Cheap & Cheerful Suppers

Friday
Vegetarian chili, topped with cheese, avocado and fried corn tortilla strips
Whole wheat toast

Saturday

Homemade pizza, topped with onions, green pepper, and black olives
Frozen green beans
Candy apple salad

Sunday

Spinach and onion quiche (I made 2 quiches, one for tonight and the other to freeze)
Brown rice
Frozen peas

Monday

Salisbury steak with gravy
Mashed potatoes with kale and onion
Pumpkin souffle

Tuesday

Vegetarian tostados -- fried corn tortillas, topped with refried beans, Spanish rice, corn, pan-roasted canned tomatoes, Cheddar cheese, black olives, green bell pepper, avocado, salsa  (these were so good. the flavor really popped on them, I think it was the cumin. Every bit as good as a restaurant, only not as greasy.)

Wednesday

Baked beans (while I was cooking the beans for last night, I cooked extra and baked them in a casserole dish with canned tomatoes, onions, garlic and chili powder. I knew I had a busy Wednesday afternoon on the schedule, so a little extra work on Tuesday made dinner prep, on Wednesday, super easy)
Baked butternut squash
Mish-mash of leftover starchy stuff -- some mashed potatoes/kale, some brown rice, some corn -- as they say, "enough is as good as a feast"

Thursday

Corn pudding
Spinach-tomato frittata
Blackberry-apple pie

This has been a week where I felt I had to work more to think of things to prepare. This is good. It means I have used up most of the easy to prepare items, and am now working my way through the more basic ingredients. It also means that I should plan a day, soon, to prepare a bunch of things for the freezer.

It is amazing to look back and see that we only had meat for one supper, this week. We did have some cheese on 5 nights of the week, although I tried to increase beans and eggs, and use less of the cheese, when possible.

I do find it difficult to make enough of any one thing so that there are a lot of leftovers. It seems the more I make, the more everyone eats. Unless I deliberately make a double batch, to freeze or save half for another meal. But I remind myself, there's always enough, and that's what counts!

I hope you had a good week, and many delicious meals. What was on your menu this week? Anything different from your usual?

My grocery, household and garden shopping plans for March

In planning out the spending for this month, I am keeping a couple of events in mind. It's a busy, busy month ahead.

Groceries

I have a much larger grocery budget than usual this month, due to surpluses from previous months. But I want to take care that I don't blow it all too soon.

First off, the week leading up to St. Patrick's day should yield sales on cabbage and corned beef. While I don't do a traditional SPD dinner, here, I do always pick up a few heads of cabbage.


Then, we have my daughters's 21st birthday. I'll make a special meal for that dinner. I'm not sure what that will be and whether or not I will buy anything extra for that dinner. We often take our kids out to a restaurant for birthday dinners. But this year, we're doing things a little differently. We'll eat a home-cooked dinner and scratch-baked cake, and push that birthday dinner budget (another budget category, "holidays and celebrations") to their special 21st birthday gift.

As it is their 21st birthday, they will receive as their birthday gift, a trip to San Francisco, for a few days over their spring break. Neither have been to SF before. I took our son, there, about the same age. So, it just seemed right that I should take the two daughters there, to mark this occasion. I studied the airfares over several months, and checked daily, twice daily at times. I booked the flights the afternoon that the prices fell. (Really, I had checked the prices in the morning, and still high, then by mid-afternoon the fares had dropped to half.)

I looked into many possibilities for places to stay, and best dates, price-wise for that stay. It was an amazing difference in lodging cost, just moving our dates to one part of the week, from a few days later, and staying one night less than we'd originally planned.

So, in lieu of a restaurant birthday dinner, we're saving that money, to put towards this trip. And in order to eat on the cheap while in SF, we plan on bringing some food items from home, for putting together a couple of picnic meals, and all of our snacking. Some of those items that we'll bring, we'll be buying as extras for our trip, such as shelf-stable packages of hard salami and some sliced cheese, with a loaf of bread and some crackers, plus nuts and dried fruits. We'll also do a little grocery shopping while there. But the SF grocery stores are notoriously more expensive than suburban supermarkets. We will be paying for all of our groceries in SF with grocery money from this month's grocery budget.

I do feel fortunate that what my daughters want to do in San Francisco is not in the budget-busting category. They want to see a play, go to an art museum, see the Golden Gate bridge, shop in thrift stores, and visit Chinatown.


We also have Easter to plan for, at the end of the month. I have little bit of Easter candy from last year, including a bag of jelly beans, that I'll put into small dishes on the Easter dinner table, as I did last year.  (I used sherbet dishes at each place setting, filled with jelly beans. It was a fun thing to have on the table and enjoyed by everyone -- especially my friend's mother who joined us.) I have a ham in the freezer, and potatoes and frozen green beans. I'd like to buy some yams and asparagus to go with the dinner. Prices for both of these are always lowest at our local produce stand, which opens the Thursday before Easter. We'll likely have a rhubarb pie for dessert. Easter breakfast/brunch will be put together with what we have, here, so no extra expense other than the yams and asparagus.

Other food items that I'll be buying in March -- cabbage, mid-March, St. Patrick's Day ads (depending on the price, but likely 3 to 4 heads, they'll keep in the refrigerator for a couple of months), 50-lbs of all-purpose flour (at the Cash & Carry), fresh fruit like apples and bananas (the ethnic market and Trader Joe's), cocoa powder (Trader Joe's, our best price on cocoa powder in the area), carrots (a 25-lb sack, if that's the best price per pound, at Cash & Carry, 25 lbs would last us through the spring months), butter (supermarket, good sales often just before Easter, looking fro $1.99/lb) and of course, eggs, eggs, eggs and more eggs. I am hoping for another 99 cents/dozen sale at Target or Walgreen's. Last year, Walgreen's did not have eggs in their ad, but when I went into the store, they were in sale. Last Easter week, I bought 22 dozen eggs. Given that I still have about 7 dozen eggs in the freezer, 22 dozen later this month would be enough to last until late summer, I believe. I will freeze most of these eggs that I do find for around $1 a dozen. I am assuming prices will have gone up on eggs, as well, and the deal on eggs might be $1.19/dozen or thereabouts. I have 2 hams in the freezer, already. I may buy 1 more ham during Easter week, if $1.49/lb or less. That would give us 1 ham for Easter, another for around Mother's Day, and the third ham to be baked in early fall. Spring is also a good time to pick up whole chickens, in our area. I like to buy a couple of whole chickens for the freezer, to cook on the grill in summer.

These items are what I plan to buy, given the right price. I'll also pick up other deals, as I find them.

Household

For household shopping, we need coffee filters and shampoo (Dollar Tree), acetaminophen, ibuprofen, vitamin C, laundry detergent or more bar soap for melting for homemade laundry soap, I'll use my senior discount at Fred Meyer, for the OTC's, and hope for detergent to go on sale at Cash & Carry, or else buy the bar soap at Dollar Tree.

Garden

Seeds for annuals, fertilizer for the vegetable beds, a couple of replacement boxwood for the 2 that didn't survive, in the hedge, some pavers to complete a walkway in the yard, lily bulbs and garden soil and/or compost. I have a couple of gift cards to Home Depot that I will use for much of this. The gift cards were bought by me, when Fred Meyer was offering 4 X the fuel rewards on gift cards in December. They do this a couple of times per year. I buy gift cards then, to stores I frequent, to get the maximum of fuel rewards that I can use in a month.

The lily bulbs are cheapest per bulb in the "value pack", as opposed to 5 bulbs per pack. The "value pack" often gives you an assortment, you don't get to choose the variety of bulb. But the cost savings (several dollars, if buying 30 or more bulbs), more than compensates for the lack of color choice, for me. I priced the value pack the other day, for $12.99/15 bulbs (or 86 cents/bulb). In comparison, if I want a specific variety, 5 bulbs are priced at $8.99 (or $1.80/bulb). And if I use my Senior discount, this takes another 10% off the per bulb price, down to 77cents per bulb. I am hoping to use some of these lily blooms (if they coincide with some summer events, here), for part of some floral arrangements. If the timing doesn't work out, at least I'll have some pretty flowers for coming years. (I'm going to start these in pots on the deck, too, like I did for the daffodils, with hopes of getting a jump start on growth.) These lilies will be planted in the same general area as the daffodils, within view from both the house and the deck.


It didn't seem like I had much on my shopping list. LOL But in rereading what I've typed, it might be an expensive month. Fortunately, we are only spending what we have already set aside.

Are there any specific deals you usually find in March, or whenever Easter falls?

Family-style or restaurant-style?

How do you serve meals?

I've been thinking about the pros and cons of each style. I grew up with a mother who always plated at the stove. When I set up our kitchen, I dedicated a strip of counter space to plating up dinner plates every night. It's something that feels ingrained in my approach to meals. But even old habits can be changed, if warranted.

So, I wanted to think through the pros and cons of each style of serving meals.

Family-style

Pros

Ease of serving supper, especially if cooking vessels can go stove to table.

Everyone takes however much they are hungry for. Presumably less waste, combined with opportunity for "seconds" if someone's hunger is greater.

Everything can come to the table hot.

Family-style could serve as incentive for stragglers to get to the table on time.

Cons

If cooking vessels can't go to the table (amount of space on table in relation to size of pot/pan/casserole dish), then foods must be transferred to serving dishes, negating some of the time savings of family-style.

For me, I have a motley collection of hand-me-down pots and pans. They wouldn't be attractive on the table in their current state.

Potential for more scraps of leftovers to deal with.

Some individuals might not take the proper-sized portions (whether too large or too small), or take unbalanced meals (more starches, fewer veggies, or mostly meat and nothing else, or to the other extreme, only salad).

Restaurant-style

Pros

The total amount of food can be divided between all the plates, as the cook deems appropriate.

Leftovers can be minimized, or purposefully reserved for lunches or a future meal (important when trying to cook for two meals, and save enough for the latter meal).

The table can look more visually appealing and less cluttered.

If not everyone eats at the same time, individual plates can be filled, and kept warm in the oven for late-comers, meaning no one gets stuck with just the leftover bits.

Cons

It takes time to serve each individual plate, time that is mostly performed in isolation by the cook. Whereas, time spent serving selves could be considered part of "family time".

Serving all of the plates at the stove requires a "station" for plating. Kitchen counter space could possibly be put to better use, particularly in small kitchens.

The hybrid approach

Serving meals doesn't have to be one style or the other. There are hybrids. For example, my grandmother often set up a buffet, on her kitchen counter. We would file through her narrow, galley kitchen and each fill our own plates. My own mother filled dinner plates with the main entree at the stove, but we passed a salad bowl at the table. And of course, one day, meals could be served restaurant-style, but the next be served family-style. There's no rule that says things must always be done the same way.


Does one serving style reduce food waste, and therefore save money? It could be argued that serving oneself at the table lessens waste, as individuals only take what they feel hungry for. But then again, by my plating each person's supper, I can make just exactly how much I feel we will all eat, then divide it all up fairly. So, maybe neither method is superior in reducing food waste.

Does one method save time over the other? Well, it would appear that serving family-style would save my time, up front. But if extra serving dishes had to be used (other than the cooking vessels), than that saved time in plating meals would be used in cleaning up extra dishes.

How about the happiness factor in mealtimes? It does make a person feel taken care of, to have their plate served to them. But then again, it is such a cheerful image, a family gathered around a table, sharing their stories of their day, as they pass the food items around the table.

I guess the answer is which method fills the most pertinent needs, in general, and at the moment. What pros and con have I overlooked? If you prefer one method over the other, why?

Putting it all together

So, in yesterday's post I told you what I bought in February (towards the bottom of that post, is a condensed list of items I bought)..

I know it can be baffling how I might manage to feed 5 of us, daily, for a month, when it appears that I could not have possibly purchased enough variety of ingredients.

Below, is a recap of how I used those ingredients (and others from the freezer/pantry) in meals for the month. These are the suppers I served over the course of the month. In addition, our breakfasts mostly consist of toast or muffins and milk, smoothies, oatmeal or granola and milk, and for some weekends, waffles or pancakes. Lunches are often peanut butter sandwiches, occasionally leftovers from a supper, or concocted casseroles and soups specifically made for lunch meals. I reserve the whole pieces of fruit, like apples, bananas and oranges primarily for to-go lunches, as they are tidily "packaged", and don't require a container or utensil to eat, as opposed to apple or rhubarb sauce or stewed plums. So, to last a month on 35 bananas and 11 apples (plus a few oranges from previous month) is feasible, if mostly using those fruits for weekday lunches. The nuts and seeds I buy are often used as an extra item in packed lunches, as I rarely buy those snacky foods like potato chips, crackers or pretzels.

Meat served as the "main event" at a supper only occurred 7 times in the month. I used cheese as the main protein source only 2 times (although I used it as a secondary protein source on several nights). I mention this because meat and cheese tend to be my more expensive ingredients, so I use both, modestly.

I used the corn tortillas for 7 suppers, and the tofu for 6 suppers. Pumpkin showed up in 11 of the suppers. Frozen spinach was used in 10 suppers. And canned tomatoes were used in some form or other in 14 suppers.

At the beginning of each month, I do a mental inventory of what I have a lot of, that I'd like to use up. Then as each week rolls around, I brainstorm various possibilities using those ingredients. I like good food, too. So one of the best ways to motivate me to cook every day is to think of something tasty to use the ingredients on hand. Hunger is the meal planning "method" that works for me!

Anyway, I just thought I'd put my shopping list together, with how I used the purchased items, so it would all make more sense to someone not living within a stones-throw of my pantry!

1-turkey and vegetables topped with biscuits

leftover pumpkin pie

2-ham (from freezer)

mashed potatoes (from freezer)

frozen green beans

3-homemade mushroom and black olive pizza (dough from freezer, quick sauce of tomato paste, water and dried seasonings)

vegetable medley of canned tomatoes, onions, frozen green beans and garlic powder

blackberry cobbler

4-veggie enchiladas 

Spanish rice & black beans on the side

5-Fried rice, with spinach, mushrooms, peas, tofu and egg

Pumpkin-ham soup

Chocolate chip cookies

6-Black bean tacos

Tomato Florentine soup

Pumpkin pie

7-Black bean tacos

Oranges

Pumpkin pie

8-Pork roast with garlic and rosemary

Rosemary potatoes

Spinach and onions sauteed with bacon bits

Pumpkin pie

9-Fried rice (with eggs, peas, peanuts, onions, garlic), topped with a garlic and peanut sauce

Tofu and orange salad in a ginger-soy vinaigrette

10-Fried corn tortillas, topped with

refried beans, cheese, avocado, salsa and black olives

fiesta corn (frozen corn sauteed with onion, green pepper and chili powder)

oven-roasted canned tomatoes

11-baked chicken leg quarters

canned tomato, onion, garlic, green pepper and herb sauce

brown rice

pumpkin pie (from freezer)

12-Homemade wonton soup (yes, I made the wontons myself -- and this soup was so wonderful!)

Fruit salad of banana, orange segments and dried cranberries

Pumpkin pie

13-Chicken, rice, spinach, onion enchiladas

Avocado

Chocolate chip cookies

14-Heart-shaped pancakes with red currant syrup

Crustless mini quiches with spinach, onion and sausage

Bacon

Fruit salad

Cream puffs filled with frozen strawberries and whipped cream

15-popcorn and some cocoa

16-Southwest pumpkin, bean, potato soup, topped with avocado, salsa and Cheddar cheese

Pumpkin muffins

Rhubarb-plum sauce

17-Egg salad sandwiches

Roasted tomato soup

Pumpkin pie (from freezer, last pie from the batch)

18-Meatloaf with gravy (I made 2 and froze the other one)

Mashed potatoes (extras so I can make a turkey-rosemary-potato soup in a day or two)

Oven-roasted canned tomatoes

Grilled onions

Pumpkin pie

19-Chunky tomato soup

Focaccia, topped with leftover grilled onions, leftover roasted tomatoes and black olives

Stewed frozen plums

20-Rosemary, turkey and potato soup

Croissants (gifted to us from event my girls and I helped at)

Cucumber, avocado and roasted red pepper salad, topped with slices of boiled egg (cucumber gifted to us, roasted red peppers from pantry)

Assortment of pie to choose from (leftovers from event)

21-Skillet-fried wontons (homemade from freezer)

Ham and egg fried rice

Cucumber salad

Choice of cake or pie

22-Spinach and tofu lasagna

Choice of leftover chocolate cake or pie

23-Vegetarian tostadas -- fried corn tortillas, topped with Spanish rice, frozen corn, refried beans, cheese, olives, lettuce from greenhouse, roasted red peppers, salsa and avocado

Choice of cookies, chocolate covered cherries or mini-cheesecakes (leftovers from volunteer work at a tea over the weekend)

24-Meatloaf and gravy from freezer

Mashed potatoes from freezer

Frozen spinach

Pumpkin souffle

25-Leftover spinach and tofu lasagna

Chocolate cake from freezer

26-vegetarian chili, topped with Cheddar, avocado and fried corn tortilla strips

whole wheat toast

27-olive, onion and green pepper homemade pizza

candy apple salad

frozen green beans

28-spinach, onion and Cheddar quiche

frozen peas

brown rice

29-Salisbury steak with gravy
mashed potatoes with kale
pumpkin souffle

February 2016 grocery shopping journal

In going over the budgets for the next few months, we need to trim again. We have some costly expenses coming up. They're all good things, but expensive, nonetheless. So, I've trimmed the food budget, once again, to $190 for the month. I'm pretty sure we can make it on this amount, especially if I'm careful about treat items. It's just $10 per month, but that, combined with cuts in other areas, and we should be on solid footing for our little extra expenses this spring and summer. More on those to come!

I have a carry-forward surplus of $97.89, from January's very lean grocery shopping. So, for the month of February, I have my $190 plus 97.89, for a total amount of $287.89 available to spend on groceries!

Feb. 2 Senior discount day at Fred Meyer. I offered my daughter a ride to the transit center today, as it would save her one leg of bus rides (about about 75 cents in fares). Since there are actually 2 Fred Meyer stores between home and the transit center, I knew I could do my FM shopping right after dropping her off. I went to the FM which is closest to the transit center (not my usual one). As it turned out, I had to go to both FMs, as the first one was completely out of whole almonds. But I was able to snag deals at both stores, and take advantage of a "limit 4" coupon, at both stores. So, all worked out okay. Here's what I bought:

1st FM -- in the markdown bin, 3 10-ct boxes of instant cocoa ($1.07 each, instant cocoa at Dollar Tree has been packaged in 6-ct boxes for the last year or so, so this was a deal, I'll use it in gifty type things, as I usually make cocoa from cocoa powder when making for the family). Also in the markdown bin, Starbuck's Christmas Blend ground coffee, 10-oz bags, I buy 2 ($2.99). Still expensive for ground coffee, but will be nice for a treat, now and again. I froze one bag, hoping I'll not use it until next November/December, we'll see on that. Also bought 4 8-oz bricks of cream cheese (sale w/coupon, 99 cents, plus my discount, making each one 89 cents). Not included in "food" shopping, I bought an orchid plant as a gift to our host/ess this coming Sunday. They've invited us for Chinese New Year celebrations. I was very surprised at how relatively affordable orchids are now. I used to buy these for my grandmother and mother back in the 70s and 80s, and paid $25 to $30 per plant then. At Fred Meyer, they were $9. And I bought vitamin D3, B1G1 free, plus discount on the first one, so a good deal. And part of my working on spending less on household/health and beauty items this year. On food, at this Fred Meyer, I spent $12.75

2nd FM -- 16-oz whole organic mushrooms, marked down to $2.29, whole almonds ($6.29/lb, about half a pound), raw, hulled sunflower seeds ($1.34/lb, about 2/3 lb), the limit 4 cream cheese coupon, bought 4 for 89 cents each, 1 gallon marked down skim milk ($1.79), 16 oz whipping cream ($1.99), 2 dozen repackaged eggs at $1.07/dozen. At this Fred Meyer I spent $15.65, and they have a gas station onsite, so I was able to fill my tank for $1.68/gallon.

I use whole milk for one daughter. I still have 1  1/2 gallons of whole milk at home for her. With this 1 gallon of skim milk, I can use that for my other two kids, with a bit of whole milk added to each glass to bring it up to 1% or 2% milk fat. I can also use the skim in cooking, and could use it in a pinch for first daughter, in a smoothie, by adding lots of other fats, like peanut butter. The whipping cream we really didn't need right now. I'm not having to add any to milk for my daughter at this point. But I kinda developed a bit of fondness for whipping cream mixed with almond milk, in my tea and coffee. So it is a bit of a splurge! Just living it up! As well, the whipping cream will be nice to top desserts for the family, so I won't be drinking this stuff up by myself!

Feb. 3 stopped by Trader Joe's to pick up bananas for the month. I bought 28 bananas, for 19 cents each, spending a total of $5.32. I also got a sample of steel cut oats, turkey bacon and maple syrup, plus a small cup of coffee, for free.

Feb. 4 Cash & Carry I mentioned I was running low on brown rice, so I bought a 50-lb sack. This is a year's supply for us, $20.19 (about 40 cents/lb), also bought 2 gallons of white vinegar ($2.37 each), a bag of 15 medium avocados for $7.98 (53 cents each), Asian dumpling wraps, they're square like wonton wraps, 98 cents, 5 containers of tofu, 18 to 19 ounces each, varying firmness ($1.15 each), 5 lbs of sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded ($10.45), really great to find sharp Cheddar at this price, a 72-count package of corn tortillas ($2.37), 3 3-lb packages of frozen, chopped spinach ($2.48 each). I spent $59.90

If it looks like the makings of lots of Mexican and Asian food, well you're right! I'm hoping to make wontons (for soup), enchiladas, and tortilla chips for chips and bean dip and nachos. The frozen spinach will be an extra veggie for us. These 3 packages will last a couple of months. The soft tofu will be for smoothies for me, added to frozen blackberries, bananas and orange juice.

Feb. 4 Dollar Tree. The only food items I bought here today was a 12-oz box of crackers, similar to Ritz crackers (it was a bonus pack) and a quart of soy milk. Spent $2

This was not my usual Dollar Tree, but one near Jo Ann Fabrics. This Dollar Tree didn't have almond milk, or much of a food section compared to my usual one. But I was able to find all of the other items I needed, like toothbrushes, toothpicks, q-tips, shampoo, sandwich containers, toilet cleaner "dunks", a squeegee, and a large bottle (50 ounces) of liquid hand dishwashing detergent.

So far, this month, I've spent $95.62.

Feb. 7 Fred Meyer for milk and orange juice. I find 4 gallons of skim milk marked down to $1.75, and buy 4 half-gallons of whole milk for 99 cents, plus 2 half-gallons of orange juice for 99 cents each. Spent $12.94

Total for month so far, $108.56

I'm tracking my spending closely this month, and will do a tally after each spend. The good -- I am well-stocked in milk, now, enough to get through 2 weeks. The bad -- I've spent over $100 in one week.

Feb. 22. I didn't go grocery shopping last week at all. One week left to the month.

Feb. 24. back to gardening means back to Home Depot, now and then. Which also means a stop at the ethnic market for produce doesn't cost anything extra in gas (just down the street a half-block). It's worth looking around some of your stops for errands, to see if there's a small ethnic market in the neighborhood. Anyways, I bought 7 bananas, at 39 cents/lb (it worked out to 15 cents each banana), and 11 apples, a mix of Fuji and Pink Lady apples, at 49 cents/lb. Also they had green bell peppers marked down for 33 cents each. I bought 3. Total spent at Imran's -- $4.35

Total for the month so far, $112.91

Feb. 25 My day for Cash & Carry. I buy 10 lbs lean ground beef (80/20), for $19.90, 5 lbs of frozen peas and 5 lbs of frozen green beans, both $3.74, and a 35 lb box of soybean oil (8 to 9-month supply), for $16.90. Total spent, $44.28.

Total for the month so far,  $157.19

Feb.26 Fred Meyer for milk (on sale 99 cents/half-gallon) and orange juice (same price). I buy 5 milks and 1 orange juice. Also, butter is on sale, $1.99/lb, with in-ad coupon, limit 2. I buy 2. I found small boxes of Valentine's Sweatheart candies (the kind with messages on each heart), for 9 cents each. I bought 5. I'll double bag these and save for next year's Valentine's day, using them in decorations or to top cupcakes. Store-brand canned corn was on sale for 60 cents/can. I had a coupon soon to expire for 40 cents off 3 cans. So I bought 3 cans, spending $1.40 for 3, or 46-7 cents each. not a stellar price, but I ran out of corn this week, and Cash & Carry was out of the sale bags of frozen corn yesterday, so having these 3 cans will mean that I can make corn pudding for supper some night soon (it's one of those wonderful comfort foods for my family). I also got my Take5 candy bar for free, with my download coupon. So, in addition to the coupons I used, I also had a $9.31 reward from Fred Meyer, from fall quarter. We practically never qualify for a reward, with exception to fall quarter (rewards are tallied quarterly at FM), when I buy a few gifts there, and stock up on giftcards, at the 4X fuel reward in December. After applying my $9.31 reward to today's shopping, I spent $2.46.

Total for the month so far, $159.65

I am $15 short of a 50 cent per gallon fuel reward for next month. I may go back to Fred Meyer over the weekend, and spend just a little bit more, if I'm in that area, maybe buy more butter and milk, or do next week's shopping on Monday (new ads come out on Sunday at FM, here).

Feb. 28. My Girl Scout cookies came in, today. We bought 1 box of Thin Mints. Spent $4.

Feb. 29. I didn't get out to Fred Meyer over the weekend (busy at home). So, my spending for the month stands at $163.65.

My available amount to spend was $287.89 for this month. So, I now have a surplus of $124.24 to add to March's budget of $190. Or a total of $314.24 for the next month!

What I bought in February:

Produce
1 lb fresh mushrooms
35 bananas
15 avocados
9 lbs of frozen chopped spinach
3 half-gallons orange juice
11 apples (Fuji and Pink Lady)
3 green bell peppers
5 lbs frozen peas
5 lbs frozen green beans
3 cans corn

Dairy
8 8-oz packages cream cheese
10 gallons skim milk
4 half-gallons whole milk
16 oz whipping cream
2 dozen eggs
5 lbs grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 qt soy milk
2 lbs butter

Refrigerator
1 package Asian dumpling wraps
5 containers tofu
72 corn tortillas

Meat
10 lbs lean ground beef (80/20)

Pantry
3 boxes of instant cocoa packets (total of 30 packets)
20-oz Starbuck's Christmas blend ground coffee
1/2 lb whole, raw almonds
2/3 lb raw, hulled sunflower seeds
50 lbs long grain brown rice
2 gallons white vinegar
1 box crackers
35-lb box of soybean oil
5 small boxes Valentine's Sweetheart candies
1 Take5 candy bar (freebie)
1 box of Girls Scout cookies


What I have a lot of, still -- frozen fruit (some apples, lots of blackberries, rhubarb, plums and strawberries), butter and eggs, cream cheese, baking ingredients, peanut butter, meat, frozen green veggies, frozen pumpkin, canned tomatoes and tomato paste, jams, jellies, pickles and salsa. What I am low on -- all-purpose flour and milk.

This would be a good month to bake a cheesecake or 7, with all of the cream cheese I now have. And I'll start baking more pies and quiches, to use up the frozen eggs and frozen fruit.

My larger amount to spend this next month sounds like a whole lot to me. But I'm also keenly aware of how quickly that money can go, with just a few big stock-up items, like butter or meat. I'll try not to be too spendy this next month.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the end of February (many freebies, plus using supplies from the freezer)

Friday (cost about $1.50)
Chunky tomato soup
Focaccia, topped with leftover grilled onions, leftover roasted tomatoes and black olives
Stewed frozen plums

Saturday (cost about $1.80)
Rosemary, turkey and potato soup
Croissants (gifted to us from event my girls and I helped at)
Cucumber, avocado and roasted red pepper salad, topped with slices of boiled egg (cucumber gifted to us, roasted red peppers from pantry)
Assortment of pie to choose from (leftovers from event)

Sunday (cost about $1.65)
Skillet-fried wontons (homemade from freezer)
Ham and egg fried rice
Cucumber salad
Choice of cake or pie

Monday (cost about $2.50)
Spinach and tofu lasagna
Choice of leftover chocolate cake or pie

Tuesday (cost about $1.70)
Vegetarian tostadas -- fried corn tortillas, topped with Spanish rice, frozen corn, refried beans, cheese, olives, lettuce from greenhouse, roasted red peppers, salsa and avocado
Choice of cookies, chocolate covered cherries or mini-cheesecakes (leftovers from volunteer work at a tea over the weekend)

Wednesday (cost about $3.60)
Meatloaf and gravy from freezer
Mashed potatoes from freezer
Frozen spinach
Pumpkin souffle

Thursday (cost about $2.50)
Leftover spinach and tofu lasagna
Chocolate cake from freezer

So you already know that it's been a hard week around here. Very tiring. For the first several nights of the week, I was cooking two completely different menus each day, one for the family and one for my daughter. Doing this from scratch is a lot of work. I did my best to minimize that work, whenever possible.

Things like baking my largest casserole dish of lasagna and making extra layers of noodles and filling, instead of my regular casserole and 3 layers which feeds the five of us for one dinner, and leaves leftovers for one or two people for lunch. This pan of lasagna fed all of us for two complete dinners.

And asking for help when I just couldn't do it all. I was so exhausted on Wednesday afternoon, after a very long and trying meeting with a consultant in the middle of the day, the phone constantly ringing in the afternoon, and going out to pick up one daughter in the late afternoon. The dishwasher needed emptying, which wouldn't be a big task at all, ordinarily. But I just could face doing that and putting dinner together, so I (rather tiredly, unfortunately, I came across as a bit edgy when asking) asked a daughter to do that for me, while I got dinner ready.

I also made use of whatever I could find in the freezer, meatloaf, wontons, cake and soup. And some nights there wasn't much variety in the meal, like the night we had the tostadas, just the tostadas on the plate, or the lasagna, same deal. usually I have a side dish to go with the main dish. That just wasn't happening this week. Even if it had been frozen veggies heated in the microwave, I still would have had to pour them into a casserole and heat, then serve them all. That doesn't sound like a lot of work. But the serving and portioning out of dinner does take time and effort, when doing so times 5. Even once everything is made, it still takes 10 minutes to dish it all up. There are many days when I wish I could just be the mom who drives through the fast food place, brings home a bag of burgers and fries and dumps it all out onto the center of the kitchen table -- fend for yourself. But knowing me, I would pull out plates and cutlery, make a couple of fruit or veggie side dishes, and probably make a homemade dessert to go with it all! I know, crazy, huh?

My favorite meal this week? I think it was the vegetarian lasagna. I don't care for really heavy, greasy, meat-filled and cheesey lasagnas. They never sit well in my stomach. I prefer a lighter version, no meat, with a full 10-oz container of frozen lasagna, a 19-oz container of tofu, lots of sauce, and about 3 or 4 cups of shredded cheese, some mixed in with the tofu, some as is, topping the whole casserole. I sometimes mix grated carrots in with the leafy greens -- also very good, and drops in another serving of vegetables. this is the lasagna that my family is accustomed to. I've been lactose intolerant since my son's very earliest days, and have since then used tofu for part of the filling. And while I like the ease of no-cook lasagna noodles, I prefer the texture of the noodles that you have to boil before assembling. All the more reason to make a double batch each time I make a pan of lasagna.

I find it helpful for me to "cost out" each meal for the week, from time to time. It serves as a great reminder that heavy-on-the-meat dinners tend to be quite a bit more expensive than vegetarian counterparts. And using even just a fe convenience items ups the cost quite a bit. As in the lasagna, the noodle were boxed, the tofu is a ready-made product, and the spinach was commercially chopped and frozen. And it helps that I volunteer once a month in a kitchen for a charity tea and am often given some of the leftovers.

What was the yummiest thing you ate in all of this week? Was it something you made, or something someone else made for you?

Which would you choose?

Shopping for seed-starting, potting soil, I came across a super well-known, name-brand, in an 8 qt. bag, for about a dollar more than the lesser-known brand of soil, in a 12-qt. bag. The 8-qt. bag came with a built-in zipper on the top of the bag. The 12-qt. didn't.

For a savings of $1, and 4 extra qts. of soil, I think I'll use a clip from my desk, and seal the bag myself.

If I was an extremely clumsy person and knocked things over a lot, then the built-in zipper would come in handy. Or, if I knew I wouldn't use all of the soil this season, again the built-in zipper might be the better option. But then again, I could always use a 5 cent strip of duct tape to seal the bag shut.

Sometimes, I think we pay way too much for the name and extra conveniences.

By the way, Home Depot didn't have these bags on the shelf with the "big-name" brand, but off to the side, in a large cardboard box. It pays to look around for those seasonal items which aren't part of the regular stock.

From my portable greenhouse . . .

This is what I was able to glean from my flats of lettuce seedlings, in the portable greenhouse on the deck. It's the thinnings -- about 3 cups of loosely-packed, baby lettuce. I wanted to give each little seedling the best chance for growing healthy and big, so thinned to 1 seedling per planting cell. I'll be able to do this with another half-flat next week, too!

I added this little bit of lettuce to our tostadas, last night. I had been wanting some fresh lettuce, and here, now I have it -- only about 2 months earlier than if I'd started seeds directly in my garden!

Thank you for all of your kind words, yesterday! My daughter is feeling better today. So far, no one else has symptoms. I am praying it stays that way!

I'll get back on track, here, in the next day or so! Have a great day!

Just like that, all of my day's plans changed

As I mentioned on facebook yesterday, one of my daughters came down with a stomach virus late Sunday afternoon. When you hear a family member gagging while running to the bathroom, you just know this is going to be bad. But such is this life.

Norovirus has been in the news, here in Seattle, as well as around other parts of the country this winter. University of Michigan has had a nasty outbreak of the virus in just the last couple of days. Norovirus is a highly contagious stomach virus, once rumored to be limited to cruise ships and other densely populated spots. But now it's popping up in office buildings, senior centers, schools, restaurants and shopping malls. Winter is peak season for its spread. So, I've been treating my daughter's illness as if it is norovirus, just to be on the safe side.

Prevention of spread of norovirus is essential

The key to preventing spread of the virus is isolating the patient, as soon as the first symptom is present, from the rest of the community (family, in our case), and keep them isolated for 1 or 2 days post symptoms, as the virus can still be spread, even when the patient begins to seem better, vigilance with personal hygiene (handwash, handwash, handwash -- more effective than hand sanitizer), and disinfecting all surfaces (textiles as well as hard surfaces) the patient could have spread germs through either direct contact or airborne particles, both while symptomatic and while seemingly well. The norovirus has a 1 to 2-day incubation period, meaning patients can transit the disease before the symptoms are obvious.

So, like I said, just like that, all of my day's plans changed.

My daughter shares a room with her sister. The first step was to set up a place where she could sleep and study, away from the patient. She moved into the family room for a couple of days. I've been designated as caretaker of the sick one, to prevent as few people as possible from falling ill.

Minimizing illness with the sick one

The main risk to norovirus is dehydration. One site I read said to wait 20 to 30 minutes after vomiting has ceased before introducing liquids (but of course, if vomiting persists beyond a few hours, or if the patient has other health complications, it's wise to seek a doctor's opinion early on). And then, only clear, non-acidic liquids. Orange juice is out (too acidic), apple juice is a maybe, if watered down in a 50/50 mix. Electrolyte solutions are good, especially ones like Pedialtyte. Watered down chicken broth is also recommended. And for some individuals, flat, non-caffeinated soda pop (like lemon-lime or ginger ale), in small amounts seems to help. You can speed up the rate at which soda pop loses its carbonation by pouring one glass into another, back and forth. I keep a 2-liter of lemon-lime soda in the back of the pantry for just this type of occasion.

So, we got my daughter through the night, on sips of flat lemon-lime soda. By morning, she was looking a bit better.

After seeing to her comfort in the morning, I set out to disinfect areas of the house where she had been, and get an early start on laundry. On facebook, I mentioned the CDC's recommendations for disinfecting, using chlorine bleach mixed with water, from about 1 teaspoon to 1  1/2 tablespoons of household bleach mixed with 1 cup of water. As the bleach doesn't have to be exact, I eyeballed, using the cap to the bleach container as a measuring spoon/cup, and poured into a glass measuring cup, then adding water. I dipped a rag into this solution and went around the house wiping off surfaces (CDC says to allow to air dry for 10 minutes). I did this every time my daughter got up. Also, the CDC says that alcohol-based hand sanitizers and 3% hydrogen peroxide are not as effective as chlorine bleach, against the norovirus.

Some things I may have overlooked, if it had not been for reading some info online:

• wear gloves when cleaning, emptying the trash containers, picking up tissues and dishes, and while gathering clothing and linens for laundry
• after taking off gloves, wash your hands again
• wash textiles as well as hard surfaces, this includes bath rugs, mats, towels, bedding and clothing in hot water and tumble dry
• run an empty cycle on the washing machine, using bleach in hot water to disinfect your washer. Norovirus can live inside your washing machine for a few days, after washing contaminated textiles.
• the virus remains contagious even after symptoms have subsided, for a few days (as few as 3 to up to 2 weeks, according to the health department -- hygiene of the patient is so important, to prevent spread)
• people who have norovirus should not prepare food for other people for at least 2 days after recovery
• if you have a dishwashing machine, use it for all dishes, cutlery and glassware. If there's a sanitize or hi-temp function on your dishwasher, use it. Hand-washed dishes are more likely to harbor the virus, as most of us can't tolerate the high temperature necessary to kill it, while hand-washing our dishes.
• replace all toothbrushes for family members who share the same bathroom as the patient (another good reason for buying super cheap toothbrushes from Dollar Tree -- I feel no regret having to use up an entire 6-count package of toothbrushes, due to this illness in the family)
• although alcohol-based sanitizers are not as effective as bleach, it's better than nothing. So I kept a baggie of 91% isopropyl alcohol saturated paper towels on the bathroom counter, for my daughter to clean up any mess after herself, wipe off door knobs, flush handles and faucet handles, then dispose of the used towel, each time she used the bathroom. This meant I didn't have to get out the bleach after every single time she got up.

The post-vomiting diet (sorry, there's no nicer way to put that)

When it appeared that all of the really nasty symptoms were over . . .

I'm sure you've all heard clear liquids are best for someone with a stomach virus. But this doesn't have to be limited to beverages. It can include gelatin, popsicles and bowls of broth, for a change of pace. And towards the end of that first day, I do well adding rice milk to the round-up (but not soy, almond or dairy milk). For my daughter, I got a batch of blackberry gelatin started in the morning (using frozen blackberries, simmered with water for a couple of minutes, strained to use only the juice, then sweetened, and set with plain gelatin), and I set a cup of brown rice to soak, to make rice milk later in the day. I also found a quart of homemade chicken stock in the freezer, to season mildly, and serve for her lunch. I'll see how she's feeling by late afternoon. If she feels up to it, I'll make some rice milk pudding for her dinner, as pudding is one of her favorite foods, and made with rice milk it should be easy to digest.

If it seems that she handled those foods okay yesterday, then today I'll add to this menu, with a couple of items from the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast). I'll use the rice pulp from making homemade rice milk, to make a thin rice porridge for breakfast. And I'll make some applesauce from frozen apple chunks to go with chicken broth for lunch.

It's a lot of work, taking care of one family member who is sick. But one thing I do know, if others in the family get the same virus, it will be a whole lot more work for me. I'd rather put in my work, upfront, than drag this out for weeks.

Time for forsythia cuttings

The forsythia is just right for taking cuttings in our yard, right now.

I wait to see a single opening blossom. Then I begin taking cuttings to bring indoors. Obviously, I take those first cuttings from branches which overhang the paths and make themselves a nuisance to walk by. So, basically killing 2 birds, here. Neatening up the walkways, and bringing blooms inside to enjoy.

Can't pass up a free bouquet of flowers!

What's blooming in my garden these days

Snow crocus -- they bloom earlier, are smaller, and more delicate in color

Giant crocus -- I have several spots of purple and white giant crocus

Primroses -- my favorite is this pale yellow one, but there's also white, pink and purple in my yard

Grecian Windflower -- it's an early bloomer for us

Petite Daffodils -- the petite ones bloom several weeks before the larger daffodils. They're about 10-12 inches tall and do fine in pots for us.

Here's a swath of purple and white giant crocus, near the front door. It's visible from the driveway. On a sunny day, when the blooms are open, it's a cheery sight when driving in.

Next to the kitchen door is a tiny dooryard garden of white and purple primrose, purple hyacinth, petite daffodils, some ground cover with tiny white blooms, later in spring, evergreens, violets, and lots of moss and rocks.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers and we're eating well this week!

Friday
Homemade wonton soup (yes, I made the wontons myself -- and this soup was so wonderful!)
Fruit salad of banana, orange segments and dried cranberries
Pumpkin pie

Saturday
Chicken, rice, spinach, onion enchiladas
Avocado
Chocolate chip cookies

Sunday Brunch
Heart-shaped pancakes with red currant syrup
Crustless mini quiches with spinach, onion and sausage
Bacon
Fruit salad
Cream puffs filled with frozen strawberries and whipped cream

Monday
We had a late lunch with my father-in-law and his wife, so when we came home, no one was hungry. I made a bowl of popcorn and some cocoa

Tuesday
Southwest pumpkin, bean, potato soup, topped with avocado, salsa and Cheddar cheese
Pumpkin muffins
Rhubarb-plum sauce

Wednesday
Egg salad sandwiches
Roasted tomato soup
Pumpkin pie (from freezer, last pie from the batch)

Thursday
Meatloaf with gravy (I made 2 and froze the other one)
Mashed potatoes (extras so I can make a turkey-rosemary-potato soup in a day or two)
Oven-roasted canned tomatoes
Grilled onions
Pumpkin pie


I have to thank YHF for her suggestions and encouragement on making wontons last week. The only time I have made wontons before, they were the cream cheese filled kind that you deep fry (popular at bridal showers in the 80s). In this week's wontons, I used ground pork, finely chopped fresh mushrooms, onion powder, garlic powder, ginger powder, soy sauce and corn starch. After forming them, I froze them all on a baking sheet, then transferred them to a ziploc bag for freezer storage. When making the soup, I used chicken stock, onion, garlic powder, onion powder, ginger powder, soy sauce, chive blossom vinegar, and salt as the broth. To that, I added a few tablespoons of thawed, frozen spinach, a beaten egg, frozen peas and some dices of tofu. I brought the liquid back to a simmer, and dropped in the wontons, set the time for 7 minutes, and put the cover on the pot. Once the timer rang, they were done. I have to say, this soup was restaurant-caliber, it was that good. I think it was a combo of the ground pork, garlic and mushrooms in the wontons. The flavors were fantastic together.

Saturday's enchiladas were no slouch meal, either. Thanks again to Belinda, from Frugal Workshop for her quick and easy enchilada sauce recipe (using paprika, chili powder, salt, oil and flour). Enchiladas are becoming a "regular" in our house. I love enchiladas, for their taste, of course, but also they're a great way to use up leftovers, deliciously. This week's enchiladas had the last of the chicken that I picked off the bones, when making stock for the wonton soup plus some thawed frozen spinach lingering in the fridge too many days, and leftover cooked rice. I added chopped onions, garlic powder, tomato sauce, onion powder, black olive juice and chili powder to the chicken/rice/spinach mix for flavor.

I listed Sunday's brunch menu, instead of a supper menu, as the brunch was our main meal of the day. Dinner was free burgers from Jack-in-the-box, and a buy one, get one medium curly fries w/coupon). I made sauteed spinach and green beans in some bacon fat at home to go with the burgers and fries. This dinner cost $3.49 for the one order of curly fries that we paid for. The burgers were so huge (double patties), that all of us cut ours in half before even taking one bite. We saved the halves for the next day. That $3.49 comes out of our "entertainment" budget, by the way.

Tuesday's soup was remarkably good, considering I was combining two thoughts, a pumpkin soup and a Mexi-inspired soup. And avocado on top of thick soup is quite good, in case you're needing to use up some ripening avocados.

I had some boiled eggs lingering in the fridge way too long. My boiled egg eater has gone off of boiled eggs! So we needed to use them this week. I made sandwiches both Wednesday night and for Thursday's lunch. The ones in Thursday's lunch also had some slices of ripe avocado on them. Creamy and delicious! And the roasted tomato soup sounds much fancier than it was. I used all of the canned tomato liquid (which was more like a puree), and diced up the last of the oven-roasted tomatoes from earlier in the week. To this, I added sauteed onions (which got a little over-done, but the burnt bits kind of blended in with the roasted tomatoes), onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. Good for something so simple.


What was on your menu this past week? Anything that really stood out as something you want to repeat soon?

February gardening in the Pacific Northwest -- indoors and out

I'm spending about an hour every day gardening, now. Some of that time is spent indoors, starting seeds or planting pots. The rest of the time is spent outdoors, planting some of those bulbs I potted, as well as pulling weeds and invasive plants.

Do you remember this pot from late November? I had trimmed various shrubs from around the property and poked branches into a pot of soil.

I took that wintery-looking pot, and cleaned out all of the branches. I repotted with spring-flowering bulbs. I spread out some newspapers and worked on the kitchen floor, where I was cozy warm. 

I have a nice stash of potted bulbs to choose from, these days. I just step out to my deck and pick a few little pots. This has worked so well for me, that I think I'll be doing this again next year (buying bulbs on clearance and potting, with the idea that I can use them in spring).

It's a bit of a mess right now. But once a rain washes the leaves, it should look much better. I used some pink hyacinth, purple grape hyacinth and mixed purple and white crocus in this pot. I also potted up a single pink hyacinth into a smaller pot for the bedroom window.

While gardening, I also moved more lettuce seedlings out to the portable greenhouse, and began some more vegetable seeds.

If you're following along with my vegetable garden for this year, so far:

• I've started a couple dozen green leaf lettuce seedlings (Black Seeded Simpson). I tried several old packets of seeds, and this one particular seed is the only type that has germinated. Green leaf lettuce it shall be!
• I've planted 2 dozen seed-starting cells with green onions. So far, about 1/3 of those cells has germinated. I'm hoping for more in the next few days.
• I've planted 18 seed-starting cells with green cabbage. They are just now beginning to germinate.
• Yesterday, I started 18 cells of kale seeds and 27 cells of Spanish white onions.

All of these are for transplanting into the garden in March. Last year, I direct seeded the onions and they just didn't have enough time, so I'm trying seedlings this year. The cabbage, as well was direct seeded last year, and I'm curious if we could be harvesting cabbage in summer, by starting the seeds indoors this year.

For plastic seed-starting cells, I'm reusing some that I've had in the garage for a long time. My flats have all cracked and now leak, but I did find some aluminum foil trays and large baking pans that I can use for flats, for the time being. (My husband brings these home after group lunches at work. I'm glad to finally find a use them.)

In the garden itself, shallots and garlic are up, the kale, Swiss chard and radish greens are still usable. And in the perennials, the chives are up and could be used, as well as the sorrel. The rhubarb is just now poking through the soil. I'm thinking rhubarb pie in about a month!

February gardening is easy and slow. There's no rush this time of year. However, when March rolls around, I'll definitely feel that rush to get everything going. It's nice to have this month to ease into the heavy gardening.

Clearance tablecloth shopping -- for the fabric

I bought this tablecloth on clearance at Marshall's, after Christmas. They had 2 and I'm kicking myself for not buying the other one, as well.

This is a Le Telerie Toscane tablecloth. They retail for about $90 for this large size (66 X 108). Marshall's had them on clearance for $15. Its exactly the fabric that I've been hoping to find, for our kitchen table to use in spring and summer. But it's way too large. I have noticed that the large sizes hang around, in clearance, whereas the smaller sizes (66 X 90) just don't.

However, "too large" is really not an issue for me. In fact, it's a bonus. This cloth is almost twice as large as I need for our table. I currently have it folded over on the table. When I cut it down to size, it will give me enough fabric to make an apron or some cloth napkins, to match.

Why I'm kicking myself for only buying one is that I could have made aprons or tea towels, as gifts with the second cloth. At 108 inches, there are 3 yards of 66 inch-wide fabric. It's thick, high quality fabric, too. It would definitely make a nice apron. At $15 for the whole cloth, that is $5 per yard.  A "home decor" fabric to be used to make a tablecloth or apron, of a nice toile print, would run at least $20/yd at the fabric store. Even with a coupon or great sale, we're still talking at least twice the price per yard, to buy a similar fabric at the fabric store.

So, I missed my chance to buy that second cloth. But it got me to thinking, clearance or thrifted high-quality tablecloths are a great source of fabric for making aprons or tea towels, fabric hot pads, or teapot cozies, to give as gifts. And if you happen to come across these large sizes, when what you need is something smaller for your table, if you don't mind doing a little sewing to cut it down in size, you would have leftover fabric for making something else to coordinate with the cloth.

(just for kicks, I googled Le Telerie Toscane toile burgundy tablecloth, and found this exact cloth on ebay for $89.90, and on Amazon for $89.99)

Our Valentine's Day brunch

So, this is what the spread looked like.

When you keep a well-stocked fridge, freezer and pantry, this can be pulled together with no extra trips to the store.

From left to right:

That's a fruit salad. My daughter peeled and segmented 3 oranges, then cut the segments into bite size. She added some dried cranberries and toasted almond slivers. I didn't add any dressing to it, but left it just unadorned and fresh-tasting.

Those are cream puffs. I decided to make these on Saturday, when my son mentioned that his girlfriend loves creamy things more than sweets. Cream puffs are quite easy to make. Here's the recipe that I use. The unfilled leftovers freeze well, to be pulled out and filled for another occasion, down the road. I made these cream puffs slightly smaller than my mom's recipe indicated. So it made 20, instead of 12 or 15. I thin it was a better size for a brunch. I filled them with a spoonful of frozen strawberries, each, then some whipped cream.

In the crockpot are heart-shaped pancakes. I made the pancakes before church, placed in layers in the crockpot with parchment paper in between layers, so they wouldn't all stick together in one clump, and then set the pot on KEEP WARM. They did great for a couple of hours. I noticed after more than a couple of hours that the edges became a bit crisp. But otherwise, good (and did stay warm). The syrup for the pancakes was melted red currant jelly, thinned with some water (for pink syrup).

I had a couple of packages of bacon in the freezer, bought sometime last summer or early fall. When I find a good deal, I buy a few packages and keep them in the freezer for holidays and special breakfasts.

Finally, those are mini quiches, crustless. I used 9 eggs and 1/2 cup of milk/cream to make 12 little quiches. to the eggs/milk, I added some grated cheddar, thawed frozen spinach, minced onion and 4 breakfast sausages, chopped small and fried in the skillet, first.

We also had orange juice, plus coffee or cocoa with our brunch. It all worked out nicely. I did most of the work on Saturday, so my Valentine's wouldn't be totally occupied with the brunch details. We ate in the kitchen, which turned out to be a very good thing, as our heat was out. And Saturday is our housecleaning day, so the kitchen was very neat and tidy for Sunday. Again, everything just all worked out.


This was the one meal that I cooked on Sunday. Our dinner in the evening was free burgers from Jack in the box.

Visiting family and needing a quick gift

So, later this morning, we'll drive up north to visit my father-in-law and his wife. I like to bring something, some small thing that's either edible or something to watch grow.

I had this on my mind for a few days last week, trying to think of something I could put together quickly.

And this is what I came up with, using what I had on hand. It's something they can put on their deck and watch grow and bloom, through the window over the next several weeks.

So, you know all of those bulbs that I planted, The pink hyacinths are coming up very nicely and look like they'll be the first of all of the bulbs to bloom. I had them all potted in rather small individual plastic pots. For a gift-y item, I put 3 of those bulbs into one larger pot. Then I added some of the grape hyacinths, also coming up well, and tied with a bow. For a price breakdown, I had the pots. The large hyacinth bulbs were originally $5.99 for 4 bulbs. I bought them at 75% off that price, $1.49 for all 4. I used 3, for a cost of $1.12, plus 59 cents for the grape hyacinth bulbs. The full pot of spring flowers to bloom, for under $2. I always have recycled ribbons on hand, so no real cost there, either.

A nice, sweet gift, with more love and thought, than cost. (And, truthfully, I really enjoyed playing with the dirt, even if just on the kitchen counter!)

A quick last-minute Valentine gift for the kids

What do my kids need more than anything these days? Money!! Here's a cute way to make a gift of cash for Valentine's Day.

Still on the origami thing . . .

This video shows how to fold a heart out of any denomination dollar bill.  I've used a five, here. It is super easy to fold. Took me all of 3 minutes from start to finish. I've secured the center fold with a foil-wrapped chocolate heart (using a loop of tape on the back of the candy heart. Crisp bills work best.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cheap & Cheerful menus for the week, trying to use things up

Fried corn tortilla, topped w/ refried beans, cheese, avocado, salsa and olives,
along with oven-roasted canned tomatoes and fiesta corn

Friday
for the one person at home that evening:
Fried rice, with spinach, mushrooms, peas, tofu and egg
Pumpkin-ham soup
Chocolate chip cookies

Saturday
Black bean tacos
Tomato Florentine soup
Pumpkin pie

Sunday
for the two people at home that evening (February is shaping up to be a busy month):
Black bean tacos
Oranges
Pumpkin pie

Monday
Pork roast with garlic and rosemary
Rosemary potatoes
Spinach and onions sauteed with bacon bits
Pumpkin pie

Tuesday
Fried rice (with eggs, peas, peanuts, onions, garlic), topped with a garlic and peanut sauce
Tofu and orange salad in a ginger-soy vinaigrette

Wednesday
Fried corn tortillas, topped with
refried beans, cheese, avocado, salsa and black olives
fiesta corn (frozen corn sauteed with onion, green pepper and chili powder)
oven-roasted canned tomatoes

Thursday
baked chicken leg quarters
canned tomato, onion, garlic, green pepper and herb sauce
brown rice
pumpkin pie (from freezer)


If I had to choose which meal was my favorite this week, I think it would have been Monday's pork roast. I took a 1-lb section of a pork loin out of the freezer, and chopped off about 3 ounces, to grind in my food processor for filling for wontons. We'll be having homemade wonton soup for dinner tonight, using the wontons I made on Monday (in the freezer right now), and homemade chicken stock with the bones from last night's dinner.

I was able to buy avocados for 53 cents each last week, and am now beginning to use them. For produce, I have some frozen plums, rhubarb, blackberries. strawberries, pumpkin, peas, corn, green beans, and spinach. I finished off the frozen green peppers last night. In fresh, I have 1 large pumpkin, 1 butternut squash, a drawer full of onions, 20 lbs of potatoes, a handful of oranges and about 10 avocados. I also have lots of canned tomatoes, whole and in paste. In the garden, I have kale, chard, radish greens, beet greens, sorrel and watercress, in small amounts, each. Its not a lot of fruits and vegetables, but it seems to be just enough.

My freezers still look rather full. Part of that is a frozen turkey and 2 hams, plus 20 lbs of chicken leg quarters, some pork and ground beef. I also have a couple of jugs of milk in the freezers. All of this takes up space. I imagine as spring unfolds, at least one freezer will begin to look more empty.

I have a strange aversion to using the last of anything up, it seems. I was down to just a small baggie of frozen green peppers, and had to practically force myself to just use it all. Strange, I know. But that is what my freezer tends to look like, lots of small bags of different things. But I do know that I will have to use it all up, or have it become so freezer burned, that it's inedible.

The other thing that stands out to me is that I really do just make-do, this time of year, especially in the produce department. Canned whole tomatoes may not sound like a side-dish to go with dinner, but they can be. Most of the time, I think of canned tomatoes as an ingredient in a soup or chili, but halved and oven-roasted, they become a side dish to go with some other entree. Or with the tofu and orange segment salad, on Tuesday. I don't have a recipe for tofu and orange salad. I just was looking around the kitchen for what could go into a "salad" for a fresher tasting side, paired with the heavier fried rice and peanut sauce. Tofu and oranges stood out as possibilities for something fresh-tasting.

Sometimes, I stretch the idea of what constitutes a serving of fruit or vegetables. Pumpkin pie frequents my list of vegetable-serving stand-ins. Or, as in Wednesday night's dinner, as I was heaping the sliced olives onto the Mexican-inspired dish, I proclaimed to one daughter, "olives are a fruit tonight". Would it be simpler to stop by the grocery store to buy more traditional pairings to go with entrees? Yes. but making do will save me money, and I think it makes the menus more interesting as a bonus.


Over to you. What was on your menu this week? Did you have a favorite meal?

Big girl playtime

Remember earlier this week I said I was ordering a portable greenhouse for getting seedlings ready for planting in the garden?

This is what came in the mail, in the box, of course ;-) I put on some really great music (because everything is better with really great music), and got right to it.

Putting it together was reminiscent of my many years playing with Tinker Toys. Remember those? Only, there was no real room for creativity with this greenhouse.

While I was putting it all together, it occurred to me, this is really women's work. Here's why.

With the men in my family, I see this going one of two ways.

1) not at all according to the instruction sheet, because as we all know, men don't need instructions. And there needs to be that requisite moment of wondering why the manufacturer sent all the wrong pieces.

or, 2) a matter of overthinking this, completely. Because, as we all know, there must be a "best" way to do this, a formula, a dozen or more "special" tools, pieces laid out tidily, not in a heap on the floor (as my get-right-to-it nature would have), but in an organized fashion, so that each piece is in easy reach at just the appropriate time. Now, this greenhouse would most definitely turn out perfectly, there's no doubt about that. It's just that a 30-minute assembly could potentially turn into hours and hours of meticulous execution.

As I said, this is definitely women's work!

(just kidding, of course -- <wink> )

Gifts, expectations, and what is right for our own circumstances

I've recently been in an uncomfortable situation where I was giving gifts to a few people, but feeling like my gifting abilities might be falling short of the recipients expectations. It wasn't that I felt they were expecting me, personally, to give a more extravagant gift, but that in general, they were accustomed to more extravagant gifts.

I engaged many around me in discussions of what would be appropriate, and just how much would be enough to satisfy expectations. This was an emotionally grueling decision for me. I think I spent more hours trying to decide what would be enough of a gift for this occasion, than I spent on last year's tax preparations.

This expectation to give more, comes up in a variety of settings. Our church will sometimes call out to the congregation to search within, to see if we can't increase our giving, temporarily. Or, a phone solicitor for a very worthwhile charity may phone and request a donation. Or, we're invited to a wedding where it does seem that a hefty gift to the bride and groom is in order. Or, what about when friends keep doing extravagant things for you, but you really don't want or can't reciprocate at the same financial level.

These touchy situations aren't going to go away. They will keep appearing, and I will have to continue making internal negotiations over how much is "enough".

This last time, though, I finally had to change how I thought about the value of the gifts I was giving. The change was from what is "enough", to what is "appropriate".

It is appropriate for me to stay within my budget. It is appropriate for me to be a cheerful giver. It is appropriate for me to choose a level of gift that falls in line with my other gift-giving.

In our own family, for the most part, we don't give extravagant gifts to our children or each other. And we don't feel guilty about that or feel we're displaying less love for one another.

In some families, large gifts between each other are the norm. And that doesn't mean they love each other more or less than a family who chooses to use their money differently.

It's easy to get carried away in the moment, and be more extravagant than appropriate. But if my values are to give my own children modest gifts, then doesn't it seem appropriate to give friends' children modest gifts, as well? Even if those same children were accustomed to receiving extravagant gifts from others?

It's really not even a matter of who is wealthier and who is not. It's all about personal values related to making gifts.

For me, it feels easier to give my children just exactly how much I feel is appropriate for any one occasion. So I use this as a barometer, when I am in doubt. Just how much would I feel is right with my own kids for this occasion? That thought, alone, will often help me set the scale for gifts.

In the end, on this particular occasion, I went with what my gut was telling me was an appropriate amount to spend, regardless of what friends or family might be accustomed to. Yes, it was far less than what I'd read was typical or could be expected. But it was in line with what I might give to my own children for a similar occasion.

I hope that my more extravagant friends will appreciate my friendship just for what it is, a person who will be there to help and support them through trials, and rejoice with them in their good fortune, and not measure my friendship by the money I spend on them or their families.

With charitable gifts, our family does place a high value on giving to mission-related purposes. But I also feel comfortable telling a phone solicitor that while I appreciate their charity, we may have already allocated our charitable giving for the year. I am happy to take their organization's name and number, in case something changes. And sometimes, I do end up giving to one of these organizations, later in the year. But sometimes, I don't, and I try not to feel like I have to save the entire world.

And with wedding season just around the corner, I'm already looking to our budget, anticipating a couple of weddings. Fortunately, most of our friends' kids won't have extravagant weddings. And I won't be in that awkward position of feeling like I have to "pay for my plate" at the reception with an equivalent value of gift. But if that did come up (and it could with one of my family member's kids), I would have to really give thought to whether I wanted to attend that wedding, or perhaps I could just send a gift, appropriate to my gift-giving values.

With regards to friends who keep doing extravagant things for us, well, we're in that murky area right now. Reciprocating, in fashion, would run counter to how we choose to spend our money. But we do appreciate their kindness and generosity. I think the most satisfactory answer, though, is to continue expressing our friendship in the ways that are most comfortable to us. True friends will value who we are and not how much we spend.

But it's still a difficult internal struggle for me.


How about you? Have you ever found yourself faced with expectations to spend more on a gift for someone else's child, than you would spend on your own? How did you handle this? How about those super generous friends who keep inviting you to expensive restaurant meals? Are you okay with reciprocating with a home-cooked meal?