Menu Planning Calendar

I love this monthly menu planning calendar from The Family Homestead. I've used different menu plan forms in the past and I think this is my favorite. It's so neat, light enough on graphics that it's quick to print and I can see at a glance what we've been eating for a month. This clears up my refrigerator from the scraps of paper I was currently using for menu plans.

I usually plan my menus only 2 weeks in advance to coordinate with my shopping times. Saving these menus will end up being a menu-planning time-saver later, though!

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what we're eating for dinner this week. I'm also getting back on the band wagon and planning breakfasts again. I had gotten lax on this and we just haven't had much variety at all, just whatever I could cook up (literally) at the last minute. Weekday lunches are usually leftovers.

Sunday
Breakfast-strawberry-banana oatmeal wheat germ pancakes
Lunch-potluck style with church family; I'm taking broccoli with cheese sauce.
Dinner-tuna melts

Monday
Breakfast- zucchini-banana bread, homemade yogurt
Dinner-Roast Beef with potatoes and carrots in Crockpot, homemade wheat rolls, salad

Tuesday
Breakfast- oatmeal with dried fruit
Dinner-Beef Stroganoff over egg noodles, salad

Wednesday
Breakfast- eggs & toast, bananas
Dinner-Beef Pilaf Salad, homemade wheat rolls, apple slices

Thursday
Breakfast-s.b.o.w.g. pancakes, fresh pineapple
Dinner-Chicken & Veggie Biscuit Bake

Friday
Breakfast- cream of wheat, bananas
Dinner-Baked Salmon, brown rice, steamed veggies

Saturday
Breakfast-cold cereal, bananas
Lunch & Dinner- We'll be visiting family.

For more menu planning inspiration, please visit I'm an organizing junkie!

Am I The Only One Who Didn't Know This?

Blogger now has a new feature that allows scheduling posts for the future. I discovered it quite by accident the other day when I had the wrong time on the post. Since then, I've played with it and plan to use it a lot!

Then I read this announcement on Blogger news today and realized this is new since last week. Yeah!

It will be so awesome to be able to get a bunch of posts ready and have them automatically post at a scheduled time. The above link gives specific instructions on how this works.

Way to go, Blogger!

What I Look For At Yard Sales

'Tis the season! The season of yard sales that is. You will find us up and ready to go early, at least two Saturday mornings each month. We love hunting for good deals and have found lots of great stuff already this year!

Even though I love going to these sales, I am very choosy as to what I bring home.I treat a yard sale much as I would a store- Would I pay full price for this? Is it really what I want? Can I make it work until I find something better? The answer to the first question is almost always a no, because I don't often pay full price for anything!haha

I keep a list, sometimes written but mostly mental, as to what I am looking for. I will share that here for fun. Please share the types of things you often look for when at yard sales or thrift stores!

This list is not in any particular order of importance.

1.Tupperware storage containers. Especially the larger Modular Mates.

2. Canning supplies. Real canning jars, canners, Foley Mill, etc. I have already found most of what I need and can store in this department, but always look just in case.Estate sales are the best place for this.

3. Children's supplies. Toys, equipment, consumable art supplies,books. This summer, I'm mainly looking for classic little boy toys that will replace the more babyish toys and that will grow with the toddlers. I pretty much have all the equipment that I need right now.

4. Sports memorabilia. My husband's category! He has successfully e bayed some of his finds and kept a few for himself. He knows what he's looking for in this area.

5. CD's. Again, my musician husband's arena!

6. Videos,DVD's and books. VHS tapes are often cheaper than renting a movie. We keep it if it's one we want in our library. If not, we pass it along to someone else. We've found brand-new wrapped DVD's for a song because they were duplicate Christmas or birthday gifts. Books are usually pretty cheap, so I always look through them and see if there's a title I might enjoy. Like movies, we pass books along if we don't want to keep them.

7.Fabric and sewing supplies. There are enough non-sewers around that these items can be gotten for quite cheap. I look for specific types of fabrics and trims. Clothing, sheets and curtains are also fabric options. I have saved a lot of money by buying sewing stuff used instead of new!

8. Kitchen items. I love nice dishes! Currently my space is limited but every so often I find a piece that I know I will use. Bread pans of a certain size and shape always appeal to me. Also Pyrex dishes and storage jars.

9. Linens. I have a real weakness for table cloths and napkins. When we were first married, I found 4 or 5 table cloths that matched my decor in 2 weeks time! After that, I put myself on a tablecloth fast. Now some of those are stained so I'm once again free to purchase a few! Vintage styles are especially appealing to me. I have way too many cloth napkins so I'm not buying those right now. :-0

10. Clothing. Only if it's something I'm looking for. I hate looking through piles of clothes. Same as at thrift stores where I hate pawing through all the racks of clothing unless looking for a specific item. Last week, I found shoes and my husband found a couple of shirts that we needed. I am not against wearing used clothing; there's just something about rooting through piles of clothes that annoys me. Hopefully, I'll get over this when we have kids...

11. Furniture. These items often are gone first at sales since lots of people are looking for furniture. Great deals can be found though, especially if you are willing to paint or slipcover. We've found wonderful bargains this way!

12. Decorative items. I love baskets, especially square or rectangular shapes. Also picnic-type baskets. Wall art is something I always look at. I don't do many knick knacks in my home so I usually pass those by.

13. Miscellaneous items. Stuff that gets used up like envelopes, cards, stickers, paper. Even items like candles, bath gel, lotion. Often these are brand-new containers. I got a new bottle of the facial moisturizer that I use for 25 cents vs. close to $5 in the store. A locally made jar candle was found in the FREE box a couple of weeks ago.

Your turn. What sort of things are you hoping to snap up at yard sales this summer?

So Much To Do...So Little Time Part 2

My progress for this week:

1) Created a bill-paying box. Since I don't have a desk to sit at to pay bills and work on finances, I thought it would be efficient to create a box or basket that held all bill and correspondence supplies that I can just take to the dining room table with me and have everything there that I need. This includes my bill-paying notebook, envelopes,address labels, stamps and stamp reorder forms, a pad of stationary, small calculator, paper clips and ready-to-mail-birthday cards. It's all together so no more needing something and realizing that little one is sleeping and I'll just have to wait! Eventually, I would like to find a permanent spot for this box in the dining room but I'll need to work on that!

2)Rearranged the living room and spray painted a shelf and picture frame. Both are hung now and look great!(Pictures and post to come on that.)We keep acquiring new furniture and I think I've finally found an arrangement that I really like and is more kid-safe. Things are looking more together now and that makes me feel good!:-)

3)Scanned through my cookbook shelf and found a few cookbooks that I can get rid of. I love to cook as you can tell by the high amount of cooking and kitchen posts you see here. I also like to read cookbooks for inspiration and have accumulated a nice collection. My goal has been to keep them limited to what fits on the top of my hutch. It was starting to get a little full so I knew I could stand to thin them out. The shelf has a little breathing room now and there's not so much danger of a cookbook avalanche! I'm also working on transferring my favorite recipes from a photo album into a recipe binder that was given to me.

4) Purchased curtain rods for dining room curtains that need to be sewed. Hopefully this will happen soon!

So not much crossed off my office list, but progress nonetheless! I'm hoping to spend an entire Saturday at home(literally, the first in months) this weekend so I plan to work in the office then.

A Date With My Food Processor

Ok, maybe that sounds a bit odd...But this morning, I scheduled time to use my food processor! I do this from time to time when I have a bunch of different things to chop, puree or shred. It is a most wonderful time-saver and servant!

A food processor is a wonderful tool but also can be a pain to get out and then wash after every little chore. So when I use it, I try to think of everything I need to do while it's out. I wipe or rinse it out between foods and then just wash it all when I'm finished.

Today, in a very short time, I pureed strawberries and bananas for a week's worth of daily green smoothies(my blender needs to be replaced so I'm improvising!), then shredded a head of cabbage, a bunch of carrots and 2 blocks of cheese.

Meal prep is a cinch when a lot of the prep work is done already!

So Much To Do...So Little Time! Part 1

I've been rather overwhelmed lately with all there is to be done around my home. The clutter is piling up, spring cleaning has hardly even been started, the clothes need to be sorted out and changed for the warm months ahead, the storage shed needs to be cleaned out(so I can move the clutter from the house out there!). Painting, sewing,decorating, organizing...there's so many things!

I do well with my daily routine-cooking meals, general cleaning and the like. It's the little extras that continually crop up that get me!

Yesterday, I sat down and made a small list for tackling the clutter since that's the thing that bothers me the most.

An "all or nothing" person, I can easily get overwhelmed and stressed because I try to do everything all at once. Sometimes a small bite here or there is the better choice of action. I am having to learn that!

The rooms that are the worst right now are where my childcare kids sleep, so I can't get to these things during nap time, like I would normally do! Ideally, I should try to do these tasks first thing in the morning before they arrive!

I started with a list for the office, since it needs the most immediate attention. My issue with this room is that it needs to serve so many purposes. It is the main storage area so I end up tossing everything that doesn't have a home elsewhere into the office. You can imagine how chaotic that gets after a while! This room houses the computer, filing cabinets,all office supplies, musical instruments and amps, kid's supplies, sewing and craft supplies,special occasion dishes and all manner of anything else that needs a place.:-) One of the babies I care for sleeps in there, so there is also a crib and a small chest for his things.

I have large bookshelves on one wall which keeps most things within reach or out of reach, depending who you are-haha! The sewing stuff is fairly organized so I don't really need to do much there. It's the other shelves that need the most attention.

Here are a few things I listed for the office(my notes are in italics):
-Replace the small shelf with large bookshelf for extra storage.
Until last year, I had 3 large shelves then we did a furniture switch-a-roo and moved the matching ones to the living room. I ended up with only 2 large and 1 small bookshelf for the office. Big Lots has the put-together shelves like the others I have for $30. I just need to go get one!

-Replace the 2 small filing cabinets with one large filing cabinet. This will make a huge difference in space! I'm looking for one of these used since the new ones I've found so far are a little out of our price range for the time-being.

-Box up extra toys and take them to toy bin in shed.
I got this done this morning! I also boxed up some toys that belong to one of the kids that they aren't playing with here anymore and will send those home tonight.


-Get box of Ebay items ready to list and sell.

-Create bill-paying box/basket.

-Clear off computer desk.

-Weed out papers and STUFF! I did this last year but obviously, it has gotten out of hand again!

-Organize kid's art supplies and manipulatives.I worked on this for a few minutes this morning, but am still not satisfied with it.

I think if I work on these things a few minutes at a time, 3-5 days a week, I should be able to get some things crossed off my list as well as making my home a little more of a haven!

I'll be blogging about my progress probably once a week or so. Feel free to join in on the fun and leave comments sharing your best tips for keeping up with all these little tasks as well as what projects you are working on!

The $5 Chair

Ever since our couch broke last year, we've had our eyes open for replacement furniture. We still had a love seat and a rocker so we weren't sitting on the floor or anything. And we could bring in the dining room chairs for guests.

But I still thought it would be nice if we had some more comfy seating in the living room. And I prayed that God would provide furniture for us either by us saving up the money to buy something new or used or by giving us something that needed a new home.

We went to a yard sale a couple of weeks ago and found a nice armchair for $5! And they even delivered it for us. Wow! It's not that extra beautiful but cute in a 1950's way and in great shape. An afghan draped over it helps its looks tremendously.

That same week a friend offered us his futon. In our quest for furniture, we had decided that if we were to buy something, we would like to have a futon to serve double duty as a couch and a guest bed as we don't have a guest room.

This friend had stopped in on his way through town and as he was leaving, I remarked that perhaps next time he came we would have a futon so he could spend the night. He stopped and asked, "Are you looking for a futon? I have one that I am planning to get rid of. I'd love for you to have it."

What an answer to prayer! I am praising God for these reminders that He cares and wants to provide for us! He is our Source.

Has God answered a prayer in a special way recently? Please share how He has provided for your family!

Menu Plan Monday

We were away this weekend so I missed my scheduled bi-monthly grocery shopping. Oh well! I scratched together a menu using what I have on hand and it doesn't look too bad or really much different than other weeks. LOL! I am relying on frozen veggies and a big bag of organic carrots I have in the fridge for my veggie supply this week. We'll make do and sometime this week I'll get out to stock back up!

Monday-BBQ Meatballs*, baked brown rice, veggie

Tuesday-Spinach quiche*, carrot sticks, muffins

Wednesday-chicken, veggie and rice stir fry/ skillet dish

Thursday-Israeli Spice chicken legs, falafel, veggie

Friday-attending a wedding

Saturday-waffles, sausage and hopefully some fruit by then too!

All freezer meals are marked with an *.

Breakfasts will be whatever I can scrounge up- frozen pancakes, oatmeal, whole-grain toast, maybe some eggs!

Lunches will be leftovers.

For more menu planning inspiration, please visit I'm an organizing junkie!

Baked Brown Rice

This is my new favorite way to cook brown rice. I read about how to do this in the comments of one of Tammy's posts.

This is the easiest way to cook brown rice and it turns out so fluffy!

Put 2 1/2 cups of rice and 5 cups water in a greased casserole dish. (I used a 9 x 13.)Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until rice is done.

This is great to put in with chicken or something that has to bake for awhile. If the oven is heated up anyways, I might as well cook more than one thing at a time. I am just lazy (or efficient) that way.

This makes a good amount of rice for a nice-sized family. I'm sure you could adjust the amounts down accordingly,(1 part rice to 2 parts water) although I haven't tried it. I make the whole amount and then use the cooked rice for other dishes throughout the week. Cooked rice can also be frozen to be used for recipes later.

Making Your Home A Haven: Anti-Procrastination

When I read Crystal's post declaring that today was Anti-Procrastination Day, I knew exactly what to do.

Plant my azaleas.

We bought 3 azalea plants for our front flowerbed about a month ago. And I still hadn't planted them! Sure, it has rained every weekend since then, but the real reason I kept putting it off was that I really dislike getting that flowerbed ready to plant in each spring. It seems like it is always so hard to hoe and weed.

Isn't it amazing that the things we keep putting off really turn out to rather quick and easy jobs after all?

This took me all of about 20 minutes. The ground was easy to hoe up and dig in, thanks to all the rain we've been getting, I'm sure! Those plants were popped into the ground and I was back inside in no time at all!

To read more inspiring Anti-Procrastination posts, please visit Biblical Womanhood!

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what we're eating this week.

Sunday: Lunch-We eat potluck-style with our church family. This week I made corn muffins and biscuits.
Dinner: popcorn

Monday:Honey-Mustard Chicken, Baked brown rice, steamed carrots, leftover biscuits

Tuesday:Split Pea Soup with ham bone, cut-up veggies, applesauce

Wednesday: Sausage and Pepper Stir-fry with rice

Thursday: Macaroni and cheese with green peas

Friday: Tuna sandwiches, veggies, cookies

Saturday: eat out

Breakfasts will be: muffins and grapefruit; eggs and biscuits;oatmeal and grapefruit; cold cereal and grapefruit;pancakes.

Lunches are generally leftovers, sandwiches or salads.

For more menu planning inspiration, please visit I'm an organizing junkie!

Pardon The Dust

I've been cleaning, rearranging and decluttering the blog lately, so just bear with me. It'll be awhile. :-)I've been going through my archives, relabeling posts and deleting others to freshen things up a bit.

Since I've started doing this, all of a sudden I'm getting new comments on some of those old posts that I was getting ready to delete! Is that a hoot or what?

So if you see something one day and it's not there the next, you'll know you're not losing your mind!:-)

Cooking Chicken In The Crockpot

While browsing my favorite Crockpot recipe book the other day, I came across the directions for cooking chicken to use for casseroles, soups, etc.

This was the easiest and most wonderful way to cook chicken to put in the freezer! I can't believe that I've never done this before.

The original directions say to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I used bone-in split chicken breasts instead, since they were on sale for $.78 a pound last week. Skinless and boneless is, of course, the easiest way, but even with a few bones and skin, this was still easy, very doable and not too gross!

I had about 6-7 pounds of the chicken and the pieces were large so I cooked it in two different sessions. In the end, I had 12 cups of cubed, cooked chicken and 12 cups of homemade broth, both of which I froze in 2 cup portions.

The directions:

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons garlic powder
4 cups water( I added a bit more.)
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried bay leaf( I just crushed one bay leaf and used that.)
1 tablespoon dried minced onion(I used fresh.)

Place all ingredients in 4 1/2 to 6 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat 3-4 hours or on low heat 6-8 hours. Remove chicken from water. Shred or chop chicken to use in casseroles or other dishes. Chicken can be frozen in individual freezer bags for easy use later.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's this week's menu.Most meals are served with a salad and/or veggie.

Sunday: Lunch- We eat potluck style with our church fellowship. I took Crockpot Lasagna, French bread* and some chocolate chip cookies this week.
Dinner- leftover homemade pizza from Saturday

Monday:Spaghetti and Meatballs*

Tuesday: Pinto beans, tortillas*, salsa, sour cream and cheese

Wednesday: Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry on rice

Thursday: Spinach Quiche

Friday: Baked salmon, Garlic-Butter Pasta

Saturday: Egg casserole*

*indicates prepared items in the freezer

Enough Water

It seems to always be a struggle for me to be sure that I drink enough water each day. I think I'm drinking plenty until I start keeping track and I realize I'm not drinking nearly enough!

Recently I read an excellent article in the latest Beeyoutiful magazine on the benefits of drinking plenty of pure water. The article suggested filling 3 quart jars each day and being sure to drink each one as an easy way to make sure you are drinking your fill.(Change the amount of water based on weight and personal needs.)

That sounded easy enough. Mason jars are fairly plentiful in my house as well as lids to keep the water from spilling everywhere! And glass is so much better to drink from than plastic.

So now I fill 3 jars every morning and set them in the refrigerator. I keep one out where I can see it and be reminded to drink my water often. This has worked wonderfully for me!

Fresh Biscuits From The Freezer

After trying Pillsbury's frozen biscuits, I really wanted to try freezing my own homemade biscuits for my own homemade convenience food!

About a year later, I have finally gotten around to trying this and it worked! It's so easy to simply make a batch or two extra when I'm making biscuits anyways and freeze the extras. They are wonderful to have ready for a quick addition to a meal.

I will include my favorite biscuit recipe here if you need a recipe to try. You can try using your own favorite recipe as well.

What I did was mix, roll out and cut the biscuit dough as usual. Instead of baking right away, I placed each unbaked biscuit on a wax paper-lined pan.

I covered it and let it freeze until solid. Then I transferred the biscuits to a ziploc bag with baking instructions printed on.

To bake, remove from freezer(heehee)and place on baking sheet. Let come to room temperature and then bake as directed. I tried putting them in the oven completely frozen but,in my opinion, they didn't bake as well that way(burnt on the bottom and doughy on the inside).

We love these!

Here's our favorite biscuit recipe compliments of my mom who has made these for years!

Mom's Cloud Biscuits
2 cups flour(I use unbleached white flour)
1 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 beaten egg
2/3 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients, cut in butter until crumbs are coarse. Combine egg and milk. Add to other mixture all at once. Stir with fork until dough follows fork. Turn out on floured board and knead 20 strokes. Roll out to 3/4" thick. Cut out with cutter.( We've always used the top of a drinking glass that's been dipped in a little flour!)Bake on ungreased sheet at 450 degrees for 10-14 minutes. Makes about 12 biscuits.

Serve warm with butter and honey or gravy or strawberries and whipped cream!

Our Pet Rock

This has got to be the cutest Rock we have ever seen. He joined our family on New Year's Day and life hasn't been the same since!

Our friends found him abandoned by their house right before Christmas and never received any calls or responses to the fliers they distributed so we decided to bring him home and call him ours!

We named him Rachmaninov(we're musical people around here)but call him Rock for short. It's easier to say in a hurry and he is a very strong and stout not so little pup. He 's about 8 months old now and weighs over 50 pounds already! He is a Lab/Staffordshire terrier mix. As well as some pit bull mixed in for fun!

He's got a great personality-quite easy going and loves kids. His hobbies include eating everything that's offered, sleeping in the sun and wrapping his cable in, around and through trees in our backyard.

We love our little fur-baby!

*This picture was taken days after we got Rock when he was around 5 months and only 35 pounds.

A Fresh Start

This is no April Fool's joke...I've decided to take up blogging again. While I have enjoyed my time away-I am starting to miss the connection with other ladies that I have had through blogging.

Little by little, I'm hoping to redecorate and reorganize my little space here on the web. Can you believe that I've had the same layout since I began blogging in July of 2005? Until now, I haven't wanted a change either...LOL!!!(What does this say about me?!? Wait, don't answer that!:-) )

Time away has given me a chance to think about my priorities and why I do what I do.I have really enjoyed my "private" life without letting the w.w.w.(whole wide world-haha) know what I am doing at every turn. :-)

I could say more, but I don't want to run out of blogging ideas, now do I?:-)

So welcome back,family. Welcome back,friends! I'm glad to be back and to have you here too. I hope you'll be back often! Be sure and let me know you stopped by!!!

Puffed Apple Pancake

We loved this for supper the other night. Yummy! And easy to make!

Puffed Apple Pancake-serves 4 to 6

2 McIntosh or Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/9 teaspoon ground cloves
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup whole milk
3 large eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional garnish: powdered sugar

Put a rack in the middle of oven and preheat to 425 degrees.

Toss apples with lemon juice, brown sugar, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, cinnamon and cloves in a bowl.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in a 10 inch oven-proof nonstick skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides. Add apples and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer apples and any liquid to a wide bowl and let cool.

Heat cleaned skillet in oven for 5 minutes. Combine milk, eggs, flour, remaining 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla in a blender(I used my food processor with good results.)and blend until smooth.

*I don't have an oven-proof skillet, so I just used the skillet on top of the stove and transferred contents to a casserole dish to bake.

Remove skillet from oven. Melt remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in skillet over moderately high heat, then pour batter into skillet. Spoon apple mixture evenly over top. Bake pancake until puffed and golden and a toothpick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean., 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Serve with a side of bacon or sausages.

Menu Plan Monday

This week's menu comes completely from what I already had on hand in my freezer and pantry. I had no grocery money left at the end of the month,so I didn't go grocery shopping this past week. But never fear-we have plenty of yummy food stocked up! I will be resuming my regular shopping trip this week, though-the fresh foods are looking pretty low!:-)

This week is also the start of a few busy weeks for me so I planned ahead and had some extra meals prepared and frozen. This makes for simple menu planning! All freezer meals are marked with an *.

Monday-BLT sandwiches, lentil soup*

Tuesday-baked tilapia, sweet potatoes, steamed asparagus

Wednesday-veggie stir-fry, rice

Thursday-spaghetti pie*, French bread*

Friday-ham and cheese loaf*(ham and cheese layered and rolled up inside French bread dough), crunchy raw veggies, fruit

Saturday-with family

Sunday-grilled cheese sandwiches

Breakfasts-waffles*,honey-bran muffins, baked oatmeal, cold cereal

Lunches-leftovers, peanut butter and honey sandwiches

For more menu planning inspiration,please visit I'm an organizing junkie!

Pretzels!

I had soft pretzels on the menu for Sunday night's dinner. I've made them before but was trying a new recipe that looked like it might have more "professional" results. We ended up being invited over to our friend's house to watch the Redskins game. I asked if I could make my pretzels there which of course was fine with them!

I made the dough at home and took everything with me. Have kitchen-will travel!!! My friend helped me which was a lot more fun than doing it alone! We were quite pleased with the results! Right out of the oven, they looked much more like pretzels from a pretzel shop than any I have ever made before. The picture above was taken the next day so the pretzels aren't quite as fresh there.

Here's the recipe I used and will definitely make again:

Start by making a sponge of:
4 cups warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups flour

After this has sponged for 15 minutes, stir in:
2 tablespoons salt
6-8 cups of flour, one cup at a time

Stir flour into your dough slowly, one cup at a time. After a stiff dough forms, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and begin to knead it. Let the dough rise for about an hour in a greased bowl, and then divide it into 24 parts. Roll each piece into a 20 inch rope and from there shape it into a pretzel. To do this, curve the dough in half, forming a loop in the middle. Cross one end over the other twice and then lay the ends down on top of the loop forming a "pretzel knot."

Let your uncooked pretzels relax on a floured surface or pastry cloth for a few minutes. Stretch them out a bit and fix their shape before poaching them in a simmering mixture of:
2 quarts water
2 tablespoons baking soda
1 tablespoon salt

Poach the pretzels for 1 minute(they will float). Remove them carefully with a slotted spoon and place them on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle the pretzels with coarse salt, if desired, and bake them for 20 minutes at 450 degrees. Serve pretzels with your favorite cheese sauce or mustard.

We made this cheese sauce to go with the pretzels:

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add 3 tablespoons flour, cook over moderate heat for a minute and then whisk in 3 cups chicken stock and 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard. When the the stock comes to a bubble and starts to thicken, stir in 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese with a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and serve!

Applesauce!

Here are our 10 quart and 1 pint of applesauce that Andy and I made and canned together last week. It is so yummy and a good feeling to have this ready in the pantry to eat all winter!

I tied a little "thank you" tag to the pint jar to give to my friend who so kindly loaned me her foley mill! It made the job so much easier!

Menu Plan Monday

Another week, another menu!

Dinners for the week:
Monday- eat with friends

Tuesday-BBQ meatballs, buttered pasta, salad

Wednesday-potato soup, corn muffins, salad

Thursday-salmon patties, green beans, fruit salad

Friday-chicken & rice bake, salad

Saturday- puffed apple pancake(new recipe from my sister), bacon

Sunday-white bean dip, tortilla chips, fresh veggies

Breakfasts will be cream of wheat, frozen waffles(heated up, of course!), apple muffins, fresh fruit, toast, homemade yogurt

For lunches this week, we will mainly be eating leftovers. If there are none, we will have the same lunch items that have been on my menu for the past several weeks as we haven't hardly used them- peanut butter sandwiches, frozen homemade soups, grilled cheese.

For more menu-planning inspiration,please visit I'm an organizing junkie!

Menu Plan Monday -on Tuesday!

I had my menu made up but was a little under the weather yesterday so I didn't get it posted until now.

Here's my dinner menu for the week:

Monday-lentil soup, apple-jack quesadillas

Tuesday- spaghetti pie, salad

Wednesday-creamed eggs over homemade biscuits

Thursday-homemade pizza, salad

Friday- pork chops, savory apple roast

Saturday-waffles, sausage links

Sunday-soft pretzels with cheese sauce (I'm trying this recipe I saw on Rachael Ray's show.)

All dinners include salad or veggie even if it's not mentioned!

Breakfasts for the week will be: cold cereal, bananas and apples, eggs and toast, yogurt, cream of wheat and apple-walnut muffins.

Lunches are primarily leftovers. If needed, I have some individual servings of frozen homemade soups, stuff for either peanut butter or egg salad sandwiches and extra salad fixings.

Menu Plan Monday

This week I'm taking the easy way out and baking a chicken that we can eat off of for several days!

Monday- meatloaf, mashed potatoes, salad

Tuesday-roast chicken, with potatoes and carrots

Wednesday- chicken and bean burritos

Thursday-chicken salad sandwiches

Friday-chicken soup with cheese tortellini

Saturday- with family

Sunday-grilled cheese

Breakfasts this week will be eggs and toast, honey bran muffins, homemade yogurt, cream of wheat and fresh fruit.

Lunches will be leftovers, peanut butter or turkey sandwiches and salads.

For more menu planning inspiration, please visit I'm an organizing junkie!

"Better Than Pam" Pan Release

I made up some of this "Better Than Pam" pan release this week. It is awesome!

I was out of regular pan spray plus I've been looking for a substitution for the aerosol spray for a long time. Just plain oil wasn't cutting it for me!

So when I saw this review on Amy's blog, I was more than happy to give it a try! It's super easy to make and takes about 5 minutes. So far I'm really happy with the results.

Menu Plan Monday

My dinner menu for this week:

Monday: meatball stromboli, salad

Tuesday: nine-bean soup, French bread with herbed cream cheese

Wednesday:cheese enchiladas(from freezer), salad

Thursday: stove top chicken and rice

Friday: sandwiches

Saturday:eat out

Breakfasts this week will be cold cereal, pancakes(from freezer),honey bran muffins and eggs and toast.

Lunches will be leftovers, peanut butter and honey or ham sandwiches or salads.

For more menu plan inspiration, please visit I'm an organizing junkie!

Cracked Wheat Bread

I made a new recipe of cracked wheat bread today. I was planning to make my regular honey-wheat bread but noticed I was almost out of whole wheat flour!(Time for grocery shopping!)

I looked through my Better Homes and Gardens Homemade Bread Cookbook(a recent thrift store find for $1) and found a recipe for Cracked Wheat bread. I had some cracked wheat in the freezer so I decided to give it a try.

I made several changes to the original recipe and it turned out really yummy! I will definitely be making this bread again. Here's the recipe just as I made it...

Cracked Wheat Bread

2 cups warm water
2 packages or 2 T. active dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup cracked wheat(soaked for a few minutes in warm water; I soaked mine for maybe 20 minutes-it just seemed like the right thing to do-LOL!!!)
4-4 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2-3 tablespoons ground flax seed-optional
8 teaspoons Vital Wheat Gluten-optional but makes a softer and better rising bread)

Directions(with a mixer):
In mixer bowl, combine water and yeast. Let set for about 5 minutes; then add sugar, butter and salt. Beat on low speed for a minute or so; add drained cracked wheat, 2 cups white flour,whole wheat flour, flax seed and gluten. Mix for several minutes at low to medium speed. Scrape bowl if needed and add the rest of the white flour-a little at a time, mixing and adding flour until dough is stiff but still slightly sticky to the touch.(You may need a bit more flour-use your own discretion.)Mix for about 8 minutes total until thoroughly mixed and a nice dough.

Place dough in greased bowl and turn to coat. Cover and set in warm spot to rise until doubled- about one hour. When doubled in size, punch down and let rise until doubled again. After second rising, punch down and divide into 2 loaves. Let dough rest for about 10 minutes. Shape loaves and place in greased bread pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in size-again!

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes. If crusts brown too quickly, cover with foil for the last 15 minutes. Remove loaves from pans and cool on wire racks or towel. Brush tops with butter if desired.

Makes 2 loaves

Works For You Wednesday

This week for Works For Me Wednesday, it's Backwards Day! Instead of giving a great idea,we are asking for answers/ideas/advice for a specific question we may have.

My question is this:

I buy Tupperware at yard sales and thrift stores. Much of it, especially the older styles, has a musty smell inside. The smell doesn't go away after repeated baths in the dishwasher either. I know I'm not the only one who buys used Tupperware. How can I get rid of the smell?

Three Years

Happy Anniversary, Andy! I love you!

"I promise I will love you all the seasons of my life and be thankful for the beauty of just sharing them with you." -from a card given before we were married

More of our pictures and wedding details can be found here.

Menu Plan Monday

Here is my dinner menu plan for the week:

Monday-creamed eggs on toast

Tuesday-baked tilapia, sweet potatoes, steamed green beans

Wednesday-barley "risotto"(new recipe)

Thursday-BBQ meatballs served over rice

Friday-Mexican pizzas(from kit)

Saturday-eggs, bacon, cheese grits

All dinners are served with either a salad or veggie on the side.

For breakfasts this week, we have cold cereal, eggs and toast, cream of wheat, and pumpkin muffins.

Lunches are usually dinner leftovers. For days with no leftovers, we have vegetable soup(frozen in individual portions) or peanut butter sandwiches.

For more menu planning inspiration, please visit I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday- chicken and rice(top of the stove dish)

Tuesday-tuna pasta salad

Wednesday-beef tips(bought on super sale a while back!), gravy, mashed potatoes

Thursday-sloppy joes

Friday-sweet and sour pork with rice

Saturday-leftover buffet

For more menu ideas, please visit I'm An Organizing Junkie!

What To Do With 10 Pounds Of Ground Beef

When ground beef was on sale last week for $.97 a pound, I bought 10 pounds. It was packaged in 5 pound packages, so I bought 2 of the big trays.

I used 2 pounds(with 1 pound of sausage) to make a huge batch of meatballs to freeze. I cut the rest of the beef into approximate 1 pound portions and froze 6 pounds in 1 pound bags. I browned the remaining 2 pounds and froze that already cooked in 1 pound portions as well. (This will be great for quick meals!) All this meat should last us for several months!

I'll share my recipe for meatballs and you can check out this article for many ways to use them!

Meatballs

2 pounds ground beef
1 pound sausage(can use all ground beef if desired)
1 can evaporated milk
2 cups oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2-3 teaspoons salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup chopped onion

Mix all ingredients together and shape into small balls(I use my cookie scoop). I usually make around 80 meatballs with this recipe. Place meatballs on waxed paper lined cookie sheet.

Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until solid. Remove from pan and package in meal-sized portions(I like dozen size packages for us).

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

We love these baked with BBQ sauce and served with rice or pasta. Easy!

I have also put partially cooked meatballs in cooked jumbo pasta shells and then layered them with spaghetti sauce and cheese- one of my husband's favorites!Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so.

The newest Taste of Home has a recipe for meatball calzones which I plan to adapt for us.

Happy cooking!

Making A List

No, I'm not talking about Christmas right now, even though I am already planning fun gifts!

I'm trying to do better at planning and projecting as to what I need for groceries and household items. So this month I decided to make a list of items that we frequently use that I need to be looking for ahead(before I am completely out) on a good sale. It's such a simple idea, but it has already helped me so much!

I use a clipboard (hanging in my kitchen)with a pad of paper that I write my grocery lists on as I notice I am running low. This month I simply kept a list on the front left hand side of items I wanted at a great price. So often I forget what I want to stock up on as I go from week to week so this is a simple thing that really helps me!

When looking at the sale ads, I kept an eye out for some of the items that I had on -my "sale" list. Either this was a good month for sales or my list really helped to remind me of what to be looking for.:-)

On my list this month:

-Brita filters
-liquid Tylenol
-canned salmon
-ziploc bags-all sizes-(bought for 99 cents a box)
-ground beef-(bought at 97 cents a pound)
-fish-(found some tilapia for a good price in the ads this week)
-mayo-(bought at 70 cents a jar with sale and coupons)
-whole chickens
-chicken breasts-(bought at $1.77 a pound)
-ranch dressing
-whole wheat pasta-(Harris Teeter has some spaghetti advertised)
-tuna
-sausage

Of course, not everything was found yet, but I was able to get several of these things at very good prices! I'm also trying to do better at keeping some of my husband's favorite foods on hand and this will help me to remember to look for things that I normally wouldn't think about.:-)

Who would've guessed that such a simple idea would help me so much?

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: BBQ Chicken, corn on the cob, salad

Tuesday: Spaghetti & Meatballs

Wednesday: Calico Bean Bake(a new recipe)

Thursday: London Broil with roasted potatoes and carrots

Friday: homemade pizza

Saturday: leftovers

For more menu ideas, please visit I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Frugal Fridays: Spaghetti Pie

Today I'm sharing my new favorite make ahead freezer meal. Not only frugal and easy to make, it's also a cinch to mass-produce these to freeze. These make a wonderful hospitality meal to have on hand to either bake for unexpected guests or to take to someone who needs a meal brought to them. This has a "lasagna taste" to it and is so much quicker and less expensive than lasagna! I've figured that each pie costs about $3 to make.

My sister shared this recipe with me and we love it!

Spaghetti Pie

(Amounts given are for one pie; multiply according if making more than one)

Cook half of a 1 pound box of spaghetti(4 cups cooked pasta; approx. 1 1/2" diameter of uncooked)per package instructions.

Mix 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese with 2 beaten eggs and a little butter. Add to the hot noodles and mix well.

Grease a pie pan and nest in the noodles, bringing them up on the sides to resemble a crust.

Put spaghetti sauce with meat or leftover lasagna sauce on top. You can add mushrooms to this if you would like.

Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

If freezing, double wrap and freeze until ready to use. (Thaw in fridge overnight.)



Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly!

Cut in wedges and serve with garlic bread and a salad.

For more frugal ideas, please visit Biblical Womanhood!

Two Small Cleaning Jobs-Done!

It seems there are always relatively small cleaning tasks around the house that seem to continually be put off. I've tackled two of these this week: cleaning the microwave and the ceiling fans.

I used this easy tip from Paula to clean the microwave. Hat tip to Mrs. U!

To clean the fans, I simply spray my dust rag and wipe all the blades down. Some people use special dusters to do this-which is fine. The important thing is that the job gets done!

Both of these tasks took only a few minutes each to complete. I love that there are no dust bunnies lurking on my fans and my microwave is sparkling clean-if only for a little while!

Blessings to everyone as you care for your family and home today!

Menu Plan Monday

Here's my menu for the week.

I have chicken breasts that needed to be used baking in the oven right now and my menu for the week reflects that!It will make for an easy cooking week. I'm all for that!

Monday- chicken salad wraps, sliced avocado, green salad

Tuesday-chicken and dumplings

Wednesday-baked potatoes, veggie medley, rhubarb dumplings

Thursday- White Bean and Chicken Chili, cornbread, salad

Friday-Homemade pizza

Saturday-eat out

For more Menu Plan Monday inspiration, please visit I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Freezing Fresh Lime Juice

I found a tray of organic limes on the marked-down shelf at the health food store a couple of weeks ago. 5 limes for 89 cents!

They looked so pretty in my fruit bowl, but it was a very busy week so I didn't get around to using them. To make use of the limes before they went bad(remember, no deal is a deal if you end up not using it!),I squeezed them and froze the juice in ice cube trays.

After freezing, I popped out the lime juice cubes, put them all in a ziploc bag and stuck them back in the freezer. About 3 cubes equal 1 lime, so I wrote that on the bag as well for when I'm using the fresh lime juice for a recipe. Just thaw how ever many you need and the fresh-squeezed juice is ready to use!

This can be done with lemons and limes and is so nice to have ready to pull out for recipes!

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what's for dinner at my house this week. I planned mostly from my pantry and freezer for an interesting variety this week! A can of oysters that I've been storing for a looong time was begging to be finally used! All meals will include either a salad or extra veggies on the side.

Monday- hot dogs, corn on the cob, fresh fruit

Tuesday-lentils and rice

Wednesday-sausage cooked with peppers and onions

Thursday-oyster dressing, veggie

Friday-sweet and sour chicken over rice

Saturday-tuna melts

Sunday-leftovers

For more meal-planning inspiration, please visit- I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Fleece Blankets

I've had a big bag of fleece scraps sitting in the house for over a year now. Finally, out of disgust for continuing to store them and not doing anything with them, I decided to put them into the yard sale pile and just get rid of them.(I am constantly torn between decluttering and resourceful frugality!!!) These scraps were from several service/sharing projects I helped to do with the kids at church last year.

I felt really good about getting rid of them, but since they were still setting in my house-by the back door this time- I was still walking past them every day. Last week, while thinking of some easy projects to work on while recuperating from my wisdom teeth extractions, I remembered the fleece and decided to go ahead and cut squares out of them and make a throw blanket or two to give away.

With about 2 hours of work, I had all the squares cut out and arranged into 3 different throw blankets-one clearly for a girl, one for a boy(Andy loves how this turned out to be Redskins colors! It wasn't planned this way-that's just how it turned out.:-), and one smaller sized blanket to use up the rest of the blocks.

I got these out last weekend and was thrilled with how fun they were to put together. This turned out to be the perfect project for learning to use my new sewing machine which I have had for a year now without using it!

I will be backing these with a solid piece of fleece;hopefully bought on sale or with a 40% off coupon at Hancock's. Instead of quilting the blankets, I just plan to tie them instead. These will be so warm and cuddly when finished-I can hardly wait!

Banana-Carrot Bread/Muffins

Ruthie asked for the recipe for banana-carrot bread/muffins. Here it is!!! I'm sorry that I don't have a picture to post, but I can assure you these are extremely delicious!

This is actually a plain banana bread recipe that I added shredded carrots to on a whim a couple of weeks ago. Yummy! It added a nice touch to an old favorite.

As with all quick breads, these can be made into either loaves or muffins.

Banana Bread

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
4 T. milk
2 cups flour(I use mostly whole wheat pastry flour and it works great.)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup mashed bananas(appox. 2 bananas)
1-2 cups shredded carrots(optional)
1 cup chopped nuts(optional, but walnuts or pecans are really good!)
a handful of wheat germ (optional)

Mix sugar, oil and eggs well. Add milk. Mix dry ingredients together and add to sugar mixture. Last, add bananas and any of the optional ingredients desired. Pour batter into greased bread pans or muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. (Muffins won't take quite as long to bake-check after 25 minutes or so.)

This recipe will make one large loaf(regular bread pan size), about 4 mini loaves or about 18 muffins.

Enjoy!

This Week's Menu

Here's our dinner menu for the week!

Monday-ham slices, steamed zucchini, green beans and tomatoes, dinner rolls

Tuesday-leftover sloppy joes from lunch with guests

Wednesday-chicken & rice, leftover green beans and tomatoes

Thursday-spaghetti pie(from freezer),salad

Friday-spinach quiche, fruit slush, banana-carrot muffins

Saturday- chicken patties on rolls, pickles, salad or fresh veggies

Little Blessings

This afternoon, my husband and I went to look for a new belt for him. The one he is currently wearing is ripping and will not be usable much longer. He wears a hard-to-find size so after much searching at all the "cheaper" stores, our only alternative was to buy a $35 belt at Belks. We were not tickled about that price at all! Especially considering that his current belt is from Belks and has lasted only a year and a half!

Right before we left the house, I had the feeling that we should stop at Goodwill and check to see if they had anything. At first, I felt very foolish about this and thought I was just imagining. Our local Goodwill isn't known to be that great most of the time, so I don't make the trip that often.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that we should at least stop and check so we went over to Goodwill just in case. If they didn't have anything, then at least we would know that we had covered our bases.:-)

We walked in and went directly to the men's section. They had 2 (not one, but 2) belts in his size. One black and one brown. For 99 cents each!

Wow! We saved over $30 by shopping second-hand. I think my husband may finally be becoming a believer in the true savings of thrift store shopping. :-)

This is just another small example of how God cares and provides for us even in the small things. We are so thankful!

Frugal Friday: Lots Of Zucchini

This week, I will share some recipes and ways to use a lot of the zucchini that may be coming your way this summer! We like zucchini a lot, but after a while, we start to grow tired of the old standbys and want to try some new ideas!

For starters, you can freeze shredded zucchini in recipe-sized portions. This can be frozen alone or with the amount of oil needed for your zucchini bread. I freeze mine in 2 cup portions. If using for zucchini bread, leave the liquid when thawing and using-it is part of the zucchini.

Sliced zucchini is great steamed with a bit of olive oil, onion , garlic and salt & pepper. Throwing zucchini into a stir-fry alone or with other veggies is also delicious! My mother-in-law sautees zucchini and then adds a sauce of soy sauce and hoisin sauce(mix to taste). It is really good! We enjoy chunks of zucchini threaded on skewers with chunks of meat, peppers and whatever other veggies that we have on hand. These are good marinated in your favorite dressing or sauce and then cooked on the grill.

Tiny baby zucchinis are really crisp and yummy cut up into sticks and served raw on a fresh veggie platter.

Add a layer or two of shredded zucchini to lasagna. I did this a couple of weeks ago and it was really tasty!

You can google for zucchini recipes. My husband's grandmother gave me a great little zucchini cookbook when we visited her home a couple of weeks ago. There are so many ways to use this plentiful veggie!

Now I will share a few of our family favorites for using zucchini:

Zucchini bread- Here's my recipe. For variety, you can add 1 cup of shredded carrots. Some folks put crushed pineapple in theirs, too. My mom purees an orange with the oil in the blender to add to her zucchini bread.

Zucchini Soup-
1/2 pound sweet or hot sausage, remove casing; crumble as you fry it; drain well.

Add to pot:
1 pound thinly sliced zucchini
1 (14 oz.) can beef broth
1 onion, chopped
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce(I use 2 cans)
1 cup water
2 T. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. basil

Cook on low heat and simmer until zucchini is tender. Serve with crusty bread. This freezes well, so make up a big pot to freeze and enjoy later!

Zucchini Fritters-

Vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 of 1 oz. package ranch dip mix(I just add my own combination of spices)
2 cups shredded zucchini

Fill a skillet with oil to a 2 inch depth. Heat to 375 degrees. Meanwhile, combine milk and egg in a mixing bowl. Stir together dry ingredients and add to egg mixture; blend well. Fold in zucchini. Drop batter by rounded teaspoonful into hot oil. Fry until deep golden brown, turning once. Drain thoroughly on paper towels.

Makes 1 1/2 to 2 dozen fritters.

Sausage-Stuffed Zucchini-

4 medium zucchini(6 to 7 inches)
1/2 pound bulk mild Italian sausage
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Cut each zucchini in half lengthwise. Place cut side down, in a large skillet; add 1/2 inch of water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until zucchini are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Remove zucchini and drain water. In the same skillet. cook sausage, onion and garlic until sausage is browned. Drain fat. Add oregano, corn and tomato. Cook and stir until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in 2/3 cup cheese; set aside. Scoop out and discard seeds from zucchini. Divide the sausage mixture among zucchini shells. Place in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until heated through.

Serves 4-5.

Baked Zucchini Casserole-

3 cups sliced zucchini or yellow squash
1 1/2 cups coarse saltine cracker crumbs(about 20 crackers)
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 (4 oz.) jar of diced pimento, optional
1 cup milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients. Pour into greased 2 quart casserole. Bake uncovered at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes until golden brown. (May need to bake longer until eggs are set.)
Serves 8.
This is really good for any meal-even reheated at breakfast! Yum!

Enjoy your zucchini harvest this year!

For more frugal ideas, please visit Biblical Womanhood.

Scratch Paper

We always end up with lots of papers around here that have only been printed on one side. I use these for coloring papers for my child-care kids, but I end up with way too many for even them to go through!

Yesterday, I cut a pile of paper into quarters and placed them in a small basket with a couple of pens by the phone to use for scratch paper.

While I am making an effort to not print out so many things, not throwing away perfectly good paper(on one-side anyways!) is just one small way that I can reduce the amount of paper waste in my home.

Do you have any other ideas on this?

Frozen Green Beans

The fruit of yesterday's labors-7 quarts of green beans for the freezer! I will probably will do some more beans later this week; there were so many still hanging on in the garden. I would like to preserve 20-25 quarts in all.

I followed the easy instructions for blanching and freezing in my Ball Blue Book of Canning and Preserving. This is an invaluable resource if you are serious about canning and preserving-it tells you everything you would ever need to know!

If you don't have access to this book or any other canning instruction manual or wealth of knowledge(like a mom, aunt or grandma), here are the instructions for freezing your own green beans.

You can freeze any amount of beans-a little or a lot. Snip ends and break beans into halves or thirds or leave whole if you like it that way. Wash beans in cold water.

Meanwhile, put on a big pot of water to boil. Having a strainer or colander that fits in the pot to hold the beans under water while boiling will really help. I used my large metal strainer.

Prepare either one side of the sink or a large dishpan with ice cold water. Using large ice chunks is a better idea than little ice cubes because they don't melt as fast. (Plan ahead and freeze plastic or stainless steel bowls of water the night before.)Keep extra ice cubes and chunks back as you will need to replenish as the ice melts and water gets warm again.

When your water is at a full boil, immerse a small batch of prepared green beans in the water(keep in the strainer or colander for ease in removing quickly). Time for 3 minutes. When time is up, remove from boiling water immediately and dump beans in ice water. (It is very important that the water is icy, icy cold!)When beans are completely cool, remove to another bowl to continue cooling.(You can put ice in this bowl as well.) Drain beans well and pack into freezer bags or containers.

Repeat process with remaining green beans. As you work, you will get your own rhythm. I keep the beans going and package them all at the same time at the end.

Happy freezing!

Edited to add: I've had questions about how I cook these after freezing. I steam them for about 15 minutes or until soft. Remember they are pretty much still raw so they need to be cooked well. We like them this way. Frozen beans have a different texture than canned. We prefer frozen to canned but not everyone does, including some of our family members! Feel free to add your personal preference for cooking frozen beans.

This Week's Menu and Shopping List

I thought I would post this week's menu as well as my shopping list for those interested. I am working off of a very well-stocked pantry and freezer and the menu and short shopping list reflect that! The garden is also in full swing, providing us with piles of yummy fresh veggies. It is such a blessing to my grocery budget.:-)

Breakfasts this week will be granola, oatmeal, whole wheat toast with peanut butter and pancakes. Lunches are mainly leftovers or peanut butter sandwiches. All dinners include either a salad or fresh, steamed or sauteed veggies to round them out.

Here is my dinner menu:

Monday- Chicken Salad in pita pockets, fruit slush

Tuesday-Lentil and Rice Casserole in crockpot (pantry mix)

Wednesday-Stuffed Zucchini

Thursday-Creamy Chicken Burritos, Spanish Rice (both already prepared in freezer)

Friday-dinner with friends; take green salad to share

Saturday-Layered Mexican Dip, Hummus, tortilla chips, fresh veggies

Sunday-leftovers

Now on to my grocery list. I am still working on mainly a $100 a month grocery budget in order to save a little extra money and pay a few things off. This translates into $25 a week, but normally I buy enough groceries to last several weeks and just spend more at one time. This month, I'm making an extra effort to shop once a week and stay at $25 a week to stretch out the grocery budget and hopefully have a little money left for good buys toward the end of the month.

This week, I took my list to Aldi's and did all of my shopping there. For what I needed, Aldi's was the best option price-wise. Then I stopped at our garden(at our friend's house) and did the rest of my "shopping" for free! This week,we have fresh zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, cucumbers, peppers and okra.

I was very pleased to get everything that I needed for the week's meals and stayed just under my $25 budget. Yeah!

Here's my list:
-seedless watermelon: $3.49
-celery: $1.29
-can of olives:$.99
-2 pounds carrots:$.99
-bag of fresh spinach:$1.49
-Roma tomatoes:$1.39
-ketchup:$.99
-canola oil: $1.89
-bag of onions:$1.69
-yellow mustard: $.59
-freezer quart bags: $1.99
-dozen eggs: $1.19
-refried beans: $.49
-orange juice concentrate: $1.29
-brown sugar: $.99
-white sugar: $1.98
-tortilla chips: $.99

Grand total(with tax included): $24.73

From The Garden

Any guesses as to what I'll be doing this morning?!?