Cooking Outside

 

Cooking outside is something I really like today. With our weather we could probably do it year round but spring and fall are my favorite times of year and so my favorite time to do it.

Another thing I really like is the magazine Mary Janes Farm and in one of my past editions I found this wonderful recipe. We loved it.

Campfire Succotash (changed by me some)

Start cooking 1/2 lb bacon cooking till its crispy add onion and garlic till the onions are cooked about 2-3 minutes.

 

Then add 1 diced zucchini and 1 red bell pepper diced cook 2-3 minutes.

 

add 2 cups corn I used frozen organic corn that I thawed in water. Add salt pepper and cook until heated through.

 

The original recipe had lima beans in it I didn't have those so I just did what I had and it was so good with a hamburger and another salad made with cabbage. 

Goings on...

Compost, sour dough bread rising, a newly painted kitchen.

 

 

It's spring around here which I am very happy to see. We still have cooler temps in the evenings, but during the day has been nice not hot yet.

All the babes are growing with more arriving this summer.  See the pretty green grass that is starting to come up.

 

Wisteria is getting ready to bloom and send out it's delightful aroma.

Catnaps are being taken of....

 

Our neighbors sold their timber on their 25 acres and it has opened up our view. Cows are growing and getting ready to be taken to the butcher.

And the boys are just boy goats now instead of spraying, smelly, obnoxious, boy goats. At least till about August.

 

The baby is growing

 

Caeser is now 6 months old this week

 

And he is a complete and total mess...literally he is always rolling in something when it rains he is orange since he loves to sit in the rain and then roll on the barn flour in the orange dirt. But he is such a smart dog and a joy to have. I won't let him off his leash yet when I take him to feed the cows and bucks but he will sit and stay for me for as long as I need him to while I'm feeding as long as I remind him every now and then to sit and stay.

 

He is very protective already of me and the goats. We burned horns a few weeks ago and he had a hard time listening to his babies and he will sleep next to them when they are asleep. He loves to lick their faces when they are messy drinking from their bottles and he knows they are babies not to be played with. Our border collie has always amazed me how smart he is and Caesar is just as smart if not smarter at 6 months is much farther ahead of Speck at that age in training and in other areas.

 

Now he has had his moments but he's a puppy and is neat to watch as he learns to guard his flock and how they have included him in their herd.

 



To clean and Oven...

OK I love my gas stove and oven but I dislike the aqua clean option on it. I use my oven a lot and I guess they designed this option for people who don't. Now I loved the auto clean on my electric oven it took forever but it worked great! I didn't have to use a toxic chemical and that was a big bonus to me. And I love a clean oven.

Now I am embarrassed to admit this when we redid our kitchen last Jan, a year ago, we had the stove for a month or so and I used the cleaning option on it once and I haven't cleaned it since. I usually clean it every other month or so, I use my over a LOT. I dislike the aqua part and it didn't clean it like I like it to be.

Well now that the kiddos are in college I have been going through the house a room at a time slowly mind you but I have been planning as I go. The kitchen is getting painted this week ceiling and walls but anyway I wiped all the walls and I thought that oven is getting cleaned!

I looked on the Internet and found a wonderful recipe that I had all the stuff for and it did great.
at yumuniverse.com Heather Crosby had this recipe.

Non Toxic Oven Cleaner

this is the recipe she wrote with my notes.

 

Paintbrush

2 medium bowls

scrubber sponge

spoon

 

Ingredients:

1/2 homemade liquid soap she used soap nuts liquid (I used Dr Bronner's liquid tea tree soap we use a lot of Dr Bronner's I love it)

1 1/2 cup baking soda aluminum free ( all baking soda is aluminum free it's the baking powder that has aluminum in it.)

2-4 drops lavender essential oil or a scent you like or none.

1/2 c organic white vinegar or apple cider would work too.

water to add to make the paste paintable.

 

This is how I did it.

put soap in a bowl and add soda, essential oil, mix those up and then add vinegar a little at a time since it will foam up mix to a paste. I didn't have to add the water. Now paint the paste on all over your oven and let it sit for 6-8 hours I also used it on my stove top which worked great.

 

Now I don't buy aluminum foil except for putting on the bottom of the oven which I didn't do when we bought the oven. But now a year later I finally did! This catches drips and spills.

 

I hope this helps anyone who would like a better option for cleaning that oven without asphyxiating yourself or your family.

 

 

Sugar Free Banana Bread

  This weekend I had a small pile of bananas I needed, well wanted to do something with but I didn't want to use sugar since the recipe I usually make is so sugary. Though I did add mini chocolate chips to it so some sugar but not as much.

  It is pretty good not sugary at all my other recipes you can definately taste the sugar it is a little over powering actually. This one is sweetened with prunes and bananas and is mild very good.

  I bought this book, above, a few years ago when I was in a little shop I loved but it closed....bummer. And have learned a lot from it for cooking and tried some of the recipes.

  Banana Bread

In a blender add

4 eggs and a 1/2 cup of prunes

 

Pour this into a bowl after its blended

 

Add...

1 stick butter, melted

4 c whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla

6 large bananas, mashed

1 c walnuts, chopped I did not add these but 1 cup mini chocolate chips.

 

Mix it up and put into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

 

 

You'll have 2 yummy loafs of banana bread made with yummy goodness without the all that sugar. It will be a bread not a cake. My other recipe is like a cake to me full of sugar.

 

Finally!

I know, I know over a month now and I said I would blog and I haven't. Sometimes I wonder if I should. My computer was in the shop for over a week so that didn't help though I could have blogged on my ipad LOL.

 Lots of things have been happening... The college students are doing great and having fun learning and seeing life and school in a new way. They are growing into adults and it is fun to watch.

I have decided to start college as well in the fall so I am getting things situated for that. I am working still here at home and at the little health food store and keeping extremely busy with goats etc.

We have had 6 babies born in the last month that are so cute! Two little pygmy goats, and four nubians it is fun having babies around again.

I have completed one quilt and am working on another I hope to finish by the end of the month but that will be up to me to make myself sit and finish it.

We have extremely cold weather here a few weeks ago that is not normal for our area. The college closed classes for three days by the third day the kids were very bored and ready to go back.

Now the weather is nice cool but spring feeling like its thinking about it but not quite yet.

I hope to get back at this soon since I have way to many thing going on in my head to keep them to myself.

And Their Off!

We've been so busy the last few weeks that this site and any other internet thing I am on has been sidetracked.

I am officially done with my homeschooling career! My two children have started college as of Monday. So I think I will start a Life After Homeschool series here on Down the Beaten Path. Not to often but posts on what life is like for me now. I have homeschooled for about 15 years and so this will be all new to me.

Today I am not feeling to good, a cold maybe, so I am a little teary missing them some though my house is so clean, laundry is caught up, and dinner is actually planned and partly done. :0)

My daughter, I am worried about we found out she is dyslexic which has answered so many questions and given her a name for all these things that have frustrated her all these years. So I am being that protective mother bear wanting her to succeed on her own but wanting to protect her from hurt. So I sit back and watch in wonder because she is starting to bloom and I can't wait to see the lovely flower she is going to become.

Around the farm we have kids (goats) due starting next week, calves and pyrennes puppy growing, freezing temps this week so I'm not working outside much, seed starting plans ruminating in the brain, a quilt that will be started soon maybe today, and getting a routine started that will last at least 18 weeks till the semester is over.

I hope all is well for you and I hope to start posting again on a regular basis.

Sprouted Grains animals....

I know I know you wanted this part yesterday but I had to have you want to come back didn't I? Ok here it goes....

Sprouting for animals so far is about the same as I explained how to do it yesterday just on a much larger scale. And it tends to sour a lot faster no matter the temp and would probably mold faster to.

I use 5 gallon buckets one we have drilled holes in the bottom. Again sorry no pixs, but here are some links to where I learned what to do.

To Sing With Goats

DIY Sprouted Fodder

Sprouted Fodder System

And there are various videos on youtube I found useful. The main article that got me thinking is one from the Dairy Goat Journal the article is not online but in the magazine so sorry I can link to it.

The difference in fodder and just sprouting is the fodder is like growing grass you want to grain to grain and inch or two and the root system is thick and matty. Sprouting is soaking it for the 12 hours let it sit drained for 12 hours and either feeding it then or rinsing and draining again for another 12 hours but not letting it grow like the fodder.

Both ways are started the same your just letting the fodder get established more. Right now I soak my wheat, oats, and barley for 12 hours, let drain and sit for 12 hours and feed. I tried soaking for 24 and it soured every one ate it but didn't like it as much. Then I tried soaking 12, draining setting 12, rinse drain 12 but that too soured. Again they ate but didn't like it as much. The way we do it now works fine and it is still beneficial but I want more of a sprout on the grain but not fodder without the sour.

I know the more I do this the more I will learn and the more I will refine the way I do it. The cost is cheaper than what we were doing, the animals like it especially the cows, and the chickens have all started laying again without extra light. Usually in the winter they molt and slow down on laying since chickens need 14 hours of light a day to lay but we are finding eggs again daily.

I did try fermented grains for the chickens and guineas, they didn't like it as much as the sprouted grains which is really right now just soaked grains. So I soak enough for everyone cows, bucks, does, chickens, guineas, the puppy since he likes them too. The rabbits still get pellets are now at least.

I have also switched the goats to Real Salt instead of the livestock salt, they get baking soda free choice, kelp, ACV in their water which the cows love, probiotics sprinkled on their feed along with herbs I think they might need as well and alfalfa pellets and hay. Every one has there own bowl they eat out of so the feed to measured out for them. Everyone's coats are shiny and heathly looking and they all act the same.

One buck foundered when he was young at his previous owner's place so he gets MSM and a supplement on his feed to help keep his system in balance since founder is caused by an over acidity in the body. Though I do know there are different opinions on this from my research and what we've done with him he is not crippled and breeds and walks around just fine. He actually is the dominate male and bigger than our other buck. They too love the grain but not as much when it has soured.

Now soured and moldy are different so that is why they still eat it. If it was moldy I would toss it outside there pasture to sprout and grow since those grains will grow here in winter. Soured is more like fermented.

As we progress on this I will update you...

Sprouting Grains cont.

Ok, I don't have any pictures of this and it is 4am I've been up since 2 this whole can't sleep thing is a little bit of a pain. :0) But while I can't sleep I at least can update you on this little experiment.

As I posted not long ago we sprout grains for us to eat and now are doing it for the animals. For us I have sprouting jars and I sprout seeds like alfalfa to eat but also our wheat I will sprout and then dehydrate and grind for our flour. Usually I will sprout it for a couple of days this depends on the temps etc. I don't let them get as big as our alfalfa because I don't want long sprouts just enough to change the nutrition. Sometimes I will let them get sunlight the last day to build up the chlorophyll like I do the alfalfa.

 

This is the jar I use I have three of them and I like them, click on the picture to read more about the jar. There are several other ways you can do it and what works for me might not work for you. I like the ease of use on this with the wire mesh in the lid.

 

I will start in the the morning or at night fill the jar with the desired amount of grain with wheat usually 3 cups of grain is good this way the grain is loose still once it expands and none of it gets compacted. Alfalfa usually 1 tablespoon and that, once they sprout, will fill the jar.

 

I then fill the jar with water just over the grain swirl it around make sure all the wheat is loose and moving freely and then fill the jar the rest of the way, a few inches above the grain. Or just fill the jar up depending on how full it is and the grain. I let this sit for 8 to 12 hours, longer is better I have found.

 

At the end of the time I drain all the water and make all the grain is loose again. Then I set this on the counter for 8 to 12 hours sometimes like in the heat of the summer I will let the jar set upside down in the sink to let as much as possible grain out to prevent mold. At that time I fill the jar up with water to rinse the grains, drain the water off, and let sit on the counter again. I keep the jar out of direct sunlight at this point. You do this twice a day for however long you want depending again on the grain and what your using it for.

 

Wheat usually I will let it go till you barely see a sprout and then I do a final rinse and drain and put it in my dehydrator. I don't want to kill the goodness in the grain so I only set the temp at 145 and since we have so much humidty this time it takes depends on the season etc. But sometimes it takes 12 to 24 hours but no longer.

 

I prefer this over sour doughing it for things since I haven't figured out sour dough bread and my family only likes sour dough pancakes or crackers. Though my sour dough starter Herman is a very happy camper when he is awake, right now he's sleeping the fridge. the sprouted grain flour makes wonderful breads, biscuits, pizza dough, etc I use it just like any other flour.

 

Come back tomorrow for the sprouting for animals portion.

 

 

Weddings

 

 

Weddings are always a fun affair and we recently went to a reception for one that was small but lovely. They used the season's colors as their backdrop and her love for the country and antiques for the decorations.

 

They had their reception the night before they were to be sealed in the temple and at first I thought weird but it work out so perfect. It was like a party for the last day they would be single and the next day was the start of their life together. The mood was festive and light and the food was delicious.

 

I hope they have a wonderful life together and all their dreams come true.

 

 

Bunnies

 

 

Meet Caeser!

 

Meet our newest addition, Caeser is our livestock guardian dog in training since he is only 15 weeks old....

 

He is a smart little booger and VERY stubborn already. But we are having fun with him and teaching him what we want and don't want, like chasing the chickens and barn cats.

 

We are hoping when it comes times this spring and summer to raise our meat chickens that his presence will deter the fox and other predators that think our place is the local fast food restaurant.

 

 

Pancakes

I love them and always have blueberry, chocolate chip, banana, plain, wheat, buckwheat, white flour, oat flour, sour dough, the list goes on. I love them with maple syrup, honey, butter, agave, peanut butter not so much, but strawberry syrup, elderberry, blueberry...You get the picture.

 

If you never tried buckwheat then your missing a treat. Since I do love them I like to try different ones and even though I do love them I don't eat them every single day....I know you thought that didn't you?

Buckwheat is a tasty grain that I have come to love, its not wheat like the name suggests and so it your gluten intolerant you can eat it. It makes a thick dough that makes fluffy pancakes I made then plain the first time but I'm thinking blueberrys or something next time.

 

Try some you will be glad you did.

 

BuckWheat Pancakes

 

• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp melted butter or margarine

 

Mix dry ingredients together; add egg, milk and butter or margarine, beating well after each addition.Pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto hot griddle. Cook 1 to 1½ minutes, turning when edges look cooked and bubbles begin to break on the surface. Continue to cook 1 to 1½ minutes or until golden brown. 

Sprouting for people and livestock

 

I sprout wheat for us to eat and now I am sprouting grains for our animals. We just started doing it and hope to transfer all our livestock from commercial feeds to organic sprouted grains. As we journey through this I will keep you posted on what we do and how its going.

Dare Mighty Things

 

I  love this quote I heard it today and I wanted to share it with you. My daughter has always had a hard time in life...learning has always come at a great struggle for her. Public school wanted to classify her but we knew there was so much more to her than a label. She looks at the world from the opposite direction as the rest of the world, being left handed she comes at a problem from a different direction, and she sees people...truly sees them and still KNOWS they are a child of God.

 

But that doesn't help with learning since schools like to put everyone in the same box when some learn from another box. She is mildly dyslexic, but is a voracious reader she loves Shakepeare, Jane Austen, and anything that is medival. She has a wedding dress picked out that is a Regency style dress like they wore in Pride and Prejudice. She loves the scriptures, is extremely shy, when she gets mad she cries, she doesn't raise her voice, loves animals especially her goats, is a romantic at heart and any boy who wants to capture her heart has  very high standards they must reach. She wants her first kiss to be the boy she will marry and she wants a boy who is her best friend.

 

But then things have always been so hard struggles with learning, fitting in with others, and being painfully shy. We have a saying in our home "What is Normal!" when she was little people would tell me she wasn't normal as they got older my son and daughter would get mad at that statement and decided that normal is boring and what is it anyway who sets that standard? What people didn't understand is that at 4 1/2 she witnessed her parents struggle with the death of her baby brother, us finding he had died in his crib early one morning and trying to perform CPR and seeing her parents fall apart as paramedics took him away. That is devastating to parents but to her who couldn't understand it was a major trauma.

 

This quote reminds me of her struggles and that her struggles will and have made her strong. She is an inspiration to me she doesn't judge people she loves them and how she will fall and stumble and them pick herself up dust herself off and try again and again till she succeeds.

 

  It is not the critic who counts; nor the one who points out how the strong person stumbled, or where the doer of a deed could have done better.
 The credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually strive to do deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends oneself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he or she fails, at least fails while daring greatly.
 Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those timid spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt26^th President of the U.S. and
winner of 1906 Nobel Peace Prize

Pinto Beans

 

Why is it this time of year we crave thick hearty stews comfort foods? The foods we eat this time of year don't go well any other time of the year they just don't taste as good. Well I have been craving beans lately meatless stuff or at least small amounts of meat.

 

Hubby isn't the happiest with this but oh well I am doing to cooking and I make sure there is some meat.

 

I looked for something to do with pinto beans besides refried beans and I came across this recipe

 

And since I had soaked beans the night before with a little apple cider vinegar to help us digest all the goodness in them I decided this sounded good and easy. I through it all inthe crockpot and went to work.

Seasonings for the kids to add before I came home.

 

Cornbread I made before I left.

 

And it was yummy with a green salad very yummy indeed and warm on the tummy.

Header Collage....Pic Monkey

Ok, I am kinda cheap not on everything I will admit since hubby is probably reading this. But I live by "things come to those who wait" and if I can find it cheaper or free I would rather have that.

 

When I started this blog I ran across another blog that I can't remember now but they suggested

Pic Monkey for making a collage header. I wanted something not set in stone something I could move and change as I wanted. I also like to have a clean blog no thrills etc. I seem to lean towards a white background with pictures.

 

 

It is an easy site to maneuver around and the finished product is saved to your computer in a jpeg image. I just upload that image to where I want it. Easy and free that I love and my pictures aren't stored online somewhere I like that too.

 

I have also made a collage for a post and that worked wonderful.

In the Kitchen

Last week were in the kitchen whipping up some rich chocolate cupcakes and buttercream frosting.

 

They made monster cupcakes for a fall harvest we went to. It was yummy but way to sweet since I don't buy white sugar it was a treat for them to make.

 

Buttercream Frosting

From Wilton site

 

• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract......we used regular vanilla
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)   
• 2 tablespoons milk

Step 1

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

Step 2

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

Step 3

For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

Step 4

For Pure White Icing (stiff consistency), omit butter; substitute an additional 1/2 cup shortening for butter and add 1/2 teaspoon No-Color Butter Flavor. Add up to 4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk to thin for icing cakes.

Autumn Chores

Autumn seems to be the time of year to burn brush piles that need to be taken care of. I'ts cool and the crispness of the weather seems to smell so good add some woodsmoke and it is like digging in the garden in the spring...earthy, primal, instinctive.

So we've been burning some piles in the pasture where our barn is at since hubby cut some trees down and we let the does eat the leaves off of them. The trunks I want to cut up for logs but the branches are burning nice since they are dry.

 

We have one goat who loves the smoke, Silk's previous owners smoked and they said she loved cigarette smoke. Well I think she loves any kind of smoke.

Bunnies

Our son has had rabbits for a few years. He started out with dwarfs but we had an unfortunate event happen with a neighbor's dog and he lost his two females.

He bought two more that were bigger and then something happened and we ended with only one and then this one turned out to be male instead of the intended female.

Well last March we helped a friend by slaughtering her rabbits in exchange we kept one for payment of the service. And we kept a female they were young and young ones are hard to sex plus I am extremely allergic to rabbits making it a little harder so after some research I was confident that I chose a female. She was the only one out of the batch. Now fast forward 8 months and she is a female and has bunnies.