My Frugal Month 1-1-19 to 1-31-19

New Years day started out bitterly cold. Thirteen degrees to be exact. The sun never even peeked through the gray skies. As I stood at the kitchen sink briefly, snow flakes fluttered through the air. I fixed breakfast in bed for DH and myself. Scrambled eggs sprinkled with grated cheese, bacon, toast, orange juice and coffee. After breakfast, I washed dishes and started a load of laundry.

The holidays are filled with an abundance of food. I don't like to waste anything, so I worked diligently portioning out ham, turkey, etc. to freeze for later use. I divided it all into serving portions for 2 to 3 people. My freezer is already filled to the brim with homemade Tamales. Over 135 homemade tamales to be exact. I also previously purchased salmon, butterfly cocunut shrimp and 4-pounds of crab legs which I found on sale.
So right now, freezer space is very limited. We used to have two refigerators, and I really miss not having a second refrigerator in the garage!

I worked diligently cleaning out and organizing my pantry and cupboards. I tackled a project I had wanted to do for some time, now. Redoing my countertops. They look like what I had envisioned, and I'm very pleased.

I also went grocery shopping to get mostly non-food items. I hadn't been to the store since before Christmas.

Last month, I had found boneless, chicken breasts buy-one-get-one-free, so I cooked them in the crock pot, shredded the meat, then froze them for later use.
I thawed some of it for chicken salad sandwiches, chicken enchiladas and chicken tacos.
You can find how to cook chicken in the crockpot on my post here.

How to cook chicken in the crock pot

So in summary, here are just a few highlights of my month.

• Seperated ham into servings for 2 people, and then froze them. (15 packages in total)

• Froze stuffing

• Froze brisket (10 servings)

• Baked cookies and froze them (3 dozen)

• Happily accepted homemade soup gifted from my Mom.

• Bought my Sundown Naturals Vitamins at CVS buy-one-get-one-free.

• I bought pecans in bulk, then stored them in jars in the refigerator. You can see how to properly store nuts in my post here. Also included in the post is the recipe for my homemade turtle candies.

Storing Nuts Properly - Homemade Turtle Candies

And just look who I got to spend time with!

She also had her first birthday!

I found this cute plate and milk bottle on clearance ($4) for Annalei to use next Christmas.

And I got these adorable wreath holders! ($8)

We found this beauty on clearance after Christmas, and DH bought it for me to use in the kitchen. Our kitchen is a very large space and gets quite cold in winter.

My seed catalog arrived! I need to go through the seeds I already have, and then place my order for the seeds I'll need for planting. I can't wait for spring/summer.

What have you been up to?

See you soon.

In warmth,

Anna