Winding up 2013

  This being the very last day of 2013 it seems fitting to spend some time reflecting on the past year. I have had so very many blessings. Three new grandchildren top the list of all that was good with the year. My youngest daughter graduated from high school, was accepted into a local college with a terrific financial aide award, and also came to work with me! The news that 2014 would bless my oldest son and daughter-in-law with their first child. I was also blessed in that I found an additional job right at the school I already work at so that I am able to get myself in a state of financial readiness for the coming year.
We continue to have a roof over our heads and food on the table and reliable transportation. Family and friends to support and love and laugh with us. And of course a continuing relationship with my GF.
2013 wasn't all good. We had to say goodbye suddenly and unexpectedly to a dear family member. There was bad news concerning the health of yet another family member and a few very scary days when youngest grandson was born 9 weeks ahead of schedule.  We had a tree come down in the storm that the repercussions of could mess with my delicate financial state yet. We had water flood the cellar not once but twice.  One of my daughter's is fighting a difficult battle with addiction.

But even most of the bad had its silver lining. My BIL with cancer continues his fight and so far things look ok there. My grandson was a real trouper and came home way sooner than any of us expected and is thriving. We are hopeful the owners of the house next door will allow us to fix the problems with the fence ourselves for a minimal cost. And yesterday we had the city out again and this time they had no troubles snaking out the drain from the street and all the water is finally gone and the hot water tank is lighting so there is hope that once it is dry it will stay lit and if not a new thermocouple is under 20 dollars and GF can show adult son how to replace one.  And my daughter is working the program, staying clean and sober, and really making positive changes in her life that will be a benefit to her. I am so proud that she has been able to pick herself up and get the help she needed and be so honest about it with everyone.

My prayer on this last day of 2013 is that God will enter our homes and our lives and help to take away the worries and the illnesses that have darkened our lives this year. May we all have the strength to deal with whatever bad comes our way in 2014 and also the joy to celebrate all that will be good.
Happy New Year my friends.

Comfy Sunday Supper

  I decided yesterday morning to go off the menu plans and make a dinner we hadn't had in a really long time: Shepherd's Pie...well technically Cottage Pie since I wasn't making this with lamb.

I took a package of ground round and browned it in a skillet, adding chopping onion, parsley, and Worcestershire sauce to it. Once totally browned I added a couple heaping spoonfulls of flour, mixing it well. Then I poured in two cups of milk to make a pan gravy. A well drained can of corn went into the skillet and I poured the entire mixture into a casserole dish:

 

Meanwhile I peeled and cooked four medium sized russet potatoes in some boiling salted water, I used my  ricer to press the cooked potatoes back into the pan, added some smart balance and milk and beat it all together with a large spoon to make mashed potatoes. I added the potatoes on top of the meat mixture, dotted with additional smart balance and sprinkled the top with parsley before putting it into a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

 

Hot and filling , it was the perfect one dish comfort meal for a wintery Sunday supper.

Off the December Menus meals

 The day after Christmas the GF started to feel pretty bad, headache, body aches, sore throat, cough it all added up to what sounded like a nasty cold/flu bug to me. Of course being the slightly stubborn cuss that he is ::wink wink:: he has refused to call in to work. BUT he did call of bowling (his major passion) so that clued me in to how badly he was feeling. Dinner (sadly beans and weenies) and then right to bed that night.
Friday we'd been invited to middle daughter's home for dinner but GF went straight to bed after work again. I and youngest son who have been staying at GF's house headed out to daughter's and had a very nice time. A soup (pasta fagioli) and salad (Caesar) meal and a good visit.
Yesterday was my morning to clean at GF's company and afterwards despite feeling under the weather he insisted we needed to get to BJ's to pick up some supplies for his work plus a few food items for his house. I decided what he really needed yesterday was some good hot homemade chicken soup. I picked up a big fat roaster since the fryers that had looked a bit skimpy.
Once back to his place I put the roaster, celery tops I'd saved in his freezer, a few baby carrots, some chopped onion and a whole lot of garlic into a pot, topped with water, and let it simmer for the next three hours. Once I removed the chicken and skimmed out the veggies I brought the broth to a boil added some carrots and egg noodles from Aldi that were in his cupboard and let it go for ten minutes. In the meantime I cut up all of the dark meat and part of the white meat and returned it to the broth. The remainder of the white meat (about one and half breasts worth) I put in a ziplock baggie to create another meal with.
Once GF awoke from his long nap (four hours) I served him up a huge bowl of this healing soup.  While at BJ's we also picked up a large package of ground round. I divided it in half, freezing half of it for another time, and put the remainder in the refrigerator. My plan is to make a shepherd's pie (technically cottage pie with ground beef) for today's dinner. Not on my menu plans but something we have not had in a really long time and which sounds mighty good.!

January Dinner Menus

I have to confess that I spent today for the most part in the recliner in GF's living room. With the hot water tank not working at home (we are giving the thermocouple a couple of days to dry out and see if the tank will stay lit) youngest son and I are temporarily staying with the GF. College age daughter preferred to stay home and shower at her GF's house (as per her invitation to do so offered by his mom) and of course adult son stayed home with her as well (he told me quick cold showers don't bother him a bit..nice to know) to take care of the pets and guard both the house and his sister. While GF went off to work I did a couple of loads of laundry here and picked up around the house to earn my keep. LOL. Other than that I indulged in my favorite activity of reading. I finished up an excellent murder mystery, caught up with my favorite blog (CT on a Budget),and did a bit of blogging myself. I also put together our dinner menus for the month of January. Anticipating having two very small paychecks due to the two week holiday break plus college age daughter's tuition bill coming due for second semester I am trying to use up what we have on hand and do very little shopping. As a matter of fact I am setting myself a goal of no more than $175 for the entire month including health&beauty/cleaning/paper products. I did a mental inventory of the freezers at home and then sat down and came up with the menus. At the end of the month youngest son will have his 18th birthday and we will take him out to dinner and then celebrate jointly with his soon to be 10 year old cousin whose birthday is the day before son's is. I will get together with my niece to plan the party menu for that.
This month I decided to make every Tuesday soup night utilizing my crockpot. Sundays are for large cuts of meat. I have planned a meatless meal one night each week and on work nights I am alternating between quick cooking and crockpot meals. Two Fridays GF has volunteered to take on dinner duty. I am going with tried and true recipes this month and not taking on anything new.
New Years' Day dinner is the only one designated for a specific day. Recipes using planned overs are indicated with an *, meatless meals are in bold, meals using items already on hand are underlined.

New Years Day: Baked country style spareribs with sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, carrots
Honey glazed chicken, steamed rice, Brussels sprouts
Mom's Chicken paprikash, Mom's kniffles, beets
Spaghetti & Meatballs, salad, garlic toast
Herb crusted eye of round, mashed potatoes, corn
Beef and Noodle soup*, fly off the plate rolls
Skillet Lasagna, salad
Mediterranean Lentil soup, crescent rolls
Balsamic glazed chicken breasts, basmati rice, peas
Crockpot New England style dinner using cottage ham
Chicken parmesan, penne with sauce, salad
Stuffed pork tenderloin, au gratin potatoes, beets
Ham & Swiss Panini*, garlic roast potatoes
Coffee rubbed eye of round steaks, parsley potatoes, herbed broccoli
Crockpot macaroni and cheese, salad
Pineapple Rum pork chops, rice mix, green beans
Tuna and sun dried tomato penne, salad
Baked Ham, scalloped potatoes, candied carrots
BBQ baked chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw
Ham and bean soup*, corn muffins
Creamed chipped beef on toast, salad
Pork adobo, rice, green beans
Welsh rarebit over English muffins, peas
Broccoli-Cheese soup, Hawaiian rolls
Horseradish encrusted tilapia, hash browns, coleslaw
Crockpot Ham and cheese bowtie bake*, peas

Christmas Eats

As has been our tradition for the last five years GF and I hosted my children and their significant others to Christmas Eve dinner. Middle daughter K and her husband and sons were unable to join us but 5 of my children plus my DIL were there. I did our traditional meal of Pork Tenderloin Balsamico, white and wild rice pilaf, salad, candied carrots, crescent rolls, and this year for dessert offered up a Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. That pork tenderloin is one of GF's favorites and it couldn't be easier.
You take lemon zest from one large lemon, 1 tsp. of chopped fresh garlic, salt and pepper and a tsp. of rosemary and combine them. Rub them on three pork tenderloins. Heat 2 tbl. oil in a large ovenproof skillet and then brown the tenderloins on all sides. Place skillet in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes until pork reaches 145 degrees. Remove pork from skillet, add 2 cups of beef broth, 1 cup of balsamic vinegar and 2 tbl. butter to the hot pan, bring to a boil and cook until liquid is reduced by half. Serve sauce over the pork. Yum.
After dinner we played a new board game: SmartAss which resulted in much laughter and fun by all. Then we exchanged gifts ( I received two books, a complete illustrated Sherlock Holmes anthology and the history of Betty Crocker from oldest daughter who shares my love of reading, a Keurig Cup drawer storage center to go under my coffee maker & new potholders and kitchen towels from oldest son & DIL; a mini fridge from adult son who lives at home, new red Toms shoes from youngest son & college age daughter, and new slippers, hand soaps, kitchen towels, a new infinity scarf, and new gloves from college age daughter. Quite a haul and all of loved and appreciated)  we had dessert and then played the second new board game I bought Logo.

Christmas Morning was at GF's house for myself and two youngest kids. Adult son chose to stay home and make sure the pets were well cared for. After exchanging gifts I made  us all a breakfast of from scratch pancakes and sausage links. Clementines from our stockings were on offer as well. Our Christmas dinner tradition since they bought their own home is for my oldest son and DIL to have both families to their home. This works out nicely for GF and I since he is my DIL's uncle as well as my GF. Twenty of us gathered together and everyone brought something. I made a herb crusted eye of round this year and tried a new cooking method. I heated the oven to 500 degrees. After seasoning the roast I lowered the oven temp to 475, put the roast in the oven and cooked it for 7 minutes per pound (56 minutes in this case) then turned the oven off completely for 2 1/2 hours. After wrapping the roaster tightly in foil and transporting this to son's house it was perfectly done when it was time to carve it! I also made green bean casserole and a cherry pie as well as putting together an assortment of cookies. Son made two turkeys with heavenly sausage-apple stuffing and the mashed potatoes. DIL's mom brought corn, pickles and olives, two pumpkin pies and an apple pie. DIL's Aunt brought cranberry sauce and the rolls,  DIL's other uncle and my oldest daughter brought all the beverages and DIL's second aunt and uncle brought even more cookies! It was quite a feast. And another wonderful day/evening spent talking and laughing and just generally having a wonderful holiday together. It is quite a blessing that our two families have truly become one. And next year there will be a new little face joining us as oldest son and his wife expand their family this June!
Tomorrow night will be another family dinner at middle daughter's home, but in the meantime  just to bring us down to reality tonight's dinner was the ever popular hot dogs and baked beans!

2013 Financial Report

  I sat down with my Microsoft Money program and ran the yearly financial reports for Dec.2012-Dec.2013.  A few things struck me immediately. As expected our two largest expenditures are for mortgage and auto loan. Two things I can do nothing about at this point. As mentioned I am upside down in the mortgage so refinancing is not possible and I still need that car to get to and from work. My plan is to finish paying it off ( 2 1/2 years to go), then drive it until it is too expensive to keep then trade it in and get something more economical.
 Gasoline came in 5th but there just isn't much I can do about that. I already keep an eye on the stations with the lowest prices, use fuel perks discounts from the regular grocery store when they add up enough to make a difference, limit my driving on weekends and take the shortest route to and from work. As for auto maintenance/repair I did have to spend $800 on new tires for my SUV, an expense I won't have again for another 3 years judging by how long the first set of tires lasted me. GF does all my regular maintenance and any small repairs that may be needed so the cost there is just parts.
Real estate taxes was my third biggest expense. Also something I am at the mercy of others to control. The one benefit of the recent real estate fiasco is that my property taxes have gone down significantly for the year.
 Our grocery expenses came in fourth. We spent $4231.71 for the entire year, an average of $352 and some cents per month. A mere $2 over budget per month. I am happy with that. I will continue to shop alternate sources for food, plan menus (including weekly menus that are meatless), use planned overs, cook and bake from scratch.

 Insurances. Auto came in 7th ($1868 for the year includes mine and adult son) and homeowners ($740.58 per year) came in 16th. I regularly price compare with other companies on these and although my homeowners went up by two dollars a month for the coming year (the whole tree thing I'm sure) we are still getting the best rates on these. Son's auto insurance portion actually went down this year after he turned 25. And we get the auto/home multi policy discount.

 Utilities: Electric came in 12th. We spent $ 1253.02 for the year. I'm sure this is due to the number of months last fall that the electric company was charging me 'estimated' amounts. Now that we are seeing actual bills the amounts have gone way down. We use energy efficient bulbs, all my appliances are now energy star rated, we use motion detector lights in the basement and the exterior lights so that these lights only come on when needed and then turn themselves off (my kids had a terrible time remembering to turn out the cellar lights). We unplug small appliances and don't leave phone chargers plugged in all the time to save on ambient power usage. And I air dry all laundry except undies and towels in the warm months outside.
Natural Gas:  Came in 14th.We spent $1051.67 for the amount. This is for our heat, stove, and hot water tank. I am actually pretty pleased and surprised by this amount which works out to only an average of around $89 a month. We have a programmable thermostat set for 60 degrees from 10 pm to 6 am and then again from 8 am until 2 pm (when youngest son arrives home from school). The rest of the time it is at a comfortable 68 degrees from 2 pm until 10 pm and from 6 am until 8 am (when the whole family is gone to work and school). We have a wood burning fireplace that we use occasionally, lots of throw blankets, warm polar fleece hoodies, and fleece lined slippers . And in the coldest months our Keurig gets a workout with hot chocolate and tea to warm up the insides. I also have window film over the windows, storm windows, storm doors, draft dodgers, and a curtain hung over the top of our cellar stairs to block cold air from the side door hitting the furnace. We do laundry in cold water with a cold rinse (except for whites which are washed in hot rinsed in cold), run the dishwasher four times a week, and take short showers. In the summer I cook a lot outside on the grill, in the cold months the crockpot gets a workout and I also utilize my microwave and our new Panini/indoor grill more often than the stove and oven.
Water and sewer: $470.44 for the year. I am very pleased with this amount. Short showers, limited dishwasher use, water saving toilets are all money saving steps we've taken. I also refuse to water my lawn in the summer time. It just looks like money going down the drain to me.
Cable: Last year we spent $ 1,011.50 an average of $84 a month with Direct TV.  I am always keeping an eye on this bill and am quick to call when a discount expires and renegotiate to either get it extended or another one applied. We have four receivers, one of which is a DVR, and are big tv watchers. This is actually our main source of entertainment. And since adult son chips in for half the bill each month I am satisfied.
Internet: Here is an area in which I am going to shop around and see if I can do better. Right now we have Time Warner and have the second to the slowest internet speed and still paid $381.53 a average of $31.79 a month. But since they recently increased this cost to $46.46 per month I am determined to do something to save money here.
There are several areas in which I see room for vast improvement. Clothing expenses have been VERY high this year. I admit to guilt in this particular department since I love clothes. It is true we had several special occasions this year which required dressing up and I did invest in a nice suit for youngest son as well as new winter coats for two of us and I did replace several worn out and stained items of work clothing but still this amount is way too high.  A yearly cost of $ 1517.26 is ridiculous. Self control and staying away from Dress Barn and Famous Footwear are the remedies that are
needed.
Gifts were also another area that was pretty expensive this year. We had a couple of weddings (one which included having to travel out of town) and a christening in addition to the regular birthdays and Christmas. Our Christmas spending both last year and this year were exactly what we budgeted but I think that this coming year will have to see a reduction in this area.  I will have a new grandbaby this year which means chipping in for the baby shower (plus gift) and youngest son will graduate in June (another party plus gift). I am starting to save for these now.

Cell phone cost. My cell phone came in 13th. I actually spent more on my cell phone than I did on natural gas. I am taking steps to change this. My plan expires at the end of this month and adult son and I are going to his company, adding me to his family plan, and hopefully transferring my number from my current provider. This will save me $65 a month. I keep seeing those AT&T commercials about unlimited talk/text and 300mbg of date for $49 a month and I laugh. I've been paying over $100 a month for that exact plan once the first year deal was done. They sure make up for that introductory price by sticking it to you later on.

In summary my costs for the last year were mostly on track or under budget on the important things but way over on the others. I will be tweaking this and clamping down starting today.

Update: Just wanted to add how glad I am that I do not have any lingering expenses for gifts/parties etc. since I no longer use a credit card for these purchases. Cash (via my cash back debit card) on the barrel head.

Busy life: The Ups and the Downs.....

  I cannot believe it has been 18 days since I last found time to sit down and share life here. Amazingly busy between work and getting ready for the holidays is all I can offer as an excuse. I am still struggling with the long work hours and the need to get things done at home and balancing these with my weekends at the GF's house. To be honest there are so many days when I just feel so pulled in so many directions that I feel stretched to the breaking point. And other days when I am so weary that I feel as if  I cannot continue to keep on and want to admit defeat.
Then there are those days like yesterday and Christmas Eve when it all comes together in a magical way and all the hard work pays off.
I hope all of you had a wonderful and joyous and blessed  holiday. My favorite part was the hour I spent at Mass on Christmas Eve. The voices of the youth choir were like those of the angels. The feeling of joy and goodwill in the standing room only crowd were a balm to the soul. The sermon touched me in so many ways. How often we hear the story of the Christ child and yet have stopped listening to what it is saying to us. It certainly made me think and I do believe it will figure in my list of New Year's promises to myself.
The greatest gift my family received this month though was a new addition. My stepdaughter whose hubby is in the military welcomed a new son several weeks early at the beginning of December. Our gift was this newest little one coming home from the NICU on Christmas Eve!! Many prayers helped this little guy over a rough start and my stepdaughter's one wish , to have him home for Christmas, was granted. God is good. All the time.

Over the last busy weeks I have not only worked both school  jobs as well as the twice monthly cleaning job I also managed to clean house, keep up on laundry and dinners,  shop for gifts and decorate for the holidays:

 

 

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On Sunday the 15th we had a beautiful day of softly falling snow. It was almost like being in a snow globe. GF and I got into his pickup and headed out into the countryside to try a new-to-us tree farm for our Christmas trees. We couldn't have asked for more holiday-like weather. And it didn't take us long to find two terrific trees. I ended up with the Canaan fir that I preferred and after giving the tree a day for the branches to relax my college age daughter and youngest son and I decorated her up :

 

I also managed that day to bake a batch of Christmas cut out cookies. Unfortunately I was laid low in the energy department by catching a cold. Not surprising given the number of students at school who were also stricken and willing to spread the joy around.  This meant that I did not get any more baking done until last weekend when I went into 'deadline' mode and managed to get everything I wanted to bake finished! This cookie tray went with us yesterday to my oldest son's house for our celebration:

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GF and I also managed to finish up our shopping and stay in budget as well.

Our holiday celebrations are not quite over though. Tomorrow night we will go to my middle daughter's house for dinner and gift exchange with her, my SIL, and my two grandsons who live here in town. And we do have plans to go out to the casino with GF's brother and sister-in-law on New Year's Eve for the dinner buffet and some penny slots .

On a more practical note while I am off of work until January 6th I will be reviewing my last year's spending and tweaking my budget. I've spent two months pondering a possible move after youngest son graduates but have finally decided that although I am upside down in my mortgage due to the recession and the real estate crises of the last few years (the number of foreclosed homes in my area that are now rentals have really impacted my home's value) it is in my best interests to stay put. I weighed the advantages of being a homeowner with the risks, considered the advantages of renting versus the risks and home-owning came out on top. In the last 6 weeks we have had a couple of  minor disasters (a tree from our yard came down in a storm and landed on the power lines over the neighbor's yard taking out a section of fence and pulling the lines connected to the neighbor's house off the house (amazingly neither of us lost power, adult son living at home took care of repairing the fence temporarily and got rid of the tree himself and has offered to repair the neighbor's siding although since the house is occupied by renters and the owners are a group that has not contacted us that is still up in the air) and last weekend we had another horrible rainstorm that dumped so much water into the city's storm system that we had about 6 inches of water back up into our basement. Again. Second time this year. And this time it is draining very slowly, we still have about an inch on the side of the basement where the drains are located. The pilot on the hot water tank is out and we are just praying that once it dries out it will re-light. In the meantime I'm holding off on doing any grocery shopping in case a new hot water tank will need to be purchased. I don't even want to think about the possibility that my washer and dryer have been killed as well. The city came out in the midst of the storm only to tell college age daughter (who was the only one home at the time) that they couldn't snake the drain from the street to the basement because of a faulty t-joint. Of course that was nonsense since we replaced that joint only a few years ago and the reason they couldn't snake probably was the fact that the street was under water from curb to curb at the time they were there. Nowhere for that water to go. Son and I talked about having them come back out (there is no charge for the service) but finally decided he would borrow a power snake from a friend and do the job himself working from the basement drain towards the street. I will be spending a day or so washing down the floor and the appliances with bleach water as well as the few items on the floor at the time of the backup. Son was smart enough to grab his power tools and move them to the dining room when he saw the flood warnings on tv.

Life is messy is the lesson here. But I have worked very hard since my husband died to hang on to my home and I am not ready to give it up yet is the bottom line. The only thing left to do is look to the future, make a sensible savings and spending plan, and keep on keeping on.

 

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

  We had the most wonderful snowfall last weekend that left us with about 2 inches of snow on the ground out at GF's house although we only had a dusting of snow up against the lake where I live. I have been struggling for some reason with my holiday spirit this year and seeing the snow out of the window is helping slightly. No particular reason for the holiday blues, I've budgeted enough for gifts, I am looking forward to the bustle of shopping and baking , and hoping to 'hire' my college age daughter for most of the wrapping (one job I just detest). I've been listening to holiday music and even decorated my kitchen at work and had a nice time this week helping the aftercare group with holiday crafts. We even did a service project for homebound parishoners and yet I still feel a bit blah. Perhaps it is time to sing for all to hear? LOL.
We did a bit of Black Friday gift shopping and a bit more on Saturday. That Sunday we had a birthday party for a young nephew that was quite fun. And it was back to work on Monday. Tuesday night I figured since college age daughter was going to her boyfriend's house, youngest son was going to his girlfriend's house, and adult son was working his second job I'd skip making dinner and get those outside Christmas decorations hung up. I was pleasantly surprised when adult son altered his work schedule to be home to help me with this task.
As it turned out he did most of the actual hanging while I sorted out the decorations, directed him where to place them, tested the lights, and unknotted some of the tangles. I still do not understand how when we are so careful when we take them down and store them in the bin they still get tangled up. I also don't get how lights that work fine the year before refuse to light up the next year. Most of our lights were ok but a couple of strands of net lights had half a strand out, we wove these together to make it look like an entire lighted strand!
After we finished I still needed to get to Lowe's to pick up two timers and two indoor extension cords for the upstairs bedroom window lights as well as D batteries for the snowmen ground lights. None of us like heights so all the 'high' decorating gets done inside. Thursday night college age daughter, youngest son and I hit Lowe's  (and then Chipotle for a dinner treat) and purchased the timers and cords (and forgot the batteries). I have yet to do those lights but I am sure I can accomplish this tomorrow night after work.
In the meantime here is our holiday house:

December Grocery shopping trip

  I had that entire week off the week of Thanksgiving and after accomplishing the cleaning that I really needed to get done I also managed to do a grocery shopping trip for December. I limited myself to a smaller than normal amount of money because I want to free up as much cash for gifts and unexpected extras. The freezer is still nice and full as are the pantry shelves so I knew this trip would be heavy on snacks, dairy, juice, and fresh produce. I was 'assigned' brown sugar mashed squash and a veggie tray for Thanksgiving so I picked up those items as well.

I went to three locations, a local farmer's market, a small Italian deli/grocery store, Aldi, and BJ's wholesale club. I had a nice companion this time, my oldest son as he had taken a couple of vacation days and my DIL was working still so the two of us spent a couple of hours schlepping around while we both shopped.

Our first stop was BJ's. I spent $96.81. The only nonfood item I purchased was a case of toilet paper for $21.99. The remainder of the money went for food. I brought home a container of tabouleh salad, a four pack of pork tenderloin, a gallon of organic 1% milk, a two pack of Smart Balance, a case of Chobani fruit yogurts, a bag of snack sized Vermont cheddar cheese, a large box of Pepperidge Farm goldfish crackers, a 3 lb. bag of baby carrots (for Thanksgiving veggie tray), a container of organic spring greens mix, a pound of hard salami, and a box of 4 cans of crescent rolls.

The next stop was Aldi. I spent $123.21 and the only nonfood item I purchased was a box of aluminum foil for $2.43. The remainder was for food. I brought home 4 English cucumbers (Thanksgiving veggie tray), a box of pierogies, a 3 lb. bag of boneless skinless chicken breasts, a 3 lb. bag of chicken tenderloins, 2 packages of cheddar brats, 4 boxes of 'rice a roni' (one beef, two chicken, one Spanish), 1 bag frozen garlic cubed potatoes, a container of hummus, two packs of Neufchatel cheese, 1 pint sliced baby bella mushrooms, a bag of clementines, 1 pack Welsh cheddar cheese, 1 quart of strawberries, 3 lbs. granny smith apples, 3lb. bananas, 2 bunches celery (Thanksgiving veggie tray), 1 can mandarin oranges, 2 packs kielbasa (thinking ahead to New Year's Day dinner), 1 pint sour cream, 1 bottle 100% cranberry juice, 2 bottles 100% apple juice, 2 bottle ruby red grapefruit juice, 1 bottle cranberry-pomegranate juice, 1 pack string cheese, 1 bottle chili sauce, 2 containers caramel dip, 1 bag shredded cheddar, 1 bag shredded mozzarella, 1 package sliced muenster cheese, 1 pack sliced swiss cheese, 1 pack deli ham, 1 bag pita chips, 3 lbs. lemons, 1 bag bbq chips, 1 bag Hershey kisses, 1 bag mini Reese peanut butter cups, 1 box Andes mints (candies are for stocking stuffers), 1 bag tortilla dipper chips, 1 pack individual mixed fruit cups, 2 packs individual chocolate pudding cups, 1 quart grape tomatoes, 2 blocks white NY cheddar, 1 box honey graham crackers,1 jar nacho cheese sauce, 1 box saltines, and 1 tub pretzel sticks.

At the Farmer's Market I spent $22. I bought 6 large red bell peppers (for Thanksgiving veggie tray),  3lbs. of ruby red grapefruit, two large butternut squash (for Thanksgiving), a spaghetti squash, and a salami rolled in herb de provence.

At the local Italian deli-grocery store I spent $14.37 and I brought home a half pound sliced Italian blend  cheese, a pound of sliced pepperoni, a package of almond biscotti, and a loaf of Italian bread with seeds, and a bag of ciabatta rolls.

Total Nonfood household expenses: $24.42. Total food expenditure : $231.97,  $118.03 under my usual budgeted amount of $350 for food only. Money that can be used for the holiday. And I got some stocking stuffer candy.

December Menus

  Once again I have been so overwhelmed by life that I have not had any time at all to blog. I put together these menus for December and so far we've stuck to them. Menus using the slow cooker are in bold. Menus that are quick cooking are in italics. Menus using planned overs are underlined. I haven't planned out menus for several days. On Christmas Day we go to my oldest son's and we all bring something. On New Year's Eve we will  be going out with another couple. I have a holiday party to attend one Friday night so no menu there. On the 1st we attended a birthday party so no dinner that night.  And on two Friday night's my GF has volunteered to make dinner so those menus will be a surprise to me (he already made dinner this last Friday and we had Tuna Noodle casserole, so one more surprise night to go!). What was also nice about this menu planning was that when it came time to grocery shop I only needed to purchase the Christmas Eve pork tenderloins, a couple bags of chicken, and a package of cheddar brats. The rest of the meat/poultry/seafood was already tucked away in the deep freezer!
Since I am so late sharing this we have already eaten the steak menu, the cheddar brats menu, the garlic baked chicken menu, and the kids and I went out to Chipotle one week night, and I had cereal on another night instead of cooking for just myself.


Steaks
Beefy rice a roni
capri blend veggies

Chicken Picatta
spaghetti squash
broccoli

Crockpot Mac and Cheese
salad

Steph's Chicken Stew
crescent rolls

Herb crusted eye of round
mashed potatoes
candied carrots

Spaghetti with Meatballs
garlic toast
salad

Pork Adobo
steamed rice
green beans

French dip sandwiches
hash browns
mixed veggies

Lamb chops
Israeli couscous with parmesan and sun dried tomatoes
tabouleh

Ham Steak and Apple skillet
parsley potatoes
green beans

Vermont Maple Chicken
Winter roasted vegetables

Cheddar brats
chicken rice a roni
cauliflower polonaise

Homemade chicken strips
garlic potatoes
peas

Swedish meatballs
egg noodles
capri blend veggies

Grilled pork chops
buttered basmati rice
creole cabbage

Heather's Garlic baked chicken
white and wild rice pilaf
green beans

Country pork stew
crescent rolls

Homemade pepperoni pizzas
salad

Christmas Eve Dinner:
Salad
Pork tenderloin balsamico
white and wild rice pilaf
green beans almondine
fly off the plate rolls

Mom's chicken paprikash
egg noodles
green beans

Beef stroganoff (using planned over roast beef from Christmas Day)
steamed rice
Harvard beets

Shrimp Orzo skillet
salad

Spicy Meatloaf
au gratin potatoes
corn

Tuscan chicken Panini
Parmesan oven potatoes

Catching Up

  Life has been busy and I have had no time to sit and chat here. I hate when that happens. And yet I can find little  news to share, life was work, dinner, sleep, laundry, work, etc at least up until last weekend. We had a heavy windstorm (75 mph winds)blow through here last weekend and had a couple of poplar trees come down into the neighbor's yard. I have been dealing with my insurance company all week. The bottom line is insurance company says liability lies with the neighbor's and they need to file with their company. However part of the privacy fence that keeps our dogs in our yard was taken out and my adult son J got out there and did a temporary fix on that as well as cutting up all of the wood from the trees once the electric company removed the trees from the lines they were laying across and donating that to another neighbor who has a wood burning stove with which he heats most of his home. I prefer to use the Pine Mountain logs when we use our fireplace so it was nice we had someone who could use the wood. 
This week I am on vacation! I have the entire week off and plan to make the most of it. Saturday GF and I delivered a dryer that my adult son J had gotten from a friend who was throwing it out (along with a washer we gave to a family member in need) to yet another family member in need of one. Nice that we could help them out and clear some much needed basement space. Yesterday the GF and youngest son and I went to the mall and did a little Christmas shopping, picking up a couple of items on sale that were requested by family members.
Today I am going to give my house a good cleaning, starting with using my steam cleaner to clean the couches as well as washing all the throw blankets and the dining room curtains (which still have not been done). I also plan on taking youngest son to the barber for a haircut and picking up a few groceries. Later on I will sit down and do my December dinner menus.

Merry Christmas to Me: My new 'toy'

  While browsing around the internet checking out those Christmas gift ideas I mentioned before I came across an item I thought would make a wonderful addition to my own kitchen: the Cuisinart 5-in-1 griddler. I coincidentally had a $10 coupon for use on Amazon. I gave it some thought, compared the price of this item at several websites and I realized that not only did Amazon have the best price before using my coupon, once I'd used it and my Prime account free shipping I was way ahead of the game, so I decided I'd earned a treat for myself. I gifted myself with this and ordered one. Free shipping, $10 off, and it arrived on my doorstep in two days.
I immediately washed it and took it on its first test drive making 'grilled' steaks for dinner on Tuesday. They came out really nice, far better than the old George Forman I used to have. So on Wednesday I made 'grilled' pork chops. Also a winner.
This week I will be testing out the Panini press feature! This is the perfect size for our family of 4 now at home, it cleans easily since the plates (one side for grilling, one for use as a griddle) snap right out and go in the dishwasher, and it uses way less power than turning on the stove. And I didn't have to brave the cold and using our gas grill outdoors!!

Got Lucky!!

While going to pick up donuts for his work crew yesterday GF spotted the boxes of Peppermint Mocha K-cups which are a seasonal item in the store. He noticed they had a full display of boxes so he didn't pick any up for me. Last year I didn't get any when I first saw them and then was unable to get any at all because they are such a popular item they sell out fast. This morning I took myself through the drive through at his local DD and bought the last three boxes. That's right yesterday they had 40, now they have none. But I will be enjoying this treat all season long!

Holiday shopping: I've broken my own rule

  When it comes to the holiday season I am a traditionalist. I like to do all of my shopping during what I think of as the holiday season: Black Friday through Christmas Eve. This year however I have broken my own 'rule'. A couple of weeks ago the school I work at had the Scholastic book fair where I purchased a couple of books for my grandsons J & L (although L is too little to enjoy them yet, J can eventually share these with him). Then after browsing the internet for pricing on some ideas I'd gotten from a few of my adult/college/teen children I came across a couple of ideas that had such excellent prices (and free shipping) that I felt I needed to take advantage of the savings and I ordered them.
Over the summer the GF had filled my SUV several times and fronted all of the money for our waterpark passes as well as picking up the bill for the hotel for my oldest stepdaughter's wedding in June. I still owed  him for my half of the hotel and waterpark and the gasoline. We've agreed I will purchase Christmas gifts until what would be his half of the cost equals what I owe him in return. My little Christmas shopping expedition online plus a couple of birthday gifts I picked up for  him yesterday for his godchild and her sister and I am halfway to paying him back!
As for gifts GF and I sat down and decided that instead of putting a limit on the number of gifts we'd buy (4 has been our number in the past) this year we'd get the bigger ticket items and give fewer gifts (2-3). We are going for quality over quantity and still expect to keep within our respective shopping budgets.
In other holiday thoughts I have gone through and given a look-see to my current holiday decorations. I would very much like to replace a couple of outdoor decorations that died within the last couple of years with something new but have yet to make a definite decision on this. I do need to pick up batteries for the window 'candles' and will probably have to replace lights (seems like each year I put them away and they work fine then when I hang them up either they don't work at all or only half the strand lights <sigh>) so this may be the extent of my decoration shopping.
And speaking of decorating, I managed to put away all of the Halloween decorations and replace them with my Thanksgiving ones!

An expedition into the freezer....

  A trip into GF's freezer this morning to look for a bag of frozen raspberries I was sure I had buried in there led me in a different direction. I did find the raspberries but while doing so realized I still had TWO turkey carcasses awaiting stock making. I figured it was time to unearth at least one of these and get some stock (and soup for lunch) made today.
I removed one foil wrapped package of turkey carcass plus another of turkey legs and wings. I got out the extra large pot from the laundry room and threw the bones into it.

After browsing GF's refrigerator and spice cabinet I settled on adding in the remains of a bag of shredded carrots, a large couple of spoonsfuls of minced garlic, a quarter cup of dehydrated chopped onion, a large handful of parsley, a small handful of Italian seasoning blend, some sea salt, and black pepper and got this simmering on the stove.

 

 

Several hours later I strained the stock and put it into containers for the freezer.

A trip to Lowe's

  Believe it or not one of my favorite places to shop is Lowe's! After working and before heading home to nurse my fever GF and I made a quick stop at the local Lowe's home store near his house. I had a short list of things I wanted to pick up for home and he was checking out commercial flooring for his offices. I got in a short but satisfying browse in their holiday decorations aisle as well.  While I had no plan to purchase anything I still enjoy looking at all the holiday things they have.
My short list included a chimney sweeping log for my fireplace. For the last few years I have used these and found them to be a good frugal way to keep my fireplace chimney clean. I back this up by no longer using actual wood in the fireplace when I make a fire. I will be purchasing a couple of cases of 'faux' logs at the wholesale club for the season. Although they are pricey I like these for several reasons: 1. No sparks. 2.Not as much creosote from them as from real logs. and 3. I know how long they will burn and can start a fire with enough time for it to go out completely before we all go to bed.  We don't use our fireplace on a regular nightly basis so this is a good solution for me.
I will use my chimney cleaning log on Monday night.

I also picked up a birthday gift for my middle daughter whose 28th birthday it is today. She had an immersion blender on her Christmas list so I chose to get that for her birthday instead. Lowe's had the Kitchen Aide one she'd mentioned for a decent price of $40. This is the model I purchased:


I also wanted another window insulation kit and picked up this one:

My final two purchases were strictly impulse buys. I knew my adult son still living at home would get a lot of enjoyment out of the Duck Dynasty Holiday door mat that will go on the landing by our side door.
And I picked up this handy little guide  for myself.

The Week in Review: Did I reach my goals?

  Looking back at my earlier post about weekly goals I see I have fallen a bit short. While I did get some things accomplished mostly they were not at home. <sigh>
The beginning of a new month at work is always a bit stressful for me. Despite a two week window in which to return payment and lunch tickets I had a large number of families fail to do so until the last minute. Several of them confessed to losing the paperwork underneath piles of other things that came home because they had so much time to get things back to me. The solution to this is easy, in November they will have half the time to return these things for December lunches and hopefully that will alleviate some of the last minute confusion we experienced on Friday. It is difficult to guesstimate just how many students will appear without notice expecting to be fed. I made an entire case of burgers and luckily (due to the absence of a few students who had ordered lunch) I was able to feed everyone who needed a lunch the hot lunch. I do have an emergency backup lunch plan, a 2 oz cheese stick, a small loaf of whole grain cornbread, veggie of the day, fruit of the day, and milk (all of which meets serving size and type requirements of the NSLP) in the event I do not have enough hot lunch to feed everyone who needs to be fed.  Most students follow the rule to let the kitchen know first thing in the morning if they've forgotten a lunch at home but I always get those 'surprise' guests whose parents 'thought' they'd ordered a lunch for that day, those students who just think they are exempted from the early notice rule, and those who fail to remember it is a new month despite several verbal reminders during the days before the first lunch service of a new month. <sigh>
In any case in addition to the extra work stress I was fighting off a head cold all week. Lots of sneezing, early morning stuffy sinuses, and afternoon headaches were the warning signs. I immediately began dosing myself with chewable Airborne tablets, taking Aleve for the headaches, and making sure I got to bed on time. This morning (after running a fever last evening) I am feeling pretty good. The stuffy sinuses are gone, I got an extra hour of sleep (thank you Standard Time), and no more sneezing! I will continue with the Airborne tabs this week and then start taking my usual daily dose of Echinacea for the winter. A flu shot is also on my to-do list this week. Hoping to get that done today at Target's pharmacy. 
 As far as my evening goals with the fight for my health going on I was pretty exhausted by the time I hit home. I didn't even make dinner on Monday night with college age daughter and I picking up calzones from a local pizza joint. Tuesday night I did cook, a quick pasta carbonara Florentine for myself and sons and laundry done but none of the cleaning/special jobs I'd planned on. Wednesday night I got a lot done but none of it was at home. GF and I had invited friends back to his house after the final Marching Band performance of our respective kids high school careers and it needed some serious cleaning. GF bought me dinner out then we set to cleaning together. The house looked great when we were done but of course I got not one single thing accomplished at home. Thursday was Halloween and I joined oldest son and his wife and her parents for our annual pizza dinner/candy hand out at their house.
Friday of course began the weekend. Football & fun on Friday, yesterday I worked my bi-monthly cleaning job in the morning and spent the afternoon/evening nursing my fever and cold symptoms. I did manage to put together a nice dinner of Swedish meatballs over egg noodles and green beans on the side despite feeling like a wrung out dishrag.
So THIS week I will attempt to keep to the evening goals I set myself LAST week with one exception. On Monday I will take down our Halloween decorations and replace them with our Thanksgiving ones.

Annual Eye Checkup

 A couple of weeks ago I received my postcard in the mail from my eye doctor reminding me it was time for my annual checkup. I had just received the good news that I was now eligible for health insurance coverage including dental and eye the day before. I immediately picked up the phone and gave the eye doctor a call to set an appointment. I have been paying out of pocket for all of my health needs and with severe eye problems (astigmatism in both eyes and very bad vision in my right eye) annual visits and keeping up with the correct prescription for my contacts is essential. My daughter in law M has the same insurance as I do and warned me that I'd be paying something out of pocket although there is no co-pay on the exam. I figured anything less than the $200 it usual costs me is a good thing.
I had two pieces of good news at the end of my visit. The first had to do with my actual vision, it seems my left eye astigmatism is correcting itself and my vision has improved as a consequence. This would explain why I felt my vision was worse in that eye when wearing my current lenses. They were now too strong for the eye! I was able to get regular contacts for that eye and toric lenses (to correct astigmatism) only for the right eye at a significant difference in cost.
My second piece of good news was that the total for my visit, eye exam plus a 6 month supply of lenses for both eyes came to a grand total of $78.  My monthly insurance premium of $78 is already paying for itself!!

November Grocery Shopping Part 2

 I am determined to get all of my grocery shopping completed for November (with a small possible stop for fresh produce before the holiday) this weekend.  I am looking forward to a November where once the monthly bills are paid I can turn my attention to the upcoming Christmas holiday with baking and shopping.
GF and I had a wonderful breakfast out at Marie Scrambler's, somewhere I'd never eaten before. I had a pumpkin stuffed French toast that was fabulous and which I can easily replicate at home.
Then we were off shopping. My adult son J who lives at home is in charge of buying all of the pet food we need as part of his living arrangements. He'd gone to the local Walmart as he usually does but they were totally out of the brand our dogs prefer. I'd mentioned a $6 off coupon I had for BJs for the same brand and he asked me to pick this up since the doggies are now totally out of food. GF had several items he needed to buy so BJ's was our first stop. While shopping on Friday I'd totally forgotten to buy milk and orange juice, two things we really needed. I think I may have a 'pre-cold', clogged sinuses in the morning and lots of sneezing all day long and I want to nip this in the bud before it becomes a full blown problem. I have a box of Coricidin HBP at home from last cold season that is still good but I'm holding out on that for worse symptoms than these. I got dog food ($29.99 minus $6 coupon= $24.99 for 37 lb. bag) and adult son J will reimburse me for this expense. I also picked up a dozen sponges for the cafeteria at school, another reimbursable expense for $10. Milk was $7 for the organic kind, a bottle of orange juice another $3, and I gave in to temptation and bought a 6 pack refill of Glade oil dispenser scents in holiday pine for the house for $9.99. I'd totally forgotten to get Halloween candy so I picked up a huge variety bag for another $12.
I still needed to run to Aldi so GF and I headed there. My total cost at Aldi was $158.69 but as anyone who shops regularly there knows that is a boat load of groceries. I spent $19.99 plus tax on a set of queen size flannel sheets for my bed that were on the special purchases table. I looked to see if they had twin and full size sheets as well for adult son, teen son, and college daughter but all that was left was queen and king. Flannel sheet sets are on all three kids Christmas lists. I will put out the word to all my adult kids who don't live at home to keep an eye out at the other Aldi locations for me for these.  I also spent $14.43 on nonfood household items and came home with two boxes of tissues, a box of trash bags, a box of large storage bags, a container of cotton swabs, and a box of toothpaste.
Food wise, for a cost of $124.21 I bought: 2 bottles ruby red grapefruit juice, 1 bottle 100% apple juice, 1 bottle cranberry-raspberry juice, 1  bottle 100% cranberry juice, 1 bottle 100% grape juice, 1/2 gallon of eggnog, 1 bottle organic wildflower honey, 1 jar coffee creamer, 4 bottles steak sauce, 2 bottles ranch dressing, 1 jar queso sauce, 3 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast, 1 dozen eggs, 3 heads garlic, 2 packs kielbasa, 1 bag honey ham, 1 bag string cheese, 1 box pierogies, 1 corned beef, 1 bag green grapes, 1 container hummus, 2 cans pumpkin, 3 lbs. bananas, 1 package Hawaiian sweet rolls, 1 package hard salami, 1 pack sliced cheddar, 1 pack sliced swiss,  1 block NY sharp cheddar, 1  block Colby cheese, 2 cans mandarin oranges, 2 cans evaporated milk, 2 cans diced tomatoes, 2 cans creamed corn, 1 box beef flavored rice mix, 2 packages cheddar brats, 1 bag pita chips, 1 box cherry poptarts (for GF, lol), 1 bag flour tortillas, 1 box taco shells, 1 bag tortilla scoop chips, 3 lbs. red grapefruit, 1 box Aldi 'cream of wheat' cereal, 2 bags kettle chips, and one box of the garden vegetable entertainment crackers.
My goal is to go until mid December without shopping for anything except fresh produce. Do-able I do think with all of the things I have stocked up at home and everything I purchased this month.

Goals for the week

  Although I am now used to the long work hours during the week I am finding that I am still not achieving enough at home. Weekends are spent with GF at his home (only time we get to see each other) in a nearby (30 minute drive away) town.  My bonus day off on Friday became mostly running around and no cleaning got done. I REALLY need to get it together and formulate a routine for myself so that the house gets the attention it needs. With this in mind this week I am giving myself some goals for the weekdays.

Mondays: I will de-clutter the main floor; clean kitchen including mopping the floor, dust, Swiffer, and vacuum the dining room and living room. I figure this should take about 90 minutes after we have dinner. I can accomplish these things while also keeping an eye on DWTS which I enjoy on Monday nights.

Tuesdays: I will de-clutter the upstairs hallway, sweep and Swiffer the staircase and upstairs hall; clean the bathroom ; do my laundry including sheets on my bed

Wednesday: Special cleaning day, this week  I will take down the dining room lace curtains and wash them; while they are washing and drying I will FINALLY put up the window insulation for winter in both the dining room and living room.

Thursdays: Free day to putz around or just catch up on DVR'd tv shows. This week is Halloween, I am going directly to son's house from work.

I am also thinking ahead to the week I have off at Thanksgiving time. My sister wants to go to PA and visit my MIL the weekend before Thanksgiving and we may do this but the rest of the week I want to get some Christmas baking started and the house shipshape for Christmas decorating. My holiday goal is to make this as stress free a holiday as possible. The last two years I have let the baking wait until the last minute (and by last minute I mean baking on Christmas morning), this will not happen this year. GF and I have already started talking about shopping and we do plan to get out on Black Friday for the terrific sales at a local outlet mall. We are also eyeballing sale ads for local stores and some of the kids have even given us gift ideas already which is very helpful. And I made our first official Christmas gift purchase last week when I bought two books for my 5 year old grandson at the Scholastic Book Fair at school!

Grocery shopping for November Part One

Having yesterday as a day off I decided to get out and get some shopping done. October is almost over and I have everything in the house I need to make dinners for the week. So I am going to call this shopping for November. I did half yesterday and will make an Aldi run tomorrow to finish up.
My first stop was GFS where I purchased a large bag of Garden Veggie Straws for snacking. College daughter and I have tried these at aftercare and enjoy them. I also picked up a box of English breakfast tea, a jar of Ham base, a bag of orrechetti pasta, a bag of Amish egg noodles, a bag of frozen capri blend veggies, a bag of frozen chopped spinach, and a bag of frozen Asian stir fry veggies. Total cost: $35.42.

My next stop was BJ's Wholesale Club. I stocked up on meat. I came home with a large whole boneless pork loin (which I cut into a roast, a 1 lb. bag of cubes, and 10 thick pork chops), a smallish whole eye of round (which I cut into a 1 lb. bag of stew meat and 7 thick steaks), a smallish rack of lamb (which became 7 lamb chops), a huge beef brisket which I cut in half, an 8  pound package of ground beef which I divided up into 4 2 lb. packages, a whole turkey breast, an 8 pack of tomato sauce (had a $1.50 off coupon), a large wedge of imported parmesano-reggiano cheese, a large carton of Goldfish crackers, two big bags of cheddar popcorn, a 12 pack of Chobani yogurt, a 6 pck of white and wild rice mix, 2 lbs of pecans (thinking ahead to holiday baking), a 4 pack of crescent rolls, 2 lbs cranberries, a 2 pack of organic butternut squash ravioli, a bag of fresh sauerkraut, and a half dozen apple cider doughnuts. Nonfood items were two boxes of Damp Rid bags ($9.99 a box, had a $7 off on purchase of two coupon), a bottle of Aleve (instant savings at the register of $3) and a large bottle of laundry detergent. Total cost: $ 262.43; $44.94 on nonfood items, the remainder $217.49 on food.
My final stop yesterday was a local farmer's market. I spent $32.01. I brought home 8 turnips, 6 large parsnips, 4 large red bell peppers, a small container of multi-colored cherry tomatoes, a bag of baby carrots, a bag of shredded carrots, 2 lbs. strawberries, 4 lemons, 2 english cucumbers, a large butternut squash, a large spaghetti squash, and a container of pitted dates.

I also took a couple of hours to spend some time with middle adult daughter and baby grandson L. We had a nice lunch at Aladdin's (a chain of organic middle eastern food restaurants) and a great visit. Baby L is smiling and cooing now and seemed so much bigger. A month without seeing him is a vast span of time in his little life. It felt good to reconnect.

November Dinner Menus

 Taking advantage of a day off from work (teacher inservice) I got busy and sat down and did my November dinner menus. I plan on doing a large grocery shopping trip today. It looks as if mid-month is going to be the best time for me to shop so I will be buying for the last week of October as well as for November today. Then next month I will do same, creating a new routine for myself.
I think I also have a good pattern for dinners as far as workdays are concerned basing them on either quickly assembled meals or the slow cooker. I have also planned Sunday suppers for large cuts of meat that I can then re-use at least once during the week and also provide GF with a meal mid-week. I have had some good conversations this week with an aftercare co-worker about a local CSA that she and her hubby have used this year. http://freshforkmarket.com/ I was impressed because it is not just produce, it is also locally sourced foods such as Ohio maple syrup for example, and local meats and cheeses. The package she had works out to $25 a week and after checking out their website I see a larger package works out to $40 weekly. I am seriously considering this for next spring. They have a winter package but it is primarily for the customers they already have. I'm liking what I'm hearing and what I see on their website.
In the meantime here are my menus for November. I am not trying any new recipes this month which for me is unusual. I am going with all tried and true. Menus using planned overs are in bold. Menus using the slow cooker are in italics and menus using meals that can be made in 30 minutes or less are underlined. I have the entire week of Thanksgiving off from work so I have planned menus we enjoy but take some time to make for that week. We have one more high school football/marching band night and have planned on taking out middle adult daughter for her birthday. And of course there is Thanksgiving which we will spend with family. It is bring a dish and I have yet to hear what my sister wants me to bring. I am doing a mini Thanksgiving style dinner though so we have planned overs (the only drawback to not hosting the day is the lack of leftovers) for Black Friday.

Shrimp Orzo skillet
salad

Cheddar Broccoli Soup
crescent rolls

Broiled pork chops
Cinnamon mashed sweet potatoes
corn

Sausage and Apple Kraut
Pierogies
green beans

Sun dried tomato & mozzarella sausages with peppers and onions
rice pilaf
broccoli with garlic and herbs

Swedish Meatballs
egg noodles
salad

Vermont Maple Chicken
White and wild rice
green beans

Herb encrusted eye of round
mashed potatoes
candied carrots

French Dip sandwiches
chips
coleslaw

Moroccan Lamb chops
couscous
peas with mint

Mediterraean Lentil Soup
rolls

Broiled salmon fillets
hash browns
coleslaw

Tacos with toppings
spanish rice

Chicken Marsala
Creamy parmesan rice
salad

Cranberry Pork Roast
scalloped potatoes
green beans

Mozzarella and Sun dried Pannini
salad

Broiled steak
beef rice a roni
broccoli

Texas style beef brisket
butter crumb egg noodles
brussels sprouts

Roast pork stir fry
steamed rice

Heather's garlic baked chicken
risotto
salad

Beef and Noodle Soup
fly off the plate rolls

Brown sugar baked ham
au gratin potatoes
Harvard beets

Roast turkey breast over stuffing
mashed potatoes
cranberry sauce
mashed brown sugar squash

Ham and Cheese bowties
salad

Spaghetti with Meatballs
Salad
garlic toast

Turkey in gravy over stuffing
cranberry sauce
potato pancakes
corn

Slub Glub (aka beef and macaroni)
salad

Dinners in under 30 minutes

  Dinners the last week have been almost entirely those that I can put together in under 30 minutes. I got a bit more creative over the weekend but also went off the menu plans for October.

The days here seem to run into each other and I have a hard time distinguishing one from another. I know that last week I made Pumpkin Sausage Penne for dinner one night, went off the menu plan and made chicken picata with white & wild rice and green beans another night, had salad from Wendy's on a third night and took my oldest son out to eat at an oldie but a goodie (his pick) Hometown Buffet on Thursday. Friday was football/band and Booster Dogs. It was Senior Band Night and my GF and I got to escort my youngest son across the field. A very nice evening although I got a bit teary-eyed at my baby being a senior.
Over the weekend the weather here was horrible, highs in the upper 40s and rain. Ugh. But Saturday was the perfect day for a bowl of chili. GF agreed and we had chili with his favorite side, Ritz crackers and sliced apples. Mini pies, apple for him and pumpkin for me rounded out the meal.

Sunday I made one of my favorite simple suppers, an all in one chicken/potato/green bean dish I've shared here previously that I found on Pinterest. I also baked a loaf of homemade bread on Sunday that I brough home with me.

Monday was a long day at work, when I got home though I again went off the menu plans. A discussion about CSAs with a co-worker that led to talk about squash then led me to the package of butternut squash ravioli still in the freezer from months ago. It looked ok so I pulled it and a 2 pack of pork chops out, broiled the chops with some applewood seasoning blend, made the ravioli and dressed it with a sage butter and added steamed broccoli and that was dinner. The leftover ravioli was my lunch yesterday. Last night I made yet another quick meal. I was home alone but decided to cook instead of just sitting down with a bowl of cold cereal which was my inclination. I put together a pot of homemade marinara sauce, cooked up some Barilla Plus spaghetti and added a simple green salad. After having been outside for almost two hours on playground duty with aftercare it was nice to have a hot supper.
Tonight I will go directly to the high school for an indoor band concert following work. I expect dinner to be grilled cheese sandwiches using cheese slices in the refrigerator and my homemade bread with a salad on the side.

Anticipating heating costs

With weather conditions reaching down into the high 40s this week first thing in the morning I have begun to think about some proactive measures to keep my costs as low as possible this winter. I have NOT turned the furnace on and so far have not had to light a fire in the fireplace. But my planning is in place and I will be taking steps in the next few days to get ready. The weather man is threatening us with the 's' word mid week. I'd rather be safe than sorry so I plan on taking some of this morning's cleaning job money and going to Lowe's. I need to pick up a new furnace filter and two window insulation kits. I have one unused one at home and Monday after work I will get started putting these up on the living room and dining room windows. I also plan on picking up a case of 'faux logs' at the wholesale club next weekend for the fireplace. In the meantime I will pick up a chimney cleaning log and use that first. 
The mini shop vac I own is going to be put to use vacuuming out the furnace so it is clean for the season and the new filter will be put in place.
Last weekend while out on a nice drive to a local orchard GF and I impulsively stopped at a garage sale and I picked up a really nice draft stopper for $1. I will use this in the dining room where the rear French doors are drafty. I also need to get adult son busy putting up strip insulation around this doorway . I will dig out the two draft stoppers I have for the front door and the side door and have those handy. All of the storm windows will come down and the screens will go up on both windows and storm doors.
And finally the shower curtain liner that hangs over the top of the basement stairs to prevent drafts from the side door immediately hitting the furnace will be replaced with a heavier version than what I currently have hanging up.
I am determined to make it to November before turning on the furnace but if  Mother Nature doesn't co-operate I will be ready.

Health Insurance

  I recently discovered that one of the perks that come with working longer hours at my school comes with me now being eligible for benefits, life insurance, health insurance, dental, and eye! With the exception of a few months when I was suffering at a bank teller's job I have been without any health insurance since my husband passed away almost 17 years ago. The children qualified through our state's healthy choice program until about two years ago when with no explanation at all they were no longer eligible. Several weeks of frustrating calls and emails yielded no reasonable reason why this was and I just gave up. I have paid out of pocket for all medical expenses since then. Fortunately we are a relatively healthy bunch and our family practitioner has reasonable rates. Free/reduced prescriptions at local pharmacies and  in the case of my accident last year a program for 'needy' patients at the Clinic has gotten us through.
The only drawback to this perk is the out of pocket premium cost for a family plan. order to afford it in our budget we'd have to do one of two things, stop eating or I could stop sleeping and get a fourth job to cover the cost. This is not practical. However I can easily afford the individual plan so I chose that option. As for the kids, college age daughter can get coverage through her college and we are looking into this. Youngest son will soon be 18 and able to get an individual policy through one of the 'exchanges' available under the Affordable Care Act until he too graduates and goes to college. In the meantime I will cover any expenses he may incur out of my pocket.
Of course my policy comes with co-pays and all kinds of policy rules about providers etc. but I expected this. I will continue to be frugal in my health expenses preferring to practice preventative measures. I will though be taking advantage of that eye coverage at my next annual eye exam. Whatever it costs will still be less than paying the full amount for the exam and new contact lenses out of my own pocket!

Electricity Bill Issues

 It seems that the season of 'estimated' billing has begun with my electricity company. After several months last spring where I read and submitted my meter reading myself the electric company FINALLY starting sending their meter reader around to actually read my meter (the self readings came after almost 9 months of estimated bills) and I thought this problem was taken care of . Until I received my October bill which was once again about $40 over what I thought it should be and then realized it was <sigh> estimated. What to do?
Well I sent off an email to the power company. I explained that I understood that estimates are based on the previous year's bill for the same time period. In my case that previous bill was an estimated bill based on an estimated bill for the year before and so on and so on. I also explained that if they took a look at my account they would see that they'd so overestimated my usage last year that I had  one month where I owed no money and another where the rest of the credited amount took care of over half the usage billed. I then told them that based on my actual usage for months with similar weather conditions etc. I would be sending them an estimated payment and that I would be doing my own meter reading for the next billing period. I then paid 2/3 of the amount due (which I thought was still slightly high).
The power company responded with an email inviting me to read my meter immediately and submit the reading for a revised bill. I responded by informing them that a meter reading seven days into the next billing period would not accurately reflect my usage for the previous month. I am still happy to read the meter for the next billing period if they are unable to send a meter reader out.
I have not heard back from them and still have power.

Where has the time gone?

  I cannot believe it has been almost three weeks since I had some time to sit down and visit. The time has just flown past with work and life events.
I'm not going to get into a review of the finances right now, I will save that for the end of the month.
Suffice it to say that I have been busy picking up things for home improvements including this brand new light for the front porch: . I have gotten all my fall/Halloween decorations up both outside and inside. I have replaced the Damp Rid bags in the cellar once again and am finding them effective in keeping that area dry and smelling fresh. I had the dryer repaired (GF did it for free). We got ahold of a like new washer & dryer set from a friend of adult son but did not need them so we donated both to two family members who were in need. That felt really good to pass that along.
I have also had to have some maintenance work done on my SUV, the oil and oil filter have been changed, the rear brake pads replaced, and last weekend I had 4 brand new all weather tires put on. It was very costly ($782) but as my GF reminded me we put our lives on those tires every day they need to be quality.
We have had several celebrations, both college age daughter and my oldest son had birthdays (she turned 19 and he turned 30) so dinners out for those. Band season continues for youngest son so Fridays are dedicated to that. I continue to work my twice a month cleaning job on alternate Saturday mornings although I did have to tell my house cleaning employer that I was just too darned busy to fit her in anymore. The two Saturdays a month I have free I need to get things accomplished, like house cleaning, appointments, grocery shopping.  We  have also done some fun activities, a local festival parade that youngest son was marching in, and a day spent last Sunday at two local orchards picking apples and enjoying the sights and smells of the season.
During the week once I reach home it has been dinner prep and cleanup and then small chores like laundry, daily cleaning, and some relaxation in front of the tv. After 6 weeks of working these new extended hours I have to say I think I have gotten a grip on that. My next goal is to carve out time to spend here during the week because I have missed this.

September Financial Report

 The first thing I can say about September is that it felt good to once again see money coming in in a significant way. The longer work hours are a blessing in this way although I am STILL getting used to having a lot less free time for myself.

In short all of the bills got paid this month, I was able to spend quite a bit on restocking the freezer while grocery shopping, I had some maintenance/repair work done on the SUV, and I was able to get not only some items on my list of home improvement/decorating but also a few replacement items for old clothing that I could not use any longer. In addition I paid back a small loan ($200) from oldest son to help college age daughter with two unforeseen expenses in the text book department.

At a total expenditure of $439.77 I am $89.77 over my budgeted amount for food of $350. I am not going to beat myself up about this since I was way under that amount during the summer months. It will all even up by the end of the year.

I did spend a large amount $211.54 on household goods. This included cleaning/paper/health & beauty as well as home improvement items however.

I filled up the SUV this month to the tune of $187.71 so I came in $13.71 under budget there.

$89.32 was spent on maintenance/repair this month. This amount is going to way higher in October when I put four new tires on the SUV. It has to be done though and I am sticking amounts for this away from paychecks in September.

$34.99 was spent in total on work clothing for myself. Son's Homecoming clothes will come out of the October budget.
And I did spend a completely unnecessary $120 on Pampered Chef. Since it will be several months if not a year before another party comes along I figure this balances out to about $12 a month. :-)

Update: I hit that sale at Kohl's and got youngest son a nice cherry red dress shirt and a matching red/black/gray Jerry Garcia tie both on sale, total cost $45 and some change for his Homecoming Dance (date is wearing a black dress with cherry red shoes),with his black suit he will cut a dashing figure. I also picked up three pairs of cotton twill slacks for myself for work. I am upgrading my look since I not only work in the kitchen all day I am now working aftercare and hence meeting and greeting parents when they pick up the kids. I need to look a little nicer than the jeans and cotton tshirts from Target I have been sporting under my apron. The t-shirts I bought yesterday at Target are the 'dressy' kind in a nice fabric with a dressier look to them. Paired with "boyfriend" cardigans and these twill pants my look will still be practical for cooking but also nicer for being 'front of the house' so to speak.

Saturday Shopping

Yesterday I got out and did some serious shopping for both work and home. I went to a local craft store and spent $35.53. Of that only $9.74 was personal. I picked up some suction cup hooks, some fall pot holders, and a ceramic turkey decoration for home. The remainder I spent for work and will be reimbursed. I picked up some assorted plastic animals for aftercare and some fall decorations for the cafeteria. My next stop was Target where I spent about $75. $25 of this was on sponges for the school cafeteria and another $6 was for mesh bags to wash the aftercare legos in. The rest $44, was on work clothes for myself ( I got four t-shirts, two long sleeved, two short sleeved), a bag of goldfish crackers, and a container of white cheddar seasoning for popcorn.
After GF returned home from his half day of work we went out to BJ's. I spent $63.15. I brought home a case of Arizona green teas that I will take into work for my own use, a large bottle of Mrs Dash seasoning for the cafeteria for $4.99 that I will be reimbursed for, a pumpkin scented jar candle, a pumpkin themed candle topper, a pumpkin spice car air freshener, a dozen apple cider donuts, and a case of Hershey bars that I will hand out at Halloween.
Our final stop was Home Depot where I spent $110. 17 on home improvement items. I picked up 7 new glass globes for my dining room chandelier and the two wall sconces by the living room fireplace. The two globes originally in the living room both got broken and three out of the five dining room globes were severely cracked. This light fixture is 20 years old so I didn't feel too bad having to purchase new globes for it. I also purchased a new hanging light for my front porch ceiling. The current light is almost 30 years old and looking pretty rough. I am still plugging along at a curb appeal update on the exterior of the house and this is something I've been planning on doing. Adult son will switch out the fixtures. (My plan also includes a small 3 foot high white picket fence in front of the walkway leading to the porch as well as new shutters on both the first floor and second floor windows facing the road). I purchased a can of 'gap filler' for adult son to use in closing up a smallish hole we noticed at the top of the foundation at the back of the house. We suspect this is how our  re-occurring mice issue begins. And I picked up a 3x5 foot red area rug for under the kitchen table. The floor of the 'nook' area where the table is only has a crawlspace area beneath it instead of basement and it gets quite cold in the fall and winter months. The rug will help keep our feet warm when we sit there.
I still have a couple of small items I intend to purchase today. The local Kohls is having a sale and I have a 10% off coupon for use this weekend that I will utilize. I intend to get a new fall tablecloth for the kitchen table, a dress shirt and tie for youngest son to wear to the Homecoming Dance, and hopefully a polar fleece leaf themed throw blanket for the living room love seat to match the one I purchased last year for the couch.
An expense end to the month but since it was mostly for household items we needed and work clothes to replace old shirts I had to recreate into cleaning rags I can't complain too much. I am just thankful that I am back to work and can get these things taken care of. And I will be getting back about $61.75 of what I spent from work.

Bonus Day

Friday was a teacher in service at the school I work at which meant a bonus day off for me! There was no question of doing anything like sleeping in since youngest son still had to get to school so Mom still had to wake him up and get him there. I had a plan though and it worked out well. After returning from taking son to school I got to work myself on October dinner menus.
Once those were complete I turned to cleaning house. Three hours of work and I had the main floor totally cleaned, the box fans stowed away in the basement for next year's warm weather season, and a few items of fall decorating out (table linens, pot holders, kitchen towels). I had to run out for some fabric cleaner for the couches and stop by oldest son's house to drop off a few things to him. Once I was back home I cleaned both couches in the living room with the fabric cleaner. Then I packed up and headed out to GF's house for the weekend. Football and watching youngest son march rounded out what was a terrific day for me. Since the staff is required to do four of these in service days this school year I look forward to next month's bonus day!

October Dinner Menus

 My favorite month of the year is upon us. I love everything about October, the crisp weather, the beautiful fall colors of the leaves on the trees, the taste of locally grown apples, pumpkins and Halloween, and three of my favorite people, my middle stepdaughter H, my oldest son R, and my college age daughter L, all have birthdays this month.
Truly this month is my favorite for menu planning as well. As I mentioned previously I have developed an October menu plan that alternates slow cooking, quick cooking, and weekend meals that yield planned overs. I have also gone heavily with fall themed food ideas, soups, stews, and harvest ingredients like apples, pumpkin, and corn. I am alternating family favorites with some new recipes from my collection of fall themed Gooseberry Patch Cookbooks. New recipes I am trying are in bold, recipes yielding planned overs are underlined, and recipes using planned overs are in italics. Four Fridays are football/marching band nights and one Saturday we are going out to dinner so I did not plan menus for those nights.

Slow cooker Pork Tenderloin, vanilla glazed sweet potatoes, green beans

Horseradish encrusted tilapia, hash browns, broccoli with garlic and herbs

Pork stir fry, steamed rice

Mom's baked pork chops, Au gratin potatoes, Harvard beets

Herb crusted eye of round roast, mashed potatoes, candied carrots

Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas, spanish rice, refried beans

French Dip Sandwiches, Oven fries

Garam Masala Salmon, basmati rice, cucumber salad

"Libby" soup (this is Vegetable soup, I was making this when I went into labor with daughter and it is now known as Libby soup), Hawaiian rolls

Roast chicken with stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce

Shrimp Orzo skillet, salad

Chicken and Noodles, garlic toast

Pumpkin-Sausage Penne, Autumn salad

Mom's Macaroni and cheese, green salad with green goddess dressing

Spaghetti and Meatballs, salad

Garlic Pot Roast, egg noodles, peas

Creamy butternut squash soup, Ham and cheese panini

Skillet lasagna, garlic toast, salad

Herb Garden Chicken, steamed rice, California blend veggies

Beef and Potato casserole, capri blend veggies

Tuna and Sun Dried tomato penne, salad

Apple Glazed Pork Roast, mashed potatoes, green beans

Bacon Corn Chowder, buttermilk biscuits

Country style Ham Au Gratin, spinach salad

Pork and Gravy Stew, crescent rolls

Pumpkin Waffles, hash browns, maple sausages