Being Frugal when ill

It's very hard to do any kind of work when you spend 2-3 times a day with a sever nose bleed. Seeing ENT doctor today with hopefully a solution to the problem. Our humidity is at 45-50% so it's not dry air or blood thinners as I haven't been on them for a year.I am looking forward to answers, I am not looking forward to a very painful exam.

So in the last month what I have done to be frugal  is the following

Groceries came in $14.39 over budget.I need to focus on coupons and sales better for non food things. WHICH is pretty well stocked up except for the dogs stuff. I saved the average of 16.11% Goal is to be closer to 25% AND under budget.

We needed clothes...I've been hitting the thrift shops but not finding anything in our size or what we would wear. I'm looking at 60 and don't want to look like I am wearing something that belongs to my granddaughters.It's been almost 5 yrs since we bought new clothes beyond underclothes and socks and I wasn't looking forward to doing it. A friend clued me into retailmenot and freeshipping. Pretty much set for the next 3-5 yrs (HA HA) except for pants for Hubby (short legged) and pants/shorts/skorts for me. I got a lead on a pattern for skorts so I might end up making my own unless I take my favorite skort apart for a pattern. End savings for for clothes 76%...yes really I shopped clearances and sales, used discounts  and freeshipping. NOT only that but actually found tanks that I LOVE instead of just taking what I can find at the price I am willing to pay AND they were cheaper than what I usually spend. Kohls and Walmart online were the best I got. IT was even cheaper than the thrift store on some things.

I sorted the pantry, have one area yet to go through. Found I had things I needed to use up and some that needed to go on the list to buy when it goes on sale.

I saved a repair call , we have a frig that will freeze up a couple times a year, the repairman that is a friend said it's a character fault of the beast. Since I really like my frig and don't want to replace it , he showed me how to deal with it and save a $100 repair bill. While dealing with this I cleaned it very well and reorganized it so I had a place to put a container of fruit, a container of potatoes cooked for home fries and a half sheet with lid for when I make 1 sheet pan meals and want to prep in the morning.I put condiments together in bins also.

I decluttered 2 rooms (300 sq ft) and hauled it to the kids that wanted it. The plan is to only be using 1200 sq ft in this house by the end of summer so we can adjust to a smaller home when Hubby retires in 3 yrs.  I didn't have to pay for it to be hauled away AND I got to visit with the kids and grandkids.

We decided to try straw bale gardening this yr and give our north garden a rest. Plus with the way my health has been, it should be easier for Hubby to maintain if I go down,again, some more, what ever.
Bales were running around $4.25 so after putting it out we were looking for around 36 bales a friend offered to sell what he isn't going to use for $2 a bale.

Hope you are having a  Blessed Month

Frugal things I did this week 2.1.2016 thru2.7.2016

On the first, we went to the local store. Every few months they send out coupons that are good for certain weeks. I try to go on Monday when it starts.  While I was gathering the items with the coupons and checking sales on meat (frozen chicken breast was $2.33, cheapest I've seen in several months and we have been out for quite awhile now PLUS ground beef 80/20 was on sale for $2.88 where it's been running around $5.39)...anyways...Hubby always checks the discount carts...most time this is very good and being frugal...Monday not as much as it should have been as he picked up  11 different breads and 3 different cakes. Neither of us eat a lot of bread let cake. SINCE they were discounted they aren't going to last long and I specified we didn't have freezer room or frig room for much....SIGH. BUT I won't argue with him over such things in the store.

Still he saved me several hours of bread making and desserts and has came up with ideas and even a couple recipes to use it up. He saved $48.32 on all of it. We lost one loaf (so it's $46.33) savings. He had sat it on the dining table in the sun light and with being in plastic it produced moisture and then molded by the next afternoon.  Now he understand what I don't let much of any food sit on the dining table.I had moved it back to the kitchen twice and he moved it back.

We got gas for his truck using our fuel rewards from the store and saved 50¢ a gal.

I did our taxes online instead of going to the local office which saved us over $200. I was a bit  worried even though I used to work for H &R Block of doing it myself with all the new rules and such.

I found a cheaper place to get my printer ink (thanks to Jen),inkjetsuperstore.com and to check retailmenot.com  for the coupons first.

I made 1 lb of red beans into soup and made it last 3 meals. Soup,fried potatoes and onions and white corn bread. Beans and rice  and then beans and rice burritos for the last part. We ate odd and ends the rest of the week of things that needed used up ...like bacon (SMILE)

What did you do this past week to be frugal?

Blessed Be

February goals

To cut the non-food amt spent to 2/3 rds of what it is running now. I don't think we can get it any cheaper than that because of the softener salt and filter we have to buy being out in the boonies. Still I will try.

I am looking for a cheaper place to buy printer ink.

I will combine sales and coupons which I started this month.

We will eat from the pantry. January we ate out 4 times and I bought Chinese from the store (so I count that as eating out). We would like to bring that down to 3 ....as facing  Valentine's day  and our anniversary this month. I know we will eat at least once at the local restaurant for Lent as they have a great fish special on Fridays.

I put together a coupon book to keep better track of my coupons.I arranged it in the order of how I shop instead of alphabetical.

I downloaded a savings tracker http://thecouponproject.com/downloads/savings-tracker/

I am putting together a grocery price data workbook that will include my inventory. Goal is to buy at the cheapest and keep track of the inventory without going down and doing a count every month. Plus if possible (my friend that I call Guru) have place were it will let me know I should buy if on sale or a need now.

Hubby would like to retire in 3 yrs. So everything we do know needs to reflect that. Not only financially as in finishing off the last of the debt incurred when he went to 3 days a week for 2 yrs but in the home as of right now we rent a home of 2200 sq ft and use a 1 1/2 car garage, 2 stalls in the pig barn (no animals on the farm any more) and over half the farrowing house which would be 3 10x12 storage units. We want a  2-1/2 car garage and 1400 sq ft with a basement...lots to get rid off.

It's still too cold to plant here but I am hoping towards the end of the month I might be able to plant some lettuce and such in containers that I can cover when it's cold.

Blessed be

Frugal end of Jan

Looking back of the past month I see some improvement on being frugal.

I fixed a pair of pants.

I started 2 more sweet potatoes to make slips to plant this spring. The first two got nasty and had to be pitched. I've never had that happen before so I don't know what caused it.

I ordered the last of my seeds using coupons. I want to order candy onion sets from a local green house yet.I will most likely buy my spring plants from the Amish produce auction.

I combined sales with coupons to get a year's supply of vitamins and 6 mos supply of other vits that I have to take due to my Crohn's . Crohn's can stop you from getting nutrition from the food you eat.On top of I live in Ohio so my Vit D is low to begin with because we don't get the sunshine to keep it up.

I got my doctor to send my prescriptions to a mail order instead of the local pharmacy and saved there.

I baked bread so we didn't buy any.

I repaired my bread board that we use to cut the bread on.

I canned 7 quarts of applesauce and made 5-1/2 pints of apple butter out of the peelings and cores and then mixed the apple "juice" with the other juice we had in the frig.

We ate mostly from the pantry.

Blessed Be

End of Pantry Challenge 1.31.16

We didn't waste food and very little went to the compost also. We looked back and realized that we went from Dec 24th until today eating mostly from the pantry.

KEY WORD....MOSTLY...SIGH

Out of 5 weeks we ate out 4 times and I count the time I bought Chinese out of the freezer section as eating out since I normally make my own.

That's an average of once a week....

We ate once at Bob Evans as I had a coupon from them .Saved $9.47

We ate once at Perkins as I had a coupon from them for my bday .Saved $8.56

We bought take out at Davis meats (smoked rib lunch) that actually fed us 2 days.

We bought Al's pizza with a chef salad (and then I listened to my son lecture me about buying fast food that I can make at home) with the excuse we leaving the grocery store and very hungry and Hubby was going to already be  2 hrs late getting to bed so he could get his sleep in to go to work. That excuse didn't work with son HA HA.

I bought the Chinese at of the freezer section at store because I got sick while in the store and knew I wouldn't be cooking and I can eat Chinese when I am sick...

Two of the times we wouldn't have ate out if I hadn't had the coupons...

We were able to stock the staples back up because I wasn't buying much food beside perishables.

PLUS we were able to stock a lot of non-food up since "Food" money wasn't being used.

I also did a lot of use left overs for second and third round dishes that stretched the pantry...not that my pantry needs to stretch as I maintain a pantry to feed us at least a year if not pushing 18 months.

Blessed Be

Being frugal

We have been eating from the pantry mostly all this month.

I have changed my shopping to focus on using coupons with sales or mark downs. I have now started my routine "route" in the store at the clearance rack that is on the far side of the store.

I have a friend that is making me a grocery price sheet (he calls it a data base)that will also show me lowest paid and then will allow me to use it to make a running inventory of the pantry etc with a possible buy on sale and need to buy now spot on it for my grocery list. He is getting ready to retire in the next year and is looking at doing this kind of thing for individuals . Works for both of us.

I have dehydrated the last of the eggs except for what we will  use in the next month, if needed I will dehydrate more so we don't lose them. I used the dehydrated ones in my baking this week.

I've used mostly of what we have at home for fighting this sickies that we have been battling. I know I will have to be checking coupons and sales to replace what we have used up.

My doctor wanted me to see a specialist for nutrition other than the one that is local and Free for us, our ins would not pay it and the costs was hundreds. So the FREE nutritionist contacted the one the doctor wanted me to see and they suggested a study course. It usually runs around $500....that was on sale online for 50% off.Another nutritionist just happened to have the catalog with the code for 80% off and then I got additional 20% off the total because I ordered more than one course and it totaled over $100. I ordered courses (not covered by ins) that my two doctors have been wanting me to change my lifestyle to. Works better for me because now I don't have to drive 1 hr each way for the classes AND I have a DVD and book that I can use, not just a 4 week class of twice a week. I used the money we saved from eating from the pantry to pay for it.

I ordered the seeds I need for this year using sales and coupons. I have some of the lettuce seeds I gathered last year to replant this year.

Blessed Be

Day 25 of Pantry challenge

We have one more week from today of this challenge. I pretty much can say we will be eating out MAYBE tonight because we have a coupon for a free meal for one at the local restaurant due to my birthday last week and it expires tonight and we are next to nothing on the dog food. I think Rascal's ball is eating also since I find it in the bowl several times a day.

Other than that the menu is planned out.

Thoughts so far, I bought Chinese out of the grocery store freezer section when I first got sick (still am but getting better every day and I hope I didn't just jinx myself) I counted that the same as eating out because usually I make my own Chinese except egg rolls and pot stickers ...that's on my to learn list. We ate out after going to Sam's club to get baking supplies using a coupon for 50% off one meal , we used it at lunch and got the cheapest meals on the menu since we like everything there it wasn't a hardship at all. Last Friday we got take out after going to the store and running errands and found ourselves struggling to finish the errands...and BOTH of us was horribly sick. The local butcher shop smokes ribs on Friday for their lunch special, we got that and it fed us for 2 days, which we both spent covered up and hacking.

Lessons learned so far....when I am busy processing produce , we run for fast food, when I am sick we run for fast food, IF Hubby is sick, I make soup LOL....Taco Bells, Wendy's , Subway and pizza (with chef salad, we eat the salad BEFORE we eat the pizza)is our stand bys, sometimes it's fried chicken from a local restaurant (bets KFC ) though it doesn't beat Mel-O-Dee's in New Carlisle OH.

SO to combat that I now have sub buns and lunch meat in the freezer, taco supplies of assortment (Hubby is a crunch wrap and I am tostada,Mexican pizza, hard tacos, soft tacos, etc) Hamburger patties I formed and froze along with those buns. AND I dug out my Tightwad Gazette that has a  5 min pizza crust recipe. I can make the crusts in the morning and prebake( I prebake anyways) and just add the topping later that day.

For some reason we usually eat salad when out or ordering pizza but I struggle to put it on the table regularly. I think it's because we don't add the same ingredients to our salads. SO on that line I will be planning an area in the frig for "salad" toppings when the lettuce starts coming in a couple months from now.

What did I buy this month?

Dairy:Milk( on sale bought 2 times as much ), heavy cream( marked down), half and half (marked down), buttermilk (on sale),butter (OUCH), cottage cheese,yogurt,sour cream, some sliced cheese (that was half off for the freezer and frig).

Dry goods: tostadas(on sale),assorted sizes of tortilla wraps(coupons), Sub buns (coupon plus 50% off) hamburger buns (marked down, note this is now on my to make my own list).

Meat: bacon (coupons and marked down and on sale SCORE,) ground pork (coupon and marked down) bulk sausage( on sale and coupons).

Veggies: ice berg lettuce (cheapest), green onions, ( I use both green and white parts) celery, carrots, colored bell peppers (green one trigger my Crohn's)

Fruit: Avocados (on sale)

Stock up: 25 lbs of all purpose flour, 25 lbs of granulated sugar, 2 lbs of yeast, 13.5 lbs baking soda, 35 oz of corn starch, 60 oz of baking powder36 oz sea salt,2 gals of white vinegar, 1 gal of canola oil, 3 lts of olive oil, 5 lbs of yellow corn meal,25 lbs of parboiled rice, 8- 30.65 oz coffees (on sale and with coupon for each)4-6 lbs 9 oz (#10) cans of tomato sauce (on sale ...possible pasta sauce or pizza sauce), baker's special dry milk and easy roll dough improver.

What we saved on food , we spent of stocking up non food I now have enough laundry soap(well , the stuff to make the laundry soap) and dish soap to go a year. I have enough body soap, shampoo and conditioner, lotions, and dental items to go 6 mos.

There are things I see I need to be taking care of more (which being sick all winter and worse through this month isn't helping) and some things that just need to go away. I did quit buying Velveeta mac and cheese and Hubby has requested that it be stocked. He uses it like Hamburger helper when I am sick (NOW he tells me).

Blessed Be

sorry sick

and stuggling with it...be back as soon as I am able

Frugal things I did last week

I decluttered the master bedroom closet...you might have just went HUH? but by decluttering the closet I found extra clothes that had been bought on sale that had been forgotten about due to being in a box on the top shelf and was back on the to buy list.SO they got taken off the to buy list.

We ate from the pantry until the 7th...when I got a massive headache and thought I was coming down with the flu (that the neighbors had) in the middle of the store while shopping for non food items.  I bought Chinese out of the freezer section and we ate that and the leftover of it mixed with other leftovers until the 10th when I made potato soup.

I bought non-food items, with coupons matched to sales.Only 4 things didn't have coupons.

I got my Yukon Gold seed potatoes for the gardens ... actually I got 50 lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes for $10 at the Miami Valley Amish produce auction. It costs me $20 average for 10 seed potatoes at the nursery. I saved a lot of money by going this way and have Yukon Gold potatoes to eat at the same time.

I did the same to get my sweet potato slips (green shoot off sweet potato that you plant to grow more sweet potatoes) Slips cost $19 average(usually about 2 potatoes will make this) I got 10 lbs for $6  so we have sweet potatoes to eat also.

I got bananas (another auction item) for 35¢/ lb .Picked up 20 lbs, some to dehydrate, freeze, and eat.

I also got at the auction brown organic eggs...I've seen them for $4.36 a dozen at a couple stores locally. I bought 17 dozen at $2 a dozen. Several dozen will be dehydrated so later I can used dehydrated eggs and flour to make pasta and braided egg bread (fingers crossed I get around to the bread LOL)

We changed electric supplies and lowered the electric by almost 1 ¢ . Doesn't sound for much but that's about $12 a month.

I used Walmart's savings catcher and they found lower prices for the non food I bought so we have that small amt back.

Blessed be

Eating from the pantry Day 6

doing very well considering that yesterday I had a migraine and wasn't hardly up to eating let along cooking.

We ending up with me making grilled cheese and adding what ever we wanted from the frig to that meal and Hubby took leftovers from the last couple nights.

Tonight we are having Ruben Casserole and leftover mashed potatoes , tomorrow will be leftover casserole on bread for sandwiches with the possible apple salad.

Meantime I am checking the sales at the stores, going through the coupons to match the sales and then making my shopping list .

Blessed Be

Dehydrating Eggs for powered eggs.

Every January I have to deal with extra eggs that was bought for the cooking of Christmas and New Year's Eve. Most years I end up with bad eggs because I can't get them used up fast enough or even have to make a special trip to town because I didn't buy enough.

This year after reading "Food Storage: Preserving Meat, Dairy and Eggs" by Susan Gregersen and David Armstrong I started thinking about dehydrating my eggs and making powdered eggs.

Then I read Brandi's post over at www.theprudenthomemaker.com about her ordering powdered eggs and decide to try to make my own.

this is 4 eggs beaten and dehydrated at 135° for 8 hrs

then I ground it in my blender until it was powder

I then took 1 level tablespoon of powder and mixed it with 1 tablespoon water and stirred until the powder was dissolved and then let it rest for a minute.

I nuked it in my microwave for 30 seconds on full power.Looks just like scrambled egg.

It tasted like scrambled egg that I had cooked too long in the microwave so next time I'll try 20 seconds or 75% power.

Reality is I no longer with be tossing eggs that went bad before I can use them or making special trips to town to buy eggs for baking or scrambling.

BETTER is instead of getting this through Walmart (closest store that actually has it) for 56¢ a serving (one egg is a serving) which if you think about it is $6.72 for a dozen eggs, I am getting it for the price of the eggs and my electric which was 67¢ for the 8 hrs.

I did use my fruit leather tray for this,but have no desire to buy more so I will use either wax paper or parchment paper as long as I am careful to not fill it so full it over runs the paper.

Blessed be

January goals

can you tell today is catch up the blog day?

My goals for January

Health

To not injury myself again (pulled groin then adductor on top of already bad back) right after I fell backwards over the concrete lid of the septic tank and knocked myself out, slight concussion with mild whiplash ).

To take my Crohn's meds which means I have to eat a protein,carb to take them twice a day.

To take my vits,calcium and Vit D to stay healthy and repair my thinning bones.

To eat a rainbow of colors to keep the Crohn's from making me malnourished .

Blog

To post at least once a week.

To read 1 new blog a month.

Pantry

To eat from the pantry with minimum bought at the store for this month (and hopefully next couple months)

To finish preserving what is left of the fall produce (apples,pears, pumpkins,potatoes, (red and white), onions and butternut to say the least possible other winter squashes)

To finish bagging the frozen turkey meat that is on cookie sheets.

To finish canning the turkey broth after I remove the fat on top of it (fat goes in jar and in freezer for use later).

To learn to make powdered eggs (I found a way but haven't tried it)

Garden

To sort through and reorganize of what I am going to plant

Sewing 

To make brown paper patterns for aprons

To make brown paper patterns for my pj bottoms

Organization/Cleaning

Put away Christmas decorations in correct containers

Clean kitchen from top to bottom

Organize kitchen aid mixer attachments for easier use

Declutter four rooms

Shopping/Errands

Drop off give away items to thrift stores.

Order seeds needed for garden

Attend Amish produce auction (with friends)

Make January shopping list.

Knowledge

To learn one new thing

To read one new book

goodcheapeats pantry challenge

Jessica Fisher over at goodcheapeats.com is having her annual eating from the pantry challenge. Not only is this a good way to use up what you have but it saves you money.

Our pantry probably is closer to Brandi's over at www.theprudenthomemaker.com

I have 26 shelves in the pantry, 10 are double or triple stacked. I have a 27 cubic, a 20 cubic and a 7 cubic deep freezer along with my French door 26 cubic frig with it's freezer. I have 250 lbs of potatoes, over 300 winter squashes and close to 100 lbs of onions in cool area storages. One being my mud room that we insulated to keep warmer and now have to keep the kitchen door shut as we opened the windows to cool that room down to store produce.(I adjust the windows to keep it at the correct temp) (thankful it got cold before I had Hubby put in the AC in the window)plus I have 12 shelves in the butler's pantry with half of them double stacked and 2 shelves of dried fruit and dried veggies in the dining room china cupboard along with a 5 shelf cupboard  also in the dining room filled with spices and herbs and extra brown and xxx sugars and salts.

In total at last inventory I had over a year's worth of meals. GOOD for me, been a time that grocery money was very little for a period of 2 yrs. Thankfully the gardens did well but winter was a time of hunger.

This month we started eating from the pantry. I usually do it in late Nov or early Dec but we were actually still eating fresh produce from our gardens and the Amish produce auction we go to regularly. With warmer than usual Dec turnips, radishes and other root veggies were still coming in fresh.

It's nice to have some support from other bloggers about eating from the pantry for a period of time.

I did buy a calendar (on clearance) to keep track of a menu as I want to look back next year and see how we did....4th day in and I can tell you I haven't fixed one thing that was already on the two week menu I did. Like today was going to be cabbage rolls...but I am playing catch up with the laundry because I was down (kind of still am) with crud and a strained adductor. With a wringer washer it's more hands on than an automatic (but my electric dropped $30 a month) so I decided since I had cooked hamburger I would do pasta and cheesy bread and salad...all things we have in the pantry.
I will just write what we eat on the calendar and put a highlighted orange star on it.

Are you eating from the pantry?

Frugal things I did last week

because most of December was making theses

Twenty five of them later with my tears of frustrations on the last 3, you would think by then I would have had it down pat. All filled with packing pellets AKA snowman poop and 10 gag gifts with a small amt of cash. Then after delivery I pulled my groin muscle and that strained my adductor muscle I already have a bad back and struggle with leg pain because of it and then if that wasn't enough I caught the crud...you know the crap between the head cold and chest cold but won't go away but you are thankful you didn't get the stomach crap that was going around ..yeah that crud.

So last week I roasted 2 turkeys and froze the meat then made broth and canned it after following old timer's directions of skimming the fat off the broth and froze the fat to use later.

I sliced up what was left from the prime rib that I roasted for the holiday and now have some for a couple quick sandwiches and some for soup in the freezer.

I found mild sausage and hot sausage on sale so bought that and cooked it and strained the fat in to pint jars. Meat will be for casseroles, omelets , quiches, pizzas and calzones among other things. It went in the freezer in 1 cup servings (sandwich bags work well and then put in a freezer bag). Fat is in the frig.

I found hamburger on sale, made some in to patties so I don't have the excuse we can't have hamburgers because I forgot to thaw them, and cooked the rest with some water (trick learned when I cooked in a day care to make the meat less greasy), strained the water off and cooled it and took the fat off it for the freezer also.

Milk gravy tastes better if you use a favored fat to make it with.

I made a point of not turning the Christmas lights on during the day until Christmas eve and Christmas day.

Getting it done

See what I foraged? Well, kind of...maybe not really???

I walk our dogs around the perimeter of our yard that borders the fields our landlord's farm. I toss my garden scraps in to his field since we don't have a good compositor (okay we don't have any large enough to hold all the scraps). Helps with his fields and hopefully the field mice stay in the field and don't come in to the house and my pantry.

I found one green onion at the edge of the field and this small Chinese cabbage. I'll be serving it tonight with our chicken fajitas.

I also have canned the boiled apple cider,dehydrated and packaged Roma tomatoes, rosemary, thyme,onions, celery and carrots. I have shelled and packaged the following dried beans for soups this winter: pinto and cannellini, KY wonder (also canned for green beans this summer) and Lazy Wife beans (also canned for green beans this summer and shelled some of the green beans that became "tough" and froze them for shelly beans) I shelled and packaged the following for replanting next year: KY wonder,Lazy Wife, asparagus beans, red noodle beans,pinto beans, moonlight runner sunset runner and scarlet runner beans, I cut and froze pineapple and apples for apple pie.I rinsed the acorn squash in bleach water. It helps it last longer in the root cellar.

I baked a ham and we had sliced ham the first night, ham sandwiches for lunch the next day followed by ham chunks with other small bites for dinner. Had Scalloped potatoes and ham followed by ham, onion, mushroom and cheese omelets for dinner and then tossed 2 more meals of it in the freezer for Thanksgiving weekend we get tired of turkey.

I still have some other produce to process for the pantry this week.

Last fresh local produce at the auction.

We went to the last Amish fresh local produce Friday. Got mums which I thought we wouldn't be able to get this year with the prices I was seeing. Paid $1.50/$1.75 for mums that are running $6-$20 at the stores.

We got more butternut squash, acorn squash,beets,cabbage, pineapple (shipped in), onions that are not in as good as shape so they are what we will use first or I'll dehydrate. A friend bought roma tomatoes and jack little pumpkins that he shared with us(we shared the onion) and I bought a loaf of bread, 3 tart size pies,3 dozen cookies, angel food cake, noodles and fresh cider from the "bakery" sellers that were at the auction. All good homemade food.

I only have horseradish in the gardens to pull and garlic to plant. The plants I put in died due to lack of water and wind...even though I watered them almost daily. The winds are wicked at this time.

We decided to start going to the store every 2 wks so that means we will most likely be combining non-food and food shopping. Our thought it less time in the stores less money spent. PLUS less gas used to go to town since we do live out in the country ...top that will I'll save some hours that I need to do what I have going on the next couple months with National Novel writing month starting Nov 1st (50000 words a month) and Thanksgiving that we hold the Sunday before the actual holiday and then Christmas that I try to have ready BEFORE December 1st.On top of the work I haven't gotten done this summer.

We did (with regret) decide to not plant a fall or winter garden. My health has been at the low end and the testing to find out what was going on has exhausted me. SO to try to stay healthy this fall/winter I am not adding anything on the work load and try to focus on my health most the time.

 Part of the health is staying focused on keeping the food bill down and eating healthy.

Blessed Be

October shopping plans

My pantry is pretty full and we are now starting to eat mainly from it. I do have a few things that I will look to buy if the right price during the fall and early winter.

I got our winter squash at the Amish produce auction for a $1 per squash,usually around 3 lbs. Pumpkins were $1 per pumpkin that weighed around 30 lbs.I also got 50 lbs of white onions and 30 lbs of red onions. We got potatoes for 20 ¢ lb.

 I would like to have acorn squash if I find it at the farmer's market for the right price. I hope to be able to order 50 lbs of potatoes from our local store for 20 ¢/ lb this fall.

I dehydrate my potatoes raw, after shredding or slicing or dicing I soak them in apple cider or lemon lime soda pop or fruit fresh for about 15 min. They sometimes turn a tan depending on how long it took me to get them in the soaking water I think is that issue.

 I will cook and puree and then dehydrate the puree of the pumpkins to grind in my blender. Takes a lot less room and last longer for me, plus I can toss a tablespoon or so into anything I am cooking and not wondering what to make with what is left in the container.

I need flours for holidays, that usually comes on sale soon so I am on the lookout.

I have a couple rices and Kraut I want to add to the pantry.

Our local butcher usually has pork on sale during Oct. I will pick up a case of smoked sausage and dinner sausage patties if within our price range.

We are finding the garden is producing a few things still that will help with fresh foods.

I have some broccoli,kalettes and lettuce plants to put in this week.

I am still processing apples and cabbages. I will wrap a few of the cabbages in plastic wrap for short term storage. The pumpkins are usually the last I process.

I'm going to have to break down and get some clothes for both of us. Still checking the thrift shops and yard sales.

making room for the pantry

I didn't always have the pantry (17 ft by 22 ft) I have now. I won't have it in the future as we rent an old farm house close to Hubby's work and when he retires it will be closer to the kids or somewhere warmer.

I grew up with a root cellar, Dad built shelves, Mom put root veggies on top of wooden crates under the shelves and 1500 canning jars of food on the shelves. We usually ran out around March, sometimes February if there was a lot of company.So there was times we went without vegetables until early spring. They didn't go to the store. Dad hunted and fished, fresh side or bacon was bought weekly for breakfast along with bologna for Dad's lunch. NOT our lunch, our lunch was soup if we had it. Mom wasn't much of a cook but it was her job.

I moved to an apartment and used the spare room to be my pantry.

Then I moved to another apartment and had a child and then my parents started giving me tips of where to put the pantry like they did when they got married and lived in a 3 room apartment with my brother.

Here are the tips:

ALWAYS write down what you are putting where and post it in the kitchen. You will forget something.

Place dry goods, boxes and bagged food in second containers to protect from the critters that crawl on floors

Store foods in groups...fruit under the front room furniture, veggies under the bed and meat behind the doors or on closet floors, put the shoes on top of it, you can cover the food with wax paper or newspaper if you need to.

Mom stacked cases beside the couch and covered them with table cloths for end tables. I made a coffee table like this. I also used cases of food for a twin bed frame for about 6 mos. I took what I needed out of the middle and then kept moving the cases to keep the bed level and stable.

I have onions and garlic right now on my staircase.Root veggies such as winter squash are on shelves with my baking pans in the basement and will also go in my china cupboard.

I've put boxes of pasta on top of my kitchen cabinets.Anything on top of the frig will get warm so be careful if you store food there. Not a good place to put bread.

I've store dry goods in the garage since it doesn't hurt to freeze cereal or flour etc. Put them in rubber maids or cooler to keep the mice out of it. My parents stored theirs in the trunk of their car during the winter, the weight helped when driving in the snow.

Think outside the normal pantry...if it bothers you for others to see the stack then cover it with table cloth, beach towel, blankets or a piece of fabric that either blends in or is a focal point.

accomplishments

I got tomatoes canned as pasta sauce.

I dehydrated onions for onion flakes, celery, celery leaves,diced carrots and diced red bell peppers.

I canned bell peppers (sweet pickled) and beets pickled and regular.

I froze shredded zucchini, freezer slaw, asparagus beans,red noodle beans and green tomatoes I breaded.

I sold a baker's rack and picnic table with 6 chairs.

I went to a community yard sale with our son (and walked most the time as it was easier to park and then go get the car if needed which saved on gas). Scored some Christmas decorations to replace the ones that have worn out for next to nothing plus got another strainer (think tomato strainer if you can) to help with straining the apples I will start doing this week.I got some baking dishes to split with my son also. I also bought the baker's rack that I ended up selling to my son.My want vs his need for his new home. Plus he offered me twice of what I paid for it... which was $5. I picked up a blanket for 50¢ for a gift and another one for $1 to line some curtains with for upstairs for this winter.

I got started on washing cold weather clothes,bedding and curtains.

I gathered some seeds from my wild flowers to share with some others that have asked for seeds.Plus I think I will plant some in another area where we lost some bushes.

I saved 25% on my groceries combining coupons,sales and clearance.

One more round...

It's a mindset to get into when you want to make your pantry last, ONE MORE ROUND...what can I do to make this (whatever) go one more round...IN SEASON as much as possible.

Google what to do with leftovers , how to make things last.

Local store had chuck roast on sale. I haven't seen this price in 3 yrs LOL.Hubby and I talked about whether we should buy some, how much to buy, what we wanted to make with it BEFORE we bought any. SO we bought some....Since I was using our basic grocery money I had to figure out how to stretch the meat as far as it could go. I cut up part of it stews and noodles while the biggest went in the oven.I do this before it hits the freezer BECAUSE one , I don't need a 3 lb piece of meat for my dinner AND I can cut the "fat" scraps out to put back for broth later. The count was 10 meals....but I know it will make closer to 20 -30 instead ...WHY? Because just like the roast that we ate that night  and the next night as left overs and then the next night as "philly cheese steak" and then the next night as beef and veggies in cream sauce over pasta and then the next night as beef and veggies (and more veggies) over rice with curry spices added and last but not least it's in the freezer waiting have more veggies (not much beef left after the 4th meal) to be served as soup.

Look at what is your basic needs are and ask what you can do to extend that....can't think of anything...ask someone in their 80s and 90s and they can tell you what they did especially if they grew up in the Great Depression.

Coffee grounds can be reused with just a little fresh ground added to it, even in an automatic coffee maker.Then it can be composted. I don't use as much as the directions say either.

One tea bag can make 3 cups of tea if you heat the last cup of water longer or just use a tea kettle to brew the tea to begin with. Then composted and another time I don't use as much as the directions say.

Wash those veggies before you peel them including that onion (cut off root first) and save the peelings in a gallon freezer bag or container in the freezer. When full cover with with water (no need to thaw) and simmer 30-60 min to make veggie broth. I keep the broccoli,cauliflower and cabbage (that veggie family) in separate bags as they are strong flavoring but works great when you are making broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage soup. If you are saving water, use that rinse water to water your plants.

Bones from meat go in a pot to make broth (I can or freeze or use for soup that night).

Potatoes....peel thick and make potato skins, peel thin and boil and make potato water that you can use in bread making, gravies (the starch will help thicken the gravy) and potato soup or any soup you want to thicken. Even with Hubby and myself I go through 100 lbs of potatoes between Oct and March...sometimes I am out in Feb.Sometimes I toss the thin peels in the freezer and make the "broth" later.

My cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans get reused.( Mom would buy these for me for my Christmas gift,she liked the vanilla extract and vanilla powdered sugar along with mulled cider I would make her). Fruit stones (pits), fruit peels make jellies and jams and sometimes liqueur. I make my own vanilla extract. I zest my own oranges and lemons when I get that fruit in the fall and winter. I zest the citrus fruit, juice it or eat it and then boil what is left to make "fruit water".I also peel the citrus fruit and candy them for Christmas gifts.

Apples is another, fresh, frozen canned for pie filling or applesauce, Peelings and cores make juice,jelly, fruit leather and apple butter. 

Pumpkins get cooked down, first as a veggie (it's a squash) then it's pie fillings and pumpkin butter, fruit leather ,and dried and ground for later use to add pumpkin powder to cakes and muffins and pancakes etc.

Add a little water to those jars of condiments to make them last a bit more or even better make them yourself if you can cheaper than boughten.

Add water to shampoo, conditioner, laundry soap (even if you make your own), fabric softener(or use watered down white vinegar), dish soap...about 1/3rd or 1/2 water to whatever.

 I took the leftover veggies that didn't amount to a cup and tossed them in eggs to make what we call big egg (frittata).

Leftover bread was made into crumbs (or croutons) and bread pudding.

Make it go one more round.

NEXT...making room for the pantry