Rip Van Winkle

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

This afternoon I went into our bedroom to plug in my phone. I was sleepy and decided to just lay down for a few minutes. The next thing I know I’m waking up looking at my phone and seeing that its 5:19. There was still light in the window and my brain could not figure out why it was light so early in the morning when it’s normally still dark. I also could not register why I still had my shoes on. I thought to myself, well since my alarm isn’t going off until 6 I can go back to sleep for a little while. That’s when my brain woke up and realized that it was 5:19 in the evening and I still needed to run to the grocery and I hadn’t even started dinner.

I cannot even begin to explain how groggy I was at the grocery store. Donny was at the self checkout and I walked over to look at a display that was at the end of the checkout lanes. I went to tell Donny something and was literally talking to another man, that was obviously not my husband, and was extremely embarrassed. I think that I’ve had too many late nights and early mornings and everything just caught up with me. I definitely needed that nap.

Luckily, I had taken a pork roast out of the freezer yesterday. I got the pre-seasoned BBQ one from Aldi. Before we left to go the store I put it in the Insta-Pot and set it on manual for 60 minutes. We found some Hawaiian Bread sub rolls that I thought would be perfect for the meal. By the time we got home It was almost ready.

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The meat was so tender. I just put out different condiments and let everyone fix it how they wanted it. Super 1 was having a sale on Sun Harvest chips so if anyone wanted those they could just grab some.

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I added some coleslaw that I didn’t eat from LJS last night. Perfect simple meal. (and incredibly easy too)

P.S.

The scarecrow barrier must be working because no chickens came near the gate today

Reinforcement + LJS

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

Lately some of our chickens have been very bad. There are 3 ring leaders that insist on flying over the gate and running amok in our yard and all of the neighbors’ yards. I spend a lot of time during my day herding chickens back to their yard. Donny and I spent a lot of the day outside. I was taking down the Christmas lights and he was adding more insulation to the coop because we are supposed to be getting some colder weather later this week. Those 3 chickens plus some other followers in the group kept getting over the gate. Donny realized what a pain it was to be wrangling chickens multiple times. He brought out more chicken wire to raise the gate area even more. We thought that worked until one of the chickens flew right over it. I had had enough. I decided to do whatever it took to keep them in our backyard.Donny told me, “you can be serious?’. Oh, but I was. All it took were 2 brooms and a rake plus several zip ties. I also got our scarecrow out of the shed and made sure to chase the chickens around waving it and growling loudly. I figured if they were scared of it they wouldn’t come near it. This is how it turned out.

Donny’s first reaction when I was finished was, “what are the neighbors going to think?’. I told him I didn’t care because I was sick of chasing chickens. Let’s cross our fingers that this works. Let’s hope the HOA is okay with it. Ha had, just kidding, we could never live with an HOA because I’m pretty sure we would get fined every day and/or kicked out.

Hannah treated her boyfriend to dinner since tomorrow is his birthday and she has to work tomorrow night. Since they were already going to eat we decided to try out our new Long John Silver’s. I know, I know, most people think it’s gross, but it has a special place in our hearts here in Longview. You see almost 2 years ago it was not doing so well and they were going to shut it down. That’s when our Facebook group “All Things Longview” went on a mission to save it. And save it we did. Several months ago they completely tore it down so they could build a new store that wasn’t grimy and greasy like the old one. The brand spanking new LJS opened a few days ago and I’m happy to say that we had to wait in the to-go line for quite a while. Even the inside was full and there was a line in there also.

The food was actually SO good. Everything tasted so fresh and it wasn’t overly greasy. I was quite pleased. They also got the order 100% correct. Go LJS! I hope you stay this busy.

Happy New Year

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn RecipeLeave a comment

Last night there was no big party. In fact both Donny and I were sacked out by 9. I don’t feel like we really missed anything and we were both just exhausted. I did manage to make a really yummy, super easy dinner. It’s Kevin’s sheet pan enchiladas.

Cut up corn tortillas into triangles. Put them in a large bowl and add green enchilada sauce, corn, black beans, shredded cheese, and shredded chicken. Mix it all up real good. Spread it out on a baking sheet. Add more shredded cheese on top. Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes. We put the Mexican Crema on ours. Y’all it was so good!

I, of course, forgot to take a picture, but Donny put the leftovers in this container.

I don’t really do New Year Resolutions, but I am committed to reading these books every day. Streams in the Desert is my constant reader, but this year I decided to add the daily Bible readings. I grew up in church, but admittedly, have never really read the Bible except for verses, if that makes sense.

Now it’s almost time to go pick up Hannah and Jackson is coming with me because Hannah wants to go to the mall afterwards. I hope it’s not as busy as Walmart was last night. That was a madhouse.

I’m so ready for 2025! It’s going to be a great year

Project Pan

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Project PanLeave a comment

I’ve seen a trend going around social media called Project Pan. It’s where you don’t buy any new lotions, skin care, fragrance or basically just anything new until you use up what you have. I have always “tried” to do that but sometimes I will see something that I feel like I just “need” to have.

Today I am focusing on body lotion. I dug out the last of the product that I could from this Bath and Body Works lotion. I really did like it. It smelled really good. Would I purchase it again? Probably not because I have more bottles that I prefer.

The next one I want to finish is Kate’s Magik Earth. I really do like this one. I always have to give it a good shake before I use it because it contains a lot of essential oils and it tends to separate. It smells amazing and leaves my skin incredibly soft. I would purchase this one again. It was on the more expensive side, I do like the way my skin feels after using it. I just put it on after my shower and I cannot get over how good it smells. There are several scents, but this one won hands down. In case you are wondering it’s vetiver and cedarwood. I don’t like floral scents and will always go for the more earthy ones.

These are the rest of my stash that I will be using up before I buy any more. My go to will always have on had is the Zum. I use both the patchouli and the Frankincense & Myrrh, but I haven’t been able to find the Frankincense on for a while in the stores. Zum is my ride or die. It smells amazing and makes my skin so soft with no greasy feeling. Also a little goes a long way.

I recently got the EOS. After all the hype I saw about it, I’m not really impressed and won’t be buying this one again.

I used to love Bath and Body Works, I have about a third of this bottle left and also have a full bottle of it in back stock. It smell good, works okay, but I probably wont be purchasing it again.

I absolutely love the Ruby Rain. I got it at a craft show. I got the Hippie chic that smell like Nag Champa. Hannah got the Vanilla Bean. Both scents are so good and the lotion works very well. I would probably buy it again if I saw them at another craft fair.

For some reason I picked up this unscented lotion a while back. I only use it on my legs because who cares what your legs smell like in the winter. You just need to keep them hydrated. I will not be purchasing this again because it’s a bit watery and isn’t nearly as hydrating as my other ones.

So, even though I’m committed to using up all of these products before purchasing more, I will definitely be buying the Zum and Kate’s Magik again.

Shrimp Po Boys + Ambien Chair

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

Sundays are short days for me. Donny works from 1-5. This Sunday Hannah worked from 8-1:30, but ended up getting out closer to 2. After I made everyone breakfast I ran to Aldi to do a food shop for the week. I had been wanting a shrimp Po boy so that’s what I decided to make for dinner.

Every time I buy bakery bread I’m never quite satisfied with the quality so I decided to make the sandwich buns myself. I had pinned a recipe on Pinterest ages ago.

This was one of the quicker bread recipes. The dough only needed to rest on the board for 10 minutes. After that you just make loaves and let them rise for 30-40 minutes on the baking sheets.

I just egg washed and popped them into the oven for 22 minutes and they turned out great.

I’ll be using the larger loafs for garlic bread in recipes coming up.

You can’t have a shrimp Po boy without remoulade sauce so I whipped that up. I’ve been making my own sauces for a while. They just taste better than anything that comes out of a bottle.

It was a build your own with the sauce, popcorn shrimp from Aldi (seriously so good) and lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles. I served a fruit salad on the side. Everyone in the family loved it because it really doesn’t get much better than warm bread right out of the oven.

This morning, though, I woke up not feeling well. I am super congested with body aches. I hope I’m not getting the mysterious virus that is going around. I decided to take it easy and have been in the Ambien chair binge watching Fear Thy Neighbor. It’s actually pretty good if you like true crime.

This is the Ambien chair. We call it that because every single time I sit in it I fall asleep. It doesn’t matter if I’m not even one bit tired, BOOM, I’m asleep. I think it’s just because it’s so comfortable. I got it super cheap on the last day of an estate sale (50% off) when we first moved here. One of my best purchases ever. So I think I’ll just take a little nap now and try to sleep off this sickness.

Kitchen Clean Out

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn OrganizingLeave a comment

Yesterday’s weather was crazy. I didn’t have our television on all day. I was in the kitchen and heard a crash. This is what I walked out to.

It had been pouring and the wind had kicked up, apparently very strongly. I found out later, when Donny got home, that there had been tornado warnings.

I, however, had decided that I was going to clean out and reorganize the kitchen. I cook, roughly, 95% of our meals. I hate spending money eating out when I know that I can make the same meal at home. This means that I have A LOT of kitchen stuff. One of the drawers that gives me the biggest headache is the “gadget” drawer. I like to be able to just know where everything is and be able to grab it quickly. This is how it looked before.

And the after:

My “baking” cabinet was like playing Jenga every time I opened it. There are certain things that I use several times a week which is my blender, funnels, sifters and cheese grater. I don’t know why I never thought to put the panini press in the back and pull every thing else forward, but it makes so much more sense.

I cleaned out the bakers rack. The top shelf is where I keep most of the ingredients I use when I bake. The middle shelf is bread items and the bottom shelf is chips and stuff.

My main reason for doing this reorganizing was to find a place for the new cast iron. Because the giant pot wouldn’t fit in any cabinet I just put it on top of the fridge.

The double griddle was able to be slid in the side of the pots and pans cabinet. It’s still easy to get out, but out of the way also.

I did get rid of several water bottles and just stuff I don’t use. We don’t have a lot of cabinet space so we have to get creative. Unfortunately we have to use a whole set of upper cabinets for a pantry.

The top left is back stock and the top right is baking ingredients.

So that was my kitchen.

I’ve decided to post my dinners on here so that I can have a visual of what exactly I’ve made. I sometimes actually forget and if the family likes it or doesn’t I’ll have a record of it.

Last night I did tacos. I love the little griddle for my tortillas.

Super easy meal. Everyone was happy.

I’m trying to actually meal plan more. I normally have a vague idea, but I’d rather it be more concrete that scrambling at the last minute to try and figure something out. My mantra for this upcoming year is going to be “no matter if I’m tired and don’t feel like doing something, I just need to do it anyway because I’ll feel better about doing it in the long run”.

Breaking It In

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

Today we woke up to fog rolling in. It was just a foggy muggy start to the day.

We hadn’t planned on really doing anything, Donny and Hannah were both off. We decided, at almost 1:00, that we should make breakfast. I decided to try out the big griddle for bacon and sausage and the smaller round griddle for french toast.

I think I may have had the heat up too high because the house filled with smoke from the bacon although it turned out good. I love the smaller griddle to make french toast. We kind of had a mess everywhere. One thing I love about cast iron is that the clean up is pretty easy. Just scrub, scrub, scrub and if something is stuck on, use salt.

Donny and I had to run to Drug Emporium and when we got home Hannah was outside drawing on the chalkboard. We have now made her the official chalkboard artist and she will now be handling what goes on it.

I love it when she takes the time to do her drawings. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

For 2025 I’m going to be doing a whole house clean out which means I shouldn’t have purchased what I did at Drug Emporium, but it smelled so good I couldn’t resist.

It’s a new line they are carrying and this was only the second tester I tried, but I knew right when the fragrance hit my nose that it was the one. It smells so good.

Tomorrow I am going to start the clean out on the kitchen. I need to find a place for the huge pot I just got for Christmas. I figured while I’m doing that I might as well do the whole thing.

Has anyone else started season 2 of Squid Game? We just started episode 4 and so far it’s been really good. I also want to recommend Black Doves. We were really impressed by it.

Back To Normal

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn ChristmasLeave a comment

I don’t know if anyone else is like this, but once Christmas is over I want all of the Christmas decor packed up and put away. This morning I ran to the shed between huge claps of thunder, trying to beat the rain that was coming. I made it just in time before the clouds opened up and it stormed the rest of the day.

I am happy to say that our home is back to normal. Well, as normal as our house gets.

Christian Frog keeping us honest back on his perch.

The shelves are back to normal.

The stereo is Christmas tree free.

I feel like I can breathe again. I really like normalcy.

Christmas Day

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn ChristmasLeave a comment

I know I said that I miss Christmas when the kids were little, but I must say, Christmas with teenagers is much more mellow. Donny was the first to wake up. He made coffee and then I woke up. I filled the stockings and then popped the cinnamon rolls in the oven that i’d made the night before.

Jackson was next to wake up. This was about 9:45. Still waiting for Hannah to rise. Finally at almost 11 Hannah woke up. No one was in a rush to open presents. We did our stockings, had some food and then started on the presents.

Each person received 5 gifts. That was the perfect amount. Everyone was very appreciative for what they got. Jackson, who gave me a very detailed list (he actually sent me the websites) was actually surprised by one of he presents. I found him a Tyler the Creator Golf hoodie.

Donny is the best gift giver and got me exactly what I wanted even though I never outright told him or gave him a list.

I love cooking with cast iron and he finished completing my set. I cannot wait to start using it. He also got me the cutest boots and little red truck. He is always so thoughtful in his giving.

The rest of the day was spent watching football and cooking Christmas dinner. I did Kevin Ashton’s hot honey glazed ham and au gratin potatoes. Oh so good!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2025

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn ChristmasLeave a comment

The house is quiet. Hannah and Donny are both at work. Jackson is in his room on his computer. I’m tidying up and prepping for tomorrow’s breakfast and dinner. What a change it is from when they were both little and the excitement they had that Santa would be arriving some time while they slept. I miss that, but knowing what good humans they have grown up to be, makes me very happy.

We did get to drive around and look at Christmas lights last night. Their were some really festive neighborhoods. Would it even be complete without an inflatable Buc-ee beaver in one yard. We actually saw 3 of them on our drive.

I always pack up the Christmas decor on the 26th, so here are some of our favorite ornaments before they are wrapped up and stored until next year.

My parents had this funny ornament on their tree growing up. It used to have a little sign that said “pinch my cheeks and I’ll give you a kiss” and there would be a chocolate kiss inside.

Of course the vintage glass beetle

My mother gave me a set of 12 of these blown glass hearts. I only have 3 left because they are so fragile.

Hannah has one on the tree also

Our festive shelves.

Our Christmas tree is celebrating its 20th birthday this year. I bought it on a whim for $10 at Big Lots. It has held up well. I guess you could say we got our money’s worth.

What a magical time of year!

P.S.

The little kitten is getting closer and closer to us.