Back To School! Independence Days Challenge, Juven For Foot/Skin Healing

Dave's photo from a couple of years ago- I'm ready for Fall!

Back To School!
I went back to work last week, so my posts will start to thin out a bit. I hate going back to work in the high 90's, it's just too hot. In an aging school, with no A/C in the gym and halls, the kids and adults all suffer. We had an open house with some of us in the gym last night, and I thought I'd pass out. Bring on some cooler weather PLEASE! Normal weather in late August should be mid 80's not 90's. This may be the "new normal". The fires have finally subsided, at least as far as the smoke goes. The Rim Fire in California isn't sending anymore smoke this way either. We were hit hard about a week or so ago from that. Smoke and heat, never a good combination. Blue skies this morning and 60! Cooler today....

Independence Days Challenge-

1. Plant Something- 

Nope, we're done. When it's 90+ you can't really plant a cool, fall garden sadly.

2. Harvest Something-

Good steady supply of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, herbs, squash, collard greens, kale, eggs, and my first lemon cuke! Dave picked all the apples last weekend and I canned 10 Qts. of applesauce. Great flavor! I opted not to use the canning food processor, since it takes a lot longer, but creates more apple product. While it wasted some of the apple I could have used, time was of the essence. The chickens got lots of scraps! I basically just cooked the apples til soft, drained off most of the water, then reserved it. I started mashing, adding water, then switched to an immersion blender. I left the skins on.  I added some lemon juice, pinch of salt, a little sugar, fresh nutmeg and lots of cinnamon. Nectarines will be ready in another week or 2. Those will probably all be frozen. Time allowing, I may can some. Weekends are always crammed with everyday chores once work starts.

Home grown organic pippins

3. Preserve/Store Something-

 Canned 10 qts. of applesauce, bought breads to freeze. My organic Pippins (I think) had wonderful flavor! I made a big cobbler with crumb topping, with fresh orange juice and took it to a dinner potluck for staff. Everyone raved about it!  I gave away one 5 gallon bucket to a friend who lost all their fruit to an early frost.

4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep-
Gourmet french breads and protein bars (helps my foot heal) from the grocery outlet, dress shirt for the wedding that Dave got at a thrift store. Froze homemade pesto.  Froze about 8 Qt. bags of rhubarb, free from a neighbor. Found some nice things at a local discount store for my daughter's bridal shower, here, on Monday. Getting car ready for fall- new wipers blades all around.

5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe-
Eating lots of fresh basil and tomatoes.

I made a Patricia Wells recipe of a traditional French-style fried fish (I used pollock), with a flat leaf parsley salad and sauce Remoulade- capers, mayo, diced pickles, fresh herbs and cayenne pepper. Delish! Think French tartar sauce. From a library book I got, called Salad as a Meal The fish recipe is below, minus the directions, since I know how to dredge fish and fry it. Basically beat the eggs and then dip the fish, dredge in the flour, breadcrumbs, cheese and cayenne pepper. I cute the fish into squares, and used a frying skillet on medium high with about 2" of canola oil. Gorgeous, and golden brown!Use a simple vinaigrette on the parsley and toss. Add a wedge of lemon and it's dinner. Next time I will do lettuce with the parsley mixed it, as it a bit tough.

Sauce Remoulade recipe-
2/3 cup mayo
1 TBL. capers
I TBL. diced dill pickles  In France they use Cornichons, a tarragon-based pickle. Didn't have those but I know of a European grocery store so I might buy some next time I'm near there. I found this recipe on Pintsized Pioneering  I may try that too, with bigger cukes.

2 TBL. minced parsley, tarragon, chives.
pinch cayenne pepper
Mix and chill.

6. Build Community Food Systems-
Sold my first eggs at work yesterday. I charge $3.50 a dozen, and it off-sets the feed. I gave away one 5 gallon bucket of apples to a friend who lost all their fruit to an early frost. Will do that with some of the nectarines too.

7. Recycle/Re-Use-
I used my yard sale Kerr jars for canning that we got really cheap. Our neighbor had canned once and lost interest. I just ran them thru the dish washer and wala! Composting is going well! The chickens got lots of wormy apple scraps :) MAde donations to local thrift store. 

8. Skill Up-
Learn to make French fried fish and how many different kinds of  Sauce Remoulades there are. I know more about wound care than I will probably ever need! Read about amino acids and what they can do.

9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something-
My foot! 

Juven For Foot/Skin Healing-
I posting about this because I had never heard about it. Right before I started going to a "wound center", I stumbled onto this. Part of my foot surgery incision was healing really slow. I'm not diabetic, and am healthy, but the incision is on the outer curved part of my heel. A bad spot. After I found out about this stuff, I read up on it. It's an over the counter supplement made by the folks who make Ensure. It basically supports tissue growth and protein absorption. It had rave reviews all over the Internet. I tried it, then I mentioned it at the wound center. They recommend it and the flavor's not bad. It actually works as a bit of a stimulant too! I may have to have my other foot worked on next summer (oh joy), so this is a good tool to have. I read that many hospitals recommend this pre-op as well. If you know anyone with surgery coming up this might be useful! You can also buy the amino acids thru a health food store, use the same dosage and make you own much cheaper. Mine was 8 packages for $17.00, using 2 packs a day. I should add- the wound center I'm going to has a lot of great things they use, and my foot is healing up much faster! Never any infection, just slow. Hopefully in about another month or so, I'll be back in normal shoes and have intact skin! I'm sure the Juven is helping.

Smoky sunset from the fires