PennyAnnPoundwiseliving well on less
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Name: Terri
Gender: Female


Interests: living well, mindful consumption, nature, family and home
Expertise: thrifty living
Occupation: writing


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Member Since: 8/10/2006
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Friday, November 20, 2009

ledger sheet
 
Frugal Friday:
 
Kay and I avoided the grocery store altogether over the weekend.  Instead we made a trip to Walmart to look for some needed craft items, and while there we picked up shampoo and pet foods.  We actually spent less than we would have at the grocery store.  I think not walking into the food section to even look at the groceries helped a great deal in saving my grocery money.
 
Monday I picked up another half gallon of pecans from the single tree that produced this year.  I cracked another gallon bucket so that I might shell them out.  In the stores right now pecans are priced at $3.99/pound for shelled nuts.  I like that I'm harvesting my own right here at home.
 
I also hung clothes to dry on Monday.  It was a beautiful sunny, warm day perfect for hanging clothes to dry.  I decided it was a great day to wash the bathroom and kitchen rugs as well, so made up a second load to get those fresh and clean.  Everything smelled so good when I came indoors with the dry laundry later that day.
 
I took advantage of the sun and mild weather to air out the house well, too.  Somehow that sun and cool clean air energized me and made me work a bit harder than I might have otherwise.
 
We had a place wash out pretty badly in our driveway.  I have a small flower bed lined with small rocks that Maddie is forever pushing out of place or scattering around the lawn nearby.  Afraid that Chance would hit one with the mower and break either the mower or a window on the house, I gathered up the rocks and took them down to the washed out area to fill in that spot.  I think having them packed into the driveway is a far better solution than having them around the flower bed, even though it did look pretty before Maddie shoved them around.
 
I've tried to make the best of my home hair cut bangs, which I got a wee bit short.  Instead of styling my hair as I normally do, I've been flipping the ends of the layers up and out.  What I've got for my troubles is a more modern looking choppy bob which suits the shorter bangs. 
 
Tuesday Mama and I went to Sam's Warehouse instead of my doing the regular grocery shopping.  It was hard work to keep my eyes on what was reasonable and bypass all those wonderful 'extras' that are showcased in both freezer and home sections.   And thank goodness I know my prices.  I could tell at a glance just how much savings I was going to make (if at all) by looking at those items I'd normally buy at the grocery.  My only splurge was a ball of Edam which I put aside in the fridge for Christmas.  The Edam was far more reasonable than a large wedge of Gouda weighing half the weight.  The flavors and textures are comparable.
 
Chance just didn't understand why, after going to Sam's on Tuesday, I still had grocery shopping to do on Wednesday.  I tried to explain to him that milk and other items weren't a better buy at Sam's and I wanted to get only those items that were a true savings to purchase.  He just shook his head, secretly convinced that I was over spending and not getting a bargain at all by visiting two different stores.  I wish I could make him understand that spending $1 or $2 more in gasoline to visit a second store is well worth the savings when you get a number of items on sale.  I saved nearly $20 yesterday by picking up milk and dairy items at the grocery which offered these items as loss leaders this week. 
 
I've made it a habit of late that when my trash can is full, I remove the filled bag.  Then I continue to periodically dump trash into the bag since it has plenty of room left in it.  This week  that meant I saved at least two trips to the dump to carry off trash.  I am careful to rinse meat packaging and not to put food in the trash so that it doesn't become smelly.
 
I continue to use our homemade detergent to wash items like sheets and towels and blankets and rugs.  We switched back to commercial detergent for our clothing but I am buying on sale only with coupon.  I pay less than $2 a bottle for our detergent and have made sure to mark the 'normal' load amount on the cap, which is far less than you'd think at first glance. I don't know why they make those markings the same color as the cap, unless they just want you to use too much and therefore buy more.
 
Kay did it again.  She went through my closet Sunday morning and put together two 'new' outfits from my old things.  One seemed just plain strange to this 50yr old, but she insisted I was dressing older than I look...I must say her other suggestion looked really sophisticated to me, and I was happy to take her advice on what to wear.  I think I'm going to encourage her to play in my closet this next week while she's out of school just to see what she comes up with.  And I'm going to use my camera to take pictures of the suggested outfits as I know I'll forget what she put with what if I don't. 
 
I cleaned out the fridge Monday morning.  So glad I did, too, because I found some cooked hamburger I'd forgotten all about.  Thankfully it wasn't too late to put it to good use.  I pulled the last of the frozen whole grain pizza dough from the freezer to thaw and made pizza for supper using that cooked meat.
 
 Doing just a little something more than you set out to do can be a big time saver later.  For instance: chopping onions.  I needed onion for a recipe. Typically I will chop enough onion to make the one recipe and then store the rest of the uncut onion in a glass jar.  This week I started chopping the whole onion at once and stored the chopped onion.  So much easier to make a second and third recipe later in the week and I didn't need to mess up the cutting board or a knife a second and third time. 
 
Sometimes it's time to get off your pocketbook and say, "Let's have fun."  Keeping it in proportion to what you can afford is key.  We had several errands to run last night and had decided to eat at a fast food restaurant, not our usual BK.  We had the whole place to ourselves and had a great family conversation with out meal.  True, we weren't ordering off the dollar/value menu.  True, it wasn't 'planned'.  True, as well, that we stayed within a normal range, not letting ourselves go wild.  But it's equally true that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and because this was so out of character for us, it was fun as well. It's doing a little something extra every now and then for no reason at all that reminds us why we're so intent on savings. 
 
Food waste this week: 1/2 ear of corn, found lurking at the back of a shelf filled with other things.  1/4 of a bunch of celery which didn't get used up before aging.  Normally I'd save that in the freezer to use in making broth but I just didn't think before I tossed it this time.  1 serving coleslaw, 4 slices pork loin roast leftovers from Chance's work week lunches. 


Thursday, November 19, 2009

Thankful Thursday

granny

This week I am grateful for:

The opportunity to celebrate Granny's 93rd birthday with her.

Kay's enthusiasm for quilt making.

Love and support of my husband.

The aroma of freshly made bread.

Hard work and seeing the results.

Maddie who loves me passionately and makes me laugh.

A fashion forward daughter taking charge of my wardrobe Sunday morning.  She said I needed to dress as young as I look (!).

Loving friends.

Knowledge that smooths the way to quick results when needed.

The opportunity to give to others just what they needed.

Prayer time.

God's grace and mercy.

Heat and AC when needed (and we've needed both in measure this week).

Sunshine to dry the clothes and make them smell wonderful.

Sunlight pouring into the windows on chilly mornings.

Lost things that are found once more.


Tried and True Thursday

vintagecook

Southern Style Cornbread Dressing

Earlier this week a girl from church contacted me.  "How do I make dressing for Thanksgiving?"  I was happy to share my recipe, such as it is. 

First, let me explain that the term 'dressing' is confusing to many.  Even my Kay who grew up in the South, often referred to this dish as "bread salad" throughout her early childhood, because dressing was something we put on our salads not next to our turkey!  Chance calls it "Stuffing" based on his own South Florida (semi-Yankee) upbringing, although I was married to him three years before he could convince me to actually stuff the turkey. 

I admit I harbored great fears of stuffing a turkey.  I'd read all sorts of awful things happening, from exploding birds that were overstuffed, to undercooked birds and salmonella ridden stuffing.  I will share that once I figured out the whole stuffing business I was sold.  I'd make both a pan of  traditional dressing and stuff the turkey.  In my mind, there just wasn't too much of a good thing,lol.

I also will share that I've had some pretty sorry recipes of cornbread dressing in my lifetime.  I may offend some who read this (although I'm willing to bet that those who already have a recipe for dressing/stuffing will skim the title for this post and move on to the next) but it's my personal opinion that dressing is best when made from cornbread.  I've had a white bread stuffing (apparently not made from dry bread but from fresh) that just plain sickened me.  It was bland, mushy soft and cold.  UGH!  I've had cornbread dressing with the addition of cranberries (will turn your dressing green), bell peppers (not for me!), dark with powdered sage (equally hard to swallow), with toasted pecans, pureed chestnuts (another weird colored dish) and sausage.  I admit it.  I am a traditionalist for the most part.  I use the same recipe my Mama taught me, which is the same dish Granny taught her to make and the same dish Big Mama taught Granny to make and was handed to Big Mama by her Mama, etc.  I swerve from tradition only in the fact that I make both stuffed turkey and dressing.

There's preparation required to make this dish.  We started days before when I was growing up, because of the amount of breads needed to feed our large family gathering.  Nowadays I find it's easy enough to save up the odd piece of cornbread or muffin (storing in the freezer) and when I have about a gallon sized bag, I know I have enough for our smaller family gathering. 

As I shared with Miss Chris (my church friend), what you put in dressing can make all the difference in the world in the flavor.  Miss C isn't fond of celery , so we made a substitute for the soup in my recipe.  And then I suggested she try using celery leaves  which has a milder flavor and yet imparts the right touch to the dish,  rather than celery stalk, which can be much stronger in flavor and unpleasant in texture.

For stuffing, I make it up with less broth so that it is only slightly moist. I often use this version when I'm making crockpot turkey and dressing as well, because the liquids from the baking turkey will moisten it enough to make a good dressing.   For dressing, add more wet ingredients so that you end up with an almost brownie batter thickness, which results in a dense and  moist side dish for your Turkey dinner.  

Do not limit this dish to just turkey however.  Mama and Granny often baked whole hens and served dressing alongside (there's a rumor that some members of my family dislike turkey, but I discovered it was a case of overcooking and drying the big birds).  I've also had dressing as a side dish with a fresh pork roast.  I make this a  few times a year and will freeze unbaked  in meal sized servings so I need only to remove from the freezer and bake alongside the chicken or pork roast.

My recipe calls for both cornbread and biscuit bread.  I prefer cast iron baked breads.  I used to have a large 12 inch skillet in which I made my cornbread, and still have the smaller 7 inch skillet in which I made the biscuit bread.  I will share both recipes in the stuffing recipe, though as I said, you may well save leftovers and use them in place of freshly baked breads.  And if you do bake these breads, fresh, do so at least two days before you plan to make and serve the dressing, because the drier breads are really what you want to use, though freshly made never turned out too badly.

 

Southern Style Cornbread Dressing

Cornbread:

Heat oven to 425F.  Pour 1/4 cup oil into skillet and heat in oven.

Mix:

2 cups cornmeal mix (1 1/2 cups fine ground cornmeal and 1/2 cup flour)

1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder (if you are not using self-rising mix)

1 egg

1 1/4 cups milk

Mix well.  Remove hot pan from oven, pour the hot oil into the cornmeal mixture and stir rapidly to blend.  Then pour batter into hot pan  and place in oven to bake for 25-30minutes until golden brown and skewer inserted comes out clean.

Biscuit Bread:

2 cups flour

1 cup milk

1/4 cup cooking oil

Mix all ingredients until like pancake batter, just slightly lumpy.  Pour into well greased pan and bake at 425F for 202-25 minutes until golden brown and skewer inserted in center comes out clean.

Dressing:

1 pan cornbread, crumbled into fine crumbs

1/2 pan biscuit bread, broken into crumbs

1 can condensed cream of celery/chicken/or mushroom soup

1 large onion, chopped fine

1/2 cup finely chopped celery leaves and tops

2 eggs

salt and pepper to taste

5 sage leaves minced fine, or 1/2 tsp dried rubbed sage

4 cups chicken broth, added gradually*

Mix all ingredients adding just enough broth until batter is thick and moist like brownie batter.  Pour into greased 13 x 9 pan and bake in a 350F oven for 45-60 minutes, until golden brown and firm to touch. 

* When I make stuffing, I usually leave out the soup and cut the broth to two cups or less.  I prefer a dryer mixture to use as stuffing (or crockpot dressing if I'm putting turkey or chicken on top to cook as well).  I sometimes stuff my bird (be sure to leave room to expand, so pack bird lightly) and then put the remaining mixture in the pan around the bird (where it will absorb the juices of the cooking bird making the whole pan super moist and rich). 


Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Kay's First Quilt

1116091755a[1]

Kay began quilting Sunday night and finished this one by Monday evening.  The reverse side is a pre-quilted fabric with little ducks in the colors of the blocks.  Kay will tie the quilt to the backing.  I'm so proud of my girl for this first quilt.  And she's already started another one!

1116091756a[1]


Monday, November 16, 2009

Menu Monday

full fridge

I've been busy as can be so far today.  I spent a little while working in the yard but that silly Maddie is convinced yard work should be an aerobic workout.  And it was!  I had a big pile of weeds and branches I'd snipped to toss in the brush pile but that silly girl has strewn them all over the patio.  I picked up some rocks to put in a washed out area in the driveway, and Maddie had to pick up each one after it went into the hole.  Then I tried to clear the dead plants off the front porch (part of my welcoming entry campaign) but she seriously hampered me there.  And somewhere in our vast yard is my welcome mat, sigh...

Busy indoors today, too. First I cleaned out the fridge.  I found some cooked hamburger I needed to use today as well as a bit of leftovers I had for my lunch.  I've baked brownies, planned meals, worked on bills, swept and vacuumed, dusted, washed rugs, written a note to my daughter.  I still have a few jobs to do, but I'm going to take it a little easy.  I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow and there's no need in running myself down today. 

Well let's see what we can cook this week:

Monday:  Homemade Hamburger Pizza, Green Salad, Brownies

Remember that hamburger I found in the fridge.  I'd cooked it midweek last week to use in a recipe and then didn't get around to making it.  I'd added in onions and garlic, so it's seasoned, too.  While I was digging around in the fridge, I not only found leftovers enough to have for lunch, I also decided now is the time to use those three beautiful green bell peppers I bought last Big Shop.  I'll blanch two of them for a meal later this week.  I chopped the third one and put half in the fridge for tonight's pizza (and I chopped an onion and shredded cheese while the kitchen was already messy) and put the rest in the freezer for future use. 

Tuesday:  Roasted Deli Chicken, Spinach and Red Apple Salad, Crusty Bread, Ice Cream

Kay has a late night at school, Chance is working.  Both will want something to eat when they come in and I will certainly want to eat long before either of them are home.  And since I'll be out doing my shopping, it's a great time to pick up a deli roasted chicken which will be great both warm and cold. 

Wednesday:  Stuffed Bell Peppers, Rice, Green Peas with Mushrooms, Apple Brown Betty

I'm thawing hamburger now to fill those peppers and will cook the peas and the Apple Brown Betty alongside the peppers in the oven.  I think I'll make extra rice.  Chance likes it for breakfast as a hot cereal, or perhaps I'll make rice pudding for our church dinner.

Thursday:  Fried Pork Chops, Mashed Rutabagas, Baby Butter Beans, Cornbread, Orange Creme Cups

I don't know about other parts of the country, but here it is possible to buy a very thinly sliced pork chop called a 'chip chop' which fries quickly.  Another good meat for this menu is a smoked pork chop or ham slice.  Baby Butter beans and lima beans are two different creatures altogether.  A baby butter bean should taste green not starchy.  If you can't find them in your area, substitute green beans. 

To make the orange creme cups: Slice top off 1 small orange per serving.  Scoop out pulp, leaving shell intact if possible.  Segment the oranges over a bowl, saving the juices.  Stir in one pint softened vanilla ice cream for every four oranges used.  Mix with the fruit pulp and juice, spoon back into shell and freeze.  If you cannot save the orange shells, pile mixture into individual ramekins and freeze.  This is a good use for fruit that the family has not eaten.

Friday:  Meatball Tortellini Soup, Green Salad, Crusty Garlic Bread, Brownies A la Mode

 I won't use all the ground beef I've thawed for our stuffed peppers, so I'll form meatballs from the rest of the meat and bake on Monday.  Then on Friday I'll make my soup.  I found from my first experience with this soup that it's best to add only as much tortellini as we can eat at one time.  There will be leftover soup, but when I reheat it for lunch then is the time to add more tortellini.  The tortellini simply does not hold up well for freezing or reheating. 

Saturday:  Waffles, Crisp Bacon, Scalloped Apples, Warm Maple Syrup

I had a waffle iron years ago and we thoroughly enjoyed making waffles.  The kids would use that little waffle iron to make grilled cheese sandwiches as well and eventually it just wore itself right out.  Well for months now I've been thinking I'd like to have a waffle iron once more.  They have one on sale at a decent price this week at one of the stores and I plan to run by and get one.  And my BFS this week will be the star of the week.  Since we'll be having a big meal after service this week, this supper will be perfect for us.

Sunday:  Roast Beef, Cauliflower Au Gratin, Wilted Spinach Salad, Mayonnaise Muffins, Baked Apples

A Sunday dinner just seems to call for something a bit special doesn't it?  I love to make this meal an event of sorts, but I also want to keep things easy on myself as well.  So how do I do that and have the big meal I want?  First, I'll prep ahead.  Wash the spinach, crisp the bacon and save the bacon grease in a jar (I'll do this Saturday night when I'm making our BFS meal).  Mix up the muffin mixture, pour into tins, then cover and put in fridge.  I can let them rise at room temperature later while the roast is cooking.  Apples will be cored and filled in and put into bake with the roast.  I'll steam the whole head of cauliflower Saturday night, then break into florets and sprinkle with cheese to bake when the muffins go into the oven.  I'll have a  fancy Sunday dinner with half the effort on my part. 

 



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