Sttttttrrrreeettcch IT...

[snapshot]

I also stretch milk with dry milk (half and half) and use it a lot-(by itself) for cooking, just don't tell dh! I am going to make yogurt with it tomorrow!

Oh no kidding! Have you made yogurt with dry milk before? Though, around here, dry milk is more expensive than fluid...

I also use it for cooking. I hate making the trip to town just because we're low on milk. According to DH, when we're down to a half gallon, we're seriously low.

I haven't done it yet but know folks who have! Tomorrow or Monday will be the day!!!!!!

 

[myzanya]

wow..love your ideas...inspiring..

snapshot..what would we do without rice...
ok...sounds bad...I am a coffee recycler..if anyone dosent finish theres...I add it to my stash container in the freaser..eather blend it sometime for a coffee slushie...or in baking...get a secret little thrill when what I use what hasn't directly cost me
I love love love your Idea of 1/2 powdered milk ...will try that...Milk is just getting insanly high here...

.Marianne I am not sure I have seen and autobody scuff pad...sounds great though..man it sounds like you know how 2 stretch a chicken
I love ice cube trays...too.....lots of leftover sauces have been used that way...though lately Have been trying more dehydrating of liquids but with varying sucess..
I have been meaning to try making yogurt...found a yogurt maker at a sale $1 . but the grocery store here is pritty good with mark downs...
Any yogurt or sour cream I store upside down...extends the shelf life...
do you have any tips on making yogurt

barredbuff..I really would like to get more into practicly raising..meats...but my hubby is a bit too tender heart...all we have are chickens and they all have names...but man I would like to get into that cost effectiveness....theres 2 acres for sale behind us...wish we could could by..but what they want for it is insane..

wannabefree I am gonna try that...as I really am sick of the high cost...of milk..and cringe even paying the cost for a bog of powdered.You must get a secret little thrill

Joel wow..I haven't used it in cooking very interesting idea...wish my hubby would take after your good habits...

 

[Marianne]

Here's a link for making yogurt that has just all the basic facts and information:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/nchfp/factsheets/yogurt.html

There are a lot of us on the forum that make yogurt, so we can offer tips if you run into problems or have questions. I make a gallon of yogurt every couple weeks or so. DS#1 and I love that stuff!

The autobody scuff pads? We both work for a company that sells them, so I always have a box of them somewhere around here. You might try an auto body supply place (NAPA), or even ask an auto body repair shop if they will sell you a couple. I'd think you'd be able to get them for a couple bucks or so. Some body shops buy them on a roll and then just tear off a piece as they need it. Same stuff, just packaged differently.

 

[BarredBuff]

myzanya, meat animals are not that hard to do. Id never done meats of any kind, hunted or anything. But I knew it was a skill I should most definitely have. So I here is how I do it: First I choose animals specifically for that purpose and usually are never repurposed. I have specific chickens for meat, The Cornish Rock cross, which are very cost effective to raise and time efficient as well. We have our first batch now, I have done 8 so far and really need to finish up on them. But I have learned my lesson on this batch, we ordered 25 but its sometimes hard to get all proccessed. So next batch I think 15 would be better then doing one in spring and fall. But these animals are difficult to get attached to. They are sometimes annoying at best. But they are specifically for meat I usually never use my laying hens as meat animals exceptt the ocassional rooster or any extra roos hatched off with the hens. For ducks (I dont recomend as meat animals) but anyway I have a pair and some of their young was butchered and the rest was sold. But In my opinion they arent good meat animals. Eat a lot and hard to process. Then rabbits the most efficient of all I have a quartet that is for breeding only they have names and I treat them like pets (which they are). But this set of young they are due for will be used for meat and brothes. They were bred a week apart that way for ease of slaughter.

We also are planning on getting a pig to kill. Plus raise a calf on our milk cow. But thats next year

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

I am wondering if we would like to share some get by strategies...that have helped you get through, or make things last longer...getting the most out of your dollar...

Mine.....slice sos steal pads in half....not only do I have twice as many...but often that is all I need for the job,

I have been cutting my pads in 6 pieces for years! I hardly even need a full pad. Just slice them up and put back in the box.

 

[Marianne]

All this talk about steel wool pads is taking me back, oh, 50 years??? I have this vague memory of my mother keeping a dinky piece of a used steel wool pad in a baggie, in the freezer.

I'll have to ask her about that, you know how some memories change as time goes on?

 

[Britesea]

I don't bother to buy evaporated milk anymore- If I have a recipe that calls for evaporated milk or half and half, I mix up some powdered milk extra thick- works fine and I don't have to worry about the leftover can or carton going bad on me.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

I have always loved the flavor of re-constituted evap milk, as well as dry milk. In MS..when my kids were small...we also got dried eggs from WIC. Myself and the kids all loved them. I can't afford dried milk anymore...but I do buy evap milk to make more when the gallon runs low. Can't find dried eggs either.....except from Survivalist websites.

 

[Marianne]

Ya, what's the deal with dry milk? It used to be so cheap to buy, sure isn't cheap now out here.

 

[Marianne]

Even though I grow tomatoes in the garden, I save them for salsa, spaghetti sauce, stewed tomatoes, etc. So I buy the big institutional cans of tomato sauce and tomato paste. In my area, they're a lot cheaper per ounce than buying the regular sized cans.

When I make a big pot of salsa or spaghetti sauce, I always put some tomato paste in the pot. Then I take the rest of the can of paste, and put large spoonfuls of it on wax paper on cookie sheets and put them in the freezer. After a couple hours or so, it's frozen enough that I can take the blops and put them in zipper bags.

The tomato sauce, I just put that in smaller containers and freeze.

And I save the wax paper liners that purchased cereal comes in. Cut it down the side and you have a sheet of heavy wax paper, too.