A Thrifty Thursday

 

                

   Well, yesterday proved to be a day of unexpected bills.  I did the taxes and we thought we were going to be getting a refund...NOPE!  We owed both Federal and Idaho state taxes.  Jeff works in Idaho, so we have to pay non resident taxes in that state.  I paid online for the federal, but we are mailing in the Idaho stuff since Tax Act wanted to charge me for it.  Luckily we did have the money in savings to cover it all, so that was a huge relief.  Jeff came home to me just finishing up the taxes at dinner time and took pity on me and made grilled cheese sandwiches for our dinner.  I love that man! 😘

   That being said, today is one of those "I'm on the frugal warpath" kind of days.  Luckily the weather is cooperating, so I was able to hang the laundry out on the line to dry.  It is unseasonably warm (in the low 70's), but we are expecting more rain, freezing temps and even snow within the next 7 days or so.  There is something so calming to me when I am hanging out laundry to dry...I have no idea why, but hey, I'll take some moments of calmness in this world that has seemed to have gone totally crazy.

   While the laundry was going in the washer, I got some water boiling and thinly cut up a potato into small dices and then added it to the water.  I the added some Auguson Farms cheesy broccoli soup mix to it, along with a handful of frozen broccoli that I had in the freezer that need to be used up.  I let that simmer while I moved on to my next project.

   Remember those large cartons of ricotta cheese that I found for $1 each, well I had one left that needed to be used.  I mixed the ricotta up with some parmesan cheese and some Olive Garden herb mix.  I then layered the sauce, noodles (uncooked), ricotta cheese, a handful of mozzarella cheese from a bag I pulled out of the freezer, and then repeated that pattern all over again until my pans were full and the top layer of noodles was covered with sauce.  I was able to make 3 pans to pop into the freezer.  This is our idea of convenience meals and makes it easy to grab one to give to someone who might also need a meal.

   I had to break the lasagna noodles up to fit in the pans, so I had lots of broken pieces of noodles.  I never throw them away.  I put them in a bag to use in homemade soups in the near future.  This is something that I learned many years ago from my mother, who was a great teacher in all things frugal!

   While out in the freezer putting the lasagna in, I grabbed some cotta salami for Jeff and also a bag full of frozen Zuppa Toscana.  The soup will be dinner tomorrow night since we are expecting bad weather to move back in.  Soup on a rainy night is something that brings me comfort and makes me feel all cozy.  Again, having that soup all made and in the freezer for me to just pull out is convenience food at it's finest.  I may make some garlic and cheddar biscuits to go with it.  That just sounds delicious and I know Jeff would love it!

   It's now mid afternoon and I am going to take the rest of the day off, other than bringing in and folding that laundry when it is done drying.  Jeff has bowling tonight, so I don't have to make dinner for the two of us.  I'll just grab something easy, maybe those egg rolls from the freezer??? 😉 I am in the middle of a bad fibro flare, but have been pushing myself to get some things done.  My pain levels are going back up again, so I may have to talk to my doctor about raising me pain medication dosage.  I need to get adjusted to it before I have Steven here a few days a week this Summer.  Sometimes it takes me a good month or more to adjust unfortunately. 

   So that is it for today...stay busy, stay frugal and stay prayed up and sane!