Third Frugal Friday of November 2022

Welcome to Friday! 
Quote of the Week

~ Knowing what to cook for dinner is half the battle ~ Belinda

My Frugal Week
Rain off the latest hurricane came through and with it all the leaves are gone off the trees now. Usually this makes our internet work better when the leaves are gone. That is one thing about living in the rural countryside, the internet can be sketchy. 
After the rain moved through, cold weather was right behind it. It was cold enough for snow on the mountain. Rather early for that already, but we haven’t turned on the heat yet. We want to enjoy the cold for a little bit. 
On Friday night Bailey and I decided to do some rearranging of furniture. We took the top off the dining room china cabinet and moved the bottom into the kitchen to be used as a counter top plus storage where there was none before. 
Bailey moved one of her shelves where the cabinet had been. It opened up a lot of space in that area. 
I was kind of sad because the cabinet had been Moms and she was so proud of it when they bought it in 1986. Nowadays people are not into china cabinets or even china for that matter. I just tell myself that life goes on and it does. 
I did find a couple of relics from our childhood, which my sister claimed after I sent her a picture saying, “look what I found!” So, they will be on their way to her home in Michigan. One day she will pass them on to her children hopefully. 
I picked up prescriptions from CVS a couple of days last week and ended up with $15 in extra care bucks. I gave it to Bailey who used it for body wash. She still ended up paying $1.50 for the body wash, but it still was a big savings. 
Both of us got our flu shots this week. We still need to get our third Covid booster shot though. 
Saturday was laundry and garbage day and I deep cleaned in the kitchen rearranging stuff to put inside the cabinet. We put the china cabinet top on Facebook Marketplace and it was gone the same day. 
My Dad had an old pickup truck bed in the yard that he had listed for sale and it sold this week for $200. He told us to go ahead and keep the money. 💕 
We buy the large bottles of disinfectant Lysol in the concentrated 144 ounce bottle. We then use about an ounce or two in a foam spray bottle and then fill the bottle with water. The way I’ve figured it each spray bottle of cleaner cost us around 30 cents to make, which is much cheaper than buying it in the single use individual bottles.  
Joy of the Week & Helping Others
There is a Hope Community Fridge located at the UMC in Chattanooga. They’ve been putting Thanksgiving baskets in the pantry/fridge the last few weeks to help people who are hungry to be able to have a free Thanksgiving dinner. 
The baskets consist of a ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, yams, corn, green beans, and cranberry sauce. Eight items in all and at a cost of less than $10.00 to the donors. There are also rolls in the community fridge if desired. 
The pantry is free and open to anyone who is hungry. There is even a garden next to the pantry where people grow vegetables to add to the fridge. It really warms my heart that people do things like this for others.
Photo of the Week

Hope Community Fridge Thanksgiving Dinner

Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
Kim over at Out my Window has a great blog post on how she cooks an affordable dinner for Thanksgiving. If you are looking to save money on yours be sure to check her blog post out. 
Here is a link to my Thanksgiving day recipes if you’re interested: 
Thanksgiving Recipe Series
Last week I cut two tarter sauce containers in half and used a rubber spatula to get all the tarter sauce out. It’s impossible to get all the tarter sauce out with the design of the bottle unless it’s cut in half. You’d be surprised how much is left inside. 
Meals This Week
LeftoversPolish Sausage, Mac & Cheese, Broccoli  Dirty Rice, Broccoli, CarrotsBeefy Spanish Rice, Corn on the Cob, Carrots, Green Beans with OnionsHomemade PizzaLeftover WizardySausage Muffins, Rice with Cheese & Broccoli, Corn, Radishes
Recipe of the Week
This is a recipe I think I found on Tik Tok. I bought the Spanish rice a while back, but didn’t have any ground beef until recently when I bought some for $1.99 per pound. Then I couldn’t find that recipe I was going to use, so I just guessed at it. 

This turned out really good, Bailey thought it was just OK. I thought maybe an addition of chili powder and/or tomatoes would go well with it too, so I may try those additions next time. 
On Wednesday I added chili powder and tomatoes and used it in a tortilla stack, which used up all the leftovers, so no food waste. Tortillas are a great way to go when using up leftovers to feed your family. A package of 80 can be had here for $3.50 or so, which makes each tortilla about five cents each. 
The entire recipe costs less than $5.00 to fix and can easily serve five to six people, which makes each serving less than $1.00. It’s definitely a money saver especially when you can find ground beef on sale. 
Of course, you can save even more money by making your own Spanish or Mexican rice from scratch. 
Beefy Spanish Rice
Ingredients:
1 package Rice-a-Roni or Knorr Spanish Rice mix1 pound ground beef1 onion, diced1 can cornCheddar Cheese ~ optional
Directions:
Prepare rice as directed on package. In a separate pan, brown ground beef and onions and drain grease. Add prepared rice to ground beef with corn and stir together. If desired, add cheese.Enjoy!
Saving on Entertainment
The Snow Globe film by Chick-fil-A
What I've been Reading This Week
22 Super Easy Family Dinner Recipes 
Walmart Offering Last Years Prices on Thanksgiving Dinner

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.
BelindaMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree