Homemade Turkey Soup and Monday Musings 4/3/23

 

   I did not do a Frugal Friday Wrap Up for this past week.  It was a really bad week for me pain wise due to my Fibromyalgia acting up with all the weather changes and my back continuing to bug the $%#& out of me.  I spent a good deal of time in bed and was so happy when I was actually able to sleep through the pain.  Even with that though, Jeff and I were able to get some things done around here. 

   I went down and got commodities from our local food giveaway.  They had so much food there and were telling people to take as much fresh produce as they wanted.  I ended up with pears, apples, tangerines, tons of oranges, potatoes, onions, garlic and carrots from the produce table.  I also brought home lots of cereals, canned meats, veggies and fruits, rice, dehydrated potato flakes, dried milk, beans, peanut butter, frozen meats and fish, HBA items, bakery items and some other things that are slipping my mind at the moment.  Jeff and I got that all sorted out and put away. I left a package of frozen pork stew meat out to thaw in the refrigerator and made a nice creamy pork stew with that and served it over mashed potatoes the following night.  The items that I got there allowed me to cross all but 3 items off my shopping list.  It's a good thing too, because Jeff went out this morning to take my car to work and the battery was dead.  He had to buy a new one today to replace the dead one.  I was able to just shift some of the money in our budget to take care of that expense since I did not need much for groceries.  The other HUGE hit to the budget was having to file our Federal and Idaho taxes and owing way more than we had imagined on our Federal taxes.  That is all filed now and taken care of also.  Next big hit will be the property taxes.  It sometimes feels like we are just bleeding money.  I did make a very frugal dinner after all of that with the last of the Yaki Soba noodles and sauce that I had in the refrigerator.  I added veggies and some ham to it and had a nice glass of wine with it.  The wine was from my neighbor/hanai sister Shannon.

   Over the weekend, I made a very nice turkey dinner for Jeff and I.  I needed the room in the big chest freezer so I put the turkey in a cooler on the back porch to thaw.  It took 4 days to defrost that sucker!  And yes, the space that the turkey had occupied was quickly filled up with some wonderful fish, hamburger and pork chops, along with some of the taco soup I made last week and froze.  The turkey was a little over 11 pounds, but out of that, we will get many meals.  In addition to the turkey dinner with the trimmings, we also have turkey slices for sandwiches, turkey cubed up for enchiladas and a casserole (these will be frozen to make later), and a HUGE pot of turkey noodle soup.  I am really looking forward to having some of it tonight, some later in the week and freezing some for another meal at a later date.

   I finally got some good news, my echocardiogram was finally approved!  It has only taken about 6 months, multiple attempts and switching health insurance companies (which means we had to start all over again) to get this thing going. My appointment is for this coming Saturday and Jeff can be in there with me holding my hand.  I have terrible PTSD from having to do most of the tests, imaging, and bloodwork, along with getting super painful penicillin shots monthy all alone as a child due to heart issues then as well.  It left me scarred emotionally for life.  I have had therapy to help me deal with those issues, but I still need to have Jeff with me.  I am praying that whatever is going on, that it is just something minor that we can just monitor or is an easy fix (and is not going to be too expensive).  I would hate to add another large medical bill to our debt.  If it is going to be a big expense, then I will apply for some help through the hospital's financial aid program.

   Anyway, that is where we are right now.  I am hoping that our weather will get better so that I can finally get some things started in the greenhouse.  It has been snowing here today, but I am so grateful that we are not experiences the horrendous storms that some of my friends and family are getting hit with.  My hearts go out to everyone who has lost loved ones, homes, businesses and been affected by all of this.  My prayers are with you also.