Making do

So we had oodles of leftover hot dogs from the family reunion on Sunday. I'm trying to get creative with ways to use them. I hauled out my old fashioned grinder and in just a few short minutes had two bowls of ground meat- one bowl will become tonight's supper of sloppy dogs (make like sloppy joes but with hot dogs instead of hamburger) and the other will become sandwich spread - like ham salad.

My grinder sits on a shelf in the pantry, all assembled and ready to pull out at moment's notice. It took me less than 5 minutes to put it on the chair (one we keep only because it will accommodate the grinder clamp), and grind the hot dogs. It will be easier to clean than my food processor, used no electricity and always gives me tons of satisfaction to be using the same kitchen "appliances" that my grandmother and mother used. Plus we like the texture of the grinder, far better than we like the food processor.

Solar Apple Cooker

http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperiments/agesubject/lessons/handouts/solarbake.html

Can also be used to bake a potato, cook small amounts of basically any foods.

November 1st -

New month, new car, lots of $$$$.

So - back on the frugal band wagon in earnest this month. In actuality, we did really well in Oct. as far as not spending unnecessary money. But the car repairs, and buying another car, really hurt.

I'm going to try to post here more often about my frugal journey.

Weight loss

So some of the people at work haven't ante'd up for the contest. . . but I'm going strong.

Have to do this frugally too -- so we're using up some of the items in our freezer, eating seasonally - just being careful with the calories and fat grams.

Menu Planning to Save Money

Ok- going to menu plan for this week, and next - so we can clean out the fridge before we leave on vacation, and save a few more $$. So here goes:

Week of 2/22

Sunday:

Breakfast- sausage/biscuits/gravy, juice
Lunch - lunchmeat sandwiches, chips, soda
Supper- shrimp scampi, rice, green beans, jello

Monday:

Breakfast - oatmeal, juice
Lunch - tuna,crackers, fresh veggies, mixed fruit cups, soda
Supper - baked potato/cheese sauce/ left over veggies , tea, brownies

Tuesday:

Breakfast - toast, peanut butter, juice
Lunch- various leftovers, soda
Supper - some type of meatloaf, corn, salad, leftover jello

Wednesday:

Breakfast - waffle french toast, strawberries, milk
Lunch - ranch chicken wraps, fresh veggies, yogurt, tea
Supper - beef stew/dumplings , apple crisp, tea

Thursday:

Breakfast - cinnamon rolls, fruit, milk
Lunch - salmon patties, cabbage wedges, cookies, tea
Supper - meatless spaghetti, garlic toast, mixed veggies, tea

Friday:

Breakfast - cold cereal, milk
Lunch - homemade hot pockets (using up leftovers), salad, tea
Supper - oatmeal patties, mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed veggies, fruit pie, tea

Saturday :

Breakfast - bacon, toast, eggs, juice
Lunch - chef salad, tea, banana
Supper - potato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, leftover sweets, tea

Trying to save

So today's frugalness:

used 5 potatoes that were going bad, to make potato soup (also used powdered milk, instead of regular milk)

snagged the Sunday inserts from mom -- not a lot of coupons, but a couple of B1GOF

keeping the thermostat down, and the lights off

working night shift with differential (about $3/hour more)

Need to figure out a budget for the trip, and make sure we have enough to cover everything, plus some for incidentals.