[Mrs. Hoppes]

Grow as much of your own veggies as you can. Buy in season produce from local farmers and can or freeze for the winter.

Have a root cellar. It can be boxes in a garage or in a basement. Things like potatoes, butternut squash, acorn squash, granny smith apples (which get sweet as time goes on), can all be stored as is and you have "fresh" produce in the middle of winter.

Go in with someone on a cow or raise your own food on the hoof. (For us, it's goats, chickens, turkeys, guineas, rabbits. And if the dog keeps me up all night barking again, I'll look up some Korean recipes and cook him too!)

Save spaghetti jars and store sugar and flour in them to keep out ants and other pests. It also makes for a great "premeasured" amount when baking. (Example: Just dump two jars of flour, add oil, a couple of eggs, milk, and baking powder for pancake batter.)

Canning in season fruit is much better than buying the canned fruit in a store. Opening a jar, heating it on the stove with a bit of honey and mashing the fruit down makes a great, easy, healthy, tasty breakfast syrup. (I don't remember the last time my children had Mrs. Butterworth's. Restaurant maybe?)

Someone asked me how much I would need to can for apples. I said 50-60 quarts. I was looked at funny until I explained.

52 weeks a year. That gives a jar a week for a family of 5. That really isn't all that much. Apple butter, apple sauce, apple pie filling. 50-60 jars total for all that sounds like a lot until it is broken down.

And, as is already touched upon, when it comes to growing or raising your own food, have it be food that you will eat. We got 11 free roosters a few months back because the people who raised them don't like chicken. We have them here and will be butchering them soon.

A friend of mine grows basil. She hates basil. But, she grows it. She harvests it and gives it away and as a result of picking the basil leaves, it gets bigger and bushier and she picks more and gives more away and it becomes a vicious cycle. (Fine for me. I like pesto. LOL) I asked her why she grew it and she said "Seems like the thing you're supposed to grow. Tomatoes, peppers, basil, and green beans."

If you don't like it, don't grow it. If you like it, but don't like growing it, find someone to trade with. My family loves green beans. I hate growing them things. More specifically, I don't like harvesting them. I am hoping to find someone to trade with. I've traded stuff before with local farmers. Pumpkin butter, raw honey, etc for fresh, organic produce.

Stock up the pantry with local produce and it will definitely work out to less than $10.00 per week.