Calendula - Son may have Tourette's

[freemotion]

If you like the taste of kale, it holds up well in soups and stews that are pressure canned. I don't care for the taste, but did a batch using it......I prefer collards, which also hold up well in the canner. Personally, I agree with freezing it for use as a cooked green. But do consider it as an addition for the one-jar-meals.

 

[Britesea]

I found I liked it better when I dried the kale and just crumble it into soups, scrambled eggs, or whatever.

 

[AnnaRaven]

I love Kale. So does DH. But he prefers it cooked to death. So I'm going to freeze it for a bit first, to break down some of the fibers. Then it'll cook down faster.

 

[calendula]

I found I liked it better when I dried the kale and just crumble it into soups, scrambled eggs, or whatever.

I was thinking of dehydrating some too. Does it shrink a lot when dried?

 

[k15n1]

If you like the taste of kale, it holds up well in soups and stews that are pressure canned. I don't care for the taste, but did a batch using it......I prefer collards, which also hold up well in the canner. Personally, I agree with freezing it for use as a cooked green. But do consider it as an addition for the one-jar-meals.

I think canning it in a soup is safe enough. The trouble is that it's hard to get the greens on the inside of the jar hot enough. The way the leaves pack together makes it harder to process. But with soup, despite being a little more viscous (thick), there's less greens and more of other stuff that will mix freely as the fluid in the jar boils. And you'll be heating the soup before you eat it, which further reduces your chances of botulism.

 

[Britesea]

Kale shrinks a LOT when dried. Plus I went further and crumbled it into little bits- not quite powder, more just very small flakes. I add a rounded teaspoon to scrambled eggs and I'm estimating that is close to a full serving of greens. It tastes good, and doesn't get slimy (which is the problem I have with overcooked greens). I've also been drying spinach the same way. I haven't tried it, but I read that if you leave them as whole leaves, you can rehydrate them and they are great in lasagna.

 

[calendula]

Seems like there is a lot of tension on this forum lately. I'm almost afraid to post sometimes, but I'll chance it in my journal today.

We've been harvesting a lot from the garden. Popcorn, onions, pumpkins, potatoes, black beans, and sunflowers. Wow, did our potatoes ever do wonderfully, and they are huge! Some of them were bigger than my son's head! We rotated them to a sandier spot in our garden this year because we had some problems with slugs and blight last year. I think it really made a difference since it's been such a wet gardening season for us here.

We canned ketchup this week, which is good because we were all out of the homemade stuff, and the store stuff just isn't as good. I made hamburger steaks for dinner last night and had the homemade ketchup on mine; YUM!

I still haven't done anything with my kale yet though, there just aren't enough hours in the day! This weekend I will get around to it hopefully, along with making some more soap.

I've been thinking of ways that we could generate more income. I know the economy isn't the greatest right now, but I thought maybe I could try selling some stuff. I have bought on ebay before, but never sold, so I'm not exactly sure how it works. I'm going to check it out today and see if that's a good route to take or not. I have a lot of depression glass and collectibles, but I don't think that stuff like that is selling very good now? Not sure. Hopefully I can make a little extra cash though.

Hope everyone's having a great day!

 

[framing fowl]

Hey Calendula! I'd agree with you about the tone around here lately. I've just chalked it up to people being busy and tired with full-on harvest time and more doom and gloom on the news... Good thing we have our journals for a happy place!

Anyway, I don't know if you've had a chance to check out this thread on buying and selling . Maybe some ideas there for you. I just re-started e-bay selling last week after not having done it for about 6 years. Currently, I'm having better luck on craigslist as a reselling option that e-bay. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll see if I can help out!

Keep in mind when checking e-bay for prices that shipping is a huge factor. Shipping prices have gone through the roof lately it seems.


That ketchup sounds yummy! Have you posted the recipe? I dug sweet potatoes this weekend and mine were in sandier soil than last year and did much better also. Super excited!

 

[calendula]

Thanks framing fowl for sharing that link to the buying and selling thread, I will definately read through it!

I posted the ketchup recipe in the kitchen section.

 

[calendula]

For the past couple years my son has been having tics, mostly in his face. Repeated and rapid blinking is his most prominent tic. But, he also make sounds in his throat, which are a little hard to explain in writing, kind of a throat clearing sound. He also repeatedly clears his throat, coughs, and makes other vocalizations. In addition to his tics, my son (who I'll just call E), is a very emotional child. The smallest things will set him off into a whirlwind of crying and screaming, total meltdown.

His teachers since he has started school have pulled thier hair out trying to get him to sit still and pay attention. E is smart as a whip and is ahead most of the other kids in his class academically, but socially, he just does not fit in well. He has ADD or ADHD like behaviors, with a generous dash of Obsessive/Compulsive behavior thrown in there for good measure During class, he will be bouncing around in his desk or crawling around on the floor. They even had to get him something called a T-stool to sit on during carpet time so that he wouldn't be all over the place.

His teacher called me the first week of school complaining about E. She said he is coughing so much that she can't hardly hear herself talking in class, and it is disturbing the other students, and she has scolded him for it because she "can tell it's not a real cough." I said to her, "I don't think he can help it." And she said, "Well it is very disruptive." He comes home from school sad a lot, and says that everybody hates him. It breaks my heart.

I have tried making changes in our diet to see if it would help with his attention problems and tics, but nothing I've tried has worked. I talked with his doctor for a long time at E's last checkup about everything. She recommened that he see a neurologist to be tested for Tourette's Syndrome. So, that is where we are right now with it. I made it clear to her that I am not thrilled with the idea of E being put on any kind of medication, but she said there are other options, like behavioral stuff that we can try. Meds will be a last resort. So, I guess I'm pretty stressed and worried about my little boy right now. It breaks my heart to see him having such a hard time at school, especially when he's so smart. I'm hoping we'll get some answers this Friday though.

In other news, I got part of my kale cooked and frozen. I think next, I will dehydrate some.

I made english muffins this morning using my sourdough starter! They are super yummy!!! I'm proud of this one, it was a bit of work! They aren't quite as pretty as the store ones, but they taste better and that's all we care about.

In sad news, I lost a chicken. The one that got the worst of it from the dog attack finally passed away this weekend. I was totally not expecting it, because she seemed to have gotten so much better, but there she was in the corner of the coop, dead. My FIL asked if we were going to eat her, but I just couldn't do that. We buried her by the garden instead.

Tonight it is off to Parent/Teacher conferences. Not really looking forward to it honestly, because I know it will all be complaints about E. Sometimes it's enough to make me want to homeschool, but I don't know how we would pay the bills if I quit my job. Oh well. Hope everyone's having a good day!