Search This Blog

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

3-8-11

Here is my brother-in-law and soon
to be sister-in-law.
They sent out this picture
with their wedding invitation.

----------------------------------

I've been thinking about making
some wall decorations
with fabric and boxes.
Just something to give the walls
a splash of color.

Pictures are so expensive in the stores,
even at thrift stores, so figured
why not make your own masterpieces
for cheap. You could use old picture
frames or even a simple cardboard box.
Cover with fabric and hot glue
it to the backside.

-----------------------------------------

9:45-10:25am

Peeled and diced carrots.
Just now starting to blanche
them all. Thank goodness for
my slicer because I couldn't of
imagined cutting 5 pounds by hand.
I am reusing my veggie broth from
yesterday along with some more
water added to the pan.



---------------------------------------------

10:30-11:30am

I've been a chopping fool, lol.
I chopped up, blanched and packaged
a bag of celery, a 3 pound bag of onions,
along with a few other misc items
like garlic and leftover chicken chili.
I had to upgrade my pot to
a larger one to make the process
go faster plus I was able to have
more veggie broth.
That is currently cooling
then will be put into empty,
plastic peanut butter jars
and will go in the freezer as well.

I already have 25-30 ears
of corn in the freezer from
where they went on sale
for .10 cents or less an ear!







So my tips for cutting down
on your food bill is to buy
produce when it is in season
as it will be cheaper, buy
produce that is marked down,
grow a garden.
And when you have an over
abundance of produce that
you know you can not eat within
a couple days to a week then
either freeze, dehydrate or can it to preserve
it longer, for up to a year or more
depending upon the process you use.

And now's the time to start
stocking up your freezer.
With gas prices rising it
will eventually cause the food
prices to rise again.
Plus with all the frost and freezes
they've had down South will
also drive up the prices of food.

Even if the cost of meat rises
and you cannot afford as much of it,
at least you will be stocked up
with vegetables which is more
important than any meat
and is loaded with vitamins
to get you by each day!

When it comes to growing
a garden, visit your garden center
near the end of Fall for marked down
plants! Some plants might take
awhile to mature and produce
so get them in asap
so you can reap the benefits
in the near future.
I have blackberries, raspberries,
grapes, strawberries and pears
that I have planted that were
$1.50 to $5.00 a plant marked down.

11:55am

Well I am off here for now.
It's about nap time and I could
really use one right about now!
My back and hands are aching
so time to give them a rest
from being in the kitchen.

----------------------------

Sometimes surveys are long and
boring. And don't you hate it
when you get half way through one
only to find out you don't qualify.
That happens so many times.
I finally got through a survey today.
Now up to $95.20!
Slowly getting up there.

---------------------------------

I think for supper tonight
we will have tuna melts
made on the George Foreman
and some mac and cheese on the side.
Something simple.
I need to work on tidying the house
this week. My friend from high school
finally made it to town from
Germany so will likely visit
in the near future.

-----------------------------------

5:15pm

Got my veggie broth poured
into bottles. I ended up with 4 of
them. This should make some great
soups. It sure smelled good
when I was blanching the veggies.
Tonight's supper- Tuna Melts
with mac & cheese.
I realized when I started making
them that I was out of mayo
so used fat free ranch dressing instead.
This would have been
good with some lettuce and
a tomato slice, something I don't have.

---------------------------------

7:35pm

Woo hoo, I finally hit the
$100 mark on doing surveys!

3-8-11

Monday, March 7, 2011

3-7-11



10:30am

Mom dropped me off some Kroger
freebies from the senior center.
There was a squash also but I
gave it to mom because I'm
not sure if anyone would eat it
and I don't know how to fix it.
-5 green bell peppers
-2 yellow peppers
-3 bunches of green onions
-5 pound bag of carrots

All stuff I can chop up and freeze!
That'll be tomorrow though.
My guess is that these veggies
would have went for around $20.
I'll price them tonight since
we have to go to Kroger for prescriptions.
----------------------------------------

Tonight's supper will be
chicken quesadillas.
I plan to mix up some chicken
with some no beans chili
and mexican shredded cheese.
Put on tortillas and grill
in quesadilla maker.
Serve with a side of ranch dressing
to dip in.
My honey got me one of these
quesadilla makers about 5 years ago
for Christmas.
B00006BSX0.01._AA280_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

------------------------------------

After all this time of looking through
paint colors I think I might just stick
with the first color I wanted- Blonde.
sample pics of sherwin williams blonde paint.
Third one down from top on strip.
I don't see where the color chip
resembles the actual paint color.
That's why viewing other people's photos
has helped out a lot.



.
Photobucket

Living Room

Living Room


----------------------------------------

Got a wedding invitation in the mail
today for Tony's half-brother.
Had absolutely no clue, nobody tells
us anything!!
His brother has been living with
this girl in his parent's home
for a couple years now and they
already have two kids together.
So it's not like we didn't expect this
sooner or later but don't ya think we
should've been told before now.
Hell we thought they were already married.

------------------------------

4:40pm

I got all the bell peppers
and green onions cut up,
blanched and packaged for the freezer.
The carrots will have to wait til tomorrow
since I have 5 pounds to do.

How to blanche-

I used a saucepan full of water.
Bring to a boil.
I then inserted a small strainer
into the pan with the cut
up veggies in it for 3-4 minutes.
Remove strainer from water
and rinse or pour very cold
water over them to stop the
cooking process, drain any
excess water from them.
Package in zip bags removing
any air from bags before sealing.
.
I am saving the water the
veggies were blanched in for
some soups. You could pour this,
once cooled,
into empty plastic jars from
mayo, peanut butter and so on.
This water has
vitamins and flavor from boiling the veggies
in that it would be a shame to go to
waste.
You could also use this cooled
water to water your plants with!
.

--------------------------------------

Here's a question I have been wondering.

If you cancel one cable company and
go to someone else, how long before
your old cable company considers
you a new customer again.

Couldn't you just switch back
and forth between cable companies
and get their introductory rates?

I'm trying to find a way to make
our cable, internet and phone a little cheaper.
At the moment I think our cable
bill is $138.
That's for digital cable with DVR, basic phone
and basic internet.
They keep adding increases and
I'm getting tired of it!!

At the moment I see At&t and Insight
offering new customers
$60 to $65 package deals
(before taxes and other fees and
an added DVR)
That's a difference of about $78
from what I am paying at
the moment.

-------------------------------

Quesadillas I made for supper.
.

-----------------------------

8:00pm

Just got home from Kroger and
getting Tony's prescriptions.
I picked up a few things while there.
Got a package of 5 large
cube steaks for $4.15
regular price of $6.95.
When checking out and paying for
groceries I got a $3.00 catalina coupon
for Clairol hair color.
I remembered seeing a bunch of
hair color in the clearance bin
so we went back and checked the prices.
I found a box of Clairol hair color
marked down to $3.00.
Regularly was $8.49.
So I used my catalina coupon
and got me a free hair color!
Oh, I did price some of the Kroger
freebies I got today.
I did not find 5 pound bags of whole
carrots. The only 5 pound bags of carrots
were those baby carrots. Price- $7.99!!
And those were not organic like the ones
I got which means they are higher priced!
As for those bell peppers, I'm gonna
assume they are the organic ones
as well since the carrots were organic.
They are outrageously priced @
$4.99 each!!!

-------------------------------

Sunday, March 6, 2011

3-6-11





10:15am

Breakfast this morning.
Baked French toast with
sugar-free vanilla pudding,
cream cheese & sliced strawberry filling
between two slices of bread soaked
in an egg, milk & cinnamon mixture.
Baked in oven.
Topped with sugar-free syrup,
whipped cream & more strawberry slices.
About 3 grams of total sugar
and that was in the bread & whipped topping.

This is what I'm calling a leftover
breakfast. I had leftover Texas toast
from making garlic bread, leftover strawberries
from waffles, leftover whipped topping
from pie.

Well we're eating breakfast
then gonna get ready to head to Southern
Columbus and/or Pickaway county.
It's a weekend of getting out
of the house and doing something!


--------------------------------

3:30pm

Been down yonder most of the day.
It's not as flooded as I thought.
I've seen much worse when
we lived down there.
We all had a good time.
They did have a section of 23 closed
under the bridge at 270
because water was covering the road.

------------------------------

5:00pm

Working on my laundry
and steaming all the mattresses.
Getting a little of a head start on
Spring cleaning.
Steaming mattresses freshens them up!
It can also kill any dust mites,
fleas or whatever critters there
may be hidden in them.
You can use a steamer like the one
I have called a Shark, I think,
or heck use a steam mop or
clothing steamer.

I also read that steam will kill bedbugs.
I have learned a lot from Tony's work
which does have bedbugs in some units.
Usually they tell you to put things
in the dryer that the heat will kill them.
BUT what about the things you cannot
put in there. So my home remedy for those
that may experience this problem
is to use a steamer which will
get hotter than any dryer and will
kill all types of bugs and their eggs!
It may not deplete the problem but
sure will help. Use it on your clothes,
bedding, pillows, mattresses, other furniture,
stuffed animals, floor, cracks in wooden floors,
or baseboards, curtains, etc.

--------------------------------

More color notes.

KILIM BEIGE

LR as seen from Foyer

Here's a photo showing Latte behind the secretary, then Kilim Beige to the right.

Secretary

.
3rd Bedroom
.

.

Kilim Beige
.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

3-5-11

Today we took a drive around
the Hoover Dam area then took
everyone out for a Taco Bell
$2.00 meal lunch.

-------------------------------

3:30pm

My honey's tidying up the kitchen
and doing dishes. Then later on
we're having lasagna for supper.
This is the other lasagna I made
earlier this week. Will make
some garlic bread to go with it.

I looked around and saw we had
some leftovers to use up so started
planning a breakfast for tomorrow
with them.

Stuffed French Toast Recipe
My only changes I'm making
with this recipe is I'm using
regular eggs and texas toast and omitting
strawberry preserves.
I'm also adding whipped
cream on top with the strawberry slices.

I am also trying to do a couple days
worth of menu planning.
It sure makes things easier
when I can plan a day to make things up
ahead of time.

-Fried cabbage, potatoes & Italian sausage
-Cheesy chicken burritos or quesadillas
-chili made with baked beans
-potato soup
-a copycat of KFC's mashed potato
layered bowls with leftover chicken
from crock
-Homemade waffles

--------------------------

7:15pm

I am still experiencing some
of my migraine headache from yesterday.
This sucks it really does.
Ibuprofen doesn't seem to help.
Kind of makes your stomach feel
ill at times.
As soon as I opened my eyes up
this morning I felt really dizzy.
Had to wait a moment or two
just to get out of bed.

Well I'm off here for now.
We're having a late supper
and I've got lasagna in the oven
along with some garlic bread.


Friday, March 4, 2011

3-4-11

I'm currently studying the paper color
samples I picked up from Sherwin Williams.
I am trying to find photos of people's homes
of where they used these same colors.
I also want to see them in different lighting
because paint will look different throughout
the different light levels of the day.
As I find photos of these colors
I will post them here so I can
make a decision.
(I deleted all the colors I posted
as I was finding I didn't really like
any of them)

----------------------------------------------

9:45am

I started painting my $3.99 shelf
I bought yesterday. It's going to take a couple
coats.
I got what looked like a ribbon
bow decorative wooden piece pried off
the front of the shelf.



The little paint trays and
roller that came with my free
Valspar paint sample sure is
coming in handy right now
for a small project like this.
This is where I want to put the shelf,
above our living room window.
It will overhang the sides of the window
some but will give the illusion of
a larger window or space.
Another tip is to hang your
curtains higher than the top
of the window frame. This
gives the illusion that your ceilings
are taller!

----------------------------------

11:20pm

Just got the 4th coat of paint
put on the shelf, and that's only
on the front!

12:30pm

I'm not done painting my shelf
but I did rest it on top of the window
to get an idea of what it would look like.
I like it!
I think I would like to raise it up more
above the window.
The curves gives the room
a soft touch with all the hard
straight lines.
It looks so much better in person.
Of course I knocked my curtains
down in the process.
Now are waiting for this shelf
to come crashing down also, lol.
Me and curtains or curtain hardware
do not get along well.
I might try to see if I can
find a smaller shelf to use
on the dining room window to match.



------------------------------------------

5:00pm

Finding the right paint color
is gonna drive me crazy!!
So tired of looking at paint colors
that I'm literally getting a migraine.
I've pretty much been out of commission
for the later part of the afternoon
and evening.

I think the color of these cabinets
has been my favorite color so far.
But as luck would have it they didn't post
the paint they used.

If I had to describe this color it
looks like a bisque with a
really light creamy yellow mixed with it.
.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfBhf3lMGyggiR9X4hbIfN0ZrrFTDawhFlCD4z-YtqqLxWiMVGrTej1vl8Ib9ev5RrdY8WmIPIprAwMio7lF4EXehB2g9oPnaFvwTm38eTS12oWnk02Bz83sBX4omMqPgqvO0G5vcpEus/s1600/kitchenafterPS.jpg


--------------------------------------

6:00pm

This evening we made a run
to Kroger for some pop and milk.
While there Tony found a real good deal
in the cardboard bin area that's marked
10 for $10, why they just didn't put
$1.00 each is beyond me.
But anyway, he found these 1.5 pound
Summer sausage in this area for $1.00 each.
Wasn't a manager special or anything like
that. We were leery about the price
because I know these things run
about $6-$8!!
So we picked up a couple and headed
to the checkout and sure enough
the price was correct and it wasn't
a mistake. So I had Tony take the groceries
out to the truck and I went back and
got some more. I will be giving mom some.
I put the lighter in the picture
to show you the size of these.

---------------------------

Trying to find a paint color
that somewhat matches those cabinets above.
This is what I have found so far.
Creme (sherwin williams)

Final 1


Final 1

Behr Cream PPOC-42


Benjamin Moore- Mannequin Cream

Thursday, March 3, 2011

3-3-11




The best & worst deals at Dollar Stores.
Just because something's inexpensive doesn't make it a good buy at such retail establishments.

-------------------------------------

Was thinking about heading to the
thrift store this morning with mom,
want to see if they have any more
grocery deals. Then might head over
to Sherwin Williams to get some
paint sample cards.
I found out that we get a
20% discount from Tony's work
that we can use when buying paint
from Sherwin Williams.
Other paint supplies we can
borrow from Tony's work like
brushes, rollers and paint trays.
They currently have my hubby
painting apartments instead of
doing punch outs. So supplies
should be easily available :0).

------------------------------------

We went out to Groveport last night.
Got this persons ceiling fan fixed.
On the way there I noticed gas
has jumped up to $3.49 a gallon!
This is crazy!
We did manage to find a station
that still had $3.29 a gallon.
On the way home we stopped by
the airport so the kids could
watch a few planes land.
Got home around 8:30pm.

-----------------------------------

12:15pm

Just returned home.
Me and mom went out running
this morning to get out of the house.

Our first stop was Sherwin Williams.
I got some paper paint samples.
The guy there said they were running
a sale from today through Monday
for 30% off paints.
I saw that a gallon of paint there
went from $32 up to $50 some a can!
Even at 30% off still made it
a little expensive for my budget.
So I mentioned about getting a
discount at Tony's work.
So he looked up their work account
to see what I would be paying
per gallon of eggshell premier paint.
$14.99!!
That sure is better than any $32-$50!!!!

By the time we left the paint store
it was time for the Goodwill thrift store to open.
They didn't have any more food
but I did get a couple things I've been
needing and one thing I've wanted.
small clock radio for the bathroom $2.99
box of new pencils .29 cents
and an 80" shelf. $3.99.
Should've seen me going through the
store with that, lol.
I've been wanting something
to put above my living room curtains and will
use this shelf as a type of valance topper.
It has some sort of decorative
piece of wood on the shelf which
I plan on removing.
Next we headed to the senior center
to see if there was any food freebies
from Kroger.
They only had a pumpkin pie
which I took.

Next we went up to Henderson Rd.
to see if the VA thrift store had opened
up yet which it had not.
So instead we went over to my favorite
Kroger to look for mark down deals.
So here's what I found there:
spent $18
4 bottle V05 conditioner- .49 cents each
3 bottles White Rain conditioner- .49 cents each
2 large bottles Suave shampoo- .79 cents each
2 packs of deli chicken wings
zesty buffalo- mark down $1.99 sale $3.96 was $5.99
honey BBQ- mark down $1.99 sale $3.96 was $5.99
Veggie tray with dip $2.99 was $5.99
Garlic bread $1.29 was $2.00 something
Blueberry & cinnamon raisin muffins
marked down to $1.49
each package had .75 cent coupons on them,
doubled to $1.50,
made both packs FREE!!

Oddball stuff not marked down.
Cheese $1.67
cinnamon $1.00
tortillas $1.19

I plan to make in the near future
some chicken burritos from some of
the chicken I made in the crock the other day.

1.5 pounds chicken .34 cents
1 cup shredded mexican cheese .83 cents
tortillas $1.19
can of no bean chili .49 cents

Total: $2.85
makes 2 meals or 10 servings
@ .28 cents a serving.

-------------------------------------

Reusing a wooden shelf for a valance.
The homeowner had created a wooden shelf painted to match her decor. She then added cabinet knobs along the bottom of the shelf. She created a valance that had loops along the top which were then looped over the knobs.
Valance storage idea

Here's what I wanted to do with
the one I bought today at the thrift store.
Paint it a bisque white to match all other trim,
drill out two holes on each end
to insert the curtain rod or wooden dowel through.

Laundryroom6_1.jpg


------------------------------------

I finally got my little radio I bought
today put away.
It fits perfectly on my bathroom shelf.
Now if I could only find a scale.
All I find in the thrift stores is
digital scales that don't work.
I want a regular scale that doesn't
require batteries. Will keep looking.

-------------------------------------


Weaver's magazine 26: SHAG RAG RUG; countermarch tying

Eco-Friendly Bath Mat – Fun DIY Project

These type of rugs could run you $30
to well over $100 if bought new.

You can make your own with recycled
fabric like towels, socks, clothes and so on.

I found some non-slip rug canvas
at JoAnn's for 24x43" for $3.49.

If you wanted to make a larger rug
you could sew the canvas together.

Don't know if my carpal tunnel
would allow me to work on something
like this.

About Me

My photo
My name is Sherry, 39yrs old, from Columbus, Ohio. I am married, a SAHM, and have 3 children ages 9, 10 and 20. I have been frugal/thrifty all my life. I would like to share on this blog how we get by day to day on one income with a family of 5 with a dog and a cat. You will also hear about my everyday gripes about daily life and the cost of living. Hubby says my favorite saying is, "and that is another thing that pisses me off!"

My Blog List