Menu Monday

I try to keep our menu kind of fluid.  We work leftovers into future meals as we go along whenever I can and I also try to use them for lunches.  This week we are also working on using up some specific items from the freezer.

Monday
B -- cereal with milk
L -- leftover pork chops and rice (I turned this into a simple stir fry.)
S -- leftover roast chicken added to homemade Alfredo sauce and served over pasta

Tuesday
B -- egg wraps (scrambled eggs, flour tortillas, cheese)
L -- leftover chicken Alfredo
S -- tacos (using up 1 cup of dried pintos I had in the canister, 1 lb. of ground beef from the freezer, seasonings, and flour tortillas)

Wednesday
B -- waffles, syrup, bacon (1/2 package from freezer)
L -- leftover taco filling served on baked potatoes
S -- Company over -- Italian chicken and rice casserole, green beans, crescent rolls, and a dessert

Thursday
B -- muffins
L --  chicken stir fry (new recipe using Ramen noodles, a bag of Aldi brand stir fry veggies, and a small bag of chicken from the freezer)
S -- bacon, eggs, hash browns

Friday
B -- cereal or muffins
L -- beef fajitas (using 2 small steaks from the freezer, frozen bell pepper, etc.)
S -- homemade pizza

Saturday
B -- to each his own
L -- Boca burgers, tater tots, sandwich thins (all from the freezer)
S -- Crockpot hamburger steak, mashed potatoes, green peas, mushroom gravy

Sunday
Brunch at my sister's house -- Hash brown casserole with bacon
S -- lasagna (I made and froze), garlic bread, and green beans

I'll do various baking throughout the week for snacking on.

Monday! Monday! Looking at Life Through Rose Colored Glasses

I've never put stock in the idea of Monday being a bad day.  I kind of feel like every day is what you make of it. 

However, if I did put stock in something like that I would say today has been a "typical Monday."

Before dawn my neighbors were banging something so hard it was rattling my dishes in the china cabinet.  The alarm didn't go off and we overslept by half an hour.  I had my mental image of my daughter's schedule mixed up and realized I hadn't prepped for her lunch -- thinking that was tomorrow instead of today.

Mama called and wanted to come up -- after I had spread out a year's worth of client files on the dining room table.  I asked her to wait until the next day.  Organizing a year's worth of receipts is quite a job and of course, I couldn't leave them out for privacy reasons. 

Then my daughter gets ready to leave for school and her car will not work at all.  I mean won't even turn over - despite us driving it yesterday and it being just fine.  I send her to school in my car and we are hoping she doesn't get  a parking ticket.  I call AAA and the Ford dealership (the car is a hybrid and we can't simply jump it).  The nice man from AAA got it started and I got it to the dealership.  Of course, I then needed a ride home.  I couldn't stay to wait for them to check the car because I have the stove delivery today sometime from lunch into early afternoon.

All of this before 11:00 this morning, but like I said I don't believe Monday is destined to be a bad day.   In fact, I've had a slew of blessings this morning. 

1.  I have good neighbors, who look out for things when we are gone.
2.  We only overslept by half an hour, the coffee pot was already set to go, and we had allowed some extra time.  I had plenty to improvise and pull together a quick lunch for my daughter.
3.  While I couldn't visit with Mama today I can tomorrow....and I can be free to enjoy it without worrying about incomplete work.
4.  We have income, good clients, and I get to work from home.
5.  The gentleman, who helped me with the car was nice.  He also told me to call him immediately if I got on the road between here and the dealership and had any problems.
6.  My sister's boyfriend was able to pick me up from the dealership and get me back home.

So all in all, I've had a blessed Monday!

Shopping Trip

 

Saturday was a busy day for us.  We ran a few errands -- including a trip to the library.

We ground grain, inventoried the freezer, did laundry, and a few other household chores.

I ran out of steam by late day and I sat down with a cookbook I borrowed from the library.

There were several recipes I wanted to try and they called for some items I don't normally buy -- such as ramen noodles, boxed potatoes, etc.

 

I'm still working on adjusting to cooking for two people and sometimes three.  I find buying fresh produce in bulk like I used to do is just not working well.  While I've never been a big believer in using tons of mixes I've decided to incorporate some in.  I think that it will help me with meal sizes and will also have the added bonus of helping me have quick meals on hand.  My daughter, who has no desire to cook from scratch, is more likely to help cook if mixes are used so that is another plus.

 

I used my freezer inventory, my pantry supplies, etc. to make out a fluid menu plan for this week...fluid because I will do my best to use up leftovers and that may require some tweaking.

 

However, from my menu plan and freezer inventory I came up with a simple list:

 

Dollar Tree

3 family sized boxes of Au Gratin potatoes

1 large box of broccoli and cheese rice

1 soy milk carton (for my husband)

1 package of chicken ramen noodles

1 package of beef ramen noodles

 

Neighborhood Market

3 Sam's Choice 2 liter sodas

1 box of Stevia packets

1 large box of Bisquick

2 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread Mix

2 cans of evaporated milk

1 box of marked down bran flakes

1 box of marked down cornflakes

1 jar of marshmallow crème

1 turkey ham

5 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast

 

I spent in total $47.86 so not too shabby.  This leaves me with about $77 of my budget left for this week.

 

The chicken was $10 of it and is for a family meal.  My sister and her boyfriend are coming Wednesday and I am making a casserole for the main dish.  (I'm sure it won't take all of it, but I wanted plenty.)

 

As I try the new to me recipes I'll share how they go.

Plans are a potato and ham casserole, ramen noodle stir fries, broccoli cornbread, corn casserole, a chicken and rice casserole, and a few other recipes from the cookbook.

What We've Been Eating

 

Friday was a quiet day at home for me.  My daughter had school and I continued to work on my household binder some.  I was rather tired and didn't seem to get as much done.

 

However, I have been keeping the meals going along.

 

In no particular order we have had:

sausage biscuits (my contribution to brunch at my sister's house)

grilled pork chops, rice, California Medley veggies

home canned mandarins

blackeyed peas with sautéed onions and bell pepper over rice

baked oatmeal

brownies

cabbage, fried chicken, and potatoes

taco baked potatoes

 

This morning I put on a 8.5 lb. roasting hen.

We had a nice dinner of chicken, stuffing, peas, and beets.

 

 

I've packed many meals from these foods for my husband for this week.

In addition to that, my daughter and I are having leftover pork chops and rice as a fried rice one day and we are using the leftover chicken to make chicken alfredo.

I'll nibble on anything else left on the days she's at school during the lunch hour.

Household Binder and Bullet Journal

 

I'm still working on reading one of my library books.  The heroine is a female Sherlock Holmes.  I'm not horribly far into it, but so far I am enjoying it.

 

 

In keeping with my down time rules, I am doing a lot of sitting.

Emphasis on "a lot" !

 

However, I have put the time to good use.  Years ago I used to keep a household binder and had gotten away from it.  I've been watching videos about Bullet Journaling and while I don't think the Bullet Journaling alone would work for me, I do believe a combined household notebook and journal will.  My rules were I didn't need to go out and spend money to create one and it had to be highly functional.

 

I repurposed a notebook I had been keeping French notes in, pulled out a package of colored pens from Dollar Tree and got started.  (Those papers are now in the filing cabinet should I ever have need of them again.)  So far I have the following things in it:

 

1.  Index

2. Year at a Glance and Monthly calendar followed by weekly calendar (with menu planning space on the back of the sheets) for all 12 months

3.  Master cleaning list, monthly kitchen cleaning list, canning list, and freezer inventory sheets

4.  Birthdays and holidays lists and plans

5.  Budget (2016 totals, this years budget, and actual expense sheets)

6.  A personal section that includes goals, crafting projects, books read, etc.

7.  I created a miscellaneous section too.  It will house whatever I need to add.

 

Today I hope to add addresses and important phone numbers to the third section.

 

While this isn't a picture perfect scrapbooker's type journal, I think it will work for me.  I've left myself plenty of space to jot down things, to doodle, or whatever crosses my mind.

Chatter

I went to the surgeon for a follow up and all seems to be on track.  I'm under four more weeks of restrictions and I'll see him again then. I have hit the stage where I am fatigued and much to my dismay I am craving meat and dairy.  I had found myself eating all day long and still feeling like I was starving.  I don't know if it is related to needing more protein for healing or if it is related to my iron levels.  I gave in tonight and ate some lean ground turkey and cheese to see if it would help since even with my vitamins and trying to eat healthful foods I am so fatigued.   I'm not sure where this leaves me for the next few weeks, because after a few hours I was still satisfied.  I don't know if I need to give myself a break until I have had time to heal or if I need to accept that given my anemia, allergies, and a couple of other problems I may not be able to sustain a long term vegan diet.  I'm playing it by ear at this point and trying to listen to my body.  

Frugal Happenings 2nd Week January 2017

It's a lot easier to be frugal when you can't truly leave the house. However, to be fair I did try to make sure things were stocked up for recovery time.

1.  We have eaten at home all week except for one order of pizza.  We used advertised specials and bought two medium pizzas for $13.98.  This was on one of my worst days and I just wasn't up to doing much.  It was also easier on my husband, who does not cook at all.

2.  I used up two balls of yarn leftover from other projects.  I crocheted one "tween" sized hat, knit one preemie baby hat, and crocheted a toddler hat.  These will all be given away.

3.  I sat at my sewing table and culled a pile of fabric.  I have some small pieces that I won't use up any time soon.  They'll be gifted to a quilter who can add them into her quilt stash.

4.  We've continued to use up our home canned products and I am officially down to 5 quarts of tomatoes, 9 pints of sweet corn, 18 pints of cranberry sauce, 5 pints of broth, 13 pints of carrots, and we added 5 pints of apple butter and 1 pint of "syrup" for future use.  The apples were free to us and I had all the supplies we needed to can them on hand.  (I do have a cabinet with canned orange slices, but I cannot get to them at present to do an inventory.)

5.  We used a coupon to buy some school supplies my daughter needed.

6.  We did not have to run out to buy anything for our rare Southern snow storm.  We baked a loaf of bread and I just turned the last of it into dried "croutons" for stuffing.  We ate home baked goods, used extra blankets, and just stayed in.

7.  We sold back a few text books to the school.  My husband said we could have the money as mad money.  Daughter and I each walked away with $55. 

8.  I paid medical bills online and used the credit card.  No stamps, I will earn the points, and my savings will continue to earn interest until I pay the bill the beginning of next month.

9.  I had the urge to buy a new dress.  Instead I pulled through my sewing patterns and fabric.  I've picked out my new project at no new cost to me.

On the not so frugal side:

1.  Because of my surgery and risk of infection, we have washed towels and my gowns everyday.  I am expecting the water and electric bill to be higher, but consider it "an ounce of prevention."

2.  Our car gas expense will be higher because my husband has driven home every night to help here.  Compared to cost of hiring someone to help and the added emotional benefit of having him here -- I'm considering this money well spent.