Kitchen Happenings On The Golden D Homestead
All Kinds Of Wonderful Things Happening In The Golden D Kitchen Today
Over the last few weeks, I have been going over my scheduling; whether household, homestead, garden and Discord and steemit. I find myself some days in a tizzy like whirlwind, especially Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Luckily I have four other days to sort things out and get my motivation, rhythm and groove in sync.
But these thoughts brought me to a whole 'nother realization and then when I read @fishyculture's post Abundant Health In 2018 which happens to be part of my healthy2018 contest, my eyes opened!
I had commented to her desire to be "more flexible and have more physical strength" by saying:
When I was working in an office as an admin assistant, I found myself suffering from sore shoulders and upper back, stretching REALLY helped. Even now, I get up from my desk and laptop every 20 or 30 minutes and go do some household chores; benefit of working from home
Well, I re-read my own words and realized I had fallen into the "desk trap". I was so focused on steemit, being available for fellow steemians and Discord members that I had stopped doing my thing in the kitchen every day.
Now, I don't mean cooking, because I still cook and bake, but I mean my little experiments with steemit, bettering my health by making homemade concoctions, health and beauty aids and even my herbal teas. So last night, as I drifted off to sleep I declared to myself, my future health and God that I would change that first thing today.
In keeping with my healthy2018 goals, I have decided to take my own advice to heart and every 20-30 minutes of steemit and computer time, I am taking a 10-15 break. Whether it is to clean something, make a new recipe or prepare for whatever is on the mind agenda for the day and evening.
See, I have this thing... like I'm sure most of you reading this can admit to, I get lost in steemit. I lose myself in posting, commenting and searching. When it seems as only a few minutes have passed, turns out it's more like an hour... or more.
I am still going to be 100% available on steemit and Discord, but will start to be more mobile I have my cell app, my kindle app and my Samsung tablet app; so no reason not to be on-the-go.
So this morning after I finished the @qurator Daily Qurator edition, I set off for the kitchen and in doing so, I pledged to myself that once a week minimum, I will be posting my Kitchen Happenings here.
So let's get started with the first Kitchen Happenings!
Herbs, Tea & Cucumbers
Herbs For Tea
It's been a few weeks since I made my herbal teas; not sure if it was the holidays and chaos or if I was just developing a lazy pattern. SO I changed that today!
Cucumbers: Not Wasting A Scrap
Over the weekend we ate a lot of salad and when we have cucumbers in our salad, I usually peel the skin off. I always save the peelings and when I have enough for at least one tray on the dehydrator, I toss them on and let the machine work its magic.
Why, you ask?
Simply, there are so many uses for dehydrated cucumber peelings. After they are COMPLETELY dried out, I run them through my Magic Bullet (mini food processor) for a cucumber powder and this is how I use it then.
- Add to homemade soap recipes
- Add to homemade salad dressings for an extra kick of flavor
- Add to homemade facial and body scrubs
Cucumbers have such a high water content that when I add to the soap and scrubs they actually help re-hydrate my skin; and in these dry winter months, extra hydration is crucial.
@karenfoster Has Won Me Over
She made a post late last week about her Overnight Oatmeal Breakfast Jars, yet another one of the healthy2018 tags that I made a few weeks ago and I made them last night before bed.
Once I get my hands on some Hemp Seeds, I am trying her hemp seed milk recipe.
Time For Wine? Update on Fermentation Of The Grapes
About a week ago, I received my wine kit in the mail and I started my first batch of homemade grape wine.
Here are just a couple of images and updates on the fermenting process. Right now it is in the "violent fermentation" stage and within the next day or two I'll be starting the "secondary fermentation" stage. When I siphon the wine from the bucket into the glass jar; where it will sit and ferment for another 6-8 weeks.
So there you have it, my morning spent in the kitchen while I steemit and Discord!
In collaboration with my healthy2018 contest and tag, I want to remind everyone about the new steemit account called @healthy-home and make sure to tag your posts with #healthy-home. He has a contest going on right now too!
Holy COW you are amazing! I cannot imagine trying to juggle so many projects on steemit AND run a homestead. This is my down time of year, I am actually wondering how I am going to keep this up come spring!
And dehydrating veggie scraps... I don't know about cucumber but I take zucchini peels, ugly carrots that did not make the relish tray cut... whatever and dehydrate those up and throw them in spaghetti sauce to thicken it and give it incredible flavor!
adding veggie powder to sauce is brilliant! i've got some tomato sauce that's just a bit on the thin side & i could totally use that!
I also make tomato powder. GREAT for stews and soups or even to add extra 'mater flavor to salad dressings. I made post about that months ago... I LOVE tomato powder!
tomato powder would take up less space than paste. i might have to start those outdoors on a hot summer day & finish them inside. thank you!!!!!
THAT is a great idea! The zucchini and carrots!
LOVE IT!
The carrots would be great for any Italian sauce to help thicken it up and add a little something, something in added flavor!
Great idea!!!
I will be trying to brew my own beer and also make my own wine. Will be getting grapes for our homestead here before long so we can ferment our own wine.
That is great!!! You'll have to keep me updated!
I am so new to this fermenting thing and I have been extra cautious of reading directions and making sure I am doing it properly.
I have been reading tons of posts and articles online and on steemit too!
is that wax or parchment paper that you have in your dehydrator trays? how many uses can you get out of it?
gonna have to try that cucumber trick - i will likely be growing some this year & need to get better at finding multiple uses.
I use parchment paper... I'm to ocheap to buy the inserts.
Depending on what I have dehydrated previously, I can usually get three or four uses out of each cut out.
If it's herbs, I generally write on the paper what it is... as when certain herbs dry out they resemble each other. But with the cukes, I'll need new paper next time because of their high water content. Halfway through the process I move the cuke peelings around because they will tend to stick to the paper.
Good tips to know!
good to know that parchment paper works just fine - there's one of those restaurant supply stores one town over that i can get a big ol' roll from. as always, you're a fountain of knowledge!
Those oatmeal jars are happening for me! I've been meaning to do this, seeing how good those look, I'm on it! A couple of season ago, we had an overabundance of squash. So, my wife found a recipe where you can squash in pineapple juice! We were skeptical with how they might taste, but, after we removed the jars from the canner, let them cool down, we popped one open and sampled... and it was amazing! You would never know it was plain ol' squash. We still have one more jar in the cabinet, plus two jars with our failed experiment of adding coconut shavings.
Sqaush? As in yellow summer squash?
With pineapple! Now that is an interesting combination I will have to admit.
Yes the oatmeal jars are SUPERB! I have one more for tomorrow then I'm hoping I can get out in this snow ladened day and find some Hemp Seeds for the recipes I want to try next.
Wow -really cool. I didn't know you could do all of that with cucumber skins! Thanks for sharing that. I have wanted to do refrigerator oatmeal, but I haven't tried it. Maybe that will start being breakfast for all of us soon. About to run out of my yummy USA brand protein powder for my milk. Too expensive to import so I'll have to try something new for breakfast. This might be it.
Oh I HIGHLY recommend the oatmeal! It was DELICIOUS!
Next time I'm adding vanilla yogurt for a change up!
But there are some many ingredients you can work with, the variables of flavor are endless!
Nice! It has always sounded tasty. I just need to figure out something I can put in it to make it crunchy as I prefer crunchy to mushy. :) Maybe granola at the last minute...
Way to go @goldendawne I do exactly what you do. I take a break every 15 minutes to change the laundry, fold a load, wash a sink of dishes, vacuum a room, walk out to the mailbox, take the dog out and throw the ball for her, whatever just to keep me moving, I have always done this when I find I am on the computer too much. We all need a time out. Bad idea though taking laptop out to garden equals dirt in keyboard, LOL
Drinking Catnip tea?! Cool. I've never tried that. What does it taste like?
It really has no specific taste; perhaps because I mix i with lemon balm or mint also; which tend to overpower the catnip. But catnip is great for anxiety, stomach issues and insomnia. Luckily I grow it int he house over the winter and we don't have cats.
My mom uses it too, as an anti-inflammatory. I am her supplier! lol
Wow, great info! Thanks for sharing :) I have a cat, so I guess the cat would be super high all the time if I grew it indoors haha, but maybe I'll try it outside in the spring! I'm all about the anti-inflammatory plant medicines.
Wow this is amazing, I love oatmeal cups too and fresh teas. I love the home made wine. Woo Hoo! How did it taste? Great post. xx
I made overnight oatmeal for the first time last year, I was surprised how good it was. Not a fan of plain yogurt or greek so I used what I had which was vanilla.
I had thought about the next batch trying vanilla too.
I use the plain yogurt for making homemade salad dressings but when it comes to this "parfait" like treat, I think the vanilla would be a GREAT choice!
I especially like the dried cucumber, just a small part of your post, but one that will stick with me.
Thank you! I have been doing them for years like this and never think twice about it, but so many people are amazed at learning about it.