In these empty nest years, my evening meals tend to come together as a colorful medley of favorites: a side of rice, plenty of fresh vegetables, cut fruit, and either a lean protein or a generous helping of beans, one of my favorite foods — also highly underrated. Some might call it a “girl dinner.” I like to finish each plate with a drizzle of a favorite sauce or a bit of Sriracha mayo.

One of my favorite ways to simplify meal prep is to roast squash in large batches. Roasting draws out the squash’s natural sugars and caramelizes its edges, deepening its sweet, nutty flavor. Once cooled, the pieces freeze perfectly and can be warmed in the microwave in just a minute or two, making it easy to add a wholesome side to any meal.

Here is how I roast my squash.

For this delicata squash, I cut it in half and cut the ends off. They are rather easy to cut, so no warming prep is needed to make it soft beforehand.

Then I sliced the squash in bite-size slices of generally all the same width so they cook evenly. Tossed them in the bowl to prepare for seasoning and then started on my kabocha squash.

Kabocha squash has a really tough skin to cut through. The trick here is to cut 3 or 4 slits in the squash to allow for the hot air to escape (don’t forget this step) and heat it in the microwave for 3-5 minutes. This softens the skin enough to make it easy to cut into and avoid any knife accidents. Be careful taking it out of the microwave, as the squash is hot.

After letting it cool for a minute, I cut the squash in half, scoop out and discard the seeds.

Then I cut in slices in similar widths for even cooking. Toss in the bowl for seasoning.

Here I drizzled in olive oil and tossed for even coating.

Then I simply seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper. Sometimes, I like to add a bit of curry powder or chili pepper to elevate the flavor.

Now that the oven has been preheated to 425 degrees, I prepare my pan. Crumpling a piece of parchment paper, then lay that flat on a baking pan. This trick keeps the parchment paper from rolling up on you. Then toss the squash on the pan.

I roughly lay out the pieces so they are not overcrowding each other and roast for 35-40 minutes or until they look done.

Roasted squash is perfect once it comes out of the oven; especially lightly salted. It’s hard to not eat all the slices straight from the pan!

Once the slices are cooled, you can do one of two things. One, put the cookie sheet straight into the freezer — allowing the squash slices to freeze and then toss into a ziplock bag for storing. Or two, put the roasted slices into a ziplock bag, lay flat and arrange the slices so they don’t overlap and put into the freezer to store. Both of these ways keep the squash from clumping up together. The latter I tend to do when I have a small batch to freeze.

When you want some squash to accompany your meal, you pull out a slice or two and microwave on high for 1-2 minutes. There you have it. Enjoy.

Whenever I visit somewhere new, I make a point of choosing a magnet to remind me of the trip. It is a small, simple keepsake, and each one brings back wonderful memories of the places I have been. Once I return home, however, I am faced with a familiar problem. My refrigerator, like many modern models, has a finish that magnets simply will not stick to. The only metal surface in my kitchen is the sides of my wall spice cabinet, and that is where my collection has been living. It is not the best way to display such special mementos, and the space is quickly filling up. It was time to find a better solution, one that would give these little treasures the attention they deserve.

That’s when I came across the DIY Cookie Sheet Magnet Holder blog post by Mrs. Happy Homemaker. I knew I had to make one of my own.

Here is my process.

I found a sturdy cookie sheet at my local thrift store for just 99 cents. Before putting it to use, I gave it a thorough scrubbing with medium grit steel wool to remove any built-up rust and residue. When working with steel wool, I always recommend wearing a good pair of gloves. Small fibers can break loose during scrubbing and easily prick the skin, so it is best to protect your hands.

Once the cookie sheet was clean, I rinsed it well and dried it completely. Any remaining moisture can keep paint from adhering properly.

For the color, I chose Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch in Lagoon. It is a lovely, cheerful shade, even though it does not match anything else in my home.

I cut open a large black trash bag to protect my work surface, laid the cookie sheet on top, and began to spray.

The patient approach is to apply the paint in light, even passes, moving from right to left and then left to right. Each coat should be allowed to dry completely before the next is added.

The impatient approach is to go back over any spot that looks thin before the first coat has had a chance to dry. This often leads to drips and an uneven finish.

I chose something in between. I applied one generous coat and let it dry fully before adding a second.

Next, I turned the tray over and painted the back the same way. It was a bright, sunny day, which helped the paint dry quickly.

To hang it, I attached 10 lb Command Strips to each short end of the cookie sheet and pressed it firmly onto the wall.

As you can see, my new magnet board is already filling up. It may soon be time to make another one, and to start planning my next trip.

Earlier this month, my partner and I made a trip about 3-hours out from San Francisco for a pleasant stay at Orr Hot Springs Resort in Ukiah, California – this was my first visit to both a hot springs and this particular resort. Orr Hot Springs has a long-time history dating back to 1867 as a resort times two, but the individual cabin resort was founded in 1938 passed on by an association of hippie community members. Today, Orr Hot Springs is owned by Leslie Williams as a sole proprietor. The tranquil eco-resort is where soaking in mineral waters is the main attraction. Just a short distance up is the Montgomery Woods State Reserve for a nice hike among the redwoods.

Here are some photos of Orr Hot Springs, my visit to Montgomery Woods and the town of Mendocino.

Because the resort does not have cellular reception, I took this vacation to the max by not use my phone for any purpose while staying here. The pictures are from those people that have shared on Google reviews. Credit goes to them. Also, Orr Hot Springs doesn’t allow pictures of the water area – credit goes to the facility for supplying those pictures.

When you walk into the entrance at Orr Hot Springs, this is the the view you get to embrace. The check-in desk, community house and communal kitchen are to the left.

A serene, green grass lounging area to the right. Plenty of chairs available for sitting with a good book. The bathrooms and more cabins are also here.

This is a close view of the communal kitchen. You need to bring all your food & drinks up here; except salt, pepper and table sugar. There is adequate dry and refrigerated storage available and every guest receives stickers to label their containers.

I really enjoyed cooking on that vast stove there with my favorite pan, the cast iron skillet. I didn’t enjoy forgetting to bring my morning coffee, but the adventure taken to find coffee was fun. If you forget any perishable items, the grocery store in Ukiah is about 20 minutes away.

View of more rooms available. These ones are outside the grounds, but close to the main entrance.

This is the start of the sulfur springs on the property. Which are open 24/7.

The first spring – in the back – is the warmest one available. It is hard to see but the showers are there to the right. Left is the lockers and restroom. Massage rooms in the back.

The springs are clothing optional. This was a new experience to me, so it was a bit awkward. But by the end of my 3-day stay, it wasn’t a big deal to be nude among the crowds. No one cares.

Next it heads up to this patio with 2 sulfur tubs available. This is a popular spot. It is probably best to go during off-peak hours to grab a spot. Like late at night because the sky is epic to take in.

From there is another sulfur tub (not shown), the “cold ” pool – which is really a lovely lukewarm temp and has a fountain of the healing waters spraying into the pool at all times. Towards the back is another small sulfur pool, the dry saunas and a cold plunge pool to the right. I am not one to find joy in a claustrophobic, hot space – but I gave the dry sauna a try and was impressed for a good 5 minutes.

This little meditative space is where one can sit to smoke or just take in the quiet space. The deer often showed up at the fence looking for a treat. It was cute because many fawn were present as well.

There are multiple yurts on the property farther back, but this is Yurt 1, located in back of the meditative space shown above. The space is fenced in with its own lounging area.

The bed is quite comfortable and the accommodations are clean. In the morning, the sun shining through the skylight of the yurt was very nice.

Here is a glimpse of Montgomery Woods. It’s about a 2-mile hike around. The beginning has good elevation, then it descends into an easy, flat hike among the big coastal redwoods and ferns.

The pictures don’t do justice.

Photo op.

We ran into a mama and her fawn a few times on the trail. While we didn’t get close, they weren’t bothered by our near presence.

However, I am thankful the bobcat – we later received notice was in the vicinity – did not make an appearance.

This is from the cliffs in the town of Mendocino – an hour drive to find a great bakery and the coffee I was missing earlier. I recommend the GoodLife Bakery for some absolutely delicious baked goods. We overheard that someone drove 3 hours for those baked goods! Sorry no food pictures. Being feral for coffee, we didn’t have patience to take pictures.

Here we hiked along the coast. If I was to live in any coastal town, I think this would be it. The water is absolutely a blue gem, no filter needed.

But it’s also very cold.

We did take a nice walk down to the bottom of this cliff and I waded in the waters. It took some solid time to get used to the temperatures, but it felt so rejuvenating! I look forward to doing this delightful trip again. Especially to detox from phone and soak in the quiet space my body & mind craved. I hear room 6 has a private sulfur tub, but it’s also booked out a good 3+ months for reservations. Just FYI.

Welcome to the inner workings of Frugal to FI.

A while back I started Frugal to FI as a means to help me move into semi-retirement. Giving me the part-time job I need to transition into, allowing to me to work remotely, and allowing me to share all the good knowledge I’ve gained as a GenXer. But I sputtered when starting the the site, because I was soon reminded how much work it is to run a blog and website. I love the work, but when working full-time in addition to getting this business off the ground – it can be a lot. So, it took me a bit of time before I found consistency in generating content and finding my footing.

Now that consistency is happening, I am more involved in reviewing the growth patterns of the website and I thought it would be fun to share it all with you. The plan is to post total earnings once a month.

The total for (estimated earnings) for Month 1 in the Frugal to FI Website Earnings: $0.20! Here’s a closer look.

Google Adsense

1,672 page views with a $0.12 RPM equaling estimated earnings of $0.20. Yes!

At this time, Google Adsense is my primary focus in making money for Frugal to FI – and that is by design. It’s my base to growing my site to become eligible as an ad partner for Mediavine or Raptor and allows me to draw in revenue through impressions.

Positions

Why the impressions on Google Analytics is different in Google Adsense is beyond me, but I do understand the gist of what I need to know – to help me understand where I need to drive my attention. The average position is where I am seen on Google search pages. Right now it is a far way from being #1 for my content, but is to be expected as a new site.

This report above shows me where the one blip came from – and that was a click on the 10 Beans Every Frugal Kitchen Should Have Stocked post. That’s pretty good considering my content was on page 2 or 3 on the Google search engine.

Impressions

Here are some other phrases people searched for that landed me on Google search pages, but didn’t lead to a click.

Traffic

My top sources of traffic were:

• Direct: website name typed in directly in the search bar, clicks to the direct URL from any of my social media pages
• Duck Duck Go/organic : a search engine where people were looking for phrases that led to my site
• Pinterest: an inspiration app that people still use frequently.
• Google search

Focus

In September, the goal is to:

• Keep writing consistently
• Focus on my social media channels to bring in website referrals
• Building a schedule so I can do all the things, while simultaneously understanding there are limits so I don’t face burnout

Thanks for taking a peek at the inner workings of Frugal to FI. I am excited to dive in and improve making income from Frugal to FI. Every month I will check back in and share what I’ve learned.

During my short stay in Reykjavik, I did a good job making solid use of my time. Three things that surprised me during my stay, as I went on a whim with little research: 1) everything is tap & pay — no need to pull out Iceland’s Króna currency from the ATM, 2) everyone speaks English — because the country’s prime money maker is tourism, and 3) Iceland’s landscape is breathtaking!

Maybe another, 4) the city is completely walkable.

Here are some photos of my recent trip in August:

I stayed on Iceland’s iconic rainbow road. It was conveniently surrounded by all things shopping and food. In the background is the famous Hallgrimskirkja church.

Here is an upclose view if that church.

And the inside view. There happened to be a young woman singing at the time. I can day the acoustics in this church are very nice.

Björk’s exhibit at the National Gallery of Iceland. It was an artistic media exhibit that echoed her voice throughout.

Random landscape picture during my tour trip to Glacier Lagoon. Iceland’s landscape has so many variations due to it being a volcanic island

Huge glaciers beyond. In person it is absolutely breathtaking. Sorry for the bus window pics.

This is an experience at Glacier Lagoon. The tour guide mentioned that everyday can be different in terms of available glaciers. This day was a good day. The seals were out to play, too.

More glaciers from afar.

There are random waterfalls everywhere. Some houses had amazing waterfalls in their backyard and herds of sheep or horses in their front yard. All I could think of is how peaceful a morning cup of coffee would be at there at home.

Dinner on the road. Where I had rice, onion rings and cauliflower soup. Which is poor representation of the food available in Iceland. They do have really great fish & chips. While no hot dogs are pictured, it is also a big thing here and they are delicious; leveled up when you add all the Icelandic condiments to it.

Iceland’s punk museum set in an old bathroom stall. It was an amazing piece of history ran by the iconic punk know. As “Black Elf”. I highly recommend checking it out.

In addition, your entrance fee keeps the punk community hopping.

There is a lot of punk history crammed into this tiny old bathroom stop. All those bands I grew up listening to.

Cool jackets for sale.

Björk dressed like a giant set of balloons.

I don’t have a picture of the sky getting dark. But will say – that even though it was too cloudy to watch the eclipse – it was amazing to experience totality in darkness with all the people at the festival!

This was the ending to my trip.

All in all, I:

• Arrived
• Locked my luggage
• Went to the Björk exhibit and ventured around the city on foot with no real plan. Waiting for my time to check in.
• Stopped to get my festival bracelet and check out the famous record shop.
• Checked in, slept, ate dinner.
• Next day I did my full day tour to 2 waterfalls, glacier lagoon, diamond beach – take the boat ride if offered.
• Dinner
• Another day, I went to the Punk Museum, checked out the church, shopped for souvenirs, rested, ate.
• Then I was out of there. An extremely short trip.

But I will for sure be back again! To drive the whole island where you will hear me constantly say, “WOW!”