Adding to my Pantry
This is when I am most busy with my garden. Every day I am picking pounds of food that I need to do something with. I learned how to can a few years ago, thank you YouTube, so I made more sauce. My sister had never made sauce before. She is single and doesn't cook a lot. When she wants sauce, I give it to her. She came over and we processed all of my tomatoes and then we made sauce. Then we canned 5 quarts and 3 pints. I don't think she will ever do it herself but it was fun doing it together.
All of those cucumbers needed to be used so I made more pickles. I tried a new to me recipe, horseradish pickles. They need to ferment for 2-4 weeks so I don't know how they came out yet. Hopefully we love them. They have to stay submerged in the mixture so I put a dessert plate on top of them. It is working so far.
I had tons of cucumbers still so I mad more dill pickles. These are a family favorite and I never have enough. They are easy to make so the more the better. OD had added some hot peppers to the recipe and liked how it came out so I did that for 3 pints. I made 7 pints and a quart the regular way.
I have been getting a few tabasco peppers and lots of jalapenos and Hungarian wax peppers. Hubby and I made some hot sauce. Future note to self, do it outside next time. Holy Moly! The whole house smelt like tabasco sauce. It came out really good. We will diffidently be making more.
I did a trip to Meat Farms. My son started school so I wanted to grab cold cuts for him to take. They had porterhouse steaks on sale for $4.99 a pound. I splurged and got 4. They are only this low a few times a year and Hubby loves them. I am doing really well on our grocery budget and have a surplus so might as well get a special treat. The grapes were $1.99 a pound. We eat a lot of grapes this time of year. The pepperoni was $2.99. I wanted it to add to pizza. The total at Meat Farms was $41.99.
I also went to BJs. I spent $51.31. I forgot to take a picture. I got milk, soy milk, eggs, cheese, chicken breasts, chocolate chips, and granola. There may have been something else but I don't remember.
My total for the week was $93.30.
My total grocery shopping for August was $392.84. My year to date grocery shopping is $3025.13. My monthly average is $378.14. I have a surplus of $174.87 still.
What did you add to your pantry this week? How did you do overall for August? Are you staying within your budget or did you go over?
Your garden produce looks beautiful. Just love this time of the year when everything is producing like crazy. Walk out in the yard and get groceries - what could be better?
ReplyDeleteFun that your sister came and helped.
It is diffidently more fun cooking with someone. She comes over a lot and we bake lots together but never did sauce. It had to get made so she was happy to help out. She is also happy to eat it.
DeleteI love grocery shopping in my garden. There are few things better. If only I could convince Hubby to let me get a few chickens. Still working on that.
I ended August with $1.80 left in the food budget. go me! lolz
ReplyDeleteI have been spending like a drunken sailor on shore leave in September so far. It's not my fault that all the deals I want/need are coming at the same time, right? ;-) But then again, I won't be able to grocery shop at the end of Sept. so it all balances out.
You did well on your budget, even with splurging on steaks.(I did that too!)What's life without a splurge thrown in now and again?
$1.80 under is still under. Stocking up on sales will save you so much in the future so it is worth it. I will probably spend a large amount this month using up my surplus. I usually get 100 pounds of potatoes and a bushel of corn from a farm. Then there is apple picking and all of the beautiful broccoli and cauliflower at the farm stands. I use it all winter long so it really saves me money. Plus it is locally grown, tastes amazing and benefits farmers which I am all for.
DeleteWe are both big spenders. $4.99 a pound for a steak that would cost $40 at a nice restaurant. Go us.
Wow! What a huge harvest! Doesn't it feel good to grow and pick your own food? You know where it came from and that it is safe. I envy your cucumbers. Mine played out early, the vines died of some kind of virus. I have not been able to find any locally at a reasonable price, I don't consider $30 for ten pounds reasonable. I did get one box of misshapen tiny ones for $14 and at least got some pickles made. Yours are awesome!
ReplyDeleteThis morning I picked tomatoes, green beans and okra from the garden. After I am cooled down and inspired to get back up on my feet (that's why I am reading your blog, inspiration is needed), I will can tomato salsa, cook the beans for dinner and saute the few okra.
As for how I did for August, I don't know. My elderly mother moved in with my sister and we emptied her pantry. It would have been crazy to pack all that food and transport it out of state. My goal has been to use up her food and mine so I can reorganize the selves. I have bought as little as possible but the food seems to be expanding in the cabinet. Complaining about too much food - I should be ashamed.
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
That is why I grow a garden. I hate when I hear about food recalls and contaminated foods. We have food allergies and food restrictions so it is easier for me to grow and cook our food.
DeleteSorry about your cucumbers. Something (I think baby bunnies) ate half of my first set of plants. So I replanted them. They second planting just started giving me some. I have been giving them away to family and friends but everyone wants pickles. I will be making more this weekend as I picked more today. My zucchini and squash were a total bust this year. I don't know what happened but that is the life of a gardener. One year you are giving it away, the next you get none. Oh well.
That is great that you got food from your mom's pantry. I'm sure you will put it to good use.
Such lovely produce! I'm hoping to grow some cucumbers next year, enough to can some pickles. We'll see if that happens! :) I spent three hours today making homemade pierogies. We'll eat a tray for dinner tonight and then I put the other three trays in the freezer for later. I make these so infrequently that I always forget how much WORK they are! My back is not happy, but they'll be delicious, soooooooo.... (Plus I really needed to use up that bag of potatoes!).
DeleteI'll be making another batch of tomato sauce soon, when I have the energy!
We will use it but it is food I don't usually buy. We have had some strange meals lately.
DeleteI understand. When my uncle passed I took what no one else wanted from his pantry. I did give some to the church since we weren't going to eat it.
DeleteThat hot sauce looks really good! I am having very slow results with peppers this year, even though the summer was hot, so I get one or two, then none, then maybe another one.....you get the idea. Hopefully, one of these days they will explode with ripe peppers. They aren't the best looking bushes I've ever seen, but you can't win them all.
ReplyDeleteThe pickles look great. My cucumbers have slowed down, but there seems to be some blossoms on the end of the vines...maybe they will produce. The main thing I need more of is tomatoes/tomato products, and there are still a lot of green ones, so I just need to be patient. My aunt gave me hers from her bush, and I canned 5 pints early this morning, so that will help a lot. It's a busy, but very productive time of year. I love seeing what you made.
Thank you. I am no where near the level of canning that you are at. Your tuna came out great. I would be terrified that I would poison everyone. I only started canning 4 years ago and I learned from YouTube so I am proud of where I am at. Who knows, in a few years tuna might not scare me anymore. Hope your tomatoes turn red otherwise I know you will figure something to do with the green ones.
DeleteThat is wonderful all the produce you have picked from your gardens and turned into sauces and pickles as it all really helps with the budget.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't been near the grocery shops but are waiting for items to come on special we use to use our last $240 for $200 e-voucher for our 3 monthly grocery shop. We have purchased and topped up all the groceries we have used and some past our usual stocking levels on a few things so we can wait for the 50% specials to come up.
Sewingcreations15.
Shopping sales is the best way to shop.
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