Rest and Tea

 Feeling bad I am schlepping myself around with a stuffy nose, and cough, my husband ordered me to "rest."  Ha!  Well I am trying.  It's definitely not hard to do today.  We are getting more rain, which we greatly need, and it looks very stormy outside.  The kind of weather you want to curl up with a book, and light a candle.

I'm living on ginger/lemon tea, doses of mullein tincture and what not.  I normally drink a nettle tea concoction for allergies, but did not get started on that early enough apparently.  The recent smoke haze in the air did not help either.  The air is much better now.

I have been doing a ridiculous amount of internet surfing, working on a color scheme for the next blanket (to use up yarn in my stash).  I guess you can call it a stash.  It is really yarn that was leftover from other projects, which I over bought I believe.  Anyway, the one color scheme I really like, involves (gulp) buying yarn of a color I am out of.  

So...I've been doing more searching for a color scheme of which I already have. So far, nothing is coming to mind.  A large blanket project won't be started on until cooler weather, so I have all summer to work on that.  I still have the other blanket to finish as well.

Anywho, it is hard for me to "not" be busy, but I can write lists, meal plan, read a book, sit and shred paperwork, and do low-energy jobs around here.  It definitely is something I have to teach myself - rest.  Like I said, the rain is helping me with that today.  

The herb garden is springing back to life, other than my green onion.  I am hoping with today's rain it will.  Yesterday I noticed all the seeds I planted are starting to come up thankfully - basil, cilantro, parsley and dill.

Now, to go find an unfinished eye pillow project I started several years ago....it's around here somewhere.

Happy Homemaker Monday

 Once again my Sunday was my "Monday" so the list on the to-do's around here are short.  One day off for my husband is not enough.  He is so tired on his day off, he doesn't have the energy to tackle anything around here.  I get it, so I don't complain.

In lieu of possibly strong winds with rain yesterday, I was out early to till where needed, and tie up any tomato plants.  Just for kicks, and because I bought them, I planted Glady bulbs and a few others.  I had not planted them due to the drought we were having. I also dropped some tall zinnia seeds, white daisy seed, and a mixed pink daisy seed.  If they come up they come up, if not, we tried.

We still need to install our second mole chasing windmill.  The rain should help get that job done, as we need to bury a grounding rod for it.  The rain will soften the ground for us.

I did a quick inventory on my canned goods, and made notes on what needs canned in the way of condiments this garden season.

My full blown allergies turned quick on me, so most work was tidied up quick for some afternoon rest.  

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

I will link up when she posts today.

The weather . . .

Rain!  We got rain yesterday later in the evening!  We cooled down the high 60's today, but will be in the 70's with several days of possible rain.

As I look outside my window . . .

Everything is wet out there.  The birds are singing.  It's slightly windy, and very cloudy.

Right now I am . . .

Brewing a pot of coffee, getting ready to eat breakfast (maybe), then maybe do dishes.

Thinking and pondering . . .

I need a cleaning supply caddy.  I hand carry supplies from bathroom to bathroom, and room to room.  I looked at reviews online, but will go check in stores when I am out and about.  I need one to carry wipes, gloves, brushes, box of borax, spray bottle of homemade cleaner and whatnot.

Listening to . . .

80's rock, or nothing today

How I am feeling . . .

Sinus pressure is the worst.  I will be doing more rest and self care this week than any extra work for sure.  I slept in today, and felt I needed it too.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Egg/bacon/cheese sandwiches if I get hungry, coffee, herbal teas later.

On the lunch plate . . .

Maybe soup.

On the dinner plate . . .

Have no idea.  Depends on my energy level.

On my reading pile . . .

On my TV this week . . .

Mick on Netflix

On the menu . . .

-Leftover chicken fajitas
-have no idea yet

Looking around the house . . .

I've moved my paper shredder to my living room.  I can sit on the floor and shred up what needs to be taken care of (that was boxed and moved for floor repairs).  

To-do list . . .

-water porch pots

-clean roosts, muck coop, later this week

-till when I can this week, weed squash

-I'm calling this my "possibility" list due to lack of energy

From the camera . . .

Devotional, verse, thoughts . . .

Could you all pray I get over this, whatever it is? Please send good mojo, prayers and good thoughts.  I plan to do some essential oil inhalations today, and hope it will clear my sinuses a bit.  I have mullein and ginger tea, lemons, and 4 thieves, but out of organic oil of oregano gel caps (those  have been ordered).

Purge Motivation ~ Camping Tip I Learned

 A few of you have mentioned that purging/organizing/tossing seems a bit overwhelming.  Well, this is how I do it.

I put the boxes of "stuff" in the smack dab middle of the living room.  It's in plain sight, and that will bother me, so it's tackled and taken care of and more out of the house faster.  More put in their new homes, or re-organized.  I am cleaning as if I was moving, so I handle each item asking myself, "would I take you to a new home," which helps make decisions on keeping or donating much easier.

I do have a ton of paperwork, that got taken out of a file cabinet 1 year ago (and 2 months to be precise).  The boxes were shoved into the office when the kitchen was boxed up to repair the flooring.

I found my hand crank coffee grinder, and my apple peeler/corer.  I honestly never had a chance to use the peeler.  How many of you have a peeler/corer combo and use it? 

Decisions are to be made here.  That fan was left upstairs by one of the kids, and it's on it's last leg, but I think we used it for one of the rooms we repaired and renovated.  It may be getting scrapped.

I hope that helps motivate you, if you need motivation.  We were just so overdue to purge/extreme clean/re-organize. 

Camping Tip (with a camper with water/grey water tank):  Wash your dishes with dawn powerwash (any environmentally safe dish soap) only, then over a dish tub run water over dishes to rinse, then dump the rinse water outside (or some campgrounds have a grey water dump near by).  This helps you keep your grey water tank from filling too fast while camping.  It is easier to get fresh water, than to dump your grey water tank.

When we had our pop up camper, it had a water tank, but for some reason we never used it.  We would heat water on the campfire, and fill two dish tubs to wash and rinse our dishes.

We are on day 21 of no rain, but that may change later today.  Crossing fingers, saying a prayer, and sending out that good mojo.

Buttermilk Biscuits ~ The Biscuit Experiment ~ Einkorn Flour Biscuits

 I apologize in advance.  I printed this recipe from a blog I follow, but failed to write down which blog.  It was a while ago too.   You know me, I'm a sucker to try a new recipe.

I gave the recipe a try, and here is how mine turned out. These baked pretty well, considering my baking powder was expired (gulp).  I haven't been doing much baking around here lately.

These were delicious freshly baked, but next day very dense.  Good, but the white flour is not good on our meal plan. 

So....

I played around with einkorn flour the other day.   Einkorn will not spike my husband's blood sugar levels. I see that Jovial has a drop biscuit recipe, but it calls for a full TBSP of baking powder (?) and maple syrup.

If you make einkorn biscuits without any sugar, please tell me how you make yours and if I need to change anything.

I prefer to use recipes directly from Jovial, but they only have two biscuit recipes on their site.

Here is what I did:

Einkorn Biscuit Trial #1

2 1/2 cups all-purpose einkorn flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

8 Tbsp butter (see note below), cold (organic)

3/4 cup milk, cold (I used organic whole milk)

I did my typically biscuit mixing, but with einkorn I like to sift it, so I sifted it with the baking powder and salt.  I cut in the butter with a pastry blender, then added the milk.  I only knead until it's all together, then I cut with a biscuit cutter.  I did these with a 2 inch.

Baked at 400°F for about 17-18 minutes.

They came out crispy on the bottom and a teensy crispy on the sides/top, but the center was soft.

Should I make any changes?  Add more milk, cut back on flour, change the baking powder amount?  The Jovial recipe for their drop biscuits calls  for 2 cups flour and 1 Tbsp baking powder and some cream of tartar.

Also, is there a way to still get a nice biscuit without baking powder?  Another healthier way to get that rise in the biscuit?

Baking soda and cream of tartar?

Buttermilk and baking soda?

Any ideas?

Note:  I either cube my butter and put in the fridge to keep cold, or put the butter in the freezer, then grate it for biscuits.  I have also grated it first (which does make a greasy mess on your hands, but works too), then froze the grated bits.

Results:  My husband said, "well, their biscuits" ha ha!  Not the best tasting, but a healthy alternative for when we have biscuits and sausage gravy (which is not very often).

Bad Air Quality Warnings ~ More Strawberries ~ Cottage cheese and Chilis for Breakfast? Yes Please!

 I lost count on how many days it's been with zero rain.  Watering everything continues for us.  We've been waking up in the 50's, so it makes my daily chores more difficult.  I have to wait for it to be warmer to do the watering.  The forecast is saying possible rain this coming Sunday, with warmer temperatures.

I also have to rotate watering with laundry/dishwasher, so the water pump is not working in over drive.

It's hard to be outside too long with the Canadian wildfire haze contaminating the air outside.  We sat out on the porch the other night, and totally forgot about the air issue, and a nasty sore throat woke me up in the night.

I am finishing up with strawberries.  The chickens love their cool, sweet treats (they get the tops).

Froze several quarts, and will make a cold strawberry pie as well.  Canned 8 - half pints of reduced sugar jam.

There is a cottage cheese craze going on in recipes lately, but for years, we've enjoyed cottage cheese in our breakfast.  It's a Rachel Ray recipe (adapted with organic ingredients), and one we really like.  I used to double this when the kids were all living here.  Recipe is HERE.  It does require a 1/4 cup of flour, and I may try swapping that out with Einkorn next time.  

Homemade Sweet Potato Chips ~ Dehydrator

 

Sorry for the bad photos above.  My camera battery died, and I tried using photos off my phone. 

My preferred option to stock up sweet potatoes, is freezing them.  Click here to see that post.

I made beet chips way back in 2012, before I even had a mandolin or a dehydrator, and they were delicious!  Info on that post, CLICK HERE

We tried "chips" this time in the dehydrator.  My dehydrator guide book stated 125°F.  They literally tasted just like sweet potatoes.  I highly recommend, that if you want snacking "chips" to season them with maybe garlic, cayenne or other spice/herb.  I used a tiny bit of organic avocado oil and salt.  They are bland.  So season it up if you want flavor.

You can also dehydrate just the sweet potatoes, and grind them into powder for smoothies etc.  I have not done that, but I may try it in the fall when it's cooler out.

It's Strawberry Season!!

 

Just when I said there was "nothing" going on here....BAM!  Strawberries!  I'll be busy over the next few days.  I am cutting back on how many jars of jam I can for us this year.  I canned too many last year.  I do can our jam reduced sugar, so it's more fruit to the jar.  I freeze some for smoothies, crumbles, crisps, and pancakes.  Of course we eat some fresh too.  

It'll keep me entertained indoors, as the Canadian wildfire smoke is choking us out in our state.  I noticed it two days ago.  The smoke is moving south, and we are in it's path, and it is very visible in the air (hazy).

On the extreme clean front, I am now pulling boxes out of my tiny office.  Keep in mind we boxed up the kitchen a year and two months ago, and some boxes from that job were still in there.  It's the last room with carpet too.

I found dishes from Mom's place, a lot of paperwork to shred or toss, 4 cones of black cotton yarn (gulp!), stuff that needs re-homed, some possibly donated, books to donate, and even toys the grandkids out grew already.  Sheesh.  Yeah, I will not be bored this week.

Oh, we finally delivered 5 boxes and one full bag of craft donations.  They were greatly appreciated, and my home has less "stuff" in it.