~ from my home to yours, living the Working Pantry lifestyle ~

Monday, October 14, 2024

A Journal of My Days: 10/14/24

The theme for this year is "Laser focused, hunkered down and spending as little money as possible.” 

We're talking gardening, bargain shopping and pantry building and how we utilize all three to keep us fed and cared for without breaking the bank!

In the garden:  I did some more container gardening clean up and got a raised bed ready to plant garlic, which I did the next day.  

I harvested nettles and am letting them air dry.  I'm trying to gather as many as possible before they die back for the winter.

I did some work in the orchard this week as well.  I did some shaping up of some of our dwarf fruit trees.  The goal is to keep from getting slapped in the face when mowing.  If this has ever happened to you then you will understand our desire to keep those branches high and growing upward instead of hanging low and outward!

In the kitchen: 
I revived Prudence, my sourdough starter.  I've got a whole list of ways to use sourdough that I want to try this fall and winter starting with making what seems like a really simple pizza crust.  Notice I said crust, not dough!  Yes, I am a lazy cook who is always looking for the quickest and easiest way to get a nourishing meal on the table!  I'll let you know more about the pizza crust after I try it! 

My kitchen is so much more than just a place to cook.  It's where I preserve food for our pantry, it's where I make herbal remedies, it's where I make soap and other cleaning products, it's where I create food gifts for others, and where my family pops in and out of, sometimes to chat, sometimes to lend a helping hand and other times just to be there because I'm there ... it's the hub of our home.  It's the heartbeat of our home and I am blessed to be the keeper of my kitchen.

Fill in the blank:  my kitchen is where I _____________.

Thrifting, b
argain, and/or loss leader shopping at the grocery store, farmers market, etc:   Hubby went to town to run some errands and stopped in at a local grocery store.  Look what he scored!!!

I set to work cooking a good part of it.  Some we refrigerated to eat on over the next few days and the rest I let cool and froze cooked.  This will be so handy to thaw and heat or use as an ingredient in a meal for quick meal preparation.

In the Pantry:  We were given 2 buckets of field peas and after shelling and processing them, we added 11 jars to our pantry!   We are so thankful for friends who share their surplus, I pray God's blessings upon this family for their generosity.

I've also been dehydrating end of season produce.  I harvested a few ugly peppers and turned them into a mixed pepper melody.

I also dehydrated some end of the season small tomatoes.  I sliced them, sprinkled Italian seasoning herbs and salt on them and set the dehydrator to 125 degrees until they were dried ... about 4 - 5 hours.  I plan on using them as a topping on homemade pizza later this week.

The other thing I dehydrated was onions.  I plan to keep them in chopped form until I need to replenish my onion powder shaker.  Then I'll powder enough of the dried onions to refill the shaker and repeat as needed.  Powders lose their nutrients faster so I try to only powder what I think we will use in a given time.

(pictured:  dehydrated items just mentioned, from left to right ... herbed tomatoes, mixed melody of peppers and onions.)

The pumpkin in the picture is the one I told you about in an earlier post ...

it's the only one that survived our hot, humid and dry summer ...

It's curing right now ...

I'm saving it for the seeds as it's an heirloom variety ...

Isn't it cute!

In other news:

First, thank you to those who noticed I've been MIA for the last few days and reached out to check on us.  We've been dealing with an ongoing health issue and a reoccurring injury.  We hope to get some answers on the injury later this week.  I miss you all when I can't meet with you here in our little space in this big world ... just so you know!

I've been asked to share my thoughts and suggestions for someone wanting to start to prepare for weather related disasters that knock out power, internet and cell service.

Sadly, I've had experience with this type of scenario more than once.  After moving to this area many years ago we quickly learned that we needed to up our preparedness lifestyle by adding hurricane preparedness.  The area we moved from did not have hurricanes, the area we moved to, did.  In fact, when we moved where we are now, we unloaded the U-Haul one day and a hurricane hit the next.  Needless to say, that having lived a preparedness lifestyle up to that point helped, but we soon realized that we needed to broaden our preparedness.  

I've taught online classes on preparedness that placed you in a make-believe disaster situation where you had to rely on what you had in order to see what you needed to do.  Is this something anyone would be interested in again?  

To answer the question of where to start though, I would start with food and water.  If the power goes out, do you have enough water to meet your family's needs for at least a week?  I have read many times that the recommended water storage is one gallon per day per person.  I can tell you that if all you plan to do is use it to drink and maybe do a small amount of just add water type meal preparation, that will suffice.  But, if you want to do any cleaning including washing dishes, basic hygiene, meal preparing other than 'just add water,' flushing the commode, etc one gallon of water per person per day is NOT enough! 

Do you have enough food on hand/stored to meet your family's needs for at least a month?  In a grid down situation, you need to be able to eat as healthy as possible.  Surviving on packaged peanut butter and crackers or cheese spread type crackers will get old ... if one even has those.  We have seen so many different sad scenarios in disaster situations regarding food and water.

These are the very first basics I would start with, then I would look at individual needs of your family members.  Is there a baby in the family?  If so, what about diapers and formula?

Does someone in your family have special dietary needs?  If so, are you prepared to be able to meet those needs?

Do you have a source for light in a grid down situation?  What about keeping warm if the disaster occurs in the winter months?  What about staying cool enough to survive during the heat of summer?

As you can see this is just the tip of the iceberg, please feel free to let me know how I can help in your preparedness journey.

Every year I look forward to Cath Armstrongs 'Own Your Christmas' challenge from The Cheapskate Club.  We're on week #2 and while my list looks somewhat different than hers, it's moving me toward having a less stressful holiday season and that's my overall goal and purpose of doing this challenge!

Here's my week #2 prep list ...

check gift wrapping supplies

print labels for Christmas cards

purchase 1 gift (I actually only have two gifts that I need to purchase, everything else is handmade, already in my gift trunk, a money gift or coming from my kitchen. Christmas gift giving is kept simple on purpose at our house.)

Okay, that's week's #2 prep list, but what about week #1, did I get it done ... let's take a look ...

Make gift list and divide into 8 parts.  I actually made a gift list but didn't divide it into 8 parts.  I'll do better just working on it weekly, some weeks I'll get more done than others, but the goal is to be mindful and keep working on it every week.

Make Christmas card list and divide into 8 parts. I made the list, but didn't divide it into 8 parts.  I'll do better with scheduling a time to work on them each week and do as many as I feel like doing at that time.  That's just me!

Make a list of ingredients and or materials needed to make any handmade gifts. I got that done, list is ready!

Budget to pay cash for everything.  That's done too!

I'm happy with the first week's assignment, now let's see what we can do with week #2!

In our Winter Preps Challenge we're down to the last two items on the list.  Have our HVAC unit serviced for the winter and order a couple ricks of wood for our wood stove.  We use our wood stove as a backup and or when it gets really cold.  It helps keep the house toasty warm and the power bill low.  We have our lowest power bills during the winter months and we're pretty happy about that!

I put together Halloween treats for my grands and got them ready to mail.  I'll be posting about that over on my sewing blog, Grandmas Got a Sewing Machine, in the next day or so.

Lesson two in our study on Martha in our Thursday ladies Bible class has been posted HERE.

In case you missed my 'Mornings' with Me' post this last week, you can find them here ...

Mornings with Me: 10/8/24

Mornings with Me: 10/9/24

That's it for me this week, what has your week looked like?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps keep in sewing supplies.

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Mornings With Me: 10/9/24

As you can see, I'm late getting today's 'Morning's with Me' entry posted ...  some days are just so full that it's hard to find time to write until late in the evening.  Such was the case today!

Here you go ....

After morning chores, I set to work to make a batch of granola ....


Mixed and ready to go in the oven ...

Here's the recipe I used.  I got it from Our Log Homestead over on Instagram ...

Simple granola recipe

 2 1/2 cups oats

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)

1/2 cup maple syrup

 Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Stir until combined, spread onto parchment paper. Bake for 30 mins (toss with a spatula at the 15 min mark). Let it cool completely before storing in a mason jar!


Fresh from the oven and smelling delicious ...


Here we are, jarred up and ready for use!  Of course, as soon as it was ready, I sprinkled some over yogurt and had myself a delicious snack.  I plan to use the most of it to make granola bars.  I may or may not get around to that tomorrow ... although if I wait too long, I might have to make another batch ... this stuff is delicious!

 That's it, that was my morning!  What did your morning look like?

Don't forget to leave a comment!

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps keep in sewing supplies.

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Mornings With Me: 10/8/24

It's Tuesday afternoon, and I'm back with a 'Mornings with Me! post.  'Mornings with Me' post are simply posts where I share what the morning of said day looked like ... homemaking my way, if you will.

So, what did my morning look like?

It started off with my morning routine and chores.  You know those chores have to be done, whether we want to or not.  

This morning was my weekly Bible study class with a local friend that we meet online and do.  But before it was time to begin, I did get this little item on my 'to-do' list started ...

For those of you who have been long time followers, do you remember Prudence?

Prudence is my 'years' old sourdough starter that I wake up and use for a while, then put back to sleep until I want to use her again.  I've literally been doing sourdough this way for years.

With the holidays approaching and gift giving season shortly to be upon us, I need to get Prudence working again to make holiday goodies.

That's what I did this morning, I got all my supplies out and set them on the counter, enjoyed my Bible study class, and then picked back up with Prudence once it was over.


Later this afternoon I'll give Prudence her first feeding, put her in a warm place with a breathable cap on (a.k.a. a coffee filter held down by a rubber band) for 24 hours and then feed her again.  I'll continue feeding and getting her ready to go to work for a few days.  I should be able to start baking with Prudence towards the end of the week.

That's it, that was my morning!  What did your morning look like?

Don't forget to leave a comment!

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps keep in sewing supplies.

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

Monday, October 7, 2024

A Journal of My Days: 10/7/24

The theme for this year is "Laser focused, hunkered down and spending as little money as possible.” 

We're talking gardening, bargain shopping and pantry building and how we utilize all three to keep us fed and cared for without breaking the bank!

In the garden:  I've been working on laying the garden to bed for winter, cleaning out containers and harvesting a few more peppers.  I harvested some rosemary too, if all goes well, I should be able to get another harvest of several herbs before they die back for the winter.

In the kitchen:  I'm working on setting up a weekly routine of making all my dairy items such as yogurt, kefir and any other dairy related items we use all on one day.

I need to set aside another day to do our baking and making snacks for the week.

I'm going to try Monday as my dairy day and Thursday for my baking day.  I'm going to give this schedule a try for a couple of weeks and see if it fits our lifestyle.  

Do you have a specific day during the week when you bake or is it as needed?

If this works, my weekly routine will look like the following:
Monday - Dairy and menu planning
Tuesday - Flex Day (I can either play catch-up if I get behind or reschedule something from another day to this day.  Example:  if I have an appointment on one of the other days, I can move that day's routine to Tuesday.)
Wednesday - Sewing and Mending
Thursday - Baking Day
Friday - Laundry

I have another routine schedule for housework.  I just do better with routines ... but that's just me!

Thrifting, bargain, and/or loss leader shopping at the grocery store, farmers market, etc:  None this week!

In the Pantry: 
 I dehydrated bananas and cinnamon flavored bananas.  I'll use these for snacking and or for smoothies.  These little flavorful chips are delicious as a snack!  

(picture:  dehydrated apples (on the left) and dehydrated bananas (on the right).

I'm working on a list of things to can or preserve throughout the winter months.  Here are some things I've got on October's preserving list:

Apples ... I'm working on finishing these up.  I've dehydrated lots of apple slices and this week I want to use the rest of the apples up in canning apple pie filling.  I like to use this filling to make quick apple pies and apple crisps.

For the apple pies I dump a jar of pie filling into a pie crust and make a crumble topping for it.  Here's the crumple topping I use ...

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar (can be a combination of brown and white)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup butter chilled and cubed
Mix well into crumbles and distribute over top of pie.

Bake pie at 350 degrees until bubbly and topping is golden, usually around 45 minutes

For the apple crisp, I dump a jar of apple pie filling into a buttered baking dish and distribute evenly the following topping over the top ...

1 and 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup oats
2 sticks butter, chilled and cubed

Bake crisp at 350 degrees until bubbly and topping is golden, usually around 30 - 45 minutes.


For the preserving part of the medicinal part of my pantry for October, my list looks like this:
Cider fire ... this is in the 'making' stage
Elderberry syrup
Honey garlic ... this is in the 'making' stage

Before we leave the 'pantry' part of this post, I've been asked to address the issue of expiration and best buy dates on food products from the store.  Of course, it's going to depend on what it is, but I always take each item on a one-on-one basis.  If it's a canned item past its expiration date or best buy date, I look at the can.  Is it bulging, is it dented, if it's not, I'll move it to the front of the pantry to be used the next time I need that item.  If it's a boxed item, I check it for any signs of insects.  If it has a 'mixed' powder package inside, I'll check it for rips, tears or any evidence of it having been permeated by said insects.  If the boxed item has been compromised by insects, then it becomes animal food.  If not, and it's past its expiration date or best buy date, I'll just move it to the front of the pantry where it can be used next.  Honestly, I just use common sense, when the expiration or best by date comes and goes, it doesn't mean the product needs to be discarded.  It just means that it needs to be checked for any signs that would indicate the product was no longer safe to eat.   Of course, with all food products, if in doubt, throw it out!  I hope this helps.

If there are pantry related issues you would like me to address, just let me know what you're wondering about.  I was raised by a food preserver and have been preserving my own family's food for 44 plus years.  I have lots of experience to draw on ... that's not to say I know everything; I do not and of course we never stop learning how to preserve our food better.  But I'm happy to share from my life experience of preserving food and keeping a well-stocked pantry.  Just asked, there's no stupid question!

Here's another question I got, this time on headlamps.  A reader wanted to know what headlamps I recommended.

I've included a picture of one of our favorites and is one that has lasted for several years.  I went to Amazon to see if they had it, they did not have this exact one but one similar.  I was shocked at the price though, so please shop around.  We did not pay anywhere near that much.  I'm sure there are others out there that are just as good, and cost less so be wise in and frugal in your shopping.  Here's the link to the one that is similar.

I've also been asked to do some writing on weather related preparedness, sadly I have lots of experience in this area as well and have written a lot about it in the past.  If this is something you would like to see me write about again, please let me know.  There seems to be an abundance of preparedness info out there, but if there's enough interest, I can give you my perspective from the point of view of someone who has lived it, more than once.

In other news:

Every year I look forward to Cath Armstrongs 'Own Your Christmas' challenge from The Cheapskate Club.  It began this week, so I pulled out my Christmas notebook and got started.  (I've used this notebook for several Christmas'.  It's a big help to have info on what we did and gave for Christmas' past all-in-one place.)

(pictured:  my Christmas notebook where I keep all things pertaining Christmas all in one place. Those different colored tabs on the side separate years.)

Here's what my week #1 Christmas prep looks like:

Make gift list and divide into 8 parts
Make Christmas card list and divide into 8 parts
Make a list of ingredients and or materials needed to make any handmade gifts
Budget to pay cash for everything

Are you thinking about and preparing for the holidays yet?

In our Winter Preps Challenge I took a quick inventory of our winter wear.  For myself the only thing I needed was a new winter coat.  I found what I had in mind for less money than I was expecting to have to spend, so that was a win!

Lesson one in our study on Martha in our Thursday ladies Bible class has been posted HERE.

In case you missed my 'Mornings' with Me' post this week, you can find it here ...

Mornings with Me: 10/3/24

That's it for me this week, what has your week looked like?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps keep in sewing supplies.

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Friday, October 4, 2024

Hunkering Down 2024: Week #40

Here we are at the beginning of a new month ... a new month with new financial goals and plans.

This past week we've allowed ourselves to bask in accomplishing a difficult for us financial goal but now it's time to get back to business.  We can't let up, not when we're closer than we've ever been to being debt free.

We've set our eyes on a new target and that is paying off our vehicle.  We have less than a third of the total amount owed on it to go and that light to debt freedom is getting brighter with every payment we make.

Our goal for this month is to make a double payment on it!  Every month we've be adding extra to the payment but now we're in a position, because of using the snowball method, to attempt a double payment.  

The debt snowball method works!  At first it seems like you're spinning your wheels and getting that first smallest debt paid off is just a small drop in the bucket in view of the big debt picture.  But when you take what you were paying on that smallest debt and add it to the payment of the next smallest debt it starts to make a difference and sooner rather than later, you'll pick up speed as what your able to put toward debt increases with every debt you retire. What you need is commitment and patience and the determination to keep increasing your snowball instead of spending the freed-up money elsewhere. It works if you're willing to follow the method.

That's it for this week, what about you, how did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.