We ate most of our food last winter. Some is still left from then but it wasn’t much. So I have been restocking for this coming winter. I usually concentrate my canning on meats, tomatoes and fruits. Most of the rest is purchased.
One of the items that seems to be in short supply this past year is potatoes. We don’t eat many of them but we keep some in our long term storage like hash browns, canned, and some other potato dishes.
We also like to supplement our own canned tomato products with store products because we use a lot.
I have been shopping to fill in the gaps. It’s hard work. Then you have to bring it home and put the new in the back rows. First in is first out.
Hubby has had a construction crew here for 4 days building a wall to protect our grill from the wind and a patio that replaces the old small patio. Hubby picked the pattern and the colors. It looks fantastic. We have already lost one grill to the wind and the one we have now has been blown over once. This project was supposed to be done the beginning of July but the boss got sick. So it is not done yet because the very last capstone was cracked in half and had to be reordered. It should be in sometime next week.
You can easily see that the short wall is where the black capstone that was broken belongs. The patio and wall abuts our very large patio. Hubby picked the colors and stone to complement it.
As you can see they did a job on our lawn where the stones were cut and laying. However, they left us with topsoil and seed to fix it. They fixed the edges and seeded around the patio.
I also wanted to let you know that we have a lot of company coming in July and August. So bear with me and I will be here when I can. I hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as we are.
I woke up the other morning craving fried chicken and corn on the cob. Momentarily, I thought about going to Popeye’s or the gas station that makes delicious fried chicken every day. But I decided to make it at home for dinner. I had chicken breasts in the freezer that only cost me $ 1.88 a lb. I grabbed 2 breasts and weighed them. They totaled 1.5 lbs. I cut them in half lengthwise. That gave me 4 pieces that cost $ 2.82 for all or $ .705 for each. I coated them with seasoned( garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and paprika)flour and egg. I fried them in about $ .30 worth of oil. When I was frying them, I couldn’t help but notice the big bubbles that were in the pan. That told me these breasts would not be greasy and they weren’t.
Then I wrapped two ears of corn in 2 wet pieces of paper towels and microwaved them for 4-5 minutes. The corn cost me $ .29 each. or $ 1.16 for 4 ears.
Each meal ended up costing us $ 2.14 each plus the minimal cost of spices and a pat of butter for the corn. That cost is for 2 people.
I know I would have spent close to $15.+ tax for Popeye’s and about $16.+tax at the gas station. So I saved quite a bit of money and I think my chicken tastes much better.
Because we cook at home most of the time, we can afford to go out to dinner on specials occasions. Hubby and I celebrated our 57th Anniversary on Monday. We had a wonderful lazy day, talked to both of our sons, and went out to dinner at the Village Eatery for Italian food last night. We had not been there since before Covid. Their food was delicious. We came home with dessert and half of each of our meals for dinner Tuesday night. I had Chicken Pietro: sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, spinach, portobello mushrooms, and chicken sauteed in a white wine sauce on a bed of angel hair spaghetti. Hubby will finish his veal parmigiana. The waitress wrapped us two pieces of Italian bread to go with our leftovers. We had 3 drinks( $ 1.00 off each, a Happy Hour Special) between us and our total bill with a 20% tip came to $ 115.00. It was a wonderful celebration without a very high price. We like to support family owned restaurants.
I have been reorganizing our pantries. They don’t take long to be a mess when I don’t have time to put things away as I buy them. So I have been concentrating on that. Hubby asked me the other night when we cooked rib eye steaks if we had steak sauce. I looked and told him no. So I picked up 2 bottles the other day. When I was rearranging, I found 5 bottles, Now we have 7. This is why I should inventory more often. Yikes.
I hope you all had a great July 4th. We were invited to a cookout at our neighbor’s next door. It was mostly family but our neighbors on the other side of me were invited too. So we decided to go for a bit. But we ended up having a fantastic time chatting with their parents who are all about our age. So the bit turned into 3 hours. There were about 20 young children there who were enjoying the pool. Then later the oldest child who is 13 organized a bunch of games for the little kids. We enjoyed watching them because it brought back memories of our childhoods and our sons’ childhoods. There was so much food offered. Hubby and I just grabbed a cheeseburger, some macaroni salad, and a beer. Then later the hostess brought me a piece of strawberry cheesecake that a family member had made. I shared with Hubby and it was delicious. We could have pigged out on all of it but that would have only made us feel stuffed. We are finding that as we age, we eat less and two meals a day is plenty.
I did some shopping yesterday also. Walmart is having sale days and since I have Walmart+, I was able to shop a few days earlier than everyone else. I looked at what was on sale last night after we got home from dinner. I have been looking specifically for summer pajamas since mine have worn out after 24 years. I lucked out and got 3 summer lounge wear sets for $59.83. I also found 2 dressy tops for the summer for $ 24. I have what I need for years now.
I will write more in the next few days. I am tired tonight so I am going to bed early.
Have you done anything to save money this week? We did some spending also. You will see more frugal things we did when I write later.
I needed very few groceries this week. On my trip to Top’s, I purchased 4 bars of Cabot Cheese on sale for $ 2.50 each. This cheese is our very favorite so I tend to stock up on it when it is cheap. We needed cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches so that was $ 2.79. The bread is for sandwiches and to make French toast for West. It was $ 1.69. The Ken’s Blue cheese dressing was $2.49 using a $ 1.00 off coupon. The last items were 2 SF wafer cookies that Hubby asked for. They were on sale for $3.00 each. So my grocery bill this week totaled $ 22.97. I also got a 100 free gas points with a monopoly ticket. The cashier reminded me that gas points are expiring on Saturday. Since I had $.40 off a gallon, I filled up while I was there. I paid $ 3.30 per gallon after the reduction.
In the mail I received these coupons that I had requested. We love the Chung’s Egg Rolls to accompany our dinner when I make Chinese food. The Smithfield coupons will come in handy for smoked sausage, ham, and hot dogs. I take time once a week to write the manufacturers of products that I use to ask for coupons.
A while ago my son in the Adirondacks told me that the fire department he volunteers at was having a raffle so I purchased a couple of tickets. I totally forgot about it until this morning when he told me I won the Yeti Tundra 35 cooler. I rarely win anything so I am very excited. This will come in handy for picnics, parties, and if the power goes out.
Yesterday, I ran out and did some errands for Hubby. He wanted me to get some geraniums for the back patio. I had sticker shock when I saw what they cost. I needed a flat of 12 and they cost $ 38. for just 4 plants. That was $ 114. for the flat. There was no way I was paying that. So instead I got a flat of fire hot(color) salvia. That cost me $19.99+ tax. What a huge difference. I wonder why the geraniums are so expensive. I know things cost so much more but I deemed this a complete rip off.
I am lazy this morning. But as soon as I have my shower and get dressed for the day, I will be cleaning.
Our pharmacy closed this weekend. I found a new one 2 blocks from the one we went to. I visited last week and looked around the store and talked to the pharmacy personnel. I have 4 requirements when choosing a pharmacy. It has to be close to where I do other errands, it has to be very clean, it has to be one that it is in our drug plan, and the pharmacist and other people that work there have to be friendly, accurate, and efficient. I was satisfied that the new one most likely would meet our requirements. I came home and told Hubby about it. He was happy to switch there. So we switched to the pharmacy and gave that pharmacy to all of our doctors to send future prescriptions to. Then Hubby ordered two prescriptions. We were amazed that just three hours after we ordered them, they were ready.
I decided that I would pick them up the next day before I did my weekly shopping at Top’s. Hubby insisted on going because he wanted to make sure that he knew right where this pharmacy was. I told him no problem but that we needed to shop at Top’s afterward. He said okay which surprised me because he hates grocery shopping.
First we went to the pharmacy. I was anxious to see how many pills they gave Hubby for each script. We have never had a pharmacy that filled them correctly the first time. We get 90 days of pills with our plan. It would be so aggravating when I would go to pick up scripts and they would be filled with 30 because they paid no attention. Then I would have to wait while they redid them. This pharmacy did them correctly to my amazement.
Then we went to Top’s to get some loss leaders. I had a list and I even ate breakfast before we went so that I would stick to my list. However, it didn’t take long for Hubby to start picking up things and putting them in the cart. The first few were on sale which was no problem. That is the way I shop and then I shop my shelves to make meals. So we are almost always eating food that was on sale. However he decided he wanted cold cuts. I said okay and took him over to the deli and showed him what was on sale. He didn’t want the sale cold cuts. He wanted the Charlie The Butcher roast beef which the girl told me was $ 18.00 a lb. I told him but before I could say I will get some he got mad and went out to the car to saying he couldn’t get what he wanted. I continued shopping and got him a half a lb. of the roast beef. Then I picked the rest of my items on my list and checked out.
I explained to him that I have no problem getting the things he likes. But I will give him the ad every week so that he can pick out the sale items. I explained that almost everything that he would want would go on sale over a 12 week period. I would buy him enough to last 12 weeks. I told him otherwise I would need a raise in my grocery budget. He said that is fine and any time I need a raise I can just take more cash from the bank. I told him I have been doing just fine this year. So when the ad comes in the mail this week for next week, I will give it to him to look at. Then he can tell me if there are any loss leaders he wants and I will add them to my list. He is happy with this arrangement.
The first 4 items that Hubby picked up were 2 boxes of Cheez-It’s that were on sale for $3.00 a box and 2 bags of croutons that were on sale for $2.00 each. We already have 8 bags of them but they are the Caesar ones he always asks for and I guess he is tired of them. Next I got the 1/2 lb. of roast beef he wanted and noticed when I looked at my receipt and this picture that the roast beef was on sale. It was on sale for $ 14.99 a lb. which I still think it outrageous. So it cost $ 7.94 for .53 lbs. It was not advertised in my flyer and the girl told me it was not on sale.
Then I purchased what was on my list which was 2 sirloin steaks on sale B1G1F and cost $ 11.98 for both minus a $2.00 off $10.00 meat purchase Monopoly coupon so it cost me $ 9.98 for the two steaks. I got a bag of frozen tortellini which was on sale for $ 3.34. I make soup and some pasta dishes with this.
We were out of tomatoes on the vine and I want to make BLT’s this week so I purchased these on sale at $ 1.88 a lb. for $ 3.46. The last item was an 8oz. chunk of cheddar cheese on sale for $ 1.99. We eat cheese as a snack sometimes.
Ninety percent of our meals were made at home this week including homemade chicken soup, taco bowls, and turkey sandwiches.
Leftovers were eaten other days. Waste not, want not!
For entertainment, Hubby and I watched the NCIS, FBI, CSI, and Equalizer shows that Hubby had saved on the DVR.
Hubby planted the daffodil plant that my son and daughter in law had given us for Easter. We were thrilled to see that there were 3 bulbs in that pot.
We are still going through our home and getting rid of things that we no longer want by donating them. Hubby took all of our old electronics: computers, cellphone and tablets to the electronics pick up at our town hall this morning. This did not save us money but it is saving us space and clutter.
I inventoried our canning jars not only for the seasonal things this year but for more meat. We have been using up the meat that was canned in 2021 and 2022. So I need to put up a lot more beef and chicken. I do have enough jars, rings, and new lids.
We have been making lots of pudding for snacks this week. I also have celery and carrot sticks that we eat with homemade veggie dip.
If you have a thrift store close to your location, run in there when you are doing other errands and see what they have. You never know what you may find. I rarely find clothes but often I find cheap books and greeting cards. It only takes me an extra 5 minutes when I am out.
We got our electric and natural gas bill for the past month. It would have been $ 193.09 for 31 days but we got the NYS Energy Credit on this bill which New York is giving to everyone. So our bill after the credit for $24.23 was $168.06. We are now having very cold weather for this time of year. It has been in the 20’s at night so I expect this next bill will be higher.
We have been doing the usual: one to two loads of laundry a week using cold water and hanging most to dry. We have been cooking either on the range top or in the countertop 11 in one oven. The dishwasher is run once to twice a week.
Hubby will be giving me a haircut today. It has been a year and a half since I have gone to the hairdresser and I am enjoying saving the $ 140. I was spending going every 5-6 weeks.
I am without a cellphone right now so I can’t take pictures. I have a new one coming soon. Hubby and I decided we needed a second line at the same time. So we went to Mint Mobile and ordered a second cellphone and a new line. He is using my old one to monitor his blood sugars and it always has to be right near him. Because of this, I have gone out to run errands a couple of times without the phone. I don’t like doing that in case the car breaks down. I am hoping the new phone will arrive today or tomorrow and we can them activate the service.
The eclipse was not all that we thought it would be. We had an absolutely beautiful day on Sunday and yesterday. But Monday we were overcast and you could not see the sun. However we and all of our neighbors sat outside hoping to catch a glimpse. It never happened. However it was amazing how dark it got here so quickly and then it lightened up just as quick. We had 100% totality here. That was kind of neat. The other thing we noticed was that when it got dark, it got really cold. We had gone outside when it was in the sixties and the temperature dropped so fast. At least it is the first time we saw the sun rise in the West.
Yesterday Hubby got out our chairs for our sitting area in front of the house. It was so nice to be able to sit outside for a few hours yesterday and then have our drink before dinner outside. It was 80 here, sunny, and very low humidity. We enjoyed every minute of that fresh air and sunshine. I even turned off the heat and opened some windows. I left the heat off last night and it is still 71 in here as I write this morning. It is supposed to be in the 50’s and 60’s the rest of the week and storm so I think the heat will be going back on tonight or earlier.
We have new neighbors who moved in across the street from us. They moved here for the same reason we did….grandchildren. So I will be baking them some homemade pumpkin bread this week to welcome them.
I woke up on Sunday with some kind of stomach bug. So I have not eaten much this week. The only thing that has tasted good to me is toast. My sciatica is acting up again so I have not done a lot except put on pain patches all the time. It is hard to get anything done.
Remember I told you a while ago that Hubby was going to wall in the pantry he made me. Well, he moves slowly and is just now getting to it. He and my son are going on Saturday to get the material to do it. He did get all of the wood up to nail the walls to a while ago but that is as far as he got. He carpeted the floor a few years ago with gray carpet squares. He asked me what color I would like the walls. I told him light gray would be great because it would make the space brighter. So they will get everything on Saturday including the paint. Also the majority of my shelving is plastic. I have been lucky that all these years they have not broken under the weight. So we are having delivered all new shelving… sturdy gorilla shelves. I will be tied up for a few days moving everything out of the space. I have not been able to store any canning jars of food on those shelves because I was afraid they would collapse. So I will be very happy to get all of my jars out of my cupboards in the kitchen. It is a lot of work but I will be thrilled when we are all done. Since I plan on canning the majority of our food this year, it will be great to have the proper shelves for it.
I hope to be back blogging sometime next week. I hope you all have a great week and weekend.
Grilled Reuben sandwiches were our dinner last night. It was made on marble rye bread with sliced corned beef slices, swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and homemade Russian dressing. Hubby put them together and grilled them on our indoor grill. They were so good.
Breakfast yesterday was sausage and egg with grilled peppers in it and cheese McMuffins. We love them and have to use up the English muffins before they go bad. Today’s brunch for me was the leftover home fries from our breakfast out on Sunday. I cooked them with some butter to heat them through. That was all I wanted. I had a headache and was not too hungry. Hubby had sausage and eggs.
Dinner tonight was Rastelli’s rib eye pork chops with some Epicurean Herb Butter on top. We had some macaroni and cheese with it and Hubby was making a quick green salad to go with all of it while I was taking this picture.
I have only gone out to the Post Office this week. We had a very busy day yesterday submitting our meter readings to the electric and gas company, getting paperwork all filled out to go to the Post Office, rolling over a large Share Certificate that was expiring to a 5% interest one, doing laundry, calling my sister for our Monday chat and a bunch of other little things. I did get a Free coupon and a $1.00 off one for Ken’s salad dressing in the mail.
Hubby’s computer decided to turn on the day after we thought it had died. However it is 5-6 years old so he purchased one from Dell but they say it will take a month to build what he wants. So hopefully, his will hold up until the new one comes.
We spent the day working in the basement again today. Hopefully it will be done soon. I also cleaned the inside of the refrigerator today. Now I have to fold the load of laundry I did today.
How are you doing keeping your grocery bills down?
On Monday we had a high of 71 and on Tuesday we had a high of 73. As soon as the sun came up, I had the shades and blinds up on the sunny windows to warm it up in here. We followed the sun around the house all day each day.
I took our car yesterday to the car wash while I was out running errands. It was filthy from the road dirt and salt from the snowstorm last week. It was a perfect day to do it. Our car wash gives out coupons each time you get the car washed. They never expire. I now have collected 5 of them so my next car wash will be free.
I tried an experiment on Monday morning. I use reusable cups in my Keurig. I added some more grounds to the first cup pod and brewed a second cup. The second cup was perfect. I will be doing this all the time now. I used to do this when I made pots of coffee. Why I never thought to do this with the pods I don’t know.
On Monday I took my navy shower. While the water was warming up, I caught that water in a pail. I used it to wash the bathroom floors.
I ran a lot of errands yesterday in a circle. I started with a doctor’s appointment and some testing in the next town where I got really good news. The doctor also gave me a sample of the drug I take. That sample will last me 30 days. Then I went to the bank to deposit some checks. Next I went to Niagara Produce and purchased about 3 lbs. of fresh asparagus for $ .99 a lb. and 2 boxes of canning lids for $ 5.29 each. These are getting very hard to find so I pick them up when I see them. I also purchased a large value pack of fresh chicken tenders for $ 1.99 a lb. I will be doing them up for the freezer with the food saver today. I got 2 lbs. of strawberries for $5.00, 3 pints of blueberries for $ .99 each, 5 lbs. of carrots for $ 3.69, and a 10 lb. bag of onions for $ 4.99.
Next I went to the drug store to pick up a prescription for Hubby and then to Top’s for some loss leader items. They were out of stock on all them and it was senior citizens discount day. I was shocked at how empty the store was. Since I was there and could get the discount I picked up some hot dogs that were on sale but not by much because we are low on them.
My last stop was because of exhaustion. I was out of the house all day and I forgot to thaw something. I stopped at Subway and got two 12 inch subs with a coupon for $ 12.99 and $1.04 tax. I said to the person making them, do you have a way to put the dressings on the side? She said yes and I was thrilled because it was 3pm when I was getting them and we would not eat until 5pm. I never knew they could do this. I did not want them soggy plus I knew that Hubby and I would only eat 1/2 of each of them so we now have dinner for tonight too.
Today I will be dicing up some gallon bags of onions along with cutting up some apples in the refrigerator that are getting old. I will bag up some of the blueberries and strawberries and all of these things will go in the freezer. Waste not, want not!
Most of the day will be spent reorganizing my pantries and updating my inventories.
Sorry that the pictures are a little weird. Hubby needed the phone and I was rushing when I did them.
I know I told you that I was not going to shop this week again. However, after we ate the some of the strip steaks that I purchased earlier in the week, Hubby wanted more. We agreed that they were the best strip steaks we have ever purchased at Top’s. They were very tender and very flavorful. Since I still had grocery money leftover last month and in January, I went back today to get two more packages of 4 each. Tomorrow is the last day of the sale and I avoid shopping on the weekends if I can. My cost for those were $50.95.
Top’s was having a three day only sale and today was one of the days. I got a loaf of bakery French bread for $ 1.29, bananas at $.29 a lb, 1 yogurt for $ .29 and 1 peanut butter for $ 1.29. They had other things but these were the only good deals that I could use with the 3 day coupons.
I also picked up 4 more of the Cabot cheeses at 4/$10. My total for all was $ 64.57.
Every couple of weeks, I have been looking at the price of my favorite mouthwash on Walmart. It had been too high for my blood. I have been out for a while. Finally it came down to $ 11.89. I still did not want to pay that price. Last night, I looked and found out that it was on sale for $ 6.78 bottle. Walmart is just a block from Top’s. So I stopped in and got three bottles today which will last me a long time. My total with $ 1.63 in sales tax came to $ 21.97. Natural Dentist is the best mouthwash I have ever used. It really pays to be patient.
Tonight Hubby will be coating and frying a large piece of haddock that we will split for dinner. When he cooked the steaks the other night, I baked 4 extra potatoes to make potato salad. I will do that right after I finish posting this.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. It is supposed to be 52 here today and then high 50’s and then up to 67 through Wednesday. I am loving it!
This morning I went to Top’s for badly needed fresh items and my last 2 fresh meat items for the month. We were down to our last half and half so I picked up 2 cartons for $5.99 each. I drink a lot of coffee so I try to stay stocked with at least 3 cartons. They are dated in April so they will be used before they go bad.
I also got 4 Cabot cheese chunks for a total of $10.00. These are my go to snack items. Hubby wanted grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch and we were almost out of American cheese so I bought one for $3.19.
I stumbled upon these NY strip steaks on sale for $ 8.99 a lb. for a total of $ 21.98. These will give us at least 2 meals but possibly 3. Usually when we have leftover steak, we saute it in a fry pan with butter and garlic and serve it with scrambled eggs. My last purchase was a lb. of Oscar Mayer bacon that was on sale with a Super Coupon for $ 5.99.
My total was $ 53.14.
This past weekend and today, we have been cleaning out some more items. I have taken everything out of my kitchen cupboards and rearranged them to make things easier to find. Some items that we haven’t used in a few years were put in the sell box. Things make more sense to the both of us now.
Our clock that we purchased from a relative’s jewelry store in 1967 died this past weekend. The clock always chimed every 15 minutes. It was made in Germany. I hate to throw it out because it has been with us for so long. Hubby looked to see if he could fix it and the mechanism that he thinks needs replacing is over $400. We would hate to buy the part and find out that it didn’t fix it. So he is going to tinker with it and see if he can fix it. His sister gave him the name of an organization who fixes clocks such as these. So he is going to contact them also. If it can’t be fixed, we will have to let it go.
Tonight I am making homemade pizza using the Naan bread that I buy at Aldi’s. I will bake it in the 11 in 1 oven that I bought recently.
Not much else going on. Have you saved on your groceries this week?
