Some of the links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon affiliate I may receive a commission at no cost to yo if you make a qualifying purchase. Thank you for your support!

Food For Life Garden Update!

Inspiration "There's just something beautiful about walking in snow that nobody else has walked on. It makes you believe you're special." Carol Rifka Brunt

Happy, Healthy New Year!

Winter has moved in with a vengeance. It's been fairly mild until now except for a small cold spell back in early December. I was so glad for the milder temps, but winter did not mellow out exactly, it just took its time this year to fully reveal itself.

Temps are in the single digits and the wind is icy. A few minutes outside is enough to freeze my face, fingers and toes numb. Gloves and boots are mostly decorative in this weather. The only way to get through chores it to come inside and warm up every ten minutes.

My solar batteries are lithium and are sensitive to cold, which means that while they work, athey cannot be charged. Out in the trailer it's too cold for them, so I had to fire up the Mr. Heater and hope I can keep them warm enough to charge again, once the sun comes out. I had to clean off the solar panels too, they were covered with snow. My worry is that I need to use the Generator because it's too cloudy and snowy for any sun to charge the panels. The generator does not like to run in the cold and there is not much I hate more than hanging out in freezing wind and weather, trying to get the generator started, which is also sensitive to cold. I normally have to take it apart and remove the battery to warm up inside before I even try.

Snow is not really common here in Southern Missouri. We've had a sprinkling once a few weeks ago, but we're getting some more serious snow to stick this time.

​

I'm once again sharing my little yurt with dozens of water buckets, to keep the water from freezing.

Oh, how I look forward to spring! The positive thing is that there are only a few flies now. What a relief. There are almost never no flies, but with the icy weather, they are much fewer, yay!

My Resolutions For 2026

Eat healthier! While I've been eating quite healthy, I need to up my game to support the immune system and increase my energy.

Plus I'm hoping to learn strategies to manage stress and anxiety better, and practice more gratitude. I am also hoping to add more movement to my schedule. Meaning some walks and excercise. I'm looking at trying Pilates. And I need more sleep and breathe better, through the nose and deeper!

Hit reply and let me know what your resolutions are!

Winter Projects:

I spent a lot of time this past year making cheese and finally got to post a few new recipes on the blog. If you're looking for a rewarding winter project, why not try making some cheese! Check out my Bel Paese and Soft Feta recipes. Both are easy to make and especially the soft feta is great for beginners.

Eating Healthier!

Here is another cold weather project for you! Start baking sourdough breads and make your own sourdough starter from scratch! This goes well with any goals of healthier eating. Sourdough decreases carbohydrates and gluten in bread and increases bioavailability of nutrients by neutralizing the 'enemy' phytic acid.

My breads are not the fluffy white breads you know from the grocery store. I developed these for health and we'll use fresh milled ancient grains, sourdough, and a long fermented method. Many people with wheat sensitivities are able to eat sourdough fermented breads and fresh-milled ancient grains are also much easier to digest for most people (not for those with celiac's!).

Learn about the benefits of long-fermentation and using fresh milled flour! You'll find a lot of information in the recipes below!

Long fermentation also decreases the glycemic index in the grains. Your choice of flour matters too. White flour has a glycemic index of about 80 or more, whole wheat flour of about 51-69 and whole Kamut or Einkorn grain of only 40-45!! Rye has a low GI of 30-35. That is before sourdough fermentation, which lowers it even more. For example while whole wheat bread typically has a GI of about 71, the GI of long-fermente whole wheat sourdough bread is only about 54.

Try making this easy no-knead, every day Kamut and Einkorn Sourdough Bread and learn about using ancient grains, baking with sourdough, and making simple breads with no yeast from scratch using homemade Sourdough Starter.

My Sourdough starter tutorial will get you started with sourdough. It will take a while to build up a strong starter, but it's well worth it and with some care, you'll be able to keep it going for decades and pass it on to your children and grand children. Most of us 'sourdough people' treat their sourdough like a pet, lol. And most sourdoughs get a name! Mine is about 30 years old and named Max 😁!

If you're a Rye lover check out my new-on-the-blog Lazy Way Sourdough Rye Bread recipe or a delicious, dense, German style Seeded Rye Bread.

Here are a couple of sourdough recipes you can try using sourdough discard (what you get when making your own sourdough starter), or you can also use a mature and active sourdough. These are for your sweet tooth, but they are gently sweetened with natural, unrefined sweeteners!

​Sourdough Pumpkin Apple Muffins​

​Sourdough Pumpkin Cake With Ginger & Apple Streusel​

​Blackberry cobbler it's delicious and works with frozen berries too!

More Winter Recipes:

Breakfast Ideas: Try this delicious Ginger Cranberry Applecrisp or my family's favorite, Dutch Babies with lots of topping ideas.

More Winter Recipes:

​Zwiebelkuchen, a Southern German onion and bacon pie.

​Mushroom Risotto​

​Mushroom Chowder​

​Jambalaya for Mardi Gras!

​Jalpeno Pie & Jalapeno popper mini quiches for Superbowl

​Panna Cotta, Lemon Heart Cookies, and Linzer Cookies for Valentine's Day

Immune Support:

Vitamins in fruits and vegetables, and probiotic foods or drinks are great for immune support. Check out my section on Fermenting to learn how to ferment all sorts of vegetables, salads, and more. You'll also find my fermented tabouli salad and a delicious fermented winter-slaw there. Probiotics are super important for your gut health and your immune system. A healthy gut will increase your overall health. Probiotics via fermented vegetables or dairy are superior to pills and powders.

If you'd rather drink your probiotics, here are some delicious probiotic sodas you can make from scratch in my Beverages section as well as Switchel, which is great when you need to replenish lost fluids and electrolytes due to workouts, hiking or skiing, or from being sick with a flu.

Garlic: And if you're not allergic to garlic, try to eat a little fresh garlic every day. I love to finely chop a clove of garlic and sprinkle it over my dinner or salad as a seasoning. Garlic is a powerhouse for health and immune support. It's most potent when chopped 10 minutes before you eat it. Chew some fresh parsley after to minimize the garlic breath.

Horseradish: If you can get organic horseradish, make prepared horseradish or a horseradish tincuture so you have it handy when horseradish is out of season or unavailable. I live in a food dessert and getting my hands on horseradish normally requires mail-ordering it from Azure Standard. I did plant some this year and hopefully it will be ready for harvesting next fall. It is also a part of fire cider, a powerful immune booster. Horseradish root is harvested in the fall and winter and you might be able to get some locally right now, while in season.

Gardening And Seed Starting In January And February:

Start your seeds!

Herb gardening: If you'd love to grow a medicinal herb garden, check out my guide to 25 Medicinal Herbs with benefit information and how to get them started in your garden.

Here is a great Medicinal Herb Garden Collection, that contains seeds for most of the herbs in my blog post. Get 10% off if you're using this link! I bought this collection last year, it's a super value for all you get!

Some of the herbs will need some cold treatment and should be started as soon as possible. The seeds get planted in pots, then they need so spend some time in the fridge or outside in the cold. They are then brought into the warm room a few weeks or months later so they can germinate. You'll find these specific tips and more in my medicinal herb article under each herb.

Peppers: If you are planning to grow your own peppers from seed, I've got a pepper growing guide on my blog for you. Peppers need to get started in early February in my area. The guide includes helpful tips for Northern growers too!

Onions need to be started in January or early February in my area and onion seeds, ideally, need to be replaced with fresh seeds each year for best germination and vigor. You can learn more about onion varieties and how to select the best onions for your area in my Onion Variety Guide. And for directions on growing onions from seed, I've got a Onion From Seeds Growing Guide as well.

Celery needs to be started in January to early February in my area too. If you're planning to plant celery, you can look up my Celery Growing Guide for starting your seeds and growing great celery.

Sweet Potatoes: If you have organic sweet potatoes leftover from the holidays, why not grow your own this year in your garden? They are so fun to grow and you can eat the greens too. Find out more in my article on Growing Sweet Potatoes. You can do this with store bought sweet potatoes, but if they aren't organic, they are most likely treated to prevent sprouting. Organic ones give you the best chance.

Helpful: Here is a free Garden Planting Timing Guide by Brian Lowell that I love! Check it out! He made it even better since last year. Just plug in your town and you'll get the frost date for your area. Then enter the plants to grow and it will give you the correct date for starting your seeds or planting in the ground. Very helpful!

Don't forget to Make Compost to nourish and refresh your soil! If your weather is not too cold, you can make great compost in just 3 weeks, and use it in your garden this winter to promote healthy soil life, to keep those important soil critters fed and to keep your garden beds covered. It does not need to be aged if you add it in the fall or early winter. Even in the spring, you can add unaged compost as a top layer, just don't mix it into the soil unless it is aged. And for alternatives to a compost pile, learn about many different Ways To Compost!

​Get 10% Off select seed collections from Survival Garden Seeds with this link! Plus, they offer Free Shipping on orders over $20-. My favorites in their Seed Vault: Medicinal Herb Garden Collection Family Home Garden Kit Complete Survival Garden Kit

​GET YOUR SEEDS HERE! True Leaf Market has many vegetable varieties, as well as a big selection on herbs! Plus, they offer Free Shipping over $75.-. So get your seeds before they sell out or it's too late to plant!

Your source for information about gardening, planting a food forest, permaculture, farming with animals, growing meat, and milking goats. Learn about making cheese and sourdough bread, preserving your harvest, traditional homestead recipes, off-grid living and more! Visit foodforlifegarden.com​

New On The Blog

Bel Paese Cheese Recipe (Italico)

Of all long-ripened cheeses I've made, I use this Bel Paese Cheese the most for slicing and layering in sandwiches or just plain eating on a slice of Rye bread. I also use it in place of mozzarella on pizza and pasta much more often than mozzarella itself. It's less fickle to make and can be aged in the back of your fridge for months and years, ready to pull out when you need some cheese.

Bel Paese cheese has a mild flavor after 2 weeks, but can get piquant when it's made from goat's milk and after you let it age for several months. I'll describe my way of making it with raw goats milk, but I'll make notes along the way for those of you who can only get pasteurized cow's milk. I think you'll absolutely adore this lovely cheese and wouldn't be surprised if you'll make it again and again. So here is how to make Bel Paese cheese!

Bel Paese (Italico) Cheese Recipe

Fantastic Soft Feta Cheese, Easy Ancestral Cheesemaking Method

Do you just love feta cheese? Like on everything? I totally get it. It's so delicious on a salad, whipped as a dip, or on baked potatoes with salsa. I love it crumbled or sliced and served over an Ajvar topped pita, or in a savory omelette. Oh and there is so much more and no room to list it all. How about I tell you that this cheese is super easy to make and much superior to a lot of cheeses you get in the store? In fact, you'll be hard pressed to find Creamy Soft Feta in stores at all!

And you can make it from scratch without a cheese press, special equipment, or costly starter cultures. Read on for instructions to make your own awesome soft feta cheese and be surprised at how easy and fun it is! In fact, it's perfect for beginner cheesemakers or just for an interesting project. I'm excited to finally share this recipe with you. It's been on my list for a long time, and I can't put it off anymore, because you need to know about this and make some delicious Soft Feta for yourself!

Easy Soft Feta Cheese Recipe

Clean Meats, Butter, And Other Products

If you have trouble getting pasture raised meat and are worried about hormones, vaccines and GMO feeds tainting the meats you eat, take a look at US Wellness Meats. I'm excited that I found a company that offers clean meats to help support our body's health and offer better nutrition. Get clean, healthy meat products to your door! Click on the image below!

Green Pan: Great for Health Concious Cooks:

They are offering an extensive line of non-toxic non-stick cookware, utensils and a few electric appliances. If you're looking for non-toxic kitchenware, give GreenPan a viewing! Endorsed by celebrities and popular magazines too.

Freebies!

Click here for your Freebie Library Pass where you can access all my freebies.