"Can't you just buy eggs cheaper at the store?"



running to meet me

 While I talked on the phone last night as the snow fell, I was bemoaning the fact that I might have to carry the three hens in my arms to their pen this morning. The last time it snowed, they just sat on the porch in their pen for about an hour. (In case you don't know, after a raccoon killed one of my four hens, the remaining three have slept in a small cage inside the house by the side door.)

The hens refuse to walk in snow. This guy knows I feed them food of the same quality as I eat. He knows I cook oatmeal with eggs and powdered milk for them. He once had chickens and cows on 110 acres along with a huge garden. He said he never went to the pains I do.

Frugal
He know I am frugal because I like to be and because often I must be frugal. Well, I suppose I don't have to be frugal, but it just seems the best course of action. That's how I managed to pay off house and car last year.

So, cost is the only thing he pays attention to when we talk. He was finally exasperated as I moaned about hen transfer in the snow. "Can't you just buy eggs cheaper at the store?"

Heart disease
He needs a heart transplant, has had heart attacks, and still has not figured out that food is a front line defense against disease and a good treatment for what ails him. This is the same guy for whom I called an ambulance last week. (It may be too late for a food cure.)

Cheaper at the store?
His question is one many people ask those who raise their own food, whether it is eggs, meat, or crops. Isn't it really cheaper to buy food at the store than it is to raise it? We won't even consider other points for raising food, like fossil fuel used to ship food to us, pesticides, preserving heirloom seeds, self-satisfaction, exercise, sunshine, a hobby, something families can do together, and a host of other benefits.

No hormones, no pesticides
My hens have never had food with hormones or pesticides beyond the first week of their lives. I rescued them from a common life. I can happily and proudly that Fancy, Thelma, and Louise live an uncommon life. They spend many hours scratching and pecking in the earth. They are supremely happy hens. When I let them out of the pen, they rush about eating bits of green grass (weed?).  Everyday, they get a bowl of oatmeal with an egg cooked in it along with powdered milk and just a bit of water. If I have meat for them, they get that instead of egg. About once a week I give them a can of tuna in their oatmeal. I won't even name the fruits and vegetables that are on their menus each week.

One supplement
Each day, I crush a Vitamin D into their food and sprinkle diatomaceous earth over their food. In a separate Corelle water bowl, apple cider vinegar is added to water.

Eating green food
They must eat green foliage to form the omega-3, the same omega-3 that is currently used to prevent heart disease and treat heart disease in humans. Remember, in the past when all our cattle--chicken, cows, goats, etc--were pastured on grass, all eggs, milk, and meat contained omega-3. I feed them salad beyond human consumption (just a little off, not a lot), either mine of castoff salads from a market or two. Hens love anything green. Desperate one day to provide them with green, I gave them some of my canned turnip greens. They pounced on it and did not hesitate until every speck was gone.

Eating local
Eating eggs from my yard is the ultimate in "eating local." Not one ounce of fossil fuel is consumed in obtaining the eggs.

Fancy talks
My hens talk to me. Okay, Fancy is the talker. She jumps up in my swing to sit by me or just stand, look right at me, and carry on a conversation. Friends have seen this and are fascinated. This is not just a senile, old lady who says Fancy is special. My senile, old friends think the same as I--she is talking to me. She craves human attention. She wants to be a companion.

Cruelty to hens
After seeing the cruel treatment of battery hens, I had to have my own hens. I am happy that they are never harmed. They see the blue sky everyday and have the earth under their feet. They live like I imagine they were intended to live. (Okay, if it is overcast, none of us see the blue sky.)

Vulnerable animals
Hens are so vulnerable. A cow might step on you or butt you or run really fast. A goose can inflict a wound. Pigs can be dangerous. Goats butt. Hens can do nothing in defense.  Yes, I know they all can be brutalized by humans with weapons. They all can be overpowered at any time. But, hens are so little and helpless.

Hen antics
I love their hen antics. If I had a video of them trying to run on ice, slipping, correcting, and slipping in the other direction, squawking, flapping their wings, and finally reaching the pen like nothing happened, I would be a happy woman. They entertain me daily.

Back problems
Since my back has gotten so much worse, if I did not have to go out numerous times during the day to check on them, feed and water them, or haul them in my arms to and fro between the house and pen, I honestly think I might never leave the house some days.

Benefits-let me see:

*eggs with no pesticides or hormones
*eggs that will improve health
*free eggs
*local eggs
*eggs in the backyard
*entertainment
*companionship
*clear conscience
*exercise
*motivation

Ewww
Today, for the first time, one of the hens pooped on the iron handrail, right where I need to hold it for the last huge step up to the porch. That, I could do without.

Mistrust
Sure, I need to eat beef and chicken that is all that my hens and eggs are--free to roam, healthy, and local. I don't. But, I eat little meat for the sake of my present and future health. Unfortunately, we cannot always trust labels to mean "humane," "grass-fed," "and organic" just because they say so.

Your turn
Do you consider the cost of eggs  raised in your yard or a local yard? The cost of eggs and the cost to the hens and our own humanity are all figured in the cost and cannot always be expressed in dollars and cents. Do you suffer when you see videos of brutality against hens? Have you done anything about it? No, I don't think your quitting eating eggs will help one hen. I did all I can do. Can you?

Snow Cream and Southern Snow Thoughts

No snow available here

Mmmmm
Yes, I love snow cream. You say the snow is dirty? So what? It has never killed me yet. You must never scoop yellow snow or snow that has the residue of a footprint of a cat or dog or human. Never scoop all the way until you touch grass, the sidewalk, or the car. Scoop carefully, skimming the surface. Of course, a foot of snow would make the scooping easier. But, we never get a foot of snow down here in the South. I live halfway between Birmingham, Alabama and Huntsville, Alabama.

In Memphis, TN, in 1963, on the 23rd of December, if I remember correctly, we had 23 inches of snow. Up until that time in my life I guarantee you I had not seen 22 inches of snow in all the years put together that I had seen snow. I was sixteen, so this was a really big deal--snow! For seven years of my life, we lived in Jackson, Mississippi. You can see we did not live in areas likely to get any appreciable, measurable amount of snow.

It was so glorious. We had snow ice cream often each day. Mama would mix the milk, sugar, and vanilla. We kids would scoop great bowls and soup pots of snow. Of course, with five children and two adults, lots of snow was needed to produce enough snow ice cream.

Someone from the North commented that he thought we used the snow in an ice cream freezer like we used ice. He was horrified to know we would eat snow. S.N.O.W. Yesiree we did. We worked on strengthening our immune system. Parts of our home never did get warm in frigid weather, but we could eat ice cream in the warm dining room, kitchen or living room.



huge snow melt


Snow supplies
Tonight, I went to get the proverbial milk and bread to tide me over since I heard the "s" word. (Seriously, I really did need milk.) Only, I had bought six loaves of bread last Friday and only needed milk to hold me over during the predicted 3-5 inches of snow. Aha! The milk left in the gallon jug is just enough enough to make snow cream.

In the South we strip the shelves of milk, bread, eggs (my hens supply those for me), cookies, bologna, and Pop Tarts. It's not that Southerners think pop tarts and bologna are survival food. Okay, huge steaks and most mixes of any kind are gone. People are preparing to stay in for days or to cook out on the grill. It's really hard to say.

School's out
Most of the schools close for an inch of snow. With kids home from school, someone is going to be hungry all day long. I suppose the thinking behind Pop Tart purchases is that if the electricity goes off, a rare occurrence where I live, then everyone can stuff pop tarts and bologna sandwiches in their mouths. This will silence the kids and fill their stomachs. Actually, there is never much of anything left in the stores just before a snow or rumors of snow. Lucky people and early birds get the PopTarts and bologna.

If I were planning on losing electricity for a week, I would not get pop tarts and bologna and bread to survive. What would I get? I usually don't want to run out of milk, Cokes, or bananas. If I have those, I can survive anything because whatever else I have to eat will be just fine. If the electricity is off, my milk will survive in some of the unheated rooms in my house. Right! They will all be unheated! Cokes will be so cold they won't need any ice.

Peanut butter sandwiches, tuna, turnips straight from the can, bananas, apples, prunes, oranges, pecans, and raisins would fill my stomach. Sure, I would be frozen like a popsicle, but I would not be hungry. And, I do like Pop Tarts and bologna sandwiches.

Abort
As you can see from the pictures, there is not enough snow, smooth snow, left for snow ice cream. Dimpled snow is a sure sign of danger from animals walking, birds pooping. This snow is all dimpled, so there will be no eating snow cream. After I wrote the snow meander last night, another good inch fell. At 8:00 a.m. the scenes above faced me.

Disheartened
I am so sad! There is a quart of very, very sweet milk, laced with vanilla, sickenly sweet, just sitting in the refrigerator with no snow expectations for a week....sigh.

Recipe
1 qt milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 or more gallons of snow, maybe less...lol. Varies.

Heat half the milk to dissolve the sugar. Stir. Don't scorch the milk. Add vanilla and the other half of the milk. Cool. Put the cream mixture in a large bowl. Dump in some snow, stir, dump more. You may not need all the snow; you may need more. Stir quickly and completely. Eat while still firm.

The mixture before the snow will be very sweet and strong. Snow dilutes sickeningly sweet taste.

Your turn
Do you eat snow? Do you ever make snow cream?

Meatloaf and more: cooking for the week

meatloaf

Meatloaf
This meatloaf will be used for at least four more  meals. I cooked the meatloaf on Saturday and had potatoes and green beans and unsweetened tea, plus the meatloaf missing from the pan. I just love this square pan for meatloaf. I prefer thin meatloaf.



Black eyed peas
This time, first time ever, I cooked in a large, deep iron skillet instead of the iron Dutch oven. Notice the hand-carved maple spoon utensil. One scoop with that is more than a serving! I cooked these on Sunday.



Time to eat
The color on this picture is horrible. I had little meatloaf because I ate a bit of meatloaf earlier. It's so good I could eat it all, but I won't so I will have three more days of this. I have already had one, plus this meal, and three more...yum.

The coleslaw has grape tomatoes cut in half. I found a pint at the market for $1.67, about $2 cheaper than at the grocery store. The slaw will last two more meals. I have more cabbage, shredded. But, you know how slaw does not last long.

The black eyed peas are delicious with no salt, just cooked in water.

I eat only whole grain wheat bread that has no preservatives and no high fructose corn syrup. But, with meatloaf I like Texas Toast with butter on top and browned under the broiler. Well, I won these huge buns that taste just like Texas Toast when broiled.

Best tomatoes in winter
The best tasting are the plum tomatoes. Other tomatoes taste horrible in the winter since they must be shipped here. Of course, the plum tomatoes are shipped here, too. For whatever reason plum tomatoes taste summer fresh.

Cooking for a week
I was sick of beef. I wanted chicken, so Sunday I baked chicken breasts on top of the stove. That makes--chicken, meatloaf, and black eyed peas already to eat. I can make slaw twice more. The tomatoes will last about five more meals. The chicken will be for lunch--sandwiches or in Alfredo sauce with noodles. Turnip greens were destined to be opened for tonight, but I was not very hungry since I ate a little bit earlier.

Some of the food will be sent back with exbf who is coming up Wednesday to help me around the house and yard. He likes for me to pack him a lunch in a Tupperware plate.

I will freeze a pint of the black eyed peas. I usually freeze several pints of each pot of peas. Eventually, I don't need to cook beans or peas, just remove from the refrigerator, especially on days I am in a hurry. I am not so tempted to get fast food or eat junk here, knowing I have good food available and fast. Besides, a pint of beans with catsup or greens (not both) are a perfect, healthy make-do meal.

Eating this every dinner for the rest of the week will be no problem for me. Turnip greens will be added to meals tomorrow. This is a frugal meal or meals. Because I cannot safely chop the cabbage, I do buy packaged, shredded cabbage and carrots. Maybe the grape tomatoes were a luxury and uncalled for.

Bell peppers and onion were scrounged from chicken food box. Meat and beans were free. I won the buns. Oats (1/2 cup) in the meatloaf were bought on sale with coupon. Cole slaw mix was on sale this week. I suppose the 6 meals for the week cost me less than $4. Actually, there will be beans leftover for several more meals beyond this week. That is less than $.50 per meal. Not bad.

Your turn
Do you have planned leftovers?  It was soup for me last week. All. Week. Maybe you don't like leftovers at all?

Nightmare shelf: Posting my shame

Before

Before
That is all I have at this point. Maybe if I expose this mess, I will get it done. It's actually been on my mind lately. There are two shelves above this. Neither is in this condition. If I moved the yellow canister, there would be more of the same.

After
Someday, in the future I will post it...when it happens.

Cinnamon spill
See the cinnamon under the oil bottle? Looking at this shelf makes me tired. How many times have I spilled cinnamon and cleaned it up?

Piled?
You bet! There is even a plastic-coated bin about 6"x10" also full of spices. The names of the spices are on the tops of the bottles since that is what you see (tops) of bottles of spice. See, I am making progress. No. Not really.

Deadline
January 18, 2011--my deadline for getting this messy shelf and the rack cleaned and straightened.

Another shelf?
I think I need a shelf across the back of this cabinet to hold some of the spices. Don't you think so?

Bin
A pin for the pouches of mixes or whatever is absolutely necessary. Across the room I have a bin of unopened pouches. Nothing slides or gets lost. And, it looks neat.

Reward or penalty
This always works for me. What do I really want to do? Hmmmm.......go to a movie? Okay, that's it. I can go to a movie if I get this completed by deadline.

Why?
There is not another shelf in the kitchen that looks like this. Nothing even comes near. Okay, the shelf with the Tupperware looks as bad. But, that is always in flux, mostly out onto the counter or floor if I am not quick to catch it. Really, that does not bother me. This does.

Your turn
Do you have an area that is chronically messy? Is it something that you consider doing, knowing in your heart of hearts that you won't anytime soon? But, you always have plans and regrets? This represents a problem with cooking. It slows me down. Things fall over or fall out. This is my nemesis. What is yours? What can you not conquer? 

Progress this week

sunflower boxes with cartoon effect from my camera

Yes, I spent a bit, but the things were greatly reduced. I don't like to send grandson used items. Well, at least so far I have not seen anything used that he might want. I do look. Cooking was at a minimum; eating and nutrition was high...lol. Things disappeared. Money appeared. Decluttering happened on several fronts.

*When exbf came to help me, he took home the Vegetable Medley in Garlic (and vinegar) that I will not eat and the jar of cucumbers living in vinegar. (he forgot the apple cider)

*I used the leftover Pet Milk to make cornbread. With the one above, that makes three less jars in my refrigerator.

*Collected $60 from consignment shop. That's two large items out of the house and money in my pocket. My goal is an average of $50/month. That means I am behind. No, I have only $40 to go for February!

*Two bags for the thrift store are ready to go to the car.

*A quart of pecans went into a canning jar and into the freezer. I don't want to eat all at once or have them go rancid.

*Cornbread is in the freezer now. So, that will last another 2 or 3 meals.

*More items are in the car for the consignment shop--2 sunflower hatbox-type containers, child's folding card table, metal flower container. This is a home furnishings consignment shop. The brass valet is still there. I don't leave much at any one time.

*The side porch is cleaned off, decluttered. (Yes, I know I told you about that.)

*The box with my grandson's birthday gift was mailed today. He is the recipient of a $70 bathrobe bought for $10 and a pair of ear warmers. A $25 itunes card gotten with Swag bucks from Amazon will follow. The boxes to my daughter always have food of some sort--peanut butter, pancake mix pouch, large can of spaghetti sauce, 2 lbs pasta, tuna, large can of chicken. I have jar spaghetti, but I don't dare mail a jar. Valentine's cards (bought last year for a quarter) for the granddaughter to hand out at school were in there too.


*I am still eating from the pot of spaghetti and pot of soup I made over the weekend. The last of the spaghetti will be for lunch Friday, and the last of the pot of soup will be Friday and Saturday dinners. Lunches this week have been grilled cheese sandwiches or little pizzas using the spaghetti sauce.

*I rearranged some pantry shelves to hold more items. It seems I had been taking items off the shelves.There was room to add other items so that everything was more consolidated.

*Carried chickens from their Rubbermaid box to house through the snow and after dark on Thursday night. They were not happy campers. Did you know they try to hold on, brace their feet, and squawk lots when they don't want to go with me? I noticed I was carrying Fancy tail up. She tried to scoot past me on the ground. Since I had Thelma in the other arm, I scooped her up the best I could. Chicken save!

*Called 911 for a friend in another county who had been falling down (knees buckling and passing out) all day, sleeping too much, and was slurring his words. Since he has diabetes and has lost his little tester thing, he has not taken insulin. The instrument the paramedics brought only read up to 600. Thirty minutes after he gave himself insulin, it was still 600, so he administered more. Whew...thought I had lost a friend.

*I rearranged some clothing, discarding some. Now, I have more room to hang my other clothing.

*Magazines will find themselves re homed tomorrow. I love magazines, but they cannot live here after one year. Out they go. Either my hairdresser or accountant will get these.

Decluttering the side porch

No, there are no pictures. I should have taken a before and after, but I did not think of it.  It became dark as we finished. This is the entrance everyone uses, so it was important that it not look so trashy. Exbf came up and helped me. Actually, he did the lion's share. I cannot afford to hire anyone. Plus, I can trust him to take care of my things. He knows where I am telling him to put something in the basement. I would have to walk down the concrete steps to show a stranger or even a friend who had not been down there and put things away before. That would defeat the purpose of getting someone to help me.

He loves my cooking. He had a bowl of soup I made.   Then, I gave him a pint to take home. He will take the pint and make two quarts. He puts cans of vegetables and tomatoes in it to stretch it. Then, he does not have to cook. I made a huge iron skillet of cornbread. He ate a small piece and took the rest of the half skillet home. I froze the other half, four huge pieces.

Back to porch cleaning. He removed things I could not handle. I tried to help and tripped as I came indoors. Once again, I hit my head, and in the same place. If this keeps up, I will be addled. My knees were hurting and my left shoulder was wrenched in the fall. After I cried a lot and he tried to comfort me, I just sat and cried more.

One more time--back to porch cleaning. He removed everything except what I was carrying when I fell. He swept the porch and steps. It took him several hours. Somehow, I feel a burden lifted. I could not move my reel mower to the basement, nor could I manage to put the garden tools in the basement. I might use a tool every other day and then not for a week.

We left to purchase a trash can. This now holds my garden rake, yard rake, shovel, hoe, a pink stake, and the broom. After putting a cinder block in the bottom for me, he does not think it will blow over. My permanent solution will be an outhouse sized storage "building" that will afford shelter for my everyday tools and my reel mower.

All the leaves and outdoor trash are  now swept off the porch, the first time in probably two years that the whole thing has been swept at once. Oh, I swept around the door and part of the porch all along. The sand from the snowfall and ice of a few weeks ago is gone from the door mat, porch, and steps.

The best I could do some days was just stack one more thing on the porch, things I wanted. Lest you think I just keep cluttering it, I was not. There might be ten things taken to the street, thrift store, put into the trash, or given away for every one I put on the porch. Now, it all has a proper place in the basement if I kept it.

The perfectly good fan that I don't need, a 20-inch box fan that sat on the porch in its original box, is on the curb. If it is not gone before I go to bed, I will bring it back to the porch so it is not hauled off by the garbage men and end up in the dump. THEN, I will put it back out tomorrow or donate it to a thrift store.

A box of figurine planters remains. They will go to the consignment shop. The badminton rackets are in the trunk, ready to make a trip to the thrift shop, along with two goose neck lamps that I hope to restore.

It feels good.

Your turn
Did getting the side or back porch decluttered ever make you feel lighter? That's how I feel. My porch went from cutish to cluttered because of my inability to cope with the carrying.  It is far from cutish since there is a door and screen door still leaning. But, I have seen progress today. I will bet your back or side porch is a repository of clutter if you are not vigilant. Right?

Jonquil Fever and Groundhog Day

Forecast
Those are two-inch jonquils or daffodils in the picture. On the last day of January, I noticed that they were peaking through the soil, about two-inches high. No matter what Punxsutawney Phil says, spring cannot be too far away.

I believe. I believe. I believe.

Your turn
What has been the first sign of spring at your house?