Reflections

So, I've been home for 2 days now from school with the flu  (so much for the flu shot protecting me...) and I'll be gone again tomorrow for dentist appointments.  After the horrific school shooting in Connecticut, I've been thinking.  A lot. 

Mainly, I've been thinking that life is short, which I always try to embrace as a theme in my life, however cliche it is.  But really, it is.  And what I've decided is that I want to be more aware of the way that I spend my time.  I don't want to do things for other people if they aren't fulfilling to me as a person.  That sounds selfish, but really it's not.  I don't want to spend my time doing things that I "think" I should be doing if they aren't nurturing my soul or self in some way. 

So, onto how I want to embrace this.  Here are a few things I've been tossing around in my head for New Year's Resolutions for 2013.  This list will likely be pared down to 3 items next week.

1.  Read more.
2.  Snuggle and play with my kiddos more.
3.  Eat more whole foods and less (much less) sugar and refined, processed crap.
4.  Do more yoga.  I feel the best about myself when I'm regularly practicing yoga.
5.  Get outside more.  Snowshoe.  Ski.  Walk.  Run.  Be. 
6.  Be more intimate with my husband.  Talk to him more.  Listen to him more. 
7.  Sauna once a week at least.  I believe that my recent illnesses are partly due to the fact that my sauna taking schedule has been reduced.  This is not okay.  The benefits of sauna are many. 

So, these are my thoughts right now.  I'm off to eat a grapefruit and then head outside for some fresh air.  Gotta start somewhere. 

Easy Tomato Sauce- (Come on, It's Labor Day...)

We have had an awesome crop of tomatoes this year.  I am seriously overwhelmed by it, though.  We had a Labor day picnic today and my sweet sister helped me pick a bunch of tomatoes, so the whole time in the back of my head I was thinking, "When am I going to get those tomatoes in the freezer in some form so they don't go to waste?" 

I have frozen tomatoes whole before, but I don't love the texture when you go to use them in a soup or sauce later.  They seem too mushy for me.

I've also made a homemade spaghetti sauce and frozen it before, but it required taking the skins off of the tomatoes and then boiling them down.  Too many steps for me this weekend. 

So, I Googled easy tomato sauces, and found one!  I am so excited that Al and I were able to get about 2 dozen tomatoes into a basic tomato sauce form and into the freezer.  I forced him (nicely) to help me and it was so much quicker. 

Here's to a few weeks worth of tomato sauce! 

Link to the recipe:
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maria-rodale/new-and-improved-tomato-s_b_704740.html

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes!

I have to say my favorite crop this year has been our Italian Heirloom tomatoes.  They are so delicious:  juicy, meaty, and versatile.  They're good on sandwiches, in tacos, even for salsa!  I think they'll make great sauce too because of their heartiness. 

I've been eating them like crazy- it's awesome!  One morning I suffered from heartburn and was wondering what it was from, and then it clicked- the 5 tomatoes I'd eaten the night before... But, I think they're worth it:)

We've been fortunate enough to harvest tomatoes earlier this year than others, and they're not all ready at one time so I don't go into panic mode thinking about how to preserve them.  It seems like preservation time always comes when we go back to school-  not this year!  I hope to make spaghetti sauce at least, and maybe freeze some tomatoes whole for soups, etc., later. 

We brought tomatoes to the Carlton County Fair, and wouldn't ya know, that was our only blue ribbon bounty-  I could have guessed that.  I love everything our garden provides us, but for some reason this year, those drippy, seedy, yummy tomatoes have won my heart (and stomach.) 

Off to check the tomatoes!

Cilantro Sweetheart

So, I left this morning for my last week down in the Twin Cities at the Minnesota Writing Project.  I have felt torn this month because I am loving the professional growth opportunities that the MWP has been affording me, but I am missing my family and garden something fierce.

I grew Genovese Basil and Cilantro this summer for the first time.  I LOVE these two herbs.  We can't buy affordable (or good) herbs at the store in Moose Lake, so to leave these two favorites in their prime was a bit saddening to me.  I had hoped to dry some basil in the oven this weekend and throw some cilantro into the freezer, but to no avail. 

Thus, the email message from my husband this lunch hour was absolutely perfect.  The subject line was "Cilantro Preservation," so I thought he also was researching ways we could save this perfectly yummy herb for longer than its few week lifespan. 

 Even better, though,  was his message:  "It's a start,"  followed by this picture:

This message was all I need to make it through another week down in the hustle and bustle at the University.  I can now surely enjoy some more cilantro in a soup or stew at a later date.  So, even if it goes to seed while I am down here finishing up this awesome experience, my sweet hubby preserved some summer for me to savor.  Love that guy. 

Freezer Jam

It was so nice to get home this weekend after a long week in the Twin Cities.  It was hard to be away from Al, the girls, even the garden.

I had planned to do some strawberry picking at Finke's berry farm this summer, and then make freezer jam like Al's mom always does-  it's so yummy.  Unfortunately, Finke's season wasn't very (berry?) productive.  I called there numerous times and either they were picked out, or berries weren't ripening.  Bummer.

Anyway, I had purchased 4 packages of Sure-Jell and wanted to use them.  So I stopped by the grocery store in Sandstone (they had a sale on strawberries!) and bought some berries.  This was an experience in itself. First of all, I was disappointed to be buying strawberries from California, and secondly, many of them were moldy, so I had to hunt around for berries that were even worth the $1.38 sale price.  I finally found some to bring home for our jam.

The girls and I made our jam on Saturday morning- it was a fun little activity to work on together.  We ended up making 6 2-cup portions and froze them for future use.  I was surprised at the sugar to berry ratio while making the jam:  4 cups of sugar to 2 cups of berries- oh boy!  Next time I will buy the lower-sugar pectin. 

My next batch of jam will hopefully come from blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries that have been picked from Minnesota, not California berries that are moldy because they've been shipped hundreds of miles.

But I know our sugary jam will still taste good on some good, thick toast this winter.  And,  it's always good to be at home in our little kitchen making something new-together. 

Laundry Soap Lesson

Before I left last Sunday evening to participate in the Minnesota Writing Project, I had to do a few things around the house.  My husband is very good at sharing most house chores, (although he never cleans the toilet...) but I always do one thing:  I make our laundry soap.

We started making our own soap about a year ago, and I think we'll continue to do so for a while.  Initially, we started doing this as a way to save money; it only costs us about 10 bucks a year for laundry soap, or maybe even less.  I think we used to spend almost that much on one jug of Tide.  Yikes. 

Now, though, it has become something fun to do with the girls.  It makes the house smell good, we get two fresh buckets of cheap, but good, soap, and it's better than detergents from the stores because there are fewer phosphates and chemicals in it.  So it's better for your skin and  for the environment.  It's also something I can do and feel good about getting done in a half an hour.  I have to get it done and there is an end result, so this pleases my OCD startsomethingnow and getitfinishednow trait.  It is rewarding and practical. 

So, here's my recipe:
Ingredients: 
Fels Naptha bar soap, washing soda (not baking soda!), and Borax.
(All of these items can be found in the laundry section at Target or Walmart or the like.) 
*You might choose to add an essential oil; I like the smell of the Fels Naptha.

You will also need:  5 gallon bucket, 2 ice cream pails (or whatever containers you prefer), a cheese grater, a spoon, a large saucepain, and a 1/2 cup measuring cup. I have also marked some lines on an old pitcher that I use to pour my various amounts of water so I know how much I'm pouring.

Directions: 
Grate 1/3 of the bar into a metal saucepan on the stove.  Add 6 cups water and heat until melted.  Add 1/2 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup Borax and stir until dissolved. 


Fels Naptha



Remove from heat.

Add 4 cups hot water into your 5 gallon bucket.  Then, add soap mixture and stir.  Finally, add 1 gallon and 6 cups more water and stir. 

Pour into your containers and let sit for 24 hours.  The soap will be gel-like and/or might have almost an egg drop soup consistency.  (It's not beautiful soap, but it works!)

Use 1/2 cup soap per load of laundry. 

Finished Product

**The Fels Naptha also works as a great pre-treater for stains, and the Borax is an awesome multipurpose cleaner.  I've used it on stains on my carpet and love it, and again, it's natural-Borax is mined from the Earth!