Andrea

This is the BEST prep you could ever make! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vicki - I have a manual Pump n Seal that I use to vacumm seal my jars. In fact, I don't even bother buying the premade air tabs anymore, I make my own from electrical tape. I've also found that I can get a good seal on recycled spaghetti jars and these are what I use to store my dehydrated vegies & herbs. I think I paid around $30 with extra tabs, but it's been several years. In fact, I just opened a jar of dried beans from '07 that where still perfectly sealed.

I agree Martian and I love the fact that it grows itself without any interference from me! I'm putting it out front now and using it as ground cover beneath my rose bushes. We'll see how it works! Martian, I would think that it would be a great crop to grow for poultry. Do you feed it to your quail? And do you think chickens would like it?

P.S. If you're not into grating, you can dissolve your bar of soap in a pan overnight . . . Westbrook taught me that little secret several years ago and I haven't grated since!

Are you talking uber high carb as in ketosis inducing, or are you simply eliminating the highly processed carbs from your diet? $250 a month is a pretty tight budget if you're including all of your cleaning, paper products and toiletries, but as long as you don't mind eating less of a variety of foods, you can probably do it. As mentioned earlier, eggs are the most bang for your buck as far as price and calorie to protein ratio. They are also super versatile and can take on lots of personalities, depending on how you cook them. You can make crustless quiche, egg flower soup, scrambled eggs/omelletes, scrambled eggs with salsa wrapped in a steamed cabbage leaf for a breakfast burrito, chopped boiled egg sandwiches or eggs chopped on top of green salad, etc. I eat 1-2 whole eggs a day and since I've eliminated processed foods from my diet, my cholesterol has gone down dramatically in spite of my increased egg consumption. Meat from the markdown bin. Sorry, I don't know how else you'll be able to afford meat on your budget. For example, I just found turkey thighs for 89cents a pound in the bin at our store. Yes, I can get chicken for the same price or less, but turkey is a nice change of pace from chicken and fish and I only cook red meat once or twice a month. Soup. Soup. Soup. This is probably the only way you are going to stretch your food dollar til it's see through. For example, out of the turkey thighs I bought yesterday, I took two of them, peeled off the skin, and threw them in my largest stock pot with some chopped onion, garlic, and bay leaves and simmered them for a few hours. I removed the turkey thighs to cool enough for me to handle and while they were cooling, I threw in a chopped head of green cabbage ($1.09) and some chopped celery (from my yard, but here it runs around 99 cents a bunch). When the cabbage and celery where almost done, I threw in some chopped zucchini ($1.47. I know, I had to actually buy it!) some chopped fresh cilantro (free from my yard, but at the store it's 50 cents a bunch), the chopped up turkey meat, salt, and a generous amount of smoked chipotle tobasco (let's call it 15 cents. I buy it on sale with coupons and a bottle lasts me several months). If I had to buy all of the ingredients, the turkey was $1.40, cabbage $1.09, celery 99 cents, zucchini $1.47, cilantro 50 cents, onions & garlic $1.00, bay leaves 3 cents from the bulk section (I have a tree), tobasco 15 cents. That's $6.63 for at least 14 , 2-3 cup servings of soup. So, 47 cents a serving that is pretty much carb free and it freezes really well! (My cost was only 29 cents a serving because I grew part of the ingredients.) Cabbage. Even if you can't grow the stuff, it's really affordable and it's so versatile! It can be thinly sliced and boiled and turned into "noodles", it makes a hearty filling soup, and for stir fry, it rocks! With the proper seasonings, a head of cabbage and a small amount of chopped meat, and whatever vegies you have on hand or growing, you can make a lot of filling, delicious stir fry. It's also low in carbs. Oh yeah, I've also chopped up cabbage, green & red peppers, and onions, layered them in a casserole with some fresh basil, salt, pepper, thyme, & smoked paprika, crumbled up a 1/2 pound of ground turkey over the top, poured a cup or so of hot broth over all of it, and baked it in the oven for 45 mins to an hour. You could also probably throw in a few chopped, hard-boiled eggs to up the protein content. Dried beans - not sure if these are within your diet plan, but they are a great source of protein and fiber and super affordable! Mexican hominy - for whatever reason, the mexican style has very few carbs - I'm guessing it's because of the way it's processed. I make a turkey hominy chili that my family loves that is pretty low on the carb count. I don't count carbs, but my Dad is diabetic so I'm very aware of the carb aspect of food. If you want the recipe, I'll be happy to dig it up, although I have to confess, I kind of just throw things at the pot! It is chili after all! Sorry this is so unorganized, but it happens to be the way my brain works! I wish you luck in sticking to your diet & budget goals. With a bit of creativity, I think you can manage this!

Cool! Thanks for bumping this! How did I miss this the first time around? (this might be the perfect way to grow a bit of lettuce that the snails & slugs can't get to . . .)

Mt Rider, I hadn't purchased my ticket yet. I was waiting to see if dh was going to be working out of town that weekend. Ironically, I'm the one who ended up working. Oh well, I'll get out to Georgia one of these times. I would really like to meet all of you in person.

Congrats Lisa and dh! (Wormy, behave yourself! ) I'm sorry guys, but I'm going to be working afterall and won't be able to attend. I really want to make it to one of these sometime. In the meantime, for those of you attending, be prepared for a care package from California! Andrea

Thanks! Great links!

Okay, so I'm a scraper but I'll put that last little bit of something in a small container, planning to use it for this that or the other, and then I lose track of it in the fridge for untold amounts of time and then I become a dumper! So, I guess that makes me a scraper, a dumper, and chronically disorganized! If anyone is accepting excuses, I always have the best intentions . . .

(((kappydell))) Huge hugs headed your way. You know you're not worthless, don't even think that! Chronic pain can really drag you down emotionally. Please cut yourself some slack. Do what you can and move on. I know it's hard to get rid of things, but in the end, they are only things. Your friend and family, on the other hand, are priceless. Just keep letting them know how much you appreciate all that they are doing. They wouldn't be doing this if they didn't care about you! Hang in there! This too shall pass. You'll get your hip replacement and your life back. In the meantime, chin up! (((Kappy)))

Lemon balm in my oldest dehydrator that doesn't get warm enough to dry anything but herbs now. DD is learning how to drive now, so I'm REALLY going to need it's calming effect this winter when the fresh stuff goes dormant!

Wow, FIFTY Years!!! A HUGE Congrats! By the way, were you 2 when you married? You both look so young! Thanks for sharing!

I second the recommendation from the original post of Herbal Antibiotics by Stephen Harrod Buhner . This is an AWESOME resource to have. At the first sign of scratchy throat, I make whoever is suffering take a teaspoon of pure local honey. It actually burns on it's way down. Then we follow up with chamomile, echinacea & green tea generously sweetened with more local unprocessed honey. It works really well.

Wow, THANK YOU Philbe. I had no idea those existed! I will definitely check that out!

Have a WONDERFUL day!

I recently received Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces by Gayla Trail as a gift. Beautiful book but one recipe in particular caught my eye. It sounds delicious and the ratio of acid/sugar seems safe, but I thought I'd run it by our resident expert! What are your thoughts, Violet? Tangy Red Pepper Ketchup 3 pounds red sweet peppers, cored, sliced, and cut into large chunks 1 large onion, cut into large chunks 2 apples, cored and cut into large chunks 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar 1 teaspoon coarse salt 1 1/2 cups honey 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses 1/2 lemon, sliced Spice Packet: 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns 2 tablespoons mustard seed 1 tablespoon coriander seed 1. Finely chop the sweet peppers, onion, and apples in a food processor and transfer to a medium cooking pot. 2. Add the vinegar, salt, honey, molasses, and lemon slices. Stir until well mixed. 3. To make the spice packet, cut a 5" square of cheesecloth. Place the ingredients in the center of the square; pull up the sides and tie closed with a piced of cotton twine. Submerge in the sauce. 4. Turn the heat up high and bring the ingredients to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes, until wet and syrupy. Stir occasionally to prevent the ingredients from sticking or burning on the bottom. 5. Discard the lemon slices and reduce the heat to low. Continue simmering for another 40 minutes, or until the mix is thick and sticky. 6. Discard the spice packet. Press the mixture through a food mill to make a smooth sauce. 7. If it seems too watery, put it back on the stove and simmer over medium-low heat until the ketchup has reduced and thickened to a consistency that suits you. 8. Pour into sterilized jars, leaving 1/2' headspace and process in a boiling-water bath for 15 minutes. Makes approximately 11 quarter-pint jars

Went to the dent/bargain store and found name brand chocolate chips for $1.00 a bag. They had expired only 6 days before! So, now my freezer is full of 20 bags of various flavors of baking chips - Heath, Reeses, & dark chocolate. I was clearing that space for beef, but in the end, chocolate is much more important!

Thanks for the update Ghost! Btw, I harvested quite a bit of purslane seed. If anyone would like some, please pm me your mailing address and I can put them in the mail to you.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!! LOL - LOVE the "Dr. Crazy"

Usually for jams, it gives you a cup measurement as well and you go with that measurement. Good question , I hadn't really thought of it before!

Kauai - You can grow year round and since it rains every day, you don't have to water! Seriously, heaven on Earth.

Great idea, CrabGrass! I can't believe it only took 9 months for me to see this tip! LOL Here is a recipe for homemade almond yogurt - you can use soy milk also. The cool thing is that it uses a crockpot instead of the pain in the behind icechest method! Woohoo, I hope I have a free day at home to give this a try! http://caloriecount.about.com/almond-milk-yogurt-homemade-crockpot-recipe-r372639

Tumeric seems to work well for me along with trying to eat anti-inflammatory foods.

Hope both of you have wonderful days! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!