"UDDERLY" Delicious Powdered Milk

Seize every opportunity and MILK it for all it's worth!

Milk is one of the staple ingredients in cooking and baking. As you store up for a rainy day, or a major disaster, you will want to have plenty of powdered milk. I grew up on fresh goat milk and never liked the taste of powdered milk, but when it's all we have to use, I'm sure I'll be grateful to have it! So I've collected a few recipes that I like, and that others have recommended. Try them out and let me know what you think.

Peanut Butter Playdough -Life's short - let's start with dessert! I've made this with my kids since they were little and we always loved it. There's few things better to a little boy than food that tastes good AND you can play with it!

1 c. peanut butter
1 c. light corn syrup
1 1/4 c. powdered milk
1 1/4 c. powdered sugar

Mix, knead slightly, sculpt and eat!

What job is a cow most suited for? Baker, because they're always making cow pies!

Indian Fry Bread

4 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. warm water
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. powdered milk

Mix all the ingredients. Roll or form into flat rounds with your hands and fry in a small amount of oil. Serve with butter and honey, or with chili and cheese.

What do you call it when a cow tries to jump over a fence?
UDDER destruction!

Milk Gravy

1 c. instant powdered milk
3 c. water
1 tbl butter or fat
3 heaping tbl flour
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Mix water and dry milk together in pan. Add the flour, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until gravy is thickened. Add the butter or fat and stir until smooth. Serve over biscuits or toast.

What do you get from a pampered cow? Spoiled milk.

Old Fashioned Hamburger Gravy

1 lb. Hamburger (or sausage)
4 c. water
1 1/3 c. instant milk or 1 c. non-instant
4 heaping Tbl flour
Salt and Pepper to taste

Brown 1 lb. hamburger in a frying pan. In pitcher or blender mix water and dry milk. With a slotted spoon remove the cooked hamburger and set aside in other container. To the fat drippings left in pan, add the flour and stir. Stirring constantly over medium heat, quickly add the milk. It will thicken fast as you stir. Add the hamburger back in and stir until all is heated through. Add the salt and pepper. Serve over biscuits, toast or potatoes.

Why did the cow wear a bell around her neck? Because her horn didn't work!

Sweetened Condensed Milk

3/4 c. non-instant powdered milk (or 1 1/3 c. instant)
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. hot tap water
2 Tbl butter

Put hot water in blender and add butter. With blender on medium speed, add sugar and powdered milk. Blend until smooth.

What's the best way to keep milk fresh? Leave it in the cow!

(Most of this content was contributed by a friend)
(All clipart from Google Images)

Creative Cleaning

I've got a beautiful 107 year old antique upright piano. My Grandpa traded a horse for it back before I was born. After the kids were all gone from his house, he sold it to my mother for $125, because that's how much the horse was worth when he made the trade! I grew up with it in my home and was fortunate to have it handed down to me. Now my sons play amazing music on it and it is a treasure in our home. The front has a panel of intricately carved design with many little grooves and crevices. Over the many years of dusting, those little crevices filled up with packed dust. Every now and then I'd try to pick some of it out with a toothpick, but it just didn't do the job. Brushing my teeth one night, it dawned on me that my toothbrush was the perfect answer!

Toothbrush magic - A soft bristled toothbrush very gently pulls every bit of dust out of every little crack. I started keeping a few used toothbrushes on hand and they are my favorite cleaning tool! I use them for anything with grooves and ridges, like the panels on my cupboard doors, window trim and baseboards, decorative picture frames, the nooks and cranies in my rattan furniture, the hot tub jets, tile grouting, and dozens of other places. I also keep a couple in my laundry room to scrub out spots on clothing.

Dishwasher tricks - Washing those baseball caps has always been a pain in the neck. I used to scrub them by hand with, of course, a toothbrush. I've talked to a couple of friends who use one of those plastic hat holders. You know, they're shaped like a hat and snap over it to keep the bill from getting mangled in the wash machine. Well, there's an easier way - just put your hats in the dishwasher. They won't loose their shape because they aren't being agitated around. It's slick and easy.

Pantyhose scrubbers - Keep your snagged pantyhose to gently scrub fine porcelain or other things that will scratch easily. Braid a few together and then tie them into a big knot. If you need a little more abrasion, scrub with a little baking soda.



















Sock dusters - Dusting goes faster with both hands! Put a couple of old fuzzy socks on your hands and just go at it. It's the fastest way to dust I know of! If you aren't that ambidextrous, just one sock works great, too.

Reaching under the Fridge and Stove - At least once a year I try to pull out my fridge and kitchen stove and do a thorough cleaning under them. But let's face it, if that's all you do, there's probably going to be some pretty deep and scary stuff under there. I don't like pulling them out very often, because besides the fact they are heavy and awkward to move, they can damage or mark up your vinyl or wood floors. So I put an old sock over the end of my yardstick and swipe it under-neath. It reaches every corner and does a great dusting job as it goes.

Not a penny spent! I love it when the very best solutions are also the easiest, quickest and cheapest.

Peace

St. Mark 4:39-40

And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?

Is Your Home Bugged?

I'm talking about the little 6-legged kinds. We live in the woods, in a wood sided house and we haul wood into our basement for the wood stove. There are a lot of bugs that like wood! Even if you aren't in such a wooden world, you might have ants, earwigs, wasps, cockroaches, silverfish, fleas, flies or a variety of little beetles and other bugs that seem to get in through the cracks and invade your privacy. There is a very inexpensive and totally harmless way to get rid of them all!

It's called Diatomaceous Earth (DE). It comes in different qualities but I would recommend using only the food grade DE. It's made from finely ground diatoms that are mined from the earth and comes in the form of a white powder. Diatoms are tiny crustaceans so it's a flour made from fossil shells. You can buy a pound of it for as little as $7 or $8, or up to around $15. You can even get it for less when you buy larger quantities. You can get it at a local hardware store, Walmart, ranch supply store or order it on line. (Update: It sells for $2/lb at our local Cenex and $17 for 50 lbs through the co-op order at Azure Standard!)

We have used DE for years to stop the ants, beetles and earwigs from crawling into our house through vents and cracks. Rather than killing the insects by poisoning them, when they come in contact with it the fine powder punctures their exoskeleton, or gets in through the joints, and absorbs the moisture out of their bodies. I know, it sounds gruesome. But is that really worse than poisoning or squishing them? I fill an empty spice bottle that has the lid with the shaker holes in it. It takes me about 10 or 15 minutes to go around the perimeter of the house and shake out a continuous line of powder. This method won't stop the bugs that fly onto the house higher up, but it will stop anything that has to crawl onto the house from the ground.

Food Grade DE is absolutely safe. You can even eat it! And many people do. You can take a teaspoon full or more a couple of times a day to absorb out toxins, kill worms or parasites and clean your bowels. People claim shinier hair, stronger nails, more energy, clearer complexions, better sleep and a long list of other benefits. It contains many trace minerals that your body needs. There's no real science to how much to take, when or how often. Whatever works for you. You should start out slowly though, because it will initially begin a detoxing process, and if your body detoxes too quickly you will feel like you have a miserable flu. Never consume anything but Food Grade DE! Others are sometimes treated with deadly chemicals.

Here are some more ways to use Diatomaceous Earth:

• Rub it on your pets or livestock to kill ticks, lice and fleas
• Sprinkle on your mattress to kill mites and bed bugs
• Sprinkle on base boards, window sills, corners, anywhere bugs might go
• Feed to your pets or livestock to de-worm or improve health
• Aids in digestion
• Keeps fungus from growing in the garden
• Keep moisture down in barns, chicken coops, kennels, hay bins, compost boxes, litter boxes or anywhere else that has moisture problems
• Mix in pet food or livestock grains to kill pests living in the grain
  
• Put on manure piles to lessen moisture, odor and flies

Healthier animals are happier animals and have less vet bills. Don't keep your pets powdered in it for extended periods of time because it is a moisture absorber and will dry their skin out just like it will yours. It will also dry out and irritate your eyes like any other powder, so don't spread it outside with yourself or pets down wind. Be cautious about using it around flower beds or places where beneficial insects like bees, praying mantis and lady bugs live. My logic tells me that I'd avoid using it very much on carpet. It could cut the fibers. Like anything else, use it wisely and reap the many benefits. Here are a couple of links to sites loaded with everything you'd ever want to know about Diatomaceous Earth:
http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/defaq.html
http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html

Food For Health - Turmeric

Chances are pretty good that you may have the best remedies or "cures" possible for most of what ails you, right in your fridge or spice cupboard! Natural food is natural medicine. Although turmeric is not the most common cooking spice in our country, if you've got some, you've got a great natural remedy on hand. It is grown in India and other warm climates of Asia. Recently, we Westerners are becoming more and more aware of what Asians have known for centuries.

The health benefits of turmeric are found in the active ingredient curcumin, which is the potent compound that gives it the bright color, strong flavor and healing abilities it is known for. Curcumin is a powerful antioxidant, anti-cancer, antibacterial, anti-inflamatory and digestive aid. In India's traditional Ayurvedic medicine, it is used for liver and digestive problems as well as infections, fevers and arthritis. Chinese physicians have used it to treat liver and gall bladder problems, congestion in the lungs and to stop bleeding. Because of it's many healing properties, it has a long list of both known and possible health benefits. Here are some of them:

• Natural treatment for arthritis and rheumatiod arthritis
• Natural painkiller
• Natural potent liver detoxifier
• Natural antiseptic - clean cuts, scrapes, burns
  
• Natural antibacterial - kills infections
• Potent natural anti-inflamitory - sores, swelling, post surgery,
• Weight loss/management - metabolizes fats
• Speeds healing of wounds
• May help with inflamatory skin problems, psoriasis
  
• Digestive aid - stimulates flow of bile
• Fights disease
• Improves circulation
• Protects and strengthens the heart
• Relieves dysentery
• Treatment for jaundice
• Lowers fevers
• Helps with menstual cramps
• Aids in clearing congested lungs
• Strengthens liver
• Protects liver from toxins like alcohol
• Stimulates the adrenal glands
• Eases arthritis pain and inflamation
• Has been found to destroy certain types of cancer cells, like leukemia
• Shows positive effects on multiple myeloma
• Shown to slow or stop tumor growth
• Chinese treatment for depression
• Positive studies on pancreatic cancer
• Slows multiple sclerosis
• Has been shown to prevent and stop growth of prostate cancer when taken with cauliflower
• May prevent or slow progression of Alzheimer's
• Reduces side effects of chemo while boosting it's effectiveness
• Mix with lemon to cleanse skin and keep it soft, moisturized and healthy
• Use as face wash to help with acne
• Controls dandruff - hair rinse
  

Now that's some healthy flavor! I buy turmeric by the pound and put it in capsules. When we feel a cold or flu coming on, we take some turmeric along with our herbal tea and other remedies. Turmeric is one of the main ingredients always found in curry powder. We love curry in our house and use it often in soups, rice, casseroles, chicken, stir fry, on scrambled eggs or in egg salads. So add a little color to your cooking (hope you like yellow!) and feel good.

Recycle Clothes - Notions and Things

When's the last time you had to buy buttons or zippers or elastic? If it's been a while, you might be surprised at how much prices have gone up over the years. I keep supplies of thread, needles, yarn, knitting needles, crochet hooks, sewing notions and other things. Any time I have a mending need, I have something to tackle the job with.

When my kids were smaller, I used to sew more, mainly for myself, and just for fun. So I was regularly buying buttons and things to match what I was making. Children's clothes can be pretty inexpensive if you catch the sales. There was a great consignment store near where we used to live and for just a few dollars an item, I used to dress them in Baby Dior, Baby Gap and other fun things. As they got a little bigger, my sewing time was filled with mending - mainly jean knees! I'd patch them the first time and when the patches were shot, I'd sometimes cut them off and hem them into jean shorts for summer. Don't be afraid to stop at a thrift store. Some of them are choosey and only take nice things. Others, you have to sift a little but there are always brand new or like-new clothes scattered through the racks.

I started keeping some of the worn out jeans so I'd have something to make patches out of. When a zipper gave up the ghost, I'd realize there was one just the size I needed in those "scrap" jeans and it was quicker and easier to pull it out and use it than go to town and buy a new one. I saved money on both the zipper and the gas! When a shirt is worn out and ready for the rag bag, I cut off all the buttons first and put them in my button container. That comes in really handy when my husband discovers a button missing from his dress shirt and I have dozens of those little white buttons ready to sew one on in 5 minutes flat! To make finding what I want easier, I sort them by color or into matching sets and put them in little bags or string a bunch of matching ones together. If there is a nice heavy elastic in the waist of a worn out item, I take out the elastic. A pair of pajama or lounge pants is pretty simple to make and I have plenty of recycled elastic bands to put in without having to buy a new piece.

We've become such a throw-away society that sometimes we might be throwing in the garbage the very things we are just headed to the store to buy. I haven't had to buy buttons or zippers or elastic for a very long time because I just keep recycling the ones we get.

Wheat Thins

I'm always looking for good ways to use wheat. We keep wheat on hand, and a grinder for fresh flour, but I keep thinking that if one day we have to live on solely what we can produce ourselves, our yeast supplies will be limited and flatbreads and other things will be our only options. Flatbreads are better for you than yeast breads anyway.

I've had a recipe for Wheat Thins I've been wanting to try, so I gave it a shot. They turned out pretty good.

Wheat Thins

1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c. white flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 c. oil
1 c. water

Mix the dry ingredients together and then add the oil and water. Knead as little as possible to make a smooth dough. I kneaded it for about 1 minute. Roll the dough very thin and score with knife. Don't cut all the way through or the dough will contract up into smaller pieces. Prick each cracker a few times with a fork. This keeps it from puffing up so it stays flat. Sprinkle the dough with salt or onion salt. Bake at 350 degrees until light brown, about 25 - 30 minutes.