CombODDnation: Lego Yogurt

I've made spiced yogurt, it's not too fancy, and it's quite fine.  And there is no reason whatsoever to call it Lego Yogurt except that I found this little Lego man in my cupboard when I was making it and that was fun.  Hope I'm not violating any copyright here, but considering the kinds of things I've seen the Lego name associated with out there on those webernet spaces, I'm feeling pretty safe about this.

1 Cup plain yogurt
2 Tbs dark brown sug
1/4 Tsp cinnamon
Sprinkle nutmeg + clove
Splash vanilla

Lego man

And  stir.  Yeah, poor little guy.  It's delicious.  You can use almond extract and any number of pie spices to your taste preferences.

Also, in the copious stuff I brough back from cleaning up grandfather's a couple years ago, I discovered I've brought home a little treasure, this beauty is from 1945, and it has some truely facinating recipie ideas, the kind you just don't see "these days" like tomato jelly, jellied egg salad, pinapple and cheese jelly.  

Oh my, these must be attempted and stomached for every bit of delight that might be willfully discovered.  Not doing anything with prunes, though.  But I'll substitute figs and continue as planned.

Meowscellany: Laundry Soap!

Yes, I now make my own laundry soap!  I told some friends of this development and the resounding response was "please please tell me how" so that's what this is intended to do.  The formula ends up costing about 50cents per gallon, the soap will be ready next-day.  The idea is my own modification of the recipe put forward by the Urban Homesteaders group.  (Gotta get you a link...it's on my to-do list.)

 Get out your corn boiling pot, it should do about one gallon.  Start that amount of water to boil.

 Ingredients you'll need are:

• Fels-Naptha (getting harder to find, zote soap works too.)
• Borax 
• Washing Soda (which is not the same as baking soda, and is sold on the same shelf as borax, next to your basic raw cleaning stuff near the buckets and whatnot).
• Amonia is a good idea, too.  I started using 1/4 cup amonia in each mix, also, as clothes stay fresh smelling longer with that in there.  But, it's optional.  If you use bleach in your washing, don't use the amonia.  1 cup Vinegar works the same.

In addition to the 1/4 cup measure that's show sitting on top of the laudry soda box, you'll also need this stuff.  A big bucket - this one is 5 gallons.  2.5 gallons would do, though.  Grater, slotted spoon, big funnel, sauce pot.

Grate about 1.25 inches off of the Fels-Naptha bar.  (I used a paper plate to collect it.)  If you're using zote soap, that soap bar is huge, just use half an inch of a zote bar for this.

Melt the Fels-Naptha shavings in a small amount of water (something like a cup of water or less will do just fine).

In your big bucket, pour 1 or so gallons of water you boiled earlier, then add the dissolved shavings, and 1/4cup of borax and 1/4cup of Laundry Soda.  I've now started adding 1/4 cup amonia at this point, for fresher smelling clothes.  (If you EVER use any bleach in your laundry at all, DON'T use amonia.  Use a cup vinegar as a substitute for this.)  Mix this all together evenly with that same slotted spoon.

Let sit to the next day when it will be a little bit jellied.  Use that same slotted spoon to slosh up the jelly so it's a relatively even liquid consistency.  There will be lumps (well, unless you use a big whisk, there will be) so don't worry about those, as long as they're small enough to pour through the laundry soap container spout they wont bother you any.

Pour liquid into laundry soap container of choice.  I had been saving my regular laundry soap containers so I use those.  This filled three 50 fl oz bottles perfectly.  Have an extra bottle handy just in case you end up with more.  :)  I set the bottle on that paper plate from earlier to pour, and then after I mopped the floor with the spills I had, was great.

Use something like 1/2 cup per load, it works great!

Hint: I've designated the saucepot, slotted spoon and funnel for this purpose.  I probably should designate a cheese grater, but until I can find a good cheese grater for that purpose, I'm rationalizing that the Fels-Naptha isn't liquid when it contacts that bit.  But honestly, I'm looking at rummage sales for a cheese grater, too.  I have no idea what's in Fels-Naptha, rather not leave it to chance.

CombODDnation: Hot Black Currant Jam + beef and collards

Something I've been making frequently recently is a desert I may as well call Hot Black Currant Jam.

1.5Cup black currants from freezer (I guess I'll be using fresh ones soon.)
1/4 to 1/2Cup dark brown sugar
1/4Cup water

Put on low simmer and cook down till it's not watery.  Everything caramelizes.  Lovely tart desert.  This makes enough for two.  Honestly, the tartness is a lot for a tummy to handle all at once, so make half the amount if you're only feeding one person... your tummy might not be so happy with you if you eat 2 people worth :)

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Have you noticed that my recipes are always estimates?  Honest, I never measure things.  I measure for you, specifically.  That's a lot of extra work, is what I think.  For my own purposes, I just look at it and say "that's about right" and keep on going.  You can't screw this up.  Oh, you could burn it, yeah, but the ingredients and proportions are so forgiving!

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Right now I'm making beef and collards.  When I get ground beef, I cut it into cubes and freeze it for later placing it on a skillet.  So I put collards from the freezer, and a cube of ground beef into the freezer and flipped things over until everything's cooked through.  Usually the collards have to come off the skillet first.

I ran out of frozen cabbage cubes because those are my preferred combination in this skillet food.  Beef and cabbage (red or white) skilleted together are fantastic and caramelize so nicely - which is kind of the idea with veggies and skillets, I think!

Federally madated minimum milk cost

The federally mandated minimum cost for milk had created an interesting effect at Aldi...
A half gallon of almond milk at Aldi is currently similar in price to the same quantity of cow milk next to it on the shelf!

I don't know about your Aldi, but at mine, the cow milk is usually expiring "today" or "tomorrow" - which is fine for a half gallon, what I don't drink I'll cook with.  But with a full gallon, that's an impossible time frame.

Almond milk at Aldi is great, and doesn't expire for a couple months!  Really.  I don't like refined sugar, I've become quite adapted to the taste of raw dark brown sugar, so I don't like the flavored ones, but my friends do, so they must be pretty good for the normal palate.  I like the non-flavored!  And I treat it just like my usual milk.  You'll find it either in the dairy section or in the section near the fancy cheeses, depending on your store.

Very Yummy.
Just thought I'd let you all know.

Kitties + garden + arm therapy progress

This has nothing to do with cooking.  Lol.  I'm okay with that.  I think you'll live, too.  Hehe.

First, CAT IN A BAG!

And My garden is sweetness!  I provide you here with a short, unorganized, rambling tour.  Hope you enjoy!  Lol.

And did I tell you I broke my arm in February?  Well that explains my disappearance a bit, doesn't it?  Couldn't really type!    Lol.  I'm doing great, building muscle and getting strong again.  Been having my chiropractor coordinate my therapy, he is really helping, it's going great.  I'm enjoying playing around with 3 and 5 pound weights and hope to be able to lift my kayak to the car roof soon!