Not Your Typical Once A Month Freezer Meals Part 1

I read the blogs. I search pinterest. I studied, mulling and figured. But reality is, most of these recipes don't work for my kids. The foods needed don't work with what is available for me.

We use a lot of food bought at the amish/mennonite bent and dent stores. (There are tons in my area) We also buy food in bulk from a foster parent food program. We get our venison from relatives who hunt but don't need all the meat. We also can a lot of tomato products.  This makes it a bit more complicated to follow your typical OAMC plans, but it allows me to cook for way less money.

Dietary restrictions, the only one we have is gluten intolerance. We have found using potatoes and rice pasta are good substitutes. When I find a good deal on GF pasta, I stock up. I recently bought 30 bags of rice pasta for .75 each!  We can get fairly inexpensive produce from local produce stands, plus we grow some of our own. (not much, I simply can't keep up with a garden)

So I have in my basement, 2 large shelves of home canned goods, 3 shelves and 3 totes of bulk items from the Food Program, and 3 freezers.. a large, medium and small freezer.  

                                        

                                           

Medium and small freezer, prior to purchasing my large upright freezer!

I share all this to help you understand how it all works for me. In order to fit my budget, I use what we have... It is not your traditional "make a list and go to the closest Aldi's" OAMC.

Zoo..

We have many medical and foster care appointments, the require us to drive an hour or more.  When your childcare providers are expensive, sometimes it is cheaper to take the kids along and do a field trip before/after the appointments. The idea is, you don't need to pay a sitter and you get to do fun fieldtrip you might not otherwise.



Last week we had quite a few appointments and a crazy week, so I decided to make Friday a fun day.

                                     
                                        We packed a picnic that morning, loaded the van for a full day of fun and headed out around 8:30.

                                     

We were happy to have our friend Miss. A along for this fun day! The kids were so excited. 

We arrived at the zoo at 10 am. We had to wait a couple minutes for them to open, the kids were antsy to get going! 

The bears were a huge hit, the kids loved them!

We made it through the zoo in almost exactly an hour. 

We left the zoo and headed to the park. The kids love packing lunches and each carry their own lunch box. We try to pack special lunches instead of getting fast food. 

We enjoyed our lunch then had an hour of playtime at the park. It was a beautiful day to sit and chat while the kids ran and played. 

Finally it was time to clean up sweaty, dirty kids and head the the hospital for tests. Thankfully the park had a nice bathroom and everyone washed up nicely.

We were early to our appointment but they took us right back.
Now this is when you know you are homeschoolers... everyone crowded around, watching in awe, and asking questions as they did the test. It was really quite interesting, despite the level of stress involved for the momma.

The kids did a great job all day so Miss A offered to treat everyone to ice cream on the way home. Oh, the joy! Getting out of the car, going into the restaurant and buying ice cream cones, then sitting outside to eat them! Momma is NEVER patient enough for that! This was def a special day!


We arrived home just in time to get Nesiah off the bus! It was a day not soon to be forgotten by my kiddoes. It has been a long time since we did a fun day like this and it was much needed. 

God's Provision

Every year I get venison from relatives who are hunters.They shoot the deer, I pay the butcher for the butchering.  We get mostly burger and for the past 2 years have not had to buy any beef. It is a huge blessing.

Last year we got 4 deer butchered.  I used up the very last 2 packages on Sunday. I had looked into purchasing beef to hold me over until deer season.   But had not gotten it done.

On Monday morning, my father in law called to tell me that they had a doe for me. The meat would be ready the end of the week!

Today I picked up a huge laundry basket full of 2 lb packages of venison burger for $100!!! So incredibly blessed!

Second provision of this week. We have been  incredibly busy and I had need for sitters 3 days this week. A crazy week of appointments, some where I could easily take the kids and others where I truly needed sitters.
I was able to get friends to watch the kids, they even offered to watch the kids on days when they could go with me. The kids love this friend's house. They do their schoolwork and help her with her littles, so it can be helpful to both of us.

This morning once again this friend offered to watch my kids, so they didn't have to ride in the car with me for the two hours. #blessed