Making Do Without Missing A Thing--Jars of Pure Gold-Week Four

If you are just joining us this week here at the Welcoming House, and are wondering just how far you need to go back to read more on the series, please click on the links following that interest you:
Week One--Master Mixes and saving money on convenience foods (4 posts)
Week Two--Meal Planning, anticipating grocery sales, and building your pantry up for everyday use (3 posts)
Week Three--Six Kitchen Appliances that will save you money, and how to use them (4 posts)

   Before I start the posts this week I wanted to share something with you that really made my day. The Welcoming House had over 3000 hits last month, and that made me really happy, because that means that I am sharing something that people really need to hear. That is small potatoes compared to some of the blogs I love to read, but this blog is growing, and people are reading, and that just plain makes me happy. It will grow as HE plans it, not me. :)

   I don't want to say that I am an expert, in any manner, on a lot of the things I have been teaching. I am just thrilled to be able to share with you things that have made our journey of living on one income easier over the years. If you were just to do a few of these things incorporated over time into your budget and home, you would see significant savings in trade for your time and learning a new way of doing things. If you do all of it, I promise you, this will change your entire budget and the way you shop completely.
   Somewhere, and I am not sure where, I read that a certain blogger was frugal by choice and necessity. I am totally the same way. Frugality has gotten a bad rap over the years from a culture that encourages us to spend every last dime, every single paycheck. Somehow, to have a healthy bank account, and to choose to save, and not spend, labels you "cheap" in today's world. That is why the average American household carries more debt than they can reasonably pay off in a month's salary. And why it becomes a vicious cycle for families as they try to provide everything they had and more for each of their children, before stopping to ask themselves if the kids really need it or not. Pretty sad stuff.
   Kurt and I have chosen a different way, of carefully considering what we purchase, and when (we call this intentional spending) to keep building our financial security as a family. That does not mean we have a big bank account...far from it, actually. But we are debt free, we are in the process of owning our own home, and are secure in a lot of different ways. That is a LOT in today's world.
   Anyhow, today I am going to share with you my least favorite part of this journey, and how I learned how to can and dehydrate to save more money on groceries, giving us more room in our budget.
   About eight years ago, we moved from a very large city, where my husband was making an excellent income at his job, to the prairie where jobs were scare, and low-paying. Call it a crash course in economics in a very hard way.
   While I had gardened where we had lived before, it was a hobby, not a necessity. Something fun to do, and that is why my first couple years went to weeds, with a few veggies thrown in. Honesty is brutal sometimes, and I cringe at the thought of where I started out. I was too spoiled and used to "much", so it was not a priority. THEN we moved here, and all of a sudden our financial circumstances took a huge dive. If I wanted to stay home with our little girl (which was really not an option due to the immune fragility of her body), I needed to figure out how to budget, and in short order.
   It was rough. I remember one day going up to visit friends in our old town and how they all said: "Boy, have you lost weight, or what?". Little did they know it was because every available calorie in the house was either going to our growing daughter, or to my working husband. I was living on tea and homemade bread. I was walking the generous garden we were sharing with someone else praying things were ready and I could just pick a few things for dinner. Seriously. Those were painful days. But also days where I learned how to make the most of what I have.
   I hope you dont come to these posts in that same place. I pray you are one of the people who have a cupboard full of food that you have no idea what to do with it, and are comfortably off financially.
   If you aren't in that category, please know what I am trying to teach you really works. And I am praying right now for you.

   Poverty and food insecurity together can be a really rough road. Thank God there are ways to work through it, past it and on to something better. Our income is actually almost the same as it was then, and yet, we are doing very very well. I just had to change my mind about what was important and learn how to Make Do Without Missing A Thing. :) And that was the birth of this little mini-series on the Welcoming House Blog roll. Eight years in six weeks.
                                                       From my heart to yours.

   I have found that canning and dehydrating provides the most bang for my buck when it comes to saving money on groceries. Right now, I can go to my pantry and see the tangible results of all the savings and intentional spending we have made over the last couple of years. I know we have right around 700 jars of food that have been home canned waiting downstairs to be used in meals. Some are meals in themselves and only require me to make a pot of spaghetti, or rice, or even a couple pizza crusts. I love making a tea out of herbs that I tenderly grew and snipped this last year in my garden, or seasoning homemade tomato soup right out of the jar, and serve it to my kids. Those three items, my water bath canner, my pressure canner and my dehydrator, probably provide roughly 60% of the food for our family.
   I have increased the amount of canning I do each year due to the taste and desires of my family. I have two toddlers right now that are chow hounds, and so I know this next year I will be putting up a lot more fruit and soups that they like. We are also planning on opening our home to a child, or children, from foster care this year, those who are looking for a forever home. We feel we can give those kids a home with love and support that they would not otherwise have.........but that would never have been possible without the things we do around here at the Welcoming House. :) I thank God for the opportunity and the path He has brought me on to share all of this with you.

 
   I have been canning for eight years, and dehydrating for three. There are actually two different kinds of canning, and I am going to cover them in depth, along with recipes and links in the next couple of days. Dehydrating can be done with a dehydrator, in the sun with screens, and even with your oven set on low. I both dehydrate and can all year round, so I have the nicest one I can afford of each type. I see it as the best investment towards my family's budget and savings each year. All have made a significant difference.
  Just to pique your interest, here are a few cost breakdowns for my home canned foods compared to store bought:
1 Quart home canned tomato soup: tomatoes, carrots, tarragon, basil and oregano, sugar and salt, garlic: including the lid that I bought on sale to can it with: around 45 cents (I have to purchase the last three ingredients, and carrots, although I am trying to grow carrots and garlic this year). This is the equivalent of one super size can of tomato soup, with high cost ingredients. That sells for roughly $3.00 or more in the grocery store. Saving of $2.55 for a single meal.
1 Quart jar of apple pie filling: apples, sugar, spices,:  including the lid that I bought on sale to can it with: around 20 cents for the sugar and cinnamon. Equivalent would be two cans of purchased apple pie filling: around $2.80. Savings: $5.40 for one pie.
1 Quart jar of Hearty Spaghetti Sauce: tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, sugar and salt. :including the lid I bought on sale to can it up with: around 35 cents a jar. I buy my garlic in bulk, as well as the sugar and salt, so those are inexpensive. Equivalent would be a large jar of spaghetti sauce with good ingredients (not the "cheapos" with lots of filler and chemicals) for about $3.50. Add in a batch of homemade noodles for around 25 cents, and in comparison to even pasta on sale for $1, and I am making a killing by doing it at home to the tune of approximately $3.95 per meal.
   Do I need to tell you how cheap it is for me to make a pot of soup using dehydrated ingredients, most of which I purchased on sale or which came out of my garden this last year? If I make the base stock from my own ingredients (aka--the chicken carcass that we would have thrown in the trash a couple years ago that now has been simmering in my crock pot for 24 hours with onion and seasonings), then add different things like carrots, zucchini slices, onion dices, potato shreds, etc, along with some home canned chicken from earlier in the year, I can make a huge pot of soup for under $1.00. And it will feed my family very well for at least two meals. :)
    Tomorrow we are beginning Canning 101, and how to start canning either home grown things, or produce when you see a great sale. I hope you will tune in for your first lesson in learning how to put up your own fruit, jellies and jams, sweet and sassy salsa, and hearty spaghetti/pizza sauce. I will be sharing all my recipes with you, so have your pencil (or printer) handy!
   I hope I will see you back tomorrow for your first lesson in how to make your pantry full of jars of pure gold. :)

Many Blessings to You and Yours,

Heather