Waste Not, Want Not

 Cranberry-Orange Relish - yummy

    
     This past Thanksgiving I made a cranberry-orange-nut relish that I used to make many, many moons ago.  For some reason, I hadn't made it for several years, but thought of it this year. It was every bit as good as I remembered it... It was a hit.  Moshe is using up the leftovers by eating it over vanilla icecream, which got me to thinking... maybe I should make another batch of it and can it... So, that is exactly what I did this afternoon.  And, while I was cooking and canning,  poor Moshe was outdoors (in intermittent rain and constant cold), cutting and stacking more firewood, and restocking the indoor supply of wood for the pot-belly stove.
     And, I got to thinking, we are certainly not experiencing any real hardship in our lifestyle.  Oh, some people might think we are, but we sure don't.  What we ARE is frugal, prudent, ever looking forward.  We  try not to waste anything. 
     One example:  We save all our chicken and turkey bones, skin, grizzle, etc.  We keep throwing them into a gallon-sized zip-lock bag until it's full; then, I cook them with a few cups of water in the pressure cooker.  Once they are cooked, I grind them either in the blender or the cuisinart, and they become an excellent additive for Moxie's dogfood (which we also make!)

...later on we'll conspire.... as we dream by the fire....

 Another example is saving anything paper to use as kindling.  Although this might sound like a "no-brainer", you'd be surprised how much you're accustomed to throwing away.    I still forget sometimes, and poor Moshe "rescues" the stuff I throw away and adds it to the burn box. There's no reason to throw away a paper towel, unless it is REALLY yucky - most anything on it will burn well.  And, how 'bout the cardboard core from TP and PT?  (Toilet paper and paper towels).  Empty pasta boxes. Junk mail!!! Even the ashes from the woodstove are carried out in the bucket and added to garden spots.

      We save all our eggshells... Some are added to the compost pile (several blogs could be written just on the subject of composting;   My hubby, Moshe,  has written about this subject on his blog, aptly named,  thecompostfiles.blogspot.com  )   We place the rest of our eggshells in the gas oven and let the pilot light dry them until they're real brittle;  then, we grind them in a spare coffee grinder.  This also becomes a calcium-rich food additive for the animals.  Ha!  Eggshells... they're not just for breakfast anymore!  We have discovered that when we harvest any type of vegetables or herbs, that the parts we previously would've put in the compost  can be diced up small, and the chickens absolutely love it!  They also love potato peels, carrot peels, apple peels, etc. diced up the same way. ( One day Moshe said that the chickens are just pigs with feathers!)
     There are, of course, many other items to recycle, reuse, rethink.  Waste not, want not/ back to basics is  the good life.
                Shalom Y'all - Twyla

That's One Happy Dawg

Uhhh, I'm a happy dawg.  Can you tell?

    
      I've never been a dog person.  I didn't dislike dogs.  And, I wasn't particularly afraid of them.  I was just always a cat person... Had at least one feline friend all my life.  And, still do.
     Then, along comes Moxie.  If you've read my blog before, you know that we adopted Moxie from friends of ours "back home".  Now, I've known a few dogs I liked - dogs that belonged to friends and family.  I've even "dog-sat" for Puppy, my mother's little dog.  But, I've never really, really, REALLY known a dog like I know Moxie.
     Moxie should've been a rock star.  Or a movie star.  She is so special.  She is a giant teddy bear when we lay on the floor to watch old TV shows on the computer (Netflix is great!). She is a watch dog. She is a nursemaid if I'm not feeling well - won't leave my side.  She is comic relief (see photo above).  She's friends with all the chickens and with CassPurr.  She's Moxie The Wonderdog!!!
     And, so, here I am.  A certified cat person; and, what did I do all afternoon?  I made homemade organic dogfood and dog biscuits.  Here is the recipe for the dog biscuits, adapted from a recipe I found on Bullwinkle.com.  Maybe I'll write my recipe for organic dogfood another day.

                                          Homemade Dog Treats

                                     1 Cup rolled oats
                                     1/3 Cup shortening (I used rendered chicken fat)
                                     1 Cup boiling water
                                     3/4 Cup cornmeal
                                     1 Tablespoon sugar
                                     1 Chicken boullion cube (you could use beef flavor, if desired)
                                     1/2 cup milk
                                     1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
                                     1 Egg, beaten
                                     2 Cups white or wheat flour

          Preheat oven to 325. Grease cookie sheets.  Combine rolled oats, shortening, and water in large bowl; let stand for 10 minutes.  Stir in cornmeal, sugar, boullion, milk, cheese and egg.  Mix well.  Add flour 1 cup at a time, mixing well.
          On floured surface knead dough, adding additional flour as needed, until dough is smooth and no longer sticky.  Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness' cut with cookie cutter.  Place on cookie sheets.
          Bake 45 minutes, or until golden brown.  Store, covered, after they are completely cooled.
          For me, this made 2 & 1/2 dozen large bone-shaped treats... enough for one-per-day for a month! My hubby made the bone-shaped cookie cutter just for Moxie.  Like I said, she should've been a movie star... and we could be her entourage.