Occupy This

I try not to get political on my blog but with the recent Occupy Wall Street Protests both in NYC & Buffalo , I just wanted to write that before you look @ corporate America take a good look in the mirror. Walmart wouldn't exist if we the consumer didn't patronize their supercenters. 

Recently a journalist made a comment about my husband's place of employment & how that the store closing was just another example of corporate greed. I am touched @ his sediment but if he & other's would buy/support American made products then my husband would be gainfully employed @ his given profession instead of depending his livelihood on retail.

  

Transplanted Rainbow Chard & Marigolds for bug control into our cobbled together cold frame 

We had our first hard frost of the Autumn last night a chilly 29 degrees in the backyard. Earlier in the day there was wet snow flurries that thankfully didn't stick. Wet slushy snow is heavy and with tress still half their leaves the weight on branches makes for some interesting times a.k.a  Friday the 13th Snow Storm here in Buffalo.

I transplanted what was left of Rainbow Chard that I started from seed, that was in another raised bed. Not a real fav of our's in salads but it is hearty in cooler temps. I'm hoping that this cold frame receives allot of sun this Winter so I can plant it with fancy salad greens (any suggestions?) which I can grow, beef not so much. 

Doing this was also very therapeutic for me the whole I'm not gonna be a victim of our own personal economic crisis. For hubby it has been tracking down quality firewood. 

I also saute chard for adding in tomato sauce along with other veggies I have on hand. Toss with whole wheat pasta makes for a good meal as long as hubby doesn't start humming the song on top of old smokey all covered with cheese I lost my poor meatball ...

If I can work a barter deal for Swiss Cheese then I'll make up some quiches.

This is my latest amazon purchase using gift cards I earned on Swagbucks.com - tweleve 16 oz. bottes of Kraft Three Cheese Ranch dressing & dip which worked out to $1.58 per container or $9.49 per 6 bottles. I also ordered a personal prep tool to round the entire purchase out to a bit over $25 so it qualified for free shipping.
I'll blog about in in the next week or so after I've tackled the learning curve.

Found in the manager's special section of amazon great dealslisted as only two in stock (expires 12Jan2012). Like with any shopping experience one has to be on the look out ready & able to snatch a great deal.
Stilltasty lists it as good for 12 to 18 mos. past the labeled manufacture date.
I think I can grow enough fancy salad greens to use all 12 bottles up before next year. Who knows I might figure a way to grow chicken wings in a raised bed.

ETA: called Kraft read off the bar code according to the rep the salad dressing I bought was made in America.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Jay oh Bee Not

Have you ever heard that news quote about how the majority of Americans are just 2 paychecks away from being homeless.
Two, dos, one two.
Husband, along with his coworkers have been downsized or in plain terms no one will have a  J O B by the end of next month. So in reality three paychecks.
While we're not gonna be homeless nor go hungry we are just 3 paychecks away from zero income.
Zip, zilch, nada, goose egg.

Hard days night or slept like a baby ?
While I would have hoped to have every last one of my mason jars filled or shelf after shelf filled with commercially canned food it's all good. We have 4 cords of firewood, no car note, and a good half gallon of elbow grease coupled with good old fashioned survival skills.

We've been practicing living on the (poverty) line. Now we just need to kick it up a notch.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Bringing Home the Bacon

Well not really 100% bacon but pretty close for free, SPAM with Bacon.

Let me backspace a bit.
I finally (actually took 15 days to redeem) got the $50 Amazon Gift posted to my Swagbucks account this morning. Yes, I actually got 50 clams, smackeroos, greenbacks, half a dead president for free. Well not free it did take some elbow grease on my part but compared to baking a pie to earn $ it was free.

So now that I had $63.99, $13.99 left over from last month's redemption of $25 worth of amazon gift cards I went grocery shopping on amazon.
Dairy & meat has for the most part been the two grocery categories that I have a hard time bartering for or obtaining for free so I am going to concentrate on those two.

SPAM with Bacon 12 oz. cans, pack of 6 for $14.88. Use the subscribe & save option knocking the price down by 15% = $12.65 / 6 tins or 18¢ per once or $2.10 each. Free shipping & handling. No coupon clipping. No driving to the store.
I set my delivery for every six months and ordered 12 cans.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Prepping 4 Peppers

3rd follow up to my posts on solo gardening. 

Two year old Green Bell Pepper Plant misshaped  & looking ruff but still alive and producing. All told I've harvested over a dozen bell peppers from this one plant generally averaging around the size of an orange.
I'll repot in a larger container for the winter. On days that are especially cloudy add a grow light. Right now this time of the year the Sun is lower and the trees still have enough leaves to block sunlight in this side window.

Hopefully we might even get a Winter harvest which would be a nice addition to the salad fixings that we are able grow in the cold frames.

Hearth and stove are dusty from remodeling not use even though we've had more than a few chilly nights. Later this week weather forecasters are predicting lows of 40 with rain. It will be nice to have a small fire in the evening to take the dampness out of the house.

This is the two Yellow Bell Peppers that I received from a barter this Spring (Plant Sale) that a former co-worker's mother started from seed. Got 4 good sized peppers which I used to make 9 pints of Zesty Salsa pg. 207 Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. Canned 8 pints left one in the fridge for hubby to snack on. Lasted two days which is a good sign that we approved of my canning efforts.

These warm cement steps belong to my next door neighbor who still receives sunshine on her front yard in the waning days of Summer.
When it's one of those wonderful sunny bright Autum afternoons I sit with her and we watch her granddaughter who is two as she thoroughly enjoys chalking up the city sidewalk a few feet away.

The line up on the top step on my neighbor's front porch just after the Sun was eclipsed by a city tree; Yellow Bell Peppers transferred to a larger pot, Italian Roasting Peppers, a Habanero Pepper plant from a coworker of Wood's, bright red peppers of made it into the Zesty Salsa, and the old timer of the bunch Green Bell Pepper plant.

They are all looking a bit wilted due to high somewhat dry winds we've had lately. Need to come up with a good liquid fertilizer for Winter Feeding.
Hopefully the grow light won't be too expensive to run.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Free Coffee

Ask me how happy I was when the ups man delivered my latest amazon package.
Free coffee.
I love coffee soo much as my children you to say I should marry it. The problem of course is that I couldn't remain faithful to just one bean with so many flavors to choose from. I won't even start discussing grinds, my heart will flutter.
No doubt I would be a serial bigamist coffee spouse. Wrong on so many levels I know.

Amazon's deal on coffee for September is save 10% when you enter this code 8COFFEE4 @ checkout.
Use Amazon's subscribe & save option for an additional 15% off.
25% off of a name brand quality coffee.
Use your Amazon gift cards earned on Swagbucks and you get a free cup of coffee for ... depends on how much of an addict you are. This stash should last me 3 or 4 months if I don't alternate with another flavor. Did I mention it was free ?

Here's what my packing slip reads - four 11 oz. bags of French Vanilla Whole Bean - $18.13, minus promotional code $4.53, minus the 15% from subscribe & save  = $13.60.

If flavored coffee isn't your cup other varieties of 8 o'clock coffee are also on sale remember to use the promo code 8COFFEE4.  

One bag is going on the kitchen shelf the others will be vacuum sealed then placed in a 5 gallon bucket marked coffee for long term storage. Whole beans store better then ground coffee. These bags of coffee have an expiration date of 6/27/12 08:43. Down to the hour hmm anyone wanna make a bet that they last that long ?

In honor of my new supply of whole bean coffee I'd like to introduce a new label on my blog 

Non-Electric Tools. 

The coffee grinder pictured above was brought to the homestead when I married hubby. 

It's a Mr. Dudley International I believe that he bought it @ a thrift store for under $5. Interesting enough he wasn't a coffee drinker when I met him. 

Yeah I turned him. 

~~ pelenaka ~~

Free is my Cup of Tea

Amazon green tea order bought with my August swagbucks which makes all 120 Lipton Green Superfruit Black Currant & Vanilla Tea bags free.
Here how the deal went down - $26.60 minus a promo code for $3.99, minus the subscribe & save option (free shipping), total was $22.61 or $3.77 per box a savings of $2.88 on each.
Kept one box out for immediate use the rest were vacuum packed in canning jars earmarked for next Summer when a tall refreshing glass of ice green tea sweetened with home grown Stevia is called for.

What is it with cats & boxes anyways ?


~~ pelenaka ~~