Healthy Choices

     OK, so, another long hospital adventure done, third time this year, even though we are still doing IV treatments at home for Andrew's infection in his central Nervous system. 
     With that said, and the fact that I actually am writing in my blog again, I have been thinking about ways to save money, have the family eat healthier and finding ways to have more time (especially now with the IV treatments taking up so much of my life and leaving little time left over for sleep, the family and just functioning in general.  One thing I did was to get groceries and prepare meal for nearly a month in two days.  It took some research on how best to go about it but it really paid off by saving me a few hundred dollars (or more....) for the month.  In fact, I ended up spending about two hundred less then I do just for two weeks and that was for nearly a month of groceries!
     However, it did cost me more sleep but the kids were helpful, when they could help and it ended up being kind of fun doing this with them too.  So, where did I save money?  Well first off, by having 'Ready to Eat' (practically) meals, my tendency to get fast food cause I'm too tired to cook a meal from scratch has been eliminated.  Not only does that save a TON of money but it is 100 times better for the family to have a home cooked meal without all the yuck that restaurants have to have in their food and honestly, for the time it takes to get take out... you really don't save that much time.
     Secondly, by preplanning and making a list, I tried to keep the types of meats limited, or, if I bought an additional meat, it had to be a bargain and for a specific reason or recipe.  Creating menus that did this and tripling them or quadrupling, meant that my ingredients could be purchased in bulk for less money and there was plenty to freeze for another night.  Buying this way really cut the costs.
     Investing in two stock pots (one regular and one non-stick) gave me the ability to speed up my cooking time for practically all the recipes.  I already have a vacuum sealer for food and invested in some Ball brand freezer containers, reusable of course.
     So with the meals outta the way, my next project is to make freezer jelly outta my grapes that I have growing in the back yard.  I would like to go to a U-pick orchard hopefully next pay day and get apples to make apple butter, but not sure if I will be able to afford it or not with Anna's B-day coming up and some additional bills and expenses.  It would be nice to be able to do it if at all possible though.
    Last but certainly not least, I am working on experimental baking and some other projects for the website I hope to launch in January, an on going project I have been preparing for, for some time now.  It's part of my 'Stone Creek Ministries Project' and will feature living a healthier lifestyle... physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually.  It's a huge project and with all that has been going on lately, my goal date seems more and more further from my reach but I will continue to plug away whenever possible with the hope that, just maybe, I might be able to make it without pushing the deadline further into the future.  However, bit by bit and here and there, I have been slowly getting closer to my goal.  If the progress continues, even if it takes longer than I hope, I will get to my goal. I'm still not into the phase where I can shoot videos yet, although I have the basic, very basic, equipment to start it with the option of get loan equipment from a TV studio that I'm affiliated with as a producer.
     Me and my many hobbies!  At least I'm not bored. lol.