This Week on the Dining Table

 

It's the "So Many Beers, So Little Time" Edition-- 

As for forecast for Father's Day was iffy we headed to Berwick on Saturday to celebrate Hubs early at our favorite craft brewery nearby.
I actually sat on a bar stool this time and I didn't fall off!   Not because I was drunk but because I am short....lol

 

Onward to the meal planning!

 

Here's what was planned last week.......
 

1. Sunday--Steak(bought last week), Green Beans, Grilled Pineapple
2. Monday--Hot Dogs(freezer) on rolls, Beans
3. Tuesday--Leftovers
4. Wednesday--Leftovers or Pizza or Pork Chops(freezer) or ?
5. Thursday--Flounder(freezer), Cole Slaw, Veg TBD
6. Friday--Smoked Brisket(freezer) on rolls, Cole Slaw, Green Beans or l/o Baked Beans
7. Saturday--Chicken Enchiladas

 

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Steak(bought last week), Green Beans, Grilled Pineapple
2. Monday--Hot Dogs(freezer) on rolls, Beans
3. Tuesday--Leftovers
4. Wednesday--Flounder(freezer), Cole Slaw, California Medley saute
5. Thursday--Leftover(Hubs had Taco Salad, I had the Fish, Cole Slaw, Green Beans
6. Friday--Smoked Brisket(freezer) on rolls, Cole Slaw(leftover)
7. Saturday--Pizza out

Everything as planned except an extra night of leftovers and no chicken enchiladas(as CB and his buddy ate them all).  We got a pizza while in Berwick on Saturday so it all worked out aok.

As for my grocery spending last week.....a few more trips than planned but it's all good.
I spent $56.78 on $117.11 of reg. retail food-4 shops between Ollie's, Weis and 2 transactions at the Shursave grocer.

Then on Saturday we hit Grocery Outlet while in Berwick and I hit Weis when we got home(meat discount stickers galore!!!).  Those trips will go on this week's spending since I had already tallied up last week's spending on Friday.

The food spending is up to $423.74 for June and we have 8 days to go still.  I may actually see $600 for food this month.   That hasn't happened in ages around here.

Leftovers going into this week--2 sausage sammies patties, a couple of spoons of chili, a container of enchilada sauce and maybe some lasagna if CB didn't attack it in one of his late night eating sessions.
 

Here is this week's food plan--

1. Sunday--Chinese take-out(what Hubs wanted for Father's Day)
2. Monday--Leftover Chinese take-out
3. Tuesday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Tossed Salad
4. Wednesday--Cauliflower soup, BBQ Chicken legs, Potato Salad
5. Thursday--Chicken Chiles Casserole
6. Friday--Beef Enchiladas, Corn
7. Saturday--Leftovers

I got a deal on mushrooms last week so I'll dig out beef from the freezer and make stroganoff.  I had an old head of cauliflower CB didn't eat when we were on our trip so I trimmed off the bad on it and made a pot of soup on Sunday we can use as "filler" during the week.  That package of chicken leg quarters I got on discount for .50¢ lb. was rubbed and smoked on Friday and waiting to be heated up and sauced this week for a meal.  The leftover enchilada sauce will be put on beef enchiladas(made from hamburgers minced up from that box of Steak-Um burgers in the freezer I got a deal on at the end of April-if the sausage patties are still hanging around they will get minced up into the enchilada filling as well).  The only cooking left to do this week is stroganoff and those 2 Tex-Mex dishes.

What I need to buy for this menu?.....not a thing.

This should be a small shopping week.  At Weis(PMITA)Markets, along with a deal on Wishbone salad dressings($1 OOP a bottle for the large ones), a Kraft  Deal($5.50 OOP for 2 cheeses, 2 sour creams)and Lay's chips-a buy ahead for July 4th cook-out-($3.29 for 2 bags after deal + coupon), plus I'll also scope out the .88¢ deals for napkins/facial tissues.

The Shursave grocer has Doritos BOGO(for CB) so I'll hit them for that item.

As always I'll have my eye out for instant mark-down meats and fresh produce.
I've got $100 left in my wallet for the rest of the month but I'm going to try to stay well under that.

With all the grocery shopping that happened in June and my upcoming eye surgery and then the trip to NC with eldest son and the ensuing packing and moving him we are doing in July I won't have a lot of time or energy to food shop next month.  We will go into July having spent a ton on food and I am hoping we can get through most of it without laying out much cash then for groceries.  July will be the "eating it all down" month here.
 

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?    

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten that week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week? 

Sluggy

Well I Lied & Other Randomness

*  I went out to Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!) yesterday for a mop but I didn't come home with one.

If I buy a mop I like to buy refills(sponge heads)that fit it.   Though they had some cheap mops, there were no refill heads and I won't buy a mop when I don't know where I can replacement heads for it.
I guess I'll continue to be the Queen of "spray the floor and use a rag/paper towel with my foot to clean" for awhile longer. 8-)

I did however, at Ollie's, buy FOUR books, a bath rug and a few food products(hummus dip/corn oil/dried refried bean mix/grated cheese shaker).  The food was $7.44 to add to my grocery spending.

Then I stopped at the Shursave grocery for a couple of things.....

1 x Flounder fillets on sale=$3.99
3 x mushrooms on sale=$5.00
6 x roma tomatoes=$2.26
Total.....$11.23

I used my last $10 store scrip from a deal I did in May so $1.23 OOP for this transaction.

I didn't go in for the mushrooms or fish but it was a good price so I snatched it up.
I went for slicing(sandwich)tomatoes but they all looked anemic so I got these roma ones instead.  Romas are known for being meaty with less seeds and goop so that suited my purpose for sammiches.

So another $8.67 bringing my weekly grocery spending this week to $56.78.  Just over 1 more week to go in June for shopping and I've spent $423.74 on food/toiletries.

*  I pulled a chunk of smoked brisket out of the freezer and dumped it into the crockpot yesterday, added a little barbecue sauce near the end and we had pulled beef bbq sandwiches with leftover cole slaw from the other night when I made flounder.
I also put that big pack of chicken leg quarters I got earlier in the week for .50¢ a lb. on the smoker yesterday late afternoon after I applied a dry rub and barbecued up those suckers.  Hubs doesn't know what he wants to do this weekend yet as the weather forecast keeps changing so if he wants to cook-out at some point all I need to do is heat those legs up on the grill and slap on some sauce and then worry about scrounging up some side dishes.

*  There is also 6 bags of mulch sitting on the front porch so if the rain holds off we'll hold Mulchfest 2015 sometime this weekend.  Come on over!

*  I am up to 46 miles on the bike so far this month with another 11 days to go.  Not bad considering I didn't bike 2 days out of the month to this point.  That's almost 2.5 miles a day average.  I'll reach my goal of 50 miles easy this month and will up the goal for July.

*  One of the books I got the other day is called "The 5 Years Before You Retire" which I have already finished.  While I get the premise, if you wait until 5 years before you retire to do ANY saving/planning for your retirement, man, are you screwed! lolz

There is a lot of helpful information in here, especially about Medicare and Social Security that is hard to find in a digestible way in any one place.  It's a good book to refer to as you wind down toward retirement.
Being a "worrier" about all things financial, parts of this scared the hell out of me(the SS and Medicare/Health stuff). 8-O

*  The weather here has been cooler than the last couple of weeks, more in line with June weather in these parts.  Cooler being in the 70's/80's as opposed to the high 80's/90's.  I'll take 70's any day over the latter.

*  My doctor's office pissed me off this week.
I had an appointment(routine semi-annual)on Thursday at 9am.  I get a phone message at 5:45pm on Wednesday from the office that they have to cancel/change my appointment and to call them back.
So I call them right back within 5 minutes and get the "the office is closed" message and you can't leave a message. grrrr

So I don't know whether I still have an appointment and now I still have to get up at the crack of dawn anyway to call them back in the morning.  The office opens at 8am so I start calling then and no one is answering the phones, they still have the "office is closed" message going.

It isn't until 8:30 when they actually start answering my calls!  So I get rescheduled for this coming Wednesday and she passes the buck as to who is too blame for this crap AND I don't even get an apology(even a half-hearted one).  I'll bring this up at my appointment with the doctor but I am sure he won't care either.  I want to know who the hell screwed up dammit!  And I want them to grovel.....  ;-)

*  Ok, I am off to take some giveaway box photos(new giveaway coming up soon!), finish putting the decluttering into bags so it can get hauled to Salvation Army and jump on that exercise bike for awhile.

What are you up to this weekend?

Sluggy


 

Ocean City Fall Vacation 2013.....Part 1

Well as I was going through and editing photos from this last trip to Louisiana I realized that I never blogged about 2 of our trips to Ocean City Maryland in the Fall of 2013 AND 2014.

Doh!

So here goes a brief(well at least for me)summary with photos of our trip to OC in 2013. 
Ok, if you know me you know this won't be brief but will be, instead, a long multipart post.  ;-)

We got onto the interstate not too early, 9ish.
Man, somebody should have cleaned the windshield before we left.....

Once we hit Delaware(Wilmington)it was time to make our pilgrimage here......

A big ass liquor store with every libations known to man(within reason).  Due to the archaic alcohol regulations in PA, we have to bootleg many of our adult beverages into the state from bordering states with sane alcohol sales laws.

This being our first trip into Total Wine & More I think we wandered around for close to 2 hours.  Well I was in a wheelchair(due to that blood clot in my ankle back then)so it took me awhile to get through the joint.
I don't recall what we spent but it was a LOT! lolz

Back on the road........

If you live in these parts you know that "Dover Beaches" doesn't mean there are beaches in Dover Delaware.  Dover and Beaches are two separate destinations. ;-)

We had tentative plans to meet up with Ron from Retired in Delaware for lunch.  After taking so long in the Liquor Nirvana we were running late.  I called him from the road when we were near the shore to let him know what time we were due to arrive and to meet us at the restaurant.  I got his voice mail.

Well we waited around for about 45 minutes for Ron to arrive or call, sipping on drinks before we gave up on him and ordered.
I didn't know at the time that Ron's nap time is sacred and never changes when it happens.  Ron had turned off his phone to nap so that is why I couldn't reach him.

I had fun with Ron even though he didn't show up and made a video which you can see HERE

Me, mugging for the camera afterwards to prove to Ron we were here.
It was a beautiful sunny day and warm for October.

As for our lunch.....Note to self--don't ever get the oysters at The Bay Leaf Restaurant again......frozen prepackaged and all batter, no oyster.  You would think a restaurant down near the shore would have fresh seafood, wouldn't you?

After our late lunch(more like 3pm)we got into Rehoboth and spied another large liquor store.

 

I think my minivan had a liquor store sensor as it always seemed to stop at large liquor stores this trip. ;-)
Another hour or so browsing(and buying)via wheelchair and we were back on the road again and finally hit Ocean City MD about dark.

It took quite some time to unload everything into the hotel room this trip.  Being in a wheelchair nothing was quick or easy for me.
We finally settled into the room as a colorful October moon came up.....

I took a shot off the balcony of the boardwalk.  Nice and deserted....

Around 8 or so we got hungry so I loaded my PWA into the wheelchair and Hubs pushed me down the boardwalk toward the supposed Backshore Brewing on 10th St. that is suppose to be open until 2am.
Well we get there and it's closed up tight.  Seems at least in 2013 they were only open during the Summer season.
So Hubs started wheeling me back toward the hotel and we stopped in an Italian place to eat called Brothers Bistro on 11th St.

I won't complain about the cost($20 for a pizza.....seriously?!?)because every single restaurant down in OC is exorbitantly overpriced.....except for Pizza Hut, Subway and Denny's.  Yes, the cahin restaurants are reasonable but every local place has crazy prices!  And this is for mediocre food, nothing special.  I guess if you are in a seasonal area you have to make a year's worth of profit in 8 months(or less)to stay open.

But I will complain that there was hardly any staff and the wait time was long for said pizza.  Why so long a wait seeing as there was hardly anyone in the place?  We had a ringside seat for the brick pizza oven and not another customer within 30 feet of us.

Back to the room after a brisk roll down the Boardwalk.

The next morning Hub get up at the ass-crack of dawn to see the sun rise.  He does this every time we are here.

 You would think, since he is on vacation and doesn't for once have to get up so blasted early he would sleep in!
No.

Hubs took a walk in the a.m.(without me since I couldn't walk far this trip)and then we relaxed on the balcony a bit.

Later that morning we headed out to pick up foodstuffs for this visit.  We always get a room with a kitchenette and make most of our meals in the room(breakfast and some dinners while we do lunches out).

 Later, after a quick lunch in , we headed out for our activity that day.

Doing the brewery tour at Dogfish Head in Milton.

 Here is the door where they start the tour, next to the restrooms.

The Women's bathroom had a little wooden fish hanging on the door.  The shark(or is it a dogfish?)had POO-PEE lettered onto it.
Wtf?
I guess if you drink enough dogfish head beer(the tasting bar is right near the restrooms) you need to go pee-pee but who goes poo after guzzling beer? lol

I just thought this was bizarre....or maybe my pain medications for the blood clot made me think this was bizarre.

Next time we tour the Brewery.

Sluggy

This Week's Shopping

Not much to report in on as far as shopping this week.
A trip to Weis(PMITA)Markets for loss leaders and a cheese deal spending $39.22.

You can see the video of this trip HERE


A trip Hubs made to the Shursave affiliated grocer last weekend for milk and 3 cases of bottled water(on sale)that I forgot to mark down on last week's spending, so $8.89 extra on this week's tab.

$48.11 for the week.
Now I am off to buy a new mop.
Oh the wild and crazy adventures I have! lolz

Sluggy

Ask the Sluggy......Answers Part 1

Here are some answers to blog readers questions from the other day.....

*  Janet, One Family and Linda all asked how did I get the nickname Sluggy.

Ok, here goes the long answer....lolz

My middle child, the Daughter, was born in Dec. 1992.

My Daughter doing her Mr. Magoo impersonation at 1 day old.


Being the middle of freaking Winter in the Poconos of PA none of my family came to visit us after she was born, due to the distance/weather.
So that Summer in June Hubs, oldest son and baby daughter and I took a trip down to show off new baby to my mother and my brothers.
My mother was living with my oldest brother, Dennis, at that time so we stayed with them.  Daughter was 6+ months old by the time we went down to visit.

But let me explain before we took that trip--Daughter began teething at 4 months.  When babies teeth their immune systems go beserk so teething babies are prone to getting colds, infections, etc. plus teething babies drool incessantly.

My daughter once she began teething did so constantly for a year or more....so she also seemed to keep a cold that entire time too.
When babies teeth/get colds their noses run and they drool excessively.
A great combination!
If you've been around a bulldog IRL, you get the idea.  Many is the day I'd threaten to tie a drool bucket around her neck. ;-)

The Daughter was also orally fixated as a baby, meaning everything that made it to her hand, went directly into her mouth.  To experience something she had to taste it.

A normal baby activity, putting toys in the mouth and chomping down on it when teething.

 Grandma giving her a taste of cantaloupe after she kept dive-bombing the bowl sitting on the table while being held.  Later that trip Grandma gave her a pork chop bone to gnaw on.  The child wasn't even on solid foods yet.

 Trying out a new tooth on mom's nose.  I went in for a kiss and she opened her mouth and chomped down on my nose. It hurt like a sumabitch!

Nothing within reach to taste?.....go with the old standby of fingers.

 Tasting the stroller.

What's better than Cheerios?  Cheerios AND snotty fingers!

Tasting Uncle Dennis.....she is sucking on his hand.

Immediately after this shot she put her toes in her mouth....sigh

In the bath it's hard to decide between sucking on your bath toy or your washcloth.

A large number of baby photos of this child have her with something in her mouth edible or not.  These are just a few random shots from my collection.

So her hands were coated non-stop with drool and snot from the teething and she put everything in or on her mouth.
And once she started crawling she left a slimy trail behind everywhere she went.
She lived her fist year of life always wearing a bib and with an exhausted mother hovering nearby with a wad of Kleenex at the ready. lol

So after about 1 day of interacting with Daughter down in VA, my oldest brother christened her "the Slug Baby".....you know, because slugs leave a slimy trail behind.
And then, since I was the Slug Baby's mother I became known in the family as "Slugmama".

A few years later when I went online and joined a private forum group of collector's I used the name Slugmama.  These people started calling me Sluggy for short....I guess Slugmama was just too cumbersome. lol

So that is the story. 8-)


*  Linda also asked....."Where, how, when did you and Hubs meet and court? Did you play hard to get, just running slowly until he caught you?"

Hubs and I met at "The Rat".  The Rat was the nickname for the student bar/hang-out/café at Johns Hopkins U. located in the basement of the Student Union building there.
And every Thursday night at Hopkins was "Disco Night" in the Rat.

My college, Goucher, use to run a bus daily to Hopkins(back before Hopkins went co-ed, Goucher was the "sister" school to JHU)for social and academic reasons(living downtown, taking classes at Hopkins or Peabody, going to activities, etc.). 
I happened to go with a girlfriend to Disco Night in the Fall of my freshman year.  

Hubs asked my girlfriend to dance during Disco Night and she said no thanks. 
Hubs started to walk away.   Then my GF yelled at him and offered ME up as a dancing partner.....so he reluctantly asked me to dance.

After dancing awhile we went outside to talk since it was too loud inside(disco, remember that?).
We walked and sat and talked for about an hour.
I thought he was full of himself(and he WAS!)plus he was a really bad dancer(as in painful to watch).
But we hit it off.  I gave him my number(well, it was the dorm switchboard number and my dorm room #).

When I went to leave with the GF to go back to school he tried to kiss me and I turned my head so he got a cheek.
Then I said, "Aw, how sweet." referring to a kiss on the cheek.
Hubs said I said it sarcastically so he didn't call me.

Hubs was roommates with a guy who was the then BF of a sophomore girl who lived in my dorm.
I don't remember how this happened but she either asked me or asked one of my dorm mates if I wanted Hubs to ask me out/call.
The next time she went over to Hubs/her BF's apartment she left Hubs a note....."Call Denise.  She wants it."  8-P

He called and the rest, as they say, is history..... 8-)

More answers later.

Sluggy