HUGE sale on real-food cooking resources!

Everything you need to know for real-food cooking!

TODAY begins a short window of opportunity for you to get seventeen real-food cookbooks that contain over 800 recipes--enough for you to make a new one every day for over two years! These books contain resources that will help you make main dishes, sides, desserts, smoothies, condiments, and more: all with ingredients you'll feel good about feeding your family.

Disclaimer: this post contains my affiliate links. If you purchase the cookbook bundle via my blog I will make a percentage of each sale. THANK YOU for supporting Living in the Light!

The value of all these cookbooks is over $150.

But in this bundle you'll get all of them for less than $15!!

My new cookbook, Real Food for the Real Homemaker, is included in this bundle. Normally it's $12.95. In this bundle you'll get it for 90% off, and the same goes for the other sixteen books! In essence, you're getting sixteen books for a total of $2. For resources this valuable, that's an incredible deal.

(If you've already bought our book, get the bundle anyway. It's still an amazing deal. Then you'll have a spare copy of the cookbook to give as a gift!)

There are a couple books in particular in this collection that I am really excited about. One is Cooking with Coconut Oil. From author Jennifer Saleem:

Are you new to coconut oil and looking for creative recipes that feature this amazing oil? Have you been using coconut oil in your cooking for years but need some new recipe inspiration? Are you simply looking for creative ways to sneak more coconut oil into your diet? Cooking With Coconut Oil is the answer to all this and more! This book is not only packed full of simple, delicious, family friendly-recipes, it also contains a wealth of information about coconut oil and other nutrient dense ingredients (27 pages to be exact). The best part? It is compatible with gluten free, grain free, dairy free, and vegetarian lifestyles.

I absolutely LOVE coconut oil, and I'm looking forward to perusing this cookbook for new ideas and ways to use it!

Design a Dish is another book that will be perfect for me. Author Millie Copper says,

In Design a Dish, I share how to use formulas rather than recipes to design dishes with the ingredients that are available so that you can reduce food waste and save money! Once you start using formulas for your meals you will discover just how easy it is to nourish your family for less! 

Does this sound like me or what?!? I'm so bad at following recipes... but with this book, I won't be expected to. This is exactly what I need to increase my cooking and making-up-recipe skills!

Finally, I'm psyched to use Real Food, Real Easy by Angela Montgomery. Angela wrote this about her book:

Real Food, Real Easy, Cook Once Eat Three Times focuses on four different pantry staples that are healthy and fast! They are Oatmeal, Black Beans, Rice and Quinoa. Each of these are nutritional powerhouses that you can feel good about feeding to your family. The key to making things easy is cooking the pantry staple ahead of time and using it in several different recipes!  

I already use oatmeal, black beans and rice a LOT, but boy do I need ideas for more ways to use them-- and I definitely need to learn how to use quinoa (I have some sitting in my pantry just begging to be made delicious)! Can't wait to put the ideas in this book to good use.

Okay, if I haven't convinced you yet, go to this post for more information about the bundle! These are just three of seventeen books that you'll put to good use! A lot of them include paleo, gluten-free, sugar-free, and grain-free recipes, so no matter what dietary restrictions you and your family have, you'll be able to use these books!

Remember, this sale only lasts five days: Today (Tuesday the 17th) through Saturday the 21st.

There will be no late sales whatsoever--this is your only chance EVER to get this bundle of books for this deal! Sure, you could buy the books on their own, but you'd pay over $150 for all of them. $15 is just over the price of one of them, so you're getting all the rest for pennies!

Bonus Offers

15% off Real Salt orders. Get healthy, unrefined sea salt delivered to your kitchen.



5% off Wise Choice Market orders over $50. Pick up mineral-rich stock, soaked nut butters and cereals, or even potato chips made with coconut oil.




Simple Natural Health by Nina Nelson of Shalom Mama. Keep your family healthy this winter not only with food, but with homemade remedies.




One month FREE premium membership to Tradishen. Your premier 100% real food recipe and meal planning site.

  

Giveaways

In addition to the already awesome package we have here, one lucky reader is going to get the chance to win a Healthy Surprise box! If your family struggles with snacks, this company offers packages of healthy snacks that are delivered to your door once a month. There are three box sizes with different amounts of snacks in them. These snacks are all allergy-free (top 8), grain-free, vegan, and mostly organic. They're appropriate for almost any family! No purchase necessary to enter.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

 View the FAQ.

If you have any other questions, feel free to comment or email me (see the Contact page).

Disclaimer: this post contains my affiliate links. If you purchase the cookbook bundle via my blog I will make a percentage of each sale. THANK YOU for supporting Living in the Light!

How would you use these cookbooks for your family? I'll share more about the other books later this week!

Company, Chicken Pot Pie, and a Cookbook

So last night we had some very special houseguests.

I'll tell you more about that soon! We love having company, and I love cooking for them. I didn't even do it intentionally, but everything I made for our friends were dishes that are included in Real Food for the Real Homemaker.

That's how great this cookbook is--- it's full of recipes and techniques you will use daily.

For example, last night I made Chicken Pot Pie, and for breakfast this morning we had Banana Bread and Homemade Yogurt. All three of these recipes are in Real Food for the Real Homemaker! Every day I make at least one thing that's included in the cookbook. The recipes I've written are the best, the basics, backbone of my recipe repertoire.

This is a cookbook that you will use daily, too. Here's what a day's worth of meals might look like--

• Breakfast-- Best-Ever Scrambled Eggs, Granola, Yogurt
• Lunch-- Tomato-Cheese Sandwiches, Cucumber Salad
• Supper--Slow-Cooked Pork Chops with Gravy, Salad with Italian Vinaigrette, Strawberry Pie

Not only does the cookbook include recipes that you'll use every day, but it has all sorts of other resources that aren't recipes. Have an abundance of lettuce and veggies from your garden? There's a section with suggestions for making a variety of salads. If you're like me and have twelve pints of cooked beans in your freezer, there's a list of suggestions for meals based on beans.

If you're looking to stock your freezer and pantry with homemade baked goods, we include recipes for tortillas, pancakes, biscuits, and more, that you can bake in large batches and freeze for the convenience of store-bought, prepackaged food.

Plus, you can easily create menu plans like the sample one above, and use the included Excel spreadsheet to automatically create a shopping list from the recipes you plan to make! I am SO excited about this new tool--I'm going to use it constantly!

Because we're fellow homemakers and know that budgets can be tight, we're excited to offer Real Food for the Real Homemaker ON SALE this first week!

After this week the price will return to $12.95, but for this week you can get the book (both PDF AND Kindle versions!), the printable recipe cards, and the Excel meal planner for just $9.99.

If you wanted to get the book on Amazon, it would cost the same for JUST the Kindle version!

Our dream and goal is for this cookbook to be a resource you can use and consult on a regular basis. Don't miss out on the chance to add this to your cookbook collection, especially for such a great deal!

"Experimenting." And the tasty results.

If you know anything about my cooking habits, you know that I love trying new things. I especially love making up new recipes! "Experimenting" is what I call it, and more often than not it ends up working out deliciously.

I made a few new things yesterday and today. Yesterday I made a version of sticky buns. I was making bread, and ended up with enough dough for three loaves. I finally got my bread loaves to rise as high as I wanted them to by simply putting more dough in the pans. I made a recipe for "four loaves," divided it in three, and used two portions to make the bread and one to make the sticky buns.

This is the "recipe" I developed:

Homemade Sticky Buns
Cut one loaf's worth of freshly-made bread dough in 12 portions. Form into rough balls, and place in a well-buttered pie plate. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup brown sugar (or you could use rapadura) and 1/2 cup water until bubbling. Remove syrup from heat and add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 2 tablespoons butter, and 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon. Whisk thoroughly to combine.

Pour cinnamon syrup over dough in the pan (it will run between the balls and end up on the bottom of the pan). Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

To serve, place a large plate upside-down over the pie plate and (using hot mitts) flip the pie plate and serving plate upside down, transferring the rolls to the plate with the syrup ending up on top. Let cool for about 10 minutes; serve warm.

This is from a date night over a year ago, but I love it. Hubby looks a LOT different since he's lost weight! FYI, that's sparkling grape juice in our glasses... that was before my 21st birthday. ;)

Recreate our at-home date night meal!
Tonight my hubby brought steaks for a special date-night supper at home, so I decided to dress up the usual sides a bit. I had ten pints of fresh sweet corn in the freezer (now there are nine), and I basically used this recipe from the Pioneer Woman to make the corn. I used milk, though, because I didn't have cream. It would be better with cream, of course!

I followed these instructions to make the steaks and they turned out quite delicious. Then I made a salad, using fresh peaches and Romaine lettuce we got from Trader Joe's last weekend. Here's that recipe:

Summery Romaine and Peach Salad with Peach Vinaigrette
To make the vinaigrette, combine the following:
1/4 cup peach white balsamic vinegar (or you could use white wine vinegar) Check out this source of peach balsamic. (Not an affiliate link.)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 tsp dry basil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon honey

Mix in a pint jar, cover tightly, and shake until dressing appears creamy. Shake again just before serving.

To make the salad, roughly chop 6-8 leaves of romaine, rinsed. Cut a ripe peach in half, remove the pit, and slice thinly (slices should be about 1/8 inch thick). Finely shred 2-4 tablespoons of your favorite white cheese (I used Monterey Jack). In a medium bowl, toss lettuce, peach slices, and shredded cheese. Drizzle individual servings with vinaigrette.

This meal would be great served with sweet tea or your favorite variety of white wine. I'm plotting a pie for the rest of the peaches--they're all perfectly ripe right now, and I want to use them before they're over-ripe.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm too passionate about good food. Then I realize that being passionate about what we eat is a good thing! Everything in moderation, I promise. I do think about other things!


What have you been eating lately? Tried any new recipes? Created your own? Tell me about it!

Cinnamony French toast, homemade pancake syrup, and take-that-Starbucks

You know those times you try something new in the kitchen and it's a complete flop?

I definitely have experienced that.

Today, however, was not one of those times. Today I tried THREE new things and they ALL worked! I was so excited.

We had French toast for breakfast this morning, one of Joshua's favorites. I love putting cinnamon in the batter that the bread gets dipped in (I REALLY like cinnamon), but usually the cinnamon doesn't mix in and just floats on top. So the first few slices get lots of cinnamon on them and the last few don't get any. Not cool. Today I changed around how I mixed the ingredients for the batter and it worked beautifully!

First, I beat two eggs in a medium bowl. Then I added about 1/4 cup dark brown sugar and beat it again till there weren't any lumps. Next I mixed in about 1/3-1/2 cup plain (homemade) yogurt (I don't usually measure) and beat again till smooth. Then I whisked in 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and it mixed in beautifully! Finally I added 1/2 cup 2% milk (or so), and it was perfect. Usually I mix the eggs and milk first, so it starts out pretty runny. This time the batter was quite thick when I added the cinnamon, so the cinnamon mixed in well. It made amazing French toast!

While I was cooking the French toast I made homemade syrup to go on it. Last night I Googled "homemade pancake syrup" and found this recipe. It was so easy, and it tasted incredible--my husband absolutely loved it. I don't know if we'll quit the store-bought syrup altogether, but we'll definitely be using this pretty often. I added about a teaspoon of butter and a few drops of vanilla extract to the mixture after I took it off the heat, plus a little extra water because it was getting thick. I poured it into a half-pint jar when it was still hot, and it solidified in there pretty quickly as it cooled, but I'll just microwave it before I need to use it again. I know it's still lots of sugar, but at least there aren't any weird ingredients like in store-bought syrup, and NO high fructose corn syrup! Yay!

Finally, I made a homemade chai latte this morning. Yeah, you read that right.

I felt like cinnamony, spicy tea to go with the French toast, and then it hit me: if I can make a latte with coffee and hot milk, why not make a chai latte with tea and hot milk? Duh.

It worked. Really well.

I steeped a chai tea bag in half a mug of boiling water, for quite a while (to get it strong). I added milk to mostly fill the mug and popped the whole thing in the microwave for a minute and a half to heat it up well (you could just steep a chai tea bag in a saucepan of 1 cup milk, too, and forgo the water entirely). The milky tea, a healthy teaspoon of coconut oil, and about 1/2 teaspoon of honey went in the pitcher for my immersion blender and I blended it like I do with my coffee (for about a minute, agitating the blender to incorporate a lot of air into the stuff). I finally realized why it gets such a rich foam: the fat from the coconut oil helps the milk (just 2%) get really foamy and creamy. YUM.

Man, it was good. I'm doing this all the time now, when I don't make a coffee latte. Seriously, who needs Starbucks?!?

I apologize for how long this ended up being, but I hope you go try at least one of these things. I kind of tend to geek out over food. Good food, that is. You won't find me going into raptures over a burger and fries. (Unless, of course, it's a homemade burger, grilled and juicy, with oven-baked fries tossed in olive oil... sorry. I'll stop now.)

Foodie Friday: Whipped Cream and Whole Wheat

Two beautiful things in the world of food.

Whipped cream,
and whole wheat.

Few things are as easy or beautiful to make as whipped cream.
Start with a thick, creamy, white liquid.  The best part of cow's milk.  Proceed to whip the living daylights out of it... with a mixer, hand or stand, unless you have the arm muscles of a body builder.  And in a few minutes, with almost no effort at all, the beautiful liquid turns into a beautiful, fluffy, creamy mass of whipped heaven.  It tops fruit.  Pies.  Cakes.  Or can be eaten with a spoon.  Or dolloped onto a mug of coffee or hot chocolate...where it melts into a rich foam...

I could rhapsodize all day about whipped cream.

Whole wheat (specifically, flour, and the things which contain it) is lovely too, but in a slightly different way.

White whole wheat flour is one of my favorite things to cook with.  I use it in almost all my baked goods.  It makes foods more filling, more flavorful, and better for you.  Honestly, it's really the only flour I buy anymore, except for the occasional bread flour.  It makes wonderful biscuits, works great with chocolate chip cookies, and is fantastic for bread because it's not as heavy as regular whole wheat flour.

I even combined these two things by making whole-wheat shortcakes and topping them with strawberries and whipped cream.

That's something I highly recommend you try now that strawberries are in season (finally, here in the Midwest!).

What foods do you like whose names start with "W"?

Quiche {Foodie Friday}

Fridays are "Foodie Fridays" here at Living in the Light!  If you're new here (especially if you're visiting from the A to Z Challenge)--welcome!!  I'm so happy you're here.  Check out my "About Me" page HERE, some of my favorite posts on marriage HERE, and my two most popular posts HERE and HERE.

One wouldn't think that "Q" would be an easy letter about which to find a topic, but since it landed on Friday, my first thought was "Quiche"!  (I also considered quinoa, but I haven't had much experience cooking with that yet.)

Quiche wasn't something I ate much growing up, but just a few months ago I came across this recipe on Elsie's blog, Back to the Source.  I was inspired.  Here is a dish that is simple to make, requires virtually no measuring (which I rarely do anyway), is extremely adaptable, and can be suited to anyone's taste and refrigerator contents.  Plus, it's a meal in itself, incorporating all the food groups into one dish.  And it doesn't require meat (although that can be added), making it a very frugal meal as well.

Photo credit: Back to the Source

The basic components of quiche are these:

Eggs

Cheese/other dairy

Optional meats

Vegetables

Seasonings

Click HERE for Elsie's "recipe" (the post is titled, "How to Make Quiche Without a Recipe") and specific instructions, as well as mix-in ideas.

Here's how I usually do it:

The pie crust I use is Betty Crocker's recipe, except I use white-whole-wheat flour instead of all-purpose and sometimes coconut oil in place of the shortening.

I use 4-6 eggs, depending on how much of the "other stuff" I want to mix in;
about 1 cup milk;
1-1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (any combination at all, but I usually use cheddar and whatever else I have)
1/2 cup yogurt or cottage cheese
1 cup or more spinach, either fresh or frozen (if using frozen, thaw first)
1/2 cup tomato, chopped
basil, oregano, and/or tarragon, about 1 tsp total
salt and pepper to taste
sometimes some onion, about 1/4 cup, chopped fine
1-3 cloves garlic, minced

Beat the eggs, milk, and yogurt.  Fold in the cheese and vegetables.  Mix in seasonings.  Pour into prepared pie crust and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.  The cooking time will depend on the consistency of your egg mixture.  Keep an eye on it, and after about half an hour check every five to ten minutes.  When it no longer "jiggles" in the middle, it's done.

We like this for breakfast, lunch OR dinner, and the leftovers are always great, too!

Have you ever eaten or made quiche?  What do you like in it?  What other foods can you think of that begin with "Q"?

Kombucha {Foodie Friday}

I've been making and drinking kombucha (somewhat sporadically) for about three months now.  I quit drinking it for about three weeks straight and toward the end of those three weeks I got the first stomach bug I've had since I was 15.  I don't know if the two are connected or not, but it's an interesting coincidence.

I've already written a post with some basic information on kombucha and the making of it, so check out that post if you want some more detailed info!

Recently I made my own SCOBY.  (What's a SCOBY?  Click here to read all about it!)  I had let my big one go bad (don't EVER do that, by the way, the smell is nasty), but I still had some already-made kombucha with "bits" of SCOBY in it in the fridge.  So I added about 1/3 cup of sugar to a cup or so of kombucha, put it in a warm place (on top of one of the heating vents in the floor), and let it hang out there for about a week.  Sure enough: at the end of the week I had my very own mother SCOBY floating on top, and I made it myself!

This was a pretty exciting breakthrough.  It's good to know that even if I don't make kombucha for a while, I just have to keep some of it back and I can always make a new SCOBY.

I thought of several other food items that started with "K" that I could have used, like kale (still meaning to buy some and make chips, like my mom does), kefir (haven't made that yet either...maybe someday), kiwi (yum, but how many recipes use kiwi?), kebobs (I didn't have time today to write a whole recipe post), kidney beans (I cook them myself, starting with dry ones, in a pot or slowcooker--so much cheaper and better for you than the canned), or key lime pie (the thought of which is making my mouth water, but again, no time for recipe-making/writing lately).

...that's what was going through my head when I was trying to come up with a post I could write in a hurry today.  Homework has been catching up with me lately.  Maybe next week will be better... Q!  What on earth will I come up with for a food that begins with Q?!?

You'll just have to come back and find out. :)

Eggs {Foodie Friday}

Fridays are "Foodie Fridays" here at Living in the Light!  If you're new here (especially if you're visiting from the A to Z Challenge)--welcome!!  I'm so happy you're here.  Check out my "About Me" page HERE, some of my favorite posts on marriage HERE, and my two most popular posts HERE and HERE.

You might have noticed a trend with my posts.  I like to talk about God, a lot, and I like to talk about marriage.  But that's not all I write about.  I'm also passionate about food.  And when trying to come up with an "E" word for the first Friday of the A to Z Challenge, the most logical choice was Eggs!

I love eggs.  They're among the most versatile foods, they're cheap, they taste good, and they're a great source of protein and other nutrients.

Just a few of my favorite ways to cook eggs:

-Scrambled
-Fried (in coconut oil, they're SO good!)
-Hard-boiled
-In quiche (check out Elsie's instructions HERE)
-As omelets
-Scrambled with veggies and cheese
-"Eggs in a nest" (fried in a slice of bread with a hole cut in the middle)
-In egg bakes (go HERE for a recipe!)

One way I've never learned how to cook eggs was poached.  As a kid, my mom would occasionally make poached eggs on English muffins with homemade Hollandaise sauce.  I never liked how the English muffin would get mushy, and how thick the sauce was.  No offense, Mom, if you're reading this. :)  My mother is an AMAZING cook--I just never liked Eggs Benedict! :)

However, I have always liked hard boiled eggs (never tried soft boiled).  I have fond memories of coloring eggs at Eastertime with my parents and siblings.  I always felt bad destroying the pretty shells, but it was worth it to dip the egg in salt and pepper and eat it!

As a child, my favorite way to eat eggs alternated between fried (using toast to mop up all the yolk) and scrambled.  My mom always beat the eggs with some Dijon mustard, tarragon leaves, salt, pepper, and a little milk.  And she stirred them constantly while they cooked, so they were soft, tender, and delicious, not dry or tough, like scrambled eggs can be.

What about you?  Do you like eggs?  What's your favorite way to cook and eat them?  Are there any other "E" foods you like?

The wonderful world of coconut oil!

I want to tell you all about my latest foray into the world of whole foods and better eating.  I also have something special to share with you.  And they both involve...

Coconut oil.

Image source

Yep, I've jumped onto this bandwagon--and I couldn't be happier!  I've just dipped my toes in to the myriad of uses and benefits of this amazing stuff.  It tastes good.  It feels good on my skin.  It smells great.  And every food I've made with it has just tasted better.  What are all the ways I'm using coconut oil?

On my skin--all over my body.  I put some on from head to toe the other day after my shower and it felt glorious.  I also used it for shaving, and my legs were super-soft.  It's great on my lips, and a little bit smooths and shines my hair.  I will say that because this winter has been so dry, my hands are constantly dry...even the coconut oil isn't helping.  (Anybody know of a no-fail lotion I should try?)

In my food--practically all of it!  So far, I've used coconut oil...
-for frying fish.  It made the best fried tilapia I've ever tasted.  Be warned, though; because of its low melting point (75 degrees F), coconut oil smokes at a lower temperature than you'd expect.  Be careful when frying with it.  Yes, I learned this from experience.
-for making scrambled eggs (which originally were supposed to be fried; see above warning).  My husband said they were the best scrambled eggs he's ever had!
-in biscuits instead of shortening (works with pie crust too)
-a teaspoon or so melted into my tea (haven't tried it with coffee but I've heard it's good!)
-melted into steamed broccoli instead of butter (this was YUMMY!)
-melted and used instead of vegetable oil in brownies and granola

Basically, anywhere you use fat, liquid or solid, you can substitute coconut oil.  However, it is more expensive than other good-for-you fats like butter or olive oil.  I still have margarine in the fridge and shortening in the pantry, and I will use it.  It's cheaper, and you know what, I've been eating fats like this my whole life and I'm perfectly healthy.  I agree that using healthier fats, like coconut oil, butter, and other naturally-derived fats instead of chemically manufactured ones is BETTER.  Which is why I'm starting to use them more.  But with our limited budget, I can only spend so much on coconut oil.  I'm hoping to make my first jar (54 ounces) last at least a month.  It's nearly a third gone already and it's been just a week, so I'll be using it more sparingly from here on out.  However, this jar cost me just $20, which is a great deal.

But I do love it!  I love how it smells, how it tastes, and how it feels on my skin.  I love knowing that the fat I'm eating is truly good for me.

I have something I'd love to share with you all: I bought my coconut oil from Vitacost.com.  As part of their referral program, you can get $10 off your first order when you click on THIS LINK to make a purchase on their website (like coconut oil, for instance!).  AND, you can become part of their referral program yourself if you'd like, and get a $10 coupon every time someone you refer makes a purchase on Vitacost.com.

This company sells hundreds of products--whole foods, supplements, essential oils, natural cleaning supplies, and many other things--for prices lower than what you'd find at a natural foods store or regular grocery store.  Their service is excellent, and they have really fast shipping.  I'm very pleased with the purchases I've made there, and I highly recommend their products.  And no, they're not paying me to say this!  However, I do get benefits when people use my referral link, so thank you for helping to support Living in the Light (which means my coconut-oil funds!).

Do you use coconut oil?  What are some of your favorite uses for it?  If you don't use it now, would you consider trying it?

I made yogurt, and it was good.

So I told you early this week on my Facebook page that I made homemade yogurt.

Well, I am thrilled to tell you that it turned out--and it is delicious!!  And super-easy!

It's not waaay cheaper than store-bought.  But I like knowing what's in it: milk, and culture.  That's it.  No artificial sweeteners (I put honey and vanilla in mine).  No preservatives.  No nothin' that I don't want in there.  I'd LOVE to make it with raw milk...but eh, maybe sometime.  For now, a girl can dream. :)

The process is nothing very exciting.
Warm up your slow cooker (on the lowest heat setting).
Bring milk to a simmer, till it foams.  I had a half-gallon and I used my biggest pot.  That milk expanded till it nearly filled the pot.  It was bubbly and fluffy and glorious, and it smelled delicious.
When the milk has shrunk down, take it off the heat.  Let it cool till you can stick your finger in it without burning your finger.  Mix a cup or so of the warm milk with 1/3 cup plain yogurt.  (I just used a store-brand, it was on sale, so was the store-brand milk, 99 cents a half-gallon!)  Put the rest of the milk in the slow cooker, slowly stir in the milk/yogurt, and then cover the slow cooker and turn it off, and unplug it.
Wrap it up in bath towels so it stays warm all night.
Go to bed.
Wake up the next morning and peer in your slow cooker to see half a gallon of lovely, tart, good-for-you yogurt!
That's the exciting part.  That, and trying to find enough old sour cream and yogurt containers in my cupboard to store all this creamy goodness.

I already used it to make cornbread, instead of milk.  Success.  Delicious with bananas, honey and vanilla.  Okay with raspberry jam, honey and vanilla.  Going to try it with pineapple tomorrow.  Planning on making homemade granola soon, because the marriage of granola and yogurt is a beautiful one.  Especially when both are homemade, and there is plenty of honey involved...

But I digress.

HERE is the recipe I followed, to the letter for once in my life, because I was a little nervous about this turning out.  (Thanks, Elsie!  It worked great!)

I'm excited to experiment with more flavors for my yogurt.  I'm thinking cocoa, and/or peanut butter, would be good.  I also plan to use it in cooking (for example, in the aforementioned cornbread).  If any of you know of good recipes which use plain yogurt, let me know!  I made a delicious salad last night with chopped tomato, half a sliced cucumber, some lime zest and juice, a little minced garlic, salt, pepper, and about a cup or so of yogurt.  SO good.

Anyway.  I'm excited that this latest experiment worked out.  Next time whole milk goes on sale (that's what I used) I'm going to buy three or four half-gallons and stick them in the freezer, because I think whole milk is probably the best choice for yogurt-making and, sigh, in this non-dairy-farming state whole milk is well over $4 a gallon.  Grr.  And that's the pasteurized, store-brand stuff.  Ah well.

It's worth it for the yogurt.

Food, romance and forgiveness: I am thankful for these things

I appreciate the pattern of "Thankful Thursdays" because it helps me focus, on a regular basis, on all the many things I have to be thankful for.  That's not to say that I'm not grateful to God every day for what he has given me, but I like noting particular things.

For example, today my husband took the car to be washed--it's so lovely and shiny now!

Supper today was fantastic again...tilapia kind of like what I did last week, except with lime and basil instead of lemon with garlic and butter.  We had it with rice and a tomato-cucumber-yogurt salad.  SO good.  It is such a blessing to always have plenty of good food.

I made homemade yogurt this week, and it turned out!  I'll share more about that tomorrow!  I am thankful for the success, but even more for the opportunity to add to my cooking and homemaking skills.

I'm thankful for my grandparents, and the fact that they let us do laundry at their house every week.  I love spending time with them; it is an amazing blessing to have family so close, both them and Joshua's parents.

I'm so thankful for my husband and how romantic he is.  Last week he took me for dinner at an Italian restaurant I've been wanting to visit for a long time, and to see Les Miserables (SUCH a good movie!).  This weekend we're going on a little getaway for Valentine's Day--not far, but it's much-needed and will be so nice.

As we begin the season of Lent, I'm reminded how unspeakably grateful I am for the fact that Christ suffered so much--for me.  He endured an incredibly torturous death so that I would never have to experience separation from God.  He gave up the rights of his divinity and suffered as a human so that I can live eternally with him, now that he is risen from the dead.  This, above all things, I thank God for.

Linking with: Loved and Lovely, The Fontenot Four, black tag diaries

Two Original Recipes-- Steak Enchiladas and Fish & Pasta

If you've been following me on Facebook, you'll know that I've been having some fun in the kitchen lately, making up new recipes!  If I had an unlimited grocery budget, I might do that more--but then, it's fun to get creative with the bountiful blessings we do have. :)

Last week Joshua got some steak for a treat, and they were so big we had leftovers!  So I made them into yummy steak enchiladas.  This recipe (and the next one--I have two for you!) are both highly adaptable to your tastes and to what you have on hand.  Feel free to make substitutions.  I never leave recipes alone, so I sure don't expect you to! :)

Creamy Steak Enchiladas
Serves 2-4 (depending on how hungry you are!)
Total preparation & cook time: 50 minutes to 1 hour
Make this a quick meal, ready in about 30 minutes, by using packaged tortillas and chunky salsa, instead of making a tomato-onion mixture and tortillas from scratch.  I made everything homemade, but that was only because I didn't have salsa and I don't like store-bought tortillas!

4 large whole-wheat tortillas

• For tortillas:
• 1 c white whole wheat flour
• 1/8 c shortening (or you could use butter or coconut oil)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• approx 1/4 c water
• Mix flour and salt in a bowl.  Cut in fat until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in water, 1 T at a time, until dough forms a soft ball.  Cut into 4 parts and roll into a circle (about 8 in. in diameter) on a lightly floured surface.  Meanwhile, heat a dry skillet on medium-high heat.  Cook tortillas 2 minutes on a side or until bubbles form; undercooking a bit is fine.  Tortillas should still be soft and flexible.

2+ cups cooked, thinly sliced steak (or chicken, pork, or ground beef)
2+ cups fresh spinach

1 1/2 to 2 cups chunky salsa, or the following:
1 onion, chopped
1-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp basil
1/4 tsp chili flakes or powder
1/2 tsp salt

• For tomato mixture (let simmer while making tortillas):
• Saute' onion and garlic until soft.  Add remaining ingredients, simmer until ready to add to enchiladas.

Mix in a medium bowl:

• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (you could probably substitute sour cream for this but we like the flavor of the soup)
• 1/4 c. milk or water
• 1-1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (or cheese of choice)

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease 9x13 baking dish.  In each tortilla, roll about half a cup of steak, half a cup of spinach, and 2-3 T of soup mixture.  Place in pan, seam sides down.  Spread remaining soup mixture over tortillas.  Evenly distribute tomato mixture or salsa over soup mixture.  Sprinkle additional cheese over all if desired.  Bake 20-30 minutes or until bubbly.


Lemon-Garlic-Rosemary Tilapia with Pasta and Spinach
Serves 2
Total preparation & cook time: 35 minutes

2 tilapia fillets (or other light white fish)
zest of 1/2 lemon (3+ teaspoons), divided
1/2 tsp rosemary, fresh or dried
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt, divided
2 T butter, divided
1/4 to 1/2 lb pasta of your choice (depending on how much you want to eat)
2-3 c. spinach, fresh or frozen

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
In small bowl, mix rosemary, minced garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 T butter, and all but 1/2 tsp of lemon zest.  Crush with your fingers or a mortar and pestle.
Place fish in a small baking dish, such as a glass pie plate.
Spread the butter mixture over the fillets, half on each.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.  Baking time will vary depending on thickness of fillets.  Watch carefully to avoid over-cooking.

Meanwhile, boil 2 quarts water.  Add pasta and 1/2 tsp salt.  When nearly done, add spinach and cook until pasta is al dente and spinach is just wilted (or thawed and heated, if using frozen).  Drain.  Toss with remaining 1/2 tsp lemon zest and 1 T butter.  Serve fish on a bed of pasta and spinach.

What are some of your favorite recipes?  If you try either of these, let me know what you think (and if you changed anything ;) )!

Linking with Upward Not Inward, Your Thriving Family, Consider the Lilies

For professors, good food, and my husband, I am thankful

It has been a happy week.

I'm really enjoying my classes.  My professors are fantastic.  I'm pretty crazy about my husband, who at the moment is listening to "Through Heaven's Eyes" from The Prince of Egypt: a pretty upbeat way to start a morning, if you ask me!

I am thankful for all of that.  Thankful that we have a full fridge and pantry.  Thankful for our beautiful home.  Thankful for our car, that got fixed on Tuesday (no more check-engine light on!).

I'm SO thankful for the dear professor who let me spend an hour talking his ear off yesterday, and who helped me work through spiritual questions and ponderings.  It was such a blessing to visit with him.  His class (just three weeks in!) has been one of the most educational, spiritually uplifting, challenging and enjoyable classes I've ever had.  I love being a senior (hello, upper-level classes!).

I'm thankful for good food.  This week I had fun making up some new recipes (come back for that tomorrow!!).

I am incredibly thankful for my husband.  This week he's taken the car in to get fixed, worked on finances, worked hard at his job, helped me a lot with housework, picked up pizza one night so I didn't have to make supper, and he's loved me through everything like he always does.  Our marriage still has a lot of growing to do, but we're at a great place and I'm really happy.


How has God blessed YOU this week?  If you want to link up, visit the great blogs listed below!

The Fontenot Four, black tag diaries, There's Just One Mommy, Loved and Lovely

My first experiences with kombucha!

About three weeks ago I jumped on the kombucha "bandwagon."  Kombucha has been around for a long time, but it has recently become popular among the whole/raw/fermented food crowd, at least as far as I have noticed.  Several blogging friends of mine, Shaye in particular, are regular kombucha makers and consumers, and they got me interested in the concept.

For those of you unfamiliar with kombucha, it is, simply put, fermented sweet tea.  The tea is fermented using a SCOBY, a Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria & Yeast.  The scoby, sometimes referred to as the mushroom, is not a very pretty-looking thing.  It is alive, and it grows and "reproduces."  It is the scoby which turns sugary tea into a lightly bubbly, healthy-bacteria-filled, tart and delicious beverage.

I started making my own when my mom got a scoby from a friend and started making kombucha herself.  Homemade kombucha is FAR cheaper than buying the expensive mass-produced version found at specialty stores (you can get it at Trader Joe's, among others).  Each time you make a batch of kombucha, the scoby "reproduces" and creates a baby scoby, which can be separated from the mother and used to start another batch, or go in with the mother in a new batch.  (It's like Amish friendship bread--the starter keeps reproducing, so you keep getting more starter.)  Apparently you can actually eat the scoby, although given its rubbery texture and unappealing looks, I don't think I would.  But, to each his or her own. :)

The history of kombucha is quite interesting--it was first made in China and from there spread to the rest of Asia, Europe, and eventually the rest of the world.  If you'd like to read more about it, this Wikipedia article is very informative.

I could go on about what I've recently learned regarding the uses for kombucha, the varieties, the different techniques in home brewing.  But you can Google that for yourself.  And check out my friend Shaye's post on kombucha-making (that's basically the recipe/technique I used), and some more info from foodrepublic.com.

My own experience with kombucha so far has been an enjoyable and tasty one.  I got two scoby's from my mom so the last time I started a batch I detached the original two and just kept the one from the batch I made.  Yes, I just tossed them in the trash... maybe at some point I'll decide what to do with the extras.  They're kind of a pain to mail, but if you live in my area let me know if you want a scoby!

I have been keeping just a small batch going, because I just drink half a cup to a whole cup a day.  I make about eight cups at a time.  Instead of using bottles with rubber stoppers, my kombucha goes in large glass jars and with a piece of plastic wrap under the tops to make a more airtight seal.  The first batch I made I neglected to use the plastic wrap and my kombucha went kind of flat.  Flat kombucha isn't nearly as fun as fizzy kombucha.  :)

I used Earl Grey tea for my first two batches.  The batch I set to ferment today I made with plain black Lipton tea.  I'd like to try it with a good green tea, just because of the healthy aspects that green tea already has.  The taste and smell take a little getting used to.  Finished kombucha has a distinctly vinegary smell and taste; it's quite tart.  It's good by itself and I often have it with breakfast.

I have to say that at this point I haven't noticed significant health benefits.  I know it's good for my digestive system, but without going into detail, I haven't noticed much of a difference since I started drinking kombucha.  I'm sure the long-term benefits will definitely be noticeable, however.

If you're still curious about something I didn't cover, feel free to comment or email me!

UPDATE:  This page has posts by quite a few people about kombucha: Kombucha Challenge Linky Carnival. Many of the posts have additional links as well.  There are a lot of great ideas, advice, and suggestions included there!


Linking with Real Food Forager.

I may be crazy...

Bath products.
Makeup.
Cleaning chemicals.
Personal care products.

What do all these things have in common?
They're generally made from things that aren't very good for your body or your health.  They're expensive.  And I think I can do better.  With some help, of course.  I have already gotten started:

-For cleaning, I already use white vinegar, mixed with water in a spray bottle for general cleaning and sanitizing.  That's about it.
-I tried making homemade liquid soap--which I haven't used up yet, and I may or may not try this technique again.
-I've just started using the baking soda and apple-cider-vinegar hair cleaning method.  (More on that in a future post, but five days in, I love it!)

I've been reading ideas and recipes for all sorts of natural, homemade products to replace conventional ones.

The reason I'm interested in making homemade versions of products that most people spend a lot of money on, is mainly the simplicity of it.  There are more frugal alternatives to commonly-used products, more all-purpose products (like vinegar and baking soda), and homemade versions that I think work just as well or better than the "store-bought" versions.

(Please understand, I don't have a problem with people who use shampoo, Lysol, Windex, etc, etc.  I'm just excited in researching alternatives for myself and my family.)

I have found several bloggers who have embraced this kind of "homemade" lifestyle, and I wanted to compile some of my favorite ideas of theirs that I have found--for my future reference and your benefit.

From Shaye at The Elliot Homestead:
Castile soap and all its amazing uses--shower soap, hand soap, shampoo, general household cleaning, and more!
A variety of what Shaye calls "cleaning products for the poor," starting with my friends vinegar and baking soda.
And a list of all Shaye's homemade products, including baby items and lip balm.

From Thank Your Body (the writer has more of a "hippie" lifestyle/mindset than I will ever have, but she has some great ideas and recipes for a lot of things):
Homemade hand soap (different recipes than I used, including one that's yet another use for Castile soap).
Natural "bleach"--hydrogen peroxide and lemon juice!
Homemade deodorant--this one sounds nice, although probably not something I'll need to make for a long time--my body doesn't need deodorant much anyway, so it takes me ages to go through a regular stick.  I have got to invest in some coconut oil, for a ton of reasons!

I also want to invest in less refined foods--like raw honey and real maple syrup, all whole wheat flour (and ground oats, and other non-white-flour grains).  I want to start using healthier fats, like high-quality butter and coconut oil.  I have all these dreams, plans, and ideas... but I keep reminding myself, I'm doing pretty darn good for a young, year-and-a-half married, college student on a little bitty budget!

Bottom line, I want to use the gifts God has given us to the best of my abilities--to honor God with our bodies, which includes the way we eat and the chemicals we use in, on and around our bodies.  I want to make the best use of the resources we have, especially food.  I want God to be glorified in all aspects of our lives, and that means not making all this stuff into a god, but focusing (there's that word again!) on THE important thing in my life: not health, not money, not food--GOD.

these yellow-tinted days

I know life isn't always perfect.  I may be optimistic, but I'm also realistic.

However, on days like this, it's easy to look at the world through rose-tinted glasses.  These days:

~church with my hubby, in a place we like, worshipping the God who loves us.
~sleeping in.  Together.
~good food...lots of it.  Good leftovers.
~time to do things we like: together, and by ourselves.
~teamwork.  Working together.  Installing plastic on our bedroom windows, to hopefully lower the heating bill.  Laughing, helping, coordinating.  And making a pie together.
~that pie.  Not to brag, but the best apple pie I've ever had, anywhere.  Kudos to my mother for training me in the kitchen.
~getting homework done.  Two days early!
~time to sit, watch TV, and not feel guilty about it in the least.
~dishes: DONE.
~sunny day, windy day--after the rain last night.  God is Lord of all seasons, of even the changeable weather.

I want to focus more on the good things.  The blessings that so often go unnoticed.  Even on the days when they're not so obvious as today's.  Because you know what?

My perspective isn't always the same.  The glasses aren't always rose-tinted (or, even prettier if you ask me, a golden buttery yellow...everything looks sunny through yellow).  Some days they might be puke green.  Or gray.  Or a depressing kind of blue (not all blues are depressing).

But even when my perspective changes, God stays the same.
He always blesses--even when I can't see the blessings.
He always loves--even when I'm the most unlovable.
He's always near--even when I'm turning so far away.

That's my God.  That's the one I believe in.

That's the God I thank, on days like these...


(and yes, of course, every day.  but some days it's easier to remember.)

On tea and other hot beverages

My mom got me started drinking tea when I was quite small.  I was probably eight or nine when I learned to enjoy a hot cup of tea.  "Tea parties" with dolls and (when I was very young, two to four or so) with Daddy were fun play-time activities, but it wasn't till I was older that I realized the lovely possibilities for other happy times that tea holds.

Pretend tea parties turned into real ones with my girl-friends down the street, two sisters who had a knack for baking.  We'd all make sweet treats and I set the table with the fancy china, tablecloth and linen napkins, and we used my mother's pretty tea cozy: large straw cylinder with a space inside that exactly fit the teapot that came with it, lined with pretty fabric and stuffed with some insulating material.  (Go to this site to see exactly what my mom's tea cozy looks like on the outside.  This site shows kind of what it looks like on the inside.  It's quite brilliant, and keeps the tea hot for quite a long time--warm for nearly 12 hours!)

Then, in high school, tea parties took an even more mature turn with my tea and Jane Austen-loving friends.  We would play "big girl dress-up" with fancy dresses that J's grandmother, a talented seamstress, had made, eat fancy and delicious snacks, and choose from J's big collection of tea.

When I started college I was given a hot pot, several new mugs, and several boxes of tea by dear friends who knew how important that was.  I enjoyed cups quite often while studying in my dorm room, or with a friend or a few.

Now my husband and I will often drink tea together with breakfast, or during a cool evening while watching a movie and doing homework.

Tea has been the center of gatherings for my mom, me, and many friends, and tea parties with different people are among my happiest memories.

But tea isn't the only lovely hot drink there is!  In the fall and winter, spiced hot apple cider is one of my favorite tastes and smells.  I'm drinking a tea right now that tastes like Christmas: "Market Spice" by Simple Graces.  (I looked for this tea company online but couldn't find it...I'm wondering just how old this tea is!  Oh well, it still tastes amazing. :) )  A good hot chocolate, either from a high-quality mix (my mom makes a homemade mix; I'll share a recipe for it later this fall!) or made from scratch, is a treat that is unmatched in the winter.  And then there is coffee, of which I am not a connoisseur but which I enjoy very much.  My dad drinks Gevalia but I am quite happy with Maxwell House or the like.  In lieu of hazelnut coffee creamer (my very favorite), I like putting some brown sugar and milk in my coffee.  Also, I discovered this recipe for iced coffee on Pioneer Woman the other day, and I am making it very soon!

While other hot drinks are wonderful, and suited to their own occasions, tea is good all the time and there are so many kinds, tea suits itself to all tastes and seasons.
My mom's favorite tea, and one of the few that Joshua will drink, is Earl Grey.  Bigelow's is my favorite.  Actually, all of the tea that they make is high-quality and delicious!

Green tea with honey and lemon is refreshing and healthy-feeling.  Peppermint is extremely refreshing, very Christmassy, and excellent all year for soothing the tummy.  Chamomile has been one of my favorites for a long time, and especially with a little honey tastes wonderful and is very soothing.  Plain black tea--especially a good one like English Breakfast--with cream and sugar is perfect for breakfast or teatime with some scones.

And then there are all the fruity-flavored teas, and the different herbal teas.  I haven't had it yet, but I've heard that Red Raspberry Leaf tea is one of the best natural supplements for pregnant women--I plan on getting a lot of it someday! :)  My favorite fruity tea is peach--so yummy.  I'm also fond of lemon teas, which are wonderful iced.

Until I started writing this, I never knew to what raptures I could go about tea and other hot liquids that are drunk from a mug!  Tea really has been a recurring, happy theme in my life...I hope it continues to be so.  And I hope I've made you want some right this minute--go put the kettle on!

How I'm Frugal at the Grocery Store (8 Tips and Ideas)

Otherwise known as, "How To Save Money at the Grocery Store and Still Get Lots of Good Food."  :)

I'm not nearly a professional at this yet, having had only a little over a year of practice.  However, I have developed some tips and tricks for saving my family money at the grocery store.  I'd like to share my new routine with you in the hopes that it will prove helpful for you as well!

1) Divide items on grocery list by category. That way I don't make multiple trips across the store.

2) Check weekly store fliers. If a store has a sale on something that I'll be buying anyway, I'll get it at that store (but I only ever go to two or three).

3) Note on shopping list which stores have which items.  If milk is $2.50 at one store and $3 at another, I'll get it at the first.

4) Include rough estimate of what each item will cost, on grocery list. 

5) Round up costs on everything.  That way, if I accidentally round low on something (since I don’t know exactly how much everything is) it mostly evens out.  It helps me avoid going over-budget.

This week I have a bigger grocery budget than usual, thanks to a bigger-than-usual paycheck—God is good!  However, there are a few extra things I need that I don’t usually buy, like plastic sandwich bags, plastic wrap, a pork roast for when my family comes for dinner on Monday, and toilet paper.  Those are things I don’t often buy, however, so they don’t need to be regularly budgeted into my groceries.

6) Add up estimated costs on all items, including things not absolutely necessary.

What I like doing to myself is putting things on the list that I would like but don’t necessarily need, like more vinegar for cleaning (I still have over half a gallon), coffee, which is a would-like-very-much-but-don’t-absolutely-need, and ground beef, which is expensive and not the healthiest meat out there.

7) Cross off like-not-need things if total cost is over budget. I might end up being able to get them anyway, if I come under-budget with the necessary things..

This week, after adding up my grocery list, I came out about $50 over budget.  I’ll cross off things like lemonade ($5 for 5 cans), Reese’s Cups (which I was going to use in a dessert but don’t have to, $5), elbow macaroni and Velveeta (Velveeta is expensive, $6), and other things.  I ended up crossing off about $48 worth of items.

Now, most of my crossed-off items probably won’t be as much as I estimated, and the other things on my list probably won’t be as much as I expect.  So I might be able to get a few of the things that I crossed off anyway.  (Coffee is top priority!)

But, the thing is, they’re all non-essentials.  We’ll have plenty of food without them; most of the things I crossed off were “extras.”

8) Take a calculator to the grocery store.  For littler trips, I just add mentally. When I add, I'll round everything up to the nearest 50 cents or so. Then, when I have everything on my list, if I’m under budget at all, I can get some of the “extras”…

and, since I will have rounded up, I’ll still come out under-budget at the cash register!

Maybe I'm weird, but I find this sort of thing fun.  I hate spending money, so anything I can do to save money is great!

It's important to not make saving money all-important, of course.  What's my real reason for doing all this?  Am I honoring God and serving my family?

I think the answer to that is YES.  I'm doing my best to be frugal, to be a good steward of what God has given me, and still to provide good food for my family.

What are your ideas for saving money and time at the grocery store?  I'd love to have you share in the comments!

family, friends, faith--so many blessings

I love Thankful Thursdays.
They're a rock in a sea of change.
They ground me.
They re-focus me.

OK, maybe that's a little dramatic, but I still love having a day every week that reminds me to focus on all the amazing blessings God has given me.  I mean, I know God is awesome, but really!!  He is so incredibly gracious all the time.  (For more on that, see yesterday's post.)

Today, I am thankful (as always!) for my amazing husband.  I can't put into words the blessing he is to me every day.  He is my reality check, my self-esteem-booster, my source of romance, my personal comedian, my best friend and my favorite person.  And just this morning he told me that the homemade cinnamon rolls I made for breakfast were the best he's ever had.  Bar none.  Including Cinnabon.  If he hadn't already endeared himself to me, that would have done it right there.

I am thankful that in TEN DAYS not only will my parents and sister be here, but so will my best friend and her family...and the two families will get to meet for the first time!!  I last saw my family in May and I last saw my friend...well, about two weeks after that, so it is high time for a visit.  And THEN the first week of August we're going to a family reunion with my parents, siblings, and, well, the whole family on my grandma's side.  (This happens about once every two years, so we are tight. :) )  And Joshua gets to meet most of them for the first time...which will be a little overwhelming, but I'm so excited!

I am thankful for good food.  Beef, cream-of-mushroom soup, and red wine in a slowcooker for six hours on high results in some of the most yumminess I've put in my mouth for a while.  And, as I mentioned, killer cinnamon rolls.  YUM.

I am thankful for friends with whom we can talk about our faith, and who challenge, inspire and encourage us.  We and another couple decided to start meeting on Saturday nights for dinner and a Bible study for the rest of the summer (and maybe into the school year) and I'm so thankful for them and our time together.  And we get to hang out again the day after tomorrow!

I am thankful that God continually speaks to and encourages me, and the many creative ways he chooses to do so...books, blogs, friends, family.  I have felt his presence more clearly the last week or so than I have before.  I want nothing more to be in intimate fellowship with my heavenly Father...may he grant me the grace to be open to that and to be in communication with him.

I'm also so very thankful for the new, wonderful people I am getting to know through blogging.  I wish I had more hours in a day to keep in better touch with everyone!  It's amazing to realize how many other people are so much like me...and how far the Body of Christ really reaches.  Heaven is going to be incredible (we'll have to have a big bloggers' get-together once we're all there! :D ).

Share in the comments, if you would like, all the ways God has blessed you in the last few days.  I love to hear how he is working!


Linking today with:
black tag diaries; The Fontenot Four; First Day of My Life; Kate Says Stuff; A Punk, a Pumpkin and a Peanut; Live Called

Eating well and spending little

As a way to contribute to our family finances this summer, I've been doing my best to go grocery shopping as little as possible and, when I do go, to spend as little as I can.  We're still eating really well, I'm just getting creative with food and doing a few little things that make a really big difference!  So here is some of what I've been doing--perhaps it will be helpful to you as well!

1) Watch for sales and use coupons.
I'm not a big coupon-using person.  We don't get a regular newspaper and we live in such a small town that there aren't many stores to put out ads anyway!  But there are sales every week and often the weekly fliers contain coupons.  Plus, a lot of stores will have coupons in the checkout lane--I just picked up a packet of them the other day.  Please note, however, that the only way to really save money with coupons is to use them only for items you would normally buy.  Even if a box of name-brand cereal is on sale for $1.00 off, I wouldn't be saving any money by buying it because I wouldn't get it in the first place!

Source

2) Compare, compare, compare!
Prices, ingredients, and package sizes, that is.  Often store-brand products are the cheapest.  However, that does NOT always mean they're the best deal!  I always check these things:
-price per unit (ounce, pound, whatever.  Also, if you shop at multiple stores, compare prices on the things you buy most often, such as milk and eggs, and see which store has the better overall deal.)
-ingredients and nutrition facts (does the store brand have the same ingredients and nutritional value as the name brand?  Which one is the most healthful?)
-package sizes/serving sizes (this one is tricky!  Sometimes something is cheaper because it contains less product.  Packaging companies like to play visual tricks on consumers.  Just because two packages look like they're the same size doesn't mean they contain the same amount.)


Source


3) Eat less meat.
Meat is EXPENSIVE!  Ground beef prices just make me shudder.  We eat beef MAYBE once a week, if that.  Otherwise it's chicken, fish, or vegetarian options!  We're not vegetarian, but we've been eating like it because it's cheaper AND much healthier.  Also, I'm very careful to pay as little as possible for the meat I do buy.  I buy whole chickens for roasting (and get at least three meals out of them, between meat and making stock from the bones), or I buy bone-in, skin-on thighs or leg pieces.  It means a little more work to prepare, but the price difference is so worth it.

4) Make the food you have last longer.
For those of you who have starches (bread, pasta, potatoes, rice) as a main part of your diet, this is the best way to make food stretch.  For example, I made homemade refried beans and mixed in some rice.  Voila: twice as much food for pennies.
As another example, I bought one pound of ground beef the other day (for nearly $4.00!) and am making it stretch through THREE meals.  Meal one: meatballs with cream-of-mushroom-soup-and-sour-cream sauce (it is SO good) with mashed potatoes and a green salad.  Meal two: macaroni and cheese from a box (on sale for 50 cents!) with three of the leftover meatballs cut up and mixed in, as well as some leftover crm-of-mushroom soup, with green beans on the side and berry muffins for dessert.  Meal three (coming soon): beef-and-bean quesadillas with broccoli or salad on the side.  (P.S. Homemade tortillas are yummier and cheaper than the store-bought version.)

Also, another way to make food last AND keep it interesting is to vary the way you prepare it.  Instead of plain white rice, mix it with various herbs and spices (a cheap, calorie-free way to add tons of flavor to dishes), add it to beans like I did, stir in some shredded cheese, put it into soup, etc, etc.  Potatoes are just as versatile: add to soups and casseroles, bake, mash, fry, or shred them; roast alone for oven-fries or with other root vegetables; etc, etc.  Chicken can be prepared in a myriad of ways.

I realize many of these tips and ideas are ones you've already discovered for yourself...but perhaps one or two things here will be of use to you!  Now I'd love to hear your ideas.  How do you eat well while spending little?