Scenes of the Holiday Season

Hubs and I got out a few times during the Holiday Season this year among the crowds.

Once was to Walmart to replace some broken outdoor lights.

While Hubs shopped I looked around the store............

I found this weiner dog stuffed plush decorated for Hanukkah in blue with a menorah strapped to his torso. lolz

At first this reindeer looked like a llama to me but as I got closer I saw it was a reindeer.  I never did take a look at the price tag on it....and where for heaven's sake would you store it in the off season?!?!

Another day we went to a Tuesday Morning that opened this Summer near us..........

 

This was the most bizarre thing I saw in that store.  It's a tiny electric fan that looks like a cricket.

This pillow was funny in a good way, not like that cricket fan.

I threatened to buy this for Hubs...............

I also saw this at Rite-Aid and thought about getting it for Daughter's dog.......



The dog has a stuffed poop squeaky toy she carried around and thinks it's her baby.  I didn't buy this dancing and singing Xmas poop because the dog is so scared of everything, it would have traumatized her. lolz

I did buy this for Daughter to put on the tree though........

A poop Xmas ornament for Cinnamon.  I'll inscribe it with her name and the year before they take it to LA this Spring.

And the poop got a place of honor on the tree, right between Daughter's "special" reindeer craft for 2nd grade and SpongeBob Square Pants ornie.  lolz

We also hit The Christmas Tree Shop finally in December.  It was right by the music shop we had to hit for guitar strings and picks for Ex-College Boy.

I couldn't believe some of the junk they sell.  I guess some men are really, really hard to buy for....

I warned Hubs I needed to put this into his stocking, a "Snore Stopper".  It's a plastic fist on a stick and you whack the snorer with it.....lolz  But at $5 it wasn't worth that much of a laugh.

Last Friday,  I went out to run a couple of errands and recorded this little video.....

The next day it was 30F......a 35 degree drop in temp but luckily no tornadoes this time. ;-)

On Christmas eve it snowed a bit............

Here's Cinnamon went I let her in after a trip out to potty.....little snowball like flakes.  The dog is part Husky so she doesn't even feel it her fur is so thick.  This dog lays out in the yard in the snow, rain, wind, you name it, in the dark and cold.  She'd stay out there by herself if you didn't haul her in.
She is going to hate Louisiana when she goes back........

Christmas was the traditional dinner out at our local Chinese Restaurant.  Just Hubs, I and Daughter this year as Ex-College Boy had to work until 8 pm, so we got him a to-go order.

Christmas Eve day was also spent lobbing in a phone call to Sonya Ann to gab for an hour or four.  They aren't really "doing" Christmas there this year but she has her kids with her for the Holiday which was nice.  We discussed many deep philosophical things and had a few good belly laughs over things.  She is in a much better place( both physically and mentally)this Christmas.  Her life with the asshole is finally done and she is free to craft the life she wants for herself.  I am so thrilled for her!

And here is a gratuitous pic of Chester..........

He got a bath for Christmas and I've let his hair grow long for the Winter.  He loved all the commotion and people in the house for Christmas.

We didn't get everyone up on Xmas morning until around 10am.  It's so nice the kids are young adults now and we aren't up until 2 am putting together toys and then roused out of bed at 5 am.  Ah, the good old days..Not! lolz

We opened gifts are a good breakfast..........

Ex-College Boy teased Chester with wrapping paper.

Chester was decked out in his "Santa's Little Helper" shirt. lolz

 Hubs with his high end bag of coffee.

 Daughter opening a gift wrapped in the Harry Potter paper I found at Dollar Tree(she was a HP fan).

Chester opening one of his gifts....a Licky Mat.  I think he liked the gift wrap better than that gift. lolz

 Cinnamon taking her jumbo rawhide bone candy cane.....notice Chester at the bottom of the picture.

 And Cinnamon running away from Chester trying to take that rawhide bone from her.  She carried it upstairs to her bed where she could chew on it in peace. ;-)

Here I am with a garden stone in the shape of a snail.  Hubs and I saw this at Christmas Tree Shops and I wanted it so I pretended I didn't know he bought it for me until I unwrapped it Xmas morning.
It was on final clearance and cost $2 so a win/win!

 Daughter got a cool crosbody purse from her BF.  The smile said she liked it!

 Kim sent Chester a little toy which he took to right away.  He's been carrying it around for 3 days now in between trying to shake it to death and chew it up. lolz

Here is Hubs and Chester on Xmas.  Chester got a new plastic pig toy(actually he got 2-one in pink and one in orange)and he is waiting patiently for daddy to take the tags of it so he can play with "Piggy".

Kim's box of goodies arrived on Christmas eve.  Lots of cookies, a fruitcake, plus caramels and a book for Hubs, a luggage tag and sarcastic fridge magnet for me and that toy for Chester.

There was also this box for me........

Inside was a big, heavy decorated sugar cookie sitting on top of an inch thick bed of crumbs.  But not cookie crumbs.....they looked like corn flake or Chinese noodle crumbs.  We passed the box around and tried to figure out WTF?!? it was.
I finally realized there had "probably been those delicate Scandinavian rosette cookies you make on an iron rod, dipping into the batter and then deep frying them, cooling and coating with powdered sugar(I could see the 10X sugar residue on the sides of the box)in this box.

Either that or Kim had lost her mind somewhere in the last couple of weeks and had shipped me crushed up fried crunchy batter and cocaine in a box. lolz

No one here believed me about the cookies since other than way distant ancestry we aren't of Viking stock so we've never had these cookies before.

A call to Kim to see how her Christmas turned out(though she's not done celebrating the Holiday yet)confirmed that my hunch was right and they had been, at one time Rosette cookies.  I will relish eating those crumbs now Kim.
But really......what voice in your head told you when you packed those cookies to make the journey from ID to PA that you should fill up that empty space at the top of the box with a substantial(and comparatively HEAVY)sugar cookie? LOLOLZ  It just served as a battering ram in the box once the postal service got ahold of it and finished the pulverizing job. heheheh

Eldest and his GF arrived around noon on Christmas day as well as the Brother in-law and Nephew.

Daughter cooked most of the meal for me which was a nice change for me.  I did still do the pies, cookies, deviled eggs(which we forgot until almost the end of dinner)and a new Brussels Sprouts and Radicchio Slaw dish(which everyone seemed to love).  She did the ham, the potato rolls, mac and cheese and a pan of roasted veggies so the majority of the work.

We sat down to eat around 2pm and like the deviled eggs I almost forgot to take a picture of the whole dinner gang............

We opened a few more gifts, did the Secret Santa exchange then after BIL and nephew left and Hubs went to bed the kids and I played a few games on JackBox and the more they drank the more inappropriate the answers got.
I got to bed around 1am.

On Boxing Day we slept in(well, most of us did), we hung out and chilled until dinner time(though I did take a plate of cookies up to the Rite-Aid), then we headed off to Friendly's for one of the worst dinners out EVAH!, followed by a drive to the brew pub for drinks and bingo, however the brew pub was SRO so we just went home, drank there and played more JackBox(this time with Hubs too).

Eldest and his GF left early Thursday morning as she had work on Friday.  At least I remembered to get a photo of them before they left.  Wish they could have stayed longer but such is life.......

So that's been my holiday so far.  Thursday was spent cleaning up, doing laundry and napping.

I hope everyone had some fun and made some memories this Christmas like we did. ;-)


Sluggy

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