October #6 new dog collar, 2 “free things” and misc

Hello everyone 

Oklahoma is having bad weather most of this week.  We are as prepared as can be.  

We have a tornado safe room just a few feet from our backyard.  

Out town has tornado alert sirens and there is one less than a block from our home and it is very loud. 

Im keeping shoes, a leash, my handbag and a lantern on the table by the back door and we can be in our building in seconds if we need to head out .

I looked into ways to safely walk Ducky and after lots of research, I ordered a new collar, just for walking, from Amazon.  

So far,  it’s working great!  He doesn’t mind wearing it and doesn’t gag or choke with it,  

He just walks nicely and leaves a little slack in the leash and wags his tail the whole walk- but he doesn’t pull or yank at all.  

  

One job I didn’t have on my to-do list was to clean out the freezer on our kitchen refrigerator. 

And y’all be amazed but I remembered to take a before and an after photo. 

BEFORE 

AFTER 

I guess these photos aren’t too dramatic but it really is much better. 

  

  

I reused some plastic tubs to hold things.  

I pulled out the saved chicken bones and started a batch of “free” chicken broth 

I let it cook all day and then strained it. 

It made an almost full gallon and almost a quart 

It will chill in the fridge all night,

Then tomorrow I’ll take the fat off the top and put it meal size containers and freeze.  

Today, our public library had free flu and Covid vaccines,  

I got a flu vaxx and it maybe took 5 minutes.  I usually get an achy arm after a shot but so far, I feel just fine.  

While I was there, I got my library card reactivated as it became inactive during 2020 when I went almost nowhere, including the library. 

I walked the children’s section between where the vaccines were and the main desk.  They had lots of freebies for littles so I picked up a craft kit and color sheet for Cora. 

While I was out,  I dropped off some donations at a thrift store and a used car seat that still had plenty of time before it expires to a family who requested one on a Facebook buy nothing group.  

If feels good to help others and to have some more room/breathing space in our home.  

I hope you all are getting things done and enjoying the beginning of fall, 

🍁🎃 Rhonda 

October #5 fall things and replies and my new to do list

First, here’s my to-do list for next week

I’ve started a few things in the sewing room 

I ripped up a bed sheet into squares to make napkins- I plan to hem them soon 

I used this sheet on the bottom futon on some bunkbeds we used to have and it’s really nice thick woven percale.  

Cora needed some fall themed clothes for her day care - they do different themes each week and she doesn’t get special clothes each week but this seemed like a fun week to do it. 

I used fabric from I already had and put iron on fusible on them and cut out the shapes,

  after I ironed them on,  I machine stitched with a straight stitch close to the edge,  

I cut up some fabric strips to make a garland for our fireplace and I want to finish this fall theme cross stitch I did years ago 

And I hope to sew up this fabric panel for a fall themed decoration for our dining room, 

It’s the same fabric I used on 2 of Cora’s shirts 

Goofy Ducky likes to lay right in the middle of the sewing room - and yes, he is in the way 😵‍💫

Speaking of Cora- I stayed with here one evening while her parents went out to a local restaurant. 

She was already asleep in bed when I got there and I watched her on this little monitor.  

She kept me entertained as she flops and wiggles a lot 🥰
She never knew I was there but I enjoyed it just the same

Replies

Lejmom- still have the banana keeper but it’s soooooo big and I’ve only been buying 3-4 bananas at a time recently. 

Traveling Oltmans- I don’t pre-bake my pizza crusts but lots of other recipes do.  

There were lots of good, informative replies yesterday.  I hope y’all read them too.  

Terri left a good pizza crust recipes and Tammy left a variation of pimento cheese that uses bell pepper instead of pimento and sounds delicious,  Tammy, I think the cheese balls that Jimmy makes have diced bell pepper, among other things, and they are really good

Are you all planning your new week? 

Hope you all have had a good weekend 

❤️Rhonda 

October #4 - just food stuff

Good evening 

I’ve known all week that 3 grands would be spending tonight here.  Pizza is always a good meal for Friday night. 

So I made the dough this morning and kept it in the fridge in an oiled bag.  

This is my go to pizza crust recipe- 

There are lots of good pizza crust recipes.  I like this one because the dough is always so easy to roll out.  

The cornmeal adds a nice chewy texture to the doughy too.  

One son came for lunch so I made some pimento cheese for us to eat.  

I use grated sharp cheddar (but I think most traditional southern variations use mild cheddar or American) diced pimentos, dill pickle relish, yellow mustard and just enough mayo to hold it together,  

And a little salt and pepper 

It’s good as a sandwich filling, on celery or crackers.  

If you like spicy,  it’s delicious in a jalapeño pepper half too 🌶 

When it was time to make the pizzas,  I made one round one that my husband and I ate. 

I rolled out the other half of the dough into 3 individual pizzas and the 3 grands topped them like they wanted.  

The baked at 425 for almost 20 minutes - but my oven bakes a little slow compared to others I’ve used.  

So- that recaps the easy meals I prepared today. 

Hope you are all well 

❤️ Rhonda 

October #3- home things and a little freezer cooking

Hello everyone

 

It was a such a busy summer and I never planted my big zinnia bed but we had a few zinnias come up as volunteers. 

When I cleaned up the flower beds this week,  I pulled the last of them and clipped off the best flowers for an indoor arrangement.  

For a quick lunch, I made grilled cheese sandwiches.  Mine is just cheese and my husband’s also has a ham slice.  

Grilled cheese are so good and convenient.  

I think a lot of people in the fast food drive throughs  would be better off to just go home and have grilled cheese instead of burgers and chicken.  

I did a little bulk, freezer cooking today. 

I put 2 beef roasts in the big crockpot and a tray of Aldi chicken breasts in the other.  

I added a little water and cooked both until they were tender. 

The chicken was done in about 4 hours and the roasts took about 6 hours. 

I shredded the meat and bagged it for the freezer 

This will be used for chicken salad, chicken pot pie, vegetable beef soup, hot roast beef  sandwiches, beef fried rice - 

Lots of yummy and quick meals! 

Speaking of Aldi,  I went there twice this week.  

I found bath towel sets for my daughter when they stage their bathrooms as they ready their home to sell. 

I also bought some yummy and huge strawberries there.  

  

I started this week still feeling poorly mostly from my fall when walking our dog.  

I did a few things but I rested a lot this week and thankfully I am feeling much better! 

Rest can do amazing things 

Hope you all have had a very good week 

❤️Rhonda 

October #2 - a few frugal things

Good morning,  we’ve just gone through a few expensive months so I’m planning to go back to my extra-frugal ways for October.  

I worked on my to do list today and yesterday and have finished several things. 

Yesterday I did all the laundry and washed our bedding.  

I still like to indoor-dry most of our clothes on hangers (I machine wash with fabric softener, shake out the wrinkles and then hang them in doorways until they dry all the way) 

Ducky got a bath at home and he smells much better.  Ducky and I both like when he goes to the doggy spa for a day of play and bathing but it costs $65.  

I also cut his long facial hair as it was growing where his sight seemed obstructed.  I used some sharp kid scissors with blunt ends and it worked just fine.  Then I cleaned his ears with baby wipes.  Dogs with long flappy ears are cute but are prone to ear problems. 

I think I still need to trim over his left eye a bit more

In my kitchen,  I’ve been using Sterlite bins to organize my lower cabinets and freezer.  

I decided my pots and pans needed bins and thought about ordering some (but their current price is so much higher than when I bought our older ones,) 

I remember I had set a castoff stack of assorted bins and tubs in the storm building and amazingly- several of them worked just right! 

One bin has small stoneware pieces, one has skillets and a Dutch oven, one has lids and one has a Dutch oven and saucepans.

Don’t you love it when you accomplish a task using stuff you already have? 

Attached pullouts would work even better but these bins work just fine for me!  

About the red cookware- I bought it on Amazon and like it, but I don’t like it enough that  I would re-buy it.  

It is very attractive and I’ve gotten lots of comments on it though.  

I had some heavy cream in the fridge so I made a double batch of freezer biscuits.  

We ate some with supper and the rest are bagged in the freezer for future meals.  

This recipe is so easy and delicious!  And any brand of flour will work - I used Great Value unbleached because it’s what I had 

I’ve been hearing from several friends about the outrageous prices of insulin type prescription medicines.  

I’m sorry for everyone struggling with this. 

Thankfully we don’t need insulin meds  and I think if we did,  our medical plan would cover them.

I’m covered by a VA plan and got my 3 months of medicines by mail yesterday - 

Just a tiny blood pressure pill and a potassium every other day capsule because the b/p medicine lowers my potassium too much.  

The day is still young and I need to shower after working in the front flower beds.  

Hope you all are having a good beginning of October 🍁  🎃 🌽  

❤️ Rhonda