Frugal Tip Tuesday

Fall is full of produce!  Pumpkins, Apples, Squash varieties, etc.  This past Saturday at the local farmer's market I bought a quart baggie of apple chips (dehydrated slices of honey crisp apples) for $3 & 15#+bushel of mixed (golden delicious & red delicious) apples for $20 less than .50/# if I do my math right.  I plan to make some crockpot applesauce & some apple pie filling both for the freezer as well as eating lots of apple snacks over the week!

the crockpot applesauce is as simple as can be! I tried it a couple of weeks ago when I got my first haul of apples from the farmer's market.  peel & slice or chop apples to likeness, put in crockpot w/water, add cinnamon stick(s) (instead of brown sugar for me) & turn on.  Seriously?! the peeling took the longest ;) going to try a peeler today but thinking it will be a frustrating mess since they aren't 'perfect' grocery store apples....

I cannot buy apples @ the grocery store for .50/# right now!  I was over the moon excited when I saw that I really did get a deal :)   I can't wait to have it in the freezer for later this winter!

Mulberry Syrup!!

I have to admit, I am pretty stoked about my homemade syrup!  Ilove it, the kids love it & a little goes a long way, now, to get Tim to try it & we'll be set. Special thanks to Julia for holding my hand via facebook while I inched thru the process.

here is my homemade 'berry bag'  :) it hung from a hair tie on the can opener over night & then I cooked all the juice w/sugar.

 I am so loving this time of my life where I have the internet connection to so many fun & helpful ladies to teach me how to be more self-sufficient!  later this week I will share my garden, along w/my list of what I have learned in the past year.

mixes

Way back when I first started ChildCare I used a Master Mix for everything.  It was a combo of flour, shortening, sugar, salt & probably baking powder, that I put together in a HUGE Tupperware bowl & kept on the fridge.  Whenever I wanted to make anything, pancakes, muffins, cookies or drop biscuits, I pulled that bowl out & dipped from it.  Adding a few other ingredients I quickly had the batter for whatever was on he menu.  This past Christmas my mom did the most awesome thing for us!  She made each of us 3 couples (my 2 brothers+wives & Tim&I) 6 mixes. (pancake, basic cookie, oatmeal cookie, basic cake, brownie & quick mix) DROOL INDEED!!  along w/those mixes, she made us each a cookbook using those mixes w/a couple of alternatives for each mix. SO COOL, RIGHT?! Well, in true perfectionist fashion, I put them beautifully on the baker's rack in the upstairs kitchen & admired them. Did I use them? NOPE. they were too pretty w/their color coordinated fabric fluff thru te canning jar lid/ring & handmade tags & gladware containers.  It was so comforting to know I had them there when I needed them. However, it was MARCH before I finally bit the bullet & pulled one off the shelf to use.  :)  I chose the oatmeal cookie mix to play w/first. thinking it had only enough stuff in it for one of the recipes I also picked up the can of apple pie filling (yes folks, she also included the pie filling & chocolate chips for the recipe options!  So I reallllllly  had no excuses for leaving them set for so long!)   I whipped up the "Peach Blossom Dessert" recipe (apples instead) happily discovering that there was enough left to make oatmeal cookies too!! Whooo Hooo!! Go MOM!! So the next day I made Oatmeal Cookies too. Every week since then I have used one mix to make a meal or snack that much easier to pull together.  I have 2 left on the shelf but so far my favorite is the Pancake Mix. It makes the dreamiest french toast batter! So, today, I made a huge batch of Pancake Mix to put in the pantry for later use! 

I managed to borrow the mix cookbook from Mom this Sunday.  Learning that she had received it as a gift from HER aunt for Christmas one year. wanna know the publishing date? :)  1978 yesssss I am way excited to be truly using something that is tried & tested & loved years ago! I have many plans to make other mixes before school is out to help w/summer cooking!

While keeping in the mix theme, I have been slurping up the Casey's White Chocolate Caramel Cappuccinos for a few weeks now. We are talking, using them as my reward on the way home from running @ the school. I would drink 1/2 that night, then chill it & warm it for breakfast. Probably not the safest but I haven't gotten sick yet ;)  well, realizing how much those are running me, I decided to find a mocha recipe today.  After surfing through a few, I found this one.  I subbed powdered milk in place of the Nondairy creamer & added a tsp of vanilla to my cup but I am loving it!!

What mixes do you use that don't come in a box? I am getting closer & closer to having box free cupboards upstairs, downstairs (childcare) has been for almost a year.