5-24-10

Went to Walmarts this morning. Wanted to get a bunch
of corn to put in the freezer and check out the
garden section.

I bought 2 more strawberry plants and a stevia plant.
Also a package of beet seeds.

I know, what is a stevia plant?
This plant is known for it's sweet leaves
and is used as a sugar substitute.

Harvesting: Collect leaves as required, preferably in autumn. They can be dried and powdered.




Here are some notes I took about it:

Culinary Uses: Use dried, powdered leaves as a substitute for sugar. One tablespoon of stevia or less is equivalent to about 1 cup sugar. Some people notice a slight after-taste, while others do not. A liquid sweetener is made by pouring 1 litre boiling water over 1 tablespoon dried leaves and leaving to infuse. Refrigerate and use within a few days or freeze for later. To make a syrup, place 4 teaspoons dried powdered leaves in a saucepan with 2 cups water, simmer slowly for 10-15 minutes. Cool and refrigerate. A teaspoon of Vitamin C powder may be added to act as a preservative. An infusion of fresh or dried leaves can be drunk as a beverage, hot or cold, or added to other herbs as a sweetener. If using fresh leaves to replace dried quantities listed above, multiply the amount 5 times. Approximately 6 large leaves chopped finely is a substitute for 1/2 cup of sugar for baking or in cooked recipes. 1 teaspoon of ground stevia is equal to 1 cup of sugar; 2 drops of liquid essence is equal to 1 teaspoon sugar. An extract can be made by combining 1 cup vodka with 3/4 cup fresh stevia leaves in a jar. Shake every day for 2 weeks, then filter through a coffee filter. Add a drop to beverages.

From my own experience of growing Stevia, I've learned to remove the flowers as they appear - otherwise the plant will die down to nothing. I've also found that it's a cantankerous plant which can often die down to nothing for no apparent reason, even in ideal conditions. But you never give up on it! You can have an empty space or pot for up to a year, and then suddenly the plant will resurrect! Amazing.

1 table spoon dried leave powder is equal to 1 cup of sugar!



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Due to space, I am considering putting the strawberry
plants in hanging baskets off a shepherd
hook and allowing their runners
to come down the sides of the baskets.



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Still trying to decide upon a place to put the
raspberry and blackberry bushes.
I'm thinking maybe the side of the house
in between the houses. Or along side the chain link
fence. The only thing that worries me with that is
the neighbor lets his weeds and crap grow crazy
along that fence to the point it starts coming
in our yard and we have to trim it back.

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11AM

Need to head out to the garden and put the Stevia
plant in the ground and maybe plant a few beet
seed directly in the garden. Tony loves pickled
eggs is why I got those :0)

Then I have 10 ears of corn to shuck and get ready
for the freezer. In the store I usually pull
back some of the husk and puncture a kernel or two
to see how juicy it is. I did that today and got
squirted in my left eye. It is now red and
irritated.
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Here's an idea for today about recycling
satellite dishes. I'm always looking for
ways to reuse things and thought these
ideas were neat...















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With warmer weather coming up I need to find
things to make that are light and cool.
This looked yummy.

Sometimes I can find large tubs of regular
yogurt in Kroger's mark down bin.
Time to stock up and start making smoothies.
They say to keep yogurt longer by
placing it upside down in your fridge.



CREAMY PEACH SMOOTHIES

1 cup sliced frozen peaches
1 container (6 oz) French vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon honey

1. In blender or food processor, place all ingredients. Cover; blend on high speed about 1 minute or until smooth.
2. Pour into 2 glasses. Serve immediately.

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Got my strawberry plants transplanted into baskets.
Also got the beet seeds , a couple more tomato plants
and three stevia plants planted today.
There were three stevia plants in the pot I bought
so I divided them up.
Gave everything a drink from the water barrels.
I have yet to use city water on the garden.

Stevia plants at the end of the tomato trellis



I put up a double and single shepherd hooks
to hang strawberry plants from in the middle
of the garden.
Strawberries come back every year.
One of the plants I bought last year.






I planted about 40 or so radishes,
in four rows, under the cucumber trellis.



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I had a request today to cut my step-dad's hair.
Instant nervousness came over me.
I already cut 4 other people's hair no problem
but fear that if I cut one hair wrong on
my step dad's head I would never hear the
end of it. So I don't know if I am up
for this job just yet. I always compared
his hair to a Phil Donahue's hair.



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This evening I got 10 ears of corn in the freezer.
Here's step by step of how to freeze corn on the cob.

In a large pot bring water and 2 T. sugar to a
rolling boil.

Place corn in pot and bring to another rolling
boil for another 3 minutes.

While corn is boiling place lots of
ice and cold water in a large bowl.
Set next to stove.



Using tongs plunge corn into ice water
until completely cooled off.



Remove corn and place on a dry towel.



Using another dry towel dry each corn cob off.



Wrap each individual corn cob up with
aluminum foil.



Place in zip freezer bag.
Can be frozen for at least 8 months.
Enjoy fresh like corn during those cold
winter months.



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I just saw on the 10PM news that we are getting a
MENARDS! Always hear about this place but there hasn't
been any around here. Even greater news...
It's going in where Northland Mall used to be!!
So that means like a 5 minute drive to get there!
YEAH!!
I've never been to Menards but after checking
them out online I would compare it to an Andersons store.

5-23-10

Got my loaves of bread done yesterday.
They only raised up about half.
I sliced it all up.
I think I will use it for some sausage gravy today.
Slather some butter on it, grill it in the skillet
and then put the gravy on top.

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Went to the flea market this morning.
Man it got hot quick out there!!
I saw lots of people selling flowers and
tomato plants. I wish I could find someone
who had other veggies like peppers and so on.

I did buy the boys a 3 floor hamster cage for $4.00
I'm sure theses things go for about $30 to $40.
No we don't have hamster yet!
The kids are gonna work towards having hamsters
by keeping their rooms and the rest of the
house tidied up and help take care of what
animals we do have now before I will consider
any more critters.
So for now it will just sit out and empty
as a reminder of what needs done around here.




Went out and worked in the garden a little today.
Got a bunch of scallions planted.
Then worked on planting the Enchanted Rose Zinnias
in different flower beds.

Scallions in between red cabbage and Hungarian
Wax Peppers.




Red and white onions coming up in between
the cauliflower, broccoli and lettuce.



More red and white onions coming up
in between cabbage, lettuce and
banana peppers.




Sweet Basil and radishes planted behind
Banana Peppers.



Got more peas planted.




Just got done watering the newly planted plants.



After 2 weeks we finally got the blue Trans Am
off the trailer then loaded up the red Trans Am
to be taken to see why it has a transmission leak.





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Earlier today Jonathan went to sit on the couch
and when he did I heard a CRACK!
I was soo pissed the board on the bottom side
of the couch broke! We went over to Value City
with receipt in hand and told them I had a warranty.
I've only had the couch since the first week of
April and it's broke a little over a month later!!
GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Anyway the customer service guy said a technician
would give me a call tomorrow between 10am and 5pm
to make arrangements about getting it fixed.

Can't wait to see if anyone will call or
can't wait to see how they intend to fix
my NEW couch!!

Why can't anything now a days be made like
the good ole days??? Cutting back and finding
cheaper materials to make things is not
my idea of quality. Nothing lasts very long!

Bought a kitchen table a couple years back
and had to purchase the chairs separately.
Those chairs were horrible. They would
collapse when people sat in them!

This is why I love yard sales, craigslist
and the flea market. I can find older items
that were meant to last!!

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6:45PM

Still have laundry to finish up then give the kids
each a hair cut and their showers.

I'm tired. This heat today has wiped me out!

Mom ended up bringing down an extra pizza she had
made so I didn't have to make supper.
That was nice of her to do.

I'm contemplating on whether or not to kick
the air conditioner on a little at the moment.
I have all windows open and fans going in every
room and the thermostat is reading about 84 in here.

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9PM

Air condition has been turned on for the first time this
year. It feels soooo much better in here!

Got the kids hair cut. That has to feel much
cooler on their heads.

After hair cutting I gathered up all the hair
and told Christopher I was going out to
the garden to plant hair. He gave me a funny look. LOL!
Tony came out to see what I was doing and
thought I was nuts.
I spread the hair over and around the plants
in the garden. The scent of human is supposed
to keep critters away. We'll see.

Me with a fluff ball of hair.

5-22-10

Finally Tony's side job of painting is done!
I and the kids went with him this morning
to finish it up. I cut in while he rolled.
Not the greatest pics as I gave the
camera to the kids to take pictures.
Picked up some McDonald's afterwards
and took it to the airport to watch
planes. The rest of the day we spent
cleaning house, what fun!





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7:30PM

Tonight I am finally getting around to making
English Muffin Bread.
My recipe is from an old magazine but I was able
to locate the recipe at AllRecipes.

The only directions I didn't quite get was the
part that said to spoon batter into pans.
There wasn't nothing to spoon as it was a
thickened dough!
I used 3 meatloaf pans to put the dough in.
If you use bulk yeast like I do then
1 packet of yeast equals 2 1/4 teaspoons
of yeast.

Soooo we will see how this turns out.
It still has 10 minutes of rising time to go
before being able to bake.

7:50PM Breads going into oven.


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When cleaning house today we noticed we are
getting an animal smell. You know those
wet dog smells and smells from cat boxes.
I put about 6 Tablespoons of ground coffee into
a plastic tray and sat it in each of the rooms
with animal smells. The coffee somehow absorbs
the odors. It seems to be working because
I can't smell the odors anymore.
Think about it, drug smugglers use coffee
to transport marijuana in to throw off
drug sniffing dogs, so I don't see why this
wouldn't work.

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For a long time I didn't use my bread machine.
I thought it was too much trouble. I did make
and bake a couple loaves of bread in it but didn't like
how it turned out.
I figured out I can use the machine
to mix and knead the dough for me then remove
the dough and not use it to bake in.
I can roll, wrap, shape and make whatever I want,
then use my oven to make things in.
My bread machine does not come out every
once in awhile now. It now has a spot
on my counter where it sits all the time.

I'm thinking about making bagels now.
I bought bagels the other day at the store
and got to thinking that I could make my own.
No need to spend almost $2.50 to $3.00
for a package of bagels with preservatives
and God only knows what in them.

I love being able to bake my own breads
because I know exactly what goes in them.
I can cut down on sugar by using Splenda
and use salt substitutes to make it healthier.
I could also use wheat flour and oatmeal.

I found this recipe from Madeline's Adaptions Blog.

Bread Machine Bagels

"The bread machine makes it so easy. You just throw all of the ingredients in the machine, press a button and essentially, there you have it, homemade bagels. Did I mention they are utterly delicious? Plus, you can make any flavor you like. My favorites are everything bagels, which are dehydrated onion (reconstituted in warm water,) poppy seeds, sesame seeds and I like to add a little sprinkling of garlic salt and I also love sesame bagels. What are your favorites?"

Recipe slightly adapted from allrecipes:
3 cups bread flour
1 cup warm water (my bread machine requires a little more water so I use about 1 1/4 cup)
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg white

Place all ingredients in your machine according to instructions. For mine that means, water then flour, sugar and salt and lastly the yeast. Set your machine on "dough" setting. When the cycle is complete, remove the dough and place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment (the parchment is optional.) Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Take one of the pieces of dough and roll into a strand that is 1" thick (the piece will probably be about 9" long.) Continue rolling the dough with the remaining pieces. Form a circle with the strands and pinch the dough together at the ends to form a circle. When all of the dough has been formed into circles, cover the bagels with a clean damp cloth or a large piece of parchment and allow to rise for 15 minutes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When the water is boiling, place 1 or 2 bagels into the boiling water. Boil for 30 seconds on one side, flip the bagels and boil the other side for 30 seconds. Remove the bagels with tongs or a slotted spatula and allow to drain on paper towel for a few seconds. Continue boiling the rest of the bagels. Once all of the bagels have boiled and drained, place them back on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the bagels with egg white. Sprinkle the top of the bagels with your favorite topping or leave plain. Place the bagels in a preheated 375 degree F oven for 20-30 minutes or until browned. Remove from the oven and allow the bagels to cool on a rack.

5-21-10

Went to a few yard sales this morning.
The day started off with rain so thought
this day was not looking good.
It finally tapered off and even saw
a small break of sunshine amongst
all the clouds.

Started out by going to Bob Evans for
breakfast with me, mom and my step-dad.
We tried a different location this time
around in Westerville. After waiting
too long for our food and then receiving
it cold I headed to the cashier to complain.
We walked out with 3 free meals!!!

I'm not one for neighborhood yard sales
but that's about all I found today.
The reason is most people set out a table
with a couple items on it. What a waste of time!

I did find a church sale on the other side
of Hoover Dam.
About a year ago our cordless home phone
went missing. Never found the darn thing so
we had bought another one. I loved our other phone
since you could program it with different ringers
and sounds for different people who called in.
I would know who was calling without even looking
at the caller ID. Well today I found a brand new
phone just like the one we had for $3.
Ebay has them used for $40!

I got the boys a shoe box full of skateboard toys.
That seems to be the "in" thing at the moment.
There was 11 lil magnetized skater dudes,
9 skateboards and 6 ramps. Paid $3.00 for the box.

I figure these are collector items like cards
so I don't know if one figure might be worth
more than another about like Pokemon.

I did find this figure in the shoe box
and saw him alone for $20!

I have no clue when it comes to this stuff!



I finally found me a Swiffer for a buck.
I had all these bottles of Swiffer refills
that Tony brought me home from his work
that he found. I was going to make my
own Swiffer pads from microfiber towels
found at the Dollar Tree.
Once I go through the bottles of cleaner
then I'll reuse those and fill with
my own cleaner of choice.
Drill a hole in the top and either find
a stopper to plug it with or use
duct tape but make sure the surface is
dry when applying it.


Well I am off here to take a nap before
the weekend starts. Still a gloomy
looking day out and it makes you want to crawl back
into bed!

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It's Friday so it's pizza night. Woo hoo,
no cooking or baking tonight!
Might stop in the Dollar Tree to pick
up some microfiber towels/rags to work
on making some reusable pads for my Swiffer
and some pads for a dust mop I found for
.90 cents that has a swivel head. I plan
on using that to clean the bathtub and walls
with so I don't have to bend over.
Could also double as a cobweb remover.

My dust mop looks like the smaller
rounded one pictured here.






Don't remember if y'all recall seeing the
commercials for Clorox's BathWand.
They run $15 to $18 and then you have to
buy the disposable pads.
I'm trying to make my own for under $2.00.
.90 cents for swivel dust mop and $1.00
for microfiber towel that is reusable.
I'll post pics once I make them.
Right now pizza is calling and we are getting ready
to leave :0P

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Never a weekend, it seems, that we can sleep in.
Going tomorrow morning with Tony to get this
paint job done and to help out.

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8:30PM

Got my cleaning pads made. Not the prettiest, but
hey they aren't to impress but to clean after all.

I also used an old towel on some parts of my
pads. The microfiber part is the part that
cleans the surfaces though.

Floors are yucky with all this rain!

5-20-10

This morning started off foggy, literally.



Found a few garage sales this morning.
Didn't buy much, an outdoor frog statue
for a buck and a hair coloring for .25 cents.
I think it's unusual finding yard sales
on Thursdays but I'm seeing more and more of them.

At least the sun is shining today
and it's not raining.
Went out to inspect the garden this morning.
I thought onions would keep squirrels out.
WRONG. They are digging some of the bulbs up!

Ok back to reading about keeping squirrels out.
And here are some more ideas. This will look
like FORT LEE GARDEN by the time I am done
with barricading it from critters!!




I got the little pinwheels in the garden this
morning so maybe that will help.

Thinking maybe also about cleaning
my brush out and putting my hair
or hair clippings from hair cuts
around the garden. Human scent
might keep them out.

Fake snake.

Someone stated they eat your garden plants
because they are thirsty so put out a bird
bath for them to drink from.

Use hot pepper. Buy a container of ground cayenne pepper in the spice section at your local dollar store. Sprinkle it all over the plants and also all along the top of the soil and around the base of the stems. The squirrels can't stand the smell and it makes them sneeze.
Unfortunately, when using this method, you'll have to re-apply the pepper after heavy wind and rains.

Marigolds.

Used cat litter.

Moth balls.

Make a spray by soaking several cut up jalapeño peppers in water and vinegar in a spray bottle. This was used to spray the perimeter of the garden to keep squirrels out.

Coffee Grounds.

Cover plants soil with old garlic cloves cut and chopped THEY HATE THE SMELL OF THEM.

Hang rags soaked in vinegar and stapled onto small wooden stakes or dowels near you plants. Most rodents hate the smell even when dry. Re-soak each rag in about a week.

You can also mix up some regular cheap liquid soap with some ground red hot chili pepper powder and pour that around the base of your tomato plants.

Got a dog? Then when you sweep up their dog hairs when you brush them, do not throw the dog hair in the garbage. Simply sprinkle it around your tomato plants and that will also work.

* 1 1/2 Gallons of Water
* 8 Caps of Murphy's Oil Soap
* 3 Tablespoons of Cayenne Pepper
Get a large container that you can put 1 1/2 gallons of water in. If you can't find one, just simply use a milk jug.
Once you have your water, add in the Murphy's oil soap and pepper. Be careful when adding the pepper as the wind may blow it towards your eyes if you're doing this out.
Once you have all of the ingredients mixed together, shake up the jug and pour into a bottle with a spray attachment. Proceed to spray the mixture all over your plants and even the soil. This will not hurt the plants, the goal is to keep the squirrels and other animals away.

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Today I made Pop Sorbet.

I mixed a can of sweetened condensed milk
with 2 1/2 cups of Big K Strawberry Kiwi
in a large butter bowl with lid.
I then poured more "pop" in until it
was an inch or two from the top of the bowl
and stirred some more. I just popped it in
the freezer. I'll stir it every couple of
hours to keep ice crystals from forming.

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Today I bought 12 half pint canning jars.
So I see some kool aid and juice jelly in the
near future. The jars I had were just too big
to go through that much jelly at once so
needed some smaller jars.

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I am currently trying the dog hair method in
the garden to keep squirrels out.
I took the dog outside and combed her all over
to the point of her drooling.
My thanks for that, pissing on the carpet
and getting into the bathroom trash can
leaving a mess!!
Dog is now back to being confined to the kitchen!!

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Supper- Stuffed Pork with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

What I thought was chicken breasts is I think
boneless pork ribs.

I pounded them out flat with a mallot.
Then made up some stuffing.
Starting at one end of the pork chop
I put a squished up ball of stuffing
then rolled up the pork.
I then rolled the pork in a mixture
of a beaten egg and Italian dressing.
Then rolled in Italian bread crumbs.

I then took a can of cream of chicken
and mixed it with cream and milk.
Poured some over top the pork and
along the sides.
Sprinkle parmesan cheese, garlic
and sea salt grinder and pepper on top.

Serve with mashed potatoes.
Pour gravy on top.

YUMMY!

It is now in the oven at 375 degrees.

Here it is just going into the oven.



And here it is just before going into tummy.



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Went out to Blacklick this evening to pick
up a Trans Am hood and a couple tires and rims.
On the way back we stopped in Speedway to get
the boys each a slushie. I noticed on their
2 liter bottles of Pepsi there is a .50 cent
coupon off the purchase of 2 bottles.
I snatched a few.

At Kroger this week if you buy 6 bottles
of Pepsi 2 liters they are .84 cents each.
.84 cents times 6 is $5.04
use 3 of the above coupons doubled to make
all 6 bottles $2.04 or .34 cents each!!

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Just my 2 cents...

I see that Scioto Downs horse track is in jeopardy
of possibly closing in the near future.

So if this is a place to go and bet on horses
and it's not doing so well,
what makes the city think it can bring a
Casino in. We are still not out of the recession
and bringing in a casino to me is not the answer.
Just spells out Trouble with a capital "T"!
If people are losing jobs, business closing down
and people can't afford their
homes and bills, what makes them think they can
afford to blow money on slot machines and what not.

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Well I think we have decided where we are going on
vacation, Hocking Hills with Old Man's Cave,
Lake Logan, Lake Hope, Cedar Falls and so on.
It's a place we love
and have vacationed there a couple times before.
They were really quick with getting out the
free Hocking Hills Guide. Only took a day or two
to get. I think we'll stay in the same hotel
as before in Logan. We did camping in a tent
one time and a hotel the other.

For those that are unfamiliar with
Hocking Hills here are a few photos
to show you what it is all about.

OLD MAN'S CAVE



LAKE HOPE



LAKE LOGAN



CEDAR FALLS



ASH CAVE



CONKLE'S HOLLOW




ROCK HOUSE



ROCK BRIDGE