This Week on the Dining Table

The "12 Boxes of Open Crackers" Edition................

As mentioned in my To-Do List post, here are 10 of the 12 opened boxes of crackers I found lurking in the kitchen pantry.
Who opens three more Ritz cracker boxes when there is already one open?!?
A "not-paying-attention-because-their-mind-is-elsewhere-20-something" would be my answer. lolz

Besides repurposing crackers, since getting home we are back on top of the food waste issue. ;-)

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--tv dinners lurking in the freezer

2. Monday--Chicken Parm, Broccoli

3. Tuesday--Meatloaf, something green, Rice

4. Wednesday--BLTs

5. Thursday--Hamburgers on buns, Pasta/Veggie Salad

6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--tv dinners lurking in the freezer

2. Monday--Chicken Parm, Broccoli

3. Tuesday--Meatloaf, Corn

4. Wednesday--Hamburgers on buns, Pasta/Veggie Salad

5. Thursday--Fend For Yourself

6. Friday--BLTs
7. Saturday--Pizza(take-out)

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/ffy/tv dinners, and 1 night of Eating Out/Take-Out. 

Everything planned was eaten but not on the day planned sometimes.
We got pizza on Saturday too and that wasn't planned.  I hurt my back so I tried to do things easy last week(or had Hubs help with dinner).

What got put into the freezer last week.....

* ground beef/turkey meatballs

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.....
* 2 TV dinners
* a bag of corn
* Breaded Chicken Patties

More got used in the freezer except the 3 bags of meatballs took up the same amount of room that was made in there last week. lolz

A small trip to the Bread Outlet($5.50), onions and ground beef at Maine Source($30.71)and a trip to Target(using gift cards $4.41 OOP)brought the weekly spending to $40.62 and my July total to $40.62 so far.

My savings percentage last week was 71.06%(without Rite-Aid trips)and July's monthly savings total comes in at 71.06%(w/out R-A). 

I have 23 more food shopping/spending days in July.  

Leftovers going into this week.....chili, meatloaf, pasta/veggie salad and pizza.  That's it.

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

1. Sunday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Caesar Salad

2. Monday--Leftovers, Spinach Souffle

3. Tuesday--Beef Pie

4. Wednesday--Fish, Cole Slaw, Sweet Potato Wedges

5. Thursday--Hot Dogs on Buns(or not), Pasta/Veggie Salad

6. Friday--Risotto w/Chicken and Veggies
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 5 new meals cooked, 2 nights of leftovers/FFY, and 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.

What needs buying for this menu?
Fish(for 1 meal)and carrots(for Cole Slaw and Beef Pie).  Price Chopper has haddock on special this week so I'll be going there on Tuesday to do some shopping.
Since I'll spend at least $15 on the fish I'll pick up the loss leaders/PC coupon items too if they are something we can use.  If carrots are too high there I'll either hit Malacari's produce or Weis(PMITA)Markets as well. I want to stay between $50-$70 this week on grocery shopping.

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  

The To-Do List....the June Edition

Let's take a look at what got accomplished(or didn't)in June.......

To-Do List for June

* Pay Bills  DONE  Everything got paid on time or early including credit cards so no interest charged or paid.

* Read 1, 2 Books  DONE
I read this.............

"To Kill A Mocking Bird" by Harper Lee

I hadn't read this since high school so it was worth picking it up again and reading it for "fun" this time.
I got a lot more of the subtext this go around.  Comparing  it to the 1962 movie starring Gregory Peck that was in my head was a challenge.  The book is so much more nuanced and delves deeper into characters other than the few leads.
If you know anything about Nelle Harper Lee's life you know that much of what is in this novel is autobiographical.
A classic novel is always worth a leisurely read.

And this one......

"Muskets and Applejack: Spirits, Soldiers and the Civil War" by Mark Will-Weber

This is a strange little book which explores a small corner of American history from a whisky soaked perspective.  As one reviewer on Amazon wrote, "....Spoiler Alert-nearly everyone drank and behaved badly."  I think that summed up this book perfectly! lolz
Spirits fueled the men who fought this war from the Generals on down to the lowly foot soldier.  It on one hand helped and on the other hand hindered each sides campaign against the enemy.  
There are many first hand accounts written by folks who lived through(or not)and saw the effects of alcohol on the war years about beyond.  After reading these journal entries how anybody stayed upright enough to wage war is beyond me.   Maybe applejack(and the sobering up time it took)is why it went 5 long years to finish this bloody shoot fest?
And another Spoiler Alert--troops from Louisiana were obviously the champion Wallpaperers and best friends of John Barleycorn!

An interesting, light read.....easy to pick up and put down, reading in fits and starts, which is how my June went. ;-)


* Get Chester's Shot  DONE  Chester needed a shot for Bordetella(Kennel Cough)before he could go to the doggie spa.

* Change out Clothes for Summer  DONE  I finally got all my clothes gone through and changed over for the hot weather.  Some clothing got thrown out, some packed off to Salvation Army and a pile was made of items that needed to be hemmed/fixed/taken in.  Of course I haven't gotten to any of the mending/fixing pile as the house is still in chaos with the bedroom redo.

* Have Trees Taken Down  DONE  Another item on our home projects was having 4 trees removed.  The bank account is very sad but I am glad to mark this project off the list.

We had 4 trees total cut down-2 on the side yard by the road and 2 in the backyard.  3 of them were to open up the yard, to get more light.  The monster tree above was a worry to me.  So tall and massive and not very deep roots.  With all the excessive rain and windstorms we'd gotten the last few years I'm amazed it hasn't fallen yet and taken out half our house(because it's so tall it could if it fell just right).  This was something that we needed to do in order to sell the house eventually(and for my peace of mind). 
It was interesting to watch(free entertainment! lol)the whole process and the massive combination saw and crane gizmo they used on the monster tree was way cool!
I can post some more photos and video if anyone is interested.....

* Repair Bedroom Walls/Ceiling  DONE  
Ex-College Boy and I got the bedroom repaired and painted early on in the month.  It has been sitting since then awaiting new carpeting being put in by the carpet folks.  Hurry up and wait.........sigh.

* Paint 1, 2 Bedrooms  PARTIALLY DONE  We got 1 of the Bedrooms painted, ceiling and walls.  Can't really do the second bedroom until we can empty it and we can't do that until the carpet gets replaced in the first bedroom(and it's STILL not in at the store yet, let alone on the schedule for installing ugh!). 
Here's a piece of what Dan's room looks like until we can move all my crap out of there........

* Take Chester to Doggie Resort  DONE  Chester went to stay HERE while we were away.  I think he had a better time than us! lolz  


* Clean Out Closets  DONE 
 I had a burst of energy one day and got lots of closets cleaned out and organized, my bedroom closet, the foyer closet and the linen closet.

*  Clean Out Fridges/Pantry  DONE

The fridges still need a good washing down inside but I got them cleaned out/organized.  I also got the pantry in the kitchen cleared out.

I found TWELVE open boxes of crackers in there!  TWELVE and many were duplicates of the same crackers.  Heck, I didn't even know we had TWELVE boxes of crackers!!  
After consolidating, and repurposing some(crumbs for breading)we have a more manageable amount(and certain people here have been warned under penalty of death NOT to open another box of crackers until the open boxes are gone).

* Hold Giveaway  DONE

* Mail Giveaway  DONE  And it was received and enjoyed by the winner. 8-)

* Pack for Trip  DONE  I got to break out my new fancy shmancy lime green suitcase.

* Go on Trip  DONE

This trip was so out of my comfort zone and Hubs and I didn't know a soul going in.  But we had a good time.  I'll blog about this trip soon.

* Use Ollie's & CVS Chits  DONE

All this was free from CVS and I earned $5 more in Extra Care Bucks before going on our trip.

I rolled some Bonus Cash before we left and again while on the trip as we passed by some Rite-Aids in Maine and New Hampshire.

I also used my 15% Ollie's discount before we went away.  I hit some 50%, 60% and 75% off food stuffs and used the 15% off on other things like bird suet for Hubs' feeders and potting soil.

* Continue to Clean Out Garage  PARTIALLY DONE

After 3 weeks worth of crap from Daughter moving out leaving the porch and garage we again had a clear passage through the garage on both sides of my food storage shelves.  
I wish I could say that I've made more headway in there but it's been too hot since getting back from NH to spend much time out there.  Maybe I'll take this item off the To-Do List until September when it cools off.

* Move More $ Into a CD  MAYBE DONE  I didn't get this goal finished in May before the month ended so it straddled both months.  The money is now moved.

* Sell More Locally  PARTIALLY DONE  Well I listed some things when we got back from NH but I didn't actually sell them yet. lolz  I tried.....  I am putting this item on hold until after garage sale season and it's pointless to try now.

* List Items on eBay  FAIL  I didn't even get one thing listed on eBay as there is just too much still going on here to concentrate on that.  Fall is the high season for eBay so I'll wait until September to list there.

* Gardening  I know I didn't put this as an item on the To-Do List for June but we did have some growth even with our wet/cool month...........

Other than the broccoli and cauliflower the plants didn't seem to visibly grow much in June.

But the lettuce seeds I sowed mid month in June popped up quicker than they usually do and are making strides.
We should be in salad material by mid July.

That's about it for my June report.
Did you accomplish anything in June?


Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the July 5th Edition

Not much frugal-ness around Chez Sluggy this past week(I didn't really go anywhere, even Rite-Aid, and didn't find any change sigh)but here's the recap of what did happen.......

*  I got the Friday Freebie at Weis(PMITA)Markets............

A free container of cottage cheese.  Back in the day, I always used cottage cheese instead of ricotta when I made lasagna or stuffed shells.  Back then you couldn't find ricotta in the supermarket down South or if you did it was a very pricey specialty item.
After we were married a year and we moved to NJ, ricotta was widely available and I began using that in my Italian dishes.
I have gotten back into a habit of using cottage cheese in these Italian dishes again after getting better deals/coupons for cottage cheese.  I think the cc has more flavor than ricotta so this is a great item for me to get for free! ;-)


*  I noticed that we were low on checks for our bank account so I ordered new ones.

They came in quickly and with this bank's checking account, if we get the basic checks(no designer or branded logos, just plain old safety checks)they cost us ZERO.  I'll forgo dogs or peace signs on my checks to get them for FREE!

*  I hit Weis last Friday for the free cottage cheese, fresh tomatoes and almond milk for Hubs and happened upon trash bags on clearance as well as some Pam spray oil........

$16.45 for everything pictured(including sales tax)and they were all at least 50% off. 8-))

*  I had Hubs pick up ground beef and onions since his eye doctor appointment on Tuesday was right by the Restaurant Supply Store.  We needed the ground beef for grilling burgers(on the 3rd instead of the 4th since Ex-College Boy worked on the 4th).  I also made a big meatloaf on Tuesday and will be making some meatballs out of what is left of the bag o' meat.

I like to buy my onions in a large quantity at either a farm stand or the restaurant supply store. It is more cost effective to buy these in bulk.  25 lbs. for $14.99 makes them .60¢ a lb.  Onions in the grocery store in those little 2 lbs.bags can run you $1.49 each and specialty onions(red/Vidalia/etc.)can run you up to $2.49 per lb.  Next week the Shursave Market has 2 lb. bags of yellow onions on sale, 2 bags for $3. That costs out to .75¢ per lb. which is a really good price and if I didn't have room for 25 lbs. of onions I'd be all over that deal! lolz

My other gripe with those small bags of onions is the onions can be TINY!  Tiny onions means you are getting more onions skins and less usable parts of the onion thus they cost you even more buying them that way.
Quite a few years ago I made a root cellar for myself in my garage so I can store things like onions, potatoes, root veggies longer.  It's just a small Rubbermaid type tub with paper bags inside but it does a great job of keeping the produce dark and cool and keeping most items from bolting/sprouting.  If the temps get too cold for consecutive days(like below Zero, which doesn't happen too often around here)I can bring whatever is in the root cellar into my pantry closet in the kitchen.

*  I bought celery.....I know everybody is gasping about how un-frugal buying celery is lately. lolz
I like to snack on celery in the Summer and I had found my favorite roasted red pepper cream cheese dip at a produce market in W-B and had stocked up.  So I needed to get some celery. I ended up at the Shursave Market after seeing the insane price of celery at Weis(PMITA)Markets.  Shursave had 2 options--a bunch of celery in a bag for $2.99 or celery hearts on sale 2/$5(or $2.50 each).
So I took a bag of each to the scale and weighed them both.
The bunch of celery was very thin and didn't even weigh in at 1 lb.
The celery hearts was labeled 1 lb. but weighed in at over 2 lbs!  I checked other packages of the celery hearts to see if this was an anomaly but no, they ALL weighed at least 2 lbs.!
So guess which one I bought? ;-)  I paid $2.50 a pack for celery hearts weighing 2+ lbs. which meant  I paid $1.25 per lb. instead of $2.99 for a bunch that was barely 1 lb. in weight.

Moral of this story.....even if a produce item is marked with a weight, always weigh it yourself to see what it actually weighs.  Don't let the grocery stores rip you off!!! 8-)

*  This won't happen until next weekend but I wanted to mention it today.....

It's been confirmed that that the next 20% off everything Friends and Family Sale at Big Lots is going to be July 13th and 14th(Saturday and Sunday).  I have already started my list of what I want/need to get during this sale--including toilet paper, baby wipes, hydrogen peroxide to name a few.
I don't need a lot right now but it helps me stay organized if I go in with a written list.  Otherwise I'd just start picking up things because they are cheap but we don't necessarily need them right now.

Planning ahead is how you start to live a frugal life.

What frugal wins did y'all have this week?
Tell us all about it.


Sluggy

Independence Day Trivia Questions Answered

Well I guess everyone was out partying late into the night or gorging on July 4th fare and not reading blogs yesterday because only Janie Junebug answered some of the Independence Day Trivia.  And she did quite well! 8-)

Here are the questions with answers for your viewing pleasure.
I'll be back later with the Frugal Friday post.

Sluggy

Independence Day Trivia Quiz Answers

1.  What is the correct date of our declaring independence from England?  Hint-it's not July 4th.

* The written resolution for independence was adopted at a vote on July 2nd, so that is the actual date of the document.  The Continental Congress spent the next 2 days amending the wording before finally deciding they were done "running their quill pens through it".
John Adams believed July 2nd would be celebrated by generations to come with much gaiety, pomp and celebrating, as he wrote to his wife Abigail in MA, in one of his well-known letters home to her.

Here are his actual words with misspellings from that letter.....
"But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.
I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

2.  Philadelphia is where the Declaration of Independence was voted upon and signed in 1776.  What was the most widely spoken language by residents of Philadelphia in 1776?

* While the obvious answer is English that is not quite right.  This area of PA was settled heavily by German immigrants and at the time of the revolution, it was more common to hear German being spoken and see business signs of local shops written in German.

3.  Which 3 American Presidents have died on July 4th?  

*2 of these are fairly easy....Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died within hours of each other on the 4th in 1826, the one thinking the other one still survived.  The 3rd President was James Monroe who followed them to the grave in 1831 on the 4th. (*And I am related to two of them.)

4.  Who were the "Committee of Five"....the group of 2nd Continental Congress members selected by that body to come up with a document of independence?

* The committee was made up of delegates John Adams of MA, Thomas Jefferson of VA, Benjamin Franklin of PA, Roger Sherman of CT and Robert Livingston of NY.

5.  Who designed the current version of the US Flag?

* A teenager Robert G. Heft living in Lancaster Ohio with his grandparents at that time, in 1958.  Designing a new flag when Alaska and Hawaii were poised to become the 49th and 50th states, Robert "Bob" Heft was a high school student.  As part of a school project, he designed a new flag and received a b- for his work from his teacher.  After his design was chosen from over 1500 ones sent to then President Eisenhower, his teacher upgraded Bob's grade to an A, as he had promised Bob.
Robert Heft spent his career as a teacher and died at the age of 68 in 2009.

6.  What bird did Benjamin Franklin propose be the emblem/seal for our country?

*Franklin believed the North American Turkey was the best choice.  He believed the turkey to be a noble bird.
Adams wanted the eagle but Franklin objected to this, as it was a long held emblem of many European countries, which they were trying to break free from. 

Franklin wrote: 
"I wish that the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country, he is a bird of bad moral character, he does not get his living honestly, you may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the fishing-hawk, and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to its nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him and takes it from him.... Besides he is a rank coward; the little kingbird, not bigger than a sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest. . . of America.. . . For a truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America . . . a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards, who should presume to invade his farmyard with a red coat on."

7.  It is well known that Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner, our nation's anthem.  And that he wrote in his journal, what was to become the lyrics for the song, while onboard a ship in Baltimore Harbor, while British forces bombarded Fort McHenry in 1812.  But do you know why he was on board a ship in Baltimore Harbor?

* Key was having dinner on board a British ship at the invite of 3 British naval officers on the night of 13 Sept, 1814.  He was there with the American Prisoner Exchange Agent to negotiate the exchange of American prisoners being held.  Key was a lawyer who's client, Dr. William Beanes of MD, was among those being held.
Key was unsuccessful at releasing his client but he got a really well known song out of the deal.
The Star Spangled Banner did not become our official anthem until 1916 under Woodrow Wilson and then by a congressional resolution in 1931 under Herbert Hoover.

8.  How many versions of the American flag have there been since 1776?

* There have been 28 official versions of the American flag, sort of.
The flag as we know it, red and white alternating stripes with a field of blue and stars, has undergone 26 modified versions, so 27 versions of that design.  The first officially recognized flag, adopted in December 1775, had alternation red and white stripes but instead of a blue field and stars, there was a St. George's Cross/Union Jack in the upper left corner.

 

 

 

The 13 Colonies Flag of June, 1777

9.  The original Declaration of Independence was printed on parchment, but the original copies, to be distributed among the citizens in the 13 colonies were printed on paper. Who printed the original copies of the Declaration of Independence and where?

* Though Franklin would be the obvious answer, because he was, among other things, a printer by trade, the original paper copies of the Declaration were printed in Philadelphia by a printer & book seller named John Dunlap.  He was an immigrant from Ireland,  a successful printer in the city and secured a contract with the 2nd Continental Congress supplying for their printing needs.
The type of sheet he printed the Declaration on was called a "broadside" in the printing trade.  It was typically a large sheet, printed on one side.  It was similar to today's poster.
(As an aside, by July 9th someone had translated and published the Declaration into German in Philadelphia so the bulk of the citizens in that city could read it.)


10.  How many copies of the original Declaration of Independence printed in 1776 are known to exist today?

* There are 26 copies known to exist today.  Approx. 200 were printed up in 1776.  One was discovered in 1989 by an amateur collector at a PA flea market hidden behind a framed painting he paid $4 for.  He later sold his discovery at auction for $8.14 million.
In 2009 the latest discovered copy was found in The National Archives in Britain among some papers that had been intercepted by the British in the 18th century, during the revolution.  This brings the number of original copies in the hands of the British Archives to 3.


11.  How many members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776?

* The original, original declaration was printed on paper and only John Hancock signed this one.
The official declaration was printed on parchment(the wording was engrossed into that material, not just lying on top of the surface, so it would be better preserved)and was not signed until August 2nd of 1776.  Eventually 56 delegates signed the document.  There is debate on when certain people had signed.  It is widely held that most of the delegates signed on Aug. 2nd, but there were some who were not present(weren't even elected to Congress until after that date)who have signed.  When it was all over with, 56 signatures were affixed to the parchment.
By the way--The oldest signer was Benjamin Franklin of PA at 80 and the youngest was Edward Rutledge of SC at 26.

12.  Of the signers of the Declaration of Independence how many also signed the U.S. Constitution?

* Only 6 Declaration signers also signed the Constitution; Benjamin Franklin of PA, George Read of DE, Roger Sherman of CT, Robert Morris of PA, George Clymer of PA and James Wilson of PA.
By the way-Roger Sherman, the cobbler from CT, was the only member of Congress who signed all 4 of the documents important to the founding of the USA.  He signed the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Articles of Association and the Articles of Confederation.


I hope you've learned something from this little trivia quiz.  I know I did. ;-)

Sluggy

Happy Independence Day Trivia!

Rerunning this post from 2013 instead of just throwing up a jpeg of a 4th of July image. 

I could have alternately ranted about how we are a nation of pussies, who don't care about freedom and have no backbones upon which to take back our country from the politicians(who are suppose to be working FOR US, not against us.

If George, Tom, John, the James and such were alive today they would surely wish to "apply their collective foots to the seat of our collective learnings".
But I am just too lazy and it's too hot out for all that.

Trivia is a bit more interesting, don't you think? lolz


Sluggy

Independence Day Trivia Quiz...Happy 4th of July!

In honor of our country's liberation from the tyranny of King George III of England in 1776, here is a little Trivia Quiz about our National celebration and assorted things having to do with this holiday.
See how much you actually know about these little known facts about our history.

1.  What is the correct date of our declaring independence from England?  Hint-it's not July 4th.

2.  Philadelphia is where the Declaration of Independence was voted upon and signed in 1776.  What was the most widely spoken language by residents of Philadelphia in 1776?

3.  Which 3 American Presidents have died on July 4th?  

4.  Who were the "Committee of Five"....the group of Continental Congress members selected by that body to come up with a document of independence?

5.  Who designed the current version of the US Flag?

6.  What bird did Benjamin Franklin propose be the emblem for our country?

7.  It is well known that Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner, our nation's anthem.  And that he wrote in his journal, what was to become the lyrics for the song, while onboard a ship in Baltimore Harbor, while British forces bombarded Fort McHenry in 1812.  But do you know why he was onboard a ship in Baltimore Harbor?

8.  How many versions of the American flag have there been since 1776?

9.  The original Declaration of Independence was printed on parchment, but the original copies, to be distributed among the citizens in the 13 colonies were printed on paper. Who printed the original copies of the Declaration of Independence and where?

10.  How many copies of the original Declaration of Independence printed in 1776 are known to exist today?

11.  How many members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776?

12.  Of the signers of the Declaration of Independence how many also signed the U.S. Constitution?

 Answers will follow tomorrow, if anyone is sober enough by then to read them(and didn't shoot off their hands). ;-)

 

Sluggy