Pasta Update Part 2

I wrote about stocking up on pasta here, and here.  I purchased 100+ pounds of pasta to put in storage for 38 cents per each 12 ounce package.  This was in mid-November of 2010, not even 6 months ago.  They are now on sale at Kroger for 50 cents each if you purchase 10. That's a 32% increase in the sale price in such a short amount of time! Insanity, I tell you.   As I said back then, I am purchasing items when I can find them at rock bottom prices to put in storage "just in case."   Items purchased thusly today will allow us to eat well tomorrow at yesterday's prices.  I can't get over how quickly the prices came up.  I don't think we have seen the worst yet. . .

Victory Garden in the Making!

Last year I got my feet wet with two raised beds, this year I'm expanding to eight beds!  I may add four more later, since we still have a lot of dirt left from the truckload full that we got delivered because it's cheaper to purchase dirt that way.  Not quite sure yet. . . My compost was not quite ready to add to the dirt to amend the soil, so I'm going to have to add commercial fertilizers this year. Hopefully, they will be ready by fall so I can mix it in before the fall planting.  I'm fortunate to live in an area where the winters are relatively mild and can grow some crops even in the dead of winter.

It's been a lot of work just getting the beds ready.  I had to drill 22 holes in each of the beds in order to hammer in big, fat nails to keep the beds in one piece.  It was a lot of work, to put it mildly.  It made me all sore the next day in places I never imagined I had muscles! The beds are all planted now except for one bed.  We also might plant some corn in the area of the yard around the front of the photo.  That is, if we can get our hands on a tiller somehow.  Digging up the grass by hand will be too much work for me since the weather's already turning rather warm.

Hopefully, we will have tomatoes, onions, beets, butternut squash, zucchini, yellow summer squash, spring onions, radishes, peas, snap peas, beans, kohlrabi, watermelon, eggplant, lettuces and bitter melon.  Bitter melon is a Chinese vegetable that looks like a wrinkly, deformed cucumber that is very, very bitter.  It's one of those things that you either love or hate, with nothing in between.  I love it.  The rest of the family doesn't. But,  since I'm the one tending the garden, I'm going to grow it again.  It is costly to make a trip to the Chinese grocery just to buy the stuff. It did very well last year, enough to put away the sliced surplus in the freezer.  I am just now eating the last of last year's bounty.  Apparently it does well in the US because it has no native pests that will attack it.

I still need to plant some cucumbers and perhaps some potatoes and eggplant in the last remaining bed.  It will be interesting to figure out what does well and what doesn't.  I wish I had discovered the joy of vegetable gardening earlier, but that's life.  Not only will it allow me to save a ton of money on produce once the beds start producing, It is really quite fun to watch the plants grow, sometimes even under your nose when you have not been paying attention. 

Will post more photos when the seeds start to sprout!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Stocking Up on Hot Dogs

Bun Length Oscar Mayer Wieners are on sale at Kroger now for 99 cents a pack of 8. About time! About a year ago, they went on sale for the same price, and I think I purchased around 40 packs to put in my freezer.  With two teenagers in the house and their friends often coming over on a regular basis, I needed a go-to light meal in case I needed to feed a gaggle of hungry teenagers.  At the time, I thought, "maybe I'm buying too much?" but went ahead with the purchase.  And, can you believe it? I was down to my last three packs!  That's a lot of hot dogs!  I managed to guesstimate almost exactly how much of this stuff would be consumed in the past year.  How about that!

Walmart usually sell these for about $2.00, so this was a good purchase.  I purchased 30 packs.  Kroger normally sells these for over $3.00, so my receipt stated that I "saved" $81.00 on today's purchase. 

It's quite a relief since my freezer was starting to look slightly empty.  I also purchased a pork shoulder on clearance for $13.00.  The regular prices was about $22.00.  Last time I purchased one, they were about $7.00 on sale for the same size, so prices have come up quite a bit. . .  Still, I can feed my family about 3 times off this one hunk of meat, so it is a good buy.  The one I purchased weighed about 8 pounds.  I made some killer pulled pork the other day in the oven with the last one I had in the freezer.  I will post the recipe some time in the future.

Frugal Petcare

I LOVE my dogs.  I hate to admit it, but I do.  I grew up with a mother who was born the year of the dog under the Chinese Zodiac who HATED  dogs (go figure). I never had a pet dog growing up, and did not want anything to do with dogs ever since.  Marriage changed all that. I got married and had a couple of kids. My husband said they needed to grow up with dogs.  I said, "no way, I don't want that responsibility on top of the kids." I got overruled. I don't mind in the least.  : )

As you can see, Livingston, our mutt, is my alter ego photo of me for this blog.  I love her to death.

Anyways, my frugal "dog-owner" tip of the day is, sometimes, it is more frugal to spend a little more money to save a LOT.  We have our dogs on an anti-heartworm, flea & intestinal worm medication called Trifexis.  The medication is not cheap, it is about $70 per dog for a six month supply of the medication, but as far as I'm concerned, it is worth every penny.

We used to spend a small fortune buying flea/tick spray every other week or so to keep the fleas under control, in addition to the drops you would put down their backs.  As diligent as we were, we would have flea outbreaks and we would have to go out and buy more flea control medication and foggers to get rid of the fleas in the house.  We reached a crisis point when Livingston had an allergic reaction to flea bites and I noticed her skin turning red under her fur.  The vet said she was allergic to flea bites, and gave her a Cortisone shot (for about $100) and suggested that I put her on "Trifexis" .

He explained that the medicine will start working within 30 minutes, and will continue to kill fleas on her and in the house for approximately one month.  True to his word, it worked like a charm.  We have not had  flea infestations in over a year, and I have not had to purchase flea spray or drops.  Even though the medication  is expensive, we are saving a TON of money because we have not had to buy anything other than the pills.  The dogs are always comfortable, and they don't have to deal with us having to spray them all the time, which they hated.  It is a win-win situation.

Sometimes, you need to spend some money to save a lot.

Counting My Blessings

I haven't felt like blogging much lately. The recent earthquake, tsunami and the subsequent nuclear crisis in Japan has been weighing heavily on my mind. . . It is the country of my birth and where I grew up.  I still have family ties there and many friends I grew up with are still living there.  My mother has been visiting the country, and I spent a nervous few days wondering if she was OK. She was, and no one I know has been injured, but I learned that a  few of my friend's extended family members are missing, and one of the "Fukushima 40" workers who had been trying to get the nuclear reactors under control is a cousin of one of my friends. . . This disaster has hit too close to home for comfort.

It is times like these that we count our blessings. We take life for granted, and fail too often to stop and think about all we have, and what we could be without.  I am blessed that I have a wonderful husband and two wonderful sons who are almost grown men.  While I sometimes  miss the days when they were much younger, I am happy to see that we managed to raise our sons to know right from wrong and adverse to using harmful substances.  While I often wish they would apply themselves to their studies more, I know they are not stupid or ignorant and they will be OK after my husband and I are gone.

My husband. . . I don't thank him often enough how I appreciate him.  He is my best friend. He is the rock that keeps our family together.  He is the one who is always  thinking about "the big picture" as I often run around trying to get things done. We are complete opposites in personality, and I believe that is why we have managed to stay together for 20 years since we met. He has a strong personality and shyness is not in his vocabulary.  He can sometimes come across as abrasive to some strangers, and more than one person has made the comment to us over the years how they did not like him initially and wondered how we stayed married or how I could stand to live with him.  Too often, people judge the strongness in one's character and mistake that with abuse which is not even there.  Those same people realize over time that he is really a teddy bear, though a bear nevertheless when the situation warrants it.  He is my yin as I am his yang; two inseperable parts of a whole.  I cannot imagine life without him. . .

I am blessed to have a roof over my head, a warm bed to sleep in at night and food on my table that I can share with my family and friends.  Everything else is gravy. 

I pray that those who lost their homes, family and friends in Japan can find comfort soon.  And I pray that the thousands who lost their lives did not suffer long and that God was merciful.

I'm Not Imagining Things. . .

According to Sky News from the UK,   http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/A-Senior-HSBC-Economist-Warns-Of-Food-Riots-In-The-UK-If-Prices-Continue-To-Soar/Article/201103215948496?lpos=Business_Employment_First_Article_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15948496_A_Senior_HSBC_Economist_Warns_Of_Food_Riots_In_The_UK_If_Prices_Continue_To_Soara "senior economist at the worldwide bank HSBC has warned of civil unrest in Britain if food prices continue to soar."  According to the article, this is due to the fact that even in the developed world, there has been very low wage growth to compensate for the price increases we've been experiencing.  The article blames in part, "extreme weather" as destroying crops, towing the liberal agenda, but I believe the main reason has been the push by the left to promote Ethanol additives in gas. 

Ethanol is made from corn. Corn has been grown in the US to feed cows and for export to the Third world countries for food. But, with the US government subsidizing the corn crops farmers grow to sell to energy companies for Ethanol production, there has been a worldwide shortage of corn to feed the livestock and people elsewhere.  In addition, corn-based ingredients are used in a myriad of consumer food products, so the price of EVERYTHING has been going up.  Talk about unintended consequences. . .  Add to that all the unrest in the Middle East raising the price of fuel, thereby further increasing the cost of shipping the food to market, the situation has gone from bad to worse. . .

The reality is that Ethanol is less efficient than petroleum.  It cannot be shipped in a pipeline, so trucks must be used to bring it to market. That means gas.  It costs more per gallon of fuel to manufacture and ship Ethanol than to refine and ship petroleum based products to market.  But the left is so committed to the "green" cause that they refuse to see it.  If I can see it, why can't the politicians?

Their well intended policies are contributing to the misery and suffering in the world. . .  And we are the ones having to suffer the consequences of the rising prices.  At least we in the West are in a better position than those living in the Third World.  When will the insanity end?  In the meantime, continue to stock up on staples, as things are going to get worse before it gets better, whenever that may be. . .

It's Time For Guerrilla Tactics

I tell you, things are really getting scary out there. Every time I go to the supermarket to go grocery shopping, the price of everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is going up.  For instance, I purchased several cases of Gatorade a while back when they were on sale for 50 cents a bottle. I don't care for them, but my husband likes to drink them occasionally, so I like to stock up when on sale so I don't end up paying full price.  The supermarket's usual price on this item was generally a dollar.  Gas stations and convenience stores sell them double that price at around 2 dollars a bottle.  This week, it is on sale for 64 cents at the supermarket.  My math is rusty, but that's about a 25 percent increase? Are you kidding me? 

Same thing for tubs of imitation butter I buy. . . I purchased a supply about a year ago for 99 cents per 15oz/425g tub. Now the "sale" price is hovering around 2 dollars each! That's a 100 percent increase! If prices keep going up at this rate, are we going to be able to afford to eat?  Our wages are not going up 25 or 100 percent!

I'm going to resort to making meals out of my pantry stash for a while and concentrate on guerrilla tactics shopping.  What I mean is, REALLY focus laser sharp on sales and loss leaders even more so than I used to, and put away a substantial stash to weather the coming storm.  It is getting frightfully ugly out there. . . 

Goodbye, Satellite TV

We live in an older, rural neighborhood where cable providers have not pulled in lines for cable service, and as a result we were limited to satellite TV.  Our bill was around $170 a month for a DVR and two additional basic boxes for the bedrooms. But you know the routine. . . Despite the hundreds of channels available, we were pretty much limited to watching a handful of channels. My husband likes watching movies, I like cooking and decorating shows, and we both are news junkies.  The TV is on in the morning when he is getting ready for work, but stays off until he gets home. I listen to talk radio most of the day as I am working about the house.  TV was getting just too expensive, not only because of the cost, but also because we just don't watch that much TV to make it worthwhile to pay that much.

We have decided to pull the plug and subscribe to Netflix and Hulu instead.   Netflix for the movies and Hulu for TV shows.  The cost for both services will be less than $20 a month plus the one time cost of the "Roku" box of about $80. If something is not available, that's just too bad.  Though I will miss the Fox News Network, the impact will be nominal, because I already get most of my news from the radio and the internet anyway. 

It is a win win situation as far as I'm concerned. We will be saving quite a large sum of our money, and it will give me more time to read, which I love to do.  We'll see how it goes. . .  I really doubt if we will ever get cable or satellite service again. . .

Security in a Bag

With food prices on a steady march upwards, I decided I better purchase another bag of beans.  Here it is, all 50 pounds of it. It cost me $22.49 for this bag today. I purchased another bag about a year ago, and I hardly made a dent in it, so that means we have close to 100 pounds of this stuff. 

Still, this is less than half of the suggested amount needed to keep in food storage for a family of 4.  According to an LDS source the recommended amount is to have 60 pounds per person in legumes.  I probably have another 10-20 pounds in other miscellaneous types of dried beans.  I suppose this is a good start, but I need to step up the purchase. . .

Why do I do this? For one thing, I am purchasing food today that I will be eating tomorrow at yesterday's prices.  Beans keep indefinitely without losing much nutritional value, so I have the peace of mind that if prices become really high, I am assured that my family will be fed. It might get boring, but at least we will have food. . .

For another, I am convinced that we are in for some dire times ahead.  I probably sound like a nut, but I am convinced that we are facing a financial meltdown in the US in the not too distant future.  If things get really dicey, I will have a food supply stashed away until we can get into the swing of having to hunt, forage, and grow our own food.  In this respect, we are more fortunate than some. We live on an acre, so we have enough land to grow most of our vegetables if it came to that. Last year was the trial run, and we plan on enlarging the beds this year, "just in case."

As I watch the protests in front of the Wisconsin State Capitol over the proposed cutback of union representation for teachers, I feel I am seeing just a sampling of what is to come.  The teachers don't want to pay into their retirement and health care at all. They want the taxpayers to foot the bill. But the governor says without doing this, he cannot balance the State budget.  Things have reached the tipping point where the taxpayers are tired of paying public workers more in benefits than they themselves are getting.  I realize teachers are upset their cozy status quo is threatened to be changed, but if they don't give in, then they are facing layoffs! They don't see that they are going the way of Detroit where the unions completely destroyed an industry!

We are all making sacrifices these days.  I think it is time for union members to see that the status quo is not the answer.  In the meantime, I am going to continue squirreling food away "just in case."

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Sticker Shock

How can a practically empty shopping cart of groceries total up to $43.90?  I mean, really? My sons ask why I don't buy Flaming Hot Cheetos any more to pack in their lunches. . . At $3.00 a bag, I don't think it is worth it.  My older son has been loving them since he was a toddler, but I'm afraid they can only be an occasional treat now.  To add insult to injury, many companies are shrinking the amount of product inside packages to ostensibly keep the prices the same. Excuse me? I'm not that stupid.  I notice. 

We are all cutting back and trying to deal with the reality of the situation.  I wish the President and the incompetent Democrats would step up to the plate and learn to make do with less, instead of trying to grow the government to unsustainable levels.  At least get out of the way and let the Republicans try to be more grown up about what we can and can't afford as a nation, instead of whining the predictable mantra that "the children and the elderly are going to suffer."  As President Reagan once said, "we have a rendezvous with destiny," but the destiny as it stands now is not the rosy one envisioned by him but one that is far more unpleasant.  I resent the politicians who only care about re-election and who don't put the interests of the country and its citizens first. Enough already!

Coeur a la Creme

We're not big into celebrating Valentine's Day, but here's the coeur a la creme I made for my husband and my two sons that we had after dinner. I found the porcelain mold at the thrift store some time back for 99 cents. Quite a bargain compared to what the large molds go for in stores like Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table, which is around 35 dollars. I've been wanting to make this for some years, but was too cheap to fork over the full retail price! BTW, it was divine with the raspberry sauce I made. Oh, and the glass serving platter was another find, but I forgot how much I paid for that, probably a couple of bucks.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Frugal Bathroom

This is our hall bathroom, meaning it is the one used by guests and our family when we are hanging out in the family room. It was totally gutted when we purchased the house. Although a renovation is not exactly a frugal proposition, I tried to furnish it as frugally as possible.

The only items purchased new were the black photo frame and the iron scroll over the window. Actually, they are both something purchased some time ago unrelated to the renovation. I had purchased the scroll when we lived in our former home, and it ended up as a window treatment here as it was the perfect size to fit over the window.  I felt that a curtain would have looked busy over such a small window.  I like to think of it as a quasi French prison/tower room look.  The magazine rack/toilet paper holder was a whopping $1.99 at the thrift store. I plan on spray painting it with a hammered finish paint when I get around to it.

The armoire was purchased used on Craigslist for $120. It holds all our towels and bulk toiletry supplies. The eagle mirror was a $4.99 find from about a week ago at a thrift store, as was the large full length mirror that was $25. It used to be a dresser mirror orphaned from the dresser. It was made by Thomasville, so if I were to purchase it new, I guesstimate it would cost me at least $400 or so.

Although you can't see it very well, there is a china cabinet opposite the commode also purchased on Craigslist for $200 together with a buffet that I turned into the sink vanity (I'll post a photo at some later date). When the weather gets a little bit warmer for me to work in the garage, I plan on painting the china cabinet to recreate a look I saw in a decorating magazine.  The painted cabinet in the magazine cost around $7,500.

Overall, not bad considering you could spend $50+ on a toilet paper holder alone. . .

BTW, this is what this bathroom used to look like when we purchased the house.  WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Thrift Store Find

A bit hypocritical following my post on "Wants -v- Needs" the other day, but I found this mirror at the thrift store and could not pass it up. This is a federal style reproduction mirror with the requisite convex mirror. I believe this particular one was manufactured around the 60's or 70's. Even close up, it appears to be made of wood, but is actually some type of composite plastic. It is a very traditional design with 13 balls surrounding the mirror representing the original 13 colonies with an American eagle on top.

I've been wanting one of these for a long time, but true antiques run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a quick search on the Internet resulted in a RENTAL mirror of the same design going for $70 per month! This baby cost me $4.99! It's not an original antique, for sure, but good enough for me. For the time being, it resides in our bathroom until we get around to refacing our fireplace in the family room. Thereafter, I plan on hanging it over the fireplace.

My late father used to tease me that I had champagne taste on a beer budget, but this is the case of champagne looks on a beer budget, don't you think?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Stock Up if You Can. . .

Things are getting really scary over in Egypt and the Middle East in general. . . I heard on the news that the cost of food has gone up 20 percent in the past year world wide.  Researchers calculated that the average American family spends ten percent of its annual income on food (@ three meals a day), while those in developing countries spend nearly half of their income on food (@ two meals a day).  It is no wonder that there is unrest in Egypt caused in part from the frustrations of the people who are out of work and hungry as a result.

I am no politician, but I strongly feel that things are going to escalate. It is a powder keg over there. . . And if you don't think something like that cannot happen where you live, I would think twice.  Just look at the riots in Europe over the last year in Greece, France and England.  I definitely see something similar in our future. 

Time to really get serious about stocking up on staples like beans, rice, and other staples that will keep a long time in storage.  As I said before, better be prepared and not have to use it, than not having it and having to suffer the consequences.  If you stock up on things with a long shelf life, you are not throwing your money away, since you will eventually get around to eating it.  Do yourself a favor and get prepared and stock up!

Tomato paste and American cheese

I was down to my last can of tomato paste, so I've been on the lookout for sales. They used to go on sale 4 for a dollar not too long ago for 6 oz cans, and now they are averaging 78 cents a can when they are not on sale. Kroger now has them "on sale" at $3 for 5 cans, which comes out to 60 cents a can! Talk about inflation!

Interestingly, they also had 12 oz cans for sale at 45 cents a can. Are you kidding me? I can buy twice as much for less than the current sales price of the 6 oz can? This was a no brainer. I purchased 20 cans, since I use tomato paste frequently to add flavor to spaghetti sauce and stews.

Kraft American cheese was also on sale for 99 cents. Though they are not my favorite, my sons and husband like them on grilled cheese sandwiches and hamburgers, so I purchased 10 packages. They will keep quite a while in the fridge. They regularly sell for about 3 dollars, so this is quite a savings as well.

Bottom line though, is it is always a sticker shock every time I go grocery shopping. One must save, and stock up whenever we can. 

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Soup For Dinner

Inspired by Frugal Queen's soup yesterday, vegetable soup for dinner tonight! I needed to clear out some vegetables in the crisper compartment of my refrigerator, anyways. Four carrots, one red bell pepper, one onion, two stalks celery were all chopped up and sauteed for a bit in the frying pan. Tip it all over in a pot with water with a can of Northern beans and leftover marinara sauce. Salt, pepper to taste. Then I added diced acorn squash... A pinch of hot pepper flakes, and it was done! My husband is on a vegetarian diet for the foreseeable future, and it has been hard coming up with a menu everyday.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Making it from scratch

It was reaffirmed today what a difference it makes making your meals from scratch. Around 10 a.m. my husband was asking, "what's for lunch?" I had no answer. But he said, "I wouldn't mind some chili!" I put about 2 cups of dried pinto beans in my pressure cooker with some water and put it to boil.   It had been a LONG time since I used the pressure cooker. One hour later, the beans were all but done. I  adjusted the seasonings and let it simmer for a bit longer. I could not believe I made chili from DRIED beans in under two hours! I really need to remember to use my pressure cooker more often. Aside from the savings in time, think of the savings in energy costs!

After we were done eating lunch, I was trying to relax reading the supermarket fliers.  I complained to my husband how the price of Ranch Style Beans had come up over the price it used to be sold on sale (used to be 4 for a dollar, now about 78 cents for one can). He told me that the beans I cooked ( in the chili) tasted better than the canned ones, so don't even sweat over trying to find it at a sale price.

Goes to show, when you are used to buying it canned, you tend to forget how easy it is to make it yourself from scratch.  The chili tasted better than the stuff we buy canned, and it cost pennies per serving.  Note to self, don't forget to make things from scratch when you can, because the savings are astronomical. 

Once our supply of store bought chili is used up, I will start making a big batch and canning it at home in the future.  My chili tasted way better than those from the store, and it didn't have mysterious ingredients in it. I will be using my pressure canner that I invested in last year for just such projects.  If you are canning anything with meat or low acidity content, you must process the bottles properly under pressure. Safety first!

Buying Out of Season Part Deux

Amazing how even the price of everyday grocery items change! Before Thanksgiving and Christmas, I had my eyes glued open, waiting for the price of Libby's canned pumpkin to come down so I can stock up on it. Generally, it is at its' lowest price every year at that time.  This past season though, the lowest price I saw anywhere was about 78 cents for a 15 oz can.  Not really anything to write home about, so I gave up and didn't buy any, since it was not worth stocking up at that price.  Back then, I think I would have stocked up if they had them offered at 2 for a dollar.

Today, when I went to Walmart to buy some lunch items for my sons' school lunches, I hit jackpot! They were 25 cents a can. I had to look twice, as the sign above the shelf said $ 1.25, but the price on the shelf itself said 25 cents.  I double checked the price at the baking aisle to make sure, and it was really 25 cents.  According to the reciept, Walmart's regular price on this item is $1.50, so I think what happened here was that the store had a supply glut over its' normal level and wanted to move it quickly to clear shelf space. I happened upon a small window of opportunity before Walmart jacked up the price again.  Thank you grocery shopping fairies! (BTW, I had to go back inside the store after I checked out to get a couple of items I forgot, and they were ALL gone!)

I bought 4 cases, which comes out to 96 cans.  Yes, that is a LOT, but as I said before, buying groceries for me is a two pronged approach; trying shop smart day to day to not waste money, but also stocking up on non-perishable items so I have a food storage supply "just in case." I spent $24.00, and that bought me peace of mind.  I will be using it in the future to make pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin soup, etc.  In addition, it is supposed to be a good substitute for oil in many baking recipes, so the end result of my baking will be healthier!

Now, I am on a quest to find a good price for canned tuna. A little over a year ago, I purchased around 70 cans when they were on sale for an incredible price (which I don't recall). The other day, I opened the last can (yes, I like tuna). What are the chances that I will find an equally incredible deal?

Buying Out of Season

As we light another fire in our fireplace, I am reminded of the cost savings of making purchases out of season. While the firewood is left over from the last cord of wood purchased last year, the fire starter was purchased last summer on clearance when the thought of starting a fire was the furthest thought in my mind. A 20 pack of starter cost me $4.75 package, which translates into approximately a quarter to light each fire. These starters retail for $8.00 per box in season. I purchased enough boxes to last us through the winter.

Which reminds me that I saw canning lids on clearance at the supermarket before Christmas, so I need to go get some before they sell out, as I am planning a larger vegetable garden come spring. If you know you will use an item, then buying out of season is the cheapest way to go.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Christmas Decorations

I grew up in Japan raised by non-religious parents. We were Christians in name only. Although I was given Christmas presents as a child, I chose the present in advance and we never had Christmas trees with the exception  of one year when my parents decided to host a Christmas party for some friends.  When I was grown up and living in the U.S., I never decorated my apartment for Christmas.  I was single, so what was the point?

After my husband and I were married, we were almost immediately separated for about 5 months when he had to go for extended training to prepare for his new job.  I had to move to San Diego alone and find our new apartment.  He was due to come home 3 days before Christmas.  His one request for the new apartment was for a decorated Christmas tree. 

I remember scrimping and saving to buy ornaments for that tree.  Those were the days when Christmas decorations never were on sale until after Christmas, so everything seemed so expensive.  Now that I look back, I don't know how I even managed to get the tree decorated, but I somehow did.  It was all decked out in plastic icicles and angels and white lights.  It was beautiful.  It made my husband very happy to see it as he walked in the door the night he "returned" to his new apartment for the first time. 

Over the years, we continued to amass an assortment of Christmas decorations. purchased for the most part at after-Christmas sales.  Even so, I suspect we have spent a small fortune.  It has gotten to the point that we have too much "stuff" to use it all in any given year.  Still, Christmas decorations are hard to pass up if the price is right. Nowadays, I don't even take a second glance at anything retail and limit myself to items in thrift stores.  This year so far, my outlay has been $17.00. I spent $1.99 for a miniature tree to place on top of the fireplace mantle next to our Santa figure, $4.99 for a wreath to hang next to our front door, and $10.00 for two rolls of wide red ribbons to wrap four columns on our front porch to make them look like candy canes.  OK, the ribbon was purchased retail, but only because I knew I could not find them otherwise.  My husband and even the boys like how they turned out.  I don't think I will purchase anything else.  Decorating for Christmas does not have to cost a fortune if you keep your eyes and mind open!

When Life Gives You Oranges

We have an orange tree in our yard planted by the previous owners.  Last year, the tree only had 4-5 fruits on it, but this year, we had a bumper crop.  Just that the oranges were full of seeds making it not palatable to even try to eat them.  But it sure seemed like a waste to let it rot.  So I decided to juice them. . .

Let me tell you what a pain in the you-know-what it was! For one thing, picking them off the tree was a chore in and of itself.  I was a bit apprehensive about getting back on a ladder after my mishap last year.  I did the best I could, then promptly delegated the picking to my 17 year old son. He was not happy, but threatening to cut off his gas money did the trick! ; )  I then started to juice. . . and juice. . . and juice. . .  It was a bitch of a job.  Since I don't have a state-of-the-art juicer, it seemed like I was having to dump the seeds every other minute from my crappy $5 model.  This continued for THREE DAYS! 

After I juiced the oranges, I strained the juice through a mesh strainer to get rid of the pulp and stray seeds. I then bagged the juice in ziptop sandwich bags, placed the bags on a baking sheet to freeze in the freezer.  I'm hoping I will be able to use the juice in recipes and perhaps frozen drinks for my sons at a later date. 

On two of the days, I decided to give another try at making jelly.  Last year's attempt with another fruit ended with the "jelly" not jelling.  Note to self: follow a recipe. Winging it when you have never done something is a waste of time and money.  This time, the jelly jelled, after I read a recipe and found out there is a way of testing whether you have reached the jelling point.  I now have 12 bottles of homemade orange jelly to use at a later date. 

The annoying thing about the whole experience was when, after slaving for three days to "harvest" our oranges, my husband asked me how much a gallon of orange juice cost. When I said, "about five dollars," he quipped to the boys, "hey, your mom just saved me five dollars!"  I could have killed him just then. . .  But the reason I did it was to practice making jelly, so I guess it was still a worthwhile experience.  The jury is still out whether the process will be repeated next year. . .