Our Rich Backyard Life- Spring 2021

Slowing down and taking the time to enjoy our surroundings is essential to Living the Sweet Life On A Budget. Whether it is enjoying nature or the beauty of city architecture, taking time to stop and appreciate beauty wherever you find it is important. Our Rich Backyard Life looks at the beauty that is surrounding us, whether it is animals, flowers, buildings, locations, or anything else that we can appreciate in our daily travels.

The trees and flowers are budding and blooming all around our neighborhood. It is a joy to walk in the quiet of the morning and be at peace with the world.

Babies Galore

Each year we have baby animals born in our yard. This year the bunnies made a nest in our strawberry patch. When we started to open up the yard, it was a wonderful discovery.

Even the geese in our neighborhood show off their young goslings. It is interesting to feed them bread and watch them close up. However, be careful! Geese can get nasty.

Birds are Welcome

We are enjoying watching the ducks swim on the pond from our patio.

Somehow the stress of the day just melts away.

This year we added a few feeders to our year and what a difference it made.

We get all kinds of visiting birds. Their visits make breakfast an event to be cherished.

Flowers are budding and blooming

What beauty were you able to find in your backyard?

Comments

Menu Planning #132

Our meals need to be nutritious, clean, flexible, quick and cost effective. Between our work schedules and after school activities, we need to carefully plan our meals so that we do not end up ordering out. The news is very scary at this time because of all the news of meat plants shutting down, grocery stories limiting the amount of meat a family can purchase and all of the talk about a depression on the horizon. We have decided to keep our grocery budget the same, but to economize any way we can. This week we tried to pick up some shrimp that was on sale, but the store was out of shrimp and not expecting to get any more in. We were grateful to find wild caught salmon for the same price, so we picked that up instead for our Mother’s Day Dinner. What did we spend? Week 1: $96.44 Kroger: $96.44 Rebates: $3.55 IBOTTA: $1.35 Kroger Cash: $0.45 Checkout 51: $1.75 ...

Menu Plan #322

NOTE- 1- Click on the picture and get a link to a post sharing the recipe. 2- Although all prices were correct at the time of the blog postings, the current cost of these dishes may be higher due to inflation and/or location. Published September 2025: USDA Thrifty Food Plan According to this plan, our family has a weekly budget of $190.50. Since October has 5 weeks, our monthly budget is $952.50. We elevate our dining experiences by including fresh fruits, vegetables, and higher-quality meats. Since our family has specific dietary needs, we limit our consumption of highly processed food. Grocery Shopping Tip: Rethink lunchmeat. The deli will provide you with thin-sliced meat or presliced deli meat, but you will pay a premium per pound. ($6.49 to $15.00 per pound) However, if you buy a ½ boneless ham (unsliced or presliced), the price point will drop to between ...

Fruit by the serving: Pineapple ($.06-$.19)

Fruit by the serving: Pineapple ($.06-$.19) Fruit by the serving is a concept that I first read about on Pennies & Pancakes several years ago. The concept is basically how much does each serving of fruit cost you. Apples or bananas may be ch eaper that a larger fruit such as cantaloupe or pineapples, but if you pick one up when it is on sale and cut it yourself, it may actually be cheaper per serving that the apple or banana. In addition, it will give you a wider variety of food. Furthermore, if you have children who would not eat an entire banana or apple, it may be beneficial to purchase the smaller sized fruit. Pineapple Selection: A lot of pineapples we see in the states are mainly green. When you find a pineapple with a golden color to the majority of it, there is a good sign that the pineapple will be sweet and delicious. As with all fruit, check for busing. If a piece of fruit is bruised in the transportation process then ...

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