Frugality with money... food... and MY TIME!

Have you ever wondered how to spend less money on food? Well I have, yet to no avail we find ourselves out to lunch (or dinner) at the end of the month. Well a dear friend has shared her secrets of saving money, time and using that vital storage of food we hoard. She has proposed spending $120 to produce 20 meals to feed your family (based on a family of 4). All this is included in a pocket sized pamphlet with a shopping list, task list and recipes.

How is this possible you ask? This is all possible by using a food storage staple... wheat. And making bulgar... or wheat berries from soaked wheat. This is a way to double the meat in what you eat. It also is an excellent way to increase your protein. Though, this plan is also doable without wheat.

So the plan... in simple terms...

She prepares and cooks lasagna meat sauce, spaghetti meat sauce, shepherds pie meat sauce, taco meat sauce, and sloppy joe meat sauce. Each recipe includes 3 pound sof meat and 3 cups of bulgar/wheat berries. All recipes are frozen individually (for a family of 4) in vacuum sealed bags.

Task List

Day before
1. Prepare bulgar/wheat berries by cooking in slow cooker
Day of
1. Purchase groceries
2. Cook all meat
3. All additional ingredients to make each type of meat sauce
4. Portion sauces into vacuum bags & seal
5. Stack meals flat in freezer

Not a wheat berry type? Use these tips to make your families simple sauce meals, and vacuum seal them in the freezer for simple and inexpensive meal plans.

As cost saving as this is... it also offers the perfect opportunity to begin a simple home supply of food storage, as we seem to be stuck inside lately with wintery weather here in the midwest. Saving money, time and resources in such a simple way will help prepare and support our families... and any woman's sanity!! Good luck with yours...

Happy Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's day was a simple one. How about yours? I made heart shaped muffins the night before, so when we got up we were primped and primed for breakfast. We had blueberry cheesecake muffins, chocolate chip, chocolate with chocolate chips and banana nut muffins. It was starched heaven! We had one of the girls friends over this morning so the girls colored some valentines-- and they watched Wizard of Oz. I didn't remember how magical that movie really was. The girls loved it! I enjoy the opportunity to have these memories of holidays with my girls at home. It is truly a reward to see them grow and learn each day.

Good morning! This is the Valentine they picked for Grandma.
Never a dull moment with that smile around... then she spilled chocolate milk all over her shirt... so she sported a tie-dye effect today!
This was Hannah's butterfly... she is really drawn to animals, particularly drawing and creating them.
This was a tasty moment for me... can you guess what flavor I love?
This was a priceless moment to see the girls with their friend Chloe watching Wizard of Oz. This was when Dorothy walked out of the (black and white) house into the colorful Oz.
I enjoy sharing these moments with you. When I graduate from college next month I will be looking forward to posting our scrapbook pages here as well. We hope your holiday is a lovely one!

Hannah's Latest Feat

Hannah's latest feat-- mastered! She has taken to learning karate and we are tickled just watching her with a straight face in an effort to mimick Master Lewis. From learning her forms, to sparring with her classmates... she finally met and mastered the feat of breaking her first board. And yet I thought it was a magic trick played out in karate, it truly is awe inspiring and a self-confidence builder for her to break her first board and then to recieve her first yellow tip.

Master Lewis tells Hannah what a great job she did on her first belt testing.
Master Lewis tapes on her first yellow tip.
The joy of accomplishment!
Bowing for the family and friends.
(It's a little blurry, but...) ...Hannah is doing a front kick with her thumbs up. Hannah with Master Lewis.
This has been one of the first of many of Hannah's accomplishments. We are inspired by the desire and motivation she has gained here to continue to learn and perform.

Now if you can just imagine Sara Kate mimicking Hannah through the house with her own front kicks and front punches, yelling "KI-YA!" This is the role she often plays as the encore act. Sara Kate is our very own class clown... yet she plays it with class and all the priss she can muster up. It has truly been exciting to watch our girls grow as sisters and friends. It is an experience that should be shared in every childhood, the love and presence of family, then the realization that our very family are our greatest and dearest friends. For this we are thankful...

Hamming it up!

After a warm and toasty Sunday evening at home with the family, we awoke to ice everywhere outside. The girls have been hibernating long enough it seems, and their personalities are just dying to break free outside in some warm spring air. Sara Kate shared a bit of her own energy, which is always plentiful when the camera is around.




Aside from her beauty, the girls have built a town of Lincoln Logs and Little People this morning. We have life size paper cutouts of each of the girls to draw, paste, and color their body parts and systems onto for our human body unit, this will keep us busy until spring arrives and the green thumbs come tumbling outdoors for an exploration of plants and life in early spring. Hannah has been doing well with her reading and math, while we are endeavoring to uncover ancient civilizations after the flood of Noah. With these as our daily goals, it keeps our minds off the weather outside... as we continue I see a bit of warm light at the end of my own tunnel of education. I will be finally receiving my associates, in International Business, after being away from school for 6 and a half years since Hannah's birth. My feat will be realized March 2.... the noise makers are already poised and ready for action! As I look outside, I hope for a miracle that the ice will melt and the sun will shine.... another day I suppose...

Anticipation

With our anticipation of our third child in June the house is becoming quite the place for excitement. I have found each of us anticipating our own individual excitements... Paul with remodeling the kitchen and bathrooms, Hannah and the coming of spring weather, Sara Kate and the business of being a big sister soon, while I have found a much more calming anticipation than the growing of my stomach... Hannah's art. With all the winter weather of being couped up in the house, she has taken to drawing the most vivid and detailed drawings, ranging from animals, to her friends and her own fairy tale stories. The upcoming holiday of Valentine's Day gave her a little direction in this, and me a bit of excitement over what she would draw.


It's a squirrel...
...with acorns...
...and a sun...
... and clouds...
Wow! You are amazing my love! God has truly blessed you with a rare talent.
We thank thee each day for such blessings as this...