Repurposing. Recycling. Re-thinking everything to make the most of it all.
In recent years it has become increasingly popular to eat healthy foods; from the growing obsessions with smoothies to acai bowls and veganism, it seems as though this trend isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Living a healthy lifestyle can be expensive, but there are some secrets to eating well on a budget.
Preparedness isn’t just found in grain buckets or backyard chickens. It’s a lifestyle of planning ahead. It’s a mindset. You really don’t want to read a blog about retirement savings right now because…well…there’s nothing “sexy” about it, nothing fun when you know how hard it is to save. But I’m going to share something fun that will give you a game plan.
Continue reading Fun Approach to a Retirement Savings Preparedness Plan
In 2005, thirty-five Swedish households were asked to keep a diary about food purchasing and usage habits. 44.1% of all root vegetables were wasted after storage.* This was second only to dairy products. Based on the number of potato eyes staring at me from my food storage, I would guess that Americans are experiencing the same results. Temperature is not the only factor, and not all root vegetables need the same thing. Do you know how to properly store root vegetables?
Many of you may have gardens littered with fallen trees from strong winds or lightning. What are you going to do with all these fallen trees? The simple answer is: make firewood. There are certainly many alternatives to firewood in this day-and-age, such as gas and electricity. However, firewood is a very budget-friendly source of fuel in comparison to gas and oil. You may feel unsure of the how to turn fallen trees into neatly-chopped firewood. If this is the case, then this article was written especially for you!
Continue reading A Practical Guide to Making Firewood from a Fallen Tree in Your Garden
Up here in cold country, venison in the freezer is good insurance. That not only applies for beautiful NW Montana, but for anyone who spends the short afternoons of Autumn boiling hog bodies, dragging a deer carcass or plucking feathers only to tirelessly cut, chop and/or grind up meat. If that is you, you know the value of food put up for the winter. The subject of home economics is indeed one often learned by watching others or it might be taught by the unavoidable mathematics of stores on the shelf divided by mouths to feed.
Continue reading Home Economics, Deer Processing and the Value of a Buck, Part II
Christmas came and went this year with splendid simplicity and great memories with family and friends. Chaya and I took some time to pick up some books that are perpetually on the night stand throughout some of the busier parts of the year. One topic that has always been of interest to us here at Pantry Paratus is the subject of Home Economics, and so I was especially curious when I came across a tweet by Michael Pollan citing this Huffington Post article.
Continue reading Home Economics, Deer Processing and the Value of a Buck, Part I
How do you get healthier road trip food? The gas station burrito settled it, I do not care how inexpensive road stop fare may be, it is just no longer an option. I must deliberately menu plan for all future road trips.
Continue reading Road Trip Food Tips
Eating healthy is difficult these days, mainly because it’s hard to know what “healthy food” is. There are so many fad diets and theories on the “best” diet for optimum health that it’s hard to know where to start. Add this to the fact that many “nutritional” labels can be misleading, and it’s really difficult to know whether your efforts are even effective or not. Below are some tips on making healthy food decisions for your family.
Continue reading Making Healthy Food Decisions for Your Family
Perhaps the contents of your fridge look a bit like mine. It’s Summer BBQ Season! You have some leftover meat, some veggie or chip dip, a paper plate full of random dessert-bits and cookie crumbs, and whatever else left over from, well, who knows… But here is both our tribute to–and a solution for–the leftovers filling the fridge. Let’s make sure they’re getting used, but safely.
Sometimes the meal ideas comes easily, sometimes it is a last-minute decision with hungry family underfoot. Planning meals out may be the ideal, but let’s face it–not all of us are consistent because we just get busy.
Continue reading Planning Meals: The Top 5 Foods To Stock In Your Pantry
When you have a to-do list of home projects you need to complete, the decision to DIY or outsource is important. Whether the project is small (like replacing a porch board), or large (like adding onto your home), both DIY and outsourcing will present unique pros and cons. Before reaching a decision, thoroughly research what to look for in a professional. Also, carefully assess exactly what you’re getting into before you start a DIY project.
Continue reading Deciding to DIY or Outsource Your Home Project
Our everyday products which we use for cleaning, polishing, washing and disinfecting are necessities that we cannot live without. Advertisements have been telling us that our houses are full of deadly germs and virus that may attack us and make us sick.
We believe that we are always surrounded by diseases that may just inflict on us anytime, and to make ourselves safe, we obsessively try to keep our surroundings sanitized by using endless toxic products that smell sweet but are full of harmful chemicals like phthalates, perchloroethylene, triclosan and many others.
Continue reading Non-toxic Pantry Items to Clean the House (plus recipes)
We have talked about emergency preparedness a lot on our site lately. We believe in kitchen self-sufficiency and traditional skills because they are healthy, economical, environmentally friendlier than packaged foods, and…because they ensure a greater sense of security in the face of disaster. Disaster preparedness is on our minds this time of year, knowing that we are just around the corner from Tornado Season and Hurricane Season in many parts of our country.
Continue reading Florida will make these emergency preparedness items tax exempt
Snow storms, grid-down situations, extreme temperatures and social unrest, there are plenty of reasons you could be forced to stay inside your home for a few days, maybe even a week. Emergencies happen all the time and there’s no reason to assume they won’t affect you at some point, even though, until now, they were things that happened to “other people”. It’s time to get ready for short-term emergencies.
Continue reading Things Besides Food to Have for Short-Term Emergencies
I am frugal, and I cannot afford to replace the knives we have 
when they start to go dull. I am also clumsy and I run a much greater risk of losing an appendage if my knives are dull. It is true that sharp knives are safer than dull ones.
Every knife dulls. It does not matter what they say about it; some will keep the original edge longer than others, but the fact remains that every knife dulls.
