Simple Living Made Simple Podcast (Stephanie)

This week I had a chat with Sharon McCaskill who is an Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and founder of the blog, "The Helpful GF" all about switching to a gluten free diet with as little stress as possible.

Any change in diet or lifestyle can be a challenge not only in implementing the changes but also making them stick.

Sharon has first hand knowledge with gluten free diets as her husband has celiac disease.

In this episode we talked all about the following:

- What it really means to be gluten intolerant or gluten sensitive,

- Great gluten free alternative ingredients for baking,

- Tips for being gluten free while still enjoying eating out being spontaneous.

Sharon McCaskill, is a dedicated Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with a mission: making gluten-free living not just accessible but delightful. Her journey began with a personal touch, as she helped her husband Tyler manage his refractory celiac disease and embarked on a quest to make gluten-free living a breeze. Now, as the driving force behind "The Helpful GF," Sharon extends a warm invitation to everyone looking to embrace a gluten-free lifestyle with confidence.

Sharon's passion shines through her website, https://thehelpfulgf.com, where she shares her wealth of knowledge, empowering others to savor every moment of their gluten-free journey. With her husband, two daughters, and a heart full of compassion, she's committed to helping you live a healthy, delicious, and stress-free life. Connect with Sharon on Instagram @thehelpfulgf and explore her insightful videos on her YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@TheHelpfulGF, for a taste of her gluten-free expertise and inspiration. 

Doing any project with kids, especially little kids, can create more work, lengthen the time of the project, and certainly produce more mess! However, gardening with your kids is such a wonderful experience and learning opportunity, you really don't want to miss it. In this episode, I give you actionable tips and tricks for getting your kids involved in the gardening process, how to engage them, and how to keep yourself sane at the same time!

We all know about the wonderful benefits of gardening and how plants we intentionally grow can impact out health and wellbeing.  However, there are so many amazing plants all around us that we aren't even aware of.  In this episode, I talk with Kathy Lapcevic of the blog Homespun Seasonal Living.  We talk about about what simple living means, how to start foraging for beneficial plants right in your own backyard, and some really cool things you can do with those plants.

In this episode, I am joined by Courtney Nalin,  a homeschooling mom of 2 as well as a certified health coach and licensed paramedic. She is also the host of the podcast, Imperfectly Pollyanna, where she focuses on finding the good in life’s imperfections whether in homeschool, faith, health, or overall life. Having been homeschooling for over seven years, she has experienced struggles, insecurities, worries, as well as navigated several different learning styles and curriculums. 

We take a step away from the garden and talk about a completely different topic, homeschooling.  This topic has become pretty relevant over the last year as many families investigate how to best educate thier kids.  My whole goal of this podcast is to give you options. In my opinion, having options means freedom. No longer do you have to rely only on what the systems offer you. I love finding new ways that I can take care of and provide for my family in different areas of my life. I am looking to homeschooling this in the fall, but just like a lot of people, I don’t know where to start. Join us as we discuss everything you need to know to get started, common misconceptions you need to throw out the window right now, and inspiration for making this an actual reality. Let’s get started.

Join me for a quick garden update where I discuss our transition plans from our summer garden to our fall garden. I discuss what plants we are planting and how we deal with overlapping spaces. We also have a few new updates to our chicken coup as well.

In this episode, I am discussing food freedom and my family's journey to become less dependent on stores and commercial products for our food and instead grow and make our own food.

With food shortages and food prices increasing, more people are looking for ways to take back control over their food to ensure that they are able to provide for their families.  Growing your own food, cooking from scratch, and purchasing from local sources for all of your food needs is more important now than ever.  Today, I talk about how we made it a reality and how we continue to work at it every year.

Are you looking for a way to beat those high egg prices? Have you thought about raising chickens but haven't gotten the nerve to do it?

This year is your year my friends! It is easier than you think and this episode is all about how to get started.

I got to talk with Brandi from the Mother Hen Homestead about how your can get started with your own flock of laying chickens this year!

So much great information for those just starting out! Don't miss this episode!

Brandi is first and foremost a wife and mother to two beautiful children. She homesteads on 1 acre of land with a full garden and birds. Her family have laying chickens and have raised turkeys and meat birds. Her family are hunters, fisherman, simple living folk that enjoys getting back to thier roots. When Brandi is not being a homemaker, she is a professional photographer.

You can find her over on Instagram at @motherhenhomestead.

She has a wonderful homemade shop on Etsy: SoulShinePresets

Anyone got the Holiday season itch?

I typically do not like to start preparing for a holiday way before the actual season starts. I really despise seeing Christmas stuff in stores in October, however considering holidays gifts early in the year can help you out later in a lot of ways!

In this episode, I talk about a few Handcrafted and Homemade Holiday gifts that you can start making today with some of the harvest you have in your garden and really take some of the stress off when the holiday season comes.

I have a few fun, cost effective, and super simple ideas that I talk about in this episode.

Websites mentioned:

MotherHenHomestead Instagram

Merry Stockings: Bucilla Stocking Kits

After a few months break, I am back! I had to take an unexpected few weeks off because teething babies and sick kids took over our house.  I am back with an episode all about 5 things that I do to help keep my sanity when I am overwhelmed with life's unexpected events.  These 5 things help me recharge and get back on track quickly. 

Join me in this episode where I talk with Krista from Knitsy Knits all about knitting!  Learn how to get started knitting this winter.  Krista and I discuss her career as a professional knitter, how to get started, why knitting is not just a seasonal hobby and some of the many projects that you can start learning today.

Find out more about Krista and her courses here: Explore with Knitsy

I got the awesome opportunity to speak with Shelby from Simple Homemaker Meals this week and it was so much fun!

We talked about modern homemaking, getting all of the things done, and simple meal planning.

Follow her over on Instagram where she shares awesome recipes and tips for getting it all done.

Simple Homemaker Meals Instagram

Shelby is the creator of Simple Homemaker Meals, a space designated to recipes, sharing her joy in homemaking and learning lost skills along the way, like gardening and cooking from scratch! She is a wife and mother to two residing in TN.

You can purchase The Homemakers Meal Planner or her cookbook; Simple Homemaker Meals Dinner Recipes.

If you have a garden, you can quickly become overwhelmed by the harvest that seems to come in overnight! What do you do with all of it?  You may notice some really great prices and quality of all of the in season fruits and vegetables. How do you take advantage of it?  Food preservation is a must not only so that you can take enjoy quality fruits and vegetables all year long, but also so you can build a good food supply for your family.  There is really nothing like the satisfaction of stocking your shelves with food that you preserved yourself. In this episode, I discuss some of the awesome ways you can start preserving at home! Sign up for the Build Your Food Supple Masterclass for FREE here: https://wingingitonthehomestead.lpages.co/the-build-your-food-supply-masterclass

In this episode, I am going to breakdown self-sufficiency into 4 areas. I call this my "Freedom Framework" because I truly believe that self-sufficiency affords us options in the way we choose to live our life.  In my opinion, freedom is having options and the ability to choose which of those options work best for you and your family.

The 4 areas of this Freedom Framework are Food, Home, Family, Health. Categorizing self-sufficiency skills into these categories really helps me teach them and I have found that it helps people organize them in a way that allows them to actually learn and implement them into their modern life.

Are you drowning in toys and feel like you can't get out from under them?

I used to be so overwhelmed by the toy mess in our house that I was tempted to get rid of all of them and never buy another toy again.

They were all of the house, in every room, and it seems like no matter how many toys my kids had, they were always bored and never played with any of them.

I don't know how I originally started utilizing a toy rotation system but once I did it was a total game changer and sanity changer!

I know many people struggle with toy overload and I hope that this episode may help!

It is finally fall time and the summer garden is winding down. Before you completely turn to your indoor, winter chores and duties for the season, there are a few fall garden duties that you should consider now that will make your life a lot easier next spring.  Check out this episode for a list of things you should be doing this fall in your garden.

In this episode I had the opportunity to talk with Angela Ferraro-Fanning of Axe and Root Homestead about her new book: The Sustainable Homestead.  I love this new book because it truly acts like a blueprint for building a functional and thriving homestead.  This book is beautiful, inspiring, and a great resource for anyone looking to purchase a homestead property or to develop their own land into a permaculture paradise. It was such a fun conversation and I learned so much. Check out this episode and look for her book available now for preorder and set for release on 3/28/2023.

Angela Ferraro-Fanning is a permaculture homesteader in central New Jersey. She believes in regenerative homesteading practices that mimic patterns in nature. The six-acre historic farm is home to Clydesdale horses, honeybees, sheep, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, a small orchard, hobby vineyard, and food forest gardens. Angela is the author of several books including The Little Homesteader series, The Harvest Table Cookbook, and The Sustainable Homestead. She also co-hosts a podcast called HOMESTEADucation.

Podcast: HOMESTEADucation

Instagram: @AxeAndRootHomestead

PreOrder Now: The Sustainable Homestead

One of the best ways to reduce the overwhelm that can come along with simple, self-sufficient living is to start living more seasonally!  They all kind of go hand in hand.  Join me for this episode to discuss the following:

• The three "S"s
• Why living seasonally is way more than just food
• The benefits of living more seasonally
• How to get started!

There are so many benefits of seasonal living that you really should consider working it into your everyday life!

We are doing a very strict elimination diet and it has been rather difficult. Since I focus on stocking my kitchen with whole food ingredients, being faced with having to eliminate several of our family's staple foods has been challenging.

Join me as I discuss these new dietary restrictions that we have been faced with and how we are navigating finding new alternatives for meals and snacks.

We just got a flock of chicks! Join me as I discuss how it is going for us so far, what you need to get started, and how you can take finally take the plunge yourself. 

In this episode, I interview Michele Finn of Jubilee of Wellness a CBD and essential oil company. Michele created her very own line a few years ago and provides customers and students with support and guidance needed when first starting out using these products. We discuss how to get started using CBD and essential oils and how beneficial they can be to your health and wellbeing. A little disclaimer: we are not providing medical advice on this show, please consult your doctor before you start using CBD or essential oils. This was an awesome episode, I learned so much from Michele, she is a dear friend and she is one of the most amazing women and entrepreneurs I know!

Do you love tea? If you do, you do not want to miss this episode. I am talking all about plants, herbs, and flowers that you can grow for your very own tea garden.  Some of these plants you will find as common ingredients in your favorite tea blends. Learn which ones are easy to grow and how to harvest them.

Gardening season is upon us and if you are looking for a way to grow your own fruits, vegetables, and herbs but worry that you do not have enough space, container gardens may be perfect for you! 

Don't miss this episode where I got the awesome opportunity to speak with Maggie Stuckey, author of the Container Victory Garden: A Beginner's Guide to Growing your own Groceries.  

We discussed how beneficial and versatile a container garden it and how it can solve so many small space problems.

With less maintenance, easier accessibility, and greater chance for a productive garden, using containers is a must for any beginner gardener.  Even experienced gardeners with in ground gardens can benefit from Maggie's extensive knowledge.

We also discussed the inspiring history of victory gardens and how the are relevant in today's world. 

Bestselling author Maggie Stuckey is a best selling author and expert in the art of growing good things to eat in containers. For more than twenty years, Maggie has been enjoying vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers grown in her own container garden — and inspiring others to transform even the tiniest spaces into vibrant personal foodways.

In her new book THE CONTAINER VICTORY GARDEN (on sale 2.21), Maggie shares practical and comprehensive tips and techniques for container gardening alongside the rich history of the original wartime Victory Gardens, which date back to 1917.

Grab yours here or where ever you love to purchase your favorite books.

www.thecontainervictorygarden.com 

After a brief hiatus for the 2022 garden season we are back for episode 39!  In this episode, I share with you updates from our garden, chickens, and kitchen, as well as, some shifts in my perspective as it comes to homesteading, proving for my family, and boosting our food supply.

Let's start off the new year with a really great episode and guest!

Corina from The Hopewell Homestead is one of my most favorite homesteading and simple living experts to follow on Instagram. So it was such an awesome experience to get to speak with her in this episode of the Simple Living Made Simple Podcast.

We talk all about homecentric and holistic living, as well as, what it means to be a Hopesteader and build the homestead life you dream of. It was such a fun and inspiring conversation, you don't want to miss!

Corina is a heart-centered homemaker with a passion for teaching others new and old ways to live more intentionally in their own homes. She focuses on developing and sharing real food recipes, building out a homestead, and serving others through education on how to live a more natural lifestyle. She combines these passions in her daily life and shares what she learns along the way on her blog and social media platforms and more detail in her upcoming book - the natural minded homemaker.

 The Hopewell Homestead blog 

 The Hopewell Homestead Instagram 

 The Homecentric Podcast 

How is your garden growing? I have definitely been faced with my fair share of success and challenges. Join me in this episode as I go through where we are with the garden this year and discuss some plans for the rest of the season. 

This episode I got the chance to talk with Cheryl from Heal, Nourish, Grow all about real food, eating Keto, and how to be successful at making a lifestyle change.

If you are interested in living a more simpler lifestyle and making a real shift towards healthy whole foods, you do not want to miss this episode!

Cheryl is the founder and editor of Heal Nourish Grow, an ultimate wellness, healthy lifestyle and advanced nutrition site. She helps others develop the confidence and habits to create lasting change and greater health by sharing her wealth of knowledge and over 25 years of experience in psychology, addictions studies, fitness, nutrition, yoga, meditation, overall health and wellness.

Coaching others to reach their personal version of ultimate wellness is her passion. She hosts the Heal Nourish Grow podcast, a show dedicated to sharing information about all aspects of healthy lifestyle.

She posts keto food ideas daily in her Instagram stories and more in depth recipes, research and wellness content at HealNourishGrow.com.

Cheryl’s first cookbook, Easy Weeknight Keto is available now. Her second full length cookbook will be released in July and the 21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Keto Made Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight will be available for purchase May 11, 2022.

She was the featured chef for August 2021 at US Wellness meats. Her recipes have been featured by outlets such as the local news, Kevin’s Natural Foods, Serious Foodie, Cut da Carb, Choc Zero and Women’s Health Magazine and she is a frequent speaker at keto and wellness events.

Finally! Your hens just started laying eggs. So exciting! Join me in this episode to discuss everything you need to know to get started with fresh eggs.  When can you expect your hens to start laying?  Do you wash them? Refrigerate them? My hens just started laying and I have been doing a lot of research, I share it all with you in this episode!

This week is an awesome episode with Jill Winger of the Prairie Homestead.  Jill is a well known homesteader, author, entrepreneur, rancher, mother and wife.  She is one of the first people I started following and reading when I was interested in living a more simple life.  She has a new book Old Fashioned on Purpose: Cultivating a Slower, More Joyful Life, being released 9/26/23 and is taking preorders until then. You can buy at any bookstore or preorder here: Old Fashioned on Purpose by Jill Winger

We had an awesome discussion and covered a variety of topics to include:

- The importance of letting your kids be bored.

- Balancing old-fashioned skills with modern technology and conveniences.

- How we have lost the importance of community and how we can cultivate it.

Join us as we dig a bit deeper into what it means to live a little more intentionally and purposefully.

You can find Jill Winger here:

The Prairie Homestead Blog

Prairie Homestead Instagram

The Old Fashioned on Purpose Podcast

Jill's new book: Old Fashioned on Purpose: Cultivating a Slower, More Joyful Life. 

Christmas Decor does not not have to be crazy expensive.  In my opinion, the best holiday decor can be found right your your own backyard.  The possibilities are endless if you know what to look for.  Check out this short and sweet episode for some natural and classic holiday inspiration!

Happy New Years! I sincerely hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday and are excited for 2023!

I am not one to really make new year's resolutions but I do think it is important to set goals and intentions for the upcoming year.  There is a lot I am not sure about yet and a lot of goals since mulling around in my head but I have a few that I am really certain of.

In this week's episode of the Simple Living Made Simple Podcast, I am talking about a few of our 2023 goals and focus.

I would love to hear about your goals for the year! Send me an email at wingingitonthehomestead@gmail.com and let me know what you have planned!

I got the awesome opportunity to speak with Jenny Veleke of the Funky Farm Girl Podcast all about practical self-sufficiency.

Jenny was such a fun guest! We discussed how her family made the move to being more self-reliant, how she stocks a from-scratch pantry, and why she loves raising quails.

Check out her awesome podcast The Funky Farm Girl Podcast for valuable content on simple living, gardening, and cooking from scratch!

Have you ever prepared venison or elk? I certainly have not! That is why I invited Danielle from the Homebound Hippie to the podcast this week.

Danielle is wonderful at cooking with wild game and I learned so much during this interview.

She gives a ton of information about how to get started cooking with wild game and sheds light on how different it may or may not be from chicken or beef.

Danielle from the Homebound Hippie is a full time homemaker and homesteader living a slow and simple life with her husband in the rural wilderness of Washington State on family land, 7 acres of backwoods country passed down 4 generations. Her experience as a hunter's wife has led her to a life centered on hunting; fishing, homesteading, and of course good home cooked food.

You can find Danielle over on her blog: The Homebound Hippie and over on Instagram at the Homebound Hippie

Check out the Back to Homemaking Collective! Available until 3/31/23.

Join me in my conversation with Kris from Healthy Mama Kris all about practical cooking, easy meal plans, and making your food taste better.

Kris is a trained chef, culinary nutritionist and founder of Healthy Mama Kris, where she helps moms stress less about food through delicious weeknight-friendly recipes, simplified meal planning, meal prep and confident cooking.

She encourages women worldwide to uncomplicate eating and find joy in balanced living through her digital courses, cooking classes and top rated podcast, The Healthy Balanced Mama Podcast. She lives on the coast of New England with her sailor husband and two little sous chefs.

To learn more, follow her on Instagram @healthymamakris or on her blog and website www.healthymamakris.com where she shares tips on balanced eating, flexible meal planning, simplified food prep and confident cooking.

Instagram: @healthymamakris

Healthy Mama Kris Blog

Healthy Mama Meal Prep Course

Healthy Mama Meal Planner

The Healthy Balanced Mama Podcast

I am back with the March Monthly Swap series! I am doing a Monthly Series where I focus on swapping something that would normally be store bought with a homemade version.

Each month I will have a specific focus so that I do not get overwhelmed and can master it in 30 days.

The month of March is focused on swapping store bought condiments for homemade, from scratch ones!

Over the next 30 days, I am working to swap out packaged condiments with homemade versions. There are a few condiments that I have been doing this with for awhile such as salad dressings, cocktail sauce, and tartar sauce but there are still many that I buy from the store.

One of the aspects I am looking at is how time consuming or costly it is to make these condiments from scratch. There may be some condiments that are not worth the time, effort, and cost so I will probably continue to buy them. Having this option and ability to chose which ones I make from scratch and which ones I buy is really the freedom I am looking for.

Join me in this episode where I talk about the steps I am currently making and my goals in this area!

In this episode, I reference the Back to Homemaking Collective which is an AMAZING resource available only until the end of March 2023. You can check that out here: Back to Homemaking Collective.

Follow me on Instagram to join in the journey! @simpleliving_madesimple

I am so excited to share with you this powerful episode with Sara Jo of Bryarton Farm. We covered many topics in this episode but the them throughout was "Saving the Forgotten".  Sara Jo's take on this is beautiful, encouraging, and inspiring. We talked all about the restoration of her beautiful historic farmhouse and her family's beautiful adoption story of her two daughters from India. It was truly eye opening and inspiring.

Please go check her out on these platforms:

Bryarton Farm Instagram 

Bryaton Farm Blog

Bryarton Farm on Patreon

Books Illustrated by Sara Jo

Do you and your family make time to sit down and enjoy meals together?

Sometimes when I talk to people about cooking from scratch, their very first obstacle is how to even start eating as a family!

If this is you and you struggle with getting everyone to the dinner table at the same time and want to make your dreams of having a happy family dinner a reality,

In this episode I cover:

• how to create a family mealtime routine that works for you and your family.
• how to easily transition everyone to the dinner table so you aren't serving cold food.
• how to make it a positive experience that you will want to do constantly.

One of the most important self-sufficiency skills to master is cooking from scratch and doing it on a consistent basis. I would not be able to cook from scratch 90% of the time without having a well stocked, from scratch pantry.  In this episode I talk about everything you need and should have in your from scratch pantry to make sure you are set to cook any meal at any time. I am not talking about stockpiling or hoarding, but creating and building a pantry based on kitchen essentials that will save you time, money, and stress.

Spring is almost here! I know it might not feel like it but it really isn't that far away.

You know what that means.... time to start planning your garden!

I can honestly say that after 10 years of gardening, I am starting off this year with a sense of confidence that I haven't felt before!

In this episode I talk about what we are planning to put in the ground this year and some changes and updates we are making.

In this episode, I also talk about a really great FREE training that Jill from the Beginner's Garden is having! 

I had Jill on my podcast last year and she is one of my favorite garden experts to follow for advice and gardening knowledge.

If you are interested in starting a garden this year, sign up for her FREE Productive Garden Masterclass. There are several dates and times available! 

I definitely recommend signing up if you a new gardener.

​

I am currently taking guest interviews so if there is anyone you want to hear on the podcast send me an email at info@wingingitonthehomestead.com

This week on the Simple Living Made Simple Podcast we are talking all about building trading relationships and how to become more community sufficient, instead of just self-sufficient!

My guest this week is awesome and the perfect person to talk about this topic.

I got the awesome opportunity to speak with Kate from Venison for Dinner about her many trading relationships, how she leverages her family's skills and knowledge and how she keeps herself rich and plentiful by utilizing the skills and good of her community.

It was such a good and important conversation and you don't want to miss it!

In this episode, I got to speak with Katie from the Homesteading RD over on Instagram.

She shares an immense amount of super valuable content and knowledge about all areas of homesteading.  I love following her for her insight on real food and functional medicine.  We talk all about the broken medical system as it pertains to nutrition and recovery from illness.  We also talk about how to get started making the switch to real food. This was such a valuable and real conversation, you don't want to miss it.

Katie Krejci, MS, RD, LD, IFNCP is a dietitian and homesteader for over 10 years. She and her husband have 5 acres in central Minnesota and love living a self-sufficient lifestyle. They have several large gardens and raise chickens for both eggs and meat. What they don't produce ourselves, they like to source from other local small farms as much as possible. Her passion is teaching others how to become more self-sufficient in easy, sustainable steps. Her background as a dietitian has been an interesting one. She started out thinking her passion was in clinical nutrition working in large, metro hospitals. Over the years, she came to realize how broken our health system is and how much damage has been done to our bodies. Conventional medicine is too focused on treating rather than healing. She finally made the switch to functional nutrition in 2021 and loves the ability to help her clients correct their health issues from the root cause. Getting back to the basics and focusing on real food really is the way forward.

You can find Katie on Instagram at @thehomesteadingrd or on her blog at https://thehomesteadingrd.com/

In this episode I give you a little update on our plans for projects, gardens, and chickens for this spring and summer. Join me as I discuss how we are expanding our gardens once again, how we are fairing with literally living with chickens, and what is top on our list to complete this year. 

Planning a garden for this year? One of the most important things to plan and have set before you even break ground is a garden timeline.  Freeze dates, seed starting dates, planting dates, harvesting dates..... so many dates to keep track of! In this episode, I go through why these dates are important and how to make your garden planning manageable!

In this episode I give you a look into the reasons my family has chosen to live a more self-sufficient and simple lifestyle.  I also share some of our hopes and dreams and how you can make simple living work for your family.

Are you experiencing the pinch at the grocery store or at the gas pump?

Over here we are for sure.

Don't worry, we've got this and will get through it.

I certainly don't have the answers but I can tell you a few ways that I have made adjustments to a few things in our life to help lessen that pitch, even if just a little.

Tune into this week's episode to hear a few ways that we have cut some costs in our house recently.

Do you love old homes? I do!

If you are interested in historically accurate renovations, decorating old farmhouses, antiquing and thrifting that you are probably familiar with my guest this week, Paige from Farmhouse Vernacular.

Paige has one of my favorite You Tube channels and I was so excited to have her on the podcast this week.

In this week's episode we talk about:

• How you can figure out the age of your old home,
• Resources for historically accurate home design,
• The difference between modern kitchens and traditional kitchens,
• How to make your house work hard for you.

It was so much fun and you don't want to miss this one!

Farmhouse Vernacular You Tube

Farmhouse Vernacular Blog 

Paige (founder of Farmhouse Vernacular) and her husband purchased a run-down farmhouse in rural Kentucky in 2017. They have spent the last five years renovating it into a cozy, somewhat historically accurate home. Paige shares about home design, efficiency, canning, self-sufficiency, and farm life. You can usually find her painting a room, thrifting for glorious treasures, canning something up in the kitchen, or cuddling a cat.

September is a transition month in our home, when we start to move our focus away from the garden and food preservation to more inside the house.

This is how seasonal living works for us. Spring to Summer is heavy gardening, August - September is food preservation, and then we transition to a more kitchen/household focus.

One of the important aspects of simple living for us is eliminating the need to purchase chemical cleaners from the store.

I have not bought a commercial all-purpose spray in several years not, I only make my own.

I also make my own window cleaners, hand soap, lotions, toilet and shower cleaners, among other things.

To help you get started with making your own cleaners and personal products, check out the newest episode of the Simple Living Made Simple Podcast where I talk about the 10 ingredients you must have in your natural home.

Jubilee of Wellness Curious to Confident with Essential Oils - I love this program!

www.simplelivingdiy.com - grab my 10 recipe FREE eBook for cleaners and personal products!

In this episode we are going to discuss some watering mistakes that are very common when first starting to tend and maintenance a garden. Making sure that your garden is getting enough water is one of the most important tasks of a gardener, but the proper way to water may not be as obvious as your may think. Today, we will discuss some of those not so obvious watering tricks that will help you become a master gardener in no time. 

While most people think of a beautiful spring garden when they start planning for the gardening season, it is important not to forget about the fall garden!  For many years, I neglected to think about a fall garden, but it has become a really important time for me to get a really great harvest. In this episode, I am going over some really great plants that you can put in the ground in August to have a really awesome fall garden.

I want you to join me for something new I am doing this year! I am doing a Monthly Series where I focus on swapping something that would normally be store bought with a homemade version.

Each month I will have a specific focus so that I do not get overwhelmed and can master it in 30 days.

The month of February is focused on swapping all of our cleaners for homemade versions!

I talked about it briefly in a previous podcast episode but I really dive in deep in this week's episode.

My plan is to take the commercial, store bought cleaners that I use and start making my own versions.

Join me in this episode where I talk about the steps I am currently making and my goals in this area!

Follow me on Instagram to join in the journey! @simpleliving_madesimple

I have always had a hard time keeping up with ever changing seasons and holidays. Decorating and making these times exciting for the kids is fun but I always lack inspiration and motivation to keep it up all year long while also keeping it simple and affordable. That is why I invited my real life friend Ashley on for this episode. Ashley Murphy of Ashley Murphy Family on Instagram covers all areas of celebrating family life. In this episode we talk all about celebrating holidays and seasons and making them enjoyable and memorable while also keeping costs low and simple. 

Ashley is the mother of three kids, 5, 3 and 1 and a wife of 7 years to her husband. She is the founder of Ashley Murphy Family on IG.

While being home with the kids she started doing preschool activities with her daughter and documenting them, which became the start of “AshleyMurphyFamily” on Instagram! Over the years she has transformed the account to share all of the things that encompass her family’s life typically following along with the seasons and holidays. She shares themed crafts and activities, decor, books, and fun food as well as local places, fun family activities, and typical things they do around the house like homesteading and playing in general. This past year she started officially homeschooling her oldest child and shares a lot of that as well!

Go follow her here: @AshleyMurphyFamily

Whether it is deep cleaning your house before decorating, or cleaning for that holiday party you are hosting (and cleaning up afterwards), cleaning seems to be something that is done a lot more during the holidays.

In the episode, I talk about how to make three super easy homemade cleaners you can make today.

Listen to learn how to make an All-purpose spray, Antibacterial hand soap, and Toilet bowl cleaner.

If you have been thinking about starting a garden this year, this episode is for you. We will be covering some important decisions you need to make before you even break ground.  In this episode, I discuss how to determine what to grow, when to grow, and where to grow so that you can get your garden off to a great start. 

I am really excited for today's Simple Living Made Simple Podcast guest!

In this week's episode, I got to speak with Alicia DeVore from Create My Garden.

We talked all about growing gardens and kids. This was such a fun episode because it was recorded early in the gardening season and even though I am just releasing it now, it is still relevant and timely.

You can check out Alicia on Instagram or at her blog Create My Garden.

Alicia DeVore is a garden teacher/coach and the founder of the blog Create Your Garden where she teaches people how to make gardening a part of their lives with simple systems that make gardening easy. Alicia is based in California where she has grown gardens for the past 10 years for herself and others. But her gardening knowledge has helped many from all over the world.

She uses the garden to teach how to practically grow a successful garden without spending lots of time. Simplifying the process of gardening for those that live in small spaces or large to make sure that they can grow their own organic food.

Growing and caring for a garden is a long process, usually lasting months, but it is so worth it when you are able to harvest fresh fruits and vegetables.  However, there are definitely pests, bugs, and disease that can and will make your job a lot harder!  After years of experiencing these problems, I am sharing with you a few of the most common ones that I see and how you can prevent or solve them.  Prevention is huge if you are trying to grow a really healthy garden but sometimes issues sneak up on you. This episode will help you out with some of them most common gardening problems.

If you are looking for placing to start in your simple living journey, this will help! I cover 5 ways your can start being more self-sufficient and boost your family's food supply starting today.

 Composting is such an amazing way to reduce your food waste and turn it into something that will truly benefit your garden.  In this episode, I discuss everything you need to know about starting a compost pile.  It is a simple process but you do need to know what you can and can't compost, the proper ratio of "green" to "brown" material and how to make the process practical for you family.  Join me as I discuss all of this in this episode!

Thank you for sticking it out here while I was gone! It has been a busy couple of months!

I took a little hiatus after I gave birth to our fifth in April and it took much longer than expected to get back to it.

My evenings and mornings have been unpredictable and I can never guarantee I will have time available to do work on the podcast or social media. We are starting to all settle back into a schedule so that is great!

In this episode, I share with you updates from our garden, what I am doing to stay sane during this busy season, and some of the projects we are working on.

You don't want to miss this episode with Jill McSheehy from the Beginner's Garden.

Jill has always been my go to experts on vegetable gardening because her content is so easily digestible and she does a great job presenting it so that new gardeners can learn.

I listen to her podcast and watch her you tube videos all the time so speaking with her for this week's podcast episode was awesome!

I was definitely a little star struck if I am being honest.

This conversation was so much fun. We discussed garden planning, growing a fall garden, and pest prevention and maintenance, just to name a few.  I truly learned a lot and really appreciate her expertise!

Blog: Journey with Jill

Podcast: The Beginner's Garden

You Tube: The Beginner's Garden

Instagram: The Beginner's Garden

Garden Course: Dream to Garden eCourse

Jill McSheehy is the creator and host of the top-rated Beginner's Garden Podcast and author of Vegetable Gardening for Beginners. She teaches gardening to beginners through her web site, journeywithjill.net. Frustrated with the lack of gardening resources for new gardeners when she began her first garden in 2013, Jill created the Beginner's Garden to help others with the same frustrations. Through Jill's guidance in the podcast and web articles, thousands of beginning gardeners have been able to start and grow their own gardens.

If you follow any homesteaders on Instagram or You Tube, you may have heard of Azure Standard Market. I have tried it out a few times and I talk all about it in today's episode. I talk about how it works, what a drop location is, and the things I have ordered! Azure Standard is great for ordering bulk goods to cook from scratch and build your food supply. This short and sweet episode should help you place your first Azure Standard order if you are interested!

You can get started with your first order here: Azure Standard Market

There are so many ways to preserve herbs aside from your typical "hanging to dry" method.  While I love drying my herbs by hanging them (There is something so pretty and simple about hanging herbs), this is not the only effective method for preserving the fresh taste and quality of homegrown herbs. Did you know you could also freeze them? In this episode, I talk about a few methods of freezing herbs so that you can enjoy them all year long!

Join me in this episode many myths and misconceptions about simple living and homesteading.  When I talk to people about starting to be more self-sufficient, there are a couple of reasons that I hear time and time again as to why it won't work for them.

Here I address these misconceptions and explain why they should not be holding you back.

In this episode I talk about:

• Why you don't need a ton of property to grow your own food.
• How you can get started without a ton of money.
• The best thing to start with when trying to decrease your dependance on stores and commercial products.

Don't let these hold you back from living a little more homegrown and homemade!

I had the opportunity to talk with Sarah from Well Folk Revival this week, and it was an awesome conversation!

Join me for this episode of the Simple Living Made Simple Podcast to discuss the following:

• Tips for those of you interested in starting to homestead yourself
• How to serve your community by offering homesteading classes in the community
• How to embrace lifelong learning and apply pure joy to your homesteading endeavors.

It was such an awesome and inspiring discussion that you don't want to miss!

Sarah is a wife, mother, entrepreneur, and homesteads on 3.5 acres. She loves growing food, raising animals, and teaching her community to become more self sufficient through homestead workshops called Folk School.

You can find Sarah on her Instagram and her Well Folk Revival website.

In this episode, I got to speak with Robyn from Cheese from scratch all about the basics of home cheesemaking. She breaks down all you need to get started and clears up common misconceptions and questions when it comes to making your own cheese.  We talk about what kinds of cheese to start with, cheese making science, and how to get over your hesitations and start making your cheese in your own home today!

Robyn is the creator of Cheese From Scratch, an online business that empowers and teaches milkmaids as well as educates homestead cheesemakers around the world.  Together Robyn and her husband homestead and ranch in Northern British Columbia where they raise their three young children and work to grow the bulk of their own food. 

You can find Robyn here: 

Website: https://cheesefromscratch.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheese_from_scratch_/

Are you prepared for emergencies? What if you had to evacuate your house quickly, do you have everything you needed easily accessible? What if your electric goes out for an extended period of time, what would you do?

I don't like to approach these topics from a place of fear, but instead from a place of resilience and confidence!

In this episode, I speak with Morgan from Rogue Preparedness all about how you can better prepare yourself and your family in the event of an emergency.

Morgan preps in the suburbs with her husband and two daughters. She is the owner and founder of Rogue Preparedness  a website dedicated to emergency preparedness and survival skills.  Also, check out her YouTube Channel where she have some also videos about preparedness.

Short and sweet episode where I discuss our garden, chickens, and other projects as we kick-off the spring season.

I talk about:

• What I planted this year
• The weird things my chickens are doing
• My goals for this year.

In this week's episode, I got to speak with Naomi from Love Stitches​.

Learning to sew has been on my list of projects to start for a long time but it always seems overwhelming and difficult to get started.

After speaking with Naomi about how to get started regardless of where you are in your life, I am ready to jump in!

Join us for our conversation in this week's episode.

Websites mentioned in this episode:

Big Duck Canvas https://www.bigduckcanvas.com/ for slipcover fabrics

Natures Fabrics https://naturesfabrics.com/

Naomi is a sewing entrepreneur from New York State, providing her local community with bridal alterations and custom slipcovers. Online she teaches sewing as a life skill for sustainable living. She is also a faith based author, and homeschooling mom of three.

Naomi offers a variety of s downloadable tutorials for clothing alterations and repairs, available at this link which I’m offering for 25%off with coupon code SIMPLELIVING. The coupon code is valid through August 30th, 2023

https://www.naomifata.net/product-category/tutorials/ 

Naomi publishes a bweekly sewing enewsletter called The Sewing Circle and has video courses available through her website https://www.naomifata.net

Instagram Link: https://www.instagram.com/naomifata/

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/NaomiFataSews

Preserving food is a lot of work! From the harvesting, to the purchasing of supplies, to preparing and cooking the contents, to the actual processing steps, a lot of time a effort is spent preserving your food for longterm storage.  Once all of that work is done, then what?  How do you store it and keep it safe and free from any potential spoilage or damage?  Check out this episode for answers to all of your questions and learn how to properly store your preserved food.