Smoked Bacon? Oh my! ~ Shopping and Hiking

 We have discovered bulk, smoked bacon.  It is a drive for us, but the packages are packed with 150 slices of smoked bacon.  We do not own a smoker, so this was a nice discovery.  Did you know that smoked bacon loses it's fat when smoked?  It greatly reduces the amount of time to cook it as well.  On a side note, it is even more cost saving to cure, smoke and slice your own bacon with pork, if you have a smoker (so many instructions online for this).

It costs a lot less to buy the bacon this way (bulk), and saves us so much money.  We will be stocking up on this, from now on.  We don't use bacon in every meal, but the savings are wonderful.  

We are finding more and more ways to locate supplies at lower prices, organic herbs and other items when we do take the drive for supplies. 

We are now incorporating the shopping trips with an outdoor hike/walk.  It's something new for us, but we are loving this new idea.  We are expanding our outdoor adventures, getting physical exercise, and enjoying nature.

I'm tickled to also find glass bottles for homemade tinctures, lotions, sprays and whatnot.  No more Mountain Rose Herbs, with their high prices, lack of supplies, and outrageous shipping costs.

Oh by the way, I had a conversation with a lady about Mountain Rose Herbs, and my frustrations.  She said they were recently purchased by someone else.  I don't have the information on that, but it all makes sense.

Having spent my entire life devoted to raising our kids, it is finally nice to get out of the house and enjoy ourselves again.  Are you discovering nature this year?  I'm actually writing a shopping list for long distance supplies, and logging what areas to hike/walk in those areas.  It's truly an inspiration, and something to look forward to, besides just shopping.  Finding cost saving, and/or needed supplies, are just a bonus on these wellness travel trips.

Smoked Bacon?  Oh my! ~ Shopping and Hiking © Mar 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Mid Week Medley ~ Question for Condiment Canning Aficionados

 The rain is slowly bringing the outdoors back to life, and we see more green again.  We have had snow flurries, which deterred me from harvesting any of those baby green onions coming up, but everything is brighter outside for spring.

The Daffodils were blooming like crazy, and I would love to cut some to bring inside, but the snow just keeps on coming.  Not a lot, but enough to remind us that winter is still not over with.

The rain is also giving us gifts from the Earth.  We have three wild growing mullein plants in the flower beds.  I need to dig them up to move them, so we can utilize them this year.  If I leave them in the flower beds, they will continue to replant in there, and the wild plants grow very tall.  We dehydrate this medicinal weed for tea.

We took a drive to do some hiking.  I have to admit, that outdoor hiking uses more muscles than what you may use on a treadmill.  Good gravy we were happy sore, and have plans to get more hiking in this year.

Although it is too late to start more seeds for the garden this spring, we attempted to visit a new non-gmo seed store (new to visit for us, but in business for a while). We should have called to double check their business hours.  What stated on their online website, for a closing hour, was incorrect.  We arrived just after they had closed for the day.  We do plan to go back. and take a look at what they have to offer folks.

What's been purged/donated?

The last four mugs I had, that I crocheted mug "hugs" and matching coasters for, were donated to another local senior center.  I also donated two smaller items to the local library, for prizes within the children's area.

One local (non-chain) thrift store, has put a stop on taking any Christmas donations until September of this year.  We still need to do a complete garage clean out this year, so we'll need to find more donation locations.  The kids left their Christmas decorations behind, and many other items we need to get rid of (left behind because they don't want them) .

A box of books is awaiting it's donation destination.  I'm still filling it up with books I am finishing reading, so I'm not in a big hurry on that.

Canning Question:  Do you have a tried and true way to can caramelized onions (boil seal method), without using a crock pot?   I just don't want to can after dinner time, and I do not want to run my crock pot all night.  It is the only recipe I have used once (trusted recipe source), and it was successful, but now I want to can them again. 

Or....have you frozen homemade caramelized onions?  I have read they only last 2 months in the freezer, and what is the texture when they thaw?

Mid Week Medley ~ Question for Condiment Canning Aficionados © Mar 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Another Hike on the Farm. . .

Another day, another hike.

I was super excited to see we have a "Poor Man's Banana Tree" on the property.  I never saw it until this year.  It's kind of hidden in the trees.  I will have to see if it is still bearing fruit too.   Although, I think the fruit ripened last month. I was so excited I forgot to get a closer look.   It's technical name is The technical name for this tree is Asimina triloba.  The fruit is edible.  

I was even more excited to see another black walnut tree also.  I think I need to do some more hiking in the back woods more often.  

 ...found yet another black walnut tree!  Yippee! 

 ...and even another one!  Four years ago, I would not be jumping of joy to see these trees.  As a kid, when we'd visit my grandparents, we'd toss these out into the street and wait to hear a "pop" when cars ran over them.
Next on the hike.....

...another orb weaver spider (check out the red and white legs on this).  Ugh!  I almost got my hair in this web by leaning over to see what plant this was...

Not sure what it is, but I found another bush underneath a locust tree also.  

I'll have to confirm what this is with the parks division again. Hmm? 

The barn that has seen it's last days....gonna miss this barn, as I can see it from the kitchen every day.

Sadie, Gus, and Jesse...taking a break from our little hike, and watching the goats.

Peanut looks a bit upset I came to visit without treats.

At the end of our hike and back to the house, Sapphire (Sassy, Sassafras) had to give all the dogs a rub by, and then she got a lick in return.  This is the kitty that went missing for a long time.