Saturday..in the kitchen

This is 2/3rds of the 65 lb pumpkin that cost us $1 this past fall.Hubby whacked into pieces for me this morning. The first 3rd is already in the oven roasting. I already roasted the seeds, got about 1 quart, for Hubby to snack on. When the pumpkin comes out of the oven I will put the pulp into the dehydrators and but another section in the oven. I have found that even though it takes more time to do pumpkins this way, I save more room in the pantry, save on the amount of canning jars I have to use and don't waste pumpkin because I had to open a half pint when I only needed a couple tablespoons for something. The last batch of pumpkins was 50 lbs total and I ended up with 1 1/2 quarts of powdered pumpkin when I was done. WHICH is now gone.I have another 50 lbs of pumpkin in the butler's pantry to do also. Another $1 buy that will provide many meals.

I finished the last of the apples we had stored from fall, they are now apple butter and apple jelly that I made from the peels and cores of the apples.

With the price of food going up and our budget for food going down. I am really going to have to put extra effort in stretching it as far as it can go.Not just focus of using from the pantry but stretching that pantry farther than I originally planned.

When I am preserving from our gardens I figure for it to last 2 years, just in case the next year is a bad harvest. Have dealt with that before.After a talk with my Dad, I have decided to focus more on 3 years and using heirloom seeds to gather my own seeds and not have to spend so much money on seeds. I don't do very well on raising plants. Still going to try to do some of the seeds. I don't have a place that is warm and gets a lot of light and can't afford to run the electric bill up to grow seeds. I do have a produce auction that also sells plants through the spring to late summer so I will put money back for that.

I ordered seeds for spring planting, checked out all the places I ordered and the best deals and then ordered for the spring planting. I can do the summer seeds order when I get the money up. I listed prices so I know how much I need to save up.

I am have selected more of the veggies that was in the Victory Gardens in this area.

Last night we had tuna noodle casserole with peas for dinner and homemade rolls.

I was going to have baked acorn squash stuffed with sausage but with the pumpkin still taking up the whole oven for a few more hours I am going to pancakes,eggs and bacon and Hubby can take leftovers to work for his lunch.

Meantime it's back to the pumpkin as the timer is buzzing to let me know to put the next part in.

Blessed be