Apples, etc.

Today was spent canning my first ever batch of applesauce!
Our neighbors had an apple tree blow down from some of the recent storm winds we've had here.
So, they called to see if I would like some apples, and being that I can't pass up anything free, I said "of course!"

I figured out very fast, after tripling an apple crisp recipe I was making for some friends in the church, that they weren't very good apples at all! They were the hardest, most bitter, dry apples I had ever tasted. Of course I didn't try them until after all of my apple crisps were already done!! Thankfully, I was able to doctor them up enough to feel comfortable giving them away. After that, however, I was at a loss as to what to do with the huge pile of apples I had left.

I ended up borrowing a hot water bath and some other canning supplies from someone at church, and I decided to make applesauce. I don't have my own canning supplies yet. I plan on trying to find some at a discounted price, maybe Craig's List (I'm not sure if I spelled that right)? I've never been on that sight, but I've heard you can find good deals there.

Anyways, it was a long process for me because I'm such a novice. I also think if I had a food processor, that it would have been much quicker. But...I am very proud of all my jars of applesauce sitting on the counter right now! If I knew how to put pictures on this thing, I'd even post a picture!! (Yes, I took pictures!)

After browsing at recipe's online and in my canning bluebook, I've decided with the rest of the apples I have here, to give a try canning apple juice, apple butter and apple pie filing. I figure I can give some away as Christmas gifts! I think thats pretty neat considering it hasn't costed me anything to make!

Green Bean Galore!

I have about 25 pds. of fresh green beans in my kitchen. They are, I think, the last of the seasons. It is always a bitter sweet end when the last of a crop comes in. You are so glad, because the abundance of it has made you a little sick of it, and it's a little sad because it's to be no more till next year.
I have made Garlic Green Beans, Ginger Soy Green Beans, Italian Green Bean Soup, Chicken Potato Soup with Green Beans, and just plain. raw. crunchy, fresh from the garden green beans ( I tell my kids they are green french fries..."cool!")
Any green been recipies out there? I'm sure I can't be the only one reaping in the harvest right now. My neighbor makes a Green Bean Pie...I should get the recipie, that sounds very good!
I will be blanching and freezing most of what I have left here in my kitchen. There is no way we will be able to eat all of these before they go bad. Plus, there aren't really any neighbors or church folks to give them to, most are all already burned out on the things (it's always a good season when it comes to green beans!)

The Love of Money

I was thinking about the Bible story of the man who had to build bigger barns so that he could have a place to hold all of his stuff.
Where we live, like anywhere else there are the "good" neighborhoods, where people seem to keep their homes clean and neat for the most part, and there are the "bad" neighborhoods, where homes are dirty with unkept lawns, etc. Anyways, upon observing, I noticed that many of the homes in the "bad" neighborhoods were bursting at the seams with stuff! In fact, the whole reason the homes appear so dirty is because they all have piles of junk, toys and cars all over the place.
This caught me by surprise, as I really got to thinking because it seems like in the "bad" neighborhood where most of the people are considered poor, their homes are also just flooded with things!
It gets me thinking about stewardship, and about how we are to be wise with our money (God's money). It seems like so much of the finances He provides us with is wasted away.
I was imagining the world during the chaos of the end times, and how it will mostly be made up of graveyards for the dead, and dumps, heaps of trash pilled about from all of our stuff. I mean seriously, they just opened up a new IKEA here in Oregon, and I was totally overwhelmed by all of the stuff they have there. It's am amazing store, that I really want to go back to for a few things. However, as I was staring at all this stuff, this thought hit me, that in five, ten, however many years from now, most of what I see here, will be pilled up in a big garbage heap...nothing more than junk!
Anyways, we're as guilty as anybody at having too much stuff, and I hate it. On one hand, I want to just burn it all, on the other hand, I just never know when I might need something. I just never want to become like the man in the story who has to build larger barns to hold all of his possessions. I want to be a good steward of all that God has given me.
I think the love of money can come to the rich and the poor. I knew a man who used to say that he thought the reason God never gave him a lot of money was probably because God knew he wouldn't be able to handle it! I can relate with that, and think that same thing sometimes.
Money is such an idle to most of us. The Bible says that we can't take it with us when we go. I think women are the worst, always worrying about security. Worrying if we'll be taken care of, worrying about our husbands dying and leaving us with, "nothing."
It makes me wonder, where does our security lie? Of course in Christ we say. Well, everyone would probably agree that money makes things easier, makes life more enjoyable. This is true, but where has that gotten us in America? Our ease, has turned into complacency, and will be our biggest weakness. Look at the fall of the Roman Empire...they were a monetarily prosperous nation (just like us). With money, we don't need faith or God. We don't need anything. Have you ever tried witnessing to someone who doesn't think they need anything?! It's impossible.
So of course, money isn't the problem here, it's man's heart. We hold money in such high esteem, higher than most everything else. My mom worries about me, because she doesn't think we have enough money! Well, I worry about her because though she has money, she doesn't know Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior.
What's important to us, why do our hearts burn for more money, more stuff, bigger stuff..It's never enough. Thats the folly of desiring and obtaining money - it's empty in it's final reward. It's pleasurable for a season, but for certain will require more, and more until we are building bigger barns to hold it all.

Got Milk?

The price of a gallon of milk is rumored to go up to $5 a gallon soon!
It's already $4.50 where we live and I think thats expensive!

So... I tried following some advice I got from a couple of different moms,
(one is over at hillbillyhousewife.com)!

I'm now mixing equal parts powdered milk and regular milk.
So, when we buy one gallon, just by mixing it with powdered milk,
we double the amount from one to two gallons!

We drink about three gallons of milk a week in our family.
With milk prices at $4.50/gallon, that costs $13.50 a week ($54.00 a month) just for milk!

Now that were mixing powdered with regular, I am cutting my cost in half, to $2.25/gallon, $6.75 a week ($27.00 a month)!
Thats almost $30 a month savings, and $360 a year savings!

I was pleasantly surprised at how good, and like regular milk it tasted!
My little guy didn't even discriminate, he can't even tell the difference.

One piece of advice I got, and that I try to do is
to make the milk at night, and let it chill overnight
to let it get nice and cold. This helps the flavor.

"Tis a Gift to Be Simple"

10 Little Things We Do;
to try to be simple and frugal (in this material world)

(this was inspired by an article, The Pursuit of a Simpler Life at homesanctuary.typepad.com)

1. I cook a lot of soups and stews. This allows for nutritious, one pot meals. Plus, I always make enough to last for a couple nights worth of dinners, or one dinner and a couple days worth of lunches...either way, there's more than just one meal's worth of food.
2. I "go to town" (yes, we live in the country) once a week. During this trip, all errands are done at once.
3. I grow some of the fruits, veggies and herbs that we eat.
4. "Play-dates" anyone? Who needs them when you and your kids are active in your church like we are!?
5. I don't wash our clothes just because they've been worn. Actually, I check to see if there dirty/smelly first. Lot's of times, we can wear things two or three times before they get washed (socks and underwear are excluded from this rule!)
6. Living in the parsonage. Yes, I realize this is hardly an option for most families, but it works great for us! No driving to and from church and it simplifies our finances.
7. We use cloth napkins.
8. I use cloth diapers on my kids till about 6 mos. old.
9. Clothes we buy are either on sale or bought at discount stores (and believe it or not, unless I told you, you'd never know)
10. I never refuse "hand-me-downs", or "seconds," if we can't use them, then I'll give them to someone who can.

Goals for living even more simply:

1. To re-begin my composting endeavors. I was very faithful at this, however, after having baby #2, I found myself each day, waiting for that moment of opportunity to run out to the compost, and it never really came. My house started smelling a little foul from my ever mounting pile of compost on my kitchen counter) Now that baby is a little older, I think this is very do-able.
2. To burn burnable garbage.
3. Once a month grocery shopping.

Something From Nothing

One of my favorite things to do is to create a lot from a little. So far, this month has been financially, "tight", and Iv'e been calling myself, "Old Mother Hubbard," because when I look in our cupboards, it looks quite bare. There were, however, two cans of tomatoes in the back corner that caught my eye. Before I knew it, those cans of tomatoes combined with a lot of love, and a little creativity created, "Roseta Supeta!"
I had made homemade spaghetti sauce with pasta, garlic bread (from near expired hot dog buns), and green beans. When my family gathered around the table for dinner, and my husbands said grace, I felt a renewed thankfulness in my heart. My family was delighted with the meal before them, having not a care of what they didn't have, but content with all that was provided. If only they had known that the kitchen was full of prayers only hours earlier, for God's provisions. When the time is right, it will be a wonderful story to share with them.