Yall want to hear a funny story?

Apparently, two months or so ago, I indicated to MyBlogSpark that I was interested in doing a product review and I don’t remember it at all!  Can you say distracted?

A few weeks later, I got a package in the mail.  A really awesome insulated tote, a cool bowl and a box of a new type of Betty’ Crocker’s Suddenly Salad, which we are fans of in our house (when we can get it with a coupon of course).

It sat on my table for two weeks before I finally used the bowl, simply because I didn’t remember signing up and never had time to contact MyBlogSpark.  Finally, Laura from MyBlogSpark, emailed me and asked if I’d tried it.  We had.  But I told her I didn’t remember signing up and I could return it.  She said to go ahead and keep it!  Sweet.  Yall know I love me some free stuff!  And even better, there’s a package available for one of you!

Part of my gift pack was a sample box of the limited edition Suddenly Salad Greek Salad.  I hadn’t seen this one in the store yet but it sounded like something that Hunter would like.  Which would prove to be true when he pulled it out of the gift pack and cooked it one night when I was running late (thus determining that I was KEEPING the gift pack). 

Sorry for the blurry picture.  The box was gone by the time I got home so I found this one on the Betty Crocker site.  Suddenly Salad is perfect for those nights when you’re running late and need to throw together a side.  Our favorite is the Bacon Ranch version…I’ve created my own recipe based on it now for when we don’t have any on hand.  I like to keep my budget as low as possible but we also have to eat so some convenience food is a must.  The best part about Suddenly Salad sides is all you have to do is boil noodles, throw the included seasonings in there (and oil or mayo, depending on the type of salad) and you’re done.  A great perk is that Betty Crocker also makes some “suggested additions” for you to add to the final product.  I like to try different things to change it up some and sneak more vegetables in there when I can.

Hunter added some olives to this recipe because it was a suggestion on the box and he really likes them.  I don’t…blech!  The Greek Salad had a very strong, greek flavor to it.  I think we could have toned it down a bit and the kids would have liked it better.  It is a little strong, but it was a nice change and it went well with our grilled chicken.  Overall, the Greek Salad was a good side for our family.  It also tastes pretty good cold, as a leftover. 

If you’re interested in trying Betty Crocker’s Suddenly Salad, go to the Betty Crocker website first!  You can sign up for $150 worth of coupons!!!! 

The great part of this review
I have ONE gift pack to give away to one of my readers thanks to MyBlogSpark and Betty Crocker!!!  This gift  pack includes an insulated tote, a sample box of Suddenly Salad for you to try and a really cool bowl that is now one of my “go to” bowls.  All you have to do to win is leave a comment!  No other hoops.  I’ll leave this contest open until Wednesday, July 28th at noon if you’re interested in throwing your name in the hat!!!

Good luck!

Carrie

Here’s the legal mumbo jumbo for the “rule makers” (aka: the FTC) out there:  I was provided my gift pack by Betty Crocker which included the prize pack, information, and giveaway through MyBlogSpark.  I didn’t receive a penny for my thoughts as they are MY OWN.  My opinions and experiences are MY OWN.  One reader will also receive a gift pack from Betty Crocker through MyBlogSpark.  Thanks FTC for not harassing me.

A big thanks to MyBlogSpark for giving me this opportunity!

Two quotes that run through my head constantly at this point.

What is faith?  It is the confident assurance that what you hope for is going to happen.  It is believing in what you cannot yet see.

The beginning of anxiety is the end of true faith.

Just running through my head as I struggle with worry this weekend.  So many changes and so many things to consider.

Join me in prayer for calm assurance and peace.

Carrie

I know.  It’s July.  And it’s hot…8 billion degrees, right?  No one’s thinking of winter.

But it’s coming.  That much I do know.  And for us, winter typically means slow times.  Business gets slower.  Our income gets lower.  (Hey, that rhymes!)

Growing up, my grandparents always "put up" food.  By put up, I mean they canned and canned and canned food and frozen even more once they bought a massive chest freezer.  My Papa always had a huge garden and we all ate from it.  Good eats, as Alton would call it. One of my earliest memories is us playing out in the yard under an old oak tree in front of the house that is now dead and gone.  Only a hole remains.  Under that oak tree was a swing, rocking chairs and one of those green metal gliders (that I now want so badly).  And toys.  And a kiddie pool.  For weeks, they would sit out there, under the shade, and prepare food for canning; as we got older, we were allowed to do more.  Shucking and cutting corn off the cob.  Your arms would be covered with flying corn kernels.  Your hands would ache.  Papa would sharpen knives constantly. 

Green beans were snapped.  Okra was cut.  Peaches were peeled.  Berries were washed in big tubs of water and sorted.  I learned how to cut corn off the cob and how to snap beans and hull peas.  My cousins and I shucked corn until we grew tired and irritable and were told to go and play; we were slowing them down anyway, as young as we were!  We probably ate more berries than we sorted and gave ourselves plenty of belly aches.

I remember the kitchen being unbearably hot.  The AC never worked great in the old house.  Fans would be set up to move the air through the house.  Screened doors were standing open.  The smell of tomatoes cooking on the stove would permeate the house.  We were told to get out of the kitchen before we got burned.  Water bath and pressure canners were chugging steam into the air.  Lunch was sandwiches because everyone was too busy to cook a full meal (rare in my childhood as my Papa always cooked dinner).  The oppressive heat made for cranky children who’d swam in kiddie pools and played in the shade all morning.  Hot, sweaty naps usually followed.  And in the background, cans were popping as they sealed.

That was childhood.  And at the time, I never realized that other people did things any different.  I never realized that not everyone put up food.  Not everyone canned.  Not every child played in the yard while her family worked to make sure that they would have plenty of food for the coming winter.

But that’s what it was.  My family may have owned a small convenience store and tractor dealership in town but they were also farmers working hard to hang on to land that my dad and his brothers purchased.  And in the winter, not a whole lot is growing.  There’s no garden to eat from.  No way to supplement your grocery bill.  No way to really cut back when your heating bill is soaring, despite fires in the fireplace.  My grandparents had been born during the Great Depression.  My grandfather had survived a war.  They’d always lived in small, rural towns where families helped each other out.  Now, we’re so isolated in our "communities" that we don’t know when a family is struggling because we "mind our own business" and don’t pay attention.  We’re too caught up in our own lives to make sure our family is truly provided for in the event of major financial upheavals.  We’re too self centered to care anymore.  And I think it’s so terribly sad.  And that’s another post.

 
A few of my canned beans and spaghetti sauce

My childhood taught me that summers were about preparing for the coming winter.  Gardens, canning and working together as a family have always been a huge part of my life.  And slowly, it’s coming back.  I’ve said a lot how hard the bad economy hit my family.  Well it wasn’t just Hunter, the kids and I.  My extended family has struggled to make ends meet, to hang on to things and to get by.  And we’ve pulled together.  Hunter’s side of the family also relied on homegrown and preserved garden bounties to make ends meet. 

Hunter and JP prepping the garden last year

Our lives haven’t always been simple or secure.  And yes, there was a time when we’d gotten away from this lifestyle.  But, in the past six years, we’ve come back.  Our focus has been on providing more for ourselves, in being able to DO on our own.  We’re "self taught" as our parents weren’t always for doing it on their own.  Their generation is when I feel like we began to rely on others more for providing us with the basics we need to survive.  Not that I blame them.  They watched their parents struggle and wanted a different life.  Now they are working just the same as us to bring those old ways of life back.  I’m so glad they still remember how to do things.  The older generation I knew is nearly gone.  I miss my grandparents more than I can put into words.  I wish I’d have paid more attention.  I do.  Now, I am teaching myself. 

Winter’s a comin.’  It’s on its way. Canning season is beginning.  And freezing.  Over the next few weeks, I’m going to talk more about what we’re doing to store up food for the winter.  That sounds so old fashioned!  But its what we’re doing.  It has saved our butts over the past few years.  Sometimes, I feel like people look at me like I’m crazy or that they look down on me for canning, like we can’t afford anything else.  That’s not my reasoning.  We could easily buy mass produced canned products with coupons like the rest of the world.  We choose to do this and I have to say…it tastes WAY better!

Do you and your family do any canning or other food preservation for the winter?  Are you trying your hand at food preservation for the first time this year? 

Carrie