Everyone's talking about spring work, starting seeds, getting in the dirt I am jealous, it will a few months before I get there ~ ground usually cooperates areound april, and weather by the end of May. Planting time is usually Memorial day weekend ~ so I am chomping at the bit!
I have a lot of generic and "digging" projects for early spring, to hold me over until the real planting starts, but I really itching to get started already ~ Cabin Fever is striking! We are going to have snow from tomorrow clear through Saturday, and I have just had enough of being cooped up! It's not like I don't have enough inside projects to keep me busy, I do, but I am just yearning to be outside in the fresh air!
Being sick this past weekend has not helped my "mood" at all...lol...spent most of the weekend in and out of a Nyquil coma ~ managed to volunteer at the Thrift Shoppe like I was supposed to, but felt wicked lousy.
My leftover winter projects:
Finish Quilting a Polar Fleece throw
getting my treadle machine working ( I had planned to take it apart this weekend)
Get my new quilt cut out and ready to sew
Finish the granny squares for my afghan
Paint Hannah's room
Early Spring Projects:
Finish Painting the shutters
Plant the new "wndbreak" trees (25 of them)
Dig up / pot all of my herbs
Till up the herb garden and ready it for raspberries
set up the cranberry bed (bog)
Find a new home for the herbs
Plant the new fruit/nut trees and the raspberries and cranberries
Then I'll be ready to tackle the veggie garden...
I think because I know my to-do list is so big, I want to get a head start ~ other wise April and may are gonig to be ridiculously busy!
Oh, it's such an exciting life here :o) Goats: First, we took Rachel to the Vet and, despite his being a bit less-than-enthusiastic about lancing her lump, we stood there and did it anyway. Same stuff in there we've had in each one. Let's see what it shows. I'm hoping not CL, but with all I've been reading (I'm plum cross-eyed with CL talk!) I'm just leaning that direction. Either way, it was not embedded in the lymph system, which was good. Took her a very long time, even with Recovery, to come back out of the anesthesia, but that's how goats work, os it's ok. She's fit to be tied, living in a separated pen in the barn, not being able to run about with her buddies. I think she cusses us out when we're out there...in goat speak. She is not happy.
Dewey: doctor's visit went well...and quick. No more sling, enjoy the freedom but don't take too much advantage of it :o) LOL...he can lay on the floor and make snow-angels...well, I guess that would be 'carpet-angels' wouldn't it? No strength work with that shoulder yet at all, just movement without gravity. Next week he will see the physical therapist and start 3 times a week for the next month at least. Things are looking good for a speedy recovery to full use...although in his mind, this is nothing like speedy. Today he's just enjoying holding his coffee cup in his left hand.
Around the Homestead: We are reworking the pantry area, adding in a set of free-standing shelving I have here, and doing a full inventory (yes, again...) and organizing better. We are pulling the upper shelf out of the lower cupboard in the island, too. I want to store the 5 gallon buckets we use daily in the cupboard, and the only thing really stored in there are my baking pans/bread pans. No great loss with storage there.
We made some purchases and are planning the rest right now. Spent about $280 at the butcher (Donna, it's Rickman's Meat Market in Corinth MS...ground was $2.39/lb, stewing chunk $2.69/lb and chuck roast was $2.49/lb...I'll get other prices next week when we work on the full order) We only started with 20# stewing chunks, 20# ground, 36 back bone chops (that was all Dewey...they were cutting some for an order and he was hungry!) 4 12# chuck roasts, 2 large whole hams with hocks sliced. We will get more after I get this canned up, then in a couple weeks finish the full order. We are planning on 200# ground and 200# stewing chunks to can up, and some more roasts and a couple more whole hams for the freezer. Their sausage is delicious, but it doesn't can up well with the seasonings in it. I will get some, but we will make patties and freeze them. Bacon will be canned, with just a few pounds in the freezer.
At Sam's we plunked out about $275 on large canned goods...corn, peas, green beans, whole potatoes, peaches, tomato sauce...8 each of the #10 cans. I picked up some bread flour (100#), and sugar (25#), baking powder (4 containers), yeast (8#) and raisins...about 15# of them :o) The packages had gotten wet...the raisins are in plastic sleeves inside the boxes, so I bought what they had marked out and spent $3 per box (instead of $5). Also picked up a few bags of macaroni noodles. And, of course, the much-needed TP (just can't convince anyone here of the money-saving advantages of cloth wipes...go figure.).
We will start making up egg noodles and spaghetti here, drying it and storing it in my buckets. It is well worth the effort and time to make your own pasta, it just takes a lot of spaghetti here, so I need to do some up and sort of stay ahead of the need. I can easily do egg noodles and lasagna by hand, and with the pasta roller, I can do spaghetti, ravioli sheets and such.
If you've never made your own pasta, try it! Everyday Food Storage has a great tutorial...and a delicious recipe.
We have to get animal feed yet...I have half a barrel of dog and goat, and a full barrel of chicken. I need to stay ahead of those needs as much as I can. If I had better land grazing here, I'd take the goats off the grains and just feed the nursing momma's a ration, but I don't think we'd do too well. Something else to look into. Can't always plan on having feed available.
Here's where I've been browsing lately -- don't send me notes on the LDS sites I'm sharing. You won't find a better group planning ahead and stocking up and using that stock.
MrsKitty has several pages of things worth checking out. I was looking through her newsletter pages at milk storage and such, but there are recipes and more.
That should keep you busy for a while :o) It has me...printing and gathering, inventory listing and getting ready to put together the Shopping and Pantry Notebook! Time to get off here and start reworking that pantry and making those lists instead of just planning it!
When the prices of veggies start climbing higher during the winter months I turn to my best winter veggie choice, cabbage!Cabbage is healthy and nutritious and can be used in so many ways.
Cabbage is high in vitamins K and C.It is also high in dietary fiber.You will also find some really good B vitamins such as, vitamins b6, b1, and b2 and vitamin A.
It is also interesting to note that the vitamin C content in red cabbage is 6 to 8 times higher than that of white cabbage.
Cabbage is chocked full of minerals: calcium, potassium, magnesium.
And it even contains a little bit of protein and fat (the good omega 3 fatty acids).
The best part of cabbage from a budget stand point is that it is so inexpensive this time of year.I recently paid 45 cents a pound. I spent $1.15 for a head of cabbage that weighted around 2 ½ lbs.
Ways to incorporate cabbage into your diet..
Eat it as a side dish.I love to sauté chopped cabbage and onions in butter.When it is soft, salt a little and enjoy with your meal.
I also add red cabbage to my winter salads.They are less expensive than tomatoes and add lots of color and nutrition to a salad.
My all time favorite way to use cabbage is lacto fermented sauerkraut..You can find my recipe and step by step instructions to make this delicious food here:http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/homemadekraut.htm
Yet another way I enjoy using cabbage is cabbage rolls.
I made these yesterday for my family and they are always a big hit.I made a double batch so the pictures show 2 pans of rolls, but the recipe will make one pan.
Making cabbage rolls takes a little time, but is so yummy!The first thing I do is prepare the cabbage.I take a full head of cabbage and core it.To do this I make cuts around the core until it is loose enough to be able to pull out.Then I get a large pan and put about 2 inches of water in it and bring this to a boil.I set the whole cored cabbage in the water, cover with a lid and bring it back to a boil.I boil this for 15 minutes.Carefully remove the head of cabbage and give it a few minutes to cool.Once it is cool enough to touch you can begin removing the leaves.If you find that the center of the cabbage is still to firm you can put it back in the boiling water for a couple of minutes to soften up.I lay the leaves out on a towel while I prepare the filling.
The Filling:
1lb hamburger
1 onion, chopped
1 t minced garlic
3 cups cooked brown rice
2 egg
1 t salt
1 t pepper
Cook hamburger and chopped onion in a frying pan until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are soft.Transfer to a large mixing bowl.Add the remaining ingredients and combine well.
Now it is time to make your cabbage rolls..
Lay one leaf down in front of you and put a tablespoon or two of filling right in the middle.How much filling you put in will depend on the size of the leaf.Fold the bottom of the leaf up over the filling.Fold the left side over and then fold the right side over.Now take the top and bring it down.
Lay the finished cabbage roll in a 9x13 pan (I spray mine with non stick cooking spray first).Finish making rolls until you are out of leaves and filling.
When the cabbage rolls are all made it is time to make the sauce.
Cabbage Roll Sauce:
1- 8oz can tomato sauce
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
3 T cane juice crystals or sugar
2 T vinegar
½ cup water
2T cornstarch combined w/ ¼ cup cold water
Combine all ingredients into a sauce pan.Cook on medium high heat, stirring occasionally to begin with and then more frequently as it comes to a boil.Boil and cook the sauce for about 1 to 2 minutes until the sauce thickens.
Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls.Bake in a 350* oven for 40 to 45 minutes and enjoy!!
Charlie's almost finished with the kitchen and I must say that its looking great! Last night he took some of the items that we don't use right now but don't want to get rid of and packed them up in boxes. The cabinets are looking great thought I am going to have to re-learn where some items are because they now have new homes. Not that I'm complaining, because I'm definitely NOT complaining! I can't wait to get into the kitchen and cook up some yummy yummy foods!
Another cool thing that he's been doing is that as he labels the containers, he looks to see how much of the item is inside of it. If it looks like more needs to be purchased he's writing it down on a list. To you this may seem like a no-brainer but I'm the kind of person who makes up my grocery list normally the morning of grocery shopping. We're also going to work on our frozen and canned items, deciding on how many we want to keep on hand. As I see it, there are two ways we could do this: 1. Decide on a number that we want to keep on hand (2 bags of frozen corn, 4 cans of cheddar cheese soup, etc.) and then before shopping, go through and count how many of the items we have and then purchase enough to put us back in that number. OR, 2. Decide that each time we grocery shop to automatically purchase X amount of each item. This second way would guarantee that we'd have extra of certain items, which does help with food storage in times of need and would help us to be able to help others with gifts of food from time to time. The only problem I can see with #2 is making sure we have enough room to store these extra items, but as our goal is to only go grocery shopping 1-2 times per month, I don't think that would be a problem for a while.
Any ideas? Suggestions?
It's time! TOS Homeschool Crew 2010-2011 try outs are starting!
They've just posted the information on how to apply for next year's Homeschool Crew. The first step is to complete a demographics form. You can read more about the Homeschool Crew and the try-outs by clicking HERE. You can also view the Homeschool Crew blog, HERE.
Trusting In Him,
April
Apologia: Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell
Apologia is under new ownership, and they're expanding their company's vision. They are well-known for publishing quality Christian science curriculums. Now they are also publishing other books to encourage Christian families, especially homeschoolers. One book they have re-published is an updated version of Debra Bell's Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling. This was one of the first books I bought in 1999-2000 when we first began to homeschool our oldest daughter in preschool. It was an excellent resource for a new homeschooler, and it helped me find my direction as I was venturing into new territory with little outside support.
Somewhere along the way, I decided I didn't need it any longer. I passed it on to someone else. When I received a copy to review as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I thought I'd re-read it and pass it on to someone else again. But then I discovered all the wonderful information for homeschooling the upper grade levels. What was I thinking when I got rid of my original copy? Obviously, I didn't have a high schooler at the time!
The Ultimate Guide To Homeschooling has been divided into 10 parts. The first 9 parts contain 34 chapters, and the tenth part is a resource guide. The book is divided into the following parts:
Homeschooling: Is it for you? (7 chapters)
Choosing a Curriculum (5 chapters)
Organization and Planning (2 chapters)
Preventing Burnout (5 chapters)
What to Teach -- When and How (2 chapters)
Homeschooling Teens (4 chapters)
Computers in the Homeschool (3 chapters)
Creative Solutions (3 chapters)
Measuring Your Success (3 chapters)
Resource Guide
It's a huge book, with 509 pages, but thankfully it has a detailed table of contents and an index to help you locate the information you're seeking. Many of the chapters close with additional resources on that topic, so your reading list can just keep growing. The chapters are well-planned and easily read, with a comfortable font size to read and nice margins for note-taking.
Debra Bell walks you through the process of deciding if you should homeschool, choosing your curriculum and defining your child's learning styles. She lays out guidelines for what to teach in each subject in different grades, how to plan a high school course of study, and navigating college admissions. She shares tips for motivating the reluctant learner, assessing your student's progress, and preparing your child to do well on standardized tests. That's only a small amount of the information provided in the book.
I have to admit that I was a bit surprised by its bright orange cover. (Although it used to be a rather bright shade of yellow, too.) I do prefer the new cover with the cute artwork. My children were quick to spot that the word homeschooling is spelled out by children forming the letters with their bodies. They quickly sought to do the same themselves and we have been treated to several performances by the 8 and 10 year olds!
One word of caution is that Debra Bell does write with a bias against traditional textbooks and packaged curriculum. Although she does present the benefits of such curriculum and when it is beneficial to use them, she also presents a viewpoint that it can suck the life out of a subject. Just be aware of this bias, and recognize that different family situations and teacher preferences are always going to affect choice of curriculum, and while Debra Bell and I may not prefer textbooks ... we recognize there is a place for them.
The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling (softcover book) can be bought for $20.00, which is an excellent price for a resource that can take you from kindergarten through graduation in your homeschool. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who is considering homeschooling, planning to homeschool, or already homeschooling their children!
This item was provided free for our review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. We received no other compensation, and this review is our honest opinion. Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.
When the prices of veggies start climbing higher during the winter months I turn to my best winter veggie choice, cabbage!
Our Journey Into The Country - A Faith Walk