Helping to Lower the Utility Bill

 Hello all.  One week from today we all (in US) celebrate Thanksgiving.  Goodness, the time has just flown by. It is a very overcast and cloudy day here.  Feels damp out, as we had fog and just a tad of mist.  It sure is muddy out now!  Looks to stay close in temp all day, to what it is right now - upper 40's.

I did go out and ran a few errands yesterday and had a very nice day.  Nothing but sweet and kind people.

As winter approaches and the temps are falling, and utility prices are rising - it is time to think about a few ways to help yourself and perhaps get the bills a bit lower.

• Try lowering the temperature on the water heater.  Most people keep it about 140* - but 120* is plenty hot
• Use cold water washes when possible
• Try air drying laundry and just fluffing.  Or dry for a lesser amount of time
• If using a dishwasher - open after wash and let items air dry.  It also allows humidity back into the house
• Unplug things that are not in use.  TV's in rooms not used, chargers - only plug in when needed, etc.  The only small appliance I keep plugged in, in the kitchen is the microwave, as the plug is very hard to get to. Nothing else in the kitchen (other than major appliances) stays plugged in.  TV's and chargers today, are actually pulling electricity even when OFF - as they are never really off
• Ceiling fans - have them on a low speed going clockwise.  That pushes the heat from the ceiling down into your room
• Turn down the thermostat.  Lower a couple degrees at a time, until you get used to lower temps
• Set your freezer to 0* - that is the optimum temp.
• On sunny days, keep blinds or curtains open to allow the sun to naturally warm your home
• Keep furnace filters clean
• Insulate everything you can.  Make sure your walls and attic space is insulated.  Insulate around windows and doors and even light switches.  Fix all leaks - around doors and such.  Even using a draft dodger at the door bottom helps a lot.  You can easily make one.
• Use your oven wisely.  It draws a lot of energy.  Think about using air fryer, toaster oven, or crockpots
• If you use the oven, when done and you turn it off - leave the oven door cracked open a bit to release the heat into the house.  **Watch out for children and pets
• Use LED light bulbs - they use way less electricity - like 80% less!
• Dress in layers - you can take things off if you get too warm.  Enables you to be able to keep the thermostat down.  You can layer bedding as well.
• Don't over fill the refrigerator!! If you tend to cram things in - it has to use more electricity to stay cool
• Thinking about using heavy or thermal curtains.  You can also use those films over your windows to keep out air
• Drink warm things - tea, coffee, hot chocolate
• Turn off lights in rooms you are not in!
• Take shorter showers - the water heater will work less.

Oh gosh, I am sure there are dozens of more things that you can do.  Every little thing helps.  I know our electric company has really raised its rates, and I have read that is happening elsewhere as well.

Do all the little things - they add up.  We all need to participate to keep our bills lower.

I have what is called a budget plan - I pay the same amount every month of the year - but even that increased this fall.  I want my usage to be lower, so I will continue to do all I can to can do.

Do you have any tips that I didn't mention to help?  Let us know.

May you all have a lovely day and weekend.  

Spread cheer and joy!

Hoping This Covers You!!!!

 Hello to all and a happy midweek to you.  I hope this finds you all safe and healthy.

This morning, we are in the 40's and not going too much higher. It looks to be a cloudy day, but that is to be expected this time of the year.  I so enjoy those sunshine days!  Yesterday we had a lot of rain.  Somewhere between 1 1/2" and 2" in my area.  At times it just poured.  We even had lightning and thunder.

I think it wore Licorice out.  Dinner time, just as he started to eat, it started pouring and he was hiding from it under the side steps/landing. So, I helped him out and put his food down there, so he could eat before nighttime.  He was all curled up sleeping this AM and came out to eat, then went right back in the greenhouse after!  Him tired!!

I know there is someone (many someone's) that need a hug.  I can't be there in person, but I can send virtual hugs. 

Some have been through a lot health wise; some have had family go through health issues.  Some have healed and others are just starting the journey of medical procedures.  Some have lost jobs, and some are dealing with other money issues.  Some are just lost and lonely.

Whatever you are going through, know we all care and we are praying for you and your loved ones.

You are loved.  You are SPECIAL and deserve good things.

                                                   I truly believe this with my whole heart.

Just wanted to take a moment to say BELIEVE and PRAY and know you are loved.  I hope that no matter what you are going through, that you never give up.  You can do anything.  We have each survived all that life has thrown at us so far in this life, and our strength will get us through the rest.

Wishing you each a beautiful and lovely day.

Say a special 'thank you' for every person and thing in your life.  Today is a new and special day!

Blessings to all.

How to Stretch That Holiday Meal

 Hello to all!  It is a WET Tuesday morning here. Rain is coming down, and probably will most of the day.  We do need it, but it sure makes for a dreary day.  I did feed Licorice outside - under his little table - then he went back in the greenhouse to stay dry.  I put corn out last night for the squirrels, so as not to have to do it today!  Stray kitties are somewhere other than here this morning!

Thanksgiving is coming up very soon here in the US.  I hope you have been taking advantage of the many, many deals out there.  Turkey is so very cheap right now.  Get them while you can.  Turkey is good all year long.

A big dinner tends to have leftovers.  Whether you have turkey or ham or roast or whatever - utilize those leftovers.  I will be going to families for the day - but this gal will be making a turkey breast, just so I can have the meat to use in many ways.  Probably will make some sides too!!!

Here are some ideas - trust me - over the years I have done them all!!!

• Soup - add leftover noodles, or pasta or rice - and then veggies
• Turkey Manhattan - so love them.  Hot turkey sandwich cut in half - separated and mashed potatoes in between, then topped with gravy!!!

• Casseroles - layer those leftovers like a lasagna - top with cheese or gravy or dried onions!
• Turkey sandwiches - my FAVORITE - cold turkey sandwich the day after!!!!
• Breaded turkey cutlets
• Potato cakes with l/o mashed pots - can add corn or any other veggie as well.  Can make with sweet potatoes as well
• Turkey gravy over biscuits (this would be a meal for me) - or with breakfast food (yum) - even breakfast sandwiches or burritos
• Pot pie
• Tortilla roll-ups.  Turkey, cranberry sauce, veggies, cheese, anything you want
• Dressing waffles - my favorite way to eat dressing.  Crispy on outside and soft on inside.  You can top with gravy or cranberry sauce or just a pat of butter
• Quiche
• Turkey spaghetti
• Hand pies
• Grilled cheese and turkey sandwich.  Grilled cheese and cranberry sandwich
• Turkey Waldorf salad
• Frittata or omelet
• Shepherd Pie - top with l/o mashed or sweet potatoes
• Turkey chili
• Turkey hash
• Any leftovers on a panini or quesadilla
• Add meat, veggies to make fried rice
• Cranberries can be used in muffins or sweet breads - add to pancakes
• Broth! (from those carcasses)

Goodness, I know there is more and this is just if you have a traditional turkey meal.  Depending on what meat you make - there would be other meals as well.  Ham & beans, ham hash, ham sliced for breakfast, beef Manhattan, stew, stir fry, etc.

You can make new dinners, lunches and even breakfast.  So many ways to use what is left.  You can freeze some and have it later as well.

Remember you don't have to stick with 'tradition' and you can make whatever you have on hand!!!  It doesn't have to be something fancy - just eat what you like and have.

Maybe fancy up the day using nice dishes and/or goblets or a pretty tablecloth, light some candles on the table, play some background music - dress up a little more than normal - make a nice centerpiece from greens or leaves from outside for no money.  Just make it a special day WITH FAMILY or FRIENDS!  That is what is important.  And be THANKFUL for what you DO have!

Do you have any Turkey Day leftover ideas that you do every year?  Something you just have to have?

For me it is the cold turkey sandwich and a turkey Manhattan.  MMMMMM - my mouth is watering thinking about them!

I know many also watch the parade and many, many ball games!  So, you can make a buffet of finger foods as well.  Whatever works for you!

Share your ideas and help someone else with maybe a new idea!

Have a safe and lovely day!

SMILE today - it will improve your mood (and someone else's!)

Weekly Wrap Up 11/16

 Happy Sunday to all.  Hope you are all well and safe this lovely day.  

It is a cooler morning here today, in the 40's.  We sure had a couple really nice and warm days (in 70's) now we are getting back to more normal temps.  We started the week with snow and ended with 70's!  It sure is finicky.  Looks to be near normal until after Thanksgiving.  So, I am hoping we can all make our holiday trips safely.

Hard to believe we are halfway through another month!

Had one day with lots of robins in the yard again - seems when they have showed so do the starlings.  Must be just flying through.  Having robins here in my area, is not normal this time of year.  The robins took advantage and got baths in the birdbath!

Saturday there were at least 30 doves (that I could count) in the backyard, cleaning up under the feeders.

The leaves have been falling like crazy, as we have had some BIG winds!  Same for today.  At least yesterday the leaves were blowing out towards the back - just where I need them for the garden!  Nature is helping me out a little.

My frugal week:

• My neighbor made zucchini bread and sent me a half of loaf
• I made a bowl of banana pudding and added some already opened cream cheese to it - tasted like cheesecake!
• Froze an ice cube tray of leftover country gravy (bagged after froze) - to use in soups and sauces in the future
• Made a small batch of chili
• Got the last rain barrel emptied and put away for the winter
• Raked 2X and got all those leaves out on the garden
• Got to air the house for 2 days and one afternoon - no heat or AC for 2 days now
• Laundry in cold and hung to dry - sure have been having a lot of laundry for one person!!  Seems I have been washing everything in the house lately!!
• I did get the last 3 double hung windows all cleaned - up and down and inside and out.  Did the storm doors again on outside
• Did several small repair jobs on things around the house
• Cleaned out the Blazer and washed all the windows
• Made breadcrumbs and refilled my container - added some Italian seasonings too
• I had a really long conversation with sis this week - she is doing so well.
• I ran to Kroger to get some GC's for gifts.  They had a 4X points on GC's this week.  My FIRST gifts purchased!!!!!!  I also got some bananas (been craving) and Romaine lettuce
• Stopped at thrift store and got 2 Boboli pizza crusts for FREE - stuck in the freezer

That is some of what happened around here this week.  Nothing big or exciting.  Just cleaning a lot - that never ends, does it?   I told sis, I seem to always be busy, yet I am not sure what all I really do.  I guess those daily chores just keep happening and we don't even think about them.

My meals this week:

Country gravy on toast, fried egg, and bacon

Open face cheeseburger topped with salad and fries

Broc cheese soup (freezer) and grilled cheese & egg sandwich

Chili and crackers - 2X              (froze remainder)

Baked beans, corn muffins stuffed with meatballs (freezer)

Red beans & rice, Naan bread and salad

How was your week?  Did you do any holiday shopping for your table or for gifts?  Find any good deals?  Love hearing from you all.

I hope you all stay safe and healthy this week.  Prayers for you and your families. Make sure no matter what life dumps on you, that you count your many blessings - big or small.

Blessings to you and yours from me at my humble little home.

**********************

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4:31-32

AMEN

Recycling and Rethinking

 Hello to all.  Gosh, here we are 2 weeks out until Thanksgiving here in U.S.  It doesn't seem possible, because then it will be 4 weeks until Christmas!

Chilly morning here, but above freezing, so all is good.  Looks to be a clear day again.  So many leaves have fallen since we had the wind and snow over the weekend.  Starting to look barren out there!

Today, let's look at a few ways to recycle and rethink some of the things that we have and that we bring into our homes.  We can get pretty crafty if we need to.  It is always fun to find new uses for things and it sure can save a dime or two.

Old fabric, old clothes, old sheets, etc. can be turned into pretty and useful items.  Not to offend 'real' quilters, but you can wing it.  Cut a bunch of big squares or little ones, you can use all shapes and sizes (crazy quilts) and just sew them together.  You do not have to 'quilt' it.  You can keep things quite simple.  Bed covers, lap throws, aprons, pillows, potholders, stuffed toys, etc.  There is no end to what can be made and made very easily!!!

An old tea pot - maybe a broken lid, or a crack and leak - use to hold your yarn.  I think this ingenious!  No need to buy something fancy.

Cut the pour spout top off a salt container to fit a Mason jar.  Add a band and now you have a jar with a pour spout.

Tops of those water bottles (or pop) - put them over the opening of a sandwich bag - pull the bag top through a bit and add the lid!  Easy pour.

I like to add squirt lids from soaps or syrup, etc. to old pop bottles (they are heavy).  They are great for making up soap mixes.  I keep any that visitors leave here!

A lot of recipes call for alcohol - namely beer.  I know many of us don't have that on hand.  There are many subs you can use, without using alcohol.   I find broth is the best sub for me, and it is something I usually have on hand.  

I love to make up Rice A Roni mixes myself.  I can control the ingredients.  I have bought Vermicelli several times to use.   It is very fine pasta and in those tiny pieces like comes in the store-bought mixes.  Sure, you can use fine spaghetti and crunch or break it up yourself (I have done that too), but these are all uniform pieces.  Sold in pasta aisle and the cost is so very cheap!!!

We have discussed this one before.  Keep those mesh produce bags - pull off the label and use it the next time you shop for produce, instead of getting a plastic bag.  Reuse the thing!!!!  They also make great scrubbers for the kitchen.  Plastic grocery bags (if you get them) use for small trash cans or pet doodoo pickup.  Many stores have bins where you can return for recycling.

Stale bread or buns make great stuffing bread!  I love using buns in stuffing bread, it just gives it a little more bulk.  My FIL used to love my stuffing, because it wasn't soggy and had substance.

You can cut up, then place on a pan in the oven (super low heat) to dry, you can air dry, or you can dry in the microwave.

Old toys or stuffed animals (maybe yours?) can be used on/around your Christmas tree or on the mantle.  Decorate with them - it adds a nostalgic touch.

Maybe pass oh an heirloom toy you had, to a young one that would love it (and parents that will cherish it).  A few years ago, I gave my childhood wooden rocker to a gr.gr. nephew - it was a hit and the parents thought it was so special.  He also got a big teddy bear (my sis gave me years before she passed).  She would have been his gr. grandma, and he never got to meet her.  His daddy thought this was the neatest thing to have.  They will keep them.

I know not all kids or parents would appreciate things like this - you know which ones that will.  It is a neat way to pass things on.

Just a few ideas on recycling and rethinking ways to use things.  I hope you got an idea or two.  What kinds of neat ideas do you all have?  We all need new ideas!

Have a great day.  Hope it is warming up where you are.

Enjoy your weekend!

It's Okay to..........

 Hello to all.  So happy to have you here.  Hope you are all well.

My thermometer said it was 40 this morning and it is pretty breezy.  Chilly but not as harsh as the past couple days. We are now back on a warming trend.  Most all snow we had is gone.  It looks to be a bright day!!  That is a treat - as sunny days have been few lately.

                 Everything about this picture makes me smile!!!   The ultimate winter picture!

Each evening, as my day is winding down - Bitsy is following me all around, then I come in to sit on the couch for a while, and he jumps up too.  He gets right up against my left thigh, and I put my arm around him, and we sit and snuggle for a while.  I watch a little TV and give him loving, and he is snuggled and sleeping.  Every evening!

Yes, it is OK!!!!!!

We all have times in our month or even our weeks, that we just wonder what the heck?  Everyone has a hard time sometimes.  We all question ourselves at times.  Some even just get to a point that starting completely over is the only option.  It is OK!

None of these mean you failed!  You only fail, if you NEVER try again.  A slump is just that - a slump.  There is always some way to get back up and go forward.  If you only go forward a little at a time - that is fine - it is still going forward!

Be kind to yourself.  Of course, we need to be kind to others, but we often forget to be kind to ourselves.  That is so important.  You are enough, you are special, and you are one of a kind.  That is pretty special.  

There are all the things in this world that God created, and He created a YOU as well.  That is just awesome.

Sometimes we just all need a little reminder.  I love having you all here, and I find you all terrific.  We are 'another' kind of family.  Family isn't just blood.

I wish you all a beautiful and pleasant day.

Fun Food Fixes and Some Cheaper Food Items

 Hello all.  Hope you are all well.  Baby it is cold outside!  We got a blast of winter weather for a couple days.  We had snow start Sunday late afternoon and through yesterday until about 11 AM here.  It covered everything.  At one point yesterday, I wasn't sure what was falling faster - the huge snowflakes or the leaves!  It was something to see.  No leaves left on the tulip tree now, and the maple lost a lot.  The ground was both yellow and white!  Some has melted, depending on where the sun was hitting.  I got the back walk cleared off as it melted - those leaves get slick.

Goodness, the sunrise was beautiful this morning.  The bright pink only lasted a bit, but it sure was pretty.  We get a little warmer each day, until we hit 70 again on Saturday!   Crazy stuff.

Looking out my west window at the tree in neighbor's front yard - yesterday morning.  It was really coming down at one point.

While the snow was blowing around on Sunday, I stayed in and did some TV watching.  I got into watching a show called Struggle Meals on the Taste network (235 on Direct TV).  It is also on You Tube.

The guy doing the cooking is Frankie Celenza.  The whole series is about using what you have, spending little and having fun and yummy food on the frugal!

The guy has some really neat tips - things I never thought of in all my years, and some really good sounding food ideas.  I got a lot of ideas.  It is worth trying to find and watching.  His holiday ideas were really fun too!  CHECK IT OUT!

I am sure you have all heard about the DEALS for Thanksgiving dinners going on.  They are everywhere - which is good.  Most all large markets and their affiliates are having deals.  Many are lasting until Christmas.

You have seen them - feed a family of 10 for $40.  There are also stores having feed 4 for $20.  Some in between.  They are all making it hard to NOT being able to afford a great dinner.

ALDI has a $40 deal - there are about 21 items on their list, and you get multiples of several - making it about 26 items.

WALMART - has a $40 deal and it has 20 items

KROGER has a $40 deal, and it has 16 items.

Both AMAZON and TARGET are advertising $20 deals to feed 4.

Seriously I like Aldi's the best - all include turkey as well as canned, boxed and fresh items.

It isn't a packaged deal - so you can pick and choose for variety.

Looking at the pre-ads for this week (starting Wed.) Some Kroger will have turkey for .49/lb. and Meijer will have turkey for .39/lb.  Not sure what restrictions there are - but dang - those are the best prices I have seen in a few years!

Just think you can get all that food, make a lovely dinner, maybe have visitors bring a side as well - and you will be eating good for a while.

You cannot buy lunchmeat or deli meat (or any meat) for the price of turkeys!!!!  It is healthy and you can use it in so many ways.

I know not all live in bigger towns and not all have affiliates of big grocers close by - but for the deals, it sure would be worth a little drive for me, if I needed any of it.

I have a turkey and a turkey breast in the freezer and a couple hams - so even if I had no other meat - I would be good for a long while.  THAT is the reason we hunt for the deals and keep our freezers stocked!!!!

If you can take advantage of the cheap turkey prices and have room - get what you can store!  You could also can the meat.

These deals are fantastic and come at a time when grocery prices have been up.  Look for baking items in the next few weeks as well - they will all be going on sale.  My niece works for a WM produce dept. in southern IN, and they have reduced all their fresh cranberries to .99/lb.  Not sure if that is everywhere or just there.  Might be worth checking.  Making sauce or marmalades or making juice - super good ways to use them at such a good price.

I will have a post of ALL the ways to eat/use T-day leftovers - IT AINT JUST FOR THANKSGVING ANYMORE!

I hope many of you can take advantage of one or more of these deals.  A lovely meal can be had for your family with minimal cost.

Have a great day.  Stay warm.  SMILE!!!