furbabymom

Farmer's market opened today so my daughter and I went to see what was there.  Too early in the season for many vegetables, but I got locally roasted coffee (it is so good!), soap, eggs, and turnips.  Then we hit the local farm market to get some more veggies for the week.  I'm trying really hard to buy more locally.  It's expensive though!  Next up - helping my daughter clean her room...

Anyone make kombucha?  I just ordered a scoby and will be diving in in a week or so.  I'm looking for recipe ideas and tea suggestions. 

I am totally fine with holding professionally canned goods and dry goods past their expiration, but what I wonder about are the soft-sided packages, like Tetra packs or the soft sauce packages like these - https://smile.amazon.com/McCormick-Gluten-Bourbon-Chicken-Skillet/dp/B01BNHKLIO/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=mccormick+sauces&qid=1551984445&s=gateway&sr=8-6.

Does anyone have guidance about keeping these past their expiry date?

Working at home today.  Thursdays are almost always my work at home day, but today I have a sick kiddo here with me.  My car was in the shop for two days, so I've been working at home a lot this week!  Yesterday a half hour after my daughter got to school (a classmate's mom gave her a ride - she goes to private school so no buses), I got a call to come pick her up!  Had to take a lyft.  So $18 spent on that but still cheaper than a rental, I suppose...  Then I get my car back with a note saying that my motor cover has a massive leak.  Uh...they couldn't mention this on the phone?  So I call my guy back and he says "that doesn't make any sense" and will talk to the service technician and call me back today...  Guessing my car will be going back to the shop very soon - but at least it's fixed to the point where I can get it to pass emissions! 

Anyway, today my daughter is not sick enough to stay home but too sick to be at school, if that makes any sense at all.  Keeping her at home since the flu's going around and I'd rather be safe than sorry since we haven't had flu shots.  Loading up on elderberry though!  So here we are...

It tried to snow again yesterday!  Well, actually it did snow, almost all day, but it melted as soon as it hit the ground.  37 degrees and dumping snow...crazy...

Swedish meatballs, spaetzle, and roasted broccoli.

We had two snow days last week!  Here in the Portland, Oregon area it's rare this late in the season.  They're saying it might snow again this week but I'll believe it when I see it (then again I've been saying that all year).  Of course our snow days are what makes the rest of the country laugh at us - little bit of snow on the roads early, gone by noon...

MT_Rider - we are without any furbabies at the moment!  I do have a human baby, who is in fourth grade now.  We lost one of our dogs three years ago, and then the other one died on New Years' day two years ago.  We'll get a cat if we can ever get the house clean.  That is the compromise my daughter and I made with my hubby. 

Thanks!  Glad to have found you all again!

Hello!  I used to be a regular here...not sure what happened (I think life got busy) but it's been a long time!  Someone on Facebook today said something that reminded me of this site, so I thought I'd pop in and see what's happening.  Hope everyone is doing well!

I'm thinking about trying to make yogurt in the dehydrator - does anyone do this?

I have a yogurt maker that uses the little cups, but we're going through quite a bit of it these days so I want to try making a bigger batch.

Good Morning Cereal Bars

1 1/2 cups all-purposeflour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oatmeal

3/4 cup butter

2 cups apricot jam

 

2. Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C).
3. Mix together flour, baking powder, brown sugar, and quick cooking oatmeal in a medium bowl. Cut in 3/4 cup butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Pat two-thirds into a greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Spread apricot jam evenly on top. Sprinkle the top with the remaining crumb mixture. Bake for 45 minutes, or until crispy brown on top. Cool before cutting into bars.

Makes 12 bars.

 

 

These are good. I make them, cut into bars, then wrap each one and freeze them.

 

Ooh yum, that sounds good! I'd have to melt it into something spreadable first, though! This morning I took the jar from the fridge and melted it into some cider. Made AWESOME pancake syrup. So now hubby wants me to overcook another batch so we have plenty for the year ahead, LOL!

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Ice cream sounds delicious right now but I'm far too lazy to go to the store, LOL! Don't think I've ever run across a jam bar recipe - I'll have to look into that. It's definitely bouncy, just like Christy's grape jelly.

Think I'll try thinning it out and see how that works. I was also thinking maybe I could stir it into some hot applesauce for hubby's waffle topping. Guess I'll experiment a little and see what happens!

I was making the apple-maple jam recipe from the Ball Blue Book. I was momentarily distracted and it went from runny to a solid mass in no time flat. I canned it anyway, and put what didn't fill the last jar in the fridge overnight. I pulled it out of the fridge tonight and it's a solid lump - not even remotely spreadable. My hubby said it would be good on waffles, but it's far too sweet and thick to eat on its own. Any suggestions on what to do with it?

Sounds wonderful - I'll try it! Thanks!

Think this would work with pinto beans instead of kidney? Only asking because that's what I have on hand.

Does anyone have a recipe for homemade chili beans? Not chili with beans, but the chili beans you can buy in a can (it's just beans and sauce). I'm trying to cut back on the canned goods I buy, and my daughter would eat chili beans cold, straight out of the can, every day if I'd let her. I'd like to find a good recipe to substitute!

Thanks!

I bought four gallons of organic milk at almost half price ($2.79 instead of $4.98 - they were close to expiration) and put them in the freezer. Figure as I open one, I'll put a frozen one in the fridge to thaw and hopefully I'll have a steady stream of milk available, and then hopefully I'll be able to continue to stock up on the markdown ones and rarely have to pay full price. I'll only buy organic milk but boy does it get expensive!

I'm just getting started (and I'm not sure how much farther I can go since I've pretty much tapped out Ancestry.com), but I'm researching:

McMurry (Georgia)

Stephens (Georgia)

Mathes (Oregon)

Plenart (France/Austria to Oregon)

Knutson (Wisconsin)

Cotant (Iowa)

Brand (New York)

Venne (Wisconsin)

Foutain (Wisconsin or Canada)

Glad to know that this is pretty normal. It doesn't help that I'm dealing with last names that can have multiple spellings, either!

I'm just getting started in this genealogy thing (just signed up for a two-week trial of ancestry.com last night). I'm finding lots of old census data (1910/20/30) where it makes sense that this person could be my relative, but the information is slightly wrong (birth year off by a couple of years, first name spelled differently, stuff like that). Is that normal?

I snap mine off as soon as I spot them. Supposedly, the plant then puts it's energy into the bulb instead of the flower. I don't know if it's right, but it's what I've always done . . .

Sounds logical to me - thanks!

I'm growing garlic for the first time this year. I know I'm supposed to cut the flower bud (or seed pod, whichever it is) off, but I'm not sure when - they're just starting to come up now. Do I cut it as soon as I see it? Wait till it gets to the top? Does it matter?

I have both elephant and regular garlic growing, if it makes a difference.

A rice cooker! My daughter bought one and loves it. I wouldn't waste my money on one-all you do is put rice & water in a pan bring to a boil-cover,turn down to a simmer for 20 minutes and its done! For all you non bacon fryers have you tried doing it in the cven? Put the slices in a pan,separated,bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes and it turns out great.

I tried doing it in the oven once and I got a kitchen full of smoke. Guess I'll have to try it again, because you're not the first person who has suggested that!

Plus, who can't fry bacon?

I can't. Not that I buy the pre-cooked stuff, mind you, that stuff just looks nasty. But I consider myself to be a good cook, and I am incapable of frying bacon. It either comes out limp and soggy or completely hard and overcooked. There is no happy medium in my world!

I put five split vanilla beans in a fifth of vodka and left it in a cupboard for about five months, shaking it every week or so. It's great!