Monday, December 17, 2018

Monday Message


"We urge all Latter-day Saints to be prudent in their planning, to be conservative in their living, and to avoid excessive or unnecessary debt." President Thomas S. Monson, October 2008 Priesthood Session, General Conference

I have been thinking this would be good to have as a topic this week. I am still under the weather blowing my nose boooo…grateful for lotion filled kleenex.

My husband has other shoes but he has this pair that are more comfortable, more comfortable he said than any shoe ever so he kept wearing them even when they looked like this…



I picked it up one day this week and looked at it. I thought it maybe was laced with leather strip but no it was a string type fiber and I thought ok, I got this. I pulled out some black linen type thread then I got out a yarn needle, an awl a beeswax candle, a pair of pliers and scissors. I cut my string then ran it through the bottom of the beeswax candle several times. This was to strengthen the string and make it waterproof. Then I sewed up the shoe using the obvious holes. Three, though, were going through double layers of leather so I used the awl and pliers to pull the needle through. 



I tied it off and he will get more wear out of his favorite shoes - he was surprised.

I will point out I had all these things on hand...

-Beeswax candle is a decoration I had
-Fiber from my weaving basket of fiber
-The yarn needle from my knitting bag
-Awl from my basket making tools
-Pliers from tool box
-Scissors I have for many things, the pair I used was from weaving bench.
-My knowledge…from sewing I learned the beeswax thing and sewing and basket making for the actual lacing. Knitting skills for how to easily thread that yarn needle.

Even feeling rotten it was something I could do sitting down.

So see, you do things all the time from skills you have learned without thinking. It is good to have skills on which to draw, so keep working on your skills.

This was one of my frugal things I did this week. Here are some frugal ideas…

https://www.sisterswithasystem.com/blog/use-it-up-wear-it-out-make-it-do-or-do-without-other-frugal-principles-to-live-by

https://harvestlanecottage.blogspot.com/2013/06/forty-ways-to-use-it-up-wear-it-out.html

http://www.providentplan.com/601/use-it-up-wear-it-out-make-it-do-or-do-without/

http://www.morningalliance.com/use-it-up-wear-it-out-make-it-do-or-do-without/

http://www.makeitcoats.com/us/sewing-life-skills-mending-101/ - I stuck this here as a reminder to build supplies and skills

We were driving in a town where there was a homeless lady walking, her pants were ripped along her bottom part of her seat and down about eight inches. I often wish I would see her again, I would hand her a sewing kit. How many people have the most basic of sewing kits? How many people do not…?  Do you have thread, needles and scissors maybe some buttons? Can you imagine not being able to mend your family’s clothes? Even having someone else do your mending is costly.

http://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2016/07/monday-message_18.html - the story in here about the oranges has stuck with me ever since I heard it. I think we don’t think it will ever be us. But if you have had to go without anything it is not hard to see that it is possible.  I think of all the people in the hurricanes and forest fires having nothing, it is very sad and it will take so long to get their lives going again. My daughter was telling me one lady is living in a tent and is about to have a baby, can you imagine how hard that is for her and all the others?  

You might say how would a sewing kit help? Having sewing supplies on hand will make it helpful to help I wish I had had one in my car for the lady we saw.  Think how much this lady would have wanted that orange and how very little there is in a travel size sewing kit.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=how+to+reuse+yarn+from+sweater&docid=608016528321350358&mid=210BB90DA508F70D1BDB210BB90DA508F70D1BDB&view=detail&FORM=VIREHT

I love this gal. Did you even know you could do this?

So if you want to learn to knit or crochet but yarn is too much this could be an option. Yarn is expensive, I have seen it in person for thirty five dollars a skein. Yes, it isn’t the Walmart kind it was several years ago now that I saw that.

The gal above shows you what kind of sweater is a good choice. You may even have one you do not like hanging in your closet or see one from the thrift store.

I know many knitters are going to thrift stores to do this very thing to get the good yarns.

http://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2014/10/monday-message_20.html - here Gus is showing us unraveling a sweater.                                                                 
Keep building your supplies, building skills, living frugally and helping those in need.

Monday, December 10, 2018

Monday Message


“Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to ‘prepare every needful thing’ (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we may care for ourselves and our neighbors, and support bishops as they care for others.”

Preparing every needful thing is a huge responsibility and it is ever important that we not put it off. It cannot be done in a day or even a week. We can work steady and within our means, it will add up and when you get to a certain point you will just be replacing what you use provided you are rotating.

Yesterday about four our internet went out and it made me think I needed to remind you that if you are totally relying on the internet for everything you really need to have hard copies of things. If you think that you are not that dependent on the internet stop using it for even one night. I found myself wanting to do a search and was almost typing it in before remembering the internet was out. My husband wanted to find a word definition, now we have dictionaries in hard copy but it turns out they're very outdated. Plus, emailing family and friends was down…

So these are just small examples. I think if you sit and ponder you can see where you might be affected but really try not using it for one night and you will see how dependent you and your family are on this…and what to do as a back up. Can you imagine if the internet went down all at once all around the world? Some of us remember life before it but some it’s all they know. 

I am still under the weather. I hope that you got your sick plan set in place. I have been pushing through what needs doing but slowly and with lots of Kleenex. I did have to do an errand and on the way I saw this stool by the highway they set out with their garbage, so I turned around for a closer look. I thought it would be perfect for when I am spinning. It is very sturdy and it was covered with heavy frost. I put it in the car and went back as they had stuff that had gone into the highway lane. I moved it off the highway as this was on a hill. I washed the stool up when I got home and put this little rug on it. As I thought, it is perfect to sit on and spin.




I took the ornaments I knitted and put them in the wooden bowl and put on the shelf underneath.



Wishing I felt better. But happy with my frugal find for the week. It made having to run the errand well worth it.



I vacuum sealed four pints of raisins. I bring this up to say I keep my vacuum sealer at the ready. It is plugged in at all times. This makes it easy to vacuum seal in minutes without having to pull it out and with fibromyalgia it saves me in less pain and energy.



Now is the time to brush up on those bread making skills. It is not too hot to bake anymore. If you are gluten free try to bake some of the gluten free breads and store what it takes to make things you can have. The same goes for people who don’t have that need, store the ingredients to make your bread.



This is showing the newer toilet paper tube which is larger around - pay more get less, seems to be an ongoing theme.

A tip about the picture at the top - I use an electric knife to slice my bread. I find that if I slice it all at once it keeps better. Even when I freeze it after slicing.

Keep working at building your storage, learning your skills, living frugally and take time to rest.

Monday, December 3, 2018

Monday Message


(Gordon B. Hinckley, October 2001)
“As we have been continuously counseled for more than 60 years, let us have some food set aside that would sustain us for a time in case of need. But let us not panic nor go to extremes. Let us be prudent in every respect.”

We have some special friends that we visited in Utah before we had kids. They took us to someone’s house to show us their food storage. I was mightily impressed. We were in the military at the time and, believe me, they don’t get paid enough. So even though we did not get paid enough, I began slowly to build a storage. I just thought it was a very sensible thing to do. I still think that way. 

I thought there is no downside to having storage. I still feel that way. 

I started with a couple cans of tuna. Mostly that is all I could do but our neighbors on both sides of our apt (also in military) is mainly who I started for because they would run out of food before payday and at first I had nothing but had them eat with us. After that, I made a point to have a little extra to share with them. I kept getting a little extra every time I got groceries. I just kept it up. Even now, with very little money, when I go into a store I ask myself what could I get to add for storage…?

I heard a comment from a conversation I was not a part of where someone asked someone else if she knew someone who sewed. She laughed and said good luck with that now a days. I do not know how their conversation ended but I thought it was a sad comment. If it would not have been rude I would have joined in their conversation.

It made me think of the time I was in an Amish grocery store and there was a man in front of me, he had patches on his coveralls. They were sewn with love and care, the smallest stitches I ever saw. This is why I push so hard to build our skills. Somewhere along the way the skill of mending was lost.



I think sewing skills are as important as bread making skills.

It is all under living providently.

Living within our means...

Recently, being sick, I was watching Iowa Public Television and there was a cooking show on. The cook, a famous cook, was going over a list of ingredients for what she called "simple sandwiches." My goodness so many ingredients and nothing simple about them at all.
  
Sometimes we think that is what we need to make things but not so. I had made the sandwich shown for Iowa State University when I worked as a cook forty some yrs ago when some of this cook's ingredients were not even a thing. The same when I watch sewing shows. They use this and that which people never had years ago and still they made their own clothes which were just as good. Is it any wonder people think they cannot afford to learn to sew?


I took sewing in school seventh, eighth, and ninth grade. Only a third of each year. This was something of a struggle. My teacher should have retired twenty years before I had her as a teacher. She was mean and very impatient. Remember the friend I mentioned in an earlier blog post that helped me at the laundromat? She quit school in seventh grade because of this very teacher.   

We were to build a book of swatches. We had the world's worst sewing book ever as our textbook. In truth, I think I am a bit dyslexic but that's no excuse. Our mean teacher would tell us if we did not finish our swatches that we could not take sewing in high school. I wanted to take it in high school because I needed clothes. It came down to tailor tacking. Every day I would try to understand, it was my only swatch I could not get done. I studied it in the textbook every day. It gave a short paragraph under an illustration. I really tried.  

I tried but I was too scared to approach the teacher. I finally mustered all my courage and I went to ask for help. She nastily told me to look in the book. I said I could not understand it, she said she did not know and to go look in the book. So I finally gave up and never did get it done... one swatch from having sewing in high school, it was sad.

So I went to high school, was sweethearts with my now husband, I studied hard and could have graduated early but my sweetheart wasn’t graduating early. So for half a year I had one class two days a week during the last half hour of the day. I would visit my sweetie when he had free schedule and there I was the rest of the time with nothing to do. So I went nervously in to talk with the sewing teacher who was absolutely furious when I had told her what the other teacher said and that I did not need to finish that swatch to take sewing in high school. 

By then the old teacher had retired. The new teacher not only showed me how to tailor tack in just one minute. She said I could come in and she would show me how to sew things in my free time. In there she picked underwear, something she thought would be helpful as I would be getting married in a few months. She helped me to sew a dress for my sister as she was going to be my bridesmaid. It turned out very nice I wish I had been able to take it all three years.


In the picture above this was what I could not figure out from my workbook. This book is from 1947 I could have figured it out from this book but not the one we had for school. I think that was probably when some things went missing.

There were girls in high school sewing making men’s suits and shirts, oh how I watched them.

My mother-in-law is the best seamstress in all the world, she made my wedding dress which cost me $40 in materials.


This is the dress my mother-in-law made for me. I bought the materials for both dresses. I made my sister’s dress with instruction of the high school sewing teacher.

I had a helpful neighbor who sewed who helped me after we had kids. She knew I was frustrated trying to sew, she determined it was my sewing machine and I should get another so I found one used for a hundred dollars. This was a ton of money back then, still is. I got it used. The people were going to be missionaries in a country that the machine could not run on their electricity.


This is still my work horse to this day. After that I sewed my girls’ clothes and have continued to build on this skill...mind you I still probably can’t sew a man’s suit but I keep learning anyway.

So grab a skill and keep on building it and add to all your skills. Share them as you go because there may be a young person out there who needs to know how to tailor tack.

Monday, November 26, 2018

Monday Message


"We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with a one week's food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months. . . . I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all.

"Begin in a small way, . . . and gradually build toward a reasonable objective."

As we head into this season that makes us feel so busy and can be so expensive, try to slow down a bit. Do little things that can add up and are helpful.

I often will watch a podcast where they talk about a time when they do a low or even no spending at all as they prepare for a coming expense. They cook with what they have in the pantry and save the grocery funds. Of course, one cannot do this forever and the podcasts I watch only do it once or twice a year. This would be better than going into debt.

Of course, it makes one think of the commercial where mom puts supper on the table and the kids say tuna casserole again and she said she had to pay a bill. It would work better to have more than that in storage, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lTyC1LKs84 - this is a gal I watch as my roots are from Norway. The part I wanted you to see is towards the end when she goes to the family cabin. I could sit and knit with her there.

I realized that hygge must be in my blood. I decided I would go read on it as I had some books in my kindle library and since I am still sick I could do this and rest.

I bring this up as we are now getting into the busiest season. It is just the thing we need like her at the cabin with hot cocoa and surrounded with things you love, a very cozy thing indeed.

The book I picked to read about this in my library is The Cozy Life by Pia Edberg. In it she talks about the Danes. She said they are a lot less materialistic and treasure time with family and friends over accumulating lots of stuff. That and slowing down, she talked about in the book. I think we all crave slowing down. Sometimes, I feel like life drags me along behind it or that I can’t find the off button on the hamster wheel. Hygge is about enjoying the moments. I thought now that everyone is hurrying about this would be peaceful to think about.



Our oldest daughter once said the things she remembered most about Christmas were the times we had together, those she remembered not so much on what she got as gifts…food for thought as we gear up for Christmas.



https://diyjoy.com/diy-christmas-gifts-for-kids/ - I love the first thing on here.

Try to find cheaper ways to celebrate Christmas this year...

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=homemade+christmas+gifts+for+kids&qpvt=homemade+christmas+gifts+for+kids&FORM=IGRE - this is inspiring for making gifts.

http://www.contestformoms.com/81-christmas-ideas.htm - find new traditions as a family.

Look for ways to give, there is always someone who could use a care package.

Remember to keep working on your storage and your skills and being frugal.

Monday, November 19, 2018

Monday Message

Scroll down for links how to make your own pasta!

In Argentina, Relief Society leaders are trying to teach the importance of food storage. They wrote: "Unfortunately, most of the sisters [here] cannot afford to buy an extra kilo of sugar, or flour, or an extra liter of oil. However, they have been encouraged to save, even just a spoonful at a time.” (Elaine L. Jack)

This is a great example to us. We can only do what we CAN do so if we can only purchase a few cans of something that is what we should do. We can fit that much into our budget and remember rotate your storage. I have watched a YouTube video where the lady showed her storage but said they will put storage in the basement that they won’t use but save. It could have just been the way she came across but not meant that way at all…she might have meant long term storage but I still rotate everything as to have it not waste.

Check your store flyers as now is a great time to stock as there are lots of sales. Don’t go into debt and don’t over extend yourselves.  Sometimes even sale prices are too much.



I finally pushed through and made the jam from the raspberries I picked and froze this summer.

I have been under the weather for about two weeks with a cold type thing that has made getting things tended difficult.

Think basics…

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=how+to+make+brown+sugar&docid=607992270272660296&mid=63B430AEC876B972CB4D63B430AEC876B972CB4D&view=detail&FORM=VIREHT - any mixer will do as well as by hand. 

So that is pretty basic you would store molasses and white sugar.

It is good to find out things we can make from scratch or from basic storage.

https://homesteadsurvivalsite.com/ingredients-cooking-from-scratch/ - a list of items to have on hand to help cooking for scratch.

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/self-reliance/cooking-from-scratch/  - this has some scratch recipes.

https://www.pinterest.com/mmmarkey7/back-to-basics-cooking-from-scratch/?lp=true - recipes from scratch cooking.

http://foodformyfamily.com/the-kitchen-sink/stocking-your-pantry-for-home-cooking-the-basics - this is another list of pantry items.

http://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2015/08/monday-message_31.html - this has many scratch items in it as well and also talks about making noodles.

http://afarmishkindoflife.com/homemade-noodles/ - how to make pasta.

http://www.simplebites.net/how-to-make-soup-from-scratch/ - soup making is a great skill to have.

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/basic-muffins-40037 - learn how to make muffins from scratch if you don’t already know. 

I really think we need to teach our boys and girls how to cook from scratch. I could have benefited from knowing how.

When I was a teenage girl my friend Shirley would have me come stay overnight. Her mom would bake bread and make homemade noodles. I would go home and tell my sister Terri all about this magical wonderfulness. We both were so excited. This was even a thing that to this day we both make these items. There is never a time I eat homemade bread toasted with peanut butter on it that I don’t remember being at Shirley’s. Thank you, Shirley, for having me over!

How are you coming on your skills? I have been under the weather but will show an update here…



I have finished the back of my sweater and am now working on the front.



I just have to finish the heel on the pink one. In this case I am doing an after-thought heel then this pair will be done and the green one pictured here is the start of another sock. I find that no-think knitting helps me to hear better at church and keeps me from being distracted.

Keep working on your skill building. As you stock up remember the opening quote, try to save "even just a spoonful at a time."

If you haven’t made a sick plan you may want to get that done as flu season is about to spread with the Holidays. I will keep trying to get over my cold.

Monday, November 12, 2018

Monday Message


(LDS Church Handbook 2, Section 6.1.1)
“Church members are responsible for their own spiritual and temporal well-being.....To help care for themselves and their families, members should build a three-month supply of food that is part of their normal diet. Where local laws and circumstances permit, they should gradually build a longer-term supply of basic foods that will sustain life. They should also store drinking water in case the water supply becomes polluted or disrupted."

With winter on our doorstep we need to have food on hand to out-live blizzards and ice storms up here in the north.

It will also lessen the risk of getting germs as the flu season begins.  Thanksgiving time is when it spreads like crazy.

I have been continuing to work on gift-making. Our weather has been nice fall weather but will soon be leaving. 

http://www.simplyprepared.com/kool-aid_jelly.htm - I thought this could make cute gifts. I have made jelly from juices before inexpensively.

I will be making jam pretty soon here.



http://www.simplyprepared.com/whole_wheat_raisin_scones.htm I thought having a wheat recipe would be a good idea as wheat is in our storage. I like how she describes how to move them on the pan before baking.

Do you store raisins??? I vacuum seal them in jars for long storage. I do the same with craisins as well. 



Other things I vacuum seal...

Chocolate chips
Vital wheat gluten
Nuts, i.e. almonds, walnuts, and pecans
Popcorn (unpopped)
Baking chocolate blocks
Chocolate bars
Herbs, i.e. oregano, basil, etc.
Dried spinach
Dried carrots
Dried potatoes
Dried tomatoes
Dried bananas
Cracked wheat
Poppy seeds
Sesame seeds
Cloves
Nutmeg
Other spices
Hot cereals
Seeds for sprouting
I have done cookie mixes, dry ingredients, and given them as gifts that way they don’t need to be used right away.

I want to review using the method I like for vacuum sealing. This is my yard sale found food saver...




The method I like is the canister method. In the picture above you can see the canister is black and you can see the hose hooked to a jar sealer. I have two sizes of these and they are for wide mouth jars and regular jars. But the canister can be any jar from a jelly jar to a spaghetti sauce jar, just any jar that fits in the canister. You don’t have to have the jar attachments but I use them on half gallon jars that won’t fit in the canister. You can just hook the hose to the sealer and to the canister but I just leave the jar topper on the hose and store it in the canister. I have found my seal a meal canister works on the food saver and are interchangeable.

You can see the top of the canister. The picture towards the top where I list what you can vacuum seal just happens to be a canning jar but it could be any other as long as you save its lid. I save my used canning lids for vacuum sealing. You cannot use them in canning again but you want to use them here. I can tell my used ones as I write on them things like "pizza sauce 2014." When I use the sauce, I wash the jar and the lid then I know it is used, plus, I keep new ones in their boxes but new lids don't work well for vacuum sealing.

So I put macaroni in the jar, make sure the rim is clear by running your finger around the rim. Check the lid to see that nothing is on the rubber. Put the lid on the jar and add the screw band but don’t crank it down hard. If you were using another jar you would just use its lid. Then set it in the canister.



You plug the hose into machine and here you just set the jar attachment over the stuff on the lid of the canister. Go ahead and vacuum seal. This machine shows a green light when it is done.



Remove the jar attachment from the top of the canister and then you push the air release button on the top, you will hear a whoooosh.



Then open the canister and check your jar. For a sealed jar as in this picture there will be no give in the lid. Every now and again you get a stubborn jar, just check the rim and lid again and repeat. If you just can't get it to seal put the food in another jar or switch lids.

Absolutely never do powder stuff like flour without cutting a coffee filter the size of the lid and then lay it inside the jar on top of the flour, not on the rim, then proceed.

I purchase vital wheat gluten. It comes in a box. I take it out of the box (it is in a plastic sealed bag) and then I poke the bag with a pin then put it in the jar and seal the jar.

Why vacuum seal? It helps your food to stay fresh longer as there is no air in the jar.

Never think you can do this with things that need canning...only dry things like nuts, raisins, craisins, dry pastas, chocolate chips, seeds for breads, your dry herbs, it helps their shelf life.

I felt it was time to review how I use the canister so give it a try.

Speaking of jars, I think it would be fun to do gifts like these…

Jelly jar with a gift of money in
Chocolate bars in a jar
Treats in a jar
Put things in jar to make an apron i.e. pattern and fabric
Dry ingredients of cookie mix
Put a picture of grandparents in a jar




Here is a picture of my grandmother I keep in a jar with a slipper that she crocheted. Next to it is a picture of me as a little one with my sister. Jars are a great way to keep and display family memories!




You could also do a skein of yarn crochet hook and pattern in jar, or hair bows in jar. You get the idea. They will all wonder how did you get the items in a sealed jar?

Keep working on your storage and skills and being frugal and save those used canning lids for vacuum sealing!

Monday, November 5, 2018

Monday Message

Save money this year and make homemade gifts! Frugal and more a gift from the heart.

(W. Don Ladd, October 1994 General Conference)
“We all need to build a personal ark . . . And we shouldn’t wait until it starts raining, but prepare in advance. This has been the message of all the prophets in this dispensation . . . as well as the prophets of old.
“Unfortunately we don’t always heed the clear warnings of our prophets. We coast complacently along until calamity strikes, and then we panic.
“When it starts raining, it is too late to begin building the ark. However, we do need to listen to the Lord’s spokesmen. We need to calmly continue to move ahead and prepare for what will surely come. We need not panic or fear, for if we are prepared, spiritually and temporally, we and our families will survive any flood. Our arks will float on a sea of faith if our works have been steadily and surely preparing for the future.”

It is just prudent to have some supplies on hand. There are many pictures of our grandmothers and their shelves filled with canning jars full of food they canned.

I read a book a few years ago where the family said because they lived on a farm and put up their food the depression did not effect them as bad as others.

We may never go through what they did but we can learn from them. We can build our storage and supplies in time of plenty for times of scarcity. How is this a bad thing? It is kind of like my husband telling someone who played the lottery, you give me the money and I will give you half back, those are better odds…it just makes sense.

I have said it is better to learn your skills when you are not in the crisis. It is too hard to learn and deal with the crisis at the same time.

I have had to learn skills all my life and now it has helped so much to stretch our budget. Have I stopped learning? No, I continue to learn and always will.

I have been busy with making Christmas gifts. Have you been busy with that as well? The holidays are coming up fast. I like to get things tended and mailed before Thanksgiving so that I can just enjoy the season.


https://www.countryliving.com/diy-crafts/g21095894/tailgate-games/?slide=5 - this says tailgating but I loved the idea, would be fun family gifts, I think pie tins painted would bring down price.

https://www.countryliving.com/diy-crafts/g21095894/tailgate-games/?slide=9 - this said tailgating too but again I thought a great family gift.

I used to get a puzzle for our family gift and we would put it together as a family. So I thought these inexpensive ideas would be fun to do together, things are always fun done together.

More on how to make these angry birds HERE.

https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g1059/homemade-food-gifts/ - now I am not a coffee drinker nor alcohol either, just skip those if you are not as well but the other food gift ideas are great, they will inspire you.

https://laurascheaptricks.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/merry-making-50-things-to-do-with-kids-in-december/ - have fun with your family.

https://www.iheartnaptime.net/handmade-christmas-gifts/ - great ideas here, I liked the pan with cookie dough balls ready for someone to bake.

https://thehappyhousewife.com/home-management/homemade-christmas-gifts/ great ideas here.


I think we need to plan to watch our spending for the holiday. Look for ways to save. Give food storage or things like food sealers, canner pressure, canner, dehydrator, wheat grinder… things that will be helpful rather than glitzy, a gift to keep giving or will help the ones who receive.

Do not go into debt, no matter what!!

Look for ways to help those who are in need.

Keep working on your storage. Look for great deals for your storage in your store flyers. There should be great sales this time of year.

Keep cooking from scratch and saving money from this skill.

Do the best you can.

Monday, October 29, 2018

Monday Message


(Gordon B. Hinckley, October 2001)
“As we have been continuously counseled for more than 60 years, let us have some food set aside that would sustain us for a time in case of need. But let us not panic nor go to extremes. Let us be prudent in every respect.” 

There are so many things one needs to learn on living providently, things you don’t learn in school. I have learned that it is easier to learn skills before you need that skill and that when things are going good is the best time to learn and practice that skill.

When we were first married I could make cookies if we had the ingredients or hot dogs or mac and cheese (the box type). I could bake banana bread - again, if we had ingredients. But even though I took cooking classes in junior high school it was not practical things we learned. Mac and cheese and hot dogs were five for a dollar.

It took time to build up just the staples when we first got married that is why for my girls I wanted them to have the staples right from the start and gathered and gave them those.

Growing up we had cereal. I had no example on fixing food except mac and cheese or spaghetti box mixes.

We need to teach our kids. We do not do them a service by not teaching them.

I went to the laundromat the first time after getting married. A friend just happened to be there and she helped me know what to do. At home the only part I was allowed to do was fold and put them away so I had no idea.

So when I mention that it is better to learn and get food before you need them I'm speaking with experience.

http://theprudenthomemaker.com/index.php/component/content/?view=featured - she is a wonderful example, living providently doesn’t have to be cardboard furniture.

https://www.lds.org/liahona/1987/09/provident-living-a-way-of-life?lang=eng - this is a good explanation of living providently.

http://everythingunderthesunblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/book-2.html - this is my favorite site for food storage info. I was reminded that when you bake quick bread, like banana bread, in a canning jar and you take it hot out of the oven when it's done, wipe the rim and then put on a sterilized lid and ring. As it cools it seals, but to be shelf stable you should not ever do eggs in it. If you scroll down on her site to eggs you will see using unflavored gelatin you can sub for the eggs then it will be shelf stable. I used wide mouth pint jars or wide mouth pint and a half jars. If it rises above the rim just slice that part off, wipe the rim and put on the lid and ring carefully not to get burned. That extra slice will disappear easily... yum yum! :p  To use the canned bread I turn it over and give it a whack and it falls out. I tip it on the side and slice. You get nice round slices, so pretty and so yummy! We have had them a year out from canning and it's still great!

http://visitingteachingtips.blogspot.com/2012/01/provident-living-food-storage.html - you might enjoy reading this.


Chilly temps are here and that calls for something warm to drink! I make a hot cocoa mix recipe I got from my friend Liza.

Hot cocoa
3 c. powdered milk
1 ½ c. cocoa powder
1 c. powdered sugar
2 c. Walmart cheap brand of coffee creamer powdered
-Mix & adjust to your taste with less or more cocoa powdered or powdered sugar


Liza also does different versions...

Gingerbread cocoa mix
Use one fourth of this recipe
add to it…
2 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp ginger
¼ tsp cloves
She likes to float little gingerbread men on top.

Peppermint hot cocoa mix
Use one fourth of hot cocoa mix
Crush 3 candy canes and mix up in mix

Marshmallow hot cocoa
To one fourth mix add mini marshmallows and mix up
To serve in your cup add a fourth cup mix and pour in the boiling water
Mix and enjoy.

We love her recipe and I am sure you will too!


This week I have been vacuum sealing walnuts and also raisins. I have kept walnuts a very long time, a year or more, and have not had them go bad. We just use them by that time but if you try without vacuum sealing they go rancid and when you freeze they take on freezer taste…

I try to get them ahead at Sam’s Club but I cannot always have funds. When I can I vacuum seal them to help them last longer. 


I do this is to stretch our meager income and it really helps.

I have also been working on Christmas gifts and learning as I go.


I also was able to squeeze in some spinning this week almost ready to ply.


Mother Nature sent us an early gift…a reminder winter is on the way.

Keep working on your storage and skills.

Monday, October 22, 2018

Monday Message


“We encourage you to follow this counsel with the assurance that a people prepared through obedience to the commandments of God need not fear” (First Presidency letter, 24 June 1988).

Well it just seems the earth is in commotion. Things keep happening faster and faster.

Are you as ready as you can be? It is true one cannot be ready for everything but you can offset the pain by doing something. Doing nothing will be the opposite results.

There have been so many devastating things coming so quick but we need to think. Fuel will probably go up as refineries have closed for storms. Food prices are going to go up because crops have been destroyed. Even here in Iowa we have had so much rain farmers are having a hard time harvesting.

I do think there are rough patches ahead from everything that is going on. That is why we need to keep to the task of preparing.

For me. I store basic items that I can make things from scratch out of.

http://allaboutfoodstorage.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/CANNERY-COOKBOOK.pdf - here is helpful info on food storage.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2012/03/everyday-home-storage?lang=eng&_r=1 - this has very helpful steps to take.

Try to store foods you can use to make a variety of things from.

Look through your recipes to find out what those ingredients are.



Again, I want to remind you that you need to keep physical copies of your recipes.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/learn-how-to-cook-everything-from-scratch-1388352 - here are some things about scratch cooking. Dig into the site. They have make your own chicken nuggets and making your own bread crumbs. 

There are so many little frugal things one can do. Yes, it may only save a small amount but when you do many frugal things it adds up saving on the budget. When your income suffers knowing you can do things for little just knowing how helps so much so keep learning.  



Cooking from scratch is a very important skill to develop as we have to fix food every day.




We should also be on the lookout for equipment we will need, to this end I look at thrift stores and yard sales for items that will help me to cook from scratch and to help me store items.

At the same time I’m learning and trying new things to build my skills.

https://www.newlifeonahomestead.com/long-term-foods-for-stockpile/ this has her list of long term food storage. Canning your produce is frugal but looking for good sales is just as good….the main thing is that you put in some storage.

https://www.newlifeonahomestead.com/frugality-on-the-homestead/ - frugal ideas, I really like the soup tip before payday.  

I know lots are talking about homesteading but you don’t have to homestead to build your storage.

Remember to think bigger than just food you need. Good first aid storage, toilet paper, and feminine items. Just keep in mind items you use like shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrushes, dish soap, laundry soap or things to make it. You get the idea.

I store liquid dish soap as well as dishwasher soap because I use both for different things. Just use your common sense. Do as you can, don’t be freaked out and spend more than you have and don’t do nothing. Just pick up something extra when you go to stores...that would be less painful.

https://www.gracefullittlehoneybee.com/30-items-can-make-home-save-money/ she shows you how to use these recipes to save money.

Do the best you can to live frugally to build your storage and to build your skills and be a blessing to others.

Monday, October 15, 2018

Monday Message


"Start now to create a plan if you don’t already have one, or update your present plan. Watch for best buys that will fit into your year’s supply. We are not in a situation that requires panic buying, but we do need to be careful in purchasing and rotating the storage that we’re putting away. The instability in the world today makes it imperative that we take heed of the counsel and prepare for the future." (L. Tom Perry)


I feel we need to be working on our storage. I know some would say we are doing just fine, no, we don’t need to store or that I am just about food storage. No, it would be so much easier for me not to do this. It is harder the older I get but the older I get the more we rely on our storage. I am more than food storage. I have lots of interests as my blog posts show. Yes, I have had to live frugally all my life. So I know the importance of frugality and having storage.  

I believe the Prophets have warned and encouraged us to do these things for a reason. It is important to heed their counsel no matter what. I have seen that no matter what you think or believe, hard times are for all, not just one or two unlucky people. Nope, everyone is affected by trials. 

Trials can be very hard but can be less severe if we listen and heed their counsel. It is for us they warn, us being all people on the Earth. And we know there are people who cannot store food, they have not the ability but those who can will be able to help those who can’t. We are in hard times.


I feel like I have learned many things from my circumstances that are now a blessing in my life, an education if you will. I might not have learned any other way.

I have been wildly busy this week. My sister made a comment in an email she said, "work on what you can eliminate." Wow, that made me think I can do that very thing it's so basic. I think we all battle being so busy. It creeps into our lives quietly till we feel we can’t catch our breath. Everything is good so what do we cut? Heavenly Father has said not to run faster than we can. It takes real pondering on how to slow down that is why I appreciate her comment - thanks sis!


How are you coming on getting in storage? Just remember it does not all need to be done at one time. Even if you pick up a few extra things, when you are in the store it will add up. It is so easy to do this, it really does add up.


This weekend is our General Conference. I know it is two weeks past when you will read this but I really love it. We always have chili and cinnamon rolls. And I knit on something as knitting helps me concentrate on what is being said.


http://ldspreparedness.com/Files/cookbook.pdf - this has helpful recipes


https://preparednessmama.com/food-storage/food-storage-recipes/ - this is also helpful


http://prepared-housewives.com/food-storage-recipes-index/ - has many recipes

http://www.provident-living-today.com/Food-Storage-Recipes.html - food storage recipes



http://preparednessnibblesandbits.blogspot.com/2009/03/basic-food-storage-cookbook-pdf.html - this is my all time favorite. Go to the right side and click for example dehydrated apples. I dry apple slices and the recipe for making apple crisp. This is the recipe I use, fantastic you would never know I used dried apples.


This was my frugal purchase this week. It was 19 cents. I will use it to make a dress for our granddaughter. I will wait for next visit and she can help, I think she would like that.


I was able to get three balls of already sewn together, strips the size of grapefruit balls. They were 79 cents. I will either use for weaving a scarf or coasters, we shall see how it weaves up.


Waiting for a reading day. I like cozy mysteries. We have used book sales at the library and a book exchange where they are no cost.  Also, something I think is neat is the little library houses just like bird houses but bigger and have books for anyone to take or add to. I think they are wonderful and are popping up all over. This would be a great thing to do if you don’t have any in your area. Children’s books are great to have in them and other books too and are built low enough for kids to look in.


Don’t rule out your skill building with that…


This is the towel I have hanging on my stove today. I did not make this one but I know how. A good skill to have to beautify your home.


Keep working at building a frugal life and if you are too busy, then work to eliminate what you can.
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