Cornmeal Rolls

We seem to eat a lot more rolls in the summer. I like to have rolls in the freezer for an impromptu picnic. Though the sandwich buns recipe is the one I use most frequently, sometimes I am looking for variety and make cornmeal rolls. This recipe is one our family has enjoyed for years. The cornmeal adds a golden color and wonderful flavor. They are equally good as dinner rolls or cut large for sandwiches. My favorite use is with pork barbecue!

1/3 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
2 cup milk

Mix and cook on stove until thickened. Cool until lukewarm.

1/4 cup warm water
1 T. yeast

Dissolve yeast in water.

2 eggs
4 cups flour (or more, I use half whole wheat.)

Combine the cornmeal mixture and the yeast water with the eggs and mix well. Add flour until you have a soft dough. Knead for five or more minutes. Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise. Punch down. Roll out and form into rolls. I like to cut them with a biscuit cutter. Place on greased baking sheet, brush with melted butter and dust with cornmeal. Rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Cloth Diapers

I have been asked numerous questions about cloth diapers recently. I've been wanting to write out everything I know about cloth diapering for the benefit for those who are interested in this frugal option. But I've never taken the time to do it! This past week, Simple Mom did a whole week of articles on all things concerning cloth diapering. I sure could not have written anything better myself. So if you are interested, go to her site to learn all about it.

Following is an edited version of what I wrote last summer in my newsletter. I've added some more information answering some of the questions I've received.

I know that most of you are not in the baby stage of life, and even fewer of you would probably even consider cloth diapers, but I have to admit that I LOVE CLOTH DIAPERS! Yes, now you know for sure that I'm weird! But I just walked in from bringing an arm load of sun bleached diapers and I'll soon be wrapping my little one's bottom in soft cotton. What is there not to love! Sure there is a few more loads of laundry, but for me it has been far worth it. And several hundred extra bucks each year doesn't hurt anything either!

If you have done any research on cloth diapering, you've discovered that diapers have come a long way from the strips of flannel and huge safety pins your mother used. There is so many options in diapers out there (FuzziBunz, BumGenius, pocket diapers, etc) that it is positively overwhelming and some products are not cheap! I chose the simplest options of unbleached Chinese pre-folds, Dappi covers, and Snappi fasteners. I've been very pleased and even my husband learned to master the Snappis. (Just guessing, but I think diaper pins would have scared him out of the bathroom!)

If you are interested in cloth diapers please DON'T buy cloth diapers from Walmart or Target!!! You might as well wrap your baby in a paper towel then use Gerber. They just are not absorbent! Buy the durable diapers used by diaper services. Some of my diapers are now on their fourth child! They may be a little worn and tattered but they still work! I bought mine from F.A.M.I.L.I.E.S. (There website doesn't show their diaper products, so ask for a catalog. They are a family company with very fast service.)

Do they leak? Yes, sometimes, especially when I need to move up to a larger size diaper cover. But so do disposables! In fact, right now Brooke seems to be on a schedule that she holds in all in and does one gully washer of liquid poo each evening! If she is in a disposable, everything, including mom, needs changed! But a cloth diaper seems to have enough folds and weight to hold most of it in.

How do you store and clean cloth diapers? I keep a tightly sealed plastic bucket under the bathroom sink where I keep dirty diapers. When that is full, I empty them into a larger plastic bucket in the basement near the washing machine. I do not pre-soak the diapers. When I'm ready to launder, I dump the diapers into the washing machine with detergent and wash with hot water. I like Charlies Soap. Sometimes I do a double rinse, but usually I do not. I never dry the vinyl diaper covers in the dryer. I prefer to hang the diapers outdoors to take advantage of the sun's power to whiten the diapers, especially now with newborn yellow stains! It makes them pure white.

I am not a cloth diaper purist. I only use cloth diapers at home. Don't worry, if you ever babysit for me, I won't ask you to change a cloth diaper! Though my husband is so grateful that I learned to change cloth diapers growing up, he threatens to send our children to my parent's with cloth diapers so that my younger sisters can have the same advantage! But I know that my mom would just do all the diaper changing! I've also used a lot of disposables on my youngest son at night as he seems to have sensitive skin and, though he was fine during the day, it seemed to aggravate it at night in a cloth diapers, though I think he is growing out of it. With an infant, two year old, and three year old in nighttime diapers, I would be going through a huge stack disposables. For three weeks after Brooke was born I used disposables for convenience and couldn't believe how many packs we went through! The amount of trash we made those few weeks was astounding! It made me even more determined, and grateful, to use cloth.
And once again I'll add my disclaimer...I am not saying that you should use cloth diapers! There isn't anything more spiritual about cloth vs. disposables. I just mention it for anyone who might be interested in the option and need some courage to give it a try! You might surprise yourself and love it, too! I enjoy writing about the things that work for me, whether diapers, cooking from scratch or having chickens. But you and your husband may have entirely different goals for your home! Don't put yourself on a guilt trip because you choose another path! Wouldn't the world be horribly boring if we all did things exactly alike!

Rooster Update

I know you just can't wait to hear more about our chickens! The big news is that our roosters are learning to crow! A little while back, we heard some strange croaks and squawks from the chicken coop and figured one of the roosters had found his voice box but it was not going so well! A few days later I left the chickens out in the early morning. As they did their normal mad dash for the thicket, one of the Black Australorp roosters stopped, stood on tip-toe, and left out a real honest "Cock-a-doodle-doo"! I was as proud as a mama watching her toddler take his first step!
We still need to get rid of a few roosters. Two have found new homes, and one we found dead in the coop one morning. (Any ideas of what happened?) We now have four Black Australorps and three Partridge Rocks left. We may try taking some to auction this week just to give the others more room. We never planned to have this many chickens in the coop. The roost rail is rather full.
The chickens have been coming in the garden more this week. I enjoy watching them scratch in the compost pile and stand on the fence. They haven't done much damage but Ed has convinced me they are snipping off the young corn tops. He thinks we will need to begin penning them in. Yesterday Ed built a simple movable pen. Give us a few days to use it and see what we think of our design. Then I'm sure we'll be sharing about it here!

Counting My Blessings

1. Fresh strawberries every morning, usually with shortcake or on cereal but once with waffles and freshly whipped cream! Mmmm!
2. New peas!
3. Eager helpers. (For the first half hour!)
4. A sweet happy baby. (Why won't that picture go upright?)

5. Over two inches of rain. (I won't mention what two days of constant rain did to some attitudes - children and mama! Some things are better forgotten! And the rain was wonderful!)
Now, we are home from church, just finished a wonderful lunch of grilled steak, stir-fried asparagus, salad, and strawberry pie. Looking forward to a restful afternoon!
God is so Good!

Kale Recipes

We have enjoyed trying recipes for kale. I had never eaten kale but decided to grow it because it is so pretty, that it just had to be good!

Here is few ways we've enjoyed it!

Kale Chips

I found this idea in the Family Fun magazine. The children really enjoyed these! The are so light and crispy!

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, toss kale with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Place kale on an oiled baking sheet. Don't overlap pieces. Sprinkle with salt. Bake until crisp, flipping halfway through. It will take about 8 minutes. Eat immediately!

Kale Breakfast Bake

I found this recipe on line somewhere long forgotten. We really enjoyed it. I am trying to add more fruits and vegetables to our diet and this is a pleasant way to get a serving of veggies in at breakfast - though I served it in the evening!

1 bunch kale, washed, dried, and chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp. teaspoon garlic powder)
1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 C grated cheese (I used Cheddar)
1/4 cup bread crumbs
6 eggs, beaten well
1/2 tsp. seasoning salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Cut off kale stems and discard, then wash kale leaves and dry well. (I used a salad spinner.) Pile kale leaves up on top of each other and cut into strips about 3/4 inch wide, then turn cutting board the other way and cut again so you have squares just under an inch square.

Heat olive oil in large heavy frying pan, then add onions and saute 3 minutes. Add garlic and saute about 2 more minutes, then add kale, turning over as it wilts and sauteing about 5 minutes, or until kale is wilted and softened.

Gently stir all ingredients together. Pour into greased baking dish. Bake 20-25 minutes until eggs are well set and the top is lightly browned. Serve hot. This is good with sour cream or salsa.

Grandma's Strawberry Shortcake

We picked our first strawberries today! We got up a little earlier than usual and Ed picked two quart of berries while I put a shortcake in the oven! What a wonderful breakfast to start the week!

Everyone seems to have their favorite shortcake recipe and this is the one I grew up with! It is less like a cake and more like a biscuit. We love it served with milk and eat it for breakfast, lunch or supper!
Grandma's Shortcake

4 cup flour (I use half whole wheat)
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
8 tsp baking powder
6 T oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup milk

Mix all ingredients together. Pour in two greased and floured round cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Are you picking berries? What is your favorite way to enjoy them?

Go to Tammy's Recipes for more strawberry recipes!

Bird Netting for Strawberries

In the past, our strawberries have been plagued with visits from critters. I really could not blame them! Strawberries are very good eating. I don't mind sharing but when several robins take up residence in the patch and always find the largest berries to peck at, I don't feel generous!

Saturday, Ed put netting over our berries. It only took a few minutes and I was so pleased with the results. Maybe some of you are in the same predicament, and would like to do something similar.

Ed bought a roll of black flexible water pipe from Lowes. He cut it in lengths long enough to make a large hoop over both strawberry rows. He pounded rebar into the ground and slid the pipe over the end.
Also at Lowes, we found some netting. The bird netting was in a large square. To cover our strawberries, we would have had to buy several pieces. The deer netting appeared to be similar but was in a long skinny length. (7 x 100 feet) We cut the piece in half, lined up the pieces and tied them together with string every couple feet. It then was the perfect size to cover the full length of both strawberry rows. We weighted the edges down with rocks.

A simple project but hopefully will allow us to harvest many more berries! And the supplies should be reusable for years!

For more information on growing strawberries, read what I wrote here.