New Furniture and the Domino Effect

Recently we acquired a large storage cabinet from my in-laws. This cabinet housed my husband's toys, video games, and TV when he was little and shared a room with his two brothers.

Doesn't it just look like it was made for that space? We had our TV there before, but we did not have all the extra shelving. The top two shelves house games, and the shelf above the TV contains videos that have not yet been replaced by DVDs as well as video/computer games. The shelf below the TV houses the VCR/DVD player and our vintage NES.

Having a place for all the videos eliminated the need for the hand-me-down, not-so-attractive video cabinet that used to sit in the corner of the living room. Now the corner looks like this!

Having a place for all the games gave me an empty bookcase that can now be used for--you guessed it--books! I got the idea to stack the two bookshelves on top of one another and place them by the door. The baskets hold mail and keys.

Stacking the bookshelves opened up another corner, where I placed the glider rocker I received from my grandmother's belongings. This is the chair I use for my devotions. It used to sit in the office.

Moving the chair left an empty space in the office, which offers the perfect place to set up the keyboard, which has been floating around without a home for quite some time now. This adds a lot of floor space to the office, and now I will have my keyboard at the ready during my school planning sessions!

Where has this new cabinet been all my life? :)

This Week's Meal Plan

It has been quite some time since I created a meal plan. To be honest, I am just now getting my life back in order from the holidays. I believe I am finally ready for a new year. Too bad January 1st didn't wait until I was ready!

Rather than doing a two week meal plan, I am going to try a weekly plan. Maybe I will be more likely to stick with it if I tackle a shorter amount of time, even though it does make more sense to do a two -week plan based on my shopping schedule. Anyway, when I did the two-week plan, we didn't end up needing about half the meals because we had plenty of leftovers, so maybe this plan WILL last two weeks...Life is all about experimentation, right?

Breakfasts will include granola, yogurt, shredded wheat cereal, hot wheat cereal, boiled eggs, toast

Lunches will include leftovers, sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, soup, lettuce salads

Here is the dinner schedule:

Monday- Roasted whole chicken in the crock pot, potatoes, and carrots

Tuesday- Spinach lasagna roll ups and salad

Wednesday- Chicken salad sandwiches (made with leftover shredded chicken from Monday)

Thursday- Leftovers

Friday- Taco Salad, peach smoothies

Saturday- Dinner out with the church family

Sunday- Lentil barley stew, blueberry muffins

Notice that I have planned for two meatless meals and only one red meat meal. Also, I am planning dessert for only two meals.

Consider the Container

Since becoming a student of frugality, I have enjoyed looking at the items I buy in a whole new way. In my spendthrift days, I enjoyed buying storage containers that were dedicated to specific, and therefore limited, uses. And being the type-A personality that I am, my containers HAD TO MATCH!

Let's just say I have gotten (mostly) over that! These days, when I buy something, I pay attention to the container in which it is packaged. In fact, sometimes the container excites me more than the product itself.

I took a picture of some of my favorite re-purposed containers. Left to right:

I love gallon ice-cream buckets. I use them to store lots of things, including candy, borax (not together, hehe), and washing soda. I also use them while cleaning, both for supplies and for soapy water.

A friend game me the sour cream container with elephant garlic she had just planted. What a great, frugal container. Obviously, it is time to re-pot!

I literally giggled with delight when I saw that Wal-mart is packaging their peanuts in plastic canisters instead of the old cardboard kind. They sell those same canisters, sans the label, in the kitchen aisle for about the same price I pay for the peanuts AND the container. I am excited to collect more of these as I buy peanuts in the future. Then I will have a whole set!

Yogurt tubs make great canisters for beans or pasta. They don't hold a lot, but they are an okay size for a household of two.

Rather than buy a new spray bottle for my homemade kitchen cleaner, I waited until I was out of my store-bought cleaner and re-used that bottle. If you do this, make sure you clean the spray bottle thoroughly before adding your own cleaner, and always label the bottle clearly.

My old chicken bullion container now houses my homemade seafood seasoning mix. I might even consider drilling holes in the lid of the next one and using it for a flour shaker.

On the far right of the picture is a take-out container from our local Chinese restaurant. Not only do these make great leftover and lunch "tupperware" (they are even microwavable), but they also make great gift containers at Christmas. Fill with Snack Mix or cookies and top with a bow, and you've got yourself a nicely presented homemade gift.

How do you re-purpose old containers?

101 Things Update

101 Things December progress:

#7 Finish the Old Testament

2 Chronicles finished

#18 Visit my family in Wisconsin

We spent 2 days with my grandparents, including one evening with my aunt and uncle and cousins and a few minutes with my other uncle.

#24 Make my own tree skirt

I decided to remove this one because I found one I liked at an after-Christmas sale.

#29 Find a new folk/bluegrass band I like and buy an album.

I received a Nickel Creek album for Christmas!

#30 Stop drinking diet soda

I haven't been drinking much pop at all lately because I have stopped buying it. Therefore, I have stopped drinking diet soda.

#35 Back up all digital pictures.

I have all pictures backed up on an external hard drive and also on my Picasa account.

#61 Start using cloth napkins.

I have stopped buying paper napkins and am using some soft cloth napkins I collected from my grandmother's condo.

#77 Read 24 new fiction books.

I read Echo in the Darkness by Francine Rivers. New total 4/24.

Random Post

I have a friend who periodically writes random posts on her blog, and I really enjoy them. Since I never do this, I thought I might try one tonight. I have a lot on my mind...

My house is a mess. We were traveling for most of our Christmas break and got home just in time for me to spend many hours entering grades, go to bed, and get back to school. Our suitcases exploded all over the house, and I am embarrassed to say that I have just sat here and looked at it this week. I just don't have the drive to work every second of every day like I did in college. When I get home, I just want to sit on the couch. I'm not happy with myself :(

I had a popcorn party for my church choir kids this week. I hadn't met with them since our Christmas performance and wanted to reward them for their hard work. As an added bonus, I had several new kids come and join us! Since my core group is only 10-11, having more voices would be great. The question is, will the new kids come consistently?

Rural King is an awesome store. My favorite thing are their ladies' socks. They have every pattern you could imagine and also nice dressy socks for 88 cents this week. I am such a sucker for them and bought several more pair tonight, even though I have a drawer full.

When I was little I taped all of the Dick Van Dyke episodes off Nick at Nite. Why would a little girl be interested, you ask? Well, my parents watched 1960's reruns all the time, and it just rubbed off on me I guess. Then, being the OCD child I was, I watched each tape, looked up the episode title and other info in a Dick Van Dyke reference book, and listed the episodes on the tape. I got so into it that I even wrote to Dick Van Dyke, and he sent me back an autographed picture "to Amy, God Bless!" (I have wondered since if it was really his secretary who signed it, but I'd like to think he really wrote that message to me). I have been using those old tapes from 1993 to watch "my show" ever since then... Until now! My mom got me the entire series on DVD for Christmas! I almost stopped breathing, I was so excited and surprised! I don't think I'll get rid of the tapes, though. The commercials are awfully fun :)

We got ourselves a practical Christmas present this year: flannel sheets. I always said I would never want flannel sheets because I would get too hot, but I love them. It feels like I'm crawling onto a cloud when I go to bed every night! Since we keep the house at 65 (sometimes 62 at night), I haven't had problems getting too hot.

Well, I will close for now. The dryer repairman is coming tomorrow and I need to clear him a path. *Sigh*

Finding Joy this Christmas

As excited as I am about Christmas, I am apprehensive as well. This will be the first Christmas without my Meme. As a result, we will be doing things differently this year. For instance, instead of Christmas Eve at Meme's house, it will be at my Mom and Dad's home. The last time my mom hosted was the Christmas of my 6th grade year, just after Papa had died in November. My memories of that evening are bittersweet. I remember laughing hysterically while playing a mock game of Family Feud with my cousins, but I also remember the candle burning on the piano in remembrance of our dear grandfather. I remember going up to my room because my stomach hurt so badly from indigestion and, well, grief. I expect Christmas to be bittersweet again in this new season. We will laugh as we play "Dirty Santa" with our $5 gifts. We will savor an assortment of thoughtful stocking gifts. And we will probably cry.

On Christmas morning, we will enjoy the presence of a new family member: Jill's fiance Brian, who already fits in to the family so well. That is definitely a change to look forward to! Christmas Day dinner will be without my aunt and uncle and cousin, who have other plans that evening. Meme's "very special friend," Harold, will be joining us, however, and I am really looking forward to spending time with him. Mom is planning to bake a Christmas ham. We will play our annual Trivial Pursuit game, which will not be nearly as eventful without Meme trying to play for both teams. It will not be the Hardestys vs. the Hartzells, either, as it has always been. But we will find a different way to divide the teams, and it will be okay!

Despite the sadness that I know we will all share this holiday, I am confident that we will all have a wonderful time together. There will be tears, but there will also be lots of laughter and joy. This year my mom will be stepping up to bat as the hostess and matriarch, and the rest of us will step up a generation into our new roles, as well. God is faithful; he will see us through.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.

The other night at Dollar General, I found an ornament that I am 100% positive Meme would have bought for me had she seen it this year. I would put a picture of it on here, but it is already packed away for our departure tomorrow. Tree branches spell out "Joy." Joy is my seldom-used middle name. Since I got married, I legally dropped the Joy to make room for my maiden name. Even so, Meme would often call me "Amy Joy." Sitting on top of the "J" is a beautiful cardinal, Meme's favorite bird (she collected birds and birdhouses). I bought it for myself and will consider it my gift from her this year. I can't help but think that she sent it my way!

Now I will leave the computer, wipe away my tears, and find joy this Christmas, because that's how Meme would have wanted it.

Frugal Comfort Food

Sometimes when I get home, I don't feel like cooking. Correction: that happens more than sometimes. My old standby used to be a soup and sandwich, but that gets old. In the last few months, I have discovered something that is quick to fix and comforting to eat, yet tastes like it comes straight from Cracker Barrel (or close, anyway).

Amy's Hash:

Scrub and slice one medium potato.

Chop 1/4 a small onion.

Fry the onion and the potato in oil or butter.

When potatoes are tender, cut up a slice or two of lunch meat ham and add to skillet.

Brown the entire mixture and remove from skillet.

Top with shredded cheese and chives and cover.

Fry two eggs over medium in the same skillet used above.

Place eggs on top of potato mixture.

Slather with ketchup.

Devour.

Yummmmmmmmm!

Besides the taste, another thing this meal has going for it is its versatility. I enjoy it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

You know I wouldn't leave you hanging without discussing the cost-effectiveness of my recipe, which happens to be very easy on the wallet. Each ingredients adds up to just a few cents.

I know I should have a picture and a cost breakdown, but I just don't feel like being that detailed at the moment.