A new year, and the old revisited...

Once again we are at the bittersweet time of year, when the yearly odometer flips its number and 2012 becomes 2013.  

I like to have a theme for my new year.  I'm nerdy like that.  My word for last year was THRIVE.  I love that word.  It makes me think of growing and fulfilling my destiny, and other such amazing things.  I'm not sure if I "thrived" this year {maybe it was more like "survived" the year} but I'm still planning on keeping the idea of thriving near and dear.

I'll talk more about my word for 2013 later.  I've got big plans! 

I, for one, am happy to see the end of 2012.  Not that it was a terrible year, but it was slightly unpredictable, starting with January and knowing that we needed to find a new house to live in.  And not knowing how we were going to find anything that was as conveniently located and large enough to fit our odd configuration of children; two teenagers, boy and girl, who each needed their own rooms, and another bedroom for the two younger boys to share.  4 bedrooms when rent is at a premium and gas prices were rising.  Again, prayers were answered (just like finding our last house!) and we found a great home in the country that is just big enough and close enough to town.  Whew!  I was feeling the stress!  We moved in at the end of March, and we love being out where the fruit trees and the garden flourish.

In January my baby Monkey turned 8 years old and was baptized on his birthday.  What an awesome day for him.

February brought my oldest son closer to being an adult than I am ready for!  He turned 17, now almost 18, and I am sad.  I'm not one of those moms who can't wait for her kids to grow up; I wish they could stay little forever!  I shared some new scrapbook pages with old, imperfect pictures of my girl with her girl cousins from both sides of the family.  I could just kiss all of those sweet faces!  Her closest cousin from Missouri is visiting us right now, and we're having fun with her!

In March we moved!  I spent most of my time unpacking and getting used to having to drive the kids to school and back for everything since we didn't live in walking distance anymore!  But here is the view from our front door, so I guess I can't complain.

April was spent getting settled, ramping up for the end of the school year, and in softball practices with the girl.

The girl promoted from 8th grade in May.  Where did the time go!!!

And the little boys are not so little anymore.

June was a lot of gardening and canning and some more softball.  The season went into July!  I also spent more time organizing the house, and started using my china hutch for scrapbooking supply storage.  The oldest two went on a three day Pioneer Trek in the mountains.

We camped in July, and spent some time in the emergency room when the eldest crashed a bike.  

And I spent a week at girl's camp with the girls...

And then school started before we knew it, and I wrote about being hopeful and scared for them.

September was boy #2's 11th birthday, and in October I got even more serious about emergency preparedness and started my 31 Days of Preparing Properly:

Including this post about my shopping trip to buy enough shelf stable food for meals for 1 week for under $60.

I promise I will finish up the 31 days this month.  Unfortunately (or fortunately!) life got in the way!

November was a school dance, spending time with family, including a QUICK visit with my Grandpa and his wife Fern, and family who came up from San Francisco and Southern CA for Thanksgiving.  

My mom came out to visit in the beginning of December, then was sick for most of her visit.  She did manage to get some shopping done, and even put curtains up in the dining area.  I was so happy to see her; everything's better with the Mama around.

We've had a fun Christmas celebration, including having my niece here from Missouri for 3 weeks and our nephew home from the Army for a couple of weeks, too.  

I'd add some more pictures, but the camera went with the older kids who are doing a Polar Bear Plunge at the local park this afternoon.  BRRRrrrr!  

We have been blessed so much this year!  Where do I even begin?  Our family, near and far, especially our kids.  Good job, callings in church, and everything else that goes with them.  Thanks for hanging in there with us through all of it! 

Meal plan for January 2013, Week 1

A new year means new goals, which of course include getting organized.  Organization with meals is something I'm always working toward, especially since everyone wants to eat!  Every day!  

Since I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll have to cook dinner every night, I've got the first couple weeks of menus made up, and even did some cooking for the freezer.  I also found this month's worth of menu and tips  on Smithlive.blogspot.com that has some recipes I may try later in the month.  

Crock Pot Northern Beans and Ham

A cheap and tasty meal to warm the tummies on these cold winter nights.

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos
A new recipe I found on pinterest! 

Homemade Tamales with Beans and Rice
My kids, niece and I made homemade tamales the Saturday before Christmas and I took some to a Christmas party.  They were our first try, and they were really good!  They took some prep time and some tips from an authentic tamale maker, and I used this recipe for the masa.  We cooked a pork roast in the oven, diced it finely, and added a sauce I made with some of the chilies from our garden.  I made up another batch of the meat filling so we can eat these on New Year's Eve and freeze the rest for another meal.

Homemade Pizza

Scroll down that post to the recipe on Friday's menu for pizza dough.

Beans, Cilantro Lime Rice, Homemade Tortillas and Salad

These really are the best tortillas.  Easy to make; I use my electric griddle and cook two at a time.

Mexican Tortilla Roll-ups, Chips and Salsa
Another pinterest find!  I'm going to use

Buffalo Chicken in the Crock Pot

Sounds so good!  

Simple Turkey One Pot

Serving this with rice or potatoes.

Ooey Gooey Rocky Road Cookies
The name says it all!  A good way to use up one of the several open bags of marshmallows.


I'm linking up here:

Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunki.com

Menu Planning Monday at SusieQTPies

Mealtime Monday at Couping and Cooking

Day 17 - When life hands you cucumbers, make pickles...and other canning helps!

You know how it goes when you have a garden; no matter how hard you try to stagger your planting, a glut of vegetables is always a problem.  Everything seems to be ripe at once, and doorbell ditching your neighbors with zucchini is one option, canning the excess veggies is another.  

In a post the other day I shared on of my favorite new books, Canning for the Next Generation.  It has some excellent "not your grandma's canning" recipes.  The following ARE your grandma's canning recipes, and there's nothing wrong with that.  These are tried and true, and require nothing more than time, ingredients, and some basic canning equipment.  

I've shared some of my canning on the blog before, like salsa and peaches, and my basic canning equipment checklist.  There are instructions on how to can all over the internet.  If you have never canned before and would like to try, here's an Intro To Canning pdf file from Ball.  I've collected my canning equipment over the years and just have basic enamel canners in a large and small size.  That means I can only process acidic foods since I don't use a pressure canner.  I've been looking for one for a while, and I'm coveting my mom's find of a pressure canner at a garage sale for under $10 since they cost over $70.

(I've noticed, at least in our area, that it is really hard to find canning jars and equipment.  Seems like everyone is getting in touch with their inner Homemaker and are growing and preserving their own food.  That's awesome, but now I can't go to a garage sale and find a box of canning jars for a couple of bucks anymore!)

The other three canning tools I use are a jar lifter, a magnet on a stick (not sure what it's really called!) for getting the lids and bands out of the hot water, and a jar funnel.  I have a plastic funnel, but found this lovely black enamel one at a thrift store!

Suggested supplies are:

• Sauce pan 
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring cups 
• Cutting board
• Kitchen knives 
• Ladle
• Large spoon 
• Non-metallic spatula
• Dish rags
• A Water bath Canner
• And of course, your jars, lids and rings.

These recipes take some time because the pickling liquid needs to sit on the vegetables to get the pickling process going. 

Sweet Relish

6 medium cucumbers

3 green or red bell peppers

6 medium onions

1/4 cup pickling salt

3 cups sugar

2 cups apple cider vinegar

2 1/2 tsp. celery seed

2 1/2 tsp. mustard seed

1/2 tsp. turmeric

Wash cucumbers.  Chop finely.  Wash and chop the peppers, discarding stems and seeds.  Peel and chop the onions.  Measure and combine in a bowl 6 cups of cucumbers, 3 cups of peppers and 3 cups of onions.  Sprinkle with the salt and add cold water to cover.  Cover loosely and let the bowl of veggies sit at room temperature for 2 hours.

After two hours, pour vegetable mixture into colander set in a sink.  Rinse with fresh water and let it drain well.

In a 4-quart non-reacting pot combine sugar, vinegar, celery seed, mustard seed, and turmeric.  Heat to boiling.  Add the drained vegetables; return to boiling.  Cook over medium-high heat, uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes or till most of the excess liquid has evaporated.

Ladle relish into hot, clean half-pint canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Wipe the jar rims; adjust lids.  Process filled jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.  Remove the jars from the canner and cool.  Let sit 24 hours before moving.  Makes 7 half-pints.

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Pickled Three-Bean Salad

3 cups 2-3 inch green beans
2  16oz cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2  16oz cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup (1 medium) sliced onion
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup (1 medium) sliced green bell pepper
2 1/2 cups water 
2 cups white vinegar (5% acidity)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup bottled lemon juice
1 Tablespoon pickling salt

Prepare green beans by washing, snapping off ends and cutting to length.  Blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes.  Cool in ice water, then drain well.  Combine beans with remaining vegetables in a large bowl and set aside.  In a saucepan, combine water, vinegar, sugar, lemon juice and pickling salt.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Pour hot vinegar mixture over vegetables and mix well.  Cover and refrigerate overnight. 

The next day bring everything to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Immediately fill hot pint jars with vegetables, leaving 1-inch head space.  Carefully run a non-metallic utensil down inside of jars to remove trapped air bubbles, then wipe jar tops and threads clean with a damp dish rag.  Put the hot lids on jars and screw bands on firmly.  Process in boiling water canner for 15 minutes.

Click here to follow along and read 

my previous 31 days of blogging.

Enter my giveaway here! 

Day 16 - Simple Menu Shopping Trip

After posting Day 11's Simple Menu  and thinking about my estimate for the groceries, I thought I'd take a look at what the groceries really are at my local Winco grocery store for that menu.  I have to say, I didn't do too badly!  

Simple Menu Shopping List:


Baking and dried goods
5 lb. bag flour for tortillas and bread  $1.89 
1 box baking mix for pancakes, waffles, biscuits; prepared w/powdered milk, no eggs  $2.98
1 box cornbread mix  $ .48 (I bought 2 for $ .96)
2 lbs. pasta  (I bought 3 lbs. for $2.48)
4 lb. bag sugar (I bought 2 lbs. brown sugar for $1.58)
1 small box powdered milk  $6.51


Canned or Jarred goods
1 bottle syrup $1.68
2 cans pasta sauce  $ .88 each/ $1.76 total
4 cans tuna $ .75 each/ $3.00 total
2 medium cans chili (I bought 4 at $ .98 each, $3.92 total)
2 cans chicken  $1.98 each/$3.96 tota
l2 cans green beans  $ .65 each/$1.30 total
1 jar or can of peaches  (I bought 2 cans mandarin oranges $ .58 each/$1.16 total)
2 cans tomatoes (I bought 2 cans w/chilis and 2 cans Italian style at $ .57 each/$2.28 total)
1 can fruit cocktail  (I bought 2 cans mandarin oranges $ .58 each/$1.16 total)
2 boxes mac and cheese (I subbed Pasta Roni w/same servings at $.88 each/$1.76 total)
1 can pork and beans (I bought 2 cans at $ .68 each/$1.36 total)
Total spent this trip:       $39.74
Extras bought equal:      $  5.08
Total from original list: $ 34.66

This receipt tape did not print clearly, but the prices are all there!

Missing from my shopping trip purchases from the list above were these items and my estimated cost for them:
2 lbs. rice  $1.50
2 lbs. pinto beans   $2.00
1 small bottle canola oil  $2.00
1 jar mayonnaise  $2.50
1 small bottle Parmesan cheese  $2.00
2 cans mixed veggies  $1.25
1 jar Peanut butter $3.00
1 jar jam  $1.50
1 box oatmeal $2.50                        
Total needing to spend:    $18.25
Total spent above:             $34.66
Approximate total cost:    $52.91  


Other ingredients used but not purchased:
Baking powder
salt
pepper
dried onions
spices

Again, I realize this is not a perfect menu; it is basically my way of getting some bang for a buck and slowly adding to food stores one week at a time in an inexpensive way.  Most of the products I bought were store brands, and I've had good luck using them.  Sometimes the quality of generic brands is not great, but with these I'm confidant they'll be fine.  

This menu also allows for a minimal amount of cooking and could be cooked on a wood stove or a single propane burner, or even in a dutch oven in case the electricity is out.

Click here to follow along and read 

my previous 31 days of blogging.

Enter my giveaway here! 

Day 15 - Some of my favorite books about Food Storage and Survival

Books that I am LOVING:

These are some books that I think anyone who is determined to be self-sufficient or even just dabble in self-reliant living should have on their bookshelf.

I know this might sound funny, but The Little House Cookbook is one that I would love to have if I had to cook from scratch with only things I have/am raising/growing/foraging/hunting/fishing.  If you are familiar with the Little House on the Prairie set of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, you'll know that much of the stories revolve around food.  In 19th century rural America your days were spent making sure you have food to eat now and in the lean winter months.  Barbara M. Walker uses tons of detail in describing what the Ingalls and Wilder families would have done and used, and then translates it into modern day terms.  It think I relate so well because growing up on a farm we did some of the same things.  My dad was a hunter, my grandma a gardener, and my mom could make anything into a meal fit for a king. 

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Now that you are building your food storage, how do you cook it if there is no gas or electricity?  Don't be afraid of you food storage...just Dutch It! has a huge variety of recipes using basic food storage items, a dutch oven, and charcoal.  I recently took a class on dutch oven cooking and we made a breakfast casserole, chicken enchiladas, and 2 different desserts in dutch ovens.  They all turned out amazing!  Dutch oven cooking is definitely a skill that will be handy to have in an emergency.  We've done a little bit of cooking this way while camping, and there a lot of websites with recipes, but the recipes in this book use things like dried beans, wheat, powdered milk, and other food storage staples, AND tell you how to store charcoal and tons of other tips and tricks to dutch oven cooking.  This would make an awesome Christmas present to the budding outdoor chef in your family.

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Canning for a New Generation is my new favorite cookbook.  I picked it up at the library, keep picking it up at home, and have tried a few things in it.  It is plum FULL of canning recipes, other cooking and preserving tips; enough to make your mouth water!  This book is full of incredibly detailed instructions and beautiful but not overwhelming photographs.  It is now on my wish list because I need a copy of my own.  Very precise recipes, with tips throughout like “Fruit-Juice Stain Removal” and recipes to use your canned goods in.

What do I want to try?
Charred Tomato and Chile Salsa pg. 169
Cardamom Plum Jam p 117
Persimmon Pudding pg 215 with directions for freezing Persimmon pulp.
Pumpkin Chips pg 228 
Lemon Curd pg 245 (refrigerated)
Hot Cumin Pickled Summer Squash  pg 159 (always an abundance of squash, and I’m a lover of cumin)

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If you are truly in a survival situation, the Emergency Disaster Survival Guidebook is the book you want to have with you!  The author covers a LOT of different areas in a general way.  If I paired this with a Boy Scout Handbook I think I would definitely be prepared!  It is not very large and heavy and I have it in my 72-hour kit.  

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Natural Meals in Minutes also has a lot of recipes that utilize basic food storage items and includes a whole section on sprouting.  Also included are shopping lists, a glossary, and how to make bean flour to use in baked goods for a more complete protein and fiber.

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This is just a sampling of excellent books.  I have not been compensated or coerced into recommending these books and none of these links are affiliate links, just letting you know what is available and would be worth owning!

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Go here to read the rest of my 31 days of blogging posts,

and enter my giveaway here!!