Simplifying Life

I have been on a mission for many years now to cut back spending, simplify my life and enjoy the little things. This isn't always easy with the fast paced, spend, spend, spend world we live in now, but it is possible.

Some of the things that I have used to cut back the shopping budget are:

1. Stop buying all prepackaged pre-made food. 
2. Buy local produce, in season.
3. Buy meat in bulk
4. Remake left overs
5. Recycle old clothes
6. Grow your own veggies
7. Shop with your local farms
8. Shop thrift stores
9. Buy in bulk, Rice, Beans, Pasta
10. Avoid stores that sell "everything" stick to just what you need. 

I love to cook and bake but nobody wants to be a slave to the kitchen. I premix pancake mix myself, I bake my own bread with simple recipes that don't require a lot of attention or fuss. My ultimate goal is to get enough made one day each month to be able to forgo having to do it often.

I always buy meat on sale, and always in the large "value packs" or "family packs" I then divide the meat into at least two meals. I always buy whole chickens when I can find them at a good price. I rarely buy boneless or skinless chicken, It's not hard to skin the pieces and if you want the bone out own a good knife and follow the bones and viola you have boneless and skinless. Use the bones to make a healthy broth that you can freeze for use in soups and stews later.

Having leftovers go to waste is one of the top money wasters of today's average family. I keep an arsenal of recipes that turn left overs into something new. One of my families favorites is Turkey Casserole. Of course it can be used with any poultry but I don't often have left over chicken.

Remaking old clothes is something that we have recently taken into our family as a must. Old clothes that are no longer serviceable (torn beyond repair) are being stashed away to be turned into rag rugs. This was something our grandparents or great grandparents did with old clothes and it served two purposes. 1. It recycled those clothes for yet another use and 2. It helped cut down on drafts and cold in a room. But they often were made in certain colors and can be made to beautify a room as well. We have also reused old clothes to make doll clothes, pieces for puppets, and of course rags for cleaning. I should say that we always pass on clothes that are still serviceable. Clothes that children have just outgrown always get passed onto a local charity or posted for free on Craigslist.

Growing your own veggies is not hard, even if you have limited space. You could choose just a few of your favorites and grow them in containers. Learn to can or "preserve" your own food if at all possible! this is such an easy way to save some of your favorite foods for later, plus you will cut the cost of groceries even further if you can your own home grown foods. Container gardens can be just as fruitful as plots and if you are growing what you love best to eat you will eat them more often.

If you are not sure where to start when it comes to finding a local farm try Local Harvest They are one of many websites that help you find local farms. They happen to be my favorite for many reasons, one being that they allow you to search by zip code. This means that you can search them and find several within a certain radius of you. Go to the local farms and talk to them, often they know of other small farmers that may not have a listing on Local Harvest. Also check Craigslist in your area in the farm & garden section. You can often find people who may be selling just certain local foods in season. Sometimes they are just back yard farmers who have a surplus of food from their own gardens. They will often sell you what they have at a deep discount compared to what you would find it for in the grocery stores.

Shopping thrift stores is a no brainer. Most of them have some awesome finds and you can not beat the prices. I recently bought a perfect winter jacket for my Cuddle Bug who has outgrown everything lately for 1.95! That's right a less then two bucks!!! He chose the jacket himself and it fits him perfectly. In two months when he out grows it I won't feel horrid that I spent so much money on clothes that he no longer fits.

Buying in bulk is not possible for everyone. Since relocating to the east coast I have had a hard time finding stores that sell dry goods in bulk. If anyone from NC happens to know of any please pass on the info! In California I had a favorite store that I always bought my dry goods in bulk. Buying these items in bulk cuts the cost by almost 1/2. My dry goods list consists of; Rice, Pasta, Beans, Legumes, Quiniua, Flax seeds, Nuts, and all Flour.

When I say avoid stores that sell "everything" I mean box stores, IE walmart, target, kmart. Stores that sell both groceries and everyday household items. It is easy to over spend in these stores because you find something "on sale" or its "only 5.00" these items add up fast and you often don't need them. If you start shopping with intent behind what you buy you can save money. Should you need to replace towels you shop around for them and find the best sale and shop within your budget. If you are shopping for groceries only shop in stores that offer you fresh local produce and only groceries. Shop the perimeter of the store and hit and miss down the internal isles.

These are just a few of the tips I have used to cut down my family budget. I average 100.00-150.00 a week on groceries for a family of 6. This includes toiletries. The budget is on the lower side of that number more often then not.

Coming Soon...
How to cut costs on toiletries, soaps, laundry soap, and cleaning supplies.

Also don't forget to enter for your chance to win in the drawing I am holding. Give Away You have to go to that blog and comment there to be entered. Its really that simple. :)

Weekly Organic Learning Report

I meant to write this on Friday and post it but, well life happened. I am sure some of you understand that all to well!

As a homeschooling mom who firmly believes that children need to be allowed to follow their own passions and dreams I work hard to see where the spark is and keep them going in that direction. It's not always easy but I do try.

This week has been one of challenge for me. My darling Spitfire has come to me and informed me that she wants more structure. I will admit right here and now that I was really hurt by this. Here I was giving her the freedom to explore everything she wants and do it all how she wants. Only to be told by her that I was doing it wrong! Well Ok, she didn't say it was wrong, only that she wants more "school work". As a few people reminded me that is what Organic learning is all about. Choosing how you learn, and what you learn. She is still following her own path, she just wants it to be more structured. This week I spent a lot of time doing some research just for the Spitfire. I am going to be using some resources online and of course printing some stuff as well as trips to the library. We do a lot of that stuff already but I am going to have to put it together a bit differently so that she can get her needs met.

One resource that was shared with me in a Facebook group is a free site called e-learning for kids this resource has subjects broken down into grade level and kids can work at their own pace. I think this will become the number one tool for the next few weeks for the Spitfire. I am sure that the Cuddle Bug will want to join her because he never likes to be outdone by her. He wants to work just as hard as she does and keeps pace with her in all things.

I also see a lot of printer ink and paper in my near future.

On other Organic Learning fronts, my hands on learner is very interested in blacksmithing. We have found several blacksmiths in our new area and he has composed emails to them to see if someone would be willing to take on an apprentice. He has books on blacksmithing and has watched a few documentaries on metal work. He wants to learn about making swords, so we are looking for this sort of thing now. He is interested in medieval times as well and the sword play there and that is another great resource.

The Bookworm is working on writing. I have given her a little push to finish and try to publish one book this year. She is going to try. She has several novels in partially finished stages and it will be good for her to see it through to the end.

This week I have spent a lot of time in groups and discussions. I have another favorite blogger to add to my growing list of homeschooling bloggers. The Innovative Educator's blogger Lisa is wonderful at providing an interesting perspective as well as tons of helpful links.

And in blogger news, Don't forget to check out my Giveaway! It's not to late to enter! entering is easy, just comment on the blog for the giveaway will give you one entry. Sharing it on your blog, or other social networking site and coming back to share the link with me will give you another entry. Its simple and you get one of the three awesome prizes I made.

Doughnut Muffins

I have had requests for the Doughnut muffins I made for Birthday breakfast.

I really like cake doughnuts but I don't have a doughnut pan so I decided to use a muffin pan. I found This Recipe. I of course adapted it because I am not one to ever follow someone else's recipe well. :) You may choose to use that recipe or try out my adaptations.

The batter recipe:

Ingredients

3/4 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon vinegar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons grated orange zest

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 cup butter, melted

Batter once its mixed together

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400*. 

In a medium bowl, mix sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and flour.Add the vinegar to the milk and let stand for 10 minutes. Mix milk, eggs, honey,almond extract, orange zest and butter in a separate medium bowl, and stir into the dry ingredients. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.

Bake 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.

While they are baking make the glaze and toast the coconut. 

Glaze:
1/4 cup white sugar

2 Tbls molasses

3-4 Tbls water
2 Tbls corn starch

In a sauce pan combine sugar, molasses, and water on low heat. Whisk together until sugar is dissolved and it starts to bubble. Add the cornstarch one Tbls at a time whisking between additions. Allow to bubble slowly for 2 minutes stirring continually with whisk. Allow to cool slightly. 
Toasting Coconut:
In a dry non stick pan place a thin layer of shredded coconut in the pan. Cook on low heat stirring occasionally as it browns.

Place muffins on wire rack to cool as they come out of the muffin pan. Once they are cool enough to handle dip the tops of the muffins into the glaze and set on the wire rack. Before the glaze has cooled sprinkle with toasted coconut. 

On a side note, don't forget to join in the Birthday Giveaway! Go to the blog and read about the giveaway and see the wonderful prizes I am giving away. You still have plenty of time to enter and tell your friends all about it! Make sure you comment directly on the giveaway blog so that you can be entered to win. 

Happy Birthday to me... Give away for YOU!

Today I turned 37.
And since its my birthday I have decided to do my first give away!

This morning, making my breakfast doughnut muffins.

I have contemplated giveaways many times and what better reason to give then the day of my birth?

To enter you can:
1. Share this giveaway on your blog, facebook, twitter or any other social networking site. Come back and comment with a link to the share.

2.  Comment and be sure I have a way to get a hold of you if you win. The comments must be made here on the blog, not anywhere I have shared the link to my blog.

3. If you share on multiple social sites You get more entries to win.

The Prizes:
Yes that's right there is an S on the end of that Prize, That means more then one prize.

First Prize is a custom Half moon apron made by me for you. Yes folks I am offering to allow you to choose the fabric for this apron. The apron being given away will look similar to this one:

You can choose pockets or no pockets and from any of the fabric choices I have on hand.

The Second Prize I am giving away are these cute Funky Earrings:

Third prize is a relaxation Mask in my favorite fabric because I have one made in stock: 

The giveaway will end in 37 days from today, February 9, 2012. Have fun, share with your friends and I will announce the winners in a little more then a month.