Shelving

Check out these AWESOME shelves AJ made for me! The hold our water barrels and our food storage that is in #10 cans. For those unfamiliar with what we are working on - here is a link to explain it: Provident Living.

The shelves are slanted so the cans roll forward as we need them. Here is the before:

And here is after we put the cans in. Don't kid yourself into thinking those shelves are all full! It just looks that way because it all rolls forward!

And for those interested in the fine details of the construction here are a couple pictures that show some of the details:

Rating: 5 Lollipops (great job AJ!!!)

Cherry Jelly

Well it took work on 4 different days to do this, but we went from this:


To THIS:

It is hard to do it all in one day when I have kids underfoot so I actually spread it out over a week. Day #1 - pick the cherries, Day #2 - sort and clean, Day #3 - turn into juice, Day #4 - turn into jelly and can.

I ended up with 11 half-pints of jelly. It is deliciously sweet and tart and the best part is that it all came from our tree! We didn't have to buy any of the fruit like we normally do!

Rating: 11 half-pints of Cherry Jelly!

Cherry Pie

Look! Cherry pie! The good news is that it was totally yummy. The bad news is that it overflowed and burnt sugar all over the bottom of my oven.

Also - I had extra pie dough so I made cute little cherries in the middle. See?

Rating: 1 Cherry Pie!

Pickles

I made pickles!

They had pickling cucumbers at the CSA this past week and I just had to try it out. It wasn't actually all that cost effective in comparison to just buying a jar but I have the satisfaction of knowing how to do it for myself and that is priceless!

From this:

Into this:

Rating: 10 Jars of Bread and Butter Pickles

Canning

Peaches and apricots were a great price this week - at least as cheap as I can get them here - so I decided to can. I anticipated about 40 quarts - so that is the amount of jars I got out. Turns out later I underestimated a bit.

And of course don't forget the fruit! 50 lbs of peaches, 50 lbs of apricots, and 5 pineapples (and 2 "helpers")

Once we started to prep the fruit, I discovered this problem - there were a total of 6 peaches that I found like this. There is only one culprit - and she's two.

We ended up with 33 quarts of apricots/pineapple, and 21 quarts of peaches. There should have been 2 more quarts of each but 2 jars of the apricots broke, and we were tired by the end and didn't want to put just 2 jars in the canner for the last of the peaches - so we just ate those!

Aren't they pretty???

Rating: 54 quarts of fruit (of course!)

Sales and Spices

You may or may not have noticed that on the side bar to the right there that we have a list of things we want to do this summer. We are always talking about things we want to do but then can never remember or forget to plan ahead so we finally decided to write it down. We did something on the list today but I'll get to that in a minute.

I have been trying to decide what to get Idgie for her first birthday. The problem is that it seems like we already have everything because of the older two girls. I finally decided that she might like a little slide since she is still too small for the big playset. I've been keeping an eye out on craigslist for something suitable but nothing has come up. Well this morning I was out running an errand and say that a local subdivision was having a neighborhood garage sale. I decided on a whim to turn in and see and there, the first house on the corner, was a Little Tikes slide for sale! They had it labeled for $20 but I was able to walk away with it for $10!! It is a little worn and dirty but nothing a hose and a Magic Eraser can't fix before her birthday!



So then this afternoon, we decided to make a trek to Denver to go to a store that we saw on Food Network called Savory Spice. Coolest store ever! They grind all their own spices and make all their own spice mixes right on site. They also had just about every random spice you could think of. It smelled so good and you could sample the different spices before you bought. I have my eye on several things but we each decided to get just one little bottle of something. AJ got the Platte River Rib Rub and I finally settle on some Hawaiian Black Lava Sea Salt. We can't wait to try them!!!

Rating: 1 taste of Peppermint Vanilla Bean Sugar

Salad Dressing

This is HUGE people. HUGE.

See those salad dressings in the picture??? Emmaline can have them! I was reading the labels randomly last night and was shocked to discover that NONE of them have dairy or any of Emmaline's other allergens!!!

AJ and I couldn't believe our eyes and I even called Kraft to confirm. We gave Emmaline some to try and she hasn't had any reactions and she isn't dead so it must really be true! She has never had anything like ranch dressing before and thought it was really yummy.

On one hand it makes me sad as a general consumer that something that *should* have dairy in it - doesn't. But on the other hand, as the parent of a food allergic child, I am thrilled that she can have some "normal" kid things. I can put this on her sandwiches just like mayo or make coleslaw with it! WOW!

I also checked and the *regular* ranch still has dairy in it - so it is just the cucumber ranch variety of the ranch flavors that is safe - and then the Creamy Italian and Thousand Island too are dairy free.

Rating: 10 Lollipops (I didn't know I could get so excited over salad dressing)

Baking Bread

This may not seem like to a big deal to some people but this is huge for me:

Look! BREAD!

I hate baking. Love to cook, hate to bake! I got a wheat grinder for Christmas and along with that comes a goal to learn to make bread this year! I decided to start easy and not use my wheat grinder quite yet. I just wanted to hone my skills on the basics. I haven't made bread since I used to help my grandma do it when I was a little girl! I remember helping her make the dough and letting it sit in the sun to raise. Grandma had a big picture window that looked out to the south towards the Chugach Mountains that got great sunlight. She would always save some dough to make a little baby loaf too that was our special "kid" loaf.

Anyway, I decided to start easy and make a generic white bread - nothing fancy. My sisters assured me that making bread is easy with my Kitchenaid - it takes all the hardest work out of it. Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Okay, turns out they were right - thanks guys! It did all my mixing and all my kneading. SO AWESOME! Turns out that dough hook that comes with the Kitchenaid isn't a waste of space!

I did encounter a small problem when I discovered that apparently the bread pans I bought are bigger than the standard size, how was I to know? So the dough didn't fill out the pan, thus instead of being squared, they kind of taper off. If they were a birthday cake they'd be perfect to decorate like a car...

Not too shabby for a first try! I bet it is really good with homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam

Rating: 2 loaves of bread (forget the candy rating - I have hot fresh bread calling my name and the kids are all napping so I have it all to myself...)

Spaghetti-o's

What you see there - are Spaghetti-o's. Not just any spaghetti-o's though. They are homemade and free of allergens! Go me! I ran across the little ring pasta (Anellini) in Safeway a couple months ago and have had a hankering to try and make safe Spaghetti-o's ever since.

1 box (12 oz.) Anellini

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes (you can find this in the bulk bins at health food stores)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. dry mustard

1 cup rice milk

1 T. margarine

2 - 8 oz. can tomato sauce

Cook and drain pasta according to box directions.
Mix together dry ingredients in mixing bowl. In a sauce pan, melt margarine. Put in dry ingredients and quickly stir around until the mixture is crumbly. Add in rice milk and mix with whisk to smooth. Cook until thick. Mixture will thicken very quickly once it starts to - so stir frequently. (That is your "cheese" sauce)
Pour "cheese" onto cooked pasta. Pour on tomato sauce. Mix thoroughly.

I thought this turned out surprisingly well. Once it cooled it seemed to thicken even more so I am thinking I might add just a bit of beef broth as well next time (it needed a bit more flavor too). However, the kids liked it! I thinking of trying to make the mini meatballs next time too - I'll have to ponder that one . . .

Rating: 4 Lollipops (It is always nice to be able to recreate what the "other" kids eat)

Vegan French Toast

Whenever I am trying to figure out a dish that is normally unsafe for Emmaline, I turn to the Vegans. Those guys really know what they are talking about most of the time. All you have to do is google: "Vegan ______" and you can usually come up with a decent recipe that is free of dairy and egg. They do like to use soy a lot but usually it is just soy milk so we replace it with rice milk.

Anyway - tonight I decided we were having breakfast for dinner. Sausage, homemade hash browns, orange juice, and french toast. "Surely the vegans have a french toast recipe!" I said, as I typed it into google. And sure enough up one came! It looked yummy. Instead of egg, you use mashed banana, rice milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. Well - it was yummy. But it was NOT french toast. It created a soggy mess of bread - that once cool, at least created a mass rubbery enough to take bites of. The girls both loved it - since they've never had french toast before they had NO idea what they were missing.

So there you go - the vegans cannot be relied upon 100% of the time! Now that I've tried it their way though, I have a few ideas up my sleeve that I'm thinking of trying, so stay tuned.

Fun Fact: I just did the math and our meal cost us $1.63 for the whole family.
Sausage: $0.00
Hashbrowns - 1 lb. potatoes at $0.38/lb
Orange Juice 1 quart - $0.25
French Toast ingredients - ~$1.00

Rating: 3 Fireballs (will we never have french toast again???)

Recipe Review: Chipotle Chocolate Chili

I got the recipe for Chipotle Chocolate Chili from the girls over at Our Best Bites. I was a bit skeptical but noticed that all the ingredients were allergen safe (baking cocoa doesn't have milk or nuts) so I decided to give it a whirl. I also didn't have any chipotles but I did have some dried chili pods so I cut one in half and allowed it to simmer with the chili. The verdict:

AJ: The chili was good. I didn't taste chocolate-y. I like that it was thick and hearty.

Bethany: I loved that it was an easy allergen free recipe with no need for special substitutions. Always a bonus in my book. It was very tasty and very filling. It was also simple to make - from start to finish it took just under and hour.

Emmaline: There's chocolate in this soup??? WOW!!!

Liliana: "Ahhhhhh!!!!" (more please)

Rating: 4 Lollipops (yum!)

When life gives you grapefruit. . .

There was a great deal this last week at Sunflower for grapefruit - .10 cents each! We bought 200 for $20 and produced 3.5 gallons of juice and 12 quarts of segments. If we had bought the same amount already made at the store it would have cost us between $50-$60. Not bad!

Rating: 4 Lollipops

Thank You Wendy's

I discovered a couple days ago that the Wendy's Jr. Hamburger is safe for Emmaline to eat - at least according to their website. Usually the problem at most fast food restaurants is that they like to hide soy flour in the bun. So today we went to Wendy's and for the very first time ever, my child had a hamburger from a fast food restaurant just like a regular kid. How cool is that?

Rating: 5 Lollipops

A Formula for Dinner

One of my favorite quick and easy meals to cook for dinner is basically "Meat Helper" using rice instead of pasta. It is such a basic formula and I can mix it up easily.

1 lb meat of your choice (chicken, steak, ground turkey, ground beef, etc)
1/2 onion
Veggies of your choice (about 1/2 to 1 lb depending on your veggie and the size and such)
1 1/2 cups rice (I use regular white rice - cook time will vary if you use other varieties)
4 cups water
4 tsp bouillon (your choice - chicken, beef, vegetable) You can also just use stock - just use 4 cups and don't use boullion
Spices

In a large skillet fry the meat and onion. Put in all other ingredient. Bring to a boil while stirring, then cover and reduce heat to low. Let it simmer (untouched!) for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit for at least 5 minutes more with the lid on. Stir and mix in some milk (or rice milk) if you want it a bit more creamy.

Variations:
Spanish Style - Ground Beef, 2 cans tomatoes, corn, chicken bouillon

Enchilada Style - Ground Beef, 1 can tomatoes, 1 can black beans, replace half of water with Enchilada Sauce, chicken bouillon

Asian Style - Ground Beef, or Steak, mushrooms, broccoli, celery, beef bouillon, soy sauce

Indian Style - Chicken, yellow squash, red pepper, green beans, curry powder, chicken bouillon, use coconut milk in place of milk

All-American Style - Ground Turkey, mixed veggies, powdered ranch dressing, chicken bouillon

Fajita Style - Steak or chicken, Peppers, fajita seasoning, beef bouillon, add fresh tomatoes at the end.

Refrigerator Delight - Any meat you have thawed, any veggies you have left over the fridge, chicken bouillon, basic seasonings like garlic powder, salt, pepper.

Rating: 4 Lollipops (I love a cheap, quick, healthy, and easy dinner!)

The Pickled Beet Affair

Forty-five lbs. is a lot of beets. I know this because I spent all of Wednesday night and most of Thursday cooking, peeling, and chopping beets. I have never cooked beets before so there was quite a bit of trial and error. My mom assured me that the FUN part of beets is peeling them - that the skins just slip off - but that wasn't happening for me. I was getting really frustrated! Finally I figured out I simply wasn't cooking them long enough! Once I resolved that issue, peeling the beets WAS fun! Slip, slip slip. I even had a tiny beet that the skin slipped off and the beet shot across the room!


Finally last night after the kids were all in bed, I got to the point where I was ready to can. By the time I got everything prepped it was 11:00pm! I knew I had enough for three loads - but each load take 30 mins minimum! UGH! When I put the first jar into the water - I heard a CRACK. I lifted the jar back out of the water and discovered that the bottom had broken out. I know the jar and beets and everything were hot when I put them in the water - so I can only assume the jar was really old (I got a bunch of jars off of craigslist from an old lady). The jar was kinda of cloudy looking - so maybe that is what happens when a jar gets old? Anyway - I ended up having to process that lot of jars with a bunch of pickling brine and beets floating around in the water .

Suddenly though - I started feeling REALLY sick. Nauseated, stomach going crazy, all kinds of yuck. AJ was still up so I asked him to pull out the lot and just shut everything down for the night and I would finish everything in the morning. Then I went to bed and prayed I wouldn't vomit. Anyway - around 3 am AJ finally came upstairs - he had finished canning all the beets! How many people in the world have husbands that can and WILL can??? I sure am lucky!

So all said and done - we got 21 quarts of pickled beets - but 1 quart was lost.


Rating: 3 Lollipops

Evolution of the Birthday Cake

As mentioned in my last post, Emmaline's birthday cakes have been a real struggle for me. I hate baking anyway (love to cook, hate to bake!) so add in the complicated side of cooking a cake without milk or egg, and you have a disaster on your hands! Every year it gets a little bit better though!

1st Birthday:

I intended to make a really cute ladybug cake I saw in a magazine. I ordered a special cake mix but when I baked it - it was a huge crumbly mess. It wasn't even in a state that we could frost it. We dug out some chunks of it for Emmaline to enjoy but there wasn't even anything worth really taking a picture of.

2nd Birthday:

I had a safe brownie mix. I decided that I could just cook up the brownie mix and use Ener-G egg replacer in it. Turns out it didn't work. Brownie Mix + Ener-G Egg replacer = BRICK. I know this is a true fact because I tried it again another time and it was still a brick. At the last minute I mixed up a batch of safe muffin mix that turned out "so-so" and I frosted that I served it as cake.

3rd Birthday:

I discovered the joy of safe cake mix + 10 oz Sprite = YAY! This trick really does work well. But works *best* on cupcakes and the cake is still kind of dry and crumbly. At least there was something worth taking a picture of!

4th Birthday:

This year I googled around for a vegan cake recipe and found a chocolate one. I was skeptical but I gave it a try. It actually turned out well!!!

Rating: 4 birthday cakes (plus a brownie mix and a muffin mix)

Children of the Corn

We had the opportunity to go to the church farm this weekend and pick as much corn as we wanted. Neither of us have ever picked corn before so we had no idea what to expect. We packed up some gloves, tubs, and sunscreen and hoped for the best. The farm "opened" at 8am and was first come first serve, so we loaded up early and made the hour drive out there. We were worried on the drive there that it was extremely foggy, but it turns out that was in our favor. The fog made for a nice cool morning and perfect for corn picking!
We were both surprised just how easy picking corn really is. We took turns going into the field and picking while the other one watched the kids and husked corn. (better to husk the corn there because we could leave the garbage!) Even Emmaline and Liliana got into the action and were husking corn. They are so good at destroying things, it shouldn't have surprised me that they would be good at ripping leaves off the corn! When it started to get too hot, around 11am, we headed out.
When we got home, we put Liliana and Imogene in naps, and let Emmaline put on a swimming suit and play in the sprinkler. Meanwhile we finished husking the corn. It turns out picking and husking are the easy parts! After we finished husking, we worked until 11 at night blanching, cutting, and freezing the corn. We did take breaks to handle kid issues and eat dinner of course. What a job though! One tip that my sister told me was invaluable. She uses an angel food cake pan and uses the center hole to prop the corn in and then she uses an electric knife to cut off the kernels and they fall into the pan. GENIUS!!! I can't imagine having to do it on a cutting board with a regular knife!

Anyway - a few stats:

We picked 330 ears of corn
We threw away about 20 ears that weren't good
Set aside 20 ears for us and to give to neighbors
We husked, blanched, cut, and froze 290 ears of corn.
Ended up with 81 quart freezer bags of corn - each holding about 4 cups each

The bad news is that I brought my camera with me but forgot to put the CF card in it - so no pictures from the corn field! I did take pictures of our haul when we got home though!





Rating: 5 Candy Corns (of course!)

Pizza Pasta

Today for lunch I decided to be a good mom and actually cook some lunch for the girls (mostly because all my pots and pans are actually clean - thanks AJ!!) I opted to make some Mac 'n Chreese. You read that right - Chreese NOT Cheese. Chreese sauce is a little allergy-safe gem made out of nutritional yeast flakes and a variety of spices to make a yummy sauce that mimics cheese sauce. You can either buy it in box form from Road's End Organics (found at most health food stores) or make it yourself using the recipe from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook.

I like to make a big canister of the mix and keep it on hand for whenever I need a "cheese" sauce for pizzas, grilled cheese, etc. So today I opted to make the Mac 'n CHreese from scratch! Go me! In a moment of clarity, I had a fantastic idea. I spotted some leftover pizza sauce and half a bag of pepperoni in the fridge! "That could be yummy!" I said to myself.

So, after making the pasta and the sauce, I dumped in some pizza sauce and cut up pepperoni. I plopped it in front of the girls and Emmaline declared: "OH! it's PIZZA pasta!!!" took a bite, and said, "I think this is kind of tasty!"

Success!

Rating: 3 Lollipops

Another Fabulous Snack Weekend!

Well I dare say a good time was had by all!

On Thursday, we went bargain hunting which is always fun.

On Friday we canned 22 quarts of peaches and pears. I have never canned before and was pleasantly surprised how easy it was (even though we had to call Grandma twice for a couple of tips!). I will definitely be giving it a try again. Next attempt will be pickles! Of course they did take ENOUGH work that I won't be letting the family open them any time soon. What's the point if you are just going to open it immediately? I need time to sit and admire how pretty they are!




On Saturday, we went to Boulder and walked the Pearl Street Mall and window shopped and enjoyed the ambiance of the street performers and local liberal collage students. It was just like being back in Provo, UT at BYU - only with Democrats all around instead. ;-)


Sadly Saturday was our last full day and everyone left here today. Now onto planning for next year!

Rating: 1 pan of 7 layer dip, 2 boxes of popsicles, mozzarella sticks, bowl of fruit with fruit dip, and 1 box of chocolates

Fruits of our Labors

It was a gorgeous morning today despite the fact that both girls got out of their beds multiple times in the middle of the night. Liliana apparently thinks that if Emmaline gets up to go to the bathroom, that it means it is time to get up! Anyway, as a result, this morning started like any other morning does - at the crack of dawn.
It was nice and cool outside and a great breeze was blowing, so we all got up, dressed, and fed, and went outside. We weeded everywhere that needed weeding - including all the grass that has spread into the strawberry bed. Talk about tedious! We were pleased to discover that we have little buds growing everywhere - strawberries, cherries, tomatoes, and even a jalapeno pepper! This will sound crazy but who knew a little tiny jalapeno could be so cute??? Certainly cuter than my children at 3:00am....

Rating: 2 VERY Sour Patch Kids and 4 Lollipops