Hi everyone! Here are some thrifty things I did this week:
1. Made a sourdough starter. I have tried making these in the past, but was never diligent enough to follow it through to completion. Basically, this is what you do: Day 1: Mix 1 cup water with 1 cup flour. Cover with a cheesecloth. Days 2-5: Discard (i.e. save in a jar for other purposes) half of the starter. Add another cup of flour and another cup of water. Mix together, cover with a cheesecloth. Days 6-7: Discard and feed two times per day. After the last feeding on day 7, store your starter in the fridge. 2. Made an arrangement for our kitchen table. I used free flowers and greenery from our home: forsythia, willow branches, daffodils and tulips. 3. Line-dried all of our laundry last week. I have two drying racks that I keep indoors (or outside on our covered porch) to air-dry clothes. I figure it costs about $0.50 per load to dry, so I can save a couple of dollars every week by using the drying racks. 4. Made crackers, crepes and pizza crust with discarded sourdough starter. In the past I've only tried (and failed at) making bread loaves with sourdough. This time I'm starting our with easier recipes, and after some practice most have turned out excellent. I'm using recipes from this website. In the midst of a yeast shortage, I've still been able to make plenty of bread products this way. 5. Harvested spinach and parsnips from the garden. Those were both overwintered from last year. The only new produce we have ready is rhubarb, but I haven't picked any yet. 6. Lastly, we were able to acquire about 6 months' worth of venison for our freezer. This will be so helpful if there is a meat shortage in the near future. I canned some of the stew meat to put in our basement food storage, and the rest (3 large roasts and 50+ lbs. of ground meat) we put in the freezer. After counting all costs, we figure that the price was about $0.17 per pound. I also canned some chicken breasts that I bought for $1.60 per pound. In addition to what I already had in our food storage, I estimate that we have enough canned meat to last one month. I would be more comfortable with a 3-month supply, but we do still have a lot of meat in the freezer. Blessings, ~Prudence~
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Hi there! I just wanted to give a quick THANK YOU to everyone who's downloaded my new book. There are two days left in my promotion, and it is already #12 on Kindle's "Personal Money Management Top 100 (Free)".
If you haven't grabbed it already, make sure to do so in the next 24 hours or so! Thanks again!! ~Prudence~ Happy Wednesday!
I'm excited to announce that my new book is available on Amazon TODAY! And the best part is, it's FREE! ...for a few days, anyway. I'm going to keep the price as low as possible, for as long as possible, so that everyone who wants to can get a copy. Happy reading, ~Prudence~ With our small family, it's hard to go through a whole bag of oranges without some of them drying out or getting mushy spots. This tip is also helpful if you're trying to minimize trips to the grocery store and reduce waste.
Your oranges will last for two weeks or more if you do this: 1. Put a paper towel in a freezer bag. 2. Set oranges on top of the towel, inside the bag. 3. Close the bag and store in the refrigerator. I hope this was helpful for you! ~Prudence~ Hi everyone! I guess this is as good a time as any to begin writing. For the last few weeks, thoughts have been swirling around in my head, begging to get out. I've tried sitting down a couple of times, trying to put into words a mess of ideas and theories and practical application to all of those abstractions.
So, yeah. My thoughts on the after-effects of the coronavirus literally turned into a book. A small book, but whatever. Way too long to be a blog post. The working title is The Coming Depression; A Preparation Manual for Homemakers. I love homemaking. I ADORE homemaking. I love all the fun parts—decorating, baking treats, coming up with menus and puttering around in the garden. But homemaking is a serious job. WE HAVE A JOB TO DO! I'm convinced that the economic fallout from this recent pandemic is going to hit our families... hard. I'm thinking Great Depression kind of hard. And if it doesn't hit you... it will probably hit someone you know or love. We need to be ready. We need to be prepared. The book (which is currently in the editing stage) outlines the following topics: • What your first priorities should be financially • Insourcing goods and services • Saving money during a depression • Starting a cottage industry • Preparing to help others I hope this will be an interesting read for many of you. ~Prudence~ |
About PrudenceI am a Christian homemaker who lives in the Midwest. I enjoy sewing, gardening, reading and thrifting. Archives
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