Frugal things done lately

 I've been mainly eating out of the pantry and freezer for three weeks. I ran by Publix for the last day of their sale to pick up some bagels. I love to have these on hand for a quick breakfast or an in between snack for my many teens that live in my house. They were buy one get one free so they came up to $.95 a bag. I got 4 plain and 3 cinnamon raisin and also some cream cheese. I bought honey butter the other day for my daughter to put on them.

 I haven't done a lot of garage sales this year. I don't really know why because we've always gone every Saturday. I guess I got to the point where I have so much stuff and it is hard to find teen clothes and I just haven't gone. Well, we went Saturday. It was a pretty good day. I got this package of kitchen towels and dishrags for $3. I cannot have enough. I seriously have at least 10 in each load per day. We grab them to wipe up everything instead of paper towels.

I got three pair of athletic pants for my 12 year old. Only two are pictured because the other pair, which were navy, were already worn. They were $.50 each.

I went to Walmart and when we got home the kids put up groceries. I later looked and we had ribs and brisket. I called and Walmart cannot restock the items and so I got free meat! I made this recipe. They were very good! I used peas we had in the freezer. The last of the potatoes that were going bad and the last of cheese to make scalloped potatoes. I got the tomato in an Amish village for $.79 a lb.

I put a dry rub on the brisket and baked it in a roasting pan. After it cooks an hour you turn the temp down and add beef broth to the pan. It was OK but not great so I will not link the recipe. I used butter beans and corn from the freezer that I put up this summer.

I have a whole turkey thawing in the refrigerator and am going to roast it and make up some meals using turkey instead of chicken like turkey pot pie, turkey enchiladas, turkey and rice soup, and turkey king ranch casserole. That was a big item to get out of the freezer.

I have used a lot of my cooked chicken, all the cooked or frozen hamburger, broccoli, used a lot of flour to make cinnamon rolls, pancakes, and biscuits. I still have a lot of flour! Trying hard to use it all and restock. I've used 2 cans of milk that are expired and have 2 or 3 more. I have added it half with regular milk in pancake, cinnamon roll, and biscuit mixes. I have a partial jar of chunky peanut butter to use to make peanut butter cookies.

We have 6 opened jars of peanut butter! I have taken the new unopened jars out of the main pantry so they can't open another one. I think I will also take a few of the opened ones out because they are all almost full. That is so irritating. I bought 6 jars at Sams. I've heard the price was going up for two months on the boards. With it being said on Newsweek and the main evening news shows I knew I better get some more. Sams had not raised their price, but there were many empty boxes in the place. I had to crawl under the shelf to the very back to get some. I may go back and get a few more.

An Aldis opened in Huntsville so my daughter picked me up 8 carton of eggs that were $.45 a carton. I am going to make up muffin tin quiches with ham or sausage. I think I will make some breakfast burritos, also. I am having a hard time using them now that I got them. I need to make a quiche for supper and tuna fish, and deviled eggs and let my husband take them for a snack.

I got green peppers at the Amish village 3/$1. I picked up 6 and cut 4 in strips and froze them for fajitas and peppers and onions.

I know I can go another week with cooking from my freezer. My meal plan is:
Wed- turkey pot pie
Thurs- quiche
Friday- turkey enchiladas
Sat- chicken stir fry (have a stir fry kit from Sam's I need to use)
Sun- turkey and rice soup
Mon- Red beans and rice ( bought smoked sausage at Sam's for $2 a lb)
Tue- turkey king ranch casserole
Wed- black bean soup

hopefully I can eat up some of the free boxed vegetables I have in the freezer  in the pot pie and with enchiladas and the casserole. I can add any leftovers to the turkey and rice soup.

Amish Community in Ethridge, TN

 We had a opportunity to go to Ethridge, TN and visit an Amish community for a field trip. It is about an hour and twenty minutes from us, southwest of Nashville.

 We rode horse drawn buggies from farm to farm within the community. Out of respect we were unable to take photos. Each home puts a sign at the road listing what they have for sale. The would either have a small building like a concession stand or it would be on their porch. Each had jams, salsas, pickled okra, peanut brittle, fudge, baskets, pumpkins, vegetables, and some had wooden toys. The prices were great. I got three small pumpkins for $.50 each. At Walmart they were around $2. I got a butternut squash to try for $.50, some peanut butter fudge, green peppers 3/$1, tomatoes $.79 a lb. The peppers smell amazing, and the tomatoes were vine ripened and juicy looking.

 We covertly took these photos going down the highway on the way home.

We giggled at this! She is drinking a McDonalds drink. We tried to guess whether they went through the drive through with their buggy or parked in the parking lot. Both are just funny.

Things we learned:
Amish are from the Switzerland area and of German decent... a lot of photos depict them from Holland since they are Dutch. The Germans were called Deutch, and it does not mean they are from Holland.

No photos. They will get mad and run you off if you try to take a photo. (Didn't have to learn that personally, our guide made it very clear not to do it and how offensive it was)

They start school at age 6 and go through 8th grade or their 14th birthday. No one goes further than that, they then work... the boys with their father and the girls with their mother.

No one can join the Amish order, you have to be born into it. If you leave the home you are shunned and your parents may never speak to you again. You cannot marry outside of the Amish either.

They go to the doctor and chiropractor in town, they do not have an Amish doctor. They do practice home treatment and remedies when they can.

The only rubber tired vehicle they are permitted to ride in is a bus. So, if they need to travel they take their horse carriage to Nashville and catch the bus there.

They bathe once a week.

They speak Pennsylvania Dutch in the home until they go to school. In school they learn English. They speak German (Pennsylvania Dutch) to each other, but know English to converse with us.

Everyone who is not Amish is English because of the language we speak. If a French person moved or lived near them they would still be English. Not sure how true or far that one goes.

Many English people live within the community. They will never be a part of the Amish community.

There are 300  Amish families in Etheridge, TN. They are broken into 12 church groups.

They do not have a church building. They take turns hosting services at each other's farm. The host feeds the church that day and they go get benches for everyone to sit on.

When we would drive up to a farm and get out to shop their wares Amish children would come to look at us. I think we all were as much a "show" to them as they are to us. All were barefoot, the boys in hats and little dark suits and the girls in their dark dresses and bonnets. The little boys looked like little men.

Boys start going with their father each day to work around age 2. They are given jobs to do and quickly learn how to work.

At age 14 a boy/girl can be hired out... sometimes to English people to help build fences or preserve the garden. All money goes to the parents until the child is 18 or 21 I forget which.

Horses can pull a cart and poop while walking at the same time!

Horse poop really really stinks... pee-you.

Ham and Potatoes, Cooking Dry Beans

I promise my blog is not becomming all about food! I guess it has been a big part of my focus lately as I try to clean out the house and eat up some stuff. I did go through the boys clothes. My 11 year old tried on all the clothes from my 13 year old and found a lot of winter shirts. They are built totally different so he can't ever wear his pants and some of the shirts he says he will not wear so I put them in a box to put in the attic to sell later. Their closet has a lot more room now.

I made two more weeks of menu plan to eat out of the freezer and pantry. I will have to pick up bread, chips, milk, eggs, and fresh fruit but other than that we are pretty good on meat and I have a lot of frozen vegetables I need to use up.

I had one more ham steak. I bought them at Sams. They were in a four pack and have been really good to cook up and add to potatoes and eggs. I browned it this morning.

What I didn't use for breakfast I chopped and put on a baking pan to flash freeze. I know, this pan is well used and ugly, but it does the job. I let it freeze about an hour or two then will put in a zip top bag. I freeze it this way so when I put it in a bag it won't freeze together. Then, when I want some all I have to do is grab a handful. I add it to eggs, potatoes, beans, soups, whatever!

I had potatoes from supper a couple of nights ago. I had made Ranch potatoes for supper. I cut potatoes in wedges and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle on dry Ranch dressing. Bake that for about 35 minutes at 375. Save the extras for making this. I diced the potatoe wedges and put in a skillet that I had sprayed. I let that heat up and brown the outside of the potatoes a little. I then added in some of the chopped ham. My husband made an egg to go with his, but the rest of us ate it alone. Sometimes I cook it with onions and sometimes I add cheddar cheese to the top.

My husband requested chili for supper. I was out of cooked beans so let some red beans and white beans soak overnight. I also took out two containers of homemade chicken broth out of the freezer to cook the beans in. This morning I put on the beans in a crock pot. I added the container of chicken broth and then filled it the rest of the way with water to cover the beans. I added in the small amount of ham fat and the bone that was on the ham steak. I am cooking on low about 6 hours. I will add some onion flakes ( I only have one onion left so am trying to save it) and salt later after they cook about an hour.

When the beans are cooked I will put one cup portions in ziploc bags and freeze. I take out what I need to add to soups, casseroles, etc. later.