Just the Bits

We hit a high of 53° yesterday, and the chickens were loving it, as well as the full day of sunshine.  

The paint brushes/rollers took a break for a few days. February is starting out with some hiccups.  

However, I have finished washing down the rest of the hallway walls (all but a small section).  I can now proceed to spackle any holes, allow them to dry.

 

Laundry got caught up.  I had some to fold and some to put away.  I also caught up on some paperwork.  Bathrooms are getting cleaned.

Healthy breakfasts were prepared.  We decided that the next time I make this sweet potato hash, we prefer two eggs per serving.

Meals got made and meal prep (lentils cooking for a dinner recipe).

I got another rug washed.  I love the ones we bought at the flea market in Amish country.  They are the "washable" ones, and more expensive, but boy do they wash up nicely.  I have had cheaper ones from the box stores, that did not hold up to washing them in the washing machine. 

I had time to look through a library book I've had for over a week now.  There is one interesting recipe in this book that would come in handy for someone who is sick (Chicken Noodle in a jar).  They say to use a "Gift Jar" but I'm guessing a quart jar with 4 cups of dry egg noodles.

The book also has gift jar recipe for dog and cat treats, and body scrubs.

I made homemade hair detangler (spray).  I will be back with a review after I use it for a while.  It was super easy to make.  I have never brewed marshmallow root, and when I squeezed the cheesecloth, when straining it, the tea has a conditioner type feel to it.  I put it in a spray bottle, and it will need to be stored in the refrigerator (has no preservatives in it).

Go figure, just when I start tackling blog drafts, the draft selection function is not working properly.  Now it brings up all your posts, and it when you select "drafts" it should only bring up your drafts. 

Just the Bits © Feb 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Lima Beans ~ Random Tidbits

Lima beans are high in iron and also benefit bone growth, hence good for hair growth.  I whipped up a "greek" version of lima beans the other day and they were very good!  Here's how to make them.

Rinse and drain 1 lb of dry organic lima beans.   Place in a pot with enough water to soak them overnight.  In the morning drain, rinse and drain again.  I cooked mine in the crock pot the entire day, drained and cooled them.  The next day I took them out of the fridge and place them in a baking dish.

In a sauce pan, saute one diced onion in a bit of olive oil.  Once the onions are ready, add enough frozen/thawed garden tomatoes to equal about a can of dice tomatoes.  Add 1- 4oz. jar of home canned tomato sauce, 1/4 tsp. organic ground cloves, a few tablespoons of honey, 3 minced garden cloves of garlic, salt and pepper.  Heat until it thickens.  Toss in fresh chopped parsley.

Pour the mixture over the lima beans in the baking dish and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or more until it's bubbling and thick.  

Enjoy!  

It's my next go-to side dish, and possibly the dish that will be a side at the holidays too. You could also half bake the beans and just add water to the tomato mixture, but bake longer at a lower temperature.

So this happened.  Someone ran into one of our driveway posts and blasted the light off, which landed over 10 feet away from the post.  See the tracks?  It happened just after I returned home from running a form to the school, and before Hubby got home from work (while I was inside preparing dinner).   I never heard it, nor saw it, but the Sheriff came out and looked at the tracks and even questioned our neighbor.  We'll see if we can get to the bottom of this.

We are still seeing some beautiful sunrises here at the homestead.

Friday was a misc sort of day - put stuff back in the camper, cleaned up the front porch, and made a visit to the garden.

I dug up some carrots and beets to see how big they were, and decide to dig or leave them in a bit longer.   Carrots?  Fail.  Popcorn?  Fail.  Beets and Sweet potatoes?  Maybe.  I can leave those two in another month, but everything will get pulled now, but the tomatoes.  Sweet potatoes and beets are small, but there is hope unless we get a frost, then the plants won't grow.  It's too wet to work out there, so the garlic bed has not even been put in yet.

Checked the berry bushes too.  Picked 4 red raspberries.

I got a bit of rosemary into the pantry, but not enough for medicinal purposes.  Will keep harvesting until our first frost.

Thyme harvest has been small this year, as well as green onion and chives.  Parsley did pretty good.  The two new sage plants grew nicely as well.

I started roasting pumpkins.  These were the hardest sugar pumpkins I've ever cut in half.  They are tough.  I kid you not.  The skin was about 1/4 thick.  Any tips on softening them to cut them more easily?  Otherwise the rest may become target practice.

Made some of our delicious Whiskey Bacon pumpkin seeds too.  The guts were treated to the chickens.

I also got some crochet work done (photos to come soon).  Hubby kept texting me all day for a date night out, with a motorcycle ride, and just as I went inside to change clothes, he canceled on me.  He worked over (sigh....).   Daughter went out to a football game, so it was little ol' me by myself for several hours.  I immediately changed to PJ's, and binge watched netflix with crochet work.  That's a lot for a Friday.  We'll see what happens over the weekend now.  Thanks for reading through all of this.

Pickled Turnips

On a recent trip to the library, one librarian shared that she had been buying (Mediterranean) pickled turnips at a market, and wondered what the "pink" color was from (and if it was healthy).  She raved about the taste, so I came home and made some.

By the way, I was right on my first guess - the pink is from beets.  

I sliced my turnips in stick form.  The beet and hot pepper are at the bottom of the jar.  By the way, I will be making these again using the garlic vs. the chili pepper next.  I found a few ways to make them now. 

Healthy Hair and Nail Tips (update)

I'm posting this today to give you an update on everything have tired over the last year and a half, regarding hair and nail growth (and strength).

I have had very good results with all of my hair health recipes.  Over the last year I found the following for hair growth, shine, strength, and overall healthy hair.  First, let me say, a year ago a lot of my hair fell out due to sickness combined with the pharmaceutical drugs and x-rays (and chemicals) used by doctors. I am so happy to say, that more than a year later, my hair is stronger, growing, and I have had more new hair growth.  I have been consistent, and it took a long time, but worth it.  It could be another full year before it's fully restored, but I'm so glad I tried all of the following (most are linked to older blog posts for more details):

Herbal Hair Tonic and Hair Oil Updates

I made an herbal hair tonic to encourage hair growth and repair.  You can read the original post  here.  Why I made it is written below.  The hair tonic is made with all nettle, but I'm considering adding burdock root now.  The tea infusion I am drinking is made differently.

I have researched this through a few books and online, and do feel calcium helps hair and nails, so I made sure I was also drinking nettle and tulsi teas (infused for a stronger tea).


I made my tea infusion using 3/4 cup dry nettle and 1/4 cup dry oat straw.  Both are good combination for calcium, and hair and nail health.  I used a quart canning jar, poured boiling water over the herbs, placed the lid on, and steeped it for 4 or more hours, sometimes making it at night and steeping all night.  Drinking within 36 hours, before it goes rancid.

Burdock Herbal Oil ~ Eating My Weeds

I've been borrowing many books on herbs from the library and getting new bits of info.

Somewhere in the mix of research, I came upon the uses of burdock oil.  

I have burdock all over, so I decided to make the oil.  One case they said to put the oil and root in a dark room for so many weeks.  Another said to water bath it gently.   So, I went to my herbal books from the homesteading bookshelf and took another look on making oils.  In the past I have made them in a sunny window (calendula, chive).

I decided on making my hair oil using both burdock root,