Dirty Laundry

These are the 3 basic ingredients in making your own laundry soap minus the water.

To be truthful this is only really fugal if you can manage to buy the components on sale or with coupons. Fortunately over a year ago a local M&P chain grocery store went belly up so I was able to stock up on the washing soda & borax. I have yet to find any store brands of these two. The Fels Napa can easily be replaced with a pink laundry bar soap from Mexico named Zoot, if memory serves me right. Check out any of the $ stores in both the cleaning & body care sections.

I used Fels because I was able to find it for a buck. Yes, I stocked up buying 12 bars.

Or if your really a hard core homesteader you could render your own lard (provided if was obtained cheap) and saved up a year's worth of wood ash to filter your own lye (storage & effort issues). File that effort under "Good to know in case".

I have a front load washing machine which after 4 years hasn't suffered from this old fashioned laundry detergent. I don't add any essential oil because well that would add to the cost which this time around works out to 3 cents per load. Also once the fabric softener is added can't say I can smell the essential oil.

On the subject of fabric softener - tired vinegar while it is great for a rinse cycle removing soap residue it isn't fabric softener. Softner takes on a whole new meaning when your machine spins like a jet engine & the clothes are line dried.

1 bar Fels Naptha Soap

2 cups Washing Soda

1 cup Borax
Cut up the Fels, combine with 2 cups water in saucepan heat until soap is melted. Add this to a 5 gallon pail with 4 gallons of warm water. Stir in dry ingredients until well mixed. 1/8 cup or less works for us in my front load washing machine.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Inventory

On the Winter chore list is taking stock of our homesteading activities by examining our efforts. Food for example. This category is further broken down into sub categories - cost, effective method of storage, and need vs. want.

Keeping a well stocked pantry is by far our most fugal method of saving both money and time. On average we spend about $100 per month for a family of 5. This includes eggs (organic from a fellow rural HT'er), raw milk $2.50 per gallon, paper products, personal care items, commercially caned foods like pineapple, sugar, honey, baking supplies, grains, peanut butter & meats. By putting up our food both grown & commercial when it is the cheapest we can get up to a 300% return on the dollar. Coffee & sugar are two examples. Bonus is few last minute unplanned grocery trips usually during a snowstorm (priceless).

Tip - each month buy a grocery store gift card $25 or less to be used for discounted & loss leader specials only. Easy way to budget funds. Keep card in with coupons and calculator.

Second most valuable aspect is that making food preservation a family affair teaches values such as charity, teamwork, thriftiness and skills such as food preservation and living without money. No matter if my children grow up to be the next Bill Gates I know that if given a bucket of dirt, seeds, and canning supplies they will always be able to survive. Can you say Enron or negative outcome of NAFTA ? Or our nation's recent recall on Beef supplied for school lunches?

As you can see by late February this corner of our pantry is disorganized. All the best laid plans of farmer & caner have been put asunder by many hands looking for this jar or that.

Here's a quick run down of what is there among the many empty jars; applesauce, canned carrots, chili beans, cider, corn, dehydrated celery, eggplant, grape juice, jams - carrot cake, strawberry-rhubarb, red current, mulberry, pickles - b&b, dill, pie fillings-apple, peach, green tomato mince meat, salsa, spinach, tomatoes - stewed, and vinegar both apple & white. There is also a few jars left of squash butter a jam type spread good on cornbread. Total filled jars is 267.

Oh tucked in the back corner are about 6 pints of canned butter. My attempt at long term preservation of real butter bough as a loss leader ($1 per lbs.) Now waiting on a soap recipe.

So from organizing the shelves I have discovered that the squash butter should be canned in jelly jars & less of it. That we need @ least 40 quarts of chili beans along with an extra 20 quarts of stewed toms. That canned eggplant & spinach is the bomb in veggie lasagna so need is 10 quarts each for the year. On the subject of pickles despite what DH says he can't eat 6 pints of dills in a year.

That I should can up 2 quarts of Bread & Butter pickles for Church potluck in addition to 6 pints for home use.

Totally under estimated need of canned green beans, sweet corn, peaches, and dehydrated green bell peppers. Also need to find another type of juice to can.

Will also experiment with canning up jelly jars of fruit for packing in lunches. This would replace the expense & hassle of keeping fresh fruit in stock.

Now to work out the planting & acquiring (bartering/foraging/gleaning) list which preserving inventory is based on.

The only meat that we raise is rabbit which hasn't translated into a large percentage yet. Our meals generally run around 50% to 95% of self produced ingredients.

Fall/Winter menu -

S- Pot Roast & pie.

M- Chicken soup & baking powder biscuits.

T- Veggie lasagna (homemade ricotta, black olives, dehydrated mushrooms, onions, garlic, canned eggplant & spinach, & tossed salad).

W- Beef Veggie Soup, homemade rye bread or Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, carrots & corn.

T- Puerto Rican Rice with chicken or Homemade Macaroni & Cheese with tossed salad.

F- Homemade Pizza, or Haddock Fish Fry.

S - Veggie Chili & rice, corn bread or German potato salad, sausage.

Alternate is always Spaghetti & tossed salad.

The shelves are those plastic ones that hold a thousand pounds easily wiped down with a bleach solution. The lines that are in a square pattern are nylon clothesline bought at the $ store. Since I have both young children & cats the homemade netting helps secure jars.

~~ pelenaka ~~

"As God is my witness I'll never go hungry again", Scarlett O'Hara.

No Payment Due

I'm SO mad I could cut my nose off to spite my face. SO mad I could take my axe & chop down the electric pole out in front of my house. SO mad well you get the picture.
Above is our electric bill with what would normally be a nice phrase & round figure to match. No payment due - $0.00.
Proof positive that that being the Wattage Warden pays off. That all the threats followed up by sheer terror works. That pulling plugs on electrical appliances pays off in no phantom current.
Bathing & meals by candlelight leaves change in my pocket. Outdoor garden lights have indoor applications , my ice box has true value ... blah blah blah.
Reason for my anger is that my two previous bills were way over estimated so I ended up with a credit. This bill was based on an actual reading hence the no payment due spiel.
This is why I am mad.
Mad because my power company won't recognize that we don't fit in their estimated graph pool that they base 9 billing periods a year on. Mad because when it is all said & done I have given them a source of cash flow to use without charging them interest.

Reason #2 I'm SO mad is that our actual useage cost $21.48 while the cost of delivery was $36.32.
Upside usage was 319 kWh down from 436kWh last year (34 days).
Wattage Warden powers on.
~~ Pelenaka ~~

Brother can you spare a $10

So I am assuming that one of the reasons you are reading my blog has to do with the frugal slant. Pinch that dollar til the eagle screams uncle cheap. Rob the pantry to pay the gas man.

Looking to friends and family who lived though the Great Depression. Unfortunately memories grow dim with time allowing recipes and formulas to fade.

Next best or better depending on how good a cook your Grandmother is, search out Depression era cookbooks. Many can be had for a dime or a dollar in tag sales or thrift stores.

The pamphlet on the right is Aunt Sammy's Radio Recipes Revisited, 1931, R. Van Deman & Fanny Walker Yeatman. This was printed by the USDA Bureau of Home Economics perhaps part of Roosevelt's new deal program. Barn sale for a buck along with 3 canning jars.

Foreword * Aunt Sammy's radio recipes brings together 400 of the most popular recipes and 90 of the menus included in housekeeper's chats (1926) ...

The menu section is my favorite part. Listed are selections for breakfast, lunch or supper, and dinner menus for all 12 months including holidays. Mindful portions were smaller then.

Breakfast ; canned peaches, crisp bacon, spoon bread, beverage.

Lunch; Corn chowder, dried beef toasted sandwiches, apple float.

Dinner; Broiled Liver, baked potatoes, buttered asparagus, canned fruit, cinnamon toast.

Yes, I know the cost of asparagus ! But remember the menu was based on what a good housewife canned that year. Something to think about. Growing asparagus out by the clothes line, could sell extra to neighbors.

The second smaller advertising pamphlet 1934 was from a local dairy company based in Buffalo, New York (think Rich's coffee creamer) with such unique recipes as cottage cheese soup, English monkey, and tuna fish pie.

One thing that you will notice when reading Depression cookbooks is that the American diet was far more varied with such items as squirrel and hedgehog, along with organ meats; sweetbreads, heart, and tongue back in the day. If these meats aren't a consideration (I won't eat mountain oysters) try scaling down on the amount of meat per person or go vegan. We do a meatless chili, spaghetti, and lasagna on our menu. Oh the other aspect is that as spices go Tabasco sauce & Cayenne were it when your poor.

English Monkey

Soak for 15 minutes

1 cup bread crumbs in 1 cup milk.

Melt 1 tbsp. butter in double boiler.

Add 1/2 cup cheese cut in pieces, when melted add soaked crumbs.

1 egg slightly beaten.

1/2 tsp. salt.

Cayenne to taste.

serve on crisp buttered crackers.

Serve with a glass of warm milk.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Searching ...

This is a pint & a half of stewed tomatoes that I grew last Summer on our homestead.

Opalka to be exact. From Poland, matures mid season (allows time to can up strawberries, spinach, and finish processing rabbits) , good size some up to 8-10 oz. and has a high yield. Very important when your farm is based on square foot/intensive method. The deciding factor will be canned taste.

The reference book is, 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden, by Carolyn J. Male.

The pictures alone are better than Prozac on a dreary winter's day.

My goal is to grow & can enough tomatoes for our menu of Chili, Puerto Rican Rice, and Spaghetti Sauce for one year. Ruff estimate is about 100 quarts for stewed style & 40 quarts of sauce.

The one plant that I grew produced over 5 lbs. which figures out to needing about 30 plants.

I feel a challenge gnawing at me. Will have to kick it up to 10 lbs. per plant. Better make it 15 lbs. per tom. Competitive gardening for type A personalities.

Summer menu tends to be fresh picked salads & grilled meats so those goals are for the rest of the year. Family of 4 -5.

Oh on the canning jar measuring out to a pint & a half ... the person who gave the handful that I have remembers these jars were bought with sauce in them. Marked Atlas Mason.

Wish I knew more love the size.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Homemade Liqueurs

These are our homemade cordials made with fresh organic berries & vodka. Red Current Cordial on the left and Wild Black Raspberry on the right. Both berries were foraged for free, the current courtesy of DH's long time friend and the raspberry a gift from our local power company's right of way. http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/2007/08/satellite-farm.html
Container's are those bud vases bought at the thrift store for under a quarter, then scrubbed cleaned. Topped with a new cork from the hardware store for $1 or under. Think I spent about $8 on the bottle of vodka which is still 1/4 full. Add ribbons & labels - saved off of packages or bought after the holidays on discount.
Note to self: find a cheaper source of corks & vases. Research making vodka from gleaned potatoes.
Cordials can be made with flowers, fruit, nuts, spices, and teas.
The reference book we used was, "Homemade Liqueurs Dona and Mel Meilach" 1979.
Bought for $1.75. Very well written & do-able in any one's kitchen. Used common everyday kitchen utensils.
Not pictured is a Cherry Cordial, cherries picked from a gf's urban yard.
Of the 3 my favorite is Black Raspberry. Unsure if my taste buds are tainted by the fact I am getting one over on the electrical company or it really is all that & more.

~~ pelenaka ~~