Friday, June 14, 2013

Up-Date from the Field - Video Blog

Hey y'all this is the first week of hotter temps and dry conditions so it has been a all hands on deck. So to give you an up-date on what I'm doing right now I thought I would do a video and tell you about it.


I just love the way I look right there

NOT.....but this is better than the first video I shot :)

One thing I didn't tell you in the video is if we don't get this rain over the weekend we will be in the wheat field next week, and if we do get this rain over the weekend then we will be in the field as soon as it's dry enough to run.

Gotta head to the hay field, so catch y'all later. 

Let me know what you guys think of video up-dates....if ya like them I will try and do them more often.

JP

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup (Gluten or Gluten Free)

 
Long before Caleb and I went Gluten Free I had thought about making my own cream of mushroom soup because I hate having to deal with all the cans when I would buy it. I would rather have it in my canning jars that I could wash and re-use. Well I never actually looked up a recipe and made it, but then we went gluten free and we could no longer use the store bought stuff....grr.

I miss the convience of using the store bought stuff, but o-well.

So, after being gluten free for a while I really started missing some of my recipes that used cream of mushroom, so I looked up a recipe and tweaked it to work for us.  And to be honest I really like it so I thought I would share it with you guys.

FYI: I will give both the gluten and the gluten free versions so you can decide how you want to make it.

I didn't take pictures when making this so the next time I make it I will and I will up-date this with some pics and step by steps.  

A few things about this recipe:
1. the original recipe called for 8 ounces of mushrooms, I found that was way too many for me so I only used 4 ounces, which made my pack of mushrooms go farther. 
2. I used dried onions instead of fresh ones cause I have them and they are easier. If I had dried minced garlic I would do the same thing.
3.The original recipe called for 1/4 tsp of nutmeg I cut that out cause it just didn't sound right in there and I like it just fine without it. But if your feeling froggy feel free to add it.

Ok lets get to the recipe....

Gluten Free Cream of Mushroom Soup

4-8 ounces Fresh Mushrooms
2 tablespoons Onions, chopped
1 -2 Garlic Clove, minced
2 tablespoons Butter
1 1/2 - tablespoons Corn Starch
1 1/2 - tablespoons Potato Starch
2 cups Chicken Broth
1 cup Cream or 1 cup Evaporated Milk (I use Cream)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper

Directions:

1.) Chop mushrooms into small pieces.
 
2.)Melt butter in large pan. Add in onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until onions and mushrooms are soft.
  
 3.) Whisk corn starch and potato starch together. Then Stir 2 Tbs of that mixture into the mushrooms and onions.
 
4.) Add in the chicken broth and heat until slightly thickened, while stirring frequently.
 
5.) Whisk the rest of the corn starch / potato starch mixture into the cream along with the salt and pepper. Add cream mixture in to the soup and heat to thicken while stirring frequently. 
*I never seem to get enough salt in it. So my food usually needs more when I use it, but that's not a big deal. I would rather have too little salt than way too much.

Canning Instructions: 
Prepare jars and lids like normal for canning. 
You will need a pressure canner and will process the full jars of soup at 10 lbs of pressure for 40 minutes.  With soups you must can with a pressure canner to get the correct heat / seal something...pretty much so you don't get sick! If you don't have a pressure canner I would recommend Freezing instead

Freezing Another option if you don't have a pressure canner is freezing it. Just put it into freezer safe containers in 1 1/2 - 2 Cup batches. Then when ever you need it just thaw it out and use it.

~ If you have any questions feel free to ask.

*Ok for those of you that can use wheat flour here is the recipe for you....the only difference is you use all purpose flour instead of corn starch and potato starch.
 
Cream of Mushroom Soup (glutenized)

4-8 ounces Fresh Mushrooms
2 tablespoons Onions, chopped
1 -2 Garlic Clove, minced
2 tablespoons Butter 
2 -3 tablespoons Flour (separated)
2 cups Chicken Broth
1 cup Cream or 1 cup Evaporated Milk (I use Cream)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper


Directions:
1.) Chop mushrooms into small pieces.
 

2.) Melt butter in large pan. Add in onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until onions and mushrooms are soft.
  
 3.) Stir 2 Tbs of flour into the mushrooms and onions.
 
4.) Add in the chicken broth and heat until slightly thickened, while stirring frequently.
 
5.) Whisk the rest of the flour into the cream along with the salt and pepper. Add cream mixture in to the soup and heat to thicken while stirring frequently.


Monday, June 3, 2013

Up-Dates and Life Changes (Going Gluten Free)

First things first...




Chester is going to be a big brother!! Coming this November are little two bedroom house is gonna get a little smaller and boy are we excited.  As of today I am about 16 weeks along and feeling great. Thanks for all the prayers that were sent our way as we were trying to get pregnant again, God is good!

In related news Chester has since gotten a big boy hair cut and...


 he has turned into quite the ladies man...sunggled up close with one little girl while holding the hand of another...oh my!


Now for the big news that I have been putting off talking about for oh about 8 months....this new isn't bigger than being pregnant, but it is more life changing.

After a trip to see Caleb's sister last Thanksgiving in Denver we have decided to go gluten free. Yeah I know we grow this beautiful stuff...


 And we can no longer eat it. 

Why you are probably asking?

Well about a year and half ago Caleb's sister was diagnosed with Celias Disease . And celiacs is some thing that actually can run in familes. Well on the way to Denver after eating dinner (lunch) Caleb started feeling yucky and having a spell where he just felt like crap, (headache, nausious, feeling like he was really weak and going to pass out)  nothing fun feeling that's for sure. He had been having these symptoms for a long time now. They would just pop up every once in a while, but he wouldn't ever go to the Doctor about them...until he had an anxiety attack that was related to the symptoms, then he went to the Doc and all the Doc diagnosed was the anxiety attack and didn't look at the symptoms that caused it. That's really annoying!

*On a side note, I had to take over driving while he tried to sleep and I couldn't make a sound and there wasn't allowed to listen to the radio or stop for anything fun...Needless to say when he was feeling a little better I I kinda gave him a ear full about figuring out what is going on with him and going to the Doc till he got an answer, cause 4 hours of having to be silent and drive with no radio kinda pissed me off...I won't lie. My belief on sickness/illness/cronic pain is if you aren't going to go to the Doc and figure out what is wrong with you than suck it up and don't wine about it...I'm all sorts of compassionate aren't I. 

Any way when we got to his sister's house we did some talking with her about things and she was saying that the symptoms very much sound like some of the symptoms of celiacs. So long story short we did some shopping, bought some supplies, came home and cleaned out my pantry and I am now a label reading gluten free hippy....lol 

It's not just Caleb that has to be gluten free it is me too. I have been having digestive issues for a long time and nothing seemed to help with it. I had thought it was more problematic when I ate greasy foods so I just blamed it on the grease...but then it would happen when I ate a turkey sandwich and that got me all sorts of confused. My sister who has had some of the say digestive issues said her Doc though it could be gluten....which got me thinking about that, but I wasn't about to go gluten free all by myself cause that would mean no more pizza....but since we thought it would help Caleb I thought I would do it too.

But since being on it, we both have noticed a big difference and we feel soo much better!! 

Facts about going Gluten Free:
  • There is no such thing as good gluten free bread. It's all really dense and hard as a rock! 
  • If you don't have to go gluten free but do just for fun, just know that Caleb and I think you are crazy! ;)
  •  After making a dozen different Pizza dough's I finally found one that is eatable, but it's still not as good as gluten pizza
  • Gluten Free pasta isn't bad
  • The gluten free cakes and cookies I have made have all been really good...except I did make a store bought box of browines that weren't eatable, which was really sad!

This has been a huge lifestyle change for us and it means we aren't able to eat out as much or fix stuff near as fast to eat. We are now those people that are high maintenance at family dinners, but oh well we feel better and we are so thankful for that!

I tell you all of this because tomorrow I will be shareing a recipe for Cream of Mushroom soup and it's gluten free and I wanted all of you to know why. I am also sharing the regular gluten version too, for those who don't need the gluten free version.

Lots of Love and Good Bread,

JP
 

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Sunsets and Siloutes

 I know it's been forever since I have posted anything. Ya'll probably thought I dropped off the face of the earth, well there have been days when I wanted to just so I would have to deal with anything, but really that wouldn't have done any good.  Needless to say it's been a little busy. Pop, Caleb's grandpa, had heart surgery about a month ago and we have all been crazy busy taking care of all his farm work as well as figuring out what is the best thing for him when it comes to his recovery. 

On top of all that the weather hasn't really been our friend this spring when it comes to planting the corn. We are "normally" (whatever that means) planting around the beginning of April and here it is the end of May and we are trying our hardest to get it all in the ground.

Well we are in the field and going, and while I was delivering seed to Caleb this evening I made him pose for a few pictures.


 


  
If I could have had them on top a hill without the tree rows behind them, I think they would have been even better, but oh-well. They work for me. 

Hopefully I will be back a little more often. 

Love ya all!

JP   

Monday, March 18, 2013

Onions - A Garden Post

So it's that time of year again, time to get out and start planting the garden. Every fall I get so excited about planting my garden in the spring. I love growing things. I grew up always helping my mother in the garden and and though there were times I'm sure I complained about picking beans or digging potatoes....

Actually I doubt I ever complained about digging potatoes cause I still love doing that...its like a treasure hunt. ;)

Anyway I'm sure I didn't love it all the time, but I really do enjoy being out in my garden!

I was asked earlier this winter about doing some post's on my blog about gardening. So I am going to try and do some to help anyone out there who is thinking about starting their own garden.

Two years ago, I did a post about planting potatoes. If you missed it here is a link to it as well as the post I did about Harvesting Potatoes.

Well today I am gonna talk about something else that I always plant that are super easy to grow....      


Onions.

Now there are two ways of buying and planting onions.

1. You can buy bundles of small onion plants like these in the picture. These usually come in bundles of 25....which means 30-60 plants ;) This is the way I usually get my onions and then I end up planting all the plants even though I will never use all of them. Just more to give to my friends.

2. You can buy what are call "onion sets". They usually come in a bag and are just little bulbs with no green tops. I have done these one time and they worked fine, but I like doing the others because after they are in the ground it already looks like something is growing.

Ok lets talk planting.  


First you need a nicely tilled / worked up soil. 

Once that is ready I like to steak a line from one end of the garden to the other.


This Helps to plant everything in a strait line.

Fact: Eventhough I put this line in, I still usually manage to plant crooked and Caleb makes fun of me for it.  


Now what I like to do to make planting go fast is lay all the onions out first. I plant them in two rows that are about 2 inches apart and I stagger the rows.

So in one row I will plant 2 onions that are 2 inches apart and in the other row I will plant an onion that is at about the 1inch mark between. I should have taken a picture of this, but I didn't think about that till now. Also I don't measure every single onion, I just eyeball it. So some might be 3 inches apart and some might be 1 1/2 inches apart. 


Once I have them all laid out I will got to where each one is and stick my finger in the ground and dig a little hole with my finger. 

 

Then I will stick the plant down in the hole...


and pinch up the soil around it.


 And there you have it, you planted an onion. Pretty easy, right ?!?!


Now move on to the rest of the onions and plant as many as you want. 

As far as what to do now, well you just let them grow.  

If you want green onions you can plant them close together and you can cut the tops off the onions and use them, cause they will grow back.  

If you get the onion sets instead of the plants I would probably dig a little trench like I do for potatoes and then just lay them in the bottom and then cover them once I get them all laid out.

I usually wait till the tops completely die till I harvest them all, but if I need an onion while they are growing I will go and grab one.

So there ya have it. That's how you plant onions, they are really easy and kinda fun to grow. I hope some of you give them a try.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

JP      
 

Friday, March 15, 2013

Hank's Night Life

 So I have told you many stories about me dogs, and most of them have revolved arround my little Jack Russell, Jasper, and his killing sprees he goes on. I really don't give much credit to the other dogs, that was until last night.


I have always thought of hank here as lazy, lover boy of a dog...


Who likes to give lots of kisses...even if they are not wanted! 

 On a side note this was when Chester was 10 months old and  my goodness my little man has grown!!

Back to Hank. He is seriously the sweetest dog. He loves everyone. I never worry about him biting anyone. Jasper on the other hand I tell everyone to stay away from him, he is my dog and nobody else. I tell people as long as you don't bother him he won't bit you. Hank on the other hand, I just worry about him licking someone to death.


I have never thought of Hank as much of a killer. besides maybe a fish when he can get his mouth on one. But otherwise he always seems like a scaredy cat. He seem to run from everything. But last night around 11 p.m. that all changed.  Caleb and I were laying in bed...reading and he was trying to go to sleep, but the dogs were barking up a storm and wouldn't shut up. Then all of a sudden the had cornered whatever they were after in the front of the house. The was the ruckus sounded I thought it was something big and mean...so I am think a raccoon. So I pull on a hoodie and check it out. I turn the light on and open the door and this is what I see...


Yeah that's a coyote that my dogs are fighting there in the corner. Needless to say my heart starts racing and I yell to Caleb telling him they have a coyote out here. He grabs his shotgun and comes racing up to the front of the house. 

I really don't know why we thought a gun was a good idea...

First - there wasn't a chance in the world of me getting all three of my dogs called the beast so we were never gonna have a clean shot at the beast. 

Second - Even if I some how got them all called off , shooting a big hole in the side of the house wasn't a good idea. :/

So after watching this mess occur for awhile, the beast finally escapes from the corner and they all run to the back side of the house.  I grab the spotlight and Caleb still has his gun and I proceed to spotlight the beast for the dogs while they keep attacking the wretched animal. Then Hank finally gets ahold of the neck and does the kill shake. He gets two of them in and that's all she wrote for the coyote....thank goodness!! I wouldn't have been able to sleep a wink if that beast wasn't dead.

After it was over Hank was pretty wore out and he was really starting to scare me. I found our big rubber tub and filled it with water and hank just jumped in and layed there for a while trying to cool down.  Jasper however was still attacking the dead coyte. I worried about ol' Hank for a while, but before I could get to sleep I heard him and the other dogs barking at the night again.      


This morning I went out to get a picture of the beast and...


Got a reenactment of what took place last night, from Hank and Jasper. 





They thought they were pretty big stuff....

and today I would have to agree. 


Now I know I didn't really mention Kit, my broader collie, she was part of the action too. She keeps the beast corralled and wont let it get away, while staying away form the mouth so she doesn't get bit. She's my smart dog! 

After seeing Hank last night it kinda makes me rethink some of those critter kills that I have been giving Jasper credit for, as well as the time I told you about them getting into a muddy fight with what I had thought was a big ol' raccoon when it very well could have been a coyote.

I never thought my dogs would take down a coyote, but they did, and now I hope they NEVER do it again, but I doubt that will happen.  

Oh something I forgot to say earlier, the corner where I took the picture of the coyote last night.....well it looks like a massacre  happened. My job for this afternoon is to clean it up so people don't start wondering about is....lol

JP  


Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Right Now

Right now, I am sitting in my house with all the windows opened and the attic fan on....

Not because it is such a beautiful and warm day (but it is really nice outside), but because of this little guy...


My beloved Jasper....well he's not so beloved right now, actually he is on my bad list.  

Why?

Well, last night about the time we were laying down to go to be he decided he needs to start barking...at coyotes and the moon. Annoying, but really not that big of a deal. But then we wake up some where around 1-2 A.M. to a smell...No it wasn't Caleb passing gas, sadly I would have preferred that to this smell it was...

SKUNK!

YUCK!!! Apparently Jasper, who was assisted by Hank and Kit, Scared the "stink" out of a skunk and it sprayed right on our heater/AC that is sitting out behind the house. 

We have had this happen twice before...yeah I said twice, it's very sad....but both those times it was in warmer weather, and we could open the windows without a problem. But it is still winter here, and it's cold and it was way too cold to open any windows last night, so we had to try and sleep through the night with that nasty smell lingering in the air all night. I woke up sleepy, with a headache and my eyes burning from the smell. 

I had a meeting this morning, so I opened all the windows before I left, and then I spent the afternoon hanging out at a friend's house to keep away from the smell. But now that I am home I have all the windows opened and candles burning, trying to get this nasty smell out of my house, so we can get some sleep tonight.  

But most likely when I am done with writing this I am gonna go put some gloves on and a pair of long underwear on, cause it's cold in here!!

On a positive note, the Skunk was dead!

JP