dogmom4

I'm really enjoying following along with you guys on this trip. Fun reading and a great learning experience to boot! Couldn't you make one of those dreampots by layering different size pans adding some kind of insulation in between? And Mt. Rider, can you post how you do the yogurt in the recipe thread? I just got one of those insulated syofoam coolers with a mail order.

ckraus, we have a thread on this in the Urban Homesteading forum. I bumped it to the top. We'd love for you to add some of your ideas to the thread. http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25006

Bumping to the top. This thread has a lot of useful information on prepping when there is very little money. We are in that situation right now with my dh going on month number 5 without employment. However, I'm finding that doesn't mean stopping prepping altogether...it means getting as creative as possible to do what needs to be done...

Sounds like it was a wonderful time! I love our Berkey Light...it makes the best tasting water.

Oops! I forgot I posted about this here. I started a thread in Urban Homesteading about the challenge and have been posting there. http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?sh...t=0&start=0 In some ways it went really well...I have a lot more food than I thought. One problem that came up was when several days into the challenge I cut a large chunk out of one of my knuckles. The healing process has been hard and it created issues because I am the main cook. I discovered I need to have more things that can be thrown in a pot to be heated up. This is one thing that has always worried me...what if I'm the one who gets the flu?

Over at Preparedness Pro a challenge has been issued to go two weeks without going to the grocery store for food or household supplies sometime during the month of August. My family is going to start tomorrow. We've actually been kind of doing this for the past 2 weeks to reduce some of our short term storage...less to have to move. But, I had a small budget for fresh produce since I didn't do a garden this year. The challenge I have this time is that the fresh produce I have now is not going to last 2 weeks. "sigh" Anyone interested in trying this? If we can't do 2 weeks comfortably...well...that wouldn't be good....

That's looks good! How did it turn out?

Good for you Stephanie! I've been exercising more too because I'm tired of being tired. Look... You can have this for ZERO points.

I've been neglecting this blog again, but I have actually been busy doing...getting ready for our move (37 more days!) and some prep stuff. I've decided to put a link for my other blog because I've been updating that one regularly...gotta make life simpler... http://lifeonarollercoaster-stacy.blogspot.com/

I think I'm gonna have to change this to posting about the challenges weekly. I'm having a hard time getting in here everyday to post. So, to end up the second week.... Preserve Something: purchased a flat of strawberries...they are hulled (made ds14 do it ) and in the freezer to be used for smoothies this summer. Yum! Prep Something: Added paper towels to the stash

Yes it is! I've been trying to get up at 5:30 or 6 to get stuff done before it gets hot. So far I've gotten most of the dinner meall already prepared. It's gonna be too hot to cook this afternoon and I'm gonna be running around away from the house so I can't do it in the solar cooker.

Plant Something: Today we planted eggplant, pumpkin and more watermelon transplants in the work garden. Didn't do much else after work. My energy level was pretty low today..

Plant Something and Work on your local food systems: I picked up a dozen freebie tomato transplants from our local university. These will go in the work garden over the next few days. We are going to be overflowing with tomatoes come August! This is a good thing...the hope is that we will have so much that we can send a lot home with the childrens families. (And I plan to can some ) It's really interesting how the children are so different with gardening. About 90% of the kids in my classroom live in apartments and have no access to any kind of gardening. Our garden is right next to our play yard , so when we are outside, the children have access as much as they want. Some aren't interested much at all. A couple really only want to come in when we are watering. But, there are 2 boys and 1 girl who are very interested in this. From the beginning, they are the ones who always wanted to help when we started out with our container gardens. When we started some plants from seeds they were the first ones at the table to help and the ones who checked everyday on the seeds growth. Now that we are using our garden beds they're the ones who are in the garden each time(they spend most of our outside time hanging out in the garden)...wanting plant something, checking on what we've already planted and smelling our scented pants(yarrow, anise, mints and rosemary). I'm so excited about this! I love seeing kids who are interested in gardening.... Cook something: My goal is to clear out the freezer about and use up bulky goods before we move. So, today we had a boxed pasta dish with hot dogs (found in the freezer) and more of our masonades( I have a lot of frozen lemon juice).

Plant Something /Local Food Systems: Planted 3 watermelon and 3 cantaloupe plants at my work garden. The children are getting a big kick out of the garden. Cook Something: We are eating smoothies daily made with fruit from our garden. Also, we made something new I found at this blog...she calls them masonades. We've only made the lemonade (with frozen lemon juice from our tree). They're delicious on a hot day! http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/2009/03/masonades.html

Kim! The Homestead series is you?! I've been watching it for several weeks and I didn't know it was you and your family....

Kim, your response to Stephanie isn't showing up because your font color is blue. I don't know why but sometimes the reply color will change to blue and you can't see what you've posted.

Awww! Your kidlets are adorable!

Don't tell anyone, but, it's really day 6. Yesterday was just so ridiculously busy that I didn't do anything that would be considered a challenge. Today was better. Prep something: I found 4 boxes of empty canning jars I had gotten from Freecycle and stashed (and forgotten about). They're soaking in hot water. Once they're washed they'll be filled with some prep item (rice, pasta or something) so they can won't take up as much space. Cook something: Made smoothies with peaches and strawberries from the garden. Reduce waste: We donated and consigned a huge amount of stuff. I'm liking the empty spaces I'm beginning to see and the fact that I'm getting my prep stuff organized.

I was going to suggest chicken salad...a little chicken can be stretched pretty far. Also, the burritos like Stephanie said. I make a huge batch, wrap individually and freeze.

Our tree isn't doing very well this year either. I don't know if it's the odd weather or what...but, it's usually loaded with peaches..this time I can count maybe 25 or 30.

Harvest something: I harvested about a half dozen peaches from our tree. Not enough to do anything with...except eat!

Prep something: Today I was gifted with 10 pounds of steel cut oats. These will get vaccum sealed in jars and added to my reserves.

Oh...I wonder if Costco has something like that? We don't have a Sam's very close to us.