Pioneer Woman at Heart

I'm up at 4am.  Can't sleep, so I'm gluing snowflakes/stars to the tops of a few wine cork Christmas trees and sipping hot coffee.  I've already let Romeo out, as he came to the gate and let me know (I think I woke him up). Meanwhile, over the weekend, Daughter became more ill.  I made her sage tea, and homemade ginger ale .  She's congested and has a sore throat.  I also gave her a eucalyptus steam.  She slept a lot over the weekend too. Sunday we needed wood cut, and it did not get done.  Instead, I pushed the start button on the dishwasher, and water was suddenly flooding the kitchen floor.  Hubby's attention was called to the situation, and he spent a while working on that. All this time the problem wasn't the dishwasher falling apart by it's self.  A mouse chewed through all the rubber hose parts and water wasn't getting to the dishwasher or back to the drain.  Parts may cost up to $50.00.  I may have Hubby convince...

It's been nice to be back in the kitchen baking breads.  First on the agenda - biscuits.  I'm playing around with different size cutters, to obtain just the right size for a breakfast sandwich.  Oh we slobbered over our recent sandwich with farm fresh eggs, cheese, and organic bacon.  Yum. I use my 2 inch cutter when the biscuits are for sausage gravy or hamburger gravy.

I am going through old blog drafts that didn't make the cut for some reason or another.  I found this one from May of last year.  It's sort of funny too.   Check out the magazine recipe to the left!  It's the nettle hair tonic I made recently (only without essential oils), only this recipe states to leave the tea in and not rinse it out.  Although it's been about two weeks, I'll be leaving it in my hair from now on. The rest of this is a draft from last year:

I'm bringing my husband home today folks.  He had the best care at the best hospital, and a high-five to Yawni, his nursing assistant who had us laughing a good amount of the time. Good laughter, good conversation, and lots of laughs.  Although I think Hubby talked her ear off with all my self-sufficient ways, and weed remedies, ha ha!   He got to talking about comfrey and I could not stop the man. He is definitely feeling much better and I can't wait to sit on the porch and love on him today.   Thank you for all your good thoughts, well wishes and prayers.  We will be celebrating life.  Tomatoes can wait.  Or they can be part of dinner. The temperatures here really dropped, so the tomatoes may have rotted overnight anyway.  I better get this posted so I can get the laundry on the line before sun-up.  I have to get that love of my life back home where I can spoil him again.

First, the night before. . .   make a batch (best, or make ahead and freeze), of homemade condensed cream of mushroom soup.

Remember those baby food jars I needed?  Well, I finally got around to making one jar of homemade vapo-rub.  I think I will be trying several recipes. A farmgirl shared the recipe with me.  This recipe is for adults (over the age of 12 I believe, but you could always swap out the peppermint for a safe oil for children).  Always do your research on what oils are safe, if you have young children, infants or if you are pregnant.

I am so happy they we have fresh goat's milk , as part of our self-sufficiency , and health reasons. T he gover nment just can't stop messing with milk th ese days.  Read here:  Fl avored Milk . . .  just passing this along for anyone interest ed.  " Diet" Milk? Ugh.

I've had a few people ask me what I am doing to lose weight and get in shape. My goal is to completely shed 50 pounds(or more).  I am down 14.  At our ages, it doesn't come off as fast, and if it took me 6 years to put it all on, I would rather it came slow to ensure it stays off (vs. fast).  I do not do weight watcher's or any program that requires buying frozen meals.  Here is what I am doing: ~Eating as many real foods (homegrown without chemicals or organic) vs. processed foods (even Subway is very high in sodium so don't let them fool you).  We cut out shortening, eat less bread, and now can jam with honey vs. sugar.  Last year we planted a boat load of green pepper plants, I am just now finishing up the last in the freezer.  It lasted all winter long. Peppers, along with apples, are high in pesticides in stores.  Even at some orchards.  We are trying to eliminate all foods that would have chemicals. *For example: eating fresh f...

I have not found balance in my daily routine. This may be something for me when all of the kids have moved out, and my daily duties are more at a minimum. I have been crocheting a car wash cloth for 3 weeks - messed it up twice, taking it out twice.  Sigh....

  If you think I have found strange and interesting recipes over the years.....we now made coffee jelly. It's actually pretty good. 

....planted a Colorado Blue Spruce seedling, purchased cumin seeds to grow again, and planted two new apple trees. ...planted more lettuce, radishes, beets, carrots, Swiss chard, and spinach.  Rain is coming so we will till and plant more after that. ...planted several zinnia seeds.

You can see the mud splatters on my daffodils.  The sun is shining and the flooding is over. Short post today.....15 year-old daughter has been running a 102° fever all weekend.   Have a Blessed Day!

Who knew that a gift from my mother would also be my inspiration to write?  For years, "ring bling" has been my writing muse, along with a secluded place. On the left is my grandmother's ring, in the center my mother's ring, and on the right, another vintage spoon ring (also my mother's).   I love these unique rings.  They not only have family ties, but are so fun to wear.  On the far left is my fun, department store bling.  My 10 year-old also uses ring bling for her writing inspiration.  These rings are on one of my mother's vintage hankies. I think I'll spend time writing today.... Yesterday I made a trip to the grocery store.  I came home and filled small lunch size containers with fresh pineapple, grapes, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. I also filled bags with pistachio nuts, almonds, and bought organic raisins. Now I can finally break the kids of grabbing store bought granola bars for breakfast.  I stopped...

For years, my husband has had to take over the counter medication for stomach problems (heart burn etc.).  Guess what?! After finally getting to the point where processed foods have been weeded out of our diet (we need to do a bit more weeding), we made a discovery. We had continued to buy canned tomato sauce from the store for many recipes.  However, now that I have been using my homemade sauce, with chemical free tomatoes, hubby doesn't get heart burn after a meal.   Imagine these medication businesses going out of business if more people made their complete diet without processed foods. The medication he used to take was not cheap either.  I had no idea that canning my own food would bring us more benefits than it already has. I just had to share. 

Well, it's another day to the dentist today (long sigh).  My daughter, who was in a car accident a few years ago, still needed broken teeth fixed.  As many people know, insurance only covers so many crowns in a year. Last week we went, hoping to get her current cavities filled (and crowning the last broken tooth), and once the dentist drilled the last one, she called me back. The cavity was too close to the nerve (sigh), and why they didn't know that in the x-ray is beyond me.  Anyway, they put something over it, and we are heading back to not only have a root canal done, but top it with yet another crown. What was expected to be a one visit cost of $187.00 out of pocket, is now close to an $800.00 out of pocket visit.  Aiyee! My tomatoes are piling up and I don't have time to do anything with them today yet.  My son worked third shift last night, and there is no way I waking him up to chop tomatoes for me.  I guess they can wait one more day. I ...

My son, bless his heart, went to work looking like he had not slept in a week.  His co-worker, told him he looked like he was on drugs.   His eyes were swollen, his ears were swollen and covered with poison oak, as well as his entire body.  I was about to take him to the doctor for a quick fix, when we started using a spray bottle of apple cider vinegar and water (50/50).   He had been using a wash that we've always used, followed by a cream to dry it up. It just kept showing up in other places on his body.   We mixed the water and apple cider vinegar and he sprayed himself, anytime, including taking a small bottle to work with him.  He looks so much better and he's not scratching. I think we found the culprit too - one of the dogs.  We think the dog slept with him, then spread it, and spread it.  We did a major wipe down/clean up too. Even I got it on my arm after walking in the house and only being home for about 15 minutes....

I nearly crocheted an entire dishcloth yesterday.  The dentist office was so full, that people were standing throughout our visit.  My body is getting sore from all this "sitting" time.  My kids told me I should just stand up and stretch and do exercises, and not worry about if people think I'm on drugs. Ha ha ha! My son had to drive my older daughter to the doctor.  She came home very sick and very sleepy.  They gave her a Tdap shot to protect her from many  possible, deadly illnesses.  However, she just started her job, and guess how many side effects this one single shot has? RISKS AND SIDE EFFECTS Tdap may cause the following mild side effects, which usually last only a few days: Body aches Chills Fever Headache Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea Rash Redness or swelling at the injection site Soreness at the injection site She had a horse riding lesson, and today, she has to work both at her job and at the stable.  This will be ...

We are making great strides to get our meals back to unprocessed, natural, and healthier meals.  We have many steps to make yet, but have gained over the last year.  Tonight we are roasting two chickens we raised ourselves for meat, along with garden grown potatoes, and onion.  Soon we can add our carrots, but they are not up yet.  For a side, I picked a bowl full of green and wax beans.  I can season all of the food with herbs for the garden.  It feels so liberating to know I can feed my family without buying something from the store.  Although I know that stores need support, there is a limit to what we buy. Anyone can sell anything to make a buck, but it's the buyer who needs to be alert and conscience when choosing what to buy. While weeding the beets, carrots, more green beans and zucchini, I noticed we have a 3 inch zucchini already growing.  It will add to the meals, and desserts, nicely.

What a combination to write about too.  First, I decided to add more fresh garlic in my diet and found this delicious salad.  I had a few of the kids try it, as the rest of them had no interest in trying it. Southwestern Quinoa and Chickpea Salad (From The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, By Selene Yeager and the Editors of Prevention Health Books) 1 cup quinoa 1 3/4 cups water 4 tsp. olive oil 1 cup rinsed and drained canned chickpeas 1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped 3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice 2 Tbsp. minced fresh cilantro 1/2 tsp. ground cumin 1 clove garlic, minced 1/8 tsp. salt Place the quinoa in a fine sieve and rinse well with cold water.  Drain and transfer to a medium saucepan. Add the water and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender but still slightly crunchy.  If all the water has not been absorbed, drain it through a fine sieve. Place the quinoa in a medium bowl....

  It's official.  I blame the weather.  I think my migraines are about lined up with thunderstorms, and I am so sick with cough, sore throat, laryngitis, trouble breathing, watering eyes and so forth. Here's an article that pretty much tells about it. http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/health/Weathers-Influence-on-Your-Allergies-123917124.html Good for the garden, but miserable for me.  And I didn't need to read that if you are over weight, it's harder on your lungs - ugh.  Even more reason to get the extra fat off.