Hi Frugal Friends!
How was your week? Were you slow and relaxed, or running around as I was? We had some extremes in weather, from absolutely beautiful to thunderstorms and sleeping in the basement due to possible tornadoes! I am very grateful that no tornadoes developed in our storms, but my heart and prayers are with those who did have tornadoes in Alabama and other parts of the country.
What did you do this week to save dollars and bless your family? I did not have anything huge, but just little everyday steps. And I know that being consistent in day to day activities truly will add up over time!
*I repotted some of my baby tomato seedlings that I started from seed. These I have on a shelf unit in our basement, with just plain old shop lights hanging from the shelf above. Nothing fancy, no special grow light bulbs. It may not be perfect, but it works for me. As long as I don’t start my seeds too soon (whereby they get too leggy), they seem to do just fine. In my neck of the woods, right around Valentine’s Day—not before—is the right time to start my tomato seeds inside. They are looking quite nice right now, and I “would” be thinking of planting them outside this coming week—but we are predicted to get some unusual cold temps in a few days, so I will just keep these babies inside awhile longer.
I have also planted seeds inside for a few other things—my garden area is not huge, and is mainly taken up with things such as perinneal flowers, raspberries, blackberries, etc.—things that just stay in the same spot year by year. But I did start a few other things. Also tried using some of my older seeds first, before purchasing new seeds. Some things grew just fine, some things did nothing, so I will be purchasing new seeds and trying again. For tomatoes, most of mine are cherry tomatoes, perfect for popping into salads or mouths! I also am trying a new larger tomato variety this year, called Carbon. We will see how it does. I started some Romas which I like to use to dry in the dehydrator, but not a single Roma came up this year, so my seed may be too old, since the other tomatoes came up just fine.
*I made a batch of home made granola. This is a recipe that I have changed so much on that I can probably claim it as my own creation by now! It is sweetened with bananas and dates. Dates are not inexpensive, but I stopped using refined sugar several years ago, and my health improved dramatically, so I do all my sweetening with applesauce, bananas, or dates. This is my hubby’s “every day” breakfast, and my daughter will eat it each time when I make it fresh, as she loves it warm out of the oven—I bake it on a very low temp overnight, so it is warm and ready right at breakfast time. Most days my daughter and I have steel cut oats cooked in the instant pot, which is wonderful for being able to set a timer and have your food ready when you need it!
*I returned a music book to Amazon by dropping it off at Kohl’s. My daughter’s piano teacher had mentioned twice that she would really like us to purchase a certain music book for her. It was a book that my daughter was really wanting, and it did have a collection of songs in it. So I finally bit the bullet so to speak and purchased the book from Amazon. Then—the very day the book was scheduled to be delivered—guess what book my daughter happily found in her music library??? Yes—that very same book! We had already purchased it from a used book store and added it to her personal music library for “someday” when her piano playing reached that level. Well, someday is today! The book new was $22, and the price sticker on our used book was $2, so I certainly did not want to end up paying $22 for a book that we had already bought! Fortunately, I could return it for free at a Kohl's store, AND my hubby had a doctor's visit at a medical mall that was literally right across the street from our nearest Kohl's. With COVID, I am not allowed to go into the office with him anyway, so I dropped him off for his doctor appointment and crossed the street to return the book.
Well, I know I did more things than this, but these are the things I remember so will bring this to a close. What did YOU do last week to save money and bless your family? I would love to hear from you!
~Susan
3 comments:
I use honey in my homemade granola. Do you add the dates "as is" or do you add them in a liquid-like consistency? I add all sorts of seeds, chia, sunflower, sesame, etc. and raisins and walnuts. Any other suggestions? Thanks!
Hi Jamie!
Thank you for visiting my blog! When making my granola, I put the oats and nuts mixed in one large bowl, then in my blender I place the bananas, dates (which I take the pits out and cut in half), water, vanilla, and salt. I blend this mixture up really well, and then pour it over the oat/nut mixture, mixing it all together. Then I bake on 180 degrees over night, with it spread in four large “lasagna” type pans. My granola is spread in the pans only about one inch thick, and it slowly dries in the low oven. I do have a vita mix blender, which is more powerful than a regular blender, but if one only has a regular blender they could still do the same but may want to let the dates soften sitting with the water over them for a while first, and then blend.
All the seeds you add to your granola sounds delicious! And we love adding raisins on top as well, or adding frozen blueberries or sliced banana on top when it is in your bowl ready to eat. Yummy!
Your plants are looking SO nice! This is my first year to start quite a bit of things inside and things seem to be doing good. I have kale and swiss chard that I will be planting in the garden later this week. Then a couple more weeks and I can plant the rest - giving me a couple of weeks to prepare the beds. I have lots to do around here.
I am SO glad that I finally started starting seeds- it is ALOT cheaper than buying the plants for sure! I need to work on a seed stash - like my fabric stash...lol :O)
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