Prime Day Specials for the Homesteader

Posted on July 15, 2019 by Jennifer

It’s Amazon Prime Day I am so excited to share with you a few of the deals that I think look great! I am so excited because I just ordered some things off my wish list. Other items are things that I’m already using and love.

I love my pineapple corer/slicer. Eating and canning pineapple has never been easier. This is a different brand than the one I ordered a few months ago but it does have good ratings so I feel confident recommending it.

Buy it here on Amazon

Eeeck! I am so excited I just ordered my InstantPot as part of Amazon Prime day. I’ve had it on my want list for a long time, now I only have to wait until Thursday for it to arrive!!

Buy it on Amazon now

Are you ready to take the plunge into water bath canning? Today is a great day to pick up this Granite Ware 9-piece canning kit includes 21-quart canner, canner lid, 7-jar rack, 9-inch colander, lid wrench, funnel, tongs, jar lifter, and magnetic lid lifter.

Buy it now on Amazon

My favorite canner is also my first canner. I received my Presto as a wedding gift almost two decades ago! I have certainly gotten my money’s worth out of it! If you haven’t gotten a canner yet or are looking to upgrade, I highly recommend the 23 Quart Presto canner.

Buy it now on Amazon

When we processed chickens earlier this year, my friend Julie, had a vacuum sealer that we used to seal up the chickens. I’ve wanted to try one for quite a while to see if it was something I would use enough to justify purchasing. After using hers, I decided I definitely want to invest in a vaccuum sealer. This one has good reviews, has a built in cutter and roll bag storage. I can’t wait to try it out for myself!

Buy it on Amazon here

I hope you will benefit from some of these Amazon Prime Savings also! If you’re not a member of Prime you can always join risk free with their 30 day free trial. If you decide Prime isn’t for you, make sure to cancel prior to the 30 days so you avoid being charged.

Blessings,

Jennifer

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

Posted in Homesteading, In The Kitchen | Leave a comment

Lost and Found Berries

Posted on July 14, 2019 by Jennifer

Surely I’m not the only one who gets behind with weeds and grass in the garden. This is One of the most frustrating things for me; weeds. It happens every year. We have a wet spell or a really busy season and suddenly the grass and weeds have taken over.

Until recently, my blackberries and raspberries weren’t even visible which is really hard on them. They don’t particularly like to compete with grass and weeds.

 

Rather than trying to pull all that grass I decided to take a different approach. I’ve been chopping it off as short as I can and then heavily mulching with old hay. My hope is that my getting enough much on top I can smother out the grass and weeds while helping keep moisture available for my berries.

The blackberries seem to be doing better since I mulched around them. There’s only one problem, when the goats got out the other day they were able to find the vines easily since they weren’t hidden by grass and weeds anymore. I guess I win some and I lose some. Hopefully the vines won’t suffer too much from the goats’ browsing!

Blessings,

Jennifer

Posted in Garden, Homesteading | Leave a comment

The Heart Changer ~ Review

Posted on July 12, 2019 by Jennifer

I recently had the opportunity to read Heart Changer written by Jarm Del Boccio, Author and SchoolhouseTeachers.com teacher. This is her debut book and I’m so excited to tell you about it. With farm life and fairs, life has been busy so getting any of the kids to read an entire book has been a challenge. I decided I would read this one to preview it before it was an assigned reading this fall for Eli and Rebekah. Wow am I glad I did! It was that good.

The Heart Changer is written from the perspective of a 12 year old Israelite girl, Miriam, who is captured by the head of Haaman’s army. She is bitter and resentful, how could Jehovah allow this to happen to her?! Could she even believe in the Hebrew God? Why would He allow this to happen and what about her family were they hurt or killed? Miriam is taken back to the home of Haaman to be the maidservant for his wife, Adara.

Slowly, Miriam begins to feel her heart soften to her captors. However, just when she starts to soften her heart it seems that something would happen to bring out her bitterness again.

When Miriam overhears that her master, Naaman, has leprosy and that nothing seems to be working to cure his skin condition and that he is considering sacrificing his only daughter, this is more than Miriam can bear to think about. She insists that her God is the God of miracles and that he should go to see the prophet Elisha so see if there could be a miracle. Miriam begins to realize that perhaps she is here for such a time as this.

When Elisha tells Naaman to dip in the Jordan, Naaman couldn’t believe what he was hearing. In fact, Naaman was very resistant to washing in the dirty Jordan river. Why would the prophet insist on the Jordan river when there were much cleaner, purer waters much closer to him?

His wife begs Haaman to at least try, after all what would it hurt? Finally she was able to convince him to make the trip and at least try. Once she got Naaman conviced to try, plans were made for them to make the trip. Miriam was excited to be invited along on the trip with her captors. She could hardly even believe this was happening, would she be able to see her family or at least find out their fate?

What Did I Think?

This 112 page, historical fiction book, written for children 7-12, was a quite enjoyable read. I generally do prefer physical books, but the Kindle format that I reviewed worked out well. I downloaded the Kindle app to my phone which was quite handy. With the busyness if the summer, having the book at my fingertips anytime I had a few extra minutes proved to be quite handy.

I would certainly recommend The Heart Changer as a great read for any young person or family.

There is also a study guide that can be used alongside the book to help make the learning experience much richer.

I hope you will take the time to read the reviews from other members of the Homeschool Review Crew by clicking the link below.

The Heart Changer {Jarm Del Boccio, Author Reviews}

Blessings,

Jennifer

Posted in Faith, Homeschool Review Crew, Product Review, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Learning Dynamics ~ Review

Posted on July 10, 2019 by Jennifer

Learning to read doesn’t have to be labor intensive or time consuming. Hannah and I have gotten to experience first hand how much fun the Learning Dynamics Reading Program is over the past few weeks as we’ve reviewed this children’s reading program from Learning Dynamics.

What Does the Program Consist of?

The Lesson Manual contains all the lessons for the entire program. Each lessons takes less than 15 minutes to complete. The letter lesson introduces the individual letter and the letter’s sound to the student. With each letter there is a short story that goes along with the letter. The instructor is instructed to emphasize that specific sound all the way through the story.

The child then listens to the corresponding letter song on the music CD. After listening to the letter song, the student completes the worksheet in the student workbook. The lessons primarily have just one worksheet page where the student writes the letter and then colors the pictures that begin with that letter.

After completing the worksheet, the student again listens to the letter song. To complete the listen they work through the final check which consists of reviewing the letter and it’s sound. The student then gets to keep the letter reward.

Beginning with lesson seven, the student learns to blend the letter sounds to make words. They start reading their first book with lesson 10. By being able to start reading books so soon it really gave Hannah a lot of confidence.

Learning Dynamics has over 50 full-color reading books. The reading books are divided into four sets;

  • Set 1: Short Vowels
  • Set 2: Long Vowels
  • Set 3: Consonent Blends
  • Set 4: Diagraphs

The Letter Rewards have full color pictures and the letter to help the child remember the sound the letter make. These letter rewards are given to the student at the end of each lesson. Hannah has really enjoyed getting her letter rewards!

What Do We Think About Learning Dynmaics?

Hannah has loved working through this reading program. She has never once asked not to have to “do school,” in fact, it’s just the opposite, she begs to do it. I have found that it is so easy to use. The lessons have a consistant flow which makes it easy to know what to expect each day. I like that the lessons are only 15 minutes each which is good for a younger girl who likes to do school and get it done so she can go play. I also like that the corresponding books ensure that the student has covered the material necessary to be able to read the book. That helps eliminate frustration for the new reader.

Another thing that I really like is that everything is reusable except the student workbook which can be purchased seperately for $17.99 making it very reasonable to use with multiple kids.

Connect with Learning Dynamics on these Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/4weekstoread/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdum6PdUjxTu78qWPza6O_Q
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/4weekstoread/?hl=en

Be sure to read about the experiences other families have been having with Learning Dynamics by clicking on the banner below.

Learning Dynamics Reading Program {Learning Dynamics Reviews}

Blessings,

Jennifer

Posted in Homeschool, Homeschool Review Crew, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Can Your Very Own Gooseberry Pie Filling

Posted on July 4, 2019 by Jennifer

Gooseberries, that tart and tangy treat, lend themselves well to be turned into a pie. That wonderful combination of sweet and tart. YUMMY!

In the United States, Gooseberry season typically runs from June until August. By canning your own Gooseberry pie filling you can enjoy these tangy little fruits throughout the entire year.

Gooseberries can be found in the wild in much of the US, at Farmer’s Markets and at U-pick berry farms. They can also be purchased in bulk in some stores in the frozen fruit section.

Gather Your Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups Clear Jel
  • 7 cups Sugar
  • 3 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Nutmeg
  • 7 cups Water
  • 1/2 cup Lemon Juice
  • 7 cups washed Gooseberries (if using fresh Gooseberries you will need to destem and remove the “tails” if this hasn’t been done already.)

Note – Clear Jel is the only safe thickening agent for canning pie fillings. It can sometimes be hard to source but some places that I have found that carry it include Amish bulk food stores and through Amazon.

Let’s Get Started

If using fresh gooseberries, it is recommended that you blanch them for one minute. To blanch the berries, bring a seperate pot of water to a boil, immerse gooseberries, start timer when water begins to boil again. Drain the berries and set aside.

Frozen berries can also be thawed and used to make canned pie filling. Simply thaw them prior to use.

In a large stock pot, thoroughly mix together the Clear Jel, sugar, Cinnamon and Nutmeg with a whisk. Add the cool water and stir well.

Stirring constantly, cook the clear jel mixture over medium-high heat until the mixture begins to boil. Be sure to stir with a spoon or whisk that is fairly long as the clear jel mixture will pop some as it begins to boil. The Clear Jel mixture will become thick and transparent as it begins to bubble. At this point, add the lemon juice and boil for one more minute. Gently stir in the prepared gooseberries.

Ladle the Gooseberry pie filling into clean, prepared jars and process in water bath canner, leaving 1″ of headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars to make sure there will be a good seal. Prepare your jar lids by the manufacturer’s recommendations. Securely fasten jar lids and rings.

Process the Jars in Waterbath Canner



Be sure to start your timer when the water returns to a rolling boil after placing the jars in it. I have found that if I turn off the burner and allow the water bath canner cool some before removing the jars that I don’t have as much trouble with the pie filling venting out of the jars.

Last Step – Enjoy!

Blessings,

Jennifer

Posted in Building Your Food Storage, In The Kitchen, Preserving, Recipes | Leave a comment