I wanted to share a recipe I made for the first time that turned out really yummy! The original recipe was for carrot nut bread but as I so often do, I changed it up to work with ingredients I had to use up. Very slight, simple changes to just a couple things. I call it Apple Nut Bread. I will give the original recipe, and mark in parenthesis where I changed things. That way, you all could try both if you like! I’m sure the original would be really good too. 

Carrot Nut Bread: 

1 cup grated carrots ( I used = amount of my own canned apple pie filling) 

¾ cup brown sugar ( I used ½ cup of sucanat) 

1 tsp baking soda 

2 ½ tsp baking powder 

2 TBSP shortening ( I used real butter) 

1 tsp salt 

1 cup warm water or milk 

2 eggs 

1 ½ cups flour ( I used unbleached) 

1 cup whole wheat flour 

½ cup chopped nuts ( I used almonds) 

Measure flours, baking powder, soda, salt, and sugar into bowl and mix. Add liquid, eggs, and melted shortening to dry ingredients. Mix well. ( I mixed by hand) Fold in chopped nuts and grated carrots. Pour batter into greased loaf pan. Let stand 5 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour. ( It only took 50 minutes for me.) 

The original recipe comes from a cookbook I have titled Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking, A Mennonite Community Cookbook. There is a note at the bottom of the recipe that says “Delicious for school lunches”. No matter if you make the original, make the changes I did, or make your own version, give it a try. It is scrumdillyishous! 

This is a very simple recipe for laundry detergent that you can make yourself, and save a lot of money. It works very well, and is especially good for front load washing machines because it is low sudsing. The ingredients you will need are: 

1 bar of Fels Naptha or castile soap

Borax

Washing Soda

Baking Soda

To start, you need to grate your entire bar of soap into a medium sized bowl. Use the fine side of a cheese grater. You want it to be a powdery consistency.

 To this you add 1 cup each of the Borax, Washing Soda, and Baking Soda.

Mix all together, breaking up any lumps that might be in the Borax or Washing soda.

That’s it! This is your laundry detergent. Wasn’t that easy? You just store in a container with a lid. I use a recycled candle jar. Use 1/8 cup per load. That is all it takes.

You could adjust those amounts slightly for extra large, or small loads. This stuff really does work beautifully. My laundry comes out clean, and smells very nice. You can get these ingredients at various places. Our local grocery and hardware store carries all of them, but I can also get them all at Wal-Mart. The money savings is the really great part. You will get multiple batches of your homemade detergent from just 1 box of the Borax, Washing soda, and Baking soda. The price for each of these per box will vary slightly, depending on where you purchase them. The Borax and Washing soda were both a little over $3 a box, the Baking soda I found at $2 a box, and the Fels Naptha I got for .97 cents per bar.

A word about Borax. I’m sure someone is going to say they’ve read Borax isn’t safe. After doing some research, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is just as safe as Washing soda, and I have no problem using it. Here is a link I found that covers the subject pretty good. If you disagree, don’t use it. You have to decide for yourself. I believe that especially today, we have to be diligent in researching many of the products we use and consume. We cannot take it for granted that because someone is selling it, a product is safe. I also believe that you have to look at who did the research, because research can be skewed, depending on how you want the results to be. Unfortunately, this is the world we live in today.

Happy Laundering! 

You know you want some, so go ahead and try it! Oh so yummy!

The Recipe:

Measure 1½ cups luke warm water.

To this add 3 Tablespoons sugar (I use Sucanat), and stir.

Now add 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast and stir again.

Let this set for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, measure into large bowl;

4 cups flour (I like to use 3 cups of unbleached flour, and 1 cup whole wheat.)

2 teaspoons salt

2 Tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 Tablespoons dry milk or buttermilk (I like the buttermilk)

1 Tablespoon dried onion

1 Tablespoon dried dill

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

  After a few minutes, the yeast in your water should have started to work and look frothy. Add it to your flour mixture and stir until it starts to form a ball of dough. Now, ditch the spoon and dig in with your hands. Start to work the dough, kneading it with your fingers and fists till it starts to have an elastic feel. Form the dough into a ball. Give the ball of dough a coating of oil. Let it in your bowl, and cover with a dampened towel. Let it set in a warm place till it doubles in size. If you don’t have a nice warm spot, you can set it in your oven with ONLY the light on. This will keep it sufficiently warm. When it has doubled in size, you want to punch it back down, and knead it some more, just a little bit. Now you’re going to shape your loaf and place it in your bread pan, baking dish, or on your baking stone. If you are using a baking dish or bread pan, grease it first. If you want to cut a design into the top, now is the time. Cover it once more, place back into the nice cozy warm spot, and let it rise again. When it has once again doubled in size, it’s ready to bake. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on your oven, till it’s golden brown. Remove from oven, and brush top with butter.

Now let’s just see if you can wait till it’s cool before cutting!

  One small note, when I made this bread, I added about an extra ¼ cup of flour cause the dough seemed a little sticky. When you first knead it, if this is the case for you, just add the extra flour, but don’t add too much or your bread will be dry.

Here's my recipe for making homemade mayonnaise.

Mayo

2 eggs 
1 t mustard powder 
1 t salt 
1/4 c white vinegar 
1/2 c oil 
small pinch paprika 

Blend in food processor 2 minutes. Drizzle 1 1/2 cup oil while blending. Makes 2 cups. 

Part of our process of simplifying our life is to make an effort toward purchasing items locally and/or handmade when possible.  I suppose it's not truly part of a simplification process but rather geared toward sustainability.  We, however, chose to include this in our process as one of our goals.

Why buy local?  There are a number of reasons, but the most important to us is that making this decision benefits both the environment and the local economy.

Regarding the environmental impact, local items travel less distance to get to the consumer which cuts out much of the transportation and, in turn, reduces the use of valuable resources {namely gas} and pollution that come with it.  As far as the impact on the local economy, when you purchase something directly from the artist or farmer they typically benefit from a larger percentage of the profit as there is not a third party person/organization to pay.  Also, you are putting money back into your community.  An added bonus is you are supporting their dream or passion by supporting them with your purchase.

The purchase of locally grown fruits and vegetables typically means fresher items.  The purchase of locally raised meats means the items are traceable.  You can also visit the farm to see how the animals are raised, what they are fed, and choose to support those businesses you respect or agree with.

The purchase of handmade, regardless of locale, is to support an artist or designer who is making a living doing what they love to do.  Someone who has used their talents to create something you enjoy.  It's also possible to create a relationship with the artist or designer of the product and purchase one-of-a-kind items for yourself or for gift giving.  If you find an artist who uses recycled products, even better!

Although the reality is it's not always possible, whether financially or otherwise, to purchase locally made, grown and/or handmade, any effort to do so will make a difference.  It's the little things we do collectively that make big changes.

I *love* yogurt. Plain yogurt with a splash of vanilla and a sprinkle of cinnamon and maybe some nutmeg. Yummm! But GOOD yogurt is expensive. And, I like "good" yogurt. So in an attempt to save money and learn a new skill, I figured it was about time I learned how to make it at home using supplies I have on hand. I did some digging around online and found several sources that helped me come up with my current "experiment". I've added links I found helpful at the bottom of this post if you're interested in them.

I gathered up all of the ingredients, sterilized several quart jars, set out my enameled cast iron dutch oven, the canning kettle, several towels, a thermometer, and a heating pad (one that doesn't have auto-shutoff). To the dutch oven I added a half gallon of 2% organic milk and 1 cup of powdered milk, and heated the mixture on the stove top to 170*. I added a bit of honey and vanilla, and let it cool to 115*. Once at 115*, I added about a 1/3 cup (I probably should have added 1/4 cup more...) of Fage 0% Greek yogurt for the "starter".

Once the starter yogurt was stirred in, I ladled the mixture into the sterile jars, and set them into the canning kettle which INSTEAD OF WATER had the warm heating pad in the center.
 

I covered the jars and heating pad loosely with towels, inserted a thermometer, and watched. The heating pad did a GREAT job of keeping the heat in the canning kettle very consistent! By morning, I hoped to have some tasty homemade yogurt to enjoy.

Morning rolled around, and I was pleased with the progress in the jars. The thermometer was still at an ideal temp, and the milk had taken on a a wonderful creamy yogurt texture that I couldn't wait to try! I popped the jars into the refrigerator to cool, and went about my morning routine.

Lunch seemed like the perfect time to try the yogurt. Wow, was it ever good! Very creamy, silk-like texture that was perfect straight out of the jar! I'm convinced, this is a recipe I will be making again and again! Deeee-lish!

Do you make your own homemade yogurt? I'd love to hear how you do it!

 Links to check out:
(I have no affiliations with the authors of the information shared in these links, I just found them helpful)
1. Good Eats Video:Good Milk Gone Bad 
He only heats the milk/powdered milk mixture to 120*, then lets it cool to 115*. I will try this next time. That would take a lot less time.
2. YankeePrepper YouTube Video:How to Make Your Own Yogurt
3. Nourished Kitchen:Homemade Yogurt 

 As always, you are invited to read more about our life on the farm.