Soap Making Day

Yesterday was another soap making day. 

I could not find pink zote soap in the stores this time, and used white zote soap.  It's becoming more difficult to find zote soap in stores.

It was another good day for the garden, although the cauliflower now has green worms - yuck.  I picked about 2 dozen green peppers, about 5 red peppers, some cayenne peppers, banana peppers, and more tomatoes.

We didn't get that many spaghetti squash this year, but it was a very wet planting season, and now harvesting season.

We are still getting a few more watermelons.

This morning I had to go to plan B for making breakfast.   Since the cauliflower was worm infested, I added different veggies to our egg/cottage cheese dish.  I added diced green peppers, banana peppers, and canned jalapeno flavored banana peppers for flavor.  I also chopped up a few garden grown shallots.  The kids said it smelled like a restaurant in the kitchen.  

Sadly, we are now down to only 3 eggs.  I had hoped to make homemade bread or pancakes, but will have to wait to see what the chickens lay today.

I am roasting two more of our raised chickens, to use in homemade chicken noodle soup.  I know it's not really cold out yet, but its house payment week.  That's the week where we have to use what we have vs. head to the store.  I will go out and dig up a few last carrots and use swiss chard in place of store bought celery.  I may have to use shallots in place of onion too, but it all works out well.

And thanks to a farmgirl, in a friendly barter, I now have spearmint growing.  I had enough leaves to make brewed green tea with spearmint.  Man it was soooooo good.  I just closed my eyes and remembered, with one swallow, my grandmother.  She made spearmint tea all the time.  Gosh those were good times.

This week will be one of the most frugal spending weeks we've had in a very long time.  After the house payment, we have about $98.00 for food/gas/animal feed.  We are out of dog and rabbit food (sigh).  Good thing my son can buy the dog and rabbit food this week.  It's going to be a very tight week until the next paycheck (long sigh).  We are out of bread, lunch packing items, and cooking oil.  This makes it tough when I bake most of the kids lunch items.  I think I will zip on over to my on-line store and add another dishcloth for sale, then check my on-line articles.  Where there's a will, there is a way......

New Photo Album On-line

I am starting an on-line photo album to share.  The main reason to do this was to share wild flowers and other plants growing here.  However, I am adding more.

To view them, click here: Pioneer Woman At Heart's Photos

Visit often!

High Food Prices ~ Pioneer Frontier Tip

If you are among those who are stocking up, in preparation for very high food prices next year, you may be interested in this recipe.

I was reading information about the pioneer lifestyle and about the typical meals they ate.  It wasn't a shock to read that a growing a successful garden was "critical" to putting food in their bellies.

It was interesting to find out that some store owners added fillers to certain food items, so they could make more money off of the buyer.  Some of what I read really raised my eyebrows - plaster in the flour?  Or dyed dried beans in the coffee?  Yuck.

One tip I read, was about a coffee substitute, when coffee was not available or affordable.  Here is the tip:

"One popular "coffee substitute" recipe advised settlers to roast molasses-soaked bran in the oven until it was charred black. The bran could then be ground like coffee beans, and the resultant brew was "a very tasty drink for a number of months." (From Pioneer Life)

I wonder what bran and molasses we cost next year?  I guess if you grown your own grain, this may not be a problem. 

Canned Banana Peppers With Jalapeno ~ Stocking Up Update

Remember these?  Well, we popped open a few jars, and hubby does not like to eat these right out of the jar.  These were boil sealed, so the peppers are soft.  I did make fridge pickles for him with these, and those turned out crunchy.

Making the Most of Swiss Chard ~ Breaking Down Cost of Zoo Membership

The other day I used the stalks of my Swiss chard, in place of celery to roast chickens. I cut the leaves off, and sliced them thinly.

Cloudy, Rainy, and Windy

The recent hurricanes are creating a strange weather pattern for our area this season.  I can't remember a September where we've had rain after rain after rain.

There has not been a break in the rain for two days now, and I am afraid to pull on my mucking boots, and check on the garden.  The last time I was out there, the last of the cauliflower was about ready.  We also have a few more cabbage and many green peppers.

I am sure, unless the rain caused more to grow, that the tomatoes are finished now.  

Just a few weeks ago, I watched a hummingbird (baby) in our Tall Phlox.  I tried to get a picture quickly, but this is what I ended up with:

If you look under the "Bab" in Baby above, you can see the baby hummingbird.  It was about the size of a yellow jacket.  We've seen many hummingbirds hover over this plant this year.  I have dug up and split it, spreading more of the phlox around the patio.  Hummingbirds never seem to forget where they can find flowers they need.

The clothes drying racks are already out this season.  Hmph!  I have not even started splitting wood yet.  The list of winter preparation is growing, and I'm not getting the list marked off fast enough.

This is what the ground looks like, underneath my clothesline:

The yard is a big sloppy mess. The dogs come in soaked and look hilarious, with their face hair all matted down.  They sit and lick themselves for hours, trying to get every hair back in place.

The creek is overflowing and our new bridge is under water.  We may have to pull it back out and raise it.  I guess we'll just have to wait for the water to lower first.

I am once again battling a messy kitchen this morning.  With two kids working part-time jobs, the dish chart is not being followed.  Dishes are constantly being left out on the counter, dishes on the table and (grrr!) in the front room.  With my daughter working 5-1130pm or 5-9pm, her job never gets done.  I may have to re-write my job list and put  her on sweeping chores.  The cat box, that she is in charge of, is not getting cleaned regularly.  So parents, when you kids want jobs (or need them), remember they will slack in other departments, especially if they are attending school.

The dogs aren't getting brushed either.  It looks like I will be cleaning my kitchen again, before I can clean my bathroom, sweep the floors, bake an angel food cake, make the last batch of salsa, and make iced tea.

On a good note, I have started another knitted block for my knitted blanket.

This block is the basket weave pattern.  I hope the blocks all end up about the same size.  The idea is to make a blanket with all the squares that I make - each one a different pattern (or as many as I can practice).

This cooler, dreary weather, just reminds me that I am very behind on making homemade Christmas presents.  

I guess I better get back to work. 

Wild Flower ~ Catnip

I have no idea what I was thinking.  I picked a small piece of wild growing catnip and put it in my flower press.

Every day, my 9 year-old's cat (Tiger) would attack my flower press.  I finally opened the flower press yesterday and gave him that dried catnip.  He went nuts!  Then along came the other cats and wanted some.  

My 9 year-old has been wanting to dry some to make a safe cat toy for her cat.  I had her look at my wild flower book, so that she could identify it correctly, before she picked it.

We now have catnip drying in the garage, away from Tiger.  The catnip will not be making an appearance on my wild flower book, for the sake of keeping my book in tact.

Dear Lord, Please bring me some of that delicious catnip tomorrow. Amen.