miss ann

miss ann is our neighbor across the street. she is 93 years old and lives alone, as her husband passed away seven years ago. they were married for 62 years. when she comes over to visit with us, we often ask her questions about her life and ask for her wisdom on children, homekeeping, and mostly marriage. last night she told us stories of her life as an immigrant child in baltimore. she left sicily when she was five years old, on a boat bound for new york city. something that struck me as amazing last night was her proud declaration that she wasn't afraid to say they didn't eat meat everyday. she was one of ten children. her mother baked bread every morning of her life. meat was a luxury reserved for sunday meals. as i am putting together our meal plans for this fall and after making soulemama's delicious soup and lentil soup last week i have been considering using meat only a few days a week. meat is expensive and if we don't buy organic, grass fed beef it is very costly on the environment as well as our health. i'd like to have a pasta night, a soup night, roast chicken, homemade pizza night, mexican night (using beans or meat) and then two other options to round my week out. i know i want to cook with a lot more lentils, beans, and vegetables as the main dishes. since it is the new season of autumn, warm hearty soups and stews will be really wonderful on the chilly evenings. its good to learn from the older generations, who lived in leaner times, as we are now in a time of recession. it is good to value the old wisdom.

make your place

last week i ordered make your place: affordable, sustainable nesting skills by raleigh briggs. i am loving this book.

words to describe the home i am creating:

affordable
frugal
sustainable
green
mindful
loving
caring
listening
noisy
peaceful
nesting
keeping
watching
waiting
protecting
creative
safe
intentional
community
busy
joyful
d.i.y.
industrious

so i am off to make the house in to our home ie. time to unpack the office!!

using everything

here is a few ways i have been trying to be more frugal in our home:

1. ate delicious green beans we picked the day before in my mama's garden + cooked them with some bacon = saved the boiling water and freezed it for future soup broths

2. chopped up almost all of the celery (including the the leaves) to use in a bahamian macaroni and cheese recipe i was making -- usually i would have cut all of that off -- but now we got all that good stuff right in the casserole. maybe it outweighed the cheese and butter?:)

3. bought a 10 lb. bag of freshly ground whole wheat flour from our mill back near my folks' farm + my own bread hook on the kitchen aide = fresh bread. my mama used to make four loaves every week when we were little b/c it was so cheap and they were living on a shoestring. she made some for us when we were visiting and used some of the leftover whey from making her artisan goat cheese. it was phenomenol. i am vowing to make my own bread (as soon as i can get some bulk ingredients). i think if i get a little station up and running and in to a routine, we are going to be so much happier with the finished product. plus it just makes sense for our family, as our four littles get bigger and require more food.

here are a few links to some great cooking from scratch posts:

from kitchen
stewardship via simplemom

scratch hacks from simple mom

leila's use for potato water in bread