The Trailer Park Homesteader: Product Review Series Part 3 Ep31



In Part 3 of her product review series, Sharon is reviewing the Wonder Oven handmade by Joyce Moseley Pierce of Prepared in Everyway, the Cube Stove and the Wapi water pasteurizer from All American Sun Oven. Sharon also brings listeners news on her current projects and information of future topics.

 

The Trailer Park Homesteader: Review Series Part 2

 

 

 

In this episode, Sharon is taking on part two of her product review series. This episode features the Breathing Mobile Washer and the TSM Products 32298 Vacuum Sealer. She also shares tips for doing laundry manually and gives listeners the recipe for "Rita's Laundry Soap".



To see Sharon's written product reviews, check out the following links:

Washing Clothes Manually and Easily

Tsm Products 32298 12" Vacuum Sealer



Check out this episode!

 

The Trailer Park Homesteader: New Show Info Ep29

 





What's New:

 

If you've listened to any of my previous shows then you've probably noticed that I tend to talk more about preparedness, than homesteading itself. Ironic perhaps seeing how I'm the Trailer Park "Homesteader"! My reason I suppose, is that preparedness really is where my heart is at. We believe,

"Homesteading leads to being more prepared, and being prepared leads to being more self-sufficient" 

 

But don't worry, I'm not going hardcore prepping either. Besides preparedness and homesteading, I also want to incorporate other topics as well such as:

 

Family

Education
Health

Recipes

Product Reviews

Current Events

How-To's

Interviews

Hunting & Survival 

Everyday Living Topics

 

Also, my husband will be co-hosting some of the shows with me. This really is a new adventure for both of us, and our listeners! So that is what you can expect with the new shows and I sincerely hope that you will tune and give it a listen. 

 

All new shows will be available here, Prepper Broadcasting Network, iTunes and Youtube. All of my previous shows can still be found on The Survival Mom Radio Network and on iTunes.

 

Check out this episode!

 

 

 

 

New Podcast Coming in December

Before I begin, I want to Thank Lisa Bedford of The Survival Mom & SMRN and all of the other hosts. I learned so much from all of them, they are amazing and I wish them the best in their future endeavors. 

After the recent closing of The Survival Mom Radio Network, I have taken some time to give a lot of thought about which direction I wanted to go in. 

Did I really enjoy having the show? Did I want to continue? Would my previous listeners enjoy a new show as much? 

The answers I came to are: YES! I really enjoyed hosting my show and being a part of the SMRN. I wanted to continue having a show, but it was important for me to keep the same format. Meaning keeping the shows at about half an hour, recording once a week, and having the flexibility that is required for me personally. But will listeners enjoy it? I Sure Hope So! 

What's New: 

If you've listened to any of my previous shows then you've probably noticed that I tend to talk more about preparedness, than homesteading itself. Ironic perhaps seeing how I'm the Trailer Park "Homesteader"! My reason I suppose, is that preparedness really is where my heart is at. 

I believe:

"Homesteading leads to being more prepared, and being prepared leads to being more self-sufficient" 

But don't worry, I'm not going hardcore prepping either. Besides preparedness and homesteading, I also want to incorporate other topics as well such as:

Family

Education
Health

Recipes

Product Reviews

Current Events

How-To's

Interviews

Hunting & Survival 

Everyday Living Topics

Also, my husband will be co-hosting some of the shows with me. This really is a new adventure for both of us, and our listeners! So that is what you can expect with the new shows and I sincerely hope that you will tune and give it a listen. 

All new shows will be available here, Prepper Broadcasting Network, iTunes and Youtube. All of my previous shows can still be found on The Survival Mom Radio Network and on iTunes.

Special Note: 

I had just began a four part product review series. My last show on the SMRN, "Three Amazing Products You Need" was part one of the series and I will begin the new show with part two on December 22nd, 2014.

Fall Canning: Soups and Stews

As the weather cools down many of us will soon be snuggling up and enjoying a hot bowl of soup. So I wanted to share two of the recipes I use to make Vegetable & Beef soup and Chili Con Carne. These recipes are great for a quick and easy dinner or for canning and adding to your food storage.

Vegetable-Beef Soup:

Ingredients

• 8 Cups Tomatoes stewed or diced
• 6 cups peeled and diced Potatoes
• 4 cups of pre-cooked Lima Beans
• 2 cups sliced Celery
• 2 Cups diced Onions
• 5 lbs of Stew Meat or Hamburger
• 2 cups fresh or frozen Corn
• 6 cups of Water
• Salt, Pepper, or Preferred Spices

Directions:

1. In a skillet brown meat and drain well.
2. Combine all ingredients in a stock pot.
3. Add seasonings and taste, add additional if needed.
4. Boil 15-20 minutes, add additional water if needed.
5. Fill jars, leaving a 1” headspace

Canning Directions:

1. 5. Adjust lids and process in pressure canner.
2. 6. Dial Gauge Pressure Canner:.
3. 7. 60 mins for pints and 90 mins for quarts.
4. 8. 11 lb at 0-2,000 ft (altitude); 12 lb at 2,001-4,000 ft; 13 lb at 4,001-6,000; 14 lb at 6,001-8,000 ft.
5. 9. Weight Gauge Pressure Canner:.
6. 10. 60 mins for pints and 90 mins for quarts.
7. 11. 10 lb at 0-1,000 ft; 15 lb at above 1,000 ft.

Chili Con Carne:

Ingredients

• 3 cups dried pinto beans or 3 cups red kidney beans
• 5 1/2 cups water
• 5 teaspoons salt, divided
• 3 lbs ground beef
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped bell pepper, of your choice (optional)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 -6 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 quarts canned crushed tomatoes or 2 quarts canned whole tomatoes

Directions:

1. Wash beans thoroughly and place them in a 2 qt saucepan.
2. Add cold water to a level of 2 to 3 inches above the beans and soak 12 to 18 hours.
3. Drain and discard water.
4. Combine beans with 5-1/2 c of fresh water and 2 tsp salt and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
6. Drain and discard water.
7. Brown ground beef, chopped onions and optional peppers in a skillet.
8. Drain off fat and add 3 tsp salt, pepper, chili powder, tomatoes and drained cooked beans.
9. Simmer 5 minutes.
10. CAUTION: Do Not Thicken.
11. Fill jars, leaving 1" headspace.

Canning Directions:

1. Adjust lids and process in pressure canner.
2. Dial Gauge Pressure Canner:.
3. 60 mins for pints and 90 mins for quarts.
4. 11 lb at 0-2,000 ft (altitude); 12 lb at 2,001-4,000 ft; 13 lb at 4,001-6,000; 14 lb at 6,001-8,000 ft.
5. Weight Gauge Pressure Canner:.
6. 60 mins for pints and 90 mins for quarts.
7. 10 lb at 0-1,000 ft; 15 lb at above 1,000 ft.

*Chili Con Carne recipe courtesy of Food.com

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to Survival Mom Radio on Itunes and tell your friends.  We would also LOVE to get a Customer Review from you.  Customer Reviews help us to reach more people and share our knowledge.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/survival-mom-radio.com/id635654707

Bartering vs. Time Banking

Just think about the term for a moment: bartering. What comes to mind? Maybe because you're preparedness minded you think of shtf and items to trade, or maybe it makes you think of the "old days" when it was more common. 

While people do still barter I would say that it probably isn't as common as it used to be, but I do think there will come a time when many people will depend once again on bartering.

I’m pretty sure people have been bartering for things since nearly the beginning of time.

 In looking for the actual definition of bartering, with the handy dandy help of Google it says “exchange (goods or services) for other goods or services without using money.”. I’d say that is pretty self-explanatory.

Throughout the years people have used it to get what they need. At times this may have been for pleasure, but often it was necessary enable to survive as well. I began recently thinking more about this topic after I was doing some research. I was watching a video of an upcoming interviewee that was talking to her grandfather about living in the depression days and how his family bartered to just survive. He mentioned that in that time although everyone had their own gardens, many were out of work and had to barter for meats and other items they needed.

You know back then people got ration cards for certain items, but often had to even trade these off for necessities. Her grandfather even mentioned that his relative even traded off his shoe ration card and so he had to keep taping up his old worn out shoes. Here’s a link to that video, but I thought it was interesting to hear the perspective from someone who lived during the depression.

Honestly, it also makes me imagine how our generations would cope, through such a time. Let’s face it, times have changed and younger generations are used to instant gratification versus the hardworking mentality of the older generations.

Another example I read was about barter economies. The livinghistoryfarm.org explains:

“During the Depression the agricultural economy got so bad that many farmers were forced to trade their crops and other goods to people in town that they owed. Basically, people bartered, trading goods and services directly with each other rather than going through the intermediate step of converting the goods and services into a cash value.” 

On that site there is a man named Walter Schmitt that owned a blacksmith shop and took potatoes for payments instead of money. Helen Bolton remembered that the doctors accepted corn for payments. They would take it when it was worth 10 cents a bushel and then sale it when it got to 50 cents. This would allow the doctors to make a lot of money. That was a pretty clever plan I would say!

Bartering is not a completely lost art, but has somewhat been reinvented. Today, all over the world there is another concept that is used called Time Banking. Now a time bank is not necessarily bartering per say, but I do believe that are related (cousins at least!). 

Time banking also is apparently not really new, but it is newer as it pertains to being main stream.

A quick history lesson:

The efflux.com website explains it this way, 

“ Barter economies have been in practice throughout history, but the idea of using time as a unit of exchange only appeared shortly after the Industrial Revolution. The origins of time-based currency can be traced both to the American anarchist Josiah Warren, who ran the Cincinnati Time Store from 1827 until 1830, and to the British industrialist and philanthropist Robert Owen, who founded the utopian "New Harmony" community. While both systems are based on the principles of mutualism and the labor theory of value, Josiah Warren's currency was explicitly pegged to time as a measure of specific goods or labor. For example, 3 hours of carpenter's work would be considered equivalent to 3-12 pounds of corn. Meanwhile, Robert Owen's currency simply bore an inscription referring to a number of hours, which presumably could be exchanged for however many pounds of corn a farmer would deem adequate or labor of any kind.”

Time banking is a neat really a neat concept. You trade some of your time doing something for another person, and then some else within the time bank community, donates some of their time doing something for you. Time is the currency. It’s like a “paying it forward” campaign.

But it really goes beyond that, time banking builds communities because besides the time exchange activities, they also have things like food and clothing swaps and even potlucks!

Edgar Cahn is credited with the invention of time-banking as it is today. He believed that there are 5 core values of time banking:

1. 1.    We are all assets
2. 2.    Some work is valuable beyond market price
3. 3.    Helping works better as a two-way street
4. 4.    We need each other
5. 5.    Every human being matters

Time BanksUSA also began an initiative called Transition Town Media that focuses on “local resiliency in all areas of Media’s infrastructure: food & water, economy, transportation, energy, business, currencies, the environment, and — of course — community.” They even promote “yardens” by encouraging backyard gardening and by supporting local farmers and farms.

So how can this help you in your preparedness?

Bartering and time banking both help to build communities. It also is a way to find other like-minded people and give you the opportunity to learn new skills.

Bartering for the future?

Some of you may already be doing this, whether it is with friends, family, or people within the community. It is a great way to get items to build or expand your prepping projects. One place I like to check out is craigslist, if you didn't know, they have a barter section! There is also a site called u-exchange.com, where you can just click on your state and browse through the barter listings. Also think also about learning how to trade up, to get want you want. If there is a big item you need, but don’t have something of equal value, keep trading up until you acquire the item you need.

Fast Forward, SHTF Bartering…

Here are a few articles I found on bartering and SHTF that might be helpful and give you some things to think about:

16 SHTF Barter Items to Stockpile

Top Post-Collapse Barter Items And Trade Skills

 

20 Of The Most Important Barter Items You Need To Have On Hand For When The SHTF

 

Useful Skills and Items for Bartering after SHTF

72 Items That Will Disappear First When The SHTF

Common Items Anyone Can Use or Barter During a SHTF Situation

Bartering Safety Tips from The Art of Barter:

Don’t meet people alone.

Don’t barter at night.

Keep excess items out of sight.

Don’t give out personal information such as locations, whereabouts, etc.

Don’t meet people at your retreat. Find somewhere else to barter. Remember your security!

Use your instincts!

Stretching Your Grocery Budget: Using Coupons

 

 

I know that many of us are having a tough time making ends meet and thought that I could hopefully help others learn how to stretch their own grocery budgets through the use of coupons.

Before I get into how it all actually works, let me tell you real quick about why I had gotten into it myself. One day I had caught an episode of a show called extreme couponing. I watched in amazement as people rolled out buggies full of hundreds of dollars’ worth of nearly free stuff. They had $600-800 dollars of food and maybe paid $30 bucks for it! In some cases, they would not pay anything, and in fact the stores paid them to take the stuff. I thought that would be really cool if I could figure out how to do that.  

 

 

The first thing I soon learned was that this type of thing is not quite possible, at least not in my state. That is not to say that you can’t walk out with a great deal, you absolutely can. Just don’t expect it to all be completely free. Another important thing to tell you up front, is that it takes time and work. When I was at my peak of couponing, I was clipping, ordering, and printing out coupons on nearly a daily basis. I got really into it. As silly as it sounds now, I was obsessed for a little bit and was determined to get as much as I could for as cheap as possible. I feel like I should throw in a little disclaimer here: now that I cook more from scratch I don’t buy the same types of foods that I did before. With that being said I am a realist and know that you are here because you want to know how to make this work for you, so let’s get started.

There is a lot of information you need to know before it’s time to grab your coupons and go. The first thing you need to know is your local grocery stores coupon policies. I say stores, because each one has a different policy. For instance, we have a homeland store about 15 miles away they double one like coupon only. But if I drive about 25 miles to another of these stores locations, (at last I knew) they were doubling 3 like coupons. If you’re new to this your probably wondering what this means. Let’s say I have a coupon that is .50 off of a box of cereal. The first store will let me use that coupon, but they will also double it making it a total of $1 off of that box of cereal. Now if I were to happen to have 3 of these particular coupons, I could wait and go to the second store instead and by 3 boxes of the cereal (because I have 3 of the coupons) and they will double all three of them.

If you go to a store like Walmart, they do not double coupons, but they are the only store here that gives cash back. So if you make a purchase there and your coupon is for more than the price of the product, they will give YOU money! So let’s put this into an example that makes sense to you..

Let’s pretend I have a coupon that is $4.00 of shaving razors. If I find those razors for $2.99 and give them my coupon, whatever the difference is they will give me back. So, they basically pay me .70 or whatever the amount to walk out of the store. But you always need to read the fine print on coupons, because the store does too. They hate giving cash back.  If that coupon says something like limit 4, or no more than 4 like coupons, that means you must have a coupon for each item but they will only let you purchase 4 of the same items. I have made that mistake and believe me they will catch it. If the coupon doesn’t limit the number of items, then you can buy as many as you’d like. I once went the Walmart with 25 coupons for $1 off of single bar of Dove bar soap, guess what, the soap was only .97 to begin with so I only paid a portion of the tax which was about $2.00 or so. That was well over a year ago, and I still have some of that bar soap.

As I mentioned get to know your stores policies, this is the first step. This allows you to know how many of each coupon you need to acquire to use. The next step I would say that you need to do is look on sites that do coupon matchups. These sites do all the "leg work" so to speak, they have already figured out what’s on sale at the stores and have found coupons to help you save even more money. I use consumerqueen.com for this.

Once you become familiar with how the matchup works, it’s time to start gathering coupons. There are many ways to do this. You can begin by buying Sunday papers, if you plan to shop at a store that doubles more than one coupon, let’s say they double 3 like coupons like my store then I would need to buy three papers. A huge thing to remember is that if you get the Sunday paper to save coupons, save them until they expire. Your store might not have a particular item on sale this week, but next week they might.

You can also order coupons or coupon inserts from eBay or coupon service websites like thecouponclippers.com. The last method is to print them out. You can go to sites like afullcup.com and they will let you print out most coupons only once or twice from the same computer.

Stores also sometimes have store coupons that they offer. You can use their coupon and also a manufacturer’s coupon on one product, this is called stacking. Again, it is important to first read your stores coupon policy because some won’t allow printed coupons or they might limit the amount of home printed coupons that they accept.

 

If you’re going to coupon, definitely look for the stores that double your coupons. That way you can save the most money!

It’s also helpful to get organized. Many couponers get a binder and baseball card sleeves and make sections or print off a template that already has sections for coupon binders. This does entail a bit more work because you are clipping every single coupon and categorizing them. If you’re interested in getting a free template, I found mine at thekrazycouponlady.com. Some people may just leave all coupons together and only clip them as they need them. Find a way that works best for you.

So let me recap real quick incase I’ve overloaded you.

1.      Look up and print off each store’s coupon policy.

2.      Find a website that does coupon matchups in your area.

3.      Begin gathering your coupons; I’d do this for a couple weeks.

4.      Organize your coupons.

5.      Prepare for your trip. Print out the matchup and gather the corresponding coupons.

6.      It’s a good idea to take along the stores policy, just in case there is a question about something.

7.      Don’t buy junk you don’t need.

8.      But wait, what to do with expired coupons….?

 

You’ll noticed I mentioned don’t buy junk you don’t need. There are a lot of people that think they have to use every single coupon they have. If you don’t use a product, unless it’s free, don’t buy it. You’re trying to save money, not waste it. Now if the product would be free, I would get it to either pass along to someone who would use it or I would keep the item if it has a preparedness purpose such as medical supplies or dry goods.

It takes a few couponing trips to really get a handle on how the process works. I know that sounds silly, but it’s true. When you get up to the counter and you’ve gotten a few hundred dollars’ worth of stuff, if you have not properly planned the trip, you’re going to either being paying too much or be embarrassed by having to put stuff back. I’ve been in both of those situations, and it’s not a fun position to be in.

I know this all may sound like a lot of work, and honestly it is …at first. Once you get the hang of it, it does get easier. Just remember to pay attention to sizes and quantities and that they match the coupon. 

Also don’t throw those expired coupons away, donate them. Many people might not realize that coupons can be used on military bases for up to 6 months after they’ve expired. So donate them to military families to help pass along the savings. You can go to supportourtroops.org to get information about their "Troopon Program" or you can also adopt a specific military family to send them too each month. Just look online for couponstotroops.com they can help you find a family to help out, simply by sending them your expired coupons.

You might be wondering how much you can realistically save from couponing. I would save anywhere between 60-85% of your grocery bill. That is extra money in your pocket that you can put towards whatever else you need too.

If you’d like to see one of my big hauls (as their called), I got $264.10 in groceries for only $78.01, which saved me about 70% which was $186.09. Here’s the link: Sharon’s Haul.

 

I hope this article helps but if you find yourself now utterly confused, Leave me a comment and I will help you out!





Disaster Planning For Divorced and Blended Families

 

 

 

Disaster Planning For Divorced and Blended Families

 

I’ve been meaning to cover this topic for some time now, as I don’t believe that I’ve seen information regarding how to deal with it and I knew if I was interested in it, maybe someone else out there might be as well.

So with that, I wanted to talk a little about disaster planning for divorced and blended families.
 

Let me explain what I mean…

Now, we all know what a divorced family is, but what about a blended family?  In my opinion, they can vary and consist of step-parents, step-kids, grandparents raising grandkids, divorced parents who are co-parenting separately, any of these or more, might be considered a blended family. It’s any unique family structure that doesn’t necessarily meet the normal definition, but has definitely become more common over the last 20 years.

 

Our family consists of my husband and I, and I have a total of four step-daughters. Two of the girls live with us and one lives with her mom, and the oldest lives out of state. I consider our family a blended family because all of the parents participate in the parenting and have their own time with the kids. It really does take a village!

But you may be wondering: How does this relate to prepping?

Well, if the kids are with the other parent, guardian, or etc. Do you have a plan established if something major happens?

I know that getting together with the other parents to discuss this topic, much less actually make a plan can be difficult. Especially if one of the parties are not into preparedness, or worse they think you’re nuts if you are. So, yes it can be a difficult conversation to have, but it is one that is necessary to have. But… where to start?

Here are 5 tips I’ve put together that might help:

 

1.       Be Real, but Rational:

In cases where the other party simply does not get the whole prepping thing, how you approach the conversation is extremely important. Use relatable scenarios to help the other party understand why a plan is needed.

An Example: “Remember last year when the May 20^th tornado came through while the girls were in school? They weren’t letting parents pick up the kids and we were so upset because we all didn’t know what was happening? Well, if something like that happened while you and the kids were at home, what would you do during and afterwards? That way we would know where to find you?”

If giving a specific example like that seems to be too much, simply ask if in the event of a disaster, where they and the kids go if they had to leave and what route they would take.

 

Then if something were to happen while the kids are in the other parent’s care, if they are not home with you, you would then know where to expect them and follow the same route they would take.

 

2.       Get Details

 This includes the where, when, how, what, and who

 

Where they would go?

When would they leave? (Give example)

How they’d get there?

What they would be driving? Or riding with whom?

Who would be with them?

In the first section, we kind of covered the where aspect, but in asking when they would leave it helps to give you an idea of if they would try to leave before the emergency or after. Of course this only applies to certain types of emergencies. If it is a tornado warning for instance, they may have time to leave for shelter early, but it is already on them, this wouldn’t apply.

The “how would they get there” question is to find out who’s driving and what they are driving. As a side note, it is important to keep the make, model, color, and tag number of everyone’s vehicles, and store them in a safe place. This is more important than you think. If they’ve left, but never reach their destination, you can use this information to report these to the authorities. If they plan to get a ride from someone else, you need to know that too. Knowing who all is going can also help if this information has to be reported.

3.       Do They Have a Back-up Route?

Depending on the type of emergency, they may have to avoid their original route. It could be washed way, under construction, or blocked. Find out which alternative route they would take, in case (once again) you have to go find them.

 

4.       Get a List of Contacts & Give a Contact List Too.

Who should you call in the event that an emergency has happened and you cannot contact the other party? Make sure you have a number to the person’s house that they would go to. You need to have numbers to notify people and give them a list of contacts so they can also contact you in the event that something happens so they can contact you.

 

5.       Talk to the Kids, Together.

Have a family meeting and talk to the kids and explain why the plan is being made. If your side of the family already has an emergency plan in place (as they should), then the kids are already be aware of the purpose. However, they also need to know what to do if they are away from your house and what you would do also. This is simply a sit down to reassure them that everything will be alright and that you are working as a team to make sure no matter which home they are at, they remain safe.

 

When having this meeting, also make sure that you are providing the other party with all the information also. That way if you have the children and something were to happen, they are aware of your plan as well.

 

If the other parent or guardian is open to it, you may also use this opportunity to talk with them about having everyday carry bags (EDC) bags ready for each person as a precaution. (If they are not interested in this, just make one yourself and send along with them when they go for their visit)  A good article I found on this topic was from momwithaprep.com called: For the Kids: Teaching Our Kids about EDC (Everday Carry). She provides different ideas for items that kids should carry, based on their age group. Since we have teens, some of the items she suggested for this age group includes: a wallet for emergency money (I would also mention to carry one for I.d. purposes), a comb, keys, compass, flashlight, pocket knife, multi-tool, lighter, cell phone, and bandana.

 

 

I also wanted to mention something about the I.d. in case you are not aware. In our state, the age requirement for anyone to get an I.d. is one week old. Shocking isn’t it? I called to ask as our 'soon to be 15 year old' was curious, and they said that young children get them and even babies as small as a week old and they are good for 4 years. This is a great idea because then you have all their information in one spot and you have their finger prints in the system incase god forbid anything ever happen. If you choose to get your young child an i.d., please remember to update them yearly though so it has a current picture.

 

Jane from Momwithaprep.com also suggested implementing the I.C.E system within your family. The I.C.E system is the in case of emergency system. Make a print out of emergency contacts and medical information such as blood type, allergies, conditions and medications. I would suggest typing it out and making it the size of an i.d. so that it fits in a wallet, and laminating it. Also remember to place I.C.E contact numbers in your and your child’s phone and place the abbreviation I.C.E before the name of the contact. Remember, the I.C.E. contacts should be parents, grandparents, guardians, or anyone who has the right to make medical decisions on behalf of the child. Then if something were to happen, other people such as police or paramedics can find these immediately !

 

How ever you chose to start the conversation is up to you. Just remember to do it !

 

Please share any questions, comments, or suggestions you might add to this discussion.



Cooking from Scratch, Plus Recipes

 

 

 

I know that in todays world we all stay so busy, after all it’s a rat race out there. Whether you’re a working parent, stay at home mom, empty nester, college student or whatever your particular situation is; there are ways you can incorporate scratch cooking into your life.

Think about how homemade you want to go with your cooking. Just enough to get past those microwavable and boxed meals or full on homemade noodles, sauces, and breads. Buying prepackaged or processed foods can seem like a quick solution, but there are quite a few things that go along with them to think about. First, they are not nutritionally the best option.

On a side note, I used to really be into extreme couponing and I was one of those people that a lot of people hated to get stuck behind in line. I could easily get $300 worth of food for $80 bucks. But many of those items did end up being boxed dinners and processed foods. Like many people I did not consider the nutritional values of what I was buying. It was fast and cheap, that’s really all I cared about. Now that I have been cooking more from scratch, those boxed meals are a thing of the past. I can make the same meals and control the ingredients.

Secondly, they can also be very expensive. Don’t throw your money away on overpriced convenient foods. You can save so much just by cutting out the dinners out and by making things at home. If time is an issue, we will look into that too.
 

 



Let’s look at five benefits to cooking from scratch:

1.     Controlling the ingredients. A lot of processed foods have a high a high level of sodium and sugar. One example I read was from an article on livestrong.com. It was discussing one particular TV dinner that was beef tenderloin paired with a side of mac and cheese. The meat had 48 milligrams of sodium, and the mac and cheese had 470 milligrams of sodium and 10 grams of sugar. Notice that was 10 grams of sugar, not milligrams. That is a lot of sugar for mac and cheese! When you make a homemade meal it’s also nice to know where the ingredients come from, especially if you can find ingredients locally so you know they’re fresh.

 

 

2.     It saves money! Many of the items you purchase will last for more meals then you’d think. For instance, if you buy flour, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch and sugar you have the makings for various items that will last you a while. And speaking of that when you’re shopping, calculate the savings. You can buy a regular sack of flour or sugar for $3 bucks or less, or you can get double that amount for two dollars more. This will help you keep these items in your pantry longer and you’ll have them on hand when your kids are beating you down for pancakes.

 

3.     It tastes better! This one is pretty self-explanatory I know, but you are the master of your kitchen and you can take pride in your dishes. If you are one of those people who think that they can’t just get in there and whip something up so easily, remember that is what cook books are for. I have lots of cookbooks and believe me I use them all the time for new ideas. Usually after you make the dish a few times, you’ll even be able to do it on your own. No worries, this isn’t master chef lol

 

4.     Teaches your children skills! I love to have the girls help me in the kitchen. In fact last night, two of them were in charge of battering up our chicken for frying. With kids and todays’ overload of technology, I consider them taking time to help as a win. Letting them help in the kitchen also teaching them about the importance of quality ingredients and proper procedures for using tools and equipment.  If yours are too young to use utensils such as knives, have them do other things to help you out. You never know it could spark a lasting passion!

 

 

5.     Dinner time! You get to sit down with your family and enjoy a meal that YOU created. This alone should be something to take pride in and this is vital for bonding with your family. If you don’t already, turn all the phones and distractions off, and talk to each other. I remember about 5 years ago when the girls were smaller, I was working a lot of overtime. We lived in a little bitty house and didn’t even have a dining room table. When I mentioned we were getting a set, Brittney was so happy because she said we could finally sit down and eat as a family. That hit me like a ton of bricks and made me realize how important those little moments were to them.

 

Now if scratch cooking seems intimidating, it really isn’t. It’s completely up to you, how much or how little you want to incorporate it into your life. My thoughts are, start small. No one expects you to be Martha Stewart, and don’t you expect that either. You’re going to make mistakes, we all do, but hey that’s life.

Another obstacle for many people is that they are so busy; they don’t think they have the time to come home and then make a meal. That is where creativity comes into play. Even if you can’t cook a meal seven nights a week, shoot for 3 nights. If you have a crockpot, there are so many different types of meals you can throw together and have ready later. Just start it on your way out the door in the morning, and when you come home you will have dinner ready. You can also use meal planning or make a week’s worth of meals and freeze them for later. There are tons of shortcuts. Like I said before there are always cookbooks and also the internet has tons of recipes out there, I utilize that a lot!

Let’s look a couple simple recipes and see how difficult or not they really are. Let’s start with one of my own biscuit recipes. This recipe I like to make because first of all they are good and secondly because I use powdered butter and shortening, I can store extra and have it ready to go when I need it.

 

Trailer Park Biscuit & Drop Biscuit Mix:

5 cups All Purpose Flour
3 tbs. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Salt (I used sea salt)
1 cup Powdered Shortening (Provident Pantry Shortening Powder)
1/2 cup Powdered Butter (Provident Pantry Butter Powder)

Makes Approx. 6-7 Biscuits

Combine all and bag per previous instructions. To Make: Add full bag to 1/2 - 1 cup of water (add slowly, so you can judge if you need the entire amount). You may have noticed that this recipe does not include milk or sugar like some, but it is a great and versatile recipe still. If you would like to replace the water with milk it works fine as well. These work terrific in cast iron and are warm and buttery! (in a pinch it can also be thinned to make pancakes as well)

To Use for Drop Biscuits: use one entire bag of mix & decrease water to 1/4 - 3/4 cup; add to soups as you’d like.

 

The second recipe I want to share because it is amazing and it’s one of the kids’ favorite treats, it’s Amish Cinnamon Bread. If you haven’t made this, you have to try it! But note: it does call for a lot of sugar so beware, especially if serving to someone that is diabetic.

Amish Cinnamon Bread:

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk or 2 cups of milk +2 tbs of vinegar or lemon juice

4 cups of flour

2 tsp. baking soda

 

 

(Separately Combine:)

2/3 cups sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

 

Directions:

Cream together: butter, sugar, and eggs. Then add milk, flour, and baking soda and mix well until smooth. Put 1/4 of batter into greased loaf pans or fill muffin cups 1/4 full.  Then sprinkle some of the cinnamon mixture on top. Add ¼ more of the batter and sprinkle with last of the cinnamon topping. Swirl with a knife to mix the cinnamon mixture into the loaf or muffin batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Or until toothpick tester comes clean. Cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing from pan.

 

Last Thoughts….

The girls also help a lot, so they get to see the whole process from growing our food to harvesting it. One thing about it is even though we live in a trailer park we don’t really let that become an obstacle to growing. It is such a good way to get them involved in where their food comes from.

By having them in the kitchen with you, you also have the opportunity to teach them proper hand washing techniques, measuring, how to read recipes, and the importance of kitchen cleanliness from a health perspective. I think it also helps them to value all of the work that goes into preparing meals. Most of all have fun with them and make memories. And if you’re like me, remember to take pictures to capture those moments!