Patsy over at A Working Pantry shared an Instagram account, @ThreeRiversHomestead that has issued a challenge for August, Every Bit Counts preserving challenge. The challenge is to put something by every day of August. I felt pretty proud of myself with my bit of Fig Jam. I may not put something away every day this month but I'm sure going to try! How about you? Do you can, preserve, make jelly, freeze your summer produce?
Even though I won't be posting this until first of the week (writing it out on weekend), there's plenty of August left to join in with the challenge.
I found myself rushing through viewing my August vintage magazines the other day, but somehow I'm always led to read a tidbit here and there from each issue. One showed illustrations of how dress overcoats and suits had been turned into children's clothing. Most of the 1940's issues had this feature of how to use cast off clothing and household draperies, etc. to make clothing. It is certainly something we might consider even now. Annabelle at TheBluebirdsAreNesting often buys beautiful duvet covers and comforters and makes them into lovely soft furnishings for her home. It makes good frugal sense and it makes good use of an item that might well end up in a landfill somewhere doing no earthly good. Each time I read one of these features in my old Woman's Day issues, I think what good sense it makes!
In another issue, a wartime one, I found this, which I think does apply to our current circumstances, albeit we are not exactly 'at war' in the same manner as we were in 1942. I guess we're battling along on the home front though, don't you? Anyway, I wanted to share the beginning paragraphs of this article with you. It is titled "How To Be Happy Though Rationed" and is written by Dr. Henry C. Sherman and Gove Hambridge:
It is natural that people should be worried about food when they listen to other people's fears, and especially that mothers should be worried when they think their children are not going to get enough. Yet a good deal of the worry that some people have about food could be eliminated, we believe, if as part our contribution to the war we would deliberately live more in our blessings and less in our fears. Judging from our own observations, a good many people who are getting along quite well today and are certainly far from starving, nevertheless worry a great deal about how they are going to get along tomorrow.
Everything considered, there is little likelihood that this country will suffer from lack of food to anything like the extent that many other countries have suffered in this war. Trouble we shall continue to have. It is unavoidable in war, and it may become worse. There is need of good management of our resources, but we think we shall continue to have enough food for our health, though we may have to submit as gracefully as we can to further changes in our food habits...
The article goes on to describe the role of nutrition and it's importance in our daily lives and in our study of nutrition over all so that we make wise choices in the foods that are available to us. The recommendations of the two authors is that we eat as balanced a diet weekly overall as we can manage.
One of the simplest aids to getting a balanced diet without any elaborate computations is to use the 7 basic food groups, now widely known, and choose or or more foods from each group every day, or at such frequent intervals as to balance your diet over the course of a week...
This might well mean we try, or least learn about, unfamiliar foods which are plentiful and coming to know their nutritional value will help us to employ them in our home. I am seeing huge Jackfruits in my Publix produce section. Jackfruit is not something I'm terribly familiar with but I have seen cooking shows and know that it's can be a substitute for meat due to it's texture. Do I want to try Jackfruit? Not really. Those things are HUGE, far bigger than the largest watermelons but...I do know how they might be used in my kitchen if the need ever arose.
From FrugalMeasures.blogspot.com comes this bit of sound advice:"Start now to create a plan if you don’t already have one, or update your present plan. Watch for best buys that will fit into your year’s supply. We are not in a situation that requires panic buying, but we do need to be careful in purchasing and rotating the storage that we’re putting away. The instability in the world today makes it imperative that we take heed of the counsel and prepare for the future." (L. Tom Perry) ..I go there for inspirational quotes just like this one!
I found this helpful article on how to preserve food without canning. I thought it might be useful information for you all to read through. https://housewifehowtos.com/save-money/how-to-preserve-fruits-and-vegetables-without-canning/
From G-Donna, We need a calming home, there is enough noise outside our doors.
Grandma Donna
I love this tip from Newhappeningsatthetable.blogspot.com : I keep a list of things I find everyday during the week that bring me joy. Some are large and some are small, but they are always there. I am hoping on New Years Eve when I re-read them I will look back and remember things I had forgotten that are joyful.
From the practical to the dreamy...How would you like to stay in an Air BNB in Bath, England? What if I told you it was a former home of Jane Austen? I do live on a budget but I have to say that the nightly rates are not so very high that it would be an impossible dream.
Leisure by W. H. Davies
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
8 comments:
Because our ladies Bible Study has not been meeting I send out an chatty email each week. Last week I challenged them to keep a list of things that give them joy that do not cost a lot. My list included such things as the one little hummingbird that comes and drinks and drinks without looking up while the others very nervously flit about. The lonely little deer that always alone when she came to our yard last summer and we carried on long conversations. Now she brings her twins around to visit. The geraniums that I rescued several from when a parks worker was pulling them out and he happily gave me several. I wintered them over and now have beautiful free geraniums instead of $5 ones from the greenhouse. Gramps who thinks the $1 items from Dollar Tree are great and wants a selection of things from the frozen section for his "dollar menu" lunches. My list could go on and on with so many, many things with no cost or work involved. I think I should startba joy notebook! What fun to write memories in.
I definitely have been stocking up for several months. We should make it through quite a stretch if necessary. The blessing of having a large basement storage area. Just need to put some more meat away if the freezer ever has any extra room.
Looking forward to soup weather. Could live on soup. If covid-19 the flu and blizzards all hit our area, I am staying in. Not a risk taker.
Gramma D
I would call that Airbnb the ultimate getaway! I just feel sick about that terrible storm in Iowa.
On Cheryl's blog she suggested thinking twice before getting rid of things right now because you may need them. Most everyone commented that they had a pile for donation and they were going to take a good look at what is in that pile. That included me. We had a list of everyday items that needed to be replaced this week and it took four stores to locate them except one item. I found that on Walmart dot com. Who would have ever thought we would live like this? Food is no problem here but if you need a new garbage can it will take half a day to find one 🙂
Dora, I think we sometimes forget that simple pleasures are worthy of gratitude as much as big blessings. I love your challenge to your Bible study group.
Lana, I noted that on Cheryl's blog as well and it made me think about what I might use that I've tagged for donation. Unfortunately some things I might have used I've already donated but I 'm going to try and determine the future need of things rather than my current need. It will be a fine line between hoarding and truthful assessment!
I found a vlog today that y'all may be interested in.. it is a pantry prepping vlog that I am presently watching.she is talking about building a 3 month supply of food items.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzLl9vc9vs
The channel name is This and That with Denise Jordan
The one thing I donated a while back I wished I had kept is a, oh ,....Years bak they are so popular... one of this things where you have oil in pan that sits under little sterno fuel can. You use your own little stick thing to pick up meat in and cook in the hot oil that is in the pan. Oh I can't remember the name of it now!! As soon as I donated it I heard someone say they kept theirs in case they could not use the stove and it could be used to cook many things in. :( Yea it could. Sorry I still can't remember the name of that! I hope someone else remembers... LOL
Sometimes I wish I did not think of how to reuse or repurpose things and just donated them ! It can lead to holding on to too many things. :) But yes now we need to be careful that we or someone else we know might be able to use them. I am still looking for sheets. Aldi had some for sale. I had bought this brand from them, only in organic material a while back and they are really nice. But they were out as are other places I used to easily find sheets. I forget to go online to check the grocery ads. We get our ads Friday and the sales start the Wed. before. Aldi meats are on sale for one or two days only IF they even have it. I need to be more proactive. It is a new game now. Yet still our Many, many blessings outnumber anything negative. !!! Sarah
I go to all but one of the places you mentioned. It is like so many that come here or there are all together all over the net ! So many people trying to help all of us. Wonderful isn't it. Annabelle is really having a worry over all the boarder shut downs and changes there too. It is rather scary. One mention wa it would be for 2.....2 years ! Maybe I am wrong in thinking this, but it sounds like Berlin was in many ways to me. It seems to keep being weirder and weirder.
Thanks for the idea of different foods to try. Walking around Indian and Asian groceries you see new things too and now we may want to ask about them and try a few out. I got a few used books on vegetarian cooking and one was a "Idiot " series one. It opened up to me ways to get more protein without meat meat. I hope to find more used books on such. A while back you talked of such Terri. Maybe it is a time to rethink that thought too of how to get enough nutrition in new ways. You have a background in nutrition..am I right? You have a lot of knowledge on it I think.
One thought: I bought a used stainless steel tall thin pot with a lid and a colander insert . I think it is actually made to cook asparagus. ?? But it can be used to can one pint jar too It is like a mini water bath. I don't know maybe two jars if they are small enough and can be stacked ok. But this might be an idea for use of leftovers too. Can them this easy way if they are ok to be water bath canned. Like excess tomatoes or a jelly or such. Sarah
Sarah, was it a hibachi?
Louise, I bookmarked that vlog to watch.
Sarah, A fondue pot! They had a resurgence of popularity in the early 2000s. You can still find them at thrift stores though not always with the forks.
Post a Comment