I'm still learning, but I feel so far behind!

I was just reading a friend's blog
and
realized I'm spending WAY too much on groceries. I think I'm on the
right path, but feel so far behind still. I will have to say that we do
not have the bountiful, long harvest up north that the southerners
enjoy, but I'm sure there's more that I can do.

One thing I started a month ago, was before I make any grocery lists, I take a
complete
inventory of what I have. Therefore not buying any duplicates. Then I
went through my list of food items I have and realized I had 3-4 meals worth
of stuff if I used it the right way. Excited, I then looked up recipes to use my other
items and then went through the shopping ads to fill in for meals we
still needed. I definitely felt accomplished.

Then...I didn't do that this past "pay period". I noticed right away what a
difference, because even though I had a list of food to buy, I hadn't
checked my inventory and ended up spending at least $10.00 on groceries
I already had in the pantry or freezer. I was pretty bummed. But, it
was a lesson learned.

Some other lessons I'm learning...

#1 Venture out and actually try new recipes! (picture of banana bread and vegetable tart/quiche)

#2 I learned to sew about 5 months ago and am loving it!!! I now make
quite a bit of stuff as long as I designate the time to it. Or should I
say make it a priority.I'm having a blast finding sales on material and creating new things from the old!

#3 The Ole Time smokehouse! This is such a cool way to get around spending a lot of
money on a smoker (if you already have a small shed on your property),
yet preserve your meats! I was so impressed, unfortunately Chris wasn't
as much. All they did was line the floor with stone, then the put down an outer layer of old ashes. The center is where the fire goes. I think that there's alot to be learned from the old ways...so much that it gets overwhelming to me.

#4 The black cast iron "dutch oven"(on the back corner. This was one of my
favorites and although not many of us cook over fires anymore unless we
are camping, it's a great techique to know just in case you have one handy and need food! You place hot ashes in the bottom and then a trivet, on the trivet sits
your dish/bowl of food and then you put the lid of the dutch oven over
the food. Lastly you place hot ashes on the lid and let it bake. There's some kind of odd looking meal in the dutch oven, but it sure smelled delightful!

#5 Tart cherries from our tree. I've learned I don't like cherries. Or at least the way I've attempted to make them. I've tried pie (the crust was excellent!) and cobbler and couldn't hardly eat either. It felt so wasteful, after spending the time
to hand-pit and bake it and then both still be so tart they were not enjoyable. I wish I'd just let the birds enjoy them...but I've learned to either put double the sugar the recipe calls for, or let someone else enjoy them!Blawck! - and I really am not a picky eater!

So, after reading about my friend who only spent
$120 the last 5 weeks on groceries...I'm challenged to be
even more careful, yet provide wholesome, EDIBLE food for my family!
Let's see!