This is a quick and relatively easy dinner option for us. I personally don’t like pizza so I make a separate pan of breadsticks for myself. I like the following recipe which can be found at http://www.wheatfoods.org/Quick-Whole-Wheat-Pizza-Crust.217.1.htm Ingredients:2 cups whole wheat flour1 package active dry yeast/instant yeast3/4 teaspoon salt1 cup hot tap water (120 – 125°F)1 tablespoon vegetable oil1 tablespoon honey or granulated sugar I mix the ingredients together in a bowl and then dump it out on to a floured countertop. I add parsley, oregano, and a little garlic salt to the dough to taste. Knead for a couple minutes adding extra flour as needed. Then roll out with a rolling pin into a circle big enough for your pizza pan. You can make 2 thin crust pizzas or 1 regular crust with this recipe. Carefully transfer the dough to a greased pizza pan. Last time I bought cheese sticks Kraft brand was on sale so I bought that kind. We think they are gross: plastic like with no flavor. I thought I’d use them up by making this pizza with a stuffed crust. Just push some extra dough up over the lip of the pan. Place strips of
Continue readingMonth: May 2009
My Mom
My Mom is the best. She is why I am the way I am, or at least a big part of why. She is why I knit. She is why I can sew (a little bit). She is why I make homemade laundry soap. She let me raise chickens for FFA in her basement even though I never built a coop like I was going to…that was a really smelly summer (you’d think I would learn, now I have turkeys in my own basement!). She taught me how to grow a garden. She is why I put up trim in my house and paint without waiting for Brian to do it all. She is why I recycle. She does not laugh at my hair brained ideas and she doesn’t think I’m a hippie for doing the things I do (or at least she doesn’t voice those thoughts 😉 ) She pets my cat and comes to visit us even though she can’t stand dog drool or cat hair. She even let my puppy sleep on the couch with me at her house. I can always call her even if it is late or we’ve been fighting, and she will listen
Continue readingSunday Stroll: Garden Update
I have been taking a stroll around my yard every morning and evening lately. There is a lot of activity to keep up with! All of these pictures are from the garden today. I thought I would combine the garden update and Sunday Stroll this week to keep things simple. Plus, I have a lot of other things to post about this coming week. Potatoes are finally up! Yay!! I have picked and picked, eaten and shared, and yet till – the asparagus is going to seed. The first row of peas is really growing. The second row is up and about 1-2″ tall. My little bitty lettuce. This was one of the first things I planted. It is growing very slowly but I’m just glad it lived. The onions have doing great all along. The garlic is huge! I saved the best for last. Check out the blossoms on our new pear tree! This is the one that I just planted a few weeks ago. The pear tree that I planted last year has a lot more leaves but no blossoms yet. I can see this little blossoming tree from my window. See who else is strolling on Sunday
Continue readingBuilding An Eggmobile: Part 2
This is a follow up post to Building An Eggmobile: Part 1. I apologize for not taking pictures of each step this time. We were both wore out and just wanted the thing done! Tall side: We went with a chicken wire front here for ventilation with intentions of a roll down tarp to cover the front if needed. The door is split with a small door at the bottom. This was easier than making separate little doors for the chickens. One end: You can see the black soot from the fire. We salvaged all the siding from the shed that burned. The front end with the hitch. We’ll use the four wheeler to move it around and prop it up so it will sit level. The rear aspect: This is our favorite part!! No more squatting down to reach for eggs while Mr. Rooster plans his attack on your hind end. The egg door opens downward so you don’t have to hold it up while gathering eggs. I put a little straw in the boxes for now but would like to switch to washable mats. Umm…a little privacy please!? Here’s what is left to do:Secure a board across the
Continue readingThe Chickens Have Moved In!
The hens seem to love their new nest boxes!! As soon as I put straw in them they were all about it. There were 3 1/2 hens in one box at one point. Overall, we’re both thrilled with how it turned out, at least so far. I’m not going to post many details tonight because I’m exhausted! Brian and I haven’t been in the house before 10 o’clock since Tuesday night, thus the lack of posts since then. We worked on the eggmobile Wednesday and Thursday nights. Tonight he worked ground while I mulched the garden and cleaned out the old coop. I’ll let it air out tonight and move the new chicks out there in the morning. Have a good one! 🙂
Continue readingMy “Fast Food” Dinner
Brian picked himself up some fast food for dinner. I was working late. When I talked to him he told me he already ate so maybe I should get myself something in town too. I drove that way home but nothing sounded good and I didn’t stop anywhere. I got home and tried to make some butter in the food processor with the raw milk. It didn’t really work but I probably wasn’t patient enough. The milk did get really foamy like when you start to whip real cream. I didn’t want to pour it back in the jug so instead… I added one envelope of chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast to it. I had the stuff in the cupboard and have pretty much quit drinking it so this was a good way to use it up. Oh my goodness – it was great! Like a cross between a milkshake and chocolate mousse. I drank that and ate a half dozen raw pieces of asparagus that I picked on my nightly walk through the garden. Maybe someday I’ll have fresh home grown berries to have with whipped milk. Mine was maybe not the most complete meal, but I did get a
Continue readingSunday Stroll
This pear tree came through the winter just fine! Four new Heritage Raspberry canes. You can’t see it in the picture but they are getting little leaves. I think this is a flowering cherry tree. It is in the island between the driveways and gets these gorgeous blossoms every year. I have never found one speck of fruit there. The wheat is growing tall! It won’t be long before we’ll see blossoms! Here’s a view of the back pastures from where I was working on the fence yesterday. Off to the right is the wheat field. See who else took a stroll today over at Quiet Country House. Have a great Monday everyone! 🙂
Continue readingChick City and a Rough Night
Well, Becker Farms is now the proud home of 99 Colored Range chicks! They arrived Friday and I was able to get them home from the post office and settled before going to work. I took the above video that morning. Aren’t they fun to watch! I’m thrilled with how vigorous they are. I didn’t have to show them how to eat or drink, they just jumped right in. They do need a bigger space so I’m going to work on the eggmobile today. Right now the chicks are in our basement. Once the big chickens are out the old coop is going to be our brooding space. We did have one fatality yesterday, it was very weird and I still don’t know why it happened. The chick had a bum leg and a sore on it’s belly. Honestly, it looked like a little piece of intestine had come out and wrapped around the leg. It was horrible and I hope it doesn’t happen again! On the plus side, the rest are doing great! Apparently I was super worried about the chicks last night. The night went something like this: 9 PM – Hubby takes a shower, I start to
Continue readingReal Milk?
Remember all the times I’ve mentioned that we mostly just buy dairy products from the store now? Well that might change. I looked in to a cow share program a while back. I gave it some thought and then put it out of my mind. Then out of the blue the program coordinator e-mailed me again just to make sure that she had indeed responded to my first e-mail (she did). That same week a new intern started at my workplace. We got to talking and it came up that she is part of the same cow share program. Her family loves the milk and doesn’t plan on switching back. I am still a little leery about the whole thing, to be honest. The milk comes straight out of the bulk tank on the farm. It is from Certified Organic cows. It is not pasteurized. I know there is a huge debate over whether or not pasteurizing is important. I think it is safe to say that if the cows are healthy there is no life-threatening risk involved. Still, there are recommendations that pregnant women not drink unpasteurized milk. God willing, that will apply to me one day (far away).
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