Posted by Cindy on October 28, 2008
I had the pleasure of speaking at co-op this week. (Boy, do I miss those gals!) We talked on the topic of healthfully and frugally making convenience mixes. I talked about my reasons for even considering making homemade mixes in the first place – MSG and red food coloring – then added that being frugal is a huge benefit even if the same health issues don’t concern your family.
Since I didn’t make a handout for the meeting, I thought I’d put all my links about the subject in one place.
Being such quick, easy and frugal mixes, these would make great Christmas gifts, too!
As usual, if there’s anything more specific you’d like to know, just comment with a question. I’ll do my best to answer it.
Posted by Cindy on October 21, 2008
Well, not exactly!
We’ve been doing all sorts of hands-on learning during our Colonial History unit and one of the activities I had planned was making butter. At co-op over the years, the kids have had the opportunity to shake cream in baby food jars to make their own butter, so I didn’t think we needed that experience again. We don’t own a butter churn, but I had an idea that the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer might give us a modern day look at the butter making process. And it did!
Easy directions:
- Add heavy cream to your mixer
- Put on the whisk attachment
- Turn it to level 8 or 10 for about five minutes
- Be prepared to cover the bowl with a couple of towels toward the end to keep the liquid from splattering
- When the liquid has separated from the butter fat, take the butter out and squeeze out the rest of the liquid
- You can keep the liquid (buttermilk) for use in other recipes
- Enjoy your fresh butter! It’s SO yummy!!
)
Posted by Cindy on September 9, 2008
I suppose this is what I get for going back on a promise to myself. After canning well over 200 quarts of veggies and freezing over 30 gallon bags of fruits and veggies, I decided I was done. Finished. No More. I made a promise to myself and let everyone in the house know that I WAS NOT canning or freezing anything else this year.
Then came a great big bag of free apples. I certainly couldn’t turn away a great big free bag of apples. And, hey, why not add one more staple to the pantry shelf while trying my hand at a new canning skill – applesauce??
According to the canning recipe, I had just the 21 pounds of apples needed to make a canner load of seven quarts. That big ol’ bag didn’t seem like it would be too hard to cut, core and slice, UNTIL an hour and a half later when I was finishing the last few. Cooking the slices until soft didn’t seem like it would take a long time, UNTIL 45 minutes later when I was still stirring the 12 quart cooking pot full of sliced apples. And sending the apples through the food mill didn’t seem like a daunting task, UNTIL I nearly pulled a muscle trying to get a teaspoon of sauce to come out.
After pulling out the blender (plan B) and finally having a sauce resembling what I buy in the store, I was excited to know that I was almost there. Applesauce, here we come. Only 2 hours and 45 had passed! (insert eyes rolling)
Would you like to see the fruit of all my afternoon labors?
Yep, four quarts. Only FOUR quarts! In all, including the canning process, I spent almost FOUR hours canning FOUR quarts of applesauce! I’m considering this a lesson learned. I imagine I’ll appreciate the 99 cent cans of applesauce I buy from Save-A-Lot a lot more, too. 
Posted by Cindy on August 25, 2008
The green and orange peppers are finally coming on the garden. Freezing them is such a snap that I can have a whole bucket done in about 15 minutes. Wash, cut off the tops, take the seeds out, slice, parboil for three minutes, place in ice water, dry and freeze in ziptop bags. It’s that easy!
We took a trip last week to the local orchard to stock up on peaches and apples that had been graded out. (They’re much cheaper that way!) Again, freezing is easy. Wash, peel, cut in slices, sprinkle a little sugar over the peaches or dip apples in water with a little lemon juice, place in ziptop bags and freeze.
All of these things can be used in a recipe just as you would use them if they were fresh. They aren’t great, however, for thawing and eating plain.
I promised a couple of ladies that I would share recipes throughout the year using things I’ve canned or frozen. Here’s a fried corn dish we had at supper last week.
Ingredients
- fresh or frozen corn cut off the cob
- fresh or frozen green pepper, chopped
- fresh yellow squash, chopped
- fresh or frozen onion, chopped
- butter
Melt butter in a frying pan. Saute all veggies until crisp-tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Yummy!
Posted by Cindy on August 13, 2008
A sinkful of fresh tomatoes in our house turns into about eleven quarts of diced tomatoes!
And here’s a new recipe I concocted to use up the canned tomatoes. I had a quart that didn’t seal, plus some corn and peppers that needed to be used. I didn’t have any ground beef, but I did have some shredded chicken in the freezer. So I made a *yummy*….
Chicken Chili
- 1 quart diced tomatoes and juice
- 1-2 green peppers, diced
- a cob or two of fresh corn cut off the cob (or a can, drained)
- a can of beans -any type- with juice (I used great northern)
- shredded chicken, about 2 cups
- about 1/2 cup of chili mix
- extra water to suit your taste
Mix all ingredients together and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes. As you can see, the recipe isn’t a science, but it sure is yummy!
Now for the serious stuff…..Where are your Charlotte Mason planning and organizing posts??? I know, I know, they’re coming. I see many of you are procrastinators like me, huh??
We’re not looking for huge, in-depth posts (unless you want.) Just a simple post about something you have planned or organized to enhance CM-style learning.
- Have you made an artist study plan for the year?
- Have you put together a nature study area?
- Have you decided on a living book list for the semester?
- Have you made a plan for specific handicrafts?
- Have you organized any areas of your schoolroom?
Okay, you get the idea. Now, go write! )
Oh, and submit your posts here.
