The great state of Idaho is now in phase one of
re-opening. How will that affect our
life? Not very much. Our life and lifestyle hasn't changed much
and for that I am very grateful. With
the exception of my girls having to school from home online and all school
related activities coming to a grinding halt the rest of our life has been about
the same. We go to work, we come home
and once a week we go to the grocery store to do our shopping. I am hoping and praying more people will feel
like I do and decide to maintain a low key lifestyle moving forward.
Sunday morning the oldest and I went to Cash & Carry to
pick up a few more items on our prepper pantry list. Later in the day I
dropped my youngest off at work. I
popped into Albertson's and picked up two more packages of chicken, a package
of 100ct paper lunch bags and two boxes of gallon Ziploc bags on sale buy one
get one free. Then back home I went. One thing I noticed was hardly anyone was at
the stores and it was rather quiet. A
couple months ago it was completely different.
Sunday afternoon I spent a good bit of time outside pulling
weeds along the driveway and cleaning up our parking areas. Monday after work I finished weeding along
the driveway and got that pile of weeds tossed into the trash. I filled up half the bin with weeds from that
project. That was a lot of weeds! I am super happy to have it done and I really
appreciate how much better it looks out there.
Things are starting to shape up around here.
These breasts were huge so I cut some cutlets |
Tuesday evening after I got home from work I prepped the
boneless skinless chicken I purchased for $1.49 a pound and got it all into the
freezer. Wednesday I divided up and
packed twelve packages of rice from the 50# bag I bought at Cash & Carry on
Sunday. I had a little bit left in the
bag to top off our rice canister in the pantry.
My youngest is now adequately satisfied with the amount of rice we have
in the house.
Our new strawberry bed |
I celebrated May Day
on Friday by coming home from work and planting my strawberry bed. I stirred up the soil after adding our homemade
compost to it a couple weeks ago and the bed was loaded with big fat earth
worms.
I started pulling weeds and added compost to the new garden bed |
A week ago I had added a layer of leaf, stick and twig
debris we raked up from the lawn to our new garden bed I built three weeks
ago. That created a layer on top of some
card board boxes I'd torn up and laid down already. I gave half of that leaf debris to the
chickens and then added another layer of our homemade compost to what was left
in the garden bed and raked that all out.
Now I need some soil so I'll be on the hunt for that next. I think they refer to this as lasagna
gardening. Maybe? I'm just filling up the bed.
After the yard work I treated the girls to a large pizza
from Pizza Hut. The girls went to pick
it up curbside and while we ate we watched a movie using our Amazon Prime. Dinner and a movie for $10. Not a bad deal!
Huge pile of weeds and debris I cleaned out of the yard |
Saturday I spent all day working in the yard. I pulled weeds, turned up soil, pulled up
pavers, raked up debris, burned stuff and pruned the fruit trees. I finished up about 4:00 in the afternoon and
I was pooped. But it sure felt good to
have all that work done.
Fat saved to make suet cakes for the chickens |
Other thrifty things I did last week included putting almost
three pounds of blueberries into the dehydrator to run overnight and into the
next day. I saved the fat from browning
ground beef to make suet cakes for the chickens. I saved the fat from cooking bacon for Sunday
brunch.
I started a new jar of bacon fat |
I washed out and reused several Ziploc bags. I added water to both the laundry detergent
bottle and the fabric softener bottle so I could get out every last bit. After doing that I had enough soap and
softener to run a large load of laundry.
I stopped in at Walgreens and picked up two bottles of laundry detergent
on sale for 99¢ each.
I picked up these chocolate chips on sale for 99¢ each and baking cocoa for $1.99 |
With the warmer weather we were able to open doors and
windows every day to allow in plenty of fresh air. I spent quite a bit of time outdoors soaking
up the nice weather and took a lot of walks too. I really love this time of year.
I worked some overtime last week as I've been doing nearly
every week. I am super excited to share
with you what I'm planning to invest this past week's overtime pay into so stay
tuned! I can hardly wait to show you.
Cheese packaged for the freezer |
Prepper Pantry = 16#
boneless skinless chicken breast, 5# medium cheddar, 5# monterey jack, 5#
parmesan, 2 dozen eggs, 50# rice, 5# semi-sweet chocolate baking chips, dried
blueberries - 1 pint.
5o pounds of rice prepped |
Some of the 15 Minute Chores I accomplished to keep my home in order:
Laundry Room & Half Bathroom -
vacuumed floors. Daily swish &
swipe.
Dining Room - vacuumed & spot mopped
floor.
Kitchen - vacuumed & spot mopped floor, cleaned inside
of the refrigerator, scrubbed sink.
Bedrooms & Main Bathroom -
vacuumed & dusted. Scrubbed sink. Daily swish & swipe.
Other - three loads of laundry,
vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & entry. Swept front porch.
How was your thrifty week?
"I am hoping and praying more people will feel like I do and decide to maintain a low key lifestyle going forward."
ReplyDeleteSing it, Sister! Our state has extended its shutdown order to the end of the month. While I understand that, economically for many, this is not sustainable, I believe that even more unsustainable is the break neck speed and mass consumption to indulge instant gratification that seems the norm in this country. I bristle at people saying that luck that made the ramifications of this so mild on people like us. The more I think about it, the more I realize it's intent that softened the blow. ::Jumps off soapbox::
And yes, you have a lasagna garden.
Sadly if we, as a people, don't learn our lesson this time we'll have to learn it next time.
DeleteI really love your prepper stock-up. You did really well. My daughter lives in Boise. Sure wish I could be there enjoying that beautiful weather. We always go for walks while visiting. Texas is already seeing really hot weather. Enjoy your beautiful week.
ReplyDeleteWe have been blessed with some fine weather lately. Just gorgeous.
DeleteMay I ask what your occupation is?
ReplyDeleteI am a patient care coordinator.
DeleteChicken for $1.49/pound?? The BEST price at Sam's was $2/lb -- but that bin was empty. Only thing left: $3.53/lb.
ReplyDeleteChoocolate chips for 99 cents, too? Go ahead and torture us. In my family, great buys like this make you a "good Hollander." (Because my dad was Dutch, and loved a bargain) You definitely are that -- so are your girls.
Ha,ha. Thank you Cindy! I had to have chocolate in my stash and the Grocery Outlet had these. I dashed down on my lunch break to get them before they were all sold out.
DeleteLiving a "small" life as I call it, has really saved me. My hobbies have kept me sane. My crochet, cross stitch and primitive rug hooking have really helped and I end up with nice useful items. I enjoy your blog! Cindy Huxtable.
ReplyDeleteWhere did you find cocoa at that great price??? You are doing a great job?
ReplyDelete