Imagine having pork and potatoes every night for supper. To break the monotony, you decide to innovate. Instead of pork and potatoes, you serve pork (without potatoes). And the next night, to reall…
Source: Traill’s Irish Mash
Quick and Easy Seafood Noodle Soup
Sometimes in my busy world, where I love to simmer things for hours that you can in fact have a hot meal on the table super fast, and not by opening a canned jar of soup or stew.
I had picked up a nice small package of mix seafood and I plan to make a lovely sea food mixed chowder and so half of it is just for that.. but the first half went into this lovely fast lunch soup.
1 cup of mixed frozen seafood blend or you could use half a cup of shimp or whatever kind you wanted, you could also used canned instead of the frozen.
1 small pat of butter.
1 set of the instant noodles (now you could use the single package kind with a seafood flavour package) but I used the plain ones that they sell in sets of nine.
1 tsp of your favorite soup base, you could use canned white broth here but I used mushroom in mine.
Salt, pepper to taste.
So in a small pot I put the seafood with butter to cook at a fast high temp.. at the same time, in a different pot I put the noodles, just covered with water to cook.. honestly, it was a race to see who was finished first lol.. but the seafood won by a min at most.. I checked my water level on the noodles and poured about a quarter of it out, I added the mushroom dried broth flavour to the rest and melted it in..
I poured the flavoured noodles into the bowl, then the seafood and butter-juices over top.. if it had been the right time of the year, I would do fresh green onion tops or chives but instead I grated some Dried Salted Egg yolk over top it.
Delightful!
Caleb Update
Never got a single picture of my sweet boy and vet together, so you will just need to look at one of my favorites from Christmas 🙂
I love this picture as it has my two geldings and the hubby in the back.. they are so sweet with each other..
So for those that want baking and recipes, I will do a blog post for you very soon, promise 🙂
My regular vet C was booked solid for the whole week, so I got a new vet to me, a tiny young gal, Vet T, English is her second lang, with French clearly the first.. so we did struggle a tiny touch with lang, as I am English only..
But Caleb loved her.. I was so pleased to see that.. While its not as important if your sheep or goats like their vet, I find it makes a massive help if the pigs, dogs, cats and horses do..
He very nicely limped for her and we found the one single bit of bare ground in the drive way that was not covered in a sheet of ice and went over a number of things. She was most impressed at how well he did his checks and stretches, I gave credit where do.. we had been taught to do these at the Equine First Aid Clinic I took and it paid off big time as he didn’t blink an eye to the many things she did.
So she said, I don’t think it’s the shoulder, I think its the foot, and I went.. hmm and she said, lets block it, and my head went.. huh.. in means freeze the foot like at you would at the dental.. so she said, is he good with needles and so far to date, he had been so she tried him and he was so perfect, and she froze his foot up..
Sure enough.. limp gone.. so we needed to move him at a walk, and then she asked me to trot him, and dang if just the slightest bit when I switched sides on the circle, did he not show a tiny bit of an off” movement on the other side..
So while we will do x-rays (I did have the power cord ready in case we needed to do so yesterday) in the spring when the ground is dry for a baseline inside view of both front feet.
His legs, their angles and his hooves all look good, good shape, well cared for.. but the final vet review was low-grade starting of Navicular in his front feet. The slip made is show faster and stronger but as she said, it would have come on more slowly and off and on.
So be it, so he is going on meds for 30 days and then we will review, they are strongly recommending shoes for his front feet. I have never done shoes, but I will do what is needed for him, and already have the call in to my Ferrier to talk about it.
The vet did give me the choice of no shoes with meds and to try it and see but she is very clear that she believes I will need to shoe him on the front if I want to be able to manage it so he is not in pain.. which of course is the goal.
The good news is that with meds and shoes, there is no reason that I can not continue to do our normal light trail riding with him.
The even better news.. he is a doll about it all.. he will take his med in an apple slice, he will let you do the massage on him, he will give his foot to the treated and looked at and for the farrier etc.
Plus when the vet says not always but normally with this type, we ask to do x-ray’s every five years to see where things are.. clearly it can’t typically move that fast.. knock on wood.
I can’t say that I am happy about it, but no point in getting upset really either, It is what it is, and lets face it.. to me at least..
My horse’s are not just livestock, I mean they are, I own them.. but they fall very much into that dogs, cat pet range.. Which means if he needs meds daily, he gets meds..
When it comes to “hard core” livestock, we would do the pro and cons on many different things..
Thankfully, as my awesome riding horse, my ground working buddy and so forth.. no question needs to be asked at this point.. it’s just yup.. let’s get it done!
Waiting for the Horse Vet
Waiting for the call back on when my horse vet will be coming to the farm.. Caleb has slipped on the ice and he has (I think) pulled a muscle or tendon on his front right shoulder area. He is currently lame, with a really good limp.
Its not a little hmm, give that a few days or a week and watch it, its a call the vet and get it looked at and confirm what is going on.. and get a overview of what I should be doing about it.. He is eating, drinking and such well but he is also off, you can see that he is feeling it..
I have been using a heated salt sock to put warmth on the sore spots and giving a massage to the area, it does seem to help provide some comfort, so that is good.. I have never really understood why heated salt feels so good.. it holds the heat well and it does seem to draw pain out.. My mom loved it for sore ears, and I will admit that when I have wind sore ears, I still love how a hot salt sock can just take away the pain so well.
I have one horse basic massage booklet, and I did take a very things in my Equine first aid course and I heard about Jim Masterson at my half day horse event on Saturday this weekend that I got to.. and so I did order in his book, so that I can do follow up on this for Caleb, as I expect that I will need to learn a lot more on how to help him while he heals from this.
I got a great email from his old owner and it would appear that this is both a new “just happened” injury and a renewal of a old “injury” at the same location, he slipped and hurt that same shoulder area many years ago and it healed up, taking months to do so and he was and has been great for years with me..
Bad luck but as we all know, once a area has been hurt, its just easier to hurt it again.. the question on many things are unanswerable at the moment.. so I will not guess to much..
But I will say that I expect that my riding season with him this year are up in the air.. but lots ground trick training, lots of hand walks and such are still very much on the table when he is ready for it..
IF all goes really well, and if it what I think, I am hoping for fall riding.. we will see..
Which brings me to Bojangles.. we had a nice training session yesterday.. he is such a good boy.. we are learning about each others. The only dry and safe place to do any kind of foot work near my farm is the road..
Bojangles, is so honest and willing but I love this photo that is showing him listening and doing what he is asked but at the same time, not being connected with me.. We worked together for 45 min but turns out the only photo I took was this one.. So be it.
It would appear that Hubby an I will be a sharing Bojangles as the main riding horse for the next while, so combo of bonding, learning each other, ground work and conditioning are all good things.. Let me tell you.. I am used to my bigger horses, they love their walk and they will move up to a nice slow trot or when we really move out, caleb has a flying ground eating trot..
But Bo.. o my.. Bojangles loves to trot, he moves into a flying trot that looks effortless.. he is very light on his feet.. The temps this coming week are wonderful, all above 0, ok, not by much but its still melting and not freezing during the day. Its a good time to try and get extra outside work done.
Will keep you updated on what I find out..
Flash Back Monday! Buttermilk Cornbread Recipe
This is a super easy recipe, can be made into a thin cornbread pan, muffins or as shown above in a cornbread pan..
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk ( you can use powdered buttermilk, really buttermilk or whole milk with two tsp of lemon juice in it to turn it)
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups yellow cornmeal flour or cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1-4th cup of sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 half teaspoon salt
Mix in order, wet to be added to dry, Do not over mix, grease pan or spray it, 350 time depends on what you cook in, best served warm, these are ok the next day, but if you need hold much longer freeze and then softly heat before serving
Posted in Bread, Food Production and Recipes
Tagged Buttermilk cornbread recipe, Cornbread recipe
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ice car races or is that mud races :)
Long day from start to finish.. ice car racing was on my bucket list for this year!
Registered, early morning and with the awesome 43.. so kind of a great young man to allow me to race in the ladies with his car!
She was all done up pretty and she was a country girl with her log an all.. her middle seatbelt was to keep the roof from being able to pop up.
14 cars per heat.. four rounds for the ladies, top three go to the semi finals, top three go to the final round with six cars only
Each heat is a total of five laps around the track, its was warm and the ice was mud, mud and then soupy o my gosh.. mud!
now, you do not try and hit each other, that will get you a black flag and a two year ban but its a mud race and you hit the walls, each other like bumper cars and you drift out, you spin an more..
in my laps, I hit the snow bank, did a 180 reverse out of it and got rear hit a few times but someone that really did not like that I was on the inside lane and in her way, but when she came out to pass me, she drifted, and I sort of took out her whole front end, and damaged my log, and move the rad back a bit..
our girl was tough, she went on to race three more times in the day.. in our gang and crew, six cars, 6 drivers and a total of 12 races and two semi-final runs. other then chores before and after.. it was the whole day.. and I am done lol
Always be brave enough to get out there and make it happen!
No Buy Feb -Weekly round up 2 for 2017
These guys are adorable, they are my “presents” from the hounds, purrpots and farm critters that sent Dh to town for a Valentine day present with order to add to mom’s stuffed frog collection. I was told they said to get cute but not cuter then them.
They are so sweet and they are so not legal on No Buy Feb LOL So its being owned here.. I got more frogs to my collection..
So how about the rest of the week plus since my last update.. well the good news is that we have been honestly 98 percent good.. by that I mean, all the little things that folks spend money on. .not an issue for us, we have the belt notched tight enough.
No new movies, no new books (well no e-books that cost money) no new cloths, no church basement, we did our normal buy a few things on sale (as the sales only come on every three months or six months) and it goes into storage until after the month, I want to see where we need work, I don’t want to pass on keeping my pantry up on the best sales possible.
I have been good about using up things in the house.. as an example, supper last night, our pork roast, with our bacon on a bed of squash with red peppers and a big bowl of raspberries, all 0 mile foods!
Where did we give.. Hubby had work days that were long and at a hotel that did not allow any extra’s in for food or water, without fines given.. he went out to eat and I approved it as it was work related.. He also had to do a extra fill on the truck.. as the hours were long enough that he needed to drive to the city three days this past week as the meetings ran past his bus timing for his normal commute.
Where did the money go.. Farm related needs.. o the monthly review is going to hurt! and it might just be growing as Caleb slide a bit on the icy trail and appears to have hurt his shoulder a bit, so we will see if we have another vet bill to add to the current list.
Where did we totally blow this week.. The Kindle Cracker.. it was on back order, it was a auto order for when it became available again on Amazon and I am happy that it has arrived and it will be getting its own post! But it nailed me right in the middle of No Buy Feb! Wow.. that was unplanned and unexpected..
And because its the rules.. I went to a lovely half day local horse event and I gave a donation to help cover the costs of the rental space.. That one is a hmm. Its a mixed bag, it was sort of farm related.. animal.. horse… training..
Came home starving, and made a big bowl of hot soup with left over pork roast.. so good..
Given I know what is coming over the next week.. sheesh, its going to be a interesting round up.. we will see how tight I can keep it for most days..
Cherry Cream Cheese Fluff Dessert
Now I have loved this dessert for a long time but the cool whip, the canned pie filling and the graham cracker crust meant that this recipe got put to the side for many years.
I decided to farmgal it for valentines this year, I should have made a thin shortbread bottom layer, but that did not come to me till later, so the bottom is the standard graham crumb crust, 2 cups with the required 1/4 cup melted butter, mixed and pressed into the pan.
The topping is rich an yummy but not sweet at all like the other was, one package cream cheese, half a cup of sugar, blended till fluffy and smooth, then I moved that to a small bowl, added two cups of heavy whipping cream, beat till just fluffy, then add the cream-cheese mixture into cream into four equal spoons out, beat till combined and starting to thicken, do not over mix, drop over the bottom layer and then spread over to even out gently.
Now you could take my home canned cherries and thicken with corn starch and cool and put on for a fully cherry top, but I wanted it lighter and with less sugar, so I picked out the whole canned local Ontario cherries and did them single, perfect way to get that cherry bite into the dessert without adding more calories to an already rich dessert.
This was made in my smallest cake pan, but for a thicker piece, make in your 8 by 8 square cake pan. Chill, slice and serve.
it’s not as sweet, nor is it as mile high fluffy, but it’s very good and it hits the same flavour profile, given what its made of, it’s clearly a once an awhile only treat..
Posted in Baking
Tagged cherry cream cheese fluff dessert, homestead, no bake treat, real food, recipe
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Around the kitchen table -The case of the missing duck hens
Sometimes things on the farm can truly stump you.. this is one of those cases.. the “what” case.. the “how” case..
You see the three duck hens with their chosen drake have been spending the winter in the duck pen. It has two lovely duck houses made from straw in it, we built one and then when we moved the ducklings into grow up, we made a second so that they would not have issues with the drake, most of the ducklings are butchered out now, with just two left in the big bird pen inside, in their own area now..
They have been doing great, good weights, they grew in their feathers and took to flying up and out of the pen.. see this lovely sitting up on the top of her pen, just waiting to fly down the other side. not a good thing.. so wings were trimmed and no more flying..
now these are not run away duck hens, if they get out, they will wait in the front yard by their door to be allowed back in.. or they will use the kitty door and go back into the little barn..
So when the last massive storm came, we prepped the houses, we knew that the wind was blowing in a way that could mean that it would blow in and we were right, we opened and then blocked the door to the pen and we did have to shovel them out to get the doors cleared (like many other things in the farm)
We have had even more snow.. it means that tracking is not possible.. but it also means that most things are hunkered down as well.. well we went to feed the ducks in that pen yesterday and we only have one hen and one drake..
WHERE DID the other two hens go! We dug out and crawled into the house with flashlights.. nope..
We dug out the front pen area, can’t find a body.. we looked under the building next to the pen, nothing.. no ducks, no kill site, nothing.. we went to the little barn and checked all over, if they did let themselves in..
Then hubby got out the snow shoes and went on a trek this morning, he has looked all the back area, nothing.. now nothing does not really mean nothing because of the snow falls, but honestly.. where did two.. not one! TWO of the keep back, overwinter duck hens go!
I know that these things are not to suppose to happen and we have not given up looking yet, even if its just confirmed that something used the snow drift to climb into a area that is normally not available and they were took, I would rather have a kill site and know what happened then to just have them missing
Did they climb over the huge drift and get out.. if so, where are they..
So we looked at each other, sighed and then caught the remaining hen and drake and moved them into the big chicken pen for safe keeping.. this is a issue with my water pan for the chickens but I can deal with that easier then with the last breeding pair going missing.
What a set back on my duck breeding program for 2017.. to suddenly go from three proven laying, sitting, hatching hens to one is a big hit! All three females were proven to do two hatches of 10 to 14 ducklings each..
I do not know if I am going to try and buy young females for the spring and hope that they will be good girls or if I am going to buy ducklings and just let the one female sit and keep back from her females and get a new drake..
I can honestly say that this while we do have losses, it happens, the hawk, the owl, the fox and more all think anything with feathers are very much game to hunt. We spend out time between protecting and trying to give them a bit of freedom for a more natural lifestyle.
But this.. this is just huh.. the unknown, the no answers will make you a bit crazy!
How many different ways do you garden?
A friend said to me.. so what is your main way to garden.. and my answer was it depends..
It was more honest answer then you would expect, I don’t know if I am the norm or the odd gal out but I garden in a ton of different ways.
I have a garden area that is done in a big sweeping way that is dryland planted in spacing? that area of my garden gets a huge cleanup twice a season a big deep layering an otherwise, looks like a jungle in there.. its very low work with medium yields.
Its on a slope, its got a high water table and its been pig turned fully twice over the past ten years.
Then there is the “main front garden area” now its about the size of a large yard garden, and its split between loosely raised beds,
annual’s, climbing fencing and such.. this how area of the garden has been double dug at least three times over the past ten years, it has had a lot of work done in it.. the soil is outstanding in this area.. Anything can be planted in these area’s, but I tend to move them around with a mix of roots (because the soil is clean and well worked) with greens and so forth.
I use a lot of straw in my gardens, I tend to order in when possible, around 3000 to 5000 pounds of clean straw, I also use a lot of the farm compost as well, I have no doubt that both of these have great worked in our favor in the gardens.
Then we have the fruiting area’s.. the rhubarb beds, the strawberry beds, the raspberry cane rows and so much more for the soft fruits.. I would like to tell you that they are perfectly kept but they are not.. they are cleaned out a few times a year and bedded down and then they are tough and on their own pretty much!
Here are a few more examples of different areas.. in the main garden area’s..
Ok, so lets move on.. so then we are going to the food forest, but more in the annual way of things about it.. I like to make quick fast long mound raised beds in areas in the food forest.
You just roll out a bale, half way down, turn it, roll the other way, dig a hole down the first layer, fill it will a mix of soil and compost and then plant in the heavy feeders, they will drive their roots into the soil below and go! The one below shows the total fill in in the area when the plants are filled it and running.
Then we have the straw bale garden..
and here they are in the fall, this garden has been in use now for a number of years is still going well, but not in drought!
Then there is the metal gate garden.. its a combo of a raised bed garden with the climber made in the middle..
Then there are the mound mini-gardens with their own water pipes
Then there are the Bean or Pea climber area.. I have tried to have all the gardens showing at approx. the same time frame despite over a number of years, this area is made, planted and growing but not bedded down yet 🙂
Then there is the Bean Teepee Garden..
Then there are the hugelbeds..
There are three of these on the farm now, with a new one planned for this year to be made in 2017.. these are the powerhouses of the drought years, they are great ways to also clean up the farm, they are a lot of work to make by hand, they require repair work yearly and they are worth it for what they are good at..
This is a small hugelculture bed growing cantaloupe, anything that likes heat and compost with good steady moisture.
Covered Beds.. and more..
So the answer to the question of what style of garden do I do.. anything and everything.. its wild, creative and productive, it uses up all kinds of things produced from my small farm.
So what kind of gardener are you? Do you have only one main way to garden or do you have different gardens in different area’s, do you use this or that.. do you use climbers, do you use raised beds, do you use hugelculture beds? Do you double dig any beds?
Just another Day on the Farm 