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Seasonal Living

seasonal living ideas from birthdays to Christmas, to Thanksgiving, and more.

25 Best Gifts for Home Cooks: Practical Kitchen Gifts They’ll Actually Use

Christmas / Seasonal Living

25 Best Gifts for Home Cooks: Practical Kitchen Gifts They’ll Actually Use

We all know people who love to be at home cooking in the kitchen. While new gadgets are always fun,…

Read More 25 Best Gifts for Home Cooks: Practical Kitchen Gifts They’ll Actually Use

DIY Gift Bags | Easy, Low-Sew, and Quick!

At Home / Christmas / Seasonal Living / Sewing

DIY Gift Bags | Easy, Low-Sew, and Quick!

These are so easy to make because some of the stitching is already pre-done by using napkins! With minimal equipment…

Read More DIY Gift Bags | Easy, Low-Sew, and Quick!

Weekend Breakfast Gift Basket

Christmas / Seasonal Living

Weekend Breakfast Gift Basket

Nothing says it’s the weekend better than some pancakes or waffles cooking on the stove. And bacon, but I don’t…

Read More Weekend Breakfast Gift Basket

Hi, I’m Darcy. I want to bring you ideas for canning, preserving, and using those items in your home for your family. It can be intimidating to get started so I’m hoping you’ll find some simple ways to make a big difference in your stash. I’m just a regular Mom who wants to provide good food for her family without being chained to the stove. I’m here to help you do the same and find some little joys along the way. Learn more about Vintage Preserving here!

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vintagepreserving

Bringing old-fashioned skills into modern family life
🍅 Canning • Baking • Gardening • Sewing • Raising Capable Kids
Contact@vintagepreserving.com

Potatoes. So simple. Not many soups or casseroles

Potatoes. So simple.
Not many soups or casseroles that don’t like to see them coming. These 7 quarts cost me $2. I’ll be doing a couple of batches to get me up to where I want to be for a year or so. I really need to bite the bullet and buy a second pressure canner 🫠 But for now just these 7 jars at a time make a big difference when I go to cook dinner.
I really really don’t like peeling potatoes. And definitely when it comes to making dinner I try to just skip the peeling part. But my kids don’t like potato skins so I don’t know which I’d prefer less, the peeling or the whining. Never mind - it’s the whining.
So here I am peeling a ton of potatoes but it saves me all the work later on when I can just dump these out and we are good to go.
There really is something satisfying about putting jars up onto the shelf. Saving my sanity a little bit at a time :)

#canning #potatoes #canwithme #momlife #easymeals

How do I know my daughter loves me? It’s written o

How do I know my daughter loves me? It’s written on the walls…. 🙃

#toddlerlife #sahm #littlelove #vintagepreserving

Today’s decision: chicken salsa. Now whether I’ll

Today’s decision: chicken salsa.
Now whether I’ll put it on rice, a salad, or a wrap….. tbd.

#vintagepreserving #cookingwithcannedfood #easydinner #easyfood #lifelessons

Jam restock! 5 years ago jam wasn’t in my rotatio

Jam restock!

5 years ago jam wasn’t in my rotation. We never ate it. But once I had kids, it all changed :) As did mostly everything else in our lives 😆
This took a solid chunk of time because I do strain the blackberries but, on the other hand, I blend my strawberries instead of mashing them so that saves a ton of time.
A chunk of a weekend is a fair trade-off for a solid stock of jam and less time I have to spend in the grocery store. Plus it saved a ton of $$$ and I’ll never complain about that.

Canning, preserving, kid food, jam, pantry, stock the pantry, easy canning, Midwest living, vintage home

#vintagehome #vintagepreserving #makeyourown #preservingfood

It’s time to start living a life you’ve been wanti

It’s time to start living a life you’ve been wanting to start. This account is all about learning some new handy skills by canning and preserving food, saving money (where you can), sewing, and carving your own path to life.
I’m a millennial and it shows 🤷🏻‍♀️but it seems like we are a group that is forging our own way and aren’t afraid to do things a little differently.
So I’d love for you to follow along as I help to show you some things to make this way of living feasible. A little bit of work for some more time to play and slow down where it matters most.
#vintagepreserving #preservingmorethanfood #millenials #sahm #workhardplayhard

A homesteader is a person whose heart and focus is

A homesteader is a person whose heart and focus is in the home.
The term homesteader and the ideas associated with it are broad. I feel like building a strong home, supporting your family, being mindful of what’s going into your food, and trying to work towards self-sufficiency are some main things homesteaders do.
Being observant of nature, its tendencies and how to work with it. Being thoughtful about how and what money is spent on. There are so many things that come to mind and you can truly do as little or as much of it, it just depends on intention.
You don’t need a huge farm or live solely off of the land to be a homesteader, even if we may be striving to that goal one day.
Making intentional decisions in our homes and for our family to provide a certain way of life is all you need. The more the merrier!
Hopefully we can all encourage each other through our own journeys.
In the meantime, I’ll be here sharing canning, preserving, cooking and more to help you towards your goals.
So what is homesteading to you?

Homesteading | self-sufficient | life | happiness | home | mom life | canning | preserving food

Heat the butter and oil in a pot. Add the rice and

Heat the butter and oil in a pot.
Add the rice and pasta. Stir until the pasta turns a bit brown.
Add seasonings and stir to combine.
Add water, bring to a simmer on medium-low.
Cook, covered, about 15 mins, stirring occasionally.
Easy as that! Enjoy :)

I grew up on rice-a-roni and love the flavor but, like most of us, I am trying to have simpler ingredients in the house. This fits the bill and they love it. Nothing like a throwback comfort food that isn’t terrible for you.
#comfortfood #quickrecipes #90sfood #easyfood #childhoodfavorite

36 cartons. $18 ➡️ 13 pints of seedless blackberry

36 cartons. $18 ➡️ 13 pints of seedless blackberry jam. If you don’t use jam frequently during the week this could easily have been 26 half-pints. That a lot of jam! And for $18 plus sugar and a little elbow grease it’s worth it.
You truly don’t have to make this mass quantity and could easily buy smaller amounts and make the general recipe size :)
I usually just go big and get things done in bigger batches to save time later.
Both recipes are from @ballcanning. One is from a book and the other is from the pectin jar instructions.
My family loves it and I hope yours does too!

#frugalcooking #homemadejam #homecanning #canningandpreserving #vintagepreserving

Seriously so handy. There’s a how-to on my blog if

Seriously so handy. There’s a how-to on my blog if you want to take a look.
Great to use in way more than tacos. Honestly, I usually just cook meat that day if I’m doing tacos and this gets used for anything Tex-Mex-ish.
•tex mex stuffed peppers
•breakfast casseroles
•chilis
•taco soup
Easy enough to add taco seasoning to canned ground beef too, but sometimes it’s nice to just empty the jar and keep moving.
What do you think, would you can this?

#canning #preservingfood #eatwell #cannedmeat #taco

Nothing like that pop

Nothing like that pop

One of the things I do the most for my family is m

One of the things I do the most for my family is making sandwich bread. I feel like lots of us are doing it. So how lucky are our families!? Not only do I like the smell of it in my house but to walk into someone else’s house to a fresh baked loaf just feels so good.

It may not be perfect but it tastes good and makes for some great garlic bread too, which my husband would eat every day if I made it.

Just a little glimpse into something that’s easy to do and keeps me out of the grocery store a little bit more 🙋🏻‍♀️

Real life | simplify | homemade bread | sahm | mom life | simple joys

I wasn’t meant for a traditional lifestyle. I’ve

I wasn’t meant for a traditional lifestyle.

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, I work really hard to accomplish goals, and once I have a dream in my heart it’s usually hard to break it.

Growing food, being outside, canning any harvest….all of this feels right to me. So a couple of years ago my husband and I bought a defunct strawberry farm on the other side of the state. I can see (in my head) what it could be. I’m still working on all the logistics and finances to make it work but I can feel it getting closer.

So to see my kids in the strawberry fields and loving it….it makes it feel like it’s that much closer to happening for us.

To see my family working side-by-side doing something we love, being a food source for the community, and a place for families to come and spend time together is something I can’t wait to have happen ❤️

Follow along as I work towards this dream. I am hoping this account will help to make it happen :)
#canning #strawberryfields #familylife #familyfarm #midwestliving #preserving

English muffins 🥰 They’ll be made into breakfast

English muffins 🥰
They’ll be made into breakfast sandwiches to stash in the freezer tomorrow and made me a pretty tasty lunch today.
I love using sourdough but it’s rare I make something without following someone else’s recipe. This English muffin recipe is from @heartbeetkitchen. Give it a try!

#sourdough #englishmuffin #homemadefood #momlife #cooking #cookfromscratch #vintagepreserving

And me, of course. Life is inherently busy when

And me, of course.

Life is inherently busy when you have kids, family, friends, furry friends, etc. But being chaotic and rushed is something I really try to avoid. Overfilling schedules and trying to keep up with the Joneses just becomes such a burden. My goal is to jump off of the hamster wheel and do things a little differently. I think a lot of you feel the same way.

There’s a difference between a full life and and busy life.

Anyhow, I’ll just be over here drinking my black coffee wishing I could be one of my pets for a day because they truly know how to unwind and relax. 😎

#sahm #livingdifferently #homelife #slowdown #slowingdown #familylife #littlethings #midwestliving

And art is - lovingly drawn squiggles on the walls

And art is - lovingly drawn squiggles on the walls when Mom turns around for 3 seconds.

Some days I start to understand why some older people had plastic covered sofas when I was growing up.

I do love decorating actually. But since we are in a smaller home right now our living room is also a play room so it shows 🙃

Having little kids also means a lot of hands-on time so I’m not able to spend leisurely time in the kitchen. Although I love to cook, most days are either quick prep and a long cook in the oven/crockpot or a quick 15 minute meal. And canning food has helped this immensely. Follow along to learn how to still get good meals on the table, stock your pantries, and still keep some sanity.

#sahm #canning #midwestliving #vintagepreserving #preserving #momlife #momlifebalance #food

No trending audio, just birds. What if you just

No trending audio, just birds.

What if you just picked 3-5 things to always have on hand? And the ingredients can be totally store bought, bought from a farmers market, who cares.

Wouldn’t it be nice to always have tomato sauce, chicken and beef stock, salsa, and canned chicken on the shelf? Just a couple of times a year and you can shop your own pantry for at least those couple of things.

I love gardening and growing food but we don’t have dozens of acres. One day, that’s the goal 🤞but for now I make do with my small garden, supplement the rest of the ingredients elsewhere and my family still has some great canned food ready-to-go. No homestead and still not chained to the stove if I don’t want to be because I have easy meal prep mostly done. Most days….

Sham | canning | motherhood | homestead | intentional living | real life | content creation | preserving food |

Do you like pesto on pizza? Pasta? Soup? Fish? Chi

Do you like pesto on pizza? Pasta? Soup? Fish? Chicken? Caprese Salads? Anything?

Freeze it. Flash freeze in little compartments and then store it however you like it for using later. It’s one thing that truly adds so much flavor without having to hardly lift a finger. Fresh is fantastic but I’ll always take some frozen, too.

I found this on sale so I stocked up 💪

#freezer #freezerstash #frugaltips #easytouse #easyfood #foodtips #midwestliving #simple #budgetfriendly

I did. Not. Want. To. Cook. The other night. So t

I did. Not. Want. To. Cook. The other night. So thankful for the canned soup I have because Michigan had kind of forgotten summer arrived and I also had no energy so it was a good night for a warm, quick dinner.
TIP- pesto is the best thing to have around for adding to most soups. It bumps up the flavor and is so easy.
Cream is optional but if there’s one thing I learned from Miss Ree (as my kids call @thepioneerwoman) it’s that cream is usually the answer.
Take it from me, a Mom who was crabby that night and still got dinner on the table, canned soup is a life saver.

#canning #easymeals #easycannedfood #easycanning #soup #vintagepreserving #midwestliving #makeyourown #betterthanstorebought

Me and my helper buddy making tortillas. They’re n

Me and my helper buddy making tortillas. They’re not perfect but they taste great and she has so much fun. So do I.
She helps to get them started in the press and I’ll take it from there rolling them into the worst circles ever. Then I’ll cook them up and no one ever said shapes taste different so…. We eat them and are happy.

#Cooking #homemadetortillas #betterthanstorebought #easydinner

Roasts of any kind in the crockpot will always ran

Roasts of any kind in the crockpot will always rank high for a quick prep and delicious meal.

I like this one because the flavor is different than any traditional beef. It has sweet and sour from the pickled tomatoes and savory from the Worcestershire sauce and seasonings. Always adjust to what you and your family like but this is so simple and good it’s a nice go-to.

Let me know what kinds of meals you’d like to see more of!

#canning #5minmealprep #dripbeef #easymeals #easymealideas #familyfood #crockpotmeals #crockpot #vintagepreserving #crockpotrecipes

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Preserving Food
- Canning
- Dehydrating
Cooking from the Cantry
Watch

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