Summer is "officially" here. I could have told the powers that be that!!! LOL
It actually wasn't as hot as predicted this week, but it was extremely humid. Awfully humid! I can take the heat - just leave out that humidity. We had rain many days as well. That was needed though.
Next week the hot, hot temps are supposed to return.
The garden is growing great. It seems that things get bigger every day. I swear I think if you sat still long enough, you could see it grow!
My allergies have been raging! Thank goodness for allergy pills! The pollen count has been incredibly high.
My frugal week:
- Sharpened all my kitchen knives. I promptly cut my thumb (happens every time)!
- Picked lettuce
- Went to the closing day of the Food Co-op. We were one of the founding members and investors in it many years ago. It was started in a food dessert - but it just didn't work. Too expensive for such a low income neighborhood. I purchased several bulk spices, herb teas, my aloe soap (I am good for ages), pure sorghum ( for us & gift baskets), a gallon of Bragg's amino acids (taste like soy sauce except all natural - dated 2021) and 2 huge bunches of organic celery (for dehydrating). Several pantry holes filled now.
- Mowed grass in between rains
- Took advantage Saturday of low humidity to get a lot of gardening done. The fence row behind the garden has many flowers - but weeds had taken over with all the heat and rain. It is all clean now!!!! I got sprinkled on a few times - but it did feel good. Spent most of the day working outside!
- Ran to Kroger on Friday. I got 5 -8 oz. packs of cheese on 2 day special of .99 ea.. 6 grapefruit and 6 lemons in .99 bags. Got a few peaches at .69/lb. - wanted to see if they were good enough for canning. I think I will wait for local orchard peaches. Bananas - .39/lb. Haven't been that cheap in years.
- Did a LOT of de-cluttering. Got rid of lots of odds and ends that I have been hanging on to - for WHAT? No idea - why I keep some things! LOL
- We were 'gifted' a camera. It is a smaller camera and works great. Will be perfect for those 'on the go' kind of pictures for me - instead of taking my big one!
- Actually turned the AC off for parts of a few days this week - then humidity got the best of me!
Meals this week:
Hobo packet dinners - (meatballs, potatoes, carrots, onions)
BLT's
French bread pizza
Tuna salad served on bed of lettuce and crackers
Cold cut sandwiches and chips
Philly beef & cheese skillet dinner over rice
Beef/bean/cheese nachos
Not a lot going on. Kind of quiet - just me and the yard becoming one! My muscles sure can tell.
What has been going on in your life? How are those gardens doing? Any great frugal finds?
Let us know.
May you and your family be blessed with health and happiness in the coming week. Those of you in the U.S. stay cool!!!!!
Blessings from our humble home to yours.
Sounds kinda like my week as far as the allergies go.
ReplyDeleteHad a funny happening the other night. We have a strawberry plant that was getting 2 nice berries on it, nice red ones. They were there one day and gone the next! We think the neighborhood racoon ate them! Hubby wasn't a happy man! Very comical.
Our garden is doing pretty well also waiting for my lettuces to get bigger so I can pick a few leaves.
We are to have 90 degrees today but then down to the mid 70's for a few days after that.
I made a big chicken enchilada with leftover chicken the other day. So I don't have to cook for a few days. I'm not good at cooking everyday for just 2 people. I always seem to have a lot leftover. Going to have to do better about that.
Have a great day!
Oh no on the strawberries! raccoon or bunny I bet. How disappointing. I guess the critters know a good thing when they see too!
DeleteOh 70's sound lovely. Don't see that in our forecast any time soon.
G swears I 'make' leftovers - LOL. Nothing wrong with fixing enough for a few meals. I think that' smart. I love chicken enchiladas. Need to make some sometime soon as well.
Have a fantastic week!
Hi Laurie,
DeleteIt is SO difficult to cook just enough for 2. Casseroles, etc. feed at least 6. Since it is just my hubby & I, I have the same issue. I let the meal cool down and try to portion it out and freeze it right away. This makes my own frozen meals for days I don't want to do anything but re-heat.
Since we have a side by side 'fridge, I have to be very careful about using up what is in the freezer part, on a regular basis.
I hope this helps you out.
Super good tip Ellie. Cook once eats many times! That way you don't get tired of the same thing.
DeleteI have only cooked for 2 except when having company - and I still can't do it! Wasn't raised that way. LOL I always cook too much.
I tend to cut the recipe down to four portions and we have leftovers for lunch the next day...usually works, got to watch the spices though, they don't always halve well.
DeleteYour petunias have a beautiful color, Cheryl, and they look so good and healthy. I'm sad for you that your coop closed, I always appreciated the Oklahoma Food Coop (I don't know that you followed them, but they have much success) and would have liked to have seen one started one like that here in TN. You got some very good deals at Krogers and your dinners this week sound delicious. I need to put Hobo packets on our menu soon. I hope you have a great week. :)
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame - but they dealt mainly in organic goods - which we all know can be pricey. It was placed in a very low income area - and even with all the shareholders traveling to visit it - it wasn't enough. I kind of saw the writing on the wall.
DeleteThe hobo dinner was good - and there is no mess to clean up!
Have a great one!
In NJ and now in FL I am finding that the co-ops are starting to get licensed to accept EBT or SNAP cards for those who need to use them. That can be a big help to a co-op or a farmer's market.
DeleteOh no so sorry to hear about the food co-op. I hope there are new food stores nearby.
ReplyDeleteIt sprinkled on me too when I was out in the garden yesterday. I just stayed weeding like you and it felt good. Came a good garden rain here today. Have a great week!
Sadly no other grocery stores in the particular area. It was walking distance for so many - just didn't work out. Now next closest is 10-15 minute drive and many don't have cars and not on bus route.
DeleteGot to love a good garden rain.
Have a great one.
Sorry about your coop, but I'm glad you were able to get some good deals.
ReplyDeleteI went to Kroger to get the cheese and cereal. We usually eat oatmeal, but since it is so hot now, cold cereal sounds good. Those kroger peaches weren't very good though.
My son grilled hobo dinners for me, and it was twice as tasty since I didn't have to cook. :D He used ground beef, potatoes, onions carrots and bbq. He also grilled some burgers, so I will reheat them tonight. Don't you love those meals where you cook once but eat twice.
My garden is doing ok, but I had to pull up some lettuce since it had bolted with all the heat. So hoping for some tomatoes this year.
Hope you have a great week!!
DeleteYou are right the peaches weren't all that. Mine are sweet, but kind of mealy.
DeleteWe don't eat much breakfast - although I usually keep several boxes of cereal and oats on hand.
Food is ALWAYS better when someone else cooks it! How nice of your son.
I think my lettuce is about done too - it is tasting that bitter taste and I can tell it's about to bolt.
Have a good week.
THe wattle are all flowering in this area. My eyes are streaming and I wish I could find the off tap for my nose. I empathise with you.
ReplyDeleteI know what you are talking about with the humidity. I too can stand temps that are in the 100's when there is no humidity. Given we now live in the sub tropics and moved here from the tropics you would think I would be used to it. Nope.
My lettuce is coming along giving us a few leaves for a salad each day. Yes it is winter here but we have a very mild winter and it is a great time to grow salad veg. It is too hot in the summer. The tomatoes are just about finished and have developed wilt so I will be pulling them out soon.
I have emptied many of the beds, fertilised and covered in a deep layer of hay. We are off in the caravan for a road trip in just over a week. I want the garden put to bed whilst we are away so it isnt too much for our daughter to maintain. By doing this the garden will be ready for planting when we get home in a few months time.
Hope the humidity eases off for you.
I feel very sorry for you and your allergies. Folks who don't suffer from them just don't understand.
DeleteI wish we had winters that were mild enough to grow salad veggies.
it sounds like you will be taking quite an extensive road trip. How wonderful. I hope you will get to check in still. If we don't et in touch again before you eave - please have a joyous and safe excursion!!!
I too worked in the garden beds both days, weeding and tying up the tomatoes. I remembered to clip off the bottom branches of the tomatoes. WE are prone to late blight here and keeping splashing dirt and rain off the lower leaves will delay the blight from reaching the upper leaves.
ReplyDeleteI finally gave in to the mosquitoes and spray my garden hat with DEET, hate the smell! but it keeps the bugs away...also I spray my garden shoes and socks at the ankle.
Of course I got three mosquito bites, in the middle on my lower arms and wrists!
It seems many of us took advantage of decent weather to work in the gardens and yards. It is so nice to be able to stand back and admire your work. Even better to get to eat it at some point!!
DeleteDarned old buggers will find that one spot you didn't spray. I am terribly allergic to Deet or most anything like it. I try making up mint/water spray every year - but not much saves me. I am a magnet for them.
Take care and enjoy that garden.
I was sick most of last week but Hubby and the kids did a great job running the house. Hubby grilled lots of chicken so we could eat it for leftovers and the kids made easy things like pancakes and pasta with red sauce. We all ate plenty. The rest of my list is here: https://mcoia.blogspot.com/2018/06/my-frugal-list-week-of-june-18-2018.html
ReplyDeleteHope you are feeling much better. It is so nice that hubs and kids pitched in and helped. I love it when families all work together.
DeleteTake care and have a good week.
Hot - yes Florida is hot, and sticky too. We have been having temps of about 95* daiiy with heat indexes of between 108* to 112*. But I am doing well putting the ac on only for about an hour a day. It isn't getting too arm inside - 82* was the highest, so if whatever I can cool it off to with one hour is making it comfortable enough to sleep with just a fan on. The apt. building is made of concrete block and has trees planted in front of most of the windows (my bedroom is the exception at my building, but it looks like the last tree came down). And being on the first floor - heat rises, so I am cooler than the guys above me. I have harvested 2 tomatoes so far, and look forward to more. The cukes and spaghetti squash are not doing anything at this point - put out some pretty flowers at the beginning, but i think the heat got to them. So I might pull them up and plant some chives or other herbs there.
ReplyDeleteI could not stand only an hour a day of AC with 90* temps. You are better than me!
DeleteWOW - 2 tomatoes already. I can't wait. that makes my mouth water!!! Sorry about the cukes and squash. Maybe just too hot.
You will do what is right.
Have a good one!