Homemade chicken noodle soup

This one's for you Nikki!

Broth:
You can buy chicken broth in a carton or cans at the store or you can make your own. I usually use a combination of the two and add a spoonful of chicken base as well for extra flavor. You can find both the broth and the base near the soup section of the store.

To make your own broth:

After we have a roasted chicken for dinner, I put all the leftovers (meat, bones, skin everything) in a big pot on the stove and sometimes add onion, carrots, and celery for extra flavor if I had them on hand. Cover and let it simmer for a few hours. Then I put a colander over a large bowl and put everything through. The veggies, meat and bones stay in the colander and the broth goes in the bowl. I then take whatever chicken meat is left off the bones and cut it up for the soup. Sometimes there's a lot of fat in the broth. If you put it in the fridge over night the fat will harden on top and you can spoon it off. The broth usually get gelled, so just heat it back up a bit.

Homemade noodles:
I got this recipe from HeavenlyHomemakers.com.

2 1/3 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
1/3 C water
1 tsp oil

Mix flour and salt together. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and add the water and oil. Pour over flour and stir and knead until combined. (I put all my ingredients in the bread maker and le tit do the kneading and mixing for me while I do something else. I just turn it off after about 10 minutes.)

Wash, dry and flour your countertop. Roll out the dough and then cut with your pizza cutter into this strips. While I'm doing that I have pot of water on to boil. Place the strips into boiling water and cook until nearly done.

Heat up your broth. Add any chicken, chicken base or other seasonings (I like pepper or garlic) or cooked veggies you want and then add your noodles. Heat and simmer until dinner time.

We had this last night and it was yummy!

Nature's Miracle

Well, last time I posted I mentioned locating the puppy pee. If anyone has a puppy who pees on the carpet once in awhile, you really need to get a flourescent black light. I got mine for $10 at Meijer in the lighting section. When it's dark out, you turn off the regular lights and go around with the black light shining it on the carpet. Everywhere there is organic matter will glow! That includes dust mites, so don't think little puppy peed along all your walls-you need to vacuum along them better! I poured Nature's Miracle on all the glowing spots. For almost a week I could still smell the urine every once in awhile. Now, the smell appears to be gone for the most part. Apparently the product stays in the carpet and over time, neutralizes the urine or something like that. I am going to purchase another bottle, because I used the whole first bottle and our covered ottoman still smells if you get your nose down there. That and I'm sure we'll have more accidents.

Actually he's quite housetrained, but pees when he gets excited or nervous still.

I was going to post about the homemake noodles I made for soup, but I'm really too tired!

Back to school

Well, we all survived the first week of school! The boys did great. My classes were really good, too!

I am really going to try to pack lunches for all 3 of us most every day this school year. Last year things were hectic with building and our kids ended up eating school lunch almost every day. The oldest chose pizza every single day of the year! It also was pretty expensive for 2 kids--we were paying a little over $20/week for unhealthy lunches! When they did pack a lunch it wasn't very healthy--usually a Lunchable. So far we've had 4 days of school and I managed to have lunches for all 3 of us every day. One day the boys took leftover cheeseburgers from the previous evening's dinner. I've been buying a lot of non-fat yogurt for them and grapes and pretzels. I've got a list of ideas to draw from.

I also have planned all my dinners in advance and have them saved on a calendar so I'll also know what's for dinner and can buy my groceries accordingly! :) Yay for me!

Now that's is dark outside, I must get my blacklight and locate the source of the puppy pee smell in my living room. I bought some Nature's Miracle and hope that it works!

Feeling like fall

Two days ago the season appeared to change overnight. It had been in the 90's for days, a storm blew in and now it's in the 50's and 60's and windy. This is my kind of weather. The mosquitos are even gone!

Josh bought a pick-up a few weeks back to use to snowplow the drive this winter (300 feet--that push snowblower just isn't going to do it). He knew a guy who knows a guy who's a mechanic on the side and gave him a good deal on a bunch of repairs, but it took 2 weeks. He picked it up this morning and then went to look at a snowplow he found for sale on Craigslist. Turned out the plow-selling guy works for a guy whose wife Josh works with. He decided to leave his truck with that guy who is going to weld on a frame for him. So, I had to go pick him up. We live out in the country, but the plow-selling guy was 45 more minutes in the country. It was a beautiful drive. We passed a sign for an apple orchard and on the way back, Josh stopped for me! Turns out it was on the property of an Amish family. When we pulled in the drive, there was one little girl out tending the goats. As I approached the house, another adorable girl came bouncing out the door, eager to sell me her apples. I got a half-bushel of Courtlands for only $5!

Later this afternoon, Josh, Big Dog and I went into the woods to start getting some firewood. Josh cut up a downed tree and we helped carry it out of the woods to the trailer (well, he did most of it, it was heavy and a long way to carry). Then while Josh split the wood, the boys and I finished clearing the area around the rope swing. Now they can swing high without hitting the bushes!

Now I have an apple crisp in the oven for dessert! I will make applesauce later this weekend and maybe try my hand at a pie--we'll see!

More harvest!

Today I harvested 24 ears of corn from the garden, blanched, cut and froze them. That seemed like a lot of corn for the freezer when I picked it, but once it was processed, it's not that much. I suppose it's about 8-10 meals' worth for our family of 4. I still feel like I've accomplished something though! I am also harvesting tomatoes and await the day I have enough to start making and canning salsa-it shouldn't be too much longer! I have 4 orange pumpkins in the garden and a lot of watermelon and acorn squash that aren't ripe yet.

This weekend I made some yeast dinner rolls and pancakes for the freezer. I am planning on making another roll recipe this afternoon. I also need to paint some baseboard trim and I want to clear the area under the boys' rope swing they haven't used all summer.

End of summer activities

With only 2 weeks left of my summer vacation, I have a lot to cram in! Tonight we're hosting a card party, tomorrow family visitors, Monday friends visiting, Tues. dr appointment and a session on raising chickens, Wednesday to my parents' house to drop off my boys for the week and a visit to an old friend I haven't seen in 21 years!

Once I get back home on Thursday (sans boys) I hope to make some meals ahead for the freezer: lasagna, enchiladas, cookie dough, garlic bread, taco meat, cooked ground beef, chicken noodle soup . . . I also hope to have ripe tomatoes some day so I can make and can some salsa. I need to get my menus planned. Josh and I used to get paid on opposite Fridays, now it will be the same Friday, so we'll only be paid every other week. This is going to take some adjustment in the way I shop and plan.

I have some more rooms that need to be painted in the basement and more organizing to do down there as well. I was planning to tile the kitchen backsplash this summer, but honestly, "it ain't gonna happen!"

I also have a few books I'd like to read and relax for a little bit!

Laundry soap

I finally decided to make some laundry soap. I've had the recipe for a couple of years now, Josh was always the one who did the laundry and I didn't know if he'd use it or not. Since I'm not working outside the home during the summer and Josh has been busy finishing the basement, I said I'd take over laundry duties for the summer. This is a good time for me to test the laundry soap. My mom said she used it for about 4 months last year and eventually clothes started to look dingy. I'll test for myself I guess.

I know everyone and their neighbor has blogged about their use of homemade laundry soap, so I won't bore you with all the details. However, here is the recipe I used:

1/3 bar FelsNaptha soap
1/2 C washing soda
1/2 C borax

Grate the soap and put in a saucepan with 6 cups of hot water. Heat and stir until soap melts. Add borax and washing soda and stir until dissolved. Pour mixture into a bucket and add 4 cups of water and stir well. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and keep stirring. Let soap sit for 24 hours to thicken a little. Use 1/2 C per load. There are little to no suds in the washing machine.