February Goals

Delicata winter squash... I also have butternut, acorn and spaghetti squash still to use up.

Eat from the pantry and limit eating out to 3 times this coming month (we will eat out once with Dad, and then there is Valentine's day and our anniversary that I think we should combine but Hubby thinks we might not as he would prefer once a week eating out. I think if I get back to bread baking and make tortilla wraps, sub buns along with calzones and pizzas, he won't care about eating out.We did set an amt of $120 for eating out for the month. That means if we go to Lock 16 we will be eating out twice instead of 3 or more and I set the budget at $180 for dairy and fresh produce The dogs budget is $80...yep they have their own budget and that includes vet and meds for them besides food and treats. I also plan to have the mudroom refrigerator freezer empty ...be eating what is in it by the end of the month . We also have a couple programs connected with our health ins that gives us points (which lowers what we pay) for eating real (no preservatives) and eating fewer processed foods (bake my own bread).I will finish the candy and cookies for the kids/grandkids and get them delivered.

I plan to walk 50,000 steps a week (connected to ins also) and start my yoga back up.

We are rebuilding our savings...slow but steady. We decided on some changes to the budget but I am not sure if they will work in real life and we are making payments on the last 3 loans we have following the Dave Ramsey Snowball method.

I am continuing with shining my sink and adding the habit of decluttering (Flylady)

I am continuing with Declutter 365 (Taylor at Home Storage solutions 101) actually I am about halfway through the year because I skipped the ones that will take weeks if not a month to do to work on after I get the "faster" ones done.

I'll pull a couple recipes off Ree (The Pioneer Woman) site like MM favorite sandwich and onion strings. Smothered pork chops.Caramel apple pie and cinnamon rolls to please Hubby (might help the "let's eat out once a week" thing he has going on.

Start more sweet potato slips.

Plan the garden (I already made planting schedule) and start transplants toward end of month.

Finish processing oranges and pumpkins.

Continue working on time mgt and weekly home blessing routine.

Decide which pattern I am using for Great Grandson's afghan....I've changed my mind about every other day.

AND WHY DO I WANT ALL THIS ???

Because I want more life..
more pleasure, more baking, more crocheting, more sewing, more crafts, more writing and lot more time with family and friends.

Last Week frugal

My fortune out of my fortune cookie. I thought it was a good poke as I found it in the car when we went to town. We went to the local Hong Kong Buffet for Chinese New Year on Saturday. I had coupons and shared them with the others that went with us and the table behind me since they had children under 7 and we don't. Everyone else went shopping , we went home.

I grieved for Ree at Thepioneerwoman as they lost their nephew and their oldest dog with in days of each other this past week or so.

I made Brandy's Swiss Chard soup from ThePrudentHomemaker. Reread all the posts under last week's frugal post from Brandy. Reread eating from the pantry and saving.

Bought the Oliso Iron after reading the review at Steamykitchen by Jaden. Been putting that off because I wanted a heavy iron and wasn't finding any in the stores and really hate ordering something that I can't touch even though I know I can return it. This one does what I want it to the first time.

I found a recipe for Kale and Farrow(when I get some of that ) and info on making complete proteins while eating meatless from Terri  at Bluehousejournal.

I found a recipe for slow cooker ham and potatoes from Katie at goodlifeeats.

The soup recipes will be going into my rotation of soups I am now making at least once a week if not  more often.

I put Dave Ramsey Debt Snowball method in effect the beginning of Jan. That is doing  well. I also listed the savings as a bill and set it to automatic. THEN without telling Hubby as he has a the tendency to start shopping when I am trying to save. He used to farm and is very used to always living in debt and living on loans. NOT living that way is a struggle for him. I transfer any money not needed at the end of the month to the savings.

My mother in law told me they saved five dollar bills and that's what she used to buy the house when they retired from farming.She saved 20 yrs. When she started she thought it would help make a down payment at the end of each month she deposited the fives. Then after a year she decide any five, whether it was 5 ones of a 5 dollar bill. SO I am doing 5 ones and 5 dollar bills.In my savings.

Prepped veggies at the beginning of the week part of the Revive course that I took from Jessica at lifeasmom. OVER prepped so I cooked what was going to end of being pitched if I didn't and split it between the turkey(leftover turkey from another meal) to make 2 burritos for our lunches and the rest of the turkey and some of the veggies went into making last night's turkey and dumplings. I have a container of the veggies to go in the pasta or calzones tonight and the rest of the veggies got dumped into what was left of the mashed potatoes that was leftover that I made mashed potato patties.Had mashed potato mixture left so mixed that the veggies and froze it to reheat as a side or add milk/broth/water to for soup for myself. I can also take a container to Dad and he can reheat it for a side or soup...just thought if I added cheese and some meat it would be loaded mashed potatoes. LUNCH. LOL

I had tossed the bag the chicken came into the kitchen trash and the next day Hubby had to take it out because of the smell...felt it was a waste as the bag wasn't really full and the trash goes to the road on Monday mornings. He tossed some of the burn trash (we have open burn here and use a burn barrel. We don't put anything in it we wouldn't put in our gardens as the ashes either go in our gardens or in our landlord's fields). I told him for now on I would either do the chicken on Sunday or put the "trash" from it in a bag and in the frig or freezer.Not wasting another kitchen trash bag.

How was your week?

Frugal week and eating from the pantry.

The week started good....and then.. DOWN HILL SLIDE .isn't that how it usually goes?

Been eating for the pantry (pantry challenge over at Good Cheap Eats) , definitely haven't been eating out like we were.I have been focusing on clearing this freezer to the mudroom frig. Yesterday I pulled things out to see what was left...I have enough to make it to the end of Feb...HUM didn't think I could pack it that full and then  I wonder how many meals is in Monty that is the 27 cubic ft deep freezer. Guess I am going to find out.

We went to the store...kind of...Actually we went to Menards to get shelving for the root cellar section of the pantry in the basement. It was on sale and they had their 11 % rebate and we had 3 rebates to apply. Got two metal shelving units for $33 with the tax. COOL. ALSO got half the seeds for the gardens for 40% off and they are FRESH seed not last year's leftovers... add another 11 % taken off that when the rebate comes in...sigh, they had the chips on sale...chips is on the list for Feb,,,, yes I buy chips. Tortilla chips for nachos, taco salad, taco casserole, guac and salsa , cream cheese (Hubby likes it ). Fritos for taco salad, chili, spinach dip (it's the only time Hubby eats cooked spinach), potato chips for the times I am craving carbs, salt and needing potassium.and then I usually get something like puffed popcorn or cheese puffs for those times I crave crunch but can't eat raw veggies (CELERY CELERY CELERY). I got a nice variety and specified they had to last until March AND saved over 50% and I am still UNDER budget for the month.PLUS they will also get the  11% rebate. I hid the chips LOL.

We went to Walgreens as I had coupons on my card and a few paper coupons and got our year's supply of vitamins and supplements. I might have to pick up B vitamin depending on the blood work I get for next month. Saved over a 1/3rd. which is better than what I did last year as I only saved 15% last year and it averaged out to be $20 a month. This time it's averaging less than $9.for both us together. I have to take multi vitamin, vit D, Calcium, vit B. I have to float between 3 multi vitamins to keep my stomach from throwing a hissy.

Wed was my birthday, we thought we would go to town after Hubby got home from work and I would get my blood work (after fasting), then go get my free breakfast from Perkins and then get the tags and my license renewed then get the shelving and vitamins and some odds and ends at the store....it did NOT happen...Oh yeah I fasted ,,,went without my morning coffee (or tea) and about the time Hubby should have been getting in, he was calling me to come get him because the truck was broke down.

The day slid down hill from there. Truck wouldn't be jumped, came home to take the "box" we have on the trailer off (we use the box when at auction or this time was moving our daughter) went back and winched the truck on the trailer which took an HOUR and then hauled it to the mechanic at 30 mph back roads.Getting it off the trailer was easy as we parked so the truck would roll backwards without much of a push.

Then got the tags and my license and then WENT back to the truck to put the tags on it. I did run through Walmart and get printer paper ( I don't print picture when I print recipes and I usually copy and paste so I can change the font to one that doesn't use as much ink)as I was completely out and some pears and a gal of milk.  I used a gift card and it still has money on it. I got my blood work Friday,

Got home and found out that our neighbor's mother that used to be our neighbor had died and her viewing was that night at 4 so Hubby got 3 hrs sleep before he was back up and off we went to the viewing...meantime I had checked my email and found that Hubby's employer is changing health ins to a HSA in 2018.... we don't pay for our ins at all right now but we do pay a deductible and copays....been expecting the change for years so it didn't throw us but I decided to change the budget NOW to reflect that change so we are used to it by Jan of next year. THEN since I didn't get my free bfast Hubby was feeling bad for me so he called in to our favorite local restaurant and ordered me the fried chicken dinner to go. Dropped me off at home and went and got it...didn't think to check the order before he left the restaurant...half my meal wasn't there SIGH. I ended up cooking sides for myself and he called to complain. I went to bed early,

I cooked a big batch of bell peppers, onions with 1 lbs of smoked sausage cut in coins and added 2 qrts of home canned tomatoes. 1/3 went into pasta and cheese, another 1/3rd went over rice and the last was strained (juice was left for the rice one) and used in tortilla wraps. Should have saved some for the omelets I made later this week.

I cooked 2 soup pots of rice. one for to make fried rice and the other for regular dishes or for bfast with raisins and milk.

I made eggroll casserole that made our dinner and then bagged 19 more servings(that way I can use it for my lunch, or Hubby"s lunch or for eggrolls or potstickers without thawing a lot of it) of it for the freezer. It used the last 2 heads of cabbages we had from last fall.

My GI doctor wanted me to read up on Ayurveda so I was able to do so through my Amazon kindle. I downloaded 12 books. I do unlimited, which is good for me as it's 20 miles one way to the nearest library and their selection isn't very good.I read several books at a time, nothing for me to go through a book or even two in a day. I don't watch tv except for the evening news and sometimes morning news for the weather and I limit time of the computer , I do NOT have Facebook on my phone or any other social media. I have started timing my time on Facebook when my youngest texted me and asked why I was still on FB after 30 min (I was reading some bloggers LOL)I read two hours every night and did when the kids were little, I read in bed instead of watching tv.

I have started dusting and sweeping more often to cut back on the issues with my allergies. Also using a nasal rinse twice a day and found if I do all of that I am not having to take the allergy meds or the Afrin spray...which is better for my tummy as Crony (what I call my Crohn's) isn't happy with allergy meds. also saves me over $20 a month. My daughter suggested I toss the throw blankets etc out over the clothes line even if it is freezing to help air them out instead of using the dryer.

I save all the junk mail envelopes and expired coupons and any piece of paper that can be used for notes etc.

I wash freezer bags that wasn't used for meat, foil and bread bags,

 I researched through the internet (and my Swagbucks)for the best prices for the last of my seeds I wanted to order and then ordered them using discount codes etc I cashed in my Swagbucks to claim my extra points for my birthday. I used what I cashed in for Amazon and then ordered Hubby a new tracker as his was no longer working with his phone and wouldn't connect to our health ins (ins does a point system, you do certain things like walking 50000 steps a week and get points that helps lower the costs of the health ins )Hubby had bought me a new one in Dec when he found them on sale but he didn't like what was on sale so didn't get a new one him self. I found what he liked on Amazon on sale and my Swagbucks paid for over half of it.

We decided to use my free bfast coupon this week as it expires. I then found a coupon for Perkins for Hubby to use for his meal when I decluttered area by the calendar. I don't usually keep Perkins coupons as it's not a place we go very often. THEN we decided to go Monday night since I have 2 doc appts to go to. I already have a lunch in the freezer for Hubby to take to work that night. I hope to get produce then also.IF not we will be going without because I'm not making a special trip to get it.

I went to The Prudent Homemaker site and read the frugal posts daily. Even if it means to reread, I always seem to find another piece of wisdom to try to keep the week frugal.

Blessed Be

last week's frugalness

I washed my produce before preparing it and put the skins in a bag in the freezer to make veggie broth when the bag is full which should be this week.

I canned 8 pints of oranges, dried the zest, added some of the zest to salt for citrus salt, put some of the peels in vinegar for citrus vinegar cleaner and prepped the nicer peels to make candy orange peels today.

We ate from the pantry doing the pantry challenge from Good Cheap Eats except for Saturday when Hubby brought a pizza home after working outside in the cold and wet with HAM radio group.

I dehydrated some more eggs and powdered them for storage. I noticed the price is starting to creep back up to a dollar a dozen. I would like to get more in storage but if I don't , I'm okay.

I put 14 qrts of turkey broth, 7 qrts of beef broth and 14 pints of ham broth.

I put 4 meals of ham in the freezer.

I canned 12 half pints of butter. I grew up canning butter so it doesn't worry me to do this.It is a personal choice.

I bumped a couple of errands and appts to the same days so we are only going to town 2 days this week instead of 4.

I baked a peach dump cake and took the extra peaches to add to peach jello.

I didn't keep track of what I was doing frugal and I think since I didn't I might not noticed that I could have been frugal or more frugal if I had been writing things down daily.

Blessed Be

What I plan to do this week

 These come from REVIVE course from Jessica Fisher fishmama.com

These week's goals.

Declutter 365 ( Taylor at Home storage solution 101). We are in the pantry...yesterday I measured all areas of where I store food and non food. We have thought 400 sq ft....NOPE. 700 sq ft. that's bigger than the house my youngest lives in with 3 kids. I took pictures yesterday, noticed clutter that I was "blanking" out when I was actually in the room along with some why did I sit that there? issues.  I won't be inventorying it ...HA HA. Nor will I be inventorying the 27 cubic chest deep freezer, 22 cubic chest deep freezer or 7 cubic chest deep freezer. I might the 2 refrigerators freezers. That is a BIG might.

I changed my zones from Flylady's zone to match my house better. The zone for this week is the upstairs bedrooms. I will also be focusing on 27 fling boogie 3 times a day out of these 3 rooms.I took pictures of this also. We'll see where I stand in these 3 rooms before I decide which is the project for this weekend.

I am doing Revive, using the time budget, time analysis, cleaning schedule  daily. Made a menu for bfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

Doing snowball debt  from Dave Ramsey and focused on rebuilding the emergency fund. In with this I have gotten paperwork for my doctor to fill out to try to get my health ins to agree to pay for a medication not covered by my ins.My ins suggested it, that even if my ins doesn't pay it , I might be able to get my money back through my flex spending acct.

I've been reading The Prudent Homemaker daily gleaning the wisdom on the frugal posts but the others also. I just gave away a skirt that I loved but was huge on me that I could have taken in.. I do sew DUH. It took seeing Brandy's daughter in the skirt she took in to make me realize I need to stop with, this don't fit get rid of it and ask if I can redo it to make it fit.

I am processing food that will start going bad with spring coming.

Have a great week

Jan 15 to 21 menu

Due to changes in meds (and there will be another one in a couple weeks) I have sat down and wrote out the meds schedule and when I have to eat...because over half my meds need to have food with them but can't be taken close to other meds. I am really focused on serving sizes and getting more walking in as I don't want to gain weight.

Bfast menu is French toast with bacon/oatmeal bar with yogurt/apple muffin with yogurt/egg sandwich (bagel,bread or English muffin) cream of wheat with sausage patty/oatmeal with egg (how ever I want to fix it that morning LOL) and omelet.

Morning snack. My doctor strongly suggested pureed fruit with my new med which is what I take at this time so that will be what this snack is. I will set up my blender so if I don't have applesauce in the frig like I do right now, I can puree up what ever is on hand.

Lunch...SIGH... I am going to try to eat salads....daily.... I like salads, I always eat them when out, I eat a chef salad before I eat my pizza but let's get real...I HATE PREPPING SALADS. I just am not willing to pay that extra money to have it prepped for me LOL.... I have been known to eat what my friend calls salad sandwiches.So Sunday evening I will be prepping salads but in my head I will tell myself I am prepping veggies to use during the week in dinners instead...Sometimes I have to "mommy" myself.Salads will have a protein/carb with them due to meds.

Afternoon snack.This is around 2 pm when I have my tea, it will be mostly a small carb...biscotti, cookie, cake, fig newton, something small. I've done this for years so it's not a change.

Dinner this week...123 pasta (using leftovers up)/Eggroll Bowl (has rice)/ smoked sausage,bell peppers and onion over LO Rice/ham and scalloped potatoes casserole/ red beans and LO rice/Chicken breast (several varieties of precooked in freezer)with winter sq (depending on choice of chicken of which winter sq) and Risotto...probably beef,mushroom and radicchio

Evening snack...jello, pudding, custard, yogurt, frozen yogurt or juice, Maybe popcorn ...something very light but still enough I can take the last med that requires food.I might try to ride the exercise bike after the snack instead of riding it in the morning.Though taking a walk around the perimeter in the dark (I have a good flashlight) in the cold might help me sleep longer than 4 hrs.

What I am doing

Declutter 365 is going good.I have the upstair hall and staircase (stash dash and wait until I am going up for some other reason since we don't use the upstairs much any more. That's going to change) done and cleaned.

I worked on the butler's pantry, another dump until I go down to the basement area as the basement door is right there..which meant I was stepping over things to get to the dry goods that I can't store in the pantry in the basement or things I use daily (I don't store food in the kitchen cabinets, never have).

This is what it looked like before I started....

there is over 50 cake mixes on that top shelf. My youngest gave me a recipe to use them up making cookies .If I had 50 brownie mixes I would have everyone of my grandkids offering to bake them LOL.

I took some stuff and placed in 5 gal food grade buckets with lids and put in basement pantry including 30 of the cake mixes, kept no more than 2 of each kind plus brownie, muffin and cookie mixes I was given. I have a few things that were missing and didn't realize it until I cleaned it so today I will be making a grocery list of those items as right now they are just jotted down on the white out board on the side of the frig that sits at the doorway to this area.

I forgot to take a before picture of the pegboard I hang my pots and pans on (idea from Julia Child). To say the least it was a horrible mess since I had bought new pans  and the set had more pans than the set I got rid of (gave to grandson that got his own place) and never dealt with it. Hubby likes the new way because if he hangs it in the wrong spot it's be into another pan and he KNOWS that isn't how it's set up.  I got rid of the rice cooker that I haven't used since the kids left home (hum, 9 yrs?) and put the instant pot in its place so it's off the floor.

SO after 3 days of several hours a day this is what I now have.

and then I have this...I hang the tablecloths here. We don't use the baseboard heater (shut off at breaker box) so I use it for the cold cereal. I very seldom buy cereal unless it's on sale for less than $2 and I have coupons.AND if I can get a rebate from it it's even better. BUT Hubby likes his cold cereal and at least it's not the kind with tons of sugar. We are stocked for about 6 months if not more.

Hubby built this as a bookcase for me in 2005 when I started my business as a personal/private chef.It's purpose has changed several times through the years.I have a step stool that isn't in the picture that usually leans against it. It's being used upstairs at the moment. This is another one Hubby built. We had moved into a very small rental house that had a built in pantry wardrobe and there was this spot next to it that nothing fit in and I didn't have any place for my baking staples so Hubby built it to fit the area. When we moved here it fit in this corner but now it holds the teas, sodas,jello, pudding, and the booze. Just FYI, we don't drink 95 % of it. It's for cooking mostly that I used in my cheffing....I pawned some off on my bartending daughter for her and her coworkers to use coming up with new drinks etc. Still have some I am either going to have to pawn off or find recipes for since I have retired.Got a few from Mom before she passed away and a couple from a friend that brought it back from Italy. I plan to start working on the shelves that are in the staircase to the basement next. Kitchen is just wipe out cabinet and drawers and the top of the cabinets wiped out. I keep the kitchen decluttered mostly. The kitchen table gets a lot on it as it's the only work area and holds the coffee maker,my kitchenaid, tea box, water pitcher, cookie jar LOL ...it's only 24 inches by 40 inches so it's a work horse for it's size.

Pantry challenge frugal week

Hubby said he knows why we don't do menus ...I take the leftovers and keep adding to it to provide one more meal...  this was said after I cooked a combination of veggies to add to our subs and then served them in  4 more ways to provide meals. I put the last of them in enchiladas tonight but we still have enchiladas left for tomorrow so I guess that makes 5..it was 3 bell peppers, 1 jumbo onion and 1 lbs of mushrooms .. that I added 1/2 cup of cooked sausage, 1 cup of leftover cooked shredded beef and tonight I added refried beans to it... We had it this morning with eggs and country style gravy.

We had bbq ribs, mashed potatoes and kraut and repeated it the next day. I had poorman stroganoff (hamburger stroganoff with horseradish) over Ramen noodles.  I baked a ham and served it with mac and cheese and green beans. The next day we had ham sandwiches with leftover mac and cheese. I cut of what was left of the ham for 3 casseroles (put that ham in freezer) and simmered the bone to make ham broth for soup that I canned. I roasted a chuck roast and used it to make beef and homemade noodles with a molasses custard baked in wee be little pumpkins (usually used for decorations).

I canned beef broth and turkey broth and butter ....yes butter. I grew up with canning butter so I don't worry about doing it now. It's what we used during the summer because it would stay soft in the frig and leaving butter out during the summer was usually not good idea.

I mended a shirt for Hubby and 2 dog toys that the dogs got for Christmas.

We redid the 2017 budget. Had to increase some areas and decreased others to make it balance and still be able to put some back in savings. We did better financial in 2016 than we had the five years before that even though we lost income. I garden more and we get what I don't grow at the Amish produce auction instead of buying organic at the store.

We went to the store even though we are doing the pantry challenge. I matched non food coupons to the sales. Ended up getting 3 lbs of meat for free due to coupons and sales also. Got my dairy and produce that I was out of. Saved over 30 % so I felt better about going to the store. I downloaded the free Friday coupon from Krogers. Matched rebates with Mobisave, checkout51 and Ibotta.

I'm decluttering daily and repurposing things so I don't have to buy anything.

I started my sweet potato slips.

Hope everyone is safe, warm and having a good week

Jan menu and shopping

Since we are on the pantry challenge over at goodcheapeats. I decided we would only buy things that are on the basic weekly grocery list (no stocking up)...then Hubby decided we would only go to the store every 2 weeks...then I decided since we wasn't going to be in town for anything for 3 weeks we would go 3 weeks with picking up milk at the local IGA when he heads home from work in the mornings.

THEN I decided to not spend more that $100 for the month on food with the thought of closer to $50 for the month.

THEN ..ha ha I got to thinking about what would I be willing to buy

Apples as Hubby packs these in his lunches and also will eat them with peanut butter. Right now I have a good supply but by the end of the month I can see us need more.

Bananas as a requirement of my diet. This might be another pick up at the local IGA as I do NOT see me driving 30 min round trip for 7 bananas.

Celery, carrots,bell peppers, fresh mushrooms and dark greens. I have plenty of everything else in the pantry but I don't even have dried celery or dried carrots.

Vernor's ginger soda and Sprite...WHY because I am sick  😢and when my Crohn's flares up that's what the doctor's put me on also...especially the ginger soda. I do ginger tea but it can some times be too strong with my Crohn's so I drink the soda FLAT AND WARM.

AND the last would  be  milk, heavy cream, half and half and buttermilk. I have enough cottage cheese and cheese (dairy is my protein during Crohn's attacks) for the month. I have enough yogurt that if I need more I could make it if I had the milk to make it.

 I have the baking supplies for bread, biscuits,bagels, English muffins, flat bread, Naan bread, crescents (even though for some reason I have several store brand crescents ) and tortilla wraps.

The menu for the month

 Bfast we will rotate through pie, fruit muffins and fruit bread, oatmeal and cream of wheat (might do grits) Egg or bfast meat sandwich,  Sunday, Friday and Saturdays when Hubby working will be brunch...pancakes,waffles, French toast,frittatas (Big Egg is what Hubby calls it) or omelets. Not quite the Irish full fry but close.

Lunch, Hubby packs leftovers from our dinner or takes a lunch meat (can be meat I sliced off of roasts) wrap or sandwich. He prefers tortilla wraps or flat bread over regular bread most the time.

I will have mushroom soup, tomato soup, potato soup or egg drop soup. I will also have PB and honey or grilled cheese sandwiches Egg salad or tuna salad with crackers is an option. Sometimes I just do "snacks" for lunch like cheese, crackers and pickles or olives

Dinner, I listed the proteins instead of the sides...I do sides based on what I have already eaten and what Vit I still need...like tonight I will need Vit A so I will make sure that what I eat will have that.

Dinners...

Seafood: mackerel patties, Salmon patties and tuna noodle casserole.

Soups and stews: Pasta e Fagioli (first day I don't add the pasta, second round I do) beef bourguignon or beef stew depending on if I want to make pot pie or add dumplings 2nd round. Brunswick stew, and bean soup.

Pork meals are roasted pork (LO pulled or Brunswick stew), pork chops, bulk sausage,sausage patties,smoked sausage, and ham (with lots of LO)

 Roasted beef (LO as stew, potpie or noodles) hamburger, fajitas, subs(mock Philly cheese steak) stroganoff  

Enchiladas with any meat

Grilled bologna ( from G&R Tavern in Waldo OH)

Homemade calzones and pizza

pasta , 123 pasta is a go to a lot...1 onion, 2 cups protein and 3 cups or more veggies... I will toss that combination on top of rice also.

We will do bfast for dinner also. I do have a list of meals that are stocked that can be prepared with in 15-20 min.

Jan 2nd pantry challenge

UGH....I caught the crud that is going around.Woke up with it and WHINED that for the large amount of steroids I am on that I shouldn't be SICK...

BUT I AM....WHINE WHINE WHINE...I did get a grilled cheese to go with that whine LOL

ANYWAYS.

While Hubby ate pie for bfast (low sugar) and I had crackers for bfast....we talked over what was going on the rest of the day for meals since I don't cook when I am sick.

I went with tomato soup and grilled cheese (sop up the whine LOL) for lunch and will have the last of the tomato soup for dinner.Probably with a PB and Honey sandwich or a grilled lunch meat. I have V8 Fusion to balance that.

Hubby is eating the last of the leftover ribs, mashed potatoes and kraut for his dinner and packing a lunch meat sandwich(probably a tortilla wrap instead of bread) for his lunch.

Today is our trash day so I cleaned the kitchen frig out. Wasn't as bad as it looked and I put some things in that freezer so it's on the full side now.

AND this is what it looks now

I seemed to have picked up a lot of crescent rolls for some reason that I am going to have to use up. Salad dressings etc, Mexican items and jelly/fruit butters are back in the storage containers so it's pull one thing out and not a hunt and find. Cottage cheese and yogurt left top next to salad stuff as I toss it with my salads just as often as not.Milk, juices are to the top and right, eggs, bacon and bacon grease to the bottom and right. Hubby's lunch drawer right has his apples, candy bar that he has with peanut butter and the lunch meat for when there is no leftovers for him to pack for lunch. Left drawer is veggies so there is no veggies still sitting on the jars in the doors. Under milk is leftovers and the large container of dark greens I am now suppose to eat regularly. The bottom drawer is CHEESE....lots and lots of cheese and it's not the only cheese in the house. I get cheese on sale and FREEZE it. YEP YEP YEP

Jan 1st pantry challenge

Berry pie for bfast
appetizers for lunch
ribs, kraut, mashed potatoes and apple pie for dinner
guac and chips for snack later.









I had an extra Flylady calendar and decided to use it in the kitchen to write what I actually cook (compared to what I put on the menu). I also noted what food  has what Vit etc in it to make sure that I have that covered.

This deep freezer is what I call baby as it is the 7 cf and the smallest. It is my focus to clear it and the 2 frig freezers first in this challenge.

Jan 2017 monthly goals

FOR the gardens:
start sweet potato slips

 start forcing paper whites and amaryllis.

 plan/plot what to plant where this spring/summer/fall check seeds and decide on what plants

  Organization/cleaning
 use declutter 365 starting in kitchen.(Home storage solutions 101)

 set a home blessing routine...reflect that it will have to float some due to health and doctor appts.
 work on time management issues ...I am horrible with time mgt.

  Sewing/crafts
keep mending current (not a basket at a time)

 make an afghan for great grandson

 make new aprons for myself

 set up/organize the sewing/craft room and remove things that should not be in that room. I'm having trouble deciding what will work and what won't in sitting the room up as it is a small room and there is no heat in that room without a heater being brought in to it.

  Financial
rebuild the savings as we are FINALLY out of the Ch 13 bankruptucy (slow pay) and are no longer limited on saving.

 purchase a 2nd dehydrator

 continue to pay off loans...we paid off 2 last year and have 3 left. Time frame is set for 4 yrs but I would like to get that done in less....

 Have money for Christmas already set aside by Oct 1st.

  Personal
 Keep Crohn's flare ups down by watching diet, eating smaller meals and more often and exercising.Hopefully the new meds with allow me to go into remission and come off meds completely for awhile. Walking with the dogs here at home at least 3 times a day even when cold (BURRRR) and going to the wellness center (5 miles away) to attend classes for free connected to Hubby's work. I've just been lazy about going. I have a girlfriend that is willing to do some classes with me and my doctor has "ordered" me to start lifting weights to rebuild my strength and bones.

  Kitchen/pantry

I need to shine my sink(Wash dishes) twice a day...

 I am doing the pantry challenge with Goodcheapeats this month. Our pantry is out of control as you will notice if you are reading my blog. My goal is to have the pantry cleared down so this late summer and early fall I have room for NEW food.It won't be empty but I would like to have it down about half.

 I also want to go back to baking my own breads

 I NEED to finish taking out the preservatives in my diet

. I need to have the kitchen set up to be able to process the food coming in faster so it's not just sitting.