Well, as I have been sharing my ever so fun journey from mid summer till pretty much the first part of jan, falling, breaking bones, the loss of my step father, heading to alberta for six weeks, ending up very sick indeed, antibodics, and inhalers and more blasted bed rest and as I type fresh new stitches in my scalp
We have TURNED the page, my last chest xray is clear!
I needed to go for a host of lung tests but even I could see on the charts that it was not bad and despite using them for all the tests, I did not go into coughing fits, and even around the house and farm they are getting stronger all the time!
I can now going from cold to warm without coughing as an example
They were worried about all the regulars (in part because I had not had the tests done for a good while) so they ran them all..
I am very pleased to share,
I do not have high blood pressure
I do not have high cholesterol
I do not have diabetes or pre-levels of diabetes
I did have two pilar cysts on my head that had gotten somewhat large and I had minor surgery to have them removed, they are almost always beign but they were sent out to be checked just in case
( I did sadly have to get two spots of my hair shaved off) but my other longer hair can be made to cover it
So that leaves me a very obese middle aged women with pretty good stats to be honest.. I am clearly happy about that.
I know that everyone will have their own thoughts on it, but I firmly believe that my farm and the food I grow, harvest, put up or raise is a HUGE part of why those came back the way they did and why my body IS healing itself.
Feed the soil, which grows healthy food to feed the body.. but never forget to also feed your spirit as well.
On the girl front, I am having a full rundown to get all hormone levels checked as well as ultra sounds etc as they are creating a (package) and I am getting a new fertility doctor
Time will tell on that one..
Now to just drop the 30 pounds I put on being ill, work on getting more strength back and start riding again!
I am down seven since my last weight in at the doctors 🙂 its a good start!
I was admiring some photos I have taken of different soups and stews and decided to just share a post of photos, boy do i like to serve them with buns, baking powder biscuits or dumplings. I just loved all the colors and richness of these heaping bowls of healthy goodness.
Cold winter days just beg for a pot of soup or stew to simmer away..
Later today, I will be making a rich bone broth based pork stew, sharing with you my already made delightful ham bone and bean soup, and a nice rabbit dish and I have everything out, and thawing to make a amazing Swedish meatballs in milk gravy with mashed a little later this week.
15 years have slipped by since our daughter was born, always remembered, never forgotten, those far to short five days are always in my heart!
I was born and raised in albert and one of my foods that I remember from my childhood is Flapjacks, my mom did not just believe in these for a hearty breakfast, they could be used for any meal, they could be used in lunches and they could be used as both a basic or a o my goodness WOW treat..
My Beloved Mother on one of our mother-Daughter trips, did you laugh, I mean flapjacks, Canada, beaver.. LOL
Our Flapjacks where made on this huge cast iron griddle that hung on a wall and was only brought out for them.. Never do I remember anything else being cooked on that cast iron, I know now it was to preserve that perfect flip, I struggle in my own cast iron to keep the ideal non stick when used for other things, and someday, maybe I will be lucky enough to find or buy a flapjack pan..
Our flapjacks where always thick, if they did not rise at least half a inch, they were considered.. ok, but not near fluffy enough 🙂
They could be topped in so many ways.. a dippy egg, or sugar and cinnamon or hot buttered rum syrup, canned fruit in any pie filling form, or lemon custard.
If it was for breakfast, it tended to be fruit, or syrups, if it was supper, dippy egg was more norm, if it was a snack, buttered and rolled, or peanut butter or jam..
But there was one dessert treat that always sticks out in my mind.. it was a pancake treat from my mothers childhood that was passed down to us..
Fresh hot pancake, brown sugar and fresh thick raw cream drizzled on top.. O my.. it was so good, but it only worked because we had our own cow..
Our Flapjacks were the truly basic kind.
My current recipe is this..
3 Cups of milk (whole), 2 eggs, 2 tbsp. of melted butter, 3 cups of flour, 2 tbsp. of baking powder, a good pinch of salt.. Mix and cook on a med hot griddle..
My mother says the tradional one is this.
2 cups flour, 2tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, one and half tbsp. of sugar, mix together in a bowl, then one egg in a well in the middle, large mixing spoonful of oil (approx. quarter cup) and then milk to make correct thickness of batter.
And for holidays, ten times this recipe of the dry and it will make one icecream pail full of batter, I come from a large family..
Grandmas pancake syrups recipe from the farm
Two cups of brown sugar, one cup of water, bring to boil, and simmer for five min, remove from stove and add half a tsp of maple flavour, can be used hot or cold.. (was also be used over top of rice pudding) Very running but good flavour
So what is your pancakes like.. do you like them thin, almost crepe like, or do you like thick fluffy flapjacks, what is your favorite topping. Do you have any favorite memories from your childhood on this food item.
Well that did not take long, I had started a number of pots of mustard seeds to grow into mustard greens for use and while a goodly number of seeds started and are thriving, a number of them went to mold..
So I went, hmmm, and decided that I would do a hydration peroxide solution spray on, and then I went looking for my sprayer, and it was no where to be found, I said to hubby, do you know where my sprayer is, and he says.. you mean the one that got broke..
Ok then.. hmmmm so he says, just stop at the dollar store and pick one up.. and I go.. NO BUY FEB remember. and he says.. if you need it, and I go.. NO BUY Febbbbb in a mutter as I walk away
So I crack out one of the books and as I mutter, I find what I am looking for in natural ways to deal with mold and or damp off..
Head to the kitchen for the fix, a spoon and a duster and Voila! (ps, yes I just turned them so they are facing the wrong way to the sun)
Cinnamon! It says that a light cover of it will work, will update again in a week on it.. 
Where there is a will there is a way! Books filled with knowledge shared is without a doubt one of the most amazing things in the current work we will live.. we have more knowledge at our fingers then any other age in the history of man.
Here I am showing off one of my awesome cutting boards, this was a Christmas gift a number of years ago and I adore it!
some of our homegrown spuds, despite the nick, they are holding very well. my all reds are more like all pinks and while they are firm, the flesh is softer and a touch sweeter then normal store spuds.
Now I am pretty sure I have done proper potato pancakes, which include egg and they are so good, yum, yum..
However, I am in the hard part of winter and eggs are not near as easy to come by till the hens start laying more.. so these are much more basic.. Grated potato, grated onion, minxed garlic and herbs and spices to taste, fried crispy in a bit of bacon fat. It was served with a bit of leftover ham and hot cuppa as a hearty breakfast for a good work day on the farm
So here is my starting overview, I will update with info and photos when the food box comes in.
Fresh Food in the house
I am entering into no buy feb at a harder point then normal, hard, very cold weather, snow storm have been pounding down on my little farm and my hens are giving me pout face and refusing to lay, well I did get one new egg yesterday.. to early for ducks or geese yet and so I am going in with current 7 eggs and that is it
I really hope that even a few a week come in again soon..
The second o my is that I have for the first time, no milking animal, my young ram did not breed till quite late in the year, which means, no incoming dairy, o milk, yogurts or cheese..
everything else with come from the freezers or pantry or wild forage, the freezers are full, the pantry for me is leaner then normal, and the forage is slim pickings indeed..
Savings to Date -0
O my.. its my 2000th post on the blog!
To which I say.. THANK YOU! My Dear Readers, I would not be here without YOU!
It will be a grand time coming folks!
Canning Log 2015
Total Jars Canned to date : 95 pints*
* if it was canned in a quart, I just broke it down to 2 pints for ease for counts
It would have been more but I was able to get a new freezer which gave me more flex but I still have rabbit butcher and not a single space inch of freezer space left at the moment, I do plan on canning up a goodly amount of meat yet.
Citrus Season will be on use soon and expect that I might do a little canning on that over the next while we will see.. I have included a years worth of canning in a list below, as you can see it reflects the farm, what we grow and raise etc.
I am very hopeful that I will be able to can at least 1200 to 1500 jars this year, both old favorites and new recipes.. wish me luck for a grand garden season, we need it, three years ago, we had the hot drought year, the year after we had wet damp rot year and last year was a amazing garden year.. but for me it was a broken, sick and or gone during the heavy harvest time, hubby froze and or root cellared pretty much, no canning.
if there is something on the 2011 list you really want to see the recipe on, let me know in the comments 🙂
So many new readers.. here is the canning overview for 2011
Current 2011 Canning Season
Just another Day on the Farm 