Mrs. Diane Eflin

Update: Here is more info from Mrs. Diane that she promised to share. She included some great websites to try out!  

Hello ladies! I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to get this information to you. Life while homeschooling five kids just seems to fly by at lightning speed! Here are some links to the items that I was telling you about.

www.savingdinner.com  This is where I signed up for the newsletter and received free samples of their traditional menus (6 recipes with shopping list). I purchased their freezer menu here http://savingdinnershop.com/menus/freezer-menus/. If you get on their email list, they have sales several times a year. I use these as examples to do the same thing with my favorite recipes. They also have cookbooks at the library.

Here is a blog post about The Ten Steps to Freezer Cooking.  Don’t forget to double bag! http://www.ringaroundtherosies.net/2012/02/freezer-cooking.html

Here is the recipe that I made. http://www.ringaroundtherosies.net/2012/04/more-freezer-cooking-meals-part-3.html

There are a couple of things that I forgot to mention!

Try getting together with a group to prep meals. You can each pick a recipe that you like. Figure out who will buy what. Choose a house to meet at and work together to prepare. Figure the total cost and divide by the number in your group. You can split the cost, split the work, and have several meals to put in the freezer. Best of all, you get the fun of working together and socializing!

I LOVE Penzey’s Spices! They have a store in downtown Old Overland Park, right next to the clock tower. You can see what they have online at http://www.penzeys.com/. They sell fresh dried spices in bulk or in the jar. They are so much fresher and less expensive than what you can buy in the grocery store. Go in and check out the wonderful smells and then sign up for their mailing list. This is important! They will send you periodic catalogs with coupons for free products! There is no better way to try out something new than when it is free! Another point to note, the coupons don’t really expire. They will honor them for up to a year.

Don’t forget that you can make healthy food for your babies as well. You can save so much money by making your own baby food! For our last little guy, we followed a different feeding schedule, not starting grains until after the first year. He lived on meats, eggs, fruits, and veggies. I would buy pastured raised chicken and grass fed beef from Whole Foods. This is expensive meat but when I calculated the cost of jarred baby food beef and what I was making, mine was still less expensive per ounce and so much better for the baby. When you make your own, you can actually taste it and not be grossed out! Cook your foods, puree, and freeze in ice cube trays. Transfer to ziplock freezer bags. Now you can pick a variety of foods to put in the fridge to thaw for a tasty and healthy meal for baby. It is even easy for the baby sitter to use.

If you ever have a question, please feel free to contact me at mom2five@eflin.org.

Renew was extremely blessed last week to meet Diane Eflin. She shared her "awesomeness" of her kitchen with us. We also have her yummy recipe coming this way soon!  

Mrs. Diane has been married to her husband Brian for 21 years.  She is a homeschooling mom to Christopher (16), Elizabeth (13), Alexandria (10), Rebecca (7), and Joshua (3).  She has spent many years trying to find creative ways to save money and time- which can both be found in short supply at times!  She loves to cook but it seems like it often takes too much time and eating out isn’t an option as it can be costly for seven and pretty unhealthy too.  Diane started out cooking Hamburger Helper and canned veggies before finding out that they were not healthy options either.  Now she likes to explore menu planning, freezer meals, meals that can be prepped and frozen but cooked fresh, and meals that can just be whipped up quickly!  Diane also enjoys grinding her own wheat, baking her own bread, and buying raw milk from local farmers to make yogurt, buttermilk and kefir.  She is also learning how to make her own cleaning supplies.  Diane believes what that bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:19, that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit and that we should be diligent to keep our bodies healthy.