Pennies From Heaven

Hello dear Ones!

How has your week been?  I hope it was filled to overflowing with blessings! Mine was—and I find that the more I pay deliberate attention to the blessings God has given to me, the more of them I see!  He has been so good to me and pouring blessings on me all the time, but too often I rush past in my busyness, just taking the blessings for granted and not even paying attention to them!  And that is where slowing down just a bit to notice them can help open our eyes just a bit more to what has been there all along. 

And so—on to this week’s frugal endeavors! This past summer our garden has been a complete disaster!  This was because of a combination of first higher than average heat in our area, and second lower than average my or my husband getting out in the garden and watering the poor thirsting plants!  And so not much grew.  Our attention was simply diverted to elsewhere, and so it is what it is. If we had been concentrating on our garden, the other things that needed attention would not have gotten done, so I do have to tell myself that we did what we could and what we were working on was also a blessing to get progress on. BUT—this past week I still found some blessings out in our garden that grew in spite of the garden neglect!

1) When I went for a walk out in the garden to check, I was able to find basil, green onions, and a couple of peppers all happily growing. A blessing for sure! And so I happily gathered them in!

The basil was washed and laid out to dry, and once completely dry was rubbed through a screen and saved in a jar for use in future cooking. 

The peppers were washed and cut and eaten right away in a lentil sloppy joe recipe that was spread over whole wheat hamburger buns. 

The green onions are still hanging out in my fridge. I may chop them into a bean salad, or into some vegetable soup. 

2) I found some bananas at half off at a local grocery store, and bought a pile of them to go into my freezer.  The majority of these will be used in breakfast smoothies that my daughter and I eat almost every day.  The rest will be used in baking such as banana bread, or as a sweetener in home made granola or other things, as I use almost no refined sugar any longer and so use bananas or applesauce or dates as my sweetener, depending on what it is that I am making. So while others may simply see a pile of bananas, I also view this as a bag of “sugar,” so to speak! ;) 

3) I listened to this book on my library Libby app. Our library subscribes to both Libby and Hoopla, and I use both apps almost daily to listen to audio books while I am working around the house.  This book, “Safe People,” was EXCELLENT!  I highly recommend it!!! I especially appreciate that it is written from a Christian point of view, viewing others from a redemptive point of view instead of just “throwing” them away.  But still teaching you how to surround yourself with emotionally safe people.

4) My husband and I installed our new stove ourselves! Yay for saving that fee! It did necessitate my running to the hardware store for a part that had accidentally gotten taken away on the old range when we hauled it out for large trash pick up, but the $3.99 part from ACE Hardware store was still much less than paying Hope Depot to install the stove for us. See that circle where the wires are coming through?  Well evidently there is a part that is kinda like a tire that goes inside that circle and cushions the plastic covering on the wires from being cut accidentally by the sharp edges of the metal circle they are fed through. This can happen as those wires are jiggled from the drawer being opened and closed, which I do all the time since I keep my pots and pans in that drawer. Anyway, there is supposed to be this little tire shaped “strain relief” part that goes there, and the part does not come on the new stove. I am sure we had it on the old stove, but since the old stove was installed 14 years ago neither my husband nor myself remembered to take that part off the back and save it for putting on the new stove. We knew we needed the electric cord, but did not remember the strain relief part. Well, I was thankful for a nearby hardware store! Our ACE is not the cheapest place to buy things, but given that it was a small part, it was not worth the gas it would have taken to drive to the larger city nearby. After a week and a half of no oven or stove, I am very thankful to have both once again!

5) I made crock pot apple sauce!  Just a small batch—six jars. The apples were on sale at my Aldi’s, and I wanted to try cooking them in the crock pot like I do for my apple butter. I washed and took the stems and cores out, but left the peelings on.  Then once soft, I simply used the immersion blender to turn them into “sauce,” leaving some larger apple chunks.  It turned out just lovely. I actually have two crock pots, and filled them both with apples.  It made enough to have seven quarts, but I only processed and sealed six quarts because the seventh one was eaten up that night for supper! Want to know what it was eaten with?  I am glad you asked! 

6) Yummy oatmeal waffles! This double waffle iron was a gift, and I absolutely love it! It is the type that rotates, and it truly takes my otherwise rather heavy oat waffle mixture and makes it lighter and fluffier due to increased air in the waffles themselves.  I used to make the same exact waffle batter in a non rotating waffle iron, and trust me, they are NOT the same! Same recipe is much better when made in a waffle iron that rotates!

My hubby likes to put a layer of peanut butter, a layer of apple sauce, and a layer of home made granola on top of his waffles. I usually skip the granola on top of mine, but love a thicker layer of apple sauce. 

7) I went for a walk in the nearby woods. There is so much beauty around us!  We just need to slow down and notice it! Hiking or walking is so healthy and fun, and the equipment needed is very minimal! Just a pair of tennis shoes and comfortable every day clothes can be enough.  We hike so much that I do have specific hiking shoes now, but I didn’t used to. And my “fancy” hiking clothes consist of putting on my old jeans, just in case I fall on a trail so I don’t tear my “good” jeans!  Over time, I have also invested in hiking poles, by the way, which have helped me avoid some of that falling when rocks or leaves start sliding and leave my footing less than sure.  Much of our hiking trails is on hills, so the not flat ground contributes to things rolling under foot at times. But I hiked for a long time with no hiking shoes and no hiking poles. An added bonus beyond the physical exercise is the “green therapy” from getting outside in nature. It is a noticeable stress reliever.  Even my daughter has noticed it and told me last week she needed some “green therapy” when she invited me to go hiking with her in between two of her college classes when she had a free period with no class meeting in it. 

Well that was my week!  How was yours? What did you find to stretch your budget and bless your family and count those pennies from heaven? I would love to hear from you!

Until next time!

Friend