Schneider Peeps

In the garden...starting seeds

2012-02-14T01:17:00.002-06:00

Last year when I started seeds I used toilet paper rolls to start them. It worked well. But then I saw the soil block builder. Never heard of a soil block builder? Let me introduce you. It's this cool tool that takes soil and compacts it into a block. You plant a seed in the block, cover it with soil and let it grow.

We started with seed starting soil and added some mushroom compost
to it. You need the soil very moist so that it will stick together.

Mixing up some more soil.

Fill the block builder with soil. Push down the handle to release
the blocks.

The blocks even have a little divot to put the seed in. Cover with a little soil.

Our labeled tray...Esther did the all black one

Can I just say that I love this little ~~toy~~ tool? In just a couple of hours we started 250 seeds. I'm sure that's way too many, especially since we haven't finished tilling up the garden beds. But I can always give away what we don't plant. I also started some flowers. I'm not much of a flower gardener, but I've always wanted to be.

We put up some shelves outside and put the trays on them. I've also filled a spray bottle with water so that we can just mist them instead of flooding them with water.

in the kitchen...dehydrating tomatoes

2012-02-13T07:30:00.000-06:00

A friend surprised me with a lot of grape tomatoes. Usually when I have too many tomatoes I can them, but grape tomatoes would give me lots of skins in the tomatoes. So, I thought I'd dehydrate them. I love sun dried tomatoes. And while these aren't quite "sun dried" I think they'll do nicely.

Some went into the trash, some to the chickens and the good ones went
into the dehydrator

One bowl filled four trays

The four trays filled one quart jar after dehydrating

To Dehydrate Tomatoes:

Wash {I used a little vinegar water as some of the ones we threw away were quite yucky}
Slice {no larger than 1/4" thick}
Put in dehydrator {skin side down, it they are cherry or grape tomatoes}
Dehydrate on 150 degrees until all the moisture is out {these took about 24 hours}

I usually use dried tomatoes in stir fry type dishes but I've heard that you can grind these into a powder and then mix it with water and use like tomato paste. I think I'll try this when we make spaghetti sauce with our tomatoes this summer. I'll also use it when I make mexican rice - the tomato bullion that I can find locally has msg so I try to avoid it.

This post is linked to Barn Hop

{this moment}

2012-02-10T07:57:00.000-06:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.(Amanda Soule)

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

corners of our home::the girls room

2012-02-08T08:01:00.001-06:00

Phoebe worked in her room for hours the other day. There are definite cons to rooming with a two year old. Things like freshly folded clothes being thrown all over the floor, books being taken off the shelf and left here and there and, worst of the worst, little feet rubbing on you while you're trying to go to sleep. But then there's the hugs and kisses and having a real live "baby doll" to dress up and fix hair on that's pretty cool. So it balances out.

Eventually I want to paint all the furniture the same color of white. And I need
to figure out how to fix the drawer pull on Esther's dresser.

Phoebe uses a doilie and embroidery hoop to hang her earrings.

My grandmother painted this picture and the vase of roses over the
dressers. I'm so happy that Phoebe wants them in her room.

The canopy got a little squished in the move, we need
to get a new hula hoop to round it back out.

Bookshelves full of "treasures" when you're the only granddaughters
on both sides of your family you wind up getting lots of figurines. We still
need to find a place for the porcelain dolls.

Phoebe loves mysteries. Some of these are from Carl's childhood, most
are from Christian who has decided he's outgrown The Hardy Boys.

I'm so thankful I keep the picture books from the older children. It's so fun
hearing them read to Esther and tell her how much they liked a
certain book.

We still have some things we want to do in here like paint the walls, make a new duvet (Esther got nail polish on this one) and make some curtains. Phoebe really likes the draw cord on the drapes so I think I'll try to make some kind of curtains that use the cord. But this room is pretty low on the list, in fact it isn't even officially on this years list.

Any ideas for paint colors? Phoebe kind of wants lime green, pink and purple. We have a friend whose room is done like that and is beautiful. I just don't know if it will be too crazy here. I prefer muted colors.

in my kitchen... chicken and dumplings

2012-02-07T07:31:00.000-06:00

We've had a really warm winter and while it's been great for being outside and getting some work done, it really hasn't made us in the mood for soups. However, this weekend was super rainy and cold, at least cold for us, and so I took the opportunity to make some chicken and dumplings.

I roasted several whole chickens in the roaster oven the day before. We had one for that night's dinner and then we (as in Gabriel) picked the meat off the bones of the the other ones. I can get three meals from two chickens if I shred the meat and use it in soup or a casserole but if I serve it whole the whole chicken is eaten and the boys are clamouring for more.

I saved the stock from the chicken, skimmed off the fat and used it to season the soup. In a big pot (a 12 qt. pot) I put the chicken stock, meat and chopped carrots. Then I added some salt and pepper. I will sometimes add a dash of cayenne if we are sick. This is my basic chicken soup "recipe". I can add rice, barley, noodles or, in the case this weekend, dumplings.

To make the dumplings:

2 cups flour (I used all purpose flour - I've never used whole wheat although I should try it)

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup milk (you can add up to 2 Tbsp more if you need to)

Mix ingredients in order given. Roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 1" square pieces. Drop one at a time into boiling broth and cook until done. The dumplings will puff up and float and then sink when they are done.

Enjoy.

For more great recipes, check out Tasty Tuesday.

Seven Habits, One Thousand Gifts and other January Books

2012-02-03T09:04:00.001-06:00

Earlier this year I picked two books a month to read and listed them out. I normally read more than that, but since my way of picking books is usually just perusing the new section of the library there's books I've wanted to read that never get read because I don't have a list. So for January I read...

{Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey}

I read this book because it is part of a class we put together for our homeschool co-op. Each month the students read a book that will (hopefully) inspire them. Moms are rotating in to teach the class. So I taught January's book. This book really could have been used for a semester or even a year long class. There was that much information in it. It was a lot to try to take in for a month. Most of the kids didn't care much for the book, it is definitely written for an adult audience. However, we had great discussion about private victory and public victory. I really appreciate that this book is not just about changing habits, at its core its about becoming a person who values others and a person who is self disciplined. These two traits will carry a person far in life - no matter what their definition of success is. I think the kids will revisit this book when they get a little older.

{One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voscamp} This is a book I've been wanting to read and it's been all the rage in the blog sphere. Friends have been astounded that I haven't read this book "yet??" Apparently they don't know how randomly I pick my books. A dear friend gave me this book for Christmas with an inscription that I will cherish forever. Because I have read both positive and negative reviews on Amazon, I knew that this book was written very poetically. I'm good with that kind of writing but only for short periods of time. So I knew I'd be taking this one slow, what I didn't realize was just how slow. I'm still reading it!! I've determined to just read a small section or two at a time and so it's taken me a while. I wonder if those who wrote the negative reviews would have done that if their review would have been different? There's such goodness in here, although I will say, I almost didn't make it through the first chapter. So far, I've thought deeply about gratitude, grace and the goodness of God. It has been oh so very good.

{The Heirloom Life Gardener by Jere and Emilee Gettle} This couple owns the Baker Creek Seed company and has a love for heirloom seeds. The photographs are amazing in this book. They are printed on matte paper and almost look like paintings or drawings instead of photos. It was filled with tons of information about heirloom seeds and growing different plants from seed. This was one of the books I would flip through before going to bed. Very easy, light, feel good reading.

{Practical Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman} Elizabeth blogs at oh, Fransson! and is a very talented sewist. Her book is filled with great tips and fun projects for the beginning quilter. Because I'm deep in the costume making business right now and since I have several incomplete quilt tops in my sewing closet, I knew this would be a picture book for me. I read through the first couple of chapters and then just enjoyed looking at the pictures. Because at the end of some days picture books are what I need.

{Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews - ebook} I loved this little ebook. What I especially liked about it was that it was short, has very practical advice and has some planning pages... and it is cheap. I like that Amy suggests using envelopes of time just like our family does for finances. It's very easy to get over committed and this book helps you think through your time.

{Making It by Kelly Coyne} A friend suggested this book to me and after waiting forever for someone to turn it back into the library I finally got to read it. It was so good I actually bought it. It is full of great ideas for making things instead of buying them. Ideas that range from gardening, home improvement, even keeping chickens and bees. I found out that sweet potato leaves can be sauteed and eaten like spinach or kale. I really want to try some in a container, but I need to get over my reluctance to eat house plants.

I only planned out books for the first half of the year, if you have suggestions for the last half please leave them in the comments.

new recipes

2012-01-31T06:46:00.003-06:00

On my never ending quest to keep the boys fed, I've been experimenting with a few new recipes lately. Since I'm trying really, really hard to stay within our grocery budget this year I've pretty much stopped buying snacky type foods. But I have to have snacks available since some in my family are hungry pretty much all day long.

I made these amazing oatmeal and apple scones from a recipe in the February edition of Martha Stewart's Living. (go ahead and click over, you'll be glad you did.) We're not huge nutmeg fans so I doubled the cinnamon. I want to try these with some whole wheat pastry flour but I'm out right now and need to order some in the next couple of week. (that silly grocery budget, again.) We ate about half of them and then put the other half in the freezer.

One morning I came across this French bread in an hour recipe and decided it was just what we needed to go with our leftover spaghetti we were having for lunch. I used half white flour and half freshly ground red wheat. Next time I want to use all wheat and see how it turns out. It was a wonderful addition!

For more great recipes check out Tasty Tuesday.

Planning the spring garden

2012-01-30T06:25:00.004-06:00

I was able to spend a few moments this weekend planning out our spring garden. I'm trying to remember to keep it simple this year. We have so many other things to do this spring and summer that I only want to plant what we can take care of reasonably well. Of course, my resolve waivers as I look at seed catalogs and plants at the feed store and nurseries.

Hopefully, we won't be having any "this summer is the worst drought in history" records. We still haven't quite recovered our rainfall deficiencies.

So what's on the list for this year?

First up, I planted the kale, broccoli, cabbage and lettuce plants that I splurged on and have been sitting on my front porch safe from the chickens for a couple of weeks. We also planted about 115 red onions and 300 yellow onions.

I also bought some strawberry plants, we want to make an expandable strawberry patch near the garden but not in the same area.

Next up, potatoes and garlic. I'm hoping to get these in the ground this week.

Tomatoes: celebrity (as our main variety), roma, yellow pear and lemon boys.

Squash: yellow squash, zucchini, white patty pan, luffa, spaghetti squash and pumpkins.

Peppers: yellow banana, jalapeno and cayenne.

Herbs: cilantro and basil

Beans: green snap beans

Cucumbers: regular eating kind, not the pickling kind

Carrots: short fat ones

Okra

Corn: none this year

Melons: cantaloupe and watermelon

My notes from last year were very helpful in remembering what we liked and what we didn't.

The lemon tree that was here when we bought the house is covered in buds. The potted trees also have some buds on them.

Our neighbor has been piling his leaves on our side of the fence so we can use them in the garden. The garden is on the other side of the yard so Benjamin and a friend moved leaves for me.

This post is linked to Barn Hop #47

{this moment}

2012-01-27T07:50:00.000-06:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. {Amanda Soule}

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

chicken yard

2012-01-25T12:01:00.001-06:00

Our chickens finally have their own yard. They haven't minded having free run of the whole back yard, but Rascal hasn't enjoyed being tied and, of course, we can't start planting the garden until they are confined. Although, I think they would like us to go ahead with it.

We mainly used T-posts but on the corner we used a short telephone pole.
I have no idea how we scored a telephone pole, but we did.

Lunch break of bean burritos.

The completed yard. We didn't quite go all the way back to the fence line
because we want to put our bees back in that corner.

We also burned the three piles of branches that were here when we moved in.
Originally, we thought we'd chip them, but after finding a couple of
copperhead snakes in the backyard we decided to just burn them
and spread the ash in the garden.

It feels so very good to get something crossed off the goal list. I still can't cross of the floors, because they are only "almost" complete. We still have to put in some quarter round in the boys room and install a couple of thresholds. But we still have 11 months.

Sewing with commerical patterns...cutting out the fabric

2012-01-23T22:03:00.002-06:00

In our last "lesson" we talked about how to read the outside of a pattern package. Now that we have that down and have picked our fabric it's time to cut it out. When you open the package you will find some pattern pieces and some instructions.

On the first page of the instructions there are drawings of each pattern piece and the pattern piece number and name.

There are also General Directions that have "Special Cutting Notes". These notes are general notes, not necessarily specific to this pattern.

The next thing you'll notice is that there are cutting layouts for each item. These layouts are really helpful, however, depending on what size you're making you might be able to arrange your pieces a little differently.
You want to be careful and make sure that if your fabric has a design on it, that the pieces are laid out so that the design will look good when the project is completed. For instance, if you're making pants and have cars on your fabric you want to make sure that they are right side up on each piece. Otherwise you'll wind up with some cars going one way on one leg and another way on the other leg.

Now, take your pattern pieces and cut out each pattern piece that you need. Some people go ahead and cut out all the pieces, I don't, but you can if you want. I don't cut right on the size that I'm going to be using, I just quickly cut around the whole piece. Edited to add: Jill reminded me that you really need to iron these pieces and iron your fabric before using them. Also, if you are making something that is going to be washed, go ahead and wash, dry and iron your fabric before even thinking about cutting out the pattern pieces. I know there are people who *never* pre wash their fabric and *never* have a problem. But why take chances??

Each pattern piece will have the brand of pattern and the pattern number on it. This is handy for when you find a random pattern piece laying under your cabinet and have no clue what pattern it belongs to. Each piece will also have the piece number and name, what views it is needed for, how many to cut and from what fabrics or interfacing.

Next, pin your pattern piece to the fabric. I'm cutting out a size medium here, so I pinned right inside the medium line. This piece is cut on the fold, so I put it on the very edge of the folded fabric. Edited to add: Jill also mentions that for pieces that are not cut on the old the long arrow down the middle of each piece is used to line up your pattern with the selvege edge. The selvege edge is the woven or self finished edge of the fabric - the edge that was not cut when you bought the fabric - this keeps the fabric from unraveling. This is straight grain cutting. Or the line is used to line up the pattern on the bias - this is a 45degree angle from the selvege.

Remember in our last lesson, I said that in most pattern packages there is more than one "view" and that sometimes the only difference between 2 views is the length. That's the case with this tunic pattern I'm using. I'm using this for a fisherman's costume and Christian is going to wear pants with it so I need the shorter #13 tunic. Instead of cutting my pattern short, because I might want a long medium tunic in the future, I'm going to use some tracing paper to trace the cutting line.

Lay the tracing paper upside down between the pattern piece and the fabric. Using a blunt pencil trace the line you want to cut.

Now, pick up the pattern piece and cut on the (very light) blue line.

After you've cut the pattern piece out, make sure and cut out any notches that are there. These will help you line up the pieces properly.

When I read pattern piece 3 it said cut on fold. But in the layout instructions it shows piece 3 not being cut on the fold but being cut upside down and right side up (that's what the shaded and non shaded part mean). Well, I thought that was kind of crazy...

So I took a scrap piece of fabric, folded it and then cut piece #3 on the fold. My fabric is solid and this is an inside piece so I didn't have to be careful about the positioning of the pattern piece.

That's all I can think of right now, if you have any questions or helpful tips feel free to leave them in comments.

Ten Simple Things

2012-01-20T16:00:00.000-06:00

We've had a super busy week and guess what, very few pictures because my batteries are dead. Here's ten simple things I've been thankful for this week...

spring like weather
warm apple butter
seeds and plants at the feed store
written goals (to help me stay focused at the feed store)
questions from Seven Habits book
amazing adults who impact my children's lives
community college
drama costumes
the imagination of a two year old
Josiah passing his Eagle Scout Board of Review

our weekend adventure

2012-01-18T08:30:00.000-06:00

Through poor planning on our part, or as Josiah likes to say, "Because of a slight mishap at home involving my parents", we found ourselves spread all over this weekend. Carl, Christian and Gabriel went on a Boy Scout camp out. And Josiah needed to got to Boy Scout training for a camp he is on staff with this Spring Break. The training was in Corpus Christi so we woke up at 5am on Saturday and headed that way. After dropping Josiah off, we ran a few errands and then went to sea wall.

Corpus Christi is a pretty neat city, although I am a little biased since it's my home town. It sits on the Gulf of Mexico and Padre Island is its barrier island and it has a bay. The downtown area is built along the bay. Along the bay, there's a marina and a very long sea wall (or boardwalk).

In 1993, the city became the resting place for La Nina, La Pinta and La Santa Maria - these are replicas of the original 1492 ships. They were built by the Spanish government and sailed to the US in 1992. They toured the States and are now permenently reside in Corpus Christi. La Nina suffered some damage a while back and is now in the marina getting restored. The other two are at the museum. It was fun talking to the guys working on La Nina and fun hearing Benjamin inform his brothers of the facts.

There's also a small beach area and so we walked along the water and Benjamin found some barnacles to bring home. The water was cold! The kids didn't mind but I decided not to get wet.

We saw a couple using a cast net to catch some bait and so there were stories of me and my sibling using seine nets to catch shrimp with my dad. Stories that involved losing shoes in the muck, falling and ultimately loosing the catch and having to do it all again - this time with no shoes.

There's something so very relaxing about being at the beach. No one is really in a hurry, even the people jogging along the sea wall don't seem to be in too much of a hurry. It made me think of our friends from the RV park and my desire to work with diligence and yet not hurry. It's a hard balance for me.

And so while there was so much that could have happened on our goal list this weekend I'm so happy that poor planning brought about just what this mama needed to remember to not be in such a hurry.

whole wheat flour tortillas

2012-01-17T08:24:00.000-06:00

We are a serious tortilla eating family. Someone in our family probably has tortillas everyday. They are great for snacking on plain or with a little bit of butter. We often put cheese, tomato and onion on them and melt them. Some of my children like them with some cream cheese on top - I try to limit that concoction. And we often eat them for lunch for our bean burritos or as a side to taco soup.

However, store bought tortillas are not the healthiest of breads, we've been trying to make our own more. It's really not that hard, although they often come out in funny shapes. There's an art to rolling out round tortillas.

Here's a few tips...

Make sure your skillet is hot a little hotter than you would have it for pancakes.
When the dough starts bubbling, it's time to flip it over.

Cook a few moments on the other side. The air pockets
will puff up a little more.

Stack on a plate lined with a towel. Keep them covered while you
make the rest, this will make them nice and soft.

Whole Wheat Tortilla Recipe:

3 3/4 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour (I grind 2 cups of grain to get this)
1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil)
7/8 cup hot water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. gluten (optional)
1/2 cup ground flax seed (optional)
1/3 cup brown sugar (optional - if you want them sweet)

Mix all of the ingredients together in mixer until well mixed. Don't over mix them, tortilla dough doesn't like to be handled a whole lot.
Let rest for 10 minutes with a towel over the bowl. Pinch off ping pong ball size pieces and roll out on a floured surface. I like mine pretty thin, when my children make them they roll them out thicker, they are good both ways so don't stress out about it. Cook on a hot skillet. Stack on a plate with a towel to cover them.

These are really fun to make and honestly don't take that long. We use two skillets at a time and one of my children helps with either the rolling out or the flipping and stacking. To store them in refrigerator, wrap them in a cloth napkin and put in a zip lock bag.

For more great recipes check out Tasty Tuesday.

Sewing with Commercial Patterns...reading the package

2012-01-15T18:54:00.001-06:00

This spring I'll be doing a lot of sewing for our drama group using commerical patterns. I thought this would be a good opportunity to teach Phoebe how to work with commercial patterns. As I began her instruction, I realized just how confusing commerical patterns can be for someone with limited or no knowlege of them.

The pattern I will be photographing and referring to is Simplicity 4213. Not because there is something super special about this pattern but because I needed to use it to make one of Christian's costumes. I'll show other ones later but we'll start with this one.

The major commercial pattern makers are Simplicity, McCall's, Vogue and Butterick. All of them are laid out pretty similar so once you learn how to use one you can use the others.

If you look at older patterns - say 20 or more years older- you'll notice that most packages have just one or two variations and one or two sizes. Not so anymore. It's very nice that the pattern makers make such variety in one little package, but I think that it can also become confusing.

We'll start with the front of the envelope. On the front of the envelope you will find...

a number in large type - on this pattern it is in the upper left had corner. This is the pattern number. When you are looking through those big books at the fabric store and find a pattern you like, this is the number you need to remember. Then go to the big drawers where (hopefully) the patterns will be organized by maker in numerical order.
size - this is a listing of the sizes this particular pattern envelope will make. Be sure that you check to make sure the size you want to make is listed here. For this pattern all sizes (XS - XL) are in this package. Notice the "A" next to size, if there were other sizes of this pattern available such as XXL then there would be a "B" next to size and then the XXL on the packages that contained an XXL pattern.
pictures of what the finished garment will look like. These are great they give you a wonderful idea of what your item will look like. You do not have to use the same colors they do - this was hard for Phoebe when she was younger because she wanted what was pictured but you might not be able to find the exact fabric.
numbers or letters beside each picture. These are usually the view. For instance, you might be making a dress that has an A and B view and the only difference is the length. For this pattern the numbers represent the actual pattern pieces. So if you want to make the lady costume you know you need all the fabric and notions for pieces 3,7,8 and 9.

On the back of the envelope you will find...

the pattern number
a drawing of the pattern pieces or view (on this pattern it is on the left hand side)
fabric suggestions. One of the first things listed on the back is fabric suggestions. This pattern suggests Bastiste, Broadcloth, Crinkled Gauze, Poplin, Crepe, Raw Silk, Linen and Linen Blends. Now not all of these are going to give you the look you want. Go ahead and ask the nice ladies in the fabric store to help you find each of these kinds of fabrics so that you can decide what will work best. I rarely stray from their suggestions. The manufacturer of these patterns wants you to be successful and they try out a lot of different fabrics to determine which ones work best. Also, some pieces require special fabrics and those will be listed also. For instance, in this pattern piece 12 which is a Roman soldier belt needs leather or synthetic leather. Extra fabric will always be needed to match plaids, stripes or one way designs.
notions list. These are all the things you need to complete the pattern. First listed here is thread. Then each piece that needs something more than thread is listed. For instance, pattern piece 12 also needs 3" length of 3/4" wide Velcro, fifty six 1/2" metal studs and glitter paint.
body measurements. Yes, you have to take body measurements. Patterns are not sized the same as store bought clothes, although they have gotten closer over the years. It is very discouraging to make a garment and then realize it doesn't fit, so just go ahead and take those measurements. Usually it is the chest, waist and hips that get measured. Measure around the largest part of the chest and hips and your natural waistline (usually where your belly button is).
sizes. The size you use is determined by your body measurements. So find your measurements and then look down that column to find your size. All the information you need for your size in in this column.
how much fabric you need. So now that you know your size, run your finger down the column until you get to the view or pattern number you are making. I made piece #13. So when I stop at #13 I see that it says I need 2 1/2 yards of 45" fabric. The 45" means the width of the fabric. There are some asterisks after this and at the bottom of the envelope they are explained.
interfacing requirements is also listed here. Again, ask the nice ladies at the fabric store to direct you to the correct interfacing.
trimmings. Not all patterns have trimmings but this one does and they are listed here. It would have been great if this and the interfacing had been listed in the notions. This is why it's important to read all of the back of the envelope.
Finished garment measurements. This is what the actual items will measure once they are sewn together.
*without nap **with nap ***with or without nap. These tell you what the asterisks in in the fabric section mean. Nap refers to the pile on fabrics that are kind of fuzzy such as velvet, furs, suede and corduroy. Fabric without nap are smooth and fabrics with nap are fuzzy. Fabrics with nap will look different depending on how the light hits the pile and so you need to be extra careful in cutting out the pieces to be sure that all of them have the nap going in the same direction.

Now that we know what all that information on the envelope means, we can move on to what's inside the envelope.

If you have any questions or helpful tips feel free to leave them in the comments.

This post is linked to Barn Hop

in my kitchen... canned venison

2012-01-10T06:48:00.003-06:00

Neither Carl or I grew up in a hunting family, fishing yes, hunting no. However, when we moved to this area we met many people who hunt and over the years we have become a family who eats wild game. I've had a love/hate relationship with venison since the first time I ate it at a friend's house. There have been times I had it and it was wonderful and at times hardly edible. There are a lot of variables such as the age of the deer and how it was butchered that will determine how "gamey" the meat is. We (as in I) do not like the "gamey" taste although I know many people who do.

Last year we were given several deer by a friend who was thinning out the population on his acreage and we used that to make sausage. It was wonderful. So we decided that we would do the same with any deer we got this year. But then I found out you can can venison and serve it like beef tips and gravy. yum. yum.

So Sunday afternoon we "kinda" followed Cowgirl's Country Life tutorial. I used 2 tsp. of beef bullion (one that doesn't have MSG) and 1/8 tsp. of ground black pepper for each quart. I also added some onion and garlic.

In full disclosure I have to say that I was a bit worried about eating this. The finished product doesn't look so appealing (in the jar), so I've decided to spare you guys the pictures - you can go to Cowgirl's site if you are interested in canning your own venison. Her pictures are way better than mine are. However, when I opened the jar Phoebe said "That smells good!" and you know what? It did. Most canned meat smells like dog food to me but this didn't. I put it in a skillet, simmered it for 10 minutes and added some flour to make a gravy. The meat was very tender and tasty.

As I looked on the web I found quite a bit of information -some good and some not good. Contrary to what one site said, you do have to have a pressure canner to can meat. It is unsafe to try to can it in a water bath. Also, you cannot put the flour in the jar to make the gravy ahead of time - the flour can coat the jar and mess up the process.

I followed the directions that came with my canner and I used Tattler Reusable Lids. I was a little worried about using the lids in the pressure canner but they did great. I'm excited to use them this spring on all of our jars.

You can also use this method for other meats. We spent about 4 hours total working on this project and got 13 quarts of meat. About 1.5 hours were just waiting for the last batch to get finished canning. Also, the venison had to be de-boned which took longer than just cutting up meat. I will definitely be on the look out for other meats to can and will be saving these for when I need a quick 20 minute meal.

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday and Barn Hop

corners of our home::the kitchen & dining

2012-01-09T11:58:00.000-06:00

When we first looked at this house there were two things that I fell in love with immediately. The first thing was the yard, lots of mature trees, several concrete slabs and lots of wide open space. The second thing was the kitchen - not because it it big and fancy, but because it is open, has lots af great cabinet space and does not have a dishwasher.

At some point in the 45 year history of this house the wall between the living room and dining and kitchen area came down - but the dining room paneling remained up (but that's a project for next year). Apparently the family was smaller than ours is and they carpeted most of the dining area leaving just a small breakfast nook for a table. We knew that our first inside the house project would be to pull up the carpet and lay some new flooring.

I love having our computer in a central location - in the last 2 homes the computer has been in our bedroom. It makes everyone more accountible with their time and me more accountable with the paper clutter. We took the doors off the cabinets over the refigerator because they would get caught on the top of the refigerator when we opened them. All of our canning goods are stored here and all along the top shelves in each of the cabinets. I'm missing a box with framed pictures in it. When I find it I'll have pictures for these walls. The desk and bookshelves have been in Christian's room for several years. We rearranged furniture when we moved here based on what would work best where and so these are now for the "office area". They really need to be repainted, I orginally painted them about seven years ago, but that will probably not get done this year.

This kitchen has alot of cabinets although they don't all latch properly - I need to add that to the goals list. In the last few homes I've not have very many cabinets and didn't keep much food in my kichen - we made a pantry in other parts of the house like the mudroom. It's been nice keeping all the main food in one place.

My sister and brother in law gave us the cart as a housewarming gift. It's great for serving on or add just a bit more counter space. It also holds my KitchenAid mixer - our cabinets are too low for the mixer to stay on our counters. I love that it is on wheels, we can turn it and turn our table to add another 6' table in here when we have family over.

My grandfather made the bread box from an old radio years ago for my grandmother. I keep my measuring cups and spoons in there for easy access.

Our sink has a lip on it and so I couldn't find a drain board that would drain the water into the sink - it ran all over the counters. So I made some mats to put under the drainer to catch the water. I used old fabric and sandwiched some batting inside. I'm loving them.

I love that this area is the place to be - most of the time all of us are in the living/dining/kitchen area doing something or just hanging out wondering what will be for dinner, which of course is the never ending question.

In the garden...lettuce

2012-01-04T08:22:00.001-06:00

I've really missed the "In the garden..." posts and am so excited to be starting them again. Gabriel was kind enough to till up one bed for me last week. It was still a little damp from the rain we had the week before and so it really needs one more going over before I plant anything. But I went ahead a bought some potted lettuce from the feed store, re-potted them and added some more seeds. So as soon as the bed gets tilled again we can plant the lettuce.

Here's some tips for growing lettuce:

Planting times in our area are Sept.15th to Feb. 28th
Lettuce can be direct seeded or started in pots and transplanted into the garden. We live in a pretty warm area so we just direct seed the lettuce.
I like to just sprinkle seeds in the row without worrying about spacing. As the lettuce grows I thin the plants and we eat them.
Lettuce roots are very shallow, so they need to be watered often.
Try to plant a some seeds every few weeks during the season so that you will have lettuce throughout the season.
Lettuce really likes cool weather. When it gets too warm it will bolt (flower and produce seeds) and turn bitter.
Lettuce will scorch if it gets frost on it and will wilt if it freezes. So either use a cold frame or if you live in a mild winter climate you can just cover them when it is going to freeze.

Our end of the season lettuce last year.

Problems and Pests:

Lettuce is very easy to grow and rarely has problems.
Caterpillars can eat holes in the leaves and you can use bt on them

Harvesting and Storing:

When the lettuce is thinned, we stop pulling up plants and just cut a few leaves off each plant. We mainly plant leaf lettuce not head lettuce.
Lettuce does not store long, once it is harvested it needs to be washed and can be stored in a zip lock bag wrapped in a paper towel. This will keep it fresh for a week or so.

This post is linked to Barn Hop at Homestead Revival.

Goals for 2012

2012-01-02T20:53:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned in my last post we've been dreaming about some things that we would like to accomplish this year. I love dreaming and goal setting, however I can very easily get caught up in the to do list and ruin all the joy of the work. I wind up frustrated and rushing around to get things done and basically am a crab to my family and a horrible example of godly living. Not what I want to be. However, this year we have learned a lot about the sovereignty of God. Beginning with our garden that we put so much work into and because of a drought and vine borers got little produce from it and of course ending with our inability to find a house to rent. So many times I think "If I just work harder...." but sometimes it doesn't matter how hard we work, God has other plans for us.

So this list is not about working harder, it's about doing some things that we believe God would have us do, being willing to change plans and even accept that some of these things probably won't get done. Hopefully the important things will.

As we set out our goals, we listed out the things that are happening this year that will require extra time on our part. Our spring and summer will be filled with an Eagle Project, drama performances which involves a lot of costume sewing for me, a high school graduation and preparing to go off to college. I also want to start only those projects that I think we can do reasonably well. For instance, we would really like to raise some meat chickens, however given all the things we have going on I don't think this is the year to try that.

Many hands make light work when you're working on projects. We're almost done with the
flooring and trim.

{Home}
There are so many things I want to do here at the house...most involve paint and fabric. However, those will probably not happen this year. We need to focus on function not looks right now.

Build a garden shed
Build a smoke house
Pull up carpet in dining area and lay laminate flooring in dining area, kitchen and older boy's room. (all we have left is 2 entryway boards, transition pieces and the trim...but I want it on the list so that the project actually gets finished, not almost finished.)
Fence in the chicken yard
Put up a clothes line
Put another shelf in all the closets
Finish Christian and Josiah's room - we're converting the mudroom into their bedroom, so this room will get painted.
Put radiant barrier in the attic
Build a solar panel for the water well - we've never done anything with solar so there will be a lot of learning involved
Determine a schedule to do all our home maintenance chores, like cleaning out the rain gutters, cleaning the underside of the refrigerator, dryer, etc.

{Garden}
This is a hard one for me to goal set, because what I really want is to grow enough to never have to buy produce from the store, but that is probably unrealistic. So I'm only listing the things that we can control - not the actual "growing" of the produce.

Have 10 beds (5'X20') tilled up and ready to plant this spring
Get the soil tested
Lay mushroom compost on all the beds - there's a mushroom farm about 45 minutes away that sells their compost
Propagate some blueberry bushes from the ones that I have and get cuttings from a friend so that we can have other varieties
Plant black peppers in a pot (and keep it alive - I'm terrible with potted plants) Growing Tasty Tropical Plants is the inspiration for this.
Graft a grapefruit cutting - a friend has a grapefruit tree and we're hoping to get a cutting and learn how to graft a tree
Plant our citrus and pomegranate trees in the ground

{Livestock}
OK, so all we have is chickens, but hopefully that will change this year.

Fence in chicken yard
Get 12 more hens
Begin beekeeping - this will be Gabriel's project

{Financial}
Over the last several years we have seen the benefit of having multiple streams of income and so here's some things we would like to do this year to increase those streams.

Open Etsy Store - actually, we've had a store for about 2 years - but we've never listed anything.
Write a couple of ebooks - we've had several ideas floating around for about 6 months and would really like to get a couple of them written.
Keep within my grocery budget each month - this area is the easiest for me to justify going over each month.
Track all income and out go

{Personal Development}
At the end of each day, I like to snuggle on the couch and read for a while before going to bed. I usually only read one or, at most, two books at a time. Honestly, sometimes it's all about the pictures. If a book has amazing photos I will look through it - it's very restful for me. If the book doesn't have great content I'm probably not going to finish it. I'm not one to suffer through a book that doesn't inspire me. I've gotten into the habit of just perusing the "new" section of our library to find books I want to read instead of being intentional about it. I've found some great books this way but I also have some books on my list that I really want read and never get around to because I'm not very intentional. So I thought I'd pick two books for each month and schedule them. For accountability's sake, I'll list the books I've read each month with any thoughts I might have on them. So here's the books for the first half of 2012

Bible Plan - Chronological Bible Reading Plan

January- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (I'm teaching this at co-op)
              One Thousand Gifts

February - How to Win Friends and Influence People (another co-op book)
                 The Home Orchard

March - Rework
             Crazy Love

April - EntreLeadership
           Kisses from Katie

May - Quitter
          The Rhythm of Family

June - Bringing it to the Table
           Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

I'm sure other items will come up that we'd like to do this year and we'll add them to the list. Whatever doesn't get done this year we'll just carry over to next if it is something we feel like we still need to do.

What are some of your goals for this year?

The Money Saving Mom's Budget Book Winner

2012-01-01T13:55:00.001-06:00

The winner of the Money Saving Mom's Budget by Crystal Paine is commenter #6 as chosen by Random.org. If you haven't read through the comments on this post, you should, there's some great ideas in there.

Thanks to all who commented!

Looking back and looking forward

2012-01-01T01:38:00.001-06:00

This afternoon Carl took the kids to buy fireworks and I had a few minutes (almost) to myself. As Esther and I were washing the dishes I was overcome with a feeling of contentment. We've spent a lot of time with extended family this past month and I love sitting back and watching my children interact with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I love seeing my sister and her husband as they are just beginning their life together. So.Very.Sweet. And tonight we're having our first ever cousin sleepover.

Of course, part of the contentment comes from our new home. But, for me, it's more than just a place to live. Just a few short months ago, we were dangerously close to being homeless. It didn't take us long in the "looking for a rent house" journey to realize that no one wants to rent a house to a family with six children. Housing is very limited here due to a recent oil find and so landlords can be more picky. During that time friends and family prayed diligently for us and offered us opportunities that ranged from spare bedrooms to campers. We are so very fortunate to have friends and family who love us and see our children as a blessing and not a burden. If we had had to stay in a hotel for all those weeks, we would not have been able to buy a house. I know we would not have this home if it were not for the generosity of God's people.

The year 2011 will go down as the hardest year Carl and I have ever experienced and yet it will also go down as the most blessed year.

As we begin 2012, Carl and I have set some goals of things we want to accomplish. Usually when I set out to do something it is because I'm discontent with what I have or where or who I am. This year our goals feel different, they're more like dreams than goals and they stem not from discontentment but from appreciation to the people who were so generous to us in their prayers and possessions. I'll be posting about some of those dreams this week.

Wishing you and your family a blessed and contentment filled New Year!

Reveal of the Handmades

2011-12-30T08:29:00.001-06:00

Here they are, the handmade gifts we gave and received this year...

After all the sneaking around I can finally tell you about our handmades for this year. Gabriel made monogrammed mugs for everyone using this tutorial from DesignMom. Carl etched Candy and Cookie Jars for each family. I made matching pj's for all the cousins (the girls were pink). Grandma made Esther a satin heart pillow and embroideried her name on it with furry yarn. My sister made her husband's parents a memory quilt - I've hinted heavily that I would cherish a quilt like this! Christian and Phoebe made silhouttes of the younger cousins (Josiah did the older kids a few years ago). Benjamin made coasters out of hickory and cedar. And Josiah made cd's with Christmas music for each person tailored toward their taste in music - this is my favorite rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas. Wishing you a very peaceful last weekend of 2011!

Christmas Traditions :: Cookies

2011-12-23T08:41:00.000-06:00

Have I ever mentioned that I really like to bake Christmas cookies, especially the cut out kind? It's not that I just I like it, I might be a little obsessed with it. The week before Christmas, we make a list of all the goodies we want to make this year. Each year is pretty much the same. Let's see there's Shortbread cookies, truffles, Esmer's cookies (aka Mexican Wedding cookies), Reese's peanut butter cup cookies, church window cookies and this year we added peppermint bark. When I asked Carl if he wanted anything else he said "um, No, I think a half dozen different kinds of cookies is fine for Christmas." And smirked a little.

Well, he wasn't smirking last night when he came home to this...

We had such a great time. We invited some friends who moved here this summer from Kenya - they have never done any baking - and their girls had an especially fun time decorating the cookies. Esther had fun decorating them too, but we can't give any of hers away - with the licking of fingers and butter knives and all.

This morning we will be finishing up the truffles and the Reese's and then bagging almost all of the goodies. We're taking some to the fire department that is close to our house and to the guys who work at the city recycling facility. We also have a few bags for friends and the postman. Tomorrow we'll be making some pies and taking those and some of these to a friend who volunteers at the local women's shelter for their Christmas meal.

So that's my Christmas obsession... cookies, but cookies that will hopefully bring a bit of joy and appreciation to people in our community who are often overlooked. A tradition that I hope my children carry on when they have their own families.

What are some of your Christmas family traditions?

Birthday Celebrations::food edition

2011-12-20T07:14:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Gabriel's 14th birthday this weekend. Whenever we have birthdays I fix whatever the birthday person wants for supper. Usually it's something that I've fixed before and we just haven't had in a long time, but this time Gabriel picked fried shrimp, calamari, spaghetti with red and white sauce and his mint dessert.

Carl and I both grew up on the coast so we are kind of picky about our seafood- we want it fresh and real, as in not "fish sticks". It's been a long time since I've fixed fried shrimp so I went trolling along the internet to find a recipe that I thought would be good - using what I happen to have on hand. I came across this recipe and in the comments I found the recipe we used for the sauce and we used Zatarain's fish fry for the breading. They were amazing!

After you have peeled and deveined the shrimp, dust them with the fish fry, then dip in the sauce and then dust with the fish fry again.

Fry for 2-3 minutes in oil that is 350-360 degrees. You need at least 350 degrees or they will turn out greasy and the breading won't be crunchy.

Enjoy - and if it's a birthday celebration no veggies are required. On your seconds get a plate of just shrimp and calamari.

Finish with a delightful mint concoction

Use an ice pick to put holes in the dessert so you can put the candles in.

Fried Shrimp Recipe
1 pound shrimp - shelled and deveined
1/2 stick butter
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
Zaterain's cajun fish fry
oil for frying

Melt the butter, add egg and milk (I think it would work better if the milk were a little warm so that it doesn't set up the butter).

Dip the shrimp into the breading, then sauce, then breading again. When you have enough to fill your frier (we used our electric wok) fry them 350-360 degrees. Most recipes called for peanut oil, but that is too pricey for us, so we used canola oil.

We used the same recipe for the calamari. We bought tubes that were already deheaded and the "bone" was removed. We sliced them in half and then fried them just like the shrimp.

Mint Dessert Recipe

1/2 gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream
1 bag of mint oreos
1 bag of mint M&Ms

Line the bottom of a 9X13 pan with chopped oreos. Let the ice cream get a little soft and mix it with the M&Ms. Put the ice cream in the pan and cover with the rest of the oreos. Put in freezer until time to serve. If you need to put candles in it, poke holes in it with an ice pick just before putting the candles in.

Enjoy!

To see more great recipes check out Tasty Tuesday.

Christmas Traditions:: secrets and whispers

2011-12-19T08:19:00.000-06:00

There's been a lot of whispers and secrets going on around here lately. It seems a person can't walk into a room without hearing, "Go away, we're talking" or "Hey, didn't you see the Keep Out sign?" There's an excitement and urgency in the air.

What could cause all this sneaking around?

It's the making of the Christmas gifts. We've always encouraged our children to make gifts for family and extended family instead of buying gifts. We've done this for several reasons. First of all, our children don't have much money. Secondly, and more importantly, we want to help our children not get caught up in the crazy consumerism that surrounds this time of year.

And so each year about this time, our home is filled with lots of secrets and whispers as the children make their gifts for family. It's fun to see the alliances that happen and the relationships that are built as some of the children work together to make their gifts.

Do you guys make gifts for family and friends?