Homesteading, butter, and bread

I kept finding a bunch of cool ideas on various blogs and websites that had the word homesteading in the title.  I had no idea what this was, I mean I figured it had something to do with country living, but that was all I knew.  So I finally looked it up.

I know I will never be one of those people who is really self sufficient.  There are too many modern conveniences that I wouldn't be willing to give up and I am just not willing to kill an animal (but I will eat them).  

I suppose I have already been on a path that leads to me being more self sufficient.

Years ago I was eating dinner at a restaurant and I suddenly stopped and thought "Why am I paying for this meal? I could easily make this."  It was a basic chicken and pasta dish and it just dawned on me that it was a waste of money to be paying for it at a restaurant.  That helped to start my cooking spree, and lead to me taking a sushi class (because it was the only food I really liked to eat that I couldn't make myself.)

Living out here, getting eggs from the chicken, having a garden, wanting to get into canning and freezing... It all leads to being a little more self-sufficient, and also ties in to me being more "green".  It also means I save a little money.  I like those ideas.

So I am now consciously being more self sufficient.  Even if I am only trying to do something once, just to see if I can.

So today I made this mush of shredded newspaper

Which I baked into these cups

And next weekend I will plant seeds in them and get them growing on my table before the outdoor planting season starts.  The newspaper cups will dissolve in the dirt once they are in the ground.

And then I made butter and buttermilk...

That is pure butter :)

 And I used the buttermilk to make biscuits

Yes, I use a plastic wine glass as my biscuit cutter

I made a lot of them (18 buttermilk and about 30 with the fresh butter) so I froze them all.

And then I made two more loaves of bread (I made two last night).