Getting There

A wee little project, and some thrifty finds.

A kind friend recently gave me a variety of quilting fabric, and the other night I decided to use a few bits to make the mousepad project from Amanda Soule's Handmade Home, which I currently have out from the library.

Although my fabric store didn't have heavy interfacing as the instructions required, leaving the pad rather floppy, I think it worked well. It gave me a chance to practice using the zig zag stitch on my machine, as well as an opportunity to try using fusible interfacing for the first time (and hey, it's much easier than I thought it would be). I like the colourful fabric too--it brightens up our old, tired looking computer desk.

Yesterday I went shopping, intending to find some more fabric for the baby quilt I'm going to make. I couldn't find any (at least, not any on sale) but I did make some nice finds at the thrift store.

The two bedsheets are in great condition--I'm not sure what I'll make with them yet but I couldn't leave that much cute fabric there for the price. The vintage apron (for a mere 99 cents) is a necessity for me now, since I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and my pregnant belly tends to pick up a lot of splatters! And the nightgown pattern is from 1952. Isn't it lovely? In a few years when my as yet unborn babe is a little girl, and my sewing skills have improved, I plan on giving it a try.

It's enjoyable to think about doing crafty things indoors while the weather is so cold outside...in a few months I know I'll be yearing to get into the garden (newborn strapped on) but for now, I'm having a great time thinking about things I'm going to sew.

2010 in review.

When I started this blog back in March, my goal was to use this space to chronicle my family's journey towards a simpler life--in one way, by learning the skills to be more self-sufficient, like people were in the "old days"--and in another more literal way, by saving up to buy a piece of land in the country where we could have our own homestead.

So here on December 31st, it's natural that I ask myself, "What progess have we made towards these goals?"

I think we've done very well where it comes to learning new skills to allow us to do more for ourselves. In fact, saying we've learned a lot this year is really an understatement. A few highlights:

• I learned how to can homemade jam, and it's so delicious we'll never go back to store bought! I also put by a great deal of homemade applesauce and apple butter for the first time. 
• We also learned that when pick raspberries, strawberries and blueberries in the summer, we need A LOT more to last us the year. It's quite amazing how much one family can consume--I greatly underestimated. For example, Jasper loves to eat frozen blueberries as a snack pretty much every day--and here we are in December, and we have been out of blueberries for several weeks. Now I am buying store bought berries for him, which is not at all what I had planned.
• I continued to learn how to make more meals from scratch, and I learned how to make my own sprouts and granola.
• Chris has greatly expanded his self-taught woodworking abilities to include turning bowls, plates and cups. Just now he is experimenting with making spoons, and we hope this will give a boost to our family business.
• We learned a lot about growing vegetables this year. Or rather, how not to grow them! For example, do NOT grow potatoes in pure compost, because it will be too nitrogen rich and you'll get all leaves and no potatoes. Do NOT try to grow pumpkins in a tiny back yard, and do NOT plant four cherry tomato plants when only one person in the family eats them!
• I finally figured out my sewing machine, and have sewed many projects already, including a doll quilt. I have been reading a lot about quilting lately so that I can begin soon on a "real" quilt. 
• Chris and I discovered how much fun it is to create handmade gifts for holidays and birthdays.
• Chris has greatly expanded the number of songs he can play on the guitar. (I consider playing a musical instrument to be a form of self-sufficiency, since you can then create your own entertainment).
• We're learning ways to be more frugal all the time, and make some of our own cleaning and personal care products.
• We've learned how important it is to our sanity to have a daily routine to our family life, and that it's very important to take a break from technology sometimes (i.e. the computer and tv) and just enjoy the peace and quiet together.

Some of these activities have saved us money, but more than that they have all been very satisying. I love the feeling of creating something with my hands--it's something that was missing from my life before.

Our other goal was saving up for our homestead. This has been very difficult for us since not only are we paying fairly high rent to live in the city, but Chris was in college for the first half of the year, and after working throughout the summer was laid off in September. However, these past few months, even though we were living only off of our Etsy shop, we managed not only to get by but to save a tiny bit. And I find that in itself encouraging. I know that we are working towards our goal, even if our progess seems painfully slow at times, and I'm proud of us for making our family business work.

Next year we are going to try even harder to live frugally and save every penny. But I'll talk about 2011 in a post tomorrow. For now, I'll just say a big "Thank You" to all of my readers for joining me as I wrote about our struggles and successes in 2010. I'm so grateful and humbled that you lovely people take the time to stop by, and I sincerely hope to enjoy your company more in 2011.

On that note, I hope everyone has a joy-filled evening tonight, and I'll see you next year! :)

 

A Handmade Birthday.

It's hard for me to believe, but Owen's 6th birthday has come and gone. My baby is growing up so quickly! It seems that only yesterday we were welcoming that tiny, red, screaming bundle of happiness into this world, and now he's a big boy who can read and ride his bike and do arithmetic, and who constantly amazes us with the depth of his scientific knowledge.

He wanted a cake this year that looked like a clock that was set to 6 o'clock. This is what I came up with:

Since Owen enjoys white chocolate, I made a white chocolate ganache in lieu of frosting. Alas, I did not make enough, but I think the sprinkles hid my mistake well enough.

Chris and I continued the handmade theme for this occasion. Using fabric I already had, I sewed him a cape, and I bought a piece of brown felt and some elastic and sewed a fake beard, which I think looks pretty darn cute if I may say so myself.

To go with this, Chris made him a sword and shield set. The shield was made from some birch plywood he had, the sword from maple.

I'm glad that he made another smaller pair for Jasper, so the boys could play together. They were delighted with these toys, and set to work playing with them immediately.

What fun it is to create gifts with your own two hands. I'm so glad that Chris and I decided to embark on this journey of becoming more self-reliant and of purchasing less. The emotional satisfaction of self-sufficiency is, to me, a greater reward than the financial one.

A Handmade Christmas.

I hope all my readers had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas. :)

As I mentioned before, we tried to make most of our children's Christmas gifts this year. Really, we started out doing this because our budget was extremely limited. But as we began making the projects, we realized how much we truly enjoyed doing things this way.

Kira caught onto our enthusiasm, and she also made homemade gifts - artwork for her dad and Owen, a sock puppet for Jasper, and some wonderful coupons for me.

For Kira, Chris fashioned a doll bed out of an old dismantled change table. I painted the rough edges with some white paint we still had from painting the diningroom last year. I made a doll quilt, mattress and pillow out of scraps I already had or that I collected from my mom and grandmother. Total cost: $0.

For Owen, Chris built a garage for his toy monster trucks, since he likes to "put them to bed" each night. He plans to add on some ramps soon for added fun. This was made from the same materials as the bed. Total cost: $0.
I also made him a wall hanging out of a hand-me-down crib blanket we were not using. I sewed fabric strips and buttons along the top to hang it, and added some pockets so he can store things in there. I plan to add more pockets when I get the chance. I used fabric and buttons I got from my generous grandmother's stash. Total cost: $0.

For Jasper, Chris made two sets of the wheeled animals we sell in our Etsy shop: the farm animals and the woodland animals. This gift did cost something, for the wood, but still far less than anything similar we could buy.

A while back, I also sewed a purse for Kira's best friend, which was made entirely of scraps that were kindly given to me and therefore cost nothing. And we gifted a few people with baked goods as well this year.

After seeing firsthand how much more fun it is to do handmade gifts at Christmas, we will certainly do this again next year. I'm starting to think of ideas already! However, we now know that we need to begin in August, literally. We were frantically trying to finish our projects Christmas Eve, and I would prefer not to do that again.

If you made some handmade gifts this year, please share in the comments!

Home Cooking: Macaroni and Cheese.

Did you know that macaroni and cheese was Thomas Jefferson's favourite meal? I can understand why. What says "comfort food" like macaroni and cheese? As the temperature in these parts has now reached regular wintery levels (in other words, very cold!) I find that a nice hot cheesy casserole seems more appealing than ever.

Real macaroni and cheese is a million times better than the instant kind from a box, but I never made it until recently. For some reason I thought it was difficult...but it's not, it's quite simple and makes a great winter meal teamed with your favourite vegetables.

This recipe is my own. I created it by modifying a recipe from The Tasha Tudor Cookbook. Tasha instructs that "It is particularly good when served with a fine smoked ham." I'm sure it would be--but we're eating on a budget right now, so we just ate it with a few slices of back bacon (Canadian bacon I think other people call it?) and a green salad on the side, and it made a satisfying meal.

This recipe makes a lot, so there is plenty to reheat for lunches later on, which I find to be a good money-saving measure.

Simple Macaroni and Cheese

1. Crush some crackers until you have about 2/3 of a cup. (I used 16 soda crackers, but use whatever you like). Mix with 2 tbsp melted butter and set aside.

2. Cook the pasta: I used half of a package of shell pasta, which was about 450g or 1 lb.

3. When the pasta is draining, make the sauce: Melt 1/3 cup butter in a saucepan. Add 1/3 cup flour. Once this is well mixed, add 3 cups of milk, 2 cups of grated sharp cheddar cheese, and 4-5 process cheese slices.* Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Once the sauce is thickened and bubbly, place the pasta in a greased 9 X 13 pan (lasagne pan) and pour the sauce over. Mix gently.

5. Sprinkle cracker crumbs over top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about half an hour, or until it's as browned as you like it.  Enjoy!

* I know processed cheese isn't very good for you. But my kids really like the smooth texture it gives, and also where I live the slices are very cheap when they go on sale. So it's an economical way to stretch the cheese. But by all means, when you make the recipe use another half cup of grated cheese instead of processed cheese.

A fun little decorating idea.

Our budget for holiday decorating is pretty small this year--I suppose we used it all up on buying our Christmas tree. But I really wanted to do something to brighten up the drab grey walls of this rental house. So I decided to make some paper garlands cut from old Christmas cards, of which I had a large stack (most of them were given to me for the very purpose of making crafts).

I originally got this idea from this post on the blog Like Mother, Like Daughter. All I did was cut a bunch of circles from the fronts of the old cards, string them together using needle and thread, and then tape them up to the wall. Yes, it would have been better to wrap the thread around a tack or a nail but what can I say, I was feeling a bit tired (lazy?) today so I just taped the garlands up.

Here's the smallest one I made:

(Whatever you do, don't notice the state of that switchplate, please!)

I also put a garland above the kitchen sink (no, you are not going to get a photo of my cluttered and dirty sink area), one above the bathroom sink (ditto), and one along the stairs going up to the bedrooms.

I know this probably looks silly and shabby to some people, but I am pleased with the results. We're not fancy people, and our house is anything but stylish...I don't care if our holiday decorations look cheap and homemade, I like it that way. I like it that I was able to cheer up our main floor a bit at absolutely no cost. And this project is fun and easy. Children could definitely do this! I have more Christmas cards around (I think I have an endless supply) so perhaps if I have more time over the next few days I'll make some more garlands. At the very least, it's a relaxing activity to do when all I feel like doing is sitting on the couch...unfortunately I've reached the third trimester of my pregnancy now, so I'm starting to feel my energy levels wavering, and the couch is looking better and better all the time. I hope I can keep up my energy long enough to get all the gifts finished and all my cookies baked...it's only 10 days till Christmas!

The benefits of living a frugal life.

That most of us are considered poor is no disgrace, but does us credit; for as the mind is weakened by luxurious living, so it is strengthened by a frugal life.
--Minicius Felix, 3rd century A.D.

Although I've mentioned my frugal tendencies in other posts, I've never dedicated an entire post to the idea of living on a small income.

For us, living frugally is very important, since we are trying our best to pay off our debts and also save up enough for a downpayment on our own home, all on a very limited income. And I know saving money very important for a great many of us these days, when prices and taxes keep rising, and job security is a thing of the past.

Because we live in a heavily industrialized area of Ontario that has been very hard hit by job losses in manufacturing over the past decade or so, Chris has gone long stretches of time without having a steady job. We have learned to cut back more and more to make ends meet, and have even managed to save a wee bit. And you know what? Although "living poor" seems like a hardship at first, after a while it starts to be almost...fun. It's a challenge--and I am always up for a good challenge.

A few days ago Chris was laid off from his current job. So, now there is a new challenge before us. Although part of me is naturally worried about how we are going to manage over the next little while, another part of me is glad that now I have a reason to really buckle down and get serious about counting every penny. Because every time we go through a rough patch like this, I discover another way to cut back, another way to be creative. For example, I am going to have to think of a way to create two Halloween costumes this year, without buying any materials. This way of living does strengthen the mind, I think.

Another benefit of living frugally on a small income is that we appreciate the things we do have so much more. This is a phenomenon I noticed fairly early on in our marriage. The lean times, oddly, often seemed to be the happiest times. And not only do we appreciate things more when we have less, but life is a little bit simpler when we don't have to worry about how to spend our money.

You can't live without money, of course, and I admit there are times I certainly wish we had a bit more of it. But it is totally possible to live a rich, full life, with very little money. A lot of people would be shocked if they knew how little money we were raising our family on. True, our clothes are not fashionable, our car is getting rusty, and our dishes are mismatched, but we're happy, and I feel satisfied that we are careful with our resources and never wasteful (which sometimes means purchasing the better quality item over the cheaper one).

I believe it's actually a good thing that these tough economic times are forcing people to take another look at what they really need, learn to be more careful with their spending, and be less wasteful. Frugal living creates fortitude and strengthens the imagination.  I hope that also, these difficult times are getting people back to their roots, helping them to remember what is really important: Family. Togetherness. Hard work. Love. None of these things costs a single penny. :)

Apple Oatmeal Bars.

Since I know everyone has a surplus of apples this time of year, I thought it would be a good time to share one of my favourite apple-containing recipes. :)

I make this recipe for apple oatmeal bars quite often, since Chris likes to take them in his lunch, and because they're easy and economical. The original recipe (which I have altered a wee bit) came from a neat book I have called Stories and Recipes of the Great Depression of the 1930s. This book is out of print now, but if you can find a used copy it's a nice to have. Compiled by an eldery lady in Wisconsin in the 1980s, the old-time inexpensive recipes are interspersed with the stories that folks shared with her about how they coped in the 1930s.

These squares taste a bit like apple pie, because there isn't any sugar in the crust. They're crumbly, so you need to eat them with a fork.

Apple Oatmeal Bars

Mix in a bowl:
1 cup oats (quick or old fashioned will work)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter + 2 tbsp, melted
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pat half of this into an 8 X 10 or an 8 X 8 pan. If it seems too dry, add a bit more butter.

Mix in a bowl:
2 1/2 cups finely chopped or grated apples
1/2 cup sugar (I use brown sugar)

Spread this mixture over the bottom crust. Top with remaining oatmeal mixture and pat down gently. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

If anyone else has a favourite apple recipe they would like to share, please leave a comment with a link! :)

Home Cooking - Chicken Pot Pie.

Chicken pot pie has always been a comfort food for me. I have a recipe that I always use, which originally came from a website somewhere but which I have altered quite a bit. It turns out a bit different every time, but it's always good. It's a meal in itself, but if you're serving a crowd you could add some crusty rolls and a salad on the side.

Chicken Pot Pie.

Piecrust
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3 tbsp cold water

Filling
4 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 stalk carrot, chopped
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups homemade chicken stock (the richer the better)
1 cup milk
1/4 each dried ground sage and thyme, or 1 tsp each dried (not ground)
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups diced leftover chicken
2 cups leftover vegetables, or any combination of fresh/frozen/leftover you like. I personally like to use some corn, green beans, and diced potatoes (although for the pie in the picture I used potatoes, red pepper and green peas)

Instructions
Make the piecrust first: Whisk together flour and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry blender, until the mixture is crumbly.

Sprinkle water over dough. Mix with a wooden spoon. Add another few teaspoonfuls if needed. The dough should pack together.

Pack the dough into a ball, knead once or twice, wrap with plastic wrap and press into a disk 1 inch thick. Put in the refridgerator while you make the filling.

Filling: In a large pan, over medium low heat, stir the celery, carrots and onion into melted butter. Cover the pan and gently sweat the veggies for about 8 minutes, stirring a few times. Stir in flour. Increase heat to medium.

Add stock and milk to pan and whisk to blend all ingredients. Add sage, thyme, and pepper. Don't add any salt until you've tasted the sauce. If the stock was quite salty, no more salt will be needed.

Stir in chicken and remaining vegetables. Remove pan from heat, and dump contents into a large casserole dish. I usually use a 9 X 13 pyrex dish.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. While the oven heats, roll the pastry for the top crust. Do it on a sheet of waxed paper to make it easier to life the crust onto the filling. Try to make it the approximate size of whatever dish you're using.

Poke some steam vents, or as I usually do cut out a heart shape while rolling out the dough.

Bake on center rack of oven for 40 minutes or until nicely browned and bubbling. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy! :)

Home Cooking: Making stock in a slow cooker.

Now that Autumn is here, the breeze is chilly, and the comforts of home seem all the more enjoyable, I thought I would do some posts about good old home cookin'. Although gardening, sewing, and many other domestic skills still seem to elude my grasp, cooking is one skill that I have been teaching myself for many years now. Probably, it's also the easiest. So I hope my upcoming series of posts will encourage a few people to try cooking some things from scratch that they haven't before. Food made from whole and natural ingredients at home tastes miles ahead better than anything you can buy ready made at the store. It definitely saves money making everything from scratch, which I know is an important consideration for many of us these days. And of course, when you make food yourself you know what's in it, which is no small thing either.

All right, on with it then. I have been making homemade stock for many years. Any time we have roast chicken, or chicken pieces with bones, I save the bones for stock. Homemade stock is delicious--you can use it in various cooking applications or can simply add other things to the pot and make it soup. It's less expensive than purchasing broth for cooking. It doesn't contain MSG like broth from the store. And, it has many health benefits, since minerals from the bones leach into the water. Check out this article which explains some of the health benefits of bone broth.

I used to always make stock on the stove top, but as I knew that to get really good, nutritious stock, it's best to simmer the bones for at least 12 hours, it was sometimes inconvenient to have the stock pot on the stove that long. And although I let it simmer over night a few times, I didn't really feel comfortable doing that.So when my sister gifted me with her virtually unused slow cooker recently, I decided to make chicken stock in it. I'd heard many people online say that this was their preferred way for making stock.

Last night we had two small roasted chickens for supper. After the kitchen was cleaned up, and I had put the leftover breast meat in the fridge for sandwiches, I got out the slow cooker, and placed the two chicken carcasses inside, along with the leftover gravy, the partially eaten legs, the onions that had been inside the chickens, and any little scraps and drippings from the roasting pan. I filled it up with water, set it on low, put the lid on, and forgot about it until this morning.

When I came downstairs at 8 o'clock this morning I found I had a slow cooker filled with fragrant golden stock.

I wish I could somehow put into the picture how delicious my house smelled!

I let it continue simmering through breakfast, and then turned off the slow cooker and let it cool for about an hour while we did our morning homeschool lessons. Then I scooped out the solid pieces with a slotted spoon and placed them in a bowl. I lifted the basin out of the slow cooker and carefully poured the stock through a colander lined with cheesecloth, into a large cooking pot. This step is rather important if you don't want little undesirable floaty bits in your stock. The cheesecloth isn't necessary--if you have a good strainer (not colander, an actual strainer) it should work okay. The cheesecloth just does the best job of clarifying the stock. See all the bits it filtered out?

At this point you can put the stock in the fridge, so that the fat on the surface will harden and can be easily removed. I skipped this step today because I had removed the skin from the chicken, so there wasn't too much grease (a little bit of grease doesn't bother me anyway). I wanted to use the stock right away.

There you have it, homemade stock, ready to use for anything you like.

Tomorrow I'm going to show you how to use this stock to make one of our favourite meals: Chicken pot pie. :)