Beautiful Bountiful Blueberries

This morning we are off on our annual blueberry picking adventure.  We've been gathering with friends at a local blueberry farm for the past few years.    We have to go early before it gets too hot.  It's been in the upper 90s here for the last couple of weeks, so when I say hot, I mean HOT and humid as well.

I try to get the children to gather about 5 gallons of blueberries and we typically freeze them for year 'round use.  Muffins, cobblers, jams and blueberry biscuits are some favorite berry delights here.  This year I am also going to dehydrate some blueberries.  I find them delicious in my homemade granola!  I also want to can some blueberry pie filling to make one of my favorite pies as well.

I expect to get about 2 gallons from our bushes here at home, so we should be pretty well stocked with what we gather today.  I thought I would share a quick and easy recipe for cobbler that can be made with any fruit, but is especially good with blueberries.

Fruit Cobbler

Place two cups of fresh or frozen fruit into a pot.  Cover partially with water and add 1/2 cup of sugar.  Place on stovetop and cook on medium heat until sugar is melted and fruit is softened.

Melt one stick or 8 oz. of butter in a 9 x 13 casserole dish.  Set the dish aside.  In a mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2  cups flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1 1/2 cups of milk.  Mix thoroughly and pour into casserole dish.  Spoon fruit and syrup over the batter in the casserole dish distributing as evenly as possible.  Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until crust is lightly browned.  Cool slightly and serve plain or with vanilla ice cream.  

This is so very yummy and so easy.  We usually make at least one cobbler every other week or so around here!  Let me know if you try this recipe.  You can be sure I'll be making one tonight!!

grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com

Quit Spending Even More!

Yesterday after I pushed the Publish Post button for THIS post, I had other ideas swarming in my head of things that my family does to save money.  My blogging time was up for the day, so I decided to do a second post today.  I really would love to hear some of your ideas as well, so please....leave me some comment love!!

Do it yourself!


Haircuts- For many, many years I have cut everyone's hair in my family.  When my older girls started making money babysitting they used some of their money for professional hair cuts.  There was also a time when life was completely overwhelming me (having a baby at 44 just might do that to you....or maybe not!) and I took the boys in for hair cuts as well.  Jeff generally goes to a barber now who has a ministry of fostering children, so Jeff feels like he is contributing to that ministry.  Devin pretty much does all four boys hair now and does Kaelan's as well.  You should spend a few bucks to invest in quality hair cutting scissors and trimmer.   Devin and I both get our hair professionally done.  Devin pays for her own and goes every other month or so, while I go 2-3 times a year.

Remodeling-  Jeff has totally gutted and remodeled two of our bathrooms through the years.  For our latest remodel, he did hire plumbers to  put in a new spot for the toilet and custom build and tile the shower.  The cost though, even with that work hired out was only around $3000.

Reduce paper use!


I quit using paper napkins years ago and replaced them with inexpensive cloth napkins and even cute bandanas purchased on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  We generally tie them on the back of the chair to use for the next meal and I toss them into the wash each day.  They are very light and don't take up much space in the wash.

I have also quit using paper towels.  I have found lots of dish towels and clothes on clearance and stock up when I find great prices.  I keep worn-out bath towels to clean up messy spills.

At times I have used cloth diapers for my babies.  I really wanted to go all cloth for Caedmon, but Jeff didn't want to invest that much money into diapers that would most likely only be used for one child.  Caedmon is still in diapers, but is working on potty training and is wearing training pants a good bit of the day.

Bulk cooking!


It is very rare that we prepare food for only one meal at a time.  Last week we grilled steaks (a gift from my mom) for an evening meal.  Monday night I sliced the leftover steaks and we ate them on top of or as a side to our salads from the garden.  We cooked way too much food for our gathering Saturday night, so we were able to take a good bit of it with us as our contribution to a meal with friends on Sunday night and shared some as well with a single young man.  There was still enough for another meal of the grilled chicken, but we were a little tired of it so, into the freezer it went for a meal next week.

Last night we had a meal of beef enchiladas that I simply pulled from the freezer.  In early May we prepared several pans of enchiladas at one time.  I just line up the casserole dishes and assemble.  I only had to use one pan to cook up the meat mixture and one bowl to grate up the cheese for four meals.

Right now I have Jordan grilling out about 30 hamburgers.  Yes, it is still morning, but it will be in the upper nineties when dinner time rolls around.  It is much cooler now to grill and we will have plenty of burgers for tonight's dinner with one or two more hamburger dinners for the freezer.

Devin made a large batch of blueberry biscuits for breakfast this morning.  We ate half and I will freeze the rest for next week.  She regularly mixes up large batches of our favorite chocolate chip cookie dough.  She uses a cookie dough scoop to make small scoops, places them on a cookie sheet, flash freezes them and then bags them up for later use.  Cooking in bulk is a time and money saver!

Cut the cable or satellite on your TV!


We haven't had either for many, many years.   I won't get into the trash, etc that comes in to our homes via TV.

Switch phone plans!


We don't have caller ID and all the other extras on our home phone.  We have even considered dropping the home phone line, but sometimes cell phone coverage out here can be a problem.

I don't have a cell phone for myself.  When I am away from home I borrow either Jordan's or Devin's phone or, if Jeff is home I will take his.  Devin and Jordan each purchased their own phones and pay their portion of the cell phone bill.   Jeff and Devin are both self-employed and their phones and usage are tax deductible.

Re-purpose and re-use!


Re-decorating my home usually means moving one item into another spot or rearranging the furniture.  I generally try to use what I have instead of having to buy something new that will quickly lose its luster in my big, busy household.

Reuse gift bags and tissue paper for Christmas, birthday and baby shower gifts.  My children know to look in the storage cabinet in my bedroom for an assortment of gift bags.  It's fun to see the same bags reappear year after year!

I know I will think of several more ideas as I go through the day, but maybe these tips will inspire you to save some money for your family as well.  Remember our goal is always to be good stewards of the blessings that God has given to us whether it be material blessings, talents and gifts or simply our time!  Please share YOUR favorite ideas for being good stewards of what God has given you.

Keeping Up with Myself

Some days I feel like I am passing myself coming and going!!  Trying to keep up with all the cooking, cleaning and schooling of a "normal" day and adding in milk production as well is keeping me hopping like a bunny rabbit.  There are several areas in the cleaning arena that are falling through the cracks these last few weeks, but in evaluating the other areas I am seeing progress.  I suppose I can't keep up all the plates I have spinning  up to speed every day.

I have been able to clean out a freezer and reorganize it and start filling it up with homemade frozen dinners for the next few weeks:  two lasagnas, beef enchiladas, BBQ pork for sandwiches and lots of soup are ready to go.

We had a small store in the area to have great prices on some meat, so my big freezer is full of pork loins and chicken breasts that I will be able to feed my family with for the next several months.

We are increasing our school work now as the garden work is mainly done and we just wait for the plants to start producing.  Raised beds mean little to no weeds, but we still need many more beds made for the huge number of seedlings that still reside in my dining room.  But, building beds is not my job!  LOL!

Milk production is a learning process.  I finally found a local source for rennet, so the next couple of days you will find me in the kitchen experimenting with mozzarella cheese.  I hope to make enough for our pizzas on Friday night.  I am making butter (at least a pound) every day, buttermilk, ricotta, and yogurt weekly.  It's like having a science lab in the kitchen!

Now the little boys are waiting to start the day with a book, then I will do our group studies with all of the children at the table.  Then, just maybe, I'll get a quick bath, do some laundry, get lunch, finish up school and make cheese before time to start dinner.....just maybe!

What Are You Doing With All That Milk?

Yes, just what AM I doing with all that milk?   Aside from using it to cook with and the occasional glass to drink, I am :

-making delicious cultured buttermilk and butter.  I put about a quart of cultured cream (meaning it has set out at room temperature for about 24 hours and then refrigerated for a short time) into my Bosch bowl with the wire whips.  I set the dial to one and let it run for about 10-15 minutes.  When I take off the lid I see lots of clumped butter.  I simply strain off the buttermilk and then press the butter to get all the milk out of it as well.  I put some cold water in the bowl and continue pressing the butter to release all the milk.  I pour off the water and continue the process until the water is almost clear.  Then I put the butter into a container and add it to my freezer.

-making yogurt.  This has not been going very well with the fresh milk.  I had been making yogurt in my crock pot with store bought milk and was successful with that, but it doesn't seem to work as well with fresh milk.  I have also heated the milk on the stove, mixed with yogurt and put into quart jars and incubated them in the dehydrator.  It took a very long time for the yogurt to thicken this way which made my yogurt VERY tart.  I hope to try the cooler method this week.  We'll see how that turns out!

- I decided to make the four quarts of yogurt into yogurt cheese that could be sweetened to counter the tartness.  Yummy!!   This has a cream cheese like consistency and we have used it to top oven pancakes and this weekend I made my traditional blueberry/cream cheese pies using the yogurt cheese and making homemade pie filling instead of buying a can from the store.  Oh, my!  This pie is wonderful!

-made ricotta cheese....kinda/sorta.  Following the directions in Nourishing Traditions for cream cheese,  I set out two gallons of milk to clabber.  After two days the whey was one the bottom of the jars and the milk was a jiggly mass of curds.  I poured this through a strainer lined with an old pillow case and as I had a lot, I finally poured it all into another old pillow case and suspended it for several hours over a large pot to continue removing the whey.  When I dumped it all out I wasn't sure what I had created!  It didn't look at all like cream cheese, but more like very large curd cottage cheese.  I decided to put it in my Bosch and mixed it up with a little (very little buttermilk) and added some salt.  We finally decided I had made cottage cheese, but mixing it up made it look and taste like ricotta.  I used it to make two pans of lasagna for the freezer and today I will use the remainder to make two pans of enchiladas that call for cottage cheese in the recipe.

-What am I doing with the whey?  Dumping it.  I know, such a waste, but I have so much milk that I am using it to soak my grains for baked goods and I don't know that I will use any for lacto fermenting vegetables as Caedmon is allergic to dairy and I don't want to add any to our vegetables.  I may try lacto fermenting some salsa this summer as Caedmon is also allergic to tomatoes.  Freezing the whey right now is not an option as my freezers are "whey" too full!

-I made a pint of French Sour Cream from Nourishing Traditions this weekend.  I haven't tasted it yet, so  have no idea whether or not this worked.  You simply take a pint of fresh cream, add a tablespoon of buttermilk and let it sit out for 20-24 hours then refrigerate.  I'll try it out tonight on our enchiladas!

-This week I should get my canner in the mail.  I want to try to can the milk for future baking.  I have heard canning it does change the taste, but it is still good to cook with.

-I also hope to order rennet online so we can make mozzarella cheese.

-Do you have any other ideas of what I can do with this bounty of milk?

-I am going to really try NOT to mention milk on this blog again this
week....but don't hold me to it!

Linking up today over at homesteadrevival.com.

Preparedness Challenge

Check out what others are doing at
homesteadrevival.blogspot.com

This week for the preparedness challenge, my family:

-made enough granola to last about 3 weeks

This canister holds two gallons.

-bought extra boxes of borax and washing soda to keep on hand to make laundry detergent
-bought extra bleach, toilet paper, epsom salts, vinegar and baking soda
-filled used water bottles with tap water and a few drops of bleach to replace what we used last weekend when we didn't have water
-made and froze about 5 pounds of cultured butter
-made about 5 quarts of  cultured butter milk
-learned how to make yogurt cheese and ricotta
-dried 2 pounds of mushrooms

One quart jar of mushrooms

-made 8 pints of applesauce

-organized and inventoried our food storage that is not in the kitchen
-ordered math curriculum for my 6 year old for the next 3 years ; )
-bought a dozen pint size canning jars
-bought lots of freezer bags, plastic wrap and aluminum foil
-got three more icing buckets from Kroger---I would love to have about 40....I need 34 more!!
-made another 4 x 12 raised bed
-researched pigs......and chickens.....some more. Just need to bite the bullet and do it!
-replaced a blueberry bush

Got Milk?

I've got lots of it!  One and a half quarts of yogurt, half a quart of whey, a quart of buttermilk, a half gallon of cream, almost 4 gallons of milk and some fresh butter in the fridge!  And we are making all kinds of dairy products!  I skim the milk after it sits in the fridge for a day.  This morning from 2 1/2 gallons of milk I got half a gallon of cream.  I will let the cream sit out for 24 hours to culture and then will make butter and buttermilk with it tomorrow morning.   I make yogurt in the crockpot and then drain the yogurt in a coffee filter lined colander which gives me a bowlful of whey and  a much thicker, creamier yogurt.

So, what are we doing with all these dairy products?  The yogurt pictured here is now being further strained to make yogurt cheese which is similar to cream cheese.  The whey is being saved for my neighbor/friend's chickens.  I used a quart of buttermilk to make pancakes this morning and they were terrific!  The 1/2 gallon of cream will make about a pound of butter and a quart of buttermilk. We also love buttermilk biscuits, pies, pound cake and a chocolate sheet cake with icing also made from buttermilk.

 I am now soaking my fresh ground wheat in milk before using it to make my bread products.  I have dough rising right now that soaked all night.  It looks terrific.  We are also going to try to make mozzarella cheese on Friday and maybe try another cheese or two in the near future.  I am also doing some research into canning milk and butter.  We'll see!  It sure is a blessing!  Do you have fresh milk?  What do you do with it?

Jeff commented that lately my blog has been full of homemaking posts which he said filled the "Busy Hands" part of the title, but where were the "Busy Minds"?  I assure you we are doing school at least 4 days a week, but we are using our minds to learn more about gardening, dairying and food storage methods in our spare (and not so spare) time.

Proverbs 24:30-34


I went by the field of a lazy man,
And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;
And there it was, all overgrown with thorns;
Its surface was covered with nettles;
Its stone wall was broken down.
When I saw it, I considered it well;
I looked on it and received instruction:
A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest;
So shall your poverty come like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.

Find more simple posts today at GNOWFGLINS.

Musings from the Grocery Store and Some Frugal Kitchen Tips

 Yesterday afternoon I took a little grocery shopping trip by myself.  I usually have at least a couple of children with me as we shop on piano lesson day, but piano lessons were out for spring break.

Which takes me to my first musing---apparently EVERYONE is out for spring break and decided to do some shopping as well.  Both of the Kroger stores and Sam's were very busy!  Sam's looked like the week before Christmas.  I suppose as it was a dreary, cool and windy day there wasn't much else to do outside the home.  Thankful was I that we did not take off and my children were at home finishing up some school work.  Right, children?  You did finish it, didn't you?

Musing number two-There were a lot of grandparents with grandchildren out shopping.  I had noticed one particular little boy who looked to be about 6 who was following grandma around with tears in his eyes.  I was headed out the door and had to stop for a moment as this little guy was in my path, chasing a gumball that escaped the machine.  His grandmother was trying to hurry him up.  I told her, "Don't worry about it.  I have a 6 year old just like him at home." And gave her what I hoped was a pleasant smile.  She responded within her grandson's hearing, " I wish I didn't have him."  I sincerely hope she meant that she wished she didn't have him with her at the grocery store, however, that is not what she said and I am sure the little guy heard her.  Grandma, I am sure little guy wished you didn't have him, either.  How sad is that?  Mom and dad are working.  Little guy is out of school for spring break and it's too wet and cool outside and he has to go grocery shopping with a grandma who would rather not have him.

Musing number three-Increased prices don't seem to have any effect on some folks shopping habits.  I'm a nosy shopper  and folks are still buying lots of junk food and sodas.  I also saw several folks leave the grocery store with only one partially-filled bag.  With the high cost of food and gas, I would think that people would be leaving off the junk and instead of going to the store every other day or so, saving the shopping for once a week, every other week or once a month and buying more.  Just think of the time and gas savings alone!

Musing number four-  Already alluded to above, but prices are going up!  I have been carefully watching butter prices and the butter jumped up a couple of dollars for the four pound bundle at Sam's in just two weeks.  There were other price increases as well, but the butter was much more drastic.

Musing number five--I think stocking up on staples and canned goods is a good idea.  Yes, I do.

Enough of the musing and on to a few tips for frugal dining.

-When I bake a whole chicken for dinner I bake two.  We eat one and the other is carefully wrapped and put in the freezer.

-After we have eaten dinner from a chicken, I put the whole leftover chicken in the crockpot and cover with filtered water.  I then add some chopped celery, onion, garlic, carrots or whatever I have along with a dash of apple cider vinegar.  I cook on low all night.  In the morning I strain the broth out and pick the meat from the carcass.  I can then make a pot of soup adding fresh vegetables and seasoninsg or I can bag the chicken up for another meal and freeze it and I freeze the broth to use for soups, gravies and casseroles.

-Turkeys will soon be on sale for the Easter holiday.  I usually stock up on them AFTER the holidays when I find them at reduced prices.  This weekend I baked a turkey that I had purchased reduced afer Christmas for our Sunday dinner.  We had company for dinner and still had a good bit of turkey left over.  Yesterday I put the turkey carcass in my large stockpot and covered it with water.  I added peppercorns, onions, garlic and a 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar.  The vinegar helps get all the nutrients from the bones.  I brought it to a boil and then let it simmer all day.  After dinner last night I strained off the broth and picked the bones.  I now have 4 bags with 2 cups of shredded turkey in each and 20 cups of fabulously rich turkey stock.  Turkey salad, casseroles and pot pies will be made with this and the stock will be used to make my veggie rice pilaf that I make frequently and some will be used to make dressing for our Easter dinner.    I think I paid about 7 dollars for that turkey!   Twelve people ate dinner on Sunday and we will have parts of at least 6 meals with the rest of that turkey.  Frugality is fun!!

-My last tip is really easy.  When we prepare the evening meal, we generally make enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day.  Last night I  used about 2 1/2 pounds of ground chuck and made hamburger steaks with mushroom gravy.  I bought mushrooms reduced to 50 cents a box yesterday, so we will be eating lots of mushrooms this week.  I think I got about 14 steaks out of the meat and we had rice and butter beans with this along with my homemade bread.  Several of us will be able to eat this again for lunch today.  So easy to take just a couple of extra minutes to save lots of time later!

And there  you have today's musings and tips!  I would love for you to share some frugal shopping or cooking tips with me.  Do you have some great tips on saving money and time in the kitchen?

Seedtime

Genesis 8:  22  

While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Ecclesiastes 3:  1-2

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 

A time to be born, and a time to die;  a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.

Jeremiah 29:  4-6

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have cause to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;  Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;  Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters, that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.

Times are tough for a lot of folks right now.  Finances are tight.  Daily we hear more and more disheartening news and policies coming from Washington.  There is destruction across the earth, both natural and manmade.  Thankfully our hope doesn't come from Washington.  Our hope comes from the Lord and He will continue to hold us in the palm of His Hand.   The above passage from Jeremiah is a reminder to us today that even though times seem troubled and we may worry day to day about what troubles may await us tomorrow, we are to continue living today, building houses, planting gardens, finding spouses for our children and increasing our families.  

So, we are planting our garden now.  Praying for a fruitful yield at harvest time and looking forward to having fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs throughout the summer and with plenty to preserve for the winter as well.

A couple of weeks ago we ordered heirloom seeds from Baker Creek. 

Non-GMO seeds that will grow vegetables from years gone by, whose seeds can be saved for planting in the future.  

We will have a variety of tomatoes and peppers, squash, zucchini, and turnips.

Leeks and marigolds.

Peas and more tomatoes

Purple cornflower--beautiful and useful.

Beautiful turnips

We planted a dozen strawberry plants last year and they multiplied.  We dug out 28 "babies" and transplanted them.  Four of the strawberry plants now reside in Jordan's planters on the deck.

24 more strawberry plants in a newly made raised bed.

Eight raised beds ready for planting.

Broccoli seeds are planted.

So are the turnip seeds.

And onions.

And spinach.

And a variety of lettuces.

We started composting a few years ago.

Keeping the compost covered helps it to heat up which allows it to break down sooner.

It's not quite ready to use right now.

Lots of natural materials.

So are you planning a garden this year?  What are you planting?

Making Granola-Large Family Style

 We were totally out of granola and as that is a favorite breakfast and snack dish in our home, Kaelan and I set out to remedy the situation.

24 cups of rolled oats

I find a large metal bowl indispensable for preparing mega-batches of food.

Kaelan measures out the oils (olive and coconut), the honey, vanilla, maple flavoring, and cinnamon.

We find heating it in the microwave helps us mix the ingredients easier.

Pouring the honey/oil mixture over the oatmeal.

Trying to get every last drop!

Now to mix it all up.

I added a little more honey.

Thoroughly mixed

A close up--Kaelan couldn't resist sneaking a few bites.

Spreading the mixture out on wax paper lined racks for the dehydrator.

My hand...the only shot you will see of me in this post!

Almost finished!

The dehydrator is ready to go!

a countertop full of granola

2 1/2 gallons of granola ready to eat!  The smaller canister has crushed walnuts and dried blueberries added.  Yummy!

Granola-from Sue Gregg's More Than Breakfasts 

Each recipe makes 8 cups.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 

Blend together in a large measuring cup:
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
2 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
2 t maple flavoring

In a large mixing bowl, mix:
 8 cups of regular oats
 1/4 cup of protein powder (I use rice protein powder from the health food store)

Pour honey-oil mixture over oat mixture until coated thoroughly.

Spread evenly in two 9 x 12 baking pans or rimmed cookie sheets.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  Let cool and store in a tightly closed container in refrigerator or freezer.


 I always triple this recipe and I add dried blueberries and crushed walnuts to a third of  the cooled mixture.   This granola is great  cold and served with milk or heated in the microwave with milk. Some of my kids eat it dry.    I now make this in my food dehydrator and it is even better than before!

Also linked to The Nourishing Gourmet

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/03/pennywise-platter-thursday-33.html/pennywiseplatter-11

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