My attempt at a Pinterest Pantry...

I Keep tweaking our pantry, trying to organize it and make it work better for us. I study Pinterest looking for ideas.  Well, my pantry would NOT qualify as a pretty Pinterest pantry, but I did get some pretty good ideas.

The Flashlights are all together, ready for the next power outage, which I hope is a long time from now!

Lots of the Pinterest pantry pictures had cute chalkboard labels that were supposedly sold at Dollar Tree.  My Dollar Tree didn't have them and the clerk said she didn't know if they ever had. I didn't have time to look in other stores, so I just bought a pack of these labels and used a black sharpie to write the labels.  The red totes came from Dollar Tree also and came in several colors.

The shelves are deep, so if I have items that don't fit in the totes, there is room behind them.

I like this towel lined basket for our potatoes.

I came up with this system for storing canned foods by buying soda can organizers at Dollar tree and using wire shelves that I already had.  I like this system because I can see at a glance what we need and we can keep them rotated by expiration date easily by always putting new cans in the back and pulling from the front when getting a new can out.

I store small appliances that aren't used on a daily basis on the top shelf above the canned items. 

This bottom shelf is where Hubby and I put our lunch bags after work every day.  You can see the bread maker is stored in the back of the deep shelf.  I haven't used that in a LONG time.  Its not good to use a bread maker too often when one is trying eat low carb. LOL

Here are all the plastic wraps, aluminum foil, garbage bags, zipper bags, etc.  The shelves are deep, so in back are stored some more seldom used items, such as the large stock pot on the right.

My attempt at a Pinterest Pantry is an ongoing process.  We will finish painting the shelves and I may eventually find the chalkboard labels and make some other improvements, but it will probably not ever be considered a Pinterest Pantry!

This week's Fall cleaning zone is the master bedroom and closet.  I've been waiting for this zone to come around again because the closet needs some work!  Also, its time to switch out the summer clothes for fall and winter things.  We still have some warm weather around here, but I won't be wearing some of the sleeveless and thinner things again until next spring.

Have a great day and week!  I am thoroughly enjoying our fall weather here in North Carolina!

Our Pantry - Sweet Potatoes

These are some sweet potatoes that we picked up in the field behind our house after the harvesters had finished. 

This picture shows how large the field is.

Here is a picture of some of the sweet potatoes that were not deemed good enough and were left behind.  There's nothing wrong with them, except they aren't the perfect size and therefore would not sell well at the grocery store. 

The field is covered in piles of these imperfect sweet potatoes.  They will soon be disced up and will become part of the soil again.  I have noticed many fields in the area that have lots of potatoes left behind.

We probably should have picked up lots more for the pantry.  Sweet potatoes keep well, they are a healthy carb and are on the Trim Healthy Mama plan as an "E" meal.

Its that time of year when I feel the need to stock the pantry for winter.  Thank goodness we can go to the grocery store any time we want.  We are so blessed.

The Toilet Paper Fairy has been!!!

The way manufacturers package and label many items, its very hard to figure out what is a good price!  This drives me crazy when shopping for things like toilet paper, laundry detergent and ice cream.  Things that once all had the same number of ounces or sheets, or loads, now have different ones.  Some items that used to always be a pound are now 12 ounces.   Its so easy to be tricked into thinking you are getting the best buy by reading all the junk they print on the packages.  My advice is not to pay any attention to anything, except the bottom line:  How many ounces, sheets, etc. does this item have?  Then compare brands and sale prices.

In the bedroom closet.

After staring at all the prices and number of sheets on toilet paper in the grocery store one day, I vowed that I would get to the bottom of this quandary, with toilet paper and the many other items that we all use.

It doesn't matter to me if it says double rolls, or anything like that.  What matters is how many sheets are on the roll.  Once you decide which brands you like, then do a comparison based on the number of sheets.

In the laundry room.

Here's what I figured out so far:

Most brands of toilet paper have 264 sheets per roll.    One exception is Scott Extra Soft "Mega Rolls", which have 400 sheets.  The Scott Extra Soft regular rolls have 264 sheets.  But, you have to look at the fine print on the package to see how many sheets per roll your favorite toilet papers have.

I like Scott Extra Soft, Charmin Basic, Angel Soft and Cottonelle.  I do not like the very thick brands.  They seem to stop up.... the plumbing.   I don't like the Scott 1000 sheet rolls, although they used to be the only one I bought.  They are a great buy, but they are too thin to me, now that I have grown accustomed to the Extra Soft ones.

At any rate, here are the prices that I try to get on toilet paper.  Some of these can only be achieved if I also have a coupon, but normally I do have coupons.

Any toilet paper that has 264 sheets per roll:  The lowest price I've found is 33 cents per roll.  But anywhere between 33 cents per roll and up to 41 cents per roll.  Of course, 33 cents per roll prices equals STOCK UP TIME!

The Scott Extra Soft Mega Rolls with 400 sheets per roll:  50 cents per roll.  These are often on sale for $6.99 per 12 pack and I usually have a $1.00 off coupon.  If I see these on sale for less than $6.99 and I have coupons, this would equal STOCK UP TIME.

Just remember, you have to check to see how many sheets are on each roll of what ever toilet paper you are buying, whether or not it says "double rolls", etc.

I intend to out smart those manufacturers by sitting down with a calculator and a list of the prices, ounces and other sizes of items we buy regularly, and figuring out what my stock up price is.

Recently, before I became "enlightened" as to the details of toilet paper prices, I bought some Scott Extra Soft toilet paper and thought I had gotten them at a real steal.  When I got home I realized they were the 264 sheet per roll size and not the mega rolls.   I got fooled once, but not again!

I hope this will be helpful to you!

In The Farmhouse Kitchen - Day Two

Some recent from scratch cooking brought to my attention that the condition of my spice cabinet was pretty bad! LOTS of really old spices. Spices I paid dearly for and used only once. When I needed one of the spices that I use frequently, I was having a hard time finding it since they were all mixed up with the other ones.   It was just generally a mess!

Before

I brought over the kitchen trash can and started tossing.  It felt so much better to look into the spice cabinet afterward.  The small bottles of spices are in the basket.  See my cute mason jar salt dispenser?  I know there are lots of people with much more beautiful and organized spices, but this works for me.   I can turn the lazy Susan around to find what I need.  This cabinet is located to the left of, and right beside the stove.

After

I found some spices in there that I didn't realize I had and had planned to buy.  One was dry mustard and luckily it was still in date.

Then after church on Sunday I stopped by Dollar General and Food Lion and replenished my spices.  Dollar General has the best prices on basic spices, but you won't find many that you need there.  At Food Lion the spices are pretty expensive.  I couldn't find Cumin at Dollar General, so I looked in the Hispanic Food section at Food Lion and found a large bottle for only $1.39!  There was a huge selection of spices at great prices in this section.  I will check them out further when I have more time.  This is a tip given to me by Little Pen Pen.

Here's what I purchased at Dollar General.  Some of these things aren't spices, but I listed everything, just for informational purposes.

McCormick Meat Tenderizer - $3.00  (could probably find a better deal, but we don't use a lot of this)
Baking Powder (large can) - $1.15
32 oz Beef Broth - 1.60
Paprika - $1.00
Lawry's Seasoned Salt (large bottle)- $1.95
Oregano - 1.00
Parsley Flakes - $1.00
Vanilla Flavoring (imitation) $1.00
Cream Soups - 50 cents

I love that now I can find what I need much easier when cooking.  When I am making a new recipe, I know whether or not I have all the spices called for.

Here are some good "stock up" deals I found at Food Lion: (prices good through today)

My Essentials Peanut Butter, 1.16 each (bought 4) (Some will go in our emergency food storage and some will be donated to the food pantry)
28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes - $1.00 each (bought 4)
VanCamps pork and beans - 47 cents each (bought 4)
Bush's Great Northern or Pinto Beans 50 cents each (bought 4)
Pompeii Olive Oil - $6.00 (bought 2) (this will last us for a long time!)
12 oz sandwich ham - $1.64 each (bought 4, the date is good through October)
3 lb yellow onions - $1.79
2  16 count packs of Borden sandwich cheese $5.00, get a dozen eggs free.  Eggs are $1.87, so after deducting that, each of the 3 items were $1.04 each.  One pack of the cheese is pepper jack flavored and the other is sharp cheddar.  We can always use eggs and cheese, so I considered this a good deal.  The use by date of the cheese is a very long time.  Eggs are good for 4 to 6 weeks after their use by date, so we will have no problem using them.

My goal is to stock up when the prices are at their very lowest.  I don't think you will find peanut butter much lower than $1.16 each very often.  Then we can go shopping in our pantry, instead of buying things as needed at the grocery store at full price.  I am also slowly putting together a price book so my middle aged brain can keep up with what actually is a "stock up" price!

Soon, I'll be doing a post listing my "stock up" prices.

The Farmhouse Kitchen - Monday

I've been working diligently on meal planning and trying some new recipes.  Keeping up with what we have in the freezer and pantry and what needs to be cooked is an ongoing opportunity to save money.

Every year we are given several containers of blueberries.  I also noticed that the snack drawer was bare.  So I pulled out the last two containers of blueberries that had been languishing in the back of the fridge on their last leg, and made a Blueberry Crumb Cake.

The blueberries were put to use and there are some sweet snacks in the house now. 

Blueberries are good for you, but we won't dwell on the amount of butter in this recipe!  Click on this link to see the recipe.  PIONEER WOMAN BLUEBERRY CRUMB CAKE.

Oh my, it was delicious with vanilla ice cream!  No picture with the ice cream, but this picture tells the story of the yumminess!

I sliced the cake into individual squares and refrigerated some for use this week.  I froze a couple of pieces for lunches later. 

Notes about the recipe:

It calls for whole milk, but I only had 2%.  It seemed to work fine anyway.

The crumbs on top for me weren't crumbly.  I think I either didn't use enough of the dry ingredients, or a little too much butter.  It tasted great, but just wasn't crumbly.  I'll adjust this next time to achieve the desired results.

Making the cake, combined with freezing tomatoes, made a little mess!  I cleaned it up right away, I promise!

I worked in the kitchen, cooking, organizing and planning this weekend, and I'll be posting more about it as the week goes on.

Organizing The Back Entry

Among many other chores and commitments this weekend, I did some organization in our back entry, also known as the mud room. I think when the farmhouse was originally built in the 1940s the area of the house that now consists of the laundry room/half bath, mud room/back entry and the master bedroom walk-in closet was a porch. This was a great use of the space by the person who remodeled the home.

I have a pretty big collection of cookbooks and when I brought home some of Mama's, I had to do some straightening.  This wooden box turned on its side on top of a storage cabinet works well for storing the cookbooks.  The iron frying pans and the grater belonged to Mama.  I tied a lavender scrap of fabric, which was her favorite color, on the grater so that I would know which one was hers, because I already had two of my own.  I wrote her name in the front of her cookbooks, because with my middle aged mind, I know I wouldn't remember which were hers in a few months time.

This display is a work in progress.  I tried to achieve a "cooking" theme by displaying some of Mama's vintage kitchen items.  Some of them are rolling pins, biscuit pan, biscuit cutter, flour sifter, vintage potato masher, some old tarnished knives in a mason jar, swing top mason jars,  the old rusty breadbox and a couple of cookbooks.  The cross stitch piece, which I bought at a yard sale years ago, has a recipe on it for biscuits.  In a couple of the jars I have stored tea light candles.  Mama's smallest iron frying pan serves as a place for me to toss my keys when I come in the door.

As I said, this is a work in progress.  I'm not really satisfied with he results yet, but it can be changed easily. 

Underneath the cooking display, these jars of pickles are stored.  These are the last batch that Mama had a hand in making.  They were stored on the floor of her linen closet and so had been kept in a dry dark, cool place.  Thanks to her, I won't be concerned about making pickles this summer.  There are 19 quarts and 4 pints stored in this spot.

Getting a space organized gives me such a good sense of accomplishment!   Did any of you get any organizing done? 

Would you be ready in an emergency?

You may have noticed that I've been posting some good deals that I've gotten at CVS and Food Lion lately.  After reading THIS POST  at Backwoods Home Magazine, called "Common Sense Preparedness", I realized I was well on the way to growing an emergency preparedness stockpile. 

But would we really be ready for a major emergency, or even a small one?  Probably not.

Stormy Sky

Reading this article really made me think about being prepared for big emergencies and small ones.  I hadn't thought about having some emergency supplies in the car.  At the very least a couple bottles of water and a snack in the glove compartment would come in handy sometimes.  I need to think about this some more to figure out what would be appropriate to have on hand. 

No matter where you live in this world, there are certain types of emergencies that can happen.  While, it would be rare for us to have a Winter weather emergency as described in the article, it does happen, even here in the Mid-South.   Of more concern in this area would be hurricanes and tornadoes.  Don't even want to think about all the things that could happen like gas shortages, terrorist attacks and the like. 

But, not to make this post all gloom and doom, I thought I'd share some of what we have on hand and what we don't have, but should have.

Toilet Paper:  You can never have too much toilet paper.  At our house, if there isn't at least one unopened large pack of toilet paper on hand, we start to get nervous!  Right now there are 3 packages of Charmin Basic on hand, that I bought at CVS earlier this week.  I took advantage of the Extra Bucks deal where you spend $30.00 on certain items, you get back $10.00 Extra Bucks.  With this deal I bought 3 large packs of Charmin Basic, 2 bottles of Pantene shampoo, 2 bottles of Dawn dish liquid and 1 bottle of Crest ProHealth Rinse.  After coupons and last week's extra bucks, I spent $11.00 out of pocket and got $10.00 back for my next purchase.

At Food Lion this week, large packages of Scott Extra Soft are on sale for $6.99.  Not as cheap as I'd like, but hey, toilet paper isn't cheap any more.  I would never pay the regular price, which is over $10.00 a pack!   I have a Food Lion coupon for $3.00 off  3 packages, so I intend to purchase 3.  I plan to put one of these packages in storage some where and try to forget that I have it.  That way it will be there for an emergency.

Batteries:  My mother bought lots of batteries and had them stored in odd places around her home.  As I was cleaning in her house, I would often come across unopened packs, partially used packs and loose batteries.  I brought them all home, not being sure if they had any life left in them.  Hubby has a little gizmo that checks the strength of batteries.  So, he checked all the batteries and we ended up with a pretty good stash of all sizes of batteries.  It would have been easy to just toss those batteries and assume they weren't any good.  I feel good that we are going to make use of them.

But do we have enough of the correct sizes that fit our radios and flashlights?  Probably not.

 We use rechargeable size AA batteries in the camera and other things that use that size.  This is a real money saver!

Water:  We are very lacking in this area.  We have lots of empty milk jugs and soda bottles that we have filled with water, but those wouldn't be suitable for drinking in an emergency.  So, one of my missions this week is to get some bottled water.  I'll be looking for the best deal.

Canned and other nonperishable foods:  We have a small supply of all this, but I need to look at this some more and I'm sure we need to add to it.  I don't think salad dressing and BBQ sauce count toward emergency preparedness!

After taking a look in the pantry......

I need to make a list of what we would actually use in an emergency and make an effort to stock up on those things when on sale and/or with coupons or extra bucks!

First Aid:  NOT READY!  We only have a some bandaids and are woefully lacking in any real first aid supplies.  ARGH!

So, how do you stand in your emergency preparedness?

I will re-visit this topic next week after doing some more serious looking into what we need to do to have at least a minimum emergency supply.  Of course I need to make a list! 

Kitchen Frugalness

I've been on a mission to use up what we have on hand. Grocery prices are so high and I'm tired of spending big bucks there and still not feeling like there's anything to eat.  I've decided this is my own fault! The fridge, freezer and pantry are full, but it takes some thought and work to get it on the table. Especially after working away from home all day!

So, this is my current menu planning method.  Number 435th try. (grin)  I made a list of all the possible main dishes and all the possible side dishes that were available in the kitchen.  The list is left laying out on the kitchen counter.  There are so many possibilities when you open those  pantry and fridge doors and stare.  ESPECIALLY those that need to be eaten soon before they disintegrate.  My list included some squash and cucumbers that were given to us.  Much too tasty to let go to waste.

Then the night before, or in the morning if I forget, we check to see what we want or need to eat the next night.  Frozen meat can be put in the fridge to thaw and will be ready to cook by the next afternoon.  An on going grocery list can be made when I realize we are out of something or that some item is needed to complete a particular dish. 

Its helpful that Hubby can look at the list and help with the decisions!  In fact while I was typing this post, he was looking at the list and asking what we are having tonight.  I stopped what I was doing, joined him in the kitchen and we made the decision together.  Tonight we will have leftover pork chops, banana sandwiches, and pasta salad.  The bananas are getting ripe and there are a couple of tomatoes that need to be eaten and would be good chopped up in the pasta salad.  It is so good to stop the waste and save money at the same time!  I won't even get started on how frugal it is to take leftovers for lunches while at work.

This time of year we start to get lots of fresh vegetables and nothing is better!  Here is my first picking of green beans.

 

I stocked up on potatoes recently at the grocery store that were on the produce manager's sale.  They are delicious, but as you know, you have to be on a mission to eat them because they will start to deteriorate quickly.  I combined some of them with the green beans and some onions, cooked in chicken broth.  It was delicious and made a great side for several meals.

In the fridge were a couple of cucumbers and some fresh broccoli that I had left from making some pasta salad last week.  So these became our fresh vegetable appetisers to munch on while the real food was cooking.  Not only did it keep them from going to waste, they were delicious and helped to curb our appetite some so as to not eat as many calories.

I added a few sunflowers cut from the yard in a vase and that completed our frugal and delicious meal.

We have already put to good and delicious use some items from the freezer that seemed to sink to the bottom of the abyss.  My grocery bill was about half what it had been the week before and this week is looking very frugal too. 

Frugal Eating From the Pantry - Week 2

I guess you could call this Menu Planning in reverse! Here's what we ate this past week. We are continuing on with eating from the pantry and freezer.

Meal One: I often try to cook home made meals for my mother to eat in the nursing home. So, last Sunday while I lay in bed before day, I thought about what I could cook and decided to cook just what Mama would have cooked if she were able. For many years we ate almost every Sunday dinner at my mother's, along with other siblings and their children. She always, always, managed to go to church and put a huge meal on the table.

Fried chicken, potato salad, butter beans, bow tie pasta cooked in chicken broth, dressing. We ate this for two days, including some lunches for work.

Meals Two, Three and Four:

There was a large bag of boiled chicken in the freezer that I had planned to use in a chicken casserole or pot pie. Since we have been concentrating on using what is in the freezer, this was the only meat we had left. I placed it on a plate in the fridge to thaw and when I got home Tuesday night I heated the chicken in a frying pan by sauteing it in a little olive oil.

From this is I made: 1. Chicken Fried Rice; 2. Green salads with chicken; 3. chicken salad.

Meal Five: Ok, enough chicken!!! I splurged at the grocery store and picked up 2 small chuck eye steaks for about $5.00, which hubby browned in a frying pan. We had salad and baked potatoes with the steaks. This was WAY less expensive than going out to eat and was delicious.


EXTRA: I made pound cakes Friday night.

FRUGAL EATING FROM THE PANTRY

This is the second week that we have been focusing on eating from the pantry, freezer and also from what is on sale at the store. I'm not too good at posting my menus in advance, but thought it would be good to show what we ate during the past week.

Meal One: Chicken pot pie and noodles.

Everything in the recipe was in my pantry and freezer. The results are a creamy white meat chicken with veggies covered by a lightly browned crust. I had split chicken breasts in the freezer bought when they were on sale. The egg noodles were cooked in the broth made when I boiled the chicken for the pot pie.

We ate from these dishes for 2 days, as well as taking my mother a plate when she was in the hospital.



Meal Two: Lasagna and salad

I thawed a small package of ground beef and put together the lasagna last Sunday afternoon, but waited to bake it after getting home from work on Monday.

We had some lettuce in the fridge and so I boiled a couple of eggs and gathered together things that would be good in salad, such as grated cheese, onion, canned peach slices, and dressing.

We also ate from this for 2 days and hubby took some for lunch 2 days.



Meal Three: Baked Potato Bar

I had plenty of potatoes, so I baked 4 medium ones in the microwave and assembled assorted toppings such as bacon bits, grated cheeses, sour cream and butter.

I had some broccoli in the freezer, so I cooked a small amount and melted cheese on top of it for broccoli and cheese baked potatoes.

It was nice to have such an easy meal and hubby took one of the potatoes with broccoli and cheese for lunch the following day.



Meal Four: Clam Chowder with crackers

We had a cold snap this week, so we took advantage of it by eating clam chowder for what will probably be the last time until fall.

I did need to pick up a small can of clams and another can of clam chowder, to which I added milk and diced boiled potatoes. We had crackers in the pantry.

Hubby was able to take a bowl for lunch the following day.

Meal Five: Pork Chops and salad

I went to the grocery store on Friday and found a small package of boneless pork chops for about $5.00. We pan fried half of these in olive oil and froze the rest for a future meal. I also bought a bag of salad that was on sale for $2.00, less a $1.00 coupon that I had. There is enough salad in the bag for several meals this coming week.

We've already started eating from the pantry, freezer and what's on sale this week and let me tell you today's food was wonderful! A little hint, it was just like Mama used to make. I plan to post what we ate this week next Monday.

The Joys of Being Stocked Up

Having a well stocked pantry makes me happy. Its so nice to make a grocery list and realize you need very little. I check off in my mind.... sugar, no...coffee, no....flour, no...., rice or pasta, no... toilet paper, no....



Any time there is a god sale of toilet paper I pick up a couple. Last week Food Lion had Charmin Basic on sale and I picked one up. BUT, when I got home there was no toilet paper in my car. I checked the receipt and I paid for it, but it just didn't make it home with me.

On my next trip to the store, I asked the cashier what I should do about it and she said to just go get another pack, which I did.

The following Monday, one of my coworkers brought me a big pile of toilet paper that her family didn't like. I gladly accepted it.

Even toilet paper can be a blessing!

Pantry Possibilities

Sometimes you have to use your imagination to come up with some food storage ideas. Most any nook or cranny of your home can serve this purpose, if you just look around.

Not all of them have to be utilitarian either. Some can even add to the charm of your home.

Here are a few areas that make up my pantry!










Just be sure to tell family members where everything is, so no one panics when they need a certain food item.