Monday Message

"Start now to create a plan if you don’t already have one, or update your present plan. Watch for best buys that will fit into your year’s supply. We are not in a situation that requires panic buying, but we do need to be careful in purchasing and rotating the storage that we’re putting away. The instability in the world today makes it imperative that we take heed of the counsel and prepare for the future." (L. Tom Perry)

At the time I am writing this, gas is $4.29 but you will be reading this two weeks from now, who knows how much higher it will be.

Garden planting is two weeks away so about the time you read this, I hope to have all the garden in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-zbnlRc1YA - I found this helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmUueAE8YBA - she, too, is doing a fresh-milled flour series.

https://www.iga.com/shopper-solutions/10-ways-to-stretch-your-grocery-budget

https://uwyoextension.org/uwnutrition/newsletters/stretching-your-food-dollars/

https://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/banking/article/how-to-save-money-on-groceries-ways-stretch-food-budget-214426031.html

https://www.wisebread.com/20-easy-ways-to-stretch-your-grocery-dollars

https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/stretch-your-food-dollars-part-1-before-going-to-the-store/

https://www.shes-worth-it.com/blog/fed-is-best-small-ways-to-make-your-grocery-budget-stretch

https://moneyfitmoms.com/how-to-stretch-food-budget-grocery-shopping/

https://commonsensehome.com/stretch-your-food-budget/

https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/best-kitchen-hacks/?srsltid=AfmBOoroEATDNZV_3b5TxrivMgkFdQHtguNVuDNNjhSpA6H-2FOVMBte

https://loveandmarriageblog.com/stretch-grocery-budget/

I tried to find things that would help you with groceries. Some I found are just not real - I did not include them. We need basic real information.

We need to really crack down and learning skills.

Learn to dry food and to vacuum seal it. This saves sooooo much money and keeps food from going bad.

Learn breadmaking in all its forms and with that, store the ingredients needed.

Learn to can. Did you know you can can all year round?

Learn to bake from scratch and store things to be able to.

Also, we need to learn skills like knitting, sewing, crocheting... things that will help our families. This doesn't have to be hated things. Pick what you want and start there. I threw in some pictures of the things I like to learn. You won't probably like the same things nor did I put everything I like here but it is to get you thinking. Mending is huge on the list as one to learn.

Things are going to continue to get harder and we need to lengthen our stride on doing things frugal and learning not to waste things, and to reuse the things we have. We can do this, we can!

Missy says while we work hard on our storage and our skills, find time to find joy!

Tippy says try to keep yourself in balance - learn one thing, then move onto the next, and get plenty of rest!

Monday Message

"Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to ‘prepare every needful thing’ (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we may care for ourselves and our neighbors, and support bishops as they care for others." (All is Safely Gathered In pamphlet)

This week, I started knitting a sock tube. Even though I can do this in minutes on the circular sock machine my sister gave me one birthday (I love it), I like to knit one by hand to have in my church bag to work on while I listen. I am building a skill of trying to not look at my hands while I knit. I am getting there. I can do about six stitches now without looking but building on that.

As you can see by the orange clearance tag, this yarn was originally $14.99 clearanced to $3.74. I got it years ago, I can't quite remember how many but that was a good price.

A very relaxing thing to do. I will knit nearly all of this yarn then break it down into sock lengths and knit by hand, toes, heels, and cuffs.

This is my sock machine, it is beautiful. It took me a year to figure out but I stuck with it learning by try and fail school.

It was hard but I learned. I cleaned it all up and learned how to adjust it. I have always wanted one. And I do use it but I like to do one as a church project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLXbgkfK4yI - this gal has a new printed machine but does the same as mine. Here she shows you how to take the tube to make it into socks. This is the best tutorial ever on the subject. It is the same if you do it by hand or crank it on the machine. All this to say, I started a sock tube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B4fSPY11ds - she has helpful info here worth the time to watch.

https://smalltownscratch.com/how-to-stock-a-pantry-fridge-for-cooking-from-scratch/ - some ideas.

Having the basic ingredients in your storage to be able to make from scratch items is so helpful!

https://thesoccermomblog.com/100-must-have-pantry-staples/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRdw9xleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFCTEFGUEoxMGhzSm00Z1V2c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHr-FhKpUNtX15iCjXbADoiby1yYOTa453NMSqNOunGjjJlQGZEv6Q_N0X0wD_aem_9k9iQMgpKY6A4LmWSbBB2w - of course, everyone's pantry will look different but maybe there are things you might not have thought of.

Please don't run out and purchase everything at once, just add a few items to your grocery list.

Also, I encourage you to start introducing foods like homemade bread, more soups with biscuits, or rolls. Learn these skills and get your family used to homemade things, same as learning how to fix basic foods - practice till you have it figured out.

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2012/02/homemade-bread-crackers.html

https://www.laurasbakelab.com/blog/homemade-crackers

https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a98773/how-to-make-crackers/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mgu_ga_pw_md_dsa_prog_org_us_23638011728&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23638011728&gbraid=0AAAAABxutSrZj5q6t6uZzfg8bESG4MDxj&gclid=CjwKCAjwtcHPBhADEiwAWo3sJmLkjMKFYIqjr5q0Gl3yIwB7-0hxBYs7xfvSqdpSRwJQ_htqIpXwIRoCmBgQAvD_BwE

https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/3-ingredient-homemade-crackers-whole-grain-wheat-andor-spelt/

It takes so little to make crackers.

It takes very little to do bread, laundry soap, cookies, cake, etc. Learn to do them. You don't have to do it all at once. Pick one thing and learn it then go to the next. We can do these things. It saves so much compared to the store-bought version.

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2024/11/monday-message_11.html

Much cheaper than store bought for sure.

Remember, I tell you I store the things to always to make chocolate cake. Well, if you store the items it takes to make stuff like bread and cookies and biscuits and chili and the casseroles that your family likes - this is storage and by keeping the basics on hand, you can make these items.

Basics

Flour and grains

Vital wheat gluten

Salt

Sugar

Oil

Yeast

Now you could make bread

but if you add...

Cinnamon

Now you can make cinnamon rolls

If you add...

Brown sugar

Shortening

Vanilla

Now you can make cookies

Muffins

Coffee cake

If you add....

powdered milk

Now you can make pancakes

Waffles

I think you get the picture. If we stock the basic ingredients then we could make cinnamon rolls or pizza but if you store a muffin mix instead it just makes muffins, no pizza. I hope that explains what I am trying to say.

It is even better described in this book....

She gives a step-by-step, here I will show you.

She gives recipes as well, a very good book, see if you can get it through your library.

You can see I got mine at a yard sale.

Missy says keep picking up storage a little each time you go to the store, it adds up.

Tippy Longstockings says just do the best you can, that is all we can do, this isn't a competition.

Happy Memorial Day!

“A nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.” — Abraham Lincoln

“We don't know them all, but we owe them all.” — Unknown

Monday Message

"Let us be in a position so we are able to not only feed ourselves through the home production and storage, but others as well." (President Ezra Taft Benson)

We need to keep working on our storages and we need to keep working on skills and frugality.

If you have a yard you own, think about planting fruit trees, berry bushes, rhubarb, asparagus, strawberries, blueberries and other things that come back on their own year after year.

It will take a couple years but you will have food from these things.

And if you can't plant, it's okay! Just get your food in the store for storage, no shame in that at all.

I think prices will be continuing to rise and we need to prepare for it by learning frugal ways around the things we currently have done. These are different times but we can do it!

Today, I made bread using the sourdough discard - get the recipe HERE.

I just made the bread from the booklet and tossed in about a cup of the sourdough in the water and stirred before adding the homemade mix from the booklet.

This makes us a loaf of bread and four cinnamon rolls - works great for us! Today I did the bread in the tube pan.

I spray the tube and sprinkle cornmeal, then the bread has cornmeal all around it. 

I once had round bread toasted at the Amanas. It was so good so when I saw these tube pans at yard sales, I snatched them up.

Well spring is here and so are the storms. This was our first tornado warning for the year and it was scary! It went right over our tiny town but better over than through.

We go to the basement and put on hard hats - not fun, in case you were wondering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHOLrIhbqYM - this gal does lots of research and tells us what to expect. I don't want you to be scared but no matter where you live in the world, this is something to encourage us to prepare.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHLJ1UqTHjo 

We need to find work-arounds. We can do hard things - we really can do it. Share your frugal ideas below.

Missy says do what you can to prepare for harder times, you can do it!

Tippy Longstockings says we can do hard things but then we need to REST!

Monday Message

"Those families will be fortunate who, in the last days, have an adequate supply of food because of their foresight and ability to produce their own." (Ezra Taft Benson)

Try to plant something - try to learn how to garden. It is tasty and fun to watch it grow!

One thing I have done is try to plant food in my yard that will come up on its own like rhubarb, raspberries, asparagus, apples, peaches and plums... I was shocked already that the asparagus was up.

This is my first picking this year. We love asparagus - yum!

So I encourage you, if you can, to pop some things in the ground that will give you food every year.

I got the rhubarb on Freecycle. I asked if anyone had rhubarb starts. One lady wrote me back and said she had been trying to kill one, it was in her compost and still growing. And now I divided mine last year to make more. The original is on the end of the garden, the three are its offspring. This is early and already growing fast, just wait they will be much bigger!

So give that a try and see if you can get some.

I am pretty excited to share something I tried this week...

I made homemade chocolate chips!

Chocolate Chips

5 tbsp powdered sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp water

Mix well put in a baggie and snip a corner

Press them out as I did in the picture on parchment paper, let them air dry for seven hours.

At that time you can see them in a pile.

I wanted to test them so I made a batch of cookie dough and took out a bit and stirred them into it. I didn't let this fully go seven hours so I hand folded them in and it worked and then baked them - it was a win! They are not exactly the same as chocolate chips have things in them that this doesn't but the taste is definitely there. And if I want them bigger, I can just make them bigger. Now, you do the math - how much are chocolate chips? How much did this recipe cost? It speaks volumes. I also thought if you wanted to flavor them and make mint or raspberry, just put flavoring in the tablespoon of water. I thought this was a huge win!

The other thing I did was make sourdough waffles using discard from my sourdough. Go back a few weeks to find the recipe for starting your sourdough.

Crispy Sourdough Waffles

1 1/4 c. Flour

1 tbsp of cornstarch1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp powdered milk powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 c. Sourdough discard

1 c. Water

2 large eggs

1/4 c. Oil

Mix this all together and make waffles.

I cook all the waffles, cool leftover ones to just toast them in the toaster - works great! You can see, I can take just a section that fits perfectly and is wonderful. The waffle iron is in the middle of fixing them tonight - yum! Wish you were here to enjoy them.

This recipe comes originally from the Sourdough Discard Cookbook for Busy Moms by Veronica Harris - this book is fantastic! I did change up a few things like the powdered milk and the water and how I have dry ingredients together and mix wet ingredients together and then just mix all together but it is because I use powdered milk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHZpAwaPMpA - here is a clever mending idea.

The other thing I have done is rearranged my living room.

Now that the telescope is outside, I felt like moving around the living room for a change of scenery.

Missy says keep working on your storage, things look worse.

Tippy Longstockings says work on making hard copies of your things just in case.

Start putting together that binder of shelf stable food recipes.

Also, keep finding joy and being kind to others.