Well-Equipped Family

Food Storage and Food Rotation

2012-02-25T11:13:00.000-08:00

Food storage and rotation is a key preparedness component to ensuring your family survives and thrives in a natural or man-made disaster. Putting in the time and energy now will be well worth it. Buying pre-built systems can be pricey; however, with a little time and skill it is relatively simple and affordable to make your own food storage and rotation system.

First, a quick note on what foods to store; we will go more in depth later.

Freeze dried foods are great long-term foods with #10 cans safely storing up to 25 years but you will generally pay a high price, putting it out of range for many families, especially large ones. A one year supply of #10 can meals will cost nearly $2,000 per person. MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) will store for over six years if kept at 80 degrees F (and longer if kept at a lower temperature), but they can be pricey as well at around $70 per case (12 meals). It would cost over $2,700 a month for our family of eight to eat two meals per day. Granted, in an emergency situation you conserve what you have and ration your food and water. However, please remember that you will also be burning more calories in this type of situation and will need to replenish your strength to function optimally.

So how does the penny-pinching family conquer this important task of food storage and rotation? Let’s consider another option. Primarily by stocking, storing and rotating those foods that you already enjoy to eat. Here is a basic run-down:

What to store:

Check your exact storage needs with this super food storage calculator!

Store bought can foods
Home-canned from garden
Grains
Water
Powdered milk
Sweeteners
Cooking catalysts

Where to store:

Spread out your stock and (at risk of sounding paranoid) don’t readily tell all your neighbors (or your younger children with loose lips:)) of your great stocks of food. When folks get desperate they do things they normally would not; keep your lips tight - protect your family.
Build a box frame for under beds for longer term storage items
Under pier and beam house (especially those with a concrete footing so it looks like a foundation house from the street)
Root cellar
55 gal barrel buried in the back yard (poor man’s root cellar)
etc, etc, etc…Be creative with your property

How to store/rotate:

When simply buying larger portions of what we already eat and enjoy, we want to ensure proper rotation so our supply stays fresh. Those items with the shortest shelf life need to be readily accessible, preferably close to the kitchen. Purchased rotation systems will cost from $60 for a single drawer rotation to over $700 for a two mega shelving system. These are great if you have the funds. If not, you can custom build one for your unique space with a little ingenuity. A simple system such as this will keep your canned foods current.

This home-grown food storage and rotation system must be built of strong/solid materials to hold the weight of the canned food. A one-inch drop in 24” of length is sufficient to get the goods rolling. A section of quarter round trim will keep the cans in place and some wood stain will finish it out unless you want to get fancy. This system can be altered for use in a cabinet, one shelf space, pantry, root cellar or under the house.

Instead of searching all over the net for food storage supplies, check out Store It Foods.com. Make your own juice. Grow your own sprouts. Do your own canning and dehydrating. Assemble your own 72 hour kit. They provide tools, tips, gear and specialty appliances to help meet your food storage, food processing, and emergency preparedness needs.

Special notes:

Boldly marking your boxes, cans, bottles, etc with the date of purchase or expiration date will help quickly ID and use the appropriate foods first.

You will want to mark the top the cans with the expiration date and type of food with a sharpie permanent marker especially if you are in a humid climate. This is a lesson we learned while living on our sailboat for many years. It can be a bit adventurous to look into your cabinet and see a bunch of shiny metal cans and have no idea what they are as all the labels are in a pile on the floor.

Consider buying a quality vacuum sealer to keep foods fresh until used.

My New Favorite Blog

2012-02-02T06:51:00.000-08:00

If you get a minute, hop on over to The Healthy Home Economist. I am absolutely loving this blog - so much great information! Thanks so much, Sarah!

$1 E-Book Sale Ends Today

2012-01-31T06:43:00.000-08:00

Today is the final day of my Denim Water Bottle Carrier E-Book sale. It's priced at only $1 - quite a bargain for a great project that will save you money and help you create personal gifts or a fun project for your child. Take a minute and check it out and please tell your friends about the sale. Thanks! :)

2012-01-25T13:09:00.000-08:00

Pets everywhere!

2012-01-10T18:29:00.000-08:00

Our family has doubled in size within a week's time. We used to have two rabbits as our only pets.

While we were away visiting family over Christmas, our friend who was keeping them called to let us know that there were three new kits. We just picked up the proud little family three days ago.

Then, a dear friend of ours is moving out of state, and she gave us her two adult rabbits and their five kits. They came to live with us two days ago.

THEN, my husband purchased a 7-month old German Shepherd so that we would have some protection when he has to work nights. She came home today.

Yes, thirteen pets. All of the rabbits are currently in our utility room since it's been cold and rainy. The dog, Bella, has been getting used to her new surroundings. She really is a sweet dog, very friendly, not sure how she'll work as a guard dog. I have yet to hear her bark. ;)

1000 Items

2012-01-08T12:28:00.000-08:00

This year, I decided to set a goal for purging stuff from our home. We live in a 2300-ish sq. foot home. That should be PLENTY of room for a family of eight, right? Well, to make it more comfortable for us, we need to do some purging and consolidating. To be well-equipped mentally, I have to have order around me. I simply cannot function well if I am surrounded by extra stuff, piles of papers, and general chaos.

If you look to the left and bottom of the blog, you'll find our 2012 Purge List. That's where I will be keeping track of the number of items we have sold or given away. Hopefully by the end of the year, our home will be much more orderly and more comfortable with this effort! :)

How do you plan on simplifying your life this year? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Real Foods E-Course

2012-01-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

Stacy, over at A Delightful Home, mentioned this e-course the other day and I knew I had to sign up. I just received the first installment: Drinks. Looks like it's going to be a good challenge for our family! :)

Thanks, Stacy!

Quote for the Week

2012-01-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

A Great Reason to Work Harder and Smarter

2012-01-06T06:42:00.000-08:00

Just found this story and wanted to share with you. Makes you want to work harder so you can do this kind of thing all the time! :)

NGJ Ministries audio download sale - this weekend only

2012-01-06T06:40:00.000-08:00

No Greater Joy Ministries is having a sale this weekend on all of their downloads. You will find the sale items here and they will be marked down to the sale price as you add them to your cart.

Our family loves Mike Pearl's teaching. Honestly, it's the best Bible teaching I've ever heard and I grew up in the church. I hope you decide to take advantage of this great offer. Just download the ones you like and burn them to CD's.

Amy Dacyczyn

2012-01-05T05:50:00.000-08:00

I'm a fan of Amy Dacyczyn. I've learned much from her book, The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I thought it fitting to post a video of her here. The book will pay for itself many, many times over if you use the tips and wisdom found in it. This book is required reading for our teenagers.

Salve Sticks

2012-01-03T09:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was making lip balm since we were running low. I didn't have quite enough calendula-infused almond oil, so I decided to use some comfrey-infused avocado oil. Turns out that the scent of the avocado oil overpowered my peppermint essential oil, so I thought I just messed up my beautiful lip balm. Well, turns out that this is still a great salve since it's got comfrey and calendula in it. So, I decided to call them Salve Sticks and keep them in our first aid kit and my purse. The kids are calling them Owie Sticks and they are the perfect size for little ones to apply to their scratches and sores. It does have beeswax in it, so it won't melt as readily in the summer heat. This means they are also perfect for the kids to tote along in their water bottle carriers on our hikes during the spring and summer.

I made the labels using Avery Design and Print Online.

You can find the tutorial here. The only difference in the recipe is that you will need 2 oz. of beeswax instead of just one. I purchase my lip balm tubes here. They're about 25 cents each. I also purchase my beeswax on Etsy. My herbs are purchased from More Than Alive. Total cost for 25 tubes of salve and a pint full of salve is less than $20. Not bad at all.

*Note: the water bottle carrier link above takes you to my sewing course e-book page on my other blog.

I ♥ Paperbackswap

2011-07-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

If you haven't used paperbackswap.com yet, you really should try it. It is an inexpensive and fun way to stock your personal library with great books. I love it! It sure beats paying more at Amazon or hunting for hours at thrift stores. It's generally cheaper than used online bookstores, too.

Sometimes I have to purchase books new or used because the waiting list at PBS for particular books is too long, but so far we've traded 248 books. Our library has been a lot of work to put together, but I'm very pleased with it and thankful for it. Of course, I'm always tweaking it. :)

Here's just a sampling of books we've received over the past few months:

for highschool:

The Grapes of Wrath

Galileo's Daughter

Six Easy Pieces

Anthology of Best Loved Poems

The Gammage Cup

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

The Old Man and the Sea

My Antonia

Character is Destiny

The Travels of Marco Polo

for the littles:

The Bear That Heard Crying

You're All My Favorites

Mud Pies and Other Recipes: A Cookbook for Dolls

Who Put the Pepper in the Pot?

Behind the Mask: A Book About Prepositions

The Ever-Living Tree

Pet of the Met

Mountain Born

on the way:

When Character Was King

Navajo Code Talkers

Journey Into Summer

Cry, the Beloved Country

Mullein Sighting

2011-06-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

Look what I spotted today! This is only the second time I have seen mullein in our area. The other time, I found a tiny, dead plant at a state park about 45 minutes from our home. But this one is alive and beautiful. It's only about 18 inches tall, but I'm hoping no one cuts it down so that I can go and harvest the seeds later in the season.

Making Herbal Salve

2011-06-07T17:05:00.000-07:00

We made some herbal salve today and it turned out great! I love making it. It's so easy and so great to use on wounds. It's safe for the kids to use as well. Here's how I did it:

Supplies:
olive oil
almond oil
avocado oil
comfrey leaf
plantain leaf
calendula flowers
clean canning jars with lids
straining material (cheesecloth or something similar)
1-ounce blocks of beeswax
optional: vitamin E oil
jar to hold the finished salve
double-boiler

To make the herbal oil:
Fill a pint or 1/2 quart jar half full with your herb of choice.
Cover the herb with your oil of choice.
Screw on the lid and set in a crock pot at low heat. Cook for 3 days.
You will need to put a towel on the bottom of your crock pot (inside), then set the jars on top of the towel, then fill the crock pot with water until the water is above the level of oil/herb mixture in the jars.

Once your three days are up, use cheese cloth or a piece of clean t-shirt material to strain off the herbs. The medicinal properties of the herbs are now infused into the oil.
Store your oil in a clean jar with a lid, and label.

We used:
comfrey leaf with avocado oil
plantain leaf with olive oil
calendula flowers with almond oil

To make the salve:
Use a double boiler to melt your 1-ounce block of beeswax.
When the beeswax is completely melted, pour in 1 cup of your infused oil. We chose to mix 1/3 cup of each of the herb/oil mixtures together.
When all of this is completely melted, you can add a few drops of vitamin E oil if you like. Then it is ready to pour into your containers. The salve will harden within about 30 minutes.

A Pleasant Surprise in our Garden

2011-05-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

Last year, I learned about the edible wild plant, purslane. In fact, I found out about this pretty "weed" from these cards. When I saw the picture, I was so disappointed because I remembered pulling tons of this "weed" out of my garden a couple of years ago. How I wished I hadn't done that!

The other day while weeding, I was so surprised to find some more purslane growing once again in our garden! I'm so happy! :) It's such a pretty little plant, and I have little ones popping up all over our garden!

Purslane is a wonderful plant to have around. Apparently, it is very high in vitamins and Omega-3 fatty acids. This plant loves the heat (check), can withstand droughts (check) and can handle poor soil (check), so I'm hopeful we'll have enough to last us the entire summer and fall.

For more information on purslane, check here, here, here and here.

Praying . . .

2011-04-28T22:49:00.000-07:00

. . . for all of the people who have lost loved ones and everything they own in the recent tornadoes. May God be with them and give them strength to endure this very trying time. He is good and He is faithful to provide for our every need.

Thank you, Lord, for . . .

2011-04-25T21:36:00.000-07:00

61. Rain
62. Transplants that are doing well in the garden
63. Little ones snoring
64. Hugs from my man
65. Pretty fabric
66. A new praise song to sing (go to Youtube and look up Dance Your Shoes Off!)
67. Smiles on my children's faces
68. Family that travels far from home to visit us
69. A new idea
70. Brilliant colors

Starting a business

2011-04-20T05:59:00.000-07:00

I haven't been to WEF in the last two months because I've been busy with a new little business. I don't have the site up to the public yet, but will soon. It's more for local folks than the masses, but I'm looking forward to it and I think it will be a blast! More to come . . .

I'm Thankful For . . .

2011-03-01T07:24:00.000-08:00

51. My oldest daughter, who turned 16 yesterday. :)
52. Family who lives close enough to visit regularly
53. A car that works great
54. Generous people
55. A day off from our regular routine
56. Lunch at a restaurant instead of at home
57. Driving through the countryside
58. Streams running
59. Trees blooming with spring flowers
60. Birds singing in the trees by the window

Time to Make some fresh GOOT

2011-02-11T10:53:00.001-08:00

Around our house, whenever there is illness coming on, I try to have fresh GOOT on hand. GOOT stands for Garlic Oil Ointment, and it is wonderful! Here's the way I make it:

3 Tbsp. chopped garlic cloves
3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. coconut oil

Throw all of this in the blender, blending for 2 minutes straight. Pour through a small sieve into a small jar with a lid.

This concoction will keep its medicinal properties for up to two weeks, but it's strongest the first hour after it's blended. We use it on our necks/glands for sore throats, on our chests for congestion and coughs, on the soles of our feet for every illness. We will rub it behind the ears for earaches and even put it on bug bites occasionally. My kids have learned from experience that garlic is a powerful medicine. They don't like the smell so much, but they don't mind using the GOOT. My baby LOVES to get a Q-tip and rub in into the soles of her own feet. :)

I learned about GOOT over at www.welltellme.com. What a blessing it has been!

Gifts

2011-01-31T10:35:00.000-08:00

Psalm 100:4 - Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

31. A warm winter day - 76 degrees yesterday!
32. Legos and creative little minds
33. Elderberry syrup/tonic - homegrown or storebought - as long as I have some
34. Tylenol
35. Garlic (can you tell we have a sick one in the house?)
36. Being able to research on the internet
37. The sick child getting a good, full night's sleep
38. Fever breaking during the night
39. My husband's job
40. His willingness to put up a six-foot fence on his days off
41. The ability to read and study
42. The willingness to read and study
43. My family's enduring love and patience with me
44. A child's pretty new haircut - for free
45. A child's willingness to help their Daddy build a fence
46. That same child's smile when we tell her that we appreciate her
47. My children's friends - they enrich their life so much
48. An hour alone to read in the quiet
49. Soap and detergent - it's so nice when things are clean
50. Folding laundry, my absolute favorite "chore" :)

Elderberry Tonic

2011-01-31T07:44:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to making my first batch of elderberry tonic yesterday. I think it turned out well, although we just started using it this morning. We'll see how we do.

Here's the recipe I used:
1/2 pound dried elderberries
1/2 c. bilberry leaf
2 quarts of water
- Cook these on low for 12 hours
- Strain and pour into container
- Add:
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. vodka
- Mix and tightly seal lid
Makes one quart.

Elderberries are an excellent remedy for the flu, and a great preventative as well. For a bit more info, check here and here.

Honey and vodka are used as preservatives. Honey also sweetens it a bit. I would have used rum, but I didn't have any on hand. I think that might work better as far as flavor goes. Vodka has quite a kick to it. As for dosage, the adults in the family will do one to two teaspoons per day as a preventative. If someone comes down with the flu, we'll double or triple that.

Right now, we have Sambucus/Sambucol for kids on hand, so the kids are doing that. I may try making some elderberry syrup for them with glycerin.

Thankfulness

2011-01-26T13:14:00.000-08:00

Today I join many other women in the pursuit of being more thankful for this life that God has graciously bestowed upon me. I am thankful, but I am not in the habit of recording it - yet. And I want to become more thankful each. and. every. day.

Ann Voskamp journals at A Holy Experience. Her writing is moving, touching, stretching. She just released her new book, A Thousand Gifts. I have not yet had the pleasure of reading it, but I hope to soon.

Each Monday and possibly other days during the week, I hope to update my list. Here are my first offerings. They are very basic, but that's where it must begin:

1. A God who loves me
2. My wonderful husband
3. My beautiful children
4. A warm home
5. Money to purchase the things we need
6. Food on the table each day
7. Clothing for all eight souls under our roof
8. Cozy blankets and a heater that works well
9. Sunshine
10. The sound of my children playing peacefully together
11. Loads of dishes to wash every day
12. Piles of laundry courtesy of the beautiful children who fill our home
13. A husband safely home from a long day and night's work
14. Chocolate
15. Each breath I take
16. Photographs
17. My dear parents
18. My sweet parents-in-law
19. My sister and brothers
20. My Grandmas
21. All of my extended family
22. My friends
23. Our homeschool co-op
24. Our church
25. AWANA
26. My Bible
27. Michael Pearl's Bible teaching materials
28. Seeds to plant
29. A reliable vehicle to haul my crew around in :)
30. Books that I enjoy reading

The Story of Jonah

2011-01-24T08:22:00.000-08:00

Too cute. Just had to share. :)

Ambassadors for Life

2011-01-24T08:19:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago, we hosted another yard sale to raise money for Water for Life. We had a beautiful day for it - the weather was mild and the sun was shining. We had seven families donate quite a bit of stuff to the project. My oldest three girls helped run the show, along with four of their friends. We always do a sleepover the night before, which they all enjoy. They actually got a whopping 6 hours of sleep this time. ;)

We made over $300 in six hours. Not too shabby. :) At the end of the sale, we separate everything out. All of the leftover clothing, shoes and household goods go to the local Benevolence House here in town or to the women's shelter in a neighboring town. Everything else is left in the driveway for the local Freecycle group to come look through. I love Freecycle - it's such fun to bless people through this group. We've been the recipients of Freecycle a few times ourselves, and God has met some of our needs through others this way.

The girls that come help always work hard. They make posters, they talk to the folks shopping, educating them about the lack of clean drinking water in third world countries, and they sort toys, fold clothes, and do anything else to keep the sale looking orderly and nice. We always have a table set up to sell drinks and homemade snacks, too. This time, two of the girls made beautiful cupcakes to sell. They actually were able to sell 30 of them at $1 each. Aren't these gorgeous! Chrysanthemum cupcakes - they sold the fastest.

If you're interested in donating to the Water for Life program or another program that Life Outreach has, please click one of the tabs at the top left of the blog. Please make time to check out all of the mission programs this organization has put together.

We've been working on this particular project for over two years now. Most of the money has come by yard sales, and we always have lots of families that donate, help with it, and pray for success. God is blessing them and we are so grateful!

More Than Alive herbs

2011-01-23T13:40:00.000-08:00

More Than Alive is a wonderful herb company located in the great state of Tennessee. They supply their customers with wonderful products - not just herbs, but books, water filters, bulk foods, coffee, essential oils . . . quality products for families who desire to take care of their health naturally.

I absolutely LOVE More Than Alive. I have ordered from them several times now and I have been so pleased with their herbs. Everything is always packaged so well and their shipping is really quick and very reasonably priced. Their site is beautiful and easy to navigate. They have recipes, helpful tips, and a variety of articles to further your own knowledge of herbs. I have emailed their customer service a few times with questions about herbs, and they have always been so kind in answering my questions.

Below is a picture of just a few of the herbs I recently ordered. I know you can't see very well in the picture, but to the right of the weight, there in light green print it says *PLUS SOME!*, and they mean it! They really do put in a bit more than you ordered. Is that amazing or what?!

Below is a picture of the tooth powder we are currently using. After researching, I found a few herbs that would be great to use as a tooth powder. It was heavy on my heart to stop using the store-bought toothpastes, so this is what we're experimenting with right now. So far, everyone is doing well with it. :)

I use my Magic Bullet blender to break up my cloves, and then I add my peppermint, oatstraw, nettle leaf, and horsetail and blend until mixed well. I don't make a lot at once because the cloves lose their medicinal properties fairly quickly once they are powdered.

Here's another project my girls and I just completed. We made lip balm for their youth group friends, and we also gave some to family members for Christmas. We used calendula oil for these, made from calendula we ordered awhile back.

This is a super easy project. I'll try to post a tutorial next time we do this. All you need is beeswax, calendula oil, an edible essential oil or flavor oil (we used peppermint), vitamin E oil and the containers.

I ordered plantain and comfrey from More Than Alive this fall for my herb class that I taught. This is the salve kit the children received:

And here is an example of the salve that they ended up with after they completed their project at home.

I so appreciate this company. If you have a chance, visit their site. If you do visit through this link and make a purchase, I will be awarded an affiliate's fee.

Books for Sale

2011-01-23T13:23:00.001-08:00

I have some books for sale. If you are interested, please comment and leave your email.(I'm moderating comments, so these won't be posted to the site.)

Religious fiction:

A White Stone by Jim and Merry Corbett - $3

Christy by Catherine Marshall, 1967, HC, no DJ, nice - $3

Religious nonfiction:

~~Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America by Jeff Pollard, nice - $4~~

Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris, HC w/DJ, new - $4

To Fly Again by Gracia Burnham, HC w/DJ, new - $4

~~Jesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamed God by Mark Galli, HC w/DJ, new - $4~~

~~Saved Without a Doubt: Being Sure of Your Salvation by John MacArthur, new - $5~~

~~Standing on the Promises: A Handbook of Biblical Childrearing by Douglas Wilson, good cond. - $3~~

Homeschooling:

~~Boys and Girls Playing by J.C. Ryle, HC, nice cond. - $3~~

Barron's Painless Algebra by Lynette Long, good cond. - $3

Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready: The How-to Book That Grows With Your Child by June Oberlander, nice - $10

Crafts:

~~Quilting Your Memories by Sandy Bonsib - $5~~

The Embroiderer's Floral: Designs, Stitches and Motifs for Popular Flowers in Embroidery by Janet Haigh, like new - $3

Building our Library with Paperback Swap

2011-01-23T11:55:00.000-08:00

Our family loves Paperback Swap. I joined about 20 months ago, and I have been able to find so many great books through this site. When I look at our transaction archive, I'm amazed at the variety of books we've received. PBS has really been a blessing. There is no way we could have gotten even half of these books if we would have ordered elsewhere. Even buying used online, you still have to pay over $3 shipping most of the time. The most I've paid to ship a book with PBS is $2.70. Generally, you pay about $1.75 - $2.40 per book you mail, and if someone orders more than one book from you, it's even less than that.

When you join, you post ten books, audio cassettes or audio CD's. As soon as those ten items are posted, you automatically receive two free credits - before anyone has even requested a book from you. If you lack books to post, yard sales are a great way to find books to swap. So, you mail a book to the person who requests it from you. You order a book and get it shipped to you for free. What a deal. :)

Below is a sampling of the books we have received - a mix of books for me and books for my children:

Civil War Hospital Sketches

several Ruth Heller books

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Catching Their Talk in a Box

Drought Gardening

Walking the Bible: A Journey Through the Five Books of Moses

Early American Herb Recipes

A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23

Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel

The Well-Fed Backpacker

The Orchard: A Memoir

Mother West Wind's Children

At the Back of the North Wind

Sailing Alone Around the World

Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and With (Almost) No Money

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Pictorial Pilgrims Progress

The Butterfly Alphabet

Diary of an Early American Boy

Desert Wife

By Searching: My Journey Through Doubt into Faith

Blaze and the Forest Fire

lots of Nancy Drew books

Roxaboxen

If you're interested in joining, just use the link to the right in my sidebar. If you do, PBS will award me a credit. :) Thanks and enjoy!

Just Get 'Em Fed - free ebook

2011-01-23T11:42:00.000-08:00

I found this great site awhile back by Kelly Morris. She has got some great ideas for large families. Since we have six kiddos, I thought her offer of this free e-book, Just Get 'Em Fed, would be quite a blessing, since I'm not a very creative cook. ;)

Gutter Gardening

2011-01-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

This is a great idea, thought up by a creative gal living in Alaska. I definitely want to incorporate this into our garden plans. Our garden area is fairly small, so this looks like an ideal way to grow lettuce and other shallow rooting plants. :)

Be Your Own Doctor book giveaway

2011-01-23T08:50:00.000-08:00

I just found this new (to me) book called Be Your Own Doctor and it looks really wonderful. I'm always looking for more resources from which I can learn how to better care for my loved ones' health in natural ways. If you would be interested in entering a giveaway for the book, you can go to this link:

http://gracefulwordsblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/be-your-own-doctor-book-review-and.html

A New Location

2011-01-22T20:52:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new location of the Well-Equipped Family blog. Since my husband has been so busy with paramedic school and working full-time, we decided to move to a place more suited for me. So, until he has more time, I'll be posting things on here that are of interest to me as the homemaker of the family. It probably will not be as survival and preparedness-minded as his blog was, but I'll have great sites posted here that I have found, activities and such from our homelife, and anything else I find interesting to mention. :)