Prepped Living Blog

This past week the girls, some friends, and I went blueberry picking. We are fortunate to be able to pick at a private blueberry patch. This allows us to set up the pack-n-play for the babies under the shady branches of a lovely plum tree and basically settle in for the morning. We had the place to ourselves, so it was a quiet morning of friendly chatter, blueberry picking, and baby care. Our goal was for each of us to leave with one to two gallons of blueberries. We accomplished our goal, even with taking breaks to feed the babies, change diapers, rock them to sleep, snuggle them, etc. We are hoping to pick one more day so we can put away a few more berries for the upcoming year. What do we do with that many berries? Keep reading for a few ways we use our blueberries! Ways We Use Our Blueberries We use them fresh to: Eat plain Add to yogurt  Add to granola Make a blueberry, yogurt, granola parfait Add to smoothies Use in Sangria Make a dessert - This  Blueberry pudding cake ...

Hello! It has been a while since we have done an update on our various projects, so here is a brief overview of a few of our projects. First of all, let me say that we have been a bit slow in the project area due to a significant amount of uncharacteristic travelling this spring and summer. The travelling was fabulous, but the amount of foraging and gardening we typically do this time of year has suffered. Nevertheless, I remind myself that each person's journey, whether prepping, homesteading, or living healthy, is accomplished one step at a time. Do what you can when you can, even if is just one small thing at a time. Little steps do add up. So, without further ado, here are some of our "little steps": Note: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an affiliate, we may earn from qualifying purchases. We know you have many choices when you shop. Thank you for supporting our blog and website! In the Garden - Successes and Failures We had quite a time this year getting ...

We enjoy trying new recipes each year. This spring we tried a new flower jelly - peony jelly. We have made dandelion and lilac jelly in the past and enjoyed them immensely. We had peonies in our yard, so when I saw a recipe for peony jelly, I decided this would be one of our new recipes to try this year. It fits well with our "harvest what you have" mindset. We had peonies, so why not? I am notorious for finding a recipe online and forgetting to bookmark it. Sadly, that is exactly what I did with the peony recipe we used. However, the recipe we used was similar to this one from Daily Dish Recipes and this one from Practical Self Reliance. First, I picked four large blossoms. I picked out any leaves and rinsed them well to remove any potential bugs and dirt. Four blossoms gave me almost eight cups of petals. I then put the blossoms in a half-gallon jar and covered them with boiling water. I let it cool on the counter for a bit. After ten minutes or so, the water was already ...

Sangria is one of our favorite summer time drinks. Not only is it refreshing, but it evokes memories of my long-ago trip to Spain where I first tried sangria. Last year, our eldest daughter and her husband gifted us with a sangria pitcher. It was made in Spain and is of a traditional design that has been used for centuries. I love the cheerful colors. It is just perfect for summertime. We hadn't made homemade sangria very many times before receiving this gift, but we have certainly put it to good use since. In honor of summertime, we are sharing our favorite sangria recipe with you. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Sangria Ingredients : 1 orange 1 lemon 1 lime 1 1/2 c. rum 1/2 c. cane sugar, or to taste 1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine 1 c. orange juice 1/3 - 1/2 c. pitted cherries Directions : Slice citrus fruits and cut cherries in half. Place fruit, rum, and sugar in a glass pitcher. Muddle fruit lightly. Chill in the refrigerator for two hours. Stir in chilled wine and oran...

In continuation of our budget stretching series, this week we are focusing on healthy DIY cleaning products to help lighten your budget. Making your own cleaning products in one way to save money and be more self-sufficient while decreasing your exposure to toxic chemicals. In addition, these recipes use shelf-stable ingredients that are easy to store, making them perfect for the prepper-minded family as well. Keep these recipes for immediate use to start saving money right away, or stash them away for a time when you aren't able to get your regular products. Laundry Soap Our family has been making our own laundry soap for the past eight years or so. We use this recipe that I shared on our Prepped Living website a while ago. You can make it with or without added essential oils. While it calls for tea tree oil, you can substitute other oils such as lavender or lemongrass to give it a different scent. There are many other recipes you can find online, some of which make a powdered de...

With Father's Day coming soon, we are taking a break from our budget stretching series to focus on gifts for Dad this week. Here are a few options we love. We hope you will love them too!  Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchasing through these links helps support our website and blog at no cost to you. Thank you for your support. OUTDOOR/PREPPER ITEMS FOR DAD Grill/Smoker There are so many options here that it is probably best to consult your guy to get the exact brand and model he wants. Perhaps the most utilitarian is a grill and smoker combination. This keeps you from having to purchase two separate pieces, thus potentially saving both money and storage space. From a preparedness standpoint, it makes sense to get one that does not rely on electricity or propane. Since this really isn’t my area of expertise, I will only share a bit about the two brands I have heard mentioned the most. Traeger Grill/Smoker – A number of guys we know love their Traeger grills. Tra...

This is the second post on budget stretching ideas for clean/healthy personal care products. I want to take the opportunity to point out that while you can find inexpensive commercial products that save you money, these may cost you in the long run by exposing you to toxic ingredients. In our experience, personal care products that are not laden with toxic ingredients tend to cost more. Perhaps your body can handle the more toxic ingredients. With the health issues in our family, we avoid them as much as possible. Thus, we will focus on budget stretching ideas for healthy personal care options. This post could also be called DIY Personal Care Products or Homemade Personal Care Products since it is usually less expensive to make your own products. The last post covered mouthwash, toothpaste, lotion, and lip balm. This week's post will cover deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, and hair detangler. Deodorant Before covering homemade deodorant options, let's talk about why it might be ...