Blackberry Pie Filling

We are growing blackberries. Our patch is now 4 years old and doing very well. Our berries are huge! I have been picking and freezing every few days until I have enough to do something significant with them. It's tricky to save very many each picking though because we have quite a few berry snitchers who just want to eat one more before they are put away FOREVER.

Tomatoes Galore!

We just picked all of these today. It's our first big picking. "What shall we do with all of these?" the children ask.

"I have plans," I asure them.

We will be chopping most of them up in the food processor and freezing for later. They will turn into

Fat-free Smoothie Popsicles

Pour yougurt smoothie into a popsicle mold and freeze. It is that simple! By making your yogurt out of powdered milk you will save lots of money and it will be fat-free. We have been eating these up all summer long!

Homemade Apricot Fruit Rolls

We've started the harvest season in our neck of the woods. I've been busy these last few weeks picking cherries to make pie filling, picking raspberries to make freezer jam, and picking apricots to make fruit rolls. My kids love to eat the fresh apricots, but they are not big fans of  apricot jam or bottled apricots. They LOVE the fruit rolls though!

Coconut Cream Pie the Old-fashioned Way

This is one of our family's favorite pies! It's delicious in the summer since it is chilled, but we will eat it any time of year.

Herb Glazed Pork Loin

Pork Loin is one of the least expensive ways you can serve a nice meal. When seasoned just right it can be a big hit. This is one of those great recipes - so simple, yet so satisfying! We had my parents over

Home Strep Test

Did you know that you could buy a strep testing kit over the counter? I just learned that this year after spending a few hundred dollars at the doctors office!

Kid's Craft: Ice Candles

We took on a fun project with the 3rd graders and the boy scouts. My son's 3rd grade teacher found the idea for these ice candles and asked if I would be willing to help their class make them for gifts this holiday. They turned out to be quite simple and look so fun that my husband decided to tackle them with his boy scouts to make as gifts as well.

It's a "best by" date not a "throw away" date -

I've always told people that the date on the cans or milk jugs you purchase are not "throw away" dates. You do not have to throw away the food if you have not consumed it by the date on the package. I have read many articles about it.

There is a new article that has just come out restating this same principle. Americans are throwing away way too much food that is still safe and good to eat! This makes everyone's grocery bill far higher than it needs to be.

Here are the shocking numbers! These come from an article posted on CNN. The original article was written for Time Magazine.

"More than 90% of Americans throw out food prematurely, and 40% of the U.S. food supply is tossed--unused--every year because of food dating."

You could reduce your food spending by at least 40% if you just checked your food before throwing it away!

Instead of relying on the date to tell you if something is bad, there are other ways to check. You can determine if the can is dented or bulging. You can smell the milk or other dairy products to see if they smell sour. You can check for the presence of mold. If the product is discolored or has an off smell then throw it out. But don't throw it out just because it is passed the date stamped on the can or package.

Just imagine all the other good things you could spend that money on - 

Sinching in a Waistband

In our school district, the middle school kids are required to wear PE uniforms. We could either purchase plain black shorts from the school for $20 a pair or we could provide our own plain black shorts. I was able to find some black shorts on clearance for $3 a pair - quite a savings over buying the school option. The trick was that they didn't have a drawstring which meant they wouldn't stay up on my skinny kids! I had a plan though. I really didn't want to unpick all the stitching around the waistband so I just cut a piece of thin elastic about 4 inches shorter than my kid's waist measurement. (You want it long enough that it easily stretches to fit them, but short enough that is gives a snug enough fit around then middle.) Then I sewed it in place stretching the elastic to fit as I sewed around. 

It worked great! The shorts stay up and it didn't take long at all. I already had the elastic so it was a quick cost-saving fix. I'm glad I know this trick works since I can usually find the athletic shorts without the drawstring marked down to a much better price than the ones with the drawstring. I already bought a cute skirt for my daughter that I plan to sinch in the same way.

Our Very Own Fair Experience - Homemade Funnel Cakes

Our kids all chose to enter some items into the state fair this year. It was fun to go see their projects - each one of them received some sort of ribbon for their category. My one son took first place in the yeast bread category using my Fabulous Homemade Bread recipe. They were all pretty excited.

Before leaving for the fair, we discussed the amount of money it was going to cost to get in, ride the rides, purchase food, etc. We talked to the kids about needing to make some choices to be able to stay within the amount we had budgeted for this activity. They all decided to forgo any food purchases at the fair knowing we could make something at home for a lot less. For breakfast the next day, we made funnel cakes.

After mixing the batter, pour it through a funnel into hot oil, swirling a little as you go. I used a plastic cup for a funnel - just poke a hole in the bottom. It worked great and I could just toss it when we were done.

Fry until it is golden brown on one side and then flip it over to complete cooking.

Drain it on a paper towel when it is done.

The kids were so quick at grabbing them that I had to settle for pictures of half eaten samples. You can top them with powdered sugar like the recipe suggests.

Or honey is tasty - 

My favorite and many of the kids' favorite is raspberry freezer jam. Honey butter would also be delicious! We don't make these very often - once every year or two probably, but when we do, we devour them! Perhaps your family will love them too.

Funnel Cakes
2 eggs, beaten	1 tsp baking powder
1 ½ cups reconstituted powdered milk	½ tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour	2 cups cooking oil (for frying)
Combine milk and eggs. Stir in dry ingredients. Drip through a funnel into hot oil, swirling the funnel a little as you go. Fry until lightly browned, turning once with tongs. Remove to a paper towel covered plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. I use an electric frying pan with the temperature set at 350° F to help control the temperature of the oil. Note: I use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour

Quick and Easy Skirt

Keeping growing children in clothes that fit is a constant challenge that can blow budgets fast. A few basic sewing skills and a little creativity can go a long way.

I found this bright colored summer dress on clearance for $2.50. As a dress, it was too short for my daughter. We decided to turn it into a skirt.

I measured how long she needed the skirt to be (from her waist to her knee) and then added 1 inch to allow for me to turn under the waistband. I cut off the extra top portion of the dress.

Then I used my serger to finish the raw edge. Next,I turned the top down 3/4 of an inch or so and did a quick seem on my traditional machine. I didn't need to add any elastic at all. It was that easy.

Now, my daughter has a cute, new skirt that can be casual or dressy depending on what she pairs it with. It was so very simple!

Snickerdoodles for an Army or just a Family Reunion

When put on kitchen duty for our family reunions, you can feel like you're in the army assigned to KP! We had 90 people this year from my Mom's side of the family at the reunion - and that is only about 1/3 of us. My grandmother is still living and is 93. (This is a recipe I copied from her box many years ago.) She has 68 grandchildren and well over 100 great-grandchildren with more on the way! We are so glad she was healthy and able to make the trip. I love taking my kids to these events because it is important to understand that they are part of something so big and that there are literally hundreds of people who know who they are and love them.

I had my daughter mix up the cookie dough. We tripled the batch since I have a large enough mixer to handle that size. I did have her add some cinnamon into the dough. We added 1 tsp per batch so 3 tsp for our big mixer full. Instead of rolling them into balls and then in cinnamon/sugar, I decided to try shaping them into a log and slicing them. I knew this would be faster for the number of cookies we needed to bake. This is why I put the cinnamon in the dough. I wanted to be sure they had enough cinnamon flavor. 

After rolling into logs, refrigerate the dough until firm - it will be easier to slice. Slice into thin, even slices and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. (I keep a bottle mixed up in my spice cupboard. Mix 1 tsp cinnamon with 4-5 Tbsp sugar.) Then bake as directed. Depending on how thin you sliced them, you may need to adjust the baking time. 

They turned out delicious and very fast to do. If you don't want to bake all the dough at once, just freeze the logs and pull one out of the freezer when you are ready to bake. You can have fresh tasting cookies in a flash! 

Snickerdoodles are also one of the least expensive cookies to make since they don't call for any chocolate chips or other more spendy ingredients so when cost is a factor, this is a recipe I turn to.

Snickerdoodles
½ cup butter	2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup shortening	¼ tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar	1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
Cream butter, shortening, sugar, and eggs. Add dry ingredients. Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet to freeze. Transfer to ziplock bag when frozen. To use frozen dough: Take out as many as you want to bake. Thaw just until sticky. Roll in cinnamon and sugar. Place on a greased cookie sheet to thaw a little longer; press down lightly. Bake at 400° F 8–10 minutes. Makes 3-4 dozen.

Taco Filling or Taco Soup for 100

Every now and then, I get the assignment to be in charge of feeding a large crowd. Sometimes it is a family reunion, a neighborhood party, or a church social. I decided I should start recording what I did so I could refer back to it the next time an assignment comes around. I figured there were others out there like me. You could easily reduce this recipe if you didn't have such a large crowd. It freezes very well so I always make it ahead and store in the fridge or freezer until the day of the event. When ready to serve, just heat and eat. This served 100 when we had about 40 kids in our group. If you were serving only adults, you should plan on it feeding 80.

Taco Filling for 100

4 lbs dry red beans (or pinto)

4 cups brown rice

10 lbs hamburger

2 large onions, chopped

2 cups taco seasoning mix

1-2 lbs frozen corn

3 #10 cans crushed tomatoes

Toppings - 

6-9 lbs of lettuce salad mix (2-3 large bags lettuce from Costco)

2 quarts Ranch dressing

4 lbs sour cream

3-4 lbs shredded cheese

2 quarts salsa

9 lbs tortilla chips (3 large bags of Costco tortilla chips)

Soak and cook the dry beans. Cook the brown rice. Brown the hamburger with the onions. (See my trick on how to do this large quantity here.) Mix the beans, rice and hamburger with the remaining ingredients. Store in gallon ziplock bags until ready to heat and serve. It fills 6-7 gallon bags. This mixture freezes well so you can do it well ahead of the big day.


To serve - Place tortilla chips on the plate and top with taco mix. Add additional toppings as desired. This mix could also be rolled in flour tortillas.


To make taco soup, add 2 more #10 cans of crushed tomatoes, adjust taco seasoning amount to taste, and add water if needed. Serve in bowls and top with chips and other toppings as desired.

Birthdays that Build Memories not Debt

There seems to be a growing trend among families in our area to plan large birthday parties and have everyone meet at the local arcade, bowling alley, water park, etc. All these places have special birthday packages where you can do a party for $150 or $200. For our family this could easily cost us $1000 over the year - we have chosen simpler, home based parties that still build lots of memories. 

It is a little more work on my part, but I have to remind myself of what other things we can use that money for - after all, "A penny saved is a penny earned." If I figure it takes me 2 hours of planning per party times the 5 parties we have in a year, that means that I have earned savings at the rate of $100 an hour - not bad at all!

Here is a homemade hot air balloon cake that the birthday boy helped me frost.

He's one happy 6 year old.

We had a night of minute to win it games perfect for entertaining a group of 9-11 year olds.

Here is another homemade cake- frosted quite simply. It cost me about $3.00 to make.

Another fun activity is a party full of relay races. Here is a photo of one doughnut eating race we had.

Get a little creative and remember that memories don't have to cost a lot.

Browning Hamburger for a Crowd

We were assigned the taco meal at our last family reunion. It meant we needed to make taco filling for 90 people! That's a lot of tacos. Thank goodness it is a recipe that can be done in parts and well ahead of time. I will share the taco filling recipe soon. Today I am just going to share my secret for browning the hamburger. I decided to brown my 10 lbs of hamburger all at once. I put it all in my turkey roasting pan. I then chopped a couple of large onions from our garden and added them to the pot. The hamburger chubs were still a little frozen in the middle so I broke up what I could and then put the lid on. 

I baked it at 300 degrees for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours stirring it occasionally to break it up. It took a while to do, but I did not have to be constantly watching it. I made and served dinner, did some laundry, and bathed my younger kids. It worked great! 

Once it was done, I lined two jelly roll pans with paper towels and used a slotted spoon to move the hamburger to the trays. I then worked to mix all the taco filling - more on that another time.

If you are not making tacos, just let the hamburger cool and package in ziplock bags to freeze for another day. Having hamburger pre-cooked speeds up dinner preparations many nights. Sloppy Joes, spaghetti, tacos, casseroles, and hamburger helper style meals all require that you brown the meat first. This way, you can skip that step and have dinner on the table that much faster.

Garden Bounty

Cucumbers, tomatoes, and squash - oh my! Our garden jungle as we are calling it this year, has started to produce. We haven't been focusing much on it this year since we have been working so hard to grow grass in the backyard that was torn up during our septic tank re-do. We got it planted and then basically just let it be. The plants have grown like gangbusters and are all overlapping each other - hence the term garden jungle. We have to dive into it to find the produce that is hiding.

The season of creative cooking has begun. I always ask myself, "What can I make for dinner using stuff from the garden?" I've put squash in pasta dishes, cookies, casseroles, and cakes. The cucumbers find their way into lots of salads and sandwich fillings. The tomatoes are just beginning so we are just enjoying them. The creative uses for them will come in a few weeks.

I love just slipping out the backdoor and picking fresh ingredients! The kids love it too - they fight over who is going to dive into that jungle of squash plants to find the onions hiding underneath. I find myself going to the grocery store much less this time of year since we have a large basket of fresh items on the counter. It gives us more money to use on other fun activities which seem to abound this time of year.

Soon I will share some of the creative recipes I've come up with. But, here's a reminder of an old favorite - Garden salsa. It uses zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and onions all of which we have ready to pick.

Salsa Verde Shredded Chicken

We love chicken cooked this way! I use it in many Mexican style dinners and it is so easy to cook up a large batch.

I place 5-6 frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot. Then I dump in a bottle of salsa verde. We like the mild version, but you can make it as spicy as you like. I add 1-2 tsp of chicken bouillon. That's it - put the lid on and cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. To prepare ahead and freeze, just combine everything in a gallon ziplock bag. To use, thaw and cook as above.

When you can poke a fork into the chicken and twist easily, you know the chicken is ready for shredding.I lift it out of the crockpot and into a casserole dish so the juices don't get all over the place while I shred it with two forks. (Reserve all the remaining liquid in the crockpot - the next post will tell you how I turn it into delicious enchilada filling.)

Here is my pile of shredded chicken. I usually plan it so that I use some of the chicken for dinner and freeze the rest for another night. To freeze, allow to cool completely and bag in freezer ziplock bags or containers.

You can top a taco salad, roll some in a burrito, make enchiladas, bake up some chicken nachos, top a tostada, use it in white chicken chili - really your options are about limitless. 

You can do the same thing with red salsa or picante sauce. You can also substitute pork roast for the chicken. It really is that simple - 

Double Layer Toddler Skirt

My youngest is outgrowing all her dresses and skirts. I learned long ago, with my oldest daughter, that it is so much cheaper to make a little skirt than to purchase one. When they are small, a skirt doesn't require much fabric so it keeps the cost down and is not difficult to do - no pattern is even required. They are easy enough for beginners to do. The more experienced sewer can be done in about 20 minutes.

I decided that I was going to do a double layer skirt. (To save fabric, you could sew a contrasting strip to the bottom and get a similar effect.) I wanted the extra body and flounce that the double layer would provide. Begin by measuring your little girl. You need the waist measurement and length measurement. Add 1 1/2 inches to the length measurement to allow for the waistband and the hem. This is the size you need your longer layer to be. I cut my red fabric 17 inches by the width of the fabric. (17"x42") The floral fabric I cut 3 inches shorter so it is 14"x42".

Serge or zigzag your edges to prevent them from fraying and sew each piece of fabric together at the salvages to create the side seams. You end up with 2 tubes of fabric. Place the longer tube inside the shorter tube, matching side seams. Stitch or serge the two layers together.

Measure and fold down the fabric that will create the waistband. When my kids are young, I use 1/2 inch wide elastic. As they grow bigger, I trade up to a 3/4 or 1 inch wide elastic to better hold the weight of more fabric.

Press the waistband down and then sew in place, leaving a hole to thread the elastic through. Thread the elastic through the casing and then close up the waistband.

Hem the two layers with just a simple rolled hem - and you're done! It's that simple.

I always keep a little fabric around as part of our emergency plan. Because I have learned some sewing skills, I know that I could make some simple skirts or shorts if needed for my kids. I could also patch a pair of pants or add a layer to an existing skirt to lengthen it - every skill could come in handy one day.

Freezer to Crockpot Meals

We are embarking on a kitchen remodel that will leave me without a functioning kitchen for a month or more. For someone who cooks every meal, nearly every day this will throw a serious wrench in our day to day routines. I am excited with what the new kitchen will bring. We have been saving money and making plans for over 3 years now so it seems high time to get it done!

In anticipation of being without a kitchen, I have had to make plans to cook on the bathroom counter. I went in search of recipes that I could prepare now and freeze to then thaw later and cook in the crockpot. I have done quite a few freezer meals over the years, but many of them require the oven to bake. I now have over 30 recipes prepped and waiting in the freezer. Some people do a month of meals in one day. I have often read about that method, but I know it wouldn't work for me. I never get that much focused time in the kitchen between kid's needs and other demands. I chose to do 7-8 meals at a time over a couple of weeks.

I am inspired by how easy it was to prepare them all. I mixed all the ingredients for each meal right in the gallon ziplock bag and didn't even dirty any bowls. I tried to group similar meals to the same prep time so I was pulling out similar ingredients. I did do some pre-cooking of dry beans to be ready to prep everything and I thawed meat I had only enough to pull it apart (but so there were still ice crystals in it) to keep it safe to throw back into the freezer. I had all the ingredients for the meals I chose on hand already which was really nice to stretch our budget and to help rotate what we store. A lot of the meals use chicken since I had stocked up with a recent sale.

I chose many recipes I have made in a crockpot before, but just haven't frozen before cooking. We haven't cooked any of the frozen meals yet, but I am very optimistic since I know what freezes well from past experience. I will share a few of the recipes below and post others as I have a chance.


Teriyaki Chicken - leave the cornstarch out since it does not hold up in the freezer at all. I prefer to stir in Ultra Gel just before serving to get the perfect thickness. For more about Ultra Gel click here. You can always add the cornstarch to the crock pot as you put the meal in to cook if you don't have Ultra Gel. Serve over cooked rice and stir-fry some frozen veggies for a side dish.


Marinated Chicken - Just throw some marinade in the bag with chicken breasts and then freeze. Thaw and grill or dump all in the crockpot for flavorful, juicy chicken. Chicken always cooks for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low in a crockpot. Serve a veggie tray and some sliced fruit on the side.


Creamy Black Bean Chicken - Put everything in the gallon ziplock bag except the cream cheese. Make a note on the bag to add cream cheese just before serving. Serve with tortilla chips for dipping or roll in a tortilla. Serve a green salad on the side.


Creamy Italian Chicken - I threw all the ingredients in my gallon ziplock bag including the cream soup and cream cheese. I have cooked it this way before and had great luck. I have found that I need to stir it a few times during the cooking process so the gravy doesn't burn on the edges. That means this is not a meal to cook on a day you have to be away for the full 4 hour cooking time. Serve over cooked egg noodles or rice. Serve a green salad or frozen veggies on the side.


Slow Cooker Freezer Beef Stew - I am trying this new recipe. I made just a couple of changes. I used frozen sliced carrots and omitted the potatoes. I will add them as I put it in the crockpot. (I know that potatoes turn black when frozen raw and I didn't want to deal with that.) I left the flour and cornstarch out since they would break down in the freezer. To help thicken the stew, I increased the tomato paste to 6 oz. I will add more thickener if needed just before serving. I will also add frozen peas the last 15-20 minutes of cooking.


Island Chicken Here is another new recipe I am trying. Her list of recipes on her post is inspiring - I didn't use all her recipes, but the titles made me turn to recipes of my own that I knew we liked with similar titles. Isn't that what food bloggers do - inspire us to enjoy dinner again?


Mongolian Beef Here is another new recipe from whoneedsacape.com. We are excited to try it.

That's enough recipes to share for one night. With the ones I had ready to share and the list from whoneedsacape.com anyone ready to try this method has plenty to think about.