Use It Up!

Don't forget about my giveaway here!!  Victoria Botkin's Curriculum Advice may be just what you need!


Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!  That's a wise old adage that many of our grandparents or great-grandparents learned as children.  However, through the years as convenience foods became more available,  homemaking skills decreased, and moms joined the work force it seems that many of us today have no idea how to live or even want to live by this adage.

It is so easy to hop in the car for a fast food dinner, ask hubby to stop by Walmart on his way home from work for that single ingredient we left off our shopping list earlier in the week, or make a quick run to pick up a few necessary items for a project that if we had planned more carefully, could have been picked up when we were out for other reasons.

With gas prices inching up even as I type and the cost of groceries and other products going up right with the gasoline, it is even more important for my family to make wise decisions concerning where our money goes.  I thought I would share some of our ideas on saving money and energy today.

USE IT UP!   I am working hard to be more creative in using up our leftovers.  Through the years I have saved bits of meat and vegetables to make homemade soups, but now I am saving even more and freezing them.  When the container is full I then make a big pot of soup.  I did this last week and made so much that I was able to share a large amount with a family who just celebrated the birth of their newest member and froze some for my married daughter to take home with her.  We also had 2 meals off of this soup made with ingredients that many folks would have thrown out!

I have shared before about how I cook chickens:  I bake two whole chickens at a time and freeze one for another day.  That saves much time and energy, but after we have cut the meat from the chicken I then use the carcass to make a rich flavorful broth.  I put the carcass in a big pot and cover it with filtered water.  Add a splash or two of organic apple cider vinegar, garlic cloves, a couple of carrots, a quartered onion and some salt and pepper and I can create some fabulous recipes using this broth as a base.  I also use chicken breasts in the same way after we cut the meat from the bone for chicken strips or whatever we are cooking.  I used to freeze this broth, but am now canning it which makes it even easier and quicker to use.

One roast can become several meals as I divide it in half after cooking.  I serve one portion and freeze the other with the juices for another meal.  This week we had a smaller roast and we used the leftovers to make wonderful hot open-faced roast beef sandwiches.

WEAR IT OUT!  Hand-me-down clothing has always been a budget saver for my large family.  Most of my younger boys wardrobes consist of hand-me-downs---even those from their oldest brother who is 12+ years older!  I have purchased a handful of clearance rack items each year to give them a few fresh pieces to have as well.

Jackson has grown so much recently that he was ready for a larger bike.  Did we go out and buy one?  No, just headed out to the barn where there was a bike in just the size he needed.    Jackson's outgrown bike will be just right for Caedmon in the next year or two.  We'll just need to add a new tire and put the training wheels back on.

Toys and school items?  Yes, my little man and the grandchildren play with toys and puzzles that my oldest daughter played with over 25 years ago!  And they are not worn out yet!  I also have many manipulatives and handmade educational games that I made for my oldest daughter 23 years ago.  In fact, we even have some shaped crayons in our crayon bucket that she received as gifts when she was two years old!  She is now 27!  We also try to use as much of our curriculum as possible with all the children.  There are workbooks that we have that are reproducible that I have been using for over 20 years.

MAKE DO!  Learn how to substitute ingredients in the kitchen.  If you don't have one particular ingredient for a meal use another one that will work just as well or be creative and come up with your own recipe.

We have been making the raised beds for our garden from wood recycled from a deck that the boys dismantled two years ago.  When only small pieces were left, Jordan began making planters.  We used logs from our woods to make another needed bed or two as well.

If I have curriculum that is not fitting the learning style of one particular child, I find ways to tweak it to fit by adding in simple hands-on activities, changing the location of our lessons, or finding free materials from the internet.

Instead of buying mixes and instant foods, make your own!!  Grow and preserve as much of our own food as you can.

DO WITHOUT!    I think this will probably be the hardest thing to do!  We are taught that we deserve anything we want and only the best.  But really, we need to practice self-discipline and realize that there are many things that we can simply do without!  Do we really need a new pair of shoes or a new outfit for Easter this year?  Won't the same outfit we wore last year do and will anyone really notice or even care?   Is that junk food or soda really necessary?  Can we drink water for more of our meals instead of tea?  Can we stay at home and play a game instead of using gas to head to the park?   There are so many things that we can simply do without that will not really be sacrificing all that much and will probably be much better for us.  We are trying to do without running the air conditioner more often.  We are hanging out the laundry....hanging our clothing out on the clothesline does take more time, but it gets me outside and saves much money as we aren't using the dryer as much.  Turning out lights when they are not really needed.  Keeping electronics turned off and unplugged when not in use can also save money.

Stay at home more often when it is not necessary to travel.  Create a day or afternoon for all of your shopping, music lessons, and library trips.  It may make your day a little longer, but you will save money and time in the long run.

There are so many ways that we can use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.  What are some changes that your family is making as we face these more challenging economic times?  Maybe this is the way your family has chosen to live regardless of the world's economic situation.  I would love to get some new money saving ideas from you!

Linked over at Titus 2sday

Linking up at Raising Homemakers 

Menu Plan Feb. 21-27

This week I am doing things slightly different.  I have a small freezer full of prepared foods such as vegetable soup, spaghetti sauce, broccoli soup, lots of pinto and white beans, shredded chicken, half a turkey and a casserole or two.  I also have a large freezer full of fruits and vegetables put up during the summer.  This week I am going to create meals from what I already have cooked and from the fruits and veggies that I have put up.  Both freezers need to be cleaned out and inventoried and I need to use up the food in there in the next few months to prepare for this year's produce.

We will most likely have the following meals:

-veggie soup with turkey salad sandwiches
-white beans with ham bits topped with cheddar cheese and corn bread
-spaghetti
-beef pot pie (I think there is one in there!)
-turkey and rice soup
-corn on the cob, stewed potatoes, yellow squash, okra and green beans
-grilled burgers
-chicken and cheese quesadillas
-cheesy bean dip with corn tortillas
-homemade pizzas
-baked potatoes and broccoli soup

Hopefully this will clear out the small freezer and we can start putting together some other meals in the next couple of weeks.  What a blessing it is to pull out a meal that is either fully prepared or takes very little prep time straight from my freezer in the mornings!

While we will be eating mostly prepared foods this week there are several kitchen projects that need to be tackled this week.  We will attempt to make the following:

-granola--we are almost out!!
-strawberry fruit leathers (Roll Ups) from the strawberries in the freezer
-strawberry bread
-scones
-bagels
-hamburger buns
-bread
-blueberry coffee cake
-blueberry pound cake

Around, About and All Over the Place with a Couple of Recipes Thrown In

This weekend I had so much that needed to be done.  It seems that it is utterly impossible to get my to-do list done when Saturday rolls around, especially this Saturday when I discovered that our perishable food items were dwindling severely.   So my to-do list was dropped and Jeff and I headed out to Sam's.   We really like to stock up at Sam's.  Having cabinets and freezers full  of ingredients that we can use to make  good wholesome meals for our family is important to us.  Every time Jeff goes to Sam's with me he comments about how there sure is a lot of food in that one store.  LOL!  I very rarely buy any frozen or instant foods, sticking mainly to single ingredient foods like fresh fruits and vegetables and the HUGE cans of green beans.  I also stock up on toilet paper, oils, yeast, spices, sugars, honey, flours and dairy products.  Oh!  We can't forget the coffee, either!

Thankfully the skies were clear so we were able to put all of our groceries in the back of the truck.  We have a system.  I call home when we  leave Sam's and have the children make sure the kitchen is clean, countertops wiped off and floor swept.  When we pull onto our country road we again call home and have the boys and Kaelan meet us out at the truck with the wagons.  The kids load everything from the back of the truck into the wagons and haul the groceries inside.  I then unload the wagons putting the food either in the cabinets, in the freezer or in the fridge.   Then they take the wagons back out for another load.  This time, however, I wound up missing a large bag of fresh broccoli.  K says she knows it got in the house, but I have  not found it.  Jeff was looking forward to a large batch of my broccoli salad.  One time we found a roll of sausage that had been left in the truck for several days in warm weather.  Thankfully, it did not stink.  I have no idea where that bag of broccoli landed!

Saturday was a beautiful warm day and the children were able to be outside for most of the day.  Jordan has been making more boxes for our raised bed garden.  He has been busy researching and planning for our garden.  It will soon be time to gather seeds, amend the soil and start planting.  He is excited about eating some fresh tomatoes!

While all the younger children were out playing or working Devin decided to get creative.  A few months ago she bought a painted canvas at a small boutique and paid over $30 for it.  She decided she could make another one herself.   She has never really painted before except for school projects, but once she decides to do something, she does it well.  In fact, a friend encouraged her to start drawing when she was in her mid-teens.  We were studying the Civil War and she was inspired to draw a portrait of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson.  Her drawing placed at a local art contest and at a state wide contest.  And we named our next child Thomas Jonathan Jackson Chamblee!!

In case you can't read the scripture:  "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, 

in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5: 8

And I tried my hand at making poptarts from scratch.  Although I suppose you can't really call them poptarts, so I'll just say tarts.  Look for the recipe and pictures here.  You must know that I changed the recipe!!  It calls for yogurt and I was out (making some tonight), so I substituted buttermilk.  I used mainly fresh ground whole wheat flour, but next time I will use more all-purpose flour as the crust was a bit heavier than we would prefer.  I wound up making two batches.  One batch was with my homemade strawberry jam.  The second batch I made with my homemade applesauce to which I added some brown sugar and cinnamon.  We sampled them for dessert Saturday night and I got the biggest compliment!  Kaelan declared they are do-overs which means they liked them well enough to want them again!  We had some for breakfast Sunday morning and I froze the rest of them for breakfast another day this week.

I know a lot of you are expecting some very cold weather in the next few days, so I will leave you with a delicious broccoli soup recipe.  You know,  just in case you find my missing bag of broccoli.

Broccoli Cheese Soup


5 cups broccoli florets
6 cups chicken broth  (I use homemade)
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 cup flour
3 cups finely grated cheddar cheese

Cook broccoli until tender in the chicken broth.  Remove broccoli from broth with a slotted spoon.  Place into your blender.  I can do about half of the broccoli at a time.  Add some of the broth to the blender as well.  Blend until you reach the desired texture.  My kids don't want to see chunks of broccoli, so I pretty much puree it.  Add back to  your pot.  Add milk and flour to your blender and mix well.  Add this to your pot and stir with whisk.  Add 1 t. of salt, freshly grated pepper and any other seasoning you desire.  I've used thyme, red pepper flakes and Spike seasoning at different times.  When soup has thickened add your cheese and continue stirring until melted through.  Serve.  I think a small dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of chopped bacon would be very pretty on this soup.  Sour cream and bacon would probably taste pretty good, too!  LOL!

I have been bagging up the leftovers and freezing them.  I will pull out a bag or two for lunch this week and let you know how it turns out from frozen.  I don't see why it wouldn't be just as good.

Frugal Shopping

As I prepared for grocery shopping this week I checked my deep freezer and noticed that I was getting short on chicken.   I also needed milk, buttermilk, salad vegetables, dog food and several other items.   We have two Krogers in our town and I always shop at both of them.  Why?  One of them has a better selection of gluten free foods and carries the pretzels that my little guy snacks on throughout the day.  The other Kroger has their meats, produce and dairy products reduced more often.

I try not to spend over $2 a pound for meat.  Sometimes that can be a challenge.  Yesterday pork loins were on sale for $1.99 a pound.  I bought a nice sized on that  I will use this to make BBQ for sandwiches.  I also found thick cut pork chops for around $1.40 a pound.  These will be great on the grill.  A big ham for $1.49 closed out our pork purchases....this will make a great Sunday dinner with leftovers for several dishes.

Other great meat deals I found were whole chickens for 68 cents a pound.  I'll be using these chickens in many different ways.  Tomorrow I think I will put two of them (halved) on the grill.  One will be all we need for dinner and the other will go in the freezer for a quick meal another day.  Here are some other ideas for whole chickens.  All of these great meat buys combined with the beef from a butchered cow and one lone reduced turkey will keep us in meat for the next couple of months.

In the dairy section I found gallons of whole milk reduced to $1.75.  Milk freezes well and the whole milk will make a great yogurt in my crockpot.  I'll post about that another day.  Half gallons of buttermilk were reduced to $1 and they also freeze well.  Just make sure you shake them well after thawing.  I have some great buttermilk recipes here and I also like to make a homemade buttermilk ranch dressing for all the salads we are eating these days.

And I can't forget the Twinings tea I found reduced:  Earl Grey and English Breakfast Tea are two favorites around here and I found them for less that $1.50 per box.  On the same stand of clearance items I found dog food.  I brought home two bags for Kaelan's newly acquired pet who seems to have a hollow leg.

So, how do you think I did on my latest grocery shopping trip?  Do you shop for reduced groceries?  Where do you shop and what is your best price on meats?

This post is linked to Raising Homemakers today.  Check them out for more homemaking tips.

Farm Report--Frugal Productivity or Productive Frugality?

This morning I decided we needed to get back out in the garden early to mulch the tomato/basil patch before the predicted storms and 8-10 inches of rain appeared.  Our little homestead is on a hill;  everything from the backdoor on is downhill.  I didn't want to watch my hard work find its slippery way down to the bottom of the hill and into the creek!

We've been trying to garden in a frugal way, but there is still a good bit of money invested when you need to buy good soil, manure, mulch, seeds and plants.   Last year we started composting veggie and table scraps and adding lawn clippings and leaves as well.  This has been fairly easy to do (meaning I don't do anything but put the scraps in a bucket!!) and results in a great supplement to our garden.  Jeff and the boys recently found a free source of a great gardening material that has a never-ending "free" supply.  All they have to do is hitch up the trailer and shovel for a while.  Lots of manure!!  They bring it home, shovel it off the trailer and add it to the compost.  It has to age before  you can use it and this first load was a little too fresh, but will be great to plow in next spring.

I had read about someone putting their raised beds on carpet remnant so they wouldn't have to combat the weeds.  A friend of ours does floors and saved me a  couple of rooms of carpet that he was replacing.  The wood for the beds was salvaged from a deck off our master bedroom.  We have four beds here that we planted seeds in earlier this spring.  We haven't had much luck with the seeds, so I have started putting in plants.

It may be too late, but I found strawberry plants on sale at Lowe's the other day.  Jeff has been wanting to plant some, so I thought it was time.  The kids and I built this bed for the strawberries using  landscaping blocks that we purchased years ago.  A flat of these blocks was only a hundred dollars.

Instead of putting verbena in our raised bed that has our bell in it, I decided to plant herbs.  I have pineapple sage, sage, oregano, and thyme here.  In another bed I have been transplanting mint that had grown out of its former place.  I love to make mint iced tea in the summer!

Because our home was in the woods when we moved here, Jeff has cut down or bulldozed down 100's of trees. Trees were literally right off the porch and even growing in the master bedroom deck.   We still have LOTS of woods, but we wanted a yard and to be able to see the sky for stargazing!  Because of all the wood around we decided to use some of it to make raised beds as well.  Much more rustic than anything else we have done, but if it works and it's free then that's great!  This bed has asparagus and sunflowers in one side and horseradish and sunflowers in the other.  Because we used our compost we also have some "volunteer" squash and tomatoes coming in here as well!! 

Our corn patch looks so little here next to the compost bin, but I planted over 100 seeds yesterday.  Last year we planted too late and either  the deer or coons ate what did grow in.  Praying for a better return on my time this year!  You can see Caedmon in his swing back behind the corn patch.

Yes, we were out in our pajamas!!  I wanted to get the mulching done and the green beans planted before the rains came.

Devin calls Caedmon her sweet little curly-haired blue-eyed blonde!

Sweet Jackson is still wearing winter pajamas.

Kaelan is taking a swinging break!  The big boys hadn't done their beauty routine yet this morning and didn't want their pictures taken.

Gardening is a family affair.  You have to start early if you want good workers!!

Clearance Rack Kids

I love shopping and finding great clearance rack deals!! With seven children and two grandchildren to shop for I can't afford any other kind of shopping. My mom taught me the joys of clearance shopping growing up and I find it quite rewarding to dress my family well for a fraction of the cost. Most items I purchase are much cheaper than like items from a consignment store. I hate shopping consignment stores because I have to dig through things and I have found many items at the consignment store to cost more or about the same as what I can purchase new on clearance.

Yesterday, Aaron, Kaelan, Caedmon and I had a couple of hours between activities, so we made a quick run through our local Belk store... They have fantastic clearance sales...if you wait long enough. Yesterday's clearance prices were an additional 40% off. I purchased 14 items for around $75 dollars saving $277 off the original price. I purchased 5 shirts for the older boys for around $2.25 each, got a cute Christmas vest that the very little boys can pass around for about $3.00 (Chase, Caedmon and the new baby---$1.00 per boy!) and loaded up on several things for Kaelan. One winter dress that we found leggings to match...total for entire ensemble...around $10. Several tops and a pair of culottes also clearance priced. A dress for this spring/summer wasn't on clearance, but was 40% off making the final price under $15. Sometimes when we find something we like for Kaelan that is modest, we have to get it before they are all gone.

Now if I can just find khakis and shoes....hmmm, is it any coincidence that the kids' enrichment classes this semester are just north of the mall. And I have 3 hours to spend looking the sale racks over! Isn't God good?!