Frugal Farmhouse

Really? Meatloaf? Actually this is really good! We usually have it a few times a month. Super easy too! 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup ketchup 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef {I use 1 pound} 3/4 cup milk 2 eggs {I only use 1 egg} 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 small onion, chopped 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 3/4 cup finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs {I usually use pretzels, I never seem to buy saltines} Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan. 2. Press the brown sugar in the bottom of the prepared loaf pan and spread the ketchup over the sugar. 3. In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly all remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf. Place on top of the ketchup. 4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices are clear. {source} What's for Dinner tonight in your house?

Frugal Tip Tuesday is a weekly series here at Frugal Farmhouse. I want to share easy tips and tricks to help you along your frugal journey. All over the country there are free Dental clinics, medical clinics, etc. Dentists in my area hold free Dental Clinics for the public a few times a year. Sometimes it is just for children other times it is for everyone. I've found these are not very well advertised. They post it in a few places around town, and let word of mouth do the rest. Once in a while, they release it to the local news, but not often. To find these in your area, check all the nooks and cranny's of your local news paper, bulletin boards in area business, etc. Also for free medical clinics and free dental clinics state by state check HERE . *I have not researched all links, only local ones, so PLEASE research fully before making a decision :)* For those in the Idaho Falls, ID Area Event: Free Dentistry to Idaho Falls Date: April 2, 2010 GOOD FRIDAY Time: 8 AM...

**SOURCE** Have you ever read the ingredients on the back of a vanilla extract bottle? Or any spice for that matter? There is not great stuff in there... So why not make your own? I have found this great, super easy recipe over at KitchenProject .

This week's menu is pretty boring. Nothing fancy. I'm trying to use up as much food as possible. I look forward to reading all of your yummy menus! Monday- Breakfast-oatmeal Lunch-chicken roll ups Dinner- Tyler's Yummy Ham sandwiches *make bread ** bread starter Tuesday- Breakfast-toast Lunch- leftovers Dinner-Homemade mac and cheese Wednesday Breakfast-oatmeal Lunch- leftovers Dinner- tacos with homemade tortillas Thursday Breakfast-oatmeal Lunch- leftovers Dinner-breakfast waffles, sausage eggs *make bread Friday Breakfast-toast Lunch- leftovers Dinner-Pizza Saturday Breakfast- French toast Lunch- leftovers Dinner-spaghetti with Italian sausage Sunday Breakfast-waffles Lunch- baquette pizza Dinner- brown sugar meatloaf Check out other menu's over at Org Junkie !

Yes, I know this is simple to some but I have been searching for the right one of these for a long time. I love these, they are so simple and lovely. Well, except the way these one looks, lol, but for $.75 it had to come home with me! I can't wait to get my other projects done so I can fix up this one. Oh and this is the greatest ever. I LOVE freecycle, don't you? Brinkman Smoker :) OH! and here is a little sneak peak of what's been going on in my little house. I'm so excited to actually have the want to create things again. I have the pre-rough draft of how I want our living room to look. I always used to do this then we started moving once a year and I figured what's the point? But we decided (most likely) we will be living here for another year so I need to change up what we are living with. Over the next couple weeks I'll be showing you our living room transformation. No, it won't be as dramatic as some of you house dwellers as we live in an apartment an...

I am always searching for places to save more money. I’m also always trying to organize.. something , I didn’t say successfully… just trying!! Haha So I love when I come across something that combines both of them. Chevy Man introduced me to Clark Howard. I jumped on his site and found THIS great page… free and cheap? Nothing better! It includes things like Free directory assistance, Free Online University Courses, Free Media Production Workshops, Where to find unclaimed money, Cheap eyeglasses and so much more! Check it out… Seriously… GO ! I’m in no way affiliated with Clark Howard, just honest love for free stuff :)

Frugality has always been in my life. I spent my summers as a child with my grandma in a very very small town about 150 miles away from where I lived the rest of the year. My grandpa is/was a farmer, had cows, and a diesel mechanic. My grandma was a farmer’s wife. I learned how to garden, sew, cook, move pipe, change oil, and learned how to drive on a tractor. At home during the school year none of these tasks were put to use. We lived in a suburb of a city with nearly 50,000 people, we didn’t have a garden, we had a dishwasher, etc. So at the end of the school year I was ecstatic to get to go my grandma’s house! I loved being there; I loved the fruits of my labor there. I felt as though I had a purpose. Fast forward to 5 years ago. I graduated high school, moved to Phoenix, got into a heap of money issues, wanted everything in sight, forgot everything my grandma ever taught me and then I moved back to Idaho. About a year and a half later I came to the realization that something had to...

This is our all time favorite meal in our house. Simple, quick and so Yummy!! We often make these ahead of time to take up camping, or just take supplies to make up at the camp ground. They are 1000 times better on a camp fire! Ingredients: 1 lb of hamburger patties (or ground hamburger formed into patties) 1 can of corn (or 1/2 bag frozen corn) Half of an onion 4 potatoes(cut into cubes) 1 can of cream of mushroom soup 1 envelope onion soup mix tin foil (You can pretty much add whatever you want to these, if we have carrots, I add them. Play around, they are very versatile.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees Tear off 4 pieces of tin foil about a foot to a foot and a half long. Spray each with non stick spray. Layer in each piece of foil: hamburger patty 1 potato onion corn 1/4 of the onion soup packet spoon full of butter season to your liking. I use salt, pepper, garlic powder and basil. Fold into a little bundle. Repeat for the other 3. I put them on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour. Yo...

I think may be here, sorta. Last night was one of those nights were 1 hour of sleep was all that was going to happen(if you don't know me well, this happens often, I know I'm weird!) So I feel asleep around 4 and was wide awake around 5 am. I jumped on the computer as it is the only activity that wouldn't wake Chevy Man or Max. I finally woke Max up about 7 and took him outside. I was surprised by 2 things. This will show you how random Idaho is... Snow and Birds chirping! I was disappointed when I opened the front door and the group was lightly dusted with snow but the longer I stood there I realized birds... Birds were REALLY chirping! I love that first day when you hear the birds after winter.. such a great start to the day. Spring is on its way.. err.. here! I'm off to work on my creations! Remember all the fun stuff I got on Saturday? It is actually going to be turned into something, I promise :)

Sometimes it takes the simplest thing to change your life, for me it was one of these reports. I have come across a few of these since joining forums a few years ago. The first year I saw one we were in the moderate to liberal plan. I was just coming to the realization that if we kept living the way we were, that we would be homeless. We both had full time jobs, 2 vehicles with 2 car payments, just about the only thing we had going for us was that our apartment was pretty cheap for this area. A lady posted this report and I just about died. I have never realized that we spent that much money eating out. I went into super frugal mode. We went from eating out at least once a day, if not 2 times a day to almost homemade everything and no eating out. Looking back this was honestly one of those “turning points” in my life. So I want to share it with you too! Check out the USDA National Grocery Average Report I’m curious to see where everyone lands! Where does your family fall?

Make your Own Spices Series is a weekly series here at Frugal Farmhouse. To help you save money I will be sharing my homemade spice recipes each Monday. Stay tuned! Ingredients: 1 tablespoon garlic salt 1 tablespoon onion powder 1 tablespoon white sugar 2 tablespoons dried oregano 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 tablespoon dried parsley 1/4 teaspoon celery salt 2 tablespoons salt Directions 1. In a small bowl, mix together the garlic salt, onion powder, sugar, oregano, pepper, thyme, basil, parsley, celery salt and regular salt. Store in a tightly sealed container. 2. To prepare dressing, whisk together 1/4 white vinegar, 2/3 cup canola oil, 2 tablespoons water and 2 tablespoons of the dry mix. - I have no idea where this recipe came from. I printed it off years ago and there is no credit on it. If this is your recipe or you knows who it is PLEASE let me know so I can give you credit!

Last weeks menu plan was a big success. I only missed 2 days and we didn't eat out, we just ate leftovers. Chevy Man requires that the T-Bone Steak in the CP be put into our meal rotation! I was very good. So here is this weeks menu. Monday Breakfast- cereal Lunch- LO Dinner- cp shipwreck tuesday Breakfast-waffles Lunch lo Dinner-bb cups Wednesday Breakfast-toast Lunch- LO Dinner- chicken enchiladas with Homemade Tortillas Thursday Breakfast-toast Lunch- LO Dinner-chili and cornbread Friday Breakfast- toast Lunch- LO Dinner pizza Saturday Breakfast- waffles Lunch- LO Dinner- brown sugar meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn Sunday Breakfast- waffles Lunch- LO Dinner- Baked spaghetti and garlic bread (I didn't make this last week.) Check out Menu Plan Monday over at OrgJunkie What's your menu like this week?

Yeah, Yeah I know it is Sunday. But a day of planning is better than none at all right? Today: -Daily chores -Fold Clothes -Hang curtains in bedroom -Gather clothes for laundry day (tomorrow) -Game night at Mom's -Find a new home for a case of salsa :) -put laundry soap into containers Weekend Planning is a great idea over at My Happy House Molly has a great blog, with a super organized house, she is a great inspiration! What did you do this weekend?

Every once in a while (ok, more often than not...) I get this itch. Can't fight it Itch...What is it you ask?... Crafts. Ugh, they are my weakness. There are times when I get in crazy declutter mode and "try" to get rid of all my craft stockpile, and I pair down to the basics and then in a blink of an eye I go craft CRAZY!! I have been browsing through a lot of blogs the last few days and boy oh boy... there are some creative people out there! And dang it, now I have to go and pretend like I'm creative! So today I spent almost all day picking up supplies, for as cheap as possible :) Girls gotta stay on a budget! So I haven't gotten to do a lot with all my loot, but I'll show you a little sneak peak of what is to come in this Frugal Farmhouse :) These are from Crate and Barrel (click on the picture to see them and their price... EEK!) But I MUST have them!! Aren't these adorable? These are from PB... I'm beginning to love PB, for ideas that is! I'm ...

How to use Coupons is a weekly feature here at Frugal Farmhouse. Swing by and save some money! Image:projo.com If done correctly couponing can save you boat loads of money. It really is an art. There are such people out there claiming to be the “Coupon Queen” or “Money Saving Man” that will charge you X amount of dollars to teach you to use coupons. All you really need to know is already online for free! Back in 2006 I was drowning in our grocery budget. Let me preface this by saying I come from a family (on one side, whom I live closest to) where saving money is a low priority. They will shop anywhere just to get it down and over with, not because of a good deal. Why things like couponing never occurred to me to do, I’ll never know I am apart of a forum where money saving is a huge focus. Those gals seriously changed my life. I found my favorite website from a member there. I’ll share it a little later. The first thing you really need to learn is how to “speak” coupon. Instead of com...

Give it a Whirl Thursday will be a weekly column documenting triumphs and failures of frugal projects (yes, I realize this is blurry, I apologize.) Ingredients: 1 bar of soap (I used Zote) $1 1/2 c borax $.18 1/2 c washing soda $.21 2 gallons water Grate your soap. I used Zote and was very excited I found it at Family dollar!! Add 6 cups hot water into your pan, slowly add in your soap shavings. Once all the soap is melted add the borax and the washing soda. Stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and pour into large bucket. Add 4 cups hot water, stir until blended. add 1 gallon + 6 cups cold water to your bucket and mix well. Set aside and let sit for 24 hours. Its chunky and gel like. This is normal. Use 1/2 cup per load. Total for batch of soap $1.39 Which made 2 gallons of soap. 2 gallons=32 cups or 64 loads $.02 per load! Linking to

This is just about the best pizza dough I have come across. It only has to rise a short time (which is good for my schedule!) and the flavor is amazing! Ingredients : - 2 1/2 cups flour - 1 (.25 ounce) yeast - 1 tsp garlic powder - 1 tsp basil - 2 Tablespoon Olive Oil - 1 tsp salt - 1 Tablespoon sugar - 1 cup warm water Combine flour, salt, garlic, basil, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Mix in oil and warm water, let rise 30 minutes. Spread out on a large pan and bake 5-7 minutes. Top as desired and bake @ 375 for 20-25 minutes. I have found that the longer the dough rises the yummier this dough gets. But it is still great if you follow the directions. Our favorite toppings include pepperoni, cheese and homemade pizza sauce. I make pizza every Friday and use it as a way to clean out the little bits of food that no one will eat alone. I usually have corn, garlic, onion and mushrooms on my half of the pizza, all found in the depths of the fridge! If I throw it on the pizza it is much m...

Frugal Tip Tuesday is a weekly series here at Frugal Farmhouse. I want to share easy tips and tricks to help you along your frugal journey. How many times have you started making something only to realize that little container of buttermilk you bought 6 months ago is expired. Has it really been in there that long? Here is a quick way to make buttermilk out of regular milk. Ingredients: -Milk (just under 1 cup) -1 Tablespoon White Vinegar or Lemon Juice Put the vinegar (or lemon juice) in the bottom of a liquid measuring cup. Then fill it up to the 1 cup line with milk. Let it stand about 5 minutes. Then you have Buttermilk! It gets kinda chunky, this is normal. Now you can use it in any recipe just as you would buttermilk.