And We Have a CSA!!!

Today is an awesomely geeky exciting day! We are signed up for a CSA for the summer!  Not only that, but in exchange for working at the farm each week, I will earn our share rather than having to pay for it.

Being on a limited budget, buying a CSA share for the summer was out of reach.  Maybe this year I will be able to save up in case working for it is too much on top of the kids, home work, and work work.  But for now, there was no way to find hundreds of extra dollars!

Bug and I went out to the farm after work and school. I think we both learned a lot! She got to see where eggs come from and that they look just the same as the ones we get in a box at the store. She even helped gather until the basket got too heavy for her!  Next, we got to pick some spinach (who knew spinach can grow year round in WI given the right conditions) and weeds. Bug got a lesson in using a "farm voice" from the owners. Next, the adults continued weeding and we sent her to feed the goats. I thought for sure she would freak out, but not only did she feed the goats, she also made the horses happy by feeding them carrots!


Now, we're both dirty and tired, but excited for what the summer holds for us!  I really need to shake her of the totally unreasonable fear I used to have that farm fresh wouldn't hold the same quality as store bought. I think we got part of it out of her today.

Food Week Wrap-up

I didn't get a chance to blog quite as much as I had hoped about trying to change our food habits, but with any luck, I'll keep working on it and find some time.  That way, years from now, I can come back and see how far I've come!

I'll call this week a 50/50 draw.  I didn't do as well as I hoped, but I did cook more than I used to and when I did, I didn't pull out a Hamburger Helper once, a bad habit I've gotten into over the past decade.

One night, we had pizza.  This is the ultimate cheap meal for us because Hubs manages a pizza place.  I had to pick Bubs up from him at work and he made pizza since it adds about 40 miles total to my drive.  The good thing, I know exactly what they use because I used to work for the same company.

Another night, I wound up getting the dreaded arches.  I forgot my keys and forgot to get them from Hubs when he dropped Bubs off to me, so I added over an hour to my evening commute (I was close to home when I realized what I had done).  It was easier to drive thru than to deal with late bedtime.  The interesting thing, I HATED IT!  Seriously, how did I live off such crap for so long?

Thursday, we had limited time because we had church.  I consciously chose to drive thru a different place that had a bit healthier (but still not healthy) options.  I even hated that!  I'm starting to like cooking at home, controlling how things are seasoned, etc.

And today, Hubs' good intentions are falling just a touch flat.  He's not as into (read, not at all) reading labels as I am.  He picked up a "ham" for dinner tonight since we didn't have a family feast at lunch.  It's a "ham and water product" with up to 35% weight in added products.  WOWZERS!!!  I'm not bringing it up to him right this minute because I know it will sour the evening, but dang!  To balance that out, we're having fresh carrots, mashed potatoes, and homemade wheat dinner rolls.

Even though my choices weren't as great as I would like, I think it's a success because the times I faltered taught me a valuable lesson.

Oh, and for a bonus point, I've almost totally converted from soda to water!  We were huge soda lovers, but it's not healthy in so many ways.  I still can't get Hubs on board to change his ways, but I can control what I drink.  And now that I'm not drinking it, Bug is asking for water more than anything else!  Double score!

100 Mile Challenge

Thanks to this post on Suburban Saving Mom's website, I found out about the 100 mile challenge.  Reading the post, I had to laugh because I have used the "I live in Wisconsin" excuse for not doing more to eat locally.  I'm not saying it is an excuse for Amy, only that it was for me.

Seriously, I live in Wisconsin, it's not the best environment for many things that we love to eat. How could I do something as responsible as try to find local options and adapt my diet to fit the foods I find?

Well, apparently it can be done and I'm looking forward to finding great places to get our food from.  What I can't get locally, I will do my best to buy from smaller, local stores so I'm at least supporting our local economy rather than lining someone else's pockets.

Homemade Wheat Bread

In my "former life", cheap was good and quick was even better.  I'm not saying healthy, I'm just saying it reduced my stress level to spend as little as possible at the grocery store and have to put in as little effort as possible.

Last month, we bought a loaf of bread from one of the big box stores.  It was probably about $1 for the loaf.  Well, when we got home, it didn't get put in the bread box, it was put on my junk counter.  When I found it a couple of weeks ago, I didn't think twice, I put it in the bread box.  Then, there wasn't much need for bread for a while, until last week, when Bug wanted toast for breakfast. 

When I saw the sell by date, I was horrified that the bread was so old!  The date was around Valentine's Day.  When I saw that the bread had no mold and was only slightly hard, I just about freaked out.  I don't even want to think of how much they have to put into the bread to get it to last that long! 

As silly as it may seem, bread became a priority on the "healthier options" list.  I picked up a bag of Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flour last weekend when I was at the grocery store.  The back of the bag had a recipe for bread, so I used that recipe and made sure I had all of the ingredients. 

Another shocker, there isn't much difference in color between all-purpose flour and unbleached all-purpose flour.  If they're that similar, why purchase the bleached option?  Seriously, if anyone has an answer for that, I'd love to know!

Last night, after throwing dinner in the oven, I started mixing my first batch of bread.  I was terrified!  Bread is something that seems like it needs a lot of care and practice to do well.  After the first rise, I was sure I had messed it up, but I kept trudging through.  I formed my two loaves, put them in their pans, and covered them to rise again.  This time, I felt more confident as I had a better idea of the starting point of my loaves.

They seemed to get dark quickly and I got scared again.  What if my bread was inedible? What if I only thought it had risen long enough? What if...

It did take about 3 hours from start to finish but it was amazing!!!  As soon as it cooled enough to touch, I cut it and buttered a piece as a snack for myself.  Had I not shown some restraint, I easily could have eaten the whole loaf!

The funny thing is, I spent about $6 stocking my pantry with items I didn't have.  At the very least, I have enough left for one more batch, which would bring the cost down to about $1.50 per loaf.  So, to save 50 cents and some time, I've been buying tasteless bread filled with everything unhealthy for my family.  That really doesn't seem like I saved much at all!  From now on, I will set aside a little bit of my weekends to bake bread for my family to eat during the week.  If we have leftovers, I will use it to make French toast or something equally yummy so it doesn't go to waste!

Homemade Laundry Detergent Experiment

Not only did I get two loads of laundry done last night and came home this afternoon to an empty washer (this is big for me), I remembered my list and picked up supplies to make my own homemade laundry detergent.  The original recipe can be found here, but I did tweak it based on different articles I read online.

My recipe:

• 1/2 cup Borax
• 1/2 cup Washing Soda (instead of baking soda, it's supposed to work better)
• 1 bar of Dr Bronner's Magic Soap (I used the Tea Tree Orange)

The first mistake I made was using the big tub I'm used to pouring powder detergent into.  I had the image in my head that I was making a huge concoction when this is the end result:

I grated the bar of soap using the medium set of holes on a box grater.  I did swing by the dollar store and pick up a grater that will only be used for soap just to be safe.  Once that was done, all that was left to do was add the washing soda and Borax.  Before using, I gave the container a shake (the small container) to make sure nothing had separated and settled.

I have issues with measuring spoons, so I grabbed a spare 1/4 cup scoop and filled it less than half way.  The original recipe calls for 1-2 tablespoons depending on the size of the load and the grunge factor.  I was sure it wasn't going to work, but this is trial and error, right?

This is what happens when a 4 year old Bug tries to do a "science project" while mom is taking care of her brother.  1 cup of water mixed with 2 kool-aid packets, promptly spilled on the floor and wiped up by taking her pants off to clean the floor.  And then hidden so mom won't get mad.  With more than a little doubt, I threw these into the wash to test my homemade laundry soap.  This is what came out:

I couldn't remember exactly where the stain was, but I know it was all over one side of the pants and the waistband.  As you can see, it came out!  This is definitely going to be my detergent from now on!  I'm going to keep track of how many loads I get out of this batch in my sidebar and I will figure out the cost per load when everything is gone.

Paid so far:

Borax: 3.19

Washing Soda: 2.49

Dr. Bronner's soap: 3.29

I barely touched the first two ingredients, so it'll be a while before I need them again. So far, I've spent 8.97.  That's less than I would have spent buying detergent for a few weeks and I have supplies left over!  I'm going to like this experiment!

Green Laundry?

So, I'm over half way into my week of focusing on laundry.  The good news is I've only forgotten one load in the washer.  The bad news?  Rather than forget laundry in the washer, I've apparently decided to ignore its existence.

That's not entirely true and I have a good excuse reason for not doing laundry.  I'm out of soap and have procrastinated on finding a better option that won't make my husband break out or make the checkbook cry!

If only I had done a search sooner, maybe I wouldn't be trying to find a solution in a hurry because I'm out of clean pants for work tomorrow morning!  The first site I found may become a new best friend.  They have a fairly simple, straight forward recipe for homemade laundry detergent!  I am going to try this tonight and pray that my clothes come out clean!

If anyone has any other suggestions, I would love to hear them!  Just remember, I'm trying to save money while being more conscious of my decisions.  I don't claim to be an expert, in fact, I'm the exact opposite.