tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-374918652024-03-07T13:11:06.223-05:00Thou and Thou OnlyRiches we heed not, nor man's empty praise.<br><br>
This blog belongs to the family of JunkMale, a Christian and Georgia Tech alumnus. Target demographics might include conservative Christian, healthy-eating, homeschooling, interracial families, and others who do not call this world "home." Where homemade is usually better than store-bought. For more info, click the "About" link below.Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-81642479134136102592011-04-12T09:14:00.000-04:002011-04-12T09:14:00.131-04:00April 2011 grocery budget week 2The main shopping trip was at Target, where I spent $44. We also made a couple of "emergency" runs to the store, which totaled about $10. That brings our monthly grocery expenditures up to $145, and leaves us $155 left in our budget for the rest of the month. That leaves us approximately $52/week from here on out.<br /><br />From our Target trip, we bought:<br />reeses cups - $1<br />tortilla chips - $2<br />pringles - $1.44<br />kashi granola bars - $2.99<br />juice - $4.73<br />onions - $2.24<br />spaghetti sauce - $2.84<br />zucchini - $0.35<br />garlic - $0.25<br />cucumbers - $1.48<br />oatmeal - $2<br />oranges - $2.04<br />bread - $2.69<br />pork roast - $6.49<br />ground chicken - $2.29<br />eggs - $2.39<br />almond milk - $4.50<br />allergy medicine - $3.84Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-75333338916848975802011-04-05T11:02:00.001-04:002011-04-05T11:02:00.251-04:00April 2011 grocery budget week 1This week we went to the Super H mart 30 minutes from our house. We spent about $85 there. The majority of the expense was 30 lbs of brown rice (15 lbs sweet rice, 15 lbs medium grain rice). We also spent $11 on beef for bulgogi and $7 on mandoo (we had friends over for lunch on Sunday, and we have to serve American-friendly food when we're introducing Korean food to someone).<br /><br />Other items we bought at H mart: Korean pear, roasted seaweed (a gift for a friend - no, really), rice flour, sweet red bean paste, 6 lbs napa cabbage (w00t, 6lbs of kimchi in the fridge!), Chinese chives, green onions, apples, garlic, ginger, tofu, eggs, and a family pack of Shin Ramyun (JunkMale insisted I treat myself, for some reason).<br /><br />We also took a trip to Kroger to get more American staples for the week: peanut butter crackers, hummus, yogurt, juice, basil, granola bars, green onions, mushrooms, fruit cups, and potatoes. This cost us $36.<br /><br />I don't usually count bulk-purchased staples like rice in our monthly budget - 15 lbs of medium grain rice lasts us 4-6 months and 15 lbs of sweet rice lasts even longer, so it seems unfair to include a 6-month expense in a monthly budget. Obviously you could abuse this by labeling too many foods "bulk staples", but I really only count non-perishable things like grains, sugar, etc, and only when it will last us more than 4 months without stocking up again. Thirty pounds of rice certainly counts. Quick note: if you cannot afford more than your monthly grocery budget, you shouldn't use this method. Our grocery budget was designed with this in mind. :-)<br /><br />The cost of the rice (minus tax) was $29.98, so I will subtract $30 from our total. This means we have spent $91 so far this month on groceries - 30% of the total budget. We will have to be careful the rest of the month not to average no more than $52 each week. But with 6 lbs of kimchi in the fridge and 30 lbs of rice in the pantry, we shouldn't have too much trouble.Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-66127470950796210422011-03-29T09:11:00.000-04:002011-03-29T09:11:01.229-04:00Keeping tabs on our grocery budgetThis series of posts was prompted by my sister, who wondered how we were able to keep to a $300/month grocery budget.<br /><br />Well, to be honest, I'm not really that sure that we <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> keep to that sort of budget. I've never really tracked it. But in theory, we average no more than $75/week in groceries. And now - partly because I'm curious and partly because we need more posts to keep this blog up and running - I'm going to find out. I will do my best, every Tuesday, to post an accounting of the grocery bills from the previous week.<br /><br />But to start off, I thought I'd set the stage. We eat a mostly dairy-free diet (JunkMale and I do eat dairy every now and then) because of Pearl. This means that we eat a lot of foreign food (mostly Korean, but also a lot of Thai/Vietnamese and Greek foods around this time of year). It also means that we buy a lot of expensive dairy replacements - almond milk, soy and coconut yogurt, etc. This all has an effect both on our budget and how we shop. The closest Korean store is 20 minutes from our house, and it's more expensive than the large Korean market 30 minutes away. So trips to buy specifically Korean ingredients (red pepper paste, fish sauce, fermented soybean paste, sweet potato starch noodles, seaweed, 15-lb bags of brown rice, etc) are important but infrequent. That means that when I go I stock up. That changes how I have to view my weekly food budget. If I had to stick to a strict weekly budget, I would be going to the Korean store every week, and that would be a huge hassle.<br /><br />OK, with that in mind, I will present a summary of what we have spent so far this month on groceries. I made 6 trips to the grocery store over the first 4 weeks of March, spending a total of appx $238.51. I have all of my receipts except for one (I do remember that I spent about $48, though). Here is what we bought with the $190.51 we have recorded:<br /><br />22.5% was spent on generic food items (condiments, pasta, cheese, chicken broth, etc)<br />19.5% was spent on meat/protein (eggs, tofu, and vegetarian corndogs were included with meat)<br />14.4% was spent on produce, fresh or frozen<br />13.6% was spent on beverages<br />13.1% was spent on snack items (chips, crackers, cookies, granola bars, etc)<br />9.2% was spent on vitamins<br />Approximately 6% is tax. The remaining 1.7% can probably be attributed to rounding and simple arithmetic errors that I don't feel like going back and finding. :-)<br /><br />So with one week left in the month, we have $61.49 left to spend before we go over budget. Considering this week's shopping list is pretty short, I expect we'll have made our budget for the month. So that, apparently, is how we eat on $300/month - or, at least, how we ate on $300 in March 2011. I do not clip coupons except for on rare occasions. I do not look at sales fliers. We do have a garden that every now and then saves us a dollar or two, and I also keep the going prices of food items in my head and will sometimes change the menu on the fly in the store because something is very expensive. But those are my only "secrets". Other than that we just eat what we like.<br /><br />For the incredibly curious, here is a breakdown of exactly what we bought, and for how much.<br /><br />Nitrate-free deli meat - $5.00<br />Frozen chicken breasts - $7.98<br />Ground turkey - $2.56<br />Eggs - $2.78<br />Chicken tenders $8.88<br />Frozen baby lima beans - $3.00<br />String cheese - $2.64<br />Frozen baby brussels sprouts - $2.25<br />Cheese slices - $4.28<br />Potatoes - $2.47<br />Garlic - $0.69<br />Tomatoes - $3.24<br />Granola bars - $10.92<br />Cooking spray - $1.68<br />Ginger ale - $3.33<br />Spaghetti noodles (either multigrain or whole wheat) - $1.18<br />Crackers - $2.28<br />Bread - $2,72<br />Potato chips - $5.36<br />Dill pickles - $3.04<br />Lime juice - $1.19<br />Onions - $2.49<br />Chicken broth - $5.28<br />Hoisin sauce - $2.39<br />Fresh basil - $2.99<br />Fresh cilantro - $0.99<br />Cucumber - $0.99<br />Pork roast - $4.54<br />Mushrooms - $1.99<br />Juice - $12.68<br />Mustard - $1.58<br />Almond milk - $8.56<br />Tortilla chips - $1.88<br />Vegetarian corn dogs - $3.48<br />Unspecified produce - $1.99<br />Cookies - $2.37<br />Gummy vitamins - $17.48 (2-3 month supply)<br />Non-grocery items - $7.69<br />Korean radish - $1.14<br />MSG-free ramen noodles - $1.39<br />Korean red pepper paste (고추장) - $5.99<br />Buckwheat noodles (냉면) - $3.99<br />Organic tofu - $1.99<br />Seaweed (김) - $6.99<br />Coconut milk - $1.59<br />Barley tea - $1.39<br />Tuna in hot pepper sauce - $2.59Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-40082532573096621502010-07-10T07:49:00.001-04:002010-07-10T07:49:00.096-04:00Pet PeevesThe books you order from paperbackswap are NOT free. I'm sorry to burst your frugal bubble, but unless you are sending the books via some free postal service, you are <span style="font-style: italic;">paying</span> to receive a credit. I pay on average about $2.30 for my books, which is a steal considering the books I order, but <span style="font-style: italic;">it's still not free</span>. In fact, it's so not free that it's actually cheaper to buy books from a thrift store or a library book sale than it is to get them off of paperbackswap.com.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, I adore paperbackswap. But it causes my insides to roil with righteous indignation whenever I hear someone falsely claim that they got books "for free!' off of a website that they essentially have to pay to use.Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-81976689202913059872009-03-27T11:37:00.003-04:002009-03-27T18:41:15.749-04:00Ethnic Food Week Sample MenusBecause <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2009/03/wfmw-ethnic-food-weeks.html">Ashley asked</a>.<br /><br />These are sample 1-week menus for having an ethnic food week. The only one that I'm not quite sure how it would work for a week is Korean food. Usually when we do Korean food, we do 2-week stints at minimum. We've gone as long as 1.5 months eating nothing but Korean food for meals. So I don't know how well the menu would translate to a 1-week menu, but you're welcome to give it a go and see how it works for you. :-)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tex-Mex week</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span>Sunday - vegetarian chili<br />Monday - vegetarian chili<br />Tuesday - chicken enchiladas<br />Wednesday - chicken enchiladas<br />Thursday - chicken enchiladas<br />Friday - burritos<br />Saturday - burritos<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Korean week*</span></span></span><br />Sunday - bulgogi (Korean bbq beef)<a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2006/12/korean-food-week-part-2.html"></a><br />Monday - bulgogi<br />Tuesday - <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2009/02/soybean-paste-stew.html">Soybean paste stew</a><br />Wednesday - Soybean paste stew<br />Thursday - <a href="http://www.geocities.com/ypmljulia/images/rice&noodle/porridge/chicken_porridge.htm">Chicken and rice soup</a><br />Friday - Chicken and rice soup<br />Saturday - <a href="http://koreancooking.xanga.com/427631228/item/">Omelet rice</a> or fried rice to use up leftovers<br />*Don't forget that <span style="font-style: italic;">every</span> Korean meal is served with rice and <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2006/12/korean-food-week-part-2.html">side dishes</a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2009/03/week-of-se-asian-cookery.html">Southeast Asian week</a></span></span></span><br />Sunday - Thai red curry + coconut soup<br />Monday - Thai red curry<br />Tuesday - Vietnamese spring rolls<br />Wednesday - Vietnamese spring rolls<br />Thursday - Pad Thai<br />Friday - Pad Thai<br />Saturday - Swimming Rama<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Italian week (great for a week when canned or fresh tomatoes are on sale!)</span></span></span><br />Sunday - <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2008/12/chicken-spezzatino.html">Chicken stew</a><br />Monday - Chicken stew<br />Tuesday - Spaghetti and and meatballs (optional), with <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2008/07/csa-produce-and-marinara-sauce-recipe.html">homemade marinara sauce</a>**<br />Wednesday - <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2009/02/baked-ziti-and-chicken-with-onion-gravy.html">Baked ziti</a>, using homemade marinara<br />Thursday - Baked ziti<br />Friday - Chicken or Eggplant parmesan, using homemade marinara<br />Saturday - Chicken or eggplant parmesan<br />**Make a BIG batch of marinara - you're going to use it the rest of the week<br /><br />Ethnic food weeks that the Junk family intends to try at some point in the future:<br /><ul><li>Indian</li><li>Chinese (<span style="font-style: italic;">real</span> Chinese food, not Americanized dishes)</li><li>Caribbean or South American</li><li>Middle Eastern</li><li>Greek</li><li>French<br /></li></ul>Happy eating! :-)<br /><br />EDIT: <i>JunkMale would like to add that if anyone has any suggestions for specific recipes within any of these prospective cuisines, please share it in the comments!</i>Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-8974640898799321152009-03-24T19:15:00.004-04:002009-03-25T09:28:43.465-04:00WFMW: Ethnic Food Weeks<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316817634619504866" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 200px; height: 150px;" alt="stock image - coconuts" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_avUUQxpy30o/SckheA8HOOI/AAAAAAAABHo/6ZblaIawmFw/s200/1153822_coconut_3.jpg" border="0" /><br />I love to eat ethnic food: Chinese, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Korean, Mexican, Thai, and lots of others. But have you ever noticed that when you make a dish like curry you have to buy a bunch of ingredients like coconut milk or curry paste that you don't use for any of your other recipes? Or how about when you're making chili and you have that leftover half container of sour cream or salsa that you can never seem to find a use for? Or how many times have you wasted half a can of tomato paste because you only needed a couple of tablespoons? So much waste, it hardly seems worth it to make the delicious foreign foods. So here's what <a href="http://www.wearethatfamily.com/2009/03/wfmw-second-hand.html">works for me</a> - ethnic food weeks.<br /><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfiGlTWz1LxNsspzIR3B7nJF2ceDdEez0rlyAJmH_CfvTVa87WmfSZAkd4aHoyukUCs368V_94SyZ_rKTSAu1e6IRezGcPT8T-Tfv3pJMJDPH9J4tZQyaEOdrFF4QdZBen2TljJA/s200/263569_coriander_cilantro.jpg" alt="stock image - cilantro" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316817958980033794" border="0" />This week is Southeast Asian week. That $2 bottle of fish sauce I bought? I'll be using it in every single recipe this week: red curry, Vietnamese spring rolls, Thai coconut soup, and pad thai. So I'm not wasting $2 on a bottle of fish sauce for just 1 Tbs of use. And the half can of coconut milk left over from making the curry, which would usually end up being thrown out, it's being used for the coconut soup. The bunch of cilantro I bought for the spring rolls, the extra can be used as garnish for <span style="font-style: italic;">all</span> the other dishes.<br /><br />Taking a week or so tour of a certain ethnic cuisine is a great way to make sure you use up all those exotic ingredients that are specific to one style of cooking. It's also a great way to get a lot out of your budget, because most ingredients you buy will have more than one use during the week. Plus, many foreign cuisines rely less on meat than many American meals. And the longer you continue to eat from the same cuisine, the bigger the economic benefits. Take our famed <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2008/03/big-shopping-trip.html" title="Thou and Thou Only - Big Shopping Trip">Korean food month experiment</a>.<br /><br />So give it a try yourself, and please let me know how it works out for you!Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-76445905283042860842009-01-15T12:46:00.003-05:002009-01-15T13:06:20.829-05:00Homemade Convenience Foods<a href="http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2009/01/velveeta-cheap-food-canned-soup-spam.html?disqus_reply=5145959#comment-5145959">A post at The Common Room</a> (which is not exactly related to this and is totally worth the read) got me thinking about homemade convenience foods. No, I'm not talking about homemade versions of store-bought convenience foods. Though they are more frugal, they are often not very convenient to make. I am talking about real food that is convenient to make.<br /><br />Most people know that store-bought convenience foods are not only expensive, but they have almost no nutritional value. But many people these days think themselves too busy to make an actual meal.* So I started to think about what real foods, made from real, healthy ingredients could be turned into good food in roughly the same time as a convenience meal like "blue box" macaroni and cheese (about 15 minutes) or instant mashed potatoes (about 5).<br /><br />For example, a microwaved "baked" potato. Wash the potato, prick it with a fork a few times, and microwave it for about 5 minutes (the one I had for lunch today only took 4 minutes). Fruit is obviously a convenience food. You do have to wash it, and sometimes you even have to cut it up, but I can't think of a fruit that takes longer than a couple of minutes to prepare. Salads are another good choice. A salad consisting of vegetables that aren't pre-washed or pre-chopped takes about 10 minutes to prepare. Another convenience food is eggs. Scrambled or fried, they take less time to make than a microwave dinner. Boiled, they take 10 to 15 minutes (I prefer 10), but then they make a perfect travel food. <br /><br />So what else am I missing? What real foods take less than 15 minutes to prepare from start to finish?<br /><br />*Whether or not people are <span style="font-style: italic;">actually</span> too busy to cook is an entirely different blog post. Suffice it to say that I think most people aren't too busy, they're just either too lazy or know too little about how to cook.Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-30255617677743401342008-12-01T13:37:00.002-05:002008-12-01T13:49:55.802-05:00News you don't want to hearI took one of the cars in for routine maintenance today, and it was a major maintenance (120k) so we were expecting a big bill. Well, turns out the battery is almost dead - I'm not surprised about that one; it's been having issues starting for about 2 weeks now - the steering fluid is a mess, and there's another major repair that needs to be done. And the other car needs to go in soon, too. In other words, we're looking at about $1000 in car repairs right before Christmas and right before about $2500 in tuition needs to be paid.<br /><br />*sigh* I'm grateful that we do have the money to cover all these bills, but it's going to be really tight for a while. Maybe it's time for another <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2008/03/big-shopping-trip.html">Korean food month</a>?Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-46673630736586781802008-10-03T09:00:00.005-04:002008-10-03T10:11:27.249-04:00No Cable? Yes PleaseA couple of days ago, we were on the way to church and listening to the radio. Someone mentioned a large sum of money, like $250 billion or so. We marveled at how much money that was, and that it was probably more money than any normal person would know what to do with. So we started counting ways we would buy if we were <i>trying</i> to spend it all. Obligatory talk of building a dream home (wrap-around porch and a good basement are "necessities" in our dream home), building a mountain cabin, good speakers for sound system, flat screen TV....cable TV?<br /><br /><aside><br />Allow me to save face for a minute, for after all, "Riches we heed not." These things we named are NOT things that we constantly drool over and aspire towards as our life goals. We were just trying to figure out how on earth we could spend $250 billion if we absolutely had to. Like, if someone were held a gun to our heads and said "Spend." (but not that severe)<br /></aside><br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_avUUQxpy30o/SOYkPrFBj6I/AAAAAAAAAwU/ZYaQshs30pk/s200/999215_huge_tv_set.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252925867054698402" />No, when we got to cable TV, neither of us had any desire to subscribe. This is not to say that we don't enjoy a few TV shows every now and then. We liked, and still do like, Mythbusters, although we haven't watched an episode in about a year. And well, uh...I must sheepishly admit that I'm hooked on the Terminator TV series. So much for shunning popular culture, huh? That is the first show since Star Trek Voyager (which ended in May 2001) that I watch on a weekly basis.<br /><br />I just don't feel like I <i>need</i> cable anymore. Even when we go to houses that do have cable, we don't feel the urge to catch up on cable TV shows, like we did when we first got married and no longer had cable. It would be a waste of money for us too, since we would pay for all these channels and only watch about...3 or 4 of them. Two of those would probably be ESPN and ESPN2.<br /><br />I am not saying that having cable is immoral. Cable is what you make of it. In fact, you don't even need cable to watch lots of TV. I watch Terminator through the rabbit ears. Plenty of other popular shows are available on broadcast television, such as American Idol or Dancing with the Stars (or whatever else is popular right now, I don't really know). TV can be immoral depending on what you watch, or it can be a fairly neutral factor in your life. It can potentially also be a fattening factor in your life too. We try to minimize its effect on our life.<br /><br />What about you? Can you ditch the cable? Do you feel like you "need" cable? How many shows or channels do you watch? Or have you already ditched it?JunkMalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02619673168896233941noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-43145916872262316452008-08-12T07:42:00.000-04:002008-08-12T07:42:01.113-04:00Longevity of this Frugal TrendI get the feeling that frugality is viewed with much more favor these days, due to food and gas prices. I see more articles on non-frugality-based sites on how to stretch your money. Demand for gas guzzlers like SUVs is down. But how long will this last?<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_avUUQxpy30o/SKAp5xlpVOI/AAAAAAAAAtk/YzAuvBYg2qg/s1600-h/stock_old_gas_sign.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_avUUQxpy30o/SKAp5xlpVOI/AAAAAAAAAtk/YzAuvBYg2qg/s200/stock_old_gas_sign.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233228839545033954" /></a>I ask because on Sunday, I bought gas at about $3.66 per gallon. (I was buying from a wholesale store.) This is a major decrease from a couple of weeks ago. People complain and moan and groan about gas prices, but as the summer vacation months end and gas prices come down (hopefully), will people who took on frugal measures actually retain them? With decreases in gas prices, will people who don't need SUVs stop trying to pawn them away? I have a feeling that SUVs have not seen the last of the days. With cheaper gas, I think that people will be more content to stick with their gas guzzlers. (I give sympathy to those families who actually <i>need</i> gas guzzlers.)<br /><br />When I implement frugality in some area of my life, I find myself very reluctant to stop. Even more so if it's fairly easy and complication-free, such as selective decreased instances of toilet flushing (we do not implement this policy when we have guests, of course). Composting is another measure that I would find hard to let go. If it's simple to put into practice, I feel like I am wasting money in not doing it. <br /><br />(I used to save cold shower water in order to water our garden, but now we have a hose and it was always bit of a hassle to hand-water. We didn't save any money like that, since our water prices step up/down in big discrete chunks and not a continuous, per-gallon scale. We'd practically have to stop taking showers to get down to the next price step.)<br /><br />Of course, frugality depends on how much effort you're willing to put in, versus the benefit. Near the beginning of our marriage, we used to be diligent about buying Sunday papers and cutting coupons. This takes time, of course, and over the course of weeks and months, we found that many (if not most) of the coupons were for convenience or packaged products, which we are always looking to cut out of our diet. I can't remember the last time we bought a Sunday paper. But if we did subsist on lots of those types of foods, I would bet that we would be cutting coupons more often.JunkMalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02619673168896233941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-72093474071171781752008-08-02T18:36:00.000-04:002008-12-09T17:09:38.963-05:00Leveling Up the DIY-ness: Pressure CannerIf we were video game characters, we would have leveled up in "weirdness" today. We finally bought a pressure canner:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_avUUQxpy30o/SJTdAbX4c-I/AAAAAAAAAtE/8rmKy4GQurU/s1600-h/our_pressure_canner.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_avUUQxpy30o/SJTdAbX4c-I/AAAAAAAAAtE/8rmKy4GQurU/s400/our_pressure_canner.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230048066701652962" /></a><br /><br />It's something we'd been mentioning for a while, ever since we started getting more serious about gardening. The final straw came today. Actually, it's more accurate to say that the final straw was assembled over the past few days:<br /><ul><li>Harmony's mom brought us about 2 dozen peaches, of which we ate some and wanted to can the rest as jam.</li><br /><li>Spurred by good sales, Harmony bought more than 20 pounds of chicken parts, with the intention of making stock.</li></ul><br />The trouble is that she announced that we have no more room in either of our freezers for another gallon of chicken stock. Our chest freezer is chock full of frozen meats, about 10 pounds of blueberries (majority of which were picked by us and not pesticide sprayed), and Luna's food. Our fridge's freezer is chock full of Luna's meats and other vegetables. So due to lack of space, we took the plunge and bought a pressure canner. We haven't used it yet, but probably will in the next day or so (and I expect that Ginny will have some words of encouragement).<br /><br />In other news, I suffered a couple of minor injuries while helping Harmony with the chicken stock. She has me cut up the chicken wings in order to expose more marrow. I do this with kitchen shears, and parts of the wings require quite a bit of strength in order to break through. After a good number of wings, I checked to see why parts of my hands felt sort of achy. Thus the minor injuries, which I guess qualify me as an XtRemE ChKeN sToCkeR.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_avUUQxpy30o/SJTdAc5vYXI/AAAAAAAAAtM/f2FbRdWtoT8/s1600-h/chkn_stock_blister1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_avUUQxpy30o/SJTdAc5vYXI/AAAAAAAAAtM/f2FbRdWtoT8/s400/chkn_stock_blister1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230048067112100210" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_avUUQxpy30o/SJTdArs3SHI/AAAAAAAAAtU/FbhRn2nC61c/s1600-h/chkn_stock_blister2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_avUUQxpy30o/SJTdArs3SHI/AAAAAAAAAtU/FbhRn2nC61c/s400/chkn_stock_blister2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230048071084623986" /></a><br /><br />In real life, the blood blister is much more highly contrasted with the rest of the skin. There's no blister in the second picture; the little bit of raised skin you see is skin that I wore away whilst operating the scissors. Anyone else ever been injured while making chicken stock?JunkMalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02619673168896233941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-4669166860241237242008-04-29T07:04:00.001-04:002008-12-09T17:09:49.734-05:00A Well-Stocked Pantry<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYmd6jAQ80FgT_Q_aoJ4CZm06xwG55hQelBDb2aw2gGFoK3upd1ZiH6cMSQBhV5c70Bxsk84e0mObQa8tpcr7hKnCm-gMddd624dANNzReo7d42MrP18cNQwK9NtTnIk01jzKgg/s1600-h/grains.jpg" title="Our Stockpile of Grains/Beans"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYmd6jAQ80FgT_Q_aoJ4CZm06xwG55hQelBDb2aw2gGFoK3upd1ZiH6cMSQBhV5c70Bxsk84e0mObQa8tpcr7hKnCm-gMddd624dANNzReo7d42MrP18cNQwK9NtTnIk01jzKgg/s400/grains.jpg" alt="Our Stockpile of Grains/Beans" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5194440613374493026" border="0"></a><br /></div><br />Here you see the towering mountain which is our grain, bean, and sweetener supply - and the ferocious puppy who is guarding them ;-) The three large buckets on the bottom are soft wheat, hard white wheat, and rolled oats. More hard white wheat on the next row, followed by kidney beans, great northern beans, and popcorn. The next row up has hard red wheat, yellow corn, and barley. At the top (and most importantly, according to JM) are our sweeteners - evaporated honey and evaporated molasses.<br /><br />Much of this has been in our house for quite a while now. We've had white wheats, oats, and sweeteners for a very long time. But with the recent 'sky is falling' talk of <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2008/04/for-anyone-wondering-why-food-prices.html" title="Thou and Thou Only - Food Shortages">food prices on the rise and food rationing</a>, we took it upon ourselves to buy up items we had previously only considered (then discarded the thought of) buying in bulk before. Most of what we bought will keep about a decade before quality begins to decline (assuming they are stored at about 70°F or below, with low humidity). I would assume that we will eat through all this well before then, so no worries there.<br /><br />JunkMale adds: Don't be fooled into thinking that all these didn't make a gash in our account balance. It was a rather big gash, but probably smaller than it would've been, had we bought these items later this year (or in later years).Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-36776254918317692522008-04-23T10:04:00.004-04:002008-04-23T10:15:52.960-04:00Food ShortagesFor anyone wondering why <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/opinion/07krugman.html?hp">food prices are on the rise</a>:<br /><ul><li>bad harvest in Australia due to a bad drought</li><li>more third world (or former third world) residents are eating meat - 500 calories of grain needed to produce 100 calories of meat</li><li>agriculture is dependent on oil (fertilizer, machinery, transportation, etc), and the price of oil is on the rise</li><li>biofuels are eating up our corn and sugar supplies worldwide</li></ul>Corn and <a href="http://cbs5.com/wrapper_consumer/seenon/rice.shortage.rationing.2.705309.html">rice</a> are the worst problems in the US thus far. Corn because of biofuels and animal feed, and rice because... well, I'm not quite sure, but it's probably a trickle-down effect due to the fact that many of the nations that are facing the most severe crunches rely on rice as a primary food source.<br /><br />So. Be glad we're not in a country that relies on food imports, seriously consider growing your own food (especially crops that will store, like beans and grains), and try to find more room in that food budget!Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-36124933885006763632008-04-19T07:13:00.002-04:002008-12-09T17:09:51.899-05:00How To Make a Cheap Cold Frame<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_avUUQxpy30o/SAk7ImTvoUI/AAAAAAAAAbw/x1w02RypEtg/s1600-h/cheap_pvc_coldframe.JPG" title="Cheap PVC Cold Frame" target="newwindow"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_avUUQxpy30o/SAk7ImTvoUI/AAAAAAAAAbw/x1w02RypEtg/s400/cheap_pvc_coldframe.JPG" border="0" alt="Cheap PVC Cold Frame" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190745064429560130" /></a><br />Here is what I spent a large part of yesterday doing. Just to cover for myself, within the subset of this project, a large part of <i>that</i> time was spent running around returning things or buying things that I will get the first time around, next time.<br /><br />For those that don't know, a cold frame is sort of like a miniature greenhouse. Like greenhouses, they provide a few more degrees of warmth to young seedlings and allow you to start them outside a bit earlier in the gardening season. They could also be used to extend the gardening season when the weather starts getting colder. <br /><br />I was a bit late getting to this project. I'd been tossing the idea around since last season, but only now got around to it. Unfortunately, this will not see much use, as the weather should be just warm enough in a few days. But for those few days, we'll be able to use it. <br /><br />Now, here's the list of ingredients I bought:<br /><ul><li>Two (2) 3/4" diameter PVC pipe, 10 feet each.</li><br /><li>One (1) 1/2" diameter PVC pipe, 10 feet.</li><br /><li>8 PVC corners with side out (or outlet elbow connectors). These are what are at the vertices of the cold frame (a.k.a. pointy corners).</li><br /><li>8 1/2" male adapters. These are needed to attach PVC pipe to the outlet elbow connectors.</li><br /><li>Something clear for the sides. I used clear shower curtain liner from Target. $2.34. The dollar store might have some too. For the size I was making, I only needed one.</li></ul><br /><br />Making it is pretty self-explanatory. Make sure you buy enough PVC pipe for the dimensions that you want. Our's is 1.5 feet length x 2 feet width x 1.5 feet height. Once you have the pieces cut out...just put the PVC pipes into the connectors. <br /><br />You can see that I'm currently using clips to hold the shower curtain in place. This is not the best arrangement. If something pulls too hard on the curtain, it will come loose from the clips. I haven't figured out a better way yet.<br /><br /><b><u>Shower curtain saves you money</u></b><br />I had originally planned on making the cold frame out of Lexan. It would've looked much snazzier, but Lexan is <u>so(!)</u> much more expensive compared to PVC pipe, which is dirt dirt cheap. I had also bought 50 feet of 4 mil plastic tarp for the sides and top. That was $10, but I ended up using <u>clear shower curtain</u>, because I had wanted clear sides all along. I wanted as pure sunlight as possible reaching the seedlings. While the plastic tarp did let heat in, it was not clear. If you're on a tight budget, clear shower curtain is the material to use for the sides. <br /><br /><b><u>If using Velcro...</u></b><br />So, shower curtain is the first way to save some cash money. Next tip is if you use velcro to secure the top. We are planning to do this so we can vent the cold frame on too-hot days. On not-hot days, we wouldn't need rocks on top, which could fall inward and bust the shower curtain, forcing you to spend more money. So! About the money saving part. In this case, <u>do NOT buy the Velcro they have at the hardware store</u>. Buy Velcro from Walmart or a crafts store; it'll be cheaper, according to my wife. If the Velcro from the crafts store is not adhesive, I am thinking of using two-sided tape. I happen to have some already, so I won't need to spend more money on that.<br /><br /><b><u>Wasted trips are not frugal</u></b><br />I had to go back to Home Depot once to return a male adapter. I had nonchalantly reached into the box at Home Depot and grabbed 8. Well, just keep in mind that some dumb people will put wrong stuff back into the wrong boxes. Then some dumb people will come along and nonchalantly reach into the box and grab some without bothering to check the sizes. Driving a couple of miles to the store to return a $0.34 item is not very frugal. So make sure to check that you have all the right dimensions!<br /><br /><b><u>I'm a newbie</u></b><br />Of course, this is my first time making a cold frame. We haven't tested it out yet, and won't have much of a chance to. Perhaps some of my ideas are really bad. Maybe shower curtain won't stand up well to constant sunlight. Maybe PVC will cause us to sprout 2 more arms (which might be pretty useful). If I've made any bad suggestions, I'd appreciate it if you let me know.JunkMalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02619673168896233941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-76095513220385380602008-04-02T07:52:00.003-04:002008-05-14T06:29:48.779-04:00Closer Look at Local Foods and Recycling<a href="http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2008/03/environmentally-friendly.html" target="newwindow2">Headmistress</a>, in the comments in the <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2008/03/recollections-of-environmentalist-kool.html" target="newwindow3">latest post regarding environmentalism</a>, asks for our thoughts regarding April's Reader's Digest article on <a href="http://www.rd.com/special-reports/the-environment/conserve-your-energy/article54447-2.html" target="newwindow">easy ways to go green.</a><br /><br />One portion to which Headmistress refers mentions how buying locally grown foods might not be as good for the environment as one might think. Here is what Reader's Digest says about that:<br /><blockquote>If you want to support local farmers and love fresh food, fine, but don't assume you're helping the planet. Foods from farther away may be grown and shipped so much more efficiently (and cheaply) that they produce fewer greenhouse gases. "There are lots of good reasons to eat local," says David Victor, director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University. "But energy savings don't top the list, because local production often requires more trips than mechanized food production."</blockquote><br />I would've liked to have seen some numbers, being the science minded person that I am, but this is Reader's Digest, not Popular Science ;)<br /><br />This revelation is fine with me. <div class="pullquote">We hardly ever consider buying local foods because of environmental reasons. Why do we grow vegetables in our garden? Because it's fun, rewarding, and convenient.</div>When we buy local foods, our chief factors include freshness, taste, and price. Supporting the local farmers is also a secondary factor. We hardly ever consider buying local foods because of environmental reasons. Why do we grow vegetables in our garden? Among other things, because it's fun, rewarding, and convenient, although not without its share of disappointments from time to time (goodbye Chinese Giant bell peppers). It's a hobby that provides us with exercise and healthy food. It also gives us reason to re-use vegetable scraps, yard waste, and cardboard as compost.<br /><br />Something that I've not seen mentioned in articles about local food is the distance that you yourself drive to get these local goods. There is a popular grocery store in the Atlanta area. This store carries lots of organic and/or locally grown produce. This store also has a big parking lot, and lots of cars fill up that parking lot. I'm not one to be too concerned about carbon emissions, but I wonder how much gas the patrons could have saved if they just went to the grocery store closest to them? We, for instance, have a Publix within walking distance, and a Kroger within 5 minutes driving distance. It would take us about 20-25 minutes (without traffic delays) to get to this other grocery store. Luckily for us, we also have at least one big produce stand within a 10 minutes drive.<br /><br /><center><hr width="85%"></center><br />The article also mentions how certain items might not be worth recycling:<br /><blockquote>While it can make economic sense to recycle aluminum and paper, towns frequently lose money recycling glass and plastics because they're expensive to collect and aren't worth much. Go ahead and recycle plastic if it gives you pleasure -- you can feel virtuous about the energy savings. But there are easier and cheaper ways to reduce greenhouse emissions.</blockquote><br />This is something I've wondered about before. How much more energy does it take to recycle? How much pollution does a recycling plant belch out? Is recycling cost-effective? Maybe we aren't really being as resource-friendly as we thought, since we hardly <i>ever</i> drink soda, and thus hardly ever have aluminum to recycle. Most of our recycling items are paper and plastics. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling" target="newwindow">Wikipedia's article on recycling </a>has both advocacy and criticism, as I would expect from an encyclopedic article.<br /><br />(It is interesting to note that John Tierney, who wrote this Reader's Digest article, also wrote a New York Times article that is cited in the Wikipedia entry above. His 1996 NYT article is titled "<a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE1DF1339F933A05755C0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1" target="newwindow4">Recycling is Garbage</a>." I'm assuming it's the same John Tierney, although I could be wrong.)<br /><br />I don't know who to trust on this issue. At least with other controversial issues such as canine raw diets, I directly observe the results and evidence that it is beneficial and healthful. With recycling, I think it's hard for an average citizen to observe beneficial or harmful results. I think we'll stick with recycling, although maybe it's government elementary school brainwashing that's controlling me ;)<br /><br />Again, my chief reasons for recycling do not include "helping the environment." I'd say my chief reason is conserving resources, which I hope it actually does. I hate to see things wasted, which means I halfway freak out whenever we go out to eat. <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2007/02/wasting-food.html" target="newwindow5">Have you seen how much food people waste??</a>JunkMalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02619673168896233941noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-88453284113354328512008-03-31T12:44:00.006-04:002008-03-31T18:44:50.347-04:00Omelet Rice, Chicken Soup, and Spicy Rice CakesThe Korean food experiment continues (today is day 20), even though I'm not blogging about it as frequently. My cold/spring allergies has made me much less of a cook recently than I would have liked to have been. Oh well. Here's a long-overdue update on how things are going.<br /><br />East Asians are very creative at using up their leftover rice. After a while, cooked rice starts getting dry and even more bland, so what do you do with it? There's always the fried rice route, which is very common. Koreans call it 볶음밥 ("bokk eum bab"), which means 'mixed rice'. JunkMale's dad is an expert at making kimchi fried rice. One of the other great ways to use up old rice (and the one that I used recently on our old rice) is omelet rice. Koreans and Japanese make this dish, and both cultures call it <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omurice">omurice</a>. In Korean circles, it's often written as OM rice (as in the recipe <a href="http://weblog.xanga.com/koreancooking/427631228/item.html">here</a>, which also happens to the be recipe I used). It's a wonderful meal, and you couldn't even tell that our rice was old, dry, and tasteless. JunkMale enjoyed his OM rice with ketchup and hot sauce, although he also says that using gochujang (Korean fermented hot pepper paste) is really good. I just had mine with ketchup. I don't usually like ketchup with my eggs, but I must admit that with the fried rice, it worked really well. This dish is one of the American-palate options. There's nothing strange to us Americans about fried rice, and adding an omelet to it makes it sort of a cross between fried rice and egg foo young. If you use the healthier brown rice and beans option rather than white rice, you might even find that this becomes a very healthy dinner.<br /><br />One of my all-time favorite Korean foods is 닭죽 ("dak jook"). That literally means chicken porridge, and it's essentially chicken and rice soup with enough liquid boiled away to make it a porridge consistency. Similar to dak jook, but this time a soup rather than a porridge, is another dish we had recently: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samgyetang">삼계탕</a> ("sam gye tang"). Samgyetang is a famous dish in Korea, usually eaten on the hottest days of the year. The soup consists of chicken, sweet rice (I used brown), lots of garlic (I used an entire bulb), one or two pieces of ginseng, and about 5 or 6 dried jujubes. The recipe I followed called for about 5 or 6 chestnuts as well, and it's not uncommon for samgyetang to call for a whole cacophony of Chinese medicinal herbs and roots. Samgyetang is traditionally a medicinal soup that you eat in order to ward off disease.<br /><br />You're supposed to stuff the cavity of the chicken with the rice, but honestly, when using brown rice you get a better end result if you just put the rice in the pot with the rest of the ingredients. Here's how simple samgyetang is: add all ingredients to a stock pot. Add water to cover, bring to a boil. Simmer for 1 hour. Serve. Many Korean soups and porridges are traditionally served unseasoned. The diners then add salt and pepper to their own bowls to suit their taste.<br /><br />JunkMale and I don't really like the jujubes, so in the future we would not use them. JunkMale thinks that samgyetang is not very filling, so be forewarned - the men out there might need some more substantial side dishes. Personally, I love a good soup for lunch; it's so satisfying!<br /><br />Lastly, our dinner tonight: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ddeokbokki">떡볶이</a> ("ddeok bokk ee"), which means something like mixed rice cakes. This is a VERY spicy dish that is extremely popular with especially young ladies in Korea. Ddeokbokki is commonly served by street vendors, and there is some amount of pride in who can handle the spiciest ddeokbokki (not me!). I may not be able to handle a lot of spice, but I do certainly love my ddeokbokki! The ddeokbokki I made tonight was the least spicy I've ever had it. That's a good thing for those in our reading audience (Mom!) who might have some trouble with spices.<br /><br />Tonight I actually made <a href="http://mykoreankitchen.com/2007/01/15/sugar-high-stir-fried-rice-cake-and-noodles-rabokki-in-korean/">rabokki</a>, which is simply ddeokbokki with ramen noodles added (just the noodles, not the spice pack - and I was sure to check the ingredient list to make sure there were no undesirables in it!). I took her suggestion and cut the sugar down to 2 Tbs. It was plenty sweet for us. Also, I found that I needed an extra 1/2 cup of water and one extra scoop of gochujang to make it taste like 'real' ddeokbokki. True connoisseurs would probably say that this was bland, not <span style="font-style: italic;">nearly</span> spicy enough. The noodles were a nice addition; an extra 300 calories or so spread out the entire dish for only $0.14. It was a bit strange; when I had a taste of some noodles that were very thickly covered in the sauce, it reminded me a bit of Chef Boyardee spaghetti. Not the flavor, per se, but the texture was just right.<br /><br />The current expenditures total $190. There are officially only 8 days to go (and if it only lasted us that long, we would still come in at budget), but there is food enough for at least 17 more days. Probably longer; in 3 weeks, we have eaten through 7 of our 10 main dishes. I will need to make another trip to the Korean market soon to buy mung beans (for mung bean pancakes), tofu, and lotus root. We will need to buy eggs, at least two more gallons of milk, radishes, beef, garlic, onions and potatoes before we're through with the experiment. Other than that, I think we're sort of coasting. The estimated cost of all this comes to approximately $30. For five weeks, that would average $44 a week. If the food lasts for six weeks (as I'm expecting it to), it would average $37 a week. For perspective, we spend an average of $50 a week on American food, and I had to buy a lot of our Korean food at once during the big shopping trip. Much of that food will not need to be bought again for a long time. So, all initial results suggest that this experiment will be a great success.<br /><br />Seriously; you should try it, too. ;-)Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-9794600693610464062008-03-13T13:24:00.007-04:002008-12-09T17:09:58.293-05:00The big shopping tripEdit: For those of you coming from <a href="http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/2008/03/frugal-friday-keep-it-simple.html">Frugal Friday</a>, my husband and I are embarking on an experiment. We are planning to only eat Korean food for the next 4 weeks. My husband is Korean, which is why we chose that particular cuisine. What follows is a discussion of the food I bought for that month-long experiment, as well as an analysis of the cost.<br /><br />There is a saying in Korean that there is so much food that the table legs are going to break. That is how I felt putting all this food on our tiny little table! I spent too much time at the Korean market today, and I bought just about everything that I believe we will need for the next four weeks, except those foods which can be bought at American grocery stores or food which might go bad before the end of the month. In the picture below, you can see: dish gloves that actually fit my hands (you can't see it in the picture, but it says "미니손" on the gloves, which means "mini hands"); wooden chopsticks, since they are easier to use than metal chopsticks; 다시마 (kelp for making broth); black sesame seeds; garlic; 고추장 (fermented hot red pepper paste); 어묵, formerly known by the Japanese name 오뎅, but really just fish cake; pine nuts; green onion; ginger; Korean radish; jalapenos; potatoes; and green squash. Not visible in the picture is a bag of mung bean sprouts.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKaMVyUI5V7OuMe9N5j2ACFfN73MyZQ8wyKD7YFV1KqmiO1GHXrU0tcvR4F6PpMPVXIXdCTuoVKhyL8cX7urhWo7RfAoOHZhRq4YGVkQQPfjpCOe0x0g-KbAoE9eysps-rv3Jp5g/s1600-h/IMG_3344.JPG"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKaMVyUI5V7OuMe9N5j2ACFfN73MyZQ8wyKD7YFV1KqmiO1GHXrU0tcvR4F6PpMPVXIXdCTuoVKhyL8cX7urhWo7RfAoOHZhRq4YGVkQQPfjpCOe0x0g-KbAoE9eysps-rv3Jp5g/s400/IMG_3344.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5177279671439871522" border="0" /></a><br />On the other side of the table, we have: "삼계탕 stuff" (that's really how it was labeled in the store!), which is dried chestnuts, jujubes, ginseng, and sweet rice, all of which is used in a chicken dish called "sam gye tang"; dried cod fillet; hot pepper flakes; dried anchovies; brown sweet rice; garlic powder; 2 small packages and 2 large ones of tofu; 2 small packages of mung bean jelly; 오징어무침 (sweet and spicy dried squid); "marinara mix", which is really just several different types of frozen seafood (shrimp, octopus, squid, etc); strange looking 떡볶이 떡 - rice cake for a very spicy stir fry dish (usually it's long and cylindrical, but they didn't have any of that kind there today... this looks like it's marketed to kids because of the fun shapes); red cod fillets; and fresh kimchi.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmfuqcMRGu5aqoh49W4xATT4SLLfx69FgnP9oibxX8BO07ZFmPUkP7tBeJciWtz704hwF18ujBQqUUTriSxSKJbOuyOfXsdEt_2MXBMJVu8v_iLyElT0v7uOz6x3BOeRHXvcHJg/s1600-h/IMG_3345.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmfuqcMRGu5aqoh49W4xATT4SLLfx69FgnP9oibxX8BO07ZFmPUkP7tBeJciWtz704hwF18ujBQqUUTriSxSKJbOuyOfXsdEt_2MXBMJVu8v_iLyElT0v7uOz6x3BOeRHXvcHJg/s400/IMG_3345.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5177279697209675314" border="0" /></a><br />Wow. Now if only we had ample room in our kitchen to store all of this....<br /><br />For those who are curious, the bill for all this food came to $76.16. That's not bad, considering how long it is supposed to last us. Estimating the cost of other food items I will need to buy later on in the month (chicken, beef, peppers, onions, etc - food items whose prices I am familiar with), the estimated cost of eating Korean food for 4 weeks comes to $135, or $33.75 a week. Considering our weekly food budget is $50 (I typically spend between $40 and $60 a week), I would say that Korean food <span style="font-weight: bold;">is</span> slightly cheaper than American food, although possibly not <span style="font-style: italic;">significantly </span>cheaper once you add in snacks and non-food grocery. Of course, if I knew we were going to be eating Korean food for the next <span style="font-style: italic;">three</span> months, I would have bought larger quantities of the non-perishables (hot pepper paste, rice, kimchi, etc), thus reducing the cost per week even further - and probably making the difference significant. What's more, as my husband can tell you, a menu that is supposed to last a month in our house might last for a month and a half. If that is the case, the cost per week for eating Korean food is an astonishing $22.50 - <span style="font-style: italic;">less than half the cost of eating American food</span>.<br /><br />Of course, nothing can be determined until all the food is eaten and the final grocery bill is tabulated. So I guess you'll just have to keep coming back to read all the juicy details. ;-)Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-34040541037938947242008-03-12T14:55:00.006-04:002008-12-09T17:09:58.552-05:00Korean Food Experiment<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEged8rZLD2J43SMl1IQob51iNV4XKSBw56Azk61VGZ1ufGhNs8SDP90g8XXmVUua4EZvO0OxcCE0k9wKpgliNSQEDvl-TePJIKXRloiAPiYwprf5ksY6o5JG2QdBzDPTuYpzoXN7A/s1600-h/IMG_3340.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEged8rZLD2J43SMl1IQob51iNV4XKSBw56Azk61VGZ1ufGhNs8SDP90g8XXmVUua4EZvO0OxcCE0k9wKpgliNSQEDvl-TePJIKXRloiAPiYwprf5ksY6o5JG2QdBzDPTuYpzoXN7A/s400/IMG_3340.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176982047386127890" border="0" /></a><br />Inquiring minds want to know: is eating Korean food cheaper long-term than American food? Will eating Korean food - which tends to be lower in meats and fats but higher in vegetables and carbs than American food - be better for our health? JunkMale and I intend to find out. For the next 4 weeks or so, we will attempt to go on a Korean diet.<br /><br />The picture above is from after our dinner tonight and right before our dessert of fruit. At the bottom of the picture is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japchae">잡채 (japchae)</a>, which JM's mom sent home with us yesterday. Since I am not able to go to the Korean market until tomorrow, the side dishes were a bit lacking. From the left around clock-wise is <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2007/06/healthy-rice-in-korea.html">mixed rice</a>, <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2007/04/korean-potatoes-and-molasses-cookies.html">potatoes</a>, and seaweed. Dessert will be mangoes and oranges, again courtesy of JM's mom. :-D<br /><br />Our weekly grocery budget is $50. So, for this 4-week experiment, the goal budget is $200. Everything we ate tonight was either given to us for free, or we already had around the house. I made a trip to the good old American grocery store earlier today to buy 2 gallons of organic milk (on sale!!), 18 Eggland's Best eggs, soy milk, cereal (OK, so we're still having American breakfasts... but in our defense, that's what we ate at the in-law's), and a few non-food items. The total spent so far is $20.<br /><br />Tomorrow is the big spending day, as I make a trip to the Korean market. Unlike with American food, I will probably not be able to make a weekly shopping trip there, so I will have to buy just as much food as I think we will eat before it spoils.<br /><br />I will keep you posted on how things go!Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-90910949058825390542008-01-11T11:15:00.000-05:002008-01-11T11:32:30.646-05:005 Ways We Saved in 2007Because <a href="http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/2008/01/frugal-friday-five-painless-ways-we.html">Crystal</a> wants to know.....<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1) Automatic transfers</span> - Every week, a certain amount of JunkMale's paycheck gets <span style="font-style: italic;">automatically</span> transferred to our savings account and retirement account. This is so easy to do, you don't have to think about it, and it comes out before you ever see it. Our working budget every month starts out <span style="font-style: italic;">after </span>that money leaves, so we never even miss it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2) Bringing lunch to work</span> - I don't think JunkMale has ever eaten out for lunch at work. That's nearly unheard of, really, but it saves <span style="font-style: italic;">so</span> much money.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3) Cooking from scratch</span> - Not only is it healthier, it's also much cheaper and tastier than packaged foods. That's not to say that we never ate packaged food in 2007, but the overwhelming percentage of our food was homemade.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4) Not having cable TV</span> - We hardly miss it, and it would cost us about $50 to $100 a month. No thank you!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Buying used (or old) instead of new </span>- A scratch 'n dent appliance costs just over half what a new one costs, does the same job, and carries the same warranty. Thrift stores and amazon.com's marketplace are also good places to get great deals on used merchandise. A new computer game is about $50. If you wait two or three years, <span style="font-style: italic;">then</span> buy it, you'll pay $15 or less. The longer it's on the market, the less you'll have to pay. Don't insist on the newest gadgets, and your budget will thank you. :)Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-66991423164074323022007-12-08T09:00:00.000-05:002008-12-09T17:10:05.628-05:00Our New Freezer!<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">yesterday, mommy and daddy (m/d) took me in the car. we went to someone else's house and switched cars (daddy said he borrowed a "truk"). it was a bit scary at first, because i didn't know what was going on. but a while later, we eventually got home with what m/d call a "freezer." they were very excited about it, but i didn't know why.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">then m/d said we could save money on buying my food if we had one of these freezers! i've heard m/d mention different sorts of meats they would for me to try. mmm, meat! m/d said they could get better deals on meats if they buy in bulk.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">here are some pictures that daddy took of the new freezer:</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQEZzlv9IHFeWDcEzV3KBNADvHdFBxk8zx5zqGx81pDJt8vEYM9WCzuZEnw89VYKHlYq5D5GwuP7AnB4EUn9uYRnEEZDBBcHJeK0Qi8e9T0xQKyDeeg9esqwp0uvNY7xGEHZziMQ/s1600-h/freezer2.jpg" target="newwindow"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQEZzlv9IHFeWDcEzV3KBNADvHdFBxk8zx5zqGx81pDJt8vEYM9WCzuZEnw89VYKHlYq5D5GwuP7AnB4EUn9uYRnEEZDBBcHJeK0Qi8e9T0xQKyDeeg9esqwp0uvNY7xGEHZziMQ/s400/freezer2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5141401876338519922" border="0" /></a><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyt7jI02OVSrOGRJOT3x8eFgKRLllbDJw45hyphenhyphenB3ggKsnyvHpcg1em3EOKd8VssdHV9JU4yxWhY1Acnc8pZUa7_Mzd2cSvtGh2lEfmXVncDqJgkVKoQDeCuKCawOKfgUBpgfvIkAw/s1600-h/freezer3.jpg%20" target="newwindow"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyt7jI02OVSrOGRJOT3x8eFgKRLllbDJw45hyphenhyphenB3ggKsnyvHpcg1em3EOKd8VssdHV9JU4yxWhY1Acnc8pZUa7_Mzd2cSvtGh2lEfmXVncDqJgkVKoQDeCuKCawOKfgUBpgfvIkAw/s400/freezer3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5141401880633487234" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">and here's their indoor freezer now (it was much messier and more full before).</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9Y85zsQb6TmhozAtKjEqU3RTREG-E9YR-uhLmT9Ba3uMnz73Q32WRXZ-rrx8up1PN2JqWa0PAFYcKAZY34xHeOlKGjcdqxaYYxirCokes3sEcV3uJ54a_vdYqMOJ0n4-qrdS7w/s1600-h/freezer1.jpg" target="newwindow"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9Y85zsQb6TmhozAtKjEqU3RTREG-E9YR-uhLmT9Ba3uMnz73Q32WRXZ-rrx8up1PN2JqWa0PAFYcKAZY34xHeOlKGjcdqxaYYxirCokes3sEcV3uJ54a_vdYqMOJ0n4-qrdS7w/s400/freezer1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5141401872043552610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">you can't see it in the garage freezer, but mommy brought me home some new foods yesterday! she said she got rabbit and frog legs. i can't wait to try them! if only my brothers and sister could see me now. daddy was wondering if m/d could bring me home "mice" from the pet store to give to me. i like fresh food, so i was excited about it, but mommy said "NO." i barked at her to try to change her mind, but i don't think it worked. i'm gonna send mommy to obedience school the first chance i get!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">daddy took a picture of me posting this blog entry.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-RNic_El2VfQ-QqJVgsbSu-_fq4XQZNmnPqyFC2pRVrUVAlzhcXgvIuvsaXqBEPEwxtKLKcaWZ6jey8Z4eUGa4C_u3S9BkRpBfjdwLhpoX16jXWzyCcx4XHYmlPTM5E8G2zkDQ/s1600-h/luna_blogpost.jpg" target="newwindow"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-RNic_El2VfQ-QqJVgsbSu-_fq4XQZNmnPqyFC2pRVrUVAlzhcXgvIuvsaXqBEPEwxtKLKcaWZ6jey8Z4eUGa4C_u3S9BkRpBfjdwLhpoX16jXWzyCcx4XHYmlPTM5E8G2zkDQ/s400/luna_blogpost.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5141401884928454546" border="0" /></a></span>Lunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312164595442853966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-37838538326975911752007-12-05T11:24:00.000-05:002007-12-05T12:04:39.824-05:00Emergency MealsI'm apparently the last person on Earth to attempt today's <a href="http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/2007/12/works-for-me-wh.html">WFMW</a>, but I do have a few ideas for quick, last-minute meals. They're all fairly frugal, too. Here they are, in no particular order:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Fake, Fast, Lower-fat Alfredo</span> (this tastes nothing like real alfredo, but it's still yummy!)<br />1 can evaporated milk<br />1/2 tsp garlic powder (or to taste)<br />2 Tbs butter<br />1/2 cup milk<br />1 tsp cornstarch<br />1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese<br /><br />Simmer evaporated milk, butter and garlic powder until butter is melted. Mix milk and cornstarch. Add to pan, simmer until thickened. Add parmesan. Serve over noodles.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Broccoli Noodles</span> (our adapted version of the <a href="http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2007/02/asian-broccoli-noodles.html">Headmistress' recipe.</a> JunkMale hates broccoli, but he scarfs this down!)<br />1/2 lb spaghetti noodles<br />2 Tbs peanut butter (or a mix of tahini and peanut butter)<br />1/4 cup soy sauce<br />1/2 tsp sesame oil (optional)<br />1 Tbs sugar (or honey)<br />3 cloves garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)<br />3 Tbs water or broth<br />2 Tbs lemon juice<br />2 Tbs fresh ginger (or 1/4 tsp ground ginger - but fresh is best)<br />1 package frozen broccoli (we prefer florets, but whatever works for you)<br /><br />Cook noodles. Combine all ingredients from peanut butter to ginger in bowl. Saute broccoli in a large pan with a bit of oil. Pour in sauce, bring to simmer. Drain and add noodles. Toss to coat.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Fish, potatoes, and veggies</span> (usually no more than 30 minutes from start to finish)<br /><br />Frozen fish filets to feed your family, seasoned as you like<br />1 potato per person<br />1 clove garlic per person (optional)<br />milk (optional)<br />butter<br />Frozen or canned vegetables<br /><br />I get really thin fish filets (usually tilapia), so they cook up in about 25 minutes right out of the freezer. We like to season our fish with lemon juice, smart balance "butter", and garlic. Teriyaki seasoning works well, too. In a real pinch, you could use the pre-seasoned or breaded frozen fish.<br /><br />Wash the potatoes, then either prick them with a fork and microwave each for 5 minutes (for baked), OR coarsely chop them and boil with the garlic cloves for 15 to 20 minutes (for garlic mashed), then drain and mash all together, with some milk and butter.<br /><br />Cook veggies in microwave or on stove. Season as desired.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Grandmother's Chicken soup</span><br />cooked chicken to taste<br />3 cans tomatoes, in juice AND equal amount of chicken broth (or water + bouillon)<br />1 can corn, drained (or frozen)<br />1 can peas, drained (or frozen)<br />1 can carrots, drained (or frozen)<br />1 can butter beans, drained (or frozen)<br />1 or 2 stalks celery, chopped to manageable size<br />ANY other vegetable you want<br /><br />Dump all into a stock pot. Bring to a boil. Simmer until vegetables are done enough. Serve with biscuits! (see below)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Homemade </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,164,147181-240202,00.html">drop biscuits</a> take no more than 10 minutes to mix (more like 5), 10 minutes to bake and are an excellent meal when split and topped with a scrambled egg and cheese, chicken salad, or even just butter and jelly. Or just use as a side dish.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">*A very basic homemade macaroni and cheese</span> takes no longer than the boxed kind - just boil the noodles, mix in a microwave safe dish with shredded sharp cheddar, then microwave for 5 minutes stirring halfway through. Serve with vegetables.<br /><br />Check out <a href="http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/2007/12/works-for-me-wh.html">Rocks In My Dryer</a> for more great ideas. :-)Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-9437278277634824852007-11-16T15:41:00.000-05:002007-11-16T15:43:05.861-05:00What would you do with $300 cash back?I have been watching the news on TV using our rabbit ears for the past few weeks, and there is a certain commercial that comes on - it seems like <span style="font-style: italic;">every</span> commercial break - that really annoys me. It is an ad for TV, internet, phone, and wireless service. The deal is that you pay $100 a month, and just for signing up you get $300 cash back.<br /><br />So they go around on the streets asking people what they would do with that $300. Now, I don't know about you, but I think that if <span style="font-style: italic;">I</span> were given $300 back for signing up to pay $100 a month, I would be using that money to cover the first 3 months of service, right? But, no, not these people they interviewed. Out of the 6 responses they show, only one is what I would consider a judicious use of the money, and most of the responses seem outright selfish. Here they are:<br /><ul><li>some "really awesome" concert tickets</li><li> take his girlfriend out to eat someplace nice<br /></li><li>grocery shopping - thank you, frugal Asian lady with a toddler! ;-)</li><li>tickets to the game</li><li>MP3 player</li><li>salsa lessons</li></ul>I will say that I do appreciate the young man who would spend his money on someone he loves. Now, it might just be me, but I think that if you couldn't afford those concert tickets before the $300 cash back, you shouldn't be signing a contract to pay $100 a month for a year or more to this company. Or am I totally off base?<br /><br />So tell me, what would <span style="font-style: italic;">you</span> do with that $300?Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-46463929176007997722007-09-20T20:01:00.000-04:002008-12-09T17:10:13.328-05:00Seed savingHave you ever wondered how Walmart is able to sell seeds for $0.30 or even $0.10 a package? The answer is quite simple: because vegetables, like every other living thing on this planet (except for <span style="font-style: italic;">certain groups</span> of humans), want to fill the world with as many of their offspring as the world can hold. This means seed saving is <i>easy</i> and <i>cheap</i>!<br /><br />I have a small patio garden with peas, beans, peppers, and basil, and with a few tomato plants and marigolds in the ground. That's pretty much it. And, as you can see from the pictures below, we have saved more seeds this year than we will be able to use next year. The inconvenience was minimal, and the result is that we will not have to purchase seeds for next year's garden.<br /><br />You, too, can save seeds for your own use. Here's a quick how-to guide for some seeds we saved this season:<br /><ul><li>Beans, peas, pole beans - Leave a few pods on the plant until the pods turn dry. The seeds might need a few extra days indoors to dry. Be sure to choose healthy plants that exhibit the traits you want to pass on to the next generation.</li><li>Peppers - Let the peppers fully mature on the plant. When you are cutting up the pepper to eat, remove the seeds and let them dry. Only choose healthy-looking seeds from healthy peppers.</li><li>Basil, marigolds, etc - When the flowers have dried up, remove the seeds from the flowers. There will be an abundant harvest. :)</li><li>Watermelon - Put seeds into a large bowl filled with water and a drop of dish soap. Discard any seeds that float. Dry completely on a paper towel.<br /></li><li>Tomatoes - Scoop the seeds with their 'goo' into a small container. Add a tablespoon or so of water, cover the container with plastic wrap, and poke a hole or two into the plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place, stirring every day or so. After about three days, strain out the seeds from the now-fermented (eew!) mess. Or, rather, have your husband do it. :) Let the seeds dry <span style="font-style: italic;">completely</span> on a paper towel.</li></ul>One important thing to note. Some plants don't cross-pollinate very easily. Most of the ones I'm growing fit into that category. But you should always be careful with planting more than one variety of the same plant. Try to put them on opposite sides of the garden if you can.<br /><br />Next year I intend to branch out into saving lettuce, spinach, carrot, squash, and garlic. I store the seeds in labled 2x3 plastic bags, and I put the bags in a storage container with silica gel and dried milk pouches. All this goes in a cool place for use next year.<br /><br />Difficult? Not at all. Inconvenient? Not in the least. <a href="http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/2007/09/frugal-fridays-winner-and-announcement.html">Frugal</a>? You bet!<br /><br />I do have some extra seeds from the summer harvest that I am willing to trade. If you have seeds you'd like to send me (whether you saved them yourself or not -- they could just be extra seeds you're not going to use anymore), drop me an email and we'll have an old-fashioned seed exchange. :) If you don't have anything to trade, you can send me a self-addressed stamped envelope -- but if you've read what I wrote above, you'll know that's *way* too much to pay for seeds! Still, if you are determined, I will accommodate. Except in the case of the peppers, I'm planning on giving each trader 25 seeds of their chosen variety. If you do not think that is a fair trade, just let me know and we'll work something out.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_jSUYeyJztcOFGkIhI8X_Pv_Xm04QXWqLGJo5pK85pqKYniH53Xoedi4W-nrO0p1QAIZMt3vH0d70c8Y4fM8qqoL3zeZwytx71plj4d1LtKFfrn4v55Ar4jOFMGiMJHstZ8ZGg/s1600-h/IMG_3113.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_jSUYeyJztcOFGkIhI8X_Pv_Xm04QXWqLGJo5pK85pqKYniH53Xoedi4W-nrO0p1QAIZMt3vH0d70c8Y4fM8qqoL3zeZwytx71plj4d1LtKFfrn4v55Ar4jOFMGiMJHstZ8ZGg/s200/IMG_3113.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112435746076997826" border="0" /></a><br />These are sweet basil seeds, and there are a few hundred more seeds in the backyard right now, waiting to be harvested. There's nothing extremely exciting about these in particular, but who doesn't like fresh basil?? :)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdQn30l-dzelouNfSuEBmF1D0oY_BFvA1OyDJiqVcg9xSAVZMLGBXW_nL8xzUs5mAfk9v5pj8P_e_NexgkX42CDdYVmndjZs2uREWMkfUlCXwr32vXqRz3xkpMumbidjtE8GTfw/s1600-h/IMG_3114.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdQn30l-dzelouNfSuEBmF1D0oY_BFvA1OyDJiqVcg9xSAVZMLGBXW_nL8xzUs5mAfk9v5pj8P_e_NexgkX42CDdYVmndjZs2uREWMkfUlCXwr32vXqRz3xkpMumbidjtE8GTfw/s200/IMG_3114.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112435750371965138" border="0" /></a><br />French Marigolds, which some say drive away pests. The picture here is of the yield from 3 dried flower buds. There are about 15 more flower buds in the garden, so there is plenty for the taking! I do not know if French Marigolds really do prevent pests, but I will say that the bugs in our big box left after the marigolds were established. Possibly a coincidence, but we're still going to be planting them next year!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkAV52_YQ8M7NaR_OdC1HWwkw4ykL5pnIUDI7cKhhrN4o1tDXZLkCfPjzZIUMo-nvDwf3G0hiJq_iQt8eyDIZc0bQZGT2YXdXXtq-5l0Jd1wU5645cyLCx90DQRGRTqWZ7Jm32A/s1600-h/IMG_3115.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkAV52_YQ8M7NaR_OdC1HWwkw4ykL5pnIUDI7cKhhrN4o1tDXZLkCfPjzZIUMo-nvDwf3G0hiJq_iQt8eyDIZc0bQZGT2YXdXXtq-5l0Jd1wU5645cyLCx90DQRGRTqWZ7Jm32A/s200/IMG_3115.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112435750371965154" border="0" /></a>Chinese Giant peppers were the biggest disappointment so far as seed saving this year. All the seeds turned black or brown except for these seven. The peppers did grow quite big for container-grown peppers, but they weren't quite what we were looking for in a sustainable garden. Especially not since bell peppers are JunkMale's favorite vegetable. We will be going with a different variety next year, and so all these seeds are available to anyone who can give them a good home. :)<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIsGNooJbfRjBcMSEWiAFehOT9WvQdKWoK9Nt4FBsXLoJtGynKquyyY7vXhe1MUPUZAcmTqVAIeShvUy_Pp-SR4sbCHqjUuIkDCCO8Q5TfQfUbU3xetQMAc5GlqW8bIh_ZBRLqA/s1600-h/IMG_3116.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIsGNooJbfRjBcMSEWiAFehOT9WvQdKWoK9Nt4FBsXLoJtGynKquyyY7vXhe1MUPUZAcmTqVAIeShvUy_Pp-SR4sbCHqjUuIkDCCO8Q5TfQfUbU3xetQMAc5GlqW8bIh_ZBRLqA/s200/IMG_3116.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112435754666932466" border="0" /></a><br />My mother neglected her butter beans (baby lima beans to the 'uncultured') for two weeks this season, and wound up with more seeds than she knew what to do with. She gave them to me, but the truth is that I already have more seeds than I know what to do with. Butter beans are great. If you harvest them before the beans start turning white, they are never mealy. The bushes will continue to produce until the first frost. Yum!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWExudb9adJCaZ0DB31Ukgy5StP3hes19YXIReizRuDZqGQiX7GiWDN8O_vnK-j3cIib63leMNWEvDbcBEn98tZmVq5_gipBfk_tCFWufuc5dGZGtTuXhYuCvlpobUO_Vnz8LlFA/s1600-h/IMG_3112.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWExudb9adJCaZ0DB31Ukgy5StP3hes19YXIReizRuDZqGQiX7GiWDN8O_vnK-j3cIib63leMNWEvDbcBEn98tZmVq5_gipBfk_tCFWufuc5dGZGtTuXhYuCvlpobUO_Vnz8LlFA/s200/IMG_3112.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112434302967986338" border="0" /></a>These are our tomato seeds, Super Marmande variety, which are fusarium and verticulum wilt resistant. The fruit are not very large, but they are tasty. The fruit never gets deep red, even when the fruit is completely ripe. This is an improvement over an old French standard variety, but still quite open-pollinated. There is a slight probability of finding a seed that crossed with an Early Girl plant that we had in our garden as well, but since tomatoes generally are self-pollinating, I'm fairly confident they'll be fine.Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-1721897575726730912007-05-02T17:54:00.000-04:002008-12-09T17:10:18.351-05:00A Girl's GardenOK, I know I said it was going to be a <a href="http://thou-and-thou-only.blogspot.com/2007/03/in-my-garden.html">small container garden</a> with not that much in it.... But I decided that I wanted fresh salads, which meant planting spinach and carrots and two kinds of looseleaf lettuce. And then there were the four *old* seed packets that my mom gave me, which I didn't want to throw away but don't really expect to grow. And I thought that maybe I ought to plant a few more beans, and now I really have to stop adding things to the garden before it takes over our lives. ;)<br /><br />Part of the reason for my obsession is because I have really gotten into researching what varieties have the characteristics I'm looking for, and picking the seeds accordingly. When I was first starting (that is, with the peas, radishes, tomatoes, and spearmint) I just picked the first thing I saw at the store that looked good. Since then, I have devoted many hours to studying which type of vegetables would be best for our family -- and consequently wish that I had gotten a different type of pea, for example. Oh well. I'm sure we'll like them anyway. Below is a picture of how things look right now (please excuse the mess).<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdDqVOWKE6xYWZE3gegEpCXPGo3dSiK-xOJz9aLXyH906eEtbdQRaMPuWiuP3qZF5ZAViH_rvcYlprRYG7uXlcWjQSGVwuBibxHxzm-up6Ke_0DrNThcIIpXG_h2clVslYt-xmw/s1600-h/IMG_2681.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdDqVOWKE6xYWZE3gegEpCXPGo3dSiK-xOJz9aLXyH906eEtbdQRaMPuWiuP3qZF5ZAViH_rvcYlprRYG7uXlcWjQSGVwuBibxHxzm-up6Ke_0DrNThcIIpXG_h2clVslYt-xmw/s400/IMG_2681.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5060093068715553426" border="0" /></a><br />At current count we have:<br /><ul><li>4 tomato plants. One is an Early Girl that I bought as a seeding, the other three are super marmandes that I grew from seed. I only have two hybridized vegetables in the garden: spinach and the early girl tomato plant. I prefer the more natural ones, thank you, but I could not find a single type of "regular" spinach at the store! The tomato plant... well, we were just a bit eager to have tomatoes is all I can say.</li><li>1 radish plant. The others have been harvested already, and I have more than I need, so no second planting. They're Cherry Belles.<br /></li><li>19 pea plants beginning to bloom. The variety is Alaska, which is a more starchy type of pea, rather than sweet. :P But they are very early, which is a good thing.</li><li>9 bell pepper plants, Chinese Giant.</li><li>7 Henderson Bush Baby Lima bean plants, and three more just sown today. I wanted to determine which conditions were the best for growing butter beans, so I've tried several different methods.</li><li>3 sweet basil seedlings, with more seeds recently sown but not yet germinated.</li><li>1 window box sown with spinach, of the Correnta hybrid variety. Just today we spotted about 10 seedlings! Joy!</li><li>1 pot sown with Chantenay carrots.</li><li>2 small pots of lavender (from 1 seed pack dated 1998, and 1 seed pack that has previously failed to produce viable seeds).</li><li>1 small pot sown with lemon balm, package dated 1998.</li><li>1 small pot sown with rosemary, seed pack dated 1994.<br /></li><li>1 hanging pot sown with spearmint (not shown in picture). I since learned that mints cross really easily, making them hard to grow to type from seed. If these don't come up tasting like I want them to, I might chuck them all and just buy a mint plant. :) The seeds have just started to germinate.<br /></li><li>1 window box sown with lettuce (not shown). Half is Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, and half is Salad Bowl lettuce. Both are loose leaf lettuce varieties, and I'm fully expecting at least the Black Seeded Simpson to last me into the winter. I also bought a pack of Grand Rapids lettuce for a fall planting.</li></ul>And that's IT. No more! I think.... :)Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37491865.post-3737498377152897632007-04-27T09:03:00.000-04:002007-04-27T09:38:49.721-04:00Making use of your butcherBe sure to visit <a href="http://www.biblicalwomanhood.com/2007/04/frugal-fridays-having-successful-garage.html">Frugal Friday</a> for more ways to cut costs!<br /><br />At our house, we love chicken and dumplings as well as chicken soup. But it takes *forever* to make chicken broth the traditional way. I was so happy to find an a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Best-Soups-Stews-Recipe-Classic/dp/1933615028/ref=sr_1_1/002-8180059-0209648?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177680086&sr=8-1">book my sister gave me for Christmas</a> a recipe for chicken broth that takes a little less than 1 hour to prepare, and that their testers slightly preferred over the traditional stock.<br /><br />The only problem is that the chicken parts to be hacked into 1" pieces. We do not own a cleaver, and I think if we did I might still be afraid to use it. So what is a girl to do? I considered buying one of those whole, cut-up chickens at the grocery store, but they cost so much more than the uncut versions.<br /><br />Then it hit me: what are the butchers behind the meat counter there for? So the first time, I very shyly brought a whole chicken which was on sale for $0.50 a pound (which is a *very* good price in our area) and quietly asked the man if he would cut it up for me, because I wanted to buy the sale chicken but I didn't have the proper equipment at home.<br /><br />Only after he took it from me did I notice a sign up next to the meat department saying, "we custom cut for free!" -- or something like that. Well there you have it! Instead of spending about $1.75 a pound for an already-cut-up chicken, I got the $0.50/lb chicken exactly the way I wanted it! I started wondering if this was the case at other grocery stores. Thus far I have only had the chance to test one other store (Kroger), and it was exactly the same. The lady behind the meat counter there was *so* nice to me. I got the feeling she was kind of bored, and she was very glad to have something to do.<br /><br />It does take a bit of time for them to do this -- maybe about 5 minutes? -- so be prepared for a wait. But it's a free service, and it allows you to buy cheaper cuts of meat, even if they aren't exactly what you would ordinarily use. Now I wonder if they would, say, take a sale cut of beef and grind it for you? Has anyone ever tried this?<br /><br />Oh, and by the way... the book was right. The quick stock is *very* tasty. Almost more so than the traditional one, because the meat still retains a lot of flavor. Their tasters decided that only onion and bay leaf were necessary for a flavorful stock. In fact, they found that when you added just about anything else it actually took away from the flavor. Here's the recipe for anyone interested:<br /><br />1 whole chicken, cut into parts with the back and wings hacked into 1" pieces.<br />1 onion, medium diced<br />2 bay leaves<br />1 tsp salt<br />2 quarts water<br /><br />1. On medium to medium high heat, saute the onions in a bit of oil until they soften, about 5 minutes. Then remove the onions and add the back and wing pieces. Saute until they have a light brown color on all sides. Then reduce the heat to low, cover, and leave for about 20 minutes.<br /><br />2. Add the rest of the chicken, the bay leaves, onions, salt, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and let cook 20 minutes.<br /><br />3. Remove the chicken pieces with meat on them. Strain the stock, discarding the rest. When the chicken has cooled, shred the meat from the bones. You can make chicken and dumplings or chicken soup, etc now, or you can refrigerate/freeze the stock and meat until ready to use.Harmonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105846442509828835noreply@blogger.com5