January is planning month....

Here is my month to month plan for this year:

January - Planning

February - Clean, Organize, Sell off surplus (house)

March - Make summer clothing

April - Clean, Organize, Sell off surplus (outside)

May - Garden/Farm

June - Garden/Farm

July - Garden/Farm

August - Make winter clothes, Winter gear, blankets, Gather/purchase wood

September - Canning, Drying, Freezing

October - Canning, Drying, Freezing

November - Holidays

December - Holidays


During January we have made the yearly farm plan, outlined the garden plan, figured out what craft items I want to work on, what house projects we want to finish, etc... then we post these month by month schedules on the wall so we can be reminded daily of what our goals are.

More organization tips coming up...

Lila Tueller designs

http://lilatuellerdesigns.blogspot.com/2011/01/its-giveaway-time-again.html


Check out this fabric giveaway!!

Master Grocery List

God has given me a gift for being pretty organized. I do my grocery shopping once per month, mostly from a whole food supplier. I thought some might benefit from this master list - I make sure to order what I need from this list each month so we have a steady supply of ingredients on hand.

Here you go:


Master Grocery List:


Frozen fruit: strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, peaches

Frozen veggies: spinach, broccoli, corn, green beans, mixed veggies, hot peppers, sweet peppers, zucchini

Grains: Oats, Soft white wheat, Hard white wheat, Hard Red Wheat, Rye, Spelt, Rice, Kamut, Barley, Durum Wheat

Flours: White wheat, White Spelt, Cornmeal, Masa

Canned goods: Tomato paste, Tomato sauce, Tomatoes, Tuna, Pumpkin

Spices: as needed

Baking supplies: Baking powder, Baking soda, salt, yeast, cocoa, chocolate chips, Dough Enhancer, Lemon Juice, Cream of Tartar, Corn starch

Flavor extracts: Vanilla, others as needed

Oils: Coconut, Palm Oil Shortening, Olive, Safflower

Condiments: Vinegar, Liquid Aminos

Sweeteners: Rapadura, Honey, Stevia

Nuts: Hazelnuts, Walnuts, Cashews, Pecans, Brazil Nuts, Peanuts, Peanut butter, Pistachios

Dried Fruit: Apples, Coconut, Raisins, Cherries

Drinks: Tea, Coffee, Chai

Cleaning Supplies: Bac Out, All Purpose cleaner, Soy Lube, Soy degreaser, Laundry Detergent, Non Chlorine Bleach, Bathtub Scrub, Toilet Bowl cleaner, White Vinegar, Dishwashing Soap

Paper goods: Toilet paper, Tissue, Diapers, Training Pants, Feminine Products, Trash bags, Storage bags, napkins, baby wipes

Produce: Whats in season

Toiletry items: Shampoo, Conditioner, Progesterone Cream, Deodorant, Hair spray, Air Freshener, Bubble bath, tooth cleaner

Supplements: Thytrophin, Symplex M and F, Blue Ice Royal

Beans: Kidney, Great Northern, Black, Pinto

Seeds: Sprouts

Essential Oils: As needed

Medicines: Echinacea Herbal, Throat Coat, Herba Tussin

Dairy: Butter, cheese

Farm: Alfalfa, Milk filters, Sea 90, Kelp, DE, Seeds, plants, fish fertilizer

Household items: Band aids, lightbulbs, matches, firestarters, tape, glue, pencils, pens, paper, envelopes, wood chips

Meat: Fish, chicken, beef (ground and roast), lamb, pork sausage, pork large cuts, turkey, turkey bacon, bison

Dogs: Chicken, pork bones

Healing Illness

Recently, our two littlest ones, ages 2 and almost 4 became sick - fever, lethargy, vomiting, etc... Now that we are over the illness, I told Steve that I thought I should post my thoughts on dealing with illness, both in ourselves and our children.

As a parent, its extremely hard to watch your child be sick, in pain or uncomfortable. In our allopathic society, at the first hint of discomfort, we tend to start popping medicine. However, God designed our bodies with the amazing ability to fight off illness, if we are generally healthy in body, soul and spirit.

When a virus or bacteria attacks us, our bodies will usually:

1. Heat up (fever). Our bodies heat up to kill the offending virus or bacteria.

2. We tend to stop eating/become lethargic/tired. This is because our bodies are concentrating their efforts on destroying the enemy, not on digestion and our normal work routine.

3. We have diarrhea, vomiting, runny noses, etc... - this is because our bodies are trying to purge the offenders.

Once our bodies have gone through this process, an amazing thing happens - immunity against that particular virus or bacteria.

If we take medicines to halt the healing efforts of the body, all of this is negated. Now, obviously there are circumstances that allopathic medicines are justified and necessary (such as when my first born son became septic at 11 months and ran a fever of 105 degrees) but I am referring here to the everyday cold, flu, allergy attack, etc...

As an aside, when a child becomes ill, I do use immune boosting herbs to help their bodies be extra strong in fighting the illness. I have to become better at not wanting to give them comfort foods that are sweet (since sugar weakens the immune system) but rather nourishing foods (broths, honeyed tea, etc...) - that is a post for another time.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts on illness...

Beer Braised Beef and Onion Soup

Beer Braised Beef and Onion Soup (serves 16)

1. Brine 2 chuck roasts for two days in 2 1/2 gallons of water and 1 1/4 cups of salt

2. The night before soup is to be served, generously sprinkle both sides of meat with salt and pepper. Sear both sides in several tablespoons of coconut oil and then place in roaster.

3. Add to roaster:

a. 2 large onions, thickly sliced
b. 6 cloves of garlic
c. 2 teaspoons of rosemary
d. 1 tablespoon of thyme
e. 3 cans of beer

4. Simmer overnight at 250 degrees. The next day, a few hours before serving, remove meat and add water as needed for proper amount of soup. Shred meat and return to roaster.

5. One half hour before serving, add:

a. 6 T. Sugar
b. 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
c. 2 cups of cream blended with 1/2 cup of flour


We made this recipe for Epiphany and it was quite good. My family loved it!!