Frugal Frolic

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Free song by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, new Today!

Enjoy!

Hello again

Hi everyone!

With so much going on in my family, I though I had to give up writing. I am missing it, so I'm back! I will try to post at least a couple times a week, so check back often! As a quick update, I'm working volunteer/part time, hubby is working one day a week some weeks, so the focus on saving and stretching our money is very important. We've had some ups and downs since the summer, but we're optimistic as we head into the holiday season. Thanks for joining me for our journey.

Hope y'all in the U.S. had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Monday June 7th Meal Planning - Double Graduation week

Hi everyone,

I need a new word for "busy". The last week and this coming week have so many things going on, that word just doesn't cut it. We'll be ready to welcome in Summer on Friday afternoon!

Even when things get busy or hectic, don't forget to PLAN YOUR MEALS. This will be one thing you WON'T have to worry about. When I have a week like this one, I don't try new recipes, or get fancy. It's all EASY, EASY, EASY! While I prefer to cook from scratch most of the time, I'll be cutting just a few corners this week. With one "graduating" from elementary and one from middle school, the myriad of activities will keep us busy enough.

So here's my "menu" plan for the week! A couple favorites of the kids and easy all the way!

Monday: Whole wheat spaghetti with marinara sauce

Tuesday: Crockpot chicken, salad, rice

Wednesday: Tater Tot Casserole

Thursday: Chicken pasta salad

Friday: Homemade pizza night

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Make your own burrito night

Have a great week everyone!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Tuesday Garden Update: May 25th - Spring Garden Lessons

Our garden is in transition from the "spring garden" to the "summer garden". We've been harvesting snow peas, broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas, shelling peas (blanched and into the freezer for now), lettuce, carrots and green onions. I need to harvest beets and more carrots this week. My wonderful husband added one more section to the raised bed this weekend, which I planted today.The tomatoes and peppers are growing, but showing signs of some aphids.

Here are some things we've learned about what we've planted:

1. Plant more carrots, green onions, and spinach. These grow a lot in a small space, and we use all of them!
2. If more room, plant more cauliflower and broccoli.
3. Plant less lettuce. Even as much as we use, I need to stagger the planting, so the harvestable lettuce isn't coming all at once.
4. Plant more flowers. I have some marigolds and nasturtiums planted, but I should have put them in much, much earlier. We need to attract good bugs to our garden!

In the new bed section, I planted potatoes. We picked the seed potatoes up from this nice organic gardening center in a nearby town. I did NOT write down the two varieties that we got, oops! I have no idea how they will turn out, so stay tuned :)

My quandry right now is -- what to do with the plants that are "done"? For example, while the broccoli plants are still producing side shoots, the cauliflower is done. I'm leaving the plants there for now, as they improve the environment for the other plants still growing in the bed. I'm waiting for the brussel sprouts to finish, then that first bed can be replanted. I'm thinking I will put a trellis with the acorn squash there. I know it's a little late, but I'd love to give it a shot! I will be sure to plant some more marigolds and nasturtiums also.

I hope you're enjoying your garden as much as I'm enjoying mine!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Monday May 24th Meal Planning

Good morning everyone,

We had a quiet weekend, after the bustle of getting my older son off on his trip. He'll be back tomorrow - we'll be missing him until then!

This past week, I was experimenting with some fava beans I had from the farm. I had a few different recipes, but I ended up making soup in the fashion of split pea, with carrots, onions, celery, along with some sliced kielbasa. Not exactly Mediterranean, but tasty and everyone liked it!

We're into the "home stretch" now - the last three weeks of school. Things will be crazy busy, so I'm thinking ahead to those menus as well. For this week, I still have time for experimentation!

Monday: Asian Noodle soup with Bok Choy

Tuesday: Italian Ribs and Rice

Wednesday: Easy Broccoli Quiche (I made two last week so I've got one in the freezer)

Thursday: White Turkey Chili (I'll be experimenting with a combination of ideas from recipes I've used in the past, testing some substitutions for convenience items. We'll see how it turns out!)

Friday: Homemade Pizza Night

Saturday: Grill Night! Steak, potatoes, salad.

Sunday: Leftovers

What are you making this week? If you're looking for more ideas, check out orgjunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday!