My inspiration Mondays - Keeper of the Home

Keeper of the Home is the lovely blog of Stephanie Langford, a Canadian mother of three who is eating a whole foods, organic diet like the one set out in Nourishing Traditions.

It was Keeper of the Home that first gave me the idea to make sourdough bread and drink raw milk and kefir drinks. These were all totally foreign concepts to me just a few months ago. I had never heard it was important to soak or sprout grains before, and now want to buy a grain mill so I can make my own flour. In the meantime I'm buying stone ground flour and making sourdough bread which ferments the flour to pre-digest it.

I like Keeper of the Home because Stephanie seems really down-to-earth and is just doing the best she can to care for her family. Now that I'm a stay-at-home mum, I like to read the blogs of others that inspire me to go the extra mile. Keeper of the Home is one of those blogs.

Stephanie's parents didn't teach her how to cook, so she had to teach herself. I'm in the same boat and am grateful to the flatmates who invested time into teaching me to cook after I left home. Since getting married, I've continued experimenting with cooking by trying out lots of different recipe books. One day I hope to get to the point where I can make up my own recipes entirely from scratch, but I'm not there yet.

Stephanie has also struggled with learning how to handle her money wisely. She brought huge amounts of debt into her marriage, which she and her husband have worked hard to pay off. I've never been comfortable with debt so didn't have any when I got, but I have struggled to live frugally. I'm slowly learning how to run a proper budget, thanks in part to this program recommended by Stephanie - You Need a Budget. I trialled a 7-day version of it and learned some valuable budgeting tips doing that. I've also learned a lot through reading Money Saving Mom, which I've previously written about.

Stephanie and her family are renting at the moment, and have just moved house, yet she has still taken the time to plant vegetable gardens at both properties. We are moving to Wellington in October, so I'm faced with the daunting task of starting a whole new garden. I'm encouraged by the fact Stephanie has managed to do it while looking after three children, not just one.

Stephanie has posted a number of recipes for DIY beauty products, including shampoo and conditioner and cleanser. I'm trialling her cleanser at the moment, but haven't dared the shampoo and conditioner yet.

If you're interested in cooking natural whole foods, growing your own vegetables, making your own products, parenting and home-schooling, you will find lots of interesting reading at Keeper of the Home.