Cruising right along.....

So, in the past month, we've had some of the oddest weather combinations that I can remember.  We've had heat, then cold, then heat again, then frost warnings overnight....and of course, the frost warnings came AFTER we put in the 3rd garden bed and got our seeds and seedlings in the ground {sigh}.

However....we got everything planted, and had tarps to cover the beds on the 2 nights we got frost, so it's looking like everything survived.  The soil we got apparently wasn't completely clean because the new garden bed, which is filled entirely with the soil, has a nice green slime on top....we'll work with it and probably add some Miracle Grow garden soil in a few weeks.  The cucumbers that we purchased are apparently delectable to the critters because, out of 8 plants, only 1 is still standing...the rest have been chewed into oblivion.  One type of lettuce has not broken through the soil yet, but the other lettuce (can't remember which type I planted in which garden bed) is coming up, the collard greens are doing well, beans are starting to sprout, and we are also starting to see the tips of the carrots leaves (stalks?).  We bought the tomatoes and pepper as young plants and they are all doing well.....corn, not so much....but we can replant this weekend.  Oh, and Rebekah got more strawberry plants and the first full-grown, red strawberry is peeking through...if we can just keep the birds away from them, we might have a decent amount of our own berries instead of having to venture out and purchasing them.

Yesterday I got back into canning again - ended up with 13 quarts of kosher dill pickles.  

*pictures to come later

This year, I did some as pickle spears, and some as pickle chips for use on burgers and sandwiches...very happy with them, and considering entering a jar in the county fair.  Kids say I should also enter a jar of my jelly, but we shall see.  Today's adventure is spaghetti sauce....and I hunted for the recipe I used last time I canned, but of course, couldn't find it.  Did find another option and the second batch of jars is in the water bath as I type.  But of course, while the first batch was processing, I hunted through my stacks of recipes (that I need to get on the computer instead of having millions of pieces of paper) and of course, after I had already started with the new recipe, I found my original one tucked into a magazine of kid-friendly meals {sigh}.  Well, I know where it is now (on the table right next to me) and I will make sure I put it with the rest of my canning supplies when today's work is done. 

*pictures to come later

I have a fabric stash sewing contest coming up next month....might be the best time to work through some of the projects that I've been delaying work on....and gives my poor stove a break from all the canning work.  Besides, the next thing I want to can is the chopped, spiced apples for use in pies or in poptarts (something else I need to get to work on).  Next shopping trip, I also have to purchase some more ground beef (probably the family size package) and make it all into jerky.  I will only let them have a small amount, then I'll vacuum seal the rest and add it to my closet - apparently they ALL like it (not me, can't stand it...barely tolerate SlimJims....gah)......so...being all kinds of "50s housewife" around here, but it's fun for me and I enjoy the results - particularly when the rest of the family gets HUGE eyes and HUGE smiles when they taste the results.....

Strawberry Overload!!!

Strawberries have taken over - well, they did today, anyway.

I have been experimenting with various items that I can put up for when the sequester/furlough nonsense actually goes into effect (apparently letters are supposed to go out at the start of May, but we shall see).  Today, I prepped 10 lbs. of strawberries and canned them all in a light syrup.  

Despite wanting to help (so they said) neither child gave me any assistance, so I was rushing and trying to keep the syrup from boiling down, get the water bath up to boiling, and make sure the lids and bands were in a low simmer.....oh, and according to the recipe, 6-12lbs of strawberries should have yielded 8 pints or 4 quarts....yeah...right....I actually ended up with quite a bit more.  Fortunately, I had plenty of jars to use...lol

Final Product - oh so pretty!

The end result was 16 pints!!!  One pint didn't seal, but that was my fault completely since I didn't add enough syrup.  It all worked out because we had the strawberries over shortcakes.  I topped them with whipped cream and drizzled some of the syrup over the cream....YUM!!!  Surprisingly, DS said that they were too sweet....everybody liked them, but to him they had too much sugar (definitely not comprehending this comment...lol).

the final count - cooling on the kitchen cart :-)

I now have 1.5 shelves completely filled with processed jars.....salsa, grape jelly, and strawberries.  I need to hunt up my spaghetti sauce recipe and go visit my favorite fruit/veggie stand for pickling cucumbers....oh, and now my son says we need to get lots of blueberries and can them.  Yeah, I don't think so.  However, thinking about apples (for apple pie in a jar, which can also be used as filling for homemade pop tarts), spiced apples, fruit cocktail, and a few other things....but not 100% decided on anything beyond the pickles and sauce....


 

Slowing down....but I have a good excuse!!

I was trying to get back into regular posting, but of course, best laid plans and all that.....However, tomorrow will see me doing more canning, which I'm excited about (provided I get some sleep tonight!).

See.....I was offered a sewing job form the elementary school, and trying to co-ordinate 9 background colors for teacher flags so that there aren't 2 of the same color too close to each other, and preparing for a birthday, and the regular day-to-day stuff....well, I sort of got sidetracked.

The biggest thing is that my firstborn is officially a teenager now....he turned 13 yesterday morning at 12:15 am....where in the world has the time gone??!!???

Tonight he has one of the few boys he is still friends with from when he attended public school over....they are watching movies on a portable dvd player.  This is one of the most respectful, polite young men that I have ever met - at least for a 13yo.  The fact that they are still friends despite not seeing each other regularly is awesome, and the fact that this boy came and hand-delivered an invitation to Thomas to attend HIS birthday party was pretty awesome.

Anyway.....tomorrow, provided we get enough sleep, the plan is to can 10 pounds of strawberries in a light syrup....and whatever is left over, we'll have with whipped cream :-)

My canning shelves are now full of jars, but the majority of them are empty, which is bothersome.  Hopefully after tomorrow, there will be another 8 pints on the shelf with stuff in them instead of 2 shelves full of empty jars.....have to get going on the other things I want to can....kiddos wants me to make fruit cocktail and I want to do spiced apples, pickles, and who knows what else...lol...oh yes, spaghetti sauce.....but, I have to find the recipes that I like for all of them, so that might not be for another few weeks.

Hopefully next weekend, we will be putting in our 3rd garden bed.  Not only will it give us more growing space, but it will be something that we can work on together that will also help Thomas in his work towards his Family Life merit badge (he has to do 1 project to benefit the family on his own and one with the family - he's in charge of tilling up the 2 garden beds we currently have and we will make the 3rd the family project).....then we need to decide what we're growing this year besides tomatoes...lol...thinking lettuce again, probably popcorn plants since I just used the last of what we got last year, possibly some greens and maybe even some green beans, though that's not definite yet.

Ah well...will post pictures when I can get around to it.  

At what point..............??

...........do you cross that line and go from being frugal and practicing the lost arts of canning and home gardening, etc. and venture into "prepper" territory??  I'm not overly worried, just questioning.  This only recently came to mind as I have placed an order for a few books on Amazon, including one that I've wanted for years, and one for my son's birthday....and one or two that have to do with making things from scratch - from homemade poptarts and butter to safe cleaners and the like.  SO.....made me wonder where that line is drawn.

I am slowly working to build up my supply of canning jars and am looking forward to making the next batch of jelly (with friends over so they can learn how to can) as well as pickles later in the summer....does that mean I'm now a "prepper" or does it mean I just like canning my own foods??  I think I'm still not considered a "prepper" because really, I don't have tons of things stockpiled away, and my only available space is:

That's it....2 small, 3-shelf units tucked into a closet in my workroom.  Now, there is the possibility of putting another long shelf (or 2) over these for more storage....this used to be a clothes closet when my workroom was the master bedroom of the house and there were 2 shelves installed along the back wall - one was removed because I had stacked 2 cabinets in the closet...but the cabinets are now out in my workroom for easier access, so it wouldn't be a problem to install another shelf...or 2 or 3 if needed...lol.  In fact, the braces are still in place for the one shelf I took out.

ANYWAY.....the top picture shows the salsa (minus the most recent, habanero,  batch) and right now it also holds the jelly.  I'm thinking I will keep that side reserved for pints...but I may end up dividing things up by content....not at that point yet.  The second picture has what is left of my last round of pickles and will need to be eaten soon or else gotten rid of - they were done in 2011....yes, this is currently the quart side.  I'm still working on how many of each size I need to do all the canning that I want to do.  DD is currently the only one on board with canning homemade fruit cocktail, fruits, applesauce, etc.  I don't think the guys really care as long as it's good and they can eat it...lol.

Will be working out the canning schedule based on what's freshest when and will actually {gasp} plan it into our weekday schedule....they may even get a break from school work on those days (for those that don't know, my kids keep up with lessons over the summer...typically no more than an hour a day depending on how much they want to argue about it.  If they don't argue and just get it finished, it's less than 30 minutes.).  DD and I are already looking forward to getting out into an apple orchard and picking a variety of apples for sauce....not sure if DS will want to go with us or not, but we'll see....probably would make a good day for dad and son to do something and mom and daughter to do something else....

If anybody is still reading this after all my ramblings and variety of topics, I'd love to hear your canning projects and suggestions....I am limited by the fact that I can only do water-bath canning (no pressure canner allowed near the mom with ADHD) so I know that's mainly things like fruits and such...but still, always open to new recipes :-)

Getting back to my childhood "roots"

In my last post, I asked what people were doing to save money....and didn't get a response from anyone, which is fine.  But I thought I'd share what I've been doing for the past couple of weeks.

Last week, I made 2 different batches of salsa - 1 relatively mild (called "Mom's Salsa") and one with a few teaspoons of Frank's Hot Sauce added to it (called "Dad's Salsa").  My son helped me make Dad's and my daughter helped me make Mom's.  Unfortunately, DH really likes the salsa and has been going through about half a pint each time he snacks!  So, I guess I'll be making more in the near future.

This week - today, in fact - DD and I made grape jelly using unsweetened grape juice, pectin, and sugar.  We had 6 pints, but 2 didn't seal so they went directly to the fridge.  Apparently, they are better than store bought...at least that's what both children told me (DS made a PB&J sandwich using my jelly and DD had some on some of the homemade, unsalted tortilla chips that I also made today).

The jelly gave me a little more trouble than the salsa, but I think it's because I was a bit impatient to get it made and see how it tasted...lol.  A bit sweeter than I''m  used to as it took 9 cups of sugar to 6 cups of juice and 12 Tablespoons of pectin....however, I've also been using low-sugar, store-bought jelly for a few years now, so this is actually probably close to what "normal" grape jelly tastes like...I guess I'll just have to use less now.

I have "grand plans" as to what I'll be canning this year, but I don't know how much I'll actually get to.  Things that have been added to the list of possibilities include: apples, oranges, pears, peaches, fruit cocktail, applesauce, spiced apple rings, apple pie filling, spaghetti sauce, more pickles (last done 2 years ago), maybe sauerkraut (BIG maybe), grapes....the list keeps getting added to and things keep getting taken off and replaced, but the bottom line is that I don't want to h ave to pay crazy prices when I want something that is out of season in the stores....so I'll can when things are fresh and I can have them all year long :-)

Next thing I want to try, though not canning, is homemade cheez-its...have a page bookmarked and ready to go, just need to go shopping and get ingredients....wish I had a food processor since that's what's used in the recipe, but the person who posted said that a blender could also be used...it would just take a little longer to mix everything up....we shall see....

Saving even more when times get tough

Well, if we've all been watching the news, we should be aware of the sequestration and the government furloughs.  At this time, it's 80% that it's going to happen.....that's 20% of our income that will be gone and nothing we can do about it.....or is there???

I've already written about saving money on groceries, so I won't rehash everything.  But here's what happened yesterday: I had my lists (Kroger, Food Lion, Martin's, and "wherever I can find it cheap" which usually means Sharp Shopper) and the coupons for each store attached at the bottom of the list.  While DS was in his karate class, I ran to Sharp Shopper - with ALL of the lists.  I had roughly 45 minutes to get in, go through the lists, get out, and drive back to the next town over where the karate school is.  In the end, I got everything off the "whatever" list and about 1/3 of the things on the store-specific lists because it was cheaper to get at SS.  One of the things that I'm still in awe over is that I was able to get a whole ham (the kind they have in the deli that they slice for you and charge you $3.49/lb or whatever) for less than $7...yes, a WHOLE ham!!  That will be cooked and cut into quarters...those quarters will either be sliced thick for dinners or thin for sandwiches, maybe even diced to add to soups....I figured it out to be roughly 8 dinners (family of 4) and 8 lunches (for DH)...for $7!!!  Total spent at SS was $98

Had to inventory everything as it was put away, grab some lunch, pick up DD from school early for an evaluation for having 2 teeth removed  - hit with the fact that they wanted $104 up front just for an evaluation, and that's when I lost it....tried all day not to get too stressed and freaked out over where we were supposed to make up the difference in pay and then *wham!*  Fortunately, the receptionist spoke with the billing coordinator who called our dental insurance (we have some coverage through health insurance, but also have separate dental).  Because our dental insurance doesn't charge a co-pay, they opted to treat it as if they participated with the insurance and didn't charge me for the consult {phew} and when she told me that, I started crying all over again.  Got through all that, have the appointment set up for extraction, called both insurance companies, and instead of $410, we will have to pay $255...still more than we have, but this needs to be done or else it will be more extensive dental work as the adult teeth are starting to come in at awkward angles and NOT pushing the baby teeth out.

Ok, so....DH and I had decided that we would stay up as long as it took to get finances reigned in to figure out what we could do to make up for the 20% loss of income...turns out it only took about an hour.  The biggest thing is that we are only going to use our Visa for gas in the cars and paying for the family medicines (required, not optional).  Once our federal tax refund is in the bank, we are paying off the other credit card and putting our cards away (frees up about $100 every month).  I called about changing cell plans because if we could switch, we were going to get rid of the landline....only to remember that the house alarm (not an option to get rid of it) runs through the landline....there goes that idea.  Called about internet and there isn't any option other than cutting it almost completely, so this is still under discussion.  THEN....called our credit union to see about refinancing the cars....can't refinance DHs car because the payments wouldn't change at all, but CAN refinance my car and save $65 a month.....ok, that is $165/month....getting there....oh, and the first payment won't be due until April, which will give us a month that we can put $$ into savings.  March is also the last month of school payments, so for the next few months, we will either put that amount into savings or use it to pay off other bills and get them gone.  There are 2 things we will NOT give up: DSs school and karate for both children.  Both things have helped DS come so far (autistic, ADHD, anxiety, etc.) and we don't want to remove 1 or 2 of his supports.....so...no compromise there.

Got that done and went out to finish grocery shopping...went to Kroger and got everything else that was on our list for about $134 total.....and after coupons....so, $224 spent on groceries that will see us through another month, maybe more depending on how I tweak the meal plans.....that frees up more money to put aside or pay on bills.

Children are NOT happy, but both offered to give us the money out of their savings accounts...we told them no, that was money THEY earned and it was for their future expenses.

We are not going out or picking up take out (not that we did that very often anyway), we aren't buying anything that isn't needed (which is what the children are most upset about, I think), we are combining errands, and looking at every other way possible to save money.  I am going to start using up my fabrics and crafts and getting more items listed in my Etsy store to sell as much as possible, which may mean taking a hit initially, but I hope it will work out in the long run.  Other than increasing my sewing for others or getting a part time night job, there's not much else we can do.

What do YOU do to cut expenses, especially when money is tight and you have a loss of income through no fault of your own??

Question for SAHMs/WAHMs

So, I haven't posted in a little while and that's mainly due to health issues in the family.  While everything has been taken care of, there's the anticipation of the bills for everything, and no change in our source of income.  Which leads me to this post/question. 

For those of you that are Stay at Home Moms or Work at Home Moms, what do YOU do to have additional income?  I tried craft shows, and the stress of getting things done and quite possibly not even making enough to cover the space rental pretty much did me in, so I stopped this past year.  Yes, I know about Avon, 31, Posh, Advocare, but those are the types of things that don't fit well with my personality....I always feel like I'm pressuring people, plus there's the initial investment of funds, which I just don't have.  I've looked at baking, but now I have one friend who has started doing cakepops and decorated cakes, and another who is taking custom orders for cupcakes and muffins, and even if they hadn't, husband made some very good arguments as to why he is uncomfortable with me doing anything food related unless it's a company..LLC....and there is a lawyer ready to handle any lawsuits from people who have allergic reactions....I really was jazzed about mini pies and such like that, but again, he made good arguments and I'm not going to fight over this.  SO.....really that pretty much leaves.......what???

What sort of things are feasible to bring in a little more income??  Yes, I sew, and I have an Etsy shop, but I don't know what I could possibly list that would sell since I've had the store for a while and sales have been up and down.  Right now, there's not a huge amount of things listed, but I'm trying to get new items made, a new light box made, and new pictures taken to better show off the items.

Other than that, I'm open to suggestions.......

Ideas???