Venison Sliders

When a friend of ours called a couple of weeks ago and asked me if I wanted a deer, I hesitated...you just never know what people mean when they ask you if you want an animal down here in the south!

But- free for the picking up- was a crate of venison!

And you wanna know what's really neat about the timing? My 16 year old had just come upstairs that morning from the freezer to let me know that we were almost out of red meat and well, deer is the other red meat! We love it!- God is good!

It's lean and we don't seem to think it's 'gamey' and it can do anything beef can do 'cept only better- especially when it's free!

Venison Sliders

1 lb loin, cut in small strips

1 large onion, sliced

2 heaping tablespoons of fat (lard*)

1 1/2 T Worcestershire Sauce (love French's)

cheese (Swiss)

buns

Saute onion and venison in fat on medium-low heat until meat is no longer pink.

Add Worcestershire and continue to cook 3 to 5 minutes on low heat.

Add to buns top with cheese- and you have- amazing!

*You gals know I love to render my own lard when I can get it, but for these, I actually used bacon grease. Someone at church had given me a whole jar of leftover bacon grease. Sweet!

You KNOW you're loved when folks share their bacon grease with you!

Psa 42:1  As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

Are Your Ready for Winter?

We're not- but we're getting really close!

I tried to get as much seed and plants growing as possible that would grow through cool weather and winter. I have hopes of fresh veggies in the snow!

And so do my chicks!

Yes this is dried corn on the banister for some of these critters in my yard and you'll notice the raised beds are covered and house some very lovely carrots, onions, and lettuces. One has spinach and leeks coming up.

The wood is part of the 'unfinished project' for winter. The hay is for our newest 'babies'. 

Anyone wanna guess what we've drug home now?

(The couple who saw us last night- you can't guess- cuz you already know- so shhhhhh!)

"Shadows" (our appliances have names for those of you who may have forgot) houses lots of frozen veggies and even some fruits from our gardens; some were gleaned from other places.

I forgot to take a pic of my honey for winter. I did some 'bartering' for local honey and have set aside some for 'medicinal purposes only' since germies are sure to be on the way.

I also need to order some elderberries for our best medicine for colds.

I will likely be using the last of our berries this week...whether from germs or the cold, some aren't feeling so good today....but that syrup is a fantastic cure-all!

Mason jars are tucked everywhere I have extra space. They are filled with everything from relish to pickles to green beans to apple pie filling- oh and in front here are beets!

Ah and my beloved wheat!

I was able to get a couple of bags of grains for winter several weeks ago.

Some of you know what a treasure that is for me!

God is good!

We've also settled into cuddling on the couch at night and reading this great book!

2 Chr 32:27-29 And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels;  Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks. Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.

 Who else is prepped for winter? How so?

Have you ever...?

Ever stopped at a stranger's house and ask them for the apples and pears around their trees?

Me too! ;-)

They let me have all that we could pick up from the ground, telling me that the ones on the tree were not quite ripe. Happy was I to pick them up from the yard! Asian and Bartlett pears and Winesap and other apples. And see those grapes? Those are the wildest grapes that I've ever tasted! They tasted sorta like muscadines- so good! (He gave me a few clusters of those too.)

And as good as that was, better still was the info they willingly shared with me about gardening and the like!

Like rusty nails in the ground to help heal a peach tree= iron.

Perhaps only a frugal, garden-loving geek, like myself, could have had more fun! ;-)

God is good!

And I guess we'll see how good I am at processing them tomorrow!

Pear Preserves...

My neighbors gave me more pears and asked about me making them a jar of pear preserves. Well, I had NO clue as to what pear preserves were- But this was the second year they have brought me pears and the second year that they've asked about these pear preserves so I decided to go digging!

Based on some great information that I found here, and DH's description- this is what I came up with- here they are straight from the canner!In exchange for their kindness, I baked them a loaf of bread and made them a jar of juiced pears. Tomorrow, I will take them some of those pear preserves!

(Let's hope they are to their liking! They are very good- sweet and tart!)

(mmm- juiced pears!)

We got out the juicer the other day since fall and germs are in the air! I hope the extra vitamins from juicing will help fight the germies!

Pear preserves and Juicing- Works for Me!!!

Fresh Food!

I am so tickled about my "fall" garden this year. I had many doubts about whether it would work, whether I was planting too late, whether the seeds would sprout, etc. But this week I'm thankful to say that God has been so good to my little garden and made it to produce again!

These beautiful kale greens are growing abundantly in several places in my garden right now! I also have a new batch of squash that is giving me very pretty produce!

I can't believe that I have new squash in September!!!

(You know this was coated in cornmeal and fried in rendered beef fat, right?)
And then to my surprise, I found these treasures on the porch!

(I have some great neighbors! I will juice them some pears and bake them some bread in exchange for their kindness.)
This Gratituesday, I'm thankful to still have fresh food coming in!

God is truly good!

Its the little things that make me happy....

fresh eggs- that were a gift! I returned the gift with a jar of jelly, a few fresh tomatoes from my garden, and a small batch of okra.

Then look what I happened to find at the store! Do you know what they are? Wanna guess?

When I was a girl, I remember being taken on a long walk through the woods, just to pick muscadines!

These are muscadine grapes! Yummy!

Barter; It's Frugal!

Recently, I made a suggestion to someone about bartering.

15 years ago, I had no idea what that even meant!

But several years ago, I had a very kind friend whose husband was starting a new dental office. (They had been in missions as dental workers.) They were likely on a strict budget, coming off the mission field, and they had a young daughter too. They had attained a building but needed several things done to get it fixed up and ready. I volunteered to help her paint and anything else that I could do to help. I just had 3 children at the time and they played with her daughter while me and my friend painted. We took turns overseeing the children, the whole while painting and cleaning. After I had helped her some, she brought up bartering and said that she wanted to repay me by offering me free dental service if I needed! What an exchange, huh?!!!?!

I also have a couple of books here by Ronda Barfield which I have enjoyed very much. It gave me a great place to start on living more frugally, years ago, as a young and unlearned mother. Her books mention bartering in several places.

I've also heard from many ladies who go pick fruit and other things, in exchange for a couple of jars of jam (when they often are allowed to pick bushels!).

My neighbor gave me some apples and pears last year that she had picked somewhere and just ask for a jar of 'preserves' or 'something' in exchange! What a blessing!

There are several online "Bartering" sites that you can sign up with and list your services and ask for services. I heard of one man offering to do 'home repairs' for dental service for his wife! And there is soooo much more and there are many of those sites!

There is also Freecycle on the net. You can sign up by county, even those surrounding you, and get emails when new listings are posted. The ONE RULE is everything MUST BE free! But you can make requests for things that you need as well as make offers of things you are looking to get rid of. Yesterday in my county, someone was looking for some twin beds for free and there was someone giving away free kittens. Another day you may find someone offering free kid's clothes and yet another asking for some. It's a neat system!

Bartering is a great and frugal way to attain things that can seem out of reach! Perhaps you could start a bartering system with your close friends? Make a list of things you have to offer or services that you can provide, and then attach a list of things that you would consider bartering for; then send it around to your friends and family whom you know to be frugally minded!

Perhaps we should do this in blogland? I don't know but the possibilities are endless!

But be creative! And think!
Can you sew, clean, mend, cook, walk a dog, board a pet, babysit, tutor? type? bake? knit? teach a few ladies a certain skill- cooking or gardening? make soaps? etc?
What do you have extra of? garden foods? food from your favorite hunter piled up in your freezer? extra fabric stacked to the ceiling? old homeschool material? kid's clothes? adult clothes? video games? toys? fresh baked goods? manure or compost for gardens? coupons that you won't use? home decor? kitchen gadgets that you won't use?

You gals remember me telling you about one of my bartering friends? (Just in case you haven't, you can look under my sewing label for more about that.)

If you can't think of anything, ask the Lord to show you!
He's a big God!!!