Homeade remedies and such

Warning: Spell check is not working for some reason...  Pardon any mistakes. :)

Before you read the interesting part of this blog, because today I'm posting "green" household tips we use frequently, you must know this about me:  I despise "fads".  They annoy me along with the people who follow them so crazily.  I was "green" and organic WAY before "green" and organic were a fad.  My Grandfather used organic practices in his garden and I was raised as a gardener with these things in mind.  I was selling (or attemping to sell) organic gardening (not just products, but practices) to east memphis and midtown yuppies years ago.  At the time all they wanted was whatever would get the job done quickly, or whatever was in that months edition of Southern Living magazine.  Now they are the same ones who have "gone green".  I'm happy to see people finally understanding, but at the same time it makes me sick, the followers who have no minds of their own.  Do not confuse me with a "tree hugger".  I am a Conservationist who believes that God gave man the permission and responsibility to care for the earth.  Even if that means selectively cutting down a healthy tree here and there.  I do not believe God gave us the power to destroy the earth (by cutting down trees, nukes or anything else).  Mar it temporarily, yes.  Destroy it, no.  Only He has that power.  God's nature, left alone for a few short years, would overcome us with Oak, Maple, Privit and Hackberry trees, just to name a few (on my property alone).  A lot of these (especially Privit) are drought, freeze and flood resistant and couldn't care less about global warming or the ozone!  Not managed (mowing, weedeating, whatever) and given just a little time, they would rise up and claim every inch of pavement, every house, building, lawn and garden we have put in place.

Now for the fun and "green" household tips, if you didn't already know about them!

We are all about homeade remedies in the Saulters, Wall and Horton households!  Here are some that come to mind lately.

1) Mustard works to ease the pain of a severe burn.  After I seriously burned my finger with steam while cooking lunch this past Sunday I held ice on it for about three hours.  I couldn't take the ice anymore, but it was too painful when I stopped.  A neighbor said to put toothpaste on it.  That didn't work.  Aloe didn't work either.  Then my sister and her husband said put mustard on it!  At this point I would have tried just about anything!  So I did it and after about 5 or 10 minutes the pain subsided and we wrapped it up in a cloth with the mustard still on it and left it for a few hours.  That night I just put a bandaid on it and today I have aired it out quit a bit.  Still no pain!  I will put another bandaid on it to sleep, so as not to bust the lovely blister, but that seems to be all I need until it heals!  Amazing!

2) Soapy water kills knats, fruit flies and other pesky flying things.  I learned this little trick a long time ago and recommended it to lots of customers at Stringer's.  My Mom uses this anytime they come around!  It works like a charm and no stinky sprays getting near your food.  Just a little soap.  Still don't want to eat it, but better than most stuff you find for this problem!  This is just a drop of dish soap in a spray bottle of water.  Just spray them as they fly, it kills them in mid air!  Keep it under the sink ready to use! 

3) Stainless steel removes cooking odors from your hands, such as fish, onion, garlic etc.  This is one my Mom taught me!  Of course they make little stainless steel bars to look like soap for your kitchen, but I just use the faucet.  It works just the same!  And it works everytime!  Made Salmon tonight and am always amazed at how well it removes those awful odors!

4) And then one not homeade, but still an all natural cleaner, Rose Pomegranate Countertop Cleanser made by Caldrea.  My Mother in law gave this to me as a stocking stuffer last Christmas.  I've used it some, but last week decided to do some down and dirty cleaning in the kitchen after finding evidence of one of our country mice spending the night on my counters.  He was eating cherry tomatoes I left on the counter (since they tend to get mushy in the fridge).  Mice = YUCK!!!  Needless to say, I cleaned every nook and crany of my kitchen counters, stove etc making a spring cleaning look like a wipe down... :)  While I was at it I decided to freshen up the place with this awesome smelling cleaner.  I've used it before but not for any intense cleaning.  Well that day I discovered that it is THE BEST GREASE CUTTER I HAVE EVER USED!!!  And I've tried them all.  I have an aluminum grease container from the 1950's that I keep on top of the stove to put grease in while it is hot until it cools and I can throw it away.  This thing stays on the stove and gets all the spatters from skillets etc.  Everytime I clean it I am frustrated at how difficult it is to get the grease off.  Hot water and dish soap barely get the job done.  Even Magic Eraser doesn't do it very well.  This week I used this cleaner and that container has never been cleaner.  I used it all over the stove and the counters.  Even on the sink and cabinets.  And it smells just like rose parfume.  I love it.  It didn't take very much of it to do the job either.  So I still have plenty to go around.  I used it on the bathroom sink.  Worked great.  Next I'm going to try it on the tub.  So far it's giving everything else I've ever used a run for it's money.   You can find it on their website http://www.caldrea.com/.  However they didn't offer this scent... :(  But I'm sure the others are just as nice!
 

My new favorite summer salad

It's a long time classic, I know.  But it is so wonderful!  Simple, light, fresh...  Perfect for summer!

Caprese Salad

Sliced tomatoes

Fresh mozzarella sliced

Fresh basil leaves (I chop them slightly, but am thinking of trying it with them whole)

Balsamic vinaigrette drizzled over the top (or whatever you prefer of course!!)

ENJOY!!!

Happy and grateful.

A week or two ago Clay's family gave us a riding mower his uncle has had and didn't use anymore.  Up until now we have borrowed one from our family or our neighbor or Clay has used a push mower to mow about 2 acres...  (That takes about 4 hours and a LOT of sweat, if you care to know...)

Then yesterday one of our friends gave us an old dishwasher that had been his parents!  It works great and I am SO excited!  I'm sure this is not a big deal to most of you, but for 5 years I have been washing dishes by hand.  Since it's only two of us it wasn't too bad, but I seriously hate doing dishes.

It's truly amazing how God provides for us, even the extra stuff we don't NEED, but could REALLY use.  Awesome.

Memorial Day weekend

My family, minus Clay, who insisted on moving limbs instead of relaxing at this point and wasn't in the picture... :(

The girls in the best climbing tree ever!

Gabrielle, Alexandria and Virginia all getting pushed around the pool on the float by Uncle Clay!

Our first Daylilly blooms!  It must be June!  They are like clockwork!

Our first Althea flower!

Smoke and me.  He is one of the sweetest horses ever!  And the prettiest!

We have had a wonderful long weekend this Memorial Day.  Clay is off on Fridays so it was a four day weekend for him and although he insisted on working on our property for part of it, we had plenty of relaxing time together.  My family came over Saturday and we cooked out and officially opened the pool!  The kids had plenty of fun and we all got to have a good visit.  Clay gave all the girls rides on the float, pushing them through the pool.  They loved it!

My Mister 2

It has been at least 10 years that my poor baby has needed a paint job.  It wasn't until the last big snow we had this year and a guy pulled (slid) out in front of me that he (my car) was finally put back to all one color.  Not a complete paint job, that he still needs, but at least all one color!  The empty spots at the base of the headlights is a rubber piece that drys out and therefore is impossible to get from junkyard cars.  And I'm sure it would cost more than I can spend to order them from Toyota, if they are even available.  So still no where near the complete restoration I would love to give this car, but a step in the right direction!  I love this car!  (Can you tell?)

Floods

Water over our road.  Road was closed a few hours later due to this water getting too deep to drive through.

Mountains and creeks...

I keep this posted on my fridge as a constant reminder.  In natural disasters we can take it literally.

God is our refuge and strength
An ever present help in trouble
Therefore we will not fear
Though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into
the heart of the sea
Psalm 46

Also when making plans I often use the saying "Lord willin' and the creek don't rise."  The Lord willing part I always mean.  The creek part is meant to be funny.  Not lately.  These days that is literal too!

Tulip Poplar blooming for Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day.  I'm a Tennessee girl, so on this Earth Day, I am posting a picture of the flower of Tennessee's State tree, the Tulip Poplar.  This one in particular is blooming on my neighbor's property right now.  Along with this tree, the Tennessee state flower, the Iris, is also blooming all over the place.  Now I just need to take a walk in the woods and try to find some Passion Vine blooming, our state's wildflower.  It would be very special to find it this weekend because of it's symbolism with Easter.  So maybe tomorrow I will take a hike through the woods. :)

More surprise flowers!

I love spring!  Yesterday when I went outside to plant my two new Sage plants I noticed small white flowers in the flower bed!  Right in the middle of the clump of Blue Bells that were blooming just a couple of weeks ago!  These are called either White Glory of the Snow... or Star of Bethlehem.  I've read that the last is invasive, but we only have two small clumps. Then the other day while pulling out of the driveway I also noticed a Red Buckeye shrub growing and blooming across the street from us on the edge of the field. The Amarillis bulbs a friend gave me are blooming white and pink! (Thanks Brynn!!!)  I cut them and brought them in the house so the storm last night wouldn't distroy them.  We have zucchini, squash and tomatoes growing from seeds in the compost pile!  No need to buy and seeds or plants now I guess!  We just need to move them into more sun...  And finally we have a dark red rose that is growing like crazy right in front of our bedroom window.  It started blooming this week and is so pretty.  I look forward to enjoying it first thing everyday!

Savory Chicken Saute

OK, yet another funky picture from my phone.  But this was a new recipe.  We had it for dinner last night and it was yummy, so I wanted to share!  I made this for two people, so you might want to double this if you are feeding more people.  The chicken recipe came from the South Beach Diet cookbook, the veggies are mine, but they are also South Beach Diet approved. :)

2 chicken breasts (I cut them into smaller pieces)
2 Tbs Olive Oil
1/2 of an Onion
1 clove of Garlic
1 1/2 tsp of Rosemary
1/4 C. chicken broth
3 or 4 Mushrooms sliced (optional of course)

The mushrooms were not in the recipe, but we love them and I thought it sounded good so I added them. They fit in perfectly.
Heat oil in a skillet. 
Add chicken and cook about 4 minutes each side or until your comfort of "done ness". 
Add onion, cover and cook on medium to low for about 5 minutes. 
Add garlic, rosemary, a little pepper, mushrooms and chicken broth and continue to cook until onion and mushrooms are completely cooked.
Remove lid and simmer until almost all juice is cooked down. 
I served this with cheesy squash and roasted zucchini.
Slice and boil two yellow squash in a saucepan with some onion and a little seasoned salt. 
Drain it and top with shredded cheddar cheese. 
I usually eat this with crackers and it's yummy.
Spray oil in a baking dish at least 9 or 10 ". 
Slice two zucchini and place in one layer and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.  Drizzle with Olive oil and bake at 350 degrees until cooked. 
Optional: After it's done, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and cook a few minutes longer. (It's good either way!)
ENJOY!

Another surprise flower!

My phone takes awful pictures, but this clump of what almost looks like Monkey Grass started blooming in our front flower bed today!  Perfect bell shaped true blue flowers!  Appropriately named Bluebells!  So pretty!  A nice surprise on this dreary day.

Adventurous day as a "fireman"!

This is an awful picture of me!  But it was an interesting day!  A friend of ours wanted to burn off his front yard.  He does it to get rid of weeds and let the grass grow in better.  While he and Clay were raking leaves into the fire, I held the hose keeping a wet line around the area and watching for any fly away flames.  It was kind of fun!  And nothing caught in fire except what was suposed to, so it was a good time!

Unusual wild flower in the yard!

Because this is our first spring in our new house the discoveries of spring plants blooming and popping up every year is even more exciting than usual!  This is one of my favorite times of year for this very reason and I have been waiting all winter to find what plants we might have that we didn't already know about!  Here are a few pictures of some that we've discovered so far!  The first picture is one that was a complete surprise and that took a bit of research to identify.  It is a Chokeberry shrub.  The flowers are pure white, a very unusual shape in the center, with interesting buds and a slight fragrance.  It is supposed to have berries in the summer and striking fall foliage.  I didn't notice it this past fall, but then it is on the edge of our property in a wooded area and not where we go everyday.  The second picture is a small Daffodil that smells amazing!  The strongest I've ever smelled!  And so pretty!  Below is a small white Daffodil.  There is also a large white with an orange center and yelow of various sizes but I didn't get pictures of those.  We have also identified what we think is a wild plum, several actually, in the back and just beyond our property.  They have beautiful white and pink flowers, just like apple trees, but we saw the fruit this summer and Clay thinks they were plums, not apples.  In addition to these there are several wild flowers in the yard that are so pretty.  We have white flowers about the size of a dime, which is pretty large considering.  These combined with the tons of violets have basically taken over the back yard.  And the front yard is a haze of purple.  I'm not ready to cut them down, but Clay is dying to cut the grass.  So we will enjoy them while we can.  I'm just glad spring is finally here!

Our Saucer Magnolia!

I have waited a year for this!  This time last year we were just considering buying this house.  I brought my friend Hope by to see the house but the owner was here and we couldn't look around (she didn't live here, was just here working on the house or something), but over the house I could see this tree blooming.  So I have been waiting ever since to see it up close.  It was even nicer that it began blooming right at my birthday!  It is the largest of these trees I have ever seen and it is right at the edge of our patio.  So beautiful.  This picture doesn't do it justice.  With pink and white blooms as large as the palm of your hand, it is one of the most beautiful of all blooming trees!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

This is a quick easy soup and makes a delicious lunch or addition to dinner!  Makes about 4 or 5 medium sized bowls.

1/4 C Butter or Margarine
1/4 C flour
2 1/2 C Milk
2 1/2 C Chicken broth
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 C cheese (mix of cheddar and Velveeta)
1 C Broccoli

Cook broccoli (I mash slightly with potato masher)
Melt butter in a large saucepan
Mix in flour and cook, stirring constantly until thick and bubbly
Mix in milk, chicken broth, salt and pepper
Bring to a boil, then simmer about 10 minutes, sauce should thicken
Mix in cheese, stir until blended ( I use mostly 2% cheddar and then about 3 slices of processed cheese slices)
Mix in cooked broccoli
Cook about another 5 minutes

NOTE: If you use dry chicken broth (cubes or powder) in water to make broth, taste before adding any salt.

SNOW!

Snow, snow, snow, I LOVE snow!  It's so peaceful.  And all the winter ugly bare turns white wonderland...  Even the birds are happy and although I feel bad that I forgot to get them birdfood to spread on top of this cold blanket that covers thier natural food source, they seem to be just fine, hopping and pecking away at the snow to get down to thier seeds anyway, completely without my help.  God takes care of them also.  I am posting here some pictures of our first real snow in our new house.  Very country cottage I think.  The first picture is our beautiful tree lined driveway, even though you can't see the driveway anymore!  Then the front, sans garage but with our cute little Christmas like trees flanking the corners!  Then where I promise our pool was just yesterday!  So pretty.

Spinach Madeline

You should have figured out by now that spinach is becoming one of my favorite veggies.  Here is one of my absolute favorite recipes using it.  This one is delicious and even though it has lots of butter and creamy milk, I can pronounce all of the ingredients and know what they are and roughly where they come from and that's important to me.

2 pkgs frozen spinach
4 Tbls butter (I use salted light)
2 Tbls flour
2 Tbls onion chopped
1/2 C. evaporated milk (I use fat free)
1/2 C. spinach juice
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp celery salt
3/4 tsp garlic salt (I use powder and then add some salt)
salt to taste
6 oz. jalapeno cheese or mexican velvetta
1 tsp worcestershire sauce

Cook spinach according to pkg directions
Drain, reserving liquid
Melt butter in saucepan
Cook onion in butter
Add flour and stir over low heat until smooth (this is always goopy, never like when I make white sauce for mac n cheese), do NOT brown
Add evap milk and spinach liquid (remember to measure the liquid, you won't need all of it)
Add seasoning
Add cheese
Stir over low heat until melted and smooth
Add spinach
Cook in buttered casserole dish at about 350 degrees until bubbly

I enjoy this with sweet potatoes, maybe because it reminds me of Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it sure is good.  Italian chicken (pour Italian salad dressing over chicken breast and bake) is really good with it to me also.

Enjoy!