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17 Essential Pantry Items for Your Holiday Homestead

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Thinking of the essential pantry items you should have for your homestead this holiday? If you don’t have the things on this list, better start stocking up! The holidays require more than just cups of sugar and sacks of flour!

Pantry Items To Have To A Well Stocked Holiday Pantry

It’s that wonderful time of year again! The time of year where one’s focus should be on family and friends – not budgetary loose ends. So how does one balance the two? Here’s an easy trick: host the holiday festivities at your own homestead! All you really need to do to make the celebration a success is to have some key pantry items on hand.

1. Baking Flour

Baking Flour | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Baking Flour | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Flour costs cents but provides endless opportunity for loaves of bread and desserts that’ll keep your guests happy. Try different flours – and even mixing varieties – to add a gourmet touch. My favorite flours to mix are whole wheat and basic white all purpose, but I’ve mixed coconut with almond, potato, and quinoa.. the combinations are endless. Just make sure to check into the water absorbency of the flour and make any necessary adjustments. With flour, you’ll love my easy homemade biscuits!

2. Sweet Jam

Sweet Jam | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday HomesteadSweet Jam | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead
image via DIY Projects

Homemade sweet jam is the perfect addition to any breakfast, afternoon, or evening get-together. Yes, it’s pretty much perfect all the time. You can use it to flavor homemade loaves of bread or top desserts like chocolate or sponge cake.

3. Pickled Veggies

Pickled Veggies | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday HomesteadPickled Veggies | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead
image via Homesteading

Let’s face it: pickled things are always an awesome find at functions. They’re flavorful, crunchy, and easy to eat while mingling. The best part for you: pickling is super easy – but buying pre-made pickles isn’t so bad either.

4. Dry Pasta

Dry Pasta | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Dry Pasta | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Large or frequent functions call for bulk foods. Buying dry pasta and cooking for guests is incredibly affordable when you consider the menu costs. Dry pasta can be purchased in bulk, coming out to few cents to a few dollars per serving. Adding your own canned tomato sauce with a fresh topping of herbs makes for the perfect family feast.

If you haven’t tried making your own pasta noodles at home, I suggest you try it this season. It’s pretty easy and it’s homemade, so you know exactly what’s in it.

5. Sugar

Sugar | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Sugar | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

‘Tis the season, after all! If you’re wanting to wow your guests with some sweet homemade goodies, you’re likely going to need sugar or a similar replacement. This too can be bought in bulk and kept in the pantry until needed. I recommend doing some of the holiday baking a little ahead of time and freezing the treats until the day before the event. This saves major time and, if you’re anything like me, stress right before the holiday hits.

6. Cocoa Powder

Cocoa Powder | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Cocoa Powder | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Ask yourself this: How will you ever make your guests delicious, warming hot cocoa if you don’t have any cocoa powder? If you want to really impress your guests, make the beverage from scratch. Just add a few teaspoons of cocoa powder to each cup of milk, whisk until well-blended and sweeten as desired. The best sweeteners here are definitely liquid: raw honey or agave nectar.

7. Leaveners

Leaverners | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Leaverners | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Baking soda and baking powder have an expiration date and you need to ensure they have enough oomph for helping your holiday baked goods rise up to the spirit of the season. If you’re in doubt, stock up on a new batch! I like to transfer my baking aids into airtight containers with labels on it.

8. Mixed Nuts

Mixed Nuts | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Mixed Nuts | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

When you need a little longer getting dinner ready, putting out a bowl of nuts will keep everyone waiting patiently. The healthy fats and crunchy texture of nuts satiate in a way candy never can. I recommend walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and cashews. You can even roast and flavor them yourself!

9. Shredded Coconut

Shredded Coconut | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Shredded Coconut | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

So you can make super easy, super quick “holiday balls” that your guests won’t be able to stop eating, of course. You can make these with classic cocoa and honey, banana and date, or peanut butter banana. These ones are banana date balls rolled in the shredded coconut for that snowball look.

10. Potatoes

Potatoes | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Potatoes | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

No pantry should ever be without potatoes. Potatoes can be shredded and fried for the most delicious potato pancake breakfasts, boiled and spiced for hearty potato salad sides, blended into soups, made into potato skin appetizers… the list could go on and on. Make sure you’re stocked up!

11. Quick Oats

Quick Oats | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Quick Oats | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Quick oats are simply fantastic. They can be used as a nourishing breakfast or as an integral ingredient in cookies. Want to make a scrumptious oatmeal bake? Try this.

12. Dried Fruits

Dried Fruits | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Dried Fruits | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Dried fruits, such as cranberries, peaches, cherries, and apples provide a stained glass flair to desserts or cookies. Dried fruits are also perfect snacks for both kids and adults.

13. Canned Tomatoes And Tomato Paste

Canned Tomatoes And Tomato Paste | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Canned Tomatoes And Tomato Paste | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

With canned tomatoes and paste, you can easily whip up a delicious pasta sauce from scratch. Just add spices, dried herbs, and a pinch of salt or sugar to taste.

14. Canned Milk

Canned Milks | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Canned Milks | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Use condensed, evaporated, and coconut milk as a backup. No more cream for soups? Use evaporated milk. Condensed or coconut milk are an easy base for last-minute puddings.

If you have a source of milk in your homestead, better learn how to prepare them for a longer shelf-life. Don’t know how? Check out here the ways to have a continuous supply of milk.

15. Cinnamon

Cinnamon | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Cinnamon | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

It’s the foundation of holiday spice and everything nice! A little sprinkle of cinnamon goes a long way in creating that holiday flavor.

16. Airtight Tins Or Mason Jars

Airtight Tins Or Mason Jars | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Airtight Tins Or Mason Jars | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

The dollar store has tons of these! They are perfect to store your own baked goods, then use as a gift! Flavor transfers easily from one baked good to another, which is why I prefer every kind of cookie having its own container. You will most likely to find tons of holiday-inspired tins, but watch out for solid gold, green, silver, and red and reserve those for year-round.

17. Plastic Zipper Bags

Plastic Zipper Bags | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

Plastic Zipper Bags | Essential Pantry Items For Your Holiday Homestead

With all the holiday cooking and baking, I’m sure you will be bound to have leftovers of your most used ingredients. It takes some space to store those in containers, especially if they are only just a bit. But with zipper bags, you’ll save enough space. They are my go-to storage solution and of course, I make sure they have a label.

In need of pantry makeover ideas? Check out this video of home DIY tutorial by Kayley Melissa:

With the items above in my pantry, I can truly say that I am ahead of the game once the holidays kick in. You better start stock piling now and get your cupboards refreshed and organized!

What do you think of these essential pantry items? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments section below.

Up Next: 23 Common Spices That Should Be In Your Pantry Now

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Editor’s Note – This post was originally published on December 2015 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

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Self Sufficiency

NYC Adds Nearly 4,000 People Who Never Tested Positive To Coronavirus Death Tolls

New York City added nearly 4,000 people who never tested positive for the coronavirus to its death toll Tuesday, bringing coronavirus-related deaths in the city to around 10,000 people.

The city decided to add 3,700 people to its death tolls, who they “presumed” to have died from the virus, according to a report from The New York Times. The additions increased the death toll in the U.S. by 17%, according to the Times report, and included people who were suffering from symptoms of the virus, such as intense coughing and a fever.

The report stated that Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio decided over the weekend to change the way the city is counting deaths.

“In the heat of battle, our primary focus has been on saving lives,” de Blasio press secretary Freddi Goldstein told the Times.“As soon as the issue was raised, the mayor immediately moved to release the data.”

The post New York City added nearly 4,000 people who never tested positive for the coronavirus to its death toll appeared first on Daily Caller

This Article Was Originally Posted On dailycaller.com Read the Original Article here

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Self Sufficiency

How To Make Lacto-Fermented Sauerkraut In A Mason Jar

The thing about homesteading is you get to create your own ingredient right from scratch! Cheese, yogurt, butter and now sauerkraut, a delightfully sour and crunchy ingredient you can use on your meals — or consume by itself — while on a homestead, or while facing this health crisis!

This homemade sauerkraut is a great meal because it has a long shelf life. You can either make plain sauerkraut or mix it with herbs and spices. In this tutorial let us make Lacto-fermented sauerkraut that preserves all the good probiotics in a jar, good for your guts.

So how to make sauerkraut in a mason jar?

RELATED: How To Make Buttermilk On Your Homestead

Delicious Sauerkraut Recipe Every Homesteader Should Know

Why Make Sauerkraut?

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Not only does sauerkraut spoil a long time, but it is also a meal in itself, and it is also easy to make! You don’t need to be an expert cook, all you need to do is follow these simple steps.

So let us get started. Here are the steps in making sauerkraut in a mason jar.

Ingredients:

  • 1 head of cabbage or 2 1/2 lbs cabbage
  • 1 tablespoon of salt

Tools Needed:

  • knife
  • bowl
  • mason jar
  • smaller jar
  • rubber band

Step 1: Wash & Clean the Tools & Ingredients



Wash all the equipment and utensils you need. Wash your hands too.

You don’t want to mix your sauerkraut with bad bacteria, anything that is going to make you sick.

Next, remove the faded leaves from your cabbage. Cut off the roots and the parts that don’t seem fresh.

Step 2: Cut the Cabbage Into Quarters & Slice Into Strips



Cut your cabbage into quarters and remove the core. Then, slice it into strips.

Step 3: Place in a Bowl & Sprinkle With Salt



Put the stripped cabbage into a bowl. Sprinkle the cabbage with 1 tablespoon of salt.

TIP: Use canning salt or sea salt. Iodized salt will make it taste different and may not ferment the cabbage.

RELATED: Homemade Yogurt Recipe

Step 4: Massage the Cabbage



Massage the cabbage for five minutes or more to get the juice out.

TIP: You’ll know it’s ready when you see a bit of juice at the bottom of the bowl and will look similar to coleslaw.

Step 5: Press Cabbage Into the Mason Jar



Add the cabbage to the mason jar gradually. Press it in hard to allow the juice to come out. Do this every time you add about a handful of cabbage.

IMPORTANT: Food should be covered by the liquid to promote fermentation. Add any excess liquid from the bowl to the jar.

Step 6: Press a Smaller Jar Into the Mason Jar



You want to squeeze every ounce of that juice from the cabbage. To do this place the mason jar in a bowl and get a smaller jar.

Fill it with water or marble to make it heavy. Press it into the bigger mason jar. Allow any juices to rise to the surface.

Step 7: Cover the Jars With Cloth & Tie With Rubber Band



Leave the small jar on. To keep your jars clean from annoying insects and irritating debris, cover your jars with a clean cloth. Then, use a rubber band to tie the cloth and the jars together, putting them in place.

Step 8: Set Aside & Check Daily

Set it aside in a cool dry place, away from direct sunlight. Check the water level daily. It should always be above the cabbage.

Step 9: Taste Your Sauerkraut & Keep at Cool Temperatures

Homemade Sauerkraut Cumin Juniper | How To Make Lacto-Fermented Sauerkraut In A Mason Jar

After about five days, you can taste your sauerkraut. If the taste is to your liking, tightly cover it with the lid and store in the fridge or cellar.

NOTE: If after five days it’s still not your desired taste, leave it for a few more days. This will allow the fermentation process to continue.

You can now enjoy your sauerkraut in a mason jar. Enjoy its goodness! You can use it as a side dish or mix it with your favorite sandwich.

Things to Remember in Making Sauerkraut

  • Store away from direct sunlight and drafts.
  • Colder weather will make the process longer. Spring is the best time to make them since the warmth helps activate the fermentation.
  • Always make sure that the cabbage is below the water level during the entire fermentation process.
  • If the water level decreases during the fermentation process, you can make a brine and add it.

Let us watch this video from Kristina Seleshanko on how to make delicious Lacto-fermented sauerkraut in a mason jar!

So there you have it! Making Lacto-fermented sauerkraut in a mason jar is as easy as slicing the cabbage into strips. Remember that as long it remains unopened, your sauerkraut can last for months. Best of all, you can partner this sauerkraut in many recipes.

What do you think of this homemade recipe? Share your best sauerkraut recipe in the comments section below!

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Self Sufficiency

9 SPRING VEGETABLES FOR YOUR GARDEN

Having plants in the house will bring peace to people. Having a little garden with vegetables is even better! You can grow these vegetables in your backyard garden easily as well!

RELATED: Microgreens Growing Guide

In this article:

  1. Tomato
  2. Eggplant
  3. Beet
  4. Spinach
  5. Pea
  6. Carrot
  7. Radish
  8. Cauliflower
  9. Asparagus

Growing veggies in your garden will give you an opportunity to understand what you eat and value it more. Early spring is when most vegetables are being planted. Keep reading to learn about 9 spring vegetables that anyone can grow in their garden!

Tomato

Tomato is the most popular garden vegetable in the States! There are different varieties to choose from. Tomatoes need to be planted in early spring because they won’t survive a frost.

Because tomatoes are consumed daily, try adding them to your garden! They’re not difficult to grow either.

Eggplant

Eggplants are known to have low-calorie, vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Plus, they are delicious! So why not plant them in your garden?

Eggplants shouldn’t be planted too early because they won’t be able to survive a frost. So you could consult an expert in your area before you plant your eggplants.

Beets

Beets are known to be a superfood for its various health benefits. They’re easier to grow in the garden, usually around late March or early April.

If the weather is always cool, beets will keep getting bigger and bigger. Once the weather starts to warm up, you’ll need to harvest them, or they’ll go to waste.

Spinach

Spinach is a delicious early spring veggie, and it’s also very beneficial for health. And it’s not difficult to grow spinach in your garden!

Spinach needs cold weather to grow. Getting spinach to grow is easy, but keeping it growing will require some extra care.

Pea

Peas are usually planted in late April. Peas will die in freezing temperatures, but they also won’t survive the heat either. So make sure you plant your peas in early spring.

Peas are widely used in many different ways, and there are different types of peas. The soil you’ll be planting your peas should be suitable for them, so make sure you ask while buying seeds.

Carrot

There are different types of carrots, but regardless of their size and color, it’s a fact that carrots are both delicious and rich in vitamins.

They’re root vegetables, so with proper sun and watering, they can be picked up as baby carrots as well.

Radish

A radish is an excellent option for beginners because it doesn’t require too much care. Radish is easy to harvest.

Radish grows fast, so it’s better to keep an eye on it after a few weeks. Radish usually is grown pest-free, but there’s always the chance of unwanted guests, so watch out for worms. Radish can be eaten raw or can be added to garnish recipes.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower isn’t the easiest vegetable to grow at home, but it is very popular.

Cauliflower grows better in colder weather, so before you plant it, consider the climate of your garden. Cauliflower can be eaten raw or cooked, and it is known to be very beneficial for health.

Asparagus

Freshly picked, tender asparagus is very delicious!

Asparagus plants get more productive with each harvest, and mature asparagus harvest can last for months! Make sure you plant them at the correct time, or else they might go to waste.

All the vegetables listed above are great for your healthy diet, and it’s fun to watch them grow. So don’t miss out on the opportunity to grow your own veggies and eat healthy this spring!

So tell us which veggies will you be growing this spring? Tell us in the comments section!

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