Easy Gluten Free Cornbread Recipe

How to make a silk purse from a sow's ear...


Based on this recipe from AllRecipes.com
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homesteader-cornbread/detail.aspx

Gluten Free French Onion Soup Recipe

I'll admit - this is one that I really hated giving up when we all went gluten free.

This past weekend, our neighbor traded me some chard and leeks from his garden for some kale from ours.  I immediately thought "French onion soup" because leeks are one of the main ingredients, and this would be a chance to try my hand at a gluten free version of one of my all-time favorite soups.  French onion soup is always so hearty and rich.  It really warms you up from the inside out, and keeps you warm on blustery days like we've had this week from the leftovers of Sandy.  And even though it's a bit time consuming, it's really rather simple to make, especially with some staples from your pantry.

SPH Gluten Free French Onion Soup
A few tablespoons of olive oil
A few tablespoons of butter
2 small-ish leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced into fairly narrow slices
5 medium onions, sliced into narrow half-moons
1-2 tablespoons minced garlic (I use the kind from the jar)
1-2 teaspoons dried thyme - to taste
1 quart beef stock (I use Pacific brand Organic Beef Broth)
Gluten free bread slices, either toast on the side like the photo or use slices of a gluten free baguette
Melty cheese of your choice - I used mozzarella because that's what I had on hand, but traditionally gruyere or Swiss is used - figure on a generous handful of shredded cheese per bowl

In a large soup pan, warm the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the butter, and allow it to melt.  Lower the heat, add the leeks and onions, and stir.  Continue stirring occasionally, every few minutes, until leeks and onions are completely wilted down.  To like a third of their original size.  By cooking these low and slow you release the starches from the vegetables, which will help thicken the soup a little bit.  Now add the garlic and thyme.  Stir for a minute or two to warm the garlic and thyme through.  Add the stock and stir well.  Simmer just until the stock starts to reduce.  Sorry, I don't have a time for this.  It's an eyeball-it kind of thing.  Serve in individual bowls with melted cheese and crusty bread.  If you really want to get fancy, put the bowls of soup on a cookie sheet.  Top each with a baguette and cheese, and stick under your broiler for just a few minutes, until cheese is melted.

This one is definitely worth the time - enjoy!

Hurricane Sandy

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone on the East Coast today, and we're hoping for everyone's safety.  God bless our first responders and keep them safe.

Yummy Cranberry Kale Recipe

Quick and simple.  Easy and delicious.  Gluten free and oh so healthy for you!

Ironically, in a summer of record-setting heat, my kale has grown better than anything else I planted in my garden.  Kale prefers things on the cooler side, so if anyone can tell me why THIS would be the ultimate kale-growing year at the Suburban Prairie Home, that would be really nice.

Typically, we grow kale to help feed our rabbits.  It's one of their favorites, and in return, as their way of thanking us, they make lots and lots of "fertilizer pellets".  Aka "bunny beans".  You get the idea.  One packet of seeds usually lasts us a few years, so I literally get a good amount of organic kale for pennies.  I just need to keep it weeded, watered, and plant zinnias nearby to help keep the cabbage loopers away.

This year, I decided to try to cook some for us.  Princess had found a recipe she thought sounded good, and I had also seen a brief description of one by an online friend at Mary Jane's Famgirl site.  And believe me, these are not hard.  Or time consuming.  Nothing but delicious.

Most sauteed greens recipes follow a very similar method.  Once you learn the method, you can switch up the ingredients as you want, based on your own tastes and what you have on hand.  Start by heating some oil in a pan.  Add some diced onions and garlic, and a little bit of liquid.  Then, add your greens, cover with a lid, turn off the heat, and allow the greens to wilt down.  Be sure they stay a bright green for maximum nutrition.

So let's make some kale!

SPH Yummy Cranberry Kale Recipe
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced fine
1-2 tablespoons minced garlic (I use the kind from the jar), to taste
1 cup chicken stock (I use Pacific Brand organic free range chicken broth)
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries (aka "Craisins")
Kale - enough to make about 4 cups sliced into @1/2" strips
Chopped walnuts

Heat oil over medium heat in large saute pan.  Add diced onion, and heat through til nearly translucent.  Add garlic and stir.  Add chicken stock and cranberries.  Cover, and allow cranberries to plump up - about 5 minutes.  Add sliced kale, cover, and turn off heat.  Allow to stand about 5-7 minutes - til kale has wilted down and is still a very vibrant green.  Remove lid.  Stir well to combine kale with cranberries and flavored oil.  Toss with walnuts and serve warm.

So let's talk method again.  Use currants and chard instead of cranberries and kale.  I make something very similar to this with those two ingredients, and I start with browning up some bacon pieces for extra flavor in the oil.  No walnuts?  Use almonds or pecans.  Use bok choy and collards, and omit the fruit and nuts entirely.  These are especially good with a squeeze of lemon juice and a splash of Bragg's Liquid Aminos.

This would be a delicious side to some sunny-side-up eggs and toast.  I have also received requests to make this as a side for Thanksgiving.  No matter how you try it, you really can't go wrong.  Enjoy!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies Recipe

Another pumpkin craving...

I love pumpkin cheesecake in a chocolate cookie crumb crust.  Like looooooooooove it!  Something about the darkness of the chocolate always brings out the best in the cheesecake.

So I decided to try my hand at combining brownies with the pumpkin cheesecake for a deeper chocolate layer.  And it had to be pumpkin.  And of course it had to be gluten free.

Here's what I came up with:

SPH Gluten FreePumpkin Cheesecake Swirl Brownies
1 Gluten Free Brownie Mix
2 eggs
1 stick melted butter
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
8 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x13 cake pan.  Grease it really well.

Make brownies according to package directions with 2 eggs and butter.  Spread batter in cake pan.

In your blender, combine pumpkin, cream cheese, 1 egg, and sugar.  Blend til creamy and smooth.  I tried doing this in the mixer, and no matter how hard I tried, I always ended up with lumps of cream cheese.  Trust me - use the blender.

Carefully pour the cheesecake mixture over the brownie batter.  Swirl with a knife.  I did circles across, back and forth, all the way down the length of the pan.  Then, I pulled the knife in a straight line, up and down, along the length of the pan.  Like cutting brownies, but mixing the batter.  This process will give you your swirls.

Bake this baby for about 40-45 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely, then cut into bars or squares, and serve.

These are rich and decadent, but also quick and simple, easy and delicious.  Make some for your family (or Bible study or a neighbor) today!

Enjoy!


This recipe linked to Very Good Recipes.

Gluten Free Texas Sheet Cake Recipe

A special treat for a dear friend!

You've heard me mention from time to time about how we get our meat and eggs from a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm.  Let me tell you - there is NOTHING that is so good as far as quality and taste.  This is the way things are supposed to taste!

Well, over the past couple of years that we've belonged, I've developed such a fondness and friendship for Farmer Dave and his beautiful wife, the lovely Robin.  It always does my heart good to spend a while chatting with them on pickup day.  We talk food, farming and gardening, kids, and just really enjoy some good fellowship!

Robin confided in me one Saturday that she was looking for a particular recipe.  Something she and her family have really missed.  See, they're gluten free, too.  So I promised I'd see what I could do.  I read bunches of recipes on allrecipes.com  Guess what - they all start with a CAKE MIX!  That's when I knew we could come up with something, and here it is.

SPH Gluten Free Texas Sheet Cake
1 Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devils Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup water
1 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 can milk chocolate frosting

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine all ingredients in a mixer bowl, and beat til well combined.  Line a jelly roll pan, or large cookie sheet with sides, with foil.  Pour batter onto foil, and place in oven.  Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or til tester inserted in center comes out clean.  When done, allow to cool for about 8-10 minutes.  You want the cake still slightly warm, but it also needs to cool a bit to maintain its structure.  You certainly don't want a crumbly mess!  Carefully plop bits of frosting on top of the cake and spread evenly.  This makes that shiny glaze-like frosting.  Feel free to use as much frosting as your heart or your family desires.  When completely cool, cut into big squares, and enjoy!

So when we were doing our taste testing, Princess added some chopped pecans on top of hers.  Super delicious!  Which got me to thinking...

Sprinkle the top of the frosting with chopped pecan pieces, then drizzle with some melted caramel sundae topping.  Now you have turtle sheet cake.

Or...

Instead of water, use coffee - espresso sheet cake.

Add peppermint extract, frost with white frosting and top with candy cane pieces - candy cane sheet cake.

See where I'm going with this?

You can do just as much with a Texas sheet cake as any other cake.  The possibilities are only limited by what's in your pantry!

And if you're interested, and live in Northern Illinois, be sure to click the Walnut Acres button in the right hand column.  This will send you straight to the CSA website for more information.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!



This recipe linked to Very Good Recipes.

The Great Bokashi Experiment

A topic that was a question from a friend in a composting class I took - you know what they say about curiosity and cats?

So the whole group of us was ready to start our composting class earlier this summer.  All of us anxiously waiting to hear how to begin composting if we had not started already, improve what we were already doing if we were composting, or add vermicomposting (composting with worms) to our "portfolio" of gardening skills.

And my friend asks "Will we be learning about bokashi?"

You would not believe how fast everyone was scribbling that word in their notes to look up online later!

What is bokashi?  According to all the websites that feature information about it, bokashi means "fermented waste" in Japanese.  This is not like most forms of composting, where food is broken down by fungi, bacteria, etc. aerobically, meaning in an oxygen-rich environment.  No no no.  Bokashi composting ferments your waste anaerobically, as in without oxygen.  Or as close to it as possible.

And yes, your food waste ferments.  Actually, it's cultured.  Like yogurt.  But with food scraps.

So I started doing my own research.  There are lots and lots and lots of sites online, and videos on YouTube.  I will warn you that some of these are produced by folks who grow - shall we say - "medicinal herbs".  SPH is a family-friendly show, so I just want to give you a heads-up on that one.

You can buy expensive buckets to contain your waste, and also bran, which is what contains the micro-organisms (EM) that will be fermenting your scraps.  I found this article that describes how to make your own from newspapers and water from rinsing rice, and I found a compromise idea for my own bucket.

Several weeks ago, I posted our own little trash experiment.  There is one number that didn't make it into the data I shared with you.  Newspaper.  We get our local paper once a week, and Hubby and I gladly take copies from others that would normally be recycled.  We use them as the "potty area" for our disabled rabbit who can no longer hop into his litter box.  In the spring and summer, I gladly reuse these pre-fertilized papers in the garden.  However, Northern Illinois really only has a 6-month growing season, which means for half the year, bags of soiled newspapers from our house head to the landfill.  While we only get rid of the bags once a month, these bags still weigh probably about 20-30 pounds each.  Because of the strong acid in our bunny's urine, I can't use them in the worm bins.  They cannot be recycled.  So off they go.

After reading the newspaper bokashi article, I knew we had a solution, and here's what I came up with...

Start with a 5-gallon bucket.  These are inexpensive and readily available.  You probably have one in your garage.

Measure up from the bottom about 2-3".

Fill that bottom space with newspaper.  I filled my bucket with bunny newspapers.  This will absorb any excess liquids from your food wastes.

Sprinkle bran over the top of the newspapers.  Just a couple of handfuls.  I bought my bran on Amazon.  Until I get more confident in this process, I'm planning on buying the bran.  For now.  But not forever.  It's not cheap.  Add your food scraps on top of the bran.

Which food scraps, you ask?  Anything and everything.  Meat.  Dairy. Vegies.  Bones.  Dairy.  Oily foods.  Salty foods.  In the photo above, I have leftover chicken pieces including bones from making some wings, vegie scraps, used paper napkins.  Like I said, anything and everything.

Then, cover your food scraps with another couple handfuls of bran, and another layer (@ 1/2") of newspaper.  For us, that's one section of bunny papers.  On top of the papers, I place an old ceramic plate, and press it down firmly to remove as much air as possible.  Remember, anaerobic means without oxygen.  To keep things packed down, I use an old landscaping brick on top of the plate.  And finally, I seal with a lid.  Managing that lid is the hardest part.  You may wish to invest in one of the screw-on types.  I will warn you that they are almost 4 times the price of a regular lid, so adjust your project budget according to your patience level.

Only open your bucket at the most once a day.  I've been "feeding" mine every other day.  And no, there's no real smell to it.  Remember, it's not rotting, it's fermenting.  The first few days, it smelled somewhere between sweet pickles and sauerkraut.  Yesterday, it smelled like mayonnaise.  Just keep covering with a few handfuls of bran and another layer of newspaper every time until your bucket is full.

We have been adding to our bucket for a week now.  It is only half-full.  When it's all the way full, we'll leave it covered and let it set for about 2 weeks, or until a nice white layer of moldy-type stuff forms across the top.  Before we seal it that final time, I plan on switching out the plate for a pizza circle and removing the brick.

And then, when that batch is done, I'll bury it in my garden.  The micro-organisms in the garden can then work their miracles, and incorporate this waste into the soil.

This may seem like a lot of steps for composting.  And you're right, compared to regular composting with leaves, lawn clippings and vegetable peels it is.  It's even more involved than composting with the worms.

But...

This process will take at least 25 pounds a month of trash from our house out of the general waste stream, and turn them into compost for my garden.  To me, that's a big deal, and totally worth it.  It's no different than hauling that heavy bag (and the smaller kitchen bags) out to the trash, or our compostables outside to the compost pile.  Especially in January when it's (usually) cold and icy.

Do your own research and check this out.  You'll be surprised and amazed like I was.  Find your own solution.  Maybe it'll be the premade buckets with premade bran.  Maybe you'll go totally DIY.  Maybe you'll find a middle-ground, like I did.

No matter what, give it a look, and give it a try!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Chip Cookies Recipe

Quick and simple.  Easy and delicious.  Chocolate and pumpkin.  Who could ask for anything more?

My sister makes these wonderful pumpkin chip cookies.  They are amazing.  They are delicious.  But alas they are not gluten free.

So I've had a real taste for these lately.  Because it's October.  And I'm suddenly hungry for anything pumpkin.  What's a gluten free homemaker to do?  Grab a box and a can out of her pantry - that's what!

SPH Gluten Free Pumpkin Chip Cookies
1 box Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix, made per package instructions
1 cup pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350.  Add pumpkin to cookie dough, stirring well to combine.  Dough will be very soft.  Drop by spoonful/scooperful onto greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Bake for about 12 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before removing from cookie sheet.  Try not to devour the whole batch before sharing with spouse, children, etc.

These are delicious just like this.  Not too sweet, but very cake-like for a very dessert feel to them.  However, if you really want to play around with them...

Add some pumpkin pie spice.  No more than 1/2 teaspoon.  Chocolate and spices go very well together.  Want them sweeter?  Dust with powdered sugar either before they cool (for more of a glaze effect), or after they cool.  Or, before baking, roll them in cinnamon/sugar.

No pumpkin?  Fool your kids and use either leftover baked squash or sweet potatoes.

Enjoy!




This recipe linked to Very Good Recipes.

Recipe Fail

If you've noticed, we haven't had a whole lot of posts lately.  Sorry about that.  I have been back at work here, testing some new recipes, adapting some others, and have had what Bubba calls "recipe fail."  After fail.  After fail.  After fail.  So I promise, I've got lots of goodies up my sleeve, just can't seem to get them from the recipe to a plate.

Happy Friday, all!

Gluten Free Dutch Apple Pancake Recipe

When you want something easy, fast and WARM on a chilly morning...

Bubba and I were in Gatlinburg, TN, one time, and we had the BEST Dutch apple pancake I'd ever eaten.  It was so big, the two of us shared it.  It was light and fluffy and ooooooh soooooo good!  Thankfully, when I asked for the recipe, the server was gracious enough to provide it for me.

Then, in a moment of pure stupidity, it was recycled.  I know.

I have had such a taste for this lately.  A craving.  That feeling of  "I would chew through drywall to get one".  So I did some web searching, and found this recipe for Apple Puff Pancake.  It seemed pretty familiar, and of course, I made my own little tweaks.

SPH Dutch Apple Pancake
inspired by Apple Puff Pancake on allrecipes.com
3 T. butter
2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into roughly 1/4" slices
1/4 c. brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
2 t. vanilla extract
1 c. Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix
1/4 c. white sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon

Put butter into a 9x9 baking pan.  Set it in the oven, and turn the oven on to 425 to preheat.

While butter is melting and oven is preheating, whisk together pancake mix, sugar and cinnamon.  In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, milk and vanilla.  Pour into dry mixture, and whisk until well combined and smooth.

Remove pan from oven when butter has fully melted.  Spread the butter around the pan CAREFULLY with a brush or paper towel, then lay apple slices in the butter.  I put mine in the pan in a pattern.  They will float to the top during baking, and it looks nice when your finished product comes out of the oven.  Sprinkle with brown sugar.  Pour batter over top of the apples and sugar.  Bake for about 35 minutes, or til tester comes out clean when inserted in center.  Serve warm with powdered sugar, or as Princess suggests, whipped cream.

This looks like a dense cake, but it is really just so light and fluffy.  You'll be really surprised.  Also, it's not too sweet, so if you have someone in your house who prefers thinks on the more plain Jane side, this will suit them just fine.

When I made these, I did not use the cinnamon.  We have people in my house who can't eat it.  However, I LOOOOOOVE it, so if I made this just for me, I would throw it in.  No cinnamon in your house?  Substitute nutmeg (or do half and half cinnamon and nutmeg), apple pie spice, or even pumpkin pie spice.  No apples in the house?  Substitute a can of apple pie filling, and omit the brown sugar.  Or use pears or peaches.  And canned pears or peaches (drained please) would work equally as well.  Dress this up for a brunch by making it in a deep dish pie pan or round cake pan, and slice into wedges before serving. Or for a family gathering, double the recipe and bake it in a 9x13 pan.  Remember to add extra baking time for this, and test the center for doneness.

Fill your home with warm apple-y goodness, and enjoy!

Gluten Free Spicy Black Bean Fritters Recipe

This recipe was originally a question from a friend that turned into an amazing lunch...

So this morning one of my dear friends sent me a message on Facebook asking how to make this recipe for Crispy Black Bean Fritters gluten free.  Here's what I came up with...

SPH Gluten Free Spicy Black Bean Fritters
inspired by a recipe on Mia's Domain

1 1/2 c. Pamela's Baking Mix
1/2 c. cornmeal
2 T. dried minced onion
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. chili powder
Salt and/or pepper to taste
2 eggs, well beaten

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, well rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz.) fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained
1 roasted red bell pepper (from a jar), patted dry with a paper towel and diced pretty small
A good size frying pan and enough oil to fill it up about 1"
2 soup spoons

In a large mixing bowl, combine baking mix, cornmeal, onion, garlic powder and chili powder.  Add eggs and stir until thoroughly combined.  Stir in beans, tomatoes and bell pepper pieces.

Heat oil in pan til a small drop of batter sizzles and start to brown.  Using one soup spoon, scoop some of the batter mixture from the mixing bowl.  Slide the batter into the hot oil with the other spoon.  Flatten the batter with a spatula.  Repeat.  In my pan, I was able to fit 4 fritters.  Do not overcrowd your pan.  The oil needs to be able to maintain a consistent temperature, and you need to be able to get a spatula in here and flip these babies.  So let them fry away for 2 minutes, then flip them.  They should be a nice even brown.  Cook side B for about 2 minutes, too.  Remove from oil, and place on a plate or platter that's been covered with paper towels or a cut-up brown paper grocery sack.  Continue this procedure until all the batter has been used.  Sprinkle with more salt if desired, and serve hot.  And if you're interested, the original recipe has a creamy sauce that goes with the fritters.  None of the food critics in my house felt they needed a sauce.  The food critics in your house might like the sauce.

So let me add all the fun little side notes.  When I made these for lunch today, I made them with bacon.  I cooked the bacon first, drained off all but a tablespoon or two of the grease, then added enough olive oil to actually deep fry the fritters.  The original recipe used fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, and bell pepper.  Since I had no fresh tomatoes or pepper in the house, the stuff on the pantry shelf had to do.  Also, I find that the more wet stuff you add to a fritter (and fresh chopped vegies have a LOT of water in them), the more likely your fritters will fall apart when they meet the hot oil.  Call me picky, but I like my fritters whole.  So, I used dried minced onion and also garlic powder.  I patted my bell pepper from a jar dry before dicing it, and drained my tomatoes really well.  While I was cooking up the bacon, I let the beans and tomatoes continue to drain and dry up a bit in the colander in the sink.

Here's a little water saving tip, too - when you rinse your beans and tomatoes, use the water to rinse the cans they came in first, then dump that water over top of the beans and tomatoes.  And shut the water off between filling the cans.  Then, recycle the cans.  And their lids.  Every little bit helps.

These are very filling and delicious!  A great way to have something fast, hot and yummy in a hurry using what you have on hand in your pantry - perfect for a weeknight vegetarian meal or appetizers for a party.  Enjoy!

Fifteen Great Home School Ideas for Fall

It's that time of year when there's a nip in the air in the morning, and soon the leaves will begin their annual art show.  Here are some great ideas to do with your kids!

We always loved September and October when the kids were smaller.  The weather was still fairly warm and sunny, and the local park was usually empty during the weekdays.  Then, as the leaves began to change and drop, we still found ways to embrace Nature's bounty.  These were some of our favorites:

1. Collect the leaves.  Even if you do nothing else with them beyond walking around and picking them up, you are giving your kids a chance at some gross motor and fine motor skill use.  Gross motor is using big muscles, like your legs.  Fine motor is small muscles, like your fingers.
2. Press those leaves.  I still find leaves from who knows how long ago in our big books and dictionaries.
3. Use the leaves to make rubbings.  Just place a piece of paper over the leaves, then rub with a crayon. Also fun to do on the bark of the tree.  Use compare/contrast words like rough and smooth.
4. Make leaf "stencils" onto dark construction paper with chalk.  I found packages of black construction paper for a pretty reasonable price at my local teacher's store.  Place your leaf on your dark paper, then rub over the whole paper with white or light colored chalk.  Lift the leaf, and admire your stencil. Try this with other flat objects, too.
5. Measure your leaves, and the trees they came from.  Use a ruler for the leaves, and a string and yardstick for the tree trunk.  See if you can guess how tall each tree is using a child as a unit of measuring.  For example, "I think this tree is 4 Bubbas tall" or "Wow!  That's a big one!  I'll bet it's 4 Dads high!"
6. Make leaf suncatchers.  Cut a large rectangle from an old brown paper grocery bag, by cutting down one long edge, then removing the bottom.  Cut 2 pieces of waxed paper big enough to cover each leaf and leave a little around the edges for a border.  On your ironing board, lay the brown paper flat, then set one piece of waxed paper on the brown paper.  Set your pressed leaf on the waxed paper, top with the other sheet of waxed paper, and fold the brown paper over the top of all, like a big leaf sandwich.  Press with a hot iron for about 30 seconds, just to melt everything together.  Allow to cool for about a minute, then carefully, peel back the brown paper.  You can trim the edges using fun scissors, like scalloped or pinking shears.  You can find these scissors for a very reasonable price in the scrapbooking section of your local craft store.  Want to make it even more fun?  Add crayon shavings over the leaf.  Use a plastic knife and CAREFULLY scrape down the side of a crayon.  Sprinkle the little bits on the leaf and/or empty waxed paper space.  Melt as described above.
7. Nature hikes - and LOTS of them!  Here's your chance to take advantage of the beautiful weather, get some good exercise, fresh air and sunshine, and have a blast!  Choose parks in your area that you usually don't visit.  State parks are particularly fun, because they usually encompass very specific ecosystems.  What a great opportunity to discuss those ecosystems, food chains, plant and tree identification, and bird/animal identification.  And speaking of birds...
8. Find out who migrates through your area, and put out bird feeders.  Better yet, make some of your own with pine cones, peanut butter and bird seed.  Grab a bird identification book, and learn TOGETHER with your kids how to use it.  Learn some big vocabulary like migrate, flyway, adaptation, transient and resident, and many many more.  Keep a bird journal to practice writing skills and observation skills.
9. Plan your garden for next year, and lay it out.  What a great math activity - measuring, calculating square feet for planting and cubic feet for filling the space with soil.  And while you're at it...
10. Start a Lasagna Garden bed.  Read Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza WITH your kids, even if it's just looking at the diagrams and photos and reading the captions.  Save your newspapers (and ask the neighbors to save theirs, too, if you need more), top them with lawn clippings and fallen leaves, and let them rot over the winter to create the garden space you planned together in number 6.
11. And start a compost pile.  Fill it with fallen leaves and those last minute lawn clippings to get a head start on some great plant food for next spring and summer.
12. Rake leaves.  Good exercise, fresh air and sunshine, and of course the best part - JUMPING INTO THE GREAT BIG PILES! Have leaf fights - throwing leaves back and forth at each other. Build leaf forts, or even a maze. Better yet, volunteer to rake for elderly and shut in folks you know who may not be able to do this for themselves.
13. Star gaze.  On a clear night, find some dark space, and just admire God's handiwork in the heavens.  Learn the constellations TOGETHER.  Read the Greek myths that correspond to each of those constellations.  Find out how to tell which way is north, using just the stars.  See if you can find the constellation for your horoscope sign.  Then, learn about stars and all things cosmic.
14. Find an apple orchard or pumpkin patch.  Learn about why apples and pumpkins are so nutritious, then make some yummy healthy treats from the items you bring home.  This is also a great opportunity to discuss and practice kitchen safety, and by all means, find a way to let the little ones help safely somehow.  The more engaged they are, the more they'll learn, especially if they can eat the results!
15. Come up with your own new family tradition.  Create memories that will last a lifetime!

Embrace and enjoy this wonderful time of year!

What's Up These Days

Hi, all!

Just a quick shout out to everyone to say hey, and hope you're all doing well.

Listen, I've been finding some really amazing stuff all over the net lately.  Like lots and lots and lots of really easy inspiration for everything from gardening to kids crafts and more.

If you don't already follow me on Facebook, click on the little Facebook icon in the upper right hand column that says "Stay in Touch".  It's been so much easier to just share these on my page, than to try to bring it all to you here.  Plus, then you can pick and choose what projects interest you the most and save them for your own inspiration file.  Yesterday, I posted over half a dozen cool finds from one site alone.  It's worth your time to check them out!

Have a great day!

More About the Environmental R's - Recycle

Couldn't bring you this post without some serious data first, and now here it is!!!

I decided to see just where we were in our own home with what we put out every week with trash, recyclables, and compost.  This past week was just an average week, so I'm using it as a baseline.  Let me share this information with you, and then we can play with some numbers.

• Trash - 11.7 pounds
• Recycling - 10.6 pounds
• Compost - 7 pounds

Last week I shared with you a whole lot of numbers related to my home town.  Let's use those numbers again with the numbers above.  I told you we'd keep 528,008 pounds of food waste out of the landfill if every household would compost just one pound of that food waste a week for a year.  When you bump that number up to our 7 pounds, it becomes mind-boggling.  Now, hopefully, you've had your coffee this morning, and you are sitting down.  Try this on for size:  3,696,056.  And that's pounds my friends.  Remember our cute little garbage truck?  Those hold 22,000 pounds of trash. That 3 million-ish pounds of food waste that has been composted now takes 168 of those trucks off the road a year.  At 8,600 gallons of fuel per year per truck, we'd also save 1,444,800 of fuel.  Not bad for a town of roughly 30,000 people!

Now, our town is notorious for not recycling, even though we have a great curbside service offered to us.  If all of us recycled 10 pounds/week, we'd recycle 5,280,080 pounds a year.  These are materials that can be reused in some way.  And each pound really adds up.  For example, 1 ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees.  Our little town could EASILY do a ton a week.  Easy peasy.  And here's why.  We have about 10,000 households.  Multiply that by 1 pound a week and you get 10,000 pounds.  That's 5 tons.  That's 85 trees.  A week.  And that's 4,420 trees a year!

And that's just our little town...

So I want to remind you about the other half of recycling, which is buying products made from recycled materials.  When you read the labels on products for ingredients, start checking for post-consumer content in the packaging as well.  Glass bottles always have a very high post-consumer content.  Buy products in glass bottles when you can.  Reuse those containers when possible, and recycle the rest.  Fortunately, newsprint and cereal boxes generally contain at least some recycled content.  The boxes in my pantry all say 35% post-consumer content.  Which is a good start.  And did you know that aluminum cans have about 50% post-consumer content? Every can that's recycled saves enough energy to run your TV for 4 hours.  And using recycled aluminum reduces the amount of raw materials needed for production by 95% and energy needed for production by 90%.  

I told you - the numbers are all mind-boggling...

This makes a great math and science project for the kiddos.  Have them start tracking the amounts in your home.  By tracking the numbers for a month (or longer if they are interested), they can learn about data collection and trends, gross, net and tare weight measurements, and more.  They can learn to break the data into more or less sets to suit their interests.  Maybe do it with a group of friends and have a contest.

Week #2 data starts for us today.  We'll see where we are again next week.  Hopefully you'll join us, and have fun!

How the Environmental R's Can Save You Money - Part 3

So these are my favorite 2 - REUSE and REPURPOSE!

When I was growing up, it was a real treat to get new clothes for back to school.  Usually, I had hand-me-downs of some sort.  Same for school supplies - if the crayons were still in good shape, the colored pencils still able to be sharpened, and we knew where the scissors were, we didn't get new.  We reused.

Our local public school district started its school year this past Wednesday, and as I've listened to some of the moms in our area, they are all lamenting the costs associated with the new school year.  Many of them spending hundreds of dollars just to send a couple kids.  Everyone needed new shoes (regular and gym shoes), all new supplies, and practically a whole new wardrobe.  And at this point of the story, I ask "need?".  I know kids are constantly growing, and their sizes change quickly.  Trust me, I'm an expert on this - I have a teen-aged son!  But a whole new wardrobe?  Or nearly so?  Seriously.

These same parents often complain about the amount of crayons and pieces and other school supplies they have at their house that nobody uses.  Why?  Aren't they good enough to go back to school a second or even possibly a third year?

And what kind of lesson are we teaching this generation of youngsters about being wise and frugal consumers?

The best way to save money, hands down, after you've RETHOUGHT and REDUCED is to REUSE and REPURPOSE!

We've done lots of fun projects here over the last several months by reusing or repurposing what we have on hand.  Everything from scraps of fabric to bed sheets and pillowcases to old jeans that are too holey to wear.

One of the best ideas I've ever heard and read about reusing is a neighborhood kids' clothes swap.  That's right, not even money spent at a garage sale (which is still a great place to find bargains, don't get me wrong!).  This is the old hand-me-down bag routine we had when I was a kid.  One neighbor, who has older kids, passes their clothes along to someone with younger kids. If you'd like to repay your neighbor for their kindness, bake them some cupcakes.  When the clothes get to the last child, they are donated to a local charity.   Plain and simple.

If the clothes are worn out, find a way to repurpose them.  Our great-grandmothers did this by making scrap quilts.  Make yourself a scrap box, or two, or more depending on your needs.  I have one for denim that has been graciously donated by friends and family, one for flannel shirts and flannel bedding that is past its prime but still has usable pieces, one for cotton-type fabrics like sewing scraps and plain cotton sheets and pillowcases that also still have some usable bits.  To this I could easily add cotton dress shirts.  I've also recently started a box for t-shirts and old sweat pants.  I'll use these to make strips for yarn to be made into rugs.  And did I mention, be sure to shop your stash before you buy new?

And don't forget that donate part for items that are still in good condition.  With the economy the way it is, charities are really taking a beating financially.  More and more folks are turning to resale shops run by these charities to save money.  If you have something you can't personally reuse or repurpose, please find a way to give it to someone who can.

Shop your house and see what you can reuse or repurpose.  Be creative, and you'll be amazed at what you can come up with!

How The Environmental R's Can Save You Money - Part 2

Let's put REDUCE to use for you!

RETHINKING automatically leads to REDUCING.  It's true.  Yesterday, I shared quite a few ideas with you that we already use here around the Suburban Prairie Home.  And today, I wanted to share some more.

• When I buy kitchen sponges, I only buy the kind that have the scrubby on one side.  This way, each sponge does double duty.  This reduces the kinds of sponges I'm buying, which saves me money.  I also only buy the large packages.  This reduces my trips to the store.  And best of all, I cut them in half.  Yep, just take a pair of scissors and cut them in half.  Now I get 2 for the price of one, which reduces my budget!  I did some rethinking on this one afternoon, after scrubbing the counter and sink, and then throwing the sponge away, even though I really only used mostly the corners.  By making the sponge smaller, I now use the whole thing. No more wasted sponge!
• I shop for pantry staples once a month.  By buying in case lots, I can take advantage of discounts where possible, and I reduce my trips to the store.  This not only lowers my grocery budget, it reduces my fuel consumption.  And at $4-ish/gallon, I'll take all the help I can get.

And speaking of reducing trips to the store...

• The store near us that offers the case discount is a decent drive away from here.  So is our usual fabric store.  We ALWAYS combine trips, again reducing the gas we use.
• I also don't go to that fabric store without a fistful of coupons, and a list of sale items.  And I use my teacher's discount card.  It's buying in bulk for our creative needs like we buy in bulk for our nutritional needs.  And I do mean needs, not wants.  Rethink whether you need those supplies or not, and you'll be amazed.  Remember in January when I took advantage of all those yarn sales?  Wow, did I save a boatload of money.  Now, I'm using up what I have on hand, and only filling in here and there (again on sale and with my discount) if I need something more to finish up a project.  Again, by reducing trips, we reduce our gas expenses.  So, shop your stash first.
• Learn creative ways to use pantry items, like a cake mix.  You've seen lots of delicious, gluten free recipes here that start with a cake mix.  When you live gluten free, if you want to bake, you have to have lots of specialty items on hand.  They don't make good choices for pantry items because many of them go rancid quickly.  The gluten free cake (and other baking) mixes save the day!  They are also easy to store because they are boxes.  And, their main packaging is recyclable.

Some other ways we reduce:

• Use a dishcloth or kitchen towel when possible.  This reduces the number of paper towels you will purchase and use.  Also, we all know that there are certain things (like cleaning mirrors and windows) that paper towels work better for.  Buy the kind that split into smaller towels.  By using these two tricks, we've cut our paper towel consumption by over half.  Reduce our paper consumption, reduce our budget.
• I try to limit my baking to one day a week.  Because the oven stays hot, I don't use the extra energy to constantly be preheating it.  I also try to bake items that all bake at the same (or pretty close) temperatures, and I start with the hottest first when possible.  Now, I say try.  Life is what happens when we make other plans.  But by rethinking my schedule, I'm not only reducing my energy use (and its associated costs), but also saving myself time.  And that is my most valuable resource!
• We use a drying rack for the majority of our laundry.  Towels and other hot whites still go through the dryer, but everything else gets hung up on the drying rack.  Sometimes, we have 2 or even 3 racks going.  Also, we wash whatever we can in cold water.  And we try to wash only when we have a full load.

For more great ideas, check out 1,001 Ways to Save the Earth by Joanna Yarrow.    Obviously, with 1,001 ideas, you're sure to find a few more that can help you reduce both your impact on the planet and on your budget.

Have a great day!

How the Environmental R's Will Save You Money

You all know that I am ALWAYS looking for ways to save money, and today I'd like to share some more of them with you.


On Tuesday night, I gave a presentation about worm composting.  To make things less boring, I included some fun worm facts:

• There are over a million earthworms in just one acre of soil.  Together, these worms can eat 10 tons of leaves, stems, and dead roots a year, and turn over 40 tons of soil.
• Earthworm castings contain 5 times more nitrogen, 7 times more phosphorus, 11 times more potassium, and 1000 times more beneficial bacterial than the material the earthworm initially ingested. (same source as fact above).  This is why you pay $15-25/pound for worm castings for your garden - this is natural fertilizer for your plants on steroids!

So now I'd like to add the third fact I used.  Our town is a smaller town.  We have just over 30,000 residents, living in just over 10,000 homes.  If every household in our town put only 1 pound of food waste either into a worm composting bin or a regular compost bin/pile every week instead of our trash, we'd keep over half-a-million pounds of trash out of the landfill.  The exact number: 528,008.  But who's counting, right?!

That big number got me wondering some more, and I did some more looking.  Did you know that a garbage truck holds about 22,000 pounds of trash?  That's a lot of trash!  I crunched the numbers again.  This means that if we did the 1-pound thing, we'd keep 24 trucks a year off the road a year.

And this is where these numbers start to really make some financial sense.  Those 24 trucks use 8,600 gallons of fuel (total) a year.  Do you know who pays for that fuel?  Not the company.  They pass operating costs (which include fuel) onto you.  Your monthly fee, which is negotiated either by you directly or through your municipality, includes the costs of fuel.  And labor.  And the space to take all that trash.  Less trash means that eventually you or your local municipality can negotiate a lower fee.

Guess what?  Those same garbage trucks are not hover crafts.  At least not yet.  They put wear and tear on our roads, just like the cars in your neighborhood, only greater because they are so much bigger.  Think of it this way, an average sedan weighs about 3,000 pounds.  A garbage truck driving down the road is like 7 cars driving on your street.  At once.  All on top of each other.  Over time, this wear and tear on your street causes little things like pot holes.  Who do you think pays for those pot holes?  You do - either through your property taxes or local sales taxes or in some places both.

Wow - that one little pound of potato peels is starting to look pretty big, huh?!

So now imagine if we all did 2 pounds.  Or we were a larger city.  Or our whole state.  What if it was all of the above.

Now, being the compassionate person that I am, I wondered about the jobs of all those folks who work at the waste companies.  My BIL worked for one of our local waste haulers for many, many years.  I don't want to see ANYONE lose their jobs.  These companies are smart.  They will apply the simple "supply and demand" principles to their operations, and move folks from one area to another.  Don't believe me?  Look at the City of San Francisco.  Residents have a set of 3 garbage cans - one for trash, one for recyclables, and one for compostables.  They demanded it, and the company is now supplying it.  And making money.  And employing people.

And that's just your trash...

What about switching to LED light bulbs?  They use so much less electricity, and they don't contain mercury like CFL's.  Yes, they will cost a little more up front, but to ease the cost, you can switch out the ones in the areas in your home that you use light the most.  Even one bulb can help.  What about getting a rain barrel to help conserve water?  What about mulching your grass into your lawn to fertilize it and lower watering needs?  What about composting your yard waste instead of paying for bags?

Maybe you have a little more room in your budget for a bigger investment.  You don't have to fork out for a whole solar array on your roof to save money. What about a solar tube skylight?  We put one in our mudroom, took the tax break, and hardly ever turn the light on in there.  Ever.  We've even talked about saving up and putting one in the bathroom.

What about setting your thermostat up a few degrees in the summer or lower in the winter?  We keep our thermostat set on 81 in the summer and use our ceiling fan.  When it gets too hot in the main area of the house, we all migrate to other areas that are cooler.  We turn off the computer and TV and XBox.  I cook in our little convection oven or crock pot on our front porch to keep from heating up the house.  Or we grill out or eat out.  On many warm days like the last few we've had, we skip the air all together, and just open the windows.  In the winter, we keep the heat set at 71 degrees.  Cold?  Put on a hat.  Put on socks and/or slippers.  Put on another layer.  And trust me, I'm the queen of layers!  On the coldest days, I try to do my baking, and let the oven help keep the house warm.  I also try to make more warm, filling dishes to keep us warm from the inside out.

So we did a little RETHINK today.  Hopefully you had a cup of coffee before we started!  I've just had this information weighing on my heart so much lately, and felt really compelled to share it.  If I find a way to pinch some pennies, I want to help you save some pennies, too.  And if we can do it in ways to help our environment, so much the better!

Have a great day!

A New Look at the Environmental Three R's

Bubba has a cute joke/saying that goes like this:  Look in pantry, nothing to eat.  Look in fridge, nothing to eat.  Lower standards and repeat.  Hopefully, that gave you a good chuckle on this Wednesday morning!


So we've all heard of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle.  This summer, while I was taking a composting class, I was doing some random research online.  You know, those little tangents that seem to pull you out on some really adventurous learning.  In the process, I came across some articles and other blog posts about the Zero Waste concept.

Let me be clear as mud about what Zero Waste means.  It means different things to different people, depending on how hard core you want to be.  In a nutshell, the concept introduces a few more R's.

The first of these R's is RETHINK.  Some examples:  Do I really need this item?  Can I repair something instead of buying new?  Can this item be donated or recycled in some way when I don't want/need it anymore?  Is the packaging and/or product recyclable?  I know our local school district started classes again today, and I know a lot of tight-budgeted families were working through this recently.  Do the kids really need new clothes/backpacks/school supplies?  What about hand-me-downs? You get the picture.

Next is REDUCE.  Once you've rethought your purchases, you'll automatically start reducing what you purchase and the packaging it comes in.  Oh, and did I mention your spending?  That's ALWAYS good!

In the middle are two biggies - REUSE and REPURPOSE.  I've already shared with you how I reuse the empty containers from food products, like spaghetti and salsa jars.  I also reuse paper egg cartons for seed starting in the spring, and other food containers to hold edible gifts.  Donating usable items to a charity falls into this category.  If something is worn out to the point it can't be reused either by myself of someone else, I try to find a way to repurpose it.  Remember the denim pocket purse?  One of the very first posts I did last fall was a tutorial for making t-shirt yarn.

RECYCLING is also a big part of this concept.  In many communities, recycling is no longer limited strictly to aluminum cans and newspapers.  Our town, for example, allows several types of plastic, paper, aluminum and steel cans, chipboard and corrugated cardboard.  Our local environmental issue committee also hosts bi-annual electronics recycling, with the recycling extravaganza in the fall including pretty much anything you can think of that can be either reused or recycled in some way.  One year, our local cheerleaders collected gym shoes to be recycled.  We've had scouts collect batteries.  And so on.  Find out what's available in your area and take full advantage.

Composting is also a form of recycling.  The process takes food scraps and yard waste, and turns these items into a usable soil amendment for your garden, your yard, your trees, your lawn, and your houseplants.  And it keeps the trash out of landfills.

And finally, REPEAT.  If you choose to make this a mindset, it eventually becomes automatic.

You'll notice that I didn't include the funniest part of Bubba's joke - the "lower standards" part.  By doing these steps, you aren't lowering your standards at all.  You are being a careful steward of our planet and your pocketbook.  We've been having such a great time here for the past several months, that I bet ya' didn't even notice that all the cool and fun and wonderful projects and recipes here have all followed these principles.  I don't feel I have lowered my standards one bit - I feel incredibly blessed instead.

So glad you came by, and I hope this encourages you on your journey today!  Tomorrow, we'll look at some ways that following these guidelines will save you money.  See you then!

Garden Party - Our Lasagna Garden

So maybe you put off starting your garden a little too long this year.  Or maybe you've decided for other reasons that you need to start a garden next year.  Now is the perfect time to start, and I'll show you how...

Gardening for me became a passion after watching a few TV shows and reading a book.  The Square Foot Gardening method has truly changed my life.  And my kids' lives.  For the better.

Five years ago, during a really stressful time in our lives, I decided to burn off all that excess negative energy in a positive way by starting a garden.  Fortunately for us, my in-laws live next door to us, and allowed us to start small by using some of their existing garden space that they no longer were using.  It was almost a near perfect 4-foot square that is advocated in All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew.  It came with fairly high sides (about 6").

I was determined to use Mel's Mix per the instructions in the book because it made so much sense.  You start with compost, aka recycled plants and plant materials.  Then you add peat moss and vermiculite.  Peat moss is a sterile amendment, meaning no weed seeds.  Because the particles are irregularly shaped, they create air pockets within the soil that help plants find root space, and also create spaces for water to get into the soil.  Peat moss itself also holds a LOT of water, so it helps distribute this moisture to the plants during the growing season.  Vermiculite is a rock product that also helps hold and redistribute water.

Basically, this is the soil-less mix that nurseries use.

So we bought a big bale of peat moss.  I spread it out on a big tarp in the backyard.  I hauled quite a few wheelbarrows full of compost.  I emptied in a bag of vermiculite.  I mixed and I stirred and I mixed some more.  Then I spread this brand new garden soil on top of our area in the garden, gave it a good water, and planted a few seeds.  We had a garden.

The following spring, I put in two of the beds we have now.  I dug up the sod, flipped it over, and topped it with more homemade Mel's Mix.  And this is where I decided never again.  To fill the amount of space we have, it was crazy expensive.  Even though the in-laws and our family are avid composters, there wasn't enough finished so we had to buy more.  And we had to buy more peat moss.  And more vermiculite.  Can you see where I'm going with this?  Plus, the mixing and spreading are pretty heavy work.  Think sore arms and legs for a few days type heavy work.  There had to be a better, cheaper way to do this.

Now you all know that my personal motto is "laziness is the mother of efficiency".  And while I LOVE working in my garden, I'd like to be able to do my normal work at normal speed with no pain after I'm out there doing my thing.  Remember that scene from Chariot's of Fire, where the guys are running in slow motion on the beach to that beautiful music?  Yeah, that's me after all that mixing and dumping.  I move in really slow motion - no special effects necessary.  Except no beautiful music - only "oohs"  and "aahs", and not in a good way either.

Enter the next gardening book that has changed my life:  Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza.  This book explains how to create your own fertile garden without all that back-breaking work.  This is the way soil is made in nature, and uses materials you have on hand.

This process is also called "composting in place" and "sheet composting".  After you read this post, do a Google search and see what you can find.  It's really fascinating.

So let me show you how we use it in our garden.  As I've shared before, we have 3 garden beds, each about 4 feet wide by about 16 feet long.  You can imagine how much Mel's Mix it took to fill these up about 6".  This year, we built the two original beds up to 2 feet high.  Because the beds were not well taken care of last summer (long story), they were full of weeds and grasses.  For the first time EVER, we borrowed the neighbor's rototiller and tilled the weeds into the soil.  We then filled each of the beds with a very healthy, organic soil mix that we purchased from a local garden supplier.  It was way easier and much cheaper than doing it the other way.  This summer, we have tried to grow our garden in this soil.  The nutrients that the plants have used to grow are pretty depleted.  Anything leftover that the soil micro-organisms haven't used up may have leached farther down into the bed due to the drought and the heavy watering I've had to do over the summer.  It's time to replenish the soil for next year.

First, I watered the soil, then I raked a thin layer of "bunny beans" over the top of it.  Bunny beans is a euphemism for the end product made by our pet rabbits.  Litter box leftovers.  You get the picture.  Our one bunny, who uses a litter box, uses a recycled newspaper product as his litter.  This product is totally biodegradable, and safe for the garden.  So is his manure.  He's a vegetarian.  By eating and digesting the greens I either buy or grow for him, he makes me fertilizer.  'Nuff said.  Our other bunny is disabled (another long story), and uses newspapers to do his business.  After I put Bunny #1's litter box contents on the soil, I covered them with Bunny #2's newspapers.  Then I gave the newspaper layer a good soak with the hose.

Worms and soil organisms love to eat newspaper, especially when it comes pre-fertilized.  This layer is about 1/2"-ish thick.  That's important to remember.  Newspaper also acts like a weed barrier.  That'll be helpful next season.

Then I raked some sawdust that was generously donated by a friend of mine who is a high school shop teacher.  Another layer, about 1/2" thick.  Be careful raking because your papers will tear.  Also, you'll notice some paper edges sticking up.  The important thing is that you have relatively even coverage for all your layers.  The Department of Weights and Measures won't be over to make sure that they are all the same depth.  When God tells the trees to shed their leaves in the fall, they don't always land in even layers either.  I think He knows what He's doing, so I'm cool with a few edges peaking out here and there.  Again, a really good soak with the hose.

And PS - if you are using sawdust in your layers that comes from pines (and mine does), be aware that as it decomposes, it will acidify your soil.  Same goes for pine needles.  This is why my layer is so thin, and so close to the existing soil.  With the layers that we build up on top of it, the roots of the plants that go in next season probably won't reach this layer.  You can also sprinkle on some lime.

Next, this is the pile of grasses and weeds I pulled from the walkways between the beds.

There are people who tell you that you shouldn't compost weeds.  I disagree.  LOUDLY!  Most of the "weeds" I pulled are grasses.  You can compost grass clippings.  In fact you should be composting grass clippings.  Also, those nasty weeds rarely get eaten by the bugs.  Whatever chemical compounds they possess that makes them taste horrible to creatures who want to eat my vegetables, I want that in my soil for other plants to use as well.  And speaking of what other plants use - weeds steal valuable nutrients from the soil.  By composting them, I'm taking the nutrients back.  So I spread the weeds and grasses over the top of the sawdust.

That big tall fluffy thing in the middle is a basil plant.  It is the only plant that thrived in this bed this summer.  The layer of weeds/grasses is about 6" deep.  And if you said "soak it really well with a hose next", you'd be correct!

Finally, I made a layer about 2" thick of homemade compost.  For the whole bed, it took about 6 wheelbarrows full of compost. The picture shows the first half done.  Again, soak with the hose.

By now you are probably wondering why the depth measurements are fairly important.  The best mixture for compost is 1 part greens to 2 parts browns.  Greens are things like grasses and weeds, and also your kitchen scraps, coffee grounds and filters and tea bags.  They break down pretty quickly, and are like a sugar rush for the soil organisms.  Browns are things like fallen leaves (which make up the majority of our compost), newspapers, sawdust, corrugated cardboard.  Basically, things that come from trees.  These provide long term energy to the organisms.  Think of it like orange juice and oatmeal for breakfast.  The juice gets your blood sugar up for some quick energy, and the oatmeal keeps you going through the day.  Because the greens decompose fairly quickly, they give off a LOT of heat.  By covering the grasses/weeds with the darker compost, I've not only added that extra layer of browns to the mix, I'm also retaining the heat to help "cook" any seeds.

If you look at the measurements I've given here, the numbers don't add up.  And no it's not "Ann Math" either. Here's why.  I have 2 feet of brown (aka soil) under my greens.  Also, greens decay fairly fast.  About the time I'll be needing more browns for energy for the decomposers, our trees will be shedding their leaves.

To keep our layers building and growing, the litter box will be emptied into the garden over the winter.  The newspapers from the rabbit cage are going to be composted with a new method of composting I learned about this summer - bokashi.  More about that later.  I'll also be adding worm castings from our worm bin.  In the late winter, I'll start my seeds indoors.  In the really early spring, I'll add another layer of compost (not nearly as thick), and plant cold-tolerant seeds right into the compost.  As the weather warms, I'll transplant my seedlings, and grow from there.  Weeds and spent plants will be pulled left right on top, composting in place, until the leaves fall again.

Thanks for letting me share my garden with you today!  I hope this inspires and encourages you to give it a try in your own existing garden, or to consider for next spring's garden.

Have a great day!

Lesson Planning with Boy Scout Merit Badges

Now that Fair Season is pretty much over, it's time to get ready to hit the books!

It's no secret that I'm very frugal.  Probably not as frugal as Hubby would like, but I watch my pennies pretty carefully.  As a single income household, we have to stretch our budget as far as it will stretch and then some.  Especially when it comes to homeschool materials.

For some reason, the companies who make supplies, whether books or otherwise, see us coming a mile away.  And for some other reason, some of them seem to assume I have the budget of a state-reimbursed school district.

That's why, when both of my kids entered scouts, I felt like I had stepped into a dream world.  When Princess was in Brownies, her book set was $20.  That's right - 2 books for $20.  So let's split the cost evenly and say her Try-It Book was $10.  The book had 57 try-its in it.  Yep, 57 little unit studies.  For $10.  And you better believe we worked that book as much as we could!  We also used requirements for Council's Own try-its from around the country.  More unit studies on everything from volcanoes to hurricanes to the Statue of Liberty.

Then, when it was Bubba's turn to get involved in scouts, we used his Cub Scout books.  He's been in scouts since he was a Tiger Cub, and will soon be working on his Eagle Scout project.  Now, the badges are obviously getting harder and harder.  However, he is getting more mature every year, and I would rather have him working on material that's slightly challenging for him.

If you are new to homeschooling, or more experienced and looking for something new, scout merit badges are really the way to go.  And of course, being involved in a scout troop is a great way to let your kids make new friends and develop leadership skills.  Among many other benefits.

So let's look at what's up for us this year...

On the agenda are the 4 "American" badges (American Heritage, American Cultures, American Labor, and American Business).  In our state, students typically study American History in 8th grade, so these make a perfect substitution.  Also, for science, we will be working from a science book and supplementing it with Weather, Chemistry, and Astronomy.  Oceanography is getting added to the mix as the educational part of a special upcoming trip.  Bubba will also complete Animal Science and Soil and Water Conservation, which he started recently at a merit badge workshop day.  As other merit badges become available through workshop or field trip opportunities, we take full advantage of them.  For physical education, Bubba just completed his Cycling merit badge, and will be working on Hiking and Scuba Diving.

To lesson plan all of this, simply decide which requirements you want your student/scout to work on when and have a completion date in mind.  For example, we're breaking our school year up roughly into quarters for history, so for first quarter, Bubba will work on American Cultures.  Second quarter will be American Heritage, and so on.  We'll tie the science badges into the regular work scheduled with the text book.

The merit badge books are available online for @$5.  Which is really very inexpensive considering the quality of material.  Our local library carries a complete, current set of the merit badge books, which we take full advantage of.  You can also get workbooks online, which are worksheets the scout can use in the process of completing a badge.  The website linked here carries worksheets for all current badges, as well as materials for younger scouts, Venture scouts, and more - be sure to check it out.  Oh, and did I mention, these are FREE!!!!

And even better - you don't have to be a boy scout to use any of the materials.  If you have a daughter, or son who just isn't interested, you can still put these awesome activities into your lesson plans.

The bottom line here:  these are practically giveaways for your homeschool and they make wonderful substitutes or supplements.  By using the worksheets, you automatically have documentation of your work.  What more can you ask for?!

Happy planning!

Oregon Chai Twitter Party

One of my favorite brands is hosting a fabulous party - AND YOU'RE INVITED!!!

***THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY OREGON CHAI***

***THIS IS A COMPENSATED POST***

***ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE MY OWN***

Remember a while back, when we talked about GREAT pantry items to keep on hand?  Oregon Chai is one that I love to have in my pantry.  It's a delicious little pick-me-up, perfect with some vanilla soy milk over ice!   I also love that Oregon Chai has so many ways to enjoy it - concentrates, mixes and tea bags, and there are so many varieties - Original, Caffeine-Free, Slightly Sweet, Sugar Free, Vanilla and Peppermint Original.  Something for EVERYONE! Oh, and did I mention, it's gluten free?  It's yummy AND safe!

So you can imagine how excited I was to learn that Oregon Chai is hosting a Twitter party next Wednesday, August 15th, from 5 pm til 6 pm Pacific time.  There will be great conversation, some wonderful recipes, and a giveaway for some awesome prizes, including the grand prize - an Amazon Kindle.  To get in on the fun simply follow @Oregon Chai, then use hashtag #OregonChai.

And if that wasn't enough...

Starting tomorrow on Facebook, Oregon Chai is hosting a sweepstakes where one lucky fan could win a $5,000 Chai-scape makeover of their backyard.  I know I have some big dreams for my own backyard, and I'm sure you do, too.  AND 1,000 fans will win Oregon Chai Iced Chai tumblers.  What a great way to enjoy your chai on your patio or on the go!  Be sure to check it out, and enter!

Wow!  Lots of great prizes from a great company!

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars Recipe

It's National Cheesecake Day - let's celebrate!

I'm hungry - let's eat!

SPH Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars
inspired by a recipe in Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine
August 2011 issue

2 packages Glutino chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed into fine crumbs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 package unflavored Knox gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup boiling water
8 oz. room temperature cream cheese
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup peanut butter, melted
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 8-oz. container frozen whipped topping, defrosted

Combine cookie crumbs with melted butter.  Press evenly onto bottom and up the sides of a 9 x 13 pan.  Set pan in fridge and allow to chill while making the filling.

Stir gelatin into cold water and let stand one minute.  Add boiling water, stir til dissolved,  and allow to set while preparing cream cheese mixture.

Beat cream cheese, condensed milk and melted peanut butter together in a large mixing bowl.  Beat in the gelatin mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips.  CAREFULLY fold in whipped topping, only until everything is well combined.  Pour this mixture into prepared crust, and allow to chill overnight in the refrigerator several hours or overnight.  Cut into bars and serve.

'Nuff said - enjoy!




This recipe linked to Very Good Recipes.

Our Own Personal Olympics

I hope this post finds you all well.  I know I've missed being here with you every day, but summer for us is fair season.  We've reached the final week of preparation, and I thought I'd share with you where we all are...

If you listen to the Olympic athletes that will be interviewed over the next two weeks, they'll tell you that a HUGE part of the games is mental.  They all know they have the skills to compete at such a high level.  They all have a great deal of confidence in these skills - some of them training for many, many years.  The hardest part is conquering the nerves, not letting the Olympic spotlight blind them from seeing their goals.

In our house, we have a competitor who has all the skills.  And she knows she does.  She has practiced for years, and has taken her fair share of blue ribbons and personal bests to give her confidence.  But this year is somehow different.  Princess enrolled in 4H this year to open up some new learning and competitive opportunities.  For the first time, she'll have to actually answer to a judge face to face during an interview process.  And for the first time, she's battling not only the deadline of having all the projects done to be submitted for judging, but she's also battling the nerves that go with a higher level of competition.

If you know her personally, you know she's a rock star in her own right.  She started crocheting at an age when most kids are just getting the hang of coloring with crayons.  She's been taking amazing photos for many years, and a few years ago taught herself to embroider.  Which of course she nailed the first time she gave it a go.

But this time it's different.  She doesn't just have to answer to herself and just be judged anonymously.  It's going to be up close and personal.  And the possibility of competing at the state level is on the line.  And that's what's giving her the case of nerves.  This is a big, new, scary world, and despite her maturity, grace and confidence, it's a little daunting.

By this time next week, we'll know for sure if any of her 4H projects will qualify for competition at the Illinois State Fair, and which one she'll take if any of them do qualify.  It'll be time to finalize our plans to go to Springfield for the day.  Or not.  And then it will be on to the Sandwich Fair, the second largest fair in the state.  It's kind of like Nationals, Worlds and the Olympics for a figure skater.

If you have a competitor in your house, whether it's an Olympian or a kid in the Chess Club at school, I pray that they find the grace to trust in their own abilities, to ignore any outside distractions, to be confident, and to enjoy the moment.  And I ask that you pray the same for our competitor.

Have a great weekend, everyone, and I'll be sure to post our fair results next week!

Gluten Free Dairy Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Almost Fudge Recipe

Quick and simple.  Easy and delicious.  And no heat required!

This is easy enough the kids can help you make it.  It comes out very soft, and is best eaten with a spoon. It's really a method more than a recipe, but it's still ooey gooey good!

SPH Chocolate Peanut Butter Almost Fudge
Peanut Butter
Cocoa Powder
Honey or Agave Nectar

When I make this, I use about 1/2 cup of peanut butter.  I eyeball it - one really big blop.  Then I add about a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder, and stir well to combine.  Squeeze in honey or nectar, stir and taste. Start with a little, then add more as desired.

This can now be spread on a well-buttered plate and refrigerated to make actual fudge, or just eaten straight from the mixing bowl.  Let's just say, mine rarely makes it to the fridge.

Use this to add to a smoothie made with yogurt and bananas.  Make it with a different nut butter, add water and blend for a nondairy milkshake.  This is especially tasty with almond butter.

Enjoy!

Homeschool Book Shelf

It's already THAT time of year!  Where did the summer go?!

The main expense of homeschooling is definitely books.  Art supplies are a close second, but books definitely hold that number one position.  So I thought I'd share with you how we've managed to save a few bucks on books over the years.

First, use your public library.  Check out at the 'brare instead of checking out at the store or online.  Your taxes already cover the cost of this service, so take advantage when you can.

Then, realize that the library may not carry every book you need.  Interlibrary loan may be an option, but the title you seek may not be available or may not come in for several weeks or even months.  There may also be a fee associated with getting a book from another library.  So, in this instance, think about a purchase.

Never buy new when used will do - check thrift stores, garage sales, Craigslist, eBay, Half.com, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Look high.  Look low.  You'll be surprised what you can find if you only look hard enough.

Another option:  have a book swap with other homeschoolers.  If you are in a group or co-op, this can be especially helpful for all involved.  We are not, but I know of a few different groups that have exchanges quite successfully.

When all else fails, buy new.  If possible, only purchase when you have a cartful, and can take advantage of free shipping.  Don't be afraid to compare several online sites to find the best price.  Sadly, sometimes, you'll only be able to find what you want in one location, and have to pay full price and shipping.  When this happens, take solace in the fact that you literally did EVERYTHING possible to reduce your costs.

What to do with all those books when you are done?  Save the ones you like for younger siblings if possible (I have our favorites packed away for future grandchildren).  Sell the rest.  If you fail to find a buyer, donate the books to a local charity.  Get a receipt for your donation, and deduct your donation from your taxes.

Here's an example of the full circle:
Several years ago, my kids were using Saxon Math quite successfully.  I had previously ordered Saxon 6/5, 7/6, 8/7 and Algebra 1/2 used on eBay.  I think the least expensive of these was the Saxon 7/6.  It wasn't in the best of shape, but it was certainly usable.  If memory serves, I believe I got it for about $7.  Total.  Including shipping.

When I was offered free shipping on any order over $35 from one of my favorite vendors, I knew I had to take a serious look through their catalog and their website.  This same company was also the only place I could find the entire homeschool kit for Algebra, Algebra 2, and Geometry.  So I ordered these materials.  Well, it turns out that Saxon Geometry was not a good fit for us.  The book has barely been used, the solutions manual and test book never opened.  So, these were perfectly sell-able.  And the successor - Algebra 2?  Still in the shrink wrap it came in. I sold these 2 programs to Amazon today, and will be popping them in the mail tomorrow.  Amazon is paying for the shipping, and will be adding a tidy sum to my gift certificate account (to be used for future school book purchases).  I listed a few other books on my seller's account on Amazon, and put the rest on eBay.  Whatever doesn't sell will go to a local charity.

So you see, you don't have to spend a small fortune to educate your kids at home!  Happy Book Shopping!