Frugal Friday

There's nothing more frugal than growing your own, is there?  One of my goals for the year was to get my vegetable garden back up and running.  Unfortunately, with the ground as cold and wet as it has been this spring, I haven't been able to get anything into the ground.  (We actually had frost Tuesday morning - two weeks AFTER the last frost date for our area.)   So, enter my Pot Garden!  I have planted the herbs I rely on most heavily in my kitchen in here.  Thyme, Oregano, Dill, Rosemary, Cilantro, Basil, and Chives are planted in the big pot.  Not only can I use the herbs from the pot throughout the summer, I can pick and dry herbs and save them for use during the rest of the year.  In the little pot next to the big one, we've got some Lavender growing.  We like to pick the buds and make tea with it, and dry it to make sachets to put in with our clothes to make them smell better than any dryer sheet ever could.  Off to the left of the pot you can see my Black Eyed Susans - they are literally growing like weeds - and off to the right, you can see the weeds.  Technically, they're violets, and I love the pretty purple flowers they produce, so I don't pull them.  They're "ambiance".

The kids are all home for a few days before the scatter to the winds again.  We went down to my Mom's house yesterday, and had a wild and raucous time with my nieces.

The ceiling fan in the Master Bedroom is now installed and working - just in time for the summer heat to settle in.  I really, really hope it helps keep the room cool!  The fan in the living room makes a huge difference in the livability of that room with the thermostat set higher.  Hopefully, this will have just as big of an impact in the Master Bedroom, and eventually will impact the bottom line on our electric bills!

This little mouse cookie appeared at lunch recently.

I made a gigantic pot of pinto beans this week.  We had pinto beans with cornbread for dinner that night.  The next day, I mashed them down a bit, and then made a lot of burritos and enchiladas and froze them.  The burritos were made with gluten full tortillas and then wrapped individually in waxed paper and saved for later.  The enchiladas I wrapped up in corn tortillas and packed them up in packs of two with enchilada sauce.  These are intended for my lunch for work.  I had hoped to pack them with arroz, but every time I make a huge batch of arroz, everyone ends up eating it all.  What can you do?  Honestly, I'm glad they like my cooking enough to eat it!

We are planning on having a cook out with the kids Sunday afternoon.  We have some dead fall around the yard that needs to be taken care of, so we're going to burn it down in the fire pit and roast marshmallows.  At least, that's the plan.  It's been so wet that I'm not certain the wood will actually burn.  We might end up roasting our marshmallows over the gas grill by the time all is said and done!