Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Praying for patience and tolerance..

What do you pray for ?

Monday, March 29, 2010

HEY it worked ...

So I have been practicing --drying and preserving and creating from scratch. I’ve been purging excess and applying the philosophy waste not want not.
This diet kind of thing I’m on says NO fruit this week. I looked at the table and the 17 wonderful pairs I JUST bought and was angry because they were going to spoil.....
…..Wait says I ... I will dry them ... TODAY was a good day Today was a Freedom Day


Sunday, March 28, 2010

Whats your montra

People should be more courteous. What have you done to pay your blessings forward. What have you done to honor your God

Not as we take but as we give not as we pray but as we live.

I was reading about freedom days on a blog somewhere out there. It spoke about becoming less reliant on ... well everything. One of the points it made was that you didn't have to stock pile three months of food good all at once. You could instead do a couple jars of pickles here and a can of sauce there and if you did a little every day when you turned around if would be much more than you realized.

What if you didn't save the world what if you carried a someones groceries. Picked up a lunch for a family at a restaurant. sent someone a gift out of the blue just because. A rain drop by itself is just a rain drop. In a heavy wind it might not even hit the ground. A rain drop surrounded by 300,000 other raindrops  in that same wind is a hurricane.

Not as we take but as we live. Not as we pray but as we live.

More Dog Snacks

Ive been using my cracker recipe for the dog biscuits. Its a cup of flour and a quart cup of liquid. The dough should hold but not be sticky. I roll them on a cookie sheet so they are about 2/8 thin inch to 3/8 inch thick I use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into squares. I bake at 400 for about 20 minutes.

Instead of water I use Whey - the by product from the Greek Yogurt. I also take just a bit of beef base for some salty beefy tatse. This week I added just a bit of food coloring into the dough ball just to make them fancy.


They are cheaper then store bought and I know whats in them. Try it you dogs will thank you

Friday, March 26, 2010

Clean up weekend

This weekend all seeds get started. I will order the mulching for the Acre Gardens. The garage sale pile will be started. That will be a monster amount of work. I hope for a sunny sunday and a bonfire we shall see. In the meantime the Morning glory curtian is growing like mad and we think will be wonderfull. I think clean up once the vines croak may me nasty but .. the vines will keep the beating sun out of the kitchen and the house much much cooler.

On the food front

Using food linking and theory based on insulin levels (I am Type II)


Surviving Milwaukee by going to the grocery store ==
Avoiding food from a packages==
No artificial chemicals or sweeteners ==
Some coffee, black ==
200 ounces of water per day.== YEAH ITS ALOT

This Morning after triple checking each

Loss 19 Pounds
Blood Pressure 111 over 78
Blood Sugar 1 hour after meal NON Fasting 135

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Ignorance is BLISS

There is corn syrup and dextrose in store bought jerky ... good god. Looking at what I eat is all new to me but not to the rest of you I’m sure. I Read the labels and stand agape, no wonder I'm a prize winning pig boy with high blood sugar. I also knew "Healthy" foods and "Fat Free" weren’t all that good for you but it would seem upon educating myself they actually are worse. Boiled down.. Chemicals bad.
In one week ... eliminating crap from my food intake and drinking half my weight in ounces of water I’ve lost 17 pounds.
Raw nuts, organic eggs, fruits and veggies with no calorie counting -- no sugary pops no artificial sweeteners .. Always combining carbs with proteins ..
Interesting.


Monday, March 22, 2010

Travel

I find myself away from home today. No yogurt no bread and eating in resturants. The food is really salty and the portions are gigantic -- free refills on a large soda ? really? It all use to seem so normal.

Man when the power goes out this country is screwed

Friday, March 19, 2010

Holy Hanna

4 weeks off the drugs now and we have been able to maintain the processes we have built. They boy continues to pitch in hopefully the dog waste will be picked up today without the need to point it out. Baby steps patience...
Garage sale will be April 9th 10th and 11th. If you’re in the area you should check this one out -- tread mills elliptical and all the modern garbage the suburban dream seduced me into.
The Effexor haze has worn off and I looked in the mirror I’m not sure who that person is but he needs a shave and needs to be at least 200 pounds lighter. Yesterday began the quest... I have a 250 dollar bet with a lovely woman in Arizona on who can reach their goal first. Mine is 40 hers is 22. I’m guessing Ill win although I can’t understand what I’m eating that maintains this kind of weight. It must be portion size and booze. So booze is out... ouch and protiens are up.
I’m starting today with a week of raw foods. That should ease up my enzyme world according to my wife so let’s see. I’ll be in Milwaukee Then Portland followed by SanFransisco so it may be hard... or easy to do this we shall see. I don’t like to drive in these cities so maybe it will be good but the restaurants ugh. In Milwaukee you can get a meal ... I’m just saying.
Anyway the theme from Rocky plays and the game is on.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Sustaining the starter

I’ve had some really good luck with the yogurt. I moved to the dehydrator process. I let it sit in the dehydrator for 12 hours then strain it in the colander. This batch was made with whole organic milk I got two quarts out of one gallon. I also used the last bit of yogurt from the last batch I made. The last batch contained some probiotic supplements.
It got TOO thick this time I think ..
The granola this week is clover honey with Turkish apricots and craisins... it was a nice flavor change.


Sunday, March 14, 2010

Snack

Snack Stick for breakfast smoked to perfection

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Auction Day

Great day at the auction I got a Harison Sprayer its metal with a full brass sprayer handle for 3 bucks .. 40 Ball Jars no chips in like new condition for 20 bucks 40 feet of chicken wire and 5 tomato supports for 2 bucks and BEST OF ALL .. I got that 70 gallon stock tank ! I had to goto 45 bucks but it was worth it. Its the black Rubbermaid one so thats HALF Price !

Today I make beef sticks !

I also got an Allis Chalmers Crome name plate and a slow moving vehicle sign for the ManFort. But those are bonus parts

Friday, March 12, 2010

RAIN !!

! hope this rain fills the lakes .. I know it wont be enough but Im so happy to see it.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Oranges WOW

May I suggest you add dried oranges to your yogurt? The taste with the tangy yogurt is unreal and they hydrate back up YUMMO. I finished last night the first gallon of yogurt in the goliath dryer. The Cullturelle I added really changes the texture and color. The yogurt is bright white and super thick! Like cream cheese thick. It is wonderful..
The new bread maker is working out really well the long loafs are nicer. We have been using the meat slicer to cut the bread makes slicing a snap.


Wednesday, March 10, 2010

David and Goliath

OK .. well then.

The larger dehydrator came .. 9 trays instead of 4 .. I thought maybe it was just going to be 5 more trays ? NO .. its gigantic it would swallow my other one whole and again yet one more. The trays are also larger. I put a bowl containing a GALLON of yogurt in and I think it would have held a 3 gallon container .. wow.

Not sure i wanna sell the other one now .. yikes ..

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Thinking outloud

There is a lot of planning and work to get this process working. In reality being simpler is actually harder. Initially there was how do you do it and what will we need to get phase. So there was conversation.
Then came the I can’t believe we just did it horary for us phase. So there was more conversation.
Next came the get your process working and set up your flow so you work smarter not harder phase. So there was more conversation.
We now are making our sausages—breakfast, dinner, brats, summer sausage, jerky and grinding seasoned pork bullets for spaghetti and or HOT DISH. So there is conversation on how to divvy it up.
We make our own granola and yogurt. We dehydrate foods we find on sale. We bake our own bread and 90% of the meals are from “Home Made”. So there is much planning and conversation surrounding food shopping.

There is talking about a garden … what kind of garden… what to plant… where to plant. … talk talk talk talk

There is an awaking in about the things you can buy in the store that are horrible but save more time.. save more time so you can … well I’m not sure? work more to afford them … this is weeks of talking

Seems your to busy talking, working ,planning or enjoying the success of your efforts to fight or become distant.

I wonder if that’s the holds true for being a Christian. If your busy living like one there is not time to argue about it.

Things are good and getting better.. I don’t ever wanna go back

The Blue Ski

Rescued from obscurity at my local “Vintage Decorations Shop” was the wonderful blue ski. It looked to be cutting edge and had FREESTYLE boldly branded across the bottom. It’s my belief that this ski was destined for a life of adventure on the slopes of the world.


When it was created it dreamed of hooking up with some young daring trickster and doing 360 double cork screws while floating effortlessly across the sunny blue and white slopes of Jackson Hole. This ski was made to take on the world and have groups of girl’s ohhh and ahhh at its abilities. How did it end up here, exiled from its purpose?

So many of us never got to adventure the way we hoped to. So many of us know others who were destined to see things they never got to see or do.

Here is to you blue ski. Let’s take you out and show you the things you never got to see.


Follow its journey on FB

The Blue Ski

Monday, March 8, 2010

More ManFort Math

Having given up true suburban 21st century living I am accustom too ……….
I started at 5:30 am .. Strained the yogurt this morning and added the raisins and dried oranges to the home make honey almond granola and packed up 6 tub’s of yogurt breakfast. . so let’s see ManFort Math time … one gallon of whole milk makes me 12 jars of yogurt so that’s 19 cents per jar for the yogurt.
I have about a week’s worth of granola. That works out to about 53 cents per container .. so my half cup of yogurt granola breakfast is 72 cents .. hmm that’s about 5 bucks for 7 days of breakfasts .. or .. 1 trip to McDonalds. (YUM YUM but BAD BAD)
I also control exactly what goes in it this concoction. I also have no added sugars or preservatives and since I use yogurt from the previous batch I made where I introduced the Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG Bacteria Strain its even more super healthy that it started out. Lactobacillus GG is one of the most effective most studied strains of good gut bacteria at balancing out the causes of gas, bloating and stomach upset. It’s a bit more complicated than that but with better digestion, your immune system is stronger and ready to fend off bad bacteria. In essence it will strengthen the immune system and boost your immune response.
For lunch for the next three days we will have Lentil soup. The soup has carrots an onion and a bag of lentils so it cost about 2.63 cents for the stock pot full .. Im not counting the pork and or pork stock since it came from the bones left over from sausage making I saved instead of throwing out. Let’s see more ManFort math then… I got 6 bags of soup not including the soup I had yesterday .. that’s 44 cents a bag.
So for breakfast and lunch today I will have spent 1.16 cents ? huh .. prior to this
….The Greek Yogurt with Gourmet Granola would have been 3 bucks and the soup would have been 2.50 I would have had a cup of coffee .. 1.50 and a pop with the soup so 1.35 that adds up to 8.35 cents ? So I saved 7.19 cents. That will be my first three days of the week so .. I could actually be saving 22.00. Id count the two pieces of HERB AND GARLIC BUTTER BREAD but since Julie makes the bread and it’s about a buck a 2 pound loaf ?
I know I know some people don’t eat breakfast or lunch every day .. instead they have a couple snacks .. maybe a candy bar or a bag of chips and a big dinner but that’s why it’s called ManFort math
Gosh No Wonder I have extra cash lately

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Wow .. what a rollercoster ..

Best to keep it simple otherwise Im sure a lightning bolt will crash down

Made Granola .. I did NOT add OIL .. instead I added Whey .. the result is that it is a bit chewy. It is not crunchy or as crsip as it has been however it is very tastey and should fill the bill pretty well

 Um .. I dehdrated oranges to place in the granola along with the rasins. I sliced it very thin so it dried really fast and should give a nice punch to the yogurt.

Today Julie broke out the pork bones and made lentil soup .. not sure what was in it. I know tomatoes and pork .. 6 left over bags so three days worth of lunch

Ill wait to speak on the rest... perhaps a nights rest is in order.. engage brain .. then mouth

Thursday, March 4, 2010

well .. God just handed me my ass again

Long story short I have AS long story short Im in pain every day .. every day. A good day on the pain scale is a two a bad day is a 9 and Ive seen some 10's or crippling pain. Im 44 I got it when I was 21.  Ive had everything lost everything Ive been hospitalized on a death bed. Ive lost a child in reality I could go on and on.

Over the last couple months im an 8 on the pain scale everyday. It comes to a point with pain where it isn't so much about the pain as it is the anticipation of the pain that's where I am lately. It's been taxing. Work has been a bit taxing as well since I'm intimately involved in one of the largest bank mergers ever. My wife and I have been crabbing at each other and today more crappy news in the wake of some recent fortune. I snapped. I was wrong

About 4 PM I railed out against my God. I told him I believed, I told him my faith would not falter but I wanted to know in no uncertain terms what the bleep the bleeping deal was and why my lord why me rolled off my tongue. I also did that publicly how embarrassing.

I got in my car and went to a tobacco shop for some pipe tobacco. Ive never done that before. Standing and staring at the cases of goodies the store owner came over and said he was sorry for my pain. He asked if I has AS because well ... he did to.  We began to talk and finished each others sentences with the glee of finding someone in life you knew understood what it was to live like this etc etc.

As I was concluding the purchase another man jumped in. He wasn't very well spoken or put together and pretty rough around the edges. He was a man who had led a hard life. He had been in car accident.and talked about his pain. I could see the sorrow in him but he seemed to be very peaceful. He then proceeded to tell me about his recent conversion to Christ.  How God had saved  him and he how he was on his way to bible study and I could come if I wanted.

KNOCK KNOCK .. I'm an idiot .

Neither of these personal topics are common conversations you have out of the blue in tobacco store with people you don't know on a Thursday afternoon. Obviously my God was letting me know I wasn't alone.

This happens to me every now and then and I have some pretty funny stories about God punching me in the head.

There before the grace of God go I.

Anyway welcome to a glimpse of my private wierd world.

Spring

40 again today .. this is the year spring will happen in march and plants will be bearing fruits in May. Unless we have the state basketball tourney .. then all bets are off ,,,

Anyway I have purchased an old pipe for the ManFort Room .. now i look .. um .. ManForty ?

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Mom called... Kelly is a cute little girl

We got mom a bread maker and were fortunate enough to have a lovely young lady drop off supplies PRIOR to the breadmaker arriving. She was thrilled thought Kelly was wonderful and thanks all of you for her gift. She says she will stay home tomorrow and wait for it to arrive LOL .. I hope she likes it and makes tons of raisin bread

Thanks everyone

Dogs win

Well its official we make more whey then we can eat so the dogs are gonna get biscuits. I added the whey into some flour with a bit of beef broth. The perfect dog treat ? perhaps not but if the dogs get excited and I can give them whey protein and whole wheat well then its at least as healthy as bulk by the pound stuff.

So if I made the whey and the broth and recycled it into something nice for my puppies .. Im counting this and an independence day.

 

Growing a bit as a person

Whew, pretty good day. Gathered the family together along with a new old friend and sent mom a bread maker I think she will be happy and I got to share the joy with others …

That’s new for me, sharing. I kind of like it. It’s not just about giving credit to others its actually allowing them to be physically and monetarily involved. Giving away credit to someone else was always easy but letting them help .. not so much. I think I grew some today.

Well like the song says “it’s time to win some or learn some.”

Today I got a raise wow.

Today it was yogurt without granola poop. I talked to Lisa E and she was talking about drying oranges ..I bet that would be good in yogurt.

Last night I cracked the seal on our 3rd batch of sauerkraut. This batch was the same recipe except I used only white cabbage and I added purified water to get the juice level really high. It was very good and a bit sweet actually. I gave a jar away to a coworker.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Upgrade

Lisa will be taking my dehydrator. It seems she likes the yogurt to much to part with it.  I will upgrade to the Excalibur 3900 and it will only cost 69 dollars. That means double plus on the capacity and I can do a gallon of yogurt at a time.

Who can suggest a good over the counter Probiotic Brand? I understand there is something called Culturelle?

Monday, March 1, 2010

Back to work.

Saturday came quickly and Julie was sick. The last night in the fish house was a bit chilly. Saturday came along with this agonizing pain I cannot shake. I was able to clean out the junk drawers and fix the cupboard doors. With Zach’s help I was also able to do the cupboards above the refrigerator and stove. Turns out I have 6 decks of playing cards and 5 pairs of sun glasses. It was a big junk drawer. I filled one more tub with excess and put it in the garage sale pile.
Saturday night I was able to take a friend and his son fishing. What could be better than that?





Sunday was take the ice house of the lake day. The 4x4s were frozen into the ice so we had to remove them with a sledge and a hatched. Once that was done the casters went on the house and we loaded it onto the trailer ... arrival to storing the trailer ... 5 hours thank goodness it was nice out







Thank goodness Zach made the yogurt.