Food Storage, part 2--containers

Wow. How to store bulk foods. Right now, my bulk purchases consist of things like flour and sugar and tea bags. Stuff for winter baking and comfort. I have no canister set. Don't want one. Most times, they are not air tight, and foods go stale or spoil. I am using Folgers coffee canisters. They are plastic. They are airtight. They have a built in handle. They are round. Round is the only drawback to these canisters. I'd prefer the pretty blue square ones, but I don't drink Maxwell House coffee! Other than that, they are wonderful. A 4 pound bag of sugar fits in one nicely. 2 of them will hold just under 10 pounds of flour. Soo, make bread and then store the rest.......lol. I even have them labeled for cocoa mix, cappucino mixes, etc. Anything that should be airtight, but doesn't necessarily need to be in the cabinet. (since I find my cappucino mix in 2 lb bags at the dollar store, this is not as frivolous as it sounds.)

When I get around to buying bulk canned goods, I will probably buy them by the case. These can easily slide under the sofa, or stack 3 high under the bed with no problem at all. Just remember to date the top of each can and use them in order. Don't use the stuff you just bought and leave the older stuff in storage.

The secret to making food storage work is to work with it. Try new ideas and recipes regularly. Eat from your storage and shop to replace it, etc. Make meals from dehydrated items as well as canned and frozen. Learn what you do and don't like before you need it. Personally, if we wound up with nothing but chicken a'la king RME's, my husband would starve to death!

I'm also starting to research mylar bags and large buckets with O2 packets in them. There are many ways to re-package and store bulk purchases. Read up on them before you start. Get some ideas. Talk to other people who prep and find out what they like and why. THEN-try a few things yourself. See what works for you.

It's a process, like anything else. This week, look around your house and see what kinds of interesting locations you can find for food storage. Then start thinking about what you can reasonably store there. Don't forget to keep your food diary. Next week, we're going to figure out your shopping needs in order to start prepping your food storage list!

Hand-Made Christmas

Christmas has become more and more commercialized over the last decade. It has also become more and more expensive. And as my children add more grandchildren to the mix, it becomes harder to manage my gift list. This year, the plan was to do a 100 percent home-made Christmas season. I had a really good start on it, but the move put me way behind schedule. So, I am now having to rethink my list. It hasn't been that hard, though. I am still doing mostly home made. However, there are some things that must be purchased. I cannot make bath towels or dishes.

My focus has changed, though. This year, I am really thinking hard about what is an appropriate gift for each person. I am crocheting super thick slippers for my dearest friend. (her feet are always cold, even in July). I am making bread and jams for friends who do not bake and are always begging me to bake for them. I crocheted a dress for one granddaughter, and would love to finish one for her sister as well. I have hats and scarves going for most of the grandkids. I have purses for every woman on my list. I have crocheted wonderful kitchen accessories for one daughter. It's working out well.

I was worried about it. Alot. Mostly because my yarn stash has been stolen while we were moving, along with several items that I had already made for Christmas. I guess while I was packing, I had moved many of the things I'd already made; because I found some of them. I was so happy that I actually screamed!.....lol. I was not looking forward to duplicating the expense to recreate those items. That totally negates the "frugal living" side of home made gift giving. (yarn is a lot more expensive than it used to be. the costs add up.)

One thing that I learned about a hand-made Christmas is that it will not necessarily be less expensive. Good quality yarn for a shawl or afghan is going to cost. However, the gift will last and wear well. The recipient will not have to ask for it to be repaired in a month. Since the people I am crafting for are all people who truly appreciate the work that goes in to these items, I do not worry about negative reactions. Rather, I worry about how to choose the right project for each gift!

I am really glad to have given so much thought to each project. I have to finish up a lot of smaller items over the next few weeks, but I have time. AND, a plan for next year. I am keeping a running list of what got made for whom this year. This way, I won't duplicate a gift next year. I am breaking my list down, month by month, so I can really spread out the work and be ready for next year. I'll be getting started in January, but I won't have to rush. I'll have an entire year to complete all these gifts.

Not all of them will be crocheted next year either. Some of them might not even be made by me. The rule is that they must be hand made. I never said whose hands had to do the making! I know many wahm's who make beautiful things. I'd love to shop with them all year long and stash beautiful gifts.

The absolute best part of hand made Christmas gifts (or any other time of year) is that they allow me the option to use what I have in a more creative fashion than I might have before. I save money, sometimes. I learn new skills, almost always. (hence the pear butter) I make time for myself, always. I've noticed that when I am creating a gift for someone else, I am more relaxed and at peace within myself than when I am doing almost anything else.

Case in point? Last week, I was working on putting the garden to bed. I was pulling grape vines out of my plum trees. I was having a BLAST!! I started to think of ways to use the excess vine after it is pruned back. I researched ways to use the plums after the frost had hit. I found several nice onions in my garden and decided to make onion soup as a gift for a friend. And noticed that I was calm and happy, after having been stressed out in the house. All it took was for me to focus on someone else, and I could calm myself and enjoy my life. Which makes me happy, cuz I like my life.

Amazing. I like my life. We're broke, our car is still out of order, the fridge is empty right now and I still have bread to start. BUT, I like my life. That's progress. That's the best Christmas gift ever!

A New Start

This blog is a place for me to hold myself accountable to my dreams. My plan is to simplify my life and get back to the basics. I want to grow a vegetable garden. Learn to pressure can. Raise and preserve as much of my own food as I can.

I want to learn how to make my life calm and serene and a place that I really want to be. I want to learn skills that will maintain that lifestyle and pass them along to my kids and grandkids. I want to love my life. I want to LIVE.

To that end, I am digging back in to the homesteading lifestyle in my new home. A second-floor apartment in town with a very small lot. The yard has 2 fruit trees and 2 grapevines, as well as an empty vegetable garden waiting to be put to bed for the winter. I am planning for next year's veggies already and cannot wait for the seed catalogs to come in. I am busily harvesting fruit and making preserves and butters right and left. I am really enjoying it so far.

The point of homesteading is to bring old skills back to the fore. To make my life a purposeful, deliberate action. To leave as small a footprint on the planet as possible, while leaving an indelible mark on the soul of the universe. To LIVE, as opposed to existing. To enjoy and celebrate my life every day that I am breathing. To make the dash between the dates on my gravestone count for something.

It's going to be interesting to try to make this work in an apartment. Things like organizational skills, financial savvy, etc.; these are a great place to start. But all in all, it's about starting with what you need now. So, my start is to work on food storage. Finding ways to stretch my budget to include doubles of items to build storage with. Finding inventive places and methods of storing dry and canned goods. To utilize the space in my home to it's best advantage. To make changes in our diet that will utilize the foods we can safely store. To learn to be a good steward of the planet I am borrowing. We'll see how it works out as we go.

This week's project will be to finish bringing all my kitchen supplies to the new house and set up my kitchen in a way that provides me with the most effective storage for everything and still looks neat and tidy. Today is Tuesday and I want to be finished with this on Friday evening. Here goes....................