8 Vintage Homemaking Skills We Need

[@KoniB.]

I love that your promoting the "learn it, then pass it on to others" thought. This is another old skill that is dying and needs reminding on, We must pass our storehouse of knowledge. lest they be truly lost and not just unused. 70+ still learning

[@alisonschooley5459]

My neighbor is doing just that. We love spending time together and she has helped me acclimate to moving to a new area. I have found many hidden gems because of her.

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Agreed!

[@katherinerichardson1767]

I noticed when people do things for themselves they take better care of those items such as simply sewing up a torn item, nailing down a loose board, planting a vegetable, and other such actions. Doing for oneself makes you feel you have control of your life instead of someone else controlling you. Thanks for sharing your ideas.

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Katherine, I love this! You are so right 🤗

[@bessieoriotis5104]

​@@THEJENNIFERCOOKThese vintage ideas are great for beginners like me. I love pitas but now I realize it can be homemade. Thanks for these ideas. 😅😅

[@msmonet]

Two things that helps busy cooks. Freezer Meals, also package up your own package mixes of the dry ingredients. Like pancake mix, cake mix, hot cocoa mix, taco season mix, spaghetti seasoning mix, etc.

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Great tip!

[@beatricealcaraz5799]

@@THEJENNIFERCOOKthose sound great do you have the recipes that you can share with us ?

[@lilypudd]

​@@beatricealcaraz5799There are mix recipes online. Pinterest has a bunch.

[@danneyandroid0391]

​@@beatricealcaraz5799Hi Beatrice, you should be able to google the info for the mixes you have interest in. Hoping that helps!

[@ogghuman5354]

I was about to buy a new car, without out any reason but luckily I found you vedio, while I was scrolling and saw all your vedio. I right away drop the idea and decided to kept my 2007 Honda civic, which I bought for CAD$2000, 2 years ago. She run strong. Thanks for motivating me. Thank you

[@peggysanders487]

I love to knit, crochet, embroider, cross stitch, just doing things with my hands

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

🤗

[@judykessinger3552]

Thank You for mentioning this, I Iove doing cross stitch as well!

[@RebeccaHewitt-ni1mg]

Me too!

[@laurennguyen1008]

Now that I am retired and husband has health issues, I feel like a vintage homemaker. I cook and clean more than I ever did before. I had a very busy job and spent a lot on take out during the week and restaurants on the weekend. My husband is now diabetic so I make him 3 very quick and easy sugar free meals a day. I would be happy to hire a housekeeper once in awhile and get my carpets cleaned but frugal man won't go for that. I draw the line at yard work, though. Husband can't do it so we hire someone who does a lot of neighborhood yards, is very nice, and charges a reasonable price. The good news is that because my husband has always been frugal, we are debt free and always live below our means.

[@KS-jf2jf]

I love how you make the connection of health, sustainability and wise money management. I love these ideas ❤ I am teaching my daughter to really do all basics for herself; cooking, laundry, basic house and clothing repairs (yep, a lot of people need help changing light bulbs and throw clothes away if there's little hole /rip etc), financial literacy and overall self-sufficiency, growth mindset thinking. I think the biggest two issues are the illusion of convenience and lack of financial literacy. If those were not the case, half the country would not be living paycheck to paycheck. Thank you for the inspiration! ❤

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Thank you! 🤗

[@allikat1352]

I can meats, veggies, jams, jellies, homemade spaghetti sauce and chili con carne. I can quart jars of pot pie filling so I can make a pot pie in the time it takes the crust to brown up. I make fermented pepper sauce and sauer kraut. I make quilts and baby blanket items. I can make cheese, but only mozzarella is really worth it. I make all of our bar soap from scratch. We grow a big garden every year, and I can or freeze all of that. I make hand creams, lotions and chapsticks from scratch. I make up a batch of soy candles in mason jars almost every year. We have chickens for eggs and I waterglass the extra to use during their slow seasons. We eat homecooked 99.9% of all of our meals. I pack those for lunch at work as well. When we travel, I premake meats like bacon, chicken breast and pork chops and freeze them so we can eat well in the travel trailer instead of eating out or eating junk. I will double batch things like stuffed shells and lasagna and freeze one for later. And the best part it, I learned all of these skills from Google, KZbin and/or books.

[@jylfearn4840]

I have stopped buying a lot of canned items. I soak my beans (so much cheaper than canned) you can also use an instant pot to cook unsoaked beans too. I don’t buy packaged snacks, I make my own granola protein bites, banana muffins and chop fruit for snacks. I started making my own seasoning blends, so I know there are no additives.

[@earlglassco9702]

We live on a farm, and we have 3 nanny goats, all of which each just had twins. Guess who had to learn how to milk a goat? (One Mom isn't feeding her babies well.) Next step will be milking goats, and making soap, etc. -Harriet G.

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

That is awesome!

[@joycegonzales4994]

Canning and freezing foods, drying foods is a great skill

[@repartorp]

Thank you for these tips. Love your enthusiasm.

[@beatricealcaraz5799]

Thank you Jennifer I’m sure glad your taking us back to ways that our parents and grandparents lived and how they did everything by hand life was so much more simple back then .

[@donnareed-f8h]

People should dry their laundry on a clothesline, or even from hangers hung from the shower curtain rod. Saves electricity, saves wear on the clothing, and it's so easy to do.

[@kellycarter2497]

Hi Jennifer. We started a garden a few years ago and have been adding to it each year. We were gifted a dehydrator, I dehydrate my herbs and some veggies. I learned how to pressure can from KZbin and it's great to know what is in my jars! I also learned how to crochet from KZbin. My mom taught me how to cook and bake, mend clothes and how to make do with what we had. Being frugal is the new cool!!

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Yes! 🤗

[@adriennebakeman2514]

I love your channel Jennifer! Your personality is so genuine it's easy to connect with you and your content🫶

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Adrienne, thank you for such kind words 🤗

[@jolenenevins3761]

Being aware of the changes of the season and what needs to be done in preparation for them.

[@bex438]

This was a really good video Jennifer & I had to smile when you said about people saying they don't have time to do whatever when they spend literally hours on their phone as I've heard this myself & said the same as you 🤔 - Also for the past couple of months I've been cooking from scratch a lot more & making my own no knead bread which is so easy & cheap! I was really intimidated before about doing it, but then I developed carpel tunnel & had to cut way back on my grocery budget & discovered that I could make bread without all the kneading & for pennies & now I can't envisage ever buying bread again 🤗

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

🤗

[@alisonschooley5459]

I have grown my own herbs for years. I grow only what I use regularly and many of these are easily propagated. It is so much cheaper than buying them and then having a bunch rot because you only needed a tablespoon. Freezing everything also(even cream) keeps you from food waste.

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Alison, this is great! Fresh herbs are really expensive.

[@katsfarm2062]

I grow sage, the taste is so much better than dried. I pick it off, put it to dry and store it for later use.

[@mrskimmieg]

Another great use for extra herbs is to make herb butters, freeze in small portions then add to sauces, vegetables, etc as needed.

[@alisonschooley5459]

@@mrskimmieg great idea

[@alisonschooley5459]

@@katsfarm2062 just bought some today to grow

[@virginiarevering4983]

True! Too often, the mindset is that if you can afford the payment, you can afford the item. It's simply not sustainable.

[@elsamach5616]

I just cooked a meal of pasta and meatballs for hubby and I for the week… well he’s going out of town again so I put it in baggies and put in my stasher bags and put in freezer so now I have dinner ready when I want… nothing wasted… also did the same with egg cups for breakfast for the week… I just love your videos… I’ll have to send you the recipe for egg cups so simple and tasty…

[@RebeccaHewitt-ni1mg]

12:17 12:19 12:25 I I make quilts & comforters to use myself & give as a gift. I 15:01 15:08 bake & cook from scratch & only eat out maybe once a month. I freeze or dehydrate fruits & vegetables when they're in season and/or are on sale.

[@s.torres242]

Cooking with whole foods, getting rid of processed foods, healthier and cost less. Batch cooking makes it possible when I'm working.

[@patmuscarella8279]

I learned to make tortillas and naan. Very simple and very few ingredients. I use these as bread now. Have made pizzas with each. Lots of uses.

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Great idea!

[@thecatsmeow50]

Please do a video for beginners and show us how you do it.

[@debra2463]

Thank you I have been looking for how to go about making a sour dough started but the ones I read said to buy it. So happy to have read that you can make your own. Thanks

[@simplysavingswithheather6381]

If you created vintage skills tutorial videos, I’d totally watch! Great video!

[@elsamach5616]

The homemade soap I’ve been doing and it’s very economical… I haven had to run to the store to get laundry/ cleaning soap… I take a bit of the laundry soap put it in a bottle with a bit of vinegar and water and clean the home thoroughly and smells great…

[@caroc8290]

Wow all tips are so good! And yes, some of us need help to open our eyes to learn more. Thank you for your videos!

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

You are so welcome!

[@maria_w311]

My new goal is to become a producer. I'm growing extra herbs and learning about growing mushrooms this year. Baby steps.

[@anneellison8188]

Thanks Jennifer! I really enjoyed this video. I have kids who are having their 1st child and truly need some of these tips! I intend on sharing them, so thank you again.

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Anne, congratulations on the new baby coming into your family! ❤️

[@caroldolan1485]

I planted a dog tree and raspberries!!!❤

[@janeinman2130]

Cutting up a chicken, from whole one is something I need to learn.

[@karinarivera56]

I wish shoe repair shops made a comeback.

[@gladyschandler6724]

I still take my shoes & boots to shoe repair shops. You'll get more use out of them. Tip take after winter season, and they'll be ready for you the nest winter

[@goodenoughgirl8102]

If you just keep it simple such as soups or meat and taters, salads, simple veggies and fruit, biscuits, eggs, sandwiches etc, it’s pretty easy to “cook from scratch.” Lol. (At least on a novice level…such as where I’m at lol). Of course for me the only thing that is bought “ready made” for those is my fave deli bread and that’s prob better at least than “factory bread” lol). Or for people like me (ha ha. Used to be the queen of “ready made”), just cut back gradually on the processed stuff until it’s close to only 10% or so of what you eat. I had to buy less and then it pushed me to get in the kitchen more and whip up my own food…bcuz I was hungry and the only way was get in there and put something together for myself. All that dread was fictitious tho as it wound up being rather quick and easy to do and then it became more of a habit over time. Hmm. My thoughts on what society needs. Lol. It’s Bcuz of two main things Imo. Easy access to many ready made things delivered to you quickly and cheap. (Disposable and convenience is the norm) and life just being too fast paced. There is really only time for what you make time for. And making time for these kinds of things can push other mindless and needless and draining things to the back of the line and could eventually replace them. And yes. Toxic parents for me (sort of like controlling so you remain “helpless” and they can keep controlling everything) so I was also one who wasn’t taught a lot of things and had to teach myself. By all accounts I’m behind a lot of folks but I’m still making progress with it.

[@Judith-b3t]

This is one of my videos. The other is your supermarket name brand versus store brand with significant cost savings on the store brand.

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Thank you so much! 🤗❤️

[@elsamach5616]

I love the sourdough mother and if you’re not going to use it within the day or next morning you can put it in the fridge and when ready to use put it out let sit for 30-40 minutes and then separate and re-feed your sour dough mother….and kaboom she wakes up and is good to go…

[@nancycerreta5629]

Had to laugh at pay cash! How shocking and funny was when a relative brought $60,000.00 to a bank closing for purchasing a house! The funniest part was when the bankers discussed who was responsible for counting the cash!

[@maria_w311]

Hi Jennifer 👋🏻

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Hi Maria!

[@nmkuemmerlein9996]

Jennifer, do you recommend particular KZbin instructions for sourdough?

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Hi there! Not a youtube channel, but a blogger. I found the site littlespoonfarm.com and I use the recipes from there. They work great. Specifically, the easy sourdough bread recipe.

[@nmkuemmerlein9996]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate all your inspiring ideas!

[@gabri6763]

Hi! Can You tell me what do you use to make Christmas tree pine candle? An essential oil? Thank you!

[@jolenenevins3761]

Mending needs to come back.

[@RobinWalden-rz7hb]

I'm new to watching your channel and started from the oldest but I can't find updates in 2024 if you have been able to pay off your mortgage? I can't take the suspense 😊

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Hi Robin, we are very close to paying it off. Thank you for watching 🤗

[@darlacaves3171]

Does sour dough have any grams of fiber? I have to make sure I eat plenty of fiber rich food, just wondering.

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

Darla, it does have fiber. I don't know how much in comparison to other breads, but definitely a bread to look into. 🤗

[@maria_w311]

Just growing a few herbs and your family's favorite vegetable will save you money, and you will learn how to grow food. And you'll probably find room to grow more next year. 😉

[@THEJENNIFERCOOK]

So true!