How NOT to make a cake.. No really, don’t ever try this at home..

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

Open fridge..

Look at homemade mayo.. starting to go.. hmm, Throw in a bowl.. Pre-heat oven to 350

Open oldest Sheep yogurt jar.. throw in bowl.. Rince Jar, pour into bowl

Start digging for jars of this and that..  come out of fridge with three jars..

1 oz of red current jam, 3 oz of chokeberry jelly, and about 5 oz of mixed fruit of strawberry  rhubarb with apple mint, dig out and throw in bowl, give it all a mix..

Walk over to cupboard.. open.. and throw a handful of sliced almonds that you roasted off a couple days ago and didn’t use all of them..  Pour in around two cups or so of flour, a pinch of salt and half a lid of baking powder, walk away, walk back and break up and add a few walnuts to the mix..

Start mixing, opps, to dry.. add half a cup or so of warm water into bowl, whisk till no lumps, pour into a greased 9 by 9 glass pan and bake in over till done..

Good heavens, unstead of the everything but the kitchen sink soup, its the everything that needs to be used up cake.. Repeat at your house if you dare!…bum, bum.. BOOYAAA..

Posted in Food Production and Recipes | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Food Storage Friday

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

When it comes to adding in things this week, its been total min, I kept to my 5 item limit, of which no sales tempted me.. I was able to keep my food budget for the week for two and half (the old lab who eat’s peaple food should be considered a child in terms of food costs) at 7 dollars for the week. with a grand total of 34.84 for the month of Jan to date..

I have not decided yet if I want to go to town this weekend, it was in the plan but this freezing ice storm has settled ove my farm and local area and I am thinking that I should just stay home an off those roads.

I am very much thinking of having a fairly stricted food related cost for the month of feb, I have not decided if I am doing a month of eat out of your pantry only, or if I am going to take a ten dollar a week only challange, I will annouce on the 1st what the plan is, I know that if I need to do something for a short term and report either daily or once a week I am much better at doing so then something that needs to be done once a month.

So what is new in regards to food storage this week is mirco greens in trays, sprouts in jars and that the sun is getting longer daily, which is wondeful for starting pots of different things in the house..  I am burning though my home collected radish seed, and I think this year, I am not only going to plan and collect broccoli, radish seeds but I am going to plant a whole row of beets just for sprouting seeds, I really like beet greens..

Otherwise we continue to have lots of fresh milk as more of our girls freshen this year, I am a little surprised at the amount of big singles instead of twins this year.. I didn’t flush them this year as much as year’s before, I guess I am seeing the results of that in the barn this winter, More milk for me!

Last but not least, I am not happy with my second year laying hens this year, I am not getting the eggs I should be, I tried a different breed with that flock and while they are dual purpose hens, they were earlier layers and very good first year, but they have been poor winter layers and poor second year layers, Dh wants to cut them slack, I want to freezer camp them! The up and coming young layers (due to start in end of feb/march) are of a different breed that I have had for most of the years I have been on the farm, and they are still good layers at three to five as well as excellent broody mothers typically.

All I have to say is start laying again girls or else, I won’t keep and feed you if you are not going to reward me with rich big brown eggs.. this is a barter, and right now, I am getting the shaft..

So how was everyone else’s week? Did you get a great sale at the store? Did you find a cool old fashioned recipe or make one up that was a way to use your winter stores? How are your hens laying this winter? If you have fresh milk, are you making cheese? Yogurt? Bread Pudding?

Today is the day that the wonderful blog, the homestead Rivival has their once a month Preparedness Challange (don’t forget to stop by for the homestead blog hop on mondays!), Raither then write a new Food Storage Post, I am using my regular Food Storage Friday posts but as its to cover the whole month, Last week my Food Storage Friday write up..

Posted in Food Storage | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ghost of the past-Current in the future..

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

Having been home this spring, I ran into a old friend of mine that I had not seen for years, the year before that I saw a old work friend and a old roommate that I had not seen for awhile.. I am always surprised when my mom tells me hello from so and so.. most of the time I don’t even remember them but I am informed that I went to school with them..

For some reason someone I went to school with has been in my head lately, she moved to our town and started eighth grade with us, she was beautiful by the western standard, any way you cut it!, she was already about 5’8, long blond hair, bright blue eyes, slender but still a bit curvy, fair skinned, perfect teeth and she was a lady, soft spoken, always dressed to the hilt, light makeup, with pretty shade of pink nails..and she didn’t belong to anything, the boys drool and coo’d on her..

I on the other hand in that grade, was already 5, 9 if I was a inch, had been funcky red hair, that you never knew what it would look like, long, braided, funked or punked, I bite my nails but had fake nails and I would make them multi-colored, or put stars on them but mainly I used to wear a different color per nail, or a rainbow of colors on my hands, dress wise, it ran from very dressy (my folks believe that a girl should be able to be a girl) but it also included outfit of the 80’s country punk. I was on the volleyball and basketball team (b) and I joined the running club that year and was active in drama and went to every dance. As for boys, I was not allowed to date, not group date, or double date.. NO dating!  On other hand, I was allowed to go to ever dance and boogy to my hearts delight, but I went home with big brother or my folks picked me up at the doors. In a nutshell shew was the anti-me

Fast forward a couple years, and I was just as different, just as active in school things, still into drama, but by then also very active behind the camera, even getting a student placement to learn more with the local cable company.. The angel on the other hand, by that time was the first person (but not the last) I knew that had Anorexia, she was dating a boy from my brothers grade, she ended up having to be put in the hospital and as they say, if you try to harm yourself its a cry for help.. well by the time she got there, it was not a cry so much as a scream, that was the last I heard of her.

It was one of those moments in my life when I had that moment of “why” ..  and I know that everyone has their own versions of why.. but in her case, she had talked about the voice in her head, that voice that said, never good enough, never thin enough, never pretty enough, Not good enough..

It was the first time I can remember being at a meeting when everyone in the school in groups was talking about that voice.. and I realized, I don’t have one..

Now I do understand and have been told by the “man” that of course I do, but I really don’t, I tend to smile and nod when they tell me I do.. but let me be honest with you, I don’t, I don’t have that voice in my head, when I go still and silent, I can slip off the still path by thinking or worrying a problem like a bone.. but no inner voice like others talk about..

Fast forward twenty years into the future and I look at my current lifestyle choices, I don’t keep up with the jones,  I am on a different path and have been on many of them in my lifetime, I wonder if I would be me, the me now, if I had a voice, would I have been as fearless on a number of choices I made if I had that little voice, saying, “No, you can’t do that, you will fail” .. Don’t know, never will know, its not how my head works..

So for all your folks that are walking a different path, making the choice to step off from the crowd and do your own thing.. Do you hear that voice? or is it possable that there are many of us out that just don’t..

Posted in Goals | 1 Comment

Weigh in 1/26/2012

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

Well, its been a crappy week in terms of workouts, I just have not wanted to spend any extra time out on the skating rink that we are calling the farm then required this week, extra grip boots and even then I need to wear my spikes a couple of times, I have been getting a workout breaking ice off of steps, paths and decks, that should count for something. I need to step it up this week and try and get a little more outdoor time..

It was a odd week to be honest, I had the biggest cravings for my yogurt, I wanted it plain, in foods, and mixed with nuts and canned fruit, I have not baked a thing this week, its been all about fruit/nuts/seeds.. Yesterday is a great example, Breakfast, I had yugurt with chopped raw almonds with canned peaches chopped up, lunch was pot of pea’s butter and a touch of honey/ginger, and supper was a huge plate of cabbage salad with pear, apple, cranberry, and raw pumpkin seeds along with a bit of homemade mayo, salt,pepper, dill, basil and turmic, along with a little ham.. Now do you see the problem with yesterday’s meals! Because while yogurt, peas and cabbage salad all sound good, and to be fair the calorie count was within my desired range..

Did you just go.. Wow.. High fat content! Yup, so yup, full fat sheep yogurt, sugar in my canned fruit, all the dried fruits and then add in the nuts/seeds and mayo and YIKES. Why is my body craving fat, I am not kidding on this either, I have the urge to make pie, and its not the craving for fruit that is making it float my boat, its the idea of pastry, fat loaded pastry.. 

The weird thing about this, is that I went over my journel and I am not lacking in fat in the diet, I have been really! careful about being balanced, and I am not hungry, I am being very good about not snacking, no real surprise there, with that amount of healthy natural fats in the meals I am eating, I walk away full and stay feeling happy for hours.. 

I have hit the books trying to figure out what I would be missing or needing in regards to this crazy craving in regards to fats and in truth I am a bit stumped.. So thoughts would be very welcome??

I also have been requiring extra sleep, I even took a rest day, something that has really help my mood and my energy but still it was a odd one, I was not sick, No cold, flu or even that time of the month etc.. just felt really tired and wanted to sleep, and sleep I did..

Regardless when I got on the scale this morning, I was down 3 pds (remember I said I was keeping the calories under control) so a total of 18.5 out of my 50 pd goal and a total of 13.2 on the family spring weight loss challange, which I am currently in 3rd or possabily 4th place in depending on the weigh in this week..sigh..

Goals for this past week.

  • Journey food, and Water intake-At least 8 cups of water a day-Yes Daily..
    Workouts at least 3 to 4 times per week, my choice on what kind, but expect most of them to be wii ones, but mix it up on the type, plus at least two strength workouts with DH this week-Not a hope, only worked out twice plus farm and house chores.

Goals for this coming week..

  • Journey and take my calories plus make sure I get my water drank!
  • One longer outdoor walk, one barn stall workout, one weight workout with hubby
  • Going to spend at least 10 min on stretches and balance work daily
  • Do at least two one hour extra housework workouts-Wash Walls, or cupboards or ?
  • If possable eat more greens this week, I have a number of pots coming, break down and just harvest some as micro-greens and plant more pots.
Posted in Goals | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Costs of Replacing my stove..

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

This monring I walked into my kitchen and went huh, its so strange to have a bright white stove where my black stove sat, it certainly catches my eye..  I made my first dish on it this morning, a pot of Red River for a hot breakfast.

So lets see how I did on the costs of replacing my old stove, I checked out the sales on for a new one, and there were alot, I want real burners as I can alot, and the glass topped stoves (or at least the ones manual’s I have looked at) don’t recommend that kind of weight on them as they can crack or break under it. The sale prices ran from $399 to $599, ok in truth not a bad price for a new stove but to that you would need to add Tax, plus gas for pick up etc

Then came looking at a few second hand stores, the average cost for the kind of stove I wanted was about $250, plus tax an gas for pick up, better.. Then I started looking at farm sales, I figure I could get a stove for around a hundred or so if I could find a good sale to get to, only there was a issue, the sales that had a correctly sized stove where all an hour to two hours away, that is a lot of gas for a “if” I get the price I want.. a bit more risky then I want at the moment..

So that brought me to Kijji, there the stoves ranged all over in price from very low to very high depending on what the value placed on the them by the person selling them.. The average prices in general seemed to be 150 to 250, still not bad.. but I was not in a hurry, I really wanted one for a hundred or under, and figured if I just watched for a bit, I could find it..  Had one close buy for 75, but despite being the first to email them after the post went up, they would not hold it till after work for a pick up and sold it before Dh even got off work, have to admit that while they were polite about it, it kinda made me growl a little, but fate has a way of giving a helping hand, a new posting for a stove was up for $30, works well but a little wear and tear..

So I contacted them, the stove has two knicks in the paint but the real issue was the the plastic on a couple of the buttons on the timer for the oven had broken off, the buttons still work but its no longer “pretty” and so it got replaced, the rest works perfectly well..

As a added help it was less then ten min or so in driving time from were DH works, so he drove in, and parked at work for the day and then picked it up afterwards and the older gentleman helped him load it, and even provided bubble wrap for certain parts of it etc.

We got it set up and yup, as they said, everything works, so for less then 5% of a new stove, I have a second hand one with missing buttons.. I will admit that I will see if its possable to get a replacement part on that, and or find a safe way to cover them, but if not, so be it…

So what do you think? Would you have turned down the stove because of the buttons? or would you have taken it? At which price point would you have been happy and bought one at?

Posted in frugal | 2 Comments

Amazing Tea -Thank you SIL C

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

So when we were having our second christmas at Big Brothers, I opened a present and it had this huge wonderful steel loose tea ball and I had never seen one so big or so perfect to be used to make spice balls for larger batches in canning, and I was expessing my joy at this perfect gift when SIL C said, ahh, its kind of goes with the rest of that gift, and I had three lovely tins of flavoured loose leaf tea..

Well to be honest, I was still more excited about the tea ball then the tea but having gotten home and having now tried these teas, I have to say they are excellent, good enough that I checkd the tin for a website to see if a) I could get more b)if there were other types.

Turns out they are from a compnay called Every Day Style, At first, it appeared that I would have to track down someone who is a seller but it looks like I can in fact just ask for their catalog and then do a private sale order, I certianly can’t recommend any other product but let me tell you those as some might amazing tea’s!

 PS, I have no idea on price either until I see a catalog but if anyone else has used this company and its products, let me know, I would be interested in hearing about your favorites etc

PSS, As Deb and a few other privately pointed out, this is one of those company that work hard to sign you up and reward the host of the private in home parties, so just we are Really! clear, I am not recommending them in regards to joining or hosting.. I just like their tea!

Posted in Life moves on daily | 6 Comments

Lamb/Sqaush Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Green Tomato/Pepper Sauce

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

It does not happen often but yesterday I had a sleep day, this only worked because Dh was working from home, I did get up and make some meals and even had a bit of a visit or two.. but overall it was as lazy of a day as it can get.. DH did morning and evening chores, plus some house chores, and even made lunch for us, he worked and I slept.. I must have needed it, the rules were simple, no reading, no music, while in bed, if I was tired and went to bed, then I would sleep or I would get up and get myself into gear.. turns out my body was not lying, I slept most of the day, but I needed a make it and forget it meal..

I made a odd cabbage roll recipe but it turned out very good indeed so thought I would share it with you..I am assuming that you know how to make cabbage rolls already.. so I cooked up half a pd of lamb burger, with some onion and then added to it a 1/2 cup of green pepper pasta sauce and 1/4 cup of cooked sqaush, then stuffed the leaves to which I poured over a mix of Green Tomato and Green Pepper Pasta Sauces and baked for an hour and half till everything was tender an smelled heavenly.. I poured the sauce over them an then served with a dollop of yogurt, so good!

Posted in Food Production and Recipes | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Fresh Homemade Sheep Milk Yogurt

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

I got asked a question in my comments from Julie, and decided to make a post out of it..I see that she has in fact done the same..

So in answer to her question of can you do it with raw whole milk, the answer is yes..my sheep milk yogurt does come out very thick, much like greek yogurt that you would buy in the store, where as both goat and cow for me at least comes out a bit thinner, but I noticed a difference in this depending on the breed of goat, which makes sense because the different breeds have a different buttermilk fat content.

Now the reason that I have never done a post on the yogurt making is mainly because I have not done the make it in a thermos, make it in a crock pot, or even make it on a low setting of a heating pad.. I got a old fashioned yogurt maker at a farm sale in a box of goodies for a buck, so I most likely paid 5 cents for it, it has eight cups and you mix the milk, with the starter, fill the cups, set the timer and when it turns off, its done..

Because I have never done any of the other way, I can’t say that I have any cheap tricks or trades, but after Julies comment, I did a huh.. what if I had no power, how would I go about making my yogurt then?

I poured boiling hot water into my shuttle Chef and put it into its outer pot and let it “warm” at the same time, I took out my starter and let it warm up to room temp.

So I took a liter of fresh whole still warmish sheep milk, strained it, warmed it up 110, added the warmed starter, poured out the water, dried the inner steel pot and poured it into the pot and set it for the full eight hours in the shuttle chef.. it made a very good yogurt, not as thick as my normal one, I think if you let it sit longer it would get more tangy and full body flavour.. So this morning, I had a bowl of it with canned strawberry Rhubarb fruit with walnuts.. No quite as good as my normal yogurt but certainly better or equal to store bought..

Posted in Food Production and Recipes, Food Storage | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Vanilla Sheep -Need a little help girl? -Sort of Graphic Birthing photos..

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

Vanilla sheep was found hanging out in front of a jug this morning with a huge bag,  and the starting show of labour, so into the jug she went as happy as a clam and we checked on her a number of times to see how it was all going, which was mainly resting, eating and a little cud chewing..Hubby saw this and watched quietly and waited..and then counted and waited, and then headed to the house for me..

So I headed to the barn to do my own eval, mom was not to stressed and was in active labour, she was pushing and we had a small amount of movement but by the third good hard steady push, she had laid down and did hard grunts, it was time to step in and give a helping hand, baby was in a very good birthing way, feet front and head correct, just a really big one is all.. Momma was not to happy to have me running a finger up and around to make sure things were set up correctly and to help get that second little foot out an eqaul to the first one..  then it was quiet, steady, and wait for the next push (I never! pull without the girls pushing) and just a little soft steady pull along with a good hard push down by Vanilla and out the big boy came.. I gave him a quick rub or two, made sure he took his first couple breaths and right up to momma’s front..

Come on little one, I don’t want to get in there unless momma is not doing her job and Vanilla is a very good mom, she started cleaning him up, and as she got busy, little guy started twitching, head bobbing and moving around..  Its always so amazing to me at just how fast these little guys are lifting their heads and starting the first stand up try.. I am sure that there is a twin waiting to come out in a little while , but so far things are looking really good, I will take a photo of this little one all dry and up on its feet tomorrow, I lost the light for photos it the barn. Dh just checked on them, baby was up and moved to the other side of the jug, all snug by the hay feeder with momma stuffing her face.. 

So what did you do this afternoon, I got to spend time in the barn, get my share birthing fluids on me and helped bring a little wee one into the world..

 

Posted in Critters | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Gizzards

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Just another day on the farm

So when I was growing up, my mother was the queen of the gizzard, she loved to bake it besides the bird, along with the heart and neck to help flavour the stock, and it was the cook that got to eat them hot and O so flavourful in the kitchen with them never even making the table.. as a child and teen, I remember sometimes a tiny peice being cut off and being shared as a treat, so it was not until I moved out on my own that I was able to get to eat a gizzard.. Now heart was a different story, as you can buy packages of chicken hearts or livers and make whole meals of them..

In the last year, I have found out the hard way that when I say Gizzard, (and by such, I do mean the gizzard of a fowl, aka the stomach of a bird) that many folks from across N.A. believe that means Gibets, which is the word that means a collective term for poultry’s edible organs, includes heart, liver, kidneys, gizzard, head, neck, feet and wing tips. Today however if you are lucky enough to find a little package in the tummy of your bird, you will most likely get heart, liver, gizzard and neck..

So back to the Gizzard, now when you read stomach, you picture a pouch like our own, but that is not the case, it is in fact a lined hard working muscle for grinding up the birds foods, filled with bits of gravel or grit to help with this grinding process, so if you think of that job, it is the reason that improperly cooked, this is one very tough muscle, but like most many working muscles, its full of flavour.. If you buy them, they will normally be split, with both the sac and the connective tissue removed, if you in fact are butchering, it will be a heavy oval peice of meat with a thick shiny silver skin on it.. take a small very sharp knive and slice into it from the top and work your way down and though, leaving you with a open gizzard, wash well, as I am now saving the linings for cheese making, I now have a tooth brush to get them good and clean, taking your knife, slice off the back meat part, as well as the connective tubing/ tissue and or attached fat. Now this is a little hard to explain but the part that connects the meat to the sack, has a very hard feel to it, cut that part out and give as a treat to your hound or purrpot etc.

In regards to cooking, its much like heart in that it can be cooked fast or slow, both will give you delightful results, anything inbetween will be as tough as old shoe leather..I personally only rarely grill them, about 99% of the time, I slow cook them to a tender stage.. this is honestly the way I would recommend them.. Think of working with them like working with a tough older critters stew meat and you have a good base to start with your typical recipes.

Posted in Food Production and Recipes | Tagged | 4 Comments