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Friday, August 8, 2025

2025 Frugal Friday File, August 8...

 

1.  Still doing a bit of decluttering each day.  I'm going pretty deep doing master bathroom cabinets and drawers.  Donated and discarded lots.  Today I started working in the craft room.  That is the worst room in the house.  Oy vey!  (Can't just keep the door closed, because that is where the most convenient restroom for guests is located.)

2.  My sweet husband cleaned the window exteriors; something I would not even think about doing in the summer heat, and I didn't ask him to do it either, but that's just the kind of guy he is, always looking for something to be doing.  Sometimes his hyperactivity makes me crazy (because it makes me feel like a slug staying in air conditioning and reading a good portion of the day, LOL).  I can honestly say that I have never ever nagged him about doing anything...because if I even mention that I'm thinking about doing something, it's done before I know it.

3. As I was doing laundry, I pulled the step stool in and dusted the open shelving and neatened them up.  I wanted something pretty, so looked through the china cabinet and found a hand-painted plate and plate stand.  I was happy for cheap.  Shopped my own inventory. 

4.  I have another Christmas present ticked off the list.  That makes two so far.  :)

5.   Aside from an appointment last week, volunteering at the library, dropping off at Goodwill, and picking up prescriptions and grocery order.  I'm not venturing out much.  This is my estevation season (definition:  [zoology] prolonged torpor or dormancy of an animal during a hot or dry period.  

What we ate this past week:

Saturday:  Family supper at Kasey & Beau's

Sunday:  out for Mexican food (and was extremely ill that evening and next day).  Our favorite place was closed, so we tried a different place.  :(

Monday:  Turkey & Rice Soup (homemade)

Tuesday:  Spanish Rice

Wednesday:  Charcuterie Board  (test run)

Thursday:  Breakfast for supper

Friday:  Sausage, Rice, & Green Beans stovetop skillet dinner

**designates meatless meal

Wednesday, August 6, 2025

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

Forty-sixth challenge finish of the year.

As I made my way through this book, I thought many times that I would just stop where I was and move on to another book, but I stuck it out.  It wasn't great, but it's been on my Kindle since 2014, and now it's read.

Friday, August 1, 2025

2025 Frugal Friday File, August 1...

 

1.  On Sunday I made a huge pasta, vegetables, and turkey salad; I had to get the BIG stainless steel bowl down from the top of the pantry to be able to toss the salad in.  I mixed together salad dressings that were a couple of weeks in the fridge and needed to be used: cilantro lime, salsa ranch, and some mayonnaise to tone down the salsa ranch which would have been too spicy for Carey.  After we ate, the leftovers were down to what would fit in a large salad bowl (large but not BIG) with a snap on lid.  We'll be eating leftovers for lunches and/or dinners through the week.

2.  I found a way to pay almost half for the bacon I prefer, at least some of the time.  (see Monday's post).

3.  I've reached the end of my rope waiting to get the motivation to get the house decluttered.  My friend Catherine was scheduled to host the next book club meeting, even though she is booked up till just a few days before the meeting.  So I asked her if I could have it at my house this month instead.  I have a serious case of clutter blindness, so I need outside motivation, like public humiliation if it's a wreck when people show up.  :)  Let me assure you in case you are worried, there's no trash, I do throw trash away.  Nor is stuff all over the floor with paths through it.  Good grief, Carey would not put up with that.  It's just that I cover tables, desktops, a couple of chairs, with mail, packages, crafts, books, etc.  Oddly, my closets stay mostly neat and organized...it's the horizontal surfaces out in the open that are a jumble.

So far I'm doing a little bit every day.  The whole house won't be completely decluttered by the 20th, but the rooms people see should be.  And hopefully the forward progress will propel me forward on my journey.

4.  I've already read this month's book club selection, but it's been several years.  I just checked out the audiobook from the library so I can listen while I declutter.

5.  On Fridays after 5pm, Schlotzky pizzas are only $5.  Carey had one of their sandwiches, but I got the personal veggie pizza.  (I know, I know, that is hardly even a fringe frugality.)

What we ate this past week:

Saturday:  Family Supper at Kasey & Beau's

Sunday:  Pasta Salad with red, yellow, and green bell peppers, golden Greek peppers, grape tomatoes, red onion, carrot, celery, yellow squash, zuchini, cubed turkey, & dressing

Monday:  Shrimp Gumbo

Tuesday:  leftover pasta salad

Wednesday:  Carey made a sandwich; I ate more pasta salad.

Thursday:  we can't remember...possibly pasta salad...don't judge me, please

Friday:  takeout sandwich/pizza

**designates meatless meal

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Forty-fifth challenge finish of the year.

This one has been on my Kindle since January of 2024, so not the oldest, but still I am so excited to have another one with the "Read" banner across the corner of its cover's thumbnail on my Kindle's home screen!  In this case the storm was the non-human antagonist.  The subject was the 1900 hurricane that had a death toll of more than six-thousand (some say eight- to twelve-thousand) people.

Reading this so close upon the heels of the flash flooding that occurred so near us was a bit difficult.  The descriptions of the storm's suddenness, the children and families lost, the loved ones searching and waiting for news.  So very sad.

I feel like a traitor just giving it three and a half stars, because I really admire the author's work in literary non-fiction.  But this one was very history, technical, and climate science heavy and bogged me down a bit in the first half, and I found myself playing on my phone rather than reading.  But the second half was really gripping.  The very well researched descriptions of the violence and devastation the storm assaulted the island with had me reading with one hand covering my mouth.

Monday, July 28, 2025

Bacon me hungry...

I'm kind of a bacon snob.  I hate the paper thin slices, they burn so easy.  So I always buy thick cut, and my favorite brand is Wright's.  On the rare occasion it is on sale, I stock up and keep it in the freezer.  This is the package I usually buy, as we don't go through a larger package within best-buy date.  One and a half pounds is currently $10.23 (or $0.43 an ounce).  Oddly the two and a half pound package is $0.48 an ounce.

On my last grocery order, the photo above caught my eye on the store's website.  And I thought, I usually end up cutting the slices into pieces anyway (at least when I'm using it in a recipe), so why am I paying almost twice as much when it's not what I really need.  So I bought the ends-and-pieces package (which is three pounds).  


It comes vacuum sealed, so it's kind of a block that has to be worked apart.  But I think the fat to lean ratio is pretty comparable to the all sliced package that costs almost twice as much per ounce.  

I won't stop buying slices for things like breakfast or sandwiches, but a lot of the time that I use bacon is in things like soup, cooking dry beans, gumbo and the like.  And these "ends and pieces"  are fine for those purposes.  In fact I have a pot of gumbo on the stove as I type.


So from a three pound package, I used some immediately for the gumbo, and the rest I vacuum sealed into four half-pound (a little over half pound) packages for including in recipes.

I'm very happy to have finally realized that there is a way to save on my favorite bacon even when it's not on sale.

Friday, July 25, 2025

2025 Frugal Friday File, July 25...

 

1.  Carey loves meatloaf.  This week instead of making it in a loaf pan like I usually do, I made it in a smallish (maybe 8" x 10") metal baking pan that has a snap on plastic lid with a silicone sealed rim.  I usually use these pans for casseroles that I put in the freezer.  This time I divided the uncooked meatloaf into two loaves and placed them in the pan running from short side to short side.  Leaving the lid off, I put them in the oven to bake along with four potatoes.  

     When the potatoes were fully baked, I removed all from the oven.  I added ketchup to the top of the meatloaves and put them back in the oven.  Then I removed the flesh from the jackets of the potatoes.  I mashed the potato flesh with butter, shredded cheese, sour cream, and dry ranch dressing mix.  I put the seasoned potato flesh back into the potato jackets, added a little more cheese to the top, and put them back into the oven to warm through again.

     We ate about half of one of the meatloaves, and two of the potatoes for dinner.  After which I removed the partial meatloaf from the pan to a small plate, and stored it in the fridge for sandwiches.  I placed the two twice-baked potatoes that were left into the same pan with the remaining uncut meatloaf.  Once cooled I snapped the lid into place, and labeled with the contents, then it went straight into the freezer.  

     Yay for taking a very few minutes in today's meal prep, so that we can have a repeat homecooked meal another night with absolutely no effort at all on my part.

2.  Received an Amazon purchase this week.  Quite frequently, if I know what's in the package and I don't have an immediate need for its contents, I will leave the box unopened until a more convenient time.  Happily I didn't do that this time; I'm trying to practice the "Do It Now" rule more frequently.    Once open, I realized that I had ordered a different item than the one intended.  RIGHT then, I repackaged it, printed the return label, and got the package sealed up and ready to return.  Dropped it off at UPS store the next morning while out running errands.  Already have been refunded, and reordered and received the correct item.

3.  I've resisted the temptation to pre-order the new Ken Follett book coming out in September.  I know the library will get it pretty quickly, so I'll just watch the new acquisitions list to get on the reserve list early.

4.  I haven't purchased any craft and/or hobby items.  I'm not being very creatively productive since I've spent so much time reading this year.

5.  Received a refund check of $89 from dealership where new car was purchased.  Not sure why, but I'll take it!

What we ate this past week:

Saturday:  Family Supper at Kasey & Beau's

Sunday:  leftover quiche for C; turkey sandwich for me

Monday:  frozen pot pies

Tuesday:  Meatloaf, Twice Baked Potatoes, Corn

Wednesday:  Salmon, Rice Pilaf, Green Beans

Thursday:  out for burgers

Friday:  Spanish Rice

**designates meatless meal

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Forty-fourth challenge finish of the year.

I knew exactly which book I wanted to read for this prompt, as it technically has zero letters in the title, just numbers.  :)  This one has been on my Kindle since 2013...11/22/13 to be precise.  They must have offered it at a special price on the fiftieth anniversary of JFK's assassination (I paid $2.95).  

I've read a lot of long books over the years: all of Jean Auel's Earth's Children series books, all of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series books, AND all five of the Kingsbridge series books by Ken Follett, four of which were over 900 pages each (and one of those I've read three times).  But I don't think I've ever read as many long books in a single year as I have this year!  This one came in at 877 pages, and I loved every one of them!

You may ask if I loved it so much, why did I only give it four stars?  Well, because I only give five star ratings to books that I love so much I want to read them again sometime in the future.  The majority of the books I've read this year I have rated four stars.  That kind of amazes me, usually I have more clunkers mixed in.


(Wouldn't you know that as I was refreshing my memory as to how many books were in Ken Follett's Kingsbridge series and their lengths, I see that he has a new book coming out in September of this year which will be 704 pages, and is a novel about the building of Stonehenge...right up my alley!  So there may be another fairly long one in my reading for the year.)
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