Frugal Lunches for the week

I'm off work for the holidays but my husband will be going to work this week. One thing that I've been doing for a while now is making sure we have our lunches ready to go for the week before we go to bed on Sunday nights. It's one thing to say " we'll take leftovers" or " I'll come up with something in the morning". But what happens is that did not always happen and we ended up purchasing a lunch here and there and blowing our budget.

This nice little meal consists of a bean and cheese burrito, chicken flavored rice and pickled jalepenos that I put up this past summer. The entire lunch costs less than $1.50 TOTAL. I also had enough left over for about 2 servings of rice that I can eat for lunch sometime this week or we can use it for leftovers or in a soup or something for dinner and 4 bean burritos that I wrapped in foil and put in the freezer for a quick lunch or dinner down the road.

Here we go- five, frugal- yummy lunches that will ensure that my husband has a good lunch and we don't spend money on food we weren't planning to!

 

What are your go to lunch preps?

 

Happy Homesteading guys!

2018 Reading Challenge- Follow along or start your own

I do love to read. And reading is quite frugal  if you do it right. Doing it right for our family includes trips to the county library on a regular basis. Our library ( and probably yours) has a system of reserving books that are popular- so you will be next in line to get it when it is returned. Many times on a Wednesday or Thursday night the kids and I will log into our library account and reserve the books we want for our next trip. Sometimes if they are offered at another branch they will just send them over. Normally by Saturday as long as we aren't on the waiting list for a popular book we will have the books in hand when we go to the library . We just give them my card and they have a beautiful stack of books ready for us. Think about how much a pile of lovely books would cost at a bookstore!!


Anyways a site I like to use ( that's free of course) is Goodreads . You can connect with friends ( connect with me here to read my reviews of my books, see what I'm reading, view my 2018 Reading goals etc. There also is a place under " browse" where you can enter into giveaways of books you would like to read. I've done this often and last year  won between 10-12 books. Can't beat that!

This year I have set my goal to 50 books. I actually set it to 50 last year as well and although I feel like I did read that many books, I didn't keep track of them all. I think I ended up tracking only like 27 or so....


As you track what books you have read they give you recommendations on other books that are similar that you might like. I've found some neat books that way.

I'm currently finishing up a  book called " The Snow Globe" and it will be my first book read of 2018.

The temperature is 8 degrees right now, with a windchill of even colder, so what better day than to curl up in a blanket with a good book!

Happy Homesteading Y'all! What were your favorite books of 2017? What books are on your list for 2018?

Check in: How is this Homesteading thing going anyhow?

I've been blogging for a while ( not always super faithful but you know....) and I thought it would be good to see how things are coming along around the place...

Things that are going really good:
We'll start with the positive and see what good progress we have been making as a family.

1. We are living pretty simply. We have one TV in the house and only have Netflix. We watch on average less than one hour a day of TV and go many days without turning the sucker on. Since before we had kids my husband and I had a super expensive cable package and it seemed all we did was watch TV, I would say this is a definite plus in our home.

2. I've gotten really good at meal planning and keeping our groceries under control. I've been making our own bread, rolls and pizza crusts and planning accordingly for the things we need at the store. I know what I'm harvesting for the week and what I have canned or frozen so I can make a pretty good list. There are many weeks where we don't go to the store at all, and even more weeks where the only place I go is the Farmer's Market.

3. We love our chickens. The kids love 'em, my husband and I love 'em and they are keeping us stocked with eggs. They are fun, not too much trouble and we enjoy the eggs.

4. I've gotten good at canning!! That doesn't mean that I've canned all we needed for a year or anything like that, but I've gotten good at it. I know what to do and how to do it.


5. There are some things in the garden that we grow plenty of, at least for the last few years. Those items are muscadines, grapes, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers. I've got all of those that I want.....

Things that are going okay:

There are also some things that are going good, not amazingly well, but I'm still pretty proud of.

1. Our gardens in general are doing well. Above I listed the things that we really have way too much of, enough to share, and even sell a bit. There are some other things though that we have just enough of. A little bit to share, and can even. Those items are squash, zucchinni, okra, cabbages, kale, lettuces, broccoli. corn and potatoes ( both sweet and white). We also normally ( some years are better than others) get enough pecans from our trees.

2. We ( as a family) are reading a lot and that makes me happy. Every Tuesday we head to the library for books. Even my husband is in on the action when he has time. All three of my children really enjoy reading and I of course do myself. I'm pleased with this aspect of our homesteading quest.

3. Our diets are good. You may recall that my profession is a Registered Dietitian and I am working on my PhD and even though we have always eaten pretty well, I can say that I'm pleased with the way we eat. We have lots of water bottles, we pack lunches and snacks when we travel, and I cook a lot. Are we 100% organic? No. I don't have a desire to be honestly. We aren't vegetarians or paleo or anything like that, but I am impressed with myself when I open up our pantries or the fridge or freezers. My kids aren't picky and we eat a variety of really delicious food.

4. We are watching our trash production. We use reusable items like dish clothes, napkins, even feminine items, as well as reusing what we can, recycling and donating or consigning items that no longer fit us.

5.We are composting! Not only do we have rabbit manure and grass clippings and leaves, but we compost our broccoli stems and apple cores and just all those little knick knacks from the kitchen. Our composting is coming in handy.

6. We have one bee hive and have done well with them I think. We should be ready to harvest our honey here in a few months.

Things that I'd like to work on:

1. We have plenty of pears and muscadines, but I'd like more fruit!! I always have enough blueberries, blackberries and strawberries for a few desserts a year and for us to snack on, and occasionally enough to freeze a bit or make some jam, but right now I'm getting our berries, apples and peaches from the farmer's markets or pick your own type places. I'd like to add more fruit to our homestead. 

2. I'd also like more corn and peas to add to our pantry and freezers. We eat a lot of corn, and I do put up quite a bit, but I think adding a few more rows of each would be helpful. 

3. I'd like to start making soap. I have plenty of herbs that I could dry and I bought a book off of Amazon about how to make cold press soap, but that's been it. I'd like to start experimenting with making our own soap. 

4. Last year I put up a ton of delicious pizza sauce, pasta sauce and salsa, this year I'd like to try my hand at vegetable soup. Last year I would just get a jar of stewed tomatoes and add frozen veggies and stuff to it, but those big quart jars of veggie soup I remember from my childhood are just calling my name. 

5. I'd like to try cheese making. I don't have a place to get good fresh milk right now, but I'm sure if I looked a little harder I could find someone local to get some milk from. I know you can make cheese from grocery store milk, but I would like some from a local farmer. 

If you've read this far. Bless you :). 

What are some things you are doing super well with on your homestead? What are some things you could work on?

What's growing around the homestead?

We have a total of three gardens that we tend each year. The one below is one of our newer ones, we've been gardening this spot for about 4 years. 

It has lots of cabbage, broccoli, green onions , corn, squash, peas, beans, zucchini, watermelon and cantoloupes. 

It won't be long before we'll be digging some nice potatoes and we are already harvesting broccoli and cabbages. 

This is garden number two and is our "main" garden. It has the stuff we'll pick almost daily and it has tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, corn, beans, squash, zucchinni, blueberries, radishes, onions and is framed by the muscadine and concord grapes. 

It won't be long before we have blueberries to snack on. 

Some tomatoes peaking through. 

Baby zucchinni!

Grape vines

A teeny tiny apple that will be yummy soon. 

 And this is garden three. Here are our cucumbers, a few more melons and a few blackberries. 

We also have a small plot of strawberries that are doing pretty good this year, not enough to can but enough to eat. And we have a large bed of asparagus and several random  herb containers and gardens. I hope everyone else is off to a beautiful, productive gardening season!

Happy Homesteading!!!!!!!

Garden Still going strong!

So it's hot here! I mean really hot. And while the cucumbers, blackberries and blueberries are about finished, we still have lots of life left in our garden. Below is our cantaloupe patch. These are huge. I mean ginormous! And we've had a few already and they are quite good. We just eat these. I don't put them up or freeze them or anything. Sometimes if we have any that I've cut and are pretty ripe, I'll throw them in my smoothie bucket, but for the most part we just devour them.

 

Our watermelons are growing well too. Here is a pretty one camouflaged in the vine, but you can tell it's beautiful, and will just be wonderful. We have 3 different kinds planted and I expect at least 30 good melons. We'll eat them a lot, share them and maybe even trade a few.

Below are my famous muscadine vines. They run in kind of a weird L shape along the perimeter of the main garden. They are huge. I mean honestly we have way too many, but we aren't going to cut them down. Some along the back there are concord grapes, but most are muscadines ( which to you non-southerners are just a type of grapes)

 Here is kind of the under shot side of the trellis. If you look close you can see the green fruit just waiting to ripen. Lots of sweet juice and jelly in my future....

 I'm getting a few tomatoes. I've made one batch of hot salsa, and we are eating 1-2 everyday, but for the most part they are still coming on and are green. I expect many more tomatoes and hopefully lots more salsa, ketchup, pasta sauce, pizza sauce etc in my future.

These are the little tommy toes that we just snack on. And put them on salads and such. Good stuff.

We also are getting okra, corn, squash, zucchini, eggplant, purple hull peas, lima beans, green beans, new potatoes and peppers and cucumbers still. We are getting about 6 eggs a day as well from our chickens, so we are pretty much good on eggs. We are in the height ( and the heat) of the season and I'm proud to be able to grow our food and cook good food for my family!

What do you all have going on? Outlook for your garden pretty good?

Puttin' up Peppers!

It's getting hot in here!

It's not quite time for my famous pepper relish yet , but we do have a ton of these hot banana peppers. I only planted 4 plants this year, but just this morning I picked a 5 gallon bucket full! I have about a third to my dad and brothers to eat and kept a few for use to snack on. I also know that we'll have more in a few days. Anyways, I prefer the sweet ones, but will eat the hot ones occasionally, but my husband, father, father in law and brothers love the hot pepper rings.

 Just for reference, these are what they look like. Just imagine a 5 gallon bucket of them! So I pickled them of course.

 I just washed and dried them really well, then prepared my jars and rings. The mixture I use is just 2 parts water 6 parts white vinegar, maybe a tablespoon pickling salt, and some garlic.

 These aren't super bright. They are kind of a dull color to start with, but they will eat just the same! So what do we eat them on? Home made pizza, sandwiches, salads, tacos, beans, by themselves, really all winter the men can find something to eat them on.

 So I also planted some little tabasco peppers and they are beginning to make. I went ahead and pickled some to use as pepper sauce, used mainly on greens and with cornbread, at least around here. I then thought to myself, I bet I could get one of those cute little jars like pepper sauce ACTUALLY comes in. And with a quick search I found some on Amazon. I had some credits from my Swagbucks, Bing and Gift Hulk, and I have Amazon prime, so I ordered them, have free two day shipping and they cost me nothing out of pocket. I'll let you know when they get here and will show you how they work.

 

I'm sure I'll have more peppers I'll be putting up as well. Don't forget to check out my 2015 canning totals here.

 

What are you all up to in your kitchen during this hot summer?

Add some color to your homestead!

I think we all like a little color don't we? I always try to plant some wildflowers and other flowers in a really no nonsense fashion each year in our garden. By that I mean we till up a row and I just spread the seeds. Nothing fancy, I normally don't keep them weeded once they get a few inches tall etc. It's really there for several reasons:

1: Beautiful right?

2: Butterflies and Bees like them ( good for pollination too)

3: The kids like to pick them

Here is a butterfly I caught this morning enjoying the flowers.

 Here is kind of a view from the front of the row, you can see that they are not in any order or fashion. Just nice and lovely. They honestly don't take much work at all. I planted $11 worth of seeds this year.

 And with my $11 worth of seeds I get countless bouquets. I'm talking a lot. The kids normally pick a nice bouquet for our house and my mom about every third day. I also keep some vases in the bedroom and our guest bath as well, which they keep fresh. The kiddos have also given bouquets to neighbors and my grandma when we visit her in the nursing home. We've taken them as hostess type gifts as well when we have been invited to dinners or parties. They are always appreciated.

 And while I don't plant them for the money savings ( I probably wouldn't buy them at the store anyways) a nice bouquet like this from a supermarket would cost $15-$18 EASY. So I have already made our money back probably 50 fold.

 

So next time you are doing your garden plans, include a row ( or two!) of some nice flowers you can cut for bouquets. They really do brighten up the homesteading!

One Small thing- Ditch the Disposables

I challenge you to make a commitment this year to not purchase as many disposable products.

For one it really helps with your grocery budget. If on one shopping trip you didn't purchase the following items, how much would you save?
- pack of plastic cups
-plastic spoons and forks for lunches and such
- paper towels
-paper napkins
- paper plates
- facial tissues
-aluminum foil
-plastic wrap
-zip lock bags
-brown lunch bags
-water bottles
-Lysol type cleaning clothes or windex wipes
Other items some may buy :
-Feminine hygiene products
-diapers
-wipes

Just those few items and you probably are spending what $30 a week( more with the diapers)? That's $120 a month. $1440 a year!!!!And depending on what other items you purchase it could be much more for things you are just going to throw away.

Then think of the trash.... not only will you throw away each plastic spoon, but normally they come in a box with plastic wrap, more trash... You will really start to see a difference in your trash if you opt to use reusable products.

For plastic spoons for school and work lunches and picnics I simply send metal ones. My kids have yet to lose one. They also each have a reusable lunch bag they take daily, so that cuts down on the old school brown paper bags. My husband and I each have a lunch bag we take daily as well. We also have several water bottles that we refill and keep in the fridge so no more throwing away water bottles!

Here is a nice lunch set from Tupperware.com please note I don't sale Tupperware, and if you know someone that does I'm sure they would appreciate your business. This also eliminates needs for ziplock type baggies daily.

 

For facial tissues we simply use hankies. Yes I know, so uncivilized. But I find them softer, and then I won't have the trash of used Kleenex and the boxes they come in. I simply wrote our initial on the bottom corner of the hankie so we would know whose was whose after the wash.

 

For ziplock baggies, plastic wrap and foil, just use reusable glass or plastic Tupperware like containers. My kids have little reusable snack bags as well, they use to take snacks in while hiking or to school.

 

For those of you that have children or may be thinking about more children, cloth diapering and wipes may be a good option for you. They have adorable prints and styles now and make it easy for moms. My youngest is finally out of diapers now, so I gifted all I had left to a friend that was very grateful.

 

For those of you that have a menstrual cycle you may want to look into these reusable pads. The picture is just a random one I found on etsy similar to the ones I have. With a house of three girls I'm sure these will come in handy. I would think if you have multiple daughters you would just have each one their own pattern or something if they were concerned about wearing someone else's. You wash them and wear them over and over. I've had a set of about 6 I've used for over 18 months now. That's a big saving monetarily and our bathroom trash is way down. It's not for everyone, but I would encourage you to try it. They have patterns to make your own, you can search for them on etsy, or other sites sell them.

 

For paper towels we just use kitchen towels or rags, and of course use them to clean my counters and windows replacing the need for Lysol and windex type wipes.

 

We use cloth napkins for paper napkins and I have several sets. I send them in our lunches, and use them at home for each meal as well as for picnicking and camping. I do have a nicer set that matches I use for company.

 

 

I realize many of you probably do this and more! What other ways are you finding to cut down your disposable costs and well as your trash?

 

 

Happy Homesteading!

 

Super Frugal and Fun Birthday Cake

With three little ones, plus a husband, plus myself it seems like birthdays are coming around pretty often.

Next time instead of purchasing a super expensive bakery cake, try this. I do it for most of the birthday's around here.

Make their favorite kind of cake, and frost it. Then spell out there name with colored chocolate candies ( aka M&Ms). It's always a hit and done for probably about $4 total, if that. The biggest expense are the candies. The kids love to help decorate as well.


Happy Homesteading Ya'll!

One Small Thing- Crock Pots

In the south we say Crock Pots. Others call it slow cookers. Either way, they are amazing. If you don't have one you should really look into getting one. If you do have one, but don't use it, you need to really look into using it more. If you do use one a lot, awesome for you, you probably have some great recipes to share.

A great source for Crock pot recipes includes Allrecipes.com. You can click the picture below for one of my favorite recipes for refried beans!

 

Gooseberry Patch ( which I love their cookbooks) has a Slow Cooker cookbook also for relatively cheap and again, I just love it.

 

 

 

I found that when I do my menu plan, that I include at least one or two crock pot meals a week in the fall and winter. It just makes sense to me and my family and our needs. You dump everything in the morning, turn in on and when you get home from work you have a delicious meal waiting for you. This is especialy important for us in the winter when it gets dark earlier, which we tend to eat dinner earlier.

 

If you are trying to simply cooking, trying to try new recipes or just wanting more homecooked meals, please dust off that crockpot ( or find a good used one at a thrift store) and start making good use of it.

 

What are your favorite things to cook in the crockpot?

 

 

Linked up with Simple Living Wednesday, What we Wore, Read and Made,

My Christmas Dishes!

Well, not actually "Christmas" Dishes, but some dishes I got for Christmas. I shared with you guys the set of plates I found at a flea market that my mother got me for Christmas. I have been meaning to share with you all a photo of my newly acquired treasures. Not only did I get a set of amazing chicken plates, but also another family member got me a set of dishes he found at a flea market for me. Here they all are, laid all in glorious splendor.

Yes, folks, be jealous. The set on the left only has 3 bowls but that's okay. Still beautiful.

The chicken dishes are so fun to me. They really just remind me of me! I love this one of the rooster, so proud and cocky.

The one here is adorable also, with the two little chicks in the bottom. I let the girls use these when we eat on them, they like the chicks....

Here is a closer picture of the other set. My uncle ( with Down's Syndrome) got them for me. He is the absolute best shopper. He makes a list and shops tirelessly for the "PERFECT" gift for each person. He is just so thoughtful. These dishes are wonderful

 

 

It's amazing what a few new dishes can do to a girl isn't it?

 

 

Until Next time, Happy Homesteading ya'll!

 

 

Linked up to Monday Barn Hop, TALU Tuesday

Book Review- We Had Everything But Money

I purchased this book " We Had Everything But Money" at a flea market recently for $2! I have been kind of seeing it here and there and always forgot to look for it at the library, so I was happy to find it.

Priceless Memories of the Great Depression.
They are indeed priceless. There are numerous stories of inspiration, dedication, community and love in this book. It is a collection of different stories, rememberences, recipes etc. of the Depression Era. The stories are a light read, and you can read several stories at a time.

The Pictures.
Oh my there are amazing pictures in this book. I shared some with the girls, pictures of feed sack dresses, little ones peddling apples, just amazing pictures of our nation's history. I would say this would make a great coffee table type book ( if you are into that sort of thing).

Bottom line.
I liked it. It is well worth $2 :). It wold be worth more than that though. I could see it being used as part of homeschool unit about the Great Depression. It could really be inspirational to be happy with what you've got, and it teaches about the human spirit.

Until next time...
Happy Homesteading...

Linked up with Monday Barn Hop

One Small Thing- EGGS

One Small Thing- Eggs

 

I stated a few weeks ago in a blog post (here) that I wanted to start sharing a few small ways to really start sharing some great ways to start slooooooowly on your own Homesteading Quest.
One thing that I think everyone can do be it in the country or city is learn to love eggs. That's right EGGS!

I'm not talking about raising chickens ( we'll talk about that in another post) but I'm talking about really just learning to eat, cook and bake with eggs.

No matter where you get your eggs ( from your backyard chickens, neighbor, farmer's market or even the store) they provide a great source of cheap protein and are very versatile.

When trying to begin your homesteading quest, scratch cooking. learning to menu plan, more healthful eating and budgeting your grocery money better always seems to be up there on your list.

Learning how to eat eggs certainly fills all of those desires. It is a cheap, nutritious form of food that can really impact your grocery budget.

My oldest daughter LOVES hardboiled eggs, she eats them as snacks....and my husband and I do too sometimes. Isn't she cute??

MY ONE SMALL CHALLENGE THIS WEEK

So today, my challenge to you is to get 1 dozen eggs, hard boil them, peel them, and store them in a container in your fridge. When you need a snack, or a quick sandwich or salad topper, grab one or two and use it in your meal.

Tell me what you think? Could this save you money? Would your family enjoy some meals with more eggs in them? Would your pocket book enjoy it?

Happy Homesteading......

Linked up with Artful Tuesdays

If you have to buy your meat at the store....

I recently found the show Mountain Men on tv. I think it is on the History Channel or maybe Nat Geo. Anyways, one of the men said something that has had me thinking. He said ( and don't quote me) but something to the effect of " When you have to start buying your meat from the store, it's the beginning of the end"..... WOW.

This particular episode had the man above that lives in Alaska and he was taking his wife and young daughter on a caribou hunt. They needed meat. Their freezer needed meat to sustain them for the winter. So they hunt. Such a simple complex, yet it seems to be so foreign to so many people now a days.

If you follow my blog you know that our family only eats deer meat and fish that we catch.(We enjoy a wild turkey, pheasant, ducks, geese, rabbit and squirrel also, but those are special treats).   Also on rare occasions we eat seafood when we are fortunate enough to get some fresh from the coast. That was the case this week. We had the great opportunity to share the wonderful experience of oyster tonging, crabbing and some sea fishing with our daughters. They are used to fishing in lakes, but they have never harvested oysters or crabs fresh from the gulf.

Here is a picture of my oldest daughter pulling in a crab trap. You pull it in with a big hook.

Then you empty your yummy crabs from the trap, re bait and throw it back in. You can't see the crabs too well from this picture, but between about 6 traps we had an abundance of crabs for dinner.

Next were the oysters. If you have never seen anyone tong for oysters before it is pretty great. They use what look like post hole diggers with rakes on the end, and basically scoop them up.

You just dump them out and then go through them and kind of cull them. You don't want all the extra materials, only the good oysters .

The shells of the oysters can be sharp so it's important to wear gloves. You can sea the girls helping here which is kind of adorable in my opinion.

Next was fishing. Basically the same as fresh water fishing, just different types of fish. This was a kind of saltwater catfish we caught. We got 6 of these puppies on the day we were out.

We had a feast of crab, oysters and fried catfish for dinner and had plenty to share with our family.

I really want to encourage everyone to think of ways to harvest some of their own meat sources.

Of course not everyone can have herds of cattle, nor does everyone want that. I can't tell you the last time we had beef and we are okay. Not everyone can raise chickens to eat, and again even though we have chickens we don't eat them. But hunting and fishing is something that most can do. America has an abundance of these harvestables and to our family it is a real blessing. Hunting and fishing done humanly, respectfully and lawfully is one of the greatest lessons in sustainability we can leave our children .

What all do you hunt for your family??

Linked up to Monday Homestead Barn Hop. The Morris Tribe The Funny Farm TALU Adorned From Above

A camping we will go

We are lucky to live in a beautiful country, and even more specifically a beautiful state with lots of  state parks, nature trails and hiking areas.
We went camping this past weekend and had a great time. I love to get the kids outside and playing with nature.

The girls loved the sign that said "Bear Country". We did not see any bears though. I think they were half hoping we would and half hoping we wouldn't!

Here is hubby and little guy hiking. His hat is as big as he is! It was a little cool though so we made sure to cover his ears. We have purchased a hiking carrier for him, it just wasn't in yet. Normally we don't lug him around like this. Poor fella...

We made it to the top though. Highest point in Arkansas thank you very much. This picture kind of cracks me up. The oldest one is blowing a bear whistle in my ear, the middle one claims the sun is in her eyes and won't look at the camera , the baby looks fine though.

The views were spectacular though.

It's great to see animals and insects and bugs. We saw a few squirrels, and some coyote poop ( we suspect) , we saw about 7 deer one night right behind our tent. There were tons of birds and butterflies out too!

Finally little guy had decided he had ENOUGH, and out he went. Great memories with a wonderful family!

Do any of you have plans for camping this Spring/Summer? What are some of your favorite activities?

Happy Homesteading.....


Linked up to Monday Homesteading Barn Hop and The Morristribe Blog Carnival.