Like peeps? Here is a sunflower peeps cake!

I found this on the internet, and I thought it was cute.  It's too late to make it for Easter.  The peeps will be marked down now, so it would be cute for a Spring cake. Or Mother's day or a birthday. Go to:  http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Peeps-Sunflower-Cake for directions.

Cooking with an alternative camp oven

I wanted an alternative oven, because our gas oven has an electric starter and when the electricity goes out it cannot be lit with a match like the burners. It has a safety feature on it. I found a Coleman camp oven from ebay. It is older but not used, it folds flat for storage or travel. We can use it when the electricity goes out or for camping. Or I suppose for fun! Sometimes our electricity goes out for a couple of days at a time (which is the main reason for getting a wood stove). It works best on a gas burner, but can be used on a wood stove or campfire. I tried it on our gas burner and found the temperature did not get above 300 degrees. I cooked an apple pie with my canned pie filling. Cooking a pie at 300 degrees took a little longer, but it turned out well. I want to try the wood stove next. The reason the wood stove, or campfire doesn't work as well is because you can't regulate the temperature like you can with gas. This is a nice little oven, and is an excellent addition to my survival food storage.  You can find it on e-bay and coleman.com, I would definitely recommend it!

Notice happiness

Happiness lands so lightly on us we can easily brush it away without noticing, sorrow latches on like a tick and sucks the life out out of you until you find a way to remove it.

Recyling old jeans

I've been working furiously on quilts while the weather is cold.  I've made 5 patchwork quilts from mostly scraps of material and old clothes.  My husband asked me to make a patchwork quilt from our old jeans.  It's coming along nicely, I think!

planning the garden with non-hybrid seeds

Time to plan the garden!  I've received so many seed catalogues, I don't know what to do with them all.  I have saved seeds in the past from my plants (from non-hybrid plants).  I think with the way the world is going, I will start saving more this year.  I wonder if the non-hybrid seeds will grow better plants.  Will the non-hybrid seeds stored last a long time?

I've been reading about miniature cows. It's pretty interesting. I'd like to hear from anyone who raises them. Does the milk taste like regular cows? Do they have any heath problems? The picture posted is from: http://www.hickoryridgefarms.org/

A wet chicken coop

How do I keep my chicken coop clean? We put patio blocks on the ground but the straw still gets wet, even if I don't let them outside! Any ideas?

Bee hive knocked over!

I looked out my window and saw my bee hive knocked over! I ran out but it was too late. All the bees were dead. I have no idea what knocked it over, there were no animal tracks or prints on the hive. It was not windy out. There had been times when it was very windy and it stayed up fine. So I don't know what happened. Now I have to start all over this Spring. I'm trying to figure out how to keep it from falling over again. Any ideas out there?

Living off your pantry

If we had to live off our pantry, canned goods, and 2 freezers, and chickens, how long could my family last? I haven't any idea on how to calculate the length of time. Does anyone know how to figure this out?

Canning Food

I've canned a lot of food over the summer, and froze a lot in our two freezers. What do I do with it? I have the same old boring recipies, I need some new ones.

Growing Our Own Popcon

We found growing our own popcorn very easy! Grow like regular sweet corn, but let dry on the stalk. After it dries quite a bit, we hang it up on our beams in the kitchen to dry completely. We test some after a month or two until it pops well. Then take to ears and rub together until the kernels come off. It's best to do this in a paper bag as they tend to fly all over. We store the corn in an airtight container. We go through a lot of corn over the year. We like the Japanese white hull-less popcorn. It doesn't get stuck between your teeth, and tastes great!!

Wood stoves are good for many things!

I use my wood stove to heat the house, cook, and dry laundry. It has saved us a lot of money, and if the electricity goes out we don't have to worry!

Some people think the world will end, some think something smaller might happen. For example: Solar flares could knock out all electrical devises. If this happens all cars would go too. Trucks can't get to the stores to deliver food, gas etc. I'm not saying it will be Armageddon, but I think we should prepare, just in case!

I've read up on what foods, medicine, etc. to store. I've found it hard to figure out what we'll need to store. Some books say certain foods my family doesn't like. Has anyone found a good book or website that will give you ideas on what to store, and how to substite some foods for others?

It's cold!

I'm sitting in my cold kitchen on my computer waiting for the wood stove to heat up my house. Is it worth it to heat with wood only? Somedays I wonder if it is.