Cheap Date
Our ‘entertainment budget’ is ….drum roll…. 10 euros a month. Now, this month, that converts to $13.80. Not much for going ‘out on the town’ or the typical dinner & a movie. So here is what we do:
We take that 10 euros a month and put it in the savings with the hopes that we can take a real vacation.You know the kind I mean… sitting next to a pool, a cool drink and a good book or seeing some sights we’ve been wanting to see.
So what have we been doing for fun? One of the things we do is; pop in a tape (yep… VHS… hey it still works) of dance lessons we bought about 5 years ago and we’re lately learning how to waltz. We’re trying to prepare for the next church wedding in October when they always have a waltz and we can never join in on that one (our church friends have a lot of fun!). Now, I’ll admit, we do it badly (very); we step on each others feet, laugh more than dance, but it’s free and it’s something we can do together. We’d like to do it weekly but we have lot of guests so it’s not always possible.
If we lived in the USA, we’d love to have ‘library dates’… boy, we miss the ENGLISH library! 
What do you do for a cheap date?
Granddaughter Evangeline
Our #21 grandchild. We are so thankful for her and the opportunity to go to France to see her.
Please click on the photo to enlarge it and we’d love to hear your comments.
Our Annual Church Retreat
We struggled with wanting to attend this year and the price to go but were sure glad we did! This retreat was our best yet and John and I had a great time. Here are some photos of our 3 day retreat in Yerbena, Spain… close to Toledo.
Please click on the photo for a larger view and please leave your comments! 
One Week Sample Menu
For Kim who requested one of my sample menus:
*we have our largest meal mid-day at 2pm and we eat lighter in the evening at 8pm
** this is how I actually write out my menus for the week. I include page #’s and the name of the cookbook, and if guests are coming, I would add a dessert. Since we frequently have friends over, the leftover desserts usually will last the rest of the week.
*** Next to this menu I keep a grocery list, remembering 1st to ’shop’ in my pantry.
Monday:
Dinner:
1st: Cream of Chicken Soup with bread (both homemade)
2nd Meat-Potato Quiche (p 158 More with Less Cookbook:You can buy this from Amazon.com via this blog. Just click: Bobbie’s store, ‘cookbooks & canning’, page 6)
Salad (picked from my garden)
Supper:
Chicken Teriyaki (seasoning from a packet)
Egg rolls (frozen)
Salad (picked from my garden)
Tuesday
Dinner:
1st: Left over Cream of Chicken soup
2nd:Steaks (take out of freezer from the piece I bought at Christmas)
Potatoes & fava beans (beans from garden)
Spinach (frozen)
Supper:
Fried Rice (cut up leftover Chicken Teriyaki & egg + veggies)
Salad
Wednesday:
Dinner:
1st: Cream of potato & fava bean soup (made from leftover side dish) & Bread
2nd- Beef Hash (leftover steak from Tuesday) & fried eggs
Toast (from bread made on Tuesday)
Salad (from garden & homemade salad dressing)
Supper:
Leftover Potato Soup & Homemade Toast
Thursday:
Dinner:
1st Bean Soup with bread
2nd: Chicken Cheese Casserole (p 124 More with Less Cookbook)
Green Beans
Supper:
Meat-Potato Quiche (leftover from Monday)
Salad (from garden & homemade salad dressing )
Friday:
Dinner:
1st:Cream of Spinach Soup (made from leftover spinach on Tuesday)
2nd; Pizza Rice Casserole (p 129 More with Less cookbook) *use canned hamburger
Navajo Fry Bread (p More with Less Cookbook)
Salad (from garden & homemade salad dressing)
Supper:
Creamed Eggs over Homemade Toast
Sausage (canned)
Saturday:
Dinner:
1st:Cream of Tomato soup (canned tomatoes)
2nd: Sloppy Joes over Homemade toast
Salad (from garden & homemade salad dressing)
Supper:
Bean Soup (leftover from Thursday)
Navajo Fry Bread (leftover from Friday) page 83 of More with Less cookbook
Sunday:
Dinner:
1st:Chicken Noodle Soup (made from the chicken I cup up and stewed last Thursday) with Homemade Croutons (end of loaf)
2nd: Buffalo Wings
French Fries (cooked in Olive oil)
Salad (from garden & homemade salad dressing)
Supper:
Pizza Rice Casserole (left over from Friday)
Salad (from garden & homemade salad dressing)
Why I Plan My Menus:
A menu plan saves money. Reducing trips to the supermarket, a menu plan reduces impulse spending. Using leftovers efficiently cuts food waste and ‘working in’ an ingredient that I already have helps me use what’s in the pantry or garden.
A menu plan saves time. No frantic searches of what to prepare… I know exactly what meals I’m fixing at all times. This frees me up to do other things.
A menu plan improves nutrition. John and I basically eat little or no junk food. We eat real homemade meals and we always have homemade bread on hand. I buy only fruit and vegetables on sale. When traveling, I also pack lunches to save on money. Almost anything I make will be tastier & more nutritious than buying on the road.
*I like to plan my menus by the week and I also plan for leftovers. I try to include at least one menu for guests too.
Fava Beans
Here are the results of my efforts:
1st planting 2nd planting harvested beans cooked beans with ham
My Pantry
It’s been busy around here! As you’ve already read, we had family for a visit, then another young woman came from France for 4 days and finally this weekend, we will have another gal in one of our ‘guestrooms’.
Work is busy, church is busy and our house is staying full! In spite of all of the activity, I’ve found time in the evenings to do some canning. These past 2 weeks I have canned 10 kilos of pork cubes (some with Chipotle seasoning), 10 kilos of potatoes and I ground, seasoned, made and canned 10 lbs of sausage patties.
My PANTRY is filling! It’s sure nice to have a jar of ground beef ready to pop open (I use reusable canning jars) and add to a casserole. This week when I was rushed for time due to work and meetings, I opened a jar of beans, & one pork cubes to make nachos for lunch. I add some fresh lettuce, scallions and cilantro from my garden, some salsa and cheese over chips.
I sure look forward to the summer tomatoes, peppers and onions for making enough salsa that will last us a year.
These are my 3 shelves of canned food. The photos are slightly overlapping each other and you can get a ‘larger’ view by clicking on the photo.
The benefits of canning for me:
- fresh food canned with the seasoning I want and use
- I buy at the cheapest prices to stretch my grocery money
- I always have food on hand when we travel or have friends over
- I enjoy the process and like to see the pantry full of options for meal times
The downside of canning for me:
- my hands & nails have taken a beating
- I have to be careful not to strain my wrists
- I’m usually up pretty late at night getting it all done
Salvation’s Song
Paella with family…Life is good
John’s brother Joe and sister-in-law, Vanita came to visit us in Spain this past week. As I mentioned in our last prayer letter, this marks the 1st time EVER that one of John’s siblings has come to visit us while overseas (23 years!) What fun we had with them! Here we are in the village garage, making a paella. This one was called a paella mixta because it had both chicken & seafood. You can get a bigger view of the photos by running your cursor over the photo and clicking. Paella is the #1 recipe I use for that wonderful herb: saffron, which is the most expensive spice in the world. Needless to say, it is much cheaper to buy here in paellalandia. I have an entire recipe book for just paellas, and they are yummy!
My New Favorite CD
When we went to Chicago in January to see our family, our daughter Jesseka was playing this really wonderful CD. I asked her about it and she shared this CD with me. I hope you enjoy this. I have added this CD to my store. The entire album is a blessing. You can find it on page 5 of the music and video catagory. http://pearsonsprogress.com/bobbies-store
For more information about is couple:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Getty
Madrid
81°
