menu change Jan 12

Jan 12 was supposed to be leftovers but we ate it for lunch so had crackers and cheese and olives for dinner

Jan 13 We had corned beef hash and eggs instead of freezer to plate chicken meal

Jan 14 We had ham, baked potato and baked acorn squash

Jan 15 We had porcupine meatballs with diced tomatoes, mushrooms and onions, rice and leftover acorn squash and pineapple chunks.

Jan 16th. due to errands followed by getting groceries at Aldi's for neighbors (they really should build one here).The neighbors paid for our lunch  which we ate late and then didn't feel like eating any dinner. Both of us grabbed apples and peanut butter to smear on them and was done with it.

Jan 17th... ham wraps for lunch. Homemade pizza for dinner

Jan 18th Chinese takeout as it is my 61st birthday but I don't want to go out due to the crappy cold wet weather so Hubby suggested he go get Chinese since I didn't want to go out and he didn't want me to cook on my birthday.

I plan bean soup(first time for eating it in over a year.) tomorrow with fried potatoes and white corn bread.

creating routines

I am good at flying by the seat of my pants...it's not healthy for me though as it triggers the fight or flight syndrome

 In 2001 Daughter 4 gave me Flylady.net  web site since the last  4 kids were leaving home within a couple months and I was going to be cleaning alone and I became a flybaby. LOL I admit I have been off and on that bandwagon a lot.

I sat down yesterday and started working out a routine that I can handle and get done the work I want without triggering my flight or flight... I hope .

I started with my bedtime routine as I do it pretty much all the time

Then I went to the morning routine which is most the time, lunch time routine, after 3 routine then I added  a home blessing and zone work. I decided to work on the punch list when I am working in that zone.

I will start this Feb 2. Seems like a good day Groundhogs day along with Imbolic and St. Bridget day.

Just and FYI
Imbolc is traditionally the great festival and honouring of Brigid (Brighid, Bride, Brigit), so loved as a pagan Goddess that her worship was woven into the Christian church as St Bridget. She is a Goddess of healing, poetry and smithcraft. She is a Goddess of Fire, of the Sun and of the Hearth. She brings fertility to the land and its people and is closely connected to midwives and new-born babies. She is the Triple Goddess, but at Imbolc she is in her Maiden aspect.

MORNING ROUTINE

RISE AND SHINE!

SHERM/COFFEE

DOGS OUT

BATHROOM/ GET DRESSED

START LAUNDRY

DOGS IN

CHECK CALENDAR

MAKE BED/LAYOUT PJS

CURTAINS/WINDOWS OPEN

DOGS FRESH WATER AND FOOD

DISHWASHER UNLOADED

FIRST LOAD DRYING

START SECOND LOAD OF LAUNDRY

PERIMETER

 AFTER LUNCH ROUTINE

LUNCH

LAUNDRY

DOGS

ZONE

DOGS

GARDEN

BATH/SHOWER 2:30/3 pm

AFTER 3:00 P.M. ROUTINE

3:00 TEA TIME

COMPUTER TIME

3:30 DUST MOP

START DINNER

CLEAN 1-2 SHELVES IN REFRIGERATOR

4:30 DINNER

5 -6:30 NEWS

RUN DISHWASHER

 BEDTIME ROUTINE

8:00 PM POTTY PARTY

8:15 PM: CHECK DOGS WATER AND FOOD, GIVE TREATS

8:20 PM: CHECK CALENDAR/ CHECK TOMORROW’S WORK

8:25 PM WATER BY BED/LAYOUT CLOTHES/PJS ON

8:30 PM JOURNAL, DEVOTIONAL, SIMPLE ABUNDANCE, READ

10:00 PM LIGHTS OUT

SUNDAY

MORNING ROUTINE

DAY OF REST

SNAIL MAIL

MENU

GARDEN

LUNCH ROUTINE

ME

MYSELF

AND I

AFTER 3 PM ROUTINE

BEDTIME ROUTINES

MONDAY MORNING ROUTINE LAUNDRY: CLOTHES KITCHEN TOWELS DUST N SHINE GARDEN ZONE WORK LUNCH ROUTINE CLEAN FRIGS NEED LIST TRASH OUT AFTER 3 PM ROUTINE BEDTIME ROUTINES TUSEDAY MORNING ROUTINE LAUNDRY: CLOTHES KITCHEN TOWELS SWISH AND SWIPE GARDEN ZONE WORK LUNCH ROUTINE AFTER 3 PM ROUTINE BEDTIME ROUTINES WEDNESDAY MORNING ROUTINE LAUNDRY: CLOTHES KITCHEN TOWELS MOP AND VACUUM GARDEN ZONE WORK LUNCH ROUTINE COUPONS/SALES AFTER 3 PM ROUTINE BEDTIME ROUTINES THURSDAY MORNING ROUTINE LAUNDRY: CLOTHES BATH TOWELS KITCHEN TOWELS ERRANDS GARDEN ZONE WORK LUNCH ROUTINE AFTER 3 PM ROUTINE BEDTIME ROUTINES FRIDAY MORNING ROUTINE LAUNDRY: CLOTHES KITCHEN TOWELS BAKE AND SEW GARDEN ZONE WORK LUNCH ROUTINE AFTER 3 PM ROUTINE BEDTIME ROUTINES SATURDAY MORNING ROUTINE LAUNDRY: CLOTHES KITCHEN TOWELS BEDDING BAKE AND SEW GARDEN ZONE WORK LUNCH ROUTINE AFTER 3 PM ROUTINE BEDTIME ROUTINES

Zones will be done each week with the figuring of 5 wks a month. Since a lot of months only have a few days the 5th week I put the least needed area to be cleaned/worked on during the 5th week. It is also I can do something in that area on weeks I have the other zones done.

ZONE 1	ZONE 2
KITCHEN	WC BATH
DINING ROOM	FRT RM AND PORCH
DECK AND PORCH	MUDROOM AND STOOP
PANTRY

ZONE 3	ZONE 4
BEDROOM	WEST LOFT
LAUNDRY ROOM	EAST LOFT
BATH AND HALL	STAIRS
MECHANICS ROOM	BARN
FREEZER ROOM

ZONE 5

SOUTH LOFT

NORTH LOFT

STAIRS

BARN

we completed one chart

Mediumsizedfamily.com had this. It is the chart Kim at Outmywindowtoday.blogspot.com has used this chart.

Hubby and I was both surprised to complete the chart before the end of the month.Most the bills are paid and the potting soil for the winter sowing was bought.

Hubby figured up where he stood with his paying hobby. He broke even until we added the 2 trailers he bought. He had bought 3 but sold the one and bought a larger one. I did remind him that for a hobby it was decent for the 1st year. He did talk to another hauler that does it to make his living and he said he was just barely breaking even and was going to have to start hauling longer distances. He doesn't take out of state trips.

We figured up our net worth and were okay with that. Not where we thought we would be but the stock market has been down since Hubby retired.

I shared our goals for this year with our IRA guy and he reminded us that we have an account with money for 1 yrs worth of health ins with him... yes we had forgot. IT's okay we forgot Hubby had a pension on top of his 401k. YES REALLY.

SO we can take the medical off the save for. Put that over on to the saving for the 3rd month of the "bills" and the new to us dog truck because I am not willing to add another car loan to the debt and everything I am seeing that would work is over $12000

Going to call it a night.. The cold wet from today has made me achy.

Blessed Be everyone

From the pantry Jan 7th to Jan 13th

Jan 7th
Leftovers from the frig with fried eggs

Jan 8th Cheeseburgers with onions (garden) and mushrooms and garlic(garden)

Jan 9th Wingers... Hubby paid with his hobby money as an early bday present to me. And here I thought it was because I didn't have any cavities.... Pushing 61 and have never had a cavity.

Jan 10th. leftover wings and hot pickled cauliflower and crackers

Jan 11th spaghetti, meatballs (finished bag in freezer) homemade pasta sauce, sub buns (from freezer) as garlic bread.

NOTE made 6 batches of noodles, shared 2 batches with daughter 4 and dried the rest for our pantry. One batch is thin noodles to add to soups at the last minute, the other 3 for us is our sturdy , thicker wider noodle for main dish like beef and noodles over mashed potatoes.

Jan 12, took stuff to daughter 4 including the 2 batches of noodles and 4 1/2 dozen eggs.  ATE the last of the spag and meatballs adding the half of the left over mushrooms and onions I cooked the other day. FOR LUNCH as we both were starving when we got home.

 Had summer sausage, cheese, crackers and apples for supper.

Tomorrow I will have Freezer to plate meal Daughter 2 talked me into buying a while back. It's for frozen chicken so you don't have to thaw the chicken and it's rice and peas and carrots. I have a doc appt early afternoon so figured this would work plus get a box out of the cabinet.

Hubby brought a ham in from the barn freezer for Tuesday's meal. I already have planned to bake some acorn squash along with it. He mentioned there was a nice size hole in the freezer. LOL

fight or flight stuck in overdrive...frugal days

After testing , doc confirmed my cortisol was high and staying there... Once again my fight or flight has stuck in overdrive.

SINCE he does NOT feel that MORE medication is the answer he  gave suggestions on how to lower it. I have had this problem more than so some it is just going back to an old routine. Like no tv,computer, phone an hour before bed so I  am back to reading for an hour before bed. AND that triggers me to go to sleep. I keep water cup that has a lid and straw by the bed instead of the coke... Yeah I know but I am down to less than 2 20 oz bottles of coke or sprite... I try to do one of both otherwise I am definitely a coke a cola classic gal.I've went from sleeping maybe 4 hrs to sleeping 11 every other day. Doc said to average it out and see what I am averaging. As of today I am averaging around 7, he wants me at 9... so at least it's getting better. Even though I feel like a walking zombie.

The fatigue is as haunting as the feeling of needing to push through is. Neither are good.

Hubby is making my daily to do list and it in my view is next to nothing but he knows how this goes since it's not the first rodeo for us.

I did put hamburger for Salisbury steak and country fried steak in the freezer from the hamburger log I bought. We had cheeseburgers for dinner. I also cooked the rest of it and got 5-1 cup bags of meat for the freezer for either taco pizza, sloppy joes or hamburger pie or just some quick casserole.

I made laundry soap for both us and Daughter 4.

I've hung laundry out on porch line and drying rack daily.

While seeing Daddy we went over and visited with Hubby's parents as they are only a few miles apart.

Went to get dental check up( we scheduled together to lower fuel costs) stopped and got car tags, then went to bank , then to the post office then to Menards to use rebate to get distilled water for the humidifier in the bedroom.

Averaged out what the electric bill ran 2019. We lowered it by the average of $14.50 a month even with the increase per kilowatt.

Ordered seeds/plants for the garden this year using rakuten,codes and coupons. We are raising mostly fresh or what we can't find at the Amish farms. We really missed eggplant and Roma tomatoes. I will raise plants from the seeds I already have. We use chiles that are not grown in this area.

Meantime I need to walk some to not stiffen up.
Blessed Be

frugal choices

We used gas buddy to find the cheapest fuel for the trucks.

I turned off the furnace 3 times and opened the doors to air out the house when it got up to 50 degrees. We now turn the furnace down 2 degrees when going to bed.

We went back over the budget to see if we could find any other place to cut back or cut out completely. We have $500 in medical going out above the cost of our health ins this month. Also I have truck and car tags to get. 

I washed clothes in cold water using homemade laundry soap and hung either on drying rack or porch clothes line.

All Christmas lights was turned off Dec 31 at 11 pm. That is the day when our electric bill is read at 11:59 pm by computer. So the holiday lights are only on 1 bill instead of 3 like last year.

We changed 3 nightlights...still LED but light up the rooms better with 1 bulb instead of a dozen.

Hubby installed more air barrier. Still more to go. But we can really tell the difference in the house.

We ate from the pantry and didn't order anything on line or go shopping.

We spent time just resting over the holidays and talking about goals and plans and taking care of our health.

We wrote out what our 2020 goals were and I posted them on the wall at the calendar so we would see them daily.

We batted around thoughts on how to have fresh produce, produce for stocking and the costs of it all. We both understand we need some garden and Hubby now acknowledges he didn't think it would be that much work by putting it in ground where I wanted to stay with square foot gardening for the majority of it.

We also know we have to find a better place to store potatoes and winter squash as the area we used is still too warm (thanks to warmer winter) and we are starting to lose it 3 months before usually. I Will be canning a lot this week.

I washed out 3 plastic bags and the insert to a box of cold cereal that we bought at the discount store for 99 cents.

How did your first week of the new year go?

Blessed Be

From the pantry Dec 30th to Jan 6th

Week 2 of eating from the pantry. Not being a problem since I have meals listed that can be fixed fast.

Dec 30th pork chops green beans, sweet potatoes and pears

Dec 31st sausage patty, canned potatoes fried, canned spinach, canned 3 bean salad and canned mandarin oranges

Jan 1st BBQ *Mother's recipe for sauce* ribs, canned kraut, instant mashed potatoes and canned black eye peas. Christmas pudding( steamed UK pudding) that I didn't like but Hubby thought was good in milk. Made me think of a very dry fruit cake.

Jan 2nd Left overs

Jan 3rd  Sara Moulton White chicken chili ... I used ground turkey as ground chicken in not available in this area. I used my own canned broth and 2 cans of Great Northern beans (now out of those canned beans) We are odds and ends of veggies and fruit from lunch

Jan 4th  Leftover chili and chunk pineapple

Jan 5th 177 Milkstreet Pork tapas, hot pickled cauliflower, green olives, ripe olives, cheese and crackers.

Jan 6th egg sandwiches, apples.

Jan 4th 4:20 pm this week's to do

I am sitting here at the dining table by candle light watching the snow starting to fall. Grass is brown and not covered as the last few days have been warm and we've had rain.  I have 2 towels still out of the porch line, the drying rack is full, both sock racks are full of kitchen hot pads and towels, and 2 walkers are over vents holding aprons and towels to dry. BUT except for the Christmas tree skirt the Christmas stuff is washed. When it is dry I will box it up. Monday I will run the vacuum and get all the throw rugs done and boxed up also. That will be the last of Christmas.

I flipped out the thick bath towels for the thinner ones for winter. Since we seem to have damp weather where I can't hang clothes on the line weekly the thick ones dry too slow on the drying rack.

This week I am going to be canning winter squash. The basement is staying too warm and we will be losing it if I don't get it done as I found one today that was bad. I still have 3 spag sq... or 4 I can't remember that we will need to get in the frig and eat them as they can't be canned.

My 5 gallon bucket that holds homemade noodles is empty so I need to get noodles made. By making them now I can make a quick meal later of them.

I have some veggies getting old so I need to make some veggie stock so they don't go to waste.

I have hamburger to make Salisbury steak, country fried steak, taco meat and sloppy joe. I might cook some plain to help with making casseroles.

I have to make some sour dough starter. I need sour dough bread for garlic soup and I need bread dough for pigs in the blanket. Might as well make that with the sour dough also.

I need to cook some bulk sausage for pizza, calzones and casseroles.

Finances are caught up until the 8th.We started following the money chart from Mediumsizedfamily.com

  http://outmywindowtoday.blogspot.com/ also uses this chart. It helped her get her house paid off so I am hoping we can use it to pay for the newer to us truck when we find one.

I will also can the leftover  of Sara Moulton white chicken chili (I used turkey and great northern beans). Won't be a biggie since I will be canning squash also.

This week I will also move the chair( and clean it) I always sat in at Daddy's into the front room where the Christmas tree was. He had bought a chair for me so I could touch the floor when I sat to visit with him. My brother made sure I got it  when we cleared the house. I will have figure out a different place for the Christmas tree next year. I have Mother's in my bedroom as she was a good 2-3 inches shorter than me.

We are doing well on the pantry challenge as we are in our second week. We are also focusing on eating at least 80% real food aka from scratch.

Doing well in the no spend and looking forward to marking off squares on the money chart.

I am also trying to do stretches on my yoga mat every day this month. That is on top of my daily 10,000 steps and 4 trips on the staircases since I decided to not spend the money on an elliptical or gym membership.

I also am doing a reading challenge from https://modernmrsdarcy.com/

This month I am reading the trilogy of The One from Nora Roberts.Hubby bought the last book for me for Christmas.

I will also read Starting Over by Jackie Clay *Backwoods Home magazine*

I am also checking my seeds and deciding what to plant for fresh eating. We really missed having eggplant and fresh salads. I will be buying my "stock up" goods from the Amish and the auction.

Best get doing the evening routine.

I lost a friend today

We met in 2001 through local groups of Flylady.net. Used to meet as a group and then her and I would meet just us when the groups fell apart as time passed.

She was a speech therapist and preacher. She married Daughter 4 and her ex.

She was vibrant , earthy , had great tastes in food and wine. Could curse like a sailor when flipping mad. I could get her to laugh when in a mad rant by asking who urinated her off.

Nov 16, 2009 she sat beside me in a coffee house in Springfield OH to help me write the first blog here. She followed my blog ever since.

 Dec 22nd,she was hanging Christmas decorations standing on an 8 ft ladder and fell to a tile floor. She not only cracked her skull on the floor but caused the metal rod in her spine to come loose. She died today to traumatic brain injury.

Heartbroken you are gone Libs.  I love you.

I wrote Jan grocery list LOL

Since we are going to be out anyways in the snow yuck, Hubby figured we do the major shopping for Jan.  Then he can always do a pit stop when getting fuel or I can after appts for milk etc.

Tomorrow we are going to go visit Sister of my heart ( if her weather is decent as where she is to gets worse than us) and then doctor appt for this chronic fatigue, rapid pulse for no reason, headache, nose bleed, pain in my butt thing going on.

My mistake was asking Hubby to give me about 15 meals he would like to have this coming month. About 6 of them I have everything except cilantro, lime and avocado (and not it'a not all Mexican). Only 3 did I need meat and that is because I do not keep ground pork and ground poultry in the freezers, they are very seldom on sale so I don't stock up. THEN he came back and said we needed something to take if we went to a New Year's dinner but that depends on weather and how I feel and how he feels.

Fresh herbs and some salad items are going to be on the high side for sure.


On the menu with the note I am sure some will get bumped out for some reason or another AND I need to NOT make too many servings so we don't have leftovers for 4 days.

sausage patties, canned potatoes, 3 bean salad , spinach and mandarin oranges for tomorrow.

Ribs, black eye peas, mashed potatoes and kraut for NY Day unless we go to the dinner. Then it will be the day after.

Other meals he chose.
pork tapas, kale salad with smoked almonds and picada crumbs
chicken white bean chili
chicken saltimbocca with artichoke sauce
Rick Bayless shrimp n pork meatballs
Rick Bayless pork n beef meatballs(chipotle meatballs)
garlic soup
Turkey breast with Apricot sauce
Maple glazed ham
scallion sesame shrimp cakes with avocado wasabi sauce
chipotle black bean dip with mini sausage pigs in a blanket
Chicken phyllo pies
Leftover Christmas pie (Paul Hollywood)
Shepherds pie
enchilada casserole
calzones

I chose
Nonna's deep dish pizza.
butternut squash quiche
stuffed acorn squash
turkey noodles and mashed potatoes.
Stuffed cabbage rolls
Italian green beans with potatoes and ham (one pot)
Boiled cabbage, potatoes and carrots (one pot)
fried cabbage, fried potatoes with onions and yellow corn bread.
Beef bourguignon. 
sweet and sour beef brisket
123 pasta
scalloped potatoes and ham
mackerel patties, boiled potatoes and buttered peas
shrimp scampi
Salisbury steak or country fried steak (made of hamburger)
Chicken Divan or cacciatore or fricassee... depending on what I have in the house LOL

We will see how this goes tomorrow at the store and prepping it for the month

Pantry challenge Dec 23rd... 8 days from the pantry

Dec 23rd we ate at Son 2's for our Christmas dinner with him. He had chuck roast, red potatoes. carrots and onions and pie. We brought home leftover broth, potatoes, carrots and onions.

Christmas eve was prime rib, shrimp cocktail, Son 2's leftover potatoes and carrots.Caramelized onions and mushrooms. We had fruit cake for dessert

Christmas day... leftover prime rib cheese and crackers.  It was a snacky day.

Dec 26th Fettuccine with broccoli and tomatoes and peaches. Fruit cake.

Dec 27th Leftover prime rib used for Philly steak pizza. Used leftover mushrooms and caramelized onions, ranch dressing and  mozzarella cheese.

Dec 28th   Chicken with apples, last of caramelized onions and mushrooms in a Dijon mustard cream sauce with rice. Leftover carrots and last of fruit cake.

Dec 29th... leftovers of the night before except I have fruit cocktail  instead of fruit cake.

AND
I have set out the 2 pork chops tomorrow's meal along with sweet potatoes, green beans and pears.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Yule, Happy LIFE

Daddy was awake and talking more than one word sentences when we saw him. He nearly broke my hand with his grip when he decided he had to hold my hand while he walked his wheelchair.  Was a good day as he said as we were leaving.

We stopped in a visited for several hours Hubby's parents , not only for Christmas but it was their 63rd anniversary. They are having several family in on Christmas and invited us. Hubby is not sure he wants to go since she is talking about over 50 in a very small house with 1 bathroom. He is not treated right by his two brothers. His sister does try even though there are several years between them. I told him we could go visit his siblings in Jan if he would rather do that but should at least call his parents and wish them Merry Christmas.

Son 2 cooked us Christmas meal last night as our schedules are not mashing at all this holiday. Was a wonderful meal of pot roast he did in the crock pot and baked onions from the oven (he got a smaller crock pot for himself and forgot that when he went to cook everything). I got him an instant pot as he had melted his when he forgot his glass stove top was still hot and put it on the stove. I also got him all the little extras that he could use in it. Came out the same amount of money as we gave the rest and since he is single it was the only gifts he had under his tree. He left a couple of the smaller ones under it for Christmas day.

Tonight, Christmas eve, Son 1 will be here (he usually refuses to get his picture taken) and I will have prime rib (using crock pot, new recipe, will let you know how that goes) sauteed onions and mushrooms, leftover carrots from Son 2 meal, baked potato (actually baked as the oven will be on anyways) and homemade bread rolls , which is why the oven will be on.  Shrimp cocktail and salad .We have fruit cake for dessert but I doubt if anyone will want any of it.

Tomorrow we will go back in to see Daddy again.

Hubby worked this morning as he didn't get the job done last night since we needed to be at Son 2. He has work lined up after Christmas. Not as much as the main person he hauls for won't be back up running until Jan 6th. Main person  works for an Englisher and they are on shut down until then.

Blessed Be

Talking about 2020

Yesterday was a good day as we are trying to be on the same page of next month being a NO spend with NO exceptions month and eat from the pantry * 80 % real food minimum. 

We were eating dinner of prime rib scrap I pulled from the fat I cooked, mixed with cooked onions and mushrooms and on sub buns from the freezer with odd and ends shredded cheeses. 

We talked about our 2020 goals

Both us working on the projects we have chosen from the punch list.

Both agreed we needed better routines of meal times and eating healthier ( Pantry challenge GOOD CHEAP EATS, real food reboot DON't WASTE THE CRUMBS)

Hubby want to lose 24 lbs this coming year.

Hubby is going to also focus on that his HOBBY does not need to over run him to the point he does not get his work at home done. Something I have heard E and his family bring up to him several times. They all understand he has work here that needs done and he just needs to say NO I CAN'T like they do.

I have chosen because I MUST focus on my health. I need to continue add foods back into my diet SLOWLY. I need to rebuild bone density through what I eat, exercise and yoga (new mat ordered as old mat worn out and slides). Hubby considers the mat as medical. I need to get back to the sinus rinse to lower issues with my allergies.  I will need a routine of exercising.

I need to finish designing the railing for deck to have herbs grow there. Wilbur pees on pots or will back up to do business in them SIGH. 

I need to finish working out the new garden plan which is closer to what I was doing on the old farm.

I need to do Swagbucks regularly to help pay for my Amazon Prime (is has saved us more than I pay for prime)

I need POST the laundry routine because I am tired of repeating it to Hubby. I will put it in his bathroom on the wall above his laundry cart.

I need to get a sewing/mending routine. I had mending routine until we moved my chair out of the front room and upstairs. I am going to take Mother's chair out of the bedroom and put it in front room where the Christmas tree is and set up a mending area there. I need to declutter the east loft to set up the sewing room. I can put the chair I always sat in at Daddy's in the bedroom.

I need a home blessing routine along with a decluttering routine ( DECLUTTER 365) 

I need to get out of my comfort zone and expand what I read (READING CHALLENGE)

Hubby brought up the budget for 2020 (yes I rolled my eyes but kept my mouth shut, easy to do when you are stuffing your face).

I had suggested we turn down the furnace when we leave for longer than an hour more than once. He agreed to that finally. 

 

He is gotten a lot better of turning off lights and unplugging the LED strand of lights over the kitchen sink that we use for a night light to see the door (and black dog) in the middle of the night in the mornings.

He finally quit opening the curtains at 5 am when he opened on in the front room on the north side and felt the cold coming through. I have insulated curtains up but still these old windows can only do so much. He does open the one dining room curtain so he can see the sun rise. 

I close the curtains around 4:45 just before dusk. 

We talked about making appts so we don't miss a meal and to eat before we leave for an afternoon appt so we aren't coming out hungry and 90 min from home. Next month he has 2 and I have 3 appts at times so there is not excuse to eat out or pick up pizza at the gas station.

He DECIDED we needed to set the grocery list.

I agreed because I already have a basic list I use but wondered where he was going with this. 

Then he DECIDED we would only go every 2 wks, which means some of the fresh produce he PREFERS won't be here at the end of the 2nd week.

He did acknowledge my GI wants me to eat a small amount  of fresh produce daily to get my digestive system used to it again. In Jan it will be to add more beans which will put my back on my diet I was on during remission years ago.I danced in the office.

I just kept letting him talk...

Then it was if I could make it at home, we were not to buy it...I opened my mouth ( with no food in it HA HA) 

I am NOT making cottage cheese, and any other cheese. I have done both.

I will make tortilla wraps (his go to for sandwiches) , bagels, (his) English muffins(both) rolls, loaf bread , yogurt, buttermilk (I have learned to let the powder sit for 30 min to over night when made to get it more like regular buttermilk) etc. I have enough pasta but can make noodles, ravioli,and lasagna noodle. I cook from scratch most the time anyways. Except brownie and cake mixes. 

 I will make granola bars at which he frowned because he likes store bought better because they are not sticky and travel nicer in a hot truck which made him realize he was eating several of them along with his lunch... which explains why he gained weight when he should have lost.

I have not made potato chips or tortilla chips but can. We decided to quit the potato chips and only have tortilla chips as we eat salsa and cheese dip with those.

He brought up sour cream. I have had iffy tries on that as the heavy cream is ultra pasteurized. We don't use it a lot so when needed we could buy it.I have used plain yogurt instead.

Since he said twice a month I decided to split what produce was being bought at a time.

What will be bought both times to the store

milk 2 gallons each time

half and half .I have made my own but ended up spending more on milk and heavy cream than I did on the half and half ... 1/2 gallon each time

heavy cream 1/2 gallon each time

cottage cheese. 3 each time

5 bananas each time

2 lbs white mushrooms each time

2 lbs portabella mushrooms each time

ONCE a month

2 bunches of green onions

2 packages of tri color bell peppers (I can't eat green)

1 head of cauliflower or 2 bags of pearl cauliflower

3 heads of broccoli

4 lbs of carrots 

2 bunches of celery

3 lbs of apples (instead of 6 lbs)

We will see how this goes along with the pantry challenge

I did ask his sister for her recipe for canning meatloaf and her recipe. Her boys use it for sandwiches on a regular bases.

 

The week before Christmas

I sit here with some "down" time waiting on the canner. Last quart of turkey broth and 3 quarts of beef broth in it. I got 12 cubes (used old ice cube trays) of beef fat for the freezer. I have 2 more things to do today of my get 8 done list.

Decorations are up. I will be adding a little to next year's if I have the money and it's on sale cheap. OR I find it in mother's stuff in the barn. I have 2 windows, both bathrooms, kitchen porch (non-chewable by Charlotte) and the deck that I would like stuff for...not sure what stuff but stuff.


I wrapped Son 2's gifts. Son 1 (single, never married, no kids)gets cash as he uses it to pay for his vacation in Jan. The girls all get cash as they all have kids (one has grandson) and they use theirs for eating out. It's not how we would like it but since it's their present (I give what we would spend) I give them what they want. I do miss buying presents and doing gag gifts. But Son 2 (single, never married, no kids) is okay with gifts or cash. I usually get him something small and cash.... but this year he has mentioned a couple things he wanted and was having to chose between because he had to replace his furnace and AC. He told me what he had chosen and why and that he was going to buy it AFTER Christmas. So I got the other for him. He will think it's funny as I reused the wrapping paper that was on our presents from him last year (that he reused from his grandmother) and wrapped the one present with freezer paper. I wasn't going out to buy Christmas paper for 1 present.  I ordered the last 2 gifts. Roses for Daddy(it's his favorite flower) and a Christmas wicker basket flower arrangement for Hubby's parents that they can sit on the table or the end stand in the front room.  Hubby and I don't "do" Christmas for each other...he does not like to buy gifts but I did wrap some different variety trail mixes I bought him from Aldi's since that is now on the do not buy list for next year.Dogs got new chew bones.

I will do some baking this weekend and do the Christmas cards(one of the 8 to do list for today).

Christmas eve is shrimp with cocktail sauce, prime rib roast and baked potato. Hubby would like a salad that we will have to buy. I have a Christmas pudding for dessert and Fruit cake for dessert. Son 1 will be here for Christmas eve. Not sure when we will connect with Son 2 as he is already over booked between two jobs and two groups he belongs to. I know the Sunday before Christmas he will be giving gifts out at the VA Hospital . The girls are booked solid between work and kids and their other sides. I still get thank you's for us canceling Christmas get togethers about 10 yrs ago. SO much stress on the girls. We try to do a couple get togethers in "off" times. Like during the summer (not July 4th any more) and in Sept for the family reunion. I am thankful for Facebook so we can stay in each other's life by long distance. I am thankful my parents and in laws didn't make us chose either.Especially when you are already part of a blended family and then belong to another blended family.

Other than a good cleaning on Monday and Tuesday morning, that's it for Christmas.

I still have garlic and onions to preserve but they can wait until after the holiday.

not even a week... pantry update.

I sent Hubby down to get a pound of the unsalted butter and he came back up with his Hard cider (forgot the butter)and asked where I put the food from the black refrigerator ....we ate it or I took it to the Christmas party and I froze the prime rib. The eggs were behind the prime rib roast.

Now it looks like this

The citrus is now in the bottom drawer.  The veggies have been ate, what cheese was left after the Christmas party is now in the other refrigerator drawer combining all the cheese. The brown sacks are mushrooms, they last longer in a paper bag. These didn't have a chance as four of the bags went in the cauliflower stuffing(dressing),half on the 5th one went in a casserole. What is left is in the hole that was in the kitchen refrigerator.I will be going without fresh mushrooms until Jan.

 The prime rib roast is now 3 smaller roasts, 4 steaks and 4 meals of shaved rib roast for philly steak pizza, philly steak subs and two stir fries and in the barn freezer.

That is beef scraps and broth on the top shelf from me dealing with the prime rib. That's on the to do list for tomorrow so by tomorrow that shelf will also be empty.

I had a good hole in the barn freezer but since we brought home a ham bone with enough meat to make to good meals and the broth and put the prime rib in it.  My hole is small again. I could get about 6 lbs of meat in it.

Normally I would be looking to fill in the empty spots in this frig but I know this coming week there will be lots of cooking so I will need places to put the leftovers.  Also I want to get the gray refrigerator down so I can transfer most of the stuff to the black on as the gray one is the one that has issues with freezing up and shutting down about once a year.

I have realized I under estimated how much dishwasher soap and dish soap I would need since I am cooking from the pantry. Two to three times with the dishwasher and at least one load of the big pans in the mudroom sink.It has one huge bowl so it's easier to wash big stuff in it.

Time to fix supper.. leftovers tonight

When Hubby decided to change the 2020 budget

to include 15 months of medical instead of 12

AND

2 months of monthly bills

AND

a new to us "dog" truck.  I am willing to sell or trade my car for the truck as the car is definitely too small to transport my 3 dogs. ALSO it would take a car off the car ins.

AND

he decide to not file for Social Security this year.

I told him that a couple of the chosen projects might not get done but he needs to price out the ones he has chosen for himself.

The big question was is there going to be battles when I mention he is wanting to buy it's not in the budget? OR that he hasn't done something and it's costing us money? His answer... Probably.

I am okay with these changes. I really struggle to see us saving all of that and replacing the truck but if you don't plan it don't happen.

Budget for 2020 and major projects still do to 209

I will start with the major projects still to do

caulking of 12 rooms

air barrier in 2 attics

deck railing (I want to grow herbs on the deck) and ramp

Awning over French doors on deck

more gravel to extend and widen the driveway and add to the parking area for the trailers

Build a removeable box for flat bed trailer (be nice if carrying things that shouldn't get wet)

front porch needs leveled, new posts, railing, banister at concrete steps( or ramped) and wood floor replaced along with painted

kitchen porch needs leveled, new posts, railing, banister at concrete steps and wood floor replaced along with painted. Two ceiling fans already bought need installed after painted.

back stoop to the mudroom door needs widened as you have to step back to open the door to come in.

gate at fence to enter ramp on the deck needs installed

basement ramp and the drainage pipe at that area needs redone

Redesign the gardens

replace 16 windows

side entire home

side barn porch

install lights in dog kennel area of barn (that dogs very seldom go in but if I had to take my daughters dogs for some reason they would love it)

install lights in garage section of barn where the tractor, lawn mower etc is stored

install closets and storage items in house.

continue to clear barn of boxes and extra furniture

We chose the following for this year:

caulking of 12 rooms ( I have half the caulking bought)

air barrier in 2 attics (just need staples)

deck railing with a note I want to grow herbs on the deck railing (I have part of what is needed for the railing)

gate at fence to enter ramp on the deck. Need to buy post and gate.

basement ramp and the drainage pipe at that area needs redone. All needs bought

Redesign the gardens.(need potting soil for grow pots and sq ft and boards for sq ft gardens

install closets and storage items (98% is in barn)

continue to clear barn of boxes and extra furniture.(freebie just tons of work and time)

We are doing cost estimates for these projects to know how much we need to save to get them done.

Now for the budget. Hubby turns 62 this year. Thoughts of living on only social security *which is really only meant to replace 40% of your income during retirement* is what we looked at.

Five times in 2019 I have changed the budget
1/1/2019 $8794
8/1/2019 $6123
9/12/2019 $5883
12/1/19 $ 5062.50

I went on social security and pulled what Hubby would get at 62 and then at the beginning of next year myself . Living on the budget I set for this coming year. We would be short the medical and would have to pull that amount from the IRAs' and that is a lot less than what we are pulling now and would make it last 3 times as long as now. Hubby would like to have his truck paid off or at least half off before pulling SS.I don't see that happening  along with the projects.

It also lets me know how much must be in the savings to cover us between him starting SS and me starting SS.

 That really is not a bad scenario since we don't count on his hobby to pay anything He has declined several jobs as he doesn't want a business, doesn't want the headache of paper work even though he has to keep track of some of it for a hobby, just something to have purpose in his days. He enjoys the travel but limits that as he wants to be home to sleep in his own bed.

I think the no spend month with written down exceptions is going to continue in to 2020 but with the line of do you want to draw SS or keep drawing the IRA  ? to push us to be more conscious of our choices.

Dec 8th thru 14th no spend, eat from pantry

Dec 8th
The day of rest was spent at home doing bedding and hanging outside on the porch clothesline to dry. Probably won't see another day good enough to do that that doesn't freeze dry the clothes. Ate leftovers from the frig as we also moved the the black frig down to the basement FINALLY and put the Christmas tree where the frig had been.

Dec 9th

Did laundry and got it on the drying rack before leaving for appt and errands. Made a note of what we were having for supper so if Hubby got home before me he could start it.

I had follow up appt with my GI  that is 2 hrs away. Got that done, pit stopped at Son 2's house,the stopped at store for the non food items needed  and the last of the unsalted butter. I had some odds and ends in the frig so used them to make a casserole for supper.

Hubby went over to deliver a message to E and he asked if we could get them dried milk as they use it in their summer sausage that them were going to make the next night.

Dec 10th.
I did laundry and hung on drying rack before leaving.

Primary doc appt for both of us. Good news is my blood work was great. Even my calcium and Vit D was were great which made doc decide the loss of bone density had to come from the steroids I was on the last 2 yrs. Diet is changed along with having to add more walking. I average 3 miles a day, looking to increase to 5. Hubby and I already had priced out local gyms/YMCA's since we don't qualify for silver sneakers yet. Decided to set up a "gym" in the basement. I have an area that I can clear (was going to get rid of most of it and no that wasn't in the pantry pics) for Daddy's exercise bike and the elliptical we will buy in Jan. I picked out 2 on Amazon as everything around here is running over $800.I need to do yoga also... going to ask Son 2 where he got his mat as it is nice and long.

Went to chiropractor and was adjusted. The pain I was getting in my left side of chest was actually from my right shoulder being out of place. Since Doc had just ruled out it coming from my heart it was kind of like "What now" feeling. Glad to find out it was my shoulder that I had operated on a few years back.

We ate out between doctor appts. Hubby paid for it using his spending money ($50 for each of us.) We got the senior citizen discount and left a 20% tip and still was under $25. We brought home leftovers for our supper that I could add veggies and fruit to.

Stopped at store to get dried milk for E. Got dried milk for us, not sure how I missed we were completely out. Got the last of the stuff for Christmas dinner this weekend and a few of the veggies that doc wants me to eat (broccoli and cauliflower that I do not have in the freezers as they didn't grow this year). We won't be having fresh salad for Christmas dinner. Too many recalls.

We stopped to pick up the 4-5 bone in prime rib I ordered and paid for.That is our standard Christmas eve dinner (Son 1 is coming this year). Hubby came out and put a huge roast in the truck. Before I could say any thing he said. "The order got messed up and it came in boneless. They gave us $3 off a pound so I decided to take a whole boneless prime rib roast since the price was the same. You can do 2 roasts, some rib eye steaks and shave some for philly steak pizza and philly steak subs."  Personally I would have taken the money but that actually comes out to paying $3/ lb for the meat. We finished our leftovers from lunch for supper

Dec 11th
I did laundry and since there was a good breeze I hung the clothes on the porch line to freeze dry. I brought them in when it started to snow and hung them on the drying rack to finish.

We had French toast (using up the last of loaf of bread that had been in frig for awhile and a good dozen of eggs) ham slice and hash brown patties. We used blueberry pie filling for the French toast and had 8 oz of V8 fusion (1 serving  each of fruit and veggies). We will eat the rest of the French toast for bfasts the rest of this week.

It was nice to have the day at home so I could straighten the pantry (and take pics and post on blog). Check recipes of what I want to make for the dinner party on Saturday and do a bit of decorating. I pulled the meat off the two turkeys I had roasted and put 1 lb in each bag. Have 8 more lbs of turkey meat in freezer. I put the carcasses to simmer to make broth.

Dec 12th
laundry is on the drying rack.
We got the lights on the outside Christmas tree.
I have the fat off the first batch of broth. There is 5 qrts in the canner.
I got 4 swags put together for the fence line by the front porch.
Dish washer is running with stuff that was from straining the broth.
Carcass meat will be next after it is done as it has the pitchers that I strain broth into to refrigerate over night to get the fat to raise. I got 4 more lbs of meat for the freezer. Broth is is pitchers in the frig.
Dinner was leftovers

Dec 13th
I baked a pandoro cake ...it's a yeast cake for the dinner we are going to tomorrow. I also put together a bean party snack (not hummus) but will have to stop and get tortilla scoops for it ( I am using my spending money).

I did not do laundry as I was running the dishwasher 3 times today and too much water going into the septic line at the same time can cause issues.

Dinner was potato soup as I had 4 potatoes in the frig that I had brought home from Son 2's house that he had bought and had not ate...that was Aug. The potatoes was still good and made enough soup for our dinner.

Dec 14th
Hubby unloaded the dishwasher and put what wasn't dry on the drying mat before leaving for a last minute hauling job.

I started finishing the decorations. Keep taking breaks at the weather system has triggered my fibro and arthritis. I still have to decorate the cake and cook the cauliflower stuffing (actually it's a dressing as you do NOT put it in a bird) and get dressed for the holiday meal ..stop and get tortilla scoops (reminder to myself).

Half the laundry is washed and the drying rack is full. I will put the rest in later and set the delay start to start tonight so when we head home the washer should kick on so I can hang that laundry when I get home after the Christmas dinner tonight.

Enough of the clothes on rack was dry so I finished the laundry and got it hanging to dry.

Finished the cake and the dressing. Hubby got boxes to transport everything and we are both thankful he is no longer deep frying turkeys for this dinner.

We will check out Christmas lights on the way to the dinner and then take a different route home to see more lights.

Have bad weather coming in late tomorrow which means I will be in pain in the morning, need to remember to take something before bed to help head that off.

one year pantry part 3

I still have turkey broth to can as I just cooked 2 of the last 3 turkeys yesterday.Meat is in the freezers but the carcasses are still simmering. I also still have pickled onions to can and onion marmalade to can.

row one and two

first bucket is jasmine rice and the box is the rose fingerlings potatoes I grew
second bucket is basmatic rice and the box it the Russian fingerlings potatoes I grew.

Row 3 and 4 . The bucket you barely see has dark brown sugar, light brown sugar , and powdered sugar. There is a box of Swedish fingerling potatoes we grew.The bucket on the crate is dried homemade noodles. The next bucket is ramen noodles with the purple fingerling potatoes we grew. The 3 buckets with the popcorn tin on top is regular sugar. 

The bucket is par boiled rice, the crate is more pie pumpkins and jack be little pumpkins.

This is the dried veggies from the garden, dried fruit, condiments, fermented foods and canned fruit

One year pantry part 2

this is the gray frig I do not trust BUT unless we need milk I won't be going back to the store until Jan. SO it got loaded.

my Hoosier cabinet in the kitchen

small bookcase of baking and canning items in kitchen

dry goods cabinet in dining room

from top of basement stairs

red onions, yellow onions , shallots and garlic are hanging on the walls.Bottom buckets from left to right are bread flour, sugar and long grain rice.

from left to right bucket of white Lily corn meal, minute rice , gallons of cooking oil, white vinegar and yellow onions

Left to right bucket, dried hash browns, crate russet potatoes, bucket dried diced potatoes, crate yukon potatoes, bucket dried sliced potatoes, crate red potatoes, buckets are all purpose flour... one is only got 1 pound in it and a tray of sweet potatoes

These buckets hold White Lily all purpose flour, White Lily bread flour, White Lily self rising flour, 00 flour , semolina flour, old fashion oats, and instant oats. There is patty pan squash, pie pumpkins, butternut squash, acorn squash and spaghetti squash.

This cabinet is a dry goods of desserts and side dishes. The dessert overflow is in the wringer washer. It's what I know we will use in the next 3 months.

I put the lid on the washer and then a weight on it  so nothing can get in it.