Recipe- Egg Salad

Over the past year of saving for and planning our homestead, we have a good idea of what kind of food we will be able to produce for ourselves. We have been adjusting our current eating habits to match what we will have available. One of the first animals we plan to raise are chickens, both for meat and for eggs.

Egg salad is easy and cheap to make, and can feed a lot of people without much effort. This recipe feeds 4 people.

Ingredients:

• 12 eggs
• dash of salt
• dash of pepper
• 3 teaspoons prepared mustard (your choice, dijon, spicy, etc.)
• 4-5 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons green onions, chopped

Preparation

1. Hard boil the eggs. Put eggs in a pan and cover with water. Bring the water up to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the eggs. Drain eggs into a colander and run under cool water. When cool to touch, peel the eggs.
2. Place the eggs in a bowl with the salt and pepper. Using a potato masher, mash the eggs into small pieces.
3. Stir in the mustard and mayonnaise. Add mayonnaise one tablespoon at a time and stir. Stop when you like the consistency.
4. Add the celery and green onions and stir.

Serve on fresh bread, toast, crackers, in pita pockets, or any other way you prefer. Enjoy!

Live better, a little every day.

Eat Better to Save Money

Everyone is trying to save money, especially in this economy. Most of us do not have Food Independence (growing and raising most if not all you consume), and still rely on the grocery store. Meaning, most of us have a grocery expense.

Don't throw money away on cheaper quality foods for some perceived convenience. You can eat the freshest, healthiest foods available and save money at the same time. Here are my top five ways to cut back on the food budget.

1. Eat at home. Cut restaurants out of your budget entirely. You can make healthier, less expensive food at home. Cut out the morning coffee drive-thru. That can add up to $40-$60 a month! That's money you can put towards paying off your debts or into savings.
2. Cook from scratch. That may sound scary to some at first, but it's really not. You don't even need a cook book. You can find a lot of good recipes at RecipeZaar.com for free. Prepackaged and convenience foods are hardly convenient when you consider the cost to both your wallet and your health. YouTube.com has some decent videos demonstrating cooking techniques.
3. Source local foods. The food at your grocery store has huge built in expenses- shipping, warehousing, packaging, store overhead, etc. Instead, join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm. Shop at local farmer's markets. Both will give you more food for less money. Check out LocalHarvest.com to see what's in your area. Also, ask the folks at CSAs and farmer's markets if they know anyone who sells items they don't have.
4. Grow an edible garden. If you have a balcony, porch, or a small patch of earth available, plant something you can eat. If you don't have a lot of sun, you can still grow leafy greens. For small spaces, there are books dedicated to container gardening. If you have more space, consider putting in a few berry bushes and fruit trees.
5. Try bulk/wholesale stores. For the things that you cannot find locally or produce yourself, check out bulk and wholesale stores. You will have to pay a membership fee, but it will more than pay for itself. Our wholesale club has wide selection of hormone-free meats at half the price of the grocery store. Not to mention all the non-food items (tires, propane, water filters, etc.) on which you can save.

The more money you can save on your grocery bill, the more money you will have for things like debt reduction, savings, investing in land, hand-powered tools, garden supplies, how-to and DIY books, non-electric kitchen appliances, and so on. Insist on the best food possible, and keep more of your money in the process.

Live better, a little every day.

A New Independence Day

This Independence Day, our household chooses to assess our actual level of Independence. We will evaluate our current position in regard to debt freedom, food & energy independence, and identify ways to improve our level of independence.

We assert that we have a right to pursue:

1. A safe food supply
2. Renewable energy
3. A debt-free life

Over the next week, I will address each concern individually, providing strategies to accomplish each.

Live better, a little every day.

The Past Few Days and Blog Comments

First, I haven't been posting much over the past few days because of two things.

1. I've had a nasty cold, and just needed some down time.
2. The entries I have written were a little off-topic, and really belong posted in a different blog.

Second, it has recently been brought to my attention that the blog comment permissions settings were restricted to members of this blog only. I appologize, as I thought I had set them for anyone to post a comment.

I would love to hear from anyone who reads the blog. If you agree or disagree with me, that's great! Tell me about it!

Please be aware that while I have the settings open for anyone to post, I do have all comments moderated to prevent spam from getting onto the blog. I'm on the computer probably more than I should be, so if you don't see your comments right away, know that I will get to it very soon.

Live better, a little everyday.

Cloth Diapers, First Impressions

The two cloth diapers I ordered arrived this afternoon. I never thought I could get so excited about diapering. However, if this allows us to be free from an ongoing expense- even eliminate a future expense if we have more children- then I'm on board. Anything that can lower our long-term expenses gets me excited!

The diapers were both pocket diapers made by FuzziBunz. The diaper has a pocket that holds an absorbant insert. The At the next diaper change, I put one of the cloth diapers on my son.

The Upside
The diapers were not nearly as bulky as I thought they might be. The cloth diaper made it through his afternoon nap well. There is, however, a bit of a learning curve. The diaper did so well at keeping him dry, that I did not realize how full the diaper insert actually was. I also did not adjust the diaper size snug enough. It ultimately leaked, but it was clearly my error. I put the other diaper on him, properly adjusted, and it held up beautifully.

The main reason that I ordered these particular diapers was the sizing. Most diapers were recommended for babies 35 pounds or less. As our son is very tall for his age, he is also close to the upper weight limit at only 16 months. The FuzziBunz diapers I bought are recommended for up to 45 pounds. They have adjustable snaps to adapt to multiple sizes, and there's still room for Karl to grow in them.

The Downside
There are two distinct disadvantages of this particular brand. First, the company does not make an organic version of the product. For moms who would rather avoid the toxic chemicals normally used to grow cotton, you'll have to look elsewhere. Second, the labels on the diapers and the doubler (extra padding for overnights) say "Made in China".

Considering everything that we purchase in the US that comes from China, I shouldn't be surprised. However, many other brands of cloth diapers are made in the United States. The web site did not indicate where this brand was manufactured, but since there was the sizing issue, my options were limited.

The Takeaway
So far so good, when it comes to the ease of use and effectiveness of cloth diapers. I really like the diapers, but am disappointed about where they were manufactured. I will contact the store I bought them from and ask about a comparable sizing in other brands that are made in the US. If these are truly the only ones that will fit my son, then we will buy more- preferably on consignment. At least on consignment, no more money is sent overseas.

Live better, a little everyday.