You ever have one of those days/weeks/or months that are just so incredibly busy that you don't have a moment to spare? I'm kind of in the middle of one right now....
I thought that with the significant decrease in work I would have some down time, but I was very mistaken... With all of the stuff we've been doing lately I thought about delaying school, but I decided it would be better to just go ahead and bite the bullet and get started on our 5th year of school...
So far, so good, but then, it's only been 2 days. We've also been working in the garden and I've had what I think is alot of things to put up. I did the canning thing for a while, but it was so time consuming that I finally have started to freeze things. Not as good overall, and I'm going to regret it for sure when our steer comes in, hopefully later this month... but for now it is saving a bit of my sanity.
I tend to get overwhelmed with tasks and forget the big picture often. This is one reason I try to write things down... if I don't it tends to be forgotten. THis is also true for meals as well... I get wrapped up in something and then realize we should have eaten an hour ago and nothing is ready.... If I plan out a menu then I can stay on top of the preparations.... It also encourages me to remember to try new things and not eat the same old stuff day after day.....
I've also started planning out breakfast and lunch as well as dinner as I am in serious weight loss mode. You might notice nothing here is really diet food though.... My issue is that I let myself skip meals and then I binge on sweets/carbs.... So... I'm making myself eat 3 meals a day and an afternoon snack consisting of a protein bar...
I didn't have time to post this Sunday, but I'm backtracking because I feel like it....
Sunday
B... Kefir smoothie with protein and banana
L... Salad with feta and grilled chicken
D... burgers with jojo potatoes and green beans
Monday
B... Scrambled eggs/bacon/fruit
L...Salmon Stack Sandwiches and canteloupe (new recipe, but really good. From Sue Gregg)
D... Homemade pizza on whole wheat with pepperoni and mushrooms
Tuesday
B...Kefir smoothie with protein and banana
L...Salmon Stack Sandwiches (leftovers) and canteloupe
D...Hummus and Yogurt/cucumbers with pitas
Wednesday
B...Eggs/bacon/fruit
L...Tuna salad pitas with veggies sticks
D... Salad with beef
Thursday
B...Kefir smoothie with protein and banana
L... Cheese salad Sandwich (a Sue Gregg recipe)
D.. Crockpot Salsa chicken
Friday
B...Eggs/bacon/fruit
L... Pasta/Shrimp with feta and a salad
D... Nachoes
Saturday...
Kefir for breakfast, and, since I'm working possibly, homemade pizza for dinner with leftovers for lunch...
We redecorated the Prince's bedroom a few weeks ago, and not to be outdone, the Princess want hers redone also.
It wasn't quite the project that the Prince's was, but was still a change from the previous setting. We built shelf around the top of the room for the mass of toys accumulated over 10 years that are just to dear to get rid of (sarcasm). We also switched her bed from a full to a daybed so that she would have more actual room in her room. The never used desk is gone with more room for her hobbies of her dolls and music...
Tonight it's just me and the Prince.... I told him we should go on a date and he said that he'd rather stay in, and besides he doesn't date yet.... all quite matter of factly.
So... in the midst of the chaos that is our home right now... doing another room re-do... I tried to think of something yummy but different while we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...
Today I made my best loaf of bread ever using a new recipe I found in Nourishing Traditions... I get the concept and science behind NT, but I still have a hard time with it personally. I am much more of an instant gratification kind of person and to start something and not have it be done for a day or 2 makes me nuts....
I did vary from what the recipe said, and I am writing what I did......
4 cups of ground hard wheat and spelt (and maybe some kamut... I forgot to write it all down, but it was mostly the wheat)
1-1/2 cups of buttermilk
1/2 cup of melted butter
2-1/2 teaspoons of yeast
2 tablespoons of honey
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup of unbleached white flour (I did not have this and used 1 cup of hard white)
.....................
Combine the 4 cups of flour with buttermilk and butter... recipe says use food processor, but I used my Bosch with a cookie dough attachment, not the dough hook. Blend until it forms a ball... I kind of helped it along when it looked mixed well....
THen let it sit for 12-24 hours covered at room temperature.
Then... combine water, yeast and honey and leave for 5 minutes until bubbly. Add salt and baking soda and mix it well. Add this to the flour mixture you prepared before along with the additional 1 cup of flour. Mix well until smooth... I used the dough hook this time.
Cover and let rise for 2 hours, or so, until doubled. Punch down and knead by hand or in the mixer for less than a minute... I just did by hand... Form into loaf/loaves and put in prepared, buttered pan and let rise, covered for 1 or 2 hours until doubled.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes... cool on rack...
The Bad...
I also made the Jamaican Red Beans and Rice also from Nourishing Traditions....
I am asked on occasion how I get everything done in life and how it looks like things turn out so well for me and that is why I am putting this here...
I normally prefer to keep my flops to myself....
The recipe looks great and I went and bought what I thought was coconut milk in a can... not the best, but I wasn't in the mood to be cracking any coconuts.
Well... I soak my bean, soak my rice and add all of the ingredients and it smell HEAVENLY... until you taste it... It is SICKENINGLY sweet...
Apparently I bought a sweetened coconut cream that is the base for Pina coladas.
The whole thing is now in my septic tank via the garbage disposal... I'm just glad I made a very small batch and not my normal feed an army amount....
The Ugly....
I went and got a hair cut this week and changed from my normal style, if I actually have a normal style, that is....
so far I've had sweaty, in the garden while it rains day, hot-flash at the hospital day, or too busy to try and figure out what to do with it day...
Let me just say that for now... it's just kind of ugly...
I planted 24 cucumber plants in our garden, and they are all doing really well... The lack of rain has affected most everything else, but the cucumbers are doing great.
Today I canned 7 quarts and 12 pints of cucumber-pickles..... This is alot. I think we have enough right now canned to feed us for the next 20 years or so....
I personally don't like alot of variety when it comes to breakfast.... eggs and bacon or a kefir smoothie if I'm trying to cut back....
When I'm feeling really decadent we have waffles.... and they are worth every calorie as good as they are....
I use the Breadbecker's recipe for the waffles, and used a combo of soft white wheat and spelt. Usually we just do maple syrup and some whipped cream, but today I decided to take advantage of the blueberries and make a syrup from them.... THis too came from the Breadbecker's cookbook, and turned out very well (as pretty much everything from it does....)
I've always been somewhat of a loner, but over the past few years I don't think I've had many adventures on my own.
Today I went on a nature hike alone as the Prince and Princess were both a little tired of the brambles and bugs we usually experience on these walks.
I went in search of a few more blackberries to add to my stash from yesterday. Later this afternoon I made jam and canned 6 half-pints... and it actually turned out, unlike last year when I really screwed it up.
I was also in search of some butterfly weed I wanted to dig up to transplant; Mr. B had found the last time he was with us.
I was surprised at how much I usually miss during these walks..... I never noticed the mullein before, or the trumpet flowers... even a couple of dew-y spider webs.....
Well when all was done I came home and got to work..... I made the jam... and did I already mention that it turned out really good! I also canned a couple of pints of hot peppers, made bread, muffins and some soup....
This is one of our most favorite soups, from my vegan days.... long before the time where I was hitting up strangers for deer meat or trying to figure out if I could get rabbits past the HOA (home owners association)...
It is basically a variation of Catalina Soup from The New Laurel's Kitchen. I've been making it for almost 15 years and we still love it, even with the non-vegan ingredients....
I was able to use mostly ingredients from our garden right now, but I did have to fudge it a bit....
Kimi's Catalina Soup....
1 onion chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped (I used a clove of elephant garlic that a wonderful lady sent me)
Olive oil or butter
a bunch of chopped tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce (regular sized can)
2-4 large potatoes, chopped into cubes
2-4 cups of water
oregano, salt and pepper
4 oz monterey jack cheese, chopped into cubes or shredded.
.......................
Saute the onion and garlic in the oil/butter until translucent.
Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and water. Bring to a boil, and add the potatoes.
Cook until potatoes are as soft as you want. Add seasonings and cheese. Stir until cheese melts for about 5 minutes.
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You may use canned diced tomatoes instead of the tomato sauce and fresh ones. I have used vegan cheese for the jack also.... SoyaKrass (?) melts well, but that was back in the days when soy was supposed to be good for you....
We've had an especially busy week as I have worked more at the hospital, and I haven't felt like we've had alot of family time together unfortunately. Today was more of the same, but with a different bent....
We left the Prince and Princess with Granny and Papa while Mr. B and I went to the big city also known as The ATL... It's been a while since I was down there, and though we used to live right smack in the middle of the urban jungle, Mr. B hasn't been there in many years.
We were on a quest to spend less, but as much gas as I burned I'm not sure it was worth it. I found a Tanturi exercise bike on Craig's list for $25 and we went and picked it up... it is a little older, but very sturdy and seems to be in good shape. It is actually made in Finland, much to the Princess' surprise... she was convinced that everything came from China.
To continue our Scandinavian theme we went to IKEA and had a lunch of Swedish meatballs and lingonberries.... actually really good as I was starving by this point and it was different from what we usually eat....
This made me realize that I think I've really been in a rut lately... I truly need a bit of chaos in my life to make me happy.... I hate doing the same thing day after day while seeing the same things and people over and over.... I hate routine, and I hate schedule....
So I am going to come up with some new goals and try to push the boundaries of comfort... I want to try some new things and see how far I can go.....
We then picked up the Prince and Princess and were surprised by my cousins I never seem to see and their son... Maybe I need to be forming more of a relationship with them... they are about the only family I have who will actually speak to me I feel like most of the time....
We then made a yummy, but untypical dinner for us..... Thick, boneless pork chops on the grill with sauce made from the blackberries we picked earlier in the week. We added some sauteed squash we picked today along with some mashed red potatoes....
The kids loved it and even put the blackberries in their potatoes.....
I think I have just gotten complacent and into a groove with a comfortable life.... I don't necessarily think this is bad, it's just not what I have ever wanted in life... I know that my kids and Mr. B, too, need some structure, but I need to stop being cheap and lazy and seek adventure again!
We went on a nature walk other morning to see how the blackberries were progressing.... To our surprise there were a few ripe ones.
We took a vote and decided to make some blackberry ice cream and top it with blackberry syrup (kind of)....
I don't do a fancy ice cream, but simply pour the cream off the top of my raw milk (about 2 cups)... I then added in about 2/3 cup of blackberries and processed them in the blender for about 20-30 seconds on low-medium speed... I then added enough milk to make a total of 4 cups of liquid. Add 1 cup of sugar and some vanilla then mix it all together. Pour into your ice cream maker and let it do it's thing....
For the sauce I decided to not make it fresh, but use up the last jar of the blackberry jam from last summer... I basically heated it in the microwave for 30-40 seconds until it was bubbly and then spooned it over the top.....
We have 3 cats... 2 females, Lola and Darla who are 16+ years and 14 years old, and a male, Boo, who is just at 1 year old. Lola and Boo are both solid black, and Lola transcends catdom at times... I've had her most of my adult life and hate to think of a time without her...
Now we have BooCat. Since we found Boo, our older cats have been terrorized to a certain degree... I think it's just the boy thing and he has just maintained alot of his spunky kitten qualities...
Today I decided to make him a catnip toy mouse... I found a pattern that looked pretty simple, and I altered it as this one had a split bottom to put fresh catnip in... I figured that if it had a way to get the catnip out easily there would be stuffing all over the place in no time....
I would like to think I'm a pretty good at sewing, and I went to extra trouble to make this little mouse tough....
Then Boo played for about 5 minutes......
And this is what my poor, little mouse ended up as....
A mass of felt with the ears eaten off(!, I couldn't find them) and the tail missing....
This past Sunday my Grandmother let me sit down and go thru her recipe box, and by box I mean a pile of newpaper clippings of recipes from as far back as the 1940's. It actually looked very similar to the pile of recipes that I just got rid of....
So I came home with a new stash of recipes to start trying. It isn't strawberry season here, but I had a taste for this today...
Strawberry Bread
3 cups flour... I used 1 part spelt with 2 parts soft white wheat... grind it and then measure out the 3 cups... or just use all-purpose flour...
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
2 cups of sugar... next time I may use honey
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup of oil
20 oz of frozen, sliced strawberries--thawed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In large bowl combine the dry ingredients. Add eggs, oil and strawberries together in another bowl. Add wet into the dry and mix well. Pour into 2 greased bread pans (9 inches x 5 inches). Bake for one hour or until a knife comes out clean.
We still haven't quite recovered from working on the Prince's room all last week and Saturday when today rolls around and it's another busy day...
We went to work in the garden and had a ton to do.... it's actually been raining for a change and there was a ton of weeding. In Georgia it's too hot for many things in the summer...so the potatoes had to all be dug today too. We had 4 large bags of potatoes to bring home. Also the tomatoes, cucumbers and beans all started coming in today, and I have a ton of different peppers.
We came home and I am trying to get a plan on what to do with all of this....
I started by breaking up the beans and cooked them in some water with some butter added along with some of the red potatoes.
I had a cabbage we picked last week and made a cabbage casserole that was delicious. Fresh ground cornmeal muffins rounded out the meal along with some canteloupe.
Also my beautiful Princess is visually stunted and got her first pair of glasses today... She spent most of the day exclaiming that she can actually see!
Cabbage Casserole Recipe... adapted from the Dillard House recipe
1 large cabbage, shredded
water
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter
2 Tablespoons of flour (I used soft white wheat)
3 cups of milk
1-2 cups of cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
Shred the cabbage and cook it in a pan with some boiling water for 5-8 minutes; it should soften some, but still be crisp. Drain.
Make a white sauce by melting the butter and adding the flour. Cook it until it is a thick paste. Add the milk and stir until thick and smooth. Add the parmesan cheese.
Put the cabbage in a casserole dish and cover with the cheddar. Pour the parmesan sauce over top. Top with the breadcrumbs.
My little Prince will be turning 6 years old in a few weeks, and maybe I've just been watching Extreme Homemaker a little too often... but we decided to totally re-do his room as a surprise... He knew we were going to redo his room, but he didn't know any of the details until he entered.
I didn't take a before picture as I didn't want to tidy up the room enough before clearing it out, but it consisted of a normal bed, dresser, nightstand and 2 large bookshelves. He has always wanted a little brother and a bunkbed, and while the little brother thing is most likely not going to happen, the bunkbed was do-able. We used the mattress from his previous bed on a board base.... the mattress is a double-sized one.
We spent the week doing prep work with cutting, sanding and staining the boards, and then put it all together on Friday and this morning. I cut up the old curtains from his room to make a valence for the window and the underside of the bed... now he has a secret place to play or read... I made sure to put a little light underneath so that he can have the curtains drawn, but still have light to read or play by.
Up top, the Princess and I painted a mural as he loves all things Alaska... The little white tree lights up and we put it on a remote switch so that he can turn it off and on from up on the bed, too.
We left the dresser, and the Prince's only request was to include some sunflowers because he loves sunflowers.... he did specify that he wanted fake ones so that he didn't have to water them.We thought that the cats would probably not be interested, but our young, spunky male named Boo (BTW embarrasing Princess info: when we found him last summer, the Princess wanted to name him Snowball) was curious and spent some time up on top.
We had the Prince close his eyes and then revealed the room to him... He has spent all afternoon jumping up and down saying, "I love my room!"
I just received a large order of grain and dried beans as I figured it best to stock up before prices go any higher than they already are now....
If you are like me, you don't necessarily want to snoop, but I do find it helpful to see how others do things so that maybe I might improve upon how I am doing things. I always enjoy a little glimpse into the pantry's of others for this reason.... it's more of a, "I do this, and how do you do it?" kind of mindset...
So, this is my upstairs pantry with dried goods.... I have some gallon sized containers for the things I use the most, and quart-sized ones for those that I keep in smaller quantities. I have very recently started using old milk jugs to store things in... this is probably not the best, but it was cheap and easy... Then I just go to the basement to refill these when they are empty...
I have shelves in the basement to store the larger 5 and 6 gallon buckets. I also have one larger container that is from the garden center as I couldn't find anything else at the time that would hold 50 pounds of rolled oats.... again, it was cheap and easy, and I haven't had any issues with bugs or other crawlies. I'm saving the empty areas for potential items to be canned from the garden along with some more dried beans that I'll pick up later this week....
I don't know if it's good or not, but simple things like good bread really excite me in life.... especially when I'm able to create something that not only is wonderful, but nutritious...
I had posted a french-style bread recipe here a few months ago, but I just changed it around and had great results. I used primarily freshly ground spelt with some hard, white wheat (maybe 1/2 cup of the total), and added an egg....
1 cup Water
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 teaspoons yeast
3 cups flour (2-1/2 cups spelt, 1/2 cup hard, white wheat)
I kneaded it in my Bosch for about 6 minutes, let it rise for 45 minutes or so, kneaded a time or two on a floured surface and shaped it. I put it in the baking pan and let it rise another 30 minutes and then baked it at 350 degrees for 35 minutes....
Today peaches are in season, so in light of eating seasonally I decided to make a peach pie. I do enjoy a regular single or double crust pie, but quite frankly, they are a pain to make. Anyway, my favorite pies have always been the deep dish variety.
I couldn't find a recipe so I just kind of made up my own based upon what I remembered as a child.... This should translate to most other fruits, too. I remember enjoying strawberries cooked this way alot...
Deep Dish Peach Pie
2-3 pounds of peaches, peeled and sliced
1 cup of freshly ground soft white wheat
1 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup of butter, melted to a liquid
1 cup of buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract (Almond would be good with the peaches, but I was out...also consider what fruit you are using...)
..........................................
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Take the cut up pieces of fruit and put them in a deep casserole dish.
In a separate bowl mix all of the dry ingredients together (if you are using regular store-bought white flour that is self-rising just use a little more, like 1-1/4 cups and omit the salt and baking powder).
Pour the melted butter, vanilla or almond extract, and buttermilk in with the dry and stir it until you have a batter.
Pour this over the peaches.
You may take pieces of butter and dot the top with a couple of these.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes until it looks browned and done.
You can refrigerate it, but I think that it is best warm with vanilla ice cream on the side....
As a kid I was a pretty picky, unhealthy eater. We were also pretty poor so we seldom went out to eat. I did used to love the treat of going out to a real restaurant except when they would bring out the most vile creation known to man.... The Salad...
You couldn't have paid me to eat a salad, except for maybe the french dressing (this was before ranch dressing/yes, I'm that old) and a crouton, and I'm sorry, but I still find French dressing to be gross today. I would request that they not even bring the salad to the table as I couldn't stand to even look at it in my plate.
I have grown out of my aversion to salads and we tend to eat them almost daily, and the cool thing is that both of my kids LOVE salad. It is probably their most requested meal.
I think alot of me hating them as a kid was because they were the standard iceburg lettuce with a few julienned carrots a tomato and a dollop of dressing. I don't know that I would eat this now even.
When I think salad I like to think of greens of every color and variety, and not always green at that. I like to think of what vegetables are in season. What meats, cheeses and fruits go well together. Toppings include walnuts, sprouts, or other nuts or seeds. Then consider the choices for dressings. There are so many more than Ranch... basalmic vinagrette are a favorite and I am experimenting with making my own, too. Add a muffin and your meal is complete.
The state of my recipe collection has been somewhat dismal over the past 3 years... I basically would find a recipe that I liked, usually online, and then print it out... Over time I have accumulated a ton of great recipes, but they are all sheets of printer paper and not organized in any way... I ended up with a thick stack of papers that was totally unworkable...
Every time I would start to think of fixing them up in a managable way, I would always be so discouraged as there were so many and they were such a mess.
Well.... today I just sat down and did it...
I decided to go thru them all and make sure I even wanted or used them... this weeded out a bunch of them.
Then... instead of rewriting them on index cards... I decided to cut and tape them to index cards... It seems to have worked pretty well.
I had forgotten so many of the recipes that I had... now I'm inspired to cook!
This is a recipe that I use to make my own laundry detergent....
What's the point in making your own laundry soap? Mainly to avoid detergents and additional chemicals, but my frugal nature doesn't mind....
There are a couple of recipe that I have used.... I have found that ones including borax are good, but it took some of the darkness out of my dark denim jeans, and this is just not acceptable... I also found that the clothes looked worn out when I used borax... I'm not one to have a ton of clothes, and I want them to last so I switched formulas....
LAUNDRY SOAP RECIPE
1 part washing soda (find this in the laudry aisle at the grocery store)
1 part soap flakes (I grate Ivory soap bars)
1 part baking soda (you can use essential oils to scent this... I like tea tree oil for its disinfecting properties... the scent will not remain on the clothes, in my experience)
Mix all together... I use an old coffee can. Use 1/2 cup per laundry load.
I also like to use vinegar scented with essential oils as a fabric softener; this can set stains though....
I have certain, little things in life that I just love... these things have no real validity other than the fact that they bring a bit of joy into the normalcy of daily life...
Honey and Calendula lotion from Kiss My Face.... I first started using this lotion in 1990 as I really loved the brand name.... kiss my face..... the lotion is just beautiful and works great while smelling divine... great in summer for sun exposure... great in winter for general dryness.... overall perfection.....
Sunless tanner..... I am currently using the gel formula from l'Oreal... it doesn't streak, and isn't tinted... I also use a Neutrogena brand that is tinted on my face.... makes me feel skinnier....
Coffee..... I had kicked the caffiene habit for several months and this week I just wanted to have a cup... so I'm sitting here drinking a cup of bad coffee with hazelnut creamer... and it is really nice...
Lip Gloss.... my current fav is Mary Kay, which I have never used before.... It is slick, but not slimey or sticky like others I have used.... I like the Pink Diamonds color as it is really sheer and shiney without sparkle... it also smells like cotton candy (at least it does to me)
Flushed Away.... one of my all time favorite movies...... Definitely family friendly and just alot of fun....
........
and for true frivolousity.... I'm adding in an extra item.... my own homemade lipbalm... I used to like the Burt's Bees kind, but mine is even better!
Living day to day while seeking the truth in life. Finding wisdom through Christ in marriage and my children. Finding beauty in the world in which we live...
I've always been somewhat of a loner, but over the past few years I don't think I've had many adventures on my own. 
Well when all was done I came home and got to work..... I made the jam... and did I already mention that it turned out really good! I also canned a couple of pints of hot peppers, made bread, muffins and some soup....
We still haven't quite recovered from working on the Prince's room all last week and Saturday when today rolls around and it's another busy day...
We went to work in the garden and had a ton to do.... it's actually been raining for a change and there was a ton of weeding. In Georgia it's too hot for many things in the summer...so the potatoes had to all be dug today too. We had 4 large bags of potatoes to bring home. Also the tomatoes, cucumbers and beans all started coming in today, and I have a ton of different peppers.
I started by breaking up the beans and cooked them in some water with some butter added along with some of the red potatoes.
Cabbage Casserole Recipe... adapted from the Dillard House recipe
We thought that the cats would probably not be interested, but our young, spunky male named Boo (BTW embarrasing Princess info: when we found him last summer, the Princess wanted to name him Snowball
) was curious and spent some time up on top. 
