Living Life in Rural Iowa

I am often asked how I get things done. I know I am a single mother with busy kids so that means I have to get things done. Of course, I enlist my kids into helping because, most of the time, it is their mess. At the end of the day, though, most of the work falls on me to keep the house running smoothly and to get things done. I often don't feel like doing anything. Morning is my best time to get things done because I am tired at night after being at work most of the day. When I get home, I don't want to do anything including cooking. I often have prepping and homesteading tasks to accomplish. I have blogging to do. I have an Ebay store that needs daily attention.  I have things to do!  Crazy, right? This is how I get things done: I choose an area and get five things done in that area.  I will grab a piece of scratch paper or use my  Any.DO app  on my phone and make a list of five things I want to get done. I often will have a list for the morning and one for the

One day this last Spring, I saw sweet potato slips at the local greenhouse. I wanted them. I love sweet potatoes and thought it would be a great addition to my winter food supply. However, I have planted sweet potatoes before. They looked like they did really well until I went to dig them and couldn't find them. I found a never ending system of roots, but no tubers. I wasn't a happy camper. Then I heard about planting sweet potatoes in barrels or tubs. Hmmm...that could work for me. I have plenty of twenty-five gallon feed tubs that I had gotten for free.  Where did I find this information that I could plant sweet potatoes in a tub? You guessed it: YouTube. I watch/listen to a lot of YouTube and that is where I go for how to do things when I need a visual (which is most of the time).  On YouTube, I typed in "growing sweet potatoes in containers" in the search box and got several results. I watched most of them. Here is some of the more notable ones: https

Money is necessary. It is not evil and it is not good, but it keeps gas in your car, heat in your home, and clothes on your back. Most people need to have money for one reason or another. We would all like to believe that we don't need money, but we would be lying to ourselves.  However, money is not the problem. The way you use money can be a problem.  Many people rely on credit cards, floating checks, and not paying bills to pay for groceries. I know all about these tricks because I have been guilty of doing all three at one time or another. Most people have done that or worse.  In fact, my budget went bust in September due to a high rise in school expenses. I did not have that much money budgeted for school expenses (budgeted $100, actual cost $250). In addition to higher school cost in August (budgeted $125, actual $225). These were not my kids' faults and the expenses needed to be paid. High school is a little more expensive at this school. However, it didn't

Some people are single parents right away. Some people become single parents after being married for a while then becoming divorced or widowed. Either way you become a single parent, you have to make big adjustments.  You need certain things in your single parent arsenal to be a better one. Because, let's face it, being one isn't easy. Some days go really well. Some days go really bad. An unexpected bill, a misbehaving child, a broken washer, or that phone call from the school can just make you want to pull the covers over your head!  After being a single parent for almost ten years, these ten things are completely necessary for me to survive and thrive as a single parent. I am not offering these ten pieces of advice out of arrogance. I have learned all ten of these things the hard way which is how I learn most of the time.  10 Things A Single Parent Needs 1. A way to keep your sanity in a healthy way. Develop some hobbies. Get some exercise. Find something that c

In junction with my once a month shopping trip to the grocery store, I needed to work out a month of meals to make. This was actually pretty easy for me because we have a lot of the same meals from month to month. I usually try 2-3 new meals a month as well, but I don't always get it done. From October 8th, when we went grocery shopping, this what I have made so far: Thursday: Frugal Refrigerator Clean-out Frittata Friday: Slow Cooker Roast Chicken with Rice and Peas I put the carcass of the chicken back into the slow cooker, filled it with water, added 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, and left it on low to cook all weekend. Saturday: Breakfast and Lunch were find your own or leftovers. Paige and I were at State Marching Band Contest. Supper was Chicken Broccoli Casserole using chicken leftover from Friday's meal and broth from the slow cooker. Sunday: Baked Oatmeal for breakfast, Chicken and Noodles for lunch using chicken from Friday night and broth from the

So when you have a lot of eggs that need to be used up, some vegetables in the fridge that needs to be used up, and need a quick meal, what do you do? You make Fritatta! I love frittata. I love saying the word frittata. So much fun! Below is a couple days worth of eggs. While I sell them or send home with the college kids some of the extras, we still have to step up and eat them. One of my favorite ways is Frugal Refrigerator Clean-out Frittata . How to make it you ask? Ingredients: 8-12 eggs 3-4 vegetables you need to use up Butter or coconut oil for sauteing vegetables 1 cup of shredded cheese salt and pepper to taste Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Crack 8-12 eggs into a bowl. I usually use about 10 eggs for the 3 of us. You can use more or less depending on how many you are feeding. You can also add a little water or milk if you want your frittata fluffier. I don't bother with that. Whisk the eggs until well blended and all th

Do you want to save money? Do you want to shop at the store less? I know I do! I used to shop only once a month for groceries and I have fallen off the wagon. Sad, but true. However, my friend Daisy at The Organic Prepper has issued a Once A Month Shopping Challenge ! She is challenging fellow bloggers and readers to only shop once a month for the next six months with a little leeway for the holidays. Check her out here to see the rules and what she has planned!  Yesterday was my grocery shopping day. I got paid on Tuesday, but was a little too busy (and lazy) to run to the store. I knew I would need some cheese, milk, meat, and produce to make through the month.  I am going to tell you all some things up front so you will know where I am in my grocery shopping and food storage as well as what challenges we have: 1. I have a very full refrigerator right now. Some of the leftovers were ignored and need to be fed to the dog. 2. We are following a more unprocessed, l

I just got done reading The Survival Savvy Family by Julie Sczerbinski. Julie is a fellow blogger that asked for others, including me, to review her book. I love her blog, Home Ready Home , and thought she would write a pretty good book. I was wrong. This book isn't just pretty good. This book is fantastic! If you want to get your family prepared and ready for survival, this book is it!  Julie covers critical survival and preparedness topics such as: Having a family emergency plan Getting an emergency kit together Getting your pantry in order and getting your food storage built up Being medically ready Being financially ready What to do away from home How to deal with power outages Whether to bug in or bug out Dealing with natural disasters Preparing for house fires What to do if your home is broken in Personal safety Getting the kids prepared and teaching them to be safe Julie also has worksheets and comprehensive checklists in her book that will he

Happy Fall everyone! I love this season too, but I don't like that winter is coming after it. It doesn't sound like we will be having a mild winter.  As a family, we are in the middle of cross country/marching band season. If Paige isn't at one of those, she is at the other. She loves both and this season in life is temporary. Since I won't let her have a school permit yet, I am driving her everywhere.  Dane hasn't started basketball yet, so we aren't running completely crazy! The girls are loving college and trying to stay healthy. A lot of colds and an ear infection have been in their apartment! My Goals For 2015 1. Clean, de-clutter, paint, re-carpet, fix ceiling,  and organize Paige's room. This room is an unorganized disaster that needs some serious help. Plus she is at that age where she is growing out of everything: clothes, toys, books, etc.  We have not done a lot up there. She has decided on colors to paint her room. We haul