Day by Day
with Handmaiden's Joy
About the Author
My name is Kathy & I am a forty-something stay at home wife and homeschooling mother living in Kentucky.
This blog is really an online journal and will chronicle my daily experiences, struggles, and triumphs as learn to walk in Biblical Womanhood.
To learn more about the author, please click here.Zoe Life
Zoe Life is my favorite thing ever! All your fruit & vegetable servings for the entire day in an all-natural powdered drink mix!
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Day by Day
Thyme to Gather Seeds!
Spring is on it's way! Yay! And nothing gets me in the mood for warm weather like sorting out my seeds to start plants for this year's backyard garden!
Today I've been taking inventory from the bagful of seeds I keep in the bottom of my refrigerator. Seeds need not always be bought in the year they're sown, by the way. Some will last for years under the right circumstances. I have found the best place to store my seeds is in the "meat bin" in the bottom of my refrigerator.
I only grow heirloom varieties of vegetables in my garden. I learned last year that just because a packet of seeds are labeled "organic" does not necessarily mean they are heirloom seeds, as some hybrids can be considered organic, as well. I prefer not to grow hybrids in my garden for several reasons. First of all, I love to carry on the traditions of our ancestors through heirloom seeds that have been handed down from generation to generation, some of them lovingly preserved and carried across the ocean by our forefathers and mothers. Secondly, I simply don't trust hybrid seeds, most of which are sterile and cannot reproduce themselves. There seems to be something wrong with that. Since most of the seeds in the United States are hybrid, control over what goes on many tables seems to be in the hands of a few. Call me paranoid, but I don't know if I trust that. Besides, most hybrid seeds were developed with big industry in mind rather than small, backyard gardens, and consequently, taste (and maybe even nutrition) played second fiddle to a pretty, saleable product and a longer shelf life.
Occasionally you can find heirloom seeds in stores, but more often you have to order them online. You can find heirloom seeds very reasonably on Ebay, but be careful that you only buy from reputable sellers. Seed saving requires a certain amount of skill. You don't want to buy heirloom seeds, only to find they've cross-pollinated with another variety of the plant and you end up with something different than you expected.
Most seeds need to be started six to eight weeks before the date of the last expected frost for your area, but pepper seeds need a little more time. Today, I went ahead and started what pepper seeds I have to give them a little headstart. From those seeds, I hope to grow three or four bell pepper plants, two cayenne pepper plants, two anaheim pepper plants (for enchilada sauce), two banana peppers plants, and two jalapeno pepper plants. I have ordered poblano pepper seeds, as well, in hopes of growing, drying, and grinding into my own chili powder.
LOVE These New Spice Jars!
For years I have wrestled with my "spice cabinet" where all my spices were thrown together onto high, dark shelves. If I wanted to use one, I had to climb up onto a chair to reach them, and pull most all of them out before I could find the one I needed.
I tried in various ways to organize my spice cabinet. I had a lazy susan, but all the spices just fell behind it so that it didn't turn anymore. I alphabetized the spices, but of course they got out of whack rather quickly. I considered buying a spice rack, but I just didn't have the cabinet or wall space for it.
But my problems are now over! I have discovered magnetic spice tins, and I just had to share my joy with you!
They are not expensive... just five bucks per package of three tins at Meijers. (They are also readily available for purchase online.) You buy the number you need, label them, and pop them onto the side of the refrigerator! I wasn't using that space anyway, and now it is so much easier to keep the tins in alphabetical order, I know just where each spice is located.
I used to feel like I needed to make "mixes" of spices for certain recipes, but no more! I can just pull down what I need from the refrigerator in record time.
I highly recommend this to anyone trying to organize their kitchen.
...be it unto me according to Thy word...
Making Homemade Broths
I got up this morning and finished off the chicken broth. Nine half-pint jars are processing in the pressure canner as I type this post. So I thought I'd share my method for making homemade broth while it is fresh on my mind.
Why make homemade broth?
Sigh... I can't believe you're even asking this ; ).
We make homemade broth for the same reason we make everything else homemade... we don't want all those nasty toxins in the regular storebought broth, most notably MSG which has been linked to a variety of scary symptoms, but neither do we want to pay the ridiculous price for organic storebought broth Just one box of organic broth costs almost as much as the whole chicken I need to make several jars of chicken broth PLUS a meal for my family (and a little cat food if I can get the time to make it).
And making broth is not all that hard. It is done in spurts, so it doesn't take up any big blocks of time.
So here it is...
To make Chicken Broth you will need one whole chicken (antibiotic & hormone-free, of course). Bring your chicken home, wash it and put it in the oven to roast. Serve it for dinner, then pick the carcass clean. Use the rest of the meat for another meal or to make pet food.
Place the carcass in a stock pot and fill with water. Add a little sea salt if you'd like. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, then simmer three or four hours until reduced at least by half. Let cool a bit, remove the bones, then strain into a large bowl through a colander lined with cheesecloth.
Cover and place in refrigerator overnight. The next day, skim off the fat. You will probably have a thick, gelatinous broth. You can put it into jars or other containers to freeze at this point... just be sure to leave about 1 to 1-1/2 inches of headroom so it doesn't break your jar as it starts to freeze. You can also pour it into ice cube trays to flash freeze, remove and place into containers in convenient small chunks.
Another option is to can your broth (my favorite since it is so convenient to use). You will need a pressure canner for this. To begin, place your jars in your canner, fill with water, and bring to a boil. In the meantime, place your broth into a saucepan and heat to nearly boiling, then turn down the stove so that your broth stays hot. Put your rings in another small saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down so that they stay nice and hot and add your lids to the water.
Ladle broth into jars leaving 1 inch headspace, cover with lid and close tightly with rings. In my canner, I process at 11 pounds of pressure for twenty minutes. (Be sure to follow your canner's manufacturer instructions and the USDA recommendations for safe canning.) It is best to bring your canner to the desired pressure slowly on lower heat (rather than beginning on high heat and backing down to the desired pressure since you can lose liquid from your jars that way).
For beef broth, you will need soup bones. You might have to ask the butcher for this. Even though you might not get a meal out of it, go ahead and roast your bones (to make a richer broth) before boiling in the stock pot. Process the same as for chicken broth.
Vegetable broth is probably the cheapest and easiest thing of all to make. Just put a big jar in the freezer and whenever you have leftover vegetable parts or peelings, throw them in the jar. When you have a jar full, put your veggies in a stock pot with water and any desired seasonings and simmer three or four hours until you have a rich broth. Strain out veggies and process as with chicken or beef broth. Be careful which vegetables you include in your broth, though. You probably don't want anything so strong that it overwhelms the taste.
That's all there is to it! Now you have cheap, convenient broth to use whenever you need it without paying a ridiculous price.
...be it unto me according to Thy word...
Homemade Pepperoni
So why would anyone want to go to all the trouble to make homemade pepperoni?
After all, pepperoni is cheap at the store. And as you can see from the picture, homemade pepperoni is not nearly as pretty as store bought.
However if you take a gander at the back of the store bought package you'll begin to understand.
Hormel Pepperoni Ingredients: Pork, Beef, Salt, contains 2% or less of Water, Dextrose, Natural Spices, Sodium Ascorbate, Oleoresin of Paprika, Lactic Acid Starter Culture, Garlic Powder, Sodium Nitrite, BHA, BHT, Citric Acid.
Right off I have a problem with the pork. If God called something "unclean" as He has pork, shouldn't we take that seriously? I'm not going to go into all the reasons we shouldn't eat pork, but suffice it to say it is something you should look into. The thought of eating pork literally makes me ill now that I know how "unclean" it really is.
And Pork is only the beginning of the problem. What about "natural spices". Does that include MSG? We have no way of knowing since the FDA considers MSG a "natural" substance. Sodium Nitrite? BHA? BHT? All have been linked to cancer. Obviously these are things I do not want to put in my body.
But since I looove pepperoni pizza, the only thing left to do is make it myself. Since I already make my own pizza crust and sauce, it makes sense to know how to make the toppings, right?
The good news is that pepperoni is very cheap and easy to make. It only takes about 15 minutes to put together. The catch is that you have to refrigerate it overnight, followed by four hours in a 200 degree oven the following day... so it takes some preplanning, but it is worth it.
I found the following recipe for pepperoni on the internet and tweaked it just a bit. The original recipe called for a teaspoon of liquid smoke, but I left it out since I haven't researched liquid smoke enough to make an informed decision about whether I want to put it in my body. Seems like to me that smoke shouldn't be liquid. (I suppose if one wanted to smoke their pepperoni, they might try putting it on a grate above their fireplace embers... as long as they're using REAL wood, but that's another blog. If anyone tries this, let me know how it turns out!)
But anyway, here is my recipe:
HOMEMADE PEPPERONI
1 lb. ground beef
1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon anise seeds
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Combine all ingredients, mixing until thoroughly blended. (Might as well just get over it and use your hands.) Divide in half into slender rolls about 1-1/3 inch in diameter. Wrap in wax paper & refrigerate overnight.
Unwrap and bake on broiler pan at 200 degrees fahrenheit for 4 hours.
I usually go ahead and cut into thin slices, flash freeze, and place in a jar for use as needed. You could also freeze it in serving-size chunks for when you make pizza. This recipe doesn't contain sodium nitrite so it can't be kept indefinitely in the refrigerator like store-bought pepperoni. Use within three days unless frozen.
Here is my pizza recipe for anyone who might be interested in making their own from scratch:
CRUST
1 cup warm water
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. active dry yeast
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. sale
2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
Add yeast and sugar to water and dissolve. Add olive oil and salt. Add flour and stir until smooth. Cover and let sit 5-10 minuts. Roll out into pizza pan.
(I bake for a couple of minutes at this point to make the crust a bit firmer. It's a matter of personal taste. This crust recipe also does well parbaking for 5 minutes, then freezing for later use.)
SAUCE
1 can organic tomato puree (10 3/4 oz. or about 1 cup)
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
Blend all ingredients and spread over crust.
Top with favorite cheeses and toppings and bake in 450 degree oven until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.
Enjoy your homemade pizza!
...be it unto me according to Thy word...
Now What Have I Done?
I got a late start grocery shopping today, but that didn't stop me. No siree... that didn't slow me down at all.
The Certified Angus Ground Round was on sale for $1.99. How could I resist? And the chicken... antibiotic/hormone free... fresh, not frozen... only $1.79 a pound. Who could blame me?
So I brought it all home. Twenty pounds of ground round... 22 pounds of skinless/boneless chicken breasts. PLUS a whole chicken for broth (also on sale!) and soup bones for beef stock.
Then I realized... I've got to do something with all this meat! Quickly! Since tomorrow afternoon will be tied up taking my mother-in-law shopping, the next day with homeschool co-op, and the next with the Homeschool Valentine's Day Party I'm coordinating, I already will really be pushing it to get everything done.
So tonight I baked the whole chicken for dinner with plans to make broth from the carcass tomorrow. I browned a TON of ground beef and froze it in jars (except the portion I will use to make lasagna tomorrow), made two good-sized meatloaves, plus a big bunch of hamburger patties, which are flash freezing as I type. Sometime tonight I have to muster the energy to start the pepperoni so it can sit overnight before I bake it in the morning.
Speaking of in the morning, somehow I need to fit in preparing all that chicken to freeze while making the lasagna, chicken broth, beef stock, and pepperoni. Plus, I need to make ketchup.
And I really should start some bread...
Guess I'll rise early tomorrow like a good Proverbs 31 woman... sigh.
...be it unto me according to Thy word...
You Can Do It All... If You Do It God's Way
Lately I have had several inquiries about Zoe Life. In fact, I've almost felt like hiding from the inquirers, except that... well.. it IS my home business.
After finally realizing I had been going about the whole Zoegetics business all wrong, I decided to relax and let God take care of it, since He was the One who led me into it. He was also the One who led me to get rid of chemicals and toxins in our life and home, and He KNOWS that takes quite a lot of time and concentration.
When I was out selling Zoe full time, we ended up with more toxins, which no doubt harmed our health. What was the point in selling a health-related product if it made our family less healthy?
So I basically quit, except that I didn't really quit. I just turned it over to God.
Today while at my homeschool co-op, I had the opportunity to talk to a lady who had rheumatoid arthritis. It is really hard NOT to share Zoe since it is such a great product and I believe in it so strongly. It was nice to be able to tell her I don't put a lot of emphasis on selling Zoe Life, but I do consider it an essential part of my daily health routine.
After I taught my class, another lady (who had wanted to speak with me for the past couple of weeks) signed up as a Zoe Representative and will be starting the Zoe Life Family Pack. She is very excited, and so am I. It's great to have a product who basically sells itself.
But even better, it's great to have a Lord whose load is easy and whose burden is light. He doesn't want us overwhelmed. He wouldn't overwhelm us. Why should we overwhelm ourselves?
Handmaiden's Joy - Biblical Womanhood Day by Day
...be it unto me according to Thy word...
After finally realizing I had been going about the whole Zoegetics business all wrong, I decided to relax and let God take care of it, since He was the One who led me into it. He was also the One who led me to get rid of chemicals and toxins in our life and home, and He KNOWS that takes quite a lot of time and concentration.
When I was out selling Zoe full time, we ended up with more toxins, which no doubt harmed our health. What was the point in selling a health-related product if it made our family less healthy?
So I basically quit, except that I didn't really quit. I just turned it over to God.
Today while at my homeschool co-op, I had the opportunity to talk to a lady who had rheumatoid arthritis. It is really hard NOT to share Zoe since it is such a great product and I believe in it so strongly. It was nice to be able to tell her I don't put a lot of emphasis on selling Zoe Life, but I do consider it an essential part of my daily health routine.
After I taught my class, another lady (who had wanted to speak with me for the past couple of weeks) signed up as a Zoe Representative and will be starting the Zoe Life Family Pack. She is very excited, and so am I. It's great to have a product who basically sells itself.
But even better, it's great to have a Lord whose load is easy and whose burden is light. He doesn't want us overwhelmed. He wouldn't overwhelm us. Why should we overwhelm ourselves?
...be it unto me according to Thy word...
A Little Taste of Summer!
Imagine my joy when I found two forgotten bags of frozen roma tomatoes in the freezer! I had been wishing for some good fresh tomatoes to experiment with spaghetti sauce, but thought I'd have to wait until summer.
This morning I pulled out the smaller bag. I had been told way back in the summer when I was overwhelmed with tomatoes from the garden that I could just pop them in the freezer right off the vine, and I did. I didn't even wash these tomatoes. They looked just as they did when they were picked, only a bit... er... frozen.
Happily, after they thawed the skins easily slipped off under warm running water. I cored the tomatoes, chopped them up, and ran them through the food mill (since my family doesn't do "chunky" spaghetti sauce). Then I put the sauce on the stove to cook down to the desired consistency.
Using a recipe I found online, I sort of winged an experimental spaghetti sauce recipe and it turned out awesome!
Here's what I ended up with:
1 quart tomato sauce or puree
1/2 cup onions, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/3 cup red peppers
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 to 1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. honey
Place oil in skillet and saute' onions and garlic until soft. Add to tomato sauce. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
I added homemade meatballs to the sauce and served over pasta. I was very happy with how it turned out.
...be it unto me according to Thy word...
Cookies that are GOOD for You!
I just finished squeezing my way into the kitchen to remove another batch of cookies from the oven. I say "squeeze" because as I write this, the kitchen is filled with teenagers, all clamoring for a cookie the second they come out of the oven.
"Ouch, they're hot!"
"Mmmm... they're good!"
It's a very busy room at present.
I kinda chuckle as I make my way back to the computer, another batch of cookies in the oven to bake. These kids have no idea that the cookies they're devouring are actually GOOD for them.
So I thought I'd pass the recipe along to you all... a cookie you can feel good about giving your kids (and yourself) AND one that's easy to make.
These cookies are called Anzacs. They are an Australian cookie (name Anzac by Aussie schoolchildren for their Australian/New Zealand soldiers). We found the recipe in an old library book when the kids and I were studying Australian back when we first began homeschooling. They have been a popular item in our house every since.
Here is the recipe:
Anzacs
1 cup butter (or use Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
to make them even healthier!)2 tbsp. maple syrup
1 cup all-purpose flour (preferrably whole grain)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flaked coconut (preferrably unsweetened)
1 cup organic sugar
Cream together butter and maple syrup. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Don't worry that they seem a little crumbly. Drop by teaspoonful (or scoop) 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheet (preferrably stoneware). Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes (just until they begin to brown around the edges). Cook on cookie sheet (or they'll fall apart).
The batch I baked today was made with fresh milled, winter white wheat flour (compliments of my newest favorite thing, my grain mill, the Bosch Nutrimill Grain Mill 20-c.
my husband bought me for Christmas). I used coconut oil and added 1/2 tsp. salt plus a teeny bit more butter to help the batter stick together. I can't say enough about coconut oil. I put it in everything I possibly can. I have never made these on anything other than stoneware, so not sure how they'd turn out otherwise. Enjoy!
...be it unto me according to Thy word...
Questions and more Questions About Bread
So I've been trying to learn to make homemade bread and do it in a way I can live with, and that is so much easier said than done.
Issue #1: Obviously, I don't want to use refined flour since all the nutrition has been removed so that it is not much different than glue, not to mention that it is toxic from all the added chemicals. The simple solution would be to just use whole wheat flour or unbleached white flour, except that everytime I try it the bread turns out a tad bitter.
At first I blamed it on the baking powder (and found out I needed to avoid commercial baking powder anyway), but even without baking powder or soda, my bread still tasted bitter.
A little bit of research revealed that flour that still has the wheat germ in it tends to go rancid very rapidly.. like within 72 hours. Seems the organic, whole wheat flours I've been using do not have the germ removed (thank goodness) and neither do they have the perfume and chemical additives to keep the flour smelling & tasting good.
I tried a new biscuit recipe this morning that I found in Nourishing Traditions. I purposely went out last night and purchased "fresh" whole grain flour from Whole Foods, brought it home and soaked it in fresh buttermilk all night as recommended by Ms. Fallon (see Issue #2). The biscuits would probably have had a decent flavor when I baked them this morning except for that bitter aftertaste that I can't seem to get rid of.
So my questions for all you experienced bread makers is this: If I buy a grain mill and start grinding my own flour just before baking my bread, am I still going to have that bitter aftertaste? Is it something I just need to accept as part of baking with whole grains or is it, as I suspect, the result of the pre-ground flour going rancid before it makes it to my table?
Issue #2: Now I learn (via Sally Fallon) that whole grains of any kind should be soaked (fermented) in buttermilk, yogurt, or whey 12 to 24 hours before they are used... a procedure that releases the nutrients in the grains and helps the body better absorb them. So I am trying to figure out how to incorporate this into my recipes, specifically the "Fresh Baked Bread in 5 minutes a Day" experiment I have been planning to try.
And if that weren't enough...
Issue#3: Sprouted Grains. Trying to figure out how they work and how to incorporate them into my bread baking procedure, if indeed, they should be incorporated at all.
What I have learned so far is that there is so much more to learn about baking bread... how to make the crust soft, how to make the bread hold together well enough for sandwiches, how to incorporate it into my routine so that it doesn't take over my life...
I'll let you all know when/if I figure all of this out. Any hints/helpful advice would be greatly appreciated!
...be it unto me according to Thy word...
Life Improvements
Yesterday morning, I made myself get ready and go to the gentle water aerobics class offered by the gym where our family keeps a membership. It was a forty-five minute class... one that I had tried four years before and ended up on the couch for two weeks with a HUGE fibromyalgia flare. The people in the class were mostly elderly, but there were also a few forty and fifty-somethings, like me, who have some physical issue that prevents them from doing more. Everyone was very friendly. I loved the class.
The water & movement were refreshing. As I exercised, I remembered my younger (pre-fibromyalgia) years when I used to love step-aerobics... jumping up and over the step, almost pre-knowing the next step call, and feeling the strength in my body.... I could almost believe (and still do) that I'll be able to eventually build back up to that level.
I am so thankful for Zoe Life. This morning, I woke up only a bit sore. My right arm is the most sore and the joint seems a bit "pulled", but otherwise, I feel great. I took a couple of white willow bark capsules for my arm, so it is feeling much better now. Pre-Zoe, I couldn't even walk to more than five or ten minutes. I am so thankful to be among the living again.
But enough of that...
This morning, I went back to planning my meals so that I'll better stick to my all-natural, healthy diet. This week I plan to make homemade "farmer's" cheese again, specifically for the whey that is called for in a huge percentage of the recipes in "Nourishing Traditions". I am enjoying the book and learning a lot (although the author can sometimes come across as rather new-agey). I plan to make stuffed shells with the cheese and use the whey to experiment with some of the bread recipes in the book.
I also plan to cook ahead for next weekend when my husband and I are planning a pre-Christmas trip to Gatlinburg. I don't want to have to do very much cooking while I'm there, but neither do I want to blow our diet and budget eating out. I plan to pre-cook Chicken Marsala, Black Bean Soup, and Chicken Quesadillas, and take a couple of grass-fed steaks to cook there.
Also been looking into "sprouted grains". I am quite intrigued by their presumed health benefits, as well as the ability to make bread from them cooked at a very low temperature (living food!). If Zoe has taught me anything, it's the need for more raw and living foods in our diet. I plan to experiment with sprouted grains when we return home from our trip, though it might end up being after Christmas before I can fit it in.
I have been fighting dry skin since the cold weather settled in, as I have in years past, but this year I have discovered shea butter! Early in the fall at one of the many festivals I attended, I happened to buy a big tub of all-natural shea butter for five bucks! I've been using it liberally on my hands, arms, legs, feet, even my face! I love it because it's all-natural and edible. (Remember, if youput it on your skin, you might as well eat it!)
My skin has been much improved with Zoe, but I've noticed that since I've gone back to wearing make-up nearly every day (for the many meetings I no longer go to), my skin was looking rather dull. So once again, I've stopped wearing make-up, for the most part, especially foundation. My skin is looking better already.
Okay, now for the next challenge... how to make Christmas dinner as natural & wholesome as possible without offending my family by changing tradition too very much?
...be it unto me according to Thy word...