A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #91

  Hello! So glad you dropped in for a visit. Each week I share my thrifty and frugal projects, ways I save money, and my blessings from Jesus. 

I am so glad you dropped in for a visit today—or tonight!

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Hello! May God give you peace and tranquility in your heart whether your candidate won or lost. Please pray for our new president and our leaders on all levels. May God bless America, and may we turn to Him with our whole hearts.

  

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Here's my thrifty week:

~ I made homemade vanilla. A friend gave me a pretty glass bottle with a cork and vanilla beans for Christmas. Thanks Georgia! My son bought some Vodka for me a couple years ago to make vanilla with, but I never did it. It was so easy. I slit open the beans, cut them into short pieces so that they would be covered, and poured in the Vodka. I gave them a swirl and put them in my cupboard. I'll swirl the bottle every day or two for the next few months. I found recipes that suggested anywhere from 6 weeks to 9 months. I am not sure how long I'll let it go yet. No out-of-pocket expense to me.

~ We watched a Redbox movie using a code my husband received by signing up for their text messages. It was Pete's Dragon. Not bad. The code made it $.27.

~ A friend gave me twelve whole chickens. I prepared them for the freezer with the vacuum sealer my husband bought when we had the restaurant. Thanks Joyce!

~ Because we had a big van repair bill a couple weeks ago, our grocery money was very minimal this past couple weeks. We ate primarily out of the freezer and cupboards.

~ I purchased only things we really needed this week.

Our Penny

~ Dog food was on sale. Score.

~ My daughter touched up my hair color.  Gasp! Did I just type that? Just keeping it real folks.

~ I made a couple of delicious dishes with a package of two chicken breasts that I got marked down at Aldi a few weeks ago.

• I sauteed chopped onion and garlic then removed it from the skillet.
• I cut up chicken breasts into cubes, sauteed them, and added the onion and garlic.

    I served this two ways since I was using things up:

• Trim Healthy Mama E friendly make-do dish by mixing leftover quinoa, a small can of tomato sauce, some basil and oregano with the sauteed chicken breast cubes, onions, and garlic. 
• I served the chicken over buttered rotini noodles. This was not THM friendly, but my kids liked it.

~ I made too many sweet potatoes for my sweet potato casserole on Christmas. I froze the leftovers and served them with a turkey that was given to us for Thanksgiving. The sweet potatoes froze well if you've ever wondered.

~ Lots of popcorn snacks.

One nice thing about cooking out of the cupboards and freezer is that you get things cleaned out!

Well, that's my thrifty week. 
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What have you done in your home this week?

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A peek into my life...
Lots of do with whatcha got cooking this week.
Here's some of my husband's creativity in the kitchen.
He loves to photograph what he makes.
Click on the photos for recipes.

Baked Caramel Apple Oatmeal

Caramelized Apple Pancake

Savory Rice and Vegetables

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ღLauraღ

...doing what I can with what I've got

where I am on a short shoestring budget!

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Building Snowmen—Sort of.

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