Welcome back to the mini farm!
We had Chinese NON-take out night the other night. Here is a simple recipe we used for egg drop soup.
2 Cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
salt/pepper to taste
2 large eggs
chives for garnish
In a saucepan bring the chicken broth to a light simmer. Add soy sauce and salt/pepper to taste. In a separate cup whisk the eggs. Stir the soup into slow vortex and slowly drizzle in the eggs.
Let the soup simmer for another few minutes and it is ready to serve. Add chopped fresh chives to garnish.
It takes less than $13.00 and 5 minutes to make a batch of laundry detergent that will last you 12 months (240 loads of laundry).
I find it easier to mix a 6 month supply at a time … so here is what you will need for a 120 load supply:
4lb box of Borax
3lb 7oz box of washing soda
1 Fals-naptha bar
Cheese grater
Instructions:
In a large bucket with a lid (I use a 3 gallon) pour in washing soda and borax. Grate the Naptha bar into the bucket (it is MUCH easier to grate it using the rotating grater pictured below). Put the lid on tightly and shake to combine.
That’s it … you now have very effective laundry detergent for 6 months and it cost you less than $6.50 to make it!!
Use 2 Tablespoons per load of laundry.
Clean your microwave the easy, chemical free way!
We use LOTS of lemons around here!! A great way to use leftover lemon rinds is to clean the microwave.
Fill a heat resistant glass container with water and the lemon rind. Microwave on high for 8 min. Leave the microwave door closed for another 2 minutes giving the steam time to work the baked on gunk loose. Wipe down with clean towel … it’ll come right off!!
Before:
After:
Once you try it, it’ll be the only way you clean your microwave … at least that’s what happened at our house 🙂
The perfect strawberry lemonade!
My hubby makes the BEST fresh lemonade. When we had an abundance of strawberries I decided to add pureed strawberries to his recipe. It was delicious!! Here is the recipe …
Ingredients:
4 washed medium-sized organic lemons (halved)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup of warm water
2 cups of pureed strawberries
Ice
Filtered water
In a 2.5 quart jug squeeze the lemon halves and drop the rind in the jug with the lemon juice. Mix the sugar and warm water together until completely dissolved and add mixture to jug.
Add pureed strawberries and stir the mixture.
Then fill the jug with ice and add filtered water. Stir mixture again and serve.
Quick Refrigerator Pickle Recipe
I’ve gotten lots of requests for the refrigerator pickle recipe on the Facebook page (www.facebook.com/MiniSliceOfFarm) … So here it is! Enjoy!!
3/4 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar (or honey)
1 teaspoons celery seed
1 teaspoon salt
4 medium sliced cucumber
1 small onion, thinly sliced
Place sliced cucumber, onions and celery seed in a large container. In a separate bowl, stir vinegar, sugar, water and salt together until dissolved. Pour liquid over cucumber and onions. I put a small glass (like a shot glass) on the top to push the cucumbers and onions down before closing the lid. Refrigerate for 5 to 7 days – lasts about 3 months.
It almost seems too easy doesn’t it? 🙂 Trust me those 5 to 7 days of waiting will be torture lol!! But the longer you wait the yummier they get.
A few days ago I shared my momma’s (slightly improved) homemade yogurt recipe.
When I make yogurt I usually do a full gallon because I can turn half of that yogurt into cream cheese by simply pouring it through cheesecloth!
Pour your yogurt into the cheesecloth and let the whey drip out for one hour undisturbed.
Then pull the sides of the cheesecloth up to form a pouch around the yogurt. Hang that pouch (I use a rubber band) above the bowl and allow to drip for another 24-48 hours.
After the cheese reaches the desired consistency, use a spatula to move it to a container and store it in the refrigerator.
You can also make this in a Greek yogurt mesh sieve, (pressing the cheese with the back of a spatula at the end while its still in the sieve will get it to the desired consistency)
We love it sweet or savory. Our favorite way to eat it is on fresh bread under a layer of strawberry jam!
Enjoy!
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Oganic non GMO is very important to us as a family. Since we still don’t have proper GMO labeling and most of the “organic” babyfood had some “natural” preservative or additive we had to come up with an alternative way to feed our precious boy.
When it came time to start feeding our baby solid foods we came up with some delicious, homemade and easy recipes. I was shocked how much it saved us when I calculated the savings!!
Here is an easy (and incredibly yummy) one to start with.
Roasted butternut squash puree
1 – Preheat oven to 400°F
2 – Wash and cut butternut squash lengthwise
3 – Scoop out seeds using a spoon (save those for later – more on that in a future post)
4 – Place squash cut side down in baking dish with 1″ water
5 – Roast at 400°F for 40 min
6 – Let cool until it’s not too hot to touch and start peeling. I pull off the peel with my fingers but you can also turn the squash and scoop out with a large spoon.
7 – Puree in a food processor or blender.
And that’s it! My 1.5lb squash gave me 32oz of baby food. If I were to buy this in the prepackaged jars I would pay $0.30/oz. That is $9.60 for 32oz. I payed $2.20 for the squash, a savings of $7.40. My baby eats 32oz of food in 2 days. So that is a savings of $111/mo!! Not bad for 10min of actual work! AND it was much yummier than anything prepackaged in a jar … I had to hold myself back from eating it all 🙂
