The prego lady wanted pickles!

Yep.  That's it.  I wanted pickles.  I'm pregnant and I wanted pickles.
 Good enough reason for me!

From when I was little, I can remember the smell of the awesome homemade pickles that grandma and mom would make.  A few years back, I decided to take my turn at making them!  If you are a "Blue Book of Canning Nag" I suggest you stop reading now.  We've been eating these pickles since the "bird sh*t on a fence post and the sun hatched ya out" (quoted from my beloved, late Grandpa Otto).  This recipe is NOT in the Blue Book.  It is also not a water bath canned or pressure cooked type of "pickle".  This is a salt preserved pickle, and it is FABULOUS!!!!!  

I called my friend Michelle over and offered to teach her, as fitting 12 jars of pickles is a lot for one overstuffed fridge!  So, here goes our story of pickling...One Mick and one Irish woman, at it again!

First....I dug out the recipe.  Yep, it's in my inbox...Check!  Next, Mick and I ran out to my folks place for fresh cucumbers, dill and garlic.  

File picture, Mimi Shanahan Aug 2011.

After leaving there, we ran to the store to pick up our jars and other supplies from the list we needed.  

The next morning....err afternoon, we started our pickling project!  Mick came up and we dug on in!  Well, as much as we could do...  See, Mick and I have an addiction to Cribbage.  So between pickling steps, we'd play a game or two....Hehe!  

Mick really CAN follow directions!

Michelle sliced the cucumbers.  She's awesome at running a mandolin!  We cleaned the garlic and the dill.  While she did this, I.....

Yes, this is an electric stove....Not recommended for canning.
Luckily, we only used it to sterilize the jars!!

Sanitized Jars..... (See mom!  There's proof!!)

I took pictures because you NEED to do this step!!  Do not skip it.  Sanitize Jars, lids and rings and never reuse lids.  There, I'm done.  My Canning and Preserving Class Presenter would be proud...of this part!

When that was all said and done, we filled the jars according to the instructions.  

Some full, some par-filled jars of pickles.

UPDATE:   The recipe has been released!

Mom's Kosher Dills

This recipe came from an old friend of Mom and Dad, Maxine.  Her and her husband ran Miller Liquor Store  in North Sioux City when I was a kid.  The year was around 1967.  (FYI - I kept this in because I feel it's important to know where this came from...in my opinion....  We may know where our recipes came from, but will our children?  Not if we don't keep track of it!!)

Brine

1  cup kosher salt

4 qts cold water

To each jar add:

1 or 2  stems fresh dill with head

1 or 2 cloves fresh garlic

2 tsp whole pickling spice

1 qt pickling cucumbers

1. Wash and sterilize jars.  (Because the pickles are not processed, I wouldn't skip this step!)  Stir salt into cold water until dissolved.  Add dill stem to clean jar.  Pack freshly picked pickling cucumbers to the jar.  (It is imperative that they be freshly picked!) Add  pickling spice and garlic cloves.  Pour brine into jar to within 1/4" of the top.   Seal with warmed jar lids and rings.  Seal very tight and store in cool, dark place.  Pickles will ferment.  In about two weeks, pickles are "half done" and can be eaten, though they are better if left until fermenting is finished, about a month.  Use up within 1 year.

What you may have noticed....

1.  We used cucumbers.  Big, homegrown cucumbers.  We didn't use pickling cucumbers.  I like the big, thin slices best.  Much better for snacking!  

2.  I used my electric stove.  I used it ONLY for boiling water that didn't need to maintain a consistent temperature for a long period of time.  

Thanks for reading!

L

Late Night Cooking...

Tonight, Jerod and I got a wild hair after the kids went to bed.  Before your mind wanders too far, we cooked!  It was fun!

We've experimented in many dabbles of late night cooking, but tonight we made Fried Green Tomatoes & a zucchini!  I've NEVER in my life tried a fried green tomato.  It sounded good, so why not?  Well, I'm not Southern.  Not in the slightest!  I was in the South once or twice, but that hardly gives me right to cook a southern delicacy.

With Jerod at the lead, I followed his direction.  He did the research on them, so he gets to lead the way.  I don't think this is something I would have jumped into blindly!  Here's what we did....

First, Jerod sliced the beautiful heirloom green tomato and the delicious fresh zucchini while I prepared the breading station.  I put in a cup or so of buttermilk into a bowl and used my beautiful Pampered Chef Bar Pan to put spread out the bread crumbs and Panko Crumbs (Italian Seasoned).

Jerod breading a zucchini!

After Jerod had them sliced he handed them to me.  I coated them the way I was taught to bread chicken.  Coat once in bread, dip in buttermilk and once in Panko.  Well, traditional methods don't exactly work here.  When Jerod took over, he started packing on the bread crumbs...and yea...That works great!!











I moved to the stovetop....I had to be useful SOMEWHERE!  Haha!  We fried them on a medium-high heat until brown in a little bit of canola oil.  Once brown, we set them aside on some paper towel, cooled and ate them up!

Ta-Da!

Two things....

**I specifically mentioned the Pampered Chef Bar Pan for a reason.  I used to hate the mess breading anything made, but the Bar Pan is fabulous.  It contains the breading mess, it's large enough to set the bowl of liquid on and contain that mess too!  If you need one, let me know...I'll hook ya up with Lisa!

**The Panko Bread Crumbs make it fabulous!  The Panko adds a great crunch!  I don't think the buttermilk was needed.  I wouldn't make a special trip to specifically buy buttermilk for this snack.  Whole milk, an egg, regular milk....I think they'd all suffice... anything you would use to normally bread something....even beer maybe?

Pancakes without milk?

I have a milk allergy (not an intolerance to milk), so I have to be careful the amount of milk I have.  Since it's summertime, I have been having a little bit more ice cream than usual.  I've noticed I've been stuffed up quite a bit more.

Today, I made pancakes without milk.  They weren't bad, but they weren't great either.

Here is the recipe I used, thanks to Buzzle.com.

Ingredients

• Plain flour, 2 cups
• Oil/butter/margarine, 2 tablespoon
• Salt, ½ teaspoon or as per taste
• Baking powder, 4 teaspoon
• Sugar, 2 tablespoon
• Water, 2 cups
• Eggs, 2

Method

1. While learning how to make easy pancakes without milk, the first step is that in a large bowl, you have to mix all the main ingredients i.e. eggs, water and oil or butter properly.
2. Then in another mixing bowl you have to mix the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. You can also learn how to make pancakes without baking powder if you do not wish to use baking powder.
3. Now mix the two and keep stirring till it forms a thick batter and till all the ingredients have mixed properly.
4. Now leave the batter aside for at least 5 to 10 minutes for it to rise.
5. In the meantime, preheat the skillet that you will use to make the pancakes.
6. Now, using a ladle or a spoon, scoop some of the batter and on the hot skillet and heat it till bubbles start appearing.
7. Heat this side for about 2 minutes and then very carefully, using a flay sided spoon or ladle, flip the pancake so that you can heat the other side too.
8. Again cook this side for around 2 minutes or till it is well done and then put it on a plate.
9. Repeat the same thing with the rest of the batter and finally when the pancakes are ready, serve them hot, oh and don't forget to add the maple syrup on top while serving!

At the end of it all, I wouldn't do it again without adding blueberries, applesauce, strawberries....something.  They were, for lack of a better word, tasteless.  They were not bad, but they weren't great.  The kids enjoyed them, and didn't notice any difference.

So, there ya go.  I had no idea a little milk would make that much difference with pancakes!

It's HOT!

It's hot.  God Bless Iowa in the Summertime.  The kids enjoy the pool and swinging on their new swing set, but for anyone over 15, this weather is pretty much miserable.

When you add pregnancy into the mix of 98 degrees and 99% humidity, things get worse!  So, despite the fact that I'm running low on clothing that fit, my only comfortable sundress died last year.  It's a MUST that I find some new things to wear that will last me the rest of the summer.

Saturday morning, I decided to make a dress.  Meara and I packed up and headed out before Jerod and Teagan were even out of bed yet and headed to the craft store.  I had gone with the thought that I was going to re-purpose a shirt I already had and I'd only need a little bit of material for the skirt part.  However, fate thought differently.

When we got to Hobby Lobby, I discovered that their patterns were on sale for 99c each.  (Price tag on them - $15+!!!)  So, I bought 2 patterns.

Here's where the typical "Laura" steps in.  Pattern A is an easy sew pattern.  Honestly, not overly difficult.  Pattern B looked easy.  I decided to do pattern B.  The dress turned out super cute, but it was horrible getting to that point!!  Meara and I picked out some adorable fabric, that would give a fun, "summery" look to the dress and headed home!  (Middle dress in the pattern below)

To begin with, I don't color inside the lines.  What made me think I could tackle a pattern easily?  I don't know, but obviously I was blinded by the pretty picture on the cover.






I cut the pattern out - yay!  I can cut in a straight line!  I remembered to cut the little triangles out where they're supposed to be....(Ok, I forgot one or two).  But I did alright.  I began reading the instructions....this was my demise.

After spending nearly 6 hours on this monstrosity on Saturday, I gave up and called in professional help. I loaded up the kids on Sunday and took the damn thing over to my mothers and she and I spent another 6 hours on it.  It's really, really cute but I almost resent it because it took up 12 hours of my life.

Please excuse the frazzled look I have in the picture.  Also, remember that it looks rather tent-like in the picture because I haven't washed it yet in this picture.  (I starch the heck out of my fabric to make for easier sewing!)  Also, it looks a little big on me because, well, it is.  I made it a size larger so it can adjust easily throughout the summer.  It has fabulous drawstrings so I can tie it tighter or leave it loose!

Big kudos to my mom for saving the day!  She rocks!  

Also thanks to Jerod and my dad for helping with the children as needed over the weekend!  

Great Customer Service

We all know that ordering online is sometimes a gamble.  You might get the wrong item, it might come damaged, etc...

I had ordered an apron from Flirty Aprons.  They had a great sale so I decided to treat myself!  

I ordered this adorable "Very Cherry" Apron.  

Instead I received this, "Cherry Blossom" apron. 

While both are very cute, it wasn't exactly what I ordered so I emailed the company.  I received a phone call from them first thing this morning wanting to correct the error.  She was very polite and apologetic about the situation.  

Instead of sending me the correct one, and having me send them the Cherry Blossom back, they are having me keep them both.  Two for the price of one!  I even offered to send the second one back, but she insisted on me keeping it because it was their error.  

Thanks for going the extra mile, Flirty Aprons!  

***Edit***  I received the correct apron a few days later.....It's beautiful!  What a great company!

LL

If you ask me, that's AWESOME Customer Service!

(Pictures credited to www.flirtyaprons.com) 

Misconceptions of couponers....

After the recent disaster known as Extreme Couponing, I feel I should clarify a few misconceptions.

Some of my FREE TP!

1.  We're not all hoarders.  Yes, I have enough toothpaste, dish soap, toilet paper, and deodorant to last our family for awhile.  Awhile, yes...Forever - DEFINITELY NOT!  I tell ya, I am extremely glad that we have it too!  I don't know about you, but I am very thankful that my family can brush their teeth, wear deodorant and have clean a clean...bottom.  The difference between a non-couponer and myself?  I don't have emergencies where I need to run out and pay full price for TP.  In fact, while I'm starting to get low, I'm not running out but I'm starting to watch closer for deals.  Whats the difference between myself and the people on the show?  While I have some things in stock, I in no way have 55 bottles of Malox.  If it's free and it's something I will definitely use (TP) I will buy ALL I POSSIBLY CAN (as long as it won't expire!!)!

A box of donations.

2.  We don't have the food deals!  I never have to worry about expiring food.  While I can occasionally find a really good deal that is cheap and even free (rarely!!), I buy what my family will use.  I might buy a few for close friends and family, or even some to donate.  I absolutely DO NOT go overboard.  We have NO STORES THAT DOUBLE COUPONS.  So yes, I still have to pay for my groceries.  If I save $30 on any particular grocery trip, I am EXCITED!  I am stocked up on pastas, sauces, cereal, and a few other things because we eat a lot of it.  My cupboards are full of healthy foods that my family will eat....and a few things we don't eat.  *GASP*  "things you DON'T eat?!!?"  YEP!  I will specifically buy things like Hamburger Helper - which we NEVER eat.  The food bank is always asking for those types of items whenever they're doing a drive.  I enjoy having something on hand that I can donate at the drop of a hat.

3.  You're eating SO UNHEALTHY!  Obviously, you've never eaten supper at my house.  No, we're not living like a dietitian, but we're not eating crap over and over again.  Healthy coupons are out there!!

My collection of sample or trial sized items.
Some are also in the pic below. 

4.  We buy what the coupon says!  One of the ladies on the show has gotten herself in a huge amount of trouble.  She is intentionally defrauding the system and she's been called out by many, many couponer's around the nation.  I will not get into how she's doing it because I don't condone it.  If P&G is gracious enough to give us $1 off any TIDE product, use it to buy ANY TIDE PRODUCT!  That includes trial sizes.  Don't use it on something else.  It's meant for Tide.  If it says $1 off Any Tide excluding Trial Sized, then don't buy a trial sized item with it.

5.  It's all about the "free".  Yes, I will get something because it's free but it will go into donation.  Some things I never ever thought I'd use, but when the day came that I needed it, I was VERY HAPPY I had it!!  Case in point.... awhile back, Walgreens had a Stop Blister product.  Yep, I bought it.  Now that my new shoes are giving me blisters, I used it every day until my shoes were broken in better!!  It's been a HUGE help!

6.  A 35c coupon is worthless.  Nope.  Not for me.  I can't save much at the store so every penny counts.  Why is it people complain about gasoline jumping 10c a gallon but they're not willing to cut a coupon worth 10c for something they're buying anyway?

A few of the freebies in my stockpile from awhile back.
Sadly, its not this fully anymore.

7.  Couponing takes SO MUCH TIME!  NO!  Let your fingers do the work.  There are a ton of blogs out there that are doing the work for you.  Follow, look and listen!  Cut your coupons and go with it!  It is possible to only cut the coupons you need.  You don't need a binder (Bible, book, etc.) to coupon.  Make a list, match it to sales, cut your coupons, and stick to it!

Lastly, I'd like to say this.  For me, couponing has made me a MUCH better shopper.  I've managed to stretch our budget from $300-$600 a MONTH in food down to $100-$200 max.  That has helped our family afford so many other things that we couldn't before!  My coupon savings easily make our truck payment each month and more!  Yes, it is work but for me and many other couponers around the nation, it's also FUN!  It has taught me to be very frugal!  I can't imagine spending $400 at the grocery anymore!!!  I would probably PASS OUT!

The show is fun but it's just that... a show...entertainment!  PLEASE don't confuse them with the rest of us.

Upcycling....

Being as April is Earth Month, I've decided to do a few more upcycling projects this month.  

For starters, I've had questions, emails and calls about what exactly "upcycling" is.  Heck, even the auto-dictionary is telling me that upcycling isn't a word.  Well, auto-dictionary, you're WRONG!  

Thank you, whomever's page I stole this from...

Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.  

I saw it explained a little more layman as "recycling is a chemical process, upcycling is not chemically changing the item, just using it for something better".  

So I made this, a hanging chair.  With a bit of time, talent and help I'm hoping to add that fun little chair to my front yard (where I can easily piss off anyone that wanders by).  I'm sincerely looking forward to spending a great deal of time, hanging from my tree and reading away the lazy days while the girls play in the yard.  

To keep things honest, I didn't use the pallet in the picture below.  My dad had enough pallet pieces in his scrap pile, and he wanted to use this full pallet for something else.  So, I snapped a picture of it but this isn't the actual wood I used. 

The starting point.....

Yay for power tools!!!

I did about 1/2 of it myself.  By hand....After I started having trouble with the power drill, a call to my dad and the use of his drill press, and life was grand!

Sanding

In between waiting for the PITA drill to charge, I started sanding....Boy I have a real appreciation for power tools now!!!

Meara helping sand!

.....So does Meara.

Teagan demonstrated the layout.

Laces 

Hanging it up 

Jerod holding the chair while I was hanging it

Courtney and Meara each had to take a turn in the chair!

When we were all said and done, each of the kids took a turn in the chair, then I booted them and had my turn!  

For the record, it was a LOT of work but it's worth it!  I'm not going to take the time to do a step-by-step because it's in the link above.  I will however, show you the pictures from each step that I took (or was taken by someone around me as I was doing each step!!).

I would like to say thanks to a few people....  First off, my brother - for the pallet,  my dad,  for the use of power tools and the knowledge to use them, my husband for being tall enough to help me hang it and my girls for their help and motivation to finish it.... and Michelle for taking pictures... :)






Please visit my links to give credit to the man that created it!!  http://www.instructables.com/id/Paracord-Laced-Pallet-Hanging-Chair/step7/Hang-and-Enjoy/