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I am happy to report that our bathroom project is just about finished. The room is now fully functional and we are working on the details. One thing still to come is a new shower curtain. Our tubs/shower surrounds have built in doors and they have seen better days. So that is being removed and we’ll put in one of those curved bar shower rods. One advantage to that is it will help hide the ugly yellow tub which was waaaaaay too big of a job to remove and replace with a white one.
Our house still has several more things we would like to do to it in the form of updating. When we moved to Wyoming in May of 2009 we came here to bare land only and lived in our 23 foot camp trailer. We were very fortunate that just a couple of days after arriving we looked at a used double-wide that was perfect for us. The size was great (3 bedroom, 2 bath, just under 1600 square feet-huge compared to a 23 x 8 foot camp trailer) and the price was perfect since it allowed us to not add any debt. Originally, this was to be a temporary home for 2 to 3 years and then we’d upgrade. But the truth is, we don’t need to upgrade just update. So for now, we’ll paint, redo and replace things instead of building something else.
We had a windy Wyoming week. Not uncommon for this time of the year. My little chickens apparently do not like the wind and provided very few eggs this past week. We don’t add artificial light to the coop except for a red heat lamp on very cold days/nights so part of the low egg count is from the lack of daylight. Between the 6 ducks and the 19 chickens I hope for 6 eggs a day during the winter. Anything over that is a bonus, under means egg rations 🙂
A few basic things going on in the kitchen this week;
New
Kombucha Stewed Venison
Kombucha Stewed Venison: We enjoy a fair amount of venison and antelope. More often than not that meat is done as a chicken fry. It is super delicious that way but sometimes I either a) don’t feel like chicken fry b) don’t want to make mash potatoes (a ‘requirement’ with chicken fry) or c) am way too lazy busy to stand at the stove for the length of time that it takes to make a pile of chicken fried venison for my family.
I’ve been making more alternate items with venison and antelope this year since our freezer is quite full of these things. This weeks experiment of Kombucha Stewed Venison was a winner. I’ll share the recipe in a few days- you’ll love how easy it is. For those of you without a freezer full of game, I’m sure it would work great with beef stew meat also.
Revisited
One pound of grass fed ground beef made two great dinners this week.
The first half pound became an Impossible Taco Pie. This is a great sourdough recipe that was shared in the GNOWFGLINS Sourdough eCourse. Impossible Sourdough Pies are a super quick way to get a hearty dinner on the table (take a look at this post for a description of these pies).
The second half pound became Cheeseburger Soup. I’ve made this before but it had been awhile. I use this recipe from Abundant Life as a guide but I do it as a one pot soup so there are less dishes to wash. Chock full of potatoes and a base of homemade chicken stock this is a very hearty and delicious soup.
Fried Oatmeal Mush
Another revisited item was Fried Oatmeal Mush. I grew up eating Fried Mush but made out of cornmeal instead of oatmeal. I love those! The oatmeal version is good too but a bit different. They do make a great way to use up leftover oatmeal. Joe really like this especially topped with a fried egg. I had mine with butter and honey. They were really quite thick and hearty.
Standards
Soaking Almonds
It was time to make Crispy Almonds this week. I try to make a nice big batch of these so I need to make these every 4 to 6 weeks. Crispy Almonds make not only a great quick snack but also work as a topping for Skillet Dishes, Casseroles, Salads, etc. They are just a nice little addition. I often think that I’ll make my own almond butter or almond meal with them but have not yet done that.
Other standards this week were the usual beverages of kombucha and water kefir. I’m having some trouble with my water kefir, my grains are not multiplying. In fact, they seem to be disappearing! I’ve used all of the tips that I have found to prevent this by adding extra minerals (except for adding mineral drops which will have to be the next thing I try) but nothing is working. I use our filtered (with a Berkey style filter) well water, Sucanat for the sweetener, add an egg shell and have even tried adding epsom salts for the magnesium. Any other ideas?
What’s been cooking in your kitchen? Try anything new this week?
