Today we’re going to hear from Susan , who has a great and very unique story to tell about how couponing has impacted her life. Take it away, Susan!
I have been couponing for about a year and it has made a tremendous difference in our family budget. Since I have started couponing and stockpiling our family has been able to save about $400 a month off our grocery bill. My couponing also gave me an opportunity to experience a special memory that I will always cherish. This past spring when Publix put their Kellogg’s cereal 50% off plus coupons, I purchased 12 boxes of cereal for $18.00. I had no idea that purchase of cereal would give me the experience of a lifetime.
For the last 7 years, my husband and I have made the 14 hour drive from Alabama to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. We don’t have family there – we go because we love the area, the food is unbelieveable, and the scenery is like no other I have ever seen.I have always had a fondness for the Amish and have read everything I can on the internet or in print about them. I have Amish pictures in my house, an Amish quilt on my bed, even my screen saver is Amish scenery. I am so amazed at how they live their lives. Talk about saving money – no car payment, gas, insurance, car repairs, electricity, cable, computers, internet, cell phones,etc.
Anyone who knows anything about the Amish knows they really keep to themselves. They are not unfriendly, but they do stay close to home and family. On one of our trips to the Lancaster area we met a very nice Amish family. The husband does woodworking and we purchased a piece of furniture from him. We met his wife and 6 children and exchanged addresses so that Rebecca and I could write to each other. I was so excited to have an Amish friend! They told us on our next trip to Pennsylvania to come by and see them again.
On the next trip, I took the cereal and a lot of other items from my stockpile to this family. We arrived at their home and the kids met us as we drove up the lane and helped us carry the boxes in their house. They were so excited and could not wait to open the boxes to see what we had brought. I was could not believe I was inside an Amish house! Now, this is not a poor family, but one with 6 children so they are trying to make ends meet. The family was very thankful and happy to see what all we had brought them (even Beggin Strips for the dog). Rebecca and Ike tried to pay us for the groceries but we wouldn’t let them, so they insisted that we eat every meal with them during our stay. It is a memory that is forever in my heart. To be able to go into their home and watch Rebecca cook without electricity, to see their children do homework by a lantern, and hold their newborn baby was a dream come true for me. The meals were delicious and the hospitality was so real and moving. I also left there with some great recipes too!
One of my favorites is Rebecca’s Whoopie Pie recipe – she sent us home with a big bag of them for the road. Rebecca doesn’t have a freezer at home; instead she rents a locker in the community freezer down the road. This last trip we took our bag of Whoopie Pies and froze them and then ate them frozen on the trip home..yummy! They’re so good I just have to share the recipe:
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 cup sour milk
Mix all the above ingredients together.
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup boiling water
Dissolve the soda in the boiling water, then add:
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup cocoa
4 1/2 cup all purpose flour
After mixing all the above ingredients together, drop the dough on a cookie sheet using a cookie scoop (looks like an ice cream scoop, but smaller). Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 min. Rebecca just uses Betty Crocker white icing for the filling. These freeze really well for 6 months, if you can make them last that long!
Those boxes of cereal I bought at Publix brought me the experience of being with people who have a life built on faith and family with a strong sense of who they are and what they believe. A family who knows difficulty and faces challenges, but are the happiest people I have ever met. They experience a oneness with their community, church, and family that I can only imagine…AND they do it all without air conditioning!
Thank you so much for sharing, Susan! Your story is fascinating and really heartwarming. Isn’t it amazing how couponing can bring people together in such unusual ways?
In order to keep this new feature going, you all are going to have to volunteer to tell us all about something YOU do when you are couponing!! Your post can be about almost anything to do with couponing. You can tell us about a particularly good or bad situation you’ve dealt with as a couponer, about how you got into couponing or how couponing has impacted the rest of your life, you can make a list of things every new couponer should know…just about anything, really! If you think it’s interesting and it has to do with couponing, email me with your idea at contactiheartpublix @ gmail.com!
This was a very thoughtful and moving piece. Thank you for sharing. Our stockpile has allowed us to assist many others, as well as give generously to our schools, churches, and families in need. What a blessing!
Susan, my Mom is from that area of Pennsylvania and we call Woopie Pies, Gobs!
Here is the recipe for the filling that she would make, it is odd but yummy.
Cook together stirring constatnly antil bubbly and thick-
1/2 c milk
2 1/2 T flour
dash salt
allow that to cool completely
Beat together 1/2 cup shortening and 1/2 c sugar until it is fluffly and the sugar has dissolved. Beat in the milk mixture and 1 t vanilla until light and fluffy.
Loved your story. A family friend had an experience while they were up there from SC and saw a barn on fire at an Amish farm. They stopped to tell the family but no one was home so they called 911 and then rescued the animals from the barn and the ajoining paddock. The young farmer was tearfully grateful. They too were asked to come and eat with the family and invited to come back and stay at their house when they can get away again.
I am confused about the filling…..her recipe says to put the cookie mixture on the pan with a cookie scoop….then wouldn’t the filling be a topping instead?? Am I missing something here??? I would love to make this! Thanks!
They are put together like sandwich cookies.
After they are baked and cooled.
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I recently watched a documentary on Amish families & I was also fascinated with their lifestyle. What a blessing to get to share their lives, if even for a little while.
What is sour milk, is this the same as buttermilk?
Not really but you can do the 1 T vinegar to 1 c milk thing and it will work fine. Since the Amish don’t have refrigeration I imagine they have lots of baking recipes that they use sour milk in.
It was so interesting to hear Susan story. Very touching, as it tells us a lot about understanding and respect for others, even if their way of life is totally different from what we are used to….They are genuine and honest to their beliefs, and they are true to themselves.
I think that Susan and her family was very privileged to be able to share this time with this Amish family, and,,, what a lesson to Susan’s children!!!!
Susan, thanks for sharing!!
That is wonderful
this is amazing! I am originally from Lancaster, Pa myself (relocated to Florida for school) and grew up not really thinking much of the Amish, because we saw them all the time. I have known several Amish, but never well enough to be invited into their home, so it amazes me that a simple act of couponing was able to bring these 2 families together! Oh, and I still have my mom send me Whoopie pies from home, there is nothing like them! 🙂
I can’t believe it, but that story made me squall like a baby. Ha. So sweet! When I was growing up, my family used to go to an Amish village in middle Tennessee every fall. You could drive around and buy things at every house. Gingerbread, baskets, hats, and the BEST peanut brittle I’ve ever eaten. It was wonderful and they are such sweet, hospitable people. One time my mother bought a quilt from a 17 year old young Amish wife who was extrordinarily pregnant. She was a radiant young lady and the craftsmanship was like nothing I’ve ever seen!! It belongs in the Smithsonian if you ask me…and who ever knew that a quilt of navy and brown clothing scraps could be so beautiful? Thank you for this story. It sure did bring back a flood of wonderful memories of Tennessee in the fall. *sniff*
My grandparents were from the Mennonites faith from Lancaster County, and they also made the best Whoopie pies for us. This brings back good memories!!
Thanks for sharing!
I too grew up around the Amish in Northern Indiana, but I have lived in Atlanta for the past 20+ years. I loved your story, as it brought back memories of these wonderful people and their unique culture.
I love your story. You are very bless woman. I always desire to stay with an Amish family and learn their culture.
Great story! I always think the Amish are such a great example for the people who say I can’t live without my cell phone, tv, etc….oh, yes you can! The Amish do everyday and I think there lives are richer for it.
I love that story!
My Great-Grandparents and Grandparents were from Lancaster, Pa and were VERY Amish. I loved going to visit them and wished we could stay forever there. I was able to take the kids back for the last 15 years until the last Grandparent died. We still still have friends there but it’s still to sad to visit right now. I can still speak the Amish language and so does my Mom. The kids laugh at us. Oh, the memories!!!
I have also visited Amish Country and loved it. A truly wonderful account of your visit. Would love to go again.