~ from my home to yours, living the Working Pantry lifestyle ~ surviving today's economy ~ a can-do spirit and attitude ~

Monday, March 18, 2024

A Journal of My Days: 3/18/24

A Journal of My Days 2024: 3/18

The theme for this year is “Laser focused, hunkered down and spending as little money as possible.” 

(picture:  our iris's are really showing off ... pure beauty!)

This week our temps have been in the mid-80's for a good part of the week!  This of course, meant I was outside ... working in the yard and garden and in the pollen!  I'm not exaggerating when I say that it has been so bad this week that there was a haze of green pollen in the air most of the week.  It settled on the vehicles, on standing water and on my eyeglasses!    The lenses of my eyeglasses had a green pollen film on them!

Oh, my aching everything!  Even though I try to get in at least 30 minutes of exercise every day, using a hoe and a shovel and pushing a wheelbarrow along with lots of bending up and down uses muscles that obviously don't get used enough in my regular exercise routine.  Even though I am sore, it is a good sore and a contented sore, if that makes sense.

So what did my week look like and what did I do to get my 'everything' aching all over.  Let's find out ...

In the Vegetable Garden:  Since this job ultimately benefits the vegetable garden (as in chicken poo for fertilizer), I'm including it here.  I started shoveling out the chicken coop this week and hauled away several buckets of chicken poo to the compost pile and to containers that won't have anything planted in them for several weeks yet.

I noticed that the cabbage seeds I planted a couple of weeks ago are coming up.  This made me very happy as they are old seeds as in 2 plus years old seeds!

Our potatoes are coming up as are our beets.  The cabbage and broccoli have gotten off to a good start and my mixed greens are just about ready to start eating.  

(pictured:  cabbage and broccoli plants)

I planted tomato seeds this week as well.  It was a busy week in the yard and garden.  Speaking of the yard, we mowed it for the first time this year and you know what that means.  It means that all the winter sticks and debris have to be picked up.  I had started cleaning up the yard a few weeks back, but you sure couldn't tell it the day we mowed.  I think I bent up and down, it felt like a few hundred times!

With the warmer temperatures, our early spring garden is thriving ... and so are the weeds!  Yep, I started weeding the row garden this week along with cleaning out several more containers in my container garden.  (The chickens enjoyed the weeds!)

Did I mention that our blueberry bushes are full of blooms.  I tried to get a picture, but it just didn't turn out right.

One more thing before we move on to the next category ...

I harvested the first of the asparagus for this year.  

Yes, spring is definitely here!

In the Kitchen:   I made more bread and hoagie rolls, this time for the purpose of freezing. 

With us going into a very busy gardening season, everything I can cook ahead and get in the freeze will make things easier.

One of our 'from the pantry' meals this week was made from scratch home-made pizza ... including the crust!

We continue to strive to learn to live on less and cooking from scratch is a piece of that puzzle.  Setting up a routine that makes this as easy as possible is what I'm experimenting with...

Things like cooking our bread ahead and freezing it for use on an as needed basis.  Things like freezing dough for pizza and having it ready when needed. 
Things like having a specific 'baking' day each week.
Things like having a menu and preparing ahead for each days' meals.
Time is of the essence when life is full and busy and thinking ahead and developing a routine, a workable plan makes all the difference in the world.

In the Pantry:  I've started drying and jarring up this year's herbs, etc.  

The first pint of nettles powder is complete as is the first pint of dried parsley.  

The quart jars in the back are dried chili peppers.  We found a bag of them on sale at Sam's Club at a really good price and purchased one.  This will be enough chili peppers to last us for the rest of the year.

As I start to add this year's herbs to the pantry, I am also making a concentrated effort to use up last year's.  Herbs have about a year's shelf life before they start losing their potency so it's important that I keep them rotated.

Health/Fitness:  Let's just say that I exceeded my step goal most every day this week, especially on the days I worked outside!

Thrifting, Bargain, and/or Loss Leader Shopping:  We spent a total of $11 on grocery store bargains ... bananas and sausage, again!  Hey, we use a lot of both, so if and when I can get them at a good price, that's what I'm going to do!

From my Sewing Nook:   I'm going to leave this here as a category, but truthfully, now that gardening season has started, there will be little time for sewing.  We'll just take it one week at a time and see how things go!

Nothing to report this week except that I found a free blouse pattern that I really want to make!  I just added it to the always growing sewing list!

Bible Study:  I completed and posted lesson 22 in our ladies Bible study on Esther.  It can be found HERE.  

I also download the Bible memory verse app, Verse Locker to help me memorize scripture.  My hubby learned of this app from a friend of his.  Part of the Proverbs study that I'm doing involves memorizing Scripture and I think this app will help.  So far, we're memorizing Proverbs 1:7 and Proverbs 23:17.  I've got the first one memorized and am working on the second.

In the Herb Garden:  I pulled Stevia seeds from my seed bucket and read up on the best time to plant, which is after our last frost date, the first part of April.  I used to grow stevia and want to start doing it again.

In the Flower Garden: still waiting on that 'warm enough weather' to plant the seeds.  It won't be much longer! 

Continuing Education/Skills:  I'm working on my herbal education again.  This week I did further research on nettles, mullein and detoxing the body through the use of herbal teas.  Nettles are known for helping with allergies (I'm currently enjoying a small amount in my morning kefir smoothie.), mullein is known as a respiratory aid and of course detoxing the body helps the liver.

Also, I continue to collect herbal tea recipes and add to my list of herbs I need/want to grow for those teas.

This week’s frugal quote/discussion topic … Frugality doesn't happen without effort.  What are your thoughts?

That’s it for this week, what has your week looked like? 

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

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

Sharing 44 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine, where I share my love for God and His Word through my personal Bibe study.  Physical preparedness is important, but not near as important as spiritual preparedness.  Ladies, join me over at From This Heart of Mine and study God's Word with me.

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

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. 

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Use It Up Food Challenge: 3/17/24

 What is a 'Use It Up Food' challenge?

 It's about food waste or more specifically not wasting food ...

 It's about repurposing our leftovers into another dish,

 It's about using every part of fruits and vegetables,

 It's about using up the really small amounts of food ...

It's about using up food scraps, peels and stems ...

It's about being mindful of every bit of food that comes in and through our kitchens and finding a use for it ... all of it!

That's our purpose for this series, so, how did we do this week?

It started with about a half of loaf of potato flake sourdough bread that needed to be used ...


I sliced it into about half inch slices ...


and then cut it into cubes for croutons ...


next, I sprinkled the following seasonings over the 4 cups of bread cubes along with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and mixed gently in a bowl ... 

(all measurements are approximate)

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons ground up Italian seasoning 

(I used a grinder like this one to grind up the Italian seasoning.)


I spread the mixture on a dehydrator sheet over a tray and placed them in the dehydrator at 110 degrees for about an hour.  You can also dry them in a flat pan in a 350-degree oven for approximately 15 minutes.


Here they are ... I'm letting them cool completely before adding a lid.  

(These will be a nice addition to the salad greens that are just about ready to start harvesting from my garden.)

Yet one more thing, I can add to the list of things I can make instead of buy and it started with a half loaf of sourdough bread that needed to be used!

What leftover, bits and bobs, etc of food did you use up this week?

With this post, our Use It Up Food Challenge is going away until later in the year.  Gardening season is in full swing in our area which means I need to clear my schedule.  I will continue to write my Hunkering Down posts on Fridays and my A Journal of My Days posts on Mondays, but for now our Use It Up Food Challenge is going to be paused.  I hope you understand.

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

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

Sharing 44 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

 Instagram link!

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine, where I share my love for God and His Word through my personal Bibe study.  Physical preparedness is important, but not near as important as spiritual preparedness.  Ladies, join me over at From This Heart of Mine and study God's Word with me.

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

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. 

Friday, March 15, 2024

Hunkering Down in 2024: Week #11

This was week two in our month of 'relaxing' our intensity of hunkering down and it has been a quiet week in our home.   We've kept it simple ...

We did a small stock up on some pantry basics at Sam's Club still staying well within our budgeted amount. 

We paid the bills that were due this week thanking God that we were able to do so.  So many are struggling to keep their bills paid.  We are hearing of layoffs far and near which increases my desire to continue to learn to live off less and less, save more and get out of debt. 

Learning to live off of less money is where my focus is right now.  Every little and big thing I can eliminate from our budget or figure out a less expensive way to do moves us closer to that goal and gives me a greater sense of security in these unsettled economic times.

We had an errand to run in town yesterday and while there attempted to do some bargain shopping.  I have never seen such high-priced bargain prices! (I spent a little over $11.00 on bargains, total.)  Another thing that I and my hubby noticed was that the shelves in all three of the grocery stores we stopped in at were nowhere near their full capacity.    I don't know if they are intentionally keeping low inventory on hand or if they are having supply issues.  This is what we observed this week in our area, maybe it's different in other areas.

I made more bread and crackers this week, which means we didn't need to purchase them at the store.  When I bake, I make enough to freeze for future use as well so that lack of time doesn't get in the way of saving money.  

You want to hear something surprising ... I miss the intentional hard-core hunkering down we did in January and February.   I liked not shopping ...!!!  I liked not having to navigate the stores!  I'm looking forward to the second week in April when we will once again go back to our hard-core hunkering down with the goal of continuing to build our savings and work on our remaining debt.  When the option of spending money is off the table, I find that I'm more creative in my cooking and in making do.  I hope all this rambling makes sense!

How did you do last week, I can't wait to read your comments!

One more thing, the next lesson in our ladies Bible study on the book of Esther, lesson 22, has been posted HERE.

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

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

Sharing 44 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine, where I share my love for God and His Word through my personal Bibe study.  Physical preparedness is important, but not near as important as spiritual preparedness.  Ladies, join me over at From This Heart of Mine and study God's Word with me.

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

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.

Monday, March 11, 2024

A Journal of My Days 2024: 3/11

A Journal of My Days 2024: 3/11

The theme for this year is “Laser focused, hunkered down and spending as little money as possible.” 

(picture:  an iris in my front yard.)

Let’s see how we did this week …

In the Vegetable Garden:  I planted storage onions and the last of the potatoes.  I staggered the planting of our potatoes this year so that they wouldn't all be ready to harvest at the same time.

I also planted cabbage and broccoli along with spring onions.  This finishes up our early spring planting.

Towards the end of March and the first half of April, we will do our 'Spring' planting which will include things like tomatoes, beans, squashes, okra, FLOWERS, etc.

In the Kitchen:   I made what is becoming a weekly baking of sourdough crackers.  Both of us enjoy them and they are so convenient to just reach in the jar and grab a few for a quick snack.  They're really good with some kefir cheese spread on top too!

A quick meal I threw together from my pantry one night was:

Home-canned pulled pork  (I opened the jar, dumped it in a pot and heated it up.  I brought it to a boil and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, drained it and added BBQ sauce.)

Purple hull peas (I opened a jar, dumped into a pot, brought them to a boil and let them simmer for about 10 minutes.  I set out a jar of home-canned pepper relish to be served with the peas.)

Fried pears  (I opened a jar, drained them into a skillet, added a sweetener and fried them up in butter until they were caramelized.)

It was easy to prepare and quite delicious!

In the Pantry:  My preserving day this week was on Monday, and I harvested the second cutting of nettles and parsley for the year.  I used the dehydrator this time to dry them as it's too warm to have the wood stove burning.  (Our high on Monday was 74, on Tuesday it was 78.)  (pictured:  nettles)

I also harvested tarragon.

My nettles have really taken off and I'm doing my best to harvest them as often as possible.  The early spring cuttings are the most potent and I want to collect as many of them as I can.

Health/Fitness:  I had gotten slack with my exercising due to my fall and was using it as an excuse long after it should have been used as an excuse, if you know what I mean.  None of this health and fitness stuff comes easy for me which means I really have to set some hard and fast rules to help keep myself in line with my goals.  You know the mindset I’m talking about; I want health and fitness, but I don’t want to do the work kind of thing!  This week I reset myself to the goal of getting in 10,000 steps per day.  This is what it looked like …  (Sunday is my day off, so it’s not listed in the daily goals.)

Monday:  13,652 steps

Tuesday:  10,000 steps

Wednesday: 10,011 steps

Thursday:  10,260 steps

Friday:  13,677 steps

Saturday:  10,000

I have to be honest and tell you that my heart was not in exercising this week ... but I pushed through anyway and every single time I was so glad afterwards that I had!  Sometimes, it's a mind over matter issue and that's what it was for me this week!

I read this quote yesterday, and it describes my week in regard to my health and fitness:  

"You have to be determined to stay motivated and remain dedicated to get to your destination."

I wrote it in my fitness journal!  Enough said!

Thrifting, Bargain, and/or Loss Leader Shopping:  We found 1-pound rolls of sausage on markdown from $5.29 to $3.11 each.   I can remember a time not too long ago that I would never have paid $3.11 for a pound of sausage ... now it's a 'clearance/markdown' price!  I also found marked down overripe bananas for $.32/lb.

We went to three different stores looking for bargains and found so very few. In almost every 'mark-down' price, it was still more than we could afford to pay.  There were 3 ladies, who were not together, but were behind us in one store shopping for bargains as well.  We all struck up a conversation on food prices, people are really struggling with being able to afford to buy food.  One of the ladies, she looked to be in her late 70's, early 80's, quite emphatically told us all that we were headed for a depression.  It was quite the interesting conversation and was a glimpse of the heart of people everywhere who are struggling in this economy.

Needless to say, hubby and I left the stores today with a clearer view of why we do what we do, garden, stretch, save, sacrifice and keep on keeping on.  At one point in the store, we looked at each other and hubby said, 'how do people afford to eat?' My reply was, "I don't know, but I think I'm more determined than ever to keep researching, learning and doing what we do!"

I really want us here at A Working Pantry to share and help each other as much as possible navigate these difficult times.  We can do that by sharing what we're doing to save and stretch and not waste what we have.  I so appreciate those who do that through commenting.  I learn from each of you as I hope you learn from me.  

From my Sewing Nook:   I'm going to leave this here as a category, but truthfully, now that gardening season has started, there will be little time for sewing.  We'll just take it one week at a time and see how things go!

I do have this to report which is sewing related.  I had some money left on a Hobby Lobby gift card I got for Christmas so stopped in at one while running errands on day and found some marked down fabric from $6.99 to $2.00 per yard.  I checked it thoroughly, it was a tightly woven, thick fabric that felt like decent quality, so I purchased it.  I have in mind a nice summer skirt made out of it ... if I can find the time.

What I’m Reading: I started reading Prairie Fires, the American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser.  I’ve had this book requested for several months and have been patiently waiting for my turn via the Libby app to read it.  It came this week and I’ve been enjoying it very much.  It only has 1,341 pages, which means I need to be diligent about getting it read in my time allotment (21 days) as there are others waiting for me to finish.

Bible Study:  I completed and posted lesson 21 in our ladies Bible study on Esther.  It can be found HERE.  There are 2 more lessons in this study and then we’ll be ready to move on to something else.

I started a 12-week in-depth study on the book of Proverbs being taught online by the ladies at Come Fill Your Cup.  I learned several things in the introductory lesson last week that I didn't know and worked on one part of the homework which was to memorize Proverbs 1:7 ... The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.  I do love an in-depth Bible study that uses the Bible as it's textbook.

Continuing Education and Skills:  I learned how to make kefir cheese this week.  You can read about how I did it HERE.

In the Herb Garden:  I transplanted some nettles to a new location.  The goal is to have them growing in several places so that if one spot dies off, I still have others.

I spied new baby elderberry bushes coming up (pictured)!

In the Flower Garden: still waiting on that 'warm enough weather' to plant the seeds.

This week’s frugal quote/discussion topic … For a lot of people, it's becoming a real challenge to stay out of debt because of continued rising prices, what are your thoughts?

That’s it for this week, what has your week looked like?  What are your thoughts?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

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

Sharing 44 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine, where I share my love for God and His Word through my personal Bibe study.  Physical preparedness is important, but not near as important as spiritual preparedness.  Ladies, join me over at From This Heart of Mine and study God's Word with me.

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

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. 

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Use It Up Food Challenge: 3/10/24

 What is a 'Use It Up Food' challenge?

 It's about food waste or more specifically not wasting food ...

 It's about repurposing our leftovers into another dish,

 It's about using every part of fruits and vegetables,

 It's about using up the really small amounts of food ...

It's about using up food scraps, peels and stems ...

It's about being mindful of every bit of food that comes in and through our kitchens and finding a use for it ... all of it!

That's our purpose for this series, so, how did we do this week?

I used all the marked down bananas I had in my freezer and needed to restock.  The problem is finding them, I don't pay full price for banana's, I just don't.  Instead, I look for the overripe, marked down ones.  The problem is that they are getting harder and harder to find.

Hubby and I went bargain shopping this week in a nearby local town with marked down bananas at the top of my list.  The first store we visited didn't have any, the second store did, but the third store did not.   

Here's what we found and what we did with every part ...


We paid $.32/lb for these 'overripe' bananas.  The white tape around them signifies that they are marked down.  The organic bananas also are wrapped in a white tape, but it looks different.  We have to be careful at check-out that we get charged the price for the non-organic marked down bananas and not the organic ones.  There is quite a difference in the price per pound.  We learned the hard way to make sure the person at the check-out knows the difference.


I peeled each banana ...


After peeling each banana and cutting them in half, I placed them on this sheet pan to flash freeze in the freezer for 24 hours.

After the 24 hours are up and they are completely frozen through and through, they are packaged into freezer bags and added to the freezer.  I use them mostly in smoothies and if we get a hankering for banana bread, I'll pull out enough to thaw and make the bread.


Meanwhile, I had a pile of banana peels to do something with ... I chose to make potassium fertilizer water for use in watering my garden plants.  This is a great fertilizer for tomatoes, peppers and roses to name a few.

I simply put the peels in this 5-gallon bucket and covered them with water.  Next, I put something over the top of it to keep critters from getting into it while we wait.

When the peels turn black and the water darkens, the potassium fertilizer water is ready.  This can take several days, sometimes weeks depending on the weather.

The spent banana peels will then be added to the compost.

Yes, we used every part of these bananas!  No part went to waste!

Waste not, want not!

What leftover, bits and bobs, etc of food did you use up this week?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

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

Sharing 44 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

 Instagram link!

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine, where I share my love for God and His Word through my personal Bibe study.  Physical preparedness is important, but not near as important as spiritual preparedness.  Ladies, join me over at From This Heart of Mine and study God's Word with me.

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

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.