My 2020 Challenge

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HappyDaze
Posts: 4186
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:11 am

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by HappyDaze »

alliesmama4 wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 7:35 pm Teddi still not feeling well and refused to eat. I made three different plates of food and he did not even go near any of them. He slept all day except when I would tell him it was time to go out to potty. He would wake up and go out on his own power but went right back to sleep. Around dinner time I opened a can of salmon and decided to see if he would eat some.. He did. So will try to feed him more salmon. The vet said he might be allergic to beef and/or chicken and those are the two meats he gets in his fresh pet food from Petco.

I finished the last of the lasagna for breakfast with two cups of tea. lunch was tuna fish salad with pork rinds in place of crackers or bread with pickled jalapeno peppers to give it some zip. Dinner was a few bites of salmon. I had a midafternoon snack of just plain peanut butter on a spoon.. Just too tired to do much else today. I have some canned spinach that I am going to open and nuke in a few minutes.

Meals are hit and miss today. Need to try to cook ahead tonight. I have a nice portion of cottage cheese, spinach and parmesan cheese leftover from the lasagna and I am going to use it for a base to make a quiche tonight. I need to add onions and cheddar cheese.

I worked on and off sorting and pitching paperwork today so it was not a total loss.

Hopefully Teddi and I will spunk up tomorrow.
I hope you and Teddi both get a good night's rest and feel better tomorrow, friend.
"All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. After all, he was only human. He wasn't a dog."

Charles M. Schultz
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

HappyDaze wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 9:58 pm I hope you and Teddi both get a good night's rest and feel better tomorrow, friend.
Thank you Sheila.. We both are dragging right now. He just came in from his final potty break. Thanks for thinking of us.. Means a lot to me.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Have been awake since a little after 3:00 AM.. Bummer. Took my trash to my neighbors around 5:30 AM. He just happened to be outside preparing to go somewhere. We talked about "the tree" that he is going to take down. It turns out "the tree" is actually 4 smaller trees growing in a clump. I could not tell that until the foliage around the tree had dried up this Fall. He is going to be taking them down in the near future and it will not cost me anything. Although I am going to give him some money since what he is doing is saving me a fortune. He said he plans on using the wood to burn since they have a wood burning stove as a supplement for their furnace. I have been wanting to take down more trees in the woods behind my house so that I can see the lake on the farm next door year round. Told him that if he wanted to cull some of the trees in my woods he could. He was very happy with the idea since his farm has more pasture than trees. While he was here he took my hose off of the faucet for me. I have tried but did not have the strength. He did have to use a tool. Then he fixed a drain pipe. He told me come Spring he will power wash my house when he does his. I am allowing him to put a trail camera in my woods to see if he can detect any deer and he has my permission to hunt whenever he wants. He uses a bow and arrows so he can hunt year round. Also he is going to try to eliminate the pesky squirrels that have ruined my garden the last couple of years. He takes the squirrel meat to his father. So looks like in a way we are bartering. He and his wife have both told me in the past to not hesitate to call them if I need help. His wife cuts my grass with a riding lawnmower. I have an acre and a half and in the past it was really difficult to find someone willing to come this far out to cut grass.

Teddi has been doing much better as the day has progressed.

Breakfast was Cheerios with pecans and raisins. lunch was leftover tuna fish salad with pork rinds in place of crackers with a few pickled jalapeno peppers.

Had a mid afternoon snack of pork rinds and made dip using sour cream and most of the Taco Bell Baja sauce. It was ok nothing to think about making again but using up odds and ends.

I had hoped to make a quiche with the leftover spinach and cottage cheese but think it is going to end up in an omelet instead. I have a couple of red potatoes and think I am going to cook one to use as a side tonight. Just boil, add butter, salt, and pepper. Teddi will get some of the potato without the salt and pepper and a very tiny little bit of butter. He seems to like the taste of butter with his potato. He will also have more canned salmon with his potato. Doing well making do with what I have on hand.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

After a lot of checking and thinking about what I have on hand and what I would like to have I decided to go ahead and order some things from Amazon and Walmart. What is the point of holding out until Jan 4th if I already have the cash and the gift cards? My entire grocery bill will be covered by cash from my various survey sites. Also I have earned $15.00 in Amazon Gift cards and that will pay for some of the things I want.

Teddi is really enjoying the red potatoes and since he is such a picky eater decided to order more to get him through the rest of the month. Also he is running seriously low on his baby carrots. I found a small half ham at Walmart that will get me through Christmas and New Years dinners with leftovers for sandwiches or using in other ways. I use to pick up a similar small ham at Ruler but I am not going in to a grocery store of any kind for the foreseeable future. I added some basic baking ingredients to make cookies or quick breads as gifts to give to some of my family and friends. They will be left on their doorsteps, no close contact, but I will call ahead to make sure they are home. The rest of the grocery order was for things that will be needed in the near future. I needed to order some things to get the minimum order, $35.00, for free curbside pick up.

I am dropping Amazon Prime in January so ordered a few things like shelf stable milk and Cheerios. They will all be free with earned gift cards. I will still be able to order from Amazon and receive free shipping if I have a $35.00 order. Arrival might take longer but I am ok with that. I feel like I have things under control here at home with what I have and can shop now through Walmart, Aldi's, and various other places using curbside pickup so that $12.99 can be used elsewhere.

Breakfast was Cheerios with raisins and walnuts. lunch will be leftover chili with a little bit of fresh chopped onion and shredded cheddar cheese. Dinner is home made pizza and a movie night.

I have found a really yummy sparkling water at Walmart. It is sugar free and does not have any sugar subs. I have to pace myself drinking it because it satisfies the craving to have something sweet.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

I was disappointed that Walmart was out of the small half ham I wanted for my holiday meals. The alternate was a larger ham for 16.99. No thank you. The cost was too much and way too much meat for me to deal with. I will have to think of something else.. It really is just a meal and it will not be hard for me to come up with something else. I was thinking ham would be traditional and I am trying to keep things as normal as possible to keep things going mentally. Not the end of the world if I do not have ham. There are people doing without a lot more so no complaints here.

Using up odds and ends for meals the last several days. Today I am going to fry up some breakfast sausage and add an egg for breakfast. lunch will be a nice salad. I have been craving a fresh salad. Dinner will be a small meatloaf with mashed potatoes that I had saved in the freezer. Will open a can of green beans and season it with some onion and a tiny little bit of bacon. I discovered that half of a half of a slice of bacon is enough to season a can of green beans. I saved two slices of bacon a while back in order to season my green beans. I can live without bacon for my meals but nice to have on hand to season things.

I have been thinking about goals for 2021. I have a lot of food stocked so going to try to eat down what I have. I am hoping to only supplement fresh produce and dairy as needed. Also when the time comes to buy needed items I am hoping to have built up enough money to purchase them with the cash and gift cards from my online surveys. I do have a some home and car repairs that are necessary but other than the needed repairs I plan on not buying anything in 2021. I am going to repurpose a lot of things as needed.

I am on track for paying my property taxes on time and I plan on keeping it that way. In the past I had a lot of unexpected storm damage to my roof but several years ago my insurance paid for a new roof. Also had furnace problems and had a new furnace installed a few years ago with the help of my electric company. I am still paying off the low interest loan of $43.00 a month but would like to step up the pay off so that is one of my goals for 2021.
Janet Alliesmama
floridacatlover
Posts: 8038
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:21 am

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by floridacatlover »

alliesmama4 wrote: Tue Dec 22, 2020 6:19 am I was disappointed that Walmart was out of the small half ham I wanted for my holiday meals. The alternate was a larger ham for 16.99. No thank you. The cost was too much and way too much meat for me to deal with. I will have to think of something else.. It really is just a meal and it will not be hard for me to come up with something else. I was thinking ham would be traditional and I am trying to keep things as normal as possible to keep things going mentally. Not the end of the world if I do not have ham. There are people doing without a lot more so no complaints here.

Using up odds and ends for meals the last several days. Today I am going to fry up some breakfast sausage and add an egg for breakfast. lunch will be a nice salad. I have been craving a fresh salad. Dinner will be a small meatloaf with mashed potatoes that I had saved in the freezer. Will open a can of green beans and season it with some onion and a tiny little bit of bacon. I discovered that half of a half of a slice of bacon is enough to season a can of green beans. I saved two slices of bacon a while back in order to season my green beans. I can live without bacon for my meals but nice to have on hand to season things.

I have been thinking about goals for 2021. I have a lot of food stocked so going to try to eat down what I have. I am hoping to only supplement fresh produce and dairy as needed. Also when the time comes to buy needed items I am hoping to have built up enough money to purchase them with the cash and gift cards from my online surveys. I do have a some home and car repairs that are necessary but other than the needed repairs I plan on not buying anything in 2021. I am going to repurpose a lot of things as needed.

I am on track for paying my property taxes on time and I plan on keeping it that way. In the past I had a lot of unexpected storm damage to my roof but several years ago my insurance paid for a new roof. Also had furnace problems and had a new furnace installed a few years ago with the help of my electric company. I am still paying off the low interest loan of $43.00 a month but would like to step up the pay off so that is one of my goals for 2021.
Janet, since I’m not going to my friend’s house for Christmas, I’ve decided to go the non-traditional route and have pizza. You make so many creative meals from what you have on hand. Merry Christmas to you and Teddi.
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