Sandwich Fillings

A sandwich is a dish consisting of two or more pieces of bread with one or more fillings between them. Sandwiches are a common type of lunch food often eaten as part of a packed lunch. There are many types of sandwiches, made from a diverse variety of ingredients. The sandwich is the namesake of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, a British statesman.

Cold Sandwiches
Bologna Egg Salad  Chicken Salad Chicken & Green OliveClub SandwichHam and Cheese Ham Salad Mexican Pinwheels Mock Tuna Salad Peanut Butter & Jelly Pimento Cheese Tuna Salad
Hot Sandwiches
Butter Dogs Chili Dogs Crescent Dogs Grilled Cheese Hot Submarine Sandwiches Italian Beef Maid Rites Sloppy JoesBig Mac Sloppy JoesPhilly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
Types of BreadCroissantHawaiianItalianPumpernickelSour DoughRyeWhiteWhole WheatWhole Grain 


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The Best Tamale Pie

Lori Brown of the Whippoorwill Holler YouTube channel has this video for The Best Tamale Pie and I just had try it. She used ground beef in her video but says that leftover pork roast or chicken will work in the recipe too. 

She makes a sauce with the meat and says you can use crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce and said you can make the filling/sauce out of what you like to eat. I added some Taco Bell sauce to my meat sauce and also added corn and black olives. 

The Best Tamala Pie

Ingredients:

1.5 to 2 pounds of ground chuck beef (Used 2 pounds, will use 1.5 next time)

1 cup crushed tomatoes (I used a can of Rotel for the tomatoes/green chilis)

1 can diced green chilis

1/4 cup taco seasoning mix (I used a packet of chili seasoning)

1 can fire roasted corn

1 can sliced black olives

Garlic, Onion Powder, and Cumin to taste, if desired

Salt and Pepper to teste

Directions:

Brown ground beef and drain.

Add other ingredients and 

Let simmer for about ten minutes. 

Taste and adjust for seasoning if needed. 

Make Masa  

Masa Harina Topping

Ingredients:

2 cups Masa Harina Flour (This is the kind she and I both used)

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1 teaspoon salt  

1 & 1/2 cups chicken broth  (You may need more or less, I used closer to 2 cups)

1 stick melted butter 

Directions:

Combine masa, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl.  

Melt butter in separate bowl and add to masa mixture. 

Stir together along with the chicken broth. 

Please meat mixture in a sprayed 9 x 13 pan. 

Cover with masa dough. 

Spread masa dough thin over the top to cover the entire pie. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

I used several spicy ingredient in this recipe (chili seasoning, fire roasted corn, Rotel) and therefore it turned out spicy, not spicy hot, but spicy, so I served this with some sour cream to cut the spicy flavor. 

Verdict: This was a big hit with the family. Bailey loved it and claimed it was one of her favorite dishes of all time and that we had to make it regularly now. 

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Frugal Friday

Welcome to Friday!  The weather here this week warmed up into the 50s and 60s, and I was so happy about that after last week's cold spell. The sun came out on multiple days and sure felt better than those gloomy days before. 
This week I received a call to sub for Thursday. I explained to her that I was still waiting on the Covid vaccine and it would be March or April before I got the vaccine, but that I would let her know when that happened. 
Hardly anyone wears masks at school evidenced by the photos I have seen online. The county I live in has the third highest rate of Covid in the state of Tennessee. That is a risk I am still not willing to take even though it will be one year on March 13th, so I will continue to wait. 
Quote of the Week 

Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

My Frugal Week
Bailey had a pick up on Saturday and checked to see if Aldi had a grocery pickup for the same time, and they did, so we were able to get some eggs for 89 cents. I boiled one dozen of them to have for egg salad and boiled eggs. 
She also used a Panera gift card she had to pick us up two cookies and brownies for the weekend. 

I sewed a button that had fallen off back onto a favorite shirt of mine. I did this as I was on a phone call with a family friend, so I used my time wisely. 

We continue to declutter here and on Saturday had two printers that we no longer use donated to our local charity thrift store. 

We dressed warmer for the cold weather we had last week wearing sweaters and socks around the house to avoid turning up the heat. We stayed warm and snug in our home with extra blankets and hot tea. I even pulled out my electric heating pad to warm up one evening. 

This week I planned out what I will be doing with my income tax refund, which has been approved, and the stimulus check, if we happen to get one of those. Planning ahead ensures that the money I receive will be spent in the best possible way rather than having no plan where it would be easy to spend the money willy nilly. 

Every year when my daughter was growing up I kept a list of items we needed to do with our income tax refund and it served me well over the years. One item that has been on my wish list is an electric pressure canner, so I will be saving up my money to buy one of those, hopefully this year. 

On Tuesday I had a telemed conference call with my doctor's office. They told me last month that I was going to have to come in for blood work to get my prescriptions refilled. I asked them today if I could get the refills without an appointment, hoping that the vaccine will be available to me soon and she agreed. 

Last week I had an order from Target that was not delivered due to inclement weather. I called them on Saturday to ask about the package. They decided to resend the items and told me that if the other package did show up that I could keep it and not return the items. 

Both packages showed up at the same time on Tuesday evening. Here is a photo of the items and a list of them. The total amount of the groceries we received but did not have to pay for was $31.55.

6 Grated Parmesan Cheese 16oz - Market Pantry™

4 Del Monte Whole Kernel Fire-Roasted Corn Blend 14.5oz

4 Golden Sweet Whole Kernel Corn - 15.25oz - Good & Gather™

4 Del Monte Summer Crisp Whole Kernel Golden Sweet Corn 11oz

4 McCormick Chili Seasoning Mix Original 1.25oz

8 Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes - 14oz

4 Lay's Stax Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips - 5.5oz

Earning Money
Cashed in Swagbucks for $10 in PayPal money. 
Rakuten sent me a big fat check for $1.23. This site allows you to shop online at your favorite stores and get automatic cash back. If you use our referral link here you can help support this blog. Plus if you sign up with this link, you can get a $20 cash back bonus.
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen

This week I decided to make some chocolate syrup since I had all of the ingredients on hand. Afterwards, I made a cup of hot cocoa with it. 
My regular choice of drink is water, and so I rarely drink soda, but every now and then I do want one, but not a whole can. What Bailey and I do is split one with each other. Instead of us drinking two drinks, we only drink one, which saves us money. 
To avoid food waste, one day for breakfast I warmed up a lone baked potato from the refrigerator. I topped it with salt and a square of butter. 
Meals This Week
All meals were eaten at home this week using cloth napkins instead of disposable napkins.  Look at your last two months grocery bills…what could you have bought cheaper? What did you end up throwing away?  Resolve to do better and meal plan your week. Try buying only what you need it can make a huge difference.
Tacos with all the FixingsChili - Used the last of the taco meat and added cooked beans, tomatoes, and chili powder. Served with cheese, sour cream, and corn chips for those who wanted that. Bean and Cheese or Cheese Enchiladas, Mexican Rice, SaladHomemade PizzasSticky Pineapple Chicken - This time I added the cashews and it really made the dish. Yum!Tamale Pie
Saving on Entertainment
I spent Thursday processing clothes for Bailey's online shop and while I was doing that I listened to my YouTube song playlist. The songs are a mixture of old favorites, new stuff and stuff in between. Oftentimes the songs bring me back to a certain time and place and I think about fond memories. It's a good experience and free to listen since they are on YouTube. 
I continue to enjoy Downton Abbey on Amazon Prime.
I also watched the first two episodes of Poldark on Prime after reading several positive comments about it. 
What I've been Reading This Week
Young people drowning in debt: 'Don't borrow your way out of a recession'

The latest OECD figures show the ratio of Australian household debt to net disposable income stands at 217% – meaning the average household owes twice what it makes in the year.

9 Important Strategies to Help You Manage Financial Risks

Freebies
Knorr Cookbook
Free Printable.com
How was your week? I’m grateful for all of you and the inspiration and support you bring in to my life every week. What is your frugal highlight of the week? Please share with us in the comment section, I would love to hear about it!
Belinda~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree

If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site. 

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Pumpkin Banana Bread

There are a couple of cans of pumpkin in my pantry that I wanted to use up and I also had some bananas that were perfect for banana bread, so I decided to combine the two and make Pumpkin Banana Bread today. 
Pumpkin Banana Bread

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas1/2 cup brown sugar1/2 cup granulated sugar2 eggs1/3 cup vegetable oil1 cup pumpkin 2 1/2 cups flour1 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon salt2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice1/2 teaspoon cinnamon1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease your loaf pan.In a stand up mixer, combine bananas and sugar.Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well each time.Mix in oil and pumpkin. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon.Slowly add dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture. Mix just until combined.Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350 F for 70 to 80 minutes. Bread is done when a knife inserted comes out clean.

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If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site. 

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Saving on Entertainment ~ The Heartland Series

The Heartland Series is a television program about the culture of Appalachia and was created by WBIR in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1984 and ran through 2009. The program was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with a special series celebrating the people and land of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. 
The hosts took cameras and held interviews with the last of the elderly mountain people on location. Each episode was three minutes and 40 seconds long designed to air in five minute time slots after the daily news on WBIR. The series became so popular that it ran for years rather than the three months it was originally planned to run. 
Traditional music was a perennial topic, including performances by and interviews with musicians from East Tennessee, along with craftsmen who made musical instruments, and exploration of musical traditions such as old harp singing, songs and hymns, which demonstrate the Scottish and Irish influences on the region's music.
The Heartland Series is available to watch for free on YouTube if you are interested in this topic. 

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If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site. 

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Cars

Len Penzo has a contributing author on his website from time to time named RD Blakeslee. He mentioned one time in a blog post that he has bought 29 cars in his lifetime. Of course he is in his eighties and that number does include cars he bought for his children. 
It got me to thinking, I'm in my fifth decade of life and I've owned four cars in my lifetime. 
1984 Chevy Cavalier 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier 1998 Oldsmobile Cutlass/Chevy Malibu 2014 Chevrolet Impala
The 1984 Cavalier I had was a car my Dad bought new, although I paid off the loan. I drove it until 1993 at which time I replaced it with the 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier. I drove that car until it was no longer reliable. 
I bought the 1998 Oldsmobile Cutlass/Chevy Malibu in 2000 and drove it for the next twenty years. I bought the 2014 Chevrolet Impala in 2016 and still drive it today. 
My theory with cars is to drive them as long as possible. Maintain them well, keep the oil changed, keep good tires on them, and this will save you the most money. 
How about you? How many cars have you owned in your lifetime? 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree

If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site. 

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Oven Thermometer

Another item I ordered from Rolling Acres Housewares when I ordered the new dish drainboard was an oven thermometer, which only cost $4.00. 

I have always suspected that our oven ran hot and so I would adjust the temperature accordingly. I always checked on dishes before their cooking time was up, because nine times out of ten the items would already be done. But I didn't realize how off the oven was until I bought a real oven thermometer. 
This oven was set to 400 degrees in the photo above. According to Cook's Illustrated, ovens cycle off and on to maintain a stable temperature. In their experiment they found that  one out of the four thermometers they tested registered temperatures from 10 to 25 degrees off the real oven temperature.
Being able to heat your oven to the temperature called for in the recipe will mean that the results will be more reliable. If a recipe states to cook your dinner for 45 minutes at 425 degrees, but your oven, set to 425, is actually 375, it’s going to take a lot longer to cook.
My oven fluctuated widely on the day I checked it going as high as 500 degrees and cooling off to 375 degrees after I opened the door to check the temperature. Even though I suspected my oven ran hot, which it does, I can now adjust the temperature I set the oven on to reflect that. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree

If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site. 

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Frugal Friday

Welcome to Friday! We've had cold temperatures here this week, but nothing like what they are experiencing in Texas. My heart goes out to all of them. 
My Frugal Week
On Wednesday we had a grocery pickup order from Walmart delivered. We've been in the midden of wintery weather and transportation has been delayed, so some groceries didn't make it to the stores. For example, they were out of eggs, so I will have to baby the nine or so I have left. 
I had created a menu for the next two weeks, but was unable to get everything on my list, so some meals I won't be able to make. No worries though as my pantry will be utilized for this. 
Earning Money
I sold one item on eBay this week, which I was able to get at no cost. 
The IRS accepted my tax return on Friday, February 12th, 2021.
$10 Microsoft Reward credit was redeemed today for an Amazon gift card. 
Food Shortages
I'm not sure if any of my readers have noticed a shortage in brussel sprouts, but there is a shortage. Brussels sprouts production in North America is undergoing the transition northward, which is fueling a shortage of brussel sprouts in the market. I enjoy eating baby brussel sprouts and they have been harder to locate here. 
Bailey was teasing me over this issue and said only I would notice a brussel sprout shortage while most other people are looking for toilet paper. LOL
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
Meals This Week
Thai Peanut Sauce Ramen Noodles - FailMacaroni & Cheese with Ham, Mixed Vegetables, SaladItalian Sausage, Potato, Carrot, and Red Pepper Bake, SaladGrilled Chicken, Mexican Rice,, SaladGrilled Shrimp, Steamed Broccoli, SaladTacos with all the fixings
What I've been Reading This Week
Disaster prep on a dime
It was a slow week here and we stayed home every day. How was your week?
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree

If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site. 

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Rolling Acres Housewares Dish Drainboard~ Amy Dacyczyn

The time has finally come to replace our dish drainboard. The one we have is an old Rubbermaid dish drainer set, which we've had for over 35 years. When we moved to Tennessee from Illinois in 1986, we brought it with us and it has served us well over the years. 

You know the old mantra, use it up, wear it out... well, I  can honestly say we wore this one out. I've always kept a folded dish towel next to it to absorb water drips, but the towel began to be soaked were the tray had developed a crack in it. I tried to duct tape it, but even that no longer worked. 

Do you remember when Jim Dacyczyn ordered a new metal drain board for their kitchen in Maine back in the early 1990s? I was a newsletter subscriber at the time and the thought of spending $32 on a dish drainer was a lot of money at that time. I was only making $7 an hour at the time and the thought of working five hours for a dish drainer board was a lot of money to me. 

For over the last year I've been looking at dish drainers. Even before the pandemic, I would look at them in the store and knew that our vintage Rubbermaid one was made well and large enough to accommodate the amount of dishes I wash on a daily basis. The ones they make today are too small for my family and so I searched for a long time to find one that was big enough. I need a dish drainer with side boards. LOL

Then one day while searching, I stumbled across something interesting. It was for a mail order catalog from Rolling Acres Housewares in Ohio and they had a stainless steel drainboard. 

Rolling Acres Housewares31640 State Road 643Fresno, OH  43824

They do not have an email address, telephone number or a website.  If you would like to get one of their catalogs, just write to them and enclose a check or cash in the amount of $3.  
They will send you a wonderful catalog full of all kinds of things: sturdy egg beaters, kitchen equipment and dishes, aprons, ice cream freezers, canning supplies and other hard to find items.  They have canning lids, which you can buy in bulk, at a considerable savings.  
Their customer service is excellent and they even sent a refund in cash on some of the money I sent them for shipping.  I highly recommend this company.

Here is a side photo of the drain board, so you can see that it is elevated in the back, so it tilts into the sink for proper draining. 

Here is what it looks like on the counter:

I am very happy with my new drainboard.  It is wide enough on both sides, so that I don/t have to put a dish towel there to catch drips and is even wide enough to place a package of frozen meat to thaw rather than place it on a dish towel like I normally do.
The US government sent the $600 stimulus check and so I figured I would buy something I needed with part of the money. 
Now I could have bought a new dish drainer too, but the one we had was still useable even though some of the vinyl coating has worn off in spots, I figure it still has plenty of life in it to serve us for years. So no need to spend money on something that still works.  
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If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site. 

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Product Review: Good & Gather™ Thai Peanut Sauce

We bought this Good & Gather Thai Peanut Sauce at Target recently. 

Target's description of the sauce states,

 With Thai Peanut Sauce from Good & Gather™, it's easy to perk up your taste buds in an instant. Authentically brewed soy sauce, tangy tamarind, garlic and ginger find perfect balance with the nutty, roasted flavor of smooth peanut butter, while the mild heat adds a little kick without overwhelming the palate. 

 

I highlighted that part of the description that says this has a mild heat without overwhelming the palate because that was not true for us. It was too spicy for us to eat and so we ended up not eating it. 

I have made my own peanut sauce before without the heat, so we will just go back to doing that in the future.  

Here is the recipe in case you're interested:

Sesame Peanut Butter Noodles

Ingredients

6 ounce packet ramen noodles without the flavor packet

2 tablespoons pure sesame oil

1 & 1/2 tablespoons peanut butter

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 & ½ tablespoons rice vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger root

Optional Garnish: 

3 sliced green onions 

1 1/2 tsp. sesame seeds

Directions:

Cook and drain the noodles according to the package directions.

In a medium bowl, add the sesame oil, peanut butter, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, and ginger.

Whisk until well combined. 

The peanut butter should completely break down to create a smooth sauce.

Pour the sauce over the hot noodles. 

Toss to coat.

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If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site. 

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Leftover Wizardry/Use It Up/Avoiding Food Waste

Image Credit

We are not big fans of turkey meat and usually have ham for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Well this past holiday season, Ibotta had that great deal where buying a Butterball turkey breast was actually a money maker, so they basically paid us to take the turkey from the store. 
In the past we had a neighbor who was food insecure and enjoyed turkey, so I was happy to give them our turkeys each year. Mom used to get a free one every holiday season from work and we were happy to give them to someone who needed and enjoyed them. They've since moved away and now we have to do other things with the turkeys. 
Last week I took the turkey breast out of the freezer and cooked it, deboned it and after cooling, put it back into the freezer. I also had some homemade dressing in the freezer, so I decided to pair those up and make Friday night dinner out of them.
I knew I was going to have to doctor that turkey up well in order for us to eat it.. So I made sure to fry up an onion in a little bit of butter, which is first step in getting anything to taste good.  LOL

I also added salt and pepper, onion and garlic powder, herbes de provence, and rosemary. 
And for good measure I made gravy out of chicken broth and cornstarch and added that in there along with a tiny package of turkey gravy that came with the turkey breast. I accidently cut into the turkey gravy package when I was unwrapping the turkey and lost some of that gravy in the sink. 
Afterwards I thought the dish would be good over mashed potatoes and I had some left from Thursday night's dinner, but instead of heating them up I just added them to the turkey along with a spoonful of the dressing. 
I stirred it well, crossed my fingers and prayed. 
I'm happy to report that we both ate it and I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out. The spices really helped to doctor it up.
Bailey even said it was good for turkey. LOL
That reminds me of a southern compliment a friend gave his wife once when he said,  "Well, I wouldn't feed that to the dogs!"  Of course her Mom was sitting there laughing because she knew he meant it was too good to feed to the dogs. 
I have to say it's very nice to use these items up and not let them go to waste, which I was concerned about. So the moral of this story is even if you think you might not like something, see what you can do with it. You may end up surprising yourself and end up saving yourself some money. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree

If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site. 

 1. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a small percentage that helps me to earn a living. Any items you place in your cart from one of my links means I will earn a small percentage from that sale. 

 2. Fugal Workshop PayPal Tip Jar