The rest of the week's menus, a new visitor and a look back of the first 6 months of 2018

It was COLD today.  It began with 1*!  I promptly closed the door (after letting the Dog Norman out to do his business) and drew a hot bath with Frankincense oil … ahhhh.  No work today. Not only does Frankincense relieve stress (an oil of Kings) but the whole house smells wonderful. 

Part of homestead is using our food storage or as Dude says... "it costs too much to go to the store any more!" We have been pretty successful of not going to the grocery store for weekly grocery the last two weeks.  I may by the end of the week but for now we are set. 

Here is the rest of the week's menu form our storage and things we grow.

Tonight - Hawaiian Pork Chops.  I found two thick pork chops in the freezer.  We store rice and cans of pineapple.  1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup soy, 1/4 cup ketchup, 3 tablespoons of cider vinegar, a 2 clove of garlic minced, mix together. Mix separate 1/2 cup water and 3 tablespoons of cornstarch. Mix both sauces together and layer all ingredients (1/2 sauce, chops, pineapple , top with remaining sauce) in the crockpot.  Ready in 4 hours on high or 6 on low.  Use crockpot liners to make clean-up quick.

Wednesday - Putting baked ziti in the crockpot.  We store pasta , all kinds, in the pantry. We buy marinara when it is a dollar a jar (buy 10-12).  We freeze cheese when it goes on sale.

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Fish dinner.  We love fish and freeze when on sale I think we have 2 packages left of cod and whiting.

Saturday - Sweet and Sour Chicken - we raise meat hens twice a year.  It is the same recipe as the Hawaiian pork chops but instead of pineapple I am adding peppers and onion plus minus the soy.

Sunday -Epiphany - Texas Chili. My nephew gifted us some Texas chili mix.  We don't usually eat beef but I did find a pound in the freezer plus our dried onions, our canned black beans, and tomatoes.

I did spend time getting sewing projects ready for the year, writing in a new gratitude journal, exercise and reading.

Made meals in a jar for the pantry.  Cleaned out a lot from the pantry.

Today's meal in a jar is cranberry couscous. We will make on Monday for Meatless Monday.

We had a new visitor today... A red tail hawk. Doesn't look like he's starving!

You can't go forward without acknowledging the past. Here is our 2018 review for the first 6 months.

Time to bring in more firewood and add a quilt to the bed.  Sweet dreams. 

peace 

New goat and a new year!

We got alot done this weekend. Over the Christmas holiday we visited some amazing farms and this New Year's weekend we visited yet another one. 

Saturday

 Peppermint went for a breeding visit over at Sonflower Farm. It is a beautiful farm of dairy goats, horses, alpacas and birds - all kinds. 

Off she goes.

...And she meets Gilles.  

The girls from the nearby pen look on.

They have a beautiful bird house.

A few alpaca.

We left our beautiful goat there for a couple of days and will bring her home soon. 

Somehow we left with a new goat... Nubian/Nigerian named Felonious.  He is a lover but he cries all day until we take him for a walk. I guess he was a gift from heaven to get me moving again! 

Wilbur the ram and Angelo the Boer goat were waiting when they heard the trailer pull up. 

They love Dude.

Meet Felonious... a softie at heart.

Welcome to your new home buddy.

Sunday

Dude and I are always competing with each other. After extracting the honey we like to do two more strainings and we are always trying to find new way for it to go quickly. I used the tried and true method my dad used with the cheese cloth and rubberband.  Hmm Looks like I won this one.

Here it is still straining but we did get a gallon. 

Next up was mass.... the Solemnity of Mary and we were celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family our church name. 

I needed a side dish for our church potluck.  So I made a quick dish of grapes, cream cheese, yogurt, a little lemon juice and a small bit of powdered sugar.

Yum, I came home with an empty dish. 

After Mass we went for our prayer walk with the animals. 

We have had more than our fair share of tumbleweeds this year. 

We cleared out a bunch and then it was time for the football game and we gave up.  *smile*

Halfway through our walk we had to put Angelo away. He would get jealous of any attention we paid to Wilbur or Felonious and would take them down.  But then Wilbur would feel sorry for him and stay back with him to keep him company from the other side of the fence. Silly little ram. 

I did get a ham in the oven for dinner... very simple just a jar of marmalade jelly and a hefty squirt of Dijon mustard simmered in a pan for about 10 min.  Bake the ham at 350* for an hour or 145* covered. Then up the heat to 425* remove the foil and add the glaze over the top and bake for another 30minutes or to 165* meat temp measured without hitting the bone.  

Later watched movies and finish first 2017 WIP.  Yay! Goal is to finish as many as I can. 

Happy New Year! 

peace