What can I cut

End of October I was thinking, pantry is almost fully stocked, just need turkeys, some fresh cranberries ...then my mother in law reminded me of mincemeat. Saving account looked decent, bills were paid.

Nov. 1st, daughter 4 bought a car and now has payments (she's trying to rebuild her credit after her divorce) and she had budgeted for an oil change this paycheck and 2 tires the following paycheck and another 2 tires the following week and right after she left the dealership her doctor called her to tell her she did not have a sinus infection but is going into stage 2 mold poisoning. She called the health dept and they told her to find another place to live because as soon as they contact her landlord (AKA slum lord) he will evict her. WHICH she already knew because she knew a couple of people that went through this with him. She is now saving to move along with needing the tires, did her budget and called us to see if we could provide basic groceries for 3 months (without causing ourselves problems) so she could only spend $20 a week for dog food, toilet paper, milk and margarine.

Hubby told her we could do that as this is the kid that LOVES beans and rice.

Nov 2rd our old landlord got a hold of us and told us when they pulled the carpets up they found mold UNDER the padding (figured it was from where the basement constantly had water) and thought they should let us know to go get checked for it.. so since we was in the doctor's office when they called our doctor ran blood work...yep, it showed we had had mold poisoning but we were healing (probably due to bronchitis meds) so we have to take meds a week longer to just be on the careful side

 Nov 3rd Hubby's truck starts making a grinding noise  so on the 4th he hands me a sheet of paper that had all the information of the truck he would like to buy... he has been pricing trucks for the last year... I am glad I was sitting down. He priced it out, down payment, sales tax and title, cash payment or loan with down payment and without down payment and 5 different years. Best deal is a 2015, he PLANS for it to last 15 to 20 yrs like what we have so that puts him 75 -80 yrs old and most likely won't be driving a big truck...I really didn't want a payment of $900 along with the price of the insurance which he priced also but is the worse case. There has been a couple jobs he couldn't take because it would have been too much for his truck which is a 1998.

SO back to the budget, yes we can do it but it makes it tight because we don't want to increase what we withdraw from the IRA especially when the market is DOWN since he retired. We will be going this Thursday to look... sigh.

As I went through the pantry today, making sure we had everything, refilling the containers in the dining room from the pantry etc. Hubby came in and told me to buy more turkeys than what I had planned and handed me 2-5 gal buckets of pears he had picked up out of the neighbor's yard while helping the other neighbor with his 4 yr old put a roof on the her garage. She has all she wanted so Hubby and Neighbor's 4 yr old picked the rest up from the yard to "clean" the yard up for her. Hubby said the 4 yr old ended up with 4 -5 gal buckets in the wagon and he helped him pull them home while his dad finished the garage roof.

Hubby really does NOT like pears, they taste sandy to him...but his grandma used to mix apples with pears for sauce and in pies so I will be doing that because I definitely did not need any more pears canned.

We will be going to Kroger's to get turkeys on Wed as they have them on sale for 48 cents/pound.Paper ad says you have to spend $25 and limit 2, website had limit 1 with nothing to spend... either way we will be going on Wed.

We have ate from the pantry, finished canning the last of the tomatoes, hubby gave away 40 lbs while I was in the hospital , still I ended up with 6 meals of fried green tomatoes in the freezer and 30 qrts of juice beside what we ate daily.

I sewed buttons on 2 of my shirts, Hubby darned his socks three times. Amish neighbor baked a loaf of bread again for us as we stopped at the store (not out of our way) for her and saved her 4 hrs of being away from home as she is also canning the last of her tomatoes and tomorrow will be doing pears like me.

Charlotte has been finding a way to get out of the yard when we leave, I caught Wilbur and Rascal jumping on the fence when barking at the neighbor and Charlotte started to go over it since the 3 of them can tug it down.far enough she can jump it. Hubby took old fencing wood and put it on the top of the fence so they can't pull the fence down and she can't jump over it. He also put lattice we used to use several years ago over the top of the gates because he saw she could get half way through it today. Both neighbors are watching to see if they can see her get out when we leave to go vote tomorrow and again on Thursday for our doctor appt and going to look at the truck.

We had some birds getting in the loft of the barn making a mess and since that is where we store stuff we weren't happy about it. Hubby thinks he found all the holes , said they could get in but not out that way so he plugged them up today using wood I had savaged from here when the contractors where working.

We are still slowly going through the boxes in the barn and getting things put away.

I did get my gate leg table (Grandpa built it out of ply board)in the house and upstairs as I use it to cut fabric on . I also got the table I use for sewing in the house and up stairs so MAYBE I will get to start sewing the winter curtains next week.

I am spending this week gathering my recipes of things I will now make from scratch instead of buying.

Blessed Be

When I loath cooking

Yep, 2005 when I was in Philadelphia  for a convention and got a free photo of me in my chef jacket. Grew my hair back out to my waist as I got tired of fighting it to stay up inside my hat.

It sometimes surprises people when they mention I must love to cook everyday being a chef... as a self employed chef that answer depends... for work , love a good solid 5 days a week which usually ended up at least 10 plus hrs a day..at home, I am always looking for plan overs vs left overs and how to slap a good balanced meal on the table in 30 minutes or even better in the oven where I can do something else, like read a book and drink tea.I never have been much at crock pots  At work I love working with different ingredients (great in Atlanta GA) at home here in Ohio, not going to get that variety unless I travel 3 hrs one way to Jungle Jim's. though there are a few things I could order from Amazon if I really wanted to...I loath to order produce or fresh herbs online.

Right now, I am sitting here fighting bronchitis, as Hubby shared his (GRR) and for the first time in 25 yrs we are both sick at the same time and both are not really wanting to cook, let alone clean up.

Keeping with that theme HA HA...I fall back on old stand by's of when I was a widow with kids... Breads, pizza crusts etc were 98% of the time homemade.It wasn't that I did not want to spend time cooking , I was working 3 part time jobs and being single mom...not a lot of time or energy left.

Sunday Beef roast with root veggies (the next time I served beef roast it would be followed by beef noodles and the time after that would beef veggie soup)

Monday leftover beef roast as stew with dumplings (if some how there was leftover it went in to pot pie or Blue plate special of beef over stuffing with mash potatoes)

Tuesday enchilada casserole (made either the night before or in the morning) with lettuce, tom and onion

Wednesday homemade pizza with salad (crust made night before or that morning and prebaked)

Thursday Tuna noodle(store bought noodles) casserole with veggie tray and dill dip

Friday Grilled cheese(home made bread) and canned soup (store bought unless I canned chili or beef veggie soup)

Saturday mac and cheese with peas or peas and carrots mixed in with hot dogs.

Sunday Roasted turkey (yep all year around),sweet potatoes and green beans (next round of turkey would be white bean chili followed by shredded turkey sandwiches, might be a pot pie or blue plate special)

Monday Turkey noodles(homemade), mashed potatoes and cole slaw with apple sauce.

Tuesday Homemade taco pizza with salad

Wednesday mackerel patties, boiled parsley potatoes and peas or peas and carrots

Thursday Homemade baked beans with corn bread and cole slaw.

Friday Aunt Dolly's oven meal casserole (what ever was left from turkey, a layer of veggies topped with slice potatoes and what ever cream soup.

Saturday Spaghetti with red sauce (sometimes meat  or veggie sauce), homemade garlic toast

Sunday Pork roast with root veggies (next round BBQ pork sandwiches followed by Brunswick stew)

Monday blue plate special AKA sliced pork on stuffing with mashed potatoes drowned in gravy with green beans or corn and cole slaw.

Tuesday fish sticks, loaded baked potato and cole slaw

Wednesday  Hard tacos with refried beans topped with cheese and salsa

Thursday French bread pizza (homemade French bread) veggies tray

Friday Hot dogs and coney sauce, French fries and in season fruit.

Saturday. Breakfast for dinner... each kid took a turn  at choosing what would be served. Waffles, Belgian waffles, pancakes,French toast. sweet rolls, syrup or pie filling, bacon,sausage or ham, fried apples or cobbler, grits, cream of wheat or oatmeal.

Sunday Lasagna. homemade garlic bread and salad and broccoli (followed by stuffed shells followed by manicotti)

Monday  Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn and green beans because there was NEVER leftover pasta LOL. (I will add here Daughter 2 makes meatloaf first and uses the leftovers either in spaghettie with meat sauce or in chili)

Tuesday.bean and cheese burritos, Spanish rice and custard

Wednesday  Grilled cheese and soup of choice, veggie and fruit tray

Thursday  Calzones ( choice of ingredients) with salad

Friday Mackerel patties, mashed potatoes and cole slaw

Saturday eggs , fried potatoes, biscuits and gravy(gravy was made from what ever fat I had saved and be milk gravy if I had extra milk, in good times it was sausage or bacon gravy)

Sunday Roasted chicken, baked potatoes and corn (followed by chicken dumplings and then chicken and noodles the next round)

Monday chicken and rice and broccoli casserole

Tuesday mac and cheese , peas or peas and carrots and smoked sausage

Wed, chuck wagon beans (hamburger or sausage in homemade baked beans) corn bread

Thursday Homemade pizza with salad

Friday Grilled lunch meat sandwiches with veggie tray

Saturday Appetizers...might be pigs in blanket, cheese and pepperoni and crackers, sweet and sour or bbq meatballs... Kids choice.

Sunday  Baked ham, sweet potatoes and cauliflower/broccoli/carrots (followed by scalloped potatoes and ham then hot ham and cheese sandwiches)

Monday Soup beans with ham, cornbread and baked apples.

Tuesday...leftover soup has mixed veggies and rice(or small pasta)added to it and served over homemade bread.

Wednesday ground pork patties, grits and salad

Thursday chili with cornbread and salad

Friday poor man stroganoff ..(hamburger with horseradish in cream sauce over pasta) carrots  and beets

Saturday Cincy Chili (chili over spaghetti) and a salad

I used to rotate through these every 6 weeks with the change of what was served on Monday's. Sunday was when I had time and didn't mind as much the clean up as much so that's when the meal that took time was. I also baked bread on Mondays, Wednesday and Saturday...3 loaves every time. 

Still sick... 209 update

The only place we have went is the doctor's office. We have ate from the pantry that is full which is a really really good thing since neither of us wanted let alone needed to be out and about in the store.

We have finally got to the point of actually eating something like beef stew,spaghetti with meat veggie sauce and chili instead of just drinking broth and pureed veggie soup. I fixed baked pumpkin oatmeal (Pioneer woman) that was good also.

I have gotten the kitchen together completely (if you don't count curtains not being sewn and hung).  I brought my wind chimes in from the porches and hung most of them at the kitchen sink window.

I won't put a curtain up at this window as I watch the sunrise a lot through it .It also lets me see who is pulling in the drive before they get to the house.

It's nice to have everything in it's place and able to actually find what I need.

I think the next place is the bedroom and my desk area as I am starting National Novel Writing month Nov 1st.

Neighbor came over to borrow some yeast as it was Saturday morning as she didn't think she had enough bread to make it to Monday afternoon (Amish keep Sunday as the day of rest, her Hubby was away at an auction so no one to take the buggy to store for her) I asked for a loaf back in return of the yeast since we were down to 2 slices... BOY was it better than mine. Since she doesn't use a recipe she said she would have to think about it but she thinks the big difference is she uses sorghum and I use sugar. The bread was a lot moister and it is definitely GONE. So tomorrow (Tuesday) I will be baking bread.

Frugal mid month

Tuesday, I put the last of the green tomatoes in the freezer. Cleaned the pantry and moved some things around so it makes better sense... also will allow me to focus on what needs used up first and what we are low on. I had 10 jars of green beans. Forgot we lost 16 jars to bad lids, daughter 4 still has some of her's here and offered for us to keep them and use them as she has enough to go a few months. Her pantry is only 6 months. I caught the laundry up as I usually do that on Mondays and we went to visit parents instead. All loads were on the clothes line to dry even though they forecasted a freeze this morning we got nothings. I took leftover beef roast and broth and mixed it with leftover chicken and noodles my cousin made that I had shoved in the freezer and had plenty for dinner and enough for my lunch tomorrow.

Wednesday

Hubby is working today for a neighbor. He packed his lunch and we both mentioned at the same time it was weird for him to pack a cold lunch instead of leftovers that could be reheated. He was working outside with no place to to warm anything. He did take a thermos of hot coffee as he does drink it black. Said it wasn't bad even with the winds though the temp never got above 55. 

I ate the leftover noodles for my lunch and spent the day washing the fall bedding and blankets . All loads were dried on the line except the last , it's a heavy blanket but is still damp. I'm okay with the dryer running for one load as I turned off the furnace when I started the laundry since I have realized every time I open the kitchen door the furnace was kicking on. House never dropped below 64 but it will warm up quick enough between the dryer, furnace back and the oven when I bake biscuits after Hubby comes in from mowing the pasture and around the pond that he plans to finish tomorrow. I pulled pork chops (cut from the pork loin I bought at the beginning of the month) to go with pears (on sale with coupon). I will also make a salad with a pear and walnuts (from freezer that was a gift from a friend) and sweet potato (gift from neighbor for going after kerosene for them) to go with the biscuits. I have homemade strawberry pie filling (neighbor again) to go with vanilla ice cream if we decided we want a sweet.

AND THEN IT WAS A SLIDE DOWN HILL

we got the frost THURSDAY  morning so Hubby didn't want to cut anymore around pond , wasn't sure what was weeds and what was flowers since the frost killed the blooms.

I went to make waffles with the new waffle maker and it just kept ripping it apart(on line reviews say use thick batter with 2 eggs so I'll try that the next time.) I didn't want to waste the batter so I made funnel cakes

Friday we decided to hit the produce auction as I was still looking for onions,potatoes and sweet potatoes...

Wasn't advertised as butternut squash auction but that was pretty much all there was. I got some onions, a pie, candy for Hubby, maple syrup and a angel food cake in the area off the auction. SO since we didn't stay for the actual auction we went to Wapakonta to Walters Meats and SCORED. They had my sausages I had on my list, plus we got, hamburger patties, pizza burger patties, cube steak (for less than $3/lb) minute steak, round steak (that isn't paper thin), 10 lbs of hamburger, potato hash brown patties ,shoe string French fries and candy for Hubby. Adding 49 meals to the freezers. Cost is about $2 each meal.

We get the turkeys and hams in Nov and will have a total of 369 meals plus in the pantry. Then it's just milk etc to be bought during the year.

Feeling GREAT with that and then....Hubby GOT SICK. He very seldom gets sick but when he does it's BAD... dealt with that and then Saturday morning at 7 am I woke up in a Crohn's attack...

At least I can see the hospital pond out my window and Hubby is home (not visiting me ) with his crud. We now have some more answers of why I keep getting blockage. I have scar tissue from my appendix exploding and it stops my intestines from working correctly.

We will see when I get to go home... but at least Hubby is home with the babies

Rascal is pretty much laying at Hubby's feet most of the time and Wilbur and Charlotte are sharing the love seat behind Hubby. Usually Charlotte is laying on Wilbur

Blessed Be

a BUSY week

It's only Monday, I keep repeating that to myself,it's only Monday.

I did laundry today using the clothes line Hubby put up out in the yard and like he feared the deadman in concrete came up and started letting the support  post lean in causing the lines to sag in the middle. I stepped on the concrete and it sank back in some. Hubby was going to go look for something to weigh it down and I told him to get the Ford...the car that is suppose to have went to the junk yard weeks ago... Well, today it was parked with the front tire on the concrete holding the clothes line up so my bedding didn't drag on the ground.

Regretfully even after drying everything on the line I had to run the last 3 loads through  the dryer to kill the gnats that decided my bedding looked comfy. At least it wasn't a long time , just a hot dryer.

We don't have a power washer for the parts that are vinyl siding on the house so I hand washed the part that is on the front porch with blue Dawn and rinsed with vinegar. Looks better than what it did. Hubby didn't realize how dirty it was until I was about half way through.Took me a couple hours but well worth the time.

I froze enough green tomatoes for  6 meals of fried green tomatoes, I might get more before the rest of them turn red.

I cooked about 10 lbs of red tomatoes to make juice with tomorrow ( I have juice ready to can tomorrow in the frig)as I needed to make bread after dinner since Hubby ate the last of the bread this morning and wants an egg sandwich with his oatmeal in the morning. I made 2 loaves of oatmeal bread (Owlhaven.net) and made extra oatmeal for breakfast.

I weeded the flower garden,definitely will have to move the hosta next spring as they have outgrown the area and you can't even see the sidewalk.

I fixed leftovers for lunch and then we had a cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato on the side. We had potato chips as our even snack.

Hubby mowed all the property but decided to not trim as we know we will be mowing at least one more time and want to do the trimming then.

He also went to a local place we were told carried weed barrier that we are looking for,they were out but offered to order it for us and then told Hubby where they order from. The place is 15 min from a place we have been wanting to go (Lehman's in Eastern OH that provides items for Amish and like).So we decided we would go there this Thursday as part of Hubby's birthday as he turns 60 tomorrow.

I did 2 orders to Joann fabrics using coupons both times. We decided to make curtains for the French doors for night time or during the hotter months.  I need to stop at thrift shops to see if I can find something to back the flannel for the curtains in the front room as Hubby said the front room got pretty chilly when the temperature dropped last week.

Tuesday,
It's Hubby's 60th birthday and we have in recent year's went to Lock 16 in Lima OH for him to have steak. I always make sure to tell them it's his birthday and they bring him a cake.The server remembered us from last year as we paid for an elderly couple that was having their anniversary and we left the server a big tip as she went out of her way to make sure the couple had a wonderful meal which was apparent they were sharing a meal and picked the lowest costing meal. We did some errands first and got some needed items on sale.Then did a pit stop at the produce farm to pick up the winter squash for the pantry. I worked more tomatoes when we got home,should have enough juice to have a full canner in the morning.

Wednesday
Slept with the windows open as it didn't drop below 68 last night. Won't be do that again for a long while as the high for the next 9 days isn't even that high.

Hubby finished painting the house and I canned 12 qrts of tomato juice and cooked 2 more pans of tomatoes. It's drizzling now but the wind is high so I won't be going out to the barn to can tonight.

Storms are suppose to be running through in a few hours, they said that this afternoon and it came in 3 hrs early.

I went through 15 boxes and put them away.I find some old curtains of Son2 that he gave to me to keep for anyone that needed them. I had lined them with blankets several years back and decided to take the backing off and use it to line the curtains I am making for the front room. I remember I didn't spend over $3 for the blankets at the thrift shop so this is just the icing on the cake to reuse it.

I washed laundry and hung our clothes on the kitchen clothesline and the winter bedding and curtains on the yard clothesline.

We had leftovers from Lock 16 for lunch and dinner.

Thursday,
We went to Holmes county for the day. We needed weed barrier for the gardens and the local green house told us where they order it from and offered to order it but since we have been wanting to go to Lehman's in Holmes co. and the place was only 7 miles away it made sense to just pick it up ourselves. We drove the car instead of the truck and hoped it would be a negative of bringing everything home.

 Turned out to be a good choice as the gentleman gave us a price comparison of getting 4 of the 300 ft lengths instead of 5 of the 100 ft length actually saved us the price of the 4 th roll. PLUS we got more weed barrier.He also got us a deal on barrier staples that got us twice as much for the same price and the popcorn plate that fits my seed planter was half the price we found it at Johnny's seeds.

We then went to Lehman's and got wicks, lamp oil and 6 lamp chimneys so when I do the fall cleaning I can put out the oil lamps also. Those items were on sale. I picked up some hand soaps for the mudroom and kitchen sinks. I forgot I now have 4 sinks. I will just refill the bottles with the hand soap I have in the pantry.We got a cast iron waffle iron you put directly on your stove. It was marked down to $17 from the $45. Waffles will be on the menu.

We went to a grocery store that had an restaurant attached to it and had a late lunch. We chose to just have sandwiches instead of the special because it was cheaper and after seeing the specials served we could have bought 1 and split it and still had leftovers. Even with what we bought it was less and healthier than the local Mc D's .

We talked about where to cut the budget on the ride over and back. Batted thoughts of how to bring in money or save money. I will be back to growing my own plants or getting them at the produce auction of course. Hubby is going to get a hold of his brother in law about buying some stuff from him for welding.

 Friday
Last night Amish neighbor asked if we would stop by his house this morning and get his kerosene container and pick some up for him as they were almost out and it's what they use for their lamps. We were running errands today so it wasn't out of the way.

We paid some bills, Hubby got tags for the trailer and motorcycle that are in his name. Hubby filled the truck up using the Kroger points.He got a flu shot,
made a deposit at the bank, dropped off a tax paper that will give us 2.5% deduction on our taxes next year.I went in to the  newspaper and found that they had gave my delivery person the wrong address so that is straightened out. Stopped at the library and then we went to the store.

Kroger's.... wasn't busy for a Friday morning and it was stocked well. I am still adjusting to the how much smaller it is and the layout seems to be random , might be so you walk through the entire store to pick up a can of veggies and a can of fruit.

 Couple things I had coupons for they don't carry so if I am closer to a different Kroger's before they expire I will check else where. I saved over $200 and the manager had to over ride the system to get me checked out. Hubby did ask why I got more pasta with what we have.... it was on sale and the coupon I had made it 40 cents for a pound of pasta... So we will get 6 meals for $1.20....SMILE
Total meals added to pantry is 74. I was going to drop a ham and a turkey off the buy list but Hubby wants me to keep it on. We have the room in the freezers and he is just feeling it would be better if we didn't change plans at this point.

He took the kerosene to the neighbor and I sent a list with him that I keep extra flour, oil, yeast etc so if they ran out or low to come borrow instead of trying to get to the store especially as early as it's getting dark and being in a buggy. Hubby said she was excited as they haven't had time to go to town (it's an hour buggy ride one way) and she was out of oil and had been for awhile. So Hubby took her a gallon of oil and made her day. She asked what we wanted for it and he told her he would have to think about it... DUH... I said when he told me...BAKED GOODS.. He laughed because it hadn't crossed his mind even though he just bought a pie at the local store made by her cousin LOL.

I still need to find some containers to put stuff in that is now in the basement since we don't have a butler's pantry. I'm waiting as I definitely don't have everything put away let alone a place to put everything.

Saturday 
I did all the dishes up including some that had been packed, canned tomato juice, washed the outside of the front room windows and the storm windows before Hubby put them on. Did 2 loads of laundry using the yard clothes line.Hubby put together 2 more shelving units for the pantry in the basement.I searched the barn for milk crates to wash on Monday for the root veggies for the basement. I closed the ceiling vent that allows warm air to rise from the front room to the guest room. I fixed pizza from the pantry.

Sunday
I slept 12 hrs straight, definitely don't feel good so hope it's a passing thing as several of friends and family have commented that they have the stomach bug. I already got my flu shot so maybe I won't get what ever is going around. Hubby also just got his flu shot.

Hubby put up the "closet rod" I asked for in the staircase at the front room and I put a heavy curtain on it to help stop so much of the warm air going up the staircase.  I really need to finish the fall cleaning up there and get the sewing room put together so I can sew the winter curtains.

I went down to change things around in the pantry since Hubby added a couple more units. He put 2 of the shelf braces on upside down and the shelves collapsed when I had them LOADED... lost 3 pints of pickled beets and have a messed up thumb and pulled bicep as I tried to stop the shelves. Got that mess cleaned up and Hubby kept telling me he was sorry... decided to just call it a day ...both of us and start again tomorrow. Good thing as I am having troubles hold things in my hand due to the swelling and bruise of the thumb and definitely don't want to lift anything heavy with the arm.

I pulled ground beef to make tacos for dinner. We had odds and ends from the frig for lunch.

I put the budget on an excel sheet and paid the bills that are not automatic. We have decided we want to put down at least 20 % on the new truck for Hubby.I transferred what we set that amount to be to Ally bank. We don't touch the savings there unless it's an emergency plus it makes more in interest than our local bank.

Filling the pantry for a year FRUGAL

Living around farmers you get to hear how the price of corn is down, how it's too wet for the beans to be harvests and the price of meat is going to go up.

We already have a good pantry but when the man who used to own this house offered us free tomatoes because they had fell off the vines (he called them seconds) and he doesn't sell them at the auction , we went to glean them...

110 lbs of tomatoes with a possibility of more when he cleans his hot house if his helper doesn't take all of what is left.

Hubby on his tractor with the new tiller preparing the south garden (the one that will have seasonal plants) He already did the north garden which is perennials and the garlic.

After we was done gleaning the tomatoes Hubby mentioned the freezers are pretty low on meat. I told him Kroger's had a sale of roasting chickens (7-8 lbs) for 69 cents a pound. Don't see it lower than that anywhere around here. So we decided to go to Kroger's before home.

We had decided the other week over our morning coffee to have 730 meals in the pantry. That is lunch and dinner for a year.

We save 1/3rd of what we bought... they had other meat on sale but it wasn't listed in the weekly ad. I now have an additional 75 meals of meat (not meat, I list things by how many meals it will make us to make sure we have enough food to go a solid year)

We got 10 dozen eggs (for less than $1/dozen) which is not counted in the meals as I will use part of them to make noodles,2 pork butts, 1 boneless rib roast (for Christmas as the price was cheaper than I have ever paid at Christmas) 2 racks of ribs (one for New Year's),3 roasting chickens, 2 pkgs of rib eye steaks (for when Hubby craves a steak after so many casseroles and soups)2 bags of frozen thin chicken breast, 2 pkgs of fresh chicken breast,3 pkgs of ground pork,12 lbs of ground beef, 2 pkgs of chicken thighs, and 2 pkgs of chicken wings (for when we miss our favorite wing place)  I cut the wings in 3 pieces and bagged the tips for broth. I broke the pkgs down to meal size and vacuumed them. What is already in the freezers is 4 prime rib roasts(from Christmas) a pork tenderloin, a pork loin, 10 meals of pork chops, 2 roasting chickens, 2 hams, 40 meals of pepperoni, 1 rack of ribs, 1 qrt of beef cubes for stew or noodles, a bottom round roast, 1 pkg of thin chicken breast, bacon, bulk sausage, and smoked sausage. Total meals in freezers are now at 117.

I then checked the pantry.
Dried beans : cranberry , navy, black, red, great northern, lima, garbanzo, cannelline, and blackeye peas.

Canned beans: refried, baked, lt kideny, dark kidney, chili beans, blackeye peas, garbanzo, pinto, cannellini and black.

I have red lentils and green lentils

Soups: chili(mild and zesty), beef veggie, asparagus,tomato,and beef stew, turkey white bean chili.

Canned meat: corned beef hash, corned beef, tuna, mackerel, salmon, pork, spam,dried beef and turkey pot pie.

Potatoes: canned sweet potatoes, canned whole white potatoes, canned sliced white potatoes,dried hash browns, dried diced potatoes, and dried sliced potatoes.

Grains: Rice-Jasmine, parboil,long grain, basmatic,arborio,brown, black, and minute. Grits, quinoa,barley, farro,millet,polenta, corn meal, oats and cream of wheat.

I have 28 varieties of pasta all bought on sale

My to buy list is now

1 roll of G&R bologna (8 meals as it is 1 inch thick)
4 Aldi's hams (20 meals)
6 turkeys(use carcass for broth) (36 meals plus broth)
1 case of Walter's dinner sausage (12 meals) or more hamburger.
12 winter squash
50 lbs of white potatoes
20 lbs of sweet potatoes
20 lbs of onions
10 lbs carrots
4 bunches of celery.

We figured out after buying what is on this list we would be short 213 meals... that we decided to have them be vegetarian. So we listed 54 meals we enjoy that have no meat/beans(though might have scraps of what ever meat was leftover aka ham bone, or eggs) so we can rotate through those meals. Hubby doesn't care much for soup but I added 7 soups (ThePrudenthomemaker.com has several) so we can rotate through the soups 4 times in a year. He will do better not eating the same one a lot.

I baked 2 loaves of bread and froze one for when I don't have time to bake. Hubby didn't realize that baking bread takes about 4 hrs. Told me I needed to buy another bread pan so I could do 3 loaves at a time. Considering he already ate half the loaf I might agree with him though I know he won't eat the same bread all the time, something both of us don't care for. I baked Amish white bread this time. I plan to make oatmeal bread (Owlhaven.net) then a potato bread (simplyrecipes.com), and my favorite English muffin toasting bread (Kingarthurflour.com).

Back to canning tomatoes
Blessed Be

The start of a frugal month

Yep...saving big time...how... we didn't have to pay Oct rent for the old place along with the mortgage here, a savings of $700 PLUS the landlord said since we weren't actually living there through Sept we wouldn't be paying the electric bill for that month, especially since we had turned off the AC before we moved here at beginning of Sept.That's another $125.  We won't be driving every day the truck with trailer and the car 120 miles round trip spending $160 a week in gas....for a savings of $640.
We won't be eating out 3 times a week at $15 a meal to split between us saving us $60 a month. That's $1525 a month savings.  JUST FYI, we came in at $10 over what we budgeted for 209 including gas and eating out.

That will be split between, savings, mortgage principal (goal it so have 20 % paid off in 3 yrs) and a new truck payment for Hubby(which we have already figured out how much he can pay down and what he can carry as a loan and the interest rate he can afford.

I harvested the last of the ripe tomatoes and the last of the green ones. I will be saving the seeds for next year.

I harvested the last of the hot peppers. I won't save these seeds as we didn't like the peppers all that well.

I harvested the last 3 heads of cabbage.

I harvested the last 2 green onions that got missed when I thought we had them pulled a couple months ago.

I harvested rhubarb by cutting it back to get ready to transplant it to the north garden.

I harvested grapes, there are some not ripe so we will eat those fresh if the birds don't get them . Buying a net for the grape vines is on the buy for gardens list.

I found a source for eggs  and a couple suggestions for bulk goods . I will be checking out the bulk goods to see if it has what I need and if it does I won't be renewing our membership to Sam's club that is almost an hour from us now.

I cut the pork loin in half and vacuum bagged it for 2 roasts for this winter. I cut the second one I bought into 20 pork chops and froze them on cookie sheets so I can vacuum them 2 to a bag for our meals.

I sliced the 2 sticks of pepperoni I got (that I was given a discount on due to moving away and being a regular buyer) and now have 20 months of pepperoni unless we eat more of it than we regularly do.

We found a tiller for the tractor for about half the price of what we were seeing. We were able to till our north garden today without paying for it to be done.
I will be transplanting the strawberries and rhubarb to this garden and planting the garlic, hopefully if the rain holds off...I'll do that tomorrow.

The Amish neighbor stopped by and asked what we were planning on doing with the 3 acres we let him plant corn in (for free), He had a look of surprise when we told him we were planning on him planting it with what ever he decided on with no rent . He said he felt better if he paid us rent and told us what he rents other properties for. I did qualify before he offered money that he had to find me an bulk store for flour and sugar and where I could buy 2 to 4 dozen eggs a month.
Hubby added someone to buy straw from... he laughed and said he could do the eggs and straw and when his hens weren't laying there was a couple others that sold eggs. He told us where the bulk stores were at and then offered to pay rent for the property. It would cost us more to maintain it so letting him do it for free
 actually saved us money. Hubby said the rent would go in the savings for what we needed for the gardens. I think I will put it in savings for when we are short on $$$.

I sewed my skort twice before I realized it kept ripping because it's too big on me and rides lower that normal so when I walk it pulls the old tear back apart.

We went to our grandson's wedding... tempted to buy a new outfit but chose to wear my little black dress that I've only had 40 years. Yes 40 years, I paid $100 for it and it's averaged out to $2.50 a year and it looks good enough to go another 5 yrs at least. I got several complements on it and my grandson remembered the dress from his childhood and mentioned it to his mom, my daughter2 and she remembered me  having it during her childhood so they decided to ask how long I had it. They were surprised it looked so good being that old... I was surprised I could still fit in it. LOL

Blessed Be 

A bright morning

and the light at the end of the tunnel as we moved the last load and finished cleaning the old place. NO more spending $$$ for gas for driving back and forth any more.

I had a bit of a worry as Daughter 2 had shut 2 of the dogs in her bedroom while she was staying with us and they did this to an 100 yr old door

We weren't very happy with her but like always in her mind she can do what ever she wants and it's always right.

I got Restor finisher for dark oak and now it looks like this. Landlord's oldest son asked for what it was because he now wants to redo all the doors and woodwork with it.

He hadn't realized that the door was 2 different woods.

We came home the other night and was a bit worried as Charlotte wasn't in the yard with the boys... we found her in the house which bothered us until I found muddy prints on the back storm door and the mudroom inside door had muddy prints also. Hubby didn't make sure the storm door was shut and Charlotte definitely knows how to get in and out. Wilbur tried to get in to her as every single window had his muddy prints on the newly painted siding.

SO now it's 118 things for this HOME and over 100 boxes to sort and put away.

Sam's club, 209 and old house... frugal choices

We had Amish ladies paint the house. They charged 1/3 of what we were quoted by "Englishers" as the term is used around here. There are 3 places they could not reach as our ladders weren't quite tall enough on the ends. I told Hubby we could park the truck next to the house and put the ladder in the truck bed giving us the 3 ft needed in height to finish the house. The house looks great and a big check mark off the to do list

The back splash at the stove was installed by Hubby instead of having the contractor do it at $150 , he put Plexiglas over it to protect that almost $250 back splash from grease from the stove.

We cleared the inside of the old house YEA!!!! We still have 2 loads in the garage...just because of the size of things not the amount. I still have to clean the house and do some minor repairs. We have chiropractic appt Tuesday morning so will be in that area and Hubby has 3 month check up on Wed with his doctor also in the area... I figured we can pretty much finish it on those 2 days ( saving gas for not making extra trips)and do the removing of the mantle that will go to our oldest on Sunday (when she is off work and Son 2 can help us) and give the keys to the landlord along with the garage openers and get our mail one last time.  Last 4 wks we spend around $600 in gas moving. SO done with doing that.

We went to Sam's club today. I had a very detailed list of what needed restocked along with price point.

I got gal./qrt/ and sandwich bags. Foil and press and seal wrap. Potato chips, Frito's and Cheddar cheese chips. Plain choc candy bars, almond candy bars and Heath candy bars. Dried cherries and dried cranberries. Cashews. Club crackers.Choc. chips.Limes,lemons,cucumbers and apples.Spaghetti and Velveeta cheese.Peanut butter.Olive Garden salad dressing. Goat cheese and fresh moz. Minute rice and 20 lbs Jasmine rice. Canned pumpkin and coffee for me. Chinet plates to replace what we used at the family reunion. The big buy was 7 lbs of light brown sugar, 25 lbs of all purpose flour, 25 lbs bread/pizza flour (definite need after we at frozen pizza because we don't care for the pizza place that is close) and 50 lbs of sugar.

About half of the buckets I have , this is the flour and sugar section.They are sitting on pieces of wood as you should never store food directly on concrete.

From Amazon I ordered 
White Lily bread flour and all purpose flour, popcorn,panko crumbs, case nacho soup,case of bean sprouts,case ramen noodles,Arborio rice,2 cases of whole potatoes, coffee for Hubby for 1/5th less than I could find it else where.

I still have manicotti, lg pasta shells,red cabbage with apples and saran wrap on the buy list.

I have my "fall/winter" list of winter squash,pork loin, pork butt, pork ribs, dinner sausage(Walters)pepperoni (IGA) G&R bologna (G&R) Prime rib(Walter's at Christmas) Turkey (Thanksgiving) Ham(Thanksgiving/Christmas and Easter). I am looking for Roasting chickens and hamburger.

I need to find a local source for eggs.... I forgot to ask when the ladies were here painting the house.We are going to the Pumpkin Auction at the Amish produce auction on Friday with our friends so I might find a local seller there.

We have the furnace on but turn it off when it's warm enough to prop doors open for the dogs and turn it down to 60 when we are gone. I said something about it being cool in the house and Hubby suggested I turn the furnace up, I came back with I could put socks and slippers on and a shawl or sweater instead of cranking the furnace up. He laughed.

Dogs are no longer staying in the kennel and their run at the barn while we are gone as Rascal has learned to climb over the 5 ft gate. Since we don't want him without water and food for hours we decided to leave the run gate open and found that they do stay in the yard (meaning he doesn't climb the 5 ft fence) and will take shelter in the kennel or on the kitchen porch when it rains. Both neighbors have checked on them and said they do very well like that.

We saved $250 on getting a dumpster instead of paying extra for the boxes etc we have from moving. I still have about the same amount of boxes to go through. I plan to have that done before the dumpster is removed.

I put darts in a couple pairs of pants. I don't want to buy new clothes going into winter when I usually put on weight. But my belts are no longer holding the pants up either.I'm still a bit under weight from last Crohn's attack.

Blessed Be

trying to set a new routine....menu

It's starting to be every other day we have this sight in the morning.

The routines seems to be settling in some. I changed a couple things in the kitchen drawers since I kept walking to one drawer for the can opener and it was in another. Easier to move the can opener than retrain me LOL.

Mornings are started with us sitting either on the kitchen porch or at the dining table drinking our first 2 cups of coffee, talking about what needs done, who is doing what etc. I start a load of laundry between cup 1 and 2 and then I hang that out on the kitchen porch clothesline. It's 8:45 ...the Amish kids walk by to catch the buggy ride at the end of this road at that time.

I then unload the dishwasher and put that away.IF I am going to the old place I leave for there. Usually around 2 I will head back here with my car looking like this.

Yesterday it was both my Jeep and my Ford. Ford blew the muffler on the way here and since it's heading to the junk yard as the axle is going bad I won't be fixing it. Hubby was kind of shocked that I was driving it even with him following. Not the first time the axle broke with me driving that car.

When I get home it's fix dinner, load dishwasher and set to run after bedtime. Put out what ever needs thawed for the next day's dinner. We spend some time either on the Kitchen porch or sitting at dining table. If we can we will watch the news for the weather in the front room. I will do some computer work,balance the budget, update punch out list for both places and then read until bedtime which is around 8:30.

If I don't go over to the old place I do something in the gardens or on the yard work in the morning and again in the evening. I unload the car and put it away. Continue to work my way through the boxes that are here and moving furniture around to work better during the day until dinner time. Our morning and evening routines are pretty much the same.

Breakfast is usually toast,cupcakes, cake, cookies (as we had some left from the reunion last Sunday), Hubby does cold cereal few and far between. I know when it gets cold it will be oatmeal or cream of wheat...maybe grits for him. Milk gravy and bread or biscuits. We prefer warm breakfasts when it is cold. Pancakes,French toast and waffles are more of a weekend or breakfast for dinner item.

Lunch is leftovers or lunch meat wraps except on Wed or Thursday then it might be Pfieffer Station lunch of meatloaf(Wed) or beef and noodles(Thurs).

The last couple nights for dinner we had leftover fried chicken my brother brought to the reunion along with the leftover mashed potatoes son2 brought for the noodles my cousin brought ...which I didn't get any of  noodles🙁🙁.  Tonight is 123 pasta using smoked sausage (freezer), onion( I grew) and bell pepper( neighbor gave us) with diced tomatoes the I have canned. We are eating mostly from the pantry or what we are given.

I've pretty broke the routine of going to the grocery store(Kroger's) every week. Last week Hubby spent $4 getting milk at the gas station when he got fuel because he figured it was cheaper than him going into the local Walmart and spending money on what we didn't need. I then reminded him that Save A Lot was a block from that gas station and the milk would have been less than $2.

I would like to get a cleaning routine set but right now it's clean as needed and focus on the moving etc still. Every Saturday morning I do dust mop the dog hair (HA HA) off the floors.

Blessed Be

Can't think of a title LOL

because lots of things running through my head. We need to finish getting the stuff from the old place and then find a place to put it away or get rid of it here.I need to restock pantry, winterize this house, get winter clothes and blankets ready, prepare gardens,prune bushes, trim and mow the entire property.  NOT touching there is still painting etc to do. NOT have a Crohn's attack.

SO I will start with this picture that I found a long time ago on the internet somewhere.The woman reminds me of my Nonna who was from Northern Italy. It's my favorite style of apron. The kitchen is real close to what I grew up with except Daddy enclosed under the sink so Mother could have more storage. It keeps me focused on what I need to do because as a child I learned the necessities of making it through the winter since we didn't go to the store for food at all and there was no such thing as assistance if we couldn't pay the fuel oil bill or electric. Nonna, my grandparents and my parents all went through the Great Depression. I've been taught well on what I am using to get us through this next year, that we planned on being on the rough side. Don't know how much fuel it will take to heat this house, run the water heater and the cook stove. Don't know how well the insulation is or how well the windows will keep the wind out. Lots of unknowns to deal with.

It will be officially Autumn this week, we watched geese flying north west this morning.I bounce from windows open, AC on to furnace running in 24 hrs.It's fall in OH.

The pantry is lower on the veggies than I like going in to winter but doable but I do have more jam than usual and more dehydrated potatoes than usual. We just won't have the variety that we are used to having. I don't have extra money to pay for it out of season as we still need to finish getting the stuff for Hubby to start welding and his truck is limping big time.

I have the material for the winter curtains but until we are out of the old house (NO later than the 28th because I refuse to pay another month of rent and electric and we stopped due to me getting an eye infection and not being able to open my eyes at all..and not being able to see..(better, not completely over it but better) I am not focused on the sewing.

As our Amish neighbors told an Englisher at the Auction the other day when they were asked, they eat from the gardens during the season and from their pantry when out of season. If they don't can or dry it (as they don't have electric so no freezers) they don't have it when it's not in season. We intend to be the same.

I hope everyone is doing well, adjusting to new schedules with school/work or just every day life changes.

Blessed Be

what i buying this month

Our Sam's club membership ends the first part of Oct so I will make a run before than as we don't know if we will need to have that membership since a few of the bulk stores carry flour and sugar in 25 lb bags.

We decide to try to find a local butcher shop and see what specials they have and if that doesn't do well for us we know the local Save A  Lot store (like Aldi's) does a weekly 4 packages of different meat for $19.99. Packages are for a family of 4 so that would make us 2 meals at least.

On the list (which was easy to start since I just moved the pantry and freezers.

50 lbs sugar
25 lbs All purpose flour
25 lbs bread flour
25 lbs White Lily bread flour
25 lbs White Lily All purpose flour (White Lily flours is what Southern's use and I use it in recipes that I got while taking classes down south)
4 lbs light brown sugar
case of ramen noodles
Panko crumbs
Minute rice
Arborio rice
Jasmine rice
case of bean sprouts
case of whole canned potatoes (unless neighbor teaches me to can potatoes)
case of Nacho soup
1 box of manicotti
1 box of jumbo shells
3 jars of red cabbage and apples

Meat...
3 pork loin (I use for roasts and cutting my own pork chops)
4 pork ribs (for BBQ or smoke ribs or flavoring in sauces)
2 pork butt roasts
3 roasting chickens
4 hams
1-5 bone prime rib (At Christmas) (Walter's Wapa OH
2 logs AKA sticks Italian pepperoni (IGA Anna or New Bremen OH)
2 logs of G & R bologna (G & R Waldo OH)
2 cases dinner sausage (Walter's in Wapa OH)
6 whole turkeys. (wings for broths, dark for hubby and white for me)

Hamburger will be bought on sales as I find it
Beef roasts will be bought on sales as I find it

At the Auction I hope to get 

25-50 lbs of onions
50 -100 lbs of potatoes
25 lbs of sweet potatoes


IF I get cabbage I will make freezer slaw.

I have 3 pumpkins that grew in the compost pile the other owners had started so I will freeze pumpkin puree.

If I get more tomatoes I will make more sauce. Neighbor has offered and her tomatoes are the size of soft balls.

I will get  frozen peas,peas and carrots,broccoli,cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts when the local stores have their buy 10 or cheaper.

If the neighbor gives me any more soft ball size bell peppers I will freeze them.

Daily life at 209

We start our day here

It's the only place completely set up and is functioning like we want. Mine is on the left with medium brew, Hubby's in on the right with bold brew. My tea box is to the left of my coffee pot. If the weather isn't bad we sit even in drizzle out on the kitchen porch and watch the dogs run around and the Amish kids walk to the corner to catch a buggy ride to school.

This is okay...not thrilled to have it sitting at the cold air return but for right now it works as there is NO drawer space for my kitchen towels.

This is set up real close to how it was so it's good. I used to have my metal bowls sitting on top which I do prefer but that causes issues with open bags of potato chips and boxes of cereal on top of frig. I think Hubby will get away from the cold cereal.

I still open the right side for the milk which is now on the left side due to water filter on the top of the right side. This is SMALLER than our other one which is now in the basement. I think we both regret not spending the money and ordering the same size in black.

In all the years we have had this cabinet I've never been able to use the side table because it sat at a door way. It's nice to be able to put what ever we are putting in or pulling out on that now. We do need a better radio, as the local radio station plays decent oldies and has weather every 30 min and local news at the top of the hour. The tv is on an antenna that gets a station over 90 miles from us. Okay for the weather but nothing about local news here.  I was able to put my bento boxes and steamer baskets in with Mother's pots and pans that I keep in the cabinet.

For the past week, at least once a day if not twice a day, this is what the back of my Jeep looks like. Boy do I miss the Ford being able to be driven because I could get twice as much in the Ford as I do the Jeep.IF I do twice in one day I stay home the next day and put the second load away while Hubby goes and gets a load of stuff from garage or farrowing house that he will put away.

We have started to have a routine. Coffee and kitchen porch in the morning to discuss what needs done, sometimes at the breakfast bar or dining table.

Our Amish neighbor told us this morning they didn't know if we were out of bed yet since there was no lights on... a friend of his needed a ride due to a horse not doing well on the way to work and stopped at the neighbor's house. We open curtains and as long as we can see what we are doing we don't turn on lights.This house has a lot of windows and it not as dark as the old place. Since he now knows that he can't go by lights on and to just look to see if the back door blind is up any. We raise it when we let the dogs out the first thing as they go out the back door instead of the kitchen. Their preference for what ever reason.

I will do a load of laundry and hang on the kitchen porch clothes line unless it's really raining hard enough to get the porch wet. Then I wait until the next day.

I put 3-5 boxes away or sort through them to list what I need to find a place for.It's now , where can I put this so I remember to look for it here mode.
Hubby now has 3 wardrobes and I have two clothing racks.Lack of closets is a pain. A place for shoes for both of us is worse. I can see some items going away.

If we are both home we eat lunch at 11:30. If not then we try to have dinner together between 4-6. Otherwise we are known for grazing for what ever that is quick.

Back to work for me...
Blessed Be

I refuse to buy

something I know I have but can't find because it's not in the box I thought I packed it in. SIGH I really really thought I had it better organized. I guess that is being frugal...frustrating but frugal.

Items I don't know where are going are put in boxes and put in a certain place and a note of what it is so when I figure it out I can put it away.

We decided to change the furniture around and if we don't have a place for it right now it will go to the barn until next spring. That way when I finish doing the lofts it won't be a "blast, should have kept that".

I started washing the blankets etc Hubby used to protect things while moving them. Since he hasn't had time to put in my new clothes line I am hanging them on the clothes line on the kitchen porch that the Amish lady had. They hung clothes on the porches and basement when the weather was bad or cold. That means I can only hang a few blankets at a time but cheaper than running the dryer.

We have been sticking to the menu for a change and I've not felt too tired to eat let alone cook and clean up. Decided leftovers once a week.

We now have hot water so I was able to use my dish washer last night and let it run after we went to bed.We did have to have the plumber come back in due to an error code on the water heater and what we thought was a leak. Wasn't a leak just no one had used the hot water and the plug in the tub adjusted. While he fixing that he realize the sump pump had been shifted and the float was sticking on the wall so he adjust that and check a couple other things to make sure everything was how it should be.

I put a couple bath towels up at windows that still don't have enough curtains to keep the sunlight out from heating up the house... we are in 100's with heat index. I  folded a panel of curtains in half to use in the dining room. The curtains are too long but work fine folded. When I get time (ha ha)I might just sew them so that is how they are.

I opened the house this morning as the rain came in to cool things off for awhile. It wasn't raining in on the east side due to porches and overhangs. Nice to turn the AC off at least for a bit.

We changed how the railing /banister to the staircase to the lofts are going to be so we can do them ourselves instead of paying the contractor that is coming in on Saturday.

Saturday.... contractor and his crew got the flooring down in the north and south lofts. He will come back next week to put the pine panels on the bottom of the walls. He is hoping to have the rolling pantry cart for my regular bathroom done when he comes back as he decided to make it at his own home. I put together meat and cheese platter with assorted breads, a veggie tray and fruit tray for the 5 of us.

Hubby and I finished the veggie and fruit trays today, Sunday. I will most likely put part of the meat and cheese in the freezer with some of the bread. The rustic white bread is almost gone. I already made notes for the menus in the next weeks to use up the rest of the bread, meat and cheese.

I went over to the old place and packed up another car load of things that can't be transported in the trailer.

Punch out list was 304 a couple months ago, was down to 119 on Friday. We have it down to 109 today.

Calling it a day, I was up through the night with a migraine due to my arm hurting (weather is now 60) with the colder weather.

Blessed Be

First thing I cooked on my new stove/menu

 WAS>>>>Hot water to wash the new pots and pans with...sigh..still no hot water.

At least I am now set up to cook and clean without the hot water heater working. Talk about going back to my childhood.We shifted our work day to mornings here and afternoons back at the old place to finish it up and take hot showers before coming back. The old landlord was fine with it for another week but since I am feeling a bit rough I was concern with another flare up of Crohn's so I paid Sept rent. He said he would prorate it for when we actually are completely out.

We are focusing on becoming zero or very little waste. I know it won't happen over night. 

First we decided why the change... truthfully it was because we very seldom have 1 full white trash bag of trash a week but have to pay the same as someone that has 10 bags of trash. I talked to the lowest priced company and they suggested I pay for 1 month to start. From what they have seen the most trash is produced when you first move in and when you move out.  They figured we would start living closer to how our neighbors do and end up with zero waste because our township does recycling once a month.

Second, I hate paying that much for something I can get by without using.

We still might end up spending the money but at least I will have tried.

We will not be getting cable but using the tower Hubby bought from a fellow HAM radio operator. That's on his to do list.

We spent time with our ins guy and he priced out 2 different ways to insure us and we chose to do the suburban farm as it was only $200 more but allows us to earn money doing hobbies. The other required no income from the farm and we know that will change in the future. Ended up with it not being as expensive as we thought AND it covered more of our stuff that wasn't covered before...like hand tools...AKA 35 screwdrivers we have between us and yes we have used them ALL.

I figured out the menu based on what we have right here at this time.

canned corn beef hash, biscuits(canned) salad and canned mandarin oranges

pasta with meatballs (freezer)  homemade sauce ,garlic bread (freezer),peas (freezer)and canned tropical fruit salad

meatloaf , mashed potatoes ,rolls($5.99 split a meal from local store) corn(freezer),and canned peaches

Beef and noodles, mashed potatoes,rolls ($6.99 split a meal from local store) , cole slaw (from local store as we don't eat enough of it to make it) and home canned applesauce

One pot green beans(home canned), potatoes and ham(leftover in freezer), cornbread (from scratch), and home canned pears

Saturday we have 3 contractors coming in to finish the south and north lofts. I already told them I would provide lunch. I know two of them are sandwich eaters. I will make a meat and cheese platter, veggie tray and fruit tray along with assort breads. I plan to bake brownies or a cake also. What ever is not ate will be our dinner and then frozen for meals later.

Sunday will be leftovers or home canned beef veggie soup and leftover bread.

1st morning at 209.

We slept in to 7 am... even the dogs. AND they didn't get us up during the night. Charlotte went out at 10:30 pm but Hubby was still up.

We had our first cup of coffee watching the sun come up over the trees and listening to the horses' hoof hit the road as they went down the other road about 1/3 mile from us. Even the dogs would cock their heads to listen. Not a sound we are used to.

Wilbur decided to check out the perimeter which is now all fenced so we don't have to worry about any of them getting in to the fields or the road. It's about 2 acres for them to roam around. He decided to come check us out to see if we had anything for him.

Rascal has now marked every single tree, bush, plant , building, fence posts LOL

Charlotte swiped Rascal's ball while he was busy.

Hubby was just enjoying sitting and relaxing before we started back to working.

And since I snapped Hubby's picture he insisted I have mine take also...

Nope I didn't brush my hair yet LOL...

We still have tons of work to do , still have things to box up and bring this way also.

The dogs have adjusted so well that when we went over the other day , they wanted back in the truck within 30 min , didn't even go check out the barn or cows.

Frugal choices for this week to come

Yes to come....

We figured out we have almost 9 loads with our trailer to move us by Thursday Friday the latest. Hubby figured up  what it would cost with fuel and wear and tear on the truck. He then called and priced rental moving trucks . Enterprise (once again) was the best deal especially adding AARP and ENTERPRISE as we have a membership (have since 1998). 26 ft box truck, 400 miles free, Tuesday to Saturday was $100 LESS than what is was going to cost us for our own trailer.AND it should be only 1 trip except for dishes, glass canning jars and frozen/refrigerated food. Those I am transporting in my car.

I am hoping tomorrow or Wed to go see my Dad as he fell going to the bathroom and busted his face and glasses. The Nursing home called my brother immediately after taking care of Dad and they aren't sure if he had his slippers on his feet or was in socks because his slippers were under his wheelchair where he fell. Heart breaking to hear about and my brother did take a picture and send it to me... Brother told Dad he was sending me the picture and Dad told him I better bring him pictures of the house being done... so part of his memory is still working. Not much but some.

We decide to not try to fix meals at night. I cooked a ham in the crock pot and sliced it up and put in the frig so we can have sandwiches at night time or for breakfast. We buy our lunch at the local store that has a special lunch daily for $4.99 to $7.99. Wednesday is meatloaf and Thursday is beef and noodles. Those are big enough to split between us so it won't be as much. Today was suppose to be country fried steak and mashed potatoes for $4.99. She was sold out at 12:30 so gave us Swiss steak with mashed potatoes for the same price. Hubby bought 2 since there wasn't enough to split... AKA he was hungry as he didn't eat breakfast before leaving this morning.

Got to go pack the car and wrap up the evening.

Blessed Be

SHE (209) IS DONE

or at least the main floor is done.

A good cleaning left to do in the mudroom , east loft and west loft.
Contractor already hired to redo south and north loft (our schedule conflicted with his or it would have already been done).

New furniture is in.

I've ordered slider shelves for a couple of the cabinets that will hold pots and pans.

Loads left to move...

1 of furniture. (plus one to take mantle to daughter 1)

2 of pantry(including freezer and frig)

2 of household (pots, pans, dishes, holiday stuff etc)

1 in farrowing house

Hubby said 3 in garage with all his tools and tables etc but I think only 2.

and then cleaning here.

Plan is to be OUT of here completely by the 30th/31st except for cleaning part.

I doubt if we pack, load and unload and Reload 2 times a day... but we will see.

View from front room door way through dining area unto kitchen, you can even see the lime green laundry room

what is now sitting between the stove and the cabinets so MAYBE we won't be stupid and sit a hot pan down on my onyx counter tops.

I'm not going to put up my knife magnetic strips or the paper towel holder etc until I see how I actually use the set up of this kitchen. We have decided to try to be zero waste so I need to now work on how to set that up when our recycling is only once a month at the township hall. The Amish family next door offered to help do that as they are zero waste.

This is my new china hutch. I'm still thinking of how to put what dishes in it. The every day dishes will probably go in caddy that is sitting on the end of the counter right now.

I've ordered sliders for a couple of cabinets for the pots and pans since I put the Hoosier where  I was going to hang my pegboard. The corner cabinet I already decided for small appliances. The rest is kind of wait and see.

Oh yeah... 20 yrs later, we got new furniture ...

The was my Mother's rocker she had when she died. It won't be sitting here for long as I want a "game/puzzle table to sit here so it will most likely move to dining area or even the bedroom. Either place where I can sit and read.