Christmas Shopping ~ Friday Finishes

Even though Hubby didn't want to exchange gifts, I took advantage of a 50% off sale and got him some joggers for the gym, a new pair of slippers with rubber soles (he wanted some to take the dog out), and half price snow boots.   He hasn't had a pair for a few years.  I got them half off and another $10 off that.  A very good deal.  I already gave him the snow boots.  All things he's needed, but never took the time to get himself.

Hubby asked me to write up a list of things to get me. I told him "I have no idea."  

Finished the double wrap infinity scarf.  It's ready for delivery.  She previously ordered the headband, and wanted a scarf to match.

Finished Hubby's hat.  Got it wrapped too.  He has no idea.  I've been working on it while he's at work.  Very warm too.

Frugal Tips for Buying Organic Ingredients

I may be repeating information in this post, but I was reminded how wonderful it's been by adding dehydrated organic mushrooms to soups, pastas and stews this winter.

Of course this is in addition to all the frugal tips I've shared.


Olive Oil

Olive oil is expensive if you are buying it organic and non-gmo.  Olive oil should taste like olives. If it says it comes from more than one source, you are not getting true olive oil.

If organic and non-gmo are important to you and your family, consider buying it by the gallon.  Especially if you thrive to be self-sufficient, and use it for infusing (to make homemade lip balms, lotions, creams, balms, etc.).

Tuna-Corn Pie ~ A Meal from Leftovers

It's 13°F (feels like -1°F) this morning. The pups are sporting their winter coats and their hand crocheted dog scarves.  Brr.

I now have a slight cough😟, regardless of resting and remedies.  I am however, resting again today, although last night I was feeling good enough to resume my exercise today.  I will do a few yoga stretches.  In the mean time I have lots of handiwork, and many library books to look over and read.

I do have two good herbs here for coughs - mullein and comfrey, and will be adding more thyme to my soup today.  I will also either steam with eucalyptus or take a warm soak in the tub.  

After our 18-year old babysat, she did grocery shopping for Mom, and I explained to all that I would not be going out until I was much better.  Considering what happened the last time I visited a hospital.  The flu is horrible here, and two of the little ones (great great nieces to us) became sick at the meal after the funeral and now have the flu.  We heard from our missing in action daughter (my step-daughter) and one her her littles have the flu (she has two we are grandparents to, but never see her).  It's just a good time to stay home and out of places.  For me anyway.  

Thyme - 

Did you know thyme is high in anti-fungal properties as well as antioxidants?  It helps boost the immune system, and it helps break down mucus and remove it from your body.  Gargling with salt water helps put a stop to it draining down your throat, but you can gargle with a thyme tea as well. 

Thyme is very easy to grow too.  In our area, it is a perennial plant.  I do not have to bring it in during winter thankfully.  However, I do have to plant a lot of it, so I can dehydrate it for the winter months.  My first step into self sufficiency, and homesteading, was growing an herb garden when I lived in the city. I dug it up and transported it during our next two moves, which landed us here.



Back to the Tuna recipe. . .

I love to whip up leftovers into another entirely different meal, and especially around any given holiday, get together, or party.  I love dreaming up new meals, so the leftovers are not so mundane (as one child reminds me).

I whipped this up over a week ago, and wanted to share.  

Leftover creamed corn and mashed potatoes combined with a few other ingredients make one delicious "pie."

You can also simply make these to ingredients or buy creamed corn and mashed potatoes if you so desire to as well.  

This and That ~ Goodbye Netflix ~ Staying Fit in Winter

There is a book at the library, I've had on hold for a long time. There are only two copies, and people are renewing and renewing, and I am still 18 on the wait list.  I'm considering buying it, but I don't have time to read this month (just yet).

An "off" day ~ Thrift Store Adventure (and dollar store)

The "more" on why I took the day off Friday, although I know my time is running out to gut the garden. . .

We all have days where things go haywire, off kilter, and just agonizing.  I had one of those days on Thursday.  Everything I did seemed to go wrong - I'd drop stuff, didn't have ingredients I needed, just chaos I tell you.  Or it felt like a chaotic day anyway.

I remember all too well, getting sick last December and so I ignored the garden for a day, and took the slower road on Friday.  It paid off too. 

I'm feeling better, more focused, and guess what? Hubby slept almost the entire day, so we both took the day "off" (on Saturday).   It's not like I run out of things to do, ha ha!

As for the barn rubble, we re-homed a mess of metal materials.  There is more to give to the happy taker too.  I'm always happy to see more rubble find a new home. 

The biggest challenge?  Coming up with a breakfast, that only used 2 eggs, but feeds 4.  I ended up making pancakes and fried up a small package of bacon.  However, the egg supply remains low.     

I was up at 2am and couldn't sleep, so after rolling around at 4am, I got up, and whipped up breakfast.  In the dark, ha ha.  Funny thing about this, is Daughter worked until midnight, and couldn't sleep until 4am.  I think we just missed each other in the kitchen.

At 11:30am it was still a brisk 40°F and about an hour prior to that, a motorcyclist went by.  Brrr!

Oh, and remember the nuisance neighbor making a road adjacent and along our south property line (between us and a crop field)?  Well, a person in a blazer has been sitting there, on the other side of our fence, in the area of our pear trees.  As soon as I go out to do my morning chores, he pulls out and leaves. 

Hm.  I'm not sure if he is bow hunting, the land owner now, or what.  But I'm the sort that doesn't trust the neighbor, so I'm watching him (could be a friend of the neighbor too).  As he passes the house, he looks directly at our house, while I'm watching him out the window.  Oh, and his vehicle is loud, so he can't hide in the trees either.   We can hear him plain as day when he pulls down that so-called lane before 6am too.  

My Grad Daughter and I decided to take a trip to the "big" city and check out the thrift store (so Hubby could sleep, and we could have a little fun).    We also visited the dollar store.  I brought home a new rooster kitchen towel, and two blue ones (the blue will be hand towels in my bathroom for winter first).  Many of my kitchen towels are so worn out they are turning into rags now.  These were washed and are hanging on my indoor clotheslines (yes I have one), to dry.

I had to come back and update this post.  While walking around the thrift store, two older gentlemen were talking about the bells for sale on a shelf.  One picked one up and said as he rang the bell, "I need to put this by my computer so I can ring it and holler for her to bring me more coffee."  Laughing proceeded.  Funny men.
 

Daughter found a few nice tops at the thrift store for wearing to work, and I found this gem.  I found a lot of other gems, but I can't take them all home you know.  This book is packed with 631 pages of instructions - firewood box, all sorts of things we could use.  I told Hubby "Merry Christmas" and he laughed, but he later wanted to look through it (he he!). All for the price of $2.00.  As for the other two gems of books I wanted?  Well, I wrote the titles down, and will just check them out of the library.  I have to keep a limit here.  Maybe.

Have a nice Sunday.  Typically we'd take it easy today, but we are fired up to get stuff done today, and the wind hopefully dried up the garden enough to work out there. 

Friday's Finish and One Liners

I finished the purple baby blanket.  I thought I only had one row of diamonds to crochet, but had 2 rows.

 Thank you so much Susan for helping me find the yarn.  It'll be priced for sale today (hopefully).

Current library loot.

Barn Siding ~ Getting our Legumes ~ Red lentil burgers ~ Beet Hummus

Sorry if this is a boring post about beans, but I have a few new recipes to share - from "pile to file" keepers.  I've found my voice this month, so watch out for long posts.  I think I have blog-i-tis this October.  I can't blame the weather either.  It's been hot out again.

The only other news, is that while I was sitting on the porch with leg up sipping my hot herbal tea yesterday, a car hit a deer just yards from our north drive.  The driver pulled over (a young girl), and the deer flopped around on the road for a few seconds, then got up and ran off.  The same area a car hit one early morning not long ago.  There is a corn field adjacent and north of our property.  

 Before

We also got some barn siding removed last night.  We are tired folks.  Simply tired.

We've been eating more beans than meat lately.  It helps the budget as well as our health.  These meals were over a period of time.

I soaked a bag of organic black beans for all sorts of meals/snacks.  We love it on a burrito for any meal - add scrambled eggs, any leftover rice/veggie mix, jalapenos or cowboy candy, or yellow squash relish (or radish relish)...more total goodness.  

I'll have a post regarding the yellow squash relish soon. 

(these are broiled)

I have also made red lentil burgers for the first time.

Tidbits ~ Muscle Rub Updates

I'm up bright and early, and even have my all day nutrient packed tea infusion brewing.  I do however, have to go dig through the garage to find myself a new 5 gallon bucket.  

I started to make a bucket of homemade laundry detergent (saves us a ton of money and saves us from chemicals), but the old bucket gave way.  After about 7-8 years of using it, it cracked in the bottom.  So that's first thing on my list to-do list, so I can get some laundry done.

Recipe I use is on my blog: here

Christmas mojo has returned early.  Don't worry, I just put up some fall-ish decor on the cover of my bread box.  That's about it for fall for me though.  Other than pumpkins on the porch soon.

 I'm working on a new ornament right now (in the few free seconds I have).  I've already ordered a new item for my master bath too.  Two years have gone by, and I've not gotten my white tree up.  Even after Hubby went out of his way last winter to buy a new color of ornaments for me.

Hubby and I took off on a motorcycle ride last night to clear our heads of any stress/worry/tension.  We checked out the gauze at the dollar store.  I wasn't impressed - sold by the roll, smaller and less on the roll.    I'm hoping I can downsize my bandage and not have to use an entire roll of gauze (day and night) soon.

Here's the scoop on the muscle rub....

There are many muscle rub recipes out there - in books, online, forums, etc.

I have arnica making a slow and pitiful attempt at growing in a pot, and so far, the seedlings I put outside have been drowned by the recent rain.  Not sure I'll get arnica this season.  Is arnica a "finicky" herb to grow?  Maybe it just doesn't like our climate this year? 

Feverfew, on the other hand is flourishing, even though I just planted it outdoors not long ago.  It definitely likes it's new pot.

Anyway, I made a muscle rub with what I had, and adapted a recipe.  So far it works great, but I do feel that arnica to a muscle rub would be a huge benefit.

Here is how I made mine (using all organic ingredients):

Creative Meals ~ Eating Empty Pea Shells ~ Handiwork ~ The Garden Grows

Another creative week of stretching meals - used up the last two organic sweet potatoes I had on hand.

I had green onions and dill in the herb garden, so I made us some creamy sweet potato salad.  Yum.  The dressing is half yogurt and half mayo.  We love this stuff. 

Fish was pulled from the freezer (so thankful for that), and we still have veggies in the freezer from last year.   That bumper crop of green beans has been useful.  I still have a few servings of broccoli too.

Salmon and Peas and the "poof" of the Mac n' Cheese

My older brother ("aka the fisherman") gifted us with some Michigan Salmon and more bluegill.  We are already enjoying the delicious fish.  I made us some salmon patties using ground organic oats, a bit of mustard, a tiny bit of water, and some green onion from the garden.  Mmmm!  

But that's not all.

 I picked more peas.  I made a pan of buttered snap peas.  I didn't have a shallot on hand, and my shallot powder is gone too.  I used an onion, and it was still delicious.

Our daughter who turned 18 yesterday requested Alton Brown's Macaroni and cheese (baked) for her birthday dinner.  I had cheese in the freezer, so I made it.  However, you won't see a photo of it here.  Zuri-raptor got her paws (and jaws) on it, and well that was to be today's lunch.  Somehow the girls, even though I reminded them, forgot it was on the counter.  The veggies of course were all saved at high altitudes which left no space to hide the dish (other than the top of the fridge, and I should have done that).  The mac n' cheese contains onions.  Sigh.  We attempted two methods to get her to throw it up, but to no avail, she would not. So.  Yeah.  The fun begins.

We finally got rain. I am heading out to pick peas and possibly radishes this morning.  It would be a great day for a motorcycle ride too, but other plans are in the works.  First I will be enjoying breakfast on the front porch.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Random Tidbits ~ A Crockpot Summer

The rabbits are definitely an issue this year.  This is the worst year ever.  One had babies in my chicken run.  Big mistake.  The chickens killed them all.

Bread needed baked.  New recipe too.  The recipe is here. I turned to the internet for this recipe, and was quit pleased. In fact, Youngest Daughter saw the bread, made a sandwich, and raved about how soft and delicious it was.  Used 1 Tbsp. brown sugar vs. white sugar.  The recipe called for 2 cups of milk and room temperature. I had exactly 1 1/2 cups left in the house.  I made a 1/2 cup using dried milk to make up the difference.

Library books need returned and new ones picked up.  Ha.  Yeah, like I'm a gonna' get time to read 'em. I however am enticed by the Home and Health one - 501 recipes. I may have to add a few to my Christmas "wish" list.

I should have the kids monitor me when I multi-task.  I almost burned a frittata.  I set the timer, walked outside...should have never left the kitchen.  The other day I almost forgot the rice in the crockpot cabbage roll casserole.  Speaking of that dish, it was sort of a budget creation.

After my big birthday shin-dig, our daughter's grad party, and another daughter's expensive car repair, the budget has been pretty tight.  

I was pretty nifty thrifty with the cabbage roll dish.  I had two halves of cabbages leftover (red and green), I had a quart of home canned tomato sauce, home canned crushed tomatoes, homemade tomato condensed tomato soup in the freezer...and wa-la..dinner was made on a dime.  I used leftover ham vs. beef/pork.  Turned out Fan-tab-u-lous!  We discovered Parmesan cheese was better than mozzarella cheese.  And it's delicious without cheese.  This was the first time trying this type of recipe.  I may have to make cabbage rolls this fall when cabbage is in full harvest.  I do love my crockpot though.

Complaints were spouting from my vegetarian daughter (it had meat in it).  I told her I don't make special requests when I have to cook with what I have, and I reminded her I boiled eggs.  She's a big girl and needs to learn to cook.

The peas are flourishing and I must pick daily now.  

I made another batch of garlic scape and radish spread.  We absolutely love this stuff, and our vegetarian daughter (the one turning 18 today, and who hates most vegetables), loves it now too.  Hubby wants me to make a double batch so he can share it at work, but I'm running low on garlic scapes.  I may have a few more out in the garden.  As always, when Hubby loves a dish, says "you should serve this in our own restaurant."  Ha.  Yeah.  Like I want more work. 

What's Cookin'? ~ Tips ~ New Recipe

Tip 1:  I found another way to use leftover (when there is any) whiskey butterscotch sauce.  Bake a cinnamon/brown sugar coffee cake, and drizzle some on 10 minutes before it comes out of the oven.

I baked the coffee cake, but no sauce to be found (sad face). 

Tip 2:  I opened a jar of home canned hot sauce to make jalapeno poppers, but need to use the rest up before I forget I opened it.  I found that adding home canned hot sauce to greens is a wonderful way to flavor them up.  I used them on spinach recently.

We are short on eggs.  The colder weather has slowed production down, but no need to panic (I told myself).  I had a good supply of ingredients to make a crock pot of steel cut oats (with apples, walnuts and raisins).

Random Tidbits ~ Back to Work or Back to School?

Snow fell all day Wednesday.  It was still cold here as well.  the pups don't seem to mind.

I keep forgetting to share a tip:  Dump a 1/2-pint of home canned corn relish into some cooked green beans for a quick and nutritious side dish.  I have vegetarians here, so I don't always mix in bacon grease, and get bored with plain green beans.

The barn door froze shut and I could not get in to fetch eggs thaw water.  I had to pry open the other set of doors, use a small stick to flip up my inside latch and get in those doors. 

I spent the entire day at the computer.  Actually, almost two entire days.

What's in the Jar? ~ Random Tidbits

Guess what I am making next? 

Hint:  It will need to infuse for 3-4 weeks and will be ready in the nick of time for Christmas day.

Baked Onion Rings ~ Freezing Onion Soup ~ Onion Powder ~ Freezing Caramelized and Raw Onions

Just one simple vegetable from the garden can bring us a lot of help over winter.  I am making the most of what little we got this year.

Camping Trip!

Hubby was so excited to try out the new canoe, he hooked up the camper a night earlier than we had planned, and away we went. 

No Spend results ~ Dehydrated Celery

Meals were from the freezer and pantry.  Remember all that onion soup I froze?  Well, I pulled some, along with frozen corn we put up, a jar of home canned potatoes, and with pantry goods, created a potato/corn chowder.   Honestly, this was so good.

I have homemade baking mix on hand, so I pulled shredded zucchini for some muffins for school lunches.  Evening snack was popcorn, which we still have plenty of.

Declaring it Porch Time

That's it.  I'm declaring it is spring now, which means "porch time" and my furniture is coming out of storage.  Even if I have to drag it out on the sled.

The wood pile tells me so.  I should I say lack of a wood pile.  I did not even shovel the snow yesterday.  It is going to melt very soon anyway, and the scent on those sheets is so wonderful - natural "medication" for a good night's sleep.

Cooking from Storage ~ Pasta e Fagioli

Oldest Daughter was pretty sick, and is still sick.  I whipped up a batch of homemade ginger ale for her, and that is the only thing she could keep down. Thankfully, I had all the ingredients, aside from lime juice, to make it.

I offered her elixir, but she said no.  Her fever continued all day.  She was the only one who had a flu shot too.  She's miserable.  

I'm sanitizing just in case.  Not that I don't, but just being extra careful.

Using it Up ~ Goat Coats

With all the kiddos home yesterday, and the outside temperatures chilly, I used up four apples that where getting too soft to enjoy.