Archive from March, 2009

More canning fun

Mar 19, 2009 by     4 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Canning/Preserving

After my meeting on Monday night, I came home and canned 16 jars of spaghetti meat sauce. Since I don’t go to bed until 12-1am, I just got busy! Here’s the photo of my work: meat sauce

I also found some strawberries for a pretty good price (1€) a basket, so I bought 4 and made 7 jars of strawberry jam. I’m hoping for more and better sales on strawberries during the growing season.

strawberry jam

I believe I didn’t can enough apples to last me  until the next season, but I’m learning how much I need for a 1 years supply of:

  • apple pie filling ( I haven’t ever canned this but wish I had)
  • apple/maple jam (that John really likes)
  • spiced apples (to serve with meat)
  • apple sauce (lovely to serve with breakfast for guests)

I also see now that when the potatoes were at their lowest price, I didn’t can enough of them. So next time they are sold for a good price, I’ll be canning:

  • small whole or quartered peeled potatoes (they have a yummy flavor)
  • mixed vegetables for stews and soups (potatoes, carrots, celery, etc) canned potatoes

Here’s another quote from the book I am enjoying. Written in 1832, The American Frugal Housewife, is a little treasure for sensible advice.

“We never shall be free from embarrassment until we cease to be ashamed of industry and economy. Let women do their share towards reformation—Let their fathers and husbands see them happy without finery; and if their husbands and fathers have (as is often the case) a foolish pride in seeing them decorated, let them gently and gradually check this feeling, by showing that they have better and surer means of commanding respect—Let them prove, by the exertion of ingenuity and economy, that neatness, good taste, and gentility, are attainable without great expense”.

Blessings Continue

Mar 17, 2009 by     1 Comment     Posted under: blessings, Blogroll, Gardening, saving money, Spain

Blessings for this week are:

Tuesday March 10th, 2009-

  1. Our friends brought us 4 huge croissants to eat with our breakfast
  2. A friend emailed asking if we needed any vegetable seeds…thank you Angie!!
  3. A family of 4 in Northern Spain will come and use our guesthouse for 5 days in April! It’s a welcome blessing in these hard economic times.
  4. I had enough lettuce from my greenhouse to make a salad.

Wednesday March 11th, 2009-

  1. We bought 1 kilo of flour (baking) for only ,39 euro cents. I saved ,10cents a kilo!

Thursday March 12th, 2009-

  1. My friend Ana came for breakfast today. She is such a good friend.
  2. I went marketing and found 4 loaves of bread on sale for 30% off, & 1 large yogurt for 30% off. Blessing!
  3. I opened my mail and got a letter from my friend Belle, with a $20 bill! What a provision!

Tuesday March 17th, 2009-

  1. My friend sent me a $20 bill in the mail! Thank you Judy! She is very sensitive to the ‘special needs’ we have on the field & the recent struggles with the banking system here in Spain.
  2. My friend Angie sent me some wonderful seeds to plant: lettuce, cilantro, mesclun, squash, swiss chard etc!! All the stuff I love!
  3. We received a ‘prize’ from our kids John & Cheri
  4. I got a coupon in the mail for the warehouse store (MAKRO) here: 5€ -no minimum purchase!

Today was the ‘motherload’ of material blessings. I’m very thankful & humbled by the Lords goodness to me.

Spend or Save?

Mar 11, 2009 by     1 Comment     Posted under: Blogroll, saving money, Videos

Photos of our family

Mar 9, 2009 by     6 Comments    Posted under: blessings, Blogroll, Family, Spain

Here are some more photos of the recent visit from Greg, Abigail and Preston. Jesseka and 2 year old William stayed home in Chicago. Please click on the photo to enlarge it.

We are very thankful to the Lord for the blessings of family.

I feel the need to count my blessings

Mar 9, 2009 by     4 Comments    Posted under: blessings, Blogroll, saving money

Stressed is desserts spelled backwards!

Well, John came home today (Friday the 6th) from the bank, saying that our Spanish bank just made a new rule to hold our checks 1 month from now on. It used to be a week then 2, 3 and now 4 weeks. The process goes like this:

  • we get our deposit each month on the 5th of the month from Wycliffe, to our USA bank
  • we write a USD check to our Spanish bank and they give us Euros… at the exchange rate of the day, plus, a small fee.
  • we live on those Euros and pay our bills here until the next month.

Well, now we have the dilemma of how to get money for the next month! One thing I know, is that the Lord will make a way for us. My part is to be diligent in all the ways I can. One of those ways  is to start a ‘blessing list’.

Here it is so far:

Today: March 6th, 2009-

  1. a package came in the mail from our Jesseka. A book for John (a birthday gift) and a
  2. Southern Living magazine for me! I look forward to relaxing with it.
  3. The blessing of have had our family here: Greg, Abigail and Preston. They left today but we have so many good memories.
  4. we got a letter from the cable company are giving us a month of free movie & program channels (hoping that we will get hooked… we won’t)
  5. John went to the car wash and because no one is spending any money these days, lowered the price of a 3 ½ minute spray from 1€ to ,50 euro cents.

March 7th, 2009-

  1. I was able to gather enough lettuce and broccoli from my garden/greenhouse for todays lunch.
  2. I started the 3 day process for making my citrus marmalade with the oranges & lemons that we got from friends in the village.

March 8th, 2009-

  1. we had a great day at church
  2. a peaceful church business meeting in the evening
  3. the blessing of sun today

The American Frugal Housewife by Lydia M. Child

Mar 3, 2009 by     No Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Bobbie's Store, saving money, What we're Reading

What an interesting little book this is:

american housewife

Originally published in 1832, this extraordinary manual for the homemaker of modest means is far more than a mere “cookbook.”

Here is a quote:

“The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all the fragments, so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time, as well as materials. Nothing should be thrown away so long as it is possible to make any use of it, however trifling that use may be; and whatever be the size of a family, every member should be employed either in earning or saving money.”

What a blessing for me as a mom, to see my children, not only loving the Lord, but as wise ‘keepers at home’.

or how about this one:

“In the country, where grain is raised, it is a good plan to teach children to prepare and braid straw for their own bonnets, and their brothers’ hats.”

OOOOkay… I’ll get right on that!!

Here’s one that we all need to HEED!

“It is wise to keep an exact account of all you expend—even of a paper of pins. This answers two purposes; it makes you more careful in spending money, and it enables your husband to judge precisely whether his family live within his income. No false pride, or foolish ambition to appear as well as others, should ever induce a person to live one cent beyond the income of which he is certain. If you have two dollars a day, let nothing but sickness induce you to spend more than nine shillings; if you have one dollar a day, do not spend but seventy-five cents; if you have half a dollar a day, be satisfied to spend forty cents.”

Now, isn’t that the wisest advice? How can we encourage each other in this? Well, I will encourage YOU by sending this on.

You can find this book right here on my blog. Just follow these instructions:

At the top of this blog page.

  • go to Bobbie’s Store
  • then, on the right hand side, you will see  categories
  • Click on: ‘cookbooks and canning’
  • then… click on:page 2
  • the book is available there for $3.16. A bargain!!

We all need this practical wisdom NOW.

Be blessed and encouraged! ~Bobbie