Wednesday’s Saving Money

Yesterday, even before breakfast, we went to our appointments at Rite Aid to get our flu shots that are covered by Medicare. I also made our bed and cleaned the bathroom sinks, kitchen sink, and all the counters before we went out. We used some cleaners from our stockpile.

Then we came home and I made us cheddar cheese, diced orange pepper, and onion omelets. Hubby had sausage with it and I had ham again. I have been trying to use up the ham in the fridge before it goes bad.

Then it was time to wash and prepare our produce in the fridge so that I can just pull it out when I need something. Things are stacked in no particular order. It has been driving me crazy!

This chaos is what I am talking about. One produce drawer was so stuffed that I had to pull things out to find other things. The other drawer wasn’t much better.

So I pulled everything out and washed the crisper drawers.

We don’t use much fruit so I have delegated both crisper drawers as vegetable drawers. The strawberries need to be used up today so we will eat them tonight as a dessert with SF whipped cream. The blueberries I froze to use for pancakes and muffins.

Then I spent some time cleaning and cutting up everything else. You are seeing the crisper drawers before I put covers on each item before I put them back in the refrigerator. All of this is ready for salads except the avocados which I can’t do ahead of time. They are easy enough to add to a salad last minute or to have with my breakfast eggs. Hubby is eating salad with almost every dinner. So this makes it easy to put together. We also like to use peppers in eggs, salads and stir fries.

This is the other finished drawer.

The bagged salad will get eaten pretty quickly. It is my favorite. The onions get used in a multitude of dishes. The rest of the bag of onions is in the pantry. Hubby likes celery stuffed with peanut butter for a snack so this celery won’t last long. The carrots are cut smaller when needed for dill dip. I also use them in soups and stews. The two cucumbers which you can just see over the top of the bagged salad will get used quickly because I like them for a snack. I never cut them up ahead of time because they get slimy.

Doing all this preparation lets me just grab what I need when I am putting meals together. It’s all washed and pretty much prepped. This way of doing things allows me to quickly determine what I need at the grocery store. Celery and tomatoes have already been put on my next grocery list.

BTW, all of the containers you see in my crisper drawers were bought years ago. I always use what I can find at home first before I buy anything.

My landscape company came out and put our winter fertilizer down on the lawn. I expect we will see our landscape crew soon to cut bushes back, trim trees, and weed. That will also be their last time this year. These things were all paid for last spring.

Hubby made coleslaw using the angel hair coleslaw that I purchased this week. It had no carrots in it so he grated some himself and made homemade dressing. We had that with the other half of the steak that we grilled last night. Hubby cut the rest of the steak up in thin slices and sauteed it with butter and garlic. It was a delicious dinner. He seems to be feeling better because he is enjoying cooking again.

What did you do to save money today?