Homemade Croutons

Croutons are probably one of the easiest things you can make in the kitchen after boiling water. If you can make toast, you can do it! :) The best thing about your own homemade croutons is that you choose your seasonings and flavors and know the ingredients. I published this how-to back in January, but felt it needed it's own post. Croutons are an important part of an excellent salad!

Homemade Croutons

Ingredients

• Day old bread (homemade is preferable)
• Butter, margarine, or coconut oil
• Herbs, seasonings, spices, salt, pepper, etc.

Directions

1. Take a loaf or slices of "day old" bread. If it's not dry enough,slice it, and bake it on 200 for 10 minutes to dry it out. 
2. Butter each slice of bread then cut into cubes
3. Spread out cubes on a baking sheet, sprinkle with powdered garlic, onion, or whatever dried herb blend you wish. I used rosemary, basil, garlic, onion, cumin, and black pepper. 
4. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. (Watch them! Burned croutons are about as good as burnt popcorn!)

This Week at Ramsey Farms

For week ending May 24, 2014~

After a day of picking strawberries (okay well we spent about half an hour picking!), I made several batches of strawberry jam this week. We ate strawberries in many dishes and salads and put them in our glasses of water, wine, lemonade, smoothies and I only made one batch of my mom's "world famous" strawberry bread. It was so exciting to sell a few jars of strawberry jam and even have a little display at my favorite feed n' seed! I even picked up a new bakery customer, too!

We have been eating plenty of sweet peas on salads and now that they are more mature and full, they are excellent in the shell on the grill! And we are still serving up lots of salad with homemade croutons and dressing!

The onions bulbs are getting much larger and the carrots from the cold frame are big, healthy, deep orange, quite photogenic. We'll start harvesting carrots and beets from row 1 at the start of June and expect more carrots from the Back 40, row 2, and row 4 in short succession. The beets in row 1 are huge and I'm looking forward to making as many jars of pickled beets as I can! The potatoes have been blooming for over a week, the lavender now has it's pretty purple flowers, the cilantro plant is full of coriander seeds, and the cucumbers have finally popped up from the soil! The basil plants and tomatoes are looking superb; it's so much more exciting to grow from seed than just buying the plants at Home Depot like we did in gardens past...but it can be more frustrating too. (Check out the Garden pics here! I try to update them weekly.)

We've been reseeding corn and beans almost daily as the darn birds keep digging them up!  It's getting pretty frustrating. (And just last weekend got rid of my pile of old chicken wire. Ugh, that could have made a nice guard over the seeds from the birds.)The lettuce is just about done and the bare spots in the garden look a little sad, but leafy greens don't prefer the hot, humid, near-tropical summer temps we have here in the southern Piedmont of North Carolina. I am wondering if the plethora of little radish sprouts remaining in the cold frame and filling their spots in row 2 and the back 40 will ever make it to the table or if the heat will ruin first.

We had a fantastic weekend fish fry with our neighbors - everyone brought something and my daughter baked dinner rolls that got rave reviews (and no leftovers)! There was fried fish, crab cakes, slaw, broccoli salad, corn on the cob, dinner rolls, and four or five types of homemade desserts including a strawberry jello-pretzel dish that was my favorite of the night! It's great to have such nice, friendly neighbors (I borrowed a cup of sugar last week while making jam) who share with one another and look out for each other and can get together to share a meal and some wine along with laughter and good conversation. I'm recruiting a new neighbor for the 'hood...come on "perfect new neighbor", come on and buy this house so we can move it to the Big Farm, you'll love it here...I promise and you've got a garden ready-made! :)

Last Week at Ramsey Farms!

For week ending May 17...Finally written on May 20, 2014...

I can't recall minute details of this past week, but I can without a shadow of doubt tell you I watched the sun set every night. (Except the one thunderstorm day, but I tried!)

Do you ever feel like you're finally about to "catch up" when suddenly a new influx of plans and preparations begin? It's a vicious cycle!

Last week was a time I had marked for refocusing and that truly was the primary factor and function of the week. If I don't take time to care for myself and take care of my own needs, how am I supposed to successfully take care of my children, enjoy spending time with my kids, properly serve my clients, genuinely connect with friends, tend my garden, prepare meals, bake bread, and deal with the ordinary day to day? It's my oxygen mask analogy many of my friends have heard me say before - you must first put the oxygen mask on yourself before helping others with their own mask. You'll do no one else any good if you pass out due to lack of oxygen because you ran around putting your own needs at the bottom of your priority list day after day.

"Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save, they just stand there...shining." ~ Anne Lamott

I saw the sun set every night, I read, intentionally turned off the computer and netflix, baked a lot of bread, cooked chicken n' dumplin's, hemmed a new dinner napkin by hand, made new batches of sunscreen, lotion, and hand soap, finished reading Walden, played ball in the backyard, walked in the shade of old trees, visited with friends, gave away salad to visitors, ate bunches of salad (lettuces, carrots, radishes, sweet peas) with homemade dressing, baked breakfast granola bars, made & drank wine slushies, did my beautiful daughter's hair and makeup for her first school dance, and...the house was shown again! (There was more, but you'd get bored through the litany.)

It was still a busy week but I intentionally set boundaries, said no, and re-prioritized. Reviewing goals, organizing the to-do list and calendars, and prioritizing is integral to helping simplify but re-evaluating the differences between wants and needs can be dramatically life changing.

There are still ten bajazallion things on my to-do lists, agendas, and all those metaphorical plates I'm spinning. But I intentionally (I keep using that word - it's important)...I intentionally refocused, reprioritized, re-evaluated, and rejuvenated myself so that this week I'm balanced and refreshed and able to give my best to all I do and everyone. What do you do to relax and re-balance your life?

Have a great week! Live in the present - we can't go backwards and tomorrow will be here soon enough. ~Ramsey

Don't forget to check out the Garden Pics, Cold Frame, and the recent Andy's Lotions & Potions post!

Andy's List of Potions & Goodies

My friend, Andy (photo below) gave me this great list. She has always been a proponent of healthier options especially when it comes to everyday personal items, lotions, and potions. And just look at her - she looks fantastic and as fresh as a twenty year old! This post is a compilation of Andy's favorites as well as a few she hasn't tried yet.

Thank you, Andy for this wonderful compilation! May we all be as beautiful as you! Skin softener:

• Safflower oil. Apply after your shower before drying off. Apply a light amount onto to face, neck and chest for moisturizer. Safflower moisturizers and locks in moisture so do not apply in the morning if you're a makeup user.
• Vitamin E. Apply a thin layer into face, neck and chest ...especially around the under eyes. Great for combating fine lines and wrinkles.

Facial mask: 

• Raw Honey. Apply a thin layer of honey all over face and let sit for 20-30 min. before washing with warm water.
• Also good at healing flaky or raw patches brought on by Rosacea. Apply a very thin amount to affected area and leave it. Reapply after applying your regular skin routine and before makeup.
• Also great as an antibiotic. Must be Raw or unpasteurized for the enzymes, probiotics and antibacterial properties.

Exfoliation:

• Lips: Raw Honey & Raw Sugar - Mix a dime-size amount of honey to a nickel-size amount of sugar and rub into lips. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes then rinse off with warm water (or lick it off!)
• Face: Fresh lemon. Slice lemon and rub a slice all over face, neck, and chest. Repeat with a 2nd slice. Rinse with warm water. This brightens the skin, is rich in vitamin C, beta and alpha hydroxy.

Cleansers:

• Eye Makeup Remover: Olive oil or coconut oil. Gently rub into skin, rinse with warm water.
• Face Wash: Coconut oil. Rub a dime-size amount into hands then all over face, throat, and chest. Rinse with warm water. Ramsey's Tip: Follow up with a scrub of baking soda afterwards to remove excess oil, exfoliate, and cleanse pores.
• Toothpaste. Baking soda and cinnamon. Mix together, adding cinnamon to your taste. Dip toothbrush into mixture, brush teeth.

The following potions have not been tested by Andy (or me) yet. Please let us know if you try these and your results!

• Shampoo: 1 Tbsp. baking soda into 1 cup filtered or distilled water. Put into cleaned plastic squeeze bottle, shake to dissolve before use. Rub into hair, concentrating on scalp, and rinse. Ramsey's note: You may need more product in the beginning. This will not suds up like chemical shampoos, but will get your hair naturally squeaky clean. (Ramsey's note: I actually do add about 1 Tbsp. baking soda with my store-bought shampoo to improve the cleansing formula.)
• Conditioner: 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar (get the good stuff with the "mother" in it, Bragg's) mix with 1 cup filtered or distilled water in a plastic squeeze bottle (I use an old shampoo bottle I've cleaned), shake. Work thru hair and scalp. Wait 5 minutes then rinse.

The less chemicals we put into and onto our bodies - the better for our heath and the environment and our pocketbooks! That's a win-win-win. Visit http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ to learn more about the dangerous and safe products to use on your body. 

Be sure to check out these other posts on the Ramsey Farms blog on all natural products:

• DIY All-Natural Lotion
• DIY All-Natural Deodorant (Although I've reformulated this product and will soon post a new recipe)
• DIY Rosemary Bodywash and Hair Rinse
• DIY Laundry Detergent
• DIY Dishwasher Detergent

Again thank you, Andy for some awesome ways to simplify and replace our toxin-loaded chemical products with safe, all-natural, healthier alternatives. I hope you'll share more recipes, tips, and ideas with us again soon.

This Week at Ramsey Farms (5.10.14)

I realize that I'm letting the sale of my house (or lack thereof) bring me down. I need to be more appreciative of the things that are still important. I'm having a tough time being stagnant. I feel that I found "The" Farm. I've been approved for a mortgage. I am ready to pack it up and go! :) Oh yeah, one sticking point...I gotta sell the current home before buying another one. I am not going to tell you all the lurid details about how I've listed my house at least twice prior and I still own it, so you see how that went.

Farmhand Chris keeps reminding me that the house as only been on the market for a week and a half. Furthermore had the first showing on the very first day it hit the market. (Ho hum, that is the only showing to date.)

This week I am going to purposely reflect and refocus. I will remember what is truly important - my children, my family, my friends, my health, my work, my garden, my dreams, my goals, my aspirations. I will not allow myself to miss out on a sunset and I will make sure to catch glimpses of sunrise. I will watch bees in the garden, listen to the cacophony of birds that fills these backyards, I will deeply inhale the fragrance of honeysuckles every day, I will marvel at the growing vegetables in the garden and eat plenty of fresh salads filled with lettuces and leafy greens, carrots, radishes, sweet peas, and onions from my garden (topped with our homemade croutons and Italian dressing).

During this period of stagnation, there is still work to be done, client deadlines to meet, dinners to cook, breads to bake, dishes to wash, laundry to clean, tables to wipe, floors to sweep, beds to make, children to love, errands to run, gardens to weed and tend, and all the mundane routine things one must contend with on a daily basis. As well as end-of-school-year events, dances, parties, programs, graduations, weddings, baby showers, bridal showers, and social activities that occur this month.

My four year old told me twice this week that, "You can't move forward if you're standing still." He was actually being a brat and ordering me to go get him a snack, but poor manners aside the kid had a profound point. "You can't move forward if you're standing still." Therefore progress and life and the pursuit of dreams, goals, and peace/liberty/justice for all must continue moving forward in some way inch by excruciatingly slow inch.

"You can't move forward if you're standing still." -MJCR

This Week at Ramsey Farms (Week Ended 5.4.14)

I don't care for these weeks that leave my mind in a blur. Where did the time go? What did we do with all that time? What day is today? This is supposed to be about slowing down, not getting lost in a blur and shuffle of time and tasks.

This week we...

• recuperated from the 750-mile / 28-hour road trip to Georgia. 
• celebrated the Ramsey Farms' recreational coordinator, Stephanie's birthday with food, fun, beer, and bocce!
• relished that spring break is over.
• enjoyed two days of rain.
• worked at our "day jobs" and did the usual weekly routine of school and extracurricular activities and soccer games and dentist appointments and laundry and dishes and cleaning and church and breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
• got approved for a farm/land mortgage!
• listed my house for sale!
• had the first house showing!
• got excited that someone is going to buy this house!
• took house photos.
• baked bread for home and the Ramsey Farms Bakery customers and added a couple new happy customers.
• had a semi-surprise visit from my mom!
• chatted with neighbors and visited with friends here on the farm. 
• read some books and did a lot of writing and thinking and pondering the mysteries of the universe.
• repainted the kitchen and dining room ceilings.
• uploaded new pics to the Cold Frame page for you to see!
• got worried that no one will ever buy this house.
• can hear and see my dad in my mind saying, "You can't make everything happen when you want it to happen, Baby."
• reseeded lettuces and radishes and ate and gave away lots of organic lettuce.
• daydreamed about the Big Farm in Georgia.