WE GOT A DEER!!

Our deer on its last breath

OK so this post is a little off my usual postings but at about what comes to about $0.80/lb of meat, hunting was something we decided we had to take up. Instead of rifle, David opted to start with bow hunting because, we have neighbors within shooting distance, arrows are reusable, and the bow season is longer.

For a while, we considered ordering half a grass fed cow. But even though price per pound would have been quite reasonable, the overall cost was prohibitive. After about 2 years of soul-searching, and whether or not it was in us to take another creature's life for food, we decided that since we were not going to turn vegetarian, hunting was the best and most natural route to get our meat.

Choosing to hunt for meat meant the meat we ate grew up in its wild natural state. This would even be better than organic meat! It meant that the life we took did not suffer an cramped, diseased cages, and was not pumped with antibiotics.

Then came the bow research and planning.

After a mix of:

• Converting Staples ink rewards into cash (by buying free after rebate software with ink rewards)
• Taking advantage of Groupon's ebay gift cards for 50% off (offer is no longer available)
• Using the Staples cash-out to buy Bass Pro's gift cards from Plastic Jungle at a discount (15-17% off when we bought them)
• Price-matching (luckily for us, Dick Sports had the $900+ bow marked down to $500+ for a short time) and using competitor coupons at Bass Pro (We used Dick Sports coupons from the Entertainment Book but I suggest keeping an eye out for those 25% off coupons that Sports Authority issues a few times a year).

We were able to buy a $1400 bow set for about $200 out of pocket.

We then applied for hunting licenses while David practiced shooting. We managed to get a doe license and purchased a left over buck license for $30. I thought the buck license would be a waste of money since it was valid for a mere week. What would our chances be for that?

Then, lo-and-behold, on the last day of our buck permit, a buck was standing just outside our house! We were VERY lucky. So lucky in fact that it didn't get spooked when the first shot missed. The wind was in our favor and the second shot hit it.

Regretfully though, it was not a kill shot. There was a chase and the buck was still alive 3-4 hours later. The buck had to be shot again to put it out of its misery. We were also lucky that it was Sunday and our very kind neighbors, who are veteran hunters came to help with the kill, field-dressing, skinning and even let us use their walk-in fridge to age the meat.

We were also sent home with elk scraps for the chickens (scrapes that used to feed wild magpies now help lower our feed costs)!

So now we have a year's supply (hopefully) of meat for cheap!

Amazon has a good deal on bulk organic flours

$20.49 after $2.50 coupon for 25 lb sacks with subscribe & save (you can cancel S&S at any time after the order. I recommend canceling immediately so that you don't forget!). You can 'clip' the coupon in the coupon box under the "IN STOCK" notation.

Office Max has a 20% off your order (10/30-11/5)

 

Print your in-store coupon here

or if you prefer to shop online, the code is CART20

Remember, you should be able to use this coupon at Office Depot or Staples (check with your local store).

Terms: Valid October 30 thru November 5, 2011. Coupon valid on regular, sale, promotional and/or clearance priced items. Limit one per customer. Valid in store only. Discount calculated based on pre-tax value of purchase. Void if copied, sold, purchased, transferred, taxed or where prohibited. Cannot be combined with any other coupon,
printer or pc trade in program, associate discount, OfficeMax® Customer Perks and/or Retail ConnectSM pricing. Not valid on any products eligible for pre-order. Excludes all HP ink and toner, Epson ink and OfficeMax® brand ink and toner. Not valid on purchases of OfficeMax ImPress® Print Center services, computers, monitors, tablets,
projectors, projector screens, shredders, televisions larger than 9", typewriters, cash registers, gift cards, general-use prepaid cards, phone cards, Virgin mobile devices, Sprint® devices or service plans, MaxAssurance, shredding services, OfficeMax Essentials Kits, assembly, Ctrlcenter® services or FedEx® shipping services. Not valid on prior purchases or for credit card payments. Coupon must be surrendered at time of purchase. No cash or credit back.

$50 Abe's Market voucher for $17-$20 at Eversave.com

For today only, Eversave is offering $50 vouchers for $20 after coupon code SPOOKY. Shipping is free with min $49 purchase. You will find the deal on the left menu of the page.
If you're new, sign up for their newsletter and get an additional $3 in eversave credit!

Saving on Pixar's CARS 2

Disney is offering a $5 off coupon for CARS 2. You'll need to sign up to Disney Movie Rewards (free) to print the coupon.

You can increase your savings with a $10 mail in rebate from Kimberly-Clark. All you need to do is submit the proof of purchase tab/UPC & receipt for the movie as well as UPC + receipt for $20 worth of Kimberly Clark products (HUGGIES ARE INCLUDED!)

There is an alternative $10 mail-in rebate from Band-aid

Langers Juice for $0.03 at Walmart

Langers has a $0.55 coupon which can be used on single-serve bottles at Walmart ($0.58 each). You can print 1 coupon here.

You can also 'LIKE' them on Facebook to print off another coupon

Save your UPCs! You can mail them in for free or discounted items!

Video Game Deals

Game deals today:

• Amazon is selling the Kinect + Child of Eden DLC for $119.99

• If you're lucky to find it, Gamestop is Two Worlds Royal Edition II for $18 and Bioshock 2 for $8. You can also use your Power Up Rewards to get an additional 10% off

Tuna, Seaweed and Avocado Salad on Sushi Rice

Ingredients

Sushi Rice:

• 3 cups Japanese short-grain sushi rice
• 3 1/4 cups water
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt

Method

Wash the rice in water until the water runs clear. Save the wash water - this is great for watering plants with.
Add all the ingredients in a rice cooker and cook, or bring to a boil on the stove then reduce to a simmer until cooked.
Allow the rice to stand and cool.

Seaweed Salad:

• Dried Wakame Seaweed, soaked
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 c white vinegar
• 1 tsp red pepper powder
•  1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

Method:


Soak the seaweed in water until soft and rehydrated. I used a pack from Korea.

Avoid made in China seaweed. Even though there has been no conclusive proof that there is seaweed made from plastic from China, I try to avoid all Chinese food products.

Notice how green the water used for soaking the kelp is! I saved this for watering the plants as well.






Mix all the seasoning ingredients together. Add more or less of any one of the ingredients to taste. Add the kelp.

Avocado Salad

• 3 ripe avocados, skinned, pitted and diced
• Sesame oil, fish sauce/soy sauce, chili powder, salt to taste

Method

Mix all the ingredients together. Serve cold.

Where to buy:

All the ingredients should be available at your local Asian grocer. For the chili powder, I like to use S&B 7 spice chili pepper. You might or might not find this at a regular Asian grocer but it will be sold at a Japanese grocer.
If all else fails, you can get most of the ingredients at Amazon.

How to reduce costs when selling on eBay

Whether you're a regular seller or not, we all know that eBay fees are EXPENSIVE.
Before you sell on eBay, consider the following avenues:

- craigslist.org - This is totally FREE. Buyers usually come to your home and pay cash.
- Etsy.com - They charge much lower fees but you are only allowed to sell handcrafted items/ supplies.
- Foodzie.com - Again, fees are lower but this site is dedicated to cooks and bakers.
- LocalHarvest.com - You can place a free ad if you have produce to sell.

I've been successful selling my eggs from just listing on craigslist and LocalHarvest.com

When all else fails, try eBay. So how do you lower  your costs selling on eBay?

- List only up to 50 auctions/month. eBay gives you 50 free listings per month. This reduces your risk because you don't have to pay insertion fees.

- Be a top-rated seller and receive 20% off final value fees

-From Thanksgiving - Dec 25 2011, offer free expedited shipping service with 1-day handling and get an additional 20% off final values fees. This can be on top of your top-rated seller discount.

- Get discounted USPS rates by printing your shipping label directly from MY EBAY. You can now even print USPS international first class labels from there.

• Under MY EBAY, go to SELLING on the left menu
• Click on SOLD
• That will take you to a page where you can see items you need to ship

• Finally you'll  get to the page where you can print the appropriate shipping label.

- Sign up for the AD SUPPORTED SHIPPING - Under the Applications tab in "My EBAY" find ADSHIP and sign up. Basically they'll pay you $0.19+  for adding a printed ad with your shipment.

 - Save in shipping insurance - Under the Applications tab in "MY EBAY" find SHIPSAVER INSURANCE. Rates start at $0.79 and you can insure USPS first class international mail shipments.

Wontons

Wontons are quite versatile. You can serve them in soup, dry, or over egg noodles. These are traditionally made with ground pork but I find ground turkey better it them.

Ingredients
- Wonton skins - buy the square ones the round ones tend to be too thick to make a nice wanton
- 1 lb ground pork or turkey
- 1/2" piece of ginger, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 water chestnuts, peeled; or equivalent jacama, cooked, and minced (optional but gives it a nice crunch)
- 2" carrot chunk, diced (optional)
- 2 dried Shitake mushrooms, re-hydrated, small dice 
- 1 egg
- To taste: salt, sesame oil, onion flakes, soy sauce, cilantro, green onions, fish sauce (optional but recommended) 

Method

Leave the wonton skins in its package until you're ready to use them. If they are frozen, you can defrost them beforehand. If your package is already opened, be sure to keep the skins under a damp cloth until you're ready to use them. This prevents them from drying out and becoming brittle.

You can soak the mushrooms in water overnight, or you can pour boiling water over them to soak them (takes about 1-2 hrs to rehydrate).


Mix all the ingredients except for the skins together. After mixing, take a small pat of meat mixture and place it in 1 piece of skin.

You can make triangular wontons by wetting the edges with water or egg wash and folding over to form a triangle.

An easier way to make them would be to just place the meat in the middle of the skin then folding up all the edges to make a 'package'. Wetting the sides for this version is not necessary.

Cooked wontons

 Drop the wontons one at a time in boiling water. They are done when they float. Just skim them off the surface of the water.







Soup for wontons


To pork or chicken stock, add salt, onion and garlic powder, sesame oil, Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry), fish sauce and/or soy sauce, green onions and cilantro to taste. Serve over wontons.

For dry wontons

Serve cooked wontons over a mixture of black vinegar, chili oil or sriracha sauce, sesame oil and sprinkled with green onions and/or cilantro.


For fried wontons

Fry the triangular version in hot oil until golden brown.

Where to buy: You can get all the ingredients at any Asian grocer. If you don't have one most regular supermarkets including Walmart and Super Target carry chili oil, sriracha sauce and sesame oil. Wonton skins do tend to be a little harder to get at a regular store, depending on your location. You can also get it from amazon but they cheapest option is the Asian grocer.

FREE 8x10 Collage Print at Walgreens

Pork and Onions over Norfolk Dumplings

OK. I know my photos need work but this will have to do for now! So this was something I made up because I still had a big dumpling dough ball from my earlier recipe. The dough stored well, covered in the fridge for a couple of days.

You can get the recipe for Norfolk Dumplings here.

For the pork/onion gravy

INGREDIENTS

- 1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 lb of pork, sliced
- Salt, pepper, paprika, dried dill and Worcestershire sauce to taste
- Oil/butter for sauteing
- Stock

For the gravy:
- 1/4 c butter
- 1/4 c flour

Method

In a saucepan, melt the butter. once melted, slowly mix the flour in with a fork or whisk until you get a paste. continue to stir until slightly browned. Slowly add stock until you get a gravy.

In another pan, add some oil/melt butter. Add onions and saute until soft. Add garlic and pork. Once pork is no longer pink, add seasonings to taste. Pour gravy over the mixture and simmer for 10 min or more.

Serve the pork & onion gravy over drained dumplings.

Verdict: These were good but the recipe could do even better with some fresh parsley. Guess what we'll be planting next?

De'Longhi EC155 15 Bar Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker $40 after rebate with Amazon Visa


These normally retail for over $90 so this is a great deal if you have Amazon Visa.

Use code OCTGET20 for 20% off and get your mail-in rebate form here

Kodak 20 FREE prints with purchase of 5 (via Facebook)

Kodak is offering 20 free prints to your account with purchase of 5 prints. You can pick them up at stores like CVS or Target

Office Max FREE (after rewards) reams of paper and markers

Limit 2 per person/account.

100% back in rewards items. Available online only for rewards purposes:

Mr. Sketch® Scented Water Color Markers, 12-pack (item# 11001382) limit 4, $8.79

Prismacolor® Scholar™ Pencil Eraser (item# 22532305) limit 4, $1.35

Prismacolor Scholar Colored Pencil Sharpener (item# 22532314) limit 4, $1.99
 
Don't forget to use the coupon code SAVEATON for an additional 20% off

This is a great way to stock up on office supplies and add money spent to your ink rewards account

No Knead Cheese Bread

This is a modification from the King Arthur Flour website. This bread is delicious!

Ingredients:

1/4 c minced onion, sauteed + 1/4 c dried minced onion
1 tbsp garlic powder
3 c All-Purpose Flour
2 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups mozzarella cheese diced (or shredded or both. I just used diced)
2 large eggs
1 1/4 c milk

Method
  
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and milk together. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mix and beat well. 


Pour the batter into a greased or silicone baking pan. Allow the batter to rise (1.5 - 2 hrs) until it has approximately doubled. Bake the bread at 450 F for about 40 - 50 min.

Vegetable Stew

This is a nice hearty meal of ingredients lying in the fridge.

Ingredients

- 1 onion, peeled, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- 4-5 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 squash, diced
- Any other vegetable you have will work. 
Avoid adding bell peppers and they will make your soup bitter.
- Vegetable/meat stock
- Salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce (optional) to taste

Method

You can use commercial packaged soup stock but I prefer to just make my own. Save your bones and/or vegetable scraps in the freezer. You can simply make stock by boiling 1-2 bones and/or vegetable scraps in water. Skim off excess fat (if applicable).

In a stock pot (I used a Dutch oven), saute the onions in oil/butter until soft. Add garlic and saute until slightly soft.  Add stock and bring to a boil add vegetables and reduce to a simmer. Cook until vegetables are soft.

Optional: You can consider adding dumplings to bulk the soup up. Serving it with cheese bread is wonderful!

Norfolk Dumplings

These are a nice way to bulk up soups or stews. I got this recipe from a Victorian-era cook book.

Ingredients

- 2 1/4 c all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 small egg
- 2 c milk

Method

- Mix the dry ingredients together. Add egg and milk to the dry mixture and knead until you get a dough. It should be a little sticky.
- Shape dough balls about the size of a large marble and drop them into boiling soup
- These will about double in size in the soup
- Boil in the soup for about 45 min

Staples FREE items this week (Oct 16-22)

- FREE 250 1-2 color business cards (phone or online orders only)

- Free (after Staples Rewards) 16 pack Duracell AA or AA packs
Limit 2 per person/Rewards account

How does this work? Basically, you pay full price (do NOT use your rewards to buy the batteries or you will lose them in this offer). You will then get the amount back in Staples Rewards. You can also use coupons in the Oct 16 P&G insert as well as the $5 off $25 coupon in this week's Staples flyer to lower your cost. You will NOT get the coupon discount back in Rewards but you'll pay less out of pocket.

How To Save Money on Infant Formula

When we were expecting Maya, our first baby, I was all gungho about breastfeeding 100%. Mother's milk is best. Unfortunately, my milk production was pathetic at best. So, formula it had to be. For those of you who have bought formula, you know how expensive it is. Both Enfamil and Similac run about $15-$17 per 12 oz. It's slightly cheaper if you get the bigger containers but it's still expensive!

Here are some ways to help save on formula:

- See if you qualify for WIC
This is a federal program funded by your local county. If you meet income requirements, they will offer checks to help you buy formula

- If you don't qualify for WIC, talk to your pediatrician. They often get samples. Mine has generously given us cases of formula each time.

- Sign up for Enfamil Family Beginnings and Similiac Strong Moms

If you're expecting Enfamil will even give you a coupon to redeem at your hospital. Mine didn't have the welcome packages but a quick email to Enfamil solved the problem: they kindly sent me: The diaper bag, insulated bottle carrier, a formula sample, a plastic Peter Rabbit bowl, a baby vibrating toy and some rebate checks with a $15 mail in rebate form.

I've just signed up for Similiac Strong Moms so I can't say what to expect yet but Enfamil regularly sends my $1-$5 rebate checks in the mail which you can use as coupons at your retailer.

From time to time, you can also print coupons off for either formula


- If you have a Costco membership, they have issued coupons for discounts off Enfamil as well. I'll keep you posted on them when they do appear.

- Remember, except for Costco and Sam's Club, you can always use one manufacturer + one store coupon per purchase (this applies to stores like Target and the drug stores) In addition to that, you can increase savings by using mail-in rebates (when available). Sometimes Target also offers $5 gift cards with purchase of two boxes of formula.

- Finally, you can consider stacking your formula purchase with grocery store promotions. For example, Safeway and King Scoopers are currently offering $0.10 off/gallon of gas for every $100 spent on your club card (up to $1 off). In addition, Safeway is currently offering $10 Catalina coupons (these spit out at the register) when  you buy $75 worth of goods.

If you have more tips on how to save on formula, I'll be happy to add it to this post!

Can You Knitch?

To be honest, I've never heard of Knitch before my husband mentioned a craving for it last night. A quick search online showed a fairly easy recipe. Since I had potatoes that have been sitting around for a little too long (think potatoes growing on potatoes).

Ingredients
- 6 medium potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed
- 1/4 c oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 c cold water
- 3 c flour
- 1 medium onion, peeled, diced and sauteed in a little oil/butter

Method

For the dough:

Mix 1c mashed potatoes, 1/4 c oil, baking powder, salt and pepper. Add 1 c flour, mix well. Add the cold water, mix well. Add the remaining flour and mix well until you get a dough. Allow to rest, covered for 30 min.

For the filling:

Mix the remaining potatoes, onions and salt and pepper to taste. Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Roll the dough out to about 1/8" thick. Full your dough in anyway that suits your fancy. As you can see from my photo, I made a few different kinds but decided to go with the round version.
Brush with egg wash. Bake for 25 min.

Verdict: These were really good. they make great snacks on the go and you can fill them with just about anything: curried potatoes, cheese etc! That might not make them traditional knitches anymore but as long as they're good, who cares? :)

Get FREE Books for your child every month until they turn 5!

This program is available in the US, Canada and the UK!

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library sends kids up to age 5 FREE age-appropriate books every month. I just signed up and we are eagerly waiting for our first 2 books for our girls. The books are sponsored by the Library but shipping is sponsored by a local community charity. Locally, our Rotary club sponsors the shipping.

This is a wonderful way to add to your kid's library!

Playing the Price-Matching Game

These is the list of stores (in the US) that price match:

Bass Pro Shops
Best Buy
Home Depot
Kohl's
Lowe's
Office Depot
Office Max
Petco
Petsmart
Sears
Staples
Target
Toysrus.com
Walmart

Price match policies vary from store to store. You can also increase your savings with some pre-planning by purchasing gift cards at a discount from Plastic Jungle.

Bass Pro Shops will price match competitors. In addition, they will accept competitaor coupons (varyies from store to store. If you're planning on a big purchase, I recommend first contacting your local store manager to try to get a deal going). We managed to get a very expensive bow set for a fraction of retail after coupons, price matching and using Plastic Jungle gift cards.

Best Buy will match local in-stock competitor prices. Depending on the store, you may need to bring a print out of the price. If the store is nice, customer service may check the price online for you. If you do a price match, their system will not allow you to stack relevant store coupons. Best Buy will match bestbuy.com's prices.


Home Depot and Lowe's policies are similar. They offer a 110% price match policy (they don't mention that the competitor has to be local) as well as accept competitor coupons. My local Lowe's will not price-match and stack coupons but you can try your luck at your local store.
Be sure to look out for the 20% off coupons from Harbor Freight usually found in the Sunday Paper coupons. There are also often $5 off $25 Ace Hardware coupons on many magazines. Both stores should accept them. Matching their own online prices varies by store.


Petsmart/Petco will both match competitor pricing as well as accept competitor coupons. It's best to bring a printout of the prices but my local Petsmart will just take my word on it. Petco will not match its own online prices but Petsmart will match petco.com


Kohl's general price is very high - their regular pricing is normally above MSRP. HOWEVER, in store, they will price match competitors - my store will even match Amazon (kohls.com will only match brick and mortar stores). In addition, you can stack 15%, 20% or 30% (only available to Kohl's charge holders) when they have their very regular promotions. 
PLUS when they have their 30% off promo, they usually also run their $10 Kohl's cash for every $50 spent. Kohl's cash can be spent in the period after the earning period ends. Kohl's cash is only valid for a stated time frame.
If you return your purchase, Kohl's cash will be deducted from your refund. HOWEVER, if you opt to take store credit,  you can keep the value of the Kohl's cash!


Sears has a 110% price match guarantee. However, I tried price matching in store once and it was a horrible experience. After a long wait, the manager verified the competitor price, and she still refused to price match. I have not shopped at Sears since.
 
Target is very clear about their policy - they will only match printed local, in store ads. You can use 1 Target coupon and 1 manufacturer coupon per item. If you're lucky, customer service may allow you to price match and apply those 2 coupons off on top of it. Official policy states that the they will only price match the price AFTER the target coupon is taken into account. Target does not match its own online prices.
If you use a Target Red Card, you get another 5% off your total purchase. I personally don't have the Red Card but it would be one of only 2 store cards (the other being Kohl's) that I would apply for.

Toys R Us stores usually will not price match. If you're lucky, your local store manager might agree to a match. HOWEVER, toysrus.com will usually match prices, including Amazon's prices. In addition, they will normally let you still take advantage of whatever promotion they have (eg B1G1 or free gift with purchase etc). Even better, if the free item is out of stock, you can request additional discount off your purchase to make up for it.  Remember, if you don't get an agreeable customer service rep, try try again!


Office Depot/OfficeMax/Staples will match competitor prices as well as accept competitor coupons. The official policy is that all rebates/store coupons will be considered before the price match but if you have a nice store manager, they will let you stack offers, sometimes making purchases money makers after rebate! Please be sure to also check out my post on taking advantage of each of these store's ink rewards programs. Stores will match their own online prices.

Walmart claims to match local competitor prices even without an ad. I have yet to try this because to save time, I just bring the ad or printout to avoid arguments. Walmart will also accept competitor and manufacturer coupons.Walmart does not match its own online prices.


If you know of any other stores that price match, either in the US or outside the US, please let me know and I'll add to the list!

Disclosure: I am a Plastic Jungle affiliate

Walmart has a great deal on upcoming blockbuster games!

Preorder 3 games for $175 and get a $50 e-gift card.
The e-giftcard can be used at walmart.com or samsclub.com but you can also use it to buy a phyical gift card at no additional charge at walmart.com
If your Walmart has a gas station, you get a discount for paying with a gift card.

Pre-order choices are:

Batman Arkham City with bonus Arkham Asylum game!
Battlefield 3 Limited Edition
Assassin's Creed Revelations
Mass Effect 3
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Need for Speed: The Run Limited Edition

They have similar deals for newly released games such as Gears of War 3 and Resistance.
If you're not a gamer yourself, remember, Christmas is coming up and this is a great way to get these expensive games at a cheaper price!

Advice on Choosing Chickens for Your New Flock

Chickens are becoming more and more popular and rightfully so. Many areas in the US now allow homes to keep a few hens. However, deciding on the breed of chicken can be confusing because there are so many out there!

If you've never had chickens and you're considering rearing chickens for meat, I recommend you get a fair number of the same-breed so that it's harder to distinguish between them. After raising chickens for 3 years, we've decided that we are not able to rear them for meat. Most of them have nice personalities and are just fun to watch.

Bear in mind that they do have a pecking order, and can cannibalize another if they sense any weakness. However, in general, they are really neat livestock.

I'm going to assume that you've already set up the chicken coop etc and are considering the breeds to get.

You can get a bit of information about breeds on urbanfarmonline.com but the following list if one I've complied from personal experience.

Aruacaunas

Aruacaunas are the breed to go with if you're looking for those unusual blue-green eggs.

The shade of blue/green varies by the individual chicken. They lay fairly regularly, usually every other day and produce large eggs.

They are nice looking and are quite friendly. I highly recommend this breed.

White Leghorn

Leghorns are commercial laying chickens. They lay big white eggs regularly. They have a fairly nice disposition but do tend to be lower on the pecking order. This is a good breed to go with for egg production but they do tend to lay less in winter. If you have long winters the Rhode Island Reds are better layers for the winter.

Rhode Island Red

Rhode Island Reds are all-round good chickens to have. Even though they are plain-looking, they do have a nice disposition and lay nice large brown eggs regularly, even in winter.

Fun Chickens To Have

If you're looking for chickens that are less for egg production and more for fun and entertainment, these are the breeds I recommend:

Chinese Silky

Small with hair-like feathers, these chickens are really cute. They are friendly but tend to be broody. They will of course, produce small eggs but production is quite infrequent. The kids love this chicken!

Frizzled Cochin

These are the funniest chickens EVER! Since they are straight-run chickens, we've only had 2 rooster frizzles so I can't speak for the disposition and egg production of the frizzled Cochin hens. Small with a big poof of 'curly' soft feathers, they have a weaselly personality but are oh-so-funny. I HIGHLY recommend one or two of these in your flock!

How to Order Chickens

If you're looking to get 25 or more chicks, you can order them from Murray McMurray Hatchery in spring. They will ship day-old chicks to your post office. If you're looking to get fewer chicks, Murdoch's sells chicks in spring in store. Getting the breeds you want there is a hit-or-miss though.
You can also call your local feed stores. Many of them will special order them for you in spring. In the Denver area, Golden Mill offers that service. They will hold the chicks for you for a few days.

Apple-Pork Quinoa Casserole with Green Beans

I have to admit that quinoa is a totally new ingredient for me. I've heard of it but I've never had it before. But, I got a free pack from Bob's Red Mill so I had to do something with it.
The Red Mill quinoa didn't need to be soaked before it was already pre-soaked and dried.
Here's what I put together with what was left in my freezer:

Ingredients

- 2 cups quinoa (soaked in water for 5 min then rinsed off to remove the bitter saponin) 
- 4 cups water or stock
- 2 lbs pork, cubed
- 2 small apples peeled, cored and diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- A pat of butter (optional)
- Chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt, pepper to taste

For the side (optional)

- Green beans (or any other vegetable) 
- Salt, garlic powder, onion powder, onion flakes to taste
- Oil/butter for stir-frying


Method


Preheat the oven to 400F. 


Put all the ingredients in an oven-safe pan or casserole dish. Mix well and put it in the pre-heated oven, covered for 25 min.

After 25 min, remove the cover, stir the mixture and bake uncovered for an additional 20 min.


In the meantime, heat oil/melt butter in a frying pan. Add the green beans and seasonings and fry until cooked.


Serve together. 


Verdict: The quinoa looked and tasted a little strange at first but the more we ate, the more we loved it. Even my fussy toddler, Maya loved it. Quinoa would probably go very well with liver, onions and peppers, as well as make a good nutritious filling for burritos.


Look  out for future blog posts for more recipes, or if any of my readers has suggestions or recommendations, please let me know!


Where to get the ingredients:

In the US, you should be able to get the quinoa at most grocery stores. I believe even Target and Walmart carry it. You can also get it on Amazon*

I got my organic frozen Bydee Farms green beans from my local Costco. It was about $1.99/lb which I thought was a decent price for organic beans (since the lowest price I've seen here is $0.88/lb at Sunflower Market for in-season non-organic beans)


* Disclaimer: I am an Amazon affiliate

Coupon FREE Rudi's Loaf of Bread

Sign up for a coupon for a FREE loaf of gluten-free bread here!

Get four FREE full-sized Bob's Red Mill products

Bob's Red Mill is offering coupons for 4 FREE full-sized products in their Train with Grain promo. I think this is better than their initial offer which I got which they sent 1 full-sized pack each of: quinoa, 7 grain-waffle and pancake mix, 10 grain cereal and honey granola (ekk. Since I didn't know where they sourced their honey from, I gave this to the chickens.)

Possible free Eukanuba dog food + money back!

For those of you who have dogs, you can sign up for the Eukanuba 28 day challenge on Facebook. Look for the "28 Day Challenge" button on the left menu. I have signed up but have not taken part in this yet. Looks like they are offering a 110% money back guarantee on this promotion.

Possible FREE bags of livestock feed

For those who are not in the know, Purina is running a 60 day "See the Difference" Challenge.
Signup ends 10/31/11. Basically, they will refund you the cost of some bags of your feed if you don't see any change in your livestock (valid for flock, rabbits, horses, goat and cattle feed).

If you do sign up, I do appreciate using my referral code which will help me get more coupons off for more feed:

20110421-66-06021929

 

They will also send you coupons for money off your feed purchase.

Please refer to the site for more details.

I took part in it and so no change so I got my refund fairly easily from Murdoch's, which is where I get my feed from. As you may well know, feed costs are going up so every bit helps!

If you're new to rearing chickens, please see my post on breeds to consider!

Amazon has a nice sale on magazines:

$5 magazine subscriptions

* Disclaimer. I am an amazon affiliate

Home-Made Vanilla Extract


This is really very easy to keep in your pantry. All you need are:

A clean glass jar
Vanilla beans,  slit length-wise (cut in half if your jar is small)
Vodka (any cheap vodka works)

Put the beans into the jar, cover with vodka and let it sit in a dark place for 8 weeks or until the vodka turns dark brown. You can top up your extract by just adding more vanilla beans and vodka.

Foraging for Food - CATTAIL (soup & tea)

This post is an update on my cattail foraging. I was determined to get something out of the cattail even though the rhizome itself was very fibrous but not unplateable. Even though the cattail stock smells sweet, I wanted to try making a soup out of it:

Cattail Soup

Boil cleaned and peeled cattail rhizomes in water
Remove from heat
Add miso paste



Serve with seaweed (optional) with noodles.

Verdict: While it was good, the miso masked any flavor of the cattail.

Next, as I mentioned, the cattail stock smelled 'sweet' so I decided to make a tea out of it.

Cattail Tea

Boil cleaned and peeled cattail rhizomes with water just covering the cattail
Allow the cattail to oxidize (this gives the rhizomes a red/pink tint that transfers into the tea)
Once oxidized, add more water and bring to a boil
Remove rhizomes
Add honey to taste (use only local or N.American honey. Please do NOT buy Chinese/Indian honey)

Verdict: The resulting tea is thick (from the starch) and has a nice flavor. The honey does not mask the cattail and compliments it nicely.

Foraging for Food - DANDELION (Tea)

While preparing a garlic patch from my aged horse manure pile which my neighbor kindly dumped on our property for us, I found a a healthy dandelion with a large taproot growing in it.

I have to admit that I have yet to acquire the bitter taste of dandelion leaves. I've never been able to pick enough flowers to make wine, nor seen roots big enough to cook or make into dandelion coffee.

This plant was too pretty to waste so I decided to turn it into tea. Since I'm no great expert at identifying plants, I'm going to stick to easily identifiable plants with no toxic look-alikes. Dandelion, with its jagged tooth-like leaves is one such plant.

The resulting tea is mild with a slight 'green' taste. Definitely something I would drink again. 
With a host of uses, healing properties, and vitamins, we plant to plant a big patch of dandelion next year. 

Don't kill it - EAT IT!

Amazon is having a sale on Earth's Best baby food jars at $6.06/12 pack (after subscribe and save):

 

Remember to cancel the subscription after you order. You don't have to wait until the order ships to cancel in order to get your discount. This will also extend your Amazon Prime subscription for your Amazon Mom account.

AVOID CHINESE/INDIAN HONEY

We're all familiar with the melamine-tainted milk, killer spinach and cantaloupes. But this one has not really hit our headlines...

why we ALL need to avoid Chinese (and "Indian") honey:

You may be wondering why I always put a warning not to purchase Chinese or Indian honey. Indian honey is usually simply Chinese honey, rerouted through India and repackaged as Indian honey.

Having bought (and finished) a jar of Indian honey while I was PREGNANT! I was shocked to find out that Chinese honey is often tainted with lead (from their collection containers). It also often contains antibiotics that can alter DNA in kids (!!)

So please stick to North American honey. Chinese honey has been known to also be labeled as being from: Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Bahamas, Russia and Poland.

NOTE: A large portion of this imported Chinese honey actually ends up in commercially prepared foods so we are not trying to avoid honey as an ingredient as well.

If possible, support your local honey producer or get some bees yourself! Most localities (in the US) allow people in residential areas to keep a hive or two. Check with your local municipality.  However, beekeeping is not easy. We tried having hives for 2 years and they all died. But we'll try try again down the road.

Foraging for Food - CATTAIL

We have mounds of Cattail growing outside our property. For years, we often see people collecting them. After a little bit of research, I finally decided to try some for myself.

Since it's fall, this is the time to harvest the rhizomes. In spring, you can harvest the shoots for an asparagus-like vegetable, and in summer, you can harvest the 'kitten-tails' for a substitute corn on the cob. The rhizomes supposedly work as a potato-substitute and can also be made into a flour. This is a gluten-free food so those with allergies can consider looking into cooking with cattail*.

*Disclaimer: I am not a health professional. If you have gluten allergies, please consult your health professional before embarking on any new diet.

Cattail rhizomes washed

Cattail rhizomes peeled

I found that the rhizomes could be cooked like potatoes so I boiled them in water.

Unfortunately, the effect was not quite the same. While they did taste amazingly like potatoes, they were also very fibrous. It was like a cross between a sugar cane (in terms of fiber) and a potato. If you have a suggestion on how to cook these, please let me know.

In the meantime, I made soup and tea out of the cattail stock.

Bonus Staples ink rewards (valid 10/2-11/19/11)

Staples is offering $10 per generic HP ink cartridge with any genuine HP ink purchase (limit 3 per account) This is in addition to the 10 (or 20 for premier) inks you can deposit. 

It looks like there's no minimum amount spent requirement so you can buy the cheapest HP 564 which is priced at around $10.

Staples will have 2 different skus for this promotion so be sure to let them know you're doing this special promo. How strict they adhere to the term 'generic HP ink' will vary by store.

Other Staples deals this week:

FREE after Staples easy rebate (these can be submitted online at Staples.
SKU 791642 - Avery Laser Label 6sheet
SKU 791638 - White LSR Labels 2X4 10UP 5 SH

Many Office Depot items FREE after Worklife Rewards this week:

Included in the offer include:
Swingline staplers
Energizer batteries
K-cups
3M address labels
and more!

Limit 2 rewards per item per person per day.

OK, this promotion basically gives you the amount you spend in eligible items back to you in store credit. So, it's sort of like a buy 1 get 1 free deal except the get 1 free comes in the form of store credit which is credited into your Worklife Rewards account.

While this is not as great as a free after mail-in rebate deal, it's not a bad way to accumulate money spent that so that you can take advantage of their ink reward program as well.

There are also online coupon codes you can use:

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