• Fresh & Healthy: Deep Freezer Goodies – Summer Squash, Onions, and Tomatoes

    Earlier this Summer we started stocking up our freezer with Fresh Produce - Summer Squash, Onions, and Tomatoes!

    One of the joys of having a garden and finding fresh produce on sale is being able to freeze the in season items so you can utilize them throughout the winter.  This summer I have been able to stock up on several great vegetables through growing our own family garden, participating in a local Community Supported Agriculture program and shopping the seasonal clearance items at our local grocery stores.  We now have a section of our deep freezer full of fresh veggies to eat through out the Fall, Winter, and Spring.

    What works for me is freezing the vegetables in quart (or snack size baggies for the onions) size bags and putting four individual bags into one gallon bag.  I pull the gallon bag out of the deep freezer put it up into the refrigerator / freezer upstairs and pull out one bag as I need to use it.  When I have used all four bags I pull another gallon bag of the vegetables I need out of the freezer.  I have been toying with the idea of getting the fresh seal bags but since I get the bags on sale usually for a great price and they work, I am not yet convinced it is worth the cost for our family.  I am already looking forward to enjoying these over the next several months!  What vegetables to you always try to freeze a little bit extra of for the winter months?

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    I took time this week to spend reading, playing and hanging out with my girls.  They will be going back to school soon so I wanted to spend more time with them.   Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from the Sav Mor Sidewalk Box Sale!

    Sav Mor Box Sale Groceries – spent $14.00 at Sav More Sidewalk Box Sale

    • 4 Kettle Krinkle Cut Chips Salt & Pepper (14 oz each)
    • 2 General Mills Corn Chex Cereal (14 oz each)
    • 2 Enviro Kids Organic Peanut Butter Panda Puffs
    • 1 Laura Lynn Deluxe Moist Yellow Cake Mix
    • 1 Fantastic Vegetarian Chili
    • 1 Milton’s Corn Bread Crackers
    • 3 Milton’s Everything Multi Grain Crackers
    • 2 Milton’s Whole Wheat Graham Crackers
    • 5 Laura Lynn Deep Dish Pizza Crust (each package had 2 pizza at 11.3 oz each)
    • 1 Laura Lynn Thin Pizza Crust (each package had 2 pizza at 7.4 oz each)
    • 2 Kettle Krinkle Cut Chips Buffalo Bleu (9 oz each)
    • 1 Kettle Krinkle Cut Chips Sweet Onion (9 oz each)
    • 1 Fiber One Complete Pancake Mix
    • 1 Hefty Gallon Bags (13 count)
    • 6 Knorr Pesto Sauce Mix
    • 1 Kraft Mac & Cheese Family Size (14.5 oz)
    • 1  Annie’s Organic Rotini Pasta with 4 Cheese Sauce
    • 1 Late July Organic Bite Size Cheddar Cheese Crackers
    • 1 Sorbee Sugar Free Eat Rite Be Fit Chocolate Syrup (18 oz)
    • 1 Starkist Chunk Light Tuna (5 oz)
    • 1 Bremner Waffer Crackers (4 oz)
    • 1 Thai Kitchen Roasted Garlic and Chili with Jasmine Rice
    • 7 Knorr Four Cheese Sauce Mix
    • 1 Kind Nut Delight Bar
    • 1 Knorr Roasted Pork Gravy
    • 1 Gulden’s Spicy Brown Mustard (12 oz)
    • 3 Wish Bone House Italian Dressing
    • 1 Glutino Gluten Free Organic Chocolate & Peanut Bars (16 oz)
    • 1 Organic Ville Sun Dried Tomato
    • 1 Kellogg’s Special K Double Chocolate Bar
    • 1 Crosset Blackwell Cocktail Crackers
    • 1 Duncan Hines Creamy Lemon Supreme Frostings
    • 1 Kool Aid Fun Fizz Partyin Punch
    • 2 Quaker Oatmeal to Go Maple Breakfast Bars
    • 1 Jiffy Golden Yellow Cake Mix
    • 1 Stewart Peppermint Candies (5 oz)
    • 5 Little Hugs Drinks
    • 4 McCormick Seafood Garlic Butter Steamers and Steam Bags
    • 1 pack Cupcake Liners
    • 1 Laura Lynn Straws (50 Count)
    • 1 Jello Vanilla Pudding
    • 1 Solo Mint Mania Bar
    • 4 boxes Band Aids plus Antibiotic (20 count each)
    • 2 SoyJoy Berry Bars
    • 3 boxes Band Aids Assorted Sizes
    • 1 box Russell Stover Fine Chocolates
    • 2 Nestle Juicy Juice Apple Raspberry Juice (64 oz each)
    • 1 Duncan Hines Double Fudge Brownies
    • 5 Fiber One Chocolate Bars
    • 24 Slim Fast Chew Chocolate Crisp Bars

    For more information on the Sav More Sidewalk Box Sale check out my post about the details on the sale.

    Groceries from Ingles!

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $25.84 at Ingles for 1 container diced Yellow Onions, 5 bags Sugar Snap Peas, 1 bag Pepperoni, 8 bags Shredded Cheese, 1 container Zuchinni and Summer Squash, 1 bag Potatoes, 1 bag Bananas and 4 packs of Activia Yogurt.  (all the items were marked down on clearance or on sale except the pepperoni)

    This week I spent $39.84 on groceries.  Even though I barely squeaked under my budgeted amount again for the week I was able to do it and stock up on several items on clearance.  I hope to have an even better week for my next update since it has been hard going under budget as we stock up for upcoming events with family in town for several days.  Thankful for an opportunity to stay within the budget for my family.  I hope that next week is an even better week and we can come way under budget for the week.  We had a gallon of frozen milk in the freezer we used up this week so that helped save us a little bit too.

    It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks!  As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me.  I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too.  The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.

  • Fresh & Healthy: Community Supported Agriculture (Week 10 & 11)

    It is our tenth and eleventh week receiving fresh produce from our CSA!  Our family purchased a half of share and will be receiving fresh produce, local honey, eggs and more for 20 weeks.   This week we picked up a full share instead of our usual half share because we were out of town last week.   Jake picked up the fresh veggies this week, thanks babe!  It was nice to get our basket again this week after being away for a little bit.

    Week 10 & 11 of Fresh Goodies from our CSA!

    Fresh produce from our local farm!

    Items in our Basket this Week:

    •  1 bag Red Okra
    • 1 bag Green Okra
    • 1 bag Beans
    • 3 Cucumbers
    • 5 Tomatoes
    • 1 container Cherry Tomatoes
    • 4 Green Peppers
    • 6 Eggplants
    • 2 Green Squash
    • Dozen Fresh Eggs

    I am looking forward to eating these goodies this week!  Thanks everyone for the delicious Recipes!!!

    To find out how you can be a part of a local CSA check out this post – Fresh & Healthy:  Community Supported Farms