I’m so thankful for these little homemade chicken bullion cubes. My son has been sick the last two days. He won’t eat much when he’s ill, but he’s always up for chicken soup. I can feed him homemade bone broth in an instant any time I need to by just reconstituting with boiling water. This is one of the most rewarding things I make. And if dehydrated it’s shelf life is a good long time if refrigerated. You can specific instructions on how to make them by taking a peek in the Pantry.
Most people see fall as a time to rake the leaves and put the garden to bed. But, I’ve come to enjoy fall as one of the most exciting times in the garden. It’s when you’ll find me snipping dead flower heads off and sorting seeds. I save them for the following year if I need to fill in plants, or enjoy giving them away to friends. Don’t overlook this harvest. Just think of the yield you could have in the year ahead from one tomato seed. The multiplication values are amazing when you stop to consider the number of seeds can be produced my one simple seed in one growing season. Save your seeds and share them with friends!
Rose Campion seeds
These little brown paper envelopes are great for seed sorting and sharing.
The flower heads on Rose Campion produces a prolific amount of seeds.
Rose Campion flower head.
Crush between your finger and the seeds just pour out.
See the white little cone shaped things? Those are the seeds.
Echinacea hides her seeds among all these prickles.
You’re looking to save the white, not the black spiny parts.
Lavender
Crush the lavender flowers and the seeds just fall out.
We have lots of birthdays in the fall. So, I’ve been working to develop a frosting that works for our allergies as well as those of our friends so that we can all enjoy the same dessert. I think I’ve landed on a keeper.
It has very simple ingredients, and comes out smooth and creamy. And unless you are allergic to chocolate, it should work for almost any allergy except for corn, because it does require powdered sugar. I’d prefer to substitute another sweetener, but haven’t come up with an option that adds sweet and bulk at the same time.
Ingredients: Cocoa powder, oil (I use light olive oil), water, pinch of salt, 1/8 tsp vanilla, powdered sugar.
Now, you’ll note that I didn’t give measurements on lots of the ingredients because it all depends on the yield you need. So, here are some ratios, and sequences to follow. This is a good recipe for just eyeing it, and when it looks right, stop.
This icing is rich, and chocolatey, and delicious.
As a general rule, I like to solve problems in life. And as a general rule, these are the only times that I would consider myself to be creative. I get to practice this a lot in my kitchen figuring out recipes and food substitutions for my food sensitive kid. So, in my life, creativity only expresses itself out of some need.
Yesterday, I was forced to be creative in my kitchen for lunch and dinner because 1) I forgot my what my original meal plan was. And 2) Neither backup plans worked either.
Now, this is where most people would pull out a box of Mac & Cheese and call it good. That’s great if you have an easy option like that. But, about the only things I can buy pre-packaged for our food sensitivities are flour tortillas and graham crackers. That doesn’t make for much of a dinner.
So, I had to use what was on hand and make it ready within about 30 minutes. What I came up with is below. Not my best cooking ever, but it was hot, healthy, and homemade, and I’m proud of that. How do you show your creativity in the kitchen?
This was lunch. Flour tortillas, crisped in the oven to be quesadillas, lentils cooked and smashed to substitute for refried beans, leftover Jalepeno lime chicken from the the fridge, topped with homemade herbed ricotta, seasoned toasted pumpkin seeds, my homegrown herb garlic dehydrated cherry tomatoes, and some fresh chopped Jalepenos. It was actually tasty.
See below: Dinner consisted of turning the innards from our carved pumpkin into pumpkin bisque courtesy of our Instant Pot, cooked sausages from the freezer, and cabbage sautés with onion. It made for a good fall combo.
Have you come up with any creative meals lately?
If my latest posts on homemaking, baking bread, and sprouting grains has peaked your interest and you want to be able to make beautiful loaves like for your family each week, you should consider learning from the best.
I took the breadmaking course from Homesteading Family 10 months ago, and making fresh whole wheat, spelt, or sprouted grain breads is totally doable. Carolyn Thomas is a great teacher. She’s a wonderful lady and homeschool mom. I figured if she could make bread for her family, so could I. And so can you! If you want to give it a try, use this link which gives you a special discount, and helps their family and mine (affiliate link). Joining the class will also give you access to an exclusive Facebook group which is a great place to post questions about problems you are having, or show off your successes. Happy bread making!
This past Friday a group of friends gathered at my home for the first meeting of our homemaking club. This same group of women and their daughters plan to meet monthly and use our collective knowledge to teach each other new skills. I forgot to get a picture of the people. We were all so cute in our aprons. But here’s a picture of some of our tools, dough rising, and final product. It was a great morning, and I can’t wait for the next one.
Can you guess what the class topic was? Bread making! We plan to cover topics like fermenting, sewing, sprouting grains, gardening, herbs, needlework, etc. Do you know how to knit or crochet? Garden? Make your own herbal remedies? Sew? Get some friends together who either have the same interests, or want to learn. It’s a great time of fellowship, and a good way to pass along some lost skills to the next generation.
Sprouted and ready to store in the freezer.
I’ve been sprouting spelt for the last 9 months to grind to make our bread each week. I was so intimidated by the idea when I started. And I really couldn’t find any reliable information or consistent techniques online. But, now that I have it figured out….. it’s so easy! There’s really nothing to it. Once you have it worked into your routine, you can easily sprout a batch ahead, and always benefit from the additional nutrition that sprouting makes accessible to your body in your breads and baked goods.
Easy Steps to Sprouting Grain:
(These steps work with any grain.)
That’s it! Give it a try. Sprouted grain makes a softer flour, is easier to grind than unsprouted, and I think makes lighter baked goods.
Unsprouted spelt berries.
Cover with water and soak for 12 hours.
Sprouted. See the tiny tails on the tip of each seed?
Before dehydrating.
After dehydrating.
Dehydrated and ready to go in the grain mill.
In the mill. About to become flour.
Compare: Left – after dehydrating, Right – before dehydrating.
