Menu Monday

Saturday - Hamburgers and Potato Salad
Sunday - Vegetable Beef Soup
Monday - on our own
Tuesday - Vegetable Beef Soup
Wednesday - Waffles
Thursday - Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Friday - Pizza, Pizza
Saturday - TBD

Menu Monday - abbreviated edition

Saturday - Steakhouse Noodle Soup
Sunday - BBQ Grilled Chicken and Homemade Mac and Cheese
Monday - dinner at work
Tuesday - Veggie Dinner
Wednesday - Stuffed Potatoes
Thursday - TDB, take out subs
Friday - TDB ?

It's a crazy week here and the menu reflects it.

I found some great deals at the grocery store last weekend, as soon as things calm down, I'll be back.

I won! I won!

I won a copy of Turbo Tax. How great is that?

Check our www.ptmoney.com for some helpful budgeting tips.

New Project - A Frugal Quilt

I had a lot of fabric scraps left from several quilt projects. I'm in the process of creating some 4" squares to assemble into a new quilt. This will be a frugal quilt because I intend to use just what I already have without buying any additional fabric. I'm thinking that I may not use the dark green and tan squares but keep it all more pastel.

You'll notice that some of the squares have two fabrics, or even three different ones. The purpose is to use every scrap possible. Currently, I have 152 squares so I have a good start on this. I'd like it to have a finished size of 3 feet by 5 feet minimum, perhaps a little larger.

Menu Monday

Saturday - Homemade Chili
Sunday - Hamburger Steaks, Baked Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli
Monday - BBQ Pork Chops and baked M & C (homemade)
Tuesday - Veggie Dinner (M&C, Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Bacon)
Wednesday - Breakfast TBD
Thursday - Spaghetti with Italian Sausage
Friday - Pizza, Pizza

Future dinners (from the freezer) on the horizon: BBQ and Brunswick Stew, Ham Fried Rice, Steakhouse Noodle Soup, and K-bobs. Yum! I can hardly wait.

Be My Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day!


DH and I have decided that we'll be trading no cards or gifts for Valentine's Day.


Instead, we'll enjoy these all weekend and dine on our favorite Sunday "go to" dinner: Hamburger Steaks, Baked Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli. We enjoy this simple meal.


No reservations, no crowds, no bill. Priceless!

Weekly Grocery Spending

I did my normal shopping today. My initial goal was to keep my spending down to necessities and realize an out of pocket of about $50. I think I did pretty well.

I got the normal stuff, milk and bread. Deli meat for lunches, and some veggies. The best deal in the house was the Country Crock margarine. It was .90 each less coupons. I think I might have made a few cents on the four packages I bought. (They are safely sitting in the freezer.) For convenience, I picked up a package of ground beef and some bell peppers for tonight's chili. I was late getting dinner started and the convenience was worth the extra $4.

Both (fresh) broccoli and cauliflower were only $1.60 each. A good deal since they are usually $2.50 each.

All in all, I spent just at $60 which included two jars of spaghetti sauce, (They were bogof - Bertolli -AND I like to reuse the jars for dry goods in my kitchen cabinets.) a few pricey bananas and a bag of chips. I think my savings was $16.

I should also disclose that I took two 3 year olds along with me on my trip. If I had been on a full blown, bargain hunting excursion, that never would have worked.

Snow! Snow! Snow!

It's really snowing here. Really!

It all started about 2pm on Friday. It snowed until past bedtime. Slowly but surely, the ground was covered and the trees were frosted with a fluffy white. Even at midnight, the porch lights and street lights made it seem like it was day time.

That's what I remember most about the first snow I remember. I guess I was about 10 years old. To the best of my knowledge, we had no advance warning that snow was a possibility. It was early morning, maybe 3 or 4 am when we were gotten out of bed and shown the snow. There was so much, it was up to my knees. We lived in Savannah and snow was a real rarity.

I seem to remember that we were allowed to go out in it for a few minutes but as soon as the day officially started, we were allowed to play outside until we couldn't take the cold any longer. It was probably 12-15 years before we had snow anything like that again. When it came again, it came on Christmas Eve Day.

When we moved to Atlanta, we saw snow much more frequently. It snowed just after we arrived here but it was light. In '93 we got a massive snow storm (at least for Georgia) and were were stranded in the house for a couple of days. The roads were so treacherous that we relied on a short walk to obtain some videos and made do with what we had in the house.

It seems like we've had a lot of snowfalls this year and last. I enjoy the snow, the sights of the tree branches and pine trees with their snow covering. It's just a little sad when it starts to melt.

As I helped the little girls to the car this evening, they decided that they would pummel me with several snow snowballs. Ah, they're so funny! They laughed and laughed. I guess snow is funny!

Snow! Snow! Snow!

It's really snowing here. Really!

I'll have pictures to post tomorrow.

Reading in the New Year

My time for reading has been limited so far this year. Undoubtedly, I will have more time as the year progresses. I'm considering my goal but I think 20 books is about right.

I finished my first last night.

I saw all the commercials for the Julie/Julia movie and decided that the book would probably be better. (It usually is.) In this case however, it wasn't my cup of tea. I kept reading hoping that there would be some epiphany and I would find the real purpose - it just didn't happen. It wasn't a good match for me, maybe it would be for you. I also found that the profane language and "put downs" of certain groups/individuals distasteful. I congratulate Julie on her ability to stick with her project and bring it to completion but after reading the book, I still don't understand why it was so important.

I plan to rent the movie and check it out. I think that the softer venue of a movie could put a nicer spin on the whole thing.

That's just my opinion.

Menu Monday

Saturday - Potato Soup and BLTs
Sunday - Taco Fiesta
Monday - eat at work
Tuesday - Beanie Weenies or Stuffed Potatoes
Wednesday - TBD
Thursday - Crockpot Roast
Friday - Pizza, Pizza

Wednesday is TBD due to a volunteer activity.

Ooops! I blew the budget

My grocery shopping this past weekend had it's good points and it's bad points.

On the good side, I got some great deals and some free (or nearly free) items. I purchased 8 cans of tomatoes, 2 cans of Hormel Chili, 2 packages of Johnsonville Sausage, 2 package of Solo Cups and 6 bags of Kraft Mozzarella Cheese (and a bottle of coke) at Kroger. My OOP was just over $15. I thought that was a great trip.

From Publix, I picked up my regular grocery items, some of the specials and items for our Super Bowl Party. I spent just at $90. (Way over budget!) I was very disappointed when I checked my receipt. The Dixie plates I thought were $2.50 were really $4.99! I also was a little po'd when I saw Tostitos at Walmart for $2.38. I paid $3.99 each for these. Agggr! I had not intended to go to Walmart this weekend but I forgot the tomatoes and we needed beer.

I'll do better next week by purchasing only the necessities and relying on my pantry stockpile and freezer goods to feed us. I can do it. I can. I will.

Project Recap

I worked on several projects for the holidays that had to be kept secret - for obvious reasons. I'm now ready to reveal my handiwork. While it would have been nice to acknowledge these as I went, the surprise was much better.

I crocheted this ripple blanket for the 10 month old. He's too big for a baby blanket but not big enough for a kiddie blanket. It took me several (well, maybe a week's worth) of evenings to get this together. It's mostly blue with single white rows running through periodically.

For the newest member of our family (newborn), he got this delicate crocheted "blankie." It's mostly blue with a white edging. I tried to crochet a hat but what I got just barely resembles a hat.

For the baby shower, I made this quilt. It's a design I've never tried before. It was a little challenging but well worth the effort. Now that he's here, I added his initials just last night. It's all ready for him to cuddle up in.


I made aprons for DD and DIL. DD's aprons were a flowery pattered material and had white bias tape edging.
Although the pattern was marketed as "easy." it was anything but. Getting that little bias trim on the collar was a real chore. If I were to make it again, I would definitely find a better way to put it together.

For DDIL, I made a half apron out of some nifty material. I constructed it to be completely reversible. It's a dark, dark navy with a white pattern and I made the waistband red! That's just a little wild. I used jumbo rick rack to trim the hem. I think it turned out nice and it should be very serviceable. Here, DH has been generous to model it.

My next post will cover some burp cloths, bibs and some dresses I'm making for the little girls.
On a sad note, my local Walmart is closing it fabric/craft section. I picked up several cuts of fabric last weekend but they only had a single row of fabric left at that point. It's a real loss and now I'll have to go to a fabric store to get my fabric. I always find that they are much more expensive.

By Golly, I think I have it.

My family and I love a good tomato soup. The problem is that it's hard to find a good one. I tried a recipe on line and it was good, but it just didn't come together right. I tried again tonight with fewer ingredients and no milk. Smooth with chunks of tomatoes and pasta

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon butter or margerine
3/4 cup chopped carrots
3/4 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups chicken broth
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup dried small pasta

Cook pasta as directed and set aside.

Saute carrots, onions, and garlic in the olive oil and butter until softened. Do not brown. Add one cup of broth, one can of tomatoes and tomato paste. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth.

Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add cooked and drained pasta.