Quick--Order your free 2013 Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog today!

Last year I snoozed a bit too long in winter and waited too long to request my Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog and they were out in the very very early spring. I had to peruse the catalog online, alas. Not a bad thing altogether. I am glad they have that option for folks that know exactly what they want to jump on and just order.

But I like to write in catalogs, dog-ear the pages and mull over my choices before I place my order.

I really like Baker Creek because they are one of the few places these days to offer truly (tested!) non-GMO seeds (the corn selection is less every year due to their finding GMO genes in the corn they tested). The seeds are heirlooms, so you can grow next year's crop from this year's seed if you want to (can't do that with just any seeds).  And, the seeds are not big-company owned seeds like so many of the seeds in the stores are.

So, if you want to get a hard copy of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog for 2013, click here!

Happy planning, and a Merry Christmas to all of you! :)

A GF Aldi Lunch Salad

Thought I would share my GF lunch using Aldi ingredients.  I was tired of the same ol' leftovers and sandwiches and wanted something fresh to eat, so I made this up from my fridge ingredients from my last Aldi run. You can make it with ingredients from any ol' store (or your garden!).

For this salad, I used:

1 1/2 heads of the Artisan Lettuce. I picked one of the reddish heads and half of one of the green heads.
Chopped onion
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
12 or so Pepperoni slices (yep, these are GF!)
Some jarred Marinated Roasted Red Peppers with Garlic Cloves and Olive Oil
Olive oil from the jar of peppers
Pepper and salt ground from my pepper and salt mills

This made for a tasty, spicy lunch. I will probably having something a little more substantial later this afternoon, but this hit the spot for a light lunch!

Thanks for reading!

Making GF Granola

Today I have been doing the Monday reset of the house (laundry, dishes, general pick-up after the weekend), and between that I have been making granola.  We've been out for a couple weeks and I've been missing the easy breakfast.  Sadly, if it's not easy, I often just do without. (I really hope my mom didn't just read that.)

Here is the Granola Recipe I posted awhile back.  This time around I ended up using brown sugar (out of honey, alas) and sunflower oil, since that's what I had on hand.  I also tossed in some dried cranberries after the baking was done.

I have found that putting a cup or so of the granola in a bowl, along with enough water to cover, and microwaving it for a minute or two makes a nice hot breakfast!

Finally--EGGS!

The day before yesterday, I found myself thinking about our chickens and wondering why in the world we hadn't had any eggs yet.  I even went so far as to pray for those chickens to start laying eggs.

Yesterday, my daughter was running late and didn't make it out to water the chickens, so I went out to water them later in the morning.

And I found 3 eggs in the corner of the chicken coop. Not in the nest boxes where the dummy egg and a couple golf balls have been gathering dust the last few months.

Maybe I should have started praying sooner, huh?


Worried that they'd been there for a long time and weren't any good, I put them in a pan and ran water into the pan. They stayed on the bottom of the pan, proof that these were fresh eggs.

Later in the day, my daughter and I went out to check on the chicken/egg status after school and we found one more in the same place!  Woo-hoo!

So, we have so far gotten 4 eggs from our chickens.  I'm not impressed yet, but if I don't have to buy eggs in the coming weeks I will be happier.  We got these chickens to be more than pets!

Hubby thinks that since these chickens are larger than our other chickens, maybe they are not comfortable in the nest boxes we have and that might be the reason for the laying on the floor in the corner.  We'll have to see what they decide to do in the coming days and weeks and see about coming up with a setup to make both us and the chickens happy.


Oh, and on the way out to the chickens, I happened to be walking alongside my garden and found a dead  mink!  No idea how or why it died (maybe a fox?), but this is sign that we do indeed have them around here, and to be extra vigilant about protecting the chickens.  We had suspected a few years back when a batch of our young chickens was murdered inside the coop, but now we have proof!

Homemade Elderberry Syrup

We've already had one round of sickness already this year, so I decided we need to start taking some elderberry syrup both as a preventative and during any illness we may have.

Purchasing name brand elderberry meds can get really expensive, especially for a family of 5. I am finding that making it myself is a much less expensive option!

Elderberry is rich in vitamin C, antioxidants, flavonoids, beta carotene, calcium, phosphorus, potassium and a whole host of good-for-you things. 

Elderberry has been used to help with flu, colds, sinus issues, and even as a hayfever remedy. (I just recently read about the hayfever usage and might need to consider that next fall!) 

For more detailed info as to how elderberry products work, check out Sambucol's FAQ page, for they say it more eloquently than I can this morning. :)

Elderberry syrup is not a new thing--it has been used for generations.



After all of that information, let's move on to the actual recipe!

I used the recipe at Mountain Rose Herbs for reference, leaving out the optional stuff. With my allergy/sensitivity issues, I figure the less ingredients the better.

Since our elderberries at the farm didn't produce well due to the drought this summer, and I used all of the ones I had in the freezer, I purchased a pound of Frontier Organic Dried Elderberries from the local health food store for $14.99. I wanted to order from Mountain Rose Herbs, but they were out and I wanted to get some ASAP.

I also purchased local(ish) honey from the local health food store for $2.99/lb.

Here's the recipe, the way I made it:

Elderberry Syrup

1/2 cup dried elderberries (or 1 cup fresh/frozen)
3 cups water

1 cup honey

sterilized jar with lid
Strainer
cheesecloth (optional)


1. Put the elderberries and water in a pan, bring to a boil and simmer 30 mins.
2. Mash your elderberries. I used a potato masher. You could use a spoon or carefully use an immersion blender or something similar. Be careful--the juice will stain!
3. Strain your elderberry water into your sterilized jar, pressing to get as much juice out as possible.
4. Pour out a small amount of hot/warm elderberry juice into a small bowl and mix with honey.
5. Pour honey mixture into jarred elderberry juice and stir until combined.
6. Refrigerate.

I ended up with a little over 3 cups of syrup. I expected closer to 4 cups, but I left the stove for a bit and came back to a non-simmering pot, then turned it up and it was boiling. Oops.

Dosage: For everyday maintenance, 1 TB daily. When you are fighting an illness, take 1tsp every 2 to 3 hours.

For ease of pouring, I am repurposing a smaller bottle.

Cost to make this batch came to $4.37. That is less than half what a little bottle of Sambucol would cost me!

I actually like this homemade version better than Sambucol!

Most of my family took to this syrup pretty well, but not my extra-picky middle child. *sigh*  He loves maple syrup, so maybe I will try making a small batch with maple syrup instead of honey.... more expensive, but if it means he will take it...


Obviously, if you have a little one under 2 years old, you may want to use a different syrup other than honey.