My 2020 Challenge

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alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Not sure if it is my computer or the forum but after I write for a while things freeze up and I cannot go back and correct spelling or continue writing and have to submit things as is.. So things may seem odd in small increments with poor spelling.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

I finished the last of my cooked bacon in a BLT for lunch. I used some of the lettuce and the rest of the tomato to make a nice salad for dinner. I added some chopped red onion, sliced some green olives, a hard boiled egg, sliced some thin cheddar cheese slices in to small dice. Opened a can of chick peas for extra protein. Used the last of my homemade Asian salad dressing.

Breakfast was keto sausage gravy over gluten free toast. I had one cup of decaf left from yesterday so nuked it in the microwave. I am just about out of shelf stable milk. I do have powdered milk and canned evaporated milk to fall back on when needed. I am going to try to work with what I have in the house for a while instead of shopping due to so many things need to be done around the house.
The first of August will be here next week-end. This summer has gone by so quickly and I need to get some things done around the house before winter and like a lot of things that takes money. Fall and winter will be here before we know it.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

My plans flew out the window today. I have been sorting and pitching things and need to find an important paper for filing for my property tax exemptions. I may not have received it this year due to the pandemic and offices were shut down so quickly.

Breakfast was keto sausage gravy served over gluten free toast with a small (5 cup) pot of decaf coffee. I opened a can of evaporated milk to use in my coffee. I am saving the shelf stable milk to make gluten free blueberry muffins from a mix.

Lunch was two precooked sausage patties from the freezer eaten with the heels of the gluten free bread to make a sandwich.

Dinner was two pre cooked sausage patties from the freezer with two scrambled eggs and two slices of gluten free toast with butter.

I made a nice dessert using generic cool whip made with cottage cheese, crushed pineapple, and sugar free orange jello. Quick, easy and makes a lot for desserts and snacks. I cut back on the cottage cheese and cool whip. I saved some of each to make a different flavor in a few days.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Tonight I plan on making my hot and sour soup. The ingredients just need to be put together and allowed to simmer. I will also be baking some gluten free blueberry muffins from a mix.

I had to drain the crushed pineapple to make the cool whip dessert and I saved the juice not knowing what I would do with it but I hate to waste anything. While sorting recipes I found a salad dressing recipe that requires 1/4 cup of pineapple juice. What a coincidence! I used the last of my Asian salad dressing yesterday and was going to have make more to use up the last of my lettuce so this will work out well.
It has been so hot here today, heat index of 102, I just did not feel like heating the kitchen with my counter top cooker. It is actually too hot to even think of putting the Nesco out in the garage it is even more miserable out there. I am blessed to have air conditioning. However growing up I remember we did not have A/C and yet my Mom and our neighbor lady still baked yummy peach pies and other baked goods despite the heat. I guess I am getting soft in my old age. lol. At least when the sun goes down it does become a little bit cooler.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

My challenge just keeps getting more interesting. So far my stove oven died a few years ago but I had a stand alone convection oven in my basement from when I lived at a different house. The oven at that house died twice and the last time they repaired it they told me that if anything happened again that the oven could not be repaired due to they no longer made the parts for it. So I bought the stand alone convection oven. However shortly after that my Mom died and I moved in to her house for a few years. I had also bought a Nesco counter top cooker to use in case I needed to make more than one thing at a time. At that time in my life I had a larger social life that required more baking. When I moved to Mom's house her stove oven worked so the stand alone convection oven and the Nesco were put in to storage in my basement. Then a few years ago the stove oven here stopped working. It was pretty old so decided to just wing it with a small toaster convection oven and the convection oven. Then they both died one by one. I bought a bigger counter top convection oven but it appears to be going bad as well. Of course the warranty expired the first part of July. So I hauled out the Nesco. It is not working as well as it should. It has to be at least 25 years old so it is on its last leg as well. I am trying to bake 12 blueberry muffins and the batter is still too gooey after 20 min at the recommended temp so I boosted it to 400 and hope they do not burn.

The other day I lost my engagement ring when I was running errands. I was in and out of quite a few places and I was wearing gloves that I would discard at the trash barrels at the places as I left and then use hand sanitizer in my car. By the time I realized it was missing it was late at night and the places I had been were closed and it would have been a long drive to even go there. I am sad but there is nothing I can do about it. Just be warned and be careful with your own jewelry.

On the bright side my neighbor is going to cut down the huge tree that is dying free of charge. Of course I will be giving him money but he is saving me a ton of money. I have seen trees that he has cut down on his property and they are much bigger than mine so I know he knows what he is doing. His wife cuts my grass and they allow me to take my trash to their home without sharing in the cost. I have terrific neighbors. However wherever I have lived I have been blessed to have good neighbors.

Food wise I am eating leftovers and using what I have in the house. The other day I still had leftover KFC chicken so I picked the meat off of the bones and decided to use the last little bit of corn in the freezer to make a KFC Famous bowl. I added mashed potatoes, corn, chicken, and gravy and then nuked it. It was just as good as buying from them and much cheaper in the long run plus used up some leftovers. I still have mashed potatoes and gravy left so they are being frozen to use in another meal. I had 6 meals from the one order plus Teddi had three meals at 2 oz a meal and still have leftover mashed potatoes and gravy for another menu. About 2.57 a meal. Also I used the extra biscuits with my breakfast instead of making toast so the saving was even more.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

I had planned on not buying any groceries for a while but decided I really needed to buy some fresh produce. My favorite Farmers Market produce stand did not open this year so decided to go ahead and place an order to get the fresh produce I needed. In order to fill out my order I did buy some canned chili (2) for my stockpile and a can of sardines. I buy a can of my favorite sardines with each Walmart purchase. I am slowly adding them to my stockpile and they are less painful to buy at one every so often..lol. I buy a brand that is a little bit more pricey due to the sardines are smaller not the huge ones you get in the bigger bargain cans. I had ordered a two pound bag of carrots but they did not have them in a two pound bag and subbed one pound bags. However for some reason they gave me 3 one pound bags. I gave the extra bag to my aide. Also I had ordered two 8oz containers of their generic cool whip, they only had 16 oz containers and subbed them for the same price..so score.. lol. I will divide them up in to the smaller containers and freeze for later. I do not need to consume that much cool whip all at one time. I had hoped to make some gluten free bread in my Nesco but it is not working so bought two loaves of gluten free bread. I divide them up in to packets of 4 and freeze them.
My aide mentioned she knows a really good handyman that does electrical repairs. I am thinking of calling him to check my stove oven to see if it can be repaired. She said he repaired her oven and his fee is much more reasonable than the well known repair companies. It is worth a shot compared to buying a new stove.
Janet Alliesmama
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