Saving Money in My Frugal Kitchen ~ Week #3 December 2025

Welcome to Frugal Workshop where every Monday I share the simple strategies used to save money over the past week, along with the meals that made it to our dinner table. You'll find practical tips on how we saved money on food hopefully to inspire your own meal planning using the foods you have in your own pantry.

My Frugal Week

Last Monday I went to Ollie’s to restock on spices. I bought several Lawry’s seasonings for $1.29, which is a real bargain compared to the $4.12 Walmart price. 

All meals were eaten at home this week with no eating out, so we have more money to spend somewhere else. 

Use It Up Item Of The Week

My plan of using the "lurkers" in my pantry continued this week. My goal is to use up those items that we have on hand and incorporate them into our meals. 

On Saturday I went to Walmart to get the last few things I needed for our Christmas get togethers. I bought two large bags of broccoli and had to do some rearranging in my freezer to make them fit. 

No worries, I took the strawberries out from summer, and I recall they were not very sweet, so I added a can of crushed pineapple and a small package of frozen melon and used my stick blender to make a fruit sauce. The sauce will work for multiple uses this week, tastes delicious and no food was wasted.

 

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Egg Roll in a Bowl with Turkey Sausage and Rotisserie Chicken. 

This was an experiment as I’d bought two rotisserie chickens on markdown at Kroger. I pulled the meat off the bones and used some in the soup on Saturday and some in the salad for anyone who wanted that. 

Then on Sunday I decided to use up the last of it for egg roll in a bowl. I included toasted sesame oil, marked down bag of coleslaw, onions, peppers, soy sauce, and fresh grated ginger and garlic. It was delicious

Tuesday ~ Ham & Cheese Sandwiches 

I put deli sliced home, bought on markdown at UGO, on croissants with cheddar cheese and baked the, in a 375 degree oven for 12 minutes. 

Wednesday ~ Hebrew Beef Hot Dogs & Pizza Beans

Using up two frozen assets to free up freezer space, I pulled out a container of pizza beans and a package of marked down Hebrew National hot dogs, which I served on keto buns. I served this with the last of some roasted potatoes and the last an individual serving of dressing. It’s good to use those items up rather than let them go to waste. 

Thursday & Friday ~ Cheesy Potatoes & Corn

I took a three pound chub of ground beef from the freezer, bought at UGO for $7.99. I browned all of it with onions and garlic, and saved two pounds for another day. Using one pound for dinner, I made a family  favorite, which was cheesy potatoes and I served corn on the side. 

Saturday ~ Turkey Sausage, Green Beans with Onions, and Baked Apples.

Bailey had the last of the cheesy potatoes with her dinner while I had turkey sausage. I served this with green beans with onions and baked apples, which were two items in my freezer I used up to free up more space. 

Sunday & Monday ~ Chicken Tacos, Chili Beans and Corn

I thawed some already cooked chicken breast meat from the freezer for this meal. I chopped up the meat, added onions and the last of the red and yellow peppers, along with some taco seasoning and salsa. 

I served this with choice of hard or soft flour or corn tortillas, extra sharp cheddar cheese, tomatoes, red onions, jalapeños, taco sauce, black olives, and my homemade chipotle ranch sauce. Sides were chili beans and corn. 

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week?

Belinda

Homemaker at Heart

~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Image Credit

Beautiful Star of Bethlehem

 

Many musicians have sung this song over the years, but my favorite artist who sings it is Patty Loveless. I hope you enjoy her version. 

Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem

Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem
Shining afar through shadows dim
Giving the light for those who long have gone
Guiding the wise men on their way
Unto the place where Jesus lay
Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem shine on. 

Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem      (Star of Bethlehem)
Shine upon us until the glory dawns.
Give us a light to guide the way
Unto the land of perfect day
Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem, shine on (shine on) 

Oh Beautiful Star the hope of light
Guiding the pilgrims through the night
Over the mountains till the break of dawn
Into the light of perfect day
It will give out a lovely ray
Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem shine on (shine on) 

Oh Beautiful Star the hope of rest
For the redeemed the good and blessed
Yonder in glory when the crown is won
Jesus is now the star divine
Brighter and brighter he will shine
Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem shine on (shine on)

    Belinda 🫶

💕 Homemaker at Heart 💕 ~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Second Frugal Friday of December 2025

Welcome to Frugal Friday!
Each Friday here at Frugal Workshop, I love sharing the frugal wins, quiet savings, and simple strategies that helped us stretch our budget over the past seven days. It’s a gentle look back at the small things that make a big difference. 
My Frugal Week
Last Friday we went to People Helping People's bag sale where you fill a large gallon kitchen trash bag for $15.00. I found several useful items such as homemade flannel burp cloths, but I’ll be using them as flannel hankies instead. I made myself some years ago using an old flannel sheet, but many of them have disappeared over the years and these burp clothes are a good size. 
On Saturday we went to an estate sale where I found a new to me crockpot for $8.00. The one I have has handles that clamp down the lid, but they seriously get in my way, so I replaced it and set my old one aside in our consignment sale pile. I also found a very useful glass storage jar for $2.00. 
One of the students I tutor wants to read the Harry Potter series of books. We were able to find two of them at the estate sale for $1.00 each. Now she will be able to annotate in the book with no worries about “wrecking” a good book. 
On Sunday we went to a clothing exchange where you bring a Walmart bag full of clean clothes and exchange them for ones that fit. I had no problem filling a Walmart bag with clothes as I buy them second hand, bring them home to try on, and what I don’t like donate to People Helping People. It’s an inexpensive way to fill my wardrobe with clothes I love wearing and I get some really unique pieces this way. 
I went to McKay Used Books this week and traded. I was looking for The Magic Treehouse books for another student I tutor. I was able to find several copies as the shelf was full with this series. I ended up with four books at $2.50 each, earned over $8 in trade credit and only had to pay $1.26 in cash. 
I went to the Samaritan Center on Monday and found myself a pair of Dr. Martens boots! I have always wanted a pair and the best part is I only paid $20 for these even though they retail for $180.
The FedEx delivery driver wasn’t paying attention and ran over a stump at the edge of the driveway on Wednesday, so I spent about an hour with him looking for tools to McGyver his way out of here. He finally made it out with his exhaust pipe tied to the frame of his truck and still had deliveries to make. 
Freebies
Our library has a free exchange section where you can drop off items you no longer need and pick up anything you can use, all for free. I took the students I tutor to the library this week and saw three mason jars in the exchange, so I picked those up after dropping off my egg cartons there. 
Upstairs at the library they also have a little free pantry, which includes food, clothing,  household items like dishwashing and laundry detergent, and feminine products, all free for anyone in need. 
One of the students I tutor wants to read The Magic Treehouse series of books. We stopped at a Little Free Library when I was taking them home and there was one of them in there! I think that was meant to be. 
Saving on Electric
This week I put plastic over my bedroom windows. And on Thursday I turned the heat on in my bedroom after it was 55 degrees in there. Brrrr
Saving Money on Entertainment
On Tuesday we went to Bargain Day at UEC Theater to see the second version of Wicked. In anticipation of this, we watched the first Wicked movie on Sunday and finished on Monday evening. Tickets on bargain Tuesday have risen to $6 each, but that is still a bargain, plus you get a free small popcorn. 
How was your week? Are those of you who celebrate Christmas busy getting ready for the big day? I’m getting there myself and enjoying the process at my own pace. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. 
We would love to hear all about your week in the comment section.

Belinda 🫶 💕 Homemaker at Heart 💕 ~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Saving Money in My Frugal Kitchen ~ Week #2 December 2025

Welcome to Frugal Workshop where every Monday I share the simple strategies used to save money over the past week, along with the meals that made it to our dinner table. You'll find practical tips on how we saved money on food hopefully to inspire your own meal planning using the foods you have in your own pantry

My Frugal Week

Continuing with my plan of using the "lurkers" in my pantry, this week I purposefully used up the individual bowls of soup I had in the freezer for my lunches. This freed up some valuable freezer space. I also used up a small can of green chilies from the freezer, three small containers of salsa, and some frozen baby carrots.

My goal is to use up those items that we have rather than buying additional food. I have several packages of specialty lentils, quinoa, etc. that I’ll be incorporating into our meals this month. 

We went grocery shopping for the month on Wednesday. We went to UGO, Kroger, and Ingles. We found several markdowns we were able to purchase. Ingles had their brand of cream cheese on sale for $1.23, so I bought enough to use for the Christmas dishes I plan on making. 

One item I’ll be making is hash brown casserole. I was able to find the 32 ounce bags of O’Brien hash browns at UGO for 99 cents. They sell for $3.42 at Walmart, so that was a good deal. 

On Saturday I went to Food City because they had their 32 ounce bags of shredded cheese for $5.00 with a limit of four. I bought mozzerella as I have plenty of cheddar on hand. I also picked up some apples on markdown. 

On Saturday afternoon I worked on several tasks to organize in the kitchen and not waste any food. I took the chicken I’d cooked from Gordon’s and froze it for a future meal, bagged up six bags of chopped celery for the freezer, stored the free bagels we got this week in the freezer, pulled some stuff like seeds from the freezer to make room for the extra food. 

Both above the refrigerator freezers are full right now, so I won’t have to do any grocery shopping for the rest of the month. Next year we want to purchase a deep freezer to be able to take as advantage of the good sales we find. We found more turkey sausage on sale on Saturday but only bought six as that is all I could fit in the freezer. 

Recipe of the Week

Chicken Santa Fe

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can corn, drained

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rins

1 & 1/2 pounds chicken breasts (24 ounces)

1 cup salsa

1 (8 ounce) block cream cheese

Directions:

Drain corn and place it in bottom of the crock pot.

Drain and rinse black beans and add to corn.

Add 1/2 cup salsa on top of the corn.

Mix well.

Place chicken breasts on top.

Pour another 1/2 cup of salsa over chicken.

Cover and cook on high for 2 & 1/2 to 3 hours.

When chicken is done, take out of the crock pot and cut into pieces or shred.

Cube cream cheese and add chicken and cream cheese to the crock pot.

Allow cream cheese to melt.

Stir well and serve.

 

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Chicken Tacos, Corn, Black Beans, Red Onions, Tomatoes, Black Olives, Jalapeños, and Chipotle Sauce. 

Using a rotisserie chicken from the freezer, I pulled all the meat off the bones and chopped it up to make taco meat. I added green chilis (a small previously opened can from the freezer), three small containers of salsa, onions, taco seasoning, and salt and pepper.

We used free lettuce and tomatoes from the Mennonites to top them along with cheddar cheese (Kroger sale), black olives (Gordon’s), red onions, chipotle sauce, and jalapeños. Choice of hard or soft shells, flour or corn. Sides were corn and black beans.

Tuesday ~ BBQ Porkchops, Green Beans with Onions, Steamed Carrots. 

I put the pork chops in the crockpot with bbq sauce in the morning, so they were falling off the bone tender by dinner time. 

Wednesday ~ Chicken Tenders with Chipotle Sauce. 

This was a busy day of thrifting and grocery shopping, and we actually ate diner in the car on the way home. We picked up the hot chicken tenders at Kroger. It was already late when we finally made it to Kroger at 7 p.m., but it turned out well for us as the store wasn’t crowded and we found several markdowns. 

Thursday ~ Chicken Santa Fe, Corn on the Cob, and Carrots. 

This is an old tried and true recipe I made back in the 1990s and saw in my recipe box this week, so I decided to make it again. 

Friday ~ Pizza Cheese Rollups

We had been in and out of the house all day, so dinner was some pizza cheese roll ups I made earlier in the day and we ate in the car on the way to another errand we had to run. 

Saturday ~ Soup & Salad

We had Chicken Fajita Soup for dinner. 

Chicken Fajita Soup

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion 

1 cup chopped red bell pepper 

1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper

1½ tablespoons minced garlic 

2½ teaspoons chili powder

1½ teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon salt

4 cups chicken broth

2 (14.5-ounce) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken

3 tablespoons sour cream

6 tablespoons tortilla strips, optional

Directions:

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pot over medium heat. 

Add 1 cup each onion, red bell pepper and yellow bell pepper.

Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. 

Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano and salt. 

Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

Stir in 4 cups broth, tomatoes, black beans, and lime juice.

Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. 

Stir in 2 cups shredded chicken; simmer, undisturbed, for 5 minutes.

Ladle the soup into 6 bowls. 

Divide sour cream and tortilla strips among the bowls before serving.

Sunday ~ Egg Roll in a Bowl with Turkey Sausage and Rotisserie Chicken. 

This was an experiment as I’d bought two rotisserie chickens on markdown at Kroger. I pulled the meat off the bones and used some in the soup on Saturday and some in the salad for anyone who wanted that. 

Then on Sunday I decided to use up the last of it for egg roll in a bowl. I included toasted sesame oil, marked down bag of coleslaw, onions, peppers, soy sauce, and fresh grated ginger and garlic. It was delicious. 

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week?

Belinda

Homemaker at Heart

~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Image Credit

First Frugal Friday of December 2025

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday

Each Friday here at Frugal Workshop, I love sharing the little frugal wins, quiet savings, and simple strategies that helped us stretch our budget over the past seven days. It’s a gentle look back at the small things that make a big difference.

My Frugal Week
We stayed home on Black Friday and spent no money. We also spent no money on Cyber Monday either. How about you? There were some good sales out there though, and it would be prudent to buy those things you needed when they were on sale. 
This week I ran out of my cats favorite food. We substituted with a bag of Aldi cat food, which they don’t care for and were not eating. I did have some wet cat food and ran out of that on Tuesday, so I ended up giving them a can of tuna with oil I accidentally bought and they loved that. I was able to appease them with that until I went grocery shopping on Wednesday and bought their favorite brand. 
On Monday I did the laundry, which helped me get in over 13,000 steps that day. I also decluttered a little, stopped in at People Helping People for free produce, and Farm Bureau for free calendars. 
Christmas 
I joined a local Christmas card exchange this week. I have plenty of cards and stamps and included both mine and Bailey’s names. The rules are that you must send three cards off the list, but can send more if you choose to do so. 
I miss the days when many people sent Christmas cards, but understand that this tradition is not as celebrated as it was in the past. 
We pulled out our Christmas tree along with decorations and have been slowly decorating our home for Christmas. 
Laundry
We use vinegar, bought at the lowest price, in our washing machine. 
Freebies
Our local Facebook group starts a chat every now and then asking people to mention something they are needing. I had just put a chair mat on my Amazon wish list, so I mentioned that and someone offered one up momentarily. So now I have one under my office chair. 
I also received free calendars, shampoo and conditioner samples, one quart mason jar, three small cookbooks, and a few magazines. 
Saving on Electric
No heat or air conditioning this week. 
Savings of the Week

Gordons - GFS has their boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale in the forty pound box (four bags at 10 pounds each) for $52.00, which makes them $1.30 per pound. I went on Wednesday and picked up a box, which is now in my freezer. 
Saving Money on Entertainment
Bailey signed us up for a year of Hulu and Disney for $4.99 a month for one year, and HBO Max for $2.99 a month for one year. I’ll pay the $7.99 for Netflix, while she’ll pay the $7.99 for those two. We will have plenty of options to stream entertainment for the next year. 
What I've been Reading This Week
This week I picked up eight free books from Freebooksy. My favorite genre is nonfiction, which doesn’t always have a lot of free titles to choose from, but did this week. 
How was your week?

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. 
We would love to hear all about your week in the comment section.

Belinda 🫶 💕 Homemaker at Heart 💕 ~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27