Yup. I'm one of those. But I know I'm not alone here! Right, Ruthy???
Because it's all about living well on the means God has given us.
Garage sales were my regular Saturday morning addiction when our children were young.
That pair of OshKosh overalls cost fifty cents, if I remember right, and lasted through our four children before they were passed on. How can you beat that for a bargain?
Even though my garage saleing days have slowed down quite a bit, we still find time to stop by one or two on a Saturday morning...especially if they have books.
I always look at the books! See what I found last week?
I'm sure you're familiar with the Taste of Home magazine. Their cookbook comes out - what? - once a year? They sell it through direct mail advertising, and I've always thought I might get one. Someday.
25 cents.
Oh, sure, it isn't new. In fact, it's eight years old. But the previous owner didn't put a lot of wear and tear on it.
And I get a bunch of new recipes to browse through without sitting at my computer! Win/win!!!
Here's one of the recipes I found in this fabulous new toy. I changed it a bit to make it full-fat and zero sugar, rather than low-fat and higher sugar. You can switch the types of ingredients to make it fit your diet and lifestyle. :) The version I made would be an "S" if you're doing Trim Healthy Mama.
Creamy Herbed Salad Dressing
ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons milk
4 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon Truvia, or sweetener of your choice
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Whisk the mayo, milk and vinegar together in a small bowl. Then add the rest of the ingredients and whisk.
That's it! Super quick and easy!
You can have this dressing over a bowl of greens or your favorite chopped salad...
What? You're not sure what a chopped salad is?
Talk about easy! Just chop your favorite greens and veggies together and mix them in a bowl. Add dressing and toppings, and eat it with a spoon. No more chasing that errant almond sliver around with your fork!
But if you're in the mood for a healthy snack, use the dressing this way:
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| This snack has 2 Tablespoons of the dressing, a few carrots (carrots have higher carbs, so I put a limit on how many I include in a Trim Healthy Mama S snack), and as many celery sticks as I want. |
I wish I had some radishes in the fridge to go with this!
Meanwhile, there's only ONE DAY to wait until Naomi's Hope is released!
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| Okay, ALMOST "Available Now"! |
Naomi has gotten some great reviews, including this starred review from Publisher's Weekly:
... Drexler's historical elements set a solid foundation for this unforgettable story of learning to trust God amid misfortunes, insecurities, and heartbreak....
And there is a giveaway on Goodreads that ENDS TOMORROW! So get over there and enter the drawing!!!
Enter the Goodreads drawing!
Now that you've entered the drawing, are you ready to discuss bargain hunting? Maybe you found the Picasso painting hidden in someone's barn. Or a first edition of Dicken's Christmas Carol. Or maybe you found a shirt that became your five-year-old son's favorite.
What is your favorite garage sale find of all time?
Jan Drexler loves her family, her home, cooking and just about anything made by hand. But she loves her Lord most of all.
Stop by Jan's website to learn more about her books: www.JanDrexler.com
I don't know why I never make my own salad dressing or dip. This is so easy!!!! And looks yummy.
ReplyDeleteI love garage sales too. We just had the Great Glebe Garage Sale up here. Glebe is a trendy downtown neighbourhood and nearly all the residents hold a garage sale on the same day. Plus there's a road of trendy shops who join in and offer ridiculous sales. I think it must be what a flea market is like. Antique furniture, art, collectibles as well as the usual garage sale fare. And lots of Bohemian chic which is totally my style. Best finds...hmmm...Got a whole set of dishware -- blue floral on white like a Willow platter kind of pattern -- for $5.00. Lots of the perennials in my garden come from there as well. A gorgeous Indian print cotton bedspread which I uses as a gigantic wall hanging in my living room. Tons of clothes when my daughter was a teen. She'd make some one of a kind creations out of the various pieces she'd find. Oh -- and a beautiful antique wooden chair. That was fun bringing home on the bus. :-) I could go on, but you get the idea.
Oh -- and my most sentimental garage sale find came from just around the corner. A homemade wooden dog bed complete with quilts! The people selling had just lost their old Bassett Hound and they'd made the bed to sit in their bay window so he could watch the world go by in his declining years. And that's exactly what I used it for too -- my old Simba man loved that bed and the folks who sold it were thrilled that it was going to serve another aging pampered pooch. :-)
And I got my push mower at a garage sale for $7!!! Brand new from Lee Valley. Loved that deal! Sorry, I'll stop now.
ReplyDeleteWe found a lawn mower at a garage sale, too! It was a push mower - aka human powered - and someone had painted it pink. $10 for the mower, $12 to sharpen the blades, and it was our mower when we lived in Indiana, and passed it on when we moved.
DeleteAnd the dog bed. What a great idea. Wynter, aging pooch that she is, had a cushy bed at the top of the stairs where she can look out the front door and down the street. The mail man never sneaks up on us!
Such great memories!
Jan, my sons had those exact overalls!! They were either a hand-me -down from my nephews or else a thrift shop/yard sale bargain from my mother-in-law. I can't remember for sure. But they went through both my boys and then got passed on. We love bargains around here, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the dressing recipe! I love ranch with veggies for a snack.
This dressing looks like ranch, but it has a delightfully different flavor. Very herby and sweet. It's a delicious alternative to the ranch dressing I usually use. :)
DeleteAnd those OshKosh overalls! Aren't they the best? I'm tempted to make a pair of these my traditional baby shower gift!
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ReplyDeleteGarage sales are on Thursdays here. Numerous neighborhoods hold them annually from Thurs-Sat, but all the good stuff is gone Thursday afternoon, so you have to start early. Also catching on are "preview sales" on Wednesday nights, which doesn't make me happy, because that's church night. When I get up at the crack of dawn to be in a neighborhood first thing, I don't want to know people picked it over the night before. lol
ReplyDeleteI have my favorite neighborhoods. Through the Spring and early summer, Hubby and I go every Thursday bright and early until the weather is to extremely hot--which is about now. It's our weekly outing.
I've always found great things at garage sales and thrift shops. I know people who throw unwanted things in the trash, and that just bothers my sensibilities. My grandmother always claimed her thriftiness was her Scotch heritage, but I don't think that has anything to do with it. My mother gave everything to the vets (which is a great organization) even heirlooms I wanted. I learned to go over and sort through the boxes on her porch before treasures were lost, but many things were.
My daughter who just set up housekeeping, has taken a liking to Pyrex dishes. She bought a set a the brass Armadillo Antique Mall for $70. and they are the teal Amish pattern--lovely. I found her a white with brown print set for $3. at a garage sale--plus all the lids in perfect condition.
My kids had Oshkosh overalls too. Such a cute pic!
You love your garage saleing, Cheryl! And you're right, they're a great place to pick up collectibles like Pyrex and cast iron.
DeleteWe lived somewhere that did the Thursday garage sale tradition, too, but I can't remember where it was. Kansas City? Abilene, Texas? We've lived too many places... :(
And yes, those overalls!
We had those Oshkosh overalls too! So cute.
ReplyDeleteThe yards sales here in the city are actually stoop sales.Or more accurately, 'drape things over the front fence' sales.
LOL! In the neighborhoods in the downtown area, we have those "drape over the fence" sales, too!
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