Welcome to Friday!
Quote of the Week
~ Start each day with a grateful heart ~
My Frugal Week
Would you like to know the best way to catch a cat here? Just put an empty box on the porch or a new blanket. 😂
I’ve swept the leaves off the porch several days this week. When you live on fifteen acres of mostly trees, that is a lot of leaves. Hopefully they will all be gone soon as the trees get ready to slumber for the winter.
We hung up several loads of laundry to dry this week.
I repaired a cloth pad for Bailey.
Our Christmas cactus has a bloom on it.
On Saturday we woke up early to go to a garage sale. The temperature was 32 degrees. I don’t know what we or the people holding the sale were thinking. 😂 LOL
I was surprised how many yard sales there were. I wonder if people were trying to make some money for the holidays.
We were able to pick up several big bottles of body wash, toothpaste, Lysol laundry sanitizer, and two packs of pads all for $1.00 each.
The Lysol laundry sanitizer is almost $10 a bottle right now and the pads are over $5.00, so these really helped us save money as these are all items we use.
We used part of the Starbucks gift card Bailey won last week. She got a Chai Latte and I got an unsweetened iced green tea.
We also went through a free food giveaway that one of the local churches was hosting. We came home with a turkey, sweet potatoes, cabbage, yellow squash, zucchini, three rolls of ground turkey, one box of fruit snacks, one box pancake mix, one box brownie mix, six taco kits, and two boxes of cereal.
Now I am not a fan of turkey, but I think if I disguise it with ground beef I won’t be able to tell it’s in there. I figure I could use 75% beef and 25% turkey. I don’t want to waste something that was given to us.
On Wednesday I shredded the zucchini and made up three bags of it for the freezer. I will use it to make some zucchini bread later this winter.
They also gave us an item, which we do not use, so I added it to the bag of items we will be donating to the Little Free Pantry located here.
We also visited the Little Free Library and did some trading.
This week several packages came in the mail that I had ordered for Christmas presents. I don’t mind receiving preowned gifts like books and my Mom loves to read, so I picked her up a preowned mystery book for less than $1.00 on Amazon as part of her gift.
My Mom and Bailey are the only ones I will be buying for this year as I cut my list down several years ago because I didn’t have the extra money to buy gifts.
On Friday, the CDC gave the nod for all adults over the age of 18 to be eligible for the COVID 19 booster shots. I called the local health department on Monday to make an appointment to get ours and they let us go that afternoon and get one. I’m so thrilled to have our booster shots now!
Earning Money
Bailey’s business continues to do well even though her business slows down at this time of year due to the holidays.
I’ve listed a couple of things on eBay to sell this week.
Avoiding Spending
We stayed out of the stores this week as usual with the pandemic, which makes week #81. I did buy a few Christmas presents online, so I didn’t avoid spending money this week.
Joy of the Week
This little succulent, called Donkeys Tail, hangs in our bathroom and brings me joy every time I look at it.
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
Bailey picked four strawberries that she grew this summer. They were so good and sweet. I’d say it’s the last of the season as we’ve had temperatures of 32 degrees some mornings.
The other day I had a kitchen drawer that would not close. So, I took my grabber stick and tried to pull out whatever it was that wasn’t allowing the drawer to close completely. [As an Amazon affiliate, I may earn a small fee on items purchased through my links.]
I found a treasure trove of items that had been lost over the years. 😂 Included was a pot holder that Bailey made in Girl Scouts in 4th grade. I have wondered for years what happened to that potholder.
Meals This Week
Friday & Saturday: Walking Taco Casserole, Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Onions
Sunday: Deconstructed Eggroll, Stir Fry Vegetables, Baked Sweet Potato, Red Peppers, Tomatoes, and Salad for those who wanted it. ~ used the cabbage we received on Saturday.
Monday: Polish Sausage and Cabbage, Vegetables, Salad (The sausage wasn’t on the menu, but I had some left from the other day that I wanted to use up)
Tuesday: Bailey was feeling poorly from her booster shot and slept until that evening. So, all I did was make her a pizza for movie night along with a salad to go with it.
Wednesday: Taco Stuffed Baked Potatoes along with lettuce, tomato, and onions.
Thursday: Turkey, Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato Casserole, Broccoli Casserole, Autumn Salad, Cranberry Salad, Cheesecake
Recipe of the Week
This is a recipe I’ve had for a while. I decided to make some changes to it to make it more like we like our taco meat to taste. It was a big hit. My changes are in red.
Walking Taco Casserole
Ingredients
1 & 1⁄2 pounds Ground Beef
1⁄3 large Onion, chopped
1 can Green Chilies, small can (omitted)
1 can Enchilada Sauce (omitted)
2 ounces Cream Cheese (used 8 ounces)
1 bag Fritos Corn Chips
1 bag Shredded Cheese
3⁄4 cup Lettuce, shredded
1⁄2 cup Tomato, fresh, diced
16 ounces Salsa (omitted)
8 ounces Sour Cream
Directions
Brown ground beef with onion.
Add green chilies, enchilada sauce and cream cheese.
In a 9×13 pan, repeat layers as follows:
Fritos chips Meat Mixture Shredded Cheese.
Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.
Top individual servings with lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream as desired.
You did great this week. What a blessing with all that food. Yes, mix ground turkey and beef or add beef bouillon to your ground turkey - it really helps.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend.
Thank you, Cheryl. That is a great tip to add the beef bouillon. I will be sure to do that when the time comes.
DeleteNice food haul. I've seen something similar to the walking taco casserole on YouTube called Frito pie. As we love tacos, changing it up might be a fun way to serve. You had a lot of good savings.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sam. Yes, this reminds me of Frito Pie. We really liked it.
DeleteIf you add a little beef bouillon and a big dash of Worcestershire sauce to the ground turkey it helps make it better.
ReplyDeleteOh, that is a great idea. Thank you so much. I love these tips. :)
DeleteThat was a nice food box you received. I never eat ground turkey because I know what is in it. The recipe sounds great the way you changed it--no chilies for me.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda. That really was a nice food box. I made the turkey yesterday and took the meat off the bone and saved the broth. And I made some zucchini bread with the zucchini.
DeleteYes, I decided to just make it the way we like it with no chili’s. I will save the ones I have for a chicken dish we like.
That's a nice box of food. I love that calendar! DS buys DH a new barns or tractors calendar for Christmas every year. It's become a bit of a tradition. Hope you & Bailey have a wonderful weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ms. Goose. I like your DS’s tradition of buying his dad a new calendar each year. That is a nice tradition for them.
DeleteI hope you have a wonderful weekend too.
That taco recipe sounds great. Thanks for sharing! We typically swap chiles for jalapenos from the garden. If you dice them finely & cook them, they become much more mild, & I can sneak them into our recipes. We have SO many!
ReplyDeleteWe're having tacos for dinner tomorrow. I'll brown up the full package of meat, and prep the rest for easy freezer meals. Maybe we'll try this recipe for the next taco dinner. I think the kids would like the addition of the Fritos.
You’re welcome for the recipe. Yes, Bailey makes a jalapeño popper dip at Christmas and it’s very mild, so I can eat it. I was so surprised the first time she made it as I was thinking it would be hot, but it wasn’t. Bailey really liked the Fritos in this, so your kids might too.
DeleteYou had a great frugal week. Love the way you always seem to find such interesting ways to save.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your recipe.
God bless.
Thank you, Jackie. And you’re welcome for the recipe. I hope you like it.
DeleteThank you for showing the grabber! Oh my gosh I was so happy when I read your post. I am doing some heavy BF shopping. I kept thinking I needed something but couldn't remember what it was. It was the grabber, lol. I found a heavy duty one at Amazon that is really nice.
ReplyDeleteCongrat's on your booster! Yeah! DH & I got ours on Black Friday, of all days. We got it at WalMart too, lol. It was really easy and the WalMart we went to hardly anyone was doing any shopping. We did get the last appointment for the day on purpose to avoid the crowds. Like Bailey, I was sick the next day from Booster. DH did OK with a small fever, mild backache & sore arm. I got the fatigue, swollen lymph node, nausea, fever & chills. Least I had a good strong reaction to it, lol. After one day I am back to my chipper self.
I don't blame you for cutting down your list. My DH & I did that when our family got too greedy. I bought my DH a TV one year for X-mas. It was such a luxury present. Our family lost it when they saw he had a new TV and we didn't buy a TV for them. Not joking. They don't get anything, not even a visit, lol. That was also us breaking an abuse cycle more than frugality. I definitely know when you break those cycles it really helps with frugality.
I love the Donkey's Tail. It is so pretty. Where are you & Bailey getting your beautiful plants? I really love them. Do you order online? It's so hard for me to get plants during Covid. I am desperate for resources.
I have been doing Black Friday shopping online to prepare DH & I for our big move. I have found some great deals this year.
That's pretty much it for frugal week. :)
Thank you, Safyne for ordering thru my Amazon link. I love my grabber and use it for so many things. It really comes in handy.
DeleteBailey gets her plants at the grocery stores, yard sales, Lowe’s, Walmart, and a locally owned shop called Bada Bing. She got the prettiest Christmas cactus this week. I will have to take a picture and show it to everyone this week. It’s beautiful. I love the Donkeys Tail too. She did order a few online at the beginning of the Pandemic, but hasn’t done that lately. Etsy is a good place to look for them, but they can get pricey.
I’m so glad you and your dh got the booster! I’m sorry it made you sick though. It’s a good feeling to have the shots though and worth it to me.
That is unreal that your family thought you should have bought them a new tv because you bought your dh one. Some people, huh?!
I hope you’re enjoying your Black Friday shopping online. I’ve been doing a little myself.
I hope you have a terrific week!