Keep meat costs down

So far I'm doing pretty well at keeping my food budget at $50.00 a week. Remember, though, that I get help from a food pantry so that helps keep the overall cost down. We rarely eat pasta or rice for health reasons so I'm unable to use many of the items the food pantry offers. But, we are blessed with the food we are given and it does help a lot.

I've been trying to find recipes that have a small amount of meat and lots of veggies to stretch my meat budget. (Does anyone have any good recipes?)  My husband loves Chile Relleno's but I rarely make them because I've had such a difficult time peeling the skins. A few weeks ago at the 99 cents store they had the chile peppers in a bag. I already had pepper jack cheese at home so I knew it would cost me next to nothing for the meal. A Spanish woman walked up as I looked at the chilies. I asked her if she had an easy way to peel them. Boy, am I glad I asked because it made peeling a snap!

Here is what she suggested:

Wash and dry your peppers. Place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes on each side ( until blistered) and then turn, repeating until all sides are blistered. Wrap each chile in a dampened dish towel and place inside a plastic bag to 'sweat'. Peel and de-seed. 

Here is the recipe for the Chile Rellenos:

 Stuff chilies with monterey jack cheese (I used pepper jack because that is what I had on hand). Pour some white flour on a plate.  Heat oil in a skillet. In a bowl beat 4 egg whites and fold in gently 1 egg yolk.  Dip the chile in flour. Take a large tablespoon of egg mixture and place it the skillet. Smooth it out with the back of your spoon to the size of a chile. Place the chile on top of the egg mixture. Take another large spoonful of egg mixture and place on top of the chile. Smooth it out to cover the chile. Let the egg mixture brown on the bottom. Flip onto the other side and let brown.

Meanwhile, you can make a sauce if you like one on your chile. My husband does.  I've made white or red sauces.

Cheese Sauce:

Heat until bubbly:
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Add 1 c. milk slowly whisking it so that you don't get lumps. Add one cup of yellow cheese. Add 1/4 c. salsa.

You can also use a red sauce or a salsa verde.

Work at Home ideas

If you're like me you're always looking for ways to make money from home. One day I realized that I 'was' making money at home. How you may ask? (you did ask, right? *S*) By doing the job that I would pay someone else to do.

Let me try to give an example. Our car needed a bath terribly. We live in the country in the middle of an orchard. The wind is either blowing or the tractors are spraying or harvesting. Our car sits outside under an overhang from the barn so it's always dusty.

My first choice used to be a run through the car wash. I did this for years. The fee is $6.00. We even paid a monthly fee ($30.00) at one time so I could run it through anytime I went to town. But, my budget doesn't allow for this luxury now. So, the way I figure it is if  "I" wash my car then I save $6.00. It's as if I am paying myself to wash the car since this was a normal expense previously.

It took me less than 30 minutes which means I paid myself $6.00 for a half an hour worth of work.

How many jobs or duties do you pay someone else that you could do yourself? This could include food items in your budget, too. Do you pay someone to bake your bread (when you purchase it from the grocery store)? Do you pay someone to make your clothes? or sew your children's clothes? Do you pay someone to cut your children or husband's hair? or bake your children's birthday cakes?

If you are currently paying $3.00 or more for a loaf of bread and can make it for 1/3 the price then isn't that the same thing as earning $2.00 for baking your own bread?

I make as much as I can from scratch but I'm always watching for new things to try. I think my next project will be finding a good recipe to replace Cream of Mushroom & Cream of Chicken soup.  I did try making Cream of Chicken soup years ago but haven't since. I wish there was a way to freeze it because I'd like to have it handy when I try a new recipe rather than make it on the spot.


Happy Homemaking!

Georgene

Homemade Laundry Detergent: Big Savings

I accomplished a lot in my little bungalow and on the grounds today!  It always amazes me that I am still putting in a full day's work and our home is so widdle! :-)   We do have a large flower garden to keep weeded and a vegetable garden.  I'm still working on organizing my aunt's barn, too. I never get bored.. that's for sure! My hands are always busy.

I even found time to prepare a batch of homemade laundry detergent.  I've been making my own laundry detergent for approximately 3 years. I always put off making another batch until the very last minute. I'm not sure why because it takes less than 30 minutes to make. I think it's the grating of the soap. It's my least favorite part of the process. Once I start the grating I always chastise myself for putting it off because it's done in no time at all. Sometimes if I'm overly ambitious I will grate the entire bar so I have a head jump on the next batch.

There are quite a few recipes online for making your own detergent. The one I use was found on Crystal's Family Homestead Site. I double the recipe to fill up my bucket which is supposed to give me enough detergent for 160 loads. I purchased all three products at Winco. I put the entire cost of the product next to each item. Remember that you're only using a small amount for each load. You can see how inexpensive it is to make. I used to be able to find the Washing Soda at Walmart but they stopped carrying it. I believe they still carry the Borax. I've read that you can order all items online. I think Food Maxx used to carry some of the products also.

1/3 bar Fels Naptha (1 bar $1.09)
1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Washing SODA (not baking soda) (1 box $2.77)
1/2 cup Borax ($3.86)

Here is how I make it:

1. Grate the soap (I also save slivers of bath soap to add).
2.  Place the grated soap in a large, tall pot. Add 6 c. hot water. I don't put the temperature on high because it will boil over and make a mess. I turn it on low to medium and keep an eye on it.
3. Once the soap is melted in the pot I add the washing soda and Borax. I stir until it's dissolved.

4. Place in a large bucket.
5. Add 1 gallon of hot water plus 10 c. water and stir.
6. It will thicken into a kind of gel as it sets overnight. You can add essential oils if you want a scent. You can use 1/2 to 1 oz.
7. I use 1/2 cup of detergent per load of wash.  It cost me $1.60 to fill this big bucket with homemade detergent!!! Pretty good, huh? A friend uses this detergent in her high efficiency washer with no problems since it does not have a high suds. She uses the same amount as she would any other detergent.

Crystal figured out the cost of the detergent and it came out to .01 a load. When you compare that to the detergents on the store shelf you'll see it's quite a savings.  That was a huge enough saving to convince me to try it. Our clothes have never been dingy. Also, my husband is not able to use scented detergents but this detergent does not effect his skin.  The only load I do use store bought detergent for are my towels.  When we lived at a previous home the well water had a mineral that gave my towels a funny smell.  They would probably be okay by now but I have always used the store detergent (currently using a brand from the dollar store). I also add White King water softener to my white load (washed in warm water) and let them soak for 30 minutes. Other than those few additions the detergent has always worked great for me.

Use it up: Food

There is an old saying that goes....

                 Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. 


Today is my 'use it up' day! 

I sold and gave away a lot of things we owned when I knew we'd be selling our home and moving to a tiny place (less than 300 sq. ft). Most likely, we'll be here until next Spring if not longer so I'm still evaluating all that we moved in light of an upcoming move. One of the items I did drag along were 2 HUGE plastic tubs of material. I promised myself that if I didn't make use of the material while living here that I wouldn't move it to our next home. 

Considering our current financial situation I'm looking for ways to use up what I have on hand. 

So, today I dragged out one of the bins in hopes of starting a scrap quilt. I used to make expensive quilts in previous days that never cost less than a $100.00 a quilt. Making a pricey quilt is out of the question these days since we are living on a very limited budget.  Since I have so much material already at my disposal I decided to see if I could find a cute FREE pattern online. I spent some time last night looking at scrappy quilt patterns and found one that I want to use. Here is a picture:

Obviously, my quilt will not look like this one. But, I do have quite a few darker colors so I'm hopeful that I can produce a quilt that may be similar. My plan is to make each of the grandchildren a quilt when they turn 13. We'll see how that goes!


The 'use it up' philosophy can be applied all throughout our home. I had a small baggie size of turkey meat in the freezer that needed to be 'used up' so I made a stir fry with green peppers, onions and carrots and added a small amount of oyster sauce and sesame oil. I'm determined to use up the meat in the freezer before I purchase anymore. 

How many times do we purchase a 'new' product when we have several products at home that will do the same job?  We just don't 'like' the product at home  or we're bored with it and want to try something new. Sometimes I used to think I'd be more motivated if I had some new cleaning product to try.  But, much to my shame, I had several products on my shelves that would do a similar job. I was so wasteful! 


Do you have ways you 'use it up' before purchasing a new item?

Free Entertainment

One of our granddaughters came for a 'slumber party' this past week. The older the grandchildren become the more of a challenge I have in finding things to entertain them. They are pretty good at keeping themselves busy but I always like to have some ideas up my sleeve just in case.

This visit was a bit more challenging because of our financial situation and small living quarters.

This was our itinerary. :-)

• Played Bible Trivia. 
• Went to the library and checked out Pollyanna and Kit: The American Girl Series
• Took a tour through McHenry Mansion. Very educational and FREE. 
• Picked peaches.
• Soaked in my Aunt's hot tub. 
• Picked blackberries.
• Picked cherries.
• She drew pictures for her Bapa and I.
• Read the Bible. 
• Made fruit smoothies. 
• Mimi (that's me!) French Braided her hair. 

I often tell my husband when we go to the library on Saturday's that there is an 'underground world' that the rich (by the world's standards) know nothing about.

Miss A. had a wonderful time (her words not mine) and all was accomplished for very little money.

Savings Tip: Reducing the cost of baggies

Quick Tip: I read once in The Tightwad Gazette to change the way you think about every bag that comes through your door for the possibility of re-use. I keep a paper towel roll (the inside of the roll)  in my baggie drawer to keep them wrapped around with a rubber band holding them in place. I re-use baggies/bags that I place my fruits and vegetables in, bread wrappers and I even consider bags that are not food related. I wash and dry them of course. But, I NEVER use bags that had meat,egg or cheese items.

I rarely buy plastic freezer bags or baggies any longer and if I do I pick them up at the dollar store.

Happy Homemaking,

Georgene

Stacking Coupons

One of the greatest helps to stretching my food budget is 'stacking coupons'. Here is how it plays out..

The majority of stores will allow you to 'stack' a manufacturer coupon with a store coupon. This will give you the lowest price on an item. I watch for these kinds of deals (I'll share about BOGO free deals later). My weekly grocery list is mostly made up of items that I can find at their lowest price with the combination of coupons with sales. I'll buy multiple items to stock my pantry until the next sale.

Here is a scenario that may help explain it clearer.

This week CVS had a coupon in their flyer for Van Camp's Pork & Beans @ 2/ $1.00. I also saw that some counties offered a coupon in the Smart Source coupon booklet on 5/16  for this item (ours did not). So, you could use the CVS's coupon and also use the coupon from Smart Source for the same item. This way you get the product at the very lowest price so it's wise to stock up your pantry. Normally, I will try and set aside at least $10.00 for extra good deals.

Walgreen's has a monthly coupon book that they publish. It's at the front of the store with the weekly sale  flyer. You can also stack these coupons with the flyer sale AND a manufacturer coupon to get a great deal. 

This is one way I end up with free items or close to free items.

I subscribe to quite a few blogs  that share weekly scenario deals from CVS, Walgreens, Target, Rite Aid and Walmart. I'll share those with you another day. I eventually want to have those links permanently placed on the sidebar.

I hope I explained this clearly.  It's fun to come home with bags full of free or nearly free items.

Sweet dreams,

Georgene

Poster used with permission