**Abbie holding fresh carrots, straight from our garden** What kind of food education are our children getting? While my husband and I were berry picking a few weekends ago, we got into a discussion about whether kids actually have an idea of where food comes from and how grateful we are that ours have…
As you may have noticed, I've begun a new series called Preserving Summer's Bounty, where I am creating photo tutorials of some of the different foods that I am preserving this summer, along with a variety of preserving methods. If you missed the first two, they are: Beautiful Blueberries (freezing) Blanching and Freezing Vegetables Also…
It's been awhile, so I thought it might be time for a quick photo garden tour! These pictures were actually taken a week ago, so just imagine everything a little bit bigger! This patch is a mix of cauliflower to the far left, potatoes in the center and front, a bit of broccoli to the…
Though the title of this post is a bit tongue in cheek, I really haven’t been a terribly conscientious or hardworking gardener so far this spring. Just feeling all-around busier this year than last, and having to contend with a 5, 6 and now 7 months pregnant belly, has quite simply cut down on time,…
I guess I only see what is on your blog but sometimes I get a bit discouraged thinking how can you do all that when I am attempting to do things and not fulfilling what I think I should be doing, most of the time? I do a lot, when I think about it,…
**Too bad the picture behind me didn't turn out too well. It's probably my favorite piece of art in our home. Makes me feel like I'm on a cobblestone street in Europe. 🙂 I'm still enjoying the "golden months", as I like to call them (you know, those middle months where the sickness and…
There were so many great questions asked in the comments in my recent post How My Grocery Budget Works, that I felt the need to address them in a separate post. Here goes… What is your dill pickle recipe? I’ll post both this recipe, and our favorite Bread and Butter pickles recipes up within the…
*My most recent grocery shop last week* Grocery budgets are tricky things. There are so many variables that come into play: family size, special dietary needs, family members appetites, where you live (which country, what part of the country, urban or rural)… I’ve been wanting to share how my grocery budget breaks down for quite…
I'm pretty sure I promised to have these up ages ago, but for some reason or other, this post ended up on the backburner. Such is life! Since I wrote up these plans, most of my garden has been planted and things have changed just slightly, though they've stayed mostly the same so far. Here's…
Nope, you haven't missed anything! I haven't gone from longing for spring to beginning to eat a garden harvest. We're still enjoying the canned tomatoes, the frozen zucchini and pumpkin puree, the pickles, the dried spices, etc. from last summer and can I just say what a beautiful thing that is!!! **I only wish…
As promised, here is a rundown on what I'm doing for this first week of working with what I've already got! Beth asked me what kind of things I have stockpiled in my freezer and pantry right now. Glad you asked! Here's a basic list of the inventory I created last week: Canned goods from…
I found out a way to get blackberry stains off my little girl’s off-white blouse and pumpkin baby food off my little guy’s white/green shirt… without any heavy chemicals, and with minimal effort and cheap ingredients? Do I have your attention yet? 🙂 Here are the ingredients: Liquid Dish Detergent, Glycerin, and water. The glycerin…
We all know that a good recipe can be hard to find. Since I am always on the lookout for new favorites to add to my repertoire, I thought I’d pass along a few that I have tried and loved in the past several months: Cheesy Beef and Rice (this is an easy casserole to…
I've always thought I was a pretty decent, healthy, semi-granola-y mama, but I'm finding myself stumped lately. I have a 3 year old and can't seem to think beyond the old peanut butter and jelly for lunch. And for my 1 year old, I'm stumped for car snacks. Tomorrow we're leaving for Nana and Papa's…
I was just commenting to my husband last night that my traffic seems oddly low and slow. He wisely said, "Hmm, maybe because it's American Thanksgiving tomorrow." Oh yeah. You think? 🙂 I hope y'all are thoroughly enjoying wonderful times with your loved ones, and please, a second helping of turkey and pumpkin pie, just…
Goodbye, my beloved garden. We've had some good times, you and I. You were so patient with me while I fumbled around, making mistakes, ruining perfectly good seeds, weathering the poor weather, letting you get mildew. You never took it out on me, but just kept letting me learn at my own speed, surprising me…
I am really enjoying my two week menu planning! It feels so good to get it out of the way all at once, rather than to have to meal plan each week, and it takes much less time to just do an extra week while I'm already at it. For me, this is definitely the…
(I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I wanted to get out much of this info, if for no other reason than having a record of it myself!) I could actually say sooo much more than this, but here’s my attempt to condense my observations and things that I learned in…
Since getting home from Arizona, life has been a flurry of food preserving. Here's what I've been up to: First, there were pickles to make (you can see, they've already been dug into- I tried to buy more pickling cukes, since I only got enough for 4 quarts from my garden, but the market…
I'm so thankful for… such a loving and patient husband, who is driving to work to serve our family so faithfully… the darling baby crawling around on the floor behind me, as he says "Mama, mama"… the sweet little girl who loves to bless me, and is putting butter on a bun to bring to…
For those who may have been wondering where I was yesterday, I was celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving! This is the picture of my table centerpiece, which I unfortunately didn't think to take a picture of until after dinner, instead of when the table was first set and looking beautiful with cloth napkins, etc. I also…
When I came home from my favorite natural meat store earlier this week, I was rather surprised to discover this as I struggled to put away the items I had bought: It's nearly full! I know that I've been working hard to fill it all summer (mostly with fruit and some frozen garden veggies), plus…
(Jars of the most delicious wild blackberry jam I made last week!) As I am only in my second year of canning, I don't feel quite ready to start giving lots of advice and tutorials quite yet, but I've been fortunate to find so many great resources this year, so I thought I would pass…
Welcome to the second edition of the Nourishing Frugal Food Carnival (if you missed the first week of main dishes at The Nourishing Gourmet, catch it here)! This week I am honored to host the carnival, where we will focus on frugal yet nourishing salads, side dishes and desserts- yummy! If you have a blog…