Utilizing Your Freezer

I use to be a once a month shopper. Finances have changed and now I shop every two weeks to coincide with payday. I generally do a smaller shop at the beginning of the month and then two weeks later a larger shop. The following is a larger shop.  

I know that many of us are feeling the pinch of high prices. One of my best frugal tips for saving on food is to use your freezer. There are many ways you can utilize it to save money. 

#1 Buy in bulk. Not always, but many times buying in bulk will save you money. Although the larger package of pepperoni is less expensive there is no way we will eat it before it goes bad. I lay it out on a cookie sheet and flash freeze. I then put it back into the package it came it. By doing this the pepperoni doesn't stick together and I can easily retrieve what I need. 

Now some might question if it really saves money to repackage the cheese into baggies. The trick to this is to save the bag and reuse it. I've been using the same bags for cheese storage for years. The exception for reusing baggies is that if it contains meat it goes into the trash. I refuse to chance that. 

#2 Stock up on loss leaders. The butter was part of a weekly digital deal at Kroger. I purchased my limit of five and placed them in the freezer. At 99 cents for the Land O Lakes it was less expensive than the larger size I usually purchase on sale. It pays to know your prices and to use your calculator to figure prices per ounce. 

#3 Freeze your leftovers. We never use an entire jar of liquid cheese before it molds. It is frozen in muffin tins and then placed in to a baggie. We then pull out the number of "blocks" needed and reheat. 

If I make pizza for lunch I don't need a large amount. I will make my dough and then divide it in half. Half goes into the freezer for another lunch. 

When I bake a turkey or ham I like to package up leftovers into portion size bags. It make for an easy lunch. 

This day I cleaned out the pantry and refrigerator.

I pulled the buns I needed for dinner and then froze the rest. I had some produce that was almost on its last leg. I bagged it up and earmarked it for future stock. There was leftover chicken that I packaged into lunch portions. 

I freeze tortillas often. 

I add wax paper between each one and then place back into the original package. I leave the wax paper in the package when I pull what is need out. That way I am able to use it again. 

#4 Make sure that you label your items and keep your freezer neat. If not it's easy to find mystery packages. It make no sense to go to the trouble of packaging  and saving items just to have to throw it away. 

If you're buying groceries and throwing them in the trash, you might as well be throwing dollar bills away. As keeps of the home this is one way to keep an eye on our home economics. I'd love to hear your best frugal tip. 

Wendi 

Joy in the Ordinary

As the keeper of the home, it's easy to get lost in the mundane. To lose sight of joy as we are bogged down in the every day. One way to combat that is to stop and find joy in the ordinary moments. I personally know that this isn't always easy. What I do know is that when I am intentional about slowing down and finding the joy it changes my perspective.

Some ordinary, yet joyful moments from my week. 

Although Saturday was chilly it was a beautiful day. While Megan and I were at a luncheon to sprinkle my niece who is having twins, Chuck was busy outside. 

He put my windmill back up. 

It brings me a ton of joy to look out the kitchen window and see it spinning. He also raked the backyard. There were little piles all over. He is waiting for a non-windy day to some burning. 

Our poor kitty wasn't feeling well this week. 

A quick trip to the emergency vet and shot of antibiotic and he is right as rain. 

My seedling are doing great! So well indeed that I had to up pot them. 

I know not to count my chickens before they hatch, but I am super excited. It has brought me tremendous joy care for these babies. 

Look around, really look around and you will find joy... joy in the every day... joy in the ordinary things. 

Wendi 

Spring Decor

The calendar finally says spring! Now as far as Indiana is concerned it's spring one day with temperatures in the 60's and 70's and then in the 30's the next day. As Megan would say, "that's just the way it be." ha! No worries the warmth will be here to stay soon.

Come on in and take a look at my simple spring decor. 

This shelf is above the area where the TV sits. I added a homemade twine flower container and a little blue bird I recently picked up. The rest of the items are part of my every day décor. 

Next is the top of the living room hutch. I wasn't in love with the items I previously had up here. The only thing that remained was the tobacco basket. Everything else is new. 

Some items were purchased and others were made. Like the container that holds the faux tulips. 

I saw some reclaimed wood risers in a catalog that I loved. For $54 plus shipping, no thank you. I showed Chuck and he was able to recreate them with a pine 1x12x4 that cost under $7. He even has enough left to creative my rectangle cutting board. 

I used some stain from the paint cabinet and I'm a happy girl. 

The candle stick, wreath and stone bird are new purchased. The flameless candle and ceramic house are from my stash. I love how this turned out. I also like that I can keep most of it as everyday décor with a few minor adjustments. 

I like to change out this little tiered tray for each season/holiday. A little bit adds punch to this space. 

Now we're in the kitchen. On my corner shelf I added some faux flowers to my pitcher and some eggs to a cloche. Very simple. 

I kept everything simple in the kitchen. 

For my scale I wanted to create the look of flowers fresh from the florist. 

I used very little of my existing spring/Easter décor. I wasn't feeling the need for a bunch of bright pastels this year. I'm happy with my simple spring décor. 

Wendi 

Clothes Pin Carrots + A Giveaway

I saw these cute clothes pin carrots and took a screenshot. I knew I wanted to make them for my spring décor. 

You need six clothes pins for each batch of carrots you want to make. 

I took them apart and gave them a coat of orange paint. I then glued the smooth sides together. 

I purchased some greenery to use for the tops. I glued each carrot top to the back of the clothes pin. 

I then wrapped twine around the top of each "carrot." I glued two of them together and then glued on on top. I thought they turned out really cute!

I paired them with a sign from H*bby Lobby and added them to the basket on the ladder in my kitchen. 

I like how it added some whimsey. I liked it so well that I decided to giveaway a set of carrots and the cute little sign. 

If you are interested in chance to bring these home all you have to do is leave a comment with the word giveaway. I will announce the winner on Wednesday. 

Wendi 

Joy in the Ordinary

As the keeper of the home, it's easy to get lost in the mundane. To lose sight of joy as we are bogged down in the every day. One way to combat that is to stop and find joy in the ordinary moments. I personally know that this isn't always easy. What I do know is that when I am intentional about slowing down and finding the joy it changes my perspective.

Some ordinary, yet joyful moments from my week. 

While cleaning out the living room closet we decided to run out for a few more storage containers. That impromptu decision lead to a date afternoon.

Pizza from our favorite place, quickly running in for storage containers, and a trip to the hardware store. 

Books I've enjoyed this year. 

Linda Ford is a new to me author. I enjoyed her books and will be looking for me. My novel reading is done for now. 

I am reading gardening books, and am super busy cleaning and organizing. No worries, I hope to have plenty of time to read once the summer heat sets in. 

Clean dishes. I am one that isn't happy if I go to make dinner and find that I have a dishwasher full of dirty dishes. It makes we not want to cook. One of my weird quirks. 

I mentioned wanting a chocolate shake and my favorite girl made one for me. Love! 

Look around, really look around and you will find joy... joy in the every day... joy in the ordinary things. 

Wendi 

Living Room Reset

Another week, and another room deep cleaned. When I started to take before picture I snapped this. 

Hum, can you guess what holiday those picks are from? Oops! 

The first thing I did was wash curtains, pillow covers, and blankets. 

It was a gorgeous day, so on the line they went. The first lined dried laundry of the year. That makes me happy!

Thankfully Chuck was home to help me out some. He would pull out the furniture and I would clean. Once finished I would call him back inside to help put it all back in place. 

I asked him to take the cold air return vent down in the living room and the hallway. Now, I vacuum these frequently. Apparently the vacuum doesn't get into all the grooves. Yuck!

The area that needed the biggest reset was the closet. Everything was taken out and gone through. 

Things were purged and Chuck added an additional shelf on the side. We even made a trip to H*bby Lobby to buy a few more storage containers. They are in place on the side shelf and I will be adding toys that are currently stored in my shed. (That will happen at a latter date.)

Everything has been purged, organized, and is fresh and clean. 

Awe, I love a clean, tidy space.

The next three weeks I won't be providing childcare, so my plan to knock some more spaces off of my list. 

Wendi 

Encouragement

This popped up in my FB feed and it spoke to me. I think we can all agree that the world is on fire! 

My biggest goal is to make my home a refuge from all of the crazy. So today, I will start my day with my daily cup of hot tea, set out hamburgers for dinner, and do a load of laundry. Not sure I will bake today, but I do have a recipe for some yummy banana muffins that will make an appearance very soon. 

Although I think it's important to keep up with happens outside of our home, I also think it's important to limit our exposure. Making our home a haven, refuge, safe place, or however you want to refer to your home is very important as the keeper of the home. Our jobs, as homemakers, is very important. Keep up the good work, ladies!

Wendi 

Joy in the Ordinary

It's a little after 8 p.m. as I write this post. It's 64*, a window is open and I can hear the birds chirping as they settle down for the night. That, my friends, brings me joy! It really is the simple, little things. 

Some ordinary, yet joyful moments from my week. 

My seedlings, a little over two weeks old. These babies are thriving and I'm super excited. 

Trips to the farm store seem to be our list often these days. I cherish Megan being silly. I know that these days are fleeting.

Is this not the cutest?! Link climbed up to take a nap with Ben. Oh, be still my heart!

Chicken and Noodles for dinner. You know it's decent when your teenage daughter takes a bite and says this has good flavor. Thank you. I'll take that. 

I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing fresh eggs on the kitchen counter. 

These are the beauties that are providing us with eggs. They are just as happy as I am for warmer days here and there. 

Look around, really look around and you will find joy... joy in the every day... joy in the ordinary things. 

Wendi