Quick Update

Hi! It's after 11 pm and I'm heading off to sleep soon. It's a nice rainy night and 3c. Glad I'm all tucked up snug in bed. The house is pretty well done thanks to some heroic measures by Steve my husband. The kids room is tidy and organized. The living room is mostly livable except for the bookshelves which are all in a jumble. I can hardly believe we've been here for a year already. How the time flies. Tomorrow morning I've got to get the bathroom mopped and tidy the kitchen before getting off to church. As long as she doesn't have a problem with clean laundry we'll be fine as I think there are 9 baskets full ready to be sorted and put away or given away. I think I'll put on a good movie tomorrow afternoon and get to it.

In the Kitchen

Made Bread today. Buns, 2 loaves (1 for my dad) and a pizza with cheese, sauce and garlic and herbs.

Breakfast was cereal for the kids.

Lunch was Pizza, sandwiches with ham and butternut squash soup. Cost $10 for 7 people

Dinner was cabbage rolls (frozen from the store) and pineapple upside down cake $10 for 6 ppl

In the Garden

Steve had a yard fire to get rid of the trimmings and tidy up from the winter mess of pine cones and downed branches. It's been swept too. Dad announced his plans to build raised beds this spring so we gave him our copy of Square Foot Gardening to read.

In the Coop

The chicks are moved to new digs. A lovely big box with their feeder, waterer and heat lamp. They are the basement in Steve's tool storage room. So far so good. They seem happy and warm and they have netting over the box so they cannot escape and get lost.

Well, time to say "Goodnight!"

The Landlord Cometh

Our Landlady Shiela has decided to come and do yet another inspection of our place. Consequently now we're all stressed trying to clean up. We've got to re-sort the kids room, move the chicks into the basement while she is here, scrub and clean the whole house, get all the laundry caught up and do the yard. Yikes! So, she's coming Sunday so tomorrow is going to be family cleaning day.

Weather is 0 c. Partly cloudy at 10:21pm. Was a lovely sliver of moon hanging tonight very close to Venus. Very pretty!


In the Kitchen

Breakfast was steel cut oats cooked on top of the woodstove. I put them and water in a pot and left them to do their thing for a couple of hours and then we served them with brown sugar and a little milk. Filling, easy and yummy. $1.

Lunch was another cheap one. Ground deer meat (thanks Hans!) fried up until no longer pink, served with red kidney beans I cooked overnight on the woodstove (with lots of extra water and 2 chopped onions) rice, and Naan Bread. Oh, I tossed in the rest of the salsa in the fridge and a large can of chopped tomatoes along with salt, pepper, and some hot and spicy thai sauce that was left. Oh, and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese. Went over well with the kids who said they liked it.

Dinner, same as lunch. Yes, they liked it enough to eat 2 meals in a row. Total cost $3 for both meals, mostly because the beans and rice were bulk purchases dried, and the meat was free. 12 hearty servings.



In the Garden

Nothing new. Snow is mostly gone again. Time for a good cleanup and sweep of the driveway I think but other than that it's quiet.



In the Coop.

All are happy and snuggled up together. They are currently eating about 2 scoops (our scoop is a 2 litre jug) per day. I suspect this is mostly going into Big Bird, our turkey. Same with the 2 gallons of water. Layed 4 eggs. Suspect Silkies may be hiding theirs. Coop is dry and clean. Needs cobwebs removed from ceiling though as they are taking on a life of their own.


Well, goodnight. I'm off to bed early to get some rest before the big panic of cleaning tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Snow On Daffodils

Sounds like the title of a movie almost doesn't it? Well, we got a couple of inches and Nanaimo got upwards of a foot in places so treacherous roads and no school for the kids. Don't tell my kids though...sshhh...they had to go in Nanoose Bay.

It's about -3c at 6:30 pm.

The Chickens

Well the big chickens (and turkey) are all snugged up in their freshly cleaned house dreaming of warmer spring days to come. The chicks have discovered the joys of flight and are flying all over the bathroom floor. Tonight I'm moving them into new digs. We have a box made of OSB that's sturdy and about 2ft by 4 ft. It's 2ft tall and we have a net for over the top to stop escapees, and to keep our love bird out. I'll get it inside and filled with fresh shavings for them after I'm done typing this. They are almost fully feathered out and since they're indoors at a controlled temperature, I'll gradually wean them off the heat lamp over the next few weeks and before the next batch of chicks need it. It's amazing how quickly these guys feathers came in. I must take some pics and post them for you to see.

In The Garden

Snow! So no digging today. Hans cme over with a present for me. A whole trailer load of rotted pony manure. The Young Men shovelled it into buckets and covered my garden 4 inches deep all over with it. Lovely! They were impressed that it didn't smell due to it already being partly broken down. I'll turn it all in next week or the week after. There's no rush. I also put a bunch of fireplace ashes onto it. I will do a soil test before planting to see if it needs any lime but other than that it should be good to go with a good digging of the top layers to blend all the manure, chicken house shavings, ashes, compost and everything with the soil. The kiwi vines are going to feast after years of neglect, last year excluded. They are planted permanently along the edge of the garden so they got a nice mulch of manure.

In the kitchen

Re-organizing. Did you ever have somebody help you move in? The church ladies unpacked my kitchen and I said "no problem, I'll re-organize it later". Well, it's been a year and the time has come to decide what stays and what goes. I've got more dishes than I need, extra pots and pans, and the kids never seem to put the dishes away in the same place twice. Drastic measures must be taken. I'm going to list them on Freecycle and see if anyone needs them. If they're not here, they can't get in the way. If I really want them then they need a home or to be put in storage in the basement.

It's that time of year again when we get food from the Bishops storehouse in Langley. Our branch shares the canner with other church groups (wards) on the island so we are able to buy bulk staples for really low prices and either just use them out of the big bags (like Costco) or seal them in the big #10 cans for long term storage. Like 20-30 years. They sell wheat, beans, rice, powdered milk, sugar, dehydrated apple slices, carrots and onions, pasta, potato flakes, oats etc. Very basic stuff, but it'll keep you alive in a pinch. We also store oil, flour, honey, and extra canned goods that we use on a regular basis like tomato sauce, veggies and tuna. It seems so daunting to think how much food you need even for a one month supply but if you just do a little at a time it adds up before you know it. You notice this most when you have to move house and haul it all with you!

Here's the 100% Whole Wheat Recipe I use. It's from Recipezaar

It's a nice basic recipe with no sugar. Please note that since it has no sugar to caramelize, it won't turn very brown when you toast it. It'll just get hard and warm. :)

Ingredients

• 3 cups water, lukewarm (100-115ºF)
• 3/4 teaspoon dry yeast
• 7 1/2-8 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons oil

Directions

1. Proof yeast in half a cup of the water, with about a teaspoon of flour- let it sit, covered, until it becomes bubbly& active.

2. Combine the rest of the water with the yeast/water in a large bowl, and gradually add about half of the flour.

3. Stir the mixture about 100 times in the same direction, until it is well-mixed and strands are beginning to form.

4. Stir in the salt and oil.

5. Add the remaining flour half a cup at a time, stirring well, until it is too stiff to stir with a spoon.

6. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead for about 20 minutes, adding flour as nescessary to keep the dough from sticking to the board.When it has been sufficiently kneaded, cover it with a damp cloth for about 10 minutes and wash and grease the bowl.

7. After it has rested, knead the dough a few more times (it should feel really nice by now!) and place it in the bowl, covered with the damp cloth, a plastic bag, and maybe a plate.Let the dough rise until it springs back when you stick your finger in it, and it is about twice the size as it was before (this takes about 2 hours; longer or shorter depending on the room temperature- I prefer a longer (cooler) rise, because it allows the flavour to develop more... but sometimes you just don't have time for that sort of thing).

8. Deflate the dough by punching or kneading it a few times, and let it rise again- this time, it should take about half the amount of time as it did before.

9. When the dough has risen twice, deflate it again and cover it with the damp cloth again for about 10 minutes (to let the gluten relax, apparently.. it makes it easier to manage if you do this), then divide it into and shape it into loaves, buns, etc.

10. Let the shaped dough rise on a baking sheet or in a loaf-pan for about an hour maybe- it will rise a bit more in the oven.Slash the top of the bread if you want, so that it doesn't bust open in the oven.

11. Bake at 400º for 20 minutes, and then turn the oven down to 350º and bake for 20-30 minutes longer, until the loaf is a lovely brown and sounds hollow when you thump it on the bottom.(Buns and smaller loaves take a shorter time).Try to let the loaf cool (out side of the loaf pan, or it will get a bit soggy) before you tear into it.

Note to the busy: You can add the ingredients to you bread maker as follows:
Add yeast mix, half the flour and mix for 2 minutes. Add the oil and salt. Continue mixing and gradually add more of the flour until a good textured dough is formed. Watch it, it should not bee too sticky or too dry, just smooth. When the dough is done kneading, run the kneading cycle again. I push stop, and start again and it starts the cycle all over again. At the end of the second kneading cycle let it relax for 10 minutes and then transfer to a greased bowl and follow directions as above from step 7.

Have fun with it. I have another recipe I sometimes use so I'll go scrounge it up.

For dinner tonight we had hungry teenagers and the 6 of us. Dinner in a hurry was 4 onions chopped and fried with 1 tbsp butter and a dash of salt until carmelized. 12 European Weiners and 6 Hot Dogs (from the bulk section) with buns and trimmings. Cost $6.50 for 10 people. Leftovers will be added to beans and wieners tomorrow.

Well, kids are home from their hockey game now so back to work I go.

Spring Has Sprung (A Leak!)

Yes, it's raining on the 'wet coast' . +7 celcius. This morning was so gloriously sunny though that I have no complaints. I got my visiting teaching done in record time, found out there was a lien on Steve's van from somebody several years ago and about 4 owners previously (advice to everyone...do a lien search before buying any car!!) Fortunately the people in question are in good standing with their bank and so the lien can be removed with nothing more than some paperwork being faxed back and forth. Phew! That's a relief, I had visions of the bank coming and just taking the van which of course they could do legally. Spent all afternoon on the phone getting it all worked out. Glad that's nearly over though.

My sister Alex is expecting her baby 'Emily Moira Jessie Roberts' any time now, well in the next couple of weeks anyway. She's going to be a big one by the looks of it. My sister and I spoke about cloth diapers. I'm a big fan and she's going to try them out. It'll save her lots of money even if she uses them part time and uses disposables when they are going out. You can see more information in an article I wrote several years ago at www.gabbys.net/zencart/clothdiapers_disposable.php Let me know what you think. I've got lots of experience with cloth diapers of all sorts and am always interested to know others thoughts and advice. Personally I love motherease diapers and found them to be practical and durable. I like Gabby's too. Both are Canadian companies but sell worldwide.

In The Garden

Life at the ol' homestead rolls on as usual. I'm critically eyeing the weather and deciding if it's too early to start seedlings indoors yet. My bare root apple trees are here and will be planted in their boxes in the next week. They are all looking good and many thanks to Harry Burton of Applelucious Orchards. Also in the plans now are soft fruit bushes. Berries. We're going to get blueberries, gooseberries, thornless blackberry (yes we have 3 types of wild ones here but I want to see what a difference cultivated berries make) raspberries and some strawberries. All of these will grace the beds and planters on the deck due to predation from our free ranging chickens. I'm going to try for 2-3 varieties of each plant to see what really works for me. Ones I love can always be duplicated by taking cuttings and since I know I have to move in a year or so, that's more practical. Oh, I also ordered a male kiwi vine to compliment our 2 girls. I still have a lot of trimming to do but I'm going to wait for a cold day so that the sap will drip less. If you cut a kiwi vine in spring or summer it can bleed ie. drip sap for quite a while. It won't hurt the plant and it can usually heal itself in a few minutes but I have had mine go for hours in the spring before. Don't panic. You can use a styptic or wait for nature to heal it. My roses and other perennial bushes are trimmed and I'm just waiting for a chance to get out and trim my grape vines. I'll try to root some of the cuttings again to add to last year's compliment. If I end up with too many I guess I could always sell them.

Chicks.

We had 3 healthy chicks hatch 10 days ago and one who wasn't healthy so she was put to sleep. I think some of the other eggs we put in may have been frozen or over chilled so I was much more vigilant about collecting eggs right away this time. There are eggs in the incubator again and we'll hopefully get more chicks to keep their friends company. The current batch is in a shaving lined box with a waterer, feeder, and heat lamp. They're starting to get out now and explore the bathroom floor so I have to watch out for little mini-poops. Ick! Thank goodness it's tile and easy to clean!

Our Wheat Mill Arrives

I got my Family Grain Mill this past weekend and tried it out as soon as I got home. It is a hand mill that clamps on to the counter top and it makes lovely flour the first time so you don't have to run it through twice like with some other hand mills. And the bread tastes wonderful. To top it all of I'm getting my flabby arms in shape by turning the handle everyday to grind fresh wheat. Yum! For anyone interested, here's my recipe for

60% whole wheat honey bread.

Ingredients

• 2 envelopes yeast
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 cups white flour

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in water.
2. In a large bowl, combine butter, molasses, honey and salt and mix well.
3. Add yeast mixture and then gradually add flours.
4. Turn onto floured surface and knead until smooth. Or alternately place in your bread maker and run it through the first kneading cycle twice.
5. Place in buttered bowl and let rise until double.
6. Punch down and let rest for a few minutes.
7. Divide dough into 4 parts and shape into loaves.
8. Place in greased pans and let rise for about an hour.
9. Bake at 375* for 35 to 40 minutes.
   
10. My oven cooks hot so I do the following: Place loaf pans on the lowest rack for 30 minutes at 325* Your best bet it to experiment with your oven. A loaf is done when you tap it on the bottom and it sounds hollow. If you can control your oven to have just bottom heat it will prevent the top crust from over browning.
    

There you have it! It makes 4 loaves by the way so enough for most people for a week. Enough for our family for 2 days at most. This is a good easy recipe to make and for getting your family used to whole wheat. Tomorrow I'll post my 100% Whole wheat bread. Guaranteed to keep you regular so start out slowly eating this if you're not used to it. Oh, thanks to recipezaar for this recipe. :) Oh, one thing I get asked is about consistency of dough, too wet, too dry etc. Lots of things affect that like the season, moisture in the air gets picked up by your flour and if it's a dry winter flour loses moisture. Start out with the freshest flour you can, use good fresh or dried active yeast at room temperature, and judge the dough by feel. It should feel smooth and silky once kneaded. In a bread maker it should feel a little softer than you'd have if you were kneading it by hand. I'll confess that I only use my bread maker for kneading the dough if I'm busy. I'm not sure I've ever used it for baking as I don't like the results I've eaten before. Maybe it's just me though.

All this talk of bread is making me hungry so I'm off to start a new batch. Bye!

5 hours later.....

Well, didn't get bread made yet due to other pressing family matters but did enjoy a nice evening out with my hubby as we had to move date night this week due to our grand-daughters birthday dinner being on Friday which is our traditional date night. We went to the Rod N' Gun Cafe again for dinner. A favourite haunt of ours. Their 4 course meals are $18 per person during the week and the food is scrumptious. Had Antipasto, Tuscan Caesar salad, grilled lamb shops in a fig and balsamic reduction with yellow beets, yellow and orange carrots, red peppers and cheddar chipotle mashed potatoes, with chocolate souffle for dessert. Yum! The kids ate at home (obviously) and had baked burritos (the bean and cheese frozen kind) topped with cheese and salsa plus onion rings. They said it was delicious. It's a good cheap meal if you can buy a large packet of burritos or make some and then just put them in a pan and cover with toppings and bake. We can usually make this meal for $8. Today the cost was $5 and we used up some cheese that was getting a little dry around the edges. Sometimes we top with peppers and onions or crumbled bacon..anything that'll work that's leftover in the fridge. I'm thinking of writing a book including recipes to make on a budget. What do you think? Well, now I've blown my dating budget for the month, I'm off to bed. Got up WAY TOO EARLY this morning so an early night is in order. Just got to turn he eggs in the incubator and check the temperature. Goodnight!