Rewind

I had a simple, delicious meal planned for last night.  Baked ham, sweet potatoes, English peas.  Sounds good, right?  Then I got home and realized I hadn’t thawed the ham, which is not a huge problem.  Then I realized the sweet potatoes were starting to go bad!  So I had to rethink this entire meal.  I peeled the sweet potatoes and diced them, avoiding the icky spots.  I had half an onion left over, that got diced as well.  A sort-of-mangy bell pepper, some fresh broccoli that still looked good, and a handful of those English peas, and we’re in business.  I sautéed the veg with some madras curry powder, added some tomato sauce, dumped the whole thing over rice, and it was delicious!

I love it when a plan comes together

Remember how I started this blog to save money/make money so I could travel more?  Well, the first planned trip will be upon us soon.  We’re going to New Orleans for a wedding next month.  I have the money for that trip set aside, now I just need to call and make my hotel reservation.  Regarding my vacation, my hosts had asked that I come in May.  It was just too soon.  I don’t have enough money saved for that yet, I could get there but I’d have no funds to go and enjoy myself.  So I asked if we could postpone this til September and they said that was fine.  Yay!  That gives me enough time to do this up right.         

Whoa. What a week.

Hubby had stents put in his heart last Friday, and thankfully, the surgery was very successful.  He feels so much better already.  But it’s been a whirlwind for me, the VA chose to have him get this work done in a hospital 3 hours away.  In addition to taking off work for that, my son-in-law has had 2 job interviews this week, and I took off early those days to keep the kids, since Ayla went back to work last week.  He got the job, he starts Monday, so YAY for Shane!  But I do kind of feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water.  If it weren’t for Tahnee pitching in I don’t know how I’d manage.  She brought us Subway sandwiches for supper last night.

Last week I made homemade pizzas, something I haven’t done in a while.  I made the dough, I sautéed 4 colors of bell pepper, plus an onion, til everything was sweet and tender, I even made the sauce.  I baked the crusts for 4 minutes, then added the toppings and baked again, to guard against soggy middles.  Here’s how it went:

 

 

 I added sliced green olives and pickled garlic to my pizza.  SUCH a good flavor!!!  Thanks again to my co-worker John for that pickled garlic, it is so addictive.  So is his marmalade, but that’s a different post.  I ended up with 3 extra crusts, 1 large and 2 small.  So I wrapped them in foil and froze them, along with the leftover sauce.  I can definitely see me making pizza for lunch one day this weekend.  We’re out of mozzarella, I wonder how a cheddar or provolone pizza would taste? 

I had a very frugal weekend, if you don’t count the trip to Goodwill

Actually, even including what I bought at Goodwill, it was frugal.  I spent just under $30, and got a lot of good stuff.  A pair of jeans for Ayla, which she needs for work, a pair of shoes and a shirt for Drake, 2 outfits for Zane, a Spiderman cake pan, and a baby sling.  Ayla had given hers away, not realizing she was having another kid so soon.

 

Poor Drake has my feet, which means nobody will ever be able to buy him a pair of shoes without him around to try them on.  I see shoes in his size at thrift stores all the time, but won’t buy them.  I know what ill-fitting shoes are like on these wide, flat appendages we are forced to call feet.  More like duck flippers with toes, if you ask me.  Having him there to try them on was great, assuring I didn’t waste my money on shoes that hurt his feet.

 

As for that cake pan, with 2 little boys in the house, one of them is bound to want a Spiderman birthday party at some point.  Drake is already a fan, so maybe for his next birthday that will be the theme.  Although I was already gearing up for a train-themed party this year, but it’s not like the cake pan will go bad.

 

Following our trip to Goodwill, we gassed up the car so I could get to work this week, up 20 cents a gallon from 2 weeks ago.  Then we were off to the library.  Drake was hesitant about returning the one he checked out last week, but when he got in there and found others that were just as cool, he was OK with it.  Ayla got a card for herself, she doesn’t need mine now to check out books, and she let him check out 2 books for this week.  Following the library, we went to the park at the Landing.  It was chilly with the wind coming off the water, but very pleasant.  And we ran into some friends from church, so that was fun.  There they are, down by the water:

 

I made this week’s menu pretty much vegetarian, the only meat involved was a half pound I had stashed in my freezer, plus a little bacon.  So far nobody has complained.  And it dropped my weekly grocery bill a lot!  Our menu is as follows:

 

Taco soup (1/2 lb ground cow)

Chili (kidney beans)

Veggie frittata, roasted onion potatoes

Lentil curry

Bean with bacon soup

 

I always keep bacon in the freezer, I’ll lop off a bit to flavor the bean soup.  I had bought fresh broccoli and one each red, yellow, green and orange bell pepper for the frittata.  I ended up using very little so next week I’ll make homemade pizza, to use those items up.  Slowly caramelized peppers and onions are my FAVORITE pizza toppings, and broccoli cooked slowly in with them ain’t too bad either.

 

I made the fritatta and potatoes Saturday.  Looks yummy, huh?

 

 

 

Starbuck’s Should be a Treat, Not a Lifestyle Choice

I don’t drink coffee, I drink tea.  But even so, going to a place like Starbuck’s is nice.  I use the term Starbuck’s generically in this case, fill in the name of any similar place, such as Panera Bread or Tim Horton (shout-out to Kim!).  In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with treating yourself from time to time.  I know a lot is being said lately about austerity measures, both in our personal lives and in government.  Some people can live in total deprivation, keep their eyes on the prize, and be content.  I am not one of them.  Before my BFF moved away we took the time occasionally to go out and have a treat.  Might have been dinner, or a drink and pastry, or even a snowcone.  The place didn’t matter, it was a time to decompress from our busy lives and catch up.  I miss those dates with her but that just means the time we will spend together on our infrequent visits will be that much sweeter.

My problem with the aforementioned treat spots comes when people start treating themselves too frequently.  It’s no longer special.  It can turn into a habit, something you don’t even enjoy anymore but since you stop for coffee and a muffin on the way home every day, why change the pattern today?  And it turns into an enormous money drain.

As in most areas, I don’t want to say “This is the way it should be done”.  Rather, my message is “Think before you act”.  Not original, I know.  Very little in this world is original, but when it’s good advice, it bears repeating.  And this is good advice. 

THINK.  What is that purchase costing you per week?  Per month?  THINK.  How could that money be better spent?  THINK.  Are there alternatives that will satisfy?  How can you implement them? 

If coffee and pastries are your thing, do an internet search.  Here’s a coffee treat recipe I’m told is really tasty.        

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/03/04/recipe-maple-mocha/

I like chai tea, but at Panera it’s around $3.  Not worth it.  I can throw some cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and cream or milk into a cup of tea and it’s just as tasty, in my opinion.  No idea what it costs but I can assure you, it’s nowhere near $3 per serving.

As for those pastries, baking from scratch can be fun, and a worthwhile skill to cultivate if you don’t already know how.  Yes, I know it takes time, and you’re a very busy person.  We all are.  Even a muffin mix is cheaper than one muffin at a coffee shop.  And once people know you can bake, you’re going to be very popular. 

THINK.  That’s all I’m asking.              

Maybe I should stop dissing the mall

I got an amazing deal last night.  I never have a “nice” coat since I rarely use one here.  I make do with old sweaters and stuff my mom gives me, plus a hoodie.  I got a stain on my 3yo hoodie which was starting to look worn anyway, so last night I was at the mall and stepped into Avenue to see if they had any deals.  I found a nice quilted coat in khaki, reg. $60, marked down to $18.  I got it!  Then I got up this morning and it was 31 degrees so I cut the tags off and wore it.  Not the greatest picture but here you go:

 

And why was I at the mall, you ask?  Isn’t that Mecca for the shopaholic looking to load up on overpriced merchandise?  Maybe not.  Apparently the mall carousel is free on Tuesdays.  Yesterday Ayla asked if I would keep the baby after work so she could take Drake.  I asked if I could take him and go with them, she said sure.  So when I got home we went, he rode the carousel 4 times, and we went to the indoor playground they have there so he could play for a little while.  I took Zane into Avenue with me while Ayla took Drake to the playground.  I was thirsty so I sprung for 2 sodas (my first one in months), 75 cents apiece.  So the entire outing cost $1.50, plus gas to get there.  The coat doesn’t count because I had already decided to buy one when I found the right deal. 

Here are the kids, enjoying the outing:

 

 

 

Yeah, that was money well spent.

 

A Quilt Challenge

I have several quilts to make this year, and I’ve decided to challenge myself to something a little different with the first one.  Normally I make quilts with whatever fabric I have on hand, which can include leftover pieces of fabric I’ve purchased for other projects, pieces of clothing I’ve cut up, fabric I’ve been given, and sometimes I even buy new fabric just to fill in an area I feel a quilt needs.  But this one is going to be made completely of fabrics that had a previous life.  Meaning, it must have been used somehow before.  The only new piece will be the batting.  I’ve got squares cut from shirts, dresses and sheets, and so far I’ve made 16 squares of the 20 I’ll need.  It’s a simple 9 patch so it goes pretty quickly, I started it on Saturday.  It’s turning out extremely pretty!  The sashing will be made of a sheet, and I plan to do a patchwork border as well, then a solid border. 

Over the weekend I also made a wall hanging for Zane’s room.  I bought all the elements new except the green paint.  But even so, the project was inexpensive, I think it cost around $5.  And so cute!  It will be perfect over his bed.