How To Use Up Old Root Cellar Vegetables: Old-fashioned Beef Stew

Chelsea standing in front of her root cellar door holding 10 month old potatoes and carrots with a smile on her face.

Table of Contents Managing a food supply requires careful planning. You must know how to stretch your storage assets effectively. This practice keeps the kitchen running until the new season’s harvest arrives. It is deeply satisfying to clear out the bottom bins of your root cellar. Turning past-prime staples into a comforting dinner reduces household … Read more

3 Delicious Summer Salad Recipes With From Scratch Dressings

Table of Contents There is nothing quite like the flavor of homegrown food. When the garden begins to give in abundance, it feels a bit magical every single time you pull a beautiful harvest out of the ground. Managing that rush of produce requires practical kitchen systems to turn raw greens and root crops into … Read more

How to Make and Can Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce

An image of Chelsea standing behind her kitchen island with several jars of home canned food.

Table of Contents Rhubarb season does not wait for you. It comes, it peaks, and if you are not paying attention, you have missed it for another year. I had a full pantry, a move coming up this summer, and every practical reason in the world to skip canning this week. Instead, I went out … Read more

Large Family Grocery Haul: How to Feed 9 People Weekly

Chelsea standing in front of a table with a variety of fresh groceries.

In This Post I have shared our massive, once-every-three-months Costco hauls for the last couple of years. However, I am frequently asked what our weekly shopping trips look like! Even with a massive homegrown pantry, we still go to the grocery store every single week to pick up fresh fruits and vegetables. Today, I am … Read more

Weekly From-Scratch Menu: Easy Meals from the Pantry

Chelsea in front of some groceries from her pantry on a table.

In This Post Over the last month, we focused heavily on 1930s depression-era recipes. It was a hugely educational experiment, but my family is very happy to be back to our normal diet! Many of you have asked how we manage our normal groceries. Today, I am sharing our complete weekly from-scratch menu. We have … Read more

What We Learned Eating 1930s Frugal Meals for a Week

We spent the last seven days eating like it was 1930. I have to be honest. My entire family is very happy this experiment is over! We ate a lot of potatoes. We ate a massive amount of homemade bread. We also made more milk gravies and white sauces than I can count.

What a Rural Family Ate During the Great Depression (A Pantry Haul)

Chelsea in front of a table covered in foods that are What a Rural Family Ate During the Great Depression.

This haul represents what an average farm family (or a very low-income family) of 6 to 10 people would have eaten in a week. Because rural families grew most of their own food, this grocery haul is a little different. I am shopping entirely out of my own pantry and root cellar to recreate it!

6 Delicious Ways to Use Winter Squash

Chelsea stirring one of 6 squash recipes spread out on her butcher block island.

If you are someone who claims they don’t like squash, I would encourage you to stick with me. In several of these recipes, the squash is the main ingredient, but it is supported by so many other flavors—like bacon, enchilada sauce, or sharp cheddar—that the “squashiness” is completely camouflaged.