Living Life in Rural Iowa

Anytime is a good time to start prepping. Yesterday is always a better time, but starting now is better than waiting until the actual SHTF happens. And a lot of events are going on right now.  Winter is here. The East really knows winter is here now. I had a few friends post pictures of the almost empty grocery shelves. The snow fall made getting around difficult. And despite warnings to stay home and get ready, many people were caught in Snow Storm Jonas. Stock markets around the world are really taking a dive. That is even happening in the United States. Please don't fool yourselves. We have big financial problems coming on the horizon that are not fixable.  We have foreign problems by the loads. Iran is a huge worry. The Middle East is always a worry. Russia doesn't hesitate to let you know how they feel. Our president is not very well adept in dealing with any of this. One wrong move in the next year could send us into a world war.  We have many potential natural

Things to know about me: 1. I am not a fancy cook. Not at all. I could be if I wanted to, but I really like making uncomplicated things. This sandwich is one of them. 2. I will eat cold sandwiches, but I really, really like hot sandwiches with crusty or toasted bread. I make these Egg and Spinach Open Faced Sandwiches for breakfast or lunch. I like them that much and I will eat breakfast at any meal. Also, this is a good way to get in your greens! Gather your ingredients. Since I was making this for lunch I used 3 eggs. Sometimes I only use 2 eggs. I stuffed a sandwich sized baggie full of spinach. I also used 2 pieces of bread, but I have also been known to use leftover baked potatoes instead of bread. I also used a liberal amount of butter and some salt, but you can also use coconut oil and whatever seasoning you love. Start by getting your skillet hot and add butter to melt. Drop your 2 slices of bread in the toaster. Add your spinach to the skillet. Put

Ahhh...winter. Love it or hate it, winter happens every year. Some of you have much milder winters than we do in Iowa and can still garden year-round. That is not happening here! I can barely see where my garden should be at! I don't know about you all, but I lose hope Spring is coming when Winter is here. Winter is just so cold and so harsh. We have had it easy this winter until January came. January brought some really cold temperatures, more snow, and the bone-chilling wind (that I wasn't missing!).  Lacking in motivation lately, I decided to put together a list of thirty things you can do around the homestead! Even though the temperatures are hovering around zero with a foot of snow on the ground there is plenty to do! 30 Things You Can Do On Your Winter Homestead: 1. Search Craigslist and Facebook Sale Sites for heaters. Buy one that actually suits your needs. It is really hard to work in a barn with no heat! 2. Put an extra layer of bedding down in the chicke

Welcome to The Lifestack Storage Containers Giveaway! These containers are really wonderful. They stack well and give you more room for your preps. You can hold water, sugar, flour, salt, and other bulk items in these handy containers.  Apartment Prepper did a wonderful review on The Lifestack Storage Containers that I want you to check out:  http://apartmentprepper.com/lifestack-storage-containers-review/ Are you ready to enter for a chance to win?  Three lucky winners will be chosen: each winner will get a set of five LifeStack Storage containers (1-gallon size). Giveaway Terms and Conditions This Lifestack Storage Containers Giveaway is open to any resident who is 18 years of age or older who lives in one of the 48 US Contiguous States. This giveaway starts on Friday, January 8th, 2016  at 5:00 am (MDT) and ends on January 15th, 2016 at 5:00 pm (MDT). The winner will be notified by email and will have 24 hours to respond. If we do not hear back from said winne

Since my goals for 2015 pretty much didn't get accomplished, I figured I needed a new game plan. What is that game plan? 1. Break them down into more manageable and easier to accomplish tasks. 2. Print them out. Maybe make the print out fancy or more eye catching. 3. Hang my goals in several places in my home.  To be fair, my focus shifted last year especially in the last three months. The biggest change to my focus is that Rob and I are going to move in together at the end of January. I decided that meant I needed to get much more organized and declutter the whole house.  Rational thinking, right? I am still not done, but a lot of progress has been made. Much more needs to be made.  However, I still enjoyed having goals last year so I will endeavor to have goals this year. Some of my goals are the same from last year with some new ones thrown in. Some of my goals will depend on others, but I am okay with that. I seek to encourage others and hope that happens on a

You all read these posts, shared these posts, and shown this blog some love! Thank you so much! I couldn't do this without you all and I wouldn't want to! These posts were the most popular posts in 2015! Counting down from 10 to 1 in popularity, here they are: 10.  9. 8.  7.  6.  5.  4.  3. 2.  1. Thank you again and have a great 2016! Erica