Category: Every Day

Categories
Every Day

August 17: Low Spend Month Grocery Challenge

I could not eat anything today but applesauce and scrambled eggs. So I had one for breakfast and one for an early dinner. West had mac and cheese. Hubby had a turkey sandwich.

Because I was not eating a regular dinner, Hubby and West voted to have me make the homemade pizza for dinner tonight. So I made them a pepperoni one. 

I played a bunch of games of Blokus with West. That game is fun. Then we played one of his games online. Tonight we are going to watch “The Greatest Showman” on Disney.

Other than these things, I had an afternoon appointment. Nothing exciting today.

I hope you all have a great evening.

Categories
Every Day

August 16, 2020: Low Spend Grocery Month Challenge

My son brought West this morning and he stayed for breakfast. We had home fries, sausage links, and scrambled eggs. No picture because we were busy getting West settled in. Plus I like to chat while I cook with them and then it slipped my mind.

But look at what my son brought from his garden. I definitely do not have to buy veggies this week. I had planned tomatoes and cucumbers on my menu. Now I am all set. The eggplant he gave me before was delicious so I will be cooking these for lunches. The cherry tomatoes will show up in salads. YUM!

He also made us another jar of dill pickles. He told me he was having trouble finding more jars. He had only purchased 6 when he first started doing this. I guess they are in short supply in the stores right now. Well by being the prepared person I am, we went to my stockpile and he took home a case of brand new jars with lids and rings.  

For dinner, we had hamburgers and cheeseburgers(person’s choice) and French Fries. I had mine on a plate with mushrooms and monterey jack cheese.  West’s is pictured above before he put his condiments on. Hubby had a cheeseburger with provolone cheese and fries too.

I am spoiling West rotten. He had ice cream for dessert. We watched some shows on Disney today. He got to play games on his phone and tablet. He is enjoying being here.

Categories
Every Day

August 15: Low Spend Grocery Month Challenege and Menu Plan

I did not leave the house today. So no gasoline or money was spent. 

Here is our menu plan for the next week:

Saturday: Turkey Club Salads

Sunday: Hamburgers and French Fries, tomatoes and cucumbers

Monday: Melt in your mouth Chicken Breasts, Broccoli

Tuesday: Spaghetti and Meatballs with a side salad(West’s favorite)

Wednesday: Leftovers 

Thursday: Hot Dogs, dill pickles, and a side salad

Friday: Homemade Pepperoni Pizza

As you can probably surmise, our menu is made up of things that a 10 year old boy will eat. These are all favorites that West loves. Next week’s menu will be geared around his tastes also.

That is breakfast pictured above. I have to eat the leftover broccoli up this week. Hubby had a ham sandwich.  

For dinner tonight, we had our turkey club salads. I love black olives so I added those to mine. I added some Skinny Girl Poppy seed salad dressing to mine. Hubby likes Caesar dressing on his. 


Tonight I will be going to bed early. My son and West will be here early in the morning for breakfast and then West will stay with us for two weeks. I am so looking forward to having fun entertaining him.

Categories
Every Day

August 14: Low Spend Grocery Challenge Month

Today was a lazy day for me. Do you sometimes have lazy days? All I have been doing is puttering in my stockpile to try to make better use of the room I have.

Breakfast this morning was banana bread spread with cream cheese. Not Keto but it needed to be used up before it spoiled. One loaf I gave to my son’s family and West is really enjoying it. Hubby finished it up when he got up. 

About lunchtime, I was a little bit hungry so I ate a hard boiled egg with a little salt.

We had no leftovers this week. So for dinner, I made Low Carb Turkey Cutlets with Dijon Sauce. I pulled some frozen turkey cutlets from the basement freezer and found some dijon mustard in my stockpile. I skipped the little bit of regular flour this called for so that it was Keto. Almond flour is a staple in this household. 

I did not have any poultry seasoning but I did not run out to the store to get it. I made my own homemade poultry seasoning. I did not have the brand of chicken rub that was suggested so I used my own that was in the cupboard.


I skipped the salt and used Primal Kitchen mayo which is Keto friendly. I also used avocado oil instead of olive oil because I did not want to overpower the taste of the sauce. You only have to cook the turkey for a couple of minutes on each side so that it stays tender. The cutlets are thin so they cook quickly. I removed the oil before I made the sauce. There was so much seasoning on each cutlet that I was not worried about dumping some of the seasoning along with the oil. I reduced the sauce by a 1/3 and it thickened nicely.


Hubby raved about this and I loved it too. We each ate 2 cutlets because they were thin and this was delicious. It’s easy and I will be rotating this in our meal schedule at least once a month. I served mine with broccoli and Hubby made a side salad to go with his. 

I hope you all have a nice evening.

Categories
Every Day

August 13: Low Spend Month Grocery Challenge

First thing after I woke up and had my apple cider vinegar water, I jumped on the treadmill for my daily exercise. That always gets my day off to an awesome start.

When I was done, I decided to pressure cook a dozen eggs so that we have quick hard boiled eggs for breakfast, snacks,and/or or egg salad.

While those were cooking, I threw a pound of bacon in the oven to cook. I always under cook my bacon a little because we use it for a few days and heat it up in the microwave. That way it doesn’t get too overcooked.


My breakfast was two hard boiled eggs and two pieces of bacon. Hubby made some egg salad to have with crackers. 


I did some more cleaning today along with 3 loads of laundry. I got hungry about 1PM so I sliced up about a 1/3 of a fresh cucumber and ate it for a quick snack. 


Since my house is clean and the laundry is done, I will take a good look at the Southern Keto cookbook that came in the mail yesterday. Then I can make my menu for next week and perhaps incorporate something new.



Hubby grilled filet mignons for dinner. I made him a side green salad. I cooked up some fresh green beans and some mushrooms to accompany mine.

How are your stockpiles for the fall and winter coming along? I think I have enough soup now for cold winter lunches or brunches to get us through.  

Categories
Every Day

August 12: Low Spend Grocery Challenge

Breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs and bacon. I needed to eat a good breakfast because I had a mid morning appointment today. 

I did not sleep well last night so I took an early afternoon nap. Now I feel better.

Dinner tonight was the fish sticks for Hubby and salmon for me. We each had a side salad with our meal.

I have my usual Wednesday night chat with my sister. I am so looking forward to it.

I hope you all have a nice evening.

Categories
Every Day

August 11: Low Spend Grocery Month Challenge

This is all the grocery shopping I am doing this week.
Aldi’s was my first stop. I got 2 dozen eggs, some shells and cheese(for West’s stay), peanut butter cookies (also for West’s stay), unsweetened applesauce, 4lbs. of chicken wings, 2 cans of mushrooms, a party size box of Ritz crackers, a large bottle of Zesty Italian dressing, 2 containers of iodized salt, 1 box of tissues(not pictured) and a bottle of Avocado oil. I also purchased a mug and some reading glasses that will not be included in the food total. Here is my receipt:

I couldn’t resist the mug and I needed the reading glasses. So my total for food was $ 29.81.


My last stop was Top’s:

I am only showing the food prices here but I did get some greeting cards and some other non food items that Hubby wanted. We had a death in the family and Hubby’s secretary is retiring after 46 years. We wish her the very best of luck in whatever she does now.

The popcorn is a treat for Hubby and was $ 2.99. He also loves the peanuts so I got two bags since they were on sale for $ 4.99 each. The hoagie rolls were needed for dinners. They were $ 3.99. The family size oreos are a treat for West and were $ 2.99. The large box of goldfish is also a treat for West and was $ 6.99.

The potatoes are for brunch on Sunday and were on sale for $2.49. The au jus packets are needed for future meals and were an outrageous price of $ 2.49 each. The bacon was a coupon item and cost $ 3.99. The two cans of tuna( $2.09 each) and 2 cans of chicken($3.19 each) were stockpile items.

The SF marinade is for a future meal and was $ 4.29. The coffee was B1G1F so they cost $ 4.99 for both cans. The strawberries were a coupon item and cost $ 1.99. The ice cream is for West and was $ 2.99. The mozzarella cheese was needed for our hot Italian dinners and was $ 2.50.

So my total for Top’s was $ 65.72. So the total for my shops was $ 95.93. That leaves $ 99.68 in my budget for the rest of the month. 

West is coming to stay with us starting Sunday for two weeks so I needed to load up on some treats and things. My son has been back at work for a month or so and my daughter in law is a college professor and needs to go into work for a couple of weeks. So we will be having lots of fun over the next couple of weeks with West before school starts.

For brunch this morning I again had 2 eggs and some mashed avocado. Hubby had some banana bread.

Neither Hubby nor I want take out tonight for dinner. Since we had take out for lunch over the weekend, that was enough for now.

So with my zero waste policy, we will again be having hot Italian sausage. Mine will be just on a plate like last night. Hubby will again use a hoagie roll.

I have ordered a new Keto cookbook that should come tomorrow. It is highly rated so I am anticipating making a couple of different meals from it next week. I have to mix it up so that I don’t get bored with my diet. 

I have been having trouble with my camera. Hubby is looking at it now to see if he can find out what is going wrong with it. Sorry about the blurry pictures.

I hope you all have a good day.     

Categories
Every Day

August 10: Low Spend Grocery Month Challenge and a Memory

I always think of my grandfather today because today was his birthday. My mom, my sister, and I lived with him and my grandmother from the time I was 3 until I got married. If they hadn’t taken us in when my mom left my father, I think my sister and I would have ended up in an adoption home. God Bless that man. May you be resting in peace Grandpa. I have fond memories of him and how he walked me down the aisle at my wedding. Unfortunately, he died a few months after that.

Today, it is 71 already and it is only 7am as I start to write this post. I think it is going to be a hot one. 

Brunch today for Hubby was a ham sandwich. I decided to fry up the eggplant that my son had given me. I fried it up in a little avocado oil and sprinkled it with grated parmesan cheese. Yum. 

I have been working hard most of today cleaning the house and the car. I think I am going to take a nap because I am beat. 

We just ate dinner. Hubby had a hot Italian sausage sandwich on a hoagie. I had mine on a plate with sauce, grated mozzarella cheese and grated parmesan cheese. I just am not hungry when it gets this hot outside. We hit 88 today but the humidity made it feel like a steam bath. UGH. Do you seem to eat less in the summer? 

I am off to read now. I hope you have a great evening.

Categories
Every Day

August 9: Low Spend Grocery Challenge

Breakfast today was a slice of banana bread spread with cream cheese. We needed to eat something before we traveled to our son’s home. It’s many miles away. Sorry about the shadow. We took a loaf of banana bread to them for their breakfast tomorrow.

We went there to visit them for most of the day. It was so good to see and spend time with all of them. Hubby was so happy to meet their new dog, Ludo(bottom pic). He is just so huggable like a big bear. But of course, we had to spend some time with Nori(top pic) too. They are both terrific dogs.

We told them we would treat for takeout for lunch. Before we left this morning, I signed up for DiBella’s reward program and they gave me a 50% off coupon for our order. So submarines for 5 of us only cost $20.87. This comes out of our entertainment budget which has a ton of money in it because we rarely go anyplace or do anything since the sickness hit.


However on the trip to visit them, Hubby hit a dog who jumped out of the weeds right in front of our car. Hubby did his best to brake and try to avoid him but we heard the thud. Hubby started to get out of the car expecting to see an injured dog in the road but the dog ran off. 

We went to the ranch whose dog we thought it might be and sure enough the dog was running around like nothing happened. Hubby found the owner in the barn feeding her horses. She was very apologetic but Hubby wanted her to look at the dog to make sure he was okay. He just had a little blood between two toes. Otherwise the owner said the dog was fine. She said he was only a year old and very rambunctious. The Lord was looking over us and that dog. Hubby seemed fine to continue on the trip to our son’s. I was a little shook but it went away.

We never even thought to look at our SUV until we were at my son’s home. No sign of any damage at all. Everybody was lucky on this one.  

We just got home a few minutes ago and Hubby is settled in his chair to read the Sunday paper and do his crossword puzzle.

The reason I told you in my menu plan that dinner was to be determined is because of our trip. We didn’t know how hungry we would be when we got home for dinner. However, we each ordered medium subs. We only each ate 1/2 of our subs for lunch. So we have the other 1/2 left for dinner. Mine which was a Philly steak with cheese and grilled peppers and onions is pictured. Hubby had an Italian sub. I will heat mine up in the air fryer. But we will have a late dinner because we are both stuffed. I will be right back on my diet tomorrow.

If any of you have DiBellas’s near you, you can get the same deal of 50% off your first order by going through the link. It is good for, I think, 7 days.


I plan on continuing to work on my yearlong list of what is needed during that time so that I can shop for those things at the best prices.


I hope you all have a great evening.

Categories
Every Day

August 8: Low Spend Grocery Month Challenge

Brunch today was 2 eggs and some mashed avocado. Hubby ate a turkey sandwich. 


I had bananas that had gotten overripe so I made 2 loaves of homemade banana bread this afternoon. One is for us and one is for a gift.


Dinner tonight was chicken legs. Since Hubby didn’t want anything else with it, I just sliced some cucumbers up on my plate instead of cooking the brussel sprouts. If the chicken in the picture doesn’t look done, it wasn’t. Hubby under cooked it so we put it back in the air fryer for 5 more minutes. Then it was done and tasted delicious. 


Tonight I am going to continue to work on my food inventory and the lists that I have been making so that we know exactly how much food we need to buy for the two of us for one year. If we are going to try to always eat at rock bottom prices, we need to know how much we need of each item. I know there are lists out there by the LDS and other people to guide you. But every family including ours eat differently. So my list and your list would be different.


I hope you all have a great evening.