November grocery money journal -- mid month

Oct. 31. Stopped by produce stand late afternoon to pick up Items I thought would be gone the next day on clearance. Bought  eggplant, green peppers, potatoes, cabbage, pumpkins, winter squash, garlic, and oranges. Spent $28.79

Nov. 1. Stopped in at grocery store to pick up a couple of items, canned veggies, salt, Lact-aid milk, 1 loaf of bread (I'll start up my bread baking again over the weekend, hopefully), squash (on sale). Spent $15.61, bringing the running total to $44.40

Stopped one last time in afternoon at produce stand clearance, bought more garlic, mushrooms, avocados and sugar pie pumpkins. Spent $7.33, total for month -- $51.73   yowza!  But it's a lot of produce.

Breakfast this morning was leftover oatmeal from Monday. This was homemade maple-brown sugar oatmeal. Very tasty! As a kid I loved that flavor most, in the little packets. now, I just try to make something very similar but with my ingredients.

Tonight's a dance class night, so a rushed dinner. I'm making sloppy lentil joes (with leftover lentil mix from the other night) and homemade buns. These are especially good with cheese melted on the joes. Also, finishing off the last container of applesauce from the freezer, and making kale and onions. The kale in the garden looks fantastic. I'm looking forward to few weeks of kale in dinners.

Nov. 2. Restaurant supply for 50 pounds stone ground whole wheat, 50 pounds white flour, 25 pounds corn meal (yea! got that before any price spiking due to corn crop failure this summer), and a gallon of oil. Spent $54.43

Breakfast was pumpkin-spice cinnamon buns (unfrosted this time, very good, just barely sweet) and apple muffins. These were the last of the baked goodies I made on Monday.

Dinner was a Mexican lentil soup, chock full of goodies like green peppers, tomatoes, jalapenos, and avocado. Plus I cooked up a small pumpkin from the garden this morning to make muffins, to go with the soup. Dessert was a blackberry cobbler, made with blackberries from the freezer. Keeping with using up items in the freezer every day, to make room for turkeys and ham in just a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow's breakfast will be corn griddle cakes. Special request from my daughters. We haven't had them in quite a while, and with the new sack of cornmeal bought today, that was top of their list.

Nov. 4. Eight tacos (split between the 5 of us) at Jack-in-the-box after church. One of the cheaper options in fast food, at $4.34 for the 8.

Nov. 7. On campus of my daughters' hopeful university -- orange juice for $2.18 at the mini-mart and lunch in the cafeteria for $27.60, brings the month to date total to $140.28

Nov. 9. Friday afternoon and will want eggs for baking and pancakes this weekend. Stopped in Trader Joes, picked up 2 dozen eggs and a container of tofu (I just like having tofu in the fridge, as I can quickly throw together a stir-fry with tofu, some veggies and soy sauce, for an easy meal). I resisted the urge to buy all sorts of delicious looking heat and eat foods while there. We did enjoy a couple of samples and the free coffee. Spent $5.07

Nov. 10. Out running errands and decided to check the grocery store for marked down milk and other products. Good thing I made this my first stop, as they had just 2 gallons of milk on mark down, and I noticed several other shoppers' carts -- filled with marked down items, from yogurt and milk to boxes of mushrooms and packages of sausages. This is an upscale store, in an upscale neighborhood. Their mark-down items had previously been bypassed by their shoppers. A sign of the times? People seem more willing to try these marked down products.

While the recession may have officially ended, I think many folks still feel it. Perhaps they took jobs at reduced salaries and have been digging into their savings. Or maybe the higher price of gas has siphoned money out of grocery budgets and into the gasoline tanks. Anyway, 2 gallons of milk, spent $4.18, bringing month-to-date total up to $149.53.

Nov. 14. Eggs on sale at Walgreen's for $1.29/dozen. I bought 7 dozen, which will last for us about 1 month. My daughters asked about freezing eggs, should we not be able to go through all of them before their expiry. I told them how I've frozen them before, beating in a bit of sugar or salt (per instructions in my old Joy of Cooking cookbook) and freezing in 1/4 cup portions. These egg-cubes can then be thawed and used in baking. Alternatively, I like to beat and cook eggs in a non-stick skillet, 4 at a time, then cut into quarters and freeze in a stack, each piece separated by waxed paper. These are great for making quick breakfast sandwiches. And of course, I will likely put together 2 breakfast casseroles for the freezer, for both Christmas breakfast and New Year's brunch. Gee, I may just want another couple of cartons of eggs. Spent $9.03

Nov. 15. Grocery store number one for turkeys. Spent $41.46. For that amount, bought 9 packages cream cheese, a half cup of pecans, a large bag of sunflower seeds (for sunflower seed butter), 2 cans green beans, 2 cans corn, 3 packages Hebrew National hot dogs (marked down), celery, a bag of black eyed peas (for New Year's Day), a jar of mayo, 2 canisters of salt, and a 23 lb turkey. I had to spend a minimum of $30 to "get" to buy a turkey for 49c per pound. Before the price of the turkey, I was at $30.18. I tried to get as close to that $30 mark as possible. (I was a bit miffed at this store. Gift cards were not allowed towards that $30 spend, and it wasn't in the flyer as such. I got up to the checkout, didn't get my sale priced turkey, waited around for a manager for about 5 minutes, had a long line full of angry people behind me, and finally a manager shows up and tells me I couldn't use a gift card towards the purchase. So I had to go back into the store and add to my shopping. I very carefully tallied everything as I went. I was not about to give that store more of my money than I had to.)

Anyways, this brings my total for the first half of the month to $200.02. And the month is only half over!

To see how the month ends, click here.


just a note, unrelated to this post. Life around our place has taken a turn recently. My attentions are distracted right now, as we adjust to a "new normal". If you read a lot of other blogs, or you keep a blog yourself, and notice a lack of my presence right now on other blogs, please understand that some issues with my family are taking front seat to all else in my life, including the blog world. Thanks for understanding.

The Thanksgiving countdown: Easy as pie!

About a week before Thanksgiving, I begin some of the meal preparations. This year I'm having to begin one day early, due to scheduling.

I make out my plan of attack, and every day tackle one or two items on my list. Yesterday, I baked one of the pumpkins and pureed it for pie, and made a batch of freezer pie dough (recipe here).

Most of the time, I make this dough and freeze in patties for single crusts. For Thanksgiving, I like to get the dough into a pie plate and get that step done, as well. 

one batch made enough dough for 4 shells, 

1 top crust and just enough leftover scraps 

 for a nice little rustic apple tart

While I was at it I decided to just roll all the dough. My recipe makes enough dough for 5 single crusts. I have a stack of aluminum pie pans, so used several of those.

And for the last 1/5th of the dough, I rolled it to be a topper for a 2-crust pie, or for a deep dish turkey pot pie, some dinner in the future. After rolling this piece out, I placed it between two layers of plastic wrap and then rolled it around an empty paper towel tube.  

The pie crusts in the pie pans are separated by sheets of waxed paper. And all the dough is wrapped in a couple of layers of plastic grocery bags. All are now tucked in the freezer, ready to use. 

To use one unbaked pie crust, I'll thaw it on the kitchen counter for a few hours, then use as I would freshly mixed dough.

In all, this took me about an hour (including putting the tart together), and provides several ready-made pie crust for easy pie making.

Thanksgiving menu: Simplified sides -- Praline topped sweet potato souffle

Simplified sides

I have a handful of side dishes for holiday meals that can either be frozen to heat and serve on the big day, or completely cooked in the microwave in 15 minutes or less.

This one is a family favorite that you can prepare a week or two in advance and freeze. Then the day before serving, thaw overnight, and bake just before meal time. Or, you can prepare it all to bake that same day.

Praline-topped sweet potato souffle

6 medium sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 egg
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. cloves, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg)
1/4 teaspoon salt

for topping, combine:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter, melted

• In a food processor or with electric mixer, whip until fluffy, all ingredients except topping.
• Transfer to a greased, freezer-safe casserole dish. Sprinkle topping over yams. Cover and freeze.
• To bake, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. 
• Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F, for 25 to 30 minutes (until puffed and lightly browned).

Updates on my indoor plants and plant experiments this fall.

It's strange, but I do okay with the garden, but I'm horrible with indoor plants. However, this fall and winter, I am making a supreme effort. 

It looks like I got my weeping fig back in the house just in time. It only dropped 3 leaves after moving it back in. After last year's massive leaf drop, I thought I'd did that poor baby in. But it survived, and is looking pretty good after it's summer in the fresh air.

I lost one of my amaryllis bulbs to rot, this summer out on the deck. Maybe it got watered too much? I'm not sure. Anyways, 3 survived and I'm trying to get them to bloom again.

My stevia -- if you'll remember I brought my stevia plant indoors around the first of September. Stevia needs a warm climate to be a perennial. So, I brought it indoors to overwinter, and will hopefully move it back out next spring. Right now, it's green and healthy, but leggy. It not only requires heat, but strong light as well. 

This plant also tends to dry out quickly indoors. I have it in a terra cotta pot. But I'm hoping to transplant it into a plastic pot with saucer, in part to reduce drying out, but also so that I can move it to a sunnier window (on a wood floor, the terra cotta might ruin it).

I took one cutting of the stevia already this fall. I should be able to cut more in a few weeks.

As for using stevia leaf (it's taste is different than stevia extract, being a whole leaf) -- I dislike it in coffee, find it okay in tea, but love it in cocoa! When I ground the dried stevia leaves, I added some sugar to the grinding, to improve the flavor. It's much like the Truvia blend, the commercial blend of stevia and sugar. Using this in cocoa is great. I'm going to try using some in homemade chocolate pudding soon.

My pot of basil -- about the same time I brought in the stevia, I also brought in a pot of basil that I'd started mid-summer. The basil is doing really well. Because it tends to be a slow grower, it has not become the least bit leggy, not yet. I pinched it back this past weekend, for a large pot of pasta and pizza sauce. I've got this in a plastic pot with plastic saucer and it sits in the sunniest of windows already. The only thing I think it needs is a bit of plant food. Otherwise its doing great. 

And an interesting note, at Trader Joes last Friday they were still selling potted basil. I didn't check the price. I was just so surprised to see that they still had them in stock. This is Seattle, where the daytime high temps are in the 50s this time of year, not exactly basil weather. So maybe indoor basil does better than I know.

My lettuce under lights -- it looks healthy, but stunted. I think the plants need repotting into larger containers. If I can get to Home Depot to pick up some potting soil soon, I'll move these plants into larger containers, and hopefully they'll grow just a bit more. I'll let you know if it helps or hinders.

My rosemary under lights -- this is just a tiny seedling, started from seed this summer. It looks healthy and happy, but could use a large pot as well. It could go outside on the deck for winter, but I did start it late and it may have been too young to stay outdoors in the cold.

So far, I'm keeping them all alive (except that one amaryllis bulb). That in itself is quite a feat for me. We'll see how the rest of fall and winter go.

Are you good with indoor plants? Do you have any tips for those of us with black thumbs?

Acquiring containers

Have you ever bought something, just so you could have the container? Tell me that I'm not the only one who does this! Sometimes I find a something or other that's just okay, but it's in a great container. I acquired a couple of very nice glass jars that way -- some "gourmet" food items, found on clearance at Marshall's, in old-style glass storage jars with wire bail closures.

I'll also buy grocery store items, with the idea that the container would be perfect for some use. See the above photo. The rectangular plastic containers held baby food. Nope, no babies around here. But I liked their size, about 2-3 tablespoon capacity each. They looked perfect for small amounts of trail mix, raisins or nuts, to be packed in brown bag lunches.

The day that I stumbled upon these, I scoured the baby food aisle, trying to find something that would truly be useful to me. That's when I found the baby food prunes. Baby food prunes make excellent fat substitute in baked chocolate items. I substitute pureed prunes for butter in brownies, hot fudge pudding cake and chocolate cupcakes. The prune taste is almost completely masked by the cocoa powder. So, for less than a dollar, I got 2 of these containers, with the pureed prunes as a bonus.

These small plastic containers with lids are not easy to find. Many of the fast food ones collapse too easily. The oval container, above, is a sturdy one. It held salad dressing from a catered brown bag lunch that my husband attended. This container holds about 1/4 cup, also a good size.

The carved wooden, sectioned box on my desk, holding my paper clips, rubber bands, butterfly clips and push pins, is also one of these buy-the-item-just-for-the-box acquisitions. I found it on sale, holding packets of spices. I loved the box, the spices were merely a bonus. Yard sales, thrift shops and mark down racks can be terrific shopping venues for finding containers with greater value than their contents.

Lili's Pumpkin Soup

Someone recently asked for my pumpkin soup recipe. So, the other night, I actually paid attention to what I was doing while making a pot of it, and took notes. Do you have dishes that you prepare that you just add some of this, a little of this, and taste to see what else it needs? I was trying to tell my son how much mayo to add to some cole slaw dressing the other evening, and just said "a glob of mayo". How does one quantify a glob of anything? So, as I said, with this soup, I paid attention this time, and actually measured what I usually use.

This is not a blow-your-socks-off kind of soup. There are no extraordinary ingredients. You won't need to comb the shelves of the local gourmet shop for anything in the recipe. You may already have just about everything it calls for, in your kitchen right now. It's a basic, yet very delicious, pumpkin soup. 

Lili's Pumpkin Soup (5-6 servings)

1 tablespoon any cooking oil
1 large onion, sliced thin, then rough chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
the flesh of one roasted 2 lb. sugar pie pumpkin, or 2 cups canned pumpkin puree
6 cups water and/or stock (chicken stock is preferred, but ham stock is also nice, and water will be fine, too)
dash red pepper flakes
1 large russet potato, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup shredded, cooked chicken breast
1 cup diced ham
pinch nutmeg
salt, to taste (depends on whether your stock is already salted, 1 to 2 teaspoons)
1 shallot, finely minced 


Heat a large stockpot over Medium. Add oil and onion. Saute onion until golden. Add minced garlic and cook 1 minute.

Add pumpkin, 4 cups of stock and/or water and the red pepper flakes. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

After cooking -- If your pumpkin is not pureed (for example, I roasted my pumpkin in the morning, then scraped the flesh from the skin upon cooking the soup), then either mash well with a potato masher, or use an immersion blender (I just mashed mine).

Add diced potato and 2 remaining cups of stock or water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 more minutes, stirring occasionally, to prevent scorching. Mash or blend the potatoes into the soup.

Add chicken, ham, nutmeg, and salt to taste. Heat for 5 minutes (until meats are heated through). Stir in minced shallot and serve.


I've made this with just chicken, just ham, no meat whatsoever, and with both meats. The consensus is it's at its best with both meats. I prefer using a fresh pumpkin over canned. Homecooked pumpkin has a prettier color and lighter flavor than canned. For the liquid, I prefer half chicken stock and half water. This soup is also delicious made with squash in lieu of the pumpkin, butternut squash being the favorite. One other bonus -- the leftovers freeze very well. I freeze the soup in single-size portions, for my weekday lunches.

If you liked this recipe, my name is Lili and I've been happy to provide it for you. Please leave a comment in the "comment field". If you didn't like this recipe, my name is . . .um. . .er. . .Bob, and I think the comments are malfunctioning today, yeah, that's it, the comments aren't working, so don't bother leaving one.

Thanksgiving menu planning and the T-Day calorie counter

It's less than two weeks till Thanksgiving, here in the US. I can't believe it's so soon! Anyways, it's time to get the big meal plan under way. 

Turkey--check, mashed potatoes with lots of butter--check, praline-topped sweet potato souffle--check, green bean casserole--check, dinner rolls--check, bread stuffing--check, gravy--check, cranberry sauce--check, pumpkin pie--check, pecan pie--check, caramel apple cake--check    

Whoa! Time to see if my body can even handle this amount of food. Here's something that may interest you (calorie counter for Thanksgiving dinner). Simply enter the food you plan on consuming, and see what it all amounts to, and just how much exercise you'll need to do in order to burn it off. I know, I'm a spoil-sport, making you see just how gluttonous we Americans are on the big T-day.

Anyways, check it out. It may help you refine and slim your Thanksgiving meal plan. I know it definitely inspired me to rethink our traditional favorites. 

I'll be making leaner versions of many of our family favorites, for example, serving pumpkin chiffon pie (instead of pumpkin custard, saves about 50 cals per serving) and skipping the pecan pie altogether. 

I'll do a lean green bean casserole (with a homemade alternative to the fried onions, and a mock cream of mushroom soup, shaving about 100 cals per serving). 

Substituting chicken broth for half of the butter in the bread dressing and the mashed potatoes (hey, even I like a little butter), will save about 35-50 calories per serving of each dish. 

I'm working on the recipes for some alternative ingredients in our family's favorite caramel apple cake, as well as in the cranberry sauce (I may use some stevia for part of the sugar, and applesauce for part of the fat in the cake). 

We may forgo the dinner rolls, as there will be bread stuffing, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes -- probably enough starchy stuff. 

And I'm planning on adding a couple of healthier sides, like an apple slaw salad, and a kale and broccoli dish.

How about you? What's on your Thanksgiving menu? Do you give much thought to how heavy or light your Thanksgiving meal will be? 

Some people can just take small amounts of all these delicious foods. Not me. I'm not terribly disciplined if the food is all set out before me. I seem to do better if I begin by preparing lighter versions of our favorites.

Pumpkin-spice Cinnamon Buns

It really looked like November yesterday. The skies were gray with clouds, fog in the morning, just a few colorful leaves clinging to branches, and the air has turned quite cool. All of this outdoors, and then indoors, a cozy fire in the fireplace. It was a perfect day to bake something with a traditional fall flavor -- Pumpkin-Spice Cinnamon Buns.

These are a mildly sweet yeast bread, just as is, but a favorite of my kids when iced. The dough also makes a delicious crescent roll, without the added filling or icing, for the holiday table.

Pumpkin-Spice Cinnamon Buns

1/4 cup warm water
1  3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup warm milk
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
6 tablespoons (3/8 cup) canned pumpkin puree (if using homemade, strain in a mesh strainer for 30 minutes to thicken)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2  1/4 cups flour (adding more as needed)

In a medium-size bowl, soften yeast in the warm water. Add sugar and salt.

While yeast is softening, heat the milk in microwave. Stir in butter and pumpkin. When this is just lukewarm, add to yeast mixture.

Stir in spices and flour (1 cup at a time, until a nice dough forms, one that doesn't stick to a surface. Additional flour, as needed).  Knead dough 7-8 minutes. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour at 68 degrees F).

Punch down. Roll out into a rectangle, on a floured surface, until about 14 inches by 8 inches. Spread with soft butter (about 2 tablespoons). Sprinkle with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Roll the dough up along the long edge, to make a roll 14 inches long. Pinch the seam. Cut into 16 mini cinnamon rolls.

Place on a buttered baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Cover and allow to rise until double, about 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes (until tops are golden). Ice with a buttercream or cream cheese frosting, if desired.

These freeze well, unfrosted. When we want some, I thaw, heat briefly, then add icing.

This is going to be expensive!

Yesterday, my daughters had a day off from school (day between 1st and 2nd quarters). We used the day to drive into downtown Seattle, to tour the campus of the university they hope to attend next year.

While the girls were on the official tour, I wandered into the mini mart on campus to get some oj (blood sugar problems, could not wait until lunch). $2.18 for a small container of juice!

I parked myself on a bench in the sunshine and people watched, while I sipped my juice. What I noticed is what was in the hands of the students. Ipods, iphones, Starbuck's drinks, Odwalla juices, Apple laptops, ipads -- since when did university students get rich?

When I began university, my father made sure to point out to me that he was still well-off, but I was now poor. That's just the way it was, we were all poor in university.

After my daughters' campus tour, we decided to get a bite to eat in the student cafeteria. It was a flat charge of $9 and change per person. Yikes! $27 for the 3 of us to have burgers, fries, pizza, fruit and cookies. And the cafeteria was packed with students. How do they afford this, is my question? 

I did the math in my head, and for one year of lunches, for both daughters, it would be about $3500. I do admit, the beverages in the cafeteria were excellent. The coffee was fantastic, they had real half and half creamer, and in the drink machines they had vitamin-enhanced water, something I'd never bought for myself, but was glad to drink this one time. But not for $3500!

So, all these university extras cost money. But they needn't break the bank.

Obviously, the answer is I'll pack lunches and drinks for them every day. They'll have pre-paid, cheapo, no-frills phones, no ipods, and a decent-enough laptop, but skip the ipad. Even so, this is going to be expensive! But this is an expense we're more than willing to take on.

(One other advantage to packing their lunches at home, they'll likely eat better than in the cafeteria. One daughter noticed that a student there, was lunching on fries and ketchup! That makes a nutrition-conscious mother quiver in terror!)

Yogurting updates

Update on making yogurt at home

I got spooked about my own yogurt-making, after reading of others' unfavorable results in their forays into home yogurt production.

The last two times that I've made yogurt, I have felt very sure that something was going to go wrong, and that my yogurt would turn out runny or stringy or something else that I know I couldn't get even my good-sport family members to eat.

Silly of me, really, to let someone else's experience make me think mine would also fail. I'm still doing everything the way I have up until now, and still with success.

These last two batches? They turned out thick and creamy as always.

Info that I'd like to add to my original post, though, is that freezing yogurt for starter works incredibly well. Every 4 or 5 batches, I scoop out into 4-ounce containers, some of the 2nd day of freshly made yogurt. I freeze this. 

Then if I just go through a period of feeling blah on making my yogurt, it's not a big deal. When I'm in the mood to make more, I thaw a small container of the set aside yogurt for my starter. Just a note, the thawed yogurt will look yucky and runny, but it will still set new yogurt. This freezing of my own starter has been working out very well for several months now. I have not bought any new starter at all, since my first batch.

As for other bloggers' problems with making their yogurt, well I can only speculate as I don't have all the details. But this is what I learned in my research before my own first attempt.

Temperature is key!

• commercial home yogurt machines don't always heat to the correct temperature, and can result in poor set (this is a lot like what I've recently heard about some crock pots, some don't heat to proper temps)
• getting the temperature in the correct range for each phase is critical. Heat milk to about 190 degrees F to kill competing bacteria, cool to about 120 degrees F, so as not to kill the yogurt culture, but still provide the happy temp for the yogurt cultures to proliferate. And keep at roughly 110 to 120 degrees F, for the duration of the incubation period.
• a picnic cooler filled with 120 degree F water is an excellent incubator. Other incubation methods have a hit or miss quality when keeping the temp at a steady 110-120 degrees F (these methods include: blanket wrapping, crock pots, thermoses). Incubation temperature is very important.
• one really does need a thermometer to determine the correct temperature. Use the thermometer for the heated and cooled milk as well as the warm water in the picnic cooler.

Fresh, live active cultures is the other big component to successful yogurt-making

• the right yogurt starter makes a difference. I've heard reports of store brand yogurts not performing as well. The brands with successful track records are Yoplait, Dannon and Stoneyfield. The yogurt should be plain or vanilla, no fruit added stuff. 
• if chain-yogurting with your own yogurt as starter, use yogurt that has either been frozen, or is no more than 5-6 days old. The bacterial population begins to decline significantly after that time period.

Sterilize just to be sure

• sterilize your jars thoroughly. There could be bacteria in the jar itself that could compete with the yogurt culture. I know not every one sterilizes their jars. I do. I want to provide controls for as many of the variables as possible. And it doesn't take all that much extra work.

Take your time

• don't rush the milk to it's proper temperature. I plan for about 45 minutes for the milk to reach 190 degrees F. I just work that into my schedule for the morning. I'll usually be doing other things in the kitchen, so I can stir the milk regularly.

Basically all these "rules" add controls for home yogurt production, just as a manufacturer employs controls to insure the consistent quality of their product. 

I really want to encourage those who may be interested in trying yogurt for the first time, or retrying after a less than successful attempt, to give it a go. There's something very satisfying about making something that I once thought "had" to be bought.

To see my original post on making yogurt,  you can read it here.

Finally! I planted my spring-flowering bulbs

Yesterday I finally got my spring-flowering bulbs and shallots into the ground. I've been so busy these past couple of months, and then for the last 7-10 days we've been drenched in rain. There has been no chance of me getting out to the garden for planting.

Then, finally a beautiful day, yesterday, making it perfect for getting outdoors for the one chore I'd be so sad to not get done -- planting for spring. I look forward to spring flowers more so than those of summer.

In the garage I found a bag of bulb food. The bag itself was old and damp. I wanted to make sure that I used it all up. I also had one sack of compost left from summer gardening. As I was digging up the rocky soil for planting the bulbs, I mixed in a fair amount of compost.

I planted some mixed colors of Darwin Hybrid tulips (Darwin Hybrids have better perennializing properties than some of the other tulips), some pink and white Salome daffodils  and some cream-colored crocus.  I already have other spring bulbs in this area, along with a  white azalea and a pink rhododendron (both spring-flowering shrubs). My hope is to continue developing this one spot into a springtime flower haven, perhaps adding a flowering tree to the area, as well, and maybe a small bench.


I realize, that in some areas, it is way past time to get bulbs into the ground. If you have some bulbs to plant, still, it may not be too late. As long as the soil is not frozen, you can plant. In many cold-winter areas, this is right up until mid-November. And you could always fill pots with potting soil for your bulbs, if you just don't get to in-ground planting in time.

Bulbs like tulips really attract small animals. I've used a couple of methods to keep the critters from damaging my bulbs.

I've made basket cages from plastic berry baskets, caging the bulbs inside of two open baskets, facing each other, and securing together with twist ties. I then buried these in the soil at the appropriate depth for the bulbs. Even if the squirrels could sniff the bulbs out, they couldn't get inside the cage. 

Lacking berry baskets (I'm not sure any markets use those any longer), cages can be made with chicken wire or hardware cloth. You simply fashion a box like construction, trapping the bulbs inside and burying the whole thing. This works very well for flower pots, as there's little chance you'll be out digging and accidently hit the cage.

For open spaces in the ground, I prefer to lay bird netting on the soil to protect my bulbs. I stretch out a piece large enough to cover the entire bulb-planted area, and secure the edges with stones. I do this is fall and remove in early spring as the bulbs are coming through the dirt. Although squirrels can be troublesome in our area, with the netting I've never had a problem with them digging up my bulbs. (In an area where I don't lay the netting and have a sum of crocus bulbs, I do see where squirrels have dug up bulbs each year. Fortunately in that spot, I have enough crocus that the damage is not significant.)


In addition to the flowering bulbs, I also finally got the shallots into the ground. I should have planted them about a week ago, but the weather has been mild, and they still have time to develop some roots this fall.  I planted the 14 largest shallots from last years batch, hoping to triple that amount of large bulbs for the next harvest. I still have a basket of the smaller bulbs in the kitchen, for cooking with. I'm not sure about other locations, but in the Pacific Northwest US, you plant shallots in October for a harvest in July. 

Yesterday was likely the very last gorgeous day we'll have here for many months. Oh, we'll have sunny days, and we'll have warm-ish days (it was 60 F here today), but a day both warm and sunny probably won't come again until late March. So pleasant, I hated to have the day come to an end. 

Come spring, I'll take you out for a tour of this new garden area. You can bet that I'll be over-the-moon excited when those first crocus break through the soil's surface.

Storing winter squash and pumpkins

You know from reading here, that I've recently bought several pumpkins and winter squash, as well as grown some sugar pie pumpkins in my garden. Winter squash and pumpkins can last several months in storage, under the right conditions. In my laundry list of what I bought at our produce stand this past week, were 4 buttercup squash, 7 sugar pie pumpkins, and only 2 acorn squash.

I only bought 2 acorn squash because, for one thing, they go on sale a few times in fall at the grocery store. But also, acorn squash have almost the shortest storage life of the winter squashes. Whereas the sugar pie pumpkins and buttercup squash will keep for several weeks longer.

Here's a brief list of common squash and their approximate storage life:

Delicata -- 4-6 weeks
Acorn -- 5-8 weeks
Butternut, turban and buttercup -- 2-3 months
Pumpkins -- 2-3 months
Hubbard -- 5-6 months

The storage life listed is from harvest to table. It may be wise to use your store-bought squash about 2-3 weeks sooner. So, your typical store-bought acorn squash will probably continue in peak condition for 3 to 5 weeks, and a sugar pie pumpkin will be best if cooked within 6 to 8 weeks of purchase.

When selecting squash, look for one free of dark spots and with the stem still on. The one exception to having the stem intact is the hubbard squash. Hubbards actually keep better without their stems.

If possible, store at about 50 degrees F (such as in a cool basement, an unheated entrance such as a screened in porch, or a spare room with the heat turned off or vent closed). Wherever you store them, keep squash and pumpkin off of concrete floors. 

The humidity is generally too high in both refrigerators and traditional cellars for storing pumpkins and squash. Although, once a squash or pumpkin is cut, it should be kept in the fridge, for up to 3 or 4 days.

Do not wash squash or pumpkins before storage. Washing will shorten the storage life significantly.

Don't store near apples or pears. The ethylene gas produced by these fruits will hasten the end of storage life in squash and pumpkins.

If you can't use the squash and you think it's nearing the end of its storage life, cut it into chunks, steam it and freeze to use later.

Are you an occasional freegetarian?

In our house, we are "occasional freegetarians".

According to the Urban Dictionary, a freegetarian is "someone who is toying with the idea of freeganism, but still works and pays for things most of them time." A freegan, in contrast, is someone who opts out of the traditional economy and prefers to salvage what would otherwise be wasted.

Basically a freegetarian is someone who gladly accepts free stuff. Haven't we all done that? Someone we know is getting rid of something, offers it to us, and we're interested so we accept.

Where this gets weird for some folks is accepting (or even going after) free food. But again, haven't we all done that? Thanksgiving dinner at family's place, take home a share of the turkey and some side dishes. Not weird, right? Ah, but the weirdness comes in to play when the free food does not come from family or close friends.

Some freegetarians dumpster dive, urban glean, and forage in the wild. I draw the line at dumpster diving. I'm just not comfortable with that. But some folks are, so I'm not judging. It's just not for me.

I do pick berries along the side of highways. A neighbor offered us the opportunity to pick their apple tree, which we gladly accepted. And we also just seem to be in the right place at the right time, when perfectly good food is being disposed.

Two weeks ago, my two daughters worked at a tea at our church, and the nice ladies gave them 3 pies to take home. Yesterday afternoon, my daughters and I served at another tea, and the ladies there asked if we'd like sandwiches, fruit, raw veggies and cookies to take home. Yes, please! (No dinner to cook!)

So, this is what I mean by "occasional freegetarians". We aren't out there pursuing the free food (most of the time), but it's a happy bonus when it does come our way. 

Then what's the difference between a freegetarian and a freeloader? Well, that's like what's the difference between a symbiotic relationship and a parasitic relationship. With symbiosis, both parties benefit. While a parasite just shows up at mealtime, rather coincidentally, every Sunday evening at 6 PM.

For our family, does this ever feel like we're being freeloaders? No, and I think it's because this free food is always offered in generosity, or as a thank you for something that we've helped with. And we reciprocate whenever it's possible. Which makes for a very nice relationship. When I have a surplus of baking supplies and time, I bake a bunch of cookies or pies for events. And then, when I'm bushed from helping out with some event, I'm rewarded with a meal, all prepared for our family dinner.

If only more things in society could work that way.

Don't beat yourself up if you don't have the "perfect win" every time

--or even half the time. 

The "perfect win" is when you find something like chicken, or peanut butter, or ketchup at the rock-bottom sale price of the season, and you stock up so well that you have enough to last until the next time the price is that low. 

The perfect win was when I found full-sized candy bars for 10c each, on the clearance rack. I bought five of them, and on Hallowe'en, we each had one. (Sorry trick-or-treaters, you got the tiny bars, while the family got the full-sized ones!)

But the perfect win just doesn't happen for us all the time. Like this past week. November 1st was my produce stand's big clearance day. It's best to get there when they open at 8 AM. But I had to work. I knew that if I went later in the day (after work), most everything I wanted would be gone. 

So, what did I do? Well, I made a list of everything that I really wanted to stock up on. Then I went through that list and guessed which items would sell out before I could get there mid day on November 1st. I did my best guessing. And I stopped in late in the afternoon the day before, October 31st. They'd already begun to mark down some things, and I could see the stock of other items, that I knew I wanted, was very limited.

I picked up probably 2/3 of my produce stock-up on October 31st. I paid more than if I'd been able to come the next morning, but much less than grocery store prices. Then the next afternoon, November 1st, I stopped in again, and filled out the rest of my shopping, at their great clearance prices. I bought more of some things that I had bought the day before, but now were cheaper (garlic and sugar pie pumpkins), and I added some other items.

I did mis-guess on the 25 lb bag of carrots that I wanted. I didn't get them on Oct.31st, and they were sold out by the time I got there on Nov.1st.

I didn't get the perfect win this time. The perfect win would have allowed me to stop by first thing, on the morning of the clearance. But I did do good enough. And sometimes, good enough is just that, it's good, enough!

I remind myself to take a step back and look at the big picture. Are we still doing well with our budget? Yes! Are we carrying forward a surplus every month? Yes! Am I able to feed my family well on less that the USDA says I should be spending for a family of five? Yes! (Do I care what the USDA says about any of this? No!) Am I satisfied with the balance of time and convenience vs. money spent? Yes! Then I'm doing fine, even without getting the perfect win every time.

When you start to feel like your frugal efforts are just not matching up to your expectations, take a look at the big picture. And remind yourself that your good enough is truly good, enough. You'll have a perfect win again sometime, and you can gloat to yourself all about that when it does.


If you're curious what I bought at the produce stand this week, on clearance and on not-quite-clearance, here's the list: 20 pounds of russet potatoes, 17 heads of garlic, 10 pounds of oranges, 7 sugar pie pumpkins, 6 green bell peppers, 5 avocados, 4 sweet mama squash, 2 acorn squash, 2 eggplants, 2 heads of cabbage and a large bag of mushrooms. (Shouldn't there be a partridge in a pear tree on this list?) And I spent just over $36.

What to do with leftover Hallowe'en candy

Did you buy more trick-or-treat candy than you really needed? I know I did. I bought 4 bags of candy and only had about 20 trick-or-treaters. So what to do with all the leftovers?

First of all, you can donate wrapped candy:

-To the troops (USA)

From operationshoebox.com -- if you don't know what to do with all that left over Halloween candy, send it to us and we will get it over to our troop! Every year we go through tons of candy that we send to our troops and would be happy to have your left overs! Our mailing address is:

Operation Shoebox
8360 E Highway 25
Belleview, FL 34420

Many dentist offices in the US will also accept the candy. They will send it to the troops for you.

Other places to donate wrapped candy:

-Check with your local Meals on Wheels chapter. They will gladly accept wrapped candy.

-Check with your local Ronald McDonald House. Many have welcomed wrapped candy in past years.

-Check with your local women's shelter, Salvation Army meal outreach (aka  soup kitchen), food bank, homeless shelters/inner-city missions. The folk who use these services are often forgotten during the holidays. A bag of candy could bring a lot of smiles to faces.

Use in a pinata
If your child will be having a birthday soon, save it to fill a pinata for the party.

Use it in baking/cooking

• this one's really yum! caramel/chocolate/nutty/coconut pieces can be added to any brownie recipe
• chocolate bars can be used in making indoors s'mores
• these are very pretty -- use hard candies in stained glass Christmas cookies
  
• use M & M s (or other meltable pieces) in cookie dough, or to decorate a batch of cupcakes, or to make an open "face" peanut butter sandwich (spread 1 slice of bread with peanut butter and make a face out of candy pieces).
• this sounds strange, but it's really very good -- add candy corn to a batch of chocolate fudge. It adds a buttery and chewy sensation to the fudge.
• add candies to pudding. Chop bars up into bits and sprinkle over pudding. Stir gummy candies into pudding (any wormy looking candies are great for making "mud")

Save for Christmas to add to stockings. You may have to hide the candy, if you want it to last until then! 

Save for Christmas to use to decorate a mini "gingerbread house" (the kind where you take a small milk carton and use frosting to "glue" graham crackers on to it, then decorate with candies).


What do you do with extra trick-or-treat candy?

Setting up a budget: keeping an open mind with fixed vs. non-fixed expenses

(I received some feedback after last week's post on how we budget at our house. It seemed good, so I'll continue with this post, and in following weeks.)

When most of us think of our budgets, we tend to think that some items have a fixed cost, like housing, food, and heat. The truth is, in almost all sections of a budget, these items are more flexible than we think. Let's take a look at these three areas.

The cost of housing
For example, if you absolutely want to stay in your current residence, and not do anything to negotiate a change in monthly costs, well then, yes, this is a fixed cost. But lets think outside the box for a bit.

If you own your house, but currently have a mortgage on it, with a high interest rate, you can refinance your mortgage at a more favorable rate. I have a friend who very recently refinanced their home. They'll be saving a couple of hundred dollars per month, with a very short (I think it's 6 months) pay-back period to pay off the points and fees of the refi, and will continue to save for 15 years, which by the way shortens the life of their mortgage by several years.

If you're a renter, aside from moving to a new rental, you may be able to reduce your rent by negotiating a lower rate. My husband and I lived in a rental for 6 years. During spring, summer and fall we paid a lower rent than winter. How? We offered to do the yard work at our tri-plex in exchange for a reduced rent in those months. There could be the opportunity to do maintenance, yard work, or repairs, in exchange for reduced rent.

You can take in a boarder/roommate and apply their rent towards your mortgage. I know an empty-nester single mom, who lives in a college community. She's still in her 3 bedroom home, but takes on a student during term. (She very carefully screens her applicants, and will only take someone who comes on recommendation from a friend.) Her tenants pay enough to cover all utilities, groceries, and homeowner's insurance for the months that they're living with her. In exchange, she's been allowed to continue as an artist, creating her pottery and teaching classes, without worry of how she'll pay the bills.

If you rent or are in a position to easily sell your house, you can trade down for a lower mortgage payment/rent. I once read of a family here in Seattle that wanted Dad to give up his high-powered executive job so he could have more time with family. One of the things they did was to sell their grand, 5 bedroom micro-mansion home, and buy a small 3 bedroom bungalow.  This alone was enough to allow the dad to take a significant cut in pay, take a part time job, and have free time with family.

Imagine if you pursued any two of these possibilities, you refinanced and took in a roommate, or traded down and took in a boarder, or performed work at your rental in exchange for reduced rent and took in a roommate -- you could shave a substantial amount off your housing cost. I'm not saying you'll want to do any of these things. They're just possibilities.

The cost of food
The cost of food is not so inflexible. We've all had one of those weeks when we didn't feel well, so didn't go out shopping and instead made do with what we had on hand. As a result our grocery bill was lower for that period, and yet the following week, we likely did not spend double the usual amount to compensate for the low-spend week.

Or, we've had a grocery shopping excursion on an empty stomach and bought everything in sight, especially those items that are ready-made and more costly. In that case, our grocery spending was much higher than usual, and yet, the following week we didn't under spend simply because we overspent the previous week.

Or, we've gotten into the habit of shopping in one of the upscale markets and spent way more than if we'd shopped in a budget store. Or we were name-brand loyal, or didn't make a list, or didn't check the sale flyers -- all circumstances that can drive our grocery bill up.

If saving on food is a priority to you, there are so many strategies to reduce grocery spending. A lot of personal finance blogs seem to specialize in grocery shopping tips.

The cost of heat
You may think it just costs a set amount to heat your home. Well, yes, if you are unwilling to make any changes at all, the cost will be the same year after year. But here are just a few ideas that could help shave that heat bill.

Use weather stripping to seal doors and windows. On older windows apply plastic sheeting to serve as a storm window in winter.

Make a draft snake.

Use insulating curtains.

Install (or simply learn how to use) a programmable thermostat.

Change the settings on your thermostat. Set the heat 1 degree cooler for the night hours. Have the heat set to come on 15 minutes after you return home in the evening. (If your thermostat is anything like ours, setting the heat to come on at 6 PM actually means it will begin the heating up process about 20-30 minutes before 6 PM, and have the heat guaranteed by 6 PM.)

Install a wood stove.

Change your heating fuel. Look into the cost differences between electric, natural gas, propane and oil. Just because you have forced air now, doesn't mean you have to keep forced air. I know some folks have switched from forced air natural gas to individual room, hard-wired electric, and saved money. It all depends on the cost of utilities in your area and how much of your home you use daily.

Use a different door to come and go in your house. That sounds crazy, I know! But in our house, the front door is near the thermostat. Every time someone opens that door in winter, the temperature near the thermostat drops and increases the frequency of the furnace coming on. By changing our family's coming/going door, we keep the furnace from popping on every time someone uses the front door.

To get to the back yard or deck, we have a couple of options in our house. We can use one of the deck doors in the family room and office, or we can go through the garage back door. I've been using the garage back door for the past month or so, as going through the garage seems to allow less cold air into the house, than one of the deck doors. The garage serves as a mud room, a buffer between heated and outdoor space.

Insulating ductwork. Our house is on a crawl space. A few years back my husband discovered that the insulation on several of the ducts had been removed. He took a few Saturdays and replaced it.

Insulating the attic. They say this is one of the best returns for your money, when it comes to saving on heat. If you have attic space that is not insulated, this is a great project to tackle. (Which reminds me to talk with my hubby about a spot I discovered last year. When we had a contractor out to do some work, he'd forgotten to roll out the insulation over one portion of the attic. The insulation is all there, just needs to be rolled out. I'd do it myself, but would require a special mask for my allergies.)


Now that we've seen many areas of our budget are really more flexible than we'd previously thought, what expenses are truly fixed?

Taxes -- I know you can do all sorts of things to reduce your tax burden, charitable donations, have another child, buy a car (to deduct the sales tax), but for the most part, as this is not a tax-reduction blog, let's just assume that taxes are more fixed than not. And I'm including property taxes along with income taxes here.

Medical costs -- unless you plan on performing your own appendectomy, the cost for surgery is not so flexible for most of us. But what you can do is take the best possible care of your health, and hopefully not need to use the services of the medical community as often, or need to purchase as much prescription and/or over the counter medications. (Just an FYI, this is based on what I know of US medical care and costs.)

And in medical costs, I include insurance premiums, as many of us really do require specific coverage from our insurance. Sure we could save by downgrading our coverage. But for us it might be penny-wise, pound-foolish. Cheaper insurance might mean higher out-of-pocket costs for a lot of folks. 

(this one's a maybe) Car registration and driver's license fees -- now obviously you can give up your car (or trade down) and stop driving altogether, and that would either reduce or eliminate these fees. But for most of us, these aren't options we're willing to pursue just yet. Though I do have to say, if times were really tough, I could definitely see us scaling back to one car, and just making do. And for many folks who live within walking distance of most services, ditching the car is an option.

Necessary home repairs -- I'm talking fixing that leaky roof, repairing a broken window, replacing a rotting deck with something safe, not dream kitchen makeovers. You don't need to go all out and hire the most expensive contractor for the most expensive project. You can compare quotes, and ask around for alternatives that might also work in your circumstances.



The categories in our budget
So, I am looking at my current budget. Here's a list of all the categories:

Investments
Vacations
Taxes, property
Insurance, vehicle and homeowner
Auto registrations and driver's license fees
Gifts & celebrations
Tuition, for daughters' school
Gas for cars
Electricity
Heat
Groceries
Non-food household purchases (cleaning supplies, bath tissue, toothpaste, detergent, etc)
Garbage collection
Water/sewer
Church tithing
Home repairs/services
Car repairs/maintenance
Landscape and interior design
Phone
Clothing and hair
Allowances
School supplies, fees
Entertainment, eating out, excursions
Medical/dental
Emergency fund
Dance classes
Savings for a new computer

Everything we spend either comes out of one of these categories, or is paid through my husband's employer (medical insurance, his bus pass, life insurance).

You may notice there's no category for car payment, mortgage, cable, or internet. We're debt-free, use an indoor amplified antenna for TV, and my son pays for the internet service as he requires it for his work.

So, looking at all these categories, almost all of them have some wiggle room. I could negotiate cheaper dance lessons, by offering to man the reception desk a few hours per week, or hire myself out for their cleaning services.

I can plant swap with friends to increase the beauty of our landscape. I can thrift shop for clothing. I can have the cheapest phone service available (prepaid cell phones are an excellent way to have cell coverage cheaply. An iphone is not a necessity.)

I can turn off lights, take shorter showers, combine all errands into one drive, do it myself car maintenance, make my own laundry soap, barter with my daughters' school for lower tuition (they have a cafeteria, I could ask for a job cooking for a reduction in tuition), take fewer vacations, wear a sweater indoors, eat out less . . . the list of ways to cut back in almost all areas of spending is endless.


My point in this post, is to emphasize that most of our spending is not fixed. Approach building your budget with flexibility in mind. You might surprise yourself how many categories you could reduce your spending in. And I'm not suggesting that you cut spending in all categories, Hopefully last week's post on determining goals and priorities helped to think through what really matters to you, and what doesn't.


Next week's post on budgeting -- setting up a timeline for goals and working them into your budget. (See, last week's exercise in setting goals and priorities was not purely academic!)