Keeping Busy!
I have made aprons for all of the granddaughters using all this time I have at home. I am also preparing for a bigger garden this summer by starting my own seedlings. And the last photo is of my spring garlic that is looking great!
With all that is going on in the world more and more people are seeing the need to become more self-sustainable! I guess those homesteaders whose vlogs that I love had it right all the time! But that doesn't mean that here in suburbia we can't do more to be more self-sufficient ourselves. Because of that huge pine tree in the park behind our back yard we don't have a great garden yield but we have discovered that garlic does well as do my herbs. And our raspberries do amazing and hopefully our strawberries will provide some jams. And the seedlings I have planted will go in the garden plots we have rented up on the bluff. And with our small greenhouse in the back yard we are hoping to lengthen our growing season. Every year we try new ways to grow our food and it's exciting to see successes and to learn from our failures.
And learning how to get along without the grocery store has been a challenge I have joyfully taken on. Shopping has never been a favorite activity for me. Quite frankly, I hate it. So learning new skills that will provide us with food is right up my alley. The other day I made homemade crackers using Kevin's recipe from Living Traditions Homestead. We had run out of Ritz crackers to snack on and I remembered watching a video of Kevin making them. Here's his recipe:
1 cup oat flour
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
4 Tbls. oil
1 cup (more or less) hot water
Mix in kitchen aid mixer for about 2-3 minutes. Divide in half. Roll out as thin as you'd like and put them on baking pans. I used my cookie sheets and rolled them out to fit. I then baked them at 425 degrees for 7 minutes. Remove from oven and spray with oil and salt. You can also add any other toppings at this point. Put back in over for at least 7 more minutes. Check after this frequently until they've reached desired crunchiness. That's really all crackers are, flour and water and your own spices. For the oat flour I ground up in my food processor about 2 cups whole oats. But you can make them out of all purpose flour or add some wheat flour. It's all up to you! And there are no preservatives! And I love them dipped in my homemade hummus.
Finally let me share that I am running out of creamed soups in the can in our pantry. You know the kind you use in casseroles and other recipes. I really don't want to buy any more so on YouTube I typed in homemade dry soup mixes and over on Whippoorwill Holler I found this recipe which I made today.
2 c. powdered milk
1 1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup chicken bouillon powder
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp. pepper
Mix this all up and put in a jar and store it until you need it. When you want to make up a batch just add 1/3 cup of mixture to 1 1/4 cup water, add chicken or mushroom bits and heat it up until thickened. So easy!
We can all get through this time but it will take time and trying out some new skills. I highly recommend trying these out. I think our grandchildren would love the crackers. Let me know how they come out!
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