We Bought A NEW House!!!

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You can see a glimpse of the 3 season room here on the right. It will get a nice staining job done on it once the money tree in the back yard starts blooming. :)

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THANKS FOR VISITING!

Waiting on a nice warm day to finish painting all the trim, windows, & doors.

Grocery Trip

What did $75 buy me this week?

Kroger

2 pkgs. Cream cheese $2.00

1-5.34 lb. whole chicken $5.24

.98 lb. Roma tomatoes $2.05

2 gallons milk $4.78

Total: $14.07

Walmart

2 containers heavy whipping cream $5.92

32 oz. Yoplait strawberry yogurt $2.27

1 container frozen o.j. $1.14

114 oz. container Heinz ketchup $5.08

10 lb. sugar $5.42

2 pkgs. Vanilla pudding mix $.96

1 pkg. Oreo pudding mix $1.18

Liners $3.98

Ibuprofen $.98

5 doz. Eggs $8.16

3 lbs. onions $2.48

3 plums $1.50

2 peaches $1.00

2 nectarines $1.00

4-5 lb. bags flour $5.92

1 jar yeast $3.26

2 pkgs. Nestle chocolate chips $4.00

10 lbs. potatoes $2.99

Total: $57.59

Grand Total: 71.66

I Keel You!

This is my husband.

He is a hunter and this is what he shot last Saturday afternoon. Here is his weapon of mass destruction:

Well he's not the only one who can hunt in this house!

Here's my kill for the day:

And here is MY weapon of mass destruction:

And as I was typing this post up I got another!

MMhmmmm BE VERY AFRAID of a woman with a broom!

This Past Week's Menu

I don't have a set menu that I follow each week. Mostly I just decide the morning of on what we are going to have & then make sure I get out the things that are in the freezer first thing in the morning. Since I don't menu plan I am just going to be updating this post as the week goes on & then I am posting it at the end of the week.

Monday

Haystacks

-Taco Meat (made with deer)

-Rice

-Lettuce

-Tomatoes

-Shredded Cheddar Cheese

-Homemade Salsa

-Sour Cream or Ranch Dressing

-Tortilla Chips

Tuesday

Pigs in a blanket (made with homemade dough)

Homemade Coleslaw

Mac & Cheese

Peas

Wednesday

Chicken Pot Pie (made with leftover chicken & veggies found in freezer)

Homemade Strawberry Pie

Thursday

Lasagna (made with deer)

Cheesy Garlic Bread

Leftover Strawberry Pie

Friday

Dippy eggs (sunny side up)

Hash (made with 4 potatoes, 1 med. sized pork steak, & some onions)

Toast (homemade bread)

Mandarin Oranges

Home Canned Strawberry Applesauce

Saturday

Lunch: Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana (from freezer; made on Thur.)

Garlic Bread Sticks (made with refrigerated biscuits from tube)

Supper:

Homemade Beefaroni (made with deer)

Tossed Salad

Leftover Coleslaw

Sunday

Lunch:

Ham & Beans

Homemade Bread

Overnight cookies

Supper:

Crockpot Meatloaf (made with deer)

Mash Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

This Week's Grocery Shopping

Here's what I got:

12 big roll Charmin $7.57 8 roll Sparkle paper towel $5.37 3 oranges (2 not shown. already eaten!) $1.44 Lettuce $1.24 Tomatoes .90 lb. $1.75 Shortening $4.42 Chicken boullion cubes $2.00 16 oz. bottle Italian dressing $1.50 Bacon bits $1.46 1 frozen orange juice $1.14 2 lb. powdered sugar $1.78 Suave conditioner $1.38 Suave shampoo $1.38 10 lb. potatoes $3.77 6 cups Yoplait yogurt $3.00 3-16 lb. bags Friskies cat food (purchased once/mo.) $32.97 2-35 lb containers Tidy Cat litter (purchased once/mo.) $24.24 Subtotal: $96.41 - .25 .40 -------------------- Subtotal: $95.76 + 5.10 tax -------------------- $100.86 Before going shopping I withdrew $75 at the ATM for groceries this week. After going around the whole store, getting everything on my list while calculating the prices on the calculator I just knew that 2 bags of cat food & 1 container of litter just wasn't going to be enough for the whole month. I asked the Lord to help me & He reminded me to look in my coupon pocketbook. There was $27 in there!!! That gave me a total of $102! So I went clear back around the store & picked up another bag of cat food & another container of litter. And as you can see from my total I had JUST ENOUGH to purchase everything! Yay God!!! Well it looks like I didn't get a lot of "people" food this week but I do have a pantry & a chest freezer that have LOTS of food in there, so we have plenty. All it takes is come creativity.

Frugal Friday Tip

Making hand soap last. I went to Walmart & bought one of those generic brand liquid hand soaps that come in a foaming bottle (they cost under $1) & a bulk sized refill container of hand soap. After we finished using the soap that was in the foaming container I poured enough soap from the refill container in it to just cover the bottom then slowly added water to the fill line. Now our hand soap lasts a very long time. I also have done this with dish soap. We don't wash dishes by hand anymore since moving here but I am always washing my hands in the kitchen sink so this is great for handwashing.

Recipes For Yesterday's Post + A Bonus Recipe!

Amish White Bread

• 2 c. warm water
• 2/3 c. white sugar
• 1 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 6 c. bread flour (I used all purpose & it was fine)
• 1 1/2 T. dry yeast

Place in bread machine in order given. Hit dough cycle on your machine. When machine timer goes off, turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Roll into rectangle with rolling pin. Starting at end, roll up into a loaf. Pinch seam. Place into a greased loaf pan, top down. Now flip so the top is visible. Cover with kitchen towel & place in warm oven for 30 minutes. Bake @ 350* for 20-25 minutes. Take out & brush with butter. If top browns too fast, loosely place a piece of foil over top & continue baking. Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 eggs
• 1 c. butter, softened
• 1 t. soda
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 small box of instant vanilla pudding
• 3 c. flour
• 12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*. Cream together butter & sugars; add eggs, soda, pudding, & vanilla. Add flour until mixture is not sticky to touch. Add chocolate chips. Bake 8 minutes. Yields: About 4 1/2 doz. (I make our cookies on the small side) You can mix this recipe up to make different kinds of cookies. I have used instant butterscotch pudding mix along with butterscotch chips; instant chocolate pudding mix along with peanut butter chips. Soft & Fast Bread Sticks

• 1 c. warm water
• 3 T. brown sugar
• 1 t. salt
• 1/4 c. oil
• 3 c. flour
• 2 1/2 t. yeast

Put in machine in order, set to dough cycle. Let rise in machine. Take out & pat into semi-long retangle (9x11). Take pizza cutter & slice lengthwise into 7-8 strips. Take one strip at a time & twist a bit before laying on greased sheet. So rest of strips, laying an inch apart. Cover & let rise. Cook @ 400* for 15 mins. Here's the bonus recipe! I made this last night & it was totally awesome! Tastes just like the soup at Olive Garden!! Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup

• 10 c. water
• 7 chicken boullion cubes
• 1 t. salt
• 1 1/2 t. red pepper flakes (This was too much for us. I'm going to reduce it to 1/2 t. next time!)
• 2 t. minced garlic
• 1 lb (about 10 med.) potatoes, peeled & sliced
• 1 lb. Italian sausage (I only had mild so that's what I used. Still as good!)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 8 oz. bag of fresh kale (found in the packaged lettuce section at store)
• 1 c. heavy whipping cream
• 6 T. real bacon bits (not the hard crunchy ones!)

1. In large stockpot, combine water, salt, boullion cubes, pepper flakes, garlic, & potatoes. Cook on medium heat, stir occasionally.
2. Saute sausage & onion til done then add to stockpot, along with kale. Simmer about 20 mins. til kale & potatoes are tender.
3. Add cream & bacon bits. Simmer another 10 mins.

Baking Day!

With our new strict budget weekly baking is a necessity.

Tuesday is my baking day around here.

It's the only day that I have at home all day.

Here is what I whipped up for this week:

1 loaf of Amish White Bread

4 1/2 dozen chocolate chip cookies

Container holds 3 layers of cookies

1 batch of breadsticks

And I also made up a second batch of cookie dough to store in the freezer until next week.

This is chocolate cookie dough with peanut butter chips. YUM!

I'll be sharing all these recipes tomorrow.

This Week's Grocery Shopping Trip

Last week we signed our next 2 years of life away by signing a contract with a company to come out & side our house. Which will start in 2 weeks. YAY!

Anyway, we will be on a very strict budget until we get this paid off 2 years from now so I have to put into practice all the frugal tips that I have learned over the past years.

That means a lot of cooking!.....from scratch!

So here is a picture of the groceries that I bought for this week. Grocery shopping will be on a very strict budget as well. I am hoping to be able to buy everything we need for 4 people (plus a few meals a week for another family member and 9 cats) a month for $300. We'll see.....

Walmart

6 Yoplait yogurt cups $3.00

2 (16 oz) fresh strawberries $2.00

3 (1 lb. pkgs) elbow macaroni $2.46

1.08 lbs. Roma tomatoes $2.46

1.50 lbs. bananas $.78

2 containers heavy whipping cream $5.92

Big box Hungry Jack instant potatoes $3.08

2 cans chicken broth $1.44

Secret deodorant (twin pack) $4.00

5 doz. large eggs $8.16

6 (15 oz.) cans tomato sauce $3.12

-$.40 coupon Total: $39.88 Kroger 2 (4 lb.) bags sugar $4.58 24 oz. container Yoplait yogurt $1.99 24 oz. container cottage cheese $1.99 2 tubes biscuits $1.00 1.99 lb grapes $1.97 1 bag Kale $2.29 16 oz. bottle Kraft dressing $1.49 3 gallons milk $7.17 2 (5 lb.) bags flour $2.68 Total: $25.16 Grand Total: 64.76 I also went to our local market & stocked up on some mild sausage & cheese bought in bulk.

I will package these up in 1 lb. packages & put them in our chest freezer.

10 lb. mild sausage $ 16.97

6.91 lbs. mild colby cheese $18.59 Total: $35.56 This will come out of our monthly grocery budget. So...I will REALLY have to watch what I spend the rest of the month.

Frugal Friday Tip

Here is one way we have learned to save money:

I invest in Ziploc Freezer Bags & use them til they wear out. I have tried using the generic brand but those don't seem to last as long as the Ziploc ones do. I always make sure that they are the freezer kind too because they are a lot thicker than the regular kind.
I have learned that hand washing is the best way to keep them looking nice longer. I have tried to put them in the dishwasher & they always seem to get holes in them from the prongs. I have also tried turning them inside out & washing them with my kitchen towels in the washing machine with bleach but that makes them look crinkled & worn out so hand washing is the best. The only time we don't use them over is when we have had raw meat in them. That's a NO-NO!
After they have been washed I hang them up over the kitchen sink. I braided 3 pieces of raffia together & nailed it up & hang the baggies with clothes pins. When we have company I usually take the line down & store it in the cabinet beside the sink, if I remember.

Are You Busy?

"And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not." (1 Timothy 5:13) "This passage refers to the temptation younger widows encounter when they have no husband at home to provide the ballast they need to be home-centered. But certainly, other women in the Christian community are tempted to be busybodies as well. It may sound harmless, but Scripture ranks this sin with some of the big ones: "But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer or as a busybody in other people's matters." (1 Peter 4:15)

What is a busybody? In this passage, she is a woman who delights in other people's business. Instead of being focused on her own home, her own duties, her own family, the busybody is interested in everyone else's business. A busybody is "busy" gathering and passing on information. Of course, saying these things is sinful, but knowing them may be equally sinful.

Let's back up and examine how a woman becomes a busybody. First she must learn idleness, as our text says. But how does a woman learn idleness? The image seems contradictory! I suggest that it is learned by studiously avoiding the duties God has laid out for her. The budding busybody must shirk her domestic duties for the more pleasant task of "visiting."

The woman Paul describes is wandering about the neighborhood. It is far easier to leave unfinished duties behind than step over them. The woman the busybody visits can't see her laundry pile or the dirty kitchen floor. As the busybody wanders from house to house, she is far from idle: she is busy gathering information about everyone else's affairs. Does the modern busybody wander from house to house? You bet. She goes here for coffee and there for lunch. She's charging around town, dropping in and checking up. Or she may be busy chatting over the back fence while hanging out the laundry. The news gathered at stop one is repeated with relish at stop two. This also provides her with lots of prayer requests for Bible study or prayer meeting.

Of course the modern busybody is not restrained if she doesn't have the means to wander about town. She has a more convenient method---the telephone (or now the computer). The modern busybody can be very "busy" on the phone for hours a day. This sort of idleness may produce weariness, but it doesn't produce the fruit God requires. A wonan's God-given duties must necessarily be neglected to carry on such extensive visiting.

How does the busybody conduct her visits? She asks many questions and is a keen listener. She asks questions that are meddlesome and interfering. But she seldom gives offense, because she seems so genuinely interested. No detail is insignificant for her. She delights in passing on "tasty morsels" and offers much information (about others) without waiting to be asked.

Since her head is so full of "other people's matters," much of what is fact and what is hearsay is easily blurred. Now she has become not only a busybody passing on the "news," but a gossip passing on rumors. Meanwhile, is the laundry done? Is dinner planned? Can she really afford all this time?

A few cautions come immediately to mind. First, ask yourself if you are a busybody. If you are working hard at home faithfully doing your God-given duties, then you will have little time for such foolish behavior. Nevertheless, recall your recent conversations. Have you been too involved in "other people's matters"? Do you pass on information about other people's affairs? And perhaps the most revealing question: do you delight in being the first to know and the first to tell?

Second, do you have a friend who is a busybody? Take care. You may be drawn into her bad habits. Don't listen to her repeat all the news. Excuse yourself from inappropriate conversations. Do you have a regular group you meet with to "visit' and fellowship, a homeschool group, a sewing group, a quilting group, or a reading group? Is the conversation on topic, or is it often about other people? Perhaps you should withdraw from such a group, if it is domintated by busybodies. Busybodies will be quick to criticize the children, the schooling methods, etc., of other people not in the room. They will share things freely about others that they would never say, if those people were present.

Finally, if you know someone to be a busybody, keep your distance. Be careful what you tell her. Assume that everything you say will get around the community. That should motivate you to exercise discretion. Be careful what you say about your family, especially about your husband. Be sure your comments are always respectful and kind and God-honoring. That sort of new isn't nearly as much fun to pass on."

---Taken from:

The Fruit of Her Hands

by Nancy Wilson

Do you think that Facebooking & blogging qualify? I know that I am constantly on Facebook & do "shirk" some of my responsibilities at home to have time to "visit." There are a lot of things that I should be doing or want to do that "I never have time to do" simply because I choose to sit at the computer instead & make sure that I'm "up" on everyone else's business. I've really been giving some thought about why I facebook. Do I REALLY need to keep in touch with all these people? Do they REALLY need a play-by-play update of my daily doings? Do I really care to even keep in touch with some of these people? Most are family, some are friends that I see once a week at church & others are people that I haven't seen in 10-20 yrs. I believe that there is a reason we don't keep up with everyone we've ever met....we just can't. I, at least, can't have a meaningful relationship with all of these people and get everything done.

What are your thoughts?