I may have made some vague mentions over the last few months about expanding our homestead and undertaking new adventures, but then I totally dropped off the radar! What the heck?! Well, dear readers, that is because some big things were happening over here and I wanted to get somewhat settled before I filled you in. The time has come for me to do just that, even though you have probably already guessed, but here it is… We moved to a NEW homestead! Let me back up a bit. Rory and I have been looking for several years for a new home. We wanted to live closer to family, specifically…

Fall has descended here in the Pacific Northwest. The air has a chill, quite noticeable in the mornings, and the deciduous trees are turning tremendous shades of orange, yellow and red. Fall happens to be my favorite of the four seasons we experience here. The heat of summer is behind us and my mind starts dreaming about what the next gardening season will hold. What new seeds will I start? How glorious will my harvests be? But wait! There is one last thing I need to do before I can close the garden down for the winter and start making plans for next year.  Garlic.  Even if you are not…

  What if I told you that you could save 50% on yogurt if you just followed a few easy steps and made it at home, would you be willing to give it a shot?   The Break-down At my local stores, 1/2 gallon of organic milk (64 ounces) is about $4.50 and a container of non-organic greek yogurt (32 ounces) also costs $4.50. Organic whole milk yogurt will set you back $6.00 for the same size. Since 1/2 gallon of milk will yield you approximately 1/2 gallon of yogurt, you can make 64 ounces of yogurt at home for the price of buying 32 ounces of yogurt in the…

Changes. I do not like them Sam I Am I am not quick to embrace changes. I like my routine, I like what I know. But, as you know, in life there are inevitable changes. I get this. Life is beautiful. Little people turn into big people. Big people turn into old people. People are born and people die. Sometimes I have to remind myself that change is o.k. Like right now. My life is going through a metamorphosis. I’m not complaining, it’s just the way it is. And for someone who does not embrace change, it’s what it feels like. There have been deaths in my family. Major illnesses. Major…

Bread… Is there anything better than fresh homemade bread? There probably is, but I’ll bet you nothing smells more wonderful. Maybe its reminiscent of my childhood. Early in the morning before the sun came up, I would wake to the smell of fresh bread coming out of the bread machine. My dad would slice it hot, slather butter on top and hand it to my little sister and I as if it were our cup o’ joe. Hmmm….good times. Not surprisingly, I started my bread making journey with a bread machine. A huge honkin cuisanart, here she is in all her glory. She looks pretty banged up, huh? That because my…

Have you ever been in the middle of making cookies or something and realized that you didn’t have any brown sugar? You may have thought darn, I cant make those delicious cookies without that ingredient, so you either go to the store to pick some up or you scratch making the cookies all together. Or you get real crazy and go with the plain sugar, but then the final product just isn’t the same. Well, guess what! You can make brown sugar at home with ingredients you probably already have on your shelf! What you are going to need 4 cups cane sugar 2-4 tablespoons molasses a mixer-either a stand…

  How Things Were I can’t just jump in and tell you where we are at now without first telling you how we got here. My husband and I have lived on our current homestead together for eleven years. Does that make anyone else feel old? Just me? At the time, the property was an empty 3/4 acre lot with side to side and front to back scotch broom. For those who don’t know what scotch broom is, it’s an invasive plant that blooms bright yellow and wreaks havoc on anyone with a throat. Or a respiratory system. It sucks. It is everywhere here on the prairie. For the first…

Ok people, we are going to start this out nice and slow now. I’m new at this, you’re new at reading my blog, lets start with something nice and easy. Raise your hand if you use vanilla extract. I bet you have your hand in the air right now. Vanilla is a common pantry staple. I use it in my kitchen for cookies, french toast, ice cream, banana bread…I bet you’re sensing a theme here.   -Did you know that you can make vanilla extract at home? -Did you know you can make it for a fraction of the price you can find in a grocery store? -Did you know…

Q: Why did you start this blog? Does the internet really need another blog? A: I started this blog to document the successes and inevitable failures my family will achieve trying to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle. At the very least, it will serve as a personal digital scrapbook of our lives that I will be able to share with my children in the future. At most, hopefully, others will find some amount of joy reading my musings. I can’t say the internet NEEDS more blogs, but there is no harm in sharing my passion with like-minded folks or bringing self-sufficient living to those who could benefit from it. Everyone…