Week 40 & Gully washers of rain

It stayed at 38 all afternoon yesterday and rained solid all day coming down in buckets. Going to the chicken coop up hill and coming back down was an adventure. There is around an inch of mud and loose ice on top of frozen ground.

It is almost 6 AM and it may have stopped raining; the wind is howling enough that I can't tell by just listening.
***

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Forty


This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.

Non-food list:

Toilet paper: 24 to 36 rolls, you can never have enough TP
Vitamin C: 1 large bottle or 2 mediums


Food list:

Shortening: 2 cans, shortening is very long lasting; as in years.
Honey: 1 or 2 large jugs
Herbal teas: 4 boxes Peppermint, ginger and Chamomile are good for tummy troubles. There is a wide assortment. Can be very soothing and warming. Also mints grow very well about anywhere pots included.

Recipes:

Chili Sauce: Great Aunt Ella Walker Antigo Wis.
12 med tomatoes chopped
4 onions chopped
2 cups vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 teasp. ground cloves
1 teasp. allspice
3 tsp. cinnamon
2 teasp. nutmeg
2 teasp. salt
3 or 4 mangoes (optional) or use apples
1 red hot pepper
Combine all ingredients and cook down. Seal in hot jars, can in pressure canner.

Enchilada sauce
2 cans of 8 oz each tomato sauce
¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8-teaspoon garlic powder
Heat to simmering.

Kay's 3ed birthday.

Warm fFont & Turkey Bones.

Yep a warm front came in yesterday with high winds.
Snow all morning then sleet in the night. It is supposed to get into the mid 40's and rain.  That should melt off those sheets of ice out there, that would be nice.

The Christmas tree is down and packed,  took all of the stuff off of it yesterday after DJ and his two children left. Dave and I took the tree apart after eating supper last night.

I have turkey broth to can today from cooking the bones and scraps of our turkey.  Always good to have. Replaces chicken broth in things and a great quick broth to heat when you're under the weather.

I will get week 40 up either later today or tomorrow morning. With Christmas and all the company it isn't written up yet.

Merry Christmas everyone & week 39

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty Nine


This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.

Non-food list:

Pepto Bismol: 2 bottles and 2 boxes of tablet type to carry easily.
Candles: 12 large or emergency types
Chap stick: 2 of the brand you like best


Food list:

Condiments: This helps get rid of food boredom. Some like bbq sauce can be homemade but sometimes it is nice to have a bottle to grab if you don’t have any made up. You pick those you and your family likes. Here are a few ideas.

BBQ sauce: 2 bottles
Mustard: 2 bottles
Worcestershire sauce: 2
Hot sauce: 2
Teriyaki sauce: 2
Horseradish: 1 or 2 jars depending on how much you use
Taco sauce: 2

Chili sauce: 2
Garlic chopped: Not dried: 2 small to medium jars
Pickles: As many as you like
Olives: As many as you like
Any others you may use

Recipe:

Bar B Q Sauce
1 large chopped onion
½ cup catsup
2 c. tomato sauce or soup
2 c. water
1-tablespoon butter
1 minced globe garlic
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 and ½ tablespoon Brown sugar
½ cup vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon Mustard, can be dry mustard also if that is all you have
In a saucepan add first 9 ingredients. Simmer 10 minutes. Then add salt, pepper and mustard. Then simmer until thick, about 20 minutes or so.


Emergency:

Have you placed a winter car kit in your car? Or made sure you have winter clothing in your 72 hour kit?
 
Hope you all a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah :).

Week 38 and Frosty

We had our fill of ice and frost lol.

Hiding under this loose layer of white is several inches of ice; gotta watch how you walk around out there.
***********************************************

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty Eight



This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.



Non-food list:

Envelopes: 1 box each of business and regular


Spiral notebooks: 4


Pens & pencils: Package of each


Tape: 2 each of scotch, packaging and masking

Food list:

Dried cranberries: 1 or 2 bags, Ocean spray has some good ones. Or if you would like to buy bags of regular cranberries at this time of year then you can freeze, cut and dry or can them your self. Or those that like the canned jellied cranberries 6 cans.


Brown sugar: 25 pounds


Vegetables: 10 cans

Recipe:

Cranberry Jell-o Salad (Dad doesn’t like cranberries, celery or nuts so I didn’t get to make it much)
1 large package cherry or strawberry Jell-O
2 c. boiling water

Combine stir well and add
1 package cooked cranberries or 1 can cranberry sauce
2 c. small marshmallows
1 c. drained pineapple bits
1 c. walnuts bits, optional
½ c. celery diced, optional


Chill until firm.

News on my sweet sister in law.

Since this past trial talked about those chemicals HAVE been found in a well to the homes in their area.

My brother has sold so many of thier things including his professional tools to make bills.
If this company would just have helped many of these people and put out some money to cover some of thw hospital bills instead of the multi millions they have paid lawyers (big time lawyers who come into the trials in pacts of 6 or more).
One of the people who have already passed away was one of their own and worked with this deadly stuff in their lab.

‘Our day in court’



By KEVIN P. CRAVER - kcraver@shawmedia.com NWHerald.com

http://www.nwherald.com/2011/11/17/our-day-in-court/amxyn2q/

Created: Sunday, December 11, 2011 5:30 a.m. CST

Sandy Wierschke of McCullom Lake was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2006 and was given nine months to live. Wierschke is one of the 33 blaming her illness on the Rohm and Haas plant and is still dealing with the lawsuit. "It's just ruined my life," she said. "I don't know if I'll be around to see (daughter) Stephanie get married or my grandchildren." (Lance Booth – lbooth@shawmedia.com)


Sandy Wierschke was not in good shape when she attended the opening of the first individual trial in the McCullom Lake brain cancer lawsuits.


She sat in her motorized scooter in a Philadelphia courtroom on Sept. 20, 2010, just three days after leaving the hospital. The wrap she wore covered up the work that doctors did on the right side of her head, using parts of her thigh and stomach to replace bone and tissue that had died from the radiation used to fight the glioblastoma multiforme cancer in her brain.


Wierschke, her husband, Tim, and her daughter Kimberley wanted to show support for Joanne Branham, the first of 33 plaintiffs as of today alleging that the Rohm and Haas plant in neighboring Ringwood tainted their groundwater and air with carcinogenic vinyl chloride and caused a cluster of brain and pituitary tumors. Branham’s husband, Franklin, died of glioblastoma in 2004.


Branham filed suit against the Philadelphia-based company in 2006, at the same time as two of her former McCullom Lake next-door neighbors, who also developed brain tumors. While Rohm and Haas has acknowledged that a plume of volatile organic compounds is oozing from a closed 8-acre waste pit at the Ringwood site, it vehemently denies the idea that pollution reached village wells, tainted the air or sickened anyone.


Joining the Wierschkes in the audience were five other plaintiffs’ families.


“I wanted them to see what I’ve been through,” Sandy Wierschke said. “It was tough, it was really tough, seeing [Branham] was having a bad time.”


The fact that Sandy Wierschke, 49, is still alive is no small feat – doctors who diagnosed her in 2006, days after the first lawsuits were filed, doubted she would live through the year. She can now count herself among the 3 percent of people who survive within five years of a glioblastoma diagnosis.


Sandy Wierschke wants to live to see her day in court. But more than a year after that trip to Philadelphia, Branham’s case – and by default, the others – are up in the air.


Stopped cold


The Branham trial was expected to last 10 weeks. It lasted five before the judge angrily ended it over the testimony of the plaintiff’s epidemiologist.


Richard Neugebauer had testified for plaintiffs that the rate of glioblastoma in the McCullom Lake area is three to five times higher than the county and state. But his testimony crumbled during a two-day cross-examination by Rohm and Haas attorney Kevin Van Wart. His questioning poked holes in Neugebauer’s testimony, from his methodology to the inclusion of plaintiffs who lived elsewhere.


Judge Allan Tereshko adjourned the trial for the day to allow Neugebauer to sort out the questions raised. Neugebauer had submitted 21 changes to his analysis when the court reconvened on Oct. 21, 2010. Tereshko decided to end the trial before plaintiff’s attorney Aaron Freiwald could call his remaining witnesses, and called Neugebauer’s testimony, among other things, “an attempt to deceive the court.”


“It is as close as I have come sitting on the bench for 20-plus years to having a report that may be tantamount to fraud on the court, and I will not allow this testimony to continue,” Tereshko told the courtroom.


Freiwald asked for a mistrial, while Van Wart asked Tereshko to dismiss the case against Rohm and Haas. Tereshko sided with the defense and granted the motion to dismiss Branham’s case on April 27, 2011, almost five years to the day that it was filed.


Tereshko’s 49-page ruling alleged Neugebauer “manipulated and disregarded” information to ensure that the study concluded that a cluster existed. Van Wart has gone further, alleging in court documents that both Neugebauer and Freiwald attempted to manipulate the data.


“Once he was subject to cross-examination at trial … Dr. Neugebauer’s brain cancer cluster analysis was shown for what it really is – an elaborate ruse that rested on deception, manipulation of data, and patently false assumptions,” Van Wart wrote in a motion for sanctions filed last December. “Plaintiff’s counsel was an active participant in this ruse.”


Freiwald begs to differ in his appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court – the equivalent of the Illinois appellate court – both on the merits of his case and the idea that either he or Neugebauer did anything dishonest. In a May 2011 appeal, Freiwald called Tereshko’s ruling “a product of emotion and bias, rather than a considered review of the evidence.”


The controversy, Freiwald argued, was with Neugebauer’s first epidemiology study in 2008, which analyzed cancer rates based on the plaintiffs at the time, not his updated 2010 study based on Illinois State Cancer Registry data. The appeal states that most of the changes were clarifications or minor adjustments.


“The court made an emotionally charged and improper leap, egged on by defendant’s counsel who immediately characterized Dr. Neugebauer’s report as an affront and evidence of misconduct,” Freiwald wrote.


In his appeal asking for a mistrial, Freiwald argues that Tereshko’s granting of a nonsuit before the plaintiff rested her case violates court rules. Judges typically grant nonsuit if they conclude – after plaintiffs have rested – that the evidence presented does not support their case.


Freiwald had yet to call his expert toxicologist, Gary Ginsberg, when Tereshko ended the trial. Van Wart argues that the toxicologist’s testimony was moot with Neugebauer’s testimony struck, but Freiwald counters that Ginsberg’s report reveals multiple sources for his conclusions. Freiwald also argues that Tereshko erred in striking the testimony of Neugebauer and the plaintiff’s expert neuropathologist, both of whom survived pre-trial motions to exclude them.


Van Wart last year filed a motion with Tereshko asking that Freiwald and Neugebauer pay for Rohm and Haas’ trial expenses, and that Freiwald pay for the court’s costs for the jury trial. That motion is essentially on hold with the appeal – both sides are waiting for a briefing schedule.


The case is not the only setback that the courts have dealt the plaintiffs. A U.S. District Court judge in March 2010 denied certification for a class-action lawsuit forcing Rohm and Haas to pay for medical monitoring and property value reimbursement for McCullom Lake residents. A federal appeals court this year upheld that ruling.


However, a number of eligible residents did get access to screening through a 2008 settlement with Modine Manufacturing, located south of the Rohm and Haas plant. Modine was blamed in the original lawsuits for polluting groundwater, and contributing to cancer cases, with the industrial solvent trichloroethylene. The company paid $1.4 million for medical monitoring while denying culpability – two more plaintiffs were diagnosed through Modine-funded screening.


Day by day


Sandy Wierschke credits her family for giving her the support that she says has kept her alive and beating the odds. Others have not been so lucky.


Plaintiff Jim Booth, a former McCullom Lake resident diagnosed last year with glioblastoma, died in March in his Johnsburg home at age 61. Ringwood resident Frank Weisheit, who lost his wife, Judy, to the same disease, died several weeks earlier at age 68.


Others have relapsed. Plaintiffs Lance Kuhns and Scott Milliman again are fighting oligodendroglioma, a brain cancer that affects about one person in 300,000. It is the same rare brain cancer with which Branham’s former neighbors, Bryan Freund and Kurt Weisenberger, were diagnosed.


Freund, who still lives in McCullom Lake, has not been doing well. He has been suffering bad seizures, like the ones seven years ago this month that revealed his brain tumor.


“I really take it day by day,” Freund said. “You never really know. I still have headaches all the time. At this time last year, I was doing pretty well.”


The Freunds and the Wierschkes hope that the Pennsylvania courts overturn the nonsuit and allow them to plead their cases before juries, and to give Joanne Branham a second chance at the same opportunity.


“We just want her to have her day in court,” Tim Wierschke said. “We know this is more than just coincidence. We want a jury to decide this. We want our day in court.”


About this series


“Coincidence or Cluster” is the Northwest Herald’s ongoing investigation of the McCullom Lake brain cancer lawsuits.

Week 37

Hubby has been home ill.  He came home from Spokane WA last Saturday night with a very bad cold.  He is headed to work tomorrow. We will see how that goes for him.

I have been asked already when I am going to start making the Christmas cookies. I said next week. :)

I finsihed writing Gray's Heart, After The Dying Time II.  Hate to say I have been two years writing it. Boy does time fly. I see the costs are more this year to have the books printed :(. Here is the link if you would like to take a look.

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/grays-heart/18726791?productTrackingContext=author_spotlight_695947_

Okay here is Week 37

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty Seven


This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.

Non-food list:

For those that have animals:


Dog Food: 2 bags


Cat food: 2 bags


Something to store water in: Anything from 1 to 5 gallon closed containers. Smaller ones are easier for some of us to pour from. 5 – 1 gallon or 2 - 5 gallon. 2 liter pop bottles work also.

Food list:


Pancake syrup: 2 large bottles, or 4 small if you don’t use up a lot at a timeTomatoes canned: 10 cans diced or whole, either regular or stewed, whatever you prefer, medium to large cans



Vegetable soup: 10 cans

Recipe:

Smothered Steak


1 pound of meat: round steak, venison or elk
1 can cream of mushroom soup (I know it isn’t homemade)
1 can vegetable soup
1 can of water
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix soups, water and salt and pepper together. Put your meat in your frying pan and pour over the soup mixture. Simmer for 3 hours.


Emergencies:

Do you know where and how to shut off your natural gas? (If you have it)


How about your electric box, do you know where that is and how to shut your electric off?

More snow and Week 36

We have an 80% chance of more snow today with winds blowing in the low 20's somewhere. 

Our cat Tank seems to be going down hill poor boy. :( We have had him 7 years and he was 5 plus when we got him. This is his; I wuv you look.

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty Six

This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.


Non-food list:

Basic tools: Hammer, regular and star head screw drivers, regular and needle nosed pliers, electrical tape, hand saw for cutting wood and a hack saw for metals or small pieces of wood.
Any other tools you think you may need.

Assorted nails, screws and wire


You can normally find assorted screws, nails and picture hanging supplies sold in a case together.

Food list:


Cream of Wheat cereal: 3 boxes (This can also be used as a thickener for soups, like in cream soups as in potato etc)


Cornstarch: 2 boxesCocoa: 2 to 5 pounds

Recipe:

Eggnog
1 egg beaten well
1-cup milk
1 and ½ tsp. Sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Dash of salt
Dash of nutmeg (optional)
Beat well together chill. 2 servings

Orange Pineapple Punch
1 large bottle of 7-Up

1 large can orange juice frozen concentrate
1 large can pineapple frozen concentrate
1 large bottle of ginger ale
Mix add ice

This may be a repeat for these recipes for some of you but I thought there might be a few new people here that haven't seen these and I thought with the season it might be time to put them here again.


Spiritual:

May you all have a Merry Christmas and keep the birth of our Savior in your hearts.

Recouping

Hope all had a pretty good Thanksgiving.

Dave was off to work this mornng and all the company went home differnt days on the weekend.

Dave Jr took home 6 new chickens for him and the kids to have fresh eggs.  His older ones were laying like 2 a week.

Today is catch up day with laundry etc etc.

I will have week 36 of the food storage list up sometime this week I hope.

We found soup on sale and bought a couple of cases last time we shopped.  Good for a quick meal with a sandwich.

This pay time will be a no shopping time until next pay check.  Sometimes money just doesn't go far enough lol.  But we are helping out some of our children some so thats the way the cookie crumbles I guess.

35th week

Not much going on here but snow and more snow.

Starting the plans for Thanksgiving and inviting family to see who is coming and what they can bring.

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty Five


This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.


Non-food list:

Duct tape: 2 to 3 rolls


Plastic roll: 2 rolls


Books to read for entertainment: any amount this includes books for children or grand children if necessary.


Food list:

Milk powdered: 15 pounds or in #10 cans (#10 cans are sold at the big store in Clarkston)


Oatmeal: 25 pounds or more


Rice: 15 to 25 pounds

Recipe:

Oatmeal Carrot Muffins


1-cup old fashion oatmeal
½ cup shredded carrots
½ cup milk
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
½ cup white flour
½ cup wheat flour
1 tablespoon Baking powder
½ cup baking soda
Mix well and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until done. Makes 10 muffins

High Altitude Cooking & Baking

Breads: High altitudes may shorten the rising time for your quick breads. Also you will want to rise twice for a better texture for breads.


Cakes: At 3,000 feet and above pressure makes the cell structure expand and cam make a course or fallen cake.Oven temperatures: Increasing the oven temperature 25°F might help the batter before the cells formed by the leavening gases expand to much.


Cookies: You will have to adjust your flour adding a little more and maybe decreasing the fat in the recipe.

Pudding and cream pie fillings: Above 5,000 feet use direct heat by cooking in a saucepan on direct heat
.
Pressure cooking: In a pressure cooker pressure must be increased one pound for each 2,000 feet of elevation. Things like beans and vegetables take longer to cook. Foods take longer to boil also as well as meats take longer to cook over 3,000 feet.



96-hour kits: How are your 72 to 96 hour kits? Does anything in them need updated for winter?

Week 34 An owl week

Another week that has flown past.  Its been real windy the past couple of days; not the coldest in the world but the wind makes it worse. It is 34 degrees right now and I just got back in from letting the chickens out of their coop.

Tuesday when I opened it up I got a big surprise.  An owl flew out and the chickens all came running out scared to death and hid under the trees for a couple of hours.
Whats funny is Dave says he went in the coop to turn off the light and everything seemed normal.  They need 12 to 13 hours of light to lay well so I turn on the ligt when I collect the eggs in the late afternoon cause it gets dark so early now. Lol he didnt see the big owl in there and the only way it got in was flying through the coop door that evening.
I checked and not one dead chicken from the over night guest. Wonderful to say the least.

Our oldest son and family were up here over the weekend and the children injoyed sledding down the hill in the back yard and the hill comng down from the barn.

Our son Seth and his wife Jessie are expecting a new little one come May. Congrats to them.

I am 90% done writing the sequel to After The Dying Time, that feels good. I keep getting asked from our daughter Christine and a couple of the grandkids and some of my friends to get it done so they can read it.

********************************************

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty Four

This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.


Non-food list:


Hand crank mixer:

Hand Can Opener: 1 at the very least
Knife sharpener: 1
Good pair of work gloves: 2

Food list:

Sugar: 25 to 50 pounds
Vegetables: 8 cans
Shortening: 2 cans

Recipe:


Buttery Rolled Egg Dumplings
1/2-cup butter
3 large eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Mix butter and flour till crumbly. Add eggs and mix well. Turn out unto floured surface. Roll with a rolling pin until it is about ¼ inch thick, cut in squares and add to boiling broth or other liquid.


New skill:


How are you coming at learning a new skill? Make sure you pick something new to learn. And when you have learned that go on to another. Don’t quit learning.


If you want to take up knitting or crochet and you have the Internet there are some very good sites that have videos of how to do it; knitpicks is very good. http://www.knitpicks.com/Tutorials/Knitting_Tutorials.html
Even youtube has them.



Rendering Suet & Week 33

We were given a big batch of ground suet last Friday night so a long with out regular chores and winter prepareing we got to render suet into tallow.

Have a low to med. heat going. You can do this on a stove, camp stove, grill or camp style fire.
We put a grill work down over a fire. Ours is the back of an old refrig.
Put the ground suet in your pot, we did half at a time so it would melt faster.
The meat scraps will go to the bottom of the pot.
When melted well drain though fine cheese cloth or a pillow case into another pot. 
Clean the pot you melted the suet in pot and put the melted suet in the pot and put it back on the heat. Heat again and then strain again in a clean cloth or fine cheese cloth. Put aside or into conatiners or jars.
Do the same with your other half of suet.
Put in frig. to harden, it will turn white and solid and then stick this in your freezer. You now have tallow.
It can stay in the frig. if you are making soap or candles in the next couple of weeks.

*********************************

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty Three

This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.

Non-food list:

Fire Extinguisher: at least 1
Deodorant: 2 of women’s and 2 of men’s, depending on who is in the household
Shaving cream: also 2 of women’s and 2 of men’s, depending on who is in the household
Razors: a package of women’s and men’s

Food list:


Baking Chocolate or chips, a variety of dark and milk chocolate: 4 to 6 packs or bags
Soups: 8 cans
Evaporated milk: 8 cans

Recipe:

Western French dressing
1-cup oil
½ cup vinegar
¼ cup sugar
2/3-cup catsup
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons onion powder or salt
1-teaspoon garlic salt or powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Blend all ingredients in an electric blender or mixer. A hand crank one will also work.

Foods to serve 25 people:

Ham baked - 8 pounds
Roast beef – 10 pounds
Roast pork – 10 pounds
Meat Loaf – 10 pounds
Swiss steak – 10 pounds
Ice cream bulk – 1 gallon
Lettuce med heads in salad cups – 3 heads
Peas – fresh 18 pounds or 4 cans
Whipping cream – 1 pint
Rolls – up to 50
Jelly – 1-½ pints
Butter cut in squares – 1 pound
Salad dressing – 1 pint
Pickles – 1-½ pints
Carrots – 3 cans
Green beans fresh – 5 pounds


Spiritual

We are told: If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.


This can go spiritually as well as temporally. It doesn’t matter whether in food storage or preparing for winter or planning the summer’s garden, a test in school or making dinner for a regular meal or a party.


Are we prepared for problems and challenges in life through prayer and reliance on our Heavenly Father and lessons we may be taught during those times?




Week 32

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty Two



This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.

Non-food list:

Wheat/grain grinder: 1 at least, even a roller is nice
Cast iron or heavy pan & pot: 1 of each for cooking over campfire or Coleman stove etc.
Grate: One for cooking over a campfire.
Matches: 2 large boxes

Food list:

Wheat berries or flour: 100 pounds, put in food grade buckets. Wheat berries keep longer then flour.
Bouillon beef and chicken: 2 large bags of each if possible to find in bags. This can be used to flavor many things, broth, rice, gravies etc.

Recipe:

Dyrestek (wild meat or poultry) One of my moms Scandinavian recipes, early 1900’s. This may be one you just tuck away for later. Or experiment using meat or poultry you have on hand.


Soak the meat overnight in cold water with a little salt. Make sure the meat is covered with the salt water. Dry with a cloth and then remove the skin.


Brown it in hot oil or fat over medium heat. Pour 3 cups water or milk over, add seasoning you prefer and simmer slowly in a covered pan for 2 hours. Serve this with browned gravy made from butter, flour, broth from meat and some sour cream.



Skill:

I would like everyone who never has or hasn’t in a long time, to practice cooking over a campfire. Writher you can do this at your home or need to go to elsewhere. Ask someone who lives at a place this is possible, if you can come out and practice building a fire and cooking on it at their place.



Spiritual:

Out of small things


We must not become weary of doing good, and we must not become impatient; the changes we seek will come about “in their time.”


Self-improvement may seem a kind of work project, but it is—at heart—a change of heart. When we women struggle to keep up with life—raising children, providing necessities, attending school, dealing with issues of age or ill health—our own spirituality often ends up at the bottom of our long “to do” lists.


By Kathleen H. Hughes
********
I still have this cold but at least it is better.
 
Daves meeting was canceled tonight so he got to come home after work.

Week 31, I just had to get sick

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty One

This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.

Non-food list:

Cleanser: 4 cans
Garden seeds: Start collection of 4 packets each of the vegetables you like or need to have, non-hybridGardening How To Books
How to books on things like Seed Saving and Sowing
Amazon has many used books that cost very little

Food List:

Pasta: 6 to 8 pounds of a variety
Honey: 5 pounds
Tuna or fish of choice: 10 cans


Recipes:


Pumpkin Honey Bread
3 ½ cups flour
1-teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon nutmeg
4 eggs
1-cup honey
2 cups pumpkin puree
1-teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1-cup olive oil or other
¾ cup sugar
1-cup nutmeats, pecans or walnut if desired

Honey Peanut Butter Balls
½ cup peanut butter
1/3-cup wheat germ
1/3-cup honey
½ cup instant dry milk
Mix all ingredients well and make into balls. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.


When substituting honey for sugar in a recipe:



Use the same amount of honey as sugar but reduce your liquid contents by a quarter (instead of 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk do 1 cup honey and ¾ cup milk)


In making cakes or cookies add ½ teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey.


In baking lower temperature of your oven by 25 degrees which helps from foods getting burned or to dark when cooking with honey.

Skill:

Remember they’re many women in the ward, area or organization who will help others learn to bake breads, knit or learn a new skill or craft. You only need to ask sometimes. So many mature ladies would love to pass on what they know.


**************
I am down with a pretty bad cold, grandkids shared with me. Dave hasn't caught it yet. Hope it stays that way.
 
We butchered the turkeys last weekend, so nice to have another thing done. Todd and boys injoyed helping.
 
 

 
 

Week 30, WOW

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty

This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.

Non-food list:

Winter car kit time: If you have a winter car kit for emergencies, it is time to up date it for this coming winter. There are several you can buy or you can put one together with what you prefer in it. Blanket, easy foods, water, flashlight & extra batteries, a few tools, flares, matches or lighter, pocket multi tool, small folding shovel and extra warm clothing. Anything else you would like in it.
Ammonia: 1 large bottle
Dish soap of choice: 2 bottles

Food list: I know you see lots of repeats but this is necessary.

Vegetable: 10 cans
Meats or fish: 8 cans
Baking soda: 1 large box (put in a glass or plastic jar to keep out moisture
 
Recipe:


Pancake mix:

Large container you can close against insects, this can be doubled etc.
8 cups flour
6 tablespoons baking powder
3 teaspoons salt
½ cup sugar
2 cups powdered milk
1 cup powdered egg mix
When mixing this to make pancakes add 1 cup water to 1 cup pancake mix and 1 tablespoon oil.

Hint:

Old-fashioned soil remover: (This was my moms)
½ cup ammonia, ½ cup baking soda, ½ cup white vinegar, 2 tablespoons liquid dish soap, 2 quarts water
Mix in a bowl and put what you need in a spray bottle and store the rest in a jar or bottle.


New skill:

I am challenging you and or your family members to learn something new in the next couple of months. Be it sewing, cooking, baking, learning to can or can something you haven't before, knitting, crocheting, learning to fix something in the house, handling power tools, changing the oil in the car or something you have always wanted to learn.

Dave will be home tonight some where around 10 or after.  I know he is  exhausted. They took turns driving while the other grabbed some sleep in the passenger side of the truck. So much for stopping at a rest stop to get some rest if they needed it.

Week 29 late and us

Sorry the font was messed up earlier it wouldn't let me fix it until today.

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Twenty Nine

Non-Food list:

Pinesole or cleaner disinfectant you like: 2 bottles
Batteries: D, C, AA, AAA or sizes you need
LED headlamp: Can be bought at a store or Beprepared.com they are great when you need the use of both hands and during an emergency they really come in handy.
First aid supplies: Alcohol, Anti-biotic, Band-Aids, gauze etc, pain reliever, Vicks and cold remedies

Food list:

Canned cheese: things like cheese whiz or home canned velveta
Peanut butter: 4 jars (Prices are supposed to rise this fall as there is a shortage of peanuts)
Canned peaches: 8 cans
Almond extract: 2 bottles
Lemon juice in bottles: 2 bottles (We use a lot and use to make warm lemon drinks and making foods)


Recipes:


Plain pie crust

2 c. flour
¼ tsp. salt
½ c. oil or shortening
7 to 8 tab. water
Mix together and roll out on floured surface.

Raisin Pie

1-cup raisins
1 egg
1 and 1/4 cup sugar
1-teaspoon butter
1-tablespoon flour.
Boil the first 5 ingredients together, add moistened flour and cook until thick. Put in the piecrust and bake till crust is done.

Peach Pie

1 unbaked pie shell, 9 to 10 inch
Peaches enough to fill 9 to 10 inch pie shell when sliced up
2/3 c. brown sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons cornstarch or flour
½ teaspoon almond extract
4 tablespoons butter
Over low heat melt together sugar, lemon, cornstarch, and butter, add almond flavoring after taking it off heat. Put peaches in pie shell and pour over mixture. Bake for 10 minutes at 450 deg. Then turn to 350 and bake 35 to 45 minutes


Sorry about the 2 days late.

We have had company T & T  and the 3 children. They didnt have school the past few days and they came up here.
Dave and son T are headed to Virginia as of an hour ago to go get their stuff out of the storage unit in VA and pick up their car and haul it back.
We have a 8 by 16 foot trailer they will put on the trailer and pack their things in and around it.

The rest of the family will be up here until Sunday night then they will head back tot he valley where they are staying with son Seth. With school here on Monday.

We had a high of 40 degrees yesterday with ice on the truck and my hops in the morning :(.
It is 42 deg. right now but at least we recieved some rain the last couple of days. YEAAAAAA           

Weekly storage list 28

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Twenty Eight


This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.

Non-Food list:

Solar blanket 1 for each member of the family
Rain Poncho 1 for each member
Copy of Identification as in drivers license, school ID or child’s birth certificate
Picture of each member of the family, up to date

Food list:

Powdered drink mix 2 large cans or containers Tang or favorite
Powdered milk 10 pounds in cans or boxes
Hot cocoa drink mix 2 to3 large cans
Jello 8 packages in flavors you like

Recipe:

Bottling dry beans

Pressure canner


Large pot of boiling water (water will be used to pour over beans in the jars.)


7 quart jars, lids rings etc.


Wash and clean jars and rings in hot water, rinse in hot water (this can be done in a dish washer if you have one.) Boil the lids and leave in the hot water.

To each quart jar add 1 and 1/3 cup dry beans. (As in Red, pinto, navy)
Add 1-teaspoon salt

Fill the jar within 1 inch of top with hot water.
Place lids and rings on jar and tighten rings.
The beans will swell during this next process so don’t add extra beans.
Process in your pressure canner for 1 hour on 15 pounds pressure (60 minutes).
Let the jars cool and lids should give a pop sound when sealed.
This recipe was given by Maxine Powell years ago. 

We have gotten the frost free faucet dug up in the barn, I should say Dave has. The part that connects the faucet to the water pipe was busted. So thats all fixed and ready for winter.

Our son T helped finsh the last 2 places in the barn that needed to be jacked up and braced. That was great for me :).

Someone is giving us 10 gallons of tomatoes which i will make sauce out of and can. Good thing cause the few we have are still green. It was just to cool this summer for ours to do well.

27th week food storage & recipes

Sorry we were out of town.

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Twenty Seventy


This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.

Non-Food list:

Cleanser 4 containers
Pine sol or Lysol cleaner 2 bottles
Bug spray killer 2 cans

Food list:

Brown sugar 25 pounds
Raisins 1 or 2 large boxes, even if these dry out they are still good. Can put in hot cereals or soak in a bit of water for eating.
Evaporated milk 6 cans

Recipes:

Hamburger Buns

Small batch

1 & ¼ c. water warm
2 packages or 2 tablespoons yeast
1 c. milk
½ tsp. salt
3 tab. packed brown sugar
½ c. oil or melted cooled shortening
1 egg
6 to 7 c. flour
½ stick of butter or margarine to melt and brush on done buns
Combine warm water and yeast add sugar. Let rest 5 minutes then add salt, oil, milk and egg. Stir in flour and knead. Put in an oiled bowl and turn to oil all sides. Let rest until double in size. Punch down, let rise another 30 minutes. Punch down and roll ½ inch thick, cut with jar lid as u would to do cookies. Put on greased sheet let rest 10 to 15 minutes bake in 400 deg oven 18 to 20 minutes till nice golden brown. Take out and brush with butter

Apple Muffins

Around 20 muffins
2 eggs
½ cups oil
1 c. sugar
Mix then add
¼ teasp. salt
5 cups flour
1 tab. baking soda
2 c. milk
4 med. Diced apples
Fill greased or papered with cup cake cups muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake 375 deg. 20 minutes

Spiritual:

The Household of Faith, Bishop J. Richard Clarke, Nov. 1980

Brothers and sisters, we do not know by what means or when a crisis will occur in our family.
Residents of Michigan did not need a nationwide, full-scale depression to tax their economic resources and cause many to lose their jobs. If I have a crippling disability for a prolonged period, my income stops just as surely as if it were caused by a national catastrophe.
We tend to view distasteful circumstances in a rather detached way; but, as one of the American presidential candidates recently said, “If my neighbor loses his job, it is a recession; but if I lose my job, that’s a depression.”
There are some who feel that they are secure as long as they have funds to purchase food. Money is not food. If there is no food in the stores or in the warehouses, you cannot sustain life with money. Both President Romney and President Clark have warned us that we will yet live on what we produce.
I would like to make one point very clear. The welfare services program of the Church is essentially you and I being self-sufficient within our own families. The Church storehouse system is a backup system for the small number of members who are poor or physically handicapped, or for emergencies or disasters.

Week 26 and cooler weather start

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Twenty Six


This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.

Non-Food list:

Toilet paper 12-24 count package depending on how much you use a day and size of family.
Cough drops 2 packages (Regular or sugar free)
Vaseline 1 large jar or 2 medium babies bottoms, hands as in (can be used for chapped skin, lips, cotton balls rolled in it will be fire starters)

Food list:

Tomato sauce 12 cans 8 oz. size
Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip type salad dressing 3 jars (these can substitute for butter or oil in cakes) Do have to watch the dates on there they don't last real long after date on jar.
Non-Dairy creamer 2 large bottles or cans (good substitute for milk in things)
Juice canned pineapple, apple, other varieties etc. 6 cans

Recipes:

Taco casserole
2 pounds ground beef
1 minced onion
Brown these 2 together in a little oil, and then drain off the grease. Then add:
2 cans tomato sauce (8 oz. each)
2 tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. salt
Then let it simmer a few minutes. Line a pan or cake pan with corn tortillas. Cover the tortillas with all of the meat mixture, then 3 more tortillas, and then on the top of this pour 1 can cream of chicken soup, mixed with ¾ c. milk top this with 2 c. grated cheddar cheese or Colby. Bake 350 degrees 1 half hour. Then cut this into squares and sprinkle on shredded lettuce.

Wiener Schnitzel
2 pounds of veal or beef steaks, ½ inch thick if possible, turkey works to
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 eggs beaten
1-tablespoon milk
1 cup dry bread crumbs
½ cup saltine cracker crumbs
¼ cup oil
Cut or score the edges of the steaks to prevent curling. Pound the steaks till ½ inch thick if they are thicker then that. Mix flour, salt and pepper. In different bowl mix the rest of the ingredients. Dip the meat in the flour mix and then into the eggs, then into the crumb mix. Heat the oil in a heavy pan and cook-dipped meat over med. Heat. Fry until golden brown on both sides, about 4 to5 minutes on each side.

Spiritual:


Remember that wholesome, uplifting music has the power to strengthen our spirits and bring all of us closer to God

Here we are in the middle of September already. That didn't take long now did it?
Well the cooler weather is here after 3 weeks of summer weather. Today is supposed to be high 70's with 60's starting tomorrow. No just a small drop after days for us lol.
We still have a few things that have to be done before the ground freezes and winter gets here in earnest.
One is getting that faucet dug up to find the leak and more wood split along with some other odd things and this weekend won't be a good one for work around the farm.
Dave goes to Spokane this Friday and Saturday he has to be in town to help with a service day because he wants to and Stake conference talks that last afternoon and evening. So looks like he will be working hard some nights after work.
He would have starting this past Monday but City Counsil people wanted him there and that didn't start until 6 pm. and Tuesday he was just tuckered out.
Tonight is his volunteer night at the Family History Center and a meeting at 7 pm. So it looks like tomorrow Thursday night we will work on finishing jacking up the rest of the barn roof hopefully.
We have that 3/5 s done. What a job figureing that one out but it will be better for the weight of the snow on the roof of the barn this winter. Each winter the old barn roof sagged more and more.
The lean-to's are painted and the gutters and down spouts are on the lean-to's I am glad that is done.
The chimney is cleaned and the leaves cleaned off the roof gutters.
We painted the front deck last weekend and the ramps/bridges that come to the house across the creek.
Also I have been making fingerless gloves (also known as wristlets) and big needle scarves. See how they work as gifts.
It has taken me 6 weeks but i have lost 9 pounds 21 to go. With taking 2 days off to eat more normal then went right back to it after that.
I lose weight very very slowly but can gain it very quickly lol. Dave can lose 4 or 5 pounds a week without even  trying. No fair.
My lower back is better after hurting it 3 weeks back and I am watching what I am doing and the weight of things I lift.



I got some circular needles to try out. But will do that after I finished the next set of fingerless gloves in blues.

I went to their sight and just picked a few sizes and the long circle that goes to them. (60 inch) Long is best I have found with experimenting some.