100 things challenge, day 100 update

Sorry about the lack of updates. These long work days are taking a lot out of me. I just want to veg in front of the TV, even the computer takes too much effort. But, I have good news to report.

We sold four items on ebay (for less than we hoped, but at least they sold) so that's a few more pennies our pocket. And this challenge forced us to make a donation trip. Otherwise, the boxes of to-be-donated stuff would still be sitting in the garage. That trip got 27 items out of the house. Actually, it was more than 27 since I counted the box of office supplies as one and the box of Christmas decorations as one.

office supplies, Christmas decorations, clothes, kitchen stuff = 27 items
ebay (3 mugs, cookie press) = 4 items

total gone 80/100

Eh, a little short of 100 (since I didn't count every little item). And you still can't tell we got rid of stuff. Maybe I'll hit 100 at the next challenge. Ever the optimist, lol. I hope you'll join me when I start the next challenge. I might be more motivated if you play along.

$4.29

This price has held steady for a week.

$4.15

This was particularly painful. Over $4/gallon. The line at the pump was too long so we went back the next day. That decision cost us 6 cents a gallon more.

$3.95

Too close to $4/gallon for my tastes. I've started looking for new carpoolers. Or maybe no one else cares to save $ in this area.

$3.69

Up 10 cents in a week.

$3.58

This was the start of the meteoric rise in gas prices.

Singapore noodles or thankful for a well-stocked pantry

As part of our continuing quest to spend less (more on that in another post), I've been cooking a tiny bit more. Today, I whipped up a quick lunch so we wouldn't be hungry as we ran errands. As usual, I don't have an exact recipe since I was using up stuff we had on hand. Everything was already in the fridge, freezer, or cupboard. The baby corn and bamboo shoots were leftover from a curry dish earlier in the week. The fresh veggies we had, and the chicken was from the freezer (I freeze small portions of chicken (breast, thigh, whatever is on sale) to use for stir fries).
Here's my "MacGyver" recipe:

1/2 can of baby corn
1/2 can of bamboo shoots
1/2 package thin rice noodles
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1/3 red bell pepper
1 chicken thigh, thinly sliced
oil, soy sauce, cornstarch, garlic, Singapore seasoning or curry powder

1. Marinate the chicken w/soy sauce, cornstarch, and garlic (since I didn't have time to let this marinate, perhaps I should say "Mix").
2. Heat some oil and stir fry the chicken.
3. Remove the chicken, add more oil if needed, and stir fry the onion. After the onion is almost cooked through, add the bell pepper and let it cook for a minute or two.
4. Add the rest baby corn, bamboo shoots, and rice noodles.
5. Sprinkle on some the Singapore seasoning or curry powder (start with less, you can always add more).
   
6. Toss the ingredients together.
   
7. Take a taste test and add more seasoning or soy sauce or salt if needed.

Enjoy!

A step backwards or confessions of a scrapaholic

I went to another LSS trash to treasures sale today, just to check out the store (no, really!). I hadn't been there before so I wanted to check out the space before I signed up for their next sale. I think I'm going to try to do one more LSS sale, list a few things on 2 Peas, then just do a big donation dump. Let's see how much more I can get rid of this year. Unfortunately, there were some good deals and I added to my stash:4 small Bazzill packs (perfect for cardmaking), 12 punches, paper crimper (can you believe I don't have one?), and 4 Catseye chalk inks. Not bad for $9. Just the paper or ink would have $8. I have no idea where I'm going to store the punches though. Sigh.

And in case you noticed the straw bale in the photo, yes, we have straw bales in the backyard. I plan on using it for mulch.