February Resolution Review

Since Shane will be home and our weekend will begin tomorrow, and since the last day of February is today, I decided to write my Friday post today.

I set some goals at the beginning of the year, so I thought I'd give a quick monthly update on my progress in February. 


Reading: 

• Goal - 18 Books and more than a year of Mother Earth News and Hobby Farm Home back issues (and yes, I've let the subscriptions to those magazines expire).
• February Progress - Read 2 books (5 of 18 total), and 5 of the  magazines (6 of 38 total). 

The books I read were:

• Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
• During the Reign of the Queen of Persia by Joan Chase

Crafting:

• Goal - 12 completed projects, preferably one a month, with one being a quilted item and another being knit socks.
• February Progress - Started and completed one toe-up knitted socks. ( 1.5 of 12 total)

I taught myself to crochet around the age of 12 or 13.  A few years later, I taught myself to knit.  I don't consider myself an accomplished knitter, and think it's more difficult than crocheting, but I usually do alright.  These socks were probably the most challenging knitting project I've tackled.  The work itself is not difficult, but just finding a pattern I could make sense of took days.  I made irreparable mistakes causing me to start over several times, but with each re-do, the quality improved.  A few nights ago I was determined to finish the sock, but come 2:00 a.m. when the yarn was about to run out, I completely forgot to consider that I needed a stretchy bind-off.  I bound off in a traditional way and couldn't get the thing over my foot.  So, I had to rework that, and now it might be too stretchy, but at least I'll be able to wear it (and learned a stretchy bind-off to boot!).

The sock isn't without flaws, by far, but it will be wearable, and I'm looking forward to finishing the pair.  What's more, now that I have a clue what I'm doing, I'll probably make more socks in the future.

My first sock!  It's in Paton Kroy washable wool
sock yarn; the colorway is Clover Colors.

Gardening: 

• Goal - Organized planning, leading to an organized garden.
• February Progress - Our printer quit working and I haven't replaced it yet, so I haven't been able to use the garden planning downloads I bought.  However, I've been planning all the same.  I know what we will be planting, in approximate quantities, and have ordered seeds.

Diet/Nutrition:

• Goal - To switch over to less harmful types of sweeteners and/or reduce sugars in our foods.  To grow more of our food in our backyard.
• February Progress - I have to admit that I haven't made any progress toward finding less harmful sweeteners since last month.

In other nutrition news, I've started making kombucha tea and tibicos soda (aka, water kefir) again after letting both go dormant for a few months at the end of last year.  Since re-establishing the habit of drinking a cup of one or the other -- or both -- daily again, I've felt a noticeable improvement in the way I feel.  To me, they are like safer, more natural energy drink and they are good for your gut.  IMO, they taste good, too.


Fitness:

• Goal - To join a local yoga class better flexibility, balance and overall health.
• February Progress - I have not found a different yoga class to join and to be honest, haven't given it much thought.

Finances:

• Goal - To pay off our RV.
• February Progress - A little.  When we first bought the RV, I padded our first two monthly payment by about $90, rounding it to the next hundred dollar amount.  For the next five months, though, I wasn't comfortable doing that.  We are in a position now that I can start paying extra again each month and even start catching up on the five months when I wasn't able to pay extra.  Every little bit helps.

January Resolution Review

I set some goals at the beginning of the year, so I thought I'd give a quick monthly update on my progress.


Reading: 

• Goal - 18 Books and more than a year of Mother Earth News and Hobby Farm Home back issues (and yes, I've let the subscriptions to those magazines expire).
• January Progress - Read 3 books (3 of 18), but just one of the  magazines (1 of 38). 

The books I read were:

• Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Beatles, Beatlemania, and the Music that Changed the World by Bob Spitz
• The Asperkid's (Secret) Book of Social Rules: The Handbook of Not-So-Obvious Social Guidelines for Tweens and Teens with Asperger Syndrome by Jennifer Cook O'Toole
• The Unschooling Handbook:  How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom by Mary Griffith.

Crafting:

• Goal - 12 completed projects, preferably one a month, with one being a quilted item and another being knit socks.
• January Progress - Finished a pair of fingerless mittens. (1 of 12)

I finished these crocheted fingerless mittens.  I had started them back in the summer on a camping trip, but lost the pattern on the same trip.  Fortunately, I was able to find it online, and was able to complete the pair. 

I also knitted a small afghan/blanket for our cat Bob, who was moved from outside to our basement in December.  He likes to sleep on dirty laundry, specifically sweaters, so I decided to make him something of his own.  It isn't much to look at, but it used up some of my yarn stash, and was good knitting practice for me.


Gardening: 

• Goal - Organized planning, leading to an organized garden.
• January Progress - Did germination testing on the seeds we already have on hand.  Printed garden organizer I purchased from Northwest Edible Life and recorded seed tests and a few other things.  Read about gardening.  Thought about gardening.

Diet/Nutrition:

• Goal - To switch over to less harmful types of sweeteners and/or reduce sugars in our foods.  To grow more of our food in our backyard.
• January Progress - Shane has switched entirely to local honey as the sweetener in his coffee.  I only sweeten coffee occasionally, but when I do, I've been using Sucanat.  I have not yet found a sweetener I like in my tea other than white sugar, so I'm working on reducing the amount.  Little other progress has been made on this front.

Fitness:

• Goal - To join a local yoga class better flexibility, balance and overall health.
• January Progress - Something came up and I was unable to join.  I plan to look for another class or a different activity to meet this goal.
• I've started looking at bicycles.  I'm getting a good idea about what I want and don't want in a bike.  Basically, I'd like a big ol' cruiser bike with a big, well-padded seat, and handlebars I don't have to lean over, but with multiple speeds.  If I can't find what I want, Shane says he can (and will) Frankenstein custom build one for me. 

Finances:

• Goal - To pay off our RV.
• January Progress - None.  I have filed our tax returns already, and should be getting refunds, but those funds are earmarked for tires for Shane's truck, tires for the RV, and a large chunk of savings for next winter when holidays and bad weather shrink Shane's paycheck considerably.  Very little, if any, funds will go toward the RV balance.  On the other hand, we just completed a No Spend/Reduced Spending month and were able to save quite a bit of money to put toward savings.

Personal Finance on the Playground

Do you ever wonder if anything you say or try to teach your child(ren) sinks in?

At supper last night, Kat said that the subject of allowance had come up among a group of kids at school.  When she told them that she saves her allowance, they looked at her as if she'd sprouted a second head.

They wanted to know why she would do that, and told her that they always spent their allowance as soon as they had the chance.

Her response was that she usually likes to save for bigger things that she wants and doesn't want "cheap $2 stuff that just breaks". 

She said the others told her that "just isn't right" and got up and walked away. 

Kat, with the Lego set she saved for and bought last April.

I don't know what makes me happier - that she is developing good money habits, that she voiced her opinions with confidence, or that she was listening to us in the first place!

Do your kids get an allowance?  If so, do they spend it or save it?  The general rule here is that whatever money Kat gets (allowance, money from extra chores, gift money) is divided as follows:  10% to the charity of her choice (usually the local cat shelter), 10% into her savings account at the brick-and-mortar bank, and 80% to save or spend as she likes. 

Bye-Bye Cable

The cable guy (neither Larry nor Jim Carrey) is supposed to disconnect our cable service today, leaving us with just Internet service, which will cut our bill from $103 a month down to $40. 

We're getting rid of cable primarily because we don't spend enough time watching television to justify the expense.  Kat watches an hour or so a day of cable cartoons or shows such as How It's Made or Mythbusters;  Shane and I don't even bother to turn the TV on most nights. 

Case in point:  I saw a banner hanging up in town recently, congratulating a local man on his success in a show called X Factor.  I had to do a Google search to find out what X Factor is, and find out why our town is fussing over a man named Tate Stevens.  Apparently, this alumnus of our local high school and employee on our city's road crew is doing quite well on X Factor.  But I was surprised to learn it was a talent show.  I thought it was about eating bugs or sleeping in scorpion infested coffins or something like that.  Oh, that's Fear Factor?  Fear Factor...X Factor...what's the difference?  It's all the same to me.

That's just one show.  I've never watched an episode of American Idol or Desperate Housewives.  I know those aren't new shows, but I can't even tell you what the new shows are called.  Anything we do know about and want to watch, we can find either online or via Netflix.

See what I mean?  It just isn't worth $63 a month we've been paying to NOT watch TV.  Seriously, we should've ditched it months or years ago, but of course, we were under contract until this week.

What about you?  Do you have an expense for a service you really don't need anymore?  It could be anything, not just cable.  Maybe it's something small, like a subscription to a magazine you don't read, or something bigger, like a gym membership you never use.  Could you cancel it to save some money each month?  Or redirect the money toward something you need or would enjoy more?  It's might be worth your while to consider it.

TGIF...G?

TGIFG! Thank Goodness It's Free Glasses! 

If you (or anyone in your family) wear glasses, my friend Jill at Blessings of a Stay At Home Mom has a deal for you and a great review.  I'm not going to pass this one up, and I don't think you'll want to, either.  So click on over now! 

Pee Ess:  Have a Wonderful Weekend!

October Spending Challenge - Week 4

Today ends Week 4 of Northwest Edible Life's No-Spend Month of October.  To participate, I didn't join full-on, but decided to challenge myself to spend zero money in restaurants and as little as possible on food at the grocery store. 

This week (10/20 to 10/26) was spendy compared to the past three weeks:

Restaurant spending:  $9.96
School lunch spending: $4.30 (2 lunches)
Grocery store spending:  $48.86 (includes sales tax)
Pork processing fees:  $209.00 (already had these funds set aside)

At the stores this week, I bought: 2 packages of hot dog buns, 1 loaf of oat bran bread, 1 bag tortilla chips, 10 pounds of whole wheat flour, 5 pounds of Clear-Jel thickener, 1.25 pounds barley, a few ounces of dried basil leaves and a couple of ounces of ground nutmeg. 

I also (finally) found a source for raw milk and bought two gallons.  With bottle deposits, the total was $12.  Ive also included the cost of two dozen farm eggs that I forgot to include when I bought them last week - $5.

I blew my perfect record in the restaurant category yesterday.  My daughter (Kat's mom) rode with me to pick up our pork from the processor.  While we were out, I felt a migraine coming on, so I decided it was probably not a good idea to skip lunch.  I bought us each sub sandwich and put her in the truck's driver seat for the rest of our trip.

You'll notice I have a fourth category this week, which is the butcher's fee for processing. I had set aside $250 for processing, but I'm happy to say that some of that money will go back into savings.

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Here's what we ate this past week, most of which was already in the freezer, fridge and pantry:


Breakfasts and Lunches: 

• Our breakfasts and lunches were very similar to earlier, consisting mostly of hot cereals, leftovers and/or simple sandwiches.
• Kat requested two school lunches this week.  The first was meatballs and gravy over rice and the second was sliced ham with French toast sticks.  Each came with a choice of two out of several fruits and vegetables.

Suppers:  (This week's menu centered around chicken, with three meals made from one whole bird.)

• Leftover chili (from my dad), hot dogs on buns, salad with homemade dressing.
• Sausage-and-stuffing stuffed acorn squash, salad with homemade dressing.
• Chicken Oreganato, salad with homemade dressing, green beans.
• Chicken enchiladas, refried beans, salad with homemade dressing, homemade salsa.
• Chicken enchiladas leftovers.
• Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches, pumpkin applesauce, tortilla or potato chips. 
• Fried catfish TBA.

Drinks and Snacks:
Drinks this week were water, coffee, iced tea, raw milk, lemon-lime soda, and beer.  Snacks were potato chips, tortilla chips, peanuts, peanut butter and jelly on flour tortillas, string cheese.

October Spending Challenge - Week 3

Today ends Week 3 of Northwest Edible Life's No-Spend Month of October.  To participate, I didn't join full-on, but decided to challenge myself to spend zero money in restaurants and as little as possible on food at the grocery store. 

This week (10/13 to 10/19) was alright, but not as successful as I would have liked:

Restaurant spending:  $0
School lunch spending: $2.15 (1 lunch)
Grocery store spending:  $56.62 (includes sales tax)

I spent quite a bit at the grocery store this week.  I bought: 5 pound block of cheddar, 2 loaves of French bread, 1 pkg. pre-made pie crusts, 2 bags marshmallows (ingredient in a party treat at the end of the month), 2 bottles of lemon-lime soda, 4 bags tortilla chips, 2 bag of potato chips, 2 pound sliced ham, 1 pound dry roasted peanuts 1/2 gallon millk, 3 cartons yogurt, 3 bell peppers, 2 pounds grapes, 2 packages flour tortillas, 1/2 gallon apple cider, 1 quart half & half, 1 package white chocolate chips (for party treats), 1 bag milk chocolate chips (for party treats), 1 can tuna, and 1 loaf oat bran bread.

Talk about jumping off the homemade/frugal wagon and onto the convenience/junk food wagon!  It was just one of those weeks, and they happen.  But I'll give myself credit where credit is due -- we had a busy Saturday away from the house and it would have been so, so tempting to have a late lunch out, but we resisted and came home for a nice veggie and pasta meal at home.

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Here's what we ate this past week, most of which was already in the freezer, fridge and pantry:


Breakfasts and Lunches: 

• Our breakfasts and lunches were very similar to last week's, consisting mostly of hot cereals, leftovers and/or simple sandwiches.
• Kat requested one school lunches this week, which was sliced ham with whole grain pancake, tater tots, and choice of two of carrot sticks, pear halves, apple wedges or orange wedges.

Suppers:  (A friend gave us a large venison roast that his family didn't want to eat; we stretched it into several meals for us, plus the scraps and trimmings were ground into a treat for our outdoor cat.)

• Whole wheat pasta with tapenade, spinach, zucchini, oven dried tomatoes and feta cheese; garlic toast.
• Chili (pork) with toppings (sour cream, cheese), tortilla chips, apple pie.
• Venison stew, sliced French bread with butter, cole slaw, apple pie.
• Venison fajitas (meat, peppers, onions, mushrooms, cheese, sour cream, HM salsa), homemade refried beans from homegrown pinto beans, lettuce salad with tomatoes and homemade dressings.
• Venison fajita-egg tortilla wraps (basically leftover fajita ingredients stretched with scrambled eggs), refried beans, lettuce salad.
• Venison lasagna, garlic toast, green beans, spinach.
• Miscellanous leftovers from other meals.

Drinks and Snacks:
Drinks this week were water, coffee, iced tea, hot tea,milk, lemon-lime soda, hot chocolate, apple cider, and beer.  Snacks were hummus with tortilla chips, apple pie, grapes, potato chips, and bread with butter.

October Spending Challenge - Week 2

Today ends Week 2 of Northwest Edible Life's No-Spend Month of October.  To participate, I decided to challenge myself to spend zero money going out to eat and as little as possible on food at the grocery store.  Kat requests the school's hot lunch a few times a month, so I'm including that spending as well.  I don't consider it to be groceries or a meal out, so it gets its own category.

This week of 10/6 to 10/12 was somewhat successful:

Restaurant spending:  $0
School lunch spending: $0
Grocery store spending:  $36.51 (includes sales tax)

At the store I spent quite a bit more than last week, but still a good deal less than usual.  I bought: 3 pound bag of yellow onions, 12 cans green beans, 3 bags tortilla chips, 2 loaves whole wheat bread, 2 whole "Just BARE" brand chickens, 1 lb. organic carrots, 2 heads lettuce, 1 pint sour cream, 1 pint ricotta cheese, 8 oz. block mozzarella cheese, 2 cans pumpkin.

Notes:  *Canned green beans are one of just a few veggies that I can rest assured that Kat will eat, so I stock up when they are on saled. *I make a lot of our bread from scratch, but will buy it if I'm especially busy like I was this week.  *I usually buy organic, free-range chicken from Trader Joe's for $2.49/lb, but the nearest TJ's is 15+ miles away.  I decided to try the Just BARE brand at $1.75/lb (and about 1 mile from home).  It's not organic or free-range, but from what I've read, they do follow cleaner, more humane practices than conventional poultry producers.  Anyone have any experience with this brand?

In addition, our neighbors moved away this weekend and gave us 18 eggs and 15 pounds of potatoes that they didn't have room to take with them.

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Here's what we ate this past week, most of which was already in the freezer, fridge and pantry:


Breakfasts and Lunches: 

• On both Saturday and Sunday, we ate steel cut oats and homemade toast with butter. 
• Otherwise, our breakfasts and lunches were very similar to last week's, consisting mostly of hot cereals, leftovers and/or simple sandwiches.
• Kat did not request any school lunches this week.

Suppers:  

• Saturday evening we were invited to eat at our friends' house.  We contributed homemade cookies and one of the last watermelons from our garden.
• Ham and cheese pretzel bites, green beans, lettuce salad with tomatoes and mushrooms, homemade honey mustard or ranch dressings, leftover cole slaw.
• Homemade pizzas (choice of ham and cheese or Thai chicken), lettuce salad with tomatoes and mushrooms, carrot sticks with homemade salad dressings for dip, homemade zucchini hummus, tortilla chips.
• Ham and dumplings, green beans w/bits of ham, lettuce salad with tomatoes and mushrooms,  carrot sticks with salad dressing for dip.
• 4-Cheese ravioli with homemade pasta sauce, garlic toast, salad with tomatoes and mushrooms, leftover green beans.
• Choice of homemade soup (chicken noodle or tomato bisque), fried egg sandwiches on toast, lettuce salad with tomatoes, watermelon.
• Sweet and spicy salmon burgers on homemade buns, roasted acorn squash, zucchini-tomato bake, lettuce salad.
• Pasta with tapenade, oven-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini and feta cheese; garlic toast.

Drinks and Snacks:
Drinks this week were water, coffee, iced tea, hot tea, hot chocolate, beer, and white wine punch (wine and lemonade, basically).  Snacks were dry roasted peanuts, tortilla chips with homemade salsa (both red and green), zucchini hummus, apples, homemade toffee chip cookies, and popcorn.

October Spending Challenge - Week 1

I mentioned Monday that I was joining Erica at Northwest Edible Life in her No-Spend Month of October by challenging myself to spend zero money going out to eat and as little as possible on food at the grocery store.  Kat requests the school's hot lunch a few times a month, so I'm including that spending as well.  I don't consider it to be groceries or a meal out, so it gets its own category.

This week of 10/1 to 10/5 was a success:

Restaurant spending:  $0
School lunch spending: $2.15 (1 lunch)
Grocery store spending:  $8.55 (includes sales tax)

At the store I bought:  10 pounds russet potatoes, 1 large head of lettuce, 1 small head of cabbage, and a 1-pound bag of tortilla chips.

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Just for fun, here's what we ate this past week from what was already in the freezer, fridge and pantry:


Breakfasts: 

• Shane doesn't eat breakfast during the week. 
• If I do, it's usually just toast and coffee. 
• Kat ate a scrambled egg with toast (2 days), a waffle with butter - she doesn't like syrup (1 day), toast with almond butter (1 day), and oatmeal (1 day).

Lunches: 

• Shane takes supper leftovers or other pantry items for his lunch nearly every day. 
• I ate enchiladas left over from camping (3 days), miscellaneous leftovers (1 day), and stuffed cheeseburger buns (1 day). 
• Kat ate stuffed cheeseburger buns (2 days), leftover ham and potato casserole (2 days) with yogurt, string cheese, peaches, tortilla chips and/or peanuts as side items all week.  She requested the school lunch for today:  turkey and gravy, whole grain roll, and two or more of applesauce, apple wedges, banana, corn or celery sticks.

Suppers: (I baked a half ham that has stretched all week and will make some future meals as well.) 

• Baked ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, sauteed cabbage, fermented cherry tomatoes, whole wheat rolls with butter.
• Ham-potato-onion casserole, peas, home-canned peaches, cottage cheese, fermented cherry tomatoes, whole wheat rolls with butter.
• Fried ham slices, eggs (fried or scrambled as desired), whole wheat toast with butter, cottage cheese, sliced tomato, apple-ground cherry galette.
• Potato soup with ham, cheese and broccoli (per Shane's request); fried egg sandwiches
• Tonight we will have a homemade version of a Primanti Bros. Sandwich that we saw TV once time.  Ours will have ham, cooked chicken, cheddar, French fries, slaw and tomatoes on homemade bread.  No side dishes will be needed with this sandwich!

Drinks and Snacks:
Drinks this week were water, coffee, iced tea, hot tea, hot chocolate, half of a 2-liter bottle of ginger ale left from camping, and beer.  Snacks were dry roasted peanuts, toast with apple butter, tortilla chips, string cheese, and apples.

Changing Seasons

The 2012 camping season is over for us.  You can read a couple of new posts about our last camping weekend of the year at Haphazard Homestead on the Road.

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With camping season over, summer is "officially" over for us, too.  As we move into fall and look ahead toward holidays and cooler weather, I've decided to take on two challenges for October.

The first is that I'm going to join in with Erica at Northwest Edible Life in an October No-Spend Month.  I think Erica is attempting an across-the-board reduction, but I've decided that I want to limit my challenge to grocery and restaurant spending.  Those of you who were readers of my old blog know that I can get a little carried away with numbers, but I promise not to do that this time.  My goal is to spend as little as possible at the grocery store and for us to not go out to eat at all in October.  I'll post my updates on Fridays and keep them simple. 

One exemptions right off the bat:  We will be paying the meat processor for pork already butchered and waiting for us to pick up as soon as the cured cuts are ready. 

If you'd like to join in, please do.  It's my understanding that this challenge is less about austerity and more about being mindful of and deliberate in your spending habits, whatever they may be.

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The second challenge I'm going to join is "All Done by December 1" at Happy Simple Living.  According to the Happy Simple Living blog, "The idea is to do some advance planning about the aspects of Christmas that are most important to you and your family, followed by some easy tasks and organization. The goal? To have every do-ahead task done by December 1, leaving you three glorious weeks to have the best celebration ever."

If you'd like to join in, click over and sign up for the e-mail updates.

Back To Baking

You might remember this post, where I talked about how we'd keep our ugly, old gas range until it quit working.  If you follow Haphazard Homestead on Facebook you might also remember me mentioned a few weeks ago that my oven wasn't working right. 

Over the weeks, the oven got worse.  Last Thursday, for example, I turned it on to 350°F and it went to 350°, so I put my food in.  After half an hour, I thought it was odd that there weren't any good smells coming from the oven, so I peeped in and saw the temp was around 165°.  So I turned it off, turned it back on, again to 350°.  It shot up to around 400°.  Somehow I managed to get supper made without either burning it or serving it undercooked.  But I was done messing around.

Our options were:
- to have someone fix it (rough estimates were around $250),
- fix it ourselves with only a guess that the problem was the thermostat (parts were from $50-$150),
- buy new (low-end basic model was around $400),
- or buy used. 

We decided to check craigslist to see what was available in a used gas range and found this beauty for just $100.  It's 10 years old, but it looks like new!  Did I mention it's self-cleaning?  Or that it has a power burner and a simmer burner?

It was 50 miles from home, but Shane happened to be working just a few miles from where the stove was, so he was able to save us an extra trip by picking it up after work on Friday.  It had been installed to burn propane gas, so we had to convert it back to natural gas with manufacturer's directions that the owners had saved.  The only snag was that the fittings for the gas line weren't the same size as our old range, so Shane had to spend another $25 for a universal kit to get it hooked up.

$125 for a range in this condition is a bargain, no matter how you look at it.  Our plan for the old stove is to move it to our basement and set up a canning kitchen.  We'll see if that really happens or not - we've had lots of plans for the basement over the years and it's still just a basement.

Meanwhile, I have some baking to do.

Make Your Own Garlic Powder (Granulated Garlic)

If stored properly, heads of garlic can last a good, long time, possibly from one season to the next.  This is the situation we found ourselves in this year.  We still had several heads of garlic in the basement, with  fresh garlic ready to bring in.  I decided it was time to turn the older garlic into garlic powder, sometimes also known as granulated garlic.

The first thing I did was peel the papery film off the garlic and separate the cloves.  Because this was last years harvest, some of the cloves were too dry and crumbly to work with, so I composted those.  Some were a little dry, but still flexible (like a raisin) and good-smelling, so I saved those.  The rest seemed fresh, considering their age, and I used those as well.

I peeled the skins off each clove and, except for the very smallest of cloves, I sliced them about 1/16 inch thick.  I spread them out on the "fruit leather" tray of our dehydrator and set it on the high setting.  Oddly enough, it was the pieces that were already leathery that took the longest to dry; the fresher pieces dried right away.  I suspect it had something to do with a change in the sugar content, but I'm not sure.  It took 2-1/2 days for all of it to dry to a brittle stage.

I didn't bother to measure or weigh anything before I started, but I didn't think to measure the dehydrated pieces.  A tray of garlic measured to just under a cup of dehydrated bits.

I put all of the pieces in our blender and blended them on high for about three minutes or until they were thoroughly pulverized.  The resulting powder measured right at 1/2 cup.

I stored the powder in an airtight container in my spice cabinet, and will use it just like I would any store-bought garlic powder.

Back to School???

Is summer vacation almost over? 

It would seem that way, judging from the ads in Sunday's paper and the back-to-school displays in the store.  As for us, we still have about a third left.  As of tomorrow, seven weeks behind us and five left to go.

Since Kat received a gift card for her birthday that was burning a hole in her pocket, we went shopping this morning.  And since we were there, and the school supply list for our school was there, and the school supplies where there, I went ahead and picked up what Kat needs to start 4th Grade in August.

Our district doesn't ask for much.  This year, they asked for a little more than in the past, but it's still not much compared to some other schools.  I got this pile of supplies for right at $10.

It's three spiral notebooks, 1 package of loose leaf paper, 2 packs of pencils, a package of ball point pens, a package of highlighters, a box each of crayons, colored pencils and markers and a couple of glue sticks. 

The list also called for scissors, a school supplies box and a backpack (things we already had at home), two boxes of tissues (that I still need to buy) and a bottle of hand sanitizer (which I'll opt out of buying because I think it's unnecessary and may not be safe).

It's a small list, really, and I didn't mind paying $10 for what we bought, but I can't help but wonder if Kat will use these things.  Every year, at least one or two items are sent home unused, usually around the winter break, and usually it's the spiral notebooks and/or the supplies box.  I wish, instead, the school would just ask for items as they are needed.  I guess I could opt out of buying all of these things, but I suppose I'd end up paying more for them later when they aren't on a back-to-school sale.


POP QUIZ:

1. Has anyone else purchased school supplies for this fall? 
2. Does your school ask for items that probably won't be used? 
3. Is your school's list long or short? 
4. If you are a homeschooling family, do you take advantage of the back-to-school sales to stock your at-home class rooms or do you wait to buy things as you need them? 
5. If you don't have kids at home, do you still take advantage of the sales?  (In addition to office supplies, it's a great time to buy new underwear and socks...)
6. Most importantly -- do you think summer really is almost over??? 

Explain your answers.

Not Always Scratchy

I love to make things from scratch whenever I can.  I like knowing what is in the foods or products I make and usually have a good time making taco seasoning mix, Ranch salad dressing, soap, window cleaner or whatever it is I'm making on a given day.  The extra effort is usually worth it to me in superior quality and/or peace of mind.

On the other hand, there are some things I just don't bother with.  Here is a short list of things I don't (or seldom) make from scratch along with my reason(s) why.  Remember, your mileage may vary.

1) Jams and Jellies - The reason why I don't make wholesome jams and jellies from our homegrown berries or local fruit is because....we don't eat them.  Between the three of us, we go through one or maybe two small jars of jam or jelly in a year.  It's just not our thing. Many people give jams as gifts, but for a number of reasons, that doesn't work for us, either.  So, instead of making jams and jellies, I just buy them homemade from someone at the farmers' market or spend a little extra and buy a quality brand of fruit spread from the store.

2) Yogurt - It's not that I don't ever make homemade yogurt, I just don't do it often.  The reason, again, is because we don't eat a lot of it.  To be more accurate, our yogurt eating is sporadic.  Kat and I go through phases where we eat it almost daily, then drop it like a hot potato for months.  So, I make it sometimes, when we're in a yogurt-eating phase.  When I start making a lot of yogurt cheese because I know we aren't going to eat it as plain yogurt, I know it's time to stop making it for a while.  We recently discovered dairy kefir, which is a yogurt-like probiotic drink.  I find it easier and quicker to make than yogurt, so sometimes make it instead.  Also, I have no problem buying the occasional tub of quality yogurt from the store.

3) Homemade Dishwasher Detergent - We make our own bath soap and laundry powder, so you'd think I'd be all over this idea. I've tried and tried to find a homemade dishwasher formula that I'm happy with, but I haven't found it yet.  Until I do (if ever), I buy commercial detergent and cut it with some baking soda and borax (ingredients in most homemade dishwasher detergents) to make it go farther.

4) Mayonnaise - I think knowing how to make homemade mayo is a good skill to have in a pinch, but for the cost of farm eggs and good oil (for me, that means not canola, soybean or corn oil), there is no savings to be had by making our own.  My family and I also find the homemade stuff a little too eggy for our tastes.  Since the oil is the only ingredient in commercial mayonnaise that I have a big problem with, we'll either just cut back on how much we use, or fork out the extra for mayonnaise made with better oils, like olive oil. 

5) Flour Tortillas - As with the yogurt, it's not that I won't make them, but I won't make them often.  We have some Hispanic markets in our town and I can usually find locally-made tortillas that are made with manteca (lard) instead of hydrogenated shortening.  When I'm busy (when am I not?), I'd prefer to buy good tortillas rather than roll out my own.

6) Hand Sanitizer and/or Disinfectant Wipes - I don't buy these products and don't see the need to make them, either.

7) Granola.  I've made homemade granola and it's great tasting stuff -- much tastier and healthier than boxed cereal.  But...you guessed it...we just don't eat it.  None of us really likes cold cereal; I found a box of cereal in the pantry last week that had a 2010 expiry date on it.  I don't eat it at all, and the other two lose interest after a bowl or two.   The same goes for granola, so after making two batches, I called it quits. 

Can you add to this list?  What do you NOT make from scratch that other DIY and homesteader-type folks seem to be making all the time?  Why?

Thoughts on Second-Hand Stuff

Last week I wrote about our decision to NOT replace a part on our kitchen stove.  In the comments the conversation turned to repairing instead of replacing, replacing with second-hand parts, and hanging on to what you already own.  That's where I want to pick up the conversation again today.

In the last two weeks, a couple of second-hand items have come into our home.  One was by design and the other was by chance.

After seeing our friends' Jack LaLanne Power Juicer like the one above over the holidays, learning how well it worked and how easy it was to clean, we decided we wanted one of our own.  Shortly after, Aldi stores had a similar Crofton juicer on sale for $35 plus tax -- much cheaper than a brand new LaLanne juicer.  As far as I could tell, it worked the same way.  I've bought the Crofton brand before and have always had good luck with it, so I went ahead and picked up one of the two juicers left in our local store.

But on the way home, I wasn't completely happy about my purchase.  I decided I'd look on craigslist for a used Jack LaLanne juicer.  I found several listed and three within my price range.  It took all day, but one of the people I contacted finally responded and we worked out a time for me to see the juicer the next day.  I ended up buying it for $40.

Now why would I pay more for a used item than a new one?  First of all, after sales tax, the new one was about $38, so I only spent a couple dollars more for the used one.  Second, I already knew how the used juicer worked and I knew I would like it.  Third, by buying the pre-owned juicer, I didn't create an artificial demand for more juicers to be produced.  Fourth, I may have kept it out of the landfill; if the previous owner didn't sell it, he might have just thrown it away.  And fifth, it came with no packaging for me to have to recycle or throw away.

I was much more comfortable with this purchase and took the brand new juicer back to Aldi the next time I went there for groceries.

The second item we got used was a 42" flat screen TV.  Shane's boss' neighbor was going to throw it away and asked said boss if he'd take it and put it in a job site dumpster (not sure of the ethics of that, but that's for a different post).  Boss called Shane and told him it was available, that it supposedly worked but had some color problems, and asked if we wanted it.  Shane told him sure, we'd take it.

As it turned out, it did work, but it had some screen issues.  It wouldn't work on wide-screen view, but worked ok on full-screen view.  It didn't seem to have any color issues, but it didn't have as good a picture as our current TV.  We ended up listing it on craiglist as a free item, explained it's problem, and had lots of calls from people wanting to give it a new home.  The first person who called us decided to take it.  Everybody involved was happy and the television never saw the inside of a dumpster.  At least not on our watch.

By the way, our current TV was also given to us by Shane's boss.  The boss said the color was dull and upgraded to a flat-screen a few years ago.  We were happy to get it because our old TV was really too small for our living room. The one he gave us is a rear-projection big screen model and all Shane had to do was open the cabinet and dust off the projection bulbs.  That made a big improvement, but after fiddling with the freebie flat screen last week, Shane decided it was time to clean the projection bulbs in our TV again.  Only this time, he also cleaned the mirror that reflects the projection bulbs.

The picture is unbelievable now.  I suppose it doesn't take much to impress us, but we all three sat for the longest time and marveled at the difference a good cleaning made.  I expect this TV will have to flat-out quit working before we consider replacing it.  Unless, of course, the boss decides to upgrade and give us his "old" one again. ;)

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that not all used acquisitions, whether purchases or freebies, are going to work out.  On the other hand, there are lots of reasons that justify giving a new home to second-hand stuff.

What kind of used items have you adopted lately?

Some Things Just Don't Matter

One thing we've learned about spending deliberately is that some things just aren't important enough to trade our money for. 

An example of something that isn't important enough to us to spend money on is our range.  It was made in 1991, but both the oven and stove-top burners still work great.  It's a gas stove and I love that.  But over the years, the plastic insert on the control panel has melted.  The oven vents out where the melted part is, so I suspect it's just a design flaw and not the fault of the previous owners.  It's pretty ugly and very hard to clean around those cracks and melted places. 

To replace just that part of the control panel is crazy expensive; I think it was around $80 when I looked into it a couple of years ago.  We think that's too much to pay for a part that just sits there and looks pretty.  We could buy a comparable brand new gas range for around $350, but there's nothing functionally wrong with the one we have, so there's no need to buy a new one.

So, here's how I solve the problem most days.

Guess what?  If we bought a new range, or even just the new control panel part, that often-used pot would probably still be sitting right there, hiding the control panel anyway.  Not to mention that the new part might just melt again. So what would be the point?

What about you?  Would you think things through before making this kind of purchase, or would you replace the part (or the entire range) without a second though? Do you have a "price point" where your decision changes?  For us, we'd probably buy the part if we could get it for $20 or less.  As for buying a whole new stove, we don't plan to until this one quits working.