mommato3boys

Love the new album, but I have always been a Hank Jr. fan. Can't wait till until I eek out the funds to get it.

I agree with Arby...MASK! I do not do deep cleaning without a mask. Just the fumes from cleaning the shower sometimes sets my asthma off. We getting our bedroom ready to paint and hubby brought home a mask and reminded me that I was not to do anything in our room without wearing the mask. Gotta love that man, he knows me too well.

Hope you are having a wonderful time!

I agree I think I will print that and post it to the back of the front door

Don't live there now but I am from Alabama. My family is from Walker County.

Let's see how can I say this nicely since this is a family site... NO!

I don't know about you guys but over the past 18 months my grocery bill has been shriveling. Not from being over stocked but from the increased prices. I used to could feed our family of 5 on $200 a month. But now we are a family of 4 and I do good to get two weeks out of $200. I have cut corners everywhere I possibly could which means I have been using these recipes more and more. And I have played with them putting my own twist on them. Especially the brownie mix. What I have come up with is omit the shortening. Here what I do... Mix all the dry ingredients divide between 4 glass jars. Top each jar with 1/2 chocolate chips and 1/4 nuts. Seal - vacuum sealing works but this doesn't stay around my house long enough to go stale. To use mix with 1/2 oil, 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla and cook on 350 for about 25-30 minutes. I also will add peanut butter in it just to change it up a little.

Our oldest found a new website and shared it with me. It is myfridgefood.com you click stuff on the list you have in your frig or pantry and then it gives you lots and lots of recipes for what you have on hand. I think I am in heaven. LOL

I have a refillable mister that I can put oil in to use instead of Pam Cooking Spray, but the bread still sticks to the pans like crazy! I have to oil mist them AND flour them and then I'm still crossing my fingers the bread will co-operate. Does Pam Cooking Sprayknow something I don't? LOL Use corn meal instead of flour and see if that helps. I use it when cooking bread on my pizza stone. Flour tends to burn.

I have to agree with Twilight the uprights are easier on the back and they don't tend to get stuff piled on them but the chest freezer is more efficient. We have had both and I want a chest freezer again. I have come to the conclusion that a chest freezer is easier to keep if you ever loose power. When I we move hubby said I can buy a new freezer since this one is just about on it last leg and I will be guying a chest freezer again. My mother has a huge chest freezer and since she doesn't freeze as much any more she stores bottles of water in the bottom in crates then stacks another crate on top and sorts her meats and veggies in the crates. This is her emergency water supply as well as it helps keep her freezer full so that she doesn't have to defrost it as often.

They are oxygen absorbers. I don't suggest you doing this but I have sons and well they have to take everything apart...but if you ever break one open you will find a bunch of little beads in there made of gel that absorb liquid. Order from one company and they were called gel packs ordered from a different company got the same thing and they were call 02 absorbents. Same exact brand only got more for my money from company 2 than company 1.

gel packs and glass jars that is how I stored our food when we lived in Houston. Kept bugs out. Oh don't put gel packs in your sugar makes it HARD learned that the hard way. Just put in glass jars.

Yarrow...darn I forgot that one. Humm me thinks I am gonna need a bigger spot.

I have a small area about the size of a office desk that I want to plant herbs in. Outside of the common ones (sage, thyme, basil, oregano, rosemary, tarragon, garlic, parsley) what 10 (ten) herbs do you consider a must.

I would like to grow little red potatoes and I need something that will be able to be moved. Our lease is up in August and we hope to move so that means container garden that will move with us.

We have done square foot gardens and homemade earth boxes the past few years. This year we didn't plant a garden but the years that I put some effort into it we usually get a fairly good return. We use a lot of compost in the beds during the winter to build them back up for spring planting. We also use lots of compost when we plant to help retain moist soil. The best year we ever had was the year we used wheat straw no weeds and it let the water through to the roots but shaded the soil and kept the sun from drying it out.

Variation to the scalloped tomatoes My boys were switched at birth LOL hubby and both LOVE (and I do mean LOVE) tomatoes but none of the boys will eat them unless it is in spaghetti or chili. HOWEVER, I played with the scalloped tomatoes tonight. I used a can of tomatoes and green chilies, a can of diced tomatoes and 20 cubes of monteray/jack cheese. I used homemade sough dough bread and they scrapped the bowl clean. There is no left overs for our lunch tomorrow. They were even discussing a Italian spin on this recipe tonight. This is a definite keeper.

Another poverty dinner... Chicken noodle soup and sour dough bread.

Yes Cat I have and I am going to try come of the recipes. We need a make Poverty Cooking like Pioneer Living where we can post different threads under it. I have a feeling more and more people are going to be searching for recipes to stretch and feed their family for as little as possible.

Starting cooking poverty meals today want to do one or two a week. Trying to save money and get my guys used to eating like this... Lima beans turnip greens corn bread Scalloped tomatoes - got the recipe from Hillbilly Housewife http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/category/recipes/fruits-and-vegetables/vegetables 3 slices of toast 28 ounce cans of tomatoes 1 tablespoons brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/16 teaspoon pepper 1 tablespoon dry onion 2 tablespoons margarine First toast your bread. I use the heels from a couple of loaves, plus any leftover bread I may have on hand. You can toast the bread in the oven instead of the toaster if you like. Lay the bread out on a cookie sheet and bake at 400° for about 10 minutes. This is a good way to do it if the kids have mangled the bread and it won’t fit in the toaster. After you toast the bread, cut it into small cubes. Oil a 3-quart casserole dish or a 9 by 13- inch rectangular baking pan. In the casserole or baking dish, combine all of the ingredients except the margarine. Sort of stir and scoop the bread and tomatoes together with the seasonings until it is well mixed. Now cut the margarine into pieces and dot it on top of the tomatoes and bread. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake it at 350° for about 30 minutes. Remove the tin foil for the last few minutes of baking if desired. To Use Fresh Tomatoes: Cut up about 3-1/2 cups of fresh tomatoes, don’t bother to peel them. Proceed exactly as directed above, except cook the dish for 45 minutes. Scalloped Tomatoes tastes very good prepared with fresh tomatoes, so keep it in mind when the garden is exploding in the summer. I did use garlic instead of onions and I added 1/2 cheese at the end. So what are some of your poverty menus? Hint if you use canned tomatoes drain half the juice or use double the bread. My scalloped tomatoes were way to juicy.

Humm, I wonder how a 55 gallon drum would do...oh honey I have an idea LOL

On the mountain we probably would be sitting around the fire place singing songs and teaching the little ones Christmas stories. Cracking nuts and stringing dried fruits. Maybe even working on quilts. The gifts would have have been home made like wooden cars and wagons. Maybe even bows for the boys. How about cornhusk dolls for the girls. http://www.nativetech.org/cornhusk/dollinst.html There would be have been homemade clothes. The tree would have been decorated with popcorn, and homemade ornaments. It would be topped with the Angel that we have had since we were first married. The meal would be roast venison, and vegetables that we grew over the summer. There would have been sled rides, snowball fights and snowmen built. And lots of cider and hot chocolate.

Exhaustion has set in I can barely move one foot in front of the other. But there still was so much to do. The wedding was a smashing success. Abby looked like a forest nymph. The ceremony was held in front of the big fireplace in the lodge. We were able to save a couple of the sunflowers for her bouquet along with some of the first blooms from my mums I brought along. They had written their own vows also so the ceremony was short and sweet. It started raining just as they left so they didn’t get the treatment that the other two couples had gotten. But P&E and E&Ray had some surprises in store for them back at the cabin. Some old summer camp tricks were pulled out of old memories and put to use like short sheeting the bed, putting rice in the bed. I am sure there was more. I told P I didn’t want to know anything about it and all four of them just laughed. It was getting colder with each passing day and the mountain was no where near winterized. Oh the windows had been caulked which stopped the draft around them but I still had not finished the curtains. Megan made draft stops for the doors which help tremendously. SF is finished up the covered walk way from the cabin to the outhouse so the children would stay dry when they had to venture out there. So far the spring cave is water source still flowing so hopefully it will continue to flow and not freeze at a high elevation. This water issue has me really concerned. While we were at the lodge this weekend I went to the library and got some books for readers and some history books. I am spending the next few days organizing lessons for the children. It has been several years since I home schooled and I have never homeschooled this many and this many different ages. So this will be challenge. It is still cold and raining today. SF didn’t move the animals down to the lower pastures today he left them in the barn were they were all hunkered down and snuggled up together keeping warm. He did use some of the plastic we had and covered the screens in the summer kitchen. He said if nothing else it would give the children a dry place to play. He built a corn hole board and Megan made the corn bags. Then he spent the rest of the day in the work shop working on toys for the children for birthdays and Christmas. P and W came up later in the day and they worked in the shop with their dad. When he caught me alone and out of ear shot of the boys SF told me that P, W and N are working on bows and arrows for the boys. I had to stop and count if they were just making bows for the younger boys that would be 5 bows. Yep they have their work cut out for them. And all those arrows?!?!! At least the children didn’t have cabin fever today. I think because we have worked so hard the past few weeks trying to get as much gather and stored and the wedding this past weekend. They were ready for some down time. I had no trouble getting the twins down for naps today. Even Jacob and Becky took naps. The older children gathered the floor pillows I had made and piled up in front of the fire place and read. Tomorrow maybe different but today was rather peaceful. Tomorrow we will deal with the meat and hides. This weekend R and SF said that the last weekend of the month would be when they would slaughter the hogs. We discussed culling the chickens too. It was decided that we would not slaughter any sheep or goats this year we would wait until next fall since the babies are still rather young and small since most were twins and triplets. We have had several requests for breeding stock. So SF and R are going to breed the sows this winter and then sale/trade breeding stock this spring. We will see how it goes. For now I am off to bed. The children are all tucked in and I am going to save oil by turning down my lamp and going to sleep.

Thursday Well we finished up at Daylily’s place yesterday and left early this morning and headed back. The group left behind held down the fort rather well. My baby girls were so glad to be home and in their own beds. V said they had a blast but by Tuesday evening were missing us something furious. I told her they were not alone in there. They guys all had a hunting party meeting and packed up what they would need. They are constructed travois’s to pull behind the horses and mules to bring the meat back. Normally they would take a wagon but they are going to be traveling light. They even plan on tying sagebrush behind the horses and travois’s to cover their tracks. They plan on leaving early in the morning and returning Sunday or Monday at the latest. I do not relish the idea of the guys going out but in order to limit the impact of the wild life here valley we need to look outside the valley. N, SF and R and Ray will be going. The rest of us will work on readying the mountains for the winter. Friday The hunting party left late yesterday and had plans going as far as Mother’s place and then heading out early this morning. I am not sure I like this but it must be done. There was a heavier freeze last night. We scrambled all day yesterday to get the rest of the winter squash, pumpkins and remaining fruit in the root cellars and storage caves. We didn’t loose much that we planted but we left a lot of fruit on the trees. Oh well the wild life will be feed for the winter. I started working on heavier curtains today to cover the windows. We found the caulk finally and P, B and Kyle caulked windows and joints today. The houses are a little warmer. Saturday The day was spent doing more winterizing and thrashing wheat. P, B and Kyle turned the pumpkin fields and squash fields and planted winter cover. Hopefully with it being in the valley it won’t be too late. Plus these were small fields. Sunday We didn’t make the lodge today instead I rode over to check on Q and her family. They were all doing well and working overtime just like everyone else getting ready for winter. Jerry was out hunting. I did tell her we had an extra pig if they would like it. No trade it was theirs if they wanted it. She said they would love to have it. Monday The hunting party got in around lunch time. They rode in late last night and stopped at mothers. They stayed there to make sure they were not followed. SF said they did not see anyone but had seen tracks of others out on the plains. Tuesday We worked all yesterday afternoon and today to get the meat cleaning and hung in the cold cave. They come back with 2 bison, 1 elk per household and a couple of white tail deer per house hold. P and B had hunted on the mountain and brought in rabbits, squirrels and turkeys. They brought down a bear also. This is the bear they felt had been eating the apples and sniffing around the barn and bee hives. Wednesday We were in wedding mode again. The riders went out this morning reminding everyone of the wedding Sunday. Abby has had to change her wedding dress plans. Since it will be cold we have reworked Beth’s cape and lined it so it would be warm. Her dress has a tapered hem. She will have to wear her boots instead of slippers like she had planned. The men worked on slaughtering hogs and I continued to winterize the house. The hot spring was working wonders so far in the green house. I hope it last all winter. We are getting plenty of green veggies on a daily basis. Thursday. Mr. S and Chef arrived and we went over plans for the wedding. It seems it is spitting snow so we will have to have the wedding inside the lodge. N & Abby rode back with him to work out the arrangements. Friday I feel like I am forgetting something. I have all the stuff loaded in the wagon to go to the lodge. The girls and I will be going tomorrow and the a couple of guys will be staying behind to feed the animals Sunday then join us. Saturday Man is it cold out this morning. The animals have been fed and we are loading up to head out. P and R are staying behind to handle the animals in the morning then they will be along by early morning. SF put the cover back over the wagon and we have hot rocks to keep the family warm. I have a feeling this is going to be a very long ride this morning. We have the deer and hog for the reception Chef said he would have the pit ready when we got there. We worked all day decorating and getting things moved around so everyone would fit. Many have sent messages of regret back saying they will not be able to attended and send the couple gifts. So we will have to wait and see how many show up. What the kids didn’t know is many brought gifts last weekend and Mr. S has them stored here at the lodge. It is not quite the wedding day they had pictured but I have a feeling it will be a beautiful day. The lodge smells wonderful the outdoors has been brought in side. Nick will be wearing black jeans and vest with a bolo tie like P did and with his dark hair he looks very handsome. SF is acting as his best man. Abby has been in panic mode all day. Chef finally fixed her some tea and we sent her to bed. Poor Beth had had all she could handle of her today. By dark we were all exhausted and ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

CeeCee I am so sorry for your loss.