... every needful thing...
I am doing this a day early because this homey won't be typing on
Thanksgiving Day :) -
I LOVE the group Diamond Rio. One of my favorite songs is "One More Day".
If you aren't familiar with it, the song is about spending JUST ONE more
day with someone you love that is gone. I would love to have just one more
day with my Oma. She is my father's mother and she was AMAZING! If I could
spend just 24 hours with her, what would I ask her? Maybe...
- Do naughty kids skip a generation - because I so wasn't like this?
- How did you live in the same small house for 60+ years?
- When my dad was driving you crazy, how did you keep from killing him?
- Did he REALLY have to walk up-hill both ways in two feet of snow to
get to school?
- How did you live on a shoestring budget?
My grandmother spent her adolescent and teenage years during the Great
Depression. I know the general history of what happened and what people had
to do to survive, but I don't know many specific stories of how they had to
live. Her family was never wealthy - did their finances change when the
Depression hit and drug on?
A friend of mine posted this link on facebook and it has some great ideas
on how people during this economic toilet flush made everything streeetch.
Many of these ideas can also relate to 1800's and early 1900's living.
http://melissaknorris.com/
Some of these insanely simple ideas are :
- Cornmeal was a staple - make cornmeal mush (2 C water to 1 C cornmeal
- boil until oatmeal consistency = done)
- Make cream of wheat - ( same as cornmeal mush, but substitute water
for milk)
- Use wild game and foraging to supplement the menu (the author has a
mushroom field guide you might want to check out)
- Soups are a great way to make food stretch (Wonder Ovens/ Cooking Bags
are a great way to save fuel and make broth at the same time)
- Biscuits and gravy are an inexpensive breakfast or dinner
- Make your own condensed soups with few ingredients (and none are
questionable like the store bought ones)
These are only a *few* of the ways people made the hard times work. They
had to know how to harvest their own animals if they needed to. Part of the
problem with living in our convenience age, is that we are disconnected
with our food. As a generation we lack the knowledge to care for and
harvest animals. I believe it is part of our responsibility as being
stewards of the Earth to have a connection with the food we eat.
Slaughterhouses do not encourage eating meat sparingly.
I am sure everyone has heard those stories (or experienced personally)
about butchering a chicken with parents or grandparents. The head is
removed with an axe and the remainder of the body runs around trying to
figure out where it's head went (you know, kind of like me on Sunday
mornings). It is messy and in effect, not very pretty, or appetizing. It
can also be traumatic for small children (or adults not used to anything of
the sort) if it is done this way.
I learned a more respectful and gentle way by watching this video. It makes
more sense to me to do it this way (do not watch this just before your
Thanksgiving dinner...let it settle first :) ).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
One of my favorite parts about learning to become more self-reliant is to
learn from those who have "been there". If you still have a family member
who is old enough to remember the Great Depression, sit down with them and
ask them what it was like. Ask them what they did to live more frugally to
make that dollar streeeetch just a little more. My sweet Oma taught me some
of what I know about spinning wool, making soap, sewing, loving music and
making what you have work after you've spruced it up a bit. She had the
funniest little laugh. If I had "One More Day" my questions would not cease
similar to a 6 year old. But, that's what I'd do if I had one...more...day.
I am doing this a day early because this homey won't be typing on
Thanksgiving Day :) -
I LOVE the group Diamond Rio. One of my favorite songs is "One More Day".
If you aren't familiar with it, the song is about spending JUST ONE more
day with someone you love that is gone. I would love to have just one more
day with my Oma. She is my father's mother and she was AMAZING! If I could
spend just 24 hours with her, what would I ask her? Maybe...
- Do naughty kids skip a generation - because I so wasn't like this?
- How did you live in the same small house for 60+ years?
- When my dad was driving you crazy, how did you keep from killing him?
- Did he REALLY have to walk up-hill both ways in two feet of snow to
get to school?
- How did you live on a shoestring budget?
My grandmother spent her adolescent and teenage years during the Great
Depression. I know the general history of what happened and what people had
to do to survive, but I don't know many specific stories of how they had to
live. Her family was never wealthy - did their finances change when the
Depression hit and drug on?
A friend of mine posted this link on facebook and it has some great ideas
on how people during this economic toilet flush made everything streeetch.
Many of these ideas can also relate to 1800's and early 1900's living.
http://melissaknorris.com/
Some of these insanely simple ideas are :
- Cornmeal was a staple - make cornmeal mush (2 C water to 1 C cornmeal
- boil until oatmeal consistency = done)
- Make cream of wheat - ( same as cornmeal mush, but substitute water
for milk)
- Use wild game and foraging to supplement the menu (the author has a
mushroom field guide you might want to check out)
- Soups are a great way to make food stretch (Wonder Ovens/ Cooking Bags
are a great way to save fuel and make broth at the same time)
- Biscuits and gravy are an inexpensive breakfast or dinner
- Make your own condensed soups with few ingredients (and none are
questionable like the store bought ones)
These are only a *few* of the ways people made the hard times work. They
had to know how to harvest their own animals if they needed to. Part of the
problem with living in our convenience age, is that we are disconnected
with our food. As a generation we lack the knowledge to care for and
harvest animals. I believe it is part of our responsibility as being
stewards of the Earth to have a connection with the food we eat.
Slaughterhouses do not encourage eating meat sparingly.
I am sure everyone has heard those stories (or experienced personally)
about butchering a chicken with parents or grandparents. The head is
removed with an axe and the remainder of the body runs around trying to
figure out where it's head went (you know, kind of like me on Sunday
mornings). It is messy and in effect, not very pretty, or appetizing. It
can also be traumatic for small children (or adults not used to anything of
the sort) if it is done this way.
I learned a more respectful and gentle way by watching this video. It makes
more sense to me to do it this way (do not watch this just before your
Thanksgiving dinner...let it settle first :) ).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
One of my favorite parts about learning to become more self-reliant is to
learn from those who have "been there". If you still have a family member
who is old enough to remember the Great Depression, sit down with them and
ask them what it was like. Ask them what they did to live more frugally to
make that dollar streeeetch just a little more. My sweet Oma taught me some
of what I know about spinning wool, making soap, sewing, loving music and
making what you have work after you've spruced it up a bit. She had the
funniest little laugh. If I had "One More Day" my questions would not cease
similar to a 6 year old. But, that's what I'd do if I had one...more...day.
