Frugal Living Tip #5 - Don't Buy It - Make Your Own

Don't Buy It - Make Your Own

I know that some of us are better gifted in this area than others. I have tried to make clothes before, but after the time, frustration, and my poor sewing skills I realized that it was better to buy them when I could find a good deal (like on the clearance rack).

I have discovered that for us I can save money by making things like my own chicken broth. It is super easy to make, it uses items that I have on hand, and best of all I know exactly what is in my chicken broth as opposed to reading a list of ingredients on the side of a box. The same goes with baked goods, and nothing beats a fresh loaf of bread out of the oven!

Homemade gifts are also well received. I enjoy sharing the jams, applesauce, and applebutter that we make throughout the year with friends and family. I figured out how to make a nursing cover when my youngest was born. I have used the same pattern and made several to give to friends. I have fun finding the fabric that fits them and their personality, and it is a fraction of the price compared to buying one in a store.

What are some of your favorite homemade items? I would love to hear what some of you are making instead of buying.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Frugal Living Tip #5 - Don't Buy It - Make Your Own

Don't Buy It - Make Your Own

I know that some of us are better gifted in this area than others.  I have tried to make clothes before, but after the time, frustration, and my poor sewing skills I realized that it was better to buy them when I could find a good deal (like on the clearance rack). 

I have discovered that for us I can save money by making things like my own chicken broth.  It is super easy to make, it uses items that I have on hand, and best of all I know exactly what is in my chicken broth as opposed to reading a list of ingredients on the side of a box.  The same goes with baked goods, and nothing beats a fresh loaf of bread out of the oven!

Homemade gifts are also well received.  I enjoy sharing the jams, applesauce, and applebutter that we make throughout the year with friends and family.  I figured out how to make a nursing cover when my youngest was born.  I have used the same pattern and made several to give to friends.  I have fun finding the fabric that fits them and their personality, and it is a fraction of the price compared to buying one in a store.

What are some of your favorite homemade items?  I would love to hear what some of you are making instead of buying.

Apple Picking – Fall 2010

Last year I decided I was going to learn how to make and can my own applesauce and apple butter.  It turned out so yummy that I decided to try it again this fall and this year make even more.  We went back to Carter’s Mountain a few weeks ago and we had a van-ful.  Of course our family has expanded since last fall, and this year my parents joined in on the fun.  It was really nice to have two extra sets of hands to help us carry the apples and keep up with the kids. 

Here are some pictures from our day of apple picking:

One of our first big outings as a family of 5!

Steve’s homemade apple-picker. Sorry about the picture quality, he took the picture with his Blackberry.

Natalie & Megan our “taste-testers”

Steve carrying Michael

The girls with Granddaddy checking out a rusted out crop sprayer (circa 1949)

Who knew worms could be so cute?

We picked Jonagold, Golden Delicious, and Braeburn apples.  We came home with a little over 100 pounds of apples!  My parents took ~10-15 pounds home.  I actually went to the store a few days later and bought ~10 pounds of Organic Gala & Fuji apples because they didn’t have any of those available for picking.  I also decided to save out some of the organics and make organic applesauce for Michael to eat in a few months when he gets to start on solids. 

Here is a picture of the apples that we had leftover after my parent’s took some home:

Here is a picture of what we made with all of the apples:

We ended up with 15 quarts of applesauce, 25 pints of applesauce, 5 pint jars of organic applesauce plus some extra that I put in a freezer bag and froze for later, 35 half-pints of apple butter plus a little extra that we put in the fridge to enjoy now, and 38 cups of apples that Steve sliced, and we sprinkled with Fruit Fresh and put in the freezer to pull out for apple crisp or apple pie in the future.  I couldn’t have accomplished all of this without Steve’s help.

I know what you are thinking - why make all of that when I could buy applesauce for about $1 a jar?  I may not have a huge financial savings when you factor in the time and effort involved in picking the apples and making all of the applesauce and apple butter.  We had a really good family day apple picking and the girls enjoyed helping some with making the applesauce.   I like the fact that I know what ingredients are in my applesauce and apple butter.  I may be a little biased, but I can’t help to think that what I made is better than anything you can buy at the store.  I may not have come out ahead financially, but the memories, the taste, and knowing that we made it ourselves – those are priceless.

How About Them Apples? - Part II

We left off my journey to learning how to make my own applesauce, apple butter, and can it with a picture of all of the apples (~53 pounds) that we got at Carter Mountain Orchard on Saturday. (I really laugh out loud when I look at this picture of Natalie.)

We came home with a half-bushel of Fuji apples, about 6 pounds of Red Delicious, the 2 large bowls of Golden Delicious, and the Granny Smith loose on the counter. I cut up all of the apples by hand, except the Granny Smith to cook for applesauce.
This is about how much applesauce I ended up with. I lost some to "quality control" tasters. The apples in the bowl are the Granny Smith I still had left over after making apple crisp for dessert. I did finish using them by making a big dish of baked apples for our "breakfast cook out" at church Wednesday night.

I used about 7&1/2 quarts of applesauce to make the apple butter. My finished product - 12 half-pints of apple butter, 2 pints of apple butter, 1 pint of applesauce, and 6 quarts of applesauce. I have a little bit of apple butter that wasn't enough to can in the fridge. I also baked 15 mini loaves of Cinnamon Pecan Amish Friendship Bread and 2 loaves of bread tonight. I wish we had smell-o-vision. The warm fresh bread and my homemade apple butter tasted soooooo good.

I really am proud of my accomplishment. I was able (with research and guidance) to successfully figure out how to make and preserve my own applesauce and apple butter. I do owe a huge debt of gratitude to my pastor's wife who was so sweet to come over and bring me a dozen quart jars and lend me one of her large pots and her steam canner. She explained to me that it would be much easier and faster than using the water bath like I had planned to do. I never did try the water bath. I figured she knew what she was talking about because she has lots of experience with canning.

I was trying to figure out if it is really less expensive to make my own applesauce and apple butter than to buy store bought. I had to invest in a few things to get started, but they are things I can use for multiple things. The biggest splurge I had was purchasing the KitchenAid attachments. I didn't realize that most stores don't carry all of the attachments. If I had realized that I probably would have ordered it on-line for less. I did find what I needed plus an additional attachment in a set at Sur La Table. But, I now have a food grinder, a fruit & vegetable strainer, and a roto chopper. I also had to buy some supplies for canning, I bought a few jars - I found them on clearance and I was able to use a coupon for them so they were pretty cheap. I also purchased a water bath canner that I may return since I didn't use it (or keep it to make a huge pot of chili). I also purchased a set that included a funnel, a magnetic lid lifter, and a jar grabber. They were very useful. But all of these are things that I can continue to use when I want to can more fruits and maybe vegetables. So is it less expensive? - maybe. Does it taste better? - ABSOLUTELY!