What we are eating

Matthew 6: 27  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
 
Monday July 4th

Bkfst:  We ate the rest of the scrapple :(  just in slices and plain.  We fried it in a pan. I like mine crispy. You can eat it anyway you want. Alot of people eat scrapple egg and cheese sandwiches.  You can also have it on the side of your plate with eggs over easy and toast.  If you freeze it the texture is crumbly, so we have mixed the crumbles in with scrambled eggs and put it in a wrap before.  Rapa is the best brand in our opinion. We can't really get scrapple where we live.  If you order it in a restaurant, they deep fry it, but it ends up being pretty much too hard to eat.  When we would go out to a place that has it, we would ask for it to be cooked soft on the grill.

Lunch: Easy bake oven Pizza (made from DIY mixes)

Dinner:  Hot dogs, (buns from bb) mac n cheese, and the last of a cucumber smothered in Italian dressing and Parmesan cheese.


and later more hot dogs, mac n cheese, chips, and water melon....

Tuesday July 5th
Bkfst: Bagels and cereal.

Lunch: Left Over Mac n Cheese (at least what didn't get spilled in the floor, it sure made the dog happy)

Dinner: Chicken soup with rice and green beans thrown in....(homemade)


Wednesday July 6th
Bkfst:French toast casserole, made using ingredients on hand, including a loaf of french bread from the bb, and some eggs in the fridge that don't taste so good on their own for some reason but seem to do great in baking.


Lunch : Summer Break Spot lunch at the local park for the kids. I usually glean whatever is left over.


Dinner:  Hot Dogs, Cream Corn and i know its weird but popcorn too....


 Thursday July 7th

Bkfst: Pizza bagel for me made from stuff on hand....kids summer breakspot


Lunch: Summer break spot at local school (getting to hot to eat in the heat at the park.) Me: fried bologna and cheese sandwich


Dinner:  Chicken fajitas-made using a recipe from a friend that involves salsa and taco seasoning, I had to improvise because I didn't have any salsa but I did get canned tomatoes and have onions from an old old grocery store trip in the bin in the fridge.  I used this recipe to create a version of salsa, shredded the chicken and cooked it in it, and made home made tortillas.  I liked the salsa recipe because it readily showed things that could be subsituted for ingredients you may not have on hand.

Friday July 8th
Bkfst : Cereal

Lunch : cinnamon bagels with pb for the kids....bologna and cheese for me and the hubby on choice of bread or bagel from bb

Dinner: Soup: contained elbow macaroni noodles, chicken bouillon, garlic, salt, some bits of celery and carrots gleaned from kids lunches at the park, and a can of peas.  It tasted pretty good.  I also sliced up a loaf of cheese bread from bb and toasted it with butter.

Saturday July 9th

Bkfst: Left over french toast casserole, cereal

Lunch: left over soup from Friday night and onion rings. I found some onions in the bottom drawer 

Dinner:  Spaghetti noodles with olive oil, parmesan cheese, and some shredded chicken.


Snacks/Desserts: Remains of chocolate cake, apple pie, angel food cake with strawberries, bagels.

Sunday July 10th

Bkfst: Fried potatoes with ranch or ketchup if wanted

Lunch: Popcorn and ginerale

Dinner: McDonald's, it was an unexpected treat for my son's birthday which is Friday the 15th.


With the $7.00 we scraped up from loose change and a return we picked up more pepsi (because my husband felt like he had to have it. A really cheap 3 lb bag of cat food and two loaves of bread.  My grocery total is now running 157.30.  I am trying so hard to spend as little as possible.  Gotta make it through until the 28th.  How did you do this week?

Ways we Save

I started making DIY paper logs using the weekly ads that come in the mail to use for our outside fire pit, and hopefully to stock up for winter, since we do have a fire place.

I also have been collected dryer lint and toilet paper rolls (empty) to make fire starters

I returned something at Walmart and it allowed me to pay for toilet paper.

Cashed out another 5.00 in Swagbucks and used it to pay for an item for my son's present for his birthday in two weeks.

I have been working Swagbucks and Bing like a part time job still. (if you sign up using my link, i do get a bonus from your earnings, but it does not take away from your earnings, and it may be something your friends or family might be interested in so you could get referrals as well.) After all pennies turn into dollars!

We signed up for a free month of netflix....we won't have to start paying till end of July. (we don't have cable just antenna tv...so this is a nice change.)

I prayed and I believe the Lord brought to mind this guy we know, and he was able to fix our car....I only had to give him 30.00 to do the labor.  The part was 115.00 but our bank offered a reward of $10.00 cash back on the purchase.(We have to as a friend says "juggle" some things around in order to pay for the part but we will catch up.)

I used ebates to purchase the part we need for our weed eater through ebay so there should be some cash back there.  We borrowed my friends electric weed eater and my husband spent an hour and a half one day clearing part of the yard.

Since the car is running again, we were able to go to the bread basket and we got several loaves of bread, a couple containers of cookies, an apple pie, chocolate donuts, and a chocolate cake. I am excited because that takes a little baking out of my week.

While at the bread basket we went to the church's thrift store, and you can fill a bag for a dollar. I found 3 pieces of clothing for my daughter that I will put away for back to school. (i doubt we will be doing regular back to school shopping at least not for clothes this year.) Each child also picked one toy and I got a very large picture frame that I will paint and redo as a special project for my son for Christmas.

I have been using baking soda and two drops of Dawn dish detergent as cleaner in the dishwasher.

That is about all I can think of. We are doing all we can to make it stretch. I still haven't gotten around to sharing our complete story from our trip but I am working on it. (it explains how we ended up in a hole again)  When I first started blogging I thought we would be in such a different place by now, but I suppose you all get to see real life.  How was your week? I am running behind with the holiday and my husband having a three day weekend I lost track of which day it is.

What we are eating

  Matthew 6:25  Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?


Monday 27th
Bkfst:  Pb and J sandwiches

Lunch: got a ride to the park...they have a summer break spot there where the kids had ham,cheese, turkey  sandwiches with apple sauce and chips.

 Dinner:  refried beans, from scratch and home made tortillas.(first time I made either from scratch...beans good...did crock pot method....tortillas i need some practice but edible.

Tuesday 28th
Bkfst: Cereal and milk

Lunch: Leftovers (one had left over rice peas and ground beef, another ate a tuna sandwich, and I made a pizza bagel with stuff i found in the freezer)

Dinner: Home made chicken soup with pasta (elbow noodles) (veggies and noodles pp) shredded one leg quarter and used stock from the chicken when i baked it)

Wednesday29th:
Bkfst: Eggs...over easy with toast for one...scrambled for another and I threw tomatoes and salsa in mine with a little cheddar. (trying to use tomatoes before they go bad....pretty tasty...eggs were pp)

Lunch:  again, everyone had something different, one had cup of soup, another cereal, and I had a bagel that I baked with ranch dressing and cheese on it.  (bagels were something i found in the freezer.)


Dinner: cheap macaroni and cheese with ground beef and whatever seasonings I could find.

Thursday 30th
Bkfst: cereal with milk

Lunch: bagel with cheese
(it was just me for these two kids had a sleep over)

Dinner: Tortillas, with left over refried beans, cheddar cheese and ground beef.

Friday July 1st
 Bkfst: cinnamon raisin bagels with peanut butter and jelly, cereal

Lunch:  Little Ceasar's pizza.  We got a chance to go swimming and I took it, and I sprang for the pizza since my friend was kind enough to take us to my daughter's appointment(the insurance transportation never showed either day) and she paid for milkshakes cause she had 4 kids waiting with her.

Dinner:  Spaghetti noodles covered in olive oil and parmesan cheese with rest of ground beef seasoned with oregano, garlic powder, and seasoned salt.  I also found onion bagels in the freezer (must have been left over from a previous trip to the bread basket) I covered them with butter and garlic powder

Saturday July 2nd
Bkfst:  Scrapple and Eggs with Cheese on bread for those that wanted it.

Lunch: Smorgasboard: Melted cheese sandwiches for one, bagel with ranch and cheese for me, cereal for another, and my son ate the rest of the garlic bagels from dinner with refried beans.

Dinner: Tomato and mayo sandwiches for the hubby and I, peanut butter and jelly or syrup for the kids.

Sunday July 3rd
Bkfst: Chocolate donuts (from bb) and milk, coffee, or tea

Lunch: skipped

Dinner: Chicken and Dumplings (made dumplings from scratch they turned out soo good this time!) with sweet Hawaiian rolls (from the bb)

Desserts and snack:  homemade chocolate chip cookies,popcorn,blueberry muffins (pp),other chocolate chip cookies, and apple pie from the bread basket.

Drinks: Iced tea, hot tea, iced coffee(made myself), Pepsi, pink lemonade, and water.  (We are blessed to have an artesian well, the water tastes awesome!)


(My husband does pack his lunch each day usually cheese sandwiches, i need to make some more home made things so he can have more to eat then just a couple sandwiches and a cookie.)



I did have to buy more bread and decided to get milk because alot of recipes call for it....grocery budget is up to 136.30.  I also went to Walmart and picked up hot dogs, garlic powder, bologna, sliced cheese and a tiny 4 lb bag of dog food, and yet another gallon of milk...spent about $10.00 so $146.30 is new total.

Ways We Save

A friend blessed me with a bag of apples.

While in Delaware we were given one and a half full size bags of Bic razors.


I was also given two quart size bags of soda can tops for me to continue making bracelets that pop pop and mom mom had been saving for me.

We found luggage for our ride home for 9.00 (three suitcases such a blessing!) at a local thrift store having a 50 percent off sale.

We only spent $3.50 on a small gift for my husband for father's day.

(Many other things happened on our trip (difficulties and blessings) but I am still working on that post. )

A friend gave us a ride to our eye doctors appointment (I previously sat with her at the vet's office and helped with dog/baby, so it was sort of a trade, but she did more of the work because she took my kids swimming since the appointment was near her in laws place that had a pool.)  That same friend (THANK YOU LORI) was sweet enough to take me to the grocery store.  I earned $.10 in gas rewards.

My husband and I were both able to order a complete set of eye glasses for no cost out of pocket.

Our car is currently broken down, but I found out that my kids have a secondary medical insurance which will cover transportation to their appointments next week!

I earned 5.00 selling an item on a local swip swap group.

I have been working Bing and Swagbucks like it was a part time job.  I did cash out for $5.00 to Walmart.

Our bank has a rewards system for when you use your credit/debit card....I used the rewards to get my son a birthday gift and only had to pay 2.82 out of pocket.  (His birthday isn't for a couple more weeks but I wanted to allow time for shipping.)

Oh and my meal worms have successfully bred so I am just waiting for the babies to grow to use for food.  We have also put all of our lizards (some of them eat the worms) and their habitats up for sale, but no takers yet.

Fed veggie scraps to beetles and baby worms.

Used baking soda and two drops of Dawn dish detergent in the dishwasher in place of my cascade platinum packets.

I boiled toothbrushes that we had used when sick instead of paying to replace them all.

We received a refund check of $2.61 in the mail for overpaying for a prescription.

We have kept the thermostat at 80 and used fans when necessary. (trying to stay at a monthly bill of $170.00 or less)

Since the car is broken down and we aren't sure when we can repair it, I was able to speak to our car insurance company and reduce the coverage to state minimum savings us $50.00 a month while we cannot drive it.

I also cancelled our lawn service saving us 55.00 but we have to find another way to cut the grass.  (we don't own a mower and our weed eater is missing the battery charger.)

How was your week?  Did you try an new ways to save money?  As usual I will be sharing over at the http://www.theprudenthomemaker.com/blog

What we are eating

Ok. my grocery budget from now until what looks like July 28th was $124.00.
I say was, because I have spent it already.  We used some of it to buy snacks to ride home on the train, and to bring home some scrapple to my husband.  (we can't really find that here in Florida)

My husband did spend 7.00 at the grocery store before we got home, so i guess our grocery total is 131.00 so far.

I thought it might be fun, and educational to keep track of what we eat and see how far we can make it all go.  Now when I shopped I went to a grocery store that was a little more pricey, I had to go where I could get a ride to because our van broke down the day after we got back.  (Thank you for the ride Aunti Lori!!!!)  I did earn .10 in fuel points for the purchases.

  Monday 20th (day we got home)
Lunch:  Scrapple

Dinner: hot dogs chopped up in macaroni and cheese for dinner.  (we already had the hot dogs and mac n cheese from a previous purchase.)

  Tuesday 21

bkfst: Pancakes (choc chips for those who wanted them)
lunch: cups of soup or sandwiches
dinner: baked chicken legs with spaghetti noodles covered in olive oil and shakey parmesan cheese


  Wednesday 22

bkfst: grilled ham n cheese
lunch: whatever you could find
dinner: cheese omelets with scrapple

  Thursday 23
bkfst: eggs
Lunch: cups of soup (pp)
Dinner: sandwiches


  Friday 24
bkfst: cereal and milk
Lunch:  Hot dogs
Dinner:  fend for yourself
           

  Saturday 25
bkfst: Pancakes (choc chips for those that wanted it.)
Lunch: Tuna on Toast with a slice of cheese if wanted, and pickles and iced animal crackers. (pickles pp)
Dinner : rice with ground beef and peas mixed in served with a side of gravy (rice and peas from a pp)


  Sunday 26th

bkfst: Oatmeal with brown sugar and cinnamon (pp)
Lunch: hotdogs
Dinner : Roasted one chicken leg quarter and put meat over salad items from grocery trip.

dessert: brownies, chocolate cake, Popsicles (all from a previous purchase.) Whatever snacks we brought home from train ride were gobbled up too...I was sick the first day we were back so nothing got rationed or supervised.

We drank water, crystal light, hot tea, coffee, and kool aid left from train ride as well.

It already looks like we are going to need more bread, toilet paper, and milk.  We will see. Did you have anything good this week?

Saying Goodbye is Never Easy

On June 7th, we got the call that the person I have affectionately called mom mom Bella on here before was entering hospice care. We had just returned from Wisconsin only two to three short days before.  On June 8th, my kids and I got on he Amtrak to go and have whatever quality time with her that God would allow.

                                         

 
Many things happened during the course of our time there, and I hope to share more about that in the upcoming days or weeks.  The short of the story is that Belinda Reed was a wonderful mother figure to me...and a beyond exceptional grandmother to my children, (and if you know our story) she didn't have to be. Though we had some quality time before she passed, my heart still broke at the news that he earthly life ended early morning June 20th as the kids and I were traveling back to Jacksonville on the Amtrak.  She had no doubt that her soul would would be with Jesus.  We talked about that alot.  I know she loved dearly the family she leaves behind. She fought a long hard battle with Ovarian Cancer for at least 4 years. Life won't be the same without her, but I am glad she is free from the pain.

My current situation

Looks like this.....

I need to put things away from our road trip, (ahem, my hubby was nice enough to "unpack" the bags for me this morning in the manner that you see above as he needed underwear for work)....which turned out completely different than planned.  I will tell you that after this trip that MJ is a horrible house guest :(  

The family we went to see was completely wonderful.  We went to meet the beautiful Brown family, and if you don't know Mrs. Brown posts over at http://blessedbeyondmeasurefrugalhappylife.blogspot.com

We have been talking via text/phone for a while now.  They relocated from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin.  We had never been to Wisconsin, we were super excited to go and saved our money.  The trip there was not too eventful, we saw cities, and wonderful countryside we had never seen before. On the way we stayed in a small hotel called Regency Inn in Eddyville, KY.  It was a wonderful hotel.  The staff was friendly and they served a simple hot breakfast in the morning.  We drove about 20 hours and made the trip out to meet this wonderful lady and her family.  They so blessedly opened their home to us. 

We arrived at the Brown's shared a wonderful meal of chicken, carrots, and some wonderfully yummy mashed potatoes.  (They have a beautiful home....Dawn, you should totally do a home tour.)  The second day got off to a good start. Our kids had spent the evening before exploring, and playing etc.  Half way through the second day I thought I was just tired. So I went to lay down, and took the normal medicine I take for my stomach.  I was called for dinner but then my nightmare began, I became very ill.  Gross stuff came from what seemed like every imaginable place in my body, I spent most of three days in bed ill. I don't know what I contracted, but it was unkind to me.  I had trouble feeling better, and then my baby girl got it.   So we cut our trip short.  We left on Thursday and began a long trip home.  We left Thursday and didn't get home till Saturday.  My princess slept with a fever alot in the back seat.  I was so worried that our illness would spread to their family. Though it was circumstances beyond our control, I felt terrible about what had happened. I am sure I made a terrible first impression, and I wonder why things like that seem to happen to  us.  In my mind I caused so many moments worthy of a Life Unscripted post. 

Anyway....I don't have beautiful pictures to share and tons of fun events, but I did enjoy getting to know our new friends.  We did get a day where we got to go thrift shopping together, and we shared a lunch out.  Our hosts were so loving and kind, even took my kids out to a local spot called Knuckleheads to play while I was down for the count.

We got back from our trip on Saturday the 4th at about 1:30 EST.  My daughter and I seemed to be recovered now, and so far the boys have felt weird but nothing has progressed.  Now this Monday afternoon we have some thunderstorms going on due to whatever tropical storm is coming along.  I hope everyone stays safe and enjoys summer. 

I invite you now to share your worst road trip house guest memories...with me.....please make me feel better........leave a comment below :)