Menu Madness at Rooster Hill

This is what we've been eating the last couple of weeks!

8/4-8/10
Monday - Chicken Marsala, buttered pasta, brussel sprouts
Tuesday - Chicken pot pie (make an extra for our retrun from the Homeschool Conference)
Wednesday- Pork Dijon, rice, veggie, homemade rolls
Thursday - Out to dinner (Galveston)
Friday- Out to dinner (Galveston)
Saturday - (freezer meal) Chicken Peperoni Pasta

8/11-8/17
Monday- Steak (T-bone or Ribeye depending on sales), Steak fries, salad "Birthday dinner"
Tuesday-Country Style pork ribs
Wednesday- Beans & Rice
Thursday-
Friday -Out to dinner (Texas Homeschool Conference)
Saturday- Out to dinner (Texas Homeschool Conference)
Sunday - (freezer meal) chicken pot pie

I know ya'll don't go into shock we do eat out or "high on the hog " just mostly on birthdays like August 11th and when we are on vacation.

Frugal Eating: Breakfast

Okay, so I have been looking for super cheap meals that taste good. When I ran across this one I was more then skeptical. Because I mean Mush that's what they feed folks in the Orphanage in all of Charles Dickens stories, so it has to be bad! Well, I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted like a corny version of cream of wheat. Everyone in my family really likes it. Yet it costs nearly nothing! I normally serve it with some fruit and we always have OJ & milk with our breakfasts. I got this recipe from http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/:

Corn Mush

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup cold tap water
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups hot tap water

(I (Kyle) always add about 2 Tablespooon to 1/4 cup of molases or syrup!)

In a small bowl, combine the cornmeal and cold tap water. Meanwhile, in a 2 quart pan, combine the salt and hot water. Bring it to a boil over high heat. While the water is heating, add the cornmeal mixed with the cold water. Combining the cornmeal with cool water before adding it to the boiling water keeps the cornmeal from lumping up when it hits the hot water. When the water and cornmeal boil, reduce the heat to low. Allow the mush to simmer for about 10 minutes, or until it is nicely thickened. If your cornmeal is less than fresh, you may add half a tablespoon of sugar to make it taste fresher and sweeter. This is very hearty for breakfast, and also makes a nice snack in the middle of the day. I like it with a little margarine and shredded cheese, but it is equally good with sugar or molasses and milk. This recipe serves 4 to 6 people depending on how hungry they are. Of all the breakfast cereals you can buy, this one is the least expensive. We try to have it at least twice a week, sometimes more often because it is so cheap.

Country Living the Hillbilly Chronicles

What does your family do in the middle of the night? Something crazy like sleep? Nope not when you live in the country and you are at war with the raccoons. If we are awake late at night we are always looking outside to see if they are near the chickens, trash or shed. For the last two weeks they've been getting into the trash & feed. Thus far they have left the chickens alone. When I lived in town I thought raccoons were cute. Now I know that raccoons will pop the heads off of your chickens just for fun. They do not eat them they just want to kill them. I do not like that, I can understand animals killing to eat but not just to kill. So we are not friends with raccoons anymore.



So far we've taken care of 1 and winged another one. Well, at 12:56 the other night we got a 2nd one that was in the trash near the baby chicken nursery. The kids were so excited they were jumping up and down cheering.



Of course Parker wanted to know if "Can we eat the raccoon?"
My answer which is given often to such countrified questions "I don't know ask Mr. Brian."
She is still upset we did not eat the rooster that was pecked to death by the hens recently.



But, I found out later from the Encyclopedia of Country Living that you can eat raccoons. We still didn't (can't guarantee that in the future with the price of food increasing though!), however, I may get a nice raccoon hat or a stoll, now that's hillbilly!

Now, Wayne will be skining and gutting him and the kids will receive the best lesson on animal phisology they can receive. From their dear old Dad! This is a homeschool oppurtunity not to be passed up even by a pair of countrified city slickers like us.

Well, I guess that all from the Cultured city girl who went to Berkeley to become a US Ambassador or at the very least to work in the Foreign Service, who now has a raccoon in a feed bag in her freezer....N-I-C-E!

Fels-Naptha Rocks!

I bought this bar of Fels-Naphtha because I was making homemade laundry soap. Well, I've since stopped making the laundry soap (because I felt like it worked well at first but then my clothes got dingy over time) but I am in love with this bar. I use it like a stain remover and boy oh boy does it work. Recently we went to a wedding and the girls spilled red punch down the front of their light yellow and blue eyelet dresses. Well, I followed the directions on the bar and those dresses are like new. I thought for sure they were headed to the trash or play clothes. I think every homemaker should have a bar of this stuff its Grrrrrrrrrrreaat!

Wilton's Cake Course: Homemaker's Continuing Education

Okay, here is the Wilton's Cake Class follow up... I completed the course and got the certificate that proves I am a Cake Class graduate! So I decided to post a cake that I made for Pearson's First Birthday with my last cake class cake(I did not finish the shell boarder or add the cute polka dots. Still I think there is a vast improvement. I believe it was Jessica B that asked me if the white cake was Fondant! Nope just regular butter cream. I spent a good hour trying to make the chocolate cake smooth and you can see I did not succeed. I can now make butter cream cake frosting (stiff, medium and light) I know which sort of frosting to use for which kind of application. I can make roses and I feel confident that I will be able to make the family birthday cakes from this point forward. So as Parker & Pearson's Birthday party gets closer I will begin to think about the best way to make a tea pot for a tea party cake for Parker and a simple sheet cake for Pearson. They are having a joint birthday party this year. I would encourage all of you to take these courses they are very good and like I said I think it's vital we keep learning and going down the path of continuing education for homemakers.

Here at Rooster Hill we are shouting along with the French Aristocrats: "Let them eat cake!"

RH