squash pickles

I had to figure out what to do with some of my squash and since our cucumber bombed this year I decided to make pickles. Please don't tell Jeffrey that they aren't cucumbers. I am hoping that he won't notice. I followed the recipe trail from the Dervaaes blog to Emeril.

Pickled Squash
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2001
Prep Time:
20 min
Inactive Prep Time:
0 min
Cook Time:
40 min
Level:
Intermediate
Serves:
Approximately 4 pints of pickles

Ingredients
10 cups sliced squash,zucchini or yellow summer squash (I cut them as spears)
2 cups sliced onions
Kosher salt, for sprinkling vegetables
2 cups white vinegar
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons pickling spice
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, optional

Directions
In a large pot or bowl, layer sliced squash and sliced onions, and sprinkle each layer generously with kosher salt and let sit for 1 hour. Drain well.
In a large non-reactive pot, combine vinegar, sugar, pickling spice, and crushed red pepper and bring to a boil. Add squash and onions and return to a boil.
Divide vegetables between sterilized jars and ladle enough pickling liquid over vegetables to come within 1/2?inch from top of jar. Wipe rims of jars clean, cover with lids and screw tops in place. Process jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Remove jars from water bath and cool. Jars should seal as they cool. Any jars that do not seal should be refrigerated and consumed within 2 weeks.

3 day weekend

Yippee a long weekend. I can relax and finish my school work, right. Nope not me I have to find things to do that of course could have waited.

On Saturday after working all day at market I came home and decided to rip out the carpet in the living room/playroom. This really did need to be done it smells really bad. My littliest daycare baby spits up on an hourly basis and it just smelt. Well mom and I get in there and rip out the carpet. step one done. Now step 2 replace floor. Hahaha we have noithing to replace it with. I just swept it really well and we are going to put the blue mats down until I can get the floor done.

On Sunday I run into Rockford. Jordan need supplements and some gluten free food. I also end up getting 4 doz sweet corn and several pounds of concord grapes so I guess Monday will be a canning day.

What an opportunity!

My neighbors at market from K-Lee bar farm raise dairy goats and with fall approaching they were going to need to butcher some goats or have to buy hay. They offered to let me help. Now would be the time to stop reading if you get squeamish.
http://kleebar.wordpress.com/

I woke up Sunday both a little excited and a little nervous about butchering day. I was really going for the experience but came home with a goat that I butchered. I almost feel guilty but what a great way to get meat that I know has no chemicals added and fed and treated humanely.

When I arrived Lisa already had one skinned and hanging there I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't gross me out. My theory is after 7 years of extremelly gross bathroom issues with my son I can do anything now.

We started our goats I didn't enjoyed the amount of innards at first but by the end I wanted to dissect them. The skinning took me a good 40 minutes I can't believe how fast others can do this. I learned a lot about anatomy and very fascinated, next time if I get invited again I am bringing an anatomy book so I can name the parts.

I have to say this is a skill I am happy to announce that I enjoyed learning. Yesterday I worked with the kidneys to see what I could do. This is where the chef in me came out. I marinated them in lemon juice for a while to pull out any impurities and soften. Next I tried them 3 ways. I tried them raw and I actually enjoyed them, I tried them in a rice dish but I was out of rice so I used quinoa again not bad, and then I tried one cut in half and I skewered it and bbq it. The bbq version was my favorite. They are very rich and tasty.

Today I am playing with the heart. I am also soaking in lemon juice then I am going to cut in half and flour the slices so that I can quick saute and then I am going to let them simmer for a good hour with carrots and onions and celery all from my garden.

The liver is next on my list. I am eating some for dinner tonight and then I am going to freeze the rest so that I can grate some into Jordans muffins so he can get some extra iron and minerals.

Watch Jeffrey dive!

He was a little afraid to do this but I am pretty impressed with his skills.

Road trip, Disney, and a cruise!!!!!!!!!!

check out how small the boys are they fit in buzz's shoes



What a week! I am pleasantly exhausted. Grandma and I drove 1500 miles with 2 boys and survived. I am not sure how our parents survived road trips when I was young we must have played the grocery game a million times. Traveling with children today is easy. All I needed to pack was 2 gameboys, a dvd player, and some favorite toys and they pretty much ignored us the entire time. We just had to remember to throw a few food scraps at them every 2 hours or there would be hell to pay.

Disney is an awesome experience for someone on the gfcf diet. I ordered a hot dog no bun and the girl asked me if it was because of food allergies. Before I could blink she had called a manager and we had a new hot dog with a gf bun. Jordan was thrilled to be like everyone else. The next day we ordered a gf pizza but it was Amy's so real cheese I decided to let it go. They do carry tofutti ice cream though. The guest assistance pass is unbelievable and my brother also appreciated not having to wait in line with his barely 3 year old.

We went to the beach in between disney and our cruise and it was a great relaxing afternoon. Of course we had done the pool in the morning so maybe sun was becoming an issue.
a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdJ-pTuLCcoX_52x0BHGmS6Uf1s6wbBF02vo5SqCTP-0GyoeQt9cDzSFoLQLMng46SwdZ3EOnBnRts8sGkKpr3T_lg40bjHwARLn_aVJhqV1AGYcRNjmgoFiAjqru0v5uLkm-geH_EPA/s1600-h/cruise+007.JPG">

The cruise was unbelievably great. They went out of their way to take care of my son. They made him gf pizza every night. They didn't have the cf ability so I decided to just let it go the gluten free was what was the most important. I did notice more hand flapping and parifial eye movement but that could be because we were away from home for 10 days. This is the longest that Jordan has been away from home without making himself physically ill.






Jeffrey and I went snorkeling in Cozumel and Jordan went with aunt Tami, Kinsey, and grandma to touch dolphins.
Both boys and all the adults had wonderful experiences.

Tom and Jerry Saga

J is awesome at the computer. When he is at grandma's (which is a lot) he surfs the web. Tom and Jerry are his obsession at the moment. He has found a Tom and Jerry game that he would like to buy for the gameboy. He counted his money and figured not quite enough. Well... two weeks ago we had a garage sale and when he counted the money he made he knew exactly what to buy. I helped him go online to purchase a game from a seller on Amazon. He immediately went outside to wait for the mailman, remember it is only Saturday. We finally got him to come in by informing it would be here by next Saturday. I gave the games a whole week just in case there were any problems.

He drove me nuts all week. He practically attacked the mail lady every day. Around Thursday he was starting to get sad and lathargic. I emailed the seller to see when it was mailed so I could have a definate date, they were very nice, and we figured it would be here by Sat. On Sat I come home from work and there is a package in the mailbox I recognize the sellers name so I don't open it, big mistake. J opens the package takes one look at it and says "That is dumb" The game we got was for playstation2 it was tales of the crypt. Not really all that appropriate for a 7 year old. I emailed the seller immediately and they responded right away with a sorry please return and we will send again.

Well it is Saturday again and I am getting nervous. The boys are going on a 2 day car trip in 4 days and the game really needs to get here. I get home from work and there is another package in my box. This time I open it just in case. Tom and Jerry have arrived and the seller threw in a bonus game so now we have 2. I din't want to tell J yet because he needed to do a little work first. Of course the minute he saw me he started asking for the T&J game over and over and over and over and over again. I give! I tell him the games are here but he can't have them until we pack his suitcase. Well that didn't work, he starts hyperventalating and really stressed so I give again and he opens the package. We now have one happy little boy who really wants to get his work done so he can play.

Finally I say he can play and he was glued to his game until bedtime. I have to say other than the length of time(which really wasn't that long but J was driving me nuts) this seller was awesome! They responded to my emails, they resent the game with an extra, and they refunded my money (which they didn't need to do)
All that really matters is that Jordan is happy and he is!

You gotta luv my mom!!

I know the spelling is bad but the statement is very true. My mom did a trip to whole foods. My freezer is now fully stocked with everything Ians. I am trying to only use it when I don't have any time but my son really loves this food, it reminds him of the crappy food he used to eat.

We are going on a cruise in 22 days. I am very nervous about the whole gfcf diet on a boat. I have filled out the special form and I just hope that they get something for my son to eat.