Crystal Aura Gaze

So I will be starting a series on my blog called “homestead challenge” and it won’t be consecutive days, but one day at a time. Each day will be dedicated to one or more tasks or skills related to homesteading.

Now, note that I live in an apartment in a suburban town. So it’s more “urban homesteading” that I’m doing. I’m just working with what I have. I do not have land, a garden, or farm animals. I do have a kitchen and that is mainly what you need!

My definition of homesteading is taking care of your home and yourself — doing it from scratch, naturally, slowly, and independently. It’s about the environment, health (mental and physical), finances, and self-reliance.

More here: My Urban Homesteading Checklist

A lot of these things I have done before, but my goal is to be more consistent and make habits.

These are skills that were taken for granted and have been quickly lost through only 2-3 generations. Many of these skills used to be a part of everyday life. Today, everything is about convenience, quick gratification, and reliance on big businesses.

I plan to be very honest. Changing your routine and learning new things can be a messy process. You are bound to make mistakes. But through persistence, you create a new way of living.

So to be honest, day 1 was definitely a learning curve. But it was absolutely not a waste!

Today, I made homemade pasta, and it was a little bit of a failure. The ingredients are so simple — eggs and flour.

I wasn’t able to document much because my hands were so sticky the whole time from the dough. I realized that I needed a lot more flour… A LOT of it.

Here is my spaghetti cutting machine that I struggled to use. First, not nearly enough flour, so it got stuck. And then when I added more flour, it was still coming out too flimsy to keep shape.

After several tries, I decided that I would just cut the pasta myself. I cut the prices way too thick. But at this point, I was in too deep and needed to keep going. I definitely rushed this process and sloppily cut as quickly as I could.

After boiling water, I threw the pieces in my pot. Homemade pasta should cook in just a couple minutes, but with the pieces so thick, I had to give it almost 20 minutes.

After cooking, I kept it very simple with just oil and herbs and spices. Now, considering the failure of the large pieces, it tasted surprisingly good. You could really taste the freshness that you can’t with dried boxed pasta.

For the next time, I will know to cut much thinner pieces. I will give it some time before I go back to the pasta cutter machine. Also, I read that letting the dough sit before cutting and cooking helps. I am looking forward to trying this again.

But yes, I did get tired, frustrated, and impatient. I will need to try this again with a slower mindset. And slowing down is one of my main goals of homesteading.

I did really enjoy kneading the dough. It was like playing with play dough. Getting your hands messy is such a grounding experience. It brings you back to earth and out of your head.

In more successful news, I have begun a new cross stitching project. This is another thing that requires you to slow down and have a lot of patience.

Til next time!