Rendering your own Lard

I know some will turn up there nose at this.  But Lard doesn't have transfats.

I always boil down bones from meats to make my own stock/broth.  I have always had fat left over.  What do you do with it.  Yesterday I had used pork stock, and the left over fat.  I used the fat instead of shortening in my biscuits.  My Goodness those were the best biscuits I have ever had.  My middle child asked if I had gone and got Popeye's biscuits for breakfast.  Well they didn't exactly taste like Popeyes but they were soft flakey and so yummy.  So I started thinking, maybe I can make my own lard because whole generations use lard.  Well, I decided to look online this morning and see what I could find.  And low and behold I found something.  How to render and can your own lard.  Yippee!  I read it and decided this needed to be shared.

http://www.howtobaker.com/techniques/insane-foodie-projects/how-to-render-and-can-your-own-lard/comment-page-1/#comment-41660

Also on the site, How to make your own sea salt and How to make Cream cheese without starter cultures.  This guy is Brilliant.  I have set this site as a favorite and I think those like minded will too.

Remember real fat from meats are okay it is transfat that is bad.  And Lard is 100% natural, pig fat and water are the ingredients.  Gee can you get more natural?

Antibacterial Everything Validation

You might remember back in May I blogged about soaps all being Antibacterial.  Well Yesterday a report came out that says that these soaps and agents are damaging.  The report says it messes with hormone levels, and is contributing to Antibiotic resistant strains of Bacteria.  An other thing the report states that I didn't even think about is that these antibacterial agents are laced with pesticides and we all know that is not a good thing for our bodies.  Gee I hate being right but I was.  

Since I still have a problem finding liquid hand soap that is not Antibacterial, Here is my recipe for homemade liquid Hand soap.

http://houkreativehomestead.blogspot.com/2013/05/antibacteral-everything-really.html

Homeschool lesson Budgeting.

I know a bunch of Public schools don't teach certain skills any longer due to teaching to the "No Child Left Behind" test and Common Core.  In my opinion not teaching these skills leave children ilequipped for the real world, and that is part of the problem with the economy.  This country has a negetive savings rate and our leaders have no clue how to do a budget and live by it.  Seriously this is a problem for our future.  So today I sat down and created a great (well I think it is great) worksheet for kids for Homeschooling.  I am sharing it below.  Now tomorrow, we are tackling Interest rates, Savings and Credit rates. I am including essay type questions with these.  And when you look at this, Yes it is a very tight budget with some hard choices for a reason.  

Monthly Budget Worksheet.

rent 450 

Car payment 
ins 150
cable/internet 50
phone 75
electric 150
Car gas 150
Savings
Food 250
Extras

Pay check



1. You are paid $8.50 an hour. You work 40 hours a week.
What is your gross pay before Taxes?___ a week. _____ a month. ___ a year.
2. Your tax rate is 10%. How much is Taken out a week ___? A month____? A Year_____?
3. You should save 10% of your take home pay every paycheck. How much should you save a month? _______
4. How much money have you saved at the end of the year? ______
5. What Percent of your paycheck goes to rent?_____
6. How much money do you have left over at the end of the month?______
7. You need to get a car. Can you afford it?_________ If yes how much of a payment can you afford a month?__________
8. The movies cost $10.25. Can you afford to go to the movies this month?_________
9. Your mom gave you $40 in grocery coupons. What are you going to use the extra money for? And Why?

If you can think of other questions to add leave me a comment.  We will be doing this lesson with different variables over and over again.

Antibacterial everything a revisit...

A while back I posted a blog about everything being antibacterial. Well I just saw this article this morning and it reinforced what my gut had told me.  I wanted to share it with you.  Please read and make your decisions for your family.

http://foods4thoughtblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/27/9-reasons-you-want-to-avoid-hand-sanitizers/

By the way, we don't use antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers at home, And Little Miss S is getting over her 4th cold ever and she turns 5 in a month and only one ever stomach bug and no flu ever.  How many families can say that of their almost 5 year old?

Chili didn't stretch as far.

So I wanted to see if I could stretch chili like I did the pot roast.  Well, it didn't work out that well.  We had Frito Chili pie 3 times, and then I made enchiladas and that lasted for 2 meals.  But that still leaves 5 meals for less than $20 for a family of 5. I am still happy with my results.  I haven't decided whether it will be roasted Chicken or pork roast this week.

Savings Match Up

There is a new service out there for those of you that want to coupon and save as much money as you can on groceries but are short on time or know how.  Savings Match Up will search out the best prices to price match and coupons for you for a small fee.

https://www.facebook.com/SavingsMatchUp
 or email at
savingsmatchup@gmail.com

The essence of Frugality. 8 meals out of one.

If you know me I am truly a tightwad.  I refuse to pay full price for anything at the grocery store or any store.  Since moving to the big city, I have found so many more places to price match for Walmart.  This is awesome since the cost of living is more expensive here.  I am going to explain here how I got the absolute more out of a deal. 

A couple of weeks ago, I found a sale on meat.  I ended up getting a beef roast for $1.49/lb.  That on its own is a really good deal but I stretched that roast out into 8 meals and not just left over pot roast.  

1. On Tuesday, I made pot roast and fresh homemade yeast rolls. 
2. Wednesday morning I packed Mr. J's lunch with Roast beef sliders using the left over yeast rolls. 
3. Wednesday night, for dinner we had Beef Stew. I used the left over broth from cooking the pot roast that I didn't use for Gravy and added red beans, split peas, frozen mixed veggies, cut the left over roast up into bit size pieces, rice, and barley, then added the left over gravy, carrots, potatoes, and peas from the pot roast served with homemade cornbread.  
4. Thursday night for dinner, I took the some of the stew from the night before and put it in a cast iron skillet topped with homemade biscuits for a rustic beef pot pie
5. Friday lunch, I had the the left over rustic pot pie, and J had a bowl of stew and left over cornbread.
6. Saturday Dinner, I made actual pie crust from scratch and made a real pot pie out of the left over stew, and 2 mini pot pies out of the left over crust and 2 ladles of the stew for J to take for lunch next week which would be meals 7 and 8.  

Price break down:

• 3.65lb Round roast             $6.89
• 4 russet potatoes                $0.40         (from a 10lb bag at 2.98)
• 1 lb carrots                        $0.50
• 1/2 package of frozen peas  $0.50
• 3 mushrooms                     $0.10          (from a package that I got for .69)
• various seasonings              $0.50 
• 1/4 bag red beans                $0.25
• 1/4 bag split peas                 $0.25
• 1 bag mixed veggies frozen   $1.00
• 1/2 c rice                             $0.25
• 1/4c pearled barley                $0.13
• Cornbread  ingredients           $0.20 ( equivalent of 2 jiffy mixes)
• Biscuit ingredients                 $0.15(equivalent of 1 bisquick mix)
• Pie crust ingredients              $0.35 
• Fresh yeast rolls ingredients   $1.75

Eight meals for $13.22.  And it is healthy with plenty of veggies.  This week I will see what I can do with Chili!  Enjoy!!!