Waste Not Want Not

Before we first got chickens I was oblivious to how much food we were wasting. I would scrape things into the trash regularly and not think twice.

When we got chickens we discovered a new found appreciation for food. Especially our hen's eggs, but it had a trickle down effect into all of our other foods. When we realized how much time, energy and money we put into raising hens...and all of a sudden eggs became our most expensive and most precious food item.

Fast forward 10 years after raising meat and egg chickens, fishing, hunting moose and caribou, raising goats for milk and for meat and having a decent garden....and also having 7 kids. Food is now a huge deal and we do NOT waste food!!!!!!!! (well I sure try not to anyway)

We don't have chickens yet in Washington, we have been talking about getting them and my son just literally offered to build me a chicken coop! So he's doing it as a learning/helping mama project and I could not be more proud! I see chickens much nearer in our future now.

Today my daughter requested potato soup...and by that she means for me to cheat dinner (always a favorite of mine) and use a Bear Creek Potato Soup mix and then if I'm feeling ambitious I add potatoes from the pantry. I didn't know what to cook in addition to the very last Alaskan salmon fillet we had in the freezer and soup was a nice fit to make dinner stretch. That reminded me I hadn't checked on my stash of potatoes lately and I didn't want any rotten ones in there spoiling the whole bunch...sure enough there were 4 that were turning and *the smell* had just begun. So I was able to salvage 4 potatoes to add to the soup making it stretch even farther. We were also recently gifted 3 large boxes of frozen peas...that equaled 18 gallon zip lock bags full! I've shared a few with church friends but still have a large stock pile of frozen free peas. I am very thankful when we are gifted free food and it happens in this very poor town REGULARLY....(It's like God is taking care of the poor people here or something....). I've realized that God is providing for us so generously and that free food is just as precious to me as the food we buy with our hard earned money or raise out of the garden or barnyard. Typically I add peas to this soup anyway so I also added 2 cups of frozen peas.

Potato pile...are they good or not? Can you spot the bad ones?

The four bad boys...they are not good influence on the rest of the nice potatoes.

I don't compost potatoes, the bad parts will go into the trash can. The rest of the good parts are diced up fairly small and go into the cold water measured out for the easy-peasy soup.

We fell in love with Bear Creek Potato soup when Costco used to sell it in large vats. I now find it online at Walmart.com for the best price. The local grocery store carries it too. So from $3.50 to $5 per pack it provides an easy meal especially if you stretch it with more veggies or make it loaded with bacon, cheese and sour cream!!!

Gallons of peas, for the win!

Finished soup in my favorite pot.

The special girls requested soup...found a lovely view to eat.

The last three years I haven't really been myself...I missed Alaska for a while, but then it's taken me a while to get back into the groove of life. That includes being a homemaker again. Cooking more and making better use of our grocery money by buying in bulk again and building up our stock of grains, legumes, nuts and foodie type things.

I realized we were tossing too many leftovers that had gone bad out of the fridge and it really started eating at me...realizing it's my duty to eat or freeze the leftovers or make it appetizing for the kids or hubby to eat and stop wasting so much food! Since I hadn't eaten much I took the leftover "company rice" as my mom calls it and made us last week, the left over peas and a handful of peanuts to tide me over until dinner. I also discovered 5 lonely shrimp in a bag in the bottom of the freezer and I ate those too.

Shrimp cooking in my favorite little toaster oven ever.

Leftover company rice (wild rice with Crazins and onions) peas and peanuts.

Something else to mention is that I don't throw away my egg shells either, I don't compost them with the regular compost anymore. I found out that they can really help keep bugs off of the plants if you put them around the plants when they are little. They act like shards of glass and after a while the calcium just adds good minerals to the soil for the root growth. So I'm doing this now and I didn't loose as many baby plants to bugs as I did last spring. I'm guessing that it's due to better soil structure from adding compost for the last couple of years and because of the egg shells. I also have heard that the pine needles will also be "pokey" to bugs and they don't like them. That's the primary ingredient in my compost...and even after breaking down for 4 years there are still plenty of very long Ponderosa Pine needles in my garden beds but the plants are much happier and healthier this summer!!!

Egg shells rinsed and drying a bit. (washing them helps to not attract bugs, it's not a must). When we moved here I finally bought a proper compost bucket (in the back) and I LOVE it. I don't know why I didn't get one for so long.

They finish drying in the ice cream bucket with the others. When it's full-ish I just crush them down...it's surprisingly satisfying to crush little brittle eggs shells.

Also, this may seem silly to most. But hey! My blog is our silly old lives and I'm allowed to post silly stuff!!!!! I hate throwing away containers just because nothing squeezes out anymore! That's my pet peeve. My daughter was going to throw away this Just Chipotle Gold! I adore this stuff...it's vegan (fasting) and I love all the Just Mayo things. Anyway, I got at least 2 tablespoons out of the bottle as seen on this plate and there's still another two left inside the bottle at least! I find this at Fred Meyer but I just discovered Amazon beats their price on this dressing by at least $1.50 per bottle, that's pretty big. I'm used to spending around $4.50 a bottle at Freds.

Taking the time to scrape out the jar will save money and ease your conscience!

There are all sorts of other ways to save food and money. I love to make a game out of it and I have realized that being a good homemaker actually saves money for the family. What are your favorite ways to save and conserve??

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