Project Updates - End of Winter

The idea behind Prepped Living does not equate with building a bunker and filling it with MREs. It is meant to be a way of life. It can incorporate aspects of homesteading, homemaking, preparedness, self-sufficiency, gardening, foraging, DIY, and yes, even survival skills. It means doing what you can when you can to develop essential skills and improve your health. It is meant to be woven into your everyday life, not to be an all-consuming burden to your time or resources. In reality, it is nearly impossible to be completely prepared for all potential emergencies. If you would like to read about why we developed an interest in living a bit more prepared, see our "About Us" page on our website.

Each family's version of prepped living will look different. You may raise livestock on a large piece of land. You may have a container garden on your apartment balcony. You may have neither, but perhaps you make your meals from scratch and do a bit of sewing. All of these skills and projects tie in to the idea behind Prepped Living. Do what you can when you can to be just a little more prepared for the unexpected. Ideally, this would include a blend of skills and resources.

It has been a while since I have posted project updates, so here is a peek at a few of the things we have been up to in the months since the last project update. Just a heads-up: you may see some of these pictures in future posts with more details.

Day to Day Projects

This category includes frequent projects that we do. This ranges from making dinner, bread, butter, bone broth, laundry soap, etc. It also includes household chores like cleaning and laundry.  Here are a few photos from our latest endeavors:

Fresh Baked Bread
 
Making Bone Broth
 
Youngest Son's Homemade Butter

Seasonal Projects

These projects vary and usually depend on the season and availability of time and ingredients. Some projects, like starting seeds that will be transplanted to an outdoor garden, must be done during the proper season. 

Seed Starting for This Year's Garden


Other projects like canning are usually done in-season but can occasionally be delayed (for example by freezing some of the fruits that will be made into jam). The project below was done recently thanks to a recent sale on pineapples at the local store.

Canned Pineapple Juice

Still others cover a longer period of time, such as using the longer method to infuse oils for making into salves. 

Balm of Gilead Salve

And still other projects can be done anytime, but are most often taken on during the winter months when we spend more time indoors. 

For me, this includes loom knitting...



Loom Knit Hats for Our New Grand-daughter, Our Son-in-Law, and Myself

and sewing...


A Jean Quilt Made from Up-cycled Jeans


What projects have you tackled this past winter? What projects do you do on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis? What skills do you plan to acquire this year?

Feel free to share your projects in the comment section. I would love to see some of your project ideas!





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Water Glassed Eggs & Homemade Butter

Image
I love to experiment with new recipes, different methods of preservation, and ways to avoid waste.  Here are last week's efforts: Water Glassing Eggs  I finally tried water glassing eggs this past week.  I read about this method of preserving eggs a long time ago, but I needed to get unwashed farm fresh eggs in order to try it AND I needed to have enough eggs on hand to not cut us short in our weekly egg usage (we eat a lot of eggs throughout the week). Last week was finally the week. I got the pickling lime I had been saving for this purpose out of storage, picked out the cleanest unwashed eggs I had purchased from some friends down the road, and preserved 18 eggs in a gallon sized glass jar.  I followed the instructions from The Prairie Homestead, which can be found here . Why preserve eggs in this manner? Since we do not have our own chickens, we rely upon a couple of friends having extra eggs to sell. I wanted to preserve some eggs for those times when we cannot ...
Read more

The Best Homemade Chai Spice Mix

Image
Making your own chai tea mix gives you a healthy and frugal drink option. It mixes well with whatever black tea you happen to have on hand.  This mix is good enough to give away as a gift. Simply put the mix in an attractive jar, attach a bow, and include a card with written instructions. You can even add a mug and some black tea to make it a gift set. The chai spice mix is popular at our house - this batch is almost gone Chai Spice Mix for Tea   Ingredients 1 c. organic sugar ½ t. cloves ½ t. ginger ¾ t. Ceylon cinnamon   Mix Directions: Mix the ingredients well. Store in a glass container with a lid.   To Make Chai Tea or a Chai Latte: 1.      Steep black tea in hot water. 2.      Add 2 t. of mix. 3.       Add milk to taste for a Chai Latte. Notes: 1)     We like to use raw cane sugar. 2)     This tastes wonderful with mixed in Earl Grey tea in p...
Read more

The Best Homemade Granola Recipe

Image
  My mom has been making homemade granola since I was a kid. When we started a family of our own, we began making it, too. In fact, we have used the recipe so often that the recipe card my mom wrote out for me has vanilla stains, has turned a bit yellow with age, and the ink is fading.  This is a great recipe for several reasons: 1. It is a great prepper recipe - most of the ingredients are ones you will have in your food storage. 2. It beats store-bought granola hands down. 3. It has healthy ingredients (with, perhaps, the exception of the sugar) 4. It can be snacked on as-is, served as a cold cereal, or soaked in warm milk to make it more like oatmeal. Everyone has different preferences when it comes to what they believe makes the best homemade granola, but my mom's recipe is by far our family favorite, so that is the recipe we are sharing today. Homemade Granola Ingredients 1 c. whole wheat flour 7 c. quick oats 1 c. brown sugar 1 c. coconut 1 c. sliced almonds, walnuts, or...
Read more