How Not To Use a Grocery List – Week 20

Grocery shopping? I’m game! Here’s how I did this week:

What was on the list?

• Peanut Butter
• Foil
• Sugar
• Frosting
• Lettuce
• Potatoes
• Creamer
• Eggs
• Bananas

What did I come home with? This ended up being triple coupon week so I ended up making 3 trips total and getting a ton of things that I had coupons for…

• Peanut Butter (X3)
• Tin Foil (X2)
• Truvia
• Sugar (X2)
• Frosting (X2)
• Tikka Massala Sauce (X6)
• Romaine Lettuce
• Mangos
• Red Potatoes
• Eggs (X3)
• Creamer
• Toilet Paper (X2)
• Frozen Vegetables (X5)
• Frozen Fruit
• Tortillas
• Soy Sauce
• Rice (X3)
• Diced Tomatoes (X2)
• Jello Pudding (X4)
• Crock Pot Liners
• Edy’s Bars (X3)
• Bananas
• Onions
• Pudding
• Hot Sauce

What was thrown out this week:

• 2 Onions that went bad in the cabinet

How much did I save this week?

$81.48… which is 39%… which is a big improvement from last week. We are stocked up and should be good on everything except for milk for the next few weeks.

What did you throw out this week?

~Emme

Questions Answered: Week 11.5

List the utensils you cannot live without in the kitchen.

I am assuming that by utensil this means small items that are not small appliances.

Here’s a basic list of tools:

1) A good chopping knife. We have a Kai Pure Komachi set. The big yellow one and I… good friends. I use it almost exclusively… even if I should be using a paring knife. Don’t judge. At least I know I should be using something else.
2) Cutting board. We have some small cheap plastic cutting boards with rubber edges. This makes it so they do not slip and I can throw them into the dishwasher and not care about them. I think they are Rubbermaid. I bought them while I was in college. They have lasted a long time.
3) Potato masher. This works for guacamole, smashed potatoes and anything else you just happen to need in a messy mash consistency…
4) Shot glass measuring cup. This one I totally lost in the garbage disposal last week so I will be living without a labeled one for awhile until I can find another labeled one. Don’t ask… the garbage disposal and I are not on speaking terms right now.
5) Rubber spoonulas… use them every time I cook.

Honorable mentions you can substitute other things for:

1) Spoon rests. I usually use tea saucers… what else am I supposed to use those for? Oh yeah! Snack plates for game night.
2) Rice spatula. You can use a spoon… it might be more difficult, but if you have a rice cooker and can’t find the rice spatula… you really could use a spoon. You still have a rice cooker after all.

What can you not live without?

~Emme

27 Goals – Week 18

This flower… totally eaten by a bunny…

1. 6 Dinner Parties/Game Nights: 5/6

2. 12 Non-Fiction Books: 4/12

3. 12 Fiction Books: 9/12

4. 12 Recipes: 6/12

5. 6 Quilts: 0/6

6. 12 Teas: 10/12

7. Loose 30 LBS with food diary: 155.6

8.  6 Movies: 2/6

9. 12 Date Nights: 2/12

10. 3 New Wines: 3/3

11. 365 Day Photo Project: 21/365  This project is gone.

12. Debt: 100% on new goal

13. 2 Out of State Vacations: 0/2

14. Remodel Yard: Two garden beds down and one to go… lots of watering to do in this yard…

15. Remove Wallpaper From 3 Rooms: Not yet

16. 4 Weekend Getaways: 2/4

17. Complete 24 Pintrest Projects: 3/24

18. Meal Plan: 18/52 weeks: Not too bad this week…

19. 12 Pinterest Recipes: 2/12

20. Cards for 2 holidays: 1/2

21. Switch Banks: I still really need to do this.

22. Ride 35 Miles a week on bike: None this week.

23. 100 Sit ups Challenge: Let’s be honest… this isn’t going to happen. 100 sit ups… no big deal for me.

24. 100 Push-ups Challenge: I always forget I have the app. I’m just working on building up to 100 at this point

25. Read 6 of Rory’s books: 2/6…

26. 6 Craft Nights: 0/6… Tick Tock! Where did you go?

27. Finish Papa’s Book: Up to chapter 7!

What are your goals this year?

~Emme

How Not To Use a Grocery List – Week 18

Grocery shopping? I’m game! Here’s how I did this week:

What was on the list?

• … I have lost my list… it’s probably on my counter… but I’m not going to go check.

What did I come home with? Apparently I looked at the wrong flyer on the internet as my guess and my coupons were way off.

• Crock Pot Liners
• Dawn Dish Sop
• Pasta
• Mustard
• Lemon Pepper Spice
• Rotel
• Tikka Masala Sauce
• Pad Thai Sauce
• Romaine Lettuce
• Bananas
• Baby Carrots
• Gluten Free Waffles
• Frozen Vegetables
• Heavy Cream
• Milk

What was thrown out this week:

• An orange… after it sat on my desk for an unknown time

How much did I save this week?

$28.11… which is only 27%… which is an improvement. I bought a bunch of fresh veggies that were not on sale… but I needed some salad.

What did you throw out this week?

~Emme

Questions Answered: Week 11

Name a board game you will never get tired of.

Now this one is a hard one. Board games for us come and go in cycles. We play a ton of board games… by the way…
Just about every other week or so we have a board-game night. By this, I mean I get the snacks together, get the fridge stocked, get the selection of games out (they’re in a bookcase now so it is a lot easier than in the past) and invite people over (hopefully that happened earlier in the week and not after I’ve already gathered everything).

Now when new board games come out we might play them obsessively each time we meet up until we cannot stand it anymore… or if something new and greater comes out and we have the choice of playing one or the other.

We always have Catan and Ticket To Ride on hand. There is always Cranium to fall back on if too many people show up.
Other fun games to look into if you’re looking for a board game: Tsuro, Small World and Words Against Humanity.

~Emme

And Then There’s the Garden…

 

 

 

My grandparents came over today.

And we played around in the yard.

Alex and papa put in the raised beds. Grammie and I planted the plants… there is zucchini, cucumbers, yellow squash, peppers and tomatoes.

I planted some pretty orange flowers there…

Check that out.

Here is a pineapple sage plant.

Chocolate mint anyone?

Here are some more hostas…

Sweet woodruff… so excited…

—

We’re going to do some more planting and projects tomorrow.

What have you done this weekend?

~Emme

Questions Answered: Week 10

You just got a magic tree… what does it grow?

Money so I can plant whatever else I want in the garden?

No… I’m pretty sure that’s not how the question goes. I am pretty sure you have to use whatever that tree grows as the end product. Having it grow money would only give me money… which would just be some paper/cotton sitting around… and that would be a rather huge waste of a magic tree.

My magic tree would grow time.

Time is something that is finite and you cannot add more into your day… trust me I try sometimes too hard for that.

You cannot get back time you didn’t spend with those that you love.

You only have so much time.

If I could grow time… that would be nice.

Let me know when that magic tree comes in.

~Emme