Our first recycle project of the year and Oatmeal Bread Machine Bread

Usually we buy a bottle of pink champagne every year to ring in the New Year.  But not with a drink but to make jelly.  This year I bought only a tiny bottle to ring in the New Year.  Dude doesn't drink and I only drank a half a glass but we saved the bottle. 

I made an exploding bubbly bottle with leftover ornaments from Christmas.  It was made it the same way we made the pouring teacup and the tumbling ornaments out of a bag.  Here it is. It is simply the bottle, a half a wire coat hanger folded in half and put in the bottle. I hot glue it inside to slightly secure it. The glue ornaments with tops pointing inwards so they look more like bubbles and not ornaments. Small to large. 

Here are the others we did in simpler fashion:

Oatmeal Bread in the Bread Machine 

I love the convenience of the bread machine. You just dump the ingredients in the machine and let it do it's thing for the next three hours.  (I do check it every so often to see if I need to scrape the sides or help it form into a ball)

This week I made oatmeal bread.  It turned out well, earthy, and good.  Dude likes it as toast for breakfast or a midday sandwich. 

Here are the ingredients or one loaf. 

3/4 cup water (room temperature) 
1/2 milk(room temperature) 
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons melted bacon grease
3 cups white bread flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon salt
a packet of active dry yeast or 2 teaspoons

Put into the bread machine in the order your machine tells you... mine is in the order listed, wet to dry. 
Settings for me - 2lb loaf and medium crust. 

Here is how it turned out. 

I would love to stay and chat but the chicken coop needs cleaned and one last house chore is left to be done... mop the muddy floors.   

peace 

Homesteading food... raising, growing and making our own

One thing we don't have to worry about on the homestead is food. We know how to grow it, where it comes from, what it eats, how to garden and in the end, how it is butchered. 

Today I was getting lamb ready for the weekend. It is thawed...

It looks fresh and not gray like meat in the store. 

We wash all our meat after it is thawed.

Then soak it in milk overnight to get any mutton taste it might have out (haven't tasted it yet).

We get eggs daily. Technically, they can stay out on the counter since they aren't washed. But I wash them up. 

And put them in the frig. The numbers are for freshness. Eat the lowest number first. 

Our herbs are beginning to peek through. 

Later I went out to check on our new chicks.  Yes, I had a partner.  Norman insisted on bringing one of his new toys. 

The new layers are doing great. I hope to put leg bands on them tomorrow or this weekend by the latest. It will help later when we need to figure out who is not laying between the older hens vs. the younger ones (they will have the bands on them). 

These are the meat hens. They look very healthy and happy. 

Then back in the house to wash up (always , always wash up after being out with chickens!)

Bread needed to be made ...oatmeal bread this time. 

It turned out good.  It is a thick hearty bread. 

Next I needed to make chicken salad before heading to work.  I found this recipe here . It is a French chicken salad from an 1800 recipe, over 200 years old.

With our own parsley, it was fantastic!

It was all about the food before work today. Tomorrow I will cook the lamb so we will have it for the weekend , despite it being a meatless Friday. 

peace