a lot of this is self inflicted by fighting the game instead of rolling with its ruleset.

You are going all in, and that is great, but a bit of laziness goes a long way in these games. A chimney? Try putting the fire on the top floor instead. Raising animals? Its amusing, but WHY? Early game, deer and pig are plentiful and mobs leave the meat all over the place to just pick up. Late game, a portal to a lox spawn & a few shots refills you for days --- the new xbow takes off half its health on a sneak attack. And ML, the most common enemy drop food meat.

Other issues are similar... fixing wood from water damage?? Let it rot (it stops at 50%)... such structures are for utility. Across the board, you are doing everything 'right' but you are putting in 10x the effort needed as doing it 'right' isnt any more effective than taking the easy route. I mean, 99% of the time honey and grilled meats are all I fool with for food. Only if in the hardest zone I can handle do I use better. I get burned, if the wolf pack finds me before I can get to safety, but I would rather die once a week than spend 3/7 of the week growing food...