A Working Pantry

Monday, September 25, 2017

The Ways of My Household ... 9/25/2017

(These are dandelion flowers that I harvested in the spring, now it's time to start digging the roots.)

Hmmm … let’s see … I don’t have a lot to report this week as it has been an unexpectedly busy week, a whirlwind kind of week, if you will, where we went from one crisis situation (family and non-family) to another. I am happy to report that as of this moment, things have settled down somewhat!

So, let’s see what I actually got done …

I added 3 bottles of Dawn dishwashing detergent to my pantry using coupons. My out-of-pocket cost was $.78.

I gathered the ‘homemade mix’ recipes I wanted to make into one place. I hope to be able to start putting them together this coming week.

I had several jars of dehydrated foods that needed vacuum sealing, so I did that.

I did a quick ‘straightening-up’ of the non-freezer ‘food’ part of my pantry. My goal is to do this once a month hoping it will keep it from getting so untidy overall.

I cleaned and organized my refrigerator. My goal is to do this once a week!

I looked at my pepper plants and thought, "I really need to harvest them," but it didn't get done!

I looked at my yard and thought, "I really need to do some work in it," but it didn't get done! The upside for that is that the weather is supposed to get cooler and that will definitely make getting the outside things done easier!

I looked at my swing on my front porch and thought, "I really would like to enjoy some time with you and a good book," but that didn't happen either!!!

I looked around and thought, 'how blessed I am to have pepper plants to harvest and a yard that needs attention and a swing to enjoy some leisure time on." So, while my week didn't go like I thought it would, I am indeed blessed beyond measure!

That’s it for me, like I said it was an unusually busy week ...

What did you do to build up your pantry or live frugally?

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My other blog: She Hath Done What She Could

Friday, September 22, 2017

Photo Friday: Another Coupon Deal!

I'm not a big coupon shopper because so many of the coupons are for things we don't use anymore. But occassionally I'll come across a good coupon for something that we do use and when I do I try to make it work. This week I scored a good deal on something we use everyday ...

I got a $.25 off coupon from the kisok at CVS and I used the $2 ECB I earned from last weeks shopping which meant I paid $.72 + taxes for all three bottles. (They were on sale for $.99 each) Now that's what I'm talking about!

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My other blog: She Hath Done What She Could

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

My 100 Day Sewing Challenge #11

One day ... that's what I got to sew this week! This one day brings me up to 22 days out of my 100 day goal!

I sure am moving slow, but hey ... I'm still moving toward my goal!

Here's what I did on my one day of sewing ...

In this post I told you about finding a 100% cotton pink paisley sheet in really good condition while thrift store shopping and that I planned to turn it into sleepwear for me. Well, I got the pattern out and the laundered sheet out and cut out the pattern. It is ready to stitch up!

When I thrift store shop one of the things I do is look for garments made out of fabric that I like. It doesn't matter if it's my size, all that matters is that I like the fabric and that it is in good condition. The picture below is an example. These pieces of fabric were a blouse that I found at a thrift store. I really liked the fabric so I brought it home, gave it a good washing and got it ready to be turned into fabric for the sewing part of my pantry. This week I began taking the blouse apart and cutting it up into fabric sizes I could use.

The biggest pieces I squared up and turned into larger pieces (shown folded in the picture on the left). From the rest of it I cut several 5 inch squares, 3 inch squares, one 2.5 inch square, 2 inch strips and one 1 1/2 inch strip. These pieces have been added to my quilting stash. I had a couple of odd shaped pieces that I couldn't use so I added them to my scrap jar.

That's it for me this week. I hope to have more to report next week ... at least I'm going to try!

What have you stitched up this week?

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My other blog: She Hath Done What She Could

Monday, September 18, 2017

The Ways of My Household 9/18/2017

I have been in homemaking haven this week! After either traveling or preparing for Hurricane Irma for the last month, I finally got to do some home things! It feels so good to be back in my home doing what I love … keeping my home.

This week …

I made kefir. I haven’t had a kefir smoothie since around the first of August and I’ve been missing them!

I got the fall decorations out and put them up.

I woke up GG (the sourdough starter that Annabel from Bluebirds are Nesting shared with me). Prudence (the sourdough starter that I made) is still resting. I want to use GG to see if there is any difference in the bread I make with her and the bread I make with Prudence.

Since we have plenty of eggs right now I made deviled eggs for us to snack on throughout the week.

I had some leftover ham in the refrigerator so I chopped it up and froze it to be used in omelets.

I tried coupon shopping at Dollar General after reading this post by Rhonda over at If You Do Stuff, Stuff Gets Done! Go here to see what I scored. I think coupon shopping at Dollar General is going to be a regular thing for a while.

I made an Italian Seasoning blend from spices in my pantry. The recipe was shared with me by a friend. Thanks Pama! (She shared other recipes with me also that I’ll be sharing in the near future.)

Italian Seasoning (Dry Mix)

1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 T. onion powder

2 T. oregano

1 T. parsley

1 T. sugar

2 T. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. basil

1/4 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. celery flakes

For Italian Salad Dressing mix 2 T. of this mix with 1/4 c. vinegar, 2 T. water, 1/2 to 2/3 c. olive oil or canola oil. Shake well.

I re-canned four #10 size cans of mushroom pieces that we got on clearance while traveling. I still have 2 more cans to do. Thus far I’ve added 9 pints of canned mushrooms and 3 pints of dehydrated mushrooms to my pantry.

We found 50 lb bags of onions for a really good price (.22/lb) … $10.79/ bag at Sam’s Club this week and purchased 2 bags. (The produce manager told us they increase in price to twice that much when these were all sold.) I’ve been dehydrating onions and chopping and freezing onions and having all kinds of onion related meals. I still have quite a few more to preserve, that’s okay, I was thrilled to find them at this price.

The same friend that gifted us with okra last week gifted us with more this week. I cut it up and added 4 more bags to the freezer part of my pantry.

While staying with friends during our travels, I was gifted with a barely worn pair of sneakers. They looked brand new! Thank you Betty, this is such a savings to our budget!

That’s it for me this week, what did you do to build up your pantry or live frugally?

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My other blog: She Hath Done What She Could

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