Those dirty dirty dishes!

We dealt with Wicked Laundry a couple of weeks ago (ok - so it was two weeks ago!).  I did not hang laundry out this week and still we got a foot and a half of snow over the weekend!  March - in like a lamb and out like the Abominible Snowman I guess!  What does that have to do with dirty dirty dishes you ask?  Everything - My boys were supposed to travel this weekend to the cabin for some guy time and leave me alone in my house for some cleanup time!  I just want it clean for 5 minutes in here and not have someone walk across it with the boots and shoes on.  And when everyone is stuck in the house for the weekend they create a ton of dirty dirty dishes! 

Because of the Abominable snow, my people were not able to go to the cabin and leave me alone! 

Dont get me wrong, I love my people, but when I'm expecting to just get to do my own thing and not have to do umpteen loads of dishes, it gets a little frustrating!    So, because I dont like commercial  detergents, and I don't feel like they work well anyway, I made my own dishwasher detergent!  Its not far off from being laundry soap, just one or two ingredient changes and you have it! 

 

 

Dirty Dirty Dish Detergent

1 C. Borax

1 C. Washing Soda

1/2 C. Baking Soda

3/4 C. Kosher salt - I use coarse salt

3/4 C. Citric Acid powder (in the health section at Kroger/Fred Meyers)

Mix it all up and store in a very airtight container.  It may clump a little while in storage, but use your scoop and smash the clumps out - its no worries.  Use about a Tablespoon of product per load, depending on your water and machine.  I have to use a little more due to having hard water (lots of minerals in it) so I use about two tablespoons and I am good to go.  No weird smells on the dishes, dishwasher stays clean, and I dont have to worry that it is going in the lake since its eco-friendly!  I also sometimes throw about a half cup of vinegar into the bottom of the dishwasher before I run it if I have dishes that are really gunky!

 

This recipe can also be used to clean your sinks and bath tubs - just like a soft scrub cleanser!  Sprinkle it in and rub out the stains and gunk! It works great as toilet cleaner as well!  Put 1/8 C. in the toilet and add some orange vinegar, let sit for a few minutes and scrub with your toilet brush!  Beauty! Stay tuned for a soft scrub/hand cleaner recipe in a future blog!

The Chili Tomato

I talked last year about our favorite tomato varieties and about growing the Sun Gold variety, and I touched on the Brandywine and Brandyboy varieties as well. I also said I would have a future blog on those varieties and here it is! I started making chili the other day in my crock pot and remembered my promise to give you some more information about tomato's and what to do with your excess, and if you are growing Brandywine/boy and Sun Gold you will have excess to the point that your neighbors may begin to avoid you if it looks like you are bringing tomatos!

 

The above picture shows Brandywine on the vine ripening up!  Brandywine is an heriloom tomato that has wonderful flavor, freezes well and is a great slicer for sandwiches, salads, and just for eating like an apple if you'd like!  Brandywine plants are an indeterminate variety that is slightly susceptible to some of the tomato blights, and to tobacco blight.  Do not let anyone smoke in your greenhouse!  Brandywine is fairly easygoing otherwise and does well in heat and dry environments as well as cooler weather.  The fruit is substantial, weighing in at 6 oz. and more on average.  

Below are Ladybug and Sun Gold tomatos that I just pulled from the freezer to use in chili!  Yes!  Those are frozen solid tomato rounds!

 

As my tomatos begin to ripen, I get a gallon or even a quart sized freezer bag (ziplock type without the "zipper" work best to protect the produce) and just throw the tomatos willy-nilly into the freezer as the season goes on.  I put all sizes together.  I don't peel them.  If you are using a recipe that requires peeled tomatos or if you just dont like the skins, once you take the tomatos that you need out of the bag, you only have to wait about 5 minutes until you can slip the skins right off! 

I just throw them into whatever recipe I am needing to use them for, I dont usually even thaw them out.  Tomatos freeze so nicely this way - they dont stick together and it makes it really easy to pick through if you only want a cetain variety as well.  They also dice up really easily if you are using your larger tomatos for a recipe.  You wont get sandwich slices from them but you will very much enjoy the fresh flavor of your summer bounty all through the winter months!

All Day Chili

1 to 2 lbs ground beef (you can use left over steak bites, roasted chicken, pork suasage, etc.) Brown the beef if you are using raw
1 diced onion
2 mashed garlic cloves
1 tsp cumin
2 cups frozen small tomatoes or diced large ones
1 12-16 oz. jar chicken stock
1 can black beans - drained
1 can Pinto or navy beans - drained
2 tsp. chili powder (sometimes we use taco seasoning)
1 tsp Oregano
1 can tomato sauce
1 small can diced green chilis
hot peppers or hot sauce to taste

Place all ingredients in a large crock pot and cook low and slow all day.  6 hours at least.  Enjoy!

I blame the Wicked Laundry!

This was the view I woke up to today!  You know why I woke to this today?  Because I hung laundry on the clothesline yesterday!  It was such a beautiful day, and had been for about three days in a row.  I am so craving springtime that I was rushing to have that line dried smell on my clothes and bedding!  So - Mother Nature messed with me a little but once I pulled the clothes off the line and put them in the dryer, it did take less time for them to dry and they do have that great outdoors scent that I was needing!  Im pretty sure the birds were laughing at me though!

This is what it should look like!

 

The recipe below for home made laundry soap is awesome to give you a little of the fresh spring smell you need when Winter wont let up and you cant hang the laundry out with out ticking off Mother Nature!  This is also very safe for  folks like us who are lakefront and need to be careful what we put in our septic systems so we dont kill off the life in or around the lake!  Enjoy!

Homemade Laundry Soap

 

16 oz. grated castile soap

1- 78 oz. box Borax

1 - 16 oz. box Baking Soda

1- 55 oz box Washing Soda

3 Tbsp essential oil or your choice - I usually alternate between Lavendar and Rosemary.

 

You may have to buy solid castile soap and grate it with a cheese grater.  Once you have all the ingredients ready, mix the essential oil into the baking soda and mix quickly so it doesn't lump up.  Next put all the ingredients into a bucket or other container with an airtight lid, putting your baking soda mix on top.  Ths keeps the scent from getting left on the bottom of the container and not goiing into your wash.  Mix together well and use 2 - 3 Tablespoons per washload.  I have an HE washer and this works fine in the HE system even on cold water wash.

 

This recipe will do upwards of 200 loads!  Enjoy!

Power Outages - Keep calm part 1

Last weekend we had a power outage that lasted 9 hours here at Wicked Raven Farm.   We were not thrown off by it at all, but my neighbor had all her kids home, including a brand new baby, and a teenager who felt he needed a shower as soon as the power went out!  (He was going to see his girlfriend and wanted to make sure he showered before the water was cold)!

Normally there is enough water in the system to at least have a couple of toilet flushes during a power outage, but if someone takes a shower it uses all the water and leaves you high and dry.  If you have prepared for outages the way that we do here you will not have a problem (remember my first blog advising you to keep your teakettle full)!  In light of the outage we had and the issues the neighbor had I thought I woud give you a few pointers on how you can be prepared for any length of outage.

In addition to keeping your tea kettle full, you should have additional water on standby.  An easy way to do this is to use empty milk jugs.  Rinse them out and fill with water to the shoulder.   We store these on top of our freezer, but sometimes we store them in the freezer and then you can use them to keep the fridge cold if the outage is longer than about 12 hours.We generally have about 10 gallons stored in milk jugs and then we have two of the blue water storage jugs that are 5 gallons each.

The other thing that we just recently found are lifesaving items to have are these "rocket stoves".  These are super portable little stove burners that can be attached to almost any of the cansiter fuels and can rapidly heat water/melt snow and ice, or can cook a meal without any electricity.

They fold up and come off of the canister (which can be reused multiple times) and are easy to store because of the small size.  The above model has a wider burner but no igniter so it has to be lit with a lighter or match.  This one is fairly safe for older children to use with some supervision.

This model is the "pocket rocket" stove and folds up and fits into the little orange box behind it.  It is great for camping gear and extreme emergencies.  This one has an igniter so does not require lighting  but the burner is very small as well and should not be used by children at all in my opinion. 

Keep two or three canisters of fuel and one of these rocket stoves and you will be set up for heat and eat during any outage or emergency!  You can get the fuel cansiters and the burners at any outdoor supply store - Cabellas, Sportsmans Warehouse, or a number of online sources.