Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[Denim Deb]

Those sound good. Tell you what, I'll make them and eat them for you.

 

[Britesea]

I found an interesting low carb idea... "tater tots" made from cauliflower-- you cook them till tender, then mash them and squeeze out as much water as you can, form them into little balls and coat with parmesan cheese, then bake. They sound yummy to me

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That surely does sound good! I do that with chicken strips sometimes just so they kinda sorta resemble a fried chicken strip. Gotta say that the parmesan and chicken go really well together. I have made "mashed potatoes" from cauliflower before and it's pretty darn good, but those tater tots sound divine!

If I'm making a stew or something similar I'll use rutabagas as a potato substitute. They are pretty good and a fairly close imitation.

Another broody hatched a couple chicks. I thought at first that they were Sussex, but upon closer inspection they have some feathers on their legs. Some of the first Sussex that I ever hatched had a few feathers on their legs....kind of a throw back to their Brahma ancestors. However, my chickens are running all together as a totally unruly mob - so I have NO idea what they are, lol. Might be a neat surprise to watch them grow up.

I've got most of my tomato plants devoid of tomatoes and trimmed back. (It's funny how fast the stink bugs move on when there's no tomatoes to destroy) I've even taken a few cuttings to start new plants from . Hopefully, the original plants will make a comeback and produce more later in the year. I got a lot more tomatoes than I thought I would. I've frozen several gallon bags and have some dehydrated too. I'm gonna take some of those and immerse 'em in olive oil and see how that turns out. I'm excited to see how that turns out.

I think after it cools off a little bit this afternoon that I'll go find some okra in the garden. My neighbor taught me a new way to cook 'em last year. You just sprinkle em with season salt, a little cumin, maybe a touch of chili powder, some garlic powder...basically whatever sounds good and put 'em in the oven or put 'em on the grill and cook 'em till they're soft. It is soooooo good!

Well now I've gotta go find something to eat.. I've gotta stop talking about food, lol!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

UGH! I hate, hate, hate disbudding babies. I hate it so bad I can't even explain how bad I hate it. But, I hate horns on goats even more, so I do it. I did the two newest babies this evening. The little buckling had huge horn bases so I had to double burn...kinda overlapping circles. I used an ice pack before I started and got his head real cold, then I used it again between burns. It seems to help them, but I still hate it. It just seems counterintuitive to hurt something that you've devoted yourself to taking care of... but the flip side is that it IS good care to make sure they don't hang themselves in a fence or hurt another goat or me, or a grandbaby with their horns.

I pulled most of my onions today. We had more rain yesterday and the last one I pulled was pretty soft around the outside, so I thought it was time. I'll save back a few of the bet ones and put the rest in the dehydrator. I love my dehydrator. Speaking of - I need to go get the tomatoes out of it before I forget 'em!

 

[Denim Deb]

From the book of Proverbs (don't recall exactly where it's found), Faithful are the wounds of a friend.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

True, Deb - thanks!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Yay! Rain yesterday, rain today and more to come... I give up! My ex-garden has turned into a total jungle. The tomato plants that I worked so hard to save would be totally taken over if I weren't going out every day with a machete to chop a path through the jungle just to be able to reach them. Ok, I exaggerate just a little bit, lol! (but not much)

The newly disbudded babies are doing ok and seem to have forgiven me. The little buckling had some swelling yesterday, but nothing excessive so I didn't do anything to treat him besides just keeping an eye out on him and today he looks great.

I roasted one of our home grown chickens tonight and OMG(!) it was absolutely incredible. I put some fresh rosemary, chopped garlic and butter under the skin on the breast and roasted it HOT for the first 30 minutes or so - then turned it down to cook a little slower while I went outside to do evening chores.

I made a decision yesterday to dry up K'ili - the Nubian I was milking. Since the kinder doe kidded I'll start milking her next. Since she's got babies on her I won't be tied down to milking for awhile. When I need milk, I'll separate her and the babies for awhile and sneak some milk for the house...if I don't need milk I'll just leave 'em all together. FREEDOM!

I want K'ili to gain some weight before I breed her in the fall. She had triplets her first freshening and quads her second time, so I' hope she'll have multiples for me next spring. My luck, she'll decide it's time for a singleton. Oh well, after producing 7 kids in two years - she probably deserves a break anyway!

I finally broke down and told DH that we can go on a BIG vacation. He's been wanting to get me away, far, far away for awhile. I love vacations (if I can find someone reliable to take care of the critters for me) but I don't really enjoy the thought of being on an airplane for 12 hours or so. UGH.... He did remind me that I can make the trip easier to swallow if I just do some pre-flight and mid-flight drinking, lol! Sounds like a plan. So, Italy here we come. Now - I did agree and I'll keep my promise - but I didn't say WHEN we could go! Gonna have to think on that one for awhile...

 

[Denim Deb]

Don't tell my hubby! He was talking about going to Italy, but I have no desire to go. I honestly don't know how flying that long would affect me, and I'd be worried about my animals the whole time.

 

[hqueen13]

Wower! That sounds like fun! Wish i was closer, I farm sit for people when they go away.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

OH man.... that'd be perfect - come on down!

I've got a couple guys who work for me and live right around the corner - so I might have to train them.