Harvest Lane Cottage

Hello Ladies, I hope you don't mind my skipping last week.  I thought you might enjoy my Forty Ways to Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without.  These are some of the ways that helped me cope when my husband went through a long period of unemployment and underemployment. Here's my frugal week: ~About noon on Monday, we found that our garage freezer had been unplugged over the weekend.  Someone unplugged it to plug in something else.  Actually, it seems that No One did it.  Have you ever had troubles with No One at your house?  Unfortunately, that meant that I had some thawed meat Monday.  Fortunately, we found out before everything thawed. I know it may not be right; but, I just had my child plug it back in.  Most of the meat had just begun to thaw. I had 10 lbs of chicken breast thawed. ~I cooked 5 lbs in the Crock Pot yesterday.  I made two meals with it. Chicken Gravy over Biscuits Prepare gravy using the broth f...

Lisa-Jo Baker 28 Jun 2013 Five Minute Friday: In Between in Five Minute Friday Friday, time to crack open the chocolate ice cream and unscripted version of beautiful you! Got five minutes? Let’s write. Let’s finger paint with words –> {click to tweet}. Let’s just write and not worry if it’s just right or not. Here’s how to play along: 1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my blog footer}. 3. Go leave some comment props for the five minute artist who linked up before you. It’s a great way to catch your breath at the end of a long week. OK, are you ready? Let’s see your best five minutes for the prompt: In between GO - See more at: http://lisajobaker.com/#sthash.8W2ZcVx2.dpuf Lisa-Jo Baker 28 Jun 2013 Five Minute Friday: In Between in Five Minute Friday Friday, time to crack open the chocolate ice cream ...

Summertime... and the living is easy well, it's supposed to be anyway.  ~smile~  Some of us find ourselves even busier while the kids are out of school or away from the home school books.  Looking for some cool summer salad recipes to get you out of the kitchen fast?  Here are some of our favorites from Harvest Lane Cottage: A Capital Salad Coleslaw Dressing Crunchy Munchy Salad Gotta-Go-To-The-Store Salad  Kale Avocado Salad Mega Greek Salad No Lettuce Needed Salad RKCTGN Salad   Salad Soup ~~~~~ May I suggest? Seek Home ~~~~~ 

Source Chicken and Dumplings This can be made very frugally with a few backs and necks.  It's a do with what you've got recipe.  I remember being so poor that I'd haggle with the butcher to just buy a few chicken backs or necks.  Even two dollars was more than I had to spend.  Back then I was cooking for two and a toddler.  There are six of us now.  This will make enough for 6 to 8 people.  We make this nearly every time we have family visiting from out of town.  It's our favorite family dinner. 10 lbs Chicken leg quarters, or 1 whole chicken, or any package of chicken of your choice. The more chicken you boil, the better the broth.  You really want some dark meat for flavor. 6 eggs flour salt & pepper Okay, first of all, put the chicken into a large stockpot. Salt and pepper it generously. Boil the chicken for at least an hour, until the chicken is ready to fall off the bones. Take the chicken from the broth, and put i...

Dear Readers, Hard times are upon many of us.  I've been trying to Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without for several years now. Here are some of the things I've done. Ways to USE IT UP: 1. Toothpaste- Take the end of your toothbrush and slide it along the toothpaste tube, pushing all the toothpaste up toward the opening to get out all the last bits. If you're at the end and want the very last bit, open the end with scissors and just put your toothbrush inside. You'll get a few more brushings out of the tube. 2. Lotions- If you have body lotion or baby lotion setting around unused, you can use it for shaving lotion. I just put some in my hand, add a bit of water from the faucet and spread it on my skin. The razor slides smoothly. The same is true for unused hair conditioner. 3. Lipstick- Use a lip brush or cotton swab to get the last bits out of the container. 4. Unmatched dishes-either your own or garage sale finds. Use these to give food gi...

The best thing about June?  Strawberry jam!  Ever made it yourself?  It's not hard.  You can buy all kinds of special equipment for jam making, but I keep it simple and do with what I've got.  No fancy jam maker or water bath canner for me.  Would I use them if I had them?  Yes.  Am I going to wait to get them?  No way! What's really necessary? Clean sterilized canning jars, flat lids and screw rings are required. You can buy a new box of half pint canning jars for around $8.00. The jars are reusable as long as there are no nicks in the jars. You must use new flat lids each time. You can reuse the rings as long as they are not rusted.  A ladle, a wide mouth funnel,  and a magnetic jar lid lifter are helpful.  Strawberries ~ enough to make 5 cups of crushed berries  Sugar ~ 7 cups Sure Gel pectin ~ 1 box All the instructions are included on the package insert.  Follow them closely a...

New handbags in my shop today.

Hello everyone, It's been a busy week, but I don't know where it's gone.  I can hardly believe that it's Friday! Here's my frugal week: ~    I started a quart of Kombucha tea.  I don't know what it costs in the store, but I'm sure it's much much less expensive to make at home. ~ I ordered my BeeYoutiful Supermom vitamins with free shipping.  That saved me $6.00.  I also used my Bee Points and saved $10.50.  Total savings $16.50. That is a very big deal.  ~smile~  I almost missed it.  Not being able to sleep at 2:45 Tuesday morning was beneficial. ~smile~ Thanks God!  I know it was God because the song lyrics, "From my heart to the heavens, Jesus be my center. It's all about you, yes it's all about you," just kept going through my spirit over and over. ~ I made Chicken Bone Soup again.  This time I used the bones and bits from a Rotisserie chicken that I bought.  We ate two suppers and one lunch from that one ...

Israel had been going their own way for awhile.  The Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant and had recently returned it to the Israelites.  Interesting story there…boils, sores, and misery.  Read about it in I Samuel 5 and 6.  Seems no one wanted to keep the Ark, because it brought trouble to the Philistines no matter which town they sent it to.  The Philistines sent it back to Israel, and it was kept at Abinadab’s house.  His son Eleazar was consecrated to guard the Ark. Fast forward to chapter 7.  Twenty years later, the people of Israel mourned and sought after the Lord.  That is when Samuel sacrificed and sought the Lord for the people.  “And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, ‘If you are returning to the Lord  with all your hearts , then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and  commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only,  and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Ph...

Hello Ladies! So good of you to drop in today.  If you stopped by yesterday, you may have seen  this post in all its confusion.  I hit publish instead of save and didn't realize it until Miss Dorothy wrote a comment to me, and it showed up in my e-mail inbox!  Talk about keeping it real!  So, please accept my apology.  Let's try again! I've been thinking of things I would like to get done over the next week or so.  You know how it is.  Always something to do.  So, here are some things I hope to do this week.  I think I'll come back here and change the items to italics as I do them just to give myself a little encouragement along the way. Baking: ~ I'm  in the mood for some  old-fashioned oatmeal cookies .  I've baked with this recipe ever since I was a little girl.  I have no idea where it originated.   Cooking:   ~ I'm going to have my son look for another Chicken of the Woods m...

Declutter Thrifty Macaroni and Cheese We ate some funny macaroni and cheese awhile back.  It was part macaroni, part broken up manicotti shells, and part spaghetti!    ~I made the sauce by whisking a cup of milk and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch together.   ~I added it to two tablespoons of hot melted butter and whisked it in the pan over medium high heat.   ~I added a little more milk when it got thick.   ~Next I cut up chunks of cheddar cheese into the mixture and stirred.   ~I added milk and stirred until it was of a thickness I liked.   ~I poured this over the cooked funny macaroni.   Not bad!  It used up odds and ends from the cupboard, too!  I guess I could call it Declutter Mac and Cheese! Just one more way to be thrifty and frugal and survive hard times. Blessings from Harvest Lane Cottage, Laura  Happy to be Home ~~~~~ May I suggest? When Hubby is Unemployed or Und...

Being thrifty means doing with watcha got, making do, using it up, wearing it out, doing without.  It means foregoing some costly pleasures and finding pleasure in less costly things.  As you practice thriftiness, it becomes pleasurable to find bargains, to make something useful again, or to practice self-control. Here's my thrifty week: ~ No yard saling this week due to storms.  Sometimes staying home is the thriftiest option! ~ I taught my son, Michael, to make refried beans .  We don't actually refry them.  We just mash them and add cheese.  We used two pounds of pinto beans so that we could have two meals.  We wrapped the beans in tortillas and spread the beans on tostada shells. ~ I baked chicken leg quarters in my clay cooker Tuesday evening.  I deboned the chicken prior to serving to make it stretch.  I left a bit of meat on the bones so that they could be boiled for a soup base later. ~ My daughter substituted coconut oil for...

All of the flowers are thriving in the garden, both those we planted this year and those that former owners and God planted.  I've seen a rose bush come back to life that I'd thought dead these last two years.  The peonies bloomed at Memorial Day just as they should, filling the house with their intoxicating fragrance.  The wildflowers have been abundant in the meadow.  Vases and jars have been filled and scattered throughout the house.  No need for air fresheners here. I was enjoying a few moments of quiet on the porch a couple of days ago enjoying the late afternoon breeze.    Honeysuckle vines fragranced the air with their sweetness.  I pondered, what must Eden have been like?  Breathtakingly beautiful, vibrant hues, a heady collection of exquisite flowers and plants that filled Adam and Eve's senses. How hard it must have been to face a world outside Eden that I imagine might have been like a typical August in Missouri, hot, dr...

...on the Front Porch  ...Constant Comment Tea, orange slices and almonds... ...1 Corinthians 14 & 15  ...piano music by Jim Brickman and a gentle rain. Laura Happy at Home Mommy Moments

Our "family" is growing! Our chicken family that is.   ~smile~  We've got 14 pullet chicks to replace our hens that were killed a couple of months ago.     We had to get the kittens grown and adopted out before we could begin again.  Now that they have homes, we're in the chicken business again. I cannot wait to see those little hens strutting around the yard eating all the little bugs! Hens make me happy. Having a son to clean the chicken coop makes me even happier. ~smile~ Blessings from Harvest Lane Cottage Laura ~~~~~ May I suggest? A Lovely Rainy Afternoon Shared: Cozy Reading Spot