This is the third book I received from Paladin Press to review. I appreciate the chance to read and review these books, I have enjoyed them immensely. This book is about survivalism on a budget. Being on a budget is a full time occupation for most of us.  With these uncertain times, it’s good to have backups, ways to get along if things go wrong. It’s ludicrous to think the government will step up and take care of us, your best bet is to be your own best advocate, take care of yourself and your family. With the knowledge gained from this book, even someone on the tightest of budgets should be able to implement many of the ideas in this book with little or no financial output.
>>Keep reading “Shoestring Survivalism – book review”

Some time back, I did a review of LaMar’s Simple Solar Homestead, a great (and inexpensive) ebook created by LaMar, the great thing about LaMar, is he is actually LIVING this lifestyle, not just spouting theory.

>>Keep reading “LaMar’s Simple Solar Homesteading videos”

Reading, learning, it’s what I enjoy doing. Before the internet, I would go to the three local libraries in my hometown, I would check out as many books as each on would allow, take them all home, read-read-read until I had gotten through all of them, then I return the books to their respective homes and start all over again. I tended to read non-fiction, I preferred them over fiction most of the time. With the exception of a few notable authors such as Stephen King, Jean M. Auel, and such…

With the advent of the internet and ebooks, I mostly read what I can get in digital format, including audiobooks. So these last couple of books I’ve read, I have held in my hand, turned pages, it was quite old-school for me. J I love it. Now, on to the book review.
>>Keep reading “Tough Times Survival Guide vol 1 – book review”

Its childishly simple Dishwashers help the environment and your pocket book compared to washing dishes by hand. Researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany found that using a dishwasher cleaned the dishes better and saved energy, time and water.

Washing dishes by hand can cost a household more than $431 in additional energy and water bills over the estimated nine-year lifetime of an Energy-Star certified dishwasher. Energy Star dishwashers use less than half as much energy as washing dishes by hand and save nearly 5,000 gallons of water a year. They can also save you more than 230 hours of personal time over the course of a year.

According to Energy Star, hand rinsing your dishes before placing them in the dishwasher can waste up to 20 gallons of water per load.
>>Keep reading “Dishwashers make eco-sense”

Remember those silly little Chia Pets? Little did we know then that those strange little seeds painted on those cheesy terracotta pots shaped like animals were actually GOOD for us… It turns out that they are, they are high in vitamins, minerals, loads of fiber and it’s a better source of omega’s than flax seeds are. This is a very good survival food.
>>Keep reading “Chia pets or survival food”

I notice all of the ready made, easy to use, premixed, God only knows what is in it foods and drinks. There probably isn’t anything wrong with it, until you begin to read the fine print on the ingredient lists. One thing I have noticed lately is all the “healthier” juice drinks and teas that are hitting the shelf at your local stores.
>>Keep reading “DIY drink mix”

Retained Heat CookingHave you heard about hot box, hay box or cook box cooking? It’s the new-old way to cook that saves energy, improves flavor and increases the nutrition in your food, and frees up your time. All you do is heat up your food to boiling then retain that heat by insulating the hot pot of food until the cooking process is completed.
>>Keep reading “The new-old way to cook / book review / video”

Sabo – will work for food Jenny Sabo is a hard scrabble farmer and an eco-pioneer.  She believes soil health and sustainable farming is a national issue. She started Women of the Dirt , a group of farm-women across southwest Montana who share information on …
>>Keep reading “Women of the dirt”

Country Store where I work I know I haven’t written anything in a while, I have excuses though! ;) I’ve been sick, the gov is harassing me, my garden is calling… Well, they are all true, I’ll explain more in a future message, in the mean time, here is something fun I found on another blog and thought I’d post it here.
>>Keep reading “More things you might not know about me”