Eating as nature intended...and on a budget

Long ago I began the process of moving our family to a healthier way of eating.  It all started with Rubic being diagnosed with multiple allergies, both environmental and food, but primarily corn.  Corn especially in the form of High Fructose corn syrup.  That stuff could set him off in hives faster than anything.  In my enthusiasm to help my son I spent all of our grocery money at a health food store, and received very little food as a result.  It was just too expensive.  So I then thought I would just have to read labels to get all the allergens out of his diet.  This also began my foray into ultimate scratch baking.  Anyway, It was while reading labels and baking something that made me about give up.  Corn is in baking powder.  I know right!  I didn't give up entirely, but I did have to moderate my expectations some.  HFCS was the main culprit.  I had to make sure that was out, but the other stuff I just had to do the best I could.  Money was tight.  Whole corn products seemed to have less effect on him, so HFCS was my primary focus.

15 years later, I'm still not where I can do everything I would like, but I have made progress and feel we are in a better place now.  Eating organic has become "all the rage", and so you really need to be able to get the most bang for your buck if you're going to try it.  While his allergies opened my eyes to better eating options, It's been a work in progress.  Changes have been made in steps rather than all at once, and that is my first point.

1)  Small changes over time-  Ours started with trying to remove High Fructose Corn Syrup out of our diet.  I wasn't worried about organic or all natural at the time.  I was just wanting to buy items my family would eat that didn't have that stuff in it.  If I could, I avoided corn in general, but primarily HFCS.  Funny though, while trying to remove the HFCS, I found we were eating items on a healthier scale.  If I bought boxed cereal, it was rice, wheat, or oats.  Nothing sweetened because that meant HFCS.  It was a minuscule  change in the big scheme of things, but a change.  Then I began to read about margarine and how it wasn't such a good idea.  We switched to butter.  I buy it when on sale and stock up (Usually around the holidays).  Dh was dealing with high blood pressure and cholesterol.  We switched to Extra virgin olive oil (I buy it at Sams).  Both butter and Olive oil are more expensive.  You can't fry with Olive oil so, guess what, we ate less fried foods.  Each small step we took led to another small step we tried.

2)  Make your own-  In my effort to not only get HFCS out of Rubic's (and my families) life as well as save money to afford the changes I was making; I began to do a lot of scratch baking.  There were items my kids liked that I wanted them to enjoy, but the store version was not a good option.  It's a real eye opener once you start to read labels.  Boxed cereal was replaced with homemade granola.  Cookies, granola bars, bread, Chocolate syrup, etc; are now made at home.

3)  Learn -  This can be used multiple ways.  Learn a new skill:  canning, bread making, gardening, and cooking in general.  Also, learn about the food you purchase and how it affects you and your family.  Look up those unpronounceable ingredients.  In a world of google,  information is at your finger tips.  As I have learned about what goes into the foods we buy, I have felt compelled to make the changes where I can.   On that same note, and not to only make it look like I'm picking on processed food, Just because something says "organic", "whole grain", or "all natural", doesn't mean it's good for you.  If you buy organic boxed macaroni and cheese, you are still dealing with powdered cheese, white pasta, etc.  My main pet peeve right now is Kroger's "Simple Truth" chicken.  You really need to watch the label.  Their "simple truth" chickens are labeled "organic"or "all natural", but the labels are identical and both types are in the same bin.  Both are priced higher than the other brands.  The organic I can understand, but all chickens are"all natural'.  Good Grief!  You need to know about what what you're buying, especially if your dollars are precious and you are trying to spend wisely.  Be an informed consumer.

4)  Grow what you can-  I have been gardening pretty much since we have lived here (bout 20 years).  My garden has expanded from just a garden to a garden, fruit trees, blueberry bushes, blackberry bushes, strawberries, and herbs.  When I first began gardening, I used pesticides because that's what I knew.  Over the years I have made a move away from pesticides in favor of companion planting, or scheduling my planting in such a way as to mitigate the damage from pests.  I've moved away from using commercial fertilizers to using compost and chicken manure.  Having chickens has provided us with farm fresh eggs, and a better garden.  While I don't (yet) grow everything we eat, I do grow a good chunk of it.  What I have grown in the past 2 years has had no pesticides or commercial fertilizers.  While I am not certified organic with a label and everything, it's good enough for us.

 5)  Buy local.  You can call your county extension office, or just google where the nearest farmers market will be.  We have several in our area.  Prices tend to be the same here in Georgia as the prices are set by the Dept of agriculture.  That is up to a point.  If you're buying a large amount to can or freeze, many farmers can set their own price.  It's worth it if you will put these items up.  Also, they will tend to reduce their prices near the end of the day.  You can also google local produces of honey, milk, eggs, etc.  Just keep an eye out.  If someone offers you eggs or veggies, or even plants, thank them very much and enjoy your prize.  What they have given you is priceless.

Here are the changes we have made over time.  This list might help some of you in starting out.

1)  No more HFCS-  there are alternatives just as cheap.  In fact many companies are moving away from using it now.  Never assume it isn't in something.  Read your labels.

2)  No processed foods-  Three exceptions; turkey bacon (Einstein likes it and it's cheap), powdered coffee creamer, and chips for Dh lunches.

3)  Butter replaced margarine, and olive oil replaces other oils.

4)  No more American Cheese-  I buy Cheddar, Mozzarella, or other hard cheeses.  No low fat or nonfat cheese.

5)  No artificial sweeteners or anything with them in it.-  we use Stevia or sugar or a mixture of both.  True confessions.  Once in a blue moon I still succumb to a Diet Dr Pepper.  But that is more the exception than the rule.  Rare, maybe 2 a ear if that, but I want to be honest.  But I know it needs to be never.

6)  Whole milk, and whole milk products-  No more skim milk or other non fat dairy.  Skim milk used to be the waste from milk processing.  It is blue normally.  Chalk is added to whiten it.  YUCK!  I can't afford organic and if I could I would opt for raw milk (Unpasteurized).  That is only sold in Georgia for Ahem pet consumption(eye roll).  I buy whole milk and mix half and half with water.  Reduces fat and calorie content and tastes like 2%.

7)  Whole wheat flour- I use mostly in baking bread in about a 4 to 1 ratio with all purpose.  It's used entirely in cookies, crackers, and quick breads.

8) Farm fresh eggs- some what free range with our chicken tractor, but not totally because of predators and my garden.

9)  Pesticide and chemical free fruits and veggies from the garden.  If I buy organic, it has to be a price I can handle.  I also don't buy organic for things where the peeling is discarded (like bananas).


Changes I want to make:

1)  Buy more organic meats when possible.  Eventually I want to raise pastured chickens for meat.  We thought about this year but there was a bird flu out break close to Georgia and we decided to wait rather than bring any new birds into our yard.  Those organic whole fryers I bought a few weeks ago made the best broth and the most flavorful and tender meat.  Sold me!  I just can't afford the prices all the time, but when I can, I will.

2)  Try and begin to use raw milk when possible.  I'm hopeful when we do this, the powdered creamer can go.

3) Master the art of bread making where no white flour is used.

The idea is to start where you are making small changes as you can, and adding new changes when you can.  It's taken many years to get to this point in my grocery buying, and I still have things to change.  You can make the changes too.  A little along.

Squeezing out every last bit of use

I think one of the best weapons in your frugal arsenal is making the most of everything you have.   With every new use, the initial price goes down.  Granted the uses get smaller as more of the item is utilized, but you're still getting more bang for your buck.

Here's a good example.  A week ago I came across three organic whole chickens, marked down at my local grocery store.  They were marked down to $1,74 lb because they were nearing their expiration date.  Now that's about twice what I would normally pay for a whole chicken, but in my range when it came to buying organic.  I can't afford to buy organic very often, so when the opportunity arises, I try.  I bought all three and took them home.  Once home, I immediately removed them from their packaging and put them all in a crock pot to cook.  By using the crock pot, I didn't have to add additional water.  I was very please to see there was not a lot of additional juices added to these birds like when you by the standard birds.  I was also pleased to see the gizzards and organs were included.

***Dh fishes and the gizzards and organs make great bait for him.  These were immediately frozen for him to use when fishing time comes around.  It will keep him from having to buy bait separately.

Anyhoo, The chickens cooked, cooled and then I deboned them, putting about 8-12 oz in each freezer bag.

I then took all of the bones, 2 large carrots, the tops and bottom off of the celery in one package (including the leaves), the tops and bottoms of two large onions (skin included).I reserved the rest of the onions in the fridge for later use in other recipes, and the rest of the celery was chopped and frozen.  BTW, it goes without saying that I washed the veggies first!  I put all of this in the larger crock pot along with 1 tsp salt, 2 Tbs of vinegar, and water to cover all.  I turned the crock pot on low and it cooked for about a day to a day and a half.  I checked it periodically to make sure it wasn't boiling, or to see if the bones had softened.  The vinegar draws the minerals out of the bones and puts it into the stock.  Once the bones are soft, you can take up the stock.  Once the stock was finished, I strained out the veggies and other scraps.  The broth was allowed to cool and then frozen.  Once somewhat frozen, I removed the stock and removed the fat from the top.  I then reheated the stock to thaw it out and then divided it into 2 cup (pints) portions.

***I ended  up with 7 pints of stock in my freezer.

Not done yet, I took the fat I scrapped off the stock, and added it to my doggies "cookies" as she knows them.  I used the fat instead of the oil called for in the recipe.  You can find the recipe in my "recipe" page.  Oh. plu she got the leftover veggies from the broth.  A very happy dog.

*** The recipe made 16 large "cookies for her".  She was pretty comical.  She had no idea what I was making, I think, but as I started making them, she came out and laid on the kitchen floor watching my every move, until they were done.

Mona waiting for "cookie" dough.

So to sum up, from three whole birds I got

3 fishing trips
6-7 bags of chicken
7 pints of all natural, unfooled around with broth
16 large doggie treats.

Well worth the time and cost of three initial birds.

Homemade Graham Crackers

Yes!  She went there!  Yesterday I made homemade graham crackers.  I have to say the internet is a great tool when it comes to finding recipes or how to's.  Not a big techno geek, but I will give them that.  I found a recipe  for graham crackers.  I had tried it a week or so ago and found the recipe was much like snicker doodles, just flat.  They were good, but they weren't graham crackers.  They did, however, give me a base to make the recipe my own.  I have since tweaked the recipe more to my liking and decided to share it with you.  So here goes.

12 Tbs butter softened ( 1 1/2 sticks )
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (white wheat)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

In a small mixing bowl, place all your dry ingredients, except brown sugar, and mix well.  Set aside.  In medium mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and honey til fluffy.  Add the eggs and mix well.  Add the dry ingredients.  You may need to mix this with a large spoon or even your clean hands.  The dough will be dryer than cookie dough, but it will still stick together well.  Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.

Preheat your oven to 350.  Using about 1/8th of the dough at a time, place dough onto a well floured (use all purpose) sheet of wax paper.  Mash hard with your hand to flatten some.  Dust the top of the dough well with more flour and cover the top with wax paper.  Roll the dough between the sheets of wax paper, turning periodically to kind of square things up.
*** Note, you may need to pull the top sheet of wax paper back and dust will more flour in order to keep the dough from sticking.

Once flat ( like 1/4 of an inch at most), you can be obsessive like me and cut it with a pizza cutter into nice neat squares, or you can just cut it into pieces in whatever shape it happens to be in.  Your choice.  Either way, it needs to be "Crackers".  Brush the top of the cracker with a little water.  This will also remove some of the flour.  Then sprinkle with sugar.  Bake 6 minutes.  Cool on a wire rake.  I store ours in the freezer, using a few at a time.

Options:  You can add 1 ts cinnamon to the mix, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar for the cinnamon graham crackers.

I take two of the homemade graham squares and put good spoonful of cool whip in between.  Then freeze for some really good ice cream sandwiches.

***  If you are so industrious, you can try this recipe, but I will say that graham crackers, especially if bought at Aldi , are really cheap when it comes right down to it.  I will also say the homemade crackers make the best ice cream sandwiches.  So, again, your choice.

Recipe Time!

Good Morning all! Not to repeat myself from last week, as I am working on some other blog entries, but I thought to list again my frugal adventures and add a few new things.  For instance, a new recipe!  That's below at the end of my post.  I guess I will start out with the frugal stuff, but never fear, I have other things as well!

Frugal things this week

Collected Eggs - 21 for the week.  I think the ladies are starting to lay again with the longer days.  Yay!
Made bread.granola, sandwich buns, granola bars, graham crackers, brown sugar, ranch dressing, coffee creamer, and cookies
Made and listed 1 Etsy item
Sold 3 Etsy items
Cut out new scrubs for Dh
Cut out a new shirt for me
Hung out 5 loads of clothes
Created a new recipe using dried beans ( see below)
Picked spinach and lettuce out of the garden, multiple times!


Sausage and Blackeyed Peas ( would be Great at New Years!

Sausage

8 oz ground pork
1/2 tsp dried minced onion
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp salt

I toss everything into the freezer bag the now thawed ground pork resides, but you can toss everything into a bowl.  Mix everything together well (better to use your hands, hence the reason I use a freezer bag cause I can mix it and not get it on my hands).  Let sit in the fridge a while.  You could make this in the morning and let it sit in the fridge til the beans are ready.  This would also make great breakfast sausage.  FYI

The great thing about black eyed peas is they tend to cook faster than many other dried beans.  No need to soak.  Yay!

What you need:

8 oz ground sausage (you can use store bought) or the above recipe.
1 lb black-eyed peas  covered in water and cooked with 2 1/2 tsp salt.  Once finished cooking, don't drain!
2 TBS Olive Oil
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 can of diced tomatoes (plain or with chilies if you like it spicy)

Saute the onion, carrots, and celery in the olive oil til the onion is soft.  Add the ground sausage and brown it along with the veggies.  Take the sausage/veggie mixture and add all of it to the un-drained cooked black-eyed peas.  Add your spices and the can of tomatoes. Simmer on low about a hour til the carrots are soft and the flavors have had time to meld. Serve with a crusty bread or cornbread.


Hope you enjoy!
Have a blessed day!

Frugal things I've done this week....

There are everyday things we all do to save money. I thought, rather than just find one thing frugal to write about, I would throw out there a list of many of the frugal things I do.  Since we all watch our pennies, I would love to hear your tips and tricks too.  Maybe, just maybe, we can save even more pennies.  I'm starting this post at the beginning of the week and listing my things as I go.  Just be aware this spans many days.

SO LET'S GET STARTED!

1)  Canned carrots I needed to use.  In my love of roasted carrots, I bought a 25 lb bag for a good deal last month.  Unfortunately these types of carrots aren't as good roasted, but are plenty good in stews.  With the warmer weather coming on, soups and stew will be rare.  So they were canned to use next winter.  Waste not, want not.  Total canned, 9 pints, but I had 4 pints worth left that I used for part of my lunch Monday and Tuesday and Dinner Monday night.

2)  I began the process of making me some new spring clothes with fabric I already have on hand.  With my weight loss, I find I have nothing to wear (the burden I bare).  Well I have nothing to wear for church anyway.  I have jeans and t shirts.  I find I lack dressy casual clothes and pajamas (no, I do not wear pajamas to church).  Yesterday I began work on a pencil skirt.  I have ideas for some other things to make as well.  I'm keeping my eye out for patterns to go on sale for .99 somewhere for other spring summer things (and pj's). *** Edited to add:  Well Joann's did have patterns on sale, but the Simplicity patterns didn't have anything I liked.  The McCalls patterns (Which were NOT on sale) had a lot of things I liked.  So I am rephrasing to say I am keeping my eye out for McCalls patterns on sale.

3)  Made Bread.  Oh and I made bread again.  We go thru bread.

4) Made Dog Biscuits:  I used some bacon grease I had on hand instead of the oil called for in the recipe.  Needless to say, Mona is thrilled.  I put them in an already existing dog biscuit box.

5) Picked Spinach, and Asparagus from the garden and collected Eggs (10 by Friday).

6)  I ordered a Reel Mower sharpening kit from Amazon rather than pay to have the blades sharpened.  In case you don't know, a reel mower is a non-motorized push mower.  The old fashioned way of grass cutting.  Cuts grass, gives workout, uses no gas.  $10 is a small investment for the return.  And yes, I've used the reel mower (this season too), so this isn't a pipe dream.  *** Edited to add:  I attempted to do the sharpening yesterday, but am having some difficulty getting the screws turned that raise and lower the cutting bar.  We will see what happens.

7) Hung out 3 loads of clothes.

8)  Weeded the garden; planted Corn, Sage, and Marigolds.

9)  Sold 7 items on Etsy this week which added some extra dollars to our budget.  A budget, I might add, I'm following like a fanatic.  The only way I would've been able to benefit from the sale at Joann's is if I sold some items on Etsy.  Aside from the patterns I'll get for me, my purchases will be mostly fabric and notions to go back into my Etsy shop.  I was also able to add a work shirt for Einstein from Goodwill for $6.

So there are my frugal things for this week.  It was our anniversary this week, so I was unfrugal yesterday and today.  Eh!  It's only once a year and after 24 years, splurge  little!

What frugal things did you do this week?

A Sense of Accomplishment

Since I last posted my to do list, I've been a woman on a mission.  Some of my accomplishments I paid to have done, but many I, or Dh and I, have accomplished.  I've marked through the items completed so far.

Replace the hinges on our bathroom door
Add gutters to the house
Pressure wash house (Before adding the gutters)
Level and patch "foundation" (lack of gutters has cause erosion to affect the "foundation")
Re-frame crawl space door (it will be framed with 4x4)
Build deep (4 inch) crawl space door with shelves added for storage under the house).
Level entry area of crawl space
Add gravel to entry area of crawl space (mower and tiller will then be stored under there)
Paint the "Foundation"
Measure, purchase and hang a new storm door for the front door.
Rebuild at least one deck (We have three,  but I am not crazy enough to think I can do all of them.  Well.......)
Another trip to the Landfill
Re- Paint  Einsteins room.
Pick up concrete blocks from my mom (Who wants them gone) and make yet another concrete raised bed (Yay).
Pick up vinyl fencing from my mom and install it, decoratively, among my black berry bushes


We hired a company to hang the gutters.  I would rather have it done right.  I was very pleased with the end result.  In addition to hanging the gutters, we also paid them to fix the "foundation" wall in the back.  It was leaning out a lot and needed to be put back in place before it fell on my blueberry bushes.  Not only did they fix the wall, pouring a new footer and everything, but they re-framed the crawlspace door for me and hung the door as well.  He does recommend a thicker plywood door, so we will get that.

Funny thing is, lists get added to, and this one was no exception.  In addition to the above items I've marked thru, I've also

Cleaned the yard (pick up trash etc)
Sprayed and pruned the fruit trees
Pruned blackberry bushes.
Turned under and mulched both blueberry beds.
Moved the compost barrel to a spot in the garden, and have started over with another compost mix
Moved the bird feeder so it is more visible from our bedroom windows.
Repaired and refinished a bird feeder destined for the landfill.  TAADAA!

Painted a wall in the gym in need of a fresh coat (using the color and paints we already had on hand)
Hung a curtain rod (and subsequently a curtain I had) on the window of my laundry room door.
Hung a rack to keep brooms, mops, etc hung up and off the floor of my little laundry room
Patched nail holes in the laundry room (cause I plan to paint soon)
Swept all decks
Started Marigold seeds


While much has been accomplished, the list never seems to reach a conclusion.  When it comes to being a homeowner, and in this case, a homesteader, the list is really ongoing.  That list will continue to grow even as I continue to check things off.  I love it.

So what things are on your spring list?  Has the spring cleaning bug bit you yet?

Date night doesn't need to break the bank

I hear tell the powers that be "They" say that a date  night is a must for a successful marriage.  Problem is "They" also say that financial issues are the number one cause of divorce.  So does this mean that only the rich have a chance for a successful marriage?  I mean seriously, who can afford to pay a sitter plus pay for dinner and a movie or something. It's an impossible task right?  I say NO!!!

Here's why!

Date nights do not have to entail an actual date.  I know I thought that was crazy too.  Rather this is time.  Time together, just the two of you.  Doesn't matter where or when, just take the time to be together and reconnect.

Dh and my weekdays are not good times for us. By the time he gets home from work, we have dinner, other commitments, etc, there isn't much more time for anything else, and our kids are grown!  Saturdays are our days.  Mainly Saturday mornings.  I will get up and make a pot of coffee.  Our bedroom windows face the back yard where we have a few bird feeders.  Granted the view isn't much in the winter, but come spring and summer it is wonderful.  Saturday mornings we lay around in bed drinking coffee and enjoy the view out our windows.  As the sun rises we have conversations about the kids, work, things we want to do around the house, and most of all memories.  We have a lot of those in the almost 24 years we've been married.  Today was no different.  We finally got our day actually started around 10:45.  I had some take and bake made up biscuits that I baked with some turkeu bacon zapped in the microwave.  Add some cheese and we had some awesome bacon cheddar biscuits in bed with our coffee.  Once we got started with our day it was off to drop off a mower to be repaired, and onto my  parents house to collect some cinder block she was giving us.  While there, and after we loaded the blocks,  we enjoyed a glass of tea on the back deck and talked more while watching her dog, Rusty,play.  She and her sister were out on the town.  We knew this going in.  Once home we shared lunch on the back porch and proceeded to unload the blocks from the truck.  Both of us agreed this was a great day.  We had fun, reconnected, but also accomplished a lot!   Now I know our kids are grown and if you have kids that are small this can be hard.  Hey, We've been there.  You find the time.  You may go to bed later or wake up early.  You may need to get a sitter, but go somewhere you can actually carry on a conversation.  Preferably free.

Our date night is always Saturday mornings for us.  Work comes later.  We're together.  Doesn't matter where, doesn't matter what we're doing. Just make that time with each other a priority.

Taking Inventory

So this coming Friday is my normal monthly grocery gettin day.   If you can ever get to the point of monthly grocery shopping, I highly recommend it.  Anyhoo, because of said grocery gettin day, I will begin the process of inventorying what I have on hand and what I need.  I would love to be the organized woman who keeps a list near the fridge or something, adding to it as needed, but that is not the case.  I can make a note of something I need mentally, but it never quite gets to paper.  So!  I inventory.

In a way, this is good because while I inventory I clean out my pantry, refrigerator and freezer.  I also go through a "Use it up" week where I make things based on what I need to finish up before grocery day.  Cleaning out the fridge also means using up leftovers.  I can either serve them as is or turn them into something new.  Case in point, I currently have in my oven a loaf of sweet potato bread; like pumpkin, just with sweet potatoes.  We had sweet potatoes as a side last night and had some, but not enough to serve again.  I made the bread this morning with the left over sweet potatoes as well as the syrup they were canned in.  We also had some left over corn and green beans, but those are in a container (together) in the freezer to await my next veggie soup night (Probably next week).  This will be added to as the week goes on until all the tidbits are ready for soup.  I have some fresh spinach that will be turned into a quiche for breakfast probably tomorrow, and some left over chicken that will be turned into a chicken casserole more than likely tomorrow night.

Fast forward a few days......well I made all the things I planned with the exception of veggie soup.  That will more than likely be tomorrow night since I now have two patients in the house in the form of DH and Rubic.  Bless their hearts they have some kind of bad cold or flu.  Rubic has the worst I'm thinking.  Tonight I'm making a batch of cough syrup for both of them.

I'm nearly out of bread so before I shop on Friday, I want to bake about 4 loaves and 2 batches of hamburger buns.  That way they will already be in place in the freezer before I have things to put in there.  It insures I don't end up with something left out of the freezer.  If I have time I will clean out the freezer, and wipe down the fridge.   I know all of this sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't.  By taking these steps before I go to the store, I have less to take out or move around and, since everything will be organized, it will be a simple matter of putting things away once I get home.

Whatever your method, a little organization can go a long way in making a rather tedious chore rather ...less tedious.  I can buy groceries nine ways to Sunday, it's the putting them up that's the problem.  Whatever I can do to make that easier is a plus.  I hope maybe something in here might help you in doing the same thing.  Have a great day!

A thrift store date kinda day

Hubby and I went on a date!  Well sorta.  The two of us went out to paint the town beige.  We set off this morning and drove to the Ric Rac in  Dawsonville Georgia.  If you have never been there, you need to remedy that.  Anyway, there is no way we out did the time spent by my sister and I when we go to the Ric Rac, but we gave it a valiant effort.  We were there about 1.5 hours give or take.  During the course of our stay we found a set of 6 heavy duty glasses for $1.50 for all.  DH found three men's shirts in great shape.  I think two were new.  I found three shirts as well as a denim vest.  I have to say, being 48 lbs lighter has made trying on clothes FUN!!!!!  I actually found many more shirts, but settled on the three I choose.  I had to have the vest though.  It's fitted and cute as all get out.  I also came away with a white toy chest.

It's in pretty good shape.  Especially for $20!  It's all real wood.  None of that particle stuff.   I'm gonna use my paint remover gun on it and see if I can stain and varnish it.  Instead of a toy chest, it will soon be a trunk to store blankets and such in.  I will post a picture after it's done.  It will take up residence at the end of my bed where my makeshift Table stood before.  That one didn't last too long, but then it wasn't supposed to.  It also wasn't supposed to be sat on and my son didn't realize that soooo.

I found some other odds and ends, but the trunk is my main find.  We also had lunch out.  Not very frugal mind you, but a date none the less.  We don't get these days too often so it was a great time out and a great day to do it.  If you can believe it,   It's 70 degrees outside today this Jan 14th.  Welcome to Georgia.

So that's my day.  How has yours been?

And if you're not bored yet, give this a try

Because my life is So riveting, I thought you guys might like to get a gander of what my grocery shopping list looks like.  I know; ooooOooo so exciting....
Anyhoo, went to Sam's club today and picked up my normal things there and here is a sampling:

All Purpose Flour
Bread Flour
Sugar
Yeast (2lbs)
Olive Oil
Cheese slices
Cheddar Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese
Butter
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Lemon Juice
Coffee Creamer

I also purchased some meds as well as laundry soap.  Still on my list of things to get at the regular store are Tomato paste, Tortilla chips, Celery, salsa, Toilet paper, and Bananas.  The real point of all of this is to show that while my list isn't filled with cake or cookie mixes, the latest boxed dinner, etc.  I can  take the staple items I have and put together whatever I need.  Last night I mixed up sausage to cook for breakfast.  Tonight I made pizza with a from scratch crust.  Tomorrow may have some sort of cookie or graham cracker recipe as well as Mayo.  Because I can put together the things myself, I pay less than the convenience food normally found in grocery stores.

( Mean while the very next day...).  So!  I cooked up 2/3 of the sausage today into patties and then the other 1/3 was browned as crumbles to make sausage gravy for biscuits this morning.  The patties will be frozen and used on an as needed basis.  I thought I would share my recipes for the sausage, biscuits, and gravy. 

For the sausage, I have discovered that Publix will grind meat for you if you ask them.  I bought 2 boneless pork loins.  I have the centers of each cut to chops, but the ends I had ground.  Whatever way you get ground meat, that is what you need.  This recipe can also be used with ground turkey.  So here goes

8 oz ground pork or turkey
2 TBS finely chopped red onion
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried Thyme
1/4 -1/2 tsp Sage
1/4 tsp ground Cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp salt

Mix everything in a bowl the night before and let it chill in the fridge to allow the flavors to meld.  Shape into patties or crumbles and use accordingly.

Being out of Shortening and not really wanting to buy more cause it is hydrogenated ya know, I tried something different.  Instead of cutting in shortening, I baked the biscuits in butter.  Here goes:

Preheat oven to 400. In a 9X13 baking pan, melt 1stick of butter.  You can use a 9X9 if you want and go as low as 1/2 stick of butter.  I think it will do fine.  This was my first undertaking this way so 1 stick is how I did it   Place the pan with the butter in the oven. While the butter is in the oven, melting, combine:

3 cups of flour (you can omit the baking powder and salt and just use self rising if you want.  I use 1 cup whole wheat flour with 2 cups all purpose flour so I keep the baking powder and salt).
1 TBS Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt

Mix the dry ingredients together then add:
1 Cup milk.

Knead a couple of times in the bowl and then turnout onto a slightly floured surface to roll out.  Roll out to about 3/4 in think.  Use a biscuit cutter (sometimes I will just shape them into round biscuits or use the ring to a canning jar) to cut out your biscuits.  Once the biscuits are cut out, your butter should be melted.  Remove the pan from the oven and one by one put your biscuits in the pan flipping once to coat with the butter.  Bake the biscuits in the oven about 15-20 minutes or until golden.


The gravy is the easiest to make.  It is just browning 6 oz of sausage and adding 2/3 cup of cream soup mix and 1 1/2 cups of water.   Bring to a boil on a med heat to thicken.  Serve hot over biscuits.  For the Cream Soup mix recipe, you can find it on my blog here:

 http://frugalmavensdailyrave.blogspot.com/2011/09/for-cary-ann-and-teresa-and-anyone-else.html

Spring dreams and things I wouldn't buy at the store even if I had the money......

I can understand buying certain convenience foods at grocery stores.  Grabbing a box of Hamburger helpers is better than succumbing to the lure of fast food.  Waffles are time consuming to prepare for everyone  if you are needing to get to work.  I get it.  I don't begrudge people buying convenience foods.  Sometimes time demands it, and sometimes you just don't feel like taking the time to do it yourself.  Can I share a secret?  I too have bought convenience foods.  I know the combination of everyone's gasp just sucked some poor shmuck off the street.  It's true though.  There are times when it is easier to grab a ready made pizza or frozen dinner.

Now that the true confessions part of my post has been taken care of; can I just say that there is a line I will not cross.  There are certain things that don't pay to grab at the store.  For example, I do not buy already mashed potatoes refrigerated in a plastic country crock, or Cinnamon sugar mixture in the spice section, or my personal pet peeve, the already made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crust cut off.  Drives me crazy the thought there is a market for these things.  The mark up on these items is ridiculous.  When potatoes cost at most 45 to 50 cents a pound,   I don't understand paying 3 to 4 times that amount.  Same for everything else I listed.  Take the time to make your own cinnamon sugar.  Just take about 1/2 cup sugar and 1tsp cinnamon(or more if you like) and mix it up in jar or other container.  Make your own PB and J and cut the crusts off.  Use the crust if you want to make bread crumbs or croutons. 

Okay my vent is done for now. 

On the homestead, I can say I have been able to prune my fruit trees (and but good too cause I have to be able to get all the spray to them this year.  I WANT PEACHES!).  My plan is to prune them back a good bit and open it up some so that the spray I use can reach all parts of the tree.  I probably won't get fruit this year.  My thought is if I can get ahead of the leaf curl, and fruit moths this year then maybe I will get fruit next year.  I am not out anything because I am throwing away at least a bushel of peaches every season.  Not Cool!  Being outside, even in the cold has only reinforced the longing to get back out in my garden. I am starting to make my plans and dream of a wonderful garden this year.  I am thinking we are looking at another rainy summer so I need to take that into account in my plans.  This means I need to put in at least another two concrete raised beds.  In those three raised beds I will be adding some extra sand and organic material to help with drainage.  Hopeful that will make those areas more productive.  Well that and the addition of the chicken poo. 

Other plans on my more than ambitious list are building a small green house, and hopefully a better chicken coop.  We also have some house type repairs that need to be made.  Are going to do it all?  Uhhhh No!  We will pay to have some of the repairs done cause there are things I have no clue about when it comes to home repair. 

So now that I have dreamt aloud.. What are your spring dreams?

I Did Not Yield!

I know, sounds like some great and wondrous thing was accomplished, but in actuality I just made pizza.  Hey but it got you to read right?  Let me explain...

This past week I have been trying to get back into the frugal swing of things.  I am back to making bread and crackers; using up stuff, using more dried beans to stretch my meat supply, things of that nature.   In all of the chaos of the past few months with trips to Fla, the garden, work, etc.; I had taken some shortcuts, been using store bought bread (thrift store), and yielding to the temptation to eat out some.  Now in my defense, it was usually two Little Caesar pizzas or a couple of Subway footlongs for $10.  Still, not a good use of my resources.  So, back to the frugal band wagon.  Yesterday was extremely hard since I was to work the whole day.  I didn't get off work until 5pm and arrived home to find the kitchen a mess.  I grumbled and complained, but loaded the dishwasher anyway.  DH apologized for not loading the dishes.  I need to post here that it wasn't his job to do the dishes.  It was the job of Rubic and Einstein.  Need to work on that one.   But, while in the throws of guilt DH was truly susceptible to coercion for eating out.  In other words, he agreed to go pick something up for dinner.  Oooo I thought about it......long and hard.   But in the end I told myself to just go ahead and make the pizza at home.  Christmas is coming, everyone else's birthday is coming, Car Insurance and tags are due; so that $10 here or there adds up.  So I took the frugal road and feel much better for it.  The pizza turned out great and all were happy with the results.

I share all of this with you because I want to emphasize;  Being frugal is work.  The more frugal you are the more effort goes into it.  That being said, it is worthy of your effort.  Either way I have to work.  I can either leave my home and spend 40+ hours a week to earn a paycheck (In which Uncle Sam will take a sizable sum ((Cause we are rich ya know)), or I can put forth a little more effort at home to save money.  This is the whole concept of "a penny saved is a penny earned".  Saved money is money that isn't taxed by the way.  Knowing all that, I am still human and can easily be lured into taking an easy way out.  Now this is not to say that we can never have fun, but it needs to be fun that is both planned and budgeted.  For instance, we are going to see the new Thor movie next week.  I have budgeted the amount for tickets.  We, as a family, enjoy the Marvel movies at theaters and so make a point to see them as a treat.  We don't buy refreshments there unless we are "Vacationing".  Then it is like a planned amusement park trip and we expect the ridiculous prices.  Otherwise we might have an ice cream afterward or some other such inexpensive treat.  In other words, we pick and choose our battles.

On the agenda today is a trip to the Nora Mills granary in Helen, GA.

We are on our way there today to pick up more wheat berries for grinding.  On the way DH and I will be enjoying the peak leaf watching in the mountains.  Then it is home for lunch and we promised Rubic and Einstein we would go to some thrift stores for them to search for vintage video games.  They are spending their birthday money, so uh...Yay!  I need to put something in the crock pot for dinner.  Can't believe I am writing this post at 4 am in the morning.  Think I am tired now so will probably go back to bed.  Hope you guys have a great fall day.

Putting my money wheremy mouth is....for real

So a few weeks ago I wrote a blog post talking about our plan B in case of financial hardship.  The jest of the post was being able to weather the storm and be self reliant in the mean time.  Well, we are getting to put that in action.  Not to the extent we would if one of us was laid off, but close, very close.  You see, due to the wonderful men, women, and President currently in office, we have a little thing called The Affordable care Act aka "Obamacare".  It has taken up residence at our house.  Last year I took a position with our hospitals Hospice Dept.  In order to make the transfer I took a 16% pay cut.  In order to off set that, I waived all my benefits to get an extra 12% in my pay check.  My Husband and I both work for the same hospital just different Dept.  Because he was working full time, I was on his insurance.  Fast forward to this year and I have discovered that the hospital is no longer insuring spouses who are able to purchase insurance through their employer.  I currently work 40 hours every two weeks.  Therefore I qualify for insurance.  In order for me to buy said insurance, I have to get benefits.  To get Benefits I have to lose the 12% pay rate increase.  Then I get to turn around and pay a premium for just me of $68 per pay check and also start contributing to my own health savings account.  The one my husband and I have been contributing to will not cover me as of Jan 1st.  The only way to avoid this is to cut my hours to 30 or less every two weeks.  If I could do that I would A) be able to remain on DH insurance, and B) actually come out ahead by about $38 each pay period.  However, upon discussing this with my director, I am thinking she will not have a position for me for only 15 hours a week.  So right now I am looking at having to buy my own.  This forced purchase, and it is that, will take about $400 a month out of an already small family budget.  Ironically, this new legislation, meant to insure the uninsured, has made someone already insured buy an extra policy.  How moronic is that.  My only hope is that my director convinces the higher ups to let me keep my 12% pay increase.  I hope to find out soon.  Until then I will put on my frugal black belt and get to work.

I know beyond a shadow of doubt that I am in the job I am supposed to be in.  God put me here for a reason.  I am truly convinced of that fact.  It is because of that fact, I am able to have peace because "He works all things together for the good of those that love Him".   I know He is in control.  He is my rock, my provider.  I will do what is in my power to do, and where I falter, He is there to hold me up.  He has never let me down before, and He never will. 

So I get to really use the frugal juices.  Who knows what future posts will look like.  I would think there might be plenty of my "Hmmm I wonders".  So until then, SEE YA! 

So What Now?

You know everyone is talking about the government shutdown and how it affects everyone.  So why should I be any different, right?  I won't wax political here except there are two sides to every story and before you start placing blame on one party or another, get your facts and not just headlines.  Regardless of who you blame, one needs to look to themselves if they find themselves in a position of reliance on the government.  I am not talking about those thru no fault of their own are having to rely on government assistance in times of great trial.  When Diva was a baby, I found myself laid off from a suit manufacturer and unable to find another job.  For two months I was on Welfare.  I took a job at McDonalds to get off of it.  While it helped during that time, let me tell you about how the need for that welfare was my own doing.  First off I was unwilling to leave where I was and go home to admit I was wrong.  I mean seriously, my parents lived a little over an hour away.  Once I did that (and you can read about that here ), things began to look up and I was able to get my life together.  Because I refused to leave, I stayed in an area where unemployment was high.  For a person with only a high school education that was bad.  Another thing I was responsible for was the birth of my daughter.  Now let me say here.  Diva is never a regret and I would not change a thing if I went back in time.  I wouldn't risk not having her, but I did learn a lesson I am not willing to repeat in the future.  KUDOS to all single mothers.  I was one for 3 years.  It is hard being mother and father. Some people are in this situation against their will, some people put themselves into this situation with bad decisions. It is for those that make those bad decisions I would warn them to avoid the type of relationships that would make you have to decide between yourself or a child.  Anyway, this is turning preachy and I don't mean it to be.

Now things like Welfare, Medicaid, Social Security are functioning, there are some programs shut down for now.  As a result, many find themselves furloughed and others find themselves in a position where something that helped make ends meet has been shut down.  What do you do in a situation like that? I can only ask myself what would I do in a similar situation?  In the 20 years my Knight and I have been married, we have had money situations.  Even now we have a plan "B" that we will utilize in the event one of us ends up unemployed.  Until another job is found, the plan "B" would consist of cancelling services we can live without, relying on what I have in  our pantry, and other extreme cost cutting items.  When I say cancelling services I am talking about non essential things like phone, cable, internet, but also things like electricity.  That would go in an extreme situation, but I would be willing to make it go.  I would prefer we keep the mortgage going.  It would supply the roof over our head which takes precedence over electricity.  If needs be, we would have to find homes for our pets and chickens.  They would be a luxury we couldn't afford.  Things like our tax withholding would be changed in order to give us more income in our check every two weeks.  The amount we currently put in our health savings account would be lessened in order to give us more income.  We currently have a high deductible insurance with a health savings account.  Never thought it would be as great as it has been.  Wish we had done this years ago.  But I digress. 

While the previous paragraph talks of the extreme of losing one of two incomes in a family where two are necessary, some people are just facing the loss of a service that subsidizes their existing funds.  All of us have had to re-adjust budgets due to an unforeseen expense such as an emergency care repair, doctor visit, or higher power bill to name a few.  You adjust what you can.  That usually falls under groceries, gas or any other type of flexible expense.  When you can't afford your normal grocery budget, you adjust to get by on what you can afford.  While normally I would get chips as a grocery list item, they go by the wayside if I can't afford the expense.  Other items I nix are, mayo, yogurt, breads, cookies, cereals, and any meat over $1.69 a lb.  I say 1.69 lb because that is how much the ground turkey is @ Aldi.  I will also stretch what I have.

One thing people need to realize is to rely only on yourself.  The less you need to rely on Government, I believe the better off you will be.  When we were young my DH and I thought it was no big deal to use government services.  We learned the hard way  what can happen when you use those services.  That is a story for another day.  Needless to say it was enough for me to say "Never again".  Live you life in such a way that the shenanigans in Washington won't affect you, because lets face it from the top down we have toddlers running our country., and with few exceptions. Actually I shouldn't insult toddlers.