I was invited to two cookie exchanges this year. I normally don’t go to the cookie exchanges because of past experiences when I had to take home store bought cookies to replace my hours of hard work. These exchanges worked a little differently, we could pick and choose from the choices up to the number […]
Frugality
Don’t Throw Out Those Turkey Bones
Several years ago, I was told by an older wiser mom, that the secret to her soup is in making homemade broth. Years later, I learned that the chicken base/bouillon cubes I was buying were actually loaded with MSG, and not only unhealthy but a poor facsimile to the real broth in health and taste. […]
Will Wheat Prices Become Volatile?
I just read this article on the New Harvest Homestead Discussion group that suggests that the wheat market may become volatile because Russia, a major wheat exporter, ceased exports this past summer because of a poor crop harvest. That means that the countries that depended upon Russia (including Iraq) will now be looking elsewhere for […]
Gluten Free Baking Questions/Answers
I’m going to try making Thursdays our question of the week day, where you teach me and other readers the answers to important cooking and health related topics. I received this question in my email last week and would love to get lots of reader feedback to help her out. “Is it possible to make […]
Roasted Tomato Marinara Sauce
After I finished the apple sauce Saturday, Belinda and I still had time to chop up the end-of-the season tomatoes to make roasted marinara sauce. The beauty of this recipe is that you use what you have including tomatoes that are going over the hill. Oven roasted vegetables of any kind are extra flavorful and […]
Dehydrating – Food Preserving the Easy Way
Why Dehydrate?We’re hooked on dehydrating! Most foods can easily and successfully be dried with very little preparation time. What’s more, they are even easier to use! With all the surplus apples at a good price, Stephen and I are going to get busy dehydrating later this week before he leaves for his officer training. He […]
Moving to the Camp Kitchen
I spent a large portion of my time last week moving kitchen essentials into my camp kitchen and boxing up the non-essentials from my “old” kitchen. The picture below shows my kitchen table, working counter top with a hot plate, electric tea kettle, and storage for silverware, mixing bowls, and pots and pans. The right […]
Kitchen Remodeling Plans- Part Two
The above picture is a rendering of my proposed kitchen remodel floor plan with window seats. The most exciting development in the last week is that a Paonia, Colorado customer has asked if she could have my old cabinets and help with the demolition project. She came over, made measurements, took pictures, went home and […]
Hero Moms Incarnating Proverbs 31
Ed Note: Here is the recording of a recent phone interview with Kevin Swanson regarding the story of The Urban Homemaker. Hero Moms Incarnating the Proverbs 31 Vision The Urban Homemaker In a day of fragmented families and big-business oriented economies, one family’s vision took them on an amazing journey. The life of faith is […]
Winning the Credit Card Game
When my husband was living, we made it our goal to live debt-free as much as possible except for our mortgage. Unfortunately, when he died, that goal had not been achieved. You can imagine the overwhelming sense of panic and fear that came over me when I was facing the entire debt load by myself. […]