Pink Roses, Pineapple Burgers, and Eternity.

Another enjoyable weekend at the Jeep Hacienda.  Made the most of having four days off in a row.  Enjoyed some delicious food (some from our own garden) and great company.

Isabella and Grandma, ages 5 and 59.

Grandma (my mom) had her 59th birthday and we celebrated by taking her to dinner.  I brought along a few daughters just in case the subject of age had her in the dumps.  Nothing brings on the smiles like a couple of innocent little girls.  I took my five and ten year old and met her at a Chili's restaurant near her work.  She teaches part of the curriculum for medical assisting / medical billing at a local technical school.  We talked about my girls and what they thought of their newly started school year, among other things.

She's caught in the rut of living paycheck to paycheck.  Then something will break (car, dishwasher) and she'll end up putting the repair on a credit card thus extending the never ending cycle.  I've offered to help, however I can, but she's too stubborn to accept.  She didn't think things would turn out this way as life moves on.  She's put in long, hard hours for a long time and doesn't see a light at the end of the tunnel anymore.  She used to dream with me as we'd make lists of places we'd like to visit someday: Egypt, Africa, Europe, Australia.  Last time I attempted to draw her into the game, she bluntly stated that she doesn't play that game anymore...because there's no chance of it ever happening now.  Lesson learned: Plan ahead...WAY ahead.  We parted with a hug in the Chili's parking lot and I shifted my focus to my silly girls falling haphazardly into the back of my little Jeep.

Bison burger with pineapple, bacon & terriyaki.

The next day we thawed some frozen bison from our prep freezer.  We mixed it with a little beef just to make sure the kids didn't notice the difference in taste.  I packed it into large patties and grilled them indoors on my griddles.  Nothing guarantees a rain storm like plans to grill outdoors.  Sure enough, as Wifey and I talked about grilling our bison burgers outside, the rain clouds rolled in.  To make the burgers even more delightful, we bathed them in terriyaki sauce and topped them with a pineapple ring and bacon.  You know a meal was done up right when you can reheat it the next day and it tastes exactly the same.  Luckily for me, we had a few burgers left over that night and I got to enjoy them two days in a row.

We don't stock pineapple rings at our place so it gave me the perfect excuse to run to the store.  Did I mention I was at home for four days with six girls (seven including Wifey)?  Yup, a run to the store was refreshing.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to pick up some lovely pink roses.  The young woman at the checkout counter whispered to me with a glint of suggestion in her eye "They're only $6.99 for a dozen..."  I nodded in agreement with her female foresight and was pleased with the idea of presenting such a lovely bouquet to Wifey at such an agreeable price.  Lesson learned: A beautiful gift doesn't have to be expensive.

Mr Dark Brown Carpet...meet Mr. Bleach.

Of course, the week isn't complete without the Mayhem duo (3 year old Chloe & 5 year old Isabella) stirring up a little trouble.  We've lived in our current house since 2001 with our oldest now 14 and not once, NOT ONCE, did we ever worry about leaving the laundry bleach bottle in the laundry room.  It has a child proof cap ya know.  Well, leave it to the Mayhem sisters to not only decide to transport the bleach bottle from the laundry room to the living room but somehow the cap was also taken off the bottle. 

Now, I've bragged for at least two years now about how smart it was for me to install dark chocolate brown colored carpet in our living room because it hides every kind of spill and stain the little carpet munchers can throw at it.  Never in my dreams did I think they would cart the bleach bottle in there and dump it upside down on the dark brown carpet.  Right in a place that can't be covered by moving the couch and a throw rug would look silly tossed to that particular location near the edge.  Looks like I'll be experimenting with brown dye next weekend. Lesson learned: if they can get to it, they will...eventually.  Put it away properly.

Nothing says LOVE like roses and burgers, right?

Speaking of how smart I am, did I mention I installed locking door knobs on all the older girls rooms?  See, the big girls leave their doors open when they leave for school.  Then the little ones have an all day treasure hunt as they search for makeup, markers, scissors and such with which to destroy any last little corner of the house that happened to remain clean from the prior day.  But not with me around, no sir. Not with my superior intelligence.  I presented each older daughter with a room key and explained that this was an exercise to start preparing them for having their own dorm, apartment, or home someday.  "Keep your things locked up and safe," I'd say as I proudly handed over the keys.

Now, I was even smart enough to make spares.  One spare for each of the three daughters.  What I didn't count on was them systematically losing their keys and secretly fetching mine to use for access.  Well, this was the weekend that the oldest daughter lost the spare too...after her room door was locked...by her friend that was staying the night.  Normally, I would have told her to sleep in the living room and I'd deal with it the next day.  Locksmith if necessary, should my own skills prove a failure.  But fate chose to have it happen on a night when we had company.  Needless to say, we are now in need of a new door knob (be it the locking kind or not, I don't know yet) and some glue to put the stupid door back together.  Lesson learned: I should have made backups to the backups.

Mesa Temple, August 27 2011

I don't think I have any fellow Mormons reading my blog but I should mention that this was an unforgettable weekend for one more reason.  This past Saturday Wifey and I were Sealed for all eternity in the presence of God.  Followed by the Sealing of all my little angels.  The expression of true happiness visible on my wife's face was an image I'll never forget.  It reminded me of our wedding day 13 years ago only there wasn't a hint of worry on her face this time ;-)  All my little angels, gowned in dresses of pure white, completed our family circle as we smiled in God's presence.  Lesson learned: through God, all things are possible.

We ended the weekend with some potatoes from our garden.  Five year old baked one and gobbled it up sprinkled with cheese while big Sister attempted to make potato chips using vegetable oil and a deep pan.  I took my prerequisite short nap to bolster me through my first night shift back at work.  It only took about two hours into my shift before Wifey and I were texting each other about how we wish I was still home.  It's strange what you realize at 3am sometimes.  Today, at 3am, I realized that witnessing the worst bleach spot on my dark carpet is still better... than the best day... at work.

Lesson learned: enjoy every minute.

~OJD

Money Saving Idea Worth Repeating

Cheapest price per lb sliced.

I stopped by the grocery store this morning after work to grab some fresh fruits and veggies for juicing (link to last juicing post).  As is customary, I text Wifey to make sure there wasn't anything she needed before I left.  There's nothing worse than the dreaded "...wish I had known you were going, I needed some xyz..."

She replied we needed some sandwich meat for the kids school lunches so I headed over to the lunch meat section.  The average price for ONE pound of pre-sliced ham was $3.38-$4.50 depending on brand.  I've posted in the past about how we bought a meat slicer we found on CraigsList and slice our own meats to save money.

$7.98 for 5lbs whole.

I headed over to the meat counter and checked on the price of a whole ham.  A 5 lb whole ham was $7.98.  So 5lbs for $8 and I slice it or 5lb for $20 (averaged at $4/lb) and it's pre-sliced.  Wow.  Talk about paying for convenience.  I chuckled to myself and tossed a whole ham into my basket.

If you're looking to save money, and in this economy I don't know who isn't, consider slicing your own meats to save some serious cash.

Cheap Food Prep Item: Kraft Mac & Cheese $0.65 per box + Free Ship

Hasn't changed it 100 years ;-)

It may not be the healthiest food on the planet but I have fond memories of making Kraft Mac & Cheese as a kid. I'm also amazed at how long this stuff lasts in the pantry without changing the flavor or consistency. Pretty basic food item and about as easy to make as it gets...especially for kids.

So, this deal popped up on my radar today and I jumped on it.

The Kraft Macaroni & Cheese 15-Pack is currently $9.76 if you use subscribe & save. (You choose Subscribe & Save simply for the cheaper price. Once the item ships, you go back and cancel the Subscribe & Save "subscription"). I use the SS option to save money frequently, never had an issue canceling it.

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese

This is among the cheapest I have seen for it. Comes out to $0.65 per box.   It sells for at least $1.00 per box at Wallymart AND you have to spend gas and time to go get it.

This deal has free shipping on orders over $25. I ordered 5 units (75 boxes total) for $48.79.

Item(s) Subtotal:	$57.40
Shipping & Handling:	$0.00
Promotion Applied:	-$8.61
	-----
Total Before Tax:	$48.79
Estimated Tax To Be Collected:	$0.00
	-----
Grand Total:	$48.79

Hope this helps someone prep with some cheap and easy food. If you have a recipe to make it yourself, for cheaper than this (or equivalent), please share :-)


~OJD

Alert! Mountain House Easy Meal Combo Kit at Costco Cheap!

Easy Meal® Combo Kit $339.00

302 Total Servings
18 - #10 Cans

Item # 528480

RatedOverall Rating: 

4.9 out of 5

Rating Snapshot (16 reviews)

5 stars 16 of 16(100%)customers would recommend this product to a friend.

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$339.99

Shipping & Handling included *





The Easy Meal package contains 18 #10 (gallon size) cans. See below for package contents:

Breakfast Case:

• 1 can of Scrambled Eggs with Ham & Red & Green Peppers (17 servings)
• 1 can of Breakfast Skillet (10 servings)
• 1 can of Granola with Milk & Blueberries (20 servings)
• 1 can of Scrambled Eggs with Bacon (16 servings)
• 1 can of Raw Egg Mix, Butter Flavor (50 servings) – Requires cooking
• 1 can of Sliced Strawberries (16 servings)

Entrée Case:

• 1 can of Lasagna with Meat Sauce (10 servings)
• 1 can of Pasta Primavera, Vegetarian (11 servings)
• 1 can of Beef Teriyaki with Rice (11 servings)
• 1 can of Beef Stroganoff with Noodles (10 servings)
• 1 can of Chicken Teriyaki with Rice (9 servings)
• 1 can of Chili Mac with Beef (10 servings)

Ingredient Case:

• 1 can of Cooked Diced Beef (15 servings)
• 1 can of Cooked Diced Chicken (14 servings)
• 1 can of Cooked Ground Beef (18 servings)
• 1 can of Garden Green Peas (23 servings)
• 1 can of Golden Sweet Whole Kernel Corn (22 servings)
• 1 can of Cut Green Beans (20 servings)

I utilize instant email alerts (which go straight to my droid) on certain survival items. This Mountain House deal came to my droid about an hour ago. I've already purchased this kit (soon after the alert.)

If you are in the market/need for this type of item, please don't hesitate. #10 can from Mountain House are getting VERY hard to find. Not only is it available right now online via Costco but shipping is included AND you don't have to have a membership. My understanding, by reading the reviews on Costco's website for this item, is that they simply charge you a little extra if you don't have a club membership.

It won't last long. These aren't even being sold on MH's website. See for yourself.

Mountain House Easy Meal Combo Kit from Costco $339 + FS

Update: Recieved my box a few days ago. Well packaged and no problems. Thanks CostCo and Mountain House! 18 #10 cans of premium freeze dried food going into storage.

Successful Gardening Seeds From SeedsForSecurity.com

Indian Corn (Link to purchase)

Wifey and I are new to gardening. We have two man-made gardening containers: cinder block pictured below with corn and raised box gardens. These have bags of soil and fertilizer from the local gardening center. Our other backyard garden area is simply hard, Arizona dirt. The same goes from our front yard garden. We purposely plant in both improved and unimproved gardens to see what works and what doesn't.

So far, we've had terrific results. In plain dirt, lettuce (pictured) has done VERY well. The butternut squash is starting to really take off. We have several little ones that play in the dirt and it is possible that seeds get dug up from time to time (or seedlings pulled out.) I covered all raised gardens with bird net to discourage critters and rugrats (cats, birds, and kids).

Most of our seeds were bulk purchased from SeedsForSecurity.com. We didn't know where to get our start in gardening seeds and took a chance on an internet ad displayed at InfoWars.com. We bought the Super Survival Pack.

SeedsForSecurity has turned out to be a terrific source for high quality seeds. We highly recommend them and we are NOT sponsored to say that in any way. Here are some of the plants we have grown using SeedsForSecurity:


 

Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage (Link to purchase)



Lettuce

Not pictured yet:

peas (Super Survival Pack)

french beans (Super Survival Pack)

cattle beans (Super Survival Pack)

waltham butternut squash (Link to purchase)

cucumber

sugar pumpkin (Link to purchase)

Prepping One Step At A Time...At Alternative Cache Locations.

I was reading through yet another terrific blog post at Rural Revolution regarding how much cash to keep on hand versus utilizing the current value of cash to purchase tangible assets. It all follows the bigger question of how to prepare for your family when it doesn't seem like there is any disposable income left after bills are paid. The answer: do what you CAN do and find some peace knowing that you are working towards a goal.

Save money by eating simple meals at work: soup & water.

How do you know what you CAN do? Write out a plan. Do the math. Figure out what you need for YOUR situtation and write it down. Then break it up into little steps. One source is the LDS food storage calculator. It says a family of four, for a three month supply of basic food, needs 300 pounds of wheat and 60 pounds of beans/legumes. That's $137.40 in wheat and $89 in beans, according to the LDS Family Home Storage Center pdf file. Total is $226.40 and divide by 12 months gives you $18.87 per month that you need for a (very) basic food supply that feeds four people for three months.

Now of course you'll want more than wheat and beans. This simple meal plan was simply to illustrate how to break down something seemingly daunting into smaller, more achievable goals. There are tons of food lists from all kinds of perspectives listed all over the internet. Find one that suits you and break it down into small, manageable chunks.

Food storage: start with a little and keep adding.

I need more space to store food, for example. I realized I had an empty locker at work which would make a great place to store a little canned food. Since I spend a lot of time at work and therefore eat meals at work, it makes perfect sense for me to store food there. It gives me more storage space AND decreases the chances I'll run out for a burger or tacos knowing that I have food already here. I can't afford to just run to the store and buy 30 cans of Campbells Chunky soup to fill my locker so I'll start with a few cans and add from there. Small steps towards a bigger goal of filling the locker.

Make a plan and get started...TODAY!

Adding Storage With a Wall Niche



Two niches cut into the living room wall (while the kids
watched an episode of Barney)

 Saturday was a very productive day at the Compound de Orange Jeep Dad. The oldest two daughters were dropped off at church by 7am. They spent a good part of the day volunteering at the Special Olympics in Mesa. Teenage enrichment activity...check.

Back home by 7:30 and planted pumpkins in the front flower bed. If calculations are correct, we should have PLENTY of pumpkins by halloween. Saving money on future halloween decorations and pies...check.

Planted cucumbers and watermelons in the backyard. Down to one small area of EMPTY garden now. Once it is gone, I may start re-planting in the raised box gardens if I don't see more growth from the carrots. Future veggies to munch...check.

Lots of space added where there used to be none

Then the biggest chore of the day. On the recent topic of extra storage, wifey asked me to add some shelving next to the main television. In my usual research fashion, I visited youtube for a quick lesson in carpentry. Turns out what I'm about to create is called a "wall niche."

The rest of the day was spent sawing, nailing, and arguing with wood. The shelves are in. Next will be sealing seams, a final sanding, and painting the finished product. Oh, and BIG trim to cover up my mistakes.

Improving sadly lacking carpentry skills...check.

Update: Wall niche is complete. Click here for the final pictures.

Extra Storage Ideas for Food Storage and Other Stuff

I was reading a blog about storing food in a trundle bed and it got me to thinking about under-utilized places in my own house. Storing things under the bed is a terrific use of space not to mention the old clothing that I might "someday" be able to wear again takes up much needed space. I already utilized my kitchen knock-out ledge for hidden storage.

"Where else might I find some much needed space," I wonder as I sit here at work. Did I say work? I meant AT HOME, yeah, I'd never blog while on the clock. Yeah, so, anyway...I have a locker here at work. An EMPTY locker I might add. Why not use that to stock up on soup and other storable foods? I mean, I live here twelve hours a day, four days a week. I eat a minimum of one meal...usually two meals while I am here. I think I'll watch the store ads for soup sales in the coming weeks and start stocking my locker with Campbell's soups. They'll stack nicely, keep for a while, and be super easy to make when I get the munchies at 2am (gotta love working the night shift, right?)

There are actually quite a few lockers at my work. I'd say only about half the lockers are utilized by employees. I might be able to pick a few in different locations and stock more than one locker? Well, let's start with one and go from there. I also have locker space at our other "sister" hospital. Ooohhh. That one's a STAND UP locker. Lots of space there.

If I didn't live in the East Valley of Arizona, I'd consider storing some lightweight foods in the trunks of my cars. You wouldn't want anything too heavy or it would affect gas mileage and we CERTAINLY don't want that these days. The heat would also speed up the shelf life of canned meats, vegetables, etc. Maybe I can stash away some Ramen in the trunk? Ramen seems pretty indestructible and I already blogged about 30 ways to cook Ramen.

We store our large cookware on a hanging rack over our kitchen sink. This free's up a cabinet worth of space. A storage shed in the backyard allowed me to move lots of stuff out of the garage (we have dry food storage out there.) We have mylar bagged food in the top of all the kids' closets where it is too high for them to reach.

In other ideas out there?

Strawberry Gardening Tips and Information

Thanks to a post by Mindy over at Housman Farms, I was encouraged to do some research on strawberries. Since I'm growing some strawberries and don't know the first thing about them, this little research project was very fruitfull (pun intended!)

A nice pdf drawing found on google docs shows the parts of a strawberry plant. Now, instead of pointing at my plants (when talking to my wife) and saying "this one spread out and started another one!" I can intelligently say "we've got a runner with a daughter plant!"

This same document also recommends pulling off the blossoms during the first year to encourage the plant to redirect all the energy into plant growth instead of fruit production. This must mean that strawberries can stay in the garden for several years? Think I'll experiment and pick blossoms off of half the crowns and see who grows more fruit in the next couple of years.

Looks like Mindy uses straw to cover her strawberries in the winter. My pdf document says to cover them after the first hard frost, up to four inches. Covering them too early can reduce their "winter hardiness."

During the second season, when the berries are ready to pick, just pinch them off at the stem between your thumb and forefinger and give a little twist. Freeze what you don't eat within the first week of picking.

Do YOU like strawberries?

Lettuce, Mushrooms and Corn...Oh My!

Baby lettuce growing between the mature heads.

The stuff we planted in late March is coming along nicely. The lettuce was planted last season and we decided to let it stay. It has continued to bloom and provide well for our meals (condiment on hamburgers and salads mostly). We've planted newer crops between  the old ones and they are sprouting up nicely too.

The corn, as it did last season, it blazing a trail towards the sun. It is by far the fastest growing crop I've ever seen (and I've been gardening TWO whole seasons!) It has done so well that we will be buying more seed from the same company just to store it away (haven't learned how to save seeds yet).

Peas from last season on the left (producing nicely too).

The only problems we had last season with the corn was little larvae looking worms inside the ears. You couldn't really see where they had dug in from but once you peeled away all the layers, you could see the little boogers lounging in a dark whole on the ear.

Still not seeing much action on the potatoes and carrots. There is a possible sprout of potato but were not sure. I'll take a picture of it and post it. Maybe someone can identify it for us. Half of the block wall garden is stocked with potatoes, the other half is corn. We left two little pea plants from last season to see what they'd do (they're doing better now than last season).

The carrots are sprouting up but only ONE stem in each of the TWO 3x3' raised-box gardens dedicated entirely to carrots. Pretty disappointing. I still have hope that they're just still below the surface but I've seen plenty of cat pawing in the same boxes. I also wonder if seeds were washed away since they're planted just under the soil surface. I planted purple carrots and traditional orange from seed.


The third raised-box is nursing wounded strawberries. I planted five transplants from Home Depot. They were sporting berries when I bought them. I got them planted in the boxes and sure enough, the kids ate the berries within days. The berries were barely bigger than a chocolate chip! Argh!



"We're here for your water!"

 You can see in the picture how they are turning brown. There are some new buds coming out though so we'll keep our fingers crossed.  My gardening neighbor told me he planted the same thing and all the original leaves turned brown and fell off but were soon followed by healthy green ones.

I pulled some mushrooms up from the carrot beds. I was told it was possibly a sign that I was watering too much.