Frugal Accomplishments and Blessings to Finish January and Beginning February Menu

Hello, All,

This past week has been a busy - the current one will be even busier, as we prepare to speak at a hearing regarding property rights concerns.  I apologize for the current lack of photos here.  I actually have some, and if/when I find a moment, I will add them.  (So close, and yet so far!)  I also need to figure out our dinner menu for the week.  Much like the photos, there is food here...it's a matter of figuring out what we will eat, and when.  I'll share that when I know it, too. (Done!)  Meanwhile, your prayers and support are appreciated.  I hope to share more about 'what happened' once it's all over.

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I milled corn into a fine corn meal and made a half batch of cornbread mix.  It takes us about 3 months to use a half batch, so that's as much as I make at one time.  I love this book of mixes, (Make A Mix, by Eliason and Harward) because most, if not all of them (all I have used) do not have the fats added until you make a batch of the final product.  This means I can safely store the mixes in the cabinet instead of the fridge.

My mill adjusts from 'coarse' to 'bread' to 'pastry'.  I use 'coarse' to mill corn, and it makes a fine meal, or a really coarse flour, depending on your perspective.  I forgot to adjust it back to the setting I prefer for flour, which is half between 'bread' and 'pastry'....so when I milled some wheat after milling the corn it was too grainy for flour.  I fixed the adjustment on the mill, and I will save this flour for dog biscuits or graham crackers.

We had warm, pretty weather this week so we played outside every chance we got.  On Monday we went to the library for books and media, then to the 'swamp'.  It is a small area with a little creek and pond, lots of tall cottonwoods and lots of cattails.  We found two wild beehives, saw a few squirrels and some geese!  It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

I air dried our laundry.  It was warm and pretty enough to hang most of it outdoors to dry.  When a shampoo bottle was nearly empty, I filled it half-full of water and then added it to a load of laundry as a booster of sorts.

I learned about a sale at Safeway - Mission whole wheat flour tortillas were on sale for .99, but each package had a $1 off coupon attached.  I purchased 12 packages of 10.  I went to the self-check station, and at the end of the transaction I was given 12 cents.

There were some other good prices I took advantage of, including 99 cents for a head of lettuce, fresh pineapples for $1, 16 oz. sour cream for $1, bunch green onions for .49 each and golden delicious apples for .49/lb.  The end of the month left us with 39 cents in the grocery wallet, which I will roll over into next month's funds.

On omelet night, I made extra hash browns (this is nearly impossible to do here, because we all really like them too much) and ham-onion-pepper mixture.  After supper, I sprayed 9 holes of our muffin tin with nonstick spray and added hash browns, the ham-onion-pepper mixture, some cheddar and egg.  I topped it with the remaining chopped green onion from supper and baked the 'breakfast muffins' in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.  This helped me use up the extras in a way that will make breakfasts easy...plus it used up some eggs from our hens.  We can warm these up for quick breakfasts on busy days.

I made guacamole, salsa, soup, omelets, hash browns, corn muffins, spaghetti sauce and more.  We popped popcorn several times and enjoyed some trail mix I made from ingredients we had on hand.

We took our recycling into the free drop-off site and then went to take some used batteries and other items to the hazardous household materials drop-off center.  At the second site, there are shelves of household items that have been dropped off but are still usable, free for the taking.  We got some household cleaners, 2-cycle engine oil, lamp oil, insect repellent and spray lubricants (for hinges, sticky door locks, etc.).  This saves us the cost of all those things and reduces waste as well.

I cleaned two more of my glass pans, and I think that takes care of all of them for now.  I had to use oven cleaner on the textured glass pan, but I get that free from the household cleaners shelf.

cleaned with the magic eraser type of sponge

cleaned with oven cleaner  (outside, where there is texture) and sponge (inside)  

We dropped off some items at Goodwill and received a 20% off token to use between now and mid-February.  We also donated some clothing items for children to a mission group that will be going to Guatemala.

Husband and I each transferred a prescription, so each of us received a $25 store credit ($50 total) to King Sooper.  Since our monthly grocery budget is $180, this is a big boost!  We will use it in conjunction with sales and coupons and make the most of this blessing.

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The Last-Minute, Toss-Together, Wing-and-a-Prayer Dinner Menu:

M - hamburger helper lasagna, salad w/homemade croutons, fresh pineapple
T - chicken-vegetable stir fry, rice, kimchee, sliced oranges
W - barbecue ribs (from the freezer) baked potatoes, sweet corn, apples
R - hearing day, and likely, hearing night.  Husband will take Daughter for dinner.  I will take some fruit and stuff with me.
F - celebration dinner, because no matter how it goes, it's over...at least, for now
S - taco salad made w/ground turkey, apples
S - biscuits w/sausage gravy, eggs, green beans, oranges

That's the plan, as far as I know!  How was your week?  Share your frugal wins in the comments!