Resourceful

My mom picked up some canning jars at a lawn sale. They must have been from LONG ago because as you can see they were priced at $1.99. Well I guess it is ok that I invested in lots over the summer because they do not loose their value. I think she said she paid $3/box.
Before last year I only had a couple canning jars kicking around my cupboards. Now you never know where you'll find them! I even bought some of the 1/2 gallon ones...they have so many uses, I'm addicted. They also sell the plastic covers so after you open a jar you can replace with that so the metal doesn't get rusty prematurely. They also work great for dried goods: beans, almonds if you buy in bulk, flour, sugar. I even drink out of them. Nothing like ice water with a straw straight from a mason jar. I also like to store broth and soups and stew in them. By summer I will have them filled with goat milk. I CAN'T WAIT!

We were not able to get into the butcher for 3 more weeks for the meat birds so John decided that today was the day. While I worked and the kids were in school he processed all 30 meat birds. That is a whole lot of work to do by yourself! He's the man I tell you!!!!
Total weight was about 120lbs and we did not have much money tied up because John bought extra birds and sold them which paid for a bunch of their feed and the cost of our birds and he did the processing which saved us $90.
Our freezers are maxed out. Not sure what we will do when he gets his deer and oh yeah the pigs?????

Just made my third batch of homemade laundry detergent. I will not go back to store bought. 1 batch last me about a month and costs only a couple dollars. It also gets my clothes squeaky clean! It is environmentally friendly the materials used in it's makings are borax, washing soda, and fels naphtha soap. Then their is 3 less plastic jugs that have to be produced. I also really like the all purpose cleaner. I have learned that the way to make all these homemade things work is to do it in quantity so you do not have to add these to your already busy weeks. Always looking for ways to save time and money! Last batch I made made enough to fill a half gallon jug, I used an old vinegar container. Now when my squirt bottle is out I fill it up quickly and viola I have just save myself $3 and that is one less isle I have to go down in the grocery store. Slowly I am distancing myself from the grocery store shelves....


On a final note I'd like to share of few good post I read this week


*7 reasons why it is better to buy used goods
*making pumpkin puree
*roasting sunflower seeds
*childhood memories and pumpkin pickles

ENJOY THE WEEKEND!