Author: American Dreamer

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Every Day

Busy Monday

 I spent part of the morning cooking in the kitchen. I pressure cooked 14 eggs for breakfasts, snacks and salads this week. I cooked a pound and a half of bacon. I ate 2 eggs for breakfast with 2 strips of bacon.

Then I decided to try a recipe that I have seen everyone rave about on You Tube. It was a slow cooked roast beef recipe in a You Tuber’s cookbook. Everyone kept telling me that it is the best roast ever. I had the cookbook but never looked at that particular recipe. So I dug out the book and read it. It was no different than the same recipe that I have cooked in my slow cooker for years.

Her’s called for onions instead of onion soup mix. But then I read the cooking directions and a big NO resounded in my head. It called for roasting it in the oven for 10-12 hours at 250 degrees depending on how big your roast is. Why would I turn on my big oven instead of using the crockpot? I am sure that I am saving energy using the crockpot on low for 8 hours over using the oven for a greater amount of time.  


So in the crockpot went my onion soup mix, cream soup, and the roast beef. I just put Hubby’s potatoes in a few minutes ago. I will check it all at the 7 hour mark and if it is done to our satisfaction we will eat. I am cooking spinach for our vegetable tonight. 

After I cleaned up all of the pots, pans and dishes, I gathered my grocery lists and coupons and off I went to Walmart and Aldi’s.


At Aldi’s, I picked up 2 packages of bacon for $2.99 each. That is $ 1.01 less per package than the bacon I purchased at Top’s yesterday but it isn’t as good. But I decided at that price we would try a couple again. We use so much bacon for breakfast during the week and for our Sunday breakfasts when my son and grandson visit. So it will add to my stockpile of it.

We were out of sea scallops and they were $9.99 so I got one. I was so happy to see macadamia nuts in the store again. I got my 2 bags of pork rinds which is a snack for me. The Hass avocados were $.69 each. I have been out for a while so was happy to see this sale.

Hubby has been asking me to pick up or make an apple pie. Well, if I make the pie or buy one, we will eat it all and I really don’t want the temptation. So when I saw this German apple strudel, I grabbed it. There are two in the package and I can cook them separately on two different days for him. That should satisfy him.  The broccoli and cheese were needed for recipes the next couple of weeks. 


Here is my receipt. I spent $ 39.77.


At Walmart, I picked up the last of the OTC medicines that we may need over the winter. Walmart had the best prices locally and were lower than Amazon’s prices.

I had a $5.00 off coupon on any Hormel product that was expiring soon so the ham will be a good addition to our stockpile. The crescent rolls are needed for a recipe. The snacks are always needed and hopefully now we have enough until the holiday shopping. I had a Free coupon for the big bag of Cheetos.


Here is my receipt. I spent $ 14.09 after the coupons and a $10.00 gift card rebate.  

I have to be completely honest. I am tired of grocery shopping. I am hoping to not go out the door again to do it unless it is for dairy or produce. I will just be scouring the ads for those things next week and any meat sale that I think is rock bottom. Otherwise, I need some time home to finish the fall cleaning and work on my blog posts.

Are you getting any good deals this week?

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Every Day

Sunday Means Football in our Home

 I did not sleep well last night. So after I finally fell asleep, I woke up a little after 1PM. The Buffalo Bills game had already started. YIKES!


After watching the first half, I decided to get my weekly shopping done for Top’s. I figured that most people would be home watching the game. I guessed right. There was hardly any traffic and only about 10 shoppers in the market. So I was in and home in no time to finish watching the game.


I only had a few things to pick up this week at Top’s. The bacon was on sale B2G3free. It worked out to $ 4.00 a lb. We go through a lot of bacon pretty quickly for breakfast so it seems like I am always buying it on sale.  

The cold cuts were on sale for 3/$10. but I only purchased 2 because I had 2 Free coupons. But it looks like the coupons came off at the original price of $4.99 each.

The Chobani was $1.00 each. Since I am adding more dairy back into my diet, I picked up 5. I like to eat one with a little of the above granola once in a while for breakfast. It is delicious! 

I needed more cheddar and mozzarella cheese and these were on sale for $ 2.50 each.

This is my receipt for everything. I spent a total of 
$38.15. 

Tonight was our third night of eating the chicken tortilla soup. Hubby made some garlic bread out of leftover rolls.

After dinner, I put the leftover soup in a Ziploc using my handy stand and it is now in the freezer. There is enough left for another dinner for the two of us if I make small side salads to go with it.  

So did you do anything special today? Did you watch any football? BTW, our Bills won. They looked pretty good today.                                                                                                                                                                           

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Every Day

It’s Soup Weather

 I woke up this morning to the house being 66. It’s 55 outside as I write this. It is a bit chilly but I am not ready to turn on the heat yet. I am hoping to get a couple of more weeks without it. But we will see. Hubby gets cold very quickly. I went to bed early last night and I saw Hubby’s hot cocoa cup near the sink this morning so he must have been cold. He hasn’t has a cup of that since last spring. Fortunately, I have a good supply of cocoa.

Yesterday, I made a huge pot of chicken tortilla soup. It is one of our favorites. I don’t have a recipe I use. It is one of those a little of this and a little of that soups that I make. 

I used some of the chicken bone broth that I made the day before. Yes, that’s right only one container of bone broth hit the freezer. Hubby asked for some kind of soup when he saw that I was making the broth.  

I added a couple of chicken bouillon to the broth to bolster the flavor. The broth had some meat in it from the bones but I also added one chicken breast that was already cooked and in my freezer.

Next I added a can of corn, a can of rotel with green chiles, and a can of black beans.  We had just a tiny bit of rice left from dinner the other night so I threw that in too. Then I used a packet of Ortega hot and spicy taco seasoning.  I simmered all for about an hour so that the flavors could meld.


I served it with a choice of sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and tortilla strips. I skipped the cheese but had a couple of strips and some sour cream.

It was so delicious and I am sure we will be eating off of this pot of soup all weekend. When we get sick of it, I will freeze the rest for another meal.

Are you ready for soup weather? What is your favorite soup to make? Do you have a recipe? Please share with all of us since the season is upon us.

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Every Day

We Must Never Forget

Image may contain: text that says 'NEVER FORGET 9/11/01' 

We must never forget what happened on 9/11/2001. I am sure it is as vivid in your memories as it is in mine.

On this day, we should remember all of the people who lost their lives and all of the families who were affected. May God Bless all of them.

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Every Day

Please Buy More


I told Hubby this morning that my Top’s gasoline points are expiring so I needed to go fill up the car. He asked if there wasn’t some way that I could buy more of the sausage meat that he loves and fit it in the freezer. After giving it some thought, I decided to food saver some meat that was in boxes and that would give me some room.

So off I went to the gas station to fill up at $.30 off a gallon. Then I went just up the street to Aldi’s hoping that they would still have the sausage.  I purchased 5 more rolls at $ 1.49 each.

We only have 1 more shredded cheddar cheese in the freezer so I decided to pick up a package and I planned a meal for the next couple of days that I needed cream cheese to make.  

 


When I got home, I threw everything in the fridge. Then I got out my food saver and started repackaging the boxes in the top drawer of my kitchen freezer. By doing that, I was able to fit the sausage rolls in.   


A while ago, I purchased chicken breasts with the bone on sale. At the time, I deboned them all and threw the bones in the freezer. I have two big bags of them and they have plenty of meat still left on them. Since it is starting to be soup season, I decided to make some bone broth. So I put one bag of them in the crockpot. I will be simmering them all afternoon and evening. Then I will take the bones out and add the meat to the broth and freeze the broth for the next time I make soup. 

 


Here the broth is cooking which I will strain when it is done and then add the meat. 


It is all strained and the meat has been put in it.

I have now put the other bag of bones into the crockpot and I will simmer it all night. In the morning after I take the meat off, I will freeze that broth. I will have soup broth for two big pots all set to add my veggies and rice or noodles to when we feel like soup for a meal.  I love prepping things ahead for meals. It saves a lot of time when I don’t really feel like cooking and prevents me from getting take out.

 

I made this recipe for dinner tonight: 

Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole

 

Hubby hated it. He said there was not enough sauce. I thought it was okay but not the best recipe I have tried. Perhaps someone out there has a better recipe. 

We are awaiting the start of  the NFL football game. Hubby has been waiting for football season for a long time now. He is excited.

I hope you all have a great evening.

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Every Day

A Busy Couple of Days

The asters have started to bloom in the gardens. We have three of them in different gardens and they are gorgeous this year. The landscape crew(3 people) were here yesterday so we were busy supervising and letting them know what we wanted done. It was the second to last time they come for the year. They have come every month since April.

The autumn sedum is also in full bloom. I love the color.

Today the fertilizing people came and did the lawn. They will do the winter fertilizer in about 6 weeks and then the extra bug application that we have put on once a year. Hubby fortunately had mowed just before they came. We will turn the sprinkler system on in the morning to wash the fertilizer in.

I put all of the stockpile that I have purchased the last couple of weeks on the shelves rotating the newest to the back.  

Every day I continue to exercise on the treadmill. Many days I just don’t feel like it but I push myself to do it anyhow.  

But today, I worked in my master bedroom closet. I changed out the summer clothes and put the fall and winter front and center. I also organized my bins on the two shelves. These bins hold spare shampoo, razors, extra medications, etc. I go through once or twice a year and get rid of anything that has expired. I then added the new medicines  that I purchased for this winter. 

I am tired from all of the work the last few days but I want to keep moving along with my fall cleaning. Are any of you doing your fall cleaning?

Tonight, I have my Wednesday telephone call with my sister and we catch up on the two families. I look forward to that every week.    

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Every Day

Dollar Tree Stockpile Haul

It has been a busy day here. We got a lot done yesterday. Today, I did my last large stockpile haul at Dollar Tree. There are some things that I always get there and others that I just found by browsing the entire store today. My receipt is above. Hopefully, you can read it. It is very light print. Click on it and make it full screen and you can see it much better. The total was $ 53.50 and it was a very full cart.

I filled in some of our gaps today. I was there a very long time just browsing to make sure I missed nothing. 

I have already tried a box of the shelf stable milk. I don’t stockpile anything that we haven’t tried and liked. We loved it. We mainly use it for cereal and in recipes. We don’t drink it. So I purchased 5 more today. I am actually considering only buying this from now on to use in our home. I hate having to throw milk out and these are small enough that we can get through them before they expire.


The loofah is for me in the shower. I threw my old one out. The cutlery will round out what I already have. The ropes are in case I need more clothesline. The can openers are in case we have no power.

I got 3 Spic and Span antibacterial cleaners and 2 refills for them. I have used this liquid plumber to unclog drains for many years. The Palmolive Oxy is great for washing greasy pans and it also takes grease out of clothes. Just put a little on the stain at night and then throw it in the washer in the morning. 


I got some Arm and Hammer baking soda and some
carpet cleaner.

Everything in these two pictures are on the receipt. The only thing missing from the picture is a birthday card that I picked up for Hubby. His birthday is the end of the month.

I got a couple of toilet bowl cleaners which until now I had not been able to find in stock. I also picked up 2 superglue. 

We also got two very tall candles in case we need light. We also have a spray bottle that I am using at the moment of Awesome so I picked up a refill. It is an all purpose cleaner.

Medicines that I purchased were hydrocortisone cream, anti fungal foot cream just in case we need it, and Vitamin C. I will explain what the vaseline is for after I post the next picture. I also got 2 packages of Plackers. I love using them.

Since we are on our last roll of packaging tape, I picked up a roll. 

The creole seasoning and croutons are needed for recipes in the next two weeks. We love these baked beans. The corn bread mix and cookie mixes are for long term storage. The swiss rolls are a nostalgic walk down memory lane.

The stir fry blend and pepper stir fry blend are delicious, healthy and cheap. They help me make Chinese for very easily.

The Scotties, brownie mix, and mashed potatoes are all for our stockpile. The envelopes were to replenish our office. Lastly, we use the cotton balls with a little vaseline as fire starters for our outside fireplace. 

Do you buy anything for your stockpiles from Dollar Tree?   

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Every Day

Two Good Deals This Morning

I scoured the ads in our newspaper this morning. I had some produce that we needed on my list and that was it. 

However when I looked at the Aldi’s ad, I saw that they had the rolls of sausage for $ 1.49. This is less than half of the cost of my Top’s market price. Hubby loves me to slice them and cook them for breakfast. I had none left in our freezers. I also use them to make sausage stuffing for Thanksgiving. Since, I have two turkeys in my freezer, I froze two to go with those. Then I froze 2 for breakfasts and put one in the fridge.

I decided to get my produce at Top’s because they had cucumbers for $ .39 each which is a great price here. I bought three and some other produce that totaled a little over $20. 

The front of our newspaper this morning had a Free coupon for a 3 lb. bag of New York apples when you spent $20. Free is a fantastic deal.

Did you find any good deals this morning?

I will not be posting tomorrow because of the holiday. Hubby and I want to get a few things done around here and have a cookout for dinner. I hope you all have a nice holiday too. 

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Every Day

It Was Time For A Replacement

Many, many years ago when we first moved to Arizona, Hubby purchased a battery organizer. I have always hated it. It was on the wall in my pantry in AZ and is now on my wall in a pantry here where it is not easy to use or to test the batteries. The tester is built into the organizer. It’s very awkward to use. It also does not hold many batteries so I was spending a lot of time filling it up.

So I figured after almost 20 years, it was time to replace it. I spent some time looking at all the ones that you can buy online. I found this one:

Battery Organizer 

It came yesterday and I love it. The battery tester slides out into your hand. I was able to test all of the batteries that I loaded into it in just a matter of a few minutes. I love that it has quite a bit of room for each size battery. It also holds the 2032 batteries that we use in quite a few things in our home.

It has a hinged cover on it to keep the inside clean. I am so happy that the old one will be coming off the pantry wall.

This one can be hung too but I am not going to. I want to be able to pull it out and take it to wherever I am changing the battery. I want to be able to have enough light to see what I am doing. So it will sit on a kitchen cupboard shelf always at the ready. The price was right too. It doesn’t take much to make this girl happy.


I hope you are all enjoying your Labor Day weekend.

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Every Day

Frugal Things The Past Two Weeks

These are the things we have done frugally the past two weeks:

– We paid our school taxes from our sinking funds account for them. It is always nice when that large bill comes to know that the money has been set aside for those each month for the past 12 months. Even though we were reassessed again, the taxes only went up by $ 102. 

– Since I had to go to a bank to pay them, I stopped at the town hall and paid our quarterly water and sewer bill. It was on the route and saved me using a stamp. 

– I also stopped along my route at Top’s and picked up on sale Hellman’s mayo using a $1./1 Q and a raincheck. This was out of stock the other day. 

– I purchased two pair of denim shorts on clearance for $ 9.00 each. That was a whole lot better price than the $27. each that they were before they went on clearance.

– I am cooking mostly from scratch again since West went home. We did not buy take out this week. I am cooking two meals at a time when I can.

– I signed up for Tasty Rewards last week and look what I got in the mail this past Monday. I already used the 3 $1.00 ones on sale Poppables this week. 

– I wrote another company and they are sending me some coupons for a product that we use all the time. It never hurts to ask. 

– We received $ 9.28 in rebates in the mail.  

– I did two loads of wash this week using cold water, minimal detergent and the laundry sanitizer. One was hung to dry. The other consisted of sheets and towels and was dried in my dryer using the dryer balls. 

– Hubby maintains our hardwood floors for us and we have a lot of them. He uses Bona cleaner and a mop with a reusable head to do it. That saves us a lot of money by not hiring outside help to do them. They look magnificent even though they are over 10 years old.

– I continue to organize and maintain our pantries.

– Hubby and I sat down yesterday and went through our container of OTC medicines. I need to get 5 more for the fall and winter just in case they are needed. I will be researching sales and prices for them.  

So what did you do frugally this past couple of weeks? Feel free to comment and tell us all about it.

Have a safe Labor Day weekend!