Thankful for Friday!!

Here I am again, WAY past due on a blog post. Seems to be the trend these days. :) Life just keeps on moving forward and keeping me busy. Not all bad, but I do miss posting more often...I need to make a more conscious effort to schedule the time. :)

This week we've been enjoying Spring Break. No classes, no running, no school work to stay on top of! We've not been completely lazy though....we started off our "break" last Thursday with emptying out my pantry area and prepping the kitchen for a fresh coat of paint. I'll post about that later on with before and after pictures. :) Let's just say, it was a TON of work. The rest of our "break" we've spent deep cleaning a different area of our house each day. It's been nice to see some order in areas that rarely see it. We haven't gotten as much done as I would have liked, but that's OK. Having the "break" has been nice regardless.

So, what am I thankful for this week? OH MY! Where to start! So many blessings....so little blog space. :) I'll name a few....

• Having a break from the constant running we do for school. It's a schedule that is unavoidable at this point in time, but can be draining. 
• My seedlings that are growing nicely in my dining room. 
• A hard working man who does so much for our family...my best friend and husband. :) 
• Our pantry that is well stocked, even now at the end of the season. 
• Two baby goats that are growing to be healthy and strong!
• A mama goat who until this kidding has been as head strong and nasty as they come...often sitting ON MY HANDS while I tried to milk her....picture a 200 pound goat sitting on the milking bucket with your hands inside, not a pretty picture. This time around, she has been sweet from the moment the kids were born. She is raising her own kids this time and it seems to have totally changed her...I've wondered several times if someone didn't come in and switch goats on me. :) 
• The half gallon of beautiful milk I get from our mama goat (Tinkerbel) now that we separate her from her babies at night. Every day she's given me nearly a half gallon, I'll be making farmhouse cheddar from her milk this weekend! 
• SUNSHINE for today...we've been enduring rain, snow, hail and cloudy skies for weeks now. Today we are supposed to be near 60 and have almost two full days of sunshine! My clothesline is going to get a work out today! FINALLY!!!

It's been a great week off...sure, we've had some bumps along the way, but all in all it's been a welcomed "break"! 

Avoiding the grocery store

Last week I posted about the rising food costs and how we are changing some things to avoid a rising food budget crisis. While not all of us can have huge gardens, a milk cow or goat, chickens, pigs and such, there is always more that we can do to cut costs. Sometimes it takes more time on our parts, more time spent in the kitchen baking, canning produce you buy from a local produce stand or any number of other things.

For me, spending time in the kitchen is something that I love to do. Making bread is not a chore for me, baking cookies, canning peaches or making tortillas. Sure, it's work, but I'm not one that is turned off by a bit of effort to save some money to trim our budget. There are some things that I make that don't even save me much money, but it's worth it just to avoid buying what someone else has made...and the added items that ALWAYS end up in my grocery cart while picking up those items. Doesn't that just drive you nuts? You go to the store for milk and bread and end up spending twice as much on things you "forgot" you needed. In reality, MOST of those "needed" items are not really needed at all. You could easily do without them.

One thing that I thought about in reading comments left on my last blog entry about this subject was that not everyone CAN grow everything. I know I can't. Tomatoes are a favorite here, but something that I have struggled to get to grow well here. This year, I'm going to try a few "tips" I have read about, but I'm not going to count on growing enough to provide us with our needed total for the year. This is something that I watch for at local farms and produce stands. Even canning tomatoes that I've purchased from someone else is better than relying on an unsteady market to always have them on hand. Honestly, if I didn't can them myself, I'd be stocking up on canned organic tomatoes somewhere else...like Costco or where ever I could find the best price. Buying in bulk is what keeps me from having to shop all that often.

Network with local farmers, or others that are able to grow what you can't. Find a neighbor that has chickens, trade with them or buy eggs from them. Raise a few broilers for your freezer, or find someone that does...worst case, buy in bulk when chicken goes on sale. The key is to look at what you CAN do and work with that. For my family, I don't want the GMO food, the poorly raised meat full of hormones and the fillers that they feed the animals. So, we choose to raise most of our own...often at no better price than I could get on sale, but much better product for our time and money. I like knowing where my food comes from and NOT supporting a food industry that likes to play God...or feels that they know best what is "good" food.

I could easily go on and on about what you "could" do, or what we do here. Everyone has to work with what they have, make choices based on preference, limitation and availability in your area. The key is that you CAN do something, even if it's just a few things here and there. Not everyone can be self sufficient in their food needs, but for my family, that is a goal. My encouragement is to do what you can do. Trust in the Lord for what you can't...He's never let us down...we have always been provided for. We just feel that there is always more that we can do to be better stewards of what the Lord has blessed us with!

If you are feeling lost as to where to start, you know you need to cut back on spending, you can't grow a huge garden, can't raise a cow or a pig...start by looking at what you buy now. Can you make your own bread? What about skipping the frozen dinners? Make more of your meals from raw ingredients, not prepackaged mixes and such. I have found that many of the products I thought I needed....BBQ sauce, syrup, pancake mixes, bread, buns, tortillas, even chocolate syrup....can be made at home from things I already had in my pantry! Start by looking at what pre-made foods you buy now and try to find alternatives. It doesn't take a total change in every area of your menu, but most of what you "think" you can't make is easily made from scratch with ingredients you already have on hand. Sure, it may take a bit more time, but planning can help solve much of that problem. I'll be trying to share many of my family's favorite recipes, things that I make all the time that help me avoid the grocery store. If you are looking for something specific...leave me a comment and I'll see what I can find. :)

We are all in this together...and many hands (or minds) can often make light work in a tough situation!

Grocery Shopping and Filling a Pantry

I spent some time this week watching a series of videos on the forecast for the coming year as far as grocery prices go. The videos were found on the Backyard Food Production website. The information in these videos made me even more determined than ever to closely evaluate where my food budget is going, how I stock my pantry and what items I choose to buy.

Here, we have many opportunities to avoid the grocery store, thank the Lord! I, for one, do not enjoy shopping at all. avoiding the grocery store is often difficult with a growing family and especially with growing teenage kids. Our menu is already fairly simple, and our pantry is generally pretty full. My goal, of course, is to get to the point where grocery shopping is a once every few months ordeal, but for now I am limited to one or two big trips a month. That is HUGE, considering I used to shop weekly for our needed items.

This week, after watching these videos, I have spent even more time evaluating what we buy and why. I already make most of our food from scratch, but there is always more I can do. A few areas still could use some improvement...like pasta, crackers and lunch items for my husband. I buy very little ready made items, but still feel like I should be able to do more....always a work in progress.

Some of the things we have moved away from buying are:

• bread
• tortillas
• yogurt
• buttermilk
• kefir
• rolls
• hamburger/hot dog buns
• eggs
• beef
• chicken
• potatoes (this last season we were able to grow enough to last through most of February, this year we'll try to make it through spring)
• pickles
• pickled beets
• green beans
• blueberries
• raspberries
• oregano
• sage
• mint
• milk (part of the year anyway)
• jams
• syrup

So many things I want to add to our list of homegrown/made items. I'd much rather stock the ingredients to make much of what we use, eat and need than purchase these items already made. I've been "playing" with cheese making, having been somewhat successful with both farmhouse cheddar and mozzarella. Each time I make cheese, it gets better. In the months to come, I hope to perfect cream cheese, sour cream and feta. Being able to take these items off of my grocery list would be wonderful!

Another area that I've been looking at are cleaners and shampoo. I've made and used my own shampoo several times over the past year and liked it! As my family runs out of shampoo, I'm slowly transitioning us over to all homemade. I found some great recipes on a friend's blog. You can visit Freedom Acres Farm for recipes. They are so easy to make and have nothing "bad" in them like so many that you can buy in the stores do. As far as cleaners go, I am using more vinegar, baking soda and buying my dish soap in bulk from Azure.

Another area that I've changed is my laundry soap. I have been using Charlie's Laundry Soap since December. Even with our extremely hard water, this soap works wonders! I love it, can't say enough good about it. One 80 load tub has lasted me since the 13th of December. How's that for inexpensive. Best part is there is nothing in this soap that is harmful...it's just that, SOAP! I can't say enough about this product. I saved up and bought 6 tubs of it all at once to save on shipping. Those 6 tubs will last me more than a year...gotta LOVE that!

While this is not even close to EVERYTHING that I am doing, I wanted to share a bit with you. This has been a big part of my thinking this past week. I'm always looking at what I am doing and trying to do more, or at least be more efficient with what I am able to do.

Given the recent forecast for our food costs this year, I am working even harder to do a better job at what I do. My garden planning this year is different, my canning and preserving goals are changing a bit and my focus is on simplicity and efficiency in it all. This was a big part of my thinking even before I saw the videos this week. I've seen the prices in our grocery stores here rise at alarming rates over the past few weeks and months. It's frustrating, at best, when you are trying to feed a growing family with limited resources AND trying to be as health conscious as possible at the same time!

How have your shopping, cooking and budgeting patterns been changing? Is the economy affecting this part of your life or are you to the point where you are providing enough of your own that you don't feel it as much? I can't believe that for a minute to be very true of most people, you are either feeling it at the gas pumps, the feed store or even just in the little you do buy. We are all feeling the pinch. What have you changed?

Another Monday...ready or not!

Why does the weekend always have to go so quickly? This weekend was a busy and relaxing one for me. Saturday I worked on finishing up canning the tomatoes and applesauce that I didn't get to during the week. It feels SO good to have that done for now. :) I'll do more tomatoes IF I come up with the money for them before the frost comes, thankfully I've gotten enough done that it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't do anymore. I'd LIKE to have some tomato sauce done up, but won't feel like a failure if I don't. I LOVE being in that place where canning is concerned! Don't you?

Sunday was spent just relaxing, for the most part. Three of us are either suffering from a nasty cold or feeling one coming on so we were home all day. The rains were heavy at times, but it sure felt good...a really "fall" feeling day! The only thing that was missing was a fire in the wood stove, but it was just not cold enough yet. The temperatures were actually rather warm and muggy, everything just "looked" like fall. :)

On Saturday, while I was canning away, Wade and the boys were working on cutting out some limbs from some trees and also taking out a few in our side yard. These trees were totally shading our fruit trees and we finally decided to deal with them. It looks completely different out there now and we gained a bit more fire wood in the process. The goats LOVED the fir needle treats. :) I really don't like taking out trees on our place, but these trees were just not allowing our fruit trees to really grow properly. Sure, we could have planted our fruit trees in another spot, but you know what they say about hind site. :)

This week is looking much easier than the past few. I have VERY little canning to work on. That will allow me to work on some baking, cleaning and a bit of relaxing....OH MY! :) It's amazing how much my house suffers while I'm busy canning, I know my family will appreciate a more normal routine this week. My body will appreciate a bit slower pace and my house will look better for all of the extra attention. :)

So, how is your fall going? Is your pantry fuller? Are you still canning? I still want to can some pears, apples and some dry beans. Not sure where I'll put them, as my shelves in my pantry are FULL, but I'll figure out something. :) My hubby may have to sacrifice a bit of space in his shop for a few shelves. :)

Another canning project on my horizon is some more beef and chicken stock. I actually have a crock pot full going right now. I'll get at least 7 quarts of rich stock from the carcasses in the crock pot this round. It's so easy to do, I just let it simmer away in my crock pot for a day or even two...one of those projects that I can work around my schedule. The longer it cooks, the better the stock. My house smells wonderful in the process! :)

Have a wonderful week!

Thankful for Friday!

Wow, another Friday already! Seems the weeks are speeding by faster and faster all of the time. Must mean I've been busy, you think? Oh my yes! It's been a good kind of busy however, so I can't complain much. :) Life around here just keeps going full speed, there have been days I feel like I am not able to keep up. In the midst of it all I am trying to be thankful, because all of this busyness is proof that we are blessed!

So, what am I thankful for this week?

* My wonderful and hard working man is still working...thank the Lord!
* Our computer is back up and running and the repair bill was less than we expected.
* My pantry is filling up...peaches, tomatoes, green beans, apple pie filling, pickles, chicken stock, pears and more apples. :)
* We harvested about 50 pounds of apples off of our best producing apple tree...it's about 5 years old and we get the best apples off of it. I wish I could remember what kind it was...we'd get a couple more trees! :)
* My wonderfully talented husband made a grape arbor for our one grape vine...we'll soon be adding more that a friend is giving us. :)
* We were blessed with a load of produce from some friends....60 pounds of pears, broccoli, squash, zucchini and corn! YUMMY! So fun, especially since our garden has done little to nothing. Theirs had done very little as well, but they live at a lower elevation and have a bit longer and better growing season than we do. Crazy how a 15 minute drive can totally change a gardens production ability!
* School has started and so far it's going well!
* Our yard is about 90% ready for fall and winter...weeding, harvesting of herbs is done and all of that fun stuff. :)
* My back and shoulders are about 75% healed from the above weeding and such! :)
* Our cockerels are half grown, more than, and will be ready for the freezer in another 6-8 weeks! :) Meat in our freezer! Yes!! :)
* We were able to sell one of last years goat kids, now a yearling, to a neighbor....solving a problem for both families. :) We needed to downsize and they needed a buddy goat.
* All of the corner posts for our new expanded pasture are set and ready for the rest of the fencing...now all we need is a bit more money for the rest of the t-posts. :) One step closer...can't wait! :)

There is more, I know, but I'd say that's a good list. :) I have been super busy with canning, school preparations, baby sitting, yard work, cleaning and just life here at home. With our crazy harvest this year....everything being super late and all ready at once, it seemed, I'm STILL canning. Normally I'm about finished by this point. Thankfully, so far I've managed to stay on top of it all...but my dining room may tell you differently. I have boxes of pears, apples and tomatoes everywhere...waiting to be canned into their jars and be placed on our pantry shelves. Even with all of the canning I've done so far, I have not come close to what I wanted to do this year. Thanks in part, to our garden and it's lack of produce. I'm OK with that though, I know that God has blessed our family and will continue to do so! I can only do so much, I am one person...how awesome is it that we can trust in an awesome God that can do so much more than we can...and WILL! If I were trying to do all of this on my own power, I can honestly say I'd most likely quit...there is just NO way!

Enjoy your weekend, be thankful for the blessings you've received. If you can't see any...perhaps you are not looking hard enough or in the right places. Blessings can come in the strangest of forms sometimes...like enough broccoli given to you to provide that one night's dinner with a vegetable dish! God is SO good to us!