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Friday, October 14, 2022

Second Frugal Friday of October 2022



Welcome to Friday! 

Quote of the Week

“I can face the winter with calm. Crisp and sparkling days, long pleasant evenings, cheery fires. Good work shall be done this winter. Life shall be lived well. The end of the summer is not the end of the world. Here’s to October.” ~ A.A. Milne 
🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂

Price of Gas this Week

$3.23 ~ The price of gas here rose 24 cents per gallon over the past week. 

My Frugal Week

The weather definitely turned cooler this week. I was able to turn off the air conditioner and open the windows several days. As a result, I’m looking forward to lower electric bills the next few months. 

With the cooler weather comes the changing of the colors of the leaves. We’re starting to see multiple color changes here and are looking forward to more.

Bailey spent last weekend with a friend in Knoxville, Tennessee and they went to multiple thrift stores. She was able to find a bunch of shirts in my size, so she bought them for me to go through. I picked out several to keep and the rest went into her inventory. 

What I love about this lot of shirts is that two of them are in a smaller size of my favorite shirt that is now too big for me. I love it when that happens. 

On Sunday I went to Food City to cherry pick some sale items. There was a time that we only bought groceries that were on sale, but with Covid we didn’t really enter the grocery stores, but in our efforts to save money I’ve decided we need to be doing this again. I went after the church crowd went through, so it was relatively empty. 

One way we are saving on food is buying some foods in cans, like salmon for example. I bought two cans in this haul for $3.39, and even though I have bought it cheaper in the past, this still makes an inexpensive meal for us with leftovers. 

We bought enough food to make at least twelve meals buying only items on sale for $33.48, which works out to $2.79 per meal for the protein portion of these dinners. Prices at the grocery stores have been frustrating lately, but thankfully we have the tools needed to help us manage as we weather this latest financial storm.


I received another $5.00 survey from Consumer Opinion Institute this week.  

I perused the grocery stores ads online for free rather than buy the newspaper for $1.50 to see them. 

Photo of the Week

Our black walnut tree is loaded this year. It seems to produce very well every other year and this is the year for that

Black walnuts from our walnut tree

Helping Others

We donated several food items to some of the Blessing Boxes/Little Free Pantries in our area. One of them, located by one of the schools, needed cleaning and straightening, so I took the trash out and lined the food up, so it looked more presentable. 

Avoiding Spending

We had five no spend days this week. We spent money on Sunday for groceries and then on Wednesday for my Dad’s 80th birthday. I had Cracker Barrel send him his favorite meal: Meatloaf, Pinto Beans, Fried Okra, and Hash Brown Casserole. He loved it and thank me many times over. 

Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen

The Dirty Rice I made this week turned out to be very spicy to the point where I didn’t eat it as it was too spicy for me. It was even a little too spicy for Bailey, so rather than waste it, I added it to some eggs for breakfast with a little sour cream to cool the rice. I rolled them up in flour tortillas and we ate them for breakfast with no problem. Zero food waste

Speaking of not wasting food, I used the liquid off the canned salmon I made for dinner one night. I used it to wet the dry cat food that I fed to the cats and they ate it all. 

Meals This Week

Better Cheddars, Rice and Cheese, Broccoli
Dirty Rice, Carrots, Green Peas
Salmon Patties,  Green Beans, Carrots
Breakfast for Dinner: Homemade Biscuits & Gravy, Sausage and Scrambled Eggs
Homemade Pizza 
Ham, Carrots, Broccoli
Meatloaf, Pinto Beans, Okra

Recipe of the Week

Both of my parents and their families came from Kentucky and although I grew up in Illinois, my language and cooking definitely has southern roots due to my heritage. This recipe is part of that heritage. 

This is a “recipe” for gravy, but you don’t really need a recipe to make gravy. I learned to make this gravy from my Mom who learned it from her sister Clara Belle. And I watched my grandmother make it many times as well. 

You just cook your breakfast meat, remove the meat and use the drippings and then add flour to make a roux. Stir that over heat enough to remove the taste of the flour and then add your milk. Stir until bubbly and thick. 

You can also leave your sausage in the skillet to make sausage gravy. Gravy is affordable and delicious and you can even reheat it the next day if you’re lucky enough to have leftovers.

Bailey and I had breakfast for dinner on Monday evening and we had enough leftovers to have it for breakfast the next morning too.

Breakfast Gravy

Ingredients:

1/4 cup drippings from bacon or sausage
1/4 flour
3 cups milk
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Place meat drippings in skillet and heat through.
Add flour to make a roux.
Stir until desired color is present. 
Add 3 cups of milk.
Stir continuously until gravy is thickened. 
Add salt and pepper to taste. 


Saving Money YouTube Videos

One thing I do when doing certain tasks, like ironing, is to also listen to money saving YouTube videos. It passes the time while doing chores that are rather dull. 

How to Live on $30 a Week ~ Prepper Princess

How Little Could You Live On if there is Another Great Depression ~ Prepper Princess

Saving on Entertainment

We do not pay for cable TV here as there is enough free entertainment online without having to pay for it. 

Loretta Lynn Life Story (1990) 

What I've been Reading This Week

Living  on Almost Nothing by Amber Storck


Thank you for dropping by my blog this week, you are always welcome here. 

We would love to hear all about your week in the comment section.


Belinda
Mortgage & Debt Free
~ Living within our Means ~
My Linktree




22 comments:

  1. Belinda I love your blog. The world needs more kind helpful people like you. I love black walnuts. Do you have a good way of cracking them and removing the meat? I only know to pound them with a hammer and pieces fly everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so sweet, Sky. Thank you. 😊

      The best way to crack the walnuts is to put them inside a bag like a pillow case and use a mallet to crack them. Being inside the bag, the pieces won’t fly everywhere. I have a friend who used to drive over them with her car to crack them. 😂

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    2. Don't laugh Belinda but the grand-daughters and I ran over the walnuts several times with the golf cart to remove the black outer husk. It worked and they got a thrill out of it. Thanks for the pillow case tip! I will find an old one and start cracking he he! I love that "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without". That's my lifestyle!

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    3. A golf cart is a great way to run over them. That way you won’t do any damage to your good car. After you smack them with the mallet you can use one of the nut picker outer tools to get all the pieces out. Sort of like an ice pick, but smaller.

      That old phrase is one of my favorite sayings and so true. 😊

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  2. Sounds like a good week!
    Happy 80th birthday to your Dad! Yummy on the birthday meal
    Glad Bailey had fun in Knoxville, and I'm glad you were able to get some new shirts.
    We enjoyed the corn chowder recipe from last week; thanks for the recipe. Sausage gravy is so good.
    Hope you have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Kathy. Thank you for the birthday wishes for my Dad too. I’m so glad you enjoyed the corn chowder recipe. We enjoy it too. I might make some sausage gravy for dinner tonight. That sounds good and filling. I hope you have a great weekend too.

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  3. I used to get black walnuts and let them soak in a big trash can full of water. It smelled awful, but made pretty dye for reed baskets. That was a long time ago, but your photo brought back memories. I went to Walmart yesterday for a few things and picked up a few groceries while I was there. I came home and told my husband how depressing it was to see the prices rising so high! I love sausage gravy. Have you ever made an egg gravy? We tried that before (with boiled eggs and bacon fat) and liked it too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’ve not tried egg gravy, that sounds interesting though. I had a friend who would make a casserole with gravy and boiled eggs though.

      Using the black walnuts for dye is such a good idea. They certainly are good for staining.

      Yes! You explained it perfectly about the grocery store prices. It’s just so depressing to see how high priced things are right now. Thank you for stating that makes me feel better to know someone else feels that way too.

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  4. I'm so dumb sometimes. I didn't even know those were walnuts I those hard annoying things that fall from some people's trees. Happy Birthday to your dad. That's a great treat when you can't get to them or take them out in their birthday.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Sam. Dad really enjoy his birthday dinner, which made me happy too. 😊

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  5. You had a great week. Nicely done with the food pantry, and spiffing it up for others. And, nice save with the dirty rice!

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  6. Nothing as good as milk gravy, especially with sausage in it. I grew up in TN where it's a common food. I now live in the Pacific NW, and our gasoline has been $5.49 a gallon for a couple of weeks. When I read your prices, they sound marvelous but several years ago! Predictions say gas will go to $8.00 a gallon in California, and I wouldn't be surprised.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes on the milk gravy, delicious. Ouch, your gas is very high! I feel your pain. I have no doubt that it will go higher too just from listening to the news this week, unfortunately. 😢

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  7. I am glad Bailey was able to spend a fun week with a friend. I know how hard the Covid isolation was on her.

    It is so nice to turn off the air conditioner's isn't it? I have been thrilled to have mine off.

    Happy 80th birthday to your Dad.

    I love to have breakfast for dinner. Since I tend to work long nights and sleep during the day with my computer work it is really like having breakfast. :) That is always a treat.

    DH & I had ice cream for dinner last night. We have never done that before. It was a fun treat. My anxiety has been bad lately so eating has been hard.

    Frugal week- We put off the move. There is just no way we want to do this with everything going on. My husband told his work sorry. They wanted to send us to Ft Myers to rebuild. Get a travel trailer. I am suppose to get rid of everything in my home and move into a travel trailer????!!!! See, why my anxiety is bad. :) It was too much the back and fourth where they wanted us to go.

    We have a super low mortgage, no car payment, low cost lifestyle. We are not going to move with a threat of recession on the horizon. The relief is immense.

    I am able to return to my frugal lifestyle for my home. I am so happy. All entertainment free online or library. Can hit the sales. Redo my garden.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Safyne.

      Yes, I love having the air conditioner any time of the year.

      Ice cream for dinner sounds good. We are doing a sundae bar for Bailey’s birthday next week.

      Oh wow, I’m glad your dh has settled things with work and now you can relax. I wouldn’t have wanted to put a whole lifetime worth of living into a travel trailer either! Enjoy stocking up now. 😊

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  8. I love the quote!

    How do you shell the black walnuts? We had them when I was a kid and and we could never get the shells off. Dad even dumped a bucket on the driveway and drove over them to try to crack them and they did not split. Facebook Marketplace is full of offers for free ones here but I just don't know how to shell them.

    Shopping the grocery deals it the only way to go these days. We cherry pick the deals and make a stop at the salvage stores every few weeks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We put the black walnuts into a bag and hit them with a mallet. They are hard to get off but the pieces don’t fly away when you put them in a bag. It’s not easy though.

      I’m with you on cherry picking the deals these days. It’s a great tool to utilize.

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  9. Good deals on the new shirts! I only shop sale items when I go. I stayed home this week.
    Your meals sound tasty. That is the way I learned to make gravy as well. It is the best!!!!!
    Have a great weekend.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Cheryl. That gravy is good. Shopping only sale items is one of the smart ways to save on groceries right now. I hope you have a good weekend. 😊

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  10. You have had an awesome week. Congratulations on the new shirts. I need to go to our thrift stores tomorrow and pick up some T-shirts for Hubby to wear while working outside or inside this winter. Also need some inexpensive knit fabric so will take a look in the bins.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Jackie. I hope you find many treasures at the thrift store. It’s one of my favorite things to do as I never know what I will find. I hope you have a good weekend.

      Delete

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