I had a few articles I wanted to share.  To much to put into this vid, thought you might want to take time to check them out.

Obama to unveil $3.8 trillion budget

Senate votes to hike debt cap by $1.9 trillion

Reducing U.S. debt: Ideas from the Hall of Lame

BROKE!

Obama’s budget includes record deficit

Urban unemployment grows

Recently a dear friend asked me if I would like a dehydrator she was no longer using.  I was just so excited!  I’ve been canning for over 15 years and I would never give that up.   However dehydrating has many benefits.  It saves a LOT of space and properly stored many items can last up to 30 years.    Standard guidelines on canned goods are 1 year, although myself and many canners have used them well past that and they were just fine.

My main interest in dehydrating is time savings, space savings and long term storage.

This is the dehydrator I have except that mine has 4 trays.  I love it, enough that I will be getting a larger  Excalibur
one ASAP.

Below is what I’ve been dehydrating in the past week.  The bag of corn was a 1kg (2.2 lb) frozen bag, it now fits in just 1 medium zip lock bag!  Each bag of peppers had taken up 4 medium zip lock bags before dehydrating.  We bought lots on a case sale last summer, diced and froze them. The bottom right are blueberries.  Last week a local store had 600 g tubs of frozen wild organic blueberry’s on sale.   Now these will be easy to add to yogurt or baked goodies!  On the bottom left are banana chips, or what is left at them.   lol  The kids just love them!

We haven’t had many snow storms this year, overall our winter has been mild.  Last night the wind picked up and squalls started.  Glad to be at home by a warm fire!  During this our southern  friends are gardening! LOL

Check out Hopefl1’s patio garden vid, it’s doing great!  I can’t wait for our snow to go away and get back to planting!

I decided to join Crystal at Money Saving Mom and FishMomma at Life as Mom in the freezer cooking day.  Although in my case I’m spreading it out over a few days.  I find with many young little ones it’s much easier to spread the work out this way.

I actually started a few days ago and a little differently from many people.  I’m partly emptying my freezers! Yes I’m working at taking many of the vegetables and fruits out and dehydrating them.  This will save us a lot of freezer space and keep them in good condition longer then freezing.

Below is my plan although it may change depending on the sales this week.

My OAMC list for the next few days:

• Smooth Marmalade x 2
• Grapefruit Marmalade
• dehydrate blueberries
  
• dehydrate zucchini from freezer
• Whole wheat bread x8
• Blueberry muffins x 2 batches
• Waffles
• BBQ marinated chicken

This vid was done about 4 days ago, but I still wanted to share it.  Some interesting points, we could be getting a lot of taxes coming our way in the next year!

Budget ax falls on New York

25 State Unemployment Funds Bankrupt; Credit Card Defaults at Record Levels;
Look on the Bright Side

Two Dozen States Unemployment Funds in the Red, Nine More Within Six Months

More and more states on budget brink

Massachusetts schools brace for deep cuts

The national debt for both the USA and Canada continues to grow when does it end??

Debt ceiling fight: It’s back

Vlog about my new job and about debit cards

10,000 jobs cut at Sam’s club could this be a sign of green shoots????

Sam’s Club cuts 10,000 jobs

One of my hubby’s favorite suppers is Sheppard’s pie.  I’ve experimented with different variations over the years.  So far this is our favorite.  I made this for supper yesterday, all the ingredients except the beef were from our gardens last summer.  The beef is from a local farmer.  I love having home canned foods on hand to make cooking go quicker!

A note on the recipe below.  The spice measurements are approximate, by “eyeball”.  I rarely measure spices when I’m cooking.  Before serving simply adjust the spices to suit your family’s taste.

Sheppard’s Pie

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 medium onion
• 1 quart crushed tomatoes
• 1 pint (2 cups) peas
• 1 tps salt
• 1 heaping TBS parsley
• 1 heaping TBS basil
• 1 heaping TBS garlic powder
• 1/2 TBS pepper
• mashed potatoes

Fry ground beef until browned.  Add onions and cook until meat is done and onions start to soften.

Add tomato sauce, spices and peas.  Bring to a boil and cook 10 minutes.

Spread meat mixture into a baking pan and top with mashed potatoes.  If desired sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese and parsley.   Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until the top starts to crisp.

Monday: Baked chicken breast, mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies.

Tuesday: Sheppards Pie, mashed potatoes, garden salad.

Wednesday: Hamburgers and fry’s.

Thursday: Stir fry, rice.

Friday: Baked tomato pasta, garlic bread, ceasar salad.

Saturday: Pizza, garlic strips, salad

Sunday: Roast, scalloped potatoes, carrots.