DG's frugal journal

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Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

I agree with you Janet. The online seed suppliers are absolutely running out, but it is "there are no ....." that starts a panic. I am staying out of stores when possible, but I needed the dehydrator sooner than later because the tomato crop is coming in now. I will have to look into dehydration of more foods if this works out. And I needed the salt to condition the water. A must since I am on a well.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Saturday-am

Soon, I will cook breakfast outside on the porch. I need some more fat in the pan, so I got out the saved excess to add to the skillet. The house temperature has dropped 4 degrees between the open windows and fans. That is very nice. I hope it will end up at 75F inside. But if we hit 90F+ this weekend, it will likely be into ac territory. There is a promise of a cold front about Thursday. That would be nice and a good time to cook another portion of the last turkey. I still have plenty of frozen ground beef and cheap chicken breasts. Salmon is on sale again and also asparagus. Since I couldn't get hubs his favorite cottage cheese, I may go to that store on Monday. I am glad to see so many stores closing for Easter Sunday. I hope it is a trend. I could walk to that store, but I would be concerned about the condition of the chilled fish and cheese. I walk to the produce stand because the produce isn't as sensitive to the heat.

I feel like I almost have a habit of using the hot hose water to wash/rinse dishes. Habits are hard to lock down though. I have not been consistent with my morning exercises. I need to get focused on them.

I am so glad the tonic water/quinine is working on the nightly leg cramps. I only have one glass of it a day. It is very bitter tasting. So I have my morning lemon water. Daily fresh tomatoes and glass of quinine water. I am becoming an odd old woman.

This is the last day of hubs week off pain medication. He seems to be walking well. The apple cider vinegar is a great thing for him. But it can harm the body in excess, so only one week a month. I hope we can start walking again soon. No more deserts for him/us since his weight was rising with the late night food. I will move the big meal to earlier in the day. I experimented with it yesterday. I had the chicken, a big bowl of fresh steamed broccoli and another bowl of sautéed mushrooms and tomatoes. That was a lot of food, but it looks like it did the trick. We ate it all and we both had a good night's sleep.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Sunday-am

Another good night's sleep. Quinine water(tonic water) and the juice of a fresh lemon look to be the key to preventing my leg cramps. It also helps to eat dinner early, around 4 pm. All meals are planned from the freezer this coming week. Ground beef stir fry today, Mexican ground beef with beans tomorrow, ground beef burgers, another chicken breast meal on Wednesday and crockpot turkey on Thursday and Friday. I decided against getting any more fresh fish from Winn-Dixie. They are not as rigorous on social distancing practices as some other stores and too crowded. I am not comfortable with that.

I checked the freezer and I am slowly using up my stockpile of meat. It looks like I have enough to get through mid-May without a meat purchase. That is nice.

I am using up my transplanting soil pretty fast. I may need to visit Home Depot soon and get soil and a few other things at the same time. I will keep an eye on it. Hopefully, our garden centers will not go nuts like some in Michigan and close down because they are not essential service. Gardening is essential activity.....at least for gardeners.

Paranoid neighbor has decided his extreme social distancing was too much, so I was able to visit yesterday and talk about plants. She still thinks the aphids on her milkweed plants are butterfly eggs with legs. She didn't ask my opinion and I didn't offer it.

I continue to cook outside to save ac costs and wash dishes outside to save water to use on my garden and use the hot hose to save money on hot water. Good frugal practices. Some say extreme. Normally, I would make hubs solar tea today, but it is supposed to be overcast with little sun, Tomorrow should be better. He can drink water today.

I am glad that the stores are closed today. I hope they decide to be closed every Sunday and family becomes more valued. I hope professional sports don't dominate anymore on Sundays. Family interaction is so important to the wellbeing of a society, in my opinion. Closed stores is a good way for me to reduce shopping as well. So it is frugal as well.

The newbie gardeners continue to flow into the FB gardening groups. They usually get a couple of responses, but most of the regular gardeners are exhausted from answering the same questions over and over again. These young people have an idealized image of self sufficiency. "Raise a garden and feed a family all year." Of course, most will fail here in Florida because they are trying to raise northern vegetables in the wrong season for Florida. On top of that, their kids don't like this vegetable or that vegetable that does grow in Florida. And of course, so many of them don't know how to cook vegetables. Mind boggling and sad. So sad in fact, that I am spending less time looking at FB. That may be a good thing actually.

More rain is forecasted for the week. That would be very nice. I don't have much water left in the rain barrels. I am having to water with the hose again. We are expecting temperatures in the 90's for several days this week. Probably ac this week.
Dgflorida
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Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Monday-am

The coffee is brewed and the pot turned off. The coffee will stay hot long enough to be used. I rechecked the freezer yesterday after I pulled out the meat for this week and I can't believe we ate all that chicken. So I will need to watch for a sale on chicken. I pulled ground beef from the freezer for tonight and tomorrow night several days ago and chicken breasts for Wednesday and a turkey thigh with leg for Thursday and Friday yesterday. The meat should all be thawed in the refrigerator when ready for use. Cauliflower rice for tonight to substitute for real rice. I let the sun make hubs a new pitcher of solar tea. So he should have enough iced tea for three days. I rinsed dishes outside in the hot water from the hose. It was almost too hot to touch. Frugal.

Hubs left the fan on in the living room over night. I expressed disapproval. He will be reminded tonight. I even had to use a fan for a couple of hours last night. I left the ac at 82F and it did come on several times. A really hot night for Florida.

By mixing the cow manure compost with the planting soil, I have been able to extend the soil for a while. The cow manure compose mix is a lot cheaper than the planting soil. Frugal. Hope the plants like it. It also means that I don't have to visit Home Depot yet.

A grocery store must visit this morning. I leave my mask in the car after I use it. The car gets very hot sitting outside and I doubt the virus can survive that heat. And since it is several days at least before I use it again, it is probably virus free based on current thinking. I don't need gas yet, so that source of infection can be avoided today.

Hubs woke up with a very stiff back. He needed help getting dressed. He is back on his pain medication, so I am surprised. However, due to the heat, he is not walking as he was before. Walking helps everything. Grump on the record heat and no access to the gym.

Rain chances for the week are fading. Sad. We really need the rain. But temperatures are supposed to become more normal by week's end. I have started saving tomato seeds since seeds may be the next panic item. I also did not use up all my pepper seeds in case. Normally, I don't save seeds because plant varieties can cross and produce a less robust seed. But these are the times.
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Jackielou
Posts: 13428
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:51 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Jackielou »

Dgflorida wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 7:35 am Monday-am

The coffee is brewed and the pot turned off. The coffee will stay hot long enough to be used. I rechecked the freezer yesterday after I pulled out the meat for this week and I can't believe we ate all that chicken. So I will need to watch for a sale on chicken. I pulled ground beef from the freezer for tonight and tomorrow night several days ago and chicken breasts for Wednesday and a turkey thigh with leg for Thursday and Friday yesterday. The meat should all be thawed in the refrigerator when ready for use. Cauliflower rice for tonight to substitute for real rice. I let the sun make hubs a new pitcher of solar tea. So he should have enough iced tea for three days. I rinsed dishes outside in the hot water from the hose. It was almost too hot to touch. Frugal.

Hubs left the fan on in the living room over night. I expressed disapproval. He will be reminded tonight. I even had to use a fan for a couple of hours last night. I left the ac at 82F and it did come on several times. A really hot night for Florida.

By mixing the cow manure compost with the planting soil, I have been able to extend the soil for a while. The cow manure compose mix is a lot cheaper than the planting soil. Frugal. Hope the plants like it. It also means that I don't have to visit Home Depot yet.

A grocery store must visit this morning. I leave my mask in the car after I use it. The car gets very hot sitting outside and I doubt the virus can survive that heat. And since it is several days at least before I use it again, it is probably virus free based on current thinking. I don't need gas yet, so that source of infection can be avoided today.

Hubs woke up with a very stiff back. He needed help getting dressed. He is back on his pain medication, so I am surprised. However, due to the heat, he is not walking as he was before. Walking helps everything. Grump on the record heat and no access to the gym.

Rain chances for the week are fading. Sad. We really need the rain. But temperatures are supposed to become more normal by week's end. I have started saving tomato seeds since seeds may be the next panic item. I also did not use up all my pepper seeds in case. Normally, I don't save seeds because plant varieties can cross and produce a less robust seed. But these are the times.
DG, we have found that depending on the strength of the manure plants are sometimes burned and end up dying.
Jackie
http://inthelandofthelivingskiesii.blogspot.ca/
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Monday-thought for the day

Quinine. What an interesting compound. My grandmother would drink quinine water whenever she felt a bout of "yellow fever" come on. She called it yellow fever because her skin would turn yellow. We know it as jaundice. She worked on cruise ships during the 1930s and they often traveled to the tropics where she apparently got it.
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