Stevia harvest: A natural sweetener

We brought in our first stevia harvest yesterday. The three little organic seedlings I had purchased in the spring netted all this, which we hung upside down in the pantry to dry. Adam is not really as big as this hutch, lol. He is standing on a stool.

Once dry, I will make a powder from the leaves and use it like sugar to sweeten drinks and other things. Native to Parguay, stevia has been grown for centuries as a sweetener. It doesn't have any calories, and many diabetics use it to replace the sugar in their diets.

By U.S. law I cannot refer to my stevia as a sweetener. Once banned entirely, it is now only approved if you call it a "dietary supplement." Why? Since stevia has been used safely in countries around the world for decades or even centuries, most growers believe the cause is political. A sweetener that has no calories, is easily grown in home gardens and is 10-15 sweeter than table sugar? What would all the companies that make products with aspartame in them do?

Aspartame is a chemical, a methyl ester of the dipeptide of the amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Stevia is an herb.

According to Wikipedia, "Aspartame has been the subject of controversy regarding its safety and the circumstances of its approval by the American FDA and European FSA. Aspartic acid, into which aspartame is metabolized, is a known NMDA receptor agonist. Aspartame itself has been shown to have antinociceptive properties through affecting NMDA receptors in mice. Some studies have also recommended further investigation into possible connections between aspartame and negative effects such as headaches, brain tumors, brain lesions, and lymphoma.[18][19][20] These findings, combined with possible conflicts of interest involving HHS employees in the approval process, have engendered vocal activism regarding the possible risks of aspartame."

Just Google the word "aspartame" and you'll find hundreds of sites suggesting that the chemical is harmful in one way or another. I'm not a scientist, but I would much rather use an herb rather than chemicals to sweeten my morning coffee or diet soda.

When we brought our stevia inside, Hubby picked off a leaf and stuck it in his mouth. He was very surprised by how sweet it was, almost like eating a teaspoon of sugar. He liked it so much he sat down with a branch and just started eating leaves. And why not? It's calorie-free! The kids opinion was that the leaves left an aftertaste in their mouths, but hopefully that won't be as bad when it's mixed with food or drink.

The humans weren't the only ones fascinated by the stevia, lol. One of the cats saw it hanging in the pantry and decided to try to pull it down!

Ground turkey vs. beef

I love finding even more ways to cut my grocery bill, so when a couple of my readers commented that I should try substituting ground turkey for beef, I was intrigued.

I began my experiment with "beef" stroganoff. Click here for the recipe if you are interested. I served it without telling my Hubby that I had substituted turkey for beef. After the meal I asked how it tasted. "Great!" was his reply. Boy, was he surprised when I told him he hadn't eaten "beef" stroganoff, but "turkey" stroganoff. That was last week.

Last night, I made spaghetti. I didn't change anything or do anything different with the meal at all, with the exception of switching the beef to turkey. The result? Once again, Hubby didn't notice a difference.

I'm trying to remember how much I paid for this pound of frozen ground turkey at Aldi, and I think it was $1.19.

Considering the price of ground turkey is so much less than the price of ground beef, I think I'm a convert!

Book Review: An Irishwomans' Tale

An Irishwomans' Tale
Kregel Publications (July 8, 2008)
by
Patti Lacy

ABOUT THE BOOK: Far away from her Irish home, Mary Freeman begins to adapt to life in Midwest America, but family turmoil and her own haunting memories threaten to ruin her future. A shattered cup. Cheap tea. Bitter voices asking what's to be done with the "little eejit." Mary, an impetuous Irishwoman, won't face the haunting memories--until her daughter's crisis propels her back to County Clare. There, in a rocky cliffside home, Mary learns from former neighbors why God tore her from Ireland forty-five years earlier. As she begins to glimpse His sovereign plan, Mary is finally able to bury a dysfunctional past and begin to heal. Irish folk songs and sayings add color to the narrative.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Patti Lacy graduated from Baylor University in 1977 with a B.S. in education. She taught at Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois, until she retired in 2006 to pursue writing full time. She has two grown children with her husband, Alan, and lives in Illinois.

Book Review: Dangerous Heart

Dangerous Heart
Avon Inspire (October 14, 2008)
by
Tracey Bateman

I remember playing "The Oregon Trail" on a 5 1/2 inch really floppy disk (with DOS!) when I was young, and now my children play an updated version on a CD-Rom. I loved taking the wagon train through sickness, attacks, a lack of supplies and bad weather. I really had to put my decision making skills to the test to play the game. Dangerous Heart brought back those memories!

This book focuses on a female outlaw who infiltrates an wagon train headed to Oregon. The wagon train faces many the things that were part of life then: a cholera outbreak, attacks by outlaws, decisions to be made regarding traveling through the snowy mountains...

Even though the trials of the people on the wagon train fascinated me, the trials of the heroine, Ginger, were even more enthralling. Ginger is an outlaw who "accidentally" finds God after joining - or infiltrating - a wagon train full of Christians. Though her original intentions were nefarious, she now faces an age old question. How does a Christian live among non-Christians (in this case, outlaws)? Does she choose the family she has always known or give them up for her new Christian friends and a budding romance with a Godly man?

ABOUT THE BOOK: For the past seven years, Ginger Freeman has had one goal: find Grant Kelley and make him pay for allowing her brother to die. Growing up motherless with a father who leads an outlaw gang, Ginger isn’t exactly peaches and cream. So when she finally tracks down Grant on a wagon train headed west, she figured providence had stepped in and given her the chance she’s been waiting for.

On the wagon train, finally surrounded by a sense of family and under the nurturing eye of Toni Rodde, Ginger begins to lose her rough edges. She’s made friends for the first time and has become part of something bigger than revenge. Not only has her heart softened toward people in general, but God has become a reality she never understood before. And watching Grant doctor the pioneers, she’s realized she can’t just kill him and leave the train without medical care. Putting her anger aside, before long, Ginger’s a functioning part of the group.

But when the outlaw gang, headed by her pa, shows up and infiltrates the wagon train, she is forced to question her decision. Only self-sacrifice and her new relationship with God can make things right. But it might also means she loses everything she’s begun to hold dear.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tracey Bateman published her first novel in 2000 and has been busy ever since. There are two other books in the Westward Hearts Series, Defiant Heart (#1) and Distant Heart (#2)She learned to write by writing, and improved by listening to critique partners and editors. She has sold over 30 books in six years. She became a member of American Christian Fiction Writers in the early months of its inception in 2000 and served as president for a year. Tracey loves Sci-fi, Lifetime movies, and Days of Our Lives (this is out of a 21 year habit of watching, rather than enjoyment of current storylines).She has been married to her husband Rusty for 18 years, has four kids, and lives in Lebanon, Missouri.

Fresh paint for a teen girl

How did your weekend go? Did you rest or get some things done? I spent basically the entire weekend painting my daughter's room. She picked out a deep green with white trim.

Last year I painted my son's room with only one gallon of paint, and his room is slightly bigger. So I figured one gallon would be plenty for my daughter's room. No such luck. I'm not sure why, but Saturday I ran out out of paint with about half of a wall left to go.

I had to stop what I was doing and go to Home Depot to get more paint. Unfortunately, their entire paint system was down and nobody could buy paint. And there isn't another Home Depot anywhere near my town. So I had to go back Sunday to get the rest of the paint. Which meant it took me two days instead of one to paint her room. And it also meant that I had to come home from church Sunday and spend the rest of the day painting.

It finally got done, and my 16-year-old is very happy. It's quite a change from the neutral cream colored walls she had previously. The cats are happy the job is done, too. I had to leave the door open for ventilation, but they like to try to walk through paint trays. So the poor kitties had to be locked up in my bedroom all weekend. Now they have the run of the house again.

As always, I forgot to take before pictures, so these are all "after" pictures. We did a bit of redecorating, too, to give the room a more grown-up look. We purchased the day bed earlier this year. After painting we hung the picture over the bed (a cast-off that used to be in our den) and I added the quilt that I picked up a couple of weeks ago at a yard sale for $10. I got this desk last year from Freecycle. Now I just need a good chair that I can recover to match it.

"Give me liberty or give me death!"

My two oldest homeschooled kids are in middle and high school, but we still like to do a fun unit study every semester. This semester we are studying - in depth - the American Revolution.

We are learning about some of the key people and events, and doing fun crafts and projects. We are also watching various movies that are historically accurate and doing a lot of reading on the subject.

One of the people we studied today was Patrick Henry. We did some role playing and my 13-year-old pretended to be the Revolutionary hero. Although my 5-year-old son is too little to understand most of what we are learning, he picks up some things by osmosis. Add to that the fact that he loves to copy his big brother - and, viola! Today we had a 5-year-old running around the house jumping off the couch with a wooden sword in his hand proclaiming, "Give me liberty or give me death!"

Maybe one day he'll understand what that means. Here he is trying to figure out why we are studying a "tea party" that took place in a far away city named Boston, lol.

Lots of lettuce

We love lettuce, but our hot southern summers won't allow it to grow when everything else it growing well. So we really look forward to spring and fall, when we can grow lettuce and eat salad a couple of times a day.

This is our current lettuce bed. We always grow "cut and come again" lettuce as opposed to head lettuce. This means that we can cut what we need for a salad, and it will grow right back almost immediately.

I don't remember what the varieties are, and it would take me a while to find the paper I wrote it down on. But the curly leaf lettuce in the front is some that we grew in the spring. We simply saved the seeds after it bolted and used them to replant in the fall. When this lettuce bolts (or flowers and goes to seed), we will do the same so we can plant it again in the spring. In this way, we will never have to buy seed again unless we just want another variety.

The lettuce on the left is a new variety for us. We bought some organic, heirloom seed and planted it, and it is doing great. Stuck in between the curly green leaves you can see a few red leaves. We grew red leaf lettuce last spring, too. But apparently we either didn't get as many seeds from it or it just didn't grow back as well. Hubby planted all the curly leaf lettuces together at random, and very few turned out to be red leaf.

This big bowl of freshly washed lettuce barley put a dent in our lettuce bed. But it made tasty salads for a couple of meals. Hubby likes his salad with broccoli, cauliflower, shredded cheese, banana peppers, green peppers, bacon and lots of ranch dressing. The lettuce is under there somewhere!

A special yard sale find

A couple of weeks ago I was driving to the library on a Saturday morning when I happened to pass a yard sale. I didn't go yard sale shopping that morning because I didn't really have the money to spend, but I couldn't resist stopping at this one little sale I just happened to pass.

I spent 50 cents at that sale. I spent 25 cents on a large snowman that you can put a tea candle in, and 25 cents on this plate.

I had never seen this pattern before, but because rooster and chicken decor abounds throughout my kitchen and den, I had to get it. Of course, I also had to come home and do some research. The back of the plate was marked with a symbol form Taylor, Smith and Taylor.

I discovered that Taylor, Smith & Taylor Pottery was founded in 1899 by C. A. Smith and Col. John N. Taylor. TS&T closed in 1981. Above is a photo of the abadoned factory.

This particular pattern is called Reveille. It came out in the mid to late 1950s.

This plate goes for $15 on china replacement Web sites, though I did find one for about $9 on EBay. Either way, a quarter was still a great deal! I think I may have started a new collection in my house.

An added bonus is that the plate sports some great autumn colors, so I set it up on some shelves with some fall decorations.

Sample dinner menu

So what exactly does one eat when they are spending only $150 a month on groceries for a family of five?

I went into breakfast here, and lunch here, and even talked more about dinner here. Today we are going to look at a sample menu. Because there was so much interest in menus, starting next week I will be trying to post a weekly menu. But for today, here's a typical week of dinners at my house.

SUNDAY - roasted chicken (crockpot), mashed potatoes, carrots, rolls.

MONDAY - chicken noodle soup (crockpot, made with leftover chicken), cornbread

TUESDAY - Beef stroganoff, green beans, rice, rolls.

WEDNESDAY - chicken and rice casserole (made with leftover chicken), peas, fried squash, rolls

THURSDAY - spaghetti, salad, garlic bread

FRIDAY - Taco casserole, macaroni, green beans

SATURDAY - Squash casserole, peas, macaroni, salad, rolls.

Notice that the meat for the entire weak consisted of one whole chicken and three pounds of either ground beef or turkey. All the salad ingredients and most of the vegetables come out of the garden, and all the bread is made from scratch. Next time I'll try to include recipes.

One more hint: I usually have a month's worth of menus. Then I just repeat that every month, making adjustments as needed. We always have roasted chicken on Sundays because we use the leftover chicken for other dishes. But other than that, I can usually come up with enough dinners so we don't have to repeat any in a month.

Book Review: Home Another Way

Home Another Way
by

Christa Parrish

ABOUT THE BOOK: After her mother’s death and her father’s abandonment, tiny infant Sarah Graham was left to be raised by her emotionally distant grandmother. As a child she turned to music for solace and even gained entrance to Juilliard. But her potentially brilliant music career ended with an unplanned pregnancy and the stillborn birth of her child.In an attempt to escape the past, Sarah, now twenty-seven, is living life hard and fast–and she is flat broke. When her estranged father dies, she travels to the tiny mountain hamlet of Jonah, New York to claim her inheritance. Once there, she learns her father’s will stipulates a six-month stay before she can recieve the money. Fueled by hate and desperation, Sarah settles in for the bitter mountain winter, and as the weeks pass, she finds her life intertwining with the lives of the simple, gracious townsfolk. Can these strangers teach Sarah how to forgive and find peace? A story of grace, of God’s never-ceasing love and the sometimes flawed, faithful people He uses to bring His purpose to pass.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Christa Parrish graduated high school at 16, with every intention of becoming a surgeon. After college, however, her love of all things creative led her in another direction, and she worked in both theatre and journalism.A winner of Associated Press awards for her reporting, Christa gave up her career after the birth of her son, Jacob. She continued to write from home, doing pro bono work for the New York Family Policy Council, where her articles appeared in Focus on the Family’s Citizen magazine. She was also a finalist in World magazine’s WORLDview short story contest, sponsored by WestBow press. She now teaches literature and writing to high school students, is a homeschool mom, and lives with her family in upstate New York, where she is at work on her second novel.

Frugal dinners

Dinner (or supper depending on where you live), is our biggest meal of the day, as it is the only one for which the whole family is together (at least on weekdays). A good basic guideline that helps me plan dinner is to include a meat, a starch, a vegetable or two, and a bread.

Every two weeks I go grocery shopping. I purchase two whole chickens and five pounds of ground beef. This will be the basis for 11 meals. The other three meals are usually vegetarian, or we may have breakfast for dinner one day.

For example, this evening's meal consisted of a rice (starch) and chicken (meat) casserole, peas (veggie) and biscuits (bread). I also added macaroni (an extra starch) and cheese just to make the dinner a little more kid-friendly.

We are often accused by friends and family of trying to live a country life in the city. I plead guilty. We are not in a position to move to the country (mainly because we have to go where the jobs are), but country life has so many benefits that we try to live like we are in the country.

In fact, the main drawbacks to living in the city is the population, the ordinances and the lack of land. We have 1/3 of an acre, so our neighbors are close and we have to work hard to maximize our land for growing. And even though city ordinances (and lack of land) won't allow us to have any four-legged livestock (we would love to get goats), we are able to have chickens.

The other good thing about living in the city is that everything is close by. Our city only has a population of 40,000, so crime isn't too bad. But it's only a 10 minute drive to the next city to find all the discount stores, etc.

And so every two weeks I drive to the next town to do my shopping. Tractor Supply, Office Max, Walmart, and often, Target. Target's prices are more than Walmart's, but I believe their quality is better and they often have good coupon or clearance deals. But I go to Target for one main reason. They have whole, natural chickens for about $3.50 each. The chickens aren't certified organic, but they are labeled as not having any hormones or antibiotics, and they aren't pumped up with chicken broth.

The next time you buy a whole chicken, read the label. Many of them say "with added chicken broth." This simply means the chicken has been injected with broth, thereby making the chicken weigh more. Which means you pay more for what is basically water. This is why I generally don't buy my whole chickens at Aldi's. Wherever you buy you're chickens, you shouldn't pay more than about $3.50 for them (at least not in my neck of the woods).

One chicken will generally give me at least three meals. If you missed my post on how this is works, you can read it here.

This evening we had a chicken and rice casserole made with some of the meat I pulled off a roast chicken we had a couple of days ago.

Every two weeks, I also buy five pounds of ground beef (which costs me about $10 at Aldi's). The beef is not lean, but you can rinse it after browning to get the grease off and make it leaner. I used to buy organic and/grass fed beef, but at $5 a pound our current economic situation simply doesn't allow for it. I do hope to be able to do that again one day, though.

When we get home I divide the beef into five equal parts, wrap it in aluminum foil and freeze. This is used throughout the week for a variety of different dishes such as spaghetti, sloppy Joes or casseroles. With the exception of an occasional meatloaf, I only cook ground beef dishes that use one pound or less of meat.

One of my readers from A Hen's Place commented that she uses ground turkey instead of beef for an even more frugal alternative. "One idea for you to cut your meat costs even more--try substituting ground turkey for ground beef. In most Mexican and chili recipes you can't even tell, and a little Worcestershire sauce cuts the turkey taste in other recipes I have tried."

I plan on trying this soon. It also might work well in casseroles.

Most of our vegetables come from the garden, and I can make most of our breads from scratch. In the garden we produce watermelon, cantaloupe, green beans, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, zucchini, okra, lettuce, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, green peppers and banana peppers. That means I generally only have to buy the meats and starches. Starches are pretty cheap if they come in the form of pasta or rice.

I'll share some recipes and menus in the days to come.

Book review: A Constant Heart

A Constant Heart
(Bethany House October 1, 2008)
by
Siri Mitchell

ABOUT THE BOOK: In a world of wealth, power, and privilege...love is the only forbidden luxury.“Trust was a valuable commodity at court. Traded by everyone, but possessed by no one. Its rarity was surpassed only by love. Love implied commitment and how could any of us commit ourselves to any but the Queen? Love implied singularity and how could any of us benefit another if our affections were bound to one in exclusivity? Love was never looked for and rarely found. When it was, it always ended badly.” In Queen Elizabeth’s court where men and women willingly trade virtue for power, is it possible for Marget to obtain her heart’s desire or is the promise of love only an illusion? A riveting glimpse into Queen Elizabeth's Court...Born with the face of an angel, Marget Barnardsen is blessed. Her father is a knight, and now she is to be married to the Earl of Lytham. Her destiny is guaranteed ... at least, it would seem so. But when her introduction to court goes awry and Queen Elizabeth despises her, Marget fears she's lost her husband forever. Desperate to win him back, she'll do whatever it takes to discover how she failed and capture again the love of a man bound to the queen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Siri Mitchell graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she has lived all over the world, including in Paris and Tokyo. Siri enjoys observing and learning from different cultures. She is fluent in French and loves sushi. But she is also a member of a strange breed of people called novelists. When they’re listening to a sermon and taking notes, chances are, they’ve just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If they nod in response to a really profound statement, they’re probably thinking, “Yes. Right. That’s exactly what my character needs to hear.” When they edit their manuscripts, they laugh at the funny parts. And cry at the sad parts. Sometimes they even talk to their characters. Siri wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before signing with a publisher. In the process, she saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry’s than she cares to admit. At various times she has vowed never to write another word again. Ever. She has gone on writing strikes and even stooped to threatening her manuscripts with the shredder. A Constant Heart is her sixth novel. Two of her novels, Chateau of Echoes and The Cubicle Next Door were Christy Award finalists. She has been called one of the clearest, most original voices in the CBA.

Frugal lunches & homemade convenience foods

I have to admit that lunches at my house are pretty easy.

My husband's company provides him with lunch every day and my kids are homeschooled, so I don't have to pack any lunches. Lunches for us usually consist of sandwiches. My boys love the old peanut butter and jelly standby, and would eat it for three meals a day if I let them (we'll stick with one meal a day). My daughter and I are a little more discriminating. We simply cannot bring ourselves to eat pb&j every day. We usually eat whatever leftovers are in the fridge from dinner the night before. If there aren't any leftovers, we eat a can of soup or a sandwich of lunch meat. And that's that. No planning involved.

When Hubby is home on the weekends I have to plan our lunches out a bit more. Green salads from our garden are always a good bet. Tuna and egg salad sandwiches or cheese quesadillas are good, too. Or something simple like frozen fish sticks or chicken nuggets. As you can see, lunch is all about convenience. Dinners are really our big meal of the day.

For an afternoon snack we try to do something like baby carrots or peaches we canned during the summer. Or we may do graham crackers, or make cheese and cracker "sandwiches," or even go for some unhealthy stuff like homemade brownies or cookies.

I have found that snack foods are some of the most expensive convenience foods in the grocery store, so we rarely eat things like snack cakes or chips.

I have found that for us, being frugal is all about taking the time to make things from scratch. Did you know you can make fruit leathers, a.k.a. Fruit Roll-ups in the oven (or a dehydrator) very easily? How easy is it to combine three ingredients and pop some peanut butter cookies in the oven? Instead of buying bags of microwave popcorn (the butter can cause "popcorn workers lung"), we throw some popcorn kernels and some oil in an electric air popper.

My goal that I have been working on for some time now is take all those name brand convenience foods we pay so much for and find a way to make them from scratch at home. And it's not just about being frugal. Making them at home eliminates most of the chemicals and preservatives found in store-bought items. Pick up a bag of microwave popcorn and read the ingredients. Now compare that to the two ingredients (kernels and oil) we use to make it at home.

Yes, it takes more time to make things at home. Is there time you are willing to give up? How about that television show you always watch, or how about cutting down on your computer time? Just an hour a day spent baking and creating in the kitchen can lead to all kinds of new discoveries. And how much better would it be if the kids helped? They can learn to be creative and gain some quality, fun time with mom or dad.

I'm not saying it's for everyone. If you absolutely abhor making things from scratch or if you honestly feel you don't have the time, that's okay. Only you can decide if you are willing to trade some of your time for a healthier family that spends less money and is more self-sufficient.

Frugal breakfast

Because my last post on feeding my family for $150 a month seemed to generate such interest, I guess I'll just expand on that theme for the next few days.

I've got to go to the church in just a bit, where I will be volunteering all day. So for today we'll just concentrate on what my family does for breakfast. Tomorrow we'll get into lunch, then we'll do dinner, which is a bit more complicated. Then we'll look at menu plans and shopping lists.

Let me start by saying I have a love/hate relationship with cold cereal. I love it because the kids can fix it themselves, freeing me up to do other things (like drag myself very slowly into my clothes).

I hate cold cereal because we can go through one box in two days, so unless you have a great coupon it's not very economical. And let's face it - cold cereal is generally not very healthy.

On the bright side, it's easy to find coupons for cereal. And if you combine, say a $1 off coupon with a sale of say, $2 a box, you can get a box of cereal for $1 (you can get them regularly priced without coupons at Aldi's for $1.29 - $1.89).

So yes, I buy cold cereal - but I am slowly but surely working my way away from it. In the meantime, I buy only cereals that have a bit more nutritious value - like raisin bran or shredded wheat. My kids never get cereals with bright colors or marshmallows unless a coupon enabled me to get the cereal almost for free.

So were does that leave us when we are not eating cereal? Many days I will fix homemade biscuits, and the kids enjoy them with butter and/or jelly. I would love to get my picky kids to eat oatmeal, and am slowly working toward that goal. "The Simple Dollar" did a great tutorial on making homemade "instant" flavored oatmeal packets.

You may notice that I haven't yet mentioned what Hubby likes for breakfast. That's because he chooses to skip breakfast on weekdays so he can get a few extra minutes of sleep. On weekends, we usually have homemade pancakes on Saturdays and scrambled eggs and grits on Sundays. We raise a few chickens that provide us with all the eggs we need without having to buy any. And if you're not southern and don't know what grits are... well, I can't help you - you darn Yankee!

Just kidding! Can you believe I've eaten grits all my life but didn't really know what they were or where they come from? But I looked it up just for you!

According to Wikkipedia, grits are an American Indian corn-based food common in the Southern United States, consisting of coarsely ground corn. It is traditionally served during breakfast. Traditionally the corn for grits is ground by a stone mill. The results are passed through screens, with the finer part being corn meal, and the coarser being grits.

I buy our grits from a produce store that sells only local food items. The grits come straight from a nearby mill. I keep them in the freezer. They don't really freeze but it keeps out bugs and keeps the grits fresh.

Another frugal option for breakfast that I'm trying to get kids to eat is muffins. They can be made the night before and will therefore be ready for breakfast with no preparation in the morning.

As far as breakfast drinks go, I let the kids drink milk (if they are not getting it in their cereal) or water. That's it. Occasionally (with a coupon) I will buy orange juice and they are allowed to drink that.

By the way, you may notice from some of the links that I use recipes from the Hillbilly Housewife Web site. If you are looking for really frugal recipes, this is the place to go. I have been using the Web site since Miss Maggie owned it. It has changed hands but the new owner does a great job, too, and I love the monthly e-mail newsletter. She also has recipes for homemade pancake syrup. I am going to try this very soon because we go through a lot of syrup.

Hint: If you're looking on that site for breakfast foods, everyone in my family but me hated the cornmeal mush. I liked it, though, so you never know.

Feeding a family of 5 on $150 a month

Today I decided to participate in Works for me Wednesday. Today's theme is supposed to be kitchen organization, but I am branching out to include organizing my shopping to feed my family... from the kitchen. Does that count?

I feed my family of five on $150 a month. It's not rocket science, but it does take discipline. The $150 a month includes all toiletries and paper supplies but doesn't include pet food. Here's some tips on how I do it.

Every two weeks, on payday, I go to two stores. First I take the coupons I have collected from the Sunday newspaper ($1 a week) and from online deals to Walmart.

I see Walmart as one of those necessary evils. I hate the crowds there, and I don't like the fact that most of their products come from cheap overseas labor. But their prices are low and I consistently spend less there than I do at other discount or grocery stores. I don't use a ton of coupons (maybe about 10 per trip) but I do use the ones that allow me to get really good deals. I also buy anything I know that Aldi's doesn't carry, or the occasional rare item that my family is brand loyal to (like feminine care products).

Then I go to Aldi's. The good thing about Aldi's is they almost always have the exact same items (although they do get a few limited-time-only items). I know what they have, and I always know how much they cost because Aldi's doesn't do sales. So I can check and see if I can get a better deal at Walmart with or without a coupon. I buy most of my basics from Aldi's - baking supplies, cheese, canned goods, cereal. On non-pay weeks I make a quick trip to either Aldi's or Walmart (depending on what I need) to buy milk and anything I forgot.

Be aware, you have to bag your own groceries at Aldi's, and you can either buy grocery bags or bring your own. Since I always try to use my eco-friendly cloth grocery bags anyway, this is not a problem for me. And, control-freak that I am, I actually prefer to bag my own groceries!

• I don't buy very many cleaning supplies or laundry supplies. I make my own all-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, bathroom cleaner and laundry detergent.



• I cook from scratch as often as possible. Not only does this save money, but it is usually healthier for my family, as I don't include all the preservatives and chemicals that are in most store-bought foods.



• With the exception of toilet paper, I don't buy paper products. We use rags for cleaning and cloth napkins for meals. I do buy one roll of paper towels every month or so. This roll is used almost strictly for cleaning up things that would be very sticky in the washing machine, such as peanut butter.



• During the warm months, we grow a large garden. I am slowly but surely learning to preserve these foods for winter by canning, freezing and dehydrating.



• I make a menu plan and stick to it. I have discovered from experience that when I don't make a menu before going to the store, I overspend.



• Every week I make a half gallon of what I call "cooking milk." It's reconstituted powdered milk (from Aldi's). My family will not drink reconstituted milk plain or eat it in cereal because it is watery, but I have found that it works fine for cooking. I add it whenever a recipe calls for milk.



• I don't do CVS, Walgreens or any of those other programs. They are great, and I tried CVS for about three months. But I found that it was a lot of work and extra gas to go every week, and if I didn't go every week I missed out on deals and/or eventually forget to spend my extra bucks. Time is money!



• I rarely buy snacks, soda or boxed convenience foods. Instead, I bake or make snacks. Yes, my children miss out on all that junk loaded down with food coloring, but is that a bad thing?



• I don't have to buy diapers, wipes, formula, etc. My youngest baby is 5, so I don't need any of that. But I have a friend, Southern Blessings, who uses the deals at CVS to pay for her baby's diapers. That might be worth it, but honestly, at this point in my life I would probably just use cloth diapers.



• If I find a great deal via coupons, etc., I stockpile. I will buy as many as a I can as long as I don't go over my budget and as long as the item is not perishable.



• We have seriously cut back on our meat intake. I usually buy two whole chickens and 5 pounds of ground beef every two weeks. Both are extremely versatile, and I can get three very different meals out of one chicken. We rarely eat pork (it's just not a favorite), and we don't buy roasts, steaks or other cuts of beef unless there is a really good sale.



• I recently started using cash instead of my debit card. When I know I have to pay with what is in my wallet, I am more careful about my spending.



• I don't take the kids with me to the grocery store. Trying to keep up with three kids is distracting and causes me to make mistakes. It also means they become susceptible to marketing schemes. The latest cartoon character on a cereal box or the latest fruit snack they saw on a commercial can really break my budget. So can all that candy and stuff at the check-out lines.



• If I have money leftover in my grocery budget (which isn't that often) I will occasionally go to a local salvage grocery store, where they sell dented cans and such, and stock up on some items. We ate organic pasta that I got from the salvage grocery store for months.

I love to answer questions, so feel free to leave one on the comments or e-mail me.

Book Review: It's Not About Me

It's Not About Me
Sheaf House Publishers (September 1, 2008)
by
Michelle Sutton

I really enjoyed Michelle Sutton's debut novel. It addressed several issues that I think we, as Christians, often face.

• Bad things do happen to good people, but people can overcome those things with the help of Christ.


• Things don't always turn out like we thought/hoped they would.


• God uses bad circumstances to turn our lives around for good.


• There are still good, God-fearing men out there.


• We must be careful not to confuse those men (and women) who those who profess to be Christians but are not.

The other question this book asked is, "Are you really saved?" There are tons of people walking around churches professing to be Christians, but do they really have a personal relationship with Christ?

This is a Christian fiction book with great characters and a great story line. It captured my interest from the first page and held it until the last. The story deals with everything from premarital sex to alcohol, but in a way in which most young people can relate.The heroine is a recent high school grad, but the issues are ones that could plague people of any age. This would make a great gift for a girl who just graduated from high school. I can't wait to read the next novel in Sutton's series (due out in September of 2009).

ABOUT THE BOOK: Annie has it all. She's attractive, graduated with honors, was accepted at the college of her choice, has supportive parents, good friends, and a steady boyfriend who loves her. One night an unexpected visitor appears and Annie's safe world is destroyed by a brutal attack. As she tries to pick up the pieces of her broken life, she is torn between two brothers, both of whom claim to love her. She is attracted to both, but which one does she love? How can she choose when her decision may cause a permanent rift between them? And more important, will she give her heart to the One who will sustain her even when human love fails.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michelle Sutton has lived in Arizona and since 1991 and has two sons and a husband of 18 years. She began writing fiction in August 2003 when God inspired her to write a novel with realistic characters that would glorify Him. In 2004 she joined ACFW - American Christian Fiction Writers. In 2006 Michelle ran for Volunteer Officer on the ACFW Operating board and ACFW members elected her to serve a two year term. She sold her first manuscript Then Sings My Soul (now re-titled It's Not About Me) to Sheaf House and her debut novel was released in Sept. 2008. The second book in the Second Glances series - It's Not About Him - will be released the following fall (Sept. 2009.) Last, Michelle is Editor in Chief of the new Christian Fiction Online Magazine. The debut issue released in July 2008. The magazine is sponsored by the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance.