I had no idea creme fraiche was sooooo easy

This week I learned how to make creme fraiche and I can't believe how easy it is. I can't say I have ever really had creme fraiche before. I knew it was some type of european cream but I didn't know if it was bland or sweet or sour, I just knew it sounded gourmet and I thought it probably required some whipping. So, when I learned that it was easy to make and is a great way to add healthy bacteria to something that we already eat, I decided I would give it a try. Here are the basic instructions:

1 clean jar

2 cups of heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons of buttermilk

Add the whipping cream to the jar and then add the buttermilk. Put the lid on and then let sit out on the counter for 18 to 48 hours, until thickened. Once it is thick, put it in the refrigerator. Super easy, huh!

Amy Butler Pattern Giveaway

Several months ago I found a blog that had the tutorial to make over a T-shirt....the one I posted a short while ago. I love keeping up with Tea Rose Home because she has some really great ideas for sewing projects that I can actually do, even though my sewing abilities are pretty limited! Tea Rose Home has a great giveaway right now for an Amy Bulter Pattern. I love love love Amy Butler fabrics and the patterns are really fun and seem pretty easy! If I had the budget to buy some fabrics of hers I have a whole list of fabrics I would love to purchase. Tea Rose Home will be selecting five winners, so if you would like a new sewing project you can check out her site and register!

My first thrifty furniture re-do

I have had this inexpensive console table for a few years sitting behind my sofa.

I have never been all that thrilled with the piece for a variety of reasons: 1. It is stained a dark cherrywood color that has a lot of red in it and that isn't quite what I was wanting 2. It got scratched very easily and then just looked kinda warn and dingy 3.
I just wanted to something lighter and a little more fun. So, I decided I would paint it a pale blue. I used two coats of Zinsser oil based primer on it.Then I mixed several shades of blue sample paint that I already had until I got a shade I was happy with. I haven't put on a polyurethane coating yet but I am sure that will be in my near future! In fact, I have a couple of painted furniture projects in my near future.

And this was the end result.

Paying with cash.....update

In the last few months, we have started paying cash for all our purchases. We have had to tweak our budget quite a bit to get to a really workable place and we are still tweaking it, but it is working! I will admit it is a big change to use cash all of the time when you are used to using a card for everything, but once you get passed the learning curve, its not a big deal. I have found that it really does help me spend less and be a lot more frugal because I know that if I only have $70 left in my grocery budget for the month I don't waste those dollars on stuff that we don't really need. The irony for me of sticking to a tight budget is that I find it freeing because I know we are living within our means and we are working towards a goal. I know I am not over spending or buying things that my husband may say "why did you spend that much money on that!" So, for any one that is at a point where you feel like your spending habits need to change, I highly suggest you try paying for everything with cash. Its crazy that everyone used to operate this way not so long ago and now we are totally dependent on debit and credit cards! Being free from that dependency is also really freeing!

$40 Giveaway at Paula's Bread

About a year and a half ago, I took a local class where I learned about grinding my own wheat and making my own bread. It was a fascinating class and I realized how simple it is so that prompted me to begin doing it. Just a few months prior to that class, I was talking with an aunt who grinds her own wheat and upon learning that she did this, I commented "I could never do that!" My ignorance of how easy it is, led me to make my smug comment. So, only a few months later, I would eat my own words! I have really come to love several things about grinding my own wheat, so I will provide a list below:

- the wheat tastes much better and much less bitter
- you can get lighter wheats and make pastry wheats to put into baked goods like cookies and muffins
- because the wheat tastes better and is fresher, my kids (and hubby) eat everything with wheat in it
- my bread is free of preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and all the other things store bought bread usually contains
- making my own bread is cheaper than buying high quality bread

Kelly the Kitchen Kop has a $40 giveaway for Paula's Bread. Paula's makes wonderful bread but more importantly she sells great resources on her website for baking, cooking and making your own bread! So, check out Kelly the Kitchen Kop's website, she has a lot of great info to get started with eating healthier!

A new frugal challenge: roasting a whole chicken!

I have never been a big meat consumer and I have always thought it would be fairly easy for me to become a vegetarian but I have never taken that plunge for various reasons. Even though we eat meat, I generally dislike handling it and am often grossed out by raw meat. Over the past few weeks, I have been taking an e-course called The Peasant's Feast by The Nourishing Gourmet. The course has been fascinating and has been challenging me in different food areas and has encouraged me in various ways to save money by preparing most things from scratch. One of the topics of the course is how to make chicken stretch. With that in mind, came the challenge of roasting a whole chicken! I have never in my life handled a whole chicken, I have been a boneless, skinless chicken breast girl all the way! Roasting a whole chicken provides flavorful and moist chicken that can be stretched over several meals and it allows you to make a very healthy and flavorful chicken stock. After considering the benefits, I decided I would give it a try. I gave it a try and it wasn't bad. The chicken came out great and it made a great amount of chicken stock that I will be using tomorrow night for my mom's homemade chicken and noodle soup! I will definitely be doing this much more often if not all of the time. So for all of you ladies that were squeamish like I was, give it a try!

Kids snack idea: fruit juice jello

In my quest to feed my family a healthier diet, one of my challenges has been snacks, so I am on the hunt to find some good snack options to feed my kiddo's. The challenge is that I am trying to stay away from processed foods and come up with easy things my kids will eat that are healthy. I made fruit juice jello last week and I wasn't sure if all my little ones would like it and to my surprise, they did. This could be a little afternoon snack or even desert! This is a basic recipe off of the box of Knox unflavored gelatine. The recipe can be tweaked to be thicker and firmer (like jigglers) or thinner. I used an all natural fruit juice that was on sale and I had a coupon for from the grocery store. Here is the recipe off the Knox box:

- 4 envelopes or 1 box (I actually only used 2 envelopes) gelatine
- 1 cup cold fruit juice
- 3 cups fruit juice, heated to boiling
- 2 tablespoons honey, optional

1. Sprinkle gelatin over cold juice in a large bowl; let stand 1 minute. Add hot juice and stir until gelatin completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stir in honey if desired. Pour into a pan (I poured into small bowls for individual servings).

2. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.