What does a homestead do during a blizzard?

Posted on January 26, 2014 by familyplushomestead

We can! (of course!)

What are great things to can during the winter when there is no fresh produce?

I do meat of course.

Canned Chicken -ignore my hard water stains

canned venison

Meat is convenient to have canned all year round. It takes a while in the pressure canner and keeps your house nice and toasty!

Of course soups have to be canned to the time of the longest item in them. So a soup with meat also has a fairly long processing time.

Soups I can include bean and ham, bean and sausage, chili, taco soup, and the chicken layered.

I can soups in both pints for Brian to take to work and quarts for quick lunches for us.

Blessings!

Amanda

a review: Galapagos Islands ~ A Different View

Posted on January 16, 2014 by familyplushomestead

I’ve long been a fan of Master Books and the amazing works that they publish. Over the next several months, I plan to share how I’ve used their books in schooling – going back for over the last 6-7 years, especially for high school.

I have this love of Creation Science, I think it all comes back to my love for God and His creation and my want of materials that can help us be prepared to defend God’s word! I believe that the Word of God is true and I am thankful for resources that help teach this to our children.

Last summer I got asked by a friend if I would be interested in helping at the Master Books table at the NICHE Homeschool convention and I jumped at the chance. What an opportunity! After getting home, I was asked to come aboard the Moms of Master Books Review Team!

Of course I said yes! An opportunity to review new material from some of my favorite people AND share it with my friends! (materials for the reviews are provided by Master Books!)

Don’t worry I’ll be bluntly honest about whether something works for my family or not!

This month we received the book Galapagos Islands ~ A Different View, it is edited by Georgia Purdom and has many different contributors.

The Beauty of this book starts with the cover. The amazing pictures that are used to teach are used throughout the book, drawing people into the science and beauty that is the Galapagos Islands.

The book was appropriate for middle school and higher but the written material is challenging. The pictures drew in my elementary students and we had great conversations. We were familiar with many of the concepts thanks to our field trip to the Creation Museum but some of the kids didn’t remember as much so the pictures really brought up an opportunity to revisit those concepts. The best example of this was the Finches and the Tortoises.

The book is not just beautiful (which it definitely is) it is primarily scientific. This is where its true beauty comes in, this book gives a defense of the young earth creationist perspective using the SAME place that Darwin once used! It covered the topics of geography, climate, the volcanic activity, the animal and the plant life on the island from an in-depth perspective offering both the evolutionary and the Christian young earth answer. It also adds some personal experiences of people being at the Islands and what it meant to them from a biblical worldview. What an encouragement!

If I ever had the opportunity to visit the Galapagos Islands, I would jump on the opportunity – and this book would go with me! It might not be a book we use frequently in our homeschool but if you are covering Creation or Darwin, this is definitely a book I’d want on our shelf!

Check out this video from New Leaf Publishing to get a glimpse yourself!

You can also see what others think about the book here

Blessings!

Amanda

Time for Spring… not quite yet, but be ready!

Posted on January 11, 2014 by familyplushomestead

As the entire country was plummeted into cold and freezing wind temps and SNOW.. LOTS OF SNOW for some, I am turning my eyes towards spring. It’s time to take stock of your seeds!! Praise God that we can look ahead to the tiiny seeds that sprout. For most of us in Zone 5, it isn’t time to plant anything yet. (don’t know what zone you are in? check here… http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ it tells you by your zip code!) However ~ it could be time to take stock of your seeds!

Mine don’t photograph well, some are stored in ziploc bags ~ some in envelopes, others in glass jars. I plan to in my next year, talk about seed saving… because year 1 was tiny, and this last year I did WAY MORE (But I haven’t gotten to see them grow yet ~ so I don’t know if I was successful, yet..) and this year, I anticipate doing even more. That being said,

lay out your seeds, figure out how many you will need. I use this chart http://www.granny-miller.com/a-garden-planner-for-home-food-preservation/ as my starter. Tweek it for your family ~ we eat a bowl like this at every meal in the summer!

Figure what you are going to eat fresh, what you will can and what you can dehydrate.

Compare what you will need to what you have on hand and create your order!

We do ours in Excel… it isn’t pretty but it looks like this

We mostly buy from Baker Creek Seeds and Seed Savers. We appreciate their commitment to Non-GMO and Organic as well as their amazing customer service!

https://familyplushomestead.com/2009/01/01/why-heirloom-seeds-are-so-important/

Hope you are ready for a great start to 2014 gardens!! I can’t wait for this day!!!

Blessings,

Amanda

Christmas, Not so simple.

Posted on January 4, 2014 by familyplushomestead

Well, it’s over. How did you do? We were able to simplify some of what I wanted, but it seems as the children get older, it just seems that much more complex. I wish I had the benefit of wisdom. My childhood Christmas’ were beautiful memories but as I was talking to my mom, she mentioned it was always rush rush as well. I don’t remember that, just the food, family and fun. I don’t even remember much of the presents ~ a few very special ones.

The rush rush rush of the Christmas planning and shopping is gone in a few moments. I called someone on Christmas day to wish them a Merry Christmas and she said they were just about to open gifts, and would call me back when they were done. They called back 15 minutes later, gifts done. Several children, all older… That Christmas was probably hundreds and hundreds of dollars, literally for 15 minutes. I know the gifts will last longer, but some don’t. I spent 20$ on a gift broken in 7 minutes.

Thank you China…

Adoption is hard, and sometimes holidays amplify the hardness. Inevitably, some people can’t have the one thing they want most, their family of origin and therefore they aren’t happy with anything. Others thrive on routine, and if you change tradition, or drop a tradition, it is upsetting.

Just try to remember just to focus on Christ and He gets the Glory. God is good, no matter what day He was born.

Blessings

Amanda

How I save money on canned beans

Posted on December 7, 2013 by familyplushomestead

I think this is so interesting, I hope it helps you. I have done this several times and it is convenient and frugal.

This is affectionately called Ben’s Beans after a person on a list on Facebook who shared his methodology.

this is for a pt. jar

1/4 C. tomato sauce

1/2 t. dried onion

1 t. chili powder

1 t. jalapenos (optional)

1/2 t. salt (optional)

1/2 t. cumin

1/4 t. black pepper

1/4 t. garlic powder

2/3 C. small red beans

Put beans in sterilized jar and add tomato sauce and spices. Add boiling water to leave an inch head space. Pressure can at 10 lbs. for 75 minutes for pints.

Here you go 🙂

They are ready to go when you are ready for chili 🙂

Blessings,

Amanda

Christmas Gift Ideas under 25$

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Breakfasts – Scheduling makes it easy!

Posted on November 2, 2013 by familyplushomestead

Hi all,

after being asked about how we do breakfasts at the big fam house, I decided to share what we’ve been doing for about the last 10-11 months.

Monday – always Oatmeal… Mondays are a bit (ahem…) harder to get going than other days, and I love a nice hot breakfast where I don’t’ have to stand in front of a stove! Variety we add ~ different fruits – fresh, frozen, dehydrated or home-canned 🙂 My favorite is probably peaches (canned from Azure) and cream. (We’re milking a cow, so there is lots of cream!) Other choices – dehydrated rhubarb or apple pcs, brown sugar with a little maple syrup. Yum! I’ve just recently started adding a little bit of cinnamon bark Young Living Essential oil for a fresh taste. It was October’s free special with ordering so I just started. A drop goes a long way!

Tuesdays – always eggs. Lots of variety! Eggs/Bacon, scrambled fried, breakfast burritos. One of my favorites is breakfast bowls – take sausage, hashbrowns, fried egg and add cheese 🙂

Wednesday – pancakes, usually buttermilk but occasionally pumpkin.

Thursdays – biscuit days – biscuits and gravy, biscuits and sausage, buttermilk biscuits and home-made jelly or apple butter. Yum!

Fridays – waffles 🙂 We have this one!

Saturdays – French Toast and Sausage.

Sundays – Granola

Easy to remember ~ Easy to plan for ~ Still some variety 🙂

What do you do?

Blessings!

Amanda

Candle Making!

Posted on August 16, 2013 by familyplushomestead

I love making candles. I started out by making some 4 hour candles that I saw on a blog link. We had a really good time doing this.

We then found a lady who was getting out of the candle making business and I purchased some coloring and fragrance. WOW ~ did that make candle making fun!

It’s super simple to make ~ you take the soy wax flakes

Product Details

melt them down in a double broiler.

Find a container (I’ve used pint jars and cheap ones I find at Goodwills or garage sales.) Put a wick in the container and fill 🙂

They dry beautifully.

These are some I made at a local homeschool event. I also have done a class at the local area arts center as well. Super fun, super cheap.

Friend Friday

Posted on August 9, 2013 by familyplushomestead

I’m sharing what I cross posted on my friend Heather’ s blog The Welcoming House

1. What are the three most important things in your life, and tell me a little about them.

My favorite things ~ my faith in God is the most important thing in my life. In times of peace and times of trouble, He has been my constant.

My 2^nd favorite thing in my entire life is my family. I’m a wife (to an amazing man who serves God daily as a pastor,) I have lots of children, biological, adopted, guardianship and fosters. We have raised 8 adult children, now have 4 grandchildren and still have a full dining room table most days. J

My 3^rd most important thing in my life is probably homesteading ~ to me that encompasses my almost full-time job of animal care, gardening, canningn and dehydrating and keeping my mini~farm running.

(this is me and my new small garden ~ 50*80 that I started this year as I work to add dry beans, corn and squash, for our family and for our livestock… we’re a work in progress!)

2. Why did you choose Young Living and how long have you been at your business?

I talk about why I chose Young Living Essential oils in a blog post here https://familyplushomestead.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/why-i-decided/ but to summarize it for your readers ~ I chose Young Living Essential Oils because I felt I could trust them. They are leaders in the industry, have been around since 1993 and are of the highest quality.

I started with 9 simple oils that are available in the Everyday Living Collection

And found that using those oils I can solve many of life’s day to day health and wellness issues. Being a one-income (homeschooling) family, I love that I can fix many things without running to the doctor and running up expensive medical bills or becoming dependent on prescription or OTC medicines.

3. Tell me about your top two favorite oils and how you use them.

My 2 favorite oils are 2 of the reasons that I share about Young Living Essential Oils with other people. They have changed our lives! The first is peppermint:

The next oil was also a life changer for me personally . It is Lavender oil.

I’ve already stated how much homesteading plays a role in my life.

4. If you could communicate one important thing about essential oil use to our readers, what would it be?

I would communicate that it is important to purchase quality essential oils for using on your family or your person. I started by using cheaper oils in my soaps and know that when you put oils on your body, it is vital that you trust the source.

She’s hosting a giveaway from me on her blog. If you sign up for Young Living Essential Oils under me using my # 1380891 and order the Every Day Oil Essential Kit, I will send you a free reference book! And if you sign up for Essential Rewards program I will send you one of these free oil clutches. Awesome to have!! (I have brown and paisley ~ gorgeous!)

Blessings! Momma

onions, onions, onions oh my!

Posted on August 8, 2013 by familyplushomestead

I’d like to tell you a story about a beginner gardener. Last year, an anonymous gardener *me* planted 150 onion plants and to her embarrassment, 3 survived the weeds and the drought… 3 .. .out of 150 😦 mega frown face…

I really wanted 150 onions, better yet would be 200! So this year I planted 770 something. Guess how many onions you get when you plant 770 something and want 200 🙂 Apparently ~ 770 something.