Menu Monday

I am working on how the blog will be set up from now on. I think I will probably post Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. There could be a weekend post if something exciting happens, or if I have any news.

Other than Menu Monday, I am still not sure what the other days will hold. I do know there will be frugal tips, frugal cooking ideas, project completions, and my journey towards a simple life. 

I was asked why I make so many mittens for the school my son teaches at. It is a K to Grade 12 school and it is in a rather depressed area of Alberta. Yes, there is oil but there have been many layoffs over the years, and lots of the coal mines shut down many years ago. This is one reason and the other is after having worked in schools here, children are always losing their mittens up to a certain age. I want their little fingers to stay nice and warm.

I am also amazed that so many of you read my little blog and have given me a reason to keep on blogging. At one point I was considering taking a long break, but now I figure 4 times a week will be enough for awhile. Perhaps once I have reached a point where I have reached that simple life, I will go back to blogging a bit more often.

On to menu plans for the week, and considering we had a few snowflakes meandering down from the sky this morning, I am pretty happy I did not plan on any BBQ meals this week.

Monday

Hamburger soup, and buns or crackers.

Tuesday

Leftover chili served over pasta. 

Wednesday

Leftover Roast beef slices made into a casserole. Served with a salad.

Thursday

Leftover beef casserole from Wednesday along with leftover salad.

Friday

Salmon Fillets, rice, and mixed veggies.

Saturday

Chicken Pasta Bake. This is a ready meal pulled from the freezer downstairs. I think we will probably have some green beans with this. The weather should be better and I hope to get the perennial bed dug over and some of the weeds out. 

Sunday

Baked chicken thighs, homemade fries, and peas. 

As you can all see I am still making my way through various bits and bobs from the freezers. Also anything left over will be frozen to be used later in another meal, or perhaps taken up when we visit with Kris to share or for him to have for another meal when we are not there. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

 

Thoughts and Plans

 

As life and living becomes simpler, I am considering changing up my blog. I will probably keep my menu plan Monday, and the thrifty and frugal Thursdays, but the rest of my posts just might be changing just a tad. 

Don't worry, I will always follow a frugal and thrifty lifestyle, but times are changing. I will perhaps be adding more shopping tips, working on project tips (clearing out our stashes) and how to live a simpler life. 

The other thing is I might not be posting every day anymore. In entering a simpler life things are changing in my world and some of them really are not at all very interesting, or something I care to blog about. 

While I have been open about my lifestyle and spending, over the years I have found that not as many people are interested in a day to day lifestyle. People would much rather see things about decluttering, saving money, or living a much simpler life style. 

Forgive me if I miss a few posts over the next while, I will be working behind the scenes to get things to the point where I don't feel almost forced to post, and figuring out what my readers really want.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless. 

Friday, Moving Towards A Simple Life

 

I am loving that most of my days move along smoothly and simply. I get to take walks, not only do big things to get our lives in order, but do those little things that just make life a tiny bit simpler. 

Whether it be having a ready meal to pull out of the freezer on those busier days, or forming buns to bake in the oven. Each small step or increment moves me that much closer to enjoying life even more. 

One of the ways I have made our lives a bit simpler is only going shopping every two weeks. My back might cause me angst after the shopping trip, but one day out of 14 or more is not something that I can't live with. 

Having to rest after serious cleaning is awesome. It gives me the time to enjoy my home, or the outside. And really that 15 minute rest helps me concentrate on getting little things straight in my mind. 

The weather is warming and soon we will be planting outside. I am a little sad that not as much will be planted this year, due to us going on our trip and not wanting to bother anyone to, well water the garden and flowers. I may ask Kris if he would be willing to come home on the weekend and water all for us, and I might have figured out a way to keep many things watered, but we shall see. 

Life is good, and even with costs rising, one can find joy and pleasure in a sunrise, a sunset, sunshine throughout the day, smiling at strangers, and just taking the time to be grateful.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

 Thrifty and Frugal 

I can't remember another month where the last day coincided with Thrifty and Frugal Thursday. Mind you my mind might be going a little bit.

We have had a few frugal and thrifty wins here on the old homestead, but of course there is always a catch and that was today. We needed to have 2 batteries put into the tire sensors, and they were ridiculously expensive. However there was one thrifty/frugal thing that happened while the vehicle was in.

On to my list.

1.  Straightened up some cupboards and managed to fill a few containers. Thank heavens for step ladders as I would never be able to reach these two cupboards without it.

2.  I managed to go 24 days without spending any money. May is going to be a tougher month, but I will try my best to get at least 20 no spend days. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

3.  Working on my projects and using up more yarn. Slowly but surely that stash is kind of shrinking. Hoping to have even more gone very soon. One would think after what will be 120 pairs of mittens knitted, things would really be used up.... Not true in reality. So I will knit some hats next for the school. They should be kind of funky looking and all sorts of colours.

4.  I put another $100.00 in the savings envelope. I also put $2.35 in the change jars. 

5.  Leftovers are being made into new meals, and those new meals actually end up feeding us another time. Nothing is being tossed. 

6.  Making bread and buns and eventually I will try and make bagels once again. 

7.  Darned another pair of my socks, and fixed a seam on one of Harvey's shirts.

8.  Now while this was not an inexpensive trip to the dealership for our vehicle. My advisor did not charge for his labour in replacing the sensor batteries. That was more than likely a savings of around $50.00. So nice of him.

So that is some of the new things happening here on the old homestead. Of course we are still following the tried and true frugal and thrifty things we have been doing for years.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Midweek/End of the Month

 The middle of the last week of the month of April is upon us. Not only is it the middle of the week, but we only have 1 day left this month. Wow, where is time going?

There will be a couple of tasks (projects) that will be carried over to next month, but I have come to the realization that what will be done is what I can manage. I can make long lists, but if I want to enjoy what I am doing I will need to manage my expectations of the time I actually have. Still, things are getting completed, I am enjoying the process of creating something, and slowly but surely decluttering and making my life just a tad simpler with each declutter and using up of what I have. 

Tomorrow we take the car in to get the winter tires off and the other tires put on. We will also get them to service the tire monitor system. The appointment is at 10 am, so I hope to have the vehicle back sometime in the afternoon. 

I have pushed my shopping until Friday which is actually 3 days later than the two weeks I usually go. I am hoping to be able to do so even more often.

The sauces/coatings/cracker cupboard is cleaned up, now I will go back to seeing what can be cleaned, refilled, and labeled in the pasta cupboard. Part of my organizing to make things just that little bit easier as life goes on. 

Enough rambling, I am off to set the table and get the step ladder to complete the organizing.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 Quiet reigns on the old homestead. I have been trying to get lots of little things done around the house. You know the things we keep putting off each and every day. Getting those little things completed is easing my stress level each and every day. 

I am still getting my regular tasks done and I am slowly learning to pace myself. Taking rests between tasks and finding ways to complete something with the least effort. This will not last as soon I will be washing walls, painting outside, planting, and getting the deck set up for use. I will also be pulling firewood from the wood box and resupplying the holder near our firepit. Must remember to get Harvey to split some as full logs don't start a fire very well. 

Work on projects is ongoing, and I now realize that I will not finish all that I had planned to do. Still I did manage to get a few completed, and some ready for the next step. That is pretty much all I can ask of myself at this point in my life. I am getting too old to go, go, go, each and every day and resting is imperative I find. Too much on my plate just seems to frustrate me in trying to get all done. 

This means my projects/goals list will contain things that I can get done quickly as well as those that will take a bit longer to complete. It is also making me rethink things like making cards (which I will still do) after I use up all the cardstock I have. In fact I am thinking that using some of the cardstock to make flowers might be a great way to clean that bit of my stash out. I am also considering sticking to cleaning out the yarn stash even more as that has really gotten out of hand over the past few years. Bits/bobs and orphan balls really add up and take up lots of valuable space. Hence why once I finish the 120 pairs of mittens I am going to try and get some toques made for Kurt's K-12 school. Might even make some colourful knit blankets to rid myself of even more. 

I no longer want to do things that do not bring me peace or joy, and am finding it extremely difficult to even read family members posts on Facebook. Perhaps it is time to take a step back and evaluate if that social media is serving it's purpose any longer. Could be the time to block some of the family.

At 70 years of age I want peace, joy, humanity, and love. I don't need complaints, hatred of people who don't follow the same political leaning, and those who want to drag the country down. 

Life is meant to be lived and enjoyed.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

 

The last week of the month of April is here. Even with the rather crappy weather we have had this month seems to have passed by quickly.

So what are we eating this week, lots of leftovers of course and items from the chest freezer made a bit ago.

Monday

Leftover sausage casserole, and because of all the veggies in it I will not be making a side.

Tuesday

Leftover Roast Beef from Sunday. I will probably thinly slice it, add mushrooms, sauté some onion, add some gravy (make a bit more and add that along with the leftover gravy), and a bit of sour cream. This time instead of noodles I will serve it over mashed potatoes. Perhaps a side of the leftover cauliflower and broccoli in a cheesy sauce. 

Wednesday

A package of the Buns filled with ground beef and cabbage I made in I believe November or December. Not sure if I will make a side or not.

Thursday

Leftovers from Tuesday this time served over noodles, with a side of green beans.

Friday

Lazy Perogy Casserole with fried onions, butter and sour cream.

Saturday

I plan on making a big pot of chili. Served with toast. To stretch the meat slightly I will probably add lots of beans.

Sunday

Pork roast, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots, and a salad. This is if I can find a decently priced pork roast. If not I will be getting Hubby to BBQ some bacon wrapped beef medalions and doing potatoes and carrots on the BBQ as well.

Oh here is a picture of what our weather was like at around supper time last night.

Yes that is snow, it is all gone now thank heavens. The rest of the week looks pretty good, except for Wednesday night. We could get a bit more snow. Boooo.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

 

Sunday Ramblings

 I am still not feeling tip top, but at least now that the weather is no longer as windy and the air pressure has steadied my back is not as much of a problem. 

So today was a day of rest, I did the bare minimum to keep the old homestead running fairly smoothly, went to Mass (Harvey was ill, probably caught it from me) alone and spent most of the rest of today knitting and setting up a design on my Cricut desk top app to get started on the Thank you cards. 

I do feel much more at ease and not as stressed out even though the nutter who went after Kurt awhile back is at it once again. Guess his probation is over, but Kurt has been talking to the lawyer once again and if it gets too bad the nutter will be slapped with a cease and desist letter. If that doesn't work he will be back in court on charges as he admitted to giving out Kurt's name, place of employment, and home address to some very not nice people. 

Kurt finds in amusing as he has only mentioned this person twice on his blog years and years ago, and once he found out the person had a learning disability never mentioned him again. Kurt also says he has more or less retired from Nazi and fascist hunting for the past three years so why this is happening again is crazy. 

Hoping the weather gets much warmer as Harvey wants to work up the garden and plant his potatoes. He usually does them about now so they are quite large by the fall.

Me, well I just want to be able to enjoy sitting on the deck and hanging clothes on the lines.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Not At All Well

 I have a really bad headache and so will take today off. Catch up with you all tomorrow, I hope.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Moving Towards A Simpler Life

 I tried some of my homemade cleaners this week, and I must say the window/glass cleaner is wonderful. I am still holding back on the soap scum one, but if that works half as well, I will be extremely happy. Simple ingredients that make wonderful cleaners that cut my carbon footprint, and save us a bit of cash.

My movement towards simplicity this week has been cleaning and organizing my desk drawers, as well as removing some items we haven't used in years from the kitchen drawers as well. This is making it so much easier to find what I am looking for. Next up will be the dining room hutch. Pretty sure I will be removing things from there. Thus giving me less to dust, and clean. 

I am enjoying my days putzing around the house and getting little things completed. Those little things have been put off for too long. But perhaps I am procrastinating in not getting the larger and more complex tasks done. However I have come to a conclusion that actually surprises me. There is always tomorrow at least for the foreseeable future. And getting things done is not quite as important as enjoying the day.

Everybody have a great day. Take care.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

Thrifty and Frugal 

It is another week of thrifty and frugal living here on the old homestead. Taking care of using everything we have to the best of my/our ability. Trying to leave a smaller carbon footprint on the earth and give back to the land by cutting down on waste, fuel, and chemicals where possible.

1. Hanging clothes on the lines downstairs to dry. Washing full loads of clothes to save on water usage.

2.  Repaired a hem on my pants, and fixed a seam on one of Harvey's shirts.

3.  Using up lotions and potions that have been collected over the years.

4.  Put $0.55 in the change jars.

5.  Walked for free exercise every day.

6.  Made Vegetable stock from the scraps collected. 

7.  Made all our desserts this week from scratch using and using up things in the pantry and fridge. 

8.  Harvey planted more grass seed and some clover. The seed was from last year and he bought the clover this year. We just want a green front yard and clover just might allow that to happen. 

9.  Baked bread.

10.  Continuing the decluttering process.

11.  Cut out some patterns to sew for the summer. Remnants used and the bits and bobs put away to use in other sewing projects.

12.  Used up a ball of black yarn, a ball of grey yarn, and a ball of red yarn making the first scarf. 

13.  Saved the water while it was warming to water the plants this week.

14.  Saved the small plastic containers that the cherry tomatoes came in to use to plant on seedlings.

Life is good. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Midweek Ramblings

 I think the neighbour on the other side of me is starting the moving out process, but I am not really sure as they are going about it very strangely. We shall see what happens later on. 

It has been a pretty grey day until about 30 minutes ago. The sun is out and shining brightly, but the wind is something else. The air is full of dust at times from the topsoil blowing around. We definitely need a good soaking rain.

Today has been spent decluttering, and I think that will continue for another couple of days. I have also looked up a couple of recipes to make when our weather changes tomorrow and Friday. They will be days to stay at home and keep busy.

First off on the cooking will be the veggie stock. I am pretty sure I have enough vegetable scraps to make some. I will probably freeze that in the smaller 1 cup molds. Then I will move on to some baking and get a carrot cake with cream cheese icing made. This will use up some raisins, some of the carrots in the crisper, and the cream cheese that needs using. Move on after that to Oatmeal Raisin Cookies to use up the remaining raisins. I should make some Hamburger buns as well as on Friday we will be having Fish Burgers. 

The menu is pretty well made up for next month. I will be pulling lots of ready made meals out of the chest freezer to use. Some are getting pretty dated. There is also a pie crust ball in there that I may try and make some calzone type things out of. Those will go back in the freezer as if they are out and have turned out I will eat them until they are gone. 

Managing to work on some projects, but my shoulders and arms start to bother me after about an hours weaving and I need to move on to something different. 

Tomorrow night is the once a month meeting of the ladies who knit and crochet, so if the weather cooperates I will make the effort to get to the meeting. I will just make sure to park in a different area of the lot. Making sure I do not have to crawl in again. That acrobatic movement caused me pain for many a day after. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 

Wow, we actually reached a summer temperature today. It was almost 30C, which is very abnormal. However this will change as a spring storm is moving in which has rain and snow arriving probably on Friday and through the weekend. It seems as if winter never wants to leave, just when the garden is starting to dry up nicely.

Really all I did today was the to do list, bake bread, and work on the weaving. I re-thought getting the cards done, and decided that perhaps this weekend when the weather is blah would be the best time. I would also more than likely be finished one of the scarves and perhaps have the second one warped and ready to go. 

I am pretty sure that I will not be finished all the projects I had listed, but I think the only carry over will be the second scarf. Which really isn't that bad I guess. Definitely going to try and get as much done as possible before it is time to plant. We also want to go up and visit Kris for the Victoria long weekend. Perhaps give him a bit of a hand cleaning up his yard.

Decluttering is going well, I am now up to 215 items. Keeping my fingers crossed that more will either be donated, or tossed, or changed into something else entirely. Also will be using up all the fabric and yarn that I can. I might even make another set of ornaments (if I have enough) for the silent auction. 

I have pulled some more embroidery projects that I inherited from my mother. These are dresser runners, and there are three of them. I am going to embroider them and sew those together, add a border and make a new tablecloth. I find myself replacing tablecloths very often. They seem to get dirty so very easily. I could also make a patchwork cover as well. Making fabric from what fabric I have collected from old clothing. 

Nothing I am planning should really take loads of time, well other than the embroidery portions. To make matters even better, I could actually sit outside and work on a few of these projects. 

Life is good and as I declutter, use up, remake, and simplify things will get even better.

Oh and tonight Harvey is going to BBQ the pork chops which is awesome.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

 

I went shopping today for all the great meat deals available this week. We are now pretty much stocked up for many weeks and months now. Except for roasts, whole chickens and hams. Which will be easier to find sales on. I am now hoping not to have to go shopping at all until probably the middle of the first full week of May. Keeping my fingers crossed for that.

I will also be working to get more cleared out of the chest freezer. There are lots of ready meals and soups that need to be used up and planting season is coming up. This is true even though the forecast for later this week is calling for snow. Rain first of course.

Now onto this weeks menu.

Monday

Leftover Jambalaya from Saturday and a salad.

Tuesday

Pork chops, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies and any leftover salad.

Wednesday

Sweet and sour meatballs, rice and a tossed salad.

Thursday

Soup and sandwiches. I will probably make egg salad sandwiches. 

Friday

Fish burgers, the remains of the tossed salad, and probably pickles and cheese as I have pickles that need to be used up.

Saturday

Small sausage casserole and as there are loads of veggies in this just some bread or buns to go with.

Sunday

A Roast beef, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots and a coleslaw to use up the cabbage.

Some of these meals are leftovers in the fridge freezer, some are new and some are using up things from the pantry and chest freezer. 

I am working on using things up even though I am stocking up at the same time.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 Another quiet day here on the old homestead. I got my lists made up for the coming week, did some of the household tasks to keep the house running smoothly, and worked on a couple of projects. 

Spent a bit of time pondering a few questions that have been on my mind for awhile, and may, just may have come up with an answer to one of them. The other still needs some thought and I am not sure I will ever come to a conclusion on that one. 

I want more time, time to get things completed, time to spend with family, time to enjoy what we have. Time is not infinite, we don't know what awaits us around the corner. I think that is why I have been trying to simplify my life and work towards a more sustainable lifestyle. 

Having more time to work on my projects, find those people who enjoy the same things I do is becoming more important to me. Funnily enough Harvey asked me went the next night I would be going to the knitting/crocheting get together would take place. I told him that will be on Thursday night of next week. I would love to go to The Great Create as well, but Tuesday mornings are not the best for me. Perhaps I should change things around a little bit so I can attend. Another question to ponder. Life often gets in the way of attending a morning get together. I do/did enjoy both those outings. 

Now that the days are longer, I can actually do more of the things I enjoy and once my home is decluttered and made a bit more easily looked after things will change and I will get more time, or at least what seems to be more time.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Weekly Roundup

 

This week has been one of getting little things completed by putzing around the house, taking my time and working a bit here and there to make life a tiny bit simpler and a tiny bit more organized.

I filled some baking containers with the items I bought to restock those. 

Used leftovers to make lovely meals that fed us a couple of suppers and even a couple of lunches. 

Cleaned the stove and oven, did some decluttering, rummaged through my fabric drawers to see what else I could find to use up in clothing making. 

Cut out three patterns to sew next month.

After rummaging through my fabric drawers I found a few more larger sized pieces to make a couple more items and will get those cut out tomorrow. 

Lots of leftover bits and bobs, but I believe the one on top may be enough to make a small jacket with. We shall see once I find that pattern. 

The rest are really too small unless pinned together in a patchwork design, and I found lots more like that which I will probably cut into squares and or strips. Hmmm, perhaps some yarn will be fashioned from these remnants. 

I finished the size 8-10 mittens.

Filled the cookie jar with Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.

Filled my yarn basket with more yarn, mostly orphan balls and a few that a good friend gave me when she moved away.

There should be enough there to make lots more mittens to send back with Kurt. I believe I now have 80 pair made and I am hoping to reach at least 120 pairs by the time they are needed. I think my next task will be knitting some toques for them as well. Should have enough mittens now to last a good long while. 

Projects are slowly getting completed, though only one scarf will be woven this month, with the second one carried over until next month. I may manage to get the loom warped for it though. 

Thinking through what needs to be used up and planning some meals in my head for next month (though I will have to get those down on paper very soon). I will know more once I get my chest freezer organized and the inventory completed on it. I think there could be many items I have forgotten about hiding in its depths. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Moving Forward

 I love those days where I can just stay home and putter. I usually end up getting a few tasks that I've often thought about doing, but just haven't worked on.

Today I went through a couple of kitchen drawers and managed to find a few more things to declutter as well as a few items from my closet and drawers. Perhaps tomorrow I will go through one of my cupboards. Probably lots more to declutter in there. We shall see. 

The more I can get done inside during rather nasty weather, the more time I can spend outside once the weather improves. There are lots of tasks that will need doing before planting, and enjoying the outdoors. There is painting to do, and lots of weeding. I do have visions of me pulling my sewing table and sewing machine out on the deck during some of our nicer weather. Is that silly of me?? Or sitting with my knitting or embroidery to enjoy the sun on my face and all the fresh air. 

A couple of days ago I took a short walk around the yard, checked on the fruit trees and bushes. All seem to have buds on them, I just need to check the kiwi and see how it is doing. 

The perennial bed needs some weeding, and I am looking forward to planting the Shasta daisies I have started and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the delphinium start to grow. I may just have to purchase some of those. Canary vines are growing like crazy with the grow lights, herbs are coming up and will need planting on as will the annual flowers. The way things are sprouting makes me smile. Such a simple joy. Simple joys are the best of all.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursdays

Thrifty and Frugal 

Welcome to the third thrifty and frugal Thursday of April. Hard to believe how quickly time is passing. Also hard to believe the rather winter-like weather we have been getting here on the Canadian prairies. We have had some lovely days where the sun was shining and the temperatures weren't too bad, and we definitely took advantage. 

So what were the frugal and thrifty happenings around the old homestead this week.

1.  Busy using up bits and bobs from my stash of craft supplies.

2.  Stuck to my list and have hopefully come in under the grocery budget this month. However there is a great meat sale on some cuts at our Co-op and I may just blow the budget and pick some of those up. It could end up saving us a bundle the next few months. We shall see.

3.  Lights have been turned off, clothes hung on the lines downstairs, and solar heat a few days this week kept the furnace from coming on too much during that time.

4.  More of my flowers are popping up. 

5.  Harvey planted some Eggplant and we are hopeful those will sprout as well.

6.  I am up to 13 no spend days so far this month, and pretty sure I can add more to that amount. 

7.  Put $0.45 in the change jars, and added $75.00 to the savings envelope. I use the money in the envelope to purchase fabric and yarn or at times buy new clothing/shoes. The change jars help with paying for the Family reunion every 2 years. 

8.  Fixed a zipper on one of my fleece jackets. I hate fixing zippers!!!

9.  Harvey moved his wine from the primary to the secondary and will probably be bottling either the end of the month or perhaps the end of the first week in May.

10.  Harvey used bits and bobs from his stash of lumber downstairs to build a small stool to use with the grow lights and when outside planting.

So that is pretty much all that has been happening here.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Midweek and Midmonth

 Once again the forecasted rain did not show up. In fact today has been sunny and mild. Enjoying this while it lasts by going for a bit of a walk today. Tomorrow, may not be as nice and you need to take advantage when you can.

The one good thing I can think of bad weather helping is that I get to stay home and work on organizing and beginning to get ahead on making some of my homemade cleaners.

Spray bottles at the ready. Onwards to starting to "Green Up" my household cleaners. At which point I realized there is more that I will need to purchase to make a full set of cleaning supplies.

So today I managed to make two. A window cleaner, and a cleaner to rid the tub and sink of soap scum.

The window cleaner is water, vinegar in equal measure along with a bit of dish soap. 

The soap scum cleaner is just vinegar and a bit of water. 

What do I need to purchase to finish off my cleaning supplies? I need to purchase Borax, liquid Castille Soap, some tea tree oil, lavender oil, and more baking soda. I also need small jars to make various pastes. I can see that this is going to be a learning experience already. Vinegar can etch tiles so I will need to be careful using any cleaners containing that when working around the tiling in the bathroom and kitchen. Still I have made a start on at least giving these greener cleaning supplies a try. 

I have even found a recipe for dishwasher soap that I may have to try out very soon. There is also one for laundry detergent, but I am leery of that one considering how hard our water is. Mind you it is better than it used to be now that we have switched sources. I will think on that one a bit more. 

It isn't that I really need to cut back on spending, more I am going to make it a game just to see how much I can save from our finances and put into our savings account. 

So meals will be stretched, more cooking from scratch, trying to remove more packaged items from my grocery lists, cleaning supplies used up and then replaced by other homemade cleaners, I am also thinking of making those makeup remover pads, and making my own skin cleansing routine. 

Simplifying is what will be happening here. One does not need expensive cleaning supplies or ingredients for a meal. I have found that purchasing grocery items in the international food aisles saves me money. Spices are in larger bags and are less expensive than the bottles or bags in the regular aisle. Rice is also less expensive, mind you I purchased the Great Value rice the last time and it really wasn't too bad in price or taste. 

As far as stretching meals, most of what I make says it will feed 6, so we will eat it the first night, transfer part of what is left into a freezer container (I use/reuse tinfoil containers for this purpose) put the meal into the large chest freezer, and the part that is left will make another meal later that week. 

This isn't doom and gloom, rather it is making sure I am using up all that I have paid for to the best of my ability and trying to keep as much of our hard saved money in our hands instead of the stores getting it.

I have heard of others using one shelf in their fridges for leftovers. If you do this can you tell me how that has worked for you. I hate having items pushed to the back of my fridge and forgotten about. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 

It has turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun came out at around noon, and the temperature sky rocketed. We are at 18C right now, but there are snow days ahead. Not looking forward to that at all.

I went shopping today and managed to get some very good on sale and marked down items. However shopping once again took almost 3 hours and my back was not feeling very good after that. Putting things away took some time, and I still have a few items that need to be put in containers, and the meat to be packaged up and put in the upright meat freezer. Tomorrow is soon enough for that.

Here is what was purchased today. Since I have lots in the fridge, freezers and pantry, most of this will be used much later. I could say that I stock up for many months down the road. 

I shopped at Walmart and our local Co-op store. Saw lots of meat mark downs at Walmart, but I know too many people who have gotten food poisoning from their meat so will stick with canned and baked goods. Our Co-op is a bit more costly, but we do get money back at the end of their shopping year (usually June) and get a nice build up of money in their account. I believe that account for me sits at almost $8K which I could pull out tomorrow. 

My Walmart shopping. It really wasn't bad at all this time around, however there were a few things I couldn't pick up. 

Co-op was next and this will be in a few photos.

I did purchase a few quick meals mainly because I was hungry. One should never shop on an empty stomach. As far as meat this shopping trip I got 2 packages of stew meat, a package of pollock fillets, and some split chicken wings. All on sale. I also purchased some luncheon meat, and those Pizza Pops (they were on sale for a really good price).

Not a great deal of fresh produce was purchased, but I am sure I have enough to last for a bit. If not there is always frozen or perhaps canned. 

We picked up our taxes today and I am breathing a sigh of relief. While Harvey has to pay a bit, it is not as much as it has been over the past few years. I even get a decent chunk back as well, which will cover his payment, the accountant payment, and gives a bit to perhaps put in the savings account. Life is good and I can stop worrying about make our money stretch even further, than I have to.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless. 

Menu Monday

 

Wow, it is the middle of the month, or close to it at any rate. One would think more April showers would be happening. While the next three days will have some rain, soon enough we will have lower temperatures and some of the white stuff. Really the type of weather that makes a person want to stay inside. 

So what are we eating this week. I am using a few things up from the fridge freezer and probably one item from the chest freezer. It all depends on if there are enough leftovers from one of my meals.

Monday

Ham and Pasta Bake. This has some extra veggies that I put into the casserole.

Tuesday

Sweet and Sour Ribs and I will pull out a package of frozen leftover rice from the fridge freezer. I will make carrots as a side dish. We do love carrots in this house.

Wednesday

Leftovers from Monday.

Thursday

Leftovers from Tuesday if there is enough for a meal. I may end up pulling a ready made meal from the chest freezer. I may make a salad.

Friday

Salmon patties, homemade hashbrowns (from the chest freezer), and peas. Leftover salad.

Saturday

Jambalaya which will use up some of the smoked garlic sausage from the fridge freezer, the last of the shrimp, and I will make another salad of some kind.

Sunday

Roast chicken, roast potatoes, and roast carrots. Served with any leftover salad.

This will take care of a few items in the fridge, fridge freezer, and the chest freezer as well.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

It rained a bit overnight, and was cloudy most of the day. Now the sun is out and I am enjoying that I could turn off lights in certain areas of the house. 

My back felt wonderful this morning, so instead of staying home and going to Mass online, off we went to the church. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate in community, however by the end of Mass my back was beginning to spasm. I had to walk very slowly out of the church and going down the stairs was jarring. 

Harvey decided that rather than me cook, or him cook he would take me out for brunch. The padded seats did help my back pain. 

Once home I would work for 15 minutes at a time on the loom and then take a short walk to ease the back. 

I also did the walk when cleaning and tidying the baking shelves in the larger side of the kitchen pantry. When I go shopping, because of all the bending, stretching, and lifting it takes me much longer (okay conversations with friends takes up a lot of time) to shop than it used to. It also causes my back to give me much more pain than usual. This means that when I come home and begin to put away the groceries, I more or less just toss things into the cupboard. Today, everything got put in their correct storage container, and I noticed I really need to get a couple more of those. 

This is the finished tidy.

I am very happy with how it turned out, and I can actually see things a bit easier.

Off to get supper sides started. I have changed my menu slightly as I am not going to waste any food. So instead of roasted potatoes we will be finishing off the pasta salad I made yesterday. I am also going to make some frozen French style cut green beans as those have been in the freezer for a very long time and need using.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

 

It is really warm today, almost 22 Celsius which is amazing. Just too bad that the cold is going to be returning bringing with it some heavy, wet snow. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will miss us. Heavy, wet snow can cause lots of damage to fruit trees and bushes.

I have actually gotten a few things completed this week project wise to share with all of you, and there will be a picture of the ongoing weaving that I hope will be finished very soon. I would love to get this first scarf completed, and the loom moved out of the way so as to cut out some clothing patterns.

Here are the binders that contain all those recipes and craft projects I printed off. The binder contains the recipes we really enjoyed, and the crafts I want to work on over the coming years. There is still room to add to both as I find recipes we like or crafts that could save us money, or use up items from my various craft stashes.

A new and much more organized inventory of my fridge freezer. Hopefully this will keep me on the straight and narrow. The older one was not easily cleaned and really did not look at all nice.

I have two more small white boards on my shopping list for this week. One for the larger side of my pantry in the kitchen, and the other for the top part over the built in microwave where I keep my pasta. I will next purchase another couple one for the smaller side of the kitchen pantry, and the other for the chest freezer. The one I have on the upright meat freezer is working a treat.

Working on the scarf, I believe I have about 12" completed and there are red stripes on the end you can not see. I am hoping to get at least another 20 to 24 inches done over the week and be able to take this off the loom. 

No picture of the mitts as of yet, just finishing off pair number 9 of this larger size and once pair number 10 is done, a picture will be forthcoming.

I also did lots of bean preparations this week and those are residing in the freezer packaged nicely in the chest freezer. I will try my hand at crackers, tortillas, and will probably make some mini donuts or cookies next week. Heck since I seem to be on a roll lately the black beans and pinto beans will be cooked and frozen as well. 

While my days might seem complicated to many, they really aren't. As I declutter and organize things just seem to get simpler. Cooking in bulk or getting those items necessary for different foods done ahead, make meal prep and meal planning so much easier. I no longer waste time looking for something I need and either not finding it or losing it in the cupboard, fridge, freezer or in the craft room. 

My lists help me concentrate and as I mark items off it makes me smile. I am so glad to know that I am not the only list lover on this planet.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Simple Easy Living

 As the days go by, I have noticed that my lists, and menu plans are becoming more and more condensed. I have been moving towards simpler easy to prepare meals, making large batches of food like soup, chili, and making sure leftovers are frozen and available for another meal or two. 

Of course there can be changes, but I still manage to work my way through the simple meals even if I change the days around. Things still get used during the month. However I think that I am going to have to add an empty out the fridge meal once in awhile. That will be a total surprise and change the monthly menu a little bit. 

As far as doing those tasks that are necessary for the smooth running of the household, this book allows me to do a daily list.

It also enables me to mark off when a task is completed. The one thing I wish this book had was an extra page to put my project list on and the monthly cleaning list.

However, I have found a way to do this without the extra page. I just turn over my monthly menu plan and put them on the back.

Notice that I get to stroke those off as well.

Next up on my organization for a simpler life will be an inventory of the chest freezer as well as a tidy up of the mess it has become. That is one of my extra cleaning tasks for this month.

These lists and bits of organizing keeps me moving towards a life that gives me time to enjoy sitting on the deck, working on those things I love like knitting, sewing and reading. It also gives me the time and inclination to do more decluttering so that my monthly cleaning becomes easier to handle. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.