My simple existence

 I recently have come to know a woman who has led a vastly different life than my own and has a wildly different perspective than the one I have. She was born and raised in a major city by a family of wealth. Married into money and continued to live the high life. The standard two children, boarding schools, summer camps, summer home on the coast, the best of everything. She is currently living differently following her divorce. She is the only friend in her circle who holds down a job (she works multiple part time jobs to supplement her generous alimony), no longer has the summer home, lives rent free in a 'family' home for which she only pays utilities, drives a late model SUV, and claims to no longer be able afford the latest fashions etc. And yet she is still seeing life from the other side of the fence, recommending boarding schools and camps for children, talking about vacation resorts, and fancy trips. The very things I think of as high priced she sees as necessities (for example grocery shopping...she regularly shops the most expensive markets in the city and says what a bargain they are). She is a very nice person who appears content with her new life and yet  I find myself feeling a bit sorry for her. She sees one of her children only at the Christmas holiday and the other one for about two weeks a year. She has friends but doesn't spend much time with any of them. And she seems totally bewildered by someone (myself) who is enthusiastic about growing my own vegetables, reading, crocheting and spending time with family and friends. I get the feeling she feels just a bit sorry for me. LOL. But despite my financial struggles I am so blessed in all the things money cannot buy and I am happy in my simple little life.  Two sides of the fence with two different views and yet we feel the same about each other.

Where has the time gone?

  I cannot believe that it has been over two months since I last sat down to share on this blog. I have no excuse except that life has gotten in the way of blogging about life. And as I have complained before I am just totally exhausted after working an 11 hour day and by the time I make dinner and clean up I am done for.  No major changes have gone on around the home front in the last two months though. My DIL's mom and I threw a baby shower for her and my son, I attended another baby shower for the girlfriend of one of my nephews, the GF and I spent a wonderful weekend celebrating his birthday at a bed and breakfast in the Amish area of Ohio called Berlin at a B & B called the Lamplight Inn. I highly recommend it.
Easter came and went and we had a wonderful holiday with extended family. Spring break also flew by and my middle son J and I made one major purchase for our home: new furniture for our living room. We didn't go insane, we actually found these pieces at Big Lots. They are name brand and very well made. We chose a black leather couch with matching loveseat and recliner. I didn't want anything upholstered since our pug has taken to relieving  himself inside on anything he can reach that is fabric. He is a bad little doggie. Since this purchase not only does the living room look snazzy, it smells about a thousand percent better.  During break a few minor jobs that had piled up got accomplished and I have a nice list all ready to go for the summer months. Summer job hunting did not go well for me and I have been unable to find anything. I will continue to work my twice a month cleaning gig all through the summer, and I have saved up what I hope will be enough to get us through as far as bills go. Adult son who lives at home has volunteered to help out with groceries but I am stockpiling the freezer and the pantry and hoping to keep this cost to a minimum purchase of fresh produce and dairy. There are two major events coming up in the next few months, the birth of my newest grandchild due in just a few short weeks and my youngest son's high school graduation party in July. I planned ahead and saved all the decorations I used last year for youngest daughter so those are good to go. I will have this at the local metro parks in the free shelter area like I did for daughter so no expense there. And family has already offered to pitch in and bring something so that is good.  I still have the rest of this week, a four day week next week, a full week after that and then two additional days of work left. Every single penny that I can save will be used for summer expenses from the three paychecks I have left for the year.  I was surprised and delighted to see I am receiving a small raise (25¢ an hour) for next year in my contract so that is good news.
I am promising myself to do better here with keeping up the blogging (and reading my favorite blogs which I am so behind on) from now on. June menus are under construction so that will be coming up here shortly.
It is good to be back.

March Menus

 Although we are into the second week of March I do have menus put together for the month. This last week included a Pot Roast simmered in Tastefully Simple's Irish Stout Slow Cooker sauce and it was fabulously delicious. I highly recommend this sauce. The lady I purchased it from is a regular at a local weekly farmer's market. Needless to say I will be buying more. Along with the pot roast we had mashed potatoes and green beans. Monday I took off from my aftercare job to run a few errands I could not do on the weekend and which could wait until Friday which was a teacher inservice day. So I popped an eye round in the oven and we had herb crusted eye of round roast, buttered Amish egg noodles, and Brussels sprouts. Tuesday no one else was home for dinner so after work I just warmed up a plate of leftovers from Monday's dinner. Wednesday I tried a new recipe for slow cooker macaroni and cheese. Youngest son loved it but adult son and I didn't care much for it. Won't be trying it again. Thursday we had pizza. Friday GF and I grabbed fish sandwiches and went to the Auto Show. Last night GF and I had dinner with my oldest son and his wife at our favorite local Italian restaurant.
SO....the menus start with today's plan:

Irish Garlic Sausages
Mashed potatoes
candied carrots

The rest of the menus are in no particular order. I am still following my weeknight plan of alternating slow cooker recipes with quick recipes. We do have one more 'out to eat' planned for the last Friday of the month when we will give a local fish fry (not the one where I work) a try. And the two Fridays I work the GF is in charge of dinner. New recipes are marked with an *, slow cooker recipes are in bold, and quick recipes are in italics.

Country beef stew, crescent rolls

Grilled balsamic salmon*, white and wild rice, salad

Rustic Chicken stew*, Herb rolls

Grilled coffee encrusted steaks, butter crumb noodles, broccoli

Herb roasted pork tenderloin with apples*, roasted winter vegetables

Pork schnitzel, Mom's kniffles, cinnamon applesauce, green beans

Corned Beef and Cabbage, egg noodles, carrots

Pasta Carbonara Florentine, Caprese salad

Gail's Pork Adobo, steamed jasmine rice, lemon-garlic green beans

Moroccan Lamb chops, Sun dried tomato couscous

Spaghetti with Meatballs, salad

Hawaiian Short Ribs, steamed rice, Hawaiian coleslaw

Chicken Piccata, linguine with pesto, broccoli with garlic

Minestrone soup, Tuscan herb rolls

Chicken stir fry, steamed rice

Shepherd's Pie, Brussels sprouts

Italian Chicken and Pasta*, Italian blend veggies

Soft Tacos, Spanish rice

Better late than....

Never......Once again a large gap in time between blogging. And once again I must place the blame squarely on being busy. I celebrated my birthday with a lovely dinner out with several of my children as well as two of my grandsons.  And after that it was flat out working to get ready for my lunch programs state inspection for NSLP certification. That was completed last Tuesday and all went well. Yeah!! I have some follow up paperwork to do but it is really minor stuff.
And we are in to fish fry season as well. However this year I have very little to do beyond putting away their food delivery and clearing out of the way on Fridays.
Wednesday was the beginning of Lent and as practicing Catholics my family observes the dietary restrictions that go along with this. After much thought I chose this year to not only sacrifice something but to really try to set a meaningful spiritual goal as well. I will not be eating fast food, junk food, or soda pop. All good things for my body. My goal is from Matthew 5:44 "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you". Now I can't think of anyone as an 'enemy' per se and I try not to feel persecuted (despite it being fish fry season, lol) but there are those folks with whom I do not see eye to eye and who I may not care for and who may not care for me. I am making a conscious effort to include extra prayer every day and to remember those people. Doing something good for my soul.

Even though I have not had time to blog I have made March menus and done my March grocery shopping. Details to follow!

February grocery shopping

It has been one of those months again where I don't seem to be able to find ten minutes to myself to drop in here. Busy doesn't even begin to cover the last two weeks. I've attended a baby shower, finally worked a full week, attended the big Home and Garden show, visited the newest casino in town (and came home $42 richer, lol),  worked my twice a month cleaning gig twice, and spent a couple of snow days cleaning and running around.  I've also been to the E-check station for my mandatory every other year check on my vehicle and gotten my new license plate stickers. And had a very nice dinner out with my sweetie on Valentine's Day.
I have also managed to get my grocery shopping for the month completed. Two separate trips this time, one to BJs after the baby shower and one to Aldi on my last snow day.
My trip to BJ's was $241.55. I spent $32.92 on household items (magic erasers, laundry detergent, and Comet cleanser), another $15 on cat food, and the remainder of  $193.63 on groceries. I came home with a whole boneless pork loin, a corned beef, a case of yogurt, a turkey breast, 3 lbs. of lemons, a container of organic spring greens, a bag of red bell peppers, a bag of broccoli slaw, 3 lbs. brown sugar, 5 lbs. sweet potatoes, 5 lbs. of sweet onions, 3 lbs. granny smith apples, a bottle of organic mango juice, a 2 pck. of ruby red grapefruit juice, 2 lbs. of strawberries, a box of clementines, one container marinated mini fresh mozzarella balls, one package fresh basil, a large container of grape tomatoes, two English cucumbers, one package of fresh cheese ravioli,
and a two pack of coffee creamer.
I used the snow day we had after President's Day to finish up at Aldi. I spent $119.52 all on food. A lot of snack foods and some frozen things for youngest son to make himself a quick 'second lunch' when he arrives home from school. He was complaining that dinner is so late now that he really needs something to eat mid afternoon. He was with me so he chose the items.  I came home with 6 'slim jim' snacks for the kids, 2 packages of frozen cheese manicotti, 2 packs of cheddar brats, a box of taquitos, 2 boxes of frozen pocket sandwiches, 1/2 gallon of cookie dough ice cream, 1/2 gallon vanilla bean ice cream, 4 boxes of Yakisoba noodle bowls, 1 box spaghetti, 1 jar cinnamon applesauce, 1 bottle C boost organic juice, 2 bottles ruby red grapefruit juice (my teen son LOVES this stuff), 1 bottle organic apple juice, 1 bottle 100% cranberry juice, 1 bottle 100% cherry juice, 10lbs russet potatoes, 1 hunk of sundried tomato-basil cheese, 1 pint lowfat cottage cheese, 2 hunks NY white cheddar, 1 bag string cheese, 1 package potato gnocchi, 1 bottle basil olive oil, 2 packages organic bacon, 1/2 gallon organic 2% milk (new item giving it a try), 1 bag spinach, 1 bag cheese puffs, 1 bag nacho chips, 1 pack chocolate pudding cups, 1 can whipped topping, 2 boxes
rice a roni, 1 bag shredded cheddar, 1 bunch celery, 1 box cinnamon graham crackers, 1 box 'cream of wheat'cereal, 1 bag penguin cheese crackers, 1 box regular graham crackers, 1 box ritz style crackers, 1 box mini peanut butter stuffed crackers, 1 box mini cheese stuffed crackers, 2 bags of kettle chips, 1 bag baby carrots, 1 bag beef jerky (an adult son request), and a dozen eggs.
Youngest son suggested a meal that was off our menu plans but for which we had purchased all the ingredients so we ended up our day with Pasta Carbonara Florentine, a salad, and watched a taped episode of Sherlock.

Let's talk groceries...

I have been increasingly intrigued by the idea of CSAs(community supported agriculture) while reading about another blogger's adventures along these lines.I have seriously been considering this option for myself and just coincidentally I recently had two spontaneous conversations about CSA 's available in my area with two different people at work. I definately wanted an opinion from someone who'd done this here and it was pretty funny/odd that both of these women brought up the topic. What they had to say made me think.  Both of them had chosen to do a CSA last season and both had two very different opinions, although both had also come to the same conclusion. Co-worker 1 was basically happy with her program, although she had a few minor complaints about pickup times and locations. She did think the foods available were varied and quality was consistent and she liked the 'artisan' items that were included.  She did say however that she wasn't going to choose this option this year because of the difficulties involved in picking up the items and the price increase for the coming season. Co-worker 2 hated the whole thing. From the pickup issues to the items offered. She also said she'd not try this again because she did not feel she was getting good value for her money.
I did some research myself and took a look at the limited number of CSAs with pickup locations/times (I was surprised that so many of them only had 'during work hours' times) that were not inconvenient to me. I found all of them to be more money than I am willing to spend. We have so many local seasonal farmer's markets (as well as two excellent year round ones) with lots of fruit farms within driving distance that do pick-your-own or who sell their own products on sight in this area that I think I will pass on this option. I am not willing to dedicate what amounts to $65 a week for 22 weeks, paid in full upfront, from my food budget. Having taken a year end look at what I averaged on groceries last year (just over $400 a month, or $100 a week) this is more than half my weekly expenses.
So now I am turning my interests towards looking at what I can grow in my back garden and which local seasonal markets I am interested in patronizing this year. Adult son has promised to make me two more raised bed boxes and fill them with dirt as a birthday present again this year. I am good with that and am currently browsing seed catalogs deciding what to grow.

February Menu Plans

 Since I am home again today I decided it was an excellent time to prepare my February dinner menus while having a second cup of coffee.
I am going to follow my previous plan of alternating slow cooker meals with quickly prepared meals on work nights. There are a few special occasions coming up in February, a birthday party for youngest son and his cousin, Valentine's Day (GF & I will go out to eat), my birthday (once again GF and I will go out to dinner) and a raffle that we attend each year. Also on Friday nights GF has been either cooking or taking me somewhere to eat since I do not get out of work until late. So the only Friday I needed to plan for was the last one of the month since my aftercare job has been cancelled for that evening due to a big school fundraiser. (another hit to the bank account..boo). Slow cooker meals are in bold. Meals using leftovers are in italics and meals prepared in under thirty minutes are underlined. I am also trying a couple of new to me recipes that I have indicated with an *.

Dry Rubbed Pork Roast*, mashed potatoes, green beans with walnuts

Pork Stir fry, steamed rice, egg rolls

Beef Brisket, egg noodles, broccoli with garlic and herbs

BBQ Beef sandwiches, oven fries, peas

Pumpkin Lentil soup, Hawaiian rolls

Chicken Marsala, parmesan risotto, salad

Roast Turkey breast, stovetop style stuffing with dried cranberries, Corn

Slow Cooker Swiss steak*, egg noodles, broccoli

Turkey burritos, yellow rice, green salad

Mom's One Pot Dinner* crescent rolls

Shrimp Orzo Skillet, salad

Spaghetti with meatballs , salad

Herb crusted eye of round, au gratin potatoes,  green beans

Honey glazed chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies

Skillet Lasagna, salad, garlic toast

Corned beef with cabbage, potato pancakes, carrots

Balsamic glazed Salmon*, basmati rice, broccoli

Gail's Pork Adobo (giving this a try in the slow cooker), steamed rice, asian blend veggies

Horseradish encrusted tilapia, garlic potatoes, coleslaw

Chicken stew, whole wheat biscuits

Mom's Chicken paprikash, drop dumplings, green beans

Modenese Pork Chops* white and wild rice, corn