St John's Wort & Lavender Honey Soap

Hi everyone,
At the moment I am recovering from hurting my back (again). It's been about a year since I hurt it this bad, so I'd forgotten how awful it is. The up-side is I'm personally testing out a Pain Salve I made (with Arnica & St John's wort infused oils - plus essential oils of Wintergreen, Clove, Fir, Peppermint, Basil, and a few others.  I find St John's Wort to be a fascinating herb !! When the flowers are squeezed a tiny bit of reddish oil oozes out. This red oil is the power house, its the most potent part of the plant. 

 I took some photos last year  when I made a St John's Wort balm to share in a post and never got round to it. The pictures tell their own story of what I normally do when making a balm (if I infuse the oils myself). Often I purchase infused oils when I intend to sell the balms on the website.

gathering flowers and leaves...placing them in the jar (chopped up a bit), then covering with oil.

The oil after 1 month infusing..note the reddish hue

When making balms etc,  I generally refer to my trusty herbal books eg: Rosemary Gladstar for more concrete information and guidelines for usage. The great thing is that anyone can make these if they have enough interest and desire to make their own natural remedies. 

For anyone interested I wrote this little bit of info:

Infusing St John;s Wort in Olive Oil
Leaves can also be infused, but generally the more flowers the better. A lot of people use dried plant material, but I get better results from fresh. I generally gather dry flowers/leaves on a warm day, then let the plants wilt a bit (up to one day) on a tray to further 'dry them out' and remove any excess moisture.
 I then pack them (not tightly)  into a jar, leaving about an inch head space from the top of the jar or plant material, depending how much there is. Then I cover with pure olive oil - extra virgin (organic if I have it). I cover the jar with either muslin or a  paper towel and a rubber band. This allows for the mixture to breathe when heat builds up in the oil from the sun (I read this somewhere). I find if it's covered with a lid, moisture can build up on the lid & you don't want moisture !!. The pictures show when I used to use a regular lid.  Then I sit it on a sunny window sill - this is a solar infusion. Each day I remove the cover, and gently stir with a clean teaspoon. I then replace the cover and wait up up to 4 weeks (usually), 6 weeks in coller weather, until all the goodness of the plant has been absorbed into the oil. Usually you will see the oil has changed colour - darkened etc. Then I strain it and make it into a balm.

This is the pain balm I made:

I'm enjoying using it for my back  as its very soothing. I purchased the infused oils in this 

particular balm. 

SOAP MAKING NEWS:

Here's a pic of  some honey/lavender soap I made about a week ago. The smell is very beautiful and I love the soft pale amber colour. Next to goats milk soap I think this is my new favorite soap !!

Thats all for now - Blessings and peace - Linda

Hello again..

It's been 4 years since I posted to this blog. Below is a picture of what has mostly been consuming me for those years: 'soap making'. I fell for it hard..and its a passion I still love. I also make herbal balms, candles, lotion, creams etc and sell them on my website. This year I had a desire to be blogging again..why? I don't really know. Perhaps it was because I got very sick around November 2016..attacked with many virus's, a bout of vertigo that lasted for weeks, where I couldn't work and honestly I think I simply got 'burn out'. I started asking myself - How much can one woman do? I was working a little bit part-time at our local childrens daycare centre, running/making everything for this small soap business, trying to cook, clean, garden, homestead, spend time with my husband, family,/children/grandchildren etc...arrgghhhh..stop life, I need to get off !!! I don't know that I was doing any of the those things very well, but hey I was giving it my all..every ounce of my all. I initially started the soap business to raise some extra money to help with household costs. What I've found is, it's a huge juggling act....that I enjoy most of the time. One of my faults is I start too many new things...I expand and expand, without asking, can I sustain this? So gradually a lot of the things I enjoyed like baking homemade bread, making Ginger Ale, Sewing, tending the flower gardens..all went by the wayside. I simply couldn't do everything..the garden got overgrown and weedy...we buy bread..I don't sew...and I became less frugal with the grocery expenditure too, because I was so busy I needed more 'convenience food'..just the very word makes me shudder..convenience..eee
So 2107 is about finding my 'balance' and 'Joy' in the simple life again. I hate waste and excess..its not the way I choose to live.
So having said all that, I hope to get back into sharing again on here- about life, what I'm cooking, growing, making etc..slowing down a tad and enjoying life more.
Blessings to anyone who stops by and reads this and understands.
 ~ Linda

                              

This was my 'little forest' soap...fir/woodsy scent. The colour is indigo root infusion :)

Beans, Beans & more Beans

~~ Rattlesnake Beans ~~

 

 

Hi all,



I wanted to do a little 'shout out' for these wonderfull beans. A couple of years ago my father in law gave  an envelope of these dried Rattlesnake beans to my husband and said to pass them on to me. He said they were great beans, and they are !!!!

~Dried Rattlesnake Beans ~

The dried bean is similar in flavour to a Pinto Bean. So if you havn't tried this variety before..go buy a packet of seeds :).

 

Below I have included a link to the West Ladies 'Homestead Blessings' utube page. There they've shared some videos of their garden, recipes etc. This particular link is about them making Thanksgiving Pies - specifically a Pecan Pie, with a twist - or poor mans Pecan Pie :) In this recipe, they use about 1/3 rd of the usual amount of Pecans and instead use cooked (dried) Beans !!!

I'd never heard of such a thing, but it sure sounds interesting :)

 

 

http://youtu.be/d34UTDNVWfM

 

They also make a Pumpkin Pie, but use a Butternut, instead of a Pumpkin, they said the texture of a Butternut is sweeter, and drier, much better for baking with. Good for stuffing and roasting, easy to peel, less seeds, and easy to grow - what an all round winner!

 

 

So guess what seeds I am going to be purchasing for the first time, next Spring!! you guessed it - Buttercup :)

God Bless and thanks for stopping by :) - Linda

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn - Broccoli & Blue Cheese Soup

 

Yeh, we are officially in Autumn now :)
My husband reminded me of this, while I was lamenting how cold it felt this morning..(coat weather).
So it got me to thinking about soup!! Last year at the tale end of winter, I discovered a recipe for Broccoli and Blue Cheese Soup, I don't remember where ?..maybe Pintrest?  or a magazine? I loved it so much, especially how quick and easy it was to make and it freezes well too.

 

***

 

http://themightycheeseboard.blogspot.co.nz/2012_08_01_archive.html

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/22799/broccoli+zucchini+and+blue+cheese+soup

My recipe is very similar to the above link (hers has zucchini and leek, instead of onion.), and also a lovely recipe for Sage Scones :)

Here's my recipe:

~ Broccoli and Blue Cheese Soup ~

1 head Broccoli - divide into florets

1 large potato - cubed

1 onion

Olive oil - 1 teaspoon/Butter - 1 teaspoon)

4 cups of chicken broth or 2 teaspoons of chicken boullion powder dissolved in 4 cups of boiled water

1/2 a small wedge of blue cheese

1/4 cup of cream

salt and pepper

Method:
Heat the butter and oil together. Saute the onion till softened. Add the potato, salt and pepper and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer until the potato is almost tender (about 10 minutes). The add the Broccoli and cook till tender.
Puree the soup, adding in the knob of blue cheese in the last batch. Return the soup to the pan, add the cream, adjust seasonings (salt and pepper.)
Serve in bowls with some extra Blue Cheese crumbled on top.


I serve it with homemade wholegrain bread - toasted and buttered - delicious.

'Only the pure in heart, can make a good soup'

Ludwig van Beethoven

*** God Bless and Keep warm now :) ***

March 2013

** SUMMER **

My grand daughter Lily, enjoying a Summer strawberry..:)

***

~ her favourite ~

~ What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness. ~ (John Steinbeck)



http://www.karladornacher.com/Pages/Cont_Insp.html

Hi
Yes its been a while since I last posted, but life has been busy. Its been a wonderfull, blessed summer, a great Christmas and New Year and now the garden is producing a bumper harvest too. But the most exciting news of all, was our daughter Katie married  her sweetheart John on February 23rd :)

***

LOVE

~~~ One of my my other loves....(the garden) ~~~



The garden has outdone it self ...(which amazes me)....even while I was so busy helping katie with wedding preparations in those final weeks, and couldn't water it as often as required, it still flourished abundantly !! Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Zucchini, Corn, Beans, Leeks, Carrots, Herbs, Lettuces, Radishes, Peppers, Chillies, Kale, Pumpkin, Silverbeet.....
I also couldn't water very often, as there is a drought in my area and we were rationed to only watering every second day :( so the vegetable garden would get the most, then the fruit trees, so the poor flowers have sorely suffered. There is a lot of powdery mildew, and yellowed leaves..not very pretty...anyways here some: Garden Updates (Progress and Canning):

Zucchinis:
So far I've made Zucchini Relish (like I always do), 2 batches and we've been eating Zucchini Fritters, with a dollop of sour cream and a drizzle of my home-made Plum Sauce.

http://fitbie.msn.com/2012/12/17/meatless-monday-holiday-appetizers-greek-yogurt#

I use an extra egg in my recipe, and basil and parsley, instead of cilantro (as my husband doesn't like that herb). I also enjoy these fritters with a side of bacon - Yum

Corn: the corn grew well, we just ate it boiled, with some butter smeared on top. I didn't freeze any.

Beans: Wow the beans have been amazing....I love Beans !!!
In Spring I created a Bean Support out of Bamboo Poles, and the beans grew up the suspended strings. We've been eating beans as a side vege all summer and I have frozen and salted a lot of them. Here's a friends recipe, she shared with me, for preserving/salting beans.

Salt Cured Beans

Ingredients:

1kg Green Beans (Young)

225g sugar

500g plain salt (not iodised) 

Method:   Slice the beans  thinly on an angle, or use a proper bean slicer gadget.  Mix with the salt and sugar, toss well and leave overnight spread out in a plastic dish.

The next day, brine would have been drawn out of the beans. Place the whole lot, beans, brine and all into a wide mouth crock or preserving jars. Cover tightly with glad-wrap and store in a dark place, or they can be covered with some sort of lid, and also weighted down in the jar, so they stay submerged in their brine (but Diane doesn’t bother about this step).

How to cook salted beans:  Rinse the beans in a sieve under cold running water. Place in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Drain and repeat this process one or two more times, depending if they still taste salty. They should be cooked and taste fine at the end of this process.

Tomatoes:

Wow the Tomatoes have outdone themselves! I did prepare the soil well, plenty of manure and rotted down compost etc. I sowed most of my garden from seed this year, (started the seedlings off inside in little planters on the window sills)..The house looked like a mini garden centre :)

I planted several different varieties, this year, Hierloom, Beefsteak and one which was called 'Siberian Tomatoes'. They are a frost resistant variety and also ripen in cooler weather :) They actually cropped quite heavily and were a sprawling variety. The cost initially was $7.00 a packet (phew) ..and it didn't include many seeds, but they all sprouted. I have saved some,by spreading them on a paper towell and drying them, and label which ones they are).The yellow tomatoes in the picture are especially sweet and juicy :)

I have canned Tomato Relish, Tomato Sauce, Pasta Sauce and Salsa this year..phew and now I am about over canning tomatoes for this summer !
I was especially happy with the Salsa recipe, very easy to make too.

Tomato Salsa

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/canned_tomato_salsa/

(The above image is from simplyrecipes site, and that recipe looks good too :)

My own recipe is below..enjoy :)

Ingredients:

8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained

2 1/2 cups onions, chopped

1 1/2 cups green peppers

1 cup jalapeno pepper, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons pepper

1/8 cup canning salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup vinegar

1 x 425g can tomato puree

1 x 350g  can tomato paste

Directions:

1. Mix all together and bring to a slow boil for about 15 minutes, or until the mixture is cooked.

2. Seal in jars and cook in hot water bath for 10 minute.
3. This is a medium salsa. This is also a chunky salsa so if you want a smoother salsa cut your veggies into smaller pieces.
4. Yields 3-6 quarts or pints.


Back to the garden produce...

Raspberries: I planted the Raspberry canes (given to me from my friend Jane, about 2 years ago. This year they have down very well, and I have picked a few small bowlfulls. The other evening we went  to a 'bring a plate' evening , so, going along with my frugal, simple theme, I decided to bake a cream sponge cake and fill it with sweetened whipped cream and fresh raspberries from the garden

Here's pics and my recipe:

** Never Fail Fairy Sponge **

 Ingredients 

4 eggs
3/4 Cup Chelsea White Sugar
1 Tbsp flour in cup. Fill up rest of cup with cornflour
2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp boiling water

Method:

Seperate the eggs and beat 4 egg whites with 1 Tblspn of boiling water until stiff. Add 3/4 cup sugar slowly. Beat until dissolved. Mix in yolks one at a time. Put flour in a cup, fill up the rest with cornflour. Sift with baking powder. Fold into mixture. Put into two sponge tins, which have been buttered, lined with baking paper on the bottoms and floured around the sides, to prevent any possible sticking....now bake at 180°C for 20-25 minutes.
Drop sponges on bench when taken out of oven.

Filling:
Raspberries
300 ml cream (add 2 teaspoons icing sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla - whip together)
Jam - berry or plum
Icing Sugar

Cool the sponge cakes, spread jam on the top of the base, spread over the sweetened whipped cream cream, dot with raspberries and place the other cake on top. Dust the top with sifted icing sugar..voila :) - Enjoy

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way
I have to go to bed by day.
~Robert Louis Stevenson

~ Some Beans I let dry on the vine...

thankyou beautifull garden for your bounty,

but most of all, thankyou Lord for your unfailing love and provision ~

Its a blessing to open the refrigerator and see Plum Jam, Marmalade, Plum Sauce, Salsa, Tomato Sauce and Chow Chow Pickle..all waiting to be used and all prepared by my hand at a fraction of the cost, if I had purchased them from a store.But more than that, they are prepared with love and are organic..its gotta be better for one :)

God Bless - and Happy 2013 :)

~ Linda ~

Hierloom Tomatoes

 



I woke this morning, still not feeling fully restored, but we as believers are not to rest on feelings, so I am plowing on regardless :)
I was reading Smith Wigglesworth, and this is what he had to say: 'We may be very ordinary, but God wants to make us extraordinary in the Holy Ghost'..and as I was meditating on that, an old hymn came to me..'there is power, power, wonder working power in the blood, of the lamb..there is power, power, wonder working power in the precious blood of the lamb.
It all reminded me, that this life we walk, is all based on faith..faith in the unseen. Some people, myself included have experienced the supernatural, but many have not, and still their faith is as sure and solid as a rock.
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

 

 

~~~ oooOooo ~~~



Today I have Hierloom Tomato seedlings, that need to be potted up. Maybe I should have sowed the seeds a lot earlier, so the plants would be bigger by now, as the growing season is shorter here in Central Hawkes Bay. I found this image of the tomato seedlings on line..and whata neat idea..planted in upturned bottles, resting in the bottom of the containers !!! perfect, reuse, recycle!!. I must try this for next year.

The only thing with gardening, is that there is always something to be done, it talkes a lot of stamina, and no resting on your laurels. A seedling neglected for even two days will suffer. Last weekend my husband helped build a new raised bed, where the tomatoes will go this year. Its by the shed and is more sheltered. I may also put a plastic sort of shield on the sides of the bed, just to keep the cool wind off them for now...
okay thats all for now, have a blessed day people :)
 

Unwell

 

 

Hi,
I have a virus and am in bed today..tummy bug etc...its a bit of a blow, as I had a days work lined up as a reliever at the local daycare and need the money. Never the less I am using my time to catch up on reading (Bible, and my Smith Wigglesworth Devotional book) :)
My daughter Katie has also been unwell (she's grown, and has a toddler.) They've lived with us here for almost a year now, but will move out when she marries her fiance John, at the end of February. I will miss them both, but it begins a beautifull, exciting chapter in their lives, so I am excited for her.

I prayed for God to heal both Katie and I & to restore our strength and vitality. God is always faithfull and true. Just the other morning, I was fretting about something, so I turned to 2 Peter, and just reading verses comforted me. There is truly wonder working power in the word of God, I couldn't count the thousands of times it has soothed and healed me, which is impossible to explain to non-believers.

So here I sit tucked up here in bed, (very thankfull for my laptop), surfing the net and I found a good site, with usefull tips on how to can food. I already know how to do this, but many people don't...so i thought I'd include the link. Also utube has masses of usefull videos on varying methods of canning/growing practically everything. I find this sort of visual learning really helpfull.

 

http://www.simpleorganizedliving.com/2010/09/27/peaches-pears-and-apricots/

Something else on my wish list is a Pressure Cooker. They cost around $700 new here in New Zealand !!! yikes, but no doubt one would last a lifetime, if looked after. I find a lot of recipes for beans preserved by this method on utube (which is regarded as the only safe method for beans, meat etc.)..so I really want one. I have frozen beans in the past, with varying degrees of success, and also have a dehydrator, which I still havn't used, but plan to this year.

Thats all for now. God Bless

' Thrift is not an affair of the pocket, but an affair of character.' ~S.W. Straus

Frugal Living

'One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating'. ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

Today was grocery shopping day. My grocery budget has practically halved - this brings out the practical creatice side in me. It takes time to plan out menu's, and to draw up a thorough costed out shopping list. Then at the supermarket, I check the weights against the prices and compare brands to get a good deal. Green-grocers don't always have the best deals on vegetables, as supermarkets can buy in bulk & have very good deals. I don't live close to an organic supplier, but the bulk of our veges in summer are from our own organic vegetable garden anyway.

On countless days I have thanked, no praised the Lord for his provision and my passion/ability for cooking. I come from a line of good home cooks, so enjoyed many happy memories of my mother and nana baking and making jam etc. My nana also made all her own clothes and knitted her jerseys, stitched together rag rugs, boiled up her washing in a copper, and continued to mow her own lawn, right up until her 80's..what a trooper ! She was a fiery little sweety :)
Over the many years while the children were at home, I manged to serve up budget meals that were still delicous and nutricious...and learnt a variety of techniques out of necessity. If I couldn't make it, we didn't get to eat it.

 

 

Many young woman today have no desire to take cooking at school, and sadly a lot of  basic homemaking skills are being lost. I make practiacally everything from scratch - bread, pastry, biscuits, muffins, cakes etc, all our meals, plus grow a garden, berries and have planted a small orchard. This is all done in Suburbia..in our little country town, so a farm, is not always necessary. We don't eat meat at every meal, and sometimes just a few days in the week, instead stretching things out with beans, eggs, fish meals etc.
 I've been reading thru various blogs lately related to people 'prepping' for lean times and alternative lifestyle 'homesteader' sites. One of my favourite ones, for those who are truly finding themselves 'pinching pennies' is the Prudent Homemakers blog.
Here's the link to this lady's wonderful, encouraging and practical blog:

http://theprudenthomemaker.com/

So anyway, back to grocery shopping, this week I decided to check out 'dried milk', as many blogs suggest its cheaper, and I discovered it is. One regular 3 litre (3000 ml) container of milk - the cheapest brand in New Zealand costs around $5.00. The cheapest brand of Powdered milk (Homebrand from Countdown), 1kg worth, will yield 10 litres of milk and costs $9.00. It mixes easily with cold water and of course you just make up what you require. I would make it up 1 litre at a time and store in a glass bottle (re-used Ocean Spray glass juice container). I also read online somewhere, if you whizz it up in a blender, that removes any lumps and makes it creamier.

You can also make yoghurt from powdered milk

Basic Yogurt

3 cups cold water

1 cup hot water

1 c powdered milk

1/2 c plain yogurt (use from your last batch)

Stir the water and powdered milk until dissolved. Add the 1/2 cup of yoghurt. At this stage I pop it into my esi-yo yoghurt maker, which is really just a large plastic, insulated thermos. Instructions come with the kit, but I love it, as it uses no power, just the heat of hot water you fill it with. I wrap the container in a towel and leave overnight on the bench.

The next morning, you will have yoghurt. You can flaour it up with vanilla, if desired and or maple syrup. I just use it plain in a variety of ways.

 

This links below have recipes to make from your powdered milk made yoghurt, like cream cheese.

 

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/powderedmilk.htm

 

http://preparednessmatters.blogspot.co.nz/2009/05/cooking-with-basic-food-storage_22.html

http://www.joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.html - A usefull site with allsorts of ways to substitue in baking/cooking.

Next week I am headed into the city to do a fortnighly shop, at a larger supermarket. They have better deals, and I want to stock up on some more canned goods, and ingredients for making homemade natural cleaning products. Yes saving money, and being frugal has consumed my life.

Bye for now.

 

 

Green Beans

 

Hi to anyone out there who may stumble upon this blog. After a long time I've decided to post again regularly, even if its just a few lines as a sort of an online diary of home/garden activity. So if you do stop by, please feel free to leave a comment.

~ The Garden ~

 

 

Day 1
Today I built a Bean frame similar to this one in the picture. It was super easy, made with some of the bamboo, which grows freely down the back of the garden.
I started the bulk of the summer gardn plants from seeds this year (to save money) and so far every thing has sprouted. I also saved a few seeds from last years harvest (Pumpkin, Kale - Cavalo Nero & Coriander).

 

The first thing I do in Spring and Summer,when I wake in the morning, is to look out the window at the vegetable garden. Every day I stroll around it, to see whats happening, if anything has sprouted or grown much overnight. Every day is different, little subtle changes, and none more so than after a heavy rain.

This year my husband has a new job, less stressfull, but also less money. So to counteract that, I've planned a large summers vegetable garden and hopefully we'll reap a bountiful harvest to preserve, freeze, bottle and pickle.

 

Another venture I'm hoping to start soon, is making handmade soap. The initial set up costs a little bit, but the quality and fragrance of natural soaps is so beautifull, that its worth it, plus they make lovely gifts.

I'm using the recipe from 'Down to Earth' Blog http://down---to---earth.blogspot.co.nz/2007/07/how-to-make-cold-pressed-soap.html

Thats all for today :)

 



"I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation. It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green."

~Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from and Old Manse