This Week on the Dining Table

**LAST DAY TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY.  ENDS TONIGHT!  GO HERE. 

The "Happy Birthday!" Edition--

Our eldest son came home for a visit after he finished teaching Summer School at his school down in Virginia. I made him a cake(German Chocolate)and tortured him by singing the Happy Birthday Song.  He forgave me when he saw the check in his birthday card. lolz

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Leftovers

2. Monday--Mushroom and Chicken Parm, Salad

3. Tuesday--Pork Chops, Sauteed Squash, Mac and Cheese

4. Wednesday--BLT sandwiches

5. Thursday--Lasagna or Fish?

6. Friday--Steak, COC, Salad
7. Saturday--BBQ, Coleslaw

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Leftovers

2. Monday--Mushroom and Chicken Parm, Salad

3. Tuesday--Pork Chops, Sauteed Squash, Mac and Cheese

4. Wednesday--Lasagna

5. Thursday--BLT Sandwiches

6. Friday--Steak, COC(I forgot to heat up the leftover mac and cheese.)
7. Saturday--Eat Out Lunch/Leftovers for Dinner

Wed. and Thurs. plans were flipped but otherwise we adhered to the plan.

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 night of leftovers/fend for yourself, 0 nights of Take-Out or Eating Out.  

A trip to each to Shursave Market, Bread Outlet and 2 trips to Weis brought the weekly food spending to $86.09 and the monthly total to $321.73.
I have 8 days left in my shopping month for July and $78.17 left in the food budget.

My savings percentage last week was 55.66%(without Rite-Aid trips)and July's monthly savings total comes to 49.02% so far.

Leftovers going into this week.....small bit of sauteed squash, mac and cheese, lasagna, and corn on cob.

Here is this week's "food plan".....

1. Sunday--Pork Barbecue on Rolls, Cole Slaw

2. Monday--Chicken Enchiladas, Rice, Beans

3. Tuesday--Cheeseburgers, Mac Salad

4. Wednesday--Pork Ragu over Pasta, Salad

5. Thursday--Fried Zucchini and Leftovers

6. Friday--Squash Casserole and Leftovers
7. Saturday--BLTs or Chicken Salad Sandwiches

This week will see 7 new meals cooked, 2 night of leftovers/FFY and 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.

What needs buying for this menu? Milk and that's about it.
When I made mac and cheese last week I reserved a small amount of pasta to make Macaroni Salad.  The ends of the carrots I grated for the Cole Slaw will go into that mac salad as well as other veggies bits and pieces.  I bought a twin pack of whole chickens last week, boiled them down, picked the meat for enchilada filling and chicken salad, reserved the skin and bits to give the dogs.
I reserved a half of one of the 3 pork butts I smoked to make a Pork Ragu sauce to have over pasta later this week.  I've got a big bowl of Pork Barbecue which was served Sunday as well as 4 quart bags packed with some of the pork that was smoked for the freezer to use later.
Some of the zucchinis that are coming fast and furiously now will become fried zucchini this week, Daughter will freeze some(spiralized/sliced)for her Keto versions of lasagna/other noodle dishes and I will be grating much of it for zucchini breads and for making Keto taco "shells" for her and I to try.

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 last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

Giveaway Reminder & Taking the Day Off

My eldest son is here visiting for a couple of days so I am taking today off from blogging. 

I will take this day to remind everyone there is still two days to enter the giveaway.
Go HERE before Monday night at 11:59 EDST to enter.  You can enter once per day.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Sluggy

Rite-Aid.....Trying Some Deals & They Worked!

So I had to go to R-A for drugs so I tried a couple of deals I saw online so see if they would work.........

1 x Crest 3D White Glamorous White teeth whitening strips($46.99-20% Wellnes discount)=$37.59
1 x Jolly Rancher candy on sale=$1.50
1 x Twizzlers candy on sale=$1.50
SubTotal......$40.59

Coupons Used
1 x $12/1 Crest strips L2CQ=$12.00
1 x $5/1 Crest strips L2CQ=$5.00
1 x $10/1 Crest strips any In-AdQ=$10.00
1 x $12/1 Crest glamorous white Q in R-A Beauty Pamphlet=$12.00
Coupon Total.....$39.00

$40.59-$39.00=$1.59 +$1.24 tax=$2.83 paid in BC
Received back $3 in new BC($1 wyb2 select candy, $2 wyb select candy)


BUT.......
The cashier got to talking and was spacing out and hit the complete button before putting in the $10 In-Ad RAQ and the $12 Beauty Pamphlet $12 Q. sigh

Two different Crest L2CQs came off which were loaded on this card I used...both for whitening strips, one for $5 and another for $12.
Now I don't know if the cashier had put both these Qs through if it would have kicked off one of the two L2CQs that came off.
So I got 4 coupons applied to one item...crazy!

So I brought home $22 in cash for the Qs she forgot to put through, thus converting $22 worth of BC to cash.  This card with the new $3 in BC has $19.68 in BC attached to it.

Select brands/types of candies are double dipping for both a weekly and a monthly deal.  Types that quailfy are Twizzler twists and/or nibs in cherry and strawberry(not licorice)and Jolly Rancher hard candy, assorted flavors bags.
The Weekly Deal is Buy 2, Get $1 in BC and the brands are shown in the ad(limit 2 deals), the Monthly Deal is Buy 2, Get $2 in BC and is Twizzlers/Jolly Ranchers/Red Vines(limit 4 deals).
Bags of these candies are 2/$3 this week so buy 2 that qualify and get $1 weekly BC and $2 monthly BC so free after BC earned.

I didn't think I'd find the Crest strips on a Friday, none on the shelf where they are but I found 1 on an end cap display.

Not bad......a .17¢ moneymaker in total after cash back and BC earned.
And now I can have movie star teeth!

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the July 20th Edition

Let's see what frugal-ness got accomplished this past week......

*  The only eating out that happened was Hubs and I got a whopper each at BK, I used a BOGOFree Q and paid with a gift card.

*  I thought I was being frugal this week when I got my passport photos done at Rite-Aid.  The post office charges $15, CVS charges $14.95(and there is a $3 off coupon)and Rite-Aid charges $14(and there is a $7 off coupon-plus I get 20% off with my Gold Wellness status.).  I paid $5.94 including tax at Rite-Aid.  Didn't work out there as my face was too big(lolz)so I had to have them redone at the PO.  I did get my money back from Rite-Aid however so that's a win.

*  More goodies from the garden......

another 2 zukes, a squash and lots of lettuce=44.8 more ounces of food.

*  I gave Chester a bath and brushed him out.

He still looks a bit "phoofy" in this photo as he wasn't fully dried off yet.  I put this beach towel out on the sunny part of the deck so he could rub himself on it but after awhile he decided no, the towel needed to be out in the yard, so after a few rounds of "take the towel and mommy puts it back on the deck"(a fun game for him no doubt!)we brought the towel inside.  ;-)
Why pay someone else to wash and brush my dog when I can do it myself(in the kitchen sink no less)?  Chester is a very good at holding still and being calm for his baths so that's a double win.

*  Grocery Deals....not very much this week and I didn't get the Friday Freebie last Friday since it was a bag of marshmallows and we didn't need/want it.
I did get two pork shoulders at a different Weis this week(had to be in a different town running an errand)for .98¢ a lb which are going into the smoker later this morning along with the pork butt I got at Wegman's last week.
I did buy a lot of ice cream this week at Weis as part of the Buy6/Get $3 Off Mix and Match Deal......

3 x Friendly's ice cream on sale($2.49)=$7.47
2 x Talenti ice cream on sale($3.49)=$6.98
1 x Huggies wipes=$1.99
SubTotal........$16.44

Coupons Used
2 x Talenti $1.50/1 IPQ=$3.00
1 x Huggies wipes .50¢/1 IPQ=.50¢(doesn't double)
1 x $3 instantly Off Mix and Match Deal=$3.00
Total.......$6.50

$16.44-$6.50=$9.94
Reg. retail of $23.04

I did this twice last week(except the other time I got 2 Friendly's and an On-Cor entree instead of 3 Friendly's and that total after Qs and $3 off was $10.88 OOP.

*  As far as cash rebates go, I earned .25¢ from Ibotta(for any item)and $1.25(for Talenti)from SavingStar last week so $1.50 total.

*  Meanwile, at Rite-Aid...........
I returned some expensive vitamins that Hubs didn't want.  Had paid with Qs and points so I got $12.98 back in BC and $5.01 cash since they can't return Qs.  Don't get why it was $5.01 and not $5.....

Then I took those $12.98 BC and bought these items that were all on 75% off clearance......

1 x Love and Beauty shampoo=$2.37
2 x Apothocare Essentials shampoo=$6.74
3 x Apothocare Essentials body wash=$9.96
Total.....$19.07

I had $2/1 Qs for all these(the Love and Beauty one was on Coupons dotcom, don't remember where I had gotten the others)so $12 off=$7.07+.52¢tax=$7.59 paid with BC.  Since I got back more BC for the return than I spent I'll call this a moneymaker.
Add in that I earned $5 in new BC($5 wyspend $15 on Apothocare)and it's even better.  8-)

But the cashier left out one of my Qs and only put $10 worth through so I was charged $9.59.  I called the manager when I got home and noticed this and went back another day and got my $2 post coupon cash.  The $5.01 and that $2 are now tucked away in my refunds/post Q Envelope in my desk.

That's about it this week.

What frugal wins did you have this week?
Tell us all about it. 8-)))

Sluggy

A Visit With Randy From Nebraska

Back in May, a blogger friend came for a visit.
His name is Randy and I met him at the Bloggerpalooza Gathering in Delaware back in 2014.

L to R back row-Pat, Randy, Ron, Jay
Front row-Java and Sluggy

Anyway, last July, on our way to Idaho, Hubs and I stopped in Nebraska where Randy lives and spent most of a day with him there.

So when Randy said he was coming East for a Ham Radio Convention in PA, I insisted he stop by here!

He arrived early afternoon on a Monday.  Unfortunately all the brew pubs around here are closed on Mondays so I couldn't take him to one.  *sad face*
So we sat around and "some of us" *ahem* had a few drinks and we just had a good chin wag.

I made bbq ribs and pulled pork sandwiches and sides for dinner.
When it got dark we headed outside and had a fire and sat and talked.  It was nice and relaxing.
Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures on Monday......but I did on Tuesday.

After I made breakfast for Randy on Tuesday I thought he was going to take off toward Stuebenville OH on his journey home.
But no, he had time to hang around until late afternoon so we came up with something to do.

Now there isn't much in terms of sightseeing around here, unless you want to either A-go down in a coal mine or B-go see old locomotives.
So we settled on something else where we've never been before either, Eckley Miner's Village.

Uh, oh, this is turning into a history lesson now so grab a drink and a chair and sit back for while.  ;-)

This place started out as a quiet small town named Shingletown in the woods of Eastern Pennsylvania.  The name came about because the residents made shingles from the trees in the area.  That was until coal was discovered there in 1853.

Four men formed a company, the Council Ridge Colliery, to mine the area after securing a 20 year lease on the land.  They built a sawmill to began milling lumber for building houses, a company store, offices and a colliery so they could start mining the vein of coal.
This was a "patch town"-a village that grows up around a mining operation where the people who work in the mine live with their families.  The town was called Fillmore after the then outgoing US President Millard Fillmore.

Hubs trying to pick up a massive chunk of coal.

Four years later the town applied for a US post office but the town name of Fillmore was already in use elsewhere in PA where there was a post office.  So the town name was changed to Eckley, named after Eckley Coxe, the son of one of the owners of the mining company, Judge Charles Coxe.

The first residents/workers in Eckley were experienced miners, immigrants from England and Wales.
Once the Potato Famine hit Ireland, Irish arrived and took the low skilled/low paying mining jobs.
By the 1880's/1890's immigrants from Eastern Europe arrived in Eckley to take over the low paying jobs there as the Irish and English worked their way up to better mining jobs or gained other skills and moved on.

Some of the clapboard houses still standing there.

One of the multi-family homes.
Most if not all of the 'shacks' of the lowest paid workers are gone.


Many of these immigrants went to the coal fields with the intention of staying a short time, saving money and taking it back to their homelands to live there lives out there in a better condition.
This didn't often happen as mining was tedious, hard labor and didn't pay well.  In addition, the miners relied on the "company store" for all their needs.  The store would advance you credit and inflate prices on basic goods so that it was almost impossible for you to get free and clear of your debt and leave, very much like this old classic standard song.



Over time besides a company store, the workers lodgings and the business buildings and equipment, churches were built and a full time doctor was engaged to see to the medical needs of the patch town residents.

After World War II, as coal mining became not as lucrative, the mines of the Eckley area were sold off and eventually closed.  Most people moved away but I was shocked to find that there are people who still live here!  As we drove around we say that a few of the old houses are still occupied presumably by descendants of people who worked these mines.

The whole town was slated for demolition back in the 1960's but along came a major motion picture called "The Molly Maguires".
More about The Molly Maguires in this History Channel episod...


Based on the group called The Molly Maguires, which was a secret organization of Irish coal miners who fought against the unjust treatment at the hands of the wealthy coal mine owners by sabotaging equipment and mines in the Anthracite coal mine region in PA.  This group began in Ireland and Liverpool England among coal miners there and as these miners immigrated to the PA coal fields their unrest spread to America.  In the 1870's they were most active in this region of PA and in 1877 things came to a head when 10 men accused of terrorist acts and murder carried out by Molly Maguires were hanged, 6 in Pottsville and 4 in Mauch Chunk(now called Jim Thorpe PA).  Over the next year or so another 10 men tried and convicted were hanged in the towns of Mauch Chunk, Pottsville, Bloomsburg and Sunbury as well.

When Paramount Pictures scouted locations for the setting of the Molly Maguires film starring Sean Connery, the obvious choice was Eckley PA since this town still looked like it had stepped out of 1870.
They only had to bury utility lines and removed antennas.
They also built a prop company store and breaker since the originals had long since been torn down.

The coal breaker which is fenced off so you can't get near it.

Neither company store building or the coal breaker have been maintained(other than some paint on the store)but they are still standing 50 years later.

After the movie, the town looked so good historically speaking that instead of demolition it all, it was given to the PA Historical and Museum Commission to operate.

There is a 17 minute film which explains about patch towns and the history of Eckley, as well as a look into the daily live of these mining families.  There is also quite an array of displays and artifacts related to the history and this are of Pennsylvania in the man building, which is located where the school house to educate the miners' children use to be.

Since we visited during a weekday, there were no guided tours offered and most of the buildings which are part of the museum were locked but we could drive around and look at stuff and peek into windows unless it was marked a private residence.

You can see the hierarchy of mine labor-shacks were occupied by unskilled slate pickers, to 2-story clapboard houses housing multiple skilled miner families(and single men miners who had to live with a family), to small single family houses for bosses and overseers.
I didn't think to take any photos of the shacks and clapboard houses.

On the end of the street stands the Gothic Revival-style home built for the mine owner, Richard Sharpe.  It's the grandest building in the town.

The Catholic church stands at the end of the main street through Eckley nearer the shacks as the Irish immigrants were among the lowest paid workers and the Protestant church is closer to the clapboard houses of the English/Welch mine workers.

It was an interesting trip.
More history and information on Eckley Miner's Village HERE.

We headed home and after exchanging gifts of beer, Randy set out for Ohio and eventually home to Nebraska.

It was nice to see you again my friend!


Sluggy