Merry Christmas!

       The Christmas Card collection for 2018, so far.

I just wanted to take the opportunity to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Lo Saturnalia!, Merry Yule, Happy Solstice, Happy Festivus or whatever Winter season holiday you observe.
  I cherish all of you, the ones who have reached out and have become my friends as well as all you lurkers out there.  ;-)

It still amazes me that y'all come here online to my little blog, form a community of sorts and we can share our collective lives' journeys.


Feel free to take this opportunity to leave a comment of any kind you wish......a holiday greeting to your fellow readers here, a question you have, an insight about life or frugality, a wish about what direction you'd like to see the blog take in 2019, or ???  It's your turn to have your say at "Don't Read This; It's Boring!".

As is my tradition, let me close with a little video I like to share at Christmas. ;-)

I'd like to dedicate the song this year to my cousin Sonya Ann.  It's been a hell of a ride in 2018 and here's to better and brighter things for us all.  8-)))





Sluggy 

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Fresh Bread" Edition.........

I made bread on Thursday to go with the Beef Stew that was served.  I usually follow a recipe from my Vincent Price cookbook for French Bread to make bread.  Although a recipe that produces an excellent bread it just makes too, too much(and halving it doesn't work well). 
So I tried a different bread recipe I found online.  This recipe yielded a nice couple of rustic loaves with a very good crust.  Give it a try....you won't be disappointed. ;-)

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Bourbon Sweet Potato Ravioli w/Bechamel Sauce, Tossed Salad

2. Monday--Roasted Chicken w/Veggies

3. Tuesday--BLT Sandwiches

4. Wednesday--Italian Sausage Sandwiches, Potato Salad or ?

5. Thursday--Beef Stew, fresh Bread

6. Friday--Chicken Pot Pie
7. Saturday--Homemade Pizza

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Bourbon Sweet Potato Ravioli w/Bechamel Sauce, Tossed Salad

2. Monday--Roasted Chicken w/Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts

3. Tuesday--BLT Sandwiches

4. Wednesday--Birthday Dinner out for daughter

5. Thursday--Beef Stew, fresh Bread

6. Friday--Chicken Pot Pie(using leftover roast chicken)
7. Saturday--Pizza take-out

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 0 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 2 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out. 
I forgot about the Daughter's birthday dinner out on Wed. so the Sausage sandwiches didn't happen.  I also got take-out pizza instead of making it myself on Saturday as I hurt my leg Friday and was trying not to be on it that much at the end of the week.

 A couple of grocery trips.....3 small trips to Weis($19.46/$7.23/$10.42), a trip to Aldi's($24.35)and a couple of things at Boyer's($4.39)brought the weekly food spending to $65.85 and brought the December monthly total to $276.74 so far.

I have 7 days left in my shopping month for December.  I hope at this point to keep it under $300 until we hit the new month/new year.  We'll definitely stay under $400. 8-)

My savings percentage last week was 58.92%(without Rite-Aid trips)and December's monthly savings total comes to 59.88%(w/out R-A)so far.  Getting a free spiral ham with my Weis points went a long way toward keeping our savings rate high last week.

Leftovers going into this week....not much.....3/4 of a chicken pot pie and about half of the bread I made.

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

1. Sunday--Spinach Salad, Chicken Strips

2. Monday--Xmas eve dinner out

3. Tuesday--Ham, Radicchio/Brussels Sprouts Salad, Mac and Cheese, Rolls, Deviled Eggs

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Pizza

6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--?

End of the week is ?s because I don't know how long company is staying and if they want to eat out or what.  I do have plenty of stuff in the freezer and pantry so we don't HAVE TO go out but again, Hubs might want to go out and he's watching me like a hawk so I don't overdo and the leg doesn't heal.

This week will see 3 new meals cooked, 1-? nights of leftovers/FFY, ? nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.
We'll see how this menu turns out come next Monday.

What needs buying for this menu? All I need at this point is some radicchio and fresh Brussels Sprouts plus more milk for daughter's mac and cheese.

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  

Around Our Christmas Tree This Year

I finally got some snapshots of the ornaments on our Christmas tree this year.
I enjoy looking at what others put on their trees so I thought some of y'all might like to see what's hanging around Sluggy's tree.

The last two years we've only put our 4 ft. tabletop tree up because of the doggies that live with us.  A full sized tree would be too too tempting to reek havoc on. lolz
So only a few select ornaments out of the vast numbers of ornies we have made the cut in 2018.

I have a few of these tiny plastic nativity ornies.  They were a prize from 2nd grade for selling $X amount of stuff for a school fundraiser.  My mom had kept these in her boxes of Xmas ornies and I found them after she died and my brother gave me all that stuff.

This snail Precious Moments ornie I picked up on a Hallmark store going out of business sale for 90% off....I think it cost me $1?
It's a slug(with a shell)so I had to have it.  The year 1997 really doesn't have a profound significance in my life....Ex-College Boy was born in 1996, so close but no cigar. lolz

I picked this one up on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park in Maine on the road trip with Kim and company.

While vacationing with my brother and his wife down OBX in October we went to the Christmas shop(I've been there many times over the years).  I found this doggy ornie that looked an awful lot like my Chester.  I painted his name on it. 8-)))

  You probably can't see this one too well.  It's a crab pot with 2 little plastic crabs inside.  A swap partner put this in a swap box for me.  She lived in Maryland at the time.  Little did she know I spent my childhood crabbing in the river across from our house growing up in Virginia.  This one is special to me.

This ornie was procured during our 2017 Road Trip out West.  We had to do the tourist thing and stop at Wall Drug in South Dakota.

This one also takes me back to my childhood.  It's a replica of my Easy-Bake Oven I got for Christmas in 1967(or was it 1966?).  I had the turquoise model.  Loved that toy!

I have always had a soft spot for anything Maxine.  As I have aged I am turning into Maxine! lolz

This is Hubs Whisky barrel he got on our visit to the George Dickel distillery in Tennessee in 2014.
A Xmas tree isn't complete without a barrel of whisky(or a Charmander Pokemon for that matter).

This ornament always makes the cut for getting on our tree.  It's an ornie I gave my oldest brother years ago(1980's maybe?)to put on his Xmas tree.  Oldest brother was a beach guy....flip flops and shorts year round and had the Beach 'Tude about life.  He also was a Merchant Marine for many years so he had an affinity for the ocean.  This is how I honor his memory every Holiday Season.

Back when I was in grade school my mother made felt Xmas ornaments for a school fundraiser Craft Show.  This Santa is one of the ornies she created and was leftover so she used them on our tree.
Mom had a creative streak.....couldn't paint or draw for the life of her but she  knitted, sewed, crocheted and did all sorts of crafts.

This is a traditional Southern ornie.....a watermelon on your tree.  It's a 3/4 of a melon on a  string with the cut 1/4 on the other end of the string, which you drape and balance on a branch.
Note that my 3/4 melon has been chewed on down to the raw wood underneath.  Our beagle, Peanut, did that many years ago, which makes this ornie unique to me. ;-)

One of the ornies I picked up on vacation to Maine a few years back.  You can't have a wicked good Christmas tree without a wicked good ornament.

This ornament is a goose or duck egg that was blown out, decorated with a decal and crystals, decoupaged and tiny bells hung from the bottom.
Back when I made and sold items at Craft Shows in NJ and PA this was what another vendor was selling.  Her work was lovely and even though she was charging a lot for me at that time I took some of my profits and bought one for me and Hubs' tree and one for my mom's tree.  This is the one I gave my mom, which was in her box of Xmas tree I inherited years ago.  Sadly I can't find the one I kept.  It most probably got broken at some point when my kids were little and I just don't recall. sigh.

And finally, this is a glass blown Charming Tails ornie called "Sidney's Special Gift".  I had a friend back in the 1990's, one of the Beanie Baby group I belonged to.  She was Canadian and she came to visit and I went to Canada to visit her.  She was a bigtime eBay seller back then and one year she brought me a box of 6 of these ornies as a present, because, well, it's appropriate to give me slugs and snails. lolz  We are no longer in contact but this makes me think of her fondly.

So that's a trip around our 2018 Christmas Tree.

What special or favorite ornaments do you have?

Sluggy

A Little More Rite-Aid & My Trip to the Surplus Outlet

I had 2 more $3/1 Cover Girl Qs so I went out yesterday and used them........

1 x Axe body wash 20% Wellness disc.=$4.63
1 x Axe body wash clearance=$1.44
1 x CG mascara clearance=$1.49
1 x CG eyebrow pencil 20% Wellness disc.=$3.83
SubTotal.........$11.39

Coupons Used
2 x $3//1 CoverGirl IPQ=$6.00

I also had the $1/2 Axe RA In-Ad Q but it's a beeper and the cashier decided that it beeped because one of my Axe items was on clearance so she wouldn't accept it.  WTF???
I know she was WRONG! but I didn't press the matter because this wasn't "my" store and some of these other stores have irrational "rules" and make shit up and I was just, "whatever, I don't care" at this point in my day.  I "could" go up to my store and show them the Q and my receipt(the fact that it was forgotten)and get a $1 post coupon.

Anyway, at this point my total after the $6 in Qs used was $5.39 +.33¢ tax=$5.72 paid for with Bonus Cash.

I earned back $9.00 in new BC($4 wyb2 Axe, $5 wyb2 CoverGirl)so even with the $1Q kerfuffle this was a $3.28 moneymaker.


So I wanted to talk about my Surplus Outlet from last Saturday.
If you have one of these types of stores(salvage/overstock/overruns/etc.)for food and household items it would behoove you to get it a look.
They are much like a treasure hunt since they have no regular inventory so you never know what types of items and what brands you will find.
Some of the items in these stores will be nearing their shelf life expiration(this won't apply for non-food items)so be aware of the difference of  "sell by" dates, "best if used by" dates and "expiration" dates.  Go HERE for some information on the difference and links to more FAQs.
I always use my own common sense and judgement(knowing the difference between all these labels)and always check the dates on anything I buy here.

I had a short list of items I specifically was looking for-tomato paste, a special cream cheese spread, panko and coffee for Hubs.  The kids have pretty much used up his coffee supplies and now are under orders not to use his coffee but to buy their own.  I am tired of the pressure of hunting deals on coffee and paying for their coffee in my grocery budget. lolz

This is what we picked up.........

Colavita Greek EVOO, 25.5 oz bottles for $2.99  This brand is reg. price of $10 or more for this size in the grocery stores around here.

I already talked about this deal-boxes of Knorr sides and meal starters for $1 per box(8 packets per box).  A tremendous deal!

A large bag of Martha White brand Corn Meal Mix for .89¢.  You don't often find this brand here up North but I grew up using it.

2 x 4 lb. bags of Yuban brand whole bean coffee for $8.99 per bag.  That comes out to $2.25+/- per lb.  Yuban is a brand Hubs knows and likes and being whole bean rather than ground the freshness will be better.

6 x Jet-Puffed marshmallow creme @ .50¢ per jar.  Still in date too.  I use this stuff in my Xmas fudge(well, one of the recipes I used)and it retails in the $1.69 range around here, rarely going on sale.

3 x Panko bread crumbs @ .79¢ each.
I prefer using Panko over reg. bread crumbs for breading meats/fish over regular bread crumbs(that is still the preference in meatloaf filler or corn flakes).  Panko can be ridiculously if not on sale for something that is just bread crumbs.

6 x small cans of tomato paste @ .15¢ per can.  In hindsight, I should have bought more than 6. 8-(
Tomato paste is ubiquitous in much of what I cook here.  I prefer small cans over large ones.

A 2 lb. bag of Jasmine rice for .89¢. This goes for at least double that at the grocery stores here.
And my "best" find was that 3 lb. tub of Philly cream cheese spread w/veggies for $2.99.

I have a favorite cream cheese spread made by John F. Martin(a Lancaster PA company)with roasted red peppers in it.  LOVE to eat this with celery as a snack or as a meal replacement.  The only place I can find it is at the Surplus Food Outlet and then, only infrequently.  I had hoped they'd have some on this trip but they didn't. 8-(((

The only other place I've seen this is at a Shursave Markets in Wilkes-Barre but they charge waaaay too much for it at their deli counter.

So I had a flash of brilliance LOLZ, got the 3 lb. tub of Philly and found a jar of roasted Italian style red peppers for $1.49 on the shelf at the Outlet.  Brought them home, put the peppers in the blender, then mixed that up with the Philly and voila!.....Cream Cheese w/Roasted Red Peppers, 3+ lbs. of it for a grand total of $4.48. 8-)))

I am off to make some cookies now. 
The Holiday Spirit is sloooooowly returning to me.  Thanks for everyone's comments the other day about my missing mojo and the crazy pill issues.

I went to the beer distributor yesterday while  I was out using up those Qs at Rite-Aid and bought a bunch of craft beers for the family and that seems to have picked up my "spirits"....pun intended.

I was standing in the store contemplating how I ever got to the point that I was Christmas shopping for my family(kids included)in a liquor store.  I didn't know whether this was s sad commentary on our life or funny as hell, picturing what my parents would have thought of this.

 Heck, from now on I'll just load the Xmas tree up with beer and wine for gifts as the family seems to appreciate that more than most anything else I give them plus it's easier on me. lolz

Have a great day even if you have to venture out on "Panic Saturday" as they are calling it.

Me?  I hope to stay home for the duration except for our traditional Christmas Eve Chinese Food dinner out.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....the December 21st Edition

Christmas is right around the corner...but did we have any frugal wins this week here at Chez Sluggy?
Let's take a look.......

*  Hubs and I hit a discount store earlier this month(I forgot to tell y'all about it).  This is a store I haven't been to in about a year.  It use to have crash and burn type stuff(tore up packaging, out of date or almost stuff, etc.).  Now it's totally different.  The store has transformed itself into a strange mix of novelty items and high end grocery goods(overruns/package redesigns/overstock)and specialty foods(lots of gluten-free items, etc.).  While the prices on most are good(for a high end item)most of it is still too pricey for me to buy.  The exception are the dairy/meat items which of dubious quality(see  "gray" meat)and well past their expiration dates....but they are cheap! lolz

I did find one item to buy......

This high end coffee.  It goes for $10.99 a bag in Target here.  I got it for $3.99 to put into Hubs Xmas box.

*  I found more change this week!

A dime in a soda machine coin return on Saturday by the Dollar Tree.

2 pennies, one on the walkway into Boyer's and the other on the way out by the cash registers.
I also hit the jackpot of finding things in Boyer's.  Someone' debit card was laying on the floor in the store.  And no, I didn't try to buy a shit ton of groceries with it(didn't have the pin written on it goshdarnit!)but turned it into the Customer Service Desk.

That same trip I went to Aldi's.  There must be something about me to people who shop there.....they must think I am homeless or something because every time I tell someone I'll take their cart and try to hand them my quarter(because I'll get their quarter in the cart when I return it)they tell me to keep my quarter.  When they insist I don't argue with them......so I got a free quarter at Aldi's.  That's .37¢ for the week in found money!$$$


*  Last Saturday we went to the Surplus Grocery Outlet.  I'll show y'all what I got there but here's my best deal from that trip..........

They had boxes of Knorr's side dish packets.  Each box has 8 packets in them.  Price for a box?....$1.
These things run as much as $1.69 at Price Chopper and go on sale for as low as $1 per packet around here.  Now and again I'll find some varieties at Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)for .89¢ per packet.  These are new, if not unsuccessfully new varieties--one is a meal starter thing(Lemon Chicken w/Barley)and the other is a rice side(Asiago Cracked Black Pepper ).  They other flavors both of the meal starters and the rice sides but these two looked the most like something we'd eat.  I'll report in after we've tried them.  If you don't care for them it's only $2 spent and I can always sent them off to the local food bank.

*  I bought some Cover Girl, Head and Shoulders, Suave and Axe this week at Rite-Aid......

 $17.18 including tax in Bonus Cash spent for all this.....

....And $21 in new Bonus Cash earned back so a $3.82 moneymaker overall.

*  I cashed out my Ibotta acount to apply it to our credit card bill for 2018.  The total came to $382.11.
Nice.

*  I used a digital coupon at Burger King and used the mobile app to order a whopper for $1 while out last week.

Getting a Whopper for a buck is a good deal anyway but after I got home and started eating it I discovered they gave me a double Whopper!  Double the meat?  Yes please.  And I shared the extra with the doggies here.  ;-)

*  In other surprising news.....I got up Wednesday to discover that I sold something on eBay!  I've had 2 listings sitting on there for just over a year that never sold and one sold late Tuesday evening.  I got it mailed out on Wednesday and it's only going to NY so it should be arriving today or tomorrow, well in time for Xmas.  That's $29 and change(before eBay fees but after shipping fees)in my pocket
on a toy bought years ago for $3 and never used.  8-)))


*  There was NO Friday Freebie at Weis(PMITA)Markets last week.  Boo-Hiss

So what frugal wins did y'all have this week?


Sluggy