Living Without Money

Bagels

2012-01-29T20:27:00.002-05:00

The first step in baking bagels, is to boil them for about 20 seconds in water with baking soda. Here, I used a slight variation on a recipe for pretzel dough. I used mostly whole wheat flour and I added chopped nuts and seed for extra nutrition and fiber. The dough takes about 20 minutes to make and an hour to rise.

I baked them at 425 for 23 minutes -- about five minutes longer than I would for pretzels because they are formed more thickly. The egg wash has a little water, sesame and chia seeds. I sprinkled extra chia seeds on top. These need to bake on parchment paper. I knock on them to make sure they are really done. When they are done, the sound is just sorta like they are almost hollow. Here they are before they got baked.

I bake four at a time. Here they are out of the oven. They smell really good! Once they are totally cooled I'll either put them in a large tuppy or a zippy with a paper towel to help grab any moisture.

I had left over veggie matter -- some of which was a spinach salad from dinner tonight that I just didn't finish. Since it was dressed with a yogurt/buttermilk sort of mixture, I didn't think it would clash with cream cheese. This makes my cream cheese not only more spreadable -- but more nutritious too! Actually, I use neufatchel as it has less fat but tastes better than light/no fat cream cheese.

We will spread this on the bagels and also on crackers for appetizers. We always eat late so it's good to have something healthy to munch on. This will go great with wheat crackers. Also, I had stalks from the baked kale I made this week. I whizzed them up once I scraped out the food processor. Puppy will be eating that tonight. Also, she got the eggshell from my egg wash and she slurped up the rest of what I had left over after I brushed the bagels. We really waste very little in this house.

Pup got out twice today as daddy took her for a long walk -- in the middle of a miserable/horrific snow squall along the river. I needed some fresh air in the afternoon, so we headed out to the big meadow in Delaware park and romped around for about a half hour. I wanted to get some good use out of my moon boots! On days like today, it's great to be warm and stay in and bake things -- and it's nice to be able to feed the pup the leftovers after she's spent so much time outdoors.

We live a happy life -- we are well fed and well exercised.

Semi Productive

2012-01-28T21:25:00.002-05:00

It has been a rough couple of days. But last night we enjoyed dinner out at a new local restaurant using restaurant.com gift certificates, which was nice. This morning, I had an hellacious run with my BFF, ending in pelting wet rain/snow in our faces. Other than the excellent company (Teddy included), the experience was true torture! But once I got home, I knew I had to get something done, so I "processed" a week's worth of egg shell. I put the dried shells in the food processor.

This is what I end up with. It's powder calcium at no cost. I mix it with pet food and I also use it with my tomato plants in the summer.

I store it in a jar which I keep tightly sealed. For a normal batch of food, I use about a teaspoon per pound of meat. I also use it if the pup gets loose stools -- but that almost never happens.

This was the grocery haul for the week. I spent $37 at Guericos and $26 at Weggies. We are eating tons more fruit because we're hooked on smoothies. I also made a batch of pumpkin/carrot/turnip soup for a friend who has had a hard start to his year. His wife is a dear friend who has been in ICU since New Years and I wanted to make something he could warm in the microwave and eat in a flash.

I did not pack this weekend because it looks like the sale of the house may very likely fall through on account of the buyer's appraisal coming in 20K too low. If he wants to put down more money, he may have a chance on his loan, but I am not optimistic. We don't have the stomach to go through another offer, etc. and we will likely have to pass on the house we want to buy. So, we may just call it a day and stay where we are. As a result, I've put the breaks on packing. I feel bad for all parties as the appraisal was not, to my standards, done right. Because our house is unique, it is hard to value. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have value.

If we stay here, we will save a lot of money. So, it won't kill us. But I was looking forward to scaling down in size. We won't know until next week how it will all shake out. But at least I've got supplies for many tasty meals on hand.

Nuts for Seeds

2012-01-25T09:37:00.005-05:00

I am on my third or fourth week of adding ground seeds into the things we eat and wanted to comment on the results. It would seem that many of you are health conscious and are looking for ways to look and feel better without spending a lot of money in a foolish way. I also think that I spend more money on stuff that some might see as non-essential. If there is one thing I believe in, it is that eating healthy will save money in the long run so it’s sensible to me to pay a little more for fresh foods and healthy ingredients now as a precaution against future costly health conditions.

I have figured out a few things from an economic perspective. First, my main concentration has been on eating more leafy greens and salads as a main dish. I work the seeds into these by grinding them and sprinkling them over the greens and often add to dressing a well. We almost always have nuts with salads too – walnuts or almonds. The seeds I am using are sesame, flax and chia. I grind them shortly before we consume them and use the coffee grinder to do it. Whatever amount is in excess of what I’m going to serve ends up in the dog’s bowl.

I have my sources set from a price perspective. Sesame seeds are cheapest in bulk at the green grocers (Guercios). My nuts are the best buy in bulk at Weggies. I get the Chia and Flax seed in the organic section of Wegmans – but a local health food chain named Feel Right might have better pricing, so I will check on Saturday.

I am not gaining any weight by taking in the extra oil/calories from the nuts. In fact, I think I might have dropped a few pounds. That could be due to having more time to run, which I am doing more regularly. Eating more salad helps. I think some of the seeds do help me feel full after dinner so that I have not felt any serious deprivation by not having dessert. The Vitamix is getting heavy use and we are consuming more fruit – with seeds in our smoothies. This is certainly healthier than a sugar-based treat.

I have noticed an increase in acne on my forehead and think the flax might be at the root of that. I have adult acne which has been a battle since I was 19. I use Retin-A but as I‘ve gotten older found I could scale back to every other night (on alternate nights I used it mixed in with a light moisturizer). For now, I am using it more frequently. My gut tells me the acne is going to get better once I have adjusted to the flax intake. My skin over-all is actually feeling noticeably softer. So is my hair. It’s actually almost freaky how soft it feels – without using conditioner. When I first went on my acne cream, the pimples got worse at the second or third week, then once all the bacteria was pushed out from the lower layers of my skin, it all cleared up and has been great ever since. I stopped a few times in my 40’s to see if I still needed it – and I do. My guess is maybe the healthy oils from the flaxseed are working to push bad stuff out with the oil in my skin too, which is why I am willing to ride this out. The skin/hair improvement is so nice that I’ll deal with the pimples if I have to!

All the extra nuts and seeds probably put an additional 10 bucks into my grocery bill. We are also spending more on fruit. However, we are eating less meat so I think it might be a wash. I am going to compare the price of bulk almonds to what it costs to make almond milk. I am not sure if it’s going to be cheaper to buy it prepared or not. Puppy gets the left-over water we use to soak the almonds so that is one benefit to making it. But we have not really gotten to the point of almond milk yet so I will be better prepared to comment on that next week.

We are doing well with the increased intake of seeds and nuts and it’s not killing our wallet. I will look in to making flax moisturizing gel for hair and skin once we move and I have more time. It’s not that expensive as a health-promoting tool and I bet I can put it to good use topically too. So seeds and nuts are getting an LWM two thumbs up!

Not Doing Everything I Should, But Doing OK!

2012-01-24T19:47:00.001-05:00

I've got this pot of organic kale sitting on the stove. I'm not going to cook it on the stove top, it's just waiting on deck to go in the oven. I have been wanting to try baked kale chips for a while and decided to just do it. I tossed the pieces in EVOO, dusted with kosher salt, sesame seeds, chia seeds and flax seeds.

I have a semi-healthy pizza in the oven. I just can't commit to nutritional virtue. It has crushed tomato, basil, mushrooms, onion, kale eggplant -- and Parmesan cheese with scraps capicolla. Healthy, but not quite!

It was definitely a "not quite" night for me. I stopped at Weggies as a way to avoid going for a run. There's wet/freezing rain/snow going on. Then I got home to a dog that was bouncing off the walls. We had a moving company over last night to give an estimate so she didn't get to run. So, I took her out. But after a lap and a half, it was just too unpleasant with the wind picking up and the stuff coming out of the sky getting worse, so we turned around and went home. See, I'm just not hard core!

We have so much to do and I'm just not getting enough done. Our mortgage commitment came through and we are locked at 4.25%, which is awesome. The price we got for moving was OK for the big pieces but they want a buck a box, regardless of size. So we are probably doing the boxes ourselves. Again, we can never do anything the whole way!

I will just be relieved when that part of our life is done -- and I'm Jonesin' for my pizza to be done too. TTFN!

"Greek" Fried Rice

2012-01-23T19:03:00.003-05:00

This healthy meal was based on the concept of "Fried Rice." I started with half a medium eggplant, peeled and cubed. One diced tomato, about four diced mushrooms and about 1/4 of an onion, with sliced almonds and whole chia and sesame seeds.. I tossed it all in EVOO and put it under the broiler to get it crispy/browned.

Once my brown rice was done, I tossed it in with the broiled veggie mixture and added some more EVOO then sauteed it for another couple of minutes. I served it with some of my home made venison/beef/pork sausages. The Greek yogurt on the side has EVOO, lemon a lot of dill and some diced onion. Of course the meat looks like little turds... but it sure don't taste that way!

A lot of the fat in the pork and beef broiled off and the lean venison just gives these a great taste. I season with St. John's Savory (brought back to me from Newfoundland), basil, rosemary, salt and pepper. We both had a serving for lunch and I have more links that will make their way into another few meals.

This is a healthy and delicious alternative to it's fatty Chinese counterpart. It was easy to make too!

Mixer Report

2012-01-22T11:52:00.002-05:00

This was my breakfast which was made with help from the Vitamix. I used three scrambled eggs (from my carton mishap yesterday), some old milk (still not sour, but on the edge), walnuts, a little oil and some baking powder, vanilla extract, cinamon and a little bit of yogurt, flax seed and 1.5 apples -- cores and all. I whizzed this all up and then added two cups of wheat flour and gave it a another whizz. Once it was mixed up, I added some slivered almonds and then cook my panny cakes on the cast iron griddle -- sprinked with sesame seeds. TBG made the bacon. I topped mine with vanilla yogurt and more almonds. We have leftover pannycakes for breakfast during the week.

Last night I made a pumpkin soup. At lunch I whizzed up a few apples and a carrot with a little spinach and some pomegranate juice we had in the fridge. We had some and so did the dog. It was a nice snack/treat. I've used the mixer for three or four different things already. I plan to try making almond milk later. My goal is to make healthy soups and sauces and keep our meals salad based with a small serving of animal protein. Last night it was salmon. Tonight it will be venison/beef/pork sausage. I also used the mixer to make slop for the pup using frozen veggie odds and ends left in the freezer along with a bag of thawed frozen cranberries. Yes, my dog will eat (and loves) unsweetend whole cranberries.

My meals haven't necessarily been low fat or low calorie -- I used leftover cream cheese in the soup because I had to use it soon. Nuts have fats and calories -- but they have a healthy fat. I am just trying to eat more fresh foods and boost our protein and omega-3 intake using healthier sources.

I also wanted to answer a question for Pat based on yesterday's post. Blogger is not letting me bring up my comments or reply to them and I wanted her (and anyone else who is curious) to know that I usually use a teaspoon of egg shell per pound of meat. A good link explaining the importance of calcium in pet food is here.

There are other important aspects but calcium is the most important.

Saturday Smash Up

2012-01-21T13:52:00.002-05:00

For the next week or so, Kitty Boy is getting pork. I boiled it with two eggs in about 3/4 of a cup of water and I coulda kicked myself after I started this as I was unpacking my groceries and used two eggs from the fridge. Well, a shopping bag mishap led to three or four broken eggs! I dumped one more in this pot and scrambled up the rest to use for breakfast tomorrow. I saved the shells for the dog.

This is it all cooked up. I added ground up B vitamins and tossed in some Chia seeds -- which will add fiber and help gel this some more. Since I boiled it, there was water for extra kitty hydration. I also added a healthy teaspoon of ground eggshell for calcium. I then dumped in two cans of food and the remains of one in the fridge. I have enough food based on two cans plus the pound of pork to go well over a week. KB really likes his "enhanced" meals and is finishing everything we feed him.

He spends a lot of time in a deep state of slumber. But when he is awake he is either looking for food or love. If it turns out his seizures are from brain tumors, a protein emphasized with minimal grains approach to food will keep the cancer from having much fuel for food. Cancer thrives on carbs, so he gets very little as a precaution.

Our Vitamix came yesterday and I just could not resist it and it ended up getting used after all. I spent a little extra on groceries because I picked up an extra three pound bag of apples and more nuts. I have determined that bulk nuts are cheaper at Wegmans than at Guercios -- by a buck a pound. I also spent a little more this week because I bought my seeds in greater quantities (which is cheaper in the long run). I am adding Chia, Flax and Sesame seeds to our meals and breads.

We did a freezer purge and cleaned out the bottom section of the refrigerator in the house and culled the storage freezer in the garage. We don't need to buy meat or veggies for weeks. I will still buy some fresh after this week for salad and smoothies. However, for meals we are set.

Buying Fresh - Shopping List

2012-01-20T09:05:00.001-05:00

This is my list for shopping tomorrow. With all the fresh food we eat, I have no real need for coupons. I do have to make a decision on where to buy paper towels though!

This is my "West Side" run and are the stores near where we live. I still get most of my stuff at Wegmans but when it comes to meat, the stuff I generally need for the cat and dog are at Tops -- ground pork, for example. KB is getting a half pound of that in his food this week, and pup is getting a mixture of venison/beef/pork for two meals too. The rest is for us!

Wegmans has the only all peanut peanut butter we like (at the best price) and store brand jam that has no sugar added. They also have the best deal going on bananas and bagged apples. I like their store brand frozen blueberries and try to always have some on hand.

This will probably be enough to get us through next week. I will probably have to pop into Price Rite for a bag of spinach on my way home today. We will run out of Vanilla yogurt in a few days but I don't like to buy dairy products much in advance.

We will be eating fresh most of the time and it's really not that expensive -- and far healthier than processed foods. A little more time consuming to prepare, but if it keeps us healthy then it is worth it. What else is everyone else buying fresh these days? And do you think you are saving money by doing that?

I Do Buy Things!

2012-01-19T08:29:00.001-05:00

It's obvious that I do have some money. I just try to live without spending a lot of it. And what I do spend, I try to focus on necessities. Of course, I always try to get a good deal. Plus, I am often willing to wait for something or do without it until I feel it's just the time to buy it. My weakness is that I do succumb to deals. Most of the time that works out fine and I do well. But sometimes it can be impulsive.

I bought a Vitamix this weekend. It's a super-blender/chopper/processor that I have wanted for a very long time. I did not buy the super-charged model but did get the GC 64oz version that seems to do most of what I would do with either a food processor, food grinder or blender. There is an attachment that grinds grains to make flour which I might add on later.

QVC had a deal on these things on Sunday and it was $399 with free shipping and handling. With tax, it came to about $430. I split it into four easy-pays for about $80 each.

I have a Kitchen Aid blender that didn't end up holding up very well. My food processor is a Kitchen Aid too. It's done OK but it's days are numbered. I spent a little more to buy those (over average brands) and they didn't seem to out-perform any better. But I can say I am still in love with my stand mixer. However, I will be able to do many of the same thing in the Vitamix.

One of my goals was to consolidate functions into one machine because we are moving to a smaller kitchen. I am hoping this fulfills my food dreams of eating more and more real foods, making more vegetable and fruit based main dishes and the like. It was not a small expenditure but we'll feel it a bit less by spreading it out. The price was below the normal QVC point and lower than at the Vitamix website, so I think I did OK. I'm not going to unbox an start using it until we move -- and that's gonna be tough!!!

Happy Feet

2012-01-17T19:37:00.001-05:00

I had to get winter boots -- finally. The weather has been so mild that I had managed until now to go without. I had off yesterday, so I went to Marshalls. This pair of Technica Moon Boots were on clearance for 39 bucks and that makes me soooo happy. If there is one thing I love, it's a pair of moon boots. If there is another thing I love, it's tan/butter suede. And if there is another thing I love, it's a boot with shearling lining. OK, this is faux. But they are not faux "Moon Boots." They are the real thing.

What was totally amazing about yesterday was that I could go from such giddy euphoria to absolute stress/terror. OK, it wasn't enough that we had the appraisal done on our house (who would not be nervous about that?). But I also found that the collision coverage on my soon to be five year old car was discontinued -- a month ago!!! I'm not going into the reason why. I got it cleared up today. But I couldn't think rationally knowing the car that is almost paid off had no comprehensive coverage for physical damage. I am just thankful I hadn't had an accident in the last month. I worked from home today because I was not going to take my car out of the driveway!

Dinner is another thing that always makes me happy. Especially when we know so many in this world go hungry. So after getting my car insurance straightened out and being in a happy place meant I was going to be able to sustain my glee by making a good dinner.

Some ladies like to look at shelves of items bought at little or no cost. I like to look at fresh stuff. Fresh colorful veggies and the like just make me feel good. This meal was venison meatballs in a light marinara -- fresh tomatoes, sauce and chicken stock topped with fresh grated parm, Fontanella and mozzarella. On the side, I steamed broccoli, carrots and spinach with almonds. I tossed in fresh chunks of orange and ground flax/sesame seeds and added a smidgen of butter and some EVOO. I can't even tell you what a meal like this cost -- but it wasn't a lot. I have made one small broccoli crown stretch out to three meals. I get more than a week's worth of meals out of about seven dollars worth of cheese.

I can't look at my ingredients on a shelf and tally how much I paid or how much I saved when I bought them. But I do get to look at a colorful couple of plates of food and get so say "YUM!"

So I guess I had happy feet, happy head and happy tummy today.

Pretzel Logic

2012-01-16T10:35:00.004-05:00

This is my morning post and I'll put one up showing dinner too. I missed yesterday because we went to a champagne brunch and that sapped my motivation for most of the day. In preparation for our invite, I made homemade pretzels. I'd wanted to try them for some time. I bought along a butter mixture with ground seeds (flax and sesame, of course), walnuts and honey. They were yummy! Today I had a toasted pretzel with cream cheese topped with ground seeds and walnuts. Tonight I'm making venison/beef/pork burgers which I 'll serve on these instead of a bun. I'll post the picture later.

I wanted a healthy way to enjoy pretzels. They are easy to make and this saves money over buying them frozen or at the mall at a specialty pretzel stand. Because I used a mixture of whole wheat. white whole wheat and all purpose white flour, they are fiber dense too. They are easy to make.

A tablespoon of yeast (I skimp because I use wheat flour and go short of the tablespoon), a tablespoon of sugar and a a tablespoon of kosher salt (which is the only kind of salt I use). Mix with 1/4 cup warm water for ten minutes. Then add another cup and a half. I use my kitchen aid dough hook to mix in the flour (about 4 cups). Coat with oil and let rise.

You boil them first before you bake. Get your pot of water boiling and then add 1/2 cup baking soda.. It will woosh up -- some boiled over and I used that mess to clean my stove top! Stretch/roll the doug into long strings to use to form the pretzel shape. Boil the pretzels for 30 seconds and then plop them on a baking sheet lined with parchment. I formed 8 pretzels and boiled two at a time. They baked for 18 minutes at 425 and I did it in two batches. Before they go in the oven, give them an egg wash using just a yolk and a tablespoon of water, sprinkle with salt. I gave the pup the shells, the white and the rest of the yolk once I was done. She is always in the kitchen when I cook!

These are really sooooo easy to make and they are very hearty. I could make them with just white flour but our goal is to eat whole grains. When I added the seeds on top today, I gave them a great fiber and nutrient boost. This is not a high fat snack and the carbs are complex... which makes them a healthy alternative to bagels or a bun. And they taste good too!

Now for dinner:

Venison/beef/pork burger with mushroom and cheese on top. Served on a pretzel bun, with spinach and yogurt/avocado/onion spread (ground flax and sesame seeds with EVOO cut in). Yum!

And those are sweet potato fries on the side!

Semi-Homemade Cat Food

2012-01-14T09:28:00.002-05:00

I started with three chicken thighs. TBG got a large tray for the pup and we wanted to use them up before they started to smell. You can always tell if the meat you are raw feeding is fresh by how it smells. Even smelly stuff smells worse once it starts to get old... But I digress!

The quarters cooked a long time in the small crock. From 5PM last night until 8AM this morning. I wanted the meat falling off the bones.

I wanted the bones to be really well cooked so I could mush them up. There's still calcium in them and the marrow is full of protein.

Along with the mashed up chicken and bone, I added a small amount of ground eggshells. That was for calcium too. The bones have calcium but it does get leached into the stock as it cooks. There are a couple of ladles of broth in there for more flavor and hydration.

For this batch, I mixed Felidea (half can already in the fridge) and Evo (full can). These were both chicken/turkey formulas. I feed kitten food -- not senior. Senior food counts all old pets as overweight and they formulate the food to cut calories. I feel seniors need good protein and my guy is not fat. I want him to have some extra flesh in reserve and because he is old, he is losing muscle mass. Thus, I am a proponent for high quality protein for senior felines. I add extra stock to the mixture because all cats need to be hydrated but is is super important for old men like mine who have kidneys that have been working for a very very long time.

I made two vitamin B complex pills into powder in my coffee grinder. B vitamins are important for good health and I give one pill per day to the dog (half in the AM, the other in the PM, coated with coconut oil). The pills can be bitter, which is why I mix them with food like this. Vitamin B is water soluble so you can't over dose them on it. It makes it easier for their body to metabolize their food and create energy from it.

Proof positive: Kitty Boy Loves His Food!!! He is 20 and has a healthy appetite. He has a bunch of senior health problems but he is a happy cat. He just keeps going. His food is the best we can buy and we make it better (and more affordable!) by adding real chicken to it. He has arthritis, cataracts, old kidneys (which we told were failing five years ago but now show normal numbers), epilepsy (or some sort of seizure disorder) and chronic dental disease. These things shorten the normal cat life-span to about twelve. But not for this guy. And we believe it is the food.

Teddy gets to lick the big bowl.

I get a jar of stock out of it.

Everyone wins!!!!!

The Price is Rite

2012-01-13T10:56:00.000-05:00

I wrote about seeds a couple posts ago and said I got mine from Save-a-Lot but that was wrong. I got them from Price-Rite. I just can't keep the two stores straight. I have been experimenting with these alternative grocery sources for the past few weeks to see if I could make them work. I also have done a minor amount of Aldi shopping but don't think I'll do much of that.

Price Rite does have good prices on produce and you'd think there wouldn't me much to choose from. But I'm now relying on them for my two weekly bags of spinach. At $1.69 for 12 ounces, it beats $4.99 a pound for bulk baby spinach at Weggies. And each time I go in, I am grabbing a bag of flax and sesame seeds.

Aldi is basically a non-starter for me since they don't take the type of charge card I use. I don't like to pay in cash. I'd rather pay one bill when it comes in than have my monthly checking balance fluctuate. Using a charge card means no interest and one payment, no overdrafts or questions about my bank balance. It means we can pay every bill the day it comes in because our monthly balance is building. We have a substantial amount of reward points which will be put towards a flat screen television when we get to the new house.

I am dropping about 30 bucks a pop at PR. Tomorrow I'm going to the green grocer for my cheese and cold cuts. I'm bringing the PR receipt to compare which store is cheaper. Since PR is near my office, I can go there at lunch. Guercios is always a special trip on Saturday. I made the trip into Aldi to by a few Lacura items for a care package to bring to a friend in the hospital. I was bummed they didn't have lip balm!

When we move, we'll have to make new shopping choices. I figured I'd explore Price Rite and then check more into Save-a-Lot to see if they can work for us. As long as we can get affordable fresh food, we are happy. But I think it would be swell to be able to shop in attractively merchandised stores with rows of attractively displayed high end items. Alas, not in my budget!

Spousal Manipulation - The Dining Out Edition

2012-01-12T11:56:00.003-05:00

Part of the way to succeed in having a responsible financial life; can be to know how to cut corners without making it seem like deprivation. Living on a budget is no fun. Especially when it seems like you are depriving yourself. One of the biggest problems a woman can face; is trying to establish penny-pinching tactics when your husband is not on board with that angle of thriftiness. In keeping with my impression that I have a largely female readership (although males who might also follow are of the same mindset as the rest of us); I’m going to give a small lesson in spousal training/manipulation. Keep in mind that I have been happily married going on 24 years and have also worked as a dog trainer. These two points mean I can get things done and get my way without it making it look like I am enforcing my will on others. OK, that’s my disclaimer and now on to my lesson.

Dining out... It can sap your budget. But if you know how to “manage” the event, you can come out of it just fine. I have found that if we schedule this on a semi-regular basis, then we don’t feel deprived of the dining out experience. One great way to do this for us; is Friday Fish Fry. It’s a dinner that doesn’t have to be expensive – and it’s something we can't make as well at home. Here’s how you can manipulate your mate into spending less:

First, look around and see the least expensive but quality source for dining. Avoid bars. Adding beer on to the tab is easy when you are in a bar or restaurant. It’s not so tempting when you are at a diner. Pick a diner near you that does a good fish fry (or cheeseburger, if that is your style). It also is helpful to see if you can find a menu on-line so you know what things cost even before you walk into the establishment.

We have a diner we like and the fish fry is $8.99:

Next, don’t waste money on drinks. Even at a diner. Case in point:

It’s a very hard sell to tell your not-as-thrifty mate that it’s a damn-fool thing to spend $2.19 on Diet Pepsi. But since I’ve already told you how to steer this splurge to an economy source, I’ll give you a tip on how I can steer my guy away from that waste. Caffeine keeps him up at night. It does the same thing to me. Being as chivalrous as he is, I always get to order first. I ask for water and I mention to him that I’d like a soda (in Buffalo, it’s referred to as “pop” but I still can’t do that!), but it would keep me up all night so I’ll go with water. It helps that he works out on Friday nights which means he is thirsty and needs water. He almost always follows suit.

And that last point is important (the Friday night aspect after a gym visit). Pick a night that has the best chance of fitting in with your manipulation. I pick Friday because it is the end of the week and a good night to associate with a splurge. It is also the traditional night for a Fish Fry. Sometimes I splurge on more expensive ingredients for a meal during the week. That is almost always Thursday. I make sure to have enough left-over ingredients so he will be Jonesin’ for more on Friday – which evens out that cost.

So here is the break-down of this dinner out:

Fish Fry = 8.99 x 2 = 17.98

Tax (8.75%) = .78 x 2 = 1.56

Tip (20%) = 3.61

Meal Total = 23.15

If we each had soda at 2.19 each, here is what we’d add on consider cost + tax + tip:

2.19 x 2 = 4.38 + .40 + .88 = $5.66

So, soda is a non-starter for me when it comes to frugally eating out. It’s not something you can’t get at home and the mark-up is ridiculous.

You would also be well-served (if you are not grabbing the check yourself), to control the amount of tip. Do this by knowing the cost of your total in advance and making sure you have the right amount of money on hand to handle it. My guy is notorious for rounding up because he doesn’t like to count pennies. So, the above meal I mentioned would be about a $3.75 tip. It’s not hard to have that on hand and when the bill comes – send him right to the register and tell him you have enough cash to cover the tip. This will always work if your guy (like mine) always has a twenty in his wallet.

This works like a charm with my husband… and if anyone rats on me and lets him knows about this post, I’ll be mighty unhappy. If you have kids, that changes things. I can’t control more than one dog at a time, so I probably couldn’t control a group of puppies along with that one dog. But the dog training corollary is here… if you start to train your dog/kids (i.e. manipulate them) when they are very young, they get conditioned to the way things should be done. If you don’t let the buggers outside of that box, they won’t even think there!

Well, that’s my lesson in manipulation for the day.

Finishing up the Venison

2012-01-11T20:41:00.000-05:00

Last night we had roasted turnips, beets, carrots and onions tossed with parm and the venison sausages on the side. We just wrapped them in foil and put them in the oven for the last 20 minutes the veggies roasted. The venison mixture was awesome with root vegetables.

Tonight it was spaghetti. I got a bag of noodles from the pasta store on my way home and we had San Marzano tomato sauce left from pizza this weekend. I sauteed mushrooms and added the tomato and grated parm. The sausages were easy to slice and went in the pot with a little chicken stock. We ate a monster salad with all sorts of good stuff. Including ground seeds, of course!

I started with 3.75 pounds of meat. We had three dinners and two lunches. The pup had two meals, and the kitty had a meatball or two per day (with two left). The meat that I had to buy came to a little less than six bucks. The venison was free. I've been using the same brick of parm for the past two weeks. I have a number of really good meals with excellent ingredients -- all very cheaply. I think we'll be eating more of this next week!

Seeds are Frugal and Healthy

2012-01-10T09:58:00.001-05:00

Seeds are a healthy way to get more Omegas. The two I am posting about are rich in fiber and vitamin E, and they won’t add lots of fat and calories to your daily total either. Lignans are a group of chemical compounds found in plants. Lignans are one of the major classes of phytoestrogens, which are estrogen-like chemicals and also act as antioxidants. Flax and Sesame seeds are lignan-rich.

You can buy small packets of Flax and Sesame seeds at Save-a-Lot for .67 cents a bag. I could get them even cheaper in big jars at the local green grocer. In whole form, these seeds retain their nutritional benefits for long periods of time. The secret to unleashing their goodness is to grind them – which makes them chemically unstable. Once ground, they need to be consumed that day. Now, let’s talk about each….

Sesame seeds affect the metabolism of fatty acids, and they help keep the body from absorbing and processing cholesterol. They are vitamin E and antioxidant rich. They help the liver process alcohol – so those of us who enjoy our wine, beer or mixed drinks can benefit from their consumption. Sesame seeds are exceptionally rich in iron, magnesium, manganese, copper, and contain vitamin B₁ and vitamin E.They contain lignans, and phytoestrogens with antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. Sesame seeds also contain phytosterols which have been linked to reduced levels of blood cholesterol. The nutrients of sesame seeds are better absorbed if they are ground or pulverized before consumption, as in tahini. Sesame seeds contain a high amount of phytic acid.

Flax seeds contain high levels of dietary fiber as well as lignans. They contain an abundance of micronutrients and omega-3 fatty acids. It is held that they lower cholesterol levels, especially in women. They’ve been shown to reduce the risk of breast and prostate cancers too. It is also possible that Flax seeds can help those with diabetes by serving to better stabilizing blood-sugar levels. Flax seeds are also high in fiber. These seeds are high in plant estrogen and contain a high level of antioxidants.

So, here is my suggestion. Every morning, take a tablespoon each of sesame and flax seeds. Dump them in a clean coffee grinder, and whiz them up. Put them in a dry sealed container and stick that in the fridge. Any time you make something to eat, add them! I sprinkle them on salads, over the peanut butter on my PBJ sammiches. Making a smoothie? Salad dressing? Mix them in! Heck, you can add them to the shake cheese you’re putting over your pasta. Especially if it’s a light stock or EVOO based topping over wheat pasta. Sprinkle them over your pancakes. I will say that from what I’ve been reading, these seeds are the most effective when combined with leafy greens as they help unlock the nutrition in them. I already put almonds over my salads, but now I’m adding ground seeds too.

Including this kind of beneficial Omega-3 to your diet is a great deal. When I get a packet for .67 cents and I only need two a week, it makes it almost impossible to pass them by.

Deer Meat

2012-01-09T21:31:00.000-05:00

I started with one pound of venison, a pound of pork and 1.75 pounds of 80% lean ground pork. Deer meat is too lean to use on it's own so I wanted to make a mixture.

I formed sausages for us, two large globs for the dog and a bunch of meatballs for the cat. The small portion for KB had a little less venison. I boiled them and he's getting one or two per day. Teddy didn't know what to make of the venison the first time she tried it... but now she's eating this mixture in two seconds.

This is what was the result of cooking it all up. I baked the mixture at 425 for about 35 minutes, broiled on low for about five. Since the globs I formed for the dog didn't get cooked, there's nothing to show there!

For dinner tonight, I sliced the "sausage" up and put it under the broiler to warm it back up. I thought these links would be great for pita wraps because I seasoned them with rosemary, basil and oregano. I hate beef gyro because it's not the same as lamb. Since lamb is a lean meat, I figured my combination would make for a good wrap. I spread goat cheese on the pita. For yogurt, I used Chobani mixed with EVOO and a bit of lemon juice, dill and basil.

It was a good dinner! Tomorrow night, we'll have the links with roasted root veggies -- turnips, beets and carrots. Venison can be a versatile meat, the secret that I have recently learned is to cut it with other meats. I am happy with the pork and beef mix.

Anyone else cooking with venison?

Finishing Things Up

2012-01-08T18:38:00.002-05:00

I had sooo wanted to go out for a fish fry on Friday night. But I had food left over from my weekly load and I also had spent a little extra the night before for dinner ingredients. SInce I actually had some extra comfit from that dish, I had to use it. There was also a little bit of dough left and the rest of the pizza sauce.

I used angel hair pasta for the comfit and it was quite nice. It's a mix that is half Smart Taste and half Weggies.

The pizza had the sauce, broccoli and avocado. I mixed some cheddar in with the regular three cheese mix I like to use. The dough was quite hearty because it had risen and kept over four days.

One thing that most people don't realize, is that wheat can act just like yeast to make dough rise. So, I had a little dough left over and used that to help start another batch. I did start with some warm water and yeast, but I used only about a third of the amount I usually use. I made the next batch with wheat, white/wheat and white (with added wheat gluten) just as I normally would. Even though I used less yeast, it raised just fine!

Frozen and Fresh!

2012-01-07T14:42:00.001-05:00

Most people think they have to use either frozen, fresh or canned fruits and veggies. But I think you can combine them with fine results. I am not a fan of frozen strawberries. But I don't mind frozen blueberries. The blueberries are almost always cheaper frozen.

I hadn't gotten strawberries in some time but they are $2.99 at Weggies, and I just felt like some fresh fruit. I sliced them up and added frozen blueberries. This will be fine for cereal. TBG likes to make oatmeal with fruit and I know he will like this.

I also mixed frozen and fresh for the pup. We didn't have a lot of veggie odds and ends around and I was running low on her slop. I had the ends of the strawberries and the tips of green beans. I grabbed two bags of frozen veggies (green beans and broccoli) and ground it all up. Turns out I've got pears which seem to be rotting from the middle out, so they went into it as well. I'm set for a couple of weeks and each bag only cost .99 cents.

Since frozen veggies are picked and processed fresh, I think you can often mix them well with fresh. It's a great way to stretch out your food dollars.

Working on a Budget

2012-01-06T15:24:00.003-05:00

I have been mulling over a budget for 2012. It's not something we do in our house. For a while, I tracked everything I spent, but that was more of an exercise to start to really think about spending. It helped develop discipline. After two years, it wasn't necessary to keep it up.

Last week, my Wegmans total was just under 37 bucks. An additional 20 bucks was spent at Guercios for cheese, cold cuts and fresh produce. I think I also spent three bucks at Tops to get meat for the pup and another nine at Save a Lot for dinner stuff last night.

My guess is that our grocery average is $75. With no time -- and lately no inclination, to clip coupons or follow sales (unless I notice them when I am in the store and it's a good deal), our focus has been mostly on fresh foods.

For 2012, I think I'm going to aim to spend $500 per month on food. The extra will include our booze consumption too -- we can't deny that! This is for two adults -- who entertain regularly enough. It also includes meat and veggies for the dog. We all like to eat well and we like to use real/whole ingredients. Since food is a major source of enjoyment and because we make 90% of our meals at home, I don't think this is excessive.

I'm also allocating $25 per month for the cat. That includes eight dollars a months for his medication. I'm now making sure to start adding real chicken to every meal for him. He needs the protein and it will also make his food a tiny bit less expensive. I refuse to buy supermarket or cheap food for him and the old man loves to eat. For the love and enjoyment I get in return, the expense is well worth it. We just love watching that cat eat.

I think it's great that so many consumers can follow sales, clip coupons and spend a fraction of what we do to feed a family. But if I can formulate a solid budget with what I have in mind to save, then I'm going to eat... damn it!

My over-all goal is to meet all of our expenses (including mortgage, taxes, etc.) under $2500 per month. Food is going to be one of our biggest expenditures... but a gal's gotta eat!

Make it at Home!

2012-01-05T19:56:00.001-05:00

Dinner tonight was a spinach and cheese ravioli in a pancetta, mushroom and scallop comfit. It was very delicious! While it wasn't a cheap meal, it was a fairly inexpensive take on a more expensive meal and it was made frugal because it was made at home.

A couple of months back, I was in Boston for work. There was no way that my per diem covered my meals. The city is too pricey and my companion liked to dine out. So, I splurged and exceeded my per diem. It was a nice treat.

When I do splurge on a meal like that, I try to get my money's worth my making it a learning experience. The meal I had was a pancetta and duck comfit over porcini mushroom ravioli. It had lots of fresh parm and the ravioli was to die for.

My version made use of supermarket (Rosetti) ravioli. Next time I try this I will use Gondola ravioli (the pasta store around the corner). Save a Lot has affordable pancetta and frozen scallops and TBG picked up mushrooms for omelets over the weekend. I made use of the stock from this week's bird and the cheese I've gotten for pizza. I reduced the broth and added some milk and half and half.

The first step was to saute the 'shrooms, then slice the pancetta and fry it. Then I added the broth, dairy products and reduced. As I got closer to the end, I put in the scallops and then mixed in the cheese. It was very soupy and it was very yummy. Alas, I had no bread to sop it up with. This was a spur of the moment idea and I didn't have time to bake anything.

Dining out can be a big budget drain. However, if we can replicate similar meals at home it can be a wonderful way to splurge. I'd get tossed off of Top Chef in the first round, but for us it's OK to just fake it through a serious dish. It's not hard to do and it's a good way to make something more out of an expensive restaurant meal.

When in Doubt, Make a Patty

2012-01-04T18:10:00.000-05:00

Left over mashed potatoes are really good for forming into patties. This batch was a little loose so I should have added some more cheese or maybe bread crumbs. We had a lot of potatoes left but no a lot of sausage and veggies.

This was the remains of the beer brauts I made last week and it was a lunch over the weekend. I had starchy cooked down beer from the crock (I know that is not a formal cooking term but it's clear what I mean!). That got further reduced and I added some gravy master. I had just sliced the brats and pan fried it with the carrots and peppers to warm it up. This "junky" plate of food was a good mid-day meal.

Whenever you are not sure what to do with extra stuffing or mashed potatoes, consider making them into a patty. And if you have any gravy, that's even better!

5 in 1

2012-01-03T19:50:00.001-05:00

Western New Yorkers are familiar with the slogan "Strive for Five" in order to encourage the consumption of five fruits and vegetables per day. I managed to accomplish that in just one meal! We had pizza and salad for dinner tonight.

This salad is made up of spinach, carrots, avocado, mushrooms, oranges and chicken. The pizza is topped with Parmesean, Fontinella and Mozarella and San Marzano tomatoes. I think that between the tomatoes for the pizza and the ingredients in the salad, we fit in all five.

For less than the price of one pizzeria pie and a with a fraction of the fat (and a healthy dose of whole grain since I use wheat flours), we managed to have a meal that was easily five times as nutritious as delivery. It takes much more time and effort to make it at home, but it also makes so much more sense!

Three Stop Shopping

2012-01-02T14:50:00.001-05:00

Although I shopped at Weggies last night, I had to take advantage of the day off to go to Guercios. I just can't pay supermarket prices for the stuff I got here for twenty bucks. Roast beef is twice as much at Wegmans ($10.29 per pound!). So is fresh Parmesean and Fontinella cheese. The San Marzano tomatoes are just a little more at Wegmans (luckily, there is a store brand), however I like to buy crushed for pizza and the private line brand at Weggies are whole. The big jar of garlic is $3.99 at Guercios as well -- so I rarely buy that at the supermarket. They sell big jars of spices at a bargain price too -- but I didn't need any this week. I'll start a big batch of dough tonight and we'll have pizza and salad most of the week. Tonight I am roasting a "special today" chicken which I couldn't pass up for .69 a pound. I'll put left over chicken over salads and have just a plain cheese pie on the side most nights of the week. Last week we had pizza every night and I can tell you that was no hardship!

I could not make my third stop because the sausage shop is closed on Monday. TBG can stop in at lunch one day this week to pick up our sweet cappicolla for pizza. Since they make it there, it tastes better and costs a little less than it does at Guercios. But the main thing is the flavor.

I do just fine making my small stops at specialty stores. I don't use any coupons, which is actually a good way to make up for the fact that the drive time adds a little time on to it all. But really, it's fun to go to these shops and that's not something you can say about going to the supermarket!

Chase Your Tail for Another Year!

2012-01-01T17:06:00.002-05:00

This is the cat we think was born while GWB1 was president. The one who now has seizures. The one who has arthritis. The one who has been given a couple of death sentences. He rang in the New Year by chasing his tail. We predicted this would probably be his last year on earth. Guess nobody told him that...

This is a bag of lobster ravioli from the pasta shop around the corner and a box of brownies from the bakery in our section of the city.

This is the dog with the silly foam crown I have worn to run the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot the past few years.

The meal was yummy (that's a pound of broiled shrimp and a spinach salad on the side).

The cat is happy. So are we. And we hope you are as well!

Packing it In!

2011-12-31T12:35:00.001-05:00

This pile of boxes in the dining room is growing. I shouldn't have it in front of the radiator as it blocks the warmth. But now that my latest donation pile is out, I can move it to where that used to be. This packing business is time consuming and not much fun! In fact, it is interfering with my blogging! The dog's blog is woefully neglected -- she's as active and intermittently naughty as ever (it took her a single day to destroy all the toys she got for Christmas). But packing and purging is now a priority as we are about a month and a half away from closing!

I packed stuff in the crockpot yesterday too! The pot itself is probably going to be the last thing to get stored away. In fact, I might not even pack it but will just drive it over to the new house in my front seat. I can guess we will need to use it a lot when we first move in. Here, it's packed with potatoes, carrots and peppers.

I had a pound of Flying Bison brats from the pig store. TBG also had an embarrassing quantify of Flying Bison in a growler that was no longer fresh enough to drink. We hate when that happens! But with all that's going on, we're not having many dinner guests and this was left over from our trip to Albany a few weeks back. I packed up all our bar glasses so he's going to have to drink his scotch and beer out of various drinking cups from the kitchen. At least I didn't pack up the booze!

The brats cooked at the top of the pot and I poured most of the beer in. When it was time to serve, I mashed the potatoes. I poured off most of the excess beer because it will make a good thickener with the starch from the potatoes and the other flavors mixed in.

It wasn't the best dinner I've ever made, but it fit in with all the packing I'd been doing! Packing boxes, packing a crockpot, it's all the same!

I am Boring!

2011-12-29T17:47:00.000-05:00

I seem to recall last week posting about a pomegranate, pear, prosciutto, blue cheese and vinaigrette salad I was bringing to a friend's house. I didn't end up bringing that because once I'd made it, I remembered she hates Gorgonzola/blue cheese. So I picked up a fresh fruit salad at Weggies, diced up two pears to add to it and brought along some organic coconut milk vanilla yogurt. That was really yummy. TBG and I ate the original mess all week over spinach.

We are invited over to Jim's (The Art of Gardening Guy) for dinner tonight and I offered to bring something. His lovely wife (Leslie, my BFF) asked for a salad. I seem to get in this rut when a type of fruit or veggie I like is in season. So guess what I'm bringing? More of the same! I've mixed up diced pears, pomegranate seeds, shredded carrots and almonds. This will go over a bed of organic baby spinach (it's on sale at Tops this week at a very nice price). I'm bringing along the vinaigrette.

I hear we'll be dining on freshly made kielbasa and pirogi. Yum! I know that these folks are a fan of pear salads so I'm glad I can bring my "in a rut" salad fixin's. I don't expect the teenager to eat to much of it....

Hair Conditioner

2011-12-28T09:06:00.001-05:00

I picked up two bottles of Infusium23 leave-in conditioner on clearance at Walgreens last week. It was half price because they were discontinuing it. I pick up Infusium whenever it's on sale, clearance or if I have a coupon. It's something I've posted about before and it's worth resurrecting the topic again because I use a lot of hair products on my skin with great results -- and without spending a lot of money.

The leave-in products are great to rub in after a shower. I blot my skin dry and then rub this stuff in. It sinks in immediately. Give it a few seconds to fully absorb and then follow with your favorite moisturizer. Your moisturizer will sink in better and will be more effective with this as a base. It seems to help suck the product in and hold it there. Some people like an oil for that purpose but I don't agree with that as a first layer. If I have a very dry patch of skin (which rarely happens because this routine works so well), I'll do the Infusium first, then a layer of cream and follow that with oil. The oil serves as a good top layer to hold the other stuff in.

I am using this stuff for neck cream. B-vitamins and ceramides are found in expensive skin creams -- especially neck creams. If I can find this stuff on sale or with a coupon, it's what I use instead. A little goes a very long way and I can get months and months of applications from just one bottle. I used to get skin tags but not anymore. Part of avoiding them is to exercise and keep your weight under control... but another part is keeping your skin in good shape. I make sure to give the area a gentle but complete scrubbing with a loofah every few days. Each morning I put a dab of this on the neck area and rub in well.

Another thing that is inexpensive and effective is hair conditioner. Nothing fancy, just anything you can get cheap. I leave a bottle on the bathroom sink and rub it on my face at night. I let it sit for a while and then rinse it off. Yes, I wash my face with hair conditioner. I also use it in place of shaving cream. It is the only thing I will use to remove eye make-up. And any time I wash my hands, I will rub some into my finger nails. I do try to always moisturize after I wash my hands, but the little bit of conditioner on the nails helps with ragged cuticles.

I believe Weggies has V05 shampoo and conditioner on sale. Normally I'd stock up -- only I'm not stocking up on anything these days! While it is worth it to spend well on shampoo in order to buy better quality suds, the same doesn't hold true for conditioner. It is OK to go cheap. And it's even better to use it in place of more expensive skin products. Try it and you will be pleased with the results. I promise!

Brown Bagging It!

2011-12-26T13:04:00.000-05:00

I've posted about brown bags many times. While I have a stash of re-usable shopping totes, I get a lot of brown bags. That's what I ask for when I forget a bag. Or if I'm running low on them. For stores that don't have them, I save the plastic bags for poop patrol. Here is my latest use for a brown bag. I am lining my utensil drawer. I had to cull the drawer and a step in packing and I wanted to do some cleaning too. This is the basic gist of how you might set in the bag. I cut them down to size.

This is the drawer more filled up. The tray can be lifted out and the paper easily replaced when it gets grungy.

I keep two bags under the litter box. This protects the bottom surface and I can pick them up and bend them to pour the stray litter back in the box. It also happens to match the walls of the shelves I set the box into.

I store stuff in a big brown bag on the shelf above the litter box. As you can see, I grab brown bags whenever possible!

Changing Focus

2011-12-25T19:54:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone has had (or is still having) a happy holiday! We had a low-key day but it's ground to a stop because I think TBG is coming down with a tummy bug.

Things have been hectic with the house sale but we hope things are calming down. We were to have the chimney repointed this past week but it was wet and the guy has to use tools that run on electricity and he tries not to get fried.

We put the good faith deposit on the new place and there is now a sold sign out in front. That is sweet! We hope to have the chimney and a few porch repairs buttoned up this week.

Once we move, I'm probably going to put this blog to bed and start a new one about our efforts to live a smaller life in a smaller house. It would be unfair to continue to bemoan that we don't have money since we obviously aren't strapped for cash. But saving money has helped make our move possible along with some other generosity.

Living in a small house will mean little or no room to stockpile. I will probably be doing very little thrifting or garage sale bargain hunting. In fact, we'll be trying not to buy much of anything!

I do hope my treasured blog followers won't mind me changing gears, but we're re-focusing our life and the current lifestyle I've posted so much about is going to get pretty shook up. I won't be buying in bulk and I won't be doing much decorating. There won't be new clothing our outfits and I can't buy another pair of shoes for at least twenty years! So I don't have to focus on getting stuff for cheap... I have to focus on not getting things at all! When I do bring stuff in the house or plan events, it will be in half the space. So that means I've got a whole new can of worms to open up.

I'm not shuttering this blog until we move. The house isn't ours yet, after all!

Strange Christmas Salad

2011-12-23T21:11:00.002-05:00

I made a pomegranate, pear, prosciutto, cappicola and blue cheese salad for Christmas eve. I was on the fence on whether I wanted to cut pears up in advance because I was worried they might discolor, but I went for it so they could soak in the flavor of the vinaigrette. We are invited over to our friends Bill and Paula and she is an excellent cook. She only likes fresh food and said we could bring a salad -- although I know she already had one planned. So I decided to come up with a combination that didn't include anything leafy. I was told we would either be having sausage and peppers or some sort of home-made pizza. This was my way of making a sort of antipasto.

This is a good salad to make this time of year because both forms of fruit are in season. I used a bartlett and a red pear. Treasure Cave cheese is always on sale and there are coupons around too. In fact, the tub has a buck off two coupon which I'll use this month for sure. If there is any left over, it would be great over spinache or greens.

Of course, what fresh offering would be complete without scraps for the dog? She would have loved for me to include a few pomegranate seeds, but I put them all in my salad.

Teddy has her own strange salad too -- pear scraps, an over-ripe banana and the tail end of a batch of slop made up of broccoli, celery and lettuce.

When you eat with me, you eat fresh... even if you are a dog!

Living with Less

2011-12-22T17:16:00.000-05:00

I had another day off today. I spent more than a couple of hours packing away clothes. I am trying to scale back on my wardrobe and hold back about three weeks worth of clothing. Truthfully, it is also my trial run at living with less. We will have a lot less room and although I have gotten rid of about half of our stuff, we have too much and I realize we don't use half of what we still have!

This is what is now in my closet. It used to be crammed full. This is under the attic stairs so it goes back twice as wide, but the clearance diminishes. Yet I still crammed tons of stuff back there. And I kept out of season stuff under my bed. At least half of that is gone and the rest is in boxes. I am going to see if I even need to unbox it at all once we move.

I can't quite make it down to one dresser. I fit everything I planned to hold back into one dresser and half of my vanity. The amount of extra underwear -- bras, underwear, "foundations," etc. was absolutely staggering. I'm down to a selection of every day bras, sports bras, some "nice" bras and "period" underwear along with regular pairs and a few "nice" ones if I ever wear a dress again. Unless someone dies, that last event is highly unlikely!

I work with a guy who wears the same style shirt and slacks every day. It works for him. I know he doesn't wear the same ones over and over again, but he probably doesn't have closets and drawers bulging with stuff. Honestly, that is my goal. It will help me cope in a small space and I'll be even more prepared when we retire and we spend long stretches of time in a trailer too.

Of course, what I can go wild with, is jewelry. That doesn't take up tons of space!!!

My Family is Weird

2011-12-21T19:42:00.001-05:00

Everyone in my family is weird. We even marry weird. OK, my brother did. I married the most normal person in the world. Hands down. Most of my friends are strange too.

Got a package in the mail from my brother's family. I know his wife is responsible for the Amy Sedaris craft book. Here's a link to describe it. They even sent booze with it. Wine and organic Whiskey. They know I am strange and that me and TBG like to drink.

The package was a nice break from all the stress of the past few days too. We told our buyer to go take a hike yesterday but they came around today and everything is apparently fine now.

I needed this package!

Pizza and Salads for Dinner

2011-12-19T16:57:00.000-05:00

This can of San Marzano tomatoes set me back $3.29 at Guercios, our local green-grocer and food importer. A can like this goes for as much as 6 bucks in the super market. San Marzano are plums and most chefs consider them the best of all for sauces. I wanted mine for pizza sauce. At this point, I don't think I'll buy anything but. They are not cheap but my pizza was really really good. I used the whole big can and I mixed in frozen fresh basil and EVOO.

I made the main part of the meal a big spinach salad. This had carrots, mushrooms, red peppers, almonds pomegranate and oranges. The pizza was topped with capicolla and parmesan, assiago, fontinella and mozzarella cheese. I didn't buy the pre-shredded mix so I could have the different cheeses for different combinations or pasta. We'll have the same sort of meal tonight and two more nights this week.

It isn't outrageously expensive to make a meal like this because each ingredient I bought will make it into three or four meals. I only used a slice and a half of the capicolla. I won't have left-overs, but sometimes that means less of a hassle in cleaning up.

Most people think of salads as the side of the meal but I think you can make it the biggest part of the meal if your higher calorie and more expensive ingredients make up a delicious side. Just load the salad up with tons of good stuff. You can get an entire days worth of veggies in one meal!

Thank You!

2011-12-19T11:09:00.000-05:00

I want to thank every one who has responded to the plight of my old kitty boy. He is doing well today and our regular vet called to check in. There is nothing we can do and over-all they think his bloodwork and general health is excellent for a cat his age. So, yes he's on borrowed time... but it's happy borrowed time! Thanks all for the good kitty karma!

19 Lives

2011-12-18T12:45:00.000-05:00

This looks like a pretty normal picture of everyone in the kitchen. But the truth of the matter is for about an hour or so yesterday, we thought this picture would be minus the cat. Most cats have nine lives, but we suspect Kitty Boy has nineteen. He used another one up yesterday.

We think he's about 18 - 20 years old. We got him from an over-crowded "rescue" situation and he had a serious URI, parasites and an abscessed tooth. He was 6.5 pounds and he would have died soon without care. I spoon fed him, gave him meds and the rescue group I was with had his tooth pulled. That's when the vet guessed he was 12. I didn't adopt him out because of his age and thought he'd be with me a few more years. He used up at least a couple of lives getting here.

He's been given a death sentence twice since then. Five years ago, the vet told us he was in renal failure and had "weeks, maybe months" to live. Two years ago, he developed a severe infection and we had him scheduled to be put to sleep after he seemed to be unresponsive to treatments. Then in the middle of the night while I was holding him, he got up and stuck his head in my glass of water and started to drink. I gave him food and he ate. He got better. Two more lives used up?

Yesterday afternoon right after we got Teddy back from the groomer and TBG was setting up lunch for everyone, TJ jumped up on the kitchen table for his snack. He then went into a severe seizure. It lasted for at least a minute and a half and had Tommy not been there to hold him, he would have fallen off the table.

I thought he had a stroke. We drove frantically to the Emergency Vet. He was disoriented and not very responsive. It seemed like this time it was it.

After an hour or so, it appeared he was returning to normal -- he was stressed to be at the vet, but he could walk. So we didn't think it was a stroke. Blood work showed some elevated kindney numbers -- which is normal for him (given the earlier pronouncement that he was dying of Chronic Renal Failure).

Now that I think back on it, there were probably other episodes of seizure that I chalked up to hair-ball coughing. The boy is his usual self. The minute he got home, we put him on the table and he scarfed up his lunch.

So now it is evident that we have a cat with chronic dental disease, slightly overworked kidneys, arthritis, cataracts and now probably epilepsy. There's nothing much we can do about that and he seems to be fine. There is a chance there is a tumor or lesions causing this, but now I doubt it because I remember another few times over the past year or two where he must have been having a small seizure. He may even have had bigger ones but we just were not around.

There is no treatment protocol for this. The vet visit was expensive but that's what you have to except from a clinic that has to stay fully staffed and stocked without having a "regular" schedule of clients to cover it. The vet who checked him out was great. She said an MRI/CAT scan for a cat is hardly ever done -- and the nearest facility is an hour and a half way in Rochester, NY. They wouldn't treat the condition with drugs unless the seizures were frequent -- as in daily or a couple of times a week. She said just to be aware he has the condition. So, we got blood work for our vet to have and some peace of mind. Best of all, we got our kitty back!

Shopping without a Budget on and Empty Belly

2011-12-17T10:52:00.003-05:00

This was my culinary haul from this morning. I dropped Teddy off at the groomers and then headed over to the pig store. I was disappointed because they had no cappicola. Instead, I picked up a pound of bacon and a pound of Buffalo Lager beer brauts. And two bacon scented air fresheners. They will go into Christmas stockings.

Then I was off to Guercios. I still wanted the cap -- so I paid a couple of bucks more per pound for it and grabbed 1/4 pound. While I was there, I picked up some prosciutto as well. Then some fresh fontinella and parm. As you can see, we are not living without money these days. I guess with things going so well I am not so focused on economizing everything. It's kinda nice to walk into these small specialty stores and just buy what strikes my fancy. But I dropped 47 bucks on just what you see above...

I was probably influence by the fact that I hadn't a bite to eat and it was 10AM. I was going to hit Weggies on the way home but I knew I needed food in my stomach. TBG will pick up a bag of spinach and some mozzarella cheese.

I just have a jones for fresh ingredients that I can make interesting meals out of. While it's probably looking like a splurge to buy meats that are 4 bucks a pound (the cap was $6.29 per pound). But I'll use scant amounts as topping. I have a can of San Marzano tomatoes which I plan to mix with some frozen chopped basil in the freezer and stir in some EVOO and parm. That will serve as sauce for pizza and it's going to largely be a pizza week. We'll have spinach salads with peppers, mushrooms, oranges, pomegranate seeds, etc.

As for the bacon and the air fresheners (see upper right of image), well, Tommy is getting a pound of fresh bacon on Christmas morning and I always make him panny cakes. Well, I also give him a box of Cap'n Crunch with Crunch Berries (we have traditions). He'll get a kick out of the air freshener for his car too. The other one is going to a guy in my office because he has a new truck -- I think he'll like bacon over the new car smell. I always give that guy a pack of those cheese and cheddar or peanut butter crackers. You can buy the big size with about a dozen at Weggies. He buys a single pack from the vending box every day which is why I give him a big pack at the holidays. My boss will get a few small bottles of scotch samplers and a packet of clicky pencils -- two things he really likes. When you work with people for 15 years you kinda get the idea of what they can appreciate. I don't think my boss would be as interested in bacon air freshener as the other guy I work with will be. There is also another guy who gets a box of Twinkees, but he works from home so I know I won't see him.

For those who love bacon, I found a number of interesting items at Spar's. Bacon toothpaste was one of them and I might get a tube for Teddy or as a gift for other dog loving friends. It has no fluoride in it -- like that's a surprise? They had bacon bandaids, wallets, sausage link tape, bacon scented soap, flavored toothpicks and a bunch of other cool stuff. I had to hold back and not buy a bunch of it. So I guess I can be financially responsible after all!

It's Not Always About Moving!

2011-12-14T18:53:00.001-05:00

I took a break from packing and made another interesting salad: spinach, mushroom, carrot and pear. The only thing missing are pomegranate seeds! I used canned pears to save time. The pieces I didn't use are stored in a jar because I keep reading how unhealthy aluminum cans are. The bulk of the peas are in water too for that reason and to get them out of the salt they were packed in. I had extra pear juice/which I mixed with rice wine vinegar and oil with spices for dressing. The remaining juice in the small jar will be used in sweet and sour chicken tomorrow night. I have a bird in the oven now.

I scored these nifty boot liners for cheap at Marshalls ($3.99). Can I say they make my rain boots super comfy and I almost did not mind the wet weather tonight... well, almost!

Packing it Up!

2011-12-13T20:32:00.003-05:00

We should be closing on our current house a little over a week into February. This means I have about a month and a half to pack. We have not set a closing date on the new house yet. We have a contingency, ensuring we close on our current home but are prepared to release that once everything with the contract and deal are set. It will be feasible for us to close on the new home first.

We plan to leave a few pieces of furniture behind for the new buyer who is just starting out. I've already given away a lot of stuff too. This is my latest pile of stuff to give away. It's really tempting to find cheap vintage stuff rationalizing you can recoup the price by selling it... but the reality that when you have tons of the stuff and you need to move, you just end up having to let it go.

This cache of silver plate is going to a friend who likes old china and silver. The monograms are either "M" or "K" which works out just fine since her first initial is "K" and her husband's last name starts with "M." Much of this is old family stuff and those who know me know how sentimental I am about family. Still, I'd rather it go to my family of friends so I am tickled that there are ladies who will cherish it.

This cache of lace and other linen type stuff is going to a Victorian loving friend. A few of the pieces have "M" embroidered on them, which is great because that is her first initial. She is also getting my prized (small) collection of Imperial Grape milk glass.

This was today's first donation pile and TBG carted it all away for me. The picture is going with us.

With all this packing and purging, this is about the extent of our holiday decor. Two stockings are coming down this week because they are being used to hold a couple of gifts. Since we are downsizing, more than half of what we have must go. It isn't the best time of year for a garage sale and I don't have the time. I wish I had an alternative to just letting it go, but letting it go is the only sensible choice.

Our goal is to go very spare in the new place. Again, since it is half the size, it means we won't be displaying or using copious quantities of things. I am looking forward to that freedom but it will be a challenge to get there for sure!

Out with the Old, in with the Older!

2011-12-12T17:28:00.002-05:00

This is the house we are selling. It is just about 2800 sqft and is dated c. 1840. As I'd posted, it is on the National and State registers as an historic property. We were beside ourselves thinking that in order to move to a smaller house in the suburbs, we'd have to go with a more modern/20th century build.

This is the house we found. It is actually c. 1828! It was allegedly used in the underground railroad but could not get designation because it was moved. It is 1400 sqft.

Today we did the building inspection and all looks good. We had an inspection done on our current house and it came through just fine so I knew that the buyers inspection today wouldn't be a problem. He turned up one thing we seriously question and will have to discuss that. But otherwise, everyone is happy.

We will be doing minor electrical work. The exterior needs to be painted (yellow!). In addition, we want to put in a lot of cabinetry. The interior is in very good condition and the house is super sound. The yard is smaller and won't be too hard to maintain, but a plethora of grape vines will have to come out because of the pup.

We managed to stick close to our budget and with a large down payments, our mortgage will be fairly small. We opted to go 30 years because the rates are so very low. We'll be paying principle early but on months we need our money for other things, we'll pay the regular payment. With less square footage to heat and a high efficiency furnace, our utility bills will be less too.

So, I think we won on this one!

Free Food

2011-12-11T19:18:00.000-05:00

I will take just about anything that's offered to me. Last week, we were given a huge cache of venison. Over the weekend, my s-i-l was making a big family dinner. She was going to just throw away the "unacceptable" pieces of romaine -- the ends, various leaves, etc. She was also making a big dish of broccoli and only needed the crowns. I told her to save all of the odds and ends for me.

I'll be making stew tomorrow for us. I will be grinding up the broccoli, lettuce and a big bag of frozen pumpkin chunks from our freezer. We've got a few over-ripe and beat up bananas from our trip too. Of course, the dog will get the veggie stuff and we'll eat the stew... but I might treat Teddy to one meal of venison, but because I love her!

People are constantly amazed at what I will take off their hands, but if it's free and it's not toxic, I'll find a way to use it. Yes, it's mostly because I am frugal... but I also hate to see stuff go to waste. I am thinking we will probably have a venison-based meal at least once a week for the next month or so. So stay tuned for what the meat makes it in to.....

HGTV Irritation

2011-12-08T14:09:00.000-05:00

Am I the only who who gets majorly irritated by the house-hunting/real estate related shows on HGTV?

Maybe this is because we have been in house hunting/selling overload these days and our minds are spinning with offers, contracts, contingencies and the like. But our hunt and sale made me realize that by HGTV standards we are freaks.

How come house hunters are looking for "features" and aesthetics and none of those Realtors are making them look at the roof, mechanics, wiring, etc.??? It would seem to me the main goal is to get a nice looking house. That's all well and good, but it costs less to paint a room than it does to replace a roof. And the amount of money people pay for homes astounds me too. Does everyone have a better job than me?

It would seem a house isn't worth selling or buying unless it has granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances. Yet those are items you rarely get a true return on investment on. We went into one house that had a jacuzzi in the bedroom -- I think I posted about that. Talk about a misguided attempt to get an "en suite."

Over the past month or so, TBG and I have spent a lot of time crawling on basement floors, jogging half way down the block to get a better view of the roof, digging around for fuse boxes/circuit breakers and writing down the names on water heaters, furnaces and following around duct-work. We've done slow walks around foundations, backed in and out of driveways a few times and done all sorts of stuff you never see buyers on TV do.

Then again, I guess if all of their buyers did that, there would be no need for Mike Holmes show!

Things that go Urka-Gurka

2011-12-07T12:04:00.001-05:00

Quick post on how my mind is to focused on money/material things...

I didn't post yesterday because we were tied up all evening signing contracts and then went out to dinner with our realtor and her husband. We have the best agent ever so anyone in Buffalo who needs to buy and/or sell would do well to contact me so I can get you in touch!

But on to my topic... my sleep is interrupted these days just by nerves because of what we are going through. I was up at 3AM the night before last eating Cheerios and watching HSN. Turns out my realtor couldn't sleep -- but she waited until 6:45AM to call me with contract suggestions because she didn't want to wake me! She was up working on contracts, I was eating cereal and salivating over clearance jewelry.

Last night I was up at about 4AM. I decided to pet the dog, which woke her up. Teddy doesn't wake up all warm and cuddly. Teddy wakes up at 65mph and wants to wrassle. I calmed her down and tried to settle back in because it was obvious that she wasn't going to sooth me back to sleep.

About an hour later, I heard this sound which anyone who owns a dog will recognize. It is the sound of imminent stomach upheaval -- Urka-Gurka-Gurka-Gurka. This happens when her tummy is completely empty and she will puke up bile.

My very first thought was that I had to get to her to make sure she wasn't on the new carpet! Yes, I care for her -- but I guess I'm more concerned about my pristine new carpeting. I got her while she was still in the heaving phase and quickly ushered her downstairs and fed her a pear. That did the trick.

She was OK, of course. But more importantly, my carpet remains unstained!!!

Things are Coming Together

2011-12-05T18:31:00.001-05:00

I finished the batch of dog food this afternoon and now it's bagged up and sitting in the freezer waiting for this week's trip. I made a stop out at Target to pick up two little surprise gifts too. We are staying with TBG's sister and her two kids are giving up their beds for us. They'll sleep on air mattresses -- and we appreciate that! So I have a small silver-plate necklace to leave under my nieces pillow when we go and a Hot Wheel for our nephew.

I have all of the nieces and nephew's Christmas presents wrapped. Our youngest niece turns three this week so we will be there for her party -- I still have to wrap her gifts. When they are that young, they get clothing. IMO, frazzled moms don't need another toy to pick up. They need one more shirt that will allow them to be maybe two hours further away from another load of laundry!

We also visited open houses yesterday and were feeling a bit discouraged. We had a third offer on the house over the weekend but it was not acceptable. A house came on the market that we liked but didn't want to even think about an offer when we didn't seem to be any closer to selling our place. That house got an offer on the weekend too.

The offer for us came back twice and each time we turned it down. It didn't seem it was going to go any higher and I figured that was that -- there is not another house like ours around, so I figured they'd either look for something else entirely or we might hear back after they'd figured that out. In any event, it wasn't putting us any closer to our goal of selling. Today we looked at a house that seemed fine on the listing but was so outdated inside that it was impossible. On Sunday we saw a house with a master bedroom that had a jacuzzi in it -- right in the bedroom with no wall separating it. It reminded me of a tacky hotel room TBG and I once spent a night in at Niagara Falls -- except the tub wasn't red and heart shaped.

Our realtor today called to let me know the young man interested in our house rethought his offer and he came back with something we could accept. It is 1K lower than what I wanted our bottom price to be -- but in the broad scheme of things with the ever expanding universe, it's not a big gap. We also got news that the contract on the house we liked fell through so we can put in an offer.

So, it seems that more than just a batch of dog food may be coming together this week. At this point, it's in TBGs hands. I don't deal with big issues and financial matters and large life changes well. I was the one who did the major push to get the house ready for market and I'll be doing most of the packing. But as for the deal-making, I'll let the man take the lead!

I hope I have more good news by next week as far as the house we like goes. We are being strict with ourselves in what we can afford to pay for the new place because we really want to be buying wise. If it all does work out, I think four parties will end up with just what they need!

Cooking Ahead

2011-12-04T21:50:00.001-05:00

I started with four chicken thighs and the end of the week contents of my veggie drawer -- lots of spare celery and two carrots. Asparagus is $2.99 a pound at Weggies this week so I cut the ends off of a bundle immediately and it went into the crock. I added a little over a cup of water and set it on high.

The meat just fell off the bones and I strained the veggies. The bones are back in the crock and will go over night until they are soft as mush. I'll add a half a cup of oats and let that soak up a lot of the stock. I'll squeeze in the contents of four calcium gel tablets.

I'm going out of town with the dog at the end of the week and I can't feed her raw where I am going. This is what I am bringing along for her to eat. It will be more than enough to feed her for two and a half days, including her snacks. I'll also bring a long a few bananas. We'll probably share some with her cousin Bodie the Border Collie.

Cooking for your dog is not rocket science. If I did this all of the time, I might (MIGHT) add a multivitamin. It honestly did not take me very long to make this -- only a bit more effort than scooping some food into a bowl. Considering that I used veggie scraps, the batch cost less than two bucks to make. If anyone wants to augment a dry diet with wholesome fresh food, this is a good way to go. It's inexpensive and uber healthy.

Hold the Mayo

2011-12-03T19:44:00.000-05:00

TBG hates mayonnaise. Absolutely can't abide by it. So it is always a challenge to come up with an alternative. I also had a challenge in coming up with lunch today. He works half a day every other day on Saturday, so I feel just as obligated to make dinner as I do lunch. Well I take Sunday lunch pretty seriously too! Anyway, as for the mayo substitute, today I chose blue cheese dressing.

I thought it would go well with a swiss cheese and cheddar blt. We had three slices of bacon left from breakfast last weekend along with rye left from the turkey, stuffing and cranberry sammiches TBG likes to make.

I grilled the sammiches in the same pan that I fried the bacon in -- although I wiped out most of the grease. But the bacon fat was a good flavor and it kept the sammich from sticking.

We had lots of cheese left from other "projects" but once it is all gone, I'm going to be buying less in order to lower the amount of fat in our diet. But until we reach that point, a BLT and cheese combo is a good way to put some yum in the middle of the day!

Fat Dog?

2011-12-02T19:21:00.000-05:00

No, this is not my dog! But I took my dog to the vet today and put her on the scale and couldn't believe how much she weighs. The girl is 81 pounds! I purposely got a Golden from a line that breeds them to the small end of the standard but she's the freak of her litter. I thought she stop growing at about 3 years but she is almost 4.

She gets pretty skinny in the summer from all the swimming she does and all of my dogs have put on a little winter weight but that's not what this is. We have switched to running which is very different from swimming. I couldn't run with my Border Collie because she had displaysia. So the new form of exercise is making her bulk up in other areas. I did not start running with her until she was done growing -- 2 years of age. Teddy and I run 4 miles at least four days per week and a couple of those days she gets about two dozen fetches with the Chuck-it after our run. She just never gets tired. I wish I could say the same for myself!

The vet saw her weight gain on the chart and looked at her and told me to feed her less. I asked him to please feel her thighs and abdomen. Then he changed his mind.

I know I beat the dead horse about pet food, but if you feed your pet right they can put on muscle weight which is much different and more beneficial than fat weight. The diet and exercise makes for such a healthy heart that even when she is nervous at the vet, her heart rate is really slow. You can't easily get a blood pressure reading for a dog, so their heart rate is a very good over-all way to judge their health.

I also put it out on the table that I did not appreciate the other vets in the practice always wanting me to bring her in for an exam when we need an RX refill for her regular summer staph infections. He put a note in her file to just give me the refill whenever I call for it. I also requested that they send the test and exam results to our second vet at camp.

We did a regular exam, heartworm test and a fecal test. I don't do re-vaccinations. I opted out of Lepto and Kennel Cough vaccines because I am skeptical of them. It's not time to titre test for Parvo/Distemper yet and we aren't due for rabies. I also picked up antibiotics for the cat which he gets a round of once a month. Then I had to pick up cat food. If anyone lives in the city, I really think the best prices for high quality food is Elmwood Pet. If I buy twelve cans, I get a 10% discount. And it doesn't have to all be the same. I just have to get a dozen and they cut the amount off of the total bill. Also, you don't have to pay to park if you can get a space in the loading zone in front. It's there for customers and not just deliveries!

Anyone who thinks it is cheap and easy to have a cat and a dog must be doing it a lot differently than me...

Stretch Bracelet

2011-12-01T20:44:00.000-05:00

I tried my hand at making stretch bracelets today. I am reasonably happy with the results. I used agate and amber beads with a few small sterling silver beads as accents.

The stretch elastic, glue and beads cost me about twenty bucks. I want to get a few crimper type pieces in silver as well so I can better cover the knots. I reinforced my knots with glue. I'll have plenty of elastic and glue and a few beads to start another set or two.

I have this thing about real stones and precious/sem-precious metals. I'm giving one bracelet as a Hannuka gift for TBG's "Bike Wife." I'll probably give her the one that has the darker stones. I think if I bought these in a store they'd be about twenty buck each -- although I could probably find them on sale somewhere for less.

Now that I know what bead sizes I like, I'll be able to scout more out on-line. I think I'll be making more of these. Of course, I'll have to wear mine for a while to see how the stretch holds up. I do have other stretch bracelets but not that I've made myself. This could be a nice inexpensive way to make gifts for my GFs, nieces, etc.

Weight Bias

2011-11-30T12:58:00.001-05:00

I can see some of the validity in articles such as this, but I get kind of sick of the weight bias that pervades our country -- whether we are a fat nation or not. Life is just not fair for big people.

This is not intended to be a tirade or anything of the sort. The fact is, I am truly married to a big guy, hence the pet name "The Big Guy" or TBG as I kindly refer to him as.

TBG is 6'2" and weighs about 240 pounds. When we got married, he was closer to 300 but that was an unemployed aberration. His weight might drop four or five pounds when he is cycling a lot but it has stayed mostly the same for the last 23 years we have been married. Even I can't say I've accomplished that astounding feat! According to BMI charts, the man is massively obese.

It is very hard to shop for him. Forget about clothes and shoes (11.5 EEEE) in his size costing more -- finding them is not easy either. You see, most manufacturers don't take into account that some big people are actually fit. And yes, he probably burns more gas in his car because it has to haul around his weight -- but he makes up for that in his own gas production. Wait... that's not complimentary....

OK, we spend a little more on prescriptions for him because he takes high blood pressure meds, but that is a family issue and his very fit sister who is leaner and fitter than average (and is a registered dietitian with a master's degree) needs them too. As for sick days, he never takes them. If he does, it's rare and it's because I am threatening to chain him to the bed (not as fun as it sounds when he's sick as a dog).

In the coming year, he wants to drop ten pounds. This will take a lot of work and it will add on to our food bill, but I am up for it. We do have to be careful how we do it because when this was accomplished by going nearly vegetarian, we had problems. He looked great -- and became hypoglycemic.

It's going to take me a little bit of time to figure out just what I need to do in the kitchen -- and I don't know what kitchen we will be in next year! But even our house will make a difference in how we go about the task. I am always tempted to blow him off when he wants to lose weight because I am satisfied with how he is. But I guess it wouldn't hurt either of us to drop a few pounds. I just hate to do it because it feeds into the bias that if you're not thin, you are a plague to society.

So in the next couple of months, I'll probably struggle to find ways to make tofu and other more expensive staples affordable. Chicken is cheaper than people think. Compare the price of tofu, Bulgar and other whole grain products and you will see what I mean.

Well, we'll just have to see how it goes!

Shoe Slut

2011-11-28T12:28:00.000-05:00

I went into Famous Footwear for these. It is time for a new pair of running shoes. I can't always cheap out on them as I need the styles that allow you to remove the inserts because I rely on orthotics. I like Asics so I sucked it up and paid 69 bucks for them.

There was a buy one get another half price sale. I am a shoe slut as I have confessed today and have done many times in the past. I did promise myself I would be a second pair that was truly inexpensive. So I shopped the clearance racks.

The cool leather ankle boots I picked out were marked down to twenty bucks, originally 99. What I did not realize, is that with additional discounts and specials for the week, they were two-fifty. Yes, $2.50!!!

Yes, I am clearing out the house, no I don't "need" another pair of shoes. But I love these and I can't believe I got them for two dollars and fifty frickin' cents!!!

Leftovers for Breakfast!

2011-11-27T14:19:00.000-05:00

This is a sweet potato pancake on the griddle. There's a bit of cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top. We had lots of leftover baked sweet potato. I mix it with bourbon and maple syrup. We had a big crock pot full of it and there was a very large portion left.

This was made with a few eggs, some vanilla flavor Coffeemate (hey, we had a lot in the fridge) some milk and a little bit of wheat flour, a smidgen of baking powder and some brown sugar. We so totally did not need the brown sugar and next time I will leave it out.

Kitty Boy was disappointed that we didn't make up a plate for him! We had bacon on the side and more maple syrup and butter on top.

I think this batch could have easily been made without any flour and it might be an interesting way to make gluten free pancakes.

Taking it Easy....

2011-11-26T13:43:00.003-05:00

I was going to do a light cleaning today but one thing we can't ignore is the stove top. The sealed burner concept was very appealing until I started living with it and realized how hard it is to keep them clean. I have not been able to stop cooking in order to keep the stove clean for showings. And this is how it looked this morning.

I don't like to use harsh scouring substances on the burner. TBG has used Comet and it does a great job but messes with the ignitors. I took some baking soda and dumped it in the burners.

Then I poured in vinegar and let it sit.

This is how it looked after I sponged it out. It wasn't "easy" on the labor, but it was easy from a chemical perspective. It looks OK I guess.

This was my other "take it easy" project. Pet owners are warned not to feed "human food" to cats and dogs during the holiday. My dog is eating lots of people food! She has received a number of turkey giblet packets and lots of egg shells. She also got the ends of all of the veggies in the crisper drawer. TBG grabbed an extra head of celery, so she's getting it all. We had asparagus and she gets the ends. We didn't finish our fresh spinach last week, so she's getting that too! Some of the dark meat was a bit undercooked, so Kitty Boy got that.

Fresh whole foods is the best way to help your dog's digestive tract and organs "take it easy." Most pets are woefully dehydrated from eating dry food. They can't drink enough water to make up for it. The grains make them fat and their kidneys suffer from lack of proper hydration. Their liver is deprived of enzymes which it then has to work hard to produce because those are lost in cooking. Enter fresh vegetables! Nutrients, enzymes and plenty of water all the way Mother Nature intended them to eat. We make our pet's bodies work too hard when we feed them over-processed food.

Since my pup was "real food" fed from the start, she likes it all. She eats it all. She never gets sick from it either. Here she is licking the bowl after I put the slop in jars. One of the greatest gifts that I have to be thankful for, is having animals in my life. Of course, I love my husband and friends -- but the dog and the cat are a special bonus. They aren't something we need to survive, but they add to our lives in a way that we are always grateful for. Being able to have access to enough food to feed ourselves well is something to be thankful for, but we are especially lucky because we can extend the same to our animals. When so many in the world go without food, it probably seems obscene to be feeding animals the way we do. However, because we have the means and we don't like to waste, giving them the best is making their lives easier (but it's more work for me!) too.

Leftovers....

2011-11-25T15:14:00.000-05:00

My very first left-over dish was a sammich. Turkey, melted swiss and gravy grilled on rye. Yes and for lunch I had a glass of wine. It's Black Friday and I had to celebrate avoiding retail hell!!! Well, I went to Weggies to do some food shopping.

We're having turkey and asparagus Alfredo for dinner. Tommy loves Alton Brown's turkey sandwich which consists of turkey, stuffing and cranberry grilled on rye. And 4 Hats and Frugal posted about turkey pot stickers and had me thinking....

On Wednesday, we went to our favorite spot -- a new Buffalo sensation called Black Rock Kitchen and Bar which is in our section of town. We did our old standby of eating dinner at the bar, which we really like to do. Tommy ordered a tuna tartar sort of appetizer that came on these chips that were shaped like nachos but made of puffed rice. It had an oriental flavor. So, I'm taking the potsticker filling and going to the Asian market around the corner and see if that's where BRK&B got the chips. It just wouldn't surprise me. My neighborhood is sorta like a small foodie microcosm where restaurants and businesses use each other's products.

I am aiming to also make a turkey and asparagus quiche this weekend. With the leftover sweet potatoes there will probably be some sort of pancake on Sunday.

We made a small bird this year which means we will probably use it all -- and the kitty and the pup will get their share as well. My goal is to be "different" and anyone who hasn't gone over to 4 Hats and Frugal, find it on my side bar and check out her Turkey Potsticker post!

5811!!!

2011-11-24T18:57:00.000-05:00

Me and my BFF dress up for the trot. She wore the pink skirt last year. You never failed to get noticed when you run with the lady in the pink skirt. It was cold! The finish was a wall of wind! I finished 5811 out of a field of 11,880 runners. Registration closed at 13,200 but not everyone shows up or finishes. There were a lot of bandits running without registration. It was the biggest trot yet. I think there were around 14K of people there.

This is Brian, Kelly (married), Leslie and me. Leslie and Brian took off and Kelly and I kept each other company. I lost her at one point when she stopped to tie a lace. I ran up ahead to see Jim from the Art of Gardening (Leslie is his wife). We looked for Kelly and we found her so I had company for the rest of the race. The course is about 5 miles. I am in the 45-49 Female division and was in place 160 out of 501. I think a lot of ladies my age walk because I am no speed racer. For my gender, I placed 2206 out of 6074.

Prior to the race I had some coffee, part of a leftover brownie and bit of banana and peanut butter sandwich. I also consumed a lot of beer last night.

I made a brine for the bird when I got home. We didn't get the turkey in the oven until almost 1:30. We at at around 6:30

We had a 10.5 pounder in the freezer from last year. I kept it simple with stuffing, asparagus and sweet potatoes.

Here's the simple spread. It was just the three of us -- me, TBG and my evil twin. I didn't make any dessert. I was a real slacker this year!

The run took a lot out of me because I've not really been running steadily or conscientiously. I am glad I had Kelly to run with. The after-party at the convention center was crowded -- and smelly! I took a two hour nap once we put the bird in the oven and I'll probably hit the sheets early tonight.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving -- even those who don't observe it hopefully had a great meal. We are all lucky to live in great bounty compared to so many people in this world.

Good health and great happiness to all!

Thanksgiving Planning

2011-11-23T22:00:00.000-05:00

This is what I wore to run the Turkey Trot last year. A big part of planning at Thanksgiving is what you are going to wear if you are going to run the race. Forget about training for it -- which I have been sadly lax in doing. The big deal is not with how you run, it's with what you wear when you run. I will probably want to puke when I am done. But I will want to look special while I am doubled over an dry heaving.

This year I am going to pay tribute to one of the greatest rock bands of all time -- AC/DC. Well, I couldn't find my wedding gown and that was what I wanted to wear. I guess in all the purging, it was cast away. I had gotten my money's worth out of it by getting it on clearance for a hundred bucks, wearing it on The Big Day -- and then two Halloween's there-after.

Instead, I will sport silver glitter leggins, leg warmers and my AC/DC sequined tank. I might wear the silver foam tiara but then again might loan it to my BFF if it looks better with her get-up. I will post a picture tomorrow.

We are just having dinner for the two of us and maybe also with the evil twin. She was going to be out of town but developed a kidney stone (hence my lapse in blogging yesterday). If she feels up to it, we will feed her. We had a frozen turkey from last year and it will be a low budget dinner. But we plan to make a big meal of it none-the-less. I'd like to say I deserve it after running five miles, but I think I'll probably replace that calorie deficit in beer after the race anyway.

A Happy Turkey Day to all -- trotters or not!

Monday Madness

2011-11-21T20:44:00.002-05:00

This is my Kitty Boy, the only cat we have -- and probably the only cat we will have for a very very long time. It's not that we expect him to be around very long, after all... we estimate he is probably 20 years old. It's that we only want one pet at a time from here on in.

Today, I got *another* frantic call from the cat lady on my block. I tried to help her get rid of the extra five cats she had a few months back, but she turned down the help from social services. Today I had the day off but needed to do some work to set up an important meeting with a client. She called while I was in the middle of it, frantic because she didn't know what to do about the five cats and she needed me to drive her to the shelter. Well, I refused.

Sucker that I am, I called 911. They wanted me to have her call animal control and I told them she was an elderly lady in a state of panic. They said she should call them. I told them that she wouldn't do that and if they didn't want to help her that was just fine -- I was done. I figured they could send someone in another hour when her panic attack turned into another heart attack. Luckily, they sent an officer.

Well, I got a call later that she was grateful that they were arranging to take all the cats and a bird out. I am her saviour once again. This bothers me of course, because it means she is becoming more dependant. I know that sounds horrid. But I can't get through to her to tell her to not take in cats -- I am rich by her standards and I will only have one cat, yet she can't say no to any that get dropped at her door.

I don't know what to say to my readers except that all women who read this blog need to save for their retirement and make sure they keep up good ties with family and friends -- lest they turn into the crazy cat lady three doors down from me.

There is currently only one crazy lady for me to get involved with, the others have died off. I do not know what she is going to do when/if we move....

At least we had a yummy pizza for dinner!

Sunday Smash-Up

2011-11-20T20:14:00.001-05:00

Teddy's groom was a success. New place and the groomer was green too. But I wanted her to have a chance and I liked what we got. Grooming here in the city runs about 15 bucks more than in the country, but that's just the way it is. We've got another appointment for the week before Christmas. Teddy's got a vet appointment on December 2nd. She is due for distemper,etc. It might cost a bit more, but we will titre test her instead. I've never had a dog that needed repeat vaccinations but if you want to take your dog certain places you either need proof of vaccination or test results to show she still has an active immunity.

Not all of my pies turn out to be pretty... but they generally taste good. We had a showing today and a lot of people like to bake pies or put out scented candles. I don't do that. Our house smells fine and I don't want to give the impression that we are covering anything up. Plus, a home-baked pie makes a mess! I waited until after the showing to mess up the kitchen.

Dinner was angel hair pasta, asparagus, chicken with a Parmesan peppercorn and fresh Parmesan topping. A friend treated me to lunch at Panero -- and I bet my whole dinner at home cost less than the price of the sandwich I had for lunch. So maybe I am cheap after all! We also went to a few open houses but nothing really rang my bell. We walked in and then right out of one house which was just a mess. There is one house we like and might put in a contingency offer but unless we get an indication that two buyers who have expressed interest will come back with an offer, well we're just gonna wait.

This is what I'll be working on for the pup tomorrow. A big bag of frozen pumpkin chunks, asparagus ends, wilted spring mix, apple cores and skins. She loves this stuff. It is a big pain to grind it, but it's worth it.

And that's the weekend all wrapped up! Thanks to all who left comments yesterday!!!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

2011-11-18T18:15:00.003-05:00

We've been through some hard times that really meant we had to evaluate how we handled our money. Through it all, we still managed to save for retirement and even started a savings account with cash. For a while, I wrote down every penny I spent. I clipped a lot of coupons, bought all of our stuff second hand. We managed to get by. I will admit that we've never been big on budgeting. But we have been big on not wasting money. Our needs are pretty simple. But I have to say that now that we are in a good place, I'm starting to not worry about finances much. We are comfortable enough so our every day goal doesn't have to mean we watch ever penny we spend.

I like jewelry. This is pretty typical of what I wear on my left arm and hand. It looks outrageous, but I'll tell you that I purchased it all with cash -- only spending what was left over of the $20 of cash I keep for carrying around money in my purse each week. Some people like latte, I like baubles.

I did a lot of Christmas shopping today and I didn't start out with a budget. I just went looking for good deals so I could get something for each niece and nephew. I have some more jewelry for the nieces stowed away. This haul was about 25 bucks -- I'm not completely sure because Mrs Big Bucks me didn't really bother noting the total. It's Christmas and we can afford it.

I was shooting around the city today doing my weekly shopping a day early. I get all sorts of good stuff at the green grocers (Guericios) -- because it's stuff I want to eat. We are lucky people who can afford to eat good food -- we don't eat at fancy restaurants, but we eat well at home. Case in point, I buy a lot of fresh asparagus. This week I picked up fresh Parmesan cheese and a large can of San Marzano tomatoes. I'll drop 25 bucks on good fresh cheese, veggies, etc. rather than spend that same amount on $75 worth of processed food using coupons. Some people get a legitimate kick out of extreme couponing, me -- I get a big kick out of fresh steamed asparagus over locally made pasta with fresh grated parm.

In our world, it's now OK to drop 13 bucks on a dog toy. We do hope this one lasts longer than a week. A rubber toy is going to be easier on the floors than the bones she likes to drop on the floor. While the house is on the market, she's getting rubber instead! Tomorrow, she's getting groomed too. We can afford it and we like a well maintained dog. And while I was at PetSmart, I hopped next door to Office Max to pick up an 8 Gig memory card for my camera. It was something I'd wanted for a while and I was able to get 15 bucks instant savings on it so it was the time to buy.

I guess what I am preaching today is that while it seems like financial survival means a life of deprivation, I can tell you that if you keep at it and manage your life and funds well, it gets to the point where your life isn't deprivation. The caveat I guess is not to let it get out of hand and outspend what you earn.

Night Vision

2011-11-16T21:06:00.002-05:00

Well, it's hard to get exterior pictures of our house at night, but I wanted to show what it looks like with the Christmas candles in the windows and the new porch lights. It really looks better in person.

In any event, it was a cheap way to add some winter charm. We have a showing on Sunday and I'll have TBG rake well. Teddy and I will be out for that and TBG will stay home. Realtors don't often want the owners around but with a cellar that is only accessible by a trap door and other unique features that one isn't accustomed to in newer homes, one of us has to be here. The cat has done a very good job of charming everyone who has been by to look. He is Mr. Congeniality.

We are going to take a pass on Christmas decorations as we don't have the time nor do we want the added responsibility. It's hard enough packing stuff up without setting up something that will just need to come down. I've been keeping on top of housekeeping so it's not too hard to clean up on short notice. But I think both of my new vacuum cleaners are ready to choke.

Things are a bit crazy and I have a bunch of time off to use by the end of the year, so I plan to keep plugging away. I can say that we are not having fun yet!

Using it All -- Lots of Work!

2011-11-15T20:44:00.001-05:00

We didn't carve our pumpkin which meant it didn't rot. When I took it off the porch, I knew I had a couple of hours of kitchen labor ahead of me. This was four bucks of vitamin and and fiber I just wasn't going to throw away.

All of this is prime food for the dog. Seeds and all, as usual.

I just didn't have the energy to grind it, so it's being stored in bags -- five total. There's room in the freezer. This will last us for at least a month. I'll take it out and grind it once a week when I empty out the veggie drawer.

I had made chicken stock and pulled out the bones. I filled a 20 ounce jar with stock and then added pumpkin to the rest to add extra flavor to the stock. It cooked for about six hours like that.

I dumped the bones from the stock into a container of left-over orzo, broccoli and chicken. It was past its prime in the fridge and we weren't going to eat it. As much as I'm not a carb feeder, there's not much pasta in this.

I strained the cooked pumpkin from the stock and mixed it with the mess. This will be a nice addition to her meals for the next few days. The bones mushed right up as the long slow cook in the crock softened them up. Lots of nutrious marrow and some calcium too. This is a good example of ways you can augment a commercial diet with real home prepared food. This is not a balanced meal in and of itself, but it is a good way to augment a dry diet or to extend the value of canned.

Finally, I baked up a butternut squash and cut it in cubes. I mixed it with the stock and left-over chicken. This was tossed with pasta and a mixture of fontinella, assiago, etc. It was a very tasty meal!

I used every last bit of the food. I can't see throwing stuff out if it can become the basis for other meals -- especially if it means I get to feed real food for cheap to my dog.

Quick Seasonal Change-over

2011-11-14T13:04:00.003-05:00

In the pursuit of curb appeal, I did a quick change-over from our fall front-door theme. The mums were nearly dead and it was time to move into winter.

I am cash-conscious so we skipped Thanksgiving as a theme. I also stayed away from kistch since we are marketing this as a traditional home.

I picked up two small fake trees from Lotto Grande (that's Big Lots in LWM-speak) for six bucks a piece. I put them in the planter with sand and bricks. I picked up the fake greenery under the house number at Amvets for .79 cents. I have two electric candles in the window. I have to get an extension cord for them. They have light sensors so they will stay on from dusk to dawn. These are four bucks a piece and will save me from having to get batteries. Granted, we get batteries at cost and I could look for coupons -- but this will be easier. They sat low on the sill so they weren't really visible from the street, so I wrapped bricks in brown paper and set them on top of those with tape to anchor them down.

Since this is an historic house, I didn't think lights (especially l.e.d.) would look right. And this solution was pretty cheap. I did it all for a little over twenty bucks. I'll get a picture once it's dark and I have the candles going...

Another Pie!

2011-11-13T10:56:00.003-05:00

This was yesterday's pie. I was really low on flour and it has a mostly wheat crust. I wasn't feeling too confident as I was putting it together, but it came out great. I pressed brown sugar and slivered almonds on to the bottom crust before filling it. Because of that and the wheat, it had a decidedly nutty flavor. It also wasn't chewy or soggy as I had feared it would be.

I made a couple of great pizzas too. The local pork store sells awesome cappacolla so I got both hot and sweet and made two different pies from that. They threw in the end piece of the hot stuff because it was too small to slice -- but it wasn't too small to cut into chunks and put in an omlette with provolone this morning!

We also had a pie with lox and asparagus (fontinella cheese with a little asiago and provolone). I don't skimp on ingredients but since we don't live in a hoity-toity town, all of these things come from small local shops and they don't cost a lot. Including the fresh beer from the brewery!

Luckily, I have plenty of left over cheese which I will use over various pasta dishes this week. The nice thing about splurging on this good stuff when you have guests is that you often have ingredients remaining that make great meals during the week. Yum!

Fall Mash-Up

2011-11-12T12:09:00.000-05:00

This mashed up bowl of confusion is for the pup. It's the guts of a pumpkin which was run through a grinder, with apple cores and peels. I put the peels in the food processor and added in the pumpkin with a bit if cider so it would whiz up uniformly. If there isn't any liquid, you end up with chunks.

I got the pumpkin guts from friends after they did their carving. The apple peels and cores came from a pie that is in the oven now. I have a whole uncarved pumpkin on the porch which I will use this weekend too.

All of this is "free" because it was leftover from other things and most people would either throw it out or compost it. This stuff is great for dogs! Put a little over each meal and you'll add vitamins and fiber -- without any fat and not a lot of extra calories.

This is a great way to cheaply help your dog stay healthy. And my girl loves the taste of this stuff too!

Free Inspection!

2011-11-10T17:45:00.001-05:00

I met with a house inspector today. We are getting a free inspection on Saturday and he dropped by my office to pick up a key so he could do a prelimary walk-through before he bought through his students. He teaches building inspection and was looking for an old house for his students to go through.

Since the house is on the market, a few people cautioned me that I would have to divulge anything discovered in an inspection. We had never thought to do anything but that. It would be wrong to sell someone a problem and we look at this as a wonderful way to get a great service -- for free!

The prelim went so well. He alerted us to a few minor issues which we can easily address and told us the house was in great shape. He explained why our cellar is never dry and the serious ramifications of what would happen should we ever try to seal the foundation and pursue a bone-dry basement. He said the water was a *good* thing. Well that was a load off our minds!

We have already turned down an insulting low-ball offer. In order to justify it, the agent kept telling us how lucky we were to get it and then trashed the house to justify the low value. This after it had been open for viewing for two days. We have a potential in the wings that we are rooting for. Nice people!

I work in an appraisal-related field and had to keep myself from laughing out loud at the reasons the first offer low-balled the house. I had to laugh at the bad manners involved too. IMO, HGTV and the proliferation of show homes have done a lot to mislead the public on how a property is truly valued. In fact, I had to laugh because I was composing this post in my mind and then I went over to Sluggy's blog and saw the youtube link she featured today about Hilter and housing values. Too funny!

Please see the sidebar and go over to Slugmamma's posting today. It struck a real cord with us -- we who have no stainless steel or granite in their kitchen. On the other hand, the inspector told us that short of a very big wrecking ball, there's no real way to destroy this house. I think we'll easily withstand the insult of our low offer quite well, thank you!

The Open House

2011-11-06T09:29:00.000-05:00

The open House was a big success. We had people waiting before it started, so we opened 20 minutes early. It seems we were first on the route for many prospective buyers. We were set to end at 3PM but were mostly done by 2:30. I got the sense that three different sets of people were seriously interested. They spent over an hour here and asked a lot of questions. We already have a second showing scheduled for this morning. The other two very interested couples are being advised of this today so that they can set up their viewings too. I have always heard that it is hard to be there when strangers are looking at a house because they can be candid and critical. But I heard nothing bad at all. No one had any criticism for the way the place looked -- and that was nice! The couple whom I met Friday were back and begged us not to show it to anyone else. They aren't the people set up for this morning, but we also aren't going to deprive them of their second look too. All three of the serious lookers would make good owners.

The downstairs bathroom was finally ready about an hour before the house opened. The floor dried well and I put down a runner. My sister picked up a shower curtain and hooks and put it all together. Here is the result:

I would estimate that this little bathroom make-over cost less that a hundred bucks. I used paint we already had, a can of rustoleum, we picked up two light fixtures at the home depot. The rug was from another room. I had the towel bars from a prior project where they were never used. TBG got the shower assembly at cost. People seemed to be wowed by it and it was cheap to do!

I think we will be successful in selling the house quickly -- but we don't want to be over confident. This afternoon we are hitting open houses and I'm going to start looking for a new place in earnest. This is a whirlwind for sure!

A Quick Floor Job!

2011-11-04T15:09:00.001-04:00

I have been frantic in my efforts to get the chez ready for Saturday's open house. Most of the major stuff has been done. But I had this horrid floor in the downstairs batrhoom to deal with. TBG was going to paint it tonight -- but he gives his Friday night Spinning class at the gym so I doubted he would be able to fit it in. So I did it. I knew that the last person who "decorated" sprayed rustoleum on the floor. I figured that might not be easy to paint over. Conventional latex floor/porch paint would probably flake off. So, I got a quart size can of high gloss rustoleum in "Leather Brown," a cheap brush, and I painted it on. The can was under eight bucks and I think it will work out fine.

Last night TBG and our guy Jimmy put in new plumbing -- the old faucet was ancient and a hose ran from it to a wall mounted fixture. You could only run the shower, so we took the hose out a long time ago. I wanted one of those fancy "telephone" style fixtures but we didn't have time to get one. So we have one of those faucet/shower combos that hooks up to a shower curtain. I'll hang a curtain tomorrow. I'm not walking on that floor until late tonight!

This is what the floor looks like drying. I suffered the effects of the fumes... remedied that by going out and getting myself a Whopper for lunch. It helped! Once the room is put back together, I'll do a real picture.

I spent three hours or so cleaning the kitchen. I think we're going to be in good shape tomorrow -- but I have two more big rooms to clean. This picture will go on the MPL -- this is the first time in months the kitchen has been in a state worthy of being photographed. I've got to send the picture to my agent now!

I was out running errands this morning and came home to find a nice looking couple in our drive-way. I think they were a bit ashamed to be caught in the act. But I told them I'd be glad to answer questions and I told them a lot about the house. They will be back tomorrow. They told us it was their dream house -- it was everything they were looking for. Now let's hope the inside lives up to their expectations! They have a bunch of kids and love big old houses, so this might be a very good match indeed.

Uncreative Halloween!

2011-10-31T20:58:00.000-04:00

I barely managed to have candy for Halloween. The extent of my creativity was to dump it in one of my bargain orange baskets. We had a big turn out for our neighborhood. Some people took sale brochures too. We are going crazy getting ready for our open house on Saturday and didn't want to skip on trick-or-treating... even though it's not likely anyone in our neighborhood would be in a position to buy the house. But I figured we had to take advantage of the traffic.

I did manage to incorporate some orange into dinner. Sauteed spinach with grated carrots and left-over chicken over penne with fresh parm. We'll be snacking on bite-sized Baby Ruths for dessert. I love it when we have candy left over!!!

This was an uninspiring Halloween. I got stuck handing out candy (as usual) while TBG was stuck in the basement setting up a dehumidifier. Do we know how to have fun or what?

The Dining Room is Done!

2011-10-30T18:37:00.000-04:00

We have been waiting *years* for this room to be done and it finally is! I am so pleased with the results.

The room was not very expensive and it was mostly the labor that held us up. The room is full of inexpensive details but I don't think it looks cheap.

The dining room set isn't one we're overly fond of but it goes with the room. It's in a Duncan Phfyfe style and we got it for about 600 bucks used almost ten years ago. I covered the seats with marked down fabric and padded the chair with carpet padding. The candelabra is a garage sale fine. Thrifted and garage sale linen runners are being used here too. The art was free. One framed print came from my sister and the pastel over the fireplace is an original framed piece that was my mother's -- it was given to her by the artist.

We have two more framed original prints for other walls which are not s shown and one fake painting that came from TJ Maxx.

This picture is going on the listing and I'm also going to update the house blog. We are getting closer to being ready for the open house on Saturday. I still have to paint the downstairs bathroom floor and touch up radiators with Rustoleum. I'll need to pay some attention to the attic room too. Other than that, it's mostly a matter of cleaning. The guys need to finish the insulation and will be replacing a few ceiling fans and doing some other hardware type of work.

But most of all, I am relieved and pleased that the dining room is finally done!

Insulation is Next!

2011-10-25T21:18:00.000-04:00

These two rolls of insulation cost us 42 bucks. They are $21 a piece at cost. This is what is going up in the basements between the floor joists. Since we pulled up the carpet in the front of the house, we figured we would have to put something up to help in the winter. TBG and a friend will put this up themselves this weekend. Even though we won't reap the benefits directly, it should help us sell the place.

This stuff is sort off like bubble wrap encased in foil. There are adhesive sort of tabs to keep it up. It is ideal for putting up in floor joists because it stays put and you don't have to worry about fiberglass, the stuff getting damp, etc.

Being in heating/cooling/refrigeration is certainly not a prestigious job but my fella does OK. Our boilers were serviced free this year as a professional courtesy. Any time they need service, he buys the part and sometimes can do the repair, but if not, someone he knows can do it at a discount.

As for the house, things are coming along. All of the trim in the dining room is up tonight and we need to put a coat of paint on the walls and then touch up the molding. I will be in Bean Town on business for the rest of the week. We plan to paint on the weekend -- and go to a Halloween party too! The upstairs kitchen is DONE! Like a pot roast!!! We are fixing up the big hutch that goes in there and that will be back in place this weekend too. We painted our front hallway this weekend and I did a lot of windows. Window sill and trim take a beating. Especially because rain gets on them. So I cleaned the windows up and put a coat of paint in the interior section. A lot of them were six over six windows so it was tedious!

I ordered $900 worth of rug on Saturday but we are waiting for the installer to measure to know how much it will cost for sure. We will save by ripping out the old stuff ourselves.

I am taking off of work on Thursday and Friday and our open house is Saturday. This is a whirlwind for sure! We have a lot brochures disappearing from the box and I have seen a few folks pass by to look. I'll get our big coffee maker set up and probably bake muffins for the event. The agent actually wants me around to answer question about the history and all the work we've done. Teddy and the Kitty Boy will be gone!

Postings might get sparse because all of the activity leading up the open house, but a lot will be happening!

Buying on Clearance

2011-10-23T20:31:00.000-04:00

The dining room floor is almost done! All of the laminate is down and now only the finishing touches remain.

This was flooring we purchased at Home Depot of clearance about five years ago. It was marked down to $19.95 per box. We were ready to have it installed when our contractor went AWOL (as so many of them have). The boxes sat in the garage all this time and we were afraid they would have warped and been unusesable. Apparently the stuff we bought is pretty high quality and it held well.

We have two plus boxes left. The grand total for the flooring was about three hundred bucks. I think this floor looks like it cost three or four times as much. This is one item I'd be willing to buy on clearance again and store until we are ready to use it.

I'm floored!

Too Much to Do

2011-10-22T19:34:00.001-04:00

This is our empty dining room which we are reflooring this weekend. I want to cry because I am just so grumpy and tired! I've primed trim upstairs, washed down a ton of woodwork -- and it is apparent that a lot of it really does need a coat of paint. I've made few paint buying mistakes at Home Depot which I can't return. I will be painting more tomorrow!

We put out a lot of trash this week in a frantic effort to get our house looking good. There was a national preservation conference in Buffalo this week and our house was on one of the tours. I didn't want the stuff from fixing the place up in the yard. So I put it out and let my council member know that I was worried.

Well the garbage guys picked it up -- and left me with a $52 fine! I don't have the time or energy to fight it but it's pretty much sealed the deal that once we sell, we are not buying again in the city.

I was cleaning the windows upstairs when I noticed a mother and son pulling a brochure from our box posted by the "For Sale" sign. So I went out and chatted them up. I am not allowed to give a tour until the open house because we aren't having any showings until then and it's in the contract. But they got to see the exterior and asked a lot of questions.

The realtor has told me there has been a lot of interest. Whether those are all buyers or just people who want to see what a historic property is like, I don't know. But the exposure is always good.

This afternoon, I ordered $900 worth of carpet for upstairs, which means I have a lot of painting to do. I think we'll get a return on what we are putting in, but it sure is tough to keep spending like this!

Halloween Baskets

2011-10-21T19:00:00.000-04:00

These baskets were on clearance at Tops -- they were forty cents a piece. These would make great Halloween baskets. I plan to at least put Halloween candy in one of the black buckets. I plan on using them for cleaning too. I grabbed the orange baskets because this style of basket is very convenient to have on hand and I'll probably put fliers and other goodies in them when we have our open house.

I don't know if these are marked down at all Tops, but if anyone is in a store, they might want to check for them in the middle/seasonal aisle. At this price, they are cheaper than the dollar store!

Wegmans Wings

2011-10-20T21:22:00.000-04:00

Dinner tonight was pizza and wings. I didn't have much on hand to make a full-meal pizza but luckily I had frozen Buffalo wings in the freezer. Wegmans makes the best frozen wings. They are bigger than Tyson or Weaver. This bag was on sale for $5.99.

Restaurant wing specials act like .50 cent wings are a great deal. Back in my college days I remember ten cent wing nights! The Wegmans bag is about two pounds and one bag is cheaper than an order of ten wings in a restaurant or for take-out.

You will probably never see a coupon for them, but for anyone who has a Wegmans nearby... give them a try! You can't beat the price and they taste pretty darned good!

Good Ingredients

2011-10-19T21:03:00.000-04:00

I love apple pie but I am picky about what I use to make it. Fortunately for me, the best apples are easy to obtain in "apple country" for much less than I can buy them in the supermarket. This bag was two bucks. The crust isn't as cheap to make as it once was because the cost of butter and flour have gone up. But those two simple ingredients can be combined to make something so delicious that it is worth it not to skimp. A big pie still only costs me about four bucks to make.

Dinner tonight was a salmon, pea and mushroom risotto. I buy Wegmans store brand and that helps me keep the cost down. The salmon is from Wallies. I picked up the peas on "clearance" because Tops was discontinuing them. We had mushrooms on hand because TBG made me a special mushroom pasta for dinner on Sunday. He also had fresh Parmesan. I had plenty of chicken stock that needed to be used up. This wasn't a cheap meal per se, but it was frugal. And I will also say it was mighty delicious and TBG is looking forward to having it for lunch.

I don't like to cheap out on ingredients. For me, convenience food means having good quality frozen peas on hand. Or jars of stock made up in advance. It drives TBG crazy that I save jars and always have to turn my chicken bones into stock. But if I do those things, then I have ingredients in the fridge that makes it convenient for me to whip up a good meal in less than a half an hour.

I have no idea what we spend on groceries. I do know that it is not a lot -- although it is probably more than many domestic wizards would allow. However, if you compare what we eat with what it would cost to buy in a restaurant, then it is a good deal.

Being able to cook and have access to quality ingredients makes it easier to opt not to go out to dinner. Tonight I made up pizza dough to make a pie for tomorrow night. That too is my idea of "convenience food." I guess the secret is to plan and make components of meals in advance and not to be afraid to pull something together based solely on what you have in the house. I honestly didn't know what my risotto would turn into until I started making it. Once I got going, ingredients popped into my head and I was able to use what we had and create a simple and economical dinner.

That's why I don't think you are necessarily "splurging" when you buy better ingredients. Don't you agree?

Mums the Word!

2011-10-17T15:49:00.000-04:00

Home Depot is selling 8" potted mums for $4.98. I picked up four of them. I only have two out on the porch now since it is so windy that everything is getting blown over. I think the yellow mums make a great contrast to the red brick and the black railing. If we get a break in the weather, TBG is going to paint the fence white. I'm going to put a big pumpkin out on Friday morning because there is a formal tour of Black Rock and our house will be on it. I want to have the front looking great but don't trust the kids in my neighborhood not to smash the pumpkin. I could not be happier with the porch. Especially because it was crumbling before!

We had two contractors start the porch. One just disappeared. The second one completed the base but we weren't really happy about it. The first guy propped up the roof of the porch and pulled it away from the house. We finally have it fixed nice. But it was a fiasco. An expensive pain in the neck.

Now that it's finished it's like the cherry on the cake. But as nice as it looked once the guys were done, there was something about the two pots of mums that just completed the look. Anyone looking for a quick pick-me up and who wants mums that aren't too expensive, check out Home Depot.

Frugal Flooring

2011-10-16T18:42:00.000-04:00

The boys finished the floor this weekend and we like it back to old wood with brown paint. I don't think many people consider painting floors, but it was what was done before fancy floor treatments were available. As in, that was what was done to the floor in 1840 when it was first put in.

The area rug is a cheap 60 buck piece from Home Depot. The space needed something and we wanted a piece that would stay clean and be easy to keep up. When it comes time for the open house and showings, we want to be able to have things clean in a jiffy. There was a similar runner that we wanted for the parlour that leads to that room and is the high traffic way in from the front, but they were out of stock. We checked Target but the prices for area rugs are outrageous. So, I'll wait and also check the Home Depot in Cheektowaga.

As for the listing, it's official. We aren't showing but there have been cars driving by the house and slowing down to look. That's been very encouraging! The porch is finally finished and once The Big Guy paints the fence I'll put mums in the plastic planters I found on clearance at Tops. I got a huge pumpkin for 4 bucks this weekend and am hoping no neighborhood delinquent will smash it.

I'm taking off tomorrow to do more cleaning/purging. The guys still need to do the laminate floor in the dining room and have started with the upstairs kitchen. It's non-stop but worth it. I think the house will show very well.

It's That Time of Year!

2011-10-14T09:39:00.000-04:00

We both took the day off. The plan was to go to camp together for a longer weekend but TBG needs to stay behind and rip up carpet. This morning a guy came to do the yearly check of the boilers. They need to be serviced each year. Since we have hot water radiators, it's not a matter of switching filters and sucking out dust. There's a bit more involved.

There are two boilers for this house and they are not in a basement per se -- they are in a cellar. The cellar has a sump pump but since it is almost 200 years old and unfinished, it gets damp. There is no way we could run a humidifier down there. That's one reason we make sure the boiler mechancis stay in shape.

We are also having our thermostats replaced. When you run hot water heat, you don't want to use the kind of thermostats that have a cycle/timer. Or if you do, you want to override it. Boiler heat is steady and it is not efficient for it to kick on and off. Instead we pick a comfortable temp and leave it there. We may go up or down a degree or two, but we try to keep it the same. The thick brick walls hold the heat/cool pretty well.

If you haven't thought about your furnace or boiler, it's time to think of it now! Make sure they are in good condition before the temperature really drops. It's no fun to be stuck in the cold!

Chicken

2011-10-13T20:14:00.003-04:00

I can be a chicken. I am conflict aversive. My news from yesterday is that the horrible supervisor who has tried to suck me into a job I hate (whom I never formally worked for) pushed me to confront and force my hand. I was ready to quit. The VP for my division got involved and it was decided yesterday that it would no longer make sense for me to do any work at all for the other division. Finally!!! Of course, the whole deal isn't sealed as I expect the other group to put up a fight. But I have told them that a dead hostage isn't worth much so if the other group prevailed, they'd end up with nothing anyway. Splitting the baby doesn't work as the wise King Solomon had proven in the bible.

The other big news is that our house is officially on the market. We are listed but not showing. Our open house will be 11/5 and we will not entertain any offers (should they occur) before 11/7. That gives us time to get to things that need to be done inside.

As for eating chicken... we had the remainder of a breast from last night. I thought the guy who was servicing the boilers (we have two!) would be over tonight so I wanted a quick and easy meal. He couldn't make it, but I could still make my quick and easy meal. The Macaroni Grill chicken Alfredo is on sale this week at Tops for $6.99 a bag. Coupons.com has a one dollar off coupon. I got it for $5.99 and knew I wanted to augment it with my left-over chicken and penne. This is the stuff I stocked up on for a buck a box a few weeks back. I only used about 1/4 of a box. The frozen stuff always has too much sauce so it makes sense to extend it with more pasta and spare chicken.

This was dinner. And I just can't make a salad without extra veggies. In this case I added my normal shredded carrots along with tomato and chick peas. It was a yummy quick meal!

Chicken Again!

2011-10-12T20:05:00.000-04:00

One easy way to eat left-over chicken is to make a sort of "parm" out of it. Here I had sauce that was a combination of spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes and shredded carrot. This is a low-fat version of the dish because I'm using chicken breast that is not breaded and fried. I topped with a generous amount of shredded mozzie, baked at at 425.

This was a very filling dinner and it was pretty yummy. A buck for the pasta and $1.79 for the sauce and tomatoes (there's plenty left of that). The salad was from organic greens TBG picked up over the weekend.

I had salad mix from my weekend at camp left and I ground it up with some of the organic greens, frozen blueberries and frozen peas. That's what I'll be bringing to camp with me to give the pup and her nightly snack. I going up Friday morning and staying until Sunday. We are ripping up carpet and doing flooring in the house, so she needs to be away. It will probably be my last weekend at camp. TBG will pop up next weekend to pull in the slide and deal with the grill. We got an insurance check for the roof damage and the dealer will be hauling it away to repair in the off season. We'll pay them to winterize it.

I've got some news to share on the job and home front but I think I've gone on long enough for today!

Thrift Fun

2011-10-11T21:05:00.000-04:00

I have hardly been thrifting for clothes lately since we want to move and I don't want more stuff to pack. But I had gotten rid of last winter's brown suede boots and wanted another pair. This pair is a good fashion find -- they aren't snow boots at all. But I think they will look great with brown leggins and leg warmers. They were just $3.98 and they are leather/suede. I grabbed the scarf for $1.48 and the gloves for a buck. These will look fine with a big bulky sweater or with my jeggins and beige suede jacket (which is the same color as the boots). Since the boots aren't fancy nor were they expensive, I won't worry about salt and snow getting on them. I won't be wearing them to shovel or trudge through deep snow, but I won't feel bad about wearing them in bad weather.

I've come to like clunky sort of ankle high boots. I would like a knee or thigh high pair but unless I find them for cheap, it ain't gonna happen. And since Teddy did manage to chew the Bear Paw boots I used to wear, I won't cry if she should happen to get a hold of these. OK, I won't be happy... but I'll live!

.88 Cents per Pound

2011-10-10T21:18:00.000-04:00

This is what I got out of one oven roaster from Weggies. They sell them for .88 cents per pound. I've posted about that before but this time wanted to show the volume of what I get from a bird. There's a small crock of stock going, a jar and a half of "juice," one full breast (two huge pieces) and a ton of bits from the rest. Not shown are the gizzards. Combine those with one egg and we have a complete meal for the pup.

This is really more meat than I will need for the week. I may freeze some or I may make chicken salad for sandwiches. I'm not sure. But the bird was just about six bucks and is proof that you can have a poultry based meal every night of the week for not a lot of money.

Each meal I make will yield left-overs too. I've got a bag of carrots in the fridge, plenty of greens and I've grabbed bags of Green Giant Steamers on clearance most weeks. First it was broccoli pieces, last week it was peas. They were cheaper than buying fresh.

I have continued to grab skeeter repellent on clearance. With coupons, I've actually managed to get the stuff for almost nothing and in a few cases, I made money on the deal.

Tonight the guy from across the street who periodically asks to borrow money came by to see if we could loan him twenty until tomorrow.... NOT!!! I think I'm going to have ended up spending under twenty bucks on all of our dinners for the week. Why would I turn around and blow it on a guy like that?

Really!!!

What I Came Home To....

2011-10-09T15:27:00.000-04:00

When I got home, Tommy and Jim were hanging his basketball hoop back up on the garage, which as regular readers might recall is actually a barn. This shot was taken through the open hay loft door.

The yard is looking really good. Jim pulled out just about everything. In it's place he put down stone. As odd as it sounds, my rock garden now looks better with just a few well trimmed bushes and new gravel. The area adjacent to the new porch is nothing more than new gravel and our iron fire pit. A hole is going to be drilled into it so it won't hold water each time it rains. When you think about it, gravel is a pretty cheap way to neaten up a yard... that, plus pulling anything extra. We hope this less-is-more approach to landscaping will make the yard look larger and also low maintenance. But it would be fabulous if a serious gardener bought the house.

This is the back section of the yard. I set out a table and chairs to "stage" the porch. For anyone who's read this blog, the back porch was a disaster. It is now an enjoyable outdoors space. It's definitely not fancy but it shows that the house is as livable inside as it is out. Well, maybe we'll rethink that in sub-zero February!

I didn't have to do much of the work, I just had to clear out the pup and let it happen. I did take care of this little area in the back porch and I took a few pictures for the listing. I do hope we sell the house quickly, but if we don't it's not gonna kill me to live with this.

Too Busy!

2011-10-06T07:13:00.000-04:00

I did not have a chance to post yesterday.... I'm just getting so busy with the house and other things these days!

Our agent will be over on Tuesday to sign the contract. There is a conference for preservationists in Buffalo this month and we all want the sign in front of the house before then because it's one of the newest designations for historic buildings in the city and the listing is a good tie-in. My realtor has been involved with the conference so she has about a thousand people to email the listing to. We will indicate that the house isn't actually going to start being shown until the end of the month. We have a lot of interior touches to finish.

The outside is completely painted. The front porch needs a little help structurally but that will be done this weekend. The yard is landscaped very simply -- but it is just about done! Puppy and I are taking a three day weekend so we can spray round-up.

I've painted the two bathrooms. I still need to paint the floor and toilet paper holder (not the same color!). I am not going to do that until we are done with all of the other work downstairs because we clean our paintbrushes in the tub downstairs. That tub gets a new faucet. I'm getting one of the old-style "telephone" configured faucets with a spray that sits on a handle over the knobs. It should look very vintage with a claw-foot tub.

I have to paint over patching on a number of walls. I will need to paint the living room and parlor floor. The contractor is putting laminate in the dining room and putting up moulding. Upstairs he has already gutted the kitchen and will be putting in a sink cabinet and wainscoting and a new floor (also in the upstairs hall). We will have the rest of the outlets in the house (mostly upstairs) converted to three prongs and a few ceiling fans need some repair (one might need to be replaced).

We hope that the house can be listed as "move-in ready." I think it will be. After looking at other houses in the price range we are going to ask, ours will be in the best condition. All the listings I am seeing for houses in our price range are in similar neighborhoods with less square footage and none are all brick. Many don't have a garage and we have a barn. So I hope these things will work in our favor.

The task of getting rid of stuff and de-cluttering is onerous. We will be closing camp which means I can go into hyper-cleaning mode. But this is not fun!

I am guessing anyone else who has sold a house know the torture of it. We've owned the chez for 15 years! So, the post today is boring, sparse and late. Now everyone knows why!

Goodbye Joe, Me Gotta Go...

2011-10-04T20:38:00.001-04:00

...no I'm not going anywhere! That's the first line from the song Jambalya on the Bayou which is one of my favorite Hank Williams tunes. The link will take you to the Muppet's rendition.

I roasted a whole chicken on Sunday and took it apart. The juices went in a jar in the fridge, the bones into a small crock to make stock. On Monday, I skimmed the fat and used it as a base for the roue. We had frozen andoullie in the freezer -- Smithfields, which I buy in bulk whenever it's on sale 2 for five bucks.

Green peppers, celery and onion is cheap. So is brown rice. I had a big pot. I saved and froze half of it for a potluck at camp this weekend. I'll add a good portion of white rice to it.

We had dinner with chicken tonight and have enough for tomorrow night. Thursday night, pup and I are headed out to camp. One chicken and less than twenty bucks in veggies and rice will get us through for the week for dinner. We also have lunches from our leftover and I'm working with my stockpile of pasta that was on sale last month.

It might seem weird to roast a whole chicken and then not eat it that day. But sometimes it makes sense just to cook the bird when you have time on the weekend and then have the meat on hand for meals each night.

Son of a gun....

Pillowcase Talk

2011-10-03T20:14:00.001-04:00

When one of your favorite 100% cotton sheets rip, you make pillow cases. I don't worry about them being perfect. We have an extra pillow on our king-sized bed that is always the odd man out. We have a pair of cases for two of them, but then we always have the one extra pillow that needs a case -- and it doesn't have to match.

If you don't have torn sheets but want cheap cases, also consider buying sheets on sale that aren't the same size as your bed. I once made a bunch of cases from a twin sheet that matched a king set we owned. The twin flat sheet was on a deep clearance and even though we don't own a twin bed at home, I grabbed it and made cases. You can also use the material to make borders/edging for towels. Sheets make great curtains -- but I never waste 100% cotton with a high thread count on curtains. That needs to be near skin!

We do use twin sheets in our trailer for when we have someone sleep on the dinette. And the fitted queen sheet at the trailer ripped, so I'll be making pillow cases from that too which I will use for the trailer. I can keep the top sheet but will have the off season to look for a solid fitted sheet to match.

I never let a ripped sheet go to waste.

Putting it Back Together

2011-10-02T12:16:00.002-04:00

This is the stuff back on the shelf in the bathroom. I went with mostly the same stuff that was there before. But I removed most of the "dog" decor. I replaced a candle/sconce with an empty frame. I thrifted a pair a couple of years ago but hadn't used them. This was a perfect solution.

I emptied most of the canisters and will keep them that way. It makes for a cleaner look, I think. I left out the basis toiletries. I hid the "femmie" stuff in a brown paper bag... which looks fine with the new color.

I also realized that I used a different color than what was left from Jim the painter. This is actually the same stuff from our living room. Since I'm colorblind, I needed Tommy to point that out to me. At first I wasn't sure about the brown, but now I really like it. And it was basically done with leftover paint.

What isn't shown, is two tubs of cleaning supplies which were being stored in and around the bathtub. We buy the 40 pound tubs of Exquisicat at Petsmart. It costs about 14 bucks and it works best for us. Kitty litter isn't something I buy with coupons. I buy what works -- and what works for one household doesn't necessarily work for all. Kitties are very particular about their busy box! In any event, this works out well because I save the tubs. They are great for storing stuff because they have handles. I use a sharpie to mark what is in them and then I can stack them up.

I wish there was a better place to put the box but there really is no other place than the downstairs bathroom. I will pick it up and put it in the garage and send KB to his aunt's any time we have to show the place. But all those old litter buckets will probably be a dead give away that there is a cat in the house. Then again, maybe I should keep him around -- people seem to be drawn to him and he might be a good salesman!

Bathroom Number Two

2011-10-01T18:33:00.000-04:00

This was today's painting project. The downstairs bathroom. It's by no means finished. I've got to put it back together. But this is the "skin" of it. This was an uber-cheap pick-me up for a room that just needed a quick face-lift. I would put the cost for this at about 20 bucks.

I had a full gallon of America's Finest brand paint from Home Depot. It was the same can I got to do the upstairs bathroom. I used that for the top half of the wall, the ceiling and the woodwork. Painter Jim had a partial can of non-descript brown. It worked for me. I needed to use a little Kilz in a couple of spots before I started.

The light fixtures are very basic. Which is about all you can do with this house. They have switches on the bottom which is a help. The light switch for the room is outside, which is sort of inconvenient. In any event, the goal was to go inexpensive and middle of the road. These were eight bucks each and TBG installed them for me this morning.

The floor will be painted but that will be one of the very last jobs because the bathtub is used to clean paintbrushes and there is more painting to be done.

I am going to wait until tomorrow to put the shelves back in in order to be sure the paint is truly dry. I'll probably pack up some of the stuff we had up. A good amount of what was stored on the lower shelves is now in the new porch closet. I want to really edit down what we keep out in preparation for showing the house.

This was a really quick project done for not a lot of cash. The paint was cheap and I was skeptical about it, but it's working out fine. In fact, I still have some left for touch-ups. Since we don't plan on living with what we paint for very long and because whoever buys the house will probably want to paint with their own colors, I don't want to bother with expensive paints. It helps that I can get this stuff for 13 bucks a gallon and they'll mix in any color I choose. This one is a cheap fixer-upper keeper.

Streamlining

2011-09-30T19:20:00.001-04:00

I had wanted to do another painting project today, but I've got a horrid sinus headache and the smell of paint fumes would have been too much. But aside from spending hours in bed hoping it would go away, I felt I had to do one task or more to move us closer to our goal of getting the house ready to sell. The realtor wants us to streamline and get things out of the house. We plan on getting rid of the old stereo once and for all when we move and to get a docking station, but don't want to buy one yet. So I moved it from a separate small bookcase to under the television. Some creative stacking meant it would fit in with the cable box, DVD player and a speaker. But the doors wouldn't close. So I'm keeping them open. Maybe I'll eve take them off. We need to have one door open so the remote will work anyway.

The shelf the stereo was on is now next to the couch as an end table and it will hold two blankies -- otherwise they are either dumped on the couch or stacked on the radiator. This is just a little neater.

This purchase needed to come before aan iPod/MP3 docking station. My digital camera has been on it's last leg for months. I can take one picture at a time and then it goes blank. I had the thing for over ten years so I got my money's worth. This one is much smaller and I don't need a docking station for it either! I picked it up through HSN on value pay, so it's just a little over 40 bucks a month for four months. It's a bit of a splurge, but you can't blog without pictures... and we need to get good pictures for the Multiple Listing Service. A rationalization, maybe.... but it sure takes up less space!

Dr. Frankenmom

2011-09-29T20:14:00.001-04:00

I sewed up Big Mean Kitty again. This is the dog toy I refuse to let die. We had it back when Woody was alive and she loved it -- and managed not to do too much damage to him. She also had a "Running Bill" toy which was a stuffed Bill Clinton and his official crest of office was crossed drumsticks. That was the best toy and for reason of nostalgia, I will not let Teddy have him. She has, after all, not been kind to BMK. But I must say, she does love him. In Teddy's world, you hurt the ones you love. I can testify this because I've seen TBG doubled over more than a few times from a few hard shots. As is evidences by my work, I could no longer affix BMKs leg to it's proper socket. But a misplaced leg is better than no leg. I don't think it will last very long...

I also did this today. I took the day off (I'm off tomorrow too) to paint the bathroom. I also primed a couple of spots that have gotten patched. I was just going to do the upper walls with the white, but since the trim and ceiling are the same color, they all got new coat or more. I had a can left from the last time we painted the room. The paint was no good, but I was able to get a piece of the label off that had a good coat of paint on it and had that color matched. I got a cheapie can at Home Depot for 15 bucks. It worked just fine. Now that window is in decent shape -- all the cracked panes are replaced and it's got a new coat of paint.

I might paint tomorrow or I might spend the day packing stuff. I'm not sure. But I just hope I won't be doing more toy surgery!

Tupperware Love

2011-09-28T17:49:00.000-04:00

I love Tupperware. It is impossible for me to stop in to a thrift and not look for it. This small steamer was $1.98. I have a newer/larger Tupperware steamer. They sell new for twenty bucks but I paid $1.98 for that too. Steaming veggies is fast and easy and now I've got one fore smaller portions. This one has a lid that snaps shut too.

It also appears to be an older piece -- it's a heavier weight of plastic and the orange color seems rather retro to me. But that's secondary. The fact that it's functional and durable is the reason I bought it. And also because it was just two bucks!!!!

Just Say Yes

2011-09-27T20:02:00.000-04:00

I made a pizza for lunch on Saturday to feed the guys. That's Danny and Jimmy who are working on the Chez and Tommy who was clearing out the loft in the barn. This is not the pizza I made for them (which they really liked). But I had dough left over. On Sunday, I orded a sub package from Wegmans. They asked if I wanted the condiments on the side and I said "yes." They asked what I wanted and I said "everything." We didn't "need" the stuff, but I always say "yes" because I'll take whatever I can get "for free." Yes, I know, I really did pay for the stuff.

We did not use the chopped red peppers or onion that came with the sub. But I had left-over dough. I made a pizza for me and TBG on Sunday -- topped with chopped red pepper and onion!

This is what it looked like. And it tasted mighty good!

Hey -- anybody else struggling with blogger? I wanted to add Reva's blog to my list and blogger does nothing when I click on "add." Strange! And Reva.... thanks for reading! I read your blog too and want to add you to my blog list... if blogger will let me!

Window Drudgery

2011-09-25T15:43:00.001-04:00

I spent the day hunched over my sewing machine, churning out window treatments so every window in the house will be appropriately garbed. This lone window in the back hallway upstairs had a nice Martha Stewart blue toile pattern on it but I am going to use that in the back kitchen. I found this panel fabric in a box in the loft of our barn this morning. It was in with a box of old bridesmaids dresses. The box held the big fluffy slip from my wedding gown. It is sad how petite all of the pieces are. They are going to the thrift store. Note, the wall that this window on is going to be repainted. Notice all of the patching beneath!

This picture turned out way dark but I'm too lazy to go back upstairs to re-take it. There are 14 steps to get up there, and another two to get to that section of the house. Sometimes I just get staired-out. Hence the reason we're looking for a smaller house. I made very skimpy panels for this room because the realtor wants us to let light in. I used left-over fabric for this. The pattern on the bottom was a cheap Walmart fabric. The valance on top is muslin. Many years ago, I purchased a bolt of plain neutral muslin. It was a wise thing to do as I have used it well over the years. Having an abundant supply has been a big help in so many instances. Also, this room is going to be repainted as well. I am not looking foward to doing that!

I kept the valance in the dining room. It's made from fabric samples I got at Joanne for about ten cents a piece. The fabric was on clearance too and I grabbed eight yards for five bucks. I made a wide panel for the curtains on the bottom of each of these windows. We will never want to open them so I didn't bother taking them time to sew two panels for each. The treatment on the windows before was dark. This will help us stick with the rules to let in as much light as possible. This room will be getting crown molding and laminate flooring.

This is the current state of our dining room. I know things have to get worse before they get better... but I just hate seeing this!

Veggie Bonanza

2011-09-24T19:48:00.000-04:00

The haul of veggies from Thursday included a red and yellow pepper. We had the broccoli initially with salmon and the pup is eating the stalks ground up with other bits of scraps. I sliced the peppers after work on Thursday and put them in jars with water to store. Today I pulled them out and tossed them with oil and spices plus a little rice wine vinegar. I took two of the cheap Walmart steaks and cut in strips. Those got tossed into a zippy with an oriental sort of marinade. This baked on a cookie sheet -- meat and veggies spread in a thin layer. I started at 450 and did about 15 minutes per side, then finished at a few minutes under the broiler set to low.

Here it is, served with rice. I got the rice as take-out. I was going to go to camp this weekend, but I've got a bit of a cold going so I wanted won-ton soup yesterday. I picked up rice while I was at it just for convenience.

I stayed home but didn't get much rest. There is too much work being done in the house. I also felt compelled to bake with the apples I had left. If anyone is inclined to click on the Dayton House blog, they can see where we are on the house. It is not conducive to rest!

I had planned this meal for TBG to make while I was away... but it was nice to enjoy it with him.

Saving on Cellophane

2011-09-23T20:42:00.000-04:00

I like to avoid cellophane/shrink wrap or plastic containers in the microwave. One of my favorite methods to cover and reheat, is to use two pie plates.

Pie plates are cheap at thrifts and garage sales. They can easily be stacked. And they are great for reheating in both the microwave or oven.

Maybe not a groundbreaking idea, but hey... it works for me!

Carpe Produce

2011-09-22T20:33:00.000-04:00

This was my produce haul today. Seven bucks!

I had to go to Walmart. The store near my office is horrid. It's not a Super Walmart and the customers leave a bit to be desired. I had to pick up RV antifreeze and Wallies is also the cheapest place to pick up Smucker's all-natural peanut butter. Whenever I'm there I aslo picked up a couple of bags of frozen salmon. I like to have their cheap NY Strip steaks in the freezer too.

Redlinski's Meats on Walden Avenue is a great source for all things meat and poultry. But the steaks there are a bit out of my budget. However, there is always a huge array of produce from a farm or two set up in the parking lot outside the store. It's on the way back to the office and I figured it would compensate for my torturous trek through Walmart. Buying fresh produce makes me happy.

Well, I was beyond happy today. IMO, this is a lot of stuff for just seven bucks. The potatoes are small. Usually, the really small potatoes are over $1.99 per pound. The broccoli had huge stalks -- which the dog will get in her slop. I think that these tomatoes will go into sauce -- even if they aren't Roma's.

I paid way less than if I got all of this at the supermarket. Probably also less than if I went to Guercio's, our usual green grocers.

If anyone in the Buffalo area will be on Walden Ave in Cheektowaga -- look to see if the tables are set up outside of Redlinski's. This stuff is a steal!

A Night Off?

2011-09-22T08:10:00.000-04:00

I just couldn't get out a post last night. To much wine and pizza!

We had an impromptu dinner guest and I had issued the invite earlier in the day. As much as I like to save money, I believe that it's worth to spend a little on friends. In our socially disconnected society, it's easy to go long periods of time not seeing those we are close to. Email and phone calls are nice but not the same as face time!

While I like to make pizza, we do have one place who makes a pie I like. That's rare. I don't like most pizza made here in Buffalo. Molinari's on Sheridan Dr. makes as close to a NY style pie that I've found. Since TBG works up that way and he was taking my car for an oil change after work, I asked him to bring a pie home. He arrived 15 minutes before our guest and we kept it warm in the oven.

I picked up a bag of salad, a can of chickpeas and two bottles of dressing, along with a Pepperidge Farm cake. I also snagged a tray of UTOF pork chops for the pup. This came to about 14 bucks and the pizza was probably another 15. $30 is a bit of a layout for one dinner -- but the total is sorta misleading since the bottles of dressing will last for a few weeks. But it was a bit of a weeknight splurge for us.

This sorta splurge is worth it because I think in being frugal, we turn ourselves in to hermits sometimes and this is not a good thing! I am willing to spend extra to be with others and feel fortunate that we have the funds to do so. Of course, it may mean I miss a blog post or two....

A Fun Dinner

2011-09-20T20:25:00.004-04:00

Chicken cheeseburgers with onion rings. I was able to get four huge burgers out of the pound. I mixed in ground up multi-grain English muffins, mashed avocado, an egg, ground soy and some mozzarella cheese. There is also a thick tomato under the burger. The onion rings are baked but I would have loved to have fried them. I picked up three large buns from the bakery section. Big burgers need big thick buns!

I stopped at Tops because it's next to Petsmart. I went there because Teddy's leash is broken. I was running with her and realized her leash was coming unhooked. She stayed with me, but I didn't like the thought of her being unleashed. So, we turned around to go home. Some guy had a dog off leash who attacked her. Doesn't it figure? I'm psycho about making sure my *good* dog is on leash, and this idiot has a dog he knows is bad off leash. Luckily, the bite didn't break skin. The worst of it is that with my dog training experience, once we came around the corner and were face to face with the dog, I knew exactly what she was going to do and I couldn't stop it. There is a certain ear and tail position that a dog who is poised to attack will exhibit and as soon as I saw that, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. My read on the situation was unfortunately correct...

Luckily, we came out of it unscathed. But after that, I needed a fun dinner -- like cheeseburgers and onion rings. I bought Teddy a toy -- but I let her stay home. Those who read my blog know that my dog is terrified of Petsmart. But I got her a toy for her trouble. She's already chewed it up!

A Little Help....

2011-09-19T19:12:00.005-04:00

I get a little help with products that are pre-made and not necessarily healthy... but I can rationalize them from a financial, health and time perspective. I do that a lot on this blog and I'm doing it again tonight!

One of my goals today was to bake a pie. It took only three of my Twenty Ounce apples. These babies are big. You won't find them in the store. They are a product of apple country that get sold to manufacturers who then make them into pie filling. By the time we see them on store shelves, they have so much extra stuff added and they are too sweet and mushy for my taste. The thought of using Comstock apple pie filling for a pie turns my tummy a bit. I do use Comstock (mostly cherry) for other uses though. But with the real thing, I have healthy left-overs for pup. She got the cores and peels along with broccoli stems and that was mixed with another batch of slop to add moisture.

My apples are not organic and I try to scrub them well, but they are sorta green. They made it into my pie without adding to their carbon footprint. I drove them home, which I was going to do anyway. So they didn't eat up any resources in transit.

I use Jiffy pie crust mix which I extend with Bisquick. I kinda think that works out to be a bit cheaper than buying all that butter and it is a little more convenient too. I'm lazy and have always done well with Jiffy. I make an egg wash using whites, brown sugar and some honey. Teddy gets the shell, yolk and any of the remaining wash. As anyone might guess, pie day is one of her favorite times. I like to add chopped nuts (we had almonds today), dried currants and yellow raisins.

For dinner we're having seafood Alfredo. I'm using half a bag of the frozen shrimp from last week and half a bag of the frozen scallops on sale this week. I'm extending it by using chopped broccoli. The stems went into the slop mixture. Tops had the fettuccine on sale so we're not doing any whole grain tonight. I have crusty bread left from last night which needs to be used. It is raining today and it will get stale quickly if we don't take advantage of it now.

I am using a jar of light Alfredo. It's cheaper and easier than buying the ingredients. I wouldn't have been able to fit pie making into my evening if I made it from scratch. I won't use it all either. I will save some for a seafood pizza later this week. I am aiming for leftovers for lunch tomorrow. But if it's real yummy it might not make it that far!

Convenience tricks like mixes and sauces in a jar are a necessity for me. I could go super convenience and either buy these things at a restaurant or do take-out. Or I could buy these things prepared in the freezer section. However, if I do that, then I don't have anything for the dog. It would also cost more.

Then I guess there are many who think there is nothing convenient about preparing dinner and a pie after work. Oh well, at least the dog is on board with it all!

Two Dollar Weekend

2011-09-18T18:09:00.002-04:00

Everything I bought this weekend was two bucks! There was a big community garage sale in Pultneyville and plenty of garbage on display. I picked up this beaded necklace for $2. It has a magnetic clasp, which is neat. I can take the leaf off and use it with neck-wires. I think the dark stones are hematite and the rest are various crystals.

I stopped at my favorite apple stand on the way home. We had to go south down route 14 so I could go back to the factory outlet. In my cache of bras, I picked up a 42DD by mistake. I'm big, but not that big! The three pound bag of apples was two bucks. These are "20 Ounce" apples. They should be really good in pies. KB was very curious about them. Puppy will get the cores and skins.

I had to stop at Tops on my way home to get meat for the pup. These mosquito repellers were marked down to two bucks from $7.99. I'll bring them back to camp next weekend and we will have them for next summer.

This week, there are some good sales on seafood. Frozen mussels are $3.99, which is a three dollar savings. A bag of small scallops is $6.99 which is also a three dollar savings. Tonight I'll have the mussels over pasta. Since they are in a garlic butter sauce, I won't have to make a sauce.

We also came back to great progress on the Chez. The boys had a contractor sleep over since we were gone. They went crazy patching every crack and crevice, repaired plaster, put storm windows back up. Outside, they put up gutters, fixed one fence, finished a lot of paint-work. The finished replacing all the rotted molding on the garage and trimmed the base. The place looks sharp.

Camp weather was about as perfect as you could ask for in the fall. The skies were blue and the air was crisp. We went to the Alton Coffee cup with Don and Margaret this morning. A neighbor built a new communal fire pit during the week so we we had a nice fire Saturday night. Tommy had a nice ride and I fit in a run.

I do not feel like going to work tomorrow! I'll pay anyone two bucks to go in for me...

Anniversary Present

2011-09-16T12:27:00.000-04:00

It will be 23 years for me and The Big Guy on Saturday. I got him a present which I know we will both benefit from, a Barnes and Noble NOOK. This was a big ticket buy for me. And it was something that I purchased not expecting and ROI on. It was bought for pleasure... and practicality too. Here is why I chose it:

NOOK supports web-surfing and TBG has wanted a way to read email when he's not at home. We have not yet gotten him set up with his own cell phone. The last one I ordered came with a bum battery so we're still working on the refund/return of that.
NOOK uses free 3G WIFI -- so we can get the benefit of the Internet and email without having to sign up for a wireless account.
NOOK costs a fraction of the iPad.
NOOK will download books from our library, but Kindle doesn't right now.

Tom and I have wanted to cut down on clutter and this will cut down on his accumulation of books. Also he falls asleep reading with the light on, so I always sleep in another room. We are looking to go back to a shared bedroom when we buy a smaller house. This might make it more likely!

I am also dying to use this baby while accessing songsterr, my favorite new guitar tablature site. I can view the tabs and listen to the music away from my PC. This will be soooo cool!

The box the NOOK comes in converts to a stand, which is a nifty trick I found on-line while researching the unit. I was all set to get a Kindle until I found out the NOOK is more net friendly. At a price tag of $249, it is not cheap... but I think TBG will love having it.