Eternal Hippies A Year Homemade and Beyond

Yesterday, Joe and I took my youngest son, Patrick and his girlfriend strawberry picking at Indigo Farms. Indigo Farms is a family farm that straddles the North Carolina and South Carolina border. We didn't get there until afternoon, so the field was kind of picked over. But we still came home with a lot of strawberries. After settling up with Patrick (we paid them with strawberries) we still had two big bowls full. Joe capped and cut up one bowl and we froze them. We will most likely use the frozen strawberries for smoothies. The other bowl we put in the fridge. I had made some pound cakes in small loaf pans awhile back and froze them. Joe wants to pull out one of the cakes and make whipped cream to add to the fresh strawberries, for our dessert this evening. I will also be dehydrating some, making preserves and baking with some. We will be going back for more strawberries this weekend. Their market should be open as well. I need to get cucumbers...

Last evening I made creamy potato soup with breakfast sausage. It came together nicely and we had plenty left over for this evening. We served it with toasted sourdough bread. It’s odd, sourdough always tastes and smells to me like PlayDough. Yes, I have tasted PlayDough. In a deep cast iron pan I sautéed crumbled uncured organic breakfast sausage. Then I added 2 tablespoons Irish butter to melt. I removed most of the sausage once it was cooked and added about a cup organic onion to the pot.   I cooked until tender, then added 4 organic potatoes that I peeled and cut up into small pieces (about ½ inch cubes). I stirred them for a few minutes then added 1 cup of homemade chicken stock, a cup filtered water, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder and a bay leaf.  I let them simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and keeping an eye on the liquid amount. I had to add about ½ cup water to keep the soup…soupy.   When the pota...

So for March, I set to continue to work on these goals and I am adding some new one below this list. -Drink at least a gallon of filtered water a day – -Get at least 6 hours of sleep each night – -Make own shampoo-   -Walking 15 minutes at least twice a week . – -Make own sweets/stop buying store-made desserts -   -Exploring different grains, sweeteners, oils, etc . – -Document meal plans for each week. -Edit and post video -Continue to organize kitchen  -Continue to weighing myself once a week -Of course no eating out - New March goals: -Plan our vegetable gardening for this year- Depending on a few variables, we do all container gardening, or we may start our first raised bed garden..or both! -Figure out how to take Mom to “to lunch” without going to a restaurant- With the weather getting warmer, I'm thinking about taking her on a picnic. -Start lifting weights- I have  5 pound weights that will help strengthen me. I f...

Lisa Bronner, Dr. Bronner's granddaughter, has a wonderful and insightful website and I highly recommend it. I subscribe to Dr. Bronner's emails and it always has useful information and special promotions. But that's not what I want to talk about. I posted a comment of her site in regards to the laundry detergent recipe I use.  http://www.lisabronner.com/sal-suds-in-the-laundry/ Laundry Detergent. I make my own. the recipe is: 1 bar of Dr. Bronner's tea tree soap 1 cup Borax 1 cup washing soda I finely grate the bar of soap ( don't recommend using any other soap than castile soap), then add Borax and washing soda. I mix it well then store in an airtight container. When using, I put 2-4 tablespoons of the detergent in the washing machine, then start adding water and then the clothes. Tip: I used to keep the open containers of Borax and washing soda in the laundry room. But I got tired of having to take a hammer to break them up when I needed to use the...

Soaking Flour As one of my goals for January, I have been reading the book, “Nourishing Traditions,” by Sally Fallon Morrell . Soaking, fermenting, sprouting were all so foreign to me until I started this journey to healthy, homemade living. Sally writes about soaking flours to reduce anti-nutrients such as phytic acid. This improves the digestibility and absorption of minerals considerably. Helpful link: https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/video-thursday-how-to-soak-flour-for/ So over the weekend I decided to make Sally Fallon Morrell’s recipe on page 484 of Nourishing Traditions, Buttermilk Biscuits. The recipe calls for 3 ½ cups of freshly ground spelt flour. As of this date, I don’t have a grinder for grains. I do have a coffee grinder that I can use for softer grinds like sprouted/dehydrated buckwheat and oat groats. But when I tried to grind spouted/dehydrated wheat berries, the little coffee grinder just wasn’t up to the task. A grain grinder is on my wish list. ...

I really wanted to get this blog started on January 1st, but alas, it was not to be. No worries, it has begun. Hello! I am Rowena and my husband/mate Joe, are aka, Eternal Hippies. When I say , "I" I mean what I am thinking/doing and when I say, "We" I am referring to Joe and myself. As I said, we are eternal hippies who long to break free and waltz to our own tune. 4 1/2 years ago we started exploring what it means to live an organic life; getting rid of GMOs, harsh chemicals and toxic habits. For about 2 years things were going well, but stress of life, laziness and general frustration at the lack to forward movement towards our goals got the better of us and we found ourselves back in many of the habits for which we had worked so hard to be rid of. Back in August of 2013 I started "juicing" after watching the video, "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead," by Joe Cross. I juice fasted for 45 days and lost 70 pounds. After the first week, I felt great ...