Some-things Cookin'

Books About Preserving Meat

2012-01-29T19:49:00.002-07:00

The two that we're excited about right now and planning to purchase are Charcuterie and Pig: King of the Southern Table. Having recently butchered our first steer and knowing the pig's turn is soon, we've been looking at all the wonderful things we can do with the meat.

I came across Pig a while back while exploring titles thru my Nook Color. I downloaded the sample and just the first chapter piqued my interest. I now have it from the library and am convinced we need to own it. The only question is eBook or hardback. The size of it says eBook, but there's just something about a physical book that I can't quite overcome. Since the majority of the book is a how to and recipe book, we'll likely get it on the Nook. The Nook works well in the kitchen-I open a cabinet and secure it behind the cabinet's center support, keeping it at eye level and away from spills. This book will show us how to use just about every part of the pig available. There are some things I can't wait to try (making our own bacon) and others that I'm sure I'd never miss (blood sausage). According to the book, Southerner's make use of just about every part of the pig-the ears, jowls, hooves, feet, brains. I think the eyes were the only part I haven't seen a use for!

This one is going to teach us a lot! Everything from hot dogs to red wine salami to confit to pate (which I formally believed to simply be pureed liver) and everything in between. Tony and I are both excited to work through these recipes and processes. The challenge is going to be our small kitchen and lack of curing space. However, Tony's already talking about building a smoke house! I wonder if it could have a cheese cave basement below it?

This post is shared at the Homestead Barn Hop.

Around the "Farm"

2012-01-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

It might only be January, but we've already started this year's batch of baby chicks. They arrived last Thursday and are growing so quickly! The Rhode Island Reds are already getting wing feathers! This was taken the day they arrived.

On the 4th we added more ducks to our farm. We had a breeding pair of white pekinsg, but the female disappeared a few weeks ago. The male was lost without her so I had 4 ducklings in the order with the baby chicks. Before they shipped though, I found 4 females for sale thru Craigslist, so we bought them instead. They were the same price and already a year old! I can't get close enough to take pictures yet, but one is really pretty-I think she's a blue Swiss?

On the 7th we butchered our first steer. Completely grass fed. Maybe not organic (neighbors wouldn't stop giving him their grass clippings and I suspect they use chemicals for weed control) but no grain. This Thursday is cut & wrap day. He ended up being about 200 pounds heavier than we had hoped for, which is a blessing. If averages can be trusted, we should end up with 500 pounds of beef in the freezer, plus bones for stock and fat for tallow!

Sorry it's sideways. Hubby is 6'2" and you can see how much longer the steer is even with his arm raised, which is close to an 8' reach. The hoist is rated for 1300 pounds and struggled to raise him off the ground, so we're thinking 1250-1285 pounds on the hoof.

Next month it's the pig's turn. So looking forward to fresh beef and pork!

This post is shared at The Homestead Barnhop #45.

I Won an Herb DVD!

2012-01-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

My first win of the year! I think I've won 5 giveaways from other bloggers now in the last 2 years. The DVD is from The Bulk Herb Store and the blogger hosting the giveaway is Just Making Noise. Let me share one of those seemingly coincidental stories with you. Last summer I was reading Wardeh's blog and learned of the mission run by Marilyn (of Just Making Noise) and her husband in Honduras. Wardeh was giving away a copy of Marilyn's eBook Just Making Ice Cream and I had 14 gallons of fresh, raw goat's milk in my fridge just begging to be used. Rather than wait for the drawing to see if I won, I just bought the book. While trying to explain to my husband why I bought the book, I sent him the link to her blog and as he was reading about their ministry, he found out they'd be coming to our small town in two weeks! How odd is that? So, we went to hear them speak and got to meet them right after buying and trying her eBook!

Is Everybody Comfy & Cozy?

2012-01-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

This was taken last February. Unfortunately we don't have the cute cat behind his knees anymore.

Baby Chicks!

2012-01-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

This is the first time we've ordered by mail and they arrived this morning. Tony left for the post office about 645, after getting the call that they were here. We have 6 black australorps, 7 gold sex links, and 7 Rhode Island reds. All happily chirping away in their "crib".

I was holding one of the black ones and she crawled into the sleeve of my shirt (not before pooping on my hand though) and went to sleep! I guess for her it was like being tucked under mama's wing.

Anyone ever put a baby bunny in with little chicks to help keep them warm? After thinking it'd be good for the chicks I had to question if it'd be good for the bunny!

Our First Steer

2012-01-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

WARNING! If you're sensitive to what happens to animals raised for dinner, you probably shouldn't read this.

Jasper was born January 24th, 2010 to the first heifer we've ever owned.

Wasn't he cute? And look at that gorgeous rusty coat!

Here he is at about 6 months.

This one is middle of summer 2011. I think this is the last picture I have of him. He's the one on the left. His coat isn't as rusty as when he was born, but more so than what this picture shows. He's been rapidly growing on a mix of grasses on our pasture, free to roam and do as he pleases. We thought he'd get to about 1050 pounds and were surprised yesterday at butcher time when the 1300 pound rated wench could barely lift him. Our guesstimate is he was about 1275.

My husband is gallant enough to do the hard work and not require my presence. Goober Gus and I arrived in time to see this:

We're very grateful to these friends from church for helping out! None of us have ever done this and I'm happy to report that despite it taking longer than they thought, no one got hurt and things went quite well. I was there to gather parts that won't be aged and start prepping the hide.

As much as I felt I had researched and learned what to do when this day came, I was still woefully unprepared. I knew which organs I wanted for human consumption and the parts I wanted for the pig and chickens. I thought we had enough buckets. If you've never done this-take more than you think you need! Take plenty of everything. I saved the tongue, liver and heart for us. I kept the brain because one of the tanning methods I read about uses the brain. We needed a bucket for the scraps of meat that were being trimmed during hide removal and quartering. I was going to take my rubber gloves and don't know why I chose not to at the last moment. I wanted to keep the kidneys, but to our untrained eyes, we couldn't find them. There was a bucket for the fat that I plan to render into tallow.

I had it in my brain that there wasn't much for me to do on butcher day, that all the work I'd be doing would be on processing day after the meat ages. Wrong. All those decisions to make about what to keep and how to package/store it were up to me.

The guys told me the wench pulling him up is rated for 1300 pounds and it struggled to get him off the ground. When the hide was removed, it took 2 of them to carry it outside for me to clean. When they gutted it, again they were amazed at the weight of all the internal organs. Once the quartering was done it was a little easier to estimate weight. Even the smaller sections were at least 150 pounds. Tony can usually lift that alone, but it took 2 to get each hindquarter to the truck to transport to the meat locker. The front sections required a 2 wheeled cart. When there was just one left hanging on the hook, Timothy (the one in the red shirt) tried to counter balance it by hanging on the other arm. He couldn't do it-he was raised off the ground! Even the guy that owns the meat locker said the pieces looked big. Our conservative estimate is 800 pounds dressed. Using national averages, we'll get 500 pounds of meat. Since we plan to use the bones for stock and the fat for tallow, our total yield will probably be greater. So you really can raise a hefty steer on nothing but grass!

My goal yesterday was to get the hide skinned and salted. That part didn't even start until about 530PM! Tony worked with me and at 8 there was still about half the hide needing to be skinned. 5 hours of manpower and we were only halfway done! We stopped at that point (Goober Gus was getting hungry and we still needed to get parts for the hot water handle in the shower that broke the night before-good timing huh?) and decided to go ahead and salt it down and see what happens. We're hoping the salt will dry the remaining fat well enough to make it easier to remove. My hands were so cramped from gripping slippery fat in one and trying to trim it with the other! My back was stiff and for some reason so was the rest of me. Prior to the skinning tasks, it doesn't seem that I did that much, so being so sore afterwards was confusing. I understand now why professional tanners get $500 per hide!

The irony of the whole day was eating at McDonald's at 9PM on the day we'd been working toward for 2 years-the processing of our own homegrown, grass fed steer, so that we didn't have to eat industrially raised beef anymore. Another reason to be better prepared with a meal plan! I think the plan from now on will include yummy, healthy beef several times a week-at a fraction of the cost! My best estimate (if we yield 500 pounds) is about $1.70/pound. The inexpensive cuts from the local ranchers are over $4 per pound. The savings are worth the crazy day we had yesterday. Even if I am still sore and tired!

Limeade

2011-12-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

We made some today. Cranberry limeade too. It was easy. It's yummy! 1 qt is already gone. Limes are on sale again. Hmmm. Here's what we did if you're interested:

juiced all the limes we had in the juicer-cut into quarters first, but tossed in peel and all
made a simple syrup of 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice to 1 cup water-I think I ended up doing this 3 times
tossed 1 cup of cranberries into the first batch of syrup-they were frozen and that was a quick way to thaw, as well as cool the syrup
ran the cranberry & syrup mixture in blender to chop them up

We ended up with about 3 cups of lime juice. From that I made 2 qts of limeade by adding about a cup of juice, a cup of syrup and 2 cups of water to quart jars.

In another quart jar I put about 1 1/2 cups of the cranberry mixture and 1 cup of syrup with the rest filled with water.

I still have a full quart of cranberry limeade concentrate to use for more or to flavor club soda. I love bubbly drinks and have grown used to straight club soda, but I sure enjoy it more with flavor! Tonight we polished off a qt of the limeade mixing it with club soda.

This would have made a great festive punch for a Christmas party-a bowl of sparkling limeade (or even a pretty glass pitcher) with chopped cranberries floating in it.

Operation Christmas Child 2011-Processing Center Day One

2011-12-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

Tony and I just got back to our hotel after working a day at the processing center for Operation Christmas Child. It was my second time to be here and Tony's first. I taped boxes until we stopped for lunch around 1PM, and Tony was the heavy lifter. That's the only job I haven't done and probably won't this year. After lunch I moved to inspector and worked on the same aisle as Tony, so he helped me when I'd get a little backed up. I like to work quickly and that's how it was last year, since we (mom and I) were first timers with seasoned veterans. Today I was the "seasoned" veteran working with first timers. At one point there were two ladies checking the boxes for monetary donations while I was the sole inspector looking for inappropriate items. I could keep up until there'd be a box with stuff I had to take out, or a box would be so full I couldn't get things back in, but it was more exciting that way.

Inappropriate items include anything liquid (bubbles, lotion, liquid body soaps, mouthwash, etc); any food item (except candy-seems the rats won't eat that, so why do we?); chocolate because it can melt; anything breakable (think mirrors, picture frame glass); war related items like army men; pokemon and Harry Potter items; aerosol items; used/damaged goods; medications or vitamins.

At first it feels like you have to remove everything to be able to tell if it's all allowed, but after a while I develop a pretty good ability to spot those things without even really "seeing" all of it. You might be wondering what happens to those things that can't be sent or maybe even why some aren't allowed. Anything pulled from a box goes to a local Christian ministry that will use it in their outreach. So don't feel bad if you filled a box and put something in that I had to take out-it's still going to a good cause. As for why certain things aren't allowed, either the item has the potential to leak and damage many boxes; attract rodents that will destroy boxes; break and be a hazard; or has the potential to cause harm in the community where the box is given. I trust that the powers that be at Samaritan's Purse have given this careful thought and much prayer.

If a box doesn't have very much in it, we have trinkets available to add to the box, so all kids get a good variety.

Some ideas of what NOT to do, just to make the processing of hundreds of thousands of boxes easier:

No tissue paper in the box, UNLESS it's shorter than the height of the box. Trying to stuff all that tissue back into the box slows things down.
A full box is fabulous-one that requires a master packer to get it all back in is not.
Do not wrap the entire box-it has to be inspected, so it's going to be opened. You can wrap the lid and box separately, making it possible to get into the box without unwrapping it though.

Some cute things I saw that would be fun to do next year:

Some of the boxes had been wrapped with flannel material. It makes a great presentation and I'm sure the child that receives it will be thrilled with the added gift. However, if you do this, PLEASE don't overfill. The fabric makes the taping difficult because it doesn't stick very well, and a stuffed box is just that much harder.
Color coordinated items in the box, especially for girls. It's visually appealing and in my opinion, adds to the thrill of the gift.
Boys and girls age 5-9 get the most boxes. Consider packing your box for the 2-4 year olds, or the 10-14 year olds.
Get together with a group to craft some of the items. I saw little bears that had been cut from material and stitched. Knitted hats. We made yarn dolls to go in some of our boxes.
Pez dispensers. When I saw these I kicked myself for not buying the box of vintage ones we saw recently at a flea market that would have been inexpensive and a great combo gift.
Baseball mitts. Soccer balls (deflated and with hand pump-I think).
We're told that the older boys often have jobs and need tools. Consider packing duct tape, screw driver, hammer, or other basic supplies along with a few fun things.

Ideas for getting great stuff without spending a fortune:

Shop the back to school sales. Crayons, markers, paper, pencils and sharpeners, etc are all very cheap during those sales.
Always check the clearance racks when shopping. The little JC Penney near me often has off season clothing marked down at least 75%.
If you frequent fast food restaurants, buy the kids meal and keep the toy for a shoebox (if your kids won't get upset!)
Use coupons to purchase personal care items greatly reduced.
Ask your dentist to donate toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Ask your insurance agent if they have coloring books or other goodies that would be fun filler.
Buy trinkets and candy the day after any holiday for deep discounts.

I write this as much for my own memory as to share with you what you can do to help. Have you packed shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child? Got any tips to share?

A River Runs Thru It

2011-11-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

OK, it's really just a creek, but on days like today, it looks like a river. I think this is the first time it's been high this time of year. Usually it's January before we see it this high, but it's sure fun.

It's Monday again and normally that means a new menu plan. However, since the challenge is over and there's no link up, I'm not sure I'll keep posting it. If it's here, I have to log in to see it, as I don't take the time to both write and type it. Although, I've been using my Nook Color for things like that more lately, and it might be a good idea. Just not today, cuz I haven't planned the week yet! I did think it might be fun to compare what I planned with what we actually ate. I had to keep a record for my naturopath, so I could easily copy and paste. OK, I will. First is the planned meal, then what I actually had.

MONDAY
Smoothie #1: Eggs, bananas, milk, yogurt & cacao powder: S1 with maca root powder
Breakfast: oatmeal, milk: oatmeal with butter, raisins, cinnamon and sugar
Lunch: leftover noodle casserole: noodle casserole with mozzarella
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce: organic chocolate chip granola bar
Dinner: Shredded chicken in the rest of the leftover noodle casserole, baked sweet potato and garden salad: the last of the noodle casserole with chicken and cheese and baked sweet potato fries, can of Hansen’s soda
Pretty close this day!

TUESDAY
Smoothie #1: S1 and Traditional Medicinals Detox Tea
Breakfast: something baked to take to the park ???: baked oatmeal squares
Lunch: Tuna salad on greens: cheese crisp (We’re out of mayo, so no tuna salad)
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce: nada
Dinner: Goat meat chili, shredded cheese and diced onions with a salad: goat meat chili with shredded cheese and sour cream
Quick adjustment for no mayo, and then never had a snack

WEDNESDAY
Smoothie #2: Coconut milk and berries: S1 w/o cacao
Breakfast: bacon & eggs: bacon and eggs, slice of sourdough bread
Lunch: Peanut butter and celery and a salad: celery & peanut butter
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce: 1 slice sourdough bread with olive oil/balsamic vinegar
Dinner: short ribs with roasted butternut squash: rockfish with artichoke tapenade, sm chunk butternut squash and salad with ranch
Clearly not getting my quota of greens; had to switch to rockfish, as short ribs are in freezer at work and Tony came home before I could have him take them out on Tuesday.

THURSDAY
Smoothie #1: S1 w/o cacao or eggs plus teaspoon of peanut butter (not in the smoothie)
Breakfast: butternut squash pancakes, milk: pumpkin pancakes
Lunch: eggs salad: sandwich with bacon, colby, tomato and avocado on sourdough bread (still no mayo, but oh boy was this sandwich GOOD!)
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce: nada again
Dinner: Lunch box from Wild Flower Bread Co at the Sinfonietta: turkey, cheddar, lettuce & tomato sandwich, grapes, sm cookie & water (from Wild Flower Bread Co)

Closer than I thought for these days. Looks like I’m mostly missing a healthy afternoon snack and plenty of greens. I have good intentions-like juicing a bunch of stuff to freeze in ice cube trays and use for afternoon smoothies, but that takes time and energy that I just don’t seem to have. Then, the $7 carton of organic salad mix I bought that had a “Best If Used By” date of 11-11 was starting to get slimy on 11-9. I was really irritated over that! It took me about 15 minutes to hand wash (already washed lettuce) enough of it to serve that night, and even then I still found slimy lettuce in my salad and that’s a big turn off for me. The rest went to the goats. I’m glad it got used, but I can’t afford $7/pound goat food!

Monday Meal Plan, Nov 7-Nov 13

2011-11-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

I thought I should confess that I have not once had my afternoon snack as planned. No green smoothie with breadstix and olive oil dipping sauce. I have breadstix in the freezer-homemade even-I just forget to take one out to thaw and rise for fresh baking. Maybe I'll see what's available at the store...I did however, have a veggie smoothie one day last week. I juiced 3 small beets, 3 stalks of celery, 2 small apples and a wedge of purple cabbage and put that into the blender with a bunch of lettuce. The lettuce didn't get chopped up small enough, so it was hard to drink, but flavorful.

MONDAY
Smoothie #1: Eggs, bananas, milk, yogurt & cacao powder
Breakfast: oatmeal, milk
Lunch: leftover noodle casserole
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Shredded chicken in the rest of the leftover noodle casserole, baked sweet potato and garden salad

TUESDAY
Smoothie #1
Breakfast: something baked to take to the park ???
Lunch: Tuna salad on greens
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Goat meat chili, shredded cheese and diced onions with a salad
WEDNESDAY
Smoothie #2: Coconut milk and berries
Breakfast: bacon & eggs
Lunch: Peanutbutter and celery and a salad
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: short ribs with roasted butternut squash
THURSDAY
Smoothie #1
Breakfast: butternut squash pancakes, milk
Lunch: eggs salad
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Lunch box from Wild Flower Bread Co at the Sinfonietta
FRIDAY
Smoothie #2
Breakfast: bacon & eggs, milk
Lunch: green salad and goat cheese, milk
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: orange chicken and fried rice
SATURDAY
Smoothie #1
Breakfast: Cinnamon rolls
Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwiches and green salad
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Pizza and salad

SUNDAY
Smoothie #1
Breakfast: Eggs & bacon before church
Lunch: hot dogs @ fundraiser, then to Su Casa with OCC team
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Leftovers

This post is part of the Plan It-Don't Panic Challenge at Keeper of the Home.

Monday Meal Plan, Oct 31-Nov 6

2011-11-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's Tuesday night already and I haven't made a meal plan. Haven't hardly made a meal either! Tony will be gone several nights this week (tonight being one) so I probably won't cook much. We have a lot of chicken and various leftovers I'm going to use up.

~~MONDAY~~
~~Smoothie #1: Eggs, bananas, milk, yogurt & cacao powder~~
~~Breakfast: Baked oatmeal, milk~~
~~Lunch: Nachos with chicken and green chilies~~
~~Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce~~
~~Dinner: Baked whitefish topped with leftover Bearnaise sauce, baked sweet potato and garden salad~~

TUESDAY
Smoothie #1
Breakfast: pumpkin muffins
Lunch: Tuna salad on greens
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Cheese, leftover potato salad, tortilla chips

WEDNESDAY
Smoothie #2: Coconut milk and berries
Breakfast: Steak & Eggs
Lunch: Peanutbutter and celery
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Chicken soup

THURSDAY
Smoothie #1
Breakfast: Sourdough waffles, milk
Lunch: Sliced cheese and veggies with ranch dressing
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Chicken quesadillas and refried beans

FRIDAY
Smoothie #2
Breakfast: Frittata, milk
Lunch: Grilled chicken on a bed of greens, milk
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Beef shortribs, zucchini, salad

SATURDAY
Smoothie #1
Breakfast: Cinnamon roll pancakes
Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwiches and green salad
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Pizza and salad

SUNDAY
Smoothie #1
Breakfast: Eggs & meat
Lunch: Leftovers
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Leftovers

This post is part of the Plan It-Don't Panic Challenge at Keeper of the Home.

Here and There in the Blogger World

2011-10-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

I read a lot more blog posts than I write. I probably even comment more at other blogs than write original posts on mine. This week I was quoted at SteadyMom. She had written a brief story about achieving peace. My comments were quoted in her next post about What Choosing Peace Does Not Mean. I was pretty excited about that!

Then there's the grain debate that's so popular right now. I've read a bit on both sides. I whole-heartedly agree that processed white flour should be avoided, but I don't come to the same conclusion with whole grains. I know that gluten intolerance is on the rise and many people are avoiding wheat and other gluten containing grains. I don't notice any symptoms though, in myself or my family. The debate regarding whether humans should even eat grains is a very interesting one and you can find a lot of info on both sides. I have an online friend that removed all grains from her diet (and subsequently her family's diet) and they are all doing wonderfully. But they had issues prior. One blogger has tried a few of the grain free approaches and still has the same symptoms, so it clearly isn't a one size fits all resolution. I appreciate her willingness to take up the pro-grain side of the story and show that it's not a demon for everyone. I encourage you to read her post, but be warned-there are nearly 300 comments!

There's also Kelly the Kitchen Kop writing a story in support of healthy grains. I left a comment that sparked interest for another commenter and we had a respectable discussion that I found refreshing and interesting. You can read it here. It seems rare (for me anyway) to be able to present and discuss opposing viewpoints without it breaking down into heated debate. In my experience, people don't like to have their opinions questioned. I say-how do you learn something if you don't ask questions? I ask nicely, never resorting to name calling or belittling, but I still get those that get all riled up simply because I asked to know more about their point of view. Oh well, I digress. Take the time to read the other posts and let me know what you think on both of the issues.

Words I Thought I'd Never Say

2011-10-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

"Got a hatchet?"

to my husband, as I hold a hen caught eating an egg, standing just outside the door. We've got a broody hen whose chicks are due to hatch any day now, so I was watching out the window, having seen her out looking for food. Then I saw her getting aggressive and not letting any other hens into the hen house. I went out to investigate and she was up on a pole squawking at the egg eater in her nest! It wasn't a fertilized (or maybe just not developed enough yet) egg, but we've been having a problem and I was glad to catch the culprit. Tony is plucking and cleaning her right now.

Yep, we've come quite a ways on this journey-had we written out a 5 and 10 year plan when we got married, raising animals for food wouldn't have even crossed our minds, let alone made it to the list!

Blustery Day

2011-10-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

Defined at http://www.dictionary.com/:
blus·ter /ˈblʌstər/ 1.to roar and be tumultuous, as wind.

After reading the definition, I'm not so sure it fits, but since Winnie the Pooh likes it, I'll keep it. It's been cloudy and a bit windy, with rain two different times. The cloudy sky makes the various colors of the leaves seem more vibrant.

We were outside unloading pine branches from the truck to the goat pen when it finally occurred to me why Molly and Annie have been crying, despite having food and water, and it not being milking time. They're both in heat! We just got back from delivering them to the pasture to hang out with Boots, and they all seem very happy about the situation.

Boots, summer 2010

Molly, winter 2009

Annie, spring 2010

As I was milking, I thought once again about the fact that I haven't kept very good records this year in regards to who was taken to see Boots and when. I've got my milk/egg record calendar here with me and as I go thru it for clues, I'm going to give a report!

Cream gave birth to Sugar and Spice on Jan 24th. She never did become the milker I thought she'd be.
We bought 6 Cinnamon Queen chicks on April 7th, and 2 turkeys. See this post about disappearing poultry.
Yodelady went to Boots on April 16th. Hmm, she must not have gotten pregnant right away, as gestation is 155 days and that would have been September 18th. Better tell the neighbors to keep an eye on her. Or bring her back from their house!
Our first chicks hatched on May 4th.
Peaches had twin bucklings on May 16th.
Annie had a buckling and doeling on May 18th.
Molly had a single doeling on May 24th.
Belle went to see Boots on June 10th. She's due as early as November 11th. Better tell the people we gave her to in trade for the pig.
A bull was brought to Elsie on July 1st. She'll be due April 11th.
On September 12th we got the pig and gave Patches and Belle away. Peaches went to Boots that day.
I have no notes about Sugar and Spice and when they went to meet Boots, but it seems like it was before we got the pig. Some time in July, I think. Actually it probably wasn't until after August 1st, since that's when the bull was moved back to his pasture. Although since the goats also use the neighbors pasture, it could have been before. Eek!

I feel better knowing the dates of most breeding "appointments", at least!

Now to go calculate costs associated with keeping the steer thru winter vs butchering next month.

Monday Meal Plan, Oct 24-30

2011-10-24T16:50:00.001-07:00

My parents visited this weekend. I mentioned to my mom that she could use my menu plans to encourage them to eat out less often. She told me she didn't understand my code. Oops. I did that because I don't like to type repetitive stuff. I'll spell it all out this week and just make changes each week to the things that actually change. I think I'll do away with the bullets too-they mess up the formatting when copying and pasting! I also think I'm going to start making the plans on Saturday, even though they don't get posted until Monday.

MONDAY
Smoothie #1: Eggs, bananas, milk, yogurt & cacao powder
Breakfast: Baked oatmeal, milk
Lunch: Nachos with chicken and green chilies
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Baked whitefish topped with leftover Bearnaise sauce, baked sweet potato and garden salad

TUESDAY
Smoothie #1
Breakfast: Boiled eggs and apple slices, milk (park day, need something portable)
Lunch: Tuna salad on greens
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Chicken chili verde and beans, green salad

WEDNESDAY
Smoothie #2: Coconut milk and berries
Breakfast: Pumpkin pancakes and milk
Lunch: Egg salad, crackers and celery
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: ? It's beef night and I think we're all out! I have a butternut squash to use for something though!

THURSDAY
Smoothie #1
Breakfast: Fritatta, milk
Lunch: Sliced cheese and veggies with ranch dressing
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Swordfish, sauteed squash and salad

FRIDAY
Smoothie #2
Breakfast: Eggs & meat, milk
Lunch: Peanut butter and celery, milk
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Orange chicken, fried rice

SATURDAY
Smoothie #1
Breakfast: Cinnamon roll pancakes
Lunch: Ham sandwiches and green salad
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Pizza and salad

SUNDAY
Smoothie #1
Breakfast: Eggs & meat
Lunch: Leftovers
Snack: Veggie smoothie (any assortment of fruits and veggies available) with breadsticks or crackers and olive oil dipping sauce
Dinner: Leftovers

This post is part of the Plan It-Don't Panic Challenge at Keeper of the Home.

Monday Meal Plan, Oct 17-23

2011-10-17T08:06:00.001-07:00

I'm enjoying my new Menu Framework. I wish I could paste the spreadsheet of the details. Anyone know how to do that? With the Framework, breakfast and lunch basically remain the same from week to week unless I want to change it, and dinners are generically planned, as in Monday is chicken, Tuesday is soup, etc. That allows for variety without the need for detailed planning all the time. Snacks and smoothies are the same too.

Monday-

S2*
pork and scrambled eggs
GS (green salad) and hot dogs
VS (veggie smoothie) & sourdough crackers
herbed chicken, spaghetti squash & GS

Tuesday-

S1
sourdough waffles and milk
tuna salad and goat cheese
VS & sourdough breadsticks with olive oil dipping sauce
beef barley soup and GS

Wednesday-

S1
veggie & cheese omelet
GS, garlic bologna sandwiches
VS & sourdough breadsticks with olive oil dipping sauce
steaks, yam, veggie, GS

Thursday-

S2
baked oatmeal
ham sandwiches
VS & sourdough breadsticks with olive oil dipping sauce
whitefish, veggie & sweet potato

Friday-

S1
beef & fried eggs
GS & goat cheese
VS & sourdough breadsticks with olive oil dipping sauce
tacos

Saturday-

S1
pumpkin rolls
egg salad
VS & sourdough breadsticks with olive oil dipping sauce
pepperoni pizza & GS

Sunday-

S1
eggs & meat
leftovers
VS & sourdough breadsticks with olive oil dipping sauce
leftovers

This post is part of the Plan It, Don't Panic series at Keeper of the Home.

I just realized I've never explained my abbreviations! S1=smoothie made with bananas, eggs, milk and cacao powder. S2=smoothie made with coconut milk and frozen berries. VS=veggie smoothie. GS=green salad.

Monday Meal Plan, Oct 10-16

2011-10-11T07:48:00.001-07:00

I'm a day late, but I've had it written out since yesterday, if that counts! I wish I could insert a table in Blogger. Over the weekend I worked on what I call a Menu Framework. I blogged about it Sunday, but can't paste the spreadsheet of the details. I'd appreciate your thoughts on that post too!

Monday-

S2
pork and scrambled eggs
GS (green salad) and nachos
VS (veggie smoothie) & sourdough crackers
diablo chicken, corn & GS

Tuesday-

S1
sourdough waffles and milk
tuna salad and goat cheese
VS & sourdough breadsticks with olive oil dipping sauce
butternut squash soup and GS

Wednesday-

S1
southwest omelet
GS, celery with peanutbutter
VS & sourdough breadsticks with olive oil dipping sauce
salmon, soaked brown rice, veggie, GS

Thursday-

S2
baked oatmeal
egg salad
VS & sourdough breadsticks with olive oil dipping sauce
beef shank, veggie & sweet potato

Friday-

S1
beef & fried eggs
GS & goat cheese
VS & sourdough breadsticks with olive oil dipping sauce
chicken enchilada casserole

Saturday-

S1
pumpkin rolls
lasagna casserole
VS & sourdough breadsticks with olive oil dipping sauce
pepperoni pizza & GS

Sunday-

S1
eggs & meat
leftovers
VS & sourdough breadsticks with olive oil dipping sauce
leftovers

This post is part of the Plan It, Don't Panic series at Keeper of the Home.

Precursor to Monday Menu Plan

2011-10-09T20:58:00.001-07:00

I just completed what I'm calling a Menu Framework. It's a basic outline of what to serve daily so that I get all the nutrients I'm trying to get to heal from adrenal fatigue. The Too Tired eCourse I've been studying has a list of various foods I need to eat every day. Rather than wing it and hope that I've consumed all that I should, I made a plan. Or an outline, more precisely. Hopefully it's a broad scope of what to have when, with the flexibility to keep meals from becoming mundane. It's structured enough to take the majority of the work out of the way so that I can just plug in favorite meals or even new recipes when I choose.

It takes into account our commitments away from home so that meals will be simple for those times. Tuesday night is a good example. Goober Gus and I like to go to the library in the afternoon to spend time there, and afterwards we go walk with a friend. That puts us home right at dinner time, with no allowance for prep time. It's also a night that Tony goes to a men's Bible study. Sometimes he's hungry before, but most of the time prefers to eat after. So Tuesday night is soup night. It can be simmering in the crockpot all day and ready to eat at any time. It will be accompanied by a salad and either sourdough bread or sourdough crackers.

It reminds me to get more veggies into our diet and makes me think about how. Our afternoon snack, which prior to now has been very hit or miss, but which I think is vital to consuming enough nutrients and helping to avoid the afternoon crash, is a veggie smoothie and sourdough breadsticks with an olive oil dip. That came about for two reasons.

I should get some olive oil every day. Other than cooking with it on occasion, I don't really get much, so planning to have breadsticks to dip into an olive oil dip will take care of that.
I need two servings of leafy green vegetables every single day. I might get two every single month! So-a veggie smoothie with leafy greens in it will cover one of those servings.

Hopefully it will also remind me of all the herbal remedies I have at my disposal for boosting health. As I finished this rough framework I realized I could take it a step further and where beef is on the menu every Wednesday, one week could be a casserole, one a grill night, one a roast, or whatever new recipe I want to try calling for beef. Same thing with Friday ethnic nights. Our favorite is Mexican, but we could try others as well. Saturday is pizza night, but that could be altered to be pizza or other Italian meal. Sundays are leftovers and that serves 2 purposes. It obviously uses up the leftovers, but also gives me a day off from cooking!

Another habit I want to develop is cooking once and eating twice or more-making a double batch of whatever I'm preparing and freezing the extra for another time. You know, one of those days where nothing goes right and suddenly it's dinner time and there's nothing prepared (despite having a plan). I will either be sure to use my glassware that can go from freezer to oven or perhaps buy some disposable aluminum pans for that purpose. I haven't decided yet. There's always the option to freeze it in the pan, using a liner of waxed paper, then take it out of the pan and wrap in plastic to return it to the freezer. At least then the pan would be available to be used.

Now, can I get in the habit of eating a green salad every day? Funny thing is, I like salads, I just rarely think to eat them!

How about you? Do you have a plan in place for eating and getting all the good foods in you want to eat? Do you have a green smoothie recipe you'd like to share? I need ideas for those!

Bad Year for Poultry

2011-10-03T14:03:00.002-07:00

This year has been hard on the poultry on our farm. Our first year we lost 11 birds over a 1 year span and then went a very long time with no losses. This year we're seeing a rise again. These are the ones I can recall, we may have lost 1 or 2 prior to the loss of the first juveniles in the spring.

1 young turkey due to exposure
1 young chick due to 5 year old boy's curiosity
1 young turkey cause unknown
1 adult hen from accidental poisoning
1 juvenile hen due to illness
1 rooster due to hawk attack (assumed hawk)
1 adult hen simply disappeared
1 juvenile hen eaten by pig

It's sad to lose one, but this year, fencing the property wouldn't have saved any of them except maybe the 2nd turkey and the hen that disappeared earlier this week. It's still cheaper to replace a bird than to fence everything, but if we choose to make this our long term home, we'll likely fence it for various reasons. The first year when we lost 11, most were probably coyote attacks, but even then it's still more expensive to put up fencing.

The one lost to the pig happened today. Probably when we were at the park late afternoon. I don't know how she got in there, but there are feathers all over and the backbone and wings. It's not the loss that bothers me as much as which one-it'd be nice if it were one of the older hens on the downside of their laying career rather than one that just entered that stage, but it's in God's hands, right? I hope the other hens were watching so they'll not try to go in the pig pen!

EDIT! That darn pig got another of the juvenile hens!! Guess whose life will be cut short, despite making good growth gains since coming to us?! I'm off to research roasting whole pigs, as she's not big enough to take the time to butcher. We can't figure out how or why the chickens are getting into her pen, but suspect it's to scrounge after food she hasn't eaten. They could be flying over, as the fencing isn't very high, but more so than the hens usually go.

Also, I forgot that we lost 2 ducks shortly after they came to our home, so with today's attack, the total is now 11 poultry birds lost this year, making it worse than the first year.

Monday Meal Plan, Oct 3-9

2011-10-02T19:53:00.001-07:00

Last week I published my menu plan here along with the link to Keeper of the Home, but I think I forgot to actually link the post! I'll try to remember that step this time!

This is going to be quick and not very imaginative, but it will be better than winging it!

Monday-

S1
scrambled eggs with mozzarella and sd toast, milk
celery and peanut butter
bean soup

Tuesday-

S1
soaked apple raisin muffins and milk
pepperoni and carrots
gulash

Wednesday-

S2
mini egg muffins
tuna salad
hosting a visiting missionary, may prepare what he desires

Thursday-

S1
sd waffles and milk
egg salad and carrots
fish and wild rice

Friday-

S2
fried eggs
carrots and cheese
beef roast and veggies

Saturday-

S1
pumpkin bread
grilled pork
green salad with boiled eggs

Sunday-

S1
eggs and sd toast
leftovers
leftovers

Monday Meal Plan, Sept 26-Oct 2

2011-09-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's Tuesday already and I haven't made a meal plan for the week. On Saturday Tony decided to rearrange the furniture in our tiny house and as of this moment it's still not all back in order. We didn't get around to having most of the dinner items last week, so I'm improvising by adjusting last week's plan a bit.

Monday-
Chocolate Banana Smoothie (AKA S1)
~~Sourdough waffles~~ Did we ear breakfast?
~~Egg salad~~ pepperoni and SD crackers
~~Beef short ribs~~ Turkey soup

Tuesday-

Coconut Milk Smoothie (AKA S2)
~~Boiled eggs and fruit with goat cheese~~ Apple muffins
~~Quesadillas~~ hot dogs
~~Bean Soup~~ ??

Wednesday-
S1 It's Goober Gus's birthday so he gets to choose.
~~Coconut flour pancakes~~
~~Goat cheese, SD crackers and carrots~~
~~Pulled pork~~

Thursday-
S2
Scrambled eggs and SD English muffins
Peanut butter and celery
Frittata

Friday-
S1
Baked oatmeal
Goat cheese and tomatoes
Homemade hot wings

Saturday-
Berry Smoothie
Bacon, eggs and SD toast
Goat cheese and crackers
Meatza pizza

Sunday-
S1
Baked oatmeal
Leftovers
Leftovers

This post is part of the Plan It-Don't Panic Challenge at Keeper of the Home.

Cracker Map

2011-09-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

I was baking crackers yesterday. A triple batch so we'd have enough to snack on this week with plenty left over for Goober Gus's birthday party Saturday. As I was preparing to take the first batch off the tray, I noticed that it kinda looked like a map of the US. Not that I was trying, but do you see it?

Do you know...

2011-09-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

what a screaming raccoon sounds like? We just found out! Tony was playing chess with our son on the new Nook Color I got for my birthday (yeah, it's supposed to be mine, hehe) while I was searching for new apps for the Nook when we heard this horrendous screeching outside. I ran out as fast as I could but didn't grab the flashlight. My first thought was something was attacking chickens, but when I got outside the few that sleep under the stars seems unruffled so I thought maybe something jumped into the pig pen and was attacking her. Tony grabbed the light and came out, but went toward the creek from the other side of the goat pen, so I still couldn't see the pig. He said it was raccoons and could see them up in the giant cottonwood tree by the creek. We heard splashes from the beaver but it wasn't adding up for me.

Once we confirmed the pig and goats were OK, he tried to scare the 'coons off. They did run away, but we don't know where. All I can say is that's an AWFUL sound and if the raccoons are going to fight, they need to do it somewhere else!

Monday Meal Plan, Sept 19-25

2011-09-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

I decided to participate in the Plan It, Don't Panic meal planning challenge hosted by Stephanie at Keeper of the Home.

I like making plans. I'm not so good at following them though. Whether they be meal plans, housekeeping plans, homeschool plans-any plan. My excitement comes with making it, not following it! I learned why a couple of years ago, but that's another topic for another time. The challenge doesn't actually start until next Monday, but my family and I will be better off starting it now. My son and I will actually eat lunch!

So here it is (Smoothie, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, in that order)

Monday-

Chocolate Banana Smoothie (AKA S1)
Sourdough waffles
Egg salad and SD crackers
Beef short ribs

Tuesday-

Coconut Milk Smoothie (AKA S2)
Boiled eggs and fruit with goat cheese
Quesadillas
Bean Soup

Wednesday-

S1
Coconut flour pancakes
Goat cheese, SD crackers and carrots
Pulled pork

Thursday-

S2
Scrambled eggs and SD English muffins
Peanut butter and celery
Frittata

Friday-

S1
Baked oatmeal
Goat cheese and tomatoes
Homemade hot wings

Saturday-

Berry Smoothie
Bacon, eggs and SD toast
Goat cheese and crackers
Meatza pizza

Sunday-

S1
Baked oatmeal
Leftovers
Leftovers

I'm also going to try making some coconut oil fudge for snacks, and I usually have coconut bark to nibble throughout the day too. Each morning I hope to brew some herbal teas to sip on also. One is high in vitamin C, the other in calcium. I've got another that I brew a couple of quarts at a time and keep in the fridge. It's not the best tasting, but is supposed to be good for adrenal fatigue so I'm trying it. This plan is obviously fairly bare bones, but that's more than I usually have to go on. I want to stop at the farm stands up the road and get some fresh veggies to add to meals, and I forgot that my parents gave us a couple of packages of raspberries that I'll likely serve with freshly whipped cream. There may be some homemade ice cream happening at various times too. It's been a long week, a fun filled weekend and I'm tired, so there aren't links to where some of my recipes are found, or other posts that explain some other things, but maybe later in the week I'll come back and add them in. Can you tell we have a large, steady supply of goat milk? [The smoothies and goat cheese both utilize this wonderful commodity!]

Emergency Flashlights

2011-08-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

Or power outage lights, as I just learned they are called, come in handy when it suddenly goes dark because of a power failure. This is not the kind we have, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time searching for the exact one. I also know nothing about the site, it was first in the list of search results.

We have one that my sister in law gave us for Christmas a few years ago. It plugs into an outlet and when the electricity stops flowing to it, the light comes on. This is nice when it happens at night, as happened to us a few weeks ago. We saw the lightning and a big clap of thunder popped then it was dark. Except for this light coming from behind the entertainment center. It just happens to be the only outlet not used regularly. I had only recently plugged it back in (ask me why it wasn't always plugged in-I don't know) and was glad I had. We had a boy here visiting and while he had just fallen asleep, our son had not and the whole event shook him up. Being able to get to that light and then light candles helped keep him calm.

We figured it was an area wide outage until Tony looked towards the neighbor's house and they had light. Turns out the lightning blew a fuse in the power line across the road and about 6 or 8 homes are served by that fuse. It's too bad both of the boys were asleep by the time the power company arrived to solve the problem because it was neat to watch how they changed out the fuse.

A couple of nights ago we took my parents out for burgers and when we arrived home the power was out again. It had been off for nearly half an hour when we got home and was off for nearly two. It was still light out when we returned so we didn't notice right away. The flashlight was still working though. I'm glad we have it and that it got plugged back in!

If you don't have one of these, I recommend them. It's nice to have an instant light source when the power goes off so that you can get to your other sources of light easily.

This post is part of the Preparedness Challenge at Homestead Revival.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-17T05:36:00.001-07:00

Social Media Sites

2011-08-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

You know the drill. You can "like" something on facebook or tweet about things. Now I'm hearing about one called pinterest which looks like a visual bookmark page, as far as I can tell. I don't see the attraction at this point though.

I had a facebook account a couple of years ago. The young moms in my MOPS group said it was great-find old friends, keep up with new friends, play games, share pictures. So I tried. I didn't like it. I think I had my account for close to a year. It was a time sucker that didn't give me anything positive to show for it, so I disabled it.

I've never tweeted, and as mentioned, don't see the attraction to pinterest. However, it's getting harder and harder to get some of the wonderful things bloggers offer unless I have a facebook account, so I'm considering getting one somewhat incognito. Perhaps using my blog name as the log in account, and then only using it to access updates from other bloggers, etc. Yeah, I think that's what I'll do, but someone needs to keep me accountable to ONLY using it for those purposes. I've been reducing screen time and want to stay on that trend.

How about you? Do you enjoy the social media sites or find them overwhelming and time consuming?

A Crazy Mixed-Up Day

2011-08-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

It started off sanely enough. No plans outside of the ordinary daily tasks. Kinda felt a bit of freedom as a result. Did I say it started off sanely? Shows how crazy it's been-Tony slept in and I got up to let the chickens out. I noticed that Sugar was out of the goat pen with Spice. Spice gets out all the time, but it was odd to see Sugar out too. Then I saw the rest of the goats were out and the gate was open. That explains the noises that sounded similar to Goober Gus getting out of bed and stomping around in his room. The hay bales are outside our bedroom, so we could hear them stealing food. I grabbed Annie and Molly by the collar and Peaches tagged along and went back voluntarily. Sugar and Spice did too. That just left Cream and she eventually jumped in on her own.

Last night was the first time we took all the baby goats out-they're old enough to be weaned now, so they're in their own pen full time. At milking time I got 158 ounces total from Annie and Molly. That's a gallon and bit over a pint. I left 2 quarts out for a new batch of yogurt that I'd decided I'd culture for 4 hours instead of 8 and see how that came out. Some time during all this I decided I could bake crackers-oh, but we're trying to do all those things with sourdough and it should ferment overnight. I figured I'd go ahead and start it and bake them after several hours instead of overnight.

Then I remembered that a friend of ours has a neighbor with overloaded peach trees and neither the friend nor the neighbor do any food preserving, so the trees were made available to us for picking. Goober Gus and I got about 5 pounds the other day and I told the owner we'd be back when more ripened. All 3 of us went today and returned with roughly 80 pounds, and you can hardly tell we took any! Both days we picked up the bug eaten ones to bring to the chickens, so they're getting a treat too. This is one branch and there are several trees, all loaded like this.

Sorry about the sideways shot...
On the way home we stopped at a farm stand to get more cherry tomatoes. I bought half a pound the other day and GG ate them all before I could tell him to save some for dad. We also got giant green bell peppers for .75¢ and this farmer doesn't use chemical herbicides or pesticides. Organic peppers sell for $6 EACH at the grocery store. These are so flavorful that you can smell them a yard away. We also bought some very spicy salsa to snack on for lunch. So spicy that I had to add tomatoes, green chilies and onions to thin it out some. We made 2 trays of nachos and polished off another bag of our new favorite tortilla chips.

It was during lunch that I decided we could make lasagna for dinner, so I took out a package of ground pork sausage and tomato sauce from the freezer. We've got 2 gallons of whey to make ricotta, so it was all set. I also decided I better learn the process of lacto fermentation and be ready to start preserving these peaches. Tony spent close to an hour placing them in apple boxes that this same friend had brought us when we thought we'd found a place to move to. The inserts to separate fruit were still there, so they came in very handy. We have 3 and a half boxes of peaches!

OK, so now I have cracker dough souring, 80+ pounds of peaches picked, plans for a fairly involved dinner and I'm looking thru my GNOWFGLINS courses for the one on lacto-fermented fruit. Tony needed to go to the shop and work on a couple of cellos. GG asked if he could go with because his bike tires are both flat and the air compressor is at the shop. I reminded Tony that today was the last day of a pretty good sale at OfficeMax and asked if it was worth it for me to drive to Cottonwood to take advantage of it. He suggested I drop them off at the shop, go to Cottonwood and pick them up on the way back. I ~~hate~~ dislike it when he makes a logical suggestion that doesn't line up with what I was thinking.

Alright, so instead of working on peaches and spending some time planning out the upcoming week-GG wants to study volcanoes-I drove to Cottonwood. Did I mention that driving makes me drowsy? Yeah, so when we got home a nap was definitely needed. GG watched Prince of Egypt and we dozed. Until I remembered I wanted to put the yogurt in the fridge at 130 and it was now after 4. So much for a nap.

I went out to check all the animals and poor patches had his head stuck in the fence. Reason enough to dehorn any horned animal, IMO. We tried cauterizing the horn buds when all the babies were a few days old, but the boys' horns grew anyway. Now they're banded, but haven't fallen off yet. It was at this point that I remembered that I needed to check the mamas and see if they needed to be milked again. We (I) normally only milk once a day, but with this being the first day of weaning, I figured they'd need a second go around. Got all the feed and supplies ready and came out to find that Spice had jumped out and eaten the milking time treats, so had to start a new batch soaking. "When am I going to be able to start dinner?" I thought to myself. GG and Tony were playing "bollyball" (that'd be volleyball for anyone over the age of 10) and it was a nice late afternoon outside.

The girls gave nearly another 3 quarts of milk, though we only got to keep about half that. Molly promptly stepped into the bucket today and then kicked it about 15 feet behind her. I retrieved the bucket and milked her anyway, giving it to the chickens, who probably suggested she kick the bucket in the first place. I'm not sure what the chickens do to repay the goats for this, though.

OK, on to dinner. Tony started cooking the sausage-I asked why he was slicing it instead of just crumbling it and he said it was venison. What? We don't have any venison. He told me to look at the wrapper in the trash. Sure enough, the inside packaging says venison. I looked more closely at the butcher paper on the outside and the word I couldn't make out this morning was now obviously antelope. I vaguely recall neighbors giving us this when they gave us some pork sausage to try. OK, so the lasagna is going to be made with cubed antelope sausage. I also decided to try a recipe I had seen for lasagna "cupcakes". In the original recipe won-ton wraps are used to line muffin tins and hold all the filling. I had 6 lasagna noodles left from the last time we made it and didn't want to buy another box, so we tried this method. Oh, but first I have to tell you about the ricotta. For something that's supposed to be easy, I've had more failure than success.

The method is simply bringing the whey to roughly 180° and then pouring it through a butter muslin lined colander. The one success I can recall, I brought the whey to nearly boiling, so that was my aim tonight. Didn't work. No ricotta. Zero, zilch, nada. {Hmm, that rhymed, maybe I should write children's silly stories?} OK, I'm not going to the store for ricotta when I've managed to find a suitable alternative for everything else. We decided to use chevre and just added Italian seasoning, garlic and salt.

Cutting the partially cooked noodles into the right size circles seemed easy enough until we realized the size that fits the top is too big for the bottom, so Tony used scissors and custom cut them. I topped with tomato sauce, antelope sausage, chevre, more sauce, another noodle and mozzarella. Did I mention it's about 7PM already? Or that the sweet elderly man that brings yard and garden trimmings for the goats and books or toys for Goober Gus stopped by just before we started cutting noodles. As the oven is warming up and we're about done filling muffin cups with lasagna goodness, I start smelling something close to burning. We just put a new (freecycle find) oven in yesterday, but it was clean inside. Oh no!! I put the cracker dough in there to keep flies off it! Fortunately it was in a large Pyrex bowl, so no breakage, and I don't think the heat was a problem for the fermenting process, but it actually could be now that I think about it. So we get these things into the oven finally and I start washing dishes so the kitchen won't be a total disaster tomorrow. Tony and GG clean off the table and empty the dishwasher-oh wait, they did that while we waited for the whey to boil. I finish the bulk of the dishes and check the lasagna. Why aren't they cooked more than that already? In my rush to stop the burning smell, I turned the oven off. Goodness! Will the craziness never end today?

Here's the steps to filling the tins:

I turned it back on and we waited about 10 minutes. Tony read a chapter from Charlotte's Web to Gus. We started it last night and it's our aim to read a few chapters each evening. Dinner was a hit, despite the many obstacles. The flavor was outstanding! Tony ate 6, I had 5 and GG had 4! I thought he'd be too full to eat because he ate all the partially cooked noodle pieces. Fooled me!

By now it's nearly 830 and we are at least half an hour behind in our evening routine. We went out to lock up the chickens and check the goats, then got teeth brushed, read one more book, took fish oil and put him to bed! That was at 9, it's now 10 and all I've done since then is write this very long description of a crazy weird day! If you've read this far, pat yourself on the back and grab a gold star, you deserve it!!

Operation Christmas Child-Gearing Up

2011-08-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

Last year my mom and I worked that the west coast processing center for Operation Christmas Child. We learned a lot about what to pack in the boxes and have been trying to buy things on clearance that would be a good fit for the boxes. JC Penney usually has some great deals on off season clothing, so when I'm there to buy anything else, I check the kids' clothing clearance racks. I have 5 empty shoe boxes to fill, not sure how many my mom has set aside.

We met at an outlet mall last month and I completely forgot about buying clearance items. I saw T-shirts for $2 each, but didn't buy any because no one in my family needed them. Oops, there I go just thinking about "me" again.

As long as we're talking about me, I love office supplies, and you know what that means this time of year, right? Tremendous savings on back to school supplies. Since we homeschool, and don't really go through very many items, it feels as though I don't get to participate in these great sales events, until I remember that school supplies are great things for OCC boxes! Woo-hoo, now I get to indulge my shopping desire AND think of someone else!

I think I've gone a little overboard though. I emptied all the bags into a large box tonight and here's what I have:

5 boxes of colored pencils
6 boxes of markers
7 boxes of crayons
16 glue sticks
4 mini staplers
3, 10 count packages of pens
2, 8 count packages of fun pens
4 packages of regular pencils
10 pencil sharpeners
8 file folders with pockets
6 spiral notebooks
4 composition books
9 packages of filler paper
4 bottles of glue

The liquid glue can't be sent, and the spiral notebooks may not fit, but there are local collections of these items for kids here who can't afford these things. I was going to buy a couple of backpacks for the local kids also, as OfficeMax usually has a time when they'll give 100% back in MaxPerks rewards, but I missed that deal.

I wonder if things like bar soap are on sale this time of year too? I bought an 18 count package of wash cloths, and it'd be nice to wrap each one around a bar of soap. I'm going to ask my dentist how many tooth brushes and dental floss samples his office is willing to donate.

One weekend, my parents will come visit and we'll make yarn dolls to go in the boxes too. I have some camo yarn so that we can make "boy" dolls too. Last Christmas we made some as gifts for cousins and my son showed me a way to attach a button to one hand for a shield and a toothpick in the other for a sword, but we can't send military/fighting type toys.

At the homeschool conference last weekend I picked up a few small items for the boxes-a few pens, a pin, a book. Oh, I should get some inexpensive coloring books to go with those crayons, markers and colored pencils! Oh yeah, I got a couple of packages of stickers too.

One of our homeschool projects will be to write letters to the children that will get the boxes. It nearly brought tears to my eyes last year to see the handwritten letters and pictures done by children for children. Do they know the impact they are having?

I was hoping to find the story of the girl who lived in Russia that didn't want to go to school that day because her shoes were falling apart. Her mother made her go, and she made plans to run away after school. Guess what happened? That day at school, Samaritan's Purse was there giving out boxes to the kids. Guess what was in her box? Yep, shoes. Her size. Think she ran away? Nope, she ran right into God's arms, because He used a family to send this girl exactly what she needed at the moment she needed it most. He's like that, you know.

What is she doing?

2011-07-29T11:14:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this is the first time she's hung out here, but it's the first time I've seen it. This is a metal cart on the back patio where I keep milking and feeding supplies. She's been back in there a few times today.

I looked after she left and there's no food there to attract her, nor any type of "nesting" material.

Monument Valley

2011-07-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

These were taken a few weeks ago when we drove to Colorado. The audio is our Treasure Island audio book, sorry.

The rain storm made for an interesting background, and I'm thinking the quality is pretty good considering it's taken from a moving vehicle through the closed windows.

AFHE Annual Home Educator's Convention

2011-07-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

Tony and I went again this year. It was very inspiring and motivating last time, and who can't use a boost of those on a regular basis? This year was just as good. Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis was the keynote speaker and had workshops throughout the day. Tony went to most of his workshops, and I attended other great ones.

My schedule on Friday looked like this:

Keynote: Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World by Ken Ham
Mother, More Than Just the Heart of Her Home by Rachael Carman
Smart Kids Who Hate to Write by Dianne Craft
The Angry Child-What Ticks Johnny Off by Mike Smith
Education is Discipleship: A Vision for Homeschooling by Brad Melton

On Saturday I attended:

Keynote: How Do We Measure Success in Homeschooling? by Mike Smith
Learning to Think Biblically by Ken Ham
Incorporating the Charlotte Mason Method in Your Homeschool by Carol Shippy
Missional Homeschooling by Heather Haupt and Colene Lewis
Creating Your Family's Best Learning Environment by Carol Gary

Tony was able to attend these workshops on Friday:

Keynote: Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World by Ken Ham
Genesis: Key to Rebuilding the Foundation in Family Culture by Ken Ham
The Power of Praise with our Children by Mike Smith
The Origin of the Races by Ken Ham

Saturday looked like this:

Keynote: How Do We Measure Success in Homeschooling? by Mike Smith
Learning to Think Biblically by Ken Ham
How to Reach Today's World with the Christian Message by Ken Ham
I'm Not Ashamed of Natural Selection: Do Animals Change? by Ken Ham
Strengthening Your Marriage by Hal & Melanie Young

During the breaks we strolled the aisles in the Exhibitor Hall exploring the gazillion options available to Home Educators these days. There are so many that I would thoroughly enjoy, but Goober Gus wouldn't even want to sit down with me to work on them, so they'd be a waste since I've already completed kindergarten! We did buy a few things and learned about a mission that saves you money on cell phone services and then asks that you use the difference to support orphans in Tijuana. After we verify motives and legitimacy, we'll be joining that.

We learned of a free movie that can be watched online called Divided. It appears to be a discussion on the merits of separating youth from their family during church service. It's something we're exploring, as the Bible does not mention age segregation. Is it Biblical?

We bought 2 DVD's produced by home educating families, but haven't been able to watch either one yet. One is the first of a series that uses the Indiana Jones adventurer style to teach character traits with Scriptural reference.

One thing I noticed and wondered how common it is at other state homeschool conferences is that our governor, a US congressman and state senator all showed up to address the audience of approximately 5000. Does this happen at your homeschool convention?

Love & Respect: A Book Review

2011-07-25T13:15:00.000-07:00

My husband and I attended the Love & Respect seminar a few years ago and having the book around is a wonderful tool to refer to. I especially appreciate the biological approach that shows that men and women are wired differently. That doesn't make one right and the other wrong, it's just different. Dr Eggerichs explains the "crazy cycle" that so many of us fall into and how to stop repeating it so that both husband and wife get what they need from the relationship, bringing about more of what the other needs and turning the crazy cycle into a healthy one.

I also appreciate the Scriptural basis for the logic and reasoning, as Christ is the center of all good marriages. Buy this book and follow its principles and see how your marriage is healed and made better!

Rocky Mountain High

2011-07-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

We’ve been in Colorado for the last several days and while we haven’t been at the top of the Rockies at all, we are now staying in the midst of one of the mesas. I believe our elevation is about 6000’ and we’re in a little valley full of rolling, grassy hills with views of higher mountains in the distance. I’m enjoying a rare bit of peace with quiet. Our hosts have taken the majority of this party out fishing. I thought more were staying behind, but I think there are just 3 of us women here. All men, children and a few other moms and young ladies are gone.
This is a stark contrast to last night, when the band Tony came to Colorado to play with set up on the big back porch of our hosts’ home and played for hours to a crowd of close to 100. A temporary dance floor was set up over the gravel driveway; food came from all over-as did the multitude of family members of the hosts. The children were loud, the music louder. Some danced, some chatted, some continued to eat, some played horseshoes, kids played whatever their imaginations could dream up. Those so inclined drank. And drank. And drank some more.
It was the kind of scene that causes me to long for it when seen in a movie or the pages of a magazine. Being in the midst of it was different. My original perspective was one of “how long will this take?” However, once the music started (and not even music that I choose to listen to at home) my discomfort eased a bit into realizing precisely what I just stated-this is the real deal. This is what goes on all across the country when large families gather for good times and good food.
The fact that I am not part of this family and knew not a single one prior to arrival (except one guitarist whom I’d met on one occasion in the past, though would not have recognized him passing him on the street) made it a bit uncomfortable for me. Not for Goober Gus though. He was in heaven with all those kids to play with. They ran all over the upper and lower yards, used a discarded length of plastic to slide down a short dirt hill, teamed up and played spies, danced from time to time and likely all assortment of other childhood activities.

To my credit, I did try to strike up conversations with a few women, but that was a challenge when the music was playing. That challenge was not made any easier by the fact that since this was a family gathering, they all knew each other and already had connections and things to talk about. They probably wondered who this strange lady was at their event. I would have thought the same thing had roles been reversed. I did manage to talk to one woman that homeschooled her 5 children, 2 of which were adopted thru foster care. We got to share a bit about the horrors of the foster care system and the hurdles that families are required to jump prior to adopting a child. The unfairness of the process to the child involved. The struggles that families face when resolving issues created by far less than desirable living conditions that the adopted child was removed from. I felt a bit cheated when she left without saying goodbye.

I thought once night settled in and it was too dark to see that the kids would come down off the hill they were playing on and spend time in the grassy yard next to the band. I was wrong. They got out flashlights and continued to play. Most would run through the crowd from time to time and I kept waiting for Gus to make his appearance. I got a bit distressed when he never did. I thought about trudging up the hill to look for him, but having not been up there with daylight to orient myself, and not having a flashlight of my own, I decided against that approach. I searched for one of the older kids to do my searching for me, but could not find one that was old enough to follow through and return with the desired news. I decided I’d wait until the next band break and have Tony go with me. Just prior to that happening, here comes my sweatshirt-with-the-hood-up wearing son. Crying. Profusely. He’d been playing spies with the older boys of the lead guitarist, they are 10 and 12, I believe, when some of the tween girls came looking for dance partners. Gus was assigned the task of guarding the fort until the boys’ return and also given orders to misdirect any future girls seeking dance partners. Apparently he took his orders quite seriously and patiently waited for more girls to come looking, while also anticipating the return of the boys. But he could wait no longer. It was dark. He was alone. He wasn’t sure how to get back to the crowd, though he obviously figured it out. After holding and comforting him and hearing his loud description of what had happened, amidst great tears, the band took a break. Dad came over to help out. The father of the boys stopped to see what was wrong and was pleased to get the inside scoop on what was happening between the girls and boys. Gus felt sufficiently reinforced to traipse out into the dark woods again. Pondering what had happened, and feeling bad that I hadn’t gone in search of him, it hit me. I think he was more upset over not getting to carry out his orders than he was scared of being left in the dark.
By now it was about 10, but since we’re in DST, really just 9, but past his bedtime either way. I knew I’d never convince him that it was time to go to sleep while there were kids still playing. I began to wonder just how late the other kids would stay up. I then realized that the other kids-or many of them anyway-would be leaving to go home to sleep. Not us. Our bed was scarcely 100’ from the amplified band, if that far even. The reality that getting him to go to bed before the band was done began to sink in. How long would the band play? It was already approaching 11, but by beer drinking, concert going, partiers, that was nothing. I was long past ready for sleep, but also realizing it wouldn’t likely happen while there was music playing. It was about this time, while the band was on another break that my son approaches me and asks when he can go to bed. “Who are you and what have you done with my son?” was my first thought. Gratitude my second. Mixed with a bit of disbelief that I’d even heard what I thought I’d heard. OK, so off to bed it is.
Sleep on the other hand was an entirely different story. The band only played one more set, but that didn’t mean the party-and thus the noise-was over. The last time I checked the clock, it was just after 3AM and there was a crowd of men outside talking-which was OK, but apparently whatever they were talking about was worthy of hearty laughs approximately every 45 seconds. Exhaustion must have finally taken over because I don’t recall anything else until the sun started bringing light to the windows. That had to be 530 or 6, though I didn’t check. I stayed in bed until nearly 9, Gus had been awake for a while and there was no convincing him that it was too early to be up. I learned that hardly anyone else got any sleep either and so didn’t feel singled out. :-) The plan the night before had been for the guys to leave around 9 to go fishing. They left about 115.

I was eager to get to my book-the one whose first chapter (only 6 pages) I had barely finished the night before, and I started reading it when we checked in to our hotel Wednesday night! The one that I was certain I’d be able to get a great start on, given that I thought I had two entire nights with nothing else to do but read. Yeah right. I joked that I could have had 5 more chapters read had I not been waiting for them to leave prior to opening the book again. Oh well. I did read 3 after they left, amidst a good nap too.
Is there a moral to this story? What I’ve learned is to come prepared for the best. In this case, bringing 4 books (not that I’d finish them all, but to satisfy any mood), a planning notebook, and laptop for blogging, but allowing for unplanned and unforeseen schedule changes and taking advantage of those “un’s”. I’m not so good at the last part. I go to the Murphy’s Law way of thinking and mutter that had I not brought anything to do I’d have far too much free time. The other lesson is to seek out the person in the crowd that appears to be uncomfortable or lonely and ask about their day. I challenge you to do the same, you just might bring a bit of missing joy to that lonely soul.

Before and After

2011-07-06T17:14:00.000-07:00

I read a guest post today from Kitchen Stewardship that reminded me a lot of my own food journey so I thought I'd share my story.

If we look at life about two and a half years ago, meal planning consisted of thinking it'd be good to have fish once a week and trying not to have the same type of meat twice in a row-in other words beef, pork, chicken, lather, rinse, repeat. We ate out several nights a week, as well as every Sunday after church. Fast food was a regular part of our diet. I tried to make sure we got a variety of foods but that was about the extent of making healthy choices.

Had you told me then that just about everything we eat would be made from scratch-by me-I would have laughed literally out loud. Yeah, I enjoyed cooking and baking, but not to the point of making bread on a regular basis or homemade crackers. I baked cookies when we were in the mood, not because it was a better choice health wise. Probably the biggest reason for my disbelief would have been that I just don't have the energy to do all that cooking and baking.

In January of 2009 my chiropractor suggested that I have adrenal fatigue. I'd never heard of it, but a bit of research lined everything up. A bit more research and we started applying a few changes:

Bought baby chicks so we could have farm fresh eggs (then added two adults because we didn't want to wait!)
Discovered how expensive raw milk is and decided to buy a couple of goats to have our own fresh, raw, milk.
Learned to make yogurt and chevre with the raw milk.
Eliminated HFCS and hydrogenated fats.
Added coconut oil.
Reduced sugar intake (refined white).
Cut back on fast food consumption.
Started trying to buy non factory farmed meat.
Learned to milk a cow that didn't want to be milked.
Began following the Dirty Dozen/Clean 15 system for buying produce.
Began trying to avoid GMO's.
Discovered son was sensitive to food chemicals and started avoiding them.
Learned that I'd have to make a lot of things from scratch to keep from eating foods with chemicals.

Cookies
Ice cream
Crackers (wheat thin style)
Bread
Sour Cream
Buttermilk
Graham Crackers
Granola type bars
Marshmallows (who can give up s'mores??)
Meatballs
Bread crumbs
Mayo
Ketchup
Tomato sauce
Granola
Toothpaste
Mouthwash
Laundry soap
Deodorant
Dishwashing soap
Insect repellent
Household cleaners

Stopped enjoying eating out-the flavor just isn't there when you no longer eat processed foods all the time.
Realized that I've come a long way when I cringe at nearly everything available away from home and when others point out how much I do.

No wonder I'm still tired all the time!

Books and Clutter

2011-07-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

You may be wondering how these go together. Or maybe you already know. In my house, books are treasured. Not always read, but still treasured. Their mere presence can cause two types of clutter: physical and mental. The space they take up, especially with a young child, can be overwhelming in a small house. Goober Gus has 5 plastic bins for storing books-I got this idea from an organizational book I read. Pre-readers can't tell what book it is from the spine, so storing them the way a library does on a shelf causes angst for them and the one who has to put them back after that child has moved all to the floor to get to the desired book. This method has worked well, we've just run out of bins and places to put them. I also try to have a specific place for library books to be kept so it's easier to find them when they're due back.

Well, that's all good until even that space is overrun with more books. A good friend is in charge of the library book sale and she regularly gives me "special admission" to the sale on non-sale days to preview new donations. So yeah, the spot for library books technically is holding library books, just ones that don't have to be returned because we've bought them.

Then there's my books. I try not to buy books that I won't use again in the future, such as fiction. I also prefer to check a book out from the library before purchasing just to be sure I like it and will refer to it regularly. There are times though, that I just can't pass up a bargain even if I haven't read it (or at least perused it) to be sure I want to add it to my collection. I have boxes of books in storage. You're probably wondering why in the world I'd have books in boxes? Simple. We were supposed to be in this house temporarily while we built elsewhere. That's no longer a plan and I don't have any place to unpack those books. It will be like Christmas when I do finally get to unpack those boxes! There are 2 that I miss, The Power of a Praying Wife and The Power of a Praying Parent. If I could easily access the boxes I'd get them out, but that's not the case.

That covers the physical clutter, now on to the mental clutter. Time. Time to read these wonderful books and make good use of them. I started to clear out and clean a space in our entertainment center that is home to a few books, some scrapbook materials, a beautiful tea set I bought two years ago at a yard sale (and have never used) and office supplies (a whole different love affair). The books here I haven't even thought about for a long time and most were acquired while I was involved with MOPS. I was going to sell or give them away. Then I started looking thru them and realized I need to reread some. I've been feeling a bit dry spiritually lately and was about to order a devotional book to give me something to focus on, then realized that at least 5 of these can fill that need.

But when? Most of my non computer screen reading happens in the moments before bed and I prefer that not be anything to keep me awake thinking. Oddly enough, I got up close to 90 minutes earlier today than usual, just to have a few moments to read my Bible and pray before taking on the day. I got dressed and went outside to release the chickens and feed the goats. Guess who walked outside 2 hours before his normal time? Yep. So much for a few minutes to read and pray. I'll never understand or figure out how kids know the days to get up early when parents want them to sleep in. He'll easily sleep until 830 or 9 most days and was up at 630 this morning.

But I digress. My daily schedule needs some shaking up anyway, so perhaps adding in some reading breaks would clear the mental clutter of having all these wonderful books that I want to read but don't. How do you squeeze in reading time?

These are the ones I don't want anymore. See one you'd like? Let's make a deal! Books for Sale
Adding these to my devotional time. Got suggestions for more? Devotionals

Preparedness Challenge Week 15

2011-07-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

Amy at Homestead Revival has been hosting this challenge and I've been enjoying reading about her efforts, but haven't really posted anything mostly because while in this small house I don't feel like there's much we can do to store extra food and water. However, since it is small steps that get the job done, I do have a few things to share.

A couple of weeks ago we answered an ad for ripe apricots. We went to the owner's home and he insisted on picking them for us, so we just stood on the ground pointing to what we wanted and taking them from his hands. We bought 10 pounds and he gave us another 10 that were a bit overripe and ready for jam making. Tony made one batch of cooked jam and it turned out nicely, I just don't like cooking the fruit if we don't have to. Online research showed that the pectin needed for sugar free or lower sugar jams wasn't available in my area, so I ordered a box. It just came yesterday and I haven't used it yet. I did however, dehydrate a couple of quarts so far. We've just been enjoying eating them fresh!

A friend told me her neighbor offered her access to their plum tree. This friend doesn't do any canning so she asked if I could come get some instead, gotta love friends like that! We were planning to go this evening, but it looks a bit stormy, so that might change.

Finally, our local grocery store has had roma tomatoes on sale twice at prices low enough to buy in quantity, so I've dehydrated several quarts, made stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce, all of which is in the freezer now-except the dehydrated ones of course!

I kind of fall back on the knowledge that we have goats and chickens, so if something happened we'd at least have eggs and milk. We live along a creek, so there's access to water that can be boiled on the wood stove. The stove can also be used for cooking. If we ran out of feed, there are trees along the creek that the goats love, and the chickens would probably fare alright if they didn't get their daily supplemental rations. Maybe not the best scenario, but I feel like basics are covered.

HomeSchool

2011-06-29T18:33:00.001-07:00

We still don't do a lot of "formal" schooling, but we have started getting intentional about it. Goober Gus is playing a computer game right now that's supposed to be helping him with early reading skills. Not so sure about that, but he's enjoying it and at the very least learning to maneuver sites/games better. He has to follow directions to play properly, that's always a good thing! I've noticed Tony taking the time to ask more questions of Gus when they're reading a story or doing something-getting Gus to think more. I like it!

I'm taking time right now to catch up on email subscriptions to a few homeschool blogs I follow. There are so many creative and talented people out there! It inspires me to want to do things with him and have things available for him to choose at will. Now if I just had a place to put it all I would be more inclined to follow through with those intentions!

Today we played with his Peter Pan Preschool Pack (P4?). We practiced telling time, patterns, graphing, and using symbols to represent an item. I really feel like we need more of a daily routine to make the most of our time and learning opportunities, One of the beauties of home education is that we get to teach so much more than academics. I want him to develop good habits for self care, home care, pet care, etc; as well as good character traits. I think I'm teaching myself more than him, but I need it too!

This post is part of the Preschool Corner hosted by Homeschool Creations.

Repurposed Dish Soap

2011-06-15T13:00:00.001-07:00

I have about 2 or 3 cups of ultra concentrated dish soap that in addition to being hard to rinse thoroughly, the scent is so strong I'm afraid it would flavor our food if used to actually wash dishes! I don't want to just throw it away, and our hand soap dispenser in the bathroom is empty, so I searched for a recipe to make hand soap. The ones I saw started with a bar of soap-I used 1 tablespoon of this in its place. I added 1 teaspoon of glycerin and about 20 drops each of lemon and orange essential oil. I mixed it with 6 cups of water and poured it into two dispensers. I still have a quart of it left. Eight tablespoons in a cup-is that right? Or is it 16? Bare minimum I have enough of this to make 768 ounces of soap! That's six gallons! Hmm, might have to see about selling it at the farmer's market...what do you think about that?

Update, as of 9PM the same day. Even with just 1 tablespoon in 6 cups of water it's WAY too strong still. The overwhelming scent isn't diluted or masked. Guess I'll just see if a friend wants the soap!

A Day of Rest

2011-06-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

Around here we try to dedicate Sundays to resting. We don't milk the goats and we aim for not doing housework, etc. Our church has 2 services on Sunday morning, so we have the option of early or late and we let the pace of the morning dictate which. After church we have something to eat and then generally put in a movie and snooze on the couches.

Today, Goober Gus wanted to try out his new water gun, so Tony had to go buy another one so they were both armed. I wanted to try out our hammock that's been in storage far too long. We got it hung and they went to play. Instead of using the guns however, they went into the creek.

I wanted to zoom in, but my phone camera doesn't have that option. I fiddled with the color settings instead. I kinda like the black and white image.

My view while laying in the hammock.

A shot using the "negative" option.

And color. The spot we chose for the hammock is near the creek and it looked like it would be in the sun come 130 or 2 o'clock, but I checked at 4 and it was still shady. Nice!

One final note. I really enjoyed the verses Amy chose for her Sunday Blessing post. Check it out.

HomeSchool Excitement!

2011-06-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

This week was the start of our intentional plans with homeschooling. I made goals for the summer, I took inventory of learning materials and I made a plan for activities for the week. We didn't do as much as I planned, but we did more than if there had been no plan.

Last night I finally explored something that has looked intriguing and I just hadn't ever investigated. They're preschool packs full of fun printable activities with themes that appeal to kids-even to boy kids who would rather run around expending all that energy than to work on learning something from a piece of paper. Did I mention that they're free? Jolanthe at HomeSchool Creations creates them and makes them available to download and print at no charge. Last night I showed him the intro screen and he about fell over in excitement at the Knights and Castles pack. I printed it just before he went to bed and told him we'd work on it next week. When's that? The inevitable question...

I cut all the pages that needed it and inserted those that will be written on into sheet protectors and gathered his King Arthur books, and a few toys I'd tucked away without his knowledge and have it all ready to go. Don't ya know though, that he just couldn't wait for Monday, so we got the pages out and he made the puppets, and traced the lines on his "treasure map". That's all, had to save some for next week, right?

Goober Gus with the horse puppet-still wearing the SuperHero stuff from a few months ago.

Quick glance at the practice pages. He doesn't know that while he's tracing the lines on what he calls the treasure map, he's practicing his writing!

Sourdough Week

2011-06-09T11:21:00.001-07:00

This week I've been focusing on sourdough courses in my "summer school". I started the week by making the sponge for bread, but it failed-the sponge that is. That left me with a lot of starter to be used up so I made crepes Tuesday night. Had no idea they were so easy to make! I then made crackers, a new sponge for bread, English muffins and more crackers. The 2nd sponge still wasn't quite right, but it was bubbly and domed, so I used it. Made 4 loaves, actually. 20 minutes worth of kneading. Know what that does to a person not used to using those muscles? And the crackers-plenty of rolling that dough, have to get it very thin. So I don't need PE with Goober Gus this week, but will go outside and play with him anyway.

The English muffins were great toasted with homemade apricot jam and strawberry jam. The crackers are a hit with the boys, that's why I made another batch, and the crepes we good too. The bread-good flavor, nice texture inside, but they just didn't rise much. I think that's because the sponge didn't get gloppy, but that's just a guess on my part.

Freshly baked English muffins.

Herbed crackers.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

Adventures in Sourdough

2011-06-07T13:22:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned already, I'm taking classes at GNOWFGLINS to learn more about traditional food preparation methods. I've been eager to explore the sourdough courses, as it seems that process is one that breaks down the phytic acid in grains that can be an anti-nutrient. That is-phytic acid binds with nutrients while in the digestive tract and keeps them from being absorbed.

I thought I'd start with a loaf of whole wheat sourdough bread. I watched the video, read the print materials and started on my "sponge" this morning. For whatever reason, one never formed. I have a thin paste instead of thick gloppy stuff. Rather than throw it out-well in our case it gets fed to the chickens-I'm going to try the recipe for sourdough crackers. We like crackers but the store bought are too full of stuff we're not eating. So, time to go start the dough for crackers. It sits for 7-24 hours before baking, so I will be making crackers in the morning.

Thinning the Herd

2011-06-06T16:57:00.000-07:00

If your family enjoys Veggie Tales as much as mine, the heading should sound familiar. If not, well it's what we need to do with our dairy goats anyway. With spring births we are up to a total of 13 goats. One is our buck and 6 are the new kids born this year. There are 5 in milk and one "dating" the buck right now. We hadn't intended to sell any but this year's kids, but with the cost of a bale of hay around $15 we're planning to sell all but 2. We have Alpines and Nubian/Boer crosses and planned to keep one of each, waiting for freshening to see who was the best producer. We knew the top of the herd is Annie, our Alpine. Not only does she consistently produce more, but her teats are actually big enough to handle. All 4 of the others are tiny and it's a challenge to get them milked.

After making the decision to sell, I've also come to the conclusion that I don't particularly care for any of the Nubians we have, but enjoy their richer milk, with cream that rises to the top. I was going to keep the best producer just because, but realized I can sell all but Annie and buy a purebred Nubian and look for teat size FIRST. I've never done that, just bought thru Craigslist and taken what we get.

I'm kind of a geek and have counted how many squirts it takes to milk out a goat. The other day, Annie was roughly 10 squirts to an ounce, whereas the others were about triple that! Three times the work for the same amount of milk! So now the task of finding or taking good pictures of each and listing them for sale. Two are going to be traded for butcher pigs, we just don't know which two yet. Neighbors have the pigs and want goats, we have the goats and want pigs. Sounds like a good trade to me!

This week I'm also focusing on courses from GNOWFGLINS. Goober Gus is at VBS every morning, so I have some uninterrupted time to learn some new kitchen skills. I'm focusing on sourdough this week and am very intrigued by the notion that the souring process and wild yeasts may actually make the grains used healthier. Anyone else familiar with this concept?

This blog is part of the Homestead Barn Hop. Take a look!

Summer School

2011-06-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

I was thinking the other day...this would be a good time to get intentional about homeschooling. "Is summer really a good time to start?" I asked myself. Immediately I replied, "why not?" We seem to be on the counter cultural side anyway, so why not start school when hordes of people have just stopped? I even signed up for classes.

Last week I filled out some lists I'd won from ListPlanIt. I made goals for what we'd like to accomplish by the end of August. I took inventory of educational items we already have. I made a schedule of activities for this week, I just didn't assign times to most of it. Goober Gus is registered for VBS this week, so that is a set time, then I made a short list of items to discuss during lunch. The rest I will need to be intentional about, but it doesn't need to happen all at once or at a certain time. I may even post our goals and plans on his blog, but that might not be a good use of time. We'll see.

I, on the other hand, will be taking advantage of the time he's at VBS to work through as many classes at GNOWFGLINS as I can. First on the list is sourdough bread. I reactivated my starter last week and it's in the fridge waiting. I'm going to try completing the video portions of all the sourdough classes this week. I may not get to try all the recipes, but I'm aiming for one per day. That ought to give me a good foundation for working with sourdough-or at least that's my hope!

About My Floors

2011-05-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

For some reason tonight I had a bit of ambition and beyond wanting the kitchen to be clean and ready to start cooking in tomorrow, I also wanted the floors to be clean. I don't clean my floors very often and while I was sweeping I was having a conversation with myself. Please tell me you do this too, I need to know I'm not totally bonkers! Partly is OK, totally is not, haha.

The conversation was about why I've stopped cleaning my floor on a regular basis. Many excuses entered my mind-but the one that resonated was that it simply wasn't a good investment. The time it stays clean isn't really worth the time spent cleaning. Sure, I could clean it tonight and enjoy it for about half an hour, then we'd be off to bed and before noon tomorrow my son would have tracked in enough dirt to make anyone think it hadn't been cleaned for weeks. If it's going to look as though it hasn't been cleaned for weeks, why should I clean it any more frequently? I was comfortable with this excuse and proceeded to go ahead and sweep the bathroom floor too.

Not even 5 minutes passed and Tony took our son in to brush his teeth. I warned them I had just cleaned the floors. Tony carefully took Goober Gus's boots off and dumped the dirt outside, leaving Gus to take his socks off. You would not believe the dirt that gets into his socks! FIVE MINUTES, and I wasn't even in the bathroom to enjoy the clean floor! Five minutes. The return on investment just isn't worth it to me, and that was my thought when I had visions of it still being clean in the morning...

Busy Week

2011-05-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

Last week started off with more than usual going on for a Monday. First, I needed to attend a meeting that started at 8AM. For some of you that may not seem like such a big deal, but around here, my son isn't even usually out of bed until about 8 or 830. I don't usually make plans to leave the house before 10. Knowing it was coming I didn't separate the twins from Cream, so I wouldn't have to milk that morning, that helped!

Next, it was my first day as a drop coordinator for the monthly Azure Standard order. There's no set time for delivery, just whenever the truck driver calls to say he's almost here.

Did I mention I was watching 3 goats for signs of labor? Yes, one that I thought would be about 10 days later filled her udder Sunday night. No other signs though, so thought there might still be another day or two. Nope. Got home from picking up co-op order and Goober Gus went out to see animals and informed me we had a new baby goat. I stopped what I was doing in the kitchen to go check and this one was still wet and being cleaned.

Azure boxes opened and waiting to be put away. Dishwasher needing to be emptied. Counter tops to clear.

We stayed out to see if she'd have more and she did. Two boys.

Once the after birth was delivered we moved on to a few other tasks, but then Baby Boy 1 started crying and couldn't get up. Turns out he was having convulsions and died the next day. Baby Boy 2 was originally named Blackjack, but we changed that a couple of days later.

The night that the buckling died, Gus and I were enjoying pizza and a movie. Did I mention Tony was on a business trip during this time? Leave it to the goats! We heard a squealing sound and turned to see that one of the cats had brought in its recent catch, still alive and struggling to get away. It was a baby wild rabbit and we thought it hadn't been mortally wounded, so tried to keep it. Turns out there was a puncture wound near the heart and he died in my hand. Two deaths in one day was almost too much for me!

Wednesday, I felt like I had sufficiently recovered from the events of the week so far to tackle the kitchen. Of course I made it into a bigger task, simply because to do it right, I needed to change some things. Like the shelf that hangs on the wall, collecting odds and ends. I've been wanting to change it into something visually appealing and functional, so I took everything off, asked Tony to reinforce the hangers, and put labeled quart jars of bulk herbs on the shelves. The small shelves on the sides need attention-perhaps a pretty wooden box to hold recipe cards and small flower arrangement?

By the time I had accomplished this, it was mid afternoon (I did get the counters cleared and dishes done too) and I was ready for a treat. I was planning to take Gus to get an ice cream sandwich (organic of course) and something to drink. Before we could leave I heard a goat moaning. Again? Already? The next one wasn't due until the 23rd and it was just the 18th. Sure enough, Annie, who is so huge we thought she was having triplets at least, if not quadruplets, was pushing out her first kid. We grabbed the camera and sat down to watch. I couldn't get close enough to tell if it was a girl or boy, but within 30 minutes another one was born. Guess what happened then? It started drizzling on us! This is the desert, we don't usually get spring rains. It was even cool enough that we went in to put long pants and jackets on! Back out we went, waiting for #3. Waiting and waiting. For the afterbirth. Yep, she only had 2, but they were big kids. Turns out we had a boy and girl, so we decided to name them Jack and Jill (and that's why Blackjack needed a new name). They are so closely marked that until the next day, I couldn't tell them apart! Jack has longer white spots on his hindquarters, and Jill just has a little white dot. Now she has a collar on so we can tell more easily.

The picture doesn't adequately show how huge she was. She looked like a barrel on twigs. The morning she gave birth it took all she had to get up on the milk stand. No, I wasn't milking, but giving her treats and checking for signs of labor.

Do you see how similarly they are marked? They were both still damp with birth fluid and in the excitement I didn't see the longer white stripe on Jack.

We need to take more pictures of them-ideally be out when they are playing and get video. Tony missed the Wednesday births too because he's got a nightly music job 90 minutes away.

We've been working in the yard, garden and searching for duck eggs. They're hiding them from us. Did I ever mention a friend gave us her 3 Indian Runner ducks and 7 hens?

I've been working on this post for a few days now. It's Thursday and these events all took place last week. Something kept me busy Thursday & Friday, but I can't remember. Oh yes. I finished working on house cleaning and then my step daughters came for a visit on Friday. Saturday morning we hit up the yard sales and continued looking for property to buy. Saturday night we had tickets to a Styx concert and finally got to relax a bit. I think I needed it!

Twin Boys!

2011-05-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

I sat down to start this post and upload photos about 3PM yesterday. The bucklings were born about 1215 and 1245, and we had spent a couple of hours watching them. A mom I know from the park was coming by to bring her kids to see the babies and she pulled up right after I typed the title of this post. The boys were more interested in running around playing than looking at the goats, so they were off having fun while she and I talked. Then I noticed that Baby Boy 1 was making a strange cry and laying on the ground. I went into the pen to help him stand up, but he couldn't. I felt around for injuries, but nothing specific seemed to be wrong. She left so I could tend to the baby and I warmed some milk and tried feeding him. He couldn't suckle, though I had watched him do so earlier, knowing he was getting milk because Peaches' udder was noticably smaller on the side he was drinking from. Called the vet, just to see if I was overlooking something obvious. He suggested Karo syrup and maybe a B complex injection. I have honey and kombucha. Tony said the kombucha would have a high rate of B vitamins. I had to use a straw like a dropper to even get liquid into him, and them smeared a bit of honey on the roof of his mouth. He would complain with a cry, and try to roll over, but couldn't get up.

We had small group last night and I really didn't expect him to be alive when we got home. He was. I gave him more milk, kombucha and honey and prayed again. Goober Gus and I went to bed after that (Tony is out of town). I told God that if the goat's survival was dependant on me getting up to feed him thru the night, He'd need to wake me with enough energy to do it. I didn't wake up until 4AM and went to check, he was still alive. Peaches had moved him to a warmer part of the shelter and surrounded him with straw. I didn't give any more milk until I got up at 7 though. He was losing muscle tone, I could tell that.

I called the woman that cares for our animals when we go away and she came over to see him. While waiting for her arrival I continued to hold the little guy (his mouth and ears were cool, knew that wasn't good) and squeeze a few drops of milk in his mouth on a regular basis. Don't think I've ever been happier to have an animal pee on me! I had already realized earlier that the whole time we were in the pen after birth I never saw either do their "dooty". My friend arrived shorty after and I showed her the video I took of his attempts to get up and she recognized it as convulsions. Suddenly it made more sense. I kept wracking my brain to figure out what happened to cause this first born, healthy, suckling goat that had been walking around, trying to run just moments before to not even be able to stand. Now I knew. Then I cried. One baby goat, not even 24 hours old. Not much monetary value in the world, but still a marvelous creation of God with life that always has value beyond any dollar measure.

Tuesday mornings are our park date, so we went ahead to play. Goober Gus needed to know that he was more important to me than the goat, and that I'd make the time to take him to play even with the sadness at home. We got home shortly after noon and Baby Boy 1 had passed. We wrapped him in an old pecan bag and took him out of the pen. Gus wanted to say goodbye and give him flowers. He decided the marigold he had picked out on Mother's Day (that he's very attached to and has been watering on his own) should be part of the goodbye process. Sweet boy. I did manage to get some good pictures during the couple of hours he was healthy.

Mama Peaches with Baby Boy 1 looking for a teat while Baby Boy 2 is waiting to be licked some more.

Baby Boy 2. No matter where I put clean straw for birthing, they choose another spot.

Baby Boy 1

Aw ma, don't do that here!

Baby Boy 2 finding a teat.

Mama and the twins.

Baby Boy 2. We think he'll be called Blackjack.

Babies!

2011-05-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

For the first time in our short stint as chicken farmers we have 2 baby chicks, hatched today! They are tiny but already doing everything they see mom doing. She scratches, they peck. Sometimes she scratches and they get caught up in the debris she's scratching in. We discovered them about an hour and a half ago, and they can't be more than about 3 hours old at that time. The broody hen is a golden laced wyandotte and the rooster is a white banty (I really ought to verify his breed-he's small and has feathers on his legs) and the two babies are both black with a little white on their bellies. There are still eggs in the nest, will any of those hatch in the next 24 hours?

This is a neat idea!

2011-04-30T09:28:00.000-07:00

I just read this-from a link in another blog I follow. Sounds interesting so I thought I'd share.

Bartering Bloggers

Ah, Fresh, Raw, Homemade Yogurt!

2011-04-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

We sure missed this dietary staple the last month or so! One of my pregnant and milking does was ready for her dry time before I could get the new mama into good production, so we've had an extended period of no milk. Last summer I froze about 3 quarts in a gallon jar and we used that when we entered the "dry" period, but it only last a week.

Finally, the doeling of another goat was big enough to go to the buck, thus giving us the milk she refused to give up. It's only been a week, and only about a pint at a time, but that finally went up to 24-26 ounces and I was able to accumulate enough to have 2 quarts for yogurt making. mmmmmmmmmmmm

I used about 6 ounces of store-bought yogurt with active live cultures and this is one of the thickest batches we've ever had. It's all Nubian/Boer cross milk which has a higher fat content than our Alpine milk. We're back on probiotics!! Thank you, Belle!

This is from last June, shortly after Yodelady was born. She should have been weaned by October, but neither was willing to give it up and separating them didn't work, they always found a way to get back together. She finally gained enough weight to go hang out with Boots the Buck, so we have raw milk again!

So Tired

2011-04-28T13:13:00.000-07:00

That's how I always feel. Even two years after discovering the reason behind it-adrenal fatigue. Recently I sent saliva samples in for testing. My chiropractor ordered the tests and I spoke with him this morning. My progesterone levels are low and DHEA is high. Now it's being suggested that I have a serum Vitamin D test, fasting glucose and insulin levels checked.

I've been doing a little reading about low progesterone and one site had this to say,

"progesterone is an essential raw material from which your body makes many of the other hormones vital for good health" Its this simple fact that helps anyone appreciate just how wide ranging the effects of a progesterone deficiency can be.

I've not come to any conclusions yet, but it's helpful to learn there are other things I can do to get over this. I took the questionnaire and scored 63. It says if your score is over 10 you're likely to need progesterone support! However, this is the first site I've read and I'm not inclined to blindly follow the first thing I read. If I find corroborating evidence, then I'll consider it.

Now about those high levels of DHEA. It's confusing me. From what I'm reading, high DHEA levels don't seem to coincide with low levels of progesterone. I have more symptoms that go with not enough than I do with too much. One statement made a bit of sense though,

Because having too much DHEA, or converting DHEA into too much of one hormone and not enough of another, can be as upsetting to your body as not having enough.

So maybe the extra DHEA is being converted to estrogen instead of progesterone and causing an imbalance? I don't know. What I do know is I need a referral to a good homeopathic, naturopathic doctor in my area. I need answers and viable solutions. I need to overcome the funk that has become my life these last few years. I'm ready to return to a life of joy and peace, not distress and upset. With that, I think I'll go take a nap!

Making Meatballs

2011-04-23T15:19:00.000-07:00

We just put about 110 meatballs in the oven. I wish I could say that we cranked 'em out, but it didn't go that fast. We had a glitch with the grinder (aka not following directions for proper assembly) but once that got fixed the grinding went quickly. I then mixed in the seasonings and eggs and had already decided to leave out the breadcrumbs based on past experience with meatballs that tasted too little like meat. Well guess what? No breadcrumbs means gooey wet mixture, so I stopped in the middle to go buy breadcrumbs.

This is where the rabbit trail starts. I don't recall ever buying breadcrumbs, so had no idea where to find them. My first hope was with the natural foods, so they'd be short on ingredients. Nope, none there. Baking aisle? Nope, not there either. Maybe with beans and rice? Unh-uh. Stuffing mix? Wrong again. I finally found them with the instant mashed potatoes. Have you ever read the ingredient list on breadcrumbs?? It was 4 inches long! I didn't even need to read each item to know that if it's that long there's surely at least 1 item in there that I don't want to put in my HOMEMADE MEATBALLS that I'm making to AVOID those ingredients.
Plan B. Wait, I don't have a Plan B. Crackers? Could I smash up crackers and end up with something like breadcrumbs? It'd be worth a try. Even in the natural foods section it was a challenge to find crackers without soy lecithin or corn starch. I did finally though, so I headed home and engaged my cracker smasher (5 yo son). One more round of running my hands thru all the gooey mess and then on to production!

I used the medium scooper from PC to size them and Tony rolled them into better balls. Ours were a bit bigger than the recipe called for, so we cooked them for 20 minutes, then switched to broil for a few minutes to really brown them up. Here's how they look:

They taste pretty good too! We'll eat a few today, some Monday night for a spaghetti pot luck and freeze the rest for quick lunches, and maybe those nights when I just don't feel like cooking.

Spinach Salad with Wasabi Dressing

2011-04-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

I made this for dinner last night, with a couple of tweaks. I found it thru a list from TipNut.com with ideas for 20 different spinach salads. I bookmarked a number of them to try out this spring.

I added a variety of greens, plus tomatoes, but left off the sesame seeds. We don't use them in other recipes and I didn't want to buy some just for this. It made a good dinner.

Parmesan Squash Cakes

2011-04-20T08:50:00.002-07:00

I don't recall where I found this recipe. Given that it's typed out on half a sheet of paper, my guess is I picked it up at the Farmer's market last summer. I wouldn't bother cutting the paper, so it's not something I found online and printed. I'll copy it here, with my additions/suggestions in purple.

1 large egg (I used 2)
2/3 cup finely chopped sweet onion (I didn't have that much, but it was plenty-maybe 1/3 cup)
1 T finely chopped flat leaf parsley (I used dried)
1/4 t salt (I didn't measure, just added)
1/4 t pepper (same here)
2 cups shredded summer squash, 2-3 medium (I used 3 that I considered small and ended up with way more than 4 cakes, as the recipe indicates)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (once again, I didn't measure, I had a small chunk and used it all)
1 T extra virgin olive oil (I needed more)

Preheat oven to 400°F
Beat egg in large bowl-I started with one, it wasn't enough for the amount of squash I had. Stir in onion, parsley, salt and pepper.
Place shredded squash in clean kitchen towel and gather up ends and twist to squeeze out as much water as possible. I let my son do this part, only I told him to simply press on the towel to get the water out. I didn't explain that the goal was to squeeze out water, so he felt the job was done when he had flattened out the mound. I should have checked.
Add the squash and cheese to the bowl, stir to combine. This is where I realized I needed another egg, so beat one and added.
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Pack a 1/3 cup measuring cup with the mixture and unmold into the pan. Gently pat it down to form a 3 inch cake. Repeat, making 4 cakes. I now see the flaw in the recipe. If you start with 2 cups of squash, and just use 1/3 cup scoops, you will get 6, not 4. I got 9, so I guess I had more than 2 cups of squash!
Cook until brown and crispy on the bottom, 3-4 minutes, then gently turn over and transfer pan to oven. Bake for 10 minutes and serve immediately. I don't have a skillet that can go into the oven, so I oiled a cookie sheet and transferred them to that. As the water didn't all get squeezed out, they kinda fell apart, but they tasted good!

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Blog.

Tuna Quesadillas

2011-04-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

The other day I wrote about making a Mexican spiced version of tuna salad. Tonight we're having it on quesadillas. Here's how I made them:

To a dollop of mayo I added 1/4 tsp each of cumin, onion powder and dried cilantro leaves, stirring to combine. I then added 2 5oz cans of drained tuna and mixed well. I made it less moist than if I were making tuna salad-just enough mayo to hold it together.

I then assembled the quesadallas with a layer of tuna, freshly chopped green onion and shredded colby jack cheese and toasted in the toaster oven until the cheese was melted. That'd be dark toast on mine. We ate them with salsa, but sour cream, guacamole or sliced avocado would be wonderful too. They're kind of like tuna melts with a twist!

Mexican Tuna Salad and Then Some

2011-04-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

Anyone ever had it? I was making tuna salad for lunch and saw the can of diced green chiles and thought they might be good in it, so along with them I added onion powder and cumin. It was quite tasty. We all agreed though, that it'd be even better in a quesadilla with green onions!

I made deodorant this morning. I used the recipe from Passionate Homemaking. I won't need to try it until tomorrow morning, and then it'll take a day of activity to see how it works. Oh, I added lemon and lavender essential oils, just to give it a nice fragrance.

Spring is here, but not the frost free time yet. Farmer's Almanac online shows my area frost free after the 21st of this month, so we'll wait until next weekend to plant our seedlings. A friend has also given us several sunflowers to plant and another thing I think he said was a red hyacinth, but I don't recall. This friend is an older gentleman from church that is always working on the grounds there. One day I felt the urge to offer him a dozen eggs each week, so I asked him. He was grateful and I could sense that he longed for more interaction, so I mentioned it to Tony, who had been interested in helping maintain the grounds too. They spent a couple of hours that afternoon hoeing weeds. Tony could tell he was glad to have some help and some company. A day or two later Don shows up with a truckload of tree saplings and trimmings for the goats, and a bag of grapefruit for us. Two days after that he came by asking for goat manure. Obviously we have plenty and shared with him, and I was intrigued once again by God's economy. We simply gave a dozen eggs from our excess, and got a new friend that brings treats for the goats (he even saved a bag of watermelon rinds for them) and plants for us! Don is 82ish and works part time at the hardware store and is always at church doing some kind of physical labor. His motivation is that if people think the outside looks nice, they'll be more likely to try coming inside. Can't argue that. Now we want to pick a night to invite him to dinner to find out more about him and learn from his life experiences. What a treasure we've been given, and all because we're overly blessed with eggs too!

The Next Phase

2011-04-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

Of our house hunt, that is. I'll get to that soon enough. It's been weeks since I've posted an update about anything, or read my favorite blogs! I've been trying to limit my screen time, no computer after 8 and since we don't have TV and that's son's get-ready-for-bedtime, no movies after that either. I think it's helping me fall asleep a little better, but I'm not really sure.

This has to be at least the 3rd post I've made about our house hunting adventures, maybe even the 4th or 5th. I wish I could say it was a done deal, but not yet. We did, however, make an offer on 8 acres of irrigated land, near the river, in town. We have a verbal counter offer that we've agreed to, but the property is owned by a family trust that's managed by a management company and the decision has to be approved by the board. The board meets every Thursday, so tomorrow they should be making their decision. The rep is recommending it be approved, so hopefully that's all it takes. Our offer is 40% less than asking price, but it's what listing agent recommended, so we're praying this is a blessing from God.

Yesterday we even paid a deposit on a manufactured home we like, so we could lock in the sales prices. We have a contingency that the land deal be approved or the offer is void and deposit is refunded. We can make any kind of change we want prior to finalizing the contract, including a totally different floor plan/model. Shouldn't a daughter of the King live in a Royal Manor? Check out the kitchen and bath....floor plan is basically same as the first, slightly larger, but with upgrades.

Tony went over to the property this morning to take pictures. The upper portion of the 8 acres are quite nice-mesquite trees and grass. The lower portion is, well, a junk yard. At first glance it seems overwhelming, but as Tony took a closer look he found lots of usable building material-steel, wood, etc, for barns/sheds and a workshop for his business. So, here we go-pictures. Some will have caption/explanation, many don't even need it!

Wide angle view of part of the junk yard.

The mobile homes aren't livable, but a lot of the material is salvageable.

Lots of steel!

This is insulation-he doesn't know if it can be used or not, or if it's even safe to sort through it. This "building" it's in is 10x30 and he says there are 15 in various states of assembly.

This (above) is the inside of the building (below). I'm thinking garden shed, hen house, play house, green house (there are foot wide by 9 foot tall windows on the property that could be used along one side)

Largest collection of Chevy Chevettes in the country! LOL, there are about half a dozen plus a few other cars. The stuff in the building is ceiling tiles.

If only it had an engine, we'd have our very own dump truck!

Sawed off school bus complete with overhead lighting!

Now for something useful-barbed wire-can you see how many rolls of it there are? Could come in quite handy!

Small gauge field fencing.

Ah, and this scene makes it all worthwhile! This is the upper portion and what it could all look like someday. Even better according to my visionary husband! Fortunately for us, the trees will hide the junk from our view once we get a home on the property. It isn't on the river, but we have access. It's a great price for land around here, but we have to bring in electricity, add a well and a septic tank, and run a ditch from the irrigation canal to the property. Could be in by mid summer if the offer on land is accepted.

In this video you can see a good portion of the southeastern portion of the property. I forgot about the old fashioned wagon (flower planter?) and the farm implement. The trailer at the end could be fixed up and used to haul things away. The white bus is on the property south of us (owned by a family member of the current owner of parcel we want to buy).

The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari

2011-03-23T12:40:00.000-07:00

When this arrived by mail my 5 year old son was ecstatic! He couldn't wait to sit down and look at it, then have me and his dad read it to him. I appreciated the play on words as the two friends camped at the base of Mount Sillymanborrow. The publisher's review starts with, "Padraig the dragon and his best friend, Roger the turtle are determined to spend the whole night outside."

They encounter plenty of imagined scary scenarios and manage to tough it out despite their fears. When their supply of bravery seems exhausted and they've agreed to try again another night they realize that the sun is about to rise and they made it! They camped outside all night by themselves!

The story presents multiple opportunities for teaching and discussing important character traits with a young child, such as the difference between bravery and courage; and what it takes to be a good friend. As the friends focus on staying out all night, they encounter all kinds of wild African beasts in their backyard. They also share a story about wanting to make pancakes and having to borrow all the ingredients. I'm assuming that's where Mount Sillymanborrow comes into play.

My son loves the book, the pictures are very well done, and there are discussion points and a Bible verse a the end. We've enjoyed this book-it's good when those required to read it over and over can enjoy it too!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Think my kid plays hard in the dirt?

2011-03-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

This is his laundry basket after the clothes went into the washer:

This is the washer after his clothes have been cleaned:

To his credit, we have very fine, silty, sandy dirt here. So fine that the dust penetrates my tennis shoes AND socks and gets between my toes-I hate that feeling! And that's just me walking around doing outside chores. He sits in it, lays down face first in it, makes dirt angels with it. Our septic tank will fill with dirt before anything else at this rate!

MIA

2011-03-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go? I haven't blogged or read my favorites for weeks! We've been searching for a new house and it has seriously eaten into our available time. We made an offer today, but we aren't the only ones to do so. Now it's the waiting game and I'm just not good at that.

I've become so focused on it that I can't even "think outside the box" right now and come up with anything exciting to share with you. Maybe in a couple of days I'll be back with the proclamation that our offer was accepted and we'll be moving soon!

BLOG TOUR: The ME Project by Kathi Lipp

2011-02-22T00:43:00.002-07:00

The Me Project - 21 Days to Living the Life You’ve Always Wanted
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
ISBN-10: 0736929665, ISBN-13: 978-0736929660
Release Date: February 1, 2011
Paperback: 224 pages, Retail: $12.99

Kathi Lipp

Kathi Lipp is a busy conference and retreat speaker, currently speaking each year to thousands of women throughout the United States. She is the author of The Husband Project and The Marriage Project, serves as food writer for Nickelodeon, and has had articles published in several magazines, including Today’s Christian Woman and Discipleship Journal. Kathi and her husband, Roger, live in California and are the parents of four teenagers and young adults. For more information visit her website: http://www.kathilipp.com/

Three Super-Simple Kick Start Living Your Dreams
– in the next 15 minutes

by Kathi Lipp

Is there a dream that God has given you, but you are waiting until the kids are grown and you have money in the bank before you get started?

You may not be able to enroll in a month long pastry making class or take a week off of work to get started on your novel, but today you can take three little baby steps to making your dream a day-to-day reality.

1. Go Public with It

It’s a little scary to tell the world what you want to do when you grow up—but this is one little step could get you closer to living your dream than almost any other. Plus—it takes very little time and you don’t have to raid your kid’s college fund to make it happen.

When you gather up all your courage and tell your best friend, “I want to learn how to paint,” suddenly she remembers an old art book she has laying around she would love to give you, or her friend from church who teaches art classes. The people you know and love want to be a resource. Give them the privilege of being a part of making your dream happen.

2. Join an Online Group

This is one of the simplest—and cheapest—ways to start exploring your passion. Find out who else is talking about restoring antiques and listen to their conversation. Start by Googling your interest along with the term “online groups.” You will be amazed with the number of people who want to talk about the proper way to care for 1950’s lunchboxes as much as you do.

3. Don’t be Afraid to Pray

I remember the first time I put an offer in on a house—I wanted it more than I had wanted almost anything else in my life. While I knew that I had dozens of other people praying on my behalf, I was too scared to pray.
I didn’t want God to tell me no. I was afraid to pray until my co-worker Kim asked me (in a loving, kind way), why I didn’t believe that God wanted His best for me. Don’t be afraid to pray—as with anything amazing in my life, the path is never what I expected, but it has always been obvious that God’s hand has been on it the whole way.

Grand Prize Giveaway:

Deluxe Starbucks Coffee Gift Basket

• Three 2.5-oz. bags of Starbucks coffee
(Sumatra, House Blend, and French Roast)
• Tazo black tea
• Starbucks marshmallow cocoa
• Almond roca
• Almond roca buttercrunch toffee cookies
• White chocolate and raspberry cookies
• 2 Starbucks mugs
• Keepsake black bamboo basket
$62 value
For a chance to be entered in the drawing, simply comment below. I'll choose a random name to send to Kathy Carlton Willis Communications on March 4th. KCWC will draw a random winner on March 7th.

When I was invited to participate in the tour and give my review I was quite excited. I first encountered Kathi at the MOPS convention in 2008. She was there promoting her book The Husband Project. I was intrigued and did the online version of it. Then came The Marriage Project. Wonderful-now we can focus on each other and grow our marriage in just 3 weeks! So I was eagerly anticipating what The Me Project had in store for me.

The approach and pattern are a bit different than the first two books. That caught me unprepared. :-) Kathi suggests making what she calls a 50/50 journal. Write down 50 things you want to accomplish in the next 50 (or so) years. My foresight is malfunctioning right now, so my journal looks more like a detailed To Do List. That's OK, she's encouraging us to get those ideas on paper and grow with them. The purpose is to have a record of what you think you want, then pray, listen, and follow the steps in the 21 day plan to see if that's really what God is leading you to. It will also help you see where God is leading you. With a separate page for each item in the journal you'll have room to record the little steps you've taken toward that goal, as well as God moments-those things that can only be accomplished because God orchestrated it.

Since I had a preconceived idea of how the Project would work (based on the previous two Projects), I was a little confused over the process at the beginning. However, after reading through each one the process is more clear. My favorite was Project 2: Less Than Perfect; Lessening Your Load. She quotes Anna Quindlen,

The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.

I need that. I tend to be an all or nothing Perfectionist. If I can't do it perfectly, why even bother? That's a bad tape running in my head (Project 3). Doing something, even poorly, is better than not doing anything at all. Right?

Kathi goes on to list a total of 21 projects that will help you move in the direction of your goals. She helps you take small steps now, regardless of the season of your life, so that when the timing is right you'll be ready to accomplish that goal. Is there a class you can take to help you explore that dream or goal to see if it's even what you really want? Better to find out now and cross it off your list than wait 20 years and realize you don't really want to be a professional cake decorator (not that there's anything wrong with that-I marvel at what people can create with frosting!)

I think the book is a good investment in moving you toward accomplishing any goal. Go ahead, what've you got to lose?

Weekly Wrap Up Feb 19th

2011-02-19T21:52:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading a story that has disappointed me. The Dervaes Family was awarded a trademark for the term Urban Homestead (and others). Click the link to see more about it. I'm headed to their site now to cancel my subscription.

Goober Gus caught whatever Tony had last week, but I'm happy to report that he fought it off much better. He slept most of yesterday (oh wow, was that ever nice!) and is chipper and chatty today. We started on the elderberry lozenges as soon as Tony started feeling bad, and I think that's what helped Gus to fight it off so quickly. When we ran out of the lozenges, we made our own syrup from Herbal Nurturing.

It's raining in AZ! We've had about an inch of rain fall since the wee hours of the morning, which will hopefully give the grass a head start on growing, which means less money spent on hay! It's been an indoor day except for the short time it stopped raining and we milked the goats. Cream is ready to be milked, and she's got a great temperament for a milk goat, but she's holding back her milk. We brought Spice up to the milkstand with her today but she still didn't let down. I'll just keep trying!

For dessert tonight we made shakes from:

3/4 to 1 cup raw milk
6 scoops of Blue Bunny All Natural Vanilla ice cream
2 bananas
3 eggs
2 T raw, organic cacao powder
1 T ground maca root

Oh my were they ever good! That will have to be a weekly treat!

Wednesday evening I was preparing to take hay to Elsie & crew and noticed one of the barred rock hens standing peculiarly. I watched for a moment and out pops an egg! It was a softshell-like she laid it 12 hours early or something. I saved it to show at our homeschool play date on Thursday. It felt like a water balloon. I haven't seen any others, and hope it was just a fluke. We crush and feed their shells back to them, so I'm guessing they get enough calcium. Oyster shells if I find more?

Melody at Laughing Duck Farm had goat babies born on her farm recently too, if you need another dose of goat baby cuteness! Ours are almost a month old and I need to take more pictures.

For Valentine's Day we went to a community event/round table discussion about the needs of local farmers and local food venues and how to bring it all together. I'm glad we went and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of notes from the night via email, so that I can share with you what transpired, without having to type it all out! Basically we shared (the panel and audience) the problems facing growers and then potential solutions. The problems were many but came down to two basics: community education and less government regulation. The solutions sounded good, but I wonder just how well many can be carried out.

We booked a trip on the Grand Canyon Railway for March 18th. We bid on tickets last April at a benefit auction and are now taking the trip (because the tickets expire on the 18th!) Goober Gus will love it!

For those so inclined, last Sunday's church service is available here. Facing truth in life. Good stuff!

Intense Training

2011-02-18T16:43:00.000-07:00

Recently, in a forum I enjoy participating in, the question was asked, "What is something you're proud of accomplishing?" There are many ways to answer this, but the theme of the question dealt with overcoming something physical. My response, participating in three 60 mile walks; hiking the Grand Canyon from rim to rim in a day, 3 times; and running a half marathon. Those comments have been lingering in my mind ever since. Not only did I participate, but I had to train in preparation. Not just training and participating, but doing it all in a span of 40 months. The events themselves total roughly 200 miles.

Training for the 3 Day 60 Mile walks consisted of low mileage, frequent walks at the beginning, slowly building to higher mileage, less frequent walks as time passed. I didn't keep actual training logs, but based on estimates I would have walked 1260 miles over a 36 week training period. That's an average of 5 miles a day for 9 months.

The Grand Canyon hikes took place in Fall of 2003, Spring of 2004 and Spring 2005. We did group training hikes that consisted of 15-20 mile hikes multiple times. Toss in another 200 miles of training (including my own solitude hikes). Also keep in mind that to hike the Grand Canyon means carrying all of the food and water needed, except for a water refill at Phantom ranch, plus temperature extremes of 60+ degrees from the 40* low at the beginning to the 100*+ at Phantom Ranch.

Then I ran the PF Chang's Rock N Roll Marathon in January of 2005, 3 months after my 2nd completion of The 3 Day. Well, I ran the 1/2 marathon, have no interest in the full one! I'm guessing another 250 miles in the 3 months from one event to the other.

While writing this I recalled yet another distance event-a duathalon in Feb 2004. I ran a 10K and cycled 20 miles. In this duathalon, the 10K is split up before and after the cycling. I didn't train a whole lot for that, just made sure I could ride my bike for that many miles and then get off and run without falling down from rubber legs! So maybe another 100 miles training for that.

Then there's the gym 3+ times per week, the occasional 5K, and hikes just for fun.

What's the grand total? Over 1800 miles in 40 months, or 45 miles a month. Broken down that way doesn't sound that extreme, but there were periods of no training-a whole year at one point, so it's more like 1800 miles in 28 months, or 65 miles a month! That's still only 2 miles a day on average, but remember that it was more a matter of longer distances fewer times than a low, consistent average. I think that was the precursor to pushing my body over the edge into extreme adrenal fatigue. I think, based on symptoms that I've always had some level of it, and each training event made it worse.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Friday Favorites February 18th

2011-02-17T21:51:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things at this moment is seeing my son sleeping on the couch near the humidifier. He was pretty upset just before falling asleep and knowing that he's sleeping soundly right now is reassuring. He bonked his head at the park; jumped from a foot or so out of a tree and poked a hole in his knee (Spiderman bandages can do wonders!); the pear he was eating when that happened fell and got dirty (though we washed it and he finished eating it); and I think he's fighting off the cold his dad has. That's a lot for a small body to deal with in one day. I told him that sleep was the best thing for pain. He wouldn't be able to feel what hurt, and his body would be able to repair damaged parts. We also prayed for God to ease his suffering, and he was asleep in 5 minutes or less!

This was also a favorite:

Sugar had been jumping on and off my lap repeatedly and was panting. I just happened to catch what looks like a pose, but she was still running all over the place! Can you believe they'll be 4 weeks old Monday?

Little Leaps of Love has been fun too.

Pure, raw, organic cacao powder.

Big Tree Farms Raw Cacao Powder is one of nature’s single best sources of magnesium and contains more antioxidants per gram than red wine, green tea, acai or pomegranates. Our Cacao Powder is formed after expelling the butter from our hand-ground cacao bean paste. The remaining "cake" that is left over once the butter is removed is a precious and concentrated superfood retaining about 25% of its original fat content. The "cake" is cold-milled to a powder and then is either sieved fine for use as a drinking chocolate, or graded and packed as a coarser chocolate powder more suitable for breads, pies, cookies and cakes.

Oh yeah, that's the good stuff! I put some in my smoothie yesterday and was in a far better mood than I have been for a long time. Didn't do it today and well...not so joyous as yesterday!

What are some of you favorites from the week?

Wellness Wednesday, February 16th

2011-02-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

Or maybe not so well! I feel great today, but have been emotionally stressed for several days, then last night looked up symptoms for arsenic poisoning and it's possible I've been poisoned!Symptoms of arsenic poisoning begin with headaches, confusion and drowsiness. We tested our well water about 2.5 years ago having heard the area is known to have high levels of arsenic. The test verified that info and we began buying all our drinking and cooking water. I thought at that time I looked up symptoms to know what to look for, but after reading them last night I don't recall any of these.

My next task is to research how well it is absorbed by the skin, to see if bathing/showering in high arsenic water is enough to bring on poisoning. It doesn't seem likely that washing clothes and dishes in it would leave enough residue to be an issue, but I don't know that for sure. I'm also going to be tested and see if I really am poisoned.

It never really occurred to me that the water we get from the machine in front of the grocery store could also be contaminated, if the whole area is known to be at risk. So maybe we've been paying to be poisoned! We might test that water too.

I did read that foods with sulphur (eggs, onion, garlic) will help carry the arsenic out of the body, and the symptoms listed started in me within the last 6 weeks. About 6 weeks before that is when we had to cut back out egg consumption because the hens were only providing about 3-5 per day. That's gone back up to 9-11 now, so I started putting them into our morning smoothie again.

Anyone got info about arsenic poisoning?

Wellness Wednesday, February 9th

2011-02-08T22:51:00.000-07:00

Good day! Glad you stopped by! Today I'm going to tell you how kids are good for your health. Once we discovered that Goober Gus is sensitive to artificial colors, we also decided to remove all chemicals from the food we buy. It's better for all of us, even if we don't show the symptoms of sensitivity. That means no store bough mint chocolate chip ice cream for me. At least when he's home. Which he isn't tonight. So guess what I did? Yep-bought mint chocolate chip ice cream and had it for dinner! He'll be gone until late Wednesday night too. I probably won't have it for dinner again, but maybe for lunch? :-) I have a jalapeno bacon, smoked Gouda cheese stuffed chicken breast waiting for me. Can't wait! Thanks for stopping by~

Love & War; Devotional for Couples

2011-02-08T13:19:00.001-07:00

I had a hard time getting through this book, but not because of the content. It's just hard for Tony and me to do anything consistently for 8 weeks. I finally realized I needed to just read it so I can review it. I like the format-a few paragraphs per day with an opening quote and closing Scripture. Each week (5 days) ends with an exercise. I'd prefer to have a daily exercise, personally.

The content is unique in presenting marriage from a perspective most of us probably haven't thought about. While most of us as wives have dreamed of the fairy tale romance, we've only expected the good parts of the fairy tale. What about the part where it looks like evil is going to win and nothing can go right? That's how the "war" part of marriage is presented in this book and it's actually refreshing! It's a good reminder to not expect wonderful times of bliss from the time we awaken until we fall into bed each night. It's encouraging to know that there's a spiritual battle being waged and the enemy is pulling out all the stops to prevent the ultimate marriage of Christ to His body. We know Jesus is triumphant, but do we apply that to our daily lives? Do we look at marriage difficulties as part of the eternal struggle and rejoice that we are partakers in this battle? I don't. I should!

A quote from the book that really struck me occurs early in the book, Day 4 of the first week.

The Bible begins with a marriage and ends with a marriage. From start to finish, the part of this great story we have been given to play begins and ends with a marriage.

That was really profound to me. The Bible begins and ends with marriage. No wonder it's so important and no wonder the serpent acted so quickly to try and dissolve it. That should be my constant reminder as I face difficulties in my marriage. It's all part of God's plan and ultimately HE has the victory!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. The review is my honest opinion.

Reading

2011-02-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

I love it. Almost can't seem to get enough of it. Catch myself reading piles of paper upside down when I'm at someone else's house (sorry friends). Read road signs when I'm driving. I therefore have a long list of blogs I enjoy reading, email newsletters I receive, forum posts to keep up with, and the traditional books and magazines waiting to be read.

The problem comes when there just isn't enough time to read it all, or a change in daily routine keeps me from handling the daily onslaught that comes electronically and I get behind. What to do then? Delete unread email? Skip the blogs? Not participate in forums? I thought I had solved that little dilema by designating certain evenings to catching up. Tony plays music a couple of times per week at night, so I decided to use that time to read the newsletters and blogs, while my son gets to watch an extra movie. Even that hasn't been helping-I'm way behind.

I like to keep my Inbox under 100 messages total. Right now I have 44 undread out of a total of 181. The 44 unread are just the ones that haven't been clicked on, it's not the actual number I haven't read. Then there's my specialty folders where I have certain messages directed upon arrival. Mom Stuff has 59 unread messages! Homeschool 30.

The basket that I corral magazines in is stacked to the height of its handle. My night stand brims with books in various stages of completion, as does the end table. Oh, and there's the daily snail mail. Don't even get me started on that!

Why am I taking the time to write about the problem rather than catch up? I don't know, I suppose I wanted to share my situation with you and see if I'm the only one facing this.

Weekly Wrap Up Feb 5th

2011-02-05T20:22:00.001-07:00

It's been a full week! Today we stopped at two yard sales and spent $10 at each for a number of treasures. I got a Sunbeam food processor for $4. I found a drawer to hold VHS movies so I can organize our collection a little better. I also got a book called The Green Pharmacy Guide to Healing Foods for $1.

After that we spent time at the pasture fixing a broken water pipe and cleaning the water trough. Boots is no longer in rut and doesn't stink, and he wanted to constantly be scratched behind his ears. I'd stop and walk away and he'd follow me and position himself so that I had to scratch him. Jasper is getting more used to us-he licked my fingers and tried to pull them into his mouth by curling his tongue around them. I didn't know cow's tongues were so rough!

Last Sunday we disbudded the baby goats. It was our first time to do it, and while I knew it really needed to be done, I was concerned they'd never come near me again when it was over. I was the one to hold each one down while Tony applied the hot iron. They cried a tiny bit and squirmed a little, but it wasn't nearly as awful as I expected. Both of them hung out on my lap when it was over and both still love to play with me, so my concern was unfounded. Poor Sugar looks a little strange though.

They sure learn quickly-Tony put a stump in for them to climb on and they couldn't do it that day, but the next day they were hopping all over it like old timers! She's on it right now if you look closely.

I got a couple of days off last week. Tony took Goober to work with him. I needed some uninterrupted time to complete 2 tax amendments. Happy to report those are done!

We were spared the precipitation of the storms that hit most of the country this week, but we did have overnight lows of 4* two nights in a row! That's about 20 * cooler than normal for here. Our crazy water pipes-the pipe from the water heater to the kitchen runs thru the attic. It froze the first night we had those lows. The next two nights we left the sink dripping to keep the pipes open. Exciting stuff, huh?

Friday night we took our new pastor and his wife out to dinner. She was interested to hear about our goats and chickens-she wants to get some. We had a nice night. I had jalapeno bacon smoked Gouda stuffed chicken breast. Can I just say WOW!

Tonight we're making homemade pizza, the dough for the crust is almost ready and I can't wait to put all kinds of fun toppings on it. After dinner we'll watch The Wizard of Oz. Goober Gus hasn't seen it yet and I found it at the library.

The view out the kitchen window!

Please tell me your week was more exciting!

John 14:6

2011-02-05T00:55:00.001-07:00

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Friday Favorites February 4th

2011-02-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

I forgot to make this post today! Earlier this week I had a few ideas of things to mention, but do you think I can remember them now? Nope, not a single thought. So rather than try to make something up, I'm going to remind myself to make a draft for this post as those thoughts come to me, and leave it at that.
Have a fabulous weekend!

Wellness Wednesday, February 2nd

2011-02-02T00:58:00.001-07:00

I have good news on the no 'poo situation-I found something that seems to be working! We ran out of the goat's milk soap that I had purchased last fall at a farmer's market, so went in search of at the area health food stores. When I found it, the goat milk soap had all kinds of difficult to pronounce ingredients, so I started reading labels on the other soaps there. I found one that had all natural oils and some essential oils for fragrance that I thought smelled good, so I bought it. I tried it on my hair, followed by an apple cider vinegar rinse. After the first time, my hair felt softer than it's been feeling with baking soda, but still had the fullness and natural curl that it got with the baking soda. I was able to run my comb thru it without any difficulty. I waited 3 days before trying it again and my hair is even softer after the 2nd use! Success! The days in between washings, I simply wet it and it still dries with some wavy curls and I doubt anyone could tell that it hadn't been washed that day.

I also think the homemade tooth cleaning recipe works better than just mouthwash, which is what we used to do. Our dentist agreed that daily toothpaste use is too abrasive for teeth, so toothpaste was an occassional use item. I realized though that for all my efforts to remove dyes from my son's diet, that we were filling his mouth with green dye everynight, DUH! No, he doesn't swallow it, but I'm certain that it can be absorbed thru the skin. He doesn't care for the baking soda in it, and it may be just as abrasive as whatever's in toothpaste, so I'm on the hunt now for a recipe that doesn't use baking soda. Feel free to share any links if you have them!

The next venture I want to try is the oil cleansing method for my face. I bought the castor oil, and have olive oil, I just need to try it out. I think part of the problem is that this method is used at night (at least in the how to's I've read) and I don't usually wash my face at night. I guess I could try it in the morning, right?

I'm back on bee pollen to strengthen my immune system against seasonal allergies. We had a lot of wind Tuesday and it made my left eye itch like crazy and I would have sneezing fits of 10-15 sneezes at a time. It finally subsided, but boy do I wish it wouldn't even happen! Although, if it's true that your heart skips a beat when sneezing, and we're allotted a certain number of beats over the course of our lifetime, does that mean all my sneezing is prolonging my life? ;-)

I'm noticing that several of the blogs I follow are posting info about adrenal fatigue. I think I'm going to create an in depth post of my own on the topic, but it might turn out to just be an historical list of what may have contributed to my situation. If that's the case, I won't be sharing it, as it would likely be quite boring. It would be a good record for me to have though, so I think I'm going to work on it a little bit each day and see what I end up with.

My son had quite a bad headache and a bit of fever Friday. He didn't complain too much, and was actually quite polite in his requests for feel good stuff. I gave him arnica twice that day and that seemed to work. I can tell when he has a fever because his cheeks get rosy. He spent time in bed with me reading to him and later in the day fell asleep while watching a movie. He had to be sick if he fell asleep during a movie! He's a little congested still, but is otherwise healthy.

One last note-I made a menu plan for the entire month of February, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks! Just having a healthy month of meals planned ought to be helpful, dontcha think?

Proverbs 27:27

2011-01-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

You shall have enough goats’ milk for your food,
For the food of your household,
And the nourishment of your maidservants.

Is that why we were blessed with two new baby does this week?

Weekly Wrap Up Jan 29th

2011-01-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

Goober Gus was sick yesterday. At first he just complained that his legs hurt. When the complaint is that generic I generally ignore it. Then he said his head hurt and he wanted to watch a movie. Oh, so it's a ploy to get to watch a movie? I told him that if he didn't feel good he should go back to bed, that's what people that don't feel good do. He didn't want to, but within 15 minutes he was in bed and asking me to read to him. His cheeks were flushed, so I'm sure he had a bit of a fever. I bought some arnica for the pain and he got thru it. I was quite amazed by how polite he was while not feeling well. I told him I was proud of him for continuing to remember his manners even when he didn't feel good.

On Wednesday we got to see my sister in law and her 3 month old son, Simon. He's changed a lot just since we saw him New Year's day. We spent the day shopping and had lunch together. Goober wants a baby brother.

The neighbors had family over today and two of the kids came over to play with Gus. He was in heaven showing them our baby goats and the tree he likes to climb, and....

Tony took pictures of me with Sugar and Spice.

Mama's making sure they're OK.

Goober joins the fun!

Warm enough to wear shorts!

This is the second time today that Spice was willing to just lay on my lap. She makes no effort to leave, just sits there taking in all the attention. I could sit there in the sun with this cutie on my lap for hours!

Friday Favorites January 28th

2011-01-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

My favorite thing this week? The birth of our twin goats, of course! Total cuteness, right here. Our question now is-do we keep them, or plan to sell them? Or sell any of the other goats? Last summer, with just 2 really providing a large portion of our milk, we had more than we could handle. This summer we will have 5 in full time production, plus more baby goats. We currently have 8 does. Yodelady seems to be stuck at her current size and we don't feel she's big enough to be bred. Maybe we sell her as a pet? What do we do with the kids that Annie, Molly and Peaches will have in May? I could milk 5 does, and find an outlet for selling the milk and/or cheese, but I'll need to be prepared for the extra workload. We just need to be thinking about how many we want in our herd.

This post is part of Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.

Wellness Wednesday, January 26th

2011-01-26T00:21:00.005-07:00

I haven't been...well. That January sunshine I've been loving makes the juniper trees bloom and I'm allergic. I could feel my body fighting with allergy like symptoms, but it's only January! It wasn't until a woman at church that's lived in this area a very long time mentioned the juniper trees that I realized I am fighting allergies.

It hadn't ever been more than an itchy nose and occasionally itchy facial skin, but then we broke our healthy eating code and ordered pizza one night. And had bbq on white buns and cake the next day at church. Within a couple of days I was miserable. It got worse, but is now getting better. It might not be related to the processed food we ate, but the timing is sure interesting. I believe our healthier diet helped me overcome my ragweed allergy, so I'm believing diet will work on this allergen too.

We made homemade toothpaste the other day. I like it, but son and husband aren't thrilled. I'll keep searching for one without baking soda. Don't tell anyone near me, but I stopped using my antiperspirant/deodorant over a week ago. I don't like the feeling of my bare skin, but at the end of the day, I don't stink. Granted, it's winter and I'm not doing much to work up a sweat, but it's a better place to start.

I'm continuing my lessons at Anne's Health Place. I like what she has to say and am hoping what I'm learning can be put into practice to further heal this adrenal fatigue. We've also been experimenting with our juicer. Celery juice is very salty! Beet juice aggravates our throats. Carrot is the best!

One last note. Lisa at WellGroundedLife is starting a 12 week course called Designed for Wellness this Saturday. If you're interested, check out the link to enroll.

More Cuteness

2011-01-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

How much can ya handle?

Enjoying the morning sun.

Smile for the camera!

Wow, that took a lot of effort!

So cute!

She's always got her head on Spice's back side.

This is Sugar's one black spot.

Spice's dark stripe down her back. She also has "knee pads" on her front legs, but I can't get a shot of it.

Introducing...

2011-01-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

Sugar and Spice. Twin baby girl goats born this afternoon!

Sugar still not fully out yet.

Cuddling already.

Learning to walk.

Happy Farmer Boy!

I know those things are supposed to be around here somewhere! Did you bring the map?

Based on gestation time, Cream was due starting on Saturday. We started noticing signs of labor two weeks ago, and I've been taking her to the milk stand daily ever since. I've read that the udder gets very tight just before labor, so that's what I've been checking. At milking time yesterday, the udder wasn't tight, so I wasn't expecting babies today. I went outside around 115 to let my hair dry in the sun. Goober Gus had been out playing near her pen and I asked if there were any new babies, to which he replied No. I sat down to talk to Tony on the phone and heard Cream make a noise so I walked over and sure enough, Sugar is about to be born! I hung up so I could take a picture-the first one above is actually the 2nd picture, but it's a better one than the first. Cream was very attentive, licking the goo off, when she stopped, layed down and plopped out Spice. 14 minutes between photos, so not much time between deliveries. She then took turns cleaning each one and letting them try to walk on their own. She's been quite good with them, actually. I gave her some shredded beet pulp with maple syrup, then she got fresh beets, banana peels and carrot shreds.

This is a series of firsts on our farm:

first pregnancy to occur in our possession
first set of twins
first time to have 3 generations together

We're very excited, and feel so blessed that God has given us animal mamas that have easy pregnancies and births! Time to go check the little darlings again. Sugar was having a bit of a hard time getting any milk, and Cream was still delivering afterbirth, so I want to see how she does now.

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

2011-01-23T01:48:00.001-07:00

that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.

I've seen this verse on various homesteading blogs and upon first reading, it sounds like all we need to do to witness to others is 1) lead a quiet life, 2) mind our own business, and 3) work with our hands. From there, outsiders will look in and wonder enough to ask questions. That's how I've seen it until I read it in my Bible, the NKJV. Notice the 3rd word also. Also means we do these things in addition to whatever was written just prior. That would be this.

⁹ But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; ¹⁰ and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more;

I believe the statement to "increase more and more" refers to the growth of the body of Christ. This cannot happen if we are not sharing Christ's love with those that have yet to receive it. For me, that means I don't have an "out" for not doing this, as I had started to believe when first reading these verses. It does indicate that one way this can be done is for the body of Christ to love one another, and perhaps thus cause a non-believer to wonder why anyone would do such things.

How do you see it?

Weekly Wrap Up Jan 22nd

2011-01-22T01:28:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer. No names have been changed in these actual events, but I do have the "victim's" permission to share the stories with you!

Last Friday night we made fried cod and french fried sweet potatoes for dinner. There's a billboard in town for the restaurant at the casino and it's a huge plate of beer battered cod with fries and a lemon wedge. Makes me want to head right over every time I see it! But I don't. It'd be fried in vegetable oil, and the tarter sauce would be made with soybean oil. Two no-no's around here. So we made our own. Except I forgot the tartar sauce and malt vinegar. What was I thinking?? It turned out alright, but the coconut oil wasn't hot enough and the fries were limp. We had enough to do it again, so we made more on Sunday.

Having discussed it we decided to make sure the oil was hotter, and to use a metal strainer to put the cooked fish in, instead of just on a plate lined with paper towels. My darling husband attempted to put the sweet potatoes in directly from the bowl and they all fell out at once, causing the oil to boil over and start on fire! With God's protection, it didn't flame up very high, and we were able to put it out with baking soda. After reheating the oil we cooked everything to perfection! The metal strainer kept the batter crispy even as the fish cooled. While I got to cook it in coconut oil, there was not any way to obtain tarter sauce without soybean oil, so I had to compromise. All mayo in this town is made with it, and all tartar sauce. A few days earlier I had made my own mayo, but something just wasn't right, so the chickens got to eat it.

Saturday night was exciting too. It was late, we had accomplished a lot, and were each relaxing while reading email. I could see Purrsy watching for something and realized she was playing Cat & Mouse with a live mouse. I knew between the 3 cats it wouldn't get away alive, but we watched the show. Tony tried to help them, and that caused the cats to back off. While he was trying to redirect it to them, it almost ran up his leg and he squealed about like I would have. I laughed pretty good over that, since he teases me about it when I do it. Actually I think he thinks it's cute. They did eventually eat it, but I'm surprised the mouse hadn't died from heart failure!

That was all last weekend. More happened this week, I'm sure, but all I can think of right now is going to bed. The juniper trees are blooming and I've been miserable since. I have pictures of all the work we did last Saturday, so come back later and check for updates!

Friday Favorites

2011-01-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

January in Arizona. That's my favorite thing this week. Warm sunshine, bright blue skies. It happens every year and I love it! I know it's going to get cold again before Spring hits, but it's sure a nice break.

They way my son does everything like his Dad. He doesn't need glasses, but Tony does. One day he asked Tony what the back of my shirt said, so Tony read it. He wanted to read it to (he doesn't read yet) and when he couldn't do it, he said, "Wait, I need dad's glasses"! Is that hilarious?

Hot mustard. I love it. We don't eat Chinese food much, but I treated myself because my head is all stopped up and I thought the hot mustard would loosen something. Not sure yet if it did.

Winning blog giveaways. I've won 4 in 6 months. The first one was a set of Chico reusable produce bags. The very next day I won a book called The Town That Food Saved. In December I won an eBook from Frugal Granola called Herbal Nurturing. I used it to make lip balm and sinus rub for Christmas gifts, found a rememdy for Tony's migraines in it, and made bath salts from her recipes. Last weekend I won a HomeSchool ePlanner from ListPlanIt through Simple HomeSchool. My husband keeps asking why I don't enter giveaways for cars.

Speaking of giveaways, Frugal Granola is giving away a VACATION! Check it out here.

Wellness Wednesday, January 19th

2011-01-19T00:47:00.002-07:00

Call Me Mrs Potato Head I mentioned that I was trying to go 'poo free. It's not working so well for me. I love the curls that appear when I'm not using shampoo, but I don't like the texture and feel of my hair. I can't run my fingers thru it. I decided I'd buy one of the shampoos that don't use any of the damaging or questionable ingredients, but my local stores don't carry any. I'd use that to wean my scalp off the harsh chemicals. Being desperate I started looking around the house for anything that would take the oil away without stripping my hair or drying my scalp. I tried our produce wash from BioKleen. It worked a little, in that it removed the oil build-up, but it took away the curls. So now I'm on the hunt for any of the products at the Skin Deep database that have a 2 or lower rating. I'm still going to aim for no 'poo, but it appears I'll need to wean my scalp from it.

AZ Sun in January For as long as I can remember, there have been unseasonably warm days in January. Happens enough that I started paying attention, and we get nice warm weather in January and then it gets cold again for a while. What does this have to do with wellness? The sunshine is a nice emotional boost, and likely a good immunity booster too, but for someone like me with seasonal allergies, it's a reminder that blooming things make me sneeze! I've read that after improving my overall health, I'll be able to combat the allergies and maybe not even suffer any longer. It's cause enough to keep taking fermented cod liver oil. It's probably the only dietary change I've made that isn't pleasurable. I take the orange flavored capsules, so if I have my drink ready to go and swallow it fast enough, I can't taste it. I have to take it before bed though, to keep from "enjoying it" again throughout the day, KWIM?

Helpful Links I use the internet a lot. A lot lot. Is that proper English? I want to share with you my recent hangouts in regard to health and wellness.

I purchased the eCourse at Anne's Health Place and am even keeping up with the lessons. The course is called When You’re Too Tired: A Woman’s Practical Guide to Overcoming Fatigue and lessons are delivered via PDF once a week. For the month of January the package (16 chapters) is only $7.99. I don't make anything by referring you, I just think it's worth a look.

I also worked on and completed Breaking the Sugar Habit from Lisa at WellGrounded Life. I appreciated the fresh approach to sugar addiction so much that I emailed her my delight. Here's her response:

Dear Kelly!

Thank you so much for this wonderful (and thorough) response-- it means so much to me that you took the time to write. I love that you found such value in the workbook.

And I'm thrilled you'll be sharing about the workbook on your blog. Thank you! If you don't mind, please direct folks to this page www.wellgroundedlife.com/ripple so they can hop on to the weekly email program and will receive a link after they sign up for a few bonus resources (the break the sugar habit workbook being one of them).
Also, if you'd like to share a little bit about my upcoming course, Designed for Wellness...I'd be so grateful. Here is a short description and course link:

Lisa Byrne's signature course, Designed for Wellness will begin January 29, 2011. This 12 week program is an online, multimedia course for busy moms who want to take their health and life to a whole new level through whole-person approaches to nutrition and wellness. Dealing with issues like stress, overwhelm, exhaustion, weight gain, mood swings, cravings, and scattered focus...this class delivers a process to discover personalized strategies for wellness in a practical, concrete and uncomplicated way. Check it out if it you want more details! (www.WellGroundedLife.com/dfw )

Again, Kelly-- so grateful for your reaching out to me-- it has made my day!
And please let me know your blog's url so I can check your online home out too!
Warmly,

Lisa

She gave a mini stress cure course last summer that I just recently completed, and I found it enlightening too.

Mental and Emotional Health Check I'm noticing a bit of improvement in my energy level and/or ability to focus on a project. Saturday I had a huge project list (huge for me anyway) that I thought would be put on hold since Tony had what we think is a migraine headache. I worked on what I could while he rested in a darkened room. By late afternoon he was feeling better, and I still wanted to finish up my projects, so we tackled them together and got it done! Getting some of these things off my mental checklist feels very freeing and it drives me on to continue as I can. I gave myself permission not to expect perfection, nor that energy level all the time, but rather to appreciate it when I have it and take advantage of it. I think one secret to Saturday's success was ordering pizza for dinner. Saved time and energy, but probably didn't contribute much in the way of nutrition!

Thoughts? How do you keep a "sunny disposition" in the short days of winter?

The Sound of Music

2011-01-16T16:05:00.004-07:00

It's my all time favorite movie, despite the fact that I think musicals are stupid. Now is that a contradiction or what? We've got it on VHS and Goober Gus chose to watch it this afternoon as our nap time movie. He watches, we nap. I'm glad he likes it, mostly because it means a family tradition will be carried on. I think one of the reasons I like it so much is simply because of childhood memories watching it. We saw it in the theater in the early 70's, with my Grandma and parents, and then after that NBC played it on TV annually.

Today I fell asleep as the children were crying at the dinner table because Maria had "covered their sin". That connection just hit me-aren't we grateful that 'love covers a multitude of sins"? I can remember hearing them sing shortly after Maria has tuaght them, but then I was totally out until the Captain returns with Baroness Scraeder. I tried to just keep my eyes closed and rest more, but listening to the movie gave me a deeper revelation of the powerful sway music has over our emotions. I'm always touched by the scene that softens the Captains heart, but listening instead of watcching deepened that. Maria is true to her beliefs and doesn't let social status or class keep her from saying what the Captain needs to hear to open his heart again so that he can love....the children as well as Maria as we soon find out!

I tear up upon hearing Edelweiss, whether in the movie or elsewhere. My brothers in law played it at our wedding. Right now Maria and the Captain have just revealed their love for one another while singing Something Good.

The whole story is romantic, full of love, awe, wonder, intrigue, fulfilled dreams, and standing up for what's right. I think another reason I can bypass the fact that it's a musical and let it be at the top of my favorite movie list is that people don't spontaneously break into choreographed song and dance. The songs are sung and dances danced as part of normal life. It's believable. Hope you've enjoyed my little review and my favorite song from the movie!

Jeremiah 29:11-14a

2011-01-16T01:33:00.001-07:00

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord,

Weekly Wrap Up Jan 15th

2011-01-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

Is January really half over already? Winter is supposed to be a time of slowing down, doing less and resting, isn't it? Guess I just need to learn to accept the marching on of time...

I found a web site this week that I didn't include in Friday Favorites because I haven't used it enough to know if it'll really be a favorite. I like the concept, need to see if it works in reality. It's called Recipe Nut. The site states,
I've used it several times to save a recipe, but have yet to search for a new one there or refer back to the ones I've saved. I like that I can keep all of the recipes I want to use in one place though.

I was glad to hear that our AZ Governer, Jan Brewer, signed emergency legislation to prevent the Westboro Baptist Church picketers from getting too close to the funerals of the victims of last Saturday's shootings in Tucson. Can someone please explain to me how this (picketing a funeral) honors God?

One of our yearlings is getting close to kidding. Her earliest due date is Jan 22nd. She spent a month with our buck, so I've calculated the date based on the first day she was there thru the last. She's been showing signs of labor (maybe I'm using the wrong terminology) such as her udder enlarging and periods of mucous discharge. I started training her to the milk stand last week. She's got a longer walk to get there because she's in a pen with Yodelady who refuses to give up nursing even though she's now 7 months old, so I lure her up with a banana peel or some such treat. When she gets about 40 ft away she remembers what's up there and runs to the stand. She came to us at 2 months of age and already had horns-this will be my first time milking a horned goat. I don't foresee any problems, but am watching out for it. It does make it a challenge to walk her by holding her collar.

Our son likes to help bring wood into the house for the wood stove. He's also becoming fascinated with numbers and uses them a lot, albeit incorrectly or vaguely. He told Tony tonight, with an arm load of wood, that he better hurry and open the door because it was getting heavy, it was about seven eight. That's how he says things. He'll ask, "Do you know how much I love you? About 1080."

My weekend reading will come from Kate at Kitchen Stewardship. She's done a lot of research on grains and all the controversy surrounding eating them. I'm really only aware that there is a debate, and not too informed about just what the debate is, or why. Looking forward to becoming more educated on the topic.

Anyone use Dr Bronner's products? I was going to buy some castille soap tonight until I read this rhetoric on the label. Read the print (you'll have to enlarge it) to the right of the "not animal tested" logo (a bunny). What are they talking about??

So these are the highlights of our week. Kinda boring huh? Oh, check out the 2011 goals box at the bottom of the blog.

Friday Favorites

2011-01-14T01:59:00.015-07:00

Another new addition to my blog is Friday Favorites where I will post my favorite things from the week. This will be anything from websites I saved, to posts from other bloggers, to a favorite photo or any other item I really enjoyed.

While searching for a To Do list to add to to my weekly planner I came across this site and just love their work! It's called Trillustrations and has so many lovely printables for adults and children. The one I'm using for a weekly To Do list is here. To print it, click the picture, then after it loads at photobucket, click once more to enlarge and copy to any program that allows picture files and print.

I almost forgot LeeLou Blogs. I like that she makes blog themes and not just backgrounds. Not to mention how beautiful her work is!

Favorite spontaneous laugh: Wednesday morning I walked out of my room to see our kitten (well she's a year and a half now, guess she's not a kitten anymore) watching something on the back of the couch. She pounced on it so I walked closer to see what it was. Wrong time of year for bugs so I was really curious. Then I saw it. The shadow my husband was casting. His desk is right in front of an eastern facing window and he was filing his nails-so the shadow was rapidly moving back and forth. Once he realized what Purrsy was doing he made fun shadows for her to chase. Have you ever done that?

Favorite view in the morning: The bright eyes and big smile my son has when he gets to climb in bed with me and go back to sleep!

Welcome to Wellness Wednesday

2011-01-12T01:53:00.004-07:00

I've decided to dedicate Wednesdays to posting about our wellness adventure. This week will be about my mental health and what I've done recently to improve it.

As a quick background, I love to learn. I don't necesarrily like a traditional school setting, but I love to learn. A couple of years ago I spied a book title at the library that intrigued me called, The Way They Learn, by Cynthia Tobias. I thought it might prepare me for helping Goober Gus learn his ABC's and numbers. Instead, I learned a lot about myself and Tony. According to this book there are 4 approaches to learning called the Gregorc Mind Styles. The styles are:

Concrete
Abstract
Random
Sequential

Each chapter opened with 5 questions/statements that define the major characteristics of that style. I answered 5/5 in one style and 4/5 in the other 3! I thought to myself at the time, "No wonder I like to make a filing system, but I hate to use it!" I love setting things up, making the plan, getting the details down, but I'm horrible at the follow through. You can imagine the chaos that creates in my head, each style trying to dominate when they're all fairly powerful!

So lately I've been trying to settle into a routine, thinking that will satisfy me in more areas. The detail is there, but doesn't have to be on a strict schedule. I also want to shift my focus from what "I" need to do, to what I can do to enrich the lives of my family. I can feel the Concrete-Sequential style freaking out because that means giving up some control. December was a perfect time to let go of any patterns or routines we did have to see what would happen naturally, without any type of plan. One word. DISASTER. Finishing homemade Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve. Not even starting those gifts until the weekend before. Wrapping presents into the wee morning hours. Yes, I hear that's the way many people do it, but there's no enjoyment in it for me that way, and what's the point of making gift giving into a chore? No menu plan, so we ate more junk and felt it. No activity plan, so we didn't get to experience as much as we could have. No well thought out Christmas photo to share with family and friends. Need I go on?

As most others do, I like to make new plans for the new year. Tweak things. Fine tune them. Or throw it all out and start over from scratch. There are too many responsibilities for that, but the idea of running away to Italy for a year sure sounds exciting! It took me the first week of 2011 to even get back into a groove that would free my brain up enough to come up with a plan to appease all 4 styles within, enrich my family, and reduce chaos-something that is desperately needed around here!

As I stood at the sink washing a few pots and my milk pail (this has been totally overlooked for a long time and as I prepare to go out to milk our goats, I realize I have to wash the pail first-major energy drain just in the realization!), I realized that I thoroughly cleaned my desk on Saturday, and it's still clean! I sketched out a rough plan or routine to see how it all looks on paper, while allowing enough unplanned blocks of time for things I can't forsee and down time. I've taken out scrap paper, scissors and paper punches two days in a row for Goober Gus to play with. I made him put all of his toys away before watching a movie this evening. I've kept the dining table mostly cleared. I took things out of the office supply cabinet-and put them back on the same day! I've kept up with laundry-well almost on that one. I'm terrible at folding the clean clothes and putting them away. I've remebered my supplements more often, and Goobers. We've eaten good food-even started using the juicer my parents got us for Christmas. Made soup from the pulp and everything!

I point this all out to say that just this little bit has helped to clear the fog that settled into my head a while back. I can think more clearly. If I can think clearly, I can plan ahead and free up more time. With a clear head I can be proactive with our days and we enjoy life more. Sounds like steps toward wellness to me!

My clean desk. Isn't it inviting?!

Want to win a whole gallon of olive oil?

2011-01-09T22:52:00.000-07:00

The good stuff? Grown on a farm that uses no chemicals, but does use integrated farming methods, like brush removal by goats and fertilization by goats, cows and chickens? Check out the 2011 Weight Loss and Wellness Challenge for more details.

Kelly the Kitchen Kop

2011-01-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not her. She does have wonderful tools and resources though, and I've joined her 2011 Weight Loss & Wellness Challenge. For some reason I thought it didn't start until the end date (one more reason to eat right and clear my muddled brain) but it started last Monday! I'm playing catch up tonight, and wanted to share the Challenge with you in case you'd like to try it too.

To your health!

A Plan for the Blog This Year

2011-01-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog, it was on the recommendation of a friend as a place to record my private thoughts. I quickly decided I liked having comments and the privateness never really happened. I usually just post about what's happening in my life, and not on a regular basis. The name was meant to be all encompassing so that I wouldn't be restricted by it. With my 1 year blogging anniversary approaching I've decided to be a bit more routine in posting. This is my posting plan: (Did you know you can schedule when a post goes live?)

Sunday Scripture-whatever God has laid on my heart. Those Scriptures that have deeper meaning in my life in general or for the current season of life.
Wednesday Wellness-our ongoing efforts to clean up what we eat, what's in our household cleaners and what we use for personal care.
Friday Favorites-web sites, stories, etc that have caused me to save to Favorites or sing up for email updates, and why I like it so much.
Saturday Farm Report-wrap-up of the week. Items of interest that maybe weren't enough to warrant a full post.

I also think I want to participate more in the sites that invite readers to post links to their blog if there's an associated story, and maybe even host some.

Next task-to see if there's a template to introduce those days so that I don't have to type it every week, or even copy/paste it.

Colossians 3:17

2011-01-09T01:36:00.002-07:00

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17

12 Days With No 'Poo

2011-01-05T21:24:00.000-07:00

My last post I made a list of all the beauty/personal care items used most often by most women. What I didn't share was that I'd already stopped using shampoo. Not too long ago, but I did finally try it out. I want it to work, and am willing to wait it out, but right now-it's just not working. To see my hair, you probably wouldn't know it, but to feel it...yeah, I can tell. It feels a little greasy-not so much oily as others have found, and slightly matted, even though it is combed and snarl free.

Tony agreed to try it too, and with his short hair I think it's working just fine. His hair feels just as soft and smooth as it always has. I'm wondering if I should get a blunt cut for a while? I think my ends are dry and that's affecting things. Sounds contradictory, but that's what's happening. Now for a few details.

Prior to this experiment, I washed every other day.
My hair is fine, but I have a lot of it.
I'm using about a teaspoon of baking soda to about a half cup of water, every other day.
Until today, I hadn't used the vinegar rinse, as I didn't have apple cider vinegar, but tried white distilled today. I think it made a slight improvement, but am withholding final judgement on that until I've used it again.
On Monday I used goat milk soap instead of baking soda, and took a shower instead of a bath. Can't say either made much difference.
One day, I simply put dry baking soda on my dry hair and massaged it into my scalp before rinsing out. Not sure that did anything either.

I'm sure there are other methods of ridding the shower of commercially produced, chemically laden shampoos, and if I don't see better results in the next week or so, I'll start exploring those routes. I have a recipe for making toothpaste, I just haven't written it down so that I'll do it. I also found a homemade hairspray recipe while looking for more hair cleaning methods. Two other things I want to try are homemade deodorant, and the oil cleansing method for face cleaning. One thing at a time. Yeah right!

Replacing Chemically Based Personal Care Products with Natural Options

2011-01-03T17:19:00.001-07:00

I've sorta been working on this. I know that there are chemicals in my personal care products repertoire that aren't good for me, but knowing how to change that takes a bit more thought and/or a bit more money. Last year I learned how to make laundry soap for a bit more than $1 for nearly two years worth of washes, and how to use vinegar and essential oils to replace bleach and other harsh chemicals, so why can't I learn to make some of my personal care items? I think I can! I found this list at The WellGrounded Life and turned it into a spreadsheet that I then prioritized. The copy/paste routine from Excel didn't maintain columns, but I think you can tell from the list what's what. It's sorted by how often I use the product and then how quickly I think I can replace it. Notice that there are many that I didn't mark with any priority for replacing-just not there yet! What about you? Have any experience with home made personal care items that you'd like to share? I'll be posting progress as we go!

Personal Care Item Use Frequency Priority

shampoo, 2 I
hair spray, 2 I
toothpaste, 1 I
conditioner, 3 S
body wash, 3 s
body scrub, 3 W
deodorant, 1 W
Soap 1 w
hair gel, 2 ?
mousse, 2 ?
body lotion, 1 ?
insect repellent 4 D
face cream, 6
eye cream, 6
toner, 6
eye liner, 6
eye shadow, 6
eyebrow pencil, 6
foundation, 6
concealer, 6
makeup remover, 6
hair straightener, 6
whitening strips, 6
suntan lotion, 6
sunless tanning lotion, 6
antiaging cream, 6
vaginal deodorant or douche, 6
shaving cream, 6
acne treatment, 6
face wash, 5
perfume, 5
lipstick, 5
lip gloss, 5
nail polish, 5
nail polish remover, 5
mascara, 5
blush, 5
powder, 5
hair dye, 5
priority I=immediately, S=soon, W=when it runs out, D=done
use frequency 1=daily, 2=several times per week, 3=weekly, 4=several times per month, 5=rarely, 6=never

Philippians 4:8

2011-01-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

Tony and I talked about making this Scripture our family's theme a few months ago, and with a new year here, I feel it's time to start implementing it. I will have a new passage posted each Sunday, one that Goober Gus and I will be memorizing in the upcoming week.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Philippians 4:8

Snow in Camp Verde!

2010-12-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

We're in a valley here and rarely get snow. In 1967 there were 3 feet of snow on the ground, and beyond that it's a sprinkling here and there and rarely sticks. Today there's about an inch and everything is covered with a pretty snow blanket. Here are some pictures.

Chickens wondering what this cold white stuff is.

Friends car parked here while they drove another car to a cabin. They might be snowed in!

Surprised by all the ground being covered.

The brave ones.

The creek surrounded by snow.

Goat pen.

Tried to get the mountains in the background.

Peaches wondering if I had a treat for her.

Edge of the storm.

House on the hill behind the creek.

Snow babies. They have their pretty white coats to keep them warm!

Following My OCC Boxes

2010-12-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

I received an email this morning that the shoeboxes we personally prepared went to Indonesia. According to the web site,

Twenty-eight percent of Indonesia’s 242.9 million people are 14-years-old or younger. In 2009, 82,392 shoe box gifts were delivered to children in Indonesia, which first received the gifts in 2000. Since then, 980,479 children have received a shoe box gift.

These aren't the kids that got our boxes, but here are pictures of other happy kids getting a box.

Please consider supporting this ministry throughout the upcoming year. You can shop for little gifts year round and fill a number of shoeboxes on a "shoestring". Sorry, couldn't resist! I found a website with instructions for making yarn dolls, and it's something Goober Gus can help me with, so that he's part of the giving also. Full price yarn is $3 around here and it will make at least 4 dolls. We'll be on the lookout for yarn at yard sales now too!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

As Real as it Gets

2010-12-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

At least around here for now, anyway! Just a glimpse into a few real food forays this week.

These are the ingredients in Amy's Homemade Ranch Dressing. We mixed up a few bags for Christmas gifts the other day. It went into plastic baggies with one of these labels and the instructions from Amy's blog.

Tuesday night we had these yellow fin tuna steaks with this Japanse sauce. I only made the sauce, didn't use the rest of that recipe. It was so delicious! We had a little bit of wasabe sauce to go with it too. Mmmmm. The recipe for the sauce was for more tuna than we had, so I used the leftover to flavor a crockpot full of rice to eat for dinner tonight. I added asparagus to it and that was good enough that my husband had seconds.

The only reason we even had tuna was because we saw it on sale Sunday when we stopped to buy cod for dinner. Guess we're all in the mood for fish lately! We baked the cod in lemon garlic butter, and once again had asparagus with it. Another delightful dinner!

Before dinner tonight, I made this fermented cranberry-apple-orange relish from the GNOWFGLINS blog to take to my parents house for Christmas dinner-the day after. I modified that a little too-I had tangerines, but no oranges. It smells and looks fabulous!

After dinner, I started a loaf of whole wheat bread in the bread machine. Then the 3 of us made granola. It's a recipe from Amy at Homestead Revival too. Goober Gus and I have made it before and we love it! Once that went into the oven the boys went to play and I made coconut/peppermint bark from GNOWFGLINS. It's YUMMY and has the added benefit of being good for me! I should have taken pictures, but I really just wanted to get it all done so I could sit down for a few minutes! Is it bedtime yet?

Operation Christmas Child

2010-12-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I volunteered at the Operation Christmas Child processing center in Orange County, CA. I spent 3 days (more like 2.5) opening, inspecting, sorting, restuffing, taping and cartonizing shoeboxes. It was fun! I figured I better make this post now before I forget too many details-life gets crazy when the routine is gone (even when there's very little routine to start with) and I just haven't sat down to do this.

First off, my mom went too, and we drove across the desert on I-10. Anyone else been on that desolate highway?? We would have preferred to fly, but prices were too high and I'm glad we didn't now that the TSA is allowed to grope you! On with the story...

The warehouse-those are the cartons that inspected shoeboxes go in, at least 14 to a carton. BTW-it isn't heated, and although it was southern California, it was only about 60 degrees inside. We were told to wear layers of clothes so we could adjust as we warmed up from working.

Pallets of shoeboxes, used to divide the break area from other parts of the warehouse.

Me and Jan, another volunteer from my church. The first day we were inspectors. I prefer to call the job, "contraband confiscators" because it sounds more exciting! This stage of the job requires you to open each box and verify that there are no inappropriate items. That's the easy part. Getting everything back into the box was sometimes a huge challenge! Items we had to remove include:

food of any type (nothing with an expiration date)

chocolate

any liquid

anything breakable

toy money

war related toys (fighter jets, guns, etc)

seeds

pokemon

Harry Potter

There were a few more things, but I don't recall the whole list. Anything that was taken out was placed in a container and at the end of the processing time, taken to a local charity. It gets used, just not in the shoebox.

People have to get creative when packing a shoebox, and we found many great ideas, as well as a few humorous ones like this lion puppet with toothpaste up its ****.

On this day I was the taper. Every box that got processed at our station got wrapped thru the center with tape. I estimate I taped over 500 boxes in my 6 hour shift. I was surprised when my hands weren't sore, when one of my friends pointed out that it's probably because I milk goats, so my hands get a daily workout. Possible?

This is where broken or torn shoeboxes go to be repacked into different boxes. We also brought a few that were just plain too small for everything inside. I thought it was a creative name. The pallets on the floor had triage type names too.

I think this is our first day, that's my mom on the right in red. Her job was top open the box and look for money. Each shoebox costs about $7 to ship, so they ask for a donation to help cover that. All money gets dropped into a locked box at the front of the table.

This is the contents of one of the boxes. Wet wipes for kids, sidewalk chalk, candy, art supplies, personal grooming items and little toys. We saw some cute ideas for gifts and ways to present them.

If you like to give, and you really like to give to kids, I encourage you to learn more about this ministry. It's best to learn now and buy little things all year long than to wait until next year and try to fill a box with full priced items. All items must be new, so no thrift store or yard sale finds allowed. However, we saw a number of boxes come through with State Farm coloring books and my guess is those are free from an agent. I'm going to find out, and collect other similar freebies during the year. Happy Meal toys (we don't go there anymore, but it's an idea to look into), clearance items, the dollar section at Target-all places to shop whenever you're there.

A few times per year my mom and I meet at an outlet mall that's about an hour away from each of us (we live two hours apart). It's usually to let her take TJ for a couple of days, but we do shop there also. My brain wasn't engaged when we were there a few weeks before the main collection week. We saw lime green gellie shoes for $2, and packs of Star Wars underwear for $3. I ended up spending $6 for underwear to go into my boxes. I did however, remember to take advantage of the back to school sales and buy LOTS of penny crayons, etc at that time.

Some people wrapped a bar of soap in a washcloth and tied it with a bow. None of the presents can be wrapped, since the box has to be inspected. We did find a few that had wrapped gifts inside, and the mission of this outreach is to not disturb the integrity of the box, except for inappropriate items, so once those presents were unwrapped, the paper goes back into the box. The purpose being that we don't know what God has planned for any of the items in the box. Many people pray about what to include and it's not our job to interfere with that. Some boxes had bows on the outside that simply got moved to the inside. Many of the boxes themselves were wrapped-so that the lid could be removed without unwrapping-and we decided that it's not really a good idea. The paper gets torn during handling, and then the box is wrapped with packing tape around the center. It's nice to let your kids draw on the boxes and include a handwritten note to the child that will receive the box though.

I hope this story will encourage you to participate in spreading joy and the Gospel of Jesus Christ next year. Many of these boxes go to countries where the Gospel is not allowed, but the boxes are. It's a wonderful way to teach children and their families that Jesus loves them!

It Happened

2010-12-12T13:13:00.001-07:00

***After a little time to think, I decided to delete most of this post. It wasn't very honoring, even if it is true. Thanks to those that commented.***

~~Just a quick note.~~ It started as a quick one, then I decided to add the Bible reference that sticks out regarding this, so it got longer.

Our church has been without a permanent pastor since April of 2009. The interim pastor started about a month after that. Attendance started to decline, but that's to be expected with changes. The IP has done his job, but the people want a permanent pastor. So much so that they're willing to vote for a pastor simply to have one. Any familiar with the story of the Israelites that wanted a king so they could be like the nations around them?

1 Samuel 8:5-7 (New King James Version)

5 and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.

8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. 9 Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king. 11 And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12 He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. 16 And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men,[a] and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18 And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day.”

19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the LORD. 22 So the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king.”

And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”

Do verses 11-18 sound like another nation with which we are all familiar? If only our king simply took 10% of our sheep!

God allowed this to happen for a reason. I was convicted to be obedient to what I felt God telling me to do, and I suppose that means my obedience doesn't if I don't get my way. Our family will give him the benefit of the doubt, but we've been feeling separated from this church for some time. Perhaps this is the final message from God to us regarding leaving? We shall see.