I wanted to post some updates on a few things that I have tried and blogged about. 

First the master tonic!

I let it set way longer than the 14 days and I hate to admit that i forgot to shake it a few times. I started the tonic Feb 20th. It has been setting and brewing for 3 months now. The kids and I attended a 4-H work shop and I think that everyone besides us that showed up was sick. We came right home and took our tablespoon and since we really were not showing any signs of being sick I really cant say one way or the other that it kept us from getting sick but it was worth taking it in my opinion! The longer it has set the hotter it has gotten and I really thought it might have been to hot to tolerate but really the heat feel in the mouth goes away pretty quickly.


Pickled hot dogs!

Wow! I made 3 quarts of these and the family loved them! Now I think that i will add more red pepper flakes my next go around but over all I think the recipe was great and is a keeper! The family has asked for them again! I take that as a good sign.

Cutting your own meat!

I posted about cutting my own pork chops from a large pork tenderloin. It went well and really did not take that long and I cut them to the way we like them. Since posting about my adventure into cutting my own I have purchased 7 more pork tenderloins and cut them also. Now I see no reason to spend $4-$5 a pound on pork chops when i can spend less and cut my own. Not sure why I had not really done this before.

Tomato less tomato sauce!

This was a big hit for me and the rest of the family. We used it for pizza sauce and it really tasted like pizza! Even Mr. Fix-it liked it! If he liked it I would say it was good! I also tried it in spaghetti and it still plays tricks on my brain seeing a red sauce and knowing that I cant eat it, but it tasted so good and everyone else thought so too. I will be making this sauce alot more often!

Strawberry garden!

I planted 108 strawberry plants earlier this spring and man they have taken off. I have been picking just a few berries here and there but i think next year we will have a bumper crop! The new wire tunnels also work great to keep the birds, squirrels and dogs out. I think that is something that I should have done several years ago.

Garden!

Garden has been planted but this crazy weather that we are having here in Texas has taken a toll on some of the plants. With all the rain and hail almost every night I lost about 1/2 of my cucumber plants. What I have left has started to really grow and I have baby cucumbers setting on. The okra is growing like a weed and it wont be long and I will be harvesting that. The jalapenos are also setting on peppers. The dogs dug up most of my radishes, carrots and beets but i did get a handful of radishes and man where they good. The potatoes did not do so well this year. I usually plant in a raised potato bed but it needed some work this year so decided to plant in the ground, well i wont be making that mistake again for sure. The gophers came in and ate 99% of the potatoes! Onions did ok, but with all of this rain they were starting to rot so I pulled all of them and have them drying now.

All in all everything is going well here on the homestead. Vet girl and Master chef are going to state 4-H competition next month. I am proud of the work that they did that got them to state!