Self Reliance

The last couple of weeks, I have tried to become more self-reliant and work on our food storage. I have been making pretty much all of our bread. It has been a lot of fun and it really hasn't taken much time.

One day I was went running while the bread was rising. I guess my run was a little too long that day because I came home and this is what I found (I usually let it rise in the oven because it is warmer in there and rises better). It worked out fine though because I just put it all back in the pan, let it rise again, and then baked it.

I got a recipe for home made laundry detergent from a friend. It actually works really good. We do about 2 loads of laundry per week, so I figured out that this would cost about $20 for a years supply. It involves grating a Fels Naptha bar, which takes some time, but other than that it is really easy to make.

We also found a good deal on strawberries, so we made strawberry freezer jam.

So, we have a little more food storage than we used to have, but we still have quite a bit to get. The hard part is just figuring out how much of what you use in a year. But when we go to the grocery store, we just buy a few extra things, which has helped a lot. I also spent a few days grinding some wheat, so we are getting there...slowly, but surely.