Homemade Pumpkin Pie

What a wonderful time of year for pumpkin! Halloween is just around the corner, and pumpkins are on sale in every store... Our local Publix had their "pie pumpkins" on special last week, so we indulged :)





I made this pie last year, and it was so yummy it called for a repeat performance! Last year I used a regular pie crust, but this year I've paired it with a homemade graham cracker crust- 100% from scratch! Here's a wonderful desert for any holiday dinner:

Homemade Graham Crust:
7-9 Homemade grahams
1/4 c melted butter

Mix and press into an 8" x 11" glass pan

Bake at 350F for 15 minutes.

Pumpkin filling:
1 3/4 c roasted pumpkin (cut in half, discard seeds and bake at 325F for 1 hour on cookie sheet. Scoop out soft parts and discard the skin.)
3/4 c honey
3 eggs
1/2 t each: ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon
1/2 t salt
12 oz milk

Mix everything in a blender until smooth, then pour into prepared crust.

Bake at 325F for about an hour or until center is set.

Enjoy a piece of this pie with plenty of fresh whipped cream- trust me, they are meant for each other!

"Homemade" Egg Comparison

I am so excited... last week, I posted a rant about store-bought eggs. I have been waiting very im-patiently for my RIR hens to lay their first eggs. Just a few days later, my daughter's hen, Panini, gave me what I was waiting for! And, was I impressed! Just look at how a free-range egg compares to one of those store-bought, organic, all-vegetarian-diet eggs!! :


















Honestly, there is no comparison. The organic, store-bought egg had a pretty good shell, and the white was clear, but look at that yolk! As I stated in my rant, the yolk should be more on the orange side of yellow. This chicken was nutritionally deficient, and laid an inferior egg.

















Drum roll, please!... And here is our Panini's free-range egg! Look at the quality yolk. The orange yolk tells us that Panini ate plenty of nice, juicy bugs and any other critters she found in the yard (including a snake!). Once again, chickens are NOT vegetarian. They need a quality, balanced diet to lay quality eggs like this one!



















Wow, have you ever seen scrambled eggs this yellow from a batch of store-bought eggs?? They are also the most delicious eggs I have ever tasted :)

If you can't keep your own chickens, contact a local farmer to get free-range eggs. I found my ex-egg provider on Craig's List! Take a tour of their farm and make sure the chickens are getting access to open areas and not penned up in a dirty coop. If the farmer raises them the right way, he will be more than willing to open his farm for a private tour.

This post shared on Monday Mania

Homemade, Non-Greasy, Bug Repellent

I have gotten so tired of mosquitoes this year! The rainy season has been upon us for months, and I see no end to it in the near future... although the constant buzz of sprayer airplanes is overhead, we are still plagued by mosquitoes every time we open the door! Unfortunately, their favorite place to hide is on our front porch :(

I have attempted to make homemade bug repellent a few times, but it never worked out. I used olive oil as my base every time, and it was messy and sticky! As with some commercial repellents, having sticky, greasy skin while outside is not the ideal situation. Every time I used my homemade olive oil blend, I came back inside with sand, dirt and various other organic material stuck to me in a slimy mess... not any more!

The solution to my dilemma was witch hazel! Witch hazel is a natural astringent, so it is soothing for the skin, non-greasy and quickly absorbed. It also has a very mild scent- kind of like graham crackers :)

For my homemade formula, for every 1/2 cup of witch hazel, I add:

25 drops cedar wood essential oil
15 drops citronella essential oil
10 drops eucalyptus essential oil
10 drops tea tree oil
a drizzle of neem oil (to your discretion, as this really alters the nice, herbal scent. Neem oil tends to smell like a fart.)

Mix everything in a mister bottle and spray liberally on exposed skin before going outside.

Be sure to shake before each use! You'll be amazed at the effectiveness of this homemade herbal bug repellent, and no grease :)

Homemade Compost Tumbler

I wrestled with my five citrus trees last weekend. I have the scrapes to show for it, too! All together we have five citrus trees: a grapefruit, two tangerines and two oranges. I don't think they've been cared for in years, because I had a lot of trimming to do. It wasn't the right time to prune citrus- usually right after it fruits, in late winter is best- but when I get an idea to do something, I do it NOW.

You can see we have some fruit, but I am really uncertain of the quality. For quality citrus, you need quality fertilizer, and they are definitely not getting any of that! So, after picking the last thorn out of my skin I had an idea: why not make my own fertilizer?

We have lived on our 9 acres a very short while, so there is still a lot to clean up after the last owners abandoned it. In one of the out-buildings, I found a few 55 gallon drums that looked promising...

After finding a barrel that was empty and did not have any traces of anything potentially toxic, I got my husband's tools and went to work. First thing I did was to drill 1/2" holes all over it- the compost materials will need plenty of oxygen to decompose, so I put them everywhere and anywhere...

Then, I needed an axis for the barrel to spin on so I put a spare piece of galvanized conduit through the middle. I am going to mount the barrel to two posts in the ground later, so I left extra tubing extending from both ends.

I ended up putting two more conduit pieces through the barrel to help with flipping the compost material- otherwise, it would just slide around on the smooth surface. My husband cut a door out of one side of the barrel (I don't trust myself with a circular saw), and he picked me out some shiny, heavy-duty hardware for the latches and hinges.

Here's the finished door- The hardware will definitely keep anything from falling out while the tumbler is spinning! My hubby even installed a handle for easy access...

Well, here's the finished project! I dug 2.5Ft holes and placed my posts in a bed of concrete to keep them stable. This will give me plenty of room to park a wheel barrel underneath when I'm ready to harvest my rich, homemade soil!

From wrestling with citrus trees to building my own compost tumbler, I think this was one of my most productive projects yet!

This post was shared on Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist.

Chickens Are NOT Vegetarians, A Rant :)

After having observed our chickens for a month, and having seen them eat anything from kitchen scraps to snakes, I have come up with a pretty reasonable conclusion... chickens are definitely NOT vegetarians. My chickens are spoiled, all things considered. I let them out of their very safe and secure coop every morning to free-range all day long. They are cuddled by my children and given a large variety of treats, such as cherries, apples, coconut, and beef fat (which they LOVE). My chickens are happy! I can't help but feel sorry for the chickens who are kept by the commercial, high-producing, mega chicken farms.

While waiting for my chickens to start laying eggs, I have been forced to shop at the supermarket for them. Ugh. I can't tell you how disappointed I am in the lack of quality of store-bought eggs... even the organic kind! The 4-grain, all vegetarian diet eggs are my least favorite. Since chickens are naturally omnivores, a 4-grain diet would be like a human choosing 4 things to eat for the rest of his life! If you were only allowed to eat 4 grains, that would be a very bland, not to mention nutritionally deficient diet. If 4-grain eggs come from nutritionally-deficient chickens, how can they be healthy??

Solution: keep your own chickens, if you are able. If you can't keep your own, find a local farmer who lets his chickens eat the diet God intended them to eat! I have gotten eggs from a local farmer for as little as $2.00 per dozen... quite a discount from those inferior, organic eggs at the grocery store.

How to tell if an egg is of good quality:
1.The white of the egg should be clear, not cloudy.
2.The yolk of the egg should be yellow-orange, not a pasty light yellow.
3. The shell should be thick and hard to crack, not flimsy and fall-apart-in-your-hand.

If you can find an egg supplier who's eggs fit all of the above criteria, you have done your family a great service. Better nutrition and happier chickens definitely make higher-quality eggs that your family will love!

Homemade Beef Stock

This is not your typical grocery store stock! The stock that you find in the store will be loaded with MSG and other unwanted additives... and it will be watery with very little nutritional value.

On the other hand, homemade stock is loaded with nutrition. You control what goes in it (and what doesn't!). And, if you make it right, homemade stock is full of gelatin- just look at the picture. Gelatin is essential for joint health, and may reduce the risk of stomach ulcers.

For my homemade beef stock, I placed in my 7-qt. stock pot:

1 package marrow bones
1 package ox tails
1 package meaty ribs
1 package neck bones
2 calf hooves

I then covered the bones with water (just a couple inches below the lip of the pot), added about 2 T raw apple cider vinegar, and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Next, I brought it all to a boil and spooned out the foam that came to the top. After that, I added 1 med. onion (roughly chopped), a couple cloves of garlic, four carrots (roughly chopped), and about 1t pepper corns and 1t sea salt. You can adjust the seasonings to your taste.

Now comes the waiting! Turn down the heat to a low simmer, cover your pot, and let the stock cook for 24-72 hours. The longer you let it cook, the stronger the flavor and the darker the color.

When the stock is done to your liking, strain off the chunky stuff and store in the fridge overnight. In the morning, spoon off the fat that has congealed on the surface. I fed the fat to my chickens and they loved it!

Now, the stock is ready for storage- it will keep for days in the fridge, or for months in the freezer. Since I always make large batches, I store mine in 2-cup containers in the freezer. Then, it is easy to take out and thaw when I need it! This stock makes great soups, sauces or can replace water in your favorite recipes (rice cooked in stock is delicious!).

Because of the calf's hooves, my stock is loaded with gelatin! My kids took turns twisting the bowl to watch it jiggle :) Enjoy!

Homemade Grahams

My family loves graham crackers... the only problem is, all the grahams at the store contain soy products and /or hydrogenated oils! The organic kinds cost double, so they are out of the question...

After searching the grocery store shelves for an affordable, healthy choice of grahams (and failing to find anything), I decided to make my own :)

This is a recipe that I formulated myself, after having viewed quite a few recipes online. My family thought they were really good, with just the right texture and sweetness!

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter
1/4 c packed brown sugar

1/4 c honey

1 t vanilla extract
2 c sprouted wheat flour
1 c unbleached flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 c milk

Directions:

Cream together the butter, sugar and honey. Stir in vanilla and milk.

Mix together the flours, baking powder and soda, and salt.

Combine the two mixtures until incorporated. I had to knead on a floured surface to get them into a nice dough.

Chill dough until firm (from 1-4 hours)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. and grease cookie sheets (I used coconut oil).

Roll dough out to 1/8" and cut into rectangles. I scored the dough to look more like store-bought grahams. Place grahams 1/2" apart on cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until browned on edges and crisp.*

*Before baking, you may sprinkle with a little cinnamon-sugar for a sweeter treat.

Enjoy ;)

This post was shared at Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist