...Pressed Down, Shaken Together and Running Over...

Blessings can be found in the most unexpected of places. 

My goal when I moved from the city was, initially at least, to live a simpler life.  I wanted a small house, sparse furnishings, a few chickens and a vegetable garden.  My sweet brother in law and a dear friend worked weekends to get my chicken house built so I could have those chickens by the time I moved in.  I had tilled my garden and planted the heirloom seeds and watched as they sprouted up.  I watched as my house took shape and all the little things I dreamed of were completed in that house.  I had a huge estate sale and liquidated 90% of my possessions in the big house and moved them all into storage to wait for the new house to be ready. Finally, on the first day of May, I moved in.  As soon as the moving truck arrived I realized the remaining 10% of my possessions were never going to fit in this house.  I ended up getting rid of half of the 10% to who ever would take it and I still had too much.  I felt like I was on a picnic on the shores of Galilee and no matter how much I gave away, more kept appearing.  How in the world did I ever get all this stuff???  Luckily I had a barn and I could stash it in until I figured out what I wanted to do with it (and, it's still there).

A week before I moved in my sister and her husband bought 2 little turkeys and 9 chicks to have in some family photos and I was so ready to get my own chickens. A week after I settled in, I went to the feed store and bought my chicks.  I had built them a brooder so they could live in that for a while until they were big enough to be in the coop.   I bought 15 female sex links because I didn't want a rooster (keep that in the back of your mind, we'll get to that later), just hens for eggs and they were so cute. I talked to them and cared for them and held them, feeling their warm little bodies in my hands, and watched as they grew.  Soon they were too big for the brooder and I moved them to the coop.  I built them miniature roosts so they would know to roost at night.  Talk about cute!!

Time ticked by and soon I had 2 rescue puppies, 2 free kittens, a rescue horse, then another horse.  I vaguely remember something about a simpler life way back there but I didn't know what had happened to that. I was in the middle of a busy, wonderful life and loving every bit of it.

My sisters chickens were disappearing one at a time every night until she only had 2 left. I talked her into giving them to me and for a day I had 17 chickens until one of the puppies ate one.  I still have those same 15 hens...and 1 rooster.  The people who sort those chicks by sex need a brush up course because that little boy slipped right past them.  It was a good thing though, I'm glad it happened.  I'm looking forward to babies this spring and more eggs and chicken for the freezer later.

Recently a friend of a friend had 6 turkeys she needed to relocate so I took them.  I warned them I would be slaughtering some of them and not to give them to me if that was going to be an issue.  Those turkeys arrived and they were the biggest things I'd ever seen. 

That brings me to my post title and my opening line. 
    Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and
    running over, shall men give into your bosom.  For with the same measure that ye mete withal
    it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6:38

Indeed I have been blessed.

No recipes this week but next week I have a great turkey sausage recipe to share! Ha ha ha!

Texas Simplicity

It's been 8 months since I moved from the city.  In the first few months I missed the conveniences of the city and the food....oh how I missed the food.  I think I missed being able to drive 5 minutes for Dairy Queen or 30 minutes into Dallas and have world class dining and here, it's 30 minutes to DQ and 2 hours to fine dining.  I knew if I wanted fancy food I better get busy cooking it because all I was getting out here was burgers, chicken fried steak, BBQ and hot links.  Now, all those things are delicious - if prepared properly - which, often, they were not.  It was easier for me to make my own everything than drive 15 miles to get it and it not be the way I liked it then fork over good money for a less than great meal, so I did. 

I made Chicken Fried Steak...

 

 

I made Pear Tatin with Caramel Sauce...

 

 

 

I even made Beef Bourguignon and homemade Hawaiian rolls...that was so good...

 

 

 

And some Pasta Carbonara...

 

 

 

I learned that I didn't need to drive 15 miles and spend $30 to get the foods I craved, I could make them at home and save my gas and cash for other things.  As time went on I didn't crave those things as much and I was happy to just have simple food and that's where I am now. Just satisfied with the delicious simplicity of an egg or a bowl of soup.  I have acclimated at last.  I think my favorite thing I made when I first settled in here was the Beef Bourguinon.  It was simplicity at its best and made me feel anchored to my new present. I bought ingredients from my tiny neighborhood grocery store and the wine was from a local vineyard.  I was supporting my community and giving myself the gift of extravagant, fancy food for a pittance of what I would have paid at a restaurant.  I have Julia Childs' famous recipe but, wow, it takes forever to make so I trimmed the steps back and made my own version.  I like it just as much and hope you will too.

 

Texas Beef Bourguinon





4 slices bacon
1 T additional bacon fat or olive oil
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, halved and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t fresh thyme or 1/2 t dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
2 lbs lean beef roast or steaks, cubed
2 T flour
1 bottle nice, red wine (I used a local wine from Los Pinos)
3 cups beef stock, low sodium if possible
1 T tomato paste
1 pkg frozen pearl onions, cooked in butter till slightly softened
1 lb mushrooms , sliced, cook with the pearl onions till soft
1/2 C frozen english peas


Preheat oven to 325.  In a dutch oven, cook bacon, remove and set aside. Add fat or olive oil to the fat from the bacon you just fried and add next 7 ingredients.  Cook on medium high until the onion and carrots just start to caramelize.  Add the cubed beef and cook till browned. Sprinkle the flour over the sautéed mixture and cook for 2 minutes.  Pour the wine and stock over the beef and vegetable mixture and stir in the tomato paste till dissolved.  Bring to boil, remove from heat to preheated oven and cook at 325 for 1 hour.  Heat up the onions and mushrooms right before the hour is up and when ready, remove the pot from the oven and stir in the onions and mushrooms. Return to oven and cook another 2 hours,  Remove from oven and stir in peas.  Let sit 10 minutes before serving.  Taste and adjust salt if needed.

From Excess to Economy

Since I last posted, MANY things have changed.  I moved away from the Dallas, Texas area and back to east Texas, where I am originally from and am homesteading now.  I still love fine dining and travel and home cooking, but I'm changing a few things in my life as a result of our changing times. With the cost of food and the questionable safety of commercially produced foods, I have embarked on a journey to return to a way of life where I have an active role in feeding myself and my immediate family with food I have raised and cared for and, at times, have processed as well.  There's no guarantee that there will be electricity, running water or food at our command so I needed to create a simpler, less needful life.

I felt wasteful and privileged and spoiled, accustomed to eating out often, living in a huge house and totally dependent on large corporation provided power.  We were 2 people living in a 4000 sq ft house and paying huge utility bills every month for 13 years. I woke up one day and realized I had to change my life and teach my son that wasn't how life should be.  I sold that monster of a house and bought land in the country and built a new house.  My goal in building this house was to be frugal and resourceful in the materials I chose and to buy American whenever possible.  If I needed something for the house and I couldn't find an American made source, I bought it used or made it myself.  I used local labor, bought from local vendors and tried to support my local economy (let me tell you, they do appreciate it!).  It took 4 months to build and aside from some builder and structural issues I'm having to deal with, the house is working out great. 

This is the new house (still under construction here).  It's 860 sq ft...yes, 860 sq ft.  I did the math, that's less than 1/4th of the other house. Everything about this house is cheaper.  Here's an example:

Expense                         Then                        Now
Insurance                       $2600/yr                 $900/yr
Electricity (summer)         600/mo x 4             60/mo x 4
Gas (winter)                      350/mo* x 4           80/mo* x 4
Water                                 150/mo                   60/mo
Taxes                               5200/yr                  2200/yr
TOTAL                           $13400.00/yr         $4380.00 yr

* Before, I had only gas heat and water heater, now I have that, and a gas range too.

I'm saving an average of $9,020.00 a year on these items alone. I saved the most money on utilities by positioning my house using permaculture guidelines, having concrete floors (keeps the house about 10 degrees cooler in the summer), a 23 SEER A/C and I have double foam insulation - it's like living in an Igloo cooler, the cool stays cool and the warm stays warm.  I still have Internet and satellite TV and those charges are about the same and my auto insurance stayed the same as well, dang it. I have some livestock that provide meat and eggs to my food supply and a garden is coming this spring.  I'll be solar one day, but for now, my electricity is from a local co-op, not ideal, but at least it's not  ONCOR.

I'm just more satisfied and secure, both financially and realistically, living this way.  As I learn and grow, I'll be blogging along the way about my journey from excess to economy and hopefully help others to do the same.   I believe it's time for a change in our lives. Stay tuned!!