Making Your Own Stencils ... and update on the rocket stove

The Rocket Stove I talked about earlier works great.  Looks horrible here ... all rusty and junky.  Not that I am fastidious but I just am trying to get rid of the junky look of our little homestead.  you know how it is...when Mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy.  So the DH went to work and made a rocket stove I can be truly proud of.  Using some stencils our son had made by hand to customize a car about 5 years ago, the DH made a great improvement in the looks ... below is the BEFORE picture.... yuck!

Before 

After

Trial run for a Pizza Oven .. it worked but the bottom was scorched

With the door closed

A closer look at the Pizza Oven set up - the top is made of hardipanel

Now we are back to trying to get the Pizza Oven perfected.  The pizza baked okay but the bottom was scorched because of being right over the flames.  Practice makes perfect and I am glad my family really does love pizza!

Now that you've seen the stove, here is a quick (sorry no pictures) tutorial on making stencils the free way.

1. Use old cereal boxes for your cardboard

2. Draw out or trace onto the inner cardboard what you'd like to make a stencil of.  In our case it was flames.  You can download lots of clipart for things like this.  Google Images is the place to go.

3. Using a sharp knife, craft knife, or scissors cut out the stencil.  If there will be overlaying parts, cut them out on a separate piece of cardboard.

4. Using painter's tape, tape the stencil down to the item you will be painting.  If you are using spray paint - go very lightly so you won't get runs.

5. Remove stencil to the next place you want to paint and go back to step 4.

The next posting will be about making plastic items for mobiles or sun-catchers.

A Dessert to Gain Weight For...

We've all heard it before ... "it was to die for" ... well, this recipe isn't so great I'd give up my life for it BUT ... I would consider gaining a pound or two.  If that isn't a testimonial to how delicious it is, I don't know what is.
My daughter, Jennifer, is the baker in our family.  If a dessert is needed she is the go-to gal for getting something super scrumptious to put into your mouth.  She is also back in school working on a Business Administration Degree and part of that includes making presentations to a group of people.  In the video below she is demonstrating how to make TIRAMISU BITES ... a recipe she developed on her own originally for her nieces to go in dessert crepes and now shows up in tart shells.  Full recipe and instruction are printed below the video.

Disclaimer: neither the author of this blog nor her daughter take responsibility for any weight the reader/watcher may gain as a result of information obtained herein.

To make Tiramisu Bites you will need:

• 30 phyllo dough tart shells
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/8 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup Jif Mochacappacino spread
• Chocolate Syrup or Shaved Chocolate
• Additional Whipped Cream (optional)

1. Bake the tart shells according to package directions.
2. In a stand mixer or using a hand held electric mixer, whip the heavy cream and 1/8 cup of powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.  Scrape out into a separate bowl.
3. In the stand mixer bowl or another bowl whip the room temperature cream cheese until fluffy - about 1 minute.
4. Add the 1/2 cup powdered sugar and continue to whip for about 20 seconds.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Add the vanilla continue whipping for another 10 seconds.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl making sure all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.  
6. Add the whipped cream-powdered sugar mixture and continue whipping. Additional whipping just makes the mixture fluffier.
7. Here is where you can get creative.  This recipe calls for adding the Mochacappacino Spread at this point.  However, you can add Nutella.  Powdered Coffee.  Lemon or Orange Extract.  Coconut Extract and Crushed Pineapple (well drained), Peanut Butter, Almond Butter, Strawberry Jam ... YOU are the flavor creator ... so CREATE your own unique flavor.
8. Add your Flavoring of choice and continue whipping for 1 minute. 
9. Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon place a scoop of the filling mixture into a tart shell continuing until all the shells are filled or the supply of filling is exhausted.
10. Drizzle the chocolate lightly over the top of the 'bites'.
11. Top with additional whipped cream if desired.

Now if you insist on doing extra un-essential work ... you may put the filling in a piping bag and have your bites come out looking like these below.  Why do extra work?  These things are going to disappear so fast you'll wonder what happened.

Waste Not, Want Not

Happy Superbowl Sunday ya'll,
I tend to be the type of person that over-estimates things.  Especially when it comes to food preparation.  I might think the family will be extra hungry or that left-overs will make their way into a week-day lunch.  Often times that is the case and just as often it isn't.  In the recent run of prosperity our country has enjoyed throwing food that is no longer palatable or maybe even growing some sort of mold hasn't seemed so bad.  Now days, the outlook on our prosperity horizon isn't too bright.  Many people around the world have begun doing things to eek a little more out of their food budget.  Growing veggies and fruits on their own is one way.  Preserving foods by freezing or canning is another way.
Frequently when the word "canning" is mentioned, a vision pops up of long hours in the kitchen with tons of corn, green beans, strawberries, or any of a huge variety of food.  Hey, if you have tons of it and are able to preserve it - hooray for you and your family.  Less money going to the grocery store. But what about when you don't have tons?  What to do then?

Last week, I cooked up 3 cups of dry beans for making re-fried beans.  For the four of us in our house that actually will eat beans that was still way too much.  By the end of the week, I still had over a quart of beans in the fridge.  So I got out my 9 quart pasta pot, some canning jars and lids, the canning tongs, funnel and lid magnet.  Then I washed the jars, and sterilized them in the water I had boiling in the 9 quart pot (about half full).  I had put the beans in another pot to get them hot and added a little water to thin them down.  When the jars were ready and other utensils had been sterilized, I filled the jars, put the lids on and put them into the 9 quart pot.  Finally I had 3 pints of beans and 2 pints of home-made enchilada sauce in the jars and ready ... into the pot they all went... on went the pot lid and the timer was set for 15 minutes.  Ah ha!  No waste of good ingredients.  We LOVE Mexican food and these will be used before summer gets here.  All told, it took me about an hour to get this job done - and little by little my shelves are being filled with food my family likes to eat.  Should there be food shortages in the future, my family will have plenty of appetite pleasing food and all it takes is a little time and effort on my part.  Canning is another thing that isn't rocket science and isn't hard.  A person just has to have a desire and the courage to do it that first time.

The finished products ... enough saved leftovers to augment at least 3 future meals... EZ

Another thing I do with much smaller amounts of left-over veggies is pop them into the freezer.  They make great additions to hot soup on cold winter nights.  And mashed potatoes can be used as a thickening agent in cream of ???? soups.  Pop that stuff in your freezer not the trash or compost. 

As Ben Franklin said, "a penny saved is a penny earned" ...

Rocket Stoves are NOT Rocket Science

In our efforts to use God's gifts more fully and creating a God & Self-Sufficient lifestyle, Rocket Stoves have come to our attention.  The DH, Roy, loves UP-cycling just about anything he can so the idea of creating a new and improved rocket stove provided the challenge he craves.  Using tips he picked up from reading articles on-line and observing rocket stoves in action at the annual Homestead Heritage Fair in Waco, he began to design his own version using an old smoker that had been hanging around our back yard for several years.  We found some bricks at the local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store for 10 cents each; gathered a few old fire bricks and some broken pieces of ceramic tiles we had from other projects.  Now he was ready to build.  He put one grating in the bottom of the smoker to build the stove on so the stove door would line up with the smoker door.  Here are some pictures of the finished product in action - I was out shopping while he was building and he didn't think to take pictures until it was built.

The bottom plate for the "oven" is added using a brick on each side and one on the back to lift the plate over the fire ... temperature is over 550 degrees

The thermometer is pegged beyond 550 degrees - estimated the temp was over 700 degrees inside the oven

Larger sticks slow down the rate of burn and help reduce the temperature

Notice there are only 2 sticks being used here

The brick at the bottom was the center of a brick he had cut to make the chimney he used it to reduce the airflow and control the temperature

Things to note ... this stove produces almost NO SMOKE and the outside of the smoker while metal does not get hot so it is safe for children and pets to be around without fear of them getting burned.

For Super Bowl Sunday, tomorrow, we are having home-made pizza.  I hope to have mine cooked on a "wood fire".  Look for the report in tomorrow's post.

Uses for Honey & Cinnamon

Recently the big news has been honey and cinnamon as a remedy for what ails you.  I have fought diabetes for over 30 years and not had a lot of success in controlling my blood glucose levels without a lot of added oral medication in addition to insulin.  I am what is called an Insulin Dependent Diabetic.  Even a gastric bypass didn't help with the diabetes.  All of those oral meds contain things with names I cannot even pronounce and worse yet are not natural.  I want to use God's gifts and go as natural as I can in taking care of myself.

Here comes HONEY ... God's perfect food ... it does not spoil and has so many benefits both internally and externally.  Add to that another of God's gifts ... Cinnamon.   Here comes the big news concerning MY diabetes ... cinnamon and honey have helped me to have normal morning blood sugars for over a week now.  I have not really changed my diet at all.  I've put about a tablespoon of honey and a teaspoon of cinnamon over some granola and home-made yogurt for breakfast ... that is the difference.  I will let you know how it goes later in the spring after my 3 month blood glucose test results come in.

This combo of Honey and Cinnamon are good for a LOT of things that I have not explored but here is a list of a few of them... let me know how it works for you.  I'm hopeful that the DH's gas problems will be helped.  LOL!  I might even start losing that extra 40 pounds that just won't go away.

Honey is an A-to-Z healing phenomenon. Honey can help heal everything from arthritis to weight gain, and dozens of health issues in between. Here’s a list of ailments that honey can help cure, and how to use its healing qualities. 

Arthritis 

Honey can help arthritis, a painful and often debilitating inflammation of the joints, in two ways:

• Mix one part honey with two parts warm water to form a paste, then add a teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Massage onto joints to relieve pain in minutes.

• Every morning and night, drink a cup of hot water with two spoonfuls of honey and one spoonful of cinnamon powder. Some people swear by this as a surefire pain reliever.

Bad Breath

To keep breath fresh naturally, gargle with a homemade mouthwash of one teaspoon each of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water. 

Bladder Infections

If it hurts when you urinate, your bladder may be infected. Try two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water. This will attack the germs in the bladder and help heal the infection. 

Cancer

Some claim that advanced, aggressive cancer of the stomach and bones can be helped by a mixture of one tablespoon of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder taken three times a day for three months. 

(High) Cholesterol

This condition is dangerous and difficult to treat, but drinking a cup of two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of cinnamon powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, three times a day, may help. 

Colds

There’s no cure for the common cold, but honey can help heal. To treat clogged sinuses and relieve cold symptoms, take one tablespoon lukewarm honey mixed with one-quarter teaspoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. Steep tea with honey and breathe in the honey-infused steam. Spread honey on your chest to soothe congestion. And to cure a nagging cough, take one teaspoon of honey mixed with one teaspoon of brandy or cognac. 

Hair Loss

To prevent your hair from falling out, massage your scalp and hair with a paste of warm olive oil, one tablespoon of honey, and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Leave on for 15 minutes, then shampoo lightly and rinse. 

Indigestion

A common and often chronic problem, indigestion and acid buildup can be soothed by taking two tablespoons of honey sprinkled with cinnamon powder before eating. 

Infertility

Some men swear that two tablespoons of honey before bed cures impotence. And women who have difficulty conceiving often rub a pinch of cinnamon powder in half a teaspoon of honey onto their gums at frequent intervals throughout the day. 

Skin Issues

Equal parts of honey and cinnamon powder can help cure eczema, ringworm, and all types of skin infections. Plus, honey baths keep skin smooth and moist. 

Acne

Can’t beat the blemishes? Apply a paste of three tablespoons honey and 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder to the aggravated area before bed. Wash off in the morning. 

Toothache

To stop a toothache in its tracks, apply a paste of one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey three times daily to the affected tooth. 

Upset Stomach, Gas, and Bloating

Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and stomach ulcers, and purges excess gas from your system. 

Weight Loss

To expedite your weight loss program, drink a glass of honey and cinnamon powder in hot water in the morning a half hour before eating and at night before bed. If taken regularly, this drink should help you lose weight, as it will prevent fat accumulating in the body. 

According to some, honey helps heal everything that ails you from head to toe!

Last Updated: Monday, August 15, 2011

This material is written by members and has not been medically reviewed. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The use of this information is solely at your own risk

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