Belinda's Homemade Honey Mustard

Belinda's Homemade Honey Mustard

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Mix all ingredients well.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen #4 November 2023 ~ Menu Plan Monday

 

Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen

My Frugal Week

I'm down to one egg in my kitchen, but we have about eight cartons of liquid eggs after finding a deal on them at IGA, so I put some in the freezer and will use those up until they are gone. 

I gathered up all the leftovers from the week and gathered them together in one spot in the refrigerator, so now they are front and center and ready to be used up to avoid food waste. I added the small amounts of leftover corn and pinto beans to the chili, and no one was the wiser. 

On Sunday I made some cranberry sauce using a bag of 99 cent cranberries I found in the markdown section at Kroger. I boiled them with one cup of water, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 fresh squeezed orange juice. When it was cooled off I added some orange zest. 

I've also been having hot tea and hot chocolate on these cold mornings this week. 

I did an inventory of my canned goods yesterday. With Friday being the beginning of the new month I'll be grocery shopping and having a list of food we have on hand makes that so much easier. 

Recipe of the Week

Belinda's Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

2 apples, peeled and diced

2 red pears, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 cup walnuts

1 cup raisins

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon sugar

Vanilla yogurt

Directions: 

Mix together all ingredients except yogurt.

Add enough yogurt to make it as saucy as you would like.

Enjoy!

Photo of the Week

A free pie pumpkin from our no spend group.

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Little Smokies, Cornbread Dressing (had to sample), Corn. 

Tuesday ~ I made the Chili today for our Thursday company and had that for dinner. Bailey had a Chicken BBQ Pizza for movie night.

Wednesday ~ I had one pie crust left, so I decided to make a Sausage Quiche for dinner tonight and served that with some dressing, and purple cabbage and onions. I also had some Touchstone Gold radishes with their bright orange hue to go with dinner. 

Thursday ~ Chili and Southern Spoon Bread ~ If you click on the chili recipe, please ignore the prices as I can no longer get ground beef for $2.00 per pound. I also made my version of Waldorf Salad above in case anyone wanted some. 

Friday ~ Thanksgiving family dinner at my BIL's home. We had Turkey, Ham, Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, Corn Casserole, Macaroni & Cheese, Deviled Eggs, Cranberry Salad and several desserts. 

Saturday ~  Chili Tacos

Sunday ~ Chicken & Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, Green Peas, and the last of the Southern Spoon Bread. I also served this with my homemade cranberry sauce. 

What’s on the Menu for This Coming Week

These are some of the meals I can make this week with the food we have on hand. Be sure to come back next week to see what sides we serve with these main dishes.

We are serving two meatless meals this week to save money on meat.

Cottage Pie

Lentil Loaf

Salmon Patties

Chicken & Dressing

Crockpot Cowboy Beans

Quiche using Eggs in a Carton

Smoked Sausage, Potatoes & Green Beans with Onions

Belinda

Homemaker at Heart

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

Fourth Frugal Friday of November 2023

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday!
My Frugal Week
No Black Friday shopping for me today. How about you? I already have planned out what I'm buying for Christmas, so no need to do any shopping today. 
Our porch light quit working last week, so after trying to fix it ourselves, I mentioned it to my Dad who had it fixed and running when I got back home that evening. Not only that, but he added a light fixture to light up the stairs we well. 
This isn't the best picture, but you can see the difference in daylight and night time in this picture. It is pitch black out here where we live, but the light over the steps really lights up the stairs. 

I've worked on the back porch all week as I've had to go out there multiple times per day just to sweep the leaves off the porch. Tennessee is under a no burn ban right now with hefty fines, so no fires are allowed. 

This is a map of the eastern part of the state of Tennessee. We are in the lower southern corner in red, which is the area I've circled in black. Any red counties are currently under a burn ban. 
There are so many leaves here and it is so dry from the lack of rain that the leaves pose a danger. I woke up to the sound of rain on Tuesday morning, and for that I am truly grateful. 
On Tuesday I made Chili for our company coming this week, swept off the back porch several times, and cleaned up really well in the kitchen scrubbing and vacuuming. 
I took some Chili and some dressing that I made on Monday to my Dad, so he could enjoy it as well. He said he ate half the chili while watching Gunsmoke. 
I received a deposit of $119.46 this week from Adsense from my blog, which is the first check I've received since April. 
After baking on Thursday morning, I left the oven door open just a crack to let all that good heat out into the house. 
Photo & Savings of the Week

Isn't that a beautiful picture? I'm loving the fact that gas prices are coming back down. I was able to fill up my car this week for only $38.20. I also noticed it was down to $2.47 per gallon at Sam's Club. 
What I've Been Reading this Week
The comment sections on both of the following posts are both interesting and informative. 
Save Like Nana Did. Rationing. 
Save Like Nana Did. Stage One Rationing. 

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.

BelindaHomemaker at HeartMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Thanksgiving

 

I count YOU among our many blessings!

This is the week of Thanksgiving here in the United States, but I am not cooking a big holiday dinner. We have company coming from out of town who want to spend time with us, Bailey's uncle Jody and his family. 

So, will have our big holiday dinner on Friday with all of them and on Thursday I am making a big pot of Chili for our out of town guests here while Jody and his crew have a different big family dinner planned that day.

They will not allow me admittance into their house unless I bring my special chocolate cake. LOL So, I will be bringing that for sure along with some Southern Spoon Bread and whatever else they need me to bring. 

I will still make the dressing for the holiday as that is one thing we love and I want to make sure my Dad gets in on that as he loves it, as well as a giant bowl of Chili. 

I hope you all have a wonderful day and are able to spend it with those you love. 

Belinda

~ Homemaker at Heart ~

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

Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen #3 of November 2023 ~ Menu Plan Monday

Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen

My Frugal Week & Photo of the Week

Someone gave me a bag full of apples this week that reminded me of gleaned produce. I was happy to get them and made baked apples with some of them on Saturday and Sunday night to go with dinner. 

The iCloud storage on my phone was almost full, so I went through my photos and typed out the ones that were recipes, so I could delete them from my phone. That way I don't have to pay for additional storage each month.

I made cornbread on Sunday afternoon getting ready to make Dressing for us this week. I like doing one task like this each day leading up to a holiday instead of wearing myself out doing everything on the same day.

To avoid food waste, I also took the leftover Egg Roll in a Bowl from Friday night for lunch on Saturday. I divided it into six eggroll wrappers and air fried them for five minutes. We still had two left for lunch on another day. 

I served them with this peanut sauce:

Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

¼ cup peanut butter

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon water

½ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon garlic

Recipe of the Week

 Asian Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

2 cucumbers, halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced

1/2 cup red onion, chopped

Directions: 

Whisk together rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds, until well combined.

Add cucumbers and red onion.

Mix well.

Refrigerate 2 hours before serving.

Beverages This Week

Water

Sweet or Unsweet Tea

Lemonade

Pineapple Lemonade

Vanilla Soy Milk

Chocolate Soy Milk

Egg Nog

Chocolate Milk

 

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Grilled Chicken Bowls with Mexican Rice, Pinto Beans, Corn Salsa, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Onions, and Cheese. 

Tuesday ~ Chicken BBQ Pizza

Wednesday ~ Long day out of the house, so leftovers to the rescue. 

Thursday ~ Pizza & Salads

Friday ~ Bailey was at book club, so I took the night off from cooking and had homemade popcorn with cheese for dinner.

Saturday ~ Egg Roll in a Bowl, Baked Apples, Broccoli. 

Sunday ~ Jambalaya using shrimp and sausage, Baked Apples, Corn. 

What may be on the menu this week…

Thanksgiving Day Menu

Chili & Mexican Cornbread

Baked Beanie Weenies

BBQ Baked Potatoes 

Chicken & Dressing Rollups

Cottage Pie

Belinda

~ Homemaker at Heart ~

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

Third Frugal Friday of November 2023

Welcome to Frugal Friday! 

Quote of the Week

“The relationship between ethics and thrift can be summed up in one sentence. It is wrong to save money at the expense of others. Period.”

― Amy Dacyczyn, The Complete Tightwad Gazette

My Frugal Week
Last Saturday the local library had a book sale where all the books were $1.00, which included audio books. Here is a photo of the books and one audio book I picked out:

Bailey also bought several books, some were on her Amazon wish list and were selling at McKay Used Books for $15, so she did really well at the sale. 
This week I went through all of my clothes and pulled out the ones that were too big for me now. I washed and steamed them and measured them for Bailey to sell in her online stores. I did get two new pants for me on clearance last week, one pair for $5 and one for $8.
My insurance company sent me a $50 Walmart git card for getting one of my routine exams recently. I've been to so many doctor appointments this year, it's nice to get paid for going to one. I used it to buy me a new pair of pants and two Christmas presents. 
Our electric bill this month is $146.27, the lowest it has been so far this year. Turning off the air conditioners in the fall really helps lower our electric usage. 
Last week I had x-rays on both shoulders, my doctor thinks I have a torn rotor cuff and ordered physical therapy. I explained I'm already having physical therapy for another issue and didn't know if insurance would pay for two issues.  She said she would check and find out, but in the meantime gave me a cortisone shot in both shoulders. 
I stopped at the Samaritan Thrift Center in Ooltewah on my way home (combining errands to save money) looking for some new to me clothes. I found one shirt and one pair of capris and they were 75¢ each. I also bought a pair of mittens for $1.50 for when my hands get cold sitting around the house. 
Freebies and Joy of the Week

On Thursday we decided on an impromptu outing and went to a couple of thrift stores. One of them was new to us and more like a boutique.
I had broken the chain that holds my glasses on about a month ago and had been clipping them to my shirt in the interim, but they kept falling off whenever I would bend over. So, I asked the shop owner if she had any chains that held glasses and she told me she did, but she had to go to her car and get them. 
She came back with the one you see in the photo. She had a bag of them a while ago, but this one had fallen out in her car and she just noticed it the day before. She gave it to me and told me that I could have it for free. Wasn't that sweet of her? I thought so and Bailey told her I had been missing mine for about a month now. 
Savings of the Week
Aldi has butter on sale for $2.99 this week. I had read they were going to be on sale for $2.19 for Thanksgiving, but I haven't seen that price so far. 
Avoiding Spending
I didn't avoid spending money this week, but I avoided spending more money by NOT buying dinner out on Wednesday after being out of the house all day. I just came home and used up some leftovers from the fridge. It would have been so easy to pick up food out, but the traffic was very heavy and I just wanted to get home. 
Saving Money YouTube Videos
A Meal for Pennies ~ Flour Soup ~ Hard Times
Emmy Made Hard Times Playlist
What I've been Reading This Week
Did you see that Erin and Aaron Huffstetler from My Frugal Home have moved to France? She is the second frugal author I know of that has moved to France in recent years. She mentions a lower cost of living and a more rural area than her east Tennessee home began to provide as a couple of reasons for their move. 

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
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27