September grocery money journal -- month end

I keep a journal of how much I spend on groceries each month. It's a running total, so I know where we stand with that part of the budget, at all times. And it's a place I can reread and find motivation to keep on doing what I do. I share it here, in case there's something in this that could help someone else.

Sept.16. Yesterday I dug the potatoes. I think there are about 20-25 pounds. Not a lot, but they will get us well into October. And I made enough salsa to last us through fall and maybe into winter. I may need to make another batch later this month, or early next, which means more canned tomatoes and jalapenos to buy.

Simple breakfast of oatmeal this morning. Sometimes simple is what I want.  I added maple extract, apple chunks and cinnamon, and made a large batch, so we'd have some to freeze for breakfasts on the run during the week. Lunch was a choice of two leftover soups, the girls' soup from last night (turned out to be a turkey, bean and vegetable soup), and the last of the vegetarian chili from mid week. Along with the soup was Yorkshire pudding -- my answer to "what bread do we have to go with soup"? I make it in a pie plate and serve in wedges.

Sept.19. My daughters had an assignment for their Health class which entailed a trip to the grocery store to check nutrition labels. I had plenty of time to check markdowns. I found 2 gallons of milk for $1.99 each and some almonds (for making more almond milk), for a total cost of $5.14.

Daughters' Health class also called for a trip to a fast food joint to find "nutritious" fast food. A turkey sandwich, chicken club salad, chicken fajita, and onion rings (okay, not part of the healthy dinner) later set us back $18.67. We could have just read the menu, but we were there, we were hungry, it was dinner time. 'Nuff said! (Lesson learned -- don't do these sort of research projects on an empty stomach!) Spending for Sept. so far, $79.09. So now, my plan is to stay out of stores and fast food places, unless really necessary, or a phenomenal deal.

Sept. 22. I harvested tomatoes today. Made fried green tomatoes with some of the green ones. Packed away all the green tomatoes that look like they'll ripen eventually. I lay them in crumpled newspaper in a large cardboard box. I keep every tomato separated from the next with newspapers. Then place the boxes in the garage to ripen slowly over the next month and a half. The tiny green ones I'll make into relish tomorrow, both sweet and dill. The plum tree looks like it needs harvesting this weekend. I'm hoping to get help from the family on that tree tomorrow afternoon.

We have so much ready to harvest or just harvested from the garden, I can't imagine needing much of anything besides eggs for the rest of the month. Maybe next month all this minimal grocery spending will catch up with me.

Sept. 26. Eggs on sale, 99c, limit one, so I stopped in on my way to pick up girls from school. I also bought corn tortillas, 1 banana, and some cabbage (39c/lb). Spent $4.91. But really needed the eggs, and the tortillas were for a casserole I was planning for dinner. I pan fried some tortillas in a bit of oil, then layered in a casserole dish with leftover baked beans, cooked lentils, some chili powder, cumin, garlic and salt, then cheese and salsa. I did this with 3 layers and baked for a Mexican lasagna. After baking, I topped with sour cream and chopped fresh tomatoes. It was quite good. And there was enough leftover for 1 lunch the next day. This time it is mine, as I'm working in the AM and won't get home for lunch until 1 or 1:30 PM.

Sept. 28. Stopped in to QFC to check for marked down milk. Found not just the milk, but tofu hot dogs, veggie Italian hot links, soy cheese, margarine, Hallowe'en candy for the trick-or-treaters, and a bag of candy corn (I'll use those to decorate October cookies this next month). I have found that in the past, I can usually score a deal on trick-or-treat candy about a month before Hallowe'en. I think the stores are hoping I'll eat what I buy on sale now, and have to buy more for the actual holiday. I have great resolve when it comes to not eating the candy, just to beat the store at their game. What made me think this was THE sale on candy this year for our area, was it was a 4-day sale. Most of the time, a sale that's limited to 3 or 4 days (or sometimes even a 1-day sale), the price is quite good, and designed to get you in the door and buying more of your groceries there that day. Total spent -- $19.57.

I was also looking for some herb tea. Didn't buy it at QFC, too expensive there. So went to the drug store nearby. I bought some blueberry/acai with antioxidants A and C tea. I'm trying to get off of using caffeine and sugar to get through my day. So I thought I'd try this tea. It was a bit expensive, at $3.99 a box. But if it will help me not want so much coffee and sugar throughout the day, it will be worth the splurge to me.

Sept. 29. The plums were not ready last week, but looked pretty good today. My husband picked them and I processed. I made 1 batch of jam, but ran out of jars. I dehydrated about 8 lbs or so for prunes (these are Italian prune plums). I left about 10 lbs. in the fridge for fresh eating. Most are frozen, for pies, kuchen, smoothies, and 3 more batches of jam. I think my husband picked about 40 lbs. I still need to make a batch of plum chutney and Chinese plum sauce. I've set aside plums and jars for that later in the week. It was a long day with the plums and I'm too tired to make those condiments now.

Sept. 30. So there it is for the month -- $107.56. That will leave me with $102.44 to add to the surplus from a couple of months ago, for a total surplus of $214.39. Holiday stock-up sales begin late October and run through Christmas. I expect I'll use every penny of this surplus stocking up on turkeys, ham, baking supplies, canned nuts, canned and frozen veggies, and any other great deals I find then. We'll also splurge a bit on groceries at the holidays and buy some things that I don't normally buy, like crackers, ingredients for spreads and fillings, puff pastry dough, and smoked salmon. I love, love, love William's Sonoma's holiday catalog. I go through the prepared party food section, and choose a few items to duplicate.

How willing are you to try new foods?

Yesterday was a teacher work day at school, so the girls had plans that didn't involve textbooks and scientific calculators. The two of them had a babysitting job in the AM. After I dropped them off, I had some time to kill in that region of our town. I stopped at the pharmacy to get my B vitamins, browsed through the local Hallmark to see their fall holiday items. Then went over to the grocery store to check for marked down milk, as we're down to the last few cups of milk in our fridge.

I got lucky and found 4 half gallons of milk, marked down. Then I mosied on over to the packaged deli area. There in the bin were some tofu hot dogs (nitrate free), tempeh, veggie Italian hot links, yogurt, Promise margarine spread (no trans fats, label says it has Omega-3s) and some veggie pepperoni slices. I passed on the yogurt, as I make it for less than the clearance price. I did buy the one tub of margarine, the one package of hot links, and all the tofu dogs. I didn't think the pepperoni slices were a great deal, for such a small package. I'll be slicing the Italian hot links to use for pepperoni on pizza, instead, at about 1/3 the price.

The tempeh . . . hmmm . . . I don't really know what it is or how to cook with it. Yes, I could find out online. But there's that chance that we won't like it, and even at a mark down, it may not be worth it.

Then the other side of my brain says, "just try it". Being a marked down item, it's a small financial risk to try it out, right? So if ever there was a time to try tempeh, it would be when finding it for a low price.

In the end, I decided "no thanks" on the tempeh. It looked so foreign to me, and I had no idea if it was priced really well or not (sometimes the markdowns are not such a great deal after all). But I did buy the tofu dogs.

I thought about this later. If I always had this attitude of not trying something new, simply because it looks foreign, I'd never have tried kale (which grows fabulously in our garden, and I do indeed like it), herb tea (some varieties look and taste like dried grass, but not all, fortunately), and tofu (which looks like white jello, yet it does so well in stir fry). Sometimes trying something new opens up a world of possibilities.

I guess you could say that sometimes I'm an adventurous eater, and other times I'm a bit shy with new foods. Where do you fall on the adventurous diner spectrum? Will you try something new if it's a great deal? Or will you cynically think, "there's a reason this stuff didn't sell before the sell-by date, the stuff is horrid!"

The verdict on the tofu dogs? Well, they were a lot like hot dog flavored bubble gum, a bit rubbery, but not horrible. I'd eat them again. And good thing, too, as I bought 3 packages of them.

Our neighborhood garden club

Our neighborhood has a garden club, started by a couple of women in the neighborhood, about 15 years ago. The membership has swelled to about 20 at times, and been as cozy as about 8, at other times. Currently, it's somewhere in between.

We meet once a month and share duties developing the program for the evening. We have no dues and anyone in our neighborhood is welcome. I was invited by a neighbor out walking her dog, almost 10 years ago. She was hosting a meeting the next week on making cement hosta leaves for garden decor. Several years ago, Martha Stewart did these on her show. We all chipped in for the supplies, and we each got to take our leaf home. (Mine still resides amongst the real hostas.)

Other programs have included garden tours, both within the neighborhood, and at local horticultural venues, potting flowers both in spring and fall (we each bring a pot and some flowers/plants to share, and the hostess provides the soil), autumn decor projects (many of which have nothing to do with gardening, but just a fun thing to make), gifts made with our garden herbs (like vinegars and bath bombs), and informative sessions about topics which one of our members may specialize in, such as dyeing textiles with native plant materials, or attracting songbirds to the garden. In the spring, we typically have a plant swap. We all dig up and divide some perennials to swap. I've filled my garden with interesting plants that I might not have bought myself. My turn, this past summer, was a walking tour of a nearby historic district. We admired the architecture of the homes as well as their front gardens.

After our "meeting" we sit and chat for a while over tea and treats. This is where I hear all the neighborhood latest on local break-ins and car prowls. Informative, but in a different way.

This past Wednesday evening, we were potting fall plants. We each brought flowers or plants and a pot. I have scads of filled pots already and thought I wanted something different this time. I found a nice hanging basket on clearance at Home Depot and some orange pansies to share. (Not the spectacular bargain that Frugal Girl got at Aldi's on a flowering basket this week, but still a good deal.) I also robbed a couple of my deck pots for additional plants that I thought would look good in my basket, and then added a few more from the club meeting.

We've had a very mild September. Early fall looks good. Our area has about 5 more weeks of decent weather, then nights will become quite chilly, and my plants will give it up somewhere around Hallowe'en to mid-November. (But pansies come back in our area, so that's something to look forward to in spring.) My basket will hang up against the house on the south side, over the deck. It will get plenty of warmth, and may make it longer than 5 weeks. I'm hoping it will have plenty of time to fill in.

I've learned a great deal from these ladies in our group. Many of them have phenomenal knowledge of plants and their requirements. When we moved into our house, I really didn't know beans about gardening. Oh, I had tried my hand at vegetable gardens. Sometimes they were successful, other times I was totally mystified why my veggies couldn't grow in the shade. It was all sheer luck if the garden produced.

In addition to being a source of gardening knowledge, our little garden club is part of what makes this neighborhood more than just a tract of houses, but a real community. As the saying goes, "out of gardens grow fleeting flowers but lasting friendships" (Beverly Rose Harper). 

When you know your kids are finally "getting it"

My kids and frugality --

I sometimes wonder if my kids are getting the stewardship-of-resources-and-time bit. As they stand in the shower for ages, gawk for many minutes at the contents of the opened refrigerator, or, hold the back door to the house open, in the midst of winter, while talking with someone outside -- I just wonder, "are they getting it"?

Then one of them says something that makes me think, "finally, they understand how I feel about thoughtful use of our resources".

The other night, while talking about the weekend ahead, and shared use of the car, I mentioned to my son that the girls had tea this weekend. That means, they go up to our church and wash dishes for the elderly women who put on fund-raising teas once a month. (It's not all altruistic, however. They get fed a nice assortment of sandwiches, desserts and cocoa!)

Anyways, I mentioned this to my son, as I would be needing the one good car to take them the 35 minute round trip there, then again 35 minutes round trip to get them home later in the day. To this, my son replied, "perfect, I'm needing a haircut."

What does his haircut have to do with the girls' tea time work? The barber (yea! he no longer needs me to cut his hair -- that's a stress I'm glad to let go of) is just down the hill from our church.

His driving to the barber would entail a third 35 minute round trip drive, if he went separately. By his going this Saturday, he'll drop the girls off, get his haircut, then come home, saving one of the 35 minute trips that direction and back. Yea! He gets it! By arranging errands, we save gas.

I suppose our kids can't help but absorb our views, to some extent. We are constantly reminding them to turn off the water, shut the refrigerator, close the door, etc. Some kids do respond with "when I grow up, I'm going to be rich so I can do x-money-squandering-activity". But for the most part our kids do grow up internalizing our values. They may have a period of overspending when first adults. And they may express our values differently, choosing to economize in areas that had little importance to us, while spending where we had always been frugal. Or, they may be more or less extreme than we are. But there really is truth in the saying "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree".

I look at my own family. My parents were careful with their money in many areas, but had some areas where they spent less cautiously. Yet they were always responsible. My siblings and I grew up to be good stewards of our resources, as well. We each have different income levels, which allow more or less spending on non-necessities, on our parts. But none of us are dead-beats. We all work hard, make thoughtful choices, and live within our means.

To this day, I can hear my mom and dad's voices, saying "turn off the lights when you leave the room", "don't let the water run while you're brushing your teeth", and "you've got legs, you can walk there". As a kid I thought, "they're such fuddy-duddies". But now as an adult, I see the wisdom in their ways and sayings, every time I open the utility bill, or fill the car with gas -- I see their wisdom. And now, I get to see that my kids are getting that wisdom, too. They get it. Gas costs money, and money takes work to earn.

Yes, I think my kids are finally "getting it". If your kids have "gotten it", then celebrate -- you've done an awesome job! If it sometimes feels that your kids are not "getting it", give it time, explain the money equals work concept over and over, until you're blue in the face. Let them in on your family's money management process. Give them a way to earn money themselves for their "wants". It takes time.

I didn't always feel that my own kids were "getting it". My son has "gotten it", and I'm seeing signs that my daughters are in the process, as well. But not quite time for the hallelujahs, yet!

Draft snake no. 2 -- this one cost a buck

I finished the second of three draft stoppers yesterday. (No. 1 draft snake is here and draft snake no.3 is here)My plan is to make 2 draft stoppers in September and 1 in October. I am trying to do this inexpensively. But on this one, I did get picky about the details, and spent about $1 on fleece for the lady bugs and flowers. I had some fleece already, but needed pieces of red and yellow.

So, not as cheap, but this draft stopper is for the kitchen door to the deck. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and I wanted something to remind me that spring and summer will indeed return. 

I had a long strip of the green corduroy leftover from a lap throw for the family room (made several years ago). And the green actually goes quite well with our kitchen. I didn't plan that, it was just one of those serendipitous things. I still had some of that tattered comforter, as well as batting, for the innards of the snake. My fabric strip was wider than the last piece, so I went ahead and made this one quite fat.

Finishing the ends of the draft stopper

I did the ends differently than the last draft stopper. If you remember, the last one had candy-tied ends. This one, having less length in fabric, I decided to cap the ends in the same manner that I do the tops of fleece hats. For the first end, I flattened the fabric and made a straight across seam. Then I turned the fabric right side out. 

I folded the pointy ends of that seam inward, towards each other, and tacked in place. This sort of squares off the ends. The final end, after stuffing, I did in the same manner, but sewed it all by hand. I made the straight seam with a whip stitch, then tacked the two pointy ends together.

To make this festive, I adorned the draft stopper with ladybugs and flowers made of fleece, and held on by velcro (so that I can wash the case when it gets dirty, without harming my spring decor pieces).

Making the decorative pieces

When I make something creative like this, I use everyday items for templates. For the ladybug body, I traced around a small coffee can lid. For the black ladybug head, I traced around a small votive candle. And for the dots, I had a large, circle hole punch, which didn't quite cut through the black, sticky back felt. However, it marked it well enough that I could cut them out with scissors.

The flower was a bit of a challenge at first. Then I thought to make a daisy-like flower using a heart-shaped cookie cutter. I traced hearts onto a sheet of white paper. At first, I tried 4 hearts, but that looked too much like a clover. Next I tried 6 hearts, but that made the flower too large for my fabric piece. Last I traced 5 hearts in a ring and they seemed to make the best flower. Then I cut out this paper flower and used it for a template for the yellow fleece.


You may wonder how I intend to hold my stoppers in place at the doors, without weights inside. I plan on either double-stick tape or velcro. Double-stick tape would be cheap. But velcro would allow me to align the draft snake easily after moving it to use these doors (which by the way, in the cold months, we don't use these doors all that much). For the draft snake I'll make in October (for the front door), I do plan on adding weight to it (with sand most likely). That door gets used a lot, and I want the weight of the snake to hold itself in place.

I'm making progress. It's little bit by little bit, in my efforts to make our house snug and cozy. I know I won't get to everything this year. But if each year I work a little more towards getting the house in shape for cold weather, it'll happen some year. My other task for this fall is to seal up the 4 remaining old windows in the house. One is a large sliding glass door. Any suggestions on how to make that one more snug? There are insulating drapes on it, but still it gets quite cold in that room.

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Our Frugal Lunchbox: cookies - 1 basic dough makes 4 kinds

One dough, 4 varieties -- peanut butter-oatmeal,
chocolate chip, apricot-almond, jam thumbprints

These are my September cookies. I love them because I can put together a variety of cookies in one afternoon. Originally, the recipe came from a Christmas issue of a magazine (almost 20 years ago). It's one of those, "mix one dough, make 8 kinds of cookies" recipes. I love those recipes. And I figured you might, too.

I've modified the mix-ins. And for lunchbox cookies, I just make 4 kinds. The other 4, I like better at the holidays.

The other thing that I like about this recipe, is that the dough can be kept in the freezer, and baked up a few, or a whole batch, at a time. Mixing up the dough with the different variations, takes about an hour, start to finish. (Not bad, eh?)

The Basic Dough (total yield -- about 120 cookies)

2 cups (1 lb.) (450 g) butter or margarine, room temp
1 cup (180 g) packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons (10 mL) vanilla extract
4  1/2 cups (540 g) all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla, until fluffy. Gradually beat in flour, just until blended.

Divide dough into 4 portions. Mix in the extra ingredients (except the jam for the thumbprints), and roll into logs. Wrap in waxed paper, and pop into a freezer bag. Keeps for up to 3 months in the freezer, or 5 days in the fridge. If wanting to bake cookies right away, chill logs in the fridge for 1 hour, first.

Varieties and their mix-ins

Chocolate chip cookies -- 3/4 cups (125 g) chocolate chips

Peanut butter-oatmeal cookies -- 1 cup (90 g) uncooked oats, 1/2 cup (133 g) creamy peanut butter

Apricot-almond cookies -- 1/8 teaspoon (0.60 mL) mace *or* 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 mL) cardamom, 12 large dried apricots, diced, 1/2 cup (75 g) sliced almonds, chopped

Jam thumbprint cookies -- jam

(This is a great recipe for experimenting. I've done 1) chopped macadamia nut-white chocolate chip cookies, 2) sliced plain dough dipped in cinnamon and sugar on the top side, 3) chopped dried cherries in plain dough, then after baked, drizzled with melted white chocolate chips, and 4) Hershey's kisses embedded in balls of dough -- all very yummy. So if one variety doesn't sound appealing to you, try one of these substitutions, or come up with your own.)


To bake, place oven rack in the middle of the oven (to prevent over browning of the bottoms of cookies).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (162 C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.

slice and bake for chocolate chip,
peanut butter-oatmeal, and apricot-almond

For Chocolate chip, Oatmeal-peanut butter, and Apricot-almond cookies, slice about 1/4 inch thick and place on baking sheet. (Alternatively, with the peanut butter cookies, you can slice the dough into 1  1/4 inch thick slices, then halve those. Roll into balls, place on baking sheet, and criss-cross mark with a fork dipped in sugar -- for the traditional look of peanut butter cookies.) Bake for 12-15 minutes. The fruit pieces in the Apricot-almond cookies over brown on the bottoms easily. Remove from baking sheet immediately.

slice thick and halve, then roll into balls for
jam thumbprints, or also for peanut butter-oatmeal

For the Jam thumbprint cookies, slice dough into 1  1/4-inch thick slices, then halve each slice. Roll into balls. Place on baking sheet. Make indentation with thumb. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) of jam into each indentation. Bake 12-15 minutes. Cool 2 minutes on the baking sheet (to firm up the cookie and jam a bit), then transfer to cooling rack.

I also find myself bringing cookies to coffee hours, meetings, and work parties, fairly often. This recipe gives me variety of cookies, with minimal work.

A vote for the humble family dinner

We've become a society of foodies, to a certain extent. We've developed this notion that meals should be over-the-top, fantabulous, culinary delights. Well, frankly, I don't think food needs to be fantastic to be a good meal.

In our house, we eat quite a few humble, but delicious, meals every week. Sometimes we have pancakes, sometimes we have baked beans, sometimes a meal of plain baked chicken, and tonight, it's peanut butter sandwiches and fruit. None of these meals would star on the cover of Bon Appetit. But when you're truly hungry, and have no time or energy to cook, a simple meal tastes fantastic.

I think one of the best meals I ever had, was at the end of a long day, driving to my sister-in-law's house. We'd encountered a freak storm en route, followed by rush-hour traffic getting into the city. What should have been a 3-hour tour (key Gilligan's Island theme song), turned into a harrowing, at times, 5 1/2 hour nightmare. When we tumbled out of our car, very road weary, then trudged into her kitchen, she had a most delicious meal of pot roast, mashed potatoes and salad waiting for us. Everything tasted especially good. And we didn't hesitate to tell her so, to which she followed up repeatedly, "it's just pot roast and potatoes". You see our sense of taste was heightened by intense appetites. Did you read the Little House books? In one of the books, a visitor complimented Ma on her cooking. Her reply was, "hunger is the best sauce".

There is so much truth in this. When we are actually hungry, we eat voraciously, regardless of what is served. In fact, according to BBC News, a study at the University of Malawi found that taste buds are stimulated by hunger. Food actually tastes better when we are hungry. Anyone who's been on a calorie-restricted diet knows this.

So, why is it that magazines and cookbooks have us believing that every meal we prepare for our families, must be gourmet? Perhaps because a recipe for  Poulet Gourmet of the Day would sell more copies of a cookbook or mag, than say a recipe for plain baked chicken. I don't know about you, but I only need one cookbook that tells me how to bake plain chicken. So where's the repeat consumerism if I only need one, lone cookbook?

Most of what I prepare for dinner, I learned from my mother. Throughout history, this is how most women learned to cook. They didn't need cookbooks. They didn't need a book filled with 50 ways to prepare squab or rabbit or venison. The one way their mothers had always made it was enough for their repertoire. My mother's meals were delicious, yet most would not satisfy today's foodies.

I'm not against gourmet meals. I enjoy them too. But I don't let myself feel guilty or inadequate, if our family dinners are humble meals. And I don't think you should either. If time, or energy, or cost allow just a modest meal, then so be it. Your family will be grateful you cooked for them. And the long-term memories of the family table will not be about what was on the plate, but about the conversations, the laughs, the love and joy they always felt when they pulled up their chair.

Composter basics

Sept. 5. I am soooo excited! I've just ordered a beautiful, tumbling composter on wheels! I've had my eye on this beauty for a while now. Two years ago I saw one in a catalog, but I didn't act quickly enough. And soon, they were all sold out. When I saw this again this month, it was a must-have item. You'd think this was a sporty little convertible that I'm salivating over, and not a composter. But if you knew how much I've wanted one of these, well, you'd understand my excitement.

Sept. 19. It arrived!! Now to get the thing out of the box and put together! BIG box -- the thing is heavier than I thought it would be!

Sept. 22. My son, Chris, is in the process of putting it together. So what do you suppose we should do with the extra 7 parts? Kidding! Chris is so very thorough with these sort of things.

Sept. 22, later. It's done. All put together and ready to start filling. Her she is! Ain't she a beauty!

Composters

We've composted for the better part of our marriage. And we've used many arrangements, from heap, to bin, to now, the tumbler.

The cheapest compost set-up, by far, is the heap. Also known as, feeding opportunity for anything on four legs. Yes, we had all kinds of varmints, from rats, to opossum (if plural, is it opossi?), to coyotes (who'd have guessed the ones in our neighborhood were vegetarian), to raccoons, and to squirrels. An open heap is not the best compost situation in areas with lots of wild animals (now they tell me).

We had a heap for the first few years in our current house. There was a nice secluded spot behind a tree. We'd take our bucket out there every other day and dump it on the pile. Every few days we'd turn soil over it, in attempts to discourage the critters.

Next on the list -- the homemade framed bin. Framed either in wood pallets, or with a wood-frame and chicken wire-screened sides.  Works efficiently enough. Best if you have 2 or 3 framed bins, 1 for the finishing/finished stuff, 1 for in-progress stuff, and a new bin to be filling as you have material. We never built one of these bins, but leap-frogged to the large plastic bin.

Moving up the expense ladder -- the free-standing, dump in the top, retrieve finished compost from the bottom, large plastic bin. This is what we have been using for about 15 years. We got ours at a county eco-fair, for a fraction of it's retail price. I think we paid about $12 for it, then. It works, although slowly. And critters can get in, by burrowing underneath, or as rats have done, by chewing a hole right through the lid. But definitely more attractive, and less odoriferous, than a heap.

The next two options are about equal in expense and expediency. I can see merits to each. I'm speaking of vermicomposting (wormeries) and the tumbling composters. Both can give you finished product in a short period (4-8 weeks on average). 

The worm composter is often used by folks with less space for a large bin. The worm composter can be kept on a deck, porch, garage, or basement. I even heard of a couple who kept theirs under the kitchen sink.  Basically, you have a box containing red worms, who eat your kitchen waste, leaving castings behind. It's the castings that you use in your garden in the same way that you use compost. Red worms are sensitive to temperature fluctuations, and don't do well in below freezing or above about 100 degrees F. Not something you can just leave out in the open yard if it freezes for much of winter. But the vermicomposters can be kept in the garage for winter, or up against the house on a sheltered porch.

A tumbling composter, (now that's been my composting dream), may have odors, so should still be located away from doors and windows. Tumblers are enclosed, and raised off the ground, making it difficult for animals to get in. The tumbler on wheels has the advantage of when the compost is complete, you can wheel it anywhere you want to use the finished product. This will save me, and my back, a lot of shoveling and hauling. For the winter months, I will locate my composter near the back door, moving it back to its station behind the garden, when the weather warms in spring (and odors become more pronounced). With it so near to the house, I may be more inclined to dump my bucket in inclement weather.

We compost more than just yard waste, fruit scraps and veggie bits. We also compost egg shells, the odd paper napkin that passes through our house, toilet paper tubes, paper labels from jars and bottles, lightweight cardboard food boxes, newspaper, and egg cartons. Basically, you want a mix of green material (kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, green garden refuse) and brown material (paper, cardboard, dried leaves and dried garden refuse).

Yes, composting is the "green" way to get rid of kitchen scraps and garden refuse, but it also reduces our garbage collection bill, extends the life of our in-sink garbage disposal, and gives us free soil amendment for our gardens.

What are your thoughts on composting?


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Relief for the pain in the neck! (or tennis ball massage)

What does this tennis ball have to do with my poor aching back?

I've had neck, back and shoulder pain off and on for several years. And in the last 5 months, I've developed a very serious condition. It's called "blogger's neck". Blogger's neck is what comes from hours spent hunched over the laptop keyboard. It's a pain in the neck, shoulder and upper back. I use cold packs, ibuprophen and tennis balls to relieve my pain. Yes, I said tennis balls. Here's a trick I learned a while back. It's a way to give myself a back massage. For me, it helps to work out some of the kinks.

Stand with your back up against a wall, heels about 2 inches from the wall. Drop a tennis ball down behind your shoulders, and "capture" it between your back and wall. Lean forward just a bit to move the ball down to the spot that feels tight. Now move your body around in circles to press the ball into the tight spot. You may want to do this where no one else can see you. My family is so used to seeing me try strange things, that they just walk right on past me, taking no notice of any strange movements on my part.  I "massage" my back and shoulders for about 3-5 minutes like this when they're tight, and then I can get back to whatever I was doing.

Another pain treatment I use, comes on advice of a friend who's a PT, cold packs -- those flexible-while-frozen packs to wrap around inflamed areas.  Great for sprained ankles, twisted knees, and my shoulder. You can make your own cold pack with rubbing alcohol, water and a freezer ziploc bag.  Mix alcohol and water in a 50/50 mix and pour into the ziploc bag. Don't fill the bag up. You want the bag to be limp and flexible when frozen. Freeze for a few hours. Obviously, this is one of those things that you have to do in advance of pain or injury-causing swelling. Otherwise you'll be waiting around for 3 hours till your cold pack is ready. But if you want to be prepared, or you have chronic pain, as I do, then you can make these up and keep in the freezer. When placing ice or a cold pack on the skin, always keep a layer of paper towel, or thin fabric between your skin and the pack. My friend, the PT, recommends an old, worn pillow case to put the cold pack in.

The final thing that has helped me with this pain is doing my exercises. Doing the doctor-prescribed exercises not only helps to relieve the pain, but keeps me from re-injuring this same spot. Exercises for injury treatment are site specific and usually don't take that much time. My 5 exercises take me less than 15 minutes per day, and that's enough for me to receive benefit. Worth it to me.

And, as always, this is not medical advice, but what has worked for me. It's important to see your doctor when you've injured yourself. You could do further damage by treating an injury in the wrong way.

The most effective cure, of course, would be to turn off my computer for good. But where's the fun in that?! 

Have you found any unusual ways to treat aches and pains?


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It's a girl thing -- ribbon-covered headbands

Here's something you can make for the girl in your life, in under 20 minutes. I did these for my two daughters a while back. I used them as Easter basket stuffers one year. And they were very quick and easy to make.

for 1 headband:

I used 1 1/2 yards of 5/8-inch grosgrain ribbon, a plastic headband (I bought a set of 8 for $1 at Dollar Tree), a hot glue gun and a small amount of crafting cement (any rubber cement type product designed for crafts will work--the key is that it has the texture of rubber cement -- a bit flexible when dry). Depending on how wide your ribbon and headband, you may need a bit more ribbon, as much as 1 2/3 yards should be enough.

Before gluing the ribbon to the headband, wrap the ribbon around the headband the entire length, to get an idea of how much overlap you will need for complete coverage. Unwrap.  Now begin to hot glue the ribbon to headband.

Put a little hot glue on the last inch of the headband, both sides. Start the ribbon wrapping by folding the end of the ribbon over the end of the headband, then winding/wrapping the length of the ribbon over this starter edge.

You will work diagonally on the headband. Working about 2 inches at a time, coat both sides of the headband (2 inches worth) with hot glue. Wrap the ribbon around and around. Continue with this glue, then wrap process, until the headband is completely covered. Finish the final end by folding under the edge and hot gluing in place on the inside. Trim any excess ribbon close to head band. 

You should have about 1 1/2 feet of ribbon left. Cut off 2 inches, save for securing the bow,  Make a loop with 16 inches of ribbon, overlapping the ends of loop by about 2 inches.  Flatten this loop.  Scrunch together the center of the loop. Use a piece of thread to wind around this scrunched section several times, securing with a knot. Take the 2-inch portion of remaining ribbon and wrap around the scrunched section, gluing with the craft cement. Now using the craft cement, glue the bow to the headband. And you're done.

These are simple grosgrain ribbon headbands. The headbands can also be covered with satin finished ribbons, then adorned with silk flowers or lace bows. I've seen some nice braid at the fabric store that would also work. Or, you could even make your own bias tape with fabric scraps you have at home. Then use that to wrap around the plastic head band.

I can picture cute fairy headbands, covered in fabric daisies for Hallowe'en, headbands made of the same fabric as a new dress (use the scraps to make bias tape for wrapping around the band) for a matching look, or, satin and silk flower headbands for the romantic type.

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Apple sourdough deep dish pancake

One of our apple trees is ready to harvest in late August to early September. As an easy dinner this time of year, I like to make a deep dish apple pancake. So far, I think I've made this about 4 times already this apple season. I like that it uses sourdough starter, as I can forgo any milk in the batter (better for my digestion).

A while back I posted on making sourdough starter. If that interests you, you can find more info on that here. So, for those of you who have a starter, or can beg, borrow or steal one from a friend, here's another recipe for sourdough. (And for those of you who don't have sourdough starter, see below instructions for making this with pancake or biscuit mix.)

Apple Sourdough Deep Dish Pancake

3 medium-sized apples, sliced (I leave the peels on, you can peel them if you like), plus apples for garnish
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter

1 cup active sourdough starter (take the whole pot of starter out of the fridge in the AM, give it a couple of tablespoons of flour and water and allow to stand on the counter for a few hours *or* extend it the night before, then just before making the pancake you measure it)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Butter a 9-inch Pyrex pie dish. Lay apple slices in bottom of dish. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dot with butter. Microwave for about 3 minutes, until apples look soft.

In a large bowl, combine sourdough starter, whole wheat flour, eggs, oil and vanilla. In a small bowl, blend salt, remaining sugar, remaining cinnamon and baking soda (this is to break up any lumps in the soda). Sprinkle this dry mixture over the starter mixture, and fold to combine. Pour over microwaved apples.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until the pancake portion is set. Cut into wedges. Top with brown sugar-sweetened plain yogurt (or sour cream sweetened with brown sugar, or vanilla yogurt), and fresh apple slices.


No sourdough starter? You can absolutely do this with a regular pancake mix. Instead of the starter mixture, combine 3 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 3/4 cup biscuit mix or pancake mix, 1-2 teaspoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Pour this over the microwaved apples and bake at 400 degrees F, for 30 minutes, or until the cake is firm.

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Giving paper a second life

We have become such a throw-away society in the last hundred years. Gifts are wrapped in beautifully made paper, only to have that same beautiful wrap crumpled into a ball just minutes after receiving and tossed into the trash bin. Paper was once so valuable, every effort was made to reuse each piece as much as possible.

When I was a girl, my grandmother had a large straw bag (the kind from the '60s that said Acapulco on the side, often used as a beach bag), kept in a closet in the hall of her house. Inside this bag were ribbons, bows and used wrapping paper, carefully folded up, to preserve it till the next use. My grandmother's reuse of gift wrap was something of a novelty to me. In our house, my mom always bought new paper, for every occasion. My grandmother reused her wrap for two reasons, I believe. One, she was an artist. I think she couldn't stand to crumple up a beautiful piece of paper. Two, she was living on a small income. Saving money on the wrap meant she had more money for the gift. I completely identify with both of these reasons for reusing wrap. I, too, don't like to junk a beautiful piece of paper. It feels almost like art to me. And also, I like to spare as much money as possible for the actual gift. So whenever I come across pretty paper, I set it aside to use as wrap.

Do you scavenge paper for gift wrap, homemade cards and craft projects? It isn't just gift wrap, but I come across some wonderful paper in the form of shopping bags and store tissue, to which I give a second life.  In the last month, I was able to reuse tissue from four different shops, (one tissue plain pink, another pink with hearts, and the other, plain purple), a tan and ivory muted print shopping bag, and now a piece of heavyweight paper in a nice black and white print. A couple of the vintage shops I like have the best papers and bags.

I cut the good side off the tan and ivory shopping bag to use as gift wrap for my nephews birthday. And reused some of the pink tissue for my niece's birthday and a good friend's birthday. The purple tissue will also be used for a birthday gift. And with the black and white, heavy-weight paper, I have a number of possibilities swirling in my mind. I could use it to make a couple of cards or possibly cover a small cardboard box, used as a desk/dresser organizer.

For readers of old Tightwad Gazette newsletters, you may recall a drawing of a tightwad iron setting. It had the standard wool, linen, cotton, and of course, giftwrap. Do you iron giftwrap? Just before I reuse a sheet of tissue or other gift wrap, I give it a quick once over with the iron, on a cool setting. It really can make a slightly rumpled piece look new. One caution with ironing paper, do not iron over tape or glittery decor on the wrap. And if the creases in the paper remain noticeable, remember that smaller sections of the paper can still be reused. And strips of the gift wrap can be curled to make bows, in the same way that curling ribbon is curled.

My grandmother's bag of wrapping supplies was a treasure in itself for a small child. I loved digging through the papers and bows. She often let me create art projects with these supplies. I never questioned why she saved her gift wrap and bows. I just thought it was a grandmother sort of thing.

How many cars is your family?

Now that sounds like a strange question. But we call ourselves, "one-car families", "two-car families" or even "car-free families".

Right now, we are a one and a half car family. Neither fully a two-car family, able to go in two different directions of any great distance, at the same time, nor totally stuck with just the one car.

The first car runs well. It's a young 8 years old. Car number two is in it's sunset years. It's 24 years old. In car years, that's about 172 years. And it can only go about 2 miles before it overheats and stalls. Car number two can make it to the nearest park and ride for my husband and son, 5 days a week. The car has to sit in the parking lot for several hours before it can drive again. Car number two isn't good for running errands, taking daughters to dance, for my son to go out with friends, or to Home Depot to pick up a load of bricks.

We've had the car looked at, and while I don't fully understand car talk, (there's something about an engine block that needs grinding or sanding or something like that), I do understand dollars and cents. To have this done, it would cost about $1500, or roughly 4 times what we could get for our car on Craigslist.

A good portion of the time we feel like a 3 driver/1 car family. We have to juggle our schedules so everyone can get to the events that matter most. We have to beg rides from others. We have to wait until the car is free, for pickups. And we have to stay home from time to time because we can't get a ride. We do give priority to school and work-use of the car.

In years past, we were an actual one-car family. Our children were young then, and we lived near a bus line. My husband took the bus to work, most days of the week, leaving the car with me and the kids. This lasted for several years, then we moved. With the move, and still just the one car, my husband had to drive to work.  The kids and I were without wheels every day. I can honestly say, for our family, it's easier to have two cars than one.

But there are merits to having just one car, in a multi-driver family.

• For one thing, it's just plain cheaper. Fewer license fees, less overall maintenance, less in insurance costs, and less in parking fees.
• Having just one car forces a family to work together. Learning to compromise is a valuable skill that will translate to many other areas.
• Having fewer cars than there are drivers in a household, can lead to a simpler life. I find myself "stuck" at home from time to time. But this often becomes a blessing. I finally get some quiet time to read, or work in the garden, or write to a friend because I was unable to go anywhere.
• Just one car often leads to more exercise. We walk more. Sometimes that's just walking to a bus stop. But walking is walking. Your body doesn't care if this exercise is just transport to the bus.

If I sound like someone trying to convince themselves that having one and a half cars is a good thing, well that's because I probably am. I'd love for us to replace the aging car. Eventually we will. But for now, I'm trying to see the positive in our situation.

How about you? Have you ever been a one-car or no-car family? How have you managed the inconveniences?

Pumpkin scones for now or later

Yesterday was one of those very busy days for me. I felt I was going all day. Church, then coffee with friends. Home for lunch. Out to the store with my son to help him with some grocery shopping. Then back home to teach him how to cook a dinner for his friends. Lastly, a parents night for my daughters' youth group. And finally home. I wasn't sure I'd get to finishing this up. But I did. I don't know if you like pumpkin scones. But if you do, and if you're looking for a recipe, you can have mine.


One of my daughters is a die-hard pumpkin scone lover. This is one of her favorite treats. My other daughter also loves them, but is more of an equal opportunity scone lover, she'll enjoy any type of scone.

Last year I set out to reproduce Starbucks' pumpkin scone. I tried the copy-cat recipe, and frankly, it came out dry and flat. Not very good, in my opinion. So I decided to try to adapt my plain scone recipe to a pumpkin one. And this is what I came up with. It's moist on the inside, crispy on the outside, pumpkin-y, spicy, and just a little bit sweet. Glazing gives even more sweetness, and can be left off, if my sweet tooth is not needing it's fix.

What I love about scones, is that the dough freezes well. You can bake these right away, or keep the unbaked dough in the freezer, to be baked frozen, for a treat later. Here's my version of a pumpkin scone.

Pumpkin Scones

Yields: 8 jumbo scones or 16 petite scones

2 cups flour (I use 1  1/2 c. white and 1/2 cup whole wheat, just cuz I'm the mom and I want to get a more nutritious product into my family's tummies. but you can also do this with all white flour.)
6 tablespoons sugar
5  1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine (I use margarine)
1/3 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices.  Cut in, with a pastry blender, the cold butter. In a small bowl, beat egg. Stir in pumpkin and milk. Gently mix into the flour. The dough will appear to be quite dry. Continue cutting through the dough with the side of a large spoon, until almost all the flour is incorporated. Then, with your hands, very gently knead the dough in the bowl, to combine.

On a large sheet of waxed paper or plastic wrap, form the dough into a long and narrow rectangle, about 12" long by 3" wide, by 3/4" thick. Transfer this dough to the refrigerator and chill for about 30 minutes.

Lightly grease a large baking sheet. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut dough into 4 squares, then each square into triangles (2 triangles each, for 8 jumbo scones, or 4 triangles each for 16 petite scones). Place on baking sheet, 1 inch apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes (for jumbo scones), or 10 minutes (for petite), until golden around the edges. **note** make sure oven rack is in the middle of oven. Due to the sugar content of pumpkin and the added sugar in this dough, these scones could over-brown on the bottoms.

Alternatively, cut the dough into triangles. Then wrap to freeze. Keep in the freezer for up to 8 weeks. To bake, preheat oven to 385 degrees F, and grease a baking sheet. Place frozen scones on greased baking sheet, 1 inch apart, and bake petite scones for 12-13 minutes, or larger scones for 15-17 minutes. They're done when you press the center of tops with your finger and they feel a bit firm. Again, make sure oven rack is in the center of the oven. Remove from baking sheet immediately.


The glaze

Starbucks does a double glaze. A thin white glaze spread over the tops, then a thicker, spiced glaze piped on, to look pretty. I don't have time for all that, so just do a thin, spiced glaze spread over the tops. Here's that recipe.

Spice Glaze

1/4 cup powdered sugar
dash cinnamon
dash nutmeg
dash cloves
dash ginger
1 tablespoon milk

Combine all ingredients. This should be enough for a thin coat on 8 jumbo scones.

Final note -- I was going to show you a photo of one petite scone, with a double glaze, Starbucks-style. But sorry, I got hungry and I ate the sample scone before I could even get it glazed. Good intentions and all that. Right out the window when my blood sugar hit the floor!

If you like pumpkin scones, you might also like pumpkin spice lattes -- a fall favorite here at creative savv! 

Our frugal lunchbox: alternatives to potato chips

When I was growing up, potato chips seemed to be a standard in the brown bag lunches I took to school. Now, potato chips rarely make an appearance for our brown baggers. My thoughts -- you don't get much actual food for the money, in a bag of potato chips. Here are some alternatives we've chosen for our family.

Home baked tortilla chips  (of course, dollar store tortilla chips are also a favorite around our house)

If I'm going to do chips, it's more likely I'll do tortilla chips. Tortilla chips have substance. They have fiber, and actually fill you up.

You can make your own baked tortilla chips using flour or corn tortillas from the store. Here's how I make mine:

Spread whole tortillas out on a large baking sheet and spritz with olive oil cooking spray. Sprinkle with any desired seasonings, such as salt, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cumin, or just leave plain. Flip the tortillas over and spray and season the other side. Stack the tortillas up on a cutting board and cut into wedges, 8 or so each tortilla. Place on baking sheet in a single layer, and bake at 400 degrees F for 6 to 7 minutes, until the edges are golden and curling up slightly.

Add a healthy dip such as bean dip, salsa or guacamole, and you have a snack which packs a nutritional punch.

Bean dip boasts protein, fiber and some veggies, if made with onions, peppers and tomatoes. The salsa is loaded with lycopene and beta carotene. And the guacamole has the good fats. Fats are good for us, in moderate amounts and if they're the right kind. If you're packing a lunch for kids, remember their bodies and brains need these good fats. Guacamole can also have some lycopene (if made with tomatoes) and fiber.

Other alternative to potato chips

If it's just a wholesome snack food I'm interested in adding to the lunches, I'll make a large batch of popcorn and scoop into individual bags.

Mini corn or bran muffins make a healthy alternative to potato chips.

Small baggies of whole grain crackers also make a great substitute for chips. They're usually baked (less oils) and with the whole grains, have more vitamins and fiber than chips.

This summer was a cracker-y kind of summer around our place. I made the lavosh, and the girls got it in their heads that they wanted to do all kinds of crackers. They made Wheat Thins, Ritz, and Graham crackers. They used online recipes for the wheat thins and ritz-style crackers. But they followed my very old graham cracker recipe that I cut off the back of a box of brown sugar, when my son was a toddler.

I used to make these grahams as animal cookies for my kids when they were little. I have these small, animal-shaped cookie cutters. The cookies were adorable, and I knew that they were much healthier than the white flour animal cookies sold at the grocery store.

Here's the recipe I use for graham crackers. You can make them rectangular, like store-bought (that's what my daughters wanted to do this summer), or cut out with cutters and adjust the baking time, for shaped cookies.

Graham Crackers

3/4 cup (135 g) light brown sugar
1/2 cup, or 1/4 lb. (113 g) margarine
1 teaspoon (5 mL) vanilla extract
1  3/4 cups (210 g) whole wheat flour
1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon (1.25 mL) salt
1/3 cup (80 mL) water

In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and margarine. Add vanilla and beat until fluffy.

In a medium bowl, stir together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Alternating flour mixture with water, mix into creamed margarine/sugar. Mix well. Cover bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour, until firm.

Divide dough into 3 portions. Roll out to 1/8" thickness, on a sheet of waxed paper that has been lightly dusted with flour. Work your dough into a rectangle roughly 5 X 15 inches. Trim dough to even the edges. Cut into 6 smaller rectangles, about 2 1/2" by 5". Score these rectangles into quarters and prick all over with a fork.  Transfer to a greased baking sheet.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C). Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden around the edges. I think these are better slightly well-done, rather than undercooked. When they cool, they become crispy. Remove to a cooling rack immediately. Yields 36 graham crackers, which is 9 more than a standard box of grahams, and costs about $1 for the batch. (YMMV)

What are some extra goodies you like to add to the lunch boxes in your house?

For more ideas on what to put into the frugal lunchbox see Our frugal lunchbox: sandwiches
If you'd like an idea on making a lunch tote here's one you can make in an afternoon

September grocery money journal -- mid month

I keep a journal of how much I spend on groceries each month. It's a running total, so I know where we stand with that part of the budget, at all times. And it's a place I can reread and find motivation to keep on doing what I do. I share it here, in case there's something in this that could help someone else.

Sept. 4 I was in the garage putting something in the second freezer and noticing just how much we have stored away. Later I was in the garden and realized we still have a lot of good produce left. I am hopeful at this point that we won't need to spend all that much for the first half of the month. If I see a good sale on something, then I'll buy a supply. And there are a couple of things that I'd like to pick up later this month, powdered milk being one of them. I'd like to have a container of cocoa mix for my kids to help themselves to, when it's chilly. Making my own mix means I get to control the sugar content.

We've just been eating out of the freezer stash from last week's cooking spree. Tonight it was pot roast. When I froze it, I hadn't thickened the gravy. Sometimes the texture of gravy changes when frozen. So I just froze the pot roast in the unthickened liquid. Then tonight I whisked the liquid with flour and made the gravy. I dug potatoes from the garden and picked chard, those with the carrots and beef and gravy was a great meal. Over the weekend, we used the mexi-mix for bun tacos and burritos. I also made a large batch of refried beans to add to the mexi-mix. And they were so good, we forgot to add cheese. For tomorrow's dinner I have some baked chicken pieces thawing in the fridge. I'll top those with pasta sauce, and serve with some French bread and pesto (thanks, Mallory -- I made the Moosewood recipe, really yummy!)

Sept. 7. Finally spent some grocery money for the month. I bought 1 banana and a package of tortillas. The banana was for a fruit salad. We still have loads of apples, pears and some blueberries, so I thought a banana would be a nice addition. It was just 18 cents (a cut banana, but still in great shape). The tortillas were for bean burritos for dinner last night. Yes, I could've made the tortillas, but my neck and shoulder have been especially painful this week, and didn't want to strain them further. Total grocery cost -- $2.17.

We're eating out of the freezer, garden and pantry. I'll need more pantry staples in a week or two. Running low on oats and probably other things.

Sept. 8. Made biscuit dough cinnamon buns. Quick and easy. This was one of the first things we made in Home Ec when I was in the 7th grade. I used to make them at home on a regular basis, as a kid.
This morning, breakfast was cinnamon buns, apples, milk and coffee. Simple, but a good Saturday breakfast.

Had to go out to the pharmacy. While there I found coffee on sale for $4.79 a can and olive oil for $2.99 a bottle. I just picked up 1 of each. Sometimes I just don't feel like doing a huge pile up of food items in the pantry. So far this month I've spent $9.95 on groceries.

Sept 9. Last night was my teen daughters' night to make dinner. They like doing this, and it gives me a break. Having them cook one night a week has replaced part of my "want" to go out for dinner a couple of times a month. I'd still like to have the experience of eating out, trying new foods, no dishes to wash up etc, but now I don't seem to want it as often.

Picked up a can of pumpkin for scones and to make pumpkin pie coffee syrup. While at Fred Meyer I found chocolate chips for $1.59/12 oz bag. This was their house bargain brand, so I bought 5 and will see how they do in cookies. Also, swung by their bulk bins and bought nutmeg and almonds (almond milk for my lattes is much richer than rice milk; rice is okay for cereal and cooking). Another $12.97 spent.

Sept. 10. I'm making another batch of salsa this week, so need canned tomatoes and onions. 50 lb bag of onions was about $9, which works out to 18c a pound. I load them into the drawers of our spare fridge. They will keep for about 4-5 months in the fridge. I will have used them all up before they begin to rot. Tonight, I'm making mustard-glazed onions to go with dinner. I just couldn't wait to eat some of those onions! Also got more whip cream (for lattes), and a 5 lb. bag of cheese (about $10.50). That brings my spending for September up to $47.68 so far. I am running low on milk, eggs, garlic and oats. We'll just have to see how the rest of the month goes.

Sept.11. Stopped at the produce stand near the girls' school. I picked up some garlic, zucchini, to make more pickles (our garden did not produce much zucchini this year), jalapenos for more salsa, and I tried not to look. I really tried not to look, but it got me. I caught sight of a very full mark down bin, out of the corner of my eye. I was trying to keep my produce spending way down, as our garden is bursting with lots of veggies and fruit. Well, to my other produce I added a bag of sweet peppers for 99 cents. Not bad -- 2 yellow peppers, and 4 green pepper.  I chopped and froze the green ones yesterday while waiting for the potatoes to cook, and I'm using the yellow ones in vegetarian chili tonight. One thing I've learned about the mark-down bin. Only buy marked down produce if I can plan on chopping and freezing, or cooking it within 24 hours. It never has much more time than that, before it's too far gone. Another $4.51, brings me to $52.19 for September, so far.

Tonight's the first night in a while that we haven't had a freezer meal. I just wanted something different, so when I picked up the peppers I knew it would be chili. I'll have enough left over to freeze in lunch portions, which will be nice to have ready to go. With the chili I'm making pumpkin scones, and pears for dessert.

We are down to 1 gallon of milk and 11 eggs. I will need both of those to get through the month. Otherwise, perhaps more canning supplies and that's about it (unless I find some spectacular deals). It would be so nice if I could bank more grocery money for November and December holiday spending. But I won't be counting any chickens so soon.

Sept. 13. I didn't freeze the leftover chili, but added some macaroni noodles, for chili mac, and made toasted cheese sandwiches to go with the chili mac.

Sept.14. Bought a gallon of milk and 5 nut roll candy bars (clearance for 10c each), put away for a special treat sometime. Hoping to find milk marked down, but no luck. Spent $3.09 today, bringing the mid-month total to $55.28.

I made sourdough deep dish apple pancake with yogurt cream for dinner tonight. Very yummy! A very autumn-like meal. We've been having a lot of those lately, with apples, pumpkin, pears. Where did summer go?

Sept.15 Since school started, lunches have mostly been sandwiches (garbanzo bean spread, peanut butter and jelly, sunseed butter and jam, and egg salad -- but not all together!), fruit from our trees (apples and pears), and one or two other items, either yogurt, crackers, a cookie and/or a muffin. Breakfasts have been cereal from the dollar store (I'm "the greatest mom ever" -- I bought chocolate Cheerios!), toast, and muffins with milk or coffee.

And so I wonder, how much, or how little, will we spend for the second half of the month.