Making Flavored Coffee

Pecans- crack open, grind into fine powder.

Store crushed pecans in container...(an old coffee container works fine)
(don't you love my Art Deco period coffee canister?)

then when it it time to make the coffee, add a teaspoon or two to the coffee and enjoy!

*to store the ground pecans, I keep them in the freezer as it keeps them fresh for a long time.

Living the Simple Life Tips Part 2

This is a continuation of the previous post. Please understand that prepping or living a prepper's lifestyle is not all about hurry up and rush around like a chicken with its head cut off. Prepper's must be able to assess each situation that is cast our way, and if we are too busy we may miss specific signs or cues that we need. So here are a few more tips on living the simple life.

4.
Change your menu for the next month. Make 14 recipes (or seven if you can) and repeat it twice. Stick to the menu, and use fresh or homemade as much as possible. Do not make more than you will eat, and if everyone has a smaller portion that is okay. Make notes on your measurements so you can finagle them to make more or less as you eat the meals. Perhaps it was not Julia Childs, but someone earlier, no matter- somewhere along the way, we decided that we showed our wealth and how Cosmopolitan we were by serving so many diverse, complicated recipes. Take a break...If you still desire to dabble in diverse cuisine, then take one day a month and do what we do on the farm. I call this day: Where in the World, and I create a menu and background about the food we will be eating. Be creative! Oh and you do not need small children to do this as it is fun for all.

5
Go computer free one day a week. Actually, when trying to slow down, this is a good way, as it is very easy to get caught up in the momentum of surfing the Internet and losing track of the time. I bet you have projects all around your house that need tending to. In fact, I bet you have friends, neighbors, and family that would be surprised if you sent them a letter(snail mail) as none of us has done this one very much since e-mail!!

The whole idea of Living the Simple Life has nothing to do with living a less than American lifestyle. It means that one Living the Simple Life is prepared for the worst, but lives each day expecting the best.

p.s. This is how I live every day!

photo credit: taken by me! It is almost the direct backside of the mountain I look at each morning! Pretty amazing isn't it?

Some Things I have Learned

I have learned many things on my journey of simplicity. For example that all things in this picture are not only edible but very delicious. To be honest folks, I had no idea, as I grew up as a consumer and that the stores have all the things that we eat. Growing foods consisted of salsa gardens and quaint little beds of items common to the produce section in the grocery. I never considered growing foods to fill the pantry, or even to grow foods that will actually grow in my region.


This is one version of what I call squash stew. It has become nearly a daily staple as we have an abundance of these items and oh are they so yummy. If we adjust our diets to the foods we grow on our farms or homesteads or even apartments, our health would improve dramatically.*



I have learned how to bake all kinds of breads, rolls, and pastries from scratch. Oh and they taste good too! In this learning I discovered that the preservatives that go into the breads are pretty toxic. The lower the price of the bread seems to be the measure of the more preservatives that are in it. Think obesity as preserving the breads to last on the shelf= may then preserve the pounds on people.**

I have learned that I do not take a vacation, as I can sit on my front porch in the morn and witness breathtaking views, and on the back porch I can close the day with another mural. The difference in my life has been perspective. How could I have missed the sunrises and sunsets before? Were they as magnificent as they are in New Mexico? I have to be honest with you all, I do not know because I was busy keeping up with what I could buy, spend and do to be one of the Jones'.

I have learned that a clothesline, three five gallon buckets, a mop bucket, and a washboard is all one needs to do the laundry for the family. Oh and I do not have to buy detergents that provide that fresh outdoors-sunshine scent- duh, I have it for free!

I have reflected much more upon this flag and what it means to me. I have learned that I want to have the freedoms that generations before me have had. I want to be able to make do, make my own, grow my own, and take care of my own, without the government interference. I love this land. Sadly I feel as though I am witnessing the wind up of my nation as we have known it. Therefore my learning on this farm, has made all the difference, as I am ready for anything. I cannot imagine what will happen, but I know I will be able to roll up my sleeves, to work through whatever I need to.

I have learned to save containers, to reuse instead of buying Tupperware etc. I have learned to preserve foods in ways that use no utilities, require nothing but what I have on hand and turn out not so perfectly looking, but are tasty and will hold me through the winter and years to come.

I have learned to rethink new. New for me, is salvaging items and re purposing them has become the new new! This is my before kitchen sink. We found it on Craigslist for free and it is from the 1950's and has a lovely white enamel style sink. It took a few coats of paint and ta-da my old run down kitchen has a new look!!

I have learned on this journey that traditional items for farming and animal pens are only traditional as of late. One does not need store bought fencing or poles to make a pen. In this picture we are building a pen with tree posts and pallets that are free at nearly every business in town.
I have learned that beauty and things to make me happy are not what comes from the store anymore. I have learned that God is awesome and He sends me happiness in His creations. Look at this lovely heart pattern on our newest ram Obed.

Here is another tree pole to hold fencing. Yes, we do have fencing here and there...as sometimes we do have to buy new. I want to express to my readers that the savings listed above allows us to buy a bit when needed.

To live a simple life one needs to understand that it is hard. I will be honest with that. But it is rewarding and it is wholesome. Entertainment, money, foods, shelter, friends, love, and even clothing takes on a new image and thought process. Many times what is current or hip or what is going on in the world does not line up with our simple life, and we are slowly coming to terms with that(we are normal after all). We fall in bed each night tired yet fulfilled.

So my question is this: what have you done to prepare? Are you ready to live on less? What about on no utilities? What happens if your house burns to the ground? Prepping is more than thinking that the government is rogue...even though it may be. Prepping is thinking alot about who you are and how you will adapt to any scenario.
Think about that while you go through today.
(c) Double Nickel Farm
Jennifer

* I am not a doctor, so kehp in mind that one needs to live a balanced lifestyle to encompass exercise, water intake, and monitoring of any current diseases and or medical issues.
** I am not a scientist, just one who began to wondering how obesity has taken hold of children as young as 2...what is in the foods that could cause this?