Spring Surplus

This is a picture of one of last year's many cherry flats.  We LOVE May and can't wait for fresh cherries. It's been too long! 

It is, however, strawberry season right now.  

This is last night's haul.  There is ONE advantage about living where we do!  You can't get so much fresh, perfectly ripe food for so cheap anywhere else in the nation. 

Happy SPRINGTIME to you all! 

And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Gen. 1:29

2013 Canning Inventory

I just realized that I failed to post my 2013 Canning Inventory here! I find it so convenient to refer back to previous years records to see how many of each item I made and whether I need to made more or less of certain things.  Notes to myself help me when I reuse a recipe.

6 pints lemonade jelly
3 pints grape jelly
95 quarts pinto beans
21 quarts chicken thighs
14 quarts vegetable beef soup
33 pints Creamsicle jelly
6 pints coleslaw (I love this, but my family doesn't care for it)
49 quarts applesauce
13 quarts pork and beans (too salty.  When using bacon, leave salt out of recipe)
12 quarts chicken breasts
6 quarts strawberries
17 quarts chicken broth
20 halfpints strawberry jam (gifts)
26 pints strawberry jam
6 pints mixed berry jam
7 quarts pickles
14 pints spiced peach jam
7 pints peach butter
17 pints pizza sauce
2.5 quarts peach honey (in fridge, not canned)
20 quarts green beans
1 quart, 4 pints, 8 12 oz. dill relish (WAY too much for a year for us!)
14 quarts chili verde (use less lime next time)
7 quarts and 5 pints white peaches
3 quarts and 2 pints picante sauce
5 quarts V8 juice/taco soup starter (Not nearly enough! That was GOOD!)
12 quarts Vintage Salsa (just enough, but more would be appreciated)
3 pints carrot cake jam
17 pints chili beans with meat
5 pints apple pie jam
7 pints apple jelly

I need more chicken broth, always.  I used up 2012's Zucchini Salsa, so it's time to make more of that.  Vintage Salsa is ever popular and needs to be bumped up another batch or two.  As always, I wish to make more meals-in-a-jar recipes for convenience.  2013 was a "lots of jam" year, so little is needed for 2014. Fruit excess will be made into roll-ups, gummy snacks, puree for breads, chunked for smoothies and frozen.  I am focusing on making beans in the crockpot at least once a week, so hopefully, less pintos are needed next year.

Spring Updates

Spring is here in Central California!  The temperatures are warming and the winter hoodies have been packed away.  Flip flops and Vibrams are back in action!!

We are nearing our last few weeks of formal school.  Just six weeks to go!

We're harvesting lots of lettuce and Swiss chard from the garden. Lemons and oranges are in abundance. Lemonade is often being enjoyed and Creamsicle Jelly is back in the cupboards.  Carrots, green beans and radishes are planted, with tomatoes to follow soon.

I found an amazing deal on Craig's List!!  I was able to purchase a Squeezo Strainer and an All American 915 for a very nice price.  I will be able to put up tomato sauce this year!  Woohoo!

Lillie's FSP is climbing little by little.  Her parents are working as fast as they can to get through the paperwork and get her home.  Her mommy has a really neat store set up. She handcrafts amazing Montessori toys.  Every penny of each purchase is tax-deductible and is used exclusively for Lillie's adoption costs.  Think of Easter baskets filled with useful toys rather than candy, or birthday gifts that will endure the years! My Little Sunshine Montessori Boutique is the place to go.

So, how is life for you on this first day of Spring? What projects are you undertaking? What are your goals for this season?

Neat Canning Idea

I have a Camp Chef to use for outdoor canning, but if I didn't, I would certainly be showing this picture to my husband!  

2012 Canning Inventory

I finally counted up last years canning. Here's the list!  I couldn't get enough apples, so my applesauce numbers are low and we will run out before apple season returns. I also couldn't can any apple marmalade or pie filling.  Also, I had so much jam left over from last year, I made very little this year.  Next year I hope to make more meals in a jar and canned meat and a wider variety of vegetables.

2012 Canning Inventory

7 pints Creamsicle

19 pints pizza sauce

13 quarts  chicken meat

75 quarts pinto beans

14 quarts Ranch beans

14 quarts ham and bean soup

8 1/2 pints Flamin’ Taco Sauce

5 quarts enchilada sauce

6 quarts spaghetti sauce

8 pints Banberry jam

7 quarts chicken soup

7 quarts meat chili

5 1/2 pints BBQ sauce

8 pint+1/2 dilly carrots

9 pint+1/2 dilly beans

7 pints apricots

2 pints mixed berry jam

8 quarts chicken broth

22 quarts zucchini salsa (given to K.)

19 quarts zucchini salsa

21 quarts zucchini sausage soup

4 pints black eyed peas

5 quarts chunky picante

2 quarts Vintage salsa

4 pints Vintage salsa (gifted to E.)

6 pints pickled peppers

6 pints pickled peppers (made with L.)

58 quarts green beans

7 quarts potatoes

2 quarts beef broth

1 quart mixed beef and chicken broth

11 quarts smooth picante

10 quarts applesauce

14 quarts pear applesauce

7 quarts stew meat

7 pints apple butter

3 1/2 pints cranberry sauce

14 quarts turkey broth

2011 Canning Inventory

Oops, I didn't add last years canning inventory to this blog.  Here it is!

I canned a lot more this year! I know that I need more canned pintos, more chili, and I need to focus on getting some meat dishes canned.  I'm pretty happy with what I got done, though.

18 pints chili
7 quarts OJ (don't can OJ, it gets bitter...this was a waste)
42 pints strawberry jam
21 quarts pinto beans
15 pints Creamsicle jam
10 pints strawberry boysenberry jam
22 pints mixed fruit jam
6 pints boysenberry jam
9 pints gingered plum jam
4 quarts picante sauce
68 quarts green beans
3 quarts tomato juice
10 pints pizza sauce
12 pints mock pineapple
4 quarts elderberry syrup
3 pints elderberry syrup
7 quarts peaches
7 pint-and-a-half peaches
3 pints peaches
20 pints peach-blueberry jam
7 quarts pears
11 pints pear syrup
35 quarts applesauce
8 pints apple butter
4 pints pickled habenero and jalepenos

The Crew's Thanksgiving Menu

I love Thanksgiving time!  I enjoy the whole nine yards as far as the feast goes, and thought I would share our menu with you this year.

The turkey is brined in a mixture of 2 gallons water, 2 cups of kosher salt and 2 cups of white sugar.  I added three bay leaves and an orange and lemon sliced up.  After heating, to dissolve the sugar and salt, add some ice to cool it.  Not too much!  Brine the turkey an hour per pound.  My husband is smoking the turkey this year on our outdoor wood barbecue.

Also cooking outside, in a roaster oven, is a ham from Costco.

Side dishes will be homemade mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, buttered corn, Granny's Stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce (and canned for the sickos that prefer it), and french bread rolls.  This meal will be neither gluten-free nor low-carb!

Desserts will be lemon meringue pie, cherry cheesecake, and cherry pie.

What are you serving?

'Tis the Season....

...for coughs!  Make up a batch of this remedy to have on hand when they arrive.

Honey Cough Remedy
 ¼ teaspoon Cayenne
 ¼ teaspoon Ginger
 1 Tablespoon Cider Vinegar (an organic one is preferred)
 2 Tablespoons Water

 1 Tablespoon Honey (use a locally produced raw honey, if possible)

 Dissolve cayenne and ginger in cider vinegar and water.
 Add honey and shake well.
 Take 1 Tablespoon as needed for cough.

You can also take raw garlic and grapefruit seed extract to help stop any infection that may be developing. 

I found this recipe at Organic Herbal Solutions on 

Facebook.

Christian Grain-Free Bloggers

If you are a facebook friend of mine or follow my recipe blog, you know that I lean toward the Primal way of eating much of the time, at least for the last couple of years. I am not, however, a "cavewoman", not do I intend to become one.  First and foremost, I will not be bound to any particular thing of this world besides following Christ. So many seem to let their way of eating, whatever it may be, get in the way of their relationship with Him.  Secondly, so many of the Primal/Paleo blogs and sites are unfriendly to Christians.   Some are totally clear of bias and focus on the food, some are evolutionary but not obnoxious about it, others are downright hard to read because of it. Some well-known forums are outright hostile to anyone who doesn't accept the evolutionary basis of their thinking.

There are a few places to go that are actually grain-free AND Christian.  I find these sites refreshing to visit and I visit often. I thought I'd give a shout out to them tonight.

Whole Family Strong  Jacque has such a gentle way of writing and her recipes are a hit here!

Clean Eats in the Zoo I visit here at least once a week.  She kicked my hiney with her month of At-Home CrossFit challenges, too.  I failed to do the whole month, but soon I will try it again!

Wellness Mama Don't miss her excellent essay, "Does the Bible Say We Should Eat Grains?".

Tropical Traditions This is where I get my coconut oil and coconut flour.  If you order, please use my referral number (9586157). I will get credit toward free products for referring you.  Make sure to read Brian's testimony; it's inspiring!

Do you know of any other Christian grain-free sites or blogs that I can add to my reading list? Please share if you do!

Dilly Carrots and Beans

We harvested the remaining carrots from our garden last week.  Troubles had a great time pulling them. He was so excited each time he got a big one!  We got one that looked like a person walking that made him laugh and one that we called The Octopus Carrot because of it's many small points.  I forgot to take pictures of them, though.

We can't eat all these carrots before they go soft, of course, so we saved a big bag of them for crunching raw, and set about preserving the rest.  We topped, washed and cut them up and made Dilly Carrots!  I haven't had them before, but I am hoping that they will be a tasty snack for the kids a couple of months from now.

I purchased some green beans to try Dilly Beans, too.  I can't wait for green bean season!  We still have some of last years but I'm not sure if we'll have enough to make it until late summer.  I made 68 quarts last year, figuring that over 1 quart a week would be enough but we enjoy them SO much! I often use 2 quarts for a meal.

You can always find more canning ideas at my recipe blog: Feeding the Crew, and there's lots of other recipes, too.  Here's hoping that all of your harvests are going well and that your summer garden is growing well, too.

This post is linked at the current Carnival of Home Preserving.

The Crew's Bacon Cheeseburgers

My Honey made some awesome burgers today.  He was inspired by watching DDD-Drive-Ins, Diners and Dives about Dad's Kitchen in Sacramento.  Chopped bacon goes down first...

Then a layer of shredded cheddar.  On the original burger at Dad's, they add blue cheese here.

Top with 5 ounces of freshly ground burger.  We ground chuck and London Broil for these burgers.

Season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

Grill to perfection.

Use the heavenly bacon burger to top a nice salad.  Enjoy!

The verdict? Four out of five stars.  We used a bit too much salt because we forgot to account for the bacon's saltiness and next time I will add another slice of cheese to the top, since the cheesiness was lost amidst the rest of the flavors. Overall, it was excellent!

  

A New Year: Looking Backward and Forward

So, it's January 1st and I am reading everyone's resolutions on Facebook. I don't usually make resolutions, since, like almost everyone else, all I do is fail to complete them. Of course, it is good to look over the past year and see what has been accomplished and where improvement can be made.

Last year I canned a lot of food and stocked the pantry fairly well. Of that, I am proud. We could eat off of our shelves for a while if we couldn't get to the store. This year I need to focus on making more meals-in-a-jar and meat based jars. I need to plan and ask my Honey to build a canning pantry so I have more efficient storage of our canned food.

Last year I tried a three-part Heritage Skill.  I wanted to learn to make socks for my homesteading skill in crochet and knit, as well as learn to spin yarn from animal fiber. In two of those skills, I failed. Knitting is foreign to my fingers and I did not invest the time in learning it well. I did, however, find some patterns for crocheted socks. These are able to be fitted to the foot and are easily made, warm and durable. I made a few pairs for myself early last year and they still don't have holes. I am satisfied that, should trouble come, I could keep the Lambies feet warm. I count this goal as partially met. My friend that was going to teach me to spin was unable to due to health problems.  I have shelved this part of the goal to be met in the future sometime.

I haven't decided on a Heritage Skill for this year.  Any suggestions?

Last year, I was blessed to be a small part of Mike and Jamie's adoption of Zeb (RR name~Wilson). What a blessing! This year, I am committing to praying for one specific boy; Abbott. Isn't he a doll? I so hope to see him on the My Family Found Me page soon!

I am also planning on donating to and purchasing items from Hidden Treasures auctions and other fundraisers for the children with Down Syndrome in eastern Europe. Many hands are needed to enable these children to have homes. Each tiny contribution is multiplied time and time again by our powerful Lord and it is beautiful to see!

Last year, I learned about the Primal way-of-eating.  I am enamored.  I do not think of it in evolutionary terms as is written on most of the 'popular' blogs, but as how Noah and his family would have eaten.  Simply meat, veggies and fruits.  Healthy fats.  No (or very little) grains.  I went gluten free three months ago and hope to get closer to 90-100% "Primal" this year.  I feel much better overall, have eliminated joint pain, though kombucha had a lot to do with that, and sugar comas are a thing of the past.  Wellness Mama is a Christian blogger who eats this way and has excellent articles almost daily.  Wheat Belly is a great book about the changes that wheat has undergone in the past century and why it isn't the staff of life we have been told.  I highly recommend it.

What are your plans and goals for the upcoming year?  Go ahead, inspire me!!
http://reecesrainbow.org/8104/abbott-3g

Merry Christmas To Me!

Is it wrong to order things you want for yourself in December? I may 'let' my Honey wrap them back up after I browse through them for a day or two....we'll see.

Baking Day

The Littles and I made Cranberry Bread! We read Cranberry Thanksgiving and we wanted to try Grandmother's secret bread recipe. There was measuring of flour and baking powder....

and zesting of the orange. Cutting in of butter....

and more. Later, after finishing the loaf, there was the washing of dishes....

Finally, after a long bake, there was delicious bread to eat!

We also made a dozen gluten free cupcakes so that Momma could enjoy some seasonal goodness, too. What great Lambies I have! I am so blessed to be able to spend each day with them.

Michael Pollan's 7 Food Rules

Photo from Paleo Food List.

How better to Love the Crew than to feed them well? I try to cook with these rules in mind. If you'd like to eat better than the SAD diet, you can pop over to my recipe blog for ideas, research the low-carb, slow carb, gluten-free, primal and paleo ways of eating, begin to serve two veggie sides with dinner rather than starches and visit your local farmer's market often!

Michael Pollan's 7 Food Rules

1.Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.

2.Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce.

3. Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store.

4. Don't eat anything that won't eventually rot.

5. It is not just what you eat but how you eat. Always leave the table a little hungry.

6. Enjoy meals with the people you love.

7. Don't buy food where you buy your gasoline or in the car.

The Crew's Meals

I don't usually post these, but thought I might for a change. Do you appreciate others' meal plans or prefer to plan your own? This is from last week. I make a general plan for the week's meals, but leave it flexible as to which meal to serve which day, depending on how the days go. I also allow for changes based on clearance meats I might find throughout the week.

Sunday:

granola bars and smoothie
BBQ'd hamburgers and hotdogs
leftovers/fruit/veggies

Monday:

cereal or eggs
sandwiches
Mexican (my husband and I eat taco salad, kids usually have burritos)

Tuesday:

eggs, any style
soup
Crockpot Pork Loin Roast, home canned green beans, salad

Wednesday:

Smoothie and oatmeal
leftover or sandwiches
Baked Chicken Thighs, sage rice, green salad and hard boiled eggs

Thursday:

sausage and eggs
leftover or sandwiches
Mexican (yeah, we do it often; it's super fast and easy!)

Friday:

Hot Cereal
quesadillas
Bacon Chickpea Potpie (not a family favorite; we won't have this again)

Saturday:

cereal and/or eggs
chips and salsa
leftover Bacon Chickpea Potpie

2011 Fall Gardening

The weather is cooling and so it's time to plant winter crops. I've not been all that happy with my western garden bed for winter growing because it gets little sun and so the green grow slowly. I've been planning a new bed for a couple of years and this was the year we did it! Isn't it beautiful?

Below is my older bed. I shoveled much of the dirt from this one into the new bed, since it will be more in use during the winter. At some point we will buy a truckful or two of topsoil and compost to fill it back up. For the winter, I have seeded it with carrots, lettuce and other greens and since I have the eastern garden now, I don't care how slowly they grow. These are just so I have plenty to share with friends and neighbors.

Here's a view of both beds, taken from the north side. The above pictures are from the south side.

I have planted roamine, butterleaf, salad bowl, Swiss Chard, carrots and spinach. I already have cute little sprouts peeking out from my first sowing! Every Monday or Tuesday I plant another couple of feet, so I should be able to have freshly mature greens all winter long.

Apple Days

It's finally apple season in our valley. My Honey took me up to the foothills and we got several boxes of Red and Yellow Delicious and some Bartlett pears, as well. So far I have 28 quarts made, but I'd like to get up to about 100 quarts. I have 2 boxes left to process. In other news, I am running out of places to store jars. :)

Coconut Pancakes

I finally made something with my coconut flour. I made these pancakes and they were pretty good. Not all of the Lambies liked them as much as wheat flour pancakes, but I think they will grow to enjoy them. They are silver dollar sized and only 2 1/2 of them, spread with peanut butter and maple syrup, filled me all day. The recipe is from Home, Health and Happiness.

Coconut Flour Pancakes

8 eggs
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 heavy pinch cinnamon, optional
2tablespoon honey
1/2 cup yogurt
Ghee, butter, or coconut oil for frying

Mix ingredients until smooth and let them sit for five minutes so the coconut flour can absorb the liquids. Put 1 teaspoon fat on griddle and melt over medium heat. When griddle is hot, pour 1 tablespoon of batter on for each pancake. Allow to cook until golden brown, 1-2 minutes on each side. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding the teaspoon of fat each time or as needed to prevent sticking.

Making the Food Money Last

The Headmistress and the other Three Moms are blogging about food budgets this week. Even though HM mentioned most of my favorite ideas, I thought I'd share some tips anyway.

I blogged about the discovery of my favorite tip of all here. Go to farmer's market at the very end and offer to buy the perishables that will not make it to the next market day. You can often get lots of goodies. Be prepared to fix, freeze, can, share or otherwise prepare your bounty THAT day. Ripe food turns fast. I also ask different vendors for canning specials. Often they have bins of blemished fruit that they will sell inexpensively.

Learn to can! It is not inexpensive to begin, by any means, but Craig's List, garage sales and word of mouth can get you jars for little to nothing. Ask for canning supplies for your birthday, anniversary or Christmas presents. For water bath canning, all that's needed is a large pot and the basic canning tools. A pressure canner is more expensive, but priceless for making meals in a jar that will save many dollars when you need a dinner and you need it fast. I like my harvest yellow Presto canner. The new ones that you can get are flimsy and won't stand the test of time.

Put out the word that you will pick fruit trees. I have a list of folks whose trees I pick yearly. We get the surplus fruit to eat, can or bake with, they get a clean yard and don't have to watch the fruit moldering. I take canned goods to them as a thank you.

Buy meat that is marked down at the grocery store. I would love to buy organic, but I simply can't afford it. I watch for 25% and 50% off stickers and buy up as much as I can. Most goes into the freezer, some is eaten for dinner that night or the next and some shared with others. Use whole chickens rather than parts. Make your own broth. Use the bones from the meat you buy for beef stock. Collect vegetable trimmings in a freezer bag and use that for stock making rather than fresh produce.

Buy very little packaged "food". Meat, eggs, veggies, fruit. This is all we need to be healthy.

Grow a garden. It doesn't have to be more than some buckets alongside the garage. Lettuce is very easy to grow and will grow all year round in many places. Tomatoes grow like weeds in the summer. One zucchini plant supplies my entire family for most of the summer.

Make condiments from scratch. You can save SO much money, they taste ever-so-much better and have no mystery ingredients. I have many recipes here and here.

Cook your meals from scratch. Make the ingredients for your from scratch meals from scratch! For example, prepare dried beans rather than using canned (unless you canned them yourself), chop veggies rather than using frozen, cut stew meat out of an inexpensive roast rather than buying it pre-cut. You can think of many other purchased boxes and cans you can eliminate by making basic ingredients yourself.

Have a crockpot of beans prepared at all times to feed your hollow-legged teenagers. This has saved me tons of food dollars as my boys go through growing spurts.