The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Phoenix Survival: Homestead Livin! Bobcats and Beyond

Episode Date: April 26, 2026

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You're listening to PBM. You're going to have back the stability here. Good morning, PBN. Jay Firk here. And yes, there is some difference going back to my dark. But that's besides the points. So today on our stream, we are on X. We are on Rumble.

And we are on Instagram. Now, we're not on a regular PBN Instagram. We're actually on mine. So we'll see how that goes. It's going to be interesting. I have both tabs open. So if someone comes in, that way I can reach out, say hello, and go from there. So I do have to switch windows, but it's not a big deal. So good morning, everybody. It is so great to see you. I actually forgot last Saturday was Saturday with so much going on. I'm here this morning with my avocado cup. my best flea market find, and it was only less than a quarter, hot water, and of course, sourdough cinnamon rose. That's right, sourdough cinnamon rolls. I have been on this real big sourdough's kick, and it took a little bit to get my starter to finally peak. But when it did, I had an overabundance, especially with the experiment I was trying. And so I have now perfected,

in a very short period of time because I've done some nonstop bacon of sourdough scones, sourdough cinnamon rolls, which I am pre-making up real quick today. That is going to go into my freezer because I can get it to the point right before you let it rest for 45 minutes and then bake. So to that point where it's rolled and cut, I can actually put it on parchment, put it in the freezer, let it freeze, and then I can. vacuum sill them and then that way each of them are already pre-made so when the kids are here or if they would decide they want something sweet for breakfast, then all we have to do is pull it out, thaw it, and let it heat up. Now, the great thing about scones, my mixed berries turned out phenomenal. James, I know what error I made with my, here, I'm going to put the comments on

stage. I know what error I made with my strawberry scones. is I let the strawberries thaw too much, and they got a little too watery, which not a problem. Frozen fruit works better for scones because you want the butter and the mixture in the scone to stay as cold as possible. But the mixed berry scones were a huge, huge hit. I am real quick just sharing this out to everybody on Instagram because everybody's going to be looking for the podcast to pop up live on. Okay. There we go.

No. Is it not going to pull them up? Okay. Right. No. Oh, well. So, but it was so easy. Like, I was very impressed that everything I've heard and seen about Sarado

seems like it would be easy, but then it seems very daunting at the same time. My phone's alerted me that an unrecognized windows has logged into my account. I'm fine with this. So it was super easy. So the key to scones is frozen butter, essentially. If you have the butter that's in the wrapper, I recommend keeping it in the fridge first

and opening the wrapper prior to. and then having that wrapper put in, then open that wrapper and then stick it in the freezer, so it will harden up nicely. So then when you crumb it, it blends in beautifully. So what I ended up doing, though, is I cheated. I used the food processor. I know how to do it by hand. I've made plenty of pastries by hand.

But it was kind of nice to not dirty up an additional bowl and just use. and just use the food processor and do everything for the scones and the food processor other than dumping it and shaping it. So that was perfect because the only downside to scones is the heat of your hands will melt the butter. And it slows down the whole process for me. So what just popped up? There we go. It is a morning.

Good morning. And good morning to y'all who are watching here on X. great to have you. I do have a garden update. The groundhog seems to be gone. And that might be because recently we actually caught a bobcat on our security camera. So fingers crossed, that fixed our solution, but at the same time of fixing that, I mean, fixed our solution, fixed our problem. There is then a new problem of, we haven't seen the bobcat again since. but it's now a concern of, well, how well are my livestock protected? How well is everything set up?

So just keeping an eye, I did notice some pall prints in my raised bed where the carrots are. And I just noticed those yesterday, and they were soft print. So I don't know if it's cats. I don't know if the bobcat came back, and it just happened. to catch where the cameras wouldn't get it. I don't know. So we'll see. It's definitely interesting. All of the sprouts in my greenhouse are doing phenomenal. The raised bed is done. I do have to show you all pictures. It is phenomenal. The live plants after this weekend will be going into said raised bed. I do just have to finish filling it. And it's a good sized bed. We have volunteers popping up of

actual strawberry plants, not wild strawberries, but actual strawberry plants because where I have my garden used to be in the past a pig run. And so people have seen corn sprout in there and said they're not surprised strawberries are sprouted there because all of the old food would go to the pigs. So I now have several large strawberry plants just grown in the dirt and volunteers are welcome here. One less plant I have to worry about because the animals seem to like everything else just as much. But it has been nonstop. Oh, no. I got to like an eyelash.

Sorry, y'all. You know what? It'll be all right. Maybe. Let me take my face off the screen for a second. But, yeah, you all don't need to see me grow up in my eye. I'm sorry, y'all. That's actually worse than I thought.

Hold on. Mother Pearl. Where are our commercials? Okay. I think I got it. Oh, bless it. Sorry, you. And then I'm going to have like one red swollen eye. You're welcome. So I got derailed for a moment. If anyone's in the chat, feel free to say hi. I would love the interaction, especially since I'm jumping between feeds, just to see who, all may or may not be here. I am. I know what I did. Oh, bless it. There it is. Okay, perfect. All right. So, you know, I've got the volunteer plants popping up. Phenomenal. The banana sprouts have actually came right back even after the groundhog ate it all the way into the dirt. banana's resilient.

And even in western North Carolina in the Appalachians, it's still growing great. It is yay big and leaves are already coming out and spreading out. And it's a beautiful, beautiful site. So it is going to be interesting to see if maybe, fingers crossed, we get to fruit in this year. And maybe we won't. What's interesting enough, though, is, do you remember when bananas had seeds? I do, roughly. I remember over time the seeds getting smaller and smaller.

And actually, I remember a point when seeds were in our bananas. And we just didn't think anything of it. We ate it and went on our day, right? As a kid, the seeds were, I was like, oh, there's seeds. and then we're like, oh, you can eat those. Well, as time goes on, has anyone seen any banana trees that still produce seeds that have not been genetically altered? It was just one of those things. Someone was asking me, well, did you grow your bananas from seeds?

I was like, no. So bananas do a lot like rhizomes or similar to aloe. They create pups, and you can transplant those pups. Now a banana tree itself will only produce one set of bananas. and it only, essentially it only flowers and fruits once. And then that stock is no longer any good. So usually cut that stock down, cut it up into pieces, let it rot around the other banana because it's great for the rest of the banana tree to feed off of.

But that's the whole point is bananas, if anyone remembers, please say something in the chat. Bananas used to have seeds. Look at where we are at. 2026, bananas don't have seeds. And if they do, not seeds that actually produce or that you have to worry about.

Let me do this. Let me see. Hopefully I won't lose you, but let me look up. Of course, the first thing that pops up today, Coachella, no one cares. Let's see.

Yeah. Bananas used to have large, seeds. And over time, with modification, with, however they do it, they now no longer have seeds. I'm looking at these pictures. And it is commercial supermarket bananas like viable seeds. Seeds come from wild and ornamental banana varieties. Hmm. I don't know. It's interesting. I know a random thought, but I've had people, I've actually had a couple of people ask me about banana It's strange as it may be. But the fact that we just don't see them anymore,

Hey, Mama, I see you over on Instagram. How are you? I'm doing my quick Saturday morning podcast for our very long road trip because God is good and Christ is king and my daughters. I have their very first communion and I'm in elated to be present for all of it. My girls are amazing. What is going on with my eyebrows? Sorry. I'm noticing like I have one up high and one down low. And apparently just this excited shock look with one brow is doing it today. Oh, well, no one's here for that. Anyways, we're here to talk about gardening. So on top of that, sweet potato slips are starting.

They are slow for whatever reason. I feel like they're just dragging their time, which not a big deal. A lot of people who sell sweet potato slips say they won't actually be sending them out until May. So for me, that's not a terrible thing because it's like, okay, well, at least I won't be getting them later than May because I, last year got my slips a lot later than I was anticipating. And so then the cold hit and we lost them. I just didn't survive once the rainy point and the cold hit. And that's how it happens sometimes. So that's why I am growing my own sweet potato slips. I am going to keep sweet potatoes going in the house even over winter just because, well, one, we like sweet potatoes.

And two, why not? You can eat the fresh greens in your garden. I mean, off the stalks, the fresh leaves. It's good for you. You can't go wrong with it. Oh, hey, Joe, right? How are you? So I'm growing, I've got purple sweet potatoes, and then I have a bow grand that was sent to me by a dear friend in Ohio, which I will be seeing here in a couple weeks in May. I am going to Millersburg, Ohio, Ohio for the Heartland of Self-Reliance Conference. And it is beautiful. Look it up. It is an amazing event. It is only a two-day event, which not a big deal. It's done that way because of the fact that there are so many Amish and Mennonites that attend because they can't make it on Sundays. Out of respect, the owner did decide to just keep it to the two days. And I think it's sweet and phenomenal.

Great community, great people there. It's just all around a great experience. So with the fact that I have dove into the sourdough world, my bread didn't turn out, but that's okay. Bread is a little more finicky. My pastries turned out great. I am looking to get my hands on a dough bowl. Yes, I can buy them anywhere, but just being able to support some of the local Amish communities makes me excited because it would be nice to have it.

where I can just keep it all on that. So white sweet potatoes. Jol rate, you'll have to tell me a little bit more because I've never heard of white sweet potatoes. Now I want to look that up real quick. Let me see. I'm tired of jumping browsers, so we're just going to do Google Box.

And it's not Google Box, it's brave. White sweet potatoes. Oh. So they look like just basic potatoes. that's cool and there's starchier less sweet alternative to orange so the bow grants are an orange sweet potato and then i have a north carolina purple um i'm sprouting from both of those because i'd like to have both varieties available but um waiting to see how that goes i'm i'm very hopeful that i get plenty of slips i really only need a couple slips to be able to produce plants

but who doesn't want their garden or their plants to be as prolific and bountiful as possible. So I have tomatoes, squash, everything seems to be sprouting for the most part. A few squash aren't. My gooseneck squash are not. The seeds just don't seem to be taken. And that happens. As well as I made an error with my carrots. So I have a giant red raised box.

I'm sure people have seen on my Instagram lives. And I just put the seeds in there and watered it. Forgetting the fact that potatoes prefer a very moist, damp. So I'm going to rethrow some more seeds because I have carrots galore seeds. And I'm going to cover it with a piece of cardboard, a piece of wood, a lid, something to keep it dark and damp to keep that moisture. The problem is this raised bed needs a lot of watering on the daily to keep it damp and almost too much. So I realized the seeds may not actually even take because I didn't give the carrot seeds a good environment. So for those of you who aren't familiar, carrot seeds do need very moist to basically to start to sprout.

So get the dirt very moist and damp. Oh, there we go. and then take a piece of cardboard or wood or something, and you place it over it. And that's going to keep all the moisture, all of the dirt wet, and keep it dark and perfect for the seed limbs. Now you can check on it periodically, but once you start to see them, then you'll know exactly how things are going. But yes, carrots love very damp, very wet soil. My passion flour, I kind of should have done the same thing. They do recommend that you keep them soaked for two days in warm water. I did, ish, I did the napkin method.

Like we did as kids where we put the napkin in a Ziplop bag and we leave it on the counter. And we let it just do its thing. It's said to snip them, but those seeds get really slimy when wet. And I'm not messing with a knife in fingers or scissors to mess with seeds. So yes, I just threw them in. But I am getting sprouts now from them. My wasabi's doing great. I have found that with my wasabi and my broccoli,

they are more finicky when it comes to high temperatures. They prefer cooler temperatures. And that's why you see broccoli, early spring, late fall, because of the temperatures. Same with other types of vegetables. Well, I have mine in a spot in front of my house because I have them in separate containers just so I can manage the sun with them better versus sticking them in a garden and then them not even taken off. So I have them in an area that is predominantly shade. Yes, they do still get sun and indirect sun, but my plants are doing phenomenal this way.

And with the Japanese wasabi, they prefer around 60 max 70-ish degrees, even though they did great in Myrtle Beach in full summer. We love radishes in the cellas. We especially love some wasabi. And so that is one of those things where this little growing experiments worked great because if I need to move it, I can move it. Add a little smashed potato to your sourdough. Oh, Joe, you know, I've heard that. I had a gentleman tell me his wife puts dehydrated, actually uses instant potatoes or dried potatoes in her sourdough. I will do that. I will definitely do that. Now, are you talking about using the mashed potato as a feeder or when I'm making a

I think you mean a feeder, but I want to make sure. Sorry, folks. I'm jumping between the Instagram chat, which unfortunately does not show on the main feed. And keeping an eye on our chat, okay, someone wants to say hi or even give a tip for their own garden. I wish I could show you. There's like this little raised avocado in here too. That's hilarious. I think it's funny.

James, yeah. James has his mugs. I have mine. usually mine are some witty smart sayings. I'm just waiting on a response real quick and then we'll go back into it. Let me. To the feeder. And also the bread, 20% to the bread.

Okay. Good to know. I will try that. I will try that because it can't hurt. Which it took a while to get my starter to finally peek. And once it did, man, there are no words to say the amount of excitement And then realizing how much it peaked, I typically have found for myself, not saying for anybody else, because your house is different, your environment's different, the temperature is different. I have found using a more stiffer, feeding my starter more stiff, it does better, especially with where I'm at.

And so a good stiff starter works great. I found that doing the normal one to one to one or one to two to two or whatever the ratio is, that it's way too watery by the next day for my starter. It won't peak the same. And it's just because of the environment. Now, I am more of a carefree starter person. I have one. I do exact measurements on and I have one that I do my freestyle on. My freestyle. one's doing great. So I'm like, okay, I think we're going to stick to this, even though I do have the one I want to see how long I can go with the ratios and then go from there. Let's see. Lentals taste amazing on the bread and you add on protein. Oh, you can also try lentos added to bread. Smashed, of course. Okay, so do you boil them? You boil them like you're going to cook them, right?

In case the chat doesn't save on my end, I took a picture of that so I can remember. But yeah, so gardens, sourdough, I mean, this is where it's at. The weather is in between hot and cold. We're actually in a drought here in North Carolina, which is interesting. Yeah, boiled in that smash. Just double checking. Where we're going to be driving to, you know, they're starting to get thermatic weather. And some rain. Fingers crossed for the rain.

No, we don't want any of the tornadoes if we can help it. But it is a journey on everything we're doing. We went as far as because my son and I also try to volunteer at some local places. And it's one, to get him more comfortable, maybe speaking. And two, because he does talk, he talks about. home. It's a good way for mommy to get out of the house. So he's got his own little gloves, which the sad thing is, is actually not much smaller than my hands. So it's interesting. My baby's growing up and I'm not getting any bigger. Well, I'm not getting any taller.

Have you tried yogurt bread being that you being yogurt? The bread started. I have not. I have not. Joey, you are killing me, man. I've got all now I've got like a hundred other things I have to try. So again, for those of you who are up in the Ohio or near the Ohio area, look into the Heartland of Self-Reliance Conference. It's going to be May 15th and 16th. Hold on. Let me double. Yes. May 15th and 16th. That is a Friday and Saturday. There will be classes. There will be live demonstrations. There's usually a gentleman who, who does, has a forge. And I got to try it, but it was so chaotic last time that I didn't get to complete my

S hook. But it is, it is amazing. A lot of great people will check it out if you're going to be that in that area. And then, of course, we have our renowned Prepper Camp, which is going to be in August at Tryon International, well, Try on Equestrian Center in North Carolina. And this year, Preper Camp is August 14th, 15th and 16th. So no September, now August, but check it out, get your tickets. Tickets for both. Come to both. If you're up for it, come say hi to me in Ohio next month, and then come say hi to me

at Prepper Camp in August. The more, the merrier, we're happy to have people there who want to learn new skills, new abilities, to even just broaden their horizon. There's a lot of like-minded individuals and people you can talk to and get to know. It really is amazing. Hey, JP, how are you, darling? And you can also use beer for a starter of the bread. Now, I've heard of doing beer bread. I'm saving this again.

But it is just one of those things where you should get out there. You should have fun. Come say hi. Get yourself involved in an event. I know a lot of like the volunteer garden in areas will actually have classes on how to propagate, dues and don'ts for the local insect life or predators or even plants. So I went to an event for Earth's Day with my son and my fiance,

and it was amazing. We got to, my son got to paint little salamanders, which we found out there's a certain type of salamander that is only local to this area. He got to plant some seeds. So we have little sunflowers and little containers sitting on the porch with their little domes trying to sprout. And then on top of that, learning about the native carnivorous plants for North Carolina, the pitcher plants, the honeydews, the sundews, the Venus flytraps. And the fact that they are local and native to, sorry, not local, native to North Carolina. And yes, predominantly bog areas.

But it's still interesting because it's like I love pitcher plants. It does help a lot with the insect population, especially with the fact that we live in the middle of nowhere. So we do have to deal with the bucks. and so it's kind of nice to know that there's a natural plant that I can have and I can enjoy that can hold up to this weather because in Mississippi I had my hang-in pitcher plants, which are a tropical version, but the ones here actually shoot up straight from the ground, and the lady who demonstrated had one that was a good, almost four feet tall. It was absolutely beautiful. So I shouldn't say four feet. It was probably like two or three, but regardless, it was

still tall. It was still beautiful. And that's, I mean, it's interesting to know what's local in your area. Same with, I have a friend who, sorry, I have a friend who, um, teaching her about the native venomous plants to our region. And that's a big one is so that they understand that there are certain things. Sorry, I'm catching a sound and I'm trying to see if my security camera's picking it up, my apologies. But learning your native area for us, knowing what type of venomous snakes we have in the area, how to be aware of them, just the common ones as well. It never hurts to educate yourself on your region or what you have going on. And then again, again, Again, our big one's going to be, as you see in this depiction around me.

I wish this is what my garden look like, but it doesn't. I did. I was given some bamboo stocks that I am about to cut down and lace up and use for post. I also miss garden girl. Sorry, I didn't want to give the real name. I have my lufas have all sprouted, so I'm excited to see how the lufas do. Okay, Joe Rite says here, I challenge you to four, to have four jars and to start the starters, normal, with potatoes, yogurt, and beer at the same time. Okay, not a problem.

Joe Rate, I do have a question. I accept that challenge. I will gladly post that on my Instagram for those of you who are not on there. you should jump over. I am live right now on my Instagram. It's Phoenix underscore survival. But Joe, Ray, does it matter the type of beer?

Can I use a logger or does it have to be something in particular? Does it matter? I will be more than happy to publish the results too. I'm excited. My old man's going to be like, oh, God, more jars. But that's another thing. Our chickens have been producing relatively well. We went through a phase where all of a sudden they stopped. We do still have a egg eater,

so it should be interesting to see if I come home to any eggs after this road trip, because after this, I'm going to go collect what I can, and then we'll go from there and see how this goes, because I probably won't be home until early, early Monday morning. But we'll see. I have had so much eggs that I give them away to my friends. But I've also started pickling. I have so many jars of pickled eggs. And some of them I have to take and leave in Mississippi. I have some that I have to take to a friend who has a business next to me. Oh, hold on. I am looking at dehydrate eggs. Yes, you hear people freeze drying them, but you can dehydrate them. So I am going to order one of those silicone mats that I can put in my round dehydrator and try traditional grants best results for any

beer. Oh, any type of beer, but traditional grants. Oh, sorry. My baby's doing her first confession, and she's so excited. And it's, you know, it's great. In our household, it's great to be able to share our faith and our passion with each other. so. But yes, so I'm going to try that. I'm going to do the four setup of the starters. Jory, one more question. Is there a type of yogurt that works best?

Or does it matter? So I'm definitely, let's see, doesn't matter. Okay. I'm excited to see how it goes, because it's, definitely going to be interesting. So my question for you, though, when I'm feeding it, I've got questions. I want to make sure I do this right. Am I still add in the flour and the yogurt is in place of the water or is it the yogurt is in place of the flour? And that's what I'm just feeding it with. I'm starting my normal starter and then I'm feeding it with just that or see, I get questions.

I don't want to mess this up because then you're going to be like, oh, you did that wrong. So is the beer, the liquid for the flour? I get the sweet potato is in place of the flour. Yogurt and beer in place of the starter. Okay. I got to do some homework. But yes, I'm going to definitely try that. I've got to see a few people do it because if I just do it all willy-nilly,

there's no telling how I'm going to do. Oh, I think I get it. Took a minute for the light to come on. But no. It is going to be interesting. So y'all will get to see four jar starter. We'll see how that goes. Jory, it's going to be ready to laugh at me.

I will get the pictures posted of the garden soon. I will go ahead, though, and post the desserts that I have been making. And you can ask, poor James, the strawberry ones just don't look as pretty. They did eat fine. But poor James, I was blowing them up with, hey, this sourdough, hey, that sourdough. And it's... All right, let's do this. I'm going to put sourdough desserts.

There you go, folks. And I'll fix it and add in all the little tags and everything. There we go. Tadda! So for those of you who are following my Instagram, you'll see that. that I would have done this, like I said, live on the other, but I couldn't get a hold of James. So no biggie. We'll just do live on my account.

And it should be interesting. Potato is added to the starter. Okay, I actually, Joe, rate, I believe you 110% that it is going to be astounding, and I cannot wait to see how that's going to turn out. Oh, okay. I was trying to figure out what. I'm excited, absolutely excited. I can't wait to see how that goes. So I do have Passion Flower Sprouting. My peas have completely taken off, so they are now ready to be in the bed,

trellised, because they are attaching everything. My beans are doing great, which I'd like to grow more beans, but we'll see how that goes. And I should have already gotten. some corn in, and I will be growing some corn. It's just figuring out the growing season here is a bit different, and I know it's not too much different, but it's different enough, and the soil's different. So it's a big learning curve, and I hope to eventually get to a point where predominantly our produce is all grown here. So knowing that gypsum bricks down clay, knowing that there's a special stuff that I can feed my tomatoes. Just being able to produce as much as I can for my household is our biggest goal.

Being able to take all of those tomatoes, if we get them, fingers crossed. All of those tomatoes that we hope to produce will then be, you know, turned into, well, will we be turned into sauces and sauce? Salsas and tomato sauce and everything, just everything. And it's getting, that's on my list, a new pressure canner. So I can pressure can mills and other foods and have them shelf stable ready. When I make my chickens and chicken, potato, and carrots, I make it in a way I use it as a base for everything. That requires it.

And so being able to can that and put that up makes it so easy, as well as having pre-made meals, chili, whatever have you. Soups and having them all in jars can make the world of a difference. So being able to be my own grocery store is the biggest thing. Oh, okay, hold on. Joe Rite says, if you have cabbage and you do a sour cabbage, you can use the liquid to do a bread starter. Welcome to the fermentation world and sun dried tomatoes that you can preserve and with oil is shelf stable. Yes. So I did kombucha for the longest time. I need to reach out. I don't know if anyone's ever heard again from Melinda Lee. Love her. She was amazing. She's the one who started me on kombucha this year. My goal is to make hot sauce. But I want to use a bit of the fermentation process for the hot sauce. I find I like the zing of it. a lot more. I am also trying my hand at making kimchi. I love kimchi. And it would be nice to just be

able to have that, even if made in my own house. So we all have seen the news. And if you haven't, spoiler alert, Unilever has bought out McCormick, if I have that right, which is not, Let me, I'm just double-checking. I want to make sure I say this. Yes. No, McCormick and company is combining with Unilever's food business to create a 65.8 billion global flavor giant. I can tell you right now, that makes me very, very uncomfortable.

Unilever will spin off its food unit, exclude in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Lipton Tea to merge with McCormick. You should be concerned. What is McCormick known for is our seasonants, our spices, our condiments, and Unilever is taking that over. It's bad enough that we have seen businesses who handle our soaps and our shampoos and other things put toxins in there not too long ago. If you remember, our feminine products had lead and heavy metals and other things that we should not be put in our body. The tampons and the feminine products, a lot of things have forever chemicals in them. And then on top of that, we are dealing with the fact that people, oh, here we go. Sorry.

I don't know why I didn't think to jump to my alt account to be able to watch this versus jumping from window to window. burp the jar each day. That's not a problem. That's good to know. I are ready make our own mayonnaise. Now, add in a little bit of ferment and base. You can ferment your mayonnaise. You leave it out for like six to 12 hours. And then you can put in the fridge and it lasts twice as long. I got to thank the homestead and family for that one. She taught me that on her YouTube. She was once a guest on my last show when I was called A Family Affair. We'd love to have her again. I'd love to have her again, I need to reach back out. Amazing woman. Amazing skill set. And read the recipe above. Huh? Oh, oh, oh, oh. Okay, I see, I see, I see. Let me. A special recipe for hot sauce.

Cut the peppers. Add whiskey and salt. A bit of olive oil and placed in the sun for a week. And it's hot, spice, and ready. Ooh. Okay. Joe rate. I'm going to have a million and ten things. line out and tell people don't touch that. That's phenomenal. I will have to try that. I definitely took a picture of that so I could keep it. But what we're seeing is these unilevers mainly known for its body products. Now combined with McCormick, you are, you are my best fam. But it is heartbreaking to know that people don't realize what is going on with what they're putting in their bodies. So for us, I've gotten where I only buy handmade soap from people I trust or I've got the stuff to start making it myself. Eventually, I've got my hand in so many other places right now. I don't have time.

And I need to make time because I tell friends who say they don't have time, I tell them, you have to make time to get things done. It's just how it is. You have to. Brother from another mother. Oh, I love that. I've never seen it written as B-Fam, but I thought it was like best family. Sorry.

But people don't realize what's going into the food. Like your ketchup right now is so much sugar. Now, we rarely eat ketchup or use ketchup, but getting to the point where I'm making my own ketchup. I would love and will, it's on my list to make my own mustard. I do make my own mannings. I also have a very severe food allergy that has only gotten worse over the years because of the constant exposure. And so because of that, I don't get to enjoy fast food, which I have. I don't believe I'm missing out anymore.

Certain restaurants, certain foods, processed foods, which, again, I don't feel like I'm missing out anymore. My whole goal for the sourdough is to be able to, even with normal yeast, make my own bread anyways. Most commercial bread, they put soy in. Most mayonnaise is almost all the mayonnaise. They put soy in. any pre-crossed food like chicken nuggets or what have you. There's soy in it. There's soy in ice cream unless you get fine one that's like keto safe or diabetic safe.

There's no soy in that. It just goes to show you soy has been consumed in such large quantities. People don't realize it. And what soy does to you? So for a man, soy increases your estrogen levels. And it actually does it on anyone. So the whole term soy boy is not necessarily untrue because it can with the constant exposure of these alter your hormones from it. It can cause certain traits.

Now, I believe it's also one of those things, even though you don't see it initially first generation. this is a constant exposure over time, continue and continual. So it's just something to think about is, do you really want to be exposing yourself and eat in things you shouldn't be? I believe I thought Di Red 40 was banned. Let me see.

But I have seen where, let me see. Yeah, Red number 40, which is funny. is as of April 2025, red number 40, yellow number five, yellow number six, blue number one, blue number two, green number three, and red dye number three is formally banned in food and drugs while state level actions, ban these additives and schools. Here's something you should know. Just because they say it's banned does not mean you're not still consuming it. And what I mean by that is just because they banned it, they didn't. not remove it off the shelves. So I've actually seen quite a few things. I was, I was eating something.

I was like, this was banned. And it's still in there because they're still selling everything they have, just like the whole chocolate epidemic of fake chocolate. You're not getting real chocolate anymore, which for me, I'm not missing out because I can only get a certain type of chocolate. And I only eat dark chocolate. and that there's a whole whole array to how I have to handle chocolate. But the thing is, is we have seen there's fake chocolate with Hershey's, with Reese's, with several other major corporations and ice cream and sandwiches. It's not real chocolate. And you're finding that out.

And some of them don't even melt, which should be concerned. And if your food doesn't break down, it might not be breaking down. in you, especially in the way that you think it's going to. So I read an article on it, and it said that they plan to implement real chocolate sometime in 27, which means until then, these corporations still have the ability to sell and market their fake chocolate until 27. I believe it's the same with the band dies is they're banned, right? You can't use them in any going forward.

It's not stopping them from selling what they already have on the shelf. So that is something you need to consider is if you're someone who has a hard time with those or trying to avoid those, look at your food. Just because it was announced it was banned doesn't mean these corporations are actually going to lose money by doing something for the public's health and safety. Um, it is definitely something that we see where people have to have to just be very cognizant of what's going on, very aware of the fact that no one's looking out for your best interest but you. So with the soy, be mindful. I am that person. I say that to my waiters and waitresses as soon as I walk in. I'm

sorry, but I am going to be that person. I have a soy allergy. So I have a soy. So I have a line of questions. Is it 100% beef? Do you use margarine or butter? What oil do you fry with? You know, I have to make sure something doesn't have mayonnaise. I have to make sure certain I can't do a lot of salad dressings, believe it or not. Newman's is one of the few that I can do because everybody else puts soy in their balsamic binaigrette or any of their salad dressins. Ranch is full of it. So I tell people, I like to not die when I eat. And so we don't eat out much. Everything's typically homemade here.

I cook and I enjoy it because I like to eat. And I like to eat what I cook. So, but it's something to be mindful. I believe it was Applebee's or Red Robbins. Could be both of them. They do not have 100% beef. It is soy protein put in there. And companies do this because soy is a cheap additive.

It is a cheap crop. And so if they put soy in there, they can cut the meat and still charge you full beef for something that's not. I believe it was Red Robin we went into. And they have the little electronic kiosk and I put in soy allergy. There was nothing, absolutely nothing. I could eat in that restaurant. Their salads were even marked as unavailable because of my sore allergy. And so that tells you a lot that you have to be mindful of the fact that your food,

especially if you're buying it at a restaurant or in public, isn't safe. And isn't safe in the sense that I'm telling you to be afraid of public food. But be aware that things aren't always what they seem. I refuse. I absolutely refuse to buy produce or meats from Walmart because over the years, I have gotten so many bad foods. Our local Walmart, I can't tell you the number of times when I first moved down and I went to look at their potatoes and there's maggots stripping out of a bag onto the other bags. And I'll tell the worker and they just move the bag as the maggots are dropping out.

Onions, maggots, watermelon maggots. And I'm like, how do these employees just let so much rotten food? But also, you'll bring out a brand new delivery and there's rotten fruit or whatever. And it's just, yeah, no, I can't. I can't. Over the years, this isn't just to the state, Mississippi and Arkansas, I'd buy chicken, or whatever meat, I'd stick in the fridge to be able to put it away the next day, cut it open, and you can just smell that the meat is completely ruined.

Which means the meat most likely hit room temperature, completely thalled, and then was frozen again. So it went frozen, thawed, frozen, or thawed, went bad, was frozen, and then you get it, you bring it home because it's sitting in a freezer, fridge at the store, it stays chilled. So you don't know it until you cut it open. And I ran into that so many times of the years that I refuse to buy my meat from Walmart. I'm also that person as I check. If you see an expansion over the top where the gases have been released, then you already know that this meat, whatever it may be, has thalled and has been refrozen or

what have you, because that gases that are released is part of the decomposition rate as well. So that's something to keep in mind that be aware of your food. I am blessed enough that there are local people here who have their own produce stands, who have their own meat that they raise, grass-fed, natural no hormones, that we can buy from. I am very blessed. Now, not everybody is that lucky, and I can say I wasn't that lucky before. Do your research on what you have in the area. Yes, I do have to drive 30 minutes out to support some of the local folks.

Actually, a little more than 30. 30 minute drive anywhere is fine. But I am absolutely okay with that because of the fact that I know what I'm going to put in my family's body. I want to support the small businesses. I want to help these people who are helping my family. And that's where it's at. Yes, I'm turning into that small business supporter, but you know what?

It is what it is. I'm a small business person in a sense that I crochet, I sell, I sew where I can. And over the years, that has helped make ends meet. and I'm no stranger to tough times, and I'm no stranger to understanding that these people who are doing their little produce stand on the side of the road are doing something to try to bring in an income to their family. I respect that. I respect the hustle, and I respect the fact that these people are people just like you and me, and you don't have to buy if you think something's too

high, fine, don't buy. I don't go out of my way. I don't go out of my way. to kill myself, but I am going to support locally. And if that means spending a few more dollars on something that I could get cheaper at Walmart, I would rather spend the few extra dollars. Because if you think about it right now, the only reason I go to Walmart is to the fact that I can get clearance right now. And I lift at my romper like you can see it. But that is because right now, Yes, I'm a textile woman. I don't care for the polyesters and the synthetics, but right now I've got to grow in child. And trying to keep up with that, yes, I found myself a little $3 outfit is a big deal. So right at season changes, and I've done this for years, is as things change, as they bring in new stock or old stock, they've got to get out, they mark things down.

and I've been fortunate enough to find dollar outfits for my son. 4T, 5T. I've even bought some seven sevens, size six sevens form and a bigger sizes because children grow fast and children destroy things. And that's just how they are. And not a big deal. I can say easily enough buying my son several outfits. on the cheap, I can still walk out a Walmart with how expensive things have gotten and spend

$70 to $90 like that. It's easy to do and without a single food item in your car. But again, I'm getting my $70 to $90 is quite a few outfits or clothing for my family, for my son, for myself, because I look for the sales. I look for the clearance. I look through the store. just to kill time till the other stores open. And you know what? Finding $20 pants marked down to $7 a pair, so he's got work pants, finding myself something I thought was cute,

but I'm not paying $15 for it, marked down to $3 or $1. Okay, cool. There's one less summer outfit I have to worry about. But while I'm at it, I'm going through the stuff that we have that we no longer need and moving it out. some things I can sew and repurpose or fix an altar for one of the littles.

But elsewise, we don't try to accumulate more than we have space for. Now, yes, with the child's clothes, yes. Do I do that? Yes. Again, children ruin things, and they go through things. And my son's too. So a lot of times he thinks that his dirty hands goes down the shirt that he's wearing. It's just a part of it. Shirts get ruined. I'm not heartbroken. Kids are kids. And that's how they should be. Like,

not maybe the red sauce on a gray shirt sucks. But children are children. They're going to make messes. They're going to be a little bit everywhere and that's okay. So that's going to be a part of it. So I do use Walmart for the clearance shopping. I don't try to pay anything full price if I can help it, especially from there. Elsewise, I bargain shop. Anywhere I can. We have a discount grocery store. I buy in bulk from our specific store that has a meat market. And I save as much money as I can, where I can.

Hard times hit everybody. And don't we know it right now? But things will get better. And sometimes being a bit frugal, it's not going to hurt. So keep in mind, work on your garden, like all of these little pictures. Hopefully your garden will look as great, because I can tell you, mine does not. Mine's sad, but I'm working on it. Work on your skills.

I mean, come on, as soon as this goes off air, I'm not a big sugar girl, but I'm going to demolish the sourdose. cinnamon roll. Work on your skills, work on your cannon, work on your gardening, your soap making, what have you. Do be proactive. And you'll rate, I will be trying those starters once I get back. So I'm excited. I will have to set that up though sometime next week because I think I've eaten all the yogurt in the house. So we'll see. But I'm excited. It will be good. I will get those pictures posted and just keep in mind on my Instagram. I guess periodically we'll do the lives here.

And all right, folks, I've taken up an hour of your day. I appreciate you being here. I appreciate you stopping in. If you have any questions, concerns, comments, ideas, or topic suggestions you would like to hear, You can reach out to me on here directly through Instagram X here on Rumble. You can actually message me through if you're on our chat on Element or send me an email at Phoenix dash survival at proton.m. And it will not let me post anything in the comments. Okay.

Never mind. So Phoenix dash survival at proton. dot Emmy, feel free to reach out. And if that's the case, if you were talking to me on X and I did not see it, it might be because I didn't realize our chat was blocked since YouTube imploded us. I am so sorry. That is not what I was expecting. So I apologize if you said something and I did not see it. But all right, folks, take care. Have a great day. And you'll right, you will be hearing from me and be ready for the chaos because it will happen. All right, folks, take care and have a good one. Bye, y'all.