Monday Message

"Today, I emphasize a most basic principle: home production and storage. Have you ever paused to realize what would happen to your community or nation if transportation were paralyzed or if we had a war or depression? How would you and your neighbors obtain food? How long would the corner grocery store—or supermarket—sustain the needs of the community?" (President Ezra Taft Benson)

We are finally getting cooler weather here in central Iowa. 

It is an off year for my fruit trees so less canning for me. Instead, I have been vacuum sealing and working on my skill building. Later in the fall I will take all the raspberries I froze and make jam.

Now is the time that I've started working on Christmas gifts (more on that further down below). Are you getting ready?

I was able to stop in at a thrift store this last week and found a few good buys…

I found these circular knitting needles which are very good quality and as you can see the prices I paid are on the backs, a price I can afford - 59 cents each!

I also found these yarn bobbins - ten cents for seven, great frugal finds! This goes into adding to my supplies.

https://www.allfreesewing.com/Sewing-Tips-and-Tricks/Make-Your-Own-Clothes-How-to-Make-a-Pattern - this would be a great thing to know.

https://www.doodlecraftblog.com/2013/02/organizer-fabric-storage-buckets.html - this would be useful to make.

It really is time to start making gifts for Christmas. I like to get mine done and mailed before Thanksgiving that way I get to enjoy the season.

Instead of getting gifts for each other, my husband and I eat a favorite meal out but if we cannot this year I will fix one at home that we love. Then we have a set amount of money we can spend to go to the used bookstore.

Being frugal should not make you feel deprived! Don’t let it. This leads to anger and no one needs that in their family. This is where being content is a real blessing.

We all have traditions but when they become so costly it's time to make new ones on a frugal level. There are so many inexpensive ones that are fun.

The Cox family makes the best chocolate covered peanuts, lucky are the people on their list for those. The Shooks would love to be on that list :p

Keeping expensive traditions that are too much on the budget is unwise, instead look for new inexpensive ones.

One of our traditions is to have chili and cinnamon rolls on General Conference weekend which is coming up.

Sometimes it is fun to find recipes for things you would ordinarily purchase. Like pumpkin pie spice…

You can find my recipe here - https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2015/09/monday-message.html.

I one time had the best sopapillas at a restaurant. They were sooooo good but I kept trying to make them like they did, well just as I figured it out they went out of business. It was puff pastry they cut in triangles, fried, then served with drizzled honey and sprinkled with powdered sugar. They are so very good. I refrain from making them but they are so good. Making them at home was way cheaper than what we paid at that restaurant.

So try and play with recipes that get you close, you might find you like yours better. Also try a new recipe a week.

I have read so many recipes in my life that I can read the ingredients and I can tell if they are good or bad.

Try grinding your own wheat. Have your family help you mix it with white flour or cooked wheat berries. 

Make your own bread...

I was told at the storehouse by a worker that if you store wheat you need to store wheat gluten or you will have wheat bricks, you need to use it so that your bread will get the rise. Like this pic:

Take the time to teach your kids to bake bread, it will be a skill they'll always have.

As you grind your wheat together use it mixed with white flour to make a bread dough, let it rise and then shape like rolls. Let the kids do their own, then have them flatten their roll. Fry them and drizzle with honey and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Everyone loves fry bread. This way everyone learns and everyone helps just like with the little red hen.

Fun can be so cheap plus it makes a memory that lasts forever.

How are you coming on your skill building? We got our small town’s little newsletter the other day and I was pleasantly surprised to see one of the churches here in town has a day planned for people to come and learn skills like sewing, quilting, knitting, baking bread, etc… I was glad to see others take these skills seriously too. We better our lives by learning them.

Seems like things today are so fast paced, so instant that sometimes it is hard to remember to slow down.

Time to start working on your gifts…

https://www.allfreeknitting.com/Knitting-Collections/knitting-for-beginners-guide-9-free-knitting-patterns-for-beginners - this has some great beginner projects if this is a skill you are building.

Keep working on your storage and supplies and keep building those skills.