Thursday, January 11, 2018

Thursday - working hard or hardly working?

Yesterday I went to Walmart shopping and that was pretty much it.  Just shopping for it, loading it in the car, unloading it when I get home and then putting it all away is enough for one day! LOL!  I made a menu this time but didn't get all the ingredients.  I tried to use Rain's method of making a menu and list and then shopping once a month.  It is fun to make the menu but then the grocery list was pretty big and I was sure it was going to be over my budget so I chickened out and only got  ingredients for a few meals and supplies.  I need to examine prices of things and make a price list of ingredients so I can judge how much my groceries will cost ahead of time.  But it was a good start!  I discovered 2 of my menu items were very expensive to make!
I did manage to stay up to date with my reading schedule and the washcloth I finished today but need to weave in the ends.  So, today was cooking and baking..........I was up early this morning and made blueberry muffins but no ordinary blueberry muffins...these have cream cheese and light cream (half and half).........so moist and with fresh blueberries,,,what a tasty treat for my breakfast! 
They are definitely something to crow about! LOL! 
I couldn't resist....on top of all that I put butter on them too.........heaven with a hot cup of coffee!
Later, I made a batch of laundry detergent...........not edible but needed.
Tonight I'm fixing linguini with toasted pine nuts, roasted broccoli and a feta cheese sauce.....it 's really good and good for you!  I'm just starting to make it now and the broccoli is waiting for the oven to heat up.
I'm going to list my recipes in a special section like Rain has on her blog.....it might take some time but I will get it FINISHed! LOL!  That's my word and I'm sticking to it!  I will also have a section for my cleaning recipes.
 It is 64 degrees F here but we have a Winter Weather Advisory! LOL!  Evidently there are some changes coming!  It is raining now and it is supposed to go down to 22 degrees F tonight....should be interesting!  Stay safe and warm!
Happy Trails!!!

14 comments:

  1. Hi Sam! We’re still in Omaha and those changes hit us today. Yesterday was 51 and Today it’s 4 with a -26F wind chill! It’s crazy. The schools are cancelled and we’ve just stayed in today. Piper and I made a craft together and I painted her nails. We go home Saturday and I’m truly going to miss her and play time.
    I admire your menu making. I have tried to do that several times and always fail. We end up having to eat out or meals at church, etc. and then all of my best laid plans are thrown off.
    Have a great day and stay warm tomorrow.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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    1. You stay warm too! So glad you are enjoying your time with Piper and your family.

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  2. I probably shouldn't tell you about our 70 degrees this week, huh. Those muffins look so yummy. I could smell them over here. I'm looking forward to seeing your completed cloth.

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    1. 70 degrees is perfect especially with no humidity! Enjoy!

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  3. OMGoodness, 22°? Yowza! That is cold. Your blueberry muffins look delicious! Yeeesss...bring on the butta.

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    1. Yes, it's cold this morning but I'm not going anywhere and the furnace is working so I'm good! LOL!

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  4. Hi Sam :)) Oooh your muffins...with cream cheese! I love that! They look delicious and I love that coffee cup!

    The shopping thing...it's rough...but for me anyway, the knowledge that I only have to go out to the towns once a month (with a quick local trip for veggies and milk half way through)...that is enough for me to take the time to plan it all. I HATE driving, and I HATE shopping! The planning part is fun though! :) But I also shop with flyers. If I plan 15 chicken dinners and chicken isn't on sale, I have to go to plan B...pork or vegetarian. But the town where I shop has 6 different grocery stores and a Walmart so usually what I plan fits in the budget. I could only start when I had enough money for an entire month of groceries though. Well, I'll be honest, enough CREDIT. I use a credit card that gives me cash back and I pay it back twice a month when I have my income in the bank. We don't have big incomes, so it took a while to plan this out. But it's really so worth it and once you get the hang of it, you'll never want to stop lol! I hope you try it again! :)

    Mmmm...linguini. Broccoli was on sale here too so I got some for Alex's bday on Monday. He loves that "hot pot" style Chinese fondue with the broth where you dip your food in and cook it, so I have that planned. Putting the recipes together is a task at first! But I think it's a great idea to share and also to have a spot for everything. I reference back to that so many times! I just have to remember to back my blog up every week just in case!

    Thanks for the inspiration, I need to start making my own detergent. It's way too expensive to buy it and I find a lot of brands are crappy, and you can still smell odours on the clothes. The only one that seems to still be good is Tide but boy oh boy is that pricey. With the 8 pets we have so much laundry. Can you give me your laundry detergent recipe please?

    OMG it's summer there! Lol...we are in the 50's here today and it's RAINING...all that snow is going to have to melt somewhere...and it's going below zero tonight so it'll make a fine skating rink tomorrow...I'm staying indoors!

    PS: I haven't replied to my comments yet, but no I haven't tried Feta yet...BUT...it's on my 2018 list! It's too expensive at the store!!!

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    1. Thank you, Rain. We only have 2 stores and yes, I will have to plan the financial part better. I did order dog food online and a few other things. The detergent I make (for years now and I will put it on my blog sidebar too...later this week) is 1 C of baking soda, 2 cups of Borax (like 20 mule team), 2 cups of washing soda and 1 bar of castile soap roughly chopped and then put in my blender. I use a lock and lock container and at the very end I put a bunch of drops of essential oil and then shake it altogether (lock and locks don't leak and they keep moisture out). I use about 1/4 cup or less per load. I used white vinegar as a softner/rinse agent in my dispenser of my washer load. I was using hydrogen peroxide in my bleach dispenser as it is supposed to whiten but my towels were getting gray so I do use Oxiclean in with my pastels. It saves money and I never run out because I have backup boxes of all the ingredients plus I don't have to lug those heavy detergent bottles every week! LOL! I hope this helps and if you have any other questions just let me know. BTW you can get larger boxes of baking soda than the kind for baking. I have a front loader HE washer and it is fine for those too. It;'s snowing here today!!!! SO happy!!! Stay warm....it is cold again here....but I don't m ind with the snow!!! And I have my supplies so i can just 'hunker down'!

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  5. Those muffins look fantastic!!! I will be closely monitoring your progress. Hugs. Lady Jane

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  6. I'm not an organized shopper! Once a week for a few things and I always try to stock up on an item or two as well. Have to say those muffins look scrumptious! Love the idea of putting cream cheese in.

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    1. I used to be when I had 4 kids but now it's just me and 'the girls' so it's hard to plan too far ahead as 1 meal lasts me quite awhile!

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  7. Stay warm !! -23 here now and dropping, I do menus, usually one week at a time...cause that is when we need milk and fresh fruits and veggies. I keep a list on the fridge of what meals I have that are frozen and ready to eat and what kind of meat etc I have on hand. I have probably enough supplies on hand to eat for about 20 days without going to the store...but we are spoiled...can you imagine how they used to do it for the whole winter:( :(

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    1. You stay warm! It's snowing here but it won't accumulate much but I love it...it's the most I can hope for! LOL! I need to do a freezer inventory! Great idea! No, I cannot imagine how they survived those brutal winters without a furnace or fresh food....they truly were hardy stock!

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