2016 Food Storage Challenge

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Week 42 Food Storage Challenge

 50 Pounds of flour or wheat/ Pet supplies

50 pound of wheat or flour

Pet care supplies don't want to for get our pets put back some food and what ever else they need.

Add to the money stash.

Keep putting water up.

Short and sweet this week.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Still Hunting and This Weeks Goals

Tuesday night Katie got her chapter award in FFA so we were at that all evening.

Well all I got done this weekend was to go hunting. Saturday morning we got up early (Katie Andy and myself)and headed to the mountains with the horses we rode all day. We stopped and ate lunch then a little after that we got into  go into some Elk,a cow and a spike came running in front of us, then off in the trees we could see some more with a good sized bull. There were to many trees to get a good shot so she missed out again (To bad Katie doesn't have a cow tag she would of already been able to get one).  By the time we got home it was almost dark. Got the horses unloaded and put up then Andy and I had to run to town,a store in town had log splitters on sale and he has been wanting to get one. Got that bought and it was getting dark so there was no way we could of pulled it home. We went to City market after that they have pasta on sale for 49 cents so I bought a lot and a few more things. Andy was starting to get hungry and the girls were not going to be home so we went out to eat. Was pretty tired by the time we got home.

Sunday morning we loaded up the horses again and went hunting we were a little closer to home this time. Did not see a thing. Came home about 2:00 still had to go pick up the log splitter. I also stopped  back by city market and got some more pasta and a few other things. On the way home a friend called and said he knew where some deer were so we got there and Andy was able to get his buck. It was after dark by the time we got it taken care and got home. I still needed to get the house cleaned and ready for the coming week.
I sure was hoping they would call and tell me my stove was in.

The only thing I got done this week and I am not sure it was even on the list was get pumpkin butter made and canned.

I will be so glad when we are done hunting Andy has a bull tag for this next season which starts on Wednesday and ends Sunday night.Then we are done for this year, hopefully he will get something.

So since I didn't get anything done last week I still need to get all it done. I was able to get a little done on my bathroom but still need to finish it.

I only got a few lesson plans for the week so I still need to get the rest of the months and start on Decembers.

One of these days I really need to start on some potatoes.

I bought several # 10 sized cans of tomato sauce that I need to put into smaller jars and can.

We will have to cut up Andy buck sometime this week also. I think I am going to can most of it. We do want to try and make breakfast sausage out of some and see how it turns out.

 If I can get all that done at this point I will be happy I would like to get the rest of last weeks list done to.




Thursday, November 7, 2013

Week 41 Food Storage Challenge


10 Cans Soup/Nuts

10 Cans of soup get what your family likes to eat. If you would like you can even get a few cases of ramen noodles instead of canned soup. Just be sure to store where the critters can not get to them. I like to keep mine in plastic buckets.

Nuts, nuts are a good snack for a little extra energy and are nice to have for baked goods. Be sure to store nuts sealed up, you can freeze, dry pack, or pressure can them.

Add to your water. If you have been putting a little water away every week you should have a pretty good amount put back.

Put a few more dollars in your money stash.

This month try to pick up some laundry supplies,a wash board,or a plunger (clean unused)with a bucket, a clothes wringer or a mop bucket with a ringer, clothes line,and clothes pins lots of clothes pins they can be used for other things.

Many Many years ago money was way tight and my washer quit and there was no way I could go to the laundry mat so I had to wash clothes in the bathtub. I had no washboard or wringer I did get it done but it was a lot of work and no fun. I think wringing out the water was the hardest so I love the idea of using the mop bucket with a wringer a lot less expensive then a clothes wringer.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Canning Pickled Beets

We didn't plant any beets this year but Travis gave us a bag of them so I was able to do up a few.


10 to 15 med sized beets
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
2 cups white vinegar
1 tea. allspice
1Tbl. cinnamon
1 tea. cloves


Start by washing the beets. Then put in a large pot cover with water and cook until fork tender. Depending on the size it can take 30 minutes to a couple hours.


 
Take out and put into a bowl then peel the peels should just slid off. Some of the larger ones you will have to peel.

 
Then slice into  about 1/4 inch slices or you can cube them.



Pack into your jars.
I wait until I see how many jars I have then I can figure if I need to make more juice for them.
 
In a med pan combine your sugar, water, vinegar, cloves,allspice,cinnamon.and cloves. Bring to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes. Make sure the sugar is all dissolved.
 
 
Pour liquid in the jars over the beets leave a 1/2 inch head space.
 
 
 
run a nonmetallic utensil down inside the jars to remove the air bubbles. Wipe jar tops and threads clean. Put hot lids and rings on jars  process in a waterbath canner for 30 minutes.
I like to let mine sit a month or so I don't know if is necessary to but I always do.
 
I got 8 pints out of that bag not to bad.
 
 

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Sensory Bin for November

I have been wanting to do this for a while finally got it done and the kids love it. I plan on doing a different one every month.
 



 
 
I used some old popcorn and added some rice in a tub.I put a scarecrow small pumpkins ands apples fall leaves and flowers couple pine cones and gourds. I give each of the kids a small bowl and a small scoop and let them have at it  only rule it has to stay in the box.They have had so much fun playing with it

We made a bear out of the letter b then learned the sign for it. I am trying to teach  sign language for each of the letters and a few smaller words.

 


We colored a pumpkin then glued eyes nose and a mouth on to it.
 
Just a couple things we did last week hopefully I will be able to post more of what we do all week starting Friday.

Apple Butter

My family loves this. I have a niece that all she ask for at Christmas is my apple butter.It is a little time consuming but not to hard to do.

For every 6 lbs of apples you will need
2 Tablespoons salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp allspice



First I cut the apples into quarters put in a large pan and cover with water.
 
Cook until soft.

 
Using a slotted spoon I take the cooked apple out of the pan and put into a bowl. There will be some liquid in with them that is alright.

 
Put through a food mill or strainer


 
this is what it will look like.
 
 
when done you will have a pan of applesauce.
 
Add sugar and spices mix well. If it is to thick add back a little of the strained liquid that you cooked them in.
 
 


I cooked mine a little longer then I needed to but this is about how thick you want it to be.
 
Pour hot butter into pint jars and water bath for 10 minutes adjust this to your altitude I have to do mine for 25 minutes.




 
Take out of canner and let cool.




Week 40 Food Storage Challenge

10 pounds powder milk/Foil,plastic wrap,wax paper,Baggies ect

10 Pounds Powder milk If you buy it in cardboard boxes you should try yo get it into sealable containers.

Foil, plastic wrap,wax paper,and Baggies They are handy to have. I am trying to get away from using any of these.But I do like to have the wax paper and baggies for freezing. The foil and plastic wrap I have cut way back on and hope to completely stop using these.I will do a post soon on some of the alternates to these things.

Add to you water.

Put a little more in your money stash.

If you haven't taken a 1st aid/CPR class you may want to think about taking one just so you will know a little first aid in the case of an emergency.

Look at those after Halloween sales get some marked down candy to put back for the coming year you can freeze it , dry pack or keep in a very cool place will last a long time. I try to get the spray glitter and color for hair then the girls have it during the year when they want spray glitter (especially for cheer) I don't have to pay the high prices for it. When looking at the clearance sales always try to think outside the box what else would I be able to use this for. One year they had little lights for pumpkins marked way down I bought a bunch to use in luminaries at  Christmas. So always try to think of what else you could use something for.

Monday, November 4, 2013

The Weekend and This Weeks Goals

 Well another busy busy weekend. Friday afternoon as soon as Andy got off work (he gets off at noon on Fridays) we went to Farmington and got potatoes We picked up 1100 pounds 4 were for some other people so I am left with 800 pounds that I will dry,can and freeze.I was able to run in to Hobby Lobby and get a couple things. We didn't get home until about 7:30 I didn't have anything out for supper so we just ate a baked potato, so nice to have fresh potatoes again.

Saturday we got up early and got ready to go to Durango. We needed to order a stove and pick up a Bathtub for the the Girls bathroom. (We traded a beef to my brother for remodeling the bathroom so now that I have the tub he can get started as soon as he gets back from hunting.)We spent a couple hours in Home depot, we also got a cabinet to put in the mud room  I also got a new light for the kitchen. After home depot we went to Sonic and got some lunch. After we ate we went to a few  more places Andy wanted to go to a hunting store to look for a Orange cover for his cowboy hat they didn't have one. Then I found a great second hand store that I didn't know was there so we went to it and looked around didn't get anything. Went to a couple other places then got home and had to do a few things in town so by the time we got home it was around 7:30.

Sunday we got the cows gathered and started to preg. check after a few though we decided it was a little to early, because this early it is hard to tell. So we just ran them all through the chute and  put  pour on on which helps keep them from getting lice. After that we went and looked a a Jeep Cherokee  that Joleen was wanting to buy it is a 95 and in pretty good shape so she bought it. When we got home Joleen had to go to work. Andy had a fire call so while he was gone Katie and I got the horses gathered up so we could take them hunting.(Andy has a buck tag and Katie has a Elk tag.) When Andy got back we got the horses all saddled up and loaded in the trailer and went hunting. I haven't rode my horse in a while, the last few times I have rode I rode Katie's horse so my hose was having some issues, by the time we were headed back to the pick up she was starting to act a little better. We saw a bull Elk, Katie and Andy got off the hoses and followed it for a ways on foot, while I stayed with the horses. While I was waiting with the horses 2 Elk cows came around the corner about 500 yards away from me they stood there for about 7 or 8 minutes, by the time I thought to take a picture Andy and Katie came around the corner and they took off. To bad Katie's tag wasn't for a cow because she would of had it. When they got back we got on the horses and went to look for the bull Andy seen it once but by then the sun was starting to go down so we had to head back. We are going to try and go back next week end and see if we can find it or another one.

As far as my goals for last week I didn't get the house done. I started on my bathroom which is large, it has a place for a large bathtub but when they bought the house they didn't get the tub so that corner has nothing in it so it ends up being the catch all for everything. It is a mess so I am sorting and cleaning and going to do a little rearranging.

I did get the apple butter made, the beets canned and we got Travis's Elk cut up he did give us some of it for helping cut it up.

I got all the fall and Halloween stuff up I didn't put up a lot of the Halloween since I am going to have to take it down a few days latter, but I did put most of the fall stuff up inside and outside.

Got  a little work done in the yard but still a some to do.

I did get the girls laundry all caught up for them so now maybe they can keep caught up on it.

I did get pretty caught up on the food storage challenge post.

This next weeks goals are to finish the bathroom and start on the kitchen I want to clean out all the cupboard's ,drawers, book shelve and pantry.

Start on potatoes,

Work on the yard.

Make an orange hat cover for Andy's cowboy hat. I looked for some orange fabric but couldn't find any thing that would work. But I found a orange kids pumpkin costume on clearance sale to use  for the material and was cheaper then the fabric would of been..

Andy had a coat that had a wool lining in it, the coat wore out and he wants the lining in a different coat so I need to figure out how I am going to do that and get it done.

I have some curtains in my dining room that are to long so I need to hem them up.

Mud room cabinet cleaned out so I can move it to my bathroom and put the new one in the mud room.

I don't have Novembers preschool lessons planned out yet so I still need to get that done.

I also want to get back to posting everyday.

Looks like another busy week.