Harvesting.

LOADS OF TOMATOES

The past week my sister in law and I have been making use of all the hard work our family has put into the garden. It has been many months of getting the garden ready over at a "step of health" but it is finally paying off. The first part of the week we made what we thought was a big batch of salsa but to our surprise that was nothing compared to Thursdays project. My mother in law picked a huge bunch of tomatoes. We were trying to figure out how many pounds this would have been; we were thinking anywhere from 20 to 50 pounds of tomatoes. Next time we are going to weigh them before we make use of them just for the fun of it.

The work started at 11:00 after my sister in law was done teaching school to her younger brother. This was our first time canning and we had some interesting distractions along the way one of them being a small stove top fire with lots of salt to put it out. Going into this blind we luckily had the help of our Aunt and Mother who popped in and out to give us tips and steer us in the right direction. The result was 12 cans of tomato sauce and a crazy 5 gallons of salsa. Let me tell you I was in AHAHHHHH when we figured the salsa had come out to 5 gallons. We finished up at about 6:30 with lots of nourishing foods and a very dirty kitchen. Next week's project will probably be ketchup and pesto.

Thank you Lord for providing us with this amazing food. We are doing what we can to use our resources to the best of our ability and let no food go to waste. While trying to be obedient to the Lord I see his blessings just as he has promised.

"Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks." Deuteronomy 28:4

My first canning experience.

The other day while up at my in laws house the young boys came inside with baskets full of veggies. I was offered some and cheerfully excepted. My cucumbers didn't want to come up this summer but lucky for me there are rows of them at my mother in laws. I have been reading Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and have been trying out many of her recipes. The section I am enjoying very much right now is the Lacto-Fermented Vegetables. With the cucumbers I came home with I decided to try my first canning experience and it was a success well the canning part, they are still on the counter. I followed Sally Fallon's recipe for Pickled cucumbers.

4-5 pickling cucumbers
1 tbsp. mustard seeds
2 tbsp. fresh dill
1 tbsp. sea salt
4 tbsp. whey
1 cup filtered water or more to cover cucumbers

After adding all of the ingredients to the jar seal tightly and leave at room temperature for 2 days. By lacto fermenting veggies it is said to positively help with asthma, skin problems, and auto immune disorders. I believe not only does it help with these things but it is also an inexpensive, yummy, healthy way to eat and preserve veggies for fall and winter.

Yeaaa I'm so excited my first canning experience was easy and fun. I have plans to do many more recipes such as sauces and more. I never really realized how easy and beneficial this lacto fermented process was:) The Ginger ale and Beet Kvass in the picture are also lacto fermented beverages that I try and consume everyday. They have many of their own benefits which can be found in Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions as well.

Happy Canning;)

Cloth Diapers

Going back in time when they used cloth diapers and had diaper service. Well minus the pins and diaper service these are new and improved cloth diapers. I didn't do this with my first born but after making multiple trips to Wal-Mart just to spend 40$ on diapers I started to re think things. After having our second child I have decided to stay home with the kids as long as possible but in order to do this we have to do some serious budgeting. Every dime has a name and thanks to the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace classes we are able to make this work.

Bum Genius is the brand of diapers we have decided to go with and invest in, well kind of invest in. They were a very generous gift from Grammie and well appreciated. Not only did we purchase the organic bum genius diapers but we also ordered the sprayer for the bathroom. This sprayer comes in handy because it is right next to the toilet and you simply spray the dirty diaper into the toilet. This way you aren't having to deal with gross soiled diapers in your washing machine. This has been our first week using them and it seems to be going nice.

While researching whether I was going to make the switch to cloth diapers these are some of the interesting facts I discovered which gave me the incentive to switch over. First off cloth diapers in the long run are cheaper and environmental friendly. The average family spends about 2500$ on disposable diapers per child. To invest in the organic Bum Genius package it was any where from 350$ to 400$ with the sprayer; the package included 12 diapers. The non organic ones are a little cheaper. Disposable diapers take anywhere from 10 to 1000 years to degrade. Crazy to think about huh. Not only did the money and environment change my mind about disposable diapers but so did the fact that they contain toxic stuff. Some of the toxins are sodium polyacyslate which are in the gel beads that absorb the urine. This is the same material banned from woman's tampons in 1985 due to the cause of toxic shock syndrome. Another chemical found in disposable diapers is dioxin which is a highly dangerous chemical linked to cancer. Along with toxins there is also the interference with growth of the testicles in young boys. This happens because disposable diapers heat up the testicles and cause growth problems. Lastly disposable diapers are proven to increase diaper rash.

You may be reading this thinking wow this is really one sided but these are the things that helped me make my choice.Yes it may be a little harder to rinse the diaper and place in a pail to be washed but not much different then walking to the garbage to throw it away. I have many friends who think I am crazy and the thought of cloth diapers is gross but when it comes down to it its really a simple thing, a lot healthier for child and environment, and costly for the life I'm trying to live right now.

Happy diaper changing:) now we are on a mission to potty train our first born.