Crystal Light Reuse/Upcycle

Hey there everyone, I know it's been a while but I'm still here.

I hope you are well in these very trying times. We try to only go to the store when necessary and always take our masks to wear. 

We've been on three camping trips to Cottonwood Creek Campground in Lovell, Wyoming so far this year and are getting ready to head up to the Big Horn Mountains soon. I love it up there, so relaxing and beautiful views no matter where you are.

No stitchin' mojo to be found anywhere, but I have managed to use my sewing machine a few times so at least there's that.

Do you like those little bottles of Crystal Light to flavor your water, I do to, but hate to throw away those little plastic containers. 

Today I found a use for one.

After popping the top off (just twist it) I rinsed the bottle and the lid out and removed the label. Then I got our large bottle of hand sanitizer and pumped it in and snapped the lid back on. 

Tried it out and it works great and is just the right size to put in my purse. Pretty sure it will also work for hand lotion, so I'll try that with the next one.

That's all for now, so until next post.......

Take Care Everyone &

Stay Safe.

Hugs, Sandy

Using the Dehydrator

Hello Friends; Hope you all are safe & well.

Decided on Tuesday to use our dehydrator & take care of a few left over Red Delicious apples that were getting a bit soft and grainy. So I pulled out the mandolin slicer & made Cinnamon Sugar Apple Slices.

So yummy with just the right amount of sweetness.

Sliced about a 1/4" thick & dipped in lemon juice & water (couldn't find my Fruit Fresh), laid out on the trays and sprinkled with a cinnamon and sugar mix. Into the dehydrator at 145 degrees for roughly 8 hours until dry but pliable.

Working on sewing a few masks to keep in our vehicles for when we have to go to the store to get necessaries. Made two of the pleated style yesterday and will work on a couple of the contoured type and Olson Masks today.

That's it for today, so until next time..... 

Take Care of Yourselves & Be Safe

Hugs, Sandy 

Canning Some Make-Do Supplies

 Hello Friends; I hope and pray you are all stating safe & well. 

My hubs stopped by our semi local CVS pharmacy to pick up some meds a couple weeks back and came across 4-packs of Charmin toilet paper for.....hold on to you knickers.....$10.49!!! 

Good thing we've been stocked up on toilet paper here at the cabin for years. When ever we buy a different brand and don't really care for it, it goes into a plastic storage container with a lid and into the basement.

Needing to clean out the pantry of dried bread heels, I decided to make bread crumbs. I won't have to buy regular bread crumbs from the store for years.

Then I noticed we were out of brown sugar, so I whipped of a batch.

bread crumbs (left) & brown sugar (right)

For the bread crumbs I break the slice apart and put into the food processor and pulse until fine crumbs. I store in mason jars and vacuum seal until needed. My user jar just has a plastic lid. This will make three 1/2 gallon jars stored on the pantry shelf. You can also make the bread crumbs by using a plastic bag or zip-loc and a mallet or rolling pin.

The brown sugar is made using my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, but you can use any stand or handheld mixer you have. I use setting 1 or 2 and my wire whip attachment.

Put sugar into bowl and add molasses while it is running 1 T. at a time.

4 - 6 cups of white sugar and 1 T. Molasses per cup of sugar then stop, taste, and add more molasses until you get the flavor you want.

This should be stored in an air tight container and will stay soft for 3-6 months.

I keep a using jar and vacuum seal the rest. If it does start to harden up just add a slice of bread or a few crackers and it will soften up in a day or two.

I have sliced apples with cinnamon & sugar in the dehydrator. Better to use it up rather than throw it out.

Take Care Everyone

Hugs, Sandy

More Canning

It snowed this weekend so we added a few more jars of goodness to the pantry by doing some pressure canning on Saturday.

I was going through our freezer and found 3 years worth of leftover Thanksgiving turkey down in the bottom. 

I think I need to go through the freezer more often.

Batch #1

Batch #2

14 quarts in chicken stock just waiting to be made into hot comforting soup, just need to add veggies and noodles.

 

Hope you all had a Blessed Easter if you celebrate or just an amazing weekend if you don't. Stay safe everyone.

 

Hugs, Sandy

Did Some Canning

Added to my pantry by doing some canning yesterday. 

Picked up a couple of bags of peeled garlic at Costco last month and a bag of baby carrots and didn't want them to go bad, so this is the result.

12 Half Pints of Pickled Garlic.

7 Pints of Pickled Baby Carrots & Garlic Mix.

 

5 Pints of Pickled Garlic.

Pickled Garlic

(for 12 half pints)

2 1/4 c. Vinegar

2 1/4 c. Water

1/4 c. pickling salt

1 T. Pickling Spice

 

1 inch head space. Water bath for 10 min.

You can add 1 t. red pepper flakes for a spicier flavor.

 

For 6 pints increase vinegar & water to 2 3/4 c. each 

and water bath for 15 min.

 

I would like to try the Bread & Butter pickle mix & the Kosher Pickle mix at some point but only for a couple of jars to see if I like it.  

 

That's all for this post, so until next time....

 

Take Care, Stay Safe & Be Well

Hugs, Sandy 

It's Been A While...

It has been a while since my last post, life sure does pass by quickly.

We're staying warm and safe as humanly possible in our small spot in Montana.

 They have closed all bars, breweries, wine tasting houses, and casinos in Yellowstone County and other counties are following suit (glad I don't drink or gamble) and they are limiting restaurants to take out and delivery orders only. All K-12 schools are closed in Montana as of Monday 3/16 until April 26th or longer if needed, on-line classes are sure to follow, all colleges are already going on-line for the rest of the school year. 

I have a doctors appt. on Thursday for a blood draw to check my new new BP meds. It's a small office with far fewer patients than the bigger places.

We're going to do a stock up trip this weekend to add a few necessary items to our pantry stores. Luckily TP is not one of those items, I've had plenty stored in plastic totes for years for just such an occasion. People have gone crazy even here, with the hording of items.

I do plan to sew up a couple of masks before these trips and a few for the hubs to take to work and I also have a large aloe plant and a few bottles of rubbing alcohol on hand if I need to make hand sanitizer, any type of protection is better than none. 

I thank God for our pantry at times like this and after all is done I know there will be quite a bit that will need to be restocked. I'll be taking inventory of our freezer today to see how much is there and what is needed.

Praying you all stay safe and healthy and that this Virus is over soon so our lives can go back to a somewhat normal state. Until next post....

Take Care Everyone

Hugs, Sandy