Life is in the Details...

This was a busy week.

The sun shone for a few days and brought some warm east winds with it.

So I dried towels.

On.

The.

Clothesline.

Outside.

In February.

My Mister had some repair work done on his truck.

The tractor store just happens to be right next door to the Les Schwab building.

I said the same thing about the health food store being right next door to the fabric store, therefore, not my fault if I just so happened to wander in...

Didn't work for him either.

The tractor store has a "try before you buy" policy. Well, not a policy per se, but my Mister must've looked eager enough that the owner was willing to do anything to close the deal.

While trying, the entire field was dragged.

And the driveway was widened.

I informed my Mister that we really didn't need a tractor anymore as he managed to get all the chores done during his "trying" spree.

Then he let me drive it.

Rockin' the jammies and the orange tractor...once I learned how to raise the bucket!

I'm seeing a tractor in our near future...

...even if it isn't pink.

This week, I spent a lot of time in the sewing room,

Kelsie is wearing the chicken, and Heather is modeling the Christmas apron. I know. I'm a little behind.

where I finished a couple of adult-sized aprons.

Maddie wanted everyone to know that she loves her apron too! (Even though she got hers for Christmas.)

There was plenty of cooking, crafting, reading, and a Jungle Book and Peter Pan movie marathon. Would you believe that I had never seen the Disney (cartoon) version of Peter Pan? Unless my memory is getting as fuzzy as my math...

But the highlight of my week?

Playing peek-a-boo with a certain little teething monkey.

Even if Emmie kept hiding in the same spot over and over again.☺

I recently read a quote that I need to remember when life begins to get too busy.

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

Life is in the details.

Have you entered the giveaway yet? You only have until Wednesday~I'll be drawing a winner the evening of 2/15!

This post is linked to the Homestead Barn Hop!

Back to Basics: How to Cut Up a Whole Chicken

I am currently reading Joel Salatin's latest book, "Folks, This Ain't Normal." While I am thoroughly enjoying it (personally, I believe this is his best one!), he mentions something that got me to thinking.

I was thinking, "Wow, he's got this one wrong."

Thankfully, I was proven wrong.

Now, if you've followed along here for very long, you'll know that Mr. Salatin is one of my hero's. We have been trying to implement as many of his farming practices as we can on our small farm without breaking the budget. (Fencing for pigs...I have a better chance of winning the lottery than coming up with enough $$$ to fence in our wooded area for the pigs!) As far as I'm concerned, he's a farming genius. And he's a nice guy to boot. And I got to shake his hand and have my picture taken with him. But now I'm just bragging. Sorry.

See, we all know that factory farmed chickens are just an all-around bad idea. Sickness, lack of essential nutrients from lack of sunshine, over-crowding issues, de-beaking chicks so they can't cannibalize their mates, etc...the list goes on and on. If you aren't familiar with these practices, please watch the documentary, "Food, Inc.". It will change the way you look at chickens...forever.

Here's what I took offense with, albeit briefly...

"...So forty years ago, every woman knew how to cut up a chicken. It was part of general knowledge. It was like learning to ride a bike, or read, or tie your shoes. It was part of domestic skills, like hammering a nail, running a washing machine, turning on the vacuum cleaner, or running a lawnmower. Today, more than half or our patrons don't even know that a chicken has bones."

"I've got news for you ladies. Chicken nuggets in the shape of Dino the dinosaur are not part of a chicken's anatomy. You won't find any muscle groups titled "Nuggets." Boneless, skinless breast wasn't even available in the supermarket before 1970. If your recipe called for boneless skinless breast, you did the carving yourself. And when it was done, you also had a neck, backbone, wings, thighs, and legs. And you cooked those, and ate them."

Mr. Salatin refers to ladies because that's who most of his farm store patrons are. That I did NOT find offense. It's fact. What I took offense to was that he thinks that women do not know how to cut a chicken anymore. And while I was ranting calmly discussing this with my family, my children (including 2 of my married daughters) all looked at me and said, "Well, we don't know how to cut up a whole chicken either."

Ouch.

I had assumed that everyone knew how to cut up a chicken. I had assumed that every teenager in America had worked for Colonel Sanders as I had. I assumed that my kids had learned that it is much cheaper to buy an entire chicken rather than just the preferred bits and pieces. It is obvious to me that a whole chicken at $.99/lb. is less expensive than a package of cut up pieces at $3 or $4/lb. After all, a family pack of chicken legs contains the legs of at least 7 chickens! And don't even get me started on the same huge packs of chicken breasts...

So it's time for me to right a wrong. It's time for me to make sure that at least in my family, we all know how to cut up a chicken. Because like it or not, whole chickens are all they're going to find in my freezer.☺

~How to Cut Up a Whole Chicken~

Start with a thawed whole chicken.

Find the joint where the wing connects to the breast.

Using a sharp knife, cut through that joint. Repeat with the other side.

Pull the leg/thigh out and gently run your knife between the thigh and white meat to separate.

Find the joint and cut through that. Repeat on other side.

Thigh and drumstick

Find the joint between the top of the leg and the thigh.

Carefully cut through that to separate the two. Repeat with the other side.

This is what the remainder of the chicken should look like.

Cut along the ribcage to separate the bony back from the meaty breast.

This is half of it. Save the pieces.

Turn the breast, bone-side up, and place the knife in the center of the breast bone.

Carefully cut down the bone to make 2 pieces. This part is a little more difficult, so be really cautious with the knife.

You can either leave the skin on, which keeps the chicken moist, or you can remove it. I removed it for this dish because it was going to be shredded in a sauce.

Toss the extra pieces, and any skin into a crockpot with filtered water. Add a couple of carrots, celery, garlic, and an onion, some peppercorns, thyme, and rosemary, and let simmer in a crockpot all day. Cool, strain, and voila'...homemade stock! 

Congratulations! You did it and used the whole chicken!

Go a step further and raise your own meat birds and throw the feet, neck, liver, and gizzards in too...

What? Too much?

...maybe we'll save that for another day. ☺

Have you entered my giveaway yet? You have until 2/15 until the drawing!

This post is linked to The Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop and Friday Food Flicks.

February Meal Planner

Well, they say that late is better than never. Again, I'm not clear who exactly they are, but if they said it, it must be true.

Here's our menu plan for the month of February. And no, you're not seeing things. I purposely left out days 1-4. Because we had been out of town for a few days, I just carried over what was originally supposed to be on the menu for the last week of January.

Pretty smart, eh?☺ 

5. B~cereal, toast

D~Superbowl food: Hot wings, chili/cheese dip, chips, Carne Asadas, guacamole, root beer (followed by a couple of Alka-Seltzer's...)

6. B~Banana Walnut Baked Oatmeal (new)

D~Chicken Marsala, Jasmine Rice, Caesar Salad, Peasant Bread

7. B~gf Banana Walnut Muffins, Yogurt Fruit Smoothies

D~Lime-crusted Mahi Mahi, green salad w/ Lime Vinaigrette (new), Roasted Rosemary Red Potatoes

8. B~Cinnamon Spice Granola (will post this soon!), yogurt

D~Pot roast, Baked potatoes w/ sour cream, green beans, Peasant Bread

9. B~Breakfast Hash w/ham

D~Mexican Pink Bean Burritos on brown rice tortillas (new), tortillas & guacamole

10. B~Banana Walnut Baked Oatmeal, deer sausage

D~Baked Salmon, Spicy Cowboy Fries, Coleslaw

11. B~Speltcakes (buckwheat pancakes for Mom)

D~Coconut Lime Chicken w/Almond Dipping Sauce (new), Buttered brown rice, steamed broccoli

12. B~Cinnamon Spice Granola, yogurt

D~Chicken Stew (new), gf Biscuits (new)

13. B~Peachy Millet Flour Muffins, Yogurt Fruit Smoothies

D~Sweet & Sour Meatballs, Jasmine rice, peas

14. B~Breakfast Hash w/sausage

D~Roasted turkey, Pecan-Crusted Sweet Potatoes (new), Cranberry Relish, gf Dark Chocolate Cake

15. B~Almond Joy Granola, yogurt

D~Leftover turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy (with drippings from previous night), green beans

16. B~Quiche Lorraine

D~Creamy Turkey & Wild Rice Soup, gf Biscuits

17. B~Simple Soaked Oatmeal w/toasted coconut, pecans, and maple syrup

D~Fried deer steak, Creamy Scalloped Potatoes, sweet corn

18. B~Speltcakes (rice pancakes for Mom)

D~Toe-Warmin' Chili, Cornbread

19. B~Almond Joy Granola, yogurt

D~Chili Baked Potatoes (w/green onions, sour cream, cheese), Spinach salad w/Poppyseed Vinaigrette (new)

20. B~Simple Soaked Oatmeal w/peaches & toasted pecans

D~Beef Stew, gf Biscuits (Mom), Peasant Bread (Family)

21. B~Breakfast Hash w/ham

D~Baked Parmesan Tilapia, Lemon Rice Pilaf, steamed broccoli

22. B~Banana Walnut Baked Oatmeal

D~Fried Chicken, gf Biscuits, Home-baked Beans, lacto-fermented sauerkraut

23. B~Cinnamon Spice Granola, yogurt

D~Meatloaf, Mashed garlicky potatoes, creamed peas

24. B~Red, White, & Orange Baked Oatmeal

D~Potato Pancakes, Baked Salmon, Broccoli Salad

25. B~Speltcakes (rice pancakes for Mom)

D~Chicken Tortilla Soup, homemade tortilla chips

This post is linked to Menu Mondays at I'm an Organizing Junkie. This will also be posted at the top of my page under "Meal Plans".

**Have you entered the giveaway yet? Hurry, you only have until 2/15!**

January's' Grocery Total

Now that January is over and the grocery numbers have been tallied, it seems that my once-a-month grocery shopping was a fail. Not an epic fail, just a fail. Instead of spending just $600, I went over by a few dollars...or $268.92 to be exact.

Really, what's a few bucks?

While I was busy feeling sorry for myself, my Mister was busy averaging our last 3 months of 2011's food bill. Here's the thing about my beloved. He protects me. He shields me from the realities of my frivolous spending. He keeps me from freaking out.

That's what 25 years of marriage gets you.

Really, it's about his self-preservation. Me freaking out is not pretty.

For the first 9 months of last year, our monthly grocery average was right around $1200. And that was for a family of 7. After our eldest daughter and her family moved in and we became a family of 11 again, it rose. And by rose, I really mean soared. And by soared, I really mean skyrocketed. And by skyrocketed, I really mean it hit the Milky Way.

It's a good thing my Mister is a nurse. I'm fairly certain he had to resuscitate me.

What I'm wondering is, who had to resuscitate him?

So, to put my extra $268.92 in perspective, I went from spending an average (for Oct., Nov., and Dec. only~whew!) of...wait for it...$2,000/month down to $868.92. January's spending included a trip to Costco, $132 in raw milk, and an extra shopping trip to buy some fun foods for the kids while we were on our trip. There were also 4 other stores that made up the remainder of our budget, which included restocking some gluten-free items.

What I've learned (so far) is that once-a-month shopping almost works for us. At about 3 weeks is when we started to notice that we were running out of much-used items. It's also about the time that I had to start getting creative.

1. Instead of buying both sour cream and yogurt, I buy plain whole fat yogurt and use it in place of sour cream when needed. Our favorite is at Trader Joe's, but we also like the Greek Gods yogurt in the green tub. (We make yogurt too, but so far haven't had good results with it as a sour cream substitute.)

2. I've been gluten-free for 2 months and let me tell you, it ain't cheap. Instead of buying all the speciality flours, I'm buying the whole grains and grinding them myself. I currently have 20# each of white and brown rice, 5#'s each of millet, buckwheat, and quinoa, and extra packages of xanthan gum and tapioca flour that I bought on sale. I also purchased raw almonds to grind which are a less expensive alternative to almond meal. I'm sure there are more that I will need at some point, but for now this is working. Finding a place to store them all is another story...

3. We use a lot of peanut butter. In January, I grossly misjudged how much we would need and we ended up running out. (Almost need the SWAT team in full riot gear for that mistake.) We don't eat a lot of sandwiches, but we do use it for apples and toast. Those raw almonds that I purchased for almond meal? They also worked great for making our own nut butter. Add a little sea salt and the kids thought they were getting something special.

4. Toilet paper is non-negotiable. There are going to be times when an unplanned trip to town will be inevitable. Things happen. Toilet paper disappears without a trace (although I thought I saw a mummy running down the hallway), and before the family can go into survivalist mode and start hauling rhododendron leaves into the house, someone needs to make an quick, unplanned trip to town! Thankfully, it's that fear of losing my rhodies that keeps me focused on those unplanned trips. In and out. Toilet paper only. Make no eye contact.

Shopping's not for the weak.

There will be a couple of changes to our monthly grocery plan. First, we're raising our spending amount from $600 to $800/month. This is a more realistic goal for us. Buying in bulk costs a little more up front, but in the long run keeps us out of the stores a bit longer. Speaking of bulk...our Costco trip will be limited to every other month. This will allow us wiggle room in replacing mail order items such as, coconut oil and maple syrup, and allow us trips to Bob's Redmill when needed. And finally, we are going to twice-a-month shopping with the bulk of it at the beginning of the month. A second trip is needed for some fresh produce. Side salads are a big deal for the adults in the house, but bananas...those are the deal breakers.

The kids can survive without toilet paper, but no bananas? Oh...I shudder to think of the paybacks...

All in all, I'm pleased with our spending for January. There was no waste of unused produce (except for a single lemon I found rolling around in the veggie bin), no moldy breads or cheeses, and we were able to use a little creativity toward the end of the month. We're still aiming for $600, but until the garden is planted and producing, that goal just may be a little harder to reach.

Of course, we could always rethink the toilet paper issue...☺

8 more day until the giveaway winner is announced~have you entered yet?

2012 Homesteading Goals...and My First Giveaway!

Now that it's February, my Mister and I decided it was time to set some realistic homesteading goals.

I use the word realistic because sometimes our want-to-do's are bigger than our need-to-do's. Of course, both are usually bigger than our what's-in-the-wallets, but in the name of progress, we keep moving forward.

I also use the word realistic because when goals are set that are either more time-consuming than we planned, cost more than we hoped, or turn into something bigger than we intended, it is easy to become burned out. And that's kind of what we did. As founding members of List-Maker's Anonymous, we can easily fill out entire spiral notebooks with our homesteading goals. (And we're not talking wide-ruled either!) While the lists help to keep us motivated, it can become overwhelming when only 2 or 3 items get checked off from a list of 33 (per page). Add in uncooperative weather, regular family life, the Mister's job outside the home, homeschooling, church, appointments, etc...and suddenly those lists become more than overwhelming. They become daunting.

And they also become lost.

In the name of sanity.

So this year's list is filled with simple goals. And in my trusty notebook with 33 lines per page, I still have 21 empty lines that will remain that way until there are 12 check marks next to the original goals.

~Homesteading Goals for 2012~

1. Fence the upper 4 acres with field fencing. This will open up additional grazing area and keep our farm critters from being served at the coyote's all-you-can-eat buffet.

2. Build stalls and stanchions. With our milk cow due to freshen this summer (first time!) we'll need a nice place to milk her. And when it comes time for the AI man to visit again, stanchions will be much nicer for the cows than being tied to a fence. Gives 'em a little privacy and keeps the neighbors from talking...

3. Finish the milk room. We have an awesome room in our shop that will be perfect for working with our milk. Right now it is being used for storage, but with a little TLC, a counter, sink, and fridge, it should work well for processing the milk. We have a couple of old wooden cooler doors (one is much smaller than the other) that will serve nicely as a main door and a cheese cave door. The hard part will be to figure out where to put all the kids' extra motorcycle parts...

4. Build a mobile cow feeder. Currently we feed the cows in a large truck tire and just move it around the field as needed. The new one will be on skids and have a roof. Because we love 'em.

5. Improve chicken yard. We build a permanent yard for the turkeys last year, so it's time to give our girls a nicer yard. They all free-range most of the time but need to be closed in at night since the raccoons have heard about the buffet too.

6. Build turkey nesting boxes. After the demise of our beloved Lucy, we won't be letting the hens lay just anywhere. These nests will be placed on the outside of the coop, but inside the yard to keep them safe. Now if only we can convince the girls...

7. Make a hay feeder for the goats. The picky little princesses do not appreciate their food on the floor. They'll eat poop, but heaven forbid if a little hay ends up in the dirt. Drama queens...

8. Expand our bee colony. We're hoping to split our current colony, but will keep an eye open for swarms too. After harvesting 4 gallons of honey last fall, we're excited about having enough to share.

9. Build a beeswax mold. This might be more difficult than the actual process of melting the wax and turning it into candles. I was never very good with arts & crafts...

10. Set up rain barrels. We are looking for ways to water the animals & greenhouse plants without using the well. Call us cheap, but I prefer resourceful. Sounds smarter. 

11. Construct hoop houses in the garden. Since most of our garden is in raised beds, this should be a fairly simple process. Our plan is to use hog panels to create the hoops and hang clear plastic over those. It should give us a good headstart to the growing season, which didn't start until mid-July last year. Because of that, we are down to our last 3 quarts of stewed tomatoes. Tomatoes are overrated. Okay, not really, but it makes me feel better.

12. Get our firewood in early. This is self-explanatory, but a late summer start means less wood brought in. And since the woodstove and fireplace are our preferred sources of heat, it's important to get enough dry wood put up. Besides that, without using our heaters, our current electric bill is running close to $300/month. Using wood is not only cheap, it is smart.  

There you have it. Our realistic list for the year. As long as I stay away from other homesteads, the garden center, HGTV, and Pinterest, our goals should be attainable. And since it's February, and these aren't necessarily "resolutions", these are as good as done.

I hope.☺

 Now, because goals without plans are destined for failure, I'm having my very first giveaway! I'm a visual learner, but sometimes that's not always possible. So I read. A LOT. And when I don't have time for that, I look at pictures. (That counts toward visual learning, right?)

Recently, I stumbled onto this great book, "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Living", by Abigail Gehring. Okay, I'm actually an Amazon book junkie with absolutely no self-control who sees something she likes and obsesses about it until her lack of will power prevails...

Now you know.

There is so much information packed into this little book of 888 pages, that you'll appreciate the pictures. The book is broken into 8 parts~

Animals

Baking, Preserving, and More

Carpentry and Woodworking

Crafts

Disaster Preparedness

Energy

Gardening

Well-Being for Body, Mind, and Spirit

Each part contains multiple chapters on everything from animal husbandry to cheese-making;  building doghouses to flower arranging;the usefullness of composting toilets to building hoophouses; disease management to herbal teas, canning, pruning, recipes for homemade cosmetics, bread, and cakes...well, you get the idea. This is a great book for the do-it-yourselfer, even if you haven't yet bought the farm. (I don't mean that as in "bought the farm", but in a literal sense of "bought the farm". Confused yet? Me too. Welcome to my world.) I must offer a warning with this giveaway though...

Your homesteading list will grow.

Don't panic~just use wide-ruled paper~there are less lines to fill.☺

So, how do you enter? Easy~Just leave me a comment telling me what one of your homesteading goals are for the year. Don't have a homestead? How about telling me something that you are doing to become more self-reliant. Maybe it'll inspire me to add some more goals to my own list. After all, I do have 21 lines left to fill.☺

The winner will be announced on Wednesday, February 15, 2012!

Good luck!!

This post is linked to the Homestead Barn Hop.

so this is how it feels...

Sunrise over the Cascade Mountain Range

When my Mister informed me that he was taking me to the mountains for our 25th anniversary, I had visions of hunting camp bouncing around my memory bank. Memories like; no electricity; meals I had to prepare in my long johns and mittens, laundry that piled up in the corner of our own little icebox camper; showers that could only be taken if we had enough change for the machine; and toilets with no doors. (Only the not-so-pleasant memories managed to surface.) When he told me that I wouldn't be needing my rolls of quarters or a frying pan, I was sceptical. And when he took me shopping for snow boots and ski pants, I was downright scared. The last time I wore ski pants was not a pleasant memory. There were ski's, screaming, a chair lift, more screaming, and a lot of children dodging bodies on the mountainside...it was positively frightening.

Then he said the magic words.

Private cabin with a 5-star chef. (Well, actually, he said "kid-free" first, just to grab my attention, but this one had more of an impact.)

It was pure bliss. Blissful. Blissdom. Blissiful.

Now that the reality of our return home has hit us upside the head, I thought I'd relive a few memories that my Mister and I made during our 25th wedding anniversary trip.

Well, not all of them...did I mention the Jacuzzi tub in our room? No? Well, never mind then...☺

The view from our cabin

Because of the recent snowfall, we had to be shuttled the 2.5 miles up the mountain.

Our "taxi" up the mountain

My Mister really liked the Arctic Cat and her baby, the Snow Cat

 When we arrived, the gas fire was on, music was playing, and wine was being chilled in the mini refrigerator.

Our very own cabin, "Ponder Rock"

 

Mozart in the background and a cozy fire that didn't require hauling firewood.

 Breakfast was served, buffet style, between 8:30 and 9:30.

Heading to breakfast required snow boots and fleece

 Snow shoes and cross-country ski's were provided to the guests after we signed a waiver releasing the owners if we were injured on the trail.

Nothing strikes fear into me faster than a waiver.

The cabin even came with my own personal "stud muffin"

 The first morning, we headed up to a place called "Lookout Ridge". Had it just been a leisurely 2.2 mile walk on a nicely groomed trail during the summer, I probably wouldn't have hyperventilated.

Snow shoeing~Day 1 and slightly overdressed

My Mister is much more level-headed than I. He completes me. And I tell him "No!" when he starts to venture off the beaten path.

I guess I complete him too.

The Mister "breaking trail"

Next time one of us gets a wild idea to take a short hike, up a mountain, wearing a pair of snow shoes, I would really appreciate an emphasis on the "up the mountain" part of this idea. Before we get all of our gear on.

A view on the way up.

 In case you were wondering, 2.2 miles up the side of a mountain, is a very long walk.

But so worth it when we reached the top!

We made it!!! And there were other people!!! Whew.

Who knew that after worrying about being eaten by mountain lion's and bears (who may or may not have gotten the memo about it being hibernation time), that we would make the trek back up the mountain the very next day?

Snow shoeing~Day 2...higher and slightly wiser about the wardrobe.

 Day 2 took us on a 4-plus mile hike that ended early. This old gal just didn't have that extra half mile in her. There's something to that saying, "The spirit's willing, but the flesh is weak."

I'll do it next time.

My Mister contacted his inner child and together they decided to hit the sledding hill. Maybe it was the fact that the run was 1700 feet long. Maybe it was the fact that there was a grove of young Aspen trees at the bottom.

We'll never know for sure, but I'm guessing I abstained because of the 1700 foot walk back up the sledding hill!

My Mister playing on the 1700' sledding hill

 Dinner menu for our last night~Basque Influenced Roasted Game Hens with a Winter Fruit Compote Medley, Buttered Baby Red Potatoes with Caramelized Sweet Onions, Pecan Crusted Sweet Potatoes, and Fresh Green Beans...

You know if the words "Basque Influenced" and "Compote Medley" are in the description, it's gotta be good.

4-course meal prepared by Chef Tom

After dining on 5 star food for several days, we asked the chef if he offered grief counseling before we left.

Lemon Chiffon Cake with Lodge-made Lemon Curd, frosted with real whipped cream.

Sadly, he did not. Sigh.

Don't worry, we're working through it.

With full bellies and exhausted bodies from playing in the snow all day, the evenings were spent relaxing by the fire in the lodge...

The Lodge's massive fireplace

And later by our own private fire...

As the sun went down on our special trip to the mountains, I had to wonder,

 is this what being a grown-up feels like?☺