My name is Anna and I'm a modern homesteader. I began homesteading a few years ago when I still lived in a condo in the city. It changed my life! I now live on just over an acre and am following my dreams of living a simpler, more sustainable and self-sufficient life. I love to help and inspire others to do the same & prove that the simple life doesn't have to be complicated!
By Anastasia Sakawsky | Canning , Food Preservation , Fruit, Jam and Jelly , Recipes
Spicy peach jam is one you can’t miss this canning season, especially when it’s a peach jam recipe without pectin. This sweet and hot chipotle peach jam makes an amazing accompaniment to cheese platters, as a sticky marinade on grilled or roasted meats, a dipping condiment for grilled cheese (oh ya, I did that at […]
Read MoreBy Anastasia Sakawsky | Dessert , Recipes
Mini cherry pies in a muffin tin, because nothing says summer like cherry pie. Something about it reminds me of fireworks and the 4th of July (or Canada Day for my fellow Canucks;) Cherry pie was the first pie I ever made from scratch. I made it with store-bought sweet cherries and a basic pie […]
Read MoreBy Anastasia Sakawsky | Main Dish , Recipes
Mafe- a Peanut Sauce & Rice Recipe and how I came to have it. Before I was a homesteader, I was a traveller. In fact – ironically enough – travelling is one of the things that inspired me to start homesteading in the first place. Experiencing how different cultures lived around the world, enjoying all […]
Read MoreBy Anastasia Sakawsky | DIY Recipes & Tutorials , Natural Medicine Cabinet
Learning how to make dandelion salve is one of the best ways to create a healing salve from one of nature’s most prolific plants. Dandelions are often the first weed of spring to pop up all over lawns across America. To those who strive for golf green-like grass, dandelions are a nuisance, and people often […]
Read MoreBy Anastasia Sakawsky | Fruit , Gardening , Raising Your Own Food , Vegetables
Container gardening for vegetables, herbs and flowers isn’t what we typically think of when we imagine growing enough of our own food to take us through a year or do a lot of preserving. Self-sufficiency wise, we think of large fields or at the very least, large garden plots. But container gardening should definitely have […]
Read MoreBy Anastasia Sakawsky | Homestead Life , Lifestyle
13 steps to the simple life your Great-Grandparents knew but in today’s day and age, we seem to have forgotten. Some people say that this is the best time in all of history to be alive. After all, we live in a time of more abundance than we’ve ever known. As a society, we want […]
Read MoreBy Anastasia Sakawsky | Main Dish , Recipes , Sides
Learn how to make perogies (or pierogies) from Anna, with her traditional Ukrainian Perogi recipe. I can hardly remember a Christmas dinner without perogies. I want to say it happened once and so many family members complained that it never happened again. Because these potato-filled dumplings aren’t just a staple of holiday dinners in my […]
Read MoreBy Anastasia Sakawsky | Crafts , DIY Recipes & Tutorials , essential oils , Homestead Life , Skills
How to make soy candles at home with essential oils is one of the easiest ways to make candles. My kitchen is one of my favorite places to escape to. I love that it’s a space where I’m able to create things with my own two hands; Real, tangible, useful, nourishing things like meals made […]
Read MoreBy Anastasia Sakawsky | Main Dish , Recipes
A Borscht recipe is something every home should have, regardless if you’re Ukrainian or not. Lucky for us, Anna is sharing her family’s Ukrainian Borscht recipe and tips with us today. I come from good Ukrainian stock. I know this because my mother never lets me forget it. I’m reminded at every family gathering, at […]
Read MoreBy Anastasia Sakawsky | Bread , Dessert , Recipes
This Plum bun recipe is from 1910 and hails from the kitchen of Baba. This 100-year-plus recipe is rich in both flavor and it’s history. You can’t get much more simple or delicious than a sugared plum prune wrapped in fluffy from scratch dinner roll dough and baked to golden brown perfection. I come from […]
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