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Thrifty Things Lately at Harvest Lane Cottage!
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Hey y'all!
Let's catch up a bit shall we? Here are some of the thrifty things we've done lately.
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~ My friend gave us a microwave! That's made things so much easier since my family's going all different directions with college and jobs. Hello leftovers! Thank you Laura!
~ Eggs fifty-eight cents a dozen at Aldi! I've been making lots of eggs scrambled with all kinds of veggies. No veggie is safe! Broccoli yum!
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| Egg Scramble with Spinach |
~ One night I was eating alone. I sauteed leftover shredded cabbage and leftover chopped cucumbers. I know. Whoever heard of cooking cucumbers? But the budget is really tight this month. I scrambled two eggs in the same skillet, added a bit of leftover salsa, and sprinkled a little shredded cheddar cheese on top. Strange but satisfying. The cucumbers had the consistency of zucchini. The salsa disguised the taste. ~smile~
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| Egg Scramble with Cabbage, Cucumber, Salsa, and Cheese |
~ I incorporated leftovers into the next days' meals as much as possible.
~ I made a batch of cinnamon oatmeal and had enough leftovers to eat for the next two mornings. Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!
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| Big Bowl Cinnamon Oatmeal Leftovers |
~ I've been a real homebody since I returned from St. Louis. Staying home most of the time saves money.
~ I received a book that I received free for the review. It's a keeper, so it will someday be read to grandlittles. First I need some sons and daughters-in-law!
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| Amy helps me review books. |
~ I returned a package of zucchini to Aldi, because it had spoiled on the bottom overnight. They gave me my money back and another package.
~I used broccoli instead of spaghetti since my zucchini was bad. I just poured my meat sauce over the sauteed broccoli. It was amazing! No guilt! It was so good, I used the leftover sauce over broccoli two more times during the week.
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| Spaghetti Meat Sauce Over Broccoli |
~ I pulled a pretty dress out of the back of my closet. It fits again. ~smile~
~ A friend bought me a fancy coffee drink when we met for a visit. Thanks Deborah. You're too sweet.
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| We ate cucumbers in lots of ways this week. |
~ We've been harvesting lots and lots of cucumbers from the garden. We've had some tomatoes, too. Thanks Amy!
~ Did you know that lettuce and greens last longer if you put paper towels or napkins in the package? It's a money saver.
~ Did you know that lettuce and greens last longer if you put paper towels or napkins in the package? It's a money saver.
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| This package is six days old. |
~ Lowell used a free drink credit at the coffee house when he went to a meeting.
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| Grand Greek Salad for Amy's birthday celebration. |
~ Amy used a coupon to get a $1 coffee drink at Hardees.
~ Amy used a $1.99 coupon for a smoothie at the new Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Pretty fancy for our little town!
~ Amy fermented cucumbers, jalapenos, and banana peppers with mad hatter peppers.
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| Amy's been busy with her harvest. |
~ Amy fermented cucumbers, jalapenos, and banana peppers with mad hatter peppers.
~ I received free movie ticket codes for sharing about Overcomer. I can't wait to see it. Our family has loved the Kendrick Brothers' movies for years.
~ We bought a special package at the butcher: 3 pounds ground beef, 1 pound ground chicken breast, 4 pork chops, 4 bratwurst, 2 pounds chicken breasts, 4 cube steaks, and 1 pound of sausage. $25! We actually took money out of savings in order to buy it. For our family, this will provide at least eight meals! Meat didn't fit into this month's budget very well, so I was thrilled. So, does anyone know what to do with a pound of ground chicken breast?
~ The biggest money saver has been lots of cooking from scratch as I add more veggies and cut sugar and breads. It's helping me feel better, too.
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As you can see, we've had many blessings again this week.
God is so good.
God is so good.
Praise God!
What have you been up to this week?
Laura
Blessed to be a blessing
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Sounds like a very frugal week. Good use of veggies. I have heard of people frying cucumbers like others do slices of zucchini or green tomatoes. I have never tried.
ReplyDeleteYou might check out my Thursday blog (Cheryl's Frugal Corner) about what to use the ground chicken with. All ground meat is pretty interchangeable.
You got a deal with that meat.
Blessings!
That is good to know. Thanks Cheryl.
DeleteLaura,
ReplyDeleteYou can use ground chicken any where you use ground beef. You can use it in pasta sauce, on nachos, in meatloaf. You can also use it in patty form to make pho-hamburgers. Although you may need to use a tiny bit of oil to keep from sticking. It just depends on how much fat is in the chicken. You scored a great deal on that much meat. Great job!!
Barbara
Thanks so much Barbara. I'll have to let everyone know what I do with it.
DeleteP.S. Tell your daughter to rent Used textbooks--it is way cheaper than buying them. I just saved $360 by doing so. ALSO, professors put their books on retainer at the library and she can check them out for like 3 hours (she might want to look into that).
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post, Laura, smiles. I hope you have a lovely upcoming week.
Hi Linda. Whom would she went the books from?
DeleteWould love to find that meat buy! Ground chicken: try the knockoff PF Chang Lettuce Wraps: https://damndelicious.net/2014/05/30/pf-changs-chicken-lettuce-wraps/
ReplyDeleteThank you for the suggestion Elle.
DeleteYour ground chicken can be used like lean ground beef or lean ground turkey - in spaghetti sauce, sloppy joe sauce, to top a baked potato, in meatballs, to top a salad, etc. I often skip pasta and put spaghetti sauce over cooked non-starchy vegetables. Cooked cucumbers are more often used in Asian recipes, but apparently - based on my few minutes of research - both Julia Child and Martha Stewart each have a recipe where they cook cucumbers.
ReplyDeleteI guess that proves there's nothing New under the sun!
DeleteThank you for the suggestion.
I enjoyed your thrifty tips. I have an Aldi in my hometown and I go every week. I love to use their basics. One good deal I found this week was to mix their organic jelly into plain yogurt. Oh my! Not as sweet as the small tubs and oh so satisfying. I also used the yogurt in the place of sour cream. Delicious. (I'm hoping to find eggs on sale in mine this week. They've gone up a bit in price here in NJ)
ReplyDeleteOh the jam and yogurt sounds yummy.
DeleteEggs went up to $.61 here. Still a bargain.
I would make lettuce wraps with the ground chicken. https://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/easy-lettuce-wraps/
ReplyDeleteAldi sells butter lettuce which works well, but I believe Romaine is cheaper there. We sometimes put shredded carrots, bean sprouts or green onions on too. See what you think. ;)
That sounds good. I'll have to mention what I used it for when I finally cook it. Praying right now for your safety. Hugs Laura
DeleteI have used ground chicken breast to replace ground beef before- it's very lean though- so you have to add a little oil when cooking it. I think it would be tasty in a dish like egg roll in a bowl. Your salads look so light and refreshing, perfect for summer. Have fun at the movies- Overcomer looks like a good one. Will you do a review once you've seen it? We don't go out to many movies but like to buy a copy once they come out on dvd.
ReplyDeleteThank you. We did go see Overcomer. It was an excellent movie. Great character development throughout. I highly recommend it. Thanks so much for writing back to me. Laura
DeleteHow about making meatballs with the ground chicken? The spices should cover the taste.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea Christine. I'm kind of leaning towards doing the Egg Roll in a bowl or maybe some kind of chicken wraps. But maybe. Thank you. Laura
DeleteI did a search on ground chicken breast on Pinterest and there were a bunch of creative recipes to try. Both Lidl and Aldi have had 58 cent eggs here so my extra fridge is crammed with eggs. Your salads look yummy and I love a big spoonful of cottage cheese on top. I used up two out of date cans of sliced beets and made a jar of pickled beets. Yummy!
ReplyDeleteYes Lana we've been eating a lot of eggs. The additional expenses from moving have made things tied around here for the past couple of months. I'm expecting as fall comes things to get much better. Soup Weather is just about here.
DeleteBlessings, Laura
Lots of goodness in your post. The spaghetti sauce over broccoli looks delicious, as do those salads. I didn't know the trick about the paper towels in the salad mix, but will definitely try it. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteHi Penny, I've been very happy with using paper towels or napkins in with the greens. They really do seem to last longer. I really appreciate all of your comments. You encouraged me greatly. Blessings, Laura
DeleteWe use ground chicken for taco meat, it's my little one's favorite way to have tacos now!
ReplyDeleteJoanna
That does sound good Joanna. I'm sorry I only have one pound of ground chicken. Y'all have given me so many good ideas.
DeleteHi Laura, great buy on the meat! I mix my ground beef & chicken breast together, especially if I’m making meat sauce. I cook them separately, then combine them before I mix them in sauce. I also freeze the combo in 1/2 or one pound ziplocks. I just pull them out of the freezer when I’m ready to use...add to cooked rice w/veggies; a couple of cans of baked beans over rice/pasta, veggies, (a poor man’s chili ๐) etc. - Louise
ReplyDeleteHe's a great ideas Louise. Thank you for sharing them with me. I hope you have a wonderful first week of September.
DeleteYou are doing great with the garden produce that is how we are eating also.
ReplyDeleteIt really helps make ends meet.
DeleteI always enjoy your posts. I really need to do better on coupons for eating out. we love cooked cucumbers around here. it solves the huge ones problem at the end of the summer. they are good fried with bacon and creamed with mustard and dill. :) Ground chicken is great for Mexican style meatballs for tortilla soup--flavored with mint and cilantro (can leave out tortillas and cook with zucchini or summer squash if you are doing keto.) or if you like thai food, larb is very tasty.
ReplyDeleteHello Lonibelle,
DeleteThose are some great ideas. Thank you so much for sharing them with me. I really appreciate you taking time to write back to me. Be blessed, Laura
I asked the same question about ground chicken because I like that meal deal! Someone told me to make meatballs. That much meat would go a long ways in a household of 1. I'm really watching it this month too. It's always amazing and awesome to see how God provides! Love your blog and all the encouragement I find here.
ReplyDeleteJacqueline, I think it would be great to make the meatballs and then freeze them in individual portions. I know that when my husband and I first got married, I often would make a full size dinner and then freeze the leftovers or serve the leftovers the next day. Thanks so much for sharing with me. God bless you, Laura
DeleteMiz Helen has a new recipe up using ground chicken.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mizhelenscountrycottage.com/2019/08/chicken-parmesan-patty-with-spaghetti.html
Thanks for sharing the link with me Lana. I've been surprised at all the wonderful ideas that have been shared with me. God bless you, Laura
DeleteLaura, these are some great tips. And people on special diets will surely appreciate the spaghetti sauce over broccoli. I'm not sure my husband is ready for that (he doesn't always appreciate a new combination!), but I am. Glad cutting sugars and breads is helping you feel better.
ReplyDeleteYes Jean, it really has helped me feel better. I don't think I had any kind of allergy to anything or that type of thing. I just needed to clean up my eating a little bit, and stop overeating carbs. Bless you, Laura
DeleteI love seeing how you use all your veggies throughout the week! I've tried cooking cucumbers a few times too and they're pretty good. I made fried rice with them once. Thanks for the great ideas. :)
ReplyDeleteHello Dianna, I bet the cucumbers tasted really good in the fried rice. I was truly surprised how good they were when cooked. Thank you so much for writing back to me. I love how many comments I've received on this particular post. Talking to each other and and reading each other's comments make this a lot more fun. God bless you, Laura
DeleteGood evening, Laura~
ReplyDeleteWhat delicious ways to use up veggies and leftovers. I LOVE LEFTOVERS! I am looking forward to trying sauce over broccoli.
Book reviews and advertising....great ways to get things for free!
From one Fugal Female to another.....
Blessings~
Laura
Hello Mrs. Goose Hill Farm!
DeleteThe name of your farm is great. Now that I don't have so many mouths to feed, I've been making smaller portions. I visited my friend a couple of weeks ago and she told me how much she loved leftovers. She gave me a microwave, and now I think leftovers are great.
i've been wondering how you are feeling..and eating these good veggies is so good for you. I am just about off meat...still like ham and bacon and a beef steak every now and then...have never been a chicken lover.
ReplyDeleteYou've done well with saving money. Now that I am alone, I still cook and put a lot of things in the freezer. I do like eating out ever so often, too.
Regarding painting furniture...I've painted furniture forever...always sand, prime before painting. Now...just this year, I've discovered Sherwin Williams paint with primer...OOO, I just love it. The last two pieces I've painted, I've used it and sooo pleased at how it turns out. I sand a little before I paint with it and, boy, it goes on so good. I'll never use another paint...I am not a fan of chalk paint and I am not crazy about distressed pieces.
Good luck if you decide to paint. Y0u will do fine using this good paint. xoxo
Hi BJ,
DeleteI don't think I'd even want to give up bacon! Thank you for the advice on painting. I have a little table I've been thinking about painting and putting on our front porch. We shall see. Blessings, Laura