Gardening 101

Vegetable Garden

A friend of mine recently asked me to come over to discuss gardening tips, as she is just starting her first garden this year. As I was making some notes to discuss with her, I thought it would be a good idea to share some things here. With all this economic stuff going on, it seems to me that more people are looking for ways to save money. I have seen MANY more people at the store with a stack of coupons. I have seen the clearance shelves empty. I suspect garage sales are going to be a big hit this year. In my fifteen years of marriage, I have NEVER seen food prices go up the way that they have in the last 2 years or so. It is unbelievable!

I truly think that people are going to start thinking about gardening for the first time if they do not already have one. I have been gardening for about 4 or 5 years. Another friend had come over and helped me get started. I do not by ANY means consider myself an expert! But I have learned a few things along the way, with the help of library books, DVD's, asking my parents, and garden-savvy neighbors.

The first thing I would recommend is decide what kind of garden you want. What is the purpose of growing your own food? Is it to have fresh produce throughout the summer or do you want to grow enough to can or freeze for the winter months to come? I honestly would recommend to start small because it can really become overwhelming when the harvest starts coming in. Another question to ask is how much space do you have? Is there shade or plenty of sunshine in your garden area? I personally have 2 raised beds for my garden and we are planning to add 2 more this year.

The library can be your best friend right now! Look in the 635's section to find loads of information. Gardening does not have to be complicated. If I can do it, anyone can. Start small, inform yourself, and have fun! It is relaxing and enjoyable and you really reap the rewards.

For you homeschoolers out there, what a great learning experience for the children! Science in action! There are so many ideas, just endless. Letting each child have their "own" garden, starting seeds in a jar in order to see root growth, knowing what the Bible says "whose seed is in itself..." Just lots of wonderful ideas out there.

I'm rambling now. Thanks for sticking with me this long. I will try to update some ideas or "how-to's" in future posts. Happy gardening!

The End of 2008 & Quilting

I can hardly believe that 2008 is almost over! As I look back on this year, I see so many ways that the Lord's hand was on our family. Sadly, I also see so many times that I have disappointed the Lord. I have to say that I just feel so unworthy of the grace He so freely gives. I want to do better in 2009!

I am so excited about my new "hobby"!! I have gotten the quilting bug! My great-grandma (yes, GREAT! she is 97) was the family quilter for many years. I always wanted to but felt a little overwhelmed. After reading Simply Susan's easy Invisible Nine Patch (in a previous post), and actually completing it, i got hooked! I have actually made five of them! And a Christmas lap quilt, and a quilted music bag for my oldest daughter for Christmas gifts. (thus the reason for no blog posts in December, lol) I love it, love it, love it. I am going to teach my daughters to quilt too.

Here is my lap quilt. I made it from strips of fabric that someone gave me. Quilting can be very frugal but can easily become very expensive! Buying new fabrics, all the cool quilting gadgets, etc... I am starting out small.

Here is the wall hanging I did for my bathroom.

If you want to see the tutorial again, here it is!

Frugal Decorating Ideas

If you live near a Dollar Tree or Deals, get there! They have a ton of items there that you can use to decorate, or even make decorations. From ribbon, leaves, flowers, & wreaths, just a lot of stuff. Here are a few things that I made this week from dollar store items and things that I had on hand. Some of these ideas came from here.

I used a quart sized canning jar and put some artificial pumpkins & leaves inside. The floral arrangement was $1.00, the pumpkins $1.00, and about 1/4 of a bag of leaves ($1.00 for the bag).

No, I cannot tie a bow. I tried and tried but this is what I got. I told my husband and he said to let him try and he did it. This picture is before he made his beautiful bow. He told me it's just like tying your shoes. Duh.

Plates for my plate rack, $1.00 each and the leaf garland was $1.00.

I made the floral arrangement with about 3 bunches of flowers and the basket has little pumpkins painted on the sides.

I took the spring colors off this hat and made it more autumn-like. This hangs in my bathroom.

For less than $20, I decorated my living room, bathroom, dining room, and have some things left for the kitchen. If you haven't figured it out, I think autumn is the most wonderful time of the year!

Summer Kitchen

I often use my turkey roaster to bake in, especially in the summer. I don't like to heat up the kitchen and cause my air conditioning to work too hard which in turn causes my electric bill to climb even higher! My roaster oven really helps with this, but it still gets a little warm in the kitchen. Anyway, I had mentioned this to the MOMYS and someone suggested that I use it outside. I had never thought about using it outside! What a great idea!

I have a new summer kitchen :o)

My turkey roaster and grill...

My garlic bread on the grill

So far this week, I have made lasagna & garlic bread, enchiladas, and tonight I made pot roast with carrots. Other than burning one side of the garlic bread on the grill, it has worked out very well. Turkey roasters are fairly inexpensive anymore and aren't just for turkeys :o) I have also baked in it, which you can see here.

Summer kitchens should not be a thing of the past. They were originally used for helping keep the house cool. I think I like it...

Saving $$ Through the Year

With grocery costs skyrocketing, I am constantly looking for ways to cut those costs. With a family of 8, it is sometimes difficult to keep our grocery bill low. But, it is possible. First, ask the Lord to give you wisdom in this area. God has shown me many resources and put me in the path of many people who are looking for the same things as I am. I specifically look for frugal ways of living and but added to that, I want to feed my family un-processed, low sugar, whole foods.

frugal + healthy = LOTS OF $$$ reasonable budget

Here is one of the many ways to cut costs in your grocery bill. Stock up when produce is in season! This is KEY!! If you want blueberries right now, you can get a great price, because they are in season. What if you want to make a blueberry dessert or add blueberries in your fruit salad in February? You pay 3 times as much (or more!) But if you plan ahead, you could throw in some blueberries for your healthy smoothie in November without breaking the bank.

There is a wealth of information out there, so I am not going to try to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. I am just going to give you a few pointers and ideas of what to look for at various times of the year. Most produce can be easily frozen. You can get tips for preserving food here.

• January-Citrus fruits and pears
• February-Chocolate
• March-Frozen veggies
• April-Broccoli and cauliflower
• May-Asparagus, buns, ground meat
• June- Strawberries
• July- Blueberries, peaches, plums, watermelon
• August- Corn, tomatoes, peppers, beans, zucchini
• September-Apples
• October-Pumpkins (if you wait until Nov 1, you can get them FREE), sweet potatoes
• November-Turkeys, baking items
• December-Citrus fruits, cranberries, ham

These are just to name a few! Here is what I did with my blueberries this week.

Wash berries

Lay flat on a cookie sheet and freeze overnight.

Put frozen berries into gallon bag, seal, label, and freeze! "Fresh" blueberries until next July :o) If they (grocery stores) can freeze and preserve foods, then you can too; at a huge saving to you!

It's Coming...

The harvest is coming! The harvest is coming!

This photo was taken a few days ago, so my squash did grow a little more. I cut it last night! I sliced it and sauteed it with a red, yellow, and orange pepper with a little butter and onion. YUM-O! I can't wait! They are getting ready to all come on at once. No more paying sky-high prices at the store (for a little while anyway!) for fresh produce.

It can't get any better than that!

Mulberry Jam :o)

The other day, my father-in-law calls up and says that they have a Mulberry tree that is loaded down with berries, would we like some? Ummm...sure! We don't turn down fresh produce of any kind. So I did a quick search for any type of mulberry recipes from my favorite food preservation site and decided to try some jam.

I did find when doing my search, that you have to be careful in the type of mulberries that you get, apparently some are poisonous. We determined that his were okay so we layed out a tarp and started shaking! The tree was loaded but not many fell :o( So we tried to pick some but most of the branches were too high. Needless to say, we didn't get many.

We came home and washed them and cooked them. I added a pound of strawberries to be able to make some jam. After washing and cooking them, I ran them through my foley food mill to get out the bigger seeds and stems (the stems on the mulberries are a pain to try to remove by hand!). I would up with 3 cups of cooked berries, so I added 3 1/2 cups of sugar (!) and 3/4 of a pack of pectin and cooked until it gelled. I put them in a water bath for about 10 minutes. I only got 3 of those little jars and then a little extra (for us to have a taste!) It turned out delicious! I think I overcooked it a little though because it didn't seem like it was getting to the gelling point and I kept it on but then it got harder to spread. Oh well. We can always make syrup with it. You just put it on the stove with a little butter and heat on low. Much cheaper than the fruit syrups at the store!

We'll go back next week to see if we can get more berries.

Week of Strawberries Part 4, Strawberry Shortcake!

Ahhh...so refreshing. Strawberry Shortcake. You just can't get any better than this!

Here is my recipe for homemade shortcake. SOOO much better than those store bought shells!

Shortcake

2 1/3 C Bisquick
3 T sugar
1/2 C milk
3 T melted butter

Mix vigorously for 20 strokes (or in your mixer!). Spread into greased 8 or 9 inch pan (I use my round cake pan). It will be a little hard to spread, but don't worry, it doesn't have to look pretty...you are putting strawberries and whipped cream on top! Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm with crushed berries (I add a little sugar to ours to take away the tartness) and whipped cream. YUM!

NOTE: This post has been sitting in my dashboard thing since June 10th. I kept waiting to post it so I could get a picture. I have made this at least twice (maybe 3 times?) and these people that live with me keep eating it too fast. :sigh:

Week of Strawberries Part 3, Freezing Whole Berries

Frozen berries are very versatile. We mostly use them in smoothies in the summer but you can use them in muffins, breads, pancakes, etc... It is best not to just put them into a freezer bag because they will all clump together. Instead, you want to freeze them individually so that they don't form one big clump. This works for strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, etc...

• Wash your berries. Gently put berries into a sink of cold water and swish around.


• Drain berries in a colander.


• Place berries on a cookie sheet in a single layer and put into freezer for several hours.


• Label your gallon size freezer bags with the contents and the date.


• After you take them out of the freezer (use a potholder, it is very cold!), they may stick a little, just use a pancake turner to gently take them off the cookie sheet. Place them in your labeled freezer bag and put them back into the freezer.


• They are ready to use anytime! You can take out what you need and close it back up for next time.

Week of Strawberries Part 2, Freezer Jam

As part of my Strawberry series, I will show how we do things here at home. Let me just mention, I AM NO EXPERT! These are just things that I have learned by trial and error. Some ideas may seem very simple, but let me tell you, I had NO idea how to do anything in the kitchen when we first got married! Hopefully, this can be a small help to someone.

Strawberries are best when they are fresh picked. If you can pick them yourself at a Farm Market, U-pick place, or even better, at home, then that is best! You know exactly how fresh they are.

The key is planning ahead! When planning a trip to pick any produce, it is always best to call ahead to make sure they have plenty to pick. Also make sure that you have PLENTY of time to process your berries the same day you pick them. It is always cheaper to pick it yourself than to buy it there. For example, it was $4.75 per pint to buy at the market and $1.25 per pound to pick yourself. If you don't know where any U-Pick farms are in your area, check here. (There are also step-by-step instructions on preserving many food items on this site.)



We always make Freezer Jam. One of the main reasons we pick berries! That is what I will start with. Strawberry Freezer Jam

• Select your berries. Put them in a sink of cold water to wash. Just swish them around in the water and drain.

• Hull berries and place into a large bowl. This is the bowl you will use to crush them in.


• Crush berries with a potato masher.

• Measure out 4 Cups of crushed berries (this may vary with the type/size box of pectin that you use).


• Mix your freezer pectin & sugar. The one that I like best is Ball Freezer Pectin. It will tell you exactly how much sugar you need for the size package of pectin that you have. The package that I had said 1 1/2 cups sugar.


• Stir your pectin/sugar mixture into your crushed berries and mix for about 2-3 minutes.


• Ladle into your clean can-or-freeze jars or any freezer containers.


• Let it sit for 20-30 minutes and then label & freeze.


• Good for 3 weeks in the refrigerator or a year in the freezer.

It tastes like fresh strawberries all year long!

Week of Strawberries

Sweet and Juicy Strawberries

We went strawberry picking today! I love this time of year when we can go to farm markets to buy fresh produce. It just seems so wholesome. The kids and I had a great time picking 26 pounds of berries! Yes, you read that right! 26 POUNDS! Yum :o)

Strawberries are so good for you too. They are full of Vitamin C and Flavonoids. They are good plain, in desserts, smoothies, salads, etc... I am going to be posting strawberry recipes all this week, including how we process them here at home.

Happy eating!

Menu Plan Monday June 2-8, 2008

I sure hate those weeks that I don't plan! Last week was not fun, not knowing what was for dinner until time to throw something together. This week will be better!

Monday-Swiss Steak (in the crockpot)

Tuesday-Chicken/spinach salad (yummy in the warmer weather!)

Wednesday-Hot Beef Sandwiches (another crockpot) with Onion buns, spinach salad

Thursday-Lentil tacos

Friday-Spaghetti with whole wheat pasta

Saturday-welcome to the leftover buffet!

Last week, I did try some new recipes. I made yogurt!! It was super easy and the kiddos loved it! You can also use this same basic recipe to make cream cheese. You can find out how to make it on Keeping The Home. Emily tried the Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from here. They were really good! Definitely a keeper.

Check out lots more menus for other great ideas on menus and organizing in general from Laura at www.orgjunkie.com !

Planning for next year

Lessons
To all you Home Schoolers out there, are you starting to plan for next year already or are you just ready to be done for a while? May/June seems to be a fun time for me to start hitting book sales and thinking about the next year. I think about what worked well for this year and and what didn't work so well.

I went through my bookshelves & catalogs and made a list of items that I want for next year. Just for fun, I totaled how much it will cost if I bought it all new. I will take my list to the various book sales in order to stick to my plan and not overspend (my husband and I both have this problem when it comes to books!). I think I may even put it on my sidebar to keep a running total. I hope to spend half (or less) than if it was purchased new.

We are blessed to live in an area that has an excellent library system. We use many resources from there to add to our learning. Non-fiction books (living books) and DVD's are fun.

We also have our convention coming up. I have never been to one but I think it would be fun to go at least once.

I'll be off to my first book sale tonight! I can't wait!

CVS Deal and Why Coupon?

Yippee! I went to CVS today to pick up the end of the month ECB deals and got some good deals. I got 4 bottles of pain relievers (dh's headaches), 1 bottle of softsoap bodywash, 1 package of Pepcid EZ chews, and a TruBlend whipped foundation. With my coupons ($2.50 CVS coupon for pain reliever, $1 off softsoap, $2 off pepcid, $2 off foundation, $5 of order over $25, $10 ECB's from last visit), I spent $18.09 oop and got back $26.96 in ECB's!



I was never much for couponing. I was always the store brand and/or Aldi type of shopper. I always thought I was wasting money on buying items that I don't normally use just because I had a coupon. BUT, I have since figured out that I am buying items that I don't normally use and I am just plain enjoying trying new things! When you can get items cheaper than store brand/Aldi (or even free!), then it is worth the "risk".



Just for fun, I thought I would share some items that I would never normally buy, and my thoughts toward them:

• Pepcid EZ chews-I always used cheap-o tums but the pepcid actually took away my heartburn!!


• Tums QuikPak Instant Dissolve Powder-again, heartburn gone within a few minutes. Also thought it might be a good sub for my son who occasionally has to take prevacid.


• Walgreen's Brands of Claritin & Zyrtec-I have taken off brand of benadryl for 20 years (!) for my allergies and I never liked the way it made me feel, so tired that I couldn't keep my eyes open (not the best feeling trying to raise 6 kids)
• Various grocery items-I am not a real big fan of boxed type/heavy preservative type foods but sometimes, it is nice to have on hand in a pinch. (Remember, it is not only healthier, but more frugal to shop the perimeter of the store!)
• Shampoo, pain relievers, body wash, deodorant, toothpaste, dish soap, laundry detergents-many of these items I have gotten for free. If you are not "brand" particular, your savings can really add up! It is nice having our bathroom closet stocked up on these items (really nice because of the price!!)

Those are just a few of those things since I began couponing in December. It's actually been king of fun! There are a ton of deals all the time at Money Saving Mom. You'll have to go over there and check out Crystal's money saving tips!

Bread Making

Traditional Bread

I tried something new today! Making homemade bread, without my bread machine. For some reason, I had a hard time finding a recipe without using a bread machine. We adapted one from here. It called for 2 Tablespoons of oil but we substituted one of those with 3 Tablespoons of Flax Seed. Since it was a recipe for a bread machine (one loaf), we made it into 2 smaller loaves. It turned out delicious! We ate it warm from the oven with butter....YUM! Are there any recipes out there that makes several loaves and uses whole wheat flour (at least some) and flax seed??

We are still making small changes in our diet for health reasons. Our journey started over a year ago and by making slow, gradual changes, it has been an easier adjustment for the family.

My new mirror!

While we were gone, we stumbled on a pfaltzgraff outlet store. Woohoo! I have the Tea Rose pattern and Jason said we could stop in there to possibly add something to my set. There were so many pretty things but I just couldn't decide. I did see some Luncheon size plates but they were $10 each and I need 12 to go with my set. I decided against those for now. We left and walked around some and then came back to the store. I still couldn't decide so I figured it was best to not get anything. When I got to the door, I saw this mirror and I knew this was it! My husband just laughed...spent an hour in the pfaltzgraff store and got a mirror! I thought of this post from a wonderful homemaking blog that I enjoy.

Been Busy!

A Woman Sewing in an Interior
Whew! I have been busy! We are getting ready for our vacation to Williamsburg! The girls wanted new colonial dresses this year but funds did not allow. I told them if they could find enough material in our many sewing tubs, then I could make new dresses. They did it! I did not realize how much material I have accumulated over the years! The only thing that I had to purchase were the zippers and some lace and here is what we have:

Years ago, my pastors wife taught me how to sew. What a blessing she was! She gave me a gift. I pray that I can be a blessing to other ladies, as I am now a pastors wife myself. No one told me it would be difficult! I have stumbled along the way and have a long way to go. Only by God's grace...

It will be nice to get away for a little while with my family. We are eager for some fun, education, meeting new people (we are going on a large family retreat), and some plain, old "down" time with just us. BUT, there is no place like home :o)

Menu Plan Monday, Feb 3-8

Here is this weeks' plan (late), nothing fancy, lots of beans and rice (Dave Ramsey will be happy)

Sunday-church fellowship, taking beans & rice

Monday-beans & rice wraps

Tuesday-beans & rice with corn bread

Wednesday- the beans and rice are finally all gone, lol. Porkchop casserole

Thursday-Potato Soup, pumpkin bread for dessert

Friday-"hamburger helper" (mac & cheese, ground chuck, canned tomatoes)

Saturday-leftovers/buffet night

Birthday cake!

Have you ever priced birthday cakes?! If not, let me tell you, they are a bit pricey.

Having 6 children, with only one income, it could break the bank! Well, not really, but I would much rather spend that money on a gift or something else.

I have been making birthday cakes for all of our children since our first was born. I have done all kinds and they are quite fun!

For this particular birthday, however, we had severe time constraints with out of town friends coming for a visit, getting ready to host a singing family for Sunday Evening service, etc... SO here is what I came up with, a simple, easy, yummy, frugal birthday cake!

Basic yellow cake mix: $.75 at Aldi, homemade butter cream chocolate frosting (recipe below): $.20-I got to use one of my 20 cent bags of powdered sugar!, a bit of caramel ice cream topping, and a favorite (extra clean, sanitized) toy to sit on top.

Butter Cream Chocolate Frosting*

6 tbsp. softened butter, 1/2 Cup baking cocoa, 2 2/3 Cup powdered sugar, 1/3 Cup milk, 1 tsp. vanilla extract.

In small mixing bowl, cream butter. Add cocoa and powdered sugar alternately with milk. Beat to spreading consistancy (additional milk may be needed). Blend in vanilla.

*Recipe from the back of Aldi brand of baking cocoa.

Library

I love going to the library! It is one of my favorite places to go. Where I live, we have one of the best library systems in the country (at least, that is what they say...and I believe them!). As a book lover (my dh is one too!), I could easily spend way too much $$ on books. Libraries are a frugal way for me to read books that are edifying or educational. It is a wonderful resource for homeschooling too!

Here is one of the books that I am currently reading.

It is a GREAT resource!! We really have lost something when it comes to homemaking. I believe that it has become a lost art. This book is a manual, full of practical advice on taking care of your home. I am looking forward to putting some of this good advice into practice!