Saturday, April 19, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Pickling Eggs...
Boil or steam some eggs... |
This is Stella, a 13 year old young pup that I was taking care of while her owner was away. I had lots of company while I was cooking and peeling the eggs. |
Have you ever wondered what to do with your left over dill pickle juice? |
More company... |
Peel your boiled or steamed eggs... |
Add cooked and peeled eggs to your left over dill pickle juice. Make sure the eggs are fully covered with juice. |
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Homemade Egg Noodles
Egg noodles cost about $1 a pound or more to buy at the store and they have unidentifiable ingredients that are probably not good for you. Homemade egg noodles only cost pennies and are very simple to make. It only takes 2 ingredients to make homemade egg noodles, flour and eggs, that's it.
Here is a good rule of thumb, two eggs for each cup of flour and a little for rolling out the dough. Just add 1 cup of flour to your shallow mixing bowl. Make a little well in the center. Crack two eggs into the well.
Mix and then knead until it looks like this. Just takes a few minutes. I couldn't take a picture since I had dough all over my hands. My camera still had flour on it, but it wipes off easily enough.
Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. While the dough is resting, bring salted water or soup base to a boil. I used turkey stock out of a turkey that I had roasted the day before yesterday. I had purchased a couple of turkeys that were on sale for .57 a pound a little while back. Wow, that was a bargain considering you can't get any kind of meat for under $2 a pound anymore. The cost of food is ridiculous....
Roll it out pretty thin. It plumps up when it cooks. My dough is a beautiful rich color due to my home grown eggs. Thank you Chickie birds...
I used my pizza cutter to cut the noodles. I also cut them into shorter pieces, so they would fit on my spoon when I ate the soup. If using in other dishes cut into whatever size and length you need.
I dusted the cut noodles with a little more flour to keep the noodles from sticking together as they cooked. I also added the left over flour to my soup to make it a little thicker. Waste not, want not...
Add the noodles to your salted boiling liquid of your choice. Do not skip the salt. Boil for at least three minutes.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Homemade Laundry Soap ..... Laundry Day(s)
It's not always easy living off the grid. I know that I've said that before and I'm sure I will say it over and over again. That doesn't mean that living off the grid does not bring us joy or a real sense of accomplishment. An example of this is the task of doing the laundry. I love to hang the clothes out on the line. I'm in the sun, alone with my thoughts and soaking in the beauty of Gods' creation all around me. (I started this post well over a year ago and now Number One hangs our clothes on the line since the wreck)
Even in the winter clothes must be dried. Winter is more challenging and certainly less pleasant, but none the less an accomplishment. Your clothes freeze before you get them out of the basket and on the line. Have you ever seen a pair of freezed dried pants? They can stand up all by themselves.
We have a small 110 volt washer/dryer combo unit that Number One found on Craigslist for 100 bucks. What a blessing! They are around $1100 if you bought one new. We don't use the dryer. It's not necessary it this arid climate. It was such a waste of money and time just driving to the laundry mat. It took an hour to get to the closest one and then, you guessed it, an hour to get back. Then the time it took to actually wait for the clothes to get done. When your at home you can get other things accomplished. I'm(I was) actually doing laundry and writing this post at the same time.
When we were doing the laundry at the laundry mat, I figured out that if you used the largest machines you would save the most money. They work very well. They are made from some serious iron and could really get the job done.
I was very happy when we brought home our little investment. That's when I realized laundry could be a joyful task off the grid. I do have an indoor line in the storage building for when it rains too long or the wind blows so hard that it just rips the clothes off the line. I don't leave the clothes out on the line when I leave anymore. Lesson learned. I don't need my bloomers blown into the next county.
I also make my own laundry soap. It's easy to do. I don't use very much soap. It's really not necessary. I only wash in cold water, because washing in hot or warm does not change how clean your clothes get and it cost money to heat the water. If I had to wash soiled cloth diapers or something similar I would definitely use hot water and bleach to help kill germs. I do not use bleach at all in my laundry. It really irritates my eyes, nose and skin. I do keep it handy for emergency use. I also prefer homemade liquid laundry soap to powdered laundry soap since I use cold water. Sometimes powdered laundry soap may not dissolve in cold water.
Laundry soap recipe: 2 c grated soap or 1 bar grated unscented soap (Fels Naptha or similar bar soap)
6 c water
3/4 c borax natural soap booster
3/4 c all natural washing soda (in the laundry isle)
1 quart hot tap water
1 gallon tap water
Using a large old unused pot, heat soap and two cups of water. Add the other four cups one cup at a time, stirring constantly. Do not let it boil. Add measured borax and washing soda. Stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Add 1 quart hot tap water and stir until mixed very well. Add 1 gallon water and stir until mixed very well. At this time you may add any essential oils for scent that you want. Unscented works just fine too. Let cool before you refill your old detergent bottles with your new homemade laundry soap. Don't be surprised if it separates a little. Shake a little before using if it does. Use about 3/4 cup per regular load. Play around if you have a really soiled load.
This blowing sun snow weather makes it difficult to dry laundry on the line. |
It's easy to dry laundry in this weather. I didn't think that you needed a pic of my bloomers... |
Even in the winter clothes must be dried. Winter is more challenging and certainly less pleasant, but none the less an accomplishment. Your clothes freeze before you get them out of the basket and on the line. Have you ever seen a pair of freezed dried pants? They can stand up all by themselves.
We have a small 110 volt washer/dryer combo unit that Number One found on Craigslist for 100 bucks. What a blessing! They are around $1100 if you bought one new. We don't use the dryer. It's not necessary it this arid climate. It was such a waste of money and time just driving to the laundry mat. It took an hour to get to the closest one and then, you guessed it, an hour to get back. Then the time it took to actually wait for the clothes to get done. When your at home you can get other things accomplished. I'm(I was) actually doing laundry and writing this post at the same time.
When we were doing the laundry at the laundry mat, I figured out that if you used the largest machines you would save the most money. They work very well. They are made from some serious iron and could really get the job done.
I was very happy when we brought home our little investment. That's when I realized laundry could be a joyful task off the grid. I do have an indoor line in the storage building for when it rains too long or the wind blows so hard that it just rips the clothes off the line. I don't leave the clothes out on the line when I leave anymore. Lesson learned. I don't need my bloomers blown into the next county.
I also make my own laundry soap. It's easy to do. I don't use very much soap. It's really not necessary. I only wash in cold water, because washing in hot or warm does not change how clean your clothes get and it cost money to heat the water. If I had to wash soiled cloth diapers or something similar I would definitely use hot water and bleach to help kill germs. I do not use bleach at all in my laundry. It really irritates my eyes, nose and skin. I do keep it handy for emergency use. I also prefer homemade liquid laundry soap to powdered laundry soap since I use cold water. Sometimes powdered laundry soap may not dissolve in cold water.
Laundry soap recipe: 2 c grated soap or 1 bar grated unscented soap (Fels Naptha or similar bar soap)
6 c water
3/4 c borax natural soap booster
3/4 c all natural washing soda (in the laundry isle)
1 quart hot tap water
1 gallon tap water
Using a large old unused pot, heat soap and two cups of water. Add the other four cups one cup at a time, stirring constantly. Do not let it boil. Add measured borax and washing soda. Stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Add 1 quart hot tap water and stir until mixed very well. Add 1 gallon water and stir until mixed very well. At this time you may add any essential oils for scent that you want. Unscented works just fine too. Let cool before you refill your old detergent bottles with your new homemade laundry soap. Don't be surprised if it separates a little. Shake a little before using if it does. Use about 3/4 cup per regular load. Play around if you have a really soiled load.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Giant Valentine's Day Hamburger With Homemade Ketchup
Little more bun than burger... |
Had to cut the bun down to size... |
Five meals with homemade fries and ketchup... |
Many many years ago in Fort Smith Arkansas we visited a burger joint, known for their giant hamburgers, called Ed Walker's Drive In. Now our burger was nothing like the 5 lb behemoth Ed Walker serves up. We were young and naive, so we ordered the large chili cheese fries too. People were gawking at the enormous amount of food on our table and to be honest we were too. Needless to say, we took home a doggie bag. Now, Number One created the burger with the ground bacon. I don't think they serve it that way at Ed Walker's.
Yummy... |
Ketchup Recipe
6 oz can tomato paste
1/2 c light corn syrup (make your own sugar syrup)
1/2 c white vinegar
1/4 c water
1 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
Combine all ingredients in saucepan. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes. Stir often. Cover, cool and then chill in a covered container in the refrigerator. Makes 1 1/2 cups. I often double this recipe. I store it in an old clean ketchup bottle. Enjoy...
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