Frugal Happenings 12/10

Good morning to everyone.  Two weeks from today is Christmas Eve!  It will be here before you know it.  Are you ready?  I am pretty well there, just some baking to do.

We sure have been on a weather roller coaster this week - mainly downhill!  We started with 70's at the first of the week, and got to a point where highs were in the 20's and we had a light bit of snow.  There was a day or two that seemed brutal because of the temps and the wind.  Brrrrrr. 
Today is supposed to get to close to 40 - heat wave!

My kitties have all found cozy places to be this week.  This is Pooty, and my view most mornings while sitting here on the couch!  She loves her table and Christmas tree.   Coogy is curled up in the rocker, and Lilly is snuggled in with her daddy!

My frugal week:

• Received another FREE wall calendar this week.
• Finished up work on my jar recipes for gifts

Here is a couple types all ready for gift bags!

• Made a 3 1/2 lb. beef roast in the crockpot this week.  It made 3 dinners each, and G had it 2X for breakfast meals
• Used ham from the freezer as well as broth and made a pot of split pea soup
• Made O.J. from concentrate.  I have been craving orange juice
• Made a batch of double chocolate/choc. chip muffins from a mixed I found in the pantry.  Bought it on clearance sometime back - it fixed that sweet craving!
• Made a gallon of raspberry flavored tea.  We drink iced tea all year, and I decided to jazz it up a bit.  Cooled it out on the porch rail.
• Made 2 batches of jelly this week.  One batch of black raspberry and one of Concord grape.  Ended up with 4 pints and 12 half pints all together.

Grape on the left and black raspberry on the right.  Mmmmmm!  They all pinged and set up wonderfully.

• Ordered the last items needed for gift baskets on Wednesday.  Ordered the jalapeno/cheese summer sausage and my bulk dry ham seasoning.  The summer sausage has been a favorite of many for years (can only buy from one place), and the last ham seasoning I ordered, was 3 years ago.  I use it and give as gifts as well. **Amazingly I received both orders on Friday - regular UPS!  One and a half day delivery from OH and PA not to shaggy for this time of the year!
• Kitties now have a new box to play/lay in - and they love it!  Free entertainment for them!
• Got all my cards addressed while sitting and enjoying some baking shows 
• Washed out some zip lock baggies
• Doing all the regular stuff

Meals this week:
Mexican spaghetti
Cube steak with gravy, leftover pasta and asparagus
Hot dogs and layered bean dip with tortilla chips
Sliced roast beef, potatoes and green beans
Beef enchiladas - (used leftover bean dip and roast in them & enchilada sauce from freezer)
Beef Manhattans
Split pea soup

Beef Manhattan - such warm yummy comfort food!  One of my favorite things.
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How was your week?  Did you get any good deals?  Do any baking or last minute crafting/shopping?

I hope you are all taking some time for yourselves and just simply enjoying this incredibly wonderful holiday season.  Enjoy and hug your family and friends.
Tis the season!

May the Lord bless you and keep you safe and healthy in this coming week.  I wish you happiness, calm and snuggles. 
Blessings from our humble home to yours.

Stop the Madness

I had a post set up for today, then I read Face Book this morning and changed my mind.
One of the FB groups I belong to has a daily "what are you up to" post.  I sat and read the original post and then I read every comment left, and by the time I got done, I had tears in my eyes.

Everything I read was hurry, hurry, hurry.  Tons of posts that said "I HAVE"  to do this and that.  I have to make hundreds of cookies, I have to make my Christmas cards, I have to make teacher gifts, I have to buy for any body and everybody, I have to make the prettiest packages, I have to decorate.......
You don't HAVE to do anything people!   We all make choices and you have CHOSEN to do all those things.

We all need to remember that our names are NOT Betty Crocker or Martha Stewart.  Perfection is a 'must' in your own mind.
Thirty years from now, your grandchildren aren't going to remember you set a perfect table - they are going to remember the fun things you did with them.
IF, JUST IF you didn't do all the stuff you think you have to do - will anybody die?  NOPE!
Being perfect is an illusion.  Being human and enjoying your time with your family is a reality.

Yes, I have several items I would LIKE to accomplish before Christmas as well, but I finally realized this week, that if they don't get done - oh well.  My priority is to be as stress free as possible, and to enjoy the time I have on this earth with people I love.  Stress can make you sick and it can kill you.  It isn't worth it.

When the kids come to visit at Christmas, they just want us to spend time together.  If I don't have all the homemade cookies and candies, they won't care.  Being together is what it all about.  That is what they will remember someday - not that Auntie didn't make enough variety of cookies!

Has anybody heard of the K.I.S.S. principle?  Keep It Simple Stupid!!!!!!  KISS.  This is becoming my life motto.   I want to simplify everything in life.  I want to spend more time enjoying the moment and the people. 
It is amazing to me that it has taken me 63 years to figure this out.  Therein comes the term 'stupid'!  LOL (I really don't like that word - but you understand what I mean).

I hope you all stop hurrying and stressing.  I pray you all JUST enjoy. 
The holidays will be over in a couple weeks and then you have a years wait to get the opportunity to enjoy them again. 
Who knows if next year will even come.

PLEASE STOP THE MADNESS.  ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY!  ENJOY THE PEOPLE!
God bless you all.

Fun & Frugal Last Minute Gift Ideas

You all know I am a big "homemade" gift kind of gal.  There are so many cute ideas available.  You have to love Pinterest and all the ideas you can find.  The internet provides us with a world of fun and different ideas.
Step outside the box.
Most of the following pictures are pretty self explanatory.

If I receive a handmade gift - regardless of what it is - I think the giver is being so creative and smart.  I am getting something that is just a 'pick-up' at any store!

 Coffee or Hot chocolate baskets - complete with stir sticks (candy canes), marshmallows and mug

Find pinecones and dip in wax (colored or plain).  Make wonderful fire starters - gift in a little basket or bag them up.

 Big mug with fuzzy socks, chocolate, nail polish and a couple special tea bags

 Decorate up a special 6 pack of specialty brew or special pop

 

Make up a cute basket or box with makings for ice cream sundaes.  Toppings, sprinkles, little cups, cones, and a scoop

 

                                                        
 Snack jars are wonderful for all ages.  Any kind of snacks can be added and the jar can be used later too.  You can use jars or baskets or totes.  What fun!!!!!!  Pick a theme or mix it up!

Make specialty gift boxes for the small items from TP tubes!  These could hold jewelry, candy, pocket knives, miniatures............................... 

 Mini bottles of liquor in a jar - you could attach to  6 pack of pop in cans - but I think this alone would be cute for that hard to buy for person.

Make up a cute little sewing kit with things you have around the house.  Great gift for a college student, or someone moving out for the first time.

Never forget about home canned goods or homemade candies, cookies & breads.
Pretty pillows, lap quilts, afghans, scarves, mittens, placemats, dish cloths, etc. are always welcome.

Get creative with what you have, stay frugal, change things up a bit - but most of  all - HAVE FUN!!!!
Tis the season!!!!!!

Frugal Happenings 12/3

Howdy ho!  Wow, here we are in December, with only 3 weeks till Christmas Eve!  It just seems to have happened all too fast in my opinion.  Yep, I know it's been a year - but I don't pay attention till it's close at hand!! LOL
Are you ready?

We have had 'great' weather this past week, especially for this time of the year.  We have been above normal temps and have had lots of sun.  Such a mood enhancer!  It looks like the temps will hold on through tomorrow, then start dropping.  By mid week we are to get hit by a winter blast that will hang around for a while.
A bright spot in my thinking:  less than three weeks till winter solstice - then the days actually start getting longer again!  December 21st is the shortest day of the year in this hemisphere.

I have pretty much finished my shopping.  I still have homemade items to work on and wrapping, but I do believe that I am done with stores.  I do need to make a bank run for those monetary gifts - but that is it.

I live in the capital city of our state.  This is our circle center after the holiday lighting.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It is always so pretty downtown this time of the year.  
Click on picture to enlarge.


My frugal week:

• I used the last of the Thanksgiving food (that wasn't frozen) in new ways.
• Froze lots of ham and turkey for later use
• Got to work in the yard.  Raked and mulched the last of the leaves.  My garden should be happy next year.  Lots of FREE exercise!
• Actually got to turn off the heat and air out the house a couple days.
• Met with our insurance broker for 2018 health coverage.  I managed to get the same rate as last year, with a teeny tiny improvement in coverage.  I still don't like the options we have, but this is more for catastrophic events in my opinion.  I am very lucky to have no medical problems.
• I used a $5/$25 coupon at Sav-a Lot before it expired.  Got the balance of items needed for jar recipes.
• I received another $5/$25 coupon for above store, good until end of December!
• Ran into Kroger to see if any good clearance.  I got 3 ruby grapefruit for 3/.99, and 2 fresh pineapples for .99 each.  All were in that special produce bin!  That's all I bought.
• Worked on some of my jar recipes
• Got out many of my cookie/candy recipes that I hope to make in the next few weeks
• Enjoying using the fall/winter scented candles and melts that I received as gifts last Christmas
• Meals from home
• Doing all the normal every day stuff

Meals this past week:
Potato pancakes, turkey smothered in cheese & dressing 'waffles'
Leftover turkey/noodle soup
Burgers, beans & rice and side salad
Fried chicken livers with gravy, potato wedges
Skillet stew
BBQ wings, mac and cheese and side salad
Nacho cheese/bacon/jalapeno topped baked potatoes
Fresh fruit as treats

My sister and I tentatively set the weekend of 17/18 as sibling Christmas get together.  Looking forward to that.

I HAVE to make jelly this week (I keep putting it off).  Later in the week will be cold - so that seems like a good time for it.
I need to get my goodie baskets all put together and stuff wrapped.  We'll see!!!!!!!  Oh, and need to mail out cards!  Oh, and bake!    YIKES!!!!!

What is going on in your neck of the woods?  Are you ready for Christmas?  Did you get any great deals this week?
Look forward to hearing from everyone.

May the Lord keep you wrapped in His warm, loving, and healing embrace.  God bless my friends.
Have a wonderful week!

Christmas Tales and Goody Jars

Hello my friends.  Here we are a little over three weeks away from Christmas.  It is really hard to believe.
I thought you like a little Christmas tale I came across this past weekend.  It is a cute little story I had never heard before.
Also I will be passing on a couple more gift jar recipes.

Click on the picture to make it appear larger.
I think this is such a cute little tale.
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PATCHWORK SOUP MIX
1/2 C barley
1/2 C split peas
1/2 C rice
1/2 C lentils
1 Tbsp. parsley
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. Italian seasoning

Place the beans and rice in layers in a pint jar and add the remaining ingredients in a baggie on top.

DIRECTIONS:  Place the beans and rice in a large stockpot and cover with 10 cups of water.  Chop one onion and add season packet.  Bring to a boil, lower heat and cover and simmer for 1 hour.  Check after about 30 minutes to see if you need more water.  Stir occasionally.
**I sometimes make and add ham chunks or cut up smoked sausage.


SNOWFLAKE MUFFINS
(savory muffin good with soup and stews)
2 C all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. dry onion soup mix
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
Measure the ingredients and stir together.  Place in a jar or a baggie with directions.

DIRECTIONS:  Pour mix in a large bowl, and make a well in the center of ingredients.  Beat together one egg, 1/3 cup oil, one cup shredded cheese and one cup milk.  Combine with mix, stir to moisten.  Fill 12  greased muffin cups 3/4 full.  Bake at 400* for 15 - 20 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes and remove from tin.
*You might even gift this with some pretty muffin pan liners! 


There are so many fun things you can make with the ingredients you have on hand and give as much appreciated gifts.
To see other soup jar recipes - check back to older posts.  Potato soup, Love soup, and White Christmas soup are all posted on December 1, 2016 post.
Bulk cocoa mix, pumpkin dip, and cappuccino mix are listed on November 29, 2016.

All of the soup recipes have been a hit in our family. 
Not only do I give these as gifts, but I like to keep a few ready on the pantry shelves.  It makes it easy for a quick warm meal on a cold evening.
REMEMBER to include yourself in jar mixes you make up.
Quick and handy.

I am making up soup jars today!
Have fun and ENJOY!

Jars of mixed beans with seasoning packet included that I did last year.  I keep these on hand as well.

Re-Boot

I don't know about you, but I needed a bit heaping dose of RE-BOOT in my life.
What do I mean?

I have been so sluggish and grumpy lately, thanks to the weather.
I am so tired of seeing and hearing about all the violence all around the world and in my own town.
I am sad reading about all the singers/actors of our time passing away.
I am so missing family and friends (who are in heaven) during our holiday occasions.

I needed to be re-booted or re-charged in the worst way.
I feel so much better now (although still missing people).  WHAT DID I DO?  Well, sometimes life just takes care of what we need!!!!!

The weather changed drastically, and we have had decent temperatures and sunny skies!  I needed the sun so badly.
I have gotten outside and done some REAL work - exercised and worked my body to tiredness, and breathed in lots of fresh air.   It really does make me feel better!
Sometimes you just have to turn off the news - the stuff is still going to happen - I just don't need to hear about it every day.  That doesn't mean I don't care - but we all need a break.
People die - we are at that age that many of our contemporaries are passing on.  YES, it's sad and kind of scary - but we all know that age doesn't always have anything to do with it.

Lastly, it seems that fate, God, coincidence, whatever you want to call it - stepped in.
We are not big movie people, at least I am not.  G watches far more TV than I do.  I happened to be glancing through the FREE channels that we received this past weekend, and recorded many movies for him.  Two of those movies I sat and watched with G, plus a You-Tube movie he pulled up.  Mind you, I hardly ever do that.

They were what I needed.  They made me stop and think, look at the world through new eyes AGAIN, and be more appreciative of EVERYTHING.

We watched The Shack.   Love, love, love this movie.  Bad things happen to good people, We all get sad, we all experience terrible loss, we all get depressed, but we are NEVER alone!

We watched Miracles from Heaven.  It is based on a true story.  At times we all have our faith tested to the max, but again we are NEVER alone.

On You Tube we watched The Heart Christmas, about a child dying (based on true story).  This movie was presented by St. Jude.  Make life the best possible, in every moment you have, then when the time comes, AGAIN we are NEVER alone.

We watched all three of these movies 'by chance'  in 3 days.  Was it 'by chance'?  Some will say yes.  Others will say we were guided.  Me - I think it was SUPPOSED to happen when it did.  I needed to see them - to re-boot my mind, body, and soul.
I needed the reminder of thankfulness, love, faith, and beauty in the most minute things.

We all get so busy at this time of the year.  We all get so overwhelmed at this time of the year.  We all get sad, lonely, and somewhat depressed this time of the year.
DO SOMETHING to rejuvenate yourself.

It takes NO money, just a little time.  Pray/meditate, read your book of worship, watch a movie that has a message, read a touching book, breathe the air and work the work, help others, commune with nature........
Whatever it is - DO IT!  Take some time for you.  We all need that "me" time once in a while to recharge our batteries.
Don't feel selfish about it.  If you need it - do it.

Re-boot, recharge, whatever you want to call it, so you can truly ENJOY ALL the holidays have to offer.
Be blessed my friends and remember you are NEVER alone.

Frugal Happenings 11/26

Good morning all my lovelies!  I hope this finds you well today.

Here we are at the bottom end of November and Christmas is just 4 weeks from tomorrow!  How did that happen so quickly?  YIKES

We had a lovely week.  The weather has been pretty great all week - at least for this time of the year.  We have had lots of sunshine, which has helped my mood tremendously.  The temps have stayed in the 40's, 50's and low 60's most of the week (daytime).  I even got to open the doors a couple days and let a little fresh air in.

Our Thanksgiving was very nice with good company and food.  However, I am glad that is behind us.  It is always so extremely tiring.
Our dinner was actually only about $20 out of pocket. That was for the turkey and the ham.  I had everything else here that I needed.  It fed 6 people, leftovers home with 3, and we have been eating on it since.  Not a bad deal!

The grandson of my neighbors that moved over a year ago, came by to visit with us on Wednesday.  Bless his heart.  He is 21 now (we have known him since day1), and still feels like visiting.  He always said we were his adopted aunt and uncle.  That really made my day.
I found out that the new neighbors had their baby, a little 6 lb. girl named Charlotte.  Sweet.

My nephew (like son) stopped by on Saturday with his fiancé.  They have been together for about 5 years and got engaged this weekend!  They came into town and stayed at a fancy hotel, had dinner, and saw the Christmas lights.  Her ring is beautiful and I am so pleased for them.  It was great to see them.

My frugal week:

• Purchased an additional turkey for .38/lb. for future use.  I wish I had had more room, but my freezers are full.
• Pre-made lots of ice for holiday gathering
• I did home maintenance on the Blazer.  I checked all the fluids and topped off what needed to be.  Added Heat to gas tank and filled tank.  Preparing for cold weather.
• Cleaned both full glass storm doors inside and out (nice weather day) with vinegar and newspaper.
• Made an appointment with insurance broker for this coming Tuesday to discuss health insurance options (UGH)
• Deep a lot of deep cleaning - polished cabinets and floors, mopped, laundry, bedding, cleaned under and behind about everything, dusting, etc..
• Put out a few Christmas decorations.  Changed out the door decorations with things I already had. 
• I kept the turkey carcass and ham bone - both in the freezer, to make stock with later.
• I did go to Big Lots on Friday (I swore I wouldn't shop that day!).  I got 5 pretty tins of assorted popcorn for $4 each.  I also got 3 HUGE 20 oz. bags of tortilla chips for $1 each.  Those will be great for holiday gatherings.  I also got 12 regular size bags of Skittles for .25/bag (kids will love those!)
• Stopped at our local hardware, where I had GC for $5/$25 that expired at end of month.  I got us a new large outdoor thermometer, a finch feeder, a large bag of pet safe ice melt, and a night shirt for me - out of pocket $21!
• Saturday I went to a fairly new small business I heard of.  It is vintage and lovingly re-made items and homemade.  Oh did I have fun in there!  I did buy some small gifts and items for gift baskets.  I got a FREE cloth shopping bag.  First 50 got a bag with 'swag'!!!!  FREE gifts.  I got 3 handmade ornaments, Christmas earrings, 2 handmade cards, a key chain, sample of skin cream, and other small stuff.  I will definitely go back there to shop.

• I ran to the Dollar Tree and got several stuffers for the younger kids gift baskets
• We are getting FREE movie channels again this weekend and have been DVRing many movies to watch later.

Meals this week:
Leftover Chinese
Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
Hamburger goulash
Fish sandwiches and chips/dip
Thanksgiving dinner
T-day leftovers
Turkey noodle/veggie soup
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How did your week go?  Did all my U.S. friends have a nice Thanksgiving?
Did anyone get any great deals this week - grocery or Christmas?

I hope each and everyone of you have a wonderfully blessed week.  I pray the Lord protects and comforts you and your families.
Sending good thoughts from our little humble home to yours!