Monday, August 31, 2015

Menu Monday, Goal Update, Declutter Update (Wow is that a mouthful)

First off the menus for supper this week.

Monday

Soup and egg salad sandwiches.

Tuesday

Leftover pork roast made into a casserole or perhaps some hash.

Wednesday

I am making Cabbage Bread today, and since it is pretty much an all day job, we will be having some for our supper.

Thursday

Leftover ham made into ham and scalloped potatoes.

Friday

German Glace and eggs.

Saturday

Either Clean out the fridge or Hot dogs over the fire.

Sunday

BBQ Smoked Sausage along with tinfoil potatoes, carrots and since hopefully Kris will be home I am thinking a cake or cookies for dessert.

Now on to the next item.

1.  Continue garden harvest and food processing.  I have either been watering, weeding, picking or processing every day. I will consider this accomplished. It is on going however.

2.   Work on projects.  Accomplished what I wanted, just have to keep working on this one every month.

3.   Declutter recipes.  Done and that area looks so much better.

4.   Make Christmas list.  Done, but it is subject to change.

My decluttering seems to have hit a road block. However I did manage to remove another 26 items from my home. I have now reached a total of 656 items recycled to new homes.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.
   


Friday, August 28, 2015

Smoke

After a few weeks of no smoke from Northern Saskatchewan we are getting smoke from the fires in Washington state. This is what it has looked like for most of the last few days. Still, it could be much worse as we really have had no overpowering smoke smell.

Harvey decided to BBQ the salmon tonight.

He is loving the new covered BBQ center.

I on the other hand am going to love sitting under this umbrella by the fire pit.

We planted some glads this year and they are finally starting to bloom. The yellow ones have died off, but look at this lovely example.

I love this hot pink and just wish we had more.

This has been a fairly frugal week.

No money going out except for a couple of bills and a few items that I bought while shopping today.

I have dehydrated more herbs, and Harvey has dehydrated some of his very hot peppers.

Picked more tomatoes and frozen 8 bags.

Worked on using items from my craft stash up.

Walked every day for frugal exercise.

No air conditioning on for three days this week.

Using up, wearing out and making do.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.






Thursday, August 27, 2015

Thursday Tid Bits

No pictures today and just a short post. We were busy working outside and then I was busy inside freezing tomatoes. Whoa boy, I never thought at the beginning of the season we were going to get as many as we have. I am freezing 3 or 4 bags every second day. Good for my freezer and my piece of mind.

I had thought my cucumbers were finished, but they are flowering once again!!! Guess I am not done with them yet. Don't know what I will do with the next wave when it hits.

Hopefully a longer post tomorrow and some pictures as well.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Recipe Wednesday

I was busy today making more apple pie filling from the apples I received from my next door neighbour.

I don't think I have shared this recipe with you all before and it does make a wonderful addition to your freezer stash.

I use a great many recipes from Company's Coming cookbooks and this is one of my favorites.

Apple Pie Filling

5 c peeled, cored, cut up apples
1 c sugar
2 tbsp Minute tapioca
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I use a bit more)
1 tsp fresh or bottled lemon juice

Combine apples and sugar in a large pot. Stir. Let stand until juice starts to be released. Stir as you bring it to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Mix in the remaining ingredients and bring back to a hard boil. Boil 1 minute.

The cook book says to pack it in sterilized jars and process in a water bath for 20 minutes.

The recipe makes 1 quart, which is enough for one pie.

I usually use my biggest pot and do 4X the recipe. I pack the pie filling into plastic containers that will make two pies when thawed. After all once I get started making pies I make quite a few at once.

Hope you all enjoy this and it helps you to use up those excess apples.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Thrifty Tuesday

The thriftiest thing I did today was stick close to home and process food for the winter months. Even Harvey got into the stockpiling mood today and is dehydrating some very hot red peppers for the winter. He plans on grinding them up to make chili powder or cayenne powder out of them. He picked 12 of them but there are more yet on his plant.

Me, why I just stuck to freezing tomatoes and drying herbs. My neighbour dropped off another bag of apples so I will be preparing more apple pie filling tomorrow.

I also stuck to working on using up bits and bobs of my yarn stash. Seems to be working and I should be finished the second hooded cowl tomorrow. I hope to have enough yarn to make a third one. I want a fairly good stock to start selling this fall.

This is what I woke up to yesterday morning.

Fog, rolling along the valley bottom, following the Souris River as it winds its way south. In about half an hour it all disappeared and one would never have known it was there.

The temperatures have dropped and I can definitely feel fall in the air. I am hoping it holds off for a bit, or at least until I get all the above ground veggies harvested and processed. Really trying to get it all done before we leave on our little get away.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Monday, August 24, 2015

Menu Monday

A few quick changes to the menu before I posted it this week. There are leftovers that need to be used up and I am really going to try for at least two dinners that don't contain meat every week. Should be interesting.

Monday

Leftover Lazy Perogies (the first meatless meal this week).

Tuesday

Chili served with toast.

Wednesday

Steak, potatoes, and cut up veggies and dip.

Thursday

Bacon wrapped stuffed chicken, rice, and peas.

Friday

Fish, homemade fries, and cut up veggies and dip.

Saturday

Leftover Chili served over pasta.

Sunday

Pork Roast (we switched this from yesterday to today as Hubby wanted to BBQ) served with roasted potatoes and roasted carrots.

So two meals with no beef, pork or chicken and two meals that use up the leftovers in our fridge. Should be a relatively frugal week.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Sunday Ramblings

After a very rainy day yesterday it was sunny but quite cool out. Hoping that we do not get frost tonight, as I don't want to have to cover everything in the garden.

I spent yesterday busy processing garden produce.

The first four of 16 trays of cucumber slices. I decided to try my hand at dehydrating them. These are BBQ flavoured. I made 8 trays of this flavour and 8 trays of just salted one. They are really quite tasty and will make a lovely chip for dipping or eating out of hand.

The free apples I got from my neighbour being made into......

These lovely containers of Apple Pie filling. Each container will make 2 pies or three crisps, I have been promised more this week so I am hoping to get a few more containers made.

I also finished my knitting project.

I need to perfect my duplicate stitching as I think the pom pom eyes are just a tiny bit weird. Then again they are monster leggings for an infant.

Tomatoes were frozen, but I am sure you are tired of pictures of that so I won't make you suffer through more.

Started another knitting project which I hope will be finished quickly, I want to make some more of the leggings and get them out for sale.

Every body have a wonderful evening.

God bless.



Friday, August 21, 2015

Frugal Friday

This week has been full of frugal past times.

I am still using up skeins and balls of leftover yarn knitting something to perhaps make some extra money.

I shopped a garage sale and bought a used knitting machine for about 1/6 th of what a new one would cost.

We actually had three "meatless" meals this week and I am hoping to continue this for at least two meals a week for the rest of the year.

I have packaged leftover meat and froze it to be used in another meal this week. Something I try to do every Sunday with the leftover meat from roasts or chicken.

Continued with my frugal exercise each and every morning. I have now started doing 2 walks everyday and am up to 24 blocks.

Gotten free plums and apples from the neighbour which I have processed or will process for winter use.

My exercise today consisted of my two walks plus picking in the garden.

Another basket of tomatoes and cucumbers. The ripest tomatoes will be frozen and I am going to try my hand at dehydrating the cucumbers.

I also helped Harvey put together this....

First the roof. Then I was told not to take anymore pictures until it was done.

So here it is.....
Now Harvey can BBQ even in the rain. We even have a place that we can sit while it is raining. Love it!!!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.



Thursday, August 20, 2015

Thursday Tidbits

Another fairly quiet day on the old homestead. I watered plants, did a bit of gardening, went shopping, and worked on my various projects.

Almost done the second leg of the monster baby leggings. Hoping to get more done tomorrow, perhaps even finishing them.

Here is a picture of the embroidered baby quilt.

As you can see there is a great deal more to do. Working for a few hours each evening this will take a bit longer then I thought it would. However even a bit accomplished is better than nothing.

I pickled some peppers.

I decided to try and do whole peppers this time. Only two jars, but that is two more than we had in the first place.

My neighbour dropped off something for me late this afternoon.

This bag of apples, which will be turned into some yummy apple pie filling tomorrow. Free food is good!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.



Wednesday, August 19, 2015

A Surprise

When we went to the UK a couple of years ago, I wanted something that I could easily store in my suitcase or carry on. I picked thimbles and started my collection at that time. Each city we went to throughout our travels I would pick up a thimble (except for London, there I picked up some lovely decorations for our Christmas tree).

Our oldest son, Kurt, travels a great deal either in the summer or he will take students during the Easter Break. Now he has been adding to my collection.

I went to pick up our mail today and inside our new collection box was the key to the parcel box. Hmmm, that was surprising as I was not expecting anything. I found a small 5 X 5 box and brought it home.

Inside I found all of these.

Seven lovely thimbles from 7 of the countries Kurt visited this year. I have added them to the thimbles I have collected and he has gotten for me on his travels. The lovely cabinet that Harvey made me to display them is slowly getting filled.

Thanks Kurt! I love them!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Tuesday Happenings

I know I usually call this post Thrifty Tuesday, but really I have been practicing my usual thrifty habits and have nothing new to report in this area.

More garden produce was brought into the house today.

A small harvest to be sure, but enough peppers to make a couple of jars of pickled peppers, some cherry tomatoes to add to salads or eat out of hand, and some more tomatoes. I should be able to freeze another few bags of these tomorrow as well.

I dried parsley and rosemary today and tomorrow I hope to dry basil and oregano. Slowly but surely getting my herbs ready for the winter months.

I sat on the deck and watched a lovely dark cloud move into our area.

We watched this lovely cloud creep ever closer and then all of a sudden..... Poof it was gone!!! We desperately need rain. Things are just getting so brown and dried out. The sky is getting cloudy again so I am keeping my fingers crossed that this time we get something. Rain, not hail.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Monday, August 17, 2015

Menu Monday

Wow, the third week in August already, this summer is flying by!!!

Monday

French toast (I was going to make pancakes, but I have some slightly dry bread that needs to be used up). Otherwise known as breakfast for supper.

Tuesday

Leftover roast chicken made into a casserole. I am going to take advantage of this cooler weather.

Wednesday

Hamburgers, grilled and served with homemade fries and salad.

Thursday

Fish, homemade fries, the remainder of the store bought frozen peas and there should be salad leftover as well.

Friday

Lazy Perogies. (Do you think I can slip three meatless meals in this week. I am going to give it a try.)

Saturday

Steak, baked or grilled potatoes, salad, and carrots from the garden.

Sunday

Pork Roast, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots and fresh veggies cut up with some dip.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Sunday Ramblings

The weather has drastically changed, from highs of 38 and 40 C to only reaching 20 C with a low tonight of only 8 C. Much more bearable in the house. So much so that I managed to get some canning and freezing accomplished.

Those wonderful free plums I received from my neighbour, got made into this.

Ten lovely jars of jam to be used this winter. Please excuse the messy counter top.

Tomatoes that we have picked over the last few days were blanched, peeled and packaged.

Four more bags to be put in the freezer and used in stews, chili, and spaghetti sauce this winter. We picked more today, so there will be plenty of toasted tomato sandwiches for lunch still.

Mass, was interesting today. Father Brian talked about Eucharist being food for our spirits, to help us grow in faith and community. How by partaking of the body and blood of Christ we enter into an intimate relationship with him. We have to accept him into our hearts and what he gives us could be thought of as fruits. How our hearts accept this, is shown by what fruits we pass on.  I am hoping that the fruits I disseminate are ones that our Lord would be proud of.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Saturday, August 15, 2015

Saturday Roundup

Ahh, the cooler weather that was supposed to arrive today....didn't. We do have quite the breeze though.

I have spent my afternoons working on a knitting project and am finally seeing an end in sight. I am making a pair of monster leggings just to see if I want to make them to sell.

I did learn how to knit in the round, so that is a good thing. However I do not have small enough circular needles for the legs and have resorted to knitting with four double pointed needles. I am really surprised that I did not lose stitches whilst knitting the one leg.

Here is a photo of the front of the leggings.

There is a big red smiling mouth on the back side, perfect for adding teeth to. I am hoping to get the second leg started tomorrow and for the first little while I can us my circular needle.

Well off to work on the embroidered baby quilt top. I hope to be able to share how far that has gotten with you in a few days.

I will be making plum jam after Mass tomorrow, and freezing a few bags of tomatoes. I may just be able to keep up with them this year.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Friday, August 14, 2015

Tired, Hot and Bothered

It's too hot, I'm too tired and too upset for a post of any length what so ever tonight.

Promise to be back tomorrow when I am feeling a bit more like myself.

God bless.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Thrifty Tuesday

A nice no spend day, in fact it was so hot I only went outside to water my plants and do a bit of gathering from the garden.

Most of the day has been spent inside where there is air conditioning. According to the weather pundits these mid to high 30's C temperatures will be with us for the entire week. Getting to the point where I would love some cooler weather.

I finished "Go Set A Watchman" and I am not sure how I feel about it. I will need to think a bit more before I do a review of it.

I also started another project.... Silly me who promised themselves not to start anything new for awhile. I have had some interest in monster leggings though and so I decided to give them a go. So far the pair I started are knitting up well.

These are going to use up some of the excess wool from other projects and the bits and pieces from scavenging at various yard and garage sales.

This is my garden pick for today.

 Three large tomatoes, 5 cucumbers, two large green peppers and a large handful of cherry tomatoes. Adding to the pantry with no extra expense.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Monday, August 10, 2015

Menu Monday

Here it is already the second week of August. Is it my imagination or does time just seem to be flying by?

Monday

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes (potatoes from the garden), and some corn niblets from the freezer.

Tuesday

Leftover Roast Beef (or it could be leftover ham) made into a main dish salad of some sort. I have some veggies that need using in the fridge.

Wednesday

Chicken Breasts grilled, tossed salad, and rice.

Thursday

A clean out the fridge night, hopefully lots of leftovers to chose from. Or I will make Salmon Patties, and serve them with creamed potatoes, and peas.

Friday

Think it will be breakfast for supper and I will make pancakes.

Saturday

Harvey's favorite grilled meal. Pork chops, tinfoil potatoes and carrots, side of fresh veggies from the garden.

Sunday

Roast Chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and a salad.

There you have it the meals for the upcoming week. Hoping that I once again stick to what has been planned. That is sometimes a real challenge for me.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Sunday Ramblings

A busy Saturday and Sunday on the old homestead.

I have been busy getting the harvest in and going to yard sales (especially those garage sales put on by friends).

I managed to find something that I have wanted for a very long time. I always hesitated about buying one because of the cost. However when I found this item for about 1/6 the of the cost I just had to buy it, and since it had been owned by a friend I knew it would be in great working shape.

I am now the proud owner of a Bond Knitting Machine. I have spent quite a bit of time on line looking at YouTube videos of how to set it up. I also got a box of patterns and extensions to the basic machine. Once I find a small table I will set it up and start to learn how to use it. First off will be basic knitting, then patterns, then garments. I am really looking forward to this new experience.

The rest of my days have been spent getting the garden in.

I have dried sage, rosemary, and thyme. Gotten them into bags ready for winter. I am hoping to get more dried as I continue to follow the hunter/gatherer tradition.

I made some Mint Jelly.

Four lovely jars, which will taste wonderfully on our ham this coming winter. I am hoping to make another batch very soon.

I spent some time turning those crab apples into something wonderful to use on toast and perhaps pork.

I got 10 jars of crab apple jelly out of that pail of crab apples I picked.

Just another day of getting ready for the winter that is coming, and trying my hardest to keep our grocery bill down much like everyone else.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.






Friday, August 7, 2015

Frugal Fridays

This has been a very quiet day. Other than going shopping and over to a friends for coffee nothing much has been happening.

We downloaded our reserved copies of Windows 10 onto our desktop (my computer) and Harvey's laptop. It is going to take a bit of getting used to on my part, all these apps are driving me nuts, and trying to find the computer to download pictures without having to download an entire card will take some getting used to. I am sure I will be able to figure things out shortly.

I stuck to my grocery/household items list except for one thing. I bought a book. Not just any book, but one that was 40% off, and one that I really want to read. I am now the proud owner of "Go Set A Watchman" by Harper Lee and can hardly wait to start it.

I have spent the week harvesting the garden and using things up where I can.

I spent sometime drying oregano and thyme today. The house smells lovely.

Picked free crab apples at the neighbours to make crab apple jelly tomorrow.

Picked up these plums that had blown to the ground as well.

One must love free food of any kind.

I also downloaded 9 free books onto my ereader.

All in all a very frugal week.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.




Thursday, August 6, 2015

Thursday Tid Bits

It has been a dismal day here. Cloudy, drizzling off and on, the only nice thing was it has been cool and we have not had to have the air conditioning on at all.

Plants were watered, garden picked and some of the produce given away. I managed to get 6 large cucumbers, and some cherry tomatoes. Harvey picked corn and some large tomatoes. A lovely harvest to tide us over a few days.

This is the first year we have grown something called White Sweet Corn, and while the ears were a little immature they tasted just lovely!!

An ear for each of us, smothered in butter with a sprinkle of salt. What could be better? I am hoping that the rest of the crop will be ready to pick and eat soon.

I went and visited with my bed ridden friend again today. We had a lovely visit and spoke about what has been happening in our lives. Since we are in the midst of an election campaign we even got into politics a little bit, both of us are hoping for a bit of an upset in this election. But that will only happen if everyone gets out and votes.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Mid Week And Going Strong

I think I am going to give up on getting more cherries this year. The wasps seem to love to fly around my head. Me, a ladder and wasps as a group is just a disaster waiting to happen.

After 12 trays of drying cherries this is what I ended up with.

There is probably 4 cups here so that will have to do. Four loaves or 4 batches of muffins will work just fine this winter.

I have been working on my embroidery project.

You can't really see the pale blue but slowly but surely the stuffed bear is being filled in. I am actually trying something a bit different this time around. I will continue with one colour until all the areas using that colour are filled in. I feel strange leaving whole sections unfinished, but at least this way I am not forever changing floss colours. Hoping to finish this baby quilt top by the end of the month.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Thrifty Tuesday

Overall the last few days have been ones of working in the garden. I have spent time getting the last of the beans in as well as the last of the peas. Considering the rather dry weather we have had this summer I am quite happy with what I have managed to get into the freezer for this coming winter.

Still working on the cherries. I am finished making jam, and have moved on to dehydrating.





Washing and pitting them take a long time.




Once they are in the dehydrator I can forget about them for awhile. Once dry I store them in an air tight bag and use the dried cherries as I would raisins. Dried cherries are very expensive here and so anything I can do to reduce that cost makes me happy.

Harvey has picked a bunch of dill from the garden and he wants me to collect the dill seed and try my hand at making my own dill weed. This is going to take some research on my part, but if he is willing to try and save a few bucks here and there I am more than willing to give it a try. It has taken him awhile to get on board and I am not going to rock the boat!!!

I think what made him a bit more conscious of trying to save money on groceries is a documentary he watched a couple of weeks ago. He was quite shocked that there are seniors who just can not afford to eat meat anymore. While he knew the price of beef, pork and chicken was rising he never thought that it would affect as many as it has. I think he may be more open to meatless meals a bit more often now.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Menu Monday

Monday

Since I spent most of the day working with garden produce, or household chores Harvey surprised me with a fast food meal. It hit the spot after a day's work.

Tuesday

Leftover Ham made into a casserole. Serving this with salad.

Wednesday

Soup and sandwiches (we have kind of missed this over the past two weeks).

Thursday

Bacon wrapped filets, tin foil potatoes and carrots. Serving the leftover salad with this.

Friday

Baked fish, rice, and corn. Fresh veggies and dip on the side.

Saturday

BBQ Smoked Sausage, baked beans, and a pasta salad.

Sunday

Beef Roast, roasted potatoes, and corn on the cob.

Hopefully this will use up a bit of what is in my fridge and freezer. Definitely need to clear things out a bit.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday, August 1, 2015

An Update on Last Month

Ahhh, an update on my goals for last month is due.

I finished organizing my recipes that were in binders. Yes!! A bit of a fist pump here. However I have been unable to scan those small puzzle sized recipe books due to my anti-virus deciding to not allow my wireless printer to communicate with the computer. This means I am going through each and everyone and writing out those recipes I wish to keep. Slow going, but it will be completed or my name is not Jackie.

I have weeded my flower beds, baskets, and boxes once a week without fail. Where on earth do all the weeds come from?????

I am continuing work on projects that I have had around the house for awhile. Mostly those I inherited from my mother.

Now my goals for this month.

1.   Continue the weeding of flower beds and such every week.

2.   Continue with those pesky projects that have been begging to be completed.

3.   Work on getting the veggie garden harvested and the excess harvest stored for the winter.

4.   More copying and decluttering of recipes.

5.   Work on getting a Christmas list together.

Project declutter has hit a bit of a snag right now. While I am still removing unnecessary items from the house it is not at the rate I had been. I think much has to do with trying to get things in and processed from the garden and not that I am running out of things that need to be cleared out.

This month my total has risen to 630 items no longer residing and taking up room in my home. I am hoping that I can continue to weed items out over the rest of the year.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.