Grinding Flour, Raw Milk, and Fermenting. Oh My!

Thanks to my aunts, I have been learning a lot about different eating & cooking habits.  I've bought wheat berries from Azure Standard (along with a lot of spices from Oregon Spice!) and successfully ground my own flour and made whole wheat biscuits and bread.  Soooo delicious! 

I sought out and found a local dairy farm to get raw milk from.  It cost less than what I was paying for organic milk at the grocery store, it's richer, creamier, and more nutritious, too.  Another plus?  The farmers gave my family a tour so we had a nice homeschool field trip! 

I did my first ferment this week and today was tasting day.  I was a little scared but oh boy was it good!  I used the "Crunchy" Carrot Sticks recipe from the Cooking God's Way Lacto-Fermenting book.  I also used their air-lock system.  It was very easy!  The carrots are still crisp and have a nice garlicky tang to them.  They will definitely help satisfy my crunchy cravings and will be a better choice than all those tortilla chips I'm use to snacking on!  If you like pickles or green olives... anything pickled.... you'll like these! I may try their green bean recipe next.  I am not a fan of... as in I HATE... green beans... but, maybe raw fermented green beans would be good?  We'll see! 

Where'd I come from?

At supper the night before last Jack (age 3) asked where he came from.  His brothers quickly responded that he came from me, Momma. That started the rounds of where'd YOU come from's for everyone at the table.  Each person of course came from Momma.  Until we got to Daddy.  The big boys said he came from Mimi (his mother) and Jack insisted that no, he came from Momma, too.  Then he asked where Momma came from.  The big boys answered Me-Ma (my Momma) and Jack said "No she didn't!  She came from Heaven!"  Aww...... what a compliment!  Three is such a sweet age! 

Are we going somewhere?

Mom, will you .... (insert long list of tasks here)?

Nelson, I'm making breakfast then taking a shower.

Oh.  Why? Are we going somewhere?

What?

Why are you taking a shower? Are we going somewhere?

Nelson! I take a shower every morning!  Or at least I'd like to! 

Oh, I thought you just did in the afternoons. 

Not sure how I feel about that conversation!  I do like to shower every morning and no it doesn't always happen because a lot of mornings little people wake up before my alarm and then life happens and I wind up showering during nap time or bed time.... and occasionally the NEXT morning.  Yes, it's true.  I go without a shower once in a while.  I guess I was just suprised that a 10 year old boy noticed and thought I only shower if we're going somewhere.  Ha! 

You a good doctor, Momma.

Me:  How are you feeling, Jack?

Jack:  I don't know.

Me:  Well how does your head feel? 

Jack: (poking his head with his finger) Hard.

Me: Oh, okay.  How do your eyes feel?

Jack: (poking one of his eyes with his finger) It's soft.

Me: (laughing) Well what about your ear?

Jack: (pokes his finger in his ear) It still hurts, Momma. 

Me: Awe, I'm sorry.  Let's get some ear drops.

Jack: (after putting in the drops) You a good doctor, Momma. I don't need go to doctor office.

Poor little guy isn't feeling well today and has complained about head ache, ear ache, and his eyes are all puffy and watery.  I was checking on him a little while after medication and the above is how the conversation went.  Sweet little thing! 

February Menu

I didn't follow last months menu perfectly but stayed pretty close.  Whatever I skipped got moved to February.  Anything that says pinterest by it can be found on one of my boards... just click HERE.  I haven't tried any of them (except the pork chops and potatoes on week 3) so hopefully they'll be good! :) I hope you find some ideas here! 

Catch up

This is a post just to catch up on everything from the last couple of weeks so get ready for some randomness! :) 

My dear husband brought me flowers last week.  He was trying to think of something nice to do for me like send me on a pedicure but I told him hinted to him that I wanted flowers.  Awe. Aren't they pretty? 

One of our favorite meals from this months menu so far has been the pork loin roast.  I just love love love pork with cranberry sauce (thank you Pioneer Woman).  I didn't follow her recipe exactly this time.  I just cooked a preseasoned roast in the dutch oven then simmered a can of cranberry sauce (with whole cranberries) with a little garlic, onion, and rosemary and used that to top our roast.  Throw on a side of rosemary roasted potatoes and carrots and we're good.  The plate pictured is mine so the carrots are raw.  The kids like there's sliced and simmered with a little water, honey, and butter. 

I saw a neat idea on pinterest and now my two youngest think I am so cool.  All I did was cut the netting out of the long sides of the pack-n-play and put a fitted sheet over the top and now they have a book nook that can be put away when not in use . I have big plans to sew receiving blankets together to make a top for it and sides that can hang down or be tied up.  But.... for now it's just a cut up pack-n-play with a sheet.  But they love it. 

Another favorite meal.... chicken pot pie.  This was my first time to not use canned chicken, canned soup, and canned broth.  I actually boiled a chicken, simmered the bones for 18 hours to make stock, and used a little bit of the stock to make the filling for the pie.  I did buy the pillsbury refrigerated pie crust (the two pack of rolled up crusts).... it's just so easy and it tastes great.  And I've never made pie crust.  Yet.  I made it in a giant cast iron skillet and it was perfect! 

The crust cooked perfectly... yum. 

Just enough left for Daddy to take for lunch the next day.  :)

While I was making the above chicken pot pie, the boys pretended to be in time out.  Silly boys.

Henry has a new favorite place to do his math. 

On top of the shelf under his window. Whatever works! 

Oh!  You know it's our first time to have a winter garden so while it's technically not unusual to harvest broccoli while there is ice hanging from the trees, it was a first for me.  How cool to go outside in 32 degree weather and pick broccoli?!  I also got a little bit of cauliflower.

And look at the brussels sprouts!  Our chickens peck at the garden every chance they get so the leaves aren't pretty, but thankfully they haven't eaten any of the vegetables yet. 

We also have a couple of nice heads of cabbage going. 

Last but not least, my handsome 10 year old begged me to let him try out his new basketball shoes that are suppose to be for inside the gym only .....

Menu Planning

Okay, here is what our weekly schedule will be like.  Of course we'll be flexible with this and the monthly menu but you have to start somewhere, right?  You'll see Church Supper as one of the options on Wednesday.  At our church you can sign up for Wednesday night supper for $4/person with a maximum of $12 per family... $12 is a bargain for a family of six so when the menu is something we like, then we'll eat there.  When it's not, we'll have a light supper of salad or potatoes, or maybe leftovers.  I don't have a day dedicated to leftovers because I pack for my husbands lunch and dinner (he works 48 hours at time) from the leftovers.  The kids and I sometimes eat leftovers for lunch, too. 

 

Here is the monthly menu.  You'll see 31-Dec in the upper left corner because that is the first day of this menu.  I have some rearranging to do to make sure my husbands favorites are planned on the days he will be home to have it fresh.  And.... I drew a blank on some days.  For pizza night, we will be making our own pizza most weeks topped with extra stuff I've prepped for meals earlier in the week.  We love homemade pizza but occasionally grab take-n-bake if we happen to be in town and I remember to grab a coupon for Papa Murphy's.