Spring has Sprung!

Happy First Day of Spring! To celebrate I'm sharing all my favorite spring cleaning tips for the farm! Hop over to Homemaking Organized to read it all!

Great tips including:

So get going! And leave a comment there thanking K for hosting us!


©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Follow through with your chickens

This week my sis-in-law shared this article [You Absolutely Should Not Get Backyard Chickens] with me. I thought it was pretty well written, and worth sharing with you all.

We've had our flock for about 4 years now, and have had chickens come and go. When I first started, I'd sell off my older flock, to someone who wanted cheap laying hens, fully disclosing they had already laid eggs for 2 years. Then we decided we'd eat the non-layer, like our extra roosters and older hens. We quickly discovered that they were scrawny and tough, compared to the VERY yummy cornish cross meat chickens we raised.

Meat chickens, only about 6 weeks old.

Now we retire chickens systematically by butchering them once their laying slacks off, and putting them in the freezer. When I have a few saved up I fill up the stock pot and make stewed chicken and broth. This winter we all caught influenza A, and we were amazed at how much more quickly we recovered while sipping yummy home made chicken broth! It's always hard to decide when it is time to let an old hen go, but this is really part of the whole process here, and we have to follow through.

2011 Fair, T's favorite chicken.

I recently went out and put leg bands on the hens who were no longer laying well (having gone through about 2 molts), so my hubby would know who to take when he had time to work on it. I had to band all of the green egg layers, including a special fair chicken of my son's. I told Tyler about it so he wouldn't be surprised, and he seemed ok with it. Later he went out to do his chores and came back declaring that he'd removed her band. That hen has achieved pet status. :) Guess we'd better name her.

For the record, my kids name their chickens all the time, but it doesn't stop us from eating them. :) Wyatt named the entire meat flock "Wyatt Junior" once. I'm not sure how to take that! All I know is that my kids are really comfortable with where their food comes from. I've heard Emma coo to a soft fluffy chick... "Ooooh, you're gonna taste so good when you get big!" And I think I've shared here before that once Mayda was wearing a chick all around the house on her shoulder like a parrot. When I asked her why she confided in me that "I feel bad for him; he's a fryer."

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

New Spanish Course Available! Discount for my readers!

As you may remember back in May we reviewed Spanish for You: Fiestas. We loved the curriculum and plan to use it all this next school year for the kids to learn Spanish. I had the opportunity to chat with the author via email and she was excited to tell me that aside from Fiestas (a party themed unit) and  Estaciones, (a seasonally themed unit), she is now releasing Viajes, a travel themed unit!

Click here for sample pages!

I am not an paid affiliate of Spanish for You, and haven't received anything in exchange for writing this post. I was really impressed with it when I reviewed it, so I wanted to tell you, my readers about it. Debbie, the author, also values my readers. That is why she is offering a 10% off coupon code to you for the purchase of this new unit.

• For the package for grades 3-4, use this code: newviajes34
• For the package for grades 5-6, use this code: newviajes56
• For the package for grades 7-8, use this code: newviajes78
• For the package for grades 3-8, use this code: newviajes38

You can read my entire review of Fiestas here, but this was the bottom line:

"I would wholeheartedly recommend this one for beginner Spanish! I absolutely love that you can buy one book and, with the whole package, be able to teach every grade in your homeschool from 3rd -8th! I'm not good at prep work, but this was not as bad as I had feared. Other than collating pages and laminating flash cards, there wasn't too much prep, since the lesson plans were all written out."

If you check it out, please comment here and let me know what you think! Thanks!
-Laura

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Using my smartphone to get smart on groceries!

~affiliate links may be included in this post, see disclosure tab above~


I'd been using the Endorse app on my phone for quite a while. Sadly this week they discontinued it's service. Over the 2 years, I'd earned over $200, so I was sad to see it go. So I switched to a new app or two and have been loving it! Here's the low down on what I've learned (so far) on using apps to save money while shopping:

iBotta - This app works on any smartphone, and is a digital coupon type app, but has high value bonuses for sharing the app with others. It also offers store-specific coupons, and at times extra bonuses for using them. (like this week there's about an extra $3 you can earn for using certain Target coupons through the app). These are not coupons that come off of your total at the register, but more like refunds you get after submitting your receipt. Be sure to use the checklist in the store, and verify the barcode of items you buy before you buy them.. just to be sure you matched it right. It's very easy. I earned $23 the first week of use, and it was sent right to my paypal account.

Shopkick - I'm still new to this one, but you collect points in the form of "kicks" by shopping in certain stores and for certain products. the "kicks" can be turned in for gift cards and rewards. You can earn the "kicks" pretty quickly in chunks of 2,500 or more depending on what you are doing, like referring friends. This one requires your phone location info, so that's why I haven't used it much. I don't prefer to leave my GPS on, as it eats my battery. Thankfully I do have unlimited data.

Safeway - I LOVE this app. If you have a local Safeway or affiliate, this one connects to your store card and lets you load coupons for use in the store. It gets even better if you have a matching paper copy of a manufacturer coupon. I love the "Personal Deals" If you don't have a smartphone to add the app, you can still add the coupons onto your card via the website. I typically save 30% to 50% off of my groceries with this app alone!

So, what do you use to save money? I'd love to know; Leave me a comment!

-Laura

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Home Made Fried Chicken

There is nothing quite like home grown chicken cut up and fried. :) This week we'll be ordering our next batch of fryers... this time not so many (last year we did 115!) just enough for us to take a couple to the fair. So to remind myself it's worth it, I pulled a chicken from the freezer and made fried chicken again... and of course, tweaked the recipe a little more. ;)

I used a Food Network recipe from Paula Deen, and made some adjustments. 

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1/3 cup water

1/3 hot red pepper sauce 

2 cups flour sifted with 1 Tbs. baking powder

1 package of crushed saltine crackers (my addition)

1 teaspoon pepper

1 (1 to 2 1/2-pound) chicken, cut into pieces

Oil, for frying, preferably peanut oil, but I used Canola with good results

House Seasoning:
3/4 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic salt
1 Tbs. onion powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Directions

In a medium size bowl, beat the eggs and mix with the water and enough hot sauce so the egg mixture is orange. In another bowl, combine the flour, crackers, and pepper. Season the chicken with the "house seasoning". Dip the seasoned chicken in the egg, and then coat well in the flour mixture.

Heat the oil to 350F in a deep pot. Do not fill the pot more than 1/2 full with oil.

Fry the chicken in the oil until brown and crisp. Dark meat takes longer then white meat. It should take dark meat about 13 to 14 minutes, white meat around 8 to 10 minutes. Keeping the oil temp at 350F was important. I also preheated the oven to 350F, keeping a glass baking dish in there to hold the pieces that came out of the fryer as I worked in batches. I fried the dark meat first, then moved it to the glass pan in the oven, then I fried the white meat second. It worked really well that way. :)

For more on our chickens from last year, and how to cut up a whole chicken, see my original post here. 

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©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

H is for Homeschooling Cheap

Homeschooling is something we feel that God has called us to do, but it does mean that we have to make it go on one income while I teach the children. As a result, our educational dollars have to stretch! Here are a few of the ways we have done that. I pray this would be encouragement to anyone who is planning to homeschool: that this is not about the money, but the effort!

1. A heritage of learning.

One of the reasons we knew homeschooling would be a good fit for us, was that both of us were home-schooled  When we announced we planned to homeschool our children, you can imagine just how much our moms were pleased. We had the full support of our extended families, and the full boxes of their leftover books!

While this wasn't always a perfect fit, it was a huge blessing. I discovered quickly books that were outdated and used up. Emma's history book referred to the Berlin wall and the USSR, but many books, such as language arts and spelling, are really timeless. We especially love some of the old readers!

While you may not have parents who are curriculum hoarders, you may know a "retiring" homeschool mom who was one. It easy to find her; she is likely the chairwoman of the "Homeschool Graduation Committee" in your homeschool support group. ;) Find a homeschool mom to mentor you, and ask if she will loan (and likely she will give) you some of her old curriculum.

2. Find a lending library.

Our homeschool group has a lending library for curriculum. Every year I donate a box of books that didn't work for us, and check out a box of books that I hope will! It's wonderful to be able to spend an afternoon there flipping through curriculum without having to buy it first. (And then I remember I'd signed up to help "organize" and clean the library that day, not read it all!)

We actually have two homeschool groups in town, and thus, two lending libraries. You will find pretty much every group has them. They are filled with items donated by those who switched curriculum, or those moms who retired without anyone begging for their books! (see #1)

If your homeschool group doesn't have one, start one! It will be full in no time when hoarders like myself start unloading baggage. The hardest part is finding a place that can host the library. Maybe a church with an extra classroom with a lock? Maybe a local Christian hang out with a storage room? Maybe a homeschool mom with a garage she doesn't mind opening for others from time to time? Your homeschool group may even want to rent a nice storage unit and build some bookshelves!

3. Be an opportunist.

In our area, there have been several schools closed due to district consolidations. Every few months a school shuts it's doors and an auction is held. It's a sad day, for the school anyway.

Watch for those school auctions. You can get desks, blackboards, reference books, and even unused workbooks for next to nothing. Once our homeschool group was invited to a closing educational services unit to pick up any curriculum we wanted "before it goes in the dumpster."  We filled our car trunks and pickup beds, and whatever we couldn't use went in the lending library. I managed to get an entire set of Saxon Math (1st through 7/6) that day. *score!*

Ok, I'm going out on a limb here and baring my soul. I confess I have even dumpster dived for curriculum. I had missed the auction for another school-closing, and whatever hadn't sold was being dumped out the front doors into a large construction dumpster. There were three of us homeschool moms in there, and I had brought my pickup. I scored 6 school desks and a box of geography workbooks still in the shrink wrap, among other things. I would have found more, but that was all I could see by the light of my cell phone. For the record, dumpster diving is perfectly legal in most states as long as you don't trespass on private property.

When a local college upgraded their entire computer lab, they sold all the computers there (not that old, but they had their operating systems wiped) for next to nothing. You could get a nice computer for $25 plus the cost of installing Windows.

4. Shop, swap, and sales!

Shopping on ebay or even at yard sales, you can often find books for bargain prices. Most curriculum fairs or homeschool conventions include a used curriculum swap and sale. It's a great place to sell what you have, but won't use, and to find what you need. Show up at the end and offer to buy whole boxes of books for bottom dollars. I guarantee that most of the people there would rather give the books away then haul them home.

A good friend put me onto this swapping tip(thanks B!). I have mentioned before about swapping for free books on Paperback Swap .com. She took it the next level on her smart phone. There are apps (for both Android and iPhones) you can download to link to your PaperbackSwap account. They are able to use your phone camera to scan bar-codes of books and see if they are on wishlists of other swappers. She suggested that I use this feature to pick up cheap books for swapping. Recently, I was at the library, and they had a "stuff a bag for a buck" fundraiser. I flipped through the shelf, scanning books and checking their "wishing" status. I filled a bag with books I already knew I could "swap" on the site. I have found several good books on my curriculum list, and have requested them with my credits. My only cost? The postage for mailing off the books (usually about $2) and about 10 cents to buy them.

5. Sign up to sell or review.

If there is a curriculum or company your heart is just set on, call them up! Tell them how you love their stuff, and offer to staff a table at your next curriculum fair or trade show. Ask if they have an affiliate program where you can earn credit by selling their books to others. You would be surprised at the opportunities out there.

If you are a blogger like myself, be sure to follow the Review Crew blog (see the button in my side bar?) in the fall when they are looking for new reviewers. I've enjoyed the fellowship with other homeschool moms, and the opportunity to try out new curriculum for my honest review here on my blog. I feel I've become a better blogger from hanging out with these ladies too!

6. Keep an open mind. 

By now I'm sure you're thinking that I will use any book without discrimination. That's only partly true. When I began my homeschool journey I thought I knew what I liked. I'd been homeschooled myself and I'd formed plenty of opinions throughout the years. Without my giving away my age, I will say that a lot has changed on the curriculum front since then! Being on the Crew this year has exposed me to lots of books I would have never considered buying. I've tried out lots of things I never knew I would love so much! Yes, also a few things I didn't. But it made me realize that you really have to open a book and give it a test drive before you know if it is for you. I am completely willing to try out a book, and not keep it if it's not working, especially if I got it for free. I also love that I can swap the books I don't love (see #4) for books I do! I can also sell them and use the cash to buy what I really want. Bring on the school auctions and library sales!

7. Don't forget the best things in life are free.

One last thing: remember that the most priceless stuff your children will learn won't come from a curriculum. You are training these kids by the actions and behaviors you model. Whether it is your ethics, your Faith, or just how to find the right books at the library, your kids are learning from you. All. The. Time. No pressure. :)

"As homeschooling moms, we don’t just undertake teaching a set list of educational goals, but also of life. We have a special opportunity for modeling behaviors before our children all day long. They are our disciples.
This may come as a surprise, but we aren't raising children; we are raising adults. They are children now, but isn't adulthood the end goal? When we hit an impasse with a school concept, we aren't just teaching our kids math anymore. We are teaching so much more: how to deal with frustration, how to look at a problem in a new way, or even how to ask God for help." -Practical Grace for the Homeschool Mom 

There is SO much more I could say here, but there's a whole blog cruise on the topic, and you'll have plenty to read. So, get going already!



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   ©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com *This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy. *

Black Bean Chili

Nothing can have a better start than bacon, can it? As you may know, I love cooking with beans, and I recently got a great deal on some dry black beans. (Clearance shelf at Safeway!) So I cooked them up using my usual overnight method, and froze them in bags. Having that all done made this a quick and easy soup to assemble. My hubby declared it one of his new favorites. *score!*

Ingredients:

1/2 pound bacon
1 onion
1/4 cup flour (or corn meal if gluten free)

1 quart of black beans fully cooked and frozen (or 3 cans from the store)

1 quart frozen sweet corn (or 2 cans creamed corn)

1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies 

1 Tbs. chili powder

1 Tbs salt

2 tsp cumin

4-6 cups water

cheese or  sour cream to garnish

In a large kettle: brown bacon over med heat, and when crispy, remove bacon and set aside. In bacon fat, cook the diced up onion until opaque. Add flour and mix until all grease is absorbed and flour begins to brown a little. Add beans, seasonings, corn, and tomatoes, mixing well after each addition to blend with the flour. Add 4 cups water. Return to boil and then turn down to simmer. Ladle about half of the mixture into a blender and process until smooth. Return to pot. Add remaining 2 cups of water as needed for desired "soupiness". Simmer at medium heat for 20 minutes. Just before serving, crumble the bacon back in, and garnish with cheese or sour cream.

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©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Frugal Tip: Make your own Sour Cream

This past week I tried something new, home made sour cream. Because I trust the dairy where I obtained my raw milk, I had no trouble souring the cream right on my counter top. For really good instructions on the how and why of home-made sour cream. Please visit this link. :) I couldn't say it better myself, so I won't. (Plus, I'm no expert!) I will say this, the sour cream was SO easy, and so yummy, I will not be buying sour cream at the store again.

How is this frugal? Considering I pay $4 for my milk, and get about a quart of cream each time, I paid about $1 for my quart of sour cream. Generally, a pint of sour cream costs about $2 on a good sale, so I saved 75% making it myself.

Don't have access to raw milk or cream? I tried this one from allrecipes, and it worked just fine. It just didn't taste as yummy as the sour cream from raw. I will use that pint for baking. :)

Wondering what to bake with sour cream? Here's a favorite one from my grandma:

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©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Frugal Tip: Make Cheese!

We recently started getting milk from a local dairy. It is WONDERFUL stuff. :) Some friends of mine and I have been talking a lot about making cheese... and the other day when I was delivering eggs to them, they told me they had gotten some rennet tablets and citric acid from a cheese supply. We did a little swapping for eggs, and I was ready to roll.

I found the instructions on this website. They are great instructions and very easy to follow. In no time I was stretching my mozzarella! I added a quart of cream to the milk to make for richer cheese, and the mozz was almost TOO creamy. I think next time I will skim off the cream before making mozz.

After the mozzarella was done, I made ricotta from the whey. I think next time I would add the cream back in at this step, and get a better yield. You can find the ricotta from whey instructions here. One gallon of whole milk, plus one quart of cream turned out a little more than a pound of mozzarella, and 14 oz. of ricotta. So then I made bread, and turned that cheese into the best lasagna ever.

Even the chickens ate well, after the last of the whey was poured over their pellets. I let it soak in overnight and they loved their morning mash! (so did Fluffy the cat!)

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©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Frugal Tip and Recipe: Home Made Pancake Syrup

I want everyone to note, I did not say "maple syrup"! I had a friend from "up north" who bristled every time someone referred to pancake syrup (made with sugar and flavoring) as maple syrup. Back east in PA, when we attended the Pennsylvania State Fair, we saw lots of authentic maple syrup. We even had maple ice cream made with it, and there was maple sugar cotton candy. YUM!

Like local honey, the stuff is awesome, but pricey! I love my honey, but I'll skimp on the syrup. So I make home-made syrup, hot and fresh, when I make waffles or pancakes. Here's the recipe my mom used, and (I am told) hubby's mom too:

Home-Made Pancake Syrup

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup corn syrup
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp maple flavoring

Combine the first four ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a rolling boil, while stirring constantly. Boil for one full minute, then remove from heat. Add flavoring after removing from heat, but use caution, as it will boil rapidly when added. It will be runny while hot, but thicker upon cooling. If, after it cools, it is not thick enough for you, boil longer the next time you make it. I prefer mine thick, so I boil for about 2 minutes.

Yield: a bit more than 2 cups.

Enjoy!

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©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Frugal Tip: Using Dry Beans

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy. *

When you look at ways to squeeze your grocery budget, there is hardly anything more rewarding than using dry beans. Here are some great reasons to give up on the canned stuff, and use dry beans:

• More Natural
• Lower Sodium
• No BPA (from the cans)
• Fewer calories
• More fiber

...to name a few. I also find that I can get away with half as much ground beef in many recipes if I add beans. Keep the protein and lose the fat! Yay! 

I may be biased because my dear sis-in-law works for a local dry bean producer.  Since we eat them all the time, it's handy to buy them in bulk at the local plant to save money. Plus it's a great way to support local food producers.  Last season we actually grew them ourselves! This is another reason dry beans are a good choice at our house. 

As for the money savings: using Pintos for an example: canned beans go for about 60 cents to $1 per can. One can has about 1.5 cups of beans. One pound of dry beans yields 6 cups cooked, so 1/4 a pound is the same as one can. Dry beans go for 80 cents (bulk price when I buy a 25lb bag) to $1.30 per pound at the grocery store. This means a 1/4 pound costs as little as 20 cents! Canned beans are 200% more expensive. (See, this is a homeschool post! How do you like my math?!)

Ok, on to the process. First, sort the beans. The best way to do this is to spill them on a clean counter-top, spread them out, and look them over. When they are harvested, tiny bean-sized pebbles can get into the mix. Some times you won't find any, sometimes there a several. But I will tell you, the first time you bite into one in a bowl of chili, you will wish you hadn't skipped this step!

sorting the beans into a colander

Then wash them. I put them in a bowl and cover with water, and agitate them with my hands. Pour through a strainer/colander, and we're done!

At this point I put them into the slow cooker and cover with water at least 3"-4" above the beans. I like to cook up 2+ pounds at a time in my 6 quart pot. This is for a few reasons, and none of them include me eating 12-15 cups of beans at one sitting. :)  I like the convenience of canned beans as much as the next gal, so I cook a LOT at one time and then freeze in "meal sized" portions, so they are ready to go, just as fast as canned.

I do all of this at night, and then put the pot on low and forget about them until morning.

~edit 3/11/13~ If you find they don't get done overnight, your slow cooker may by cooler on "low" than mine. I'm finding there is quite a variation. Try doing it on high if they don't turn out the first time. If your slow cooker was manufactured after 2007, it will cook at these higher temps. If it was manufactured before 2007, maybe you should buy one with all the money you're saving not buying canned beans!~

Also, as a commenter noted: if you are cooking Kidney Beans, be sure they do boil for at least 10 minutes to remove naturally occurring toxins. See this link for more information.

All that's left to do is strain them off...

Rinse well and bag them up....

and freeze!

Now wasn't that easy? I freeze them in quarts (about 3-4 cups) because my family is bigger and we like a lot of them. But you could freeze a can sized portion (1 and 1/2 cups) in a sandwich bag, fill a gallon freezer bag with those smaller bags, and freeze them that way. Another great way (sorry, no pics of this) is to spread them on a cookie sheet to freeze individually, then dump into gallon bags. Then you can use a cup measure to scoop out exactly what you need every time!

*affiliate link*

A note about, ummm, "the after-effects of beans":I am told it is the sugars in beans that produce the gas. The sugars in beans are water soluble, so many suggest soaking the beans before cooking, and draining off the water they soaked in. Cook in fresh water. To keep this a simple slow cooker routine you could soak (power off) overnight in your slow cooker.  In the morning, rinse and replace them there with fresh water, turn it on and cook on high for only a few hours. They should be done by lunch this way. Also, the fresher your beans, the less gassy they should be, so I'm told. We happened to grow these beans ourselves, so they were fresh!

Need a yummy recipe to use those beans? Try the Best Home-made Chili (scroll to end of post), that was demonstrated at our local farmer's market cooking demo. Also, our local bean producer puts out a cookbook! Be sure you try the Coffee Bean Brownies!

Here is my favorite chili recipe, using those beans:

Best Homemade Chili

(This recipe is a combination of two recipes from Taste of Home Country Ground Beef Cookbook: Three-step Chili from pg. 22 and Best Homemade Chili from pg. 23) I have adjusted it to be gluten free. 

2 lb. Grass-fed Ground Beef 

1 Large onion – diced

1 Tbs of chili powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp sea salt

1 clove fresh pressed garlic

3 cups cooked pinto beans (or 2 cans drained)

One large can of tomato juice (46 oz)

(or 1 qt and 1 pt of home canned)

¼ cup cornmeal

2 Tbs vinegar 

Cayenne pepper to taste

In large pot or Dutch oven, brown beef with seasonings and onions, until fully cooked. Add tomato juice and bring to a boil. Mix cornmeal and vinegar into a paste, and add a ladle of the hot tomato juice to it and then mix back into the entire pot (to avoid clumps). Return to a boil and then cook over medium heat for 15 minutes until thickened.  Add cayenne pepper to taste. 

If you like, serve it in a bread bowl!

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Loved this post? Here are a few more things that you might love as well:

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Here's a favorite recipe using dry beans:

Black Bean Chili!

Nothing can have a better start than bacon, can it? As you may know, I love cooking with beans, and I recently got a great deal on some dry black beans. So I cooked them up using my usual overnight method, and froze them in bags. Having that all done made this a quick and easy soup to assemble. My hubby declared it one of his new favorites. *score!*

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[Originally posted in March 2012, this post has recently seen a lot of traffic thanks to Pinterest! I am joining with a few friends celebrating frugal tips, and this one is one of my favorites. I've brushed it up and added a great Chili recipe!]

Linked today:

For more great posts, be sure to "follow"! 

  

And if this helped you, leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you. :)