Update on goals

Get active and lose weight. Went on several hikes with kids and hubby.

Eat salads at least 3 times a week Ate salads at least 2 times a week.

Have a total of 200 no spend days (no going out & shopping) 13 days this month. Total for the year: 52 days, right on target

Read 50 books. Total for the year 26 books.

Make everyone at least 1 gift homemade for Christmas Purchased items to make the girls presents, but will have to wait until all kids are out of the house.

Make at least $100 extra dollars selling items Didn't make any money, put a book up on Amazon to sell.

To produce 1000 lbs of food this year Garden hasn't started producing yet. Egg count this month:  526

Make 4 garden beds Finished digging out 1 bed, still have to fill it in.

Twice a month do something special with the kids. Went on several hikes in forest surrounding our property.

Meet with the kids and fill out info sheets. Completed this in Feb.

Meet with kids and discuss monthly goals. Met with the kids this month and set new goals for them.

To acquire rabbits. Didn't do. Focused on garden this month.

To breed rabbits two times. Don't have rabbits yet.

Build storm/root cellar. Didn't do. Focused on garden this month.

Mark property Completed, even painted the posts purple!

Outdoor shower Nope

Solar oven Nope

Finish house Started working on the floor.

Can 10 pints of pickle relish. Garden hasn't started producing yet.

Dehydrate 1 pint of onions Garden hasn't started producing yet.

Dehydrate 1 pint of tomatoes Garden hasn't started producing yet.
Dehydrate 1 pint of bell peppers Garden hasn't started producing yet.

Dehydrate 1 pint of hot peppers Garden hasn't started producing yet.

Can 15 pints of jalapeño peppers Garden hasn't started producing yet.

April Menu

April 2014
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
R		1 b-breakfast casserole (BBPC) l-leftovers/sandwich d-pizza rice casserole (MWL pg 129), salad, breadsticks	2 b-grits l-leftovers/sandwich d-eggs your way, hash browns	3 b-cereal w/ milk l-leftovers/sandwich d-tacos, rice, refried beans	4 b-boiled eggs l-leftovers/sandwich d-fend for yourself	5 b-pancakes l-leftovers/sandwich d-Liza's Tomato Sauce, rice & eggs (MWL pg 127), raw veggies
6 b-breakfast burritos l-leftovers/sandwich d-Chicken curry w/ rice	7 b-pioneer porridge l-leftovers/sandwich d-Cottage Cheese Casserole (MWL pg 123), salad, breadsticks	8 b-fried egg sandwich l-leftovers/sandwich d-Cheesy Vegetable Barley Bake (AWF pg 154), salad, bread	9 b-grits l-leftovers/sandwich d-eggs your way, hash browns	10 b-cereal w/ milk l-leftovers/sandwich d-Huevos Rancheros (MWL pg 152), corn muffins, salad	11 b-boiled eggs l-leftovers/sandwich d-baked potatoes, salad	12 b-biscuits w/gravy l-leftovers/sandwich d-fend for yourself
13 b-breakfast burritos l-leftovers/sandwich d-Sunny Scalloped Eggs w/broccoli (MWL pg 153), corn, breadsticks	14 b-pioneer porridge l-leftovers/sandwich d-pasta w/ sauce, salad, breadsticks	15 b-fried egg sandwich l-leftovers/sandwich d-Vegetables Au Gratin (MWL pg 220), salad, bread	16 b-grits l-leftovers/sandwich d-eggs your way, hash browns	17 b-cereal w/ milk l-leftovers/sandwich d-fend for yourself	18 Good Friday b-boiled eggs l-spicy black bean puree w/ chips ($7 PC) d-baked potatoes, salad	19 b-pancakes l-leftovers/sandwich d-Cornmeal Quiche (MWL 158), Savory rice (MWL pg 126)
20 Easter b-breakfast burritos l-leftovers/sandwich d-ham, cornbread dressing, green beans, corn	21 b-pioneer porridge l-leftovers/sandwich d-pasta w/ sauce	22 Earth Day b-fried egg sandwich l-leftovers/sandwich d-fend for yourself	23 b-grits l-leftovers/sandwich d-eggs your way, hash browns	24 b-cereal w/ milk l-leftovers/sandwich d-tamale pie	25 Arbor Day b-boiled eggs l-leftovers/sandwich d-baked potatoes, salad	26 b-biscuits w/gravy l-leftovers/sandwich d-honey baked lentils(MWL 106), rice, muffins
27 b-breakfast burritos l-leftovers/sandwich d-chicken curry, rice, carrots & celery	28 b-pioneer porridge l-leftovers/sandwich d-pasta w/ sauce	29 b-fried egg sandwich l-leftovers/sandwich d-Curried lentils (MWL pg 105), rice, carrots	30 b-grits l-leftovers/sandwich d-eggs your way, hash browns	MWL-More with Less $7 PC - $7 Pressure cooker AWC- American Wholefood cookbook

Chickens

On our homestead we have a mixture of Barred Rock and Rhode Island Reds.  There are 4 roosters and 28 hens.  Our chickens are completely free range, by free range I mean, no coop only nesting boxes up in the area were they get fed.  At night they sleep under the camper with our 4 dogs for protection.  When we moved here we started with 39 chickens, we now have 32 chickens.  We lost all the chickens before Christmas. 

When the chickens started laying we were happy, finally some return for our investment.  The only problem, finding all the eggs everyday is a treasure hunt.  Our chickens lay eggs in the nesting boxes, under our two decks, in the woods, in the brush, under IBC's, in the cars, under the hood of the car, in the wheel wells, and just about anywhere else they see fit.  I am quite sure that we aren't getting all the eggs, but we are still getting a good amount of eggs per day. 

Chicken inside the truck.  Gotta make sure that the windows are rolled up!

Another problem that we are having is that two of our dogs are eating the eggs.  So we have to figure out what to do, pen the dogs up until late afternoon or pen the chickens up.

The two egg eating dogs.

All in all, DH and I are still split on having the chickens free range or putting them in a pen and letting them out for some of the day.  Many pros and cons to both ways.  This debate will continue for a while I think.

Yogurt

I have got a new kitchen gadget! A yogurt maker.  This is not the first one that I have owned.  When I was teaching and living out in the bush of Alaska we owned one.  We used it all the time, because buying food in the village was expensive.

After weeks of discussion and price analysis we decided to buy one.  We researched the prices and reviews.  We finally decided on the EuroCuisine.

The EuroCuisine

Heating the milk on the wood stove

Yogurt ready to go

We made our first batch on Monday.  The yogurt was all eaten up by Wednesday.  The DH and kiddos all made smoothies with it.  I ate a jar of it with granola.  It was yummy.  Next I will try some flavored yogurt.


Since we are on a budget it is more frugal to make our own yogurt than by buying yogurt.  Here is a break down of the financials for the yogurt.

Homemade (1qt):  $1.79
Milk: $.80  One gallon will make 4 qts of yogurt
Yogurt starter:  $.97  Used plain greek yogurt from Aldi's
Electricity Usage:  $.02

Store Bought (1 qt):
Aldi's (Store Brand):  $3.89
Local Grocery Store:  $4.89

Price of Maker: $24

Making our own yogurt saves us $2.10 for each quart, however, I feel that we need to take into consideration the cost of the yogurt maker.  With that figured into the equation, after our 12th batch of yogurt we will be saving money.  Even considering this, I think that this was a wise investment for us.

                          

Firewood

A couple weeks ago, we obtained a firewood permit from Mark Twain National Forest.  It cost $20 for 4 cords of wood and expires in June.  You are only allowed to cut downed trees.  My husband and I had scoped out several areas of downed trees.  We decided that we would cut and split, by hand, there in the forest.
Yesterday, my husband and sons left out about 8 am to start cutting and splitting.  My girls and I walked over to the area about 9:30, bringing water and snacks.  Boy were the guys glad to see us, they promptly took a water and snack break.  The girls and I jumped in and helped cart the wood to the truck for my youngest son to stack in.

All in all we filled up the truck two times and got about 1/2 cord of wood.  All of this wood is white and red oak from 1 1/4 trees.

One of the logs that DH cut off a limb.

Kindling pile

meeting with kids

Last month I started my organization notebook.  I scoured the Internet and Pinterest finding daily to do lists, etc to help get organized.  One of the things that I did  was have a section for each of the kids.  I found a personal interview sheet onhttp://preparednotscared.blogspot.com/.   I used this sheet last month with the younger three kiddos, my 19 year old wasn't all that interested in meeting with me.  I decided that I like a lot of what this sheet has but tweaked it to meet my family.  This is what my sheet now looks like:
personal interview sheet

Every month the kids are going to have two goals, one personal and one academic.  All the kids are working on a financial goal of saving their allowance.   My 13 year old is learning how to bake a cake, 7 year old is going to read 5 books, 4 year old is working on trying new foods (she is extremely picky). 

My kids really like meeting with me, sharing, and talking.  Hopefully, this is going to help the kids become more independent.  I think that this is helping because when my 4 year old would stop and say "Oh, I am working on not saying that.  I'm sorry."  That in itself is a victory!

Were on indiegogo

Just a little plug for our farm.  My husband and I are trying to get crowd funding for our farm, Crazy Chicken Farm.  Check it out on www.indigogo.com

Also check out all the other people out there crowd funding too.

Thanks

Mandy & Joe