetarian enchiladas
• oranges
• brown rice

Sunday

• ham, French bread and egg strata
• grapes
• celery and carrots sticks
• cookies

Monday

• ham, egg and vegetable fried rice
• tangerines

Tuesday

• lentil and ham soup, with canned pumpkin, celery, onions and garlic
• French bread and butter
• apples

Wednesday

• hot dogs in buns (budget hot dogs, budget buns -- 18 cents per hot dog/bun combo)
• canned green beans sauteed with mushrooms
• rhubarb-blackberry sauce from the freezer

Thursday

• baked chicken breasts
• onion, peppers, garlic, sauteed and added to strips of chicken, wrapped in a
• flour tortilla
• canned pineapple
• pumpkin spice snack cake

How was your week? Do you have spring weather where you live? Anything interesting on your menu this past week?

You may have noticed a few extra produce items for my family. After a couple of months of living off of canned vegetables and frozen fruit, I splurged last Friday and bought some fresh fruit: grapes, oranges, tangerines, apples and bananas. I also found peppers on markdown (3/$1) and mushrooms marked down ($1.29/8-oz). The fresh fruit is our splurge for the month. It's been so refreshing to have these juicy fruits.

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

A Notebook Budget

I've been asked a couple of times to show how I budget using a notebook and pen. (Renee, if you're reading, I'm sorry this took so long.) My method is probably one step up from a budget on a napkin or back of an envelope; however, it has been extremely effective for our family for over 20 years.

You can spend money on a software program, buy fancy ledgers, or just jot down your spending on a sheet of paper, and have success. A budget's success hinges on the user's diligence more than anything else. Anyway, this works for us. I've shown it to friends in person, and you may find it helpful, or find something about it that you can use, tweaking it to suit your particular needs. I am sure there are ways that I could tweak it for my own use. For now, I'm happy with how it works for us, and don't want to bother changing anything with it.


The Pros

• A notebook budget is the "budget" way to begin individual financial planning. 
• I use cheap spiral bound notebooks that I pick up at back-to-school sales for about 20 cents each. Each month uses one page. There are typically 70 pages to a notebook.One notebook will last several years. 
• Uses basic math skills and a calculator, no fancy software program to figure out.
• It is highly portable and doesn't have an "on/off" switch. I can work my budget anyplace that I can take an 8x11-inch notebook.
• I can add new categories each month, without much hassle.
• I like that the entire page is visible and available. It is easy to update.
• Anyone in the family can either check the budget or enter an expenditure. No passwords required.

The Cons

• It can look messy by the end of the month.
• If I'm not diligent about recording expenditures, that aspect isn't accurate.
• It requires planning at the beginning of each month, which takes me about 1 hour.
• While I can access any of the information, to export info from the budget to some other document, such as tax forms, requires me to physically look something up and transfer that information myself. (This is as opposed to having a software program that I could access on my computer to transfer info out of and into some other document.)

At the bottom of this post is a full page from my notebook that has not been filled in with numbers. At the end of each month/beginning of a new month, I turn the page in my notebook and begin with setting up the page.

Just below, here, is the top bar from the budget page. The photo is not super clear, but I hope you can read it, as needed.

The Top Bar

Upper left -- income from the previous month (we live off of the previous month's income, plus any carry forward surplus from pervious months). For us, this includes my income, my husband's income and rent that we charge one adult child. My income can be composed of money that I earn through work, cash rebates from purchases, selling items, or gift cards that can be used in grocery or home improvement stores, that I earned through programs such as Swagbucks. A gift card to Starbucks doesn't really work well in a budget which requires expenditures in non-coffee drinking areas, although they are nice to have.

Upper right -- this is the carry forward budget surplus or deficit from the previous month. Our budget generally hovers around the income from the previous month, but sometimes, even we have unexpected expenses or reductions in income, especially with income that I earn, as that fluctuates vastly from one month to the next. I don't want us spending all of what I earn, or all of a windfall, in one month, but like to spread it out over several. With regards to deficits, keeping a running deficit only works if you have a cushion in your overall budget, like when we are saving for a new car, within our general checking account. We haven't bought that new car, yet, so that $3000 or so could be tapped, temporarily, to be repaid to ourselves, over the course of the next couple of months.

Lower far left -- the heading for the column for individual budget category carryovers + and -   I don't actually write this heading in each month (Carryover + -), because I know, myself that is what that column is for.

Lower left -- the month (this is March's page before I added the $$ amounts)

Middle -- the total month's budget is entered at the top of the middle column. The total month's budget is close to the income amount, +/- a few dollars. If the total budget is below the income $$, the surplus will be added to the Upper Right "budget surplus or deficit". If the total month's budget is above the income $$, then I will draw from the carry forward surplus from the previous month.

Beneath the total month's budget I itemize each category's budget amount, on its line (I'll get to that in a moment). *

Right -- the heading reads "spent". I don't actually write that out, as I know that is what this column is for.

So that's the top bar. There are 4 columns beneath the top bar.

Columns

Far left -- this is the carry over + or - from the previous month. This column is helpful for expenses which vary from month to month. So, if in February I budgeted $70 for electricity, but we only spent $65, I have a carryover of $5 to record in this column. That $5 is added to my monthly allotment for electricity, giving me $75 I could spend on electricity in March. Our electricity bills fluctuate from month to month, and season to season. The local electricity supplier has a wacky billing system. One month they actually visit the site to determine charges, the following they estimate (and very poorly at that). So it's very likely that my $70 or so in actual usage will be billed as $90 one month and $50 the next.

This column also allows us to save, within our checking account, for upcoming expenses, like a new water heater (this past fall, for instance). I can have a line for water heater replacement built in to the budget, and we put aside a small amount every month for this specific expense. Or, something like shoes or a new coat. We don't need new shoes or coats every month, but I can feed the savings for shoes/coats, through the clothing budget, setting aside $10 to $15 each month until we have enough for that purchase. By saving for specific expenses, we refrain from robbing something important like a new water heater, to buy shoes; but we insure that those shoes will not be put off indefinitely, and the money will indeed be there, at some pre-determined point. 

Deficits in this column are infrequent, as we try to always be prepared. They do come up, but can only be afforded if there are significant surpluses in other categories. When I am buying the year's supply of laundry detergent, as a for instance, I will buy it when I find a super great deal at Cash & Carry, in the large buckets. That alone will use up everything in the Non-food Household category. What if that is also the month that I buy a 6-month supply of bathroom tissue, as that may also be on a great sale? I will carry a deficit in that category, into the next month, to cover both of those purchases, as I know that these aren't items which we use carelessly or extravagantly, but more on an even level. And we'll be able to get back to no deficit in just a short amount of time.

Left (just under the month heading) -- this column is for the name of each category. I budget every single expense category. If something comes up that doesn't fit any of our current categories, I add a new category and include it in the budget, like when I finally got myself a phone and a bus pass. I try to keep required expenses separate from non-required ones. So, something like Home Maintenance and Repairs is separate from Design/Interior or Landscape. A repair on a household appliance is necessary. I pretty new vase or flowers for the yard are not. Whenever I am making out the budget, if money is especially tight, the required categories get the funding, and I minimize the non-required ones.

There's a category titled "Extras". I don't have a name for this category, but it covers non-required expenses like a "just because" gift to someone, or a coffee out with a friend, or I put some money in the red kettle at the holidays and I need to account for it. We also have an "Entertainment" budget. this is for family entertainment, which could include eating in a restaurant, going to the movies or a play, or paid parking for an otherwise low-cost outing, any of the above, but reserved for family stuff.

We pay for part of our daughter's phone service, so that is included in the list. I have a specific amount that I feel I am willing to pay towards their phones. When they use more minutes than what I will pay for, they pick up the rest of the tab for the year. My husband has an iphone through his work, so that phone isn't included. Our landline is bundled with internet, so those two items are on the same line.

Center column -- this column is for the dollar amount budgeted for each category. On each line, to the right of the name for the category, I write in how much money I want to budget towards those expenses. When my month's budget is set up, this column is completely filled, top to bottom. I total all of the categories's budgets and the total needs to correspond to the income in the top bar. I often need to rework all or most of the numbers to get the total budgeted amount within the income.  The pink sticky, here, indicates this is the column for category budgets.

*After developing a budget that works within our income, I put the total amount of the budget (which will be close to the Income figure) in the Top Bar, as mentioned above in Top Bar -- Middle.

Right of budgeted amount for each category -- this is where the page gets messy over the course of the month. I use this area to keep a record of all expenses in each category. As I bring a receipt into the house, I record the $ spent on its category line. I do not record individual grocery purchases, however, as I now do that online. I just track a total $ amount for each month on that line. Before tracking groceries online, I used the back of the page for details of the groceries for each month.

For any additional large expense which requires a lot of detailing, such as a major home renovation, I track the budget, expenditures, and remaining balance, for that particular category, on the back side of the page, as I did with groceries for many years.

I hope this explains how a notebook budget works, for anyone curious. Feel free to ask questions, and I'll be happy to answer or clarify anything.

How Much Meat Does a Person Really Need?

I grew up in a time when it was assumed that a typical serving of meat would weigh about 4 ounces. It was also assumed that one would eat a full serving of meat at each of two meals per day. That would be a half-pound of meat per person. You've seen my grocery lists. You know that my family doesn't eat nearly that quantity of meat, daily. Our family eats far less meat, making up the needed protein in beans, eggs, grains and dairy. I was curious, though, just how much protein does a human body require daily? This is what I found out.

For every 2.2 pounds of body weight, an adult needs .8 grams of protein. So, for an adult woman weighing 125 pounds, that would be about 45 grams of protein. It doesn't need to all come from meat (or any of it, really), and ideally should be spread out over the course of the day.

Just some "for instances"

• A 3-ounce portion of beef averages 21 to 24 grams of protein. 
• 3.5 ounces of cooked, lean chicken breast (no skin) has about 30 grams of protein. 
• A chicken drumstick has 11 grams. 
• Cooked fish has about 6 grams of protein per ounce. 
• A 6-ounce can of tuna has 40 grams. 
• A single large egg has 6 grams, and a cup of milk has 8 grams. 
• I don't drink milk, but I do eat cheese. 1 ounce of cheddar has 7 or 8 grams of protein. 
• A half-cup of cooked beans has between 7 and 10 grams of protein.
• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter have 8 grams of protein

An average chicken breast half (meaning, one lobe) weighs about 5.25 ounces today (up from 4 ounces in the 1980s, yes, chickens have gotten bigger!). If I cook two breast halves for our family of five, that's 10.50 ounces of lean chicken, or about 90 grams of protein, which results in about 18 grams of protein per person.

If I figure that I need roughly 45 grams per day, I could meet that requirement with what appears to be very little meat: 1 ounce of cheddar with a breakfast of one slice of whole wheat bread and some fruit; a lunch which has 1 egg, plus whole grains, fruit/veggies and a mug of tea latte made with soy milk; a snack of some almonds in the afternoon; and then I would only need 19 grams of protein with my dinner. If my dinner had beef in it, I would only need 2.5 ounces of beef to meet that 19 grams. However, I would likely be eating whole grains and veggies which contain some protein at dinner, thus reducing my meat-protein requirement to about 2 ounces, or 15 grams of protein. The meat could also be chicken legs, in which case one and a half chicken legs would be plenty of protein for my meal. If it were lean chicken breast that I was using for my animal protein, I would only need 1.75 ounces, or 1/3 of a breast half.

I just thought all of this was really enlightening. I know that my family has eaten on the low end of the meat spectrum, but I never fully realized that we were actually eating the healthy amount. We know that meat can be one of the more expensive items in the shopping cart; eating less meat will not only save money, but it will still be a healthy option for many of us.

A further way to save money -- a typical restaurant beef steak weighs 6 ounces. I would reach my daily intake of protein in a single steak dinner. This is all the more reason to split meals when dining out.

The adult requirements listed above assume a healthy, adult body, free from medical considerations, pregnancy, or heavy physical activity. When I was pregnant with twins (and growing two human beings inside of me), I was advised to consume 90-110 grams of protein per day, double what I would eat normally. This post is not to advise anyone to change their eating habits; however, if you have been eating less meat than you believe is customary, this post is meant to illuminate what some medical professionals recommend. For me, personally, this information allows me to rest assured that my family and I are getting enough protein on a daily basis. There have been meals when I looked at our plates and wondered if there was enough protein food.

sources used:

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/much-meat-need-day-nutritionally-3643.html

https://www.verywell.com/high-protein-foods-and-the-amount-of-protein-in-each-2242514

https://www.reference.com/food/much-boneless-chicken-breast-weigh-6a5142aeda509c4b

A Lovely Sunday Outing That Didn't Break the Bank

It has not been warm enough to take our adventures to the outdoors. Instead, this past Sunday, one daughter and I spent a lovely afternoon visiting the Seattle Art Museum. This daughter had to visit the SAM for a class assignment, and I went with her for company and a nice outing for myself.

An afternoon at the art museum can be almost as expensive as a matinee at the theater. If there is a special exhibition one is wanting to see, the price of admission is even higher. I knew for certain that my daughter would receive the student discount, but I was unsure if I would. I asked anyway; and I was delighted to be told that yes, indeed, I qualified. The rules for discounted admission vary from one museum to another, and one never knows until he or she asks. So, I did, and we saved $10.00 each on our admission.

To save additional money, we took the bus into town (no parking or gas costs), and we brought a late lunch plus thermos of coffee to enjoy at the tables, just outside of the cafe in the museum. The SAM offers free coat and bag checks with in and out privileges, so we didn't even need to carry our lunch around. We avoided buying souvenirs from the gift shop (although I think that is a wonderful way to support museums), and brought home the two complimentary brochures that they offered. And I brought a camera and took photos of the works, plus object labels, of those that I particularly enjoyed.


(The special exhibit was the Paul Allen (Microsoft founder) collection of landscapes. It includes paintings from the 1600s through the 1900s.)

For YHF:

Satisfying My Sweet Tooth with Homemade Almond Bark

Chocolate and almonds are good for heart health. Really! Almonds help prevent oxidation of fats, which leads to arterial plaque formation and chocolate improves blood flow to your heart and brain (healthyeating.sfgate.com). Does life get any better than this, with a medically-approved excuse to eat chocolate covered almonds? With this fantastic information, I set out to quench my sweet tooth, and on a budget, no less! I used grocery store semi-sweet chocolate chips and whole roasted almonds to make this confection, in my very ordinary kitchen; with mere minutes of hands-on effort; and using just my microwave, a sheet of waxed paper, and a glass bowl.

What I Did
I melted the chocolate chips in short bursts, with vigorous stirring, until the chips were a swirling, melty mass. After roasting the whole almonds, I spread them on a small sheet of waxed paper, followed by spooning the melted chocolate over all.

I tossed the coated almonds from the outside edges, and into the center, until everything was covered in chocolate. I let it sit overnight and that was it. Just to enhance the sense that this is indeed a treat item, after breaking into bite-size pieces I stored them in an empty See's chocolates box. "Make believe" is good.

The Exciting Part: Cost Breakdown

This product was probably the closest in quality to what I made at home. My candy had a higher proportion of almonds (the more expensive ingredient), but perhaps a slightly lower quality of semi-sweet chocolate.

I used about 1/3 cup of bulk bin whole almonds, roasted and unsalted, and 3/4 cup of WinCo semi-sweet chocolate chips. 1/3 cup of almonds weighs approximately 2.67 ounces, and 3/4 cup of chocolate chips weighs 4.5 ounces. My end product weighed about 7.17 ounces.

My almonds cost 75 cents for 1/3 cup, and the chocolate chips cost 63 cents, yielding a total cost for my candy at $1.38 for 7.17 ounces.

The Special Dark with almonds sell for $3.84 in a 12 ounce bag, at Wal-Mart. 7.17 ounces of Special Dark w/ almonds nuggets would cost $2.29, or 91 cents more than my homemade version.

Another way to look at the cost breakdown is this: the standard size Hershey bar with almonds weighs about 1.45 ounces. My product yields about 4.94 standard size bars. My cost per equivalent size bar is about 28 cents each bar. Not a bad deal for this chocolate-loving girl.

You already know that I am trying to stick to a budget and not buy luxury foods this month; making treats with the ingredients that I have in my kitchen is helping me maintain my resolve. I think I have some bags of milk chocolate chips in the pantry. Next time . . . homemade peanut butter cups!

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the First of March

Friday

• boxed macaroni and cheese (a freebie from a few weeks ago)
• canned green beans
• ambrosia salad, made from sliced bananas, canned pineapple chunks, mini marshmallows, and flaked coconut

Saturday
husband cooks

• rice and lentils
• sauteed canned tomatoes, with cheese
• carrot and celery sticks, with Ranch dressing

Sunday

• baked chicken breasts, in a sauce of onions, canned tomatoes, garlic, herbs, over
• linguine
• cole slaw

Monday

• beef stew, made with beef, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, herbs, potatoes, canned peas
• garlic toast

Tuesday

• hot dogs wrapped in scratch biscuit dough, with homemade honey mustard
• canned green beans
• canned corn
• cookies

Wednesday

my son's fiancee was over for dinner

• baked ham, with homemade cranberry mustard
• brown rice
• steamed carrots
• slaw with cabbage and celery
• garlic toast
• pumpkin pie

Thursday

• leftover ham
• leftover brown rice
• canned green beans
• blackberry-rhubarb sauce
• pumpkin pie

March, already! I am so anxious for spring, this year. It's been colder than usual in our area, so more soups, stews and other wintry meals. I baked a pumpkin pie this week, even. When I went out to the garden, yesterday, I could see the rhubarb poking through the soil. That prompted me to dream up some yummy rhubarb desserts. Just a few more weeks and that is a distinct possibility. All of those thoughts of rhubarb mean that I need to finish what is in the freezer. Rhubarb sauce will feature heavily for the next couple of weeks. Did I mention, I am so looking forward to spring.

What's been on your menu lately, and what foods are you dreaming about on these early days of March?

Have a wonderful weekend!