We've had a few morning visitors the past two days. Black-Jack and his wife have been nibbling on our scrub maple trees for breakfast. Of course, this sends my dog in a tail-spinning tizzy as she observes them from our glass windowed door in the dining room. Tomorrow I'll have to venture out and see how our little fruit trees are holding up .. and whether or not the 'moose' cages I put up around them last spring (and nearly ruined my shoulder over) are working.
In a week it will be time to do MAJOR grocery shopping. We are scraping the bottom of some barrels and I've got just enough $ to buy some milk and eggs without dipping into next months budget. My family seems to be getting on board .. the financial diet plan .. and are not complaining too much. We will be stocking up on wheat and a sundry variety of pantry staples. I hate running out of stuff .. but it's good to stretch our meal planning and be creative with what's available. Last week's bread was turned into crunchy croutons and used in a quiche type egg casserole that included farm fresh sausage, Swiss chard (pulled from the freezer from last autumn), etc. There's not much waste in our kitchen any longer .. leftovers are often packed in lunch boxes quickly in the mornings .. or added to supplement the dog's diet.
I've been working on perfecting making the water kefir. So far I've made three batches and use it as a base with a few tablespoons of fresh juice added to a six ounce glass. It's a good way to 'stretch' your juice supply as well as get the health benefits of the kefir. I promise to post pictures and instructions soon.
