It was all about food preservation this week!  As you can see, it’s starting to crawl toward the edge of the counter–but I’ll let you know I took care of it before it fell off!

I did several more batches of zucchini dill chips.  I did 2 jars of cucumber dill chips, using the same recipe,  and 1 pint of dill pickles.  I finished and canned the sweet pickles.  It’s a 4-day process, with something to do both morning and evening for the 4 days.  Rob and I canned 7 quarts and about 22 pints of green and yellow beans.  I froze peaches and made peach jam.

I picked tomatoes, dill, basil, cilantro, potatoes, cucumbers, a lemon cucumber, numerous zucchini, snow peas, green and yellow beans, lettuce, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and a few carrots from the garden.  I picked peaches at my sister’s house, along with some wild blackberries.  She also gave me a small cabbage and some jalapeños.

I got bulk dill seeds for a much lower price than the little jars cost.  It did take 3 different stores, but I finally found some at Natural Grocers, of all places.  It was 3-4x the amount of dill seeds in the bulk package for less than 1/2 the price of the jar I passed up at the other stores.  I refilled my mustard seed from a large bulk package I’ve had for some time.

I got the KIND bar at Fred Meyers as my Friday Freebie.  At Safeway, I got a Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice packet for free.

Safeway had bone-in chicken breast for 79c/lb.  Ever since Jeannie, at GetMeToTheCountry blog told about canning chicken, I’ve been dying to try it.  I seized my opportunity and bought the 4 allowed packages.  As she did, I cut the chicken off the bone for Rob to load into jars, and boiled the bones with water to make broth.  Then, he watched the canner for the 75 minutes that were required, and we had 18 little jars of canned chicken.  We also canned 7 quarts and 6 pints broth. Broth is done in 25 minutes, but he still sat there and watched every minute.  That’s what we do when we are using the pressure cooker.  I was very low on broth, and was delighted to get that.  This was our first time canning chicken, but I’ve done broth numerous times, and I love having the convenience of canned broth on the shelf.  I don’t love paying the price for what is basically water and salt boiled with bones–it’s much more economical to make my own.

I used all the little jars Rob got for free last week at a garage sale.  There were way more than the 20 I estimated–probably closer to 35 or 40.  In the same box, I had not noticed the 3 boxes of small-mouthed jar lids.  I happily used them as well.  There were lots of rings, too, and many of them are nicer than the ones I had.

We watched Jake 3 days, and Michaela 2 days.  Among other activities,  I helped him make cupcakes and cake from a mix and some sprinkles that had been around for quite some time.  He had fun, and I was glad to send most of it home with him. Rob took Michaela to her volunteering activity and some other errands, and we took them to the YMCA to swim.  I let Jake play in the sprinklers with Patsy, and you would have thought I had taken him to the zoo or something, he had so much fun.

Watching the kids meant that we did the picking, most of the processing and especially the canning with the pressure cooker when they were not here.  So, I put in several early mornings and late nights.  I paced myself and did part of a job one day (like snap beans) and the rest the next (like the actual canning).  I have a couple of days to re-coup as their older sister, Caitlyn, wants to spend a couple of days with them while their parents are out of town.  She has the time, and misses them.  They were all here for lunch today, and we mapped out the week.  Once she goes back to work on Wednesday evening, Rob and I will take over, and it will be busy, busy, busy for the rest of the week.

We had stir-fry at least 5 times, with various veggies at times, but it always included zucchini.  We had chicken several times.  When I was in a big hurry, I just chopped off some of that not-yet-canned chicken breast and stir-fried it with zucchini and onion.  I used the last of my store potatoes to make mashed potatoes today because Alissa requested them.  I will use garden ones next. Lovana made zucchini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and chocolate zucchini cookies.  I made a crock pot of Marinara sauce, using frozen peppers from previous years and canned tomatoes.  I used it 2 times with frozen chicken meatballs the needed using up.  I still have a bunch left to serve or freeze in the next couple of days.

I mended a swimsuit for my sister.  I have some more sewing I’d like to start, now that my machine is out:). I also have extra cleaning I’d like to get done.  There may be a little more preserving to do, although Rob has been gently asking me how many zucchini dill chips I think we need..even when some will be gifts:).   It’s still blistering hot, for a couple more days, so I’ll be glad to stay inside tomorrow.

Do you have any preserving or other money-saving projects you hope to do this week?

I continued cooking up a storm this week.  This morning I used the last of some clearance mushrooms in omelets for breakfast.  I put a little basil from the garden in with the eggs to give it a little different flavor.  Rob wasn’t sure what it was, but he liked it:)

We got gluten-free bread for $1/loaf at a salvage grocery store. We bought several.  I froze a few, and gave a couple to my sister.  (Mom, be warned–I’m sending a couple of loaves up to your house one of these days–hope you have freezer room).  At the same store, I got Enjoy Life gluten-free, dairy free chocolate chips for $1/bag.  If you need them, you know what they are and how much they usually cost–usually around $5/bag.  I’m not dairy free, but they work fine in cookies regardless.

I made a sandwich with the gluten-free bread, garden lettuce, ham, and some of those zucchini dill chips.  We opened and ate the first jar, because I don’t want to make them again if I don’t like them, but they were very good. They will improve with time, so should be terrific.   I’m glad, because the zucchini bushes are still producing heavily out there.  I picked them extremely small for these pickles, so bought myself a couple of days that I don’t have to pick any.  (I mean, over 35 in one week?  What’s next week going to bring with the hot temperatures we will have–either lots more, or they will slow down in protest.  Either way, I’m happy)

We were able to get together today for Family Sunday Dinner for the first time in a while,  due to vacations, etc.  Rob made brisket from the freezer, and I made coleslaw from cabbage my sister grew, zucchini and other veggie stir fry, sliced garden tomatoes, and canned corn.  There was also watermelon and drinks from others.  It saves us at least $100 every time we eat as an extended family after church vs. going out to dinner, and I doubt we could have taken the 14 people that came today out to dinner for that amount.  My sister’s family used to eat out a lot on Sundays, and is thrilled that we all do this now.

I will go grocery shopping sometime later in the week, but never found the time on either Friday or Saturday, my normal weekly shopping times.  The few items I picked up mid-week were enough. Since we are making out just fine, I’m concluding that I really didn’t need those other items on the list quite yet, so am just hanging onto the money until I really need them.  Having so much garden produce is really helping me stay out of the regular grocery store.

We have been pulling meat out of the freezers that has been there for a while and using it up.  This week, I used some very old turkey drumsticks and pork chops, along with the not-so-old meat and other items we also ate.  Both older items were just fine.

We continue to enjoy flowers from the yard and garden.  Patsy especially enjoys making bouquets.

Rob got a box of jam and jelly jars for free at a garage sale.  There are at least 20 in there. I usually give jam as gifts for Christmas, so am glad to have more jars for free.  The included pectin was from 2009, so I’m going to throw that away.

He found some items at yard sales that he has already listed and sold and made a small profit.

He also spent hours on the phone again, getting the insurance corrected–our new cards came with our old insurance still listed as an option on them–oops!  He was on hold for 2 hours, but prevailed and it’s all supposed to be fixed by tomorrow.   Once that is done for sure, he will spend the time needed to change our doctors.  The new insurance doesn’t cover our old primary care physician, and so we need a new one.  All of this is taking lots of time and effort, but is necessary for us.  We are very thankful to have insurance.  Between working with the kids, going to yard sales, and all these phone calls, he’s keeping busy, which is good.

We also spent a good amount of time cleaning in the shop one morning, and where we cleaned looks awesome.  We want to spend some time out there again very soon.  Whatever we find that we don’t need, we are getting rid of.  If we collect enough, we will have another garage sale.  If not, we will send it to charity.  He cleaned so much last winter that I don’t know if we have enough good stuff for another yard sale, or if what’s left would be better sold another way, or is just trash.  There’s only one way to find out!

I wouldn’t actually pay someone to sort my things at this point of my life, but am sure I am saving money by doing it myself vs. paying someone.  It does, however, make me feel very calm and cheerful when I get things cleaned up and tidy, and that’s worth a lot to me in other ways, all money-saving aside.  It’s part of thriving for me.  In fact, on Saturday, I cleaned the front room so well that Lovana thought we were having company!  It gives me a certain peace to sit down in a clean room.

How did your week go?  Did you get anything cleaned, sorted or any food preserved or grown?  Or do something else that you count as thriving or brings you peace?