Finally got around today to trying my hand at a few of the homemade mixes in the book, 'Make-a-Mix', that DH gave me last week....

My 11 y.o. DS really enjoys baking, so I thought he would like to try the Muffin Mix (plus it was one from the book that I actually had all the necessary ingredients already on hand) -- so, together this morning he and I put it together. He then whipped up a batch of muffins for our breakfast. Success! They were Lemon Poppyseed, very good indeed and he was quite pleased (although there was a considerable amount of cleaning up to do afterward. I swear every dish we own was dirty by the time we were done -- which always seems to happen whenever I cook with kids! ). Upon the success of my son's muffins, my DD suddenly became interested. Not to be outdone, we searched in the book for a mix 'just for her' -- deciding on the 'Chocolate Pudding and Pie Filling Mix'. Several more dirty pots and pans later we had yet another mix to store in our pantry, and a batch of pudding cooling outside on the porch. She was satisfied. Anyway, it was fun. We'll have to try the other mixes as well -- I think this book may well turn out to be useful.....

It was a pleasant, relaxing weekend mostly here at home. And I don't think anyone here spent anything anywhere the whole time....

Now, I have run and drop off some videos that were due yesterday back to the library before it opens, to avoid overdue fines (so glad they have the outside video drop box -- very convenient).....

.....posting method as requested. Leaving out that boiling-the-noodle step makes this easy enough for everyday....

"No-Boil' Method for Lasagne:

Liberal layer of tomato pasta sauce on the bottom of a deep baking pan.

Add a layer of dry lasagne noodles, with another liberal layer of tomato sauce over that. Continue layers as desired -- dry noodles and sauce, with cheese, ricotta cheese, cooked meat or meat substitute, and cooked, chopped veggies or spinach in between the layers of noodles as desired (note: I like to use seasoned, crumbled tofu as a ricotta substitute). End with a top layer of noodles and sauce....

Cover pan as tightly as possible with foil (grease the inner side), and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

After 45 minutes, loosen foil and bake for another 20 - 30 minutes (I like to loosen the foil all around the sides, but keep it draped very lightly, tenting slightly, over the top of the pan to prevent excessive drying...)

Remove from oven and allow to rest a full 10-15 minutes before serving....

By request, I'm posting this easy, little-fuss cookie recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup honey (I subbed the leftover syrup I happen to have on hand from candied citrus peel production....)
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or cruncy)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup wheat flour (whole grain, or white, or mixed)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease cookie sheet and set aside.

2. Cream honey, peanut butter and vanilla extract together until thoroughly combined. Stir in flour to form a stiff dough. Mix thoroughly.

3. Form the dough into walnut-sized balls, and place them on cookie sheet.

4. Flatten cookies with the tines of a fork, making a cross-hatch design on top.

5. Bake for 11 or 12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned (do not let burn).

6. Allow cookies to rest for one full minute before transfering to cooling rack using a spatula. Cool cookies completely before storing.

Yields 2 dozen.

(Note: If using unsalted peanut butter, add a pinch or two of salt to recipe. Also, I've never tried this using corn syrup, but that would probably work, and be cheaper.....)

Another snowy, stay-at-home-and-spend-nothing kind of day. Very relaxing. DS was gone, and DD had a friend over to play for the afternoon. I sipped hot herbal tea all day long, and baked peanut butter cookies (my fave recipe, with just FOUR ingredients -- can it get any easier than that????)....

FINALLY got around to cooking up the birthday lasagne I owed DH (using the lazy, 'no-boil, less toil' method). It's in the oven as I type. Made two big pans -- one for dinner tonight, the other to stash in the freezer. For lasagne sauce I whipped up another batch of the zest tomato sauce I made earlier in the week, adding a healthy dose of The Relish of course. There's enough remaining in the canning jar for probably one more batch of pasta sauce -- upon that, another yet pint of The Relish will bite the dust (never mind the 5 or 6 pints or so still left on my shelf).....

Balancing the checkbook this a.m.. So far, things don't look TOO terribly off track, despite several recent expenses (which, hopefully we can make up for later...)....

One of those little (unexpected) expenses involved having a crew take down a big tree in our backyard a few weeks ago, that was leaning very precariously toward our house, after it's roots snapped in high winds. Well, it was quite a stressful, drawn-out saga actually, and a long story (involving deposits, ice storms, fretting). But as of yesterday it's finally all been taken care of, when the crew returned to collect and haul away all the wood that was taken down. Now, the chapter of the falling tree is closed, happily (even though it left our pocketbooks $400 lighter, thankyouverymuch....).

Piano today for the kiddos -- other than that I stayed home and cleaned. Exciting, I know -- but I'm feeling very accomplished right now. I addressed the two towering stacks of miscellaneous papers, magazines and whatever else on what over time has essentially become our 'catch-all' table in the diningroom. It's now all been properly sorted and filed/discarded/decluttered. Go me.....

Made a huge amount of potato salad, one of my family's all-time favorite dishes, for dinner. I used 6 pounds of potatoes -- plus celery, onion, etc. It will be gone by tomorrow morning. It's astonishing how much of that stuff DH, DS, and DD can put away.....

I did save the potato cooking water, to use in bread, soup, etc. Potato water is especially good in savory baked goods -- helps them to keep longer too. As for bread, I ran across a recipe today while sorting that I'm very anxious to try. It's 'Walnut-Sage Bread', and the most appealing feature is that it calls for lotsa sage -- 1/3 cup. Well, my sage plant is about the only thing that really goes gang-busters for me here in my shaded yard, bless it's little sagey heart. It just grows and grows, happy as a clam (and sage is so handy in that the leaves don't fall off -- one can just run out and pick what one needs all winter). I do my best to try to use it when I can, but recipes seldom call for more than a tablespoon or so -- so this recipe looks like a keeper. Anyway, I may sub the walnuts in the bread when I make it, for something cheaper -- like roasted sunflower seeds (which I currently have 5 pounds of in my freezer, thanks to my co-op order from yesterday)....

Oh, joy. Last night, I finally found the perfect use for the home-canned pepper relish I made a year and a half ago, and am still stuck with....

I had stumbled upon the most awesome windfall back then. Through connections, I was invited to pick from our local college's agricultural research gardens -- plot upon plot of heirloom tomatoes, peppers, squash and beans, all organically grown. The precious seeds had already been collected, thus the research was over -- and all the beautiful produce left to rot (but not before I charged out there with boxes and buckets to have my way with it, heh). Such a bounty, with me shlepping home every variety of pepper and tomato. Anyway, the tomatoes were easy -- canned most of them, using as many peppers as I could (in salsa, sauces, etc). I also chopped dozens upon dozens of peppers to freeze in bags -- but still had buckets to use up. Finally, in desperation I dug out a few pepper pickle/relish recipes -- using up the remains, whew. But guess what. Everything from that season has long since been consumed (aside from the tomato butter -- that's another story), EXCEPT for ... what else? Right. The relish. Nobody liked The Relish.....

So..., I've been sneaking The Relish into my cooking a little here and there, whenever possible (a tablespoon in the potato salad, a sprinkling in the canned corn, etc). But finally, I had the bright idea last night to add some to the pasta sauce I was scratch cooking from (store-bought) canned tomato sauce and paste. Success!!! Why haven't I thought of this before??? The sauce turned out really well -- zesty and rich, compliments of the sweet/spicy, relished peppers. And I was able to use up a goodly dollop. I see lots of relish-kissed pasta and pizza sauce in our future -- consumed with gusto! What a relief (because throwing out The Relish was NOT an option)....

Well. What a spendy little week THIS is turning out to be.....

My natural foods buying club order arrived this a.m. as scheduled. I had ordered nearly all bulk-food items, and most of it came in -- all except for my 25 pound bag of organic brown rice (I am willing to pay a little more for organics when the price difference isn't too drastic). Drat. Can I wait another whole month for rice?? Hmmm. Well, I do have a few grains stashed in my freezer (quinoa, millet, barely, and arborio rice), which really ought to be used up anyway. Eh, we'll make do. In any event, my total at checkout was not exactly chicken feed ($229+)-- but, of course I am expecting it to all average out over time....

Same thing with the money I went on to sign away on pet food/supplies (bedding and such, as well as pricey, high-falutin' canned food for my poor, nearly toothless dog). Shopping at PetSmart, I appreciated very much how the prices-per-oz were labeled right there on the shelf. I compared everything, took advantage of sales, and went with larger sizes when the price-per-oz was actually lower. And I made a point of stocking up, so I might avoid those annoying little emergency side trips here and there (a real aggravation). All of this will (hopefully) save money over the long haul (although writing the check for the total bill was still trifle painful at $95+).... Ah, Pets -- ya gotta love 'em (even though they can be expensive little buggers)....

Now that my dog can have only soft, canned food for the next two weeks (they said she still has teeth enough to function, and can return to dry food once everything heals), I will need to run out today to pick up a supply. And I suppose while I'm at it, I should make a point to stock up on food and supplies for all the other household pets as well (which include the rabbit, guinea pig, bird, and two frogs). It's interesting, because while I've always taken care to compare prices between stores for human food--I'm really quite oblivious when it comes to pet food. I'll have to make a point to include pet food/supplies in the price book I'm compiling .....

Just picked my dog up from the vet, where she spent the day for her dental appointment, to find she had .... 22 teeth extracted!!! Ay Carumba! My poor doggie! They said it will mostly likely make the world of difference in her behavior, since she was probably in constant pain with advanced dental disease. But you never would have guessed -- she's always been a sweet, loyal, energetic dog. A healthy appetite, cheerful disposition. We had no idea! Ugh, I feel terrible about this, and not because of the money (although it was steep, whew) ....

Vet bill: $256.43


.

My pressure cooker is simmering away in the kitchen right now as I cook up a big batch of brown rice. I still owe DH a birthday lasagne, and I was planning to make it today -- but being sickly as he is, he asked me to save it for later in the week when he regains more of an appetite.... So instead I plan to make miso soup again for dinner, like I did last weekend since it REALLY hit the spot -- along with veggie fried rice. I'm making enough rice now to feed an army, and what I don't use for supper tonight I plan to freeze in meal-sized quantities for future 'fried rice emergencies'....

(DS has a friend over this afternoon. Snack: baked oven fries... with ketchup of course!)

Our birthday outing with friends was very fun last night and our $20.00-for-four dinner was good indeed. If only DH didn't have a cold (a rather nast one at that)! And on his b-day too, of all days. Oh well. Now..., I just have to hope I dont' get it, ugh.....

After openings presents, DH surprised the kids and me last night with gifts of our own -- special books he bought for all of us, for 'his' birthday. Very sweet and thoughtful of him, although I admit it did 'raise my eyebrow' just a tad (as any unneccessary spending of money tends to do, heh). Mind you, my frugality instincts and resolve do run a bit deeper than DH's (wink). Anyway, he bought them all used through Half.com -- and the book he got me? "Make a Mix', by Eliason, et al -- what a surprise! With all the bulk flours and grains I ordered coming in tomorrow, I'm looking very forward to trying out some of the scratch baking mixes in it. I'm all for saving time, as well as money....

This morning I will be taking our little dog to the vet, for a very much needed dental exam and cleaning. There may be extractions involved, all to the tune of $200 or more. It's pricey, but we love her so and want her to be healthy and well. At her last checkup, the vet said her teeth were in pretty bad shape and in need of attention. So, it has to be done....

Will be starting on DH's birthday cake momentarily (his fave -- poppy seed, hence the ones I purchased yesterday)....

Taking quick stock of the kitchen cupboards this morning, I can see we are very well-stocked for pretty much everything in the way of food at the moment. Once my co-op order comes in in the next day or two (with lots of bulk items, including flour, rice, oats, and chickpeas) I don't see that we'll have to do any major food shopping around here for a good long time. Aside from the bananas I still need to get my hands on for the banana butter, and possibly more sugar for canning purposes, I may try to see nowjust how looooong I can possibly manage simply cooking from my pantry -- a fun challenge. I'll make exceptions for any especially good deals out there I may come across of course, ones too good to pass up (like those ridiculous enormous $1.99 cans of ketchup I discovered at Big Lots -- been wondering actually if I should see if the others are still there, heh ....).....

Tonight however, we will actually be eating out (a rarity for us) to celebrate DH's birthday. There is a small vegetarian restaurant near us on campus, that offers a nice little vegetarian buffet on Monday nights. It's 'all you can eat' for $5.00 a person, including drinks. Total cost for the four us will be $20.00. We'll be meeting friends of ours there -- ought to be fun, and we are all REALLY looking forward to it....

Yesterday made for much running around, but as sunny as it was, it was a pleasure getting out. I did part with money at three separate stores, but it's all good....

The first was at our handy (and rather pricey) health-food store just a few blocks away. I found myself there in desperation after discovering, at the last minute, about a potluck luncheon for which I was totally unprepared. The store bakes lovely french bread daily, and almost always has day-old loaves available, marked down to .45 cents each. I bought two seeded loaves for the potluck (grabbing several extra while I was at it) to run home and garlicise. While at the h.f.s., I also grabbed a few bulk spices we were running low on (including poppy seeds --more on that later) -- as well as some sprouting seeds (to use in our sprouter for homemade sprouts). I admit I did linger for some time in the aromatherapy aisle (if I were to have a spending weakness, it would be for essential oil -- how I love it so!), but left the store with only the few (very restrained) sample drops of oil on the back of my hand (Mmmm....).

My hastily thrown-together garlic bread turned out better than I dared to hope, and the two loaves I used made a huge basket-full. I was sure I would have some left over to take home and freeze -- but every last crumb was devoured (it was such a hit I think this may become my standard putluck fare...).

Then it was off to a small second-hand bookstore we have nearby, to see if I might find something for DH's birthday (today). He loves anything soccer related, and I was lucky to score two used soccer books ....

Next was Save-a- Lot (cheap grocery store), for lasagne noodles. Lasagne is a DH favorite, and I always make it for his birthday. My vegetarian DH also has a (not-so) secret passion for junk food (which rarely gets indulged if I have anthing to do with it) -- so, in celebratory spirit, I picked up some *very special* birthday treats: 2 bags of cheapo, flavored potato chips (which he LOVES), and some breakfast pastry/turnover thingies ($1.19) complete with staggering amounts of fat and a looooong list of unpronounceable ingredients (heh, the more unpronounceable the better). I also grabbed flats of tomato sauce and tomato paste, for scratch pasta sauce (and a bag of chopped collard for our house bunny -- her favorite...)....

Came home to make dinner -- french bread pizza (using the said extra, discounted loaves bought at the h.f.s....), and to watch another library-borrowed DVD....

Snowed in today, while it blustered and blew outside all day long. Not that I minded one bit. We just stayed put and spent nothing -- very relaxing. Dinner was miso soup with leeks, and brown rice, with a bit of chopped fresh green onion for garnish. We feasted on clementines for dessert (saving the peels), and watched a library-borrowed DVD (which I *MUST* remember to return tomorrow to avoid overdue fines....).

Spent a goodly chunk of the afternoon picking over and chopping up the free fruit I was given yesterday by my friendly neighborhood shopkeeper. Even though it was getting past it's prime, most of it was still ok -- and I ended up with strawberries, blueberries, bananas, cantaloupe, and peppers to stick in my freezer. The kids love smoothies and shakes, so it will all be used up that way (aside from the peppers!). The bunches of bananas I did purchase yesterday for cheap, are already nearly all gone. Heh, we've had a houseful of kids for the last 18 hours, including a sleepover and everything -- so need I say more . What good eaters! I just may make my way back over to the shop again this afternoon to buy more bananas for the banana butter I want to make (although it IS snowing here to beat the band right now...).

Ran a few errands this a.m. First, to our wee neighborhood asian grocery store -- a good 'mom-n-pop' sort of place for reduced-price produce. The shopkeeper there has to truly be one of the friendliest and hardest working people around. Warm and outgoing and always energetic -- throwing rapid-fire quips around in her heavy asian accent like she does. But she's ... oh, how should we say... 'persuasive'? I *always*leave the store with waaaay more stuff than I ever intend to get, ahem. And today was no exception! All I really had in mind were perhaps potaotes, maybe some cabbage, bananas, apples, and carrots -- as well as rice noodles, and tofu. Well, unsuspecting me arrived right after a new shipment came in (plus I was the only customer there) -- and dare I say I did end up with all that I went for, and THEN some. Walked out with snowpeas, leeks (leeks? I never buy leeks!), green onion, organic cauliflower, cucumbers, cantaloupe, clementines, organic lemons ("You take?", she prompts. "Cheap!!"), mango (??), papaya (???), celery, mushrooms, AND.... a $4.99 watermelon (????!!!! How did THAT happen???? I never buy watermelons in winter!!! ). Well, at least I can say we're now totally stocked up in terms of fresh produce, I guess (--the fridge WAS getting a little bare). And, happily for me, everything was very reasonably priced (she even threw in a whole bunch of freebies -- strawberries, blueberries, apples, etc. that were starting to turn that I can pick over and glean). The bananas I got for .20 cents a pound. I rarely see them that low anywhere around here these days so, being as that DH has been hinting that he's been wanting a 'jelly' of some kind for toast -- at that price I stocked up and plan to can a few pints of 'Banana Butter'. The clementine and lemon peels I'll save to candy of course. As for the watermelon (and it's a hefty one) --well, I'm sure it will be delicious. And to offset the cost of that little impulse purchase -- yes, I intend to pickle the rind. (I personally adore melon rind pickles -- but have never attempted to make them myself. Heh, now's the time....).

My next errand felt very good -- stopping at the bank to sign off on a 5 year CD we're putting a little money into. We had a bit of savings that we'd been letting roll over in shorter term CD's for some time now (to keep the money accessible if we should need it, and to perhaps see if interest rates might rise) -- but finally came to the decision to lock it in longer term, for a much better rate of return (we also have a 401k set up through my husband's state job (and a few other little odd and end funds) -- but, I want to diversify). Anyway, here's hoping to do more of this kind of errand in the months and years ahead.....

Daughter and I went to the library this evening, where I checked out a number of books on personal finance, and am now looking forward to sitting up tonight with a cup of hot tea and perusing them....

(Of course it's a little ironic that in order to check out the books on personal finance, I had to pay my personal overdue library fines. To the tune of $5.50. Yeah, like THAT makes sense (or should I say 'cents'?)....)

Today is a buy-nothing day for me, and another day of cooking out of my pantry. I'm thinking dinner will be a chili of some sort -- so I can dip into my freezer stash of dried beans (heh, some of it *still* leftover from Y2K, thankyouverymuch!). Also on the menu I think, will be cornmeal polenta (I grind my own in my decade-old Vitamix, from corn I bulk-purchase and freeze). I make a point of cooking up a big batch of polenta from time to time, seasoning it according to whim and what I have on hand. Once cooked, I chill it in loaf pans, then slice it, toasting the slices a bit in the oven before serving to crisp them up. Crispy polenta slices are delicious served with any tomato-y thing (sauce, chili, salsa) as well as other spreads, like home-made pesto. And the leftover slices freeze beautifully for a handy side dish another day. I find polenta relatively simple to prepare (I can even make it in my pressure cooker), nutritious, filling, and CHEAP.....

I came downstairs this a.m. to find I apparently must have left the porch light on all night, after letting the dog out for the last time last evening. Tsk...

One of the first things I do every morning, is feed our voracious, (recently-aquired) giunea pig. I filled his cup high with pellets, then realized we were probably going to clean his cage later this a.m. But he loves to tip his cup over and eat off the floor-- a waste of food when we change his cage. I put some pellets back. (Note to self -- look into a hanging food dispenser for him. Might be more efficient.)

After a bit of tinkering last night post dinner, DH managed to get our stalled truck started. He thinks the problem most likely weather-related, since it was running fine and dandy until this latest cold-snap. Still, it reminded us that we haven't had the truck serviced in any way since we bought it last year (used and for a good price from friends). As our second vehicle, it gets relatively little use. We're fortunate to live a short distance from DH's job, and he simply walks to and from work every day. Consequently, we managed to get by with one vehicle for our family for the longest time. As the kids get older however, and more involved with various activities in the community, coordinating everyone where they need to can at times be very logistically complicated (like yesterday). That's when the truck comes in so handy. Still, a part of any sound frugal plan ought to include regular maintenance of vehicles -- so I will make a point in budgeting the $$ for a thorough truck tune-up in the next month or two (and let's not forget the car as well)....

Just popped the bread out of the bread machine and it's looking (and smelling!) good (selected a potato bread to which I added a little olive oil and rosemary), plus the stew is still bubbling away in the crock pot. It feels really relaxing to have dinner all ready when I come in the door after a busy afternoon. Mind you, I'm not always this organized (Warning, warning! Understatment Alert!!).....

I managed to use up my squash in the stew, some potatoes, and a big handful of garden green beans I froze last fall. I have many, many bags of frozen green beans still in my freezer, but am steadily trying to use them up this winter (by sprinkling a few into just about everything I make, heh). It was, for whatever reason, most definitely a green bean year around here last season. EVERY gardener I know produced an *abundance* of them. My father presented me with bags full every week -- and we had our own mini- bumper crop of them to contend with that my son had planted and tended. My sister's boyfriend had many gajillions of green beans as well, and invited us one day late in the season to come and help ourselves to the bounty. Kids and I drove out there one afternoon and picked for what felt like hours, coming home with buckets full of the most beautiful, untarnished beans ever -- yet still had barely managed to make a dent in his crop (though not for lack of trying). Frost was just around the corner at the time, and I felt sick to waste all those beauties (think of all the hungry people in the world, etc) -- but I had to wave the white flag at some point, having already taken about as much as I felt I could possibly handle. It took days to process them all -- beans are rather intensive what with all the picking over and trimming and snapping to do. Most of the beans I froze since that's by far the easiest method -- in two-to- three cup, recipe-sized quantities. Some of them I canned. And a few of them I pickled using an untried, for me at least , recipe ('Dilly Beans'). As such, I was unwilling at the time to make very much, since I had no way to predict how well they were going to go over with DH and kids (for example, I'm pretty much the only one eating the bell pepper pickle relish I canned two seasons ago, thankyouverymuch). Naturally, I should have guessed that the kids would go BONKERS over them, especially since I didn't make that many!! Ah yes, you see - I'm still thinking (obsessing?) about all those lovely organic green bean freebies I left behind, to be wasted by frost.....

In any event, any savings I might have incurred today by cooking out of my pantry, was dramatically offset by gas expenses schlepping my family around town. Unfortunately our second vehicle is not starting right now for whatever (and hopefully not too expensive) reason. This left my husband without a means to get to his volunteer soccer coaching gig on the east side of town. However in the meantime, my kids had their dancing classes on the west side of town to get to. This meant driving to the west side to drop off my kids, driving back home to meet DH in order to drop him off on the east side of town, retrieving the kids from the WEST side, and chauferring one of said kids to meet said DH BACK over on the EAST side. How crazy is that??? (On a happier note -- this afternoon I found my favorite winter scarf that I was certain was lost for good and would be needing to be replaced. It was hanging on a hook in the dance studio -- yay!)

As is our custom on Wednesdays, I'm going to have a busy afternoon today doing kid schlep duty -- so, out comes the crockpot in a few minutes. I have a butternut squash to use up, so I will be digging out a recipe I have for a savory pumpkin stew we like, and sub the squash. I'd love to get the bread machine going again this afternoon for a fresh baked loaf to go with, but am running precariously low on flour (just ordered 50# bulk through my co-op though, to arrive next week). I'll scour my freezer for flour odds and ends (in various baggies that I've purchased in bulk here and there from stores), and with any luck I'll have just enough. I can always stretch a little further with soy flour or cornmeal if necessary. I'm sure whatever greets us when we walk in the door tonight will at least be edible, even if it's not pretty.....

I am currently making a very concerted effort to reduce our food spending, the one department in our family's budget I probably have the most control over of all, since I do the vast majority of our food shopping, meal planning and preparation. One of the ways I hope to accomplish this, is to finally put together a price book (a la The Tightwad Gazette), which I have intended to do for years but never quite got around to it. I know it will help me considerably in keeping track of prices from store to store....

As for stores, we do have a number of options for shopping in my community. In addition to several supermarket and drug store chains, we also have a few health food stores, several asian and european-style food markets (it's a university town), bakeries, a recently opened Save-a-Lot, a Deals ("Nothing Under a Dollar" --a marketing gimmick that sometimes translates into savings, and sometimes not), an Aldi's, and a Big Lots (happily a bunch of these stores are clustered together very near my children's dance studio that I must get them to several times a week-- so I need not go out of my way to shop them). I have also been a natural foods buying club/co-op member for many years. In summer I take advantage of a fabulous local farmer's market -- in addition to the fresh vegetable surplus given to me by my father from his abundant garden (as long as he is continues to keep it up, it's unnecessary for me to - he plants enough for all of us). I do prepare, freeze and can any free or nearly free fruit and vegetable produce that comes my way -- and will continue cooking nearly all our meals from scratch. Between the combined effort of keeping track of loss-leader store sales, comparison shopping, bulk purchasing, free garden produce, scratch cooking/avoidance of convenience foods, and wasting as little as possible, I'm hoping to significantly whittle our family food budget, all while maintaining my personal standards for nutrition (we happen to be a vegetarian family, plus I lean towards a preference for natural and whole foods cookery.....).

So, all this brings me finally to .....ketchup. My kids adore ketchup. They LOVE it -- you would think it's the elixer of life. They put it on everything. I don't discourage it (even though most of it is probably sweetened with the evil 'high fructose corn syrup'), since its said to be a good source of lycopene, an important anti-oxidant. But at the rate they go through the stuff, it can be quite expensive supporting their habit. I do make and can my own from garden tomatoes -- although we plowed through my stash long ago, and last year was not a good tomato year for our area so I never got the surplus to build up another winter supply. Consequently, after we went through the last quart of my home canned, I gritted my teeth and began buying it again, a few bottles at a time, trying to hit the sales. Until yesterday that is when I stumbled across the mother load of ketchup, in Big Lots. There they were -- huge industrial-sized cans of Hunts ketchup, 7 POUNDS per can. At a $1.99 per can!!?? I bought 3 cans. ( How exactly I am to serve these, I haven't quite figured out yet, heh....)

By' popular request', I am posting the url link to the bread recipe I mentioned in an earlier post:

http://www.breadmachinedigest.com/recipes/loaf_recipes/the_bread_machine_digests_dill_pickle_rye_bread.txt


NOTE: This was my first time making the recipe, and it was really quite good and flavorful -- to the point that although I only made it yesterday evening, it's already all gone! (And I only got one slice!) I did make a few changes to the original recipe however. Instead of the egg, I subbed one T soy flour with a T or two of added water. Instead of shortening, I subbed olive oil. I used half white flour and half ww pastry flour (no rye flour on hand, and no caraway seeds either). Since I occasionally have problems with my bread machine bread falling and kind of caving in a little in the middle (I suspect due to the dough rising too quickly, thereby weakening its' structure for the baking cycle), I added only 2 tsp yeast instead of the three, with fine results. Oh, and I added one T of vital wheat gluten for good measure. .... (Hmmm, next time for fun I might even add a T or so of my homecanned relish that I'm trying to use up....)

The kids have a friend over, and they are all CLAMORING for a snack. Cinnamon Toast, comin' up ...! (Always on the lookout for frugal, vegetarian, healthful snack options, btw....)

I whipped up another big batch of granola this morning. After several years of experimenting with different recipes, I'm happy to say I've finally hit upon one that everyone really likes -- most especially DH, who eats it every morning for breakfast. I did make it a little differently this time around however. For the past several months, I've been saving the peels (carefully washed) of all the citrus fruit we've consumed (which is a great quantity) in a large bag in the freezer, and last weekend I finally cooked up an enormous batch of candied citrus peel. These will be used to flavor my future baked goods, and they were a delicious and attractive addition chopped and mixed in, right along with the other dried fruit, to the granola this morning. A by-product of my candied peel production was 4 delectable cups of incredibly rich and thick, bittersweet orange-y syrup -- very honey like. I've been enjoying it in my hot tea these last several days (especially orange herbal tea -- wow), but this morning I subbed some of it for the honey in the granola recipe. The house smelled yummily as it baked. Anyway, heh, I always get a perverse satisfaction out of making use of things we would ordinarily throw away.....

Another example of this would be the bread I baked yesterday in my bread machine. I got the machine as a gift from my folks several years ago, but until recently hadn't put it to as much use as I might have. While I'm not at all adverse to the old-fashioned method of bread baking, since I have the thing, and it's taking up precious counter space in my kitchen, I've re-resolved to make it earn its keep. So yesterday I tried a new bread recipe I found on the net. I admit it was all terribly convenient for me --- I simply threw the ingredients into the machine, left the house for several hours to take the kids to dance class while it did it's thing, and came home to fragrant, freshly baked bread to serve with our supper of soup - a lovely thing for this busy homeschooling haus frau. Anyway, the point here was that it was Dill Bread, calling for an ENTIRE CUP of leftover pickle juice....! Ok, who else here has jars of pickle juice in the fridge just waiting to be used up in some way??? Previously I've saved mine to flavor salads (potato, kidney bean, etc). But now, I know exactly where mine will be going, heh.....

Also doing laundry this afternoon, and I'm trying the method I've seen suggested here. I used less detergent than usual, but am letting the loads soak in the soapy water (after a little agitation) for a time before I continue the washing cycle. I'm intending to stretch our current bottles of (sale purchased) detergent as far as I can, and then research options into possibly making my own natural/environmentally-friendly and cost-effective alternatives. In any event, all clothes will be hung either on my basement clothesline, and/or on the wooden hanging racks I keep set up in our bathroom. With the air as dry and cold as it currently is here, clothes hung inside dry within hours, and we really need to reaccess our power bill -- it's got no where to go but dooooown ......

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Greetings. I'm SeeAPenny, and I've been lurking in on this online community for a short while, enjoying the discussion boards and journals most especially. As such, I've decided to emerge from lurk-mode to initiate a saving journal of my own. I know I will find it a useful tool in keeping track of my family's financial goals....

I was raised in a comfortably frugal household. My parents, both depression-era farm kids from very large families, clearly understood how to live practically and within their means as they raised their four children. Finally, as a 30-something adult with a husband and two children of my own, can I now fully appreciate my parents' lifelong accomplishments.

As a homeschooling SAHM, my husband I have made countless conscientious decisions in our spending habits and lifestyle over the course of our 13 year marriage, to make it possible to continue raising a family on one income and get by. Nevertheless, I have gradually begun to realize I am now at a point in life where I want and need far more for myself and my family than merely to 'get by'. In fact, I'm aiming to fully thrive -- it is my goal in 2005 to educate myself more thoroughly in financial matters, pay off that nagging little c.c. balance for once and for all, build upon our savings and retirement, invest, initiate plans for major home improvements on our 100 year old fixer upper, actively prepay our mortgage if even just a little every month, better organize my time and household, and achieve greater personal fiscal security and responsibility. I know every one of these ambitions is entirely within reach. Accomplishing them however, will require taking our current budgeting to a deeper level, along with lifestyle changes, for lesser or smaller, along the way. It will require, as I like to call it, 'nth degree' frugality -- a challenge which I presently feel ready, willing, and empowered to meet.....

I plan to use this journal to record and keep track of my various activities, both large and small and no matter how mundane (or successful), that bring my family closer to our savings goals.....