Monday Message

"Can or bottle fruit and vegetables from your gardens and orchards. Learn how to preserve food through drying and possibly freezing. Make your storage a part of your budget. Store seeds and have sufficient tools on hand to do the job." (President Ezra Taft Benson)

I have been saving seed...

I saved the seed from the melon I showed before and saved zucchini seed. I like them to be good and dry before I put them in a baggie to use next year. I then put these in another container because I don't want to attract mice.

So the first part of having cucumbers this year was great, then as you know we got very hot and dry which made the cucumbers bitter. Hot and or dry is what does that. Don't see how one could prevent the heat we had this year.

We finally have cooler temps. We have had them a couple of days now but today was the first day we could throw open the doors and windows as we had dangerous air quality for the last two days because of smoke from the Canadian fires. I cannot imagine how tired they must be fighting those.

Here's how I save the seed...

I put what seed it is from and year on a few napkins which I set on a plastic lid.

All part of being frugal. It saves money but more importantly, I don't have to find money to purchase the seed.

I thought I would just show you some frugal things I have done.

First, I want to show you a project I did a while back from lids I saved off shortening cans.

I took stamps and stamped on the lid. Then took an X-Acto knife and cut out the outside edges. Then I could stamp the image and emboss it by laying down the cut plastic and lining up the stamped image upside down on a light box or a window during daytime. Then I use a stylus and rub. I find if I rub my hand across first this makes it less likely to poke holes as you have oil in your skin. This gives a wonderful 3D effect with no cost, just time. I tried to show these so you can see the raised effect.

I love that embossed look.

Now this week...

I took one of those annoying DVDs we all used to get in the mail for some dial-up service, it is the taller DVD case. They make this tool one you could purchase but having to be frugal, here is what I did...

I took the center out of the DVD case carefully.

Then I had gotten a white board type of weekly calendar that I got for the pens used at thrift shop (the pens have magnets and my calendar is able to have magnets).

Side note, the green pen had no ink which made me wonder could my dye ink pads be dry erasable?? I tested them and yes, they are. I pulled out the tip and filled it with the ink refill I had that was green, put the nub back in and let it soak a bit and perfect!

That left me with the week version of the white board. You can always use it to hold a pattern on while you do needle work. I took magnetic strips and glued ribbon on and use those for keeping my place on patterns, but I have plenty of boards that I use, so here is what I did...

I take that DVD case and set it on the white board, then I put my card stock in place holding it with the magnets. 

I have this all in the side of DVD that has an edge around it. Then the other (I will call a door) I take my unmounted rubberstamp and put it stamping side down where I want the image, or several, but today just the one. 

Close the door (aka lid) and it nabs the stamp. Open the door and ink the stamp. 

Close the door press down on it open the door and there is your image. 

Uh oh, what if part of the ear does not stamp because of where you pressed? No problem! Re-ink it and repeat, pressing all over. It stays put and gives a perfect image. So that is what I did, I love that I can do this perfect every time.

The other thing I did this week came after reading an article on homemade temples for looms. In one sentence she mentioned how she did this with a floor loom and that was all I needed, just one sentence...

She said she tied a strong string on each side of the loom, back beam to front beam. Then she took sewing clamps to attach to your project. Tie a string on the clamp. Run it over the string you placed on the beams and weight it. Then I knotted the string before and after the intersection. I wove some and really liked what it does. I was worried I would get hung up on the clips but not at all. When I leave the weaving I always loosen the warp and now I take the weights, which are s hooks, and hang on the apron bar and that takes all weight off of the weaving. Then when I am ready to weave again, I tighten the warp, drop down the s hooks, and weave. The pictures will show this better. In the second picture follow from the clamp on the weaving all the way to the s hook, then you can understand my ramblings.  

I had everything on hand to do these projects so that was very helpful as well.

I did have Tippy Longstocking's help at one point while getting the s hook in place. I left the string on while I was adjusting length, I looked down and she had the string in her mouth pulling that s hook sideways, not at all helpful but cute :p

So while these are probably not helpful to you, I wanted to show you that you can think outside the box and find a frugal way of doing things that don't cost as much.

So that was some of what I did this week.

Missy says just take a different way to see things and you can save money.

Tippy Longstockings says be sure to rest after all that hard work.

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)

Prices continue to be high. What measures are you taking to manage?

https://www.littlehouseliving.com/simple-tips-for-living-on-next-to-nothing.html - here are some suggestions I like this gal.

https://thefreerangelife.com/frugal-meals/ - some ideas here.

https://eatwellspendsmart.com/cheap-grocery-list/ - I found that the store we had that was cheaper is now more costly, so know your prices.

https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g4287/cheap-dinner-ideas/ - this has recipes that are thrifty.

https://www.thispilgrimlife.com/frugal-meal-ideas/ - more ideas.

While this has been on frugal food and meals it is not the only way to be frugal.

https://www.checkcity.com/personal-finance/frugal-living-tips - here are some ideas that might help.

https://thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/money/frugal-living - there are helpful things here.

Think about things you have and utilize them to their fullest.  

This is the time of the year where we are putting up produce...

This will help us save money later when we won't need to purchase these things.

I have been saving seed. This is melon seeds.

We, at the time of this writing, still are having hot temps. I am ready to be past it. We still have dry grass, looks like the dry picture a few blog posts ago.

Missy says keep learning ways to be more frugal.

Tippy Longstockings says do what you can to stock up so your family can be comfortable.

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)

It feels like catastrophes are happening faster and faster. We need to be ready for what else will happen.  We need to stock our up our storage and be ready to assist others.

We need to continue learning frugal ways to stretch what we have and learn how to live on less.  

Look at all that has happened of late, we need to be able to help however we can. There is no signs of any of this stopping. We also need to prepare for winter though it is hot now, it won't be long before it's here. If you can get a jump on preps that would be good and thinking this far in advance gives you time to get a little in now and then before it gets here.  

Those who are going into summer, we have had a rough summer with heat and is still going on so prep for that. The hardest part, aside from the heat for me, is to think up cool meals with what I have on hand. I tried, and am still trying, to cook ahead so we have leftovers and don't have to heat the house cooking. Try to use the mornings to meal fix.  

Keep working on your garden produce - can it or freeze it or dehydrate, whatever you can do will help your family later.

This week ahead will be another scorcher here so this snow picture might cool us off, it was a lot to shovel and I worry we might be in for it again this year so go through this post https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2016/10/monday-message.html and check out some of the links that can help you get ready.

Those who live where summer is coming, see if you can't save some seeds from what you are eating to plant in your yard or in pots. Same with potatoes, put them in the ground, I do not see prices coming down at all.

This week I wove a bit more on the dish towels.

I have dried more tomatoes and still have some going as well as leftover celery, trying to stretch what we have. If I have leftover produce by grocery day I will freeze or dry it or make a meal of it. This month I had celery left so it is in the dehydrator.

With awful heat coming again I used yesterday, which was a titch cooler, to make granola.

I did get a little spinning done not as much as I would have liked

One night I could not sleep and thought of a better way to shift things about in the stamp area. It was heavy work and took several days to get things back in order.

Continue to work on your produce, getting it put up, and please keep working on your storage. If that isn't overwhelming enough, time to think on Christmas.

https://www.thriftyfrugalmom.com/homemade-foods-to-make-from-scratch/ this gal has great ideas.

What do you keep buying? As you make your grocery list and you are looking at it, is there anything on it that you can make yourself? Bread or yogurt or stuffing mix? Whatever it is just do a search on how to make it. See if it saves you money. Every little bit you save adds up.

How are you coming on your skill building?

I know summer is so busy and kids are probably all back to school, time to think about those skills.

Missy says keep working at your storage a little at a time, this way it will not hurt as much as getting a bunch at a time.

Tippy Longstockings says stand ready to help others when needed.

Monday Message

"The counsel to have a year’s supply of basic food, clothing, and commodities was given fifty years ago and has been repeated many times since. Every father and mother are the family’s storekeepers. They should store whatever their own family would like to have in the case of an emergency … [and] God will sustain us through our trials." (James E. Faust)

I find the last of this quote quite comforting.

It has been so very hot. I am ready to be done with the heat. It makes it very hard to get things done.

A little while back I found some unmounted stamps at thrift store. Every method I tried just did not work like I would like to be convenient, so I did some research. Well, of the options to use, I felt like mounting them would be best. I had no idea it would take all day. I found the scrap wood in the garage. My husband was kind enough to cut it and do some sanding. I took some foam I had saved from some packing material and got to work.

I had just enough foam but the last one was pieced together. They were very inexpensive. All were way less than purchasing one stamp. They are all done and once dried, I washed off the ink on them that you can tell in the picture. The ink was from stamping the image on the block of wood so you can see the image at a glance. My hands were inky looking till clean-up which I used hair spray to get it off. It works great, kind of scary to think what it does to ones hair. I had a sample bottle I save just for ink stains, even on clothes.

So this was a job I did on one of the hottest days.

Someone else is liking the bags as well as Missy...Tippy Longstockings said we all should have a bag to crawl into but I say it's too hot!

One day I spent looking at cookbooks and other books like tatting and watercolor that I had been trying to get to so that was a good activity on a day too hot for much physical work.

Another day I turned the loom and spinning wheel so that all their legs were on the same part of the floor. I originally had the loom turned so that one leg was on wood and three on the carpet. The spinning wheel had one leg on carpet and the rest on wood. So now all of the loom is on carpet and all of the spinning wheel is on wood. It might not make a difference but I did it just in case.

This ended up being a bit more physical than I wanted but I did it in the morning.

Knowing this heat was coming, I got meals lined up. I cooked a crockpot full of chicken which gave us a chicken meal that night, then I made fajitas and chicken salad and hay stacks. We are still enjoying the leftovers, so nice especially when the temps are molten lava by supper time.

Haystacks

I put a can of cream of mushroom soup in the crockpot along with...

A box of chicken broth 

Chicken leftovers or planned overs

And chicken gravy mix (about three Tbsp)

Stir and leave on low all day in the crockpot. Before eating, I thicken with cornstarch till it's like a gravy.

You put some chow mein noodles, the crunchy type, or rice or both in a bowl. Put this gravy on then whatever toppings you want, I like chopped green pepper and onion and celery and almonds and shredded cheddar cheese.

This makes a fabulous meal when it is too hot.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/ready-gravy-mix/ - this is the gravy mix I used. I keep a jar of each on the shelf always.

Mind you I used all things I had in house to do all this as not wanting to spend extra or go out in the heat, though I did run to the garden for green peppers.

I also fixed a meatless bean burrito. I use a can of refried beans and a can of hot enchilada sauce. Mix together and put in a small crockpot.

My husband likes to have this as burritos and I like to put it over tortilla chips and top with cheese.

So these all made great leftovers.

By the time you read this cooler weather will hopefully arrive.

Today will still be in the nineties but not lava hot. I have been waiting to load the dehydrator with tomatoes so that happens today.

What things are you doing to beat the heat without spending money?

Missy says share what you have with others, even if it is your favorite bag (of which she has two).

Tippy Longstockings says it is okay to take it easy when it is toooooo hot!