Prepped Living Blog

We had a blog post a couple of weeks back about ways we have used pine. We knew there had to be more ways pine, so we did bit of research online.  We found several more uses: Pine needle infused cooking oil - Infuse chopped pine needles in cooking oil and try it in your favorite dishes. Pine resin salve - This website has instructions for making pine resin salve.  Pine soap - This was such a fun one to research! As it turns out, there are many soap recipes out there that include using different parts of the pine tree - pine needles, pine resin, and pine tar. Pine Needle Soap : We found this winter spice soap recipe that sounds amazing. I would venture to guess that it smells as wonderful as it sounds. We like that we can put pine needles Pine Resin Soap :  We also found a pine resin soap recipe. We like this link because it directs you to use the resin to make an infused oil rather than adding the resin directly to the soap mixture. We also love this link because it i...

Homemade jams and jellies have been a part of our life for many years. Both Husband and I had homemade jams at home when we were growing up and only on a rare occasion had store-bought jam or jelly at either of our houses. When we married and had children, we continued this tradition. I would can berry jams, and in the early years of our marriage, Husband's grandmother would send jars of grape or apple jelly each year. It was a sad day at our house if we had to buy jam or jelly from the store. Many years later, both of our daughters ended up marrying men with celiac. Early on, when I would send jars of jam or jelly home with them, they would thank me, then kindly remind me that they don't eat a lot of bread and wouldn't likely use it up very quickly. I knew jams and jellies are not only used as a topping for toast or a filling for a sandwich, but I had never really taken the time to list all the ways we have used jams or jellies outside of topping bread.  Why bother coming ...