Brown Sugar and pickles

No, even I did crave anything quite that weird when I was pregnant. I'm not now either but it was a title that connected the two random things I'm writing about tonight.

I am considering making a batch of garlic dill pickle spears tomorrow or Sunday afternoon depending on my cucumber yield and a friends. I've never done pickles before but there's always a first time... I will be keeping you posted as to how it goes.

Something I've been doing over the last year or so is making my own brown sugar. It's so easy and it has saved me a trip to the store many times. It's molasses and white sugar, that's all it is. 1 Tablespoon molasses to one cup sugar (use more molasses if you like yours darker) mix together in a bowl using the back of a spoon or fork to get out all the lumps. Easy and done before you could get your car out of the driveway.

I think we are doing fairly well with the grocery challenge. The only thing non canning related I've purchased since the grocery trip on the first have been rubber gloves (for me an essential for dishes) and laundry detergent an bananas. I know I have made laundry soap before many times but I am only one person and I'm at about my max level now! I've decided not to count the $34 of canning jars, lids, pectin and peaches in my total for the month. This doesn't seem logical since we did spend the money this month but we will be eating the batches of jam and jars of peaches all year so for the purposes of this month I've opted to not count them in my total spending. The savings of canning tomatoes and jams will save us twice as much as I spent (easily) throughout the year so I'm ok with this investment.

We did go out to eat once more bringing our total to $50 for two meals out! Yikes I'm not feeling really good about that. Today though I would call a big success. We went to an event called Art in the Park. It is the big fundraiser for our local art museum, lots of artisans and food vendors. We left there at 5:30pm - very temping to go out. Instead we drove home and ate leftovers and it was all well and good!

I'm going to have to give an exact amount on my spending when I can get downstairs for my receipt. Currently, I'm tired and leaning toward the bed - night!

So...

Well, I've failed and succeeded already. Yesterday we all went shopping as a family and it went mostly well. $160 for a lot of staples and fruits - two bags of peaches to make jam with and $20 worth of rice milk all included in that. I'm figuring the rice milk will last most of the month but I'm not really happy about how expensive it is.

I've always known the price and always look to see which carton has the best price per ounce. It's funny but the store I buy it from (Winco) changes the prices a bit every month or so and every other time the smaller cartons are cheaper and then the larger ones are, it's so silly.

Another thing about Mary's book that is really opening my eyes has been starting a price book. There was something about coming back home and writing that price down, really taking ownership of my purchase so to speak, that drove home just how much money I save on months when I make my own. I think I know most of the best deals on what we use but for some reason just the sheer price of rice milk is hitting me hard today. I mean paying $5.14 for 62oz is really expensive.

I have made it from scratch before and I think my cost is about $1 for the same amount. It tastes a bit different but the savings, oh, the savings. I thought about making it this month for a fleeting moment before stocking my cart. Then I remembered the canning of tomatoes, peaches, jam and decided it was an ok indulgence.

I also totally jinxed us because someone came to look at our house last night right at dinner time. After a quick tidy and putting away groceries we went to a pizza place down the road that has "toss up Tuesdays." I gave up really trying to go frugal at this point, got both the kids their own pizza's because they let them put the sauce and cheese on it at the table and then watch it go into the brick oven. Adam and I each got our own and in the back of my mind I hoped we'd win the coin toss to offset it. And we did! So we got one pizza for free! Plus the kids and I ate the leftovers for lunch today. $30 (((ouch))) on dinner out, a pretty pricey day.

Tonight's dinner was a summer pasta with garlic, basil, tomatoes, olive oil and a tad of balsamic vinegar. Sliced cucumbers, salami and tomatoes with cheese as sides. Since the garlic, tomatoes, basil, and cucumbers were all from the garden there was a very small price tag on today's meals! Phew, hopefully I can pull a month more days like this together!

The Bare Necessities

We took The Jungle Book out at the bookmobile on Saturday and I was reminded what a fun movie it is. Not to mention how awesome having a bookmobile within walking distance once a week is - now I have no excuse for fines.

Back to the movie though, with it's musical tunes it held even my daughter's 'too busy for TV' interest for some of the time. Except for the snakes, she came into the kitchen with two bowls asking for raisins saying, "nakes, no like nakes." But then she cautiously carried two bowls of raisins back to the couch offering one to her brother and sat and watched some more.

The lyrics to the bare necessities song reminded me of Mary's grocery challenge next month .... ah, yeah Heidi, that's tomorrow! Adam and I will talk later today about what our goals for the month are. For us it's usually the temptation to go out to eat. Especially since people seem to want to look at our house a few times a month between 5-6pm with little notice. It sorta throws a wrench in even my best plans for dinner. But those are not the only times we are lured by restaurant food so if we could cut back all together we'd save quite a bit.

I know one of my goals is to install a money program and use it to more thoroughly track all of our money expenditures especially our food items. I've gotten out of that habit and need to start it up again!

Mary's book Frugal Feasts for $75 a Week has awesome tips and one that is helping me lately is not just not going to the store right away when I need something. (To avoid other frivolous spending.) I now need six essentials though so I'm going to plan a couple weeks of meals tonight and go tomorrow am or maybe by myself tonight! Eggs and rice milk have been out for a couple days and those are now necessary! We've also cooked several dishes from the cookbook that are terrific!! Thanks Mary for adding some yummy goodness to our lives as well money to our pockets!

One of my favorite things about the recipes Mary shares is they use mostly fresh and scratch ingredients instead of processed or canned ingredients (like cream of whatever soup)which are of course more economical and more healthful too. I'll keep you updated on our progress throughout the month and am looking forward to reading about what others are doing too. I'm sure we all will still be well above the bare necessities of life!

Look for the Bear Necessities,
The simple Bear Necessities,
Forget about your worries and your strife!
I mean the Bear Necessities,
It's why a bear can rest-at-ease
With just the Bear Necessities of life!

Today in numbers

37 pints of peaches cooling on my counter top, plus three pints of jam.

3 jars broke while being processed (all were wide mouth is this common?)

13 sticky kitchen towels waiting to be washed.

2 soggy sticky potholders waiting to be washed.

Dinners put into the slow cooker this morning - ZERO! (We ate mac and cheese, peaches and frozen yogurt for dinner, LOL!)

60 minutes downstairs without tripping over kids.

Number of naps the baby took today: 1 (really it was quite short for her too.)

95 minutes putting the baby to sleep tonight - shared with hubby.

27 peaches left on my counter to make more jam.

6 layers of peaches in the freezer

Oh, seemingly one hundred times yelling, "Please get along today!"

2 kids that will get alot more of Mommy tomorrow than they did today!

8 sticky feet, 1 sticky floor and one tired Mommy!

Nothing.

Mary at Owlhaven is giving us something to think about again with the 30 Days of Nothing experiment. Two years ago I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the bloggers participating and we "sort of silently" played along, but it definitely got us talking and thinking. This year we're in and I'll be blogging about our experience.

With our diet constraints I normally don't buy many prepackaged items but lately I have been buying some gluten free granola bars and cereals. My goal is to once again make much more from scratch and use these 30 days to budget better. With my husband out of work for a chunk of this year we are still under that debt which we want to pay down as quickly as possible.

Another goal for the month will be to get in the habit of menu planning as well as having a loose weekly family schedule of activities. With a one and four year old we don't have many, still it is sure make our household run more smoothly if we know which nights Adam is going to workout or when a trip to the library will fit in.

One of my downfalls is forgetting to take something out of the freezer for dinner or procrastinating and we end up going out. There will be NO take out or restaurant meals this month. Adam usually eats out for two lunches so that will be drastically cut down if not eradicated as well. I know how much easier life is with meals planned it's just a matter of doing it - so I am!

I also can't wait to link to some of my favorite non profit organizations. Talking about them during the month will help me focus on the goal of being able to have more money left over to give to others.

Discussing and answering the hard questions, this is the great stuff. As a stay at home mom it is nice to get outside of my little routine and focus on the bigger picture of life. In the end we'll be using some of our extra cash this month for (in some minuscule way) the betterment of humanity as well as paying down our debt more quickly.

You can keep track of the other participants at Owlhaven with me in September.

Foaming hand soap

My husband came home with some foaming hand soap over the summer and I just fell in love with it. Not to mention my son was slightly more eager to wash his hands with it as well. It has since bugged me that you can't get refills for them - hello it's better for our pocketbook as well as the environment!

A frugal friend of mine shared this tip - now you all might know this already, but it never occurred to me! You can refill your foaming hand soap with about one part of your favorite liquid hand soap and three parts water. Mix well and viola - more foaming suds! Then the odds of your three year old actually rubbing the soap on his hands and it not just slipping through his fingers increases a bit. Plus you won't go broke buying the more expensive soap - just a larger refill bottle!

Anyway, it works for me. Have an idea to share or need some ideas visit Shannon's place.

A Day of Milestones!

The most important one, my daughter rolled from back to front for the first time with her brother there cheering her on!!! It was so adorable. Having missed (from the next room)the first few times when she rolled from front to back it was nice to see her little effort to get over. She's just too cute!

The second first of the day was that I cut my hair. I've been wanting to just even it out for a few weeks. I didn't really like the way the layers were growing out but with my hubby looking for work I didn't really want to go spend the $25 just for someone to do it. You should have seen my bathroom floor. I know it's not perfect but I've decided that the best thing about doing it myself is that I'll always know how to "do" the style.

For some reason my hubby took all close up pictures - ack!

Liquid Laundry Soap

Awhile ago I mentioned about making homemade laundry soap. It worked very well but I did notice that it took awhile for the grated soap pieces to dissolve in cold water washes. I decided to try making a liquid version - the same basic ingredients the soap is just melted first.

The recipe (which I found all over the internet):1/3 bar Fels Naptha (or ivory or zote) soap, 1/2 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup borax powder ~You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. add 6 cups water and heat on medium until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax, stir until it is dissolved and remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket and then add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use 1/2 cup per load.

I didn't really think ahead and thought we had a bucket - apparently we don't! I'll be finding one before my next batch though because I couldn't add the last 6 cups of water which would probably make it more liquidy. It's a pretty stiff gel this way but it works!

It dissolves much faster on cold setting - and even if it's a little more work this should be enough for 64 loads and cost me about $1 to make one batch. Worth it if you ask me!

Taking Care of Our Precious Gift

The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to man. Psalm 115:16

I'm sure you've heard by now that it's Earth Day on Sunday. I used to walk my dogs on horse trails that went behind a house we lived in for about 4 years. Each year on Earth Day or there abouts I'd take a trash bag and pick up along it and off it where kids had a hang out full of litter.

I'm sure I could find something to do around here too but I'd been reminded about making cleaners and detergents lately so I wanted to give it a whirl. It also didn't hurt my grocery bill to save the 9 bucks a new jug of Bi-O-Kleen laundry liquid would cost. (This brand is very eco friendly but the price of it is causing me to balk lately.)

I made our detergent for years but when I was pregnant with my son somehow I got out of the habit. I followed Stephanie's recipe that she posted on her blog Stop the Ride!. She writes a lot about being more frugal. For me being frugal and environmentally conscious can go hand in hand. If we are cooking from scratch it takes less ingredients to make the same thing as well as less packaging. Next on my list is her recipe for dishwasher detergent when I run out.

I've used vinegar as our fabric softener for a long time and it works great. I also recently bought those dryer balls that not only soften fabrics but decrease drying time (I'd say by about 20% give or take) so that is saving energy too. During the dry winter months some articles of clothing (hubby's pants, fleece jackets) had really bad static cling so I'd put 1/2 a dryer sheet in with only those loads and sometimes even use those twice.

This week in my cleaning frenzy I used diluted vinegar for cleaning most everything - from countertops to stubborn spots on those silly baseboards! I used a small sprinkling of borax on a sponge for nearly everything else that needed more scrubbing - tubs, sinks, toilets. It worked great and so much cheaper than buying different products for everything.

If you are looking for other ways to be more green you can visit Sara at Walk Slowly, Live Wildly. She is constantly making me think.

Also Steph from Adventures in Babywearing wrote a wonderful post about living greener too.

Yet another link to environmentally friendly cleaners.

Some Updates

We seem to be on the up swing of this illness!! After one night of sleeping in the rocking chair and on my sons floor I was so very grateful for the 3 hour nap we took together yesterday. I was even more grateful for the long and good nights sleep I got last night!

I've been wanting to post about this ever since she posted about it last week but our fellow blogging buddy Ashleehas started her very own business!!! It's called Nest and boy do these slings look awesome!! I've never seen more stylish slings and I'm putting it on my list for the new baby! (The Chocolat is my favorite, hint hint! LOL) Anyway, go and check them out if you or someone you know is having a baby. And if you need some reasons why babywearing totally rocks she's listed a bunch here!!! Thanks Ashlee and best wishes on your new adventure!!!!

Some updates on the compact pledge. After a month of really not buying much new I'm much more confident that we can really do this for the year. We did purchase a new duvet cover. Our old one had needed replacing for awhile. I'm sort of considering this in the delicates department since my hubby definitely wouldn't go for a used duvet cover since in the summer we really don't use a sheet just the comforter. - I may just be justifying here :)- Anyway, my brother and SIL gave us a gift certificate to Linen's n things and the duvet was on sale for $33 so we only paid $18 out of pocket. Not too bad in my opinion!

I did find a used baby monitor on Craig's list that I bought since ours would wake us up during the night and randomly get all staticy. This one is older but works great and was $10. (Roughly one-fifth the price we bought ours for just over 2 years ago.) I might not buy many new things again!!! I'm also looking at some maternity cloths too!

The only other new things I've purchased (besides food etc.) is some diaper covers for my son. The ones I had purchased a few months ago shrunk and ripped, and one just disappeared somewhere. These were recommended by Stephanie at Stop the Ride and work wonderfully. I love them SO much I'm so glad that she blogged about them right when I was getting fed up with the one's I had. If my son's size had been available on eBay I would've purchased them there used. I was just desperate and I think it better to keep cloth diapering then wait until some used come available!

If your still with me - my apologies if this got long a boring!!LOL. BUT be sure to go and visit Nest!

Living and learning

2006 was a year of learning for me. Learning how to parent a toddler for one thing was HUGE. Learning how my attitude indeed affects everyone inside my house (outside too) and if I can grasp my moods the days go SO much better! I learned a ton - mostly from fellow bloggers, THANKS -about how to be more frugal. One commitment I'm making for 2007 is to become even more frugal.

Did you see Stephanie's post on Saturday? It had some really great links and info. I especially loved this article about The Compact. They promised not to purchase anything NEW for the year - exceptions are food, toiletries, undies etc. Thanks Steph!

I am considering doing this with a few exceptions. My hubby absolutely needs some new pants and shirts (I'm sick of him wearing the same one to church every week!) so those are one my list for this year. We don't go extravagant or anything but he doesn't like to buy used clothes so probably LL Bean - hopefully their wrinkle free ones! When I explained The Compact to Adam he said "Don't we kind of do that already?" - excepting a few new things for our son for birthday and Christmas yes, we kind of did this for the last 6 months or so but not to this extent.

I was so amazed two months ago when I bought really cute 2T overalls at a thrift store got them home to find that they were Baby Gap - and along with another pair of pants, snow boots and a book all for $8. That was my first visit there but I will be back this year. I am also looking at it as a way to make life a bit simpler. Can I have as simple an 8 months as possible so that it will still be doable with a toddler and infant for the rest of the year? We'll see and I'll keep you posted.

On a similar subject I recently read about these in a magazine recently and I think the idea is super amazing. I don't know why they call them earthships exactly but it uses recycled and natural materials to build the house. Then by using solar powered electricity, collected rain water and very insulated materials it is virtually utility free. Comments I've read say that it will mostly remain in the high 60's to low 70's no matter the outside temp without heating or a/c. If we ever get our dream to build I would LOVE to use many of these ideas for our house.

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BTW, the only reason I got the laundry all caught up last week while feeling so ill was because the week before my hubby called a young woman from our church who baby-sits our son and asked her to come help me clean for the afternoon. Can I just say that I love my husband for thinking of me, he knows that I would never ask for the help myself and she cleaned and played with my 2 year old for hours - terrific! That is the only reason why last week the only thing I had left to do was the laundry (since hubby also cleaned our master bathroom)! Thanks Sarah!!! Thanks honey!!!