"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Friday, May 17, 2024

Too Many Eggs?

 

I have not baked an angel food cake in a few years.  There were just not enough eggs.  However, with my foot fracture, the eggs multiplied here at the homestead.  I decided to bake us one, and it is delicous!  I also now have a recipe for a frosting for the future (family recipe).  We are enjoying this one as it is, but a drizzle of fruit or whipped cream will be nice too.

On a side note, I checked my blog, and I last baked one in 2022, and guess what?  It was raining, ha ha!  Well, it wasn't raining yesterday, but it is today.





I saved all of the yolks, as I was already making us a breakfast scramble, and added them to the scramble. You can save the yolks for pretty much anything.


I used another dozen eggs for the breakfast.

From the freezer - garden green bell pepper, diced ham from the last holiday, and I thawed some dandelion greens and added those too.

In the end, I tossed in some chives from the herb garden, and some tomatoes.




I saved the egg shells for the vegetable garden.  However, too many egg shells is not a good thing for your garden.

I have another 2 dozen eggs in the refrigerator, that I will boil soon.  I love having them on hand for snacking, a quick meal, egg salad, or adding them to other meals.  I'm shocked that so many new chicken owners do not know you can boil them. We keep the coop clean, and the roosts as well.  You just have to wait it out a week or two, so they are older, otherwise they will not peel when you do boil them.

We woke up to more rain, and I am not mad or sad about it.  It will give me a break from weeding the flower beds.  I am making progress, but at a slower pace this year.  It will be nice to give my back and knees a break.

If you got to the end of the post, I can share a little chicken story for you.  My husband has been working double shifts (3rd midnight and 1st shift back to back).  He finally got back to his regular work hours, but fell asleep early.  I went out to put the chickens in for the night, and found out that 3 had flown the coop!  Ugh.

I chased and chased.   Mind you, my foot is fractured.  Ha.  There was no way I was going to wake up my husband.  I finally got them all in, but was exhausted.  I went back out and rigged the run fence.   So far, so good.  Sigh.

Too Many Eggs? © May 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Thursday, May 16, 2024

Dehydrating Onions ~ Onion Powder

 I took advantage of a few rainy days, and dehydrated onions. Yes, the windows were open for this yearly event.  I may dehydrate one more time this year, but it's a start to re-stock.  



I chop a few onions at a time, and toss into my food processor.  I pulse the onions until they are about evenly diced.  I have had this simple food processor for about 13 years now.  As you can see, there are few options.  I do plan to buy one with more options when this one stops working.  Also, you can use a hand chopper for a smaller batch as well.


I spread the diced onions onto parchment paper lined dehydrator trays, and dehydrate at the temperature recommened for my dehydrator.









Once dry, I use latex gloves to remove the onions from the parchment paper.  I then grind the dried onions in a specific coffee grinder, that is dedicated to grinding dried food items.



I dump out the current onion powder, wash the container and add the newer ground onions first, then the older.  Otherwise, I rotate two jars.  What ever works for you, but remember to use the older ground onion up first.

I made us some onion powder, but will need to dehydrate more onions for making minced onion for future meals.  It's a go-to staple in our house.  I do use a dehydrator, but now-a-days, the newests ovens have a dehydrator option, and smaller batches can be made in most air fryers.

I have stored our onion powder in the freezer for years, because dehydrated onions re-absorb moisture quickly.  I keep it in an airtight jar.  I often times, have to wipe the rim before putting it back, but otherwise, the moisture stays out of it.


Converstion charts are available online to decide how much of the powder or minced etc is equal to fresh onion. 

Example:  1 tsp. ground onion powder = 1/3 cup fresh chopped onion.

Dehydrating Onions ~ Onion Powder  © May 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart