Warning! Being frugal can backfire!

It can lead to a spoiled husband asking you to spend lots more time in the kitchen! That's not good considering my stove and I really aren't bff's. In fact, I'm not sure I'm even on a first name basis with any appliance in my kitchen other than the fridge. While I really try to be a good housewife, sometimes I feel like I should be in one of those pictures in my apron with the big red "FAIL" written across it.

Anyhoo...

A while back I had frozen some strawberries that were on the verge of going bad but I didn't know what I wanted to do with them yet. I sure didn't want to throw them away though. One thing we go through quite a bit of at our house is jelly and jam. We're big pb&j fans, and we also eat biscuits with jelly or jam for breakfast fairly often. (And I tend to cringe every time I buy it. That stuff's not cheap.) While reading some blogs doing some research to better my home-making skills, I came across a recipe for freezer jam. I thought it seemed fairly easy (i.e. Emily-Proof). I bought some Sure Gel pectin and made strawberry freezer jam using the recipe in the box. I ended up with 6 half-pint jars of the concoction. I put one in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. (I even had enough crushed strawberries left over for a batch of strawberry pancakes, and boy were they good!)

Yesterday, my husband pulled the jar out of the fridge, dug in with a spoon and said, "You're not allowed to buy that other (mass produced) stuff ever again if you can make stuff like this. I could eat this whole jar by itself." Good thing I bought a whole case of jars. I think I need to invest in some nice, cushy mats for my kitchen floor. I'm sure my feet will thank me. I see lots of time being spent in the kitchen in the next few months.

And as if that didn't teach me my lesson, I spent the afternoon making wheat bread. Maybe he won't like it. Yeah right. However, he's such a sweetie that Mr. did offer to help me make several loaves of bread once a month so that I don't have to do it every week. Yes, I think I'll keep him.