From My Home to Yours
9/25/26
~ My Winter Preparedness Homemaking List ~
Our temps last week were near 100 degrees several days and this week, we had a day where we didn't even get out of the 60's for our high temp! The other days hovered in the 70's and lower 80's.
Those cooler days made me really start thinking about our winter preps. When the weather is so hot, it's sometimes hard for me to wrap my head around winter preps. I do, because I know that winter is coming, but when you have a taste of cooler weather it somehow puts some spark in your winter preparedness ... or it does me.
I had already made a winter preparedness list for the outside with a few inside items on the list found HERE, but today I want to make another list, this time a winter preparedness homemaking list ...
jar candles (I enjoy burning candles during the winter months, but I definitely have some allergy issues with most store bought candles. Allergy issues often set me on a path of winding up in the doctor's office with steroids and possibly an antibiotic. I hope to remedy that issue this winter by making my own jar candles. I am collecting instructions, supplies and looking at a date on the calendar to attempt this project.)
canning and preserving supplies for winter canning (There are things such as dry beans that I intentionally save to preserve during the winter months. If our fall/winter/greenhouse garden does well I will hopefully have cabbage, brussels sprouts and collards to preserve as well.)
supplies for winter sewing projects (I think I'm good in this area, but I need to check and make sure. I want to focus on machine quilting some quilt tops I have finished that are waiting to be quilted. I also fell in love with a baby blanket pattern that a dear friend crocheted and want to make one myself this winter to go in my gift trunk.)
make sure our pantry is topped off in every way (just in case we do have a 'bad' winter in our area)
make a list of things to bargain shop for (during the winter months, things such as linens, sheets, towels, etc tend to go on sale and I need to check the status of what we have, what condition it's in and shop accordingly.)
choose a winter decluttering project to work on (this year I'm thinking that I need to downsize and reorganize our 'library.' No, I don't have a room set aside for our books, when I say 'library,' I'm referring to our book collection as a whole. I haven't decided for sure, but am leaning strongly in that direction. Last winter I took on the job of reorganizing our pantry!)
Make a 'priority reading' list (I have more time to read in the winter than I do in any of the other seasons and there are some books that I really want to read. Hence, a 'priority reading list!)
Do you have a winter preparedness homemaking list?
This is our butternut squash harvest for this year. Considering we didn't even plant it until the later part of July, and it's growing season consisted of upper 90's - 100 degree days with feel like temps that were well over those numbers, I think our harvest was pretty amazing!
They need to cure for a couple of weeks, but because our humidity is still high, they will have to be cured inside the house. That's okay, it makes our home look like a real life old timey farmhouse where every part of the homes were utilized for different methods of food preservation ... drying beans in the attic, strings of cayenne peppers hanging near the wood stove drying, herbs hanging to dry, and so much more.
We're already talking about having roasted butternut squash as a side with future meals. Next year, we're making a note in our gardening journal to plant more butternut squash.
We've had a busy and somewhat crazy week with our meals this week which resulted in us eating sandwiches and wraps more than once! We also needed to eat out more than usual this week. In reality, I think I cooked one home-cooked meal this week and that consisted of ...
beef and gravy served over made from scratch mashed potatoes and fried okra (a friend gave us the okra from her garden)
I tried my hand at making peanut butter cookies using an allulose + monk fruit sweetener that was recommended to me as a substitute for sugar. The package said it was a 1 to 1 equivalent to sugar and to use it as such. The cookies turned out great and were quite delicious, but my digestive system did not like them at all. Thinking it might be just a fluke, I tried them again the next day. The digestive issues were worse. Sugar really inflames my body and I'm trying to find a replacement, but so far my body doesn't like the things I've tried. Do you have any suggestions, other than artificial sweeteners?
I continued reading in book 7 of the Bregdan Chronicles, Glimmers of Change, by Ginny Dye (I actually got a chunk of time this week to sit down and read so I made some big progress on reading Glimmers of Change). I continued listening to Rocky Mountain Journey by Misty M. Beller.
We continue to work on our greenhouse. Our strategy is to set a goal for each day we can work, complete that goal and then set another goal for the next work day although this week, we haven't had opportunity or time to do much!
The only sewing I did this week was to repair a neck-tie for a teen young man at church. He called and asked if I would do it and of course, the answer was yes. If there is anyway I can encourage our young people at church, I am going to do it if at all possible! In some small way, the repairing of this young man's neck-tie was sending the message of "I care about you and want you to do well." He 'paid' me by leading one of my favorite songs at church the next time we had services! I was delighted!
Ladies, lesson 1 of our Bible study on Anna has been posted HERE!
We finished our $5 Pantry Building Challenge this week and are ready to gear up for a new pantry building challenge, this time for the month of October. Stay tuned for the details to be released on Monday, September 28th! Thank you to all who participated in the $5 Pantry Building Challenge! I hope it inspired you as much as it did me!
That's it for this week, I hope you've found something in my ramblings that will help and or encourage you in the upcoming week.
Until the next time ...
~ quietly holding the home front ~
Sharing 46 years' experience of frugal living and pantry building (if you include my frugal childhood, well that would add several more years to my experience!)
She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
From This Heart of Mine
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Try the other monk fruit sweetener with maltodextrin. We have been happy with the results and no troubles eating it. Not for baking but we use agave nectar for maple syrup replacement and sweetening our smoothies and beverages.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hurricane Helene was coming our way I didn't think it would really happen so I did not buy fresh groceries like produce or milk. So we ran out of those items quickly and then the stores were without power and had nothing available for weeks. We pulled our refrigerators and freezer through with our portable generator so we should have stocked up on perishable food. I will not make that mistake again! Winter storms will mean stocking up now that we have the whole house generator. I am not talking about being greedy like we often see. Just enough to get us through.
Update on the monk fruit sweetener. The one we have has erythritol which does have any glycemic value. Looks like the monk fruit in the raw brand now has maltodextrin which does and we will not be buying that. I have the older version with erythritol. Great Value brand still has erythritol so I am going to go ahead and get a bag of that before they do the same.
ReplyDeleteAvoiding sugar in baking will present a challenge. We often use honey for sweetening, but that might make things too runny. I have read about using the leaves of the plant meadowsweet to cut down on sugar in things such as stewed fruit. I haven't tried it myself. I did buy a plant to grow in my garden but one of the family pulled it out when weeding! I really don't like artificial sweeteners. They leave a nasty taste in my mouth.
ReplyDeleteOne job I want to do this winter is to make an inventory of our electrical goods etc. I had one years ago with brands, model names, serial numbers, purchase dates etc along with photos of some of our nicer ornaments. It didn't list everything in the house, just the things that I might have to supply details of in case of an insurance claim. It is a job that can be left off and picked up again to fit around everyday chores.
Honey and real maple syrup act just like sugar in the body as in they feed infection. We have tried coconut sugar and that is a no. It doesn't dissolve and no matter what I have done to improve it the baked goods are just not good. We also have granulated fructose which is very sweet as is but the sweetness disappears in baked goods. Super ripe bananas make baked goods sweeter than anything else I have tried Mostly we just press on when the sugar cravings hit and the longer we avoid it the easier it has become.
DeletePatsy,
ReplyDeleteI also have to deal with sugar issues. I often use grated carrots or carrot baby food/puree to replace some of the sugar in baked goods. Also, you can reduce the amount of white sugar by half and add an additional 1/4-1/2 tsp of baking soda with little to no change in sweetness. I often use honey or maple syrup in some recipes instead of sugar. I tried monk fruit and because it is mixed with erythritol my belly cannot handle it. I wish I could say I got as much accomplished this week as you did, but I cannot. I managed grocery shopping, planting fall plants in our window boxes, and substitute teaching fifth grade for 3 days. I did a quick inventory of my pantry after reading your post and watching RoseRed Homestead and decided to purchase a few cans of meat: tuna, chicken and turkey. I really enjoyed the pantry challenge and look forward to what you have planned for October. Marley in the Mountains
Marley, thank you for your suggestions on replacing and/or reducing sugar in our foods. It really is a journey of trial and error as each of our systems are different and can tolerate different types of sweeteners.
DeleteIt sounds like you had a full week and got quite a bit accomplished!
Thank you for your encouragement and participation!
I cannot use any sugar due to blood sugar going too high then, and I do not want to use sugar substitutes either. My best “go to” has turned out to be dates! I make a wonderful banana bread sweetened with the bananas and dates that are blended with water. I also use applesauce in some things to sweeten. It has been pretty easy to do quick breads, muffins, waffles and pancakes using either dates or bananas or applesauce. Cookies are a bit trickier, as I also do not use any oil or butter, so my cookies are not crispy cookies but more cake like. But they are still yummy and are always eaten!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, dates, bananas and applesauce ... I'll have to experiment with those! Thank you!
Deletecoconut sugar
ReplyDeleteWendy, thank you! I've not tried coconut sugar, I'll put it on my list of options to try.
DeleteYes, dates! I use those in baked breads and bars. Also, dried apricots and older bananas. Great suggestions! Marley
ReplyDeleteMarley, thank you. My list of options to try is growing!
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