Making Cents Of It All

When you work at a movie theatre your life revolves around the newest blockbuster hit. On Thursday, Avengers Infinity War came out and I have been going ever since. During slow times I work 2-3 days for 4 hour shifts. This week I worked 27 hours and that was because I had already committed to my church for all day Saturday.  I worked a double on Thursday because it was opening day and we were going to be crazy. So I went to work 10 am-2 pm. I came home to say goodbye to YD because she was going to Florida with my sister for a long weekend. I ate a very early dinner of leftovers and then went back to work from 4:30 to 10. I was going from the minute I stepped inside the building. I did bring some fruit with me and a reusable cup for my water. I'm really glad I did.  Friday morning I had my monthly breakfast with friends at Panera. My son was working so I got to use his discount and paid for the rest with a gift card. I had a very nice time seeing everyone. I haven't seen 2

  Saturday I spent the day helping with a Church Fundraiser. I was there all day until 11pm. Another volunteer was in charge of packing up food. She gave me a tray of meatballs and 6 loaves of Italian bread.   I had to work all day today, thank you Avengers. So dinner was very easy tonight. Meatball heroes.     Add in part of a salad that my son brought home from work, for free, and you have dinner for free.   There is so much more left still,so I think spaghetti and meatballs is going to be on the menu for tomorrow. I have to work all day and then get YD and my sister from the airport. Leftovers, I love them!                  

I love my library! I go all the time. I have gone since I was a kid. All 3 of my kids grew up going to the library and still do. It is one of my happy places.  I cannot even image how much money my family has saved by going to the library for the last 25 years. The amount of space that all of those books would take up in our house would be crazy. When we travel, I try to go to a local library. You really get the feel of the place, I think, by going there. We do not have to pay for a membership to our library. The money comes out of our property taxes. I am already paying for it, so I might as well us it. If I had to pay a membership, I would, because it is worth it to me.  I can also use any library in my county for free. We have gone to other libraries, usually over the summer to see what they have or to go to a show or class. When I was a kid, a library was for books. It did have some magazines and the newspaper. I did go to classes occasionally but it was nothing like it is today.

  My sister came over to visit Lip (her dog) and steal YD for the next 4 days. They are going to Florida for a few days to see some friends. She brought some goodies with her. She had received brownies as a Thank you and brought some to share. I gave my sister the 5 packs of Nespresso pods that we had won since they work for her machine. She brought us 3 packs of the correct pods for our machine.   She brought these pops for my son since he couldn't go to Florida.     She brought food for me that she was worried would go bad while she was away.   She picked up dinner for YD since there flight was at 7 and they would be at the airport then.     Earlier in the week, my son brought more soufflés home.   Lots of goodies that we shared with friends and coworkers.   Someone didn't pick up their order again. My son is happy to take it home. He used some of it for lunch and dinner for school the next day. Mondays he is at school from 12-8:

Friday I went to a bunch of stores. I was out getting donations for a Church event that I am helping with. Since I was near the stores already, I stopped in. I sure am glad I did. I got chicken breasts on the bone marked down to 99¢ a pound. That is an amazing price for where I live. So I bought them all. I'm really glad that we have been using up last summers produce from the freezer so that I had room.  I also got ground pork for $1.99 a pound which is a good price. I try to keep meat to $2 a pound except for steak because I never see it at that price.  Last year I did find flank steaks at $3.99 a pound so I stocked up on them.  We are getting low on them so I am hoping around Memorial day steaks will go on sale.  I also got a gallon of milk for $2.99 and ice cream on sale for $1.99. Stop & Shop total was $31.03. I went to CVS because I had $5 in ECB and a rain check for tuna. The tuna was finally in. It had been on sale for 88¢ each and I was all

    Dressings are one of the easiest things to make. We make several different kinds. We make this one a lot so I mix up the dry ingredients and keep them in an old olive jar. I grow herbs and dry them so this really only costs me pennies to make.   1 Tablespoon garlic powder 1 Tablespoon onion powder 1  Tablespoon white sugar 2 Tablespoons dried oregano 1 Tablespoon dried parsley 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon dried basil 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 teaspoon celery salt *1 Tablespoon salt, I don't add salt since I am on a low sodium diet.   Mix in a bowl and store in an airtight container.   To make mixture into salad dressing: Mix 2 Tablespoons of dry mix 1/4 cup vinegar (I add a dash of my FIL's red wine vinegar too) 2/3 cup of oil olive  2 Tablespoons of water Refrigerate for an hour.  

The sun is finally out and the weather feels like spring. I spent a lot of time outside this week so I used my crock pot several times this week so that cooking was easy. I did a huge batch of black beans. We ate them twice for dinner this week and I froze enough for 3 more dinners.  We ate lots of homemade goodness. We had fried chicken with Brussel sprouts and saffron rice, tacos with beans and rice, pancakes with cinnamon apples,  pork carnitas with beans and rice, chicken on the bone with corn and mashed potatoes and I roasted a turkey with string beans, cranberry and potatoes.  We did get Chinese takeout one night. We ordered 3 items for the four of us and there was leftovers for Hubby's lunch the next day. Breakfasts were French toast, free soufflés , bagels, leftover waffles and steal cut oats.    Lunches were quesadillas, green salads, pasta salad, roast beef sandwiches, and lots of leftovers.   Youngest Daughter had a very busy week. Sunda