Worm Farming

On the 4th of July we went to a family picnic and came home with worms for a worm farm. I had seen this before but wasn't sure I was ready to take on such a task. When I shared with the family that we normally throw our food waste into the flower beds for composting I was immediately taken outside to see the worm farms.

Inside of current worm farm

After hearing a lot about what I would need to do to have a worm farm I decided I would like to try it. Well, of course if one is interested where would they get the worms? Lucky for me the family had the answer....take some of ours home with you!


I was very hesitant about taking the worms right then since I wasn't prepared for it. With a lot of reassurance that the worms could live in the cup I was given for about a week. The next day I wondered around the house trying to find something to make into a worm farm. E suggested the plastic shoe boxes I had been trying to grow salad in (major failure there...too sandy of dirt).

Current (new) Worm Farm setup

I took the boxes and went to work creating what I had seen at the picnic and putting the worms into their new home. The next day I started reading about worm farming and found out I had setup the new home wrong. I went to work redoing the worm farm and doing it correctly this time. Now we just wait and see if it all goes well...about a month from now I should know how good I'm doing with the worms.

Loving Nature

I was recently reading something about how to enjoy the natural things in life and one of the suggestions was to start taking nature photos. I have done this for many years but hadn't done it recently. So I took out the camera and walked around the yard; I found so many cool things to take pictures of.

Maple Tree in front yard

Above is one of my favorite trees in our yard; the pictures were taken from under the the maple tree. This is the tree that the boys love to climb when they are in the front yard.

Daisy and water drops on the hosta

The Hostas are my hubby's and we love to look at the water drops on the leaves. I was actually looking at this water drop on the hostas when I remembered the artical about taking natural pictures. The Daisies just opened a week or so before hand and I thought they looked really good.

Raspberries and a plant I don't know the name of

We have one raspberry (E taking post text), on the deck out back, and it did make some lovely fruit this year. We didn't actually get to 'gather' it really, as we ate each berry when it came ripe, while hanging out on the deck enjoying the world. Pretty and yummy!

Bleeding Hearts

The Bleeding Heart used to live in the yard, but now resides on the deck as well, and I have to say it seems quite happy there. I absolutely love this plant, and I really can't believe it makes the shape it does. Who came up with that? Kudos!

Since this post was started, there is more in the yard that looks worthy of some good photos. Perhaps there is more to come...

Making Waffles

I was making waffles for the kids the other day and just loved how this looked.

Moved this blog

As you may have noticed this blog moved; this was done so that our family could use the jadeherder.blogspot.com space instead. Sorry for any confussion the move may cause. All the things that were on the jadeherder.blogspot.com are now here and some have been changed a bit (dishwashing soap and freezer biscuits).

Freezer Biscuits Recipe

I found a recipe online for Freezer Biscuits and decided I had to try them. I added wheat flour since we like it better, I used butter instead of shortening since I never have shortening around and I use the egg substitute (never seem to have eggs on hand either). They are very good!

Preparation Time: 15-30 minutes

Ingredients
1 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup milk
1 egg or 2 tbs water, 1 tbs oil and 1/2 tea baking powder

Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cream of tartar; mix well.
2. Cut in butter.
3. Stir in milk and egg until smooth.
4. Turn dough onto lightly floured board or cloth and knead 4 or 5 times.
5. Roll out dough and cut into biscuits.
6. Arrange biscuits on a cookie sheet, cover and freeze.
7. After they are frozen, transfer to and store them in a freezer bag.
8. Do not thaw to bake.
9. Bake in preheated 450 degree F oven for 15 minutes.

Makes 12 to 16 biscuits.

Strawberry/Blueberry Waffles

After making Strawberry and Blueberry Jam, we had 1/2 cup of crushed strawberries, 2 1/2 cups of strawberry/blueberry foam and 1/2 cup of blueberry jam leftover. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with all of this when I first looked at it all but then I remember the kids have been asking for waffles and pancakes and I have been too lazy to make them. So, I decided to make waffles with it all.

Strawberry/Blueberry Waffle batter and waffle iron

Here is what I did:

1/2 cup crushed strawberries

2 1/2 cups strawberry/blueberry foam

1/2 cup blueberry jam

3 cups Krusteaz pancake mix (had this on hand and wanted to use it up)

3 tbs oil

1 cup of water (more as needed)

Mix all together and make waffles.

Makes about 19 waffles

First Strawberry/Blueberry Waffles done.

Jam - Strawberry and Blueberry!

On Friday we went to Costco and got a bunch of strawberries and blueberries (along with many other things); I decided since we had 4 lbs of blueberries and 8 lbs of strawberries we should make jam (I wanted to make sure it didn't go to waste). My mother came over and we made jam out of all the blueberries and half the strawberries. It didn't take as long as I thought it would and we managed to make a bunch of other stuff also.

The container the berries were in.

We used the recipe that comes in the box of pectin. We decided to do both jams at the same time so we could have a few mixed jars. Start the water canner by filling 1/2 full of water and bring to simmer. Sterilize the jars and put the lids in boiling water to sit (not on the heat).

Crushed Strawberries

For strawberry jam you need 6 cups crushed berries (about 4 lbs whole); for blueberry jam you need 6 1/2 cups crushed berries (about 4 lbs whole) and 1/2 cup water. Crush the berries leaving as big of chunks as you like in you jams (some like no chunks others like large chunks) and put into a big pan with water (blueberry jam only).

Crushed Strawberries with pectin in front; Crushed Blueberries with pectin in back

Measure the sugar out into a separate bowl; from the sugar in the bowl take 1/4 cup of it and put into another bowl with a box of no sugar pectin. Mix together well and add to the fruit or fruit and water in the pot. Bring mixture to a rolling boil on high heat stirring constantly.

Make sure your fruit & sugar measurements are exact!

Sugar measured out for both jams (strawberry - left; blueberry - right)

Stir in remainder of sugar quickly and return to a rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Ladle quickly into prepared jars leaving 1/8 inch head space. Process in water canner for 10 minutes.

15 - 1/2 pints cooling after canning (3 mixed, 7 blueberry, 5 strawberry)

Made 15 - 1/2 pints with another 3.5 - 1/2 pints left over (foam, crushed strawberry and blueberry jam) that I used for waffles.

Cost run down (not sure I'm doing this right):
15 - 1/2 pint jars (12 - 1/2 pint jar cost $4.53 + 9% sales tax = $4.94 or $0.42/jar) = $6.30
2 containers of Blueberries from Costco cost $7.99 x 2 = $15.98 ($4/lb or $2/cup)
1 container of Strawberries from Costco cost $6.49 = $6.49 ($1.63/lb or $0.82/cup)
8.5 cups of sugar (10 lbs sugar from Costco cost $4.75 = $0.48/lb or $0.24/cup) = $2.04
2 boxes of pectin from Winco cost $1.98 x 2 = $3.96

Total cost $34.77; made a total of 18.5 - 1/2 pints total. Price per jar is $1.88 not including labor, electric and water for canning process.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate cereal....

A week or more ago I was looking for healthy ideas for breakfast...well ok in general. I happen to go to vegweb.com and they have so much great stuff there. I happen to come across a recipe for cereal that tasts just like Recess Peanut Butter and Chocolate Puffs. I thought it had to be wrong but thought we would try it since my children would LOVE to have something like that for breakfast.


The first time we made it we did it the way they said on the website. We used coco powder (dark), peanut butter and puffed rice cereal (ok they suggested different cereal and regular coco powder); the boys said it was too bitter and wouldn't eat it. The next day or so we were at the store and they asked for chocolate syrup...normally I say no but this day the cereal thing comes to mind and I say yes.

The next morning we try 1 tbs to 2 tbs chocolate and they love it! It is such a big hit that I now make it up before time. I mix about 5 tbs to about 10-15 tbs of chocolate syrup and leave it in the frig. Now when they want the "special cereal" I just take about 1 tbs (yes, that is a lot less than I originally used) of the mixture, warm it so it mixes into milk easier (I microwave for about 30 secs), add the cereal (puffed rice or corn flakes...we use puffed rice but the original recipe called for corn flake like cereal) and mix all together.

The boys LOVE this as you can see!

Things we can make instead of purchase

Ok, I have been thinking and here is the starting list.

Bread - easy we do this already in the bread machine (wheat mostly)
Pita - found a recipe and will be trying it soon...even suggest storing extras in freezer
Tortilla - I have a recipe from Moosewood Cookbook that I want to try. I will also try freezing it at different states and seeing what works (dough rolled and ready to cook and already cooked).
Biscuits - I want to have these ready and in the freezer so the boys can cook them in the mornings in the toaster oven.
Blueberry Jam - I found a recipe or two and a good deal on blueberries at Costco so we are trying this weekend...any leftover blueberries will find their way into pancakes, waffles, muffins or the freezer.
Strawberry Jam - I found a recipe or two and a good deal on blueberries at Costco so we are trying this weekend...any leftover strawberries will be made into breakfast toppings or dessert.
Garlic - We grow elephant garlic and I would like to get a nice enough crop going that we could can a few pints a year.
BBQ Sauce - I found a recipe that I think will be really good and would taste great canned with beans.
Muffins - we do this already but not too often...I would like to make them at least once a month
Waffles - I need to get back to doing this more often, the kids love them and I really don't care for the store bought ones.
Pancakes - I need to get back to doing this more often, the kids love them and I really don't care for the store bought ones.
Baked Beans - I will be using the recipe in the Complete Guide To Home Canning and Preserving...the molasses version (yes, I know this is almost the same as BBQ sauce in the beans)
Can Chickpeas - I do this already since I always want to use the beans NOW for hummus or whatever and they are dry. So, now I can them and have them on hand in the size I want them.
Can Beans - I just started doing this and want to do more of it; it makes using beans much easier and we all like the taste of home canned beans better than store bought (cheaper too).
Applesauce - I use to do this a few years ago but stopped...now that I want to can more I will start doing this more since the boys eat applesauce like crazy.
Apple Pie Filling - we love this in oatmeal and I use it from time to time when I make cinnamon rolls...a wonderful treat!
Can Potatoes - I always want mashed potatoes but when we have potatoes on hand I never seem to use them before they go bad. I figured the easy way around this is to can the potatoes and use them that way. I will be trying this soon and seeing if we like it; it has to be better than instant!
Cranberry Sauce - I found a recipe for making and canning cranberry sauce so I want to try it. We LOVE cranberry sauce on turkey burgers all year long. I just have to find cranberries!
Can Soups - We make a lot of soup in the winter and freeze some of it but I would like to have some canned soup on hand for lunches and other things (cooking). I found a few recipes that look very easy and good that I will be trying out.
All-Purpose Cleaner - I found a recipe at Down to Earth that I would like to try. I have the stuff and this weekend I will be mixing it together and using it to clean the house. Currently we use vinegar & water or baking soda to clean most things in the house but an all-purpose cleaner would be nice to have on hand.
Laundry Soap - I found a recipe at Down to Earth that I would like to try. She uses it in her front loaders which is what we have so it should be ok. We currently use Free and Clear All which I happened to get for a really good price watching ads a few months ago.
Dishwasher Soap - I looked around after posting the first one I found and have decided I like a different one better. I will try it out before posting it to make sure it works ok.
Shampoo - I would like to use Down to Earth's idea for shampoo but I have to try it and make sure I can deal since normally I have to use shampoo and conditioner to get the brush through my hair.
Toothpaste - I found a recipe for this and I really want to try it so tomorrow I will head out with my mother to the drug store and find glycerin so I can made some.

I think that is it for now; I'm sure we will come up with more as we move forward and think a bit more. Currently I'm the one one this venture and I'm dragging the rest of the family along but it won't take much to get my hubby into it all. Once I get on a good schedule he will be very happy (he likes things to be straightened up and it isn't when I'm canning).

I'm thinking of a schedule like below:
Monday - prep work for baking and canning
Tuesday - baking
Wednesday - canning
Thursday - cleaning
Friday - shopping
Saturday - yard work
Sunday - lounge

Actual miles and all for today - 6/20/08

Ok, so we went to Costco this morning and did the major shopping. Costco is about 8 miles round trip and given everything we buy it requires a car. When we were done with Costco we came home and put everything away. Then it was off to WinCo to get the things we couldn't find at Costco. On the way to WinCo we stopped at the gas station and the comic book store to pickup the things that have been on hold for us. This was about 9 miles round trip and also required the car for all the things we got at WinCo.

At the gas station I put $63.58 into my truck; that gave me 14.520 gallons. I think I know how many miles to the gallon I get but to make sure I recorded the mileage the truck was on when I got gas, it was 12492. I will write it down again the next time I fill up so I can find out the miles per gallon.

Shopping...taking the car - 6/20/08

Today we have to go to Costco for our monthly shopping (this is the majority of the shopping for the house; leaving only little things like milk and fresh fruit/veggies to get on weekly basis). Costco is about 4 miles away from us and we need to get a lot of stuff so the car would be required for these trips. While we are out we will also stop at the comic book store and the bank since they are on the way.

I have decided to make a list of all the things we can make instead of purchase and will start posting what things they are and what recipes I'm using. I want to start canning a lot more things so I'm looking at different ideas for that also. Well, I guess I should get out of here since Costco opens at 10am (got to love a business membership) and I want this over as early as possible so we can enjoy our day.

Today's car usage - 6/19/08

Today we drove to the community center for PE, which is just under 3 miles away from us.

Walking would not have been an option given how far away it is, almost 6 miles round trip. E works from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays so if we only had one car, the car would have been here to use anyways. To take the bus, we would have taken us an hour to get there and cost $2.75; not a good option for us either.

I had to put gas in the truck today (it gets about 20 to 25 miles to the gallon), since I don't drive it that much I only put $10 in the tank. The $10 got me 2.283 gallons or 45.66 to 57.075 miles.

I'm starting to think looking into bikes might be a good idea...but how do you do that with a 3 year old. He is happy to ride a trike and I'm sure he would be willing to learn to ride a bike but I don't know if I could get him to do longer trips like todays.

Daily Car Use - 6/18/08

These posts are going to be about what I use the car for (idea from The Simple Dollar). I would like to cut our house back down to only one car but not sure that is a good thing. To find out I will be posting about what I use the car for everyday; this should give me a good idea of if we can handle just one car again or not.

Today was a light day...we drove to the park.

We could have walked or taken the bus. If we would have walked it would have been 1 mile on a busy road to get there or 2 miles on back streets to get there. Making the trip either 2 miles or 4 miles total once we got home. Given that D is only 3 and can only handle about a 1 mile walk at a time I don't think we really could have walked there and still had a good day. If we had taken the bus it would have taken 20 mins, 2 buses and $2.75. That isn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Oh...as a added cool thing...take a look at Walk Score. My address only scored a 25/100...how sad!

Swapping...looking for others...

I have been reading Down to Earth for a few weeks now and LOVE the blog, but I often find myself wondering if I can really handle doing more at home or making more. There are some things I would really like to try, some I would be ok with trying or doing and others there are no way I could do them. This is either because I can stand to even think of myself doing it or some other good reason.

One of the things I would like to try but CAN NOT is making soap. The whole idea of me with Lye is a VERY scary thought. For those of you out there that know me personally totally understand what I'm say but for those that don't here is the deal. I spill everything...I walk into things and I almost always have a 3yr old or 7 yr old hanging around wanting to "help". The thought of Lye in my house is laughable. Everyone and everything would be burned.

Then I started thinking how did they use to deal with this? Then I realized they traded! So, I would like to find others out there that would be willing to trade things we do. Are there others out there would be willing to trade things?

If so please post a comment with how I can get in touch with you. I think it would be nice to have a group of people sharing the things they make. I would even be happy to invite those people to be authors here so they can share the things they do with us all.

Baby Wipes

We have been making baby wipes for awhile now since I am having an issue giving up paper towels. I figure I can better justify keeping paper towels around if I'm using them to make baby wipes also instead of buy wipe along with paper towels. Yes, I know using cloth is better to use for baby wipes and other things but I like my paper towels.

Container to keep them in (I use old store bought wipe container)
Paper towels
water
Burt's Bees Baby Bee Shampoo & Wash

fold paper towels into thirds
put about a teaspoon of Baby Bee Shampoo & Wash in container
fill 1/2 full with water
add folded paper towels
once the paper towels are soaked, turn over container and press wipes down hard to wringe extra water out

Use like regular wipes...these are great for face wipes too and don't have to worry about getting it close to the eyes (tear free)

***********Added after reading something by a pediatrician****************
Use boiled water instead of tap water. This cuts down on bacteria and makes the wipes last months instead of weeks.

Day of the Week Chores...examples from the past

Housewives use to do things on certain days. Here are some examples:

Monday - laundry
Tuesday - iron clothes
Wednesday - scrub floor
Thursday - mend
Friday - sweep
Saturday - bake
Sunday - rest

Monday - wash day
Tuesday - ironing day
Wednesday - sewing day
Thursday - market day
Friday - cleaning day
Saturday - baking day
Sunday - rest

On our trek back to the "finer" life we may try a chore a day list. We already know that you would do more than that chore that day but that would be the one thing that HAS to be done that day. This might help us organize things as we make this transition.

Automatic Dishwashing Soap recipe

We have been using this in an old dishwasher and it seems to work better than the Cascade with Dawn tablets. Becareful with the Dawn...if you put too much in, the dishwasher will over sud (I found that out the hard way).

Ingredients
Washing soda
Borax
Dawn
White vinegar

Directions
Mix 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup borax in a container with a tablespoon scooper.

For each dish load:
1 tbs scoop
4 drops of Dawn dish soap (optional)
Fill jet dry area with white vinegar