Progress on organizing the freezers and how we've been using some of the random "found" foods

I should have gone through the freezers before my last grocery shopping. I would have saved several dollars this week by not buying more of what we have on hand, example -- frozen vegetables and fresh fruit. In fresh fruit, I bought a whole watermelon and a couple of bunches of bananas at WinCo on Friday morning. We could have used the frozen fruit we have in smoothies and as fruit servings for at least a week. I found a large bag of blackberries, 3 gallon-sized bags of apple chunks, and a bag each of raspberries and blueberries at the bottom of the freezer. I also found 10 bags of frozen peas and multiple open bags of various frozen vegetables, including 2 open bags of spinach and 2 open bags of corn.

a very disorganized chest freezer
The only way to reasonably guess where something might be
was to try to recall when the last time was the item was used.
That would give us an idea of how far down it was.

So, what I did

Friday afternoon was rainy and dark, a perfect afternoon for going through the garage chest freezer and apartment-sized upright freezer. 

We sorted on the garage floor.

I didn't thaw the chest freezer. We need to eat down some of the contents before I can thaw it, as I don't have other freezer space to hold foods while this freezer defrosts. But I did organize this freezer really well, I think, especially as I did it using basic items we have at home, mainly thick plastic grocery bags (bags work well as they will mold to each other and stack), a Sharpie, and duct tape. We sorted and bagged almost everything, labeling each bag as we went. Our rule was that bags have to be able to tie closed, so contents won't spill out and undo all of our sorting.

budget freezer sorting "containers" and "labels"

We divided this freezer into 3 columns. The left column is loaded with stacked bags of fruits and vegetables. I put the bag of opened packages of various vegetables on the top, so we will go to that bag first when looking for vegetables to use in lunches and dinners.

See how well the plastic bags can stack?

The center column contains all of my two daughters' foods. They often make lunches in advance for themselves, so they can grab something ready-made quickly. They also have more particular tastes for foods than either my husband or I have, and will buy specific items just for themselves. So their foods do take up a sizable amount of freezer space. The right column is only partially bagged. It also has the hanging freezer bin that contains primarily nuts and seeds. Stacked on the very right are containers of cherries packed in sugar for pies and 3 bags of different types of corn flour and meal. Corn meals and flours become buggy quickly in my experience.

finished sorting and organizing for the time being

I moved all of the butter to the small freezer. I did thaw this freezer before our last beef delivery. Here's that freezer. All of the beef is on the top shelf. That's most of a very recent 30-lb delivery of beef. The middle shelf has 3 whole chickens, a single chicken leg and single chicken thigh, plus some containers of stock. The bottom shelf has breakfast sausage and more stock, plus two partial boxes of heat and eat foods, fish sticks and egg rolls (egg rolls now gone). And the door compartment now holds about 10 pounds of butter.

small freezer -- beef on top, chickens middle, not shown bottom shelf

The big task now is to form a plan to use the odds and ends as well as the current surpluses of foods of which we anticipate accumulating new stock in the coming months, like fresh produce, pumpkin/squash seeds, meat and pumpkin broths.

How to manage our current fresh produce supply

I think I will hold off on cutting into the watermelon and force us to use the fresh strawberries that are ripening and frozen berries and apples that we need to eat down. I'll save that watermelon for the 4th of July. I'll also hold off on cutting into the newest head of cabbage and use frozen vegetables in its place for lunches and dinners the next few days, again until the 4th. I'll use that fresh cabbage on the 4th to make a curried pea and peanut slaw for our holiday cookout. By saving the watermelon and head of cabbage until Friday, I won't need to re-buy these foods for our 4th of July cookout. One good thing -- I didn't buy more apples or tangerines this week. I still have most of a bag of each, and we'll make those last throughout the next 2 weeks.

berry pancake topped with blackberry syrup

What I found that we used over the weekend and today

• chopped apples in spiced, sautéed apples both Friday and Monday night for dinners
• pumpkin seeds, lots of bags of them. I roasted up a baggie for a snack on Saturday
• 4 egg rolls, we had them with dinner on Saturday
• cooked pinto beans and 2 partially used bags of corn, mixed together, sautéed in beef fat with onions and spices for Saturday's dinner
• a container of whey, used in a batch of blueberry and blackberry pancakes for Sunday breakfast topped with blackberry syrup (berries and syrup from the freezer)
• some chicken stock used in making grits to go with meatloaf for Monday's dinner
• cornbread and whole wheat bread, small amount of beef gravy in meatloaf for Monday's dinner

Happy surprises 

• more butter than I had thought, enough to last through summer at least
• one container of yogurt starter. I'll have to make another batch of yogurt and freeze more starter.
• a single cupcake (to the victor go the spoils -- that cupcake is mine!)
• two frozen things of dough for croissants
• a half chocolate croissant

I'll continue using up odds and ends, particularly as I tackle the other two freezer spaces.  (More odds and ends in those two freezers.) Tomorrow night's dinner will be an interesting experiment. I'll let you know how that one goes. I'll sort and organize the kitchen freezer and spare fridge's freezer later this week.

Whew! What a job this is.

Annual eating down the freezer challenge

It's come to that time of year once again. Our freezer is still full, yet we need to make a lot of room for this year's garden and foraging produce. 

We have two choices. One, we could buy another freezer. Or two, we could eat down what we currently have. I won't lie. I did have a moment where I thought buying another freezer might be a good idea. But my common sense kicked in, and we will once again try to eat up (or down) the freezers' (yes, multiple freezers) contents.

The first thing I need to do is take an inventory of the frozen vegetables in the chest freezer. Partially used opened bags of frozen vegetables have a way of drifting to the bottom of the freezer. I'm sure there are several open bags of peas in there. So, once I know what frozen veggies we have currently, I will limit what I buy in the way of frozen vegetables. I may use a small white board to track what vegetables still remain as we work toward eating down the freezer.

I should do the same with the frozen fruits, syrups, and fruit juices. I came across some dried figs and dried prunes in the freezer the other day. I am also aware that we have some remaining crab applesauce, crabapple juice, and blackberry juice. Do you have any suggestions for using crab apple juice or blackberry juice in summer? We also have some frozen cherries for pies, too. I need to start making plans to use these fruits, especially as this year's cherries are almost ready for harvesting. But first I need to gather all of the containers into one space, perhaps using another whiteboard to help motivate me to use these produce items in a timely manner.

Next I need to corral all of the bread products into one bag and make plans to do a bread pudding, some croutons, bread stuffing, and/or a strata. We accumulate lots of lone slices of bread, squares of cornbread, and muffins. Finding them and keeping them in one spot will help me use them.

After the vegetables and bread products I think I should gather all of the containers of stock, drippings, and fat to keep in one spot and make plans to use it. Since I've been roasting whole chickens again (instead of using b/s breasts), I've made several batches of chicken stock. It's time I start using it up. Do you have any suggestions for using stock besides as the broth for soup?

That will leave frozen desserts (ice cream, sorbet) and individual servings of various meals. My husband is the only one in the family who will eat everything served to him. The rest of us tend to freeze our leftovers, which is great as we're technically not wasting that food. But it does accumulate. So, I need to get my daughters to help me identify those oddball containers of leftovers.

The one food category that I'm not at all concerned about is meat. I keep all of the meat together in the tiny freezer and sort through it every other week. I roughly know what beef, chicken, and pork we have on hand and am making plans for how to use the older cuts of meat soon.

Am I missing anything? Do you have a method of attack for cleaning out your freezer and eating down all of the contents? You can guess what I'll be doing this weekend.

Have a great weekend, friends!

Birthday and Mother's Day 2025 Cookie Baking Gifts

This is turning out to be a show-and-tell week. 

I made this batch of chocolate chip
cake-style cookies using the small scoop

I've been wanting to show you the cookie baking gifts my daughters gave me this year for my birthday and for Mother's Day. They know I like to bake cookies and found gifts I would really appreciate receiving.

For my birthday they gave me this set of three cookie scoops. I've never had cookie scoops, instead I've always used a couple of teaspoons to scoop drop cookie dough. It's time consuming to use a pair of spoons while trying to make every cookie look neat and the whole batch look uniform.

My favorite scoop is the smallest one. I've baked a couple of batches of chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies with this small one. I like the smaller-sized cookie you get with the smallest scoop. My daughters borrowed the scoops last weekend to bake cookies for an event at church. They made both snickerdoodles and gingersnaps using the medium-sized scoop. My guess is they would love if I made some chocolate chip or M & M cookies with the largest scoop. I'll keep that in mind when I want to do something special for them.

what I like about these cookie scoops:

• The cookies are uniform in size and shape, making them visually appealing when sharing with others.
• I don't just like the look of uniformity in size and shape, but the cookies bake evenly as they're all the same size and have the same mounding.
• It's fast and easy to scoop and drop the dough onto the baking sheet. I can't believe how fast it is to get the cookie dough onto the baking sheet with a scoop.
• My fingers stay clean in the process of dropping the dough.

The other gift was for Mother's Day. Again my daughters know that not only do I like to bake cookies, but I like the finished result to look attractive. (Maybe you remember a couple of Christmases ago they gave me a shortbread mold.)

This gift is an embossed rolling pin for imprinting a pattern on rolled out cookie dough before baking. The types of cookies that I will think I will use this for are speculoos, springerle, and gingerbread. If you've ever had Biscoff, that's a speculoos cookie. Springerle, the German anise flavored cookie, is traditionally made with a mold. However, I found recipes online to make a dough that will work with an embossed rolling pin. I'm looking forward to making those. And of course, gingerbread cookies, the thin kind, are a favorite of mine.

what I like about the embossed rolling pin:

• I can make really attractive cookies for gifting and sharing at the holidays, and to please me.
• It will save time and money in "decorating" the cookie by embossing the dough instead of using icing and sprinkles.

These gifts are special in a couple of ways. One, my daughters took the time to think of what I'd like. Two, these are money and time-saving gifts. I can use them to share or gift cookies that look almost professional with just a little effort. The cookie baking gifts are just the sort of thing I would want to buy for myself, but would talk myself out of because of cost. 

Do you use cookie scoops? What do you think of them? Have you tried an embossed rolling pin?

A new-to-us green: salad burnet

One of our neighbors gave us this plant last summer, but I didn't use it until this spring. I planted it in the center of our vegetable garden with other herbs. This spring, and now summer, I've been using it regularly.

Technically, salad burnet is an herb. However many people use it as a leafy vegetable, in greater quantity per dish than would be used by most herbs.

It is perennial and overwinters in the garden in zones 4 through 10, but can survive lower temperatures (zone 3) with a leaf mulch. Salad burnet can also be grown as an annual. It prefers cooler weather, making it a great addition to spring and early summer meals and beverages in my area.

It's habit is a rosette form comprised of thin stems with multiple toothed, coin-sized leaves along each side of the stem. It's these small leaves that are used in cooking.

Salad burnet has a mild cucumber flavor and is used in salads, mixed into cottage cheese, blended with cream  cheese or butter to use as a sandwich spread, mixed with plain yogurt, sour cream, and/or mayo for a dip, in cold soups, in flavored water, and in herb vinegars. Its delicate flavor is best preserved when used in the raw form. However, it can be added to hot dishes like soup or scrambled eggs, just at the last minute. I've used the whole leaves in salads, but the leaves will impart more flavor to spreads and dips if chopped.

I've been using it primarily in salads. We like it in leafy green tossed salads. Tonight I also used a large handful in potato salad. 

To use, you pick whole stems, then pluck off the individual leaves and discard the stems.

Nutritionally, salad burnet contains bioflavonoids and polyphenols like quercetin and caffeic acid. It is antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. And it also contains Vitamin C, Vitamin A, and some of the B vitamins as well as iron and potassium.

Plants can be started from seeds or cuttings. My neighbor started a flat of salad burnet from seeds for a garden sale and gave me one of her leftover plants. It did well last summer and could have been used, but I didn't yet know how to best use it. We did taste it, however, and thought the cucumber flavor was pleasant.

Like other herbs, salad burnet will eventually flower then go to seed. I've been removing the flower buds this month to prolong the production of leafy stems. 

A good-to-know thing -- it's not invasive, but will spread through self-seeding.

I wanted to share about salad burnet because it's a lesser known garden addition, but one that my family is enjoying.

Rhubarb Slab Tart

Part slab pie, part pop tart 

slab tart just out of the oven and before cutting into 12 equal squares.

If you remember, one of my summer budget activities was to bake more fruit pies. I think this qualifies.

Saturday was a very rainy day. There was no chance I would be able to work in the garden or even want to. So I chose to spend the day in the kitchen. One of the foods that I made was a 5-crust batch of pie pastry. I froze 3 portions in 5-inch diameter disks and used the other 2 portions in this rhubarb slab tart.

While the pastry was chilling, I quickly (and briefly -- I didn't want the rhubarb to fall apart) cooked 3 fat stalks of rhubarb, diced, in some water, then added cornstarch to thicken and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar to sweeten. After cooling, the thickened rhubarb filling was ready for the pastry. I used a shallow baking pan, about 10 X 13 inches. The pastry was sealed along the edges, but I didn't do anything fancy with crimping. I baked the tart until it looked lightly golden.

This is a breakfast version of pie, like having a healthier pop tart. It's lower in added sugar than pie -- just over 1 teaspoon of added sugar in each serving. And I made the pastry with part whole wheat flour. Despite this good stuff, it does contain a fair amount of fat in the pastry and could possibly be made lower in fat with less pastry. 

As a dessert, each serving is less fat and calories than a standard slice of pie, as my two-crust slab tart was divided into 12 portions after baking. I know in our house, we never cut a regular pie into 12 wedges.

It's been a tasty breakfast treat and dessert item in our house, and another good way to use garden rhubarb surplus. Who would say "no" to a piece of pie for breakfast?!

How I saved big money this week

Both automobile and homeowner insurance have risen substantially in my area over the last year. My agent tells me this is due to more people (percentage-wise) filing claims combined with an increase in cost for repairs, replacements, and materials. (We know first hand the increase in cost for materials from last year when we put a new roof on our house.) When I opened our latest homeowner insurance paperwork a month ago I was flabbergasted.

I went through the details thoroughly and found two errors. I phoned the agent and asked to have these corrected, plus I asked her if there was anything further we could do to lower the premium, We went through our coverage and the details of our home that affect the cost of insurance. She, then, corrected the errors I found and submitted our current information to the underwriting department. While I was recovering from my surgery, she took some time to refigure various changes to our policy. This week she presented me with the options. 

With the errors corrected and altering our coverage slightly, we were able to shave about $2000 off of the annual premium! That's a substantial savings. All because I thoroughly looked through the details of the policy and then asked what else we could do to reduce the premium.

We've been loyal customers for many years. Our agent has been good about helping us in the past. I wasn't sure if there would be much more we could do to reduce the premium. But I asked, and she did her part.

What I'm saying is it never hurts to ask. The answer may be there's nothing they can do for you. But then again, there may be a whole lot they can do. 

have a great weekend, friends!

The Buy Only These 20 Items At the Grocery Store Video

Here's another video review. I was finishing up my walking indoors this afternoon and this one came up in my recommended videos. The title was something like Buy Only These 20 Items At The Grocery Store. That intrigued me, so I watched.

His aim was to suggest foods to build healthy menus, economically, which I think is what our group tries to do.

Here are the items the youtuber selected:

1-Olive oil
2-Garlic
3-Onions 
4-Whole chicken
5-Ground beef
6-Lentils or beans, canned or dry
7-Eggs
8-Canned fish
9-Salt
10-Fresh veg like carrots & celery
11-Frozen mixed vegetables
12-Canned tomatoes
13-Pasta
14-Rice, brown
15-Flour
16-Milk
17-Butter
18-Cheese
19-Peanut butter
20-Fruits -- apples, bananas, citrus were his mentions

Overall, I liked his list. It aligns with my own tendencies when grocery shopping. I buy basic ingredients that are budget friendly, and then cook and bake from those items. I also keep a basic shopping list in my notepad app. I use this as a springboard for developing my grocery list each week, adding some items and taking some off the list, as needed .

There were a few foods that I really think he should have included, rolled oats, yeast, sugar, and mayonnaise. Granted you wouldn't need to buy mayo every week, but making sure you always had some on hand to bind ingredients in sandwich fillings like egg salad, tuna salad, and chicken salad. I would also alternate whole potatoes with brown rice or pasta on a weekly basis for variety. And I would include both whole wheat and all-purpose flour in the flour entry. 

If money was especially tight and I could only choose a couple of types of fresh vegetables and fruits each week, I would alternate what I bought on a weekly basis. For example, week one, buy carrots, celery, and cabbage. Week two, buy a bundle of whatever dark leafy greens were budget priced, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Week three, buy celery, winter squash, and fresh green beans (if in season). I would buy either carrots or celery every week, as these veggies make good raw snacking or additions to meals, especially appropriate for lunch boxes. I would do something similar with fresh fruit, buying an in-season fruit like oranges in winter and spring, or melons in summer, or apples in fall and winter plus always fresh bananas. (Bananas remain steady in their price year round and can be eaten as is, go in smoothies, oatmeal, top pancakes, or baked into muffins or quick bread.) I would keep in mind that we need a source of Vitamin C each week. So in winter and spring I would buy plenty of oranges. In summer and fall I might make sure we always have fresh veggies to eat raw that are a good source of Vitamin C, such as raw cabbage or raw broccoli.

Otherwise, I think you could make a week's worth of varied meals that would satisfy both children and adults alike.

In thinking through a menu using just these items, I was considering what foods a kid might like, or not be embarrassed to have in their sack lunch. There's no point in going to the effort to make a healthy lunch of rice and lentils for a child's school day lunch if that lunch never makes it out of the bag to be eaten. Ditto on strange concoctions for breakfasts and kids who may not want to even take a bite.

So I set out to make a kid-friendly menu suggestion list, using just these above ingredients (plus my additions of oats, yeast, sugar, mayo), and the basic seasonings and baking necessities you might already have in the cupboard, items like baking powder, vinegar, and spices and herbs. 

Breakfast ideas:

smoothies using fruit, milk, peanut butter

muffins using flour, eggs, milk, sugar, spices, dices of fresh fruit, butter or oil

homemade banana bread using bananas, flour, egg, sugar, butter, baking powder

granola and milk using oats, sugar, spices, butter

homemade granola bars using oats and a binding mixture made of peanut butter, sugar, water, spices, salt cooked on the stove then poured over oats and pressed into a pan

hot oatmeal and milk

biscuit, egg, and cheese sandwiches

breakfast burritos using homemade tortillas from flour, oil, water and filled with egg, cheese, and spiced beans

pancakes with a fruit topping using flour, egg, oil/butter, salt, baking powder, milk

homemade pop tarts or hand pies using flour, oil/butter, salt for the pastry and sweetened cooked fruit for the filling

French toast using homemade bread, egg, milk with fruit topping, fresh sliced or cooked and spiced 

I think that all of those ideas would appeal to many or most kids and be welcomed by adults in the household too.

Lunches (lunch bag type for school)

Lunches get a little more difficult, as kids are very aware of what their peers think of what's in their lunch. But I think with some creativity, school lunches could be made appealing. Here are some suggestions:

Sandwiches on homemade bread using flour, yeast, salt, sugar, oil/butter -- cheese (grilled or cold cheese), peanut butter (in schools that allow peanuts), chicken salad (using leftover cooked chicken), egg salad, and tuna sandwiches.

Any of the above fillings could also go into a wrap sandwich using a homemade tortilla in place of bread. A batch of tortillas can be made and frozen separated by double sheets of waxed paper to be taken out of the freezer to thaw the evening before using. 

Leftover cheese pizza --when all my kids were in school, I made extra pizza each week. I would cut the extra pizza into slices, wrap separately and freeze to pull out to thaw one at a time as needed for their lunches. They had access to a microwave most years, but also told me they often ate the pizza cold.

Sides and desserts for the lunchbox:

pieces of fruit, either whole or cut

homemade granola bars

carrot or celery sticks

homemade peanut butter, oatmeal or sugar cookies

homemade hand pies

slices of banana bread

At-home lunches

Kid friendly lunches to be eaten at home are so much easier and there is so much variety that can be achieved. Here are some suggested lunch items:

scratch macaroni and cheese

homemade chicken noodle soup

homemade tomato,  vegetable or minestrone soup

grilled cheese sandwiches

jo-jo potatoes or oven fries

bean and cheese burritos with Spanish rice

chicken and rice casserole

rice and lentil pilaf

spaghetti, with or without meat in the sauce

cheese pizza making a scratch crust from yeast, flour, salt, oil, sugar, plus homemade sauce using canned tomatoes, topped with cheese

homemade fish cakes to be put on buns for a fish sandwich or eaten as is with homemade tartar sauce

sides of fresh vegetables and fresh fruit, plus cookies, hand pies, or homemade snack cakes/quick breads

Dinners:

All of the lunch suggestions, plus:

roasted whole chicken and all of the subsequent meals from the leftovers (plus stock made with the bones)

meatloaf or meatloaf burgers

Salisbury steak

burrito bowls using beans, ground beef, onions/garlic, rice, tomatoes, cheese, seasonings

tuna casserole using canned tuna, pasta, white sauce binder from butter, flour, milk, and salt, celery, cheese and bread crumbs

chili con carne using ground beef, beans, canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, seasonings

shepherd's pie using ground beef, frozen mixed vegetables, potatoes, and some flour top make a gravy

quiche or frittata using eggs, onions, vegetables, cheese, and pastry ingredients if making quiche

shirred eggs 

My take-away from this little exercise in coming up with meal ideas while sticking to a streamlined grocery list is this: you can make tasty, healthy, economical meals to please even the pickiest eaters using basic whole foods.  

Sometimes chores just all work out well, even without a grand plan

I didn't plan for this to turn out as it did. It all just happened this way. We had completely run out of bread and were eating rice, oats, grits, and potatoes for many meals. I needed hot dog buns for our cook-out on Sunday. I wanted to make a special breakfast bread that would last the weekend. And Friday night is our usual scratch pizza night. 

So. . .

I mixed my usual amount of dough for making sandwich and toast bread, enough to make 3 loaves. Instead of making all three loaves in bread pans, I took one section and made hot dog buns. So our hot dog buns were part whole wheat. (Actually, all of our bread products this week were part whole wheat.)

My daughter was making our Friday pizza, so I asked her to double the dough and save half for me. I used the extra half of pizza dough to make scratch cinnamon rolls.

At one point I had 2 loaves of bread dough, 

1 pan of cinnamon rolls, 

1 pan of hot dog buns, 

and 1 baking sheet with pizza dough stretched out on it, all at the same time.

This all worked out so well for baking, too. The loaves of bread went into the oven first. As soon as they came out, the hot dog buns had risen enough to bake. So in they went. Then the pizza was ready to top and bake. In it went. And finally, while we were eating our pizza, the cinnamon rolls were risen enough to bake. The oven only had to preheat once and I could chain bake all of those bread products.

I love it when my work just all lines up like that. We needed 4 different bread products, and without any major additional work, we were able to make them all in a short time period.

It's the little things in life that make me happy.

How my weekend budget meal plan went, and what changes I made last minute

Since life never goes exactly as we plan, I thought I'd share with you how we modified the plan as the weekend ensued. Some meals did go as planned, but several were changed in small ways.

Friday Dinner:

Scratch Pepperoni Pizza

Sautéed Turnip Greens and Onions

Applesauce

Change: Needing some orange vegetables for the day, we swapped out applesauce for carrot sticks.

Saturday Breakfast:

Scratch Cinnamon Rolls

Microwave Eggs w/ Spinach and Cheese in Custard Cups

Change: We enjoyed the cinnamon rolls, but everyone got their own protein --yay! less work for me!

Saturday Lunch:

Peanut Butter and Jam on Homemade Bread

Apples

Carrot Sticks

No changes

Saturday Dinner:

Homemade Beef and Bean Burritos in Scratch Tortillas

Fresh Tomato Wedges w/ 1000 Island Dressing

Frozen Corn

Change: Swapped out the tomato wedges for radish greens and onions from the garden. Radishes were all pulled up on Saturday. And I added garden-fresh strawberries, as we had a small bowlful that were ripe.

Sunday Breakfast:

Microwave Oatmeal Topped w/ Fruit and Milk

No changes

Sunday Lunch:

Leftover Mexican Beef and Bean Burritos

Tangerines

Leftover Corn Reheated  w/ Salsa

Change: Reheated all the Mexican leftovers (beans, meat, corn) and set up a buffet. No burritos -- we ate all the tortillas on Saturday. In place of the tortillas, I found a container of cooked rice in the fridge, so added that along with a jar of homemade salsa to the buffet. We had lunch on the deck before doing all the prep work for the evening.

Father's Day cook-out dinner went as planned. My son and daughter-in-law brought tortilla chips, salsa, and guacamole to add to the meal. I picked up beverages that I didn't mention in the meal plan, sparkling water and some nectars and pomegranate juice to mix with said water. As we sat around the fire ring after dinner and dessert, we also decided to roast marshmallows. A fun evening of conversation and food, sharing what's been going on in our lives since we saw each other last. 

Although we made changes throughout the weekend, it was still very budget-friendly and easy on the cook.

For tonight, we'll be eating all of the leftovers from last night. An easy cooking night for me!

The Weekend Budget Meal Plan For Father's Day Weekend

Father's Day weekend is here. Friday night we'll have a pizza and movie night. My husband gets to choose the movie. I have cleaning, gardening, and some prep-work for our Father's Day gathering. Weather permitting, we'll play croquet in the backyard before gathering around the fire ring.

Here's our menu plan for the weekend.

Friday Dinner:

Scratch Pepperoni Pizza

Sautéed Turnip Greens and Onions

Applesauce

The pizza crust is homemade. I buy the pepperoni in bulk at the deli then divide into plastic bags and freeze. The pizza sauce is made from tomato paste, water, and seasonings. 

The turnip greens are the leaves from plants that didn't form roots. I'm pulling up the plants this week, using the leaves as a vegetable, sautéed in reserved bacon fat along with onions.

Saturday Breakfast:

Scratch Cinnamon Rolls

Microwave Eggs w/ Spinach and Cheese in Custard Cups

When I make the pizza dough Friday afternoon, I'll double the recipe and make up half the dough as cinnamon rolls. 

The microwave eggs are quick to make. I use frozen spinach, thawed briefly before adding to the egg and cheese. I do these as scrambled eggs so I can stretch 3 eggs for the 4 of us.

Saturday Lunch:

Peanut Butter and Jam on Homemade Bread

Apples

Carrot Sticks

Super simple. I just set it all out on the counter for everyone to help themselves. Saturdays are busy workdays for all of us, each doing our own thing.

Saturday Dinner:

Homemade Beef and Bean Burritos in Scratch Tortillas

Fresh Tomato Wedges w/ 1000 Island Dressing

Frozen Corn

I'll use a pound of ground beef for these burritos, which makes enough filling for 2 meals. The leftovers will be for a quick Sunday lunch while I'm putting together the Sunday dinner and dessert.

Sunday Breakfast:

Microwave Oatmeal Topped w/ Fruit and Milk

Sunday Lunch:

Leftover Mexican Beef and Bean Burritos

Tangerines

Leftover Corn Reheated  w/ Salsa

I'll be busy putting everything together for the cook-out later today. So I needed a quick, but inexpensive lunch to put out for everybody. Tangerines, although well over $1/pound right now, are still a frugal fruit, in my opinion, as they're so small and no one eats more than one at a time. Even this time of year, my cost per tangerine is around 20-25 cents. 

Father's Day Dinner:

Hot Dog Cook-Out

Scratch Buns and Toppings

Potato Salad

Watermelon

Tossed Salad

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Bars

Ice Cream

Walmart carries a store brand of hot dogs that are very good and a good value, Marketside. The Angus beef ones easily compare to Hebrew National, but even better, as they are uncured. I also bought a pack of chicken and apple sausage (also Marketside) which are uncured. So, we'll have two kinds of dogs to choose from. I make my own buns when I have time, as I know there will be no additives in my homemade buns, and they're easy to make once you get the hang of it. 

I'll use whatever greens we have ready in the garden for the tossed salad, along with a tomato and some sliced celery, all in a scratch vinaigrette. As I've said before, watermelon is about the least expensive fruit per pound in summer. At WinCo the other day, they were under 50 cents per pound.

The peanut butter-chocolate bars are so decadent. These use crushed graham crackers, smooth peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, and chocolate chips. They're no-bake and take about 15 minutes to make and another hour to set up for cutting into squares. The ice cream is leftover from birthdays. We didn't open this container.

What's on your menu plan for this weekend? Will you be hosting a Father's Day gathering?

Hyper-Consumerism and Me

How is it that we're avoiding the hyper-consumerism that seems to be plaguing current culture? I think about this from time to time. How is it that I don't feel the need to do or buy some of the things that my peers do and have?

Here are my thoughts.

I don't spend a lot of time on social media. I don't watch TV or go to the latest movies. I don't live in a wealthy neighborhood with extravagant Joneses to envy. I'm not into celebrity gossip, or reading People magazine, or watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians. I guess I'm somewhat checked out from today's celebrity culture. I don't shop at non-food retail establishments very often. In fact, I really don't enjoy window shopping as an activity. 

These are all "don'ts."

The answer to my question may have just as much or more to do with my "dos."

I have productive hobbies that don't require much shopping, such as gardening. I buy seeds, a few select plants, fertilizer, slug bait, and potting soil every year. But I only enter the store (Fred Meyer or Home Depot) through the garden part, and avoid the rest of the store unless I'm after something very specific. The majority of time spent gardening is either active in the yard or online reading up on how to address specific problems. My other productive hobbies include baking, cooking meals (I know many don't think that's a hobby, but it sort of is for me), mending (again, many folks think this is a chore -- I kind of like mending), and creatively refurbishing items we already own. I have non-productive hobbies as well, which I think of as entertainment.

I like to make things last as long as possible. I wash plastic bags not only because it will save us some change as we buy less plastic wrap and bags, but also because I like to make those plastic bags last as long as they can. They won't break down in a landfill for many years, so I like to add as few of them to the landfill overall as possible. I like mending my socks not only because I can keep from replacing those socks for a while longer and save some money, but also, it seems wasteful to me to not mend holes and throw away a whole sock because of a couple of holes near the toes. I can sew those up in a couple of minutes and have a perfectly good sock again.

I like to dress modestly and not draw a lot of attention to myself. I'm more of a person who likes to sit back and watch everyone else. I don't want to be watched myself. Flashy jewelry and really trendy fashion seem to draw a lot of attention that I don't want. Modest clothing, jewelry, makeup and hairstyles are "me."

I prefer to feel "smart" about spending. Buying a brand spanking new car right off the lot doesn't seem smart to me. That new car loses a chunk of value the minute you sign the papers. Instead, I prefer to buy good condition used cars. I feel "smart" about that sort of decision. I like feeling smart.

I'm horribly, boringly responsible. Unless it was very necessary, I'd feel irresponsible if I bought a lot of stuff on credit without a way to pay the whole bill off at the end of the month. 

I somehow have escaped FOMO, for the most part. I like my life as it is. I don't think the grass will be a shade of green that I like more on the other side of the fence. My life is good. Social media influencers don't have lives or things that I envy. 

My dream life is a simple one -- strong faith, a loving family, good home-grown food from a large garden of fruits, vegetables and flowers and maybe chickens, pets to love and care for, peace, warmth, laughter, and sunshine. 

This is not to say that I don't want some nice things or experiences. I just don't want them as often or in the abundance that would typify the excessive consumption that we are seeing in the West.

My List of 20 Budget Summer Activities

It's another stay-cation summer for us. I don't mind. In my area, summer is the best tome of the year, the only time we can almost count on sunny day after sunny day. Despite loving our summers, I still want to punctuate these months with planned activities to celebrate summer, and that don't break the bank. So, I've come up with a list of 20.

In our own yard and home

• Stop and smell the roses. Well, our roses don't have much fragrance, but I want to take a moment every day to really appreciate the summer flowers in our garden. 
• Cut flowers and make bouquets for the dining table a few times this summer. 
• Press flowers and fern fronds.
• Cut lavender buds and sew a sachet.
• Eat watermelon, lots of watermelon. Watermelon is the least expensive fruit in summer for us. And in summer, it's at its best. I plan on having a lot of watermelon all summer long.
• Make gourmet popsicles.
• Bake lots of fruit pies.
• Make root beer floats at home. Ice cream parlors are expensive for what you get. The last couple of summers we've bought a two-liter of root beer and container of vanilla ice cream. On hot summer Saturday afternoons (when everyone is around), we find a shady spot and enjoy root beer floats. Doing our own at home is a bargain summer treat.
• Host hot dog cookouts around the fire ring, followed up with s'mores.
• Host Sunday afternoon barbecues.
• Sit outside after dark and check out the stars. My husband is a fount of information when it comes to stars and planets. (I'm more the expert on the moon.) Every summer, he identifies everything in the sky for me and helps me find them on my own. Around August 9 to 13, the Perseid meteor shower will be at its peak.
• Read a fun adventure novel from our local library.
• Sew some summer pajama pants. I have the fabric, pattern, elastic already. All I need to do is make the time.
• Keep a photo journal of my summer, taking one photo per day that sums up the best of summer.

Go places for free

• Take picnics to the beach more often.
• Take a picnic lunch to a nearby, really lovely and peaceful park.
• Visit the farmers market.
• Go hiking on a local trail.
• Visit a local (and free) arboretum.
• Visit the local art galleries in my town. (Again, free to visit.) 

My purpose in making out this list is to give me something to refer to if and when I begin to take summer 2025 for granted. I aim to savor every minute of this summer.

What would you put on your budget summer activity list?

Using Every Bit of Your Produce: Tips From WWII

This is from an article titled "Make the Most of Every Leaf" in the April 1944 booklet Health For Victory: Meal Planning Guide. 

"We can't do our best to make Food Fight for Freedom unless we make sure we use every edible bit of food. And that applies to fresh vegetables and fruits as well as to any other type."

This article goes on to suggest various ways to use the parts of produce items that some folks are in the habit of throwing away. 

Outer leaves from a head of lettuce -- leaf, Romaine or iceberg 

• wash and shred into bowl salads (as opposed to wedge salads)
• serve wilted with hot bacon dressing, much like a spinach salad. Here's a recipe for a hot bacon dressing that can use reserved bacon fat from cooking bacon, While you're free to add some bacon bits to the salad, this recipe appears to only use the bacon grease for flavor.
• cook with green peas to retain a bright green color of the peas -- braise with a little chicken stock and some green onions for flavor. Check this recipe 
• shred outer leaves and add at the very last minute to the soup pot.

Outer leaves of cabbage 

• shredded and added to slaw. Years ago, one of you friends (Lisa) made a suggestion for a Curried Pea and Peanut Cole Slaw. Click on that link for my rendition of that salad. My family loved it, and we make it several times per year now.
• chopped/shredded in soup. Cabbage Patch Soup is one of our family's favorite autumn soups. It's a tomato-based soup with carrots, celery, onions, cabbage, meat and seasonings.
• to make easy cabbage rolls. Peel the outer leaves carefully off the head of cabbage and wrap around leftover meat balls, steam and serve with a spicy tomato sauce.

Wilted green onion tops

• chop into green salads, cottage cheese, scrambled eggs, soups and fried potatoes.

Leaves surrounding a head of cauliflower

• cauliflower leaves may be diced, cooked and served in a cream sauce as a separate vegetable. [The core/stem of a cauliflower can be finely sliced or julienned to use in a curry, such as this one.]

Beet tops 

• cooked and served as greens. The tops of the early beets are especially tender. [We add tender young beet leaves to salads.]

Grated lemon or orange rind 

• Grate the outer surface of the whole fruit. If you don't grate too deeply the fruit will keep a day or two until used for juicing. [My add to this, if you won't be using the juice within a couple of days, freeze the juice and also save the "shells" in the freezer to use to freshen mechanical garbage disposals or to stuff into a whole poultry with other aromatics. ]

There are obviously more types of produce that one can use almost all of. Watermelon comes to mind. I make watermelon pickles from the white part of the rind. This portion can also be sliced and used in stir fries. And of course, there are some parts of produce items that can't be eaten, apple seeds come to mind. However, you can make apple cider vinegar with apple cores.

Anyway, I really relate to the idea of trying to use as much of our produce items as possible.