A Journal of My Days: 10/7/24

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

We're talking gardening, bargain shopping and pantry building and how we utilize all three to keep us fed and cared for without breaking the bank!

In the garden:  I've been working on laying the garden to bed for winter, cleaning out containers and harvesting a few more peppers.  I harvested some rosemary too, if all goes well, I should be able to get another harvest of several herbs before they die back for the winter.

In the kitchen:  I'm working on setting up a weekly routine of making all my dairy items such as yogurt, kefir and any other dairy related items we use all on one day.

I need to set aside another day to do our baking and making snacks for the week.

I'm going to try Monday as my dairy day and Thursday for my baking day.  I'm going to give this schedule a try for a couple of weeks and see if it fits our lifestyle.  

Do you have a specific day during the week when you bake or is it as needed?

If this works, my weekly routine will look like the following:

Monday - Dairy and menu planning

Tuesday - Flex Day (I can either play catch-up if I get behind or reschedule something from another day to this day.  Example:  if I have an appointment on one of the other days, I can move that day's routine to Tuesday.)

Wednesday - Sewing and Mending

Thursday - Baking Day

Friday - Laundry

I have another routine schedule for housework.  I just do better with routines ... but that's just me!

Thrifting, bargain, and/or loss leader shopping at the grocery store, farmers market, etc:  None this week!

In the Pantry:  I dehydrated bananas and cinnamon flavored bananas.  I'll use these for snacking and or for smoothies.  These little flavorful chips are delicious as a snack!  

(picture:  dehydrated apples (on the left) and dehydrated bananas (on the right).

I'm working on a list of things to can or preserve throughout the winter months.  Here are some things I've got on October's preserving list:

Apples ... I'm working on finishing these up.  I've dehydrated lots of apple slices and this week I want to use the rest of the apples up in canning apple pie filling.  I like to use this filling to make quick apple pies and apple crisps.

For the apple pies I dump a jar of pie filling into a pie crust and make a crumble topping for it.  Here's the crumple topping I use ...

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar (can be a combination of brown and white)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup butter chilled and cubed

Mix well into crumbles and distribute over top of pie.

Bake pie at 350 degrees until bubbly and topping is golden, usually around 45 minutes

For the apple crisp, I dump a jar of apple pie filling into a buttered baking dish and distribute evenly the following topping over the top ...

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup oats

2 sticks butter, chilled and cubed

Bake crisp at 350 degrees until bubbly and topping is golden, usually around 30 - 45 minutes.

For the preserving part of the medicinal part of my pantry for October, my list looks like this:

Cider fire ... this is in the 'making' stage

Elderberry syrup

Honey garlic ... this is in the 'making' stage

Before we leave the 'pantry' part of this post, I've been asked to address the issue of expiration and best buy dates on food products from the store.  Of course, it's going to depend on what it is, but I always take each item on a one-on-one basis.  If it's a canned item past its expiration date or best buy date, I look at the can.  Is it bulging, is it dented, if it's not, I'll move it to the front of the pantry to be used the next time I need that item.  If it's a boxed item, I check it for any signs of insects.  If it has a 'mixed' powder package inside, I'll check it for rips, tears or any evidence of it having been permeated by said insects.  If the boxed item has been compromised by insects, then it becomes animal food.  If not, and it's past its expiration date or best buy date, I'll just move it to the front of the pantry where it can be used next.  Honestly, I just use common sense, when the expiration or best by date comes and goes, it doesn't mean the product needs to be discarded.  It just means that it needs to be checked for any signs that would indicate the product was no longer safe to eat.   Of course, with all food products, if in doubt, throw it out!  I hope this helps.

If there are pantry related issues you would like me to address, just let me know what you're wondering about.  I was raised by a food preserver and have been preserving my own family's food for 44 plus years.  I have lots of experience to draw on ... that's not to say I know everything; I do not and of course we never stop learning how to preserve our food better.  But I'm happy to share from my life experience of preserving food and keeping a well-stocked pantry.  Just asked, there's no stupid question!

Here's another question I got, this time on headlamps.  A reader wanted to know what headlamps I recommended.

I've included a picture of one of our favorites and is one that has lasted for several years.  I went to Amazon to see if they had it, they did not have this exact one but one similar.  I was shocked at the price though, so please shop around.  We did not pay anywhere near that much.  I'm sure there are others out there that are just as good, and cost less so be wise in and frugal in your shopping.  Here's the link to the one that is similar.

I've also been asked to do some writing on weather related preparedness, sadly I have lots of experience in this area as well and have written a lot about it in the past.  If this is something you would like to see me write about again, please let me know.  There seems to be an abundance of preparedness info out there, but if there's enough interest, I can give you my perspective from the point of view of someone who has lived it, more than once.

In other news:

Every year I look forward to Cath Armstrongs 'Own Your Christmas' challenge from The Cheapskate Club.  It began this week, so I pulled out my Christmas notebook and got started.  (I've used this notebook for several Christmas'.  It's a big help to have info on what we did and gave for Christmas' past all-in-one place.)

(pictured:  my Christmas notebook where I keep all things pertaining Christmas all in one place. Those different colored tabs on the side separate years.)

Here's what my week #1 Christmas prep looks like:

Make gift list and divide into 8 parts

Make Christmas card list and divide into 8 parts

Make a list of ingredients and or materials needed to make any handmade gifts

Budget to pay cash for everything

Are you thinking about and preparing for the holidays yet?

In our Winter Preps Challenge I took a quick inventory of our winter wear.  For myself the only thing I needed was a new winter coat.  I found what I had in mind for less money than I was expecting to have to spend, so that was a win!

Lesson one in our study on Martha in our Thursday ladies Bible class has been posted HERE.

In case you missed my 'Mornings' with Me' post this week, you can find it here ...

Mornings with Me: 10/3/24

That's it for me 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 

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