A birthday in the midst of holiday preparations

A homemade birthday banner, made when my son was 3, and reused every year, since.

Maps, which came in the mail for free, used as gift wrap.

A Christmas gift bag, with the holiday tag carefully removed,

by untying the cord handle on the inside of the bag, to slide the tag off, for a "plain" gift bag. The tag was saved, and can be put back on the bag, to use as a Christmas gift bag.

A four-layer, homemade birthday cake. Yellow butter cake, filled with blackberry jam and cocoa buttercream frosting.

A simple message

Very easy to do holiday decor. Self-explanatory for those who play Scrabble. Game tiles are from my mother's vintage 1940's Scrabble set. I also find spare tiles at vintage shops in the "antique" district near us. (Candles in the background are these jelly jar votive holders, using battery-op tea-lights.)

Festive trim for the Thanksgiving table settings

Just a little something for the water goblets.

A good friend gave me a baggie full of these pieces. I believe she said they were leftover from Thanksgiving "crackers" at her Thanksgiving. She gave them to me, as she knew I would find a use for them.

It's a short strip of ribbon and 2 tiny pinecones, twisted onto wire together, to make a small ring. I've put them on the base of all of the water goblets. There are 16 sets of these pieces, which is plenty for our table of 10 people.

I trimmed the ends of the ribbons, then tied the ribbons onto the wires attached to pinecones, and wrapped the wire around the stem of the goblet. Lacking tiny pinecones, this would also be festive with any ribbon, tied to the stem of water goblets.

Maybe you remember? Our dishes for this time of year are brown and cream transfer ware. I think the brown and cream plaid ribbon will look just right with the dishes.

Needing 2 extra water goblets for Thanksgiving

It looks like we'll have 10 at Thanksgiving dinner, this year. I decided that this year, as we're all adults, now, no one would "have" to get a tumbler, when the rest of the group is using a water goblet. Putting a tumbler at a couple of places at the table always seemed like the "kiddie" glass.

So, I stopped at Goodwill, the other day. I could have bought water goblets, full-price at Cost Plus or Target. But for something we'll only use every once in a while, I thought I'd check Goodwill first.

69 cents each, for two water goblets, that I really love! They don't match my other water goblets, but then again, I'm not a matchy-matchy sort of gal. My table setting philosophy is blend, don't match. It works for me.

Thanksgiving table decor on a budget of $0.00

Here's some of our Thanksgiving table decor this year. A table runner (kitchen table cloth, folded in thirds, lengthwise), strewn with pumpkins (free last week at the local garden center) and pressed autumn leaves.

Last Friday afternoon, I went outside and collected a handful of wet leaves that had been blown off of our trees. I opened up a sheet of newspaper, and laid the wet leaves down.

After folding the newspaper closed, I stacked an armload of catalogs on top, and left the pile sitting on the kitchen vinyl floor for a few days.

The moisture was soaked up by the newsprint, and the leaves were flattened nicely.

I could buy a packet of craft leaves from Michael's or Hobby Lobby. But, you know, I think these leaves look more realistic! :-)

A 5-minute project. Cost? Nothing. Satisfying? Absolutely.

Baking a large batch of meatballs for the freezer

Yesterday, I told you about my 20-lb purchase of ground beef, and what I did with it all. In the comments, I was asked how to keep them from sticking. There are a few tricks with meatballs, some of which really help with the sticking aspect. Here's how I make mine.

I use bread torn into small pieces, soaked in 1 beaten egg. I mash up the egg/bread, then add seasonings (for Italian, I add garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes and salt). I mix the seasoning/egg/bread with the ground meat, and knead it all together with my hands. (Not my favorite thing to do with raw meat, but it gets everything incorporated well.)

Working on a large sheet of waxed paper on the counter, I make 1-ounce meatballs. To decide how big to make each, I take the total ounces of the meat used, divide the meat into that many portions on the sheet of waxed paper, and form into balls. Keeping the balls uniform in size ensures even cooking of all meatballs. An easy way to do this is to pat out the meat mixture into a rectangle, about 1-inch thick. Then use a knife to cut the meat into equal squares (the number of squares being the number of ounces of meat you are using). Each square should be a 1-ounce portion of meat to form into a ball.

As I make the balls, I set them into pyrex baking dishes. I refrigerate all of the uncooked balls for at least 1 hour. Refrigeration does two things. It allows the flavors of the seasonings to develop. And it firms up the balls, so when baked or cooked in a skillet, there isn't too much flattening of the underside. A lot of flattening of the underside means a lot of surface contact with the baking sheet, which in turn leads to more surface which can stick.

While the balls are chilling, I grease an insulated jelly roll pan (I use butter, but any solid fat will work). A jelly roll pan is a large baking sheet with raised edges all around. Using an insulated baking sheet prevents over-caramelization on the bottoms, which lessens sticking. And greasing the baking sheet helps the balls release from the pan.

I preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

After the balls have chilled, I transfer all of them to the greased baking jelly roll pan. I bake for about 20 minutes, and check for all over browning and clear juices. If you have an instant-read meat thermometer, the internal temp of the balls should be about 160 degrees F.

After taking the baking sheet from the oven, I prop up one long end, and pile all of the meatballs along the high end, to drain excess fat.

Next, I wrap a clean baking sheet in plastic wrap. After the meatballs have cooled and drained for about 10 minutes, I transfer each ball to the plastic-lined tray/baking sheet. (Silpat would also work for freezing.) I freeze for about 30 minutes, then transfer all to a zippered bag. Freezing separately prevents the balls from glomming onto one another in the freezer, and I can use however many I want at a time, with ease.

So, that's how I make meatballs and keep them from sticking to the baking sheet.

If you regularly bake with a silpat or parchment, you could also bake meatballs on pans lined with either of those.

What to do with 20 pounds of ground beef

It's that time of year, again. When it seems like time speeds up. Between now and New Years, the calendar may say there are about 44 days, but it will feel like a week and a half to me. With family birthdays, baking cakes, wrapping presents, baking pies, decking the halls at church, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, decking the halls at home, Christmas shopping, wrapping presents again, baking cookies, open houses, a musical performance or two, (and all of the rehearsals that go with those), Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas Day dinner, unwrapping of presents and New Year's Eve dinner and festivities -- there will be less time, before there is more, when it comes to making weekday dinners.

Coincidentally, ground beef was on sale at Cash & Carry, last week, in 10-lb chubs, for $1.99 per pound. I bought 2 chubs (20-lbs). Ground beef is great for make-ahead meal items. I can make so many of our family favorites with it, such as meatballs, taco/burrito filling, Salisbury steak, and of course, hamburger patties. And, with a little up-front work, I can have these all in the freezer and ready to go, for an easy dinner.


Last Friday afternoon, I took a couple of hours to divide up these large chunks of ground beef, precooking/seasoning some of it, and pre-portioning other amounts.

I made a 48-ct batch of 1-oz Italian meatballs,

3 pounds of cooked and Mexican-seasoned beef for filling tacos and burritos, making skillet dinners, quick chili con carne, and bun tacos,

flattened 3 pounds into hamburger patties for 15 burgers,

and portioned the rest into 1-lb packages.

The pre-cooking and pre-patting saves money over similar offerings in convenience frozen foods. Cash & Carry sells 1-oz Italian meatballs, in a 5-lb bag, for a little over $3 per pound. My meatballs, in a 3-lb batch (and also now conveniently in a zip bag for easy access), cost about $2 per pound. Cash & Carry has pre-formed beef patties (same 80% lean/20% fat as the ground beef I bought), on sale this week for $2.49 per pound. My hand-patted patties cost $1.99 per pound.

I saved both time and money, by cooking and/or forming the beef, in one large batch.

Meatballs are a favorite for our family. I would be making them anyways, with ground beef on hand. So making a large batch will save me time for future meals. Once upon a time, I actually did buy them, pre-made at Cash & Carry. So, this is a "real" savings for us, not just hypothetical. And those hamburger patties that I formed? When I gave my son some choices for his birthday dinner, this week, he chose hamburgers. Our home-cooked burgers will cost about $2.50 for meat and homemade buns, or 50 cents per burger -- far less-expensive than anything I could get carry-out.

One more perk to doing a little extra prep work this last week --

in addition to there being less time for cooking, before there is more, last week reminded me that there will be more colds/viruses, before there are less. So having some easy to fix, meals-at-the-ready may be very useful in coming weeks.

This doesn't just happen . . .

it all takes planning.

I was trying to explain this to an acquaintance the other day. You all know that I run our household like I'd run a business. Because it is a business!

Merriam-Webster defines business as "dealings or transactions of an economic nature". Aren't we carrying out dealings of an economic nature? We have an income that comes in and expenditures which go out. And somewhere in between, we have all of the activity which has the ability to grow, preserve or deplete our finances. I am CEO, manager, labor force, and accountant for this enterprise.

As the CEO, I set the direction for the activities which will bring us the greatest financial rewards. As manager, I make the detailed plans for how to activate this direction. As the labor force, I do the grunt work of carrying out these plans. And as the accountant, I look at the numbers to ensure we are, in fact, making financial gains with our activities.

That's the big picture.

On a smaller scale, yesterday afternoon, I finally made the year's supply of salsa. I didn't just head into the kitchen and say to myself, "gee, I'd like to make some salsa. I think I'll run to the store and buy everything in my recipe". I could make our salsa in that spur-of-the-moment fashion. But my accountant tells me that the figures don't add up. I would be spending more in ingredients for the homemade version than I would spend on commercially-made salsa.

Making my own salsa is a valuable use of my time, if I obtain each ingredient or supply at our area's lowest or close to lowest price. But doing this takes planning. I need jars, right? Fortunately, I have a large supply of jars that have been given to us, or that I've purchased at second-hand stores in the off-season, or that I've scrounged from free bins at garage sales, and some jars that I bought on sale at the local discount store. At the end of the canning season, I check the discount stores for marked down lids and rings. I watch for ingredients to be at their lowest prices of the season at the wholesaler near us (Cash & Carry), for items such as canned tomatoes, garlic powder, vinegar and onions. I grow, harvest and dry or freeze my oregano and cilantro. I collect and save little packets of red pepper flakes from my kids' pizza outings. And when I have everything else I need, I buy my jalapenos at either the local produce stand or at my favorite year round ethnic market.

Once I have all of my supplies, then I schedule an afternoon to make a 12-pint batch. I spend about 3 hours, start to finish, to make 12 pints. If I just shopped dollar sales at the supermarket, I would spend as much as $24 on this amount of salsa, when the 8-oz jars are on sale for $1 each. If I shopped at Dollar Tree, I would see about the same cost for this much salsa. Buying salsa in a 64-oz jug would cost about $1.48 per pint, at a store like Wal-Mart, which is an improvement over buying salsa in the half-pint jars. But, by making salsa at home, using my best buying/acquiring strategies, I spend under $5.50 for the 12 pints, or under 45 cents per pint. That's a savings of about $12 for our supply of salsa.

My accountant says that saving $12, doing an activity that is one of the more "fun" homemaker activities, and not displacing any other work which could bring in income, is a good use of my 3 hours, on a Sunday afternoon.

My labor force is looking at the jars, all neat and in rows, and feeling satisfaction on a job well-done.

My manager is pleased that the salsa could be made affordably and under budget, with some planning.

And my CEO is thrilled that the bottom line is more money in our pockets, and less going out the door.


Who else, here, thinks of their household as if it were a business? Judging from many of the past comments, I believe I'm in the company of quite a few other CEOs!

Cheap & Cheerful suppers for a week with sickness in the house

Friday
(another busy day, mostly before noon, so dinner was again, easier)
*turkey minestrone soup (using frozen turkey in stock, garden kale and garden garlic, onions, carrots, canned tomatoes, frozen green beans, garbanzo beans and macaroni), topped with cheese
leftover French bread
*apple pie from the freezer

Saturday
*leftover turkey minestrone
sandwiches from an event I worked earlier this day
*salad with lettuce and cucumbers given to us, and tomatoes from our garden
fresh watermelon and blueberries, given to us

Sunday (catching a cold, not feeling like any sort of big production for a Sunday supper, used up some leftovers, and made an easy dinner)
scrambled eggs with onions and peppers (I cooked the onion and peppers to go into burritos for the next day's lunches, and made extra to fold into the eggs)
*oven roasted blue and white potatoes
*fresh pear slices
*salad of lettuce, cucumbers and garden tomatoes

Monday (my son had dinner at a friend's house on Sunday, and brought home some leftovers for us. The pork, cabbage and some of the potatoes were the leftovers.)
pork roast
red cabbage and apples
potatoes (I added a few more, to stretch this for the whole family)
Delicata squash
vanilla pudding for dessert

Tuesday (still feeling cruddy, thankfully I had a large container of beef chili in the freezer, and a watermelon given to us on Saturday)
beef chili
watermelon slices
French bread

Wednesday (no leftovers or frozen meals, so I had to cook from scratch, but feeing a bit better, so I was okay with this.)
roasted chicken leg quarters -- pulled the meat off bones, then tossed in herbs, garlic powder, onion powder, salt/pepper and some chicken broth -- very delicious for a quick and easy chicken dinner
*mashed purple potatoes, topped with gravy from the freezer
baked squash
*kale and onions sauteed in bacon fat (had bacon for breakfast, poured most of the fat into container for the freezer, then saved the pan for tonight's dinner for the kale)

Thursday
chicken soup
leftover apple muffins and French bread
*applesauce from freezer



Have you heard this? I don't remember where I read this, but when making large pots of soup containing noodles, with the intention of having leftovers, or holding some of the soup until later, to cook the noodles separately. Add the noodles to each bowl, just before serving. And save any leftover noodles in a separate container in the fridge. The noodles won't suck up the liquid in your soup, and get soggy.

I feel so thankful for friends who give leftovers, for the lady who coordinates teas and luncheons who offers things like watermelons and English cucumbers for us to take home, and for a freezer, which held some leftover entrees for us to eat, on those nights I was too wiped out to cook. I was able to put together dinners each night, which met nutritional needs for my one daughter who is working hard to keep her weight up. I'm just thankful, today.

Our weather has turned practically balmy this week, with daytime highs in the 50s, nearing 60 on some days. This has kept the fall garden doing well. I picked garden greens a few times this past week, to add to soups, or saute, as is. This is an "el nino" year, which means warmer than usual temperatures for us (also means a whole lot more rain, but I can live with that). Our "fall garden" could last well into winter. More kale, chard, radish, mustard greens and cabbage. Again, just feeling blessed and watched out for, right now.

So, tell me, what's been the most colorful dinner you've had this past week?

You know that nasty cold that my son had last week (prompting the surplus of milk)?

It seems to be a rather contagious little bugger of a cold.

I'm just getting over it, one daughter is right smack in the midst of it, and the other daughter is fighting it.

I fell behind on my work schedule, and now am playing catch-up. I'll be back tomorrow morning. I hope all is well with you!

When a gallon of milk is just too much for our family

I didn't think this would happen so soon. I got a Woohoo kind of deal on milk last week (really, it says so right on the price tag). It was 99 cents a gallon, and I also received the senior discount, bringing my price to 89 cents. I bought 5 gallons. I froze 4 of the gallons, right away. Then we started in on the 5th gallon. In the past, the fact that the milk was 2 days just before the sell-by date wouldn't have been a problem for us. But last week, one of my kids caught a nasty cold, and doesn't drink milk with a cold. Another kid is still drinking a higher fat content milk. And, I don't drink cow's milk. So, it was up to my husband and one daughter to consume a gallon in a matter of days. I made a batch of granola, to encourage some of the family members to use up this milk. Obviously, though, we fell behind in our milk consumption. Here, we were, November 9, 4 days past the sell-by date. Time to make haste with the milk!!

So, what was I to do?

Well, how about a batch of pancakes and a small batch of vanilla pudding.

Remember all of those apples?

How about a batch of apple muffins.

Then a couple of glasses of milk poured for dinner. Notice, the glassware doesn't match;-)

And what was left, about 1  1/2 cups, was put into a container for the freezer, for future pancakes.

What else could I have done with the milk (it's skim, so it wouldn't work very well for yogurt)? This isn't an idle question, as the very same set of circumstances could exist next week, when I thaw one of the other gallons.

Pumpkin Pie Frugal Hacks: The Crust

Those refrigerated, pre-rolled commercial crusts are super popular. I have friends and family who use them and think they're great. Many of us, here, just make our own crusts from scratch.

If you don't make your own pie pastry because you've never had success with a scratch crust, try this recipe. It's never gone wrong for me. The huge bonuses with this crust is it freezes well (either in a pie plate or as a patty of dough), and the recipe makes 5 crusts-worth of pastry.

When I first stumbled across this recipe, over 25 years ago, I was curious about a couple of the ingredients. So I did some research and here's what I discovered:

• the vinegar is a tenderizing ingredient
• the sugar is a tenderizing ingredient, but also adds a hint of flavor and browning
• the egg adds a bit of lightness to the baked crust, meaning that I can substitute 1 cup of whole wheat flour for 1 of the cups of all-purpose flour and still produce a good pastry. 

Fool-Proof Pie Crust (always tender and reliable)

This recipe makes a thin pie crust. If you prefer a thicker crust or your pie plate is extra large, divide the dough into 4 portions instead of 5.

This dough is freezer-friendly. Make the dough when you have time and freeze in patties or pie plates. Then when you bake a pie, you'll have the convenience of ready-made pastry

4 cups all-purpose flour (we like whole grains, here, so I use a blend of 1 part whole wheat to 3 parts all-purpose)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1  3/4 cups shortening
1 large egg
1/2 cup cold water
1 tablespoon vinegar

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and sugar. Cut in shortening.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, beat together the egg, water, and vinegar. 

Combine the dry and liquid ingredients. Mix until the flour mixture is well-moistened.

Chill dough for 30 minutes.

Divide into 5 portions, shaping each portion into a flat, round patty. Wrap individually in plastic wrap.

This dough is very forgiving. Additional flour and handling will not toughen the baked product.

The dough will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or you can freeze it for use later. If freezing the dough, thaw it for about 1 hour at room temp or overnight in the fridge before rolling out. (When I freeze patties of dough, I put the wrapped disks of pastry dough in a large Ziploc bag. That seems to be enough freezer protection for this dough for a few months.)

When freezer space is abundant, I roll out the dough and place into pie tins before freezing. Pie crust is then ready when I am to put together a quick pie with the convenience of a commercial ready-made crust, but with the cost of homemade. 

Patties can also be rolled out flat onto a sheet of waxed paper and then wrapped around empty paper towel tubes and frozen. This works well for a ready-made top crust for a pie. Rolled-up dough thaws beautifully and is easily transferred to the top of a two-crust fruit pie or a simple crust on top of a casserole of meat and vegetable filling for a pot pie.

Ready-made, name-brand pie pastry sells for $2.46 for a two-count package at Walmart. That's $1.23 per crust. This scratch pastry costs me $2.50 or less, for about 50 cents per crust. That's less than half the price of the name-brand, ready-made crust. 

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for early November

Friday
Pumpkin-Peanut-Black Bean Burger patties topped with curried mayonnaise
*oven-roasted white and purple potatoes
*fresh tomatoes
*fresh pears
*blackberry-rhubarb crisp for dessert

Saturday
chili with beef
homemade whole wheat French bread
*fruit salad (using up odds and ends of fresh fruit on hand)
popcorn balls

Sunday
corn souffle -- using frozen corn instead of canned, with green peppers as an add-in, and chicken pan drippings (from freezer) from roasting chicken legs, as part of the liquid for extra flavor
roasted acorn squash (mashed with butter, cinnamon and pinch of salt)
fresh oranges
leftover French bread
*leftover blackberry-rhubarb crisp

Monday
*turkey pot pie (with frozen turkey in stock, garden Swiss chard, garden beet greens, garden potatoes, onions, carrots, frozen peas and greens beans, under a scratch crust)
leftover roasted acorn squash
leftover popcorn balls

Tuesday
leftover Pumpkin-Peanut-Black Bean Burger patties, topped with
*fresh tomato slices and homemade 1000 Island dressing
brown rice (cooked in chicken stock, with minced onions and garlic, for extra flavor)
*kale and onions, sauteed in sausage fat from freezer
*applesauce from the freezer

Wednesday
turkey-bean burritos -- using frozen turkey, cooked in tomato juice and spices, along with refried black beans, chopped green pepper, black olives and diced tomatoes, in homemade flour tortillas
*apple, pear, dried cranberry and chopped almond salad (dressing made of mayonnaise and jelly)
frozen corn

Thursday (easy night, I'll be out in the afternoon)
homemade pizza from the freezer -- cheese and olive on homemade half and half whole wheat flour/white flour crust
fresh oranges
frozen green beans



As I was taking photos, I was noticing how much of each plate is covered in fruits or vegetables. some dinners are more so than others. It's a good way to ensure that no matter what else we ate that day, we are getting a full complement of fruits and veggies through our dinners. Seems to work for us.

The Pumpkin-Peanut-Black Bean Burger patties were a huge hit, and will be repeated. I used chunky-style peanut butter, which gave the patties an extra crunch.

And I love pot pies! I never do a bottom crust, as it just gets soggy. But there is something about that taste of top crust, along with a bite of gravy that makes my heart swoon! I'm in love. As much as I love summer berries and vine-ripe tomatoes, the comfort foods of autumn steal my heart every fall.

There is a lot of turkey in our menus these days. I thought it would be best if we finished off last year's turkey leftovers (in the freezer) before I added new turkey leftovers. I have a container of turkey in stock, thawing right now in the fridge, for a pot of Turkey Minestrone Soup for tonight's dinner.

What was the most delicious thing you ate this past week?

What to do when life gives you mealy apples? Turn them into a tasty snack

Our local produce stand closed for the season, the other day. I made sure a stop there was on my calendar before they closed. One of the items I picked up, was a 24-lb box of new-crop apples, at 37cents per pound. They were tagged as "new crop", so I thought they'd be good. They smell fantastic. But they've been a disappointment in texture. I should have asked to buy one at the case price, to check them out.

Bummer, right? However, I've discovered that I can salvage quite a lot of foods, at least the ones that haven't spoiled. These apples have good flavor. They're just not really crisp.

When a food is dried out, you add moisture. When it is too soggy, you dry it out. If it is bland-tasting, you add flavor. If it is too flavorful, you tone down the flavor with the addition of bland ingredients. With apples, that are verging on mealy, you change the texture and form of the apples.

Tossing the apples out isn't an option for my budget. But I do have a few possibilities. I could make some into applesauce. I could make a batch of spiced apple butter. I could add dices to breads, muffins or cookies.

What I am really wanting, though, is something that could be a snack or lunch item, without the extra ingredients of baked goods. I bought these as lunch and snack apples, so that is my hope and plan for most of them.

Enter the idea of turning these into apple chips/dried apple rings. They're simple to make. Slice thin, and dust apple rings with cinnamon and sugar, then dry. So easy and quick -- less hands-on time involved than baking a batch of cookies.

This is what I use:

1 apple per food dehydrator tray (I have a SnackMaster)
1 teaspoon of sugar per apple
1 scant teaspoon of cinnamon per apple

small serrated knife or mandoline
something to core the apple rings with (I have a small plastic orange-corer thingy)
large bowl for tossing apples with cinnamon and sugar

And this is how I make them:

Wash the apples well. Pat dry. Slice off the top. Slice apple into 1/8th inch slices, leaving skin on. One slice at a time, remove the center seed cavity of each slice, with corer.

Toss apples in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. I do this, gently, with my hands, and only toss one apple with cinnamon and sugar, at a time, to prevent the rings from breaking.

Place the slices on the food dehydrator trays, as close as possible, without overlapping. Set the temperature to 135 to 140 degrees F. Dehydrate for about 5 to 6 hours. Allow to cool, then pack in airtight container. About 2/3 the way through drying, I switch the trays around, top to bottom. In my machine, the bottom tray dries them faster, so this evens out the drying.

If you want your apple slices more like chips, allow to dry for slightly longer. When dry to your liking, spread them out on a cooling rack. Once cooled, pack in airtight containers. Check for condensation after a day. If there is any condensation inside the container, on the lid, or on the inside of the bag, they need more drying time. Just pop them back into the dehydrator for another hour, or spread on a baking sheet and put in an oven which is cooling after baking (check after 20 minutes).

The above photo shows all that was left from 4 apples. I ate the tops and bottoms of the apples, raw, as a snack after taking this photo. They just don't dry as well, because of the skin. So, after my snacking, all that remained was the core. Not bad on the "waste not" front.

These are soooo good. After dehydrating, there was not even a hint that the apples had been on the mealy side. Most of the time, when I try to salvage a food item, the salvaged item is not quite as good as the original should have been. But these apple chips are better than fresh apples, according to my family. And you'd never guess that I used mostly mealy apples for these.

Something to mention, though -- although I used apples verging on mealiness, really mealy apple slices will break when you try to core them, or handle too much. Unless you are really set on having perfect apple "rings", this shouldn't be too big of a problem, if you're just trying to use up mealy apples. Apple slices that are halved are snack-able, too. Once dry, however, even the mealy apples hold together nicely.

With our box of apples, we found the larger, darker red apples to be most mealy, and smaller, lighter colored to be less so. As a result, we've been eating the smaller apples, fresh, and in apple salad, and I used the larger ones to make most of these chips. So far, I've made 5 1-quart jars of cinnamon apple rings. I've got about half of the apples left. I may do some dried cinnamon apple pieces, for adding to granola, next.


No dehydrator? You can also make these cinnamon apple chips in an oven, set at 200 degrees F. Place apples on silpat or parchment-lined baking sheets. Turn every 30 minutes. They should be dry in about 1 & 1/2 hours to 2 hours.

November gardening -- snug as a bug, all tucked in for the cold

The nights are becoming quite chilly. I put an extra layer on the bed today when I changed the linens. A vegetable garden doesn't like the chill much either.

Most of what remains in our garden is under cover, now. I put the plastic, tunnel row covers over the kale, cabbage, Swiss chard, green onions, mustard greens and watercress. (I have radish greens planted in another spot in the garden. If they survived last night, I'll try to get 1 more cover out there to protect them.) The plastic row cover will prevent loss to light frost for the next few weeks. If it looks like we're in for a heavy frost and freeze, I can add a layer, short term, right on top of the tunnel.

There won't be much growth, this late in the season, but I can continue harvesting up until a deep freeze.

Watercress adds such a bright flavor to egg salad sandwiches. I was able to pick a large handful for our lunch, yesterday.

And I picked enough kale yesterday for a couple of meals. I filled the kitchen sink with water and dumped an arm load of kale leaves into the sink for cleaning. Now I won't have to go out in the cold rain tomorrow, to harvest leaves for dinner.

In the Pacific Northwest, gardeners like to talk of year round gardening, with respect to growing vegetables. In truth, there is little actual gardening in winter, here. And virtually no growth in the garden. But a year round garden here simply means that you can harvest from your garden through winter, if you have enough area planted. It takes some sort of cover, to prevent frost damage. And only the very cold hardy plants will survive into the coldest months.

In past years, I've given up on my garden around the first of November. This year, I hope to continue harvesting the greens at least, up until early January. Take a break. Then greens will return in March. This is my attempt at an almost year round garden. 

I love what I use, and I use what I love

I think of this as luxurious frugality.

I own a few sets of dishware. I use each set for different seasons and occasions. Some pieces were handed down to me. I have part of my grandmother's first set of china, a set that she and her mother, together hand-painted. And I have what remains of my parents' china from the 1950s.

Some of the sets of dishware were gifts to me. One set, our everyday dishes for spring and summer, was given to me as gifts spanning a few occasions, by my mother before she passed away. Another set was given to my husband and me, by my father, as Christmas gifts, for many years.

These last two sets, given to me by my parents, have needed some "filling out" of missing pieces, and a couple of replacement pieces, over the years. We do use these dishes daily. I keep a watchful eye for them when haunting the second-hand shops.

How is this frugal, to own so many sets of dishware? I've been using one set of these dishes for 34 years. I have never tired of this pattern. And just as I feel a need for a change with our tableware, a new season falls upon us, and I switch out one set of dishes for another.

You see, I don't think frugality means having few possessions. I think frugality means having the right possessions for ourselves. I don't buy things just to own them. I only settle my money on the things that truly bring joy to my sight.

I love what I use. And I use what I love.

On Sunday, as the leftover chili was reheating for lunch, one dear daughter and I took 10 minutes to put the spring and summer dishware away, and retrieve the fall and winter dishware. This is our fall and winter set. It's called Friendly Village by Johnson Brothers. Each piece has a different scene, most of them winter scenes. As I set the plates, bowls, cups, saucers and mugs on the dish dresser, I took a moment to gaze on each scene, and a smile washed across my face.

Yes, it's luxurious. And yes, it's also frugal.

October 2015 Grocery Spending Journal

When I can see that I'm going over my budget, month after month, and I'm not purchasing a lot of convenience or junk food, then I know that I need to increase my grocery budget, and decrease some other element of the overall household budget.

We have been spending more on groceries in recent months, in very large part due to increased nutritional needs for a few members of the family. And I have gone over budget, every month, for about 1 year. So, it's time to increase the food budget, once again. I do this in fairly small increments, with hopes to catch up within a few months. I had been budgeting $185 per month for groceries. I have now increased that amount to $200 even.

Oct. 4 Fred Meyer -- I'm out of milk and it's on sale with coupon this week, 99 cents/half gallon, limit 6. I buy 6. spent $5.94 (and I hang on to my coupon for Tuesday's Senior Discount Day).

Dollar Tree, making a monthly run for an assortment of items. I also buy 1 quart of soy milk. spent $1

Oct. 6 Fred Meyer, for 10% off Senior Discount Day. The discount applies to house-brand items. I search the flyer and the store aisles for great deals on my "regular" items. I first make a pass by the egg cooler. I've been hunting down the very best egg prices in my area, and Fred Meyer seems to be the place. It's the Cherry Lane, 5-dozen large egg pack that is the best price per dozen, at $9.89, that works out to about $1.98/dozen. Fred Meyer can barely keep stock of these eggs at our store. They are frequently sold out when I get there. As I'd just used my very last 2 eggs (from a purchase in August) over the weekend, I was hoping FM would have these 5-dozen packs in stock. I made myself get out and early to the store this morning, for best chance of buying the eggs. There were only 3 packages left, when I got there. I bought 1.

Also, heavy whipping cream was on sale in quarts. I bought 5, at $3.86 each. I had checked Cash & Carry's price (online) on heavy whipping cream on Monday, so I could compare prices when I shopped FM. FM had the better price. The expiration date is not until December. These are quart containers, so I will only be opening what I need at a time, and can keep some of the cream "fresh", through Thanksgiving (whipped cream on pies!), and if there happens to be any leftover, at the end of November, I can freeze, whipped, in mounds to use at Christmas dinner.

I also had my coupon for the sale milk, and was able to use the coupon plus the senior discount, so today, I bought 6 half-gallons of milk, at 89 cents each.

On one of the end-caps, I noticed cans of coffee on sale, and they had French Roast, which is my preferred coffee. If I can make myself a good cup of French Roast, then I don't feel like I want/need to go to a coffee house for a cup. So, buying French Roast on sale, and with my senior discount winds up being an even better bargain that just my out-the-door price. I save by minimizing stops at coffee houses. The sale price is $4.99 (large can, about 31 oz, I think), my discount is another 50 cents off, so I pay $4.49/can, I buy 3 cans.

I also always check the baking aisle. I have a few go-to prices in my head for various baking items. Semi-sweet chocolate chips are on sale in 12 oz packages, for $1.99, I save an extra 20 cents with discount, so I pay $1.79/ 12 oz package. I buy 6 bags. Also, salt is now 49 cents/canister. With my discount, it's 44 cents. I buy 4. I like to buy things like salt in multiples. I rarely run out this way.

My last stop is the bulk bins, in the nutrition center aisles. I buy sunflower seeds, raw, hulled for $1.34/lb, dry-roasted almonds at $6.29/lb, pitted dates at $2.49/ lb, flax seeds at $1.06/lb, and onion powder at $7.19/lb. The flax seeds and the pitted dates were on sale this month, so I tried to buy a supply that will last us a couple of months. The sunflower seeds are so much cheaper than the almonds, and serve a very similar purpose in baking and nutrition, so I bought more sunflower seeds than almonds, and will use the s.seeds more for snacks than the almonds.

And while I was in Fred Meyer, I checked the candy aisle. Lindt truffles were on sale for 25 cents each. I bought myself one, just because. I'm saving it for an emergency, you know, like, someone didn't do one of their chores and I had to do it for them, or the toilet seat was left up, or someone spilled something sticky on the kitchen floor and I stepped in it barefoot in the wee hours of the morning, while making my daily stagger to the coffee pot. That sort of emergency merits a truffle for my pain and suffering! Anyway, I spent $74.17

October 9. Fred Meyer to buy 6 half-gallons of orange juice, 99cents w/coupon. spent $5.94

October 15. So far this month I've spent $87.05, and we're half-way through the month. After my overage from last month, I have $119.39 for the month of October. Sooooo, it looks like I have $32.34 left. Will I make it? I don't know. There's a few things I want from Cash & Carry later this week. I was going to get a 5-lb bag of Mexi-blend cheese for just over $10 a bag, but now am thinking about scrapping that idea. Mexi-blend is not a favorite of mine. I prefer cheddar. So, I may skip the cheese this week, and wait for cheddar. But C & C also has large cans of roasted peanuts. They are so nice to have on hand. I can put a bowl out for guests, add a quick protein boost to packed lunches, add to salads, stir-fries and curries. I'm still thinking on this.

October 16. Cash & Carry for a 25-lb bag of carrots (10.48) and 3 #10 cans of sliced olives (4.27 each). I spent 23.29. No peanuts or cheese, afterall.

October 16. Fred Meyer, pumpkins for carving (and I'll cook them, too) 19cents/lb, I buy 3. Acorn squash $1 each (I find 3 that weigh over 4 lbs apiece), I buy 3, and butternut squash, 39 cents/lb., I buy 2. Also while there, I find marked down 2% milk, at $1.40/gallon. I buy 4. I spent 16.96

October 28. Cash & Carry, specifically for a case of eggs (15 dozen --180 eggs), for $26.95, but also for 1 5-lb bag of pizza blend cheese (pizza blend has provolone and cheddar, in addition to mozza -- it's slightly better on my tummy than straight mozzarella), for $10.48, 1 gallon of mayonnaise, for $6.25 (just in time, as I just this week finished off the last gallon, bought in spring), and a 50-lb sack of onions, for $9.98 (that's 19 cents per pound). This time of year, the onions are new crop, so still have months of keeping in them. Total spent today -- $53.66


total for the month of October -- $180.96. With previous month's overages, I had $119.39 for the month, so I was over by $61.57. This is actually an improvement over last month. Last month, I was over by $80. I'm closing the gap, and I feel confident that by early next year, I'll be back on track. I've been really stocking the pantry, fridge and freezer, the past few months. I took an inventory of what we are needing, and it's not a whole lot for the next couple of months.

November, in the US, is THE month of fall to stock up on many items. I'll be looking for cream cheese, turkey, potatoes, celery, and sweet potatoes/yams.

If you don't remember, last November I bought 7 bundles of celery. I will buy at least 9 this year. We went through the 7 very quickly. I chopped and froze at least half of that celery, including leaves. Celery leaves can discolor with time in the freezer, so I used those first in soups, sauces, stews and casseroles. And last year's purchase of 90 lbs of potatoes was just about right, for our family. I'll stick to that amount again this year.


I was able to do several online surveys for Fred Meyer, this month. In addition to the fuel rewards points from purchases, I have 30 cents off per gallon of gas, to spend next month. I'll wait until I am on "empty", to get the most gas at that discount as I can.


What I bought in October:
Dairy
milk -- 12 half-gallon jugs of whole milk, 4 gallons of 2% milk
shredded cheese -- 5-lbs of pizza blend cheese
heavy whipping cream -- 5 quarts
eggs -- 18 dozen
soy milk -- 1 quart

Produce
large bag of pitted dates from the bulk bins
6 half-gallons of orange juice
25 lbs of carrots
3 pumpkins
3 acorn squash
2 butternut squash
50 lbs of onions

Pantry items
3 big cans of coffee
6 bags of chocolate chips
4 canisters salt
sunflower seeds
almonds
flax seeds
onion powder
1 chocolate truffle
3 #10 cans of sliced olives
1 gallon mayonnaise

What I didn't buy -- I didn't buy any meat this month, as I still have plenty of chicken quarters, a whole ham, some ground beef, some pork roast, some ground turkey, some fish and some cooked turkey in the freezer. I'll be looking for whole turkeys and hams this holiday season, for the freezer.