Independence Day Update....

The garden is calling me today.....so this

will be short and sweet! :D

Plant Something: I have had many

packages of seeds sitting around for years!!

This year I finally got

them scattered into egg carton lids just to

see if any of them are any good. LOL. Some

are VERY old....I just could not bare throwing

out a seed if it was good. Also I have green beans

and hollyhocks sprouting that I planted.

I also planted cucumbers, zucchini and

spaghetti squash all indoors, too early

for outdoors....

Harvest Something: Sadly

not this week. My good intnetions were

to take a bouquet of herbs to my son's

on Mothers Day....but I forgot!! :(

Preserve Something: Not this week.

Reduce Waste: Reclaimed this

thrifted basket that was broken, fixed

it with bows and am now using it for my

sewing basket...works great!

Preparation and Storage: Starting

over with our baby chickens.....

preparing to have eggs!

Community: Our community does

not really have a food storage system....but

we do have a couple of shelters. This week

made cornbread and cookies to send for the meal.

Eat the food: Eating our pickles,

applesauce, peach butter, giving away

jam and fruit butters....using my

sourdough starter for pancakes

and biscuits. I think just about

every meal last week came from

our food storage.

Pantry Homework

There is just soooo much going on this week.

Some fun projects in Blogland. :)

Shan over at Honey Hill Farm is

doing a series on deepening your

pantry and cooking from it. Something I have done in

the past, but I love her approach and am going to

go through her steps to regroup some of what I

have done......check it out!!

homesteadblogger.com/HoneyHillFarm/

Look around while your there,

I love her blog.

Independence Day Update #1

Thought I would join in on the fun over at Sharon's blog...

Casaubon's Book. She tells all about it, check it

out at sharonastyk.com

Here is my update....

Planted Something:

Inside have planted cabbage, broccoli,

cherry tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, various herbs,

squashes, cucumbers, beans, hollyhock, ......

Outside have planted lettuce, carrots, spinach, onions,

potatoes, radishes, beets, kale.....

Harvest Something:

Too early, but we did eat the cabbage sprouts that

I thinned out. They were really good on a baked

potatoe with cheese for lunch!

Reduce Waste:

Used old newspapers to make pots, also used some

egg cartons and toilet paper rolls.

Preparation & Storage:

Have been organizing my canning pantry and working

on a years food supply. Lately have been canning beans.

Did Boston Baked Beans and have done

some Pork and Beans ......

Community:

We serve dinner at the Shepherds House

once a week. That is our local mission. Last week I

made pasta, vegetarian spaghetti sauce and sent

cones for the ice cream.

Eat the Food:

I have been trying to use up some of what is in

my canning pantry. Eating the applesauce

and using up jam, alot of jam left. And....

we did eat sprouts........

Hope you will check out Sharon's blog and read what

the Independence Day Update is

all about!!

And....be sure to check here every Monday

for my Update!!

Extreme Makeover!!

Well, it has actually been a few years since we bought

this little basket at the Goodwill. It had broken hinges

and so the lid was never connected, if I took it anywhere,

I had to carry it under one arm......

And it remained quite a mess for some time.....
All it needed was the hinge to be fixed!
How hard is that?!?!?

I decided to use fabric....looped it through the
remaining wire that was left....

then through the whole for wire on the

lid to the basket.....

Tied a nice tight bow and there you have it!!
A basket makeover!!

Things fit well inside.....
even room for extra fabric for my project....

even room for some crocheting.....

and the yarn!

I usually keep more than one project in my

basket in case i get tired of working

on one .... I can change. :)

Boy, a basket makeover, a bucket makeover...

what will be next?!?!?

The weekend is here, so will not be around

for a couple days. Finishing up planting seeds

inside and going to finish some that

go outside. My wonderful hubby

put pvc hoops over my raised beds,

so I will be turning those into

little cold frames.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Spring, Canning, Organizing.....

This is our usual Spring/April weather here

on the High Desert........

This is exactly why gardening in the spring can

be very challenging here. But...know what?!?!?

My garden is surviving!! Yay!

But in the meantime, while we wait for warm

weather I keep doing some canning for my stockpile.

Bought a 25 pound bag of Navy Beans to can Navy Bean

Soup, Boston Baked Beans, Pork and Beans and

anything else I think of with Navy Beans.....

I found the recipes in the Ball Blue Book. The Pork

and Bean recipe uses tomatoe juice boiled with

onions and spices.....mmmmmm.....
That recipe only had you boil the beans for about

3 minutes, boil the juice and pour over beans

in jars and process.

The Boston Baked Beans had to cook 3 1/2 hours,

so I had those cooking in my roaster pan in the back

room while I canned the others. Then when they

were done, I processed them.

A pretty full day, but don't you just love the results

at the end of the day when you can sit back

and enjoy the fruits of your labor.....

Soooo, all this canning lead me to organize my

canning pantry which is outside in a shed. Something

that I probably should have done first. :D

So, how about a bit of sillyness....

Designer Buckets!! LOL.

Yep! Someone gave me some old wallpaper

books....I keep forgetting to use up any

of the wallpaper....

So, how about this, it only took minutes!
You need a small bucket, this is my dishwasher soap

bucket from Costco. (Once I have used up all this

store-bought stuff, I plan on making my own:)

I chose the wallpaper strips that are trims.......

how about apples for canning??
Cut it to fit around the bucket then slit it
up 3/4 of the way as the bucket is not
straight.......

and Voila!!
Designer Buckets!!

I put them in the bottom of my canning

pantry to keep my jar rings in......

What a great feeling to get an area organized. :D

Garden Beginnings.......

I took a day awhile back

and layed out a calender

and planned my garden backwards!! I looked at when

I wanted things to be harvested and counted back to

when I would need to start them. I did this because

last summer we had a killing frost in August. (GRRRR)

It was actually an enjoyable

process, I had my seeds and

I had a couple of books to determine what things

were cold hardy and how long things took to

grow and I also threw in the idea of planting

some things together that help the growth of

the plants they are near.....

all with a cup oftea and "Pride & Prejudice"

soundtrack in the background.........

Very lovely time indeed :)

This year I want to work really hard for the couple

of months that we can garden and get the harvesting and

preserving done before we have frost. So, I have planned

what can get started inside now and what

could possibly go outside while it is still cold.

Since my husband still does not have much work,

I cannot just go get little starting pots, so have

been making several different types

with whatever I have on hand......

Newspaper pots.....

and below I was blessed to find in my shed these
starting pots.....and I had these plastic lids from
some pans I bought at an Outlet store. The pans
were for taking meals to the Shepherd's House, but
I did not use the lids, I did however save them!!
as well as these little starter pellets........

I also used some toilet paper rolls......

This is what I rigged up for the seeds that needed

higher temperatures to germinate. I used my roaster

oven as a container only (not turned on) and put

our heating pad in the bottom of that. Then I

used some baking cooling racks first to hold

the bottom layer up off the heating pad, then

to hold the second layer up off the first pots.

I also used egg cartons......

I lined the lids with a bit of plastic to hold the

water. At night I put the lid on the roaster,

but kept it off during the day when it was

warmer so the plants would get some light.

Did not take long and there were

baby sprouts everywhere!!!

and they just kept growing and growing!!!

Now they are ready to be

transplanted into a little

bit bigger pots. All I have to do is plant the whole

thing into a bigger pot. All of my starts are this

way so as not to disturb the roots.

Some of what I started has to stay inside until

the beginning of June, then I can put them out

but still have to watch and cover at night.

The cabbage and the broccoli I started inside

because the germination temperature was a bit

warmer than outside is right now, but as soon

as they are growing well and established

I can put them outside as they are both cold

hardy. I will probably put out one little

plant first to be sure. Wouldnt

want to kill them all at once. :)

How is your garden coming???

Easy Granola

Low fat and very tasty......

1/3 C oil

1/2 C honey

1/4 C water

1 tsp vanilla

7 1/2 C uncooked rolled cereal

(wheat, oats...above I used a 7 grain

cereal because that is what

I had on hand)

1/4 C shelled sunflower seeds

1/4 walnuts

1/2 C powdered nonfat milk

1 C raisins or other dried fruit

(I used coconut instead)

You can easily play around with the

ingredients, incorporating what you

like in granola and the flavor

you want.....like, how about maple??

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• In a saucepan, heat oil, honey, water and vanilla until well blended.
• In a large bowl, combine cereals, nutsand powdered milk.
• Pour liquid ingredients over dry and mix well.
• Sread mixture on two jelly-roll pans or cookie sheets or whatever you have.
• Bake for 10 min. stirring occasionally.
• Remove from oven; add raisins.
• Let cool until crisp before storing in airtight container.

(Makes about 10 cups)

We enjoy this with yogurt for breakfast

and snacks!!

(Homemade yogurt coming soon...:)

Yummy Muffin Recipe

This is a Chocolate Chip Bread recipe that can be changed

to use whatever you have and you can make bread

or muffins. It calls for mashed banana, I keep "old" dark

bananas in the freezer. If I am thinking ahead, I peel them

and stick them in ziplocs or I just toss them in the freezer

peel and all, then zap them in the microwave about

20 seconds and can peel them and mash them for

the recipe. Never throw away an old banana!!

Recipe: Just About Anything Bread/Muffins

(Makes 1 Loaf or 1 dozen muffins)

1. Set aside 1/2 - 1 C Chocolate Chips or Raisins or Nuts or

Berries or "just about anything"

2. Blend and set aside:

1/2 C plain yogurt

1 tsp baking soda

3. Blend in order:

1/4 C oil

3/4 C honey

2 eggs

1 C mashed banana

1 tsp vanilla

4. Blend in another bowl:

2 C whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

5. Alternately blend dry and yogurt mix into liquid, fold

in chocolate chips or raisins, etc. last

6. Fill pan, bake, til knife comes out clean in center

7. Cool 10 minutes, remove from pan, if bread, lay on

side to cool.

These are with raisins, because that is
what I had on hand. :D
Yummy for a Sunday Morning!!

Also, just a side note: Slightly sweet muffins arevery good with some soups or macaroni andcheese for lunch or dinner.

Christmas Blessings........

"What do you do? You're just a housewife and slave, aren't you?

A nursemaid to a bunch of kids?" ~ "NO. I have a

fantastic job, a terrific career! I am a curator in a

museum ~ a museum of memories!!"

~Edith Schaeffer, What is Family. (Very good book by the way:)

That is what I have been up to....a very, very busy

week creating memories!!

Even though my children are all grown, it is fun to still
make memories. I have been sewing up a storm!! Making a
couple lap quilts, PJ pants and I am about done. :) We
basically have no money this year for gifts...so it has been
such a BLESSING to see God provide just what I needed out in
my "stash" of fabric. God is so Good and I feel richly Blessed!
I will show you some pictures of what I have done after
Christmas, just in case anyone "peeks" at this blog before
tonight. :) Our children are all here tonight for a very healthy
fish dinner....mmmm, can't wait!!..... and gifts and tomorrow we
go to my hubbies Uncle's house for Christmas dinner. We were
just going to hang out here at home and not do a big dinner
Christmas day, but with the snow and the storms, his aunt
and uncle will be alone since they cannot get anywhere and
their family cannot get to them. :( So, we are happy to spend
the day with them, they are the only "aged" family we have left
that are like my children's grandparents, we
have many happy memories with them.

Hope and pray for you all today.....Peace to you as you

go about your preparations....May Love and

Joy and Peace abound in your homes

tonight and tomorrow and always!!

Blessings.....

Blessings of the fruits of our labor....

dilly beans and dill pickles.....

Blessings of simplicity........
I made my rolls the day before, let them rise once, made into balls put in the
pan and put them directly into the refrigerator. They raised a bit, I put them in the
oven straight from the refrigerator............
Mixed and matched my dishes so that I could use

my two apple plates above :) .......

Blessings of more preparedness.......
Plum Juice Punch......

Not even attempting sales today!!! Staying home, taking down Autumn decos to make room for Christmas decos. Tomorrow, we will go to a quaint little place in the woods where there is a Christmas Bazaar and tree permits. We will cut down a tree, and peek at the Bazaar. Usually, we have a cup of soup at the Bazaar, but this year we will take a picnic. Turkey sandwiches perhaps..... :) We cannot put the tree up yet, it will be at my tea first then we can bring it home to decorate next weekend. I might do some of that today with what I do not need for my tea.

There is a chance I will not get to do my really fun and lovely Nutcracker Tea!! Have not had very many calls.....and today is the deadline.....it is a very busy weekend in our town, too much going on. If that is the case, I will quickly switch gears to put some of these things I have been making into my Etsy shop. As much as I just love doing teas and do them for others enjoyment, this one was going to help with our house payment.....that is why I would quick do Etsy. If you feel prompted, please pray about that......Bless you all on this day after Thanksgiving!!

Ohhhh Sweet Fallness........

I just cannot stop decorating.......

Miss Harvest Bunny with her

little quilted pumpkin....

Little pumpkins, sunflowers and leaves everywhere......

Happy to have chrysanthemums leftover from tea....
Favorite Apple plates.....

Mmmmm......the colors.......

Even a Fall Salad.......

I tried the Rice Salad in the October/November issue of Mary Jane's Farm....it is amazing!! I just added some spinach. Served with a Pumpkin

Roll and Dilly Beans.

For Pumpkin Rolls I replaced the mashed potatoes in my

Potatoe Roll recipe...it worked!