Sweet Briar Cottage Journal: Hope Springs Eternal

Hello dear friends!  I truly hope that you are having a lovely first day of "daylights saving time".  We certainly could do with some of that saved daylight.  March is a bleak, dreary month here.  Snow is a welcome sight in late November and December, but in March, not so much.  While the cold single digit temperatures are brisk and invigorating in the depths of Winter, in March they are just annoying.  We had plans for the weekend, but when we awoke and saw the snow on the ground, we decided to stay put, little did we know the snow was only confined to the village limits, later in the day when we ventured out, we discovered just five minutes down the road, they hadn't seen a flake! Lake effects snows are so deceptive.   March is not my favorite month!

SEWING

To idle away some of the hours, I've been doing a bit of sewing.  I made this little sundress for my granddaughter Violet, hope springs eternal!  Do you think we will ever be in need of a sundress this year? 

The fabric says "life is just a bowl of cherries" and has little bunches of cherries on it.  I bought it at the St. Vincent's Thrift Store for 75 cents.  The rick-rack was picked up at a garage sale for a dime.  The pattern is a vintage one, McCall's 6501, a very easy beginner pattern.  I still have to hem  and press it and sew a button on.  No hurry, I'm sure we won't be needing Summer clothes for a while.

BAKING

It seems everyone is baking lemon things these days.  Or maybe I'm just noticing them more.  To top it all off, I got the King Arthur Catalog and it was chock full of lemony things.  This recipe  for lemon streusel coffeecake caught my eye in particular.  Just reading the reviews now, I see that many people don't understand that a coffeecake is supposed to be dense.  Coffeecakes are not cakes, more like giants muffins.  Anywho, the list for ingredients was ridiculous and expensive, so what I did was substitute some lemonade powder drink mix (which I had)for the lemon powder in the recipe and used lemon extract  (bought for $1 at the dollar store)for the lemon oil.  I also halved the recipe and baked it in a 8-inch cake pan.  Well, I liked it. Maybe I'm the only one.  Here's what mine looked like:

Having a cup of coffee and some little pastry in the evening is a tradition at our house.  I haven't been baking much, for the sake of dieting, but we always end up eating some store-bought thingies, which are always disappointing.  It's so much nicer to have something home-made,  I truly believe we eat less that way.  It's just more satisfying.

GARDENING

Our  little experiment of starting lettuce seeds in the cold frame is a success!  The seeds have begun sprouting.  I don't know how they are managing to find enough warmth, last night the temperatures were in the single digit, but they are.  We were very lazy about it.  Just threw a bag of potting soil into the frame, slashed it open and planted the seeds.  If we a get a jump on our Spring lettuce, that would be nice.  Green leafies are our major grocery expense in the Winter for us.  I also stuck the bottoms of some green onions that I had  into a pot and they are coming along too.  A gardening failure was forcing some pussy willow branches.  They just never did bud out.  But I might try forcing some forsythias.  Hope springs eternal! 

LIFE

I've had  several friends and family members come to me in the past couple of weeks with worries.  Seems a lot of people are going through life changes at the moment.  I always get the question of  how we knew it was the time for Ran to retire. All of life's decisions are difficult, whether it's what to major in college, to whom you should marry, to when or if you should have children.  Goodness!  If you overanalyzed everything, you'd be stuck in inertia.  Everything in life that matters, seems to take a major leap of faith.  I always tell my children you'll know it's time for a change when the misery of being in the situation overcomes the fear of the unknown.  It helps to have a belief in something far, far greater then ourselves, but I realize some people don't.  One of my favorite Psalms that I turn to often, is this:

121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

² My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

³ He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

⁴ Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

⁶ The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

⁸ The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Psalms 121

Just had the prompting that someone out there needed to read this today.

BLOGGING 

Blogging has been difficult for me lately.  Maybe you've noticed that my post have been a little dull?  There's not much going on here, as we wait for warmer weather.  Winter is too long in Michigan.  I feel I have written just about everything there is to say about thrift.  How many posts can I write about pantries, canning, grocery shopping and gardening?   So if you have any suggestions for things to write about, I'd certainly welcome them.  Also, I have stopped moderating my comments.  I lost too many of them between the time I hit the publish button and the time they appeared.  Hoping this makes it easier for you to comment.

THRIFTY THINGS WE DID THIS WEEK

Sewed a sundress for our granddaughter form thrifted fabric, trimmings, pattern and thread.  Total cost less than $3.

Made a huge pot of chili from things we had in the pantry.  We ate it for two days as chili and on the third day as taco salad.  Three days of meals for less than a dollar.  We love chili, btw, so it wasn't a hardship for us.

Ran bought a brand new with tags still on them pair of Jesse James shorts for $3 at the local thrift store.  Guess he's expecting Summer to arrive. Jamie found two video games.

Went through a bunch of books and gave them to a charity.  Also cleaned out my closets and gave two bags to charity.  While cleaning the closet out I discovered a penny rug that I had been working on and shoved in there to get it out of the way.  So now I'm finishing that project up.

Stayed home from the trip we were planning, it was too cold and windy.  I'm sure that decision saved us at least $100.

Renewed our Walgreen's prescription plan.  This saves us a lot of money on prescriptions, as we have such a hugh deductible on health insurance.

Made a quiche for lunch today.  Extra large eggs are 69 cents/ dozen!  Now's the time to dust off all those egg recipes. 

Well, that's about it for another week at the old Zempel boarding house.  I hope your week is filled with sunshine and fun!

Hugs

Jane

It Happens Every Spring!

Hello dear friends!  Something about March makes me crave maple.  Maybe it's seeing the clouds of steam coming from the local sugar house or maybe it's the memories of field trips to the maple sugaring shed when I was in grade school.  Whatever the reason, I cast away all the thoughts of calories and dieting and bake something maple.  This year it was maple-oatmeal scones, which I adapted from several different recipes.  I know that scones have a reputation as being dry, but these are nice and moist, perfect with some Maple Sleigh coffee, as long as you are going to go overboard, might as well go all the way!

Maple-Oatmeal Scones

2 C. flour
1/2 C. oatmeal
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
sprinkle of salt
1 C. (2 sticks) butter
1/4 C. buttermilk
1/4 C. maple syrup
1 egg

Combine dry ingredients.  Cut in butter until fine crumbs form.  Stir in the buttermilk, maple syrup and egg until just combined. ( it's the layers of butter and flour that make pastries flaky).  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a round, 3/4 inch thick.  Cut into eight wedges.  Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  While still warm, frost scone with this glaze and sprinkle with  some additional oatmeal, if desired.

Maple Glaze

Combine:
3/4 C. Confectioners' sugar
 2 tbsp. maple syrup
enough milk or cream to make a thin glaze

 Well that's it for today.  Just wanted to share in case you were having a maple craving too.  Hope that you all have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs
Jane

Miscellaneous March

Hello dear friends!  Hope the sun is shining on your part of the world today!  First, before I get any further, I want to thank all of you that took the time to opine, comment and leave kind words about cutting my hair in the last post. I heard from so many of you that around my same age that have long hair, I guess it isn't as unpopular as I thought.  Comments left by Cate and Bless, who have lost their hair due to chemo, really touched my heart.  I guess I'll keep the long hair for a while as a symbol of the blessing of good health that our Creator has bestowed upon me.  So thank you all so much!  Now hopefully, the discussion about hair is a closed chapter. Ha!

Well, March didn't come in like a lion or a lamb, more like a lion cub, with spurts of snow squalls throughout the day.  We took a ride through the countryside and the sight of the fields of corn stubble peeking out of the snow with the crows silhouetted against the pale gray sky made my heart swell.   All the old barns and farmhouses made  the world look like  a  Billy Jacobs painting.  This land, this place, is where my heart belongs.  There's such a serenity that comes from knowing you are where you should be, it reminds me of the Shaker song, Simple Gifts.

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
  'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Above is my little Easter vignette on my dining room table.  I love to create these little scenes, although I think Ran and Jamie get annoyed with them, just something to remove from the table before dinner.  What the menfolk have to put up with!   That bundt cake isn't real but is a scented salt dough one that I made just for looks.  I'm trying not to bake as much, it is not good for my health, but I  do love to see plates of cookies and cakes in the house.  It just makes a place look homey, in my opinion, so I had fun "baking"  this faux spice cake.  Here's the direction on how to make  one:

"Faux" Spice Cake (do not eat!)

2 C. flour
1 C. kosher salt
1 C. coffee (the stronger the better)
1/3 C. cinnamon
3 tbsp. cloves

Combine all the ingredients, spread into  your cake pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  You can "flour" the pan with more cinnamon or any spice, if desired.  Make sure to fill the pan all the way up, as these "cakes" don't rise and spread the batter in really well because the ingredients don't melt. Bake at a very low oven, 175 degrees, for 4-6 hours depending upon the size you are making.  They should be dry to the touch and the batter should be pulling away from the side.  Remove from the pan.  I like to sprinkle mine with some of that oil used in those diffuser reeds for added scent.  Smells great! And prettier than one of those scent diffusers, I think. You can use different spices too. It's a fun project and an easy craft. Only problem, it makes me hungry for real spice cake!

Another Craft

What a joy it was to get out my sewing machine!  I love to knit, but sometimes it's nice to have a project that can be finished in a matter of hours rather than week (or months, in my case). I sewed this butcher-style apron, using an old sheet. 

I cut the fabric to take advantage of the decorative border.  It's cute but next time I'd make it smaller, the top part gaps, and I'd make the straps longer, as the darts and waist do not hit me where they should.  Glad I didn't waste any money on it!  Here's the vintage pattern I used:

As you can see by the illustration, that this apron can be worn as a jumper.  I'd say that if I were to use it for that purpose, I'd make it out of  a cotton jersey or other drapey  fabric.  Where the ties criss-cross  in the back gets kind of bunchy and the stiffness of the cotton fabric is not the most flattering thing in the world.  It sort of looks like a glorified potato sack! But the pattern certainly lived up to it's claims of being quick and easy to sew!

The One Thing I Like About Lent

To me, Lent is not a season of happiness, it is a season of atonement, mourning and regrets, but there is one thing I do love about the season and that is that fish becomes very affordable.  Yesterday, I bought pollock for $1.69/ lb.! Here's my recipe for my very favorite way to prepare it:

Pecan Crusted  Orange Whitefish

1 lb. any whitefish (catfish, pollock, whitefish, cod)
1/3 C. orange marmalade
1 tbsp. prepared mustard
1 tsp. Cajun seasoning
1 C. cornflake crumbs or breadcrumbs
1/2 C. chopped pecans
1 tsp. Cajun seasoning

Place fish fillets on a broiler pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Broil until fish turns white and starts to flake (about 10 minutes). Remove from the heat and turn over the fillets.  Combine the marmalade, mustard and 1 tsp of Cajun seasoning in a small bowl.  Cover the fish fillets with the marmalade mixture.  Combine the remaining ingredients and top the marmalade covered fish with it.  Return to the broiler and broil until the fish is cooked through and the topping begins to brown and the marmalade begins to bubble.

 I know that this may seem like an unusual combination of flavors to some, but oh boy!, is it ever good!   Combine this with some oven-fried sweet potato fries and a nice green salad, and you've got yourself a meal!

Don't Buy It, Make It

No need to buy those expensive bottles of Cajun seasoning, it's easy to make from spices every kitchen should have on hand. There's a ton of recipes on-line and they are all the same, just combine:

2 1/2 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tbsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. black pepper

Thrifty Things We Did This Week

We actually hung the laundry outside on the line one day.  Halfway through the drying, it began to snow and we had to rush to get them off the line before they froze, but they still got that nice outdoor fresh smell.  Ah! Springtime in Michigan!

Bought fish for $1.67/lb.

Sewed an apron from an old bedsheet.

Bought half a dozen old magazines at a thrift store 3/$1.  Best entertainment I could find for $2!

We didn't need to buy groceries this week (except for the fish), as I'm trying to work down my pantry and freezer. Some of the meals we had were beef stew, lasagna,  and pizza.

Renewed my Walgreen's prescription plan. This saves us a lot of money on my thyroid medication.

Got a good report from my doctor's appointment.  Those that don't think diet and exercise  matter, it matters!  

My computer crashed, again. Jamie managed to get it up and going, without having to buy a new one.  I thought for sure this time it was a goner.

Picked up all the bottles and cans we found along the road as we walked and returned them.  Made $4!  Maybe not enough to live on, but surely enough for a couple of bags of beans or rice.  PLus the roadsides look cleaner too!

So that's it for another week at the old Zempel boarding house.  I hope you all have a joy filled  and contented week!

Hugs
Jane

A FUN FRUGAL WEEK

Hello dear friends!  Hope you are having a sunshiny day where ever you are! One day this past week it was warm enough to go out with just a heavy sweater instead of a Winter coat.  We hung laundry out on the line.  Unfortunately, the warm weather didn't last, but it was nice to get a sneak peek of Spring.  But it can still be Spring inside, the amaryllis that my friend Mary gave us for Christmas is blooming.  I love how it looks like an Easter lily.

Can you believe it soon will be Lent?  BTW, see that quilt on the loveseat? Here's a better look:

Bought it for $3 at an estate sale this week!  I'm not much for Sring-like pastels, but wanted something more cheerful than my usual earthy colors for the coming season.  This fit the bill and I certainly couldn't argue with the price, plus in a few months I can sell it at my garage sale and recoup the cost.  At the same sale, I bought this big bin of thread for $7:

There were at least fifty spools of thread and a couple pairs of dressmaker's shears. These are the sort of things I look for at estate sales,  I go through a lot of thread, sewing those woolen quilts.  BTW, thank you Jen  for sending me the green wool for my current quilt, it was just the thing  to give me the incentive to finish it.  We've bought lightbulbs, cleaning and car washing supplies, house paint and wood stains, tools and candles for pennies on the dollar at them.  As a matter of fact I purchased two Yankee Candles that had never been used for $1 each.  How much do those things run in the store?  So I'd say it's a thrifty thing to check out the estate sales, when there's one in your area.  Estates sales have more than just antiques and dated furniture.

Another thing I've had pretty good luck finding at estate sales, is bed linens.  It seems a lot of people buy sheets and never take them out of the packages.  Speaking of which, we needed to buy a new mattress cover, so I suggested to Ran that we check out the Goodwill first, our local one gets a lot of new-in-the-package bed linens from Target.  Sure enough!  There was one for only $4.99.  A lot cheaper than Wal-Mart's price of $20.  I also found two skeins of Paton's wool yarn for $1.99 each.  It's my favorite yarn for knitting mittens and warm socks, so I was pleased to find that!  BTW, I finally finished these mitten:

Once I block them, I'll pack them away for Jamie for Christmas.  I also made a crazy quilt pillow from that that shawl I wrote about a while back.  I was getting overwhelmed by all the projects I had in progress, so I decided just to give up on the shawl and make a pillow from what I had finished.

Sometimes you just have to admit defeat and resign yourself to the fact there will never be enough time in the day to do all that you want.  I feel so much better getting these two projects out of the way. I'm going to forget about knitting for a while and do some quick projects like aprons and table runners, maybe a tote bag.  Things I can do in a day or two.

 Our local thrift store is holding their annual sale and everything is 85% off.  I bought a couple very large blouses with some cute prints  to make some sundresses for Violet, they were 50 cents each.  I also found a  Eddie Bauer skirt for 30 cents and a pair of  cute corduroy paisley Vera Bradley pajama bottoms for 50 cents that have enough fabric to make a pair of pull-on pants for Violet.  Good enough for play clothes.  Also snagged some more woolen goods for the quilts,  I want to make some lap-sized ones for gifts.

While we were in town,  we stopped by the local independently owned grocery store to see if they had any reduced-for-quick-sale milk for the strays.  They did, $1/gallon.  And they also had two 1.5 pound chunks of sharp Cheddar cheese for $2.99 ($2/lb) which I took home, grated and froze.  They also had dried garbanzo beans for 75 cents a one-pound bag, which I canned up.

It made up 7 pints for a little more than 20 cents a jar.  I know a can of garbanzo beans sells for more than $1 a can, so when people ask if canning pays, I can say it certainly does.  Plus my home-canned doesn't have any corn syrup, preservatives or artificial colors.

On another day, Ran took me to the Big City,  because we wanted to purchase some wooden posts from the Re-Use-It center,  that we spotted there earlier, for a project we will be working on, once the weather warms up.  They were still there, hurray!  And they lowered the price form $50 each to $40 each.  Sometimes it pays to procrastinate.  We stopped at the other  Re-Use-It center because they always have such good deals on china.  I wanted something Spring-ish for the next few months, but didn't want to pay too much for them. I found six pretty  brown transferware ones for 25 cents each and four Johnson Brothers Autumn Delight patterned ones that I'll tuck away for Fall teas, again at  25 cents each.

While I was there I rifled through their few racks of clothes, looking for more woolen pieces.  Didn't find any, but I did find this pretty jacket from Lands' End for 50 cents:

It has such a pretty lining and fits like a dream,  usually jackets and blazers have too short of a body for me.  BTW, Laurie said she would be interested in seeing some of my get-ups, as I talk about how I don't dress like the normal 60-ish woman. Well, I tried!  But to say that I am not a model, would be an understatement!  After standing there,  trying not to blink while Ran fiddled with the camera, I got several shots with my eyes closed, my mouth open, my hair sticking out in every direction.  The best shot was this one, which he snapped as I was walking off, I was so-over the whole modeling episode:

Christy Brinkley, I aint!  BTW, you can see how long my braid is, I really want your opinion.  Do you think I should cut my hair?  Been debating this for the past few months.

Gardening

We planted some lettuce  in our cold frame this week.  We also stuck a pot of green onion starts in there.  Something I learned from my friend, Regina is to plant the root ends of your green onions in the dirt and they self-propagate.

Baking

We've been experimenting with making sourdough, after Miriam left a comment on last week's post,  it resparked an interest. Maybe you are familiar with Cracker Barrel's sourdough bread?  That's the flavor we are going for.  We did find a recipe for one of those copycat recipes, but it's not quite there yet, but getting close.  We really love how soft  Andrea's bread recipe is, so we combined those two. So we'll continue to experiment.  If we ever get it just right, I'll be sure to let you know.

I'll forego my list of thrifty things I did this week, as this post is basically just a long list of them.  So that's it for another week at the old Zempel boarding house.  I hope that this week will be a joyful and pleasant one for you!

Hugs
Jane

THE $20 EXPERIMENT: THE GRAND FINALE

Hello dear friends! TA-DA!  We've reached day seven of the big $20 experiment.  Honestly, it hasn't been too painful, although I will be glad to go back to having a bit of salad dressing on my salad.  BTW, since I had  about a tablespoon  of barbecue sauce left over, I stirred it into some mayo and thinned it with some buttermilk to make a dressing for tomorrow.  I did taste it, so shame on me if this is cheating, and it tasted pretty good.  I'd say this little bottle:

of barbecue sauce has been the hero of the week for this challenge.  Without it, food would have been pretty bland.  As I come to the end of this challenge I still have the oatmeal to carry over into next week, if I were to continue.  So, I'd say we did pretty well.  Ran and Jamie sure were  good sports for going along with me on this, they even said that everything tasted good, except for the oatmeal. :)

Another key to making it work was using everything up, from the fat skimmed off of the broth, to grinding the oatmeal for flour, to adding water to the barbecue sauce bottle and shaking it up, to get the last bit of flavoring from the bottle.  Every time I emptied a dish which stored the beans or vegetables, I would slosh some warm water around the container and add it to the soup broth.  I also used all the water from boiling the potatoes and carrots.  Cate, just a few minutes ago, left a comment, suggesting that I could have zested the orange rinds and froze them for flavoring muffins.  Good idea, Cate!  Probably would have helped the oatmeal, some.

What We Had For Lunch

I made a soup of the leftover bean and rice, the last carrot and kale. Thanks to Rhonda's hint about squeezing the air out of the package the kale lasted the entire week without going bad.

I will not try to convince you that this was tasty!  We ate pretty lightly of it and have about two more bowlfuls left.  That would be another meal to carry over into next week.  I wanted to toss it, now that the experiment is over, but Ran who is as thrifty or more so than I, suggested we keep it and tomorrow we could add more seasonings to it, along with more vegetables and make it into  something better tasting.   I might freeze it for a while and revisit it later.

What We Had For Dinner

For dinner we had a baked potato with cheese and the rest of the beans on top and the remaining lettuce.

at the beginning of the week, I picked out the three largest potatoes and set them aside for this meal.  Have to admit that these two meals today were not the most thrilling meals I have ever eaten, but if we had to live on $20 a week for three people, I suppose I would have to expect some meals would be just to get you filled up. I know I would be looking forward to the next day, and getting a new batch of ingredients to work with.

Thoughts On The Week

Beans, carrots, potatoes, all things everyone knows are cheap and filling are really going to be your staples.  People that insist on eating meat at least once a day are going to have to do so at the expense of getting vegetables into their bodies.  Mrs. Shoes,  commented that with all those beans, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep in the same room as her husband.  Ha! Mrs. Shoes is a card!  Surprisingly, we didn't find ourselves to be overly  eh, er, gassy.  To eliminate some of that problem,  we  soaked our beans overnight, changed the water  then prepared them (in a pressure cooker) then rinsed the beans again.  I saved the bean broth separately and refrigerate it overnight.  All the little gas bubbles expell, then I used the broth as needed to heat the beans or in soup.

The other thing is that you need to be a planner.  You have to plan that in three days I'm going to need a cup of those beans,  save the carrot water for the soup, don't throw out the potato peels, etc.

What I'd Buy For Next Week

I won't be doing this experiment next week, it is cheaper for us to eat from our pantry than the $20 challenge.  Usually I spend about $15 on groceries when eating from my pantry,  but then I have a very well-stocked pantry. I've already bought my groceries for next week; two heads of Romaine lettuce @ 99 cents each,  a quart of Brussels sprouts @ $2.99 and 3 pounds of bacon ends and pieces for $7.99 (actually it's about 3 1/2 pounds, I weighed the packages to get the most for the money) The bacon ends and pieces are not for any meals, but just to stock up for baked beans and soups.  So that's how I spent $13 this week.  Here's what I'd buy if the experiment were to continue:
 I'd use about 5 pound of those 29 cent chicken quarters for $1.50
 Carrots were 2lbs/ $1.50 in the store
 Another package of tortillas $1.50
 A bottle of salsa from the dollar store $1
A 1 pound box of brown sugar (for the oatmeal) $1.50
8 oz. of Cheddar cheese $2
5 lbs. potatoes $3
that box of Jiffy muffins that I paid 15 cents for
Another bunch of reduced for quick sale 33 cent bananas $1
a head of Romaine lettuce 99 cents
a bag of plain rice from the dollar store $1
a container of cinnamon from the dollar store $1
another bag of those reduced for quick sale oranges $1.50
a dozen eggs,I've seen prices range from 50 cents-$1 so I'll just say $1
That amounts to $18.64.  I'd use the remaining  $1.36 for whatever I could find on the reduced vegetable bin, maybe peppers)
Plus I'd use the free mayo I got from the thrift store last week.

So that concludes the $20 challenge. I'll now resume  my regular program. Ha! Hope to see you next Sunday!

Hugs
Jane

THE $20 EXPERIMENT: DAY 6

Hello dear friends!  Another day, another dollar saved!  We're having beautiful Spring-like weather here today, hoping your weather is nice where you are at, too.  Well, I can see the light at the tunnel for this challenge, it's been fun.  Some part of me doesn't want to go back to my old habits; like having sweets in the house all the time.  I've also discovered that beans can be your best friend when you are a on a strict budget.  Many people grouse about them, but when prepared with the wonderful $1 bottle of barbecue sauce or maybe some salsa, they really are not as bland as people think.  They're probably the cheapest source of protein you'll ever find, that's for sure.  As an example, today we had a brunch of bean hash:

Which is just some parboiled potatoes and carrots fried with that fat  I skimmed off of the broth (which imparted a wonderful flavor), stirred in the beans (with the barbecue sauce) to heat them and topped with the cheese.  To be honest, it didn't taste much different than the corned beef hash I usually make. The portions were rather skimpy, as I'm holding back three of the largest potatoes for baked potatoes for tomorrow, so I was glad that we only had to split it two ways, as Ran hasn't returned home yet.  This actually would have been a very nice brunch with the addition of an egg and a piece of toast. We often get free eggs from my son, but for the sake of the challenge, we didn't have any.  One of my pet peeves about blogs is when people write about how inexpensively they do things and start out with "we were given" or "had this in my stash".  One lady wrote about how she feeds her family so cheaply and  started out by saying her neighbor had given her a roast!  Mighty nice neighbors!  I have wonderful neighbors, but none have them have ever given me a roast, but I can imagine that would be a real money-saver.  Only problem, how can we apply that to our situation unless we have the same generous neighbor?  What's the lesson to be learned from that? Another gal always writes about her inexpensive sewing projects and always says either she had the fabric in her stash or that her mother gave/bought the fabric.  Well yeah, I can see how that would make a project inexpensive if you are given the items to make it.  And somewhere along the line, you had to have spent the money for the things in your stash.  That's what I call fuzzy economics. 

Somebody I'd Like You To Meet

I think you'd enjoy this post about bartering by Sharon.  Sharon is one of those pull-yourself-up-by -your-own-bootstraps types.  Of all the types of people in the world, those are the kind I most admire.  With a bit of friendly bartering, she was able to fill her larder.  Bartering is a wonderful old-fashioned concept that has almost fallen by the wayside.  And I'd say a much more honorable  and dependable way to get what you want, then expecting things to be given to you.   Anyway, I thought you'd enjoy reading how she did it.  She's a wonderful writer too btw. Before our apples trees were mature, we always had a friendly barter between our neighbor Lori and us.  We gave her asparagus and produce from the garden and she let us pick her apples and pears.   As a matter of fact, we supply our entire neighborhood with asparagus and other vegetables that we have a glut of, and once in a while the return the favor with fresh-caught fish, plants, or free wood, not  that's the reason we do it, it's just part of being neighborly.  It's good to build up relationships.  Makes for a much more pleasant life.

What's For Dinner?

Tonight we'll have the remainder of the pot pie.  Ran will be home by then, and there's plenty to split three ways.  I'm discovering that I should be grateful for those little extras like a piece of biscuit to sop up the gravy, or an egg to top the hash, or brown sugar for the oatmeal.  It's the difference between getting by and getting pleasure.

This being Sunday, I'll sign off with my usually, so that's it for another week at the old Zempel boarding house.  I hope that you all have a pleasant evening and I hope to see you back here tomorrow with the final chapter of the $20 challenge!

Hugs
Jane

THE $20 EXPERIMENT: DAY 5

Hello dear friends!  Are you getting bored with these daily postings yet?  Only two more days, Yay!  Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I'm getting a tad bit reckless.  Today I used up almost all of my barbecue sauce, save about a tablespoon. I took the remaining sauce and the rest of my fire-roasted tomatoes and simmered the beans in them.  So from here on out we'll have barbecue flavored beans, whether we want them or not.  I also got a bit more generous with the cheese. I still have about a third of it left.  The phrase for today was use it up! Ran went downstate to help our son with some building projects, so it was just Jamie and me.  So for lunch:

We used up the last of the tortillas and made a burrito with the dreaded rice and beans, some cheese, and I used that gravy I held back from yesterday to give them some flavor.  I really overstuffed them; two for Jamie and one for me.  And I served them on a bed of lettuce that I swapped out the taco shells for.  It was a good filling lunch.

Dinner:

I used up those three little biscuits that I made yesterday from the leftover dough for the pot pie.  We put  a few tablespoons of the barbecued beans over the biscuits and Jamie suggested that if we put some of the beans on the lettuce and sprinkle cheese over it, we would have a kind of taco salad, so that is what we did.

If I were carrying this experiment on to next week, I'd buy some inexpensive salsa.  We don't mind eating the beans, we eat a lot of them anyhow.  I had an orange for breakfast, as always Jamie skipped breakfast and had his coffee, which I didn't include in the challenge.

So Far

We still have the leftover pot pie to eat, we're waiting for Ran to get back to eat it, about 1 3/4 C. of the beans, a couple carrots, a bit of lettuce and kale, one-third of the cheese, five potatoes, one orange, two bananas, and the beans and rice. Oh! and approximately one tablespoon of the barbecue sauce and almost all of the oatmeal.  Again, if I were carrying on for another week, I'd buy a small box of brown sugar so we could enjoy the oatmeal.

I've also discovered that this way of eating is very time efficient.  Make one kind of meat at the beginning of the week and you're through for the next six days.  Ditto for the beans.  The rest of the meals were just a matter of assembling the ingredients and a quick pop in the toaster oven or on the griddle. I t would be perfect for single working people, there wouldn't be any excuses for not having the time to cook, you could do all your prep work in one evening.

What Else?

Here's what approximately ten hours of my time the last two days has gone to:

Canning the leg quarters that I bought on sale for 29 cents a pound. To can them I first roast them, then cut the meat from the bone, toss all the bones and skin into a pot and boil that to make a broth. Then strain the broth, cull the meat from the bones, refrigerate the broth so the fat will rise to the top and harden. Defat it, saving the fat for soapmaking.  Next I heat the meat with the broth that I season with parsley, sage, rosemary thyme, paprika, salt and pepper.  Then pack them into sterilized jars with 1 inch headspace.  Put on the lids and caps and process for 90 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.  So you can call me lucky, or fortunate, or blessed, which I am all three,  but it is still a lot of work  on my end to fill my pantry!

Hugs
Jane