My Birthday Wintry Mix & "Supermoon" Tonight, Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding w/Almond Milk, Solar Charger Review, Mini Sink Makeover

My Birthday Wintry Mix and Super Moon Tonight-

Today is my birthday and I woke up to a very wet day- 34 degrees, rain and snow mix. It must have poured all night from the look of the fencing. It's really windy, but the sun is coming out this afternoon. I put out extra wild bird food for the local critters and they're eating. We had a gorgeous sunset a couple of nights ago- 

Dave wanted to get me something for my birthday. I really couldn't think of anything, but the one thing that would make my life easier was a new monitor, mine was pretty small. With aging eyes, it's harder. Dave found a 75% off deal and I love it! My old one was 18, new one is 22", here's a side by side-

Big difference, much easier to use!

I just found out that tonight will be extra special, CBS news said-  "The supermoon" will illuminate the night sky on Sunday, December 3, when the moon will appear about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons. This is the first of three supermoons in a trilogy that will continue on in January." via Twitter. Cool!

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding w/Almond Milk-
I had some Brioche bread (Trader Joe's) left over from Thanksgiving weekend, bittersweet chocolate, walnuts and lots of eggs. So... it was bread pudding time! Since Dave has developed a sensitivity to too much dairy, I used 1/2 Almond Milk. Next time I will use 100% since it came out amazing, just perfect for a cold night.

Recipe- 
1 loaf Brioche?Challah bread, cut into 1" cubes, about 8 cups
10 eggs
2 cups Almond Mix
2 cups milk
1/2 sugar plus 2 TBS
1/2- 1 cup Guittard bittersweet baking chocolate, chopped, love that brand!!!
1/2- 1 cup chopped walnuts
2 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch salt

Butter 2 qt. baking dish, fill with bread cubes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl beat eggs, salt, liquids, 1/2 cup sugar. Mix in choc chips and nuts into bread cubes- I put about 1/2 in the middle and 1/2 on top. Slowly our egg mixture over bread. Let sit overnight (for best results). Sometimes I bake right away, if so, push liquids into the bread gently. Sprinkle bread with remaining sugar and put in oven. Bake 1 hour, remove and cover with foil, bake an additional 25 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Cool and enjoy! If you're a real chocoholic, add coarsely chopped gourmet dark chocolate! And double the nuts! Enjoy! You can also sub chopped apples, cinnamon, nutmeg for a fruit version.

Solar Charger Review-
I recent bought a Floureon Cell Device Solar Charger  It comes with one USB cord, a LED flashlight, and SOS flasher. Waterproof and small, the size of a cell phone, but a little thicker-

Front

Back, has clip and compass/keyring

You can charge up to 3 devices simultaneously! I did 2-

I have to use a wireless charger as my plug-in port died, worked great!

VERY bright LED flashlight, can also flash SOS in Morse code, handy!

There are so MANY applications for this- keep in your car on trips, hiking, hunting, cross country trips, emergency preparedness, you name it. You might not have a cell signal if there's a real crisis, but there might be info on your phone you'd still need. A great deal, $16.99, I LOVE IT!!!

Mini Sink Makeover-
All of this was less than $10.00 and I like it! love our white cast iron sink we bought a few years back, during our kitchen re-do, but I don't like this, the side sink strainer, hard to keep clean and I rarely plug this sink. This just kept bugging me-

I was on Amazon buying a belt for Dave and I found this- NITO Stainless Steel Sink Strainer, it's effective and simple, $5.00-

It has a depression, is easy to lift and empty. The garbage disposal strainer, ditto- this was the 2nd one I'd bought, kept staining-

I spotted this Danco Garbage Disposal Strainer, $4.00, black, domed, and antimicrobial-

Winding Down/No Christmas Yet, Now on Facebook! Chicken Sun Room In Action

Anya winding down

Winding Down, No Christmas Yet-

I was thrilled to get off work at noon Wednesday, since I had the afternoon to prep for turkey day. I LOVE 4 day weekends! After a whirlwind Thanksgiving day here, it was nice to have yesterday to myself. Sadly Dave had to work. I worked on various projects, including my blog. I'll be putting away the Autumn and Thanksgiving decor this weekend. Next weekend I'll put out some Winter decor. It's my birthday weekend too! I REALLY don't like the American emphasis on binging on shopping, putting up Christmas decor after Halloween, and radio stations are the worst. A week before Thanksgiving I was hearing Christmas music. Sad and aggravating. Christmas, when I was a kid, was a tree, simple gifts, going to church and time with family. No black Friday, no knocking people out of the way for gifts. One possible GOOD side affect of Internet shopping is maybe the stores will do away with that. Maybe. I really appreciate the simplicity of the way Europeans celebrate holidays, bringing nature inside and less materialism. So I'm not putting up anything Christmas-y for at least another week or two. With lows forecast in the 20's at night this week, we put on our flannel sheets and plugged in the heated birdbath (thrifted). The coop is done, Dave raked more leaves today, cleaned the mower for the season and stores. I put away the garden bench tools and covered it with plastic sheeting for the winter. It sits on our deck year round, next Spring I'll repaint it to freshen it up.

Now on Facebook! 

I decided recently to take the plunge and start a Little Homestead Facebook page. I'll be adding extra content on a regular basis. Please hit the sidebar to follow to see what we're up to! Thanks!!!

Chicken Sun Room In Action-

After a heavy rain Thursday night, the girls really enjoyed the drier sun room yesterday and today! Dave added pine shavings later today for odor control. It's made from recycled materials, Dave built the frame, and we just dis-assemble each spring and store. Nice and dry, with a great view. There's a door inside the coop that goes into it. Sturdy and a great extra space for the girls!

Neighbor kitty Posey stopped by for a pet

Better shot

  I found my photo of Thanksgiving in 2014, snowy!

Sun room covered in snow, but dry and warm inside for the hens

Girls came out for some rolled oats, a fave treat, from the left- Rosie, Gwynne, Ellie

Heated birdbath ready for winter! Herbs still hanging in there :) 

Some Practical, Healthy & Fun Homesteading Gifts!

Homemade Cheese!

Some Practical, Healthy & Fun Homesteading Gifts!
When you're homesteading, whether in the city or country, we can look at gifts from a different lens. "Oh look at that great shovel! Wow, what great seeds! Hey that compost is great" So, if you need some fun ideas for holiday/birthday/house warming gifts, etc. here's a few great ideas that any homesteader can use!

First- I can’t tell you how convenient a hands-free headlamp is! I borrowed Dave's biking headlamp during a camping trip, then it dawned on me to use it in the coop! You might need to work in a barn or other outbuilding with no light. Going running, walking, or skiing? Maybe with gloves or mittens on? Do you need to work in your garage, or do first aid in a way that requires both hands? You do NOT want to be holding a flashlight in your mouth at that time. In a power outage this could be really helpful in an emergency! Here's a great deal and it's rechargeable. Gotta love that. Or you can just sneak up on your kids and scare the heck out of them!

Flagship Rechargeable 6000 Lumen Waterproof LEDHeadlamp

Now- Even more Ball Book ways to preserve your own foods! New and updated with tons of fresh ideas, including Lacto Fermentation. The All New Ball Book Of Canning And Preserving: Over 350 of the Best Canned, Jammed, Pickled, and Preserved Recipes I will be adding this to my canning book shelf!

Speaking of food preservation! I wish they sold these a few years back! For those of you who want to use your own canning jars for fermenting, this is for you! All those great probiotics are so good for your gut! With an airlock to prevent mold and contamination, you just add produce to any wide mouth Mason jar, add brine, attach top and set it on your counter! Easy to disassemble and clean- FARMcurious Mold Free Fermenting Kit Set of 2

And last, but not least, CHEESE! With high prices and easy cheese-making kits for beginners, why not make your OWN? This kit contains all the ingredients (except milk & cream) that you need to make 100's of cheeses using both cow, goat and sheep milk. Use farm fresh raw or store bought pasteurized! Includes recipes for Mozzarella, Burrata, Ricotta, Monterey Jack, Feta, Chèvre/Goat Cheese, Cheese Curds, Cream Cheese, Butter, Cultured Butter, Quesa Blanco, Quesa Fresca and Marscapone!! Includes spices to flavor your homemade cheese and butter! Or get creative and add your own! So get started in an easy straightforward way- Standing Stone Farms Ultimate Cheese Making Kit                                                     

Little Homestead Mini Year in Review, After Holiday Deals/Thrifting, Kitchen Cabinet Organizing Re-Do

Little Homestead Mini Year in Review-
It's been a crazy couple of weeks, with our new Grand baby Oliver, holidays, record snow and cold, with more to come! We had almost 8" of snow in 2 days last week, single digits coming this next week and it's snowing!

  

We put birdfood out today and the squirrels came out big time! 

We had a lot of things happen at the Little Homestead this year, the most fun the additions to our family! Here's a snapshot of some of the big projects, etc. that happened-

We re-painted our house, still love it!

Sadly one after effect of our house painting was my wrenched back :(   I didn't post about it here because it was so awful. I wound up having severe nerve pain down my right leg from my L3 disc pushing on my spinal cord. After Xrays I went to an excellent Chiropractor, and after VERY intensive work, I'm about good as new! No injections, no surgery. I'm happy. Then... hand surgery- 

I had severe pain from my left thumb from bone rubbing on bone. Chunk of bone removed in late Oct., with a new structure created to support upper thumb bone. I had the cast for 10 days, then went to my "Terminator" brace-

the knob loosens the wires to take off

Now I'm wearing a neoprene soft support, doing stretching, pain gone, most of my grip strength still intact!

We hosted a baby shower for daughters Tami, then later Angie. We had a really great harvest season in the garden, with the soaker hoses helping quite a bit. For $10.00 each a great investment! 

Got our first peaches!

Nice harvest of huge pears

a small sampling of our veggies

Our old shed area was very productive with beans!!! 

I made frozen applesauce/apple slices, not enough time to can. Got several nice batches of tomato sauce too!

Chalk painting projects

There was lots of thrifting, and re-did our extra room with baby gear :) Free or thrifted!

I settled into my job, that's going well. I really MISSED the summer off and holiday time as well. Not much time for baking, etc. We babysat River yesterday and he's so BIG! Seven months, wow! My adult kids are all well, hubby too. 

The chickens doing well, survived their molts and are laying 2-3 eggs per day again, even in this long, dark winter!

Yummy!

I signed up for a free kit from our local Electric power company- free LED bulbs, shower head, faucet aerators, great stuff AND FREE! A very good price.

We bought a nice, larger, more reliable washing machine after ours died. It's been great! We didn't do a big vacation, with medical bills and "stuff". There's always more to reflect on, but those are the big things I can remember! 

Walmart, A birch star with LED lights, $3.00-

After Holiday Deals/Thrifting-

I bought some winter outfits for baby Oliver (born in winter) at Goodwill last week, all fleece and warm! He inherited a lot of new clothes from his cousin River, born in the summer. No warm clothes though! Grandma to the rescue. For $10.00 I got 4 fleece outfits with tops/bottoms, 1 long sleeved top, and 4 infant hats. I also was at Walmart and got these after holiday deals, 70% off, as well as some bows and 2 more stockings for babies-

A cute, round plastic tablecloth for a DIY no sew tree skirt

From Lowe's, perfect for my Yule shelf! $3.00 each

Off to Goodwill tomorrow as I deep cleaned some closets again. And speaking of organizing...

Kitchen Cabinet Organizing Re-Do-

While Dave and I had a few minutes today (3 day weekend) I swapped some contents of 2 cabinets. I always had to get down on my hands and knees for bake ware etc. So we emptied out all the contents, some was extra for the big pantry, some trash, some chicken treats (stale millet). We had the good sense when we had the cabinets re-faced to put in 2 corner pull out trays-

Cleaned out and empty

I added bake ware, microwave containers

Sorting foods

Foods moved into other cabinet, with storage containers

I even unearthed a 1 Qt. vintage jar with milk glass lined lid and a handle. What to fill it with? Dried lavender or???