Stuffed Acorn Squash

 Sausage-stuffed acorn squash with apple, celery and onion.

This is one of our favorite fall meals! I'm not sure if I made this recipe up or if I read about it somewhere. Probably a little of both. But it is so yummy and we get very excited when it's on the menu!

To prepare this recipe, you will need:

• Acorn squash- I usually prepare one half per person. 
• Sausage - Any sausage that you can crumble and cook is fine. I used beef sausage for the squash pictured. I'm sure ground beef or even diced chicken would work. Whatever floats your boat!
• Add-ins:  Pick several of these options or come up with your own- chopped apple, chopped celery, diced onion, cranberries, raisins, cooked rice, chopped nuts- whatever you like! This time, I used apple, celery, and onion.
• Spices: I like garlic, salt and pepper and a little sage for this dish. 

1. Cut acorn squash in half and scoop out seeds. Save the seeds for roasting just like pumpkin seeds! Place squash cavity-side down in a baking dish. Add a little water to pan, probably about a 1/2 inch or so.

2. Bake squash at 375 degrees for 30 - 45 minutes or until flesh is soft.

3. While squash is baking, crumble and brown sausage in skillet. Add your choice of apple, celery, etc. Cook on medium heat until all items are to desired softness.

4. When squash is cooked, remove from oven. Drain water out of pan and flip squash right side up. Be careful with this; it will be hot! 

5. Fill squash cavities with sausage mixture. If you'd like, you can add a little butter to the squash before filling them. I sometimes like to drizzle a little honey over the top.

6. Return to oven for about 15 minutes until everything is hot and ready. I often make these earlier in the day so naturally you will need to lengthen the heating time if they are cold to start with.

7. Serve!

** I used about 1/2 pound of meat, 2 small Gala apples, 1/2 cup of onion and 2 stalks of celery for this recipe. It made double the amount that I needed to fill two acorn squash halves. I think I can safely say that this amount would make enough for 4. I added the extra to some cooked brown rice as a side dish. I often like to serve this dish with brown rice and some kind of cooked greens such as kale on the side.

Now, if you saved the seeds, wash them and drain them the best you can and go ahead and roast them like in these instructions.

These are great for topping salads or eating plain for a snack!

Apple Cinnamon Air Freshener

With all the wonderful rain we've had this week, I began to notice a musty smell in our house.

Regular air freshener wasn't really doing much of anything and I wasn't cooking anything at the time that could permeate the house with a more pleasing scent.

I sliced an apple and put it in a small saucepan with a couple of cinnamon sticks and enough water to cover.

Allowing this simple mixture to simmer on the stove top did the trick! What a  nice autumn-y smell!

This mixture can also be used in a potpourri pot or a tiny crock pot. Always use common sense and make sure enough water is always in the pot as it does cook down over time as well as turning it off before leaving the house!

Learning From Him- Idols

At a church freedom gathering several weeks ago, the speaker read from Deuteronomy 5. What stood out the most to me was the verse" You shall have no other gods before me."

My heart was immediately pierced with conviction although I had no idea at the time what kind of idols I had put before God.

Through prayer, God showed me that my marriage had become an idol to me.

Ouch!

The next day He showed me that homemaking was next on the 'idol list.'

Double ouch!

I don't know that I can adequately explain how these 2 things have become idols to me except that they were certainly consuming more of my time and thoughts than He was. I was more concerned with my performance in my roles and what other people thought of me than I was about pleasing God.

I will mention right here that marriage is very important and is something that deserves a lot of time and effort. It is after all, instituted by God Himself! To be a homemaker is also a high calling and not one to be taken lightly. 

But nothing... nothing... not even marriage or family should ever take higher priority than my personal relationship with God the Father. 

In the past few weeks, I've been allowing Him to help me get my priorities back into balance. I'm learning to trust Him more with my marriage and home. I'm beginning to learn how to 'be' rather than 'doing' all the time. It's the constant doing, striving and competing that causes me to feel overwhelmed which leads to feelings of personal failure and incompetence in every area of my life, especially in regards to homemaking and marriage.

Still meditating on Matthew 11: 28-30, I am reminded too of so many expectations that I put on myself that are of my own doing. Not God's. His commands are not burdensome(I John 5: 3 ) and His yoke is easy and burden light! He sees me as a beloved Child regardless of what I do, wear, cook or how well I manage my time.

These past few weeks have been so freeing for me! I have so enjoyed listening to God's voice as He instructs me on a daily basis. I'm nowhere near perfection yet;  I still have a whole lot to learn but it is a life-long process!

What has God been teaching you lately? 

I'll be sharing more on what God is showing me in some specific areas soon. In addition, I have several practical posts to put up this week. Stay tuned!

Learning From Him

In the past few days, God has been showing me just how "out of whack" my life has become. And He wants to restore order and balance!

I'll be taking some time to step back, reevaluate and learn from God the Father as He teaches me and draws me back into a balanced relationship with Him.

I don't know how long this will be and whether or not it will be a complete blogging break. I may check in now and then and I may not. Regardless, I sense the need for a season of quietness and resting in Him.

The words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message) call out to me:

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." 

Blessings to all of you! I look forward to being back soon and sharing what God is teaching me.

New-To-Us Furnishings

Several weeks ago, this pulled up to our house:

Thankfully, it wasn't completely full nor was everything for us! My father-in-law and a friend were headed to Upstate NY to move Andy's grandparents down to live with his parents.

To make room, we were offered some furnishings that would be useful to us. These things were brought in the truck.

We now have a queen size bed that came with a wonderfully soft sage green blanket and FOUR sets of sheets. (I know it looks bare; haven't gotten around to decorative pillows yet!)

Another dresser. 

Rugs.

We are so grateful for these items to use in our slightly-bigger new home.

One thing I appreciate about my husband's parents is how generous they are. They give and give. And with the recent downsizing of several households, they have plenty to offer. I do have to make sure that the items that come into our house are only those I have requested as they love to add extra boxes and bags to the load! You just never know what they will throw in.:-)

Looking around our home, I see very few items that were purchased new. Almost everything has come from yard sales, thrift stores or charitable donations from family. I'm so thankful for what we've been given and hope that someday we'll be able to bless others like this!

Works for Me Wednesday: Chamomile Tea For Cramps

Just a warning to any male readers: This post is about "woman stuff". You may want to move along now! Shoo, shoo!


Alright.

A number of years ago, I read in a magazine that drinking a cup of chamomile tea helps to relieve menstrual cramps. 


Even though I can't remember the name of the magazine, I've used this "remedy" ever since then and it really does help. Sometimes, it totally eliminates the need for Tylenol and other times not. But it certainly makes things a bit more bearable. If that is possible.

So with my cup of tea beside my laptop today, I thought, "That would be a great topic for a WFMW post!" 

Drinking chamomile tea once a month works for me. Maybe it will also work for you!

**This post is a part of Works For Me Wednesday. 

Worth Reading

I don't usually cry and I have tears in my eyes after reading this beautiful story at We Are THAT Family.

Chances are that it will touch your heart too, so hop on over there!

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Over the weekend, we had two opportunities to show God's love by sharing some homemade goodies. We embraced the opportunity and made the effort to follow through.

We have a new neighbor who just moved in across the street. We had already popped over there to investigate say hello and then on Saturday, we felt that we should take a loaf of homemade bread. I bagged it up and sent Andy on over. Two minutes later, he was back, with the story that he tripped on a dip at the edge of the street and the bag of bread went flying. The loaf fell out and hit the ground. Apparently the twist-tie had slipped off as we found it on our porch the next day!

 Andy was going to meet a friend on Monday and since I had baked cinnamon rolls that morning, I felt compelled to share a couple of the rolls with this friend. They were on the table ready to go and both of us totally forgot about them until later. Much later.

Two failed attempts in one weekend! The good intentions were certainly there. We even followed through with  doing what we felt God had impressed on our hearts. But the message of hospitality never made it from point A to point B either time.

So maybe God had other plans. I don't know. All I know is, I'll just keep on practicing!

Have any of you experienced situations like this?

Menu Plan Monday- Back In The Saddle Again

I've taken a  couple of weeks off from menu planning and I'm glad to be getting back into it this week! Not having a plan doesn't work well at all for me...let me tell you. There's less stress, we eat better and our grocery budget stays in line better when I plan our menus.

I made a 4 week menu plan a few weeks ago and it needs some serious tweaking to be a perfect fit for this season of our lives. The first week worked great. The second not so much. And then I gave it up since I felt like a failure since it wasn't working. The truth is, I need to work on it more and change some meals around. I really want it to work since it will simplify my life! And it includes more of our favorite meals, which I often forget to include in my weekly meal plans. I love to eat.

In the meantime, I've used those meal plans as a guide from which to create this week's menu.I plan to make more of supper most nights so we have plenty for lunch the next day. It just might be easier than having to scrounge up something for lunch every day!

Monday
B- homemade cinnamon rolls
L- grilled hamburgers, chips, carrot-raisin salad
S- leftovers

Tuesday
B- cream of wheat
L- combination of leftovers and peanut butter sandwiches
S- meatloaf**, rice, steamed cauliflower, broccoli and carrot blend

Wednesday
B- sourdough waffles, scrambled eggs
L- leftovers
S- homemade pizza, spinach salad

Thursday
B- cream of wheat
L- leftovers
S- omelets, toast, smoothies

Friday
B- baked oatmeal
L- egg salad sandwiches
S- spaghetti, garlic bread, salad

Saturday
B- baked oatmeal
L- egg salad sandwiches
S- spaghetti leftovers

**This post is part of Menu Plan Mondays!

Sometimes It's Worth It To Pay More

One of the thorns in the flesh at our previous rental house was the cost for utilities. Especially electricity in the summer when we were running the A/C.

We tried many ways of lowering our costs but it seemed that no matter what we did the dollar amounts on our monthly bills never seemed to go any lower. We tried covering the windows in the heat of the day, washing clothes in cold water, line drying, turning lights off when we weren't in the room, unplugging small appliances when not in use. All to no avail.

It all chalked up to a combination of poor insulation, old windows, cracks where air flowed freely in and out, the position of the thermostat and general inefficiency.

But despite some of the issues we endured at that house, we stayed because the price was low and we had a great landlord.

When it came time to look for a new house, we knew we would need to pay more in rent. And we knew we could go no higher than $100 more than what we were previously paying. Even $100 would be a stretch for our budget.

Well, at this house we pay $100 more than what we payed before. "Would the extra money be worth it?", we wondered.

We just received our  monthly electric/water bill for August. Keep in mind that the month of August is a hot month and we have had a hot hot summer here in the South.

Our August bill has always been the highest. Last year we paid just over $300 on our electric/water bill in August. For a barely 1000 sq.ft. house. Other years, it was easily $200 all summer.

So we knew the August bill would be the moment of truth.Would we save anything at all by moving to a different house?

The answer is.... YES!!!!

Our bill was almost half of what we would have paid previously in August. Under $200!  Praise the Lord!

We are so excited about this. If these kind of savings continue, then the extra $100 in rent for a bigger house with an extra $100 sq.feet will be more than worth it!

The Summer Adventures Of Cherished Dog

Aside from laying on the rug, the Cherished Dog has been quite adventurous, providing plenty of fodder that is blog-worthy.

 Fraidy Dog

Cherished Dog has grown to love his new house and yard. The first week he couldn't get enough of the backyard. There was so much to explore! If we left the kitchen door open, he would sit at the back door and gaze longingly over his new domain. He loved to go out and we could hardly get him back inside. Clearly, his new yard was his "crack" and he was addicted to it!

A week later, he suddenly refuses to go out into the backyard. Instead of running out before the door was completely opened, he stayed back hiding behind the kitchen door. Cherished Dog is not small and therefore, doesn't hide easily, so this was quite amusing. He acted so strangely and we couldn't figure out what was bothering him. We pondered over what he could've seen. Did someone scare him? Did he see a snake? Is a neighbor being mean to him? Etc. Etc. Etc.

He would eventually go out each day because we insisted and really he had to do his business at some point but he would seem very uneasy while out there. And if I didn't close the door quickly enough, he would back himself right back into the house! What a stinker!

After a few days of this, his behavior was becoming quite frustrating and honestly, it was hard for us to force him to go somewhere that was obviously quite traumatic for him. At this point, I began to pray over the yard asking God to remove any evil presence or spirits  that were not of Him from this place. We saw almost immediate improvement in Cherished Dog's behavior and within a few days he was back to his brave fearless self. He still occasionally has moments where he will refuse to go out but we attribute that more to his stubborn nature than anything else!

A Gift From Heaven

One day in July while my parents were visiting, we were all getting ready to go out to lunch. We put Cherished Dog out in the backyard to play while we were gone. We let him out and stood there watching him run around for a minute and we are so glad we did!

Like most dogs, Cherished Dog loves to chase squirrels. He will jump and leap at the trees if he sees a squirrel up there. The desire to catch one is there but he lacks the coordination and grace needed to accomplish such a thing.

Well, on this particular day, as soon as he went out, a squirrel scurried across the top of the fence and leaped up into a tree. Cherished Dog noticed him, of course, and was standing guard at the bottom of the tree.

We had never seen anything like this before, but the squirrel lost it's footing or balance and fell out of the tree! In a ball, he spiraled through the air, landing no more than twelve inches from Cherished Dog's face.The look on Cherished Dog's face was priceless- he looked absolutely thrilled as though God had just sent him  a special gift right from heaven.

We watched in wonder as the frantic squirrel landed on the ground and continued to roll until he landed on his feet and started to run away, the Cherished Dog right on his heels.

This scared me a bit as I did not want him to attack the squirrel and get bitten or the other way around. I began to scream to the dog to get him to leave it alone, which of course, really didn't do any good!

Fortunately, the squirrel was faster than Cherished Dog and  despite the incident, was able to climb another tree to safety in record time.

We laughed so hard after it was over. Cherished Dog couldn't have been happier with this occurrence and we so wished we'd have had the video camera in hand!

Rock's In Socks


Rock, the Cherished Dog  tore a toe nail a  few weeks ago. He tore it clean off, leaving a painful stump of a toe. We were first alerted to it when we saw spots of blood on our just delivered new-to-us carpet. We cleaned him and the carpet as best we could and tried to figure out the best way to bandage the wound so that he wouldn't continually lick at it and hinder the healing. 

We had looked at several sites online to learn how to treat the wound. One place suggested putting a sock on his foot over the bandage. That seemed like a great idea and a frugal one at that. We found one of Andy's old socks and cut it way down. It worked ok but was not ideal. 

Our next brilliant idea was to buy a pair of toddler size socks. This should fit perfectly. Andy set off to find a cheap pair. We also had some other things on the schedule for that evening so we were in a big hurry. We live near several dollar stores so we figured  it would be easy to find something quick. 

Not so much. After quite a while, Andy came home and flung a pair of white ruffled and lacy socks on the table and said, "This will have to work!" 

We put the sock on the offended foot, taping it in place. Then we laughed as he limped around, a big black manly dog, with his frilly little sock on his foot. 

**Note: The Cherished Dog's foot is now much better with the toe nail starting to grow back in. He no longer has to wear a frilly sock and is slowly regaining his manly pride. We hope he will not have to go to frilly sock therapy anytime soon. 


Where is Rock?


One day, I was out front getting the stroller ready for a walk when I heard the Cherished Dog whining. It sounded for all the world like he was in the bushes at the front of the house. But no, I must be imagining things because he was safely in the backyard. I ignored it and went on  my merry way. 


Later that afternoon, Andy heard some interesting noises and went out to check on the dog. The dog was no where to be found. 


He called for him. No Rock.


Suddenly he turned around and noticed that the door to the crawl space under the house was opened. And there seemed to be thunderous movements happening inside. Looking around, he also noticed mysterious saucers from clay pots strewn around the grass.


He leaned over and called into the crawl space. Eventually, a very excited bundle of energy came bustling out, acting as though he had just discovered China! 


Andy got several big rocks and a block of wood and barricaded the door. He went inside, feeling very confident with his dog-blocking abilities.


But not for long! It was only a few more minutes before we once again heard the strange noises, which we now knew were the sounds of a very large dog running around underneath us. 


We went back out only to discover that Cherished Dog had moved the barricades and got back in. This happened several times before we finally were able to secure the door enough that he cannot paw it back open. 


But that doesn't mean he has stopped trying. Oh no! Almost every morning, he runs right to that little door and bangs around on it to see if perhaps it will open again today so that he can once again go exploring. 


And what sounded like Rock in the front bushes? Well, I hadn't totally lost my mind! He was under the house at the front and his whines were heard through the vent. 


Stay tuned for the next installment of The Adventures of Cherished Dog. The innocent look on his face isn't fooling any of us. We know he's already carefully planning his next caper.

Story CD

We love to give gifts to our nieces and nephews, but it can be a challenge to come up with something affordable and fun that doesn't add to the toy avalanche.

For my nephew's 5th birthday last week, we decided to make him a story time CD. I picked several books from my collection that I thought he might like and then also recited a couple of poems in between the longer stories.

I used scrapbook paper for the "album cover" and decorated it by hand. I know you're just blown away by my beautiful artwork! hahaha

I listed the titles on the inside.

The process took about an hour and a half- 30 minutes for me to read through everything and an hour for my husband to fine-tune it.

One of the blessings of having a musician for a husband is that we also have equipment.  He used his own home recording system for this and it worked great!

If you don't have access to a recording system, most computers have a simple sound recorder built into the operating system. All you need is a basic microphone. That's all the info I can give you because I have no idea how it all works!

This is a very frugal gift to make(provided you have the proper equipment) and one that can be personalized to suit the recipient.

We didn't give books along with this gift but it would be a neat addition. This is also a great idea for trips in the car!

 He liked it a lot and I see us making a few more of these in the future!

It's frugal, it's personal and it won't clutter up the house!

** This post is part of Frugal Fridays!

Knox's 5th Birthday Party

My nephew turned 5 last week so that meant a birthday party trip over the weekend. This was his first party with kids instead of all adults. He had 4 friends over ranging in age from 4 to 6 years old and I do believe a good time was had by all! We were honored to be the first party guests to be put on the list even though we are not kids. :-)

Party activities included football, kickball, making their own pizzas and eating pizza and excavator cake!

My sister made this excavator cake, as requested by the birthday boy. She found an idea online and then tweaked it accordingly. I think she did a fabulous job, don't you?

The party table. 

Can you believe that this is really the only picture I got of the birthday boy? I did gets lots of shots of the cake though.:-) Here he is with his beloved Uncle Isaac!

Happy 5th birthday, Knox!

Requesting Your Input

Here's a few questions for your thoughtful consideration:

1. Any ideas for a new blog series? A series gives a bit more structure, rhyme and reason to my normally random style of blogging, so I'd love to do another one!

2. Do any of you have yummy crockpot breakfast recipes to share? I'd like to try some as the weather turns cooler. Wouldn't it be great to wake up to a hot breakfast all ready to eat? I've found a few to try, but would love more ideas if you have them! I'll be sure to post results once we try a few.

3. What do you use to clean hardwood floors? I'm especially interested in a cheap homemade cleaner.:-) I've been using  Murphy's Oil Soap but would like to have one less item to buy, if I can find something that does the trick. Via a quick Google search, I came across the idea of using vinegar in warm water. Does anyone have experience with that? My floors are old but I still do not want to ruin them. And besides, we're renters. The practicality and simplicity of using vinegar appeals to me since I already use that method for cleaning the linoleum.

Thanks for your input! I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas.

Homekeeper's Journal- The Autumn Edition

This week's Homekeeper's Journal is all about Autumn. 


My first thought was "Fall? What's that?" :-) It's still pretty hot here that it's hard to imagine that in a month or so, it will start turning a little bit cooler. 


Fall is my favorite season!


Autumn in my kitchen means... making applesauce and apple butter, eating lots of sweet potatoes and squash, more soups and warm crock pot meals.


Autumn in my home brings... our anniversary, leaves to rake.


I bring Autumn indoors by...decorating with pumpkins and gourds, switching out our wardrobes for warmer clothing, simmering apple cores and cinnamon sticks on the stove for a homey autumn smell.


A few favorite Autumn activities for my family are... watching football (Go Redskins!), going to the mountains for leaf-peeping, and visiting the orchard for fresh apples.


Two favorite Autumn recipes are... pumpkin bread and sausage and apple stuffed acorn squash.


This Autumn I would like to... go back to the mountains and celebrate the first day of fall by doing something fun for my neighbors. 

What are your favorite things about fall? 



**Thanks to Sylvia for hosting the Homekeeper's Journal!

New Routines

My personality thrives on routines, a schedule and lists. My productivity rises when I'm on a good schedule. And truth be told, I'm happier, too.

It does seem that once I get a good schedule going, something comes along that requires a change. Isn't that the way life works?! So I am always tweaking and changing things around to make the schedule work better for us!

I started a new childcare job a month ago which again required quite a few changes to my then-current routine. This family arrives at my house at 7 am and then leaves mid-afternoon.

Even though I'm a morning person, I was skeptical of having company that early in the morning. I love me some quiet time to get things done!

As it turns out, I love this new schedule! I get up and since I'm on a stricter time schedule, I do what needs to be done instead of putting things off or spending too much time at the computer. I also simplified my morning routine greatly so that it is very doable.

Morning Routine:

1. Get up at 5:45.
2. Shower and dress.
3. Spend time in God's Word.

That's it!

By the time I've accomplished these 3 things, it's about time for the kids to arrive. Sometimes, I have a few extra minutes where I fix the bed and throw a load of laundry in the washer, which is nice but isn't a horrible thing if it doesn't get done first thing.

My husband usually rises and has his quiet time while I'm in the shower and then he showers while I have mine. This works out pretty well!

Since I don't do as much in the early morning hours now, my evening routine is a bit longer than it was before.

Evening Routine(in no particular order): 

1. Sweep and dust mop floors in general living areas. (Living room, kitchen and dining areas, hallway.)

2. Vacuum area rugs in living room.

3. Make sure breakfast and lunch items are ready to go for the next day.

4. Straighten up around the house and put things away.

5. Sort laundry and start a load soaking overnight, if needed.

6. Make sure dishes are washed and kitchen is clean.

Most days, this list takes me about 30 minutes to an hour to complete, depending how much there is to do. It's worth it to have a less chaotic morning!

I really don't have a really firm routine down for during the day yet. I just try and do a little housework each day and do things in between childcare. Plus I don't want to be too busy and scheduled that I can't take a lot of time to hold and cuddle the baby! Some things are much more precious and important than schedules!

The oldest child is starting preschool this week so it will be me and the baby. I suspect my days will fall into a more predictable pattern then since the baby is on a very good schedule already.

I'm already seeing the great benefits of having a very set schedule and these new routines. I've been much more productive, even on the weekends. A routine is a little thing but really has helped me with my time management!

Are you a routine person or do they drive you nuts? Inquiring minds want to know!

My Daily Giggle

If you haven't already, you'll need to check out Catalog Living. Since subscribing, these posts never fail to give me my daily giggle.

Too funny!

HT to Money Saving Mom for mentioning this site in a recent post. 

Homemade Play Dough

I love making homemade play dough. It's cheap and easy to make and I like the texture and smell better than the store-bought play dough. It also makes an excellent and frugal gift!

Making your own means that you know exactly what's in it, so it's not such a big deal if the little ones taste it.

Making play dough can be a fun activity to do with the kidlets, especially those 3 years and older. It doesn't take very long to make and it can be played with as soon as it's finished!

Homemade Play Dough

 1. Combine 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 cup salt and 1 tablespoon cream of tartar** in saucepan and heat until warm.  You can add food coloring at this point, too, if you want the whole batch to be one color. My helper and I decided to wait to add the food coloring for this batch since we wanted to divide it and have several different colors. 

**Cream of tartar is what makes the play dough stay fresh longer, so resist the urge to leave this important ingredient out!

2. Remove from heat and add 1 cup flour.  Stir well. You may need to add a bit more to get a good consistency. For this batch, I added just under 1 1/2 cups of flour.

3. Pour mixture onto counter or table and knead until smooth. Poking it may be desired as well, especially if you are almost 5 years old!

4. Add food coloring at this point, if you haven't already, dividing dough into as many portions as you want colors. Knead the colors in and add food coloring until desired shades are reached. Natural food dye can also be used as explained in this post.

5. Play with your new play dough! Cookie cutters, small pans, toothpicks, popsicle sticks, plastic knives, small rolling pins and garlic presses are good play dough tools. Using tools from your play tool box is also pretty cool! Nothing like sawing that play dough right in half!

Mixing all the colors together for a marbled effect is also fun!

6. Store play dough in an air-tight container. It should last around 6 months.

Enjoy!

** This post is a part of Frugal Fridays!

Peaches!

Harris Teeter had peaches on sale for $.49 a pound recently so I decided that was a good stock-up price for canning and freezing!

I marched myself right in there and asked the produce manager for two boxes. Each box was right about 25 pounds. From reading my Ball Blue Book of Canning, I knew that I should figure 2-3 pounds of peaches per quart. I wanted at least 10 quart canned plus some to freeze and a few to eat fresh so 50 pounds seemed like a good amount.

I spent most of last Friday peeling, slicing, canning and freezing those peaches! I ended up with 14 quart canned, 8 quart frozen, 2 quarts of  frozen peach puree for 2 batches of  jam to make later and 1 peach cobbler. We also had lots to eat fresh!

I'm looking forward to having home-canned peaches to eat this winter! I'll use the frozen peaches for cobblers, pies and smoothies.

When I make the jam, I'll let you know how it turns out!

Food For The Freezer

Back during our courtship days, if I mentioned that I was "cooking for the freezer", Andy would always chuckle and ask what my freezer liked to eat. Smarty-pants.

"Cooking for the freezer" may still sound funny to some, but it's a lifesaver for me these days!

I had allowed my freezer cooking ways to go by the wayside the past few months. The result? Lots of ingredients and nothing to eat in a pinch.

Since I make the majority of our food from scratch, it takes a bit more effort to keep foods at the ready. After all, if I don't make it we don't have it to eat!

I spent some time last weekend preparing foods  to freeze so that we would have extra stuff to grab through the week.

Friday night, I made a double batch of dinner rolls and froze half.

On Saturday, I spent most of the day in the kitchen and accomplished this list. No picture since we were heading out the door for a church event as soon as I finished  cooking!

--5 loaves whole wheat bread
--1 batch (8) pita pockets
--1 batch peanut butter granola
--2 dozen pumpkin muffins and 2 small loaves pumpkin bread
--1 dozen hard-boiled eggs
--1 pan baked brown rice

Obviously, I didn't freeze the eggs! But they are nice to have in the fridge for easy breakfasts and snacks.

I made the rice for a dish I was taking on Sunday, then I found out we were doing picnic lunches that day so we ended up using the rice for a couple meals this week and freezing two bags of rice for future use.

 Tonight for supper, I planned to make beef sausage to go with scrambled eggs and toast. Instead of making just enough for one meal, I used three pounds of ground beef instead and made 6 meals worth! It only took a few more minutes to make a big batch than a single meal and now I have 5 extra meals of sausage in the freezer ready to be used.

It feels good to be getting a little ahead of the game again by having some foods prepared and ready in the freezer! It's so great to have food to grab when we're in a hurry or on the go!

I'm hoping to get back into the habit of keeping my freezer and pantry well-stocked!