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, even more than ever, show kindness with times being so hard for so many. Being kind is always a good thing but an extra measure is needed now.

With canning season in full swing I figure we are all so busy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwWOdBPcjuI - this is how I made grape juice in the past, our grapes died so this spring I planted more, I am looking forward to them giving us grapes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBEMn5i-qTY - she really worked hard.

I will add here that you can dehydrate tomato skins and make tomato powder. It is so good, just pop a spoonful in the next soup you make.

http://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2019/09/monday-message.html - here is where I talked about it.

http://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2020/10/monday-message_19.html - in this post I show a picture of the tomato powder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezbhj6Be08M - here she is pressure canning potatoes. When they are done she turns off the heat and lets the pressure go back to zero before opening.

Since it is fall you need my favorite pumpkin muffin recipe...

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

I mix and set aside the topping

1/3 c. flour

3 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp cold butter

In a bowl mix...

1/4 c. soft butter

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c. brown sugar

2/3 c pumpkin

1/2 c. milk (I add tsp of vinegar to it)

2 eggs

1 tbsp molasses

Mix well.

Then I don’t stir again till all dry ingredients are measured in.

2 c flour

1 tsp dried orange peel

2 tsp b. powder

1 tsp b soda

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

Then stir well and divide between twelve regular muffin cups, I use liners but whatever.

By spoon, divide topping over all evenly. Bake in a preheated oven 375 degrees for 20-25 min.

I have continued to clean and organize, I seem to get the bug to do that in the fall instead of spring.

This week I worked on the kitchen...

Then I also was able to get a rusty screw off from the ribber part my husband helped by heating the screw

So now I can learn the ribber when I stop fall cleaning.

Missy says keep on working on your skills and storage, make sure to put yummies in that storage.

Gus says to build those skills. He says he is building his skills, if a vibrating cat toy approaches, he will be all over it.

Monday Message

Use orange rind to make orange rolls, recipe HERE.

"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)

We should keep working at our skills and our storage.

I feel like a broken record, I am still organizing...

I still am drying tomatoes.

I decided to dry tomatoes this year, just not enough to can at any one time. It has been a hard year for the garden, no rain and the grass is turning brown and crunchy.

So what we are not eating fresh I am dehydrating

We had some oranges that were needing tending so I grated their rinds and decided to put in dehydrator  as it was going.

Then when we get a snow storm I will be making orange rolls.

I cannot stress enough that being frugal is a skill. If we are moving so fast that we cannot take the time to do the frugal things then we need to find a way to slow down.

https://thesurvivalmom.com/diy-homemade-seasoning-mix/ - here's a site I saw this week that I thought would be good to share, I think it is important to have spices stored to make your own seasonings.

https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/homemade-cake-mix/ - you have to scroll to the bottom for the recipe. If you can, get these Make-A-Mix books. I feel they truly are a treasure, I use mine a lot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiuO_5y-0Sw - this guy makes great breads, they are easy to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnTwT-ifLkU&t=93s - learn your sewing machine. (I love this gal).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnTwT-ifLkU&t=364s - she shows how to thread your machines.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnTwT-ifLkU&t=792s - she takes you through making cloth napkins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM_B5_I_Rkk&t=5267s - gathered skirt for all sizes.

https://www.google.com/search?q=crochet+scrubby+tutorial&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS960US960&oq=crochet+scrubby+t&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i512j0i22i30l4j0i15i22i30j0i22i30l3.21446j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_os33Yq-EN8rB0PEP8eCU2AM22 - this is a scrubbie tutorial you can make right along with her.

I picked things that would help you build some skills, there are so many helps out there and ways to build on what you already know how to do.

This is one of the skills I am working at building. This is a picture of the sock machine's ribber arm and one of the dials. The dial has a rusty screw that I am working to get out. I then will clean this up and at some point when I get the test socks done by hand, then by machine, I plan to work at learning the ribber part of the sock machine.

Gus and Missy are showing you how to study...

1.  Get a vibrating cat toy

2.  Study its every move intently

3.  Continue to study till you get it right

4.  Then take a nap because studying is hard work

They want you to continue to work and be safe.

Monday Message

"Most of us cannot afford to store a year’s supply of luxury items, but find it more practical to store staples that might keep us from starving in case of emergency." (James E. Faust)

Being frugal is a skill that we learn like any other and it takes practice and a bit of work.

You don't have to have a garden to put food up, it helps moneywise but this year has been hard on all gardens. You can go to your you pick places or farmer's stands or farmer's market or even a really good sale on produce. For that matter...what do you do with those grapes no one wants or mushy apples?

This week I was testing my chopper on such a mushy apple. It all went through but the core and seeds which I gave those to the wildlife and the now chopped apple went in a bowl of oatmeal before cooking but I could have thrown it in the dehydrator and dried it. Those grapes no one wants dry into raisins so don't be fast to throw out things.

This week I got some groceries which included potatoes and celery but wait...I had just a little celery left, I chopped it and put it in the dehydrator.

I also had wrinkly potatoes left so I peeled and diced and blanched (which just means to boil a few minutes and put in cold water) then put in the dehydrator to dry.

Also, this week I had an orange, I grated off the orange rind part with my smallest shredding plate.

Did you know with the orange rind you just need to dry it on a plate? I covered it with a strainer and a cotton towel because we have a fly. We keep trying to get him but he is evasive, we shall call him Henry :p So basically the orange rind is free as we ate the orange.

I have been slicing the tomatoes and putting them in the dehydrator. This is what I use to slice them...

All this to say that even if you feel your budget is tight, you can do a few things to put in your pantry. I will tell you right now that orange rind has a date with some orange rolls come winter, yum!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRh7zJBSHzQ&lc=Ugxq6jKPNl0XPlE6qN54AaABAg - there are great ideas here, sewing saves so much money even if all you ever did was mend.

https://theprudenthomemaker.com/ten-ways-to-add-joy-to-your-life-when-you-don-t-have-a-penny-to-spare/ - this gal has been one of my favorites.

https://theprudenthomemaker.com/strictly-pantry-menu/

https://theprudenthomemaker.com/fifty-things-to-do-while-youre-at-home-right-now/

https://consciousfashion.co/guides/clothing-repair-mending

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP98fshDAd5bCKCGd0VRhng

Missy says take time through all the work to find joy and some down time too.

Gus says be working on building skills, like hunting for spiders.

Monday Message

"I wish to urge again the importance of self-reliance on the part of every individual Church member and family. None of us knows when a catastrophe might strike. Sickness, injury, unemployment may affect any of us. We have a great welfare program with facilities for such things as grain storage in various areas. It is important that we do this. But the best place to have some food set aside is within our homes, together with a little money in savings. The best welfare program is our own welfare program. Five or six cans of wheat in the home are better than a bushel in the welfare granary." (President Gordon B. Hinckley)

We are certainly seeing lots of these things happening every day.

We need to keep on working on stocking up and building our skills.

We need to keep all those affected by all that is going on in our prayers. It is like we cannot get back on our feet before something else happens. We need to be strong for others and still find joy along the way.

We must keep calm and carry on as they say.

I still have been deep cleaning and rearranging things as it is so hot and no rain so I am working inside.  As I have been working, I am thinking what do I have in house to use for organizing?

For example, I have this old crock.

I have put my rolls of tracing papers and interfacings in this and it works fantastically. The cost is free when you look for containers you already have.

I got this shoe organizer from freecycle years ago and use it to organize small pieces of fabrics...

This helps me to organize by color.

I worked in the sewing area just trying to consolidate. You remember my tracing off a pattern from my favorite t-shirt and making this from it?

I plan to make another from this pattern or one I just did a test shirt from using this fabric....

In the basket under the t-shirt are the free patterns I was putting together from online I mentioned a few weeks back, I have them ready to go.

I worked hard moving some things around in the stamp area as well...

This has given me more room on my desk.

With another heat wave coming this week I have been finding recipes that will not heat up the kitchen...it's a good excuse to go through my recipes again.

With the cost of groceries being so high I have been researching more frugal recipes as well as the ones that won't heat up the kitchen. So if you are going through your files, pull out some more frugal ones and see if you can stretch your grocery budget despite the rising costs.

I know right now with this heat it is hard to think of cold weather but it will be here before we know it so be thinking of ways to weatherize things we could be doing now to help our budget later.

One other thing I did this week was make this chicken...

This was a free pattern I have been wanting to make for a while...https://amigurumi.space/crochet-chicken-free-amigurumi-pattern/

Missy wants to remind you to be working on your skill building.

Gus says watching me work so hard has worn him out! He is reminding you to rest and find joy.

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)

It is getting that time where hopefully the gardens are producing and it's time to put all that produce up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tkHrGolTl8 - I love watching this lady's channel. Here she is showing how to dehydrate frozen peas, I also love to do frozen mixed veggies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfyiJ2PsbAI - I love this gal as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8LPbP5ZFpI - here she shares recipes that are all shelf stable.

It has been a very busy week in the yard cutting out trees that birds and squirrels plant. I really don't think squirrels do a good job finding what they bury and well the birds eat the seeds and poop willy-nilly. We live on 9/10ths of an acre so it's lots of work.

The young men from church and their leaders came and helped us too. We are so grateful for their help.

To add to the pain of cutting those walnut trees out, I could hear walnuts dropping from the big trees - grrrr! I will be cutting those next year.

It has been so very hot with no rain. I have had to do some watering. For someone who hates outside work I have been doing entirely too much of it. And I am tired of being a T-bone for all the bugs in town.

The garden is starting to feel like late fall instead of summer.

We have had things keep going down this month, good grief. I hope we are done with that cause we don't need any more of that!

I have managed to keep up with a little spinning each day. The purple is upstairs, it is a babe wheel that my sister gave me with a motor that operates it by foot pedal. It is a learning thing for me to get the speed just right. I am getting there though. You will recognize the wool from my dying it in the crockpot...

The colored spinning is on the matchless wheel downstairs, also a gift from my sister. The fiber is from a yarn shop that is no longer in business sadly.

I also finished an octopus pattern from same shop. Here are some pictures of it with the frog I just finished.

If you have hard work to do it is nice to have fun work as well. I think you will notice they did not lift one finger or tentacle to help with the outside work.

Missy says so many we know are getting Covid, the numbers are going up here in Iowa.

Gus says build your skills and storage, nothing is over.