Cooking Pumpkin

 
This year I decided to try my hand at fresh pumpkin for some of my harvest recipes.  Lucky me got one in my Farmers Market Baskets this week, so off I go!

 First I washed the pumpkin, then cut diagonally, and scooped the guts from inside.

Save the seeds to roast!

Next I placed it cut side down in a baking dish with 1/2 inch of water.

Bake in oven @ 450 for 30-45 minutes. You know it's done when you can pierce with a fork and the flesh is tender.

Once the pumpkin has cooled flip back over and peal the skin off.  I put the pumpkin in the oven and headed for the shower so it got a little dark on the top, but I just scooped the dark part off.

This is after I peeled the skin, notice the dark part is still on the flesh.

Once pealed place in food processor or blender and mix until its well blended.

Now you are ready to use in any recipe that calls for canned or pureed pumpkin.

Here are a few recipes I looking forward to trying this fall. Click on the title below and it will take you to the website with recipe directions.

Pumpkin Bread I

Pumpkin Bread II

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Bread Pudding 

Easy Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Food Insurance

Here in the states we have insurance for most everything.  Auto, health, dental, life, disability, homeowners, you can even get vacation insurance!  The one thing most people don't have and really don't think about is food insurance.  What is food insurance you might ask?  It's not an actual insurance policy, instead it is a stockpile of food your family could live off of in case of an emergency.  The emergency could be a natural disaster all the way to a financial disaster.  If your family's bread winner was to get their pink slip today with no severance package how long could you continue to feed your family without family, friends, government, church, or food bank assistance?  Most families could go about two weeks but not much longer.


How many of you were prepared for all the snow we had last winter?

Were you one of the thousands who were running to the store for bread, milk, and a few other essentials?  We were!  I will say that it was mostly for milk and diapers because I had my niece and nephew during the storm and when my sister dropped them off she only left enough for the days she had planned to be gone.  Notice the key word there "planned".  No one plans to lose their job, or to get hit by a natural disaster or emergency.  We should, we plan for everything else we can think of!  Now please know that I'm not talking bomb shelter, 1 billion rounds of ammo or a swimming pool full of drinkable water here!  I am advocating though at least a fourteen day supply of the basics in food, water, medication, etc..This amount of storage and preparation is not over the top, it's prudent.  Fourteen days is really just enough time for you to get your bearings and try to figure out what your plan for recovery is going to be.

I know all of us are aware of the current economic crisis this country and most of Europe is suffering through.  Our stock market is like the newest roller coaster at Sixflags.  Unemployment is through the roof, foreclosures are at record highs, and has anyone other than me noticed the price of food lately?

It's time to hope and pray for the best, but prepare for the worst.


What can you do to prepare?  That's the easy part!  Start with the basics.

• Store a two week supply of water. One gallon per person per day minimum. This is for cooking, drinking, and hygiene. Buy a 55 gallon barrel, get several 5-6 gallon jugs (in the sporting goods dept.) or fill up empty soda/juice bottles. Make sure to use food grade plastic, but not milk jugs as they deteriorate too quickly!

• Make a list of food you eat on a regular basis and start to buy extras each time you go to the store. Example: rice is on your grocery list this week, buy a 10 lb. bag to be put in your emergency pantry. (Couponing is a great help while building your supply.)
• Powdered milk.  If you can't stand the thought of drinking this remember you can cook with it and save the fresh milk for drinking.

• Medication is a must.  If someone in your house has any medical condition that can flare up and need medication without warning (asthma, allergic reactions, seizures, etc.) or you have a medical condition that requires a maintenance medication such as blood pressure, ADD/ADHD, depression/anxiety, etc., you need to keep a separate 14-day supply on hand. 
• Think about your family and their specific needs.  I don't have small children anymore, so for me to keep a jumbo box of diapers in my emergency pantry is pointless.  Sure, a small pack is fine for the rare occasions my niece and nephew could be there, but in our case an extra pack of toilet paper would be more beneficial. 

Above all just start to prepare.  You never know, one of your family members or friends could need you to help them...

See you guys tomorrow!  

Reclaiming the Title of Homemaker

I've had many different opinions and phases in my homemakers journey.  I've been a young wife, mother, teacher, foster parent, bread winner, single parent, all the way back to a wife again.  One thing that has never changed was my responsibility to care for the house and the people in it.  That's not to say I've done it all by myself by any means, but I am saying that responsibility has always been my primary job.

This is my niece Emma, she loves to help in the kitchen!

Through out the years I've loved homemaking but also hated it.  I've paid someone to do it for me instead of taking everything on myself.  There were years when my kids were little and I felt like all I did was cook, clean, change diapers, and do laundry to the present day where the only item that has been scratched off the list is diaper changing.  When I was a young mother I would hurry and get the house in tip top shape just so I could be done with my "work" for the day and then spend the rest of the day out and about with the kids.  I viewed  housework as a necessary evil of being a stay at home mom.  Now I view it as a wonderful privilege to be able to stay at home and take care of my family and home!

McKenna and I were goofing off one night when Racey snapped this picture of us.

Sure, the kids are growing up and two have moved out just to come home every other week it seems like, but now I don't rush to finish my work each day.  I realize my work will not be finished till I am gone.  Instead I try to perfect my work.  When I started making homemade biscuits they were pitiful looking.  Racey said they tasted fine so I shouldn't worry about the way they looked.  But that wasn't good enough for me!  I decided I would make homemade biscuits every morning till I could serve anyone a hot butter biscuit and not be embarrassed by the look of them.  Why would I care that much you might ask?  Because I feel that my family and this home is where I'm meant to be and I want to give the people in it everything I have, not just what I can hustle together in thirty minutes or so.  I feel like homemaking is a lost art.  Women used to perform miracles with the smallest resources.  You were a prized wife and mother based on your homemaking skills, not the misguided ideas of the modern woman.  The homemaker sixty years ago was proficient in cooking, baking, cleaning, budgeting, mending, sewing, knitting or crocheting, gardening, and canning, just to name a few.  Now it appears the only real thing we are proficient in is shopping!  We have given up a huge skill set and replaced it with the art of pushing a cart around a store and filling it with pre-made items that are ready to go as soon as we get them home. We have dumbed ourselves down in the name of convenience.  I believe it's high time for us to take back the job of true homemaking and reclaim the title of homemaker.  It's a title you should be proud to carry.

This is Layna & McKenna when they were 3 1/2 & 1 1/2.

I want to encourage you to start somewhere!  It's never too late, your family is never too young or old.  You can re-skill yourself and get more personal satisfaction in doing something yourself than you might imagine.  Just this weekend we had friends over to grill out and Layna, my 20 year old, came home after work and picked up a plate. Before she took a bite she asked me if I had cooked everything myself.  It mattered to her whether I had made the buns or bought them at the store, it mattered to her whether the macaroni & cheese was homemade or from a box....it mattered!  That's a feeling of personal satisfaction this mama is happy to work for.

Homemade Chicken Stock

I remember when I was a young wife and mother I had no clue how to really cook.  Sure I could make a box meal, and even thought that I was cooking from scratch when I would open a jar of spaghetti sauce. As for eating out, I was a real trooper!  With three children born in 4 years I became an expert of where the kids could eat for free!  I thought raw meat with the bone still in was gross and scary, and dry beans... don't even get me started (that's a story for another day!)  Little did I know, that 22 years later I would be blogging about real home cooking and back to the basic in life skills.

If you do any kind of home or scratch cooking you well know the importance of stock.  Some of us know it to be the liquid gold in cooking.  A few of the ways I cook with it are, to braise vegetables, when basting roasting meats, and of course, in the soups, sauces and gravies we eat throughout the week.  If you purchase the ready made stocks or broths in the store they are filled with sodium, preservatives, and MSG just to name a few of the evils.  They are also expensive compared to the cost that goes into the product.  You can make an even better product than what you could buy for pennies on the dollar, let me show you how!


Ingredients
Chicken bones and scraps from a left over chicken
A couple of carrots
1 large onion  (chopped)
Salt
Cracked pepper corns
Garlic (optional)
Bay leaf (optional)
Water

Place all the above ingredients into a large stock pot or dutch oven cover with water and bring it to a boil.

You can see the chicken was leftover from the night we had rotisserie, the skin is a little dark around the edges!

Then cook on low (no bubbles) for 4-6 hours. You can also cook this recipe in a crock-pot if you will be gone for the day.  Just turn on low and leave for 6-8 hours.

 Notice how the vegetables have softened and the amount of liquid has reduced a bit.  Let cool then strain the bones and veggies from the stock.

After all the scraps are removed from the stock you can discard them.  For a nicer cleaner broth you can strain the liquid in a piece of muslin or straining cloth.  To make this step a little easier you can pour the stock into a bowl, then place a strainer back into the cooking pot. 

 Cover the strainer with the muslin.

Pour stock through cloth & strainer back into cooking pot.

 

This is the yuck that the muslin caught!  Some people skip this step but not me.

Now you can store the stock several ways.  If you know you will use it all during the week then just refrigerate it.  I like to store mine in several different containers so I always have the right amount on hand.

These are Ball freezer containers you can find in the canning section, and an ordinary ice tray.  Once frozen I pop the cubes into a ziploc and toss into the freezer.  When cooking things like green beans or steaming veggies I use a few cubes.

Hope this helps you in your own cooking adventures! 

Dehydrating Fruits & Vegetables

Have you ever noticed how in America we don't eat seasonally.  By this I mean that we can buy all our fruits and vegetables anytime of the year.  Of course we know they don't grow here, but it appears we don't really care.  We just take it for granted that each time we pop into the store, grapes will be in the bin.  I'm sure you have noticed how the price fluctuates depending on the time of year you are trying to purchase an item.  When the item is in season the price goes down, when it's out of season the price goes up.  It doesn't take a financial genius to figure out that it's in your budgets best interest to buy an item when it's in season.  Like most of you I like cantaloupe in the winter, apples in the spring, and that daily glass of orange juice!  I just don't like paying the premium price for it.

I always ask my self "what did people do fifty years ago?"  Wal-mart was not right around the corner and some how they made it.  Well in this case they were forced to buy seasonally.  Food was not shipped all across the globe just so someone could make a strawberry shortcake in December.  Another thing most women did was preserve the fresh fruits & veg from the summer harvest so they would have access to them in the off months.  There are several ways to store fresh foods. You can freeze, can, or dehydrate just to name a few.  Today I want to focus on dehydrating.

Man or in this case woman has been dehydrating food for centuries.  It's one of the easiest methods of food preservation.  Here are some of the benefits.

• Saves money allowing you to buy in season but enjoy a variety year round
• If your pantry it tight on space this is a great way to store a ton of food
• It preserves fresh fruit and vegetables up to a year
• Its a healthy snack
• Dehydrating retains the highest levels of vitamins and nutrients of any food storage method

To get started all you need is a dehydrator.  In the old days people used the sun, they would place a wooden box with a top on it and holes or slots for air to pass through to dry all the moisture out of the food.  Of course today, we have electric ones.  Dehydrators are like anything else, they can be inexpensive or they can be very expensive.  I would suggest if you are like me and like to try everything but don't stick with it forever then go the inexpensive route first.  You can always sell or trade yours for a upgrade if you find this method of preserving works for your family.  I purchased one from Wal-mart.com and had it shipped to the store so I didn't have to pay shipping.  It was under fifty dollars and at this point even Racey thinks it was a good purchase.  Now I will admit, I've been trying very hard to move from a life of constant consuming to a simple, less is more way of living.  But on this issue I'm still whining because I can't afford or talk Racey into the deluxe, top of the line, Mercedes Benz of dehydrators.  I feel like a kid, stomping my feet, crossing my arms and just plain old whining!  Anyways.... Back to the lovely one I do have and all the wonderful things it has dehydrated.

This is a bunch of Green onions or scallions. I rinsed in cool water, patted dry, and took a standard pair of scissors and cut from the top down to the bulb.  Once cut, I dried in the dehydrator for a few hours.

This is the finished product.  Now when a recipe calls for Scallions or I want to garnish a bowl of soup or baked potato I'm ready!

A few of the things I have dehydrated are strawberries, these go great in cold cereal.  I use an egg slicer to speed the cutting process up a little.  Let the berries sit in the milk for a minute or two and they taste wonderful.  Also Granny Smith Apples.  I peal, core, and slice the apples, then cut into small cubes.  These go great in oatmeal for a apple cinnamon style or the can be used to make muffins or a quick bread for a dessert.  I've also done a ton of onions.  I discovered by accident that if I used powder beef broth, dehydrated onions, garlic powder, salt, and pepper I had homemade onion soup mix and no MSG.  I could go on forever and really the possibilities are endless.

Here are a few of the things I have dehydrated.  In the little green jar on the left I have 3 bunches of celery in there.  Not 3 stalks, 3 bunches!  As for the tall yellow jar behind it is an entire pineapple.

One things to note about dehydrating and storing in a glass jar is it can be open and closed as many times as needed.  We did not "can" the food we just used "canning" jars to store it in.  Also, if you are doing something that has a strong smell like onions, put the dehydrator in the garage or outside so your entire house doesn't smell like onions. (Learned this one the hard way too!)

Cooking What's in Season

Butternut Squash

There is nothing more appetizing than seasonal food.  Watermelon in July, chili in February, and fresh berries in the spring.  Sure most of us eat those foods year round, but they don't get any tastier than in season.  A few of the seasonal fruits and vegetables to be on the lookout for around this time of year are:

• Apples
• Squash (Acorn, Butternut, etc)
• Pumpkins
• Pomegranates
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Okra
• Eggplant
• Grapes (Muscadines!)

Today I'd like to share a warm favorite served in many homes in the fall:  roasted butternut squash.  Now, I must admit, this was my first time trying my hand at this type of squash.  It came in my Farmer's Market Basket this week, so of course I had to try and do something with it.  Here's what I did:

First, I took a vegetable peeler and removed the outer layer of skin, then cut off the top and bottom like you would do a carrot.  Next I cut it in half and scooped out the 'guts'.  After that I just cut it into cubes:

After that I mixed 2 tbsp. of brown sugar, 2 tbsp. of honey, and 2 garlic cloves (minced), and put it all into a bowl.  If you like the 'salty-sweet' kind of taste, you could add 1/4 tsp. of salt at this point as well, however I left it out so each person could add it on their own if they preferred:

Then I mixed the contents of the bowl until everything was well blended and poured it onto a baking sheet lightly greased with olive oil:

 

I just popped it in the oven and baked it @ 400 for 30 minutes on a lower oven rack. Cook until the squash is fork tender.

 Noticed how the edges are a little caramelized. 

I served this as a side dish, with rotisserie chicken and (Racey found a brand new rotisserie cooker at Goodwill for $8.00!) a fresh green salad.

I will admit that McClane, our resident teenager and lover of most foods his mama cooks said it was totally disgusting and begged me to not cook it again!  On the other hand, Racey, one who is known for disliking most all vegetables, said it was pretty good and he would like to try it a few more times this fall to really get a taste for it.  He also said he'd like to try it mashed up like mashed potatoes with a big hunk of butter on top.  I think this is the type of food that can be prepared a number of ways, and some people will really like one way and really dislike another.  If this 'sweet' form of preparation isn't a hit with the folks in your house, don't be afraid to try it a different way.  You never know, you may stumble upon someone's next 'favorite food'.

Our Story Part II

When I started to evaluate my job I looked at several areas.  One was my pay rate, 2nd was the amount of time it kept me away from home and unable to care for my family.  Third was the amount of stress I was under due to my job and my feelings of personal discontentment.  But then again my thoughts came back to me being our only steady income.  I knew the power company really didn't care that I was too stressed and unhappy with my job. They only cared if I paid the bill or not.  So my mind became obsessed with how to figure this problem out.  I was working as an Assistant Custodian and as I made friends with the teachers several of them asked if I would consider cleaning their homes.  This eventually evolved into a part-time business that Racey and I did before I went to work and he to class in the afternoons.  That was it!  If we could get our expenses to fit within the part-time money we could make, I could come back home full-time.  Our extra cleaning money was a third of my normal salary, so there again my work was cut out for me!  I'm a very determined person, and when I make my mind up to do something almost nothing can stand in my way.

Mission impossible began.  I pulled our bank statements, receipts, and online accounts and reviewed every transaction for several months.  I wanted to see where our money was really going and if the expense could be cut out or reduced.  Each item was weighed against the amount of time I had to work to have it. You can imagine things that were frivolous fell off the list quickly.  Remember this was not about sacrificing our quality of life, it was about increasing it.  Nothing was safe from the chopping block.

Even a necessity such as toilet paper.  I came across several frugal websites where people talk about how they no longer purchased toilet paper, instead they use family cloths (kinda like cloth diapers just smaller) and washed and reused them.  Now don't let the term "family cloth" make you think the entire family uses one cloth.  Each person uses a fresh cloth each time they use the restroom and place it in something such as a diaper pail to be disinfected and machine washed at a later date.  My kids absolutely balked at this one! My girls both said they were glad they had jobs and they would buy their own toilet paper before they did this, my son said "thank God I'm a boy."  Now I will admit, we came to some type of household agreement.  We agreed that if everyone would start to be considerate of the amount of toilet paper they used instead using enough to make a catcher's mitt, or so much the toilet overflowed due to half a roll being flushed, then I would still buy toilet paper.  Of course I tell you this story to make you laugh, but to also show you that I really considered every purchase when downsizing our budget.

It almost goes without saying that we cut expenses such as cable, fast food, pay entertainment like movies, gas, etc.  We did keep our internet so we could keep up with the news, banking, and things like the kid's school.  When we canceled our cable we didn't stop watching TV.  We found a free alternative.  Hulu is an internet based TV service with hundreds of free episodes.  If you want the deluxe membership it is seven dollars a month.  I dare say that is cheaper than cable!  As for fast food, we gave each person a budget amount of $10.00 a month, and when your $10.00 was gone that was it till the next month.  

Next was my mission to reduce our utilities, and I'll save that for next Friday....

Have a good weekend and stop by tomorrow for a new home cooked recipe.

Fresh Fruit & Vegetables

This was the contents of my basket one week. 

One thing we have done to try and improve our health and our transition from fast pace, convenience style food is to eat more fresh whole fruits and vegetables.  The only problem is fresh fruit & veg is not cheap, and when you are working with a budget as tight as our is $20.00 is the equivalent to $100.00.  You might think I'm joking, but in this case I'm dead serious.  To help solve this problem I started looking around the web and on different forums I belonged to and there was a common theme among frugal, self sustaining families. They either grew their own fruit & veg or purchased from a local farmers market.  Well the garden idea did cross my mind but we knew nothing about gardening and thought our chances of it costing us more money in the long run was a big possibility.  So my next choice was to find a local farmers market.  I started searching on the web for terms such as "farmers market", "food co-op", "produce stand" , "local farms" etc..  I came across a farmers market co-op in my town.  They offered several different kinds of presorted baskets.  Some fruit only, some veg only and even a combo fruit & veg basket.  Their prices were so reasonable I couldn't believe it.  We tried it, and sure enough we were hooked!  It was nice to have a presorted selection waiting for me each week.  Some things we got I would not have bought if I was in the store, but since it was in our basket I tried to figure out different ways to prepare it so my family would eat it.  I remember the first time I made a spinach, mushroom, and feta cheese quiche I thought McClane was going to die! He reminded me of when he was six and would totally have a gagging fit trying to eat green beans.  Oh what good times... lol.  Now, he will be playing video games or just see me eating something and he will say "mom, you think you could heat me some of that?"  I grin and think to my self "no, you don't like that green stuff remember", as I go to heat him a plate.


When we joined this co-op I was still working and the price of our basket ($15.00) was fine for our budget.  After I returned  home full-time this expense was too high for us.  I know $15.00 a week doesn't seem like a lot but it was $60.00 month and our total food budget could not handle that.  I began to volunteer at the market for a discount on my basket.  At this point I only pay $5.00 for everything, plus I get a box of extras each time!  This has been a life saver many times when the stretch was almost stretched out of our food budget!

All this for $5.00!!!! This is my normal basket and my free volunteer extras!

If you live in or around the Kennesaw area I will be more than happy to give you information on the co-op we use.  If this is out of your area try searching the internet for terms like I mentioned above.  When you find a place don't be embarrassed to ask if they would barter or accept volunteer service for some kind of discount.

Simple Entertainment

I found the metal fire pit on Craigslist for $30.00 and we built the stone pit ourselves.  We didn't use mortar so the pit can be moved as the landscape of our backyard changes

In our house we tend to crave the simple life, even in our entertainment choices.  This doesn't mean we are fuddy duddies by far! Our neighbors have been known to knock on our front door before... Heck, they have even called the police once!  Now, I must admit, the reason for the call was because Racey was chopping wood for our outside fire pit and the neighbors considered that too loud!  Honestly I think they were mad because we didn't invite them over to enjoy our wonderful company! (Just kidding)  We have found the most simple thing can be the most enjoyable.  We love to sit outside in the fall and winter and just stare into the fire.  We almost always have some type of music playing on the iHome outside.  The kids (16, 18, and 20) float through the back yard randomly and most of the time wind up crashing our party by bringing their friends over to enjoy the fire and conversation.  Who would have thought that modern teenagers would enjoy sitting outside in the dark around a fire, listening to music of their parents choice, and having simple conversation and laughs?!?

This was taken last winter, you can see my legs are covered with a small blanket.  My son, McClane is holding our dog Woofus.

Another thing we do is turn off ALL the lights and light candles or oil lamps throughout the house. In the summer we tend to play cards or even shoot pool on a miniature pool table someone was throwing away.  In the winter we love to make a pallet out of several blankets and get all our fluffy pillows and put that in front of the fire and just sit and relax.  This gives Racey and I time to decompress from our day or week and it's amazing how easy it is to talk.  We can sit there for hours just connecting and spending time together. 

Talk about frugal entertainment, this is it!  Any budget can afford this.  I'm always on the lookout for candles at Goodwill, and we get our firewood for free off Craigslist.  The only real expense is the food and drink.  We have to eat no matter what we do so no real cost there, the only expense is if we choose to have some wine. *grin*


The next time you are craving some special time with your hubby or want to get the kids to put down their smart phone before their thumbs fall off, give this a try.  In my opinion it doesn't get much better than this!

Budget Friendly Meals - Day 1

Budget friendly recipes can be hard to find, and when you do find one your family turns their nose up to it.  It's my goal to show you how you can cook from scratch on the cheap, and in this case your family will be begging you to cook it again.  I was searching online trying to see what the average budget for food cooked at home was.  I stumbled across a report from the United States Department of Agriculture that list the average cost for a family of four down to a single individual.  This report has four categories dealing with budget amounts.  The first and least expensive is called the Thrifty Plan, 2nd is the Low-cost Plan, 3rd is the Moderate Plan, and 4th is the Liberal Plan.   For the blog we will use the family of four Thrifty Plan, and keep all our recipes titled "Frugal" within this dollar range.  I must tell you that in doing this research I noticed that the USDA, classifies the Thrifty Plan for a family who depends on Food Stamps for all their food budget and the Liberal Plan was considered for the Department of Defense employees.  Well our budget amount is $141.90 a week for 2 adults and 2 children (under 11 years old), and all 3 meals have to be cooked at home.  Let's see if I can come up with a menu for seven days and 21 meals for under $141.90.  That is $20.27 a day and $6.75 per meal.   Boy, I have my work cut out for me!

Day 1


Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 slices of toast, and 3/4c.of grits.
 Farm fresh eggs, homemade bread, grits bought in bulk

Lunch: Toasted Turkey sandwich with mayo, 1 slice of cheese and 1 1/2c. of Kettle Potato chips.
 Homemade bread, standard lunch meat, Kraft cheese, Kettle potato chips (cheese & chips couponed)

Dinner: Cube steak, white rice, broccoli & cheese, yeast rolls.
Cube steak was bought at the butcher shop so it is top of the line meat, rice bought in bulk at Sams, broccoli & cheese was couponed  and yeast rolls were homemade.

 Did I make our daily target of $20.27?  Lets see!

Item Per Person	Cost per person	Family total	Meal Total
2 farm eggs	.84	3.66
2 slices of toast	.10	.40
¾ c. grits	.9	.32	4.38
2 slices of bread	.10	.40
Slice cheese	.06	.24
Mayo	.05	.20
Turkey	.38	1.52
Chips	.22	.88	3.24
Cube Steak	1.00	4.00
Rice &	.05	.20
Broccoli & Cheese	.19	.76
Yeast Rolls	.10	.40
Homemade Gravy	.15	.60	5.96
Daily Total			13.58

Woot! I did it, and so can you!  

Notice that we had water for our beverages and I didn't include extras such as salt or butter.  I did have a remaining $6.69 so you could certainly add some juice, milk, or tea and still come in at the target amount.

Maybe you have a budget friendly recipe you could share or you know a tip that can stretch the food in our pantry.  I would love to hear it!

Have a great day and I will see you tomorrow....