When Life Gives You Lemons

Hey yall
Have you ever had one of those days where you wake up and you just know it's not going be a good day? Lets face it everyday is not going to be a great day even though we may try our hardest to make it that way it's just not going to happen. Well Friday was this day for me.
It started by waking up sore and achy from this Lyme Disease mess. This happens a lot so it really isn't that big of a deal I guess, but I wanted to whine about it so there, I whined!! Work was good up until lunch I decided to go couponing at Kroger. I should have known better. I had my list all made out and I was going to score a lot of shampoo's body wash, laundry detergent and so on I had a huge list and was only going to spend about $20.00 bucks. I should have known this trip was going to suck when it took forever to pull out onto 72 from work. Whenever this happens my shopping trips always suck. Yes I may be a tad supersticious(sp) Wow that's a hard word to spell and I'm sure I just murdered it. So I get to the store and go to the Health and Beauty section first EVERYTHING is sold out no shampoo's no body washes I mean the shelves were cleared. So I'm like ok this happens sometimes. I went over to the laundry detergent isle it was not on sale like my Kroger Krazy lady that I follow on Facebook said it was. So no go on the detergent. Sometimes Kroger runs a Freebie Friday item that you can load to your Kroger card and get for free. Guess What? I couldn't find it I searched that store high and low but no Chili's frozen entrée was anywhere to be found. By this time I knew that this trip was going to be an epic fail so I picked up my toilet paper that I did find and I got out of there. Now these things are going to happen when you coupon its just a fact. But I just was not feeling it Friday so it was on my nerves. When I got back to work the most terrible thing of this horrible Friday happened. My dad called and told me he accidentally ran over my Schnauzer baby Tanzi and she didn't make it needless to say I was devastated. This was at 11:30 so I had to try to hold it together until I got off at 4:30 without completely loosing it at work. Which was a VERY hard thing to do. I hadn't even had her 2 years yet she was still so young and full of energy. Jerry and I are still completely devastated. The house is so quiet now without her running around everywhere. You can imagine how my weekend has been. But this to shall pass and we will be ok. I just wanted to share with all my readers that not every day in life or in the Blogisphere will be a good day. But I will be here letting you know how my days are good or bad so you can be on this journey with me.

XOXO
Michelle

Putting up Corn

Hey yall,
TGIF am I right??? Huh??? Huh??? Today I wanted to show yall how we put up corn here at the Webb wanna be homestead. I took some of our extra corn to work the other day and hardly anyone knew how to put it up for future use. So I thought what better way to get this info out there than to do a little tutorial on Michelle's Webb. So here goes!!!
We planted Silver Queen corn in our garden this year and not because we wanted to. At the time we had no idea that Silver Queen corn was the white corn and not the yellow. (Newbie homesteader alert!!!! ) So we planted us a big ole crop of that stuff and imagine our surprise when it all came in white. Just so happens that we actually liked this sweet white corn so all is good!!

 For some reason we picked the hottest day of the year to go pick this stuff but hey when all you have is the weekend you gotta do what you gotta do. We picked a lot of corn that day I think we ended up freezing 156 ears (some on the cobb some whole kernel) Whew!!!! Now some of you may not have this fancy smancy corn holder like I do so don't be hatin". (Grins)

Now comes the fun part NOT!! Let's face it shucking corn blow's but if you want to end up with the reward of sweet homegrown corn it's gotta be done...........sigh...........and don't forget to get most of those silks off don't try to get them all cause it aint gonna happen!!

Just look at these beauties!!

Now when you get all this corn shucked and brought in you will want to cut the ends off  that are brown because no matter how hard you try there will be a worm hiding in the top of that corn shuck, Yuck!( hey that rhymed). Now you need to blanch your corn. Blanching means boiling the corn for 5 minutes then soaking it in ice cold water immediately after. You can let them sit in the cold water for a minute or two.

Lay them out on a towel to completely cool off before going any further.

Now you can decide if you want to freeze corn on the cobb or whole kernel corn both are easy to do.

If you want corn on the cobb all you have to do is put those dudes in a freezer bag and suck all the air out of it and into the freezer they go.

If you want to freeze whole kernel corn get you a REALLY sharp knife and slice down all sides of the cobb. Take your whole kernel corn and put in the freezer bag and suck all the air out. Now I did some of my corn like this but for some reason I didn't take a picture (I haven't the foggiest idea why

I didn't) Chalk it up to old age or extreme tiredness or whatever other excuses I can come up with. Anyhoo!!! Since you blanched your corn and you got the air out of your freezer bags your corn will now last up to a year or longer in the freezer. Whoo Hooo fresh corn all year long I say yes, and no buying any at the grocery store. Can you day MONEY SAVER!!!!

 

Until Next time

XOXO

Michelle

 

 

 

Life of a Weekend Homesteader

Hey yall.
How was everyone's weekend? Went by fast didn't it? I tell yall trying to be more active in growing and raising your own food is a full time job in itself and trying to cram all that into a 2 day weekend is rough. But if your wanting to be a homesteader that's  the price you pay I guess. This weekend we made a new brooder pen for our 3 to 5 week old chicks in the garage this will be our holding pen until we can transfer them outside. Excuse the mess we got lazy and didn't clean up after ourselves but that's another day.

We picked the garden and put up about 20 ears of yellow corn, chopped and froze some Jalapeno, Bell, and Banana peppers, blanched about 40 tomatoes and froze them and put a watermelon in the fridge to eat later. (I personally can't wait for that part YUM!!).

 

Then we went blueberry picking in the orchard. Our blueberry bushes are showing out this year we probably picked a gallon on our first picking of the season those things were loaded. We brought them in and put all them up in the freezer. I see fried blueberry pies in our future!!

Now after getting all sweaty and hot because it was like 100 degrees this weekend I may have ended up here for just a little bit. Hey I needed a break (HeeHee)

 

I think Tanzi was pouting because I wouldn't let her in the pool.

Sunday we went couponing at Publix. Got a lot of stuff for around $35.00

Then did all my house work laundry and getting everything ready for the work week ahead.

So you can see why homesteading on top of a 40 hour a week job can be a lot to handle. It's really worth it though because our freezer is stocked with deer and turkey, plenty of fresh veggies and fruits and all my coupon haul stuff. We used to spend about $250.00 every 2 weeks on groceries now we spend about $100.00 every 3 weeks and when I can add my own chicken meat to that it will probably drop even more. Now if I could just talk my husband into getting a cow, goat and pig I would be set.

Until next time

XOXO

Michelle





 

Blessing's From Out of The Blue

Today I had a test scheduled that was going to take 4 to 6 hours I had been dreading this test and that long wait time all week. This morning I get up and travel to Huntsville for my test thinking that I couldn't wait for it to be over. I had to do a test then wait 3 hours and do another test Uhhhhh. At 8:00 they call me back and I do my first test it took maybe 20 minutes then they sat me down in a waiting room to wait the 3 hours until my next test. There were about 6 of us all decked out in our hospital gowns staring blankly at the TV (can you say BORING). That all changed when this elderly man sat down beside me.
He started talking to me like elderly people do just making conversation. We talked about his kids his brother that passed away a couple of months ago, how pork was bad for your heart. We talked and talked then he told me he was a WW11 decorated vet. He began telling me that one day he was sitting on his front porch reading comics and his mother told him to go check the mail. In the mailbox he found a letter addressed to him that said Greetings from the President of the United States he was being drafted into the war. He had to go to Montgomery to get checked out and his dad was sure they would send him back home. He told him you are to scrawny to go off to war, but we will drive down to see you before you go if they do pick you. He said he arrived in Montgomery on the day they had told him to be there and was told he would be heading out the next morning to Korea. He called his mother and said I'm leaving tomorrow and tell dad they did pick me. He said that was the last time he seen his mothers face for 5 years.
He was sent to Korea as an 18 year old boy to fight in a war that he really didn't know much about. While he was there he was awarded a lot of honors. He didn't go into detail about what they were for. Then he said that the interpreter that they were using had a sister he called her Jennie she nursed him through a sickness he got from not boiling his water, she showed him were all the trails were from the villages they fell in love. One day while he was out on patrol he found a little boy wandering around a village that had been destroyed both of his parents were killed he brought the little boy back to camp with him and ask Jenny to take care of him. Closer to the end of the war he got his paper work started to bring both Jennie and Tim back to the United States with him. He said his commanding officers did not approve and one night around two o'clock they came and got him and told him they were shipping him home. He declined of course wanting to stay until Jennie's and Tim's paperwork came through but he was told he had no choice. He told me even after he got back to the United States that he stayed in contact with her for the next 20 years. As I was enthralled in his story the nurse came into the room and called my name to go for my second test the 3 hours had done went by and I haven't even noticed. I was actually a little disappointed that I was having to leave and couldn't hear any more of his stories. When I got up to leave I shook his hand and told him it was a pleasure talking to him and thanked him for his service to our great United States. This just goes to show that even though you are dreading something so bad that a little blessing can come along and make your day so much better so thank you Mr. Harwell for being my blessing today.
Until Next time
XOXO
Michelle

Crock Pot Berry Cobbler

Hey lovelies how are yall today? I hope everyone had a great weekend mine was awesome, but maybe a little too short but aren't they all really? So this weekend we picked some blueberries out of the orchard so I figured it was a good time to make the hubs favorite dessert Crock Pot Berry Cobbler this cobbler is always a hit at the family get togethers so I thought I would share the recipe with yall. So without further ado :).
I put all kinds of berries in mine whatever I have on hand. I had some strawberries that I froze when our strawberry patch was booming then I had the fresh blueberries and some blackberries and raspberries that I had frozen. The original recipe calls for 2 bags of frozen fruit but I put a little more in mine because the husband loves him some fruit.

Ok now you need to get your trusty crockpot out and spray some cooking spray inside the bowl.

I always do my filling first, get your fruit and add 2/3 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of Bisquick. Mix it all together and put it in your crock pot.

Now you want to mix your topping to go on your fruit you will need 2 1/4 cup of Bisquick 1/4 cup of sugar 4 tablespoons of melted butter or margarine and 1/2 a cup of milk add all these ingredients together in your bowl to make a dough.

Take your dough mixture and pull apart with your hands and add pieces to the top of your fruit like this.

 

Now you want to sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on top of that dough I use 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1/4 cup of sugar. Now that's going to seem like a lot of cinnamon and sugar but use it all. Cook for 4 hours on high or until your dough is cooked and your fruit is boiling.

Your finished product should look something like this.

If yall try this recipe let me know how it turned out for you or if you have any questions feel free to ask. The original recipe is a Paula Dean recipe that I got off the internet. So I can't take the credit for this awesomeness that is Crock Pot Berry Cobbler but it's a winner at the Webb house.

Until next time

XOXO

Michelle

 

Busy Busy Bread Making Fail

Hey Yall,
How has everyone been? Great I hope. I am a little late on my bread making post it has been  busy busy at the Webb house so far this week. I spent the night in the hospital Friday night thinking I was having a heart attack only to find out it was a severe case of acid reflux you know your getting older when a bacon sandwich sends you to the hospital (Hee Hee). They didn't let me go till 11:00 Saturday morning and everyone who's been in the hospital knows that you DO NOT sleep in the hospital they were in there every 2 hours poking me as you can see.

So needless to say Saturday was shot too. Monday my daughter had her college orientation so I left work and went there with her and today I have came home from work cooked supper picked the garden put chemical in the pool and put up some tomatoes to freeze. Whew I'm beat but I promised yall a bread making post so here it.

Here is my lovely bread making machine that my awesome friend Monica gave me Yes!!! I said gave me I told yall she was awesome.

Now I wanted to do a tutorial on how I make the best homemade bread and everyone should be jealous of how great I am at it well........... That's not going to happen let's be honest here I suck at making bread there I said it. I have tried making bread with my bread machine three times and all three times the bread was hard as a rock. I tried the boxed bread recipe and the homemade way and were talking major fail. I followed every direction to a T still no luck. Now I know it's not the bread machines fault it has to be something I'm doing but for the life of me I have no idea what it is. If any of yall have a good recipe for homemade bread that you use send that sucker my way because this girl needs some bread making 101. Here is a pic of the bread I made Sunday. Now don't let this picture fool you. You could literally use this thing as a boat anchor. The whole loaf was tossed in the trash.

Doesn't it look good yall?

So there you have it I can not make bread but you can believe that I will keep trying until I figure out how.

Until next time

XOXO

Michelle

Lunchtime Coupon Shenanigan's

Evening yall,
How has everyone's week been so far? We have just about made it to that glorious day we call Friday. Yesterday started a new week of sales at Publix. So.......guess where I went today at lunch? Yep, you guessed it Publix. Ya'll are so smart. I tell ya'll I have got this lunchtime Publix run down. I had my little green book my list of what I wanted and my coupons, I was in and out of their in 20 minutes with 30 minutes to spare when I got back to the office GO ME!!!!! Anyhoo I thought I would give ya'll a breakdown of my trip today so ya'll could see the the sale prices and what I paid for my haul. ( 5 ya'll's in one paragraph whew I need to come up with another word to use)
Dixie Crystal Sugar BOGO $2.99
I had four .40 cent coupons that doubled to .80 cents each. I bought four bags of sugar at $5.98 and used $3.20 in coupons so my total for all four sugars was $2.78. That's .70 cents a bag talk about a deal!

Capri Sun $1.79 A Box
I had four $1.00 off coupons from the Publix flyer that you get at the door. I bought four Capri Suns at $7.16 I used $4.00 in coupons so the total for all four Capri Suns was $3.16 thats.79 cents a box. The Hubs loves these things so anytime I can get them cheap I jump on it.

Wishbone Salad Dressing BOGO $2.63
I had two $1.00 off coupons. I bought two salad dressings for $2.63 and used $2.00 in coupons my total for both dressings was .63 cents.

Snuggle Dryer Sheets $2.99 For The Big Box
I had one $1.00 off coupon. I bought one Snuggle Dryer Sheet for $2.99 and used $1.00 in coupons so I paid $1.99 for one big box of dryer sheets. Good thing to because I was almost out.

Orbit Gum BOGO $3.29
I had two Target coupons for .50 cents each. I bought two Orbit Gums for $3.29 and used two Target coupons that totaled up to $1.00 I paid $2.29 for both packs of gum. Whenever I can get gum on sale I have to get it or my daughter would have a come apart (Hee Hee) She loves that stuff.

Mahatma Rice Mixes 6 For $5.00 Or .83 Cents A Piece
I had three coupons for .75 cents off two packages. I bought 6 packages at 4.98. I used three coupons for .75 cents off two. My total for all six packages of rice were $2.73. Now I have no idea what this stuff is going to taste like but if I can get new stuff cheap for my family to try I will do it. If we don't like it I will give it away so there may be some( free to good home) rice pictures pop up on my facebook page later if someone wants rice LOL..

Bic Multi Purpose Lighters BOGO $3.49
I had four $1.00 off coupons. I bought four lighters at $6.98. I used $4.00 in coupons so I paid $2.98 for all four lighters that .79 cents a piece. Publix ran this sale about 3 weeks ago but every store I went to was sold out so I kept my coupons in my binder and sure enough the sale popped back up this week. You know I dug those suckers out!! Moral of the story here is it pays to hang on to your coupons until they expire.

I also had a $5.00 off a purchase of $40.00 or more coupon that my friend got out of her paper Sunday and gave to me and wouldn't you know it my total before coupons was $40.13 so I whipped that dude out. So Thanks Julie that was a great gift. While I'm thanking folks let me give a shout out to my other friend at work Sheila, her mom Mrs. Driver and my awesome Mother In Law Mary for graciously giving me there coupons that they don't use it's a huge help.
Now it's confession time I didn't follow my own rule today about not buying things I don't have coupons for. You see there was these great looking Chips Ahoy Cookies that somehow jumped into my buggy, in my defence they were on the BOGO sale for $2.89 and there chocolate so that should get a pass right?????

So today I walked out of Publix only spending $15.47 before tax. I would say that it was a good lunchtime couponing trip.
Until next time lovelies
XOXO
Michelle