Food Storage Friday: no excuses #3

The last big excuse I hear is "we don't like (or don't eat) food storage."  I get it- you don't eat flour, tuna and dried beans.  I don't blame you- yuck!  Food storage needs to be about storing the foods you do eat!  You only eat fresh fruits and vegetables?   Good for you, learn to grow those fruits and vegetables yourself.  It could be a lifesaver someday.  Learn to dry, can, and freeze to preserve fresh foods, and then find ways to work them into your diet. We've been able to live confident that we can go out and buy whatever we want whenever we want, and hopefully it will always be so, but you can't rely on that.  My pathetic attemepts at gardening have made me realize just how delicate of a process growing food can be- it's hard work, and there are no guarantees.  Store 3 months of food that your family eats regularly- and rotate it.  Once you have that, start to store plenty of the long lasting save-you-from-starvation kind of food, maybe start with rice, beans, and wheat.  You don't have to eat a ton of those things on a regular basis to keep a good rotation because they can be stored for so long.  One reminder about grains, be sure you freeze them at least 24-36 hours before storing them because they almost certainly have tiny weevil eggs in them, and freezing kills them so they don't hatch and totally gross you out.  This includes pasta, baking mixes, flour, etc.

Glitz Layouts from NSD

I made these fun pages at a class on National Scrapbook Day a few weeks ago and finally put my pictures in- they were so fun! 

They all use the Glitz Vintage Love stuff- my favorite are the little accent cards and tiny alpha stickers!

Check out my new header!

My blog is ready for summer now, but I on the other hand, am not ready at all!  Come what may and love it right? My header finally fits across the page- hooray!  Thanks for looking :)

Food Storage Friday: No More Excuses 2

I know I'm late- I don't know when exactly, but life just got really busy!  We're wrapping up the school year and even the days are even flying by- but oh yea, no excuses!  Moving on to the next common excuse for not having a good food storage, and I can relate, NO MONEY.  My mom made it pretty much impossible for me to use this excuse though, because she lived on practically nothing for several years and stuck to a very strict budget but she always made sure to pick up at least an extra can or 2 of food to set aside.  That is do-able for anyone.  If you don't already have a working budget then you almost certainly are spending money without realizing it, so for a month keep track of every penny you spend, write it down, and see where you can sacrifice.  (For tips on saving money on groceries, see my "supermom" post HERE.)  See if you can take just $5-$10 a week to start and stock up on a good sale.  One week it might be canned beans, the next toothbrushes or spaghetti sauce etc.  When you get a little chunk of extra money, like a birthday, bonus or tax return, consider spending some of that on your year supply.  Start with water, then gather 72 hours of food and supplies, then 2 weeks and so on, you can do it!  If you are consistent, it will start to add up and you won't even think about it, buying extra will just be something you do.  So what other excuses do you have?

Happy Mother's Day!

It took a few years, but finally I've lowered my expectations of Mother's day, and it's good now!  I got some cute cards with sweet notes from the girls, Miss B made me a beaded bracelet and a Dr. Pepper pin (missing at the moment- picture soon).  Sam gave me flowers and cooked breakfast.  I was able to go to church and hear about amazing mothers without comparing myself to them too much, I watched Stephanie Nielson's video again, and I spent the evening with my own mom- while Sam stayed home with the boys because Mr. C was a bit under the weather.  We watched the latest episode of "The Middle" which was hilarious- you've got to watch that show!  (ABC Wednesdays at 8) And I really liked her idea of celebrating "The Day After Mother's Day."  I just wanted to share this recently found picture of my mom and I- she was only 20 years old in this picture and so beautiful- she is so talented too, I bet she made the clothes both of us were wearing then!  Happy Mother's Day Mom!

I love Nie

Just in case you haven't seen this video yet, watch it! Sometimes I get frustrated and think "this isn't fun" but then I remind myself that life isn't about having fun- and I think about other people, everyone has challenges and struggles, I think about Stephanie- life is good!  And God is good.

Food Storage Friday: No More Excuses!

We all like to make excuses for the things we don't want to do (it's not just me right?) I've heard a lot of them from people who haven't started on their food storage but I know it can seem overwhelming and there are legitimate concerns, so for the next couple of weeks I wanted to focus on getting rid of the excuses.  Without further ado, excuse Numero Uno: 
"I don't have anywhere to put it."
Ah yes, a nice large pantry or food storage room is ideal, but not a necessity.  I grew up with food storage under my bed, in my closet, and even made into a desk at one time! Look at this awesome craft and sewing desk made with food storage HERE by LucyH: 

a new blog to me but one I think I need to explore! You could cover the boxes with some pretty fabric if you wanted to hide it more.  You can buy table tops at Ikea too.  Start thinking "out of the pantry" (ha!) and see what you can come up with.  I have designated Miss B's bed to hide wheat, Miss G's pinto beans, and Miss E's rice.  You can fit a lot of those big cans down under one bed. If yours are too low you can get some bed risers like these:

I've even seen someone who installed a large, strong shelf over their toilet and stacked that to the ceiling!  So no more excuses, go make some space and start building a 2 week/3 month/1 year or more supply of food and necessities!

For Mother's Day, or any day...

Anna Maria Horner has a new book out and it sounds lovely!  If you are shopping this Mother's Day for a new or expectant mom, or even a grandma who likes to make things for little babes, "Handmade Beginnings" would make a great gift!  I'm a huge fan of Anna Maria Horner and even though I am most likely done with the "welcoming baby" stage of my life (snif, snif!)  it's sitting on my Amazon wish list!  I know it will be full of beautiful pictures and darling patterns.  She is one of my "hero moms." You can order a signed copy from her shop HERE.

WOW

Have you ever seen or read something and thought "I need to tell everyone about this!"  Food Inc. did that to me. I came home last night and my husband was watching this on PBS and my initial reaction was to cringe- "now he's going to be telling me how I'm poisoning our kids with Mac N Cheese or fruit snacks..." but quickly I was sucked in and it was really interesting, and a little sad! (and a little sickening) You've got to see it, you will really think about what you're eating and feeding your family, and hopefully make some changes!  (I am)  I don't know if it's going to be on again, I missed the beginning and want to see it all. 

Free Books? No more late fees? Awesome vintage ads?

Were you aware that Google has scanned over TEN MILLION books, available to read online for FREE? I wasn't. Go HERE to check it out! If they are still in print you will probably only see a preview, but there are a ton that are there in their entirety. You can also look at old magazines, I found my favorite VW ad from a 1964 LIFE.

"You can conveniently replace anything she uses to stop the car- even the brakes" Ha!

Or this one is awesome, from the same magazine,  "Sugar's got what it takes... and it's all energy."

Of course if kids today got as much excersize as "Tommy" it wouldn't be so bad...

For more free books, check out your library's website, ours has a section for kids where they can click on a book and it will be read to them, complete with pictures, some of them even animated a bit!  I may never have to go back and pay those late fees. :-)

A birthday- plain and simple

If anyone out there still reads my L-A-M-E, lame-o blog I am sorry I've been absent.  I've decided that maybe 4 kids was my limit, but we just love Harrison too much to send him back, so I'm trying to figure out how to manage things with 5 kids. (and not doing it very well yet)  Blogging is a little low on the priority list, though as long as I have to sit to feed Harrison several hours a day, reading blogs will still get done!
My sweet/sour Mr. C turned 2 today!  I can hardly believe it! 

It's not fair how fast time flies when they are little.  I went back and forth about having a party, he's so into "choo-choo's" right now, I had a grand vision of a "Choo-Choo I'm 2!" party, with cute invitations, matching t-shirt, fun train-ish favors, train wheel pasta salad and "choo-choo chewy" popcorn balls all at a fun train park this weekend, (styled after THIS adorable party.) But I was really nervous about actually getting it together, yesterday I decided to go for it, but after spending nearly 2 hours trying to make/find the perfect train graphic for the invitation, I abandoned that idea, and decided dinner at home tonight, with a cake and presents was just fine!  So this morning we went shopping for gifts, and this afternoon I baked a cake, stuck a train on top and at 8:30pm, when dad got home from his church meeting, we had a little party! 

He got some fun new toys, his sisters all gave their usual "find something around the house and wrap it in toilet paper" gifts, 

and I think the real hit was some hand-me-down Thomas the Train toys from his cousins- he was seriously into that.

And sometimes he does wear pants, but they were long gone by the time our "party" rolled around and I was too tired to go find them! Hopefully I'll have something more interesting next time...

Wedding Card- CPS Sketch 160

Staying home from church today with some little sickies so I decided to ignore my messy kitchen [whole house] for a bit and make a card for the CPS sketch challenge #160.  I like it- I think simple cards are just my thing, I love looking at the fancy ones other people make but I tend to ruin cards when I try to put more than a couple things on them!  You can see the sketch and a bunch of other people's cards over on the CPS blog HERE.

For all the crafty people and scrapbookers...

Have you heard about the new Little Black Dress Kit Club?  March is their first kit and it looks great.  I've never joined a kit club before but it sounds really cool, especially if you don't have time to spend hunting around the scrapbook store for papers, embellishments and other supplies that "go" together!  I often buy things I love but then they sit in drawers and shelves because I don't quite know what to pair them with!  Kits solve that problem, and joining a club gets you a bunch of stuff delivered straight to your door and all for a discount! 

This is a picture of the stuff in the current kit, and you can check out the blog HERE for lots of great ideas, including this altered book that I am IN LOVE with!

One of my good friends is involved in this club and she is crazy talented so I know they are going to have great kits every month, go check it out ASAP- Little Black Dress Kit Club.

Food Storage Friday: Learn to make bread

I've wanted to post this for a long time but couldn't do it until I actually learned to make bread myself.  I've got a bunch of hard white wheat stored (and you should too- it stores forever!)  but up until a few weeks ago it was almost completely useless to me, the best I could do with it was cook it up for cereal or make some Chili Wheat with it.  I finally found a whole wheat bread recipe that was simple enough for me!  (and I have tried and failed with several recipes)  And it's very good, even for sandwiches, but especially for toast and grilled cheese.  100% Whole wheat bread, with just a little honey and oil- try it, you will be able to do it if I can! This recipe came from The Essential Food Storage Cookbook by Tami Girsberger and Carol Peterson and it is awesome. (the whole cookbook is great too if you are looking for a good one!) The original has this doubled to make 4 loaves, but my KitchenAide can only handle 2 loaves at a time, so here's my "half" version:

Whole Wheat Bread
3 cups hot water
1/3 cup oil (olive or canola)
1/3 cup honey
1 TB Vital Wheat Gluten (look in the health food section, or by specialty flours)
1/4 cup powdered milk (optional)
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 TB yeast
1 TB salt
5 cups whole wheat flour

Mix hot water, oil, honey, Vital Wheat Gluten, powdered milk, and 3 cups flour.  At this point the batter should be lukewarm so it won't kill the yeast.  Add yeast.
Gently mix to blend and then let it sit to sponge about 10 minutes.  Add salt.
While stirring, gradually add additional flour until the dough begins to "clean" the bowl.  If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, continue to add flour.  You can test for enough flour by gently touching dough with your finger.  If dough sticks to your finger, add flour and keep kneading.  When dough barely does not stick to finger, stop adding flour.
Knead on low speed for 8 minutes.  Turn dough onto an oiled surface (do not use flour).  Turn dough a coulple of times to coat with oil.  Cut dough into 2 equal pieces (you can weigh them to be sure, 32oz each)  Shape each piece into a loaf and place in a bread pan that has been sprayed with oil.  Cover and let dough rise 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.  A good place for bread to rise is under the lights on your range.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake 26-28 minutes or until interal internal temp reaches 190 degrees F.  Remove from oven and brush tops with butter.  Let loaves sit 5-10 minutes before gently removing from pans, cool on a wire rack.

And that's it- I couldn't believe it actually worked, and that even my kids will eat it! 

Splitting Harry's

My biggest concern with naming this sweetie Harrison was that he might someday be called "Harry".

And that "someday" happened like the day he came home from the hospital, and many many times since, even by me (gasp!) The girls started it, and looking at that sweet little face and hearing him called Harry suddenly it wasn't such a horrible thing, I didn't think about this guy,

or this guy,

or this "hairy" image.

It was good enough of a name for Princess Diana to use right?

And one of our favorite characters over here is Harry Potter, are there any other "good" Harry's out there? Or do I really need to be strict about sticking to Harrison?

And why can't I make my pictures go where I want them to go anymore????  I'm going to scream.

This is so cool!

Lunch Box Love Notes

I remember sometimes getting little notes in my lunch box from my mom when I was little and loving it. It seems like our mornings now are always rush rush rush with me (not so cheerfully) telling them what to do over and over and over. I often feel bad dropping my kids off at school after one of those stressful mornings with me, they're going out into the "world" where people don't necessarily care about them or their feelings, they shouldn't leave feeling like mom thinks they're anything less than wonderful too! I try to throw a note in their lunches when I can, just to remind them I love them and let them know I care and think about them when they are gone, but if I wait until we are rushing to get out the door it's not going to happen. A week or so ago I was up at night and too tired to be really creative, but not too tired to go to bed so I busted out a little "mat stack" of cardstock and went to work cutting each sheet in half, then folding it and adding some kind of little embellishment to make some "special" lunch box love notes. They turned out kind of cute and were super easy and the girls LOVE them.I put them all in a shoe box with a pen in the pantry and now I just pull one out and write a quick note before dropping it in their lunches. It's quick and easy and they always tell me how happy they were when they saw it.

Food Storage Friday: Papa's Beans

Today I'm sharing my father in law's "recipe" for beans! Dried beans can be stored for years easily and are cheap so go get a big bag or 2! My whole family loves these, they are often served when we get together with my husbands entire family! Slice some french bread and sprinkle in some cheese and fresh onions if you like and enjoy.

Papa's Beans

2 lbs dried pinto beans (about 4 cups)

6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (can substitute garlic powder)

3 large onions, diced (can substitute dried onions)

1 TB salt

1 TB pepper

Cayenne Pepper sprinkle to taste

Crushed red pepper flakes to taste

1/2 lb chopped bacon or ham hock (you can leave the meat out, but my family prefers them this way)

Sort, rinse and soak beans overnight in a large pot.

In the morning, drain, rinse and fill pot with new water and bring to a boil on high heat while stirring in all other ingredients.

Reduce heat to medium, but keep it boiling. You can further reduce the heat after 2 hours or so, when the beans begin to soften, keeping it at a low boil.

Stir throughout the day every 20 minutes or so, adding water when needed so they don't stick to the pot.

The longer they cook, the softer and yummier they get.

You can also combine all ingredients in the crock pot and let them cook all day as well. Enjoy with a salad and some bread and you have dinner, and good leftovers too!

It's Back- Food Storage Friday!

I don't know why I stopped doing it in the first place, probably because there are so many blogs out there already dedicated to it that are much more thorough, (or maybe I gave up when my kids destroyed my inventory list before it was finished!) but I got a lot of good feedback from you when I was doing it, so here we go again! Come back on Fridays for a simple tip, recipe or idea to help you on your way to self sufficiency with your family's food storage! For past FSF posts, click HERE.

I've told you how simple it is to bottle your own meat and today I wanted to share some sources for recipes to use that canned meat. Chicken is easy because it can be used in pretty much any of those many recipes calling for "cooked shredded chicken" but Campbells has several written spcifically for Swansons canned chicken HERE. Hereford Foods has canned meat products and they have some yummy looking recipes for canned beef and pork HERE. (To download instructions for canning your own meat click HERE.) My in-laws were in Maui last weekend when the tsunami threat was going on and Costco was limiting SPAM purchases to 2 per customer- HA! So just think about what you want to have on hand in case of an emergency or longer term food shortage!

Is it just me?

Is it just me or is this little guy just growing up WAY too fast?