Dehydrating - I had received more carrots from the CSA & also dug up some from our garden (about 10 or so little fat stumpy ones). I also had some green bell peppers & cubanelles that we weren't going to eat any time soon. Also had a 1/2 bag of frozen peas I wanted to try.
Yogurt - I was out so I bought a 1/2 gallon of raw milk yesterday on my lunch hour.
Plants - Needed to start hardening them off.
Laundry - Every time we go to the Country House, I get behind in laundry as Saturdays are generally laundry day around here.
Bread - We are out, so instead of buying I decided to make some.
I got up a little late, around 7:00 (hate the time change). And, here was my day ....
- Made coffee & fed the cat(s). One is ours & another just eats here.
- Took out milk for yogurt. Took out chicken breasts to thaw for dinner.
- Washed, peeled & sliced the carrots. Started the water to boil, to blanch.
- Washed, seeded & de-veined & sliced the peppers.
- Rinsed the peas & put on a towel to dry.
- Blanched the carrots & spread on a towel to dry.
- Got dehydrator out & arranged the veggies on all 9 trays. Turned on for 6 hours.
- Warmed milk to 180 degrees (watched carefully so it never boiled). Let cool to 110 degrees.
- While milk was cooling took plants out of rack & put on patio table to harden. Noticed they were a bit dry & had some bugs flying around. Watered dry plants & tried to spray my homemade concoction of garlic, cayenne, diotamacious earth & dish detergent. It was stopped up so started straining process through a coffee filter.
- Took out & chopped frozen veggie for worms.
- While waiting for concoction to strain, tempered leftover yogurt & mixed into the cooled milk.
- Put yogurt in containers & filled mason jars w/hot water & put in a cooler.
- Concoction still straining so I warmed the whey from the last time I made yogurt & made the bread with it.
- Put bread in a bowl to rise.
- Put strained concoction back in sprayer & sprayed plants.
- Fed worms.
- 45 min conference call.
- Warmed & ate leftover lunch.
- Divided bread dough. Rolled out 8 herb rolls for dinner (w/dried herbs from a few weeks ago) & put in a baking dish to rise. Rolled out 2 loafs & put in bread pans. Put one in fridge & left the other one out to rise.
- Cut tops off beets (from CSA as well). Took turnips out of fridge (from CSA 2 weeks ago).
- Another 45 min conference call.
- Put loaf of bread in oven. Checked dehydrating veggies.
- Took compost material to compost bin & added leaves.
- Took bread out of oven.
- Started taking veggies from dehydrator. All done except the peas, put those on for another hour.
- Cut chicken breasts in 1/2, seasoned, made a marinade & put them in to marinate for a couple of hours.
- Peeled & cut up beets & turnips. Seasoned & sprinked w/olive oil.
- Strung beans for dinner.
It's 6:00 & I just realized I never started even one load of laundry. And, I still need to make dinner, take plants in, put dried veggies in mason jars, drain the yogurt & put in containers. Glad Greg is home so he can help!
In addition to keeping up with the dishes, I did stop to heat & eat leftovers from the night before (pork tenderloin w/sauteed squash & onions). But, it has been one busy day! I guess that's what I get from trying to do it all in a day. I should have washed, peeled & sliced the veggies last night. That would have saved at least 1.5 hours.
Regardless, it was a productive day!
I felt like Mama Pea, Leigh, Jane, Canned Quilter, Mary Ann, Michelle, Sandy & kymber all rolled into one. I don't know what I would do if I had animals to take care of too!
p.s. We did make some progress on the garden over the weekend. Got the blocks straightened (a relative term) & the hay bales torn down. I'll post on that separately.
31 comments:
Gorgeous bread ! I feel absolutely inferior ! I worked really hard today here, and all I dehydrated was myself ! Great job.
Take a nap for goodness sake...
Thank you Jane. It was not a planned day off, I just felt like doing 'stuff'.
All in good time my friend. Just got finished w/dinner & put the dried veggies in jars & started the draining of the yogurt. I can go to work tomorrow to rest, no naps, but hope I can at least catch up on blogs.
OMG, girl! You make be tired just reading it all!!!! Yep, like Stephen says, take a nap.......
ok, i want your bread recipe. that looks sooo good!
I'm impressed!!!!! I love days like that! Your rolls and bread look delish!!!!!
FFG, It was a good kind of tired.
The recipe I used is Suzanne McMinn's Grandmother Bread recipe. In case you aren't familiar her website is http://chickensintheroad.com/. It's very versatile. My only complaint is that it rises too much too quickly so you have to watch it closely.
Thank you Kelly.
Reckon with all the other tasks you accomplished today, you really shouldn't feel bad about the washing.
Doesn't it feel good to have ticked off all those items from the to-do list - well done :)
Wow, what a day! Don't you love feeling productive though. Your photos are inspirational I have to say. And I agree with Dani, laundry, schmaundry.
WOW! I have SERIOUS envy of your dehydrator and your plant set-up skills. Your starts look fabulous!
Thank Dani. I'll get to the washing sometime, as long as I don't run out of underwear, I'm fine.
Leigh, It DID feel good. Thank you.
holy moly - i'm bushwhacked just reading this post! what gorgeous bread, buns and plants you have. you need to start taking pics of your meals - i love seeing what other people make and your pork and squash and onions sound divine. i am glad that you had such a productive day. i hope you made sure to pat yourself on the back and then do something relaxing for your evening. you deserved it!
your friend,
kymber
Mary Ann, The dehydrator is my pride & joy & I got it for a steal. The plants do look great, but we'll have to see how they produce. Thank you!
How the heck did you have enough energy to dropped some yogurt off at Stephen's after all that work! I would be jealous of all your energy, but I have ironing to do.
Thank you kymber. I need to take a food photography class, or a photography class in general. My pics of our food always turn out kind of grey looking.
Joy, those energetic days don't come along as often as they used to. So, I try to take advantage. Stephen's shop is just a quick turn off from my way to work so it wasn't hard at all.
I had to sit down and have a cup of tea to recover after only reading HALF of what you did! I bet you slept well! It feels so good to have a productive day, though. I am waiting for spring to arrive - my lists are made.
lordy! We're about the same age... and I have no earthly clue where in the world you get the energy to accomplish sooo much in a day's time. Phew, I'm tired just reading about your day. I have to go take a NAP now. :)
btw... thank you so much for the warm welcome!!!
Thanks Susan. I don't have many days like that but they sure do feel good when they're done.
I don't know where the only 'occasional' energy comes from either. I just start panicking when I know so much has piled up, & then I just get started. Glad you are here!
WOW sounds like a busy good day and I can relate to doing everything but the laundry...
Yes, the laundry took 2nd place.
So, both of you are in JAX, and another reader of mine lives in JAX...I think it would be a crying shame if we all didn't get together some day.
Let us know when you come to town & we'll make it happen!
Wow you were Homesteading Hannah! What a day!
I was Manuela. If every homestead day is like that one, I may not make it!
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