Kevin B 123

Oooh, thanks so much for the links and suggestions!! I truly appreciate it! Just out of curiosity, is there anything you can do with the whey after you drain it off? I'd hate to waste it if it can be used to make something else yummy, or if it's good for you nutritionally. Thanks again for responding.

IF you WISH, you can RE-use the whey with powdered milk to make yogurt, OR cottage cheese, EVEN Fresh Ricotta

http://simpledailyrecipes.com/how-to-make-...sing-only-whey/

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/powderedmilk.htm

http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/05/ways...traditions.html

http://fiascofarm.com/dairy/ricotta.html

I would love to develop the skill of making homemade yogurt, cream cheese, and sour cream -- but I don't want to depend on having a yougurt maker because I want to be prepared for making it if we go off-grid. Does anyone have any good recipes for making any of these? I know that if I can make homemade yogurt, I can then make cream cheese...and I think the sour cream is whole milk/cream that you basically just let clabber. I'd greatly appreciate any experience or recipes that anyone could provide. Thanks so much!!

http://video.about.com/greekfood/Make-Yogurt-at-Home.htm

http://www.healthhomehappy.com/2009/06/mak...ler-method.html

The "junket" tablets come with several methods for making yogurt, and other cheeses. To make Sour Cream, pour Heavy cream, OR 1/2 & 1/2 in a clean jar with a screw on lid, introduce some BUTTERMILK, ( a few Table-spoons) or some yogurt ( A few Table-spoons) cover with lid, let stand at ROOM-tempature for 24 hours......... to make THICK sour-cream, OR Yogurt, I use a Maleta Coffeeet filter holder & a paper coffee filter to drain the whey off----- You can ALSO use and OLD, 1 Quart plastic yogurt container and a MESH coffee filter to frain the whey.

Best of luck

Old clothes, minus buttons, snaps, hooks, etc. can be cut up in strips, woven, sewn on corners, stacked, covered in fabric... You have a heavy pillow that will support MUCH weight and not distort!

Thanks, Canned Nurd !

I would shop for food to fill my shelves, but my printing press broke done, & Im out of GREEN ink!

I bake, or do something where I can SEE the accomplishment!

The Cat in The Hat

Green Eggs & Ham

And To Think I saw it on Mullberry Street

( Anything Dr. Suisse!)

Moby Dick

My Friend Flicka

Hardy Brother Mysteries

The Hobbit

The Lord of the Flies

The Adventures of The Lone Ranger

Comic Books. MANY MANY titles

Harvey the Invisable Rabbit---- I think its really another tittle, but it's what the movie is based on

The Littles

The Borrowers

The Outsiders

The Others

Adventures of Huckleberry Fin

Tom Sayer

Many Mart Twain Titles.

Jungle Boy

Ricki Ticky Tavy

Ganja Din

Jungle Book

Doctor Doolittle

Little Men

Little Women

The Inevitable Man

Greek / Roman Mythologies ( Any myth really, there are TONS)

Journey To the Center of The Earth

The Lost World

20000 leagues Under the Sea

Mysterious Island

Time Machine

Treasure Island

Robinson Caruso

The Swiss Family Robinson

The War of the Worlds

Little House on the Prairie Series

1001 Theves, Ali Bobba, Sinbad, series, The Genie in the Lamp series

1001 dalmatians

Old Yeller

More than I think I can remember !

Campy, I find the same thing, re-constituted powdered milk will last longer in a glass container than in a plastic one! I use several brands, whichever is on sale.

A few more ideas hit me, as I sit here waiting on a late night phone call.

Every house has a drain under the kitchen sink, Older homes may have a variety of old, Un-used, capped-off pipes. An Extra capped off drain pipe on the floor of a cabinet under the sink would look natural. Especially if that Pipe was OLD/rusted looking. Its hollow interior could hold a lot of cash. Cement could hold a pipe in place .

All houses have “Stack Pipes” the large pipe that goes up threw the roof, and reaches to the basement. These pipe often have a “Y” in then somewhere, at such a “Y”, an extension could be added, ( the Higher up the better), and a chamber ( sealed off from the rest of the pipe) could hold lots of cash too! A finishing touch could be “Rust paint” like the “antiquing paint” we sometimes see in craft stores, to give an “old” un-used look to the pipes.

Many Cabinets meet the neighboring cabinet, leaving a double wall. One could easily find a matching piece of wood, & place 1 inches stipes of narrow wood, at intervals in the width of a dollar bill, up the height of this piece of wood, that will be screwed to the interior wall of a cabinet! None one would even suspect. At 23 inches height ( the average distance between a cabinet’s floor & the level cabinet drawer, - inside) could hold 8 rows of bills, 1 inch thick X’s the width of that cabinet ! Do this to 2 or three cabinets, you have lots of hiding places.

If you sew : : : : : make a purse using several layers of QUILTED material, ( inserting some cash between each layer of QUILTING. Embroider a name ( full name) on it, ( who’s going to steal an purse so easily identified?) Place some OLD worthless jewelry, dried up make up, lint, in it, maybe some infant pacifiers, a person might think it a child’s purse, or maybe a passed-on loved ones keep sake, and worthless at that. Plastic on the outside. ( fingerprints ya know!)

Do you make candles? Have a mold the size of a coffee can/tall can of baked beans/something that could hold a roll of bills? Make a candle ,using remnants of old candles so their many colors and shapes obscure what lays with in. A Baggy with cash!

Do you “QUILT” ? Make one that hangs on the wall, with inner lining of say bubble wrap, with some of the patches to hold some bills in-between layers of quilting, hidden by “patchwork. Make “piping of fabric with bills in its center wrapped in BATTING. No one could feel the bills with-in.

Can you upholster furniture? ( of make a fair imitations thereof). Many kitchen chair have fabric pads as part of the chair. There’s often cardboard ( or paper) on the underside! Remove the “old Fabric/paper/cardboard and BATTING, replace with 1 dollar bills, 2 batting, 3 a bit more batting, 4 fabric to fit-stapled on, 5 replace the paper/cardboard, with staples..... Whalla your sitting on a fortune!

Some Older homes have “window Seats”, some of these have a space for storage under the “seat”, other Don’t have that space. If you install a chest/seat beneath a window, but secure the lid ( after placing an valuables/cash in the storage area) screw it shut, ( using 2 or 3 KINDS of screws) . Paint it with several layers of different paint, ( to make it look older that it is) the overall effect will be and old piece of junk.

My hooves are tired, Il going to the stall to lie down!

Some older houses have High moldings that cover a "hollow" between walls. If there is ANY room behind a wall, where the molding has a natural break, such a place is an ideal place to make a "drawer, that is hidden to visitors eyes.

Heavy curtains, have High seams at the floor, theres a LONG pocket !!

The spring loaded tennsion rods, are hollow!!!!!! Some closet metel dowels are also hollow......

ceiling lamps have hollows between the base & the celing, Often there is aa space in the celing where maybe a Lanp has been moved and covered then painted.........

We talking horses have all day to think of these things! ! !

doing some Broccoli tonight, I cut the very top "bud" and am trying that: I have heard that often Brocoli dont turn out so well..... But I watched a Utube viedo, where someone cut the last 1/8 of an inch below the "Buds".. and claimed they had really good success!

I see on-line stores selling dehydrated Broccoli, and it looks GOOD. But I suppose they have industrial dehydrators with huracane fans..........

Some of my Orange slice have the peals intact, and are good. Going to dry some tangerines too.

Must get some broccoli to dry and make a Broccoli-cheese soup mix.

Going to try Potato cubes too, and make dry potato soup mix..

I am expecting a rough winter, this year, so Im getting ready. Even if the winter is mild, I’ll save several trips to the store anyway!

I wonder IF I can dehydrate COOKED bacon to add to a dry soup mix? Risky? ? ?

Thanks again for all the comments in all the forums I have inquired in.

Tonight, i am trying a 3rd batch of orange slices, Im also trying in recommended cinnamon, and I using the "Fruit Gel". This time I used a toot-pick and pierced the orange slices after I powder then with the :Fruit Gel”. After three hours, I can see they’re firming up well, tho not yet dry. They feel like candied fruit, to a small degree: I think next time I’ll section the orange, and THEN slice, powder and cinnamon!

Thanks for all the help folks!

Here are the results of using Fruit Gel, on orange-slices before placing in the dehydrator.

The very thin 1/4" slices are practically stone, but very pretty. They remind me of stained glass, light actually passes threw them.

The ½" slices are pliable, tastie, have a pleasant appearance, and otherwise look no different than the ones I dehydrated last week.

So Im not sure at all weather the Fruit Gel did anything at all, but maybe cut the time back a bit? These orange-slices were ready in 14 hours, whereas last weeks were, 30 hours. (?) But I did try, and my contraption affords me lots of entertainment, and good food.

I cut the orange peal and dehydrated it, it should make good flavoring down the road, icings, even in breads, pork sausages.... Oh now I’m hungry!

cinnamon on orange, now that sounds rather good! Thanks

I tried an experiment today while dehydration orange slices. The last batch I dried, took around 30 hours to get to the place where i thought they could be stored, ( very juicy up till 27 hours). So, this batch I decided to put some "Sure Gel" on to see if that might help. or even if it would affect anything. I have some Sure gel on hand, but don't make my own jellies or Jams, & I thought I'd give this a whorl. When This batch is done, I'll let you folks know the results.

I used some of the last batch, cut up well in a Cranberry Orange bread. I RE-hydrated in buttermilk, that I used in the batter. My it was indeed good!

Gee I am having fun with this contraption!!

Thanks !!

Umm, Question! In my dehydrator instruction booklet, & in the 200 page book I purchased, they say not to dehydrate, kiwi fruit , but they dont say why. Can someone tell me?? I cant figgure out whay they would say so, I know we used to bake kiwi onto a platers edge as a decoration for some menu items, and they were dry, but not bad looking! Baked at 450.

Thanks

Something I plan on doing this winter, that in the spring will become “recycling”;

For some reason, my apartment walls are not well insulated, nor are the windows installed properly, they “leak” cold into the building. The last 2 winters I simply but up 2 layers of plastic, with bubble wrap in between the layers of clear plastic. ( which I can recycle to hold trash in the following spring). This coming winter I will used BLACK plastic trash bags, smaller than the windows opening, hanging like curtains do, from a rod that extends farther out than do the existing curtains, and will be also attached to a lower rod at the windows’ bottom I read about doing this on-line someplace, and liked the idea. I have also seen some homes doing this, ans I wondered why, now I know!

The black plastic will absorb the suns heat, then reflect it into the room. This is only a small solar gain, but supplements the building’s heat. By having some sun on either side of the black plastic, I get natural solar gain & light. When the sun sets, I close the curtains to retain any heat. So far, each year, I have lined the backs of my curtains with bubble wrap for added insulation. ( it works, provided the curtain hug the walls beyond the windows and sag a bit on the floor).

It will be great if the black plastic works as planned, but greater still the I will recoup all costs, except the tape I will use!

I hope this might be helpful to someone!

I live in a town, and have no yard at all, but I like plants, especially plants I can eat: I make my own composts, one way is to shred newspapers into tiny strips and small lengths, I add a small amount of soil, then add earth worms.... Makes good soil.

Most people already know you can compost almost any non-greasy food scraps, which I do in another container. I like the second use I get out of thus recycling!

I "sprout" seeds & beans in glass jars of store purchased foods.

OLD (unusable) clothes, cloth, gets cut up, (buttons removed) and become "stuffing" for pillows, stout enough to sit-or-lay on, at floor level, firm enough to support my back in a chair or on the sofa, and way cheaper than store purchased.

The plastic I place over windows for the winter, become a "trash bag" for that week's pick up!

Slivers of hand soap go in a container with water until it suspends in the water and become a "pumpable" liquid soap!

Most of these Ideas I got from my step mom! Thanks Mom!

If you're concerned about "nasties" leaching into food, try using food grade silicon spray. It works great!

Plastic screen is GREAT to dehydrate dill weed with, then-there TINY little leaves, fall threw way less!! !! !!

To answer if you can use "plastic Screening" ; YES, it is safe for food.

I use it in sprouting tiny seeds, but always steam it after each use. I have used it in my dehydrator too, but so far only on lower temps. ( haven’t cut any fruit of vegies small enough yet to see weather a screen is warranted) ! Plastic screen comes in many sizes, and in some geographic areas, with different sized holes. I have wondered about using the metal screening, ( if I sprayed it with food quality silicon first, but have not tried it yet). The metal screen has MANY sizes of holes.

I am thinking of going to a hardware or lumber store, to see if they sell windows in the same size as my dehydrator shelves, ( a Good4you, square one) and then see if they sell a framed storm screen separately. If so, whalla, a small holed screen. I would still spray with silicon, lightly as a precaution.

I am new to dehydrating, so am learning as I go.

Slicing banana length-wise sound intriguing, I must try it.

I an reading these forums with much interest, thanks so much for the many ideas & tips