Prepped Living Blog

In our area, many grocery stores offer fantastic deals on turkeys around Thanksgiving and Christmas. With the rising cost of groceries, this is often the most affordable meat we can find. Even though turkey is not our family's favorite meal, we really can't pass up the great prices that are offered. Thus, each year, we pick up some very affordable meat and put it in the freezer. This past fall, we ended up with two turkeys. We hadn't used up the two turkeys from the prior season, so it was past time for us to do something with them. One way we all enjoy turkey is in a pot pie, so I looked online to find a pot pie filling that could be canned. There were many recipes. Some called for ClearJel, some called for white wine, some called for specialty items. We ended up choosing a recipe that called for common items we typically have on hand. The recipe we used was from Farmhouse Harvest , though we found a similar recipe from SBcanning.com .  A friend was coming over to can with...

Each year we experience at least one power outage, usually due to a windstorm or snowstorm. During these outages we use several different options for lighting. With our recent power outage being a bit longer than normal, we thought it would be useful to give a brief description here of the pros and cons of some of our favorites with the hope that it will either 1) remind you to check your alternative lighting sources and make sure they are ready for use or 2) encourage you to prepare a backup lighting plan if you do not already have one. First, let us say that it is a good idea to have a mix of options- battery, solar, and low-tech. This enables you to have lighting if something goes wrong with one of your other options. Many will tell you that "two is one and one is none" or that "three is one and one is none." This is a simple reminder that having only one source (of light or anything else) can be catastrophic if that one source fails to work. Backups are essentia...

December was a crazy month. We had one adverse weather advisory followed by another - high winds and rain, flooding, high winds and rain, snowstorm, and high winds again. The windstorm one Tuesday night was quite strong - it took out a number of trees in our area, which then took out the power lines, blew transformers, and blocked roads. We were fortunate and were only without power for a day and a half. It took a while to get into town that Wednesday morning, but the road crews and the electric company crews were out bright and early working hard to open up roads and restore electricity.  It was a dark drive home Wednesday night with no lights along the freeway, but our oldest son had the oil lamps and candles lit at the house, offering a welcoming glow when we returned. Since our wood stove is not yet installed*, the house was a bit chilly. Husband had a plan, however, and with the help of a Mr. Heater indoor propane heater we picked up in town, we soon had the house nice and coz...

In a previous blog post we talked about the benefits of canning meat. While this is a great idea, we also love to can meals in a jar.  What is the difference? While canned meat can be eaten alone, it is usually intended to be an ingredient in a larger dish. Canned meals, on the other hand, have most or all of what you need for a complete meal. While you can add canned meals to rice or potatoes, for example, the meat, most of the vegetables, and the spices are already cooked together in the jar. One of many options for disaster preparedness Canned meals in a jar are the homestead version of  healthy   fast food. It may take time to prepare ahead, but you end up with a meal that is nearly ready to go - just heat and serve.  While you can do this with freezer meals as well, from a preparedness standpoint, it is always a good idea to store your items in many forms - frozen, canned, dehydrated, freeze-dried, etc. This gives you options for multiple scenarios.  For ex...

Do you ever have pieces of bread left from the loaf that go a bit stale? Perhaps it is the heel that no one likes, perhaps it is a piece that was sliced imperfectly and didn't work for a sandwich. We put pieces like these in the freezer and save them until we have enough to use for a project. Whether you make your own bread or you buy bread from the store or a bakery, don't waste it when it goes a bit stale! Below are some ideas for using stale bread, or just using it up before it molds: Make French Toast   Stale bread slices are perfect for making French Toast. Slightly stale bread soaks up the mix better, making for a more moist result. Just use your favorite French Toast recipe! Make French Toast Casserole   This is our favorite way to use up our leftover bread slices. Whether you have pieces of the heel or the center, cutting the slices into smaller pieces and soaking them in the mix overnight makes for a moist casserole the next day. Check out our website for the recipe ...

We finally prepped the garden beds for winter. We pulled the plants that needed to be pulled and trimmed those that needed trimming. We left the calendula, which is still blooming, and the regular marigold, which also still has blooms. I still haven't thinned the strawberry bed, but since the deer seem to trim the plants once we take down the netting, I am not sure that I need to do a lot of actual thinning. I am hoping to trim the suckers before the snow piles up. Since it snowed today, I know I won't have much time to get it done. It may have to wait until spring.  I was a month later than planned, but I also planted garlic. I cut some grass we had growing on the hillside and layered it over the garlic for mulch. This method worked well last time we grew garlic. Will our garlic survive planting this late in November? Who knows?  I was just happy to get some in the ground. A Facebook gardening group thought it should be fine. We will see what happens in the spring. If it...