One more passed, one doing remarkable... cake mixes and brownies..

We lost the littlest runt during the night, but the little red piglet with the bite mark on him is doing remarkable well.  He is up and eating like a pig, pun intended.  The three bigger piglets are doing great and no longer want to be held when they are eating, they are pigs after all and want to stand.  I am going to give them a pan of milk and baby cereal today I think they may be reading to go on their own as far as eating.  The last little runt is still hanging in there and making strides so their is hope she will live.  I am going to be getting a half wattle and have Berkshire piglet from my crazy lady in Polson to raise up as a second momma.  We will be well and truly only heritage pigs then, so maybe there will be a blessing besides just ham and bacon in the end.  I know that that sounds cruel to not even seemingly pause at the butchering of a well loved animal, but the reality is that she is a part of our little farm and had a job to do as part of the farm.  Her job was to breed babies, suckle them and raise them up to be sold for weaner piglets.  She failed at her job, which is what payed for her food.  She can't be trusted now to do her job and we can't justify a 800 hundred pound pet, that eats a lot of food.  She now has one job left, to feed our family with the almost 600 lbs of meat she will become.  That is the reality of having a little farm, nothing wasted all to its own purpose and need.

Today I am excited I am going to make homemade cake and brownie mixes.  I am going to try and move the upright freezer into the kitchen, so I can have handy access to my berries, veggies and mixes.  I am excited I have been looking through recipes and came upon ones I think I will really like.  I have cake mix, brownie mix and baking mix recipes.  I am thinking it will be a tremendous savings, money and time.  I like mixes but they are costly and I am not sure I want all the "extra" junk in my food that the store mixes provide, plus they are expensive in comparison.  The sites I visited showed the making them was a cost savings of almost 500%, which is wonderful.  I am making the mixes because it is a time saving and the littles can still make the mixes without a lot of supervision which they sort of have to have if they are mixing all the ingredients together themselves, which they don't have to have with a mix.  Imagine, 40 cents compared to two dollars for a cake or brownie mix.  The baking mix will be whole wheat and flax, not white flour, and I can add my sourdough to it to mix it up, how much better that will be.  I am putting them in the freezer to keep the grated butter in them fresh and most likely the flours will like the freezer as well.  Win win.  We are slowly becoming more and more grocery store free, between home canned, frozen, meat from the farm and BBFC all good things.  This will be the first year I don't buy any canned cases from the store, yeah, I am so glad I have gotten to that point in my working to sustainability. 

We can't wait to get started on our garden this year and our cellar.  I may even get to grow some mushrooms this year if not for sure next year.  Poppie has gotten his plans going on putting in the cellar and more gardens around it.  I am here to tell you God is great and I am blessed that he is my redeemer and holds me in his hand.... tomorrow.