The Adventures of the Reese's Pieces Gang

December 1, 2008
Phil didn't get a deer this hunting season. However he did enjoy learning how to field dress a deer and a great time of fellowship with men from our church at the hunting cabin. He did see a nice buck opening season but he didn't get a shot at it. He also shot at a nice 7 pointer the last weekend of hunting season but it was too far off and on the run, so he missed. We were very blessed by friends sharing some of their deer with us. We have two small bucks and a really nice doe to cut up next week. We are thankful for the meat!

Today we did a lot of planting in our garden. All of our beds are full of veggies or seeds now, YEAH! The kids helped me plant the snow peas, shelling peas, and 2 types of green beans. Then I planted broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, monnopa spinach, giant winter spinach, Romaine lettuce, buttercrunch lettuce, and black simpson lettuce. I will also try to plant more leeks this week for fall and winter use.

We spent the afternoon blanching and freezing 5 more quarts of beans (green, purple, white with purple speckles, and yellow) and 1 quart of broccoli. The purple and white with purple speckle beans were part of our weekly veggie share from our local CSA. What is a CSA you ask? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture. In many communities you are able to find a CSA where several farmers work together to provide chemical free or organic food to local consumers. The consumer pays a fee for a ½ or full share and receives a box or bag(s) full of food anywhere from once a week to once a month. I was so excited to find a CSA only 3 miles from our new house! It is run by a young couple who have a sweet little 2 yr old boy. They are currently the only farmer contributing to their CSA. They grow over 35 types of veggies and often more than one variety of each type of veggie. I was able to join their CSA even though 2 months are already gone for an adjusted rate. So far we have had the opportunity to try: candy cane beets, purple potatoes, red & yellow onions, leeks, fennel, basil, green zucchini, yellow summer squash, cucumbers, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, red potatoes, purple beans, white with purple speckle beans, green onions, and swiss chard! It is really fun going to pick up our bag of produce each week then coming home and unloading it with the kids. We also receive recipes! I'm so excited about being able to buy organic chemical free food that is VERY local, so FRESH, and very reasonably priced!!

This evening I decided to make creamy broccoli soup with another quart of broccoli that I didn't freeze. Often I'll add potatoes to the creamy broccoli soup since the recipe is actually a Potato soup recipe that I converted to a broccoli soup because the kids like the Potato soup so much. I decided not to use potatoes so was looking for another root veggie to add to the soup. I have so many lovely veggies in my fridge right now but beets are the only root veggies that I have in excess right now. I was hoping to disguise the beets in the soup so the kids wouldn't realize they were eating beets. I boiled them, deskinned , cubed and added them right at the end of the cooking time. As I stirred the soup it started to turn a very nice creamy shade of pink. :-) Each of the kids started to come in asking what was for dinner and I told them, “This soup is a gourmet variety only sold in the best restaurants, it is called, Valentine Soup! It tastes a lot like my potato soup but has a secret ingredient!” After our Bible and prayer time I served this lovely pink soup to the kids. We were all totally shocked to absolutely LOVE the soup!! The beets were VERY sweet and added a really nice flavor to the soup. Each bite was a bit different because sometimes you'd get a beet which was very sweet, others a bit of broccoli or some freshly cut celery, which was also very sweet. I went out and cut the celery right before making the soup and used all the beautiful green leaves in the soup. I have never tasted such a sweet full flavored celery as the celery cut from our garden. The kids and Phil just raved over the soup the entire meal!! I've been making a wide variety of “enthusiasm soups” lately because I want to use all the fresh veggies in a variety of ways: breakfast egg soufflés, soups, side dishes, grilled, etc. I was very thankful that my beet experiment ended a little better than another great chef who once tried liver in her enthusiasm soup.

Today I want to focus on many blessings that the Lord has been showering upon our family and me personally. I'll start with some general blessings then expound on some spiritual blessings and lessons that the Lord has been teaching me.

On Saturday, I was able to pick up a little over 6 gallons of raw milk and 1 1/2 gallons of cream from pastured cows. My picture today is of the final stages of the butter making process. We allow the cream to sit out for most the day then we take turns shaking it until the butter separates from the buttermilk. In this picture you'll see my almost gallon of buttermilk which will be used for biscuits, pancakes, and bread this week, two 1/2 cup portions of butter, and the blob of butter that needed to be put into 1/2 cup servings. I use my Measure-All cup to pack the butter into while squeezing out as much buttermilk as I can. I then wrap my 1/2 cup blob's in saran wrap, write the date on them with a sharpie marker, then put them into a zipper type freezer bag. These last months in the freezer. I pull them out for fresh use or for baking. This blob of butter ended up giving me 6 cups of organic raw butter. That is equal to about $13-21 dollars since most organic butter sells for $5-$7 per pound. The milk and butter are a huge blessing! Plus I had the opportunity to spend a couple hours visiting with my friend who milks the cows!

When we left the "farm" with our car loaded with milk & cream we headed to another friends house who had some canning jars for me. As we brought the cases down from her attic I was overwhelmed with excitement to find that she was giving me 14 cases of jars, most of them 2 qt PLUS a box of lids and seals! A brand new case of jars runs for around $15. Once again the Lord showered us with goods that will meet our families needs!

I've also been blessed with fresh farm eggs for FREE the past few weeks which has been wonderful! My friend with the chickens also has ducks, geese & turkey's. She has given us goose eggs on more than one occassion which are Samuels favorite eggs to use for his omelet!

A few days ago I was able to meet my new pastors wife via email. We've been corresponding about the move, the church, and other things. I found out that the week we will be moving to New Holstein is the week of our new churches Vacation Bible School. I'm so excited that the kids will be able to get to know the children from our new church right away! God is so good!!

Yesterday Elizabeth and I went to our churches Mother Daughter Brunch. My heart was blessed by the message which I will write more about at the end of this post. Then we went into "town" for our trip to get the milk, canning jars, groceries, and lumber for another chicken pen. While we were shopping I decided to look at some tops and skirts. I desperately needed some clothes that weren't too tight or too big. I've only lost about 28 pounds so many of my shirts are still snug. I know tight fitting shirts are the "popular" style. However, I do NOT feel that they are modest nor do they honor the Lord or my husband. So as Elizabeth and I were looking at shirts I noticed a clearance rack. I usually NEVER find clothes for myself on a clearance rack. There were some REALLY cute reversible skirts that I decided to try on. Not only did they fit but I was also able to find a top to match each on. Because the skirts are reversible I got 6 new church outfits for just $42. It was so nice to wear something that wasn't horribly baggie and frumpy to church today. PLUS I found new tops to wear with my favorite Capri's. Now I'm all set as far as my wardrobe goes for Camp and the summer in general.

The Lord has been teaching me a lot this week about my attitudes regarding my home, packing, scheduling my days, and discipling the children. Yesterday at the ladies brunch one of my dear friends spoke on the impact studying Mary & Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, has impacted her life over this past year and a half. I found her challenge to be very applicable and convicting to the internal struggles I find myself facing these days. I have a tendency to be very "Martha" with my days, I'm often in a rush going from this to that, praying on a whim, reading scripture rushed, listening to the Christian radio with only a portion of my attention, all of which tends to leave me feeling frustrated and STRESSED! The speaker pointed out that it wasn't what Martha was doing that was wrong but that she was "cumbered about" or consumed with and stressed about so many things that she wasn't willing to listen to or be taught by Christ. That little statement hit me between the eye's like the rock that struck Goliath. I realized that I have been cumbered about rather than casting all my cares upon Him who cares for me. I have been doing the good things rather than seeking to live for the Greatest Master. I had to ask God to forgive me once again for my selfishness and lack of willingness to just trust God with each day and all that it entails.

I can honestly say that after yielding my fears and expectations about these next few weeks to the Lord that I am at peace about everything that needs to be done. I have renewed my commitment to seek to walk faithfully, communing daily with the Lord and teaching my children how to walk in His grace day by day. I pray that our busy weeks will be a time that we will reflect back on and be able to see many things that God taught us and ways in which He was magnified through this time of pressure.

My first try at cheese looks GREAT! Sam is holding it on the cutting board in the picture. He tried some this morning on his Farm Fresh Goose Egg Omelet and said it tasted really good. It is supposed to sit out on the counter for a couple days to dry then be waxed and stored for a month to age. I highly doubt it will make it to that stage since we have been without cheese for a few weeks now and the kids are anxious to try it. Thankfully I have a friend who is able to share about 10-15 gallons of farm fresh milk with me this weekend, as well as more next week. I will plan on making at least 3-4 2 pound rounds of cheese with some of this milk. It takes 2 gallons of milk to make approximately 2 pounds of cheese. Since I know I'm going to be getting extra milk over these next couple weeks I will probably let the kids eat this first block of cheese as a snack and on our soup tomorrow.

I made some whole wheat/spelt bread last night too with over 70% of the grain soaked in Whey for 24 hours. The bread looks and smells WONDERFUL! This is a nice transition bread recipe for the beginner soaker like myself. I hope to get to the point where I am confident soaking almost all the grains for baking. Here is the recipe that I used:

Soaked Grain Whole Wheat/Spelt Bread
7 1/2 - 8 cups Freshly Ground Hard Red Wheat and/or Spelt Flour (I used 4 wheat & 3-4 spelt)
3 tsp Yeast
1/4 cup water
2 cups plus 3 oz Whey or buttermilk
1/2 cup sucanant (I have not tried it with honey yet but I'm sure it would work, you'd just need a bit more flour because of the added moisture)
5 Tbsp butter
2 tsp salt

1. Mix 5 cups flour with whey or buttermilk (buttermilk does add a bit of a bitter flavor, adding more sugar or honey helps) in a bowl with a lid. Mix well and cover. Leave it in a warm spot for 12 - 24 hours. 24 hours is best.
2. When you are ready to bake the bread. Put the water, butter & sugar in a small pot and melt butter.
3. While butter is melting put 1 cup flour, 2 tsp salt and 3 tsp yeast into a bowl.
4. Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and mix with a dough hook for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add soaked grains and kneed with a dough hook for 6 minutes. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky.
6. Remove dough from bowl, grease bowl with olive oil or coconut oil. Put dough back into bowl turning once to coat with oil. Cover with a wet cheesecloth or clean wet dish rag. Put in a warm place to rise until doubled.
7. When the dough has doubled in size punch down and divide into two globs of dough. Shape into loaves and put into two greased loaf pans (I prefer stoneware). Allow to rise until doubled in size.
8. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until loaf is browned and hollow sounding.

I'm enjoying baking breads & pancakes with soaked grains. The dough of the breads is beautiful and elastic much like a white bread loaf but SOOO much healthier!! The pancakes are so light, fluffy, and loaded with wonderful flavor and fiber!

It really is fun making all these things for our family from farm fresh, organic ingredients! I think some nice grilled cheese sandwiches are on the menu for lunch today!

There may be some of you who read my blog that think I'm crazy for trying to grow my own food, purchasing organic, and changing our family's dependency on the commercial food supply. Today I watched a lengthly documentary done by a woman in Canada I believe, that is very troubling. It is a long documentary but very worth the time it takes to watch it. If you care about you and your families future food supply and health you will want to watch it.


http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/05/01/this-company-may-be-the-biggest-threat-to-your-future-health.aspx?source=nl


This documentary and the article Dr. Mercola wrote about it make me so thankful for friends who shared with me books on health and nutrition along with sources for heirloom vegetables. All our vegetables this year are NOT GMO but they are instead heirloom vegetables which will give me the ability to save the seeds and use them next year. I probably won't be able to save and reuse the corn because I believe some of the land that butts up to ours has corn on it planted by a local farmer. If the only veggie I have to buy next year is corn seed, it will make for a very cheap harvest for next season. This year I plan to track my yields so that I will be able to total up the amount of organic food that we will have grown and preserved. I buy organic now so I will be able to figure out what the value of my home grown organic foods are and how much money will be saved.

Many people think, "Oh but all the WORK!" My thoughts are, I'd rather get off my tail and get moving while teaching my kids a time honored tradition, self sustainable living, then sit around eating food that is essentially poisoning us.

So off I go to pick up Philip from school, then water my plants!