Updates from the Homestead

-

(this pic of my homestead shows some snow.. but it is an older pic, so far this year, despite what is going on in the rest of the country we have not had any snow yet! I keep wondering what happened to winter! :)  )
 

This week has been a busy week for me. I continue to plug away at my basement project, a little at a time and find I’m making great progress. As soon as I get my pictures resized I’ll give you my latest update. I’m almost done…. and now plotting next month’s project.

My daughter Leanne went to New York City this week to visit a friend. It was a short trip but she enjoyed it. She went to see a friend she had made while in S. Korea who is now working in NYC. She saw a few sites and had a great time visiting. I have a niece who also lives in NYC and she was able to spend an evening visiting with her cousin. She navigated the NYC subway system all by herself and I was in awe of her courage to do so!! But as she reminded me she learned to navigate the Seoul subway system with no English signs and no one who spoke English if she had a question. She said the NYC subway was a piece of cake in comparison!

 
A picture of Leanne and her friend in Times Square…


This week was also our first “back to school” week after the holidays. It was hit and miss as far as how well we stayed on track. I honestly have to say that in many ways homeschooling several children (6 in my zenith) at one time is a little easier than homeschooling one. I know that may sound strange, but when you have several children to teach, that need your attention, that becomes your entire purpose in a day. When you have one student, that needs minimal supervision and needs your attention periodically.. it is easy to let things slip because you become involved in other things in life. So, I was reminded this week that my dear son needs accountability more than he needs his questions answered or be shown how to do things… something I will strive for more in the next week and the weeks beyond. ~smile~


Leanne acquired a taste for kimchi while in Korea and misses it something terrible. We have bought it here and she likes it but said it was just missing “something”.. so she attempted to make it herself. However she learned, after the fact, that she used the wrong red chili peppers (she used what is commonly sold here in the US) and the kimchi is BEYOND HOT!!! I love hot food and it was way, way too hot for me. So, now she is back to the drawing board when it comes to searching for ingredients and will try again. In the meantime we are figuring out what to do with this hot kimchi.. she has a couple soup recipes that call for kimchi so we may see if that is a good use for it as well as just adding it small portions to other soups for the “bite”. 




While I was in the Asian grocery store with Leanne (she was purchasing her ingredients for kimchi) I found a 25 pound bag of Jasmine Brown Rice. Jasmine brown rice is my favorite brown rice. I was paying well over $1 a pound (I think it was $1.35lb) for it in a store that sells bulk items. I was so happy to find a 25lb bag of it for $22.95 today (about .92 cents a pound). That should keep us well supplied with rice for time!


I spent a lovely afternoon with my daughter Hannah and her babies yesterday. My little grandson Will is growing up way to fast.. but I love his little smile and laugh, just warms my heart. I truly believe there is nothing so sweet as hearing, “Grandma, Grandma” from my grandgirlies when they walk in the door and getting super sweet hugs from them.


This weekend I have plans to work on next week’s menu as well as spending some time in the kitchen doing a few meal preps to help make next week go smooth.


Hope you have a super weekend in your home!!


Crystal
 

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2014 at 1:24 AM

    I used to live in the gatehouse of the mansion at Cape Horn. I miss the area terribly and enjoy when you post pictures of the most beautiful area in the world: The Columbia River Gorge. God Bless you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalJanuary 13, 2014 at 10:03 PM

      Anon.. how interesting! Are you aware that the mansion at Cape Horn was demolished in 2008? There is now a scenic trail that leads to that area...

      It is a beautiful area for sure!

      Delete
  2. maureenJanuary 11, 2014 at 8:44 AM

    Crystal, thanks for all your updates. So happy that Leanne is back and I can't wait to hear what she plans to do next.

    I agree with you on homeschooling several compared to homeschooling one or two! I think our day just goes so much more smoothly when I am focused on one thing at a time rather than going back and forth from one thing to another. When I only have one homeschooler, I tend to try to multi-task too much!

    I am making your Cranberry Chicken tomorrow night for Sunday Supper, then I will do the Chicken Enchiladas for Tuesday night and the Jambalaya for Thursday night! Love the recipes for One Meat - Multiple Dinners! Thank you so much!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalJanuary 13, 2014 at 10:03 PM

      Hope you enjoy all the meals Maureen!

      Delete
    2. maureenJanuary 15, 2014 at 1:30 PM

      We loved the Cranberry Chicken on Sunday night! It was fabulous.

      I am excited to try the next dish, the Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas. But I wondered, since you said you use the leftover from the Cranberry Chicken, do you include the cranberries? Or do you just use the chicken? And is that the same for the Jambalaya?

      Thanks!

      Delete
    3. CrystalJanuary 15, 2014 at 1:40 PM

      I removed the chicken from the cranberries but still had some of the cranberries mixed in with both the enchiladas and the jambalaya.. Glad you liked it!! Hope you enjoy the enchiladas as well! :)

      Delete
    4. maureenJanuary 15, 2014 at 6:59 PM

      The Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas were terrific!! I made 8 big enchiladas, 4 per 9x13 baker, they were enormous! We still have one pan left, so lunch for over the weekend! I also chopped up some green onions and black olives for garnish.

      One of my daughters said, "Wow! Now I am really excited for the Jambalaya!"

      I am sharing these recipes with my friends at church who also have large families. We are always looking for ways to feed our families that are healthy and delicious, without breaking the bank or chaining ourselves to the stove!

      Delete
    5. CrystalJanuary 15, 2014 at 7:09 PM

      Oh yeah!! So glad you and your family liked it!!

      Delete
  3. Athena ReynoldsJanuary 13, 2014 at 4:42 AM

    Whenever my mother-in-law (who is Korean) has made or purchased Kim-chee that is too hot and spicy she will rinse it under the tap before eating. If you do that, you will still get the flavor but not all of the heat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalJanuary 13, 2014 at 10:05 PM

      Great advise!! Thank you! I'll let her know and we will try that... The wrong hot peppers make a big difference.. or so she has learned! She plans to try again with the right Korean peppers! :D ..

      Delete

Post a Comment

All messages are moderated. After approval your message will be posted. Thank you for your comments!! Crystal :)

Popular posts from this blog

Canning Chicken Noodle-less Soup

-
Image
Today was one of those busy days that it seemed I was moving from the time my feet hit the floor until this evening.. But, I got so much done and that is a great feeling! :) One of my accomplishments today was canning 14 jars of chicken noodle-less soup. I call it “noodle-less” because you can’t can noodles. They end up falling apart. So I canned the chicken, veggies and broth. When I go to use the soup I will bring it to a boil and then add a handful of noodles (any type of pasta will work) and cook it until the noodles are done. Because I plan to add the pasta after the fact I wanted to make sure there was enough chicken broth to do this. So I only filled my jars about half to two thirds with chicken and veggies and then filled with chicken broth. Here is how I did this…. I started off with 2 chickens that were a total weight of about 10lbs. I put them in my 14 quart stock pot… I then added 2 gallons of water.. And 3 tablespoons salt.. I brought this
Read more

Canning Cabbage

-
Image
I had 4 large heads of cabbage that weighted about 25 pounds. We had some really hot days and I figured I better get the last of them picked soon. My daughter Sierra and I ended up processing 3 of them yesterday and I have one left for a meal on my menu this week. I made pickled cabbage and then canned up the last of the cabbage. Here is the recipe for the pickled cabbage (according to how I made it)… 8 pounds cabbage 1 large onion 1 ½ red peppers 1 lb carrots ¾ cup salt 9 cups water 12 cups white vinegar 10 cups sugar 1t mustard seed 1t celery seed Slice cabbage thinly. Slice onion and peppers. Grate carrots. Mix all veggies together in a very large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix in well. Let sit for 2 hours to soften veggies. Rinse veggies well.  In a large stock pot (mine was 14 quarts) combine water, vinegar, sugar, spices. Bring to a boil. Add cabbage/veggies. Bring to a boil. Fill hot pint jars with veggies using a slotted spoon. Fill jar with brine to
Read more

Canning Beef Stew

-
Image
In my last blog post I shared that I had bought 10 pounds of beef roast. I cut it all up and used 4 pounds in 2 crockpot freezer meals ( http://homesteadinghomemaker.blogspot.com/2012/02/two-more-crockpot-meals-for-freezer.html ) . I used the other 6 pounds of meat along with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery to can beef stew. Here were the general proportions I used in canning 7 quarts of beef stew.. 6# beef 2# potatoes 2# carrots 1# onions 1# celery After I cut up the meat and got the freezer meals done I moved to the beef stew. I peeled and cut up the potatoes and carrots. I chopped up the onions and sliced the celery. I pulled out 3 quarts of veggie stock from my freezer to use for liquid in the stew. You can use beef or chicken stock or you can use water. I did not add anything to thicken the liquid as usually thickeners don’t hold up in canning. You can thicken the broth after it is opened if you would like. I added 1 teaspoon salt to each of my
Read more