This week, I think I did ok in terms of frugality, etc… Nothing super spectacular in my opinion, certain things I did regularly the past few weeks, in terms of cloth diapering and potty training, etc… lay by the wayside. It was very rainy and icky weather this past week, so I felt it curtailed my frugality options. But all in all, I think I did pretty well in terms of keeping our expenses and waste down this week.



Sunday–

We were going to a party where they were serving bagels and fixings that I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat. So I made my own homemade gluten free bagels and dairy free/egg free fixings to bring along.

Not super photogenic, or perfect either, but they did the job

Made homemade mayonnaise. Used that together with some roasted garlic and salt to make a roasted garlic spread.
Made a mock “spinach dip” using leftover chickweed and redbud salad, which I then steamed and mixed with the homemade mayo and spices.

Made pretty homemade earrings at the party.

Majorly decluttered and sorted out the bedroom to find the newborn baby clothes and cloth diapers.

Monday–

Even though it was raining, I hung the laundry on the laundry rack, filled it to capacity, first indoors, and then moved it outdoors as soon as it stopped raining for the wind to dry the stuff. Since there wasn’t room for everything on the rack, I hung the heavier things and took the few lighter things that were left and put them in the dryer for the barest minimum time to dry.

Made veggie patties with leftover bagels, frozen sprouted lentils, leftover garlic spread, and reduced rack veggies from the fridge, and served it with the leftover “spinach” dip.

Tuesday–

Since the laundry wasn’t fully dry by the time it started raining again, and I had more laundry I needed to do, I took in the laundry that was mostly dry, and put it in the dryer for the barest minimum time, checking frequently, until it was JUST dry.

Made a one pot meal to save gas for lunch.

Took hard fennel stalks, veggies, and leftover chicken bones and made a soup. Threw in some leftover falafel balls from the freezer and cooked some more to make falafel ball soup.

Set up some high protein, xanthan gum free pancakes to soak.

Soaked homemade leftover turkey jerky overnight to cook with the next day. The turkey jerky that I made wasn’t so tasty on its own, so I wasn’t in a rush to use it, but since it’s meat and expensive, I didn’t want to throw it out, so stuck it in the freezer until I found something to use it for….

Wednesday–

Pancakes for breakfast, with minimal healthy sweetener, keeping it cheaper.

Leftover falafel soup for lunch.

Took soaked turkey jerky, pressure cooked it until soft. Reserved some of the liquid for soup for another time. Blended the rehydrated jerky with some of the liquid, added some leftover lentils from the freezer, added tomato paste, zucchini, and spices, and cooked to make a chili for supper, which I served with rice and avocado.

Got gifted with 2 organic cauliflowers that a relative got in his CSA box and didn’t know how to cook. They were a little past prime, since they sat in his fridge for a week/two, but I don’t mind cutting off the parts that were off and using the rest.

(The other was a little more “past prime” looking.)

Thursday–

Pancakes for breakfast again (leftover batter from the day before).

Made fruit scrap drink with apple, pear, and melon scraps.

Made veggie scrap broth, mixed it with some of the liquid from the rehydrated jerkey and new veggies, gizzards, and liquid from cooking gizzards to make soup.

Baked chicken wings with leftover chickweed and redbud “spinach dip”. While the chicken was cooking, I reheated leftovers from yesterday (chili and rice) in the oven at the same time, to save on gas, and when that was finished warming up, added sweet potatoes to bake. Was very efficient with the oven time, getting the most out of the electricity spent at once.

Supper was the soup made from the falafel balls from Tuesday, plus water from steaming cauliflower, and leftover rice.

Made cookies from overripe bananas, sweet potatoes, dates, and lightly ground green buckwheat, for a cheap, sweetener free gluten free vegan cookie.

Friday–

Needed to make a treat to bring to others, so used some sunflower seeds that I bought bulk (and wasn’t using fast enough) to make sweet and spicy roasted sunflower seeds.

Needed to make packaging for the treats… so decorated sandwich bags with permanent markers instead of buying party bags.

Got some rescued, past prime produce from a friend- tomatoes, hot peppers, beets, and radishes, plus some free dry goods, such as canned goods, that she passed on.

Saturday–

Rescued some pears, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and an eggplant from near a dumpster.

What frugal things did you do this past week? Are you proud of your accomplishments, or are there some things you wish you would have done and that you plan on doing differently next week?