Waste Not, Want Not... Part 1

This is an area so many struggle with- finances. Visits to the supermarket can be so disheartening as prices continue to rise. Our family has recently started switching to a more natural diet. A diet that does not include additive- preservatives, food dyes, etc. Needless to say, our grocery budget has been expanding. We're shying away from pesticide laden foods, foods that are GMO (as in most corn products), etc.

I wanted to start this "series" to help show some of the things we buy can be made from things we re-purpose, re-use & recycle. I'll start with a few of my favourites today, as my health hasn't been great & energy is at a low point. I'm so excited to share these things with you, though!!

Composting

this is defined as

com·post

(kŏm'pōst') Pronunciation Key n. A mixture of decaying organic matter, as from leaves and manure, used to improve soil structure and provide nutrients. A composition; a mixture. tr.v. com·post·ed, com·post·ing, com·posts To fertilize with a mixture of decaying organic matter. To convert (vegetable matter) to compost.

from Dictionary dot com
Composting is actually fairly easy. You begin a pile or a wire or wood cage & start dropping any of your vegetative wastes into. Rather than fill your landfill with paper shreddings, carrot peels & nut shells, you keep them for your own use in..... GARDENING!
If you want to really get nifty, try vermicomposting, aka- worm bin. I'll get to that later! Right now, let google be your friend.


Bones & discard & broth, OH MY!

What yummy stuff can become of things like shrimp shells, turkey & chicken bones/carcass & leftovers like veggies & bits & pieces of meat. Throw them into a large stock pot with lots of filtered water & boil. Lower to a simmer & simmer for an hour or 3. Strain all the chunky stuff out & freeze can, or use your broth. Yummy stuff. If you choose to refrigerate this yummy stuff, then do so, but freeze, use or discard within a few days.

Plastic bottles, jugs, jars-

I've recently been turned on to Winter Sowing and can't wait to try it!!! Even if you don't plan on doing this, you can still cut the bottoms off of the containers & use them as mini greenhouses (you ARE gardening to soften the financial blow, right?!? *grin*).

Another thing you can use plastic bottles & jugs for is storing your grains (rice, flour, wheat, etc). This keeps bugs & dust & other yucky stuff out. Be sure the containers are absolutely dry if you use them for dry storage.

Here's a small start on how to use everything you bring into your household. Waste Not, Want Not. It's been my motto for a little while now, & I am continuing my quest to live this way.

Wyoming Sky

I could seriously "waste" a whole memory card in one day on the beautiful sky God has given us here in beautiful Wyoming!!

And the one in my header:

Mama's cookin'!

I'm so excited. We got these pans on Monday & I lovelovelove them. We went for a set that was little pricier, so that *hopefully* we won't be having to replace them in a couple years. I wanted to get away from the poison teflon, and aluminum is almost as bad. Not to mention, when you buy non-stick, you have to replace them every couple years or so. We decided we were going for quality, rather than affordability this go round. They were actually a good deal at Sam's club & I'd been oogling this set on amazon. I paid $30 less for MY set WITH an extra pan!! *happy dance*

Here's to hoping this is a set I can leave my grandkids!!!

Can you say ooshiny? *grin*

Following this blog

Kelle said...

Michaela,
Just found your blog and I'd like to follow it but can't find the link.....

Hmmm, it's in the left hand sidebar, 2nd category down. I'm not sure if this is what you're referring to, but it's the only link I'm aware of that allows you to follow. I appreciate you stopping by & am honoured that you'd like to follow the blog. I'll check my font colours to be sure that the "un-clicked" links are different colours than the background.

Blessings, Kelle!

When you find it on sale......

I'm very.very.very picky about tea. Especially green teas. Most of them taste like flowers to me. Potent, overbearing, sickeningly perfume-y flowers. ICK! So when a friend of mine recommended Good Earth Green Tea with Lemongrass, I was skeptical. I forgot about them, actually, for awhile until one day I was in the Discount Grocery. I saw a box of these tea bags that I *thought* sounded familiar. I promptly called my friend, but he didn't answer. $1.89. No huge loss if they were the wrong ones, I suppose. I could use them for a green tea bath (which is where my other green tea bags have been going).

I brought them home & later was able to catch him on IM. Indeed the bags were the right ones. I remained skeptical & they sat for a few weeks before I grew the cajones to try them. I boiled up my water, added a little honey & waited for the steep.... Then I tasted the most magnificent & glorious green tea WITHOUT the taste of potent, overbearing, sickeningly perfume-y flowers. YUM!!!! Alas, I had gotten the very last box from the Discount Grocery & City Market doesn't carry them. I found them on amazon. For some reason I held off ordering. I have many teas in my house, plus I still had quite a few in my box.

So while in Casper, Monday, we had to fill a prescription. Rather than go to Chinamart, we went to Safeway. While waiting, we perused the store. Those 4 boxes in the picture above? 2/$4. OH YUM!!! Now I know why I was holding off on ordering them from Amazon.

Try them. You'll like them!!!

Local honey! YAY!

I've been looking for local honey since we moved here. The most local I could find was CO. Not very local if you ask me! While in Casper (111 miles away) I found some Casper honey in the Safeway supermarket. Unfortunately it's not raw or anything, but it's a good start, especially since we're getting low on our local-when-we-were-in-GA-honey, LOL. And an even better start considering the tainted honey the US still allows into our country.

Kombucha tea

I've been reading on the internet, that if I buy a bottle of raw kombucha tea, I can grow my own "scoby" (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast). So, I bought a bottle of kombucha tea:



It is currently sitting in a quart mason jar, capped with the ring & 2 coffee filters (to let air in, but not dust & other contaminating particles), in a dark cupboard for the next couple of weeks or so.

Here's to hoping.

Juicer juice recipe

This one got a 10 across the board, so I need to "write it down."

1 mango
2 Jongagold apples
4 large carrots, tops removed
1 cup purple grapes

Run thru juicer, per manufacturer's instructions.

Makes about 3 cups of juice.

Yummy yoghurt (and in the crockpot)!!!

I found this crockpot yoghurt making tutorial & thought I'd give it a try. I've been making yoghurt on the top tray of my dehydrator, but my dehydrator is busy being a heat mat for some seedlings right now. I figured I'd give this one a shot, and it turned out sooooo easy and is probably the best HM yoghurt we've ever had!!!

Here is the vanilla honey yoghurt jarred up for the fridge. I also made some strawberry banana the day/night before.....

Buckwheat Pancakes

1 c buckwheat flour
1/2 t cinnamon
1 T baking powder
1 c milk
2 eggs

Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs & milk. Whisk wet mixture into dry mixture until well-blended. Pour by 1/4 cup spoonfuls onto hot griddle. Flip when bubbles appear & begin to burst. Cook til other side is light brown. Makes about 12 pancakes.

For a homemade glaze:

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add equal part of brown sugar & a dash or 3 of cinnamon. Bring to a slight boil & simmer until sugar is dissolved.

And that's all I have to say about that.....

Menu 2/10-2/14:

Menu 2/10-2/14:

Breakfast:

Tuesday- Smoothie over granola

Wednesday- Oatmeal w/ banana, juice

Thursday- PB toast & apple, milk

Friday- Granola & milk & grapes, juice

Saturday- Eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit, milk

Lunch:

Tuesday- Tuna on crackers, cheese, carrot sticks

Wednesday- pork & 3-beans stew

Thursday- Soup & sarnis

Friday- PB & honey & carrot sticks

Saturday- Ham, mashed taters, stuffing, corn, rolls

Dinner:

Tuesday- Filipino Chicken Adobo, rice, peas

Wednesday- Meatloaf, mashed taters, corn, gravy

Thursday- Spaghetti, mozzie bread, green beans

Friday- Pizza, garlic bread, fruit

Saturday- Snackie stuff or leftover lunch

Oat and Spelt Flour Pancakes

Oat and Spelt Flour Pancakes

¼- cup ground flax seed

¼- cup wheat germ

½-cup spelt flour

1-cup oat flour

4-teaspoons baking powder

1-tablespoon honey

1- tablespoon molasses

½-teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 cups milk

2-tablespoons melted coconut oil

1-teaspoon vanilla extract

→ 1. In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients.

2. Combine the wet ingredients; stir into dry ingredients just until combined.

3. Pour batter by ½-cupfuls onto a preheated griddle.

4. Bake according to manufacturer's directions until golden brown.

Note: 1-1/4 cups quick-cooking oats, processed in a blender or food processor until finely ground, may be substituted for the oat flour.

Makes about 12 pancakes (serving equals 1 pancake)

Number of Servings: 12

There is nothing sweeter than.....

Tired little boys with Daddies......

Soft kitties so desperate to lay next to you, they lay on the butt end of a dog.....

Kids glued to whatever suits their fancy.......

Pink & smiles.......

Milk-staches.......

New growth, strawberries, milk, etc, etc......

In a week I worked on 12 pounds of strawberries. I made strawberry bread, strawberry banana freezer jam, sorbet, macerated strawberries, smoothies & froze some for more strawberry bread. OH YUM!!!

Some of you will recognise this. I am so happy to have found a source!!! Yes, *le sigh*, that is conventional milk in there, too.

My lemon bush (which is in my living room for the winter) has produced blooms for the first time. I had a total of 9, but one got knocked off yesterday. I thought I was going to cry. My orange tree is also producing blooms & in a week or so they should be large enough to take pics of. I'm so excited!!!

We tried to root an avocado pit a few months ago to no avail. This pic shows 1 & 2 of 4. #3 is in wet soil & #4 has been "forgotten" (obviously not) in the worm bin.

These 2 pics show my first try at kraut. We'll see......

Rockin' Smoothie

Rockin' Smoothie

(The addition of the avocado sounds gross, but you can't taste it & it REALLY makes the smoothie soooooo creamy!)

1 avocado

1 extra large or 2 small bananas

½ cup macerated strawberries (macerated in OJ not from concentrate & honey)

1 large apple

2T honey

¼ - ½ c OJ

4-5 ice cubes

1 small all-natural yoghurt (strawberry or vanilla)

Cut fruit & veg into 1” pieces. Add everything to the blender. Blend til smooth.

*** Caution: latex allergy food

Look who is back!!!

And I have 3 1/2 weeks to catch up on! LOL.....