Pantry Challenge

I've been complaining on and off about the price of groceries for a few months now, and have been trying to remedy the problem using little tricks I've learned along my nearly 29 years as a homemaker. Making things from scratch is one way to help. Aside from reducing the cost, your family is getting a healthier meal or snack.Here are a few breakfast items I use to fill our tummies healthily (is that a word?) and cheaply: Homemade almond milk is a great addition to morning smoothies and is less expensive than buying almond milk at the store. Try making your own; it's easy. I add in fresh Kale from the garden - easy to grow Homemade plain yogurt - again, easy to make with or without a yogurt maker 1/3 banana - I buy off the reduced rack, bring them home and peel, break into thirds, then pop in the freezer Frozen berries or peaches - now is the time to pick and freeze. Oatmeal with yogurt and berries or shredded apples. Eggs (from our own chickens). Homemade yogurt with berries and homemade granola. Homemade waffles or muffins - I like to use Sue Gregg's cookbooks or muffin recipes from Happy in Dole Valley.

This month I am going to try The Pantry Challenge hosted by Cheap Eats. Today I will make an inventory of the food in our freezer and pantry and come up with some meals for the month. We are going on vacation soon so I will incorporate that into my meal planning. I will come back in a day or two with what I've come up with. One thing I know for sure is that I must make sure my younger children not waste food! The picture above is what they were throwing away one morning when they were done with their breakfast. I know it seems to be a no-brainer to not waste food, but I've watched how much goes into the "chicken bowl" or down the drain in my house and it's terrible. We're literally throwing money away! So that's one more area I will pay attention to as I try to reduce the cost of our grocery bill.

The Fruit of Our Labor

 It's been a long time between posts, again.  I'm a bit embarrassed by the lack of posting here.  It's not that I don't think about it; I do, It's just trying to find 15 minutes in my day to actually do it.  I've been busy all the way around lately; I won't bore you with that, but I would like to show you some of the gardens!  I've been trying to save a little money here and there (and will do a grocery post about that, very soon) but for now, I'll show you where I've spent some time.  Above is a window box filled with impatiens and cascading petunias.  They are both a long time favorite of mine.  

This Blessed Mother statue is one of my favorite pieces to display in my front garden.  I have several rose bushes planted around and behind the statue with impatiens spread before its feet.  They are filling in nicely as they do every year and it is a beautiful display all summer long.

                                            
 The zucchini is flourishing this year and I haven't seen a spot of discoloration on any leaves.  I had a huge problem with some kind of fungus for two years in a row, but this year the problem seems resolved and we have many zucchini coming.

 I just finished weeding the carrots this afternoon.  They are coming up nicely, too.  I think we'll be able to get in a second planting!

 Kale and lettuce are growing in this box.  I just pulled a head of Boston lettuce for lunch for me and the girls today.  It was sweet and delicious.  We still have enough for salad tonight!

 Mint is growing abundantly.  I've made mint iced tea and mint water for our afternoon drinks.  It's delicious and refreshing.

 Peaches are coming, too!  Looks like this will be our first year with some decent size peaches.  I believe the trees are three years old.

 I've been doing a lot of work in the garden today and my hands are sore from all the weeding.  I'd love to be laying here in the hammock reading my book, Into the Wilderness.  Goodness, I've been  reading that one a long time.  It's a thick one but very good.  I only have 350 pages to go!
                          
I'd like to be laying here, too, floating around on a float.  The pool gardens are in full bloom and just beautiful.  Think I'll go take a break for awhile and do just that.
My next post, which shouldn't be too far off in the future will be about saving some money on the food bill.  Promise.

Some Catching Up

So much has been going on since I last blogged.  A family Mother's Day picnic and whiffle ball game at Harkness Park...

A two week every day run to School of Swimming (which is over an hour away)...

And a lot of gardening.  The front garden is all cleaned out with new mulch and some new annuals put in.  As the garden matures over the summer, it will look very full.  It has already filled in quite a bit since this picture was taken.  The  vegetable garden is coming along really nicely with all the rain we've had.  I'll take some pictures of the garden beds once the weather clears up a bit.

Which leads me into my next topic; the price of food and how to cope.  I don't know about you, but I've seen a noticable increase in our food bill.  I'm committed to trying to feed my family healthy meals at a reasonable cost.  I'll be back with what I've been doing to  lower our food bill without compromising our food quality.     

Spring Fun Stuff

It's been rainy, damp and cold here in New England.  As much as I'd like to see the sun and warmer temperatures, I know that this drizzle-like rain we've been having is good for the seeds that have been planted in the garden.  Plus, it gives me a good excuse to relax in the evenings and get some stitching done!  I just stitched this very pretty piece by Danybrod, Wheat Is In The Ear, a saying for April.  It was a free-for-the-asking design.  It is a piece to be given to a newly married couple on their wedding day to wish them happiness and prosperity or can also be a gift wishing good luck in the home. I still need to finish it up in pillow form.  I plan on using the pretty material you see pictured, using the buttons for closure.  I will post a picture as soon as I get it done.  I hope to finish it up this weekend.  Maybe if the rain holds out...LOL...    

As you can see, I'm still working on my Victoria Sampler Ort Bag.  I have nearly three sides done with one more to go.  I'm really enjoying working on this piece! It's just lovely; the stitches are fun to do and the colors are so soft.  I plan on diligently working on this one until it's complete... no side-tracking, which is really, really hard for me to do!

It hasn't been all stitching, though!  Every May first my kids ring a few neighborhood doorbells and leave a goodie at our neighbors' steps.  I have been doing this with my children for 25 years or so.  Just one of the advantages, I guess, of having a large family spread over many years!  Their delight in making these simple gifts, putting them on a doorstep, running and hiding and then waiting for the receiver's reaction is such a thrill for them!  Our neighbors seem to be quite happy and look forward (I think) to each May first!  This year the kids made cards by cutting and glueing flower pictures from old magazines.  They also  made Tie-dye Fruity Cupcakes which were quite cute.  They made the little  bags to hold the cupcakes by cutting the top off of a paper lunch bag and glueing on pictures from the magazines.  To round out the little gift, they used tin food cans with the wrapper removed and a glass mason jelly jar as vases to hold store-bought flowers.  There isn't much in bloom right now, so we had to resort to buying flowers.  I think it's a valuable activity that emphasises, "Love thy neighbor"!    

Family Walk by Danybrod Finish & Spring is Here!

 Lunch in the Skyfort...

 apple blossoms on the trees...

 rhubarb promising to be a bountiful harvest...

and Family Walk by Danybrod sprucing up my decorating!

Danybrod Finish and Liebster Award

I hope you are all enjoying a joyous Easter season! My Easter was very busy, filled with family, cooking, cleaning and more cooking! I did however, make sure to take out some time to work on this little cutie by http://http://dany88.canalblog.com/Danybrod. I love all of her patterns, and her blog is so beautiful!
I also got another Liebster Award from Marsha at http://EverybodylovedClark.blogspot.comEverybody Loved Clark.
Marsha's blog is filled with beautiful, inspiring cross-stitch as well as other projects! For some reason, it seems my hyperlink thingee isn't working properly and my son that always helps me with the computer isn't home. So....if you would like to visit either of the blogs I tried to link up to and they don't work, you can just google them in. I'm sure you already know that...

Blessed Triduum to You

On this Good Friday, as every year, my family and I pray the Stations of the Cross at an outdoor Stations Path. Each station brings me to tears as I pray and meditate from a mother's view.
Today is also the day to begin the Divine Mercy Novena.
May this Easter season bring you and yours closer to our Lord.