Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

We are still enjoying the farmer's market here in upstate New York. Actually it goes all year and this past Saturday we were there early. Cannot say bright because it was before sunrise. It was an in and out sort of visit to get what we needed and a couple of the seasonal deals. 

Here is the counter full of goodies. I got a pie pumpkin, half a peck of apples, 6 large peppers, 6 cucumbers, broccoli, parsley, celery and pears. All of this goodness cost $14 and for the two of us it will last or be made into meals for the next couple of weeks. That in the back is my daughter's new Nutribullet and we are incorporating more vegetable smoothies into our days too.

My granddaughter messaged me this week and asked if I eat cauliflower. The answer of course was yes. She replied and said she was getting me some because her work place was throwing it away. What a shame that they are doing this. I wish we would do what France has done and make it illegal to throw food away, but who am I to judge. I was excited to receive these three heads from her, but traded with her and brought her five ready to heat and eat meals, pumpkin and banana bread, along with a few other goodies. She is a college student who lives on her own and I try to do for her too. I can't always, but it was a good trade.

http://bitzngiggles.com/2014/01/broccoli-cauliflower-parmesan-bake.html

One head of cauliflower, along with some broccoli, chopped chicken from a roaster I got for less than $5, a 99 cent package of cream cheese and some herbs, spices, and a bit of milk made these two casseroles. 

http://www.thecurvycarrot.com/2012/08/18/buffalo-chicken-vegetarian-style/

The next head of cauliflower made these Buffalo florets. They are just yummy and better for us than the chicken wings and the price was almost nothing. A little butter, hot sauce, and a bit of spice then toss the cauliflower in, make sure they are covered well and bake for twenty minutes. I will use them for a side and toss some on my salads this week or just snack on them.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/461970874255892373/

The third and last head of cauliflower was used to make these cauliflower crust cheese breadsticks. I had never tried this before, but what a way to use the cauliflower. We cut it into bread sticks and ate a few that way, while we were waiting for them to cool. It ended up being our dinner. I have added the links to the recipes and found that I could adjust them for what's in my pantry without doing extreme changes to them. I've given away half of what I made to keep others going with meals. Sharing the bounty in the form of good meals feels right. 

This is a carrot, apple and ginger smoothie I made for myself. It was quite good. We need to change some of the ways we've been eating and take better care of ourselves and others.

The reward for trying to eat better was this Jello no bake pumpkin cheese cake. I made these as cup cakes to keep from eating too much. I added the Reeses peanut butter cups and topped it with whipped cream. It's hard to give up the good things and it was discounted at the store. I got the kit for $1.29 and it made 12. Okay, so we will keep working on cutting out the desserts but it is autumn and pumpkin is in. That's what's been going on at the townhouse. Thank you for stopping by and have a great week.

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

I've had a couple of days this past week that I was feeling a bit under the weather, literally. With the change to cooler temperatures we've had to turn on the heat, and the dust from the furnace has made my sinuses react. This along with the rain and damp that have made my body ache more than ever has been a challenge. 

Our dear friends Karen and Richard let me grow tomatoes and squash in their back yard. It's been a great learning experience and we know that we can do it and we know more about how to do it. 

These butternut squash are what I harvested last week that I grew in buckets from seeds that I had saved. They are small and have bumps and bruises, but the larger one will become a stuffed squash dinner for us and the others will become a serving of smashed squash, a loaf of butternut squash bread, or chips. I haven't decided yet and for now I'm still working on the vegetables I got at the farmer's market the weekend before last. I am also going to look into purchasing heirloom seeds for the future.

With the change in temperatures comes a change in menu. This is a large pot of cabbage soup. It was so good and most of all economical. I have been cooking the full pot because it freezes well and I can put it up to share.

Another large pot of stick to the ribs meals was this Pasta E Fagioli. This also freezes well and the only change I would make to this recipe would be to boil my carrots a bit first. The time the recipe said to cook them was not long enough and I thought they would cook more as the tomatoes did, but they still had crunch to them. There is plenty to share here too. These meals were all on my new menu plan and I am on week ten. The menu for week ten is blank and I am trying to constantly try new recipes and vegetables. In ten weeks we've had only two meals twice and that was baked chicken leg quarters and pork stir fry. Not bad when you think about how many meals we eat in ten weeks. Leftovers for lunches have helped saved the budget too. That's what I've been doing for the change of season. Thank you for stopping by for a visit and have a great week. If it's cold where you are I hope you are staying warm. 

Thrift finds

It was just a random stop on our way to treat ourselves to ice cream. Well deserved for all the hard work we have been putting in. It was also an excuse to use a coupon I received for a buy one get one free offer. While the weather was still pleasant and we didn't need to bundle up we just went.

We were not really looking, but here are a few items. Books, always looking for books and here are three more to check out. The one titled Green Winter by Elise Maclay is a collection of one page shorts about aging. I'm getting a chuckle with some and thinking with others. There is a finance book and another herb book. There was a box of blue Christmas ornaments, a vintage Hallmark holly print metal tray, a package of Ball red checkered lids and rims and best of all a Pyrex bowl. Now this bowl looks like a plain white opal bowl, but it isn't. It was however a vintage white bowl with a gold rim. You can just barely see the gold rim because it is so worn off. It is a 404 that was well loved, but in excellent condition and my daughter is just happy to have another large bowl for her collection.

Other odds and ends we picked up were a vintage Pyrex 1.5 quart lemonade bottle, a bag of Halloween gift bags, a new unopened black ink stamp, the can is a raised floral print and large enough to put a plant in or use for some kind of craft project. Last of all we found the two pilgrim figurines. Now usually we don't even look at these things, but if you notice these figurines are blond and the boy pilgrim is wearing a white hat. They were just odd and different so my daughter got them for our simple holiday. They are not vintage or collectible just one of those things she put in the cart. That's what a random trip for ice cream found us. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

Life seems to keep everyone very busy lately. My daughters and I have realized that we are living just to work in order to stay financially okay. Not prospering but making it and we are all learning to work together to help each other. We are seeing the positives of working together. It's also been a time for learning. Some days I don't seem to get enough information to answer all the questions I have. The Internet is wonderful, but I am getting back to books, but also being selective. My younger daughter and I went to a library book sale last weekend. We do this quite often. I found one book for a fill a bag sale so she added it to her bag. Here it is. A book of herbs that was printed by a company selling merchandise, but very informative.

Printed in black and white, but loaded with uses, definitions, descriptions, crafts, medicinal uses, and so much information that it's a great addition to our growing library. 

This is a jar of my home made chicken soup. All of my efforts to not waste food and put shelf ready meals in the pantry has paid off. This week I took this quart size jar from the shelf, cooked it up with noodles and there you have it...dinner. My meal plan is paying off also and the budget it staying on track. 

I was gifted a bag of kiwi fruit this week. I ate what I could, but needed to do something different with the remaining fruit, so I made these small loafs of kiwi bread. As you can see I had a slice right away. It freezes well and I'm happy to say that another gift did not go to waste.

My youngest daughter, my granddaughter and I went to the farmer's market Saturday. It was a beautiful day and I got lots of great fruits and vegetables to cook with. That is a five pound bag of carrots in the back and I got it for $2. The head of broccoli is huge. It measured 10 inches in diameter and was $1. Peppers of all kinds were 3 for $1, eggplants were 2 for $1, melons were 3 for $5 so we all got one and shared the price. I got all that ginger for $2, sweet potatoes for $2, yellow squash and parsnips at great prices too. The most expensive were the apples, but they are in season so I would imagine they will be a bit high for a while. I got five apples for $3, but budget wise that was still okay. I have plenty to work with for the next couple of weeks if not longer and that makes me feel good.

Sunday morning was a great start to putting some of that produce to work for breakfast. We had home made pancakes and baked stuffed apples. I stuffed it with a breakfast sausage stuffing, put a bit of maple syrup on top, and a small pad of butter and 30 minutes later we were enjoying a very filling meal. That's some of what happened here at the townhouse this week. We may not have a farm, or big garden, but we are making use of what is around and supporting local farmers while eating better and living better. Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful week. 

Thrift finds

It was a three day weekend for me this past weekend. My eldest daughter was traveling and it gave me the opportunity to spend time relaxing, working, and sharing time with my younger daughter, her significant other, and granddaughter. We went to a couple of yard sales and thrift stores and here's some of what I found.

At one thrift store I found some low priced small canning jars and two more small Pyrex custard cups. I like to use these while I'm baking or making cheese to measure out my ingredients ahead of time. The barrel shaped bottle is a liquor bottle that holds Lithuanian Suktinis brand Mead. It was found at a yard sale and the family was Lithuanian.

At the same yard sale I got this bundle of embroidered folk art linens and I am so excited because they are coming clean and I can probably up cycle some of the pieces. The work and detail in them is far beyond anything I have ever seen and I got this bundle for $3. Real deal and my daughter got a similar size bundle for the same price. 

They had many boxes of linens to rifle through, but I only chose this new in package 100% combed cotton vintage twin sheet. I hadn't seen this print before. 

We stopped to look around a thrift store that we had known about, but had never checked out because like us they go to sales, buy low and sell higher. Most items were priced well and I found myself hunting their junk isle. I found the two Bakelite utensils and the candy thermometer in a basket of stuff and I paid $1 for all three items. I'm hoping the thermometer works, but for the price I'm not worried. That's all of the thrifting we did. We ventured downtown to enjoy some fall activities the city was sponsoring, do some picture taking, enjoy the beautiful weather and stop for a pumpkin flavored beer before doing the grocery shopping and heading home. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful week. 

Thrift finds

So on our two day adventure we found so much that I've had to split it into two posts. Today I am remembering the fun.

We found a vintage 1957 Betty Crocker cook book and it has most of the recipes that I've been using for many years. It's wasn't in top notch condition, but neither are the old copies I've been using. We found a book on how to be happy. Can't wait to see what it says. There was a Care Bear good luck glass, a Flintstones Barney glass, a new in package serrated vegetable cutter and a package of baby yarn so I can knit more socks. I took a chance on the yellow plastic picnic utensils. I have my plastic utensils in recycled drink mix containers. I got tired of them being all over the place.

I found myself tossing the containers back and forth to access other items on the shelf or knocking them over because they were in the way and when I needed to take along some utensils  they were dusty and needed washing or were just all over the place. Well, this fun little find worked. I have a container for spoons, forks, knives and napkins. Just pick it up and go or keep it in the car. True recycling.

We found five vintage Strawberry Shortcake place mats that need binding and a good soaking. 

There was a wonderful white basket and a great selection of linens.

Along with linens were a couple of blouses to wear to work. Thrift economics at it's finest.

My daughter found this complete set of paperback books. There are eight and it is the Anne of Green Gables series.

She also has a thing lately for vintage spice racks. We found three different styles and sizes on this past trip. I know when she has her own home she will probably spray paint some to match her decor and put her herb oils on. She will have an awesome collection because there are probably eight or more that we have packed or have hanging. All in all it was a wonderful weekend and along with all our thrift finds we made lots of memories with friends and family and found some treasures for our future. 

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

I love this time of year. Putting up the final harvests as small as they are and visiting the farm markets for the things I can't yet grow, cooking warmer meals, watching the colors change and enjoying the change in the air. I have to admit that I am slowing down and enjoying the change and I deserve it. 

I pulled the tomato plants this week and this was all that was worth harvesting, but it's been a wonderful learning year and oh they taste so good!

Two five gallon buckets of butternut squash have yielded seven fruits and they will be ready in a couple of weeks to harvest. I am going to try making butternut squash chips for a snack. I think there will be plenty. 

My daughter did the second rendering of the bees wax they took from the hive this week. This has been a learning experience and we are excited for when we can have our own hive.

This is the end result and it will be used in a piece of art work I am told. I will post it if it happens because I am more than intrigued by what is in the mind of the artist. That's what we've been doing here at the townhouse. Using every day to learn and try and keep going towards our chance to have a place of our own to homestead even if it is in the city. 

Thrift finds

It was a whirlwind weekend here. A three day for us. It started Friday morning. A dear friend was in town from the west coast and it was only a few days before she was heading back, but this was a scheduled event and we wanted it to be fun and relaxing for her. We ate out, thrifted, rode around, gabbed and got caught up on everything. 

We filled the townhouse with two days of fun finds. We found this set of casserole bowls for my younger daughter. She likes the green floral and they were actually quite a deal for $2 each. We later saw them selling for $10 and more in some shops. 

The green Pyrex Cinderella bowl completed a set we were building. The orange dot Pyrex was the most exciting find. My daughter will also be adding these to her collection. I use the small Pyrex clear dishes while baking and never seem to have enough. We found two more mushroom canisters. These are small and one has a small fracture, but is very usable. The mushroom and mice glassware are a salt and pepper set and a jelly jar. They are Japanese and so irresistible. Just love them.

We love to pick up the dishes for lazy Susan's. We mix and match them and have fun with them. There was more Pyrex, an enamel skillet, another set of Japanese mice salt and pepper shakers and the owl in a tree stump planter. I believe it may be a Josef Original.

Saturday brought about another day of thrifting. This time with my sister-in-law who we hadn't seen in a while  and she suspected we had fallen off the face of the earth. Umm...nope, but she doesn't use the Internet so we had catching up to do. The vintage finds were all over for us this past weekend. Here we found three strawberry print drinking glasses, another new in package Humpty Dumpty Avon product bank for the store, a music box baby carriage planter, and the Gemco/corning glass juicer. 

We found some odds and ends that include some notebooks, cookie cutters, an ice cream scoop, birthday candles, linen napkins, books, there's a bagel slicer that the plastic spoons are in and the plastic bag in front is full of small bottles for lip gloss. Looks like we want to be busy.

I'll finish this week with this funny fabric panel. My grandchildren have two English bulldogs and we could not pass on this piece of fabric. We couldn't stop laughing when we saw it. I think it will become a giant pillow or center panel for a quilt. This is only about half of what we found. Some still needs some cleaning up and I need to move some on to the store. Being in a small space we have to shuffle things around to work. Sunday was not quite so busy, but we caught back up with our friend from the west coast because on her adventure with us she found some view master discs, but no view master. It turned out my younger daughter found one and she dropped it off so it could take a long plane trip back to California. Then it was back to getting ready for the new week ahead and some sitting back. Thank you for stopping by and I hope everyone has as much fun as we do with friends and family thrift shopping and junking. 

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

Spraying Toxic Chemicals

So yesterday was a great day for a Monday. Did lots of work and was feeling good when...they did it. They found a way to poison my container garden on my little itty bitty deck here at the townhouse. I was in my tiny kitchen preparing dinner when the Orkin man in his van appeared in the parking lot. He sat in his van for a few minutes and then dressed in a mask, cover clothing and gloves. Nothing says poison like the Orkin man dressed in full cover. My windows and doors are all open. Yep, open to enjoy the fresh air and my seedlings and cutting are on the sill. From behind the truck here he comes with his pump bottle with poison in it. I jump quickly to remove my plants and cuttings from the sill and shut the window. HE KNOWS I'M THERE. I run to the back and shut the doors. Does he spray all the units on this row? NO! Just the unit that houses the office employee that lives next door. He sprays two stories high and down comes the liquid chemical onto my ground plants in front and then goes to the back and down comes his liquid chemicals onto my container garden. With seven units in this row he sprays just one and the wind blows it right onto my unit. No information given as to what or why he is spraying. I've seen no signs of insects or anything that needed treatment. As a matter of fact it's been a wonderful summer without a lot of mischievous insects. I attributed it to the fact that we planted plants that fight bad insects and attract the good ones. So to make a long story short my container gardening is done. The spinach and parsnips will be disposed of and I'll pull the remaining herbs. I saved what was inside from the chemicals coming in the window so all is not lost. I guess it's not against the law to spray chemicals without notifying people of what you're doing or advising them to close the windows. Still alive this morning to tell this story.

The gardening season is coming to a close and later this week I will harvest what I can for tomatoes growing at Karen's and check on the bucket squash which probably will not be ready for harvest for a couple more weeks. None of these gardens were sprayed with anything. 

I canned vegetable stock this past week from the vegetable scraps I saved in the freezer. There was enough to put up eleven pints. My tomatoes yielded five pints of sauce. Every little bit helps and I am grateful for what I get. Thank you for stopping by and visiting. Have a great week and keep on farming. 

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

The weather took a turn for the cool last week, but is on it's way back up to the mid eighties this week with cooler evenings and it is wonderful. The vegetables are still growing and I am using them up as they ripen.

First up is a grand kettle of tomatoes. I simmered it, seasoned it, and let it become tomato sauce. I also chose a larger sandwich size tomatoe that was given to me and harvested some seeds from it for next years gardening. I don't know what kind of tomato it was, but the tomato tasted good so I will give it a try and I saved a couple dollars saving them.

This morning I made eggplant lasagna. It's all ready to pop in the oven later for dinner. The eggplant was given to me and there's the sauce in it's final stage. I will can some of the rest later this week after I make vegetable broth. The cheese layers are from home made ricotta and mozzarella blended with herbs grown on the deck of our townhouse. 

Cooler temperatures meant that I could take advantage and make some fresh bread. It was a wonderful opportunity and does it taste great. The rest of my time has been spent preserving the last of the herbs and I'm hoping now that the basil will bolt so I can harvest some seeds. I am trying some cooler weather spinach in a container and I have some parsnips in another container. Here's hoping something comes of them. I will be checking in on the bucket butternut squash at Karen's and probably finish up the tomatoes there in another week or so. I hope everyone got the bounty they wanted from their gardens and thank you for stopping by for a visit. Have a wonderful week.

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

With Labor day behind us, and the official end of summer is here, I know all gardeners are turning their focus to harvesting what they can and enjoying the fruits of their labor. It's no different here at the townhouse. I continue to put up what I don't want to waste. Here I have chicken broth, chicken taco chili and pork.

I continue to make my cheese and am enjoying it with my fresh produce. I've learned to make mozzarella, ricotta and cream cheese so far.

The small kitchen window is a busy green house. The tomatoes are turning red, the next round of cilantro is planted, basil is rooting and the plants I already started and potted are growing well.

Tomorrow I will be going to Karen's to harvest more tomatoes and hopefully I will be canning by the end of the week. I received these photos from Karen yesterday showing me the progress of my bucket butternut squash. She counted three squash growing well and I'm hoping they make it. 

I consider myself quite blessed with the gifts of fresh produce this year. My younger daughter has a co-worker that brings his bounty to work and shares. I received this bag of goodies this week and she also threw in a few oranges.

It's been wonderful to have these vegetable to plan my meals around. I have been building a meal plan and at the same time I can change it up using the fresh produce and home made cheeses. My budget is feeling a bit of relief and I am eating better. 

We sat back and relaxed this holiday weekend also and enjoyed the sun tea brewed in our latest vintage find. It was in the upper eighties, close to ninety and the tea was refreshing. That's what's new here at the townhouse homestead. The work continues and I'm enjoying doing new things, trying new recipes and enjoying life in general. Thank you for stopping by for a visit and have a wonderful week.

Thrift Finds

Having fun, just getting out, running errands, and checking out the sales. Let it be known that we need nothing at this point, but it's so much fun checking out other's "stuff". 

These finds include some vintage mushroom kitchen items for the store, a unique solar tea jug that's vintage 1972, this is to replace the one that kept leaking, and the wooden rack is for foil, wax paper, plastic wrap and paper towels. The metal cutter is built in to the wood for cutting. My daughter is packing this for her soon to be home.

We picked the vintage Tupperware divided trays and cups for the store, a vintage set of measuring cups and spoons that are aqua for her vintage kitchen, a Pyrex refrigerator bowl and the sifter was a thrift gift from my daughter's co-worker. They ventured out on a lunch hour and I was thrilled to have a new one that is easy to use and believe me I use my sifters. We also found another Pyrex clear casserole cover for the collection.

She selected three vintage sheets, leaving quite a few behind, that she thought she could work with and the rose Fire King plate she picked up for her sister's collection.

Last for this past week is this wonderful Herb book. Oh my goodness the information that is in it totally amazed me. Everything you need to know is in this book including recipes for soaps, lotions, healing recipes, how to grow them, harvest, preserve, and to tell you the truth I could spend days with this book. We've been quite selective although we should not be out hunting at all, but the urge will never die and the fun will never leave, so we'll keep on going. Thank you for stopping by and visiting and I hope your finds are as fun as ours. Have a wonderful weekend.