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RSSArchive for the ‘health/cooking/food’ CategoryCarnival of Homesteading #45Posted April 14th, 2008 by Jen in arts & crafts, blog stuff, carnivals, family life, health/cooking/food, the ranch10 Comments »
So here is a very SIMPLE carnival, which I suppose is in keeping with the theme of homesteading! There were just 12 submissions, which I’ve listed first, followed by some of my own Top 10 Editor’s Picks that I grabbed from around the blogosphere, which fit the homesteading motif. You’ll find my own small commentary following each post. (Let me know if you find any errors, omissions, bad links, etc.) Rose Denson presents Spearmint Hot Pepper Horseradish Spray posted at Grandma Rosie’s Texas Home.
Dora Renee’ Wilkerson presents Making Cottage Cheese posted at Y-2K Hippie.
Belle presents My Diary of No Shampoo—-Day 4 and 5 posted at Born 100 Years to Soon.
Valereee presents Foraging: hot new foodie trend, or the hottest new foodie trend? posted at Cincinnati Locavore.
Dave Trenholm presents How to Make a Square Foot Garden posted at Alberta Home Gardening.
Moobeema presents MooBee Farm: The Burn Barrel Incident posted at MooBee Farm.
Sister Brenda presents Da Yooper Pasties Recipe and Tutorial posted at haflinger.
Flossie presents Aunt Lizzie’s Pound Cake posted at The Funny Farm.
Stephanie presents So Much to Say! posted at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood.
GP presents How Green is Your Garden posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn.
Miss Amanda presents Cake Baking Photo Essay posted at My Learning Experience.
Jacque Dixon presents From the Archives- Gardening 101 - You *Can* Teach Your Children!! posted at Seeking Rest in the Ancient Paths.
At Tales from Creekistan, I found The Daffodil House. Just don’t look inside the house. At Blind Pig & the Acorn, I enjoyed The Fields of Home. I love that field, and read her garden wisdom. At Hidden Haven Homestead, this author is Counting Blessings. I’m just trying to count the goats. Down On The Farm shares some “Tails” From the Farm. In search of the perfect Jersey cow - bringing Buttercup home to the Back Forty. At Kentucky Hollers, Running Into the Neighbors can be a literal experience, and Catherine discovers that sometimes movie stars retire to the Appalachian foothills. Adventures in Farming coins a new saying, Snug as pigs in straw. The cutest little things I’ve ever seen. In My Kitchen Garden has an intriguing offer: Attention Homeless Organic Vegetable Lovers: Would You Like To Move To A Farm? Seriously. Pack your bags and go live with the enormous pot-bellied pig. Old Red Barn Co. clarifies work: It’s the reason you have kids, afterall. It was planting time, and lucky for Dana, she has a few sprightly young’uns. Yarnstorm muses about tulips and tempests.Wow, those colors. CraftApple instructs us on Gathering. For the seamstress in you - simple, foolproof techniques for a perfect gather. Happy homesteading, now get on with your baking, planting, stitching, haying, milking, crafting, canning, quilting life! Stay tuned next week, when the Homesteading Carnival will be hosted by Jacque at Seeking Rest in Ancient Paths. Submit your Homesteading posts HERE. Technorati Tags: blog carnival, carnivals, farm, garden, gardening with children, homesteading The Poison PostPosted March 31st, 2008 by Jen in education, family life, health/cooking/food11 Comments » I had a terrible scare this afternoon that led me to even know the following information:
Well, I did not want to write this post and have put it off, because I hate those stupid emails about freakish things that could happen to you. I always delete them, and just today a friend sent me an email about all the symptoms of a deadly form of breast cancer. I just can’t handle it all. HOWEVER, because MY CHILD just today nearly poisoned himself to death, I do feel compelled to give you all a reminder about Tips to Prevent Poisonings. I just wrote a post this morning about how Little L got into Big L’s candy basket. He is just one of those kids. He is 3 1/2, loves sweet things, and he is naughty, sneaky, and dishonest, God bless his cute little cheeks. We are working on all of these issues. And DAMN IT, children’s medicine is SWEET. I’m sorry, I’m just really angry about that right now. I couldn’t find Little L. He was supposed to be playing with Big L and the girls on the porch. They didn’t know where he was. I raced into the kitchen and there he was, and he blurted out, “I didn’t drink the medicine!” WHOA, what?? Thank you, Jesus, that the boy had a guilty conscience. Of course, I immediately knew he must have gotten into the Children’s Tylenol, because it wasn’t where I had stupidly left it on the counter in plain sight (and obviously with a lid not completely secure). Little L eventually led me to Grandma’s bathroom, where he had gone into hiding to do his evil deed. There on her toilet seat was the nearly empty bottle of Children’s Tylenol and I FREAKED OUT. Yes, completely. I had enough sense to call Poison Control, which phone number is posted on my refrigerator (Parents, take note, please have this number posted: 1-800-222-1222). The operator was wonderful. She was calm, and since I wasn’t, that was immensely helpful. Be prepared to know the weight of your child, have the bottle in your hand, and DO NOT take your child’s word about how much he ingested. Little L told me he had “just a little bit, Mommy,” but if memory served me, the bottle that was 3/4 full was now almost empty. And for the sake of LIFE, please keep your medicines locked up and NEVER refer to them as candy. She talked me through the ordeal. The total capacity of the bottle was 4 ounces, at 80 mg per 1/2 teaspoon. I measured what was left: 2 Tablespoons. We figured Little L had drunk 4 Tablespoons, based on what was left over and what was originally in the bottle. THANKFULLY, even though that sounded like enough to endanger his life, it was not a toxic level. This, folks, is why those bottles of Children’s Tylenol are so darn small. Poison prevention. Had this been ADULT medicine, this story would have a different ending. I was advised to have Little L drink some water to dilute the medicine in his tummy. He laid down and slept for two hours. This close call really rattled me. I held all of my little ones tighter and counted my blessings. And clearly, I need to get a handle on my casual way of leaving medicine on the counter. Dad and I had a talk with all of the children about medicine, and how it is POISON if taken in the wrong amount. Based on information I’ve read today, children who have episodes like Little L today are likely to do it again. So, here is a list I’m copying from the Centers for Disease Control website for your safety: Keep Young Children Safe from Poisoning • Put the poison control number, 1-800-222-1222, on or near every home telephone and save it on your cell phone. The line is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. What to do if a poisoning occurs 1. Remain calm • the victim’s age and weight 3. Stay on the phone and follow the instructions from the emergency operator or poison control center. God bless you, dear friend, as you parent and care for your little ones. I’m tucking Little L into bed now. Technorati Tags: children, Poison Control, medicine safety St. Patrick’s Day Meal from my sisPosted March 17th, 2008 by Jen in family life, health/cooking/food, holidays5 Comments » Mondays are my busiest day of the week, and I had nothing prepared to post for St. Patrick’s Day. My sister Heather has bailed me out. She called earlier and was telling me about the Irish soda bread she was baking with dinner. I begged her to stop in her tracks and email me the recipe, along with commentary, so I’d have something to post! So, here’s her email, and Heather, it’s horribly unfair that you got all the craftiness in the family. My St. Patrick’s Day Menu: *A wonderfully traditional corned beef brisket that has been slow cooking all day in the crock pot- it is literally falling apart- yummy! Since we do not imbibe of the green beer- which I sincerely doubt is really very Irish anyway and likely an American adulteration- I’ll probably just make some green kool-aid to appease the kids who’ll want something green to drink! Do you remember Mom making that Irish Soda Bread? That is a fond memory of mine as she made it often when we were young, along with her Boston Brown Bread that she baked in those coffee cans. She was really a very good baker- I also recall her awesome cream puffs…. mmm- getting hungry here- it’s almost dinnertime. Mom really enjoyed baking when we were still quite small. But, back to the Day- St. Patrick’s! I could not make anything else but Corned Beef and Irish Soda Bread today- perhaps in honor of our Irish grandmother, Mary Kincaid- or just because that Irish Soda Bread is so very, very good, right out of the oven, with a crusty top split into a cross, soft and warm inside- sliced and slathered with butter! If you get a chance- you should make it again- here’s Mom’s recipe (culled from the old church cookbook I still have): 4 cups sifted flour
Enjoy! He Makes Pancakes With Such PurposePosted March 4th, 2008 by Jen in family life, health/cooking/food13 Comments »
My eight year old son takes making pancakes very seriously, as you can see. This was the first time he did the entire process by himself. He mixed up the ingredients carefully following my recipe, and although he was prone to putting too many pancakes on the griddle at once, he made a fine flapjacker. Jen’s Country Pancakes 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour My son has already learned to mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then add them together at once. He stirs only until blended, because he’s learned the hard way that overstirring makes a flat pancake. But, my goodness, it’s hard to resist the temptation to overmix. This hearty pancake is best served with butter and pure maple syrup. I got absolutely hooked on pure maple syrup when my neighbor brought me back a gallon jug of pure Vermont maple syrup several years ago, straight from her hometown. A little tip to get your kids used to the rich taste: mix the maple syrup with regular corn syrup, slowly decreasing the corn syrup over a period of days, until they are accustomed to the pure maple flavor. I do this to avoid the high fructose corn syrup in the conventional syrups. Technorati Tags: children, children cooking, healthy pancakes, maple syrup, pancakes, high fructose corn syrup, Vermont maple syrup Works For Me: Keeping Coffee Hot (without a microwave)Posted February 27th, 2008 by Jen in family life, health/cooking/food11 Comments »
When I’m at home in the morning, which is just about always, I make a pot of coffee - or, like this morning, my husband does - and we take simple pleasure in that morning cup of coffee. Grinding the beans, listening to the gurgles of the coffee pot as it labors for us, smelling the first aroma of the fresh brew, and finally, drinking out of a nice ceramic or china mug. This ordinary and basic routine is comforting. And here’s my tip for drinking a hot cup of coffee to the end, sans microwave or lidded travel cup: I pour HOT water into our coffee mugs of choice, and let them sit for a few minutes. This gets the ceramic all toasty warm…so that when I pour our coffee into the mugs, the coffee isn’t expending all of its heat energy into the walls of a cold mug, and can instead just sit and relax in its warm surroundings. You won’t believe how this already warm mug extends the life of your hot coffee! No microwave, no lids, no problem. More Works for Me Wednesday Posts. image: flickr.com, by gluGirl Technorati Tags: coffee, coffee mug, microwave WFMW: Just Eat the Ice CreamPosted February 12th, 2008 by Jen in carnivals, family life, health/cooking/food13 Comments »
As you can see, ladies (and gentlemen), there was no room in the freezer for this quart of ice cream, so I simply had to eat it. I believe it fit before I took it out, but somehow, various frozen food stuffs were shuffled in such a way that it no longer had a space, not an inch to spare in there. And truly, there was only about a quarter of the quart left, so my goodness, why make such a fuss over rearranging the entire freezer to wedge this luscious, chocolatey, creamy dessert back in there? Can’t you see that the carton is already slightly crushed? Ahem, for more Works For Me Wednesday posts, visit Don’t Try This At Home (who is hosting while Shannon is in Uganda), and I’m sure you’ll find something other than Breyers All Natural Organic Chocolate Ice Cream that works for you. Works for Me Wednesday: Healthy DeodorantPosted January 23rd, 2008 by Jen in health/cooking/food, product review12 Comments »
I used to use a sort of salt rock deodorant before I switched to the Crystal spray. It had basically the same minimal ingredients, but every time you used it, you had to wet it with water to moisten it up enough to roll under your arm. What a hassle. And honestly I didn’t think it was all that hygienic, all that wetting and rubbing. The beauty of this product is that it’s a spray and never comes into contact with your skin, so it maintains purity and can be used by multiple users. The Crystal Body Deodorant Spray contains the following: purified water, natural mineral salts, and potassium alum. That’s it! This product is also fragrance and paraben free. Frankly, if you’re in a real bind, just rub some salt water under your arms and you’ll be okay. Just to clarify, the ingredient alum has a very different composition from the other forms of aluminum in question. Also, note that I’m only addressing deodorant, not antiperspirant, which is a different thing altogether, and I would avoid it. Here’s how the FDA describes antiperspirants:
A temporary plug within the sweat duct? Most people say don’t sweat it, but I think I’d rather. What Wikipedia has to say about aluminum:
Dare you share what works for your underarm odor control? (Or your feet, for that matter. I just read on the back on the Crystal spray bottle that it can be used to eliminate odor on your feet). You can find more Works for Me Wednesday tips over at Rocks in My Dryer! A Peanut Butter TalePosted January 11th, 2008 by Jen in family life, health/cooking/food, parenting8 Comments » “Can I have anuvver peanut butter san’wich, Mom?” I look and see the half-eaten sandwich on his plate, the fourth one today. “But,” I protest, “you haven’t eaten all of that one!” His wide sky-blue eyes, full of a three-year-old’s innocence, plead with me. “I don’t want the cwust.” When he wakes up in the morning, he asks for a peanut butter sandwich. Mid-way through morning, he asks for another. I take the kids to Papa’s Pizza for lunch, where I have to meet with a group of moms while the kids play, and he doesn’t eat his pizza. “I’m full,” he declares. But minutes after leaving, he cries, “I’m hungry! I want a peanut butter san’wich!” This latest dinner sandwich emptied my peanut butter jar. For weeks now, I’ve been giving in to the no-crust-peanut-butter-san’wich-monster. It’s become a bad habit. He and I are both lucky that he is child number four, and I’ve been down this slippery road before. Else I would be insane, and he would have peanut butter poisoning. But it’s all over now. I shall not buy another jar of peanut butter until I deem it is safe. Until he stops begging for the sticky, gooey, fattening spread morning, noon, and night. Until he submissively eats what is set before him with no thought of sinking his teeth into delicious peanut butter encased by two slices of peanut butter holders. Those great big eyes and “You’re my best friend” song will not tempt me at all, and if they do, there will simply be no peanut butter in the house. “It’s all gone, honey,” I call out. Works for Me Wednesday: Shortening’s not just for CookingPosted January 9th, 2008 by Jen in carnivals, health/cooking/food, product review9 Comments »
I have a 24 ounce tub of this shortening that I use daily, and no, I haven’t been making any pies lately. The label forgot to mention how great this is for the SKIN! Since I’m a freak about parabens, PABAs, laureths and other synthetics in my lotions, I have a hugely difficult time finding a lotion or cream I can use with good conscience. (See this list of chemicals to avoid in your cosmetics and soaps). I’m cursed with dry skin, and my kids all suffer from eczema, especially right now, in the high desert in winter, so a product like this is a necessity. I’d already tried rubbing olive oil on my skin with good results, so I naturally tried the Spectrum Shortening, which I had in my cupboard. If it’s good enough to eat, surely it’s just fine for your skin. And only one ingredient, which name I can easily pronounce and understand: palm oil. And, truly, it works just as well as any lotion or cream I’ve tried for dry skin. I like that it’s naturally in a solid state - it has a creamy texture that’s not too messy like an oil. You don’t need to refrigerate it, just keep it at room temperature in the pantry. If you will be using the Spectrum Shortening for cooking, I’d recommend having a separate tub just for the skin. My kids help themselves to the shortening tub and just love getting their sticky little fingers in there and rubbing it on their own skin. So you can imagine I’m not very willing to cook with it after that! The Works for Me Wednesday Master List is Here. Oops, I just realized today is Backwards day, in which you ask a question, not give a solution - oh, well, please just go rub some shortening on yourself, and ask, is this working? Works for Me Wednesday: Superfood on the GoPosted December 12th, 2007 by Jen in carnivals, health/cooking/food, the office9 Comments » Be sure to visit the Rocks in my Dryer Works for Me Wednesday master list. Here’s what works for me: Odwalla Superfood Micronutrient Fruit Juice Drink. It’s been my meal in a bottle many times over the past several weeks, as my business is at the height of the Christmas frenzy, and I’m working long hours to meet the demands of those half-crazed sports fanatics. And who has time to eat a decent meal in these conditions? Life will be back to normal in another week, but for now, Superfood is keeping me alive! Here’s the scoop on this energy giving, vitamin packed drink:
The best part is that it tastes GREAT! So, what works for you? Cooking With Kids: Tips and TricksPosted November 20th, 2007 by Jen in family life, health/cooking/food, parenting10 Comments »
Well, at least that’s how it happens in my house with three and four year olds - and even the six and eight year olds. It’s a great temptation to lock kids out of the kitchen, and there are pressing times when I have to say, “No, Mommy has to do this herself,” but I try to have a general rule that the children can always help. However, to maintain a level of sanity, I’ve come up with some tips and tricks which I’ll list below, for making the cooking time with kids an enjoyable and educational experience. I’ve read several stories of great chefs who always point back to their childhood cooking with their mothers or grandmothers as a meaningful element in their later careers. I’ve also read accounts of women who know little about cooking because their mothers didn’t allow them in the kitchen. There is a wonderful book called The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber that convinced me I needed to make a significant place in my time with the kids for food - from the picking out of the ingredients at the market, to the preparation of the meal, to the enjoyment of the taste. Abu-Jaber “comes from cooking,” and notes that how you cook and eat, and how you feed your neighbors defines who you are. I’ve been remiss in keeping to that commitment, but especially as the holidays are welcomed, I want to renew that vision. Here’s my list to keep me on track with cooking with kids:
Happy cooking with kids, and enjoy the upcoming holiday feasts! You Know Your Mother Has Alzheimer’s WhenPosted November 2nd, 2007 by Jen in family life, health/cooking/food, parenting12 Comments » She takes the dirty clothes you’ve just loaded into the washing machine, and left momentarily, but long enough for her to come along, and transfers them to the dryer, never minding that they are bone dry and thus could not have been run through the wash cycle. And before you can catch her, because you are busy with other work and four little children, she proceeds to then remove these same dirty clothes from the dryer, fold them, and put them away, never minding that they have bits of food stuck to them and the crusty socks still have retained their owner’s shape. This calamity causes the daughter whose nearly 80 year old mother lives with her to race from drawer to drawer, feeling for clothes that are still warm and smelling for nasty socks, to pull out and begin the proper wash process once again. The chaos caused by all this commotion causes the elderly mother to break down in tears and retreat to her room. Repeat above scenario with the dishwasher, and I believe your mother has Alzheimer’s. You can find me over here getting help. Surviving Without a MicrowavePosted August 24th, 2007 by Jen in family life, health/cooking/food15 Comments »
My friends ask, why don’t you just go buy one?! They are not that expensive, after all. Well, the tight-wad husband says we are not about to waste money on a cheap microwave when we’ll have a very nice one to go with all the new stainless steel appliances that will be in our new house that he’s building. Same reason we don’t have a T.V. Or dressers. Or a bed. Well, okay, I have a bed - it’s a mattress on a steel frame. You get the idea. Good thing I enjoy living simply. So, the microwave. Reheating my coffee in the morning was my biggest concern. I must have hot coffee. Well, RV life introduced me to French press coffee. I boil water in a pan and pour it in the sexy French carafe. I reheat my coffee as needed in the pan. Now that we’re in a house, I do have a coffee pot I use (though nothing quite compares anymore to the richness of French press). But since I refuse to drink coffee out of anything but high quality ceramic, those plastic lidded mugs are out - thus the need to reheat. I also sip and savor, and will never get through a mug of coffee without the bottom third getting cold. And actually, since I’ve been drinking my coffee out of these cool coffee mugs with pewter logos (remember these?), I couldn’t put it in a microwave, anyway. Here’s what I discovered: I can reheat my coffee in a pan on the stove in about three minutes. Is my life so high speed and busy that I can’t take three minutes to heat my coffee? If so, perhaps something’s wrong. It’s not like I have to gather wood, start a fire, and keep it stoked. I just turn a knob. Really, what would our great-great grandmothers think of us, complaining about waiting three minutes (in our warm, cozy houses) for our coffee to reheat? What about left-overs? The horror! No microwave to reheat leftovers! Well, there is that dinosaur of an appliance called the stove. It reheats food remarkably well. Pizza - 10 minutes at 350. Casserole - 10 minutes at 350. Chicken - 10 minutes at 350. That’s my mantra: 10 minutes at 350. And honestly, I can understand reheating those particular foods in a microwave, but you’d never want to actually cook them in a microwave. The pizza would be soggy, the casserole would be mushy, and the chicken would be rubbery. And I always hated how microwave heated french fries tasted like wet sawdust.
The baby bottle? Mommas, never, ever, put the baby bottle in a microwave. If there’s no microwave there to tempt you with its time-saving tentacles, you’re better off, perhaps. Just heat a pan of hot water and let the baby bottle stand in it for several minutes. No hot spots to burn baby, no loss of nutrition. Here’s a lesson I’ve learned: after a readjustment period of cooking-time expectations, I DO NOT miss the microwave. Once I had it in my head that I needed to allow 30 or 45 minutes to cook dinner, not five, I learned to plan ahead and be prepared. And be prepared for better tasting food, by the way! If you can bear with me a moment, there are health/nutritional reasons, too many to number, for choosing traditional cooking over a microwave. Here are a few, and follow the links for the full scoop. From the USDA:
From Delicious Organics:
Those darn machines are so convenient and make our cooking lives so easy! Just be warned, and certainly do your own investigating. There is plenty of data out there that says microwaved food is just fine, but for me, there is enough unsettling information to make me think twice. And there also remains a philosophical issue for me: the microwave is so symbolic of the fast-paced modern American way of life. What are some microwave equivalents in our way of life? Do you take time to read a good book or just watch a sitcom? Do you take time to go on a long bike ride with your kids or just sit them down with a video game? Do you take time to handwrite a loving letter to a dear friend or just dash off a quick email? Do you take time to cook a healthy meal from scratch or buy packaged, processed food? Now the question is: Can I talk my husband into leaving out the microwave in the new house? photo credits: |
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Welcome to the 45th Carnival of Homesteading! If you’ve been around here when I host a Blog Carnival, you know how much I love themes! But, alas, I had issues. Computers, kids, work, and some other meanies all conspired against me. Or maybe I was just lazy.
If you recall, there are two obstacles for me to overcome regarding my ability to drink hot coffee: 1) I 
I’m not one to go around talking about underarm hygiene habits. But here goes. I finally found a deodorant I really like. It’s 
“Mommy, can I help you?” is the phrase most often heard in my kitchen. Moms around the world know that a kid in the kitchen means the meal will take about three times the usual prep! 
Kitchen life has been unfolding at a slower pace these days. When we sold our house over a year ago, the microwave went with it. We jumped right into RV life where microwave use was hampered by the fact that our only power sources were the generator and propane. So while the RV had a (power-sucking) microwave, the 
The stove-top is just as clever at cooking or reheating. I found that my left-over rice was really tasty when I heated it in a big skillet with either a few tablespoons of water or oil. And if you think your popcorn days are over with no microwave, think again! I grew up fascinated with