The Homestead Mindset Anywhere: by Donna Miller : cost effective

A tip to 'thinking like a homesteader.'

Millers Grain House — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:55:00 GMT

Well, weather you care to learn these tips because you dream of 'Little House on the Prairie Days' or you just want to stretch the dollars you have, a homesteader's mind works a little differently than most. One main thing is to look at any...(read more)

Weekly Preparation Practice Checklist

Millers Grain House — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:00:00 GMT

I have come up with a list of items that warrant practicing each week to prepare for an uncertain economical or governmental future. It isn’t being pessimistic to actually WANT to and look forward to being able to be more self-sustaining and out of debt...(read more)

Homesteading on a porch

Millers Grain House — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:18:00 GMT

I always love to hear the trials and triumps of others who have that same pioneering spirit of a homesteader. Many people are overcoming the limits in which they live (financial, spacial, educational,etc) to find ways to improve their lives on a deeper...(read more)

Left Over Turkey Ideas!

Millers Grain House — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:23:00 GMT

We had two turkeys for Thanksgiving. Somehow we anticipated a hoard of guest that just never seemed to show up so now we are over loaded with turkey. We have a left over smoked turkey and a regular one. There should be an award for how many dishes you can make from a picked over turkey after Thanksgiving.Here are a few things we are doing with the remainders of ours:1. Duh - Sandwiches, that's a given.2. Turkey Pot Pie (plain)3. Turkey Noodle Casserole (smoked)4. Turkey Soup (made stock out of the 'carcass' and remaining meat that fell off the bone before throwing it away)5. Turkey Salad - like chicken salad (plain)6. Turkey Sheppard’s Pie (using also those left over mashed potatoes)So with that little list I think my family may be over loaded on turkey for a while but at least there's a variety! I'd love to hear what you all did with your turkey extras!

Keys to bulk buying, storage and learning to stretch grocery dollars.

Millers Grain House — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:24:00 GMT

If, like us, you are preparing your long term pantry for whatever reason (weather, gas savings, economic future) you may be a tried and true veteran of this longstanding homestead traditon or you may be new at it and ready to take the plunge. Either way, it doesn't matter if you live in the country or the city, buying in bulk can be a money (and time) saver if you do it right. There truly are some key points to keep in mind when learning to buy in bulk.

First, just exactly what IS bulk buying? Well, it's not just buying a lot (as in multiple items all at once). It IS buying larger than typical amounts of the same item. One can of organic green beans is always going to cost more per can than if we can find them in the case. Then, each can is substantially lower in price, because we have 12 or 24 of them.

Secondly, buying in bulk often, but not always, is less expensive in the long run. Time saved, gas saved and quantity discounts (as above mentioned) add up to being dollar stretches.

Third, bulk buying doesn't have to be done in the big warehouse stores. When a local market had tomato sauce on sale of $.30 a large can, I got about 8 of them. There are still 7 of them in my pantry and that sale was 3 months ago. The price has risen again, but there I have 28oz of tomato sauce for thirty cents sitting ready for us to use. Most of the time I can tomatoes, but the sauce takes too long for me and heats up our kitchen in the summer. This bulk buy was/is a big time/money saver for us.

Fourth, remember not to buy it - even if it seems like a great deal - if no one in the family will use it, or eat it before it goes bad! Fresh veggies are aften a good buy in wholesale clubs, but if you have 4 heads of romaine lettuce to throw out, then you have still wasted your hard earned money.

Fifth, learn how to store bulk items. Dry items need to be kept in a moisture proof container. Even large bags of rice and oats are easily stored for months on end in the right container...see here.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEblkB1mvFk

.... For meats, repackage into meal sized amounts and freeze. For cheeses, if you don't mind crumbled cheese, just freeze. If you do mind it, slice and freeze or shred and freeze.

Lastly, bulk buying can also work for items that are more household related than just food. Find out how long that $9 giant pail of laundry soap lasts by writing the date you started using it on the top in a magic marker. At the end when it's empty, you can see if it was a savings or not. I'll bet it was.

Buying bulk can be a bit of a learning curve, but by keeping a few things in mind we can see how bulk buying stretches our dollars each month!

Best Blessings and enJOY the journey!

Donna Miller

http://www.millersgrainhouse.com/store

More ramble on that "Thrifty Commercial" topic...Buyer be Aware

Millers Grain House — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:26:00 GMT

It is pretty funny how I had the same reaction as Anne (one of our other bloggers here) to the KFC and Frozen Chicken commercial. Toss in Stouffers and a few others and we have yet another media twisting epidemic. As unsuspecting busy American's just sit back and 'buy it' because it 'makes sense'. Well, digging deeper does result in clarity of thought. Let's look at the things the KFC commercial especially leaves out:

Nutritional Content (especially fat)
Buying the spices may be expensive but you wouldn't use more than 1/25 of each jar of spice to make one meal - so figure that as less than $1 and you would have more for other meals left....
Hormone Free Chicken on sale. I got 24 drumsticks the other day for $3 and 24 thighs for $4 (that's less than $8, but for almost 2 -3 meals) so let's say = approx $3 per meal now stashed in my freezer.
Mashed potatoes and green beans - free - from our garden.

I mean, do the math....dig deeper....no KFC meal can touch that! Plus, forgive the crudeness, but that KFC stuff can really tear up your insides for a few days after! Oh you know what I'm talking about.....

Sadly - the ad 'sounds' right but it is only because it is so far from the mark by what it omits. We have to be more thoughtful in this economic time. Of course the companies in the food industry (mostly convenience and take-out/restaurants) are sweating. Back in 'The Day' - people didn't RELY on them as much as our society does now...and...Heaven forbid, we learn not to rely on them anymore!!

To attest to this ad being a false hood both on time and $$. My youngest child (daughter) is in charge of dinners on Thurs nights. She came home from classes at 5:30 and by 6:30 had a meal of: Oven baked chicken strips that cost less than $5 this week, Mashed potatoes (real ones with skins) and green beans both from the garden. Then she made a healthy whole grain dessert for less than $1 (No bake choc oatmeal cookies). This meal cost us only $6.50 (if you count the tea and spices)!!! She fed a family of 5 (big eaters) a healthy, lower fat, not from a greasy bucket, or with processed potatoes, or who-knows-what kitchen cleanliness ranking - all within the hour. Top THAT KFC! You can't!! And now she has the skills and feels accomplished that she can one day make that same meal for her own family! THAT is priceless!!

Buyer be Aware.

Best Blessings and enJOY the journey!

Donna Miller

http://www.millersgrainhouse.com/store

An Audio-Visual Tip for Saving Money on Groceries!

Millers Grain House — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:03:00 GMT

An Audio-Visual Tip for Saving Money on Groceries!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cycj1dEAK0Q

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”—Author unknown

More visual tips uploaded every week (usually Fridays) so you can not only READ what I'm talking about with a Homesteading Mindset, but also SEE and HEAR some practical steps to saving $$.

Best Blessings!

Donna

Wood Burning Stoves

Millers Grain House — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:14:00 GMT

We don't have central heat in our home, just baseboard and one really nice fire place in the den, on the far end of one side of our home. The den and kitchen are about all that stay toasty over the coldest of days. So we are looking for at least one or two more heating options. We hope to find two wood burning stoves. We need one for the living room, near the kids' bedrooms and one for hubby's office. His home office is on the north side and outside of the house, so he gets pretty cold in these North Carolina winters.

Wood stoves are multi-taskers. On these we can heat and cook. My mother-in-law has promised us her Daddy's large wood burning stove as soon as we can figure out how to get it down from the 'mountain house'. It's only two hours of a drive away, but the stove itself is HUGE and of course HEAVY, so moving it is more job than just hubby and son can tackle alone. So... we will wait.

Meanwhile, back at this ranch, we are looking for more easily transported wood burning options. In our search we are finding that they are selling like HOT CAKES! Could it be that there are more of us 'getting back to basics' types with the same idea?

Many people previously did away with wood burning stoves with the introduction of the electric ones and the desire NOT to chop/stack wood. We have an ample wood supply on our 15 acres and stacking wood is not just fun time spent together, but it's a workout as well! So we will shop and hunt and hope to find one within our budget this year and either another one or Great-Grand Papa’s by next winter.

Here are a few questions for you while we search:

· Do you have a wood burning stove?

· If so what all do you use it for other than heat?

· Where did you find yours and what was the cost?

· Do you think it to be a cost effective form of heating?

Looking forward to your input and we'll keep everyone posted on what we find/afford/decide!