Simple Soap

I just wanted to show off my latest batch of homemade soap that I made yesterday.  These are actually shampoo bars, but the difference is in the ingredients, not the method of making them.

This is my first batch of hot-process soap.  It was made in a Crock Pot and only took about 90 minutes, including clean-up.

In the past I've always made cold-process soaps.  There are advantages to each method, but in terms of curing time, hot-process wins hands down.  While still soft, it can be used the day after it is made, as opposed to several weeks of curing time with the cold-process version.

Because it was my first time, I didn't try to take any photos as I made it.  I plan to make another batch this weekend and will try to enlist Shane's help so that I can write a tutorial with pictures.  Stay tuned for that.

Dehydrating Potatoes

My friend Melinda and her husband gave us a boatload of potatoes recently, and I've been slowly working them up.  Some will be chitted and planted in our garden, some canned, and some dehydrated, and of course some eaten fresh.

This week I've been dehydrating.  The process takes a little time, but isn't difficult.  I learned the basics from this post at Hickery Holler.

First I scrubbed and peeled about five pounds of potatoes.  I sliced them into a bath of about three quarts cold water and 3/4 teaspoon of citric acid.  This will help keep them from turning brown or grey from oxidation.  I am pretty fast with a knife, so that's how I cut mine, but you could use a food processor or mandolin.

As I was slicing them, I was also heating a large pot of water to a full boil.  In batches, I blanched the sliced potatoes in the boiling water for four minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, I removed the slices from the boiling water and returned them to the cool water and citric acid bath.  I made a new bath each time, using 1/4 teaspoon citric acid to each quart of cold water, because the water needs to be cold to stop the blanching process.

I then drained the slices and placed them in a single layer on the trays of our dehydrator.

I would like to one day have an Excalibur dehydrator, but for now we have a basic Ronco with ten round trays.  The five pounds of potatoes filled all ten trays perfectly.

I set the dehydrator on high (in this case, that means heat AND fan), and rotated the bottom tray to the top each hour.  Rotation isn't strictly necessary, but I feel it speeds up and evens the drying.  All of the slices were dry after eight hours.  Had they been sliced uniformly thin, they may have dried mopre quickly.

Five pounds of dehydrated potato slices fit perfectly into two quart canning jars.  I have ordered some oxygen absorbing packets and will put a couple in each jar to seal them.  Properly stored, these potatoes could be kept safely for years.

The next, I decided to make dehydrated hash browns.  I used the same basic process as above:  Wash, peel, shred with food processor, soak in citric acid bath for a few minutes, blanch for four minutes, shock in another citric acid bath.  I added a couple of steps by rinsing the shreds with cold water to remove some of the starch and wringing them in a clean cloth napkin to squeeze out most of the water.  Then I spread them on the dehydrator trays. 

Some of the shreds fell through the mesh of the trays, but that was really no worry, as the heating element is enclosed and doesn't get hot enough to burn food anyway. There are small-mesh mats available for the trays that would keep this from happening, and would also make clean-up easier for other (stickier) foods, so I may end up getting those in the future.

With shreds, five pounds filled up seven trays, which tells me I probably could've made the layers thinner in each tray so they would dry more quickly.  In the end, they filled two quart jars after six hours of drying time.

Overall, this was an easy way to preserve our potato bounty, and one that's a space-saver, too.  I'm looking forward to trying recipes made with these potatoes, and I'll be sure to post them when I do.

Ham and Potato Soup: Quick and Simple Real Food

Get ready for this.  A flavorful soup with just two ingredients (okay, three if you count the water), that's good for you (mmm...that bone broth), and can be done in just less than an hour (really). 

If you like, add a little cream, sour cream, or cream cheese to finish.  Sprinkle the top with green onions, shredded cheddar, croutons or freshly ground black pepper.  Make it your own.  Or stop right here with just the two ingredients.  That's what I'm doing today.  Keeping it real.

If you don't have a pressure cooker, feel free to cook this for several hours in a slow cooker or a covered pot in a low oven.  You'll get great results, just not quick ones.  Keep this recipe in mind for the leftovers of your after-Easter ham.

Quick and Easy Pressure-Cooked Ham and Potato Soup

1 pound ham hocks (or a large, meaty leftover ham bone)
2 pounds (more or less) potatoes

Place rack in bottom of pressure cooker per manufacturer's instructions.  Place ham hocks or ham bone on rack.

Add about 2 cups of water to cooker, place lid on and heat over high heat until steady stream pours out of valve.

Place weight on valve.   Once weight begins hissing or rattling (will depend on your particular cooker) reduce heat just enough to keep weight hissing or rattling.  Begin timer and cook for 45 minutes. 

Meanwhile, peel potatoes and cut in to cubes of approximately 1 inch.  Keep potatoes covered with water until ham has finished cooking.

Remove cooker to sink and reduce pressure by running cold water over cooker.  Carefully remove lid and set aside.  Spoon out ham hocks with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Drain potatoes and add to liquid in pot.  Add about 1/2 cup additional water.  Replace lid and return to high heat on the stove.

When a steady stream of steam is coming from valve, replace weight.  When hissing or rocking begins, adjust heat as before and begin timer to cook for 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, pick ham from bones and set aside.  Discard bones or save to make more stock.

After potatoes have cooked for 6 minutes, remove from heat and reduce pressure using cold water method.  Carefully remove lid.

Using tongs, carefully remove rack from pot.  Add ham pieces to pot and stir vigorously to break up some of the potatoes to thicken the soup.  Transfer soup to serving bowl or tureen and serve.

Makes about 4 servings.

Super Simple Ham and Egg Skillet

I threw this together from leftovers one morning last week.  I liked it so well, I'll be making it on purpose next time.

Super Simple Ham and Egg Skillet

For each serving:

1/2 cup chopped cooked ham
1/2 to 3/4 cup cooked grain  -- I had farro, but you could use rice, wheat berries, steel cut oats, etc.
1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded cheese of choice
1 teaspoon butter
1 slice (ring-shaped) green bell pepper
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

In a small skillet, cook chopped ham and cooked grain over medium-high heat until ham begins to brown and mixture is heated through.  Spoon onto serving plate, sprinkle with half of cheese,  and cover with clean towel to keep warm.

In same skillet melt butter over medium heat.  Place pepper ring in pan and let cook for about 1 minute. 

Break egg into center of pepper ring in skillet.  Cook egg until done to taste.  Carefully transfer egg and pepper ring to top of grain and ham mixture.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and remaining cheese as desired. 

Serve immediately.

Garden Planning - Step 1 - Knowing What You Eat

I've mentioned before that I bought a neat-o perpetual garden planner download from Northwest Edible Life, and have all intentions of using it this year, but our printer pooped out last week.  Until I can find a replacement printer for cheap or find time to take the file to be printed out at a printer-outer shop, I'm stuck with old-school pencil and paper.

I had to do a little research to remember, but I've determined that this will be our fifth season in the garden.  In the past, we've grown a little of this, a little of that, and whatever sounded interesting.  It's a fun way to garden, and a great way to learn what you like, don't like, can grow well, or can't grow at all.

This year, though, we're approaching gardening a little differently.  There will still be plenty of variety and a bit of novelty, but we're really going to focus on growing what we eat most.

With that in mind, the first step in this year's plan was to write down everything I could think of that we eat that is plant-based.  From tomatoes to dry beans to rice to tea to pineapple.  I used a seed catalog or two to help me remember everything and I wrote down things I know we can't grow simply because they might jog my memory about things we can grow here.

Then I went through and crossed off anything that we can't grow in our area (things like citrus, tropicals, coffee) and anything we don't have room to grow (grains, mostly) and things I'm just not ready to try yet (grapes, mushrooms).

Once that was done, I considered our family demand.  How often do we eat these foods?

There are several vegetables, fruits, and berries that we eat often and grow well for us.  Because these are on our menu several times a week all year round, these will be the biggest money-savers and nutrition-givers.  They will stay on the list.  Frequently-used herbs also stay at the top of the list.  For some reason I'm not very successfully at growing herbs, but if I can get successful, then cha-ching!  Big savings!

Several crops will grow well for us, but we don't eat them as often.  They'll be planted if we can work them in, or dropped without regret if we can't. 

Some foods are better for us to purchase, either because we don't eat that much of them, we have tried growing them before with little or no luck, we know they won't grow here at all (coconuts, anyone?), or we don't have room to grow them even though they will grow here (wheat is good example).  Unless we just want to try a couple of these crops for the fun of it, they won't make the cut.

The end result should be a fairly accurate list (below) of what we'll be planting this year.  Your list will vary depending on your appetite, gardening zone, skill level and space limitations.


Already-Established Perennials:
Asparagus
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Blackberries
Elderberries
Raspberries
Sunchokes

Definitely Will Plant:
Green beans
Lettuce, variety
Onions, bulbing
Garlic
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Dry beans
Carrots
Beets
Zucchini or other summer squashes
Onions, green (scallions)
Spinach
Swiss chard
Bell peppers
Cucumbers
Radishes
Cilantro
Parsley
Basil
Thyme
Oregano
Cumin

Will Plant If It Works Out:
Sweet Corn
Peas (shell-out and snow varieties)
Kohlrabi
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Celery
Eggplant
Cabbage
Napa cabbage
Collard greens
Jalapeno peppers
Winter squash (butternut, acorn)
Ground cherries
Watermelon
Okra
Sunflowers
Ginger
Summer savory
Sesame (for seeds)
Gooseberry bush(es)
Peach tree(s)

Be prepared.  Next week, we start talking numbers.

January Resolution Review

I set some goals at the beginning of the year, so I thought I'd give a quick monthly update on my progress.


Reading: 

• Goal - 18 Books and more than a year of Mother Earth News and Hobby Farm Home back issues (and yes, I've let the subscriptions to those magazines expire).
• January Progress - Read 3 books (3 of 18), but just one of the  magazines (1 of 38). 

The books I read were:

• Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Beatles, Beatlemania, and the Music that Changed the World by Bob Spitz
• The Asperkid's (Secret) Book of Social Rules: The Handbook of Not-So-Obvious Social Guidelines for Tweens and Teens with Asperger Syndrome by Jennifer Cook O'Toole
• The Unschooling Handbook:  How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom by Mary Griffith.

Crafting:

• Goal - 12 completed projects, preferably one a month, with one being a quilted item and another being knit socks.
• January Progress - Finished a pair of fingerless mittens. (1 of 12)

I finished these crocheted fingerless mittens.  I had started them back in the summer on a camping trip, but lost the pattern on the same trip.  Fortunately, I was able to find it online, and was able to complete the pair. 

I also knitted a small afghan/blanket for our cat Bob, who was moved from outside to our basement in December.  He likes to sleep on dirty laundry, specifically sweaters, so I decided to make him something of his own.  It isn't much to look at, but it used up some of my yarn stash, and was good knitting practice for me.


Gardening: 

• Goal - Organized planning, leading to an organized garden.
• January Progress - Did germination testing on the seeds we already have on hand.  Printed garden organizer I purchased from Northwest Edible Life and recorded seed tests and a few other things.  Read about gardening.  Thought about gardening.

Diet/Nutrition:

• Goal - To switch over to less harmful types of sweeteners and/or reduce sugars in our foods.  To grow more of our food in our backyard.
• January Progress - Shane has switched entirely to local honey as the sweetener in his coffee.  I only sweeten coffee occasionally, but when I do, I've been using Sucanat.  I have not yet found a sweetener I like in my tea other than white sugar, so I'm working on reducing the amount.  Little other progress has been made on this front.

Fitness:

• Goal - To join a local yoga class better flexibility, balance and overall health.
• January Progress - Something came up and I was unable to join.  I plan to look for another class or a different activity to meet this goal.
• I've started looking at bicycles.  I'm getting a good idea about what I want and don't want in a bike.  Basically, I'd like a big ol' cruiser bike with a big, well-padded seat, and handlebars I don't have to lean over, but with multiple speeds.  If I can't find what I want, Shane says he can (and will) Frankenstein custom build one for me. 

Finances:

• Goal - To pay off our RV.
• January Progress - None.  I have filed our tax returns already, and should be getting refunds, but those funds are earmarked for tires for Shane's truck, tires for the RV, and a large chunk of savings for next winter when holidays and bad weather shrink Shane's paycheck considerably.  Very little, if any, funds will go toward the RV balance.  On the other hand, we just completed a No Spend/Reduced Spending month and were able to save quite a bit of money to put toward savings.

Personal Finance on the Playground

Do you ever wonder if anything you say or try to teach your child(ren) sinks in?

At supper last night, Kat said that the subject of allowance had come up among a group of kids at school.  When she told them that she saves her allowance, they looked at her as if she'd sprouted a second head.

They wanted to know why she would do that, and told her that they always spent their allowance as soon as they had the chance.

Her response was that she usually likes to save for bigger things that she wants and doesn't want "cheap $2 stuff that just breaks". 

She said the others told her that "just isn't right" and got up and walked away. 

Kat, with the Lego set she saved for and bought last April.

I don't know what makes me happier - that she is developing good money habits, that she voiced her opinions with confidence, or that she was listening to us in the first place!

Do your kids get an allowance?  If so, do they spend it or save it?  The general rule here is that whatever money Kat gets (allowance, money from extra chores, gift money) is divided as follows:  10% to the charity of her choice (usually the local cat shelter), 10% into her savings account at the brick-and-mortar bank, and 80% to save or spend as she likes. 

Pressure Cooker Venison Grand Marnier

This recipe originally came from the book "301 Venison Recipes - The Ultimate Deer Hunter's Cookbook".  It's a sweeter twist on classic beef tips and gravy, and one the family really enjoyed. It called for marinating the venison for at least 4-5 hours or overnight.  I didn't plan well enough in advance for that, so I decided to convert the original into a pressure cooker recipe. 

I used venison stew meat, dehydrated minced onions, and a can of mushrooms, so there was no chopping involved.  Feel free to use fresh onion and mushrooms, but be sure to add the mushrooms in before pressure cooking instead of after.  And as always, feel free to use beef instead of venison if you like.

I had this recipe done, start to finish, in about half an hour.  I also made a second batch, uncooked, to freeze.  When I'm ready to serve, I can dump it into the pressure cooker (thawed and frozen) and have dinner ready in a jiffy.

Pressure Cooker Venison Grand Marnier

6 ounces Grand Marnier (or any orange liqueur - I used Triple Sec because we had some)
6 ounces orange juice concentrate
6 ounces white wine
2 cups beef stock
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 Tablespoon dehydrated minced onion
Pinch of ground rosemary
1 to 1-1/2 pounds venison, cut into thin strips or chunks (I used stew meat in about 1" cubes)
1 can mushroom pieces, or 8 oz. fresh mushrooms, chopped or quartered
6 Tablespoons butter
6 Tablespoons flour
browning sauce, such as Kitchen Bouquet
Salt and pepper to taste

Place rack in pressure cooker, and add first 8 ingredients, plus mushrooms if you are using fresh.  Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, then attach pressure cooker lid.

When there is steady stream of steam emitting from pressure cooker vent, place weight on vent.  When cooker begins hissing and weight rocks gently, begin timing an cook for 20 minutes.  These directions are for my particular pressure cooker - for optimal safety, always follow the manufacturers directions for you own cooker.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small pan and whisk in flour.  Cook over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes to create a roux.

After 20 minutes, quickly reduce pressure by placing cooker in sink and running cold water over it.  When there is no longer pressure, carefully remove lid and return cooker to stove top.

The broth may have foamed.  If so, either scrape the bits off the sides and out of the cooker, or down into the broth (I prefer down and in, because there is a lot of flavor in those bits).  Bring broth to a gentle boil.

Whisk in roux a spoonful at a time until lump free and as thick as desired.  Whisk in small amounts of browning sauce until desired rich color is achieved.

Serve over rice, pasta or homemade noodles.

Makes about 4 servings.

Old-Fashioned Decorating

Here's a tableau I saw once in a flea market
and recreated here at home.

It's an old step-ladder adorned with kitchen utensils and other household items that are old or made to look old.  Keeping
ribbons and greenery to a minimum enhances this simple look.

Nowadays, Even Sandwiches Are Controversial

I hope all of you had a very nice Thanksgiving.  Ours was wonderful, if very un-traditional.  I made most of the dishes ahead of time, so yesterday all that needed to be made was turkey and stuffing.

Kat went to a midday feast with her mom and step-dad, which left Shane and I with several hours of free time.  I spent mine in the RV, sewing.  Shane spent his in, out, and under the RV, getting it winterized for the off-season.  Around 4:00, we came in and started working on our Thanksgiving supper.  Shane deep-fried the turkey while I heated the side dishes.  By the time everything was ready, Kat was home to eat with us.  We enjoyed our meal while watching a movie.  Eating in front of the TV made it as much a holiday as anything else did; that's not something we do often.

We really enjoyed our casual, quiet holiday.  I think making side dishes ahead of time is the way I'll "do" holidays from now on.  Although we ate late in the day, we weren't tired from cooking all day, so cleaning up was a breeze.

So now, what to do with the leftovers?  Enter the controversy.  I plan on making Kentucky Hot Brown sandwiches.  I have never had one, have never been to the Brown Hotel, and in fact, have never been to Louisville at all.  I just thought the sandwich I saw in a magazine looked tasty.

Apparently, though, some folks get a little "tetchy" if the sandwich isn't made exactly according to The Brown Hotel's original recipe.  And, OMG, if you accidentally (or intentionally) call it a Hot Browns instead of Hot Brown, watch out!  Bobby Flay uses white cheddar and gives the bread a French toast treatment, both of which are apparently no-nos.  My Recipes' version calls for Parmesan (Mornay sauce), but is otherwise similar to the original.

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Buffy Hargett, via My Recipes

My version will probably include white cheddar (which I have on hand) and Parmesan (which I have on hand), and will probably not include the egg-dipped bread.  It will probably have double the bacon.  And for that reason alone, it will probably be the best recipe of the bunch.

Grinding Away

I know I haven't been around much.  Here's why:


- Between Thursday of last week and yesterday, we processed and froze 84 pounds of venison.

- We killed our meat grinder.

- I made Shane a cake for his birthday, which was yesterday.  I used this recipe, but made some changes to include cocoa and little molasses.

- I set up some Spicy Cranberry Relish to lacto-ferment.  It should be done by Thursday.

- I made Make-Ahead Gravy for Thursday's feast.

- After using what I needed for the gravy, I canned 4 pints of perpetual chicken bone broth.

- I zested and juiced some lemons and limes for future recipes.

- I'm making these French fries to go with tonight's supper.  I'm trying the twice-fried or double-fried method this time.  These are between fryings.  If you are interested, do a Google search.  There are WAY too many results to link just one.

- I managed to work in a little bit of laundry and housework between other jobs.

- Somehow, I managed to find time to plan meals until the end of the year.  Mostly just the main dishes, but it's a good starting point for more busy days ahead.

- And just for fun, we had dinner with some friends on Saturday evening.


I'm on a roll!  If you don't hear from me by Black Friday, send a search party.

Bye-Bye Cable

The cable guy (neither Larry nor Jim Carrey) is supposed to disconnect our cable service today, leaving us with just Internet service, which will cut our bill from $103 a month down to $40. 

We're getting rid of cable primarily because we don't spend enough time watching television to justify the expense.  Kat watches an hour or so a day of cable cartoons or shows such as How It's Made or Mythbusters;  Shane and I don't even bother to turn the TV on most nights. 

Case in point:  I saw a banner hanging up in town recently, congratulating a local man on his success in a show called X Factor.  I had to do a Google search to find out what X Factor is, and find out why our town is fussing over a man named Tate Stevens.  Apparently, this alumnus of our local high school and employee on our city's road crew is doing quite well on X Factor.  But I was surprised to learn it was a talent show.  I thought it was about eating bugs or sleeping in scorpion infested coffins or something like that.  Oh, that's Fear Factor?  Fear Factor...X Factor...what's the difference?  It's all the same to me.

That's just one show.  I've never watched an episode of American Idol or Desperate Housewives.  I know those aren't new shows, but I can't even tell you what the new shows are called.  Anything we do know about and want to watch, we can find either online or via Netflix.

See what I mean?  It just isn't worth $63 a month we've been paying to NOT watch TV.  Seriously, we should've ditched it months or years ago, but of course, we were under contract until this week.

What about you?  Do you have an expense for a service you really don't need anymore?  It could be anything, not just cable.  Maybe it's something small, like a subscription to a magazine you don't read, or something bigger, like a gym membership you never use.  Could you cancel it to save some money each month?  Or redirect the money toward something you need or would enjoy more?  It's might be worth your while to consider it.

TGIF...G?

TGIFG! Thank Goodness It's Free Glasses! 

If you (or anyone in your family) wear glasses, my friend Jill at Blessings of a Stay At Home Mom has a deal for you and a great review.  I'm not going to pass this one up, and I don't think you'll want to, either.  So click on over now! 

Pee Ess:  Have a Wonderful Weekend!

Easy Homemade Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer

This isn't the only recipe for a flavorful coffee creamer with the fall flavor of pumpkin, but the only one I know of that starts with sweetened condensed milk.  While not the best choice, maybe, I'm OK with sweetened condensed milk because it contains no high fructose corn syrup.  I use whole milk, but feel free to use the milk of your choice.  This recipe goes together and is ready to serve in a flash.

Easy Homemade Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1-1/4 cups milk (use the milk can as a measure if you like)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree, canned or fresh (use more if you want a more intense flavor)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice blend

Whisk all ingredients together until very well blended.  Add to coffee or tea as desired.  Store covered in the refrigerator, preferably in a glass container.  Shake well to blend before using.

Kat's Harley Quinn (or Harlequin Jester) Costume

Until a few weeks ago, I didn't know who Harley Quinn was.  If you don't know, either, she is a super-villian character in the Batman series.  She's who Kat has decided to be at our friends super-hero themed Halloween party.  Because of a scheduling snafu, we weren't able to go, but Kat was able to wear her costume for her school's Trunk or Treat last Friday and will wear it again Halloween night.

There are many renderings of Harley Quinn online; here's one to give you an idea what she looks like:

It's a little precocious for a 9-year-old, don't you think?  And this is actually one of the more understated images.  But I was pretty sure with my lack of fine sewing skills, I could come up with a less revealing costume.  This costume would never win any sewing ribbons, but it will work just fine for the two or three times Kat will wear it.

To do this on the cheap, I started with two pairs of stretch pants, one red and one black, and two stretch tops, one black and one red.  While I was there, I just got lucky by finding the tiny little strapless dress in black and red harlequin print.  I grabbed it, too, because I was sure it would come in handy.

After spending some time cutting things apart and sewing them back together, and adding a few embellishments, I came up with this.

 Voila!  Harley Quinn!  

It won't win any awards, but it will do.  Total cost <$15.  Total time (not counting thrift store shopping), 7-8 hours at a leisurely pace. 

October Spending Challenge - Week 4

Today ends Week 4 of Northwest Edible Life's No-Spend Month of October.  To participate, I didn't join full-on, but decided to challenge myself to spend zero money in restaurants and as little as possible on food at the grocery store. 

This week (10/20 to 10/26) was spendy compared to the past three weeks:

Restaurant spending:  $9.96
School lunch spending: $4.30 (2 lunches)
Grocery store spending:  $48.86 (includes sales tax)
Pork processing fees:  $209.00 (already had these funds set aside)

At the stores this week, I bought: 2 packages of hot dog buns, 1 loaf of oat bran bread, 1 bag tortilla chips, 10 pounds of whole wheat flour, 5 pounds of Clear-Jel thickener, 1.25 pounds barley, a few ounces of dried basil leaves and a couple of ounces of ground nutmeg. 

I also (finally) found a source for raw milk and bought two gallons.  With bottle deposits, the total was $12.  Ive also included the cost of two dozen farm eggs that I forgot to include when I bought them last week - $5.

I blew my perfect record in the restaurant category yesterday.  My daughter (Kat's mom) rode with me to pick up our pork from the processor.  While we were out, I felt a migraine coming on, so I decided it was probably not a good idea to skip lunch.  I bought us each sub sandwich and put her in the truck's driver seat for the rest of our trip.

You'll notice I have a fourth category this week, which is the butcher's fee for processing. I had set aside $250 for processing, but I'm happy to say that some of that money will go back into savings.

**********

Here's what we ate this past week, most of which was already in the freezer, fridge and pantry:


Breakfasts and Lunches: 

• Our breakfasts and lunches were very similar to earlier, consisting mostly of hot cereals, leftovers and/or simple sandwiches.
• Kat requested two school lunches this week.  The first was meatballs and gravy over rice and the second was sliced ham with French toast sticks.  Each came with a choice of two out of several fruits and vegetables.

Suppers:  (This week's menu centered around chicken, with three meals made from one whole bird.)

• Leftover chili (from my dad), hot dogs on buns, salad with homemade dressing.
• Sausage-and-stuffing stuffed acorn squash, salad with homemade dressing.
• Chicken Oreganato, salad with homemade dressing, green beans.
• Chicken enchiladas, refried beans, salad with homemade dressing, homemade salsa.
• Chicken enchiladas leftovers.
• Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches, pumpkin applesauce, tortilla or potato chips. 
• Fried catfish TBA.

Drinks and Snacks:
Drinks this week were water, coffee, iced tea, raw milk, lemon-lime soda, and beer.  Snacks were potato chips, tortilla chips, peanuts, peanut butter and jelly on flour tortillas, string cheese.

October Spending Challenge - Week 3

Today ends Week 3 of Northwest Edible Life's No-Spend Month of October.  To participate, I didn't join full-on, but decided to challenge myself to spend zero money in restaurants and as little as possible on food at the grocery store. 

This week (10/13 to 10/19) was alright, but not as successful as I would have liked:

Restaurant spending:  $0
School lunch spending: $2.15 (1 lunch)
Grocery store spending:  $56.62 (includes sales tax)

I spent quite a bit at the grocery store this week.  I bought: 5 pound block of cheddar, 2 loaves of French bread, 1 pkg. pre-made pie crusts, 2 bags marshmallows (ingredient in a party treat at the end of the month), 2 bottles of lemon-lime soda, 4 bags tortilla chips, 2 bag of potato chips, 2 pound sliced ham, 1 pound dry roasted peanuts 1/2 gallon millk, 3 cartons yogurt, 3 bell peppers, 2 pounds grapes, 2 packages flour tortillas, 1/2 gallon apple cider, 1 quart half & half, 1 package white chocolate chips (for party treats), 1 bag milk chocolate chips (for party treats), 1 can tuna, and 1 loaf oat bran bread.

Talk about jumping off the homemade/frugal wagon and onto the convenience/junk food wagon!  It was just one of those weeks, and they happen.  But I'll give myself credit where credit is due -- we had a busy Saturday away from the house and it would have been so, so tempting to have a late lunch out, but we resisted and came home for a nice veggie and pasta meal at home.

**********

Here's what we ate this past week, most of which was already in the freezer, fridge and pantry:


Breakfasts and Lunches: 

• Our breakfasts and lunches were very similar to last week's, consisting mostly of hot cereals, leftovers and/or simple sandwiches.
• Kat requested one school lunches this week, which was sliced ham with whole grain pancake, tater tots, and choice of two of carrot sticks, pear halves, apple wedges or orange wedges.

Suppers:  (A friend gave us a large venison roast that his family didn't want to eat; we stretched it into several meals for us, plus the scraps and trimmings were ground into a treat for our outdoor cat.)

• Whole wheat pasta with tapenade, spinach, zucchini, oven dried tomatoes and feta cheese; garlic toast.
• Chili (pork) with toppings (sour cream, cheese), tortilla chips, apple pie.
• Venison stew, sliced French bread with butter, cole slaw, apple pie.
• Venison fajitas (meat, peppers, onions, mushrooms, cheese, sour cream, HM salsa), homemade refried beans from homegrown pinto beans, lettuce salad with tomatoes and homemade dressings.
• Venison fajita-egg tortilla wraps (basically leftover fajita ingredients stretched with scrambled eggs), refried beans, lettuce salad.
• Venison lasagna, garlic toast, green beans, spinach.
• Miscellanous leftovers from other meals.

Drinks and Snacks:
Drinks this week were water, coffee, iced tea, hot tea,milk, lemon-lime soda, hot chocolate, apple cider, and beer.  Snacks were hummus with tortilla chips, apple pie, grapes, potato chips, and bread with butter.

Can I Be Frank With You?

Let's see if I can "Frankenstein" $10 worth of thrift store clothes into a big freakin' mess Halloween costume for Kat. 

Into the lah-bor-ah-tory I go...

How to Ripen Green Tomatoes in Your Basement

Some of last year's tomatoes; taken October 2011.
A couple dozen of these look ready to move to the kitchen.

Our first frost was last weekend, so we picked all the tomatoes we could find on our vines, whether they were ripe or not.   We didn't have nearly as many greenies as we did last year, but there were still a couple hundred, I guess. 

I don't want that many sitting around on my kitchen table or in my kitchen window waiting to turn red, so I set up the seed starter rack (mini greenhouse) in the basement.  Any cool dark place, like a garage or cellar, will do.  I left off the see-thru plastic cover and put a layer of cardboard on the shelves to keep the really small tomatoes from falling though (paper would work, too).  I placed all the green tomatoes on the shelves and covered the entire rack with plastic.  In our case, we had some very large white plastic bags used to dispose of natural Christmas trees.  You could use large trash bags, tarps or whatever you have on hand.  Cloth sheets will work, but not as well as plastic.  The plastic covering not only blocks out direct sunlight, but also traps in gasses that help the tomatoes get ripe.

Every couple of days, I will go down to the basement and check for tomatoes that are turning red.  Once they have a decent tint (about half-ripe) I'll gather those and bring them upstairs to sit on the table to ripen in the sunlight.  I don't mind a few tomatoes at a time sitting around in my kitchen. 

You're mileage may vary, but we've found that this method works better than any other for us.  They'll  never taste as good as if they had ripened on the vine, but they are still so much better tasting than store-bought tomatoes. 

October Spending Challenge - Week 2

Today ends Week 2 of Northwest Edible Life's No-Spend Month of October.  To participate, I decided to challenge myself to spend zero money going out to eat and as little as possible on food at the grocery store.  Kat requests the school's hot lunch a few times a month, so I'm including that spending as well.  I don't consider it to be groceries or a meal out, so it gets its own category.

This week of 10/6 to 10/12 was somewhat successful:

Restaurant spending:  $0
School lunch spending: $0
Grocery store spending:  $36.51 (includes sales tax)

At the store I spent quite a bit more than last week, but still a good deal less than usual.  I bought: 3 pound bag of yellow onions, 12 cans green beans, 3 bags tortilla chips, 2 loaves whole wheat bread, 2 whole "Just BARE" brand chickens, 1 lb. organic carrots, 2 heads lettuce, 1 pint sour cream, 1 pint ricotta cheese, 8 oz. block mozzarella cheese, 2 cans pumpkin.

Notes:  *Canned green beans are one of just a few veggies that I can rest assured that Kat will eat, so I stock up when they are on saled. *I make a lot of our bread from scratch, but will buy it if I'm especially busy like I was this week.  *I usually buy organic, free-range chicken from Trader Joe's for $2.49/lb, but the nearest TJ's is 15+ miles away.  I decided to try the Just BARE brand at $1.75/lb (and about 1 mile from home).  It's not organic or free-range, but from what I've read, they do follow cleaner, more humane practices than conventional poultry producers.  Anyone have any experience with this brand?

In addition, our neighbors moved away this weekend and gave us 18 eggs and 15 pounds of potatoes that they didn't have room to take with them.

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Here's what we ate this past week, most of which was already in the freezer, fridge and pantry:


Breakfasts and Lunches: 

• On both Saturday and Sunday, we ate steel cut oats and homemade toast with butter. 
• Otherwise, our breakfasts and lunches were very similar to last week's, consisting mostly of hot cereals, leftovers and/or simple sandwiches.
• Kat did not request any school lunches this week.

Suppers:  

• Saturday evening we were invited to eat at our friends' house.  We contributed homemade cookies and one of the last watermelons from our garden.
• Ham and cheese pretzel bites, green beans, lettuce salad with tomatoes and mushrooms, homemade honey mustard or ranch dressings, leftover cole slaw.
• Homemade pizzas (choice of ham and cheese or Thai chicken), lettuce salad with tomatoes and mushrooms, carrot sticks with homemade salad dressings for dip, homemade zucchini hummus, tortilla chips.
• Ham and dumplings, green beans w/bits of ham, lettuce salad with tomatoes and mushrooms,  carrot sticks with salad dressing for dip.
• 4-Cheese ravioli with homemade pasta sauce, garlic toast, salad with tomatoes and mushrooms, leftover green beans.
• Choice of homemade soup (chicken noodle or tomato bisque), fried egg sandwiches on toast, lettuce salad with tomatoes, watermelon.
• Sweet and spicy salmon burgers on homemade buns, roasted acorn squash, zucchini-tomato bake, lettuce salad.
• Pasta with tapenade, oven-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini and feta cheese; garlic toast.

Drinks and Snacks:
Drinks this week were water, coffee, iced tea, hot tea, hot chocolate, beer, and white wine punch (wine and lemonade, basically).  Snacks were dry roasted peanuts, tortilla chips with homemade salsa (both red and green), zucchini hummus, apples, homemade toffee chip cookies, and popcorn.