Book Review- We Had Everything But Money

I purchased this book " We Had Everything But Money" at a flea market recently for $2! I have been kind of seeing it here and there and always forgot to look for it at the library, so I was happy to find it.

Priceless Memories of the Great Depression.
They are indeed priceless. There are numerous stories of inspiration, dedication, community and love in this book. It is a collection of different stories, rememberences, recipes etc. of the Depression Era. The stories are a light read, and you can read several stories at a time.

The Pictures.
Oh my there are amazing pictures in this book. I shared some with the girls, pictures of feed sack dresses, little ones peddling apples, just amazing pictures of our nation's history. I would say this would make a great coffee table type book ( if you are into that sort of thing).

Bottom line.
I liked it. It is well worth $2 :). It wold be worth more than that though. I could see it being used as part of homeschool unit about the Great Depression. It could really be inspirational to be happy with what you've got, and it teaches about the human spirit.

Until next time...
Happy Homesteading...

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Trip to the Flea Market this weekend

Even though it is approaching Mid December, it was still beautiful weather this weekend, ( and my daughter's birthday) and she wanted nothing more than to go the the "Flea Market". This is an outdoor event a few towns over that has a huge livestock auction, vendors selling homeade food ( AKA the BEST homeade tamales you will ever eat), play things for the kids and of course tons and tons of vendors, everything from the junkiest of junk to very nice, hand made quality goods. There are also a ton of animals for sell, which the kids love to look at and pet.

It is a great time I must admit.

The first good deal I got was a book I have been wanting for a while that just popped out at me, from a pile of all kinds of books.

It was a whopping $3, but I asked him if he would take $2 and he said yes. I will review this book later I'm sure but I have already read a lot of it, and it's super fun.

I found a vendor that had random boxes of things like toothpaste, floss and deodorant, and then there was a box of flower seeds. You know the little packets with things like Marigolds, Dahlias and such? I asked how much and was returned with a " $1 a handful" and he gave me a plastic sack. I got a handful of seeds ( which don't expire until 2013). When we got home the girls and I counted them and ended up with 40 packs of various flower seeds, 4 packs of pumpkin seeds and 3 packs of Kentucky Wonder Pole beans . If you recall my middle child is my flower child and so enjoys her flowers. This will be fun for her to plant this spring.

The last thing I got was a beautiful set of 6 salad plates. They are so pretty. Each one has a different chicken scene on it. I saw them and remarked how lovely they were so my mother bought them for me for Christmas.  $5 for 6 HIGH QUALITY, BEAUTIFUL salad plates. She has them in her posession and will wrap them for me for Christmas. I'll try to remember to post a picture of them when I get them.

It was a great day. We were outside, we were with family, we had good food, good fellowship and my kids learned that you don't have to go into a mass box store to get good deals.

Until Next time...
Happy Homesteading!


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Listia- An Online auction site using points only

 

Nothing too Homestead-ey about this post, except that it is frugal and fun, and hey what is a homestead if it can't be frugal and fun??

I'm not sure where I ran across it, but Listia is this fun little auction site that deals only in points, no money at all. You get a pretty decent batch of points when you sign up, here. With those points you bid on items that range from gift cards, to clothing, to books. DVDS, toys and so much more. Really anything. When you sell something on Listia, those points that are "paid" to you can then be used to purchase something from someone else. I've bought and sold on there about 10-15 times and have had great fun and found some good deals. So just wanted to share with my readers, I knew you would appreciate it!.

Hopefully you can find something to help you around the Homestead on there!

Until Next Time, Happy Homesteading.....

Deer Meat....

A few weeks ago my husband killed a deer. No matter how you look at it, it is still taking a life and we don't take it lightly. We teach our kids that it isn't a sport or a game, it is necessary for conservation efforts of the deer population, but it also provides our family with meat. I do'nt need meat to live, I have gone years without eating any meat at all, but my husband appreciates meat, and I don't mind so we do eat meat that we harvest and process ourselves. This includes deer of course.

We are blessed that my father in law shares our passion for good food and he has a "shop" that is fully equipped with a kitche, stove, wash area, walk in cooler and meat processing equipment. We stored the deer in his cooler until we could process it and this weekend we ground it.

We got:
- 6 lbs of chili meat ( which is just a little larger ground peices)
-6 lbs of ground burger meat ( which I use in spaghetti, meatloaf, really anyway you would use beef)
-30 lbs of summer sausage ( which is so delicious, as I use fresh peppers from the garden, and local hand crafted cheese)

My brother in law was also there and he gave us 5 additional pounds of ground burger, as there " is just one of him, but 5 of us". We are so blessed.

The summer sausage is a treat and most of the time we just do ground meat, but the summer sausage is great around the holidays to snack on, take to parties and use as gifts.

We expect to get at least one more deer this year which will fill or freezer up and will be good eating for the rest of the year.

Until Next time
Happy Homesteading


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One Small Thing- Honey

Let's talk about Honey! One thing that you can do this week during your Homesteading Quest is to think about honey. I have been purchasing local honey from an older gentlemen about 20 minutes from me, for as long as I can remember. My folks use to buy from him, and now I do to. I remember when I was small he would save the honeycomb for us and it was such a treat to chew on that sweet yumminess...

there have been lots of studies done that show eating "local" honey can help with allergies, as you are actually ingesting a very small amount of the local allergens through that honey, as that is what the bee is using to pollinate. I've never had allergies, but that makes sense to me.

Of course is would be wonderful if you harvested your own honey. I have longed for that, but it hasn't made it to the top of my must do list just yet, so for now I'm satisfied buying it from my elderly friend.

Honey is great to use as a sweetener for things like hot teas, yogurt, and baked goods. I will also say that a yummy dollop of honey on freshly baked biscuits on a cold morning really gets the day off to a good start. My girls also like honey bread, which is just a thick slice of homeade bread with melted butter and honey on it. Hey, not the healthiest in the world, but better than a twinkie and at least I know where it came from.

Honey is also great for many illnesses. My family uses it as we start to feel the approach of a cold, sinus infection or sore throat. My kids often ask for a teaspoon of honey for their "sore thoat" , which I know is just a plot for me to dispense the liquid gold, but I normally oblige....

So my challendge this week is to
-research local sources of honey for you
- experiment with ways to use honey in your families favorite meals, snacks and drinks

Let me know what you all are thinking!

Happy Homesteading.....


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One Small Thing- EGGS

One Small Thing- Eggs

 

I stated a few weeks ago in a blog post (here) that I wanted to start sharing a few small ways to really start sharing some great ways to start slooooooowly on your own Homesteading Quest.
One thing that I think everyone can do be it in the country or city is learn to love eggs. That's right EGGS!

I'm not talking about raising chickens ( we'll talk about that in another post) but I'm talking about really just learning to eat, cook and bake with eggs.

No matter where you get your eggs ( from your backyard chickens, neighbor, farmer's market or even the store) they provide a great source of cheap protein and are very versatile.

When trying to begin your homesteading quest, scratch cooking. learning to menu plan, more healthful eating and budgeting your grocery money better always seems to be up there on your list.

Learning how to eat eggs certainly fills all of those desires. It is a cheap, nutritious form of food that can really impact your grocery budget.

My oldest daughter LOVES hardboiled eggs, she eats them as snacks....and my husband and I do too sometimes. Isn't she cute??

MY ONE SMALL CHALLENGE THIS WEEK

So today, my challenge to you is to get 1 dozen eggs, hard boil them, peel them, and store them in a container in your fridge. When you need a snack, or a quick sandwich or salad topper, grab one or two and use it in your meal.

Tell me what you think? Could this save you money? Would your family enjoy some meals with more eggs in them? Would your pocket book enjoy it?

Happy Homesteading......

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How to make Hot Pepper Relish

Whew... We are over -run with peppers this year. What a blessing. Not only have we been enjoying them fresh on things like pizza, tacos, in salads, and in soups, but I have been pickling them and making hot pepper relish as well.

So all of these beautiful peppers and honestly you can only eat so many, and you can only pickle so many, and we love our relish, so relish they were destined to be...

You can use all kinds and colors, if you want more of a sweet relish, then use sweeter peppers, we like hot relish so I used a lot of jalepenos and cayenne

I use white onions also, they seem to work better than the other kinds, and honestly the purple onions don't seem to work at all. I didn't measure this batch, but I'll post an official "recipe" in a bit if you want specific measurments. Cut off the tops of the peppers and put the peppers and the onions into a food processor. I use a little water to help get them all chopped nicely. You'll drain the water so don't worry about it now...

Here is my beautiful mix in a collander, draining all the water from it, this is about 4 blenders full

And here is a cloer picture , notice I keep the seeds in it. 1) it is way easier to dice them without having to take the seeds out and 2) it keeps it spicy!

This picture isn't showing a whole lot, but I put the pepper mixture into the big pot with vinegar ( again measurements below) and let them get to a rolling boil....

And then I put them into my sterilized jars.... I process them in a boiling water bath for about 15 minutes.

Close up because I think they are beautiful

We use them on bean dishes a lot, my dad loves them on hot dogs and smoked sausages.... It's very versatile and you can do a lot with it.

I adapted my recipe from That's my Home.

Hot Pepper Relish

18 red chili peppers, seeded and stemmed

18 green chili peppers, seeded and stemmed (can use bell pepper for less heat)

6-8 onions peeled (4 pounds)

1 tablespoon canning or regular salt

boiling water

2 1/2 cups cider vinegar

2 1/2 cups sugar

Put peppers and onions through food chopper, or chop in water in blender and drain. Place in 6 qt. kettle. Add salt; cover with boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes.

Drain and discard liquid. Add vinegar and sugar to vegetables. Bring to boil, simmer 20 minutes. Ladle into 7 pint jars, pressing down as you pack so liquid covers vegetables. Wipe jar rim, adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath 15 minutes. Start to count processing time when water in canner returns to boiling. Remove jars.

Note: Won first prize at New Mexico State Fair! Delicious! Sweet and hot!

I hope some of you love it and enjoy it as much as my family does.....

Happy Homesteading.....

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