Apple Are You Kidding Cake

 

I love simple good tasting recipes that I can make with easily attainable shelf stable and inexpensive ingredients. Are you kidding cakes are recipes dating probably from the 80's and what people now call dump cakes. Usually made with a bought cake mix and a can of pie filling and 3 eggs. That's it!

I grow lots of different fruits which means I always have pie fillings canned. So this is a simple cake for me. If I don't have the kind of fruit filling I want I can take frozen fruit and add sugar and corn starch and quickly make a filling on the stovetop. 

I buy cake mixes when they are on sale. They must be under $1.00. Many times I buy them when they are $.50 or less. Then I take them out of the boxes to prevent pantry bugs and repackage in vacuum seal bags. I simply make a cut in the mix bag for the excess air to escape, cut out the directions and place in bag and seal. I label type, date I bought and expiration date. The reason I keep expiration date is that if it is beyond expiration I add a teaspoon of baking powder to the mix. These I keep in a large 5 gallon bucket with a gamma lid to keep out any bugs again or mice. 

For this one I simply used a plain yellow cake mix and an apple pie filling. I added the pie filling to the cake mix and 3 duck eggs slightly beaten and stir well to moisten. I added a touch of apple pie spice out of the cabinet and a teaspoon of vanilla. My favorite mix to add to apple pie filling is butter pecan cake mix when I can find it. 

You can add walnuts or pecans if you like. I also sometimes chunk up some cream cheese and shove the chunks down in the prepared batter before I put it in the oven.

I add that to a greased 9 X 13 pan and put in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 35 minutes in my oven. 

Then to 3 cups of powdered sugar I added evaporated milk a tablespoon at a time until it was the consistency to spread as a light icing. Added a couple drops of vanilla also. Spread this on the cooled cake. 

And there ya go. An easy inexpensive moist dessert great for  a snack for the grandkids or a sliver to go with a cup of afternoon hot tea. And the sky is the limit. My favorite is chocolate cake with cherry pie filling and add white chocolate chips. I add chocolate icing with a whole cherries on top of each piece. Or add a chocolate kiss on each piece.  I make these lots when my husband has to have desserts for his American Legion supper meetings. Another good one is blueberry pie filling and lemon cake. Add  lemon icing and slivered almonds. 

Watch for those cake mix sales and stock up on a few. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

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Meat Bargains

A week or so ago I stopped by a small local grocery store to grab a couple cans of coffee on sale. Turkeys caught my eye for .99 cents a pound on a managers special, this one was 16 pounds. It cost me a hair under $16. I bought two. At a time when threats of meat shortages are hanging over our head any meat under $1 a pound catches my eye. 

I took them home and put one in the freezer and thawed this one out. O Wise One skinned it for me.

The skin and trimmings went in a bag for a pot of broth later.

Then he cut off the breast meat and put it on a baking sheet and I put it in the freezer to firm up for a bit. 

Then he sliced the breast meat into turkey cutlets. These will make great additions to our make ahead meals. It ended up being 20 cutlets. These are great in any recipe that calls for chicken breast.

The remainder of the meat he cut off the bones from the legs and such and ran it through the grinder. Ground turkey is very versatile and we use it just like ground beef. I use it sometimes to make a white chili.

At a time when lean ground beef is going for $4  and more a pound this alone would be $16 worth of meat.

And we had 8 bags of cutlets to go in the freezer. 2 cutlets each in 6 bags and 2 bags had 4 smaller cutlets. So that is cutlets for 8 meals.

And 6 pounds of skin and carcass was put in a bag in the freezer to pull out on a rainy day and process and can for turkey broth in jars. SO for $16 i can possibly make 12 meals  from that 1 bird not counting broth. Average cost $1.33 a meal for lean white meat is a good bargain in this day and time. Especially with meat prices what they are today and meat availability questionable.  

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Vanilla Flavoring

I've started my next batch of vanilla beans soaking in vodka to use as vanilla flavoring. I like mine really strong so I don't have to use as much so I start it soaking when the jar I am presently using gets about half empty.  I also make lemon and orange extract the same way with my peelings and vodka. If you like to bake this is the easiest way to make your own.   

O Wise One keeps a small bottle of extract out by the rabbit pens during the spring and summer. If he has to handle the tiny babies for any reason he puts a drop or two of extract on the mama rabbits nose. By the time the vanilla scent wears off the human scent left on the babies has gone. 

My grandmother used to warm vanilla flavoring and put in your ear for an earache. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

My Glass and Stainless Cleaner

As most of you know I rarely buy commercial cleaning supplies. I simply do not think they are a necessary expense as I can usually make something of my own that will do the same job faster and cheaper.  Glass cleaner is no exception. I use this cleaner on not only my china cabinet glass but also mirrors, windows, doors and stainless. On my stainless it seems to help repel those finger prints. I  simply mix this and keep in a squirt bottle but once it sets for awhile you will have to shake it as the corn starch wants to settle to the bottom of the bottle. Just give it a good shake to redistribute all the ingredients and you are ready to go.

 Glass Cleaner

1/4 cup rubbing alcohol

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 Tbsp corn starch

2 cups warm water

 1 tsp laundry bluing

And my favorite thing to use other than old newspapers is my microfiber cloth for glass.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Double Batching

O Wise One loves tuna casserole. You know that 1950's tuna casserole with mushroom soup, egg noodles, green peas and a crunchy topping. 

Since I had found a bargain on tuna the other day I made him one and one for the freezer. Should come in handy on a future canning day!

Now that our family is down to just the three of us many of those casseroles that make a portion to fit a 9 X 13 baking dish become 2 smaller casseroles. One for dinner and one for the freezer. Once Baby O leaves home those recipes will more than likely become 3 smaller casseroles.

Taken from the freezer and allowed to thaw  and the addition of cheese and some crunchy onion rings on top this becomes a hot from the oven meal on a busy day or in a pinch. I have even substituted canned rabbit meat, chicken or turkey for the tuna and it still tastes great.

You can find my go to tuna casserole recipe HERE

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Pantry Stocking

Before the garden comes in I have been using my time inside wisely by working on stocking and organizing not only my canning supplies but my pantry and freezers as well. I took advantage of sale prices around the 4th of July and purchased some large (25 pound) bags of flour for a good price. (Gold Medal is NON GMO! ) Had some great  sugar coupons one week in the Sunday paper and was able to snag about 40 pounds of sugar for cheap between the sales and my coupons. That sugar will come in handy for canned grape juice, apple sauce, canned peaches and pie fillings, pickled beets and sweet relish. Also found a printed coupon for jar lids buy 2 and get one free that I was able to use. I always try to stock up on those to have on hand from year to year.

Once my big bags of flour made it home they go in the freezer for a couple weeks to freeze any critters that may be in there and then get separated into smaller containers. O Wise One buys these large mayo jars for 10 cents from a local deli. They make great storage containers for the flour and then they go back into the freezer until I need them. The sugar I leave in the bags and simply set down into gallon vacuum seal bags and seal. Once sealed the ants cannot get into them and they go into large rubbermaid tubs to be stored into the pantry ant proof and ready for fruit season.

 

 When you make so much of your food from scratch it is so much easier for me to shop those staples than scattered boxes of prepackaged food. The backbone of my pantry are my containers of flour, sugar, oats, rice, pasta, and beans.  

When you add to that my bulk spices.

 

A pantry full of canned fresh foods

Two freezers full of frozen prepared dishes for those emergencies and frozen produce from my garden.

 Homegrown and cured meats

  

And dehydrated herbs and vegetables

These all add up to the convenience of always having healthy and plentiful food on hand regardless of me shopping regularly. Add to that some powdered milk for emergencies and some butter, lard,  shortening and oils and regardless of storms of shortages my family always has a healthy meal at my fingertips.

Just as my mother and grandmother before me, always working to prepare my family for that hard winter or crop that may not come in. Not a fad movement for us but rather an age old way of farm life. Living as frugally and sustainably as possible while being at the mercy of the whims of the wind, weather and seasons. Never knowing when that wind may turn and blow in that storm, drought, recession or illness. Just like education, retirement, marriage or death, preparation and planning may be the key.

This life is not for the faint of heart. There are no days of basking in the luxury of idleness. Instead a life of hard work, exercise and more work. But a satisfaction of self reliance and an honest endeavor well done.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter 

Leftovers

I hear so often of people that they do not eat leftovers. If my family did not eat leftovers they would not have to worry about dieting : )  Especially this time of year when there is so much to be done. Grass to be mowed, gardens cleaned and planted, beds weeded and mulched and the list goes on. Who has time to spend hours outside and then come in and prepare huge meals.

So what's a girl to do? Prepare ahead. Sunday I had roast (venison) and gravy over mashed potatoes. I threw an extra small roast in the pot. What was left was stored in the refrigerator. Monday I had spaghetti sauce prepared in the crockpot. I threw in an extra jar of tomato sauce and had leftover sauce in the fridge Monday night.

Tuesday morning early I baked buns.

Both small hamburger type buns and small french bread type buns. Both whole wheat.

Sunday nights' roast and gravy became hot roast venison sandwiches with a side of oven fries on Tuesday night.

Monday nights' leftover spaghetti sauce became grilled Italian sausage subs on Wednesday night. The sausage none other than our venison/pork Italian sausage made right here in this kitchen. The sausage hot off the grill added to that whole wheat bun and then spaghetti sauce added and shredded Mozzarella cheese. Add to that a bake potato hot off the grill and some grilled asparagus with olive oil and sea salt.

When time is short you can turn just one or two cooking days into meals for a week. Many times something like baked chicken will become baked chicken on one night, chicken salad on the next or maybe a chicken casserole and then the bones and anything remaining cooked into broth and chicken and noodles or chicken spaghetti a night or two later.

On those long spring/early summer days left overs can become a lifesaver in the kitchen.

And if they don't eat leftovers then by God they better learn how to cook for themselves (and clean up the mess) because my table has leftovers : )

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Waxing Cheese

With rain in the forecast for 4 out of 5 days this week there won't be much gardening going on. O Wise One is working today tuning up the lawn mower. Found this video on waxing purchased cheese out of the grocery store and find it absolutely intriguing!

Take a look....

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Cleaning a Bathroom On A Budget

With spring cleaning season right around the corner I thought it the perfect time for this post. First of all let me say that this post is meant to give you ideas while sharing how I clean my house, safely and cheaply. There are thousands of sites floating out there on the internet about natural housecleaning and I am simply sharing what works for my family, my house, my budget and my lifestyle. Work at developing what works for you. I use very few of the products pictures above. Even with coupons many of these products are simply unnecessary in my opinion. Most things in my house can be cleaned simply with natural things out of my own pantry and cupboard. 

The Bathroom

I'm going to start on the bathroom because it is probably one of the two rooms in the house that gets cleaned the most. The other is the kitchen. 

First thing is forget those expensive paper towels. Old rags are your friend.  

What do you clean your toilet with?  How's that for a question?

I clean mine with cheap SOAP!! Many people like to use bleach and such but I just don't think that is necessary. I buy cheap Walmart soap. A huge bottle costs a couple bucks. Many use a natural liquid soap like Dr. Bonners to clean their house. I'm not paying that much money for natural organic soap to flush down my toilet. 

I put my cheap soap into a recycled dish detergent bottle. Squirt a little in. Throw in a half a hand full of baking soda and swish around then I let it sit for about half an hour swish again and flush. Then I follow that up with a spray bottle full of 1/2 cup dish detergent and the rest straight vinegar. I spray that onto the bowl and let it sit until it is flushed the first time. I then clean the seat and toilet base with the same spray. 

For the shower I use that same vinegar and dish detergent spray. Spray on and wipe off with my old rags. That spray will disinfect and cut any soap buildup. If you do happen to get something that won't come off with that spray simply make a paste of a 1/4 cup baking soda and enough liquid dish detergent to make a paste consistency. Use like soft scrub then rinse. As you can see my shower is almost 10 years old and look at the shine on it still.     

  

How do I clean the glass in my bathroom? Years ago I bought these glass cleaning cloths. You simply wet them with plain water and wipe the mirror down with the yellow side.

 Then shine with the blue side. Then rinse the cloth and hang in the shower to dry. Fold and put back into the bottom drawer until next use. Absolutely no chemicals and I do this a couple times a week. Usually after my shower when the mirror is steamed up. 

 On the sink I also use my baking soda and dish detergent paste on and then I spray the counter with my vinegar and spray and wipe. 

 I then make sure that there is plenty homemade soap available for hand washing and showers. 

I then knock down any cobwebs with my homemade swiffer pads and go over the light fixtures over the mirror. 

Last thing I mop the floors with a vinegar and water solution and my homemade mop pads. 

And that is how I clean my bathroom. Now about twice a year I do wipe down my wood cabinets with Murphy's oil soap just as my own mother did. And atleast once a year I wipe down the painted walls with a vinegar solution also. 

Okay homemakers out there I want to hear what you do differently!

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Does Couponing Have A Place In The Homesteading Lifestyle

This is the time where you hear many people say that their goal is for their farm/homestead to be totally self sufficient. Personally in this age I don't think that it is possible. Their are so many things that I can't produce. Yes even I, the self reliance queen, still trail to the local town and burgs, reusable cloth bags in hand, to purchase those supplies. Things like my husbands heart medications top that list. Along with our vitamins and such personal care items as alcohol and peroxide, razors and feminine hygeine products. 

Other things that I buy include oils. Although I can produce lard easily I purchase olive and coconut oil regularly. Since I can not grow either olives or coconuts in my climate I don't see that changing. 

Dairy I can produce but choose not to. Instead I buy local when available and when not I buy from the local grocery store just like you. Rarely do I ever see coupons for milk. Because of our ages and health we choose to keep our livestock small and easily manageable and do not raise milk cows. We do raise chickens, turkeys, pigs and rabbits for meat. O Wise One hunts venison and fishes the local ponds, streams and rivers keeping us in bass, catfish and perch.  We occasionally purchase cold water fish such as tuna and salmon both high in Omega 3. We keep that to a minimum though concerned about mercury contamination levels. We will occasionally purchase a 1/4 beef from a local farmer if we feel inclined to beef which is not often.  These days we produce and smoke our own sausages and bacons.

In the kitchen I purchase thing like vinegar, baking soda, salt, canning supplies and occasionally cereal, foils and waxed papers. I continue to purchase things like dish washing liquid and occasionally paper towels.  I purchase grains in bulk along with baking supplies such as chocolate, coconut, sugars and flours. So you see just like you I am a consumer. For almost all these items I will occasionally find coupons. 

Do I spend 40 to 60 hours a week clipping coupons? No way! But I do buy a newspaper every Sunday for coupons. Before shopping I do print off any available online coupons I can find for the items I do buy. I never pass up saving money on those items I buy anyway.  I also get the Wednesday sale fliers for all the local grocery stores in the mail. They are also available online. What I do not do is purchase all those prepackaged fast foods. To me those items are no different than sitting down at McDonalds for 3 meals a day. I attempt to eliminate from my diet those dyes, preservatives and additives if at all possible. I think that there is no way that I can eliminate them all but I do like to think that I can eliminate a great deal of them. I do buy fruit such as citrus and bananas and occasionally potatoes, onions,  carrots, fresh cabbage and romaine. Many times I catch these on sale but rarely do you ever see coupons for these items.   

.50 for a pack of 8 at the Dollar Store with coupon

Now  I will be the first to tell you that I am very fortunate that I live near a small grocery store that doubles coupons up to 99 cents everyday. This amounts to huge savings sometimes on everyday items when I find coupons and I have walked out of the store saving 50 dollars or more at a time. Do I have rooms full of stashed coupon finds...no not really. Although I do stock up on some items occasionally when it is on sale. Do I venture to town every week. No way! I grocery shop about once or maybe twice a month. If someone is going to town to the library, to pick up feed or other errands I will get them to stop by the grocery and pick up the odd sale item on their way out of town. (they hate this!!!!!!)

SO IN MY HUMBLE OPINION coupons are just another tool  to saving money, but BEWARE they can also be a slippery slope to buying lots of frivolous things that are not necessarily good for you.  I always keep in the back of my mind that coupons are just another form of advertising made to lure the customer in and assure that sale. Stay strong and resist. Coupons can be a way to save money but they can also be a great temptation to spend money frivolously. 

So I am interested for a show of hands here as to how many of you homesteaders are also coupon divas? How often do you use coupons and for what ??

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter