Listed below is a recipe I've used for Cranberry Salad since 1993. This recipe came from Mrs. Nova Roberson who lives in the Sequatchie Valley region near the Cumberland Plateau here in Tennessee.
My family lived there in Pikeville for eight years and it was a wonderful place to live and we have fond memories of the time we spent there.
We've used this recipe almost every year since Mrs. Nova gave it to me going on twenty-five years now. It's a tried and true family favorite with us now and the holidays wouldn't be complete without it.
Cranberry Salad
Ingredients
One pound cranberries (bags are 12 ounces now & work well without the additional 4 ounces)
2 cups sugar (I like mine tart and only use 1/2 cup)
3 packages cherry Jello (some years they have cranberry, but not always)
3 cups hot water
6 oranges (deveined and chopped)
1 - 20 ounce can crushed pineapple
1 cup pecans, crushed
Directions
Crush together the cranberries and sugar in a blender or food processor
Dissolved the 3 packages of jello in hot water
Mix with the cranberries and allow mixture to cool
Mix the oranges, pineapple, and pecans and add to the cranberry mixture
Store in the refrigerator.
Freezes well.
I hope you try it and like it and if you do please drop me a line and let me know how you and your family enjoyed it.
Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
Thank You!
Today is Veterans Day, so I would like to take a minute and say thank you to all those who have served. And to my niece who is currently serving our country in the Air Force.
Our can opener is going on the fritz, so I've been looking for a new one. As luck would have it, we found an old Swingway, made in the USA, last weekend at a yard sale for 25¢.
It works so great, it's like slicing through warm butter. Needless to say this made me a very happy camper.
This Saturday morning was cold and frosty, so we had to salt our steps. Reason was we wanted to get to Chattanooga for a consignment store sale where everything was 25¢.
The owner is going out of business and wanted to get rid of as much as possible before donating the rest of her inventory.
My daughter ended up with 108 pieces for her reselling business paying only $27 for the whole lot. I found a couple of Christmas ornaments.
This past week I was able to work three days as we were off Tuesday, so schools could be used for voting. As usual I packed my lunch and drinks.
This coming week will be the last week of school as students are off all next week for Thanksgiving Break.
We found some great markdowns in the crash & burn section a few weeks ago on birdseed.
Yesterday we stopped in at Walmart and Fresh & Low to pick up a few things. I needed some salt and ginger and found some pizzas on markdown at Walmart.
These were the BIG pizzas, so I made one for dinner on Saturday night. We saved the other one for another time.
At Fresh and Low they had Tennessee Pride sausage on sale for $1.79 and cole slaw mix on sale for 88¢. Perfect for making Deconstructed Egg Rolls for dinner and at a great price.
They also had sugar for $1.50 and the three pound bag of onions for $1.29, so we picked up those too.
There was a black walnut tree close to the consignment store we went to on Saturday.
There were dozens of them on the ground in a bank parking lot. I was surprised no one had picked them up already.
Also this week I picked up a free copy of our hometown newspaper thanks to working for the school system.
That's all the news from here this week. I hope you've had a great week!
Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
Saturday
Cheeseburgers
Cabbage & Kale salad
Sunday & Monday
Mostaccioli
Salad (not pictured)
Garlic Bread
This is what you would call a truly frugal meal. I used pasta bought on sale (50¢), Italian sausage bought on markdown ($1.99), sauce - crash & burn (49¢), and made garlic bread out of brioche buns (38¢) on markdown. So, less than $3 and there is plenty left for another meal.
Tuesday
When I did my pantry inventory last week I knew I had everything on hand to make Bean & Cheese Enchiladas, although I didn't have any enchilada sauce.
I did have a package of California dried chilis however, and so I used a variation of this recipe to make my own enchilada sauce.
I think I like it even better than canned enchilada sauce.
Wednesday
Meatloaf
Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Broccoli
Thursday
Deconstructed Egg Rolls
Steamed Broccoli
Sunday
I made a large stockpot filled with chili. Enough to last a few days at least. I think we will have chili tacos for dinner on Monday night.
Beverages This Week
Water
Sweet Iced Tea
Iced Herbal Teas
Apple Juice
Orange Cream Soda
Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
This past week I was able to work two days and packed lunches and drinks both days. Both days I took my laptop with me to crosspost while I was working. This week I'm scheduled to work three days.
Another task I accomplished while working was to sort out coupons and stapled like ones together. Doing this while I'm working saves time for me to do other tasks when I'm home.
We went to Walmart on Thursday afternoon. We stopped and looked at the 50% off Halloween candy, but didn't buy any candy. We did pick up some bread and garlic chicken lunch meat on markdown.
We went to several yard sales on Saturday even though it was a cold 34° when we left home.
In my bedroom I have a lamp with a pull string chain and love the ease of of the pull chain. I've been wanting one for the table next to my chair in our living room.
I've looked at the lamps at Lowe's and found one for $54, but decided to wait and see if I could find one second hand. Yesterday was the day! We found one for $1.00. I've already been using it and love it so much better than the lamp with the rotating switch.
Waiting to buy the things we need or even want second hand helps us save money in our home.
We also found a set of over the ear headphones for $1.00. I like these better than the in ear headphones and they are much more comfortable.
November is here and I know I've been thinking about our Thanksgiving menu. I've been writing down what we plan on having and will be looking for sales on those items. I already picked up some dressing mix on closeout.
How was your week? Frugal or no?
Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
One of the items my daughter recently picked up were multiple concert t-shirts that had been autographed by the entire band.
I figured the original cost of these conservatively at $20 each was around $200 total, but the original owners sold them for $1.00 each at their yard sale.
Honestly I was surprised that someone had sold such an item. One of the reasons may have been they had outgrown them, which is understandable as some of the older shirts were XL, but newer ones were 2X.
It reminds me of this meme that has been going around the Internet. Don't buy the $300 bag when you can buy a $10 bag and put the other $290 in it.
Getting back to the t-shirts, whatever the reason for selling the shirts, the owner had easily spent $200 on them and ended up selling them for $10, which was a loss of $190.
Many necessary things can be bought for $190 by those who struggle financially. Down through the years and especially as I've gotten older I have come to seriously question buying anything that we do not need to sustain ourselves.
I've cleaned out multiple homes where the owners have passed on or moved, but left stuff behind because it was too much stuff or not really needed.
I don't want to be in the position of having too much stuff. I love to yard sale, but I don't have anything hoarded up here. I keep my stuff to a minimum that is easily sustained by me.
Sometimes people buy things using money that should be saved up for an emergency instead and then when an emergency does come up they have no money to pay for it.
Knowing the difference between needs and wants is one of the keys to living a non hoarded and secure financial life. I'm not going to teeter on the brink of the financial edge, and spend money on something I don't need. That is not my style.
Now I don't know why the concert shirts were sold, but do wonder if the owner regrets buying them.
I know I have regrets about things I've bought in the past. That's called buyer's remorse.
In our home these days we have goals we want to meet and buying something unnecessary doesn't fit well with those goals. We have to decide for ourselves where we fit on this spectrum and do our best to maintain that balance.
Thoughts?
Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
