New habits

So beginning around summer of 2012, I decided that I was just going to STOP using my dryer. I kept telling my other half that the day I got a clothes line........ I kept wishing and looking for plans and realized it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. So one day I just packed up the girls went to our local True Value, and bought some 100lb clothes line. Ran it from our deck to a tree and there we go. That's it until the day I build a pretty one. lol

Ill tell you what though,I was the person I wont lie that washed and dried the laundry but it would just sit there in laundry baskets til who knows when. The minute after I tied up my clothes line I ran inside and started to do laundry. So excited that when the ding went off on the washer, I ran out to hang it all. Realizing in half the time of the dryer it was dry from just blowing and basking in the sun for less than an hour. As I'm taking it down I'm "folding it", realizing I just did the "hard part" of laundry I walked inside and immediately put it all away!

I killed to birds with one stone!
1. Saved money by not using my dryer
2. Laundry is folded and not just sitting in the basket, waiting to be folded

All in all I think this was a good day. Not to mention our power bill went down my almost $40 a month.

Some other things that I have been doing, is making my own laundry detergent and Spray-n-wash. I used to spend about $40-$60 every 2-3 months on Tide, Dreft (*for the girls) and , Spray-n-wash. I NOW spend close to about $1.00 a month just by making it with things that everyone has around there house.

The initial cost of buying the washing soda and borax was about $12.00 depending on were you go, but it should last you years ( if you only use it for making laundry detergent). So in the long run if I look at the date I bought it and it last me 5 years then I'll be spending about .20 cents a month to wash my laundry. SCORE!!!

Freezing Carrots

We absolutely love our carrots around this house. I also love the fact that I don't always have to can them, I still do just in case something was to happen. One year we had the power go out for 7 DAYS! We were really roughing it. Heating bath water in our fireplace, mind you we went out and collected snow for our bath water, lol. Oh that was a fun week. So anyways here is a pretty quick and easy way to freeze your carrots, and they also hold there nutritional value alot better.



Peeled, ends cut and ready to get blanched.




Mr. Jumpsalot's little snacks :) nothing goes to waste here.




Blanched then put in ice cold water, to stop the process.




I wanted a couple different styles, this is for roast nights.




Finished product, yummy!

 Preparation:

Wash, trim, peel, and rinse again. Leave tiny ones whole; slice or dice the remainder.

Freezing:

Blanch tiny whole carrots for 5 minutes and cut up carrots for 2 minutes; cool quickly by plunging into ice water; drain. Pack tightly into containers, leaving a 1/2 inch head space, or placing in freezer bags. I would say they should be good for up to a year. Unless you notice that they look freezer burned.

Cinnamon Rolls

OK so I made a mass amount of Cinnamon Rolls, which I did on purpose. I wanted to see how well they would freeze and then be reheated. I have to say they did well. I wouldn't want to keep them frozen for more than 3 months. That's just me though. So anyways here you go:




Dry ingredients



Milk, butter, sugar, and salt



Add egg to dry ingredients




Mixed together :)

 ***Somewhere along the line I forgot to take pictures of rolling it out and adding the filling  to it, OOPS!


Roll her up




Cut into equal quarters, about a half inch I would say.



Yummy

 

Prep: 45 Minutes

Rise: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Rest: 10 minutes

Bake: 20 minutes

Oven: 375 degrees

Makes 24 rolls

 

4 to 41/2 cups all purpose flour
1package active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter or margarine

1. In a large mixing bowl combined 2 cups of the flour and the yeast; set aside. In a small saucepan heat and stir milk, granulated sugar, and 1/3 cup butter, and salt just until warm (120 - 130 degrees) and butter almost melts; add to flour mixture along with eggs. Beat with an electric mixture on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining 2-21/2 cups of flour as you can.
2. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead in enough remaining four to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3-5 minutes). Shape dough into a ball. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turn once to grease ball. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (1 -11/2 hours).
3. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Lightly grease two baking pans; set aside. For filling, stir together brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and cinnamon; using a pastry blender or fork, cut in 1/3 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Roll each dough half into a 12x8 inch rectangle. Sprinkle filling over dough, leaving 1 inch unfilled along one of the long sides. Roll up each rectangle, starting from the filled long side. Pinch dough to seal seams. Slice each rolled rectangle into 12 equal pieces. Arrange in prepared pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled in size (30 minutes).
5. Preheat oven to 375F. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Cool about 5 minutes; remove from pans. Enjoy!

*Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

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NO spend January.... FAIL

It is just not our month to try and do this, before I knew it January was here. I didn't even get a chance to set some rules up for us. To be honest we have to much stuff to buy this month and probably the next few months. I WILL be doing a no spend month just not sure what month.

Between having to buy seeds for this years garden, and preparing for the addition of goats to our family. I have to build them a run and house, buying lots of fencing which that's really a chunk of money I will forking out. I really have lots of left overs (wood wise) from my chicken coop build .

So other than that I just wanted to write this, to let you know I didn't forget. I just couldn't do it! FAIL F- :(

 However I am still doing the Urban Farm Book Challenge . Which I am preparing for all this month, and will be starting in February. So check back often for updates! Reclaiming my life one day at a time. The less I have to give away, and the more I learn about where my food comes from makes me a happy camper. I also don't feel guilty about what I'm feeding my family. :) MAJOR +

So please like my page, follow me, leave a comment I would love to hear feed back, also let me know what you want to know. Ill give it a try!  Thanks.