Frugal in the kitchen (small 209 update)

209 update... they are have primered the entire 1st floor and the only thing left to primer is the door to the lofts in the kitchen and that stairwell. The ODOR takes my breath away so I won't be in the house much when over there. Ceiling is suppose to be done next. Head contractor was hunting down my kitchen cabinets that hadn't came in Wednesday like they were suppose to.

I bought  3 thin steaks that were marked down, marinaded them in coke a cola and then sliced thin with bell peppers, onions and mushrooms for a Philly steak sub one night, stir fry the second night and the next will be a soup as what I trimmed from the steaks I simmered and then strained for broth. That's for tomorrow night and I might add a can of black beans to it if it seems on the thin side of soup.

I bought a pork loin and was going to cut 4 pork chops from for tonight's dinner, and put  what is left of the loin will go in the crock pot on Wed. When I opened the package I found it smelled horrible and immediately called the store as it was NOT expired. They credited me for the cost and added a bit more for the inconvenience. So Hubby dug through the kitchen frig while I dealt with that and pulled out the 2 hamburgers I have cooked last week to go with mac and cheese and a veggie along with the last of the strawberries I picked from 209.

My niece that just graduated was telling me at her party that she takes either left over chicken or pork and shredded it to put over tortilla chips with nacho cheese (optional lettuce, onions and tomatoes) for a quick meal. She has taken over the kitchen a lot since she was looking at going to college out of state , her parents insisted she know how to cook from scratch and run a budget for a home. She is staying at home for the next year as she took college classes during high school and found she can get her BA degree in a year if she stays in the same college. She is in robotics and has already done some work for a local company that offered to hire her but wasn't willing to work with her going to school like she wanted. Felt at this stage of the game remaining at the job she is working at and living at home and attending school full time on a scholarships and grants was smarter.

I cleaned out Baby, the 7 cu ft deep freezer. We are completely out of corn...sigh.That's a good 6 wks. away of being in. We need NO bacon, bulk or smoked sausage or ham bones or peas/peas and carrots. I've yet to figure out why there was 4 wadded up brown grocery bags and an empty box at the bottom of that freezer.

We started cleaning the pantry, one it's over due and two is to see what I must can or what we need to eat up and not get any more of. I acknowledged that I did can an "extra year's" worth to cover us this fall because I figured we wouldn't have a garden with planning to move... I didn't plan on us to almost stop eating from the pantry.I have a good 6 months extra in most things that I shouldn't have.

I have 11 of these units.Three of these units have dry goods or store bought can goods that I just got for the "tornado" season that has arrived. So they were easy to straighten and check if everything was good.

 I went through 5 of them today checking lids on the home canned jars and  moving the oldest to the front so it's used up and what needed tossed.

I also noted what we were not eating... dill pickles and hot salsa that only Hubby eats and must have stopped completely (it's his middle of the night when he used to eat lunch snack). Fruit... makes me scratch my head over that overage.Hubby used to drink 1 gal. of juice a week and now it's maybe 1 qrt. a week if that. We haven't been eating pancakes,waffles and French toast on a regular bases and it shows in the amount of different syrups and pie fillings I have on hand. I didn't bake pies last Tday dinner or cakes  or at Christmas and that shows by the abundance also.We need to eat at least 24 qrts. of chunky applesauce before apple season. Or I won't be canning any of that either.

If I only use spaghetti sauce (red sauce here as my Nonna was Italian and from the old country) every  3rd week we will make it until tomatoes are on again to make sauce with.  I don't need to make pizza sauce, enchilada sauce or tomato juice this year. Diced tomatoes if I have enough tomatoes for sauce will be wanted.

I have enough veggie soup, chicken potpie filling, canned turkey and canned  broth for this year until after Tday. Since we aren't doing much of a garden I might have room in the freezers to put the broth instead of canning it.

SO my thoughts on this line is .... everyday cottage cheese , applesauce (Hubby only eats cottage cheese with fruit on it), dill pickles and beets on the table.

EVERY NIGHT 2 jars/cans of fruit and 2-3 jars of veggies need to be brought up for meals the next day.

Let's see how that one works.

Blessed Be

Choices

It's seeing this

And knowing it's the answer to an area that is narrow in the bathroom that needs storage space at $75  BUT going out to the barn at 209 and rummage through the scraps and decided you can make it for the price of buy 4 wheels and use paint you already have.

It's deciding to run a portable welder ( a need in the community so a part time/full time income) and double checking what Hubby has and what he will need to do a good job(including business requirements) and stay safe. AND then looking for it as auctions/garage sales and word of mouth before paying full price in the stores.

It's about needing a narrow bookcase or something for the corner at the doorway to the staircase... right doorway of picture

and looking at what I have or what I can build before hiring someone else to make me something as it is a strange size and I am not making do for it's my dining room and a focal point when looking at this wall. I thought about floating shelves until I watched Charlotte pull on one that is upstairs. I do have a cabinet that might work but really wanted to use it in the one bathroom.

It's about waiting until the floor is done (as it will have a new stain on it along with sealer) and kitchen cabinets (suppose to be on site this week but nothing is ever on time on this project) before choosing what to stain my china hutch that is a orange-ish yellow that I hate. I would rather paint it then look at it as it is.

It's about sorting through EVERYTHING here including what is stored from the kids homes and only taking what we WANT not just pack it up and deal with it later. THOUGH that is tempting when it comes to the kids stuff and just letting them deal with it after we die ...except the one that would deal with it doesn't have anything here LOL. Trash guy probably hates me at this time as we are maxing out what we are allowed to put out each week. and I am now on a first name bases with the guy at the drop off for the thrift shop.

It's about focusing on how to save money when we move, a more frugal lifestyle to stretch the retirement funds out more. It was suggested we sell extra garden at the auction we buy from... that is a maybe. Hubby welding. I don't know how the internet is going to be so I am not counting on my surveys for anything.

We changed to a joint checking account when our bank decided to start charging if you didn't have an automatic deposit into your checking. Hubby does, I don't. We went paperless so we don't have any fees for that.Might help me to only be dealing with 1 checking instead of two, since Hubby is gotten very good about receipts and he will only use duplicate checks.

If it's not LED or can be changed to LED, the Christmas decorations won't be going with us. I already passed a lot of it to daughter 2 but I know I have more. All the lights have been changed to LED if they weren't already LED.Every appliances is energy savings.

It's about thinking about habits...Hubby has gotten better about turning off lights and setting TV on timer to go off but leaves his computer on about half the time. He has gotten so he won't kick the AC on until it's over 80 instead of 74  and found (thanks to Daddy) that by turning on a fan where he is that he is comfortable enough without the AC. He has taken to opening the windows if he gets up before me. Closing the top of the curtains to keep the sun out when it's hot. We chose to put 3 ceiling fans in all with LED lights in 209.
I still need winter curtains for 209.

I do full loads (doesn't matter about the water but it costs electric wise each time the washer runs) of laundry and will with dishwasher when we move. I have to use the dryer here (and drying rack) due to construction on the road in front of us spewing dust everywhere. At 209 I won't have that issue  we are installing a new clothes line that is towards the back away from the road and there is already clothesline INSIDE the house as Amish don't use dryers . Ester even told me how long it would take to dry on the porch if it wasn't snowing or raining during other seasons and how long in the basement when it was snowing or raining.

We went with gas instant ready water heater, gas cook stove and gas furnace. Saves on generator (fuel) when we have no electric for what ever reason. English neighbor told us 5 times last winter she was without power due to cars hitting poles.

We bought a TV and radio tower so Hubby can get local stations and connect with his HAM radio so no cable TV to deal with.

It's about planning more perennials in the flower and veggie gardens and more heirloom and less hybrid. Starting a compost area.

Our biggest yet to be dealt with complete is the food storage/cooking etc. It's gotten funny that we will hear Malinda or one of the kids ring the bell for Eli to come in for lunch and we look at each other and decide on lunch. Since Amish don't do day light saving time it rings at 1 pm right now.Breakfast bell is at 8 our time.

Still we know we want to grow and store most of our own food or know where it comes from, which means in season to eat or be processed. I want to go back to baking our own bread. Hubby loves bagels so he bought me bagel things that you put the dough on and boil then bake them on it so they are formed like store bought from King Arthur flour( not that I needed them ) to be supportive of me learning to do that. I have made English muffins, tortilla wraps, pita bread, naan bread, all sorts of bread loaves...bagels not on that list. Might be a Father's day gift since he will be gone all day the day before.

Blessed Be

another update on 209...Pictures from Hubby

I am down with my back injections and stress fracture in foot. Hubby went over to 209 to check up on things and mow. He decided the best way to keep me DOWN was to send pictures..LOL

Here is Hubby petting Charlotte with Rascal trying to get Hubby to throw the ball for him this morning while I was sitting with ice on my back.

Here is the house from the lane. Here is the two sections they missed when roofing that the carpenter found when he was checking on the skylight. They were finished this morning.

Here is the south garden

and here is the north garden including weeds not pulled due to finally getting rain.
 Then he went in the house and answered tons of questions and finally just called me as he didn't think to take the house binder with him.

Here is the mudroom. We decide based on costs to not redo the cistern so the hand pump at the sink will be removed and given back to the Amish seller.

This is standing in the middle of the kitchen/dining room area looking back towards the mudroom... doorways are to mudroom, upstairs east and west lofts with the archway to the front room to the right of staircase door way just out of range of the picture.

this is looking from staircase across the dining room,kitchen and down the hall to the laundry room.I love this , it really made a difference in light coming into that hall and into that section of kitchen. The frig will be to the right of this doorway.

and the French doors that they are still working out if the company that made it is going to fix it or replace it as there is a crack in the door at the very top that came from the factory that way.

Standing at the front room archway this will be the dining room window and past it to the kitchen door and south/north lofts staircase door.

This is my dining room ceiling that had a huge crack across it that is now taken care of.

This shows that dining room windows at another angle so you can also see my new sliding window that will be over my kitchen sink.

This is Hubby's favorite as he can see the kitchen sink window and the kitchen porch door... I have the bistro table and 2 swivel rockers sitting on that porch that he takes his breaks at.

This is the wall ALL the contractors tell each other to not even think of changing this wall layout. My pots and pans peg board on the left, outlet, gas range, outlet and light switches with a pot rack over the range...it really has been the only thing I am not willing to change.

master bedroom off the left side of hall, the basement door is on the left side of the hall also but Hubby didn't get a take a picture of doors LOL

Laundry room.... this is at that very end of the hallway. There is a doorway to the left of this picture that goes into the bedroom so it might end up being part closet. I am waiting until the washer and dryer are in before I decide that one.

One side of the regular bathroom that is on the right side of the hall.

My soaker tub/ shower combo. The gap between the wall and tub in first pic is getting a slim pantry shelving unit on rolls to help with storage. Hubby or I will build it as we think we have enough scrap to do so.

one section of the front room, the drywall finisher wanted to know why there was so many holes on this wall...it was where the coat hooks hung for 18 people.

Boy did the head guy get twenty questions over ordering a 1 piece wheelchair shower, they usually come in 4 sections. His thoughts were sturdy as Hubby is not light weight even though it's for me in the future and something the could last 20 years...great thought but it barely made in into the front room and they having to take the bathroom door frame out to get it in the wheelchair bathroom.

Here is where that shower will go, water lines already ran.

last picture I got this morning...this is the wheelchair bathroom , the wall where the sink will be. You can see the doorway we closed off that went to the mudroom. They were checking to see where to put the toilet as the place where it was scheduled to go would cut through a main beam of the floor so I don't want that... It has to be set so I can get to it easily with a wheelchair. Carpenter suggested I get a small makeup vanity that I can wheel up to in this room as there is plenty of space for it.

Blessed Be

So many changes ...

that we feel like bouncing balls.

We got the garden in which was mostly tomatoes  except for some chives, garlic chives and the berry bushes.. Hubby will do that this weekend as I once again have a stress fracture in my foot...same place as 2 other times, my bones in my feet are closer together than they should be and very small ( I wear a 3 in children's shoes) and am going in for back injections.

At 209 I picked strawberries and cut rhubarb. Amish neighbor is going to pick the rest of the strawberries (her patch died and mine is going to rot before I get back due to back injections ). She is going to can (process) some of the berries in pints for us in exchange of giving her the berries.

Hubby called about windmill with pond aerator. He will go up later to pay for it so it can be started.... He also called about a dry hydrant for the pond ...a dry hydrant is where the fire truck can hook their pumper truck and suck water out of the pond to fight the fire. We live out in the country so there are not water hydrants. Our neighbor 2 houses down has one and gave us who to get call to get that rolling. He called about getting the main line from the septic to the county tile cleared of tree roots... this is the 2nd time he has called this company. If they don't respond by Friday he will be calling another company that is one town over from us. Trying to keep things local but if they don't answer and don't call back from messages you really can't do anything else.

Hubby is looking strongly at a portable welder, several of the Amish have asked him if he could provide this service for them as right now they are having to haul everything about 15 miles (usually hiring the transport of what ever) and the guy that was doing it retired. The welder he is looking at is at auction and has a diesel generator we could also use for the house. Especially since we have a 500 gal tank for diesel fuel , we could actually save money by having the diesel generator as we use street diesel (they have off road diesel fuel for a lot of farm equipment) and getting a diesel truck for Hubby after we move. He has several offers of hauling for people but needs  bigger truck... okay he needs a newer truck as this 1998 truck(2 engines and a transmission later) is a worn out baby and needs replaced... even as we have scheduled brakes to be put on it on Friday.

We have been getting a lunch from the local store for our lunches when at 209. Hubby decided that he wanted to only buy one meal and split it but get a side salad or coleslaw to split also. I've great with that. It will save us money.

We are "snacking" for our dinner/supper so I told him I wanted to prep things we could snack on that was healthy since we are just too tired to cook (sometimes too tired to eat) and ice cream from DQ or eating tortilla chips has been  the answer. Not a great way to keep up the energy we are burning.

I've been to the store three times this month... and Hubby picked up milk and bread once... Still with paying for the eating out from the grocery budget we are still UNDER budget.

I also cut rhubarb here and some garlic scapes.

Blessed Be

209 update

Head construction company guy *head contractor* told me end of May the house would be finished... The he got informed by the carpenter that wasn't going to happen and the carpenter had him come down and see why not...

I am glad I wasn't there when the butt kicking started.

Last week I let Head contractor know that once again the same crew that he kicked butt was not showing up and it was really causing problems and SLOWING down the drywall crew.

Twenty four hours later crew was in, forty eight hours later we had this:

Yeah Hubby is drinking from an old garden hose. Then I did... didn't even taste like garden hose and oh yeah we both know that taste.

and then we got the hand pump to the cistern working, not tasting that water...will need to have cistern pumped out and clean and rain spouting that doesn't let the birds play in it before we use it.

hot water heater is on wall, not fully installed as it is gas. There is also the plumbing for the regular bathroom and tub/shower combo frame in started...

bath/shower pic 1st, toilet drain hole 2nd and sink drain hole 3rd

and also

My kitchen sink drain and plumbing. While Carpenter was waiting for this stuff to be done... he walked around and was checking the work that had been done and found these 2 sections of roof that was missed (including by us) and let the company know to send the roofers back.

Then he started installing the storm doors. He got 2 out of the 3 done.

Hubby borrowed the disk from the Amish neighbor  and finished working the south garden

This has the strawberries ...you can barely see the edge of them in the upper left had corner...this garden is 120 ft long and 40 ft wide... We will be cutting it back to 80 ft long and 40 ft wide.  I would like to move the rhubarb into this area also instead of the middle of the yard. The other side where the asparagus is is 100 ft by 50 ft. We will be turning this to grass except where the asparagus is. Too many tree roots in the dirt.

Hubby was there this mowing while waiting for the truck to deliver the deck stuff we ordered. Said he got it pretty much done, probably because he didn't have anyone stopping him to get answers LOL.

We have a big pow wow with the Head Contractor on Tuesday afternoon so I am hoping the work continues as it has the last 3 days.

Bragging on Hubby

Hubby received an award from the OH EMS Star of Life for helping save a coworkers life last year. Coworker had a massive heart attack...everyone else that was helping work on the coworker said the only reason the guy lived and recovered (is back to work ) is because of Hubby aggressively using CPR until the squad got there with the automatic chest compression system.

I am blessed by this man

and then my computer crashed with Windows 10 update

SIGH... it has been a week...maybe two... geeze.

The rule at this point is BEHIND... behind in 209, behind in housekeeping here, laundry here, meals, sleep...really sleep  as they brought pigs in and the dogs are jumping and barking when they hear the noises the pigs make and then Wilbur thinks he must charge the pigs and try to dominate them (the pigs are behind a fence he can not get through but he could get his nose bit off when he sticks it through the fence). SO Wilbur was on a shock collar... that died and now on a leash when he proceeded to knock me off my feet and bash my head into the door jamb because he tried to run to get to the pigs. At least I got to him before he could charge the pigs again. Looking to buy a new shock collar... maybe something for the massive headache I got but no concession or whip last.

Windows 10 update and wiped out my computer including it's memory...Lucky I had posted Dad's 91st birthday picture here or I wouldn't have it. I usually back up once a month, got side tracked with everything. Friend that does a lot of computer work told me to back up on thumb drive every day and on external hard drive once a month.

Computer guy can reinstall original Windows(Windows 8) but I would have to buy Windows 10 ... I'll take the freebie and use that computer for other things.

Bought a computer (http://theprudenthomemaker.com/ bought this and thought it was good).Used some Amazon credits to pay for it.

Everything was running behind due to a contractor on over load without enough man power to handle all the work he agreed to... Several powwows later and a big shove from the carpenter/drywaller/clean up with mess the other left behind guys ...things started rolling again... 209 update on other post. AND both of us are having to drive as one of us needs to stay and lock up as we had someone casing the place and Charlotte is still being caged and can only "hold it" 6-8 hrs... we lean towards 6 because of her being hyper. With 2 hrs of being driving time that's only 4 hrs work time. Between the two of us we can get in 8 hrs. WHICH is more work time than the other contractors except our carpenter and his helper...

Hubby's truck is making a sound and we are hoping it's just dirt in the brakes.

I've still not go my garden stuff in as I get started and I get motioned to come make a decision. Hopefully by next Saturday that will be done. I have 18 tomato plants and some herbs left to plant.

Was suppose to install Son2 new kitchen sink last month, it's getting done this weekend. Was suppose to spend time with a friend at their RV last month, will be after we install Son2 kitchen sink on our way home.Another time of both of us driving due to long hours.

I love to say we stayed frugal...the only frugal has been where we chose to eat with coupons, discounts and gift cards...except for the little grocery store near 209... Beef and noodles, mashed potatoes and roll for $6.99 that makes 2 meals is cheap.

update 209

Carpenter ripped out this section yesterday so we will now be able to take a queen size bed and dressers up the stairs without issues. He is going to frame it in to look like the rest of the doorways.
I have a couple choices with the space beside the door... a cabinet I already own or shelves built...either corner or like a book shelf. Since this is my dining room I can see building a bookcase for my cookbooks. While he was working on this he told me that it will be at least 6  weeks before HE is finished and isn't sure the paint or floors will be done for 2-3 weeks after that.He had a worker putting drywall in where they cut it out to put electric boxes so he could start "mudding" the drywall this week.

Electrican got the front porch light done, he thought it went well with the house.

All the ceiling lights have wires now..

but now my north and south lofts floors look like this due to putting in ceiling lights. They were glad we were changing the floor anyways. Just another job for the carpenter unless Hubby or I get to it before him.

This is the wiring still sitting in the basement waiting for the final wiring to the lofts,kitchen and pump house to be ran.

This was delivered...and every single one of us wondered why they put it at an angle when there is a perfect place to set it straight and not take up almost all the parking area.

This is our -$1.00 electric bill...which is definitely a  mistake but thought I would share it as it will probably never happen again LOL. We have a security light that is $10 a month not counting the electric that the contractors have used.

and one last picture... I asked permission  and was given it as long as they weren't in the picture so I waited until my neighbors left for Church.  I am amazed of how the lady of the home gets everything clean,laundry done,  gardens taken care of, 3 meals and 3 snacks daily with 7 children under 9 yrs of age with NO electric or running water unless you count running to the hand pump and pumping it. Man of the house has a lot to take care also with cattle, horses, plowing, planting, roofing etc.

The good news is....Carpenter told me to move anything that goes in the garden shed and barn now, deal with our plants, trees and fencing now. THEN the basement should able to have stuff moved in about 2 wks (thinks we can do the deck and porches then also)and the lofts AFTER the main floors have been sanded ...then we will be on hold until the floors are completely done.

I was thinking of summer curtains being put up when we moved but since we are looking at August I think I will plan on winter curtains.

Blessed be