Becoming My Own Barista!

I found bags of Newman's Own organic ground coffee marked down to $2 a 10 ounce bag a while back.  In my frenzied, frugal excitement, I grabbed every bag!   

BUT...when I brewed it, I realized it was a medium roast.  We don't drink medium roast.  We drink (what someone once said tasted like tar 😒. Lightweight. lol) dark, bold roast coffees.

So, I put those bags of coffee in Foodsaver bags and froze them.  I knew that I would use them, somehow, some way, some day.

For such a time as this...

The heavens parted one day and a blinding light woke me up from my sad, frozen coffee slumber.  It was then that I realized I was missing out!  All this time I could have been making my own cold brewed coffee! And so it began.

The DD and I now enjoy iced coffee anytime the spirit moves us, without spending the cringeworthy big $$$ at the coffeehouse or even at the grocery store.  Without even leaving the house.  And that medium roast coffee as cold brewed iced coffee? Deee-licious!  A perfect warm-afternoon-on-the-patio kinda drink!

I like mine sugarfree, she doesn't, lol.  I'm going to even start making a decaf version so we can indulge after noon (you know you're getting old when you avoid having caffeine after noon, lol!)

Do you brew your own cold brewed coffee?  What's your favorite concoction?  Please share!

Thanks for stopping by! ~TJ

*We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. 
There is no cost to you, dear reader, by clicking on my affiliate links. We thank you for your show of support for the blog when you use the links to make purchases! 

I've Been Bitten by the (de)Clutter Bug!

...But still wanting to enjoy the summer season and life and having to work my business, I have been sticking to my "just one thing" philosophy.

bird watching

see the video clip here on ig:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlL4By_g-e8/?taken-by=tjssweethome

Just one thing?!  "What does that mean?", I hear you inquiring.  Out loud.  To your computer screen.  (Lol, there goes my offbeat sense of humor/vivid imagination again *wink*.)

Wellllll... it simply means that, for instance, if I enter a room to do or fetch something, I do just one thing more (no matter how small).  That way, I am decluttering, cleaning or doing, just one extra little thing or task, at a time.  It allows me to make progress and not allow things to become stagnant or build up, but without a major added investment of time spent.

This especially helps me when decluttering.  You see, I have a hard time letting things go sometimes.  Especially those items to which I may have a sentimental or other attachment to (oh, who am I kidding?!  I have an attachment to all my stuff in one way or another.~ "My kid made that hardened blob of salt dough thirty years ago!",  I whine.  "I paid good, hard earned money for that at Dollar Tree seven years ago.",  I wail.  "So what that I've only been holding onto it for the past four decades?  I still might neeeeeed it someday!", I protest.  You get me.  I know you do.).  Since I am only asking myself to get rid of one thing at a time, on the fly, somehow it's easier for me.  I'm not sitting in front of a whole tub of sentimental knick knacks and paddy whacks telling myself I need to make a decision on EACH. AND. EVERY. THING. in the box. NOW.  And getting rid of one thing at a time as I'm quickly passing through a room or area?  I hardly feel or remember it.

And as far as cleaning goes, (which I detest.  LOATHE, to be quite honest.  But I do like my surroundings to be clean and relatively tidy.  So, what's a girl to do?  Just one thing!) a quick swipe, sweep, fold or put away, doesn't feel quite so painful.

And it all barely adds up to an extra minute or two of my time for each task.  Leaving me to attend to things that, by my calculations, really matter.  Like listening to a family member unburden themselves or share joyful news.  Or earning an extra dollar to pay a bill or put food on the table.  Or...bird watching.

I know I am not the inventor of this concept.  You may actually do it as well.  And if you do, I would love to hear about it!  You may have a way of doing it that's even better that would help me, and anyone else reading here!

Thanks for stopping by! ~TJ

July 4th

my sweet grandson from a 4th past

Wishing you a safe, fun filled Independence Day!
Our weather forecast is for rain, rain and more RAIN! Honestly though, I personally don't mind, as I love rain.  I do feel badly for those who were hoping for a sunshine-y 4th though.  I would never want to rain on other folks' parade (pun intended). We had planned on doing some grilling for the holiday, but that can be done another day.

I will content myself with cozy-ing up with a good book in a favorite reading spot...

and maybe plan an indoor, oven bbq dinner.  Or maybe not.  There are some delicious leftovers in the fridge. 😎

How will you be spending your day?  Sending happy sunshine rays, and sparkly fireworks your way! ~TJ

Summer Mornings

We all have morning routines.  Whether carefully thought out, or organically created from what feels natural.  Mine is a little of both.  My usual morning routine goes a little something like this:

COFFEE!!! *ahem*

Then I have, what I call, my quiet time.  Time to greet my Lord in prayer and read His word.  I've found this helps me ease myself into the day, since I make no bones about the fact that I am not a morning person.

After that, and a second cup of coffee I turn my sites to the great outdoors.  This particular sunny, summer morn, I observed many wonderful things going on in my little microclimate.

The sun was shining!

The birds were praisin'!

(and scavenging stray bird food that dropped while loading their feeder!)

The lizards were leaping!

A butterfly was fluttering! 

And a dragonfly was dancing along to the cicada's song! (You can hear the cicadas over at my @TJsSweetHome Instagram June 5th post!)

Oh what a beautiful morning! Oh what a beautiful day! 

(See what a little quiet time does for this morning grouch?!😉)

I hope you are having a beautiful day! 

I would love to hear what your morning routine is like!

Thanks for stopping by! I always enjoy your sweet comments and encouragement ~ thank you! It means more than you know ~TJ

Five Frugal Things ~ 6/22/18

 

We have been enjoying this Summer season!  A little gardening  or grilling  during the cooler parts of the day.  Y'know, outside  stuff.  But when the sun is at its highest and the humidity is at its thickest, I busy myself indoors, fluffing our nest.  It's a nice ebb and flow of my days that has allowed me to welcome the season in all of it's sunshine-y glory as I never have before!

two girls a-grillin'

And as always, in (almost) all things, I'm still flexing my money saving muscles. Here's a few things I've done lately:

•  picked up a free package of organic celery from Randalls, and a free package of a Knorr meal starter from Kroger.

•  since the weather has warmed up, I have resumed taking "navy style" showers to        help conserve water.

•  contacted Chewy.com when a tub of wet dog food was improperly sealed when we      received it, causing leakage and safety concerns about feeding it to our dog.  They        were gracious enough to send us a whole new case of food, without requiring me to    send back the case that arrived with only one damaged tub.

•  placed a pitcher in our kitchen sink to catch water from hand washing, etc., and use     the water to water potted plants.  I also used the water from boiling eggs to water         potted plants after it had cooled.

•  I have cut back from two teaspoons of cream in my coffee to one teaspoon.

Yes, more drops in the bucket, but before you know it, that bucket is 

overflowing!

lemon balm tea & lemon balm plant (outside the window)

Cheers to summertime savings y'all!

Please share your frugal victories, I love learning new ideas!

Thanks for stopping by! ~ TJ 

My "Money Diet" Meals

No, not diet meals for us!  I am putting our grocery money on a diet!  I heard the term "money diet" from one of my Avon clients years ago, and have used the catchy moniker ever since, when I want to tighten up on our expenditures.

Because I am in an ongoing struggle to tighten the grocery budget, aiming for $200 a month (for 2+ adults), I have really been sticking to my guns and using pantry and freezer items already on hand these past couple of weeks.

I thought I would share the meals I have been serving for those two weeks. There aren't fourteen listed since most meals made enough for us to eat more than once. And I only list breakfasts, dinners and a few sweets/treats, since that's basically what we eat each day. Breakfast and dinner.  And a sweet/treat or two.  That is way more than enough for us each day.  Drinks are normally water, tea or coffee.

Included in the grocery budget was the meal we ate out to celebrate our daughters' 23rd birthday and a special, bakery bought birthday cake with ice cream.

Breakfasts 
•  cream of wheat and bagel**
•  fried eggs, grits and toast
•  oatmeal with blueberries and bagel**
•  ham*** and scrambled eggs breakfast burritos**
•  scrambled eggs & cheese breakfast quesadillas
•  scrambled eggs with cheese and English muffin**
•  french toast made from homemade bread that I sliced extra thick  (about one inch)****

*  Some of these breakfasts were served more than once over a two week period.    
**   These are typical breakfasts that I serve regularly.
***  the ham had been stored in the freezer leftover from our Christmas dinner.
****  french toast, grits, quesadillas and burritos are just a way to "mix things up" and           keep breakfast interesting occasionally.

Dinners

•  Cold tuna pasta salad (made with frozen peas, grated carrot, homemade ranch              dressing and sliced green onions from the garden), whole wheat saltines
•  hot dogs and baked beans (Memorial Day)

•  homemade pepperoni pizza (I used this no knead pizza dough recipe, some leftover     marinara I had in the freezer, and pepperoni that was left over from another meal.     I used mozzarella that I keep on hand.)
•  Broccoli Cheddar Pasta Salad (I used plain pasta twirls, not tri color.  Two 12 oz             bags of frozen broccoli florets, and replaced the red onion with green onions from       the garden since that's what I had on hand.)

•  Mushroom Chicken Parmesan Pasta (I used penne pasta, two 4 oz cans of                        mushroom slices drained, three cooked boneless, skinless chicken thighs that I              diced into small pieces.  I didn't use chives, as I didn't have any.)
•  pintos & ham, rice, and homemade cornbread  (I had the pintos and ham in           the freezer, leftover from another meal.  I used rice and cornmeal that I had in the       pantry.)
•  one meal out for our daughters' birthday

Sweets and Treats

•  Easy Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (I had all the ingredients on hand)
•  Cherry Dump Cake
•  brownies (from a boxed mix that I had in the pantry. I added mini marshmallows        and chocolate chips to the batter and sprinkled a few chopped pecans on top                before baking.)
•  birthday cake & ice cream

I hope that if you find yourself wanting or needing to tighten your grocery budget, or you're just in a "I-don't-know-what-to-make-for-dinner" rut, these meals might spark some encouragement to dig around in your pantry, fridge and freezer.  There, you just might find the fixins' that will spark your creativity, and make for some yummy meals and snacks!

What are some of your favorite "throw together what I have on hand" recipes?

Thanks for stopping by! ~TJ

Bookworm

Since I am known to be a bookworm, and because that is such a big part of who I am,  I thought I would share the latest books I am reading on occasion.  I used to visit the local library on a regular basis, taking home stacks of books that I could just barely get to the car with without them falling from my greedy grasp.  Although it's been a while since I've been to the library, I still always find myself with plenty of books to peruse that I've unearthed at our local thrift shops.  I would like to say that I should get back in the habit of visiting my old friend, the library, but I have to be completely honest with myself in that, it just isn't convenient in this season of my life.
Since hubby's stroke a few years back, I try to stay closer to home, and not spend an exorbitant amount of time away when I do have to go out.  Although after plenty of physical therapy, he is pretty self sufficient and able to take care of many of his own needs, there are still things he can't, or shouldn't do.  So, I try to go out for only as long as necessary to run my errands.  (For days when I have to be gone longer, I am sure to arrange with our daughter to be home with him, bless her!)  It's our new normal so, some things have to go. Spending stretches of time at the library is one of them.  Thankfully, I still find ways to get my reading material fix!

I tend to usually have several books that I read from at any given time and mostly, I read non fiction on whatever happens to be my latest interest at the time.  Right now, I am enjoying anything and everything I can on gardening and nutrition.  Actually, those are pretty much always interests of mine, along with books on health in general.

I just finished A Householder's Guide to the Universe, which I believe I mentioned recently in another post.  I enjoyed the way it was presented in month by month fashion.  It was like reading a diary of gardening and homemaking notes, which was so fun!  This is one I will keep in my library for future perusal.

A book that I was SO excited to find at the thrift store, Nourishing Traditions by author Sally Fallon, was on my wish list for a lonnng time.  I would regularly stalk it on Amazon but couldn't bring myself to pay the prices that were being asked.  Even though it is a popular, beloved by many, book, I wasn't sure that I would like it.  So the day I spied a practically new version on the shelf at Goodwill,  I was thrilled!  It is a heavy, thick book.  I'm finding that I read it in spurts, so it could take a while for me to get through.  From what I have read though, it is full of great information on fermented foods and traditional foods!

For now, these two have kept me busy on the reading front, as I try to fit reading into all my other daily "to-do's".

Have you read either of these excellent books?  I would love to hear any book recommendations that you might have!

Thanks for stopping by! ~ TJ



* We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program , an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. 
There is no cost to you, dear reader, by clicking on my affiliate links.  We thank you for your show of support for the blog when you use the links to make purchases!