Stock Up Alert!

                                     FYI--Meijer has Blackberries on sale this week 2/$1!!   Great to flash freeze and for jam making!  They also have a great 10 for $10 get the 11th free sale going on this week!

Blessings,
Lisa

My Frugal Accomplishments This Past Week

Good Morning Everyone!

Last week I packed my lunch 4 days out of five.  I wish I had packed all five work days, but oh well, I’ll try harder this week!  

  I was able to keep the air conditioner off pretty much most of the week—we’ve had cool nights and warm days so hopefully we can take the a/c units out of the windows next week. Yes….lower electric bills!

  I have purchased white fleece for extra insulation on our windows.  I hope to get the panels made by the first of November. The panels will be hung on 2 tension rods inside the window frame in  hopes of  keeping the bedrooms warmer this winter!

  My uncle was sweet enough to plant several rows of half runner beans for me so my youngest and I went and picked beans for hours on Saturday.  Let me tell you, I am feeling it today!  I am so sore!  I enlisted my DH’s help in breaking and stringing them on Sunday as we watched the Bengals almost lose the game—almost!  Only got about half of them broken but I put the first bunch in the crockpot.  Yummy green beans, ham and potatoes for supper!  I will be canning tonight and my Mom is going to help me break and freeze the rest. Thanks Uncle Howard!

  We had one meatless meal this week—red beans and rice. While this I not Tom’s favorite meal, he ate it!  Grumbled a bit, but he ate it!  I am trying to make at least one meatless supper per week.  After Tom gets used to it I am going to try and increase this to 2 per week.  Wish me luck!  Lol!!

  What have you done to save money this week?  Please share in the comments—I love to hear from my blogging friends!

Blessings,

Lisa

Want a garden or a bigger garden? Get started now!

                                                           

      With the world in the shape it is in, I want to try to be more self- sufficient.  What about you?  Do you want to be totally dependent on the grocery stores for your food?  In an emergency, do you want to wait for the Government to rescue you? What would it hurt to grow more of your own food?  It would be so much healthier and cheaper to grow your own food and make you feel more secure in the event of a job loss or even in an emergency situation.

    So how can you grow more of your own food?  Well, if you are in an apartment, grow in planters in the window or on your balcony or deck.  Many veggies can be grown in containers-there is even a new Deck Corn seed available at Burpee!  Carrots, radish, lettuce, and spinach are also great container plantings!

    If you have a yard, put space to productive use instead of just having water guzzling grass. You will have less grass to mow and have more homegrown food.  No tiller—no problem!  Lasagna or layered beds are so easy!  Just cover the ground with layers and layers of wet newspaper, then layer straw, compost, leaves, grass clippings, egg shells, and dirt on top.  Then voila!  You have a bed of great soil to use in the Spring for growing your own veggies! 

    Plant dwarf fruit trees in your front yard.  Just mulch around them and landscape with flowers or more fruit bushes like blueberries. Plant perennial rhubarb in a flower bed—it will provide beautiful color and valuable food for the family. Love Rhubarb and Strawberry Pie!  Plant Strawberry plants in a flower bed—ground cover with a fruit bonus!  Plant peas along a fence for a ready- made trellis for them to grow on.  You are limited only by your imagination(and maybe zoning rules but that is a story for another day!)  Get creative and grow more goodness for your family!

   I challenge you to grow more of your own food for your family!  If you already garden, increase the size of your garden. If you garden now then get chickens or rabbits to provide eggs, food, and manure to help with garden production.  We can make a difference in our families’ lives, both health wise and budget wise so start preparing now to have more garden space next Spring!

Come on, Let’s Grow Girls!

Garden Blessings to you all,

Lisa

Puttin' Up!!

Puttin' up!!  That's right, I made  apple butter, sugar free applesauce, beef stew, and swiss steak! All in one day!   Here are pics from my adventures:

                                                    Applesauce and apple butter supplies.

This is my least favorite thing!   I think I need a new food mill!

Apple butter simmering in the crock pot.  I let it reduce all night!

Sugar free applesauce!

Prepping stew veggies,  I found cut up celery and carrots on markdown! See them in the top left corner. So I  cheated a little-I won't tell if you won't!

I found my round steak on mark down that morning.  Couldn't pass it up!

;

My bounty for about 6 hours work! Doesn't seem like much but I guess I  am slow at canning!!

Oh well, it sure will taste good later this year!!

Home Canned Blessings,

Lisa

7 Super Foods for your Health

Everyone wants the best nutrition possible for their family.  

After searching for nutritious food for my family, I found a list of 7 Super Foods!

Here is the list of super foods that I am trying to incorporate more of into my family’s meals:

·         Salmon or Tuna                                                                                                               

·         Yogurt –Homemade

·         Nuts

·         Dark green leafy vegetables

·         Beans

·         Oats

·         Blueberries 

I am really glad to see that beans and oats are on the list.  Both can be bought in bulk and are very reasonably priced.  Healthy and cheap—that’s a win- win for sure!

Homemade yogurt is another great item on the list.  All of the flora and fauna in yogurt are so very good for you!

I have been incorporating more nuts and oats into our diet via my homemade granola.  Yummy!

We have spinach salad every week or so and I have purchased dried spinach from San Francisco Herb and use it in lots of meals like spaghetti sauce, and soups, etc.

We eat lots of tuna in the summer in sandwiches and I make tuna croquets in the fall and winter so we get our fishy nutrition.  We are not big seafood eaters so this is how I get fish into our diet.

 

Blueberries are great in muffins and very easy to freeze --post on this coming soon.

  So Getting these super foods into your family’s diet isn’t very difficult and it is not very expensive either. Do you try to  incorporate these frugal super foods in your diet?

Nutritious blessings,

Lisa

 

 

 

Look What Came for Me Today!

Look at what came in the mail for me today!

 

 

 

 My buckets and gamma lids!!! 

 

I can now store my 25lb. bag of flour in there!! 

 

 Next on my list to buy in bulk is oatmeal! What do you buy in bulk? 

 

Bulk Blessings to you all.

Lisa

Bye-bye Coupons, Hello Sam’s Club

Coupons in my area are getting harder and harder to use—stores are no longer doubling them so I need to explore more ways to save money in my food budget.

I am not brokenhearted about the coupon issues because most of the coupons are for overly processed foods and I would like to get away from those. Bulk buying is my plan.  I didn’t have a Sam’s card before, and azure standard isn’t an option so my options on bulk buying were limited until my DS#1 asked me if I would like a Sam’s Club Membership.  He works at Wally world and they will payroll deduct the membership fee. Yippee!  I cannot wait to buy in bulk.

Now, you may be thinking about storage.  I know I was so I went online to USA

Emergency Supply and ordered my buckets with the reseable gamma lids.  I want to start out slowly—cannot afford to go whole hog at the moment buying many buckets and lids-so I just bought 2 of each.  I am thinking one for bread flour(since I am wanting to bake all of our bread) and one for oatmeal.   If using these goes well, I will try to get 2 more next month--One for pinto beans and one for sugar.

   Here is the link to the site where I ordered mine: https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/emergency_supplies/gamma_seal_lid.htm

I am not affiliated with this company—just where I found my lids and buckets.

I hesitated to buy the mylar bags and the oxygen absorbers because I am not ready to try long term food storage just yet.  Can anyone weigh in on how long oats and flour would last in the buckets with only the lids and not the bags and oxygen absorbers? I have a family of 5 adults in my house and I think I will able to use the bulk food up before it would spoil.   Any help would be appreciated!

Bulk Blessing to you all,

Lisa

 

 

 

 

Homemade Granola

We love granola at our house so I started looking for an easy granola recipe.  I found several that I liked but tweeked them to my taste.  Here is what I came up with:

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup nuts(your choice but we are partial to walnuts)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey or 1/2 cup sugar in the raw
1/2 cup of wheat germ
1/2 cup raisins or craisins
1/2 cup chopped dates

Melt butter and add honey.  Add oats,wheat germ, sunflower seeds, nuts and coconut into a large bowl. Mix all together then add melted butter and honey. Stir together then pour onto a greased pan.

Bake at 250 for 40-45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes until golden brown.  Let oat/nut mixture cool then add raisins, craisins, and dates. Keep in a sealed container.  Use within 3 weeks.  Perfect with milk for cereal or to eat with yogurt. 

Crunchy Blessings to you all,
Lisa

Frugal Salad Dressing Mix

Hello ,
  Today I would like to share a salad dressing mix to make fresh frugal salad dressing for your family.   I have been looking for simple dressing recipes and here is one I love.  Very simple and easy to make!
Parmesan Herb Salad Dressing Mix      

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon coarse ground pepper

Mix all and put into a jar or baggie. You can double or triple the recipe and store.

To make salad dressing:Place 1/2 cup good quality olive oil into a jar.
Add 1/4 cup cider vinegar.
Add 1 Tablespoon (or more to taste)seasonings mix
Place lid on jar and shake until blended.
Makes 3/4 cup salad dressing.
I hope yopu enjoy this easy homemade salad dressing. This sure beats the chemical laden junk from the grocery!

Herbal Blessings,
Lisa

My Pantry, It is a Changing!

Hello all,

  I hope this post finds everyone well and happy today!  In the past I have very proudly showed off pics of my pantry stash full of goodies I have picked up cheaply on sale or using coupons.
See what I mean!  LOOK AT ALL OF THAT PROCESSED FOOD! Lots of processed food products. Lots of additives and chemicals.  
  I guess some (processed) food is better than none!  But I wanted to help my family start to eat better. So I started to can some jams and jellies.  I was hooked on canning.  Then I got a dehydrator and loved using that.  Now I have gotten my own pressure canner and I am loving it!!  I have been processing my own food-sans the additives  and chemicals.
So, here is a pic of my pantry now.

Can you see the difference?  I know, I know, there are still some processed foods but there are many more home canned items on my shelves! Yippe for me!!  I absolutely love canning my own food.  I have canned dried beans, beef stew, jams and jellies, green beans and potatoes.  I cannot wait to can more!   Soups, broth, and canned meats are in my future!

What have you canned for your pantry lately?

 Home canned blessings to you all,

Lisa

Breaking out my new Pressure Canner

I bit the bullet and ordered a new pressure canner.  I have thought long and hard about this because my mom let me have her old one. I really didn't want to spend the money on a new one because they say they last for ages and ages.  I didn't have the manual, plus I couldn't find a model number to order the correct gasket, and the thing is avacado green!   I really am afraid of using the old one and I really want to start canning a ton of stuff.  So..... I ordered a new one!  After using it today, I am so happy that I went ahead and got a new one.  I had no trouble what so ever with it.  I canned 7 quarts of dried beans and 7 quarts of beef stew. Wow,  that is a bunch to go in my pantry! 

Can you tell which batch I forgot to add vineger to the canner?

The beans!

My beef stew. Thickener is added when you heat the stew--it doesn't hold up in the canner.

Puttin' up Blessings,
Lisa

Deal of the Week

My local grocery had 2 crates of pie pumpkins on sale for 50 cents each!! Guess what I am going to be doing?  You guessed it.....making pumpkin puree and pumpkin butter!

These will make some awesome pumpkin pies and pumpkin butter is like fall in a jar!  Yummy!

Autumn Blessings,
Lisa

Ps. I you want to learn an easy way to ,make the pumpkin puree see this page: http://herbandbotanicals.blogspot.com/2011/11/pumpkin-puree.html

Great deal on peppers to dry!

Today I found a great brgain at our local Meijer--I bought 9 green peppers for just $2.84.  They were in the reduces section but were still in good shape!  I bought them up and am drying them to use later.
     I am using my Nesco dehydrator and I just love it. Here are pics of the process:

Here are the last 4 of them--I started before taking pics!

                       Wash and slice them into skinny strips.  Don't you just love my knife! 

Place on drying racks.

Put lid/fan on and set to 145 degrees and plug in for about 8-10 hours.

 

Viola!  Dried peppers to use all winter long!

 

Blessings,

Lisa

 

 

Jelly Making Time again!

Guess what I did this weekend!  That's right.....made three batches of jelly/jam. 2 Grape jelly and one small batch of raspberry jam.  I had several more jars than in the above pic but I gave a jar to each of  my Aunts.  I love being able to share my jams and jellies and plan on using some for Christmas gifts.    

I just love giving homemade gifts at Christmas don't you?
Blessings,
Lisa

Healthy Chicken Salad--Whole Foods Recipe!

In my quest to find healthier alternatives for overprocessed foods, I have found a replacement for mayonaise or salad dressing--Greek yoghurt!.  My family loves chicken salad and tuna salad but I hate the fact that they contain mayo or salad dressing. By substituting Greek yoghurt I can make my Chicken salad and tuna salad much better for us. Yippee!

Here is a great rcipe for healthier chicken salad:

       

·         1 cup  Greek yoghurt

·         4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

·         6 teaspoons honey

·         Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste           

·         2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

·         3/4 cup pecan pieces, toasted

·         2 cups red seedless grapes sliced in half

·         3 stalks celery, diced small

·         Fresh mint to garnish

Method: 

In a bowl, combine yoghurt, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to dress the salad. This can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place the chicken breasts in one layer in a baking dish with 1/2 cup water. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes until completely cooked through. Remove cooked chicken breasts from pan, cool at room temperature for 10 minutes, then cover and refrigerate.

When the chicken is cold, dice into bite-size chunks and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in pecans, grapes, celery and dressing. Sprinkle chopped fresh mint to garnish.  Awesome served plated with fresh cantaloupe!

Nutritional Info: 

Enjoy!

Blessings,

Lisa

My Whole Foods Journey---Continued!

Last year I started a whole foods journey for my family.  I was buying more raw foods and less processed foods.  Then life happened and I hit rock bottom with my depression and stopped trying to improve our diets.  It was all I could do to make it to work and come home and function. I didn’t care about improving my diet—quite frankly I didn’t care if I lived or died-so our diet was no big thing to me at that time.  Well, after living under a black cloud, the sun has started to shine in my life. A med change helped bring that about…I won’t lie!

So I want to continue my whole foods journey.  I purchased a dehydrator that I have been putting to very good use and have conquered my fear of the pressure canner. With these tools I can easily “Put Up“  many whole foods for convenient future use. 

I plan on only shopping the outer aisles of the Market, using more whole wheat flour, and using up the processed foods in my stash(we cannot afford not to).  I have been making all of our jelly for the last several years and that is one item we have stopped using from the market.  My husband is addicted to his diet Coke so I am going to attempt to make tea and keep it in the frig for him so we can stop buying this. This is going to be a slow process let me tell you!  I have been buying honey from a local farmer and plan on continuing this—in addition I want to phase out using so much white sugar. I want to start substituting honey in my baking.  The muffin recipe I posted yesterday can be adapted to use honey.  I am diabetic so I have to watch my carbs but I feel using natural products in moderation is better than using artificial sweeteners.

So here are my goals for the week:

1.       Only buy fruits, veggies, meat and dairy products at the market.

2.       Plan simpler meals.

3.       Make a pitcher of Tea each night.

4.       Plan one meatless meal.

5.       Find one sale item to can or dry for my stash.

6.       Use honey or sugar in the raw for sweetener only.

Wow, let the WF journey begin……again!

Blessings,

Lisa

"Puttin' Up" as My Grandma Used To Say

         What happens when you are so blessedly given green beans and tomatos?  You put them Up! At least thats what my Grandma used to call it.   Yup, my Uncle H gave me 1.5 bushels of green beans( I was happy to help pick them) and 1.5 bushels of tomatos. Well,  I had never picked beans before and let me tell you it was an experience-- I was and am still so sore from bending over and picking beans.  We did use little chairs to sit on so I guess it could have been worse but my legs and back are killing me not to mention the chiggers all over my arms.   Please remember I sit at a desk 40 hours a week and am not used to picking beans!!  It's ok....you can laugh... with me that is!

  But back to Puttin' Up.  I was able to get 12 quarts and 3 pints of tomatos and 16 quarts of beans canned or Put Up this weekend. 
   I know to some of you that doesn't sound like much but it is the most I have ever accomplished in the canning department.  I mastered the pressure canner(an avocado green monstrosity from Sears and Roebuck from the 70's) that my mom gave me!  This goal has been on my list of skills to learn for over a year so that was a huge accomplishment.  I have put off learning because I was afraid--you know you have heard all of those stories about the canners blowing up. It is so easy though.

  So here are pics of my labor over Labor Day
weekend:                         

 

Oh and I dried banannas in the dehydrator. You can see the finished product in the above pic to the left of the beans on my island. Here they are in the dehydrator.

 

 

Did you know canning is addictive?  I am totally hooked.  Last night(after puttin' up beans most of the day, I was itching to can something else.  It's so fulfilling you know!  So I decided to can some of the 25lbs. of potatos I bought on sale last weekend. 

 I am addicted, I admit it freely!

So I did manage to Put Up quite a bit (for me at least).  What's canning in your kitchen?

Blessings,
Lisa

 

 

 

 

Drying more of your pantry stash!

   Recently there have been very severe storms here and we have lost power several times.  This has had me thinking that I have most of my food storage in freezers.  Freezers that run on electricity.  Freezers full of food that could be lost in an extended power outage. So, I decided to try to dry more food so that in an emergency we wouldn't lose as much of our stash.  I realize the dehydrator takes electric to dry the food but the freezer costs much more to store your foods.

   So, for the last few weeks I have been putting my dehydrator to good use.  I have been trying to empty out my freezers a bit to make room for meats and I had several bags of frozen peas and carrots Did you know you can dry frozen peas and carrots?   It's awesome!  No prep work needed!  Perfect for busy moms!  Drying them is the easiest thing in the world--just let them thaw and then place them on your dehydrator racks and dry on 135 degrees for 6 or so hours.    When they have cooled down, just  put in glass jars to store.  See, I told you, easy peasy!  When they go on sale at the super market. do not freeze them--dry them!!

 

Peas and carrots almost done!

I also picked up some mushrooms reduced at the market.

This is 2 small containers of sliced mushrooms.  Easy peasy as well--no prep required!

I sliced a pound of shortcut carrots I found on sale--this is what they shrunk down to!


   Drying your foods is a great way to preserve your stash.  Now it can be done with no prep needed at all.  It's a win -win! Saves time and money!

Blessings,
Lisa

 



Whole Foods Pantry Journey!

Well, last week my $10 purchase was dried milk powder.  That makes beans, rice, and dried milk powder  that has been added to my wfp.  I have considered getting a grain mill and buying wheat but right now I do not think that would be feasible.  If I were a stay at home Mom/wife I would do this in a heart beat, but I work full time and have a disabled husband that requires lots of care so I really do not think I would use the grain mill enough to justify buying it. One of these years I may change my mind but not now!
So what else can I stock up in my wfp?  Natural sweetners!  I want to try Agave Nectar, and sucanet.
Honey, an old stand by,  is also on my list! I still have some refined white sugar but in the future I will be buying natural sweetners.
What have you stocked up on this week?

Blessings,
Lisa

Whole Foods Pantry Journey

Last week’s pantry purchase was $10 worth of rice. This week’s purchase ( I am building my whole foods pantry using $10 a week) is going to be dried milk.  I will be buying $10 worth of dried milk for my pantry stash. I now have Pinto beans, Brown rice, and dried milk powder in addition to the  quart jar of dried organic mushrooms, and 10 containers of oatmeal I had before starting this whole foods journey. I do have 20 regular jars of peanut butter stocked up—it’s not natural whole food PB, but I have to use what I have!  

Here are my purchases so far in my WF Pantry Stash! 

Today I am cooking a huge pot of northern beans for two meals to serve this week.  My family loves White Chicken Chili and  Bean Soup.  I have the recipes for both posted in the recipe tab if you are interested.  Since I am cooking my beans first, just sub the beans for the canned beans in the chili recipe and I am not using the crock pot for the bean soup--just cooking the bean soup on the stove top.   These recipes are very easy to adjust to your family's tastes.

Blessings,

Lisa