Strawberry Jam

My dear Grandpa Crane loved homemade jam. Whenever he had toast, he would pile the jam as thick as the bread itself. Growing up, we never ever bought jam from the store. My mom always had jars and jars of homemade strawberry, apricot, and raspberry jam (sometimes blackberry and peach too). We knew no other way. Jam came from fruit, not from the store. I hope my children will grow up to appreciate homemade jam...which leads me to our project this week- Homemade Strawberry Jam! Strawberries from California were on sale for $1/carton this week, so I took advantage of a great deal. I made a single batch first (because it's been a little while and if I messed it up it's not a big deal). Then I made a double batch the next day. I make freezer jam which is truly as simple as can be. Start by washing and drying your strawberries. Remove the stem and dice them (a job for mom only). Once they are chopped, mash them up. Kids love helping with this part. I don't like to get them too mashed because I like jam with lots of chunks of fruit.

Next, add the sugar and let it sit at least 10 minutes. (Follow the instructions on your pectin package.) The sugar will really break down the fruit, so that's why I like to leave some larger pieces.

After you let it sit, stir in the pectin and water (as in the instructions).

Pour it into jars with room at the top for freezer expansion and you have yourself the best jam in the world. This honestly took a half an hour. Blogging about it took longer than the project itself! Three recipes made enough jam to last our family for a year, but I'm sure we'll be giving some away to friends and family...if you are lucky!

An EGG!!!

Just when I was getting so frustrated with those darn chickens- we get this...AN EGG!! A beautiful brown egg. One of our Rhode Island Reds is a little older than the others, so she will be laying for about a month before the others start. This first egg is pretty petite, but that's normal. As you can see, JoJo is a little excited about it...we all are! Breakfast tomorrow will be extra exciting!

Our Garden

We actually don't have a ton of backyard space. Our garden and trees are actually in the side yard area (also where we keep the chicken coop). We have a few planter pots around our house as well. We are thinking of planting green beans because those could grow up a lattice and they don't need much horizontal space. You really don't need a lot of space to grow your own fruits and vegetables. We aren't pros at it either. We're just trying to learn it together as a family- see what works, what doesn't. Looking at neighbors gardens for ideas and advice is a great idea. What grows better in the spring in your climate? What side of the house should you grow lettuce? Where should you plant your basil so it's protected from the wind?

Here's our two garden beds. We planted a "spring mix" of lettuce in January and we've been eating it for a while now. You haven't had lettuce until you've had it straight out of the garden. I never buy lettuce at the store because this stuff just keeps growing back! We never have to worry about our lettuce going bad or being contaminated. The other bed we planted in February and haven't seen harvest from it yet. It will be tomatoes, peppers, and green onions.
Herbs:
We LOVE having fresh herbs. Have you tried buying fresh herbs in the store?! Expensive! Plus, I love being able to just cook without having to plan out all my herbs ahead of time. Many times the store-bought herbs will go bad before I even have a chance to use them! I love knowing that if I make Mexican, I always have cilantro. If I make Italian, I always have fresh Basil and Oregano. Roasted Chicken? Just add fresh Rosemary, Thyme, and Sage. It makes cooking fun and simple. Of course when these plants mature a little more, we'll have to cut them down. We'll dry and store them so that we can have garden herbs all year long. I'm looking forward to making scented pillows and soaps out of our lavender too!


Trees:
This is the apricot tree. Just two weeks ago there was only one measly little leaf on it. Last week I took this picture.
This week, it is in full bloom! Nature is so miraculous! I'll post updated pictures of our trees and garden later on. We also have apple, plum, and navel orange trees.

Here's our grapefruit tree. It's not huge, but it grows plenty of fruit to last our family of four. Any fruit we can't eat, we juice and freeze. Don't let your fruit fall to the ground! If you can't eat it or juice it- offer it to your neighbors and friends.

The kids love picking the fruit and we're teaching them how to pick properly and which ones are ready to be picked. My next post will have to be about my weekend of juicing....oh, so much juicing...

We have grape and squash vines too. This is our first year in this house, so we'll have to see what the trees and vines produce this year, it may not be much. The chickens were let out of their coupe for two days and ATE ALL the grape and squash leaves. SO MAD at those chickens!! I don't know how long it'll take to grow back.

Of course, you remember our wheat grass...Seriously, so easy to grow. Soak a bowl full of wheat for a day- rinse and repeat. Once the wheat is sprouting a little, it's ready to plant. We used soil this time and a baby blanket last time. Just remember to put enough holes in the bottom of your container for adequate drainage or else you'll end up with something pretty gross at the bottom. For more info on juicing see "Wonderful Wheat."
These containers can go anywhere- windowsill, front steps, back porch...

So there you have it! Have fun planting! Next steps- watering, weeding, harvesting, eating, perserving...ahh...at least we're staying busy!

I Heart Craigslist!

Can I just take a moment to say that I absolutely love Craigslist? I rarely buy new furniture. I just search Craigslist endlessly until I find just what I want. I mainly search for pieces that are unique, made from solid wood, and many times American handmade. Why waste money on a cheap factory made piece from China when you can help someone recycle their old furniture for the same price or less? With a little creativity and effort, you can have some very nice pieces.

About six months ago I found this dresser on Craigslist. It had already been restored and distressed and I loved it just the way it was. Would you believe in 11 years of marriage, we've never owned a dresser for our bedroom?


Then, about a month ago, I found this antique desk on Craigslist. Restored with original hardware. Hand built, solid wood, love it. It doubles as a nightstand and extra storage space in our bedroom.

I searched for a table/nightstand that could kind of match the desk and dresser, while still looking like a one-of-a-kind piece and I found this.
It wasn't bad, but wasn't great either, but it was solid wood, handcrafted, so I'd figure I'd give it a go. I sanded and primed while the kids circled me in the driveway with their bikes. Then I primed it with black and spray painted it flat black. Then I used the electric sander again to distress the wood. Wiped it off and used a wipe-on poly in clear satin to seal and finish it. Then off to my favorite store for special knobs- Anthropologie- for just the right one.
And here it is now! What do you think? I'm so glad I could give this piece new life. I know there's a big issue about painting wood (verses staining), at least in my family, but I like it and it looks nice, so it's painted.

I found this piece on Craigslist for $15. It looked straight out of the 70s with a dark wood finish. I sanded, primed, painted, and antiqued it (rubbed brown acrylic paint), then of course replaced the knobs and we have ourselves an end table in the family room!


I also found this unique desk. I didn't know where it would go, then decided it was the perfect size for the entry. I had been searching for an entry table, but all the typical entry tables were a little too boring for my taste and the ones that weren't boring were way too pricey.

This piece was $50- kind of pricey for Craigslist, but it is an antique, and I had been searching for something like it, and it just spoke to me. (notice kids on bikes? we love the outdoors, so anytime we can make an excuse to be outside, they love it.)

I would have kept the original knobs, because they were pretty neat, but they were in poor shape, so i just bought some off the Internet and much to my regret, they were from...China...oh well, I try.

I'm not sure if the color of this piece is quite right, I'm thinking I want it more golden or else a sage green. It took me such a long time to finish this that I probably won't be repainting it anytime soon.

So, I know this post isn't about growing food, but I think it still fits into the idea of being self-sufficient, learning new skills, and recycling/re-purposing to limit waste. Plus, my house looks a little more furnished and all this furniture didn't cost me much- so we're all happy!

Makin' Muffins

As promised in my post "Let's Play a Game" here are two delicious muffin recipes. The first recipe makes wonderful use of those over ripe bananas. My kiddos go crazy when we make these muffins. I used to make banana bread (same recipe, just cook it longer) but the shape of it wasn't as fun as a cupcake shape. Add a few chocolate chips and you've got yourself a real treat!

Banana Muffins

1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup mashed bananas (usually 2)

1/4 cup milk

1 t. lemon juice

2 cups flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

don't forget the chocolate chips! we put a couple handfuls in the mix and then the kids learn to count by placing 4 on top of this one, five on top of that one, etc.

cream margarine and sugar- add eggs and beat- add bananas, milk, and lemon- add dry ingredients- spoon into greased muffin pan- about 18 muffins- bake at 350 for 20-25 min.

JoJo is learning to crack eggs, Jeepers tries, but it's waaayyy too messy. Jeepers loves peeling the bananas, but JoJo won't touch them because she doesn't like getting bananas on her hands(yet she'll dig in the yard for worms- I don't get it).

Of course tasting the batter is their favorite part and leaves nothing but giggles.

So, here's the recipe for those delicious and hearty apple muffins made from the fibers leftover from juicing apples.

Apple Muffins
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 T. baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 t. salt

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup apple fibers

1/3 cup oil

1 egg

mix first 4 ingredients, then add remaining ingredients, mix until blended, bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes.

The kids like these muffins, but I admit, they don't gobble them up as they do the others (probably has something to do with the lack of chocolate chips). However, if I were to eat a muffin, it would be the apple muffins. They are just so hearty and filling...mmm...I think I'll make some muffins right now!

Let's Play a Game

Okay! The name of the game is "Waste Not-Want Not." Growing/farming our own food has made us more appreciative of the efforts it takes just to feed our family of four. So, whether we grow it ourselves or buy it at the store, we try and use up all the food we have. Where does all our leftover food go?...For this game you have a choice of Human, Chicken, or Dog...Good luck!

Let's start with an easy one- leftover pineapple chunks from fish tacos and a little fresh squeezed OJ that didn't quite fit in the mason jars...Human! We made delicious guilt-free popsicles. No artificial colors or flavors, no wasteful (and annoying) plastic wrappers. Everybody is happy!


This is also an easy one. Bananas that are a little too ripe for eating. Well in our house that can only mean one thing (and the kids shout it from the rooftops), Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins!
I will post a recipe later. Jeepers and JoJo love helping measure and mix (and sneak little tastes) of the delicious batter. They eat these muffins as a treat (much better than eating a cupcake)

If you read our post about the juicer, you know all about our love of making juice. However the juicer spits out all these extra fibers and skins that just have to be good for something. Who gets to eat it? If you answered "Chickens" you're right! The chickens love this stuff and it's good for them too.

After eating a bunch of grapes, there's always those little stragglers that fell off the vine or get a little too ripe for eating. Well, who gets to eat them? Humans! We're making raisins, of course. The recipe is Grapes + Sunshine. They're still in the process of drying out, so I'll post later when they're done.

Look at the picture below...Doesn't this look delicious? We keep a scrap bowl in the kitchen. While we're preparing or cleaning up meals we just toss all the wasted food in there. It's amazing how much food goes into that bowl every day! Sandwich crusts, apple cores, and whatever else gets fed to...the chickens!

The chickens love this stuff and it really reduces the amount of chicken feed we go through. The children love going out there and feeding the chickens. We feel a lot less guilty about food waste, because there is no such thing as waste anymore! (tip: keeping the bowl in the fridge with a lid is a great way to keep it from not stinking during the day or just feed the chickens after every meal)

Next we have, well, you probably can't tell, but this is a picture of leftover apple fibers after we juiced apples. So, who gets to eat it?

After looking at all those delicious and healthy apple remnants I thought, "I can't just feed this to the chickens, there has to be a way we can eat this." If you answered "Human" you get a gold star!

I made apple muffins. I used our freshly ground wheat, applesauce, and apple skin and fibers to make these muffins totally guilt free and surprisingly delicious. Not surprising they really fill you up too...kinda like a bran muffin. Of course, the kids helped make them, they're more excited about eating them. (I'll post my recipe later on.)

Next up...Okay, here's a trick question- Orange rinds and peels. Living in AZ, we have an abundance of citrus trees. Many people have them growing in their front or backyards...we have orange and grapefruit. After eating or juicing the citrus there's always these peels left over. I'll post later about different ways to use your orange peels in your house (oils, pesticides, zest, etc.) but we're talking about consuming right now. Who gets to eat the orange peels?
It's a trick question because it's not a "who" its a "what." Give it back to the tree! Just throw used up peels down at the root of the tree and they'll give nutrients back to the tree- thereby producing- you got it- more oranges! Of course you could compost them as well, but we'll get there later.

Well there's only one left and you may be asking yourself, "When is that poor dog of theirs going to get any scraps?" Answer: only when we have chicken. We don't like feeding her lots of human food because it's not that healthy for her, but chicken is a main ingredient in her dog food.

Plus, Hubby has this thing about feeding the chickens chicken. Kind of a morbid thought- "Here's your friend, he tasted good to us, what do you think" sort of thing. So, here you go, Lola. You finally get a taste of those feather creatures that drive you crazy from our back window.

So that's the game folks. How did you do?