*Frugal Ways * Fixing things Up* Using what you have*

I think most people are feeling the pinch of this downed economy our country is in and many of us are finding ways to fix up what we have in order to cut our costs whatever way we can.
I know we sure do feel the crunch, our income is down about 40% all the while the cost of food, fuel, & health care skyrocket.


I have gone to great lengths the past couple of years to learn how to
substantially cut our expenses. We have expanded our garden and I have started canning a lot more of our own food. I have joined a food co-op where I purchase a basket of fresh fruits and veggies each week for only $15 a week and I have refinished some beat up furniture to take care of some of the girls needs and fix up their rooms.


I even  refinished our dinning room table, it is made of pine and over the years all the kids had beat it up pretty bad. We had a friend cover the top with a crackle look formica for $150 then I painted the legs and sanded them to create a distressed finish. I had  done this several years ago to my coffee table and end table in the family room so now they all match :o)


I just brought home a beat up bookshelf unit for Paris. I am going to refinish it and put it in her room to hold all her books (because of home school curriculum she has a lot) one tall unit and a shorter unit that will sit next to it to hold her tv and dvd player. (only dvd's in the girls rooms, no connection to regular tv) :o) best part is.....It was FREE!!!........thanks mom! Now I can move her books out of her closet and have more room in there for her other junk toys that are stuffed under her bed. I love it when I can find inexpensive and simple solutions to make things function around here a little bit better. :o) I will post some before and after photos soon.

 we also had two leafs done to match so that on
holidays we can expand the table. There are two more of the side chairs that go and a bench that matches....when it is all put together we can sit 10.

 can you believe this top is formica? The best part of this is the kids can't hurt it now! LOL
Not a bad looking table for $150

I don't have to have the best and I love to take old things and fix them up and re purpose them for a new use or just to fix them up and keep going with them but I hate it when my things get tore up. It's funny, I love the distressed look but it has to have been meant to have looked that way LOL

 This is my bag from Bountiful Baskets last weekend.....this is quite a bit of produce for $15

 Saturday morning after returning from picking up my basket I came home and made this breakfast casserole....with my hens laying between 12 and 16 eggs a day I do look for recipes that will use up eggs quick and this recipe used 10 eggs :o)

Breakfast Casserole

3 slices of bread diced

10 eggs

2 cups milk

1 onion diced

1 bell pepper diced

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

1 lb ground sausage cooked

a little salt and pepper

Saute peppers and onions with a bit of olive oil

brown and crumble sausage

Butter a 13x9 in baking dish

place diced bread on bottom and spread with the shredded cheese

whisk eggs and milk and pour over the cheese

top with sauteed peppers and onions and the crumbled cooked sausage

salt and pepper then bake @350 for 45-55 min until set

That's what Iv been up to

Blessings!

*Susan*

Using Laying Hens for Meat - Hobby Farms

Using Laying Hens for Meat - Hobby Farms

I have a few older hens that have stopped laying and I need to learn to process them and to keep adding new hens each year.
My husband keeps mentioning about the "Hens that don't lay anymore". This is a task that I have avoided up until now.
I wonder if he will help me? LOL We have a few too many roosters too. I guess I need to do the same to them.....having so many roosters is really hard on the hens.( I have learned this.) We did get a bunch of new hens last spring (along with some unordered roosters) and this spring I am thinking I might let one of the broody hens sit on some eggs to see if we can get some new hens added this year. An earlier post I did shows how to tell if the eggs are hens or roosters.

Ok Susan, be brave! Your the one who wants to do this homesteading/farm life, raise your own, grow your own kinda lifestyle now.......It's better for you, remember!....It doesn't have any hormones or antibiotics or artificial fertilizers or weed killers or pesticides.....Your family really does not care either way, they would just as soon you go to the grocery store and buy the food we eat like I always have. grrrrrr


I am really struggling here getting my family on board with this whole homesteading thing.......We have plenty of land for growing our own food. We do live in a cold climate and that is a hindrance but it is still doable, I grow a huge garden (we expanded it last year). I can or freeze things like tomatoes, green beans, peas, corn, carrots,chili peppers, applesauce, pears, peaches, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, all for winter use. I have worked diligently on our food storage and have really done a good job putting up all our staples for cooking and baking.....I have bought up things when they went on sale and bought the large plastic buckets for storing things like wheat, sugar, flour brown sugar, powdered sugar, rice, brown rice, beans ect. I bought two cases of raw honey from a local bee keeper and I ordered a couple of gallons of fresh maple syrup from a maple farm back east.

 My husband had these storage cabinets put in a couple of years ago....I had to hold my ground for them but once he had them put in he could see the need and was pleased with them.

I also grow several herbs in the garden and dry them for cooking. Last year I did oregano and thyme, sage, and rosemary. I have really enjoyed using all of it in my cooking this winter. I have given some of it as gifts in gift baskets that I put together at Christmas time. My husband does like what I have done and is glad that I really don't have to go to the store for much other than fresh produce, milk, toilet paper, personal care products, laundry and cleaning supplies. I have joined a food co-op in our area called Bountiful Baskets and most of our fresh produce comes from there for $15 a week.

We have a really nice new chicken house (future post) that my husband had built for me last fall. We are getting around 18 eggs a day and some neighbors buy eggs from me, that does help with the cost of feed especially in the winter months when the chickens don't roam.

I could buy a milk cow and was going to but my husband is not on board with it. He thinks it will be too much work and responsibility and he has let me know that "HE" will not be milking it!..........I need to just be happy with what I have accomplished and with what we are able to do for ourselves. My personality is a gung hoe one though and I like to do everything 110%....... I would do the cow...make my own cheese and butter.....(I do make my own buttermilk and grind my own wheat) raise my own pig and beef (as long as I don't have to slaughter it) but what frustrates me is I sometimes think my family would be just as happy if we lived on pizza and fast food, sodas, candy............I am very thankful that we are able to have our beef and pork raised by some friends that raise them the way we would ourselves.

I know we live a live style that some only dream of and others wouldn't dream of! LOL The girls love having the horses and all the farm animals though and so do I.

Lord please help me to feel contentment in my life, give me wisdom to do the things you would have me to do, things that will improve our health and lifestyle yet help me to let go of the things that are not practical for us at this time in our lives.....I know that my ministry is here at my home taking care of my family and raising my two granddaughters. Please let your light shine through me Lord that my whole family will know that you are God and that they will all learn to love and serve you.

Funny how I can pray myself right out of being frustrated! :o)

Blessings!
~Susan~

Blessings of Bounty (In the midst of tough times)

I was excited when I heard that there was a food co-op in my area. Bountiful Baskets is a great food co-op that is available in many other states as well. http://bountifulbaskets.org/ It is available in 11 states to anyone. Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. All you have to do is go to their web site and join. Each state has multiple pickup sites. If you live in one of these states go to the website and click on the link that says locations. It will then let you select your state and then show you the pickup locations in your state. My pickup location is just 15 minutes away.

There is a one time fee of $3.oo and each basket you get is $15.oo or if you want organic it is $25.00. You may buy as many baskets as you want and you may get them each week. The produce you get is a little different each week. If you can't use one a week you can just get one every other week. There are other things available each week as well, things like bread, nuts, granola, tortillas , it varies each week.
As you can see you get quite a bit of stuff.

Here is the list of produce that was in my basket last Saturday:

1 Romain lettuce
2 - 6oz. pkg radishes
7 small apples
1 - 1lb. pkg. carrots
1 large bundle of celery
4 med yellow onions
2 bundles of broccoli
4 mangoes
5 tangelos
1 large bunch of green bananas
1 small Honeydew Mellon
1lb strawberries
9 small cucumbers

This has been a tremendous blessing to us this winter. Being in the housing construction business we are really feeling the effects of the housing slump this country is in. Also the nature of the work we do (concrete flatwork) is seasonal so typically we are out of work every winter for several months.

I have been able to get a good start on a food storage this year in spite of being out of work. We also have a freezer full of hand raised pork and grass fed beef. We really have all we need and are even able to help out family members that are in need.

I found a dairy near by that sells raw whole organic milk for $5.00 a gallon. The milk is a bit pricey but I'm able to make our own butter, buttermilk, cream and Ice cream with it. I will be trying my hand at cheese making very soon. I buy 3 gallons a week @ $15.00 add that to $15.oo a week for the Bountiful Baskets = $30.00 a week I have to spend on feeding a family of 5 with plenty to share. We did trade work for the meat in our freezer and I do a Costco run about once a month.

What a blessing! What bounty in the midst of tough times! God IS so good and He alone is faithful!!!

How has God blessed you this year? Have you been able to help someone else with what God has blessed you with? Even with your time? If there is one thing I have learned (my beautiful mother has taught) it is that God will be a debtor to no man and you can't out give God. Its like the law of gravity.

Luke 6:38
"Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure -pressed down- shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return."

God, show me today who I can help, not so you will bless me but because this is your heart.

Blessings to you all