Frugal Friday Wrap Up 1/6/23

 

  Saturday:  We finally got to celebrate Christmas!!!!

~We had a lovely meal with everyone bringing a dish to share.  I made a huge crockpot full of homemade Macaroni and Cheese (per my grandson Isaiah's request).  There was a bunch leftover so I had Heather divide it between their family and Jaysn.  We had ham, scalloped potatoes, stuffing, green beans and cookies for dessert.  Later in the evening we had some locally made herb cheese, and smoked salmon dip on crackers.

~Heather and Chris sent us home with freshly laid chicken eggs and some more of the locally made cheese.

~We were blessed with so many lovely gifts of food, homemade ornaments, a vintage Raggedy Ann doll for me from Heather's mother, warm fleece jammie pants for Jeff and a framed picture that I have treasured growing up of my father, two of my uncles, and three family friends including Arte Johnson (some of you may remember him as the short German soldier on the show Laugh In that always said "very interesting"). It was taken at the International Billfish Tournament awards ceremony many many years ago.

~I gifted our children and grandkids with homemade Cranberry Orange Bread.  I had to laugh when I first walked into Chris and Heather's house and Chris immediately asked if I had brought him some. 😆  There was one year that I did not make it and boy did I hear about it!  Our grandkids got wonderful presents from us...a Tonka tractor for Steven (found at the thrift store), a nice fuzzy reading bed pillow that Bradley had been begging for (thank you Target) and a nice soft and warm mummy sleeping bag for our Isaiah who hates to be cold (thrift store again).  They loved their gifts!

~Our grandkids really cracked me up!  They were running around handcuffing each other (yes, my oldest grandson has his own pair of police grade handcuffs since his daddy is a police officer and he was fascinated by them from a young age).  I had them all line up with handcuffs on and act like they had gotten caught doing something bad...this is how the picture turned out...

  The look on Steven's face just cracks me up...he is definitely the ring leader!  LOL! And yes, there are three pairs of handcuffs.  Chris got out his work pair plus his spare pair for the kiddos.  

Sunday:

~Jeff and I stayed home and I took a very long and much needed nap.

~Jeff made us nachos for dinner.

~We had a nice visit via Facebook camera thingy with my parents.

Monday:

~I used some of the leftover cheese sauce from the homemade macaroni and cheese dish that I took over for our Christmas dinner to make a chicken, rice, broccoli and cauliflower casserole.  Oh it was so good! It also gave us leftovers for another meal.

~I used a saved cereal bag to crush the buttery crackers that toped the casserole above.  The bags are thick and don't break open.  I also used them to flatten or tenderize meat in.

~My sister and I had a lovely and long visit via Facebook's camera thingy.  I miss her terribly!

~I got caught up on laundry, washed our sheets and towels, vacuumed the floors and cleaned all the pictures and frames in the hallway.  I use the hallway as my family picture gallery, so there were a lot of frames to clean. I was so sore after doing all of that, but it was nice to get it done.

~I met my hanai sister/neighbor at our shared fence to give her our Christmas gifts for her.  We gave her a loaf of the cranberry orange bread (it has become a Christmas tradition and she loves it) and a really nice candle that I got for half price right after Christmas.  It smells divine.  I liked it so much that I got one for myself also.

Tuesday:

~I overdid it on Monday so today was a day of minimal effort.

~I had some of the leftover casserole for lunch.

~I never got a bill for my health insurance that changed this month.  I finally got ahold of a representative (who was in India) and found out that I had a previous credit that covered the first month's premium.  I will get a bill next month though.  At least I know that my new insurance is active and I am covered.

~YouTube has been a wonderful source of finding info on the vote for Speaker of the House and the Idaho murders of the four college students. I guess we have to wait for at least a day to find out who will be the next Speaker of the House.

~Ravioli was pulled out of the freezer, cooked up and pasta sauce added for dinner.  We had crescent rolls with it.

Wednesday:

~Jeff took some of the leftover casserole for lunch.

~Josh sent me online links to the houses they are looking at in Utah to possibly buy.  It was fun to look at all of them.

~I uploaded digital coupons onto my Safeway card.  I also looked at the ads online and only found about 2 items that I thought were a good price.  I will have Jeff pick up some of the Cosmic Crisp apples that are on sale at one of the stores that is on his way home from work.

~Leftovers for dinner.

~I seem to have an eye for art.  I was researching some prints and oil paintings that I bought at thrift stores.  Yep, I did very well thank you!

~We are planning a family camping trip in June with our kids and grandkids that live near us.  Our son Chris called today to offer us their tent trailer to use and they will use their large tent.  They wanted us to be more comfortable since they know that both Jeff and I have issues that can lead to some very rough nights and days.  I thanked them and told them if the grandkids wanted to bunk in with us, they could.  Yes, we are very blessed by our children who watch out for us.

Thursday:

~Jeff took the rest of the leftover chicken/rice casserole for lunch and a sandwich for dinner since he has bowling league on Thursday nights.

~Jeff picked up some produce that was on sale for me before he went to bowling.

~I made a salad with the same flavor profile as one I had at a restaurant.  I used items that I had on hand so it was a bit different, but still good.  I used some coleslaw mix (minus the dressing), crasins, a sliced up apple, some feta cheese, and some pecan pieces.  I made a quick raspberry vinaigrette to pour over the top.  YUMMY!

~I was doing a search on some jewelry that I was given by both my grandmother and my mother.  The pieces date back to the Victorian era and apparently are quite valuable.  I sent a picture off one of them to my mother in hopes that she would know more about the history of the one necklace.  My grandmother gave it to me when I graduated from high school.  I wore it on my graduation day and then again on the day I got married.  My granddaughter Peyton will be given these one day.

Friday:

~My plan was to go in to town early in the morning and get things done.  However, there was black ice on the roads, so I decided to wait until things warmed up a bit and the ice melted.  Being in an accident definitely would not have been frugal. 😉

~I got the shopping done and was not happy at all with the price increases.  I crossed several things off my list that were wants and not needs because there was no way I am going to pay $2.00 more for a product than I did the last time I bought it.

~I stopped at a local thrift store and got a big woven basket for $6.99 to store fleece throws in the living room.  I like to have extra throws there for people to grab when they come over.  They also had books on sale buy one and get one free.  I was able to get a book for myself, one as a future gift, and two books for my grandson Isaiah that I think he will enjoy. Candles were $2.50 each.  I found two brand new large jar candles that I absolutely loved the scent of.

~Walmart had their fleece throws on sale for .75 each on clearance.  I bought 3 of them in a winter plaid pattern.  I like to use these for Christmas tree skirts.  They also had packages of cold medications for both night and day use for $3 each.  I bought 3 of them since that was the limit. Oh, I also bought some Christmas ornaments for 75% off.

~Dollar Tree was another stop and I got more cold medications there as well as decongestants.  I am trying to make sure that my cold and flu meds are once again topped off.  While there I also picked up more canned pineapple (it's the cheapest place to get it now).