Urban Homesteader

Shephard's Pie

09:07, 2006-Aug-18 .. Posted in From my Kitchen .. 2 comments .. Link

This is one of our family favorite meals, and it serves my family of 5 with plenty of wonderful leftovers! Ingredients: 2 lbs ground beef, salt and pepper to taste, 1 pint home canned tomato sauce, 1 quart home canned green beans, about 3-4 c homeade mashed potatoes (I like to use leftovers), 1 c shredded cheddar cheese. Directions: Brown ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Add tomato sauce and simmer until desired consistancy (I don't like it too watery....). Add green beans and heat through. Pour mixture into a 9x13 dish and cover with mashed potatoes. (An icing spreader works great for this!) Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake uncovered for about 30 minutes at 350 until the cheese is melted and the meal is hot and bubbly. This fixes up extremely fast, especially if you are using leftover mashed potatoes. In fact, whenever I make a meal with mashed potatoes, I will always make up extra with the intention of making shephard's pie later in the week.

A busy canning week!

07:47, 2006-Aug-18 .. 1 comments .. Link

Well, this week, canning season has officially begun! Last year, I really upped the anty and canned more than I ever had before, and this year, well, I'm only halfway done and I'm already out of jars! This week I did peaches, tomatoes, beans, pickles and I froze corn. I would still like to do more beans, tomatoes and corn. The tomatoes I made into sauce, and also just stewed. I would like to do more sauce, salsa, and spaghetti sauce. Coming up are pears, raspberries and apples. I have also done a few batche of Lisa Vitello's zucchini relish with all the zucchini coming out of my garden. It is wonderful! Thanks for that Lisa! (I got the recipe off the Front Porch when it was posted awhile back.) It is such a satisfying feeling to be putting up all our own food. I took my boys out to pick beans with me early on morning, and it was just a joy to be picking together! I have found a great u-pick place where I can supplement with what I'm limited to grow in my backyard garden. Although the beans weren't the "best", it was still fun to pick them and come home to can. I would still love to have a little piece of earth out in the country..... but since I'm planted here in the "burbs", I am still going to "homestead" to the extent that I can. My latest issue of Countryside magazine came this week as well. It is a wonderful magazine for those of you who aren't familiar with it. One of the article is the first in a four part series a about "achieving food independence", meaning independence from the supermarket. While reading it, I realized that our family has really become quite independant from the supermarket, moreso that I had thought! The more I learn about real nutrition and what has happened to our processed, industrialized food supply, the more dismayed I am. I see friends/neighbors feeding their kids so much junk, and it just makes me ill. There is no way to explain it all to them, and they usually aren't a willing audience.....It is no wonder we are so sick as a people.

Testing a new image hosting site....

09:10, 2006-Jul-28 .. 0 comments .. Link

Here is a picture of my little aquraium with milkweed and 2 catepillars. The milkweed is in a yogurt cup with a lid on it, filled with water and the stem of the milkweed stuck in a hole in the lid.

Square Foot Gardening

09:18, 2006-Jul-22 .. 2 comments .. Link

We are trying out Square Foot Gardening this year. I just bought the book earlier this spring, and we've done what it says. It's very easy and so conducive to our suburban backyard. I picked a colander full of beans yesterday, and we had our first meal tonight. They were wonderful! My 2yo helped me to snip them on the front porch, and we gobbled up many of them raw. It's so good to eat from your own garden! I also picked 2 gigantic zucchinis, which we'll have tomorrow for lunch. I went ahead and planted a second round of radishes, lettuces, chard, and beets today for a cool fall crop. I have a cool fall crop of brocolli going and they are looking good. We've had a rough year keeping out rabbits, but we've already figured out a plan for next year. We only have 2 boxes, but plan to expand to atleast 4 next year. I think that I will only really have enough for eating this summer, so next year I'd like to plan to have more for putting up.

Monarch Time!

09:15, 2006-Jul-22 .. 2 comments .. Link

Well, I came home with 4 Monarch eggs today! Two look to be about ready to hatch, probably tomorrow morning. This is becoming my little summer project. The first year, the kids were totally into it, and now I am into it even more than they! They will enjoy watching them, of course.... but it's really "my baby". So, for the next 6 weeks or so, we will have our little Monarch population growing in our aquarium, sitting on the kitchen counter. Many like to chuckle when they come to my house, because you just NEVER know what you'll find on my kitchen counter!! :) This is the migrating generation, so I plan to order tags again from Monarch Watch (www.monarchwatch.org) to tag them before we let them go. I love summer!

Musings after a long absense....

03:37, 2006-Jul-8 .. 2 comments .. Link

Well, it's been months since I've updated my blog. So much has happened in that period of time. Mainly, my husband lost his job for the second time in 1 year, leaving us reeling with wonderings about God's plan for us! However, God has catapulted us into self-employment, which is a dream come true for my husband. While we are still walking a life of faith, the business is coming together very well, and we can hardly believe that the Lord has brought us to this point! As far as what has been happening in our home, I have begun the summer preserving season. I took up "square foot gardening" this year, and have 2 boxes going. It has been an adventure keeping out the rabbits, but we have enjoyed what they didn't devour. We're already trouble-shooting for next year's garden. I have lettuces, spinach, chard, beets, pickeling cucumbers, yellow squash, green beans, shelling peas, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers and anaheim peppers planted. I also have some herbs in containers on the deck. I can tell already that I need more boxes for next year! As far as preserving goes, strawberries are already done. I put up 16 pints of jam, and I can already tell that will NOT be enough. :) I figured on 1 pint per month, factoring in that I will also be doing peach jam, apricot jam, blueberry jam, and raspberry jam. Perhaps once I get some more fruits in season and picked, the strawberry jam won't be eaten so quickly. I also hope to do a year's worth of tomatoes (stewed, sauce), a variety of relishes and pickles, as well as a year's worth of peaches, pears, and applesauce. I likely will do a variety of pie fillings as well, which work wonderfully for an instant dessert. I prefer to use them in crisps, because it's so quick compared to making pie crusts. I have also been expanding my bread baking now that I have a nutrimill. I have been so pleased with the way my breads are turning out. I no longer have to buy any bread products at the store. I want to quickly comment on something I read recently. In Lisa Vitello's newsletter, she says that the actual meaning of the word "homestead" is "to be steadfast at home". That communicates a lot to me! Along with that, is implied, that it doesn't matter "where" your home is, or "what" the circumstances of your home is, it is possible to devote yourself fully to that home, being "steadfast". In our situation, it is unlikely that we will ever move out to "the country". We seem to be planted right here, in the suburbs, near a good-sized city. Yet, my heart is steadfast towards my home. I have to really evaluate what I can do. I can still choose to hang clothes on a line (although it's got to meet my neighborhood codes...), I can have my productive little square foot gardens to eat out of... relying on the farmer's markets to purchase the volumes foods to preserve and can that I can't grow. My children and I can pick berries and fruits at the local orchards and put up all of our jams, jellies, pie fillings, and fruits. I can choose to mend and/or sew clothes instead of buying new (especially things like pajamas!). I can choose to be resourceful with what I have available rather than going to my nearby Target or Walmart. I can cook from scratch, and in our case, find a local organic farm where all the animals are grass-fed and pastured. No, I don't have chickens, and probably won't ever, but we eat chicken butchered from "our farm", fresh eggs from pastured hens, drink fresh milk from "our cow", and eat beef and pork from pastured livestock. Beyone what I "do", what strikes me the most about the definition that Lisa Vitello offers, is that it speaks to a mindset, and a heart-attitude that is centered around home. So often, I need to remind myself that homesteading is about pushing my child on their swing, curling up with good books, playing cards together with my kids on a hot afternoon with a cold glass of lemonade. It's a way of life that is rooted in, and revolves around HOME. I don't need acres and chickens to accomplish that. :)

"How do you do all that?!"

03:39, 2006-Feb-17 .. 3 comments .. Link

I have been recently asked this question from several people. Once someone starts talking to me for any length of time, and figure out that I do a lot of things differently (i.e. from scratch), they wonder just what would make a person give up the convenience of our "modern culture", and HOW does a person add so much more to an already busy life? It's a valid question. I remember the first time I read Karey Swan's "Hearth and Home", I was overwhelmed. It comforted me greatly when I read that she started over 20 year ago in a townhouse with just a pot of tomatoes on the patio! Her "lifestyle" that we were seeing in that book was a culmination of 20 years of baby steps and slow learning. That's part of it. As a generation of women, we really are untrained in the way REAL women lived their lives years ago. What was considered normal, common-sense hard work to provide for your family has become a lost art, traded in for technology and "others" doing the work for us. (i.e. food processing companies providing ready-made food to be purchased and brought home, rather than food grown and put up yourself.) However, there's another thing going on here. What others perceive as "adding more work" to an already busy lifestyle is really a myth. You see, the more that I move counter-culture, the simpler, more peaceful, and more fulfilling life becomes. To begin with, homeschooling eliminates a large burden of stress that many of my friends have who send their children to school. I don't run the rat-race, nor do we have any fights over homework. My kids don't have to "de-stress" from school every afternoon, and the calender and schedule is for our family alone to dictate. In addition, doing things like milling wheat and baking all your bread products, and canning and freezing the harvest in the summer actually SAVES time! I basically go to the store for dairy, meat and fresh produce, and a few pantry items. Cooking from scratch nearly avoids all the "center aisles" and I am in and out of the store in far less time. I also go to the store far less frequently, because I'm well stocked at home. If I had to choose, I'd much rather make a loaf of bread in the comfort of my kichen, making my house smell delicious and inviting, even with my children helping... than to pack everyone up in their winter gear, haul out to the store, fight the traffic and crowds, get overstimulated by the grocery store designed to lure me into "buy buy buy!" etc! Hanging clothes on a line in the summer gives me time to soak up the sunshine, breath the fresh air, and a few moments to just "think" in peace. Tending a garden, even if it's just a pot of tomatoes on the deck gives me an opportunity to connect with how the Lord really provides for our nourishment, to marvel in His design. The more changes I make, the "slower" life seems to get. I also feel less of a "need" for the "latest and greatest" gadget. It's a purposeful substitution of one lifestyle for another. It's not an "adding on", it's "living this way instead".

Just posted a few photos...

04:06, 2006-Feb-16 .. 0 comments .. Link

of our Monarchs. I made an album in the "photo album section", and only put a few to start with. I'll add some more as I find them in our computer! Shauna

Homeade bagels and pretzels!

03:40, 2006-Feb-16 .. 2 comments .. Link

I can't believe this worked! I just made homeade bagels (poppyseed and onion; toasted sesame seed; and plain) and soft pretzels! I just made up my homeade ww bread recipe, then took small "balls" of dough, rolled them into balls then into ropes (16" or so for pretzels, thin; 6" or so for bagels, thicker). Then I shaped the ropes into big pretzels, and the bagel ropes into bagels (make a circle and "pinch" where the two ends come together). I let them rise a little over an hour, until they were double in size. Then, I put 3 quarts of water to boil on the stove, added 1T cream of tarter and 3T honey. I had to very carefully life the bagels and pretzels (so as not to smoosh them!) and drop them in the boiling water. They float! Let bagels boil 2 minutes per side, pretzels about 30-45 seconds per side. A slotted spoon works well to "flip" them. Don't overcrowd the pot! Do them in batches. Then, I lifted them out of the pot with the slotted spoon and slid them onto a greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle coarse salt on top of the pretzels. To top the bagels, brush with egg yolk mixed with 1t of water; then top with whatever you want! I did half poppyseed and dry minced onion and the other half with sesame seeds. The kids and I have already devoured a few of the pretzels (our favorite dipping sauces are dijon mustard; or melted butter with some parmesean cheese stirred in), and I tried one of the sesame bagels slathered with some real cream cheese! The best part is, I made the whole lot (11 bagels, 9 pretzels) for under $1, using my fresh milled flour!

Raw Milk!

10:07, 2006-Feb-6 .. 2 comments .. Link

I'm so excited I'm practically giddy! I have been wanting to find a raw milk source for some time now, and the one source here in my area just got a couple new cows and has opened up their list! I am ON THE LIST, and may be able to start getting raw milk as soon as next week. Yay! I am hoping to learn how to start making all our sour cream, butter and buttermilk from this milk as well. With the grain mill, I have been able to eliminate all store-bought breads, cookies, and baked goods (I haven't tried crackers yet though), and my next step was switching over to the raw milk and doing all our dairy products from that. (I haven't a clue how to do yogurt, so will continue to purchase that until I can figure it out. One step at a time!) I will also post pictures of our Monarch adventures when I can.

Monarch Waystation

09:18, 2006-Jan-29 .. 5 comments .. Link

I'm so excited! My hubby just told me this morning that he thinks we have the space to make an official Monarch Waystation in our backyard!!! We live in an area of Michigan that is "host" to 3rd generation Monarch Butterflies every July. These Monarchs lay their eggs, which are the 4th generation of the year. My children and I collect the eggs and milkweed plants, rear the catepillars and tag the Monarchs when they emerge before letting them go. Then we anxiously watch www.monarchwatch.org through the winter to see if any of our migrating Monarchs actually make it to Mexico! Well, we've always done this using a very large (empty) fish tank on our kitchen counter. I inquired and got information on what it would take to make a "Monarch Garden" and have it officially certified and registered as a "Monarch Waystation". I assumed we didn't have enough space with the proper sunlight, but dh thinks we can do it... so that may be one of my summer projects, in addition to my little organic vegetable plot that I'm planning out! I'm so excited. We could watch the Monarchs "in the wild" and tag them from our very own Monarch Garden rather than collecting them and rearing them in captivity. My little mind is all a-flutter with possibilities....

09:28, 2006-Jan-28 .. 4 comments .. Link

Sitting down to write my first entry is kind of a strange thing..... I'm not really sure where to begin! I'm learning to be content with living in a "fishbowl" as I call our neighborhood. We live on a cul-de-sac lot which means that everyone's house faces each other. I literally feel like I live in a fishbowl most of the time! Thank goodness for the backyard, where we have about a mile of woods and wetlands. It's my only real privacy. As much as I'd love to be out in the middle of nowhere, this seems to be the place God has put us. We have a nice home, and are working to make it "our own".... but I'll never have chickens or a really large garden. However - little by little, I'm learning how to do things from scratch, and re-discovering some of the lost arts that were once so common place. I know that bee-keeping and raising chickens just won't be in the realm of my possibilities, but I sure had fun nursing my little patio garden last summer! As I learn how to simply *live* in my home, I seem to love being home more and more. I don't want "home" to just be the "waystation" of our family as we come and go... I want home to be where we live full lives, create rich memories and nurture deep relationships with each other. Because we homeschool, that sure helps, but it's still so easy to get caught up in the "culture" that just goes and goes and goes. Just because you *can* go out to the store to buy all your things, does that mean you *should*? Honestly - I dread going to the store with all my children in tow. Even with "good kids", I leave that place stressed out to the max! How much more rewarding is that time spent staying home and baking our bread from scratch, rather than fighting the traffic, parking lot, stimulation overload of the store and a cranky cashier, just to go buy it. There has to be a better way.... even living in the city. I've just decided that if God is going to leave us here, then He has a reason for that, and I can still learn to enjoy a quiet, simple life... even in the fishbowl!

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