The Ways of My Household/Vicky Challenge: 5/8/2018

(Another iris on the door side of our chicken coop smiles at us every time we go to the coop!)

We worked on our shed a combined 2 hours this week.  At an average of $23 per hour we saved $46 by doing the work ourselves. 

My husband found this pot lying on the side of the road and brought it home.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with it!  He looked it up on Amazon and if you purchased 10 of them the cost was $100 so savings to us is $10.

My husband has been working early voting the past couple of weeks and one of his fellow workers gave him these brand new knives.  We looked them up on Amazon to get a price idea and learned that their combined value is $123.59.  Savings to us …  $123.59.

We planted more garden Saturday using seeds we saved from last year or plants that we grew from seeds we saved from last year.  Savings to us …… $25

We spent zero dollars of our grocery budget last week!  We continue to eat mainly out of our pantry.

I stitched up 2 of these pretty pink ruffled pillowcases and added them to my shop, Pillowcases by Patsi.

Our chickens gave us 8 dozen eggs this week:  savings $24  

I made another batch of home-made yogurt this week.  Savings: $15.12  

Not working outside my home:  savings $100.

We continue to cook from scratch, feed the compost bin and do all our normal money saving things that are second nature to us.

My Vicky Challenge savings this week come to ... $343.71.  Add that amount to the total of $3462.92 since March 21st, 2018 and our savings thus far are ... $3806.63.

That's it for me this week, how have you built up your pantry or saved money 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 

My May t0-do/goals list can be found HERE.

A Working Pantry is now on Instagram.  Come follow me there!

Come follow A Working Pantry on Facebook HERE.

You can also follow me ... on Pinterest!

Check out my little cottage industry:  Pillowcases by Patsi 

If you are blessed by what you read here and would like to help financially support my writing, you can do that by making a small contribution by clicking on the donate button. I would be very grateful! 

 

 Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders.  I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked! 

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

May 2018 'To-Do'/Goals List

(It's been beautiful porch swinging weather! I love this swing that my husband made for me, it's my 'relaxing place!')

April just flew by and now here we are in May and it’s time to check in on how I did with April’s goals and set new goals for May.

January’s to-do/goals list can be found Here. 

February’s to-do/goals list can be found Here. 

March’s to-do list/goals can be found HERE.

April’s to-do list/goals can be found HERE.

Here’s my May ‘to-do’ list otherwise known as breaking my 2018 goals down into baby steps …  

Sewing

Complete clue #5 in the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt I’m doing  (I'm not giving up on this, I might have slowed down but I'm still 'turtling' along!)

Work on Shadow Work sewing challenge 

Crochet edgings on some pillowcases and add them to my shop, Pillowcases by Patsi … working on this!

Continue to stitch up pillowcases for my shop, Pillowcases by Patsi … working on this!

Financial

Fund another 10% of our emergency fund plus the 10% we didn’t get done last month (I don't know if we can do 20%, but we're going to give it a try!) 

Purchase one gift card and stash it away plus the one we didn’t get purchased last month 

Earn enough Swagbucks for an Amazon gift card  ... working on this!

Earn $5 Amazon gift card through Bing  ... working on this!

Continue to work on developing secondary sources of income, this month I’m continuing to work on my e-book 

Pantry and Preparedness

Spend $25 on a non-food preparedness item  … Done!

Continue working on building up my pantry each week through my $5 or Less Pantry Building Challenge   

House and Other Construction

Continue to work on repair of outbuilding/shed ... working on this!

Spiritual

Continue teaching teenage girl’s Bible class ... in the process!

Teach 1^st – 4^th grade children’s Bible class ... in the process!

Complete monthly assignment in the Digging Deep Great Escapes Bible Study for women I’m doing ... in the process!

Continue to work on the Philippians Bible study I’m working on 

Blogging

Continue to post on blog daily or as close to that as I can  ... in the process!

Gardening 

Weed and work out garden ... ongoing!

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 

A Working Pantry is now on Instagram.  Come follow me there!

Come follow A Working Pantry on Facebook HERE.

You can also follow me ... on Pinterest!

Check out my little cottage industry:  Pillowcases by Patsi

If you are blessed by what you read here and would like to help financially support my writing, you can do that by making a small contribution by clicking on the donate button. I would be very grateful! 

 

 Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders.  I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked! 

I'm Making Essential Oil Roller Bottle Blends ...

I use essential oils on a regular basis, in fact some are just plain staples in the medicinal part of my pantry.  Recently, I realized I was out of one of those staples and getting low on some others so it was time to take time to replenish the stock!

(This little plastic container, with all my roller blends in it, sits on my bathroom vanity ready for use.  It's easy to see when I'm getting low as well when they're all in the same place.)

Here's what I made up and what I use them for ... (I am not a doctor, please consult a physician for medical diagnosis and treatment as some essential oils can interact negatively with prescribed medications.)

I have two different blends that I don't want to be without and the first one is this immune boosting blend.  It is a powerhouse and I use it when I know I'm going to be traveling, when sick or trying to keep from getting sick.  I do not use it everyday, 365 days a year but only under the circumstances just mentioned.

Immune Boosting Roller Blend

15 drops of OnGuard (Doterra), Thieves (Young Living) or Plague Defense (Hopewell Oils)

40 drops lemon Oil

20 drops frankincense

15 drops peppermint

20 drops tea tree oil

15 drops oregano

Finish filling 10 ml roller bottle with fractionated coconut oil or other carrier oil.

I apply this to the bottom of my feet once a day, as needed.

The other roller blend that is a staple at my house is tea tree oil.  It does wonders for sinus pressure for both myself and my husband.  We apply it to the sinus areas every 4 hours as needed.

Tea Tree Oil Roller Blend

15 drops tea tree oil

Finish filling 10 ml roller bottle with fractionated coconut oil or other carrier oil.

I'm trying this new roller bottle blend for allergies, I've heard and read great things about it so I'm going to give it a try.

Allergy Roller Bottle Blend

10 drops lemon oil

10 drops lavender oil

10 drops peppermint oil

Finish filling 10 ml roller bottle with fractionated coconut oil or other carrier oil.

I will be applying this to the sinus areas and to the back of my ears/neck area.

Here's something to remember about essential oils that is important.  When purchasing essential oils for medicinal purposes make sure you are getting 100% pure essential oils.  Not all essential oils that wear the name of essential oils are 100% essential oils!

What about you, do you use essential oil blends, if so, please share!

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

A Working Pantry is now on Instagram.  Come follow me there!

Come follow A Working Pantry on Facebook HERE.

You can also follow me ... on Pinterest!

Check out my little cottage industry:  Pillowcases by Patsi

If you are blessed by what you read here and would like to help financially support my writing, you can do that by making a small contribution by clicking on the donate button. I would be very grateful! 

 

 Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders.  I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked! 

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

I Made Yogurt!!!

… and it was good!!!  I used to make it all the time but had gotten away from it.   Last week I dusted off my recipe/method/instructions and made a batch, here’s how I did it …

You will need:

1 cup plain yogurt with cultures (I used Fage Greek yogurt)

1 quart jar (sterilized)

3 cups milk (I used 2%)

Food thermometer  (This is similar to the one I have.)

¼ cup powdered milk

Place the 3 cups of milk in a pot and slowly bring to 180 degrees over low – medium heat (You don’t want the milk to scorch.)

When 180 degrees are reached remove pot from heat and pour milk into sterilized warm quart jar.

Let cool to 120 degrees  (I placed a paper towel secured with a rubber band over the mouth of the jar and inserted a small food thermometer down through the paper towel into the milk.  The paper towel held the thermometer dial up out of the milk and I could easily keep a watch on the temperature.)

When the milk has reached 120 degrees, add ¼ cup powdered milk and 1 cup yogurt to jar of milk.

Put a lid on the jar and give it a good shaking to mix everything up.

Wrap jar in a towel and place in the oven and turn the oven light on.

Let jar sit in the oven with the light on for approximately 12 hours.

Check yogurt for firmness and refrigerate.

I've been enjoying this with some frozen fruit from our freezer ... hmm, it's good!

When I start getting low I’ll remove a cup of yogurt and start the process over again.

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

A Working Pantry is now on Instagram.  Come follow me there!

Come follow A Working Pantry on Facebook HERE.

You can also follow me ... on Pinterest!

Check out my little cottage industry:  Pillowcases by Patsi

If you are blessed by what you read here and would like to help financially support my writing, you can do that by making a small contribution by clicking on the donate button. I would be very grateful! 

 

 Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders.  I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked! 

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.