Saturday BlogRoll call

My father is in the hospital with a partially collapsed lung. We should find out Sunday when he can come home.

Onto the blogroll;

I have added one new blog this week; Blagger>>free or low cost, predominantly green living. This blog is based in the U.K., but us in the Americas can still find some interesting information.

I also wanted to bring your attention to a couple of discussions that are going on.

Burdockboy over on False Sense of security is talking about living without a TV.

The Fool, over at Shouting in the Dark has an on going discussion on the End of the American dream.

Both are worth your time to check out and maybe add your opinions too. No fret, both these gentlemen are appreciative of people voicing an opposing opinion, as long as there is no flaming going on.

If you have a blog, or know of a blog that I might be interested in, please tell me. I'll be happy to go and check it out. Now I am off to reply to all those comments on Could You help me, Please? Oh, and if you haven't yet, why not sign up for the Make it from scratch contest.

Could you help me, please?

Welcome back my wonderful commenters! As another blogger told me, it was a little disheartening to see that no one was replying to posts.

Alas! There has been a challenge set forth. And as I am still learning this entire homesteading thing, I thought this was a great challenge. Stephanie over on Stop the Ride has issued this challenge that is open to everyone;

make something from scratch that you never had before and normally buy pre-made {I'm paraphrasing here} I jumped on this contest, and emailed her {comments weren't working for her blog either}.

Here is my problem and where you can help me out. I have no idea what to do. I do plan on making items that I have never made before, yet I am not sure which to tackle first and include in this contest. I ask you, my readers, to help me out by choosing from the options in the poll below. I will leave this open through the weekend. And if the end result is passable, I might just raffle off the project. {If not passable, I will try again}

Changes

I have changed the comments settings. Would you guys be so kind as to try and comment. I'd appreciate it.

Nevermind.

Thank you to those of you emailing me, and informing me that nothing has changed. It is indeed a Blogger issue. I guess I will try and be happy talking to myself here.

Cold days ahead and warm breads in the oven

No one seemed to have an opinion about growing exotic fruits in a non exotic locale, however Rubyreader asks how likely it is that I will post my Banana Bread recipe. Since the forums where I first published it no longer exists, I would say it is very likely that you will get the recipe here.

I made 3 types yesterday, my two youngest boys were happy to help, and to taste it for poisons {as my 5 year old informed me. He is so thoughtful}.

We made Banana and chocolate, spiced Banana and Banana nut bread. I discovered that my oven is going out and that this camera doesn't like to auto focus inside of the house. As soon as I pulled the bread from the oven, my boys had began getting into it, no pictures of the loaves, sorry.



Basic Banana Bread

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 very ripe {soft and darkly speckled} medium bananas
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking conversions

Oven rack should be placed in the lower middle position and preheat to 350f {gas mark 4, 180c}. If using a regular loaf pan grease and flour the bottom only, if using non stick, do the sides as well.

Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Using a wooden spoon mash the wet ingredients together, then gently fold the wet mix into the dry until only just combined. Batter should be lumpy. Scrape into the loaf pan and bake 55 minutes or until a gold color and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow it to cool in the pan, resting on its side for 5 minutes before removing from pan and placing on a cooling wire rack.

To make it chocolate reduce sugar to 10 tablespoons and add a heaping ½ cup of your favorite chocolate pieces into the dry ingredients.


My wonderful 3 year old added more chocolate than needed.

For spiced and cinnamon, nutmeg and all spice into the dry ingredients, to taste. Or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon allspice

For nuts, add 1 1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts to the dry ingredients.

We ended up with another 3 inches of snow yesterday.

We are to stay below freezing for the next 7 days.

I know I said I was going to talk more about gardening this week, I think I got distracted.

Blogger is acting very strange, if you want to leave a reply but are unable to, feel free to e-mail me.

A Homesteading Neophyte: Where I complain about power

A Homesteading Neophyte: Where I complain about power

I was kidding about Walmart and solar power!

Walmart may sell energy to Texans

More snow

We have another 2 inches headed our way. We still have ice and snow on the ground {my driveway is a treat trying to get out of} We need the snow for the winter crops, so I will not complain. Instead allow me to share some of the pictures that I neglected to post last week.









I think I will do some more baking today. We are running low on sandwich bread, and some banana bread sounds wonderful. hhhmmm....which brings up a question I have been pondering. If I included a dwarf banana tree in my greenhouse, would it be considered eating local? It's not like they grow naturally here in Kansas, so that means I would have to import it in. I really like bananas, my children love them, and my thinking was that maybe I should grow my own only paying a big food corp once instead of over and over every time we want a banana.

I also wanted to thank you all for the responses to the "I am" post and the "Where I complain about Power".

Where I complain about power

I received an e-mail last night inviting me to join the Alternative Energy Bloggers Network. I went and looked around the site, it looks like a link sharing program, with descriptions of blog posts that discuss energy. The site looks like it is still in it's infancy, and I am unsure of how I would really fit in with the more aggressive alternative energy bloggers out there.

One thing, I don't discuss energy except when I am making plans for my new home, and when I do, it's more about complaining about the price of things. $5,000 US for a solar water heater! No way an average person could afford that. As I said before, it may save you money in the long run, but if you don't have the initial money {most people don't} you are not going to buy the equipment for solar/wind/hydro energy. You'll have to buy the equipment slowly, when you can.

I read an article in Mother Earth News last month about building your own solar panels. My husband says good idea, still not feasible.

So where does that leave us? Passively conserving rather than actively changing. You can complain about consumption until your blue in the face, but until you can make the initial investment affordable to the average person, nothing will change. The consumers will almost always go to the lowest bidder, if Wal-mart sold solar panels, you can bet your farm that more people will go off the grid. It's not only the lack of education, or environmental caring that keeps people from alternative energies, it's the price. $120.00US per unit was the lowest I could find {min 32 units}

Sure there are folks out there that don't care. Yes, there are people that don't understand what the fuss is about or think that alternative energy is just a left wing propaganda. And who knows, it just might be, but what I do know is that those of us that are willing to change, those of us that wish to use alterative power don't always have the funds to do so, and we are left in the dark.

I went to DSIRE to see what type of incentives are available in Kansas after reading an article that stated many states are paying up to 70% of the investment costs. Kansas does not have a program for residential homes, unless you are a non-profit company. {You can check your own state through this link as well}

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Also I have been having problems responding to blogs. I am getting a little tired of blogger not only for this but unable to edit posts, change tags or clean up my side bar without messing up people's feeds.

I Am

Since we are already sharing, Owlhaven is having a writing contest. This is my entry.

I am the infant girl born in Kansas into a family of a mother, father and son, who smiled for the first time only minutes after birth and later cried when the 3rd boy was born.

I am the kindergartner who loves ballet and a boy named Brett.

I am the tom boy who all the boys love, but she thinks they are yucky.

I am the young teen that is scarred by someone that is suppose to protect her.

I am the 15 year old that lives with a 25 year old man.

I am the homeless teen that drifts between family and friends.

I am the teen mother that gives birth all alone while sitting on a bathroom floor, and later will hold her 1 month old son in her arms as tubes are pulled from his mouth.

I am the teen mother who weeps with a dead son in her arms.

I am the teen that gives up on happiness, who drinks and junks to forget.

I am the teen who cares nothing about herself, and has sex out of spite.

I am the teen mother who gives birth a second time, and refuses to bond with a new son.

I am the 20 something that finds love without drugs.

I am the 20 something woman that falls in love with all 3 of her living sons.

I am the 20 something woman that gives up convenience, and finds happiness in hard work, despite sacrifice and loss, and finds beauty in the simple things

To participate click here, leave a comment and tell her that Phelan sent you. Also let me know if you are writing one of your own.

This is what happens when you read other's blogs

I have been tagged by the Greenwoman. Although I have already done this meme, my husband informs me that there are more than just 6 things about me that are considered weird. I'm Normal!

As a Child I use to crawl under my bed to read. If I could, I would still do that now, stupid growth spurts.

I've wrestled a woman in coleslaw.

I scream selected songs from contemporary musicals while speeding down the road on the back on the motorcycle. And everyone always wants to know why my husband is smiling and shaking his head when we pull in somewhere.

I can't resist a horror flick. You should see my video and DVD collection, no matter how bad it is, I have to watch it.

I will read any book that is put into my hands. It really doesn't matter how boring or poorly written it is.

I will put blueberries in just about everything I eat, from a pasta to a salad to desserts.

Since I already tagged people back when I did this the first time, I will skip it this time. But if you feel the need to post this meme, let me know about it so I don't feel so alone and exposed.

I have also done a little side bar cleaning this weekend. Hopefully I didn't mess anyone's feeds up this time. Speaking of feeds, you can now read my blog through feedblitz, the sign up is located in the sidebar. oopps, sorry LJers!