July Pantry Challenge! And Possibly August!

 

It’s that time again!  In the past few months I’ve stumbled upon a lot of great deals at the supermarkets and Costco allowing me to fill up both of my freezers, my pantry and my LTFS.  Now it is time to eat some of that wonderful stuff I have on hand.  I can’t think of a better way to really focus on what I have rather than buying more stuff and I want to make sure I stay on my set grocery budget this year so a pantry challenge it is!

 

I’ll be pulling food from my kitchen and garage freezers while I concentrate on using up anything that might have been sitting in there for awhile or otherwise could go to waste.  I’ll keep tabs too on anything that might be aging in the pantry or on the LTFS shelves.  After all, there is no point in stocking up on a good bargain if you allow it to go to waste.

 

My plan as far as shopping goes is to only buy fresh produce and dairy items and replace only the pantry items I run low or out of.  Even if I see a really good bargain on meat I’m going to have to pass on it because my deep freezer is full to capacity so I have no room to add anything else.  I also want to clear out the kitchen freezer so I can have the space back on the bottom section for meal prepping.  Right now it has been catching the overflow from the deep freezer, which is not its intended purpose.

 

Another area for me to work on is the frozen produce bin in the deep freezer as some of that is from last summer.  I’m not going to need to do as much canning this year as I did last year because the LTFS shelves are still well stocked and I’ve been using quite a bit of those jars this year so far.  It has been super handy having my own home canned soups and meats on the shelf to make a quick meal for myself, especially if I’m having a fun filled day working on projects or crafting.

 

So this is my plan for my July pantry challenge and to be perfectly honest I’m thinking it will likely extend on into August as well.  I’ve been very blessed to have been able to stock up quite a bit in the first five months of 2025, especially given the small grocery budget I work off of each month.  Watch for my post at the end of the month to see how I do.

 

 

Asian Inspired Summer Chicken Salad

 

This particular salad tends to be a frequent go-to for me, especially in the summertime when the temperatures start to heat up and no one wants to be in the kitchen.  It is full of delicious flavors using a homemade salad dressing and comes together supper fast and easy.

 

When I make this salad I either use a bag of pre shredded cabbage slaw mix but more often than not I simply shred my own cabbage and grate a carrot because it is fresher and much less expensive.  I also substitute the Kraft dressing with my own Asian Vinaigrette which I think tastes much better and is much healthier too.  Leftover rotisserie chicken works perfectly.  I’ve also added sliced green onion and radishes to the salad to make it even more delicious and colorful.

 

This is so good!

This salad holds up well so you can make it early and leave it in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat.  I use it as a potluck or picnic staple too.  I hope you give this one a try.

 

 

My Tireless Retirement – Week 169

 

Hello my friends!  It has been another busy and fun filled week in my tireless retired life.  Lately I have been feeling like a brand new person.  Things have just been coming together in a way that is hard to explain, but because of it I am filled with more energy and enthusiasm than I’ve felt in a good long time.  My engine just wants to keep on chugging.

 

I only worked half the day on Friday because on Saturday I took a group of seniors to the fire station for a tour.  It was fun to see the inner workings of a fire station as well as the fact that fire fighters aren’t hard to look at.  If you are going to work on a Saturday it needs to be worth it.  On Tuesday I took another fun group of senior ladies to play mini golf and then out to lunch.  We had a blast!

 

Before I left for work on Saturday I started my next project which was to dust/clean and reorganize my LTFS shelves to make sure I have all the older dated items up front to use first and the newer items behind them toward the back.  I used some of my canning jar flats to contain and organize items.  While I was at it I took a quick inventory to determine what I might be running low on.  I’m happy to report I am very well stocked.  I am running a bit low on my homemade salsa, but other than that I’m in great shape.  I have two bottles of Pace picante sauce from Costco so at this time I have no plans to make more salsa.

 

Neat, tidy & organized

This week I went through the last of mine and my children’s childhood toys, made some tough decisions (for me), and loaded up two boxes of donations.  I realized I don’t need to hang on to nearly as much of this stuff as I have been and it has been taking up a ton of space in the downstairs bedroom as well as the guest room.  My girls have said they don’t want these things and I know I was hanging onto them for sentimental reasons, but I was finally ready to let them go and now that it is done I actually do feel better about it.  What now remains is the stuff that means the most to us (me, mostly).  The goal for me now is to get it all whittled down to just one box per child and I’m nearly there.

 

I harvested the rhubarb

A bumper crop this year ready for the freezer

During my staycation the BFF and I tackled the garage and made a big dent in what needed to be done out there.  This past week I was able to get back in there and make another huge dent in things, going through more stuff, purging what I don’t need, filling up the trash and recycling wheelie bins and cleaning.  I am so pleased with what I’ve been able to accomplish so far.  I also spent some more time in the downstairs bedroom and found more items I was willing to part with.  Then it was back upstairs to tackle the closet in the guest room where I was able to find even more things to let go of like games I’d been saving and a bunch of extra pillows I definitely do not need.  Boy did that clear out some shelf space!

 

This was a huge load to donate

Along with all of the purging I did I also shredded another pile of sensitive information paperwork that is no longer needed by anyone.  I find shredding papers rather cathartic.  I emptied the shredder and filled up a plastic grocery bag.  Very satisfying.  Loading up the car with all of the boxes and bags ready to drop off at the thrift store (I almost had to fold down the back seats!) was rather satisfying as well.  Driving away from the donation center with an empty car felt even better.

 

I also want to share with you the neatest thing that happened to me this past week.  One of you lovely readers saw me at work and said hello.  Hi Mo!  It was so nice to meet you and thank you so much for all your kind words.  You really made my heart happy that morning and I truly appreciate it.  She was so sweet.

 

Should I declutter this?  Silly girl, I think not!

And with that another tireless week in my retired life came to an end and another one has begun.  I hope you all had a wonderful week as well.  Let me know in the comments what has been keeping you busy lately.

 

This Month's 2025 Grocery Spending – June

 

I didn’t do a whole lot of shopping this month, but I still found some really good deals.  At the beginning of the month I happened upon a very good deal with marked down meats at Albertsons as well as digital coupon offers for frozen shrimp and frozen salmon fillets.  It made it very difficult to pass up so I didn’t.  I was able to restock the shrimp and salmon I had used up so far this year and add a little bit more to the deep freezer.  More digital coupon offers allowed me to pick up milk, a bag of large lemons and a bag of avocados.  I have since learned that no matter how good the deal I can’t eat seven avocados before they go bad so I won’t be doing that again or I’ll be sharing them with others if I do.

 

I went into Costco for the sole purpose of buying a rotisserie chicken and some salad mix.  I also wanted to see if they had uncured beef hot dogs, which they did, so I picked up a package of those.  To me, summer and camping just call for a good hotdog and some spicy brown mustard.  Yum!

 

At Winco I picked up a quart of yogurt, a tub of sour cream and a carton of milk to restock my dairy needs as well as two bags of frozen berries.  I stopped in on my way home from work and was in and out in about ten minutes.  I focused on using up a lot of what I already had on hand, especially in my crisper drawer so I did not need to buy any more produce.  I also used quite a bit of frozen veggies from the freezers.

 

My nonfood purchases this month were to restock my vacuum seal bags and add deodorant to my LTFS.  I went online and found the bags on sale for half price so I decided to pick up two boxes as well as the deodorant which I was able to have delivered to my home for FREE saving me a trip into Wal-Mart (my least favorite store to shop in).  While Wal-Mart typically doesn’t do sales in their stores I’m always finding sales online so I will often check there website first before I make the trip to the store.  Also, with a $35 purchase delivery is FREE, even without a membership so it ends up being well worth it.

 

I am very proud of myself that I did not overspend on my groceries this month and am officially back on track with my budget.  Yes!  My total spent on groceries ended up being $69.73 leaving me with a little bit left, $6.43 to be exact, to rollover into my next budget for July.  Hurray!

 

 

Filling My Gift Shelf

 

I have been busy using up items I already have on hand to create thoughtful gifts to refill my small gift shelf I keep in my bedroom closet.  This is not only practical and an efficient use of my resources, but it is saving me a lot of money.  More importantly I’m having a lot of fun and getting to really tap into my creative side.  Working on these little projects recharges my spirit and fills my heart with joy.

 

Earlier this year I purchased a flat of twelve cute little four ounce jelly jars.  This month I picked up two pounds of strawberries on sale at the grocery store.  I pulled all of my four ounce jelly jars plus the flat I had purchased from the garage and after figuring out how many jars I wanted to give this year I washed up the jars and got busy.  On hand I had chopped frozen rhubarb from last year’s harvest, some organic cane sugar, a cup of leftover cranberry juice and a cup of leftover sweet wine (both in the freezer) and a package of pectin.

 

I whipped up a batch of strawberry rhubarb preserves and with all the juice and wine added in the flavor was amazing!  I filled and process ten of the four ounce jars I had washed up and even had a bit the preserves leftover to add three half pint jars to my pantry.  Lucky me!  BTW - It tastes amazing on vanilla ice cream.

 

I had some label stock in my office supplies so I made cute labels for each jar and using circles of fabric I had cut from scrap Christmas fabrics with a pair of pinking shears I decorated each jar.  I think they turned out so pretty and it was a lot of fun to make these up.  I love having them all lined up on the shelf waiting to be given out this Christmas.

 

Something I truly enjoy making and giving out are journals.  Everyone I have given a journal to have told me over and over how much they enjoy using them.  They all use them for a variety of different reasons, there really is no right or wrong way to use a journal, and I think having something pretty to write in makes it even more enjoyable.  My scrap drawer on my craft organizer was stuffed so I made a point to use as many of these scraps as I could to make three new journals to add to my gift shelf.  It was so much fun!

 

I had already added a couple other journals I had made earlier in the year.  I’m glad I had done that because I’ve already had an occasion to give out two of those journals.  Decorated notepads were also on the shelf but after finding a forgotten stash of paper pads and half size composition books I have added even more decorated and notepads as well as some mini journals.

 

In my sewing stash I had some fabric scraps as well as a pile of hand towels I had purchased a few years ago to make hanging dish towels.  One weekend I was able to get some stitched up.  I like to take one or two of these towels and pair them with a foaming hand soap from Bath & Body Works.  This year I have a $25 gift card to Bath & Body Works and I plan to use it to buy some of those hand soaps to put on the gift shelf as soon as the fall scents are back in stock and on sale.  Those are my favorites.

 

Earlier in the year I had picked up a couple jar candles I found on sale for $2.99 each to add to the gift shelf.  After some thought I decided to whip together a couple of cute padded candle mattes to go with the candles using up some of my scrap fabric.  I love these and use them myself as a way to protect surfaces from hot candles.  I am planning to pick up a couple more candles when I find them on sale and will make mattes for them as well.

 

Another gift I like to give is a wash cloth, a hand towel and a nice bar of soap.  I took a plain hand towel and jazzed it up with trim from my sewing stash.  I was able to make two sets of these to add to the gift shelf using soaps I had in my linen closet.

 

I’m quite pleased with the progress I have made to refill my gift shelf and all of the stuff I’ve been able to use up.  It has really tickled me to eliminate two banker boxes and a plastic storage bin from my craft and sewing room lately.  I’m even more pleased with all of the joy and happiness I enjoyed while doing this.  Do you have a gift shelf?  If so, what’s on it?

 

REAL Food Recipe - Homemade Lemonade

 

This is the time of year when I really enjoy a glass of icy cold lemonade.  I really enjoy my lemonade with a shot of gin in it.  I learned that from my grandpa, it was his favorite summer cocktail, and it is delicious!

 

Store bought lemonade tends to have a lot of ingredients I’m not interested in consuming.  My favorite is the frozen lemonade concentrate that you add your own water to, but unfortunately the first ingredient on the list is high fructose corn syrup.  Because I’m very much into to a REAL food lifestyle I felt it was a good idea to make my own lemonade from fresh lemons I bought from the produce section.

 

It is surprisingly easy to make your own lemonade.  I began by using my grandmother’s glass juicer and squeezed four large lemons.  I removed the seeds and left all the pulp.  To that I added three cups of cold water and ¼ cup of stevia sweetener.  After stirring it together I gave it a taste and it was perfect!  I ended up with a liter of lemonade which I stored in glass bottles in my refrigerator until I was ready to drink it.

 

To me nothing is more refreshing than to enjoy a glass filled with ice and your very own homemade lemonade.  I like my lemonade less sweet and more lemony, but you could always add a bit more sweetener.  I also have organic cane sugar which I’d happily use as well.  Do you ever make your own lemonade or any other homemade summer beverages?

 

My Tireless Retirement – Week 168

 

Oh my gosh you guys!  I had another great week.  I was fresh off of a fun and very productive staycation.  My tank was full and my heart was happy as I headed into work on Friday (my BFF flew back home that morning).  It felt good to hear that I was missed at work and it was so nice to see everyone.  When I got home from working all day I reheated leftovers for my supper and then found myself working on and completing a gift for the gift shelf.  I watched a little TV while I worked on it.  By the time I was done I was feeling pretty pleased with myself.  It had been a great day!

 

I still have a lot of socks, but now I can easily get my drawer open and closed

Saturday morning I awoke still feeling charged up and itching to do a bit of decluttering.  I needed to get back into my closet and pull out a few things that I haven’t worn in well over a year, possibly two.  I also went through my socks and undies drawers and pulled out some items there as I was a bit overstocked.  In fact, I could barely open and close the sock drawer and I keep a bin in the laundry room on the shoe rack with all of the socks I am currently wearing.  I may have had a bit of a sock hoarding issue.

 

Well not anymore.  I put ten pair of socks into my donation bag, four pair of undies (brand new, but I don’t like the material), a pair of shoes and a pair of boots.  I then tossed out my “project pants” that I paint or work on the vehicles in and replaced them with a pair of faded ones I no longer feel are good enough for work or anything else.  I have kept one outfit “for good” and a pair of Clarks shoes to wear with it.  I took one pair of trouser socks and tucked them into the shoes and donated the rest of my dress socks.  When I was done decluttering I gathered up all of the donations and put them in my car to drop off on my way home from work on Monday.

 

One of the things I decided to declutter was my coin jar I kept in my undie drawer.  I no longer want to save change and I no longer need to hold onto all of the Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea dollars, half dollars and two dollar bills.  They aren’t worth anything other than their face value and my kids aren’t interested in them, I’m sure.  So I am Swedish Death Cleaning them by putting some of them in my wallet to spend and the rest in my savings account.

 

After all of that decluttering and some lunch I was able to get back into my sewing room and made up three more gift items as well as that extra apron I had cut out.  I love that I was able to use up scraps and supplies I already had on hand to make the gifts.  It makes me even happier that I was able to make the apron with fabric I had left from another project I had done several years ago and it is no longer in my stash waiting for a purpose.

 

A big project to complete was listing all of the vintage Pyrex I am ready to sell on eBay.  I didn’t even get a twinge when I did it so I’m thinking I was ready to let it all go.  After a quick little coffee break I wrapped it all up in bubble wrap and added cardboard to protect it even further.  I was able to get all but two pieces ready to ship before I ran out of boxes.  What a job!  I not only emptied the box I had been storing some of  the Pyrex in, but also the same size box full of bubble wrap I had been saving and a bunch of cardboard pieces from the garage.  Win-win-win!

 

After all of that I decided to poke around in the hall closet to see if there was anything I should declutter as it had been awhile.  I nearly croaked when I opened up this enamelware container and discovered loads of notepads and half composition books I had forgotten about.  Well, I had to get busy and make a dent in that stash.  When all was said and done I had completed five mini journals and six decorated notepads to give as gifts.  I think they turned out so nice and it was a ton of fun to put these together.

 

Loads of new gifts for my gift shelf

I worked in the afternoon on Monday and Tuesday, but that didn’t stop me from doing some more work around the house.  I had loaded all of the donations into the car and was able to drop them off on my way home from work.  I was able to put the finishing touches on my will and print it out on some nice white stationery I already had in my office supply stash.  It was just enough to do the job and I was happy to get it used up.  With my decluttered coins I headed off to the bank early Wednesday morning to deposit my pile of hoarded coins and then have my will signed, witness and notarized.  I cannot tell you how much better I feel crossing that task off my list.  When I got home I filed it away and got busy on another part of that same project which was to upload my Advanced Medical Directive form and get that into the state registry.  I also printed out a copy to have filed in with my will.  Check and check!

 

Too much stuff!

Much better!

Thursday I headed back out to the garage and spent a fair bit of time out there doing more decluttering, cleaning and organizing.  I also spent some time in the downstairs bedroom going through some art work, childhood toys and was able to part with pretty much all of it.  I no longer want to hang onto those things.  I still have a ways to go, but I’m making progress going through the things that I’ve shuffled into that room.

 

With that my week came to an end.  I have a pretty good size pile to take to the thrift store so I’ll need to load it up and make another trip.  I am so happy to have made all of the progress I’ve been able to make in so many different areas of my life this past week.