The New Blog is Up

A few weeks ago I did a poll regarding posts about sharing our new home building progress.  The end result was that nearly 75% wanted to see the posts in a separate blog.  The new blog, A New Home in the Country, is up.  You can see the first post here.  I will continue to post about everyday life on this blog!

Weekly Savings

The past couple of weeks have been busy but not necessarily exciting.  I started some broccoli, collard, and cabbage seeds for the fall garden using seeds left from last year.  They are already starting to sprout.  I also started seeds for tomato plants using seeds I saved from a tomato this year.  These plants will go into five gallon buckets.  They will stay outdoors until it gets cold, and then I will move them into the greenhouse.

I trimmed back the peppermint and spearmint in my garden and dried the leaves.  I have a half pint jar full of lovely dried mint to use for tea.  I cut other herbs to use in cooking.

I took some time to go through the pantry and freezer so I have a better idea of what we have on hand.  This will help me plan my meals for the coming week.  I have been lax in this area and want to get back sitting down once a week to plan out our meals.

Laundry was all washed in homemade detergent and hung either outside or on drying racks to dry.

I did not order piles of stuff during Amazon's Prime Day.  I did take advantage of the gift card offer which gave me a free $10 credit.  I was planning to order some items anyway. The credit allowed me to get some dried herbs that I wanted to order for a reduced price.  My only other purchase was hair clippers for W.  His previous pair was barely functional.  He has already tried them out and is happy.  I chose no rush shipping and got an additional promotional credit.

We are harvesting peppers from the garden.  The Armenian cucumbers continue to produce despite the high heat and humidity.  We will definitely grow these another year.

I stopped at the bank for coin rollers so that we could roll the change we have been saving.  We ended up with close to $75 to put into savings for the house!

Those are the highlights from the past week.  What have you done to save money this past week?

Book Review: Unafraid

Unafraid:  Trusting God in an Unsafe World by Susie Davis begins with a school shooting in 1978.  An event we unfortunately think of as common was rare then.  The author was a witness to this tragedy, and it began a life of fear and distrust in God.  As the book continues, readers are given insight into how Mrs. Davis overcomes her fear and finds trust and hope in God.

The book was engaging and is much more than a self-help book.  I felt like I was being given a personal glimpse into Mrs. Davis' life and how fear controlled her.  I could see myself in some parts as she described worrying about things that have not even occurred.  At some point fear gripes each and every person.  We must choose how to respond.  I can easily let myself get caught up in all of the bad news and tragic events going on in the world.  The book did remind me to focus on One greater than myself.

I enjoyed the study guide included with the book.  Personally I would have liked to see the questions at the end of each chapter rather than at the end of the book.  I could see the current location being much more of a problem with an e-book.  This is a faith based book which means it will not appeal to everyone.  It is one that I will recommend to my Christian family and friends.

I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.

Feathered Friday

We have more baby chicks here.  Two hens have been sitting on eggs and each ended up hatching 3 eggs.  We actually have both in old rabbit hutches.  It gives them a place to get out of the weather (rain) and an open air area as well.  These are tiny bantam chicks so we do not like for them to free range until they are old enough to keep up with mama.

Mille Fleur hen with two of her three babies before being moved to the rabbit hutch

Buffy with two of her three babies

We have some teenage chickens (not full grown but old enough to free range) wandering around the yard.  Many of them wander through the fences into the garden areas.  Given their size and the size of the garden, it is no problem.  They are helping keep the garden bug free.

I have named this pair Jack and Jill as I am almost certain they are a rooster and hen.  The two of them are inseparable.  They love for anyone to talk to them.  They are hard at work eating bugs all day long.

Many of our chickens are bantams.  They primarily eat bugs and rarely bother the garden produce.  They are good egg layers but very sneaky with their nest sites.

Freezer Friendly Jalapeno Poppers

I love jalapeno peppers, and my favorite way to eat them is stuffed with cream and cheddar cheeses.  Jalapeno poppers are typically grilled or fried.  Grilling them is not always convenient, and I rarely fry anything for health reasons:  physical health and mental health (for the mess frying makes).  I came up with my own version that can be baked while still keeping a bit of the crunch that comes from frying.  Angi at Schneider Peeps (one of my favorite blogs) asked me to share how to make them.


First you need to halve your jalapeno peppers and remove the seeds and as much of the membrane as you want.  An emptier shell means more room for the filling.  You will need 30-40 jalapeno peppers depending on their size.  It is fine to do this step the day before.

Next combine 2 8oz packages of softened cream cheese and 8 oz of shredded cheddar cheese.  I add in some salt since I use homemade bread crumbs.  You can also add in any other of your favorites (bacon bits, sausage, etc).  I like to stick with just the cheeses.

You can mix these in a food processor, by hand, or in a mixer.  You just want everything to be well combined.

Optional:  Have a cheese loving dog on stand by to eat any cheese bits that do not make it into the bowl.

In a separate bowl, pour some breadcrumbs.  I use homemade bread crumbs from the end pieces of my bread loaves.  Store bought breadcrumbs are fine, but I would go with panko breadcrumbs over the super fine ones.

Now you are ready to assemble your poppers.  First step is to fill the pepper shell with the cream cheese mixture.  You can pack it in tightly but try to keep it mostly within the boundaries of the pepper half.

Next you want to cover the cream cheese part completely in breadcrumbs.  Smash them down into the cheese mixture and remember to cover the end.

You could bake them at this point.  These are very freezer friendly though, and I always freeze them.  Just layer them in a pan and freeze overnight.  Once frozen you can store them in freezer bags for an extended period of time (a year or more).

When you are ready to bake them, place the poppers in a 350 degree for 15 - 18 minutes.  The breadcrumbs do double duty.  They give the popper a bit of crunch and also keep all of the cheese tucked inside the pepper while it bakes.

We are picking around 200 jalapeno peppers a week here.  We use as many as we want and give some away.  My dad also barters with a local butcher shop using some of the peppers.  A new favorite of mine is candied jalapeno slices.

I keep having to make more as everyone who tries them wants a jar to take home.

Weekly Savings

First off I want to thank everyone who voted in my poll last week.  I will be starting a new blog soon to share about the process of building our new house.

I had another busy week but less was going on in the garden.  I have spent time pulling some weeds.  It takes me a bit of time to get all of the garden areas weeded.  I only pull what the chickens, ducks, and rabbits can eat at one time.  They enjoy the greens.

I made a bunch of envelopes and finally used up the last wallpaper sample book.  I got about six of the wallpaper books free several years ago at a yard sale.  I also made quite a few birthday cards using items that I had on hand.

My in-laws took the crocheted baby blanket, hat, and diaper cover to my sister-in-law for my new nephew.  Shipping the gift would have cost more than the yarn used to make it.

I went to a two day family reunion over the weekend.  I took mini-cupcakes made with leftover batter and icing that I had frozen.  I also took homemade rolls, brownies (from a box of mix on sale), and macaroni & cheese.

I have two flower pots that are in good structural shape but look horrible.  I plan to repaint them.  Since I was not particular about the color, I chose a can of clearance spray paint.

I finished a free course through Vintage Remedies and signed up for the course that was free with the purchase of an online bundle pack.  I learned quite a bit in the first course and am looking forward to the second.

I focused meals on using up items in the freezer.  I plan to continue to work on that for the next couple of weeks.  I need to make a trip to Sam's Club and am working to make some space in the freezer.

Weekly Savings & A One Question Poll

First you may notice a one question poll on the left hand side of the blog.  We have started on the process of building our new house.  We are doing much of the work ourselves, and I wanted to share the process.  I am curious if you would like to see posts about this in a separate blog.  Please take a second to vote.  Thank you!

It has been a few weeks since I posted about my savings.  I am going to hit the high points.

I ordered some clothing for my cousin's little girl online.  I am planning a review post of this soon.  I got four pieces of clothing for free.  I also ordered some clothes for myself from another online site.  It was not free was deeply discounted.  I will be doing a review of this site as well.

We have been doing some yard work in preparation for our new house.  We needed to move our goldfish to a temporary home.  My parents loaned us a water trough which works perfectly and actually gives the fish more room.

I finished crocheting a baby blanket, long-tailed stocking cap, and diaper cover for my new nephew due next month.  The cost of the yarn was reasonable.  I basically have time in a nice gift.

The garden continues to produce well.  I have been harvesting tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, herbs, and a few figs.  I have put stuffed jalapeno peppers in the freezer.  I have also canned several jars of candied jalapeno slices.  These are addictive and very yummy.  I have frozen some cucumber slices to use for infusing water later this year.  The herbs have gone into dishes or into herbal teas/infusions.
I checked in on my neighbors' house, pets, and garden and earned a little money to put toward the new house.  I also baked a large cake for an engagement party.  The local bakery was closed and the family was desperate.  I hate baking cakes for other people, but it was good money to put into savings.

I really want to be able to borrow as little money as possible for the new house so I will be stepping up the savings.  I told W to let me know if things got too tight.  I know we have to sacrifice a bit now to reach our goal!