A How-To Kind Of Post

First of all, let me offer this disclaimer. Not because I feel the need to apologize, but because I want to be sensitive to your level of...sensitivity. :-)


***The slideshow in this post has lots of pictures of raw chicken. It's an instructional post, but knowing how I felt about looking at, much less handling, raw meat before our "buying meat in bulk" journey began 5 years ago, I won't hold it against you if you decide to skip this one. I WILL whole-heartedly encourage you NOT to skip it though. I still don't enjoy the task of cutting up whole birds, but it no longer bothers me in the slightest!


I also am no expert. I know my home economics teacher had us cut up a whole chicken way back when, but I had no clue when I started this venture. Really, no clue. Now, with lots of practice under my belt, I'll share some tips I've gleaned along the way, and in a future post, share a few of the reasons why we've chosen this food source route.


I hope these posts educate and inspire you to give pastured poultry a try...or to at least buy chicken whole and fresh and local. It's alittle more work upfront, but the monetary savings can be substantial, even if you just buy what is available at your local grocery store.


Double click on the slideshow below. Captions will accompany each picture. You can adjust the speed or click pause to view frame by frame. You may also view the slideshow larger by clicking on the full screen option.

It's Been A Long Process...

...me becoming a domestic. I fought it initially. I rebelled inwardly. But, by God's grace, I have come to not only enjoy being at home full-time--I love it.

Do I enjoy every part of it? Um, NO. It's full of menial tasks and there are 101 things I'd rather do somedays. But, when I have a proper focus, I know that I am doing important work, and what my husband and I feel is best for our family.

It is during weeks like this past one, that I appreciate all-the-more my heritage of hard-working homemakers. Last Thursday the peaches I had ordered were ready to preserve, so my mom and Nana Ruth came to help. (Thank you Lord, again, for the blessing of living close to our families! After 7 years of living apart, I appreciate it so much more.)

Goodness. What a job! It took us 5 hours to finish the 3 crates (1 1/2 bushel). The result = 44 quart jars. (Well, if you count the 5 jars I forgot to put syrup into before canning. Silly me!)



Natalia was such a willing helper. She put the peaches in the sink so we could wash them, and helped me mix the raw sugar into warm water to make syrup. (What a difference a year makes!)

Grandma and Natalia taking a little rest while Mommy finished up the cooking part.


Waiting for them to pop, pop, POP! :-)

I didn't can any other fruit this summer, just blanched and froze corn, lima beans, and green beans. I may still can some tomato or spaghetti sauce if our transition-back-to-school schedule allows for it. And in late September I'll freeze applesauce.

It sure is a lot of work, but when I open up that jar or container of whatever come January, it'll be satisfying to know where it came from.

Extra Hands

Adam makes a beeline for the laundry in the hallway as soon as he hears those doors open. He's recently discovered how much fun it is to take things out for Mommy. (And now Mommy has to be ever-so-vigilant that he doesn't put something IN as well!)

Here are some pictures from our APPLESAUCE making day this past week. Mom and I remarked what a difference a year makes in terms of a certain young helper we had. This year, with Grandma giving most of the instruction (Mommy had her hands full with another young one for part of the morning), Natalia did very well and actually helped! (Notice the lack of quotations marks around that word.)

Washing the apples.

Pot full of pink yumminess.

The fancy shmancy operation. :o)

Stirring in the sugar.

(I put this on facebook but wanted to recall it here too.) Later that day Natalia was telling Pete how she hurt her hand alittle bit when she was helping Grandma stir the sugar into the hot applesauce. When he began to comiserate with her about it though, she quickly added, "But I didn't die."

Good to know, eh? LOL.

Resolutions

Being a homemaker is one of those job descriptions that is all-encompassing. And it seems there is always room for improvement.

I feel I've grown in some aspects, like cooking. The other night my husband was oohing and ahhing over something I whipped up (especially when he heard I didn't use a recipe) and I blushed and beamed my thanks. You see, when we were first married I knew how to bake cookies and cake, make scrambled eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches, and boil water. You laugh but I'm not exaggerating...much.

So I freely confess that in the beginning, my household management (cooking, cleaning, maintaining) as a whole was at best haphazard. Nine years later and things have definately improved, but I still feel I have much room to grow.

I've become a planner, and my detail-orientedness is a blessing (if I don't get too rigid), but I find I strive harder in the areas I like, and in the areas I don't prefer, I get lazy. Like cleaning. (Oh, to have inherited my mother's love-to-clean gene!)

A few weeks ago I began looking ahead to my Fall and started mapping out my weekly schedule as I do every year at this time. This planning session also helps me get back into a regular routine again, which I like and summer always seems to debunk. As I'm doing this I also identify one or two areas in which I want to grow. Last year it was meal-planning and using the cash-only method for grocery shopping. This year I hope to take a more intentional approach towards the non-weekly cleaning in my home.

I know there are websites devoted to such things as this, like Fly Lady for instance, as well as decluttering and removing the look of chaos from your house. I never liked clutter, so that's not necessarily one of my weak points. MY thing is that whenever we're having guests over I see every little smudge on my light switch plates, dust on the ceiling fans, cobwebs on the baseboards, and I launch into psycho mode. Ya got me?

Now, in the midst of all of this planning I'm asking myself, "Where is the balance? Where am I too uptight and rigid? Too lazy and nonchalant? Are my priorities in line? Am I exchanging what is good for what would be best?"

Still...I need a plan.

Any ideas?

How often do you "deep clean"?

Do you routinely go through closets, pantry shelves, and storage spaces?

Are your deep cleaning sessions short and spread out over the year, or sporadic and intense?

How do you manage those countless "little" tasks that are easily overlooked? (Like wiping out the silverware tray.)

(Long comments welcome!)

I've Been Up To My Ears...

...in fresh produce, ice cube trays, and canning supplies. It's not a bad thing--just alot of work to prepare all of this food to store for the winter months.

Every few days it seems I've been doing a new batch of baby food. About the time I empty my frozen little cubes and wash my trays, I've got another batch of something to cook and puree. The abundance of homegrown green beans, carrots, and squash has definately lessened the dollars I would have spent buying baby food this year. Adam loves it too. In the next few weeks I'll add applesauce, peaches and pears to that mix.

Earlier this week my mom and I did freezer corn. It was a smaller production this year...125 ears. That was just the second of the usual three pickings. Some years we've done 350+ ears in one day. We were both kind of glad that we didn't have so much to do since it was such a hot, muggy day already.

I picked up my pears that day too--now it's just a matter of time until they ripen enough to do a batch. Last year it took me three different days to finish them. I just remember finding it hard to stand for such a long period of time at the sink with my big pregnant belly hitting the countertop. :o) This year I'll just have to dodge a little boy, crawling around my feet.

I just love this time of year though and the smells and flavors of the countryside that surround our home. Sending my husband and daughter out the back door for fresh eggs from our Amish neighbor, going to the local outdoor market for watermelon, eating fresh cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, and corn-on-the-cob from my parent's garden. All I have to do is step barefooted into some cool, freshly-tilled soil and I'm transported back to my childhood.

It's a country life...and I love it.

SAHM 101

The ladies over at Girl Talk posted a link to a great article by Heather Koerner the other day. I highly recommend you check it out. (I've linked to it at the bottom of this post.) No matter what stage you're in--single, married w/out kids, a Stay-At-Home-Mom with young or older children, an empty nester...it'll challenge your mindset about "homemaking" and bring fresh vision.

One quote that summed up my attitude lately was, "I know she'll face days when she can't see the eternal in one more jar of pureed peas and that the laundry doesn't look noble, it just looks filthy."

I'm praying that instead of seeing just the external, I will more intentionally look for the eternal in my day to day laboring. (And am asking for perseverance till this wintery weather is passed and we can get out in the sunshine...I realize this is a unique season of life too and it will be a thing of the past soon enough!)

I want my attitude to reflect Dorothy Patterson's words below. I want to keep my legacy in mind as I structure my day, discipline my daughter, and teach her to serve joyfully. I want to be generous in spirit, humble in heart, and intentional in my laboring.

Homemaking — being a full-time wife and mother — is not a destructive drought of uselessness but an overflowing oasis of opportunity; it is not a dreary cell to contain your talents and skills but a brilliant catalyst to channel creativity and energies into meaningful work ... it is neither limitation of gifts available nor stinginess in distributing the benefits of those gifts, but rather the multiplication of a mother's legacy to the generations to come and the generous bestowal of all God meant a mother to give to those He entrusted to her care.

Read the full length article by Heather Koerner here.

Tuesday Tidbits

Not much is happening here aside from the everyday stuff...it's the season of life we're in right now. Most days we're staying at home where it's warm, dry and predictable. I am starting to look forward to the warmer temps of springtime so we can be outside and take walks, but for now I'm thankful for the excuse to hibernate. It's nice not having too much to do except nurse, play with Natalia, enjoy our baby boy, and quiet evenings as a family.

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Natalia continues to mimic my every move...it's alittle scary sometimes. It's not uncommon to find her changing her baby doll's diaper. (There's a 1 wipe limit though.) Check out the lifted leg on that baby! HA HA

And every time I merely open a kitchen cabinet door she's right there beside me wanting to lend her expertice. Today we made chocolate chip scones. YUM. If you want the super simple recipe go here. I just substituted the same amount of chips for raisins.

And Adam is a baby constantly in motion except when he's sleeping. He's smiling more frequently, cooing some, and holding that head up high. I'm guessing he's close to 10 lbs. now at 6 weeks old. The boy likes to eat! :o)

Can't you see alittle Pete in him now? :o)

I think he's the cutest little man ever and can't stop kissing his cheeks!

Monday Madness

What a busy day!

After trying repeatedly to fall asleep last night (baby was practicing his karate and boxing--sometimes at the same time) morning seemed to come too quickly. But we had a full day planned and by 8am we were on the road.

First I had another ECHO at the nearby hospital. Adam was in fine form, squirming all over the place, making the scan as difficult as possible for the tech and doctor. :o) I did get some good pictures in the end though, and thought I'd try to share one with you all. You'll have to forgive the quality of the picture--I had to take a picture of the picture. (The large white spot on the right is just above his left eyebrow and you can sort of make out an arm beside his face.) Oh, and once again everything with his heart is looking great. I go back in 6 weeks and that may be it...we'll find out then.

Then it was a quick trip to the grocery store after picking Natalia up, lunch, and putting her to bed before Grandma came.

Two weeks ago when canning tomatoes, I made the mistake of mentioning to Natalia that we would see Grandma that day. I didn't say when, and other than mentioning that briefly right after waking up that morning, I didn't reiterate it. Wouldn't you know she quietly lay in bed for 45 minutes, and as soon as my mom opened the front door we could hear her through the monitor calling, "Mammaw! Mammaw! Are you coming to see me?" Her door was shut and I even had the stereo on softly to muffle our voices!

Today, "mum" was the word! :o) She still only slept for an hour. But, we successfully canned 25 qt. of peaches with the assistance of a very enthusiastic little helper! I tried a firmer clingstone variety called Baby Gold. YUM YUM! Here's a picture of Natalia getting in on the action. (Notice the fake fruit in her bowl!)

Aren't They Pretty?

Well, we'll see if my first attempt works...so far nearly all of my lids have "popped". That's a good thing though--it means the lids have sealed properly.

My mom came over yesterday to help me with my 1/2 bushel, which yielded 18--16 oz. jars of small diced tomatoes. It's a good thing she did too because SOMEONE, who will remain nameless, did not nap yesterday despite many attempt on Mommy's part prior to starting the project. And it is a project. Canning is one of those things that once you start, you've got to keep going. Time is of the essence!

I asked my mom, how did you do this when my siblings and I were young? "You relied on them taking a nice long nap!" she said. :o) I'm so glad she was here. By the end of our 2 1/2 hour project I was exhausted...still hoping for that increase in energy!

Here is the end product. Aren't they pretty?

On another note, tonight Natalia and I are headed into the mall. I am still searching for a decent fitting pair of maternity jean capris. It's difficult enough for me to find the non-maternity kind, but I've decided to go to Motherhood Maternity. I'll bite the bullet and hope for a sale! (I just despise spending alot of money.)

I know I've got it pretty easy since a wide selection of maternity things are readily available these days, unlike when my mom would make her own--but it's ridiculous what they charge sometimes! One nice thing is that at least the current style for regular T-shirts is the long length--great for pregnant bellies and less costly than "maternity" T's.

Pray for success-I'm such a run in and run out shopper these days!

I Think I Can, I Think I Can...

Okay, so it's a cheesy title but it was the first thing I thought of.

I was blessed to grow up on fresh veggies and local fruit year-round because my mom spent endless hours canning and freezing the bounties from our garden and neighboring area. Though I often was a party (I'd LIKE to say it was without grumbling or complaining) to the harvesting process, I haven't until recently known how to do the rest.

I've got a lot to learn and am prepared to work my way through a few new ones each year...certainly not all at once! But, so far I've made or help to make strawberry jelly, sweet corn, and applesauce to freeze. And in a few weeks I'll can a large batch of peaches and pears for the first time. I don't make many pies, but there is now a cherry pie filling recipe in my repetoire that Pete DEVOURS! And there are plenty of ways that I've learned how to use the fresh berries my parents grow while they're in season.

But one veggie (or should I say, fruit) continues to puzzle me. TOMATOES

I'm not interested in making my own marinara or pizza sauce--maybe another year--but want to somehow preserve them in diced form for stews and soups.

I'm hoping to find jars no bigger than a soup can for storage and would prefer to can them versus freeze due to space issues when we get our big pork and beef order in the early fall.

Anyone have any suggestions or "recipes"?