Looks Like A Fireplace, Heats Like A Woodstove

When we built our house, Hubby and I knew we wanted some type of supplemental heat that used a renewable resource. In other words, a wood stove. However, the general decor of our home is kind of contemporary/modern, and a regular free-standing wood stove would not have worked with our style. A fireplace would have looked better, but they are notoriously inefficient.

We searched high and low, and eventually found this fireplace/box: http://www.highcountryfireplaces.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=21_25&products_id=34

Due to size constraints, we did not purchase the blower with it. Nonetheless, it comfortably heats an open space (living/kitchen/dining combo) of about 1,200 square feet without the blower (part of that has a vaulted ceiling, too). Some of the heat goes upstairs, too, but in a shit+fan situation, we'd probably all just camp out in the living room.

The only downside: cooking in it would be a bitch. We'd have to let the coals die down and then put in some type of tripod or grate.

Still, I have alternative cooking methods (charcoal grill, sterno stove, build a solar cooker), so overall this is a minor quibble.

Here's a pic of it (ignore the baby gate, please):

Food... Food...Food...

As food prices continue to rise - and as times grow more uncertain - I've decided to refocus on my food storage plan. I've kind of been slacking a bit lately. We had some personal issues (death in the family), financial issues (no spare cash), plus the holidays, regular social engagements, etc. All of that added up to me completely ignoring my food storage and other preps.

Well, the holidays are over. Hubby's aunt has passed. And we're back (barely) in the black. So I figure it's time to tackle my preps again.

If Hubby had his way, we'd buy freeze-dried foods that we can store and forget about. This is nice in theory, but incredibly expensive. It's not just in our budget right now.

But I don't want to let expense get in the way of stockpiling, especially since I am concerned about the state of the current economy and my expectations for it during the upcoming year.

Although I hate to do things piecemeal - I am more of an all-at-once kind of gal - I figure it wouldn't hurt to simply start adding more canned/boxed/shelf stable goods to my pantry. To keep this in budget, I'll shop sales and use coupons. Here's how I calculate it:

Canned veggies and soups can be found on sale for about 60 cents per can. If I spend just $20 extra dollars per week, that's about 33 cans. Assuming one can per person per meal, and four people per meal, that's 8 meals. So for $20, I can get basically a week's worth of lunches. Every month of doing this gets me a little more than a week's worth of total food for my family.

Not super fast progress, but at least it's progress of some kind.

My Depression Fighter

So I did some self-analysis yesterday. And I realized this about myself:

I am a "project" person. I pick a project - raising chickens, prepping, dieting, exercise - and then research the subject extensively. I spend hours and hours reading forums, blogs and books. Then I spend more hours creating a game plan. Then I tackle the project. When I reach "maintenance" stage, I move on to the next project.

So, I figure the best way to combat some of my stress and depression is to tackle a new project. Hubby's suggestion: my garden.

As he so thoughtfully pointed out, my garden last year was a dismal FAIL. It definitely lacked any kind of real plan, as well as any work on my part. (In my defense, my youngest wasn't walking yet, so being outside for extended periods of time was difficult. Especially since we don't have an ounce of shade in our backyard during the daytime.)

This year, however, Little One is fully mobile. Which means she and her big sister can happily play around outside, flinging sand outside the sandbox and tossing feed to the chickens. So I have decided to follow Hubby's advice (Hey, sometimes even men get it right) and start working up a real plan for my garden.

I'm in Zone 6, bordering Zone 7. All of you seasoned gardeners will know what this means. I don't, except that it should help me find appropriate times to start planting things in the ground. I've never started plants from seeds indoors. I have no idea what I want to grow this year. And I have no idea what grows well in my zone.

This should be an interesting experiment.

So Damn Stressed

I feel overloaded with stress. Not sure what to do about it, but am about to lose my mind...

New Diet Plan

To kick-off the new year, I've started a new diet plan in an attempt to lose those last pesky 10 pounds. It's called The Primal Blueprint, and it's based on the idea that we should eat like cave(wo)men: meat, fish, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruit, and lots of fat. The basic theory is to totally eschew grains, processed foods, and anything that wasn't available before agriculture. Dairy and wine, however, are both considered "sensible indulgences." (Thank goodness, because I don't think I could successfully follow any plan that didn't include wine.)

As many of you know, processed foods are basically the only way I eat: frozen pizza, frozen french fries, chicken nuggets, bread, Doritos... you name it. If it's been handled in a factory, I probably consume it on a regular basis. Fortunately, Mark Sissan, the author of The Primal Blueprint, also suggests following this plan on an 80/20 ratio. Basically, he gives you a 20% allowance for slip-ups, especially when real life (social events, parties, etc.) get in the way. So there's a little breathing room, especially if you're turning this into a lifestyle.

Workouts are basic and cave(wo)men like: long walks/hikes, short sprints on occasion, and functional strength training like bodyweight exercises. I can get behind that.

Three days into this lifestyle and I don't feel much different, but only time will tell...

New Year's Resolutions

I find New Year's Resolutions to be trite and contrived most of the time, yet I make them every year! I can't help myself. Anyway, here are my resolutions for the upcoming year:

• Lose 10 pounds. This is a biggie for me. I know I won't feel comfortable in my own body until I drop the excess weight. Ten pounds would make me happy.

• Go to church more often. Hubby and I rarely go... it just doesn't seem to happen Sunday mornings. But I'm going to make it a serious priority in our lives.

• Make more "mom" friends. My kids need a bigger social network, so I'm going to try to expand it.

• Rebuild our food storage. We really dipped into it during the past month, plus I never had a huge stockpile to begin with. I feel a sense of urgency to stock food, so I am going to make a committed effort to do so.

• Develop some skills. As in... useful skills.

• Kick my habits. Too much wine, too little sleep, too many potatoes in my diet... all of that needs cleaned up.

• Stick to a budget. Hubby and I are, fortunately, starting the new year in the black (with the exception of our mortgage). Just barely. Our savings got completely depleted over Christmas, and I really want to build it back up. In addition, living with in our means is not only sensible, it also helps reduce stress.

Merry Christmas

Jesus is the reason for the season!

Just thought I'd share a few of my family's favorite Christmas tradition. Some are old, some are newer.

• Every holiday season I watch my two favorite Christmas movies: Die Hard and Love Actually.

• On Christmas Eve, my family goes to church. Then we come home for a light seafood supper. Dad gets shrimp and crab balls, my SIL makes soup, and I have some type of side dish. We exchange gifts with my family at this time.

• On Christmas morning, the kids open their presents. Then we dig into our traditional (from generations in my family) Christmas breakfast of oyster stew, pork tenderloin and sweet rolls. Yum!

• Christmas dinner is spent with Hubby's family, either at my MIL's house or at mine. It's the basic traditional meal: turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. Sometimes MIL makes a lasagna. Not sure why that's a tradition, though, since no one in the family is Italian.

• Christmas night is spent with some old family friends. (Meaning they've been friends of my family for a long time, not that they're geriatric!) It's a light supper of sandwiches, chips, fruit salad, cheese, crackers, etc.

Ok. So yeah... it's all about the food and fellowship for me. Christmas is ALWAYS a super busy day for me, but it's worth every busy minute.

Merry Christmas!

End of Food Storage Month

So a month of feeding my family food storage (minus essentials like milk and bread) is over. Here's what I've learned:

• My family has a month's worth of food in storage, assuming we have a way to keep all of our frozen stuff cold (either electricity or winter weather).

• My family relies heavily on convenience foods. (This is more a reflection of my poor housekeeping skills.) Frozen pizza, frozen french fries, etc. were the first foods we went through.

• I need to up my storage when it comes to spices/herbs/condiments. We ran out of pepper, parsley (I use it in almost everything), and worcestershire sauce.

• We need more chickens for winter month production. They really slow down their laying once the days get shorter. We got four eggs per day during the summer, but now we're only getting 1-2.

• We need to try root cellaring potatoes. We ran out of them pretty quickly, and they're a staple around here. Next year I'm going to grow them in the garden and attempt to root cellar the surplus.

All in all, it was pretty painless. It might have been a lot different if we hadn't had freezer stock to use. In that case, we would have been relying on canned meats and canned veggies, both of which aren't commonly eaten in my household.

The Contents of My Freezer

Since I've been trying to feed my family from the food only in my house, I thought it might be worthy to note the foods in my freezer. Hubby and I pretty much grab something from the freezer almost every day to prepare our meals.

• Roasting Chickens
• Ground Beef
• Beef Roasts
• Hamburger Patties
• Hotdogs
• Fish of various types
• Bread
• Hamburger and Hotdog Rolls
• Dinner Rolls
• Cheeses of various types
• Butter
• Frozen Vegetables (peas, green beans, mixed veggies, stir-fry veggies, corn, broccoli, etc.)
• Homemade Tomato Sauces (pizza and spaghetti)
• Chicken Stock

Typically my freezer also contains a variety of convenience foods: frozen pizzas, some frozen dinners, frozen pre-made appetizer foods (for impromptu guests), frozen pie crust. I also usually have some frozen leftovers (like half a lasagna or a small casserole). But most of that is gone by now.

Quick Update

Due to a death in the family, I haven't been blogging. Things are just too chaotic right now.

But I did want to post a quick update about our food storage month, since I'm only 11 days or so from completion. (Although we'll probably continue this past Christmas.)

So far, I haven't noticed a difference in our diet at all! Granted, I have continued to purchase milk and bread. And this isn't a realistic trial if, say, there was no electricity. We've been eating from things in the freezer (meat, breads, cheeses, butter, fish, etc.) with regularity, but not in the all-at-one-time fashion that would occur if the power was out for an extended period of time.

Breakfast tends to be easy: eggs, toast, maybe some fried potatoes. We've also had pancakes, as well as quick foods like cereal and milk.

Lunches are easy, too: chicken salad sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, maybe soup. Sometimes we eat our dinner leftovers for lunch. And, twice a week, my dad takes me and the kids out to lunch. Hubby typically takes dinner leftovers to work for his lunch.

Dinners are pretty much our standards: roast chicken, chicken and dumplings, steamers (aka sloppy joes), hot dogs, burgers, tacos, chicken potpie. We have been eating a bit more chicken than usual, mostly because that's what's in the freezer.

I should note that my kids are very young. The little one is still nursing, although she eats solids, too. The elder one has the appetite of a bird. She goes through phases, but typically she isn't much of an eater. Hubby and I have (I'd guess) average appetites. He's a 6-foot, 180 lb man, and I'm a 5-foot, 112 lb woman. Our calorie intake pretty much maintains our weights.

I have tapped and exhausted a few of our more convenient freezer foods, like frozen pizzas and frozen french fries. But it's no great sacrifice to live without them.

I still have plenty of the basics - like flour, sugar, crisco, Bisquick, spices, herbs, canned goods - left. I will need to restock when we get some cash in the bank, but we have an ample supply to make it through the holidays.

Frankly, it's a relief to know that I at least had a month's worth of food in the house.