Changing Plans ~ Weather Crisis

Horrible thunderstorms woke us up Tuesday morning, and later I found out there were tornadoes that touched down within an hour of us.

Youngest started her internship, and with the rain constant along with Hubby's work schedule, it's been indoor work for the most part.  

I broke down, did some research, and ordered us some reusable potato grow bags.  I just need to get the dirt and give an update on that.  I could not find one person with experience or a resource for bags, so I went with what my out research did.  It can't hurt at this point, as we are as desperate and desperate can be.

I sort of have a plan for the 54 jalapeno plants, but not for the 54 plus green pepper plants.

Rats chewed another hole in the chicken coop.  We patched that and built a rat trap, but noticed a crack in the bottom of my 5 gallon bucket.  We'll buy a new one and reset it.

As for the ants in the herb garden, I sprinkled grits on the hill.  So far, no ants.  You just need a dry day to do it, so they eat it.  Not sure on my weed killer yet.  No good dry days to use it.

Of course we got more rain, and major storms were in the forecast.  Thankfully most went past us giving us less rain.

Wednesday morning it was calm with no rain, but still in the forecast.

I made a sausage and kale millet skillet (recipe is online, but with ham and cheese), considering I couldn't do a thing outside.  The humidity is bad here too.  So bad, I have sinus issues and have been downing tinctures and teas to relieve the pressure.  When that failed to do it's job, I remembered a trick my Dad taught me a long time ago - add one drop of oregano oil (talk to your health store professional) to a teabag and make hot tea.  Worked like a charm.

I'm also having to run our dehumidifier and empty it often.  So this means no painting of anything either.   When I first turned on the dehumidifier it read my bedroom was 85% humidity.  windows in the kitchen and front room have been closed for that reason.

Which leaves me to cleaning.   Cleaning, organizing, and it's driving us all mad.  The rain that is.  We are all literally in bad moods.  The rain has made our "can't do" list so long it's frustrating and downright maddening.  We are all grouches and argue a lot lately.  Hubby's work schedule is also draining him and the rest of us, also adding to the "can't do" list.

The old truck is still broke down, one daughter's car remains in the driveway broke down, the septic not dug, bathroom remodel halted, chimney not swept, garden not tilled nor planted......

On top of that, we kind hearted people let one nephew borrow our mower for his house lot, where we have 6 acres.  He borrowed it Monday morning, and we even had a cookout there the same day, and I don't remember seeing the mower there.   He wasn't answering his phone either.  We only have short windows of opportunities (mostly dry times when Hubby's at work) to mow our own grass.  I have a biker friend we can hire to help me, but we can't do it without our mower.  The mower was to be returned last night, but they never showed up, so mowing didn't happen.  We are pretty upset considering we actually got in touch with them too.

We also went out of our way to locate hay for the nephew's horse.  It's very difficult to find right now, and with the rainfall there is a huge shortage.  The friend was willing to sell a few bales and as of we know, he hasn't gone to pick it up.

If by luck, you may see a "gratitude" post soon, just to try and shift my thinking lately.  It's been pretty depressing.

We didn't get too much rain on Wed. but we will get buckets of it again today (if the weather man is right).  I really, really need to find my "happy" place again.

Happy Homemaker Monday

I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  Oldest Daughter brought Mia for a day so she could go snow boarding with friends.  She ended up staying the night due to her falling and hitting her head and the lateness of her return.  She plopped an ice pack on her head and relaxed.  

Sunday morning we had another relaxing day other than doing dishes.  I literally hung out in my PJ's until the mood hit me.  Guess what?  I found more beets in my freezer - waahhooo!  So happy to find them.  Who knows what else I will dig out as we empty it throughout the winter and spring.


On the breakfast plate. . .

Hubby made this for breakfast for all of us yesterday morning.  Yum.  Candy apple jelly on the toast too.  We both got a chuckle Sunday morning.  Oldest stayed the night, and the girls usually sleep in very late.  Both were up by 9am, with the smell of bacon and coffee in the air.

Today's breakfast?

I'm getting spoiled by Hubby's breakfast creations.  Mmm good.


The weather outside . . .
Snowing and cold.


Right now I am. . .
Still in my PJ's and loving it.


Thinking . . .
I'm thinking the people running the school musical are very thoughtless to make the kids drive in the weather today, for a rehearsal.  There are reports of flipped over cars, cars in ditches, semi's jack knifed, and more.  Roads are slick and they still haven't canceled it.  I think this is just wrong putting young kids in danger.


Reading. . .
Nothing right now, but library crafting books

On the TV . . .
Library movie - Ocean's 8


On the menu . . .
Monday: Sheet pan dinner, smoked sausage, potato, carrots etc.
Tues: Baked flounder, home canned corn relish, green beans
Wed: Chili (never made it last week), corn bread
Thurs: Meatballs with homemade mushroom sauce, quinoa and beets
Fri:  leftovers
Sat and Sunday?  Who knows yet. Possibly creamed peas and toast.


On the to-do list . . .
-canning
-sweep and mop kitchen
-clean master bath
-vacuum carpets
-dust
-make 4 thieves vinegar
-make nettle hair tonic
-clean bedroom
-laundry
-fold dried towels



What I am creating . . .

A baby blanket.

Recipe I tried. . .

Thanks to Susan, I was able to try this new recipe.  Super easy to make, but it takes ingredients that most people may not have on hand.  If you eat healthy and from scratch you will have the ingredients.  With vegetarians in the family, we have nutritional yeast on hand too.  The recipe is online - Super Savoury Veggie Millet and Hemp Nuggets with a cashew butter/maple syrup/garlic dip.  It was very good and I will be sure to make this again.  I have many more new recipes to try too.


From the camera . . .

 The snow is beautiful, but very dangerous to be out in today.


Praying . . .
Us and the kids

Millet Stuffed Peppers

I don't know why I have never thought of millet vs. rice when I stuffed peppers to freeze last summer.   I'm very happy with the taste of my "thrown together" recipe too.  We had a so-so bell pepper year, so I had to (gulp!) buy these (organic of course).  They were pretty large, so I purchased 4, however the amount of filling I made, would have stuffed 5 large peppers.

Here is how I made them, and the next batch I make will be doubled and some frozen for winter.  I have never frozen cooked millet, but from what I have read, it will freeze well.  However to freeze these, I will blanch the peppers first, so the crunch won't be there.  When cooked with fresh peppers, you get a nice crunchy pepper.

Made with organic ingredients, home grown etc.  


Millet Stuffed Peppers
5 large bell peppers, cut in half, seeds removed
Set aside and continue:

1 cup millet, rinsed
3 cups broth (your choice, vegetable or chicken)
Cook millet per instructions.  My instructions said to bring it to a boil, cover, simmer 20 minutes or so until liquid is absorbed. 

I removed it from the pan and poured it into a mixing bowl and rinsed out my pot.

Add:
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 - 3 tomatoes, diced (thawed frozen, or fresh, or canned)
1 jalapeno (or 2, or hot pepper of your choice), optional
3/4 tsp. cumin (I may add more next time)
Fresh cilantro (I was lucky to have a handful in the herb garden) 

I poured 1 pint of homemade tomato sauce into the bottom of a glass baking dish and placed the stuffed peppers on top.  I baked it for 20 minutes or so, at 350°F.  The peppers will be crunchy, but delicious. 

We topped our peppers with the sauce, and some grated Parmesan cheese.  My vegetarian daughter was slobbering over hers, and saying she wanted my recipe for herself.  I had to laugh, because she's not been eating any of my vegetarian meals lately (she wants to be a grown up and buy her own groceries, but has realized she is too lazy to cook healthy).

When I tossed the mix together, I never measured the amount of cumin, so I am estimating.  I may had a bit more the next time I make them.

I want to try adding my homemade sausage to this for us meat eaters here too. 

I will still freeze some peppers using Mama Pea's recipe with beef and rice too.  I'm just tickled I found another way to incorporate millet into our diet and not have it taste so-so.

Millet is packed with B vitamins and other important nutrients.  Update:  The remaining millet filling was combined with scrambled eggs and eaten on tortillas for breakfast.  The taste?  Delicious!  The garlic brings out a good flavor. 

Millet Crust ~ Fruit Trees

Looking for ways to cook green beans? Or Millet?

We had a very good harvest of green beans and this combination of vegetables was not only delicious, but utilized my garden goods we stocked up on.

Here is what I did using organic and homegrown ingredients.