Cattle Day

 Trying to see if this old girl still had it in her to saddle a horse. It worked. 

(you can safely blame little Victoria for the loose baggy pants. )

 Its good to see my that daughter has the same taste for photos as I do, as it was she took this photo.

 Ah it felt good to be back in the saddle again, something I haven't felt since oh about two years or so ago. Just like the good ole days when it was just the two of us.

 Little miss sherriff didn't feel too great. She has the chicken pox.

 Joseph might just turn into a cowboy yet.

 Besides roping little brother, he's also good at calf roping.

 Action in the pasture.

 Stubborn, stubborn head. But stuff like this always adds to the fun of the cowboys.

 Cousins watching.

 My handsome cowboy.

 Yeah that hurts but just for a little while.

This is how we decided to cook our chili beans for cattle day. I obtained this homemade cookstove recently and decided I wanted to use it to cook my chili.

 My dutch oven is a perfect fit for it. 

That was cattle day for the family. We all had loads of fun. Hope you enjoyed the shots!

Pasta - from scratch

Now and then I have to do a post on making things from scratch, just to prove that what my blog title states is in fact true, sometimes...

Joseph, thank goodness, is my muscle power around here. I get most of my wheat ground by him. Of course, there is a little incentive I came up with to get him to do it, and now I sometimes have to stop him from grinding too much, as it is hard work for a little guy.

Jessica gets the easier part, making the noodles. I love that pasta machine! And the homemade pasta. When we got married, two of hubby's sisters gave us cash to spend, and he said I could spend it, and I couldn't think of anything I'd rather buy than a pasta machine. Probably not one of the first things every bride thinks about, but my Grandma had one, so... I have never been sorry.

Ok, not that we eat only homemade pasta, but one of these days I am going to make a big batch to have some on hand.

Something's always brewing...

...in my pantry. Ever since I got my book, Nourishing Traditions, (which no mom should be without), I have been eager to try some of the lacto fermented drink recipes.

 

Crabboo wine, blackberry wine, noni wine (we have a noni tree on our yard) and kombucha. I like to use coffee filters for the covers. In this country there are too many little critters that try to find their way into everywhere.

 This is ginger ale.

 Kombucha. It's THE drink for this hot country. So far I have a few customers who buy this drink from me. It's the perfect substitute for sweet tea. I ferment it for a few days, then bottle it with a little dash of sugar, cap it tightly and let sit for a day or two more. This way it is as fizzy as pop. Yummy! 

 

 Belizean blackberries from a tree. They give the absolute best wine I have ever tasted. I made over a gallon.

Sauerkraut. I am getting hooked on this! We are going back to our real German roots with this stuff. In Iowa in every German restaurant you could get some. Then I wasn't impressed with it, but now that I make it myself, I love it. 

I also make yogurt about once a week which we eat with raw honey, and have a little drink of kefir (milk champagne :) now and then. Daniel and me both love the beet kvass, but it takes the children a little longer to learn to drink that one. A little sip of wine before bed, (if I'm not pregnant...) and I feel very healthy and happy.

So, why all this fermented stuff? because I want us all to have a healthy intestinal system. Parasites and yeast infections don't appreciate soured fermented foods like these, so why not eat more! Lacto fermented foods are full of enzymes, and you can't get too many of those. Enzymes help us digest food better, so it is recommended to have foods like this for every meal. I've got no problem eating a little sauerkraut every day. Or drinking some great tasting kombucha with my meal. I can't wait to try out more of Sally Fallon's recipes! Healthy eating has never been more fun.

The Family Dinner Table

Perfect Dinner Table

A table cloth that's slightly soiled

Where greasy little hands have toiled;
The napkins kept in silver rings,
And only ordinary things
From which to eat, a simple fare,
And just the wife and kiddies there,
And while I serve, the clatter glad
Of little girl and little lad
Who have so very much to say
About the happenings of the day.

Four big round eyes that dance with glee,
Forever flashing joys at me,
Two little tongues that race and run
To tell of troubles and of fun;
The mother with a patient smile
Who knows that she must wait awhile
Before she'll get a chance to say
What she's discovered through the day.
She steps aside for girl and lad
Who have so much to tell their dad.

Our manners may not be the best;
Perhaps our elbows often rest
Upon the table, and at times
That very worst of dinner crimes,
That very shameful act and rude
Of speaking ere you've downed your food,
Too frequently, I fear, is done,
So fast the little voices run.
Yet why should table manners stay
Those tongues that have so much to say?

At many a table I have been
Where wealth and luxury were seen,
And I have dined in halls of pride
Where all the guests were dignified;
But when it comes to pleasure rare
The perfect dinner table's where
No stranger's face is ever known:
The dinner hour we spend alone,
When little girl and little lad
Run riot telling things to dad.

Edgar Albert Guest

Bread, -yum!

I had heard of sprouted wheat bread but never knew it was pretty easy to make some seriously delicious and fully healthy bread with soaked wheat flour which does pretty much the same thing as sprouting the grains (correct me if I'm wrong). I took this photo after I tried this recipe for the first time, and I will let the picture say the rest. Healthy eating is fun!

Let's make some Ice Cream!

Ice Cream. While it is still summer. That is scary. As if summer is almost over, and I don't want it to be!

Get your gear out, and let's get cranking! I always feel so much better about eating ice cream that I have literally worked for, and once I have cranked that handle for 20 minutes, I have lost enough calories to deserve some, believe you me. (This is a genuine old fashioned ice cream maker that I convinced my husband to buy me for a gift after seeing it in an antique store... ;) )

How does that look?

I thought so...

I threw some strawberries in the blender with some soft ice cream and made a quick flavored variety. Hmmm, I think I could use some just now. After all, its still summer...

Ice cream

1 1/2 qt. whole milk

1/2 qt. whipping cream

2 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

2 T gelatin

1 T vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

Soak the gelatin in a little cold milk.

Scald the milk with the sugar and egg yolks, stirring to prevent burning.

Pour hot mixture over gelatin mixture; add salt, stir and cool.

Whip the cream and once the milk mixture has cooled completely, add it to the whipped cream with an egg beater. Add vanilla, and freeze. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, try to stir as often as possible once it has started to freeze. 

How about a summer refreshment?

Take some fresh, organic, unpasteurized, non-homogenized cows or goats milk. That's lots of digestible calcium right there!

And some frozen bananas. Potassium, vitamin A, fiber, protein, and lots more nutritious goodness!
Spinach, fresh from your garden or frozen from your freezer. Either way, you will get all that iron, calcium, vitamin A and too many more vitamins and minerals to mention here.

How about some essential peppermint oil? The real thing! Not only does it taste wonderful, but it is very good for your stomach- and some! Now blend all that goodness together. What do you get?

Something beautiful. Something delicious. Something healthful. Something very, very refreshing on a hot summer day.

Something so good the children don't even notice mommy taking their picture as they are sipping away. Here is the recipe:

Green Mint Slushie (or frostie) (or smoothie) (OK, help me give this drink a name!)

2 frozen bananas
2 handfuls spinach
2 drops peppermint oil (no more!)
3-4 cups milk

Blend till smooth and green with no sign of the spinach, except the color. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

My children would want to drink this every day. And you can't even taste the spinach. How good is that?!

What we're enjoying nowadays

With summer here and the garden doing good (and the weeds), we have begun to enjoy some fruits of our labor. First to be ready is the spinach and green onions, radishes, leaf lettuce and turnip greens. That was our salad almost every day for a while. How good! And after reading about all the good nutrients found in turnip greens, I enjoyed them even more. I have no doubt this salad is a good liver or blood cleanser after going all winter with no fresh greens.

Well, I shouldn't say no greens, because I did buy some from the store, but it doesn't compare. I am a big believer in eating what's in season where you live. So that would mean no green salads in winter, right? I will study that a bit more, before I have to eat my words too...

That fresh leaf lettuce makes any boring sandwich into a feast. I could eat one of these every day for lunch when it is too hot to cook; with a glass of sweet tea to go with it, of course...