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Have you heard the one about the homeschooling family that lives on less than $22K a year in an area that costs above 100% (116%) of the National CoL Index?

I haven't quite figured out why so many people still persist in perpetuating the myth that living on a single income and homeschooling on a dime aren't possible. I can only suppose these are people who can't imagine life without a daily trip to Starbucks and dinner out several times a week. The people who actually shop at malls (*shudder*) and think "Brand Name = Best". The people who really live by the "Keeping up with the Joneses" mentality.

That? Would not be us!

Welcome to our world. We cook from scratch. Buy from thrift stores. Find 95% of our homeschool materials for free. This is my blog and this is how we do it.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Apple Recipes.

One of my purchases this week was 10 lbs. of apples for $5.50. I don't know about your area, but for us, this was a steal. Normally the best I can hope for is about $.88 a pound, and typically they would run me $1.10 or more. Now, of course, even spending $5.50 on apples when we have such a small budget probably seems crazy, but when I find sales like this, here's how I use my apples.

I pull 4 of the "best" ones from the bags. These will be sliced and eaten raw.

Next, I take out 4 apples to make APPLE BUTTER. I follow this recipe, except I cut it in half to make 16 servings and I use half the recommended sugar. Because ground cloves cost too much, I use allspice instead. Also, I puree it in a blender once it's cooked down. I make this in my smaller crockpot (1.5 quarts). Apple butter is served with muffins at breakfast or on toast as a snack in the afternoon.

All the rest of the apples go into my larger crock pot to become applesauce. I peel the apples, chop them and put a layer in the crock pot. I sprinkle the layer with a bit of brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon sugar. I keep building layers until I've used up the apples. I then add about 1/2 cup water. I cook these on low until they're nice and mushy, but still with some chunks as my kids prefer. We serve applesauce as a side dish with chicken or ham.

I also use some of the applesauce to make APPLESAUCE MUFFINS, one of my daughter's favorite muffins.

In this way, I use up all 10 lbs. before running the risk of the apples going bad and I get 1 snack - the raw apples; 3 breakfasts - the muffins; and 3 sides - the applesauce, per person. Plus there's the apple butter, too. I keep my apple butter and applesauce in the fridge and it lasts a couple of weeks. It would probably last longer than that - but we've eaten it all by then, so I've never tested how long it would last before spoiling!

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2 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am new to your blog but saw it on Old fashioned education list. I am trying to do better on our single income so I have come to learn and I like to plan.

June 5, 2007 at 6:37 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oops I forgot to leave my name Christy

June 5, 2007 at 6:38 AM  

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