Thinking Days

Thankfully this semester I am blessed to have Thursdays and Fridays off. That's huge for me! In addition to allowing time to get chores and housework done, I have two full days for the grad student's trinity -- writing, reading, and research. I call these my "Thinking Days" and I meant it. These two days give me time to breathe, time to work, and time to think.

A photo of Evie from Kallie's iPod. Somehow it looks so tender and sweet. I love it

So, here's some of the things I've been thinking about...

Neil Gaiman's journal is really cool. I've known about Gaiman for a year or so now. I know, his fans probably consider that previous statement unfathomable, but what can I say? I'm learning. If you are interested in writing, writers, or Montana you should really follow this blog. I love to know how other writers (especially famous published ones) feel about the craft. I love to hear about their rituals and habits. If you do too then enjoy!

I am by no means even slightly knowledgeable when it comes to good photography, but like the Supreme Court, I know it when I see it. I somehow stumbled upon this blog, and I LOVE it! I am amazed by each photo, especially the portraits. I love to image who these people were and how they lived their lives. Seriously, add this to your reader now!

I guess this last thing ties the two previous sites together, sort of. Lately, I've become really interested in oral histories and specifically those of Southern women and literacy. The SFA has an amazing oral history/documentary project underway! It combines the things most important to Southern folks, food, people, and stories. I'm going to be beginning a little oral history project of my own. I'll tell you more about that as it unfolds. I'm really excited about it!

I'm using my Thinking Days for thinking about a whole bunch of other stuff, too. But this is the best of it. Gotta go, lots more thinking to squeeze in to the next two days!

Much Love, --J

Goals, not resolutions

This year I'm calling my plans for this new year goals, not resolutions. Resolutions never last (at least for me), but I have some success in reaching goals. So, that's it. This year's goals are: keep the blog current, read the Book of Mormon daily (personally and with the family), do some sort of physical exercise each weekday, write 500 words a day (personal or academic), and take at least one photo a day. I want to remember these wonderful, crazy, whirlwind days!

So today's photo...

Sweet little girl hands with freshly painted nails. Swoon!

I wonder what else I'll see this year? What are you hoping to accomplish in 2012?

Much Love, J

As Corny as Kansas in August

--

We shucked, cleaned, and prepped the corn and ended up with 35 ears and a bunch of creamed corn. However, I thought this photo best depicted the magnitude of the job. My helpers did all the shucking (and jiving?) while I washed, trimmed, blanched and bagged. Although I had more individual tasks our workload was about even. I'm proud of my little workers.

Here's to hoping your summer is corny, too!

Much Love,
--J

News

The Country Vaughns got some big news this week. I've been accepted into the PhD program in Composition and Rhetoric at the University of Alabama. We are super excited at what all this entails! I've been offered a graduate assistantship as well, which means a move is required. In the next few months the Country Vaughns will be in full renovation completion mode so that we can get Vaughn Farms on the market and hopefully (fingers and toes crossed)sold. That's right, the plan is to bid farewell to this little piece of land and move the country mice to the city.

The kids are excited at the idea of living "in town" where they can ride bikes, play sports, and possibly (gasp) walk places!

For now, we're enjoying little league basketball season, my student teaching (I LOVE IT!!!), and just being together.

So, we'll see what happens over the next 6 months. It should be exciting, stay tuned!

Life-changing

This may sound ridiculous but I've made a recent discovery that has changed my life! I love to cook and expecially love to bake; but, my free-time is venturing into the negative now with no remission in sight. In the past I've seen lots of recipes that call for using frozen bread dough but I've never found any at my local store. That is, until I noticed that Sam's Club sells their frozen pizza dough by the case. I really like their pizza crust and thought having some on-hand might cut down on the take-out and frozen pizza purchases. Plus, it is pretty cheap, $19.95/case of about 20-25 dough balls. Anyway, here's the life-changing part...

I've discovered that I can use this dough for all kinds of stuff - cinnamon rolls, hot sandwiches, calzones, really anything bread-related - just thaw, roll-out, and bake. AWESOME!! I'm so excited I just had to share!

Once again, something so simple and ordinary has made me happy. I doesn't take much!

PS - K just told me tonight that he actually got the case for only $16.00 at our Sam's even though it was marked as $19.95. Another use? Hawgs in Sleeping Bags (ie big pigs in a blanket). I rolled the dough out, cut it into long strips, laid pieces of cheese on the strips, and wrapped them around hot dogs. Bake at 400 for 20minutes - YUMMY!!!

Big Fat Flop

So, as you know if you've ever read this blog before, our lives here at Vaughn Farms are all about experimentation. We just jump in to new things feet first and sort out a lot of details later. Whatever, it makes life interesting and we try never to be wasteful of money, resources, etc. Most times we're successful and things turn out okay. Sometimes, like today, things turn out to be a BIG FAT FLOP. And I mean like a fat man belly first off the high-dive flop.

As you also may remember we're experimenting with goat meat. Until today its been fine. I've mixed the ground meat with ground beef and no biggie. Well, I found this Martha Stewart recipe for "smoky beef tacos" and thought I'd try it with the shoulder roast I got from the goat.

I put the meat, spices, ancho chiles in chipotle sauce, and some other things in the crockpot to simmer all day. The meat cooked perfectly and it all smelled divine. Time for the taste test...

I pulled out the few bones in the roast. So far so good. Next I shredded the meat, looks yummy. I speared a bit of the tender meat with a fork for a taste...hmm, very faint, slight whangy flavor. I think I can handle that. It tastes mostly like beef roast. Then it hit me...like a flamethrower to the throat...too much ancho chili...way too much...way, way too much.

MY MOUTH IS ON FIRE!!!!!

And I can feel the chili burning my guts. We cannot eat this for dinner. Thankfully, K is at Wal-Mart picking up a few things on his way home. Doubly thankful, he's a good sport and just laughs off my escapades like Ricky laughs at Lucy.

So, frozen pizza it is. Oh well, if things never failed I'd probably get bored. Right? Right? Riiiiight, I'll just keep telling myself that. ;)

PS Marshal is enjoying the "smoky tacos" as we speak. See? No waste.

Thrifty Thursday

To recap, when I was asked to teach a class at church recently about saving money on food and cooking healthy meals I divided the information into three parts. I've already posted on the first part - PLAN. Today its time for the second part - EXPERIMENT.

By experiment I mean

• try different cost saving measures and find what fits your style and comfort level. There are many, many options including: Coupons, freezer meals, crockpot meals, stocking up, shopping sales at multiple stores, etc. Not everything works for everybody; try a few methods to find what works for you.
• try new recipes. Again, it may be a flop but it also might become a family favorite.
• 30 Meals in One day is a great resource. I used this program with my sister and we both cooked 30 freezer meals for about $150 for each of us.
• Make your own freezer meals. Make double recipes of family favorites and freeze the second recipe.
• Make your own mixes. I make my own pancake mix and my own muffin mix. You can make your own "Bisquick" type mixes too. The Make A Mix cookbook series is available from Amazon and other retailers.
• Ask your friends and family for their own tips and tricks. Then try them on for size, they just might be a perfect fit!

So, that's it for this Thursday. I've also got two new websites you can check out. These come compliments of my friend Vanessa, a fellow frugalista. She uses www.babycheapskate.com and www.moneysavingmom.com. Thanks Vanessa!

Remember, experiment and try something new, you just might find saving money is easier and more fun than you think!

Thrifty Thursday

This week's tip is a quick one. I love to sew and always have ideas for what I want to make but can never find the right pattern. Plus, I hate spending money on patterns when I probably will only use them once! While googling "free dress patterns" the other day I found the site http://www.burdastyle.com/ . It is AWESOME!!! There are scores of free or super cheap ($2-$4) and very,very chic patterns. On top of that there are "creations" and tutorials that you can view and use. Many of these are variations of the basic patterns Burda sells. Again, awesome!

While browsing last night I found a pattern for a dress that I'd seen and torn from a magazine over two years ago! The dress is awesome and I can't wait to download the pattern and make my own. Today I found a chic and trendy jacket pattern that is now on my immediate to-do list! The patterns are all rated and reviewed too so you can get tips from people who've used them.

If you sew you've got to check this site out. Be prepared to spend some time there though, because you will totally be inspired by all the creative folks who've contributed to this site! In addition to clothes there are baby patterns, accessory patterns even home and pet patterns!!!

Now, save money on some clothes and get to sewing!

Thanks to All

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who commented or emailed with tips for healthy cooking on a budget. I taught the class last night and it went really well! I'm probably the person who learned the most, though. So, again, thanks for helping me and imparting some great tips, hints, and recipes. I'm considering sharing these with all of you and making it a regular feature. What do you think? I will of course give attribution to the person who shared the tip/recipe with me. But, would anyone be interested? Let me know!

30 meals in a day

My sister, Sara, and I decided it would be worthwhile to have a marathon cooking session and make 30 freezer meals in one day. Her friend Jeni has done this a couple of times and has this neato computer program with menus, recipes, and it even calculates your shopping list for you. Jeni let us use the software and we made our menu, each did our shopping and met at my Mom's for a day of cooking. (We also had 5 kids under 8 in tow and Sara is 8 months pregnant)
At first it was a little intimidating as the kitchen was covered with food, pots, pans, kids, etc. But once we got started and got a few meals done we were on a roll. We started at about 10am and worked all day finishing the last meals and washing the dishes at about 5:30pm. We actually cooked about 15 meals each but since most serve 8 we split them in two ending with 30 meals each.

It was a long day. We had a few mishaps like when I suggested we boil all the pasta and then AFTER cooking read the recipe which said DO NOT BOIL THE MANICOTTI. And then there was the stock pot full of Mexican chicken sauce that spilled all over me. But, we had tons of laughs and a great day. We were exhausted by the end. But, its nice to know that the freezer is stocked with dinner for about a month!

My Dad was nervous as he watched us invade and proceed to destroy my Mom's kitchen. Thankfully, she was at work and we finished and cleaned before she made it home! All the work was worth it and I ended up spending LESS on those 30 meals than I usually spend on 13-15 meals! Woo-Hoo, I'm all about saving money!

I think we will defintely do it again. We've already got plans for improving our strategy. #1 on that list - read the recipes. Always a good idea, no?

All this leads me to a question for you! What money saving food tips, ideas, or recipes do you have? I need to know b/c apparently the word has gotten out a church about our cooking day and now I've been asked to teach a class on cooking healthy foods on a budget! What?! Word obviously spreads fast, we only did this on Tuesday! I haven't even been to church since Sunday. Anyway, any knowledge that you will share with me would be greatly, truly appreciated. Thanks! Love you all!

We're still here!

Just wanted to jot a quick post...We're still here and hanging on. School, church, work, and just life in general has got us pretty busy right now! It's mid-terms for me, basketball for Holdyn, house renos on top of work for K, and days of dress-up and "fairy flying school" for the girls.
I'm reading all your blogs almost daily even though I may not be commenting. Please know you make me smile and keep me going many times!
Love to you all!!!!!
-J

Helping a friend

Attention all sewers: A bloggy pal, ipost, needs some help. Her kids' school is trying to become a national green school (pretty cool, huh?). In an effort to reduce cafeteria waste and raise funds to make necessary changes they are selling cloth napkins at school. Here's the catch, the demand for napkins is outpacing the supply and their few sewers can't keep up. Anyway, if you've got some scrap fabric and a little time they need some 9x9 and 12x12 napkins stitched up and donated. All that has to be done is edge finishing. Go here to find out more...

PS It's a great way to get rid of those scraps you know you have! :)

What have you done?

I've seen this list posted by several bloggie friends and thought that I'd try it, too. Here's what you do: Copy and paste to your blog then boldface the things you've done. It's kind of interesting. Some I hope to acheive in this life, others not so much (see #97). Anyway, if you decide to post this yourself, comment and let me know!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29 Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33 Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41 Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45 Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60 Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67 Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the paper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Pretty good for 32. I'd love to see your list!

Look, I did it myself!

Usually I have my super-talented sister, Sara, update my blog background. However, she just moved back to the states from China, is pregnant, and has two other little terrors (j/k) to chase after. She's busy and right now I've got time. So, I decided that I'd try this again on my own and it actually worked!!!!
Yea me!
Hope you enjoy the new look.

Pioneer Spirit

There's an old saying most of us have heard before. It goes something like this, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!" It's a great motto to live by always but especially in these more difficult times. As I've said before, we're striving for a simpler life here on Vaughn Farm. That means lots of repurposing - especially where animals are involved. Here's what I mean...

This is our scrap wood bin. K made it last year after we were nearly all killed by a scrap wood avalanche when we opened the barn doors. We've been living here for 4 years and remodeling just as long. Needless to say, we've collected a lot of wood. We try to use it as much as possible. For example...
Casa de la Goaties was built by K for the 3 Billy Goats Vaughn to live in. Although, they don't really sleep in it (they're somewhat intelligence challenged). All this leads up to yesterday. It's cold here in AL (by our standards at least); it was 33 degrees last night. We were worried that the chickens might get too cold over night so we worked for about 3 hours and built this...
Well, it ended up looking like this...

A cozy home for our 8 girls and 1 guy. We added a light and the place was perfect. Except, the ding-a-lings did not use it! Well, I guess they DID use it. They spent all night on the roof! All that work to keep them toasty and they sleep OUTSIDE anyway. The more I deal with chickens the more I understand the term "Bird Brained"!

Hey Ya'll, Look What I Made!

So, I had this funky quilt top that I found a few years ago at my Grandma's house. It was bright and colorful but made from double knits so it wasn't very cozy. I kept it, knowing that one day I'd find something to do with it.
This is my first project conceived and completed since the kids have started school and I'm sooo excited! I took the quilt top, split it in half, added a backing made from an old sheet, added some cute hot pink gingham fabric to the bottoms and, Voila! Curtains for the girls' room.


Then the search for appropriate curtain rods, etc began. After looking through stores and not finding anything I liked for a decent price I came up with this idea.....

Two 1/2 inch dowels cut to size, $1.99 at Home Depot.


4 eyelet screws (with holes large enough for the dowels to fit through), $0.40 at HD

14 curtain clips, $2.89 at Wal-Mart

4 wooden drawer knobs, free (I already had these)

1 can "Watermelon pink" spray paint, $2.89 at Wal-Mart

First, I painted everything. Then, I screwed the eyelet screws into the wall on either side of the windows. Next, I strung the clips onto the rods and fit the rods through the eyelet holes. After that, I hot glued the wooded knobs onto the ends of the rods. Finally, I clipped the curtains onto the rods and look what I got--

As with the rest of this place, the girls' room is a continuous work in progress. Notice the lovely two-toned walls where the old pink wallpaper is peeling off (courtesy of the kids, of course). But these curtains (I think) are so cute and they really fit Evie's and Kallie's styles! I can't wait to get thier reactions after school today. Well, off to finish laundry.