E-Books

I have written a few e-books in the past year. I am hoping that "Making Organic Soap At Home" will become a favoirite book for homesteaders.

I have started writing another book entitled: "Keeping A Few Chickens At Home". I'd like to continue writing this series of "At Home" books for those on the journey to a more self sufficient lifestyle.
I am going to sell these on our new website. You can purchase these through our E-Book page - one of the tabs at the top of the screen.

I know there are those out there who are trying hard to make ends meet while doing what they can to live a healthier and more self sufficient lifestyle. I hope this will help those families.

 

Edible Weeds

Recognise this garden weed? It's called purslane and grows everywhere. I usually find it growing wild in disturbed soil and in the garden. It's one wild plant that I don't pull out but encourage to grow. It's a great succulent ground cover and is not a weed!

According to a Canadian Living article, nutritionally, purslane is a powerhouse. It has more than double the omega-3s that kale has and, as much as any other leafy green. It has over four times the vitamin E of turnip leaves which is more than most leafy greens. It has glutathione and other antioxidants and about as much iron as spinach. It also has reasonable amounts of other nutrients as well as phytochemicals, like all these leafy greens.

I like it because it is a succulent, so it doesn't wilt and will stay fresh for a long time with just a little water.

I recently began researching the weeds growing everywhere on our property (more in an attempt to get rid of them than anything else.) What I found is that many of them are not only edible but very high in vitamins and desirable phytochemicals!

Another so called "weed" that I have growing everywhere is wild mallow. The leaves and seed pods are good in salad and cooked in soups and stews. Mallows have a lot of vitamin A in their leaves too! The seeds are very high in protein, making them an excellent part of your chicken feed, as well.



The wild mallow that I have everywhere is malva sylvestris but I also grow malva moschata in the flowerbed, another mallow and close relative. It has the same vitamin content as it's cousin, the wild mallow. The leaves of both mallows are great in salad and cooked in spaghetti and lasagna if short on spinach. We eat them all the time.
Violet leaves also make a mild, healthy addition to salad.

This research into the "weeds" growing here has been the start of an herb seed business for me. I have been blessed with many herbs growing in the fields. I have an abundance of evening primrose, heal-all, St. John's wort, motherwort, burdock, chicory, yarrow, feverfew, celandine, clover, bladder campion, plantago and many more. Many of these have been transplanted to an "herb" garden or an area where they are protected. Some, such as burdock, are edible in salads and cooking.

So the next time you see something you consider a "weed", look it up and do some research. You might find your next healty salad green growing wild in your garden! Leave it alone and let it spread, transplant it to a better place or pick and add to your salad along with violet and mallow leaves.

Muffins for Christmas

This year I have decided to give my inlaws muffins for Christmas. They are elderly and it's just the two of them so she doesn't bake much anymore. They still enjoy baked goods, especially muffins, so I am giving them nine muffins from each of my very best muffin recipes. I baked them all just this week so they would be fresh. I frose them as soon as they were cool to keep them fresh. I took them out of the freezer this morning and they will get them tomorrow so they will be well thawed.

I made carrot/raisin, sour cream blueberry, banana and squash/pumpkin. The recipes are below. They refreeze well. None of these muffins are low-cal and all are made with real food, real butter, milk, eggs and sugar. (One loaf of white Wonderbread lasts for three weeks in the cupboard at room temp without molding! At first I said "Great!". Now I say, "Wait a minute. Is that real food?". Uh, no.)

I baked carrot-raisin-sunflower seeds (pictures here). This is the most delicious, moist, dense carrot muffin I have ever eaten. It's delicious and has a lot of texture and carrot in it.






Here are the recipes:

Carrot Raisin Muffins

3 cups grated carrot
4 large eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups oil
1 cup golden raisins
1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds or nuts

Directions: Preheat oven to 300F. You will need 3 large bowls for this recipe.
Bowl #1: Mix grated carrot, seeds and raisins
Bowl #2: Mix flour, soda, salt and cinnamon
Bowl #3: Mix sugar and oil. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each one. Add flour mixture to this and stir only until well blended. Add carrot mix and fold in gently. Fill greased muffin tin or papers 2/3 full. Bake 20-22 mins for very large muffins. Insert a toothpick into the center of the largest one to test for doneness. If it comes out dry and clean, the muffins are done.

Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teasppon baking powder
1 cup sour cream
1 cup blueberries

Directions: Beat eggs, gradually add sugar. While beating, slowly add oil and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add alternately with sour cream to the egg. Gently fold in blueberries. Bake in preheated oven at 400F for 18-20 mins in muffins papers or greased pan for very large muffins. Insert a toothpick into the center of the largest one to test for doneness. If it comes out dry and clean, the muffins are done.
Banana Muffins

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white sugar
2 cups mashed bananas, very ripe (4-5 lg bananas)
1 cup mayonnaise

Directions: Mix first 4 ingredients together well. Fold in bananas and mayonnaise. Bake at 350F for 12-14 mins in muffins papers or greased pan for very large muffins. Insert a toothpick into the center of the largest one to test for doneness. If it comes out dry and clean, the muffins are done.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup cooked squash or pumpkin
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup corn syrup
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon mace

Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Mix together pumpkin, eggs, oil and corn syrup in large bowl. Stir until well mixed. Stir all other dry ingredients together in another bowl. Add dry ingredients to squash mixture. Fill greased tins or papers to the top. Bake in preheated oven for 20-15 minutes until tightly brown on top very large muffins. Insert a toothpick into the center of the largest one to test for doneness. If it comes out dry and clean, the muffins are done.

The Best Spice Jars Ever Made

For years I have searched for the perfect spice jars, or, at least some that I could work with. Most spice jars that I have had were not all that convenient to use. They either had a small opening, making it difficult to fill and impossible to get a teaspoon into or they were not in a convenient holder and were too hard to find at a glance and they were always in the way.


This is a jar from the set I bought last year. I can't get a teaspoon into it. What am I suppose to do with that? If I need 2 teaspoons of something I have to use the 1/2 teaspoon 4 times! What if I need a tablespoon? I always make a mess filling them. I don't like the way they open anyway and they are hard to find in the holder at a glance.













I recently visited a friend's place, Janet, and found the perfect spice jar! It's metal and has a glass top.













These spice jars have a pour and a sprinkle area on the side of the lid.They also have a large mouth. I could get a tablespoon in there, easy! They are easy to fill and with the name painted on the lid, they are easy to find at a glance.

All of these things are good, but that is not what makes this jar so special. This jar is MAGNETIC! You can put a metal plate on your wall for them to stick to or you can just attach them to 
anything metal.





They stick to my microwave! I could keep them there but that's not the best place to 
keep them.



















They stick to my coffee maker. (Probably not a 
good idea.)


















I can stick them on my oven!



















I can stick them to my freezer!



















I can even stick them to my car!! (Maybe not.)




















I stuck all of them to my refrigerator! They are even in alphabetical order. I can read the name at a glace because I painted it on there myself. There's lots of room and I can see what
is inside.

Another good thing about these jars is the price. They were only $2 each! I'm going to get a lot of them and keep all kinds of things in them, stuck to the refrigerator. I LOVE my new toy!

Fabulous Banana Muffins!

These truly are the best banana muffins I have ever eaten! They are dense, moist and have a lot of banana flavour while still rising quite high.


Here is the recipe:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white sugar
2 cups mashed bananas (about 4-5 large bananas)
1 cup mayonnaise (Please use real mayonnaise here!)
1 cup chopped walnuts or sunflower seeds (optional)

Mix the dry ingredients together. Gently stir in the bananas and mayo. Fill the muffin cups full and bake in a preheated over at 350F for about 15 minutes if making small muffins. If making large ones (like the ones in these pictures) bake for 20-25 minutes. These are very large and took the full 25 minutes. Stick a toothpick into the center of the largest muffin. If it comes out dry they are done.

















Instead of walnuts, I often use dried impatiens gladulifera seeds. They taste just like walnuts and I grow a lot of them. They are good for you too!

I will need to make more muffins tomorrow. I plan to make several different kinds. I am making these again with nuts or glandulifera seeds, some squash muffins and some oatmeal/apple/cinnamon/maple muffins that we like. Muffins sell well around here. They are great for lunches!

Its a good way to use up all that squash too.

The Last of the Squash

This is the last of this year's squash from the basement cold cellar. The rest has been processed for the freezer, made into pies or given away. Some of these will last much longer, even into the new year but I am going to put them all into the freezer this week.

I had that job on the agenda for today, but, well, I just didn't feel like doing that. I'll do it tomorrow. (There's always tomorrow...) I made a massive lasagna and some apple, oatmeal, maple muffins today, as well as other things such as playing in the field with Buck to get him some exercise (in 2.5 ft of snow) and blowing out the the driveway, so I don't feel like the time was wasted. I also made a trip to the grocery store and the Bulk Barn. The Bulk Barn is my new favouite store! I could look for half a day and spend half a fortune in there! Shopping in the bulk food store makes me want to bake.

This is a new muffin recipe so I have no idea if they will be good or not. The recipe only made eight large muffins. If they turn out well I will make more soon and post it here. They sound good with the maple syrup in them. I love maple! It's my favourite flavour! It ranks at the top with very dark chocolate and dark chocolate-raspberry combinations, so I'm sure I'll like them but I won't be the one eating most of them. Hubby will be, so, we'll see how they do. They are in the oven right now, so I don't even know if I like them yet. They sure do smell good!
Tomorrow I will bake or peel and boil these squash.

Snow!

It snowed and its still snowing and will continue to snow, apparently, all week long. This is my poor chicken house, buried. I'm glad we don't have chickens right now and have opted not to get any this winter.

This is what I am installing an electric fence in!! The ground is not frozen yet, thank goodness, or I'd be getting nowhere fast! As it is, it's cold. It's several degrees below freezing with a big wind. Thankfully, I have outdoor wear just for this kind of thing! I bought farmgirl boots last spring that are 100% waterproof, have a steel shank and toe and are good to -40! They're great boots! I had to order them special because the store didn't carry my size but they delivered them to my door with no extra charge. That's good service!My poor dahlia chair is half buried. Doesn't it look cold and forgotten?





This is the barbecue. I don't think we'll be using it anytime soon, but one never knows.













And this is my poor car. It's not made for driving in deep snow, even with the snow tires but it works better on the slippery roads than the truck. The truck only has front wheel drive. We put weight in the back of it in the winter to help with the traction.

I got the snow blower out of the garage summer storage a couple of weeks ago and parked it next to the driveway where we keep it in winter. Hubby put new gas in it and got it going a few days ago. Just in time!

I don't mind it for a few weeks, unfortunately it lasts much longer than that! I'm sick of winter by the time spring comes! It always catches me by surprise when I still have things to do. I'm never really ready for it.

Most of the posts and wire holders for the fence are already in place, just need to fill a few gaps with "hammer-in" metal posts before the ground freezes. I'm using a few trees too, which are already there.

This snow is making it hard to drive anywhere. The city doesn't have full time snow plow drivers until after Dec 15th so the first few snowfalls bring traffic to a standstill. The school buses have been cancelled for the past two days. This makes hubby happy as he drives one and gets paid to stay home.

I had to clean my mailbox out of the ditch for the first time yesterday, after the snow plow took it out. That's always a winter harbinger for us.

Well, it's December in Ontario...