DIY Laundry Bleach

I haven't been trying a lot of diy home product recipes lately until today. I came across frugally sustainable's recipe for homemade bleach alternative. I just had to try it. Especially since my husband does not care for my diy laundry powder. He says the whites are too dingy and he 'breaks out'. Ok, he did break out in hives... once. I am going to try a borax free recipe soon.
But in the meantime, I will use this bleach alternative. It really works. His socks were bright white.

Ingredients:

I used half a recipe as I didn't have a gallon jug. I will be making more because this recipe is awesome!

Seedlings

I have tried growing seedlings indoors for the past 2 years and have not had success. This year my husband made me a grow light stand. So far it is working out great but for some reason, a few seedlings just didn't take off.

broccoli seedlings #1

broccoli seedling #2 (both planted at the same time)

I think the reason that the seedlings are so different is that the 1st one got water logged. I am not really sure. After inspecting the container, there were far fewer drainage holes. Live and learn.

Here is my Burpee growning self watering container system that I bought. I debated about spending the money, but these seedlings are doing a lot better than the one in plastic containers.

tomatoes and peppers

Habanero Powder

Forgive me, not only have I been lazy with this blog, I have been lazy with a lot of things. I finally got around to doing something with the harbaneros that I grew last summer. They have been drying since I picked them of the plant.

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I put them in a canning jar and attached it to my blender and took it through the food processor cycle



I HIGHLY recommend wearing a mask, if not a respirator when doing this...unless you like hacking and choking for about 20 minutes or so. Trust me.

Use the powder VERY sparingly, it is super hot, but yummy : )

I did the same thing with my red peppers....again, wear a mask, and possibly gloves. Dont touch your eyes : )

sorry for the blurry picture...I am hoping to get a better camera soon. 



Field Roast Sausages

I have been trying to eat less meat and my goal is to eat no meat at all. I have cut down to 1 - 2 x a week and am only eating organic meats. Organic meats are hard to find in my area - especially pork or chicken.

I made a trip to the metropolis and stopped at Whole Foods before heading home. I found these vegan Field Roast sausages that are made with vital wheat gluten, dried apples, yukon gold potatoes and natural seasonings. And they have 26 gram of protein...WOW!

These turned out very good. Even my meat eater husband liked these. They really taste a lot like a braut.

Of course I googled recipes and there are a ton out there to make a homemade version using vital wheat gluten which is known as "seitan". Since I am not crazy about the soy hot dogs/sausage , I think seitan is going to be my new best friend.

Portabella Burger

I have been on a mission to eat only meat that is organic and humanely treated.  It is hard in my area to find this in my area. I was able to locate Laura's organic steaks and ground beef. So far, I have not been successful in finding any pork or chicken.
So, that means more vegetarian meals for us. Here is a dish we recently had. Portabella mushroom with provolone cheese and caramalized onions. This is so yummy. I poured olive oil and broiled in the oven approximately 8 minutes each side and topped with the cheese. These were suprisingly very filling.

Thinking About Going Vegetarian

I just wrote PETA a letter regarding some very tired working horses that I saw while on vacation. So, of course I had to browse the site and I can across this video.
Oh, my. I couldn't watch it all. I am going to try a vegetarian diet for at least a month as PETA asks (my family are die hard carnivores, so I will let you know how it goes!).
I guess I will be officially a pescetarian - or one who eats fish, dairy and eggs. Maybe down the road I may give that up. I only buy organic milk and free range eggs anyway. If I can locate organic and humane meat, I may eat that. But, ethically, I can not justify eating the mass production of meat any longer.

If you can't bear to watch the video, just let me say that those chickens get thrown and beaten and kicked. I stopped watching when the pigs were screaming. It is too much for my soul to bear.

Garden

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile...I have been busy with sewing in my spare time.
I wanted to show you part of my garden.

Oregano

Basil

Few stalks of corn. I won't get very many ears of corn but it was mostly for experimenting. I think next year I will plant this area with just corn. It is growing very well! There is also cukes, zukes, tomatoes, and peppers.

On the left is my strawberries. They are not so many this year. I cleaned out the beds last fall and must have gotten rid of the newest 'daughters' and saved a lot of the old mother plants that didn't come back.

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