School's Out!

Well, my school is :-D  After taking a week to get sick (like I always do when the semester ends) and recuperate, I'm back at it today!

I've got beans snapped (I did that while wallowing on the couch watching tv while I was sick) and ready to go into the pressure canner.  I have a box of Vidalia onions that are about to get sliced and dehydrated once the beans are in the canner.  Other than that I really need to focus on cleaning up this house from where I did nothing but sit on the couch all day for several days.

The one thing I did get accomplished while sick besides snapping beans was laundry.  I would put in a load, watch a tv show, put it in dryer, watch a tv show, get it out and fold it while watching a tv show, then put away and hang up items during the commercials of a tv show ... just round and round and round and round we go - until I have like two loads left to do in the whole house.

Included in focusing on cleaning is making some cleaners ... I'm either out or nearly out of almost everything.  This past month has been brutal on me between the end of the semester projects and finals to focus on, spring planting, kids end of the year activities, visiting the hospital every spare minute (my best friend, BestBean - since kindergarten - had an aneurysm), and just normal daily "have-to's" (like providing food to the masses) - I've let just about everything else go.  So making these cleaners that keep me sane is a must ... the only store bought cleaner I allowed in the house and was generally okay with was some petroleum-free laundry detergent - everything else has been stretched to its limit!

Alright, back to work!

Dehydration - Problems, Solutions, & More

For the past two weeks I have been slicing and dicing and dehydrating - amongst other things like pressuring canning, baking & freezing, making hygiene items, and herbal stuff.  I literally got up two Saturday mornings ago and started slicing eggplant to make a "fake bacon" - note to self, add salt to the marinade.  I started using a mandolin to get the perfect slices and I'm so glad I started using this consistently!!

Since then I've dehydrated celery, red bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, frozen strawberries, and apples coated with cinnamon sugar.  Onions will be next when the rest of the apples are complete.

I've decided to start storing my dehydrated produce in the various jars that we'd normally throw away.  Of course, I'm starting to make a lot of the stuff I buy from the store from scratch so this may not last too long.  I'll be happy to buy more canning jars for storing the dehydrated stuff or vacuum sealing it all - but for now, why waste the resources I have.

I had an issue with the trays on my dehydrator.  I have a round one that is obviously not an Excaliber.  But at the same time I do like this that MrBeans got me back in January - it doesn't get too hot and there is lots of air circulation.  So far, I'm very happy with the results.  It's an Oster brand - and I've kept the trays from my previous dehydrator that finally kicked the bucket last fall.  Because that is an issue with the new Oster - not enough trays.  There is also no flexible mats to put small things on or to make fruit leather.  So I've made some.  Now I do not have to spray my trays which was causing a problem - my fruits and veggies were a bit greasy.  That's okay for short-term storage but not for long-term ... and sometimes, things get stored for a long time here if they aren't used often.  I don't want my stuff going rancid - that's worse than it rotting on the counter after having gone through all the work to slice, dehydrate, and store.

So anyway, two birds one stone, as the saying goes with this little flexible mats.

I would love to get cross-stitch plastic but the store I was in didn't have any so I settled for those little silicon-type chopping mats.  I got 2 for $1 at the Dollar Store.  They aren't quite wide enough to cover the entire round tray BUT that's okay cause it's just a little bit and I think it helps with the air flow considering I have solid sheets versus screened trays.  So far everything is coming out wonderfully and I couldn't be happier with the performance --- well, I could use some more trays, that would make me happier!! :-D

Valentine's Day Pancakes

I got up this morning and made special pancakes for my babies since tonight will be wild with stuff and last night I had class.  Of course, any time I decide to make pancakes for them it is special BUT these were extra special AND the leftovers are now in the freezer so that they can have pancakes for several mornings!

Now I'm no great pancake maker.  Never have been, never will be.  So please excuse the crudeness of my pancakes.  I also couldn't find my regular heart cookie cutter so I used my double heart and xo cutters instead.  As someone pointed out to me - each time I do something from pinterest, I make it my own by changing it up.  This is probably how it is meant to be because even when I have the right "equipment" I wind up not being able to find it when I go to make whatever it is - but then it turns up later when I need it for something else.  Personally, I believe these are little personal lessons to me.

Here are some little bits of love for my babies (yes, even when they are grown, they are my babies!)....
And at the end I played around with the last little bit of batter ....

 

So this turned into two things at once - a special breakfast for my children and some stock for my freezer grab-n-heat "meals" for the kiddos.  Two for one is usually pretty great!

Crossfit 90 Day Challenge - Day 16

Sorry I've been a slacker in keep up ... I'll just have to start up again with this one!

Day 16
2 rounds for time of:
100 Jump rope
50 Shoulder to overhead (shoulder press), 20 lbs
25 Knees to elbows

What I did: 6 minutes
While that seems great ... I slacked on the shoulder presses ... :-/
2 rounds of:
100 Jump rope ... Yes completed
50 Shoulder to overhead (shoulder press), 20 lbs .... 20 lbs but only 20 each round
25 Knees to elbows .... Yes completed - laying down because I couldn't get to the bar properly - laying down is harder for me as it works more ab muscles for me - knees to elbows done "correctly" are like candy to me so I pushed myself a little bit

I have weak arms - this is not news to me - but it still disappoints me every. single. time.

Gardening By the Week

I was just going through my book "Week by Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook" by Ron Kujawksi & Jennifer Kujawski.  I thought perhaps I'd share since I know a lot of people wonder how I manage my gardens on top of everything else.  This is pretty much how I do it.  Granted, I do have to deal with certain things like when My Honey will do some tasks but overall, this gets me through.

Now I'm in Zone 7 (whether A or B is up to the map I consult).  Technically the "last frost" for this area is slated for April 15th.  But I'll continue in the tradition of my Papa which is nothing goes in the ground before May 1st.  He has been the only one whose garden lived because he adhered to this despite his brothers-in-law planting April 16th, when a late frost swooped in and killed everything.  This year, May 1st will be tough with it being not only finals week but also Holy Week.... but I'll get it done one way or another!!

Anyway, this puts me at about 9 weeks before the average last frost.

This week I'll be attempting to get some eggplant, peppers, anise, and parsley seed sown indoors.  I don't grow summer savory, fennel, or chervil - though I should.  If you do, then get those seed started as well.

I'll be back later with the things I have already completed and still have yet to complete to be caught up.  I'm a little behind this year but I should be all caught up by the time the end of *my* spring break rolls around in a few weeks!!

Oil Pulling

So I've been giving this thing called oil pulling a try for close to three weeks now ... trying to get in the habit of doing it daily but hasn't quite worked out as well as all that YET!

Oil pulling is basically swishing around oil in your mouth first thing in the morning - before brushing your teeth or drinking anything.  Apparently, the oil - specifically sunflower or sesame - captures toxins within your mouth, going so far as to draw them from your gums and teeth.  When you finish swishing - for 15 - 20 minutes - the oil is whitish which means it is full of toxins.  One does not want to swallow this in any way, shape, or form.  Immediately after spitting out the oil one needs to brush their teeth, then go about their normal morning.

With oil pulling dental health is supposed to improve: teeth become whiter, breath fresher, eliminates bleeding gums, metabolism intensified, and a variety of maladies have been helped due to the detoxifying properties of oil pulling.  I was born with bad teeth that have only gotten worse even with great and careful oral hygiene care.  I'm hoping for help in this area just to help my teeth last longer.  And what's giving it a try going to hurt - my horrible gag reflex?

Here is a link for you to read more about oil pulling since I did just the barest of overview.

Anyway, the first two weeks I used coconut oil.  It's not one of the recommended oils but it's what I had as I didn't think I could handle the strong olive oil flavor.  I could not get even half a teaspoon to stay in my mouth without gagging beyond control.  I had read that the time that it takes to melt can be a bit much for some folks.  So I decided to melt a little in a spoon with warm water.  This helped greatly for me to get started.  Not ideal but if I could work up to the amount of oil AND get in the habit then whatever.

Finally I was able to buy some sesame oil.  I tried a spoonful and almost promptly spit it right back out as my gag reflex revolted immediately.  So the next morning I mixed the oil with warm water and that worked better.  At first I was barely making it 30 seconds.  This morning I made it to 5 min 38 seconds!!  I just have to be careful on the oil to water ratio ... the oil is ever increasing but by miniscule amounts.  Whatever gets me there!

So far there have been slight improvements but I don't know if it's that I'm paying closer attention or what.  So I'll wait before posting about those!

Overnight, No-cook Oatmeal

Yum!  This was really good!  I'm so glad I found this recipe over at The Yummy Life!  She has several variations of Refrigerator Oatmeal but I tried the Cocoa Banana one since I knew, right off the top of my head that, I had all the ingredients - well I did use ground flax seed instead of chia seeds.  I cannot wait to try several of the other ones throughout the year as different fruit seasons come in and I'm able to pick fresh and freeze more for winter usage :)

These are my finished jars ready to go into the fridge!  I was slightly worried about how much cocoa was in them, but this morning evaporated all that worry like the sun shews away the fog! Yummy, yummy goodness :)

Of course, this lends itself into the fact that I don't buy a lot of dairy-free yogurt (or any yogurt for that matter) ... BUT I *really* want to make these a lot more often ... and wait until the kids get ahold of them - then I'll really be up the creek because there's no way I'll be able to make enough of them without paying an arm and a leg which makes it so not worth it :(
Soooooooo, I'll be starting my own yogurt tomorrow afternoon!  I've been wanting to for so long but have just been too lazy to do it.  This is my swift kick in the pants to get it going!  The Yummy Life has quite a few other recipes that call for yogurt as well that I want to try and therefore will make this yogurt-making adventure well worth the effort (even though I keep hearing how easy it is - it's just all about getting up and getting started!).