Our Magnum Opus

Father of the (Largish) Family

^{(I know the 'largish' family shtick is wearing a little thin.  :)  I didn't actually plan to make it a series, it  just evolved that way.  I have a great affinity for large families and I am grateful, happy, and very busy with my eight.  However, I know that in the large family world, eight is not really very large.  So I am making fun of myself a little by calling us 'largish'. )}

Large family fathers are heroic.  They go to work with people that drive new cars, take jazzy vacations and go out to lunch every day.  Large family fathers drive beaters or mini vans to work. Large family fathers take trips with their children, go on scout camp outs and sleep over night in an uncomfortable chair in the mother baby unit every two years while they hold their newly post-partum wife's hand over the bed rail.  That's their exciting get-away.  Large family fathers bring their little bag lunch, lovingly packed by their wife.  The upside to the bag lunch is that often the co-workers will comment on how good the food looks or smells and wish they had someone who packed them that food.  The downside is when the loving wife forgets to pack a lunch, they have to eat off the dollar menu at the fast food joint.  Yuck.

Large family fathers come home at night exhausted and still help their children when they are stuck on physics or algebra.  They are sports coaches and scout leaders.  They pick up and drop off children at various functions.  They go to the store for groceries so their wife does not have to load all the little ones in the van in snow and sleet.  Or even just because she is tired.

Large family fathers still think they can set their personal things down somewhere and the things won't be disturbed. But they are broken in enough that they don't get upset when the things inevitably are disturbed.  Large family fathers are used to looking around the yard for the tool they need.  Large family fathers are used to finding a toy in their bed.  Or a child.  Sometimes both.

Large family fathers lead the family in prayer, even when the toddlers is making it hard.  They take their children to confession often and make sure everyone gets out the door for Sunday Mass on time.  They try to do these things with encouragement and civility but an occasional bellow is sometimes required. :)  When dad bellows, or even commands quietly, the offenders straighten up quickly, it's rather miraculous.

We wives of these men are the most blessed women ever.  We would be happy if our sons are like them and our daughters marry men like them.  They are servant leaders, not only in their family but in their communities as well.  Large family fathers are the salt of the earth.  They give God the glory and keep themselves focused on the end goal... to help their family to salvation.

Cream of ___ Soup Mix

Martina asked for my cream soup mix recipe.  Admittedly, it does not taste as strong as canned soup but I don't know if you can get that flavor without the MSG.

• 2 cups dry milk
• 3/4 cup corn starch
• 1/4 cup powdered chicken or beef bouillon
• 1/2 tsp crushed thyme
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp parsley flakes

Mix and store.  (I use a mason jar.)

To use combine 1/3 cup dry mix and 1 cup water in a saucepan and heat on medium till it thickens, stirring occasionally.  This equals 1 can of soup.  You can add mushrooms, celery, chicken chunks etc. to replicate whatever kind of soup your recipe calls for.

 

 

Cutting Back Even More

We have never been rich or even comfortable.  We never will be.  In recent years we have been committed to reducing our debt and keeping our older children in St. Augustine's homeschool enrichment program.  Lets just say it is not the most inexpensive way to homeschool.  For us, it is worth the sacrifices to have our children there. 

I have learned a thing or three about frugal living over the years and was raised by a frugal expert.  This week the move by the feds probably means our money will buy less.  It certainly looks as if it means gas prices will keep rising.  We live in the boonies, nearly everything we do is a drive.  Thankfully we can usually carpool with a wonderful family near by.   And most of our friends are in the same boat which means that the children's social activities tend to be frugal as well.  Thank goodness.  However I have been looking at every area to see where I can cut back even more.

We cancelled Netflix.  It's only $10 a month, but that's 120.00 a year.  Those penny pinching moves add up.  By hanging at least one load of laundry to dry each day and washing more clothes in cold water, our electric usage is down.  (electric dryer and water heater)  I am looking into buying grains and dry beans in bulk.  That could add up to savings.  We didn't nearly utilize our garden as well as we could this year but what we did grow was quite successful.  Next year we'll do more.  We already shop mostly second hand for clothes, though it is tough to find those tall sizes.  Alex gets more new clothes than anyone else.  :)

Naturally the most flexible area to cut back is food.  We are lucky that our children will eat good, cheap protein like egg and bean meals.  We are baking all our bread and bakery items and we all prefer homemade.  Muffins are a good way to get a little extra fruit in the children and a good lunch staple for bag lunches.  This article Download More Month than Money PDF(2) is an excellent tutorial in reducing your food budget without sacrificing nutrition.  There is always more I could learn and do to feed us better and cheaper and I enjoy the challenge.

I did research couponing, those stories of feeding your family for pennies with coupons sound great.  With some exceptions, most coupons are for processed food and other useless non-food items.   Processed food is of little nutritional value, no matter how they market it.   So I am not sure how much couponing we will do, but I'll keep my eyes open for the occasional coupon deals on real food.

If anyone has favorite resources for frugal living or even little tips, I would love to know about them! 

 

 

 

Gold

 
After carving our home grown pumpkins, we cooked, pureed and froze them.  We now have mounds of pumpkin puree for pies and muffins this winter.  It cost just pennies since we planted the pumpkins from seed.   But pumpkin to bake with... it's gold!

 

Budget Stretchers

Just over a year ago an Aldi grocery store opened near us.  We quickly figured out what groceries were the best buys for us but it took me a while to start trying their household products.  I had my favorite brands that we had been using, but it sounds so ungrateful to be reluctant to try a store brand when there are people in the world who would consider it luxury to have those store brands. 

With Michigan's economy what it is, we'll be lucky if Kevin only has to take a pay freeze and pay a higher portion of his insurance premium next fiscal year.  We decided our resources should be directed at what goes into our bodies not so much what goes on them. So I started trying the Aldi brand household products. 

So far, I like their shampoo and conditioner.  I have coarse, curly hair and Aldi's smoothing shampoo and conditioner works just fine, in fact I like them better than the more expensive product I was using.  The dishwasher detergent is fine.  Diapers have been surprisingly good.  Usually we notice leaks with store brands, not these.  The size 4 package works out to be .18 a diaper.  Good price.  My sister-in-law tried the toilet paper and did not like it all.  The cat and dog food is good but we can get it cheaper in bulk at the farm store.  I think that covers what we have tried.

Just thought I would pass on the info in case it's helpful to other frugal shoppers!

Replacing Breakfast Cereal

I really lapsed into the box cereal habit this past year.  Lydia has not been the best sleeper and is the champion of high maintenance babies, so breakfast was the area I let go of.  However cereal is expensive, has little nutritional value and the kids tend to waste quite a bit. 

My breakfast repertoire was pretty limited till a recent discussion on Magnum Opus got me thinking about expanding it.  My standards were steel cut oats, homemade pancakes,  scrambled eggs (our old chickens are still laying well) with toast .  So far I added make ahead egg casserole, over night coffee cake and southwest crockpot breakfast.  Sometimes we just serve toast or muffins and hard boiled eggs.  The key, of course, is to do as much prep the night before as possible.

When we eat real food for breakfast, the whole morning seems to go better, and the constant grazing is non-existent.  Well worth the effort!

A Lot of Snow Out There

February is always the time we long for warm sun and time outdoors.  During the long wait for spring, to cheer myself up, I plot (pun intended) and plan for gardening.  Last year I had big dreams but I had a baby instead.  (A baby is much better.)  But between being in my 40's (read more tired and a longer postpartum recovery) and having teens with busy lives, we never got a garden in.

This year I am especially interested in heritage seeds.  And compost.  I want red wiggler worms for Mothers Day.  :)  

I am itching to stake it all out and send those boys out to dig.  But the snow is pretty deep.  So I have to be content with dreaming.  For Christmas we received a gardening DVD that is particularly cheerful and helpful.  Homestead Blessings; the Art of Gardening, with the West ladies.  They are charming, out in their lovely gardens in their long prairie skirts extolling the virtues of compost and new ways to plant potatoes.  I highly recommend it for rookie gardeners like me, or if you just need something cheerful to watch that makes you think of sunshine and warmth.

 

Recipe Binders

I know everyone is frantically  busily getting ready for the school year.  Me too.  One of my projects was menu planning.  But I realized that menu plans get changed frequently around here.  Why can't I stick to the plan?

Because there are leftovers to be used up, an abundance of ripe produce, a great sale on marked down meats at the grocery store...  I need flexible food plans.

So I organized my overstuffed recipe binder.  I purged recipes that were not a hit, or that I will probably never make due to time constraints and obscure ingredients.  There are now sections for beef recipes, chicken, pork, meatless, breakfast, lunch, snacks, desserts, sides, and homemade mixes and cleaners. 

On large index cards for each section, I made a list of the recipes in that section, and also listed the dishes that I do not need a recipe for , like sloppy joes.  In parentheses after each listing, I wrote the main ingredients for that dish.  I will use the cards for planning meals from the sale fliers and keep them with me in the grocery store in case I run across a good deal on something.  That way I can decide what to cook with the sale item and make sure I have the other ingredients for that recipe available.

I just couldn't get a sharp camera shot of the cards.  Here is an example on the beef card.

Broccoli Beef (soy sauce, pb, Tabasco,corn starch, cut broc. and diced stew meat, cooked rice)

I made a separate binder for holiday and party food.  No index cards for that one.

Next I'll do a master list of what I want to keep stocked in the pantry, fridge and freezer.

HT: The index card idea came from Milehimama

Thrift Store Find

While shopping with Kari today, she spotted these beautifully framed and matted prints by Helene Leveillee.  Perfect for the girl's bedroom.  With our half off coupon at the thrift store, these were only a few dollars!

 

Basic Pancake Mix

Sharon asked me, a while ago, (blush) to post my pancake mix.

Basic Pancake Mix

40 cups all-purpose flour ( I often mix 10 cups whole wheat with 30 cups white)
10 cups nonfat dry milk
2 cups sugar
1 cup baking powder
8 TBSP salt

Combine all ingredients and whisk well.

For the nine of us this is how I mix it.  (I don't know how many it makes, they get eaten too fast to count.)
6 cups of mix
4 beaten eggs
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup olive oil

(Depending on the flour mixture you may need a little more water.  I just mix till it looks right.)

  I store the mix in this box in my pantry.