Friday, June 19, 2020

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 6/14-6/19 2020

Parsley and dill from the garden.
   








   Another week down and just a few more to go before Jeff finally gets to have his knee replacement surgery.  We started the countdown with a full physical and bloodwork for him this week (and bloodwork for me which I have once a year due to my thyroid issues).  We also did the last big stock up making sure we have everything here that we need for the fur babies for the next 2 months so we do not run out while Jeff recovers.  I don't want the kids to have to make grocery runs for us either.  Oh, totally off subject, but before I forget, a dear friend that works at one of the bigger hospitals told me that they are running humidifiers in the hospitals because it helps to make the Covid-19 virus particles "drop out of the air" because the moisture makes them heavy.  If it cannot stay airborne, there is less chance of getting infected since it enters your body through the mucus membranes. Our swamp cooler is perfect for this and she urged us to have our kids all run humidifiers in their homes also.   I just wanted to pass that info on since Covid-19 is ramping up again in some areas and I want all my friends to be safe. 😘 Now, onto the frugal doings...



Zuppa Toscana and bread.




Weekend:
~I made a huge pot of Zuppa Toscana using kale from our garden, free potatoes, marked down chicken Italian sausage, brother from the Dollar Tree, a free onion, and some spices and half n half I had on hand.  So good!
~We found marked down French bread for .39 a loaf at Walmart.  I got two loaves. I also found a marked down cooked chicken in the deli for $2.69.
~There was a double pack of pork roast marked down at Winco so I picked it up and froze it for future meals.
~I made pancakes and put some of the strawberries I had cut up on Friday on top of them....YUMMY!

Pancakes and sliced strawberries.





Monday:
~Lunch was leftover Zuppa Toscana with a few sliced of the French bread.
~Dinner was some of the chicken I got from the deli, baked potatoes and some sugar snap peas along with a handful of cherries.
~I made 2 more loaves of homemade sandwich bread.
~I stuck the potted plants out in the rain to get a good soaking.
~I did not finish my coffee in the morning so I put it in the refrigerator while I took a nap and had it cold later.

Salad with lettuce from our garden, chicken, tomatoes, avocados.


Tuesday:
~I made a huge salad with lettuce from our garden, some of the deli chicken, an avocado, tomato and some caramelized onion dressing. Perfect lunch!
~Jeff and I made a list of all the things we needed to pick up and do on Thursday so we did not forget things yet again. 😉
~Our Imperfect Foods order came in today.  I forgot to skip it so they automatically filled it for me with things they thought I would want. It was delivered a day earlier than normal.  I'm glad we were home.
~Jeff did the hot tub maintenance.
~Leftover soup again for me for dinner and Jeff had chicken and garlic toast.

Marked down chicken from the deli.


Wednesday:
~I harvested strawberries, dill and parsley from the garden.
~The parsley and dill were dehydrated for future use.
~I gave some rhubarb from our garden to my hanai sister.
~It rained so Jeff and I did not need to water the garden.
~Coupons were uploaded to my Safeway card.

Dehydrated parsley and dill from our garden.


Thursday:
~Jeff and I both had our doctor's appointments and had back to back appointments so that we could save time and gas money.
~We found a deli chicken marked way down to $2.57 so I bought it and stuck it in the freezer for later.
~We shopped the sales and stocked up on a few items that we needed.
~All cards for birthdays, Father's Day, etc, bought at the Dollar Tree.
~I harvested more strawberries from the garden.
~Jeff and I picked up dinner off the budget menu at Jack in the Box on our way home from out doctors appointments and shopping.  We had not eaten all day since I had a fasting bloodwork and we got up right before having to leave for our doctors appointments.
~We Skyped with Josh and Lauren and they shared the gender or our newest grandbaby who is due in December. :)  I can't share that yet though since it is their news to share with friends first. 😉

Mint from our garden.


Friday:
~I pulled a homemade turkey enchilada dinner out of the freezer for dinner.  I also cooked up a pot of cilantro lime rice since I had cilantro that needed to be used. It made for a much easier day for Jeff and I.
~With it getting hotter, I pulled the blinds down on the screened in porch and it really helped with the heat.
~The mint plants are going nuts so I harvested a bunch of mint and got it dehydrating for citrus mint tea during the colder months.  I love it and so does Rachel. I plan on doing a lot more batches of this since we have tons and tones of mint.
~We took Caesar for a short walk.
~Jeff got the soaker hose snaked through the raspberry and blackberry patches.
~We cleaned out my car and found all kinds of stuff in there that had been "missing".
~We had ice cream sandwiches for dessert.  I bought them a 24 pack on sale for $6.99 which makes each sandwich about .29 each.  Very cheap treat and so good at the end of a hot day.

Cilantro Lime rice and homemade turkey enchiladas.







   Not a whole lot more going on around here.  We are doing our best to get the gardens ready (which means lots of weeding and hopefully mulching this weekend) for the heat.  The plan at this point is to stay home this weekend, work in the gardens and watch some movies.  Sunday we will BBQ here for Jeff for Father's Day.  I hope you all have a great weekend!


   

   













8 comments:

  1. Sounds like you've had a great week, Debbie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Bless and I hope you have too. :)

      Delete
  2. My husband has had 9 knee surgeries and a tip you might want is to plan ahead and have the meal you will eat the day he comes home as ready as it can be.
    After one surgery, we decided to get takeout on the way home but it was one of those times when takeout did not go easy. And we were not in the mood at all for difficulty.
    So, now I always plan ahead and it’s just one less hassle

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Rhonda. I have some meals all cooked ahead and in the freezer ready to go. I'll just pull one out the night before he is due to come home, pop it in the freezer and let it thaw in there, and then pop it in the oven when we get home. Either that or one of my DIL's will bring us a meal for that first and second night he is home. They are amazing that way!

      Delete
  3. I would love to have that cilantro lime rice recipe. I hope Jeff's surgery goes well. Take care of yourself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/cilantro_lime_rice/ I did not have the actual lime so I did not add in the lime zest. I did have bottled lime juice and used that in place of the fresh lime.

      Delete
  4. I always love these updates.
    I'm dragging a bit today - I had two appointments this week as well. Fortunately both were phone appointments but still tiring.

    It's raining all day today here so no need to go to the gardens. I'm happy for the break. Yesterday, I harvested garlic scapes, radish, turnip, strawberries and...drum roll... one tiny artichoke. Oh my gosh, it was so good. The down side to growing in the middle of a city park in a community garden is that often produce walks away. I wanted to get the artichoke harvested before that happened. There are two more smaller chokes growing so it will be interesting to see how big they get. I started with three plants but only one survived the winter. They're perenials which I love and obviously don't know how to spell..
    Take good care.
    SJ in Vancouver BC

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HI SJ! YOur garden sounds like it is doing great! I am going to have to try growing artichokes here. I have always been told they won't survive the winter but you have given me hope!

      Delete

Thank you for taking time to comment on my blog posts. I really appreciate it and being able to get to know you through your comments. I hope you have a wonderful day!