Not a Good Start to the Week

This morning DD1 hit a deer on the way to school.  Not a good way to start the week. 

She called me immediately after it happened, once she had safely maneuvered the car to the side of the road.  After asking the three important questions:

1. Are you and your sister okay?
2. How badly damaged is the car?
3. Is the deer dead?

and getting 1. Yes, 2. not bad, I think, 3. I don't know, it ran off; I instructed her to call the sheriff to have someone out to make an accident report, and that I would be there asap.

I was very surprised and pleased to find a deputy at the scene when I arrived.  We are about 12 miles out from the county sheriff's station, and they no longer patrol the rural parts of the county.  So to have an officer on the scene within minutes, rather than closer to an hour for a car/deer accident with no injuries, was quite unusual.  The officer was also very nice and calming to DD1, telling her she did the right thing to not swerve, and that it wouldn't be the last deer she hits in her lifetime.  It's just one of those country living things, especially this time of the year.  That it was the deer's fault, and not her own.

Kudos to the county deputy.  I know DD1 will remember him and his words for a long, long time.

I'm happy to report that both of my daughters are fine, if a bit shaken by their unplanned contact with a flying deer.  Apparently it jumped up onto the road out of a low field on the passenger side, and then attempted to leap the car.  It landed on the hood, bounced onto the road, and kept running.  All of it happened in the blink of an eye.

The deer was not recovered.  It ran into a corn field, and, if it had any injuries, they left no evidence at the scene.  No blood, no hair, just a big dent in the hood of the car and deer slobber on the windshield.  Hope the deer lived, because it would be a shame for that meat to go to waste.

(Yes, we eat fresh roadkill.  Unless it gets busted up internally, car-harvested venison is perfectly tasty and safe to eat.  And it's only right to make use of it.)

The car seems to be fine too, minus the passenger side headlight and having a very large dent in the hood on the driver's side.  Nothing a little body work won't fix.

Sure hope the rest of the week goes better!

Sunday Scenes

The meat birds, always happy to see me.

Little do they know my plans for them ;0)

Old Dog walks out to check on his flock.

He's been having a hard time getting around this fall, and he doesn't get out to the coop very often any more.

A welcome sight.

Soon production is going to drop dramatically because I don't heat or light my coop.

Deer hunters will know what this is.

(It's not just a picture of dirt and leaves and weeds)

10 point buck was seen here the evening before.

Frugal Food #8: Meal Planning

Oh, the dread of dinner time when you have no clue what you are going to cook.  The clock ticks, the pantry and refrigerator divulge no ideas, your kids are trying to snack on anything they see, you know your hubby will soon be home from work and hungry.  Hungry as a bear; growling like a bear.

Your pulse quickens in fear and you break out in a cold sweat.
 What will you make for dinner?????

Contrast this to you humming a catchy tune that is stuck in your head as you stir a pan of browning burger on one burner while a can of refried beans heats on another.  Lettuce is torn and washed, drip drying in a colander in the sink.  Cheese is shredded, tomatoes chopped, taco shells rest in orderly lines on a cookie sheet while the oven heats.  Dinner time is fifteen minutes away, the kids stay out of the kitchen and out from under your feet because they know they can wait just a tad longer to put something in their growling bellies.  Your hubby should be pulling into the drive in about ten minutes, and you are calm and happy, looking forward to his return from the work day.

Is it the super fancy gourmet meal (NOT!) of tacos that has life so much more bearable in the second scenario than in the first?  NO!  It's the fact that you are prepared for dinner, you have a plan, and you are carrying it out in a timely fashion.

Planning ahead makes all the difference.  Think about it.  When you have no idea what to make for dinner, what is your greatest urge?  To buckle down, get creative with the ingredients you can find, and get cooking?  No!  It's to throw in the towel, call the pizza man, or jump in the car and drive to the nearest burger joint.  And how much will that dinner of delivery pizza or burgers and fries cost your family?  $20?  More than $20?  When was the last time you made a home cooked meal that cost a hard earned $20?  It was probably something extravagant like porterhouse steaks for fourth of July, or large enough to feed a crowd, like Thanksgiving dinner.  Sure wasn't pizza or burgers.

Take thirty minutes, look at what you have on hand, and make up a menu for the next seven days.  I'm sure you can find thirty minutes.  That's the length of the average television show.  Surely you watch TV at least a few hours a week.  Take half of one of those hours and spend it prepping for a week's worth of meals.  You've got the time.  You can even do it in bits and pieces on commercial breaks if you just can't bring yourself to give up a TV show.  Do it.

If it's easier to get into this planning ahead habit by just focusing on dinners, do that.  If you want to go all out and plan breakfasts and lunches too, go ahead.  But do it.  Plan.  Then on those hectic, busy days, you can look at the menu and go on autopilot rather than stressing over what to feed your family.

Here are some sample menus from this little place here to give you some inspiration:

Monday: venison steak with baked sweet potatoes
Tuesday: chili
Wednesday: baked chicken, mashed potatoes, corn
Thursday: goulash
Friday: pizza (homemade, not ordered!)
Saturday: pasties
Sunday: meatloaf

Monday: B-fried eggs and toast, L-meatloaf sandwiches, D-stew
Tuesday: B-pancakes, L-leftover stew, D-spaghetti and garlic bread
Wednesday: B-oatmeal, L-pb&j or leftover spaghetti, D-tuna casserole
Thursday: B-scrambled eggs, L-tuna sandwiches or leftover casserole, D-pea soup
Friday: B-french toast, L-leftover soup or pb&j, D-stroganoff
Saturday: B-waffles, L-tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches, D-pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy
Sunday: B-muffins, L-pot roast sandwiches, D-chicken soup

Note how leftovers are a prominent lunch time feature.  Easy to pack in lunches, or easy to reheat if you are home during lunch time.  No new expenditure for lunch fare, the expense was incurred when that entree appeared as dinner the first time around.

To not get stuck in a rut of eating the same old thing week after week, make a list of everything--yes everything!--your family likes to eat.  When making up your menus, look on the list for meals that you have the main ingredients for, and plug those into the schedule.  There's no need to eat goulash six times a month.  Unless your family really loves goulash.

A Picture From College

I got a picture message on my phone from DS2.  He's the one in college 500 miles away.  It was another moment that makes a homesteading mother proud to know that what she 'dragged her children through' wasn't so torturous after all, and stuck with them in a positive way.

Here's the picture:



Here's the message:

"Don't you wish you had some apple butter?"

Here's the story:

DS2 and some of his fellow students had noticed an abundance of apple trees along the running/walking/hiking trails maintained by their college.  Apple trees with apples that were just falling off and going to waste.  So, a group of 10-12 students got together and picked a bunch of apples one day.  Then they took the apples back to the dorm.

Now, each floor of the dorm he's in has a kitchenette.  This group of students decided to make use of one of the kitchenettes in their endeavor to do something useful with their frugally procured apples.  So, they started coring and peeling the apples.   When they were done, they had made: two deep dish apple pies, an apple crisp, some applesauce, and a batch of apple butter large enough that each student in the group got to keep one jar.

DS2 says that their next task will be to bake some bread to use the apple butter on.

Homesteading goes to college!  :0)

(humorous note: notice the jar of apple butter is sitting on an open differential equations textbook.  Even future engineers like homemade goods!)

Ten Signs DH is Home From a Work Trip

1. The toilet in the master bathroom is clogged.

2. The toilet paper roll is empty and not replaced.

3. I'm tripping over carry-ons, especially the one full of dirty clothes conveniently left directly in front of the washing machine.

4. The empty beer glass next to the couch.

5. The TV played football approximately 10 hours in two days, then proceeded to play baseball for another 4.

6. Someone put the dog in the basement during the rain storm in the middle of the night, but didn't let him out this morning.

7. Dirty clothes on the bedroom floor instead of in the hamper.

8.  I woke up in the middle of the night, shivering, because someone had opened the window above the bed, then stole all my covers.

9. There are tools left on the kitchen counter, but the disposal now works!

10.  I'm smiling despite numbers 1-9  :0)

Hot Soup for a Cold Day

It's gloomy here today: cold, wet, windy, and gray all over.

So, even though it's barely past lunch time, dinner has been started.  A pot of navy beans is simmering on the stove.  They started soaking last night, and now they have been brought to a boil, covered, and turned down to simmer until soft.  Then they will become a batch of bean soup to warm our insides this evening.

Bean Soup
1 pound of navy beans (the dried kind)
7 cups cold water
1 tsp salt
1 pound smoked hock (or leftover ham bone)
1 large onion
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
3 cloves
2 bay leaves
pepper, to taste (I throw in about 1/2 tsp)
1 carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 clove of garlic minced
1 (15oz) can of diced tomatoes--or about 2 cups of chopped tomatoes from the garden

First, the day before you want to eat the soup, sort and rinse the beans, then place in a large pot and cover with the 7 cups of water.  Let soak overnight, or at least 12 hours. 

The day you are going to eat the soup, add the 1 tsp salt to the beans and water, then turn on the burner.  (I always put the pot of soaking beans on the burner I intend to cook them on the next day, usually one of back ones.)  Notice you don't drain off the water, you keep it in the pot with the beans to become the soup.  Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer about 45 minutes until the beans are soft (I test by mushing a few against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon).

Then, add the smoked hock/ham bone, onion, parsley, and other seasonings.  Do not add more water. Cover and simmer some more, roughly an hour or so. 

Meanwhile, chop your onion, carrot, celery, garlic and tomatoes if using fresh tomatoes rather than canned ones.  When the hock has cooked through and all the veggies are prepped, remove hock from the pot.  Cut the meat off the bone, dice the meat, then add meat and  veggies into the soup pot.  Stir things around to mix well.  Cover again, and simmer on low about 60-90 minutes.  Remove bay leaves and cloves (unless your family members don't mind biting into whole cloves--mine do!) just before serving.


We always have zucchini muffins with our bean soup.  They have a great spicy fall flavor that seems to accent the soup.  We dunk them in the soup instead of using crackers.

Zucchini Muffins
3 cups shredded zucchini
1 2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cups veggie oil
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
(You can also add 1/2 cup chopped nuts and/or 1/2 cup raisins if you have them on hand and your family likes them.)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 24 muffin cups. 

Mix zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl.  Stir in the remaining ingredients until just moistened, you don't want to over stir or your muffins won't have those nice domed tops. 

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until tops spring back when touched lightly.

Serve hot with the soup.

Don't forget to give the bone from the hock/ham bone to your dog once it has cooled off.  It will be a much appreciated treat!

You Know You're A Homesteader When. . .

. . .your son in college calls to ask if you know what the dimensions of the smallest chest freezer made are.  Because he's getting sick of cafeteria food and thinks he can fit a small chest freezer in his dorm room (along with his little fridge).  There is a kitchen down the hall from his room, and he's seriously thinking of cooking his own food at least a few times a week.  (He also mentions that maybe next year he'll forego paying for the college meal plan and  just prepare all his food. . .)

Then he gives you the dimensions of the extremely tiny freezer in his fridge, and requests that you send enough miniature loaves of banana bread to fill it!

Yes, this lifestyle does rub off on your kids, even if they complain about it while growing up.  :0)