Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Sunday we had friends come for supper.  I cleared out the crisper drawer and made up a broccoli salad and a pasta salad.  I also sliced up veggies and made a up a platter for fixing sandwiches.  I went to Fred Meyer and picked up bread and a few other items to fill out what I already had on hand and to get us through the remainder of the week.

The last of our company cleared out on Monday morning.  We washed up the bedding and hung it all outside to dry.

Over the weekend I noticed one of our kitchen drawers wasn't sliding very well.  Later on it was beginning to tip when we pulled it out.  Wednesday I finally had the time to take a look at it and determined the piece on the back had simply come loose.  I found a screw to replace one that was missing in my can of miscellaneous screws and got it put back together in nothing flat.  Now it slides in and out just fine with no more tipping.

We dined on leftovers and sandwiches the better part of the week which made for easy meals and no food waste.  I grilled a large chicken breast and sliced it nice and thin for sandwiches.  I also browned and seasoned some ground turkey for taco salads later in the week.

Broccoli Salad (recipe coming)

On Friday I came home from work and made a scrumptious veggie pizza to take over to a friend's house.  We needed some adult girl time and had a great visit.  I left the girls with the other half of the pizza dough I had made and let them fend for themselves.

With all the salads I've been making the chickens had plenty of good kitchen scraps to dine on.  I also gave them bread scraps, scratch grains and mealworms.  They were very happy hens.

Despite the mid to upper 90° temperatures we managed to keep the house relatively cool inside.  Fortunately once the sun went down so did the temperatures.  It cooled enough that by morning I was able to open up the windows and set the box fan at the back door to bring in cool fresh air each day.  Amazing how much that makes the house feel better.  And according to our latest power bill it is doing wonders for that as well.

To be more efficient and keep up with the lawn watering I've been setting up the sprinklers on one section of lawn each morning about thirty minutes before I leave for work.  I turn them on to water that area and then shut them off as I head out the door.  We have three sections to water and each day I just rotate sections.  I'm finding it saves me a lot of time and hopefully some water too.  Despite the hot weather the lawn looks pretty good.

On Saturday the girls and I got up fairly early.  The oldest and I spread out some composted chicken manure onto our lawn for added nutrients and to prep the next area we need to re-seed.  I've been putting off any reseeding until we get all of the broken fence posts replaced.  We also need a little cooler weather.

When our chores were finished we went to the mall to do some back-to-school shopping.  I'll share more about that in a post later this week.  We hits some unbelievable sales so it deserves its own post.

How was your thrifty week?