Cabin Fever Canning 1/21/25!

 

Our cat does not like this cold weather (it's 4 degrees this morning).  He has decided to sleep through this cold.

He loves going outside.  He goes with me to check on the chickens normally but he knows it's too cold for him now.   

In  order to combat cabin fever I decided to get with it and can.  Although sleeping sounds good too!   I finished the carrots we were given yesterday and today I'm on to the pinto beans.

I just let this thing go and I don't worry about it.  That part I love.  No more thinking it's going to fast or slow.  I just go about the house doing things I need to do.  

 Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden**As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here).  My thred up link is also a refer a friend link.

***If you are interested here is the link to the canner.   It's an investment for sure.  I'm weird I requested for my birthday/Christmas present.  

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Watching the Weather

 

My today's outside plans, after I mop the kitchen floor, is to put more bedding in the chicken coop, give them water and food (the food bin and electric water jug are big), and give them hay in their run.  We do have 2 to 3 inches of snow on the ground but after going outside to open up the coop (in my house coat) and forgetting my camera I decided this picture in the Fall will have to do.

The reason I'm making sure to do this today is the weather. Today (Friday) and tommorrow promise to be a balmy 35 then we go downhill.  Way down hill...so far down I'm worried about when we are going to get back up LOL.   

Mind you these are the highs.  

Let's see Sunday is a high of 15

Monday a high of 7

Tuesday a high of 3

Wednesday a high of 10

Thursday we are creeping back up to a high of 23

They call these alert days...I'm alerted. I always worry that Spring will never come...but it does.  

In the meantime...I have to pay the high energy bill (it's trending this month to $415)!  

How's the weather in your area?

  Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden**As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here).  My thred up link is also a refer a friend link.

Be sure to follow me on Facebook,and Bloglovin where I share my frugal list, gardening, recipes, Free Kindle books, and more!  You can also sign up for my email list on the top right hand side of the blog.

When We Thought The World Was Going to End....

 

I was so proud of myself cleaning and painting the pantry this past week.  I stocked all my jars with  soup beans, lentils, black eye peas, kidney beans etc.   Looks kind of cool.  

Taking inventory of everything I realized we had more soup beans then we would ever need.  

Just look what I found:

Now, we have a deep believe that God would provide but he wants us to help him do that. No lazy people here.  So, when the pandemic hit we stocked up when we could, you know in case the world was going to end.  I guess one of the things we decided to overstock was soup (pinto) beans.  ha ha.  

Did we think that they wouldn't be able to grow any more soup beans,  the workers wouldn't be there to put them in bags, or that we wouldn't be able to get out to get them?  I'm not sure, we just kept getting more.  Oh boy do we have soup beans!  

I'll be canning soup beans soon but I hope the pantry needs soup beans because it's donation time.

  Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden**As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here).  My thred up link is also a refer a friend link.

Be sure to follow me on Facebook,and Bloglovin where I share my frugal list, gardening, recipes, Free Kindle books, and more!  You can also sign up for my email list on the top right hand side of the blog.

Easy Cheese Ball Recipe

 

I make a easy cheeseball every year and we all love it. With a side of ritz crackers you all ready for a snack in a matter of minutes.  This would be easy to take to a  potluck.  

This recipe makes two good size cheese balls.

Easy Cheese Ball Recipe

2- 8 oz pks of cream cheese

1package of dry ranch dressing

2 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups of chopped pecans or walnuts

Mix together cream cheese,  dressing, and shredded cheese. Roll into 2 balls or Logs.  Then roll in nuts.  Be sure to wrap in plastic and store in refrigerator.

Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden**As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here).  My thred up link is also a refer a friend link.

Be sure to follow me on Facebook,and Bloglovin where I share my frugal list, gardening, recipes, Free Kindle books, and more!  You can also sign up for my email list on the top right hand side of the blog.

Canning in January and Our Extra Fridge!

 

It was so neat when I wanted to try out my electric canner that strawberries came on sale for 99 cents a quart (the sale was last Friday and Saturday at our Meijer).  For some reason I was so nervous with this first time use but I read the directions and looked up youtube videos to watch to make myself more comfortable.  

I now have 7 pints of jam in January to help fill my shelves. 

My next project is canning pinto beans.  

With the cold weather, we now have an extra fridge on our unheated porch.  It came in real handy with all the strawberries we bought and keeping his pickled bologna cold.  Last night, husband remembered the pop we had in the garage that we had leftover from the holidays and brought that in.  It was well on it's way to freezing completely and that would have been a big mess!  Can you imagine the noise it would have made exploding? LOL

We have been in the high teens and low 20's for about a week. The wind chill yesterday must have been bad but I refused to know. We haven't had a big snow just the cold.    

How's everything were you live? I hope everyone is staying warm with the storms that have rolled in.

Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden**As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here).  My thred up link is also a refer a friend link.

Be sure to follow me on Facebook,and Bloglovin where I share my frugal list, gardening, recipes, Free Kindle books, and more!  You can also sign up for my email list on the top right hand side of the blog.

Happy New Year 2025 and My Goals!

I hope everyone has a great New Year's.  The kids are all going to the Melting pot.  Not our favorite place -although good, I just want my food already cooked for me when I go out to eat.  So, today I'm making baked chicken, a cheese ball, mashed potatoes, and rolls for the husband and I.

What can I say about 2024?  ..what a year for me.  I'm glad to be alive and I thank God I am.  

Looking back on my goals last year -I accomplished to the best of my knowledge #1 -I love my family and will do what I can.

#2 I'm still fat...but I keep trying.  Healthier -yep.

#3 I'm a crocheting maniac in the winter and I love to work on Christmas gifts.

#4 I organized a lot and now I need to do it all over again!  The people who live here...LOL

The garden wasn't a complete bust but it came close.  We would starve if we had to depend on it.  Maybe I should try that to lose weight...depend on the garden.

# 5.  I love my readers and I hope to keep improving this blog by: 

Just posting more regular but not everyday.  Twice a week seems to be good for me (I hope it is for you).   I love the comments on my posts too!   If you like Free and low-cost Kindle books I post them every morning except Sunday and Christmas on my Facebook page here.

Thank you all for a great year!  You make me feel so good when you stop by to read my blog!

Have you made your goals list for the new year?

Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden**As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here).  My thred up link is also a refer a friend link.

Be sure to follow me on Facebook,and Bloglovin where I share my frugal list, gardening, recipes, Free Kindle books, and more!  You can also sign up for my email list on the top right hand side of the blog.

How I Supply My Urban Farm!

There are so many things I want to make life easier and I've started making a list.  Some things I think are too expensive just to haul off and buy it myself on a whim so I make a list and hope someone will ask -What do you want for Christmas? I don't want money because that seems just to go in the pot if you know what I mean.  

Well here is me (my hair is long and put up in the back): 

My daughter bought me this solar powered chicken door along with other things.  We have to wait till Spring to install it and fix the run but it will be very useful.  

I also received an digital pressure canner from my husband along with clothes and boots.  Other daughter bought me slippers.  

So, next year don't think twice and have a list ready.  If it takes all of them to buy it for you that's cool!  

Can you see in the background?   We had a white Christmas!   A white Christmas is defined as having one inch of snow still on the ground.   It's been a few years so it was so exciting.  

Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden**As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here). 

Be sure to follow me on Facebook where I share free ebooks,and Bloglovin where I share my frugal list, gardening, recipes, and more!  You can also sign up for my email list on the top right hand side of the blog