Frugal Accomplishments & Blessings, Third Week of February - Menu for Next Week

I baked bread, likely enough to last two weeks.  I decided to play around with it a little, so at the beginning of second rise (right after shaping the loaves) I brushed the loaves with egg, sprinkled them with 'stuff' (dried minced garlic, oats, poppy seeds, sesame seeds), then slashed the loaves and let them rise.  What do you think?

We decided to replace our printer.  We have had an inkjet printer, and it works alright, but the ink is expensive.  We switched to a laser printer - black and white only - that costs a lot less to operate.  We paid for nearly all of it with a free credit we'd gotten from Amazon back around the holidays, and it ended up costing us less out of pocket (far less!) than the ink cartridges for the old printer were going to cost.  We are not sure if we will sell the old printer or not - we have to learn whether or not it 'saves' all the info that has ever been scanned/printed/copied.

We moved Daughter's old dresser out of her bedroom and replaced it with a 'new' old chest of drawers.  She has a lot more storage space, it's easier to keep organized, but it doesn't take up any more space in her room.  It's not the prettiest - I told her we will search ideas on Pinterest and find a fun way to embellish it and pretty it up.  (I'm thinking decoupage or fabric covered drawers and a solid color base, maybe?)

We sold Daughter's old dresser, since it was little and cute and would likely sell quickly (and we didn't need it anywhere).  It sold, literally, in less than two minutes.  Yay!

I made salad dressing for Asian chicken salad, Indian rice, tomato soup, sesame-parmesan turkey steaks, popcorn and lots of little odds and ends through the week.  Husband made a really tasty bean dip.  I had opened a can of pears and a can of mandarin oranges, and used the juice from those to help sweeten fruit punch.  It means I can use half the sugar and it's still plenty sweet.

I had a second prescription I could transfer, so I earned another $25 in store credit at King Soopers.  I had checked in advance, and it is OK to transfer more than one.

We got snow Sunday and Monday, and used the wood stove to keep the house warm throughout the week. Mid-week we had some warmer weather (50's and sunny) and made sure to spend part of the day outdoors in the sunshine and pretty weather.  This weekend, we are getting more snow.

We ate leftovers as they became available and fed vegetable peels, apple cores, etc. to the hens.

I washed our clothing with homemade laundry soap.  The fabric softener was all gotten free, because we got it at Kmart with a gift card we got for transferring a prescription (back in...November?) and I hung the clothes to dry.

We checked out books and media from the library.

My friend gave me a pair of jeans that was too short for her - they fit me perfectly!

I have been looking for some cabinets for craft-room storage for quite a while, and this week, I found what I wanted, second-hand for a really good price.  I am very happy with them.  These cabinets will free up several hodge-podge items I had been using - those will be repurposed elsewhere or sold.  I'm in the midst of sorting and organizing, and hope to have the craft room re-set within a week.

I continued in my efforts to de-clutter the house.  I think of this as frugal because when we rid our home of things we no longer want or need, the house feels more spacious.  Since I sell off things when I can, it does help us a little bit financially, but it also brings peace of mind, just keeping our home more inviting and pleasing to the eye. :)  I also learn what we do not need.  For example, Easter grass (for baskets) and the plastic eggs?  We do not need those...but embarassingly, last year, I could only find a very few of the eggs, and no grass.  I used the eggs I found (and paper from the shredder) and it was fine, but still...being better organized means I don't waste resources on stuff I already have, and getting rid of excess means I can put things away nicely, instead of cramming stuff pell-mell.  (Does anyone say pell-mell anymore?)

There were some good shopping opportunities this week.  I picked up more pasta and spaghetti sauce for .69 and .19 (respectively) after sale and coupons....Libby's canned vegetables (mostly corn, a few green beans and one can of peas) for .25 each, some oyster crackers for .49 a package (the standard 12 oz. size), milk for 1.99/gal. and tuna for .50 a can.  Some of that was at King Sooper, so the balance was paid with the free gift card funds.  Cucumbers were .50 each this week, Jonagold apples were .50/lb, celery was .77 per bunch, summer squashes and red grapes were .99/lb, and romaine lettuce was .99/head.

I thawed and parted out a turkey this week, and then wrapped and froze it in smaller, more manageable pieces.  Today I have the frame and wing tips in the crock pot - I will pull off the pieces of meat and use the stock as well.  I have a few turkey-based meals in this week's dinner menu:

M - breaded turkey nuggets w/sauces, homemade french fries, carrots and celery sticks, fruit salad
T - kalua pork, rice, kimchee, nori and furikake, carrot-raisin salad
W - white chicken (turkey) chili, corn bread, grapes
R - hamburger helper lasagna, summer squash saute', cantaloupe
F - ham/cheese/vegetable omelets, hash browns, green beans, toast, orange juice
S - chicken (turkey) Cesar salad, garlic toast, apples
S - leftovers/out/think of something?

How was your week?  How did you spend less, save more and make do?  Leave a comment so we can learn from you! :)