"Bringing Home the Bacon"

In an economy that is struggling, everyone seeks to find ways to cut costs, reduce unnecessary spending, build some sort of reserve (be it money or what have you), etc. I have found a renewed appreciation for a well stocked freezer.

With little intended effort, our box freezer in the garage is bursting with a wonderful variety of healthy non-processed yummy-ness: frozen fruits, frozen homegrown vegetables, shredded cheeses, homegrown chickens, venison, ground beef, a variety of roasts, an abundance of pork chops, a seemingly endless supply of bacon, and the pregnant woman's staple...ice cream. OH, I can't forget to mention the delicious homemade meals my mother put together and sent for us......her famous lasagna, pork and gravy, banana bread, etc.
(sigh)

With the variety of meat in the freezer which will inevitably last us well into the summer (hopefully), we have been able to use our grocery budget sparingly. It is a wonderful wonderful feeling. As the primary grocery shopper/cook/keeper of the food, finding ways to save in this area offers great satisfaction...especially when prices on staple food keeps going up and up and up. Can you believe that I can't get 1lb of lean ground beef here for under $2.50/lb (on sale!)?! Prices are insane! Needless to say, we are forever grateful that God provided a way for us to save enough money and purchase this house as soon as we did. With the space that we now have, we can grow much of our own produce, some poultry, and John can hunt on the remaining small pieces of land we won't be using. Never did I imagine myself turning into a little "farm wife" and actually finding satisfaction in it. But I am.