October shopping plans

                                        Jack Wee be littles from the Amish produce auction.

This is what I want to shop for....with acknowledgement that it's going to depend on if there is money to buy it.

Since I will go back to baking most of our breads and stuff I need to restock the supplies. I had quit, didn't see the point with just the two of us and neither of us big bread eaters but that was one thing that was put in to my diet by the GI specialist, it just can't be whole grain. I do eat oatmeal without issues so I can make oatmeal bread (cook oatmeal first , Mary at Owlhaven recipe).Hubby eats bagels weekly and both of us eat English muffins. I just need space in the freezer to split it up so it doesn't start going bad (no preservatives so you have to eat it now)go into the dogs mouths as treats. LOL

Sam's Club: Dog food and carrots. I will walk the whole store to see if there is anything else but I pretty much already picked up the baking supplies. Might get oil for the deep fryers as Hubby deep fries our turkeys ever since the house burnt a month before Thanksgiving . I used the church kitchen to make the rest of the dinner and we had it in a house with the dining room and kitchen torn apart.THANKFUL we were all okay.

King Arthur Flour or Amish country store (no shipping and usually better priced): caramel coloring,asorbic acid,citric acid,pretzel salt,non-diastatic and diastatic malt,barley malt,baker's ammonia,Vietnamese cinn, cinn baking chips,vanilla bean paste,lemon juice powder, lime juice powder, orange citrus oil, boiled cider, dried buttermilk ,rye bread improver,easy roll dough improver,pizza dough flavor,special dry milk,deli rye flour, rye flour,pasta blend flour or semolina and durum flour(this is only for Thanksgiving noodles otherwise I use regular all purpose, this blend holds up better to sitting in crock pots through the day),fruit blend (KAF) Hubby prefers this in his granola bars and oatmeal. and sticky bun sugar.

Dollar stores etc. Candy that I can use for Christmas goodies along with tape and paper to wrap with odds and ends for presents.

Wagner's or Walter's butcher shop for sausage patties(by the case) smoked sausage (by the case) canned pork,canned beef and canned chicken . Both places butcher their own meat and can it so I know what is in it and where the meat is from. I will also buy dried beef in the jar. We use it at Thanksgiving for dried beef pickles and I use it for gravy and cheese balls through the winter and lard.

Amazon is been my best price for dog treats, (yeah I know I shouldn't but I do) I always check sales and coupons before I order.

Other groceries will be eggs (I'll use 20 dozen at Thanksgiving and another 20 dozen at Christmas) Crisco for sugar cookies and butter for baking. I need crushed pineapple, chunk pineapples and pineapple rings, yellow wax beans ( or 3 bean salad Hubby eats through the winter), yellow and white hominy, kraut, I need a bit more ginger root also. Storage needs sweet potatoes, white potatoes, apples ( citrus is Dec) and I will pick up celery, fresh mushrooms (if on sale and I have coupon) and colored bell peppers (I can't eat the green ones). I might get more beets depending on price as I would like to make beet chutney and beet chips.

We'll see how it goes.
Blessed be

Game Plan

This corn is now off in the fields around us.Depending on which way I look there are spots I can see 2 miles away. It's also the reminder that it's time to bring the harvest in and it's going to get colder here. I've seen that happen in a matter of days and since I am very limited with activities of anything that uses my core at the moment (okay probably a month or so) I am going to have to work smarter than harder.I am trying to work an hour and then rest 2 hrs. Some days if I have doctor appts etc I can only do 30 mins and I am done for the day. Immunity system is shot along with malnutrition now that I couldn't eat for over a week. I remember it's been worse before and I got through it, I will do the same again with my faith holding me tight.

We have started getting the medical bills in from where I was in the hospital (over $22000 so far and I've already made arrangements to get discount and payments on our share of the bill). I know there will be at least 5 more as I was in to the primary doctor yesterday and he ran more tests because I still have the urinary tract infection that didn't get cured while in the hospital for my Crohn's. I am thankful for health ins through Hubby's work, it's really good ins but as we all know ...it doesn't cover everything. PLUS he was off almost 10 days due to him being sick which means the paycheck won't have the extra $ of his shift/position etc , just basic hour wage, which we are grateful for because I have kids that don't even get that. The saving acct took a big hit.

SO working smarter.....house has to winterized BEFORE it hits (lesson learned) and the last of the gardens have to be taken care/processed and stored along  with planting the fall garlic and onions.

I need to start Thanksgiving prep and Christmas gifts/cookies/candy.

I paid the bills, looked at what was left and we decided that we had enough to take everything, clothes,bedding we are using, winter clothes, winter bedding and all the curtains (warm and cold weather) to the laundromat. Thankfully I used vacuum bags to store the winter coats or that would have been another 3 loads. I can use the clothes line and my dryer to dry, though we might use the laundromat to dry the pillows while the other stuff is washing. I will put them in first to make that happen.That will pretty much wipe me out physically for a day or so but it will be done. I can wash/caulk/tape/plastic what ever is needed on the windows as I rehang the curtains in the next couple weeks. Like one set a day or so.

We put some corner round in the one upstairs bedroom that needs caulked as I could feel a bit of a breeze today when taking the curtains down. Drafty old farm house LOL.

I plan to make the noodles this month and drying them for Thanksgiving dinner.I got medium eggs on sale for 48¢ a dozen. I use large to bake with but medium is fine for egg sandwiches,deviled eggs, noodle making etc.I'll use my Kitchen aid mixer and attachments to make the noodles instead of doing it by hand.

We hit the candy sale at the local store and got some of what we needed for Christmas on sale half price.I have a couple more stores I want to check on to see if I can get a few more things.I am making my own tags.We are still changing some of the ideas as we run across things that would be just as cheerful and yet less expensive for us. I need to finish painting the craft room (4 hrs left to finish) and set it up so I can work on this and not having it sprawling across the dining table.

I am harvesting/processing something every day. Dehydrator is cranking 24 hrs pretty much. I have finished all the herbs unless I find some basil in the north gardens. I'll check that tonight when this last batch is done.I would like to be able to can in the evenings after dinner but by time that comes around I am pretty wiped back out.

I am picking and choosing to what I can sacrifice if I have to let something go. I give it away most times, still there are times it doesn't get taken. It becomes compost in the fields. Feeds the critters that I don't want in my house AKA field mice. And speaking of field mice I will have to put out the bait for them in the basement and crawl spaces. Right now with it being warm and the cattle having corn in the barn and the gardens still producing they won't come in, get a nice cold snap and they will try to move in.

Do you prepare for cold weather ?