My Tireless Retirement - Week 191

 

Hello everyone.  This week started off with a crisp and foggy morning in the high thirties prompting me to up the new thermostat a couple degrees.  It’s that time of year now where full time heating will be needed again until spring arrives and the temperatures start to rise again.

 

I baked a batch of almond butter cookies - fabulous!

My work schedule was to work all day Friday where I spent the bulk of the day setting up for our 44^th annual holiday bazaar and then a few hours on Monday and Tuesday afternoons.  I was off the remainder of the week and it was fairly uneventful, which made it rather lovely.  My goal this particular week was to slow down and enjoy the upcoming holiday which I think I did quite well.  I had the weekend to sit quietly each morning with my cup of hot coffee and slowly start my day with prayer, reflection and gratitude.  I did some planning.  I did quite a bit of writing and a lot of lap time with my beloved kitties.  It was very peaceful and allowed me to recharge my batteries.

 

I crocheted myself a new set of potholders

I’m in that stage of life where my children are too busy with their lives to make time with me a priority and its okay.  I’ve been able to make that adjustment and embrace my new normal.  I am now living for myself and I have to say I quite enjoy it.  While I do miss spending time with my children I understand, I was young once too.  I’m sure with time that will change, but for now I will simply do my own thing and I’m just fine with that.  It no longer makes me sad.  In fact, I was very much looking forward to spending the day alone.

 

I turned this...

into this!

I did not need to do any grocery shopping ahead of Thanksgiving, I already had what I needed on hand, and so I was able to stay out of the busy supermarkets.  Initially I had planned to pop into Costco to pick up a rotisserie chicken, but at the last moment I decided to give myself a break and prepare a holiday meal using only food I already had in my freezers, fridge and pantry and it worked out perfectly.  I spent the entire day watching movies from my DVD collection that I haven’t watched in years – Evita, The Greatest Showman, Burlesque, Dirty Dancing & Pretty Woman.  The day was very relaxed and enjoyable.

 

It was delicious!

As you can see 😗

and I had the perfect amount of leftovers

For those of you in the U.S. that celebrate Thanksgiving I do hope it was a wonderful day for you as well.  For all of us I feel we need to know how blessed we truly are and be grateful for what we have, especially as we make our way into the heavily commercialized Christmas season.  This is a time when we need, now more than ever, to have Peace, Joy & Love in our lives.  I wish that for everybody.  Let’s make it happen!  Be blessed.

 

This Month's 2025 Grocery Spending – November

 

Welcome to the BFF edition!  This month was a little bit of a different shopping experience for me.  I started out the month not really needing anything.  However, I was able to add some more items to the LTFS because the BFF was feeling what I like to call “the urge” to stockpile.  You know that little niggling feeling that you should do “something” in case of “something”?  Apparently he was feeling that and I know from my own experiences throughout my life that when your gut is telling you something you listen to it.  I let him do his thing and helped him when he asked for it, like the canning and giving him some of my Kroger paper coupons that had come in the mail, not to mention my excellent advice and guidance.

 

We started off with a ten pound pork roast on sale for $1.69 a pound, a package of boneless, skinless chicken breast on sale for $2.69 a pound, a two pound block of medium cheddar cheese for $4.99 and two pounds of butter for $2.99 each plus I had a 70¢ OFF paper coupon for the butter.  All of the meat was processed and canned in pint jars while the cheese was grated and put up in the freezer.  The butter also went into the freezer.

 

The following week the BFF came in with two more packages of chicken he found for $1.98 a pound and a large family pack of beef for $6.49 a pound.  Man, beef is ridiculously expensive right now.  We got out the canner and got busy again to process more chicken to put ten more pint jars on the shelves.  The beef was made into seven pints of carne asada for readymade meals and also added to the LTFS.

 

Carne Asada & chicken breast

"Well, what have we here?"

Once the ads changed again we made another trip to Fred Meyer for some sales items, most of which are for the category of items I want to have on hand to give as donations.  We picked up boxes of cereal, milk, butter, pasta and some rice sides.  I put together a bag for an amazing single mom with a baby that is struggling right now.  I also added a dozen eggs, a bag of oatmeal, a bag of rice and some other things I already had on hand.  My plan is to gift her with a bag or two of items once a week or so until the end of the year to help her out.

 

Donated

Markdowns! 😗

Markdown pepperoni for 98¢ each and these packages of ready to bake pumpkin cookies for 78¢ each made their way into the cart as well.  With the current price of baking chips right now I could hardly argue that this was a bad idea.

 

Pasta & rice sides donated

Markdown veggies

We were able to vacuum package and add a family pack of chicken thighs to the deep freezer along with more bell peppers I had found on markdown.  Three more frozen pizzas on sale for $2.99 each were added to the kitchen freezer and half a dozen pot pies mysteriously showed up in there one day as well.  I was told those were being added to the stash of emergency meals for when we are sick and tired or sick of being tired or tired of being sick, whichever the case may be. 

OMG! 😄

Most of this is for donating

I was super excited about the two cans of Bustelo coffee for $9.99 each that got added to my stash as well as the box of Lemon Lift tea that on occasion is hard to find at times.  We also added another four jars of peanut butter to the LTFS as they were Buy One Get One FREE making them $1.15 each.

 

Yep, this happened... 😮

At some point a Costco haul happened, however I wasn’t able to capture a picture of all the stuff he came home with or see the receipt to catalogue it, but I’m sure it was expensive and I was glad I wasn’t paying for it.  I do think that was the shop though that seemed to put his mind at ease.  That and the cute little freezer he ended up purchasing.  Don’t ask… 😂

 

Orange cranberry sauce and a bottle of pancake syrup 😋

Mid month I took over the shopping and I was thrilled to add a couple chuck roasts, more butter and some flour to my LTFS.  I also got cranberries on sale and was able to use that to can seven half pint jars of delicious orange cranberry sauce.  Fresh produce and a few more pantry items made up the bulk of my shopping this month.

 

Chuck roasts "on sale" for $4.99/lb 😕

I must admit it was super nice to have a partner in crime this month although it got a little chaotic at times.  We pooled our resources, divided and conquered (someone possibly got a little bit carried away), we got creative and then we got busy.  I think the BFF was not only impressed with all that we got this month (for ourselves as well as for donating) and for a relatively low price, all things considered, but also what all we were able to do with it.  I think I was even amazed a little bit too.

 

I think he did a pretty good job 😃

Me too! 😁

The sales were nothing like in past years, especially as far as the holiday items I typically see as loss leaders.  Meat prices have been atrocious too, however we did what we could with what we had to work with and I think we did really well in retrospect.  I’m so very grateful to have full shelves and freezers and the peace of mind that brings as well as a stockpile of items we can share with those in need as we head into the holidays.  I’d say it was a pretty great month!

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Vintage Cookery - Impossible Taco Pie

 

Something I had not made in ages was a go-to recipe for my mom back in the day.  It was the Impossible Taco Pie using Bisquick.  Many of you have asked me to post the recipe so here you are!

 

I hope you will make this blast from the past and enjoy it every bit as much as we did.  I think it will be making the meal rotation at my house more often.  Hopefully I won’t be waiting thirty plus years again to make it.

 

 

My Tireless Retirement - Week 190

 

Another busy week has flown right by and kept me hopping.  Before I realized it my week was coming to an end and for the life of me I have no idea how it went by so fast.  I was grateful to be able to successfully repair my damaged ceiling that resulted from the plumbing fiasco upstairs.  I’m rather satisfied with how well it turned out.  Along with that I also managed to re-caulk the windows in time for winter weather.  On Wednesday I ran errands and managed to return the can of texture spray I ended up not needing it.

 

All better!

Along with the final repair tasks and household chores I was busy with work as well as my friends and some volunteer work.  I’m sorry this post is so short, but like I said, time completely got away from me.  I didn’t want to skip posting altogether so I hope this short little update will suffice.

 

I also tackled a couple repair projects in my kitchen

I’m ready to enjoy some downtime this weekend and relax a bit.  I hope you all enjoyed a nice week as I did.  Are you ready for Thanksgiving?  Let me know in the comments what has been keeping you busy lately?

 

Future Long Term Food Storage Plans In 2026

 

I think, after five full years of doing this now, I’ve got it dialed in as far as what I personally need and want to keep in my long term food storage (LTFS).  This past year I did not grow a garden  and I did not acquire and home can a bunch of food.  I used up a little more than I put back in as far as my home canned goods.  Over this past year I have emptied six flats of pint jars and two flats of half pint jars.  I added back five flats of pints and a flat and a half of half pints of newly home canned foods and that was A-OK.  I am good with that.

 

This year I expanded my LTFS by adding an emergency/camping foods shelf so I now have a nice selection of easy to prepare items to go with some of my pre-prepared home canned items to make complete meals with.  I have enjoyed having these options readily available for days when I am doing outdoor activities, camping or whenever we have a power outage which happens somewhat often here.  Our last outage was over four hours long, which isn't horrible, but it can sure put a damper on your supper plans.  In addition, I am adding items I find on sale for the sole purpose of donating to those in need.

 

I added more condiments, canned milk, tuna, green beans, pumpkin, diced tomatoes, mandarin oranges and jars of sliced peaches from the store to replace those I had used throughout the year.  My goal has been to pull the older dated items first and replace as I go.  This has been working rather successfully for me and I intend to continue on with this practice.  Likewise, I use this approach when it comes to my deep freezer.

 

In the deep freezer I made a point to use up everything that was in there with a date of 2023 and then move onto 2024 dated items.  In the process I was able to add back what I used with fresh meat and produce and I expanded the amount of frozen produce, doubling what I used to keep on hand.  Almost everything in the deep freezer right now is vacuum packaged and all dated either 2024 or 2025 so I don’t need to worry about waste due to items getting ruined by freezer burn.  My goal is not to have anything in the deep freezer older than two years.

 

In the freezer in my kitchen I was able to achieve my goal this year of having it set up mainly for holding only open packages of frozen items that I am currently using as well as a nice selection of homemade readymade meals and entrees.  It is so nice having meals I can quickly reheat and eat on a busy day or if I’m feeling a bit under the weather.  As a treat I also added a few frozen pizzas which I do enjoy from time to time.

 

Bread & Butter Pickles

Taco Soup

Homemade & canned cranberry sauce as well a bottle of pancake syrup

In November a second small freezer unexpectedly made its way into my LTFS.  Although I was initially hesitant about this it has opened up the expansion of my prepping immensely and surprisingly made things much nicer and easier for me. The small upright in the garage is perfect for one person, and not too bad for two, but the way I like to cook, eat and prepare it was a little tight.  The new freezer has allowed us to make the upright solely for storing frozen meat and fats while the little chest freezer holds all of the frozen produce, extra flour and yeast as well as our homemade breads and muffins.

Next year I plan to add more home canned goods to the shelves as well as to continue to pull and replace the other items I use on a regular basis.   I find I use my home canned soups and canned legumes, especially the black beans and the black and pinto bean combination, a lot so I’ll be adding more of those to the shelves.  I also plan to make more salsa next year and some pickles.  As I find good deals on meat I plan to also can some or make more pre-prepared meal options.  Sounds like a great plan to me! 😃

 

Are You Ready?

 

With Thanksgiving around the corner I am awash with gratefulness to have all of my needs met as well as a comfortable warm home with a snug bed to rest my body after a full and busy day.  I have enough clothing and a way to keep them clean, I have two older vehicles that are in good running order, paid for and get me from point A to point B and I am blessed with enough knowledge and skill to keep them that way.  I have savings and an emergency fund, a part time job that I love, pets to care for and provide me with endless amounts of love and laughter, a wonderful small circle of friends and family.  And yet…

 

In our current state of affairs I feel unsettled.  This past year has not been a good one for our country and it does not appear that it will be getting better any time soon.  In fact, I expect it will only continue to get worse.  Costs continue to climb, our way of life is challenged on a daily basis and the struggle for so many is real as they try to keep a roof over their heads and feed their families.  The future of affordable and available health care is tenuous at best.  And, I’m sorry if this offends you, but I’ve watched the president and his administration squander billions of taxpayer dollars while the Americans that have worked so hard for that money are struggling to meet their basic needs.

 

Sadly, I believe we are headed toward the very real possibility of an economic collapse and if so, if things do not change and soon, we will be experiencing a great depression.  When the stock market crashed in 1929 followed by the dust bowl that wiped out our agriculture from 1930 to 1936 it devastated our economy.  It was a slow road back and it left its mark on many Americans for generations to come.  My grandmother was raised during that time by her widowed mother and she never liked to talk about it because it was so incredibly hard, but I always knew by the amount of food she kept in her home and the things she kept and squirreled away for "just in case" that it affected her all her life.

 

The economic collapse or next great depression will be different.  We have the addition of technology, meant to improve our lives, but I fear that this technology will only make matters worse.  AI is moving fast and threatening to take over jobs.  Technology tracks our every move as if we all are criminals and need to be watched.  Why?  I do not know.  It has access to all of our personal information, our messages, photos and videos, our voting records, our assets and our money.  The list goes on and on.  It knows us better than we know ourselves.

While we cannot prepare for every eventuality we are preparing as best we can for the next phase in life and we are going into it expecting it to be hard.  We expect to face challenges we never thought we’d ever have to face in our lifetime.  We are battening down the hatches and heading into the future with caution and trepidation while remaining ever faithful that God will be with us every step of the way.  My gut and my intuition tell me to do things to protect and prepare for whatever is coming next.   I do believe democracy will stand tall and will not topple.  We will get through this, but it is quite possibly going to be a bit of a bumpy ride getting there.