Home gardening offers ways to trim grocery costs [Survival Today, an on going thread]

Dallas News.com ^ | March 14th, 2008 | DEAN FOSDICK

[nw_arizona_granny]

Americans finding soaring food prices hard to stomach can battle back by growing their own food. [Click image for a larger version] Dean Fosdick Dean Fosdick

Home vegetable gardens appear to be booming as a result of the twin movements to eat local and pinch pennies.

At the Southeastern Flower Show in Atlanta this winter, D. Landreth Seed Co. of New Freedom, Pa., sold three to four times more seed packets than last year, says Barb Melera, president. "This is the first time I've ever heard people say, 'I can grow this more cheaply than I can buy it in the supermarket.' That's a 180-degree turn from the norm."

Roger Doiron, a gardener and fresh-food advocate from Scarborough, Maine, said he turned $85 worth of seeds into more than six months of vegetables for his family of five.

A year later, he says, the family still had "several quarts of tomato sauce, bags of mixed vegetables and ice-cube trays of pesto in the freezer; 20 heads of garlic, a five-gallon crock of sauerkraut, more homegrown hot-pepper sauce than one family could comfortably eat in a year and three sorts of squash, which we make into soups, stews and bread."

[snipped]

She compares the current period of market uncertainty with that of the early- to mid-20th century when the concept of victory gardens became popular.

"A lot of companies during the world wars and the Great Depression era encouraged vegetable gardening as a way of addressing layoffs, reduced wages and such," she says. "Some companies, like U.S. Steel, made gardens available at the workplace. Railroads provided easements they'd rent to employees and others for gardening."

[nw_arizona_granny]

. Pumpkin Bread 3 (yeast)
Posted by: “Norina

Pumpkin Bread 3

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Bread - Machine

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
———— —————— ————————————————
3 Cups White Bread Flour
1 Cup Water
2 Tbsps. Butter
3 Tbsps. Dry Milk Powder
1 1/2 Tbsps. White Sugar
1 1/2 tsps. Table Salt
2 tsps. Instant Yeast
1/3 Cup Pumpkin — cooked and mashed (I would guess canned
pumpkin would work here as well.)

Place all ingredients in your machines fully assembled pan and in the
order specified by your machines manufacturer. Select the Basic or White
cycle and press start.

After the first 10 minutes of kneading check the dough,
it should form a smooth round ball that when touched with your finger is
tacky.
However, when you pull your finger away no dough should stick to it. If the
dough is too dry add 1 tbsp. of water at a time until the dough is the
proper
consistency. If the dough is too wet add 1 tbsp. of flour at a time until
the dough is
the proper consistency. It is normal for all recipes to need some sort of an
adjustment.

Source:
“http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BMRC/message/3369 - Oct 19, 2006”
Yield:
“1 1/2 pounds”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 141 Calories; 2g Fat (16.1% calories
from fat); 4g Protein; 25g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 5mg Cholesterol;
312mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Fat.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. Pumpkin - Raisin Bread (yeasted)
Posted by: “Norina

Pumpkin - Raisin Bread (yeasted)

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Bread Bread - Fruit
Bread - Machine

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
———— —————— ————————————————
1/2 cup milk
1 egg — lg
3 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast — bread machine
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/16 teaspoon clove — pinch
3/8 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup raisins

Add ingredients in the order specified by manufacturer

add raisins at the “nut &” raisin signal

If you use the “dough cycle” bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes or
until the internal temperature is 195 degrees.

Yield:
“1 1/2 pounds”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 179 Calories; 3g Fat (16.8% calories
from fat); 5g Protein; 32g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 24mg Cholesterol;
210mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 1/2
Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. Pumpkin Pie Bread
Posted by: “Norina

Pumpkin Pie Bread BMRC 07

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
———— —————— ————————————————
1 cup pumpkin pie mix
2 eggs — large
4 teaspoons butter
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
3 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon fast-acting yeast

Place all ingredients in your machines fully assembled pan and in the
order specified by your machines manufacturer. Select the Basic or White
cycle and press start.

After the first 10 minutes of kneading check the dough,
it should form a smooth round ball that when touched with your finger is
tacky.
However, when you pull your finger away no dough should stick to it. If the
dough is too dry add 1 tbsp. of water at a time until the dough is the
proper
consistency. If the dough is too wet add 1 tbsp. of flour at a time until
the dough is
the proper consistency. It is normal for all recipes to need some sort of an
adjustment.

Source:
“http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BMRC/message/3646 - Sep 27, 2007”
Yield:
“1 1/2 pounds”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 169 Calories; 3g Fat (15.3% calories
from fat); 6g Protein; 29g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 39mg
Cholesterol; 26mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit;
1/2 Fat.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
7. Orange - Cranberry Bread 2
Posted by: “Norina

This is a recipe that I used to make, often... it’s a nice change from
raisin bread.
Rina

Orange - Cranberry Bread 2

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Bread

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
———— —————— ————————————————
1 cup Orange juice — Use 1 egg plus enough juice to equal
1 1/8 cup
1 egg
3 cups bread flour — 15 oz
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ginger
2 tablespoons orange peel — grated
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon dry milk
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

1/2 cup Craisins — or Raisins

Add ingredients in the order specified by manufacturer

Bake on light crust

Note: add the cranberries or raisins at raisin/nut signal

Yield:
“1 1/2 lb loaf”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 2232 Calories; 26g Fat (10.6%
calories from fat); 62g Protein; 433g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 251mg
Cholesterol; 2363mg Sodium. Exchanges: 20 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 5
1/2 Fruit; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 3 Fat; 3 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : Do not use on delayed timer

Visit us on the web at: http://www.Bread-machine-club.com

To add or view Recipes visit our yahoogroup Files Section:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bread-machine/files/

---

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bread-machine/

[nw_arizona_granny]

Double Chocolate Muffin Mix

Recipe By : Real Food for Real People
Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Breakfast Mixes
Quick Breads

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
———— —————— ————————————————
1 cup Sugar
3 tablespoons Cocoa Powder
3/4 cup Nuts — chopped
3/4 cup Chocolate Chips
1 1/2 cups Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda

wet ingredients to add later:
1 cup Coffee — (cold, left-over)
1 tablespoon Vinegar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
6 tablespoons Butter — melted

Combine dry ingredients. Place in a zip baggie and store up to
six months.

To make mix:

Double Chocolate Muffins

Place mix in a large mixing bowl. Add wet ingredients and stir
into mix until
moistened. Drop batter into greased or paper lined muffin tins,
2/3 full. Bake
in preheated 350 degree F. oven for 15 - 20 minutes, or until a
toothpick
inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from tins to a
baking rack to
cool.

Note: Print instructions on a decorative card and attach to mix
for gift
giving. Instructions can also be printed onto large labels and
placed onto zip
baggies before filling with mixes when making several mixes.

Source: “Bandana Fund Raisers”
Copyright: “(c)2005, Kaylin White/Real Food for Real People”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 298 Calories; 15g Fat
(43.6% calories
from fat); 4g Protein; 40g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 16mg
Cholesterol;
434mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 3 Fat; 1 1/2 Other
Carbohydrates.

---

ABM Cuban Bread

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
3 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon active dry yeast OR bread machine yeast

Add ingredients to machine according to manufacturer’s directions.
Makes a 1-1/2 pound loaf.

Vicky

---

Zucchini Casserole

2 lbs. grated zucchini
1/2 C. oil
1/2 lb. cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt
1 C. Bisquick
4 eggs 1/4 tsp pepper.

Mix all together. Bake in 350 degree F. oven about 30—40 minutes.

Hazel

---

Re: Zucchini recipes

I slice zucchini, flour, dip in an egg wash of egg and milk, flour
again,
season with seasoning salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder
and then fry in
about an inch of hot oil until golden brown on both sides. You can
also cut
into chunks, coat as above and deep fry.

Hollow out the centers and stuff with meatloaf or your favorite
stuffed pepper
fillings and bake. Fix like you would parmesan chicken only use
zucchini slices
instead of chicken breasts. Make a salsa or even a marmalade.
Alternate chunks
with veggies and meat for shish-kabob.

Anna

---

This bread is amazing. any diet soda will do it. Light soda =
light colored
bread, dark soda = dark colored bread. And believe me, you can’t
taste the
soda! Great texture too.

DIET RITE BREAD

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Breadmaker

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
———— —————— ————————————————
-——FOR 1-1/2 LB. LOAF-——

1 pk Yeast
3 c Bread flour
1 1/4 c Diet rite soda, or Club soda
-at room temperature

Place all ingredients into pan, select white bread, and push
start. From
Loafing It by DAK

Caryn Quaker

---

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RealFood4RealPeople/

[nw_arizona_granny]

Breathe Away Pain
Posted by: “BluezMama”

http://www.psychologytoday.com/rss/pto-20080716-000004.html

Breathe Away Pain
While resisting pain only makes suffering worse, mindfulness meditation can help chronic pain sufferers.

Pain is necessary. It alerts us to threats, teaches us to avoid future risks, and makes sure we don’t forget to help ourselves heal. Our bodies have evolved instinctive reactions to pain and injury-accidentally brush your hand against a boiling kettle and your arm will retract reflexively before you even realize why. Our minds, too, respond to pain in a characteristic manner: ever notice how even a minor wound can dominate your thoughts?

But what if you could manipulate your natural response to pain in order to control and alleviate suffering? That approach-aided by a technique known as mindfulness meditation-holds great promise for those experiencing chronic pain.

Though pain usually serves a beneficial purpose, chronic pain-which persists far longer than the usual period for an injury or illness-is pathological. Close to 1 in 3 Americans suffers from chronic pain to varying degrees, according to Penny Cowan, founder and executive director of the American Chronic Pain Association. Headaches and pain from the lower back, cancer, and arthritis are among the more common afflictions.

In a June 2008 study published in The Journal of Pain, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that elderly individuals who suffer from chronic low back pain benefited from mindfulness meditation, experiencing less pain, better sleep, enhanced well-being, and improved quality of life. And a 2003 review in Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice found significant improvements in pain ratings and other medical and psychological symptoms across a decade of studies.

The basics of mindfulness meditation aren’t as complicated as you may think. First, you should simply relax, while maintaining good posture. Then close your eyes and accept all sensations as they filter through you. Don’t judge them, but rather focus on your breathing. If you get distracted, gently guide yourself back to the sound and rhythm of your own breathing. The aim is to achieve active and focused moment-by-moment awareness of your present experience.

If you are in chronic pain, you may worry that increasing your awareness could only amp up your suffering. But mindfulness meditation can actually help by redirecting your attention, Cowan says. Our instinct is to resist pain, but resistance only increases suffering. Mindfulness can relinquish your resistance, thereby lessening the experience of your pain.

Meditation can help you find “the spaces in between” all of your experiences, where you can be in the moment and not in the pain-or worries about the pain, or feelings of anxiety or sadness, says Lonnie Zeltzer, professor of pediatrics, anesthesiology, and psychiatry at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, and director of the Pediatric Pain Program. “By sitting each day to meditate, your brain actually begins to quiet down; you begin to feel more equanimity, and the pain begins to lessen and move from foreground to background.”

A few suggestions for mindfulness meditation:

Find a Good Spot
Location can influence your ability to meditate properly. Above all, choose a place where you feel comfortable. The less distracting and quieter it is, the better.

Sit Right
You may sit in a chair or on the ground, but sitting with your legs crossed and your back straight is best. Comfort is good; slouching isn’t. Buddhists believe that erect posture strengthens the connection between mind and body.

Breathe!
Your primary goal is to maintain a focus on-and solely on-your own natural inhalation and exhalation. Not only does such focus anchor you to successful meditation, it helps relax your body and your mind.

Keep Re-Focusing
Inevitably, your thoughts are going to wander. It will be impossible to think only of your breathing. But that’s perfectly fine. Simply return your focus each time you realize you’ve been distracted.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SimplfyMeWithTipsAndHints/

[nw_arizona_granny]

Here are 2 of my favorite websites, LOL, maybe this is where I started enjoying seeing the animals who were talking, the Cheezburger cats, except Jan draws the animals of the world and writes books about them.

Dig around, you can print out pages of real art work for the children to color, and for granny to enjoy.

Let the kids make the Christmas cards this year.

granny

---

Postcards!

New this week are printable greeting cards with artwork from my new
book, GINGERBREAD FRIENDS. You can add your own text, download and print
out both cards and envelopes onto plain copy paper.

~ Print Jan Brett Cards and Envelopes
http://www.janbrett.com/pdfcards/main_page.htm

Download and printout your own complete 2009 Jan Brett date calendar:

~ 2009 Jan Brett Calendar
http://www.janbrett.com/2009_calendar/2009_calendar_main_page.htm

~ Learn to Draw a Gingerbread Baby Video
http://www.janbrett.com/video/how_to_draw_a_gingerbread_baby.htm

~ Jan Brett Email Postcards
http://www.janbrett.com/vcards

It’s a pleasure to be in touch.

Sincerely,

Jan Brett

---

Games, coloring pages and so much more.

http://www.janbrett.com/index.html

All the Holidays:

http://www.janbrett.com/pdfcards/main_page.htm

---

The next site is not related, Cre8it was one of the best craft sites for ideas and learning, back in the days that I still worked with crafts:

A few years ago, she had a group at Yahoo for learning and talking about the different methods, or problems that one might be having with their crafts, a wonderful group of people.
granny

Here’s the link:

http://web.mac.com/jwesolek/iWeb/cre8it/Blog/Blog.html

To visit group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cre8itartblog/

---

I am wishing you all a wonderful day, full of joy and happiness.

Yes, there are more recipes posted this morning.

Hugs to each of you.
granny

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thanks for the link, diets for survival are important to know.

Dr. Bill Wattenberg, says that you can move and exist for 4 days on a can of Spam. [If you can keep it from spoiling.]

He also keeps peanut butter in his survival gear.

If you can find it in cans, it will keep longer.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Granny, I have known hard times were coming for ten years now and have been preparing.

But, I don’t feel ready.<<<<

There is no “ready”, if you know some of the things that we do, you will survive.

I think the real ‘ready’ is in your knowledge, not the store room.

For years, my family called me “old fashioned”, now they tell me that I am behind the times.........LOL, I have no desire to change.

I love my bread machine, but still am not sure what a “Blackberry” is.......have a vague idea, that it makes noise and costs money.

I try to not buy anything that is heavily advertised on the radio or TV and am still here, with a house full of ‘stuff’.

People who survive, will be the ones who can take flour and make gravy, from scratch, cook beans and rice from scratch.

I have a granddaughter that has 2 children and can only cook what is advertised on TV, the mixes.

I will give her credit for beginning to realize that it is all junk food and is feeding the kids vegetables and snacks like carrot sticks, she will make it, LOL, she is just a late starter.

No, she was not around me as a child, they live in Alabama.

You will survive, you have knowledge.

[metmom]

I got over 20 quarts of tomato sauce from the garden this year and there’s still a few on the vine.

Tomorrow I’ll be apple picking and canning up a lot of applesauce. What I like about that is that you can use it in place of oil in recipes like cake and zucchini bread besides eating it.

And I know where it came from and what’s in it.....

[nw_arizona_granny]

For storage foods, I shopped at:

http://www.waltonfeed.com

You can buy the cans of what you want, or they may/should also have the hundreds of dollar “planned sets of foods”.

I will be ordering from them again, as I have about had it with the foods we are able to buy in this area.

For awhile, after I first got sick, I listened when they told me that food tasted bad, due to all the medicines that I took.

Now, I am, at times getting something and it does not have that ‘odd’ taste.

Sunshine brand crackers, the common saltine cracker, smells and tastes odd.

At first I thought it was my taste and then Scott bought them from different stores, they all smell and have an off taste.

Last week, I asked for any thing except Sunshine and he bought the Great Value brand, a ‘store brand’ type and they are the first in a year that do not smell or taste.

The packaged muffins and rolls that are for sale in the stores, they have so much [?], maybe it is preseratives in them that they are still soft and not molded, after a year of sitting on the desk, yes, I am testing them and no, I will not eat them.

Before I got sick, I was getting all my flour from Walton’s, it comes in the bags from the mills, in the U.S.

Bread sitting on the counter, would mold in 3 days, in the refrigerator in a week.........fresh flour.

With the store brands of regular flour, using the same recipes, they do not mold, and that scares me, is it the melamine that we are getting from China?

I used Walton’s cheapest All Purpose flour, for making bread in my bread machine and had wonderful bread.

Using the flours from Walmart and the grocery stores, makes a lousy bread that is just barely edible.

I do not know what is in our food supply, but it can’t be good for us.

[nw_arizona_granny]

It is never to late for good wishes, thank you.

LOL, I am making this birthday last as long as possible.

I do hope that you found something useful on this thread and that you will visit often. You are always welcome.

It is OK, if others post here, as it was never planned for my thoughts only, it is just that I have more time to post.

Have a special day.

[nw_arizona_granny]

And I know where it came from and what’s in it.....<<<

That may well be the most important part of your canning.

I envy you, there is nothing that compares with the feeling one gets, when they look at those beautiful jars of canned foods and know that they have done the canning and will have food stored.

When I could still can, I put every thing that I could in a jar.

If your tomatoes come a few at a time, freeze them and then when you have enough, you can cook them down for sauce.

That is what I did, when I had the cherry tomatoes in the green house, froze them till I had 4 gallons, then used the cold packer pan to cook them down.

I had a couple of those blue enamel water bath pots for cooking, they are just right for making cheese, 4 gallons of milk at a time.

Here is a hug for you, for a job well done.

[Free Vulcan]

Happy belated birthday Granny.

[metmom]

Thanks. There’s a great deal of satisfaction looking at those jars. Seems like canning is a dying art.

Maybe not for long, though, if times get tough.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thank you for the birthday wishes.

I tried to give it away, but no one wanted to suddenly get a year older.

[Free Vulcan]

hahaha. don’t look my way either, i hit the 40 mark a week ago and am looking to stay there awhile.

my mom’s been teaching me alot of canning and freezing this summer. had a great garden this year what i could get in.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2092202/posts?page=43

China milk scandal hits home (nationalism shaken)
LAT ^ | 09/27/08 | Barbara Demick

Posted on Saturday, September 27, 2008 9:48:56 PM by TigerLikesRooster

China milk scandal hits home

Chinese had shrugged off previous problems as Western hysteria, but tainted milk has many wondering what else poses a risk. Even professed patriots seek out products not made in China.

continues and is an important thread for all to read.
granny

[nw_arizona_granny]

At 40, you think the years are adding up, at 50 you think of the things you are planning.

At 60, time speeds up and a month feels like a week, but there is still time to make plans.

Once you pass 70, forget the plans, just look for the days you lost.

A month is about 2 days long.

Nope, I am not getting senile, when I was 40, a friend told me time would speed up, when I got older........and Mary always told the truth.

There is a lot to learn about canning, but it is one of the best lessons that you will get.

I signed up for the local Yahoo group of Free Cycle, the members have asked for canning jars and are getting them, as I see the thank you posts........getting them for free.

It isn’t something that I can take part in, as I have no way to go and pick up the items that would interest me, but it is fun and heart warming to see folks giving to each other.

I have in the past advertised for used jars and gotten them at a price I could afford.

Even here, where there are almost no gardens, there have been offers of free fruit in the Free Cycle group.

The Free Cycle groups are now active around the world.

When we lived in Portland Oregon, I advertised in the paper that I would pick up windfalls and made a lot of applesauce from them...

Food is out there, if one is creative in finding it.

[nw_arizona_granny]

See post 5856 above, for information on finding food to can.

Maybe not for long, though, if times get tough.<<<

I think that the rice shortage, last spring woke up a lot of folks, they came out in droves, wanting to learn how to survive and get by on just a little.

I am glad you can can, have you tried making your own dehydrated foods?

That also works well and is easy to store.

One year, I did what felt like a ton of squash and it works fine to throw into a pot of soup, lasted for several years.

You have earned the right to feel proud.

[metmom]

Upstate NY (anything outside NYC) is VERY agricultural. Just about anything that is not cold sensitive can be, and is, grown here. It’s usually the staples: potatoes, corn, onions, and apples galore (there’s orchards everywhere) along with cherries, peaches, pears, berries, any kind of vegetable that doesn’t require a long growing season.

But that’s the down side. Our frost free dates are from about the middle of May until Sept/Oct. It has been from as early as the middle of April to as late as Nov. but that can’t be counted on.

There’s also a lot of game in this state and a lot of dairy.

Weather and corrupt government aside, NY STATE has a lot to offer.

[metmom]

I’ve tried dehydrating stuff but it wasn’t worth the effort what with the canner and freezer. Our climate isn’t always so dry so dehydrated stuff needs to be well packaged in airtight containers. (I use canning jars for that sort of thing as well.)

When I find nuts or spices on sale somewhere, I put them in canning jars in the freezer.

The canning jars provide a completely air tight seal. The nuts and spices keep very well between the cold and seal, and they keep a long time because the oils don’t go rancid.

Since it’s airtight, freezer burn or an off taste from the freezer is never an issue.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Weather and corrupt government aside, NY STATE has a lot to offer.<<<

Yes, I have known several native New Yorkers who thought it was the place to live.

Arizona is not, but it is too late for me to be moving again.

I will have frozen /broken pipes and the heat in the summer.

The worst of all in this area, is the soil, you cannot add compost etc to it, as the wind blows every day and takes it away.

There is almost no food grown here, there are no farms, dairies, feed lots, and not much in the way of wild life to eat.