Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

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Momof2Still
Posts: 173
Joined: Mon May 14, 2018 10:05 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Momof2Still »

alliesmama4 wrote: Thu Jul 26, 2018 3:15 pm I have been munching my way through the fridge and pantry. Cannot remember everything but have made a yummy pimento cheese spread using canned cheese from my emergency supplies.. I have several cases of cheddar cheese to use up.. Made a batch of pimento cheese using cream cheese, bought on deep discount a while back, roasted red peppers from Dollar Tree. Only used half of the jar of roasted peppers and half of a jar of mayo from Dollar Tree. It was really good and will be making another batch today with the leftovers from the first batch

Used the last of my Jello and found a box of Knox gelatin. Cannot remember why I bought it but looked at the recipes on the box and found a recipe for cheesecake. Fairly simple and since I have a lot of cream cheese, from a sale a while back, thought I would make it.. The texture is a bit slippery for my taste but otherwise decent. It was quick and it did save money not using a lot of cream cheese, just one brick, and the oven did not have to be used. So it will be a keeper for quick summertime cheese cake..

I made more tuna fish salad using free tuna from Amazon. Also used 3 eggs .08 cent each and 1/3 bottle of mayo from Dollar Tree so maybe .33 cent for that. Also chopped onion cost was minuscule..I will have that for 4 meals. cost about .15 cents per meal.

I am enjoying free coffee since my aide brought me a canister.. I offer her coffee every morning and some days she drinks some days not and she wanted to repay my kindness. Told her it was not necessary but she insisted.

Used the last of my lettuce to make a salad and made Asian salad dressing to go with it.. That is so quick and easy to make if you have everything on hand.. Saving my mayo and dairy for other things. It makes for a nice salad dressing instead of homemade ranch.

Used a packet of cauliflower rice to make a pizza..I always keep pizza sauce in the freezer as well as pepperoni. I buy the pizza sauce at Dollar Tree and divide it into small jars for the freezer. I saved an Italian sausage link a while back and froze it to use on pizza. When I cut the ends off of an onion or bell pepper I dice them in to a small dice to freeze for sprinkling on a pizza. I always have mozzarella cheese in the fridge. Where I live there is no pizza delivery and even if there were it cost too much. It is so much easier to make it at home and it is fresh and hot. I am sure there are more things just cannot think what they are..Janet Alliesmama

Janet-

I really enjoy reading what you (and Teddi) are up to and what you are creating in the kitchen.

Good job on the insurance savings. I am glad that you can now have half and half for your coffee. Sometimes just little things make a big difference.

What does the dehydrated cheese look like- do you have to reconstitute it in some manner? I love Pimento cheese spread.

Is Teddi doing better with eating his food? I hope so. Good job on all the surveys.

I have been busy finishing up the home organization. I only have the laundry room (closet) left and that should be taken care of tomorrow. RM and I even managed to hang some photos and other art work up around the house that I have just never gotten around to hanging.

I have completely cleaned and organized the kitchen freezer, the fridge, and my chest freezer as well as taken an inventory and noted the items that need using soon. I was going to wait on the chest freezer, but a crucial piece of my pasta machine ended up falling behind the freezer, so since I had to take things out to move it so that I could get the piece, I went ahead and cleaned and organized it at that time. So far from those items noted to use soon I (and RM) have used the mini sausages to make mini corndogs, a mystery pkg. which turned out to be pumpkin to make pumpkin bread, a pkg. of boneless chicken breast and frozen spinach to make chicken and gnocchi soup, a very small beef roast to make a pot roast with carrots and potatoes, some shredded mozzarella cheese, as well as a partial block of mozzarella cheese to make pizzas the last couple of Friday nights, and partial pkg. of speckled butter beans. There may have been something else, but that is all I can think of at the moment.

RM and I have also used up the bananas and strawberries and are working our way through some fresh cherries and apples which was bought last weekend. I have several other fresh items that need using this coming week, but most have been added to the menu plan in some fashion.

Well off to bed. I ended up having a migraine the last three days (it is gone now), but I am so tired from it. I always am just completely exhausted after the migraines are gone.
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Momof2Still wrote: Fri Jul 27, 2018 11:17 pm
alliesmama4 wrote: Thu Jul 26, 2018 3:15 pm I have been munching my way through the fridge and pantry. Cannot remember everything but have made a yummy pimento cheese spread using canned cheese from my emergency supplies.. I have several cases of cheddar cheese to use up.. Made a batch of pimento cheese using cream cheese, bought on deep discount a while back, roasted red peppers from Dollar Tree. Only used half of the jar of roasted peppers and half of a jar of mayo from Dollar Tree. It was really good and will be making another batch today with the leftovers from the first batch

Used the last of my Jello and found a box of Knox gelatin. Cannot remember why I bought it but looked at the recipes on the box and found a recipe for cheesecake. Fairly simple and since I have a lot of cream cheese, from a sale a while back, thought I would make it.. The texture is a bit slippery for my taste but otherwise decent. It was quick and it did save money not using a lot of cream cheese, just one brick, and the oven did not have to be used. So it will be a keeper for quick summertime cheese cake..

I made more tuna fish salad using free tuna from Amazon. Also used 3 eggs .08 cent each and 1/3 bottle of mayo from Dollar Tree so maybe .33 cent for that. Also chopped onion cost was minuscule..I will have that for 4 meals. cost about .15 cents per meal.

I am enjoying free coffee since my aide brought me a canister.. I offer her coffee every morning and some days she drinks some days not and she wanted to repay my kindness. Told her it was not necessary but she insisted.

Used the last of my lettuce to make a salad and made Asian salad dressing to go with it.. That is so quick and easy to make if you have everything on hand.. Saving my mayo and dairy for other things. It makes for a nice salad dressing instead of homemade ranch.

Used a packet of cauliflower rice to make a pizza..I always keep pizza sauce in the freezer as well as pepperoni. I buy the pizza sauce at Dollar Tree and divide it into small jars for the freezer. I saved an Italian sausage link a while back and froze it to use on pizza. When I cut the ends off of an onion or bell pepper I dice them in to a small dice to freeze for sprinkling on a pizza. I always have mozzarella cheese in the fridge. Where I live there is no pizza delivery and even if there were it cost too much. It is so much easier to make it at home and it is fresh and hot. I am sure there are more things just cannot think what they are..Janet Alliesmama

Janet-

I really enjoy reading what you (and Teddi) are up to and what you are creating in the kitchen.

Good job on the insurance savings. I am glad that you can now have half and half for your coffee. Sometimes just little things make a big difference.

What does the dehydrated cheese look like- do you have to reconstitute it in some manner? I love Pimento cheese spread.

Is Teddi doing better with eating his food? I hope so. Good job on all the surveys.

I have been busy finishing up the home organization. I only have the laundry room (closet) left and that should be taken care of tomorrow. RM and I even managed to hang some photos and other art work up around the house that I have just never gotten around to hanging.

I have completely cleaned and organized the kitchen freezer, the fridge, and my chest freezer as well as taken an inventory and noted the items that need using soon. I was going to wait on the chest freezer, but a crucial piece of my pasta machine ended up falling behind the freezer, so since I had to take things out to move it so that I could get the piece, I went ahead and cleaned and organized it at that time. So far from those items noted to use soon I (and RM) have used the mini sausages to make mini corndogs, a mystery pkg. which turned out to be pumpkin to make pumpkin bread, a pkg. of boneless chicken breast and frozen spinach to make chicken and gnocchi soup, a very small beef roast to make a pot roast with carrots and potatoes, some shredded mozzarella cheese, as well as a partial block of mozzarella cheese to make pizzas the last couple of Friday nights, and partial pkg. of speckled butter beans. There may have been something else, but that is all I can think of at the moment.

RM and I have also used up the bananas and strawberries and are working our way through some fresh cherries and apples which was bought last weekend. I have several other fresh items that need using this coming week, but most have been added to the menu plan in some fashion.

Well off to bed. I ended up having a migraine the last three days (it is gone now), but I am so tired from it. I always am just completely exhausted after the migraines are gone.
Momof2 The cheese is not dehydrated it is actual cheese in an 8 oz can. It is about the size of our old tuna cans before they started to shrink... I wonder how much more the tuna cans can shrink..lol. It is called Bega cheese from Australia.. It is a bit pricey but they had a sale on cheese so I bought 2 cases. The cheese is 8 years out from its best by date and still good.. Cheese never really goes bad. I did not like it at first since I am a cheddar girl and it did not melt to my satisfaction. However with the aging in the cans it taste better and blending it with other ingredients it has improved taste and texture. I have since found out how to can my own cheese so will be doing that when this supply gets lower.

Teddi is still a pain to cook for. Now he is eating ground chuck with rice but the meat has to be cooked before he eats not cooked and stored in the fridge for a few days.. I know a lot of people think he will eat it if he gets hungry enough but it not healthy to leave food out that is not kibble..I tried the tough love thing with his kibble and he did not eat anything for three days.. He also did not get any treats so it was not like he was just eating the good things. I have checked in to Shig Tzu behavior and they said they can be stubborn and he can be but overall he is a little sweetie.

Sounds like you are dong well with your home organization. Wish I could say the same.
I have never had a migraine. I have had patients that were so affected we had to treat them in a darkened room and be very careful. I hope yours does not return.

Keep up the good work with organization and using up your food. You are doing a great job.

Will your school schedule be starting sometime in August?

Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
Momof2Still
Posts: 173
Joined: Mon May 14, 2018 10:05 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Momof2Still »

alliesmama4 wrote: Sat Jul 28, 2018 9:16 am
Teddi is still a pain to cook for. Now he is eating ground chuck with rice but the meat has to be cooked before he eats not cooked and stored in the fridge for a few days.. I know a lot of people think he will eat it if he gets hungry enough but it not healthy to leave food out that is not kibble..I tried the tough love thing with his kibble and he did not eat anything for three days.. He also did not get any treats so it was not like he was just eating the good things. I have checked in to Shig Tzu behavior and they said they can be stubborn and he can be but overall he is a little sweetie.
Janet-
Sorry Teddi is being difficult with eating. My cats are picky, but both do eat store bought food. Both refuse to eat the suggested foods and only want the really inexpensive stuff. I have tried to change to the better for them food, but both refuse to eat it, or if I combine the two, they eat the inexpensive stuff and leave the healthier food.

School officially starts for teachers at the school I work this coming Wednesday, but I plan on going in tomorrow to unpack and plan out some things. I very much like my job, so I am glad to be going back, but I do like being at home. I am happy with all the things I did get accomplished this summer break, at least as far as my home goes. I did not get as much work related things done as I planned, but then I am not really expected to “work” all summer.




I did get the laundry room cleaned. It is also organized as much as possible- too much needed things and not so much storage for those things means not as organized as I would like.

On the food front, I was not feeling great yesterday, so RM picked up a loaf of bread in case we needed to make grilled cheese instead of the planned pork chops. I did get enough energy to make dinner (pork chops, freezer slaw, fresh fruit and corn). I used a pkg. of frozen mini corn-on-the-cob. I really thought it had been in the freezer longer than it should, but it turned out to be good. I am going to need to make croutons this evening out of some bread that is getting stale and freeze a couple of things so that it doesn’t get wasted. I have not had any food waste so far the last couple of weeks and would like to keep it that way. I should go see what I need to prep for tonight’s dinner. Have a great evening.
Momof2Still
Posts: 173
Joined: Mon May 14, 2018 10:05 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Momof2Still »

Janet- I hope everything is well with you. I have not seen a post from you in a couple of days.

Well summer break is officially over for me. Today was the first official day back for all school staff, and I am exhausted. At least I will not be tempted to spend much money, not that I will have time to if I wanted to.

Used up several more things from the "need to use it up list." Unfortunately, I did toss the last 1/4 pkg. of salad mix (it got really yuck) and about 1/2 cup homemade egg noodles that just never got used. Other than that RM and I are still doing well with using things.
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Momof2Still wrote: Wed Aug 01, 2018 9:04 pm Janet- I hope everything is well with you. I have not seen a post from you in a couple of days.

Well summer break is officially over for me. Today was the first official day back for all school staff, and I am exhausted. At least I will not be tempted to spend much money, not that I will have time to if I wanted to.

Used up several more things from the "need to use it up list." Unfortunately, I did toss the last 1/4 pkg. of salad mix (it got really yuck) and about 1/2 cup homemade egg noodles that just never got used. Other than that RM and I are still doing well with using things.

Momof2 I am ok. Just have been busy and can only get so much done before I get tired.. The old gray mare ain't what she use to be...lol. When I had my total knee replacements I was told I could not go back to my job as a physical therapist assistant so decided to go back to school to become a teacher. However I had just started with some preliminary classes when I was diagnosed with ALS.. I have a rare inherited form of ALS. It is not fatal just have progressive problems.. It is more active in the summer and if I get lucky sometimes it goes in to remission in the late Fall until early spring.

Good luck with your new school year.. What do you teach? A grade level or certain class like history or English. If that is too personal to reveal I do understand.

Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
Momof2Still
Posts: 173
Joined: Mon May 14, 2018 10:05 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Momof2Still »

alliesmama4 wrote: Wed Aug 01, 2018 11:13 pm
Momof2 I am ok. Just have been busy and can only get so much done before I get tired.. The old gray mare ain't what she use to be...lol. When I had my total knee replacements I was told I could not go back to my job as a physical therapist assistant so decided to go back to school to become a teacher. However I had just started with some preliminary classes when I was diagnosed with ALS.. I have a rare inherited form of ALS. It is not fatal just have progressive problems.. It is more active in the summer and if I get lucky sometimes it goes in to remission in the late Fall until early spring.

Good luck with your new school year.. What do you teach? A grade level or certain class like history or English. If that is too personal to reveal I do understand.

Janet Alliesmama
I am glad you are okay. Don't overdo, there is always tomorrow.

I teach students from Kindergarten through 8th grade that have some type of disability. I really love my job, and it is such a joy to watch a child that has worked so hard on a concept finally get it. Granted often times it is much like beating your head against the wall, but for those times they do accomplish things independently, it is well worth the hard work and much frustration.
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