It has been very
smoky here in Boise, Idaho as the wildfires have continued to burn and the
smoke has settled into the valley. The
air quality is so poor that staying inside as much as possible is advisable. My asthma has definitely been affected by
this situation. About a week ago I had
planned, now that the temperatures are so much cooler and my broken toe has
healed, to start back to riding the bus, but that did not happen. We could sure use a torrential downpour to
clear the air and put those fires out.
On Friday of
last week the new Muscle Rack I had ordered arrived and I quickly got busy once I
got home from work and got it put together.
I had bought one of these last year for my LTFS and it has performed so
well that I did not hesitate to order another one. After all of the home canning I’ve been doing
this summer it was definitely needed so I wasn’t storing my jars in boxes on
the floor long term.
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| Plenty of space for everything now |
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| No more canned goods on the floor 😁 |
The arrival of
the new rack snowballed into a complete room refresh. I cleaned the entire room, moved some items,
decluttered some stuff and then once the rack was assembled I did a complete
reorganization of pretty much everything.
Thankfully, I had little bunny foo foo there to give me a hand to help
me with the process and make sure I did a good job. She really seemed to enjoy herself hopping
around and inspecting everything I did.
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| Bunny approved! |
Once I completed
this big project I was able to run the little wire barrier and get it placed
just the way Miss Daisy likes it. The
barrier keeps her away from anything she might be tempted to chew on and
separates her from my LTFS area. She
gets the other side of the room as her domain so she has loads of space to run
around in. She is funny in that although
she doesn’t like to be in a cage at all she does like me to place the barrier
so she has a bit of a surround where she likes to lay in her favorite spot and
often sleeps. I made sure she still had
her favorite spot just as she likes once all was said and done. As you can see
she didn’t hesitate to take up residence right away. She is such a cutie.
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| Italian style diced tomatoes for the shelf |
On Saturday I
woke up to overcast and smoky skies as well as a pile of ripe tomatoes on my
kitchen counter so I got busy chopping them up and packing them into jars. I was able to can six pints of diced tomatoes
to add to the shelves for future recipes.
I am hoping to can a few more jars of diced tomatoes as well as some
chile verde sauce before the end of summer.
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| Homemade granola |
With the lower
than usual temperatures that day I went ahead while my tomatoes were processing
and turned on the oven to make a double batch of homemade granola. I filled up a half gallon as well as a quart
size mason jar so now I will have plenty to enjoy with my latest batch of homemade yogurt. I can also use it
with fruit or berries and the yogurt to make parfaits.
I stayed at The Excaliber
Vegas had a heat advisory and it was HOT!
These guys were pretty hot too 😆
Monday was Labor
Day here in the U.S. and it also happened to be my birthday. The big 6-0.
Back in May I went ahead and booked myself a birthday trip to Las Vegas
including a ticket to see the Tournament Of Kings show which I’ve wanted to go
to for ages. It was GREAT and I had a
blast! I spent three days doing whatever
the heck I felt like doing and just enjoying my own company. I had quite a few friends offer to go with me,
but I wanted to go it alone this time and just experience a vacation by
myself. I strongly recommend it!
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| I had to put most of the leftovers into the freezer This thing is huge! |
It was fun to go
and it was nice to get home, especially when I saw all the birthday wishes
waiting for me. And a Costco cheesecake! It doesn’t get much better than that! I spent all of Thursday resting my dogs after
putting in A LOT of steps in Las Vegas.
My legs were sore and my feet were killing me! It was so worth it and I’m already planning my
next adventure. With so many options
though it is hard to decide what’s next.
Any suggestions?
Ready made granola is so expensive and yet so easy & inexpensive to make. I make it all the time for my daughters. They're married yet they ask me to make it for them often! They like mom's! Lol.
ReplyDeleteIt always amazes me how much granola costs in those foodie/gift shops I occassionally browse. (Not that granola in the grocery store is all that cheaper compared to homemade.) But an 8 oz bag might be $8 -10! They often have interesting or unusual flavor combinations I think to justify the price but that's easy to do that at home, too.
I buy a lot of my ingredients in bulk so my cost per batch is low. Plus the ingredients are ones I also use in other recipes so it's not just an investment of ingredients for granola.
It's funny how making things like granola, spice mixes, jams etc actually makes my life much "richer" than if I just bought it ready made without regard to cost.
Anything I can make myself rather than buy makes me feel the same way Margaret. I also find I enjoy it so much more because it tastes better and I know it is healthier. I think it is wonderful that you make granola for your daughters. They know you add that extra ingredient you can't get at the store - Love.
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