Showing posts with label crafty things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafty things. Show all posts
Monday, August 12, 2013
Saving Money and Having Fun: Visiting a U-Pick Farm in Portland
Thank you, Amy, for the cute pic of myself!
On Friday I got to do something that I've only done one other time since I've lived in Oregon, which is visit a u-pick farm. What's a u-pick farm, you ask? Well, it's a farm where you get to go pick all the fruits, vegetables, and flowers you want and it's cheaper that way because you're doing the work yourself! I coerced Amy to go with me right when Sauvie Island Farms opened because I wanted to get out there and get pickin' before the sun got super hot. Luckily she was game (after a yummy coffee) and we had a great time!
My main goal was to pick a bunch of blueberries, but I was open to getting other fruits or berries, as well. Jonathan makes smoothies every morning and fruit really adds up in cost! Since it's something we use daily I wanted to stock up. Blueberries, marionberries (a kind of blackberry that only grows in Oregon), and blackberries at the farm were only $2 a pound! We also ended up getting broccoli ($1/lb), kale ($3/lb), beets (don't remember price), corn on the cob (25 cents an ear), and more! We spent four hours at the farm and picked.....
wait for it.....
35lbs of berries!
After getting home I began the task of cleaning and processing everything. This has taken a few days, because it takes time to freeze things in batches. You have to freeze the blackberries and broccoli on cookie sheets and then transfer them into bags or containers because otherwise you end up with a large chunk of plant matter frozen together and it's hard to get it out later for use. Also, vegetables contain an enzyme that makes the plant mushy if you don't blanch them before you freeze, so I've had to do the corn and broccoli in small batches because there is only so much room in our freezer. But Amy and I had a great time and I'm happy to save money and do something fun with my friend!
Back at home I processed the berries first since they are the most delicate. Sunday afternoon I started in on the broccoli. I had to trim all of it and clean it. I ended up only being able to blanch and freeze one bowl's worth, so I'll have to do the rest later.
This is what our freezer is currently looking like. It's getting more and more filled and soon will be lined with containers full of fruit and vegetables and in a few days I'll be stocking up on chickens and those will be in the freezer as well!
Everything I bought ended up costing $66, which sounds like a lot until you think about how much this can all cost at the grocery store. Blueberries are usually $4-6 per pound, broccoli is usually a couple bucks, and those are foods we eat quite a bit. I have bought several 2lb bags of blackberries at New Seasons and Whole Foods that are in the $9-10 range! I'm hoping to go get more fruits and veggies later but will have to see how full our freezer is first.
Have you ever done a u-pick farm? Would you ever do one?
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Crazy Crafty!
Whoooo! What a weekend! I worked Saturday and Sunday with Amy at Crafty Wonderland and IT WAS A BLAST! It was so much fun and we did well! This photo was taken by Kyle when he came by to say hi. I really didn't get a chance to do much shopping at all this year. It was so busy that the only booths I looked at were on my way to and from the bathroom! I did manage to pick up some Christmas presents for Jonathan and I's families, so that was good, though! And I did get some cool stuff for us:
(We had white napkins before. What was I thinking?!)
I was also house-sitting this weekend for an adorable dog named Tallulah and checking in on my friend's cat Grace while she was out of town. Did I mention that I was also taking transit everywhere? It was a busy, busy weekend, but I made some money and it was a lot of fun!
Are y'all finding good presents for people for Christmas or are you finding good presents for yourselves? ;o) I really want to post photos of what we got family but there is, of course, the chance they will see this post. Maybe I can take photos and post them on December 26?
Friday, November 9, 2012
Oh What A Difference A Year And A Half Can Make
I was just going back through some old blog posts. I have some ideas that I'd like to do and during my search for certain posts I stumbled across some interesting stuff. The following post is one I wrote on February 22, 2011. I had a list of all these crafty things I wanted to do. Since that time I have gone to Ketchikan for seven months, changed jobs, finished my bachelor's degree, and changed jobs again. I'm a totally different person than I was a year and a half ago! Let's recap what I wanted to do...
1. Learn how to make soap. (I can take a soap-making class at Mr. Green Beans. Just need $35 and time!)
*I took a soap-making class on March 6, 2011. That progressed into having an Etsy shop, selling some soap, and now discontinuing some soaps that haven't proven to be popular enough into me wanting to keep them! Get seven different soaps for only $5 here!
*Still haven't done this yet. Kinda over it.
*Still interested in this, but need to figure out how to get lots of fruits & veggies for cheap (u-pick farms?) before this financially makes sense. I also want a dehydrator so I can do that, too!
*I did get my own pot!
*I now do roast my own coffee beans. Learn how easy it is at either "Roasting Coffee Beans in a Popcorn Popper" or "Roasting Coffee Beans in a Frying Pan."
*I have that same sourdough starter and still haven't figured out what to do with it yet. I don't think I eat enough carbs to make this worthwhile. I think I like the idea of it more than actually makes sense for me.
*I now own the Baranof! I just haven't had a chance to use her yet. :o(
*Kinda over this. I still don't eat that much yogurt, although I theoretically want to?
*I made beer and I think I'm going to leave the beer-making to other people.
*Totally did that and they are delicious! I should do this again sometime!
*Over this. I like mushrooms but I don't need to spend $20 to grow them myself.
*While I really enjoyed this, I don't love it enough to keep doing it on my own.
*No more cheese. Cheese was a pain in the butt. I will let other people make cheese.
*I am currently taking Spanish again and, while I REALLY like the teacher, her method of teaching is not conducive to my learning and remembering Spanish. Half of the class is older adults that seem like they really should not be in a "fast paced Spanish class for those who have taken Spanish before" class because they are really holding a good part of the class back. Also, we really don't converse with each other or do hardly any "thinking for ourself and how to answer questions ourself" exercises and I learn from actually DOING things. Because we aren't doing that, I'm not really learning. If I end up taking Spanish again it will (sadly) be from a different teacher.
It's interesting to me to see what I both accomplished and did not accomplish. I am now maybe less "I WANT TO DO EVERYTHING DIY!!!!" or now maybe I've whittled it down into more feasible things. I do think it was nice to have some sort of idea written down as to what I wanted to do. I will have to think about new things I want to do and blog about that sometime!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Roasting Coffee Beans in a Popcorn Popper: A Simple How-To
First there was roasting coffee beans in a frying pan and how to do it, but NOW, my friends, I am going to show you how to roast green beans in a vintage popcorn popper! I would not have known how to do this without working at my awesome job, Mr. Green Beans! Even though I have been working in the coffee industry for eight years (that is so weird and cool to say!) I have learned a lot at this job, including how to roast my own beans on a small scale! (Small scale because when I roasted at The Green Coffee Bean Company we roasted in a Probat L-12, so that's what I'm used to.)
You want to find a vintage popcorn popper because they get hotter than the ones nowadays. The West Bend Poppery II is apparently the ultimate in poppers. There are lots listed on eBay! Sometimes you can find them in thrift stores, but apparently they are getting harder to find. I paid $40 total for mine on eBay and I can tell you that it's still cheaper than buying an actual home coffee roaster and the cost I am still saving by roasting my own beans in a popper is still way cheaper than it is to buy roasted beans elsewhere!
Disclaimer: this is the first time I've ever done this and am delighted it worked! Beans may take longer to roast for you than for me. I'm writing this as a springboard for you to possibly be interested in roasting your own coffee and to delve more into it! And, as always, you are more than welcome to order your green coffee beans from my shop. *ahem* ;o)
I cut this box up to collect the chaff that will blow out of the popper. I've seen the box that Trevin uses at work and it works perfectly! So I jiggered this box and it worked great.
One of my favorite coffees, Ethiopia Limu! So yummy! It was the very end of one bag, so there was just a little skidge of coffee, but definitely enough to enjoy!
Since this is my first time, I measured out 3oz in the little popcorn measurer. The popper says it can hold 4oz, but since this was full after 3 I figured I'd just try that. I think it worked fine.
My popper in the position with the chaff-collecting box.
Action shot of the beans spinning!
It took seven minutes for my beans to get to the color I wanted them to be. The first crack occurred at about 4 minutes and I let the beans continue roasting for another two and a half minutes or so. As you can see, they are a nice, even color, as compared to the bottom picture, which is the beans I roasted in a frying pan, leading to the beans roasting unevenly.
All in all, I think it was a success and I'm happy! I can't wait to try my coffee tomorrow morning!
I am linking this post to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Roasting Coffee Beans in a Frying Pan: A Simple How-To
This weekend I did something I hadn't done before, which was roasting green coffee beans in a frying pan! I've done it in a big roaster and in a small home roaster, but never in a frying pan. Did you know that buying green coffee beans costs about half the price of roasted coffee beans? Did you know roasting coffee only takes about ten minutes? It's super easy! And, of course, you can always get your green beans from Mr. Green Beans! ;o)
I got some Guatemala Huehuetenango coffee beans from work. Huehue is one of my favorite coffees, so I was excited to try roasting it on my own.
I preheated my iron skillet to the medium setting on my stove and poured in 4oz of green beans.
Then I just started stirring!
The beans started to change color and I kept them moving. They go through two stages of cracks. I like my coffees a little past the first crack, producing a nice medium roast. I stopped the coffee a little lighter than I wanted my end result to be, because the beans will get a little darker after you take them off the stove.
I then put them in my metal colander and shook them around until they were cool! The beans will produce a chaff when they are in skillet, which made it a little smoky in my kitchen, but nothing too bad. More of the chaff came off when I shook the beans around.
Ta do! Fresh roasted coffee beans! I put them in a Mason jar and didn't quite seal the jar, but turned the ring back around about halfway. The coffee will off-gas for a few hours after being roasted and is drinkable after that. Drinking coffee the next morning that I roasted myself was a good feeling!
Hot, fresh coffee was very enjoyable to have while I worked at the Saturday Market this weekend!
Have you ever thought about roasting your own beans?
I am linking this post to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.
I am linking this post to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Making Toothpaste at Home
The good part about this recipe is that it's made with coconut oil, which is really, really good for you. It is like doing oil pulling on a very small scale, as well. This also probably cost 40 cents to make or something like that, too. I always have coconut oil around because it's a main oil in my soaps, so why not try it out? Needless to say, I am very happy with the results. My mouth felt very clean and not in a weird, fake way. Also, Jonathan told me after he tried it for the first time that he really liked it, too, so it's a win!
Got my supplies out. You will need baking soda, coconut oil, peppermint oil, and a jar to mix things in.
I measured out three tablespoons of baking soda.
I measured out three tablespoons of coconut oil.
I mixed it all together with a fork...see how easy this is?
I put in one teaspoon of peppermint essential oil. Ta da! Toothpaste!
I did not add the vegetable glycerin or stevia, as mentioned in Crunchy Betty's post,
although I bet it would be good.
Edit: Vegetable glycerin makes it WAY better! More toothpaste consistency and easier to brush with. Add about 1 teaspoon and see how that feels.
Edit: Vegetable glycerin makes it WAY better! More toothpaste consistency and easier to brush with. Add about 1 teaspoon and see how that feels.
I scooped a little blob onto my toothbrush.
(Blob.)
And then I got myself some clean teeth!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Making Vanilla Extract and Bottling the Ginger Beer
What you need: a jar, cheap vodka, and vanilla beans! The recipe is basically 1oz of vanilla beans for every 8oz of vodka.
Ummm...I think I am making enough vanilla extract for four friends and then I get whatever is leftover?
Three ounces of vanilla beans for my ~24oz of vodka. I added an extra splash to make up for what the vanilla beans would eventually suck up.
I cut the vanilla beans into ~1" pieces and put them into the jar of vodka. Now I just shake the crap out of it every day for the next month or so. Doing this is vaguely exciting.
~~~
I lined up my jars. I had no clue how many jars this would use. I could have just calculated it, yes, but that's not that exciting.
I lined a funnel with cheesecloth so that the ginger beer plant couldn't ooze its way through, even though some did in each jar still. That concerned me, although it seems as though (two days later) that things are fine.
Ta da! Four and a half jars!
What I can tell you now about the ginger beer is that the jars seem like they are carbonating fine. I was really worried since I realized later that there was some SCOBY in each jar. I kept booping the top of the jars to see if they were carbonated and it seemed like it took forever, when, in actuality, it probably took less than 24 hours, but they are now all hard! I can't boop the jar! This is exciting! I also see tiny bubbles at the top of each jar, which is a good sign. All in all, I am going to give it another two days and then I think on my birthday (Thursday) I can see if they worked or not! Crossing fingers...
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Fermented Drink Successes!
My first drink of water kefir! I was a little hesitant because I wasn't sure what it was supposed to taste like and it smells like dirty socks. Don't let the smell fool you! I took a little first sip and was pleasantly surprised! It tastes like a non-carbonated cream soda. I later splashed in some lemon juice and some ice and made a very delicious lemonade-type drink (that is good for me)!
The water kefir grains after the first brewing. They totally grew about a fifth more. I'm surprised! Eventually I will have enough to give away.
I was also excited that my ginger beer plant came in! I need to feed it a few times before I can start brewing the ginger beer and since it just came from the UK it hasn't eaten in some time, so I set out to do that the other night.
I stirred everything up.
I put the coffee filter over it and rubber-banded it on. I put the jar in the water heater closet on the top shelf to keep it warm. The temperature is more stable in there than the rest of the apartment. I'll leave it in there for another day or two and then do the whole process again. This gets the SCOBY fed, which makes it stronger, so then I will be able to brew actual ginger beer with it. Hopefully this weekend it will happen!
Has anyone else done any fermented drinks? I'd love to hear your stories!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
So Domestic
After my meeting at noon I came home to start making chicken stock for the first time. I also started some bread in the bread machine, started the water kefir now that it was rehydrated, and did a lot of cleaning and organizing. I managed to tackle the hall closet, which finally looks normal again. I also changed the sheets on my bed and put the couch back together. (Someone spilled smoked salmon on one of the covers and it badly needed to be washed.) A maintenance man came by and turned the pilot light on for us and now we have heat! I also ran five errands and made a bunch of phone calls today before my meeting at noon. Let's just say, I was busy.
Here's some of the kitchen-y stuff I've done this afternoon:
I got the water and sugar ready for the water kefir grains.
They now look like this!
It'll brew for a couple more days and then I'll mix the water with some juice and let it carbonate.
This was the beginning of my chicken stock. I've been saving veggie bits and chicken pieces in the freezer until I had enough to make stock with.
It's reduced down quite a bit, but it will still simmer for a few more hours. When it's cool I will put it in jars and freeze some of it, although I will use some of it to make this yummy-looking chicken and rice soup recipe later this week.
I finally found a bread recipe that Jonathan likes! Hooray! I'm a wheat bread girl, he's a white bread guy. I have been trying to find a bread recipe that make wheat bread puffy like white bread and I finally found it!
Now that I am basically back to where I started, job-wise, it's interesting what my morning routine is now. After reading Jena's routine and Jen's routine, I thought I'd share mine. Every morning Jonathan gets up around 6:45 and then I (if I slept well) roll out of bed around 7:30. If I didn't sleep well he'll come let me know at 8 that he's leaving for work and then I usually get out of bed after that. In the past couple of weeks I've been pretty busy going through things to donate and sell, but now that has slowed down a bit and I seem to be doing more cleaning. Every day seems to bring at least one sink's worth of dishes, sometimes two. I've been keeping up with dusting, sweeping, bed-making, keeping the kitchen clean, etc, and I like it! I have been watching more Netflix stuff and reading more magazines lately. It's nice to feel like I have enough time to get a bunch of stuff done and still have time for myself. When Jonathan gets home we hang out and he stays up a few hours after I go to bed, so he gets some alone time, too. I do wish I was working more at Mr. Green Beans, but they are giving me as many hours as they can afford to give me, which is great. I just really like working there! I'm thinking once I find out my schedule from them I will try for a seasonal temporary job to make some money before school starts in January.
Anyway, that's what I did today and what's on my mind. I now must go start some rice for dinner tonight and, yes, wash some dishes. :o)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)