Hopeful Housewife

Amazing how one event can send your whole life into a tizzy.

Our sweet puggy Jack (the one photographed a few posts back) died a week ago yesterday and I am just now starting to get back on track. I cannot even begin to explain how attached we all were to him, and how hard it has been.

One look at my house, though, will tell you how rough it has been.

I decided yesterday that it was time to get it back in order but was definitely awakened to the fact that this will take longer than a day of motivation. I am so overwhelmed and at that point where I kind of want to just light a match.

Kind of.

Being that torching the joint isnt an option, I have to perservere. One room at a time, as energy allows. It is also like 100 degrees outside, which makes me incredibly lazy. I honestly just want to lay down and sleep all day.

But I wont. I will keep moving until it is done. One load of laundry, load of dishes, toilet scrubbing, and cobweb sweeping at a time. When I lose motivation, I go back to something I have finished and remind myself that it not only can be done, but that it makes me feel so get when it is completed.

Have you ever found yourself drowning in housework? How do you motivate yourself?

I assigned each comment a number, then used a “number from a hat” type method to choose our winner. Gavin chose the lucky winner…

 Barbara P.!

Her comment,

“My favorite cookbook is Cooking from the Farmer’s Market - There are wonderful recipes for cooking vegetables inside this book.
Thanks, GREAT giveaway!!!” was the comment pulled by Gavin today

Barbara P., I will mail your package out to you as soon as I have your mailing info. I am emailing you right now and will look forward to getting your cookbooks and special prize out to you.

 Thanks for playing, all! More contests to come.

HH

Contest winner will be announced today. Sorry I am a day late. We lost one of our precious pugs on Monday and my week has been moving in slow motion.

I will get the winner up and contacted today in just a bit!!!!

HH

Ok, maybe not a *miracle* but pretty close.

I go through a TON of Mason Jars. I never seem to have enough of them, in fact.

I have a feeling that wont be a problem for a while now.

A few weeks ago I went down to my favorite thrift store in “town”. I dont get to go very often anymore but the hubs and I had a few minutes while we were “down the hill” (as us mountain folks say) and we stopped in for a peek. I was looking for mason jars, but only found two. I know the manager of the store because of my frequent shopping there when we lived in town so I stopped to chat with her a bit. I told her I was looking for Mason jars and she asked for our number so she could call me when some came in.

Well, some came in.

And by some, I mean more than some.

She said she had a trashcan full, and some boxes.

I forgot to take pics of the trashcan…but it was a huge, outdoor rubbermaid style trash can FULL of 1/2 gallon jars. all of these plus a dishwasher load full of more.

Then we have these:

and two more boxes worth that I had already moved to the dishwasher:

I have already washed about 80 jars and haven’t even touched the ones on the floor yet.

I am on my 2nd dishwashing cycle of the day, and I suspect I have about 3 or 4 more to go. I really think I have close to 200 jars.

I paid $10.00 for all of them.

Neighbor Extraordinaire (thats her official title) just spent like an hour and a half helping me wash and put away. We hardly put a dent in it. I have no idea where I am going to put them all, but I SO dont care. I will figure it out.

In the meantime, I am going to keep on washin’.

Happy Monday All!

Quirky cookbook giveaway wraps up Wednesday! Get your comments in and spread the word.  Go here to participate!

Winner will also get a surprise “extra” in their package!

 -HH

a warm puppy.

With that, I will begin my shameless blog devoted strictly to my pugs. They are the best buddies ever.

Jack inspired this post when he decided we had been doing school long enough.

He eventually moved back to his corner…

Where Cornelia (aka the worlds tiniest pug) was also resting…

Dixie (the un-pug) was outside barking.

and Miss ‘Nelia finally decided she’d had enough. She retired to my bedroom and shot me a dirty look as I snapped her teeny tiny picture.

I realize that this post could only be about homemaking if I mentioned the extreme amount of dog hair that pugs create, but I will spare you.

Instead, let’s stick with the connection between homemaking and being happy. Because really, that’s what they make me.

Went through my cookbook cabinet today and pulled a few gems out for ya’ll. Thought I would do a giveaway contest. Winner gets every book in the bunch! You MUST have quirky cookbooks. They are so fun to read.

Up for grabs is:

Sunset Fresh Ways With Chicken (so many odd pictures in this one.)

Step By Step Microwave Cooking With Kids (Oh My GOSH…hilarious.)

Cooking For Kids “Winning Recipes” (hot dog shaped like an octopus anyone?)

Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (This is the original printing in a new book. Kinda fun. I use my old grease splattered one more.)

In the Kitchen The Costco Way (Fun, fresh recipes in this one, really. Nothing quirky about it, now that I think about it…but a great book.)

Justin Wilson’s Cook Book. (Written in a cajun accent. SO FUN to read.)

Just look at this guy. You have to have this in your kitchen. The candles on his table alone are worth owning the book.

And last but not least, the little one on the bottom that is made with a typewriter and bound together with ribbon. I think its called The Cookie Jar. It has a great recipe called “aggression cookies”. I have two, otherwise I wouldn’t surrender it.

How to play:

Comment this post answering this question:

“My favorite cookbook is________________ because_____________________”

Winner will be selected randomly, not based on the answer. I will run this contest for a week. Contest closes Wednesday June 13, 2012 at noon.  Winner will be announced next Wednesday afternoon.

 Have fun!

It is no secret that beans are a cheap, healthy food. It is also no secret that dry beans are even cheaper than the canned ones…and not lined with BPA laden plastic, which is nice.

I haven’t bought beans in over 3 months. Why? You ask? Because of our community food system.

By system I mean, someone keeps leaving beans here:

Right on top of the mailboxes at the corner. I leave them there for a bit to see if anyone else wants em’, and then I snatch em’ up. Yep, I’m shameless.

If you are not fortunate enough to have beans magically appear in your neighborhood, have no fear. They are CHEAP. Like .50 cents a pound cheap if you shop right. Sometimes even cheaper. If you see them cheap, buy them up. They last a long time.

Speaking of long time, they also take a really long time to cook. Therefore, if you are going to take the time to cook them, you (I) usually want to make it worth it by making an entire pot. Then you (I) typically find that people get sick of them and you are left with a bunch o’ beans with no where to go. It’s a sad, sad life the unwanted bean has.

Save the trouble. Can a large batch and have a quart ready to go whenever you wish.

But only if you have a pressure canner. If you don’t, you may have to deal with orphaned beans.

If you have a pressure canner, it is a simple job:

Soak beans in cold water for 12-18 hours. Really. Do it. Dont skip this.

Drain the beans, rinse once more, then add to a large pot. Cover with water (maybe about 2-3 inches over the beans) and bring to a boil. Keep them boiling hard for 30 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure they aren’t sticking and therefore burning. Burnt beans are gross and have no purpose whatsoever.

While beans are boiling, wash your quart size jars, lids and rings in hot hot hot water. Prepare your canning funnel and other supplies. When beans have boiled for 30 minutes, start packin’. Yes, the beans are uncooked still. That’s a good thing. The pressure canning will finish the cooking process without turning them to mush. Pack the beans without liquid at first. Leave about two inches of headspace. Add 1 tsp salt, and cover with some of your bean water so that you now have about an inch and a half of headspace. Wipe rims, and cap.

Once all are capped and ready to go, follow the instructions on your canner for pressure canning. Process beans for about 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure. 75 minutes if using pint jars.

Once all are sealed, you are good to go. Stack em on your pantry shelf and admire your abilities.

I think I will post-mark mine.

Vacation=Laundry.

Vacation at the beach=Sandy laundry. And sandy shoes. And sandy EVERYTHING.

I have about 8 loads of laundry to catch up on. I am starting to think its multiplying. I can’t even bear to take a picture for you. It is too embarassing. Ask “S” (neighbor extraordinaire) . Its bad.

Other than laundry though, I am doin’ pretty good on house stuff today.
It is 1:42pm as I type this and so far I have

Made Cinnamon Roasted Almonds:

I know, I know…looks like a bunch of giant cockroaches having a meeting on a cookie sheet. Trust me though, these are amazing. I alter the recipe by using demerara in place of regular sugar. I also used a duck egg white. Why? Because I had one. Well, I have 11, but I only used one.

I also have beans cookin’. When I started typing this, they were soaking…but it seems to take me forever to get a post up.

Just plain ol’ pinto beans. They soaked for about 5 hours and are now cooking up with some onion and salt. I will add some lard in a bit.

Yes, Lard. No apologies either.

I will smash em and fry em later, mix with seasoned ground turkey, and roll into as many burritos as it will make for the freezer. These will be back up lunches when there are no leftovers to choose from and/or send with the hubs to work.

My brewing shelf is busy. Kefir, kombucha and some citrus infused vinegar are all in the works. It is the third batch of kefir with these grains. The first two batches were sooooo terrible. Hoping the third time is a charm!

Rye Bread is cooling on the cutting board right now. Got a pic when they were rising…just after the punch down phase. Now its hot with butter beside me.Here is the YUMMY recipe .

Lunch today was chicken tacos. I used some of the cooked shredded chicken I have in the freezer for these. I heated it in a bit of olive oil, then took a fresh salsa (two tomatoes, two serrano chilies, 1/4 of a yellow onion, some lime juice, salt, and cilantro blended in the food processor until pureed) and tossed it in the pan. Gave it a stir so the chicken was coated and salsa was hot, then served it over corn tortillas with a sprig of cilantro. I had mine with lime flavored mineral water. YUM.

And with that protein packed lunch, I surely have enough energy to tackle the laundry, right?

Maybe “Tomorrow In My Home”.

I am trying really hard to end my cleaning product addiction. It is NOT easy for me. I tend to equate cleanliness with the smell of lemon and jet fuel (aka, spray can wood polishers) so I am trying to rewire my thinking.

My neighbor, “S” came by today to discuss our latest kefir issues (yeah, we really meet up to discuss fermented milk) and while we were chatting I decided I would polish my kitchen cabinetry.

 I juiced a lime, which I had on hand because wonder-hubby did all the shopping after a ten hour work day yesterday,

 measured it (about 1/4 of a cup) and then mixed in an equal amount of olive oil. I put it all in an empty agave nectar bottle that has a spout top-

 gave it a shake, and applied a bit to an old sock on my hand.

Wipe, buff, admire.

“S” liked the results too, and considering her husband is a cabinet maker, I feel good about her observation.

I should have taken a before picture, but I didn’t, so I decided to show you an before and after on the buffet:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Cheap, Easy, and Effective. Oh, and Cabinet maker’s wife approved.