Mama's Country Market

The Mega Shopping and Stock-up

{ Posted by HandsNHearts }
{ 08:36, Wednesday, March 17, 2010 } { 3 comments } { Link }

THAT Shopping Plan and THAT Binder...

Ok, I have photo's on my phone, but here's the run-down lest I find myself lynched. You know, I've seen some areas here in Mississippi...wouldn't surprise me if maybe some of these mountain folk don't still do that sort of thing and turn a blind eye. I am a yankee, you know...no one would notice way out here in the hinterlands!

Most of my print-offs came from all those great preparedness LDS sites I shared. A treasury of information on storing foods and using what you store. The whole binder plan and thinking came from Prepared LDS Family blog, as did most of my bunny trail links.

The Menu Plan:
Here are our 47 meal variations, main dish only...I play with sides and desserts alot, so that's totally free range,

Sticky Chicken
Poor Man's Chicken Parmesan
Fried Chicken
Pot Pie...Chicken or Beef
Stew
Roast
Taco Soup
Taco Casserole
Wet Burritos
Chicken & Broccoli Pasta
Stroganoff...Beef or Chicken
Mock Steaks & Gravy
Beefy Vegetable Soup
Chili
Pork Loin
Chicken Santa Fe
Meatloaf
Tater Tot Casserole
Ham & Bean Soup
Chicken & Gravy
Baked or Smoked Chicken
Lasagna
Rigatoni
Hamburgers & Mac-n-Cheese
Spaghetti & Meatballs
Quiche
Ham & Veggie Scalloped Potatoes
Ham...could be turkey ham, could be the real deal
Chops
Beefy Nacho Casserole
Sloppy Joe...could be sandwiches, could be casserole form
Sausages & Potatoes
BBQ Sausage
Homemade Pizza
Sweet & Sour Meatballs...on rice or pasta
Sweet & Sour Chicken...or could be pork from that loin
Chili Chicken Casserole
Chicken Vera Cruz
Tuna Casseerole
Chicken Bruschetta...or plain chicken & stuffing, no pizzazz
Spicy Sausage & Rice
plain ol' fish sticks
Sausage & Potato casserole
Sticky Ribs

Ok...there's only 45 listed here, but on my laminated menu, the stroganoff is split as is the pot pie. Yes, yes yes...I will work to get recipes put on the kitchen blog for those not already there, and I will get back here and link things like a good girl...so check back often!!!

The Binder:
I did my own version of what I found on several LDS sites. I haven't really played with the set-up much from when I first put things in, but there's a reason for that. I realized that I'm not shopping like those LDS Pantry Queens are ;o) Not that that's a bad thing, mind you, but my goal was shop every 6 months and stock the main needs for longer...not necessarily weekly or monthly, with ads and coupons and what not. I will still grab things as I find good sales and all. I have all those coupon sites I'm still wandering through, plus the Kroger sales as they pop up...but for actual grab-n-go weekly usage, that isn't my plan for the binder. You should have seen the actually shopping trips with that binder in tow on the cart. I was stopped more than a dozen times with questions about if i was shopping for a business, a day care or what. I gave a nutshell explanation of the large family, limited income stock up and be prepared thing. You can tell by the person asking, as well as how it's asked if they want to know the real truth, or just want you to agree with the idea they've already formed. But, I was on a mission, so it didn't matter if they thought I was wearing tinfoil under my headcovering and waiting on the mother ship to pick me up :o)

I suppose, looking at those great LDS binder ladies, I don't have a good flow in my binder. Things are just tabbed where they are. As I said, I'm not really a binder type of person. I should work them in far more to my daily routine here as I have seen the benefits of organization and all, but I just don't roll that way. I have lumps, folks. There. I said it out loud. I don't roll any better than the square wheel.

Ok...so you know what's IN my binder now. And Donna...thank you thank you thank you!!!! I found the index card sheets at Staples and I love them. I have a well grouped batch of recipe cards in my binder now. Ahhh....one bump on my wheel rubbed down a bit ;o)

What I did:
Just basic nuts & bolts, kitchen 101 stuff. I sorted through my many boxes of recipes cards, my million and one cookbooks, online recipes and kitchen sharings from some of my go-to blogs for good eats, etc. I gathered our favorites, our common meals, our stand-bys for canning and large group feeding, an overall year-supply planning list...those sorts of things. We then made out the list. It was going to be just 30 meals, but we ended up adding a few things here and there and got a month and half instead. All the better for keeping the rotation a bit more fun.

From that menu listing, we wrote out every ingredient needed for every single meal. That master list of ingredients was the base for the shopping trip. We wrote it out, then went to the pantry with the inventory sheets and made a list of what we had on hand already, as well as hitting the freezers and listing their stock. I took the inventory list shopping with me...it lists what I have on hand and how many more I needed to complete my menu plan. Those lists are now laminated and taped up in the kitchen doors...we will mark off every pound of hamburger, every whole chicken, every jar of salsa and can of mushrooms we use until I need to buy more. Nothing, not even a loaf of bread, will be made without ingredients ticked off the master inventory.

We are not set in stone with this, even with the shopping plan based on this menu. A spicy chicken dish can be easily altered and played with, fine-tuned, as it were. And I am not settled on exactly how we will execute the menu yet, either. I have never been a 'chicken on Monday, beef on Thursday, beans on Friday..." sort of planner. We know, right now, there are ingredients for every meal on that listed menu, and that we can easily have each meal 4 times, for a 6 month plan. Our plan right now is to simply pick 7 every week, and tick off as we go, knowing each meal can have 4 check marks before it's 'gone' from the rotation.

Plus you have the whole garden and fresh eating season. Even if the garden here is a no-show again this year, I have farm markets and Amish gardens here to shop from. I still plan to stock my pantry with home-canned goodies, and move to a lot of salads and fresh and raw items as summer moves in and takes over. However, worse comes to worse, there is a 6 month plan in place to go to. Honestly, this is the first time in a long long time my pantry has seen this much store-bought food....and I don't much care for it, even if it is food and well-stocked. I miss a pantry of MY canning jars. All these Great Value white labels, colorful Save-Alot cans, and so forth just don't look as pretty.

The Total:
It was varied, and I lost a couple of receipts already, but all in all, we were right in the area of $1300.
I could have done way better had I shopped more at Save-Alot/Aldi's, but still, when you break it down, I know for a fact there are 6 months of foods in the pantry, and that averages out to around $217 a month. For a family of 11. That is totally amazing as far as I'm concerned. Most families spend that on 2 people...not even 4 or 5. I did it for 11, with 2 adults, and 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 3.
Now, I could have butchered...and still may...those onery chickens out there if they stop egg laying on me again. I am buying eggs, so that is not necessarily figured in the total above. I will still shop and see what sales I find and stock more as time goes on. I am looking at this as a great base, a foundation for that year-stocked pantry I want to get back to. Those 10-for-$10 sales, any great coupon buys, BOGO sales and such...I will still keep on those, but if there was no income persay above the tightest of bills here, we are well-fed and taken care of for a while. That alone is a good thing.

I had bucket of grains and rice here already, so I did not need to purchase more. I stocked things like 16 large boxes of instant powdered milk, flax seed in large tubs from Sam's Club, 12 jars of wheat germ. I stocked over 2 dozen packages of ground turkey, 4 large pork loins to use as roast as well as chops, my bulk yeast. We have sugars (white, brown and powdered), we have flour (unbleached bread flour and whole wheat...King Arthur and Bob's Red Mill on sale at Kroger....yes, lots and lots of 5# bags) restocked in my 6 gallon buckets. I bought out our Wal-Mart's shelves of salsa, diced tomatoes and tomato juice...literally. I did buy spaghetti and elbow pasta, but we will make every other need ourselves. I have 16 large double-pack boxes of raisins for granola...a special buy at Sam's Club.

We will, like I said, adjust the menu and tweak as we go. I don't always follow a recipe anyway and add or subtract things while putting a dish together. And we will shop along as we go, but it's totally for added stock-up things and the like, it is not a "must get food" sort of thing. There is a great deal of freedom in having a stocked pantry. There is a lot of comfort in it.

I like comfort :o) That's another bump off my square wheel.

So....did I cover everything folks were asking about? Any questions?

Dishcloth Crochet-Along going on...

{ Posted by HandsNHearts }
{ 07:22, Wednesday, March 17, 2010 } { 1 comments } { Link }

I posted this on our other blog and forget to get online to share it here as well....sorry!

Making Dishcloths...wanna join along?

http://www.homesteadblogger.com/homesteadingwife

Want to get a start on some gifts? Put away some goodies to sell at the farm stand this summer? How about some needful things for the hope chest?

Crocheted dishcloths.

Crochet on The Homestead is starting a sharing of crocheted dishcloths in the form of a crochet-along.

She's shared the first pattern she's found, a really pretty cloth and very easy and quick pattern. I've made 4 already in "sherbert" shades of variegated cotton I had on hand.

Here are some more great patterns, too. Plenty for someone new to crochet as well as those looking for more patterns to add to their collection:
http://crafts.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Free_Crochet_Dishcloth_Patterns

http://crafts.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Free_Crochet_Dishcloth_Patterns

http://dishandwashclothmania.com/cloths-crochet/

I'm hooked -- pardon the crochet pun there! They work up really fast, but even for a total beginner, producing just 2 cloths, one to keep and one to put away for a gift, is super easy.

Like I said, I'm hooked :o). Been making various dishcloths, bath cloths, dusting cloths...you name it...the past month or so now just to build up the stash to move away from paper products (which we don't use much of anyway...). I have booklets and patterns galore, and cones of various cottons and they work up so quick and can be basic all the way to more detailed in pattern.

They are a great gift idea, as Lyn mentions -- a stack of 7 would be a wonderful gift. Added to a gift basket perhaps. Just a basket full for sale at the farm stand. The uses and patterns and ideas are boundless.

Go visit Lyn and let her know you're inspired and want to follow along with the Crochet-Along of dishcloths!

And if you knit, here's a great blog by GrannyJudith with several great patterns:
http://dishclothcorner.blogspot.com/

And my contribution...

Dishcloth Mania!

We ran into town after Dewey's PT visit this morning and I begged a stop at Hobby Lobby for another cotton skein. No, didn't buy all this today, but I added a couple to my already large dishcloth cotton stash here.

And I found a book on their clearance end cap -- The BIG BOOK of Dishcloths (Leisure Arts #3027). This baby has 99 designs.

I'll be crocheting enough dishcloths and potholders for everyone with inspiration like that! Not to mention that any one of the pattern stitches could easily work for an afghan...imagine that sampler afghan, with 99 blocks!

I love multi-purpose...and goodies on sale.

I'm planning to just keep knocking them out, tossing them into a rubbermaid tub for safe keeping. Perhaps we'll have a good supply to add to the basket at the farm market. Perhaps I'll do another Pay It Forward or something. Either way, my Mom and Grandma can surely expect an abundance of dishcloths as gifts this year. As can the children plan for hope chest additions.

So, Lyn (Crochet on The Homestead link I shared the other day) and that crochet along of hers has created dishcloth mania here on this homestead!

Ahhh, so many color combinations...so many patterns...thankfully there's never a shortage of dirty dishes around here!

Happy Birthday to my Baby!!

{ Posted by Crystal Miller }
{ 06:13, 2010-Mar-13 } { 6 comments } { Link }

Yesterday was my youngest son, Isaac’s, birthday!! He turned 12 years old. The years have really flown by and I am amazed that my baby is 12. He is my easy going, polite, considerate and generous son. He loves his air soft guns, bow and arrows, and building tree forts (he currently has a big tree fort in the making in the favorite tree!).. he also will open car doors or store doors, offer to help where he can.. just an all around gentleman. His latest interest is in ballroom dancing. Leanne has been taking lessons now for several months and has been teaching Isaac a few basic dances and he really enjoys it. He goes to the ballroom with her on occasion and when I stop in with Leanne all the instructors and even some of the students come to tell me what a little gentleman he is and how well he dances! They really seem to enjoy it when he comes and gets out on that dance floor.. LOL..

We celebrated his birthday with quite a houseful. He had three of his friends here, plus a few other friends and family.. had to pull out a second table to serve dinner.. but it was lots of fun!

Here are a couple pictures of my boy and his special day..

Love you so much Mr. I !!

Trim the Budget: Sandwiches

{ Posted by Crystal Miller }
{ 06:33, 2010-Mar-12 } { 5 comments } { Link }

My husband takes two sandwiches to work every day. Typically I was using lunch meat. He liked lunch meat and it was easy and convenient for me. But it was not great for the budget or a healthy choice either. Lunch meat is processed and full of non healthy ingredients and loaded with sodium.

So here is what I have been doing to cut the cost of purchasing lunch meat and improving health while I am at it!

When I started I took a whole chicken and cooked it in the crockpot. When it was done I deboned the meat and chopped it up into small pieces. I divided the meat into 3 containers. One I used the week I made it and the other two went in the freezer. To make a sandwich I took the chopped chicken meat and added a little salt, pepper and mayonnaise to it. I used this chicken spread for the week. My hubby loved it and I loved the savings.

Sandwich meat can run anywhere from $3.00 to $6.00 per pound (and up, but that is the range I have paid). I buy about a pound or so a week. My chicken cost me about $5.00 and I had enough meat from it for 3 weeks.

The second type of sandwich meat I made was beef. I will have a harder time giving you an accurate cost calculation on this because we buy our beef from a local farmer and buy a whole cow each year. But I can tell you what I did. I put a small beef roast into the crockpot (I will guess maybe 4lbs) and let this cook for a good long time… until the meat was falling apart. I then removed bone and fat and chopped this up and was able to divide it into 4 containers (I figure about 2 cups of meat is what I need per week). I used it the same way I used the chicken. I added salt, pepper and mayonnaise to the chopped meat and used this to make sandwiches. I also added a little Dijon mustard as well and that gave it a really nice flavor.

The cost of this meat would be determined by how much you paid for the roast. You can use an inexpensive cut of roast like a rump roast or a chuck roast to do this.

Putting the meat into the freezer also means that I have the added bonus of this being very convenient (one of the reasons I liked lunch meat). After cooking just one chicken and the roast I ended up with enough lunch meat for 7 weeks of lunches.

New eBook from The Family Homestead: Handmade Soap

{ Posted by Crystal Miller }
{ 06:36, 2010-Mar-8 } { 0 comments } { Link }

Handmade Soap:
A Step-by-Step Photo Tutorial
by Crystal Miller

This eBook will teach you how to make soap step-by-step!

This 45 page eBook includes photo tutorials on making 3 different types of soap. I walk you through the entire soap making process in pictures!

The Cost of this eBook is $10.00

For more information click here: http://crystalscountrystore.com/handmadesoapebook.htm

Food Storage and Preps, just notes

{ Posted by HandsNHearts }
{ 08:51, Saturday, March 6, 2010 } { 1 comments } { Link }

Being Prepared...links and thoughts

Cooking With Food Storage cookbook, compiled by Preparedness Brings Peace Blog, free online! Talk about a great resource to get you started on using your food storage for daily purposes :o)

Storing food and other items is essential these days. Even if you live in a tunnel and don't think there is to be any issues within the world at large, or that the economy will continue to lower itself into levels our generation is not familiar with dealing with...there are still storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and more that plague our food delivery systems as well as the food sources. No one is untouched by the effects of the world around them. Being prepared is just daily life anymore.

But, some people simply don't understand the concept of food storage and preparedness. Some merely think it's purpose is to weather a storm. True enough, it could be just that for your family. They stock some canned goods, maybe some bottled water and a few candles and they pat themselves on the back with a job well-done.

Still others will go a bit farther and stock up some packaged MRE's from a survival shop. They have gallons of water stored away, seeds (non-hybrid and heirloom, of course) and other things. Again, patting themselves on the back for being aware and prepared.

These are all good things, don't get me wrong, but remember those folks who went into prep mode before Y2K? Remember all the great bargains to be found the following year when they sold all those items? Or some who probably, even now, have the odd can of tuna or stray box of hamburger helper still sitting in a back closet somewhere...

They've prepared boxes and cases of food, buckets of grains and beans, containers of water and what-not and then simply put them into a closet or garage and never think of them again, waiting for a bump in life to bring them back to mind. Something happens and they go for some beans and powdered milk, or some wheat to grind and find mold, bugs, sour powdered milk They didn't gather information about proper storage and it's all been for naught. All that planning, all that money...it's useless.

Or time comes that the pantry is needed (storm affects, financial issues, etc.), and you pull a bag of dry beans and a box of powdered milk out and...stare blankly at it sitting on your counter top because you have no clue how to cook any of it, or have any ideas for recipes to make.

You have to USE food storage. Food is alive -- or at least it should be :o) You are going to have supplies that simply sit and wait for use, sure, but your food storage needs to be used on a regular basis. Having 15 boxes of powdered milk tucked into the pantry is a good thing...until 2 years from now when it's starting to turn and sour on you and it's now barely a treat for the chickens and hogs.

Use it, rotate new to the back and old to the front, gather recipes....all these things are what make up a smart food storage and pantry system. Especially the gathering of recipes. All that powdered milk is great, but honestly, how much are you really going to drink in a reasonably amount of time? Gather recipes to baking and other cooking using that powdered milk. Gather recipes for those beans. Start making notes in your favorite recipes about subbing in some of those powdered eggs.

So...back to where I started. Preparedness Brings Peace has the Food Storage Cookbook online. It's a great start for putting those pantry items to use.

Family Home Storage Basic Recipes from All is Safely Gathered In.

Central Bean Company Recipes for using beans, tips on cooking beans, storing beans, even a sort of bean primer...useful information to print and keep handy.

And just to help pull your recipes into practical use, here is a Desktop Cookbook

Taking a Break and Preparedness Thoughts and Links

{ Posted by HandsNHearts }
{ 08:25, Friday, March 5, 2010 } { 0 comments } { Link }

We have some family things going on and I probably won't be posting until next week, unless something is already archived for posting (LOL...can't remember if I've set anything up!)
Enjoy! Maybe I'll come back next week with the Big Menu we set up :o)

How To Start Preparing for Hard Times

This is a neat site, basic, good information on all sorts of things, from starting to prepare on a tight budget, to storing food and water. I haven't looked through the rest of the pages at the site yet, though.

The Wonderbox Thermal Cooker

This just looks really neat :) Christmas gifts, maybe?

Homemade Vegetable Oil Lamp

Being Prepared...links and thoughts

Happy Day

{ Posted by Montana Prairiemom }
{ 03:30, Thursday, March 4, 2010 } { 2 comments } { Link }

I had noon recess duty at school and was delighted that we were all able to go without our coats. Pretty unusual for early March in northern Montana.

I looked in one of my perennial beds and found that tulips are coming through the soil. What a delightful sign of early spring.

We have had several days of nice weather and the accumulated snow is melting steadily. We usually have several warm windy days during the winter, known as chinooks. They melt the snow, so it is unusual for us to have snow that lasts for several months. This year was an exception, so everyone is extra ready to see the snow disappear.

I kept my preschoolers in all morning. There is such an accumulation of mud that I knew it was best to give it more time to dry up. We made some very cute paper plate sharks today with very sharp looking teeth.

Jonathan has his Cub Scout pinewood derby on Friday night. We will go to Great Falls on Saturday to celebrate my birthday at the Macaroni Grill. Maria will be coming back from Bozeman, where she went for spring break. She will be able to join us for lunch.

On Sunday our church has its annual missions conference with three opportunities to hear the main speaker. There is a conservation meeting at the local Moose Lodge that has invited Jonathan's reading group to give presentations about bats. Fortunately it is after church and it won't take very long.

I just finished an amazing book called Escape by Carolyn Jessop. She was the mother of 8 who escaped from a polygamist cult with her eight children. I could hardly put it down, so if you want to read a good book, I recommend it.

Well, off to the treadmill. Have a blessed weekend.

Denise

Welcome to my new blog

{ Posted by AmishRuth }
{ 11:22, Tuesday, March 2, 2010 } { 8 comments } { Link }

The purpose of this blog is to blog about what is happening in my garden, and what i learning about simple living. I am striving to simplify my life and wardrobe. Have a few outfits that can be mixed and matched. Also get rid of various things that I don't need.

Anyway here is a short introduction about me. My name is Ruth and I am 27. I live with my oparents in the fens in Cambridgeshire in England. A rahter lovely place. I own my own business doing cleaning, ironing, dog sitting and what else comes up. I also do housework for my Mum and do various studying. I enjoy learning about natural living, natural attachemtn parenting, homeschooling and unschooling,history, gardening - organic, eco/green living, learning about other cultures, amish, and too many other things to mention. I am Anabaptist and attend an Anabaptist meeting in the UK. I am biblical in my beliefs and believe in dressing modestly and wearing a headcoverings. I will soon be wearing ones from Garlands of Grace. I am a bit of a hippy at heart and also fairly conservative. I am bit liek the Duggar family in some ways. I have also an apprecation for minstries like Vision forum. So a rather complicated character. I am a person of contrasts and many parts. I want to have lots of friends but don't make friends easily, I have a thinking braine but can't articulate what I want to say. I am ecentric and hippish but also very conservative. I don't know where I fit in. I love femine things but also love getting in the garden and growing produce. So there you are.

God bless you and have good day.

In Like a Lamb

{ Posted by Montana Prairiemom }
{ 07:36, Monday, March 1, 2010 } { 2 comments } { Link }

Praise God. Our first day of March is as gentle as a baby lamb. We have been having spring-like conditions for several days now, which has melted much of the snow and ice that has accumulated.

It is amazing how the nicer weather perks one up. I have washed my car inside and out and am doing some spring cleaning in the house. I'm even beginning to pick at some of the "winter accumulation" outside.

Jonathan has been out on his bike and has played in the yard in ways other than making snow forts.

In our area spring is very volatile. We usually watch our lawn green up during the month of April and then the trees get their leaves in May. This little "teaser" gives encouragement to everyone that one day winter will be behind us!

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Mama's Country Market

The Mega Shopping and Stock-up

THAT Shopping Plan and THAT Binder...

Dishcloth Crochet-Along going on...

Making Dishcloths...wanna join along?

Dishcloth Mania!

Happy Birthday to my Baby!!

Trim the Budget: Sandwiches

New eBook from The Family Homestead: Handmade Soap

Food Storage and Preps, just notes

Being Prepared...links and thoughts

Taking a Break and Preparedness Thoughts and Links

Being Prepared...links and thoughts

Happy Day

Welcome to my new blog

In Like a Lamb

About Me

Links

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