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mamakay

managing a household of 10 by the grace of God

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Costco

Food Storage

November 10, 2011 by mamakay Leave a Comment

I admit it. I have security issues. If my food stores are stocked I feel safe. If they are dwindling I am nervous. I justify it with feeling prepared for what may come be it a storm, the lack of a paycheck or increasing food prices. At this point in our time prices are continually rising so everything I put into our pantry is at a better price than I will be able to get it in the future. And so I am stocked and ready for winter!


This house as been such a blessing as far as space to store food. There was a small empty room next to the kitchen that my wonderful father-in-law converted into a pantry for me for Christmas last year. There is a long skinny room behind the garage that already had multiple shelves just the right size for home canned foods. Plus I have a chest freezer (we got from a garage sale), an upright freezer and a refrigerator in the garage. And of course a 27 cu ft fridge in the kitchen we go off of  Craigslist.

I buy grains, sugar, honey and beans in bulk and keep them in 6 gallon food grade buckets with gamma lids. I also shop at Costco and keep stocked up on pastas, tuna, oils, vinegars, etc… I canned as many jams, sauces, and pickles as I could over the summer. The freezers are filled with beef from a whole cow, half a pig, chickens, lots of corn, zucchini, peaches and apples I put up this summer.

Check out how other moms store their food:

http://www.smockityfrocks.com/category/4-moms

 

Filed Under: Homemaking Tagged With: Canned Foods, Chest Freezer, Costco, Craigslist, Cu Ft, Food Grade Buckets, Food Prices, Food Storage, Food Stores, Freezers, Garage Sale, Lids, Pantry, Peaches And Apples, Pickles, Store Food, Sugar Honey, Time Prices, Upright Freezer, Wonderful Father

Menu Plan Week 9/19/10

September 19, 2010 by mamakay Leave a Comment

Ok, trying to get back on track with my meal planning. Here’s my plans for dinner this week:

Monday: Sicilian Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Veggie
Tuesday: Tortellini (frozen from Costco)
Wednesday: Cabbage Rolls
Thursday: Costco?
Friday: Stir Fry chicken, veggies & rice

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Cabbage Rolls, Costco, Fry Chicken, Meatloaf, Menu Plan, Plan 9, Potatoes

Eating Well on a Budget

December 1, 2008 by mamakay 1 Comment

In this economic climate everyone is looking to see how they can cut their expenses and trying to eat healthy and save money at the same time takes some extra effort. Organic products are more expensive than regular grocery items especially if you buy them at the grocery store. There are no coupons to save you money and sometimes finding the items requires a trip to stores like Whole Foods or other natural food sources that aren’t known for their cheap prices. You are going to have to make choices. Your family only has so much to spend so what are the wisest choices you can make to eat the best?

First of all, pray that God will give you wisdom and the vision to see what your choices are. He will honor that request. We can not make eating healthy an idol in our lives. We should pursue good health so that we can better serve our God not so that we can have the perfect body and live without illness.

Eat seasonally. By eating seasonally you are gaining the best nutrient dense foods plus those foods are usually cheaper because they are bountiful. If you have a garden it is even easier to do this. Watch for new sources for great food. Food Co-ops like Bountiful Baskets or CSAs can offer you wonderful food for much lower prices.
Buy in bulk. I stock up on our main foods at Costco and from Azure Standard. Buying in larger quantities can save you lots of money. For example, I can buy 25 pounds of dried organic black beans for $1.00/pound, which makes about 100 cups of cooked beans. To buy one can of organic black beans it costs $1.43 for 1 ¾ cups of beans. For the cost of 1 can of prepared beans I can make over 6 cups of beans. Cooking beans is one of the easiest foods to prepare and one that my crock pot takes care of for me so it requires very little effort on my part. (See below for my recipe for cooking beans easily.) I usually fix a whole crock pot full and then freeze the extras in 2 cup portions for future meals.

Put your freezer to good use. When you are able to get a good deal on produce, preserve as much as you can for the future. I also like to buy big bags of frozen veggies from Costco for quick meals. They have more and more organic choices and for feeding the family it is much more efficient to buy the large bags for several meals then to buy the small bags at the grocery store.

Be creative in using your leftovers. I like to make soup with some of the bits and pieces left over from other meals. It is like making a meal for free when you can use the leftovers.

Make sure your meals include whole grains and beans. Not only will you get wonderful nutrients from these foods but tummies will fill up and not require so much of the more expensive foods. Make sure to soak your grains with whey or lemon juice whenever possible to make them more digestible.
Find a farmer’s market or participate in community supported agriculture. A great source to find the ones in your area is www.localharvest.org.

Be a good steward of the budget you have for food and be creative in finding ways to obtain your food and you will be able to eat healthier for a lot less. May God bless your efforts!

Recipes:

Beans:
5 cups of black beans (or most other beans: kidney, navy, or pinto)
3 quarts Warm filtered water
4 tablespoons of whey (the clear liquid that separates from plain yogurt or raw milk) or lemon juice

Rinse the beans and put them in a bowl. Cover with warm water & add whey or lemon juice. Cover the bowl and leave overnight. Drain and rinse. Place in the crock-pot on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours until desired consistency.

Cool and bag for the freezer.

This recipe is from Sue Gregg’s Soups and Muffins Cookbook.

Black Bean Chowder

From Soups & Muffins p. 82

Serves 8 to 10 About 14 Cups
1. Bring water to a boil with rice and potatoes; lower heat to a very gentle boil, uncovered for 30 minutes:
2 1/2 quarts water
1/4 cup brown rice, uncooked
2 medium potatoes, unpeeled or peeled, cubed

2. In a separate pan sauté vegetables in oil:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped or1/4 cup dried green pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

3. After potatoes and rice have cooked a full 30 minutes, add remaining ingredients and continue a very gentle boil about 1 hour until chowder is slightly thickened:
sautéed vegetables
15 oz. can black beans, undrained (I use my cooked beans from the freezer)
15 1/4 oz. can kidney beans, undrained
16 oz can Vegetarian Beans in Tomato Sauce
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 teaspoon ground cumin seed
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
3 tablespoons Sue’s Kitchen Magic Seasoning

4. Remove bay leaf. Top each bowl of soup, as desired, with:
grated cheddar cheese,
chopped fresh parsley or cilantro

Filed Under: Investment Cooking, saving money Tagged With: Array, Black Beans, Bountiful Baskets, Co Ops, Costco, Crock Pot, Csas, Economic Climate, Food Baskets, Food Co, Food Food, Freezer, Good Health, Grocery Store, Lots Of Money, Natural Food Sources, Nutrient Dense Foods, Organic Products, Perfect Body, Quantities, Whole Foods, Wisdom

More Thanks

June 23, 2008 by mamakay Leave a Comment

I will enter your gates with thanksgiving in my heart and I will enter your courts with praise

I am thankful for a relaxing weekend with friends and family in the much cooler forest.

I am thankful for my husband who is able to drive us safely to go camping pulling a pop-up trailer.

I am thankful for the cool breezes, beautiful butterflies and blanket of stars we experienced this weekend.

I am thankful for air conditioning (especially when it is 112 degrees outside!)

I am thankful for my own soft bed to come home to.

I am thankful for my wonderful in-laws who make swim lessons an extra, special event for our girls.

I am thankful for baby smiles, toddler kisses, preschooler helpfulness, and big girls who can really help out in such a meaningful way.

I am thankful for a generous church member who gave our family the exact swing set our children have wanted from Costco for years.

I am thankful for crockpots cooking dinner.

I am thankful for all the recipes that are so easy to find on the internet.

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Filed Under: 1000 Gifts Tagged With: Air Conditioning, Baby Smiles, Beautiful Butterflies, Blanket Of Stars, Breezes, Camping, Church Member, Costco, Friends And Family, Gates, Girls, Heart, Helpfulness, Kisses, recipes, Relaxing Weekend, Swing, Thanksgiving

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So glad you stopped by. I am a Christian wife and mother of 8 in the middle years. My kids are aged 4 to 20 and just about every 2 years in between. I write about our life as a big family, what God is personally doing in my life, food and books.

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