Fall

We finally have fall here in Georgia.  I love love love cooler weather.  I like to wear sweaters and sweatshirts and I like to cuddle up in bed with  my hubby under blankets.  I also like to drink warm drinks and read by the fire or knit.  When cooler weather comes I really enjoy walking outside and enjoying the cool air.

Last night was our 8th football game and it was cold.  I was OK in my coat and gloves but the kids were cold.  We just haven't had too many cold nights yet and I think they were caught off guard.  Oh well, me and the little kids left after the band played at half time.  They did really well and I am proud of Ashley and the rest of the band this year.  They work hard but they also have fun.

Today they are at a band competition and won't be home until midnight.  The will be tired but have fun.  Tyler also shot our first deer of the season.  We need four to feed us during the winter so we are praying for some more.  Yes, we eat deer meat almost all year from the freezer and it is a blessing.  You can't get much more grass feed than that!

Well, we have church in the morning and I am tired.  Time to sign off!

Saving money on snacks

Well we are in full swing with school, band, soccer and work.  With all of that we are in full swing with snacks.  In the summer we mostly eat our lunch late and grab some fruit in the afternoon and then dinner.  During the school year several of the kids have and early lunch and then we might have a late dinner because of sports.  Because of this we have to have some healthy snacks around.  One of our favorites is trail mix.  It can be really expensive if you buy it already packaged and some parts of it may not be something that everyone likes.  We usually make our own.  This is what we like to use:

 

I buy all of the ingredients from Aldi and they are reasonably priced.  We like raisins, peanuts, cashews and M & Ms.  If we are feeling cheaper then we leave out the cashews.  This runs about $8.00 to make and we have enough for all 7 of us to snack on it all week.

 

 

Sometimes we will add Cheerios or dried cranberries or other nuts but this is our standard recipe.  We tend to make this twice a month and we really enjoy this.  



Amost time for school to start.

Well. I go back to school in two days and the kids go back the next week.  I can't say that I am not ready.  We have had a good summer with beach trips, times in the pool, and church camps but now I want to get back to a regular routine.  I am tired of going to bed and leaving teens up.  I don't know why that bothers me.  I just like to know that everyone is tucked in before I go to bed, but with Steven having to get up at 5:30 for work we have to go on to bed and we leave the older ones up.

I did my monthly shopping trip this weekend.  I went to Sams and to Aldi and spent $350.  I will still have to pick up some milk and some fresh stuff so I am saying about another $150 for the month.  I think $500 to feed 7 people is not bad.  I could make it less by cooking more breakfast foods, but in truth during the school year we have to be out the door by 7:10, so I do buy cereal bars, pop tarts, and cereal.  I do cook scrambled eggs a few mornings a week and on the weekend I try to make muffins to eat, but those convenience foods for breakfast do get expensive.  I just decided to give myself a break last year in that area.  I work full time and have to cook and do laundry for 7 people.  The kids help when they can, but they stay busy with band, soccer and school and Steven works so much that I can't really ask him to help much in the house.  So there you go!

Ashley started marching band practice a few weeks ago and seems to love it.  She also broke up with the boyfriend.  Actually he broke up with her but I had the feeling that she has been want to break up with him for some time.  He was wanting to move the relationship to a more physical level and she doesn't want that.  I was proud of her but kid of sad that we won't be seeing him as much because he was a nice guy.

It is after  9:00 and these kids still aren't up.  I am just enjoying the quiet.  I told them when I start back on Wednesday that I am getting them up when I leave so that it is not such a shock next week to get up at 6:30.  Ha ha they should have fun with that!

Happy Birthday Little Girl

Well little girl's birthday was this past weekend.  We celebrated with a movie and spend the night party and a cook out.  I let the birthday kid pick out special foods on their birthday.  One thing that she told me that she wanted was dirt dessert which is a family favorite.

Here are the ingredients:

 

I mixed up the pudding in a separate bowl and then creamed the butter and cream cheese in a separate bowl. 

 



 

 

I then stirred in one cup of powered sugar and stirred in the pudding.  I then folded in the cool whip.  We crushed the Oreos and then layered them with the pudding mixture and put gummy worms on the top.  Yum!

 

 

It never lasts very long around here.

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 4th

Well, our fireworks got rained out.  We were supposed to go to the rec department to watch fireworks with our church, but it rained and stormed so it was cancelled.  We went to my brother and sister in laws house instead and cooked out.  We had fun.  At first I didn't want to go.  Family gatherings have gotten weird in the last year or two.  Steven's parents won't come to anything that involves us.  They are angry at us and won't talk to us or discuss anything with us and when we ask for forgiveness from them they say no.  This has been hurtful to us and our family, but now I have decided that if they want to be that way then so be it.  If they want to stay home and miss gatherings and birthdays of their grandchildren then it is their loss.  We can have fun without them and we did.  Happy 4th!
 
Tomorrow we are going to the beach, so today we are packing and getting ready.  We don't have to pack much because there is a washer and dryer there and a Wal-Mart on the island.  We will cook in while we are there because it is too expensive to eat out, but we will go do some stuff like putt putt or the water park.  I would rather have extra beach time anyway.  We will also go shopping at a few places on the island and look into the quirky local shops.  Fun!  I have budgeted $250 for food for the week (how else can I get 5 pounds of shrimp and cook it) and $200 for things to do.  I will get out the cash today. I will let you know how it went with the spending.

Green Beans

Well no longer did I get done with the salsa then it was time for green beans.  A friend traded beans for some squash and cucumbers.  He let us pick and we got two five gallon buckets of beans.  This is what they looked like after I snapped them.

 

We then canned 30 quarts of green beans.

 

 

I would like to go and pick again because 30 jars won't last us a year.  I would like to do about 20 more but we are going to the beach next week so canning is out for that week.  I still need to do some peaches and some blackberry jelly.  Yummy!

 

 

Something that I think is funny.  Little girl gave me for mother's day some coupons for doing chores and today I cashed in one.  The girls bathroom really needed the shower cleaned so I put her to work.

 

 

So funny!  It got clean though.

 

Happy fourth!  The older girls are at the beach with my parents and we are supposed to go watch fireworks tonight at the rec department.  It is a little rainy and stormy outside so we might get cancelled.  I hope not.  My sister and her family is coming to eat and watch with us. We are having chicken wings and pasta and a yummy chocolate cake for dinner.  Yum!





Canning Salsa

Normally during the summer I try to get in as much canning as possible.  We eat it all through the year and it doesn't take up room in my freezer.  So far this season we have been making  pickles like crazy and this week I made a big batch of salsa.  The tomatoes were free from the garden as were the peppers so the only thing that I had to buy were some onions and another set of jars.  I figure that I spent about $15 on the whole process.  Here is the salsa cooked in the pot.

 

Here is the finished product.  17 jars of salsa.

 

I saw in the grocery store fancy salsa for $5.00 a jar, so I figure that this is $85 worth of salsa made for about $15.00 including an extra set of jars.  Not bad savings and so much better tasting.