 
Simple Living by Sister ChristinaSimple living isn't really simple. It takes commitment and a lot of work. However, I have found my own shortcuts and comfort in our families simple life. Simple living means not having more than you need. Our household doesn't have a TV in every room hooked up to satellite or cable. We don't acquire items we don't need, like new computers, PDA's, video games, or a closet full of shoes. We do acquire products and search for resources that help our life style. Our bed coverings are handmade quilts, the most simple being a patch quilt that is tied instead of quilted. We make as much of our own products as possible and buy bulk items. We grow a garden every year and plant our own herbs and lavender. Jams and jellies are made from the garden or from the fruits of local orchards. Canning is essential in our household as well as cheese making, sewing, cooking, clothes making, etc... The other important aspect of our family is the sharing of chores and responsibilities. Without that, it will feel more like a burden instead of a joyous way to feel God and enjoy life and the fruit that it produces. Children and Chores Our children have chores and responsibilities. One child cleans the kitchen, while the other sweeps the hardwood floor. All children help set and clear the table before and after the evening meal. The family takes turn saying grace at the dinner table. Extra is made when preparing the meal so left-over can be used for the next meal, or for someone's lunch the next day. Care-giving My husband stays home with the children since he is disabled. I work full-time in the day and in the evening, the web store. He is a great caregiver and teaches the kids many things in life, helps with school work, and takes them to the doctor. He would make a great teacher or doctor. The man is so patient and caring. I only wish to be like that. He is care free and animals take to him as do the neighborhood kids. He has already raised our bi-polar, 18 year-old who is on her way to college for nursing and has a great since of responsibility for life. She has had great working ethics since she starting working at 15. He also raised a foster child from 15 years of age to 23 now. He looks to him as a son looks to his father. He works full-time and helps to take care of the outside chores, cars, and lawn. We adopted two other children who were 9 and 4 at the time. They are both living at home, 16, and 11 today. The 16 year-old is learning disabled and my husband has great patients with her. We hope she will thrive with life as she has over the past few years. The Household As I quilt, make clothes, or wrap the packages for the next days mailing, the household is contributing because one person can not do all the work required for our "simple life." It takes the effort of everyone in the family. The kids pick tomatoes, while I start the canning or dehydrating. My 16 year-old makes the homemade cereal when we run out, which doesn't last long. We all work hard in the summer to enjoy the fruits, God has blessed us with, for the winter.
Sewing Sewing Machine  My first sewing machine was given to me by my mothers friend. It is an antique Singer, treadle machine. I fell in love with it. My husband fixed it up and I started my first quilt on it. With the direction of my good friend and partner on www.mennonitemaidens.com, Sister Lori, she began to help me over the phone and with MSN messenger on how to quilt and gave me the guidance I was seeking.
Look in the local newspaper for a used machine or at a local auction. Fabric stores often have sales as well. My second machine was given to me by a co-worker. It was his mother's machine. It to is an antique, a Bernina 740 favorit. It took me a few months waiting on repairs to be completed on this machine but it was well worth it. Bernina is a very expensive brand and this has held up nicely. Quilting  My first quilt was not square in the least bit. In fact, I think one side was 1 foot shorter. I knew I didn't make the first one right, but I was going to finish it if it killed me. I wanted to learn to quilt so bad, and went through 5 before I ever got it right. My daughters and husband were delighted to take and use them.
Purchase a book or research through the internet. www.aboutus.com have a lot of free information to learn soap making, quilting, or anything else. Follow the directions carefully and read about fabrics first. Only buy 100% cotton fabrics. Wal-Mart always has a dollar per yard sale. I buy a few bolts that I think I will use. I save a lot of money this way but I have to visit the store frequently to get a good selection. In my area, cotton fabric can run anywhere from 2.99 and up. Subscribe to your local fabric stores to acquire coupons, such as 50% off from Joann's monthly coupons/newsletter. Acquire a good book if you don't have internet access. I really like "Big book of Quick Rotary Cutter Quilts from Pam Bono Designs. It is from oxmoorhouse.com Quilting frames are big and expensive. I purchase one from a co-workers wife. She lives in an apartment and didn't have the room for one. A hoop frame is another good tool to do your quilting if room is an issue. Clothes Making My very first dress that I made took me two days to do. I didn't wash the fabric first because I was just way to excited. My husband took great care in helping sew this first piece of garment. I wore it once, washed it, it shrank, and then I had cut it up for quilts afterwards because it no longer fit. Lesson learned! Patterns can be found on sale at Joann's Fabric Stores every quarter. Patterns can also be found on ebay for a good price. Modest patterns are a little harder to find. Look for bargains on fabrics and choose 100% cotton. Pre-wash your fabrics first and iron them. My only advise is if you want to learn to sew, make your children's clothing, as well as your own, don't give up if you fail at first. I made many many mistakes as I learned, but I learned from them. You will feel a sense of accomplishment and I find it relaxing to sew. If you want something bad enough, you can always achieve it, with hard work and persistence.
Make Your Own Products Soap l learned to make soap by researching the free information off the internet. It took a long time before I had the nerve to try it. However, one day I did and it came out fine. It was like cooking and one batch made several bars. There is a drying/curing time of 4 to 6 weeks or it will be very drying to the skin. After making a few batches I learned what to add to the soap to help with oily skin or with my and my daughters eczema. I haven't bought soap in the store in about 5 years except for one time when I ran out and the drying time was up. The family said it felt slimy and to never buy store bought again. I use coconut oil (makes the lather in soap), that I buy from the internet (don't have any locally) in a 5 gallon bucket that will last me a few years. I either render my own tallowate from the lamb we purchase from a nearby farmer (we found on the Department of Agricultures homepage) or buy a gallon of lard from Food Lion. Fat is essential for soap making. In fact, fat and lye and every soap is made with a type of lye or you can't make soap. Today soaps are in fact detergent based and not actually true soap. Olive oil is also used in making our soap, but I purchase the oil from a bulk food place like B'J's or it will cost a fortune. Lavender that I grow outside is used to naturally scent the soap and it aids in oily skin. Castor oil and glycerin is added to help with eczema and to create a moisturizing bar. I only have to make soap about twice a year for a family of 6. Butter  l learned to make butter when my daughter was in elementary school. One quart of whipping cream divided into two quart jars. Shake until it foams. Refrigerate for 15 minutes and then shake some more. Rest the jar every now and then for a minute or two. The butter will form and float at the top.  Place butter in a sieve and drain milk in a bowl. This milk is actually buttermilk. (Modern "cultured" buttermilk is made by adding a starter, Streptoccocus bacterium, to milk, letting it set for 12 hours to become thick.) Add salt, refrigerate or put in a Butter Bell up to 30 days. This allows the butter to stay soft and out of the refrigerator. Cold home-made butter is very hard and will not spread.
Cheese Ahhh, to make your own cheese. This was an experience. I bought a book called "Cheese Making Made Easy." I purchased supplies from the New England Cheese Company off the internet. I bought my cheese mold and my husband made my first
Dutch cheese press. I waited the time frame for each hard cheese and my family loved the parmesan made from goat and cows milk. I purchase the goats milk from a farmer near by. Its ideal to have your dairy cow, but you can use fresh store bought milk. I learned to make soft cheeses such as mascarpone, sour cream, and so forth. Buttermilk was easy; add the cultural, bought from New England, and add it to skim milk. Wait the allotted time frame and buttermilk is born. I encourage you to experiment and try this too. Everything Else The internet is a great place to research and get recipes to create your own cleaning products, baking powder, cake flour, self rising flour, dishwasher soap, and so on. This will save money, avoid high cost of cleaning products, and is safer for the environment.
Our Pantry A Well Stocked Pantry Our pantry is kept well stocked. We commonly shop at bulk food stores like B'J's or others use Costco or, Save-A-Lot. ALDI is a bulk store and we will purchase cases of can vegetables since the cost of each can is about .29 cents each. Most non-brand named items are still made by top-brand name companies. We tried off-brand items before buying a lot. All the products we tried were good. We will typically make 3 trips a year. Two large, packed, grocery carts run us about $200.00. This is far better than spending $80.00's on a couple bags of groceries at Giant. Common items in our pantry are; 25 pounds of flour, 50 pounds of sugar, 15 pounds of rolled oats, 10 pounds of pectin, 10 pounds of brown sugar, 3 cases each of canned potatoes, green beans, butter beans, corn, peas, baked beans, mixed vegetables, cream of mushroom soup, and broth. Other items in our pantry are dry milk, dry eggs, evaporated milk, 15 pounds of peanut butter, wheat germ, gelatin for homemade marshmallow, soups, raisins, nuts, and much more. Having a stocked pantry (go-down as Sister Lori calls it) will save you from going to the grocery store more frequently and thus saving you money in the long run. It is more costly to buy smaller packed items than bulk and you spend less money on other items by not going to the grocery store.
Shortcuts Double a recipe of Amish biscuits. Cut out with a biscuit cutter, place on cookie sheet, place in freezer and when frozen, place biscuits in a zip lock bag. This will prevent biscuits from sticking together in the freezer and you don't have to spend all your time in the kitchen making homemade biscuits from scratch. I make about 30 biscuits at a time. Take the biscuit out of the freezer, on to the cookie sheet and into the oven. Buy some loaf pans and make 6 small loafs of bread every Sunday. Make sure you take the baked loaf out of the pan while cooling. This will soften the bread and you won't have the bottom of the bread wet from sitting in the pan. Wrap and freeze each loaf. Take one out of the freezer each morning for that nights meal. We use about 1 loaf a day for a family size of 6. After pulling your garlic from the garden, peel and put through a garlic press. Take wax paper and roll like a cigar the mashed garlic. Freeze and cut off slices as needed. This will save the flavor and life of your garlic and save you time in the kitchen. You can do this will ginger to, but grate it instead of a garlic press. Use water and a little bit of vinegar to wash windows. This will clean well and not give you a headache from the fumes.
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