Where's the Groceries?!

When grocery shopping lately do you find yourself wondering, what did I buy that cost so much?  Shouldn't there be more groceries in these bags?  I often wonder if I forgot a bag at the store.  It kind of reminds me of the old Wendy's Hamburger commercial.  Where's the BEEF?

Each time I go to the store, I am shocked at the amount of money we are spending to get the same amount of groceries. I overheard an elderly lady yesterday commenting to a store manager on the price of dairy and how they are having a harder time getting by with the increase in costs.  This is a concern among many people.  Not just the elderly. 
As I was unloading the groceries from my vehicle yesterday, I started to wonder, why is it I rarely see any of our neighbors carrying in groceries? This is something we seem to do on a regular basis.  I have watched them carry in fast food more than groceries.  Is this what main stream America eats, as opposed to cooking at home? 

I have watched documentaries which included low income families stating it is cheaper to eat off the the dollar menu versus buying fresh food to prepare at home.  They claim they can't afford or don't have the time to prepare fresh fruits or vegetables for their family.  One question you should ask yourself would be, what is the price I put on my families health?  Eating fast food at times may be "cheaper", however, is it really?  What price are you going to pay in the long run?

Fast food is something we rarely eat.  For one, I don't care for the food, it's not as healthy, and I have to wonder about the cleanliness of the place and the people working there.  It almost makes me sick to my stomach to watch a worker take your money and then go and prepare your food.   Yes, I am a little OCD when it comes to germs.  Not Howie Mandel freaky, but I do carry hand sanitizer around in my purse and use it often.  Eating out is also costing more.  I can still make a more healthy meal at home for my family that costs less.  It does take time to decide on a meal and prepare it.  Is this why many choose to pick up food on the go?  Lack of time? 

Cooking and baking at home does take time.  You have to plan a meal based on what you have available at home.  I know many people shop according to what they are going to make that day.  I detest going to the grocery store, and making a trip every day or two is not for me.  I prefer to shop once a week.  I would go less if I could get by with it.  I often wish our grocery stores would run sales every two weeks instead of weekly.  I generally shop what is on sale.  I stock up on items that are on sale each week and usually get enough to last until the item goes on sale again.  Shopping this way means you need to have a place to accommodate extra items.  If ketchup is on sale, I may buy 5 of them.  The same goes for meat.  This week hamburger was on sale.  I purchased 5 packages.  I will break the packages down into smaller ones and put them in the freezer.  By shopping this way, I have items on hand to prepare meals at home.  It just takes a little planning. 

Even shopping sale items, I am finding we spend almost twice the amount on groceries when compared to what we were spending a couple years ago.  To make things sound gloomier, there are rumblings that things will get even higher.  Wages for the average person are not increasing, in fact they are moving in the opposite direction.  Utilities are increasing.  The price of gas keeps going up.  We have cut back immensely on driving. My husband drives a motorcycle to work to save gas.  We shop locally when possible.  We often find the added cost of gas to drive to a larger city for an item doesn't offset paying a higher price locally.  How are others coping with the added expense of items?  Are you finding yourself cutting back in other areas?  Are you staying at home more with your family?  I myself, have been spending more time canning.  I think it started out of a need to become more prepared, and now find satisfaction in seeing the jars filled with goodies we will be able to enjoy for months to come. 

Rug Hooking Class

Last night was the second session of the rug hooking class my friend Becky and I are taking.  Let me start by saying the class is not at all what I expected.  The class is considered a traditional rug hooking class and incorporates techniques used for many years.  I expected to receive a "boxed" kit, but instead the instructor makes her own.  And when I say she makes her own, I mean down to dyeing her own wool! 

We started with a bag of uncut wool in various colors for our project.  She traced the design on to a piece of linen.   We can use as much detail or eliminate it to make it more simple if we would like. 

I came to the conclusion this isn't a project that I will be completing any time soon.  It takes awhile to get the hang of making consistent loops.  The supplies to start rug hooking as a hobby are somewhat expensive.  In order to keep the fabric tight while you "hook" you need a frame to support the material.  Frames range in design and price.  A basic frame starts around $50 and price goes up from there.  The cutter for cutting the wool is even more pricey. Once you invest in the cutter, each cutting head is an added expense.  Cutting head sizes determine the width in which the wool is cut.  Wool is also expensive.  You can search used clothing stores for wool clothing and get wool cheaper if you are thrifty.  Once you make the initial investments in the equipment, wool will be the most expense you have with this hobby.  Many choose to buy wool in bulk and dye it themselves to save money. 

Ready made kits are available for purchase, however, if you read the descriptions carefully, the less expensive kits use yarn instead of wool, such as the rooster pattern below.  I'm glad to have the opportunity to learn the art of rug hooking.  Will I do it in the future?  Time will tell.  I want to get through this project before I make a final determination.

More Canning

I made what is probably the last cutting of my rhubarb for the year.  I decided to make Rhubarb Simple Syrup and can it for use in in the soda stream this winter.

My parents were nice and brought me in some of their tomatoes so I could make more salsa. I had no idea how long it would take to complete the project.  I was up until 1:30 in the morning on Saturday.  I ended up with 25 pounds of tomatoes, which was transformed into 5 cases of salsa!  I still have a few more Mrs. Wages Salsa packets, so I may not be finished yet.  

More tomatoes were delivered today which I plan to make into pizza sauce.  I won't try and do the entire batch at once this time.  I'm going to try and spread the work out over a couple days instead.  Before I tackle more tomatoes, I have grapes that need my attention.  I plan on making grape juice and jam.  It's a good thing I stocked up on peanut butter.  We may be eating a lot of PB & J sandwiches if groceries get much higher this winter!

On another note, I opened my first jar of pear jam over the weekend.  It's very good!  I have more pears on order to pick up at the store to make into diced pears and jam.  I'm going to try a chunky version of jam with the next batch.

Here it is....my tag "garage" sale pressure canner!

Isn't is shinny! And it only cost me $20.  What a bargain!   I had my dad check it out before attempting to use it. He replaced the seal for me and said it should be good to go.  It came up to pressure great when he tested it out. 

Yesterday I asked my mom to come in and help me, christen it with me. It has been a long time since I had used a pressure canner.  Twenty one years, at least, and that was with my grandmother's help.  Honestly, the thought of using one alone made me leery.  Having someone give hands on directions to walk me through it was just what I needed.

Since I had made the chicken broth a few days ago, I really needed to get it canned.  In case any of you are wondering,  no feet were used in my broth.  I don't butcher my own chickens, not to mention couldn't bring myself to use the feet for broth.  The chicken carcass was enough for me to handle.  I ended up with 8 quarts of broth. 

While we were waiting for the pressure to go up and down on the canner we also made diced pears in light sauce using the recipe and method found here: http://busterbucks.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Preserve-Fresh-Pears    We didn't use a melon ball utensil as indicated.  We just peeled and removed the core with a paring knife. We diced the pears in larger pieces rather than cutting them into halves.  I wanted smaller, bite size pieces ready to eat. 

In addition to canning the broth and pears, we made pear jam using Ball RealFruit Pectin. 

Don't they look yummy!

 

 

This pectin allows you to either not use sugar or add a little so the jam isn't too sweet.  




With all of the canning I have been doing, I now need to find a place to store it all!

Frugal Friday~Toothbrushes...Don't toss 'em, wash them

Have you ever heard your doctor or dentist tell you to throw your toothbrush away and get a new one when you have a cold so you don't keep exposing yourself to the same germs or virus?  I first heard this almost 20 years ago, and my response was "I just put them in the dishwasher".  The responses I have gotten were "that's a great idea" or "I hadn't thought of that". I guess I was ahead of my time!  As my mother will tell you, if I can fit it in the dishwasher, it goes in.  I even put my small plastic trash cans in there for a good cleaning.  They fit, so why not?

When we moved to this house it was the first time I didn't have a bathroom on the main floor, or each floor for that matter.  We either have to go up stairs, or down, for a bathroom.  We brush our teeth a few times a day, so my solution was to put our toothbrushes in the same drawer as our silverware.  It's close to the sink where we can easily get to them, without having to go to another floor.  When doing this, I decided instead of washing our toothbrushes periodically in the dishwasher, we now wash them each time they are used.

Of course this means we each have to have more than one toothbrush.  We each have specific colors we use, or we write our name on them with a permanent marker.  Mostly for my husband, he's the one that has a hard time remembering his color. Once a toothbrush has lived it's life, it gets a new use as a cleaning utensil.  They are great to use to scrub in those hard to reach places!

Making Calendula Extract

I have several marigold "calendula" plants growing around my house.  Generally I gather the seeds when they dry out and save them for next year, share them, or sew them to expand the bed.  This year I took the front bed over for vegetables, therefore, the plants I have growing are in areas around the steps, and foundation.  They were getting a little out of control and needed pulling.  As I was doing this, I thought there had to be a use for the flowers.  I already buy calendula salve for cuts and burns, so why not see what I can make out of the flowers. 

The first uses that I found were to make tea out of the flowers.  That idea doesn't appeal to me, right now anyway. I may experiment with it in the future.   I also came this link for making a salve and an another for making calendula extract.  The salve can be made at a later time with the extract so I chose the extract method. Luckily I have vodka on hand.  I don't normally, however, I had purchased it to make vanilla extract and hadn't gotten around to starting it yet.  With all the canning I have been doing lately, other projects are being put on hold. 

Place flowers in a glass jar.  Making sure there are no bugs on them.

Smash flowers to compact them.

Pour enough vodka to cover the flowers. 

I had to add more vodka as the flowers expanded a little when it was added.  Place in front of a window where it can receive light for one month.  Turn and shake the jar every once in awhile.  The directions indicate after a month you can strain off the liquid and the extract is ready to use.  It indicates the extract will keep for a long time.  I will keep you updated on the process.  Now to find a sunny location!

Peach Dipping Sauce

I have had this book for a couple years.  I was thumbing through it looking for some ideas for preserving pears and came across this recipe for peach dipping sauce.


I had some frozen peaches in the freezer that were past their use by date and decided this would be a good way to use them up. The peaches were just starting to turn a little brown when thawed and since they would turn brown when cooking, that shouldn't be a problem.

I diced the peaches and onions as instructed.  Placed them into a pan along with the spices and cooked until tender.  Once the peaches started getting soft, I used a potato masher to mash the larger pieces.  Once they had cooked a little while longer I got out the big gun.

The hand mixer.  I rarely get to use it and forget how great it works.  It's like a power tool for girls.  I felt  a little like Tim Taylor from Home Improvement when using it.  I almost had the urge to grunt as he did.

 Just look how easy it is to puree with the hand mixer.  It reminds me of baby food.  If only they would have made these when my son was a baby.  (Maybe they did and I didn't think to use it for that).  Making home made baby food would have been so easy!  The food processor just didn't do the job. 

 

I had prepared my jars before hand and placed the seals in a pan to heat up.  

  This gadget is wonderful to help remove the lids from the boiling hot water. 

It is made by ball and has a magnet on the end to pick up the seals with.

Once the sauce was boiling it was time to place it into the jars.  I used jelly jars so we could open a small amount each time we wanted to enjoy the sauce. 

I ended up with 10 jars.  I am not a big fan of cloves, and if I make this recipe again I will cut down on the amount of cloves added.  Just tasting the sauce made we want to go out and get some chicken nuggets or chicken tenders to dip into this sauce.

Frugal Friday~Creating Your Own Artwork with Fabric

This idea came from the Nate Berkus show.  I have only watched it a few times and happened to catch an episode where he was talking about making your own piece of art out of fabric and a artists canvas. The type that has a wood frame on it.  You can find these at hobby lobby in various sizes.  If you watch you can get them on sale, or even print off one of their 40% off coupons for even more savings.  They offer the coupons pretty frequently and they are easy to print off at home. 

After you have decided on the size  of canvas you want ,you can then purchase the necessary amount of material to cover the canvas. Maybe you already have material on hand and would like to get the canvas to accommodate your material.  Thicker material works better for this project.  I used outdoor fabric for this one.  Be sure to allow about three extra inches of material on each side to wrap around the canvas.  The amount you will need to allow will depend on the thickness of the frame the canvas is on.  I decided to leave the plastic cover that what on the canvas when I bought it.

One you have your material and canvas you will also need a stapler.  Not a stapler for paper, but rather a stapler to allow you to tack the material to the back of the canvas.  Iron your fabric ahead of time and cut it to size.  Lay the fabric piece face down.  You want the back side facing up.  Place the canvas side face down on top of the fabric.  Tack one side at a time stretching the material taut over the canvas front as you staple each side.  This is my finished product.  I haven't hung it on the wall yet and think I prefer it propped against it instead.  If you want to hang your finished product you will need to add a picture hanging attachment to the back of the canvas. 

 
I have some material with chickens on that I really like. I may try to find some smaller canvas pieces to make some artwork for my kitchen or entry way. 

Seasoning or Re-seasoning Cast Iron Skillets

I have a few cast iron skillets.  Some I have had for several years, and others were my grandmother's.  One of the gifts my grandmother gave me for my first wedding was cast iron skillets.  Over the years I had given most of them back to her.  We only used them when camping.  I have always preferred cookware that was dishwasher safe and for the most part only sauteed foods.  I didn't have any need for a cast iron skillet until we got our chickens.  Or so I thought.  One of the skillets I asked for of my grandmother's was a small one she always used to fry eggs in.  Once we started getting fresh eggs, we had more than I knew what to do with.

It had been years since I had eaten a fried egg.  I didn't care for "store bought" eggs and only used them for baking.  After tasting fresh eggs, I learned to love them again.  Especially when cooked in the small cast iron skillet.  My husband prefers our non-stick skillets when making scrambled eggs.  I personally don't care for the taste of them when he uses those skillets. 

After using my cast iron skillets, and each time having everything stick to them, I started to wonder if re-seaonsing them would help.  I came across this video which got me into action.  I dug out two of my skillets, coated them with canola oil and set them on cookie sheets to bake at 250 degrees as she suggested. 

I have since used my larger skillet to cook hamburger for goulash.  It worked great.  I immediately washed it up, put in on the burner to dry, and now it's ready for our next cooking excursion!