Sunday, February 15, 2015

Frugal Accomplishments & Blessings for the 2nd Week of February, Next Week's Menu

We had a mix of weather again this week.  We spent more time outdoors on the warm days, hanging laundry, cleaning up the yard and enjoying the sunshine.  On colder days we worked on indoor projects and managed to stay busy.



I gathered some things from around the house to decorate a little bit for Valentine's day.

We heated with wood at night and on the cold days to save on propane usage.

I used homemade laundry soap and hung the laundry to dry when I was able.  I hurt my back mid-week, and the stairs were such a challenge that I used the dryer.  I very rarely use the dryer...it felt kind of strange!

We borrowed books and media from the library.  I also picked up some old issues of Mother Earth News from the free magazine bin.  I will check them against my collection and return them if they are duplicates.

I trimmed Daughter's bangs, as well as my own, and gave Husband a hair cut.



I made simple Valentine treats for Husband and Daughter by using stamps and some materials I had on hand to embellish a bag of gummy bears for Daughter and some chocolate for Husband.


I mixed up a batch of homemade granola and some homemade biscuit mix.  I subbed in healthier fats and whole grains/whole grain flours.  (I only used some whole grain flour for the biscuit mix, because full whole grain makes for very heavy biscuits)

I did a couple of surveys for Pinecone Research.

We cleaned and de-cluttered Daughter's room.  We will sell and/or donate some items that that she has outgrown.  Her room looks much more spacious.  We added the butterfly wall-stickers this weekend - we got them for $1 at Dollar Tree.




I took some bulk packages of shredded cheese (mozzarella and cheddar) and packaged them into smaller containers, then froze them.  That way we don't run the risk of spoilage from having cheese in the fridge too long.  Shredded cheese seems to freeze and thaw just fine.

I had saved the syrup from a couple of cans of pears and used it to sweeten some fruit punch.  I used the drippings from the night that I baked chicken (skimmed of fat) to add flavor to some rice.  We utilized leftovers for lunches.  I made popcorn for snacking.

There were a few good sale prices this week - fresh broccoli crowns for .99/lb, yellow onions for .50.lb, several apple varieties for .99/lb and Blue Bell ice cream for 2.99/half gallon after sale and coupon.  Oats were .69/lb. from the bulk bin, so I stocked up on those for the coming months too.  At King Soopers I got some pasta for .19 per box and spaghetti sauce for .69 per jar....and since the balance was paid with the gift card from last month, they were essentially free.

When I made blueberry muffins, I used almond extract instead of vanilla and topped them with slivered almonds.

They are very good!
This past week, we fell off the menu-plan wagon a little bit....none of us were feeling like tuna croquettes, so we had burgers, tater tots, salad and the last of the fresh veggies I'd cut for another meal.  Husband picked up the burgers when he was out on an errand and I made the other items in the mean time.  We'll try again for the tuna croquettes this week.  Here is the dinner menu we have in mind:

M - franks and beans over rice, oranges
T - spaghetti w/meat sauce, broccoli, garlic-cheese toast, pears
W - Asian chicken salad, plums
R - tuna croquettes, rice, kimchee, carrot-raisin-apple salad
F - breaded baked chicken, green beans, butternut squash, peach cobbler
S - grilled cheese, homemade tomato-basil soup, green salad, apples
S - sesame-Parmesan turkey cutlets, Indian rice, steamed carrots

I will make a half-batch of the tomato-basil soup, since it's a new recipe for us.

I hope you had a frugal, blessed week!  You're welcome to share your adventures and accomplishments in the comments.  Thank you for stopping by!

9 comments:

  1. What great ideas for candy for Valentines day.
    Sounds like you have had a good week.. Sending prayers for a blessed/frugal week.
    www.frugallivinginjudy'sworld.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks so much, Judy! The candy was really simple, and I enjoy stamping, so win-win! I really appreciate your prayers - thank you! :)

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  2. We definitely had an adventure last week with our trip to the lake, power outage and being awakened at 2 AM this morning with a fire in our neighbors yard. We are happy to be back at home. We are thankful that our neighbor over there is keeping an eye on things for us as we head into an ice storm tomorrow night.

    We did a bit of thrift store shopping and found a perfect Christmas gift to put away for later, two 50 cent clothing items for my skinny closet and a wool Gymboree vest for our grandson for 50 cents. We enjoyed free coffee and iced coffee at Chick fil A.

    Hubby needed two pairs of jeans for work and we could not find his size locally so we stopped at Wally World over there and found them. Their men's Faded Glory jeans fit, wear and last so well and they are only $9.96 a pair. I did my re-dye the old jeans hack by washing them for the first time with older jeans that needed color restored.

    I chopped, cooked and froze a pound of bacon that we had taken with us since the power had been out and I was afraid it would not keep very long. I have a nice new jar of bacon grease, too.

    I bought apples for .59#, clementines, 3# for 2.49 and CA oranges 4# for 1.79. I am still hoping for a good onion sale to get stocked back up.

    I am about done with all of laundry from being away and am happy to know we have clean clothes if the power goes out.

    No ideas about menus for the week yet. We had a breakfast supper tonight and I plan to make a big pot of chili tomorrow night. Looks like a soup and chili week with our coldest temps of the winter coming up. Our son in Boston has over 7 feet of snow on the ground so I have little to really complain about.

    I hope your back continues to improve. Have a good week!

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    1. I'm glad y'all got home safe and sound, and I hope the weather was nice before the storm...and that you had a good time! We had breakfast for supper tonight too...sort of. Biscuits and sausage gravy, eggs (chicken for daughter, it was left over and she prefers it), green beans and oranges. It was perfect for a snowy night.

      I don't even want to think about where you put snow (when you forge a path or clear a roadway) when it's 7 feet deep to begin with!

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    2. We did have a great get away before all the fun began. :)

      Our son has not been to work for a lot of the last 4 weeks because the base has no where to put all the snow if they remove it from the parking lots. Our DIL is pharmacy tech and she has to go in no matter how bad the weather is. They say that the roads are mostly one narrow lane each way which I cannot imagine since there is so much heavy traffic in their area.

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  3. I forgot to ask a question-have any of you tried freezing the nacho cheese sauce that comes in the #10 cans at Sam's? An outlet near the lake often has dented cans of it for $4 to $5.

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    1. I know for certain that you can freeze that cheese sauce, because when we used to buy it, I would portion it out into those square pint freezer containers and freeze it. It may need a little stir when you're re-heating it, but I've never had a problem with it. :)

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    2. Oh yay! That is so good to know and thanks for the reply!

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  4. I love the photo of your daughter's room where Taffy is standing at the end of the bed looking around as though she's inspecting the clean room, lol. Here's what I did last week, short as it was due to cold but I think I've turned the corner. I'll be moving slower this week perhaps but I sure feel better at the moment.
    http://bluehousejournal.blogspot.com/2015/02/this-week-in-my-home-frugal-all-time.html

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