Past Week’s Frugalities

Sunday
 We were able to make the trip to take my grandson home.  While my daughter in law isn’t completely well, she is feeling better than she was.  We took snacks and drinks with us.  When we made it back home (well after dark) we did a CORD type supper — we cleaned out several smaller containers of leftovers.  I also packed several smaller items for my husband to take to work with him.  

Monday
 I declared Monday a pajama day of sorts.  I had a lot of detailed cleaning to do that hadn’t been done over the last few weeks.   I ran laundry and used the dryer to help offset heat.   For dinner we made beefy potato soup using up some lingering potatoes, a free packet of beef broth concentrate, and the pressure cooker.

I took two additional online surveys and I am slowly building my points back up.   We opened a can of milk to use in our coffee rather than rush out to pick up more.  I paid a bill online saving on postage.  

 Tuesday

 Today included errands.  Hobby Lobby, where I bought three skeins of yarn for a requested shawl.  Turned out I will have to have more because I miscalculated (skeins were smaller) sigh.     Once again we turned to the pressure cooker and our food storage.  Chicken from the freezer, peas, arborio rice and seasoning from the pantry, and cheese we buy in bulk made a delicious chicken risotto with enough leftovers for lunch the next day.  This isn’t an extremely inexpensive meal until you compare it to the cost of going out to a nice restaurant to have a good quality risotto.

Wednesday

I picked up some supplies from Sam’s Club.  Milk and sodas for home.  (Our best price when sales aren’t an option.). Supplies for 4 batches of sausage balls for my husband’s work Christmas party.  2 ended up being enough and I will make the other two later.  I may bake and freeze them to pull out in a couple of weeks.  I also bought two big bottles of Clorox (color safe).  I use these regularly in my laundry, because we are bright colored people.  It seems to help keep my reds and purples from fading.  These were on sale with a $4 coupon off for each.  Keeping a watch on the cycle, 2 seem to last me until the next cycle, especially with me having a partial bottle already.

I forgot to take a photo, but I used food storage to make a gluten free chicken casserole with me in mind.  This was my test run of using a can of GF cream of mushroom soup (Great Value brand).  I added home canned mixed veggies and an can of Aldi potatoes. (I cut them smaller).  I cooked the chicken in the pressure cooker and then assembled a simple casserole....topped with 1/2 of a box of Aldi’s GF stuffing mix.  Because everything was cooked and I had been in the kitchen all day, I simply popped this in the microwave when my husband arrived home.  While he changed clothes, I set the table.  By the time he finished, I had a nice meal waiting.  (I ate leftovers the next day for my lunch.

Thursday

My daughter and I had appointments to get our hair done.  Not inexpensive, but we did take advantage of a “package” offer to reduce the costs some.  Because we were in the area and I had two more items to pick up, we went into the local Walmart Supercenter.  I picked up cucumbers, Greek dressing, gaucomole, eggplant, rutabaga, turnips, and Smoked Paprika.  Sounds like an odd combination, but my husband will be home until the beginning of the new year and we will do a lot of one pot meals with root veggies.  We also picked up a frozen pizza for my daughter and some lactose free ice cream for her.  She had pizza for dinner — a savings over take out, and I had 3 GF chicken strips and a cucumber with Greek dressing.

Friday

My mama and uncle came for breakfast, and we made a simple meal of biscuits, ham, and homemade jelly/jam.

This was my day to take my daughter to do a little shopping for herself.  We found her a nice pair of boots half off.  I rarely buy name brand, etc. just to have them, but these are a good quality that I expect to last her well.  We also picked up a pair of spring/summer shoes for her on winter clearance for 75% off the original cost.  Again good quality from a nice shoe store.  

We left the shoe store and went into a local department store to check their sales.  We found her a nice bomber jacket and a sweater.  I also bought a sweater vest for myself and a nice winter scarf.  (I’m loving my wardrobe capsule plan because I know what colors willl work and what pieces will add in well!) Our items were 40% off and we received an additional 20% off at check out.

For dinner we used the pressure cooker and pantry staples to make corned beef hash (home canned potatoes and a can of corned beef), and I baked 6 cornbread muffins.

Saturday was an at home day.  I did laundry, but because of temps did opt to use the dryer.

I used the pressure cooker for all three meals.  

Pantry staple breakfast — old fashioned oats, cinnamon, dried fruit cooked in the pressure cooker makes a creamy and warm dish with a low cost per serving.

Lunch — Taco Soup (I heated up a jar of my homecanned soup, it didn’t take but a few minutes to come to pressure and be ready.)

Dinner — My husband grilled burgers, and I used the pressure cooker to make GF 3 Cheese Pasta.  (It does include cheddar, but I used a white cheddar.)

That is it.  Our week in review.  I have been sick and relied heavily on the pressure cooker.  My own fault sick kind of thing because I ate something I shouldn’t have....sigh.  To counter balance it I have relied heavily on allergy medications.  

At some point during the week, I did order a couple of cookbooks using a coupon to get $5 off of $15.