Living on Little: Pumpkin Tutorial to COME

WHEW!
My husband’s company re-hired him without a lapse, therefore avoiding the gap of employment and the tremendous loss of retirement revenue from his pension. We feel utterly blessed to have renewed security, but we learned some lessons. We’re finding ways to spend less. Even with a generous income and thrifty habits, we can easily save more than we have been.
We started by celebrated his new contract by buying two family sized pizzas at Papa Murphy’s. We got a “Papa’s Favorite” and a “Chicken Bacon Artichoke on Original Crust.” SO DELICIOUS! We bought the pizza on Tuesday for the ten-dollar any size any type special. So we got more than two meals worth for $20. THATS A BARGAIN and a great way to celebrate.

I’m buying jack-o-lantern pumpkins to carve into exotic Halloween décor and then can the next day for pies, muffins, and soup. I’ll post a cooking/canning tutorial. You’ll need a big pressure cooker. Buy them before Halloween. Prices go up immediately after Uncarved, they’ll last months if they aren’t bruised. (The pumpkins in my garden never really got going)

As far as living on food storage goes, I realized that our bodies tolerate 100% whole wheat flour just fine when it’s white wheat. I mixed in some red wheat into the flour to see how it went. Not so good. The line out of the song “Oklahoma” comes to mind. . .”When the WIND comes sweeping down the plain.” That wind was sweeping away our friends!
 I think I’d be wise to get rid of the red wheat I have stored. (let me know if you want some!) 
The granola recipe I recently posted is a keeper. I fiddled with the oil to lower the fat with poor results.
Peanut butter used as a substitute for some of the oil in muffins is a good thing.
Chocolate chips make any muffin better. Think about the peanut butter substitute and the chocolate chips. . .OH MY!
I tried to make a gluten free muffin with ground flax seed used for the main flour. I used the list of ingredients on the side of store-bought chocolate gluten free  muffins to create some rubber hockey pucks. I had substituted whole eggs for frozen egg whites and that might be part of the problem. I also overdid the xanthum gum.  I think I need more water in the batter, too. It was about the consistency of half-dry concrete going into the oven and just more rubbery coming out. I’ll try again soon.
I’m going to cave and start looking for a kitchenaid stand mixer…used…or on sale the day after Thanksgiving. It’s one gadget that I think I’d use and make pay for itself. I’ve never known anyone to who didn’t love theirs. I’ve hesitated because that would make me irrevocably a ‘foodie’. Most foodies are fat. I don’t want to be fat.  What a dilemma!