Hot Temps and a Cooooold Freezer

It's super hot here.  We're doing all we can to keep our plants alive....and our chickens alive.  However, this heat is good for something!  Defrosting your freezer!  If you've read the "In the Kitchen"tab, you know that we have a tiny frig/freezer combo.  It's not an auto defroster so the little freezer section froze to a solid ice block.  Since it's tiny, we just wheeled it to the front yard and let it sit in the heat with the door open.  Several hours and a few hammer poundings later...we had a defrosted freezer.
Now, here's the purpose of this post...  We had lots of ice hunks on the sidewalk and we thought, "What could we do with these that would be purposeful and not let them go to waste?"  So we put ice hunks in our flower pots and around trees & bushes.

No matter what you are doing, try to think of ways you can re purpose things...even ice!

Hanging Clothes out to Dry

I have decided that one of my favorite things to do is hang clothes out to dry.  Since the weather has been so nice, I decided it was time to string up the clothesline again. 

This is a great, natural, money saver.  Maybe my dryer has something wrong with it but when I timed it the other day, it took an hour for a load to dry.  An hour?!  What does that cost? 

I haven't used my dryer in days.  I wash clothes as soon as I get up then go hang them outside.  Usually by lunch, they are dry.  Of course, the more wind the better because it basically beats the wrinkles out of everything.  On calm days, the clothes just hang there and become stiff.  We don't mind though.  I just do a quick iron over our clothes and everything else stays stiff.  We call towels that were hung dry "exfoliating."  It sounds nicer than "stiff."  :)

I would encourage you to do this too.  Save money...save the planet.  Plus, it's extremely fulfilling to hang your clothes out!

Breakfast Menu

Something new I've discovered is I like to keep a breakfast menu.  I cook breakfast each morning for Mr. Right and myself so it makes the mornings go much smoother if I have a plan.  This way, I can have the table set and breakfast on the table by the time he makes it to the kitchen.  I even light a candle.  :)  Hey, he works hard all day and should get to start his mornings off right!  Plus, he's so handsome...I just can't resist.

Let's name these eggs "Tuesday", "Thursday" and "Friday" :)

Here is my menu:
Sunday: fruit, yogurt, homemade sausage biscuits
Monday: baked oatmeal (tasty and economical)
Tuesday: Omelet and homemade hashbrowns (or oven baked potatoes)
Wednesday: baked oatmeal
Thursday: pumpkin muffins (his fav), eggs
Friday: sweet potatoes (mashed or oven baked), eggs
Saturday: pancake day! and yogurt

I feel like sticking to a menu also helps keep things natural.  You won't need to grab something quick and unhealthy because you're out of ideas. 

Give it a try.  :)

Bulk Food from Country Life

Eating natural is something I enjoy.  Something I don't enjoy, however, is grocery shopping (plus, some of these things can't be purchased at the super market).  So, in case you are interested, here is a list of things we order in bulk from Country Life Natural Foods.

Sucanat 

Garlic, Powder, Domestic  17oz

Peanut Butter, Smooth, NS  35#

Whole Wheat Flour, Prairie Gold, CCF (white) 10#

Tortilla Chips (non GMO) Yellow OG, Whole Grain  16oz

Real Salt 

Cornmeal (non GMO) yellow, OG (whole grain w/ germ) 25#

Navy Beans, OG 25#... will last you a long time

Peas, green split 25#

Sunflower seeds (raw) 5#

Peanuts, Spanish, RNS 25#

Raisins, black flame, large 30#

Rumford Baking Powder (Aluminum free) 5#

Coconut oil 50#... lasts us one year

Yeast, SAF- Instant Red (Baking) 1#

Oats, Regular Rolled 25#...lasts us a year and a half

Pineapple dices, low sugar, IMP 5#

I think that’s it.  The things in bold are what I would consider “must haves” and would suggest getting them to start with. 

We mix peanuts, raisins, (dried pineapple when we order it), and sunflower seeds and eat as a healthy snack.  This is something we always have a jar of in the car for road trips.

Blowing a Breaker

A couple nights ago, Mr. Right and I noticed that a few things in the house had quit working.  The lights in the kitchen were no longer on, the Caller ID didn't work, the toaster oven had quit (thankfully my apple pie was done and I was just heating up some supper!), our little space heater wasn't heating and a lamp in the den was off.  We quickly realized that we had blown a breaker.  Mr. Right went outside to flip it back on and it wouldn't stay on.  So...that means it's time to call an electrician.  What was that going to cost?

I decided that having those things out wasn't really that bad.  To me, it kind of seemed like living "back in the day."  Then, as we started discussing it further, we realized what we had done.  We had the toaster oven, the space heater and the deep freeze all plugged into the same circuit....which apparrently can't handle that.  Wait....the deep freeze?!?!?  It had been off all night before we realized it.  Thankfully, it's about 30 degrees outside so our beef didn't spoil.  The electrician came yesterday and after 100 big ones, we have power back.

I would like to live "back in the day" but can I take my deep freeze?

The $100 breaker...

Our Favorite Things

I added a special section in the sidebar called "Our Favorite Things."  Here you will find links to some of the products we regularly use in our home.  These are natural products, of course.

It has taken us two years of research to come to where we are (and we're still learning) so hopefully this section will give you a headstart.

We order these products from Lucky Vitamin.  There is something magical about having them shipped to your house!  I don't like to shop and these things aren't offered in any store I've been in so Lucky Vitamin makes it easy.  We order in bulk to get the free shipping and it also cuts down on the number of times we have to order.  Love it!

Check it out and enjoy!

Love, the homesteaders :)

What do you do all day?

Being a homemaker, I've been asked this several times..."What do you do all day?"  Especially since we don't have children yet (well, other than the one kicking in my belly).  That question bothered me at one time.  Now, I see it as a chance to enlighten others on the role of a homemaker.  Now, some who ask are homemakers also (or were raised by one) so they know what it's like for them...they just want to know what it's like for me.  Fine with me.  :)

When Mr. Right and I first married, I just kept up with the house how I saw fit.  Then, I realized a schedule would be better.  That way, certain things are always done and you never get behind.  My first schedule divided my day into time zones.  Well, that didn't always work out.  Someone might stop by, Mr. Right would go to work at a different time, something else desperately needed to be done first...you get the idea.  So, I've ended up with this...a list.  I have a list of things I do each day and they aren't constrained my time.

Here it is:
get dressed (yes, I stay home but I feel it's important to get dressed -including shoes- and be presentable)
pick up bedroom -meaning, make bed, gather laundry, put things away
light clean bathroom and shower
pick up den
put in a load of clothes to wash
clean kitchen- dishes, wipe table, sweep, clean off bar
put in load of clothes to dry
*daily chore
rest- ahhhh, yes.  Not a long rest but a needed one
sew, paint, read, scrapbook
*daily chore
iron
*daily chore

My daily chores are divided up by days of the week, like this:
Monday: write cards, dust & clean foyer, clean laundry room
Tuesday: clean floors, scrub kitchen, organize & vacuum closet
Wednesday: pay bills/ balance checkbook, organize office, clean garage
Thursday: clean out frig, detail clean bathrooms, wash windows and sills
Friday: pack if we're leaving, clean floors

I'm faaaaar from perfect.  Most weeks, I don't make it completely through this list for one reason or another.  However, it's a fantastic plan for me.  If you stick to it, then your daily work is easy.  The house stays clean!

The great part about it being flexible is it allows time for me to plan meals and cook.  Since we eat the way we do, it takes longer sometimes for me to make a meal so I don't need a schedule that doesn't allow much time for me to be in the kitchen.  Plus, I really like being in the kitchen. :)

Happy Homemaking!