Photo: Great grandparents at their farm in Blandinsville, IL, with five of their six children .. my grandpa was yet a twinkle in grandma's eye. Stable boy and governess also pictured. Hodges farm, circa 1903-4

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Grain Mills - Cooking - Garden Work

I'm starting to research grain/flour mills for home use.  If you have a flour mill at home and are pleased with it, please let me know what type you have and the best/worst features about it.  In the near future, I'll probably start sprouting some of the grain and semi drying it before grinding.  Not all mills can handle this type of process, that's why I need some input.

Wendy asked yesterday just what type of meals I could make with my weekly list of groceries posted on Monday.  First off, our pantry and freezers are stocked with items such as beef, chicken, pork and frozen fresh water Alaskan salmon .. as well as frozen and canned veggies and berries.  We have dry beans/legumes, short grain brown rice, dry oatmeal, healthy oils such as olive and coconut, dried garden herbs, tea, coffee, dried fruits, etc.    I keep these supplies stockpiled and restock anything that starts to hit the bottom of the barrel.  Cooked beans are frozen and bread is baked about every third day.  This makes it easy to put together almost any meal with very little weekly shopping.

Once a week I make a big meal on either Monday or Tuesday.  Extra food is prepared to have enough to make use of the following day in either some type of hash or fried rice dish.  I cook one big pot of rice to last for three or four meals during the week.  Last night we had a pork loin roast, brown rice with mushrooms and herbs, seasoned cooked green cabbage.  Tonight I'll chop up the pork and cook it with some onions, bok choy, carrots and the left over cabbage and rice for a stir fry dish.  I don't plan meals too far in advance ... however, I do plan our dinner in the morning so I have plenty of time to thaw out any frozen meat .. or soak beans the day prior to cooking.  Buttermilk is made every other day and used for veggie dips, and as a main ingredient in frozen berry smoothies for breakfast or a snack. I doctor up recipes to suit what is on hand.


Hubby set up my garden sink today.  More work is needed .. and then I'll post a few pictures.  Mrs. H, from Subsistence Pattern stopped by for a friendly chat ... and exchange of goods:)  She got home made soaps, a packet of watermelon seeds and a knit dishcloth.  I got from her some garden plants (a secret delight was the horseradish roots:) ...a regular old time neighborly swap meet.

10 comments:

Maria Stahl said...

Mrs. Mac, have you ever dug and ground your own horseradish before?

We can all look forward to an entertaining blog post on that subject. Make sure Hubby Mac takes pictures. :)

Mrs. Mac said...

LOL Maria ... I've read the teary-eyed stories before. Guess I'll have to try it at least once .. maybe on a good breezy day outside with a gas mask on ... :)

Mr. H. said...

Mrs.H was very intrigued by your outdoor washing station and told me all about it. Thanks for all the goodies and I love the idea of eggshells in the soap.

Sandy said...

I am new to your blog and was
wondering if you use the
Nourishing Traditions cookbook
at all. I love it. I have just
learned so much from it.

Laurie said...

It sounds as though you've really got a handle on your families food. Gorgeous soap! How do you make such a lovely design on it? And now my curiosity is up... eggshells in the soap?

Mrs. Mac said...

Sandy ... yes, on the NT cookbook .. although I don't strictly follow everything. It does have so many great practices in it.

Laurie, The soap pictured is made from olive oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil, lye, oatmeal, tea tree and rosemary essential oils. The eggshell comment is about a similar soap I re-batch as a gardeners soap. It has finely pulverized eggshells added to scrub dirty hands. The design is made by applying a stamp to the soap upon cutting the day after pouring in the molds.

Cindy said...

My grain mill is from Magic Mill and is no longer available. I think it only grinds dry kernels of grain which is fine for my use. It is also really loud so when I replace it someday I will look for something quieter. The Nutrimill Grain Mill is one I'd consider.

It's me ...Mavis said...

I LOVE trading with friends! What fun!

LynnS said...

Your soap is beautiful, Mrs. Mac!!

Eggshells in soap is a wonderful idea. I recently finished using a bar of soap my mom bought me for Christmas. There were large pieces of lavender blossoms in it and they made the soap a wonderful scrubber.

I am not far off from making some soap. I will keep the eggshells in mind for a functional soap. Garden hands never seem to be perfectly clean, do they? lol

Roasted Garlicious said...

soooo nice that Mr and Mrs H are your neighbours!!! trading and exchanging in 'real' life is wonderful! i have some of the ingredients for making soap and am slowly getting a spot ready to do that... i love the idea of using egg shells for the abrasive... mmm your bread looks delish, as for the horseradish... mmmm yum!!!