HennyPenny's random thoughts. New set of goals!

[Farmfresh]

Look for a scale used by "food weighers" - you know those people that weigh portion sizes. You want something accurate to the oz and easy to use.

I agree lye is probably the most expensive ingredient in my Homestead Soap recipe. I rendered my own fats (you can often get suet for free at a butcher shop or low cost at a grocery store. Ask the butcher). Suet can be rendered to become tallow a major soap ingredient. Lard is easy to find, ready to use, at the Hispanic section in your local store. People in the "know" still cook with lard and use it for GREAT pie crusts. Even grade A olive oil is fairly cheap at the local warehouse store. (Low grade olive oil is actually better for soap than EVOO & cheaper!)

The fancy vegan soaps that contain exotic oils - almond oil, avocado oil, palm, coconut, shea butter, jojoba butter - are great bath soaps. They are also expensive to make. Why learn on expensive ingredients? Also the good old fashioned animal fat soaps really work well - even in the bath. Pure olive oil soap is one of the most mild you can make - called true castile.

Poverty is one of my best motivators for hunting bargains!

 

[TanksHill]

Henny, your bread looks amazing and I love pizza on a stone. Such a big difference.

I know how you feel with the "homemade anything" trend. Just remember when you do finally get that land you will be ready. You will have the knowledge and ability to do anything you desire. At least that's what I keep telling myself. g

 

[lorihadams]

Let me just tell you something, don't ever apologize for being a dreamer! I think that's why all of us on here get along so well cause we are all dreamers, you have to be to be self sufficient. How else could we think up all these amazing projects that we see every day on here?

 

[big brown horse]

RANT alert!

'Kay, so we're getting the feedback from the two day open house, and they liked the house, said it showed better than the one next door, and loved the backyard, BUT. They said the house had a "distinct smell." This house has been on the market for TWO MONTHS and not ONE person has commented on that. In fact our Realtor said that my house was good 'cause I have an indoor cat and the house does NOT smell at all. My Realtor! She would have told me, because that would be a big deal in showing the house! Why mention that it DOESN'T smell, if it does???

What smell is this? Is is musty? I had windows open! WHAT.

And when I get home from all the open houses, they place STINKS of cologne/perfume! Silly Realtors smelled the place up! I asked my Realtor if she smelled anything, or what it was, but I haven't heard back. I'm just ticked off! Go look at a house built in the 70s and then tell me my house smells! I know that since I live here I'm kinda immune to it, but my mom doesn't live here, and she only visits about once a month and she's also BAFFLED.

MY HOUSE DOES NOT SMELL.

From the wording in the email I can't tell if just one couple said it smelled, or more than one. If it was more than one, WHAT DID I DO? ARG.

/rant.

ETA: My Realtor just replied and said she has no idea what smell, but she's asking the one who was at the open house.

O.K. I am in the process of reading your journal, I haven't gotten to the last few pages yet. So someone else might have mentioned this to you, but...

We have bought and sold 3 houses since 2002 for profit and to get into better schools etc. It just sorta happened that way. Anyway, sometimes people trying to buy a house will complain the most when they are really interested. It is a (VERY RUDE) tatic some buyers use to wear down the homeowner and make them feel less confident so when they give you a lower offer than you want you feel more inclined to accept it.

The couple told their realtor that our house had a peculiar smell too. (It smelled like fresh paint, which to me is better than DOG.) That wasn't their last complaint. They came 3 more times! They complained about petty stuff everytime. Then they made a low balled offer. We declined and sold it a week later for almost the full price to someone else.

 

[Beekissed]

This weekend my mom came to visit, and brought her baking stone with her! I made pizza dough for the first time, and it was really good. And today I made French bread on the stone also. I hadn't made that before, either. It turned out surprisingly good. I'm pining for this recipe, which I might try tomorrow. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cheese-filled-sweet-braid-recipe

Someone stop me!

I finally made a homemade powdered laundry detergent with grated Fels Naptha, washing soda, and Borax. Haven't used it yet. (Probably will on my homemade feminine pads)

I've been researching homemade soap a LOT. It's like a disease! I can't really get started on that because I don't have a scale to weight the ingredients, and also am extremely short on money. It would be pushing it to even buy the lye, I'm so broke.

I got my beeswax, which I'll eventually try to make chapstick with. And emulsifying wax for lotion. And essential oils. You can see why I'm broke?! The sweet orange oil is the BEST. Does anyone know if Apple essential oil exists? I ordered from here, and got the order in about three business days. http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/

My hair is extremely soft and doesn't get nearly as oily with the castille soap and vinegar rinse.

I've become so obsessed with homemade things, and generally being less wasteful. No one knows, or even cares, where anything comes from anymore. I'm one step away from buying a few acres and never leaving them.... Okay, so I'm about ten years away from being able to afford ANYTHING, much less property, but I think about it every time I look out my back window and can count six houses.

Now I'm off to haunt soap making sites, and do what I always do. Make lists!!

Henny, I too have become nearly obsessed with this self-sufficiency thingy....which is strange to me, as I am a very laid-back type person who never obsesses over anything! For the past few years its been building, from reading more and more about it, to putting it all into practice.

I was raised on a homestead, along with my siblings, but I'm the only one that thinks it was a great experience. More and more I am wanting to turn back the clock. There are quite a few people who are doing the same thing and also feel like its become nearly an obsession. I prefer to think that God is preparing me for something....I don't know what, but it comforts me to think that whatever it is, I'll be prepared.

Dream on....its a lot healthier than developing an addiction to a substance, a TV program or shopping.

 

[big brown horse]

O.k. I have finally caught up with your journal.

Have you sold the house? Well if not, GOOD LUCK and I hope the right person comes along very soon!

Gig Harbor is about 10 miles away from our house. Very pretty there, well its pretty everywhere around here! (We have not been to Bellingham yet.)

Your bread looks sooo yummy! I used to always make my own breads until I ended up at Weight Watchers! HA, no more bread making for me!! French bread was my weakness, it is sooo easy to make too.

I agree with everyone on this site when they feel obsessed about becoming more SS. We have chickens, St. Bernards, horses, a big garden (well, big for us) rain barrels, a Honda Civic (our only car for this huge family), a big orchard, and bikes. (All of our clothes and animals were recycled, nothing was purchased new. Goodwill is my best friend!! We rescued our horses, the dogs came from the St. Bernard rescue, a rabbit from Humane Society and a cat from "CAP" some animal rescue place in Houston.) We rarely turn our lights on during the day and refuse to turn on the heat, we are still cooling our blood from our TX days!

We had to escape Houston last October after Hurricane Ike pounded our house. We had enough. Now we are living our dream, in the most SS way...and getting better at it everyday. (It is hard to be SS in Houston because it was so durn HOT you couldn't survive with out a.c.)

 

[hennypenny9]

Big Brown Horse- No, it hasn't sold yet. I wish people were more serious about our house... Everyone likes it, but not enough to make an offer. Other than the smell comment, no one has said anything bad about the house, that I could change. (I can't add another garage bay, or a big laundry room!) And since the hose next door is for sale, too, they like to play that. "Oh, well your house is nice, but the house next door... *insert snippy comment here*" It's such a pain. And the house next door is vacant, and the owner isn't even trying. But if someone looks at our house, they pop over next door. So they get the same amount of showings, for no effort.

BeeKissed- I didn't grow up on a homestead, but I did live in a great log cabin. I didn't always like it, as I had NO privacy. But it is easily heated entirely by a free standing wood stove. When the power went out for seven days, it wasn't a problem. Our water is supplied from a well, and the well can run on a generator, so we always have running water. I have some houseplans for when I have enough money to build. It's my dream. But I don't want a big house! Here's one of my current favs. http://www.familyhomeplans.com/plan_details.cfm?PlanNumber=76001&src=search

And this is the only pic of the house I grew up in. My parents built it themselves. They took a class to learn how.

 

[big brown horse]

Oh, I forgot to tell you that you can get a very cheap baking stone at Lowes etc. Go and buy the largest (mine, one foot square) terracotta tile you can find. I think I paid .99c for mine. Make sure it is not polished or glazed. They are easy to find. I swear it is just as good as the one from the fancy kitchen stores. Pizzas are much better baked this way.

 

[freemotion]

I mentioned this on another thread, but it is important enough to post here. I asked my father, when he had his flooring store and sold tile, for a big sample tile to bake on. He told me not to, as they put all kinds of nasty stuff in flooring tile, as it is not regulated for food use. Stuff that can leach into the food and come out more when heated. Please use caution!!!

 

[big brown horse]

I got the idea from a Alton Brown cookbook. I hope it isn't bad. I thought it was just kiln fired clay! At least that is what Alto Brown said.