Home gardening offers ways to trim grocery costs [Survival Today, an on going thread]

http://www.homestead.org/KristenEmbry/MyHomesteadIncome.htm

Kristen’s goat-based home-business cleared $1,700 in its first four months

My Homestead Income

by Kristen Embry

Over the last ten years or so, and around my various “off the farm” work schedules, I have learned a bit about gardening, preserving food, sewing, quilting, raising livestock and even the occasional butchering. I generally take these little projects on during the winter when things slow down a little and some of the fruits of my labor can, conveniently enough, serve as Christmas gifts for friends and family.

In the winter of 2002, I decided to try raising a few home milkers, in the form of dairy goats. After much research via the internet and books on the subject, I chose Nigerian Dwarves because of their small size and generations of official milk production records. Our small 3+ acres seemed best suited for a miniature dairy goat. I carefully chose 6 does and 3 bucks to start our herd. I intended to sell enough kids every spring to buy the hay during the summer. I planned to make cheeses and yogurt for my family with the excess milk.

The fall of 2003 rolled around and as I was investigating goat’s milk recipes, I found a basic recipe for goat’s milk soap. Wow! Soap! I had recently began collecting the supplies I would need to make my first candles and I decided the combination would make excellent Christmas gifts.

So, in September of 2003 I made my first batches of goat’s milk soap. I used recipes which called for lard or tallow, because the fancy butters and oils simply are not available in small, rural markets. I anxiously watched as the soap hardened. I was shaking with pride and anticipation while I unmolded and cut those first bars. I think I checked those first soaps a half dozen times every day during the three week curing period. I wrapped the cured soaps in plastic and because I couldn’t have possibly waited until Christmas to show them off, I gave every single bar away! Friends and family took the soaps and gave them away at work and at church. In a very small town, it takes about 20 minutes for the entire community to know you’re up to something new. Those free bars of soap paid off for me in a big way. In a week’s time I had orders pouring in. I thought, “Great! Maybe I can sell enough soap to pay for the supplies I’m going to need for my Christmas gifts.”

By, the time I had those orders made, there was a pretty good bit of word-of-mouth advertising going on. Sometime in October, a lady passing through town ordered 47 bars for resale in another state. A week after that, the curator from an area museum asked me to supply their gift shop. The local newspaper came out to our little farm and we made the front page. The individual orders for gift sets and gift baskets meant very little sleep for me during November and December.

As it became clear to me that a little hard work might turn this new hobby into a profitable business, I began researching the rules and regulations regarding packaging, labeling and marketing of home made soaps. I also decided to start looking into a liability insurance policy. Again, the internet was an invaluable tool for this project. I chose to label my soaps with plain address labels. I use the computer to print our business name, location, telephone number and a list of ingredients. I also print, or handwrite, the name I’ve given that fragrance or style.

I stayed with my simple recipes. The ingredients are readily available to me and my customers like the products. I have found my market. There are many soap makers for a customer to choose from. The soaps at craft shows and on the internet are getting more and more fancy. With more expensive butters, additives and custom oil combinations. I considered changing my recipes, dropping the lard and adding herbs or flowers. I may still develop an herbal line of my own. But right now, my customers are people who really seem to enjoy the simplicity of my products. I list my ingredients, in order of the amount used, right on the label. I have never lost a sale because my labels say “lard” and “lye” right up front. While there are people who would not feel comfortable using a soap made with animal by-products, because I use goat’s milk in every bar, there is no need for me to waste time and resources trying to find a spot in that market.

Initially, to fill all the new orders and meet the Christmas deadline I had to invest more money in equipment than I had planned. I was and still am learning how to make soap. Every new recipe and every custom order means a little more trial and error. I had to buy more molds to meet the demand and I bought specialized molds for the custom gift baskets. Also, several botched batches meant losing precious time and some expensive ingredients.

Since I had been buying supplies and materials a little at a time, the total start-up expenses were spread over a much longer period than they would have been if I had started making those purchases with the intention to go into business. Soap making, as a business has been ideal for me. There are several reasons. First, I already have the goats milk, which is the one ingredient that distinguishes my soap from competition in our area. Secondly, the “off farm” supplies I need are right down the street at the local grocery store. Next, the equipment needed can be purchased inexpensively. For example, my scale, plastic utensils, mixers, blenders, etc all came from Wal-Mart at prices ranging from .97 to 39.97. The molds can be purchased as well, but for those first batches, I used old cardboard boxes, lined with freezer paper. And lastly, I enjoy the work. It’s easy to put in a 16 hour day.

I was sure the business would come to an abrupt halt after Christmas but that’s not been the case at all. I changed my marketing after the holidays and started making baskets for birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers and bridal showers. I have found new suppliers for most of the products and ingredients I use in order to add more variety and cut expenses. I also invested in a website. The cost for a website is minimal compared to the interest it has generated, so far. I am so fortunate to have the twenty-first century tools to help market my “days past” products.

Now, I am constantly looking for new recipes to try and products to add to our sales list. We’re making soaps, bath fizzies, lip balms and several different styles of scented waxes and room fresheners. My mother has taken up candle making and supplies us with coordinating candles at reasonable prices. I love being at home and doing so much of what I truly enjoy. I think it must show because the response has been overwhelming. We now have a business license and the whole family pitches in to keep the goats cared for and the soap shop well stocked.

Not including the expense of the goats, we invested around $800 in our soap business this year. From September of 2003 until December 31, 2003, total sales were a little over $1700. We cleared just under $1000 during the holiday rush. The goat herd is still our first priority and now our “girls” are paying for way more than their hay!

[Granny Notes: Do not try making soap with just this recipe, it is for a general idea, you need to know more about the use of lye and how it will react with the other ingredients.
granny]

My Favorite Soap Recipe

* 1 lb lard Just melted enough to become liquid
* 3/4 cup fresh goat’s milk partially frozen
* 2 oz lye
* fragrance or essential oils (to taste)

First, I put the lard on the stovetop at my very lowest setting.

I recommend using rubber gloves, long sleeves and safety glasses for every step after this point.

Measure the lye and set it aside. Measure the milk into a glass pyrex measuring cup and slowly add the lye. Adding the lye usually takes me about 10-15 minutes of slow, constant stirring. (I use a hard plastic spoon for stirring)
You can just dump the lye into the milk and stir enough to get the lye dissolved if you aren’t worried about the color of your soap. I’ve done it this way with no problems, but the more slowly you add your lye, the lighter the color of your soap. Also, if you allow the lye to heat your milk too quickly, you will get a sort of burnt/soured milk odor to your soaps.

I watch the lard melting while I stir the lye/milk mixture and quickly remove the melted lard from the burner as soon as there are no solid pieces left in the pot.

With such a small batch, I don’t bother to check temperatures and such. When the lye mixture hits the oils, it will saponify. After the lye is completely dissolved into the milk, I pour the melted lard into a stainless steel mixing bowl and slowly pour the lye mixture into the oils, stirring with the plastic spoon. I use a hand blender (stick mixer) to bring the mixture to trace and then pour into molds. (if you want to add fragrance oils or soap dyes, you would add them at the trace and stir them to combine everything)

Let the soap set in the mold for 12-24 hrs, unmold and cut bars. This soap will be cured in about 3 wks.
By making a small batch like this, I can turn out 3-4 different fragrance/color combinations per day.

I use one of several online lye calculators when I want to change a batch around. You just type in the type of fat or oil and the amount and the calculator will tell you how much lye and liquid to use.

I noted last night on the internet, that several people were talking about selling at the craft fairs, crafts and soaps.

It is one way to make a dollar or two.
granny

http://www.homestead.org/NeilShelton/Groceries/45WaystoSaveMoneyonGroceries.htm

45 Ways to Save Money on Groceries

by Neil Shelton

It’s hard to decide which is more infuriating, $4 gasoline or $4 milk, but whichever you personally find most appalling, one thing is for certain, someday a time will come where we look back with nostalgia for the good old days of $4 milk or gas.

That is to say, we can count on prices always advancing. Even when they do retreat a bit, like gas is doing now, you know it won’t be for long.

That’s just part of the rhythm of modern life, I suppose, but we don’t have to like it, and we don’t have to let ourselves be billowed by every inflationary breeze that comes wafting our way. Like most anything else, there are ways to get by cheaper and better when you buy groceries.

Here are forty-five ways to get more food and spend less cash:

1. First, Track Your Expenses You can’t save money if you don’t know how much you’re spending to begin with. Keep a list of everything you buy. Once you’ve got an idea of what you spend each month or each week, then you can make a budget and begin to set goals.

2. Grow Your Own Obviously this is the way to achieve the most savings. Make a garden this year. Next year make a bigger garden. If you own a freezer and know how to can and preserve you can do more financial damage to your local grocer than with any other method. Not only that, but you can’t buy healthier food, and you’ll never enjoy your meals even more than when you produce them yourself.

3. Cook Without question, you can cook your own food more cheaply than you can hire someone to cook it for you. This is not to say that you shouldn’t ever go to another restaurant or order another pizza, when you want to celebrate or just take a break, but if you’re out to save money, you need to be the one who prepares your meals.

4. Eat less No, really. Can you honestly say you wouldn’t be healthier and feel better if you lost a little weight? Don’t cut out any meals, you need nutrition, but try closing the kitchen up after dinner and leaving it closed until breakfast. In short, avoid snacks.

5. Use Discount Grocery Stores Preferably the type that buys surplus lots from bigger chains. We save a small fortune every year by shopping at a local discount grocery, Not only do we save a lot of cash, but our diet is much more varied than it used to be because the discount stores wind up with lots of unusual items that may not sell so well in middle America. For example, we always have lots of fancy foreign cheeses, Brie, Camembert, Gouda, you name it. These apparently don’t appeal to the typical Ozarkian, or maybe the typical American, palate, but we love them, and we get them for less than the price of Velveeta.

6. Buy in Bulk As with most everything else, the more you buy, the cheaper it you get it. Olia recently brought home a 40-pound carton of green bananas from the discount grocery for which she paid $6.50 total. That’s 16.25 cents per pound versus 60 to 90 cents per pound in regular stores. Of course you don’t save much if your fruit rots in the fridge, but I prefer my bananas slightly green, Olia likes them slightly brown, and when we’d both had what we liked, she made many loaves of tasty banana bread.

7. Cook for a Week, or Month If you’ll cook up large batches of your favorite foods and put them away in the fridge, freezer or pantry in single-meal portions, you’ll not only save money because of buying in bulk, but you’ll also earn yourself quite a bit of free time. Try making a stock-pot full of soup or stew and freezing what you don’t eat. You’ll have a quick, tasty meal that the biggest clutz in the family can prepare for himself.

8. Recycle Old Meals A/K/A leftovers. Don’t just keep them, make a meal from them. Monday’s Casserole and Tuesday’s Roast can become Wednesday’s stew with a little stock and some seasonings. Likewise a large piece of meat can be stretched a lot further, as well as be more tasty and healthy if you use it in several different dishes with many bit-size morsels. We rarely eat large pieces of meat alone, but often have meat mixed in a bowl of rice or buckwheat, or on a large salad.

9. Don’t Throw Away Food Save your bacon grease, make stock from your chicken carcass, save hambones to add to bean soups. If you don’t have time to do these things after dinner, put them in a bag in the freezer. Save everything you can think of a use for, and don’t forget the livestock/pets and the compost pile.

10. Keep a Running Grocery List When you run out of anything, add it to the list. The more well-stocked your larder is, the better you’ll eat, and the less you’ll spend. Always take your list of the things you need when you shop, and only buy what’s on the list. If it’s not on the list, then you obviously don’t need it.

11. Avoid Impulse Purchases These are the bane of all would-be frugal shoppers, so just don’t do it. If you truly need an item, then it should appear on your list next week.

12. Make Fewer Shopping Trips The more often you go shopping, the more you are likely to spend. About half of all grocery shoppers go to the store three or four times a week. This is probably less true of homesteaders who spend less time in town, but the principle still applies. Try to make your shopping trip no more than once per week. If that works, try for every two weeks, even every month. This tends to focus you more on buying larger quantities more carefully.

13. Investigate; Ask Questions What’s the price difference between the bag of dried beans that sells for $.89 and the can of beans that sells for $.99? Just a dime? No. The bag yields 7 cups of cooked beans, $.13 per cup. The can yields 1-1/2 cups of cooked beans, $.66 per cup. The canned beans - as inexpensive as they are - are five times more expensive than dried beans.

14. Take a Calculator Many stores have already calculated the unit prices of the items you buy, but many don’t offer this. Also, if you’re being genuinely thoughtful about your purchases, you’ll probably want a little help in the brain department while you’re moving through the aisles.

15. Food Only Please Paper goods, cleaning supplies and cosmetics are probably going to be less expensive at big-box stores like Target or Wal-Mart. This also helps you to track your grocery costs separately from other living expenses.

16. Avoid Processed Food You’ll be wealthier and healthier if you buy basic commodities that only have one item in their list of ingredients - things like potatoes, beans, apples. Not only will you avoid lots of chemicals and preservatives, but you’ll save a ton of money. Just remember, if it has a trademark or a brand name, you’re paying more and probably undermining your health in the bargain.

17. Cut Up Your Own Food Consumer Reports found that two pounds of carrots cost $1.29, compared with $7.16 for the same amount of precut carrot sticks. Also avoid “vegetable medley” packages.

18. Don’t Buy Water Everyone knows that bottled water is expensive, but fewer people know that it may be inferior, or at least no better than your tap water at home. If you have your own well, the odds are very good that you have cleaner, better water than the brands from Coca-Cola and Pepsico. If you have city water, yours may be, probably is, just as good. You may want to invest in a reusable water-filtering pitcher.

19. Don’t Buy Disguised Water, Either When we were kids, Kool-Aid only came in an envelope. You could add only the amount of sweetener you wanted, and your own water, and you spent a lot less money. So why buy it by the bottle? That’s a good example, but there are lot of other ways you pay more just for water. Such as, cartons of fruit juice, canned broth or soup, canned, cooked beans, low-fat coconut milk, Jello cups, applesauce, popsicles, even chicken and pork injected with water and salt “flavoring”.

20. Don’t Buy Designer Salt Specialty spice mixes are usually 90% salt. You can just buy the basic herbs and spices, then make your own.

21. DON’T Use coupons Ever see a coupon for bananas? Apples? Coupons may offer apparent savings, but they’re usually for some sort of processed food that still winds up costing you more.

22. DO use Coupons Okay, nobody’s perfect. Sometimes you or your family will want to buy things even if they aren’t pure as the driven snow. If you’re going to buy it anyway, having a coupon makes it cheaper. It’s a no-brainer.

23. Get a Store Card These loyalty cards allow shoppers to get extra discounts on items without having to clip coupons. If a store you frequent, even infrequently, offers a card, you should get one.

24. Be Open to Store Brands Most times, but not always, store brands are of equal quality to brand name foods. Sometimes they’re the very same thing. Not always though, so you need to try each one out, and see what you think.

25. Take it back Sometimes it happens. Something you’ve purchased is bad - soured, rotted, moldy, fizz-less, broken or otherwise spoiled. Don’t be afraid to take it back. Food is simply too expensive NOT to get what you paid for. Return bad items for credit or replacement. Most stores will gladly oblige.

26. Shop Several Stores You’ll find that if you are familiar with several different groceries in your area, some will have consistently better bargains on certain items than others, and it’s not just a matter of one store having better prices. We find that one local store always has the best prices on fresh meats, but never the best prices for fruit.

27. Buy Bagged Fruits and Vegetables Bags of onions, potatoes, apples and oranges are often less expensive than the same items offered loose in a bin, although the latter may be larger and arguably more attractive. If you can use them up before they spoil, that is.

28. Don’t Buy Anything in Individual Wrapping This seems so obvious I almost hate to mention it. If you buy anything in individually-wrapped, portion-sized packaging, be it potato chips, cookies, nuts or whatever, you only need to compare what these cost with bulk purchases to see the severe error in your ways. If you need individual portions for the kids’ lunch-boxes, buy reusable containers and fill them yourself.

29. Open Your Mind to a New Cookbook In the typical U.S. diet, a pound of meat serves four because meat is an American luxury, but in Latin or Oriental cooking, a pound of meat will serve eight or ten. Oriental cooking in particular uses meat as an accent, and I think you’ll find, as we do, that you’ll even feel better after a meal that makes heavy use of grains accented by small bits of meat as opposed to a plate covered by a slab of steak or roast. Again, besides saving money, you’re saving your health.

30. Try to Produce Your Own Staples Do you eat lots of bread? If so, a bread machine will quickly pay for itself. Determine the items that your family uses the most, and see if you can’t reduce your purchase to the basic ingredients. Something to consider also if you use lots of ice cream, yogurt, or kefir. Don’t forget snacks, which may make up a large part of your food budget. Popcorn can be produced cheaply in large quantities, and can be flavored with a number of low-cost items. If you’ve never tried it, I suggest a sprinkling of nutritional yeast, which gives a richness reminiscent of butter, but without the cost or calories.

31. Know a Good Deal When You See One Of course you probably can’t remember the price of everything, but most people buy the same food items most of the time, so make it a point to notice and remember what you pay. That way you’ll know when you see it somewhere else for a lower price. This may sound a bit tedious, but it’s actually rather fun when you discover a new bargain.

32. Always Use the Produce Scale Don’t try to guess how much a pound of mushrooms amounts to. Weigh everything before you put it in your cart.

33. Avoid Lavish Displays Cheese is almost always less expensive in the deli than from the tantalizing display of hors d’ourves set in mid-aisle. Don’t be a sucker to marketing.

34. Buy Cold Cuts in the Deli Plastic-packaged cold cuts are usually more expensive, generally a lot more expensive, plus you have less packaging to send to the landfill with deli or meat-market purchases, especially if you buy whole units and slice them yourself at home.

35. Buy Frozen Fresh produce is appealing, but items such as broccoli, green peppers and strawberries are considerably cheaper when purchased from the frozen aisle. Most frozen items still carry the same health benefits. If you can’t get it at a farmer’s market, you’re better off getting many items frozen.

36. Watch the cash register It is estimated that up to $2.5 billion per year is made in scanning errors. That’s a lot of money left on the check-out counter. Supermarkets often put items on sale at prices that don’t always get to the register. Also, checkers can easily make mistakes when making entries. Check your receipt carefully.

37. Leave the Kids at Home Even if you take them with you, you can easily find something your kids will enjoy more than following you around the grocery store trying to think of what new sugar-coated catastrophe to buy. It’s not so much that a box of Puffy Sugar Bombs costs five bucks, but they develop the idea that Puffy Sugar Bombs are food. This is not good for their health, not good for their teeth and not good for your budget. Children are only human, so of course they want to choose a few of the things you buy when you go shopping, and they haven’t yet developed the native resistance to advertising that you have. Drop them at a playground, or maybe the library. Frankly, you’re probably better off leaving your spouse at home too. The more people that go shopping with you, the more you’re likely to spend.

38. Patronize Farmer’s Markets Not only will you save lots of money at farmer’s markets, you’ll get fresher food and benefit your local economy. Buying directly from the grower in-season is also a good way to get food items for storage that you may not be able to grow for yourself.

39. Pack a Lunch Going on at trip, or working outside the home? Try taking food with you instead of stopping along the way to go to a restaurant or convenience store. Again, you’ll eat better for less.

40. Own a Freezer and/or Extra Fridge This is a large expense that you may not be able to afford right away, but well worth the money if you can. Finding a used freezer may be difficult, though, so you may have to buy new. Equally as handy, and probably less expensive than a freezer, is a second or third refrigerator. We’ve inherited two extra fridges from family members who were moving. Since virtually everyone owns a fridge, there are plenty of used ones available. They really expand your ability to stock up.

41. Stock up after Thanksgiving November and December are the best months of the year to save on groceries. There are more coupons issued in these two months than at any other time during the year. The day after Thanksgiving, stores practically give turkeys away – if they have any left. This is when a freezer or extra fridge comes in handy. You’ll find some great bargains both after Thanksgiving and after Christmas. A good time to stock up on bargains.

42. Shop at Larger Stores This may not always be good advice, but the bigger the store, the large the volume, so they can afford to offer better deals than smaller businesses. Beware though, because larger stores also have more sophisticated techniques for getting you to spend more.

43. Know Your Enemy Modern supermarkets, indeed all stores, are designed from top to bottom to make you want to spend. Nothing is left to chance. Popular items like milk tend to be at the back of the store, cheaper items are placed low and high on the shelves and the more profitable/expensive ones are at eye-level. Most stores advertise “loss leaders”, extremely inexpensive staple goods to get you into the store where it’s hoped you’ll fill your cart with normally-priced items. Also expect tinted lights above meat and produce, automatic sprinklers and mouth-watering displays. Remember that the basic foodstuffs are usually located along the outside walls and more processed foods are on the inner aisles.

44. Eat First, Then Shop Never, never, never go into a grocery store hungry or tired.

45. Avoid Items Sold at the Checkout Counter Stores feature single serving pies, cans of soda and other items at the checkout that are usually much more expensive. Relax, you’ll be home soon enough.

More Money-saving Ideas from the Readers of Homestead.org

http://www.homestead.org/ReginaAnneler/PeppersandTomatoes/PeppersandTomatoesinWinter.htm

Growing Tomatoes and Peppers in Winter

by Regina Anneler

Tomatoes and peppers are two of summer’s most-loved foods. However, winter is quickly drawing near, and the garden is dying out, so at this point you might assume that you’ll would have to stop eating these fresh treats, or resort to buying them from a local store, but relax, I have a better solution for you. You don’t have to give up your own fresh vegetables for the winter, all you need to do is set up a small area in your garage, shop or barn and you’ll be able to keep on enjoying these summertime favorites throughout the winter. The cost is small, the work is light, and the freshness of the foods is well worth the effort.

A little ingenuity and a few easy-to-obtain supplies are all that you need in order to grow fresh tomatoes and peppers throughout the year. Everyone knows you can grow flowers year-round – it’s not any less feasible to grow quality produce in the winter months as well. The first decision that you need to make when choosing to grow tomatoes and peppers in the winter is how large of an area can you set aside for this purpose. It’s not a requirement for the building to be heated, so your barn, shop, or garage will work for your winter gardening project. Pick a spot that is easy for you to get to, while making sure that there is electricity available. Then start planning what kind of tomatoes and peppers you want to grow inside when the frost, ice and snow are outside.

The smaller plant varieties of tomatoes are the easiest to grow this way, types like Tiny Tim, Pixie, Small Fry, and Patio work excellent for this particular project. Peppers that work the best are also your smaller varieties, such as cherry and banana peppers. However, with a little more care, the bell pepper also grows well. It is wise to keep some simple growing aids on hand such as Miracle Grow in case the plants need a shot or two to keep them strong. Miracle Grow is optional depending on if you chose an organic-only approach, if you want your tomatoes and peppers to be organic then the general basics required to grow them in the winter are just the standard plant care requirements: light, space, warmth and attention.

At our place we have chosen to grow our winter tomatoes and peppers in the garage. We also have a barn as another option, but there the plants would not only be a little more exposed to the weather, but also to the chickens and other foul that live on our farm. Our past experience has proven that there is nothing that will decimate tomatoes faster than a chicken with an appetite. They can, and will, kill anything by scratching, pecking and eating at it, until there is nothing left at all for the humans to have! As we were unwilling to take this chance with our tomatoes and peppers this year, we chose the garage as our winter gardening area.

To get started with your winter project you will need to decide if you want your plants to be grown in pots, a trench row, or in some cases, you might even have an earthen floor to in which to grow. If you choose trench rows you will need boards or some other type of material to build a retaining wall to contain the soil and therefore should consider this when figuring the costs. In our case we chose pots, or in all actuality buckets – a feasible option for many of you who don’t have spare buckets lying around and don’t want to go to the trouble of buying pots!

A lot will also depend on whether you grow the plants from seed or start with live plants. We dug up our summer tomato and pepper plants and transplanted them into our extra feed buckets.

Next, we moved them into the garage where electricity is easily available. Please note that if you transplant plants from your summer garden into containers it is best to loosen the outside soil from around the roots of the plants before potting them. If you do not do this, the dirt might become too compacted within the pot and cause the plants to weaken or die. If you are transplanting them, keep in mind that the plants may wither a little and possibly loose a few leaves. This is normal because they will be a little shocked from the transplant experience. They should recover without any problems, however.

Ideally, you should provide a framework made from wood or metal construction and set up as a cold frame to hold plastic sheeting around the plants to maintain heat. In our case I am not sure if that was too much work for us at the time or if it was just our plain laziness showing itself, but we used the summer lawn tools as our framework. We set the plants close to the work bench and placed the weed power mower near by and used that for the framework. It works relatively well and also provides a good brace to which we attached our lamp.

Material requirements will vary depending on if you wish to build a framework for the plastic sheeting - if so, 2x4 lumber would definitely be more economical to purchase than, say, metal pipe would be. However, another good idea for cold frames would be to check with stores in your area that might be disregarding used display racks and shelves for winter. Often they will give these away if you just agree to haul them off. These make excellent cold frames for attaching the plastic sheeting and provide good-sized space for the plants under the covered area.

The other must-haves for this project are all low-cost and easy to find at your nearest hardware supply store. Plastic sheeting, depending on the size and mil, ranges in cost between $5-$50. Lighting, a requirement for providing heat to the plants as well as aiding their growth can be provided in the form of a grow light – again, a relatively inexpensive option, as a small one is approximately $15.00. If you prefer to use an old-fashioned heat lamp with an infrared bulb in place of the grow light you will spend about $10-$12 depending on the brand and store where you buy it. Once you have all of your materials collected, you are ready to begin setting up for your winter crop.

How you set up your winter project will depend a lot, again, on whether you are starting from seeds or are using older plants. If you do not already have the plants then chances are that you will have trouble finding them at this time of year and you may not have any choice but to start from seed.

If you choose to, or must start your plants from seeds, then you will need to add a seed tray and mix to your shopping list. This ranges from $5-$15 and is key to a good start for the plants. Start the seeds in these kits in the house and once they are growing well, transplant them to your chosen growing area for the winter. If you want to practice a more frugal way of supplying seed kits then try using old salad take-out containers. These are the clear plastic trays that you often get salads or sandwiches to go in from your favorite restaurants and stores. Add potting soil and a little Miracle Grow – if you are unconcerned about being organic – and you have made your very own seed starter kit.

Once the seedlings have reached about 3 inches in height, they are ready to be moved and potted into their individual pots. You will need to prepare the soil and have your growing spot picked out for the cold frame. It is important to note that pepper plants are much harder to germinate and therefore more difficult to grow from seeds than are the tomato plants. Most often gardeners find it simpler to start their peppers from young seedlings or transplants.

Soil preparation for your winter crop is simple: dirt with just a little fertilizer added to help your tomatoes and peppers grow strong and healthy. If you have chickens or rabbits then you already have access to free, natural fertilizer. If you use poultry manure for fertilizer, you need to be certain that it is thoroughly dry before adding it to the soil, as chicken manure is extremely hot and must cure before being used on plants. If it is not cured beforehand, it will burn the plants up before they ever get the chance to grow. Rabbit manure, on the other hand, can be used at anytime without detriment to plants or soil. Rabbit manure is one of the best natural fertilizers for plants, and the great benefit of it is that it is totally organic. As the plants grow, continue to maintain the soil in the pots with your chosen fertilizer and be sure to keep the soil moist - especially for the tomatoes. Peppers on the other hand need a bit drier soil.

Pick a spot that has natural lighting as well as a spot for placing your artificial lighting. You will need to mist your plants occasionally with water and keep them away from drafts. This ensures that your winter crops have the best chance for winter production. Tomatoes and pepper plants will need either natural light through a window or the aforementioned lamps to make sure that the plants do not become weak or leggy. Tomatoes require at least 12 hours of light a day to produce and do well. Make sure to turn your potted plants often where all sides of the plant will be exposed to the light at least some of the time.

If you are working with tomato plants that are new and have not yet produced, you might need to help with their pollination during the winter months. Outside in the summer the bees and bugs help with this, but in winter the job is left to the grower. When you see blossoms start appear on the plants, you need to move the flowers over other branches and mildly shake the plant. It is also a feasible alternative to blow a small fan over the blossoms to help with pollination. Either way, these actions will help to make sure that pollination occurs. You won’t really need to worry about this on peppers, since they are self-pollinating and will take care of themselves.

You may wish to build more than one cold frame and separate your tomatoes and peppers, because pepper plants generally require a warmer temperature than do tomatoes. Separating them would allow you to maintain a higher temperature in the pepper frame than in the tomatoes’ frame. However, they can both be managed well enough together if you are confined on space and supplies. Two different cold frames will double your cost and space allowance, but might allow for better management of your winter crop. Ultimately, you will have to decide which way is best for you and plan your crop from that perspective.

Now you have all the information that you need to plan your budget, choose supplies, and select the types of plants that will best fit your situation. You will be able to experience the taste of produce you would otherwise be unable to have during the winter. It is a great feeling to know that while there may be frost outside on the ground, there is homegrown freshness waiting at your table. A little care and planning can go a long way in providing summer freshness in the winter.

http://cookbook.homestead.org/print.php?id=2

OATMEAL CAKE TOPPING
Recipe Number: 2
Contributor: NA
Serves: NA
Calories Per Serving: NA
Preparation Time: NA
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons butter
1/4 cup cream or milk (Half & Half is good)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Cooking Instructions:
Cook for 3 or 4 minutes: brown sugar, butter, cream or milk and vanilla. Add coconut and nuts to mixture and beat. Spread on cake while HOT.
Additional Comments:
This is the topping for the OATMEAL CAKE recipe in the cake section or for any German Chocolate cake.

http://cookbook.homestead.org/print.php?id=1217119337

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Taco Meat
Recipe Number: 1217119337
Contributor: Wings
Serves: 4-6
Calories Per Serving: NA
Preparation Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
1 cup dry uncooked lentils
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 pack fajita or taco seasoning
2 T. vege oil
2 eggs
Cooking Instructions:
Sort and rinse lentils. Put in a pot of water and boil for 30 minutes. Drain. Add onions, taco seasoning, oil, and eggs to lentils. Mix well. Cook over medium to medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Top with your favorite taco toppings.
Additional Comments:
The lentils have a nice meaty flavor, and make a good substitute for hamburger meat.

http://www.december.com/simple/live/

Live simple

by John December.

Radical tactics to reduce the clutter, complexity, and costs of your life.

[Looks interesting, on-line E-book.]

http://www.homesteadharvest.com/index.html

Now You Can Download This FREE Handy Guide Right to Your Computer...

The Beginner’s Guide to Preserving
73 pages of step-by-step instruction, benefits, history,
frequently asked questions and over 40 recipes.

* Canning
* Drying
* Freezing
* Pickling
* Juicing
* Milling
* Fermenting

“A remarkable find...”
- Dorothea Helms
There’s No Place Like Home Magazine

Download Now [Link]

http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/life/the-many-uses-of-soy-6544.html

The Many Uses of Soy
Soy, the good, the bad, and the ugly
By Michael Bloch
Greenlivingtips.com Nov 4, 2008
Print
Related articles: Life > Slice of Life

Soybeans grows in a flood-damaged field August 12, 2008 near Roscoe, Illinois. Despite farmers experiencing the worst flooding in 15 years in the Midwest, the nation’s soybean harvest is expected to be the fourth largest in history and corn the second lar (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
When I was growing up, soy was something that was pretty much confined to our Chinese take-out-foods or something that hippies and health nuts crowed about it.

The humble soybean now plays a role in so much of our lives, and while it is certainly a wonderful plant, our reliance upon it and exploitation of the land suitable for cultivating the crop has also presented some major challenges.

Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly about the soybean.
The Good

Soybeans are an amazingly versatile crop, providing oil, carbohydrates, and protein. The protein content is about 40 percent, oil approximately 20 percent, and 35 percent of a soybean is carbohydrate.

Soybeans can grow in a wide range of soil, and as they are legumes, can help restore nitrogen levels to nitrogen-depleted earth.

The soy bean has many uses: It is a food in its own right, a replacement for meat (tofu, for example) and dairy (soy milk, cheese, and ice cream), a biofuel, stock feed, candles, soaps, cooking oil, flour, butter (like peanut butter), chips, cosmetics, resins, plastics, inks, clothing, and vodka.

During my days as a baker, I used soy flour instead of gluten to give the bread more strength, as we had many customers with gluten allergies. If you look on the ingredients listing of many processed food products these days, you’ll likely see soya flour or oil listed.

Even for us omnivores, a meal or two of soy-based meat replacements can go some way to reducing the impact of meat consumption on the environment. Given that soy products such as tofu absorb the flavors of what they are cooked with, even a partial substitution is a good way to go if you simply cannot give up meat altogether. The same goes for dairy products.

Candles are often made from petroleum, or crude oil, as are cosmetics, plastics, and resins—so soy offers (to a degree) an earth-friendly alternative.

With so many uses, you’d think that we could just about live on soy alone, but there are some issues you need to know about before you start making radical changes in your diet and general consumption habits by replacing traditional products with soy.
The Bad

While any well-educated vegetarian or vegan will tell you that soy contains many health benefits, it is not the be-all and end-all replacement for meat and dairy. For example, it’s not high in calcium or iron, two critical elements of good health, so these nutrients need to be garnered from other products. Many manufacturers of soy dairy replacements fortify their products with calcium to address this issue.

Soy also contains appreciable levels of phytoestrogens—plant hormones. There’s a great deal of controversy as to whether a diet high in soy contributes to lowered libido and other issues with men and to increased breast tumor growth rates in women with a high risk of breast cancer. Soy formula for infants is thought by some to increase the risk of autoimmune disorders of the thyroid gland.

Soya flour has also been shown to cause cancer in rats, but no equivalent human studies have been done.

Back in 2000, a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition stated that the brains of elderly people who ate tofu at least twice a week for several decades were aging faster than normal.

I’m not any sort of expert on diet, but it seems to me that just about everything is linked to cancer or some sort of malady these days and it’s really more a matter of “all things in moderation,” and some of the above could be due to a lack of something else that was replaced by soy or perhaps how the crop was grown, that is, with pesticides.

If you are considering switching to a soy-rich diet, exercise due diligence and research thoroughly.
The Ugly

Probably one of the most disturbing issues of the burgeoning soy industry is the destruction of the Amazon forest and clearing in other countries as well.

Vast swaths, tens of thousands of square kilometers, of this incredibly important resource are being cleared in order to grow soybeans—primarily for livestock feed.

Soy has another link with livestock: In the Amazon, cattle ranches are being replaced by soy farms as farmers buy or rent land from the ranchers. The cattle farmers then push on deeper into the Amazon forest. For those of us who eat meat, the environmental impact of our diets produces a double whammy.

The lucrative soy market has also seen agribusiness sinking its claws in for control over the crop. Soybeans are a popular biotech food crop, meaning that it’s increasingly being genetically modified (GM).

The biotech companies actually own these variants and no one can use them without their approval. The danger in this—aside from the unknown long-term health and environmental effects of GM crops, and in addition to the legal ramifications of GM crops infecting non-GM crops—is that big business is increasingly controlling our food and the future of our food. For example, in the case of soybeans, Monsanto has a 25 percent global market share.

The use of soy as a biofuel is another thorny matter. It’s my opinion that food as fuel on an industrial scale is just wrong on so many levels—environmental and humanitarian. It takes an incredible amount of land and feedstock just to make enough fuel to fill up a car.

Additionally, food prices are rising around the world due in part to the demand for biofuels. There are better alternatives, and I hope that governments wake up to the fact that food as fuel is going to cause as many problems as crude oil has.

Like anything else we buy these days, just because something is made from soy, doesn’t mean that soy has been grown sustainably. Exercise caution when buying soy products. After all, if you’re choosing soy for environmental reasons, it would be terrible for you to discover that a rainforest was recently destroyed in order to make your “earth-friendly” alternative.

Green Living Tips is an online resource offering a wide variety of earth-friendly tips, green guides, advice, and environment-related news to help consumers and businesses reduce costs, consumption, and environmental impact.
Last Updated
Nov 4, 2008

http://www.howtogrowstuff.com/featured/how-to-grow-mint/

How to Grow Mint

Mint is a beautiful herb that has one of the most recognizable aromas. A perennial that grows in nearly any condition, mint can be used nearly anywhere for both gardening and landscape purposes. There is a variety to fit every situation, so don’t hesitate to add this beautiful gem to your herb garden today!
Before You Plant Mint

Choose the Right Type of Mint:

* Spearmint and peppermint are the most popular types of mint. If you like chocolate, then mint chocolate may be the plant for you.
* There around 3,500 varieties of mint, so there truly is a taste for every palette.

Find a Suitable Place:

* Mint thrives in plenty of sunlight. However, it does not like dry conditions, making partial shade a necessity. An ideal location would be facing a north wall.
* While tolerant of most growing situations, optimum soil and placement will yield the best results.
* Choose a moist, well-drained location.

Prepare the Soil:

* The best soil for mint is well-dug, fertile and well-drained. Water-logged soil will yield a less beautiful plant.
* These preparations make the best growing conditions, but mint will thrive in almost any soil.

Planting/Growing Mint
What You Will Need:

* Mint seeds or plants
* Prepared soil
* Bottomless bucket
* Black plastic pierced with small holes

How to Plant Mint:

1. Mint seeds can be started indoors and transplanted into the garden, or seeds can be sown directly into the soil in the spring.
2. Mint has crawling roots that can overtake your garden and kill other plants. To keep this under control, begin by digging a hole large enough for the bottomless bucket (simply a bucket with the bottom cut out). Place the bottomless bucket in the hole and fill in dirt all around. It should be close enough to the surface that the roots will grow down inside, but deep enough that it cannot be seen.
3. Another option for rows is to dig down approximately 1 foot and line the row with black plastic. Fill in with the removed dirt and plant the seeds according to instructions on the packet.
4. Place the plants into the prepared area when planting. As the plant grows the bucket/plastic will help to contain the roots as much as possible.
5. Place seedlings about 1 foot apart or thin seedlings once the seeds have sprouted.
6. Water occasionally until the plant is thriving, after which you will only water during extended droughts.
7. Fertilization is usually unnecessary, unless the soil is unusually poor.
8. Growing mint in containers is equally as easy, and potting compost is sufficient. Water only when dry and feed once a month during the growing season.
9. Containers also allow the plants to be brought indoors for the frost and cold to enjoy mint all year long!

Harvesting Mint
What You Will Need:

* Garden clippers or scissors

Steps for Care and Maintenance:

1. Remove leaves as needed for harvesting. The leaves are most flavorful when the spikes are in full bloom.
2. Removing leaves from the top of the plant will encourage new growth further down the stem.
3. Only remove what you need, but never remove all of the leaves from the plant.
4. Leaves can generally be harvested for 6 months out of the year when grown outside, or year-round when grown indoors in containers.

Additional Tips and Advice

* The main problem with mint plants is rust (orange spots often on the underside of the leaves). Be diligent in getting rid of rust quickly as this can easily kill all of your mint plants.
* Mint leaves can be dried, but it often results in a lack of flavor.
* Mint can be used to relieve upset stomachs and headaches.

http://www.howtogrowstuff.com/edibles/herbs/how-to-grow-ginger/

[LucyT, check the photo, they caught 2 ginger roots talking to each other....LOL, looks like animals to me...granny]

How to Grow Ginger

Ginger is popular in American food, but it’s practically a staple in Asian cuisine. Not only is it easy to grow and delicious in recipes, but studies show that ginger packs powerful health benefits. Although it is a tropical plant, it will adapt easily to indoor and container planting, making it possible for anyone to enjoy fresh ginger throughout much of the year. Here’s what you need to know to bring this favorite into your own kitchen.
Before You Plant

Choose the Right Type of Ginger:

* For practical purposes, ginger is most often home-grown from tubers. Your local grocery store is the best place to find ginger root to propagate.
* The most popular kind of ginger is basic ginger root (Zingiber officinale). It is commonly used in America for cookies, breads, and Ginger ales, while Asian recipes include ginger in savory dishes.
* Choose a tuber that looks healthy and plump. It should be firm with several fingers or growing buds. Avoid dry or damaged pieces.
* Not all gingers are considered edible – some types are instead prized for the plants and flowers.

Find a Suitable Place:

* Plan to grow ginger indoors unless you live in the extreme southern portions of the U.S. or in one of the desert states. Growers in zone 10 or higher will have the most success outdoors.
* Provide your ginger with a generous amount of room. Containers should be fully twice the size of the tuber. To plant more than one tuber in a single container, get one that is 14”-16” in diameter and 12” deep.
* Outdoors, choose a spot with light shade and well-drained soil.
* Protect plants from high winds.

Prepare the soil:

* Mix organic material or prepared compost into soil to fill the container (or amend garden soil in the same manner).
* Ginger will grow quite well in commercially prepared potting soil.

Planting/Growing Ginger
What You Will Need:

* Ginger root
* Prepared soil

How to Plant Ginger:

1. Ginger should not be placed outdoors until daytime temperatures exceed 75 degrees.
2. Soak tubers overnight in water before planting.
3. Fill containers with prepared soil, or loosen the dirt in your garden location.
4. Place ginger in the soil with the buds facing up.
5. Cover with a very thin layer of soil. (Some growers suggest leaving it uncovered).
6. Water lightly until the plant becomes established.

Harvesting/Pruning Ginger

Ginger requires very little maintenance. Here’s what you need to do.
What You Will Need:

* Garden clippers or scissors
* Small garden trowel

Steps for Care and Maintenance:

1. Younger ginger plants should remain in the shade.
2. Water regularly to maintain moist (not wet) soil.
3. Once the plant matures, clip tender new shoots for cooking at any time.
4. To harvest ginger root, dig up new tubers that appear at the base of the plant.
5. Move plants indoors when outdoor temperatures dip below 50 degrees.
6. Ginger is dormant during the winter months. Allow the plant to dry during this time.

Additional Tips and Advice

* Roots reach their optimum flavor at 265 days.
* To store ginger, wash (don’t peel) tubers before placing them in a bag and freezing them. Remove ginger from the freezer and use a vegetable peeler to pare off portions as you need them.
* Plants will mature in about ten months, reaching heights of 2’-4’.

http://financialtales.com/financial-tales/retirement-advice/a-tale-of-anarchy/

A Tale of Anarchy

(The Mathematics of Recovery)

I use the word anarchy to describe the mathematics of recovery. Anarchy refers to political disorder but you can think of it as portfolio disorder. It is imperative that investors understand the mathematics of recovery. If you don’t you run the risk of outliving your assets. So what is it? The answer is simple. The mathematics of recovery tells us what percentage rate of return we must earn in order to recover our investment after a given percentage loss. It’s not as important to those that are still working, saving and investing as it is to those that are retired.

Let me ask a simple question and please answer before you read any further. If you lose 10.00% on an investment what rate of return must you make in order to get your money back? Is it 8.25%, 10.00%, 11.11% or 15.00%? Most people answer 10%. It’s the wrong answer however. If you answered anything other than 11.11% then you need to read and understand this tale.

Let’s look at the following table to understand the mathematics of recovery. Once again it is crucial for your investment decision-making when you have a finite amount of money that must last indefinitely. This is important for retirees.

continues, interesting reading on the financial world.....

http://www.economicdepressionsurvival.com/

How to Survive An Economic Depression
Don’t wait for Congress!

[Hints and thoughts on surviving]

Cubans hope urban gardens will solve food shortages caused by hurricane damage.
In the face of its greatest food shortage since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet
Union, Cuba has fallen back on urban agriculture, which helped provide relief in
the 1990’s during the Caribbean island’s “special period”.
The destruction of roughly 30 percent of the communist island’s food after devastating
hurricanes has put the spotlight back on a practice borne out of necessity during
communist Cuba’s most desperate hour.

Fall Leaves - Our Business at City Farmer
Compost making is what we do at the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden in Vancouver,
and it can’t be stressed enough, that fall leaves are the secret to making good
compost at home. Collect enough leaves in bags NOW to last you through the next
12 months. Every time you add food scraps, grass clippings or plant waste to your
bin, throw in a few handfuls of leaves. In that way you will have a good carbon/nitrogen
ratio and you will get fine compost in 6-8 months.

Does My City Allow Me to Raise Chickens?
Video by Chad Kimball. Raising Chickens In The City - Chicago Police Say NO. “Is
it legal to keep chickens in the city of Chicago? Listen to conflicting information
I receive from the police, the city clerk, and the legal department.

1945 Film - Children grow flowers and keep rabbits at London blitz site
29 Oct 1945, London
Film newsreel shows children growing vegetables and raising livestock in the rubble
of bombed-out buildings in London just after World War 2.

Philippines - Residents in poor areas in Manila plant vegetables in their backyards
to save on food expenses
For green thumbs living in Manila, urban farming is the answer to soaring food prices.
It may seem impossible to grow lettuce and eggplant in a crowded, humid environment,
but city living has not stopped farmers like Bernabe Atenta from cultivating greens.
He and his wife Virgie literally pick out their lunch from their backyard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All stories here.
City Farmer News [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001eGFCXls-uJtnEaxoqYgA2YJAv6ZWoYXpxv_vyaUV7FsfgymcQYny60pjGtDtmRMCtzilOHj5ApQgo4XGxo85VskbHgOjVJeACCRcVtsCg-kJkV5FsV1dtw==]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael Levenston
City Farmer - Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture

Mornin’ granny!

Thanks for the pings. Haven’t been able to get on all week. What’s up with that? Oh, well. :)

Mom just called—baby sister’s water broke last night and she’s at the hosp. Can’t wait! BIG GRIN!

Granny’s Veggie Bread
Recipe Number: 1201026563
Contributor: Granny G.
Serves: NA
Calories Per Serving: NA
Preparation Time: NA
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
3 cans biscuits, cut into 1/4ths
1 onion or green onions (I used both)
1 diced bell pepper
1 1/2 sticks melted REAL butter
1/2 pound cooked bacon (I used a pound)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I use Cheddar)
Cooking Instructions:
Saute onions and pepper in butter. Add cooked bacon.

layer biscuits in a bundt pan with onions, pepper, bacon,

cheese. I made 3 layers. Topped with Cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees. I baked mine for 25 minutes, turned

it upside down, let it cool, and put it on a plate. Luscious!

http://cookbook.homestead.org/print.php?id=1201026563

Radiofish’s Aunt’s Raisin Walnut Bread
Recipe Number: 1200888792
Contributor: radiofish
Serves: NA
Calories Per Serving: NA
Preparation Time: NA
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
3/4 cup raisins
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast - I use bulk yeast at home.. Packaged at Dad’s...
2 cups lukewarm water (105 deg. to 115 deg.) where you can put your wrist under the running water without burning yourself..
2 Tbs. honey
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups white flour
2 tsp. salt

1 cup walnut halves, coarsely chopped
Cooking Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl (stainless steel or ceramic), stir together the honey and 1/2 cup of the lukewarm water. Add the yeast and stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, roughly 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water.

Add all of the whole wheat flour, add 1 1/2 cups of the white flour and salt. Stir by hand until well combined. Add enough of remaining white flour until the dough leaves sides of bowl without sticking.

Sprinkle flour on a flat dry surface. Turn dough onto the surface and knead by hand for 5 to 10 minutes, adding more flour if necessary, until dough is smooth and elastic. Don’t make the dough too dry.

Lightly oil a large mixing bowl. Place dough in bowl and turn to coat. Cover with damp cloth and set aside in warm place to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Place a piece of parchment paper on a large baking sheet.

Punch dough down and turn on to floured surface. Then knead the raisins and walnuts into the dough. Shape (round, long, square, we do the long loaves) into 1 large loaf and place on prepared baking sheet. Cover with damp cloth and let rise until almost doubled in size, about 30 to 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Using a clean spray bottle - spray loaf lightly with water. With a knife, make a slash on the top of the loaf. Sprinkle lightly with flour. Bake initally for 15 minutes at 425 F. Then reduce the oven temperature to 375 F and bake for another 30 minutes or until nicely browned. Cool on rack before slicing.

Stand Back while the family starts slicing, usually 12 slices per loaf..

http://cookbook.homestead.org/print.php?id=1200888792

Granny’s Squash Patties
Recipe Number: 1200857593
Contributor: Granny G.
Serves: NA
Calories Per Serving: NA
Preparation Time: NA
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
1 egg, beaten
1 TBSP sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
2 TBSP milk
2 TBSP finely chopped onion
1 to 2 cups grated raw yellow summer squash
1/2 to 1 cup self-rising flour
Cooking Instructions:
Combine all ingredients, mix well.Drop mixture by tablespoons

into skillet with 1/8 to 1/4 inch hot oil. Fry to golden brown

and turn. Drain on paper towels when done.

http://cookbook.homestead.org/print.php?id=1200857593

Etna’s Chocolate Pudding Dessert
Recipe Number: 1200925304
Contributor: Granny G.
Serves: NA
Calories Per Serving: NA
Preparation Time: NA
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
4 TBSP flour
4 TBSP cocoa ( more if you want it chocolatier)
dash salt
Mix together
Beat 2 eggs
Cooking Instructions:
Mix with 4 cups milk. Mix well.

Microwave on High for 3 minutes. stir,Microwave another 3 minutes

and stir. May take another 2 minutes to really thicken in the microwave.

Take out and add 1/3 stick of margerine and 1 teaspoon vanilla

Let cool and set in the refrigerator.

Next step:

Put a layer of vanilla wafers in the bottom of a pretty bowl.

Add layer of pudding, layer of wafers, ending with a layer

of pudding. Cover the top with Cool Whip and set in the

refrig until ready to serve. Luscious !!

http://cookbook.homestead.org/print.php?id=1200925304

EMPANADILLAS WITH CUBAN PICADILLO
Recipe Number: 37
Contributor: NA
Serves: 4
Calories Per Serving: NA
Preparation Time: NA
Difficulty: Average
Ingredients:
PASTRY:
3 cups unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
3/4 cup cold water
1 tablespoon lemon juice OR vinegar
2 egg yolks FILLING:
2 tablespoons annatto oil
1 pound beef chuck — cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Freshly grated black pepper
Cayenne to taste
1 cup finely chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 jalapeno chile, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup raisins
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
l cup pimiento-stuffed green olives, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk, cream or water
Cooking Instructions:
PASTRY: Combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening. Combine water with lemon juice (or vinegar) and yolks and mix well. Add to flour and, with your hands, form into a ball and chill for 30 minutes. Cut ball in half and roll into large, thin 16 x 20-inch rectangle. Cut into 4 x 4 inch squares and chill until filling is ready.

FILLING: Heat oil in large skillet and brown beef well, 1/3 at a time. Add salt, pepper and cayenne to taste and remove from pan. Saute onions, garlic, pepper and chile until soft. Return meat and any juices to pan.

Add tomatoes, raisins, and vinegar. Cook until meat is very tender, 30 to 45 minutes. Stir in olives and cook for another 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

ASSEMBLY: Place 2 to 3 tablespoons of filling in pastry squares. Fold over and seal. Trim any excess pastry but keep triangle shape. Mix egg and milk (or cream or water) for an egg wash and brush it onto the turnovers. Place on greased cookie sheets.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 15 minutes until golden.
Serving Suggestions:
Serve warm or at room temperature.

http://cookbook.homestead.org/print.php?id=37

GUATEMALAN MARINATED TOMATOES
Recipe Number: 86
Contributor: NA
Serves: 6
Calories Per Serving: 170
Preparation Time: NA
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
4 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds; coarsely cracked
12 small Red ripe tomatoes, peeled
1 head romaine lettuce; cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips
1 cup fresh cilantro sprigs
Cooking Instructions:
In deep bowl, whisk together vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, ketchup, water, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, olive oil and coriander seeds. Prick each tomato with a fork in 3 or 4 places. Submerge tomatoes in the vinaigrette and marinate overnight in refrigerator.

To serve, layer half the lettuce, cilantro and drained tomatoes in a serving bowl, then repeat layers.

http://cookbook.homestead.org/print.php?id=86