In The Refiner's Fire

Peas from my garden last summer.  We are cold and snowy with a lot of ice right now!  Not my favorite weather.  So, to cheer myself up I am starting to plan my garden for next summer!  I am hoping that I will be able to grow at least enough tomatoes and cutting flowers for both my parents (who are moving 1 1/2 blocks away from us in about 2 months - hurray!) and our house as well.   I am so grateful that we have 1/5 acre lot for our home that we can grow vegetables flowers and (currently) a single tree.  It makes me so happy and provides some very fresh produce for our family.  I love the physical act of gardening, both flowers and vegetables, and I love the taste of vegetables fresh from the garden.  A win-win in my book for sure! The name of the game this week is to eat up as much of the fresh stuff as we can so it's easy to move the refrigerator downstairs for our remodel.  They start knocking out walls and cutting holes in the outside of the house next week and we will need to

  A couple of lovely Christmas treats we received as a gift this Christmas! Yum! So, after publishing the menu last week John and I went through the freezer and refrigerator and decided that we better eat all the things that will be difficult or impossible to eat when we do not have an oven or stove top for a month or two.  That means last week's actual meals looked nothing like the menu!  That happens, I guess. With that in mind, here is what we're eating this week: Sunday, January 10:       Brunch: Cereal, Fruit and Toast       Snack: The last Christmas Cookies       Dinner: Perfect Potato Soup, Homemade Bread Monday, January 11:        Breakfast: Toast and Eggs        Lunch: Leftover Soup        Snack: Yogurt        Dinner: Beef Stir Fry, Rice, Orange and Grapefruit Wedges Tuesday, January 12:         Breakfast: Smoothies or Overnight Oatmeal         Lunch: Leftover Soup         Snack: Yogurt         Dinner: Fish Tacos, Fruit Wednesday, January 13:         Breakfast: Oatmeal

John's Birthday Dinner January 2020  This week started with John's Birthday - he loves crab legs and we typically have them for dinner on his birthday, as part of his birthday gift.  Here in the upper mid-west of the U.S. crab legs are usually on sale at this time of year, so it works out well.   We have so much produce in our freezers and refrigerator this week and we are trying to eat our cupboards down a bit so things are easier to store during the big part of our remodel.  Here is what we are eating this week: Sunday, January 3, John's Birthday:     Brunch: Smoothies, Oatmeal Muffins     Snack: Soft Pretzels     Dinner: Crab Legs, Green Beans Monday, January 4:       Breakfast:  Eggs and Toast      Lunch: Salad with Tuna      Snack: Yogurt      Dinner: Pork Chops, Cauliflower, Carrots Tuesday, January 5:      Breakfast: Oatmeal with Walnuts and Craisins      Lunch: Chicken Noodle Soup from the Freezer      Snack: Yogurt      Dinner: Chicken Lasagna, Green Beans Wednesda

Sale flowers on my kitchen table. My goodness - nothing like taking almost a whole month off!  I really did not mean to.  The end of the semester is always busier and this year was no exception.  I am finally starting to feel as though I can come up for air a bit and take some time to do things other than work obligations.   I have a small bit of time off before classes start again and I am looking forward to taking a few days off and simply resting. Here are some of the frugal things we did or received in December that were frugal: * We ate most meals at home, making soups in the slow cooker and on the stove top, roasting meats and vegetables in the oven and cooking stir fries and some breakfast foods on the stove top.  Christmas meals included Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, green salad and fruit salad and Seafood Chowder, both served with potato lefse. * The children made cookies, homemade trading cards and plushies (stuffed animal toys) for their friends using materials we alre