Homemade dairy

You've heard me shout from the rooftops about our local milk.  I won't bore you with the details of it again.  However, I will try to entice you by showing you all of the things I can do with this awesome milk.  It's not homogenized (we get 8oz of cream on every gallon) and it's low vat-pasteurized.  That means it kills the bad bacteria but keeps all the good stuff including vitamins and minerals.  Conventional $1.99/gallon milk is often made of powdered milk, is ultra-pasteurized (kills every.thing.), they add the vitamins back in, and the cows never see the sunshine or are treated properly.  Whoops, I bored you again didn't I?  Sorry ;)

Homemade butter with a food processor or blender & with a stand mixer
Homemade yogurt in a yogurt maker (the crockpot recipe was a bust :(
Homemade sour cream & homemade cream cheese

I've got my eye on a few used yogurt makers on eBay and may stop by the thrift stores tomorrow to see if I can find one.

We go through a 1/2 gallon of yogurt, 16oz of sour cream, 1lb of butter, and 8oz of cream cheese a week.  That's on top of the 4-5 gallons of milk we drink.  The milk costs $5/gallon (my 10th gallon is FREE and I've already recieved 2 free gallons).  The 1/2 gallon of yogurt is $4.89, the sour cream is $2.89, the butter is $2.50 and the cream cheese is $3.00.  None of these are organic or all-natural because we can't afford it.  It bothers me when we can't buy organic for something we eat so frequently.  So, the above recipes and the yogurt maker will ease my mind and certainly taste better :)

WinCo deals

As some of you may know by my past posts, I don't really like the feel the WinCo.  It's too Wal-mart-ish for me.  But sometimes I run in there for a few things and yesterday I bought our favorite healthy treat, Green Goodness.  I got three huge jugs of it because I read it can help with PMS and/or PMDD.  I sadly have the later and it blows honkey butt, trust me.  Anywho, I was also out of paprika and chile powder, both of which would have cost me $2/each to replace.  Instead I went to the bulk section and got enough of each to fill the spice containers for $.30/each.


I also found whole wheat macaroni noodles which I have never seen but always wanted to buy.  Hip-hip-hooray!

Here is a link to WinCo's bulk prices http://nwcouponlady.blogspot.com/2009/12/winco-foods-bulk-bin-items-and-prices.html

What do you buy in bulk that saves a ton of money?

Taking a short break

We've had a family emergency this week and I don't have much time or energy for the internet this week.  I'm sure I'll be back next week to follow up on the stockpiling and lots of etc :)

We're all okay, but prayers would be appreciated :)

Emergency Stockpile

This past week I mentioned to The Hubbs that I would like to start filling our basement with items and food that we will need in case of an emergency.  I'm not an alarmist, but I want to be prepared for most anything.  I don't want to do it all at once, but maybe $5/week when I go grocery shopping.  This week Fred Meyer had a coupon for canned tomatoes and beans 2/$1 with a limit of 10.  I bought the limit and put all of them downstairs in our tiny basement (basically a furnace/storage room).  I made sure they don't expire for a few years.  I also bought a 100-pack of matches and a few weeks ago I bought 6 candles for $1 at a garage sale.  I made sure they weren't scented, because the scents often give me headaches.

At the top of my list are:
Distilled water
Canned tuna/meats
Canned/dried fruits
Batteries
OTC ointments/medicines
Bandaids/gauze/etc
First aid manual

We would like to purchase a generator, but it's not a necessity.  I will be buying what I can 2nd hand of course :)

While I was searching for an emergency stockpile list online I found this WONDERFUL site:
http://www.jrmi.org/JRMI-Emergency-Stockpile-List.pdf
and these ones:
http://www.demesne.info/Family-Safety/Emergency-Food.htm
http://www.getreadyforflu.org/clocksstocks/stockpilingchecklist.pdf
http://health.jfcountyks.com/pdf/HouseholdEmergencyStockpile-JCHD.pdf
http://knol.google.com/k/jason-day/how-to-create-an-emergency-stockpile/1r6k84kqs0mpa/25#

So many things I would have never even thought of :)

Do you have an emergency stockpile?  What things would be at the top of your list?  Leave your comments below :)

This week's deal

I headed to Kohl's Saturday afternoon while the babies were sleeping and went on the hunt for a bathing suit.  I wanted something modest, but that would support my bust.  Very hard to find either of those qualities, let alone together in one suit.  I tried on a dozen or so suits and didn't buy one.  I was frustrated and feeling dejected.  I ended up buying a slimming pair of shorts (the kind you would wear under a dress, I can't think of the name now) and 6 pairs of socks for Miss A for fall.  I spent an additional $10, but I'm okay with that.  Both were things I needed.

My hunt continued today after I went grocery shopping and my mother-in-law watched my kidlets.  I ran to the Union Gospel Mission and actually prayed before I went in that I would find a suit.  I browsed through stuff and really wanted to find a bike trailer, but they didn't have any.  Then I headed over to the swimsuits (they have a LARGE selection) and found a one-piece Lands End fuchsia suit that is modest and holds the girls up!  WOOT!  It was $7 and looks brand new.  I came home and washed it with my other suit and Miss A's suit on the delicate cycle and all is well.

I'm here

kind of.

I had a busy week last week and my birthday was this past Friday so I was blessed with a wonderful weekend of celebrating.  I'm exhausted and will get back to posting this week, I promise :)

Monday's most favorite links

This week has been a very good week in the blogosphere.  I've been reading great stuff from a large range of blogs that I follow and here are some of my most favorites...


Keeping your house picked up: New Nostalgia


Which sunscreen: Pure Natural Diva

The new Britax Marathon 70 car seat: Carseat Blog


How to make yogurt: Frugal Granola


Natural sap remover & hand cleaner: Frugal Granola


Homemade strawberry freezer jam: Simple Organic

Another free $10

Kohls must really like my business even though I've only spent a whopping $1.50 or so there. Today I received another $10 gift card in the mail, which brings my 2010 total to $30 worth of free stuff.  So far I've purchased The Hubbs some undies and some undies and a bra for myself.  I'm currently on the hunt for a new bathing suit and may buy one new if I can find one in a long torso with an underwire (a very TALL order).  If not, I'll keep looking on eBay and buy some more undies for The Hubbs :)

Breaking The Compact

I may be breaking The Compact for some of these items.  It may seem petty to some, but I believe in raising awareness for Military Families.  I'm going to get a window cling for myself and one for my father.  He has a big soft spot in his heart for those that serve :)

FREE free FrEe

Yes, I'm talking getting stuff for free!  Around here we don't pay for garbage pickup.  It's too spendy.  Instead we bought a small trailer and The Hubbs takes it about once every 2 months.  I on the other hand am in charge of taking the recycling.  We have three separate LARGE bins; 1 for newspaper, 1 for plastics (think TONS of milk jugs) and 1 for glass and tin cans.  The milk jugs always fill up the fastest because we go through 4-5 gallons a week.  I end up going about once every month and can fit all three bins in the back of my Montero Sport.

The recycling section at our "dump" has a chemicals area and you can take anything that has been donated for FREE.  Last month I scored a 4/5 full 5-gallon bucket of latex primer.  The Hubbs is a painter, so he's using it on homes when needed.  Today I recycled everything and meandered over there and found 4 gallons of interior paint.  I got 1 gallon of Sherwin Williams (the brand The Hubbs uses) Promar 200, 2 gallons of Behr and 1 gallon of Ralph Lauren.  The colors aren't the greatest, but surely I or The Hubbs will be able to find a use for them.

Do you recycle?  What items do you find yourself recycling the most?

Cashing In...

If you're not aware of Swagbucks and you want free money, than I hope you'll click the Swidget 1.0 about SBs on the left and find more information about them.  It's a search engine, just like Google, but you get awarded with SwagBucks and then you can cash them in for goods/gift cards/etc.  I just cashed in 2250 SBs for $25 in Amazon e-gift cards. 


What should I buy?  I'm thinking of body care stuff, but I'm really just stumped.  I'm obviously limited to what I can buy since I can't buy much stuff new...

Sherbet recipes

Since I've gotten our ice cream maker recently we've made 2 batches in 2 days.  First we made a Lemon Buttermilk recipe Karen sent me and it was out of this world.  Dave isn't a citrus man when it comes to sweets, but he really enjoyed it!

Lemon Buttermilk Sherbet

*serves 4*

2 cups buttermilk
1 cup sugar
1/4 fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest

2 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl and chill until cold.  Place in frozen ice cream maker and turn on for about 20-25 minutes.  Remove sherbet from ice cream maker and place in freezer safe bowl and place a piece of freezer paper/wax paper on top and then put the lid on.  Freeze for up to 1 week or at least 1-2 hrs and EAT!

Strawberry Sherbet  *any soft fruit will do: cherries (pitted), raspberries, blackberries, peaches etc*

*serves 8*

3 cups whole milk
1 cup cream
1 1/4 cups strawberries (homegrown or farmer's markets are best)
1.5 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Mash the strawberries and sugar in a large bowl to your desired consistency.  Add milk, cream and vanilla and mix until well blended.  Add to the frozen ice cream bowl and let it mix for 20-25 mins.  Remove sherbet from ice cream maker and place in freezer safe bowl and place a piece of freezer paper/wax paper on top and then put the lid on.  Freeze for up to 1 week or at least 1-2 hrs and EAT!

Mint Chocolate Sherbet

*serves 8*

3 cups whole milk
1 cup cream
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp peppermint extract/essential oil (or mash 2-3 mint leaves into a paste)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Mix the cocoa powder and sugar.  Add milk, cream, vanilla and peppermint and mix until well blended.  Add to the frozen ice cream bowl and let it mix for 20-25 mins.  Remove sherbet from ice cream maker and place in freezer safe bowl and place a piece of freezer paper/wax paper on top and then put the lid on.  Freeze for up to 1 week or at least 1-2 hrs and EAT!