Pioneer Woman at Heart

The only thing, until now, that I have used coconut oil for was soap making.  I had read so many bad reviews on it, considering it's pretty solid when room temperature . Hence, I never used it for preparing any types of food s.  Until now. I purchased a jar of non-gmo/organic virgin coconut oil. This stuff is n ot cheap either, so I waited u ntil I had a $ 3 off store coupon for it (while on sale). What did I use it for?

If you have not made homemade flour tortillas you really should try them.  They are fairly easy to make.  Shop in the organic section of your grocery store, or visit a health store (or online) for the ingredients.  Mix 3 cups of organic/non-gmo all-purpose flour with 1 tsp. salt (I use a sea salt) and 1 tsp. aluminum free baking powder.  I mix this slowly in my mixer using the bread dough blade.

Hubby was up very early yesterday.  He was already busy working on projects that have loomed over us.  One is the trash can.  When we moved in here, years ago, it came with a trash compactor.  It broke down several years ago, and we did not want to replace it.  The front of the compactor had a cupboard piece to match the kitchen, in which Hubby removed it.  He's now putting in a slide rail for the trash can, to fill that space under the cupboard, adding hinges to the cupboard piece, and making it new again.    I'll be painting it soon to match the cabinets.  For years, the trash can was hand pushed in and out, and often left out.  It's a relief to see it get worked on now.

I revamped the family favorite broccoli salad yesterday.  The original recipe calls for Marzetti Slaw Dressing.   I looked up the ingredients in the slaw dressing and the first ingredient is soybean oil (many salad dressings contain this).  It also contains " corn-cider vinegar ." INGREDIENTS: SOYBEAN OIL, SUGAR, CORN-CIDER VINEGAR, WATER, EGG YOLK, SALT, MUSTARD SEED, XANTHAN GUM, ROSEMARY EXTRACT. Contains Egg. - See more at: http://www.marzetti.com/products/product/3/208/marzetti-original-slaw-dressing#sthash.VJ9fSV9Z.dpuf INGREDIENTS: SOYBEAN OIL, SUGAR, CORN-CIDER VINEGAR, WATER, EGG YOLK, SALT, MUSTARD SEED, XANTHAN GUM, ROSEMARY EXTRACT. Contains Egg. - See more at: http://www.marzetti.com/products/product/3/208/marzetti-original-slaw-dressing#sthash.VJ9fSV9Z.dpuf We already use an organic/non-gmo safflower mayo, so that part was easy.  Making it ourselves, also cuts our cost.  I used

Sunday we finally sat around and simply enjoyed ourselves.  We tossed around the idea of going bowling, but the more we relaxed and took time for ourselves, the more we wanted to simply hang out (in pajamas no less). It's hard for me to sit around and do nothing, which was what we told Mom to do (she had another ER visit) for the next few days.  I was reading through a library book, on handmade gifts and decided to not let the year end without a "bang."  I went to the kitchen and made Whiskey Butterscotch Sauce.

Sunday was a full work day here - wood pellets restocked, wood cut, split and stacked, animal feed restocked, and  chicken coop cleaned.  Water jugs were also filled. Around here any type of storm can cut out our electricity, and we have yet to buy our generator.  That's next on the preparedness list. Tonight we are re-securing the snow fence, in anticipation of bad wind, rain and maybe snow.  We may even have a white Christmas this year. Although they are talking about "storms" they are also saying it is not the worst storm to come through.  So we are praying for good travel weather for friends and family.

Why onion soup?  Because I have nothing else to write about today (yet).    Believe it or not, I am still deep cleaning here and there (three boxes went to the thrift store), and finally got Hubby to replace the old (very old) light fixture in the kitchen.  We've had replacement for it for a long time, but have not had the time to get it up. Back to the soup. 

In my quest for locating more good millet recipes, I found some in a cookbook I already had. Although the recipe I tried is in the book, it's also online if you are interested in making it - Curried Sweet Potato and Millet Soup .  I substituted pure maple syrup with our homemade corn cob syrup. The results?  

(Yesterday morning's sunrise) This time of year, everything is very wet early in the morning.  As I picked green peppers yesterday, I noticed how wet the garden still is.   I opted to bake first, then head to the front flower beds instead.  I was sure to get "Frankenstein" feet if I went to the vegetable garden. While my breakfast cooked, I quickly tossed ingredients together to make a pie for dinner.  Which by the way, was not a pie I'll make again.   It was called "Stupid Pie" and

(this morning's sunrise) We got buckets and buckets of rain yesterday.  Just when a shower would end, another one started.  It was the perfect day to ignore housework, sit on the porch and write.  Just don't tell Hubby. 

I'm joining Diary of a Stay at Home Mom today.

I did not go looking for this recipe.  I found it in a library book - Pearls of Wisdom, Tops, Shortcuts, and Recipes from a Country Home , by Deborah S. Tukua, who adapted their recipe from Countryside Magazine.  The actual color is more of a amber brown than the color it shows in the photo.

We have had a few days of stormy, rainy days, so I took the time to slow down.  For some reason, the busy summer days tend to zap my morning time too quickly.  Oh, and we got hit by lightening (again).  This time I think the only thing it got was the cable box.  It sounded like a 22 shooting in the living room, and there was a flash of light.  We have a few lightning rods on the barns, but I think it's about time to get a few on the house....sigh...

There were a few requests on how I made these fire starters.  I do write another blog regarding the use of scraps of just about anything, and creating something new, useful or even art. 

I have one kiddo who loves frozen yogurt.  However the stuff you buy in the store is processed with unhealthy ingredients (high fructose corn syrup etc).  I decided to buy some yogurt, and toss in some honey and my homemade vanilla.  The kids churned it in our ice cream maker.  As a kid, my siblings and I, always churned ice cream (on special occasions) with a hand crank ice cream maker.  I love my ice cream maker too.  We made goat's milk ice cream in it last year.  The results?

Sharing another steel cut oat recipe. This smells so good when it's cooking.  Sorry for the bad photo, it was not the best time of day to take one indoors.

Millet cannot be bought in stores here, so I did/do have to order this online.  Funny thing is, is that it arrived timely with Hubby's sugar issues.   This brand is non-gmo as well as organic. Millet is what they call a "smart carb" so I wanted to try it for a healthy grain in our meals.  It is said to help maintain blood sugar levels.  And of course, it has a lot more benefits than that.

You get two blog posts today.  I bought some of these for the kids to take to their "spring fling" at school today.  They wanted chips in their "picnic" lunches and I was not going to buy the nasty stuff. Kettle brand chips are non-gmo chips.  Most of their flavors anyway.  Be sure to check the label, because I noticed some do to not have the non-gmo label, and are in the organic section at our one store.  The kids like the Maple-Bacon ones.