Weird Little House #2

Well we sold our house. We are all moved out and temporarily camped at my sisters and all the stuff is in storage or sitting in my sister or brothers garages. We are also currently looking for a new house.

I want to say that we were very fortunate to sell as quickly as we did. But...the buyers were complete assheads. We listed the house on a Thursday night - we had 2 appointments for Friday and around 15 lookers over the weekend.

Click here for pics and listing of the old house

Well by Sunday night we had 2 offers and one of them was for 20K above list. We took it and closed 3 weeks later. Well I remember one day i was at home during the inspection and the lady came during the inspection and I greeted her "hello" Don't you know that bitch walked right by me like she already owned my shit. hahaha! What a clown! You know all I wanted to ask her was if she wanted to keep the garden beds that Afro made out of cedar coz I would have been glad to leave them if she wanted to grow her own food but she wanted to be an assclown.

So she put a few things on the inspection - a slight rewire of the kitchen, professional cleaning and a new disposal. I was like yeah okay cool that's fine. So jump ahead to last week 2 DAYS before closing this COW says she wants the front landscaped and the garage swept and some other ridiculous shit. MIND YOU - I wanted the closing to be March 19th so I would have Spring Break to move - so I was planning this move, studying for midterms and trying to get some last minute canning in (I did it all Hooray! for me)...the buyer also told us that they "couldn't afford 2 moves so could we have a close date of March 15 because the house they were RENTING got short saled under their ass. FINE. So jump to the DAY before close - she wants the pool to be "CRYSTAL CLEAR" lmfaoooooooo. Clown.

Mr. Man was so mad he took apart those garden beds and packed the cedar in the moving pod. Super Unbelievable - I already did that heifer a favor and she gets on some self entitled shit. I took all the life and good luck I brought with me into that house.

Meanwhile the hunt is on for a house.

We are glad to be out of the burbs. I know everyone is saying why don't you move to the country - well with my academic ambitions this is simply not possible. We want to be closer to my Pops In Law and closer to social activities that are not possible in that old neighborhood. Great house - but because of the nature of the real estate market it feels very transient and odd. The people who intend to stay there for awhile are becoming more hermit like and we really don't like them enough to socialize with them. Also I absolutely resent that homeowners fee...when I first bought that house the homeowners was like $65 a month now it is up to $147 a month - for what? for nothing - a few parks and pavement. bullshit.

Click here for Weird House 2 that we looked at.

I really love this old pink adobe home and I hope we get it - but if not - there are some unique houses that come on the market. We are hoping to move into a neighborhood with personality and long time residents or people that love their unique homes. It would be nice to have block parties again or at least know who you live near.

This is how we do it...

In case you missed it...here is the video to recap.
New video coming up tomorrow on today's purchases.

Click here for the latest video!

I hope everyone had a good weekend.

No No No November Already? Got Preps?

Wow I cannot believe that it is already November 2011. UNBELIEVABLE how quickly the year has gone buy. It is going to be a mere 3 weeks until Turkey Day. As I did my slide show and recap for the month of October I realized I was so busy I didn't do as much as I usually do. I basically had it in my head that for the months of November and December I was going to kick it into high gear. For the last 11 months I have maintained a minimum of 50lbs of food a week in preps. 50 lbs is a regular week - 100 lbs is a more normal week and 400lbs is a fantastic week.

Some people ask how do I calculate what I need. I have a very basic formula - 1lb of food per person per meal. That is a REALLY high estimate and it assumes waste (there won't be waste) So let's say that it is Mr.Man and Me...for 3 meals that would be 6 lbs. Out of the 6 lbs you have to figure out bread - it takes about 1.5lbs of flour to make 2 good sized loaves and that would be 2 days worth or maybe not in an emergency. So lets say breakfast is oatmeal with nuts with milk and fruit. Morning snack is maybe a half sandwich. Lunch is a bean and veggie salad, and some tacos, afternoon snack is homemade trail mix or crackers and cheese, dinner is some form of stew with bread or rice. Truth be told a lot of these meals extend into secondary meals and I could make 4lbs of food work, but I calculate the 6 because if we start to do a LOT of physical labor we will also be more hungry. It is the easiest formula I could figure out.

Some of the more intensive folks do caloric content, fat content and all that. I'm not into all that because I can do a menu and make something out of whatever we've got. I personally don't think it's fair to tell people to learn yet another thing (caloric intake values) on top of all the other stuff they are trying to learn. I think 1lb per person per meal per day - and just make sure that you have veggies/fruits, protein, grains, cereals, fats. Follow the stupid FDA triangle just change their position. You can't go wrong with the formula. In fact you'll have extra.

So here we go - I had a good head start yesterday for November preps:

3 types of nails - 1/2-3/4 full over 10lbs of nails - only $5 per case. yeah you heard me. Those bostich nails alone are worth well over 50 bucks b/c they sell those about $1 per strip.

I love you Ace Hardware!














8 cases pints $10 each
1 case half pints (straight side) $7.50 ea

sugar at Wally world is still $13.48 a bag.

I went ahead and got a bag it's not getting cheaper that's for dang sure - in fact the price of it seems to be going up everywhere else.




I stopped at target for Halloween Candy and found these notebooks on clearance for 62 cents - I just picked a dozen of the prints I liked - that should keep me in notebooks for a few semesters. yaaay ME.









I found this Mitre box for Mr. Man...I thought 2 bucks sounded good. I don't know much about these things.











I've been wanting egg timers for awhile but they are always so dang expensive - Lucky me I found these last 2 for $3 each. Now I can tell myself onion is for canner, garlic is for oven. I left the bellpepper one. haha.








The staple gun seemed handy mine is just a plastic job. The staples were only $1. Seemed like a good price to me.











I found this at Ace hardware too - I'm just gonna throw it in my backpack...You never know right!











You can see a weird bowl in my photos of eggshells and veggie trimmings - that's my compost stuff from the kitchen lol.

You cannot imagine how happy I was to find this kitchen compost pail for only $7. Supposedly they are upwards of $50. All I know is 7 bucks sounded good to me haha.






I know how gross. i don't care - We like them and they were on sale this week for 99 cents - I had Wally World price match Fresh and Easy - I picked all the ones that expire dec 23 2011 and I'm still gonna freeze them.

I bought 20 pkgs - 10 for my house and 10 for my sisters house. I figure that's enough.




Got some new hair lotion for Mr. Man...2 containers of buttermilk (over $3) not on sale and a 4 pack of the pint jars the fancy ones I like for butter. I don't know why I like the butter in the odd looking containers.

jar lids - 99 cents price match

It was so weird they only had these 4 boxes of lids left in that whole store - super strange.


Pineapple was still 97 cents - so I picked up another 7. That should make at least 15 more pints. That should be good - it will bring our total amount of canned pineapple to 2.5 cases.











Finally I picked up ground lean (93%) for $2.49 a lb that is still expensive to me 5 wks ago ground lean was only $1.69. I also found this Italian Sausage 5for5 but it had an instant $2 off coupon - so 24 oz of Italian sausage for only $3 pretty good. The pork chops are a request from a friend who did us a favor so I'll be making his favorite dish - Pork Adobo!

That's it - that's my kick start - Everyone please go out and do something - do anything. Prices are going up 20-40% every single time I go to the store and I don't care if I do have the money I do not wanna waste it. Vitamins and basic body lotions are horrendously expensive. Please look around and see the silent anger and mortification in peoples faces with only 3-4 things in their cart because they simply cannot afford the things they once ate. Sad.

ps) I have been watching this one dude make excuses why he can't do as many preps as other people because he doesn't have the money and blah blah blah - M****f**** please. I'm just sayin - if you've been doing this for almost 2 years why have your preps decreased? We're on a very tight budget and we make it. Goodness gracious - if you don't have the stomach to be a winner just lay down and take it from the powers that be - HAHA.

October Preps 2011 Recap

This is just a link for any of you who might have missed a few blogs and didn't see what kind of deals I picked up.

Click here for link to video!

I must say October was a very lean month for preps, not just because we had unexpected expenses but also because I was extraordinarily busy with school and some changes in our home.

I'm glad we made it through October!

Everything starts with Effort?

So today they posted the final grade for Lit...I tell you what - I was late ONCE and she gave me an 88 for attendance LOL and most of my papers were 95s and 97s but for the last 2 papers she gave me 90s. Funny thing is I like her - she's been teaching for 30 years and still loves it and has a positive attitude - but I even told her you grade me much harder than you do the other children and she whispered,"because you are more talented." I mean seriously - I would turn in 6-8 page papers with full citations to everyone else's 3 page double spaced babble. HAHA. Nonetheless - I still got my A...I'm just disappointed that it was such a LOW A. It's almost like there's some luck involved.

Then I went to Criticism class this morning and he gave us back our tests and I got another 90. I was like What the Heck? He then said if anyone would like to stay and check their class standing I can review scores. I was really worried after that 90 - but my overall grade is 97% . Goodness Gracious - you see those are the types of scores that I am accustomed to. jeez. As my brother would say an A is an A whether it is a 90 or a 99.

I went to Ace Hardware between classes (I'll put that in the next blog) and picked some stuff up and then took off to Math class. I was on time but everyone was already in there...and grouchy as Mondays usually are grouchy. I got my both parts of my extra credit together to submit it and one of my study buddy's said,"Shhh, how did you do number 15?" I flat out said I'm not gonna do your work for you...so I told the instructor I"m going to give her the formula okay but I'm going to make her do the work. The instructor nodded. After I got all that sorted out I submitted the extra credit for the 1% raise in final grade which was to find advanced polynomials and show formula examples and define applications - meaning what it can be used for. I think I found like 5 types plus 25 subtypes and defined them. The instructor told me NEVER had anyone been that thorough in their research - most students couldn't even find them because it's not something you can google. I laughed and said,"then you should give me 2-3% for my effort." She laughed and said she may just do that. haha.

What amazed me was that only 5 or 6 people submitted the extra credit for plus 5 on your exam and only 2 or 3 people submitted advanced polynomials and even their submissions were a 1 sentence submission with no examples. The ones who couldn't find anything were referred to me on how to do the research. LOL.

It just amazes me how little effort people really put in. I don't get it.

I put that photo up top because that was from our last trip to Vegas the other February. Prior to our prepping life we took 4 weeks off a year to go on trips and vacations. YES a month vacation a year broken into parts. But now that we prepare ourselves and are more socially aware giving up that vacation is part of our effort to thrive. Jeez.

Piece Of Cake - NOT

My brothers so nice - he got me this cake pendant the other day - I love the dang thing it's so cute! I hate to admit it but I thought to myself I could buy at least 10lbs of beef with what you spent for it -but I didn't say anything I just thanked him and Mr. Man is making me a paracord choker so I can wear it. Awesome!

I got through my English Final and it looks like I have an A overall for the class she just has 1 more thing to grade. I took that yesterday - I did a paper on the effects of war on children from the point of being fatherless, orphaned or exposed to depleted uranium. I managed to finish the paper in 2 hours - pretty dang good. I heard some people trying to say that they were going to complete their paper in just 3 pages. I said why don't you just write the 6 pages and do it in less time instead of trimming your writing since there is no limit on length. No one thought this was a good idea.

On Monday I took my second math test so far this semester and I scored a 91. She handed them back today and only posted the grades yesterday. Even though I am a poor student at Math I study very hard because I am determined to get an A. I have to pay very close attention to the lectures, exercises and examples. I told the instructor today that I am very poor at Math and she laughed at me. I told her I'm not really getting a deep grasp of it - because I understand it but I am having difficulty absorbing it. She told me to relax and just keep doing what I do - THEN she gave an extra credit assignment for the test to the whole class which will give me an additional 5 points AND gave another extra credit assignment for a 1% total grade lift if you complete it. So if I maintain pace I will maintain my A - woo hoo - I feel like a thorn has been taken out of my side.

The critical essay class went easy this morning too!

The good news is I finally have Tuesdays and Thursdays off which will free me up for canning and making videos again! Woo Hoo.

Video's coming soon.

Unbelievable...Can't believe I found this stuff today

I got out of class around 430 - and decided to roll by the 99 cent store. I saw a lot of ads for Organic Spinach in town which means a LOT of overstock going to the local 99 cent only's.

We already went through 4 jars of lemon juice - so I picked up 4 more jars.

Yep 99 cents each






I flipped it to check if it was still 25% juice - NOPE it's actually gone up it is now 36% juice.
Awesome.











And it's STILL made in the USA.












They had these half and half organic salad mix packages. I love these coz they are half spinach and half spring mix...I also picked up a cute little Kleenex box for the bathroom - since Momma In Law will be in town in a couple days :)










I was looking for forks for Mr. Man's desk but instead I found these - Foldable Water Bottles non BPA. Only 99 cents each. I figure these would be great in the emergency bag.









Romaine Lettuce (3 heads per bag)
Earthbound organic spinach (9oz bag)

both looked fantastic today...

I can't believe I also found 21 foot parchment for only 99 cents. That is just disgustingly cheap.







Mr. Man loves pork rinds - so I got him a bag. They had Idaho potatoes - so I picked up another bag of those. I also copped 4 cans of water chestnuts (59 cents each) and some Kraft sourcream (expires 11/2011)...

I always get water chestnuts for Momma coz she loves them in her stirfry!

I got a few other things - chapstick and such...the grand total was $23.76. Crazy right?

oh and check this out I was having a conversation with the stockguy - Rafael and he told me that tomorrow they may have the 1lb organic spinach and DAK canned ham also for 99 cents and I should come by after 12. Right On. I might be able to go I might not - we'll see.

Canning While You've Got It!

Last Friday I started canning the ground beef and petite sirloin steaks I was able to get at a decent price. A decent price - not a great price. But beef prices are climbing at a level I don't like. Chicken prices should have risen after those floods a few months ago - but chicken only takes 3 months or so to get to kill level beef takes a lot longer.

But I'm doing what I can. har har.




We really love beef and salmon. I really got very lucky last week when I accidentally found 15.4 oz salmon at 99 cents with an expiration of 06/2016. That is just unheard of.

Between the cost of the Beef and the cost of the Canning Jars - I don't know which is worse. Goodwill, Craigslist and garage sales are all dry sources for jars now - and even the lid prices are going up.


15 pints of beef is better than none.

I tested the atlas mason jars that the tomato sauce came in - they worked our really well. I have to admit that I've been steadily using pint jars because I think a quart of anything is almost too much...lifting a loaded quart feels heavy.









4 quarts potatoes
5 pints potatoes
4 pints carrots

so a total of 32 pints of canned goods, a few loaves of bread, 2 pans lasagna, breakfast lunch and snacks - all in 30 hours. What a maniac I am - but I just wanted to get it out of the way.

So on Sunday I could just study and make caramel popcorn.



Last night I did can some fresh pineapple. I tested a recipe I made to see if it was good - I like the results. So the next time pineapple is on sale I will do it again. I basically took the insides of the pineapple that you usually toss and boiled it into the simple syrup to get a better flavor.

3 small pineapples will make you 7 pints. Actually they ate one already so that's under 40 cents a pint for a well stuffed jar.

If anyone hadn't noticed the pineapple is over 1.59 for the small can of generic - Dole is even more because they use a pineapple that is harvested closer to ripe for better scent and taste. So I am happy to make this.

I dunno about you guys but I like pineapple upside down cupcakes.

Panties...

Ha ha!

Hello Everyone...Please make sure that you include underwear in your preps. Personally, I am not skilled enough to make my own underwear or they would look like that nylon job in the photo.

If you have little ones prep their underwear, socks and shoes in increasing sizes. The same also applies to bras and tank tops.

Just a thought.

Rocket Stove Cooking: Teriyaki Chicken & Rice

CastIronWatchman threw down a challenge---preppers throwdown - LOL. It's all good.

Click here for our adventures in "outdoor cooking" I'm so glad that Afroprepper was there.

Small rocket stoves are real hard to maintain - we really want to make a bigger one that's for sure.

But I am very glad for the experience of cooking outside with the very little wood that we have. That is definitely something we need to have more of in the backyard. We do have hundreds of acres across the way of both trees and brush that we could glean to get wood and we will be doing that, because just in making 2 dishes it took a lot of branches.

We will soon be testing our QB stove that we picked up in the Philippines - It is a charcoal stove that resembles a cooktop LOL. Stylin! Seriously though - at least I am confident that we have sacks of charcoal put up and could actually make some if we had to. I am glad we have 3 alternate ways to cook our food - 4 actually. But we are lucky to live in a sunny place without the challenge of relentless rain or snow.

Beef Barley Soup & How to Can It

A few nights ago I made Beijing Beef - the cut of beef I purchased was 5 lbs. I took one pound off for the beijing beef, two pounds off for a roast for our sandwhiches and salads, used about a half pound of trim for beef stock which left a little over a lb. I went to Sprouts Market and pearl barley was on sale for 74 cents a lb so I decided it was time to make some beef barley soup.

Click here for soup video


Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 - 2 lbs beef cut into small cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups pearl barley
4 green onions
1 medium yellow onion
3 small tomatoes
3 pcs celery
1 medium carrot
1 tbsp red chili flakes
1 tbsp parsley
black pepper to taste
1 tbsp iodized salt

3 quarts beef beef stock
PLUS 7-10 cups water

The soup is very straightforward and when that barley blooms there is an incredible amount of it - so 1.5 cups of uncooked barley is just right for a 5 quart batch - so that's 5 good sized bowls for adults. However if you like yours on the thicker side feel free to add more.

I only held back a small bit for Afro to eat - and I canned the rest of it. Because the nature of a beef barley soup is to thicken and reduce the water I added back water and vegetables prior to canning. That's just me because I like my soup more loose. Feel free to keep it thick if you want to...but that concerns me with canned soups because I'm always afraid it won't process.

Click here for canning beef barley video.

It only made 5 quarts which is enough for me I have a lot of the staples canned up these days so I don't mind adding 5 quarts instead of 8 pints just to add some variety in there. But this soup is definitely handy. Mr. Man actually likes adding extra slices of roast beef in his prior to eating.

Happy Cooking and keep yourselves well. I am very perturbed that they have reduced the quality of the food in this country and at the same time reduced the dosage on the over the counter vitamins. Please eat and store a variety of food and vitamins and take not of the true suggested dosages. Also understand that Vitamin D actually serves you better than Vitamin C in fortifying your immune system...do your homework and you will see that far too many people have a Vitamin D deficiency which leaves you open to illness. Do what you can to keep yourself in the best shape possible - I myself have fallen out of shape since being on fertility meds and it's reallly messing with my head - but as of next week I have decided to take my bike to school and continue with the kick boxing. You must really look at yourself and ask if you are doing all you can or just being a spoiled American and simply "trying" your best. Those who "try" watch from the side - those who "DO" are in the game. It is what it is - just pick where you want to be.

SPAM with Zuchinni: Ghetto Gourmet lol

SPAM is magical. I like it I have no problem with it, it's handy and I like that salty faux ham goodness. This is a dish my Mom used to always make for us because no matter what she would always sneak in a few vegetables in our meals.

click here for the video

Almost everyone I know prepping and otherwise has a can of spam or non brand spam in their cupboard - here is just one more way to make it.

Ingredients:


1 can spam
1 tbsp garlic
1/2 white onion
1 tbsp lemon pepper
2 small tomatoes
2 large zuchinni
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1/4 cup water
2 handfuls spinach
1 tsp sesame oil

cut and fry spam
chop onion garlic tomato zuchinni
remove spam when crispy and cut into cubes
saute garlic and onion in 3 tbsp oil and lemon pepper
add zuchinni and tomatoes
when half done add oyster sauce
add spam and stir thoroughly
add spinach, once wilted , the dish is done.

Beijing Beef = Panda Style

Okey Dokey - I made another video - I'm just kind of winging it and fulfilling requests as I go along...I never even ate this before...but here it is - I just went on what mrmassive1 described and what my sister told me.

click here for part 1

click here for part 2

I must say I do not ever want to wait until like 930pm to start doing a cooking video - I was kind of rambling and going on and on and actually lost memory on my cam. That's never happened before - the loss of cam memory - the babbling occasionally happens when I'm tired.

Oh well here is the recipe

Recipe
Ingredients

1 lb beef flank cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 tsp garlic
1 carrot
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 red bellpepper
2 green bellpeppers
1/2 white onion
2 green onions diagonal slice

Beef Marinade
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp dark soy sauce
2 slivers ginger
1 tsp chili flake
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 splash sake or rice wine

1 egg scrambled - set aside
2 cups cornstarch - set aside in flat dish

3-4 cups cooking oil in a wok for frying

*taste and adjust before adding beef, marinade 30-60 minutes

Beijing "Sauce"

1/4 cup water
4 Tbsp sugar
2 squirts ketchup
3 Tbsp vinegar
1/4 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp lemon juice

If you'd like it to be more of that chicken fried style you can cut the cornstarch with all purpose flour 50/50 or use tempura powder. Happy Cooking...

Wheat Bread by Hand!

Hello!

I made a video for the wheat bread.

click here for part 1
click here for part 2

I know in a previous blog I mentioned that we started making our own bread. Well no sooner had I made those 2 loaves of white - 1 of them was gone. So today I made some wheat. Our whole wheat flour is out and I don't really feel like grinding any. Also - if you BUY 25 lbs of ground bread flour or wheat flour it is only 8 bucks which is riduculous because hard white wheat berries are now like 14 bucks for 25lbs and hard red wheat is like 12 bucks for the same 25 lbs. I have just taken the bread flour and broken it down into smaller jars and frozen them overnight individually to kill any buggies.

I tell you what - Mr. Man is so happy to be eating fresh made bread - he can honestly taste hidden high fructose syrup in things - and he can also taste when the vegetables are not organic but that's another story about NYC. lol. My one brother that lives in town hasn't caught wind of the new bread recipes yet - but once he does I have a feeling I'm going to have to start making 6-8 loaves a week. Oh well.

Recipe

2 .25oz pkgs active yeast
4 1/2 cups warm water (110F) divided
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp salt
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup oat bran
2 cups oatmeal
4 cups whole wheat
4 cups bread flour
1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds

3 2.5lb loaf pans greased (with cooking spray)
stainless steel bowl or mixer
spatula

1) dissolve yeast in 1/2 water with sugar - leave to foam
2) dissolve oil, honey, salt, germ, bran and oats into water, add to yeast
3) add bread flour and whole wheat flour 1/2 at a time
4) knead and double
5) punch and double again
6) punch and place in loaf pans, brush with egg and spinkle toppings
7) allow to rise 2 inches past pan lip
8) Bake @ 375 for 40 minutes or until done

Ham Fried Rice aka Sexy Leftovers hahaha

Fried rice is one of the best ways to use leftovers than almost anything I can think of. I thought it might be helpful to folks to have a demonstration of the order in which you should cook fried rice.

Click here to watch the video.

Happy cooking and Happier Eating!

Q&A with TheSheChef and Afroprepper 09/12/11 edition

Hi Everyone!

Just another Question and Answer thing that Mr. Man and I do every now and then for those questions that hit us in life and on line

Click here to watch!

Thank you!

White Bread...makin it in Arizona

I have not made bread in over 4 years. That is since before i met Mr.Man. For the entirety of our relationship our local dollar stores have carried the whole grain whole wheat 7 grain breads for 99 cents...Sara Lee would simply throw the overstock to the local Dollar Trees or Big Lots. We never hesitated to buy the Sara Lee or Aunt Hattie's because it did NOT have high fructose corn syrup.

I have been extraordinarily busy the last few months but a few weeks ago I finally got off my keister and started trying out different bread recipe. The recipes that I was originally using called for the fresh yeast that I used to have in my professional kitchen and I really can't purchase that right now - it's just not worth the trip to AJ's or Whole Foods.

Also, the delivery people here have a tendency to leave things out on the dock in the heat so it's usually compromised. I figure I might as well try a few recipes out using the individual packets of yeast that I was able to purchase for pennies. I also tried "expired" yeast and current yeast. They acted the same in my opinion.

The other thing is in my work kitchens we always had a proof box or could park a rack near the dish-washing station where it would be subject to warmth and moisture - that had to be replicated in my own kitchen.

I will be doing a video on this - but I just wanted to blog this out.

The photos you see in the photo are the white bread that i made - it was my 2nd attempt. I have discovered that here in AZ you get better results doing a double rise with a 3rd rise while proofing. Proofing is when you allow it to rise in it's final form with controlled temps and moisture. This can be achieved by proofing in the oven with a pan underneath with hot water - this warms the oven and locks in moisture.

My first attempts were as hard as king Arthur style yeasted breads. The yeasted quick breads like those in Northern Europe. What I was aiming for was the familiar fluffiness of American Style Breads without the sugar. I finally got it after trying a recipe provided by SciFiChick...it is an Amish White Bread recipe.

Recipe:

2 1/4 c warm water (110 degrees F)
1/3 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
1/4 c oil
5 1/4 c bread flour


I know that most people do theirs on the counter I do mine in the bowl. I have very large stainless bowls and in my opinion this just keeps everything cleaner and I'm used to eyeballing it so I know exactly when it doubles.

• Mix the sugar, yeast and warm water in a bowl - allow it to foam. Mine took 20+ minutes to get a nice foam on it.

• Mix salt and oil into yeast. Add Flour 1cup at a time until incorporated
• Allow dough to be sticky to the touch like cookie dough
• Knead until smooth (8-10 minutes), Cover with cloth and allow to double (60-90 mins)
• Grease 2 loaf pans and set aside
  
• Punch down, knead 2 minutes, allow to double again (60-90 mins)
  
• Punch down and divide in 2 equal parts
• Knead in a flat circle, folding under and shaping into loaf
• Place dough in loafpans, brush with eggwash and sprinkle with sesame seeds
• Place loaf pans in oven
• Place a roasting pan on rack under the loafpans - fill with 5 cups of boiling water, shut oven and allow to rise 2 inches above loaf pan. Do not overproof or your loaves will DEFLATE. I wait about 30 minutes then throw out the water and put another 5 cups in.
• Once dough bounces back it is ready to bake
• Heat oven to 375 with loaves in there
• Bake for 25 minutes after the oven is at temp

• Remove from heat - cool on racks

Some people just leave it for 10-30 minutes and then put it up - I allow mine to rest overnight. I know it sounds like a painstaking process - but if you want it to be all fluffy and happy like wonderbread this is how I do it in the desert. Also - I started sneaking those little plastic bags they leave by the meat counter and that's what I put my bread in. Every time I go shopping I just yank 3-4 of those bags and leave them in a drawer.

Whole wheat bread coming soon Also!

Happy Baking and Please let me know if you have any questions.

Chicken Wings: Lemon Parmesan & Buffalo!

I made another cooking video!
chicken wings! < click here


Some people say that the chicken doesn't matter it's the sauce that matters...in OUR house the chicken does matter because sometimes people just like their wings plain and extra well.

I learned this recipe from Momma In Law...My mom (Mom1) has always made her chicken without any breading or flour - Momma in Law makes hers floured - she not only marinates the chicken but she also seasons the flour and I think it makes a big difference. I must admit that I only measure the ingredients loosely. Feel free to adjust it to taste - some days I put more herbs and some days I put less. Also note that whole wheat flour is not as clingy or thick as all purpose flour - so if you want it to be real crispy style you might dip your chicken in buttermilk and then use all purpose flour.

Have fun, be safe and be careful frying is dangerous!

2 lbs chicken wings

chicken seasoning
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp creole seasoning
1 tsp oregano
4 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp lemon pepper

marinate 1 hr or up to overnight


flour base
ziploc bag
handful cornflour
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp garlic powder
4 shakes paprika
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp basil
1 tbsp chili powder
4 tbsp dried parsley

6 cups corn or vegetable oil for frying

---

"buffalo sauce"
4 Tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp sri ra cha (aka rooster sauce)
5 tablespoons hot sauce
pinch of salt - or to taste

optional
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp molasses
1 tbsp whiskey or bourbon

"lemon parmesan garlic sauce"
1/4 cup lemon or lime juice
1 tbsp fresh garlic
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
PLUS sprinkle parmesan before serving
1 tsp red chili flake

optional
1 tbsp tequila
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp lemon pepper
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Please just taste them before you drop your wings in there - adjust it as strong or as mild as you like...this is just to show you the method for preparing and serving barstyle wings in your home.



IF YOU'D LIKE ADDITIONAL FLAVORINGS LET ME KNOW - I CAN PULL SOMETHING OUT OF THIS BRAIN OF MINE :)

Cilantro Lime Rice & Tacos --- in 20 minutes!

I MADE A COOKING VIDEO!! hee hee.

As long as I have been cooking I have never recorded a video of myself cooking, my friend Gya was prone to taking video but she's always done that at all events.

Part 1 & Part 2 -- click here to watch
Please rate and subscribe ok?

The videos I made were pretty much live time with a few pauses for when the water was boiling. Waiting for water to simmer is like watching yourself lose weight...it ain't happening. I even did the food preps live so people have a real time understanding of what it takes. Always start the rice first and get that past boil and then start the tacos - Start to finish it shouldn't take more than 20-30 minutes to get dinner on the table.

cilantro lime rice ingredients

1/2 bunch cilantro (reserve 1/3)
1/2 white onion
3 cups rice
1 tbsp garlic or 4 cloves minced
1 tsp red chili flake
2 tsp basil
1 bouillon (1c water) or 2 pints chicken broth
4 tbsp cooking oil
6 cups water
1 shotglass lime juice (3 if you like it tart)
2 tbsp salt

Rice is so flexible you can eat it in all ways including dessert. This is just one more way to make rice --- my cooking errs on the side of less salt, feel free to add more. If you like it spicy throw in a jalapeno into the saute, if you want it more fragrant use jasmine with a pinch of saffron flowers, if you want it dirty add chicken or beef to it while it simmers. My one brother likes it with a LOT of cilantro so when he's over I use 1 1/2 bunches of cilantro. It's very flexible, just adjust it to how your house likes it.

Tacos are a twice a week staple in this house. I pretty much make these on the fly and no two times are ever the same because I rarely measure - especially if I cook it 5lbs at a time. So if I email you a recipe it may vary from this one but it's all the same range. With dryer meats I add a small can of tomato sauce, if I use the home canned meats I do not add tomato sauce because there is additional liquid in the jars.

taco meat ingredients

2 tbsp garlic or 7 cloves minced
1/2 white onion
3 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
4 shakes cumin
1 tbsp chacheres
4 tbsp cooking oil
1 pint canned ground beef OR
1.5 lbs raw ground beef
4 tbsp new Mexico chili powder

tortillas
shredded cheese
lettuce, cilantro, tomato sliced
salsa

---

Almost all of this can be made from preps as long as you have masa harina mix (or make your own) if you have the canned meat, dehydrated onion, garlic and herbs but instead of lettuce you could use rehydrated cabbage in a loose chop with a bit of lime juice!

Happy Eating!

Check It Out...Don't be Scared.

We put another Q&A video out: click here if you'd like to see it. Life keeps moving

Budgets getting a little tighter...prices are going a little bit higher. I remember when I first moved here I felt like the whole state was on supersale. Everyone and their Mom is out deal hunting so clearance surfing is not what it used to be...I never thought I would live to see the day that a bottle of chilean organic wine on sale would be cheaper than a lb of butter. Unbelievable...


People act real nervous and scared online and in real life.

Don't be scared...although the changes now are mostlly man made, there are naturally occurring changes that happen in the earth and what can you do about it? Be prepared, be aware and maintain the mindset of a natural and non fearful person. Truth be told even before we started "prepping" we always just observed the things around us and enjoyed what this life has to give.

When everyone said the TSA was groping everyone and not letting anything through we still kept traveling and TSA didn't take ONE look at us - half the time we get our own drinks and industrial size lotions on the plane. When people said US Customs takes everything - no they don't and we have the video to prove it. I will not deny that there are instances where these things happen but they do not happen to us.

There are some people who think that every incident, natural disaster, or political debate is going to trigger the fall of America. It won't. It will not be a singular event that cases our lives to change as we know it...it will be the conglomeration of things that makes everything fall down - the straw that broke the camels back per se. What gets on my nerves is THIS: I see people who actually enjoy seeing things fall apart - almost so they can use their preps and say "see I told you so..." That's some bullshit. If you could READ glee - i see glee in them to see that the economy, the stockmarket, the food supply, and the political climate is volatile. That's pathetic.

I also see that people (perhaps unconsciously) like to spread fear and anxiousness as a way to make themselves feel better because they perceive that they are more prepared than others and they will make it to "the big show" Blanket comments and generalized fear mongering is bullshit - I always ask people tell me how you've lost your rights...and they cannot answer, so I ask tell me specifically what is hindering your freedom in the recent changes from your city council...still no answer. I finally say,"If someone takes something from me your ass best believe I would know that someone took my shit --- so what did they take from you?" It turns out it was just some changes in building inspections for their local area. Hey genius - you are supposed to follow rules for structures you build over a certain size, unless you are an architect slash electrician slash plumber and can do such shit. Small structures don't require such inspections but large ones do asshole. Its funny when people get away with shit for so long and then when their luck runs out they call it a loss of freedom. We are losing our freedoms but not in those minute stupid ways that fear mongers say.

Losers and hermits want you to be scared because instead of doing productive things you will waste your time, arguing, being angry and worrying. Anger is effective in the correct time and place but it should also blow over into action.

Fear will hinder your growth.