Friday, August 28, 2009

Home Preservation Series- Pickling

Home Preservation Series- Pickling

Five Rivers Metroparks
Dayton, OH
Date: Sunday, August 29, 2009
Time: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: Possum Creek Metropark
4790 Frytown Rd. Dayton, Ohio

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Monday, August 17, 2009

Seven Day Challenge





What is the Seven Day Challenge?

The Seven Day Challenge is going to be a mock disaster that lasts 7 Days in which the bloggers at http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/ will be initiating an emergency “fire drill”. Participants will have a chance to test their level of preparedness in a simulated emergency environment. Each day during the Seven Day Challenge participants will receive an email informing them which of their utilities and/or food they will have access to. At the conclusion of the Seven Day Challenge participants will have means to share, discuss, and give feedback on how they could have been “better” prepared.

How to sign up?
You can sign-up online at the Seven Day Challenge page on FoodStorageMadeEasy.NET.

What’s in it for me?
· Opportunity to win a WonderMill Hand Mill for joining and by telling friends
· Participant prizes for completing the challenge
· Tons of learning
· Peace of mind from being prepared

How will I be prepared in time?
Follow the blog http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net and through-out the summer as they will be doing a summer crash course helping you get ready. You can also sign up for FREE CHECKLISTS that get emailed to you every 2 weeks with “to do” items, and “to purchase” lists!

P.S. When signing up, make sure you give credit to Carolyn that passed this along to you by entering his/her name in the referrer field J. Doing so will give you AND them an entry for the Wonder Junior Deluxe Giveaway!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Molly is home!

Molly is Home. Now it is just a waiting game to see if her kidneys start working on their own.

It is a real canine geriatric ward around here. Jack with his special needs for having no teeth, Sam and her meds, now Molly and her meds and fluids. Molly needs to go out, be fed or have fluids every couple of hours.We are figuring out sleeping schedules as far as Matt and I go. Someone needs to be up with her at all times. It is hard work but I wouldn't have it any other way. We love our Dog Children and will do anything to have them all here with us.

Keep on Praying!

Molly Update


The Doctor called with an update. Molly is doing a little better today.
Her lab levels are down. Her input and output is good. The Doctor wants to continue treatment today, repeat the blood work in the morning. If the levels are still going down, She may get to come home.


She will still be sick and require at home care. There is still a chance that she will go back into renal failure without the IV fluids but at least she will be here with us.

Our Molly is fighting hard to come home. Please keep her in your prayers!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Molly




We picked up Molly from the Emergency Vet today.For those that don't know......she spent the weekend there in Renal Failure. She seemed to be feeling better today and looked much better than when we left her. We came home for a short visit so the other Dogs could say Hi and we could love on her. Then we took her to our Vet. He seemed a little optimistic. He said the good signs were that she was eating and peeing and pooping and still able to get around under her own power.
Matt wants to continue treatment as long as she shows improvement but if she doesn't at least we know that we did eveything possible. Basically....Best case scenario is we get her over this acute renal failure and then she would be able to come home and be on a diabetic diet and we (I) would have to give her subcutaneous fluid injections. She could be here with us until her end of days. Worst case.....she doesn't make out of the acute failure and she will have to be put down. We will make that decision after a couple more days on the IV fluids.

It has been a rough weekend. We were hoping for the best but fearing the worst. Lots of tears to say the least. Matt is a MESS! You know how he loves his Girls! I have been trying to stay strong for him but it has been hard. Most times we just end up holding each other and crying!

So keep our Molly in your prayers and we will keep you updated as we go along.

Carolyn

Bean Storage

Beans, peas and lentils are the richest source of vegetable protein and are a good source of both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber.

When legumes are eaten with grains, nuts or seeds, a complete protein can be formed which can suitably replace meat, fish, poultry, eggs or dairy.

Legumes aren’t just used for soups. There are many different ways of using beans, including grinding bean flour for baking (more to come!)

Generally, legumes will keep indefinitely when stored in a cool, dry place.

Determine the quantities of each food item you will need to store.

Since the bulk of the recommended legume storage is beans, here is a basic summary of Do’s and Don’ts.

BEAN DO’S:
Store dry beans in a cool, dry place.

Lightly rinse packaged dry beans; sort through them and remove any pebbles, seed pods, leaves or twigs.

Soak your beans! It reduces cooking time by about one half, and saves vitamins, minerals and proteins which can be lost during prolonged heating — exceptions are lentils, split peas and black-eyed peas which may be cooked from their dry state.

Soak beans in plenty of water. Use a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio of water to beans (see chart for soaking times).
Place presoaked beans in a pot and cover with fresh, cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, partially cover and simmer them for the indicated length of time until they are soft and tender.

BEAN DON’TS:
Store dry beans in the refrigerator.

Add baking soda to hasten soaking or cooking time as it will decrease the nutritional content of the beans.

Add salt or any product high in calcium, magnesium or acid to the soaking or cooking water or beans will not soften (products with these elements should be added to cooking water or any recipe calling for partially cooked beans only after beans have reached desired tenderness).

Use microwave to cook dry beans - microwaving is fine for reheating beans that are already cooked, but dry beans need to be simmered slowly in lots of water to soften, tenderize and rehydrate properly.

Friday, August 7, 2009

My Romantic Gift

My Husband is so romantic...................he just gave me a FISHING POLE !

Then we spent a lovely evening in the backyard while he taught me how to cast!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

I had an idea....................

I had an idea while I was cleaning a mound of Potatoes from the Garden today.
I was thinking about how to store them and then in the background
an ad for those Steam and Mash Potatoes came on.
Light Bulb Moment............ I can make my own Steam and Mash Bags!!!!
I peeled and cut up the potatoes into cubes. Par boiled them until they were almost done.
(Still a little firm when poked with a fork)
Rinsed them and let them cool completely,
I then put them in a Food Saver Bag and vacuumed a little of the air out.
(I didn't want to squish the Potatoes!)
Then threw the bag in the Freezer.
Voila!!! My own Steam and Mash Bag
I was thinking you could do the Steam and Mash thing or use them as Hash Browns!
Am I smart or what??????

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Acorn Squash

I took home one of the acorn squash from the garden yesterday.
I was dying to taste it so I peeled it, cut in half,
removed the seeds, cut it into pieces
and steamed it in one of those steam bag things.
I sprinkled it with Cinnamon and sugar and a little touch of nutmeg
and a little tiny bit of butter........It was GOOD.
No it was great because we grew it in OUR Garden

Monday, August 3, 2009

Garden Day 93

Come see the Garden at Day 93

EasiYo Follow Up

Easiyo Yogurt Maker with Red Lid Jar
                                                                



I have been using my EasiYo Yogurt maker for close to a week now. I have been experimenting with how long to leave it to "brew" for lack of a better term. I realized that buying the their yogurt blends in the sachet it could get a little expensive when you eat yogurt like I do. So I have been researching out how to do my yogurt without the sachets.

I found a recipe that will help the supplies of sachets that I do have last longer. Instead of using the whole thing just use 2 Tablespoons of the mix and 1 1/3 cup of dry milk and mix per instructions. I kind of like this blend a little better. It seems to firm faster and a little bit more solid than the sachet mixes. I am still looking for a good recipe for a yogurt starter to use so I don't have to use the sachets. I have come across a couple articles that say you can just use a couple tablespoons of store bought yogurt as your starter. I am looking for a little bit more information on this right now.

Overall...... I love making my own yogurt. I love the EasiYo too. It is really easy to use and yogurt making fun!



Easiyo 252102 Greek Style Yogurt Base and Culture, 6-Ounce
Easiyo Low Fat Greek Yogurt Base and Culture, 6-Ounce
Easiyo Natural Yogurt Base and Culture, 5-Ounce
Easiyo Sweet Mango Yogurt Base and Culture, 8-Ounce
Easiyo Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt Base and Culture, 5-Ounce
Easiyo Bio-Life Organic Yogurt Base and Culture, 5-Ounce
Easiyo Sweet Raspberry Yogurt Base and Culture, 8-Ounce
Easiyo Sweet Raspberry Yogurt Base and Culture, 8-Ounce
Easiyo Custard Style Vanilla Yogurt Base and Culture, 7-1/2-Ounce

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

The City Hubs works for is in the National News.

It seem that Extreme Makeover Home Edition is in town! The has chosen a deserving local Family to help out. James Terpenning, a civilian computer specialist at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, learned his family would be on the hit show after getting a knock on the door Thursday morning, July 30, from “Extreme Makeover” host Ty Pennington.

Nominated by a three-star general, Terpenning, 40, said he’s thrilled by the prospect of a home that will make life easier for his seven-member family, including his four small children, wife Shannon, 33, and his brother Joseph.
The family lives in a 1,200-square-foot, three-bedroom house with a basement on Carthage Drive.

Terpenning, who has won top medals in the Paralympic Games and acts as a mentor to disabled Iraqi vets, uses a wheelchair following a bout with polio as an infant in Vietnam. James is the son of a G.I. who abandoned him. He was later adopted by an Ohio family.
Joseph, 42, also uses a wheelchair, and in the tight confines of their home, it’s no easy task to get around. Joseph has cerebral palsy.

Their current home will be bulldozed, and the new one will be revealed to them next week after the family returns from a paid week long vacation at Disney World.

Yesterday was D-Day. Demolition Baby! Here is a link to some video of the Demolition
Courtesy Dayton Daily News.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1418565565?bctid=31498415001