Mary's Muse

Self Deprivation #2

I went for a walk with the dog ~ the one that still walks ~ up toward the mountain on which we live.  This started my mind churning about what I gave up for Lent and how this Lent, my fasting has kind of taken on a life of its own. 

I began the whole giving up thing going easy on myself, since due to gluten intolerance, I am limited as to what I can eat and then recently, I found I have a yeast intolerance as well.  So I told myself I'd give up second helpings for dinner.  But then, we overspend our budget occasionally due to me not realizing that undergarments for five people should cost well over $100.  Or that a couple pairs of church pants and a belt, along with two $5 tee shirts, should cost at about $100.  So we don't have quite enough money sometimes weeks before my husband's next pay day. 

This said, I realized that this Lent, I have been fasting regularly.  I eat little for breakfast because not only my kids, but also my husband like the cereal I can eat.  It's often whittled away to nothing before I can get much out of the bag.  So, it's often a piece of fruit.  I can't eat anything with yeast or wheat, so that limits lunch oftentimes to carrot and celery sticks, sometimes a bit of leftovers, if there are any to be had.  It's dinner that I can eat.  And I often am so hungry by then, that I mess up and have second helpings.   Since I'm nursing a baby still and considering my health-imposed fasts, I allowed myself to waive the original deprivation of second helpings.  I'm thinking this fast was Other-imposed, because I certainly didn't intend to do it.  But, as is usual with His plans for me, I'm so glad I am fasting.

We are stretching our budget to the limit to raise nine children still at home and improve the house.  Some of the recipes through this blog help in this endeavor.  Here's another one, based on what we have around the house.  This came from 101 Cookbooks.com.

Carrot Soup

2 1/2 pounds carrots
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (or butter)
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 large yellow onion, chopped
8 cups+ vegetable stock or water
juice of 1/2 a lemon

parsley and/or basil to taste (we used both)

quinoa (we used two cups but that turned this soup into more of a stew)
fine grain sea salt (as much as you need)

- olive oil, toasted sesame oil, or red chile oil for a finishing drizzle - if you use toasted sesame oil (sometimes labeled pure sesame oil) it is very strong. I typically dilute it with olive oil. I use one part sesame oil to four parts olive oil.

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the cut carrots, garlic, and onions and saute for a few minutes or until the onions start to get translucent. Add the stock and bring to a gentle boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes or until the carrots are tender - longer if your carrot pieces ended up larger. But try not to overcook. Remove from heat and cool for a few minutes.

Puree with a blender (we like the soup chunky, so we leave at least 1/2 unblended) - then stir in the lemon juice. Add salt to taste.  Keep adding a few pinches at a time until the carrot flavor really pops. If it tastes flat or dull, keep adding.

Finish with a drizzle of great extra-virgin olive oil, one of the other drizzles I mention up above, or whatever twist you come up with.  Popcorn or croutons can be popped in at the end.

 

Kielbasa Recipe

We only started eating kielbasa a few years ago when I found a delicious recipe with black beans and kielbasa.  But that was my only kielbasa recipe.  And over the past few years, I made it enough times that this time, I just didn't want to repeat it.  So I searched online again, looking for something different to make with this sausage.  I came up with a blend of two recipes and cooked them in the slow cooker.  I became a fresh, individual ingredients snob since I found I became sick when I ate things with gluten or yeast in them, so I couldn't use most of the ingredients in one .  The other recipe has milk in it, which a few of us are sensitive to.  So here is how I combined them and my slow cooker twist.

Kielbasa Au Gratin (serves 12)

 Slice 10 russet potatoes thin.  Layer the potatoes on the bottom of the slow cooker.  Layer thin slices of onion over the potatoes.  Cover this with browned slices of 2 kielbasas.  Let cook for 7 hours on low or 3.5 hours on high.  Meanwhile, wash and chop broccoli and cauliflower and peel and slice carrots.  I just put together a bowlful of what looked like a good blend.  An hour before it finished (we like crisp-tender vegetables, if you like them more tender, allow more time before the meal finishes), add the vegetables and cheese sauce (see below)  to the slow cooker.

1/2 cup + 1 tbl. butter

1/2 cup + 1 tbl. all purpose flour (we used gluten free)

6 cups milk (I used 1/2 milk and 1/2 water to thin it, but next time I believe I'll use soy milk)

4.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Melt butter over medium heat.  Mix in flour and a dash of salt (optional) and whisk constantly for one minute.  Stir in milk/water.  Cook until mixture is hot and add a cold water and flour combination to help thicken it further if necessary.  Stir in cheese all at once and continue stirring until melted (30 - 60 seconds).  Pour cheese sauce over the mixture in the slow cooker about an hour before serving.

Recipes for a Healthier, Elderly Dog

Since we are a one-income family with nine children living at home, we must be vigilant about how we spend money on the animals we have.  Instead of visiting a veterinarian which, last time I visited, cost $45 just to walk in the door, I look online to find more holistic and cost-effective recipes to cure our animals' ills. 

For ear infections, which affect not only the elderly dog, I borrowed the following recipe:

Spaniel Ear Cleaner Recipe
__________________________


Ingredients:

White vinegar
Powdered boric acid
Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol)
Betadine antiseptic (or the generic version, known as Povidone-Iodine Solution)
Please note:  do not use "Betadine Scrub", use "Betadine Solution"


Directions for mixing the solution together:

Pour six ounces of isopropyl alcohol in to a plastic applicator bottle.  Add one and a half teaspoons of boric acid powder.  Be careful not to get any boric acid on your skin or clothes.  If you do, wash it off immediately.

Shake the solution extremely well, until the boric acid powder is dissolved, or for five minutes, whichever comes first.

Add two ounces of white vinegar.  Shake the solution some more, until the boric acid powder is dissolved, or for another five minutes, whichever comes first.  

Add one teaspoon of the Betadine antiseptic, and shake it up some more.  Be careful not to get any Betadine on your skin or clothes.  If you do, wash it off immediately.

The ear cleaning solution is now ready to use.



To use the ear cleaning solution:

It is recommended that you use the ear cleaning solution in your garage or outdoors, as the dog will shake it out of his ears and it will fly in to the air and stain things.

Squirt the solution inside your dog's ear until the ear canal is completely full.  Massage the outside of the ear to help slosh the cleaning solution around inside.  Release the dog and let him shake out the ear cleaning solution from his ears.  

If you get any of the ear cleaning solution on your skin, wash it off as soon as possible.

Be sure to shake the solution up really well before each and every time you use it.  The boric acid has a tendency to settle at the bottom of the bottle.  Store at room temperature.

Use the cleaning solution daily until you start to see some improvement.  Gradually cut back to once per week when you are happy with the condition of the ear.  When the ear seems completely free of infection, you can go two weeks between treatments.




Warning:  Do not use this ear cleaning solution on dogs with ruptured ear drums, or on dogs with open sores or wounds in the ear area.  An ear exam by a veterinarian is recommended 
prior to beginning treatment with this ear cleaning solution.

This recipe came to you from Jim Zimmerlin - www.zimfamilycockers.com

For arthritis, I give my 14-year-old German Shepherd Arthroplex

As a general wellness multivitamin, he gets Canine Plus Senior.

We're also trying a new food.  It's called Wilderness Blue Buffalo.

Yes, it's more expensive than Purina and just letting the dog age naturally, but we've had this dog for 14 years and he was full of vitality and life up until about a year ago.  He aged quickly after that and it saddened me to no end.  We've had Chestnut on the vitamins and arthritis medicine for three weeks and it seems to be helping him.  He's not so stiff and he can make it outside and down to the yard before he lifts his tail.  The food is new, but was recommended by someone whose dog has used it for a long time and they noticed a difference in the dog's behavior.  Our dogs ate it all, which says a lot.  Chestnut hadn't been finishing his food in the last week or two.

Soup Wednesday

Today, I just made one soup.  Surprisingly, we had too many leftovers from last week.  It smells sooooo good!

Broccoli Cheese Soup serves 5

1 tbls butter or margarine

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tbls all-purpose flour (we omitted this with, as far as I can tell, no effect)

1 tsp salt

3 cups original-flavored soy milk (or regular milk)

2 tsp cornstarch

3 cups bite-sized fresh broccoli florets*

1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese

*We didn't have enough broccoli on hand, so we added an equal amount of sliced carrot.  Cauliflower is another vegetable you can make this recipe with and next time I make it, I might use all three.  Also, I have to double the recipe next time.

Melt butter over medium heat. Stir in onion, [flour], and salt. Cook 2 - 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until onion is soft.

Mix milk and cornstarch with a wire whisk until smooth. Gradually stir into onion mixture.  Heat to boiling; boil 1 minute stirring constantly, until bubbly and thickened.

Stir in broccoli (or whatever blend of vegetables pleases the palate).  Cook 4 - 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Stir in cheese and cook 2 - 4 minutes more, stirring frequently (can't emphasize that enough, can they?), until cheese is melted.

This recipe is from Betty Crocker easy everday Vegetarian, one of my three favorite vegetarian cookbooks.

Soup Wednesday

I'm a terrible planner. Knowing this about myself, I thought it would be a good idea to plan the general type of meal and then go from there.  Soup is an anchor in the middle of the week.  Sundays we usually have a roast.  Monday is something with chicken unless our roast happens to be chicken or turkey.  Tuesday is spaghetti day ~ not every week, but fairly often.  Wednesday is soup (or salad in summer).  Friday is a no meat day.  So that leaves Thursday and Saturday for leftovers or chance.

In an effort to keep food costs low as well as for our health and especially to sacrifice a little thing to pray for those in need (sometimes to pray for ourselves), we started soup Wednesday.  It's generally a vegetarian soup, especially during Advent and Lent, but even meat soups have a lot less meat than other meat meals.  I make two regular-sized recipes for our double-sized family so that if the kids don't like one type, they'll eat the other.

So this is our first installment of Soup Wednesday recipes.

Sweet Potato Chili

3 tbls canola oil

2 large onions, finely diced

6 garlic cloves

1 green pepper, diced

1.5 tbls chili powder

1.5 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp oregano

5 cups water

2 15 oz cans chopped tomatoes

2 large yams peeled and cut bite-sized

1 can black beans + 1 can kidney beans (or any other combination you prefer)

Smattering of salt

Saute the onions and garlic in oil for about 10 minutes, until the onions begin to brown.  Add the bell peppers and cook for 10 minutes more.

Sprinkle the chili powder and cumin and cook the spices 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Stir in all remaining ingredients and bring the mixture to a boil.  Cook 15 minutes, just until the sweet potatoes are tender.  Stir the soup occasionally during this time. Serve with cilantro or Sofrito sprinkled on top, if desired.

Pumpkin and Corn Curry

2 medium leeks

1/4 cup olive oil

2 carrots, finely diced

10 cups vegetable stock

2 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and finely diced

1.5 tsp salt

generous seasoning of pepper

1/4 tsp cloves

dash of cayenne

2 16-oz cans pumpkin

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen

minced fresh parsley for garnish

Assuming you know how to wash and peel leeks, I'll take the recipe from there.  Cut the leeks into thin slices.  You should have about 3 cups.

Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot.  Add the leeks and carrots and saute for 15 minutes.  Pour the vegetable stock (we used water) in and bring to a boil.  Add the potatoes, salt, pepper, cloves, and cayenne; cook the soup for 30 minutes. 

Place the pumpkin in a large bowl. Ladle abotu a cup of soup onto the pumpkin and stirl it together to liquefy it.  Then Pour it into the soup along with the heavy cream and corn. Cook 5 more minutes (or longer if the chowder it too thin). Serve in bowls with minced parsley sprinkled on top.

 Both recipes are from Jeanne Lemlin's Quick, Simple, and Main-Course Vegetarian Pleasures.  This is one of my three favorite vegetarian cookbooks. 

School Starts!

Eeeek!  In five days, school starts.  I haven't finished planning my 9th grader's science, but I'm almost there.  We're still working on summer reading.  I haven't planned anyone else's school. I wanted desperately to purge through the school room shelves this summer, but the books are trickling out instead.  I just don't have the time to go through them as I'd like because my little guy needs me when he's awake and my bigger, but still little, kids need me when he's asleep.  And I can barely blog, which takes practically no time at all for me!  Life has been so ... so what?

Well. Let's see.  Almost a month ago, the biggest kid, Epimethius, broke his clavicle.  A couple of days ago, Little Man cracked his radius.  Between that and running around for back-to-school clothes shopping for my second oldest for two straight, long days ~ and need I tell you what a dent that put in our budget? ~ I've been run ragged.

A very good friend has needed extra help this summer as she's going through chemo to battle cancer that shouldn't even be there.  So we have tried to be present (as in both meanings) for her.

I haven't bothered to attend choir rehearsals.  I'd like to get involved in a Bible study at Church, but these things both eat into the time I put Jumping Bean to bed.  That's time I just do not want to compromise.  After I put JB into bed, I read to and put Etu and DQ in bed.  The other kids are more or less on their own, but I like to be around to enforce them getting into bed at a decent hour.  It's a ritual. Can't/won't break it.

I know that this is a seaon in my life.  I know that at some point I'll be able to blog daily.  But by then, what will I blog about?  Maybe I'll rediscover the interior life I once had.  In the meantime, I plan for school, help kids through school, teach tying of shoes, teach using the bathroom, cuddle my little ones, read them books, clean laundry, make meals, do dishes, wash the floor, clean bathrooms, all of this on an almost daily basis.

In future posts, I'll have examples of the planning and budget sheets we use.

Cheaper Chicken

Yesterday, I bought 7 pounds of chicken at my favorite meat counter for chicken and paid just under $21.  My husband lemon-peppered it and grilled the whole load of it last night.  We ate about 1/2.  For lunch today, I made a huge salad bar with several on-hand ingredients from which to choose.  Green and red leaf lettuce made the base.  Radishes, carrot sticks, black olives, feta cheese, sunflower seeds, and that same grilled chicken, bias cut into strips, comprised the rest.  You can choose from a variety of other ingredients, but this is what was in the refrigerator today.  I love using leftovers creatively!

Chinese Dining for Less

I'd been craving Chinese, but had been shy to try my hand at it.  Used to be, when we could no longer resist the urge, we would cave in and all go out as a family to a Chinese buffet.  We would, that is, until the $100 dinner.   I realized then that our family was just too big to go out to eat anymore.

Just recently, I started dabbling with a Sweet and Sour chicken that I just concocted in my brain as I was strolling through the local supermarket.  You see, chicken breast tenders were on sale, ready-made into strips.  I figured broccoli and snow peas would go well with stir-fried chicken.  And my kids like those little corn cobs and water chestnuts.  Following is the recipe I made up:

• 4 pounds of chicken breast, sliced cross-wise into thin strips
• 4 tbls. sesame oil
• head of broccoli
• 4 or 5 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
• bag of snow peas
• 2 cans of baby corn
• 2 cans of sliced water chestnuts
• 1 bottle of Yoshida's Hawaiian Sweet and Sour 
• Five cups of uncooked rice

Cook the rice as directed.  Brown the chicken breast strips in sesame oil in a wok or deep frying pan.  Cut the broccoli and carrots in the meantime.  Set the meat aside and stir fry the vegetables together for a few minutes in the same oil.  Add the meat to the wok and the bottle of Yoshida's and heat through.

 

Another Money-Saving Recipe

Here is our version of tacos that don't dip too deeply into the pocketbook of a large family.  This recipe feeds 10 - 12 big eaters, easily.  Another bonus is that this is a quick-to-fix meal.

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 2 cans chili beans with chili sauce
• 1 or 2 cans chili peppers
• enough water to just cover the top of the meat, beans, and peppers
• chili powder to taste
• cumin to taste
• cilantro to taste

Brown ground beef in a large skillet.  Add the two cans of chili beans with sauce, the chili peppers, and the water.  Then add all spices.  After it starts to boil, turn it down to simmer.  Let the mixture simmer until all the flavors blend and some of the water evaporates away.  We use corn shells, but you can use flour tortillas as well.  Garnish with items below of your choice.

Toppings:

• Mexican blend cheese
• iceberg lettuce
• black olives
• salsa
• guacamole
• sour cream

Something to Ponder

Five years ago, we moved into this house.  Since then, we renovated a basement room, replaced carpets, replaced a few windows, tiled bathrooms, removed fitzers that covered 1/3 of our front yard and replaced that with grass,  fairly weeded out and filled up three garden areas (work still needs to be done, here), and added a dog kennel and swingset to the yard.

We are here ----> o <----

Five years from now, if all goes as planned (and I'd like to think that God enjoys us being burdened by bills even less than we do), we will be free of credit card bills, we'll have a new kitchen and those windows, and doors in which wasps are able to crawl through the cracks, we haven't upgraded yet.  We'll also have been able to pay for braces without stretching ourselves to the limit.  And we can plan for a subfloor, sprinkler system, an upgrade to yet another bathroom (we're eradicating the 70's out of our home). 

I love planning.  It gives us goals to work toward instead of being hit in the backside by things we may not have planned for.  We're even putting money aside for helping college kids with expenses and a new roof.  When the time comes, we'll have a specific pot of money to contribute to whatever cause.  I like specifying what we're saving for as well as what we're currently paying for.  Miscellaneous savings tend to get frittered away on unnecessary things.  When every penny is accounted for, we take more care in how we spend it.