I harvested lemons, Swiss chard, tomatoes, snow peas, green onions, lettuce, cilantro, and parsley from my garden. Most of my parsley is bolting already, so I cut and dried lots of it in my dehydrator.
The temperature rose dramatically and quickly to record highs, so I made sure to open windows early in the morning to keep the house cool. I also sowed seeds for warm-season vegetables earlier than usual, since the soil was warm enough to sow seeds for them. I sowed seeds for Indian Snake Cucumbers, roselle hibiscus, and watermelon. I plan to sow more seeds this week.
I collected parsley seeds from one bolted plant and sowed them in two pots by my entry which are in shade most of the time. I usually don’t plant edible plants there, but they are empty and I’m not buying annuals this spring. This should fill in the pots, and because it’s in shade, it should be nice and green all summer. I can walk out the front door and easily cut parsley in summer. Parsley won’t grow in the sun here in summer; it burns to a crisp. It’s better as a cool-season crop in the sun, but I have grown it in shady areas in the summer before.
I sowed seeds for vincas in a pot. I usually wait until June to sow them, but with the heat, I decided to sow some now and see if they germinate.
I redeemed 2200 Swagbucks for an Amazon gift card.
I filled up gas at Sam’s Club. It is now $4.05 here at Sam’s, but it is $4.59 to $4.99 other places in the city. I am making sure to fill up more often, even if the gas tank is only 1/4 or 1/2 empty, to fill up before gas goes up more.
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Gas was $3.24 gal on Friday at a gas station in the town where I work. Gas was $3.49 gal today ( Monday) at the same station, and it was $3.69 at the more expensive station. Because of the mind boggling rise in gas prices in a couple of weeks, I continued my stock up over the weekend. I bought oats, cornmeal, grits, and combined with rice, I have enough servings for one serving a day for 9 months. I also stocked up on garbage bags bc it is required here for our garbage pickup. I have a years supply now. I am now stocked up for a year on dried beans, one serving a day, peanut butter for four days a week, an of course the 9 months worth above mentioned carbs of oats, grits, rice, cornmeal. I also have three months worth of chicken legs and three months worth of tuna for once a week so I feel stocked up on protein and grains. I recounted my canned vegetables and I am going to keep my supply as is (it was more than I thought and I have a six months supply) and just replace and rotate when I use a can. I am now going to divert my attention to checking out other things like shampoo and toiletries. I am also low on canned fruit unless you count jelly which I now have 180 serving because I bought another large jar.I don’t really count that as fruit though.so I am definitely lacking in the fruit category. I usually eat a fresh apple a day but who knows how long I can afford that! I also need more of a paper towel and toilet paper supply so I will work on that. I think I have a month’s supply for one person. I am surprised I let my supplies get so low but I really was trying to use up a lot of my dried bean supply and I would say before the stock up I had successfully done that! Even if prices drop again, at least I have a good supply of most things.
Do you have room to add additional fruit trees to your garden?
My back yard is entirely shaded by neighbor’s trees and it goes completely underwater, the entire yard, when we have a hard rain. Nothing has successfully survived there except for the invasive bamboo, for some odd reason it survives and is annoying. My front yard also has neighbors’ shade trees and I had to have their mulberry tree, it hangs over my yard, cut off my roof bc my insurance was about to cancel me, and she agreed to let me cut it down in size significantly. It does have new shoots growing so I am hoping I can have mulberries again. I am able to grow greens between my roses at the front of the house, in slightly raised soil but I think my insurance would have an issue with trees close to my house. The other issue is that the city just redid all our sewer lines, for free ( they had some kind of grant) and we are prohibited from having trees within certain footage of the sewer lines. So , not really although I would love to have a couple of pecan trees since they grow well here. My front yard is small though and I don’t think I can based on the city’s requirements regarding footage… sigh.
Cindy in the south, sounds crazy but is the invasive bamboo growing in your yard an edible variety? Other parts of the world consider it a food staple. Since your backyard floods during rains, have you thought about a high raised bed? I mean one like two feet tall? Have you tried experimenting with a tiny bed? Salad greens and Chinese cabbage might like the shade and wet feet. I’m just wondering.
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
I have no sun in my backyard, which is why I wonder how the bamboo grows and spreads,. I have to cut it back. I have tasted it before and do not like it.
Cindy, You make me feel quite guilty. We have volunteer pecan, fig, pear, and mandarin trees on the farm. When I was working full time, I had the excuse of not picking them. I do not have that excuse anymore. This is the season to take advantage of the abundance.
Cindy, I would look for opportunities to forage. Here in the South e we have pawpaw, mulberry and pecans in the wild. I think Jeannie has a great idea to try a tall raised bed possibly. Just a few thoughts!
No sun in my back yard.
I do forage and have done that for years. I live in the very deep South also. Unfortunately, I was foraging pecans (not on my property, but at a local cemetery, courthouse, and nuts that had just fallen in the street) and a significant number of the trees have been cut down. I am basically stuck to dandelions in my small front yard. The front yard, as I stated before, I am limited to tree restrictions in the front yard because of the new sewer pipes the city put in and does not want tree roots to ruin the new city pipes. I am grateful for the new sewer lines because there have been major issues where I haven’t had sewage lines working for days in the past. I do grow greens in addition to the dandelions in my front yard. I just can’t grow anything in my back yard. People don’t understand it can be over six inches of water or more in the back yard. Nothing except the bamboo grows in the back yard. It apparently likes swamp water…lol. There are huge trees (not on my small lot) that border my property that limit the sun year around, and also make the ground extremely slow to drain, in addition to the ground being very flat. It has also led to foundation problems. Folks not from my area don’t understand the foliage, and that is ok. I do not like the taste of the bamboo in my back yard, which is the only thing that seems to grow. People don’t understand that we are talking about water and MUD in the back yard, unless we are in a severe drought. Even in a moderate drought it stays wet. Even two feet up does not get sun so raised beds are out, and I don’t want to be wading in the mud to get to them anyways. I understand folks in other climates don’t understand. I didn’t until I actually lived here.
Wow! Hard to imagine for certain!
Certainly much different from your climate. We all have our challenges. The big issue is keeping the foundation dry with that much water. I have had repairs done twice and I am saving for a sump pump.
What about Water Chestnuts and Taro? I would also check permies.com for suggestions.
Good luck.
Also, I have a job outside the home. I have limited time to forage. I do forage, or did within walking distance of my house, I walk an hour a day, or try to, but that is in my town, where I know where it is reasonably safe or not. However, I already spend enough on gas to get to and from work, and don’t view it as safe to go exploring around the roadways on the way home. I am single and in long isolated areas with absolutely no cell service. Getting killed because I stopped to forage some cattails on the side of the road with no way to call for help, I view as not being wise. I have thought of that, but it is kind of a balancing act. So, I grow what vegetables I can in the front yard, without making the neighbor’s mad, eat dandelion greens which do grow in my front yard, and just try to live as frugally as possible. Although it would help if I actually liked that the taste of that bamboo. I really just don’t enjoy eating it. I have tried it various ways. Thanks though for the suggestions!
I’m filling up my gas tank more regularly as well. And also driving as little as possible. I’m so thankful for my e-bike.
I’ve been enjoying the Great British sewing bee on the Roku channel for free, tip given by Katy of the Non-Consumer Advocate. The show has given me so much inspiration. I would like to look nicer and I am not a gifted at picking clothes. But I’m learning what to watch for and I’m enjoying feeling like I know a bit more what works for me. I have a lovely piece of gingham fabric which I’m going to make a top from for this summer. Free from somewhere.
I’m freeing up all of the large terracotta pots that I have out back to put alongside a raised bed to grow greens in the summer. The pots are in a position that I can extend my drip onto and where the shade comes over the earliest. This should extend my growing season a bit and anything that I can grow is a lot of money saved.
I wrote reminders for succession planting on my calendar so that I can be diligent about keeping up this summer.
A friend left a pile of things on my driveway for me to sell and keep the money. One item was a framed object which I sold today for $50. Today I also sold some wire shelves, that were free to me, for $20. I’m very happy with keeping things in circulation and making a bit of money.
I wrote a letter to a niece back east. It’s fun that she likes to write back and forth. A lot of pleasure just for the price of the stamp.
Brandy, did you ever get frost this past winter?
We never did. I always said one day we wouldn’t get one. This time, it happened.
Amd now it’s going to be at least 25°F warmer than usual this weekend.
We should see 100°F this weekend.
Hello! Brandy, love the photos, a reminder that spring is on its way. Herbs are starting to grow so will be splitting the plants. Though we may be moving later in the year I’ve started food seeds, someone will enjoy the produce.
Our fuel is approximately $7.00 for 1 U.S. gallon. We use the car when we can combine journeys.
Repaired a seem on a raincoat, done by hand but worth it, it looks new again. Turned up hem on 2 pairs of trousers, bought for 50% off. Continuing to make prem’ baby clothes for the hospital, with wool I already have. Have a good week.
I love anytime I see a photo of a honeybee foraging on a flower! With our warmer than usual weather last week, my bees were out enjoying the sunshine. Last fall, I focused on planting early flowering bulbs that bees enjoy just for occasions like this – when the weather warms up in early spring and they come out but there is little blooming yet for them to forage. Anything I can do to help them get off to a good start in the year means they are healthier and make more bees and honey. We continued with clean up projects on our property. It may be hard for those outside of our area to believe but the recovery from Hurricane Helene continues. We still have trees to cut and split for fire wood, paths to clear in our woods, a creek to reroute, and vegetative debris in another creek too large for us to remove. We continued to check with our county’s long-term recovery team and hope some help with be forthcoming for the creek debris clean up this summer. The rest we will continue to chip away at as we can. We continue to be grateful we had no more damage than we did. We dismantled a damaged chicken run a neighbor gave for as much of the material we could salvage, mostly hardware cloth which is a useful item to have on hand. It goes into our supply yard and will be useful for some project I am sure. I found both boys one pair of shorts each at a thrift shop. I went through my closet with a fine toothed comb and removed things I just don’t seem to choose to wear (unless I think it will make a good costume for either Halloween or the stage one day 😁) and donated them. Even thought this doesn’t save me money, it makes me enjoy and use what I have so much more. After an intensely busy time last Fall and this Winter, I feel the need to simplify things more and having too many choices definitely causes stress I don’t need. Gas just over the border in TN is now $3.29 (but it is 30-40 cents more per gallon here in NC) so I topped off my tank when there. Fortunately, it was a week when we didn’t not have too many away from home obligations which always helps. Meals are simple and I continue to try to limit grocery shopping to a few things that will help use up stored items. I just recently purchased 20 pounds of rice, the first rice I have bought in about 4 years. Rice is one of the things that our neighbors pass on to us from their food bank boxes. I don’t know why they don’t use it, I have never asked, just gratefully accept what they pass on and am glad whatever they give us does not go to waste. One of the easiest and cheapest meals I can make is fried rice. We all love it and it can be made in so many ways using up whatever bits of things you have around so this is always on the rotation. The snow has returned and it is howling outside my window as I type but Spring will be here in full force soon. I am ready to dig in the dirt! Have a lovely week, all!
Mountain Mama Dawn, if you have rice in abundance, try turning it into a flour. I have a grain grinder but a powerful blender or coffee grinder could also work. The goal isn’t getting a fine flour because it would be used as a breading on chicken nuggets or squash patties. I have used it on different kinds of things and never been disappointed. The coarser flour makes a crispier coating.
Leftover mush rice can be smashed flat and air fried into a cracker.
If rice is something you can get for free, go crazy experimenting new recipes!
Jeannie
Those are great ideas I had not thought of yet. Thank you, Jeannie!
Mmmm…I can smell that hyacinth. Mine are just starting to pop out of the ground.
Gas prices are climbing daily, I also fill up before hitting a half tank, I think I read that here many years ago and just have kept it in practice.
I made more broth for the pantry.
Started using broth when making rice (instead of water).
Hand embroidered with some hand sewn bead work for a friend’s holiday gift. Framed it in a frame I picked up for a quarter a few years ago.
A garden buckets bottom cracked badly. I mended it with some duct tape to keep it useable for another few years.
Hope everyone has a calm and productive week.
Enjoying cooking at home. My husband made a cheesy scalloped potato and ham casserole today and a nice salad with roquefort cheese and a bit of bacon dressing. It was very good! Yesterday, he made he made a Vietnamese Banh Xeo. It is a type of crepe with lots of yummy stuff in it. That same day he made Banh Mi sandwiches! I’m very happy with his interest in cooking! We also had Liver and Onions, Tuna Salad, Pinto beans, Curried lentils, peanut butter and jelly, and steak quesadillas. I continue to lose weight. I am eating to 80% full and eating less junk. Oh, I did eat a pot pie this week. I noticed when we make things from scratch, I feel much better. We did eat out one day. I have noticed that gas is going up here too. We are also trying to buy it at Sam’s when we can to save money. I am also trying to run errands when we go out as well. I hope to use what we have in the refrigerator this week to eliminate waste and save money. I don’t really like throwing money away when we throw unused food away. However, I am not eating things I don’t want, sticking to the 80% full rule. I look forward to seeing flowers and we hope to have a garden this year. We bought a few seed packets. I actually had a long list of seeds I wanted to purchase. In reality, it is probably more than we could take care of. So I will choose to be happy with what we do plant. I love garden fresh tomatoes!
Tammy, I don’t know if you are aware, but tomatoes should be started indoors to give them a good start outdoors. They take longer to grow, need lots of hot days. I’m sure someone here knows much more than I do, but the internet will help. I, too, love fresh garden tomatoes!
Thank-you Laura. Yes, My husband’s family has a greenhouse business. So I have learned a lot from them. We will probably start the seeds under a grow light indoors this week. We don’t want them to get too big before we can put them outdoors. I also hope to start some peppers. I’d like to get some other things planted as well. Thank-you for thinking of me with your comment. I appreciate it!
😊
It looks like my husband’s reduction in income will be permanent. But we have spent some time puzzling over spreadsheets and it seems like it ought to be OK in the end. There are some ‘wants’ we will have to do without or scale back on, but the ‘needs’ will all be covered without needing to do anything drastic or dipping into our rainy day fund.
I am very grateful that we saved money in the past and invested it prudently. I know people who have made a lot of money in the past and lost/spent it all, and I would rather be in our position than the “boom and bust” cycle.
I went back and compared our recent food spending to what we spent in 2020. It has doubled, which is less of an increase than I expected! Back then we had only a baby and a toddler, not the four children we have now, and we had a big cut in income when the pandemic hit so I was cutting everything I could. These past two years since my husband started a new career have been luxurious in comparison. But it turns out all the work I did in the past accustomed us to liking various cheap meals as the mainstay of our cooking and I keep cooking them most days whether I’m watching every penny or not!
We bought my eldest child a second hand bike in a bigger size, and will now pass down all the bikes one size! I am happy to get so much use out of every purchase.
Heating oil prices have rocketed up over here. The government is stepping in to support people, but we won’t qualify. (Which is fair enough! We have savings and are not on the breadline.) I am reprogramming our thermostat so we have the bare minimum of heating – maybe even none at all – and just heat the hot water. Hopefully we can hold off on buying oil for another month or two, maybe even three, and hopefully prices will stabilise and reduce a bit by then.
Hi Brandy and everyone
I love your photos and hearing about your garden and harvesting. We live in southern England and our temperatures and rainfall are so different. There is some overlap in crops but many differences.
My comments haven’t been getting through but I’m still trying!
We pulled parsnips this week, I picked tulips for the house and a bunch of daffodils for a friend.
I dug up a borage seedling and transplanted it into the refreshed herb beds. We had several garden gift vouchers and spent them on nine new herb plants and two cordylines to go in empty pots. No money spent.
Elsewhere I picked up a pack of broad bean seeds and at the till the woman pointed out loose seed which was £2.40 cheaper.
Veggie meals have been mushroom stroganoff, omelettes and cheesy jacket potatoes with salad.
I don’t make a menu plan anymore, I just buy deals/ reduced meat etc and eat from the freezer. I redeemed a voucher for a four pack of sultana scones.
We bought an off road buggy for our granddaughter on Facebook Marketplace. This was a big saving.
We bought new packets of underwear for my husband on Vinted at a good price.
I bought a like new cookery book from a charity shop for a daughters birthday. She had asked for hiking trousers and I signed up to the company’s emails for 10 per cent off and then cancelled the emails.
We politely declined an invitation to hear a friend sing in a concert, there was a cost to it.
My husband helped out a friend when their car broke down and we received a homemade cake as a thank you. Not necessary but yummy!
Keeping journeys down to save fuel.
Good luck to everyone.
I see your comments come through each week! I read each comment before approving them.
Thank you for letting me know!
As always what beautiful pictures. My husband and I planted 3 pecan trees in our yard. We won’t see the pecans but our grandchildren will. Saturday it was 80 degrees here and we were outside most of the day. Sunday it was cooler, windy and a tornado passed over us. Monday morning we got up to it snowing and 24 degrees. Tennessee weather gotta love it. I went to the library Saturday while I was running errands and stayed for craft time and discovered diamond art. I have a picture now that I am working on. I did not know how relaxing it was. I registered at a grand opening of a new business and won a fern.
Hi Donna! I live in Tennessee as well. We have only lived here a little over a year. We live in Jonesborough. Love it here, but Mother Nature has been crazy these past couple of days!🤣
Hi neighbor! We are in Johnson City😃
How cool!
I discovered diamond art last year at my library and love it. I was shocked at how expensive some of them are. I got 2 for 90% off at Michaels after Christmas. My friend has being coming over once a week and we are working on them together. I have done several more at the library.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia! We had snow last night! Schools are closed today, so no substitute work for me today. I am fine with that. I am nursing a cold and needed a day off. I am very much ready for spring to come and stay. We had beautiful weather last week, but now we are back to winter. I wish I had picked my daffodils yesterday to enjoy inside as now they are frozen.
This past week was a successful frugal week. Mr. Fix It used his military discount to purchase 4 new metal raised beds for the vegetable garden saving us $80. The spinach that overwintered has been giving me enough leaves for 4 salads a week. Sometimes I just add it to scrambled eggs. Today I will add some to the chicken soup I am making using canned homemade broth, dehydrated celery and carrots. It will help warm me as we keep the heat lowered in the house and nourish my body as I recover. I sowed some radish and spinach seeds last weekend in the garden. The garden is relatively protected from weather so I hope something will sprout after this storm.
Like you, we are trying to keep our vehicles filled. Our main car is a real gas sipper so that helps.
I was able to get a few good deals at the grocery stores. Using digital coupons I was able to get a can of free canned fruit, a free large package of toilet paper,a free can of salmon, and with coupons I saved $26 on groceries. When I left the store I realized I had forgotten to buy eggs, so I went in and picked up a 3 dozen egg package. When I checked out I had enough loyalty points to get them for free! I was very happy. I am now only buying what is on sale or marked down for things we need or to add to the food storage.
As I mentioned earlier, we added more boxes to our vegetable garden. I am planning to grow even more to feed us.
Last week’s conversation about stretching meat and ensuring sufficient protein intake got me to thinking on what I do. I always add a little plain Greek yogurt when making tuna or chicken salads. I use this yogurt to substitute for sour cream in just about every recipe calling for sour cream. At first I only used a little bit until my family got used to any difference in taste. I did this when adding things like lentils too. I did not tell my family initially. One thing I do to stretch ground beef is to cook it up, usually with onion and garlic, add some cooked lentils and then divide the meat mixture in half or thirds. I freeze the extra. These are great for casseroles, tacos, burritos, spaghetti, etc. When making tacos or burritos I add black beans or mashed white beans (homemade). I pad the casserole, tacos, soup, etc with extra vegetables and/or rice or noodles. As long as we can taste some meat we are satisfied. Another strategy I use is to cut the meat into small pieces. It makes a little feel like a lot. I add cottage cheese to scrambled eggs to bump up the protein. I add peas to casseroles and soups, even chicken or tuna salads. Brandy’s bean dip recipe is a great way to get flavorful protein into our diet as a snack. I add cheeses bought on sale to add to casseroles, etc. When pork sausage goes on sale I will cook it into crumbles and add to eggs and pizzas. While it is not the healthiest of proteins it still feels satisfying to eat. To help lower the cost I will get pork on sale and grind it up or purchase sale ground pork and add my own seasonings to make sausage. A pound of sausage cooked into crumbles feeds a lot more servings than patties. I save beef gravy or juices leftovers from stews or roasts and freeze to use to add to soups and gravy to give the meat flavor without the meat. And, of course, eggs fill the protein needs for very little money compared to beef and other meats.
Sorry for the long comment. I would love to hear what others do to help stretch their meat purchases.
Hi, Marley! I am waving to you from my corner of the mountains. 😁 I do many of the things you do to stretch meat. It is not too hard for me as I was vegetarian for about 35 years (I was an odd kid) and added meat back in when my kids were born. We only eat meat from local farms where we know how it has been raised or on the sale day from Earth Fare (do you have one there?) If so, there are many meat specials on Tuesdays that make it even more affordable than Walmart or any other store we have. Another thought is if you have access to duck eggs (from a friend, maybe) they are higher in protein than chicken eggs. Some people who have never eaten them balk at the firmer texture or really rich taste so mixing them with chicken eggs helps. They make any baked good rise higher and taste richer, too. If you were closer, I’d share my ducks’ eggs with you! Thanks for sharing all the details of your meals. With two teen sons (one who is 6’1” with no signs of slowing down) packing in the nutrition and especially protein is on my mind constantly.
Hi, Mountain Mama Dawn! I’m waving back.😁. I remember trying to keep our bottomless sons fed. It’s why I do what I do. During their growing time Mr. Fix It lost his airline job in the 2008 recession. Desperate times called for desperate measures. I tried to keep things steady so as no one worried. I enjoy reading your posts. Where is the theater you perform in? We’re about an hour from Barter Theater in Virginia. Blessings for a great week!
Thank you! I enjoy reading yours as well! I work for a few different theatre companies in the Boone, NC area and with a great community theatre in Mountain City. TN. My son and I were also in Horn in The West last summer – the longest running Revolutionary outdoor drama in the US. Pretty much if I hear of a good story I want to be a part of (and I think I might be appropriate for a role), I audition. I have certainly been to The Barter. They put on some wonderful shows!
Thank you for your suggestions. I will pass them along to my grown children, who are finding it challenging to afford groceries for their families these days ( they are already very expensive in Canada, so every tip helps 🙂).
Marney
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
We revived some stale French bread by steaming it to soften. If this hadn’t worked, it would have become French toast.
I boiled some eggs and pasta at the same time: kids like to eat hard boiled eggs as a quick snack, and I like them on my salads.
A couple of my boys did paid yard work for a neighbor.
A car wash near us had a grand opening with free washes, so I got one in our van. My younger two kids hadn’t been through a car wash before and were amazed. Ha!
I’ve found a family to pass on some baby items to: my friend’s nephew is expecting twins, so I’m going to try to drop off some things that my 7 month old has outgrown. They take up so much space, so it will be nice to have the living room back after the bassinet, bouncer, etc. are gone.
I found clearance diapers in a size my daughter will wear later.
My 15 year old got her driver’s permit: a friend is going to give me a “student driver: please be cautious” car magnet that her son doesn’t need anymore.
I bought more marked down Sam’s rotisserie chickens for myself and friends.
My dad fixed my kitchen drawer, where the facing of the drawer was coming off. It’s from the silverware drawer, which is my most used drawer. I swapped it out with a different drawer for the meantime, but was so happy he fixed it for us!
Gas is getting expensive, but I saved a little bit by looking for the cheapest gas station. Small amounts add up!
I finally filed the taxes: the baby will get a Trump account with $1000, and I think that 3 of my other kids can get $250 from the Dell foundation since we live in a low income zip code.
Our tax refund will go toward paying off the house sooner.
IG: Frewgalfamily_HTX
Money Saving March continues:
I bought a 83 inch by 118″ panel at IKEA for $15.00. I will modify it to replace broken, dusty mini binds that I have always hated. I can’t buy fabric for that price anywhere. This came lined so it is merely a matter of hemming.
I have been trying to sell a Yeti in great condition on MarketPlace but I am tired of fielding low ball offers and showing up to a meeting up and the person bails. I deleted this listing and lowered the EBAY price of it. It is a “buy it now” so I won’t have to keep checking on messages. Life is too short and spring is too beautiful.
I bought King Arthur pretzel mix for .77 a box, three boxes. I make 6 giant pretzles per box and freeze them. We eat so little bread that they last us weeks. They are great with the Anderson House soup mixes I make. I am not a natural cook and don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen because of lifelong food issues. Any help I get putting healthy, whole foods on the table is much appreciated.
More praise of appliances: Last summer I reorganized my recipes by appliances. It totally works for me. This week I collected up all random scraps of paper of recipes that “work.” I took a picture of each in ChatGPT and had it format each for 4 by 6. I then printed them out as cards. While filing the new recipes, I reminded myself of past ideas I loved but haven’t done for awhile. As I hunt bargains, it helps to have ideas at my fingertips. For instance, I ran across a pizza dough made in the Vitamix. Simple and fun.
That is brilliant –organizing recipes by appliances. I’m going to do that, too. Thanks for the great idea!
I imagined I smelled the purple hyacinths when I saw the photo!
They are too strong a scent to me to have in the house, but they start the rotation of scents of perennials in my yard: Hyacinths, scented daffodils, lilac, apple blossoms, lily of the valley.
I swear i smelled the purple hyacinths, too!
Me too! They are beautiful!
Those purple flowers are gorgeous. I fear everything that was blooming here is probably dead because of a freak drop in temperatures we had this weekend.
My husband found some Milwaukee Grid Iron tshirts for $8 versus 25. He purchased 7 (him and the boy can wear them).
Used various bags for trash.
I ordered stuff from Sams for delivery. Even tipping the delivery person still works out to be cheaper when I factor in time, gas, and any tempting unnecessary purchases.
Trying to open up the house on nice weather days but it’s so back and forth here. We had a few good days, then Sunday we started with a severe weather alert for storms(started out the day in the 70s), then had a snow squall warning by afternoon(I think I seen fir the first time ever here) because temperatures plummeted and it snowed. So crazy.
My tires were alerting that I had low pressure but didn’t have any holes or anything. Went by the tire shop and 3 valve stems were leaking. They replaced them for free.
I love hyacinths! My parents gave me one when my son was born 44 years ago.
This is for two weeks:
Week 1:
My DH trimmed our trees that had branches down during our winter storm.
Cooked a pound of sausage and a pound of kidney beans. The kidney beans were from the twelve pounds we shelled from our garden last year. Made chili, using garlic, peppers onions, kidney beans and black beans all from the garden. Home canned tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes and homemade chili seasoning mix. This was for DH while I was visiting my son, DIL and GDs. Made a pork loin and took it with me. Made a salad and took half with me. Made homemade Thousand Island dressing. Made chicken enchiladas. Made zucchini blueberry bread – took one loaf on visit, left the other one at home.
Week 2:
Made blondies for the DH for his treat for the week. Made a batch of taco meat for me, while DH eats the chili. Made a batch of potato corn chowder. Used onions, garlic and corn from our garden. Made pork chops that I cut from a large boneless pork loin. Made mushroom, parmesan orzo. The orzo was so good. First time I had made it. It is from the budget bytes website.
Prepared tax returns for DH and I, as well as for my two sons and their wives. Glad to have that over for another year. Got a free oil change for my car. We bought the oil change package when we bought the car, and get a free oil change every 5,000 miles. Since we keep cars forever, we more than get our money’s worth. Had finally finished all the last distributions from my mother’s estate, so closed the final bank account.
Did volunteer work twice this week. 3 hours on Wednesday and 3 hours on Thursday. They were going to be dumping milk at the end of Thursday, due to the best by date. So, I took a gallon home.
Avocados were 48¢ at Winco. Got 10. Got our $75 of free OTC items from our Medicare Advantage plan.
Hope everyone has a great week.
We had a big snowstorm last week and it was very cold. This week the temperature is going up. We have watering restrictions in effect until the city replaces a major water main. I am going to save some snow in buckets so I’ll have some to water a few plants if need be. I can do this because I have not used sand and gravel with salt on the ice. I’ll put a bit of olive oil in the buckets so the mosquitoes don’t thrive.
I am going to shovel a few shovelfuls of snow onto one of my beds that doesn’t get water so the clematis will still thrive. With any luck,, we’ll get rain and not have an extremely dry spring.
Last fall I splurged (and had a coupon at a nursery) and had 100 spring bulbs planted. I’m looking forward to seeing if any come up. As no bulbs came up for three years in a row, I changed planting depth but also location of planting. I’m looking forward to seeing flowers! I relocated a dead branch from my pear tree into a dead stump that had no branches, so I now have a new branch to hang a hummingbird feeder on. I have a couple of 3 foot high dead stumps and I plan to hollow the centres out and then plant ferns and hostas into the hollows. I asked a nursery owner if it would work and she said it should look fantastic.
I did two food rescues and filled a couple of community free food boxes and one community fridge. I was able to keep a good amount that we would use, including cheese, ground beef, a roast, two packs of fresh pasta, a bag of whole grain snacks, a 12 pack of zero sugar pop (it was missing 1), tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, organic zucchini, a bunch of bell pepper multipacks, broccoli, celery, a cucumber, a pack of organic spinach, onions, bananas, oranges, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and mangoes.
I went to an estate sale and got an old, heavy-duty apple corer. It has some heft to it! I also got a large food storage container and 3 smaller ones also with lids that are good for leftovers. At the sale, I also purchased a mixed bag of knitting supplies, and it included some needles, some blended natural fiber yarn, a work in progress (“WIP”) that just needs to be seamed (a cardigan), some buttons, some notions and some pattern booklets. If the patterns aren’t to my liking, I will leave them at the little free craft library.
For “pi” day on 3/14, I used ingredients I had on hand and made my 3 teenagers their most-requested dessert: cheesecake. It was gone in a day (it was a small one, but still!).
My birthday was last week. On my birthday, I usually go to a discount hair place for a cut, but this year I did it myself. With the $20 I saved, I treated myself to a visit to 2 ethnic grocery stores I’d never been to. I got a new to me spice and a bag of flavored Arabica coffee beans, a Yemeni style of coffee that I had tried before on a coffee date and enjoyed. I took a walk in a park before some severe storms came through. A friend gave me a gift card to Thrift Books, and I used it to get 3 books from my wish list and redeemed a free book reward for my birthday and got free shipping, too. I had a $15 gift card I won over the holidays, to a yarn shop many states away. I used it to get a cable for my interchangeable knitting needle set. It was free after the gift card (which also covered shipping) and I used it in its entirety, so I won’t be tempted to peruse the site more.
My oldest and youngest are creative souls and made me some art for my birthday, using what they had on hand.
Oh the smell of those lemon blossoms! Gorgeous!
I made chicken bone broth and froze in 1 and 2 cup portions in my souper cubes. Kept some out and making cauliflower garlic soup tomorrow for neighbor mom w cancer. She’s going back into the hospital on Friday for her second round of 72 hrs of chemo. She’s already lost her hair, thoughts and prayers appreciated.
The cheapest gas is now $1 per gallon more. I already try to group errands, but am going to see if I can change any upcoming appointments to tele visits. I’ve switched to only reading library books I can get digitally.
We are in day two of heatwave. 91F today. I was able to turn the ac on early, then turn off. Never had to turn on the ac this early in the year. Was able to wear Hawaiian dresses I bought at goodwill in January on discount day. Upside, will be able to hang laundry to dry.
Deep watered garden today and filled my ollas, which do a good job of watering just the roots in some beds to save water.
Got several sets of vintage cloth napkins at thrift store as I haven’t been able to get all the stains out of my everyday ones anymore. Also, got a pretty light blue egg tray; will bring a tray of deviled eggs to neighbors as high protein snacks.
E-books really help save on gas to and from the library! I really appreciate that bonus.
Maria, lifting your neighbor mom up in prayer. 🙏🏻 Question, where did you get your ollas? I have been considering using them. Thanks!
Maria, lifting up your neighbor mom in prayer🙏🏻 Question, where did you get your ollas? I am interested in trying them. Do you find them really helpful?
I’ve made some DIY ollas using smaller terracotta pots (blocking the hole with a cork) and a terracotta saucer that fits on top. Zero dollars spent and they work well.
Enjoy opening the blog to the beautiful flowers. Thanks Brandy-
We are starting to see the snow melt off our house roof and the icicles are become less and less. I heard a robin today and with the longer days of sunlight spring is around the corner.
This week:
*I am being very conservative with fabric I am using to make a baby quilt. I am measuring twice and cutting once; trying to conserve to make a little pillow or crib sheet.
*Did not drive our car for the last 4 days. Today did several errands in one trip and picked up a few groceries to fill in our meal plan based on loss leaders in our freezer. I decided to welcome a positive mind set of using home economic skills to review and compare food purchases on line. Stores here have all prices posted. It was well worth my time to save
*Made homemade hummus with can of chick peas. Had to substitute some ingredients; all good.
*DH repaired the corner of one our kitchen walls, a little paint and good as new.
*Got out my Easter/Spring decorations and enjoyed putting things out. (Same decorations for decades; how much can Easter Baskets really change?)
*Going thru my seed packets from last year to review what I have.
*Had geraniums stems in cardboard boxes drying over winter. Put those stems in vases of water to root out and will plant outside this spring.
So many helpful ideas shared here-so much encouragement. Thank you.
Brandy,
I was wondering if you eat the nasturtiums? Ann
I don’t care for them myself, but my son loves them. I keep meaning to try pickling the unripe seed pods as substitute capers and see if I like them.
Brought out the patio furniture on the covered back porch. I’m using an old microwave turntable salvaged from a (long-ago discarded) 1970s behemoth microwave as a glass tabletop for a metal plant stand found near a trash dumpster. Together, they make s great side table for my Granny’s post-WW2 chaise lounger.
I finally got rid of all the gigantic pieces of oak tree trunk still in my yard. Had them cut into pieces and I put a sign up saying free firewood. Advertised it on Craigslist as well. The movers whose van knocked down half the live oak still refuse to pay, so it like we’re going to court. But at least I’m rid of the big mountainous pile of logs in the front yard. And I didn’t have to pay to have them hauled to the landfill.
Neighbor had his teenager come get the last big ones and they are going to make them into outdoor benches. Should be really cute!
My little rose bush has three buds on it. Excited to see it bloom!