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PennyAnnPoundwise
read my profile sign my guestbook Name: Terri Gender: Female Interests: living well, mindful consumption, nature, family and home Expertise: thrifty living Occupation: writing Message: message me Website: visit my website Member Since: 8/10/2006 Premium

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Monday, November 30, 2009

Menu Monday

Isn't it hard to believe that tomorrow December is here? I know this year has absolutely flown past for me! I'm not nearly through with my Christmas shopping yet, but I hope to be done in the next week. Fingers crossed on that one. It's not money holding me back just now, it's time. It's always one or the other isn't it?

So of course, with all that to do, what do you suppose I've been doing for the past two hours? Sorting out my vast collection of books of course. I know, it does seem silly to tackle it when so much else could be done with my time, but my bookcases have looked perfectly awful for weeks on end now, with books and objects and dust and stuff just placed any old which a way. I decided that I'd do one shelf at a time. Ha! I forgot the me that once wanted to be a librarian who decided to 'organize' the books, so now I've got books all over the floor, across the rooms, and I'm almost overwhelmed by it all. So I decided I needed to take a break. It looks only three times as bad as it did before I started, and it surely isn't going to go anywhere in the meantime!

I've got supper started in the crock pot for today, and I've promised a certain deli item for tomorrow's meal...That leaves me with just five meals more to figure out for the week ahead. I've no clue what the schedule for this week is beyond today and tomorrow, because at that point I am at the whim and fancy of a certain man who is off work and a teen daughter who sometimes participates in after school activities and sometimes doesn't. Tomorrow, of course, is Big Shop. I really do miss that weekly shopping (so many more bargains to take advantage of when you shop weekly) but truthfully, I don't have time for it just now, so I'm back to doing Big Shops until after the New Year.

Sigh. I need to stop looking at that massive mess of books and do something else instead. I think I'll heat a bowl of soup and contemplate meal possibilities. It's amazing how much more restored you feel after eating when you're hungry isn't it? While the soup heats, I'll share the first two menus for the week.

Monday: Roast Beef, Onion stuffed Baked Potatoes, Tossed Salad, Rolls, Baked Apples

The roast is cooking in the crock pot as I write. The potatoes are easy as can be and a nice change from the usual baked potato. Slice potatoes almost through into slices. You want them to sort of fan open. Slice an onion very thinly and slip onion rings between potato slices. Place on a sheet of foil, smear with softened butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper and then wrap tightly. Bake in 350F oven until tender.

Tuesday: Deli Fried Chicken, Sliced Tomatoes, Deli Macaroni Salad, Crusty French Bread, Tangelos

Just as requested, I will pick up this meal. If potato salad is on sale (and I think it is) we may have that instead of the macaroni salad. I'll pick up all the components of this meal in the deli/produce sections.

Wednesday: Cheddar Broccoli Soup, Toasted French Bread, Fresh Pears with Gouda and Walnuts

The soup I made last weekend was stored in the freezer and will make a wonderful meal for this night since the forecast calls for rain. I can thaw and reheat the soup in the microwave. Leftovers from our loaf of French bread will be toasted while the soup heats. If you like Blue Cheese it really is nice with the pears. However, we have gouda on hand and so we will use what we have.

Thursday: Chicken Curry in a Hurry, Yellow Rice, Tomato and Cucumber Salad, Pita Pockets, Caramelized Cinnamon Apple Sundaes

The recipe for the chicken may be found in the archives, June 11, 2009. I haven't tried it since that first time because it was a warm and spicy dish more suited, I thought, to autumn/winter menus. I'm looking forward to serving it up. Instead of the chicken thighs I used last time, I'll use boneless skinless breasts which should please all in my family. They simply do not care over much for dark meat.

Friday: Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches, French Fries, Cucumber and Red Bell Pepper Sticks with Ranch dressing, Crisp Apples

Pairing leftover thinly sliced roast with caramelized onions, melted cheddar and toasted onion rolls makes a wonderful sandwich. I'll bake the French Fries while the sandwiches heat through. If peppers and cucumbers are not reasonably priced in your area, consider using carrot and celery sticks instead.

Saturday: Chicken Apple Sausages, Potato Pierogis with onions, Brussels Sprouts, Rye Bread, Apple Strudel

I bought these sausages at Sam's and I haven't tried them yet. I thought maybe, since Kay doesn't much like brats, she might be willing to try a chicken sausage. We'll see. I know if all else fails she'll eat pierogi and strudel, so she definitely won't starve, lol.

Sunday: Pork Loin Roast with Pan Roasted Root Vegetables, Spinach and Apple Salad, Pecan Pie

Basically I'm pot roasting the pork roast. I'll prepare the food the night before, and set the crock in the fridge. I can let it cook in the crock pot Sunday morning. All I'll really need to do is make the salad and dinner will be all ready in no time, with very little trouble on my part. There's also fewer dishes to tend to, which means that Sunday is likely to be a leisurely day for me...I'm looking forward to it!

2:50 PM - 18 views - 2 eprops - 2 comments - email it

Friday, November 27, 2009

Christmas Decorations Thus Far

This is the swag I made for my back door. I put it together with beaded fruit picks, and two tall floral picks I borrowed from Mama. The ribbon was bought on sale at an end of Christmas clearance sale, last year.

The scripture above the swag was printed on scrapbook paper and inserted into a flat magnetic plastic frame.

This is a shot of my dining table with the placemats I bought last year. The white flower pot is plastic, but looks like milk glass and I found it at the trash dumpster a couple of years ago. The other items on the table are related to our Shabbat prayer service that we have each Friday evening; They would normally not be on the table. I used red tapers in my crystal candleholders and there are a pair of white salt and pepper shakers on the table. They too are plastic, but look like milk glass. I bought them last spring at the local flea market.

I did get a little more done, but I wasn't able to finish the work, so I'll save those pictures for later.

5:23 PM - 26 views - 2 eprops - 1 comment - email it

Thank you, Becky!

Kay came back from the mail box and said "Mom you've got the strangest package..." When I turned around to see what she meant, this is what I saw:

Now that is interesting!

It's a 2liter bottle and it was filled with all sorts of goodies and a sweet card.

There's a scented hot pad, a beautiful little book, coffees, chocolate and a holiday recipe book from Becky's local paper (awesome recipes by the way!).

Thank you so much, Becky! It was a lovely surprise.

4:55 PM - 12 views - 2 eprops - 1 comment - email it

Frugal Friday

Frugal Friday:

Last Friday, I planned out our weekend meals and hung the menu on the fridge. When the family wanted to know what we were having for dinner, I pointed to the menu. Since the food was cooked and in the fridge waiting to be reheated, they knew just what NOT to snack on when they wanted a between meal bite, too.

I wasn't just sure what to take to our church dinner. I decided to make gingerbread. It was easy, quick to make. Each time someone asked what I'd brought they'd say "Oh I just love gingerbread!" I think it must be one of those old fashioned desserts that we seldom see and of which most people have fond memories.

We had some oranges that were getting old, and our friends gave us a big bag of Tangelos, so I knew the family would bypass the oranges altogether with the fresher fruit at hand. I decided to pare and section the oranges. I used half to make Orange Cream (softened vanilla ice cream mixed with orange pulp and juice and refrozen) and froze the other half of the orange segments for ambrosia later.

I had a 2 person portion of an entree leftover from our meals earlier in the week and I was reluctant to store it in the freezer because, well, it was only enough to serve 2 and typically I feed 3. It was too much for me to eat for lunch all by myself and not an item that Kay would even consider eating. When Alan was telling me of his menu plans for the coming week and how hard he needed to stretch his pantry items to manage meals for his roommate and himself, (he's on the last week of his monthly pay check), I thought of that 2 person serving in the fridge. I handed it over to him, pleased that I could help him manage a little better, glad that it wouldn't go to waste here. He was pleased to have one more meal to carry him to payday.

Mama and I ate out last Monday when we went to Sam's club and she ordered a meal that came with a big serving of celery sticks. She didn't want to eat all of them and was going to toss them. I suggested that she carry the celery home to use in holiday meal making. When she replied that she had plenty at home, I said I'd take it home. That celery was just enough to go into my big pot of vegetable soup.

I've got a turkey breast carcass and a chicken carcass in the freezer waiting to be made into broth. All week long I've been saving the top and root ends of onions in a bag in the freezer to use when I'm cooking those two carcasses.

Mama wanted me to mix up a special recipe for pumpkin pie at her family dinner on Thanksgiving Day. I was pretty sure that Mama didn't read all the way through the recipe, because it called for a streusel topping. Rather than heavily top the pie (which I was pretty sure she wouldn't like), I used it only around the edge of the pie. That left me with more than half the streusel I'd made up. I had thawed sweet potatoes to make a casserole dish for my smaller family dinner. I stirred the streusel into the mashed sweet potatoes. Boy did that make a good casserole!

I made the best of our Thanksgiving turkey breast. First I cooked it in the crockpot then heated in the oven for 30 minutes to brown and crisp the skin. I put our dressing and sweet potato casserole in alongside to conserve the oven heat. We had our family pre-Thanksgiving meal from it and sandwiches later that night. We had more sandwiches the next day, and the day after I made turkey salad for a meal (served on lettuce with crackers). Then I made Tetrazzini ( I got two casseroles from the recipe, one for our dinner and one for a freezer meal) from the last of the meat. And we still have the carcass to make soup or broth. I'd say we got good mileage from that breast!

Kay bought a wonderful little jar candle at the local dollar store, Maple Sugar scent. We liked it very well, and so she returned to buy more. There was only one of the candles left on the shelf. Kay was so disappointed. She used her brains however, and I really commend her. She melted the leftover wax from her previous candle and poured it into a jar. She used candle wick we had on hand from past craft projects and made herself a brand 'new' jar candle to burn.

Decorating for Christmas is fun isn't it? And yes, I have begun to decorate already. In fact, this morning I've been busy using what I already have to make my 2009 season one of the best ever. My front door wreath is an old one from years past, but I've renewed it with a little greenery and fresh ribbons (bought on clearance throughout the year). My tablescape is pretty with the placemats I bought last year and a white pot (found at the dump!) filled with fresh ivy bought on clearance at the beginning of summer and nursed back to health, crystal candleholders with tall red tapers, and little milk glass salt and pepper shakers. I've only got to figure out where I put my dull gold napkin rings to finish that tablescape off nicely. Two large floral picks I borrowed from Mama, plus three small beaded fruit picks I bought four years ago and more of that bargain priced ribbon has made a pretty swag for the back door. I'm taking a breather right now, but have ideas for several other items I have on hand to make my home pretty for the coming season, and keep my checkbook balance in the black, making my own form of 'Black Friday' right here at home.

Do you ever have those times when you know something just isn't working well for you and then suddenly you have this brilliant solution that requires small effort and no money? I had such an "Oh why haven't I thought of that before!" moment this morning. I've got an old red wire egg basket that Granny gave me when she moved back home this summer. I'd been keeping garlic bulbs and onions and potatoes in it in my kitchen, but oh the mess the onion and garlic skins made! My gracious, I had to clean that area every single day. This morning I was cleaning that area yet again, thinking about how I really needed a container with a bottom in it. Suddenly I realized that I've got a touch of black in every area of my kitchen except that one. It was all white on that side excluding the red egg basket. I remembered that in the living room I had a black coal scuttle beside my chair filled with magazines which fit poorly into the odd shape. Ah Ha! There was my touch of black for the too white area of the kitchen, my container with a bottom and my solution to all my cleaning frets rolled into one. Now the two containers have swapped homes. My magazines fit very nicely into the round egg basket. My onions and garlic are happily shedding their skins into the coal scuttle and not all over my kitchen counter. And my kitchen has a bit more balanced look than it did before.

I had to run into town this morning and pick up a few items for the weekend ahead. We were completely out of milk and the dogfood container had just enough food for this morning alone. I don't usually purchase dog food in town, but found a good brand at the same price I pay at the big city grocery where I like to shop. This bag of food is a bonus of sorts as well. The bag was made of woven plastic, which means it will make great storage for items that I might want to keep dry in the trunk of my car which leaks when we have heavy rains. All I needed to do was to wash it out and let it air on the clothesline. I think I'll go back for more of that food because those bags will come in handy for other things: pecans I've picked up and have yet to shell, storing things in my shed, wrapping a water pipe for winter...I'm sure I'll get lots of uses from those bags, which are very strong.

I seem to have a shortage of bowls at the moment. When I needed a bowl to steam broccoli in and I had no lid, I used two bowls. One to hold the broccoli and one turned over the top to hold in the steam and cook the broccoli.

I had too much broccoli for one meal, so I made a quick cream of broccoli soup for another meal with the cooked leftovers. Perfect for a cool and windy autumn day luncheon.

Food waste this week: 2 cups cut lettuce.

2:27 PM - 55 views - 2 eprops - 1 comment - email it

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for:

Sunshine.

An abundant pantry and freezer.

Line dried towels.

A clean, warm and comfortable home.

Coffee and sweet rolls for a holiday morning breakfast.

Laughing with my children.

A holiday phone call from my long distance son.

Granny deciding to join the family gathering.

G_d's everlasting grace and mercy.

6:29 PM - 6 views - add eprops - add comments - email it

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