Barefoot Hillbilly Wife to a Redneck......

Happy Thanksgiving All

It is Simply life....... I made my own veggie seasoning!! I did it quite by accident too!!LOL I was blending up something in the blender and thought hmmm I wonder.... LOL So I threw in some of my dried veggies, garlic, sweet basil and some other stuff. I have a quart of seasoning for just about anything I want to throw it in!! LOL I was so proud of myself!! I know..... Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall!! LOL

 We are looking at some really cold weather this weekend and possibly snow. They said no accumulation BUT that has been said before... Like around last Thanksgiving and we got 2 inches I think!! We have a front porch full of wood so We would be okay with it!  I also have a real chicken house too! YEAH We got it done over the weekend. It still needs tin on the roof but it is good enough to keep them warm. I have all the hay feeders were I want them and all the animals have good winter coats!!

I am getting ready to start on stuff for Thanksgiving. I have an 18lb Turkey unthawing. All  kinds of plans just trying to get the kids motivated! SO I will tell everyone Happy Thanksgiving and Get busy!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

First Day Of Deer Season!!! Jerky? summer sausage? Help!

It is Simply life.......

Well we have 2 tags filled! My Husband shot a 6-point buck and a doe this morning. He radioed us so we headed back there. I got back there and we were fixing to head across the field and there came another doe. I was shaking so bad I couldn't focus so I sat on the ground and used Kyle's shooting sticks to help me steady the gun. Well I took a shot and missed and the doe just stood there and Out steps a little buck so I take a second and third shot!! YES I missed!! LOL It was the first time I had even shot at one though! The adrenaline was crazy though! I have to wear ear plugs when sighting in the gun its so loud. Out there It didn't even register as loud!! I was so shaky I had to just sit for a minute!!! Its crazy!  It was so cool all 5 of us were talking a mile a minute! LOL  I am going again Monday morning. Kyle went outside a while ago and there was a buck and 2 does right here in our yard!! We got a total of 43 pounds of meat!! That helps with the grocery bill! Of course I can't actually cook it for about 2 weeks after cutting and grinding all that meat!! The smell gets to me and I have to wait a little while. Anyone have a good jerky recipe/directions or summer sausage? My kids want me to make some. I hope we get a few more to add to the stock! Have a good night everyone!!

Brown Sugar Anyone??

 I made my own brown sugar yesterday for cookies!! It might be something simple to some who already did it. But it hadnt really dawned on me to do that!!! LOL But it was SOOOO easy! I will definitely do that from now on!   I used 6 cups of sugar and mixed in about 3 tablespoons of blackstrap molasses. Lighter use less molasses and darker use more!!  Our cookies were so good! Hubby came home early because of the rain. It was a nice day at home we all cooked  and baked together.  It was a good day! the rain we had was nice and it is now cool outside and more fall like weather!!! We are done with school for the day and are heading out to clean out some packing crates that we are going to be using for a chicken house. They are full of packing paper and card board.  The girls also got one to make into a play house so they are excited!  SO I am off to get started before the kids try to do it by themselves!! LOL Have a great day everyone! God IS Good!!!

My Adventure in Laundry soap!

 I had found a recipe several months ago to make my own laundry soap. Filed it away on the PC and forgot about it. That happens quite often to me!! SO anyways I was reminded about it the other day so I got the stuff to try it.... Well I used 1 bar of Lever 2000 for the first batch. It turned out kind of ummm well chunky.......It worked but not exactly what I thought it was going to be !  SO I used it anyways and then got some Ivory soap to make the next batch.... What a difference!! That was what was recommended in the first place! (I am SOOO Smart sometimesLOL!!) It all melted real well and mixed up even better... It is now cooling so we will see what it is like after sitting over night. Oh and i used 3 bars of Ivory instead of just one. I figured that would be the same thing they did when they make these concentrates!

 SO here is what I did.......

 First the ingredients and equipment:

1 5 gallon bucket with a lid

3 bars of Ivory soap

2 cups of baking soda

2 cups of borax

one stainless steel spoon

a cheese grater

a small stainless steel pan with 3 cups of hot water

1. Grate the soap into the 3 cups of water in the pan. Melt slowly do not boil! I just cant imagine what scorched soap would smell like. When melted set aside.

2. In bucket fill with hot tap water and dissolve the baking soda and then add the borax. Stir till dissolved. Make sure it is all dissolved and then add melted soap. Stir well, cover, and let it let over night.

 Its fairly simple. Just dont expect it to be exactly like the store-bought soap. Here is how much it cost me to make it.

 Soap 1.07/3 bars

 Borax 2.97-roughly .30 a cup so .60/batch

 Baking Soda 2.12-.27 a cup .54/batch

So about .74 a gallon.......... 2.21 a batch

If someone else has done this or has any suggestions Feel free to comment.