Green Hot Pepper Sauce

6 or so tomatillos, papers removed & washed

3 jalapeno peppers (depends on heat you like), cut off stems & wash

1 big white or yellow onion

Juice of 1 lime

salt

In a cast iron skillet put just a dab of oil. Get skillet hot & then add the peppers, tomatillos, & onion. Allow to char a little. -Where it will turn brown but not burned. This will take no more than 3-5 minutes.

Then blend all together with the lime juice & about 1/2 tsp salt. Taste & you may need to add a tad more salt or lime.

Serve with chips, on tacos, or whatever needs a little heat!

Enchilada Sauce

Upon request I'd love to share my enchilada sauce recipe, but I really don't have an exact one.
What I did is wash & core my garden tomatoes. Then put them into the blender in batches & blended them up very well. I also blend up an onion or two & a couple of jalapeno peppers. Next poured it all into my big stockpot. Then added the following spices:
oregano
basil
chili powder
cumin
garlic powder (or fresh chopped garlic)
salt
pepper

It really just depends on what your tastes are. I used about 3 tablespoons of the spices (except the salt & pepper)

Let this simmer for at least an hour. Taste it & if it's desired, put in jars & pressure can.

Basic Beef Enchiladas

1 lb ground meat
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 cups shredded monteray jack or cheddar or mixed
1 jar homemade enchilada sauce
corn tortillias

Brown meat & onion in a skillet. Drain off any fat.
Heat enchilada sauce in a pan.
Dip corn tortillia in sauce to coat (do it fast as the tortillias will break easily)
Then place in a greased 9x13 casserole dish.
Put in a little meat & then some cheese. Roll up or just fold in half.
Continue until pan is full.
Pour extra sauce over all.
Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes until all is bubbly & melted.
*Optional- when done drizzle with a little mexican creama...oh so good!

Tuesday- Baking and Cooking Day

What will I make today? 2 loaves of bread & 1 batch of cinnamon rolls.

Yes, we grind our own wheat. My mill is a nutrimill & our preferred grain is hard white wheat.

Monday around the homestead

Around here Monday is the designated laundry day. I've got my last load going right now & then when the children get up they will each have a load or two. We've done laundry several different ways but I find it easier if they each have a clothes basket in their rooms and they do their own. Then I don't hear "Where's my this or why am I missing socks, etc." They are responsible for doing their things from start to putting it away in their drawers.
I've got some milk in the fridge that's just starting to go sour so instead of wasting it I'm going to make a bunch of pancakes this morning. I plan on giving some of them to my sister for her children. When I make pancakes, waffles, or french toast I usually make extra. Allow them to cool & then place in gallon size freezer bags & freeze. They are still really good re-heated.
Today is also a school day so we will be getting that going around 9:00.
We're having friends over this afternoon so we need to get everything done before then.
Hope ya'll have a great day!

Canning Log 2010

This is just what we grew and canned this year.

7 qts/1pt crushed tomatoes

5 qts/15 pts tomato sauce

13 pints red enchilada sauce

15 qts pasta sauce

15 half pints pizza sauce

18 pints salsa

7 qts green beans

6 qts potatoes

9 half-pints strawberry jam (I bought the strawberries at farmers market)

8 pints peach jam

11 half pints squash sweet relish

6 pts/4 half pints pickled banana peppers

5 pints pickled jalapeno peppers

I still had quite a bit from last year so we are pretty much full for a while on most things.

Our Carly

We went to look at some pigs for sale last summer & ended up not getting one. We did, however, leave with a cute little puppy in my daughter's arms. We saw both parents & they seemed nice. We thought oh neat, a cattle dog for the little farm. -Now as with anything, we should have done some research. You should NEVER bring home any animal without much research. I know & knew all of that, but that day we disreguarded everything we know & "Carly" became part of the homestead family.

She is an outside dog & gets along pretty well with the other dogs but she has grown to be the leader of the pack. She is very friendly but will definately bark & let us know when things are awry.

She has hearded pigs out of the chicken pen & well, tries to heard just about everything! Chickens, ducks, children...

We have had to put the ducks up as I don't think she really means to hurt them, but will put a big paw on their back & then then start squaking & flapping & then the rat terrier thinks that is the green light for him to get involved. (not good)

So the ducks now have their own pen with a little pool to swim & will hopefully be let out to the big pond when it is full.

Carly is unlike any other dog I've owned. She is highly intelligent & sweet but has also come with some definate draw backs. She is probably the most hard-headed, hyper dog we've owned as well. She chews up everything possible, including dog food bowls, wood, pool toys, the side of the storage building, and then some. She is finally after about a year getting to where she will finally stop jumping up on us.

Truth is I know we should have worked with her more & I'm doing it more now. I don't at all think it's too late, but it's a long process. After researching I find that these dogs need lots of attention & need a "job." I am hoping to get a couple goats in the near future so I have been researching this and I think this will be a good activity/ "job" for her to do some.

My main point to all of this is a cute cattle dog just seems to go along with the farm picture...And she will, but please do not get any animals without research, even if they are really, really cute!

Not all homeschoolers fit into the same box...

I thought I'd share just a bit about how the Robinson is going....In a word, GREAT!

We've learned a few things already though...Saxon Algebra is a long lesson if you aren't familiar with it. The RC says to schedule in 1 hour for math so I did, but really thinking it wouldn't take nearly that, but after watching the lesson & doing the book problems (around 30) it does take the hour...or longer depending on how much your child focuses. ;) -The teacher cd is wonderful for the mom who may not be totally gifted in the art of algebra.

The reading is going ok too. To be honest I have really enjoyed the couple hours of silence the house has during this time. I have been reading during this time as well. The vocabulary is good also. We are also using the flash cards from "English from the roots up" as vocabulary to get Greek & Latin roots down. My daughter has already quoted some of them at different occasions so I know they are sinking in!!!

The writing assignments have been good for my daughter as she actually seems to enjoy writing stories. My son doesn't enjoy it at all, but it's getting done.

I've also enjoyed that they seem to already understand that "they" are responsible for their own work. Not coming to mommy every 5 minutes asking what to do, etc. They each have a calendar & a reading log that they fill in & I check off. I also check their math after they are finished. -That is one of the main focuses of the RC is to make them responsible for themselves.

So I would say the children rate it at a 5-6 (just because they would) I would rate it at a 9 because nothing is perfect! lol