Ok since this is my first post I figured I should start out by telling you guys a little bit about me. I am a stay at home mother to a beautiful little girl furthermore known as Q, and married to my husband of 4 years CJ. I am also going back to school to complete my nursing degree. So not only do I not have much time between raising my daughter, studying, cooking, cleaning, and trying to earn a few extra bucks by putting together hinge pairs for the family business, but since we are on only one income, and the economy is getting tighter all around, we are trying to live a bit more frugally, without loosing out on the simple luxuries of life.
In other words, we want to be able to live within our means, but not live poorly. We still take our daughter to the zoo(when its not 100 degrees out), and eat well, (ie as organically and locally as possible), still hang out with friends, and still dress well, we also would like to start saving again which we stopped doing after we bought our house and depleted our savings. So I'm breaking out our sewing machine again, learning how to do simple things like baking our own bread, and making our own ice cream!
I'm sure your thinking frugal living means living without air conditioning and lights, but I'm here to show you that doesn't have to be the way it is. In fact, I feel like my life is fuller now than it used to be. I feel more empowered now that I am in complete control of what goes into my families stomachs, and as soon as I am more comfortable with the sewing machine, what we are wearing as well.
First off in order to start saving more, we did cut back on simple luxuries. we turned the air back from a VERY cool 72, where we HAD to have a blanket in order to sit down stairs, even with sweats on, to a still very comfortable 78 during the day and 76 at night. this saved us $60 last month! We cut our cable and internet package down from the middle of the line digital cable to the basic cable which saved us $40 last month, I also dropped my cell phone package, so now instead of having unlimited data on my phone so I could check my email or get directions anywhere I am, we cut out that, and now I still have the same amount of minutes and texts, but I no longer get my emails on my phone, but do I REALY need that? no, and so we save an extra $30 a month because of that change. with a total of $130 saved each month just cutting back a LITTLE BIT!!!
I also decided that I wanted to start making most of the food we consume by scratch if we couldn't find it at the local farmers markets (which by the way even with mostly organic foods ARE cheaper than the super markets!) so I am trying out a few bread recipes, I THINK I found one that I like, but I would really like to have a bread maker, because properly kneading bread sucks... so I'm saving up for that little luxury! but its so much fun to watch your bread go from a foamy yeasty water, to rising, to golden warm yummi-ness, and for everyone who worries about not being able to eat a loaf before it goes stale, throw the baked loaf into the freezer before slicing, and when you need some just pull the loaf out slice up a few peices and pop it into the toaster (never microwave frozen bread because it will get all spongy and soggy and weird.) also to make lunches to send to work (or take if you work) make the sandwich with the frozen bread, and your sandwich will be perfect by the time you get around to eating!
Ok so the point of today's post was to share my proud moment of the day!
Tonight we had the most scrumptious lamb! it was a bone in leg of lamb organically grown and raised that we got from a local farmers market 3.47 lbs of juicy goodness! I found a recipe and adapted it to suit my needs (and cooking style) and I thought I would share it with you guys!
Grill-Roasted Boneless Leg of Lamb:
3-5 pound boneless leg of lamb
Marinade:
4 cloves garlic (use more or fewer, according to taste) I used six smaller cloves
1/4 cup roughly chopped rosemary (I used dry since I didn't have fresh rosemary on hand)
2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
2 -3 teaspoons kosher or sea salt, (depending upon size of leg)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 cup soy free and dairy free butter
Trim excess fat from meat. Lay leg flat; it will be of uneven thickness. Cut vertically into the thickest areas and spread apart so that thickness is more uniform, but do not try to get it perfectly even. The differences in thickness will result in areas more or less cooked, providing choices for your guests.
Place all marinade ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Apply marinade to both sides of the lamb, cover and refrigerate for several hours or over night. Bring meat to room temperature for 2-3 hours before cooking.
(ok I put the marinade into a freezer ziplock back and shook the leg around until it was evenly covered, and left it out for three hours at room temperature, I didn't think about over night marinading, but I don't really know how much better the lamb could have been had I marinated it over night.)
If using a charcoal cooker, build a medium fire (test by holding your hand 5 inches above the cooking surface -- ready if you can hold it there for only 3 - 4 seconds). Use hardwood charcoal for the best results. If using a gas grill, preheat on medium – high for 30 minutes, covered.
( We used a gas grill, and went without the preheating because here in Texas where it was 107 degrees today, we honestly didn't need a preheat)
Cook, uncovered, for approximately 15 minutes per side for medium rare (125 degrees). For medium, cook a few minutes longer per side (140 degrees). If you do not have a thermometer, cut into a thick area and check color. Let meat rest 5 -10 minutes before slicing, serving thicker area to those who prefer more rare
meat.
This gave us the most succulent juicy lamb with the best crunchy tasty crust on the meat!!! sadly CJ decided AFTER the lamb was cooked that he wasn't going to eat any since it was basically a baby animal, and he has ethical issues with eating baby meat... I guess that means there is more for me!!! and I keep going back, I'm thinking I will break out the dehydrator and make up some lamb jerky from the leftovers because its so good and I want it to last for as long as I can make it!!!
Also after dinner I was craving some ice cream, but sadly that is a luxury that we aren't willing to afford anymore (especially with my daughters dairy allergy we have to get the specialty Rice Creams which cost about $5 for a small pint of ice cream... :( BUT we did just run out to the local farm yesterday and have three gallons of Goats milk sitting in the fridge waiting to be frozen (I need to get some more containers suitable for freezing) and I decided to look up an easy home made ice cream recipe that I could do, and I found one!!!
This is the recipe that I used to make my super yummy Goats Milk Ice Cream!
What you'll need:
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 cup milk or half & half (I used Goats Milk obviously!)
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 tablespoons rock salt (I used sea salt with no issues)
- 1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)
- 1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag
- Ice cubes
How to make it:
- Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
- Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.
- Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.
- Shake until the mixture is ice cream, which takes about 5 minutes.
- Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully. Enjoy!
Tips:
A 1/2 cup milk will make about 1 scoop of ice cream, so double the recipe if you want more. But don't increase the proportions more that that -- a large amount might be too big for kids to pick-up because the ice itself is heavy.
I quadrupled the recipe for CJ and myself and it was the perfect amount and only took a few minutes longer to freeze properly! SO YUMMY!!! But I HIGHLY recommend wearing gloves when making this, your hands WILL get cold otherwise. :D
So to any one who is wanting to start living a more frugal, but not miserly life, join us on our journey! You will soon see how much richer your life can be while living simpler!
By the way, Thank you to
The Heart of New England for the Lamb Recipe, check them out, they have a TON of great recipes worth trying!
And Thanks to
Kaboose in their Summer Fun section for their Ice Cream in a Bag Recipe!! They have a great section Just for Moms with a ton of great information about everything from Beauty to Health, to Money, they are a great resource.
Good night y'all!
