Welcome 2019 and starting a pantry clean out

Happy new year to everyone 

We’ve had a fairly typical January 1st.  We eat black eyed peas and cabbage, always, as it’s a Southern tradition we just like. 

The little statue is a thrift store find, maybe 10 years ago.  I liked him when I bought him and I especially like him now as he looks so much like one of our grandsons.

In December,  I realized I have just been buying more groceries than we really need.  So, I bought a lot fewer groceries last month and we still have so much on hand.

So, my plan is to buy nothing in January except fresh things like eggs and produce.  And if we run out of a staple that’s essential,  I may buy it if needed.  My hope is to spend less than $100 this pay period.  

(Our pay periods don’t run exactly by a calendar month  but start around the 25th or so of each month.



Bottom of pantry

Top of pantry

The freezer section of our refrigerator 

2 photos inside the Upright  freezer

And I think there is a turkey in the freezer in the little fridge in my husband’s workshop.

We have more than enough meat on hand, plenty of baking supplies, frozen vegetables, juice, nuts. 

The pantry is full of canned goods, condiments, more baking supplies and dry goods.  

I’m not trying to go minimalist but many of our foodstuffs are going unused and I’m not wanting to buy new things and let current food go bad. 

As January goes on,  I’ll share some the dishes I’m cooking.  

I’ve seen several other pantry type challenges online.  I’m not linking up to them but may I peek in on a few of them for inspiration.  

Are any of you doing pantry challenges right now?  

Today’s crafting

We bought this huge white tree last year and put traditional ornaments on it. 

This year, when we unpacked it,  I thought it looked like a snowman.  So I looked on Pinterest and saw several snowmen trees for inspiration.  

The top hat is made from black posterboard and I used this pattern as a basis 

cardboard top hat DIY

The eyes and buttons are black yarn pompoms.

The mouth is chenille stems wrapped in black felt.  

The nose is a posterboard cone wrapped with orange yarn.  

The black scarf was crocheted by my mom, my husband used to wear it many years ago when he rode a motorcycle.  

It was fun to do and we are really liking our happy snowman tree. 

Cindy Lou Who Cape 
This is a fleece cape, also inspired by Pinterest, for a granddaughter to wear when her school has its annual Grinch Day.  I think it’s probably too long but it will be easy to shorten.  Fleece doesn’t have to be hemmed so I can just cut it to fit.  

I’m pretty fearless when it comes to whacking fabric 😂

‘‘Tis the season for crafting projects ❤️

Hello December

Hello everyone and welcome to December.  

It’s cooler here and it seemed like a good time to batch cook some pinto beans for the freezer.  

I think home cooked beans taste better and are thriftier than canned beans.  

And why do canned beans foam up when I rinse them? It’s almost like they have soap in them.  They don’t taste soapy but it sure makes me wonder.  

I soaked 5 cups of pinto beans overnight and seasoned them with cumin, onion and jalapeños while they cooked.  Then when they were done, I added salt and pepper to taste.  

We ate pinto beans with cornbread for supper tonight and I put 5 containers of cooked pintos in the freezer for future meals.  


Amazon has been running a deal on some Prime Pantry items,  save $6 when you buy 5 and free shipping on orders of $10 or more.  You must be a member of Prime Pantry which is $5.99 a month but I signed up for a free month and will cancel it before the 30 days expire.  

Some of the items also have coupons on them and the free shipping after $10 is for the total before coupons are deducted.  

I saw hundreds of comments about other shoppers doing this deal on a Facebook shopping list so I jumped on the wagon too.  

I ended up doing 9 orders and spent $52 for all the products below.  

All the pastas on the left are a gluten free variety.  

It was a good deal and everything I bought are things we use.  It seemed like an unbelievably great deal when I was doing it,  but now I think it was just a good deal.  

I think the deal is still going on and they change the items occasionally.  Go to Prime Pantry and click on the Buy5 save $6 icon and it will take you to the list,  if you’re interested.  


Below - Two books I’m reading and so far, I like them both.  


December came in like a lion last night with lots of wind and rain.  We’ve had this play house for about 7 years and this is the first time it’s ever  turned over.  

I’m hoping December will go out like a lamb.   It who knows? 

Hope you all are having a good weekend ❤️

Monday To dos, that puzzle and other home stuff

Good morning,  

I made a pretty to do list for this week and even though I feel like I’m moving slow, I’ve already marked off a few things.  (It’s 8:37 a.m. as I’m writing) 

I’ve worked on the 1000 piece puzzle and it feels slow too. 

I’ll finish it but I think I’ll be doing 500 or less piece puzzles in the future.  


This puzzle has lots of details.  I like this guy who has eaten 3 1/2 apples from his box and is now sleeping with a newspaper covering his face 😂


Yesterday I made a batch of hamburger vegetable soup in the crockpot.  I shared it my family,  

It was nice a slightly chilly day. 

I’m not an early Christmas decorator but I did hang the Christmas mugs in the kitchen yesterday. 

Below is one I bought last year at Dollar Tree 

And I think should be the motto for just about everything.  

Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle 

Have a good Monday everyone ❤️

Puzzle day and Friday night pizza

Hello - first I want to thank everyone for the sweet comments on yesterday’s post,  which I somehow posted twice.  But I don’t want to delete the duplicate post as both have comments from different visitors.  But I guess we all understand internet goof ups, right?  I’m pretty sure the error was my fault though and not Blogger’s though.  

I think homemaking blog readers are some of the sweetest people on the internet and I’m happy to of met so many of you through blogging. 

Today, November 3, is National Puzzle Day in the UK.  I’m a long way from England but I’m celebrating their holiday. 

I usually work puzzles with less than 500 pieces but I decided  to try a 1000 piece puzzle from a yard sale.  

Oh my- it has so many pieces!  It took me a couple hours to turn over and sort all the pieces and work the border.  

When our children were at home. Friday night was most always homemade pizza night.  I usually made 4 pizzas and leftovers were rare.

It was just my husband and I last night so I made just one pizza.

I mix up a half portion of this dough in the bread machine.

pizza or calzone dough recipe 

My husband diced up the veggies.  

He likes pepperoni and green olives on his and we both like jalapeños and onions so I put on the toppings to suit us.

No baked pizza photo but it was very good!  

Have a good weekend everyone ❤️