Tag: what we eat

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Every Day

Over The Weekend

We had a nice big salad and grilled a strip steak outside. The salad had romaine, onions, tomatoes and sliced eggs. I had cooked 9 eggs in the instant pot the day before. Hubby made egg salad one day and I had some as snacks. The last one was sliced for our salad.

On Saturday for brunch, Hubby sauteed the leftover steak with some garlic and added English muffins with my homemade peach jam.

Hubby grilled pork ribeye steaks and I served them with cinnamon apples another night.

My son sent a message saying they were coming for breakfast on Saturday instead of Sunday. I didn’t see his message until 9:30pm on Friday night. I set the table for the morning. When I got up with Eloise at 5:30am, I decided to make scrambled eggs, fried ham and French toast to go with it. When they arrived at 9am, I was able to cook those up and add fresh avocado slices for anyone who wanted them. Water, coffee, and diet cranberry juice were offered as beverages. After some good conversation we played a game of rummy. I so love playing that so they play with us almost every time they visit.

Navy showers were on the agenda very early Saturday morning. Then I threw a full load of wash in the washing machine. I used cold water, 1/4 cup of liquid detergent and added a little Oxy to that load. Before our son and grandson came, I was able to hang all of it to dry. I will see if I can wait a full week before having to do another load.

I made a batch of brownies for snacks and they should last all next week. I baked them in my counter top 11 in 1 oven to save on energy. While they were baking, I scanned all of my Fetch receipts to earn points for Walmart gift cards.

All of this food was in my refrigerator, freezers, and pantries. I did not have to run out to any stores to get it. Having a stockpile saves a fortune on gasoline.

Hubby spent some time washing one section of the garage floor where he had bagged up some wet grass. One of the bags leaked and it was a mess. He used some cleaner that we had on hand and washed it all off. It was easy because our garage floor is epoxied. He also emptied some more pots that had flowers in them to get ready for winter. He is almost done. Then he mowed the lawn. We hope we will do the last grass cutting until spring soon. When he was done with that I helped him put our storm door on and put the screen door away.

While my son was here, he helped Hubby put all the patio furniture into our shed. He also brought our snowblower around to the garage from the shed. Hubby bought a large rubber mat to park it on to protect the garage floor. We have a snow plow guy for the winter but he only does the driveway. So the snowblower is needed for the sidewalk and porch. The last thing Hubby had to do is put the grill cover on. But we won’t do that until the first snow is predicted. We are hoping that we can use it over the winter to save on our utility bill.

I spent some time making a list of errands that I need to get done this week. One of them is to get a leash for Eloise. I don’t know what size to buy her because she is growing like a weed. So I will go to the pet store to try to figure it out. If the one I get doesn’t fit her, I can return it and get a larger one. I will measure her to see if that helps determine her size. I also need a haircut and will do those errands on Tuesday before I go to our Top’s Grand Opening. They are having some fantastic sale prices!

For dinner last night, I needed something easy(I was exhausted) for after the Buffalo Bills game. We won and that was entertaining. So we made homemade Chik Fil A chicken patty sandwiches. We added some pickle spears and chips. Then had a brownie for dessert. After dinner, I ran the dishwasher and am hoping that I won’t have to do that again for at least 3 days.

Did you cook something from your pantry this weekend?

P.S.: There is a VERY important post before this one.

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Every Day

Sunday and Monday Happenings

I had to purchase Hubby’s alcohol prep pads. He only had about 5 days left. Amazon carries the ones he uses. When I went to order them, they offered me a 30 day free trial of Prime. I took them up on their offer so that I didn’t have to get $35. worth of items and I got one day shipping. Hubby will enjoy Thursday night football on Prime for at least the next 4 Thursdays. And I will see if there are any movies I would like to watch. I have every intention of cancelling at 30 days.

We met my son, daughter in law, and West, at Duff’s yesterday for lunch in another town. We ate no breakfast so that we could enjoy Duff’s wings. Buffalo wings were invented out here at the Anchor Bar. So many tourists go there to try them. However, I and thousands of other people out here who do the yearly survey on who has the best wings, pick Duff’s. Their wings are amazing. Duff’s has won the survey for a number of years in a row. We had a few beers and soda for Hubby and West with out meal. Plus West wanted large fries and huge breast meat fried tenders. There was so much food that Hubby and I had enough for our dinner last night. I decided to pay for all of us. It was the largest lunch bill I have ever paid but considering that we got 7 meals out of and a great time, it was worth it. Since I did not pay out much grocery money this month, I just took it from that budget.

We all gathered at our home afterward so that my daughter in law could meet Eloise. She loved her and West got all of her toys out from under the furniture for us. Then we all played a 500 point game of Rummy. It was a fun afternoon.

I have been trying to run the dishwasher every three days instead of every two. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t. I am thinking all the time on how I can cut down on the number of dishes we use. For example, I ask myself if I can use a small plate instead of a large one. Can I mix all dry and wet ingredients in one bowl instead of two? Everything I am questioning. I want to get the electric bill down as low as I can this month.

Hubby had planned on cooking pork rib eye steaks on the grill for dinner. But since we had leftover wings last night, he will grill them tonight and I will make a tossed salad(trying to use up the romaine lettuce), and serve applesauce.

Our Buffalo Bills played the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore last night and we got stomped. The Ravens are a big and rough team. I just prayed none of our players got hurt. One did though. Hopefully, he will recover quickly.

Hubby got up with Eloise this morning at 4:30AM. He let me sleep in for a change. I didn’t get up until 9:30AM. It felt good for a change. But I woke up not feeling well so I have taken it easy today. I have done some paperwork to get ready for our savings report tomorrow. Plus I paid our credit card bill that we got in the mail on Saturday.

I realize today that we have another CD expiring in the next 10 days so I will take care of renewing that tomorrow. The bank never sent me a notice about it. Ugh. I will take care of that when I call them.

I have lots of posts for this week starting with the savings one tomorrow. See you then. I hope you are having a great day!

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Every Day

A Savings Day

Before I talk about our savings today, I wanted to post a picture of our filet mignon and tossed salad dinner last night. I put ranch dressing on mine and Hubby had Italian. The filets were just seasoned with salt and pepper before Hubby grilled them. They were melt in your mouth good.

Our son who lives in the Adirondack’s in the eastern part of the state called Hubby yesterday afternoon for his birthday. We both enjoyed talking to him. It is rare that we get to see him because he works a full time job, owns a business, and is helping two different friends renovate their homes.

Today will be a savings day and I will list those as I do them during the day.

My son who lives just a little over an hour away called Hubby last night for his birthday. He told us that his family is going to the Buffalo Bills store downtown for when it opens on Sunday morning. So they will not be here for breakfast but will come later when they are done. Hubby invited them for lunch. They all eat Keto. So I made out a list of things that they will eat and was going to go to the store early this morning to get those things that I did not have. However when I was done with my list, I saw that I had a text message from him. He said his wife said we should go out for wings for lunch. So that is the plan sometime after they get done shopping. I imagine they will treat us. So I cancelled the grocery shopping trip which saves us on spending money for food and gasoline.

I did a very full load of laundry with just a couple of tablespoons of detergent. According to my appliance people that is all you need. I have been trying to get down to just one load a week to save on electricity. I have finally done it. I have an energy efficient Speed Queen washer and dryer. I use cold water to wash. Most things are hung to dry. I do dry sheets and towels in the dryer but for only 25 minutes and then hang them if they aren’t quite dry. I just replaced my dryer balls after almost 14 and a half years of use. I found a set of 6 at Walmart a month ago with a storage bag for $ 9.00. I do not use dryer sheets and haven’t for years.

I caulked all the spots that needed it on our window frames and sills. We are trying to get ready for winter. Hubby has been cutting the lawn down really low and mowing up the leaves as they come down. He has also been trimming the bushes and cutting some of the plants down. This is keeping him really busy and saves us on hiring our landscaper to clean up for the winter.

We still have no heat on. That is amazing for the end of September. I hope we can go a few more weeks without it by wearing sweatshirts and long pants. I have gotten our draft stoppers for the outside doors from our storage area so that they are ready to use.

Dinner tonight will be the leftover honey bourbon chicken, which Hubby loved, roasted potatoes, and brussel sprouts from Thursday dinner. I like to cook two meals at once. When we eat these, all leftovers in our fridge will be used up.

I love coffee as I am sure many of you do. I never buy coffee at a McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts, Tim Horton’s or Starbucks. I always make it at home. If I want it while I am out running errands, I bring my travel mug with coffee in it. However I drink 4-5 cups a day. As you all know, coffee has gotten so high in price, especially the last two weeks in which it took a huge increase of $3.00- $5.00 for a large can. So I am cutting back to 2 cups a day. If I need something else hot, I will have tea. I have lots of tea bags. Plus I can use my teabags to make two cups of tea.

When we got Eloise, we needed to buy litter. It was so expensive that I was shocked. We seem to be going through it quickly. If you have a kitten or cat, can you tell me where you buy it the cheapest and what you buy? Also how high do you fill the litter box with clean litter when you change it? I scoop her litter box twice a day. She also really likes to cover things up and manages to get litter all over the floor when she is doing that. Do the covered boxes work better than the flat ones? Thanks to anyone who responds and helps me out. I am headed in there now to clean and wash her box. Then I will vacuum and sanitize the floor.

Popeye’s contacted me with an apology and a $15.00 coupon for my next order. I’ll take it. When things go wrong on your order, it pays to let them know.

Did you do a little something to save or not spend today?

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Every Day

Friday’s Happenings

Today is Hubby’s birthday. We are celebrating at home because mine is in a couple of weeks so we go out to dinner in about a week to celebrate both of them. This year Hubby will pick the restaurant. We take turns.

But for his celebration today, we will grill filet mignon outside. We will have that with a glass of red wine and a tossed salad. Hubby wants an apple pie for dessert. Tonight we will watch college football.

We gave up exchanging gifts for birthdays and holidays years ago. That decision was made because we buy what we need or want when we need or want it. Our wants are few.

But before we celebrate, I had a few things to get done. As soon as Great Clips opened at 9AM, I signed in online and got my haircut. The senior price for a haircut is usually $18.99 but I have a $12.99 coupon that came in our ValuPak. I keep my punch card in my wallet at all times so I always remember that. After 7 haircuts, I get 1 free. I shampooed my hair this morning so I didn’t have to pay $6.00 extra for that. I have saved so much money since I left my pricey salon. First, Hubby cut it and then I found this Great Clips close by. It sure beats paying $ 140. a month for my salon treatment. It’s even higher now. Of course back then, I was getting my hair colored and high lighted. Now my hair is white and I like it.

Next I brought back some bottles to Fast Cash to get our $.05 deposits back. It’s in the same plaza.

Then I picked up a prescription at RiteAid for Hubby.

Next I stopped at Niagara Produce because Hubby wanted one of their apple pies for for his birthday dinner. They are his very favorite. I could make him one but not as delicious as the one he wanted.

Last stop was at Popeye’s because Hubby wanted spicy fried chicken for brunch. I got 2 orders of the Signature 3 piece chicken deal that I saw on TV on Sunday. They were $5.00 each plus tax which came to $10.80. My box had a wing, a leg, and a breast. Hubby’s had a wing, a leg, and a back. I have never served any of my family a back. It was awful. I tried to give Hubby my breast since it was his birthday and I felt bad. But being the gentleman he is he would not take it and told me to eat it. I did not want to go back there and waste gasoline to do it. Instead I wrote to Popeye’s online. They say it will take 24 hours for a response.

All of my errands were run in a loop as usual to save on gasoline. BTW, I went by my cash gas station today and the gasoline is down to $3.09 gallon.

That’s it for today. I want to go spend the rest of the day with Hubby.

brate

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Every Day

Saving Money So That We Can Spend On The Important Things

First I want to thank you for all your good wishes about Eloise. She is a joy but very active so she is keeping us busy. This morning she did allow us to sleep until 6AM though which I am grateful for. Also Hubby’s shoulder is just about back to normal which we are thankful for. I finally saw all your comments this morning and I have responded to you all.

It took me forever to write this post this morning. Eloise is enamored with chasing the cursor. As you can see, she is learning to type. Hence the last line you can see on the page. I keep putting her down and gently telling her no. But she comes back and back. Eventually she will get it.

Besides saving for our children and grandchildren, we save so that we can spend on other things that are important to us. Eloise was one of those choices. In just one day, we spent $583. on her. The adoption fee from the rescue was $ 195. I gave them $ 200. and said keep the change. The night before we got her, we spent about $25. at Walmart for some food and litter. Then the day we got her, we spent $ 292. in two trips to Petsmart. Then we placed a chewy.com order for ordering things that Petsmart didn’t have for $ 66. We now have everything we need for her except her climbing stand which is on it’s way. We have a couple of months of kitten food, treats, and litter. I will be looking into making her cat food when she is a little older. We decided not to buy her a bed. We made one from a small box and a very soft velour throw blanket. She seems to like it but prefers to sleep on our beds.

Hubby trimmed her nails last night. We thought that would be a nightmare but it wasn’t. I just wrapped her in a towel and petted her head. She didn’t even wince when Hubby cut them. We are grateful that we didn’t have to pay to have them done.

We purchased the Breeze system for a litter box. It take pellets. She wouldn’t use it. So we got a regular litter box with clay litter which she is using. We were hoping she would use the pellet system. But it was a no go. We couldn’t return it because we had opened the pellets that came with it. However in the literature that came with it, I noticed that I can send info plus UPC and receipt and get my money back from the manufacturer if she doesn’t like it which she doesn’t. So I will be doing that. That will be a refund of $ 43.99. It pays to read the literature.

We have had a ban on plastic grocery bags in this state since well before the pandemic. We have to use reusable or buy paper from the store. I don’t know why but I saved every one of them from the store for almost a year before the ban went into effect. I just used empty tissue boxes that I stuffed with them and put them all in a huge cardboard box. They have been sitting in a corner of the basement. I knew someday they would come in handy. Now they are to scoop dirty litter into. I have no idea what I will use when they are gone. Any ideas? But for now I have a stash for a year or two.

My son and West came on Sunday and we all went out to breakfast at our favorite Greek restaurant. That was an expense we chose because I need a treat everyone once in a while rather than cook breakfast for us all the time. We were a little leery of leaving Eloise alone. We figured we might come back to a destroyed house but we didn’t. She slept while we were gone.

HSN sent me an e-mail a couple of weeks ago about a Joy Mangano Little Steamer that I purchased from them years ago. They have been ordered by the courts to pay a class action settlement to each of us who purchased it because they hid the fact that it spews hot water that could scald you. I will be looking into my options on that and submitting an application for that money.

Yesterday in the mail we got two different checks for about $ 400. dollars as a result of a class action settlement for Philips C-Pap machines that were faulty. We had two machines that were recalled so that Hubby would always have a backup in case one broke. Philips replaced those machines a while ago with brand new ones that were not defective. This money was paid to us yesterday for the damages the defective machines may have caused. We knew that the money would be coming. However we were surprised at how fast it came and how much it was. Most class action settlements pay out $1.- $20. after the lawyers get paid.

My son has a laser pointer that he is going to give us for Eloise. We were going to look into buying one. But he commented that he had one for her. Free is good! He will be back to visit in 2 weeks and will bring it for her. I think Eloise will enjoy it.

I will be reading our electric and gas meter this week and will be interested in how much that bill is. We have had our A/C off for a while now. We have only had to put it back on the past couple of days because it has gotten so hot here.

I cooked a small boneless Butterball turkey last night in the countertop oven. We had a turkey dinner last night. Hubby will cut the rest of the meat on the new slicer today. We will have turkey BLT’s tonight for dinner. The rest will be frozen for future cold cuts.

It may seem to you that we don’t spend a lot of money but we do on the things we all have to pay every day like home maintenance, taxes, gasoline, utilities, water, food, insurances, etc. However we always save so that we can pay cash for all of our purchases that are necessary and unnecessary. We do splurge on the wants that we truly want without worrying about them. Eloise is just one example. But to be honest our wants are far and few between. Hence, we save a lot of money each month so that there will be generational wealth. We started from $ 0.00 all those years ago so the generational wealth is very important to us.

Have you saved any money in the past week or so? Feel free to share those savings with us.

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Every Day

Busy Monday

We had corned beef reuben sandwiches again last night. So tonight we will be having turkey BLT’s so that we can use up the turkey and tomatoes. Bacon was cooked on Saturday for breakfast yesterday and the BLT’s tonight.

This morning I was up and out at 7:15 a.m. for an eye doctor checkup. My eyes were the same as last year. No cataracts and no sign of any damage at all. I can continue to use my cheap reading glasses. They only put one dilation drop in each eye so I was able to stop at Top’s on the way home and get these two packages of chicken breasts for $ 2.49 a lb. Chicken seems to be scarce in our area so I am grabbing what I can when it is on sale.

These will be preserved with the food saver and put in the upstairs freezer. I have other chicken breasts frozen. Those will come out of the freezer and be thawed and canned because they are older.

I cashed out points for a $10.00 Amazon GC at Pinecone. I am signing up at some more sites to earn points.

I did one load of wash using cold water and hung it to dry. I also did one full load of dishes in the dishwasher using 1 tbsp. of dish soap. They are air drying now.

Hubby is outside watering all of the flowers that are in baskets and pots. I am continuing to go through all of our stuff and either toss it, donate it, or sell it.

What have you been doing to save a little money?

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Every Day

Saturday’s Lazy Day

Hubby decided late last night that he did not want potatoes, carrots, and cabbage in with the corned beef when I cooked it. He just wants reuben sandwiches. So I checked my pantry and refrigerator and I had swiss cheese slices and sauerkraut but I did not have the marble rye bread nor the ingredients to make it. So I was at the market at 7am buying this $ 5.69 loaf of bread. They had no marble rye so this was the closest I could get to it. We do have the ingredients to make Russian dressing. Hubby can’t wait to make one after the Bills preseason football game. I started the corned beef very early so it should be done by 5pm. It is cooking in beer and a little bit of water along with the spice packet that came with it.

Today will be a lazy day of watching the game and doing some reading.

During the game, I cooked up 1 pound of bacon for our family Sunday breakfast tomorrow. We haven’t seen my grandson and son in a few weeks so we are looking forward to it. When they get here in the morning, I will cook up a package of breakfast sausage, make scrambled eggs and some French toast for those who want these things. I will reheat the bacon.

For brunch today, we had roast beef sandwiches. I had pulled some roast beef slices out of the freezer the other day and they need to be used up.

We turned off the A/C last night so that we could enjoy a cool night of sleeping with the windows open. But we had to turn it back on today because the heat and muggy weather is coming back and will last all of this coming week. Just as I am posting this, the A/C has turned on for the first time today. It is 6:35pm.

We will be getting our school tax bill in a week or so. I found the 2024-2025 tax rate per thousand and have estimated the bill at $ 5981. Yikes! We will see how close I come to it.

Hubby made the reubens for our dinner when the corned beef was done and had cooled a bit. He put corned beef, sauerkraut, and swiss cheese slices on the buttered bread and then grilled them on our indoor grill. I forgot how good they are. We are looking forward to eating these as long as the corned beef lasts.

Enjoy your evening.

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Every Day

Friday’s Doings

Dinner last night was made using the above items. We have leftovers from this dinner and the shrimp fra diavolo which we will use up for dinner tonight. Waste not, want not!

I was given a $ 12.99 haircut coupon by Great Clips so I had my hair cut today and used it and gave her a generous tip. The price is usually $18. I washed my hair at home so I didn’t have to pay for a shampoo.

The Running’s Labor Day sale flyer came so I went and got 10 boxes of regular canning lids for $ 2.99 and 10 boxes of wide mouth canning lids for $ 3.99. Best price I have seen in a long time. They were $9.99 at my N.P. the other day. I also got a Mrs. Wage’s pickling and canning vinegar on sale for $ 3.49. I have more than enough tomatoes, vegetables, and fruit done for the winter. So it is time to can some sale meat to get it out of the freezer. So if you have a Running’s and can, go get yours.

I forgot to buy tomatoes at Niagara Produce the other day so I stopped at Top’s to get some so that we can make some turkey BLT’s. I picked up 2 beautiful beefsteak tomatoes at Top’s for a total of $ 4.60.

We got our electric and natural gas bill today and it was outrageous. The bill was $ 154.00 for using 619 kwh of electricity and 4 ccf’s of natural gas. We used less kwh’s per day than last year same period and the same amount of ccf’s. Last year’s bill was $ 113.05 for less usage. That is a huge increase for supply and demand.

This is what I am thawing to cook in the crock pot out on the patio tomorrow. Hubby is thrilled that I am going to cook this corned beef that I got at a great price last March. I see a couple of dinners and some sandwiches for brunches.

What are you doing to save money?

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Every Day

Cutting Costs

We had teriyaki noodles ($.89) and filet mignon for dinner last night. We grilled it outside at home. Filet mignon at restaurants is $35.- $ 59. Ours was cut by the butchers at Niagara Produce when I purchased a whole tenderloin almost 2 years ago. I paid $10.99 a lb. Each one is 5-6 oz. so these cost us about $ 4.13 or $ 8.26 for both for dinner tonight. It is so much cheaper to eat at home. It pays to have a food saver because food keeps a very long time in the deep freeze when you remove the air. They were delicious.

For brunch, I had a cheese omelet. Hubby had an English muffin with the homemade peach jam that I made.

Hubby is down to his last bottle of Irish Cream Skinny Syrups to put in his coffee. I looked on their site and there was no sale. So I contacted them online and they gave me a code to get 15% off my entire order. It never hurts to ask.

I have been dealing with a mess that was created by Fetch. After months of trying to get it straightened out, I finally got a person that understood and I finally have all of my points proper on my account and it is under the correct telephone number. I was actually able to scan the last two weeks of receipts and order a $10. Walmart gift certificate with some of the points that I had accumulated. Patience pays off!

Our Rakuten rebate check for $ 5.17 came in the mail yesterday. By the size of it, you can tell that I don’t shop much. But every little bit goes to savings.

I continue to get 3 magazines in the mail that I have never requested and will not purchase because they are mostly ads. But I will be glad to scan them if they keep coming.

The utility meters were read yesterday so I should be getting my electric and natural gas bill within the next few days. I am hoping that it is not as large as last month.

I needed some fresh lettuce. Niagara Produce had the 3 count of Romaine lettuce for $ 1.99. I got 1. Top’s had a Super Coupon for Daisy sour cream which I was out of. With the store coupon you paid $1.99. But I also had some $ .50 off coupons for Daisy products which Top’s doubled so I paid $ .99.

We used up most of our gasoline getting home from the Adirondacks on Monday. Since I had no gas points for Top’s, I filled up at the cash only station for $ 3.35 a gallon which is the cheapest in my area. Top’s right now is $3.55 a gallon. Both Top’s, N.P., and the gas station were on my route today.

It rained here while we were away so we have not had to water except for our hanging baskets that are under the front entry so they don’t get the benefit of the rain. Actually we have not had to water a lot so our quarterly bill should be much less than last year.

We have found a snowplow guy for the winter. He stopped by our home yesterday and we hired him. It will cost $500. for the winter which is the same amount we paid last winter. This winter is supposed to be really snowy so I believe we will get our money’s worth.

I did a load of wash yesterday to clean the clothes we used on the trip and some others that were in the laundry basket using cold water and a couple of tablespoons of detergent. Most were hung to dry.

Every year I have been buying the Passionate Penny Pincher’s yearly planner. It had been very expensive. This year I tried to check the price for 2025 and it is not ready yet. I am assuming the price is going up. I then checked She’s in Her Apron’s planner and it is $ 67.98 for the weekly and for 6 months of the daily it is $ 58.95. So I would assume you have to buy two and that would be $ 117.90. All these prices are ludicrous. I will save my money and put it into investments. I will use a notebook that I got on clearance a long time ago for $ .10. and keep a running list of everything I have to do in it. I will use my outlook calendar to track our appointments.

What have you been doing to save some money?

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Every Day

Meals On The Weekend

On Saturday, brunch was a huge cinnamon muffin. That was it because I knew we were going out to dinner.

We went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner and started with different appetizers. One of us had steamed dumplings and the other had broccoli in garlic sauce. Then we both had a small salad and a cup of Miso soup. We each had a Hibachi entree that had filet mignon, chicken, shrimp, veggies, rice and noodles. We brought half of our entrees home and ate them for brunch on Sunday.

Saturday night we binge watched The Terminal List. It was good.

Grilling out is on the agenda for dinner tonight: burgers and hot dogs with a side of pasta salad. Then ice cream cones for dessert.

Then hopefully we can watch the second half of Episode 1 of Terminal List.

It has been a delightfully fun and peaceful weekend. I hope yours is too.