Bread, Bread, Bread

I've been working real hard on a recipe from Chef Tess for sprouted wheat bread, and making slow progress. Mostly slow because if it doesn't work I have to wait 2 days to get more wheat sprouted to try again! So in the meantime, here's some pictures of bread that worked!

The standard 6 loaves of bread we make every week or so. Heck, my oven can hold 6 so I make 6 at a time. If I had a sweet double oven setup like a certain friend of mine, I'd bake 12 at a time! My kids LOVE when it's bread day because they get to help. "Is it time to punch it yet???" "Can I knead it, too?" "I want to put it in the pan!" They turn out some pretty strange shaped loaves on their own, so I usually reshape them before they hit the pan. Here's my littlest buttering the tops.

Lovely aren't they? Nothing like these big ugly hurry up dinner rolls, which tasted really pretty good, but were not at all culinary art (sorry Tess!). And no, they're not Rhodes either. ;)When I get the sprouted wheat bread to work, I'll chronicle the adventure for you all here, or you can read about it now (well, up to this point anyway) on Chef Tess' blog here.

My Food Room and I Have a Love Hate Relationship

Sorry for the trouble, but this post has moved to the new blog location.  Click here to go straight to see my food room!  Thanks!

Make Your Own Homemade Survival Bars

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Glenn Beck on Personal Preparedness

I really enjoy Glenn Beck. We see eye to eye on a lot of issues (can't say all, but a lot), and he's not afraid to speak his mind. So here's a clip from his program 2/20/09 on preparedness:



That's probably enough for most of you. Don't go crazy and panic on me here, just one more voice saying we have a right to prepare ourselves for what may come. If that's not enough for you, okay, I'll give you more. If you want to see/hear him hash over some "worst case scenarios" with a few analysts, check these links:

Worst Case Scenario 1

Worst Case Scenario 2

Worst Case Scenario 3

Enough for me for the night. :) Instructions for making your own survival food bars tomorrow . . . see y'all then!

Survival Food Bars/Food Rations Review

Ever wondered what those survival food bars taste like? Are they all the same or is one brand better tasting than the others? Well my little group of ladies decided to have a taste test and lucky you, we're sharing the results with you!

I ordered one of each 2400 calorie food bar from Emergency Essentials--Datrex, SOS, and Mainstay brands. They cost $4.95 each plus shipping, and some varieties are also available in 1200 and 3600 calorie packs. (Following picture: SOS top left, Datrex top right, Mainstay bottom.)

They are all vacuum packed in foil packaging. I didn't weigh each one, but they all were about the same weight, just different shapes. (Following picture: Mainstay left, SOS top right, Datrex bottom right--why I didn't arrange them the same in each picture, I do not know--I'll be sure and do that for my next review like this to keep my own confusion down!)Now for the part you've been waiting for. The analysis. (In the following picture Mainstay is top left, SOS bottom left and Datrex center right.)

We'll start with the Mainstay bar. It was divided into 6 pieces that were not individually wrapped. The taste was like lemon shortbread, heavy on the sugar and shortening. It had good flavor and was rated the favorite of at least 3 of us. It was not hard, but was very dry. For land applications, the instructions say to eat one bar 3 times a day, so they're counting on 2400 calories lasting you 2 days. I'm not too hip on the idea of skimping calories especially in a stressful situation, but I guess if it was all you had and you just wanted to stay alive, you could get by on that amount. Sea applications, eat 2 bars per day (guess you wouldn't be moving as much).

Next was the SOS bar. It is divided into 6 individually wrapped pieces. It was a little harder than the Mainstay bar and just as dry. Unappealing brown color, with a mild coconut flavor. Not as noticable shortening flavor on this one. This was rated the favorite of 2, really bad by 2 others, and edible by everybody else.

Third was the Datrex bar. It was divided into 12 smaller individually wrapped pieces. Brown speckled in color--we thought they might be trying to trick our minds into thinking there was actually chocolate in it. It smelled SOOOO good! Like those coconut taffy type candies in the old days . . . however, the taste was nothing like the smell. It pretty much tasted like cardboard or sawdust packed together with a little shortening--extremely mild coconut flavor so you almost couldn't taste it. Again very dry--you'd definitely need water with any of these! This was rated the least favorite flavor overall, but still edible.

The general consensus was than any of the bars are edible, none were spit-it-out-nasty. If you were in survival mode, they'd sure be handy to supplement your other food, but I wouldn't want to have only an emergency food bar available! Chances are if you have purchased an "off the rack" 72 hour kit, your "food" is primarily Survival Food Bars--you might want to supplement with some other food. :) They aren't too expensive though, if you're looking at calories/$, so you might as well toss a couple in your supplies/72 hr kits/BOB's/car kits/etc.

I have no idea how long these are good for--I'm guessing they have a pretty long shelf life due to the moisture content and packaging. There are probably other brands out there as well, if I ever get ahold of one, I'll let you know if it's any good.

Another question that was raised was if you'd actually feel full eating these or if you'd get your calories, but still be hungry. I'll have to try one for lunch one of these days and see how long it takes to get hungry again . . . I'll keep you posted! In the meantime, the real winner hands down of the taste test was Megan's No Bake Cookies (far left in the following picture)! WAAAYYY better than any of the survival bars. Thanks Megan!

Feel free to ask any questions about these that I didn't answer in this post. I'll be re-vacuum-packing these with my Foodsaver and tossing them in our emergency kits. Still have at least 2000 calories left of each after the taste test. :)

Attention Pay It Forward Posters

Hey, my pay it forward post got some response, however a few of those who commented left no way for me to contact them (of course I didn't think to specify that you needed to leave that with your comment!) So, if the following posters could shoot me an email with a shipping address (find my email link on my blogger profile page) that would be fantastic!

Tomcat
Joanna
Gen-IL Homesteader
Anna
Jmp4z7

Thanks all for your willingness to play along and help others! :)

Bottled Butter Part 2

In case any of you missed my first experience bottling butter, check it out here before reading the rest of this post. I'll wait . . .

Okay, back now? So the two main problems with bottling butter were 1-not high enough temperature to kill botulism spores, and 2-jar lids did not seal completely even though they "popped" down.

Chef Tess commented that she pressure cans her butter, and in my half scientific opinion, that would theoretically solve both problems. It would definitely get the butter hotter (hot enough for any other food to be past the fear of botulism growing), and the lids would seal securely since it was heated so long in the canner. You can your butter using the same canning time and pressure as if you were canning meat (check your canner's instructions--I can my meat 55 mins at 12 lbs). Then proceed with the shake shake shake as it cools to avoid separation.

So I called my local extension agent who told me in effect that there is no research to show that pressure canning butter works. (Which also means there is no research to show it doesn't work.) She sent me to the FAQ section of the National Center for Home Food Preservation, but it only discusses the problems with the non-pressure-canned method. The major concern is the possible extent to which the fat in the butter could protect those nasty dangerous little botulism spores which may or may not be present to begin with from cooking to death during the canning process. She told me if I want to bottle butter in the pressure canner to do it at my own risk, but she wouldn't do it and for sure wouldn't do it using the non-pressure-canning method.

So there you have it. I'm not in any real hurry to bottle more butter (I usually just keep a bunch in the freezer), but if I wanted to, I would feel pretty safe using the pressure canning method. But just in case you die from botulism tainted bottled butter, I didn't recommend it. ;)

Oh yeah, of course click COMMENTS and keep reading!

Fine Art For Firearms Fans (Including Me)

Bullet Art--Makes me wish I was out shooting something today. Enjoy!

Pay it Forward

I promise I'll get back to posting something informative here in the near future! In the meantime, I won a couple of Pay it Forward posts at The Prepared Family (wahoo!), so this post is a Pay it Forward Post. Here's the deal: The first 8 people who comment on this post will receive a little something from me. I'm thinking I might make up a batch of homemade all natural lip balm or Cajun elk jerky or maybe something else preparedness related. Maybe something like bread or cookies if you're local (they don't ship real well). I haven't decided. If you have a preference, let me know in your comment.

If you are a winner, you get to pay it forward and make a similar offer on your blog. If you don't have a blog or don't want to post it on your blog, just go do something nice for someone else, and don't worry, I won't be checking up on you! The two I participated in were for the first 3 comments and the first 5 comments, so I just put them together here to make 8 comments, but you can just do 3 or 5 or shovel snow for an elderly person or whatever you want. I'm totally flexible. :)

Help spread a little kindness this week--I'm sure you know someone who could use it!

My Blog Received an Award!

Well, the craziness never ceases! Sweet Sharla at The Mom Nerd gave my blog an award! I think it's kind of a funny looking award (not at all her fault), and apparently it doesn't have a name, so I hereby name it the Excellence in Blogcasting Award, and here it is:

This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values every day.

The rules to follow are:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person that has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to another 15 blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment. Remember to contact each of them to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Now, here's the trouble I'm having with the instructions. I don't have 15 blogs I read enough to award this to, so I'll just list as many as I want to and if you receive the award, feel free to send it on to all 15 if you have that many! So here they are in no particular order:

1) The Prepared Family (I know you already received this award, but like I said, I only haunt so many blogs and I think you deserve it twice!)

2) Scoutinlife's Homestead and Preparedness Blog

3) Keep it Simple Survival

4) Johnson Family Farm

5) Coffee with the Hermit

6) Ron's Primitive Skills

7) My sweet friend Emily at It's Stamp Time Somewhere (okay, she already received the award also, but another who deserves it twice!)

And a couple of new favorites:

8) A One Acre Homestead in Ohio

9) Chef Tess Bakeress--prepare to drool! :)

Ummm, well, I really don't have 6 more, so I guess I'm just awarding 9 (well only 7 if you don't count the folks who already received this award--Sharla and I haunt some of the same blogs). Hope you all enjoy your now named award. :)

Practically Free Egg Carton Dryer Lint Firestarters

Now I know after you read my firestarting post you wanted some of the egg carton firestarters for yourself, didn't you? Well, I'll sell you some of mine, or you can just make some of your own for almost no cost!

Here's what you'll need:

Dryer lint--any variety will do.

Egg carton--doesn't matter if it's a dozen, 18 or the "flats" as long as it's the pressed paper kind, NOT styrofoam or whatever else they might make egg cartons out of.

Wax--from old candles, crayons, or buy parafin wax at the store (although it's cheaper to buy cheapo big candles for this job--it doesn't have to be food grade wax).

A sense of adventure--just kidding, if you didn't have that already you wouldn't be here!

First, get your egg carton and collect your dryer lint by cleaning off the lint trap of your dryer. DO NOT throw it away (I actually feel bad throwing dryer lint in the trash anymore!).Next, stuff the dryer lint in the egg carton where the eggs used to be. If you don't do a lot of laundry, this may take a while to fill a carton, if you're like me and washing clothes all the time, I can fill a whole dozen with a full day's laundry. It doesn't have to be packed in tight.Now, here's the tricky part because I don't have pictures since the last time I actually did this was a few months ago even though I'm due to do it again because I have a bunch of egg cartons full of lint waiting to be waxed (total run on sentence--just like how I talk).

Set up a double boiler to melt your wax. You need a pot with water in it, and a can of some kind (I like the big V-8, tomato juice, apple juice, pineapple juice cans). Your can must be METAL and fit inside your pot of water with room to spare around it. Do not use a smaller pot that you like (or that is part of your double boiler setup) as your can--you'll be melting wax in it and will likely ruin it!

Put your wax in the can and the can in the pot of water and heat the water. The wax will melt inside the can.

When the wax is melted, scoop or pour it onto the lint in the egg carton. You'll want to put your egg carton on something that the wax can leak through onto (like waxed paper or cardboard or something you don't care about) because some of the wax will soak through the egg carton. When you're done waxing the lint, let it cool and harden and voila! Cheapo fire starters!

You can leave them all together in the shape of an egg carton and then tear them off one at a time, or tear them all apart and store them separately. They won't light with a spark, so you'll need matches or a lighter to get them burning. Throw some in your emergency kit, car kit, camping kit, whatever else kit you have that has matches in it. In our fire test, one of these little babies burned for 17 minutes and put out a good flame sufficient for even fire novices to get something burning with!

So now, what do you say to some eggs for breakfast and a day of laundry? :)

Preppers Questions--My Answers

Thanks to Melonie at The Prepared Family for this one! The questions are originally from Chris at A One Acre Homestead in Ohio and are good for some thought provocation! So, as Melonie did, I'm inviting you to play tag. If you don't want to do this, don't, I'm not going to twist your arm, but I would hope if you don't want to post your answers, you at least think about them. For those who want to join in, post your answers on your blog and then leave me a link in the comments so I can read your answers!

Basic Questions About You

1-What is the biggest goal of your lifestyle? Be as self sufficient as possible and able to help others who are not.

2-When did you start this lifestyle? At birth ;) Actually got serious about it around 1997-98 time and have had periods of great progress and slow to no progress since then.

3-What was your main motivation? My sweet family among other reasons. I never want to have to tell my kids I have nothing for them to eat. For more of my motivation, See here.

4-Did you have any previous experience in anything you're doing now? My mom did a lot of what I'm doing, but I didn't pay enough attention when I was younger, so I'm pretty much making it up as I go! :) Definitely no professional or schooling experience (I was a theater major!).

5-Does your spouse/signifiacant other (if you have one) share the same ideas? Absolutely. He was the primary motivating factor in getting going on our preparedness and self reliance.

6-Do your friends and family understand and support these choices? What about your kids? Friends and family, mostly. They don't all know or care what all I'm doing all the time, but most of them know I'm a do-it-yourself junkie. My family mostly is also--guess it's in the genes! :)

My kids are fine with it, they're pretty little, so it's just the way things are. I try to get them involved where I can--I think that helps their understanding about what everything is for and why we want to stock food and supplies. They also know if we run out of something, we can usually go to the "food room" and get more.

7-How happy are you with your achievements so far? Very, although there's always something else I want to have or learn to do, I feel pretty comfortable with where we're at.

8-Are you more of a gardener, homesteader, prepper, health concience, "green"' or a combination of several? Combination, heavier on gardener/prepper. Lighter on "green".

9-Has this change of lifestyle affected your personality? Nope, it's part of who I am at least since I entered adulthood.

10-Has it changed your view of your life before? What life before? Since I grew up in a fairly self sufficient home with a crazy mom who likes to garden/can/raise and eat chickens, rabbits, goats, etc./sew I've been around this type of living as long as I can remember.

11-What about how you view others that don't understand it or naysay? If they want to naysay, I just leave them to it. It's their choice. Most people I've encountered want to learn more about self reliant living, so with them I'm willing to share what I've learned.

12-If you could convince someone to live the way you do in ONE sentence, what would you say? To quote Ezra Taft Benson, "The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah."

Other Questions-

1-How large is your vegetable garden? Not big enough when we're harvesting, too big when we're weeding.

2-Do you grow any fruits, and what and how many? I have 6 baby fruit trees and a strawberry bed living, and grapes, raspberries, and blackberries that all died and need to be replaced.

3-Do you have any animals and what are they? (other than pets) Cat, dog, fish, and a horse. Planning on pigs this summer. We raised a lamb once, but when you're buying milk for it, they are not cost effective to raise.

4-Do you can/dehydrate/freeze/store your own produce? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. And anybody else's produce I can get my hands on.

5-Do you work with mainly power tools or hand tools in your gardens and others? (wood cutting, splitting, tiller vs. broadfork etc...) Mostly hand tools for yard work and small jobs. We've got a shop full of my husband's power tools for building/welding/etc.

6-Do you compost? I'm giving it a try.

7-Do you recycle? Some. It's pretty inconvenient around here. The nearest recycling center is at least 2 hours away. So I guess mostly I "reuse".

8-Do you consider yourself energy concious? (conserving to save $) Fairly.

9-Do you make any of your own household cleaners? A couple, but mostly not. Look here! Another area to learn more about! :)

10-Do you make your own bread? Yep. Way better than store bread.

11- If in an emergency situation, are you able to not leave home for a week? How about a month? A year?? Absolutely on the week. If all my utilities were working a month or year would be fine also. Fuel is my major problem with going a year--heating the house and cooking fuel.

12-Are you tired of answering questions yet? Nope. If I get tired, I'll take a break and come back and you'll never know I left.

13-If you prep, what do you consider to be your most useful tool/items- Food, firearms, fuel, tools.

14-Are you able to heat your home without gas or fuel oil? Not yet, but we're working on it.

15-Are you able to cook without gas or electricity? Yep on our camp stove, barbeque, fire pit. Not indoors though.

16-Again, if in an emercency situation, could you live in the wild or out of a tent? ( camping,hunt/fish, cook,etc.) Not comfortably, but we'd get by.

17-Have you ever practiced your prep skills? (turning off main power for a day or 2) How did you do? (this can include a power outage due to weather as a test) Not on purpose, although I'd like to. We practice when we go camping and when the power is out. Still the same problems--heating the house and eventually cooking although we have a gas range, so we can still light it when the power is out, just not if the gas is out.

18-Do you have the knowledge & skills (plus tools) to hunt and fish for food? Definitely fish, working on hunting.

19-If you don't prep, why not?

20-Do you or can you sew your own clothes and make your own bedding? I can sew almost anything unless it's a button on my husband's shirt ;) . Mostly right now clothes are less expensive to buy already made than to buy fabric and notions and make them. But I can if I need to, and can definitely make repairs and alterations.

21-Can you field dress a deer, drink a coffee, smoke a cigarette, make a cell phone call, light a fire, AND answer all of my annoying questions at the same time? lol thanks for playing!
I don't smoke, drink coffee, or have a cell phone, so I'm down to lighting a fire and field dressing a deer while answering questions, which I guess I could do, it just wouldn't be pretty to watch!

Mitten Winner!

First, thank you all for the wonderful comments! There were some really good suggestions for getting out in the winter (and some for staying in!). Using the magic of Random.org, we have a winner in the mitten giveaway!

Comment number 10 was from Krystal who said:

I follow your blog!!

Congratulations Krystal! I'll be sending you an email to get your shipping address and which mittens or gloves you would like sent! And for any others still interested in the mittens or gloves, I have every size and color I have left this season listed on ebay here. And still on sale :)

Thanks again for all your wonderful comments and ideas!

Sprouted Wheat Experiment

I had heard from a very reputable source in the food storage community that if you stored your wheat/beans/seeds in cans or buckets and used the oxygen absorber packets it would kill the germination ability of the seed and make it so it would not sprout. Well, knowing how important it is to be able to sprout my food for nutrition, I've had some specially packed without the oxygen absorbers (oxy packs). Well, a post over at M.D. Creekmore's Survivalist Blog got me thinking about this information and I thought I'd better test it out. So here's the experiment, plus the basics on sprouting wheat since I haven't covered that on this blog yet.

The Wheat I used was white wheat. One batch has been stored in an orange tupperware for who knows how long. The second batch was packed in a mylar bag in 2002 with an oxygen absorber packet.

I put one cup of each wheat in a bowl and labeled them "plain" and "oxypacked". Covered the wheat at least double with cool water and let it soak. I started around noon on Wednesday. The seeds should soak "overnight". So if you start it before bed, you can move on to the next step in the morning, but if you start in the morning, they're done soaking by then end of the day.That evening, I drained the water off, rinsed the wheat and put it in sprouting trays. There are lots of containers you could use to sprout wheat, I just happen to like these trays better than using a jar or something like that. The seeds need to get air or they'll mold, but not too much air or they'll dry out.Then I put the lids on the trays and put them in a dark cupboard.I rinsed and drained the wheat in the trays again the next morning (Thursday), and returned them to the cupboard. By that evening, the wheat was already sprouting (the tray on the left has already had a handful taken out for tasting).

Here's the plain wheat at the end of approx. 36 hours:And the Oxy packed wheat at the same time:The little white things at the ends of the wheat are the beginnings of the sprouts. Both trays of wheat were sprouting. You could stop here and eat them, but I like my sprouts just a little longer so I rinsed them again and put them back in the cupboard for the night. Late this morning (Friday) I pulled them out and here's what I have. Plain wheat after about 48 hours (including soaking time):Oxygen packed wheat after approx. 48 hours (including soaking time):Now, it appears that the oxygen packed wheat actually is sprouting better than the tupperware stored wheat, most likely due to freshness. I do not recommend storing wheat in tupperware for any long period of time as it is not airtight, I just figured I'd use what was sitting around in my storage room open first for this experiment.

So the "advice" from an expert was proved incorrect. Kind of like the butter! Guess you really have to test stuff out for yourself sometimes!

For reference, 1 cup of dry wheat berries yielded 1 3/4 + cups sprouted wheat.

Come on Baby Light My Fire

Are you singing my title yet? ;)

Yesterday morning we played with fire. Yep, matches, lighters, flint and steel, magnesium/steel, battery and steel wool, whatever fire we could find or make.

Here's my disclaimer again: I'm no expert here, but I love a "scientific" study and hands on testing, so we put some firestarting methods to the test. There is a lot of information around on making your own firestarters and what to have in your fire making supplies, and since I only want to carry what works I thought I'd do a little testing. Here's a few of the items along for the experiment: Road flare (sorry, we didn't light this one), 9 volt battery and steel wool, 3 different lighters, matches, flint and steel + char cloth, a fireplace log (didn't light that either since I know they burn), hand sanitizer, firestarter made from rolled up cardboard dipped in wax, dryer lint, cotton balls, firestarter made with dryer lint + wax + egg carton, and a magnesium and steel firestarter. We found a safe place in the dirt to make our fires and got started.

First we put the lighter to the egg carton firestarter. These firestarters will not light with a spark, they need a flame of some sort. This put out a BIG flame. About a minute into it burning we started the cardboard/wax firestarter on fire. Again, needed a flame to start it.The cardboard roll put off a smaller flame, but still respectable, and if you're good at starting fires you could get one going with this little firestarter. It burned for about 8 minutes. (Note the egg carton is still burning next to it.) However, the cardboard roll was a bit of a hassle to make compared to the egg carton, so I don't think I'll be making any more of those.After the cardboard roll burned out, we lit a chunk of dryer lint on fire. This was standard, run of the mill, dryer lint, right out of my dryer that morning. Again, we used a flame to light it, I'm not sure if it would light with a spark, but don't think it would be too easy to get it going that way. It burned, but hardly put out any flame (just kind of turned black a little at a time) and about 1 1/2 cubic inches of dryer lint burned just less than a minute. Egg carton still burning. Next we got out a cotton ball--100% cotton, jumbo size. I'm assuming this would be a similar burn to 100% cotton dryer lint. The cotton ball burned just over a minute and put out very slightly more flame than the dryer lint. Still not much to get a fire going without some real fire making skills (which I don't have). Notice the egg carton firestarter still has a flame--that thing burned for approx 17 minutes! Then we thought we'd try Hand sanitizer on a ball of lint. It has high alcohol content so we thought it might light, but the lint just burned around it. Chunk of dryer lint with a dollop of hand sanitizer on it:Same chunk burning right around the hand sanitizer goo:Next we tested out the very common Magnesium/steel firestarters found in basic survival kits. I shaved the magnesium onto a piece of newspaper and I probably needed more of it. Then sparked the "steel" side with my pocket knife. The sparks stayed frustratingly close to the blade of my knife, not dropping to the paper even though I was striking right on top of it. Finally got a spark to land on the paper and it almost caught the newspaper on fire, but not quite. Enough of that.

Then I demonstrated the real old fashioned Flint and steel + char cloth and caught a pile of shredded hemp rope on fire. It burns quick, though, so you'd have to have the rest of your fire built and waiting for the ball of rope flame when it lit. I've seen other "nest" material used with flint & steel like shredded juniper bark. Anyone have any good experience here? I'm a bit of a novice.

A 9 volt Battery and steel wool burned, but it does not produce a flame, so would need a "nest" to get a flame plus the fire area prepped and ready as well. I'll have to take flint/steel pictures another time. So by then we were getting hungry (especially the little people) so I put one of the egg carton lighters on top of the newspaper that was left from the mag/steel experiment and lit it on fire. Many thanks to Sharla, Rexanne, and Megan for keeping the fire going! (I really like to have a fire NOW, so tend to rush the application of larger pieces of wood.)A quick note on the clicky lighters--they do not like to work at high altitudes. We've found a couple of lighters that light at high altitudes (one is a Coleman Adventurer I think--it is made specifically for high altitude lighting), but most are frustratingly unreliable. Just use matches if you're going up above about 8,000 feet. After all that, we cooked ourselves and the kids some hot dogs over our very own fire. Here it is--nastiness on a bun:

What fire starting methods work for you?

Outdoor Gear and a Giveaway

GIVEAWAY CLOSED. Read on anyway . . . :)

Well, the silly groundhog said this morning there would be 6 more weeks of winter. We're actually in a little warm spell here, but I know other places in the country and around the world are still in the deep of winter, so today I'm sharing some thoughts on winter gear and having my first ever giveaway!

I'm super frugal, but one area I've found that it doesn't pay to cut corners on is outdoor gear--especially for the kids. Sure, I can get snowpants at Walmart for cheap, but they are leaking through, getting my kids wet, and torn before the end of one winter! Same with cheap boots and mittens/gloves. I will absolutely spend a little extra and get quality outdoor gear for my kids. I want my kids to enjoy being outdoors, even in the winter, and you all know that when the kids get wet and cold, the snow fun is over, and they'll likely end up with pneumonia or something (=a trip to the doctor=$$$) from the whole experience.

SO, we've been weeding out the cheapo snow gear and getting high end gear for our kids for the last few years. It's actually ended up costing LESS because I can get a used pair of Columbia or similar brand snow pants on ebay (or a thrift store/yard sale if you have good ones around you) for half the cost of new and only a little more than the walmart pants, but they last 3 years or more--as long as they fit (my kids don't grow very fast) AND are still good to pass down to the next kid. I've had the same experience with quality snow boots (Kamik, Sorel, Columbia). They hold up, keep the kids feet warm and dry, and can be found used for only slightly more than a new pair of cheapo boots that leak and don't last through the winter.

And now to plug one of my favorite winter products--L-Bow Mittens. If you have not used these mittens, you have to give them a try! My girls are wearing theirs in the photo at the top. Developed my a Minnesota mom, these mittens are waterproof (really!) and built with an attached gaiter that fits over the coat sleeves (or under like my littlest likes to wear hers). How many times do you have to tuck your kid's mittens back in their coat sleeves because the snow is getting in their wrists? And at the end of the snowman, they're crying for hot cocoa because their fingers are wet and freezing! Well, no more of that with these fantastic mittens.They are lined with Thinsulate insulation and the line I have are BREATHABLE as well as WATERPROOF. This means the kids' sweat can get out but the water can't get in! Amazing--warm, dry hands for all your snow activities!

Another great thing about these mittens is the universal thumb (not on gloves). The thumb is a large pocket and right in the middle, so either hand can use either mitten. I thought this would make them hard to use, but my kids have had no problem building snowmen, snowforts, snowballs, snowangels, etc. in them. AND it makes them easy to get on because you about can't miss the thumb hole!For the bigger kids, L-Bow Mittens also makes L-Bow Gloves. Hooray--fingers!

Now, after all that, here's the giveaway. I'm giving one lucky winner a pair of L-Bow Mittens or Gloves! Yep, warmth and snow fun for your little one from me! The winner can choose boy (black/blue as pictured) or girl (red/navy as pictured) plus specify the size: Small (2-4), Medium (girls 4-6, boys 4-7), or Large (girls 7-14, boys 8-12). The small size is mittens, medium or large are gloves. If you don't want to wait to win, you can visit my eBay store here or by visiting the link on my sidebar and buy some now--I even have them on sale this week!

Here's how to enter: Leave me a comment on this post telling me what you like to do outside in the winter. Easy, right? Please make sure I have a way to contact you in case you win!

If you want to follow my blog, subscribe by email (both on the sidebar), post on your blog about this giveaway, whatever else, you can get an extra entry for each one, just leave a separate comment for each thing you do. You can also get an extra entry if you join the NRA through my link or are already a member!

The giveaway is open to anyone US, international, military, etc. and will end Sunday Feb. 8th at 11:59 pm. I'll choose a winner using Random.org next Monday morning. International winners will be responsible for any duties/taxes/fees related to receiving the package. Happy 6 more weeks of winter! :)