Tid Bits from Life Around Here

We made our pumpkin ice cream the other night. It was DELICIOUS!!!! I was asked to do a guest post on another blog about it, so if you go visit The Farmer's Daughter, you can see the recipe. :)

The other day, Michael and I saw a woolly worm that was entirely brown. I saw this one yesterday. Hmmm... they are supposed to predict winter, but I am not sure what to think now. :)

I went out to check the calves water.  Here is what I saw when I rounded the corner.  I LOVE Jersey babies.  They are so cute. 

The golden rod is in full bloom. 

The poison ivy is turning red.

I am not sure what these flowers are called.  I have heard them called Asters.

Hope all is well on your homestead!! 

A Must See Video

This was a very thought provoking and powerful video. It is 33 mins. long, but it needs to be watched all the way to the end!!!

Count Your Blessings Monday!!

Here is an opportunity for all of us to give thanks unto the Lord for a blessing in our lives. If you would like to take part great. If not that is OK too. If you would like to share your blessing, just leave it in the comments. If you want to use the picture above and list a blessing on your own site, then leave a URL to your site in the comments. There is no pressure here. I just know that I am incredibly blessed and I would like to share that and give thanks to Him who all blessing come from. This is a way that we can encourage one another. I know that I am often encouraged when someone shares a blessing with me. I think that many times we forget that it is a blessing to be able to breath, to get out of bed, to hold a baby... Share your blessings with us. We can share so many other things.... special gifts, recipes, let's take the time to share how God has blessed us!!

There are so many things going through my mind this morning as I ponder my blessings. 

I am grateful for God's provisions this year as I watch our pantry shelves fill up with bounty.  I don't think it is really a pride thing, but more of total satisfaction that we will eat from the summer garden and produce all winter.  I love to look at the shelves of jars all filled up with food.  :)

I just heard that my wonderful friend, Karen who came to visit me last year, is coming again in October.  When we got to hug necks last year, it had be 34 years since we had seen each other.  I am glad it is only going to be a year this time.  We are truly twin sisters of different Moms.  :)

Honey's mastitis finally cleared up and we did not have to use antibiotics.  It was really hard getting up at 3:45AM all last week to milk her out, but it worked in the long run.  Each night as we sit there and milk, I see her Honey colored side and just thank God for providing her for us.

We made pumpkin ice cream and it was DELICIOUS!!!  I love all things pumpkin and I love to have pumpkin ice cream each year.  I normally limit myself to one cone, or we buy one carton and share.  I limit myself, because I really don't like what is in it.  With this recipe, I don't feel so bad and will probably make another batch or two.  :)  I am still going to tweak it a bit more though.  I have been asked to write a guest post on someone's blog telling about my pumpkin ice cream.  I will make sure a link goes on here.

Our eating plan is working so well for us.  We actually started a weight loss plan back in the early summer of 2010.  It was sort of a weight watchers thing and it just was not working.  We switched to this plan in late March of this year.  I have lost 30.5 pounds and Michael 39.

There are many more blessings in my life I could tell about as well.  What are YOU thankful for? 

A Delicious Fall Treat

When it gets to be late August, early September, my thoughts and heart turn toward Autumn.  It is my favorite season of the year.  There are a couple of treats that I normally allow myself one serving of each Autumn.  We do not eat dessert very often.  Usually it is only at our fellowship meal with the church and even then, only when it really calls our name.  We have been doing so well with our eating plan that it is a good incentive to not partake.  However, I LOVE almost all things pumpkin.  In fact today I am sitting here in a jumper that is covered in pumpkins, scarecrows and other Autumn things.  One of the treats I like to have is pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin fudge.  Normally we buy one carton of pumpkin ice cream, but this year a friend found me a recipe to make homemade and I am going to try it.  I normally buy the fudge unless one of my friends make it and give me a piece.  I do try to limit myself to one or at the most two small pieces of fudge.  There is a store about 40 mins. from here that sells pumpkin fudge in the Fall and also Lehman's Hardware sells it.  Whenever we have out of town guests, they all love to go and visit Lehman's.  I do have a friend coming this Fall, so maybe she will want to go there again.  :)    One of the other things I normally treat myself with is just one caramel apple.  Two years ago, I bought one at the grocery store and it was GROSS.  The apple was yucky.  Last year I bought one of those little tubs of caramel apple dip and just did that.  However, after reading the ingredients, I can't bring myself to buy that either.  I wish I knew of a healthy way to make caramel.  I may forgo the apple treat this year.  

I did find a new wonderful treat though.  That is what I want to share with you.  The Bulk Herb Store has a tea blend called Creamy Pumpkin Pie Tea.  It sounded good enough that I bought some to try.  Oh my.....   DELICIOUS!!!! 

Go to The Bulk Herb Store through this link and click on Herbal Mixes.  They are listed in alphabetical order.  You NEED to try this stuff.  You make the tea and add a bit of honey and milk or cream and it is WONDERFUL.  I don't normally put milk or cream in my tea or coffee, but this was so good.  I let Michael taste it last night and he wanted a cup of it too.    

After writing this post, a dear sweet friend called me this morning and gave me her recipe for caramels.  WOO HOO!!

A New Idea

Necessity or sometimes just laziness is the mother of invention.  One of the things I get tired of doing is drying my canning jar rings.  You wash them and then you have to stack them all just right so they dry well or you have to use a towel and dry each one.  If you have a canner load of 7, that is not bad.  When you have 46 of them like I just had with the chili beans I canned, it gets old quick.  :)  I had Michael install a towel rack on the side of the cabinet by the sink.  Whenever I get a new dish cloth out, I hang the old one up until it is dry before I throw it in the dirty clothes.  I also use them to dry zip lock bags that I wash to re-use.  I also use a different sort of cheese cloth called a cheese bandage that washes really easy by hand and then dries quickly when hung up.  I hang those over this rack as well.  I was washing the canning jar rings and got the idea to put them up on the towel rack.  It worked like a charm.  I made sure they hung over the sink, so the drips went into the sink and they dried quickly.  Then you just slide them off and put them away.  I thought I would share my idea in case it helped someone else.  :)  I will post a picture of the rack from 2 sides.  I got the rack at Lehman's Hardware. 

Using the Chili Beans

Someone asked on the last post how we use the chili beans.  They are really handy to have on the shelf.  One way is in chili.  Instead of buying the cans of chili beans in the store, we just grab some off of our pantry shelf.  Add tomatoes and ground beef and you have a wonderful chili that is easy to make.  We also use these beans as a burrito filling.  If we are running behind schedule and we need to fix a meal quickly, I can heat up a jar of these and make burritos with them.  Sometimes we also melt cheese on tortilla chips.  Then we take this bean mix and add some salsa, cheese and sour cream and use it to dip the tortilla chips in.  We have used it as a side dish in a meal before as well.  They taste really good plain or in other dishes.  :) 

Preserving, Putting Up and Preparing Foods for Autumn and Winter

Yesterday was a full day.  I had a long list of things to accomplish and maybe finished half of them.  Our peppers did not do very well this year at all.  In fact, we basically got nothing.  I bought some peppers from a local organic grower, but all he had were green and purple.  I like a little color in my peppers too.  Finding local colored peppers that I could afford has not been easy.  I finally found a local grower who had some and picked them up. 

I cut them into strips and put them in the freezer for stir fry or fajitas.  I love to see all the colors when I cook with them.  It makes the meal feel like a fiesta.  

I also like to make my chili beans for the year when I have the colored peppers.  I do a big batch of them and it usually lasts me until I do them again.  I made chili last Friday night and used the last of my chili beans from last year.  :)  I will post the recipe for my beans below.  Here they are cooking in my big 7 gallon pot. 

I ended up with 46 pints of chili beans. A few did not seal and they are in the fridge.

Marci’s Calico Chili Beans


Soak 10 lbs. of 10 bean mix (you can use kidney or pinto beans as well) overnight in plenty of water. Put beans in a large pot. Add 7 to 8 quarts of water and start them cooking.


Add the following:
4to 5 cups bell peppers, chopped (I like to use colored ones from my garden)
7 cups onions, chopped
1 – 10 oz. bottle of Worcestershire sauce
½ cup granulated garlic
1 cup chili powder
¼ cup cumin
½ cup salt or to taste
1 ½ cup sucanat or sorghum or mixture of both
¼ cup dry mustard
Sprinkle with cayenne to taste
Sprinkle with oregano to taste


Let come to a boil and start filling quart jars leaving a 1” headspace. Process in pressure canner at 10 lbs. pressure for 65 mins.


Makes 18 to 19 quarts.

Magic Bullet Blender - Great deal!!!

I was able to review a product awhile back that I absolutely LOVED!!  We use it all the time.  It is a Magic Bullet blender.  It does not take up much counter space and is so quick and easy to use.  We like to drink smoothies made with raw yogurt.  You can put the yogurt in the cups that come with the blender and add your fruit and stevia.  Place the base on the first cup and put it on the blender.  Then you can drink right from that cup.  Then you put the base on the next cup and blend it.  It is very powerful and quick.  I have used the small cup that comes to dice up my hot peppers for salsa and for the habañero sauce we made.  I saw this today and this is a GREAT price.  It would make an excellent gift for Christmas, birthday or even a wedding.  

Count Your Blessings Monday!!

Here is an opportunity for all of us to give thanks unto the Lord for a blessing in our lives. If you would like to take part great. If not that is OK too. If you would like to share your blessing, just leave it in the comments. If you want to use the picture above and list a blessing on your own site, then leave a URL to your site in the comments. There is no pressure here. I just know that I am incredibly blessed and I would like to share that and give thanks to Him who all blessing come from. This is a way that we can encourage one another. I know that I am often encouraged when someone shares a blessing with me. I think that many times we forget that it is a blessing to be able to breath, to get out of bed, to hold a baby... Share your blessings with us. We can share so many other things.... special gifts, recipes, let's take the time to share how God has blessed us!!

Today my blessing is having a God whom I can trust regardless of circumstances.  We have had some not so pleasant experiences lately here on the farm.  We don't know why, but we do know WHO is in control of all things. 

Late last week we noticed flecks in the milk when we strained it.  We tested Honey for mastitis and she had it in 2 of her quarters.  We started treating her with the natural treatments we have used in the past.  We also talked to a good friend of ours that has a Jersey herd.  She told me that we really need to milk her twice a day until it clears up because the bacteria can multiply so quickly.  So, we were up on Sunday morning to milk and got up at 3:45 AM today to milk her.  We got everything all set up this morning, but the flashlight must have scared her and we could not catch her.  We tried really hard, but she would not come close enough to grab.

Also late last week, we had a wether (one of our sheep) down and not feeling good.  We have been trying to help him out and he seemed to be doing better.  We went out to check him yesterday afternoon and he was dead.

These are the parts of farm life that happen, but that are very sad and unpleasant.  I want to cry out to God and ask WHY?  I do cry out to Him, but we have to do our best and leave the rest to Him and trust that He has a reason and a purpose.  We are praying that He gives us wisdom and discernment in dealing with our animals.  We CAN trust Him and for that I am grateful.

What are YOU thankful for? 

Making Sauerkraut

Today, I made sauerkraut. It is easier than you think and it does not take that long. No store bought sauerkraut tastes as good as homemade.  Also, I do not can mine so it is a food that is alive with good enzymes.  It aids in digestion.  Some people have a tablespoon of sauerkraut with their lunch and supper.  We like to eat ours as a side dish.  You can just lightly warm it or eat it at room temperature. 

You will need a crock or glass jars.  I already have a batch going in a large crock.  I had an empty gallon size crock and decided to use that.  I had 3 huge heads of cabbage that I needed to deal with. The 3 large head made just over 1 gallon of sauerkraut. I just put the extra in a quart canning jar.  Some people use a cabbage cutter and it makes long shreds of your cabbage. We like ours in small shreds so I use the grating plate on my food processor. 

I took off all the outer leaves that were yucky and cut off pieces of the cabbage leaving only the core.  I give the outside leaves and core to my chickens so nothing goes to waste.  If I had pigs I would give it to them.  I then shredded it all up and put it in a huge bowl I have.  For every 5 pounds of cabbage, you add 3 rounded tablespoons of salt.  I sprinkle the salt all around on the cabbage.  There are 2 ways you can do the next step.  I used to mix the salt in and then start packing it into my large crock pressing down over and over again to make the juices flow.  Now, I just start using both hands and squishing the cabbage in my fists over and over again until there is a good amount of juice in the bowl.  In this first picture I had already started working the cabbage with my hands.  In fact this was just the last head of cabbage because they would not all 3 fit in my bowl and still allow me to work it.   

In this picture I tilted the bowl a bit and you can see the juice on the right hand side. 

After I had enough juice I packed the cabbage and juice it into my crock.  This was just the first 2 heads of cabbage.  Then I take a tea towel (in my big crock) or a napkin in this case and lay it across the top and tuck it all in down around the sides.  This helps to keep the kraut under the brine.   

Then I place an upside down plate over that and push everything below the surface of the brine.  The brine is just the juice that came out of the cabbage because of the salt and working it. 

I then put some sort of weight on top of that to keep the plate below the surface.  I just used a jar full of water.  I also had some whey from the Pepper Jack cheese I made yesterday.  I poured a bit of that into the crock and also into the jar of cabbage that would not fit into the crock.  You do not need to do this, but it does help get things going. I only did it because it was sitting there on the counter.    

I stick this back into my pantry and check it every couple of days.  If you see a scum or even mold on top of the surface, simply skim it off.  I have had a lot of mold on mine before and the kraut is fine because it is below the surface. I let mine sit for several weeks at least before we start using it.  I then just dip some out for our meal and put everything back in place.  I did a large batch in my big crock last year.  We ate out of that crock until March of this year when we used up the last of it.  

I made butter yesterday.  I love the bright yellow color.  I think Jersey milk and cream is more yellow than the milk some breeds give, but add in the fact that she is grass fed and you get beautiful butter.  This butter was waiting to have the buttermilk worked out of it.   

Feta Cheese

Yesterday I made Feta Cheese. It is really easy and fairly quick to make. I use 2 gallons of milk when I make it.  I like to keep it on hand.  It is a great cheese to add to other things or put on top of certain foods.  We use it the most on salads.  

Here is the milk in the pan.  I have already added the culture and the rennet.  I cut the curds with my 16" wire whisk.  I am lifting the curds on my cheese ladle so they would show in the picture.  Feta is a raw milk cheese as I never heat the milk above 86°.  

Once you hold them at the temperature for the correct amount of time, you drain the curds into little plastic basket molds.  With 2 gallons of milk it takes 2 of these little baskets.  You can save the whey and give to animals or use in lacto fermentation.  

I use the pan that I made the cheese in, to drain it as well.  I place a large mouth canning ring in the bottom and sit one basket on it and then the other basket goes on top of the first one.  Every 15 minutes you turn each cheese over in its basket and then you put the basket that was on the bottom on the top.  

Here is one of the cheeses after I turned it over in the basket.

After turning it several times (I do it usually about 5 times)you then leave it for 8 to 12 hours in the pan at room temperature. You may have to dump some of the whey if it goes over the top of the canning ring.  When you take the cheeses out of the basket molds they need to go into a brine.  Here is a picture of one of the finished cheeses.

Here you can see both of them floating in the brine. The little pieces of cheese that you see floating are from the last batch. You can re-use your brine several times.

It is very easy to make and people love to take a chunk home with them.  :)  If you would like the exact recipe you will find it here.

Bad Bugs In Your Mouth??

There is an old saying that says a healthy mouth equals a healthy body.  If you have problems in your mouth, then you can have problems with all sorts of diseases.  Bacteria is rampant in your mouth and has a direct line to your blood stream.  In August of 2005, I almost died from bacterial meningitis.  I did not fit any of the normal profiles for getting it.  I had been fighting infections in a tooth for awhile.  They believe that very likely, that infection went systemic.  Just because you eat good nutrient dense food, does not insure a healthy mouth.

 

Once we understand gum disease, the way to stop its destruction becomes clear.


In the mouth, the damage of gum disease is caused by certain types of microscopic disease causing bacteria. We call these disease causing bacteria “bad bugs” because they destroy living tissue in our mouths!


As gruesome as it sounds, the mission of these bad bugs is to invade, colonize and devour gum and bone tissue in the mouth.


It's hard to imagine, but these microscopic bad bugs above cause the damage we know as gum disease on the right! AND they are also very involved with other diseases including diabetes, heart disease and cancer!

Here is a video that shows the Bass Method of brushing your teeth.  

Since I still fight mouth issues, I am going to be using this toothbrush and try the OralWellness Brushing Blend.  

Do YOU have a healthy mouth or issues with gum disease, bad breath or something else?

Check out the Oral Wellness website and educate yourself. 

Count Your Blessings Monday!!

Here is an opportunity for all of us to give thanks unto the Lord for a blessing in our lives. If you would like to take part great. If not that is OK too. If you would like to share your blessing, just leave it in the comments. If you want to use the picture above and list a blessing on your own site, then leave a URL to your site in the comments. There is no pressure here. I just know that I am incredibly blessed and I would like to share that and give thanks to Him who all blessing come from. This is a way that we can encourage one another. I know that I am often encouraged when someone shares a blessing with me. I think that many times we forget that it is a blessing to be able to breath, to get out of bed, to hold a baby... Share your blessings with us. We can share so many other things.... special gifts, recipes, let's take the time to share how God has blessed us!!

I am so thankful today for a God who is so personal.  He knows me intimately and yet He still loves me.  When I get down and discouraged, He is right there.  I can talk to Him anywhere at any time and He is always available.  There is no friend like Him.  He loves me warts and all.  He is always trying to help me to grow.  He gives me circumstances that are not always comfortable to stretch me to a new level in that area of my life.  True love does that.  Too often people aren't willing to truly stretch you or be stretched by you because it is not comfortable. 

What are YOU thankful for today? 

Super Tonic

I make a "Super Tonic" that we use all year.  It tastes good and is very versatile.  You can take it by the spoonful, although it is a bit strong.  If you think you are getting sick, you can take some or put it in tea.  I use it to cook with all the time.  I have heard some people take some every day all year just to keep junk away.  I just make a large batch of it this weekend.  I thought I would share it with you.   

There are 5 ingredients in a base of raw apple cider vinegar.  It is very easy to make as well.  The five ingredients are onions, garlic, ginger root, horseradish root and cayenne peppers.  You take equal parts of each of the 5 items.  This year, I had friends give me some yellow cayenne.  I had some red that I grew and had dried, so I used both.   

I chop up the horseradish and ginger into chunks.  You can leave the garlic cloves whole and even leave the skins on, because they will be strained off.  I put the cayenne in whole and chop the onion into bigger chunks.  Because I was making such a large batch, I had to do it in parts.  I would take an equal part of the 5 ingredients and put them in my blender.  Then add apple cider vinegar to barely cover them.  Blend until pretty fine. 

Then I put the puree into jars (I did 1.5 gallons worth).  You let the jars sit for at least 2 weeks.  You don't want them exposed to the light.  I put mine in a dark corner of my pantry and I put a dark towel over them. 

Then you strain off the liquid and keep it in a jar.  I put some in a smaller jar that I keep in my kitchen.  I use it all the time.  This stuff is great in beans, when you are browning hamburger, salad dressings and other things.  You can take the strained roots and puree and put it into your compost.  

I know several families that use this and they all swear by it.  

Dog Poop In Your Food?

I have had a post rattling around in my head for some time.  I hesitate writing one like this because I get accused of picking on people.  This is NOT aimed at anyone in particular.  It is just my thoughts about the subject.  :)  

Have you ever heard the story about dog poop in the brownies?  When I first heard the story, it was something along these lines.  A Dad brought out a plate of brownies that the Mom had made for the family.  He gave each of his children a big brownie, but before they took the first bite, he told them that Mom had put a 1/2 tsp. of dog poop in them.  Of course none of the children wanted a brownie.  He questioned them as to why they did not want it citing that with there being so little of the poop in the brownie that they would never taste it.  They told him they knew it was there and they would not eat them.  The Dad went on to explain how their choices in life were like that.  If they made little bad choices, the whole batch would be spoiled.  If we dabble in this sin or listen to this junky music a little or just take a peek at that bad thing, etc. it will greatly affect our whole life.  

This also applies to other areas of our lives.  Americans spend the lowest amount of money (percentage wise of their income) on food than any other country, yet we soar above other countries in health care costs.  Cheap food abounds in America.  I read a statistic the other day that says we cook less than any other country in the world.  Everything is ready made or throw in a microwave or fast food.  I hear people talk about how they are struggling financially, yet they eat out at least once a week and usually it is fast food.  There is a lot of meat in the statistics above, but I am not going to delve into all of them.  It seems like people are sick a lot.  Cancer is rampant as well as all sorts of other diseases and problems.  I hear people say, well we only eat (this junk or that junk) once in awhile, maybe once a week.  That can't be all that bad.  Think dog poop.

I have been grossly overweight for much of my adult life.  I could go into several factors that helped that along, but I don't want to make excuses for myself.   I recently had a niece ask on Facebook why it has to cost so much to eat healthy.   One of their friends said that they had made some changes in how they eat and that cutting the junk out of the grocery bill seemed to balance out the costs.  They said they quit buying soft drinks, chips, cookies, ice cream, etc. and it had made it possible for them to make some changes.  Another thing they did was to get rid of the "whites"... :)  White flour, white rice, white sugar and white pasta.  These are good words and ones that will help bring some good changes to your diet.  I have tried all sorts of diets, but none of them seemed to last very long.  We started making food changes over 15 years ago.  I have seen my health improve, but not my weight.  About a year ago we started some new dietary principles.  They were ones we knew about, but had not embraced them yet.  Then in March of this year, we made some more changes and since mid March, I have lost 28 pounds and Michael has lost 35 pounds.  I do believe we have lost more inches than pounds.  Our clothes are so much looser and Michael tries on clothes every week and adds new things to his wardrobe that he has not been able to wear for years.  The best part though is how good we feel.  I feel better now than I have for over 10 years.  I have energy and my skin, hair and nails are different.  I don't struggle with being hungry or feeling deprived.  

I did not say all of the above to advertise some eating plan.  The real point I want to get across is most of us need to make changes in what we eat.  High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is in almost everything.  Look at the stuff in your pantry.  Read the ingredients.  Think of HFCS as the dog poop in the brownies.  It is BAD for you.  It is causing all sorts of problems in our health and our children's health.  Some people eat lots of salad.  That is so good, yet they smother it with salad dressings that are full of nasty stuff.  Homemade salad dressings are SO easy, and take very little time.  HFCS is only one of the big problems.  There are others.  Start reading, be aware of what you are eating.  

Another thing is sugar.  If you love carbohydrates like pastas, breads, etc. than you are craving sugar.  That is what those things consist of.  I was a carb QUEEN.  I love breads, pastas, crackers, etc.  I did not want to give up those wonderful delicious carbs that I love.  One of the changes I have made is to switch to either a SWG (Soaked whole grain) bread or bread made with spelt (a grain).  I also limit myself to one slice a day (although there is an occasional day when I eat another).  I rarely eat pasta right now, although with the cooler weather coming, I will be adding more of that back in to our diet. Also, when I do use pasta it is Kamut (a grain) or Spelt pasta.   Since making those little changes, I find I do not crave the carbohydrates like I did.  Fruit is good for you, but lots of fruit means lots of sugar.  I try eating only one piece of fruit a day.  Fruit juice sounds like a good thing for little ones.  Be careful how much you give them.  You are giving them sugar when you give them that juice.   I get most of my carbohydrates through vegetables now and it seems to be working.

Start making changes in your diet and your food money.   Start with one thing and incorporate it.  Then add another.  Do research about what is real food and what is good for you.  Don't be too busy to fix your family a good home cooked meal instead of eating out or throwing a frozen dinner in the oven.  Try cutting out soft drinks and chips.  Homemade pizza is very easy to make and so much better for you.  

I am not speaking as one who "has arrived".  I am on the slopes with you and I am still tweaking and making changes.  I try to read with an open mind and I also ask the Lord to direct our choices.  I encourage you to do the same.        

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Offer Ends September 9, 2011

Our R.M. Ballantyne book sale ends at midnight (CDT) on September 9, 2011. The sale pricing may not be applied to past orders.