Complete Health and Wellness

Today

Well today was somewhat productive. I am having the urge to preserve and stock up as much as possible. This is a fairly new concept to me so I'm still trying to figure out what I really need to can/freeze etc. My good friends' mom is selling her chest freezer so I am hoping to buy that. DH finally agreed to let me put it in the garage (his space) and says he can see how we could save money if I started freezing and canning things ahead of time.

I have never canned before, although my mom did for years but I never helped so i don't know the first thing about it. However I did find a great recipe for freezer jam and it seems to be easy enough. My husband goes through a lot of jam/jelly so I think this will be a money saver, plus i can use organic fruit and sugar alternatives so I am excited about that. So today I froze blueberries and shredded zucchini for future use. I also went and bought freezer containers and pectin so that I can do some strawberry and raspberry freezer jam later this week. I will be going to the Thursday Market tomorrow to check out the produce. I want to eventually can some green beans. We tend to eat a lot of those in the winter and it would be great to have them on hand.

Anyway aside from a little cleaning (cleaned my kitchen 3 times! I guess I cooked too much) all I did was prepare food and go for an early morning walk with friends. I guess that's productive though, huh? I'm pretty tired so I'm hoping that's a sign of a baby to come, but it could just be that I woke up early. We'll see........................................................

Blueberries, Cats, and babies

Well It's been awhile since I have written but I'm here everyday just reading everyone else's blogs. Just getting ideas and enjoying finally having time at home. I am finally done with all my classes (except for an online one) and am officially a teacher. I'm very excited about that and am hoping to get a job soon. They say jobs don't really open up till August so I am just enjoying doing home things and getting my house back together after a crazy year of school.

DH, dd and I took a trip to the coast to get out of our record heat temperatures on Monday. On the way back I picked up 5 pounds of organic blueberries and am going to get them into freezer bags today to put away for muffins or pancakes or just to eat. They are so good! I think I may invest in a couple blueberry bushes next year. I think I could find room for them.

My garden is looking good. I was bummed that I didn't have time to get as much in there as I wanted but I have potatoes, tomatoes, and strawberries so that will have to do for now. I was pleased to see that the potatoes and strawberries came back from last year because if that hadn't happened i would only have tomoatoes right now! My chickens are loving being in the garden. I have yet to figure out a good pen for them but I let them out to be in the garden and driveway everyday and just cage them at night. I hope to get going on their pen this weekend or later this week. Right now I want to focus on getting my house and finances in order. My life has really sufftered this past year because of the intense school program I was in. Things are looking up though.

So, the other day I come home from working at the fair with my mom and I hear a kitten crying. I look around and finally find a little black kitty stuck at the top of a tall stack of pallets at the feed store next door. I get him out and he's so small and skinny, not small enough to still be nursing but still small. I brought him in and gave him some leftover adult cat food since that was all I had at the time. I conteplated whether we would keep him or not and left it up to dh. My daughter and he both really liked the kitty but I wasn't sure I was up for a baby animal, which is weird for me because I'm usually all for it. Anyway I put his food and water outside that night and let him sleep on the porch. I thought that if he was still there then we would keep him but if not then someone else would probably have him. Woke up the next morning and he had gotten himself wedged in my husband's trucks' engine compartment. That told me that he should be in the house! So we decided to keep him, Bayley loves him and he's a funny, sweet kitty so we have a new cat! Oh and he got his head caught in my fish food container and almost suffocated! We think his 9 lives are down to 6 and might name hime "Trouble". Seems fitting doesn't it?

And last but not least DH and I are hoping to get pregnant this month. I have  few more days before I can test but I am hopeful that I am pregnant. My 2 best friends just found out they are pregnant too as well as a whole bunch of other people I know so that would be fun. We are ready for number 2 and hope we are blessed this month. I'll keep you posted!

Well I've spend too much time here and need to utilize my daughters' nap time to get some cleaning done. Have a great day everyone!

Good Recipes and Little House on the Prairie

First, thanks to all who clued me in on where Spinning Grandma went. I found her and have been enjoying her blogs again.

Second, does anyone have any good links for organic recipes. I know I can use organic ingredients for normal recipes but I find that if I use recipes that were made specifically for using organic ingredients the recipes are healthier. Not sure why but they are. So if anyone has any good sites, or even recipes you made up, or use at home I would really appreciate it.

I've orderd Little House on the Prairie season 1 through my blockbuster mail rental and am really enjoying them. I watched the first 8 episodes in 2 nights! It's just so interesting to watch how people use to live, I mean I know it's Hollywood and everything but I think they did a pretty good job. It's a show I don't mind my daughter watching and there is always a good message. Growing up I always wanted to live like they did on LHOTP. In fact, my sister and I use to dress up and even tried to make a covered wagon once. We had so much fun! All of us on this board are trying to homestead in one way or another but we all have choices as to what degree we homestead. People that lived back then didn't. I just watched an episode that focused on Pa losing his crop of wheat. He had to travel and find work so they would have money in the winter. For us, we raise crops for our food, some rely on it more than others but I am guessing that if our crops got ruined for one reason or another that we would be able to go to the store and buy it. Or, if no money for that, could borrow from other people or rely on family. It wasn't so easy back then as everyone was just barely getting by for themselves and if your crop failed you were in big trouble. Anyway that is my rambling for the day. I'm just enjoying a simple day and thinking about how things use to be. Have a great day everyone!

What happened to SpinningGrandma?

I'm here again!

I'm not sure if anyone even checks my blog anymore since I have been gone for 3 months!! I knew my school schedule was going to get busy but I really had no idea until I was in the middle of it and stressing out! My aspirations for gaining more of a homesteader life kind of went by the wayside, and although I kept up with a few of the small things that I had changed, most of the major stuff got put on hold for awhile.

I still have my chickens and am coming up with a blueprint of their new pen as we speak. I have 3 and they are cooped up in a pen that is too small for them but that will be remedied very soon. I have decided to let them have the backside of my raised vegetable garden since it is too shaded and doesn't grow much. They will have an enclosure on one end where they can get out of the rain and lay their eggs and the rest will be open so they can run around and scratch in the dirt. I think it will be very cool. I have been letting them out every night to scratch around in the garden and they love it, they are pretty tame too and don't run away from me too much when I pick them up. For awhile they were last on my priority list and I felt bad but I just had to get my school work finished up before I could put my energy into them.

I have still been trying to make wise choices as far as foods and cleaners etc for my family. My hubby and I switched to deodorant with no aluminum or propelyne glycol and while it seems to be working ok for him it's not working so well for me. It does ok when i have a t-shirt on but if I wear a tank top I can't be positive that it will work. Kinda bums me out but I'm still on the search for a better one. I've also stopped buying yogurt with splenda or any other artificial sugar in it. In my never ending quest for weight loss I have gotten used to buying foods with splenda or such in them so that I can have something sweet without all the calories. However I found some brands of yogurt that are all natural and are not too many more calories than the ones with Splenda and they taste better! A couple of my favorites are Stonyfield Farm and Brown Cow. I also have been buying natural and organic meats at the grocery store. They can be a little more spendy but I think it's worth it, I can taste the difference and I know it's better for my body as well. One of these days I hope to raise my own animals for eating but until then the expensive meat in the grocery store will have to do.

Well this is a pretty long blog but I just wanted to check in and get back to all that I was doing before I lost my mind! LOL My mom and I have been working hard in all my gardens to get them back to where they should be since they too were neglected during my hectic school schedule. I am only doing a few vegetables this year since i missed a lot of the seen planting. I may grab a few more plants in town today but am not sure. I'm keeping it simple since I just got out of a really hard year. I need to relax a little. We are going to go get a load of bark today to go in the gardens and it should look really nice. Ok I need to get back to it. Have a great day and I can't wait to catch up with you all!

I love Spring Break!

Well I have had a productive and relaxing week so far! My house is not up to par like I would like but I am focusing more of my energy playing with my daughter and doing things outside so I still feel like I am getting a lot done. Yesterday we ran to town and got fertilizer for all the gardens (organic of course), one of those great tools that help you break up the ground, a pair of shoes for work (I have interviews coming up hopefully), lunch for me and Bayley, stopped by and saw daddy at work, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I made dinner for the third time in a row( this is something I enjoy doing but my school schedule doesnt allow me to do it often) I am just really enjoying being home and taking care of my family.

The feed store next door has chicks on order for me, I'm only getting 2 but I still have yet to get my chicken trailer made. Does anyone know of a site that gives you detailed instructions on how to make one? I looked online last night but all I found were links for books to buy and I really don't want a whole book on chicken tractors, just some simple instructions for building one. Any ideas would be great!

Well I need to get off here and continue with my productive day. I need to made bread today (Trina I will post that recipe later )  Also need to fold the laundry and put it away (is this anyone else's most hated chore?) and get the rest of the house picked up. I should tackle this office but it carries memories of the dreaded work sample I had to finish last week and I am just not ready for that reality to start again. Oh to be done with school, Only another 107 days, 4 hours, and 37 minutes! LOL No I'm not counting down the days am I? Pretty good since I started at 356 days huh?

Have a great day everyone!

I'm back!

I'm jumping for joy right now because I completed my final task for this term of school and I get a small break!!! YAY! I can't even tell you the stress that was lifted from me, i can honestly say this is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life and I really feel like I've accomplished something after turning in my final project. This term had been really stressful and I wasn't seeing the benefits of all my hard work but i finally do. On the homefront....................

I have some plans for around here. I need to get my chicken coop ready and start to build a chicken tractor (Thanks Trina).  I have a garden bed that desperatley needs attention and a compost pile that needs some help. I also want to relax with my daughter and do some fun things with her. I also think we are going to the coast next weekend so I am looking forward to that.

Drumroll please...............................I made 4 successful loaves of bread last night! I used my mom's ww recipe and added some flax and gluten flour, I also added the yeast to the mix instead of proofing it first and that seemed to work really well.

Well I want to get my vacation going which means I need to get off this thing. Just wanted to update and let you know I was still around! I think I will go check up on all of you now!

Need major help here

I am on my 4th batch of bread and it's still not rising! I am going to post the step by step process I used this morning and see if you see something wrong, I just don't know what to do!

First of all I would like to say that I tested my yeast and it's working. Just bought it a few days ago so I know it can't be that.

* I used Christine Miller's recipe but I halved it this time just in case it didn't turn out so I wouldn't be wasting ingredients.That's why the measurements look so weird. And this is in no way her recipe's fault, it's all me I know it, I'm new to this and just need some tips. Even though the bread doesn't rise I just know it's good bread because I went ahead and cooked it and it's SO good!

First I mixed 3/4 c. lukewarm water with 1/6 c. of honey, then I sprinkled on 1 tsp of yeast and then sprinkled 1/8 cup of whole wheat flour over the top and mixed it in a bit.

I let that sit for 10 minutes

I then mixed 2 cups of flour with 1/4 Tbls salt and added the 1/8 cup melted butter to the flour mixture. I then poured the flour mixture into my mixer and then added the yeast mixture on top. I turned my mixer onto about medium speed and let it go while I added a little flour at a time. I did this for about 10 minutes until I thought the dough was almost all kneaded. Then I took it out and kneaded it myself for about 7 minutes. I rounded it into a ball the best I could got it buttered all the way around, and set it on a folded towel that was on top of a warming oven. I covered it with a damp towel and left it for about 1 hour.

I came back and it didn't look like it was rising at all. So I left it for another 30 minutes, came back and decided to punch it down thinking maybe it had risen and I just didn't notice ;) It felt like it had some air in there so that was encouraging. However when I came back about 30 minutes later it was still flat and my hand print was still there. I let it sit a little longer and then I put it in a pan and put it in the oven. It's hard as a brick now and didn't rise at all in the oven. PLEASE HELP! What did I do wrong?

Whole Wheat Bread Help

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