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OK, I hit that farm today... here are the results:

4 gallons fresh milk (1 going to a friend) ($4.25 each - it's $8.80 for organic, pastured pasteurized non-homogenized here)
2 quarts plain yogurt ($5.00 each, it's over $6.00 each in the Whole foods)
3 whole chickens ($2.50 / pound; Whole Foods has pastured organic chicken for about $4 a lb here)
12 lbs ground beef (2 going to a friend) ($3.50/pound.... *conventional* is running that much here... for the good, pastured organic stuff it's $5.99/pound)
3 pkgs pork chops (2 for a friend) ($6.50 / lb... don't remember what Whole Foods had here)
1 pkg sausage ($4.25/lb... ditto)
1 round roast ($7 / lb I think... it's over $8 at Whole foods)
7 dozen eggs (1 for a friend) ($2.25 / dozen - again, about what conventional is)
2 pkgs shin bone (for soup making) ($2.50 per package - we got the largest we could see in the freezer - have never bought this before, so I don't have a comparison, but each pkg was over a pound)
5.12 oz horseraish cheddar (for lunch) (I don't remember how much this was.... $4?)
2 three-packs of cookies (for lunch) ($1.75 each)
2 water bottles (for lunch) (50 cents each)

Total: $194 Not too bad, considering all foods are from organically pasture-raised animals with no growth hormones or antibiotics used.

At Whole Foods the equivalent in just milk and ground beef would have run $107.08. Milk and ground beef here was $59. Even spending the extra $20 in gas to get out there, for the milk and ground beef alone was more than worth it.

Our portion of the $194 is $136. This should last us quite a while - aside from the milk - we'll go through it, but can't really buy a month's worth, so we'll take turns driving out there with my friend so each of us is going once a month, but we can have fresh milk all month (aside from maybe a few days in between the trips).

Blessings to you,

Busy, busy, busy

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Sourdough results: King B and I loved it. The kids - not so much. So I tried a recipe that has some honey in it, which King B and I loved... but the kids weren't here to try it, so you'll have to wait to see what they thought.

It's been a very hectic couple of weeks. Busker was out of his normal routine, and fussier than usual - making for a mommy with full arms, as he was NOT happy unless someone was holding him. And lacking my usual baby holder helpers, very little got accomplished. He seems to be back in a routine now, so I will also get myself back on track.

Right now it's time to get ready for Mass. After Mass, I will be tackling the kitchen and getting it all spiffy in preparation for the arrival of our new freezer. I will also be putting the freecycling items just outside the doorway with the names of the recipients. Oops, better run... tell you more about Freecycle later....

Blessings to you,
Queen Bee

New recipes

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I've just recently started doing more cooking with whole grains. We've used brown rice for quite a few years, but never soaked it... in reading some of my regular blogs, I've learned that the phytates found in whole grains inhibit our bodies' absorption of the nutrients. Soaking the grains prior to cooking dissipates the phytates and releases the nutrients that we need. Along with making the grains more easily digestible (fewer issues with gastrointestinal discomfort), they become better for us. Since reading that, I've started soaking the rice for several hours prior to cooking it. My rice now comes out perfectly every time. Before I started soaking it, I would sometime get rice that was still hard and crunchy in the middle. Now, it is perfectly textured, flavorful and creamy. YUMMMM!

Last week, the same night I dropped the toaster oven on my toe, I started a sourdough starter culture. Last night it was ready to be made into sourdough bread. The loaf is cooling now, and I can't wait to taste it later!

Sourdough Starter

1/2 cup freshly ground rye flour
1/2 cup filtered water

stir together in a large mason jar, cover loosely to protect from any insects (like the fly that got in here and is driving me batty), sit in a warm spot for 24 hours. I used a coffee filter to cover the starter the first night to let the wild yeast in the air get to the flour and water mixture, after I saw evidence of yeast activity (bubbly, wine-smelling mixture) I switched to the glass cover my jar came with. Each day for a week, feed the starter with equal parts (for large batches, use 1/2 cup amounts, if you don't mind making the bread more frequently you can use 1/4 cup amounts) fresh rye flour and filtered water (the filtering eliminates the chlorines and other toxins in our water supply, and allows the yeast to flourish... last time I'd tried making a starter it didn't work because of the chlorine in our water) After a week, it should be ready to make into bread. I'll post the results after I've tasted the bread.... and pictures after we get new batteries for the camera!


Blessings to you,

It's been a loooong time...

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Wow, I've realllly neglected this blog. Getting ready to return to teaching, and then working full-time threw me for a loop. This summer I'm going to work on developing a posting routine that will allow me to update this blog at least semi-regularly... maybe once or twice a week.

Maybe I'll even work on extra postings to save for the school year so I can just c&p them.

That said, I will be working on developing a more healthful lifestyle. I just got a copy of the book Nourishing Traditions. What a lot of information!! I've skimmed through it (got it two days ago, and skimmed through most of it). I gleaned a basic understanding of a lot of it, but definitely need to go back to it and go over and over it. One thing I definitely want to try to incorporate is some of the lacto-fermented foods, as well as soaking grains / flour prior to cooking them. They taste better, are easier to digest, and are better for us when we do that.

I'll be documenting my progress. I also want to switch to raw dairy (although at this point we'll have to travel to the next state in order to do that - it's illegal to sell raw milk in our state, although there is legislation pending that will finally allow it - not that the government has any business regulating agriculture, but they don't seem to get that), and pasture fed meats / eggs. There is a farm in the next state that is about an hour from here. If we can swing purchasing an extra freezer, it may work out to be worth a trip out there once a month... or better yet, every other month. The prices for their raw dairy and meat products are not that much higher than for conventionally produced (and nutritionaly more bankrupt) products from the grocery store. The improvement in our health may offset the additional cost.



Blessings to you,

Menu Plan Monday

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... a little late! Sorry, Pigeon has been home with the flu, and it's side-tracked me a little.

Monday - Chicken Soup with rice (from Sunday's chicken carcass)

Tuesday - Mac & Cheese (King B had a dinnertime appointment that I needed to go to as well, so Buddy (10) made dinner)

Wednesday - Meatloaf, Pasta Alfredo, Broccoli

Thursday - Baked Ziti (which we did not have last week), KTbug's play opens tonight, so this will be put together early in the day, Salad, Rolls

Friday - Finish the Baked Ziti

Saturday - Pizza Night (er, Afternoon... last night for KTbug's play)

Sunday - Crockpot Chicken thighs with "Bone Sucking" Sauce, rice and cauliflower

Breakfasts: oatmeal, eggs & toast, farina, cold cereal, fruit

Lunches: pb&j or pb&h, tuna salad sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, fruit, chips

Snacks: muffins (blueberry, corn), fruit, veggies, crackers, popcorn

For more menu ideas, go here


Blessings to you,

Something Adorable!

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I was reading one of the blogs I read by Catholic author Danielle Bean, and came across a post that had an absolutely adorable video clip. Go and take a look! You'll be glad you did!


Blessings to you,

Something Adorable!

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I was reading one of the blogs I read by Catholic author Danielle Bean, and came across a post that had an absolutely adorable video clip. Go and take a look! You'll be glad you did!


Blessings to you,

An Organized Pantry

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... is a thing of beauty. First I removed E V E R Y T H I N G and washed down all the walls and shelves. Then I looked and thought... and decided to try a different categorization method. Last time I organized the pantry, I had put all bottles together, all cans together and all boxes together. It didn't work too well. Part of the problem is that the prince and princesses never put things back in the correct spot. I chose different categories this time. And eliminated the bottom shelf in order to fit our big camping cooler which has been sitting next to the small shelf cart that the microwave and toaster oven sit on - driving me nuts because it took up so much floor space and made it cramped by my stove.



The bottom shelf and floor of the pantry had become the "dropping" point for anything the kids couldn't be bothered to put away. I am hoping that having the cooler take up most of that space, along with more "kid friendly" categories (which I will label in a little while) will eliminate that habit.

OK, my pantry:

On the pantry floor is the big blue camping cooler, to the right of that are 3 gallons of white vinegar (I use it for dyeing and cleaning mostly - I use other vinegars for cooking/baking). In front of the cooler is the step stool (very necessary for short people, LOL) and the broom. On top of the cooler are the trash bags, lunch bags, potatoes and onions.


The next shelf up houses Breakfast (on the left) and Lunch. Cereals and oatmeal to the left, bread in the middle (since it works for both) and cans of tuna, Nutella, peanut butter and honey on the right.

Above that is the Pasta and Rice shelf. All of our pasta (we currently have about 15 lbs of it) is either in or next to the box on the right, canned tomatoes and spaghetti sauce are in the middle, and our brown rice and soy sauce are on the left (you can't see them from this angle). That yellow blob on the right is my apron, hanging on the door.... it's not a cute one, but it works to keep my clothes clean when I cook/bake..... well, when I remember to put it on!!

The next two shelves are : bottom - snacks (peanuts, crackers, we keep baked goods and popcorn elsewhere), canned fruits/veggies, bouillon, bread crumbs; top - worcestershire sauce, teriyaki sauce, salad dressings, various vinegars (rice, apple cider, malt), vodka (for vodka sauce - I made once the first time King B came for dinner... the recipe was given to me by one of my co-workers... it's called "You won't be single for long Penne Vodka" - a Rachel Ray recipe... it was right! King B and I got engaged less than 3 months and married less than a year later... and we'd just met a week and a half prior to that dinner! ), some Mint Chocolate Bailey's (I'd gotten for a recipe calling for Creme de Menthe... I couldn't find any small bottles of that CdM, which I don't care for... so when I saw this, I substituted... once in a while I put a capful of the MCBailey's over some Breyers Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream... it's yummy!), and some baking overflow (mixes I'd gotten, and should probably use up)

OK, off to make and apply labels!!

Blessings to you,

Spring Cleaning

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I don't do Spring Cleaning. Well, at least not in one fell swoop. What I do is bits and pieces. Usually when I do these bits and pieces, it uses up all of my decision making / organizing / cleaning energy and the rest of the place falls to pieces. Yesterday was no exception. Actually, the rest of the place was already a disaster from about three weeks worth of not being home on the weekends.

Here is what my upper cabinets, pantry, hutch, and main bookcase looked like as of yesterday:

(I had started on this one before thinking to post this)

over the sink

baking

pantry - those clear pockets house stationery stuff and miscellaneous tools

bookcase - on which is a "rabbit ears" antennae that doesn't help here due to the "mountain" we live on (technically it is a foothill to a mountain range, but it still blocks the TV reception... I should freecycle this AND the long coaxial cable that goes with it)

hutch

As I progress with re-organizing, purging and cleaning, I will post the resulting after pictures. I completed two of the upper cabinets. The over the sink cabinet (really, whoever planned the layout of this kitchen did a poor job - as the corner end of that cabinet is difficult for even my 6'1" dh to reach!!! I need a step stool) now houses:

cooking wines, extra coffee, medications (in the basket), Busker's bottles (in the yellow bins), first aid supplies (in the Ramen box - I will be covering that to make it look nicer), teas of various sorts, cocoa, coffee and filters, glasses and mugs (most of which were in the dishwasher when I took the picture, hence the empty shelf)

The cookbooks from the before picture ended up on top of my refridgerator, being held by one of those dish separators for a cabinet (it doesn't fit in my cabinets, so I found this worked.

The baking cabinet (since I use it so much) wasn't too bad, and really just needed some straightening and wiping down.

I plan on tackling the pantry today. I want to try to have more Martha moments in my life. Yesterday was a decent start, although I am still frustrated at the chaos in the rest of the apartment. I know I do not have the physical energy to get it all fixed in one day. But I want it fixed in one day. I am not very good with delayed gratification. Which is why diets never seemed to work for me.... I get too discouraged at an apparent lack of progress.

FLYlady has never really worked very well for me, because I get too anxious and impatient to get EVERYTHING accomplished at once - and burn out. (Which is exactly what she warns against and why she insists things get done in a certain way) Growing up, I always heard "If you can't do it right, don't do it at all." I think I took this the wrong way, as now when faced with something I don't feel I can do well, I don't do it at all. I think how that phrase should be taken is simply "Do Your Best in All Things". And accept that my best is not always perfect - and that is ok because I do not have to be perfect. I am going to force myself to just do things in stages during this time in my life, follow FLYlady's instructions and ignore that voice screaming in my head "It has to all be done, perfectly, NOW."

Blessings to you,

Thrift Store Finds

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Thursday's trip to the thrift store was quite the success! For less than the cost of a new crockpot (the liner in my old one cracked just before Easter), I found: a crockpot - $3.99; 2 dress shirts for Buddy - $3.99 each; dress pants for Buddy - $3.99; changing pad for Busker's dresser - $1.99;

4 yards of 60" wide medium blue chambray - $ 4.99 ;

5 yards of 45" wide white and blue lace that coordinates perfectly with the chambray - $ 3.49 ;

1 yard of 60" wide white with aqua pattern cotton - $ 1.99 ; two patterns I will cannibalize to make skirts of the above - $1.49 each;

two Playtex Nursers (the type of bottles we are using for Busker when I go back to work) - $0.49 each.

I had also seen a 38 pc set of ruby glass that I picked up because it reminded me of my grandmother. It was $29.92, and had enough dinner and lunch plates, bowls and cups for all of us to use. Then I decided to put it back, since the only reason I had grabbed it was that it triggered a memory. It wasn't even the pattern my grandmother used - just the same color. At the time I put it back, I had decided that I would go back to the thrift store on Monday (everything is an additional 25% off on Mondays), and if it was still there, I'd get in then. Then I did a search on eBay for Ruby Glass and found pieces that were Grandma's exact pattern. I hadn't known the name of her pattern before. It was the Cape Cod pattern (hers was probably from Avon, rather than the original one). I have decided against going back to the store to get that set. I will instead stay on the look out for the Cape Cod pattern pieces and grow my Ruby glass collection slowly. This pattern is quite the collectible, so it may take a while.

Blessings to you,