Busy weekend

The weather this past weekend was absolutely gorgeous. Silly me, I spent most of it indoors. Saturday I should have been outside because there was no where that I was expected to be. I was finishing up my stash of Thanksgiving cards. I didn't mail any out this year like I usually do, so I wanted to make sure I had enough with me to bring to friends and family I would be visiting with this weekend. Below is the stash I made.

Handmade cards

My son and his GF, with my husband's help, pulled the  trailer bed up closer to the back of the house.It used to be a 16 foot travel trailer, but they spent many weekends demolishing it down to the floor frame. 

Exterior

They ripped everything out of the aluminum trailer and decided if there was anything worth keeping. I think they saved the old hardware and hinges from the kitchen cabinet doors and the aluminum itself to cash in at the recycling plant.

This is all that is left to start building their Tiny House. Have you heard of them? 

 

One of our fabulous Thanksgiving meals. 

Sunday we drove to Charleston Lake for a 2 P.M. dinner for 10 people. My friend always serves a banquet of vegetables with her turkey and dressing. This year was no different ......carrots, corn, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnip, squash, brussel sprouts, and coleslaw. And dinner doesn't start until I arrive to make the gravy. I don't know how many years now I have done this. My friend can make gravy, but it has become my job. For dessert  there were sugar cookies, chocolate chip and gingerbread cookies, apple pie, pumpkin cheesecake, and of course, pumpkin pie.  

Yesterday before we left home  for Smith Falls at 12:30,  we went to vote at the Advance Poll and stood in line for a full hour. I will be away with the girls next Monday on Election Day, so it was imperative that I cast my vote before I leave. My husband decided to vote with me, so he doesn't have to go out next Monday.  It will be very interesting to see what the voter turnout will be this time around. 

 My contribution to the meal was  3 bunches of broccoli with sauteed red, orange and yellow strips of pepper. You can see my dish right behind the two bottles of wine. Behind my dish are two beautiful cauliflower that my brother roasted whole, with a coating of mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese and sitting in a tomato based sauce. Yummy.  There were nine of us for  this late afternoon turkey dinner. We started with a creamy potato and leek soup and ended with apple pie, pumpkin pie, or apple crisp. I got my fill of pumpkin pie over the last two days, which will have to last me until next year.  

This morning I put the other three bunches of broccoli that we bought Sunday morning into freezer bags. I peeled all of the tough broccoli stems, and chopped up the tender broccoli stalks into another freezer bag to use up as veggie sides or to add to soups and stews. I also froze the tough stem peelings to simmer with other peelings to make veggie stock. I had saved the turkey drippings from the roasting pan last weekend, after taking off the fat, and today I made it into a huge pot of turkey vegetable soup. I added some pieces of turkey meat  I had saved in the freezer. The soup was done in time for me to have two servings for my lunch. 

The day had started out with rain, but when the weather cleared, I washed  up a super load of whites and lights and hung them outside. I fried two pounds of ground beef with peppers, celery and onions to make some meals tomorrow for the boys while I am away next week. I am cooking up a third pound of ground beef tonight as a meatloaf for supper. I should be busy in the kitchen for the rest of the week. 

Happy Long Weekend

Homemade pizza last night

Another shopping trip to Food Basics

Meat and proteins.......$26.92

Boneless, skinless chicken was on for $3.44 a lb. I don't usually buy chicken this way because it is expensive, but I decided to splurge. Bacon was 2.88 and the four 1 lb. packages of lean ground beef was $15. The ground beef was not on sale but I am completely out. Omega 3 eggs were on sale for $2.47 a dozen but they were sold out. There will be more tomorrow.

             Produce and juice.........$ 4.34  

Each cauliflower cost  97 cents each. The grapes were on sale for 97 cents a pound.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Dairy........$12.42

Gay Lee whipped cream was on sale for $1.99. The blocks of cheese cost $3.97 each, and the spreadable cream cheese was on for $2.49.

Household cleaners.............$12.99

This dishwasher detergent is usually $4 more. Although I don't need it right now, I took advantage of the price. I have made my own dishwasher detergent in the past, and I will use it in a pinch, but I do not like it as much as this stuff. This comes out of my grocery budget. 

Hallowe'en candy...........$38.97
Miscellaneous.........$13.36

The Hallowe'en candy comes out of my food budget. Do I need so much? Yes I do. Because we live right on the Main street of our village, we often get well over 100 kids. I generally give out 2 bite-sized candy bars or 2 small bags of candy.  If there are any left, I will use them as candy gifts for the Advent calendars. The bandaids and toothpaste would normally come out of the budget as well, but in this case, I will wrap them up as Advent gifts. The money spent on these will come from another source.

Total groceries spent today is $95.64
Total spent to date is $193.63

I also stopped at Michael's with a 50% off coupon to pick up some red tape (super strong adhesive tape) for putting my little boxes and Christmas packages together. I also picked up a couple of items for Advent gifts. I am feeling very tired. I want to lie down for a bit, but I also need to wash, cut up and freeze my three heads of cauliflower. I should also shred my cheese for the freezer. Otherwise, I may discover it gone before I can use it in dinner recipes. I'll sleep first, then work. 

Dinner last night at my friend's house was so delicious. She made a wonderful salad and quiche from which  she shared the leftovers with me at the end of the evening. I had the quiche for lunch today, and there is enough salad for me to share with my guys at dinner. 

Cheque for $30 from Pinecone Surveys

Milk in bags

A bag of milk

Quick update to October Shopping

Shopper's Drug Mart........$50.00

Shopping in October

After following Nathalie's Blog for quite some time now, I have decided to become more like her. *laugh*

She accounts for every dime she spends on groceries and knows how much she saves by taking advantage of sales, coupons, rebates, reward points, etc.She also divides her purchases by food groups to make it easier to see where the bulk of the money is going. The savings are impressive. I, on the other hand, tend to pick up loss leaders for the most part. I don't have a specific grocery shopping day. I seldom remember to check for coupons until after I get home. Because my husband is often in town, I will ask him to pick up loss leaders or items from my grocery list on his way back from somewhere. Shopping ends up being kind of "hodge-podge". On the other hand, I keep my $300 budgeted money in a jar at home, and when it is gone, it is gone. We take the money out of the jar, and return the change left over as well as the receipts and put them back into the jar. But I haven't been writing it down. So because it is the beginning of October, I will post my grocery shopping here, by categories and amounts. This is my first shop of the month. 

Produce and juice......$10.21