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Farm Kitchen:  Our Frugal Kitchens  |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
7110 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
7110 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 13 2018 : 05:06:57 AM
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Michelle, I don't make Annie's food but I do supplement dry food with chicken livers, hearts, and gizzards. She also likes cooked kale and other greens, any kind of soup, raw carrots, cooked veg, and leftover meat. And can't forget spaghetti with or without meat.
In one of my Tasha Tudor's books she talks about what she feeds her dogs - goat meat and veg soup. She raised goats for milk and meat.
Annie is a animal shelter rescue so I'm not positive what breed she is - closest the vet and I have come up with is German Shepard - Rhodesian Ridgeback Hound mix. Last time she was weighed - 60lbs - so she is thriving.
I have a lg bag of dry dog food she will have to eat up before I think about making all her food but I am interested in collecting recipes and ideas now.
Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015.
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
7110 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
7110 Posts |
Posted - Feb 15 2018 : 11:21:06 AM
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I made Tex-Mex rice today. I put a can of stewed tomatoes through a sieve to use in the rice. The leavings I have in my dehydrator to use in soups/stews/chili. Haven't decided if I will leave it as is or grind into powder in the blender.
Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015.
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.
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saram
True Blue Farmgirl
521 Posts
Sara
Biggs
CA
USA
521 Posts |
Posted - Feb 26 2018 : 10:51:12 AM
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I'm standing over a sink of over-ripe apples today. I've had it on my list to bring them out of my "root cellar" for a long time. As I feared, they were mostly lost, but I picked out the best and now I'm carving out the good parts and thinking about frugal kitchens....
If I had a hog right now I would have turned them into pork meat. Instead I am tossing most into a pot for applesauce to go with our dinner, and the firmest ones went into a pair of apple-praline quick breads, a recipe I tried last week and loved. The alpacas will enjoy the peels and rotten parts.
It brought up a memory of a recent conversation I had with a young mother. I had offered her some of my pumpkins to take home. She was baffled by what to do with a pumpkin, so I explained that you just bake them and scoop out the flesh to make yummy things for your family. She replied, "That sounds like a lot of work." I was taken aback, and I politely broke it down and explained that it really wasn't, but I stopped there. It's funny how what is work for one person is pure joy and satisfaction for another. My mother taught me the joy of gardening, baking, canning and caring for a family by example, not by words. I think you can really only pass it on by joyfully living it, rather than trying to preach it.
Just a thought. I guess most people would have thrown out all these mushy apples and saved themselves the work. |
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AuntJamelle
True Blue Farmgirl
569 Posts
Jaime
South Bend
Indiana
USA
569 Posts |
Posted - Feb 27 2018 : 05:16:41 AM
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Great points, Sara!!! So many people are just wired for quick and easy these days! I'm not above quick and easy from time to time - it has it's place - but I feel that the learning curve of doing things like making applesauce or roasting a pumpkin is really the biggest hurdle. The idea of it can be intimidating but once you do it, it revels itself to be not such a big deal at all. Further it becomes possible to use your experiences over time to shave time off any of these processes - whether it's a kitchen tool used or the timing of the process - doing one piece one day and the rest another, etc.
People ask me all the time, how do you have time to do all that you do? I work full time but still cook and bake and craft and garden and can, etc. I struggle with how to answer them because I don't want to sound preachy :) But I just find the time. I like to stay busy. I enjoy sitting down at the end of the evening to watch TV for a while, but that is the very end of my day. Prior to that I'm on the move!
I love learning new frugal things, trying new things - it's also nice how frugal almost always equals environmentally friendly - makes me feel nice! |
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Sobyn
True Blue Farmgirl
752 Posts
Sabrina
Kansas
USA
752 Posts |
Posted - Feb 27 2018 : 05:50:02 AM
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I'm hoping to get started on my price book, master inventory list, and master meal plan list this week. This has been such a busy beginning of the year!!!
Jamelle, I would love to set up a spreadsheet like you are talking about, I'm not that great with excel but I can do basic things. I have tried doing one before but it got super tedious....but I can see how valuable it would be (and how much more organized than a notebook possibly). I may have to try it, any tips for getting it set up?
One area that I really need to figure out how to cut the cost is animal feed. We spend a small fortune on chicken and dog feed and now we have a rabbit. I think there was another thread on that so I won't go into it too much but I'm looking into fermenting some feed and making fodder to hopefully stretch that budget some. For the dogs, when we get a hog or portion of a cow butchered I am going to ask for all of the extras the most people don't want to eat (bones, heart, liver, tongue, etc) for the dogs. I throw it in the freezer and give it to them a little at a time. My neighbor also gives them deer bones, he has a friend who hunts and shares the meat and extras with him and he then shares the extras with our dogs (and occasionally the meat with us as well). I'm hoping to get my husband hunting eventually but he doesn't have the right gun and is afraid the expense of getting started will offset the savings-which it might at least in the first year.
Sabrina Farmgirl Sister #3275
February 2016 Farmgirl of the Month
http://kidscrunchandchrist.com
*Journal Through The Bible*The Life Giving Home Study*Homemaker's Bookclub*
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
7110 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
7110 Posts |
Posted - Feb 27 2018 : 05:55:30 AM
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Sara and Jaime I enjoyed reading both of y'all's posts. Standing in line at check out on grocery shopping day I look at what women have in their carts. Seems to me the more soft drinks, chips, cookies, and Hamburger Helper kind of dishes the less fresh vegetables and cook from scratch items in the carts. I'm not against snacks - I have to have my Lays potato chips from time to time but it is a shame more and more people cook less from scratch.
I have little strength in my hands - some days done at all so I roast pumpkins or winter squash whole. After washing and drying I prick several holes in the skin; wrap in foil; put on cookie sheet in 425 oven. After done I cut open and remove seeds and continue with recipe. For me it's easier to scoop out the seeds in a cooked pumpkin than raw.
If I was going to dry a small pumpkin (which I haven't yet) I think I would wrap it in Press n/ Seal and microwave until soft enough that I could easily peel and slice the pumpkin.
Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015.
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
7110 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
7110 Posts |
Posted - Feb 27 2018 : 06:05:08 AM
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Sabrina, animal feed is expensive and you have come up with several ways to offset that expense.
When I had my 3 chickens I gave them cornbread. Years ago when I had pygmy goats I gave them a pan of cornbread in the mornings during the winter. Sometimes I made it without eggs.
Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015.
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.
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saram
True Blue Farmgirl
521 Posts
Sara
Biggs
CA
USA
521 Posts |
Posted - Feb 27 2018 : 08:37:03 AM
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Animal feed is for sure a big ticket item! If you aren't careful you can way out-spend for your meat over buying at the store, so if savings is the goal its worth it to research.
When I have a hog I like to cook for it. I scope out the bulk section of my local Winco (great store, sorry to all of you who don't have one! My daughter on the East coast laments the absence of Winco out there!) and I choose the cheapest, most nutritional grain or legume and buy a bunch of it. Usually its green split peas at about 50-60 cents per pound. Each day I cook up a big pot of these, throw in all the garden scraps that would have gone on the compost pile, and any other things like old leftovers or rotting fridge items, and serve it up to the pig. They love it! |
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AuntJamelle
True Blue Farmgirl
569 Posts
Jaime
South Bend
Indiana
USA
569 Posts |
Posted - Feb 28 2018 : 07:25:46 AM
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Sabrina - I am ALWAYS happy to talk about spreadsheets! They make me happy! lol
Here is a screen shot of part of my Price Book:
I set up the following columns, but you could put them in whatever order makes the most sense to you:
Item Name - I try to name things consistently each time so that I can sort the spreadsheet by this column and get things grouped together nicely. So all cheese entries start with "Cheese" then a comma and then more description
Size - Amount and unit of measurement, like "12 oz"
Units - Amount without unit of measurement, so in example I just gave I would enter "12" - this let's me do math via a formula
Unit Price - Either Reg Price or Sales Price divided by Unit - if you want to chat about Excel formulas to do this just let me know!
Reg Price - Self Explanatory
Sales Price - Sales Price :) Love those sales!
Date of Sale/Purchase - Date
Store Name - This is nice one so you can sort, compare, contrast between stores
Notes - Misc. info you want to remember
Coupons Used - If you used a coupon you could track it here if you wanted to
I add new rows when I either buy a new item or over time as I buy the same item on sale, the price goes up, etc.
I haven't been as good about updating this spreadsheet recently and need to get back to it! If you want me to email you a copy of the whole spreadsheet just let me know too!
I wish I knew more about animal feed but it sounds like you have some great ideas!
Sara - I play the same game in the checkout lines!!! LOL Then I look at my own items and wonder if the cashier can guess what I'm making! |
Edited by - AuntJamelle on Feb 28 2018 07:26:55 AM |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
7110 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
7110 Posts |
Posted - Feb 28 2018 : 07:55:10 AM
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Jaime, I am impressed with you spread sheet but my talents lay elsewhere. I do good to keep up with my home-canning inventory. That reminds me tomorrow is the first of the month and it's time for the inventory again.
Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015.
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.
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Farm Kitchen: Our Frugal Kitchens |
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Our Frugal Kitchens
