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.
Adopted Motto
"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~
Friday, October 13, 2023
Chickens Carving a Pumpkin
Thursday, October 12, 2023
Keeping Produce Fresh ~ Cucumber Tip
It was suggested that I buy these larger Fresh Longer containers for keeping summer cucumbers fresh "longer."
The tip: I was told, when I bring in a lot of cucumbers, but cannot can them the same day, to immerse them in cold water first, then put in these containers. I'm always taking notes for the next year, so if you immerse in cold water, is there a reason for that?
Well, out of the blue I spotted these three at a local grocery store about a month ago. On clearance! I paid $6.49 for the large one and $2.50 each for the smaller ones.
I will be buying one more larger container for summer harvest.
Lily Sugar n' Cream ~ Peaches and Cream Cotton Yarns
The one on the left - made in China, thinner, longer, same weight. The one on the right, USA grown cotton, made in Canada, thicker cotton yarn. Note: both labels still say the same Canadian address, but the one on the left says "Made in China."
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
How I Grind My Dried Hot Peppers ~ Garlic Honey ~ Winter Medicinal Preparedness ~ New Meat Source
I mentioned making a new "medicinal" and here it is . . .
Garlic Honey. You fill your jar about halfway with cloves of garlic (instructions say add how many you want on most that I have read), fill the jar with raw honey and cap it. You have to burp the jar daily for about 2 weeks. Some instructions say to flip the jar each day to coat the garlic with the honey.
Need a boost? Take some honey. Feeling sick? Eat the garlic.
I'll let you know if this was worth making or not. Raw honey is not cheap around here. Have you made and utilized garlic honey? I would love to hear your feedback on it. I'm late on getting winter medicinals made, but back at it now.
Speaking of medicine and illnesses, we did have covid. We are finally back to feeling somewhat "normal." There were employees going to work with covid, and not staying home, so the spread continued after my husband stayed home. I guess these people were not showing many signs, but enough to know they should have stayed home.
Moving on to some chit chat . . .
We discovered a butcher with non-gmo/free range/no antibiotics within a 2 1/2 hour drive from our homestead. We picked up a turkey tenderloin, 1 # sausage, 1 # ground beef, and a slice of smoked ham.
We have already tasted the turkey and it was delicious! We are talking a real turkey tenderloin. Not that stuff at the grocery store they pump with sodium.
We have also tried the sausage. It does contain brown sugar, but it is not anywhere as sweet as what you buy in grocery stores, and it tastes almost like they smoked the meat for it. We have also now tried the ground beef by grilling burgers. The ham will be part of today's breakfast. We will be taking a cooler back before winter, and stocking up.
It's a small locally owned business in the Amish community. They only accept cash/check, and are closed on Sunday. We are looking forward to a trip to re-stock now. We may try other cuts of their meats as well. They do cut their bacon thick, which we are not a fan of (thick cut), but we my try it after another trip there.
Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Tuesday Tidbits ~ Dehydrating Hot Peppers ~ Ground Fire Powder ~ Using the Last of the Garden Hot Peppers
I'll admit, the cooler weather has been nice lately. We've had to turn a few heaters on too. The rain is moving in, and for several days.
If you blinked, you would have literally missed this beautiful sky Monday morning. It was there one minute, and gone the next. I was lucky to get the camera in time.
Wash, slice and dehydrate the mix of garden hot peppers. Keep those seeds for more heat in the "fire powder." I used my mats to keep those seeds. In the past, I used parchment paper.
Dehydrate according to you dehydrator instructions. I have a small coffee grinder I used for grinding herbs, and I when these are dry, I grind them up, and pour them into a recycled spice jar and label.
It's a great way to use up all those leftover hot peppers in your garden. You could freeze them too, but I find that drying them and grinding them, makes a nice spice flavor to add to meals.
Monday, October 9, 2023
Garden Re-Cap ~ Tip for Baking with Pie Pumpkin Puree
Friday, October 6, 2023
. . . from the handiwork journal