Category: Uncategorized

I have been doing menu plans steadily for the last 4 weeks, I just haven’t been posting them. I made myself up a handy template and plan for 2 weeks at a time now. I’ll just share one week here to keep the suspense going. 😛 Monday: Grilled Cheese with potato balls (potato balls are interesting, I’ll have to share the recipe sometime) Tuesday: Tater Tot Surprise (using leftover taco meat) (Hot dogs for me) Wednesday: Cornflake Chicken w/ homemade fries (using crushed cornflakes and mustard coating from freezer) Thursday: Pancakes, hashbrowns, bacon, toast Friday: Sirloin steak on the grill w/ roasted potatoes Saturday: Steak sandwich w/ chips (using leftover steak) Sunday: Leftovers or fend for yourself What’s on your menu this week? See what others are cooking up here.

These are so yummy and, like apple bread, good for breakfast or snacking. 1/2 C white sugar 1/2 C packed brown sugar 1/2 C butter, softened 1/2 tsp baking soda sprinkle of cinnamon sprinkle of nutmeg 1/2 tsp vanilla pinch of baking powder pinch of salt 1 egg 1 1/2 C quick oats 1 cup whole wheat flour 2/3 cup canned pumpkin 1 cup raisins or nuts (optional) Heat oven to 375 F. Mix well all ingredients except oats, flour, pumpkin, and optional additions. Add remaining ingredients. Spread mixture in to greased 8x8x2 baking dish. Bake 20-25 minutes until the top has a nice light brown color. Cut in to squares. Enjoy while still warm or refrigerate for eating later on.

As I was putting fresh sheets on the bed tonight I realized how much I enjoy our heated blanket. We get so much use out of it, relying on it every night from October until May. It was a gift from my Mom a few years ago. Our blanket is the type that has two controls, one for him and one for me. I can crank mine up and bake myself while his side stays relatively cool. It is a lifesaver for us and has probably saved lots of fights over too many or not enough blankets. We hang the controls from the headboard and run the cords under the mattress. They come out the end of the bed and attach the to bottom of the blanket. I used to have the cords run under the bed but Roomba tried to eat them so I rearranged (with some help to life the mattress). This wasn’t a wedding present but it is definitely one of the best gifts we’ve received over the years. What is your favorite couples gift?

Welcome to my new “home” on the web!  I’d love some feedback on the new look – good, bad, or indifferent. I know it has been awhile so here’s a look at what’s going on around the farm… Since the ewes are off being bred and the one ram lamb died the last little ram lamb is lonely.  He stays as close to the cows as possible. Of course they could care less about him and lounge wherever they please. We’re making progress on the new barn.  These are the feeders that will go in it. I dug the potatoes.  Not a bad haul considering that something (bugs?) killed all the plants before they were done growing. The garden – almost ready for winter. “I’ve got the good piece of fruit and you don’t neener-neener-neener…” Pooh says hello. The chickens are LOVING canning season.

It may never end! Okay, maybe it will, but I’m afraid it won’t be this weekend. A batch of spaghetti sauce with meat calls for 30# of tomatoes. I already used approximately 30# from our garden and got 12 pints out of it instead of the 9 that the book says. I have enough left from our garden to do 1 more batch. The neighbors, Brian’s aunt and uncle, offered him what was left in their garden. He brought home one basket full that turns out to be just shy of one batch worth – and there is probably one or two more batches left down there. So add that all up and I have a minimum of 3 batches left to do, assuming I get to them before they rot. The hard part is not the actually canning it is prepping the tomatoes. There are so many different ways to do this but here’s what I’ve been doing: Put a few tomatoes in boiling water for 30 second to a minute. Scoop them out and in to a pot of cold water with ice in it. Pick them out one at time and peel off the skins with my

How will you be feathering your nest for Fall? What do you to get ready? Decorations? Winterizing? Stocking Up? Preserving Fall Produce? Harvesting Said Fall Produce? Cleaning? Organizing? Overhauling your Calendar? Whatever you do to ready your Home and Hearth for the new season, we want to know about it at Hoosier Homemade where Liz is offering up a fun giveaway of sewn fabric pumpkins to fall-ify your home.Fall is one of the busiest seasons around our farm, tied only with Spring. This year I’m welcoming Fall with open arms and have been enjoying the tasks that come with the season. Here are a few things we do to prepare for the colder months: At the top of the list, canning is in full swing. I’m putting up corn, tomatoes, and apples all within the next few weeks. As the garden offers up the last of the vegetables it is time to clear away the dead plants and prepare for spring. I’ve been weeding one last time, then I’ll spread some compost and mulch the whole thing with straw. The garlic goes in and dormant plants (strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb) can be transplanted. Last week I dug out the flannel sheets

If I’m missing it will be because our computer got a virus last night. Hopefully it will be fixed tonight and back to me tomorrow but if I’m gone for awhile, that’s why. So long for now!

Warning: Lots of whining ahead… I’m sure I’m not the only one who always feel even more stressed than normal just before a vacation. We still have a list a mile long of things that NEED to be done before we go even though we’ve been cracking away at it all week. Okay I say we loosely, mostly Brian has been busting his butt. I did help stack a bunch of hay last night, in my defense. 😉 So I made myself this rule…absolutely no knitting and no Ravelry surfing until the house is as clean as I want it to be before vacation. That means pretty much no knitting tonight! Which would be a whole lot easier if I hadn’t just picked up my special order yarn for a an upcoming wedding present to be knitted. Oh, and finding a deal today on the yarn I need to make 3 more Christmas presents didn’t help either. (Can’t you hear the yarn, “Knit me!! Knnnnnittt me!”)(And yes, that is blogger in the background. I can be lame if I want :P) I’m not only a little overwhelmed with the to-dos and don’ts but also feeling physically queasy. I’ve had fast

Note:  I’ve followed this recipe for 2 years in a row now with excellent results.  The key is to just warm the berries.  Don’t let them cook too long or they will lose their shape. This is the way I made my filling. It was a lot less work than the Ball canning book called for. 7 cups blueberries 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar 2/3 cup ClearJel, cornstarch, or flour (as a thickener) Blue & red food colorings 2 tbsp lemon juice Combine sugar and your choice of thickeners in a large saucepan. Whisk in 2 cups of water. Add blue and red food coloring to get the purple color you like. Note: I used flour because it was all I had and it worked just fine. It was certainly not as transparent as filling made with ClearJel or cornstarch. I would recommend the ClearJel if you have it and cornstarch if you don’t, with flour being a last resort. Bring mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Stir often as it won’t take long to start to thicken. When it starts to thicken and bubble stir in the lemon juice. Add the blueberries and keep over medium-low heat

Just plant the majority of your tomato plants. Go ahead… sorry I don’t have time to help you, I’m too busy covering my garden with a thick layer of straw!! 😉