Edible Flowers and Sprouts?

Okay, so I've been looking into something new. Actually, I was looking for... I don't really remember... but it led me to find this woman named Clara on youtube (she's in her 90's) and she has videos about cooking during the times of the "Great Depression", from way back in the day. She tells you the recipes of some of the things her and her mother fixed during that time period, and they are things I never would have thought about, but now I must try! lol

One of the most peculiar things I came across was her dandelion salad... DANDELIONS?! For 28 years of my life, as long as I can remember, I grew up with dandelions in our yards. Wherever we moved to, they were there. I always thought they were just annoying weeds but I never, EVER knew they could be eaten. I never even gave it a single thought. I knew they were used for tea and wine, but to be EATEN? I was floored.

Of course now I've got to try it... lol It would be neat to use them in a salad some time. Some people take the yellow heads and buds, and then batter them and fry them. I want to try that, too. I've been told they taste like fried mushrooms, but I haven't gotten up the guts to try them yet. Best of all? I never knew how HEALTHY they are! She made a point about it on one of her videos by saying something about how she thinks that's why they've lived so long - because they ate things like that. To think... all these years, all the free dandelions for the taking, and I never knew about it!

Then I started looking up what else could be eaten. That's when I learned about sprouts, and how to grow them. I never knew how healthy sprouts were, either! Apparently a little bit of sprouts are tons more healthy than eating a bunch of the grown vegetable. Someone on a video I watched said that what you buy in the store? The grow broccoli and stuff? All that's doing is slowly dying and losing nutrients from the day it was cut off the stalk. But the sprouts? They are bursting full of life, and are packed full of nutrients and vitamins. You can grow many different kinds, too. Clover, alfalfa, broccoli, beans, peas, etc. I'd love to get my hands on some clover seeds to try and sprout. All you need are seeds, a jar with a mesh lid, and a lot of water to rinse with.

THEN I was going even further and learned about flowers that you can eat. Mainly the petals, not so much the leaves... One flower you can eat the leaves of is called Nasturtium. From what I learned, they have a bit of a sweet, peppery flavor, and you know what? About half a year ago, I bought this wildflower mix from Target in a shaker can (a mixture of flower seeds for a dollar in a can). I decided to look and see if any of these flowers were listed on there, and luckily, a few of them are! I can't wait... I really hope I can grow them this year, because I want to try adding flowers to my diet. Flowers, sprouts, and wheat grass. I guess you could say it's my new year's resolution to be more healthy and "go green" this year. Literally! lol

Can you imagine? If we ever get to have a place of our own, I'll have my fresh flowers, herbs, my big garden full of healthy veggies without chemicals, a compost heap, we'll have farm animals where I can get fresh milk, and we'll have fresh eggs and meat... No additives, no preservatives, it would all be organic and fresh... That would be so awesome. It would be my dream come true. If anyone ever wanted the best for our family and wanted us to be happy and have good things in our life, this is what they could help us do. Help us get our own home, our own land, and a mini farm of our own. That's the life we are trying to have. That is why we try to be good people.

Here's a picture of the Nasturtium I talked about. I can't wait to see what it tastes like! (if I can get it to grow lol)

Lack of Posts

I SWEAR! I am the WORST person when it comes to doing anything that requires a steady dedication. I'm so sorry for the lack of updates. It's been so long! It's been so busy! That might be why, but still, it's no excuse to at least post a sentence here and there, right?

Anyway, we've done a lot... and there's still so much more to do. So much to post, so many pictures to fix up, so many things to tell and share, and so much-grr-aahh!!! Just SO MUCH! lol

Bottom line? Life has been a roller coaster. Our van went out but we got a new (used) vehicle, the holidays were great, though we pretty much couldn't go anywhere much this year... We're still stuck in our tiny little home for now, which would be okay if it weren't for all of the little things that irritate me about it...

As for the new year, there's so much I hope that will be different this year. For starters, I'm hoping we can pay off my loans this year. Maybe start actually saving to get a home of our own some day. Tricity will be starting school this year, and though I will be stressing out and freaking out about it, maybe it'll give me a chance to finally catch up on some projects that I've been meaning to do around the house. I'm getting everyone's birthdays, and hoping I can actually send an email or special greeting or something to everyone this year. Cards would be too expensive, I would think. For some days, there are three or four birthdays on the same day! I also want to try growing a few more things besides tomatoes this year on my porch-garden. Last year's tomatoes didn't hardly grow at all, if any, but I know it was from lack of care. Maybe this year they will grow better?

Ah well... Time is short. Busy, busy, busy! Gotta run for now. Someone kick me in the butt and remind me to post more! lol

I Made Homemade Bread and Butter!

The bread and butter I made was AWESOME! And knowing that I made it myself, and I knew what was going into making it just made it even better. You know what would top it off? Having fresh raw milk cream for the butter, and my own fresh eggs and stuff for the bread. Adam keeps using my wheat for sandwiches. I said "Use up all the old bread first!" and he said "but I don't want that bread. I want yours!" so that made me feel really good. I'll have to make him some white bread to use since he likes that better. I like heating the bread up, and putting on the homemade butter and just eating it like that. MMM! I guess I'll try some of the white when I make it too, with molasses :-D I wish I knew how to make THAT on my own, too! lol

Still didn't get Halloween decorations up... I would have done that, but Adam's family was having a get-together. It was so much fun! We went fishing while they barbecued. We didn't catch much. Me and Adam didn't catch anything, but it sure would have been nice to bring home some catfish, especially now that I know how to clean them! Buddy was able to get Gabriel and Tristin so it was nice to see them again, too. And Stormy was there with her little boy :-D Poor Tricity was the only girl, so of course she got left out while the boys played video games, chopped wood, and jumped on some hay bales, but Tricity played with the puppy that they had, and followed Stormy around. She loves her :-) It was cute... They messed around with Buddy's truck, the motorcycles, and went off to get some wood for the bonfire. Then after supper, we had desert, and then we went out to sit by the bonfire and have a few drinks.

We got home really late, and then I found out that work tried to call me to come in, but I didn't have my phone with me, because there wasn't any service at their place. It would have been nice to know sooner though, because I had missed a day the other night from being sick and I could have made up those hours... Ah well. It's not like I could have called back when I got back home, because I had already been a little drunk, so I just took a shower and went to bed.

Feel like crap today though! lol I've had a headache, and just now got rid of my hiccups. I managed to make laundry detergent, though. Haven't bothered to get up and see if it works yet. It didn't gel up like it was supposed to, but I think it's because I didn't have a 5 gallon bucket to make it in. I just tried to make two gallons by parting the recipe. (It's a four gallon recipe, so I parted it by four, you would think it would have worked...) Ah well. It should wash clothes just fine. We'll see, and then I'll post about it. lol It's not like our clothes get that dirty anyway. Just the ones from yesterday that smell like smoke and fish.

And the last thing... I pureed my strawberries and had everything ready to be dehydrated for fruit leather... You know what happened? My dehydrator went out! :-( I had Adam go to walmart to see if he could get me a new one but they don't have any. Boo! Walmart sucks! So now I'll probably have to order one online unless I can find one anywhere else first. I just had to keep the trays stacked and I put them in the freezer until I get another dehydrator. Any donations would be nice! lol I was going to make mom some fruit leather too, this time, and then some more beef jerky...

Anyway, that's all for now :-) This post is long enough, and I really do need to get some laundry done. lol Have a nice day!

I Got a Breadmaker

I got a breadmaker! Instead of paying $40 at walmart, I went to the thrift store and got one for only $4! And as far as I know, it works! I'm so excited. I haven't tried making a loaf of bread yet, but I will try it out tomorrow. That would be awesome to make my own fresh bread, and try out different kinds, and know what's being put into my bread. We also got groceries, and I picked up some cream so I can make homemade butter, too. Mmm... I can't wait! Homemade bread and butter... *drool*

I guess the older I get, the more concerned I am with what I'm putting into my body. If only I could give up Mt. Dew! I don't like the idea of drinking vegetable oil... Anyway, not only that, but homemade stuff just tastes better and has more love put into it, I think. Or at least that's the way I feel. I REALLY can't wait to have my own chickens one of these days!

I've also ordered the supplies so that I can try and make my own wine. Adam let me order a hydrometer, champagne yeast (because I want to try and make sparkling wine), and air stops, because I really don't want to use a balloon or condom to let the co2 out while keeping air from getting in... I don't want there to be a rubber taste from a balloon, and the idea of using a condom for making wine is just disgusting...

Anyway, I'll keep you updated on how it goes!

Ta!

Tis the Season to be Spooky

Well it's that time of year. My favorite season! We still don't have our decorations up yet for Halloween, but that never stops us. Not even this splitting headache... Muah-hah-hah-haa!Tricity's been wearing her Scooby Doo costume. We mainly bought it so she can play dress-up in it, since Adam got her so crazy about Scooby Doo... This isn't a very bright picture, but I'll get better ones later on when she wears it out for Moonlight Madness. I just wanted to post the picture that I got the other day in the bedroom. Here's my silly little girl!
Scooby Doo isn't who she's going to be for Halloween, though. Moonlight Madness is just a town event where the kids walk around the courthouse and get candy from businesses, pretty much. For Halloween, she's going to be a pirate, and so am I since I have to match her costume every year :-D (Yes, I have to dress up, too! lol) In a later post, I will share our matching costumes from previous years. This picture is actually from Pirate Fest (which I still need to get pictures up for), but here is a preview of what we'll look like:
She also picked out her Halloween clothes for this year, and of course when she tried them on, she had to pose for me. lol Every year, Walmart has these cute little outfits, so we get her one each time. This one says "Daddy's Under My Spell". Here's my dazzling little cutie:

Homemade Laundry Detergent and Baby Wipes

Okay... so now I'm looking up more stuff on youtube (man, I sure do love that place!) and I came up with even MORE ideas for our home...

Homemade laundry detergent!

I haven't tried this out yet, so don't take my word for it, but here's what it says to do:

Take a bar of soap and grate it into shavings or powder
(I'd use a bar of Dove soap because I love the way it smells!)
Mix it into a big pot of boiling water.
Be careful because it bubbles up, so add a little bit at a time.
This will also help keep big soap clots from forming...
In a 5 gallon bucket, add 3 gallons of water
Mix in your dissolved soap water
Add 1 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
and 1/2 cup of Borax
Stir well, making sure to break up any chunks
Let stand overnight.

When you check on it the next day, it should be kind of lumpy or like jello.
Add a cap full (or more, depending on your desire) of Downy liquid fabric softener
Stir, stir, stir
Either leave in the bucket and mix it up each time before use, or pour it into individual bottles and shake it each time before use.

It says it only uses about half a cap full for each load, but if you are like me, you'll probably use more than that each time, which is why you may have wanted to look up this recipe in the first place! lol

And then I found a homemade thing for baby wipes!
You take some paper towels, cut them in half, and place them all in a stack.
In a bowl or something... pitcher, whatever... mix:
2 cups of olive oil
1 cup of baby oil
1 cup of mild baby wash
Stir, and pour this mixture over the stack of paper towels
put them into a container or ziplock bag, and use :-)

I wish I had found this one when my daughter was still a baby, but oh well... I'm sure they can find some use in the bathroom :-D

Inmate Brew?

I'm going to try and make homemade wine. Not all fancy-schmancy, mind you... I don't have the know-how, experience, or money to go all out... The kind I'm going to try is called "inmate brew". Have any of you heard of this? Or have any of you ever tired to make your own wine??? As far as I've seen, it's just fruit juice, raisins, yeast, sugar, a siphon, and a balloon, pretty much. I've been watching videos on YouTube about it. It seems pretty easy, but I'm nervous because usually everything I try turns out completely wrong! LOL Oh well... If anything, it'll be an experience for me  :-p  Maybe I'll be able to splurge a bit and actually get some of the proper equipment?

Fall Weather

Yesterday was such a nice day, that we had to go outside and play. I love this weather. I would much rather have to pile on clothes instead of having to deal with the heat. Adam is the opposite, I think. He always has to crank up the heat and even when I'm hot, he says he's freezing. I think it's the old age getting to him... lol

Anyway, I got some pics on my phone, so the quality isn't as great... but here was Tricity playing out on her swingset yesterday.

This one is kind of dark, but you can make it out. It's a monkey on the monkey bars! ;-)

Actually, she can't really do them by herself, so Daddy helped her across :-D

She wanted to get on her bike, so we got it out for her... And then she wanted to be pushed. Adam told her just to petal so it would be easier for him to push her, but she freaked out and wanted to get off, because she was worried she would fall. He convinced her that she would be okay (because of the training wheels), and he had the back of the bike, so she petaled... until they hit a pothole in the ground. Then she fell sideways, hurt her leg, and freaked out, crying "See! I told you I would fall, and I did!" and then of course she came crying to me. lol I checked her out, assured her she was fine, and she went back to playing...

So then she decided she wanted to pick flowers for us... Little white flowers among the weeds :-D one for me, one for Daddy, and one for her.

We saw a caterpillar eating lunch. I never really seen one eating up close in person that I remember. But then again, my memory fails me a lot lately...

She also had her babies out with her (Baby Tricity and Baby Devin), and Uni, the Unicorn.

She's so funny and so silly...

Then we went inside... Daddy had to get ready for work, and it was already getting cold :-D

I'll try to create a video with the little snippets I got here and there, too...

Now I just have to put my Halloween decorations up before it gets too late! It's already the 6th, for goodness sakes... lol I got a few new things this year. I can't wait to decorate and take pictures again. It'll probably be about the same as last year on the outside. This year, I have some things for the inside, too.

Hope your day is good :-)

To My Surprise...

To my surprise, when I came home from work this morning, what did I see? I was off for the last two days and therefore I had stayed in the house and did not notice this before... but when I got home from work this morning, I could tell...

New flowers!

New flowers bloomed, and I noticed a couple of the other plants had buds on them, too. This late in the year and more flowers are growing? Wow. I was surprised. Of course I really don't even know what was planted to begin with. lol It was a mixture of seeds that I just tossed on the dirt and covered with mulch.

I can't wait to see how they turn out. Here's a few pics I got this morning. I don't' even know what these are!!! lol

Golly, Look at the Time!

Time sure does go by too fast...

Once again, many things have happened since my last post. lol
Here's the things I wanted to put up since last time that still need to be done:

• 4th of July pics and video
• summer fun pics and video from us swimming
• Renaissance Fair pics and video
• A picture of my 'perfume ladies' collection
• cool things I got from the mall

And since then (a little over a month ago), we've had my friend Tahnee's birthday come up. We took her out to eat and I got her a present. Then we went to do a mini-photoshoot. That part was her idea, but you know I was all for it :-D Even though it was unexpected, I got some pics with Tric and they were SO CUTE! I'll have to share pics as soon as I get them.

I also picked a day with her to photoshoot Tricity in all kinds of outfits and costumes, so I'll have to share some of those, too. (I could do that now, actually, but I'm about to put out breakfast at work, so it'll have to wait.)

Then there was Pirate Fest. I was supposed to be a guy and Tahnee was going to be the girl, but she forgot her costume, and I couldn't find my man stuff, so I was a woman, and I looked good. I also got a pirate costume for Tric to wear, and she was cute, as always.

I got to see my grandpa, probably for the last time while he's living in Missouri, and we got a few more things from his place. Among them was a penny collection that was my mom's and she passed it down to me. Now I'm excited about collecting coins! lol

It's October, so that means decoration time. I can't wait to decorate the house! Halloween is almost my favorite holiday. It's like 50/50 with Christmas, pretty much.

I've also decided to go ahead and start packing boxes... If we ever get to move, then I'll be ready to go, I hope. If I get them done before then, that is. I told Adam that either we get to move into his grandpa's place, or we're finding somewhere else to live, because I can't take the crappy air/heat system, I can't take all the mice and ants, and I can't take living in a trailer park. It irritates me to no end how nosey the neighbors are. I'm always convinced that they go through our mail and mess with our stuff.

I've also got hives again this year. It seems like they come and go every seven years. I went to the hospital this time, because the itching was driving me up the wall, and because this time, they came with a pressure allergy. That means, if I got up to walk, brushed up against something, got scratched (like with hives making me scratch?), or anything like that, even biting my bottom lip absentmindedly, then my skin would raise up really bad and be more itchy. So the doctor gave me allergy medicine. I wonder how long I'll have to take it before it goes away? IF it goes away... I can't describe how maddening the itching can be. And people wonder how I have so much patience... You don't even know! :-(

Anyway, I've run out of time and I must go now. Hope to write again soon!
xoxox