Teach your children well...

My son has taken to reading food labels when he's bored...and he is a bit TOO eager to show me ingredients in food that I've missed. Like the high-fructose corn syrup in our bread. Yes, in the BREAD. I thought I was doing a good thing switching to wheat bread...and amazingly nobody in my family complained. But, I have to confess, it was the cheap wheat bread. Not the good whole grain stuff. I did this innocently enough, however...and could only say that once I knew better, I did better. Now I buy whole grain bread....even though it's a bit more expensive. It's worth it. I'm learning that being frugal can't always equate to cheap. And, as we've all learned at some time or another...you get what you pay for. In the case of bread vs. frugality...buy good bread when on sale and store in your freezer. Voila! Cost effective!

OK...so back to my son and label reading. He found that jelly has high-fructose corn syrup in it. And honestly, I had never thought to even look! You know how you just get used to buying what you buy without paying attention? Well, that's what happened with the jelly. If it was on sale, I was buying it. Period. But...the REAL challenge now is to combine good, healthy, whole food AND cost-effectiveness. But really...back to my son...(man I sure get side-tracked)...his thought is that the only way we'll be able to get good jelly or jam without the additives is to make it ourselves. Hm. Novel idea, son. (My grandmother DID say I could have all of her canning equipment...hmmm..)

Let me just say that this one sentence...well, and reading my bible from Genesis to Revelation (I'll go into this more at another time...)...and looking at country property...turned a light on in my head and led me on this wild goose chase of gathering information about sustainable living and organic gardening and preserving what I grow and raising chickens and equipping our home with renewable energy sources.

So...to make a long story even longer...this blog will not only focus on frugal feasts...it will also focus on frugal living in general. Simplicity, if you will.

And now...off to help Ian check labels.