Tis the Season!

We are in the midst of the holiday week. What a great time for our family! We had Christmas Eve at our house, a moving worship service at Ascension, Christmas Day with the In-laws, and the day after with my extended family. It was good to see everyone.

Then we got wonderful news about DH's cousin's wife. She had surgery on Tuesday and a large benign mass was removed from her abdomen. No cancer, thanks be to God. She will recuperate and continue to be the healthy, productive, creative and joyful person we have come to love.

My presents were wonderful. Mom gave me a trip to Paducah to the quilt show this spring! We will travel by tour bus, stay in a hotel, see the show, the National Quilt Museum, the Eleanor Burns quilt tent (a special treat), and many other things. It will be fantastic!! I have to get new shoes in March so I can break them in, as there will be a LOT of walking in those 2-3 days.

I also got a fabulous 6 qt cast iron dutch oven. I have wanted one forever, and this one is going to be put to frequent use. My youngest gave me a huge sack of books (My bedtime ritual requires a bit of reading each night, and books are expensive! I do a lot of re-reading because of it, so new books are always welcome!), a great knife block with very nice knives, a beautiful sand painted ornament for the tree, and a limited edition collection of a capella music by my SIL and her family. They are talented vocalists and the CD is a wonderful way to share the music they have been performing at church and other functions. Oh yes, I got a great gift certificate from my boss, and friend, at the quilt shop. I am so going to have fun spending that!!

We are just so blessed. I admit that 2011 seemed to pass quickly, but I look forward to 2012.

Twas the Week Before Christmas

Well at our house the weekend is really Sunday and Monday due to Hubby's schedule. We had a fairly productive weekend. Though I felt lousy, we got the carpet cleaned in the living room and the hallway. Thanks again to my brother and his magic carpet cleaning machine! The whole livingroom is clean, the tree is in the process of going up, the windows have been flocked with nifty pictures of snowflakes, wreaths, pine trees, and Santa. We got the entertainment center moved to the Daughter's room to hold her game console (a vintage Sega) and the old TV. The rug is out and cleaned for the middle of the living room floor. Tomorrow evening I will wash and dry the Christmas Flannel quilt for the back of the couch, and put the table runner out (that matches the quilt)

We got a bit done to the kitchen, but not as much as I had planned. Frankly, there were just so many things that kept getting in the way. However, the dishwasher was run, many things were put away, and the trash went out. Progress was made, but its slower than I wanted it to be. Still feeling icky in the tummy is keeping me from accomplishing as much as I would like. Tomorrow evening we will attack it, and conquer part of the mess, Wednesday we will finish it up.

The hardware finally arrived for our bed frame. Crazy but true, the whole things arrived without a single screw or nail or directions! I guess we are supposed to put it together intuitively? That is what we will attempt. I am hoping to be able to keep the bedroom door open and show off the bed. We will see.

The In-Laws are back from their cruise. They have been down the Pacific side of South America. I am sure they had fun. Who doesn't have fun on a cruise ship? But I am glad to have them back in the US.

Noteworthy things that happened this weekend: The last of the US troops left Iraq. Kim Jong Il died in North Korea. There is a big time snow storm hitting the Southwest and Central Plains.

I think we have the shopping done. Once the tree is up and the kitchen is clean, I will feel like we can enjoy Christmas. Usually I am at the last minute doing stuff, but this year might just be different!

Counting your Blessings

Well, I guess I should be stressed and worried. The rear axle went out on the car, broke actually. That's gonna be expensive. The house is a mess because its time for the annual crazy cleaning before Christmas, and this year everyone comes here for Christmas Eve. The oven is still not working, so I can't bake cookies.

Crazy but I am extraordinarily happy. This year the shopping is nearly completely finished already! Its getting colder, and we might have flurries. That's a good thing. I think this year I am in a different frame of mind. I am okay with Advent, I have a plan for family gatherings, and I am just so pleased with life. My kids are happy and healthy, my grand-baby is just adorable. My husband is working at a job he likes, and I have a part time one that I love.

Sure things could be better, that's always true. But there is virtue in being content and in knowing, deep in your bones, the real reason for the season. God has blessed us immeasurably, and I am so grateful.

Back to the Beginning

I have been very lax recently about keeping myself accountable regarding the money spend at the grocery. This has to stop or there will be no Christmas at our house! So... I am rededicating myself to getting myself organized.

We had a great mega sale or two in the last month at Kroger and I have stocked up on a lot of things. I did a search for a Pantry Inventory (in all black ink, because the color is shot atm.) and found one that I can use. I have also been checking out some new online resources for frugality. I am adding a link to Frugal Living, a great forum site where there are many knowledgeable people who have good ideas and wisdom to share.

Now I will spend a few hours filling out the pantry inventory. I know we have plenty of food here and we shouldn't need to hit the store for a good 3-4 weeks, except for fresh milk. Though I dislike not having diet cola available, mostly for the caffeine but the bubbles are helpful too when I am fighting sinus issues, it looks like iced tea will be the drink of choice here.

I have the crock pot going. Got a whole fryer for .69 cents a pound today and its baking away with carrots, celery, potatoes, and onions for dinner. Will be yummy and make a fabulous pot of soup for tomorrow too. The dehydrator is working away on celery.

I am pondering how to best reorganize the kitchen storage spaces so that the appliances all have a home. These small things, the crock pot, the blender, the dehydrator, the bread machine, the electric skillet, the electric can opener, I love these things. They do make my life easier. But honestly, I just don't know where to put it all!

Now that Angel Food is no longer operating (*sob*) I have to find a new source for sturdy and unwieldy boxes. My food box boxes have been wonderful for storing canned goods, but I need more than I have.

I have been working on a customer quilt, and working at home on Christmas gifts. I have been checking the Screaming Penny newsletter daily for wonderful deals on quality gifts for seriously less money. I love that email :) Faithful Provisions and A Smart Shopper are also great for sharing gathered deals out on the web and at local stores. I highly recommend checking them out!

Enough for today.

Book Review: 100 Day Pantry

This month when I went to the site to order my Angelfood I found a message saying they will not be doing a September distribution. They have been hit by the financial crunch too, and are reorganizing so they can continue the program. I hope they are able to do so, but I was faced with the knowledge that I have to plan on not having access to the program in the future.

I started looking around for recipes that would let me work with what I do have access to, and found this book: 100 Day Pantry by Jan Jackson. All of the recipes are put together using canned and dried food. They are adaptable to situations where clean water is not readily available. This intrigues me so we are going to give these recipes a whirl and see how it goes. I went to Save-A-Lot and got several flats of vegetables and soups. We have plenty of pasta and rice.

As I try them I will document the results here. Since the massive bronchitis attack ate up most of my summer I was not able to tend the garden as I wanted. We got pretty much nothing, couple of peppers, 3 small tomatoes and a few herbs. I am watching for things to dehydrate, and organizing the cabinets to hold more veggies for soup. Potatoes are going to be big for the dehydrator over the next few weeks.

Got to spend a bit of time with my Oldest and her Hubby Sunday. It was SIL's birthday and we had some ice cream cake to celebrate. The grandbaby was charming and babbles a lot now. It was nice to see them.

Seasons of Life

Its Labor Day weekend. A really busy time for us. Usually we have a birthday gathering for my MIL, and a family reunion. However this year, we had a funeral. My SIL's mother went home to her reward after a valiant struggle with cancer. She was quite a woman. Very devoted to her family and her church.

As a result I have been pondering life and death. Weighty subjects for a mere human, I know. I ran across a quote by C. S. Lewis yesterday, "You do not have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." What an interesting perspective. I think on some level I have always believed this, because cemeteries hold no comfort for me. I don't return to graves to seek a connection with the people I have loved. What is left feels like a shell to me, kind of like a cocoon. Its never been the being dead that worried me, its the transition that piques my curiosity and trepidation.

My oldest came home this weekend for the services and brought the grand-baby. What an amazing cycle God has given us. She is so tiny, so helpless, and yet she grins and all is right with the world. Ginny is be coming such a good momma. I am proud of her.

This post rambles around a bit, but then that is the state of my mind tonight.

Who's laughing now??

Well Irene has come and gone, leaving destruction in her wake. Millions of lives have been disrupted, vacations ended early, homes destroyed by flooding, infrastructure damaged. I am in Kentucky, so I didn't suffer any issues from the hurricane, but it has opened the eyes of some people regarding the necessity for emergency preparedness.

I saw a commercial on CNN suggesting that people should have a 72 hour bag together "just in case". It was great! My family thinks my cousin and I are kind of crazy for storing food to prepare for market instability/disruption. Now I have to tell you, my cousin has a better handle on this than I do. Our life circumstances are different and she is able to invest in her food storage on a much larger scale than I am. And with both hubby and I out of work, we have had to rely on ours more than she and her family have. But boy am I glad that I have purchased and stored up.

So this week, I am blessed to have my Angelfood in the freezer. We had burgers and fries (AF) yesterday with fresh garden tomato. We grilled pork chops (AF) and had mashed potatoes and green beans (AF) the night before. And tonight I opened the 2lb package of chicken breasts (AF) and made some awesome soup (one of 3 chicken breasts, 3 potatoes diced up, and a bag of frozen veggies[AF]) and corn bread (AF).

Now you may not know this about me, but I have a very specific idea of what corn bread is supposed to taste like. Growing up we always used water ground white corn meal. Mom make baked corn bread with buttermilk and an egg that was just to die for! Fish was always accompanied by scalded corn bread (boiling water, corn meal, and an egg). It tastes very differently than yellow corn meal, and I was an adult before I ever tasted corn bread with actual corn kernels in it.

But tonight I have found a way to enjoy yellow corn bread! Not having any fresh milk, or buttermilk, in the house, I used a Jiffy corn bread mix (courtesy of a previous Angelfood purchase), an egg, 1/2 a cup of Magic Mix, and enough water to make a batter. Oh my... its a little sweeter than any corn bread I ever made but it was a real hit here. Hubby crumbled it up into the soup and was mightily impressed. I bet we do this again!

Seems like whenever we are pressed for funds I turn to soup making. Yes its a comfort thing, but its also excellent food thrift. All the left overs can go into the pot and with a little love from seasonings and some broth you have a wonderful meal. I am going back to youtube to check out the dehydrate2store lady's videos on crockpot soups from dehydrated food. I think I need to be looking at what should go into the dehydrator since we have such lovely weather (I load it up and plug it in outside so the heat doesn't tax the AC in the house).

Pantry and Freezer to the Rescue

Well, with the Hubby's unemployment checks messed up, and my paycheck "in the process" of being direct deposited, life is very tight at our house at the moment. So I did an inventory of the freezer, and the food storage, and turns out we will be able to eat. Yes, we have to cook, much to Hubby and my Daughter's chagrin. They don't mind to cook, but its not... well...instant, ya' know?

So this morning it was pancakes, hot off the griddle, and scrambled eggs. Not sure what they did for lunch, but dinner is foil packet grilled flounder and yellow squash (who knew that was in the freezer?), lemon dill rice (with fresh dill from the garden), I will have 2 flounder steaks left over so they will probably be my lunch tomorrow. Wonder what tuna salad is like with flounder? Hmmmm, I'll let you know.

Oh yes, I made a batch of Magic Mix Chocolate Pudding. That will be a nice cool treat later this evening.

My green beans are producing, but only a meals worth at a time. I am thinking that is not going to be a canning project from garden this year. Maybe next year. I will have to buy beans, and I just don't really want half runners. Maybe once I have money again there will be some other types of beans at the farmers market.

Since I have sick for the last 7 weeks I have not been out much. Blood work shows that I have a very low level of vitamin D. Well yeah, I haven't been outside for weeks! No sunshine. But I will have to take prescription vitamin D for 6 weeks and see if it helps. Its no wonder I am worn out, can't shake this bronchitis, and my memory is bad!! I am taking a multi vitamin too with extra minerals. Between the two I should be back in the game in no time. Why not just go outside? Yeah, well I have these brown spots developing on my face from sun shining through my glasses, the humidity is horrific for asthmatics, and so I am not getting out like I usually would.

I did go to the store today and purchase:
medium eggs for .88
1 gallon of milk for $1.99 (marked down due to date, but no trouble for us to get through)
1 package of margarine .78

The other thing the test results showed was that my cholesterol has gotten too high. Not terribly, but enough to take action. The doctor would like me to take fish oil capsules but I just can't make myself do that... ick! So I am going to eat oatmeal every day for breakfast, eat low fat food, and get a bit more exercise. That will be good for me all around. I think I can manage this. We will see. I have read that yoga is better for stress relief than anything else, and stress hormones will raise your cholesterol too. So its Wii and yoga for me...

6 Weeks of Bronchitis

Well, the week after I came home from helping my daughter and son-in-law with their new baby I got sick. At first I thought it was just a sinus infection, sore throat and on again/off again low fever. Two rounds of antibiotics and 6 weeks later I am now on a z-pack and waiting for test results. Its crazy, I can sleep for days at a time, still coughing up infection. I am so ready to be well again. My garden is suffering. I have completely lost all my snow peas and lettuce. The cilantro has gone to seed (otherwise known as coriander), and only the tomatoes and green beans are producing. I just don't have the energy to go breathe the humidity heavy air and take care of them. Its doubly annoying because I finally got hired and have gone back to work. I hate the idea of missing training because I am ill. I don't even have enough energy to do much in the way of posting. We will see how the test results come out tomorrow.

Life altering moments

Its been a couple of weeks since I posted. We were waiting for the arrival of our first grandchild, a precious little girl named Maggie. She is simply perfect. She was born last week after 33 hours of labor. Momma and baby are both doing well.

I was incredibly blessed with the opportunity to be in the delivery room when she was born. It was, without question, the most amazing experience of my life (short of knowing Jesus). Her little fingernails looked like she'd had a french manicure just for her appearance! I do not know how anyone could not believe in God after seeing a baby born. Its the most amazing thing.

Being a grandmother is quite different from being a mom. I was told that by several lovely grandmothers, but until it happens you just don't really understand. I stayed with my daughter, son in law and the baby for a week, and it was such a good time. They were able to rest, I got my baby fix (for the moment), and they are ready to settle in and have some family time.

While I was gone, DH faithfully watered the garden plants for me. The volunteer pumpkin has taken root and is beautifully green, the yellow squash is up, the tomatoes are surviving and the Roma tomatoes I planted from seed are up. They will need more thinning. Tonight I picked a few buttercrunch lettuce leaves, baby snow pea pods, baby radishes, and a scallion. They made a nice little salad.

I am sorry to say my broccoli all bolted, and the spinach is not thriving either. The cauliflower is barely hanging on. I think one of my tasks this week is to replant those sq ft areas. Maybe beets, carrots, and potatoes. We will see. The mint has taken off tho in the pot.

I have had an opportunity pop up that will mean I go back to work, assuming that it is approved higher up the chain. If that happens I will be back to balancing everything again: work, home, quilting, church, etc. Its not that I can't do that, its just a busier life than I prefer to have :) Still, one needs insurance and a regular pay check comes in handy!! DH is trying to determine what his next venture in life will be, and while he does that I am going to go back to work. Should gasoline climb much higher we will have to reconsider, since this would be an out of town, 40 mile round trip undertaking. For the moment I am focusing on being thankful that I had no job for several years and now I may have 2! When God provides, He provides abundantly.

This week I will be: watering the garden, weeding the garden, completing the beading on a sweater and sewing in a modesty panel on a wedding dress, finishing one quilt on the machine now, and finishing another by Thursday, starting work on Wednesday if everything works out. It will be a busy week.

Couponing

I recently attended a class on how to save money on groceries and household products. I thought I knew a lot, but let me tell you, there is always room to learn some more! Andrea Charles, of A Smart Shopper, was the speaker and she brought a slide show. It contained pictures of her "storeroom", info about coupons, and lots of information about drug store savings. I highly recommend visiting her site, because we could have spent an entire day going into more detail than she had time to tell us. A few important things that I learned:
1. Buy on sale
2. Use coupons
3. Use store promotions
4. Shop drugstores

Also: Kroger will double a coupon up to .50 cents. They also do not provide rain checks for items on sale that are not itemized in their weekly ad. Wal-Mart will give the same deal on their store brand that another store offers (Kroger soup = Wal-Mart soup) along with matching prices on name brand items.

Be proactive - you will save money if you stock up when things are on sale. though I didn't have a coupon for it, recently during the mega sale at Kroger I found organic cold cereal for .99 a box. I bought 16. Yes, we feel a bit run over by cereal at the moment, but I don't have to worry about breakfast for a few months. Also we found coupons for pasta ($1 off 2 boxes) and the pasta was on sale for .49 each. You just can't beat FREE!

Coupons CAN work in your favor. Here is an example:

Jiff Peanut butter regular price $2.99
On sale for $1.49
Coupon .35 cents off/doubled $.70
---------------------------------------
Final cost to you: $.79

Yeah, its addictive!

Always get the coupons in the Sunday paper*. If you know someone who takes the paper, ask for their coupon inserts. If necessary buy a copy or two for yourself. I have started purchasing them, taking out the coupons, and offering the paper for free to other shoppers. Cut them all out, because if you catch a sale, have a store coupon, a manufacturers coupon, or possibly both (yes you can use one of each on a purchase for more savings) then name brand shampoo might be cheaper than your usual brand.
*There are no coupons on holiday weekends.

Every month there is a magazine called All You. You can only purchase it at Wal-mart and it has a LOT of coupons in it. On the cover it will give the total coupon savings for that month. Its worth the money.


Now what to do with all these coupons? Andrea has hers in a small-ish note card box, separated by type of item (dairy, meat, condiments, etc) and keeps the ones with the closest expiration dates in the front of each category. After checking her pantry, the sales flyers to see what is out there, and her coupons, she makes a grocery list, pulling the coupons and putting them in a section at the front of the box titled "Use today" or Use at Wal-Mart", etc. She also uses websites that track the coupons (when they came out, what weeks insert had the coupons, etc). Really, go read her site! Its amazing.

In the meantime, the garden is growing. I looked out the window the other day and there was a big, fat groundhog in my yard! So, I did a quick search & found out they dislike peppermint intensely. I don't have peppermint but I did happen to have a bunch of spearmint that my Mom had pulled. So I laid it around the bag garden to ward off the critter. So far it seems to be working. We will see...

All this plus customer quilts! Life is good, even tho it is a bit uncertain right now.

Busy Busy!

Lots of things going on this month. Just got back from a great weekend in Tennessee. We have a cousin getting married and there was a bridal shower. I am so fortunate that I married into a family of people I really enjoy. Now we add another who is just as sweet and kind as the rest of them.

There was also a shower for my oldest daughters best friend. She is a sweet young lady and she is marrying a very talented and upstanding young man. So I got to spend some time with the friends I have made in Richmond. Janie hosted the event in her beautiful new home. Her girls were very gracious, the food was yummy, and I learned a wonderful new recipe for frosting cupcakes! One smaller size cool whip (8 oz I think) mixed into one can of frosting. OMGosh! Its great!

After the shower got to spend the afternoon and evening with the oldest daughter and her hubby. We don't get to spend enough time with them, and so it was nice to just sit and visit. Plus there were baby presents to open - always a plus :)

Today I made more detergent. Turns out that my bucket had developed a leak and I have clothes soaked with detergent... I am going to spread them out with other loads and not have to use more of the batch I made today. Everything I made (that didn't leak onto the kitchen floor) is in the new bucket. Now I will have to mop the floor to get the soap up, but then again, no cleaner will need to be used.

Picked up the comforter from my daughter. Now we can decide on a paint color for the bedroom, and start getting the rooms moved around.

In the meantime, I have also been out to the garden. Picked some more whirly-gigs out of the containers, and checked on the beans. They are just now peeking out. The peas are about 5 inches high, and the radishes are taking off great guns.

What a Weekend!

The weather has been lovely!! Saturday we spent most of the day dealing with outdoor tasks. Hubby mowed the yard - no small task since its rained so much it was getting tall and shaggy! I cleaned up the back patio and worked in the square foot garden. It was full of oak tree whirly gigs! There was a bit of grass in there too. Then I made a trip to Wal-Mart and, using my gift card from my SIL, I purchased flowers and top soil bags. I set up the green beans (4 bags of 6 bush plants) and 2 pepper plants in the top soil bags. I have 2 large pots and 2 small pots of flowers. After that, I watered everything with a diluted mixture of Miracle Grow. Mostly I did that because the topsoil was a lot of sand, and I want to be sure they get a good start.

According to the Farmers Almanac, one of the best days to plant is the 4th of May. On that day we are not supposed to have storms, so I will get more top soil bags and set up the rest of the green beans, the cucumbers, and the tomatoes. I also want to set up a new trellis system for these plants that involves pvc pipe and 6 inch netting. Its like working with tinker toys, you make a 3 sided box with the pvc, poke the 4th side down into the ground, and spread the netting over the top. This is fairly low to the ground, about 12-18 inches. on the corners you use a 4 pipe connector so that later you can add another tier as the plants grow. I think this is so ingenious! Also, I have the bed ends of a baby bed with slats, so I can use that for cucumbers or yellow squash. I have been learning a lot of tips from the My Square Foot Garden site. check it out!

Now, for a little non-personal life update: They just announced that Osama Bin Laden is dead. They have apparently verified this with DNA testing (using some of his relatives to compare it to). I personally am opposed to the death penalty but I have to agree that there are times when someone who is *really* bad has to die. I felt that way about Saddam Hussein and I feel the same way about bin Laden. I hope this will provide closure for families of the 9/11 disaster, the U.S.S. Cole bombing, and all the others who have suffered under the activities of this terrorist.

Houston We Have Seedlings!

Well, thanks to Mother Nature for all the rain. Now the spinach is perking up, the broccoli and cauliflower are nice and green, the radishes are all sprouted, as are the dill, scallions, cilantro, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and basil! The strawberries actually are flowering and putting out little berries! I am so excited :0)

We have been moving and setting up my quilting studio this week. Heritage Quilting Studios will officially open next Monday. At first I am just going to get my moves back by doing family quilts. Then its on to samples and hunting down decorators. I am getting excited about this venture. I believe that I can make this profitable enough that I can quit sending out resumes. Honestly, I wonder if there is anyone left out there who hasn't read my name off my resume! After 3 years of hunting, I am ready to stop waiting on someone else to recognize my potential and just utilize it myself.

We are having all kinds of bad weather lately. I will be glad when spring finally settles in and things are a bit more stable.

Early Garden Doings

It's beautiful today! Light wind, sunny skies, its just a nice breath of spring. We went to church this morning. Though I really dislike penitential seasons (Lent and Advent) I understand why they are necessary. We are almost through Lent, and every Sunday that brings us closer to Easter. Usually this is just something that happens, but this year I feel a real sense of anticipation. God is doing something in our lives, I just haven't quite figured out what it is yet :o)

The square foot garden was my project today. I have turned all the soil, added compost, and planted early crops. Mom had a baby bed that I used to make a trellis. I took the sides, tied them together and set them up in the north corner for the sugar snap peas to climb. There are 2 kinds of lettuce, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, and radishes in the garden. The herbs are in pots, as are the strawberries (though that may have been a mistake. There might not be enough room for them.) I won't be putting anything else out until May. Then the green beans, tomatoes, white and sweet potatoes, peppers, carrots, squash and cucumbers will get their start. I have 2 medium and one large dog food bags for the potatoes to grow in. I'm going to get 40 lb bags of tops soil for the other veggies.

Yesterday I dried red, yellow and orange peppers. They turned out well. I should have something else in the dehydrator, but I am not sure what yet. I want to do a bunch of onions so I don't have to purchase dehydrated minced onion.

As for now, I think I will just enjoy this beautiful day.

Spring :)

Today was chilly but sunny. The wind was up, but 60 degrees felt pretty good! I have completely cleared the sq ft garden, and tomorrow I will be adding compost and some early vegetable seeds. I have 2 types of lettuce plants (iceberg and butter crunch), spinach, broccoli and cauliflower plants to put out. There are also sugar snap peas to go into the ground, along with radishes and beets.
After hearing about the new baby bed standards, mom decided she shouldn't use the crib that has the moving sides. I took that off her hands and am going to re-purpose it into a trellis for the peas. As a bonus the head and foot of the bed are also railed, so I can use them for cucumbers or squash!

Our Kroger is having a sale on yellow, orange, and red peppers. I bougth 2 of each and they are in the dehydrator even as I type. Strangely enough the oranges did not make the house smell all orange-y but the peppers are sure perfuming the place! They are mild and sweet though, so I don't mind.

Today I had a box in the mail. This is my birthday month and as a present to me I bought 2 books: Cooking with Food Storage Made Easy by Debbie G. Harman, and Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. and Zoe Francois. Both books are AWESOME! I love the idea of bread that does not have to be kneaded. Frankly I just don't have the counter space for that kind of activity. This is based on dough that you make once ever week or two, and then bake daily. My kind of think ahead thing! And the food storage book is full of good advice and recipes. The idea behind this is that if you eat whole foods (grains, beans, veggies, etc) you will be healthy and the cost of your food will be significantly less than you spend on processed food. I used to think there was no way that could be true, but I am finding it to be true. I don't have to run to the store constantly for that 1 missing ingredient. The recipes are not complicated and my family likes the food. Often they don't even recognize the ingredients are food storage items.

Tonight I will need to cut the bottoms off the rest of the 2 liter bottles. They will be placed over the plants tomorrow in the garden to protect them from the cold for a few more weeks. I am really looking forward to planting my beans and potatoes. I just love blue lake green beans, and I plan to can a lot of them this year. I also want to put up chili base and pizza sauce. I was not so fond of the spaghetti sauce, but I may do some of that too if I have a good tomato year.

Had a good time yesterday with Mom and her friends. We made laundry detergent, and swapped tips on how to save money. Lets face it, anyone who lived through the depression, or lived with someone who lived through the depression, has a lot of knowledge. The detergent worked well, the company was good, and Mom fixed a yummy dinner. We had a good time.

Oranges

I love the flavor of oranges. I hate the feel of oranges in my mouth. It's just part of the wonderfulness of me, as my Hubby says. But I love the idea that I could flavor things with oranges. So, since the youngest daughter is not eating up the oranges quickly enough I have sliced those puppies up and they are in the dehydrator! This should be interesting. Even if I just use them in Sangria they will be worth the energy to thaw them. I need to do this same thing with lemons and limes... maybe a few bananas too. I have read that other folks just love to nibble on dried zucchini and yellow squash chips. I want to try it, but honestly! Yellow Squash is currently almost $3 a lb in my part of the world!!! That will have to wait until they are back to 80 cents a lb. I need to be putting the lettuce and peas in the ground. Its hard to go out there and dig around in the cold and wet. I think I am waiting until the end of the week because I need a bit of sunshine to spur me on. We are rapidly approaching the last frost date for Ky, so I can start putting out veggies. The bread machine will be going today. I am so looking forward to the oven element arriving! I didn't fully appreciate the convenience of baking until I couldn't do it anymore! It should be here by the end of the week and we will celebrate with a nice tasty casserole and brownies :)

Snow on the Daffodils

It appears that winter is not done with us yet. Tonight they are forecasting an inch of snow by morning. It shouldn't stick to the roads, since we have had several days of 60-70 degree weather in the last week. My neighbors daffodils have come up, and Mom says it always snows on the daffodils and crocus. Personally, I am ready to see the end of Winter. Bring on Spring! I can't seem to get warm today.

I picked up the Angel Food today. Turns out this church is no longer going to be a host site. Its possible that one of the other churches in town will step up and take on the job. If they do not then we will be traveling to Winchester to pick up our monthly order. I am sorry that it has come to an end. It was a great ministry, and the food was both healthy and less expensive than the grocery stores. Even with the gas money to travel for pick up it will still be cheaper than going to Wal-mart.

My daughter called today with news of an online coupon for pasta. Kroger had it on sale already for .49 cents a box. The coupon was $1 off 2 boxes, so essentially it was free! I came home with 4 boxes of whole wheat thin spaghetti, 3 boxes of spirals, 4 boxes of penne, and 2 boxes of linguine -- for $0.00!! Cant beat that! We also had a coupon for a free container of Philadelphia Cream Cheese flavored for cooking. Saved $3.00 on that item. There were a lot of buy 10 for $10 deals on soup, and we got canned fruit on sale also. Since we got the pasta for nothing I spent $4 on containers at the Dollar Tree to put it in. They have a tall canister right now that is perfect for spaghetti/linguine.

I will be dehydrating bell peppers this evening. They were also on sale. Our splurge was a marked down blackberry cobbler for $2.50 and a box of vanilla ice cream for the same price.

All in all, without the coupons or discounted items for "store members" the total was just over $100. With the coupons and discounts we paid about $58.00. How can that not be a good day???

Looks like I am going into business. I have a long arm quilting machine, and I am going to rent space from my brother. We will set up in a street level apartment building, and I will quilt quilts for people, make bedding (comforters, bedspreads, pillow shams, and bed skirts). I hope that I can work with decorators so that I have several and the work is steady. I am putting together a price list and sorting and packing up my supplies here at the house to move them out. I will gain a bedroom here, and hope to do better than break even. My cousin is making quilt tops which we will sell as completed items online, or at Court Day (the local fall festival).

Visiting Family

This week my Mom and I took a trip to visit my cousin Rebecca and her family. I am the oldest of this generation, so while my children are grown hers are just little ones. I had forgotten all the joys and aggrevations of having children under 5 under foot. They do some adorable things. The youngest crawled up in my lap and asked why I had washed my hair? I said, "Because it was dirty. Why do you wash your hair?" She dipped her head and looked up at me and said, " So I am pretty for you!" How can you not love a kid like that?

We have wandered around discussing garden layouts, trellising, and how to keep the chickens out of the garden. The chickens have been very entertaining. The weather was pretty for the first few days, so the kids played outside. I got to meet Becca's buddy Jen, and we talked about soap making. Unfortunately we did not get to make soap this trip, but maybe next time.

Becca made up her white bread recipe and my light whole wheat. They are both really good! Becca is working on a quilt top that I will quilt (for sale). We are hoping that we can make a business of it and help both our families out with a little extra cash.

Through all this female bonding Becca's husband Mike has been kind enough to cart the kids up to the "upstairs" and keep them there overnight. Its allowed us to have some really great belly laughs in the evening, and quieter conversation too.

I have been checking out the Excaliber Food Dehydrator that Becca just got. It is a sweet little machine. My dehydrator puts out a lot of heat, but this one is more temperate. Her broccoli is just drying up beautifully.

We played a new board game called Blokus by Mattel. Its a lot of fun and even the little kids can play (with a bit of assistance). I think it might be on my future list of purchases.

Tomorrow we head home, and though it will be good to sleep in my own bed, it was a very good visit!

Bread Machine

My "new-to-me" bread machine came home yesterday and I have made 3 loaves of really nice light wheat bread! I used the dough setting and baked them in the oven, and they are a wonderful texture. Here's the recipe:

1 cup warm water (I use tap water from the hot side of the spikot)
2 tsp sugar
1 package yeast (I buy this in bulk, and used 1 1/4 tbsp)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp salt

Though it flies in the face of conventional wisdom, combine the water, sugar, and yeast in the bread machine and let it sit for 10 minutes. This allows the yeast to feed on the sugar. Then add the other ingredients. Set bread machine for dough cycle if baking in the oven, or light crust white bread if baking in bread machine. Brush tops with butter or margarine and bake in oven for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees. (Note: Usually I have read you can tell if your bread is finished cooking by thumping it. If it sounds hollow its done. This bread does not sound hollow.)

I have small foil bread pans, so I took the dough out of the machine and pinched it in half. Then, holding one half, I folded the edges under, turned the dough, and folded again so that I could shape the dough. Because I did not knead the dough, there were not big air bubbles in the bread. Then for the third loaf I used the full amount of dough in one pan and it worked well.

My other "experiment" this weekend was to use the Magic Mix to make chocolate pudding. It was easy and tasty. Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup Magic Mix
2-3 tbsp cocoa
2 cups water
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium size sauce pan, combine sugar, MM, cocoa, and water. Stir over medum heat constantly until the mix is disolved and begins to bubble. Remove from heat and beat in vanilla.
I found that I could start with a whisk, but had to go to a different utensil to get all the edges of the pan. Definitely stay with it because it will thicken and scorch if you don't. Pour into serving bowls, cover with plastic wrap on top of the mixture, and chill.

Magic Mix

One of my favorite food storage sites Everyday Food Storage has a basic white sauce/cream sauce recipe called Magic Mix [(MM) scroll down a bit on the page for the recipe and video]. I have read about it several times, but just recently decided to make up a batch. The recipe calls for 3 ingredients and has to be stored in the refrigerator. Tonight I made a cheese sauce with it for a chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot one pot meal. I think I am going to like this stuff! It is very true that you have to add flavor to it. Next time I will make it with broth instead of water, add more onion powder or celery seed, etc depending on what recipe I am using. Crystal (creator of the EFS website) has some really great how-to videos, and a multitude of recipes for using MM.

This site has all kinds of great recipes for using things like powdered milk and beans in recipes. Many of them are not even recognizable in the finished product, for those of you with picky eaters :) I especially am intrigued by the idea of cooking and puree-ing yellow squash and using it in cheese sauce for mac and cheese! She also has a recipe for pecan pie that uses beans. I haven't tried that yet. I am working my way up to dried beans, LOL!

Youngest daughter called today. She has a boyfriend at school now, so she is not so anxious to come home. She is also getting to do some dessert baking at school this week. This is a great thing because her goal is to be a pastry chef. I am glad she is starting out with something of interest. I don't think the transition is quite complete, but she is making progress. I am so proud of her.

Today is Ash Wednesday. I really wanted to go to church today but have had a terrible sinus headache since early this morning. Mostly its been a sleepy day, but I did wash up the pots and pans and run the dishwasher. The oldest daughter is coming to visit for a few days. I am looking forward to that.

Check out the EFS and see if there is not something there to pique your interest. There is also a Facebook page that allows for conversation with others. Worth your time :)

A Working Wednesday

This has been a very productive week. We have really focused on getting things cleaned up. Much of the laundry is done (as in folded up and put away in drawers!), the couch has been cleaned off and the slipcover put back in place. And it has stayed that way nearly a week! Today I spent disinfecting the kitchen sink, counters, and stove top. Hubby volunteered to take on the pans that wont fit in the dishwasher, bless his heart. The living room is not cluttered with dishes because they go into the dishwasher when they are finished being used. And all the walls and ceiling have been dusted - no more cobwebs! Its simply amazing how much nicer things are, and we haven't finished getting any one room completely clean yet. I think we let the job get away from us and then got discouraged when the clean spaces got dirty before we got the rest of the job done.

I have also been mourning the loss of the bread machine. Something was dropped on it and broke the window in the top of the machine. Fortunately my brother has one that is not used at his house. He would rather have the storage space, so he is going to bring it to me. Hurray! I love fresh bread. Even better I have bread flour, and bulk yeast, and so it doesn't cost anything but a little electricity to have more bread. Now that we don't have to worry about food allergies any more with the kids out of the house, we have had a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich every day for lunch!

When our oldest daughter left for school I had a hard time readjusting my cooking to accommodate 3 people. We always had a serving left of veggies or whatever the starch was. Now that the youngest has gone to school I am finding that two people eat significantly less than three. Our food is going to stretch much farther than I thought.

In the morning we are doing the massive refrigerator clean out. I want to get rid of all the mystery food and disinfect it. Since the trash will be picked up on Friday, nothing will stink too long in the trash cans! I am also going to tackle the issue of OTC medicines in various parts of the house, and disinfect the bathroom. Then its time to sew. Though I hate the thought of being inside when the weather is finally sunny and somewhat warmer, I need to get the maternity clothes ready to fit on the oldest girl. She's suddenly got a belly, and needs something to wear. :0) I would like to have several things already together except for hems.

Hubby and I took long walk around the neighborhood. It was good to be in the sunshine for a while. Of course we stirred up all the dogs in the neighborhood, but the exercise was nice. Its almost time for church (the Anglican Rosary service is tonight) and then we will come home and have some dinner. Tonight I think we are having chicken Rice-a-Roni with chicken nuggets, snap peas and carrots, and baked apples for dessert. I think it may be a movie night here too.

Starting March

So much in one week! Lost a bone spur - yeah! It was painful. My plates are annoying and I never thought I would be buying denture adhesive before I was 50!! But slowly and surely my mouth is healing. Still can't chew much at all, but I did manage to tenderize a small piece of steak yesterday evening so I could eat it. It was luscious.

I am still grieving the loss of the bread machine but I am going to try some no-knead artisan bread and see how it works. If I like I think I will purchase the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day . I love the idea of NOT kneading bread.

I made a double batch of laundry detergent this week. We were down to the last dregs. This time I heated up the water before I added the grated soap and I think it worked better. I wound up fixing it in the hot water bath canner and that worked out well. Mom said several of her friends are interested in learning how to make it, so we are planning to make a morning of it one day soon.

I picked up the Angelfood, with the help of Mom. The freezer is stocked, the pantries are full, and all we need is milk. Its a fabulous feeling not to have to worry about that.

This week we are going to eat a big batch of chili and cornbread. Partly because its soft, partly because its filling, and partly because this end of February/beginning of March weather is so yucky that the chili will be comfort food. We may have chicken and dumplings again (for the same reasons). I want things that are easy to have extra servings of, easy to warm up individual portions, and keep me from messing up the kitchen. It is on the list of "things to do" this week - to really houseclean the kitchen. The fridge needs to be cleaned out and the floor mopped.

I have been investigating the purchase of a pressure cooker/canner. First of all, it would be great to fix food that quickly. Secondly, I would like to be able to cook and can some non-acidic foods.

Oh good news - Save a Lot had strawberries, grown in the USA, for 2 bucks a package! I am so happy to see them. I really need to plant my own. I have been eating oatmeal with brown sugar and french vanilla non-dairy creamer with fresh strawberries and its delicious!

Enough for now, the Oscars are on :)

Empty Nest

Today we became "empty nest-ers". Our youngest daughter became a "college girl", and the oldest has been out on her own for just over a year (married, expecting a precious baby girl). Suddenly I have no children to be responsible for right this minute.

It feels kind of strange!

However other events in our lives are changing the finacial picture for us. Hubby is about to be laid off. I have only found part-time work and have no unemployment left. And now the Making Do slogan is a very real aspect of our budget. I have been stocking up a little at a time on canned goods, and boxed food (hamburger Helper, cake mix, pastas, etc). We do have a small freezer which already needs to be re-organized and a few "fishing" meals designed to get the oldest stuff out and used up. So, this week, as we clean our house without someone under foot moaning and groaning or refusing to help out, we will also be planning some major meals.

To that end I have just ordered Angelfood for February. We chose the $41 Bountiful Blessings Box and the $25 Sirloin Steak box. That, with the turkey we have frozen, 2 chickens, several bags of green beans, and atleast 3 bags of filling for fruit pies or cobbler, all mean we will not starve.

I have a sad event to share. The bread machine has died. It was located on the counter and I opened a cabinet door only to have a piece of corningware fall out and land on the glass viewing window of the breadmachine lid. I can report the corningwear came out much better from that tussle than the machine did. So now I am gathering recipes that do not require kneeding. Fortunately there are a lot of them out there. And we have all the bread making stuff, so we will have bread for sandwiches.

As I shared last time, I have been recovering from oral surgery. The good news is I am getting used to the plate. The bad news is that I still can't chew. So I anticipate a menu of very soft foods this month. With the exception of the steak. If its not soft and tender it will take spin in the blender!! This diet of mashed potatoes, eggs, ice cream, oatmeal, and yogurt really really needs something in it I can chew. I may puree my honeydew melon so I can eat it too!

So next post will list the meals (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner). This should help me get back on track. Also its time to make laundry detergent. Mom and her friend want to learn how to do itt, so we are all going to meet at her house and I am going to teach them the "recipe".

I have also been considering making bar soap. I love lye soap. It sounds so harsh but its really not. Its a lot of work, but I feel like making soap and candles would probably good survival skills.

Its been a while...

Oh there are many reasons I could give for not updating. Lets just stipulate that we all have life stuff happening and let it go :)

The end of February is beginning to tease a little spring like weather our way. I would be perfectly glad to have a few weeks of moderate temperatures and a little rain. Makes starting your garden much easier. This year I am moving to a completely backyard garden. Turns out travelling back and forth to the farm was not a realistic expectation. Now I am pondering what type of containers to use, and how easily they might be in the even that we have to move mid season.

Had some major dental work done a few days ago and am still sore and dealing with the on again off again pain. But I have been surfing around looking for new things to try to reduce the money out the door. I will up date this next week with more info.

Ordering day for AngelFood Ministries is approaching next weekend. Check out their site and consider ordering.