I had one banana that needed to be used up today, so I made banana waffles for breakfast this morning. In the process I used up the last of a box of pancake mix that my Mother bought when we last had overnight company along with the last of a bottle of sugar free syrup. I'm in the process of using up all those things that are lingering in the pantry.
I also used up two boxes of black cherry jello along with two cans of mixed fruit and made some jello with fruit. This will be a refreshing dish since the weather is calling for high heat and humidity today.
I went into the pantry and organized in there a little bit. I found a can of black olives I did not know I had. I will be adding those to some pasta salad soon. I also realized that I am down to one 28 ounce can of tomatoes. I knew I had used a lot this summer, so I will need to stock up on those again when they are on sale. I still have about a dozen or so of the 14 ounce cans of diced tomatoes though. I also need to add tomato sauce to my ever growing grocery list.
I pulled out some turkey meatballs out of the bottom of the freezer for dinner. I have not decided if I should make spaghetti with them or serve them with brown gravy and mashed potatoes. I also pulled out a package of sandwich rolls out of the freezer in case I want to make garlic bread with the spaghetti. Later this afternoon I decided on the spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread. I also made a salad to go with the spaghetti.
What are you having for dinner tonight?
Today will be a no spend day, staying home, tidying up, folding laundry, and enjoying ourselves and the last weekend before school starts on Monday.
Belinda
Live simply by not spending money you don't have.
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011 - 2015.
Use It Up Mode
As usual, we are in use it up mode during the summer months because of my reduced income. We have had enough food all summer because of all the stocking up on sale food I purchased during the school year.
Now I will admit that sometimes I have to get creative in the kitchen, and I have been cooking from scratch more than I do on a normal basis. For example, I have several boxes of cake mix on hand, but no frosting. But, I do have the ingredients to make frosting from scratch, so I made a cake for dessert today with homemade frosting. I only have one egg, so I made this cake without eggs. It is a little crumbly, but still tastes good. And that has been my routine this summer to make do with what we have on hand.
As a result of using all these items up, I have a growing list of items I have run out of this summer, but for some reason it makes me feel good to use up the items from the pantry. I have even used up at least three bottles of spices this summer.
Dinner Tonight
Dinner tonight will be soup, which I've made using a couple of bags of BirdsEye protein vegetable blends my daughter picked up while couponing. We paid 40¢ for each bag and I added three carrots from my produce bin, one onion, one can of tomatoes, one can of mixed vegetables, one box of crash and burn chicken broth, one bowl of taco style lentils from the freezer and several spices along with salt and pepper. There is plenty left over after supper too for tomorrow's lunch.
Yesterday's dinner was Pasta Salad, which I made using some on sale pasta, parmesan cheese with herbs, tomatoes, red pepper, cucumbers, radishes, peas, and for sauce I used a combination of ranch and Italian salad dressings. There was plenty leftover for lunches today.
Back to School Tax Free Weekend
This weekend is the back to school tax free weekend for Tennessee. We already have plenty of school supplies left over from previous years and my daughter has not changed clothing sizes, so she does not need any clothing. So, I won't be doing any spending this weekend since there isn't anything I need to buy for back to school.
School starts back on Monday!
Belinda
Live simply by not spending money you don't have.
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011 - 2015.
More Coupon Deals
On Thursday, we took my Mom to one of her doctor appointments, so since we were in town, we decided to stop and get in on a few good coupon deals. My daughter did the work on these deals and we ended up paying $1.35 for everything you see in the photos above.
She used a combination of sales, b1g1f coupon deals, and even had overage, which is why you see the Mentos in the photo. The Bi-Lo cashier said she could not have overage, so she bought those to bring her total over a negative balance. She is a great couponer. :)
We will be donating most of the pickles and the Colgate toothpaste as they are not ones we will use anytime soon.
Use It Up
I took a cue from Carol over at CT on a Budget and used up two of the BBQ sauces I had in the condiments bag in our refrigerator. One of them is from a school lunch. My daughter was bringing hers home this year and putting them in the bag. I put these in our crockpot the other day along with the pork ribs. I ended up making a pasta salad to go along with that the other day and also used up the lone ranch dressing pack that was in the condiments bag. It is good to use these items up and not let them go to waste.
Belinda
Live simply by not spending money you don't have.
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011 - 2015.
Hello everyone! Just a quick update...The summer is flying by, as usual, and we start back to school in just a little more than two weeks. I've already been called for several jobs to sub, which is great.
We've been staying home most of the summer, which means we are eating more than usual, lol. I've been using the ground beef I bought in June to make meals for my family, but I've also been concentrating my efforts on a plant based diet again. I've been making things like vegetable soup, lentil taco filling, and several different bean dishes and soups. Eating this way not only saves money, but keeps us filled up longer too, which is a bonus.
I hope you all are having a great summer and staying cool!
Belinda
Live simply by not spending money you don't have.
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011 - 2015.
We made it to Friday! :)
I hope all of you are doing well, staying dry and cool today. It is 74 degrees here in SE Tennessee because we've had a lot of rain this week to keep it cool. Pictured above is the Ocoee River, which is running hard today as a result of all the rain.
I woke up bright and early this morning and started cleaning in the kitchen. I can go to bed at night with a clean kitchen, but wake up in the morning and have it be a mess. That is what happens when you live with a teenager. lol
Afterwards, I started making dinner. I cut up onions, garlic, tomatoes, red and green bell peppers, and chopped them in my Chop Wizard. I love that little gadget, which we bought at a yard sale for $2.00.
Afterwards I browned off half a pound of the ground beef I bought earlier in the week and went to making spaghetti sauce for dinner tonight. I found some parmesan cheese and even garlic bread in the freezer, so used both of those as well.
If I can find them cheap enough, I will doctor up store bought sauce, which is what I did today. I used two jars of sauce, which I bought at UGO back in May. These were jars of Classico spaghetti sauce, which come in these really nice Atlas mason jars. I always keep jars to recycle or reuse and these are no exception. I always add a tiny bit of water to my jars and shake well to make sure I get all the sauce out of them and then add that to my stockpot as well.
After everyone ate I still had plenty leftover for another meal or two, so I made sure to put them in the refrigerator for another day. I might place them in a 9 x 13 casserole dish and add a layer of mozzarella cheese for Baked Spaghetti for a completely new dish.
What are you having for dinner today?
In other news...
I recently received a check in the mail from Inbox Dollars for $30.00. I just read the emails they send to me and don't do any of the surveys. It was an easy $30.00 for something that takes about 5 seconds of my time each day.
I've been reading the frugal forums over at Homesteading Today. There are actually some real frugal tips over there, which are kind of hard to find in forums these days maybe because there are so many blogs on the subject now.
Footstool
I made a footstool for my daughter today. She has been wanting one like the one I have, which I bought at a yard sale. They are hard to come by at yard sales and the price of a new one in the furniture store is easily over $100.
I recall one time reading where someone made their daughters beds out of new mailing boxes from the post office. I had a lot of these boxes since we were selling on Ebay during the last year. I've not been selling much on there this summer, so I took six of those boxes and taped them all together.
Afterwards, I took an old pillow and took the cover off to find it was actually just batting folded up, so I unfolded it and cover the top of boxes with that. Then I took some black polka dotted fabric I had and covered the whole thing with that. It actually looks pretty good considering what it is made out of and didn't cost me anything since I used materials I already had on hand. And she is happy with it, which is what matters. :)
Publix Run
Before the night was over, my daughter wanted to make a run to Publix to get in on a few coupon deals. Here is what we bought:
We bought four packages of spring water bottles (96 bottles), four bowls of guacamole, four jars of Vlasic pickles, almond milk, more Bandaids, four yogurts, four Frank's hot BBQ sauce, and after sales and coupons we paid a total of $5.78. She continues to amaze me with her couponing skills. :)
I would take some pictures, but it is late and I'm tired. I will "see" you in the morning. Good night, all. :)
Belinda
Live simply by not spending money you don't have.
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011 - 2015.
