Monday Message

"The counsel to have a year’s supply of basic food, clothing, and commodities was given fifty years ago and has been repeated many times since. Every father and mother are the family’s storekeepers. They should store whatever their own family would like to have in the case of an emergency … [and] God will sustain us through our trials." (James E. Faust)

How are you doing on your skill building?

How are the prices in your area? Ours seem to go up by the minute, very costly.

I continue to research frugal things. It is harder when you pretty much are very frugal already.

https://www.littlehouseliving.com/price-we-pay-for-convience.html - this is good, I like her. We have talked before about convenience foods and doing things from scratch which really saves money.

https://www.budget101.com/recipes/448-convenience-mixes-2/

https://retrohousewifegoesgreen.com/homemade-mixes/ - there are great things here, even a gluten-free baking mix.

https://www.littlehouseliving.com/10-mixes-that-should-be-in-your-pantry.html - I love her scone mix.

https://melissaknorris.com/podcast/frugal-mixes-that-cost-less-than-a-1-made-from-food-storage/ - I like this gal as well.

https://goodcheapeats.com/diy-baking-mixes/ - some ideas here.

https://thedollarstretcher.com/frugal-living/food/inexpensive-homemade-baking-mixes/ - lots of good info.

https://blog.preparedpantry.com/make-store-mixes/ - has helpful info.

https://extension.usu.edu/utah/files/food-for-thought/Master-Mixes-Booklet.pdf - I love these.

https://extension.usu.edu/sanpete/files/Soup_or_Sauce_SOS_Mix.pdf - I love using this mix.

This is my favorite book. The whole book is one mix then all you can do with that one mix. Check your library to see if they can get it for you.

I also like the Make-A-Mix books, see if you can check them out too.

I have been doing a little cleaning...

This spot was perfect for putting these waffle irons and such.

I have a winding station for the yarns I spin. This works great. The stool was given to us.

I worked on clearing a better area for my surface of watercolor desk and the books.

I cleared and deep cleaned my knitting machines getting ready to work on learning more on them and building on that skill.

I wove more on the dish towels and spun some more working on these skills.

I have been researching something, teaching myself a new skill on this inkle loom.

I am working on this cowl.

Building skills as I can while still doing regular chores and such. What skills are you working on?

Missy says make time to learn. She tries to fit it in between naps.

Tippy Longstockings says she should get paid for advertising Fareway on the bag with her cuteness.

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 am speaking now of food to cover basic needs. . .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." (President Gordon B. Hinckley)

Just do what you can. Sometimes I can get more and sometimes I can't. I try to at least get one non-perishable item when I get groceries to set aside. This has helped us so much when we have hard times.

https://www.littlehouseliving.com/cheap-grocery-list.html - I saw this just lately. I feel she has worked hard to put these things together. I think she is fantastic.

https://www.littlehouseliving.com/frugal-living-tips/frugally-fit - here is another of her posts.

My favorite recipe of hers is her scone mix - https://www.littlehouseliving.com/scone-mix-recipe.html

https://www.rd.com/list/being-frugal/ - frugal ideas.

I think we are all looking to save with the higher price of everything.

I still love the bread machine recipe for making so many things.

But I one day took some of the dough to make pizza...

We loved it. So now I take and divide that dough into three and freeze it, then I toss it on the counter in the morning in its bag and by supper it is ready to make the pizza.

Plus, if you don't have a bread machine, you can make it up by hand. After the first rise, divide and freeze or make other yummy things. The recipe was adapted from a no-knead recipe from long ago before bread machines were ever invented.

I did one in the machine and one by hand. They were identical.

But I encourage you to haunt your thrift stores and grab one. Plug it in at the store though. Set it on the dough setting and hit start. You will hear a whir whir noise then hit stop and unplug - it works.

Know how to make bread by hand but take advantage of these used machines. I toss in the ingredients and set on the dough setting and press start then I have an hour and a half to do housework before I need to shape it and put it in a pan and cover. Let rise thirty minutes, bake in a preheated oven for forty minutes and take it out on a wire rack. I rub butter on top and when it is cool, I slice (my knife of choice is an electric knife).

For that matter, make a list of what you are looking for and look for those things every time you go. I know that things are still able to be gotten. I have seen a dehydrator and a food saver vacuum sealer just last month and both had really good prices on them. I have also seen some bread machines lately.

Haunting these stores is a good way to find things that would cost too much for the budget otherwise.

Find used things that will help you be more frugal.

Tippy Longstockings says you will roll on the floor with happiness.

Missy says, remember your skill building - it is easy to forget, add it to you list.

https://www.cuttingcloth.com.au/post/finger-pin-cushions - cute frugal idea for beginning sewing.

Start small to learn the skills you want to learn. If you need incentive, go find out how much it costs to have something mended.

Missy would tell you it is absolutely shocking

Tippy Longstockings says if you know how, you too can make this comfy bed.

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)

https://www.littlehouseliving.com/cheap-grocery-list.html - she has so much helpful information.

https://www.littlehouseliving.com/cooking-tips-from-the-great-depression.html - we need to find and use every tool we can.

I do not see things improving.

I urge you to get to thinking about a garden if you can. I start my seeds at the end of April here.

Put out the word you are looking for jars. We have a spot on our post office board where one can put a note they are looking for items or for sale items. I put up I was looking for free canning jars one time and people were done canning and gave me jars. 

Last week, someone thought of me with some canning jars as they are downsizing. I already have all they gave me filled except for the jelly jars which I am saving to make jam next week or so, as I still have raspberries in the freezer.

You might be wondering how did I vacuum seal that two quart jar as it doesn't fit in my canister. I used the regular size lid attachment. I have a wide mouth size one too. If you vacuum seal, you know these attachments.

https://www.lemproducts.com/product/canning-jar-sealer/roots-and-harvest-by-lem - here is a picture of them. All brands pretty much look alike. Mostly, I use a canister to vacuum seal and only use these attachments if a jar is too big for my canister. These attachments only fit regular or large mouth sizes so they wouldn't fit on something like a store bought jar with a weird size lid. That is why I use a canister so I can do the weird size jars.

I vacuumed seal things and had stuff waiting for jars...chocolate chips, cream of wheat, some pasta, rice, barley...it is a bit of work but this extends the life of my food.

I do these things to be more frugal. Everything adds up and helps us to be able to stretch our very tight budget.

https://www.littlehouseliving.com/how-to-make-wool-dryer-balls.html - I think if you crochet, this would be great to make. I have a knitted one I am thinking of doing. If you don't crochet, it is a great project to get you started. I think this could be a good cat toy for Missy and Tippy Longstockings as well.

This week I did a deep clean of the closet and moved the file cabinet. This is very deep and almost as tall as me. It is a lot of work to unload and take out drawers so I opted to leave everything inside as I was only going two feet and turn it. Oh my, what a hard thing. It required pushing and pulling and body slamming to get a fourth an inch. This was quite a curious thing to watch for our kittens till I was trapped for a while but in the end it is in the better spot. It was hard work to watch, Tippy Longstockings says...

This week we were given this table and it fits perfectly my bobbin lace pillow. I had been looking for a better way for me to have it on to work it so a huge thank you for that.

Keep working at storing what you can and learning skills. You can still find vacuum sealers and things you need to put up food at Goodwill or Salvation Army or do a wanted on a community list but there are dehydrators, canners, jars. I saw a vacuum sealer the other day at our Salvation Army. If you want it to do jars, it must have a port which is a hole on top, usually by a corner and it sometimes says port next to it like the one I saw. You can look up manuals online and can order the tube and jar attachments, even the vacuum canister. So while things might be tight, keep looking at used places and if times aren't tight, they can be gotten new too, but used affords me to be able to get it and maybe a dehydrator... 

Every little bit we can do to stretch our dollars helps us through these hard times.

Remember, don't waste anything. I have a weird wire rack I am looking at and have no idea what it is but I am setting it here and there hoping to figure out a use for it. If not, I will donate it and someone will know exactly what it is or have some better ideas of how to use it. As we have done with things before, we toss it out or donate it unless we think of how we could use it.

Missy and Tippy Longstockings say cabin fever is a real thing so they will give you ideas on how to combat it, mind you they are indoor cats but they wanted you to think in and out of the box....

Monday Message

"Let us be in a position so we are able to not only feed ourselves through the home production and storage, but others as well." (President Ezra Taft Benson)

Times are hard and people are in need. Try to uplift others, even if all you can do is give a smile. Kindness goes a long way.

How are you doing? Check in with your neighbors and friends.

Most people have been shut in due to weather. Are you suffering from cabin fever?

https://www.bradfordfamilydentist.ca/4-fun-family-activities-to-prevent-cabin-fever/

https://signup.com/prevent-cabin-fever 

We are still working on a puzzle here.

If you have young kids, put together a box of old clothes and start a dress-up box.

https://www.todaysparent.com/family/activities/fun-things-to-do-at-home/ - I like the drive-in movie idea, only inside for now.

https://www.jcfs.org/blog/fun-activities-cure-cabin-fever-kids

Set up a family game day with fun snacks.

When our girls were little we turned the living room and dining room into a carnival type set-up where there was a ring toss and pin the tail on the donkey and they could just kept going around doing different things that were set up and then had treats at the end.

When our grandson was little I snuck a box of twinkies into his room and we played hot cold till he found them then we all had fun eating them.

https://www.familyfuntwincities.com/indoor-games-for-kids/ - we always played buckle buckle beanstalk. Our girls loved it. We would pick something we all agreed to be the object to hide. All but the person hiding it would leave the room. Once hidden, they would come in and search. The person who found it would call out "buckle buckle bean stalk" and then they got to be the one to hide it.

I made some extra dough yesterday while making bread (read more about this recipe HERE). Lately I have been adding sourdough discard to it, but you can just do without that if you don't have a sourdough going. I made a pizza with it and put the rest of the dough in the freezer to make another one later. I think I will do this every time. The pizza was fantastic.

At the time I'm writing this, we are back in what feels like way below zero temps so I thought the cat girls would like a redo on their pillows. 

I had this fleece fabric and wrapped their pillows and tacked underneath for easy washing. They are happy with that for sure. You can see the curtain behind them ha! I put a blanket over the west window to help with that before mentioned cold. I have just decided to leave it on till spring.

I started a little ornament I plan to attach to my knitting bag as a skill stretcher if you will, kind of a challenge project which also helps with cabin fever. Are you working on your skill building?

I have lots of things to grow my skills planned for this year. How about you?

Just pick one and concentrate on that one thing. When you have it mastered move to the next thing. I have a friend who did that and it helped her in what she wanted to learn.

https://www.littlehouseliving.com/bread-machine-rolls.html - she has a lot of bread recipes if you follow the link. Of course, if you do not have a bread machine, doing bread the regular way is fantastic too.

https://berroco.com/sites/default/files/downloads/patterns/Berroco-Ariana.pdf - this is a free pattern I am toying with in my mind.

Still really cold here -20 windchill, brrrrr! So those of you not in winter, bask in the warmth for the rest of us.

Missy the pretty princess says pretend to be a princess as she is demonstrating, survey your kingdom for fun things to do.

Tippy Longstockings says if you have fuzzy fabric, make you a bed and then have treats.