Butternut Squash, Peppers, Bananas

 Today, four butternut squash came my way! Nice! Plus, we got a gallon of milk and two artisan, round loaves of bread. There was a box of four custard-filled long johns that may be my dinner. 

There was other stuff I will give away, stuff we don't eat. Tommy wants to keep the pop tarts and another sweet, but I may throw it in the trash, all naked of it packaging. 

Today, I found my favorite olive oil, Pompeian, on sale. I quit buying it because they switched from glass to plastic bottles. The bottle I bought today will be the next one I use, that I keep on the shelf instead of putting it in the freezer. It was a bogo at Publix.

At Piggly Wiggly, I bought produce from a grocery cart, all reduced.  Four largish Bell Peppers were $0.94. They are not perfect, but they don't have rotting holes like some did. All are sealed in plastic, so it is hard to tell. I will freeze. Tommy loves cooked Bell peppers. Me? Not so much, but I love things seasoned with peppers. If chopped small enough and cooked to a mush, I will allow they in my mouth....lol 

Five or six bananas were $0.34. These are destined for smoothies, black-bean brownies, or banana bread. Of course, they can replace oil in other baked goods. The peppers and bananas were sealed in plastic on a tray, so no inspecting individual items. However, I could see holes and rotten places inside some of the packages of peppers. 

Bananas, butternut squash, and peppers--not bad for one day, free or sooo cheap.     

This was not a fall. It was a sway and a slide. But, it hurt me. I felt tippy, no vertigo, just swayed to one side. I caught myself on a glass table with both hands and I was afraid I might put my hand through the glass. Now, I was off-balance and things were happenings--1) I was turning a heavy crystal bowl over on the table; My antique lamp that is pot metal and milk glass was sliding away and was going to fall behind the table; 3) as I slid down, my thigh scraped against the corner of the box with a printer in it. Only #3 was painful. This happened on Friday. Today, I have a bruise over 12 inches x 5 inches long on my thigh. It gets bluer every day! 

Now, I was on my knees and could not get up. Tommy put both hands on my hip bones and pulled me up to one foot. He pulled on just the side where my knee was still on the floor and pulled me until I could get that foot on the floor.  Whew. 

I am going to a physical therapist to get exercises to strengthen me so I can rise from my knees! 

I found something I could not find for a while and finally forgot about--Fresh Success (Concord) Roasted Potato Seasoning Mix. There is about 3 Tbsp. mix in the package, but I only use a Tsp., so the package lasts longer and it is tasty. Each package was $1+ 10%= $1.10 at Piggly Wiggly and $0.99 at Publix. I will buy several of these to put away for future use aka stockpiling. There are other varieties for other fruits and vegetables.  Has anyone tried this product? 

What was wrong with the squash?

From Orlando. Does this look delicious or not?

Today, Tommy came. He picked up a mattress pad for me at WM. Actually, he bought four and I kept the one I wanted. He took the other three and something else he bought that needed to be returned tonight as he went home.

When he arrived this morning, he called and I went out. He took me to Belk to return the purse. I love the purse, but it is not quite large enough. I asked him for his credit card in case mine did not have enough left or the purse was more expensive. I returned the purse and chose another. Because the clerk was totally clueless and did not have a lot of sympathy for my back problem, I told her I would buy it in the shoe department. I can sit there.

I got to the shoe dept and changed my mind after using my card and Tommy's to buy another purse. I told the shoe lady I was sorry, but to refund this purse because I just did not like it. And, would she please get the original purse and sell it back to me? She did not complain or sigh or anything. I will find another purse another time and still have this one I can use on certain occasions.

The whole time, I hurt so bad I could hardly think. Tommy is not the type to get impatient, thankfully for him....lol. Oh, he knew I would pay him back what extra I needed to put on his card. In the end, I did not use it. Well, I did and then got a refund for both our cards.

For lunch we had the spicy chicken pieces and butternut squash cut in spirals, cooked in a bit of olive oil, maple syrup, and one dash of cinnamon. It still had a texture to it. And, I forgot to give him some to take home, so I will freeze it for him. Apple pie was the other thing we had. He loves apple pie. this must have weighed three pounds! I sent the rest home with him.

I finally made the squash casserole for dinner, and the squash was tough! After an hour in the oven, it was hard around the skin. Tommy said it was the texture of squash in a salad. Who knows why some of these squash were so tough? I took the rotisserie chicken and tried to remove the legs, but ended up removing the thing and leg. The other was wrapped for him to take home. I had eaten the breasts. He had chicken, squash casserole, and tomatoes.

Everything except the dash of cinnamon, squash, the two Tablespoons of olive oil, real maple syrup, butter came from a food bank. I used a coupon to buy the squash from the Farmer's Market. We ate well and cheaply. These meals were a little high on carbs, but not our usual low carb count.

I bought the squash last Saturday. Do squash get tough when that old--4 days? Help!

Oh, a blogger friend sent me an Amazon card just because. I am going to use it for something I want for my September birthday.