August 2. Fred Meyer for the senior discount shopping day. I bought the large box of powdered milk for $13.04. This might last the whole year. I'm not needing to fortify my daughter's smoothies quite so much, these days, and never have to add the powdered milk to her drinking milk any more. So, that's good news on two fronts -- saves money, and a sign she's getting better. I found cottage cheese on markdown for 99 cents/16 oz container. Bought two. One container is earmarked for lasagna, and the other is for lunches, with fruit, this week. I also bought 4 packages of cheapo hotdogs for cookouts, at 80 cents/12 oz package, 1/10th lb unsweetend coconut at $2.69/lb, small jar blackstrap molasses for $3.41, 3 jars of natural-style peanut butter (15 oz for $1.61), 16 oz bag of marshmallows (for s'mores), at $1.35, 2 lbs of butter, at $2.25/lb, 12 oz milk chocolate chips and 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, at $1.80 each, plus 1 lb of whole wheat spaghetti for 90 cents. Spent $34.94
August 5. A change in plans for evening entertainment brought both daughters and I to the beach to have a small picnic dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches. Near to the beach is a frozen yogurt shop. So, for dessert, we headed over there. Even with my pleads of "let's keep these small, okay?", we still spent $14.20 for 3 fro-yo sundaes. Ouch! That comes out of the grocery budget. It was fun, but expensive fun.
Spent so far this month, $49.14
August 10. Dollar Tree. Among other things, I bought a box of graham crackers. Spent $1
August 12. Fred Meyer for the milk on sale at $1/half-gallon. I bought 5 half-gallons of whole milk, and 1 half-gallon of orange juice. I also picked up 2 weeks of Friday Freebies - 1 5-oz package of gummy worms (to go into a stocking at Christmas), and a 10-oz Hormel dinner (will probably also go as a gift to someone in family at Christmas). Spent $6. (While I was at Fred Meyer, they had a promotion on gift cards, at 4 x fuel rewards -- I picked up a Starbucks card to use as a gift sometime in the future.)
August 12. Trader Joes for bananas. I bought 17 bananas, at 19 cents each. Spent $3.23
August 14. Dollar Tree, again, this month (daughters needed student planners for classes). I also bought 1 box of 6 individual packages of animal crackers, and 1 box of 6 individual packages of fish crackers. These are a treat/snack for the 2 weeks my daughters are home at the end of summer, and we do a bunch of summer-y road trips. Spent $2
So far this month, I've spent $61.37
August 19. Country Farms produce stand. I was very near to this stand this morning, and was feeling like I needed a pick me up, so I stopped in. I bought 6 ears of corn on the cob (25 cents each), 3 small avocados (3/$1), 4 nectarines (99 cents/lb), a pint of blueberries ($2.49), and a cantaloupe (39 cents/lb) I spent $7.02. Although our garden is producing well, these days, this splurge was well worth it. Kris's blueberry and peach fruit cups (mentioned in the comments this morning) sounded so wonderful. I made fruit salads in similar fashion using the nectarines and blueberries.
Month to date spending, $68.39
August 25 Fred Meyer for 5 half-gallons whole milk (99 cents each), and 1 half-gallon orange juice (99 cents), about 8 lbs total of peaches and nectarines for 88 cents/lb, 1 PowerBar (freebie). Total spent -- $12.83
Month to date spending, $81.22
August 26. Went by Cash & Carry and picked up a 10-lb package of 80/20 ground beef for $18.80 ($1.88/lb), a 5-lb bag of white cheddar cheese ($6.95, $1.39/lb, last one, I would have bought more, no rainchecks), 25-lb bag of steel cut oats ($14.47, or 58 cents/lb), 3 bananas at 46 cents/lb, 3 64-oz jars of chunky peanut butter ($5.37). Spent $56.79
Total spent so far, $138.01
Coming in to the month of August, I had a surplus of $299.23. Add that to my budget of $190, and I had $489.23 available to spend for the month. I underspent by $351.22. That is my new surplus!! Add that to my monthly budget of $190, and for the month of September, I now have $541.22 available to spend on groceries. Good grief! Are we not eating?! I don't think I bought that much this month. Here's the list:
What I bought
Dairy
large box of powdered milk
32 oz cottage cheese
2 lbs butter
10 half-gallons whole milk
5 lbs shredded white cheddar cheese
Meat
4 packages hot dogs
10 lbs 80/20 ground beef
Pantry
1/10th lb unsweetened coconut
small jar blackstrap molasses
3 15 oz jars natural-style peanut butter
16 oz marshmallows
2 12 oz bags chocolate chips
1 lb whole wheat spaghetti
9 oz graham crackers
5 oz package gummy worms (Freebie)
Hormel pantry-stable dinner (Freebie)
6-pack fish crackers
25 lbs steel cut oats
6-pack animal crackers
1 PowerBar (Freebie)
12 pints of Jif-type peanut butter
Produce
2 half-gallons orange juice
20 bananas
6 ears of corn
3 small avocados
4 nectarines
pint of blueberries
1 cantaloupe
8 lbs of nectarines and peaches, mixed
Treats out
frozen yogurt
I'm still holding below our budget, to spare as much money as possible for fall sale stock-ups. I've benefitted by some spectacular deals, like the ground beef for $1.88/lb, and the cheddar cheese for $1.39/lb. Not to mention the eggs that I bought in June and July for rock-bottom low prices (I don't know if eggs will ever be that low again, 49 cents/dozen is pretty spectacular). I'm still using eggs from those 2 cases, that I froze.
I continue to look for better ways to buy items. Like the 25-lb sack of steel cut oats. I had been buying steel cut oats at WinCo for 62 cents per pound. I paid 58 cents/lb by buying the 25-lb sack. that's only a savings of 4 cents/lb, but multiplied by 25 lbs and I saved $1. And steel cut oats are not something that I have to worry about us eating, indiscriminately. This amount will last us about 15 months, and keep just fine. Mmmm, now I'm getting hungry for a bowl of steel cut oats, topped with fresh peaches. Yum!
One of my pantry goals this summer has been to work our way down on both pantry and freezer surpluses. I want to make sure nothing sits for so long that it's no longer edible, get both pantry and freezers cleaned out, and save some money for stocking up when prices are rock-bottom for many items. I had no idea just how much we have in stock, here. It's a lot of food, and could probably last us for several months, with no shopping at all, if need be.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Think like a business
In stocking my kitchen, I've learned to think as if I'm a commercial enterprise. This has saved me quite a lot of money, as well as provided superior quality, in many items, both in foods and in equipment.
I received an email from a reader yesterday, asking where I bought these containers
This reader understood that these were repurposed containers, and was hoping to buy some just like these, and wanted to know where I bought them, and what they'd previously been filled with. I told her what item these containers came with and where I purchase that food (these are the containers for imitation bacon bits, in 3.5 lb jugs). But as she'd said she had looked high and low for something just like this, I went just a step further, and did a quick google-search for purchasing similar, but empty containers, in case she didn't need 17 lbs of bacon bits (to get 5 of these containers). My thought process was, "where would I purchase similar containers, in bulk, if I were packaging my own product to sell?"
I searched with the terms: "plastic containers wholesale". Once at a page for wholesale containers, in their search bar, I entered: "food storage handles". It brought me to a page with clear, food safe containers about the same size as the ones I own. These containers could be ordered 1 at a time, or in bulk, for a discount.
In addition to finding this container at that website, I also obtained the particular item information, manufacturer, measurements, etc. If I were serious about ordering some of these for my kitchen storage, I could take this information and google-search this product for other wholesale sellers, and do a price comparison. And I could take the pricing and check my local restaurant supply store.
Purchasing these containers through a wholesale seller online offers a great price (about $2.50 including lid, but not shipping). In comparison, if I went to a retail container store like Storables, I would pay $6 to $8 for a 1-gallon food storage container.
Not all wholesale merchants will deal with the public. But by shopping online, I have a large number of merchants that I can look at, and hopefully find a couple who will sell to me.
Shopping for the durable equipment, like pots, pans and bakeware
When it comes to purchasing equipment for my kitchen, again, I think like a business. In this case, a commercial kitchen. I could buy pots, pans, utensils and small appliances through a department or kitchen specialty store. And they would all be very pretty. (Williams-Sonoma, love browsing in there.)
But in a commercial kitchen, appearance comes second, after effectiveness and quality. Commercial kitchens put their equipment through its paces, day after day, month after month. That's the kind of equipment that I want to own. So, where does a restaurant or institutional kitchen purchase its equipment? In my area, I have 2 good choices. There's the durable goods section of the restaurant supply chain, Cash & Carry, or Bargreen's, a chain of food service equipment suppliers scattered across the western US, Hawaii, Alaska and Canada.
In addition to shopping in local stores, I've also shopped online for some items, like my bread pans. I go for commercial quality. About 15 or 16 years ago, I was in a small, local bakery, and I inquired about the bakeware they used. The owner showed me some of her baking pans, and suggested where I might find them. These bread pans are very sturdy, distribute heat evenly, and are fairly priced for their quality, but they won't win any beauty prizes. However, I expect that I will be handing these down to my children, in another 20 or 30 years.
By the way, my bread pans are Chicago Metallic, uncoated, heavy-weight, aluminized steel, with folded corner and wire-rod construction. They are commercial quality, and have a lifetime warranty. I bought 6 1.5-lb loaf pans all those years ago, and expect them to last my lifetime and beyond. These sell on Amazon for about $13.50, or through Chicago Metallic for $14.95. In comparison, Williams-Sonoma carries a very similar loaf pan, retailing for $18.95. The Chicago Metallic pans saved me several dollars per pan, and deliver excellent quality in baking performance.
Shopping for food
With food, once again, I think like a business. You all know this about my shopping. I don't buy 1 week's worth of sugar or flour or oats, or any other pantry staple. I don't even buy 1 month's worth. I think in terms of a 1 year supply for most items in my pantry. When I'm at Cash& Carry, I find it interesting to look at the carts for restaurants, in the check-out line. We have a lot of small Asian restaurants in our area. These restaurants don't just buy 1 gallon of soy sauce at a time, they buy a case of gallons, or a 4-gallon cube, or the 5-gallon bucket of soy sauce.
After church, on Sunday, I was talking with a couple of women about buying pork roasts. One of the women said she buys the 4-pack of 2-lb pork roasts at Costco. She said she saves a lot of money buying the roasts like this. This is definitely the easy way to buy in bulk at a good price. I told her how I buy pork roasts, by the full loin. I then cut the loin up into individual roasts, myself at home. I do this with the 10-lb rolls of ground beef and 20 to 25 pound pieces of top round. I divide or cut this beef up and repackage into family-size amounts for the freezer. On some items, shopping where the restaurants shop, I save a substantial amount of money. Last week, I bought a 10-lb roll of 80/20 ground beef at $1.88/lb. I can't even come near that price at my local supermarkets. Even in the discount meat section of Fred Meyer, the least I have seen ground priced is $2.49/lb. On top of the savings, on many items, the quality is excellent, and sometimes exceeds the quality of supermarket food items. (Just an example -- I buy whipping cream with a higher butterfat content at Cash & Carry than the whipping cream available at Fred Meyer.)
Sometimes, these sizes are not as convenient to use. For example, the vegetable oil that I buy comes in 35-lb jugs.
These are indeed heavy, when full. To use them, I fill a 1 gallon jug with oil, from this container, as needed. Not quite as simple as buying a ready-filled one-gallon container of oil. But I save several dollars per gallon with the 35-lb container.
I realize that not everyone wants to think of their kitchen as if it were a business. But by doing so, I've been able to stock my own kitchen very well, while spending less.
I received an email from a reader yesterday, asking where I bought these containers
This reader understood that these were repurposed containers, and was hoping to buy some just like these, and wanted to know where I bought them, and what they'd previously been filled with. I told her what item these containers came with and where I purchase that food (these are the containers for imitation bacon bits, in 3.5 lb jugs). But as she'd said she had looked high and low for something just like this, I went just a step further, and did a quick google-search for purchasing similar, but empty containers, in case she didn't need 17 lbs of bacon bits (to get 5 of these containers). My thought process was, "where would I purchase similar containers, in bulk, if I were packaging my own product to sell?"
I searched with the terms: "plastic containers wholesale". Once at a page for wholesale containers, in their search bar, I entered: "food storage handles". It brought me to a page with clear, food safe containers about the same size as the ones I own. These containers could be ordered 1 at a time, or in bulk, for a discount.
In addition to finding this container at that website, I also obtained the particular item information, manufacturer, measurements, etc. If I were serious about ordering some of these for my kitchen storage, I could take this information and google-search this product for other wholesale sellers, and do a price comparison. And I could take the pricing and check my local restaurant supply store.
Purchasing these containers through a wholesale seller online offers a great price (about $2.50 including lid, but not shipping). In comparison, if I went to a retail container store like Storables, I would pay $6 to $8 for a 1-gallon food storage container.
Not all wholesale merchants will deal with the public. But by shopping online, I have a large number of merchants that I can look at, and hopefully find a couple who will sell to me.
Shopping for the durable equipment, like pots, pans and bakeware
When it comes to purchasing equipment for my kitchen, again, I think like a business. In this case, a commercial kitchen. I could buy pots, pans, utensils and small appliances through a department or kitchen specialty store. And they would all be very pretty. (Williams-Sonoma, love browsing in there.)
But in a commercial kitchen, appearance comes second, after effectiveness and quality. Commercial kitchens put their equipment through its paces, day after day, month after month. That's the kind of equipment that I want to own. So, where does a restaurant or institutional kitchen purchase its equipment? In my area, I have 2 good choices. There's the durable goods section of the restaurant supply chain, Cash & Carry, or Bargreen's, a chain of food service equipment suppliers scattered across the western US, Hawaii, Alaska and Canada.
In addition to shopping in local stores, I've also shopped online for some items, like my bread pans. I go for commercial quality. About 15 or 16 years ago, I was in a small, local bakery, and I inquired about the bakeware they used. The owner showed me some of her baking pans, and suggested where I might find them. These bread pans are very sturdy, distribute heat evenly, and are fairly priced for their quality, but they won't win any beauty prizes. However, I expect that I will be handing these down to my children, in another 20 or 30 years.
By the way, my bread pans are Chicago Metallic, uncoated, heavy-weight, aluminized steel, with folded corner and wire-rod construction. They are commercial quality, and have a lifetime warranty. I bought 6 1.5-lb loaf pans all those years ago, and expect them to last my lifetime and beyond. These sell on Amazon for about $13.50, or through Chicago Metallic for $14.95. In comparison, Williams-Sonoma carries a very similar loaf pan, retailing for $18.95. The Chicago Metallic pans saved me several dollars per pan, and deliver excellent quality in baking performance.
Shopping for food
With food, once again, I think like a business. You all know this about my shopping. I don't buy 1 week's worth of sugar or flour or oats, or any other pantry staple. I don't even buy 1 month's worth. I think in terms of a 1 year supply for most items in my pantry. When I'm at Cash& Carry, I find it interesting to look at the carts for restaurants, in the check-out line. We have a lot of small Asian restaurants in our area. These restaurants don't just buy 1 gallon of soy sauce at a time, they buy a case of gallons, or a 4-gallon cube, or the 5-gallon bucket of soy sauce.
After church, on Sunday, I was talking with a couple of women about buying pork roasts. One of the women said she buys the 4-pack of 2-lb pork roasts at Costco. She said she saves a lot of money buying the roasts like this. This is definitely the easy way to buy in bulk at a good price. I told her how I buy pork roasts, by the full loin. I then cut the loin up into individual roasts, myself at home. I do this with the 10-lb rolls of ground beef and 20 to 25 pound pieces of top round. I divide or cut this beef up and repackage into family-size amounts for the freezer. On some items, shopping where the restaurants shop, I save a substantial amount of money. Last week, I bought a 10-lb roll of 80/20 ground beef at $1.88/lb. I can't even come near that price at my local supermarkets. Even in the discount meat section of Fred Meyer, the least I have seen ground priced is $2.49/lb. On top of the savings, on many items, the quality is excellent, and sometimes exceeds the quality of supermarket food items. (Just an example -- I buy whipping cream with a higher butterfat content at Cash & Carry than the whipping cream available at Fred Meyer.)
Sometimes, these sizes are not as convenient to use. For example, the vegetable oil that I buy comes in 35-lb jugs.
These are indeed heavy, when full. To use them, I fill a 1 gallon jug with oil, from this container, as needed. Not quite as simple as buying a ready-filled one-gallon container of oil. But I save several dollars per gallon with the 35-lb container.
I realize that not everyone wants to think of their kitchen as if it were a business. But by doing so, I've been able to stock my own kitchen very well, while spending less.
Monday, August 29, 2016
Persistence, tenacity or just plain stubbornness
You remember what your parents recited, when tempted to throw in the towel -- if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
My new shorts
About 4 years ago, I turned a pair of worn blue jeans into some summer capris.
The jeans went from this
You can see in the jeans, they were already pretty worn-looking. And really, when was the last time you saw wider-legged jeans? Okay, so rather old jeans. But I could still fit into them, and for the most part they were still in decent-enough shape.
But I was no longer wearing them as jeans (maybe the very out of date wide leg?). So, I turned those jeans into "new" capris. Perfect, right? Everyone loves capris in summer. Everyone, that is, except me. Or maybe it was because they were denim capris, and kinda heavy (AKA warm) for a hot summer day. And you know what? Capris aren't the greatest look on my legs. So in a drawer they sat for 4 years.
In going through my clothing last week, I almost tossed these capris into the giveaway pile. But you know, I just wasn't ready to throw in the towel on these pants, just yet. Surely, I could get a bit more wear out of them.
And that's when I thought to at least try them as shorts. What did I have to lose, right?
One afternoon, I took the leap, and with a pair of scissors, I cut off the bottom few inches of the capris, and I now have shorts. My 2 daughters (my personal fashion experts) convinced me that rolled up hem shorts were indeed "in". After cutting off the lower part of each leg, I rolled up the edge until they hit that sweet spot on a woman's leg, where everything goes in from side to side, and legs seem to look their trimmest.
This might be it. I may have found the way to get much more wear from my very old pair of jeans. I've worn them for the last couple of days, and loved having some summer-worthy clothing. I only wish I had done this at the beginning of summer, and not towards the end. Oh well, I'm now set for next summer, right?
This quick project reminded me of the patched bed sheets of mine, which lasted several years beyond most folks tolerance for "worn out". not only did I patch those repeatedly, but when patching was no longer a viable option, I found a use for the good-condition edges of the sheet -- my daughter's summer sleep shorts. And there's still a lot of good fabric left on that sheet. (another project perhaps?)
Sometimes I think I'm just too stubborn to give up on anything. Have you ever had something that you just wouldn't give up on making useful?
Friday, August 26, 2016
Cheap and Cheerful Suppers for late August (plus our budget hot dog and marshmallow roasting skewers)
Friday
Egg fried rice, with garden cabbage, green beans, kale
Fruit salad of blueberries, nectarines, apples
Saturday (cook-out by the fire ring)
Hot dogs in homemade buns
Corn on cob
Cantaloupe
Green beans
Chips (son's girlfriend brought chips, Oreos and watermelon punch)
s'mOreos (s'mOreos are s'mores using chocolate cream Oreos, and a toasted marshmallow in between)
Punch and pink lemonade
Sunday
Black beans and rice, avocado and cheddar burritos in homemade tortillas
Fruit salad of apple, cantaloupe, blueberries and nectarines
Monday
Garden potatoes, cottage cheese and cheddar casserole
Green salad with avocado, homemade vinaigrette
Apple wedges
Tuesday
Meatballs, pasta sauce from freezer and spaghetti
Garden green beans
Wednesday
Rice and black bean tostadas, on pan-fried corn tortillas, with garden lettuce, chopped canned tomatoes, cheese, olives, spicy 1000 Island dressing, and the crumbs from an almost empty bag of chips in the pantry (they were Mango Habanero -- very spicy, so great on these tostadas)
Apple wedges
Thursday
Egg, cheddar, green pepper (from the garden), shallot (garden) and potato (also from the garden) casserole
Sauteed beet greens and Swiss chard (from garden)
Pickled beets
Apple salad
If wood-fires are allowed in your area, cook-outs have got to be one of the top frugal summer activities. You have to make dinner anyways. You can cook a number of foods over an open fire. Sausages/hot dogs just happen to be one of the simplest to do.
No long roasting skewers? Short skewers can be adapted to using over an open fire.
20 years ago, we were given a set of 6 short skewers, designed for making kabobs on the grill. The handle is too short to comfortably hold over a fire by hand for very long (which is what you do when you're roasting a hot dog or a marshmallow, right?). Several years ago, my son and husband adapted these short skewers into long-handled ones, using 30-inch long sticks from the yard, and strong string. (First attempt was with duct tape, but duct tape softens and loosens with heat, so next try was the string, and it has held very well.) We wash and store the skewers as they are (we don't undo them every time), and they have lasted remarkably well, with occasional fixing, as needed.
Egg fried rice, with garden cabbage, green beans, kale
Fruit salad of blueberries, nectarines, apples
Saturday (cook-out by the fire ring)
Hot dogs in homemade buns
Corn on cob
Cantaloupe
Green beans
Chips (son's girlfriend brought chips, Oreos and watermelon punch)
s'mOreos (s'mOreos are s'mores using chocolate cream Oreos, and a toasted marshmallow in between)
Punch and pink lemonade
Sunday
Black beans and rice, avocado and cheddar burritos in homemade tortillas
Fruit salad of apple, cantaloupe, blueberries and nectarines
Monday
Garden potatoes, cottage cheese and cheddar casserole
Green salad with avocado, homemade vinaigrette
Apple wedges
Tuesday
Meatballs, pasta sauce from freezer and spaghetti
Garden green beans
Wednesday
Rice and black bean tostadas, on pan-fried corn tortillas, with garden lettuce, chopped canned tomatoes, cheese, olives, spicy 1000 Island dressing, and the crumbs from an almost empty bag of chips in the pantry (they were Mango Habanero -- very spicy, so great on these tostadas)
Apple wedges
Thursday
Egg, cheddar, green pepper (from the garden), shallot (garden) and potato (also from the garden) casserole
Sauteed beet greens and Swiss chard (from garden)
Pickled beets
Apple salad
If wood-fires are allowed in your area, cook-outs have got to be one of the top frugal summer activities. You have to make dinner anyways. You can cook a number of foods over an open fire. Sausages/hot dogs just happen to be one of the simplest to do.
No long roasting skewers? Short skewers can be adapted to using over an open fire.
20 years ago, we were given a set of 6 short skewers, designed for making kabobs on the grill. The handle is too short to comfortably hold over a fire by hand for very long (which is what you do when you're roasting a hot dog or a marshmallow, right?). Several years ago, my son and husband adapted these short skewers into long-handled ones, using 30-inch long sticks from the yard, and strong string. (First attempt was with duct tape, but duct tape softens and loosens with heat, so next try was the string, and it has held very well.) We wash and store the skewers as they are (we don't undo them every time), and they have lasted remarkably well, with occasional fixing, as needed.
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Organizing my life on a budget
Whether you work in the home, outside the home, are on the road, are retired, have 4 kids at home or are empty-nesters, you have a life to live and probably enough going on in that life to need some organization. I know I do.
I work at home, mostly. I pick up paid-work whenever I can. I volunteer about 4 days per month. I have personal appointments, regularly. I have home maintenance appointments, sporadically. I have 5 adults that I cook, shop and clean for. I maintain all of the financial obligations for the household. And I blog 5 days per week. It's all very doable -- if I keep myself organized.
I've experimented with a variety of purchased and print at home planners and calendars. What seems to be working for me is a combination of a month-at-a-glance calendar plus daily planner. I usually get a calendar for free. But in years that I don't, I print out my own month-at-a-glance pages from free online resources. I use the calendar to note appointments more than a day or two in the future.
I also use this calendar for week-at-a-glance information. I make general remarks about an upcoming week, in the margin. For example, I need to schedule some work on my car in early September. I just write that in the margin for that first week in Sept, and will fill in an actual appointment when I have it.
For the daily planning pages, lately, I've liked these pages from this site: http://scatteredsquirrel.com/printable/personal-planner/
I like the half-size format, as I can get 2 days on each side of the paper. I print in black and white, and I print about half a month at a time. There's about enough room for me to get all of my info entered for each day.
I take about 1 hour each morning planning the day. One hour sounds like a lot of time, but I get more into each day, by spending this time planning. I walk about the house and see what needs doing. I check the garden to see what work should be done there, as well as what produce needs harvesting. I check the laundry to see how many loads I need to do. I check progress on my various projects and crafts. I get out the dinner prep items to thaw. I check the pantry to see if we need breads or snacks prepared or baked. I even look for my lunch for that day. By the end of my planning session, I know exactly what I need to do for the day, right down to what I will quickly make for my own lunch.
I keep my planning sheets on a clipboard. I can work on them while propped in bed, while walking about the house, sitting in a comfortable chair, or at the table.
After I enter the day's info, I use a highlighter to emphasize actual appointments. All appointments where I need to be someplace else, I enter 30 minutes (or earlier if I have to drive further) prior to the actual appointment time. This keeps me from double-booking my time. (I don't enter housekeeping duties in the same time I need to be driving someplace, for instance.)
I only plan down to the detail, one day at a time. If I fall behind on one day's work, I can push the items to the next day. Or if I don't feel well, one day, I can plan a very light day for myself.
It's not a priority that my calendars or planning sheets be pretty. Their primary purpose is function. Pretty would be nice, but not essential. I could purchase a planner. Dollar Tree sells student planners which could work for many people. I need more space for each day than the Dollar Tree planners, however. The larger planners that would work for my needs run around $13 to $16 at Office Depot. By printing out my own planning pages, a year's worth costs me about $4 to $5 (ink and paper).
I still use my calendar function on my computer. It's easy to transfer appointment info from emails to that calendar, or to type in to-do lists, while I'm on my laptop working on something else. In the mornings, when I day-plan, I also grab my computer and check for any details for that day and upcoming week.
So, I stay organized, and I save money on the tools needed to do that job. Works for me!
I work at home, mostly. I pick up paid-work whenever I can. I volunteer about 4 days per month. I have personal appointments, regularly. I have home maintenance appointments, sporadically. I have 5 adults that I cook, shop and clean for. I maintain all of the financial obligations for the household. And I blog 5 days per week. It's all very doable -- if I keep myself organized.
I've experimented with a variety of purchased and print at home planners and calendars. What seems to be working for me is a combination of a month-at-a-glance calendar plus daily planner. I usually get a calendar for free. But in years that I don't, I print out my own month-at-a-glance pages from free online resources. I use the calendar to note appointments more than a day or two in the future.
I also use this calendar for week-at-a-glance information. I make general remarks about an upcoming week, in the margin. For example, I need to schedule some work on my car in early September. I just write that in the margin for that first week in Sept, and will fill in an actual appointment when I have it.
For the daily planning pages, lately, I've liked these pages from this site: http://scatteredsquirrel.com/printable/personal-planner/
I like the half-size format, as I can get 2 days on each side of the paper. I print in black and white, and I print about half a month at a time. There's about enough room for me to get all of my info entered for each day.
I take about 1 hour each morning planning the day. One hour sounds like a lot of time, but I get more into each day, by spending this time planning. I walk about the house and see what needs doing. I check the garden to see what work should be done there, as well as what produce needs harvesting. I check the laundry to see how many loads I need to do. I check progress on my various projects and crafts. I get out the dinner prep items to thaw. I check the pantry to see if we need breads or snacks prepared or baked. I even look for my lunch for that day. By the end of my planning session, I know exactly what I need to do for the day, right down to what I will quickly make for my own lunch.
I keep my planning sheets on a clipboard. I can work on them while propped in bed, while walking about the house, sitting in a comfortable chair, or at the table.
After I enter the day's info, I use a highlighter to emphasize actual appointments. All appointments where I need to be someplace else, I enter 30 minutes (or earlier if I have to drive further) prior to the actual appointment time. This keeps me from double-booking my time. (I don't enter housekeeping duties in the same time I need to be driving someplace, for instance.)
I only plan down to the detail, one day at a time. If I fall behind on one day's work, I can push the items to the next day. Or if I don't feel well, one day, I can plan a very light day for myself.
It's not a priority that my calendars or planning sheets be pretty. Their primary purpose is function. Pretty would be nice, but not essential. I could purchase a planner. Dollar Tree sells student planners which could work for many people. I need more space for each day than the Dollar Tree planners, however. The larger planners that would work for my needs run around $13 to $16 at Office Depot. By printing out my own planning pages, a year's worth costs me about $4 to $5 (ink and paper).
I still use my calendar function on my computer. It's easy to transfer appointment info from emails to that calendar, or to type in to-do lists, while I'm on my laptop working on something else. In the mornings, when I day-plan, I also grab my computer and check for any details for that day and upcoming week.
So, I stay organized, and I save money on the tools needed to do that job. Works for me!
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
A haphazard gardener and her shallots
Being a haphazard gardener means that I don't always know why a particular vegetable has a great year, or why that same vegetable has a poor year.
The shallots did splendidly, this year. All of the bulbs are large. Not a single scrawny one in the batch. And I can't say that I know, for certain, why. It could be due to fertilizing the soil before planting the bulbs. Or it could be the warm spring we had. But then again, it could also be the wet summer. Maybe they were in a particularly sunny spot. I don't know for sure. But I will be sure to fertilize the soil before planting the garlic next year. I didn't do so for the garlic this year, as I planted those bulbs in autumn, before I had a supply of good fertilizer. If that proves to increase the size of my garlic, then I may be onto something.
In any case, I'm quite thrilled for the shallots.
I plant a lot of ordinary vegetables, like carrots, lettuce, cabbage and potatoes, each year. Even if I didn't grow those vegetables, I'd still buy them at the market. I grow them because they do so well, and can be counted on each season.
But I also plant a few items that I'd likely not buy, but I enjoy cooking, like the shallots. I love the flavor shallots give to cooking. They're not as pungent as garlic and not as sharp as onions. Shallots are in the just-right zone for flavoring salad dressings, making soups, or sauteeing with mushrooms to spoon over meat. They can be tolerated, raw, without ill effect. Or cooked to caramelized perfection, and melt on the tongue. But shallots can be pricey in the market. So, I'd likely not buy them. Growing these vegetables that I enjoy but wouldn't buy, allows me some luxury in my cooking.
And as for growing my own, shallots are quite frugal. I bought the ancestors to these bulbs about 15 or 16 years ago. I just save the very biggest each year, for planting in the next. And there's enough leftover for cooking throughout the winter.
The shallots did splendidly, this year. All of the bulbs are large. Not a single scrawny one in the batch. And I can't say that I know, for certain, why. It could be due to fertilizing the soil before planting the bulbs. Or it could be the warm spring we had. But then again, it could also be the wet summer. Maybe they were in a particularly sunny spot. I don't know for sure. But I will be sure to fertilize the soil before planting the garlic next year. I didn't do so for the garlic this year, as I planted those bulbs in autumn, before I had a supply of good fertilizer. If that proves to increase the size of my garlic, then I may be onto something.
In any case, I'm quite thrilled for the shallots.
I plant a lot of ordinary vegetables, like carrots, lettuce, cabbage and potatoes, each year. Even if I didn't grow those vegetables, I'd still buy them at the market. I grow them because they do so well, and can be counted on each season.
But I also plant a few items that I'd likely not buy, but I enjoy cooking, like the shallots. I love the flavor shallots give to cooking. They're not as pungent as garlic and not as sharp as onions. Shallots are in the just-right zone for flavoring salad dressings, making soups, or sauteeing with mushrooms to spoon over meat. They can be tolerated, raw, without ill effect. Or cooked to caramelized perfection, and melt on the tongue. But shallots can be pricey in the market. So, I'd likely not buy them. Growing these vegetables that I enjoy but wouldn't buy, allows me some luxury in my cooking.
And as for growing my own, shallots are quite frugal. I bought the ancestors to these bulbs about 15 or 16 years ago. I just save the very biggest each year, for planting in the next. And there's enough leftover for cooking throughout the winter.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Bargain thrift store clothing to use as crafting fabric
Our local St Vincent de Paul's has the 99 cents all clothing, back on for Sundays. this is a great opportunity to buy clothing for super cheap, of course, but also to find fabric for craft projects.
Daughter number 1 found this dress for daughter number 2 to try on. I saw this in her hands and the wheels in my mind began turning before I even knew if she'd like it on herself. When she put it back on the rack because it was too small, I snatched it up. The good items go quickly on Sundays.
You see, I loved the fabric for its crafting potential.
Possibilities --
Daughter number 1 found this dress for daughter number 2 to try on. I saw this in her hands and the wheels in my mind began turning before I even knew if she'd like it on herself. When she put it back on the rack because it was too small, I snatched it up. The good items go quickly on Sundays.
You see, I loved the fabric for its crafting potential.
Possibilities --
- covering a hat box for storage, or
- covering a plain journal for one young woman I know, or
- a cute skirt for another young woman I know, or
- a cover for a cushion, or
- covering for a half-dozen DIY padded hangers, or
- 2 cloth napkins to put into a romantic picnic basket gift, along with enough leftover fabric to line said picnic basket, or
- fabric to add to a shabby chic quilt
The dress was 99 cents. I have close to 1 yard of usable fabric in this dress. 99 cents for a yard of crafting fabric is a pretty good deal.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Rescuing disposable containers and knitting in color (not at all related)
This time of year, I begin saving those disposable containers that look like they have good gift presentation potential for fall birthdays and Christmas/New Years.
Here are two sizes of containers that I recently rescued. The larger ones had some bakery stuff from Costco in them. I rescued those from our church's monthly tea. I was thinking they might make nice boxes for "spa day" kits, with hand-knit spa cloths, some hand-crafted soaps, some bath tea and maybe a spa candle. I'm thinking I could nest all of the items in a bed of shredded pastel-colored paper (great use for used wrapping paper that may look too shabby for reuse).
The smaller containers are sized about right for some hand-formed truffles. Again, these might look nice nested on a bed of shredded paper.
Not for gifts, but rescued nonetheless. These next two plastic containers should be good for packing lunches. The smaller one on the left is just the right size for a handful of sunflower seeds and raisins. And the one on the right is a coffee jar. Remember when those were made of glass? Well, now they're plastic, which is good and bad. The bad, plastic doesn't look as pretty for kitchen storage. The good, plastic is lightweight and non-breakable, which makes it a great item for packing someone's lunchtime salad for a backpack.
As an avid coffee drinker who never bought into the Keurig equipment, I also acquire a fair number of coffee cans. Fred Meyer's cans now have silver lids. I can see these cans decked out in white, silver and blue gift wrap, and holding a homemade batch of some snacky giftables, like Teresa's candied popcorn.
And the unrelated bit . . .
After knitting several natural-colored spa cloths, my knitting life was beginning to feel like it was all too neutral. The knitting version of living in black and white. I switched over to my lavender-colored yarn, and not only did the knitting take on more beauty for my eyes, but I swear I could smell something perfumey, from time to time, while I knitted away. Funny how our brains can do that to us. Anyways, spa cloths look nice in colors, too.
Here are two sizes of containers that I recently rescued. The larger ones had some bakery stuff from Costco in them. I rescued those from our church's monthly tea. I was thinking they might make nice boxes for "spa day" kits, with hand-knit spa cloths, some hand-crafted soaps, some bath tea and maybe a spa candle. I'm thinking I could nest all of the items in a bed of shredded pastel-colored paper (great use for used wrapping paper that may look too shabby for reuse).
The smaller containers are sized about right for some hand-formed truffles. Again, these might look nice nested on a bed of shredded paper.
Not for gifts, but rescued nonetheless. These next two plastic containers should be good for packing lunches. The smaller one on the left is just the right size for a handful of sunflower seeds and raisins. And the one on the right is a coffee jar. Remember when those were made of glass? Well, now they're plastic, which is good and bad. The bad, plastic doesn't look as pretty for kitchen storage. The good, plastic is lightweight and non-breakable, which makes it a great item for packing someone's lunchtime salad for a backpack.
As an avid coffee drinker who never bought into the Keurig equipment, I also acquire a fair number of coffee cans. Fred Meyer's cans now have silver lids. I can see these cans decked out in white, silver and blue gift wrap, and holding a homemade batch of some snacky giftables, like Teresa's candied popcorn.
And the unrelated bit . . .
After knitting several natural-colored spa cloths, my knitting life was beginning to feel like it was all too neutral. The knitting version of living in black and white. I switched over to my lavender-colored yarn, and not only did the knitting take on more beauty for my eyes, but I swear I could smell something perfumey, from time to time, while I knitted away. Funny how our brains can do that to us. Anyways, spa cloths look nice in colors, too.
Friday, August 19, 2016
Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for mid-August
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| Lazy lasagna before baking |
Friday
peanut butter sandwiches
apples
bananas
Saturday
Vegetarian Mexi-lasagna
Apple wedges
Garden green beans
Sunday
Leftover Mexi-lasagna topped with enchilada sauce
Green beans
Fruit salad of blackberries, apples, pears and dried cranberries in jelly "dressing"
Monday
Herb-crusted pork roast
Pasta with marinara sauce
French bread with pesto
Green salad with homemade vinaigrette
Fresh blackberries
Tuesday
Black bean, brown rice, cheese burritos, with leftover enchilada sauce in place of salsa, rolled into homemade flour tortillas
Garden green beans and carrots
Fresh blackberries
Wednesday
Kale frittata topped with mozzarella and homemade marinara sauce (using some of the eggs I froze when I got a great deal in batches of 6, garden kale, onion and garlic powder)
Homemade French bread (fresh and soft!)
Rhubarb and blackberry gelatin
Thursday
Lazy Lasagna
Garden green beans
Leftover rhubarb and blackberry gelatin
I've been making French bread for our daily bread, this month. It's faster and has fewer pans to clean up than my sandwich loaf. So I can make bread on days when I will only be home for part of the day. I can start a batch at 3 PM, and have fresh bread for dinner at 6:30 to 7:00. I do 2 loaves at a time, and this is enough bread to get us through about 3 days. French bread is a good homemade bread for busy days/seasons.
Another time saving thing I've been doing for busy days, lately, is throwing together casseroles in the morning, then baking in the late afternoon. On Saturday, I had an event to go to during the afternoon, so I knew I would walk in the door and have to get dinner on the table with little time. In the morning, I made the Mexi-lasagna, which was leftover rice mixed with cooked black beans, some seasonings and oil, then layered in a casserole dish with corn tortillas and cheddar cheese. It was quite good, and I'd made enough that there were leftovers for the next night. On Thursday, I got to go to the zoo with one of my daughters. Her employer puts on a family day each summer, at some venue in the Seattle area. This year, it happened to be the zoo, where my other daughter works. So, first daughter and I spent the afternoon at the zoo and met up with the second daughter when her work day ended. It was a super fun day, but I also knew I'd have to put dinner on the table in a matter of minutes, after coming home, so I made a lazy lasagna casserole in the AM, to be baked when I walked in the door in the evening.
How did your week go? Is summer winding down for you? Are you busier than normal? Or is summer still at it's usual pace? I feel like we're cramming in every last bit of summer fun and work, these days. So, not a lot of spare time.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, August 18, 2016
The herbs I grow, harvest and dry for making tea throughout winter
In summer, I drink my herb tea, iced. But in winter, I love a cup of hot herbal tea, sometimes with fruit or black tea added, sometimes with lemon and honey, and sometimes, just as is. In any case, using the herbs which grow in my own garden saves money in our grocery budget. And, it may have some healing benefits, to boot.
Herbal tea has long been thought to promote good health, and chosen as a good alternative to high caffeine beverages. There is now growing research to support the health claims. An example, sage tea may be beneficial for people with diabetes (study at University of Minho, Portugal, 2006). And this, thyme tea may prevent age-related changes in the brain (study by Youdim and colleagues, published 1999, "Biochemical and Biophysical Research").
Most garden herbs are very high in antioxidants. Using them in cooking is a no-brainer way to add health benefits to our everyday meals. Drinking herbs as tea concentrates our exposure to these benefits. The different herbs each have their unique benefits.
(It should be noted, that you should consult your medical provider before dosing yourself up with any substance, natural or chemical, that would be a change to your ordinary routine. Herbs as teas can be contra-indicated, in some circumstances, such as pregnancy or while taking some prescription meds.)
Some of these herbs, you may not think of to use in tea. Their flavor might be quite pungent, when made strong, but when made as a weak tea, often with a little honey and/or lemon, they are quite delicious, and can fill a medicinal need.
My herbs
These are the herbs that I've harvested from my garden this year. I've included the web address to livestrong.com, for more information on specific herb tea health benefits.
My herbs are grown without pesticides. All I need to do is wash, then dry them. With the smaller-leafed green herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary), I leave the stems on for tea. With the larger-leafed herbs (sage, black currant, lemon balm, mints, basil), I remove the leaves. The larger woodier stems are not as pleasant in tea. With lavender, I also remove the flower buds, and discard the stems. Once dried, I store each herb in its own airtight container.
Thyme
Thyme tea is an enjoyable beverage in its own right. When blended with honey, ginger, lemon and cinnamon (as in this recipe, here), thyme tea is an excellent beverage for cold and flu season. The key ingredient thymol, as stated above, is known to inhibit age-related changes in the brain (it could possibly help in the prevention of Alzheimer's, researchers are hoping -- current studies going on). In addition, Thyme tea is used in Europe for treatment of bronchitis and coughs.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/258910-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-thyme-tea/
Rosemary
Rosemary has long been reported to increase memory. Simply inhaling the fragrance of rosemary was said to enhance memory. As a tea, rosemary is believed to be a powerful antioxidant, protecting the body from heart disease and cancer, as well as benefitting digestion, and enhancing cognitive abilities.
Rosemary tea, made with 1 teaspoon herb to 8 ounces of boiled water, and steeped for 5 minutes is refreshing sweetened with honey and a slice of lemon added. The flavor of rosemary also lends itself to combination with black tea and lavender buds.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/22621-benefits-rosemary-tea/
Sage
I have two types of sage in my garden. Common Sage and Golden Variegated Sage. Variegated sage has a milder flavor. So this is the sage I cut for tea. When I make a tea for pleasure, I like it mild (about 1 teaspoon dried sage leaf to 1 cup of boiling water), and a little honey added.
Medicinally, sage has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. It's good as a tea or gargle for sore throats.
For a sore throat tea, steep 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon dried sage leaves in not quite boiled water for 10 minutes. Add honey and lemon juice. Strain. Also good for mouth sores.
One of sage teas most interesting uses, could be in helping to manage diabetes. More research needs to be done, but so far, it looks like it lowers blood sugar in mice.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/96369-health-benefits-sage-tea/
Oregano
Oregano tea has been in the news recently for its possible effect as a weapon against colon cancer. It's also an antiseptic and may be effective at slowing the growth of malaria and candida -- yeast infections. Taken as a tea, it's pungent and slightly bitter. Best with some sweetening. Use 1 teaspoon dried leaves to 1 cup of almost boiling water. Steep for 5 minutes, then remove leaves and sweeten.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/547478-oregano-tea-benefits/
Black Currant
Black currant leaf tea is an anti-viral, and said to help fight influenza. Its also an anti-inflammatory. It could be beneficial to many of the -itis diseases, like hepatitis and arthritis. Made as a tea, I prefer it with a hint of other berry flavor, some orange peel, and a bit of black tea. I like to add a teaspoon of dried cranberries, roughly chopped to 1 teaspoon of dried black currant leaf, a pinch of orange zest, and a small bag of black tea. I steep this tea in a mug of boiling water for 5 minutes, then strain. Black currant tea is one of my favorite herbal teas. I am harvesting as many leaves as my shrubs will produce.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/254266-what-are-the-benefits-of-black-currant-tea/
Lemon balm
Lemon balm tea has long been said to be a sleep aid. It helps with relaxation. Lemon balm has calming effects, and may decrease anxiety and improve memory in Alzheimer's patients. As part of the mint family, lemon balm tea is also excellent for upset stomach. As a tea, I like lemon balm with peppermint, lemon and sweetening. I use about 2 teaspoons dried leaves to 1 mug of almost boiling water, and steep 5 minutes.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/123817-benefits-lemon-balm-tea/
Peppermint
Everyone knows that peppermint tea is good for upset tummies. But it's also good for increasing mental focus (kids have exams coming up? make them a cup of peppermint tea while they study). In addition, mint is high in menthol, which as most of you know is an ingredient in those decongestant rubs used when you have a cold. Peppermint tea can help break up congestion and is very helpful when you have a cough or head cold. And if this isn't enough to make you want a cup of peppermint tea, its a great all natural breath freshener. I like it just plain.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/263229-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-mint-tea/
Spearmint
For drinking hot, I keep all my mints separate. I like them mixed with different ingredients. Spearmint is not as strong as peppermint, and I like it brewed with black tea, then blended with orange juice and a little sugar. Medicinally, spearmint tea is effective with upset stomach. It may also be beneficial in balancing hormones in women, and be useful as an anti-inflammatory.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/338231-spearmint-tea-benefits/
Pineapple mint
Pineapple mint is my favorite mint to mix with lemon or lime juice and sugar, in a tea. It has a hint of pineapple flavor to it. As with all of the mints, pineapple mint contains Vitamins A & C, as well as traces of manganese, calcium, potassium, copper and iron. And pineapple mint is also good for indigestion and stomach upset.
Lavender
Lavender tea is another of my favorites. I make it somewhat weak (about 1 tsp. of buds to a mug of water), and drink it plain. It is lightly sweet on its own. It has a nice, clean taste.
Medicinally, lavender tea is good for relaxation, reduction of migraines, and digestive issues.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/252384-what-are-the-benefits-of-lavender-tea/
Herbal tea has long been thought to promote good health, and chosen as a good alternative to high caffeine beverages. There is now growing research to support the health claims. An example, sage tea may be beneficial for people with diabetes (study at University of Minho, Portugal, 2006). And this, thyme tea may prevent age-related changes in the brain (study by Youdim and colleagues, published 1999, "Biochemical and Biophysical Research").
Most garden herbs are very high in antioxidants. Using them in cooking is a no-brainer way to add health benefits to our everyday meals. Drinking herbs as tea concentrates our exposure to these benefits. The different herbs each have their unique benefits.
(It should be noted, that you should consult your medical provider before dosing yourself up with any substance, natural or chemical, that would be a change to your ordinary routine. Herbs as teas can be contra-indicated, in some circumstances, such as pregnancy or while taking some prescription meds.)
Some of these herbs, you may not think of to use in tea. Their flavor might be quite pungent, when made strong, but when made as a weak tea, often with a little honey and/or lemon, they are quite delicious, and can fill a medicinal need.
My herbs
These are the herbs that I've harvested from my garden this year. I've included the web address to livestrong.com, for more information on specific herb tea health benefits.
My herbs are grown without pesticides. All I need to do is wash, then dry them. With the smaller-leafed green herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary), I leave the stems on for tea. With the larger-leafed herbs (sage, black currant, lemon balm, mints, basil), I remove the leaves. The larger woodier stems are not as pleasant in tea. With lavender, I also remove the flower buds, and discard the stems. Once dried, I store each herb in its own airtight container.
Thyme tea is an enjoyable beverage in its own right. When blended with honey, ginger, lemon and cinnamon (as in this recipe, here), thyme tea is an excellent beverage for cold and flu season. The key ingredient thymol, as stated above, is known to inhibit age-related changes in the brain (it could possibly help in the prevention of Alzheimer's, researchers are hoping -- current studies going on). In addition, Thyme tea is used in Europe for treatment of bronchitis and coughs.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/258910-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-thyme-tea/
Rosemary has long been reported to increase memory. Simply inhaling the fragrance of rosemary was said to enhance memory. As a tea, rosemary is believed to be a powerful antioxidant, protecting the body from heart disease and cancer, as well as benefitting digestion, and enhancing cognitive abilities.
Rosemary tea, made with 1 teaspoon herb to 8 ounces of boiled water, and steeped for 5 minutes is refreshing sweetened with honey and a slice of lemon added. The flavor of rosemary also lends itself to combination with black tea and lavender buds.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/22621-benefits-rosemary-tea/
I have two types of sage in my garden. Common Sage and Golden Variegated Sage. Variegated sage has a milder flavor. So this is the sage I cut for tea. When I make a tea for pleasure, I like it mild (about 1 teaspoon dried sage leaf to 1 cup of boiling water), and a little honey added.
Medicinally, sage has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. It's good as a tea or gargle for sore throats.
For a sore throat tea, steep 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon dried sage leaves in not quite boiled water for 10 minutes. Add honey and lemon juice. Strain. Also good for mouth sores.
One of sage teas most interesting uses, could be in helping to manage diabetes. More research needs to be done, but so far, it looks like it lowers blood sugar in mice.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/96369-health-benefits-sage-tea/
Oregano tea has been in the news recently for its possible effect as a weapon against colon cancer. It's also an antiseptic and may be effective at slowing the growth of malaria and candida -- yeast infections. Taken as a tea, it's pungent and slightly bitter. Best with some sweetening. Use 1 teaspoon dried leaves to 1 cup of almost boiling water. Steep for 5 minutes, then remove leaves and sweeten.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/547478-oregano-tea-benefits/
Black currant leaf tea is an anti-viral, and said to help fight influenza. Its also an anti-inflammatory. It could be beneficial to many of the -itis diseases, like hepatitis and arthritis. Made as a tea, I prefer it with a hint of other berry flavor, some orange peel, and a bit of black tea. I like to add a teaspoon of dried cranberries, roughly chopped to 1 teaspoon of dried black currant leaf, a pinch of orange zest, and a small bag of black tea. I steep this tea in a mug of boiling water for 5 minutes, then strain. Black currant tea is one of my favorite herbal teas. I am harvesting as many leaves as my shrubs will produce.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/254266-what-are-the-benefits-of-black-currant-tea/
Lemon balm tea has long been said to be a sleep aid. It helps with relaxation. Lemon balm has calming effects, and may decrease anxiety and improve memory in Alzheimer's patients. As part of the mint family, lemon balm tea is also excellent for upset stomach. As a tea, I like lemon balm with peppermint, lemon and sweetening. I use about 2 teaspoons dried leaves to 1 mug of almost boiling water, and steep 5 minutes.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/123817-benefits-lemon-balm-tea/
Everyone knows that peppermint tea is good for upset tummies. But it's also good for increasing mental focus (kids have exams coming up? make them a cup of peppermint tea while they study). In addition, mint is high in menthol, which as most of you know is an ingredient in those decongestant rubs used when you have a cold. Peppermint tea can help break up congestion and is very helpful when you have a cough or head cold. And if this isn't enough to make you want a cup of peppermint tea, its a great all natural breath freshener. I like it just plain.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/263229-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-mint-tea/
For drinking hot, I keep all my mints separate. I like them mixed with different ingredients. Spearmint is not as strong as peppermint, and I like it brewed with black tea, then blended with orange juice and a little sugar. Medicinally, spearmint tea is effective with upset stomach. It may also be beneficial in balancing hormones in women, and be useful as an anti-inflammatory.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/338231-spearmint-tea-benefits/
Pineapple mint is my favorite mint to mix with lemon or lime juice and sugar, in a tea. It has a hint of pineapple flavor to it. As with all of the mints, pineapple mint contains Vitamins A & C, as well as traces of manganese, calcium, potassium, copper and iron. And pineapple mint is also good for indigestion and stomach upset.
Lavender tea is another of my favorites. I make it somewhat weak (about 1 tsp. of buds to a mug of water), and drink it plain. It is lightly sweet on its own. It has a nice, clean taste.
Medicinally, lavender tea is good for relaxation, reduction of migraines, and digestive issues.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/252384-what-are-the-benefits-of-lavender-tea/
Basil
Sweet basil tea, not to be confused with Holy Basil tea, is often used for headaches, anxiety and digestive issues. The fragrance from the oils in the basil are said to have a calming effect on the body. It's also delicious made as a beverage.
Brew basil tea, along with a strip of lemon peel and some black tea. Strain and enjoy. Or, try a ginger-basil infusion. Steep 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves with two to three thin slices of fresh ginger, in 6 ounces of boiling water for 5 minutes. Fragrant and warming.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/556899-how-to-use-dried-basil-for-basil-tea/
Those are my herbal teas for winter. It's a nice variety. And many of the herbs have practical use in cold and flu season.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Do you know why I make such a big deal about saving money on groceries?
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| Last night's dinner: black bean/brown rice/cheese burritos, with leftover, homemade enchilada sauce, rolled up in a homemade, whole wheat flour tortilla, garden green beans and carrots, and foraged wild blackberries, with a dressing of melted crabapple jelly. |
Additionally, these were savings that we could feel the impact of immediately, when we implemented new grocery shopping techniques. In September of 1988, we went from spending $70 per week, to spending $30 per week on groceries, in the span of 7 days. I credit a magazine article that I had read, that very week with the changes in our spending. That was 28 years ago, next month.
Today, we spend about $45 per week. Back in 1988, we were a family of 3. We're now a family of 5. The USDA's food spending charts would have us spending $195.40 per week, on the Thrifty Plan, that's about $845 per month. And do you want to know something? I think our family eats healthier now, than it did back in 1988.
The dinner we had last night really drove home the point, to me, on how advantageous it has been to cut our grocery spending from the first year of our marriage, and on.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Gifts for the dudes
Some men are extremely hard to find gifts for, that is gifts that don't bust the budget. You can hardly craft or thrift a new iphone, tablet, or sports car. But you can find some appropriate gifts in places like pawn shops. Not that I am frequently pawning possessions, but I've been in a pawn shop or two. What I did see (that could be a good gift for a man in my life) are chainsaws and other tools and fishing equipment, at good prices. Most merchandise will sit a while in a pawn shop, so you can write down specific info on the items, go home and do some research to see if the price is fair, before plunking down your cash.
Otherwise, gifts on a budget, for the dudes, can be much more of a challenge than for the dudettes.
Edibles
My husband is always happy with edibles. Christmas is a good time to make a couple of items that are particular favorites of his. For instance, I don't care much for Rice Crispy treats, but he LOVES them. So a container of his very own Rice Crispy treats is always appreciated. My husband also loves, loves, loves salsa. Normally, I just make the regular tomato salsa. It's good, he enjoys it, but it's nothing special. For Christmas, I'm planning on making him a small batch of a special salsa, like this roasted pepper salsa, from from onetomato-twotomato.com:
or, this, with a hole drilled after the soap is made:
For the shaving soap, I'm not sure yet, if I'll make a hard disk of soap, using my soap supplies and an empty chip can as a mold (then slicing), like this:
Or a creamy shave soap, in a glass jar, like this:
One more consumable, inexpensive gift for men
A couple of years ago, I put together a shoe-polishing kit for my son (blogged here). He wears dress shoes every week day, as does my husband. He likely needs some "refills" for that kit, more polish, and clean flannel cloths. My husband probably also could use some refills. The cloths I make from fabric I have at home, and the tins of polish are inexpensive (under $3 at Wal-Mart).
Otherwise, gifts on a budget, for the dudes, can be much more of a challenge than for the dudettes.
Edibles
My husband is always happy with edibles. Christmas is a good time to make a couple of items that are particular favorites of his. For instance, I don't care much for Rice Crispy treats, but he LOVES them. So a container of his very own Rice Crispy treats is always appreciated. My husband also loves, loves, loves salsa. Normally, I just make the regular tomato salsa. It's good, he enjoys it, but it's nothing special. For Christmas, I'm planning on making him a small batch of a special salsa, like this roasted pepper salsa, from from onetomato-twotomato.com:
I can make the salsa late this summer, and keep it hidden until Christmas. And with a large bag of tortilla chips, he'll be a happy muncher.
Other years, I've made a large coffee can filled with homemade poppycock/cracker jacks for my husband.
Sewing/knitting projects
I've used this pattern to make cotton boxer shorts for my husband, in past years. I had the fabric on hand, and only needed to buy the elastic.
This year, I'll use the same pattern to make some lounge pants for my son. (Hubby's got all the lounge pants/pj pants and boxers he can use for now.) I'll extend the legs on the pattern, for his height, and use some elastic that I have leftover from making boxer-shorts. My only cost will be about 2 yards of fabric -- probably fleece.
Last winter, my husband lost the fleece hat that I'd made for him, several years ago. Soooo, guess who'll be getting another hat this Christmas? I'll check my supplies for making one, here at home, then price supplies to make one from fleece or yarn. If I can make one for under a dollar, then I'll make it. However, Dollar Tree always has a large selection of hats. If it looks like I can buy a hat from DT for less than making one, I'll buy one. It could be that I'll have enough fleece leftover from making the lounge pants for my son, to make a hat for my husband. BTW, fleece hats are super-duper simple to make, no pattern required.
Manly soap-making
Hand-crafted soap is not just for the ladies. I'll also be making some soap for my guys. Only for them, I'll be making soap-on-a-rope and shaving soap/cream.
Remember all of those Christmases when you gave dear old dad a soap on a rope? I've given my son SoaR a couple of times. It's kind of a novelty, but also very practical for those who only shower. The soap can hang from the shower head or faucet, and not sit in a puddle of water in a soap dish.
I'll have some soap base leftover from making almond-oatmeal soap, so no cost there. I'll add some sandalwood fragrance oil, for a manly-man scent ($3.99 for a .5 ounce bottle at Michael's, with a coupon, as little as $2). I won't buy a mold, but will use a container from home. The rope or cord doesn't need to be anything specific. I'm thinking bleached, used shoelaces, with the capped ends cut off, should work fine. My bars of sandalwood soap-on-a-rope should cost about $1 each.
I'm thinking the soap on a rope will turn out something like these two, with the soap poured around the rope:
and
For the shaving soap, I'm not sure yet, if I'll make a hard disk of soap, using my soap supplies and an empty chip can as a mold (then slicing), like this:
Or a creamy shave soap, in a glass jar, like this:
One more consumable, inexpensive gift for men
A couple of years ago, I put together a shoe-polishing kit for my son (blogged here). He wears dress shoes every week day, as does my husband. He likely needs some "refills" for that kit, more polish, and clean flannel cloths. My husband probably also could use some refills. The cloths I make from fabric I have at home, and the tins of polish are inexpensive (under $3 at Wal-Mart).
Monday, August 15, 2016
What's the difference between homemade gifts and hand-crafted gifts?
presentation
A homemade gift is shoved in a box with no afterthought to how it's presented. But a hand-crafted gift is "finished" with a nice label, a cute wrapper or nice tie/ribbon, and it might just look like something you'd pick up at a craft fair. At least that's my definition.
Presentation indicates the time, love and thought put into the gift.
As I'm finishing making something, I start to plan in my head how I'll put the final touches on the gift. how I'll package it, will I put a label on it or just a nice ribbon, what kind of ribbon do I have on hand to use, or will I need to "make" my own ribbon -- those kinds of plans.
Remember the dish cloths for my step-mom? Here, they are, finished. I made a set of 3 dish cloths to go with other items, for her. I could have put the 3 into a gift box, maybe with tissue paper. And that would have looked okay, not bad, but okay.
Or, I could take just a few minutes and "finish" the gift, with a nice presentation.
I didn't have a ribbon I wanted to use, so I made my own.
Yes, you can make ribbon!
I used a 3-inch strip of fabric, long enough to wrap around the bundle of wash cloths. I sewed the fabric scrap into a long tube, turn it right side out, and pressed smooth. After tying this new ribbon around the bundle of cloths, I clipped the ends to length, and tuck the raw edges into the tube, finger-pressing the edges nicely. Took all of 5 minutes to make, but it really adds to the presentation of the gift.
Friday, August 12, 2016
Cheap & Cheerful Suppers with a full garden
Friday
Grilled cheese sandwiches and apple wedges
Saturday
Black bean and chicken soup, topped with
Broken tortilla chips and cheddar cheese
Fresh blackberries
Sunday
Kale, olive and mushroom frittata smothered in marinara sauce
Brown rice
Apple wedges
French bread and butter
Blackberry pie
Monday
Bean burgers
Garden potatoes, pan-fried
Beet greens and Swiss chard sauteed with shallots and garlic in bacon fat
Apple and pear salad
Leftover blackberry pie
Tuesday
Leftover bean burgers
Lazy lasagna
Apple wedges
Cole slaw
Chocolate cake squares
Wednesday
A church dinner and speaker -- we had a chicken and pasta dish, green salad and garlic bread
Thursday
Black beans and rice skillet dinner
Sauteed garden kale and cabbage
Pickled beet salad
Steamed carrots
Fruit salad
It's been another week of lots of garden produce. I used cabbage, kale, Swiss chard, garlic, shallots, beets, carrots, apples, pears, blackberries, green beans, potatoes, and various herbs from our garden this week. This means I've not done much in the way of grocery shopping, in over a week. I've spent just under $50 on food, for the month of August, so far. The only difficulty is harvesting and cleaning the garden vegetables. They don't come out of the ground all clean and perfect!
I'm also quite busy these days. Some days, dinner isn't all that much. I try to make up for it by cooking lots on the other days.
I hope your week went well, and you're enjoying lots of summer produce. What was on your menu this past week? Do you have any favorite August fruits or vegetables?
(if you're not following the prices comparisons for making hand-crafted soap -- have a great weekend, and just skip the rest!)
More on gift-making, for the soap:
While the goats milk melt and pour soap was best priced at Michael's with a coupon, I've found some honey almond fragrance oil at Hobby Lobby, which is cheaper than either Michael's or Amazon. It's $3.99 for 1 ounce. There's a Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon online, good through tomorrow, Saturday, August 13. Hobby Lobby is in the same complex as Trader Joe's, on my errand route, so no extra stop for me. 40% off, leaves me with a cost of under $2.50 for this fragrance oil.
Otherwise, Michael's is a good deal on the fragrance oil, if using a high value coupon. Michael's almond fragrance oil is $4.99. In comparison, Amazon has Barnhouse fragrance oils, priced at $2.95/bottle, but there's a $2.94 shipping charge, bringing the final price up to $5.89. It's actually a few cents cheaper to go directly through Eternal Essence Oil's website. Eternal Essence Oil's price is the same as Amazon's, but their shipping is only $2.89.
So, Hobby Lobby, with 40% off coupon, best price in my area. Michael's, next best, Amazon's price the highest on this ingredient.
Also, for anyone wanting to make large quantities of melt and pour soap, like 100 bars (I'm thinking wedding favors, sort of quantity), there are a couple of sources for melt and pour goats milk soap at a decent price (better than Amazon's prices in that quantity). Brambleberry.com has 25-lb blocks that sell for $39 plus about $20 shipping, for my area (shipping charges likely vary according to destination). I have been thinking about large quantities of melt and pour soap, to use as favors, at a future event. For me, @ $60 for the soap base, which would yield 100 bars of soap, my cost per bar would be about 70 cents, once the extra ingredients were factored in. Just an FYI, in case large quantities of melt and pour soap are what you're interested in making.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
More gifty stuff, this time some bargain shopping
Yesterday was yet another one of those very busy days. The morning found me running errands for several hours. While I was out, I stopped by Kohl's to use my latest $10 off coupon.
Here's what I bought:
In the back, that's a candle lantern. It was originally $39.99.
To the left are 2 7-oz Lindt milk chocolate bunnies, originally $9.99.
And to the right is a lavender-colored pair of women's panties, originally in a package of 4 for $26, so $6.50 for the one pair.
After discounts and coupon applied:
The lantern became 70 cents, the Lindt bunnies became 9 cents each, and the pair of panties became 9 cents. What I love about the receipts, though, is this:
Here's what I bought:
In the back, that's a candle lantern. It was originally $39.99.
To the left are 2 7-oz Lindt milk chocolate bunnies, originally $9.99.
And to the right is a lavender-colored pair of women's panties, originally in a package of 4 for $26, so $6.50 for the one pair.
After discounts and coupon applied:
The lantern became 70 cents, the Lindt bunnies became 9 cents each, and the pair of panties became 9 cents. What I love about the receipts, though, is this:
The lantern may become a gift at Christmas. With a candle inside, I think it would make a nice hostess gift. Or, I may use it in our own decor. The chocolate bunnies, I may keep as is, and use in Easter baskets next year, or I may use the chocolate in candy for gifting during the holidays (like on English toffee). At 18 cents for 14 ounces, that's a steal for good quality milk chocolate. A cheap 12-oz package of chocolate chips is about $2 in my area, on sale for $1.50, at best. And the panties -- I needed to spend 3 cents to reach my threshold to use the coupon. I decided a check on the lingerie clearance rack was in order. A dollar is a great price on a pair of undies. This pair will go into one of my daughters' stockings, at Christmas. The other daughter will get a pair of knee-hi socks I got on clearance a while back. All works out evenly.
Also while out, I stopped by Michael's to use my 40% off coupon. I bought the goats milk soap base that I plan on using for gift-making. It is regularly $9.99. With coupon, the price came down to $5.99, for 2 lbs. This is a better deal than Amazon for melt and pour goats milk soap, in every size package. So, if you plan on making soap, as I am, you could save a lot of money on the soap base by buying at Michael's or other local craft store, using a high value coupon, such as 40% off. Of course, check your prices against Amazon's, yourself.
That's the progress I made on gifts yesterday. I've got a couple more posts on gifts that I plan on making, that I'll share early next week.
I hope you're having a lovely August week. The sun feels like it's shifting already, here. It's lovely.
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Do you keep a gift closet?
It doesn't have to be a full closet. It can be a dedicated shelf in a closet or cupboard, or a storage trunk, or a box under the bed. Just a place where you stockpile gifts as you buy, receive free, or make.
My gift closet is a small section of my bedroom closet. In it I have items suitable for birthday, Christmas, Valentine's, housewarming, weddings and bridal showers, and group gift exchanges. At Christmas, I raid the gift closet for stocking stuffers for my kids. And at Easter, I do the same for basket fillers. In my gift closet, I also keep components of a gift, such as jars that I plan on filling with something yummy, to use as a gift, or containers that I'll use to nicely package a hand-crafted gift.
When I have specific items for specific people, I put those items into plastic shopping bags, with handles, and hang them from a hook on the inside of the door to that closet. Just a way to insure I don't accidentally gift something intended for one person, to another, or for me to check my bag for a specific person and see if I'm about done and ready to wrap and box for shipping.
Which also brings me to this, I collect shipping boxes and mailers, year round. Mostly I'm looking for small and lightweight boxes or mailers, trying to match the size of box as closely as possible as the gift, itself. And in some instances, when I have all the components to one person's gift, I wrap, pack and label the box, ready to drop at the post office near the occasion.
I often shop, long in advance of an occasion, for specific people. When I find a great item on clearance, for someone in particular, I pick it up, even if I won't be gifting it for close to a year. Last year after Christmas, I picked up several Christmas gifts for this year. Those items are in the gift closet.
I also have several people on my gift list with spring birthdays. I shop for their gifts in the after Christmas clearance sales, too. It's a real convenience to have their gifts already bought and waiting for the actual birthday. The bonus is that I make fewer trips to stores to buy gifts. I buy for several birthdays at a time. And then I don't need to even think about it until I'm wrapping the gift.
Sometimes, this backfires on me. Like the sweater that I bought for my dad, planning on gifting it to him the next Christmas. But he passed away the June before. It still sits in a box in the closet. If I don't give it to someone this next year, I'll donate it to our church's giving tree (you find an unnamed person -- someone in need that year -- on the tree branch, with info like male/female/what they need/want, then buy their gift, and a group from our church delivers all of the gifts). But most of the time, when I find I no longer need a gift that I've pre-bought, I simply choose to gift it to someone else.
Maybe this all sounds too planned, and takes the fun out of gift shopping. But, for me, it helps me to just relax and enjoy special events and occasions.
My gift closet is a small section of my bedroom closet. In it I have items suitable for birthday, Christmas, Valentine's, housewarming, weddings and bridal showers, and group gift exchanges. At Christmas, I raid the gift closet for stocking stuffers for my kids. And at Easter, I do the same for basket fillers. In my gift closet, I also keep components of a gift, such as jars that I plan on filling with something yummy, to use as a gift, or containers that I'll use to nicely package a hand-crafted gift.
When I have specific items for specific people, I put those items into plastic shopping bags, with handles, and hang them from a hook on the inside of the door to that closet. Just a way to insure I don't accidentally gift something intended for one person, to another, or for me to check my bag for a specific person and see if I'm about done and ready to wrap and box for shipping.
Which also brings me to this, I collect shipping boxes and mailers, year round. Mostly I'm looking for small and lightweight boxes or mailers, trying to match the size of box as closely as possible as the gift, itself. And in some instances, when I have all the components to one person's gift, I wrap, pack and label the box, ready to drop at the post office near the occasion.
I often shop, long in advance of an occasion, for specific people. When I find a great item on clearance, for someone in particular, I pick it up, even if I won't be gifting it for close to a year. Last year after Christmas, I picked up several Christmas gifts for this year. Those items are in the gift closet.
I also have several people on my gift list with spring birthdays. I shop for their gifts in the after Christmas clearance sales, too. It's a real convenience to have their gifts already bought and waiting for the actual birthday. The bonus is that I make fewer trips to stores to buy gifts. I buy for several birthdays at a time. And then I don't need to even think about it until I'm wrapping the gift.
Sometimes, this backfires on me. Like the sweater that I bought for my dad, planning on gifting it to him the next Christmas. But he passed away the June before. It still sits in a box in the closet. If I don't give it to someone this next year, I'll donate it to our church's giving tree (you find an unnamed person -- someone in need that year -- on the tree branch, with info like male/female/what they need/want, then buy their gift, and a group from our church delivers all of the gifts). But most of the time, when I find I no longer need a gift that I've pre-bought, I simply choose to gift it to someone else.
Maybe this all sounds too planned, and takes the fun out of gift shopping. But, for me, it helps me to just relax and enjoy special events and occasions.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! The spa collection
 |
| This spa cloth took me about 6 hours, like the kitchen dish cloths |
Over the summer, I've been perusing sites, checking books at the library, making up my list (and checking it twice) and generally being in the thought process part of planning for Christmas gifts.
Today I wanted to show you some of the inspirations for my gifts-to-make list (and keeping fingers and toes crossed that no one on my list will figure out who is getting what).
The spa cloths. Yesterday, I was asked if a spa cloth was the same as a washcloth. Yes! But doesn't "spa cloth" sound so much more, um, gift-like? So, if anyone on my list receives a washcloth from me, it's not that I think you need bathing, but more along the lines of pampering. Also, as either a knitted or crocheted cloth, it has more texture than a terry cloth, better for exfoliating and invigorating the skin.
The tabs on my lap top are filled with pages that have images of what has inspired me. Here's the spa cloth inspiration:
Looks really, really lovely, right? 4 spa cloths and 3 bars of
So, here's one of my finished spa cloths (and they're not all ecru, I bought some colored yarn, too):
I knit the cloth following these directions: from ravelry.com, the pattern by Anne Mancine. It's a waffle knit pattern.
I used a worsted weight cotton yarn (sugar n cream by Lily), in Ecru, on size 7 needles. I amended the pattern for worsted weight, size 7 needles to casting on 41 stitches, and after knitting rows 1-4, repeating that pattern for 13 repeats -- total of 14 sets of the 4 rows of the body of the pattern. The finished size is 10 inches by 10 inches. (I first knitted this following the creators directions for casting on 44 stitches. It was looking too wide/big for a knitted spa cloth, hence my sightly smaller version.)
Other than that, the pattern knitted up perfectly. I measured after 13 repeats, and it was perfectly-sized for finishing off with the repeat of rows 1 & 2, then seed stitch edging.
Although there are more rows and stitches to knit than the dish cloth, it knits slightly faster, due to a couple rows in the pattern being quick to knit (almost all K or all P for a row).
Aside from being slightly larger than a dish cloth, it's also slightly stretchier, which I think is more appropriate for a bath/spa cloth.
The cost of one spa cloth is under a dollar, with yarn bought on sale, using slightly less than 2 ounces of yarn.
This soap looks like cold process soap. But I will do a melt and pour soap, something that looks like this:
Like I said, I will do a melt and pour soap base. I'll be making goat's milk, honey-almond-oat, skin-soothing bars. I'll use a goat's milk base, along with ground oats, camomile tea, sweet almond fragrance oil, vitamin E oil, and honey. I'll combine several different recipes to get the skin-soothing product that I'm after. Instead of buying a mold for the bars, I'll pour the melted soap into a cardboard box, lined with waxed paper. Then I'll cut the soap slab into bars. Melt and pour soap doesn't require the long curing phase that cold-process soap needs. So, I can take my time accumulating the ingredients.
Which brings me to this -- these gifts would not at all be frugal if I just tooled on down to the craft supply shop and paid full-price on every ingredient. I'm using coupons and sales to accumulate all of the ingredients, one by one. And that's why it's been so important for me to begin the Christmas planning so early. So, I can take my time accumulating the ingredients, as well as time for the actual crafting. I've got a 40% off coupon to Michael's right now, and will get the soap base this week. A 2-lb block of soap base will yield about 8 bars, if poured into a small-ish snack cracker box, then cut. (Looks like we'll have to eat a box of Dollar Tree snack crackers -- oh, the sacrifices!) I'll check out their fragrance oils at the same time. but if I can't get that at Michael's, I've found something on Amazon that is a good price.
I expect my hand-crafted soap to cost about $1 per bar
In addition to the spa cloths and soaps, I'm planning to make soothing bath soaks, whose finished product will look something like these:
or, these:
I'll use the large-size, empty tea bags (available through Amazon, at about 6 cents per bag, bought in 100 pack), and fill with a rose petal, milk and colloidal oat blend. I've been drying and saving rose petals all summer. Colloidal oatmeal is simply oats ground to a fine powder -- I can do that in my spice grinder. And I'll use either powdered goat's milk (in the powdered milk section of the grocery store, or in bulk from a natural foods store) or ordinary cow's milk powder. By putting this into steeping bags, the tub doesn't get so messy (as opposed to a jar of tub tea/soak). The Amazon bags are biodegradable/compostable, as they are simply paper tea bags.
The cost per filled, individual bath soak bag should be around 30 to 40 cents, depending on extras that I decide to add, like rose fragrance oil, and if I splurge for the goats milk.
These are all small gifts, no liquids, and easily shipped. They make great girlfriend gifts, teacher's gifts, daughter/mom/sister gifts, stocking stuffers, as well as bridal shower favors. And I can make all of the items, fairly frugally.
In addition to these spa items, any one of them could be supplemented with a loofa or bath brush from Dollar Tree, hand-crafted bath bombs/truffles, or this nice crochet bath scrubber:
Anyways, this is my start on the spa collection for Christmas gifts this year.
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