My Latest Discovery: Coconut Oil

I have been hearing about all of the possibilities/potential uses for coconut oil, and my interest was piqued. Luckily, I managed to find a large tub of it on clearance at a local bulk foods store, so I decided to do some research to see if it is as versatile as people claim.

-Coconut oils works as a moisturizer and aftershave, according to several sources. Also can be used alone or as an ingredient in homemade deodorant. I have also heard rumors that it can be a handy lubricant for, um, personal use.
-Can be used for cradle cap, in place of baby oil, to loosen flakes.
-Some sources claim it can be used as a diaper salve.
-Using a one cup to one cup ratio, it can be used in cooking as a lard/oil/butter replacement, especially when it comes to greasing pans and the like.
-Can be used in cooking and baking as other oils.
-Some sources claim it can be a stress reliever if rubbed into the skin as a calming facial on a hard day.
-Can be used as a conditioner for a flaky scalp (makes sense, with the cradle cap usage and all).
-Coconut oil and baking soda can be mixed and used as a toothpaste.
-Massage oil........I'm already swooning.
-Mix coconut oil and sugar for a body scrub.
-Melt and add to smoothies. Yummy!
-You can mix coconut oil with peppermint oil extract and rub it all over exposed skin in place of insect repellant.
-Handy to use when your kids get chewing gum caught in their hair (and every kid does at some point).

What a versatile addition to food storage! I'm way excited to try it out!

A Simple Kind of Life

I am currently researching ways to simplify my life, to destress and stay motivated through natural, non material means, to life a healthier day to day life, and to focus on the things that matter, like our family, friends, and home, instead of shallow things. It's not easy. I'm a cynical soul, an emotional shopper, with a tendency toward anxiety, depression, self-doubt, and a nagging compulsion to compare myself to others. I fail more often than I succeed. But, I am trying to change that, and that is what matters.
So, here are some things that I have been doing to recenter my life, or things that I am investigating, and these are also things that I need to remember to keep working on/toward:
-Donating goods and time to causes that truly need it. If we don't need it, I find I am wanting to eliminate it from our lives, and I also find I am happy when I am working on something that brings me, and others, joy, like volunteering at our local animal shelter.
-Cooking more meals at home, and relying less on takeout. This is not easy for me, but I am trying, nevertheless, and feel it is key to a healthier lifestyle.
-Working on improving our financial fitness (not so good at this one, but we are making some forward steps).
-Setting and fulfilling emergency preparedness/self reliance goals as a family, which I've discussed before.
-Exercise. I am not doing so well here, but that is partially due to a lingering sickness.
-Working on spending one on one time with my children, which is wonderful when I can get it.
-I am reading more, which, as someone with two degrees in English, you would think I would have been doing, but once you have two children, it's not always so easy.
-Blogging. (Obviously.)
-Hubby and I have found a source of free Swedish massages, and I look forward to utilizing that as time progresses.
-A friend is a reiki master, and I'm interested in looking into that to combat stress and anxiety.
-Centering my life more around the homemade and less around store-bought. I'm not sure I can commit to this 100%, because I do like the occasional splurge, and I am not someone who will, say, convert to cloth diapering or something over disposables, but I'm trying to enjoy the simple things, to go all natural/more green where I can (just snagged some homemade cloth baby wipes--adorable), eat healthier, etc.
How do you like to simplify your life when things get crazy?

What We Store and How We Prep: Meats

I am such a guilty carnivore. A fair amount of my friends are either vegetarians/vegans, due to the fact that we all like volunteering our time for animal causes/rescue (pets), but I struggle giving up meat products, mainly due to personal beliefs and preferences.
My in-laws bought us a freezer a few years ago, and at the time, we didn't buy much meat because it was essentially two of us eating (our oldest was no more than a few months old at the time, and on formula), and we felt that meat was very expensive, let alone having somewhere to store it. Between the new freezer, and finding a local butcher where the meat was high quality, locally grown, and grain fed for less money, we ran out of excuses.
Now, I consider meat a vital part of our family's three month supply of foods. We keep on hand at a time (these are averages):
-10-15 pounds of ground beef
-10-20 pounds of chicken (boneless)
-about another 10-15 pounds of various chicken parts or fryer chickens (bone in)
-about 5 pounds of ground turkey
-10-15 pounds of various sausage products
-5-10 pounds of bacon
-10 pounds of roasts (about two of them)
-10 pounds of hot dogs
-5-10 pounds of fish (this can fluctuate, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on sales)
-a few pounds worth of ham steaks (I usually try to keep 4 or 5 ham steaks on hand)
-10 pounds of various other meat products, like an occasional rack of ribs, steaks, pork tenderloin, pork chops, and the like
The main worry I have with this aspect of our food storage is that it is very electricity dependent. If the power goes out for several days (we've lost it for two days before), then what? This is something we are still working on figuring out. We have started looking into canned meats and meat alternatives. We have a few cans of tuna (the hubby really doesn't like it, so we don't buy it much), have started keeping canned chicken (several pounds worth), and are venturing into using textured vegetable protein, a soy based meat alternative, that you can get in various forms, like bacon flavored, chicken flavored, beef flavored, and even taco beef, but we only have 2 #10 cans of this, with plans to buy more in the future.
Any experience with canned meats? Self canning meat? Ideas how to preserve freezer items when the power goes out? Good recipes using TVP?

What We Can Learn From the Great Depression

In an effort to try to encourage myself to take on a more frugal, self-reliant lifestyle, I have been researching accounts of the Great Depression. What a truly humbling experience this has been for me. I read the stories and see the photographs, and my heart becomes full. Knowing how the American people suffered reminds me to count my blessings that my choice to become provident is just that--a choice--and not something that I have been thrown into in an attempt to survive. I encourage you to take some time to find out more about this period of time in our history and to see what you can learn from it, and I pray that it will help motivate me to create a more self-reliant and humble lifestyle for our family.

Chinese Style Pulled Pork

I made the *best* pulled pork the other day.
It started as ribs, and I turned it into pulled pork on a whim, and it was fabulous.
Take 2/3 cup of orange marmalade, a half cup of soy sauce, six tablespoons of ketchup, and a couple cloves worth of minced garlic and mix together in a bowl to combine.
Pour half of the mixture in a slow cooker, add the ribs, and pour the remaining sauce on top of the meat. Cook on low for 6-7 hours.
Cool meat enough to handle, debone ribs, and shred the meat. (We used the slicer/shredder attachment for our Kitchenaid mixer, and it worked really well.)
Make another batch of the sauce (with the same proportions/measurements), add to the shredded pork, mix, and heat thoroughly. Wonderful on sandwiches!

Time to Be Random

Random mumblings from my tired brain....

-On Facebook, lately, I have been involved in many conversations that seem to have one common thread: loving those that are different than you, who persecute you, who choose a different lifestyle or religious choice, etc. Basically, loving those who can be difficult. And I kept preaching this concept, but I am currently involved in a situation where I feel as though I am being tested in this area. Someone in our lives, whom we barely even know, has been causing our family some difficulty with false accusations/strange behavior, and it's something that has angered me and stressed me out. But, the overwhelming prompting I am feeling is to still show kindness and civility, even though I am upset that this person was so irrational. I'm hoping I pass this test, because it is not easy, but I know that if I proceed with love in my heart, Heavenly Father will help me through this...oh, I hope so.

-I'm teaching a class tonight at our church on bulk buying (i.e. stocking up on sale items, warehouse clubs, building food storage, etc.). I'm so excited to share something with my church sisters that I feel so passionately about and something in which I have an unwavering testimony. I really feel so strongly that we should store and stockpile items and food that we use on a daily basis because we never know when a personal crisis or financial setback will occur. Keeping a three month stockpile of food (working up to a year's worth) is an investment that will help protect our family when done in conjunction with emergency preparedness goals. A little at a time builds up to something great!

-I've been blessed to be able to reconnect with a family member lately, one that I haven't been close to in years, due to various (stupid) reasons, and I'm so grateful. It's so refreshing to move past petty issues and concerns and get to know someone, and even more wonderful when you discover you have much more in common with them than you ever thought previously. This is so beneficial to me in my life right now.

Otherwise, life has been proceeding as normal, the typical ups and downs that I am sure we all experience at one point or another. Trying to stay strong, working to pursue and accomplish goals, and striving to be a better wife, mother, friend, and person. It has been a struggle lately, for whatever reason, to stay afloat, and I've stumbled when it comes to some of my goals, but I am trying to tread water and make it to my destination. I must remember to take life one day at a time. It's so hard sometimes, though!

15 Years

On this date, fifteen years ago, I lost a friend in a tragic accident. I was fourteen at the time, and this person was one of the most down to earth, genuine persons that I had ever met, and have ever met, even at such a young age. When he died, a part of us all died with him. When you lose a friend in childhood, even in late childhood, there's a certain amount of childhood innocence that is lost with the deceased that you simply can't get back.
I think of this person often. I haven't seen a picture of him in 11 years due to a mishap involving a school project and a careless janitor that concluded in my losing all of my mementos of our friendship. I hear certain songs, and, to this day, they make me sob in remembrance in him. And although I have lost other dear, young friends along the way, he is the loss that has touched me the most, that has impacted my life the most deeply, and he is the one that I mourn today, fifteen years later.
Whether or not you believe in the concept of an afterlife, I know with a surety that our deceased loved ones live on, through us, through our every footstep, every memory cherished, and I carry them with me everywhere that I go. And I know that my friend is still with me, even now, as surely as I know my first name. I feel the presence of my lost loved ones so strongly, and whether they are still really there with me, or whether it's merely impenetrable memory, I don't know, but in some capacity, they are there, and I am comforted.
My friend, I miss you and love you more than you know. Rest in peace with the knowledge that you are remembered, and, as the hymn states, "God be with you 'til we meet again."