Apple-Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal

We make all of our Instant Oatmeal Packs starting with this Basic Recipe:

 

Basic Instant Oatmeal:

2 cups quick oats

2 cups quick oats ground to a powder in blender

3/4 t salt

Mix well.

We then make individual servings in the snack-size ziploc bags and store in the pantry.

Remember those antique dried apples that I told you about on Facebook?

Well, they're delicious in this oatmeal -and they were free!!!

 

Methinks this is far better than anything I've tasted from a box- and SO much cheaper!

 

 You could dress it up as 'apple pie oatmeal' by adding other spices or tossing in some nuts.

Apple-Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal

1/3 cup Basic Instant Oatmeal (above)

1T brown sugar

1/3 cup loosely packed dried apples

dash of cinnamon

To cook, simply add 2/3 cup of very hot water and allow to sit for approx 3 minutes.

Other flavors of instant oatmeal:

Brown Sugar and Spice

Coconut Cream

Cinnamon Bun 

Smores

and if you have dried lemon zest, you could even do that for Lemon-Poppy Seed Oatmeal

Exo 30:23  Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels...

Freezer and Pantry Cooking and Prepping-

I find freezer and pantry cooking therapeutic and one of the best things to keep me in the frugal! 

For you see- it is the cheapest source of fast food :) 

I may not always make up 'whole meals' but I try to make up frugal, healthy foods that can easily be put together for a quick, healthy meal.

Last weekend the kids put on their new aprons (Christmas gifts) and we got to work in the kitchen.

The two bigger boys made Gingerbread Pancakes and Kefir Pancakes.

The younger two rolled out pizza crusts for breakfast pizzas and personal pizzas for lunch, while I baked them. 

We allowed them to cool and bagged them all in meal portions and froze them.

We then began a double batch of Laura's famous Breakfast Cookies!

(I cut the butter back by 1/4.)

We love these and always include them on our freezer cooking list!

Then we switched our focus to breakfast for the pantry and we made the following granolas:

Graham Granola

Chocolate Granola with Almonds

Peanut Butter Granola

The day we got groceries, I came home and prepared all the meat I bought like this;

-cooked 4lbs ground beef and froze in 5 meal-portions

-boiled and shredded chicken breasts for 4 meal-portions

-boiled 2 whole chickens for 4 meal-portions and about a gallon and a 1/2 of broth frozen in portions

-made and cooked ground turkey meatballs for 5 meals

-boiled oxtails for about a gallon of beef broth and froze in portions

(fed cat and dogs the fat scraps from chicken and oxtails)

-divided roasts for 2 meals and diced up some for 1 meal of stew

- bought enough pollock (fish) for 2 meals for a little over $6

(fish is very high in protein so your servings can be smaller!)

-divided pepperonis in meal-sized portions and froze

This week I also prepared a double batch of Brandy's Spaghetti Sauce and froze it up in meal-sized portions and some for the meatballs.  I had a little left over and spread it across some chicken strips that I had in the freezer and baked them and served them over rice with a spinach and chard salad.

Before I go to bed tonight, I plan on soaking up several kinds of beans so as to pressure cook those tomorrow and freeze them up for quick meals and sides. 

(If you've been reading my FB, you'll know that I discovered electricity, well- I felt like it, when someone gave me a pressure cooker a few months ago and I cooked dried garbanzo beans in 7 minutes! 

Totally amazing!)

We also might make up some bean and cheese burritos for the freezer over the weekend once I get some saucy beans made up.

I'm also making good use of  these soup starters and other goodies for quick meals:

With the clear-broth veggie-soup mix, I usually add frozen shredded chicken, a teaspoon of bouillon, and a shake of thyme, rosemary, and parsley.

The tomato veggie-soup is good plain with frozen shredded chicken or with beef (with or without pasta or rice) and some marjoram, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper....or with beet and Italian herbs.

Then there's the potato soup mix that's just a reheat and add milk beaten with a little flour or cornstarch.

The canned pumpkin soup is a simple reheat and top with sour cream.

The apples make a great side with eggs for breakfast or a quick lunch and I often heat them in a little butter.

All of this helps me keep on the frugal track and focus these days on school and other work. It also helps me on those days when errands pop up out of nowhere and we have to grab our Breakfast Cookies and go!

The kids also enjoy 'cooking classes'!   - Beats fractions and times tables! :)

But- be sure to warn your boys that pancakes do NOT need to be flattened with a spatula to cook through!

Sigh.

Prov 31:15  She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

Cocoa Powder Brownies/Recipe for Pantry Brownie Mix

 I've been pretty good about keeping my sweet tooth (uhm, that would be teeth, certainly plural) in check but sometimes chocolate, in the form of brownies, is ...well....healing therapy!

This recipe makes a 9x13 or 12 muffin-sized brownies.

You can also premix all of the dry ingredients and store in jars or bags in your pantry for your own, frugal brownie mix!

Great convenience food! 

(Isn't anytime a convenient time to eat brownies?.. Is it a little too late to try to convince you that I really made these for the kids?)

1 cup of all purpose flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

4 eggs

1 t vanilla

*opt: 1/2 cup walnuts + 1/2 cup chocolate chips 

(the more chocolate the merrier!)

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the center for wet ingredients and gradually blend into the flour mixture. (If using the nuts and choc chips, add them to the dry ingredients first.)

Spread in sprayed 9x13 or muffin tins. 

Bake at 350 for 22 to 25 minutes.

*************

Psa 119:103  How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Weekly Goals-

I'd rather shoot for the moon and miss, than never take aim!
So here's my goals for this week :)

-Mow bean patches and turn over with the tiller. (Got them mowed and half are turned!)

-Cook up the rest of the apples and can, dry, or freeze. (Half are done!)

-Make Cherry Jam and Lavender Jelly. (Strawberry, Raspberry, Black Cherry, Apple Peel, and Grape are done!)

-Fertilize the berry bushes.
-Work on bug-catching-project.

-Finish school lists. (95% done)

-Trace out next embroidery project and finish the last.

-Finish sorting hand-me-downs and clean and organize the rest of my room.

-Read several chapters of Outcast out loud.
-Begin Latin review.
-Review times tables with Kyler.
-Refill outer rain barrels.
-Put together Bible study materials.
-Organize Scripture Memory for school work.
-Bake several loaves of bread for a fund raiser. (Done!)
-Must do some freezer cooking!- Chicken, broth, etc.
-Write letters to Krestan in boot camp.

Be sure to share your goals with MoneySavingMom!

Bringing In The Sheaves ....

Okay, it's not "sheaves", it's butternut squash -and more!...And, there's no song that  mentions squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, or even green beans so ....I'm singing ...."We shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves!"

There's been much work to do while counting my blessings today.

I scrubbed up dozens of jars this morning while the kids done their homework and I cut several dozen ears of corn and froze it up. (Not to mention laundry-always some of that!)

 

Jars- you know you have serious jar issues when you find an odd one and it's love-at-first-sight!

 

 You'll never guess what I did with those corn cobs!

Go ahead- try!

Tap, tap, tap, waiting.....

Okay, Ill give you a hint, I did the same thing with some flowers. 

Uh-huh- you guessed it!

Corn Cob Jelly and  Marigold Jelly 

A friend helped give this marigold a kick with her extra red-colored flowers. Love it! 

(Funny how she just knew that I could use the flowers somehow!)

*I should mention that I fixed enough biscuits for Krestan this morning by mistake. 'magine that!*

Sigh. 

Nobody made fun of me though :)

 

Back to the sheaves!

Get a look-see at this!

Sunflowers, cucumbers, tomatoes, acorn squash, and this tub is FULL of butternut squash. 

It's a 96 quart tub! ---AND- there's more!!!! Bless my soul!

This makes one of our favorite soups!

Be still my soup-less heart! ...Must make more chicken broth!

We also pulled up the rest of the green beans- about 3/4 of a bushel! 

But they're not near as lovely as my squash!

 

We also enjoyed the sunflowers. 

I put them up in a place that sort of made a hedge to hide the messy green bean patch from the front yard. Lovely privacy fence for sure!

Is it just me or do sunflowers always seem to be bending over slightly and smiling at you? 

Ok- too many cartoons when I was little I guess. 

But they do have a way of making you feel happy- especially when those seeds are almost ready for harvest!

And lastly, the cosmos have bloomed!

They're so lovely- and delicate and prissy. I just love them!

It was a day full of blessings!

Love the promise of this verse:

Gen 8:22  While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

How Grows Your Gardens? Here's Mine:

If you're wondering what's keeping me busy these days- it's this- (and so much more)!

But it's the second most-wonderful-time-of-the-year for me!

Have a look-see from this morning:

God is good to give me such a view!........I can hardly wait to jelly those nasturtiums!

This is my healthiest looking apple tree!

There are some rust spots on the leaves, but the apples are looking very nice.

If your zukes didn't come up- don't feel bad- this one is the only one so far.

Sugar snap peas growing up on a fence.

Yummy kale along with some green onions...some going to seed.

The cukes came up very nicely!

Beets are a little discolored but yummy.

Bean sprouts! Hooray!

Larkspur...but looks like hyssop, doesn't it? Anyone know the difference?

These leeks are flowering but they were over wintered so I had it coming! See the bright lights chard?..Oh and my garden notebook that I accidentally left out in the rain? Ugh!

This is what happens when you let your leeks go........

Not so bad, huh? But- they do smell like onions- not roses :)

I love these nasturtiums! I love to eat them straight from the gardens and in salads...but these..I'm saving for jelly!

My blueberry bushes are struggling but this one is the healthiest. Yummy!

The top left corner is for tomatoes, these are some new patches I'm working up for beans and more squash.

The firepit had sprouted tomato plants, so I dug them out! There are 2 figs, a pear tree, the corn garden, and willows here. Those willows are amazing! Wonderful shade and you can hide under them in the rain and climb in them if you're a kid!

The beautiful plum tree that won't bear fruit. It flowers early, then frost, and off drop the blossoms. Sigh. However, the tiny little plum on the left has two plums! ..It flowered a week and a half after this one. Small berry bushes line my side of the fence on the right.

Ah- and the grapes are something to write home about this year! They are doing very good! Not super full, but growing very good.

Blackberry blossoms.

These are what I've been waiting for! They were this springs newbies. I am hoping to get a bunch at once and make jelly!

I love rosemary! Great in soups, or veggies, and on meat, but amazing in that herbal summer tea that I make!

This lemon balm has already given me jelly this year. So tasty! Great in fruit salads and herbal tea.

This is Kyler's pumpkin patch. He hopes to turn a few bucks out of this- I pray he does- and gives me his extras to puree and freeze for pies :)

My blurry blackberries. The wind was blowing and they just would not hold still!

Song of Solomon 2:1  I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

This was hiding under the tiger lilies that are almost ready to bloom I brought this balloon flower in to put on the piano in a sleek goblet. Lovely!      ...But I may have to try to move them since the tigers are covering them now.

Hope you all are enjoying your summer- and God's beautiful creation!

Gen 1:12  And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Homemade Wheat Flakes Cereal

I've tried these several times now and I finally have them where I like them.

My first few batches, the flakes were so thick and hard, that it was like chomping on flint rocks. 

(If yours happen to turn out like that, no worries, just whirl them in a blender and make them more like "Grape Nuts".)

But being a bit tenacious by nature, I kept thinning the batter down until I have a nice, thin flake!

Yaaah!

AND- if you can't or don't want to eat wheat, you can make your own corn flakes, rice flakes, etc.

You will just need to adjust your liquids to make sure your batter is really thin.

These have a wonderful flavor and they don't have all that ekaodfa'e'rakjhfsdpghaejasulose stuff in them that you can't say!

Yep, with these flakes, you'll be able to read all of the ingredients! A real bonus, huh?

Taste and pronunciation go hand in hand these days ;-)

Homemade Whole Wheat Flakes

2 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour

1/2 t salt

1/2 cup sugar (your choice)

2 1/2 cups water

Pour all ingredients into a blender and whirl until smooth. (Use a hand mixer or whisk if you need to. Just be sure to break up all the lumps.)

Pour on 3 buttered, lipped cookie sheets. Be sure to turn the pan so the batter spreads out evenly. 

(Thick spots mean thick places and longer baking.)

(approx. 13x18 size)

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Allow to cool for 1 to 2 minutes. 

Break off the crisp outer edges and place the remaining part back in the oven and continue to bake until all of it has crisped. 

(This may take up to an additional 20 minutes if your battered pooled in the center.)

The outer edges are nice and crisp. Break them off and toss the center back in.

This makes about 1 quart of dried cereal. 

It's a bit time consuming too. 

But- if you want cereal, especially one without ejflsdkhuhfjsdklose- you got it!
****************
This post is linked to HomeMakerOnADime,KatheWithAnE,Our Delightful Home,

Making and Storing Food- In January

In the last 7 days I've cooked and stored in the freezer; pinto, black, and red kidney beans. 

I was cooking them anyway so I just cooked big batches of them for quick use later. 

(It's cheaper than cans!)

I made 6 pints of grape jelly from one can of concentrate that I had caught on sale before Christmas.

And from frozen sour cherries bought months and months ago, I was able to make 7 pints of cherry jam.

Also this week, I've made my own buttermilk and kefir.

 

Tonight, 2 quarts of Greek yogurt are quietly nestled in my oven culturing.

And tomorrow, I hope to pack the fridge and freezer with a little baking!

Marigold Jelly

When life gives you marigolds- make jelly!

I love being able to grow things that I can make some kind of use from!

A friend of mine gave me these marigold seeds and as soon as they began to pop up, I started digging to see what I could do with them. Some use the petals in salads but I was smitten when I found the jelly recipe. 

Here's how I made it:

Rinse-

3 cups of flower petals (snip the petals w/kitchen scissors right where the green part begins, toss out the green, using the petals only).

Pour over enough boiling water to cover and allow to steep and cool for a couple of hours.

Strain well and add enough water to make 4 cups of liquid.

Mix 1 box of low-sugar pectin (pink box) with 1/2 cup of sugar in a small bowl.

Whisk the sugar-pectin mix into the liquid, along with 3T lemon juice, and bring to a hard boil in a large pot.

Whisk in 2 1/2 cups sugar. Return to a hard boil. Boil for one minute.

(I continue to boil my jelly longer if a slightly cooled spoon of it doesn't slow-drip from the spoon.)

Poor into sterilized jars and process in canner according to directions.

Makes 3 pints of lemonade-colored jelly.

Watermelon Jelly

Do NOT try this recipe UNLESS you have a DEEP (heavy bottomed) pot! (Like 9 inches, at least.) It WILL boil over on you in a regular sized pot. :)

7 cups strained watermelon juice

6 1/2 cups of sugar 

1/3 cup plus 1T lemon juice

2 boxes of (no sugar) Sure Jell (pink box)

Prepare jars and lids. (Makes approx. 6 pints.)

Pour watermelon and lemon juice into VERY deep stock pot.

In a bowl, whisk 1/2 cup sugar and both boxes of Sure Jell together.

Whisk the Sure Jell mixture into the juice. 

Bring juice to a hard boil. (This will take between 5 and 10 minutes.)

Whisk in the remaining sugar and return to a hard boil that cannot be stirred down.

(This is why you MUST use a very deep pot.)

Boil for ONE minute.

Remove from heat and ladle into prepared jars.

Process in canner for 10 minutes.

Remove jars and allow to cool.

(*Note to self:I made one batch of this with only 5 1/2 cups of sugar. It did jell, but is a little thin.)
************
This post is linked to:
 Natural Mother's Network 
The Prairie Homestead