Little House on the Prairie this is not.

I know that getting back to nature, gardening and the new thoughts on urban homesteading are all the rage, but today I am tired. Really tired, like I could go to sleep for the night right now tired. (It's 8pm) And I am usually a night owl.

But these last 2 days have worn me out. I have gotten up at 6:15 am.I have done laundry and hung out 5 loads in the last 2 days. I have cleaned house, made bread, weeded and watered and worked in the garden. Fought with squirrels intent on eating all my corn, and with a German Shepard who steals my squash and cucumbers and eats them. I have done dishes, made home made spaghetti sauce to freeze for later, and blanched and frozen the squash I am trying to save from the dog. I have picked herbs for drying and taken dried one and made crushed herbs for the winter. Walked 4 1/2 miles, made supper and done some of my work from my business. Kept up with all the technology this world has to offer and tried to watch my diet so I don't go over in carbs and can continue to lose weight.My spine is killing me as is my ribs where I have a car accident injury And this is only Tuesday. Lordy!

And it makes me think about those poor pioneer women who helped settled this country, because they did all of that, (minus the technology stuff). They gardened, cared for their families, baked and made meals, cleaned their homes, did laundry, fought off all the dangers that were around them, sewed their own clothes and lived in homes with grass for a roof.. And they did all of this without air conditioning, electricity, or running water, computers and internet to order things, and proper medicine for anything that made them ill.And then I wonder why I am complaining, because I have all of those things, sure I may be tired and doing more physical work than normal, but my life must be really easy compared to theirs. So I will continue to do all of these things, and work hard, because it is better for my family,friends, the environment, and life in general. Little House on the Prairie this is not =)

Not just for scrambling anymore!

 As I learn to try and use everything as far or as much as I can, I have come to really dislike throwing things out. The fine line is to be a good saver but not a hoarder =) Saving is good, hoarding is bad in case there is any question =) 

I have found many times when I am cooking that recipes will use eggs whites or egg yolks separately but not the other part. I used to just throw out the extra that I did not need but one day it hit me and I wondered how it would work if I froze the whites or the yolks. 

So the next time I had a recipe that used just yolks I got out a freezer bag and dumped in the whites. Over time they start to build up and today after using 3 yolks but not the whites I had enough to make an angel food cake (about 1 1/2 cups). So I got the whites out from the freezer and let them thaw.

I found the recipe in my old Betty Crocker cookbook I have had since I got married. I have used it before and it is good.

 

Before you start place 1 cup of flour (they said cake flour, I just used all purpose and it is fine) and 3/4 cup of sugar plus 2 tbsp sugar in a bowl and stir together

 

Then place the egg whites in your mixing bowl and add 1 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar and 1/4 tsp of salt. (I use my kitchen aid, it is a work horse and I love it!)

Beat the egg whites until they are foamy using your whisk attachment (but a regular beater will work just as well.)

 

Slowly add 3/4 cup of sugar as you continue to beat the eggs whites, and the sugar is all gone. The egg whites will be thick white, very full and have stiff points

 Add 1 1/2 tsp of  vanilla and 1/2 tsp of almond extract. Fold these in gently with a spatula, You want the whites to stay nice and fluffy so fold carefully. I thought about using cherry extract but didn't have enough but you could try some different things here like lemon. It would make a nice change.

 

Now all that flour and sugar you prepared ahead of time is coming in handy! I used a small sieve and sifted the flour and sugar over the egg whites in small amounts and folded in each addition until it was well mixed. Continue to be gentle as you fold to keep the whites fluffy but make sure it is all folded in completely.

Now for the good stuff. Add one cup of coconut and fold it in gently as well and then put it all into an non-greased angel food cake pan. Make sure it is non-greased.This is important and will save some cooking heartbreak later

Bake @ 350 for for about 30 minutes or until the top is brown. 

Once it is done cooking turn the pan upside down and rest on the bottom of a bowl or another object. This is why you don't want to grease your pan. I did it once by mistake and trust me, it is not pretty =). Leave it until it is cool.

 

Turn the pan back over, run a knife around the sides and pop it out of the pan. The run a knife around the bottom and the cake will usually slide right off. This is the finished product and looks and taste absolutely wonderful. I cannot think of a better way to use up extra egg whites. I will start saving again, because I have left over egg yolks now too and I want to make another cake called Daffodil Cake once I have enough of of both frozen.

Happy baking all!!

Just in case you were wondering...

Homesteading is HARD work. It all sounds like fun and games and has become a new trend but it is a lot of time consuming hard work and  I don't believe it is for the faint of heart. It requires a lot of work every day and  but I would not trade it for anything! =) It brings on a feeling of self satisfaction and success when you are able to create, grow, make and save and help your family out. And it is a great thing to pass on to your children. Everyone that does this has their own reasons for doing so but for me the idea behind it is to help save money, use my resources to the best of my ability, and create things myself and grow  organic food.

I love to hang out my  hang out my laundry.

It is hard to explain, but when I am out there hanging things out, it is quiet and still. It is a bit of a slow process but it brings me a feeling of great satisfaction as I watch the line of laundry grown longer and longer. I get to use our natural resources as well and save myself some money. Since I started doing this my gas bill has dropped $25.00. It is a great bonus!

 

 We make our own bread.Well not we, I make our bread. I have not broken this to Ivan yet, but in an attempt to reduce our consumption of processed food I am going to try and start making all of our bread.He has a particular bread from the store he really likes so we will see how this goes.Today I did make grilled ham & cheese for lunch from this oatmeal brown bread and it was really good, and no preservatives! We will see how long I can keep this up.

We have our own garden. It is increasing in size at an alarming rate but it is one of my favorite things to do with urban homesteading. There is no greater satisfaction in watching the seeds you plant grow into huge plants and then produce fruit and veggies you can eat without fear. Today I found 6 or 7 zucchini and yellow squash that will be big before long and the corn is now chest high. I am very excited to see the end result!

And if you have a garden you have to preserve your harvest in whatever way is best. These are basil pellets that I freeze with olive oil to use at a later date and as the summer progresses more and more items will need to be frozen and canned.

Now this is not to say that if you don't do Urban homesteading you are not busy and have nothing to do. I realize how busy most people are each day and the stress they are under.

 I have just been surprised at the sheer physical labour that goes into it. 

I am worn out at 10 and I am usually a night owl & I hurt everywhere from all the gardening work. And along with that I run my own business and help out with family and friends.But you know I would not trade this for anything. After spending years in pain and ill, to be able to do each and everyone of these things now is like starting life all over again and I LOVE it.

Bamboozled by Basil (or how to store basil)

I have a lovely basil plant. I also have lots of other lovely herbs but the basil is bigger, fuller and growing. This is it's second summer so it has the advantage on the other herbs, which were just planted this spring. And while I love basil in cooking, you really can only use so much at a time. So with a lot of extra basil on my hands  I searched the web looking for a solution to store it for longer periods of time.

 I came across a blog called Kalyn's Kitchen and it offered a workable solution for what seems like myriads of extra basil. She stores her differently than I have but the general idea is the same.

First you will want to clean all the leaves off of the stems you have trimmed and get rid of the stems and any nasty or messy bits on the leaves, bruised areas etc.

 

Fill the sink part way with cool water and rinse the leaves. I grow my garden with out pesticides so this is more for dirt removal than pesticides.

 

Place them on a clean fresh towel and pat dry. I take it out side with all the ends of the towel pulled up and spin it around by hand for a minute. It helps get rid of the extra water.

Place it in your food processor with the blade in the bottom. I poured a small amount of olive oil in before I start chopping to get the process started. I used around 1 tablespoons to start with but feel free to add more or less if you feel you need to. Place the lid on and pulse for a few seconds. If it seems a bit dry slowly add more oil. I added another 1 -2 tablespoons a bit at a time as I pulse the blade and then check it to see how it looks.

This is how it looks when your are done. It is not super fine, like pesto, but a little bit bigger pieces. I figured that way you can use it for other things and if you want it for pesto later you can chop up some finer for that.

I keep these egg cartons to use just for this since I can find no other purpose for them and they cannot be recycled here.I then cut up pieces of saran wrap big enough to slide down into the area where the eggs usually sit. If you don't line it, the basil may stick and be impossible to get out.

Scoop out about a tablespoon maybe a bit more and slip it down into the plastic wrap lined sections of the egg carton. You can leave them this way or layer the plastic wrap over each one if you want. Close it up and place it in the freezer.

Once frozen hard you can easily remove them. I took the plastic wrap off before placing them in a freezer bag but you can leave them each bundled up if you want. Once they are in the freezer bag place them back in the freezer and they are ready to be taken out and used . You can freeze in larger amounts if you feel you will use bigger amounts at one time. Mine has frozen very solid, which is why I wanted the smaller servings. If I need a small amount there it is and if I need a larger amount I can take out several and avoid waste. These will be perfect for my world famous spaghetti sauce. (Not really but my hubby loves it)

The fresh basil will really add to anything you create. I will post the sauce recipe at a later date, it is excellent and can be used for several different dishes. Enjoy the new week!

It is St.Patrick's Day, but this isn't about that =)

This about trying to lose weight. A big part of our life, for both Ivan and I. Because when we get older we want to still be able to walk This is about the frustration of weight loss and the feelings that go with it. This about having to walk miles to no where on the treadmill and about not being able to sit and eat a big bag of candy when ever I want.It's about living past today.
I had hit a plateau. The dreaded word of dieting, one we never hope to come across,that Frankenstein of dieting, but one most of us cannot avoid.
I have lost regularly for the past year which was wonderful. I rarely stepped on the scale that I had not lost and if I didn't it wasn't long until I did again.
Then about a month ago or maybe  more nothing happened and nothing happened for a long time. I was annoyed, mad and very frustrated!! How could I walk so much and watch my food so much and not lose anything and even see the scale jump up the odd time like a pogo stick.
PLATEAU! Oh lord no not that. I really hate that word but there I was resting on the top of a shelf about half way down the mountain I was trying to get down. And there I sat for ever and ever and ever. Everyone reminded me I had already lost 67 pounds and I needed to be patient. My husband also reminded me that our bodies must shift and adjust to be come used to the new us. And muscle does weigh more that fat.
 But I didn't care about any of this, I didn't care if I am getting more toned and tightening up, and getting healthier.Darn it, I just want to lose weight and get slimmer. I don't even want to be skinny, I just want to be slimmer!
I am also a diabetic with high blood pressure and high cholesterol to add to the fun! Trying to get all of those things and weight loss under control is like trying to wrangle a rhino and some days I had had just about enough and wanted to just eat a bag of almond joys and watch TV.
But after a long wait I got on the scale yesterday and had lost a pound and then today and I had lost another. Finally!!
All the walking to Memphis and back on the treadmill and the tightening of my carb eating and watching my diet has started to work again. Finally!
This does not mean I am a perfect eater and that I am a great exerciser. I am not. I hate exercise and I hate to watch my food. Some days I wish I was 20 again and could eat what I wanted, do what I wanted and that I weighed 120 again.
Chances are that is never going to happen. I am now 51, almost 52 and weight loss becomes harder with each passing year, which is why I want the weight off now. I don't want to go blind or lose my feet or die at 52 and have people say. "Oh that's so sad, she was so young" I want to live to spend time with my husband, see my grand children grow up and sped time with their parents. I want to live to do things with my friends and plant my garden, and travel to far off places.
So even when that dreaded plateau comes along I will grit my teeth, and do what I know I need to. This is not a short trip for me. This is going to be a lifetime journey for me. Most of these things aren't going away for me and I don't want to let them get the best of me.
So if you are struggling, solider on. I have discovered trying to lose weight is not for the faint of heart.

Love & Chocolate & Temptation & recyling are in the air,

Valentines has been here and is just about gone. I am a semi-Valentine fan. I think it is a lot more about sales in a store than about really celebrating love, because we can do that any day, any time and it is important to remember that. The ones will love will not always be here  and can unexpectedly leave us, so it is important to spend those moment and take that time to  say a quick hello, send a little note, or even give quick smile. 

But...That being said, I love to give gifts and make things but I also love to be thrifty (a new twist for me, let me assure you =) so I wanted to do some cute things for Valentines day that did not cost a lot and where I could re purpose some items around the house I had been saving.I like to save things that might be useful in the future and for this project I decided to re-use the cherry tomato plastic containers and the large strawberry containers I had set aside a few weeks ago.

I wanted to make some nice goodies sure to please the sweet tooth and that would pack nicely in the containers so I decided on fudge and shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate, yummy yummy!

First I washed the containers and soaked them for a bit to remove the labels that were on them.

Then I created some cute labels on my 

Print Master Program to fit into the top of the boxes. I took them outside and sprayed them with adhesive on a piece of newspaper (or bag) . Don't spray this inside your house, it will make a horrible mess on your floors, tables, everywhere. Believe me I speak from experience. Then stick the labels to the tops of the boxes.

You can do whatever design you like and could use these for various occasions. If you have measured properly they should fit in quite nicely. I trimmed the corners on an angle so they would fit into the little rounded edges.

Pick a cute font to give a bit of whimsy to the front of your labels and so the recipients know what lovelies they are getting.

Get your goodies together that 

you want to pack in the containers. I picked no fail fudge and my shortbread cookie recipe. I made them in a heart shape, then dipped the cookies in chocolate for that Valentine touch

Line the boxes with some waxed paper, pack your goodies and then pull up the wax paper on each side & wrap the wax paper around them. You could probably use parchment paper here ii you want as well. Snap the lid shut and decorate anyway you would like. I glued a small red and gold heat ribbon I had in my stash of ribbon that would rival any craft store.

I also made one in a larger strawberry container. The two small ones went to my next door neighbor for her Valentines and the larger one I gave to my daughter and son in law for their Valentines treat! I just made the label larger and a bit bigger bow.

You can try this for just about any holiday, St.Patrick's day is next. Hmmm, I wonder what I can do for that??

 

 

We just think we are homesteading

Last night we watched the real thing!
Sure we have a wood pile and use a wood stove, I do mostly home made food, hang out my laundry to dry either out side or on the racks and we live a basically simple life.And no out house, the best part =)
But... if we didn't have the wood, we still would not freeze and I do have a dryer if I need it and I can run to Walmart or the commissary if I need too.
I don't have to go out and camp at 20 below to catch a few fresh fish, I don't have to go out and cut down a tree for wood because if I don't we will freeze to death and I don't have to sit on top of a stump waiting to kill a squirrel and then make a fire and eat because I need fresh meat and I don't have to keep the toilet seat in the house because if I don't it will have an inch of ice on it when I go out side in the 20 below weather to visit the outhouse.

I happened upon this show on TLC last night called "Alaska, The Final Frontier" It is about the Kilcher family.

The dad settle there 80 years ago, living outside Homer AL on some 600 acres of land and some of his family had opted to carry on the tradition.

They live with out running water or electricity and have outhouses. Outside, away from the house. And they have to keep the toilet seat inside so it dosen't freeze. They have 4 months of summer and during that time they grow a garden, fish and hunt for food and then freeze what they have to during the winter. They can and have a root cellar to keep things fresh as long as they can. They even have cattle and if a calf is born during the winter they have to go out in this minus weather and look for it until they find it. Now dosen't that sound like a fun night. And they have a bear problem, big nasty angry brown bears, that come and steal their cows. And for the most part they seem to enjoy it.

Now I know that TLC can sensationlize things just a wee bit, but I know these people are the real homesteaders, and life is probably not easy for them.I am not sure why they stick with it, maybe it's the challenge, love of the hard life or what ever.

But as for me, I will take my small slice of the easy homesteading and will be glad my toilet seat can stay attached and isn't a tool a need to carry around with me. =)