33 lbs of tomatoes makes 15 pints of spaghetti sauce

I really wanted to can my own spaghetti sauce this season, so I looked and looked for the best price I could get on tomatoes and then got to work. (BTW at WinCo I got tomatoes on the vine for .78 cents a pound! WOOHOOO) I couldn’t find a canning recipe that sounded just what I wanted. I had made one batch before this, but the directions called for coring the tomatoes too and I only got 4 pints out of it. So after researching on the internet and tweaking the recipe a tiny bit …. I made this! WONDERFUL!

I blanched the tomatoes and tossed them in ice water and pealed them (took two hours to do 33 pounds!) then I cut out the blossom end, cut them in half and squeezed out the juice and put them in a bowl.

Take a whole white onion (big) chop it up small and then cook in a bit of olive oil until translucent or golden brown, add them to your tomato mixture.

Then I put them on the stove, to cook off some of the excess moister and by cooking and stirring the tomatoes break up into a sauce (if its not go ahead and use your potato masher) When you like the consistency of your sauce, then add the spices and don’t forget to add lemon juice to raise the acidy if you are going to can in the water bath …. If you are pressures canning you don’t need to add the lemon juice. If you add meat to your sauce it HAS to be pressure canned, so if you don’t have a pressure canner and want to have meat in your sauce just cook it up that day and add it to the sauce when you heat it up on the stove.

Scoop into your sterilized jars and leave about ½ inch headspace. Water bath for 30 mins (adjusting for your altitude – I have to add 10 mins to everything I can)

We also made a home made pizza dough and then made a pizza with this sauce, YUMM!

Banana Carrot Muffins YUM!

Well I am trying to save money by making things from scratch and not mixes. I am also trying to cut out unnecessary ingredients and dyes. Well that had lead me on a search for more yummy recipes! This one is a HUGE hit with the family! It takes some prep, like buy the bananas a week early so they are nice and brown when you are ready to use them. Also I get carrots on sale and buy a lot and then just spend an hour or so shredding them and putting them into plastic baggies and freezing them for later. But that is the two most time consuming parts of this recipe!

2 C white whole wheat flour or sprouted wheat flour.
1 t Baking Soda
½ t salt
½ t ground cinnamon
1 ¼ cups mashed bananas
1 C brown sugar
¼ C veg. oil
2 eggs
1 C finely grated carrots
½ C chopped pecans.

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Lightly grease pan or use muffin tins

Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and set aside.

I a large mixing bowl combine the Banana’s, sugar, oil and eggs. Beat at Med speed. Stir in dry ingredients, then fold in carrots and nuts. Fill into muffin tins and bake for 25 to 28 mins.

Cool on rack, makes 12 muffins!

Canning You Should Do it too!

OK to be very honest I never ever had the intension of canning, nor did really know that much about it. Well in the last year we moved from sunny southern California (in the big city of LA) to a small town in Idaho. Let’s just say … social complexities changed. Here it’s a way of life to can. There is even a season to do it! WHO KNEW?

Well it sounded like a good idea and almost all of my new friends canned something in some way or another. So I decided to give it ago too. And staying true to my own form … I went all out. I got a recipe book and read it almost from cover to cover. I hopped on line to learn even more. I started watching YouTube videos to watch people can. I was hooked.

And as I was canning this season I had a lot of my friends on my FB page say, well you don’t have a garden so you really aren’t saving that much money. But that type of comment got me to thinking. True … this year was expensive because I had to buy everything! But I did get better then supermarket prices when I bought straight from the famers, and I was supporting a farm directly. I felt good about that. And I got to talk to the person who grew the food I was feeding my family. I liked that. Then when I prepared the food and canned it myself I know (and can pronounce) every ingredient that went into my food AND I know what it does. I LOVED that.

I am trying to feed my family healthier foods. That is my main goal. Second is to cut out all unnecessary non food items in our food. My husband jokes “there is no food in my food” and that scares me! And saving money really is kind of fare down on the list. I will admit it is a necessity in our family finances to save money. But by this years canning extravaganza, I have learned a lot that I would not know if I hadn’t been researching the canning.

I have a few farmers I can go to next year, for different foods. I found out my dad has a couple of very expensive pickling crocks, so next year we will preserve some pickles too! I found a place where we can rent land for the growing season, and we will have our own garden too next year. Next year, we WILL be saving a lot of money, and having the taste of summer all winter long.

So, yes I think you should can. Support local growers, and know what is in the food you are feeding your family. I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I open my pantry doors and see all the food I canned. I feel good when my family eats it because I KNOW it isn’t bad for them. And yes, I will be saving money too.…. Next year!

Homemade Freezer Jam!

OK I wanted to get into canning and then heard that I can’t can on my ceramic/glass top range. They were wrong I can can. (haahaa I said cancan), I just have to use special pots and be careful about it. Anyways before I figured that out, I heard about freezer jam and decided to give it a try so I could do something with the fresh fruit this time of year and save some cash! Here is the result!

I first made blueberry freezer Jam. Then my family and I went out and gathered WILD huckleberries!! It was so much fun! They are smaller then blueberries so we didn’t get much. My husband and I put ours in a bag, our 4 year old picked and dropped about half of what she picked and our 1 year old didn’t see then need for putting them in a bag since his mouth was so much closer! LOL ….

Anyways huckleberries are much smaller then blueberries so I didn’t have enough for a recipe and didn’t know what to do. Everyone up here said mix them with raspberries to make jam. So I did! Actually I ran out of raspberries so had to add a few strawberries too!

And this morning I made strawberries freezer jam! I put some bread in the bread maker and we will be eating fresh bread and jam this afternoon!

I use Sure Jell in the Yellow box, freezer Jam recipe is inside for a bunch of different fruits. Make sure the containers you use are freezer safe. Really for most fruit all you need is the fruit, sugar, pectin (the powder inside the Sure Jell box) and some water and freezer safe container to put it in. Note that freezer jam is a bit more runny then store bought jam. Also I would put it into smaller jars the freezer jam is good up to a year in the freezer but once you thaw it and put it in the fridge it needs to be eaten in 3 weeks. Mine wont last that long ….. we will eat it before then!

Buying the stuff to start making freezer jam did cost a bit, but now that I have the things I need … its just the cost of the fruit, pectin, and the sugar and if you grow your own garden its just the sugar and the pectin!

Make Your Own Laundry Soap

It cost about 50% less! Some of my friends were doing this and I was doubtful, but gave it a try anyways. I love it! I made the powdered detergent and fabric sheet replacement. I love that I am helping leave a smaller carbon footprint and helping the environment while saving money!

Powdered Laundry Detergent
1 Fels-Naptha bar of soap
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax

Cut the soap into small bits (its soft so not hard to do) then put it into a food processor until powdered (it doesn’t get quite powdered but close) then put the Fels-Naptha, Arm & Hammer and Borax into a plastic container (that has a lid) and mix thoroughly.

1 tablespoon of powdered soap per load.

Cost:
Fels-Naptha bar $0.97
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda $3.24
Borax $3.36
Plastic box with lid that snaps shut $4.67

You can use other bars of soap I have heard of Ivory but I have also been told that any soap that isn’t heavily scented.

Liquid Laundry Soap
(I have not tried this, but it is what my friends like making)
* also I have been told this one is even cheaper then the powdered version! : )

4 Cups hot water
1 Fels-Naptha Soap Bar
1 Cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax
*some of my friends add a scent to there laundry 10-15 drops of your fav essential oil

Grate bar soap and add to saucepan with water, melt and stir constantly until completely dissolved. Put in a 5 galloon bucket and then fill with hot tap water to the top. Stir well, cover and let sit overnight (it will get thick). Stir again the next day, fill a used laundry soap dispenser half full of the soap you made, then fill the rest of the container with hot tap water. Shake really well before each use. Will make 10 gallons, once you keep refilling the dispenser bottle with more water each time.

Top Loading Machines use 5/8 cup per load
Front Loading machines use ¼ cup per load

Dryer Sheet replacement Fabric Softener
1 container of Fabric Softener (I used Arm and Hammer Free liquid Fabric Softener)
2 sponges cut in half

Pour all of the liquid fabric softener in about 5 gallon bucket (something with a lid) and refill the liquid fabric softener bottle two times with water adding it to your bucket. Toss the sponges in to soak it up! For each dryer load, pick out a sponge wring it out and toss into with the wet clothes in the dryer.

Cost
Package of 2 sponges $3.08
Arm and Hammer Free liquid Fabric Softener $3.97

Stain removal methods:

#1 Fels-Naptha
Get an old (clean) pickle jar with lid. Put the bar of soap in the jar and then fill the jar with hot tap water to the top. Let sit awhile. When you have a stain open the jar, use hand to scoop out some of the soften soap/water and place on stain before washing, folds the stain in half and rub against other side of the material vigorously and washing under running water. Repeat until clean then toss in washing machine as normal.

I realize this is more work then just spray, toss in the wash and forget about it, but remember this is saving money AND the planet …. My mother, grandmother and great grandmother all used this. For awhile I was lazy, but now I am going back to a family tradition.

#2 White Vinegar
Just toss in a cup with a load of laundry – I do it every with almost every load. Helps keep all your clothes fresh AND it has the added benefit helping to keep your washing machine and hoses clean. And that saves you $ in the long run you will get more life out of your washing machine!

Dave Ramsey

About 2 weeks ago a friend of mine told me about Dave Ramsey and how she and her husband listened to him and are following his instructions to finical freedom! I was a bit skeptic but got a used book of his on eBay, because we NEED a finical makeover. I am half way threw the book “The Total Money Makeover” the revised and updated edition. I have also started listening to his show that (LA, CA) is on 11am – 2pm on AM 890. I am on the program!

He has steps that you take to get to where you need to be. And he talks to you in plain simple language. It is just what I needed to hear and the way I needed to hear it. I knew we were not doing well finically, I have a budget and it doesn’t pay for everything we need (or think we need).

We seriously don’t have any money to waist. We are paycheck to paycheck. I don’t do the coupons because I want to save money – I do it because we can’t afford enough food to feed our family without. However, after listening and reading his work. There are a few things I can do that I hadn’t wanted to do before. It’s going to be many years of sacrifice for us. It won’t be a lot of fun for a couple of years. But I want a better future for our family – so for today we will sacrifice to get the future eventually!

#1 thing I didn’t want to give up. I JUST got a short hairstyle and I LOVE IT. I look great! I have had long hair forever and my husband would trim it for me. As of yesterday I decided to grow my hair out again, and have my husband trim it for me when I need it. Also I was going to take my kids to have there hair professionally cut. Last night my husband and I cut our own kids hair, saving that money too.

Another thing he recommended is sell what you have, say it’s a car that you owe on, buy a car with cash with no payment, well we don’t have anything like that we can sell. BUT we can sell off a lot of our stuff. This comes at a good time for us too. We are renting a 3 bedroom house and the owners are going to sell it – we are getting an AWESOME deal on this house, and I am having a hard time finding a 2 bedroom apartment for the same price we are paying. And honestly – we can’t afford this, we really need to go down in rent about $300 a month! YIEKS! So we will for sure be moving into a smaller place – now is the time for us to sell off our stuff. Everything we can, and start our lives over.

Even if you think you are in good finical standing. PLEASE read this book. If you owe on anything, including your house … read this book. And if you are debt free (congratulations!) read it anyways cause that is only the first few steps - getting debt free, after that he will teach the best ways to invest that money for finical security in the future, life insurance, where to invest, where to save and he is a big propend of giving to those in need.

Creating My First Real Budget #4

Do You Really Need it New?

Do you really need that new? All the pictures above are the pictures I saw on Craigs List to buy our furniture. Cash - no buying on time ..... You really don't need to by brand new items all the time.

Check out local thrift stores for the kids school and play clothes - I have even found great church/special occasion dresses for my girls. You need a new couch? Check out a thrift store or your local craigs list. If you live in a small town, check the nearest big city craigs list, you can always drive in and pick it up! (be safe and smart when meeting and buying/selling on Craigs List!) And lets not forget eBay! I get ALOT of my clothes on eBay because its hard to find plus sized clothing in thrift stores and the plus sized clothing stores are so expensive!

Also check you nearest Ross, TJ Maxx and Marshal's - you can have brand new clothing for a fraction of the cost! Just to show you how much new stuff you dont need, here is a list of all the things in my house that is craig listed or second hand. (some of which can be seen above)

Matching blue couch and love seat craigs list both for $125, Flat Screen HDTV - free from a friend, vintage wooden credenza to put TV on $40 on Craigs List, China Hutch $60 Criags List, Oak dinning room 8 seater Table with 6 chairs and matching Hutch CL$250, 2 matching retro green side chairs $40 for both. Retro rug CL $25, Cal King Bed - Free from a friend only used 2 years! Both kids dresser brand new free from a friend (they match), Serging Table CL $50, Vintage Wood Sewing Table CL $50, HUGE Tall Bookcases (the white ones in the front room) CL $50 each, Portable Dishwasher - free from a friend who was moving. Awesome 2 round hanging lights - free from a guy in CL I bought something else off him, I saw that and mentioned they were cool and he gave them to me, Trampoline CL $30 (brand new in box - looked online and it would have cost $240 online). - That is all I can think of right now But I know there is more!

I share all this - to show you, you can do it. My house does not look like second hand furniture, it all looks very nice. Just take your time and have cash (a set amount) ready and wait till what you want shows up ....

Items I always buy new ... Underwear, socks, swimsuit sheets and towels (new but NEVER full price! heeheehee)

A word of caution! Internet shopping is good because you can look around and get exactly what you want and really check out the whole world! Be cautious and don't buy buy buy cause you like it. Start looking for something at a set price. Then buy only it. Don't run across something you never new existed before and suddenly need it! When I eBay I either BIN (Buy It Now) or I snipe the auction, so I set an amount that is the most I am willing to pay and then forget about it, until I get an email from the snipper program saying I won or lost!

And here is an idea ... if you owe a lot of money on your stuff .... can you make back what you owe by selling it, then finding something super cheep you can pay for in cash? Because you NEED to get out of debt! Good luck and happy shopping!

Creating My First Real Budget Step #3

The next thing I started to look at was our grocery bill. What can I do to make that money go further? I started looking at the weekly adds and then I bought only what the stores had on sale. I usually did pretty good. Then I started buying a paper for its coupons and I would use then from an envelope - I had a shopping list and I stuck to it. (that helped with spur of the moment purchases on things like chips or snacks when you are hungry/shopping) As I have mentioned before - I read the book from "Coupon Mom" and really started to learn how to make coupons work. I am still not an expert - but I never pay full price. My goal is saving 50% on EVERY shopping trip!

The food bill will never go away, but you can make it go further or reduce it (if you family already has enough food). I know people who say "we can afford food and I just dont have the time to do coupons" Ok that is their choice, but no matter how much money you earn, you can always put some away for a rainy day. And if you even dont need to do that - here's an idea .... clip coupons and all the money you save, donate that to someone less fortunate then you are!