Tired and Feverish

 

Taking a day off in order to get a bit more rest. See you all tomorrow.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Moving Towards Simplicity

 

Part of my movement towards simplicity is to use what I have and only replace things when absolutely necessary. 

One of the items I am replacing is many of the plastic containers I used for freezing. Lots of them were stained, getting to the point where they were extremely brittle and just getting past the best time to be using them. Now I am not getting rid of them all, I will keep those that are still in good form, but my molds will be used a great deal more and really do make storage a bit simpler. 

I will need to replace my 15 year old broom very soon as it is not doing the job it is intended for any longer. I found that out when trying to sweep up the kitty litter. I will hold off on replacing my dirty clothes basket for a bit longer, as it is still functional even though there is a large crack at the top. 

Collecting glass and plastic jars to use for storage, mainly so I can reclaim my canning jars. 

Simplicity to me also means making the most of what I have. So I am hunting down recipes to use beans, lentils, and peas. All are great sources of protein and can be used instead of meat for that purpose. I seem to have lots of beans in storage for some reason. We will never become totally vegan, but having meals that are vegetarian based will help keep our costs down and is a very simple way to do so.  

Simplicity also means knowing what is in my food, so I am cooking more from scratch, using whole ingredients. I don't think I will ever totally remove processed food from the pantry, but by making more with whole ingredients will keep our meals simple and filling. 

Repairing, making and just taking the time to slow down and breathe while doing so enables me to have prayer or meditation time. By organizing my day and routine I am finding life moving just a touch slower. That makes me wonder if getting more organized would be even better.... But would that enable me to stop and watch the birds at the feeder as I tidied the hall, or watch the children come home from school when the buses drop them off. 

Moving towards simplicity is also helping with the budget. Since I have gotten way more involved in working towards this, I am discovering that staying within or under budget is much easier. No longer worrying about keeping up with the neighbours really does simplify and save money, time and effort. 

While our life will never be completely simplified, I am enjoying the journey to where we will actually end up once done. Simplifying has also enabled us to take the trips we do (even though I, in my frugal mindset, sometimes think about replacing the money....).

Everybody have a wonderful, relaxing, and simple evening.

God bless. 

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

  Thrifty and Frugal

As this day draws to a close, it is time to try and remember the ways that I have been thrifty and frugal over the past week.

The usual frugal and thrifty happenings went on even with Bob here, which at times was a bit difficult.

1.  I washed some empty glass jars that I will be using for storage. I even did some clear plastic ones like the peanut butter jars. So while nothing new is entering the house, I am using items Harvey used to toss to store food. Kind of shocking to him.

2.  Harvey is using some of his lumber downstairs to make a couple of picture frames. One will be for something he made puzzle wise and one will be for me and my cross stitch picture (if I ever get the angel done). 

3.  Mended the tablecloth (the one Bob decided he should claw a hole in), a pair of eldest son's boxers, and a seam on a pillow case. 

4.  Found $0.35 in the washing machine and that is now in the change jars. 

5.  So far have had 20 no spend days this month and keeping my fingers crossed that we can finish of this month with two more.

6.  Planned the projects for next month and made sure that what I have planned will use up things from my stashes. 

7.  Once again made sure to combine errands so as to not waste fuel. 

8.  Saved water for watering the few inside plants I have.

9.  Saved the small container that the cherry tomatoes came in. I think it will make a wonderful starter container for plants. 

10.  Doing more big batch cooking and using the molds to freeze. Once frozen I am using my Food Saver to extend the length of time the meals can be stored.

11.  Went through the fridge freezer and planned meals to use up the bits and bobs next month. Should end up with a fairly clean fridge freezer very soon.

I was asked what yellow stickers were, and that is what people call marked down items in the grocery store. I think it is because in most cases a yellow tag with the new price is used.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Midweek

 

Bob has left the building and I have begun to clean a few of the areas that got a bit messy while he was visiting. Funnily enough he did not want to leave with them. It will be strange not to have him mewling at night and me going to sleep on the couch to keep him quiet. 

I did not let Kevin and Nancy all the things that Bob kind of destroyed during his visit. What good would it do other than make them feel bad? So nothing mentioned. Any way's I really like my pink keyboard.😊 

Middle of the last week of this month. My goodness, soon we will be into the last month of the first quarter of the year. My list of project plans is growing, even if I haven't written them down. My mind is spinning with ideas to use up my various stashes and ideas for gifts later on. Must stop that as I will never complete them all. I need to concentrate on just a few every month. 

Simplifying life is moving along. Really right now most of what is happening is decluttering and organizing. My organization is using what I have and trying not to bring extra items into the house to make things "match". I do have some rolls of wrapping paper that I can cover things with if I do want to "beautify" things. I may do so after things are tidy and well organized, but I really do not have to. 

I have been working on a few ways to save a bit more but still enjoy our current way of life. 

I am going to talk to Kurt and Kris and perhaps get Harvey a smarter TV for his mancave. I really would like to rid ourselves of our Max TV (what our tv is in Saskatchewan) and go with more streaming options which would more than likely work out to be less expensive in the long run. Saving money on television would be just awesome. There are lots of free streaming services as well that I believe he would love to take advantage of. He was looking at televisions when we were shopping. This is our only entertainment so spending a bit is worthwhile. 

There is also more room downstairs for some drying lines and I think I will get Harvey to put them up. Last spring, summer and fall the weather was so very strange I didn't get to use the outside lines as much as I would have liked. By having some more lines downstairs I could still manage to dry more without the use of the dryer on those rainy days, and last year it always seemed to rain on laundry day.

Pretty sure I will think of more ways to save as the days head into spring.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless. 

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 While I did have a wonderful sleep last night, for some reason I am extremely tired right now. It could be because the sun never really came out today until just a short while ago, and it will be disappearing in about an hour or so. I do notice the sun sticking around longer in the evenings.

So far no call about picking Bob up today, so I think he will be with us for another day. I do hope he gets picked up at some point tomorrow as that is the last day I have wet food for him, and man does he love his wet food first thing (actually he only licks the gravy out of the mix). 

I forgot to clear Harvey's jean pockets out and of course this time there was some change in one pocket. The change fell out and one of the coins got stuck in a small area of the washer. Yesterday he couldn't seem to remove it, and I was very worried we would need to phone someone. Today he managed to get the coin out and now the agitator will be able to move freely. 

I have decided that a great way to stretch meat, especially with stir fry is to add more veggies to the mix. So along with the usual veggies, I have added more mushrooms, more peppers, more celery, and some cabbage. Should make a great amount to be eaten tonight and later on. I plan on using my mold or molds to get some frozen for one hopefully two ready meals. Freezing this in the molds and popping them and use my Food Saver to keep them fresh. 

I think I will add some frozen corn so as to add a bit more colour to the mixture. 

I got two more fronts done on the totes I want to make, the sewing machine was out to do some mending, and I thought may as well get those done as well. I managed another 30 rows of weaving as well. 

Tonight I hope to get more of the embroidery completed. I have come to the conclusion I will not complete my project list this month, but I can push to be closer to being done and that is what I am going to try for.

Off to get the meat in the wok and then the rice warmed up in the microwave. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Plan Monday

 

A new week and even though the temperatures will warm up a bit, it is still winter here in the southeast corner of Saskatchewan. We did get a bit of melting today, but this will not last long at all. Mother Nature just loves to tease us prairie dwellers.

So what are we eating this week?

Monday

Spaghetti and meat sauce along with a salad. I am going to make enough of the spaghetti and sauce to make a few tinfoil meals for later (baked spaghetti is awesome).

Tuesday

Leftover pork made into our favourite stir fry meal. There will be enough left over for another meal this week. I will make some rice to add to the leftover rice in the fridge. Probably try and use up some more salad as well. I will freeze what is left of the stir fry for meals later on.

Wednesday

Soup and sandwiches. I think I will pull out some chicken broth and make some chicken veg soup and probably some salmon salad sandwiches (need to use up some of those tins in the freezer).

Thursday

Small sausage casserole. Lots of veggies in this meal already.

Friday

Glace, potatoes and eggs. 

Saturday

Leftover small sausage casserole.

Sunday

Steak (bought on sale many weeks ago) in mushroom soup. I will make mashed potatoes and probably some coleslaw.

So that is my menu for the upcoming week. I have gone through my fridge freezer and there will be lots of meal in the month of March to use the older bits and bobs up. 

I was asked what I did with what was frozen in the molds. I pop the blocks out and either use my Food Saver or zip lock bags to store the items. That way I can use the molds once again. I also did not bring these into my home until the plastic containers I used for freezing were getting old and not suitable any longer. I will still be using a few plastic containers until they get to the point of being kind of yucky.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Questions

 

I have been asked about the molds I have been speaking about, the past while and thought I would share the ones I have purchased over the past year.

The ones directly in the front of the picture are very small ice cube trays. Each section holds approximately 2 teaspoons. 

The yellow ones each have 4 sections and each section holds two cups if filled totally. I use these to the 1 cup mark for things like the lentil taco mixture I made. 

The longer blue/turquoise ones hold 4 cups. I have not used them as of yet, but figure they will be excellent to use for broths when I make bone broth from carcasses or roast and ham bones. 

The turquoise ones at the very back are the ones I use most often. They also hold 4 cups but usually I only fill them to the 2 or 3 cup measure. Perfect for a soup meal for the two of us with a bit leftover for a lunch. 

I would really like to get a few more for summer sauce making days. So much easier to freeze, pop out and put in a bag.

Got my new keyboard and mouse. Loving the ease of typing now.

Yep, it's pink and I love it!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.