A Homemade Christmas

This year for Christmas I am making gifts! First time really doing this. I think the first 2 gifts turned out great. Candle Holders set and coaster set. I found the tutorials to make them by just going to Youtube and searching for low cost gifts and crafts. Looking specifically for home decor ideas.

These Tumbling Tower Game - 72 pcs. are what I have been using on most of the gifts. Super easy and can make really cute items with them. 

I really have been having fun doing this. Hopefully the gifts are appreciated.

Solar Power Charger

This little solar power charger Portable Power Station has come in handy just about daily. It came with its own solar panel that I just put in my front window. The front windows on my house have the sun on them all day long. I also have some USB powered Lights that I plug into this and hang up when the power goes out. Great item to have to be able to keep your cell phones charges and also use USB items, like the lights or Fans! This gets used daily. 

Extreme Butane Stockpile | Food Shortage | High Price of Meat - YouTube

Extreme Butane Stockpile | Food Shortage | High Price of Meat - YouTube: Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

 

Just sharing as a reminder to stockpile everything!! Anything you might need is SHTF is something that needs to be stored up!

Power Station!!

 I have had one of these for years, Schumacher Rechargeable AGM Jump Starter and Portable USB/DC Power Station - 1200 Amp - with Air Compressor and LED flex light. I keep it charged with my solar panels and use it to run things like a 19" tv for news in case of bad weather, charge my cell phone, and I have cooked on my Electric Hot Burner with this. It is a great thing to have on had. Not really a generator , per se, But , it does have inverter and stores power. Really comes in handy when power goes out for a bit.

Food Storage Recipe - Taco Salad

 

I am going to come out and say it - The Taco Salad from Taco Bell is one of my favorites! BUT , the Taco Bell in my town is not very good. Not sure why. The food sucks. Lettuce is always bad, food cold, etc. During lock down I got some of these  Taco Salad Bowl Pans to try out. I had to have my Taco Salads! LOL They were low cost enough that I decided to give them a try.

Tortillas are always in my freezer! Buy them on sale and freeze them. I take out how many I need for the taco salads and bake them up. Let them kind of thaw out for a couple of minutes before you try and push them into the taco salad pan.  Fill them with taco meat, refried beans , lettuce, and whatever else. Last night I did not have any sour cream so I used Ranch dressing. YUMMMMMM Easy to make and much better than going out. Probably cost less than a $1.00 to make one also. 

How to Make a Candle Heater

How to Make a Candle Heater

 

Something to try out. Looks easy enough to make. 

Global Incident Map Displaying Outbreaks Of All Varieties Of Diseases

Global Incident Map Displaying Outbreaks Of All Varieties Of Diseases

 

Interesting site! Keep up on different things going on - Forest Fires, Quakes, and several more.

 

 

 

Food Storage Recipe - Black Bean Burrito

 So simple to make and very low cost! A can of black beans that were 69 cents at grocery, tortillas that were on sale for 1.00 a pack, a small bit of rice, and small bit of shredded cheese. I cook up the black beans with a bit of taco seasoning and some of my frozen peppers and onions. Layer the rice, black beans , and cheese in a tortilla . Roll it up and fry it a bit in butter. YUMMY> lunch for us for a couple of dollars. 

Safely Gathered In: How to: Make a Cardboard Box Oven

Safely Gathered In: How to: Make a Cardboard Box Oven: Did you know that you can make a cardboard box into an oven that works just as well as your oven at home? You can!

 

Something else to try out. Trying to learn as much as possible. 

Car "Just In Case" Kit

 

Even if you've prepared your vehicle for summer travel, it never hurts to have a "just in case" kit in your vehicle. Your roadside emergency kit should, at minimum include:

 

• Jumper cables

 

• Flashlight and extra batteries

 

• Emergency flat tire repair and/or spare tire

 

• Hazard triangle, road flares, brightly colored distress sign

 

• Screwdrivers and wrenches or a multipurpose tool

 

• First aid kit and supplies

 

• Cell phone and charger

 

• Water for both the car radiator and your family

 

• High-calorie, non-perishable food

 

• Fire Extinguisher

 

• Rain ponchos and umbrellas

 

• Clean, empty, refillable gas jug

 

• Tarp

 

• Rags, paper towels, baby wipes

 

• Duct tape

Food Storage Recipe - 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

 

Actually kind of too hot now to bake , but I did get up early to bake some of these easy cookies that only uses 3 ingredients. 

1 cup Peanut Butter

 

1 cup sugar 

 

1 egg 

 

Roll into 1 inch balls and push a cross cross with a fork. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

 

They are so yummy and use items that I always have in my food storage.

Morse Code Translator | Morse Code World

Morse Code Translator | Morse Code World: The translator can translate to and from Morse code and can play, flash or vibrate the Morse code. You can also download the sound and share a link to use it to send messages to your friends. The speed, Farnsworth speed and frequency of the sound are all fully adjustable.

 

Every one should know some Morse code.  

Keep On Prepping - Food Storage

Still trying to prep for anything. Seems like everyday something else comes up and I am getting more. Just sit and daydream and then some other type of prep comes into my mind! Or watch a movie and some other idea comes up. The other day I just so happened to see a post on a FB group and was like "What there is Tortilla Ready Mix ?" - They are easy to make , but this is something to have on hand! My whole family loves tortillas. I do have a few 10 packs in the freezer, but now I can make some on my fire pit if the grid goes down, maybe? One part of how I prep is making it easier to make things if off grid and I hope I have.

                           A tortilla press and a good pan for cooking them on comes in handy also.

Experts urge Kentuckians to take down bird feeders amid reports of sick, dying birds | News | wdrb.com

Experts urge Kentuckians to take down bird feeders amid reports of sick, dying birds | News | wdrb.com keep an eye out - seems to be spreading fast.

Food Storage Recipe - Chicken & Vegetable Gravy Over Biscuits

 Another quick and easy recipe that just uses items that should be in your food storage pantry. 

1 can of Canned Chicken, 15 ounce can

1 jar of chicken gravy, 12 ounce

1 tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce 

2 cups 1.2 tsp of onion salt

2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables

4 frozen biscuits

Warm up the chicken after draining it.

Stir in the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the biscuits 

Bring to a boil then reduce and let simmer for a few minutes .

Baking the biscuits while doing that.

When biscuits are done - serve them with the chicken gravy over ! 

 

EMP Prepping: How To Build A Reliable Faraday Cage

 

EMP Prepping: How To Build A Reliable Faraday Cage

 

This is probably the most needed prep right now. We all should be prepared for this happening. Prepare for the worst , Hope for the best!

EMP Survival: :How to Prepare Now and Survive, When an Electromagnetic Pulse Destroys Our Power Grid

How to make an amazing air cooler for summer - YouTube

 How to make an amazing air cooler for summer - YouTube

 

You never know when your AC could go out or you might not have one where you are at. This could help you to keep cool during the hot summer.  It would have to be better than nothing.

 

 

Cool Off & Have Fun

 

A Blow Up Pool is a must in this heat if you don't have a in ground pool or pond! We would never leave the house if we didn't have one. LOL The humidity was 100% yesterday here, so our pool was a great way to cool down and have fun. To make it to where I did not have to clean and refill every single day, I got these to help - HydroTools by Swimline Floating Mini Tablet Spa Chemical Dispenser and Clorox Pool&Spa Small Pool 1" Chlorinating Tablets 1.5 lb. They really help, a lot.  A Pool Cover is what I am going to get soon. 

Keeping cool should be fun , not a lot of work.

Food Storage Recipe - Tortilla Pizza

An easy and very fast lunch, or snack. All you need are some tortillas , pizza sauce, shredded cheese, and any other toppings that you like. 

Tortillas

Pizza Sauce

Shredded cheese

Toppings

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place tortillas onto a baking sheet and top with the toppings, sauce, cheese.

Bake until the cheese is bubbly. About 10 minutes.

Slice them up and enjoy.

Food Storage Recipe - Chicken Ranch Foil Pack

This is an easy and pretty much no clean up meal. Just place into the foil packets and cook over the grill. 

 

CHICKEN RANCH FOIL PACKS

 

4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

 

 2 large potatoes 

 

1 onion, chopped 

 

1 green pepper, chopped

 

 3 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

 4 tablespoons Ranch Dressing  

Heavy duty aluminum foil – 4 pieces of 18” x 24” 

Boil potatoes for 10 minutes. While potatoes are boiling, chop all ingredients for packets.

 Cut chicken into bite-size cubes. 

Drain water from potatoes and cut them into 3/4” cubes.

 Spray each piece of foil with non-stick cooking spray.

 Place a chicken breast in the center of each section of foil. 

Add 1/4 of each of the rest of the ingredients on top of the chicken. 

Pour one tablespoon of Ranch Dressing over ingredients on each packet.

 Fold the foil loosely to form a tent packet, folding and crimping seams tightly. 

Place foil packet on hot coals or a campfire grill for 30 to 40 minutes. Or place foil packet in covered grill on medium-low heat for 20 to 22 minutes.

Food Storage Recipe - Chicken Tacos

 

 

I used one of my cans of Keystone Canned Chicken to make these today. I love those can of chicken. So easy to use and very versatile. 

Just heat up the chicken and make the taco meat as it says to on the pack of seasoning. Create your tacos! Refried beans, sour cream, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and whatever else.

Food Storage Recipes - SPAM Tacos

Hormel Foods Recipes > Recipes: SPAM Tacos

 

SPAM Tacos

Make some hearty tacos for supper tonight with delicious SPAM® Classic.

 

They have some other great and easy recipes on their site using Spam! 

 

ROCKET STOVE: Build one with a #10 Can and Some Scraps!

ROCKET STOVE: Build one with a #10 Can and Some Scraps!

 

Oh boy, this is something that I want to do. I have a lot of empty #10 cans that I can do this with.  

 

 

 

 

The Prepper's Pocket Guide: 101 Easy Things You Can Do to Ready Your Home for a Disaster Ultimate Family Preparedness Pak

They Are Growing...

The herbs are growing a bit! They are hanging on my fence in this Over The Door Hanging Shoe Organizer. Easy to do - more info here - DIY & Frugal Hanging Herb Garden PART 2 . We have not had any rain in a while so I have been watering it every day. They seem to be growing pretty good. Kind of a fun thing to watch.

Solar Oven Project with Free Printables - Homeschool Activity

 

We are totally going to do this this week. Great homeschool activity! So many teachable moments with this. Solar energy, cooking, self sufficiency, and so much more. This is going to be fun.

 

Solar Oven Project with Free Printables

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 Mostly-Great Options for an Off-Grid Refrigerator

                       

 

                                7 Mostly-Great Options for an Off-Grid Refrigerator

10 DIY Trellis Ideas ~ Bless My Weeds

 

 

10 DIY Trellis Ideas ~ Bless My Weeds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strawberries!

 I planted some strawberries a couple of years ago and they are just now growing great. I hope that we can actually pick some strawberries this year. Even if we just get a few. 

This Kit below is the ones that I planted. I had 4 of them and just put them out beside my shed and they started up growing. After a couple of years they have spread out quite a bit and have flowers showing up on them! I actually bought some blueberry bushes. They are growing , too.

Get In Shape for SHTF

 

                                 The number one thing to do to be prepared is to get in shape. 

                      A couple of months ago I got me this treadmill. Just a Manual Treadmill one that does

                        not need electricity. of course. 

                                       I also have stopped drinking soda. No more chips. We have been 

                              hiking more and getting out in the sun. We both have new bicycles to use instead 

                         of driving all of the time. Plus save on gas.

                             If SHTF it would be better to be healthy then to be out of shape.

14 Off-Grid Projects to Cut Your Energy and Water Usage - WebEcoist

 

 

 

 

14 Off-Grid Projects to Cut Your Energy and Water Usage - WebEcoist

 

Here are some great ideas for being less dependent on the grid. Even if you just do a couple of them , ti will help.

How to Make an Easy Patio Privacy Screen {Step-by-Step Tutorial} | Hometalk

How to Make an Easy Patio Privacy Screen {Step-by-Step Tutorial} | Hometalk: This might be the best privacy idea we've ever seen! I've seen several DIY projects for privacy fences, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money or put a ton of effort into this project.

 

I really love the look of this. 

Try These 10 Ideas for Adding Privacy to Backyard Oasis

Try These 10 Ideas for Adding Privacy to Backyard Oasis

 

I am slowly getting a privacy fence put up around my back yard. Having to do it by myself. But, the ideas in that list seem really nice and doable. Might try a couple of them out.

Frugal Supper Idea

 This might seem weird, but I did not feel like cooking much and had some bread that was getting stale so French Bread (Toast) for supper it was! 

Very easy to make and low cost.

Soak the bread in egg that had been beat. 

Fry up in a pan that has margarine in it. Brown it on both sides and serve with syrup.

Fills you up and cost pennies per serving.

Probably not healthy , but since we don't eat it very often , it seems ok.