Practical Gifts For The Women In Your Life
1 week ago
Showing posts with label Thrift. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thrift. Show all posts
Sunday, May 17, 2015
The Easiest Way to Save Electricity...
...is not to be at home. Mr. B had a job interview six hours from home Friday, so we made a weekend and took the family camping. Not only were we not using electricity at home, but we didn't use it there, either. That weekend hiatus probably canceled out the two weeks that Miss F has been leaving lights on in the playroom. In one respect, it's nice that I can send her downstairs to play without even going down to turn the lights on for her. But at the same time, she's not tall enough to turn them off without a chair or stool, so they tend to get left on for quite a while.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Frugal Accomplishments - November 24th through 30th
- I learned to make pie crusts from a friend. That was one of the few things that I still bought because it was too intimidating.
- I took advantage of the pre-holiday sales and stocked up on canned vegetables.
- I pressure canned eight pints of chili for the first time. It was so easy that I was able to do it while Mr. B was at work and both kids were awake. I'll definitely do that again.
- I took the carcass from my mom's Thanksgiving turkey to make stock rather than let her throw it away.
- Since my birthday and Thanksgiving was this week, I didn't end up cooking very much at all.
- My mom bought me Christmas boxes from Joann's at 50% off as my birthday present. We use them to give pajamas on Christmas Eve. We had four last year, but given that we want four kids, I wanted to make sure we had six while I knew where to get them.
- We bought a humanely raised turkey after Thanksgiving for about $0.62 per pound after a $10 off deal.
- Mr. B made a beautiful wreath from the trimmings off the bottom of our Christmas tree.
- Though I rather would have gotten it from the local consignment store, we bought Miss F a Christmas dress last minute at 40% off.
- A woman I knew from college came over to take family Christmas pictures for us for a very low fee.
- I took advantage of the pre-holiday sales and stocked up on canned vegetables.
- I pressure canned eight pints of chili for the first time. It was so easy that I was able to do it while Mr. B was at work and both kids were awake. I'll definitely do that again.
- I took the carcass from my mom's Thanksgiving turkey to make stock rather than let her throw it away.
- Since my birthday and Thanksgiving was this week, I didn't end up cooking very much at all.
- My mom bought me Christmas boxes from Joann's at 50% off as my birthday present. We use them to give pajamas on Christmas Eve. We had four last year, but given that we want four kids, I wanted to make sure we had six while I knew where to get them.
- We bought a humanely raised turkey after Thanksgiving for about $0.62 per pound after a $10 off deal.
- Mr. B made a beautiful wreath from the trimmings off the bottom of our Christmas tree.
- Though I rather would have gotten it from the local consignment store, we bought Miss F a Christmas dress last minute at 40% off.
- A woman I knew from college came over to take family Christmas pictures for us for a very low fee.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Frugal Accomplishments - November 17th through 23rd
- While I
didn't start it this week, our apple cider vinegar is about ready to
use. It has developed two really fantastic mothers, one on top and one
on bottom.
- I cooked a cinderella pumpkin that has been hanging around for a month. I saved the seeds to grow for next year, and I put it in the cold oven to dry because I didn't have counterspace, but I forgot about it and preheated the oven with them in there. They fused to the wax paper. Oops.
- Mr. B made a pumpkin cheesecake for us using the pumpkin puree I cooked. It was delicious and didn't last more than two days in our house.
- I froze 16 cups of pumpkin in 1/3 cup servings using muffin pans. One block makes 6 doughnuts with the scaled down one egg version of this recipe from King Arthur Flour. I made a pumpkin spice latte and one batch of doughnuts with the 1/2 cup that didn't fit in the muffin pans
- Mr. B's work gives their employees turkeys as a holiday bonus. Since we're not cooking this year and our freezer was too full for a whole bird, I cooked it a week and a half before Thanksgiving. On an interesting note, it was a Butterball turkey, and it is American Certified Humane. That's not the best certification, but something is better than nothing.
- We ate one leg/thigh of the turkey, then froze the other leg/thigh and all of the breast meat for later meals.
- I made two rounds of turkey stock from the carcass. The first was combined with the dark meat package above to make a large amount of turkey soup.
- The second round of stock was used for butternut squash soup. This is soup I made with some of that stock for freezing.
- The last of the turkey stock was used to pressure can butternut squash. We've never done this before, but in theory, I can reheat the jar on the stovetop, throw in some sage, onion, cayenne pepper, and salt, immersion blend it, and I'll have the same soup as above.
- Mr. B made persimmon leather from some persimmons he found growing wild last week.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Frugal Accomplishments - November 10th through 16th
This one's short since I haven't been keeping track so well, but I'll be keeping up starting tomorrow.
- Attended the Alpaca and Fleece festival (free admission). We brought our own food, and we bought gloves and a hat for Miss F as a Christmas present, a hat for Mr. B, and gloves for me.
- An early snow on the 13th shocked the apple trees, so a local orchard was letting people pick your own apples for free. We filled at least one grocery bag, and that was after it looked like people had raided the field.
- My mom has been storing a turkey that Mr. B got as a holiday bonus last year. Since Mr. B just brought home this year's turkey, she offered to cook it for Thanksgiving and pay us for it.
- I made emergency bars with Miss F to prepare for the possibility of getting stranded in a car this winter.
- Attended the Alpaca and Fleece festival (free admission). We brought our own food, and we bought gloves and a hat for Miss F as a Christmas present, a hat for Mr. B, and gloves for me.
- An early snow on the 13th shocked the apple trees, so a local orchard was letting people pick your own apples for free. We filled at least one grocery bag, and that was after it looked like people had raided the field.
- My mom has been storing a turkey that Mr. B got as a holiday bonus last year. Since Mr. B just brought home this year's turkey, she offered to cook it for Thanksgiving and pay us for it.
- I made emergency bars with Miss F to prepare for the possibility of getting stranded in a car this winter.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Frugal Accomplishments - October 13th through 19th
- I made meringues and ginger syrup for a friend using ingredients we had on hand. Miss F, Miss C, and I went over to her house for a playdate and had lunch there. She sent us home with delicious, homemade watermelon rind pickles.
- I used leftover rice from one of our chicken meals to make rice pudding for Mr. B. It's one of his favorite desserts.
- I finally got back around to making fresh bread. We had been working with frozen bread for quite a while.
- I made pancakes for lunch (Miss F has been asking for them for a VERY long time), and froze a batch.
- I made oatmeal pancakes for the freezer. They'll be a much heartier breakfast when it gets cold.
- I used leftover rice from one of our chicken meals to make rice pudding for Mr. B. It's one of his favorite desserts.
- I finally got back around to making fresh bread. We had been working with frozen bread for quite a while.
- I made pancakes for lunch (Miss F has been asking for them for a VERY long time), and froze a batch.
- I made oatmeal pancakes for the freezer. They'll be a much heartier breakfast when it gets cold.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Frugal Accomplishments - October 6th through 12th
- We bought two firethorn bushes for the price of one. Right under the front windows, they will lend both security and beauty to the front yard.
-Mr. B separated one solomon's seal plants into two to add symmetry to the bed.
- I repainted the bulkhead and one wall in the kitchen to make it look fresher for the pictures of our house online.
- Mr. B planted ornamental-but-edible purple kale in our garden to make it more appealing to buyers.
- I took two kids to the grocery store by myself. Frugal? Maybe, maybe not. Accomplishment? Certainly.
- We were gifted three boxes of warm winter clothing for Miss C, as well as a car seat cover. Miss F was born two months earlier than Miss C, so her three month clothing was all summer related.
- I reserved homeschooling books for Miss F for the next three weeks through the library.
- I treated a rash/chemical burns on Miss F caused by a sensitivity to disposable diapers with coconut oil and neosporin with good results.
- We bought 10 very large onions (~11 lbs) at $1 a piece at the farmer's market. This is a good price for local onions.
- We bought sustainably raised sardines on sale at Costco. We had never tried them before but knew they were a healthy food. We loved them and plan on stocking up.
- We bought windshield wipers at Costco at half of their normal price. Mr B's wipers were so bad that half of the rubber was detached from the wiper on each side.
- Mr. B stripped, caulked, and repainted the front door's frame where the paint was badly peeling.
- I used OxiClean free to soak out the stains in some of the old baby clothes before they are to be put in storage.
- We donated some clothing that is out of season given our girls' birthdays.
- I made roast chicken and root veggies and broke down the bird for five days worth of meals.
-Mr. B separated one solomon's seal plants into two to add symmetry to the bed.
- I repainted the bulkhead and one wall in the kitchen to make it look fresher for the pictures of our house online.
- Mr. B planted ornamental-but-edible purple kale in our garden to make it more appealing to buyers.
- I took two kids to the grocery store by myself. Frugal? Maybe, maybe not. Accomplishment? Certainly.
- We were gifted three boxes of warm winter clothing for Miss C, as well as a car seat cover. Miss F was born two months earlier than Miss C, so her three month clothing was all summer related.
- I reserved homeschooling books for Miss F for the next three weeks through the library.
- I treated a rash/chemical burns on Miss F caused by a sensitivity to disposable diapers with coconut oil and neosporin with good results.
- We bought 10 very large onions (~11 lbs) at $1 a piece at the farmer's market. This is a good price for local onions.
- We bought sustainably raised sardines on sale at Costco. We had never tried them before but knew they were a healthy food. We loved them and plan on stocking up.
- We bought windshield wipers at Costco at half of their normal price. Mr B's wipers were so bad that half of the rubber was detached from the wiper on each side.
- Mr. B stripped, caulked, and repainted the front door's frame where the paint was badly peeling.
- I used OxiClean free to soak out the stains in some of the old baby clothes before they are to be put in storage.
- We donated some clothing that is out of season given our girls' birthdays.
- I made roast chicken and root veggies and broke down the bird for five days worth of meals.
What frugal accomplishments have you undertaken this week?
One Chicken, Five Dinners
A few days ago I got the bright idea to start up Sunday roasts again. Though Mr. B works on Sundays, I'm free during naptime about three hours before dinner time, so it seems like a good time to cook solidly healthy food. Whenever I moan and complain about the price of local, humanely raised chickens (about $20 per chicken), I think about all the meals that one bird's life gives us. All food included, we can feed three people (two adults and one toddler) for five days for less than the cost of going to McDonald's twice. I think that's pretty darn good.
Today, I made Ina Garten's perfect roast chicken. We're not huge fennel fans, so instead, I threw in chopped parsnips. As I was prepping the carrots, onions, parsnips, and garlic, I threw the peels into a ziploc that we keep in our freezer.
I made the chicken in my cast iron dutch oven. I've never done that before (I always use a roasting pan), but it turned out really well.
Night One: I pulled the chicken out onto a platter to cool while we ate the legs for dinner. After the chicken was cool, I stripped every bit of meat off and portioned it out into pyrex bowls. The breast meat is kept in two large pieces. The thigh meat and various bits will be chopped up when we use it.
The carcass went back into the dutch oven with the veggie scraps from the freezer, a little apple cider vinegar, and enough water to cover it. It'll simmer on the stove for the next few days. Add water as necessary to keep the levels up.
Night Two: Half of the breast meat will be panini for tomorrow night. I use homemade bread, a little mustard, an apple sliced thinly, colby cheese, chicken slices, and whatever greens we can find in the yard. I fry it up in a little butter in a #8 cast iron skillet.
Night Three: The thigh meat will be made into chicken shepherd's pie. Yes, it's a recipe from my old Weight Watchers days, but it's tasty nonetheless. You can use the chicken broth that's been simmering on your stove and add back a little water to the pot.
Night Four: The other half of the breast meat will be made into burrito bowls. Even though it's already been cooked, you can season it with cumin, cilantro, and oregano, and it'll be just like it was cooked from fresh. If you add a little broth in during reheating, it keeps it from drying out.
Night Five: Chicken noodle soup of course! Ours is really simplistic - strained broth, noodles, carrots, celery, and the last of the chicken - light, dark, or otherwise.
That will bring us round to Friday, which is already our traditional homemade pizza-and-a-movie night. Next week, we'll make a beef roast, and see how many great recipes we can make out of that.
Today, I made Ina Garten's perfect roast chicken. We're not huge fennel fans, so instead, I threw in chopped parsnips. As I was prepping the carrots, onions, parsnips, and garlic, I threw the peels into a ziploc that we keep in our freezer.
I made the chicken in my cast iron dutch oven. I've never done that before (I always use a roasting pan), but it turned out really well.
Night One: I pulled the chicken out onto a platter to cool while we ate the legs for dinner. After the chicken was cool, I stripped every bit of meat off and portioned it out into pyrex bowls. The breast meat is kept in two large pieces. The thigh meat and various bits will be chopped up when we use it.
The carcass went back into the dutch oven with the veggie scraps from the freezer, a little apple cider vinegar, and enough water to cover it. It'll simmer on the stove for the next few days. Add water as necessary to keep the levels up.
Night Two: Half of the breast meat will be panini for tomorrow night. I use homemade bread, a little mustard, an apple sliced thinly, colby cheese, chicken slices, and whatever greens we can find in the yard. I fry it up in a little butter in a #8 cast iron skillet.
Night Three: The thigh meat will be made into chicken shepherd's pie. Yes, it's a recipe from my old Weight Watchers days, but it's tasty nonetheless. You can use the chicken broth that's been simmering on your stove and add back a little water to the pot.
Night Four: The other half of the breast meat will be made into burrito bowls. Even though it's already been cooked, you can season it with cumin, cilantro, and oregano, and it'll be just like it was cooked from fresh. If you add a little broth in during reheating, it keeps it from drying out.
Night Five: Chicken noodle soup of course! Ours is really simplistic - strained broth, noodles, carrots, celery, and the last of the chicken - light, dark, or otherwise.
That will bring us round to Friday, which is already our traditional homemade pizza-and-a-movie night. Next week, we'll make a beef roast, and see how many great recipes we can make out of that.
What do you do to make the most of your food budget?
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Frugal Accomplishments - September 29th through October 5th
-We made it through the month of September having spent only $5 on food consumed outside of home. In August, we spent $214.
-I finished our accounting for the month of September and we discussed where we can make further cuts so
that we can continue for me to stay home.
-To clean out our fridge, I made "garbage soup" out of pot roast drippings, homemade beef stock, pasta, frozen leftover kidney beans, and leftover green peas. Garbage soup is always random leftovers, but rarely tastes bad :o)
-Mr. B helped a local woman get rid of a pile of debris by bringing it to our house. He got an 8 foot 2x4, six lawn refuse bags full of yard waste, and a large pile of wood to use for a fire in our chiminea.
-I picked up two more tutoring students to help pay bills.
-I made ketchup and Mr. B then made cocktail sauce to go with fish and chips for dinner.
-I finished our accounting for the month of September and we discussed where we can make further cuts so
that we can continue for me to stay home.
-To clean out our fridge, I made "garbage soup" out of pot roast drippings, homemade beef stock, pasta, frozen leftover kidney beans, and leftover green peas. Garbage soup is always random leftovers, but rarely tastes bad :o)
-Mr. B helped a local woman get rid of a pile of debris by bringing it to our house. He got an 8 foot 2x4, six lawn refuse bags full of yard waste, and a large pile of wood to use for a fire in our chiminea.
-I picked up two more tutoring students to help pay bills.
-I made ketchup and Mr. B then made cocktail sauce to go with fish and chips for dinner.
-Mr. B made a pepper jack like cheese tonight. Out of the whey, I made ricotta, then soaked some black beans in whey leftover from the ricotta. $3.95 plus existing ingredients got us 12.5 oz cheese, about 1 cup of ricotta, and a ton of leftover whey.
-Mr. B's company had a catered lunch (Chipotle) with a lot left over, so he brought home a large bowl of carnitas and guacamole for us to eat for dinner.
-Mr. B gathered some wood from a local park to make borders in our garden to better define the beds.
-We helped an acquaintance dig out her sweet potatoes. In return, we got 1/4 bushel of sweet potatoes, a massive amount of fresh parsley, a huge bunch of rosemary, and two grocery bags full of apples.
-Mr. B gathered some wood from a local park to make borders in our garden to better define the beds.
-We helped an acquaintance dig out her sweet potatoes. In return, we got 1/4 bushel of sweet potatoes, a massive amount of fresh parsley, a huge bunch of rosemary, and two grocery bags full of apples.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Frugal Accomplishments - September 22nd through 28th
That cold really took it out of me, so this is a couple of days late. Sorry!
- Mr. B and Miss F made a cold frame out of our neighbor's old windows, pieces of a broken picnic table, and some wood found from the side of the road.
-Mr. B cut me some lovely sunchoke flowers from our yard.
-I made cinnamon rolls out of some leftover pizza dough.
-Mr. B harvested the rest of our carrots for the season.
-We chose to end our relationship with our real estate agent in order to work with an agent that can meet our needs more completely. A post about this to follow...
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Frugal Accomplishments - September 15th through 21st
-I saved gas by visiting my mom while in the area. She gave us a home grown cantaloupe during our visit.
-We canned 15 quarts of applesauce from the apples we bought last week. We kept the skins on to increase yield and nutrition.
-I made a sugar scrub from 1 part coconut oil and 2 parts sugar. It's amazing. It might actually get me to take another crack at the oil cleansing method.
-I made a gallon of water kefir and a gallon of ginger beer for an event we're hosting next week.
-I used onions to beef up some taco meat that I made when a friend and his daughter came over for dinner.
-Mr. B picked greens from the garden and made peach salsa from items on hand for burritos.
-I met a friend for coffee. She just had her fourth child and I just had my second, so we spent some time reconnecting away from the kids. It happened to be buy one get one free for fall flavored drinks, so the coffees were essentially half off.
-Mr. B made a greenhouse from some old sliding glass doors we had lying around.
-I saved seeds from our French Brocade marigold.
-We made 12.5 oz of mozzarella cheese from a gallon of milk and kept the whey for other applications.
-I froze 3/4 of a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough that we made in honor of the Letter C to be eaten another day.
-Mr. B picked up 2 bushels of #2 tomatoes for $40. We canned 26 quarts and 5 pints of tomato sauce.
-Mr. B picked basil from the garden to make margarita pizzas.
-We went to the Rennaissance festival all day without buying any food or drinks.
-I was given a window that was being replaced by a neighbor for the lid of the coldframe.
-A friend brought me and Miss F lunch and spent time with the girls because she knew we were having a hard time adjusting.
-I baked a pumpkin that from a volunteer plant. The puree became Sausage and Pumpkin Pasta, it was saved for doughnuts tomorrow, and I am toasting the seeds as snacks.
-We canned 15 quarts of applesauce from the apples we bought last week. We kept the skins on to increase yield and nutrition.
-I made a sugar scrub from 1 part coconut oil and 2 parts sugar. It's amazing. It might actually get me to take another crack at the oil cleansing method.
-I made a gallon of water kefir and a gallon of ginger beer for an event we're hosting next week.
-I used onions to beef up some taco meat that I made when a friend and his daughter came over for dinner.
-Mr. B picked greens from the garden and made peach salsa from items on hand for burritos.
-I met a friend for coffee. She just had her fourth child and I just had my second, so we spent some time reconnecting away from the kids. It happened to be buy one get one free for fall flavored drinks, so the coffees were essentially half off.
-Mr. B made a greenhouse from some old sliding glass doors we had lying around.
-I saved seeds from our French Brocade marigold.
-We made 12.5 oz of mozzarella cheese from a gallon of milk and kept the whey for other applications.
-I froze 3/4 of a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough that we made in honor of the Letter C to be eaten another day.
-Mr. B picked up 2 bushels of #2 tomatoes for $40. We canned 26 quarts and 5 pints of tomato sauce.
-Mr. B picked basil from the garden to make margarita pizzas.
-We went to the Rennaissance festival all day without buying any food or drinks.
-I was given a window that was being replaced by a neighbor for the lid of the coldframe.
-A friend brought me and Miss F lunch and spent time with the girls because she knew we were having a hard time adjusting.
-I baked a pumpkin that from a volunteer plant. The puree became Sausage and Pumpkin Pasta, it was saved for doughnuts tomorrow, and I am toasting the seeds as snacks.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Frugal Accomplishments - September 8th through 14th
This week flew by. I know we did things this week, but I'm not sure if I could tell you what it was. This'll be a relatively short list.
-Organized the pantry and the freezer so that we can tell what food we have and use it more effectively.
-Hosted a game night for five friends and made homemade pizza to feed the group.
-Picked up a half bushel of very nice seconds peaches for $7.50. We canned them and got 9 quarts and 9 pints (not including two more pints that shattered while processing-we need new jars.)
-Bought more apples for applesauce. Since we had a nice family day and picked more than 20 lbs of apples, the price dropped by $0.10 per pound. I'll have to can the apples either during the day or on Wednesday, because I ran out of jars and we have a showing today. I'm buying more quart jars this afternoon.
-Made it through a whole day of antiquing and walking a street festival without spending any money.
-Mr. B and Miss F made a batch of beer from a kit Mr. B got for Christmas while I slept in (until 8) on Friday morning. This will give us about 50 bottles of beer in 6 weeks or so.
-Took all of the air conditioners out. Since there's no gap in the window now, we'll be saving more energy. Our biggest heating/cooling expense is our baseboard heat, so I'm hoping to put off turning them on until December.
-Organized the pantry and the freezer so that we can tell what food we have and use it more effectively.
-Hosted a game night for five friends and made homemade pizza to feed the group.
-Picked up a half bushel of very nice seconds peaches for $7.50. We canned them and got 9 quarts and 9 pints (not including two more pints that shattered while processing-we need new jars.)
-Bought more apples for applesauce. Since we had a nice family day and picked more than 20 lbs of apples, the price dropped by $0.10 per pound. I'll have to can the apples either during the day or on Wednesday, because I ran out of jars and we have a showing today. I'm buying more quart jars this afternoon.
-Made it through a whole day of antiquing and walking a street festival without spending any money.
-Mr. B and Miss F made a batch of beer from a kit Mr. B got for Christmas while I slept in (until 8) on Friday morning. This will give us about 50 bottles of beer in 6 weeks or so.
-Took all of the air conditioners out. Since there's no gap in the window now, we'll be saving more energy. Our biggest heating/cooling expense is our baseboard heat, so I'm hoping to put off turning them on until December.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Frugal Accomplishments - September 1st through 7th
I've been reading the blog The Prudent Homemaker for a couple of years now. She posts, among other things, a weekly list of her frugal accomplishments. Since I'm the type of person who needs to have a record of accomplishments in order to stay motivated, I'm going to try to keep a record of the little things that we do to keep our expenses down.
-Cooked up bacon and saved the grease for future cooking. One pound of bacon yielded one cup of grease, which will keep us at least a month. The bacon was local and nitrate free bacon that we picked up at the farmer's market.
-Cut herbs from our front yard: oregano, chives, sage, thyme, winter savory. Chives and some thyme were put in vinegar. Everything else is hanging to dry.
-Cleaned and re-seasoned a new-to-me cast iron chicken fryer. It needed to be done, but it also served as practice before I re-season a rare waffle maker that my dad found for me at a flea market. I've started re-seasoning the collar of the waffle maker as well.
-Made cloth diaper detergent for the first time. With two in cloth, Rockin' Green (at $15 a bag) got to be too expensive. I wish I would have looked for a recipe sooner! It seems to be working really well. It's just 1 cup of borax, 1 cup of washing soda, and 1/2 cup of OxiClean Free. That small amount of ingredients that I happened to have on hand will wash 20-40 loads of diapers. Woo hoo for not leaving the house AND not spending any extra money!
-Gleaned 25 pounds of apples from my grandfather's yard.
-Gleaned 18 Bartlett pears and 5 Asian pears from my dad's yard.
-Received one honeydew melon from my mom's yard.
-Used a rotisserie chicken carcass and garlic papers to make chicken stock.
-Stored 1/3 of a loaf of bread that accidentally got left out and went stale to use later as bread crumbs.
-Foraged a handful of grapes from a local park. We missed the season this year :-(
-Changed our cell phone plans so that we save approximately $30 per month.
-Harvested five jalapenos, two pumpkins, and three figs. There is one more mostly ripe fig and a few unripe ones on the tree. This is our first year with this tree - not a bad haul.
-Found a 2 year old boneless chuck roast in the freezer (oops) and cooked enough pot roast for dinner, 2 lunches for Mr. B, and 2 pints of meat for other meals.
-Cooked down 1 bushel of Roma tomatoes for spaghetti/pizza sauce. The herbs and some of the garlic used in the sauce were collected from our front yard. We canned 11 pints so far with more on the stove right now.
-Inventoried the pantry. I need to find a system that works for us that allows me to see how much we actually eat. There are some things (creamed corn) that have been there forever, and some things (jam) that we ration because I'm afraid of running out. If I know how much of things we eat, I can buy more or less when it's on sale, and we'll end up saving money.
-Cooked up bacon and saved the grease for future cooking. One pound of bacon yielded one cup of grease, which will keep us at least a month. The bacon was local and nitrate free bacon that we picked up at the farmer's market.
-Cut herbs from our front yard: oregano, chives, sage, thyme, winter savory. Chives and some thyme were put in vinegar. Everything else is hanging to dry.
-Cleaned and re-seasoned a new-to-me cast iron chicken fryer. It needed to be done, but it also served as practice before I re-season a rare waffle maker that my dad found for me at a flea market. I've started re-seasoning the collar of the waffle maker as well.
-Made cloth diaper detergent for the first time. With two in cloth, Rockin' Green (at $15 a bag) got to be too expensive. I wish I would have looked for a recipe sooner! It seems to be working really well. It's just 1 cup of borax, 1 cup of washing soda, and 1/2 cup of OxiClean Free. That small amount of ingredients that I happened to have on hand will wash 20-40 loads of diapers. Woo hoo for not leaving the house AND not spending any extra money!
-Gleaned 25 pounds of apples from my grandfather's yard.
-Gleaned 18 Bartlett pears and 5 Asian pears from my dad's yard.
-Received one honeydew melon from my mom's yard.
-Used a rotisserie chicken carcass and garlic papers to make chicken stock.
-Stored 1/3 of a loaf of bread that accidentally got left out and went stale to use later as bread crumbs.
-Foraged a handful of grapes from a local park. We missed the season this year :-(
-Changed our cell phone plans so that we save approximately $30 per month.
-Harvested five jalapenos, two pumpkins, and three figs. There is one more mostly ripe fig and a few unripe ones on the tree. This is our first year with this tree - not a bad haul.
-Found a 2 year old boneless chuck roast in the freezer (oops) and cooked enough pot roast for dinner, 2 lunches for Mr. B, and 2 pints of meat for other meals.
-Cooked down 1 bushel of Roma tomatoes for spaghetti/pizza sauce. The herbs and some of the garlic used in the sauce were collected from our front yard. We canned 11 pints so far with more on the stove right now.
-Inventoried the pantry. I need to find a system that works for us that allows me to see how much we actually eat. There are some things (creamed corn) that have been there forever, and some things (jam) that we ration because I'm afraid of running out. If I know how much of things we eat, I can buy more or less when it's on sale, and we'll end up saving money.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
You Win Some, You Lose Some
When we were in the hospital with Miss C, Mr. B's mom drove his car back to our house and left his lights on with the keys locked in the car. The battery was dead by the time we got home, so he jumped his car from mine. As it turns out, my alternator was on its way out, and jumping the car fried it. We didn't learn this until all of the battery-dependent systems (including lights and windshield wipers) died...while driving on a highway...in the pouring rain...with two kids in the car.
We researched how to replace an alternator ourselves, but we really couldn't do it without a good possibility of ruining something else in the process because of how my engine compartment is set up. So I found a reputable car repair shop, and it cost us over $500 to replace the alternator. It had to be replaced, but it was rather a painful expense. It always seems to go that we make a little headway with our finances, but get knocked back on our rear ends.
Thankfully, Mr. B had just volunteered to change his schedule so that he made time-and-a-half on one of his work days, and I'm starting to tutor again. I'm trying to tell myself we'll be back to where we were in three months or so, but it's difficult not to be discouraged.
BUT, some things have gone our way. Right after picking my car up at the shop, we ran to meet a member of a natural living group from Facebook that I had been talking to. My water kefir grains have been prolific, so I've been giving them away to strangers and friends alike. I met this woman at a local farm with a CSA program. She was so grateful for the grains that she gave us some much needed eggs from her CSA share. I hadn't mentioned that we needed them, but we really did need them.
I realized the farm was really close to my grandfather's house, so we called him on our way out. He had us come over to pick apples from the tree in his yard. The apples were just spoiling on the lawn and attracting deer and bees. He has an old picker that he made himself. It's three metal bars wire tied to a garden stake with an old onion bag on a circular wire.
He can't find an onion bag to fit it anymore, so he's been taping it back together over the years. I mentioned that our local farm store had a picker for sale, but he just said his father's picker was homemade as well. I think he liked to carry on that tradition. We got over 25 pounds of apples for just an hour worth of work on Mr. B's part and an hour's worth of visiting on mine. A lot of the apples have large bad spots, but they're free, and they'll be great applesauce.
We researched how to replace an alternator ourselves, but we really couldn't do it without a good possibility of ruining something else in the process because of how my engine compartment is set up. So I found a reputable car repair shop, and it cost us over $500 to replace the alternator. It had to be replaced, but it was rather a painful expense. It always seems to go that we make a little headway with our finances, but get knocked back on our rear ends.
Thankfully, Mr. B had just volunteered to change his schedule so that he made time-and-a-half on one of his work days, and I'm starting to tutor again. I'm trying to tell myself we'll be back to where we were in three months or so, but it's difficult not to be discouraged.
BUT, some things have gone our way. Right after picking my car up at the shop, we ran to meet a member of a natural living group from Facebook that I had been talking to. My water kefir grains have been prolific, so I've been giving them away to strangers and friends alike. I met this woman at a local farm with a CSA program. She was so grateful for the grains that she gave us some much needed eggs from her CSA share. I hadn't mentioned that we needed them, but we really did need them.
I realized the farm was really close to my grandfather's house, so we called him on our way out. He had us come over to pick apples from the tree in his yard. The apples were just spoiling on the lawn and attracting deer and bees. He has an old picker that he made himself. It's three metal bars wire tied to a garden stake with an old onion bag on a circular wire.
He can't find an onion bag to fit it anymore, so he's been taping it back together over the years. I mentioned that our local farm store had a picker for sale, but he just said his father's picker was homemade as well. I think he liked to carry on that tradition. We got over 25 pounds of apples for just an hour worth of work on Mr. B's part and an hour's worth of visiting on mine. A lot of the apples have large bad spots, but they're free, and they'll be great applesauce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Pumpkin Puree is Easy as Pie
Actually, it's EASIER than pie! All you need is a crock pot and a pumpkin.
I've been itching for pumpkin since my newsfeed on Facebook blew up with pictures of pumpkin spice lattes. I batted my eyelashes at *B* and asked if we could get done canned pumpkin. He's my food conscience. He tells me what I needed to hear: pumpkins aren't in season yet, and fresh pumpkins are better than canned.
So I resigned myself to waiting for October. But the one tiny sugar pumpkin out on our vine was almost entirely orange. And wouldn't you know, pumpkins appeared at our farmer's market only two weeks later. They were $2 each, so I bought seven, though only five of them are pictured here.
As far as making puree, I washed it, ripped the stem off, poked several holes in it, and cooked it I the crock pot on low for six hours. If it were bigger, I'd cut it to make it fit and cook longer.
I let it cool a bit, removed the seeds, and scraped the flesh into a bowl.
A couple of quick blasts with an immersion blender, and I had nearly 4 cups of puree - about as much in a 29 oz can of Libby's.
A can of Libby's pumpkin is $2.88 at Walmart, which means I saved $1 after tax. But why bother, it's just a dollar, right? Let's examine this:
I've been itching for pumpkin since my newsfeed on Facebook blew up with pictures of pumpkin spice lattes. I batted my eyelashes at *B* and asked if we could get done canned pumpkin. He's my food conscience. He tells me what I needed to hear: pumpkins aren't in season yet, and fresh pumpkins are better than canned.
So I resigned myself to waiting for October. But the one tiny sugar pumpkin out on our vine was almost entirely orange. And wouldn't you know, pumpkins appeared at our farmer's market only two weeks later. They were $2 each, so I bought seven, though only five of them are pictured here.
As far as making puree, I washed it, ripped the stem off, poked several holes in it, and cooked it I the crock pot on low for six hours. If it were bigger, I'd cut it to make it fit and cook longer.
I let it cool a bit, removed the seeds, and scraped the flesh into a bowl.
A couple of quick blasts with an immersion blender, and I had nearly 4 cups of puree - about as much in a 29 oz can of Libby's.
A can of Libby's pumpkin is $2.88 at Walmart, which means I saved $1 after tax. But why bother, it's just a dollar, right? Let's examine this:
- The pumpkin was grown in my county, compared to Libby's, which was most likely grown in Illinois. So less oil was used in transportation, with fewer greenhouse gasses put into the air.
- There was no packaging involved in my pumpkin, saving paper, metal, and plastic.
- While the pumpkin wasn't organic, I know this farm tries not to use pesticides. And since it's not a factory farm, there's a smaller chance of disease and contamination.
- The money stays in my community. I'm not paying Nestle (the parent company of Libby's). I'm not supporting Walmart. I'm helping a local family and the college kids that work for them.
- Finally: it's cheaper! Seven pumpkins =$7 saved for practically no work! How can you go wrong with that?
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Goal for August - Just One Makes a Difference
I'm about a week late on my goals, but that's okay. My new goal for August is getting 30 mpg in my wagon, as opposed to the 29 mpg I get now. It seems a really strange goal, but that would give me another 11 miles to drive before fill ups. That one mpg difference saves me $1.28 each fill up, or about $7 per month.
How Will This Work?
Slow down. Since I live in the metropolitan area of not one but two major cities, I have a lead foot. I must admit that I regularly travel 15 mph over the speed limit. I've tried a number of times to slow down, but my speed always creeps up.
Better maintain the car. My brother taught new how to change my oil... 8,000 miles ago. I am more than due for another change. This one will be all on my own. I'll actually post on this when I do it.
No more idling. Miss F has always fallen asleep in the car on the way home from my stroller-based exercise class. No one ever wakes a sleeping baby, so I often sit in the car with her in my driveway, sometimes leaving her there while I pick weeds in the front yard. Once it started getting warm out, I worried abut those stories about babies dying in hot cars. So I'd let the car idle with the air on. It was a lovely side effect that she'd stay asleep longer when idling than when just sitting. Since the weather is unseasonably cool, I'm now turning the car off and opening the window. I won't leave her alone anymore so that I can monitor the temperature.
Drive like there's an egg on the pedal. My dad taught me this when I first learned to drive, but I blew it off once I became more confident. By driving this way, you're less likely to accelerate and brake hard. Fewer changes in speed equals less gas consumption.
Fill up at halfway empty rather than waiting for the light. There are mixed thoughts on whether the level of gasoline in your tank affects your mpg. But it's irresponsible of me to transport a baby in a car whose emergency gas light is frequently on. So if it helps my mpg, great, but it's not my major motivation.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
"Can Do": Overcoming Canning Fears
I have a very hard time canning because I have a small kitchen and no dishwasher. But I desperately want to have the shelves lined with gorgeous home-processed canned goods. Every time I get large quantities of food, I end up vacuum sealing it and freezing it because it's easier than sterilizing jars, filling the canner, finding unused lids, and processing the jars.
But now we have a cow coming in. My freezer is FULL. I have no room for the meat we're about to pick up. So I put my big girl pants on and got to canning. I started out easy, with half of a bushel of peaches. They were on the seconds rack at our farm market. I only lost four or five out of the whole batch to mold, which is a big deal for me.
I also reprocessed the strawberry preserves that I had made. It didn't have enough pectin the first time around.
Canning those were so easy, that I asked my brother to pick up some more peaches.
With 16 quarts of peaches under my belt, I moved to tackle a big fear and source of anxiety: pressure canning. My mom gave me her old Mirro pressure canner a while back. It has a weight instead of a gauge, and I had no idea what I was doing. But I consulted the internet and my Ball canning book, and voila!
There are still some green beans in the fridge from the half bushel I bought. I think that 6 quarts is enough for storage (for now) and that these will become ham and green beans for an easy dinner.
But now we have a cow coming in. My freezer is FULL. I have no room for the meat we're about to pick up. So I put my big girl pants on and got to canning. I started out easy, with half of a bushel of peaches. They were on the seconds rack at our farm market. I only lost four or five out of the whole batch to mold, which is a big deal for me.
I also reprocessed the strawberry preserves that I had made. It didn't have enough pectin the first time around.
Canning those were so easy, that I asked my brother to pick up some more peaches.
With 16 quarts of peaches under my belt, I moved to tackle a big fear and source of anxiety: pressure canning. My mom gave me her old Mirro pressure canner a while back. It has a weight instead of a gauge, and I had no idea what I was doing. But I consulted the internet and my Ball canning book, and voila!
There are still some green beans in the fridge from the half bushel I bought. I think that 6 quarts is enough for storage (for now) and that these will become ham and green beans for an easy dinner.
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