Suburban Self Sustainment

Returning from my travels.

2011-11-10T08:34:00.001-06:00

Well I have finally returned from the tropical paradise that is Yuma Az. (Did you sense the sarcasm there? I was laying it on pretty thick.) Have no fear faithful followers new posts are soon to be out. Ever wanted to plant your own herb garden? There really is something special about walking out your door to pull basil and oregano and putting right into whatever you are cooking. It is also alot simpler than you may think. Stay tuned. I'll have it up by weeks end.

PS Happy Birthday to all the Marines out there. SEMPER FI Devils!!!

Jellies and Jams and Preserves, Oh my!

2011-09-05T23:17:00.000-05:00

So you have your homemade pita bread, and you are wondering what to do with it. Well how about a few homemade jams, jellies, or preserves to put on it? Yes, you read that right. In this episode you are going to learn how to make all three. It really is quick and easy. One thing I have learned in this process to become more self sufficient and less dependent on commercial food products is the ease at which these products are actually produced at a family level. So what do you say? Let's get to it.

First lets understand the difference between the three. Jelly, jam and preserves are all made from fruit mixed with sugar and pectin. The difference between them comes in the form that the fruit base takes.

In jelly, the fruit base comes in the form of fruit juice.
In jam, the fruit base comes in the form of fruit pulp or crushed fruit (and is less stiff than jelly as a result).
In preserves, the fruit base comes in the form of chunks in a syrup or a jam.

Pretty simple right? Basically it comes down to how "chunky" you like your jelly or jam.

Now back in your grandma's days when preserving jams and jellies she probably didn't use pectin. Pectin is an indigestible carbohydrate (fiber), meaning it does not provide energy. It is found in the cell walls of most fruit. When heated with sugar in water, it gels, giving jam, jelly and preserves their thickness. Some fruits have more pectin than others. You can cook down all of these without pectin to get the thickness but it removes some flavor in the process. So all of the following recipes use an additional pectin added in during the boiling process. Instead of boiling for 40 minutes to get the thickness desired we will be boiling for 10 minutes. Is it cheating? I don't feel that it is. You can actually produce your own homemade pectin if you wish.

Lets start with the jelly. For my jelly I choose to make something I little out of the norm. Jalapeno jelly. If you have never tried this, I highly recommend making a batch. There is no heat whatsoever. It tastes exactly the same as candied jalapenos. Very sweet, very tasty.

Ingredients:
12 medium jalapenos stemmed and seeded
2 cups cider vinegar
6 cups of sugar
2 3oz pouches of liquid fruit pectin
Optional green food coloring
This recipe fills 3 pint or 6 half pint canning jars

Method:
Remove stems from jalapenos, cut open and remove seeds then quarter. Puree peppers in a food processor or blender with 1 cup cider vinegar until completely smooth. Combine puree with remaining vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil 10 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid scorching or burning.

Add all of the liquid pectin at once and stir in well. Continue to hard boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. Then remove from heat and skim foam if you wish.

Fill your sterlized jars and process for 10 min in your hot water bath canner. Just like with all your other canning, check lids after jars have cooled. Any unsealed jars can be put in the fridge and used immediately. Should be good for about a month in the fridge. Sealed jars should be good for about a year, stored in a dark cool dry shelf.

That's it. Piece of cake right? This jelly is best when served on a cracker with a little cream cheese on top. It is also a terrific compliment to meats and poultry as well.

So we got our jelly covered. Lets move on to the jam. I decided to make my favorite jam for this batch. Strawberry.

Ingredients:
32oz of fresh strawberries
3 cups of sugar
3 Tbsp lemon juice
2 .4oz packs of classic pectin
This recipe fills 2 pint or 4 half pint canning jars.

Method:
Remove all stems and leaves from strawberries. Cut out any bruises or soft spots. Mash up the berries with a manual potato masher. Make sure they are good and smashed. It releases all the natural pectin in the fruit and helps with the jelling process as we discussed earlier.

Mix the smashed berries with the pectin and lemon juice and bring to a good boil(one that cannot be stirred away). Boil for 10 minutes.

Now add the sugar and bring back to a boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and spoon off the foam if you wish.

Two down one more to go. For my preserve I went with the peach version. Good ripe locally grown peaches cannot be acquired in the winter, so it will be nice to have some preserved during the off season.

Ingredients:
5 medium peaches(I wasn't sure I had enough peaches so I threw in a couple of nectarines)
4 cups of sugar
1 .4oz pack of classic pectin
1/8 cup of lemon juice
This recipe fills 2 pint or 4 half pint canning jars.

Method:
Set a pot of water to boil. Enough to cover a few of the peaches at a time. Fill a bowl on the side with ice water. We need to peel the peaches. The skin does not soften and must be removed for our preserve.

Once the water is boiling put a couple of peaches in for 30 seconds. Remove the peaches with a set of tongs or slotted spoon and immediately place them into the ice water.

If the peaches are ripe the skins will slide right off with little effort. If parts of the skin seem stubborn you can peel the rest with a knife or you can try and reheat them for another 30 to 60 seconds.

Now that the skins are off cut the peaches up in quarters and remove stems and seeds. Cut out any brown spots or mush areas as well. Like with our strawberries mash them up a bit but leave larger chucks this time.

Mix in the lemon juice and stir well to make sure all the surfaces are covered. This prevents the fruit from browning. Add pectin at this time.

Bring peaches to a boil(one that cannot be stirred away). Boil for 10 minutes. Careful when stirring. With the peaches I got burned multiple times by splashing hot fruit. Add sugar and return to a boil for 1 minute.

Fill your sterlized jars and process for 10 minutes in your hot water bath canner. Just like with all your other canning, check lids after jars have cooled. Any unsealed jars can be put in the fridge and used immediately. Should be good for about a month in the fridge. Sealed jars should be good for about a year, stored in a dark cool dry shelf.

Well there you have it. Jelly, jam, and preserves all in an afternoon. We have been enjoying toast every morning ever since I finished these batches. I would love to hear how yours turned out. Leave a comment and let me know. Don't forget to like me on Facebook or Twitter.

Y'all keep it straight out there.

Homemade Pita Bread

2011-09-01T21:46:00.001-05:00

So this week faithful readers, you are in for a double treat. The first being this homemade pita bread. I hadn't made this in a while and I cannot tell you why. I could eat this bread with every single meal. It is that good. It really takes no time at all to make either. Most of the time involved is waiting for the dough to rise, which requires no action on your part. We had this the other night with rotisserie chicken. Phenomenal. So without further ado, lets get to it.

Ingredients:

1 package of yeast, or quick rising yeast
1/2 cup warm water
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 cup lukewarm water

Method:

Dissolve your yeast into 1/2 cup of warm water. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until water is frothy.

Combine flour and salt in large bowl.

Make a small depression in the middle of flour and pour yeast water in depression.

Slowly add 1 cup of warm water, and stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until elastic.

Place dough on floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. When the dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and elastic, it has been successfully kneaded. If you are using a large mixer like a KitchenAid then just hook up the dough hook and need for about 10 min. Here is the KitchenAid I have.
It is a great machine and I highly recommend it. With the proper attachments you can make everything with this. Pasta, bread, grind your own sausage. Its awesome. Sorry, back to the pita bread. =)

Coat large bowl with vegetable oil and place dough in bowl. Turn dough upside down so all of the dough is coated.

Allow to sit in a warm place for about 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size. The right temp for the rise is about 80-85 degrees F. If your house isnt quite that warm you can set the dough infront of a window if the sun is coming through or you can do what I do, preheat the oven for about 1 minute. Then turn the oven off and put the bowl in.

Once the dough has doubled, roll out in a rope, and pinch off 10-12 small pieces. Place balls on floured surface. Let sit covered for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 500 deg F. and make sure rack is at the very bottom of oven. Be sure to also preheat your baking sheet.

Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles. Each should be about 5-6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick.

Bake each circle for 4 minutes until the bread puffs up. I smash the bread down with a spatula and then turn it over and bake for 2 minutes.

Remove each pita from the baking sheet and add additional pitas for baking. I can usually get 2 pitas on my baking sheet at a time.

Immediately place in storage bags or eat warm. Its actually the best way. This is bread so do not leave it out in the open air or it will harden. The Mrs. says they taste a little like saltines when they harden up some.

Warm pitas, man I can't think of many things better. Except for maybe fresh warm pita covered in homemade peach jam. Thats coming in my next post. I told you there was a double treat coming this week. Stay tuned.

Don't forget for a closer view you can click on the pictures. Don't forget to like this page on Facebook or Twitter.

Y'all keep it straight out there.

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-23T21:38:00.002-05:00

To all my friends on the east coast, looks like you got some weather heading your way. Check out my website and get yourself prepared before its too late. Don't rely on the Feds to take care of you after a disaster. Take responsibility for your family's safety. This one looks like it might be a doozy. Y'all stay safe over there!!

http://www.familysurvivalhq.com/

I have all the supplies and a few pointers to help you get through this storm and the rest of the hurricane season. Its not too late. Most of the items listed are next day shipping.

Pickle Report

2011-08-22T21:04:00.000-05:00

Well I have finally returned from my business trip. I was very anxious to see how my pickles turned out after a week of marinating. The results are in. They taste good. A little vinegary...but not too much. I was hoping the garlic would come through a little more, I could hardly taste it at all. The dill did come through nicely. As for texture, a little softer than I would have liked. I was hoping for a more firm pickle. I have done some reading since the big test and have found multiple suggestions that I am going to try out on the next few batches. I will let you know what works out best in a future post. So stay tuned for that. I did make one jar with some jalapenos for a little added spice and will be taking those to work with me tomorrow to get an outside opinion.

We had a very busy day today with the kids returning to school. All though I did find out later some horror stories out there about some 1st day of school confusion that was down right scary. Children being told to walk home 10 miles. Just absolute horror stories. We had a little of our own confusion but thankfully nothing as bad as that. I think it will all be sorted out by tomorrow. Any of my faithful readers out there have any first day of school stories to share? I would love to hear them, good or bad. Don't forget to like us on FB and leave a comment.

Y'all keep it straight out there.

I make pickles, and you can too!

2011-08-15T00:11:00.006-05:00

Who would have ever thought me and ol' Aunt Bee would have something in common. Bad pickles. Well we don't know that for sure just yet. My first attempt may come out a blue ribbon winner. At least that's what I am hoping for. It does remain to be seen. I will warn you now, this is my longest blog post to date. I tried to fill it with as much info as I could to help you along. I've included numerous pictures as well. If you are new to my blog you can click on a picture for a larger view.

Every morning I go out to the garden to pull a few weeds and get my watering done before the heat sets in too awful bad. As I mentioned before, the only edible crop that seems to be thriving in my awful soil and the oppressive TX heat has been my cucumbers. Now don't get me wrong, we like cucumbers. We use them in salads, eat them chilled and soaked in water and vinegar. As with anything else though too much of a good thing is still, too much. So I have been wondering what I was going to do with all of the extras I was going to end up with. Intially my plan was to hand some out to the neighbors. Hopefully I am still going to be able to do that but a couple of days ago it hit me. Pickles.

Now I can remember watching that episode of Andy Griffin as a kid and thinking that making pickles must be a long process, and you must have to have just the right spices to produce a good tasting batch. Aunt Bee was a smart gal, and to have her pickles taste like kerosene, then there must be something in the process she was goofing up. As near as I can rememeber I've never had a home canned pickle. My mother may correct me on that, but for the life of me I don't ever remember eating a pickle that wasn't store bought.

So I began to research pickling. Starting with my two favorite books. The first is The Backyard Homestead. A must have reference for anyone that wants to produce their own food. I wasn't too impressed with the actual pickle recipe that was in the book. The process was the old fashioned way, including 6 weeks of salt brining. No good.

So I referenced my second favorite book that my sister got me for my last birthday. Self Sufficiency for the 21st Century. This book is also a must have for anyone with self sustainment in mind. Everything from building your own composting toilet to root cellaring your sweet potatoes. But neither book covered making pickles. They both covered pickling well enough but it just wasn't what I was looking for specifically. So it was off to the interwebs!

I finally settled on a recipe and a method I thought I could handle. And so began my journey into canning things that actually came from my garden. Which I have never attempted before. Knowing some of the basics I knew I would need a canner, and some jars and lids. None of which I had on hand. Off to the store we go. I had a specific canner in mind that I remember my Great Grandma in Onaga KS had and used. I know I had seen them before in passing so I knew they were still out there. I hit the jackpot on the first stop. Wally-world. As much as I truly hate that place, they do carry everything.

Here's my new gear.

I picked up a Canner, 12 Qt sized jars and lids, an extra box of lids(the lids aren't reusable and considering this was my first attempt I figured I had better have a couple extras for screw ups.) I also grabbed a box of canning tools including a jar grabber, a magnet for snagging the lids out of the boiling water and a air bubble dispenser that also seconds as a gauge for headspace in the jar. Now you can run out to Wally-world yourself to grab all this stuff. Or you can pick them up right here, right now.

Columbian Home 0707-1 Granite Ware 21-1/2-Quart Steel/Porcelain Water-Bath Canner with Rack

Now for the jars I bought regular mouth Qt jars. Which I list for you here. There are also wide mouth jars for tomatoes or sauces. Just make sure you note what you are getting so you can get lids to match.

Ball Regular Mason Canning Jar 1 Qt., Case of 12

Here is a nice canning tool kit that includes all the tools I got today.

Fagor Home Canning Kit

The last thing I picked up was this bag of pickling salt.

Pickling And Canning Salt By Precision Foods Inc

So just just to make sure we are all on the same sheet of music here, the list of the minimum equipment needed.

A Canner - The big pot - You don't specifically have to have the canner pot but whatever you are using cannot be aluminum and has to be big enough to fully submerge your jars.

Jars and lids - Make sure the lids match the mouth of your jars. Quart or Pint depending on how many pickles you are making and how big you want them.

Some sort of tongs to get the boiling hot jars out of the canner.

Equipment that makes things easier.

Funnel for the jars - makes for easier pouring of the pickling solution.

A flat spatula - gets all the air bubbles out prior to sealing

Now for the recipe.

Ingredients

4 full grown cucumbers

6 cups of white distilled vinegar(5% acidity)

6 cups of water(tap is fine)

6 Tblsp of pickling salt(or kosher, not iodized table salt)

3 heads of fresh dill or 3 tsp of dill seed(one for each Qt jar)

3 cloves of garlic(same as above)

Method

Now for the fun part. I will be including a "Things I learned" during some of these instructions. So watch for them.

Take your canning pot and fill with water. Put the cans and lids in the water and bring to a boil. The canner I got was a 21 Qt pot. Thats ALOT of water. It never seemed to reach a what I would call a rolling boil while I was sanitizing my jars.

*THINGS I LEARNED*
Put the lid on the pot. It traps the heat in and brings the water to a a full boil. Unfortunately I didn't learn this until I had to re-process a jar(more on that later)

When your canner is getting close to boiling start your brine. In a large saucepan combine the vinegar, water, and salt and bring to a boil.

*THINGS I LEARNED*
Make sure the canner is on the verge of boiling. I had my brine to the boiling point long before my jars where ready so I had to lower the heat and wait till the jars were ready and then bring the brine back to a boil prior to filling the jars. There is no time limit on sanitizing the jars. Because we are using the hot bath method, as soon as the canner reaches the boiling point you can pull the jars out and fill them.

While you are waiting for the canner to boil you can get your cucumbers, dill, and garlic ready to go.

During my research I read that taking the ends off of the cucumbers helps to make the pickles more crisp. I'm not sure why, but they sounded like they knew what they were talking about so I did it.

Once you have the cucumbers sliced and diced the way you want them and both pots are boiling it's time to fill the jars.

Very carefully remove a jar from the canner and put a clove of garlic and a head of dill in it.

Then begin to pack your cucumbers in. If you cut them too long for the jar just clip a bit off the end. I saved all of my clipped ends and stuffed them into my last jar that didn't have enough spears to fill it up. Make sure you really pack the spears in tightly. It helps to keep them down and not float up in the brine.

Now if you have a funnel, insert it into jar and pour just enough boiling brine to fill the jar 1/2in below the lip. This is called the headspace of the jar and is very important. The proper headspace allows for a good seal and keeps the cucumbers off the lid. Using your air removal tool(flat spatula, bamboo skewer, butter knife) remove all of the air bubbles out of the jar. If your headspace lowers after this process just add a little more brine until the 1/2in is achieved again.

Take a damp cloth or paper towel and wipe the lip of the jar where the lid will sit to clean it. Pull a lid out of the canner(which is still boiling) and place on jar. Put the ring on and tighten down.

*THINGS I LEARNED*
Less is definitely more when tightening lids. I over tightened on the first round and didn't get a good seal and had to re-process a jar. During the second tightening I used the three finger method. Which was actually two fingers and thumb...but that's an argument for another day. The point being, no tighter than you can get with three fingers.

Once all the jars are filled with the lids on and tightened its time for the hot bath. Here's my last jar. Notice the clipped ends and the color of the cucumbers.

After reviewing a couple canning websites I found that the time for the hot bath differed between them. A few I saw said to keep the filled jars in the canner for up to 30 min. A majority of the sites though had the time between 10 and 15 min. So I took the middle. 12 min sounded good to me so that's what I went with. Again use the lid of the canner and watch for over boiling. That lid on method really gets that water hot!

After 12 min has passed it's time to pull out the jars. Carefully remove the jars from the canner and gently set on a dish towel. You may here a hissing sound coming from the lid. This is what you want, but don't worry if they aren't. It's not a requirement for a good seal. Cover the jars with another towel and allow to slowly cool.

Check the lids in about an hour. If you can see it, the lid should be concave a little, and you should not feel any give when you push down on it. Careful the lids are still going to be hot. If the lid has give or if it makes a popping noise as it goes up and down then the jar has not sealed. Wait another 30 min to an hour and check again. If the jar hasn't sealed at this point, there is two options. Re-process the jar or, put it in the fridge and enjoy the pickles within the next 30 days. If you get a good seal the pickles will keep in a cool dark place for about a year.

*THINGS I LEARNED*
Wait that second hour for the jar to seal. One of my jars sealed within the first 20 min during the cooling period. After an hour the other 2 had not. I thought I had over tightened the lids. I decided to try something out. I was going to re-process one of the jars and just consume the other jar within the month. It would give me a good test bed for taste and crispness having the two to compare against each other. I pulled the lid off of one and brought the canner back to boiling with a new lid in to get sterilized and heated up. With the new lid in place and three fingered tightened, the jar was re-processed. Another 12 min in the canner, then pulled out to be cooled. During this process I rechecked the other jar, only to find that it had sealed itself during that second hour. Once again my impatience had got the better of me. Oh well, I can now still compare the two and see how reprocessing will affect the first jar.

Here are my jars cooling off. Notice the color change to a more "pickle color". I was really surprised by this. I thought that color change would only come with the six week salt brining method. I was wrong.

The whole hot water bath can be done away with if you plan on consuming the entire jar within 30 days. Simply add the cucumbers, dill, and garlic to any jar, pour boiling brine over it, cover, and let it cool down to room temperature. Then put your pickles in the fridge and eat within a month.

So there you have it. Pickles in an afternoon, including a shopping trip. Once again I am amazed at the simplicity of producing something that I would have normally just picked up from the store more than likely filled with numerous, unpronounceable preservatives. So do me and Aunt Bee really have bad pickles in common? We don't know yet. The pickles can be consumed 24 hours after being jarred. The recommended time is 2 weeks to allow the brine to fully soak into the cucumbers. I am going on the road next week so I will be doing a taste test next Sunday when I return. You may want to wait to try this recipe until then. If they turn out to taste like they were pickled in kerosene, then I will have saved you a few cucumbers and an afternoon of canning. If they do turn out to be a bad batch maybe the Mrs. and the kids will be just like Andy and Barney, learning to love them to spare my feelings. For some reason, I seriously doubt that though. =)

If you liked the post or found it to be informative don't forget to like it on Facebook. There is a Facebook button at the bottom of the post or one at the top off to the right. If you want to wait to see how they turned out, I don't blame you.

Y'all keep it straight out there.

Fruits of my labor

2011-08-12T10:42:00.001-05:00

Thought I would share a picture of the melon and some flowers pulled from the garden. I had thought the melon was ripe for picking. I think I was a little anxious. I thought my tried and true method of thumping the melon like I do in the store was sufficient. I was wrong. It turned out to be just ripe enough to be edible but should have stayed on the vine a little longer. I went and did some research and am going to share what I learned so that y'all don't make the same mistake I did.

From almanac.com

When the stem curls and turns brown and the place where the melon touches the ground turns yellow, it's ready. Rap it with your knuckles and listen for a dull, hollow sound.

The curl of the vine seems to be the general consensus of all the sites I read. My only hope now considering it was the only melon on the vine was that maybe it will produce one more before the growing season ends. Here's hoping anyways. Next time I will try no to be so impatient. One of my many flaws.

The flowers are called zinnias and they have done wonderfully in the garden with no signs of heat stress and just getting the same watering I used on the rest of the garden. With an occasional feeding of Miracle-Gro.You can get the seeds here.

Here is the future master gardener collecting his flowers. The flowers were his, from a school project. They were started in class from seeds and then transplanted at home at the end of the school year. I am really impressed by their resiliency and look.

Y'all keep it straight out there.

The joys of gardening

2011-08-09T20:49:00.001-05:00

In honor of my 1000th page view today(thank you loyal readers!) I've decided to make today a double post day! So make sure you enjoy the post just below this one as well.

One of the good things about growing a garden in TX is the long growing season. I believe the last frost hit around March here. Which makes people in Montana jealous. The bad thing about growing a garden in TX is the over bearing heat. Which has decimated my tomato plants this year. I even bought a pair of "heat resistant" plants to see how they would do. They actually ended up producing more tomatoes than my non heat resistant plants but the tomatoes are small and there were not very many of them. The plants that seem to do the best in this heat seem to be my cucumbers. They have spread over a quarter of my garden and encroached on some of my other crops.

I underestimated the size those cucumber plants would need. I also put them up against my fence line with the intent of them climbing the fence and saving some space. I tried to train them the best I could. Apparently the plants had other plans growing more the exact opposite direction from the fence. I'm still not sure why.

I also underestimated the size of my watermelon plant. It actually came as a surprise. I had thought all was lost with the sowing of those seeds. At least 6 weeks had gone by after sowing and no signs of sprouts. Finally a single plant out of about 6 seeds planted showed up. The plan was to transplant after the plant had a chance to get a little stronger but as usual, other things always come up and its put off till tomorrow. Well tomorrow ended up being weeks later and by that point I decided to just leave it. It has entirely consumed a 3ft by 12ft space in the back of my garden. Surprisingly it has only produce one melon. But it sure is a beaut.

My soil here is crap as well so I used a method taught to me by a master gardener(my father). Each plant had a hole dug about 8 - 12 inches deep and about 12 inches wide and filled with a good potting soil.

The plants themselves did great before this heat hit. I will be using the method again early next spring. I will be sowing early in the planting season to see if I can get a pre-summer harvest.

I only have one more growing season before I have to replace all the grass I've killed in my backyard to prepare to sell this house and hopefully move on to our small homestead somewhere in KS. If any of you have any tips or tricks to beat this summer heat beating down our gardens leave a comment and let me know.

Thanks again to all of you, my loyal readers. This truly is a labor of love when you know people are returning time and time again to check out and read the posts on the site. Make sure you are clicking the share to Facebook or the Tweet This link at the top of the page and help me in spreading the word about self sustainment practices.

Y'all keep it straight out there.

Spinning your own yarn.

2011-08-09T19:17:00.001-05:00

My sister has been my inspiration for starting a blog and has been gracious enough to even send me a few her wonderful viewers. Here is her blog with a tutorial on how to spin your own yarn from wool. If that ain't self sustainment, I don't know what is.

Take it away sis.

How to spin yarn with a spindle

Here is the book she talks about in her post.

A nice beginners kit.

Chicken Stock

2011-08-07T11:44:00.002-05:00

People choose to be more and more self sufficient for many reasons. One of the reasons we decided to change the way we live was the type and quality of food that we were taking in, as well as giving to our children. Which brings us to today's post. Making your own chicken stock. Not only is this a more affordable option, the scale as to how much better for you it is, is almost immeasurable.

Up until a couple of years ago I never would have thought twice about store bought chicken stock. I figure if the FDA says its good to go,then it must be. The problem with that is I have become a firm believer that just because something is "safe" that doesn't necessarily mean its good for you. Our normal brand of choice when it came to store bought chicken stock was a popular name brand instant bouillon cubes. You take a cube, throw it in a pot of boiling water and VOILA', chicken stock. Very easy, but you are paying for that ease, in more than one way.

Lets take a look at the back of the jar of cubes shall we? (Yes yes I know...I still have some in the house, sometimes I run out of homemade and have to suffer through a cube every now and then. I trust you loyal readers will forgive me =) ) First off the #1 ingredient listed is salt. Not a good start, each cube contains 33% of your daily intake for sodium. If we look further into the ingredients we start to see the things I consider to be the real problem. The words I don't recognize as food. Starting with Monosodium Glutamate(MSG), Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Silicon Dioxide, Tricalcium Phosphate, Alpha Tocopherol, BHA(its labeled as a preservative....must be too long to type out on the list), and to finish it off, Propyl Gallate.

I am afraid to google any of that. It may make me throw the jar out. What if I told you in about 5 hours, you could make your own chicken stock that included nothing else but chicken, celery, onion, carrots, pepper, and water? That's it! Not only does it taste better, it's better for you, and in the long run, cheaper to make as well. Considering most of the ingredients we are going to use are "scraps", that would have ended up in the trash or compost bin, there is almost no cost at all to make homemade chicken stock.

There is a little preparation that has to go in if you are going to make the "free" version. Every time you chop up some celery or onions there are always the leftover ends that go into the trash(or compost). Instead, save those. Put them in a freezer bag and throw them in the freezer. The ends of carrots as well. After roasting your next chicken when you have pulled all the meat off for supper and leftovers, take the whole set of bones, with what ever meat is left on them, and put that in a freezer bag as well. Once you have acquired all your ingredients its time to make your stock. If you wish to make this but havent had the prep time or enough ingredients its ok to use fresh. A whole chicken or even some legs or thighs bought from the store will work. No need to strip them. They will just go directly in the pot. Same with the veggies.

I like to make my chicken stock on Sunday afternoons. Those are usually our lazy, hang out, nothing going on days. You do need to devote some time to this. The work isn't hard but the stock has to simmer for hours so it does take up some time. The reward at the end makes it worth it though. Let's get started shall we?

Ingredients

1 Leftover whole chicken bones(or legs, wings, and thighs whatever you have)
2 About 3 or 4 stalks worth of celery
3 3 large carrots or a handful of baby carrots
4 Half a medium onion
5 5 Tbsp Black pepper(we like pepper - adjust to taste)

Method
Roughly chop all the celery, onion, and carrots into large pieces and place into stock pot. Take chicken(frozen or not) and place it in as well. Fill stock pot with water just until it covers all the ingredients. Then place on stove over medium high heat and bring to a boil. As the stock just begins to boil a foamy film will rise to the top. It has a grayish, dirty color to it. This is some of the impurities being boiled off spoon this foam out. Reduce heat and simmer the stock for 4-6 hours removing any impurities that float to the top. The longer it simmers the more flavorful the stock will be. Make sure to check it periodically and adjust the heat as necessary. You want simmering, just to the point where the bubbles are slow and just breaking the surface.

When the stock is complete it must be strained to remove all the solids. A fine wire mesh strainer will get the job done but something like cheese cloth is better. Strain the stock a few times.

Depending when you are planning to use it, you can place the stock in a container in the fridge for a few days or freeze it for several months. I usually freeze it in 1 cup or 2 cup sizes for the ease of pulling it out and putting right in a pot for a recipe. Bring frozen stock to a boil in a separate pot prior to using in your recipe. Here is 16 cups of fresh chicken stock ready for the freezer.

There you have it. Homemade chicken stock at almost no cost. With no chemical ingredients. Post a comment and let me know how it turns out.

Y'all keep it straight out there.

Indoor Gardening

2011-08-03T17:31:00.003-05:00

So here in Texas we are in one of the worst heat waves since the 1980s. Which also means summer is in full swing. I have been monitoring my tomato plants very closely and making sure they are getting plenty of water. The yield is going to be pretty low I think, but we are going to get a few. How are your gardens looking out there? I know some of you ran out of time this year to get your small garden planted, or maybe you are in an apartment in the city and don't have a yard to put your garden into. Does that mean you cannot enjoy a homegrown tomato? Of course not! One thing you can do is grow an indoor tomato plant.

Are you wondering if it will be worth the time, effort and cost? The answer is a resounding YES! The store cannot compare to the taste of a home grown. Store bought tomatoes, to satisfy our year-round demand, are bought from commerical suppliers that plant tomato varieties suitable to production and shipping needs(read that genetically altered). These tomatoes lack the taste, color or texture that most people prefer. To better withstand shipping, they usually are picked at the "mature green" stage. To complete ripening at their destination, they are gassed with ethylene, a natural plant hormone that is part of the ripening process. I try to avoid them at all costs. Even if you cannot grow any, as long as they are in season you can buy them fresh for local farmers markets. Seasonal is the key to buying fresh.

MATERIALS

To start, all you will need is a 6 inch pot to grow one plant in, a small package of seed and some soil of some sort. Either potting soil or garden mulch, or if you have fertile soil outdoors there is no reason you cannot pull from your own soil to put into your pot, which in the end would cost you nothing to start with. You could use a larger pot if you want to do two plants, and there is always the option of using multiple pots depending on how much room you actually have.

The recommended varieties for growing tomatoes are Pixie, Patio, Toy Boy, Small Fry or Tiny Tim. These varieties will produce small plants, but they still may need to be staked, especially when they begin to bear fruit. All of these listed are a cherry tomato type. If you are looking for a bigger indoor tomato you could also go with a Roma style or even bigger to the full size Big Boys or Brandywine. I recommend heirloom tomatoes. Its a personal preference but its totally up to your taste and whether or not genetic altering is something you are ok with.

PLANTING

Germinate seeds in a small pot with starter mix. Plant seeds about 1/4 inch deep and water. Keep starter mix moist but not soggy. Germination should occur in 5 to l0 days.

Transplant from starter mix into potting soil when seedlings are about 3 inches tall or two sets of leaves. Place your indoor tomatoes plants facing south where they will receive the most sunlight. Sunshine is the gardener’s secret ingredient in growing colorful tomatoes.

GROWING

Once you have you plants transplanted into their permanent pots its time to sit back and enjoy watching them grow. With daily waterings there shouldn't be any further work needed to be done to them. Water regularly. Check soil daily to keep it evenly moist. Some even mist the plants during the day between waterings.

FERTILIZING AND POLLINATION

Tomatoes grown indoors are like patio tomatoes in that their roots cannot reach deeply into the soil. They feed on only what you give them. Well-drained containers mean nutrients leak out into saucers. Fertilize regularly, but lightly, beginning about two weeks after transplanting. Feed your indoor tomatoes every 10-14 days with a balanced tomato fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro Tomato Plant Food.

Without insects and outdoor breezes to pollinate your indoor tomatoes you may need to help them along a little. After the flowers begin to form, you should tap the stems each time you water plants or use a fan to move air and help pollinate blossoms. This should ensure that your flowers will actually turn into tomatoes.

HARVEST AND ENJOY

Depending on the type of plant you are growing, harvesting begins in about 60 days. Give or take a few. Some plants will go later so only use that time frame as a guide.

GROWING LIGHTS

There are a few occasions when you may have to use growing lights. Tomatoes grow best when temperatures are between 65-85 degrees F, with an average time in the sun around 10 hours. If these ranges cannot be met then growing light might be necessary. If you are trying to grow them in the winter it may be an absolute or in a climate that does not produce alot of sunlight. But I would try it without first to see if you can produce results withouth them.

Here is a link for more information on growing lights. Click here.

So there you have it. Cost effective homegrown tomatoes in the tight space of your appartment or house, during any season. Yes, you can do it.

Y'all keep it straight out there.

A backyard chicken

2011-08-01T10:34:00.000-05:00

Ok I can already hear you now. I can't keep a chicken in my backyard! Its not big enough. Or its going to take too much time, or too much money to keep chickens. None of that is true. There is nothing better than walking out into your backyard and finding the daily egg. Knowing exactly what your chicken has been eating and how it has been treated. Knowing that its not housed in a 2ft X 2ft box, unable to walk. Just to sit there, feed, and produce eggs. Terrible conditions. I had wanted to get a few for a while. I just had to convince the boss it was a good idea. Luckily, baby chickens are really really cute.

I visit a feed store every now and then for some bones for my dogs or to pick up some seeds or plants for my garden and have always noticed the little chicks in the back corner. Up until last year I thought the same thing you were thinking before. There was no way I could do it. So I started doing research, beginning with any city ordinances. I seemed to be all clear there so I moved on to my HOA rules, which is where I hit the brick wall. According to the rules I was not allowed to keep any type of fowl on the property.

Well I've never been one to abide by all the rules put in front of me, so with my wife in tow we went up to the local feed store and picked up our first pair of Buff Orpingtons. After arriving home with our new fluffy friends I realized something. I had no idea where I was going to keep them, or what they really needed to thrive and survive, not a good plan. Of course I picked up a bag of chick food and a waterer, but that was the extent of my knowledge. So I began to do some research. After a quick internet search, we found a nice big tote for the chicks to stay in and got some bedding, food, and water all in place.

That worked for about 2 weeks. At which point the chicks had decided it was time to start practicing their jumping and flapping. Soon the chicks had become quite the escape artists. It was time to start building a coop for their permanent move to the outdoors. My first coop was a combination of a few designs I had found in some chicken coop books from places like Home Depot, Tractor Supply, Lowes. They all have do it yourself coop design books. Books along the lines like, this or this. There as many plans for coops as there are for houses you actually live in. So I took my best shot at combining a few that I though looked practical and easy to build. So building what looked like a dog house raised up for floods and the painting skills of a few children we had ourselves a coop.

It was around this time one of the chicks didn't make it. After searching some of her symptoms I'm pretty sure she had succumbed to a very common illness. So she was buried and we pressed on with our sole remaining chick. Our dog house on stilts worked for quite a while. The chicken quickly learned that the perch inside was her roosting spot at night and all was well, until she starting laying eggs. She liked to go into the coop to lay her eggs but it was random and I didnt want to be on egg hunt everyday. I needed a proper nesting box, which the coop didn't have. So I set out again to try and find better coop plans.

I finally found a plan on a forum website, www.backyardchickens.com/ I highly recommend that site for any info you are looking for if you have questions about raising a few chickens. The people that post there are super friendly and very knowledgeable.

The chicken coop design I used was from the people at Purina. It was relatively easy to build and perfomed all of the functions I needed it to. A place to roost at night safe from predators and a place for her to lay her eggs. It was a success! The coop was finished and the very next day without any coaching at all she hopped right up into the nesting box and laid her daily egg there.

Here is the link for the coop I built. This first one is a pdf.
Pictures and directions

Here is the materials list.
Material list.

Here are a few pics of the process.

The materials gathered.

Framing the roof.

With skylight!!

I think the kids want a clubhouse

Job complete

SUCCESS!!!

The egg picture was the very next day, without any coaching from me. No fake eggs, no holding her in place with a door, nothing. She naturally wanted to get up in that hidey hole to lay her egg.

This post was more my story about raising a chicken than it was a how to or information on raising chickens. I will make that my theme for this month. I will try to pass along some how to's and all the information I learned while raising a chicken.

I wish this story had a happy ending, IE our chicken on the dinner plate, alas it does not. It seems she has succumbed to global warming. I have no shade trees anywhere near my house. There was no where for her to get relief from this relentless heat we have had here the last month and a half. DAMN YOU AL GORE!! I will have to read up on what to do about overheating chickens. Stay tuned this month for that sort of info.

Y'all keep it straight out there.

Homemade pizza with friends.

2011-07-22T10:30:00.001-05:00

I know I am terribly late with this one. But here it is in all its glory. Freshly posted from Yuma, AZ! (BTW it was 118 here yesterday) It's too dang hot.

If there is one thing I have learned over the past 17 and a half years in the military is that you have to make friends quickly, because you never know when you, or them, are going to have to leave abruptly. We have had the pleasure of making many friends over those years. Last Saturday night we invited over just such a set of friends. The time has come for them to move on to better things. After only knowing them for such a short period of time they have become close friends to both my wife and I. The military decided it was in it's best interest for me to leave for a couple of weeks for some training, and while I am gone they will be moving on to their new home.

So we had them over for a family style dinner at the house for me to see them off before I left. Isn't that what dinner is for anyways? Getting together with family and friends, to break bread with those that are closest to you? Dinner is not supposed to be done in a car, or on the fly, or picked up and brought home only to have everyone grab their "bag" and run off to watch TV and eat alone. I think this is a part of a greater problem in America today. Every once in a while as a treat is one thing, but too many of us are doing it on a more frequent basis. Ease and convenience has taken the place of quality and meaningful. More people need to bring dinner back to the dinner table. Sad, but enough of my ranting.

The meal consisted of homemade pizza and homemade watermelon sorbet. The pizza was a hit, but the sorbet was, well lets just say that I didn't make very much and there was some left over at the end of the night. The texture of the sorbet was perfect but the watermelon i used wasn't very sweet. I think next time I'm going to make strawberry sorbet. Or try to find a sweeter watermelon. Although I guess you don't really know until you open it.

It was a bittersweet evening. I am happy to see them move on to bigger and better things but sad to see them leave. They are wonderful friends and I hope they find everything they are looking for up in the great white north. We are going to miss you #22. Oh, and I suppose the rest of the Easons as well. God speed my friends.

The good thing about homemade pizza is everybody gets exactly what they want on the pizza. We included toppings like hamburger, onions, green peppers, olives, pineapple, pepperoni, extra cheese. Anything will do. Here is the homemade dough recipe we used. I used a triple batch and was a little short for the amount of pizzas we made so I would say at least 1.5 batches per family eating. Throw one some of your favorite sauce and then let your imagination run wild.

Ingredients for dough

1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (check the expiration date on the package)
3 1/2 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose but bread flour will give you a crisper crust)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Method

1 In the large bowl of a heavy duty electric mixer (such as a Kitchen Aid), add the warm water. Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Stir to dissolve completely if needed at the end of 5 minutes.

2 Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar on low speed for about a minute. You can use a dough hook for the mixing. Knead using the mixer and dough hook, on low to medium speed, until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If you don't have a mixer, you can mix and knead by hand. If the dough seems a little too wet, sprinkle on a bit more flour.

3 Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place (75-85°F) until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours (or several hours longer, a longer rise will improve the flavor). If you don't have a warm spot in the house you can pre- an oven for about 2 min and then place the bowl in there. Dont forget to turn off the oven after preheating for a few minutes or risk melting your bowl or baking the dough early. (Don't ask how I know this.)

Here is my dough risen, doubled in size and ready to be pucnched down and rolled out.

Preparing the Pizzas

1 Place a pizza stone(or baking sheet if you dont have a stone) on a rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.

2 Remove the plastic cover from the dough and punch the dough down so it deflates a bit. Divide the dough in half. Form two round balls of dough. Place each in its own bowl, cover with plastic and let sit for 10 minutes.

3 Have your prepared toppings ready to add to your pizza. Remember, many toppings will make for a soggy crust in the middle so don't over do them.

4 Working one ball of dough at a time, take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a slightly floured work surface. Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick. Turn and stretch the dough until it will not stretch further. Let the dough relax 5 minutes and then continue to stretch it until it reaches the desired diameter - We made mostly individual pizzas about 6 inches across but you can make these almost any size. About 12-14 would be the largest.

5 Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to help prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings).

Repeat for as many pizzas as you are making.

6 Lightly sprinkle whatever you are using to transfer your pizza to the stove with corn meal, otherwise its going to make it difficult to transfer. If the dough has loses its shape in the transfer, lightly shape it to the desired dimensions.

7 Now the fun part. Build the pizza. Sauce, cheese, toppings. Toppings, sauce, cheese. However you want it!

8 Sprinkle some cornmeal on the baking stone in the oven (watch your hands, the oven is hot!). Gently try to see if the dough will easily slide, if not, gently lift up the edges of the pizza and add a bit more cornmeal. Slide the pizza off of the peel and on to the baking stone in the oven. Bake pizza one at a time until the crust is browned and the cheese is golden, about 10-15 minutes. If you want, toward the end of the cooking time you can sprinkle on a little more cheese.

Here is some of the making process (my wife had the great idea to make stuffed crust pizzas) All she did was roll some cheese in the edge of the dough during the shaping process. Creativity is part of the fun!

The building process and enjoying some of the finish products.

The possibilities are endless. Forget all those chain restaurants. Why call for delivery when you can do it yourself. Call your friends, call your family, get everyone together and have a build your own pizza night! It's worth all the extra time and trouble. Not only have you produced for your family and friends but you know exactly what has gone into all the ingredients. I would love to hear about you experience. Fill me in on your homemade pizza night via comments or email. Stay tuned. I will post the sorbet instructions in my next post. See y'all then.

How to make Mozzarella Cheese

2011-07-10T21:37:00.000-05:00

Well we are finally home after a wonderful vacation. It was great to see most of my Kansas family. All good things must come to an end however.

So here begins our trip into self sufficiency. I've always loved tinkering in the kitchen. Usually for family evening meals. Sometimes those tinkerings are successful, other times(as my family can attest) they are not. For the most part though I would consider myself an average cook.

Then I began to experiment with things that came from the store that I though I could produce myself, cheaper and with less preservatives. It is then, when a majority of these experiments turned out so well, that I began to delve deeper into the world of self sufficiency. Which brings us to my current posting, making your own cheese. Would you have ever imagined you could make your own cheese in the comfort of your kitchen without any major special equipment? I didn't. This follow instructions will show you how to make a tasty mozzarella cheese that's ready to eat in about an hour. This cheese does not have a cure time like some of the harder cheeses, cheddar, parmesan or cheeses of that nature. For the price of one gallon of milk you can produce 4 to 5 fresh mozzarella balls which would run you about 15 to 20 bucks from the store. You're excited aren't you? I was. Without further ado here was the process I went through to make my own cheese. This is a long post but I tried to explain it in a little more detail than what was provided to me to help alleviate some missteps that I took that prevented a successful batch. Leave a comment if you attempt this. If it works or not. If not I may be able to help with some trouble shooting tips but I would love to hear how it turns out either way.

So what does it take to make your own homemade mozzarella? Well, you will need a few items you are not going to have in the average kitchen cabinet, or refrigerator. Namely, liquid rennet(also found in tablet form but not as effective) and lipase powder. Both are a type of enzyme naturally found in animals or their milk(respectively). The rennet is used to actually curd the milk and lipase, naturally found in the milk, is lost during the pasteurization process which is why we need to add some during our cheese making process. The lipase is optional and is only a flavoring preference. You can try this with and without the lipase to see which you prefer.

Beyond those two items you may or may not have in your kitchen(I’m not sure why you would unless you are already making cheese) is the last of the "odd" ingredients. Powdered citric acid. Found in most canning sections of your local grocery store. If you cannot find any of these locally, as I couldn't, you can order them online at a variety of cheese making supply websites. After you have secured these items the rest of what you will need should already be found in your kitchen, or can be grabbed quickly from a local grocer. They include 1 gallon of milk, more on choosing the type and brand of milk in a minute. You will need a sifter for straining. It needs to be a wire mesh sifter as the normal colander holes are too big to catch the loose curds. A candy thermometer, or small meat thermometer. Actually, any sort of thermometer that can be used to detect temperature ranges of 80 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit should work just fine. You will also need a few measuring cups and a few teaspoons, a large long knife, a microwave, a microwave safe bowl, and last but not least a large pot. About the only stipulation here is to make sure it’s not aluminum. Now that we have all the required gear let’s get to it.

1. Choosing the milk.

My preference is whole milk, hands down. But the following recipe will work for reduced fat milks, e.g., 1%, 2%, or skim. Its not the fat content that makes the cheese but it does add to the flavor. Also you must look for pasteurized milk instead of ultra-pasteurized. Ultra-pasteurization takes the milk to too high of temperature so that milk can be moved over longer distances and have a longer shelf life, but kills almost all the beneficial bacteria in the milk that makes cheese. Look for milk that is shipped locally to your grocery store. Or as close as possible. Some of the generic brands of milk use a practice of taking milk during pasteurization to just under the ultra-pasteurization temperature to get a longer shelf life without having to label it as ultra-pasteurized. Good for them, bad for us home cheese makers. The closer the milk is to its source the better chance you have of not having the almost ultra-pasteurized milk, and the curd not setting up during the first heating process.

2. Getting ready.

You are going to want to set out the measuring cups. Fill 1 cup with cool water and add and dissolve 1 and 1/2 tsp of citric acid. With a 1/4 cup fill with cool water and put 1/2 tsp of lipase powder and dissolve(if you've decided to use it). If you are using a tablet form of rennet dissolve 1/2 tab into a 1/4 cup of cool water at this time. If you are using liquid rennet do not do this step. After that is fully dissolved set your pot on the stove and pour in your gallon of milk. Some wait for the milk to warm up to about 50 degrees on its own but you do not have to.

3. Time to make the cheese!

Start by pouring in the dissolved citric acid and lipase(if chosen) and give the milk a good stirring. Approximately 1 min. Turn your burner on low and begin to heat the milk. You are taking the milk to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. You want to do this slowly. A good reference would be about 10 degrees every 5 min or so. The more slowly the less chance of burning anything and by slowly stirring during this process you are making sure of no "hot pockets" in the milk, and that it heats evenly throughout.

4. Remove pot from stove.

Once the milk reaches 90 degrees remove from the burner and let sit. Quickly dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of your liquid rennet into 1/4 cup cool water. If you used lipase powder you may need to add a little more rennet. About an additional 1/4 teaspoon. Add dissolved rennet to the milk and again slowly stir for about a minute making sure the rennet is fully mixed into the milk. Now put a lid on the pot and let it sit completely undisturbed or moved for 10 min.

5. Check the curd.

All the Little Miss Muffet jokes aside, it's now time to check the curds and whey. After the 10 min wait you should now see a separation in the milk. The white looking curd, and a sort of greenish, clear looking whey. The curd should be on top of the whey. It should resit being pressed into with your finger. On the edge of the pot, pull some of the curd towards the center and see if there is a good clean break between the curd and the whey. If not give it another 10 min undisturbed and check it again. It should be set up at this time.

6. Cutting the curd.

Now you are ready to cut the curd. Take your long knife and cut across the curd all the way to the bottom of the pan making about 1 inch squares of curd. Set the pot back on the stove and turn the burner back on low and heat the curd and whey to 105 degrees Fahrenheit, at the same rate you initially raised the temp to 90 degrees. Slowly stir during the second heating process once or twice. The curd should begin to get a little firmer as the temperature rises. Do not overheat. It is very important not to go over 110 degrees or the curd will fall apart and you will not get the consistency you are looking for.

7. Drain off the whey.

Using your wire mesh strainer, scoop out the curd and let it drain in the strainer for a couple of seconds and the put the strained curd into a microwave safe bowl. Continue this step until all the curd is the bowl. Drain off any excess whey at this point. (My later articles will tell you what you can do with the whey but for now...) If you are not saving the whey pour it down the drain.

8. Now the fun part.

Take the bowl and microwave it for 45 seconds. Pour off any whey that shows up. Knead the curd a little by hand and pour off any whey that comes out. Put the bowl back in the microwave and reheat for 20 seconds. Pour off the whey and knead the curd again. The temperature of the curd should be 135 degrees. Almost too hot to handle. Continue to knead the curd like you would bread. Folding it over and kneading continually, if need be reheat in microwave for 15 seconds at a time. At this point if the curd is hot enough it will be to stretch, and stretch and stretch some more. This is what makes it mozzarella. Continue kneading, and stretching and folding until the cheese resembles the mozzarella you know and love.

9. Cheese.

Now knead it into a ball. And there you have it. A fresh mozzarella ball. This can be eaten immediately or stored for up to 2 weeks. Same as the milk would have been. So note the date on the milk carton if you saving for later.

10. Storing.

If you are planning on storing the cheese for later use get another large bowl and fill it with ice water. Stir it around to cool off the water to just above freezing and then sink your mozzarella balls into it. This will cool the cheese rapidly and will hold the shape better while its waiting to be consumed.

A long relaxing week.

2011-07-07T09:01:00.003-05:00

It seems I am already falling behind on my goals to post here once a week. Although I think Im just going to make it under my deadline with this post. I intend to post on Sundays, with a new tip or trick for helping you find ways to make yourself more self sufficient. This week, while relaxing(we are on vacation visiting family), was a full week. In addition to having a birthday, I also celebrated my 15th wedding anniversary. Has it really been 15 years?!? Where has the time gone? I guess its true, time does fly when you are having fun.

I did get a couple of books for both my birthday and anniversary. I intend to post reviews on all of them here considering most are along the lines of self sustainment. I have already finished the first book. Confessions of a Bad Beekeeper: What Not to Do When Keeping Bees (with Apologies to My Own) This is an interest of mine, call it a hobby that I am not actually participating in yet. Although I suppose it is good to read up on a subject before jumping into it. "Confessions..." was a good book. Mr. Turnbull really does confess some of the things new beekeepers should try to avoid and does so with a good sense of humor added into the book. It doesn't read like an instruction manual which is a change from quite a few of the books I have been reading lately, so it was a welcome change. He does go off on a few tangents that are not beekeeping related and some of it does drag out a bit, but if you are looking to learn a few things NOT to do if you are thinking of starting up beekeeping this would be a good book to read.

Well there you have it, the latest update. Although it seems my only 2 faithful followers are my wife of 15 years, love ya babe, and my mother of 36 years(Thanks for the support you two) would already know whats in this update. Next week its back to the grindstone for me. Having come home for this vacation has relit my fire to come back here after I leave the military. I am more anxious than ever to bring to an end a very fruitful career and begin my next one, which hopefully includes a homestead and this blog.

Why I started this blog.

2011-07-01T07:36:00.000-05:00

So what is the purpose of this blog? Well it is actually two fold. First and foremost it is a place to share my ideas about producing your own food while not actually living on a farm. A place where I can show what has worked for me. A place where a community of people that are sick and tired of unknowingly being subjected to whatever chemicals and genetically altered food "The Fed" deems acceptable to consume, can talk about how to start producing some of their own. If you have stumbled upon this blog and do not know what I am talking about or, if you are unsure if it is worth the effort I reccomend watching this video. Food, Inc.

That one single video open my eyes to alot of shady stuff that is going on out in the commercial farming industry. From overcrowded and not very well maintained chicken farms for companies like Tyson, to genetically altered plants like soybean and corn. There isn't much you can get in the big name grocery stores that is not affected by this. Now, I am not a doomsday sayer. I am pretty sure Monsanto isn't going to take over the world or our food supply. Although I will admit it is possible.

So if you cut out the genetically altered fresh fruits and veggies, and you remove all the steroid and hormone pumped chicken and beef whats left to eat? All of the pre-packaged frozen foods stuffed with preservatives, or your other option of Fast Food, and we all know how good that is for you. Fast food is part of the reason our commercial farmers began some of the bad practices they did in the first place.

Our food supply has been tampered with. Make no mistake about it. The FDA says its safe to eat, but the more we look into it the more, and more I am not so sure.

Together as a community we can start taking back what actually goes into our bodies. Sure we can't all have cows and pigs in our back yards, but we all can grow a tomato plant, we can all have an indoor basil plant. You can do it too. I hope you all will find this blog to be helpful in whatever it is you are looking to produce. If there is anything you have questions about or would like to see a post on feel free to contact me.

Welcome to my new blog.

2011-06-29T17:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the new Suburban Self Sustainment blog. Together we shall embark on a journey of self sustainment practices and activities while not living on a 20 acre farm in the middle of Kansas(although that is the end goal). Stay tuned for upcoming tips, tricks, ideas and practices you to will be able to try and acheive from your own suburbanite abode.