I Love Thrift Stores

So, I've been floundering through the season, cheating here and there due to sickness, surgeries and other unforeseen obstacles. Birthday season and the Holidays are in full swing at my house and I have a few good things to report. Since I'm usually writing my failures, I thought I'd share the successes for a change.

1. I got Christmas for everyone from thrift stores and/or online classified ads.
2. What I bought new, I bought before our experiment started and on sale.
3. I have everything I need already in my house for my part of Thanksgiving dinner (potatoes, stuff for rolls, green bean casserole, pie goodies), but I did get a turkey today for $6.
4. I got a VCR at the thrift store and we are enjoying all of our old videos.
5. I've already made all of my neighbor and family gifts.

I just wanted to check in to let you know that we're plugging along. I always have more ambitions than I am capable of executing, thus the infrequent blog posts. I'm actually considering abandoning it for good. I have so many other projects that bring true value, that this one feels like I'm creating another chore for myself.

Not to end on a low note, I want to wish everyone a fabulous Thanksgiving and Christmas season. Celebrate as much as you can, look for quiet time too. Don't do so much that you don't have a few evenings just to sit with your family and enjoy close family traditions. This is my favorite time of year and I'm determined to get the most out of it.

Apples for Apples

I made my first microloan last week and it couldn't have gone to a more promising holiday project. If you're wondering what a microloan is, go check out my other blog where I explain in more detail. Last year I wrote about Wendy's fancy schmancy apples during the holidays. This year she's my first microloan venture as she turned her concept into a business and will be selling her apples all season long.

If you are interested in purchasing one of Wendy's awsome apples, leave me a comment or come visit us up at the Rennaissance Holiday Bizarre on Nov. 13th from 5-9. I also have a bunch of really cute applesauce ornaments you can mix and match to make the perfect addition to any tree.

As a Give Away, for each Fancy Schmancy Apple or set of Applesauce Ornaments purchased, we are donating an apple or a can of applesauce to a local food pantry. Our goal is to donate 100 apples and cans of applesauce this season.

Swine Flu

Well, my No More Grocery Shopping Spree did not factor in the flu. So, there was a trip to the store for cough meds. I've got other fever/cold/allergy preparations on hand, but cough medicine was a must, so when I went I stocked up. Other cheater items included Popsicles, Sprite and fruit juice. But, on the whole we have survived pretty well with what we have here in the pantry and food storage.

On a more positive note, I saved a ton of money last month by not going to the store for anything other than emergency swine flu supplies. Even driving a bit further for my milk and produce I still saved a lot of money. Now we're on to another month and I'm hoping to keep expenses down to the point that I can keep going for another several months on the cash we have on hand.

Sorry for the infrequent posts. I have some exciting things going on and will post about them soon. School, swine flu, business prospects, marriage and mothering tend to take up all of my time these days. Thank goodness for kids who can cook and fold laundry. Not that they do it all the time, but hey it helps to have someone pick up the slack every now and then. And I think I've already mentioned that Don is a much better home maker than I am.

Buy Nothing Meal Plan - Week 1

Sunday
Breakfast - scones, milk
Lunch - fried zuchinni
Dinner - Japanese curry rice (curry sauce from a mix)
Dessert - zuchinni bread

Monday
Breakfast - cream of wheat, milk
Lunch - fruit & crackers, cheese stick & nuts
Snack - nachos
Dinner - Spaghetti Carbonara & salad
Dessert - Cinnamon Struessel muffins (from a mix)

Tuesday
Breakfast - english muffins, hot chocolate
Lunch - fruit & crackers, muffins
Snack - pumpkin pancakes
Dinner - Chicken and Dumplings
Dessert - fend-for-yourself treats

Wednesday
Breakfast - bagels and berry jam, hot chocolate
Lunch - fruit & crackers, cheese stick & nuts
Snack - quesadillas
Dinner - hot wings and salad
Dessert - fruit smoothie

Thursday
Breakfast - eggs, fruit, milk
Lunch - veggies & crackers
Snack - nachos
Dinner - whole wheat waffles & fruit
Dessert - sugar cookies

Friday
Breakfast - cream of wheat, milk
Lunch - fruit & crackers, cheese stick & nuts
Snack - homemade fries
Dinner - Fend-for-yourself leftovers
Dessert -

Saturday
Breakfast - cold cereal & milk
Lunch - fruit & cheese
Snack - nachos
Dinner - home made french bread & salad (recipe to follow)
Dessert - ginger cookies

Hannah's Whole Wheat Waffles

Hannah got her wish to have breakfast for dinner Thursday night. She didn't make the batter, but the waffles were delicious. Brennan whipped up the batter, and Hannah and I cooked them up in our many-years-old, $10 waffle iron.

Speaking of many-years-old, the hand mixer Brennan used to beat the batter is from our wedding. That makes it over 17 years old. It was given to us by our best man, and has served us well all these years. A few years ago I got a hand-me-down Kitchen-aid for myself as a Christmas present. I love that machine. But, I didn't get rid of my old hand mixer and it still serves us well for smaller jobs like a batch of whole wheat waffles.

Here's the recipe. We pulled it out of Betty Crocker's classic red and white cookbook, one of my favorites.

Whole Wheat Waffles

2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup veggie oil (Bren used canola)
1 3/4 cup milk (we used 2 T dry milk pdr. and 1 3/4 c. water)
1 Tbsp. sugar (we used 2 Tbsp.)
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Beat eggs and add other ingredients beat just until smooth. Pour by cup-full into center of iron, cook until waffle stops steaming.

So, what is your oldest kitchen appliance and how often do you use it?

Wings and Things

Brennan's meal this week was hot wings. He is a bit of a wings connoisseur and is picky about the spice and tang applied to his favorite pieces of poultry. KC and Hannah don't prefer the spice, but love a little teriyaki on their wings, so we made two batches along with a bunch of corn on the cob, free from a friend's garden.

Sorry I don't have any photos, the battery on the camera is dead and the battery pack is in an undisclosed location (in the car, in the shop, getting some warranty issues resolved - the car, not the camera). But here's what we did:

Bren's Barbecue Wings

Spicy Wings start with a dry rub - Here he used a Cajun seasoning mix along with paprika, cayenne, chili powder, garlic and salt. He dumped this generously over the wings and coated them all with the seasonings. Then he let them sit for about two hours.

Asian Wings Marinate -1/4 c. Soy sauce, 1/4 c. rice vinegar, 2 tbsp. sugar, 1 tsp. sesame oil, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. ginger powder. Pour over chicken, mix and marinate for two hours.

After the wings have sat in their seasoning for a couple of hours, throw them in a 500 degree oven for about 20 minutes. If you really need the crisp and crunch of fabulously fried wings, get your pan and oil heating and cook them up that way, but similar results can be had by another method. I coat the wings with a bit of olive oil (on top of their rub or marinate) and then dredge with flour (that means I coat them with flour on all sides). I still bake them, but the little bit og oil and flour creates a nice crust you don't get otherwise.

Bren likes to baste the spicy ones with a bottled wing sauce he's doctored to make even zestier and spicier. We serve them with veggies and dip. The cool of the dip is a nice contrast to the hot of the wings.

Soup Kitchen

Today, kids came home to pumpkin pancakes, a favorite fall-time after school snack. I mixed 'em up and Don cooked Here's how you do it:

Pumpkin Pancakes
Make your favorite pancake recipe and add 1/2 cup pumpkin for ever 2 cups flour. Mix and make like you would normal pancakes. Serve with syrup.

Later, Caleb (8) made Chicken and Dumplings for dinner. He cut potatoes and carrots, opened cans of chicken and chicken broth. He also measured ingredients for dumplings and added dollops of dough to the boiling broth when it was time. All-in-all, I'd say he and I spent a total of 30 quality minutes preparing dinner together. Here's the recipe:

Easy Chicken Soup

1 12 oz. can chicken breast
2 medium potatoes, cubed
2 cups cubed carrots
1 can chicken broth
8 cups water
4 tsp. chicken bullion
2 tsp. garlic powder
Seasoning salt to taste

Put all ingredients into a medium stock pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.

Cheater Dumplings

2 1/4 cup baking mix
1 Tbsp. dry milk powder
2/3 cup water

Stir with a fork until all dry ingredients are moistened.

When soup begins a rolling boil, drop dumpling dough about the size of an extra large egg (don't you love the precision of my measurements) into the boiling soup. When all dumplings (you should have gotten about 8 of them) are in the pot, turn temp. down to medium-low and start a timer for 10 minutes. Leave to slow boil, uncovered for 10 minutes. Then, cover the pot, start the timer for 10 more minutes and continue to boil. After 10 minutes remove from heat and serve.