Insomnia? Yes, that would be me!

Well, this morning I woke up at 3:30am.  Yes you heard me correctly.  I just could not sleep. I started getting my cherries ready last night to dehydrate but forgot to finish (ADD moment or what?).  Anyhow, so I get up and check them and they are all mostly really gross looking so I threw them out.  They were all bruised and I thought if they look this disgusting before dehydrating I don't even want to know what they would look or taste like after rehydrating them.  I know wasteful, right?

Well, I thought to myself, "Well, I have lemons all over that are ready to really go bad so I will go and dehydrate them."  What was I thinking this early in the morning!  Okay, so at 3:30 in the morning I started slicing up all the lemons I have in baskets all over my counter.  I LOVE lemons.  I love the smell.  I love the look.  I especially love the taste!  So away I go and get out my meat slicer and start slicing.

I think I must have cut about 20 lemons in all!  Yay!  Did I say I love the smell of lemons. So I get going and start putting them in the food dehydrator.

I am enjoying my two new toys don't you think?  Yes, I just got the meat slicer (which comes in handy for slicing up turkey too!) and the deydrator (an Excalibur!) just last month and I am having fun with them both.

I then take out the seeds.

And even throw on the extra ends.....

And now I am ready with a filled dehydrator!  Yay!  Don't forget to wear your gloves when doing this or it will STING!  I set it on 130 degrees for 24 hours.  I will check it after 12 to see how it is progressing but we will see.

Here is what it will look like after it is all done.

Isn't that great!  I will be putting in the oxygen absorbers later today on this batch I finished last week.  I just don't want to open my oxygen packs without having enough jars ready before opening them.  I also did oranges last week too.

I have to get wide mouth jars for them today so I can fit them in the jars without breaking them.  I think they look so pretty just like that.  Tony and Chris tried an orange last night curious why I am doing this.  They tasted it and Tony had a weird look on his face and said it tastes a bit sour?  Well, I think it was just one that he picked up because the one I tasted was like candy!  It was so sweet.  I use the Valencia oranges that we get just down the 126 *the California Orange Groves!!!!*  I love that place!

Now this is what I enjoy with lemons this morning and I will now have them all year round without them rotting on my island:

I am going to start experimenting with that recipes you can make with the dried citrus soon.

Now that I am finished I have a few extra ends.  What do I do with them.  Well, if you know me you know I have to find a good use for them.  Of course, I have a good use for them.  It is called cleaning out my garbage disposal!

Now that I have used all my usable lemons I look at my last peach from my peach tree and think "Breakfast time!"

Oh, it is that time of year! Yay! We have officially finished our first real season from our apricot trees. We have three apricot trees and they were all very full!





While I was dealing with our sick little baby the boys helped their father clean and pit 3 buckets of apricots. They were then put in 4 gallon freezer bags and put in the deep freezer ready for me whenever I get the time to get them canned.



Don't these look delicious!

So then last week I got the last bucket of apricots and they were just heavenly. Even some of my friends had some on the 4th of July, they could not believe the deep sweet flavor of these. Neither could I. I mean I could believe it but boy were they YUMMY! So since we could not eat them fast enough I made a dozen jars of freezer jam. Two tips....make sure you leave them out for the 24 hours to set but make sure they are in a well ventilated area so that the heat doesn't spoil them. Secondly, make sure that it is only 24 hours and not 36 hours. I think that might have spoiled one or two. So I ended up with 9 I believe.

One more tip for you. When it gets close to the season make sure that you keep an eye on the tree, both for disease and birds. This was our first ripe tree and the birds had a field day. But one side was diseased and I just let it go so that is part of these bad ones. I wish I could have caught this earlier and sprayed it then to avoid all the drama.

Our strawberry patch is cranking it out right now. This was last weeks and I know I have three times this much on the vines right now even with the gophers digging their way around. I believe we will probably have some delicious strawberry pie tonight!

Now for the most current ripe fruit. Nectarines. These are doing great! We just picked the first handful a couple days ago. I will probably go out today and check for more. Unfortunately I did not thin these out and the branches overloaded and the two main branches broke off. Luckily I will just have them ripen on the branch since they would be getting ready this week anyhow. It is canning time at my house!

Don't they look good enought to eat right now?

I believe our next thing to be picked will be our plums. We found a few on the ground but they were already purple and obviously were premature. The rest look like these here. I will give it another week or so.

Okay, this is one of the funniest things. This is a plum on our flowering plum tree. We didn't expect this. Tony tried it and said it was very sweet just not much meat on it. Who would have known that you could get fruit off a flowering plum?

Now we know it will be a while before these get ripe but here is our last fruit of the season. Our apples! Oh, my. We have quite a bit on one of our trees. Oh, and our peach trees will come around the same time. I forgot to get a picture of them.

Blackberries! Yummy! Yes, for our tummies! They might be ready to pick now. This was taken last week. We only have two bushes that are really producing but they are good.

And yes, we have figs too. No not brown ucky figs......the white centered Italian figs. They are so sweet! The boys go crazy over these! They are not even close to being ready but the boys keep asking.

Okay, I did not even think that the cucumbers would do good but look. I have another one that needs to be picked. I am thinking a nice cold cuc and tomato salad would be really good tonight. Oh, yeah!

Peppers. Yes, peppers. These ones here are actually a brazillian sweet pepper not a hot pepper. But I did plant jalapenos. They are ready too. Maybe today is also a good day for fresh salsa? My cilantro isn't really leafy but very fragrant so we will see?

Here is another sweet bell. This is small but I do not know how to get these big. Anyone know?

Summer squash is one of my favorite veggies. I love to grill them with salt and pepper. Oh, making my mouth water!

Of course, what would be a garden without your tomatoes? Romas are our favorite even though they are hybrids. They are so fleshy and wonderful. They are perfect for our fresh salsa.

Then there are the rest of the tomatoes. You maybe can't see them but they are there. Tons of tomatoes ready to get red.

Now surprisingly these are my watermelon. They are baby watermelon so they are actually getting ready already. Wowzers!

And zucchini! Of course! We have already gotten a bunch. I have two in the house that were too big to grill so I will be grating them and either freezing for bread or just making bread but it is too hot for the oven at the moment.

Here is something you would not really expect. Yes, corn. I just checked and I can see the ears forming. I am so excited!

Last and certainly not least here are our grapes. We planted 30 0f these and they are all looking about like this one here. We are looking forward to getting these ripened.

I am back into gear I hope!

I took a year off of almost everything. I missed canning and everything. I haven't even been out to the chicken coop for probably close to a year. With the miscarriage and then becoming pregnant right away (shockingly) it was a long year.

Well, I had my baby:

This is Andrew. He is the cutest thing in the whole wide world. He was under 7 lbs in this picture and now just a month later he is already in size 3month clothing. Augh! Where does the time go? I would really like to know.

I have really been anxious to get going with important things like our 72 hour kits. Especially since now I have got to get 9 done. I have purchased the backpacks now I just need to fill them! LOL! Good luck right?

My other goal right now is to can chicken and beef. I have never done it before but read lots about it. My sister thinks I am goofy. Oh, well. We will see how it goes and I will get it posted. I hope within the next week.

I am also going to get into coupon clipping again and I hope to get a coupon swap going with my local friends from church. I am excited.

I plan on having a lot to post from now on. We will see. But if you noticed I have changed things around on my blog. I have added my 72 hour kit list on the side and I have added a list of my favorite preparedness blogs also. I will be adding a few more soon. Check them out. These are wonderful resources.

I have to tell you that since I have started this whole thing of having to be on bed rest so much lately that I have gotten a lot of time to watch my favorite shows that I have recorded.   My favorites include 30 Minute Meals, Barefoot Contessa, Sandra Lee's Semi-homemade, and of course the Queen of the South Paula Deen!  I have to admit that I love Paula Deen but Tony doesn't because she just uses way too much BUTTER!

So today after mopping the floors a few squares at a time (taking me forever to get through my kitchen) I took a breather and watched 30 Minute Meals with Rachel Ray.  Okay, she is funny sometimes you have to admit.  But she made this Stoup (Soup that is almost as thick as a stew) that just looked great and I had to try it out.

Now before I give you this recipe I have to for warn you that I have changed this recipe a bit to meet my needs.  I have been all over the internet for years and I do know that you do not have any copyright infringements on a recipe if you do not word it completely the same as the original.  So, since I always play with the recipes that I find then I guess I am pretty safe in that regards.

You can get her version here! It has Clams and a few extra ingredients in it.

So here goes the recipe (my version):

1-2 Tbls vegetable oil

3/4 lbs kielbasa (I used all beef but the turkey or chicken ones would work great too!)

1 32 oz bag frozen hash browns (I use the plain cubed style)

1 large onion

8 ribs celery

3 fresh basil leaves

6-8 sprigs of fresh thyme

Pinch Salt

Dash Pepper

2 lbs large shrimp, deveined and preferably peeled

1 16 oz bag of frozen corn

1 (15 oz) can of fire-roasted tomatoes (chopped finner for the kids)

1 quart chicken stock

4 jumbo English Muffins

3 Tbls softened butter 

1 clove garlic

2 Tbls chopped chives

Okay, this is pretty simple.  If your kielbasa has a thick covering remove it first.  Then chop it into medium sized pieces.  Heat a large pot on the stove with the vegetable oil in it.  Place the kielbasa in it and brown for about 2 minutes.  Now add the onions, celery, basil, thyme, salt and pepper.  Let it cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Add potatoes and cook another 8-10 minutes or until the veggies soften up and the potatoes unthaw.

Rinse then pat shrimp dry.  If you need to peel your shrimp, do so at this time and place in a small bowl.

Add the tomatoes and the stock to the pot.  Cover and bring it to a boil.  Cook for about 5 minutes then add the shrimp and replace the cover.  Cook until the shrimp are pink and firm, about 5 to 6 minutes.  And this is how it turns out:

Oh, it is so delicious.  Now to finish the recipe you need to make these most delicious "croutons" to top the stoup with.  Take the English muffins and toast them until firm and crispy.  While toasting make a creamed mixture with the butter (soften in the microwave if necessary), garlic and chives.  Spread the butter mixture over the English muffins after they are well toasted.  Now chop the muffins into the size of dice.

Serve stoup in shallow bowls with the muffin croutons.

I had so much left over that we are having it for lunch tomorrow with my sister even though Tony and I had seconds.  I am regretting it now because I am TOO full now.  Haha!

My version is very mild but what great flavors.  If you want more flavor, spices or variety try out Rachel Rays.  But oh, you will miss out if you don't try at least one of these.  It would taste oh, so good even if you omit the shrimp.  I might just have to make it again next week and share it with someone!

Strawberry Jam

I thought I would share with you what I did last week.

I made some homemade Strawberry Jam!  

Oh, yummy! It turned out so delicious 

so I thought I would share it with all of you!

Here is the recipe. I hope you all enjoy it!

5 cups crushed strawberries

1 Pkg Sure Jell pectin

7 cups sugar

First I would like to let you know that I got

a double pack of Sure-Jell at Wal-mart for only

$2.88 I believe. That is a pretty good price. A

single one there is $1.50 which is still really good.

The first thing to do is to make sure you have

everything you need.

You also need to have your bottles sterilized and hot.

Here in this picture above I have put them in the oven

at 250° for at least 10-15 minutes.

Also make sure you have your lids on the stove on

a constant heat to soften the lids. I also keep the

rings in hot water too but that is not necessary.

Make sure you have nice clean and ripe strawberries.

I had gone up the 126 to the stand right past Fillmore.

Oh, they look so delicious! So I rinsed them and placed

them in my Quick Chef.

After just a few turns of the arm the strawberries

are perfect and not liquidified.

If you do not have a Quick Chef then a potato

masher will work fine.  You will need 5 cups crushed

strawberries. Place your crushed fruit in a 6 or 8

quart saucepan. Stir pectin into fruit. You may add

1/2 teaspoon butter to reduce foaming.

Bring mixture to a full rolling boil on high heat

while you are stirring constantly.

Some recipes call for lemon juice. I personally

prefer fresh lemon juice so I just squeezed my own

with the Citrus Press (no longer available on the site

but I have some if anyone wants one just call me). 

Sure-Jell does not call for lemon juice but the

second batch I made with Ball did. Make sure you

place the lemon juice in before you put in the pectin.

Measure your 7 cups of sugar out and have it ready

in a bowl set to the side. On high heat, bring the

fruit to the rolling boil state (which means the

bubbles don't stop when you stir), then you need

to pour the whole amount of sugar in all at once. 

Stir in the sugar quickly. Return to a full rolling boil

and boil for exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly.  

Remove from the heat and remove any foam.

(I personally don't worry about the foam myself

but if you have a lot I would remove it due to

impurities in the foam.)

Now it is time to ladle in the jars. Do not forget to

use a large opening funnel but if you don't have one

just make sure you are extra careful not to get it on

your jar or especially the rim. The consistency of

the jam will be thick in just minutes so get this

done quickly. Fill your jars within 1/8 inch of the top.

Now this is something anyone doing jam should

know. Use a little bit of white vinegar on a clean

cloth or paper towel to wipe down the rim of the

jar before you place the lid on. This will make sure

there is no foreign debris or jam on the rim

and will help secure the lid properly. The next step

is fairly easy. Just place the lid on the rim and

secure with your ring.

Remember safety first. Please use the proper tools

for this part so you don't get hurt. I do remember

while growing up and canning my mother would

use a towel to transfer the jam from one place to

another but using these utensils will save

hands and dropped bottles of jam.

Now days, everyone advises to use a water canner

to can anything. Well, I am a little old fashioned

I guess because I use the inverted method. For

this method you take the hot jar and immediately

turn it over on a clean towel. Let it sit there for

about 10-15 minutes (at least that is how long

I did it) then turn it right side up. If you leave

it too long, like a few I did, the jam will set and

your air will be on the bottom of the jar instead

of the top. You can actually see what I mean at

the bottom right picture above. I have about a

half inch of space under the small jar there.  

Funny!

Now with inverted method you do have to make

sure that it has sealed and to do that just make

sure that you push on the top of the jar and

make sure it does not makea bobbling sound.  

You should not be able to push down on the lid

and it moves.

So here is my final picture of all the jam I made

in one day. I did do mostly pints, which is

quite bigger than a normal size jam size but

I didn't have many jam jars around the house.

If you have any questions just call me if you

know my number or leave a comment and

I will get back to you ASAP.

Our First Real Project Almost Done!

Yes, can  you believe it?  

Now just to tell you a little about our situation.  We just moved into a very nice gated community  here in Southern California.  We were fortunate to have a good year last year in our business.  We also found a renter for our other house.  Woohoo!  So we moved to a house that is quite bigger (I won't say how big), but the lot it is on is 2 1/2 acres.  That is unheard of here in Southern California.  Seriously.  

So we moved.  We were not sure why we needed to but we felt like it was time.  You know that whole 7 year itch thing was going on too I guess.  I don't know really.

This first picture here is my husband working away.  He is Santa Monica Surfer and we can call him a city boy he doesn't mind.  So he is learning just as long and hard as I am.

Well, this is me.  I was working so long and hard to get the already made shed ready for our chickens.  It took me days to get what I have gotten done done.  Did I mention I have 6 kids? My youngest is 2 and I have to wait until he is taking his nap to do anything.  My 5 year old is not in school yet and he is more dangerous than anyone else in my family so I really can not leave him alone long either.

Here is what I have been working on:

Here is the outside.  I first drilled holes from the inside out and then used my jigsaw to cut out the holes from the outside.  Then using redwood (because it is strong and lasts long-I know it was not necessary but oh well it is done!) I made a frame.  My mitered edges are not perfect but what do you expect this is really the first time I have ever attempted such a feat!  So I got the outside done!                    

Then there was the  inside.  That almost took as long as the outside.   We did finally get some makeshift laying boxes.  I know they are probably called something else but do you know what I really am not a big farm girl at all!  But this is the finished product.  They are using them I know that.  There is a door at the left side of this picture but I will show you what that is for some other time when that project is finished.

I have to say that my husband has been excited about this from the beginning.  He has been skeptical at times but so have I sort of.  Well, after we got them out of the house into the garage we were relieved.  Then finally getting to the point of getting them out of the garage now is just fabulous.

I think he is really starting to enjoy having chickens.

Daniel my 5 year old helped get the chickens from the garage to the chicken shed.  He thought it was funny!

And here are my beautiful chickens.  I think they are just such a pretty red.  

Just below are our first eggs.  They just love to lay in the corner of the shed and not in the nests.  Silly birds.  We now average 2 dozen a day.  Woohoo!  That is amazing since we only have 23 chickens.