Real life meals this week and CVS shopping

Some of you asked about how the meal plan is going.  

So far, it's been so easy.  I just look at the list of possible meals and pick one each morning.  

Monday night was a casserole made with chicken and stovetop stuffing and green beans. 

Tuesday night we had grilled chicken,  a big salad and crescent rolls.  

Wednesday , my husband again grilled and below are the steaks.  They were bought at Aldi when all the steaks were half price.  They were a long way from their sell by date so we gave them a try and they were very good.  My husband seasoned them with Mrs Dash.  

I cooked a pan of baked carrots and salted cabbage with onions.  

Wednesday's  meal in the raw

Thursday  we had leftover grilled chicken and steak, with crockpot baked potatoes, canned pinto beans and leftover carrots
.
Baked potatoes are so easy in the crockpot.  I put a small piece of aluminum foil in the bottom, add washed potatoes and then cook on low for 4-5 hours or high for 3-ish.  you can wrap each potato if you like, but I don't as I think it is not necessary. 

I also did a little baking on Thursday - a pan of sandwich buns baked with my grandparents recipe

and a  coffeecake for breakfast. 

My dad and grandson really enjoyed coffeecake for a mid morning snack.  

isn't that a sweet photo?  My dad is 85 and Jackson is 21 months. 

Our breakfasts are usually a lot lighter than coffee cake.
One of our favorites is hashbrowned potatoes with Cajun seasoning and fried eggs.

I just peel and grate leftover baked potatoes and sauté them in a nonstick skillet with a little butter and Cajun spice.  Served with an egg and orange juice, it is a really delicious and satisfying breakfast.

this was my plate for Thursday night supper

Friday night, 2 grandsons are here.  Also,  the Inauguration parade was on TV and we really enjoyed watching all the military marching and full dress uniforms.  The college and high school bands were so good too. 

Anyway,  this was a real life meal,  tater tots with melted cheese and pigs in blankets (hot dogs wrapped in dough and baked)   We used Hebrew 97% fat free hot dog wieners and they tasted very good. 

That's a week of meals at our home.  We don't eat fancy and I am obviously not a professional food stylist or photographer. 
We've had reasonably balanced meals and I have not stressed for 1 minute about what to serve. 
I highly recommend using some sort of meal plan, whatever works for your home. 

CVS shopping. 

I started with $18 Extracarebucks from 2016 and a $25 CVS giftcard earned on Swagbucks. 

the total was $69 before deductions. I used newspaper coupons, CVS coupons,  and the extracarebucks and giftcard.  The 2 candies were on 75% clearance. 
I paid .91 cash and got back $16 in Extracarebucks, 

Homemade puppy toys

We've had our new puppy almost 2 weeks.  She is sweet and doing fine, but getting a puppy and all the gear we needed has not been very frugal.  She needed a crate, a collar and leash, dog food and chew toys and her adoption fee.

She is very playful and also  needed some toys to help entertain her.
I looked on Pinterest and saw many homemade dog toys.  I used long strips of fleece to make these because it's what I had on hand.  There are many similar tutorials using discarded t shirts.

Mabel has had lots of fun playing with these.  

If you want to make some,  just search for DIY dog toys on Pinterest.  

The grandchildren like playing tug of war with Mabel using the new toys.  

I don't recommend these fabric toys for every dog.  Our son once had a Staffordshire Terrier named Angel who would eat anything.  Angel once ate a whole sock and needed an expensive surgery to remove it from her belly.  These toys would never of been safe for her.  

Mabel just plays with these, so far.  And we will be keeping an eye on her.  

The past week ......

Hello.  I didn't mean to take a week off blogging.  But I was sick with a cold for 4 days, my husband was away at his parents for 6 days, and I was just off schedule.  But here are the highlights.


Our weather forecasters told us well in advance that an ice storm was coming.
Ice can be  the most destruction weather next to tornados.  If the ice is heavy,  it can can cause the entire power grid to fail and it can halt all traffic as roadways are just too slippery to use.
This is what we were concerned could happen-

Thankfully, in our area, we only had about a quarter inch of ice which was not enough to really harm anything.  

The trees and ground and all outside surfaces are encased with ice and it's quite pretty.  

It was just warm enough that the roads mostly were all clear and safe near us.  

Next week's forecast is for dry conditions and much warmer temperatures.  😄

My biggest household task was to work on our craft-computer room that just kind of became a dumping ground over the last few months.  😱

It took several hours but now it looks like this.  

A bit better, right? 

Now I can go in there and actually work on something. 

The closet - lots of assorted fabrics but  I didn't bother to refold them all,

Sewing table is cleaned and cleaned off.  

And I sewed up the mending pile- -a shopping bag that lost its straps, husband's holey shirt, sleeping pants that needed shortened and a ripped bath towel.

Lots left that messy room- a storage tub full of assorted smaller containers,  large bag of trash and a box full of recyclables.

Cooking- I didn't do much cooking while I was sick and while my husband was gone.  I had some leftovers and some frozen foods. 

Friday,  I cooked a small tritip beef roast in the crockpot with carrots and potatoes.  It turned out really good! 

We had  big salad with this meal.
I got the ingredients from the fridge.  All were purchased 2 days after Christmas.  I store most all produce in either plastic bags with most of the air squeezed out or in plastic containers with tight lids.
Produce most always keeps for 2-3 weeks when I do this.

The finished meal 

Dessert was chocolate pie- one grandson had whipped cream on top of his slice 

But the other grandson wanted his plain.