Posted in Simple and Frugal Living

Don’t you love the ease of shaving with your favorite shaving cream or lotion? Well, you can get that simple time saver for less!

When your shaving cream or lotion runs out, don’t replace it. Instead use olive oil! Olive oil is a bit thicker than other oils, but also provides essential moisture to your skin. Rub it on your leg and shave as usual. If this seems like the end of this frugal practice, hold on, because you will also save on your moisturizing lotion. When you use olive oil in place of shaving cream, you won’t need to moisturize your skin afterwards. DOUBLE SAVINGS!

This tip works with men as well, and since olive oil doesn’t have an odor, no purchasing of separate products. Now that is a simply frugal savings!

These are my thoughts.

Leslie Valeska

~Contributing Writer~

Leslie Valeska is the lucky wife of Thomas.  With children ranging in ages from 4-16, she has had a lot of time to learn and experience much of the fine art of homemaking. She is a writer, speaker, and vintage seamstress. For FREE daily tips and a FREE E-zine on simple and frugal living visit her blog Journey to Simplicity. Need a source of encouragement, inspiration, and support on your journey to Godly womanhood? Visit Simple Journey Ministries (she has a FREE E-zine too!) Of course, don’t forget to visit the Simple Journey Bookstore!

Posted in Homestead Garden and Farm

 

With the Thanksgiving holiday quickly approaching (where did this year go?); I've been pondering having a thankful heart.  Our family has much to give thanks for- health, a home (not our dream home, but a roof over our heads nonetheless), friends, family, and for the time being, 2 gardens! 

Gardening is one of those things that we just "do" in our family.  For me, growing things is not only a hobby, but a passion I suppose.   As I ponder giving thanks, and more importantly....living thanks to Him who gives to us so generously and abundantly; I am seeking ways to make gardening a way of giving and living gratitude.  

Here are a few thoughts:

Sharing the harvest, a simple place to start.

Planting an extra row of edibles to donate to a food bank or needy famililes.

Saving seeds and sharing those with other gardeners.

Starting a community garden and teaching others the skills to grow their own food.

Market gardening, and donating part (or all) of the profits to the needy or perhaps to a missionary.

Hosting a "Harvest Festival" that gives honor and glory to the Lord of the Harvest.

Giving the gift of seeds to a needy family.

Supporting mission efforts that teach sustainable agriculture.

 

Anyone else have ideas to share?

Give Thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

 

Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.   ~W.J. Cameron

Blessings,

Catherine

 

 

Posted in Homestead Kitchen

Posted in Putting Food By

Conventional wisdom would tell us that the time for putting up produce has come and gone with summer's long, warm days.  But, that just isn't so!  There are many ways to keep preserving the harvest even as we head into late fall and early winter.  Here are a few ideas:

Cranberries -  Take advantage of the low prices and abundance of this versatile autumn fruit.  I like to stock up on the 3 lb. bags available at Costco and other discount stores.  Just throw the bags into your freezer for future batches of homemade cranberry jelly, breads, muffins and even for juicing.  Canning cranberry jelly is super easy.  Because of it's high acidity and natural pectin content, you only need to put your jars in a boiling water bath for about 5 minutes.  Little half-pint jars of cranberry jelly are a great addition to a Christmas gift basket.  Write to me if you would like my recipe for Honeyed Cranberry Jelly.

Yams & Sweet Potatoes - Again, another veggie that is in season right now.  You must have a pressure canner to can these gems, but they are great for the freezer too!  Simply boil them whole till tender, remove skins and chunk up or mash.  Then, freeze in quart bags.  Now you have them ready-cooked for those last minute meals.

Nuts - Plentiful and nutritious late season crop.  Buy them in bulk in their shells for the best prices.  Once shelled, most nuts freeze very well.

Pumpkin - Now that Halloween has passed, your local pumpkin patch, farmer's market or grocery store may be eager to sell their leftover pumpkins.  Buy small to medium sized pumpkins and keep them in a cool (not cold), dry, dark place.  They will keep for several months if they are not cut open.  When you are ready to use them, you can bake them like squash, scoop out the flesh and freeze for pies, breads and soups.

Apples - Still delicious and fresh in the markets.  Prices are low, so stock up!  There is no end to what you can do with apples - applesauce, apple butter, pies, juice - can them, freeze them and/or dry them.  You can be enjoying delicious, freshly made apple treats through the months ahead by putting in a little time and effort now.

I have learned that no matter what the date says on my calendar, I can always find something to "put by" to keep my pantry filled with fresh, home-preserved foods.

Lisa Vitello

Lisa publishes the New Harvest Homestead newsletter for women who want to live a simpler, more home-centered lifestyle.  Back issues are packed with recipes and information for canning and preserving all of the foods above and lots more!

Posted in Craft Day

Want a fun way for you and your family to display all that you are thankful for?? Make a Thankful Tree!!

You will need:
1 brown paper bag
Construction Paper: red, yellow and orange

Cut open the brown paper bag by cutting down one of the creases and then cutting the bottom off. Lay the paper out on the table and use about half to ¾ of the length of the bag to draw a tree trunk.

Staple this to the back of a door or a bulletin board.

Using the remaining pieces of the bag make branches. Staple those coming form the tree trunk.

Now make leaves out of construction paper. Make lots of them!

Put them in a basket and leave a pen nearby.

Have the members of your family begin to write down on the leaves what they are thankful for. Begin to attach these leaves to the tree.

Once you start this project.. the tree can fill up quickly!!

How nice to have a heart full of thanks to the Lord for all His blessings when you sit down to your Thanksgiving dinner!

Crystal Miller
http://www.homesteadblogger.com/quiverfull
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com

 

 

Posted in Homestead or Bust

Some of you may be wondering what happened to our journey to our homestead.  We are still plugging away.  In fact, if you've read my personal blog, I'm sure you've heard the good news.   We actually bought our Little Slice of Heaven in August!

 

We have 1 acre of land in the Matanuska Valley.  It is in the shadow of Hubby's favorite mountain, Pioneer Peak.    I know it isn't much, but there are several other lots around us that are vacant and we are hoping to eventually buy those as well.  Either way, 1 acre is a lot more than you can find here in Anchorage!

 

So, when do we move?  Well, it isn't quite that simple.  This is completly raw land.  We spent the 2 months between purchase and winter clearing a bit and trying to plan the layout.  We are ready to make the driveway, but the snow came before we got it done.  That will be our first step after spring thaw.  We also need to drill a well and place a septic. 

 

For now, all of our actual activity is on hold.  We do have a wonderful winter wonderland to go watch the Northern Lights or to cut more firewood for our pathetic little fireplace.  But we won't be doing any real work for several months, unless we have an unseasonably warm winter.  When we visited there 2 weeks ago, there was 3 inches of snow on the ground and the thermometer in the van said it was 0 degrees.  It was 23 degrees in town, with no snow.  Gotta love being on the "dark side" of the mountain! 

 

However, we are not necessarily sitting back on our laurels.  We are spending this winter paying off as many things as possible in the interim and trying to save up as much as we can for building in the summer.

 

God has provided in ways we never expected.  For example, my husband starts a new job next week.  His former employer has offered him $2/hr more than he has been making at the credit union.  This new job happens to be at an elementary school, where he will have summers off.  This will allow him unlimited time to work on our land and get it ready for our target move-in date.

 

We do have a goal.  Our goal is to move to the land 1 year from now, when our lease is up on this duplex.  This means that we will have to be extra-busy this summer and extra-wise with our money between now and then.  We may not have the cabin completed, but we'd like to have it at least livable.  In fact, Hubby has said he wants to move to the land November 2009 wether we are in the cabin, a yurt, an RV, or a cardboard box!

 

There may not be much to report this winter, but I will try to keep you updated on our journey to the land.  Homestead or Bust, indeed!!

 

Kristina Duckett

Posted in Simple and Frugal Living

Bring on the Turkey!

With Thanksgiving approaching quickly it is time to assess your turkey needs. There are a few helpful tips that can keep your Thanksgiving meal budget in line and help you trim the food budget after the meal without making your family tired of looking at turkey to the point they hope that you are going to serve mac and cheese only next year for Thanksgiving!

• Plan ahead. Turkey can make a great meal! BUT your family will be tired of turkey leftovers so that by Christmas you have already gained 10 pounds if you are serving leftovers several times a week! However, when you learn some turkey tips on how to stretch a turkey you can offer it throughout the entire winter without your family being bored! Also, in your planning turkey can be VERY cheap, but you have to know the best price and prepare to have freezer space to store a few turkeys for the entire season. This couldn’t be simpler!
• Learn alternate ways of preparing leftovers and strip your turkey on Thanksgiving or the day afterwards. I typically do this the day afterwards. With my plan in hand I can get that leftover meat ready to for the freezer for meals later in the winter. Cooked turkey can be shredded or ground in your food processor to replace ground meat for a wide variety of recipes. Doing this can not only stretch the use of the turkey, but also a cleverly frugal mom can disguise the ground turkey so that her family doesn’t feel as though they are eating turkey.
• Make plenty of soup stock with the carcass of your turkey. Most people use the carcass once and then throw it away. However, I have found that I can move the turkey carcass to three different Dutch ovens (one after the other is a great way to get it done at one time) and have an abundance of delicious stock! Do this each time you make one of those turkeys in your freezer and you will have stock on hand for the entire winter! Simple and frugal.

These are my thoughts.

Leslie Valeska

~Contributing Writer~

Leslie Valeska is the lucky wife of Thomas.  With children ranging in ages from 4-16, she has had a lot of time to learn and experience much of the fine art of homemaking. She is a writer, speaker, and vintage seamstress. For FREE daily tips and a FREE E-zine on simple and frugal living visit her blog Journey to Simplicity. Need a source of encouragement, inspiration, and support on your journey to Godly womanhood? Visit Simple Journey Ministries (she has a FREE E-zine too!) Of course, don’t forget to visit the Simple Journey Bookstore!

Posted in Sharing Recipes

(My words and notations will be in red! This is the recipe I used, and I used half everything and it made 2 pizzas for my family)

Italian Pizza Crust
Crystal Miller

2 T yeast
3 cups warm water
1 T honey
¼ cups olive oil
1 t. salt
2 T Italian seasonings
1 t. minced garlic from the jar
1 t. minced onion, dried
½ cup parmesan cheese
¼ cup gluten flour (I didn't use this)
6 cups whole wheat flour (I used hard red wheat)

For the Bosch: (I don't have a bosch)
Combine all ingredients in the mixer and when well blended, knead for 4 to 5 minutes. 

For other mixers or by hand:
Mix water, yeast, oil, and honey and let sit for 5 minutes.  Add seasonings and flours.  Knead for 7 to 10 minutes.

Allow the dough to sit for a few minutes and then roll divide into 3 pieces and roll to fit 3 15in pizza pans (if you like thick crust you can make 2 pizza’s instead of 3)

(This is where if you want a stuffed crust you will just place the string cheese along the edges of your pizza, pull the crust up and over gently and tuck back in along the edge.)

Let the dough rise for 10 to 15 minutes.  Pre-bake the crust at 425 for about 6 minuets and then top with your favorite toppings.  Return to oven and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes.

If this is more pizza dough than you will use, freeze either the dough or roll the dough out, pre-bake and then freeze.

(I made this sauce and put the leftovers in the freezer for next time we want pizza!)

Pizza Sauce
Amount: aprox. 4 cups

3 – 8oz cans tomato sauce
6 oz can tomato paste
2 Tablespoons Italian Seasoning
½ teaspoon chopped garlic from the jar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1t salt

Mix all ingredients together and heat up until warm.

Crystal has her site The Family Homestead, there you will find lots of great info and recipes and free printable menu planner each month. 

From My Homestead To Yours,
~Chas~
Chasity L. Burrell
Senior Editor Homesteadblogger
Heritage Acres Farm

~Chas is the homesteading wife to Shannon and homeschooling Mom to her four children.  She spends her time keeping her home and family and as of late putting up her Christmas decorations! :)

Posted in Homestead Garden and Farm

Catherine asked some great questions yesterday about gardening this time of year. I wanted to encourage her and all of you to get out and continue gardening! Particularly as the economy continues to tank, I believe it will be critical that we all have a regular supply of food on our own homesteads.

For our family, this is critically important as we have been without regular income for nearly 2 years now. And Autumn and Winter gardening is lots of fun. There are no bugs to deal with and minimal weeds. The cooler weather also makes for a more pleasant gardening experience.

Here in Tennessee, we find that Spring crops actually grow better in the Autumn garden. Beets, lettuce, chard, and cabbages do beautifully. All can handle light frosts and when the real cold sets in, we'll use floating row cover and even old sheets on baling wire hoops to protect them. Now this may not be possible everywhere but there are plants that can be grown well into the Winter months even as far north as Maine!

I've written a bit about our current gardening endeavors here if you are interested in more information.

So tell us all about your Autumn and Winter garden!

Kristin Hoffman homesteads with her family in the hills of East Tennessee and blogs about alternative energy, family farming, and home schooling with her husband at www.solarfamilyfarm.com. The Hoffmans also run Knot4Fun, a family business dedicated to teaching kids the practical skill of knot tying and adventurous outdoor play. Kristin can be found these days frantically planting as much and is possible in her garden so the family has lots of yummy vegetables to eat for the winter!

Posted in Homestead Garden and Farm

"If it is true that one of the greatest pleasures of gardening lies in looking forward, then the planning of next year's beds and borders must be one of the most agreeable occupations in the gardener's calendar. This should make October and November particularly pleasant months, for then we may begin to clear our borders, to cut down those sodden and untidy stalks, to dig up and increase our plants, and to move them to other positions where they will show up to greater effect. People who are not gardeners always say that the bare beds of winter are uninteresting; gardeners know better, and take even a certain pleasure in the neatness of the newly dug, bare, brown earth."
-Vita Sackville-West

Yes, I do feel that October and November are particularly pleasant months in my own garden.  How about you?   I enjoy taking inventory, so to speak, and making note of what grew well, what needs a new home, which plants need to be divided and shared with a friend.  I enjoy cleaning out the spent plants, potting up a few tender ones to spend the winter indoors, dividing the perennials and planting a few things for cool weather color.  Then, of course, is the joy of planting bulbs and seeds that will burst forth come Springtime to welcome the new season.

Tell us what your favorite garden or farm task is this time of year.  What do you plant?  Anyone have a veggie or herb recommendation for us?  What grew particularly well for you this year?  What didn't?  Share your gardening days with us!

We planted some zucchini seed that made lovely plants (in both the Spring and Fall garden) but very, very little fruit; which is certainly odd.  I hope I still have the seed packet so I can be certain not to buy that particular variety from that  seed company again.

Hope you are enjoying your garden this November,

Catherine

Posted in Simple and Frugal Living

Before I get into the post, please remember to Get Out and VOTE Today!

As unwelcomed as it may be in the hearts of many, Christmas officially begins in early to mid October. While we don’t want to see this, it does have a simple and frugal benefit.

The fact is, right now Christmas is IN. This means that autumn is on its way out. Most stores have autumn décor items on clearance already. Think ahead for the upcoming Thanksgiving celebration. Take an inventory of items you may need to acquire, such as linens, place settings, or those wonderful accents that can make a table change from drab to dramatic. Head to the store and see what you can scoop up. Be certain to look for items that are simple enough to be incorporated with the items you already own. Autumn color schemes are usually similar enough that you can mix and match for a low-cost. Don’t wait too long, though. In the next week you may not be able find much available. So get some unparalleled autumn décor savings today!

These are my thoughts.

Leslie Valeska

~Contributing Writer~

Leslie Valeska is the lucky wife of Thomas.  With children ranging in ages from 4-16, she has had a lot of time to learn and experience much of the fine art of homemaking. She is a writer, speaker, and vintage seamstress. For FREE daily tips and a FREE E-zine on simple and frugal living visit her blog Journey to Simplicity. Need a source of encouragement, inspiration, and support on your journey to Godly womanhood? Visit Simple Journey Ministries (she has a FREE E-zine too!) Of course, don’t forget to visit the Simple Journey Bookstore!

We love to keep it simple and frugal around here...here is one idea for the laundry, to do just that!

Make our own Homemade Dryer Sheets!  This is a great way to use up old cloth, and cotton rags or scrap clothing!  Take your piece of cloth and add 3-5 drops of your favorite essential oil to it.  (No more than this or you could end up with staining of your clothing in the load and have to re-wash!) These can be reused too, by just adding a couple more drops of the essential oil to the cloth each load; you can “recycle” it back through the wash to be used again and again!

 

Here are a few ideas for making your own blends for your homemade dryer sheets:

Rosemary and thyme for a natural, earthy scent

Lavender and chamomile for a relaxing, soothing effect

Sweet orange and lemon for a refreshing scent

Eucalyptus and peppermint (or just the eucalyptus) for cold/flu sufferers

Ylang-ylang and jasmine for a romantic floral scent

Or create your own, with your favorite essential oils!

Lisa

www.HomesteadOriginals.com

Excerpt from "Homestead Simplicity: Natural Clean" eBook, copyright 2008