The Big White Farmhouse | intentional living, little by little

October 23, 2019

No.309: The Wednesday Five #02

This post contains affiliate links.

Happy Wednesday! Here are my five:

A QUOTE

Mike was right: the pattern of life isn’t a straight line; it crosses and recrosses, drawing in and tying together other lives, as I do when I gather in the ends of my thread to make a knot.
–Mrs. Mike, p.300

A BOOK

I’m about a quarter of the way into The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. From the reviews on Goodreads, this book looks to be one that you either love or hate. I’m anxious to see what camp I’ll fall into. So far, so good.

A BIT OF NATURE

A RECOMMENDATION

Last weekend, I bought the ingredients for Easy Cheesy Pizza Pockets and had the kids take over dinner. Easy, adaptable and delicious – and I had a night off from the kitchen! Another reason I love having big kids.

A MOMENT OF HAPPINESS

I overlooked the bedroom disaster to find these two deep in imaginative play. So thankful for the little moments when siblings are also best friends.

October 22, 2019

No.308: A List of October’s Frugal Accomplishments

Month #4! This month, I focused on looking critically at our possessions, dealing with the things we no longer need (creating the 1,000 Item Declutter Challenge!) and trying to take good care of everything else. I’m so happy to be tackling this during our children’s fall birthdays and before the Christmas season.

OCTOBER’S FRUGAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

My Goal: Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.

And if you have to spend money, do it with intention.

+ I gave my son a haircut.

+ I borrowed and read a book from the library.

+ I reused an empty jam jar as a water pot when the kids painted with watercolors.

+ I bought the huge bag of dog food, even though the price makes me cringe. When I did the calculations, I actually save over a dollar per pound, making it the better deal.

+ With the kids in more activities this fall, we tried to save gas and do errands when we already have to be in town: meeting people to pass off things from Trash Nothing or Facebook Marketplace, popping in the grocery store for an ingredient, etc.

+ We moved our oldest into the basement bedroom and I was able to rearrange our furniture around to give him everything he needed, including a nightstand, dresser and even an old loveseat. The only thing I purchased was a new lamp. He’s got quite the man cave now!

+ I unclogged our troublesome master bathroom shower drain with a homemade solution I found on Pinterest. Definitely my favorite frugal accomplishment this month! Here’s the “recipe”:

DIY Drain Unclogger

8 cups boiling water

1/2 cup baking soda

1 cup vinegar

1 cup very hot water

8 cups boiling water

Boil 9 cups of water. Reserve 1 cup and dump the rest down the drain.

Sprinkle the baking soda down the drain and let it sit for a few minutes.

Mix the 1 cup of reserved water with 1 cup vinegar and pour slowly down the drain.

Let sit for 10 minutes while you boil 8 more cups of water.

Pour boiling water down the drain.

+ I made more homemade chicken broth and finally got to use my new Souper Cubes (affiliate link).

+ Ebay had a 3-day promotion that waived the listing fees for 200 items. I listed 23 items, saving me over $8.

+ When our oven started taking forever to preheat and then not cooking evenly, we paid the $125 fee to have our home warranty send someone to look at it. There was a whole host of issues including a broken bottom coil and glitchy front panel, which would cost $1,200+ for parts and labor. I hate paying that home warranty bill each month when things are good, but sing its praises when appliances start breaking!

+ I learned a laundry trick to get grease stains out of clothes by using plain white chalk.

+ I turned off the A/C on October 4th and now we play my favorite game of the year: how long can we go before having to turn on the heat?

Your turn! What did you do to save a little money this month?

_________________________________

Previous Frugal Accomplishments:

JULY // AUGUST // SEPTEMBER

October 21, 2019

No.307: The Cookery Challenge // Month Two: Dinner A Love Story

Dinner: A Love Story (affiliate link) has a lot of sentimental value for me. It was the catalyst for recording my monthly dinner plans and learning to love the art of cooking. It’s simple and approachable. Her directions for roasting an entire chicken and then making broth from the remnants is my absolute favorite. I was really excited to dive into more of her recipes and they didn’t disappoint!

For my first recipe, I chose Pork Shoulder Ragú with Pappardelle (page 179). I doubled the amount of meat to four pounds (#bigfamilyproblems) but other than that, I stuck closely to the instructions. It was delicious! We had enough to eat it over pasta the first night and then in ciabatta rolls for the second.

Next up was Apple “Gazette” (page 263), an affectionately re-named term for galette made by the author’s daughter. We went apple picking the week before, so the timing was perfect for this one. The recipe calls for frozen pie crust, but I just whipped up my go-to homemade version. This recipe was extra fun because I got to bake it with my oldest. We each made a galette and his turned out way better than mine. We baked them at the same time and I think my pan tilted in the oven because all of the juicy goodness drained to the bottom. It was a little dry, but nothing a little powder sugar couldn’t fix!

The last recipe was Turkey Chili (page 100), made on the first fall-like evening of the season. For the most part, it was just your average chili recipe, but I think the spices are what kicked it up a notch. My first time adding a tiny bit of cinnamon! It was delicious and we didn’t even have any leftovers. I’ll be sure to double the recipe next time.

Final verdict: I love this cookbook. Definitely one to keep and try everything.

October 18, 2019

No.306: This Week at the Farmhouse // vol.08 & 09

Playing catch-up with the past two weeks! This post contains affiliate links.

WHAT WE LEARNED

+ We took an unplanned mini Fall Break! I surprised them with no school on Friday (a birthday gift to myself) and then we took Monday off for Columbus Day. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was exactly what I needed. I came back to our schoolwork refreshed and ready to keep going.

+ New read aloud: The Borrowers!

+ In Around the World, we learned about India. We read and loved The Story of Little Babaji.

+ M (7th grade) is still plugging away at his Egyptian unit, but is struggling because he says it’s soooo boring. He’s currently reading The Golden Goblet. I have some research to do this weekend for ideas to make Ancient History a little more interesting.

+ We got D a book called Coding for Beginners with Python for his birthday and it has been amazing to watch how much he’s learned already! The book is informative without being overwhelming and shows what to do step-by-step. His enthusiasm makes me want to learn to code too!

TEN THINGS I’M GRATEFUL FOR

a working oven
having the A/C officially turned off for the year
a new candle I’m obsessed with
warm and cozy sweaters
Sophie’s joy at the arrival of the most rainbow unicorn-y pajama set I could find
hearing P call me “Mummy” (I was Dada or Coco for a solid two years)
how excited the kids were for my birthday
my parents, who came to hang out with the kids while Mark and I had a date
two new bike-riders in the family (no training wheels!)
answered prayers

IN THE KITCHEN

+ On the menu:

M: Mark and the big kids ate out between activities, the little two and I just had popcorn and sandwiches at home
T: Taco Tuesday
W: breakfast for dinner – eggs, bacon and cinnamon rolls (from the bakery)
Th: Mark took us out for an early birthday celebration for burgers and fries
F: My Birthday! Mark and the big kids ate out between activities, the rest of us had popcorn and cereal at home

M: breakfast for dinner – pancake dippers and fruit
T: D’s birthday! he went out to eat with Mark and then we all celebrated with cheesecake at home
W: pasta and turkey meatballs with garlic bread
Th: harvest chicken skillet with rice
F: tomato basil parmesan soup and grilled cheese sandwiches

+ How much I spent on groceries for Week 08: $329.18
+ How much I spent on groceries for Week 09: $262.47

GOOD THINGS

+ love the idea of a “Share Table” at school
+ Morning daylight exposure tied to a good night’s sleep
+ Did you know that October is Fair Trade Month? One of my favorite shops, Mercy House Global, is offering 20% off your entire purchase with the code: FAIRTRADEMONTH. Get started on your Christmas shopping and support a great cause at the same time!
+ I bought these treats for Lucy and I think their mission is so cool: “Imagine a farmer’s leftover pumpkins after Halloween, apple pulp from a cider press, or lobster shells from a cannery. In the case of our treats, this unused food becomes an ingredient that is highly nutritious and ridiculously tasty.”

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