Freemotion's food journal: Expanding the gardens, pics p 53

[Javamama]

Thanks for the list! It's just good to refresh the brain every now and then, you know?
I would probably be much lower carb if I wasn't feeding other people. I just wouldn't even have itin the house. But I'm not the only one doing the shopping. DH is completely absent minded about it. My kids are great eaters, lots of veggies, but gosh they are never full! And then I use bread, potatoes and rice to help that. They wear me down with their energy and appetites.
Public school is my worst enemy in this battle right now They get so much crap at school! From lunches, to soda for rewards, to birthday parties ever few days. It makes me furious. I am seeing the same food addiction signs in my daughter that I deal with and I'm trying to educate without overwhelming or making them hate me for it. Such a balance...I'm rambling.

I usually have my coffee down to barely sweet, with a dollop of cream most days. I think you are right on about my craving - it's not the caffeine, it's the sugar. Stupid sugar!
Funny thing is - I can drink tea straight. So yep, I think I'm turning my coffee into a undercover dessert.


Did you see that I found a solution to the boring veggies? Changing up the flavors has worked well.

I may take your class next time around. It's probably alot of review for me as far as knowledge goes, but it will force me to have discipline that I need.

 

[freemotion]

Yep, it will be review, but I get into a lot more detail and science than I can here, so it will still be worth it. Also, a lot of the value of the 12 weeks of classes is in the encouragement and support, and the ability to ask questions in an ongoing way, along with enough time to make things a habit and to trouble-shoot on an individual basis. Well worth it. I have a lot of happy graduates! It makes me super-happy when a former student wants to teach this to others.....

 

[Javamama]

Oh I love the little details and science stuff! It's all fascinating to me.

 

[freemotion]

A couple of items of interest....a local LMT colleague of mine called looking for eggs. When she came to pick them up, she told me that her husband couldn't eat eggs anymore as they made him very sick, but they wanted to see if my eggs were any different.

They were. He can eat eggs for breakfast again with no ill effects! Something to consider for those who develop an "allergy" to eggs. Like my "allergy" to milk, which is non-existant with my raw goat's milk.

My IBS symptoms are starting to return and are picking up speed now that I don't have the raw milk every day. I will try to conscientiously eat ferments daily, which I haven't been doing lately, and see if that is enough. I was 99% better, only having a mild episode if I ate food that I did not prepare myself, either at a restaurant or a friend's home.

I made some jellies for my family this week. The folks bought some jams, looking for all-fruit, and accidentally ended up with some with splenda. So I bought some juices and made 13 half-pints. I made cherry with sour cherry juice and liquid stevia. I made elderberry-pomegranate-grape with just a touch of stevia, and cabernet grape with no sweetener at all. And I made one jar of elderberry-pomegranate-grape-cherry with the leftovers of all the batches. That should keep us for a while. I'll make some strawberry jam in July when the berries come in, and will sweeten it with pomegranate juice or maybe white grape juice frozen concentrate....haven't checked the label on that yet, so it remains to be seen.

The tom turkey and the guinea cock were beating up the white rock rooster yesterday and made him bloody. So my dad put him in a dog cage last night in the feed storage area, and processed him this morning. He is aging in the fridge, and will be dinner on Thursday. He was maybe 11 months old, not sure as he was given to me before crowing age with a group of "pullets." We still have three roosters to fertilize eggs for this spring's hatching. And the hen turkey still has five of the chicken chicks that she is raising....so far, so good.

I bought 20 lbs of suet yesterday and have half of it ground up and in the dutch oven now, rendering down for future soapmaking. I also want to make a small batch of suet cakes for the birds that are returning from migration and will be nesting. I only feed the wild birds until late spring, then they are on their own until fall migration starts. Then I feed them through the winter.

The grass is coming up and the chickens are grazing. I've seen the goats trying to get some of it, too, but it is still a bit sparse and tiny for them to bother with it much. I do like that they are trying, because it gets their system used to it gradually. Soon, I hope, we won't be feeding much hay and will not have to buy any until next fall. I have a few bales of alfalfa mix left, and will need a few for those rainy summer days when the lactating does are stuck inside. Hopefully I will have enough to last until I scythe my field around the end of June or early July.

 

[freemotion]

Cleaning out the hay storage area today....I need to get those two rescue cats out of the buck house where they have been incarcerated for almost nine days now. They will be moved into the hay storage for a couple days, then set free. I sincerely hope they stay and get fat on rats and chipmunks! I have visions of them both disappearing within seconds of the door opening, never to be seen again. Worse, getting squished on the road out front......hence the extra caution.

We have nine bales of alfalfa left. The grass is growing, as is the white clover. Will we make it? I think we will only have to buy a bale or two here and there to get through rainy days and the nights when the does are locked up for kidding and when the kids are small. Not bad. Just have to make it to that first scything. I will also supplement with bundles of leafy branches cut when I walk the dogs.

I have to go back out now and continue cleaning....dh is going to help me bag up two large, full barrels of corn that went blue with mold....aaaarrrrrrgh! We need to get it to the dump. I considered throwing it into the woods, composting it, or burying it, but all three ideas will potentially attract critters that I don't want here....rats, chipmunks, squirrels, racoons, etc. And will support their large litters of more rats, chipmunks, squirrels, racoons, etc. We only have two small cats on the job. And that remains to be seen.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Maybe I missed it, but how are you making jams and jellies with no sugar? Is there a certain type of pectin?

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Maybe I missed it, but how are you making jams and jellies with no sugar? Is there a certain type of pectin?

I bet she is using Pomona's pectin with calcium. You do not even have to heat the fruits to make it.
MMMMMM, I need to start a new batch of my fermented blueberry syrup.

 

[Javamama]

Oh I must hear about this no sugar jam! Unless you use stevia - then forget about it I'm trying, but I still don't like it.

 

[freemotion]

I haven't found the Pamona anywhere around here, but I got four of the Ball No-Sugar pectin on clearance last fall. I tasted the juices and the juice mixes and only added stevia if needed. You really can't taste the liquid stevia if it is in something that has a strong enough taste. I no longer need things to be as sweet as I used to, either, so I don't use much stevia.

Once I got the juice mixtures tasting right, giving various family members an opportunity to express their opinions, too, I followed the directions on the pectin package and used my pressure canner....without the pressure....to do all 14 at once in a water bath.

Bubblingbrook, there is a very strict rule here. You are not allowed to mention a recipe without posting it in the recipe section!!! And give a link for future readers!

Even though I just did. Although following directions on a box doesn't really count, does it?

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

Pomona's pectin

oh.. love this!! you can get it online at amazon i believe. i found it in a little shop in our tiny town but not in any of the bigger chains.

happy friday, Free!