Sluggy Joins the 21st Century

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

And I'll add to this, that Sluggy got a smartphone.

Yep, I have joined the 21st Century.
It's something we've been thinking about for awhile.

Then two weeks ago my Tracfone flip phone started having seizures.
Well you could call someone but you could no longer hear the phone ringing or them talking if they picked up or their voicemail message if they didn't......so I didn't know if calls were going through.
So I called our land line, couldn't hear it connect, etc. so I just talked into the phone and THAT I could hear myself talking.
So the flip phone was dead for all intents and purposes.

And then if I left the tracfone on at night it would dial people by itself.  Sonya Ann got a few 3 am phone calls from my number that way. lolz

So Hubs and I bit the phone bullet and got new android phones.

And I will just say that it has been quite the learning curve for me!
I've had it 1 week now and I feel like a toddler with training wheels still. lolz

I don't like that this phone will cost me a LOT more but after we ditch the landline and the extra fee on that to make/receive long distance calls, that's $35-$40 we don't have to pay monthly and makes this only an additional $60 per month for unlimited data phone service for both smart phones.

I can live with that.

The best perk so far is not having to borrow Hubs android Tracfone anymore to do my Ibotta. ;-)

Sluggy

And the Giveaway Winner Is......

There were 55 valid entries this go round.
Listed, numbered and with the help of my good friends at Random dotorg we picked a number.
And the winner is.........

Rhitter!

Rhitter94August 17, 2018 at 10:47 PM

I love the long summer nights. I suffer terribly with SAD. So I am trying to find some natural remedies for that. Chocolate helps!

Congratulations Rhitter!  Please email me your full name and mailing address and I'll get this box of goodies mailed out to you.  And tell me if you want something substituted from the box too and I'll see what I can do.....and no that doesn't mean subbing shampoo for a bundle of $20 bills. hehehe

Thanks to everyone who played along and be looking for another Giveaway coming up in September. 8-)))

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

** Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter the Giveaway.  Go HERE before 11:59 pm EDST to enter. **

The "Goofy Dog" Edition--

This is Chester's Summer bed.  He has torn 3 holes in it and has pulled every last bit of stuffing out of it. He seems to prefers it flat like a blanket because he still uses it as a bed.
Then he began ripping the fabric apart so much so that it's more hole than fabric now. lolz

This is Chester getting inside the bed to hunt for more stuffing I am assuming......

A little while later he decided to go inside it again..........

 and he got most of his body inside it(you can still see a foot).......

Luckily it is lightweight fabric and I was right there when he began panicking because he couldn't extricate himself this time. lololz
After that time, he hasn't attempted it again.  ;-)

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This  is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Pork Chops, Squash Casserole, leftover Fried Zucchini(Daughter cooking)

2. Monday--Breakfast for Dinner(Meat, Eggs, Waffles)

3. Tuesday--BLTs

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Ham and Zuke Quiche, Tossed Salad

6. Friday--Something on the Grill, Tomatoes
7. Saturday--Chicken and Dumplings

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Pork Chops, Squash Casserole, leftover Fried Zucchini(Daughter cooking)

2. Monday--Breakfast for Dinner(Meat, Eggs, Waffles)

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Cuke/Tomato Salad, Lobster Cakes, Leftover Fried Zuke(again!)

5. Thursday--Fend For Yourself

6. Friday--Leftovers(I had a BLT)
7. Saturday--Pasta w/Meat Sauce, Salad, Bread

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 0 nights of Take-Out or Eating Out.  

The chicken and dumplings didn't happen again(it's too hot for it!)so it comes off the schedule for the time being until things cool off here. Friday it was too wet and muggy to grill out anything..heck, it's been too rainy and muggy most days to stand out there and grill.  The quiche didn't happen because I didn't get the half and half and we had too many leftovers in the fridge already to eat down.

Three trips, two to Weis and one the Shursave Markets brought the weekly food spending to $100.96 and the monthly total to $186.39.(I forgot to add in the Bread Outlet trip when I was adding my tracking book up and I don't want to have to redo it, so that goes on this coming week's tally.)
I have 11 days left in my shopping month for August and have $213.61($203.11 after adding the Bread store trip in)left in the food budget to spend this month.

My savings percentage last week was 54.79%(without Rite-Aid trips)and August's monthly savings total comes to 52.12% so far.

Leftovers going into this week......lobster cakes, pasta w/meat sauce, squash casserole.

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

1. Sunday--Chinese take-out

2. Monday--leftover Chinese take-out or ?

3. Tuesday--Roast Turkey Breast, Corn on cob, Stuffing, Gravy

4. Wednesday--No clue yet

5. Thursday--Ham and Zuke Quiche, Tossed Salad

6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--No clue yet

This week will see 2-4 new meals cooked, 1-2 nights of leftovers/FFY, 1 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.
Didn't turn the oven on for the quiche so I didn't make the cake yet.

What needs buying for this menu? Corn, half and half so far.

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

Update on the Pop-Tarts from Rite-Aid

I bought 4 boxes of Pop-Tarts last week at Rite-Aid three times(once on each card/account)which I blogged about already.

They were $1.99 a box on sale and I used a $2/4 Pop-Tarts IPQ.
Making it better was the $2 in Bonus Cash I got back for every 4 boxes bought.  I had an Ibotta rebate on Pop-Tarts(.50¢ per box up to 5 boxes per receipt).
I did it once for a $2 cash rebate and it almost immediately was available again, so I did it again, and a third time as well.
In the end I got $6 back(plus another .25¢ for buying "anything" at R-A)in cash rebates.
And although I didn't do it yet, I can get 10 free kids' books too for buying 10 boxes of Pop-Tarts.

So here's where we are at on the Pop-Tarts Deal.....
* $17.88 spent in BC(after $6 in Qs used)
* $6.00 in BC earned-so spent down $11.88 in BC
* $6.25 in cash rebates back
* 10 Free Books earned

I'd call that an excellent deal(if you have people who you feed that eat those things). ;-)

Sluggy

Zucchini Madness!

The tomatoes are coming fast and furiously and it's hard to keep up with them now, both using them/preserving them and keeping track of the harvest totals.

I think there is another zucchini lurking in the undergrowth as well....trying to get too large before I find him. lolz

Garden Harvest Totals Updated for Sunday 8/12/18

Lettuce     14.10 oz

Basil           2.00 oz

Eggplant     2.40 oz

Squash    182.30 oz

Tomatoes  79.90 oz

Zuke        396.40 oz

SubTotal...677.10 oz or 42 lbs. 31 oz.

I've been trying to find ways to use up all this zucchini.  I am trying to stay ahead of it.

The Sunday before my foot got hurt,  I made small loaves of zucchini bread with chocolate chips........

I made 6 but by the time I got off bed rest and took a photo, 2 loaves had disappeared.
Putting chocolate in it guarantees the family will eat it.  ;-)

I have made in the last 3 weeks.......

* Fried Zucchini
* Lemon Pepper Chicken w/Zuke and Tomatoes
* Fried Zucchini again
* Zucchini Bread
* Stuffed Zucchini
* Zucchini Risotto
* Zucchini Waffles

Still on the list is Chocolate Zucchini Cake(will make this next week)and prolly another night of Fried Zucchini and then I am grating and slicing the rest for the freezer for use later this year.

I got creative the weekend before last w/some zuke.
I had these chicken sausages lingering in the freezer that needed to be used..........

So I caramelized some onions and browned some zucchini pieces over high heat.......

Then took half the stock from when I boiled two chickens end of last month, added some water and heated it up..........

so I could make risotto rice....

Add the zucchini and onions and the grilled chicken sausages and there's dinner!

I also riffed on stuffed green peppers(I don't care for green pepper)and did stuffed zucchini with a Mexican flair......

Used up 3 zucchinis, ground beef I had browned up and frozen, 3 ears of leftover corn and the rest of the leftover enchilada sauce I made from scratch when we had chicken enchiladas.
Shred cheese on top and bake and you've got Taco Zucchini.

Next year I think TWO zucchini plants will be sufficient in the garden. ;-)

Sluggy