ICU updates

Well, here is my little patient, I am sure that we are on the mend, though it was a total touch and go situation.
When I get her more stable, I will give her a quick bath and a fluff, to make her feel better and look better.
Thank you from all of you who wish her well, and me to give me the strength to help her.  I now have some upper respitory viruses going on in the house with my older cats, I usually have this during this time of year when I get some cooler weather, and I open the windows, so I have sneezing and wheezing and plugged up cats, my two newer kittens have it the worst, so I have been really getting them stable on top of having this little kitty to get well. Plus I am trying to keep the ICU kitten away from the other sneezing, I don't need her sick with this crap on top of what she had going on.   Calgon, take me away........
I am  running a MASH unit it seems, and I  haven't gotten much sleep, but I will plug away, and keep at the other kittens who are having more difficulty shaking off this respitory crap.  I run into this every few years, and with the air changing from summer to fall, it seems the pollen and molds are bad no matter what.
I will try to get back with the blog on home subject matters, hopefully in a few days when I get everyone more stable.
Thank you all for your concerns and thoughts.

In Memory of 9-11-2001 to 9-11-2010

ICU emergency and going's on

I will post in a few days about more  pantry stocking but I have had a kitten emergency from a vet and I have been up for about 72 hrs and I really have not had time to do anything.

My little patient is very tiny, she came to me on the brink of death, (and I am not kidding).  It has been several years since I have had a critical  ICU, so I had to get to my battle station, and ready the fight.
My patient was very  malnorished, and was also impacted (constipated)  from bad feeding on the owner's part, and not feeding the right foods for a 5 week old kitten. She was totally dehydrated from no water.   The vet made the owners relinquish the kitten to them, and this is when I get calls to do ICU, when patients need 24/7 care for at least 72 hours to a week or two.

I have good news this morning.  When I woke up at 4:30 am this morning to check on her, (after being up 72 hrs), she was very vocal in saying "I'm hungry", and she ate for me. This will be a very slow process of introducing soft kitten type food, until we get her very tiny gut straighted out and smoothed out from the huge rock she had in her tummy, which was just plain full of poop period, and I had to slowly put a liquid laxative for kittens in her to get things moving, with the fact that we had to be so very careful to get things moving without strangulating the gut and killing her, and doing this on a very tiny body that weighs less the a pound.  She pooped several large brick vat poops yesterday through the afternnoon , and this was the plumbing problem, and when we did this, we got rid of the plumbing problem.  I am sorry that I am probably being a little graphic, but for kittens, let alone adult cats and dogs, this is very serious, and this also happens in people, and if it is not handled with kid gloves, you can literally" blow out"  the gut from straining.

So, as of this morning, she is showing signs we are on the mend, we are still critical, as we have to be so very careful of this very tiny gut, and keeping it straight and with soft foods, and then introduce strength building foods, and yogurt and other immune building things.  I used my chicken broth that I make, and she has really loved this, as it has salts, and minerals to help with the healing of the tummy, so I am so far please with her fight and progression. I will try to get a photo of her, and with much better news on her healing.

Well, I'd better get going and check on my little patient, and get my adult cats and dog fed, and start the day,  I have tons of housework now, as I got behind, so, I can't sit too long, I think though, that I will have a nap this afternoon, if this is possible, and then I will be ok.  It is so well worth it.

Bye...

Chilly!!!!!

Well Folks,  It's 35* this morning.  I am sure trying to send cooler air to all who wish it.  We did have some frost in our lower lying areas but it was pretty cool and very nice sleeping weather.  Then it goes to hot again, with chances of thunder boomers, but generally the boomers aren't (too) bad this time of year. Go figure.

I covered my peppers last night before bed, and just hoped for the best.  I also covered some of my houseplants that reside outside in the summer.  I need to give some of them a spray of organic bug spray before I bring them in, which is a little early this year.  Sometime this week, I will start my greens in my cold frames, and get the plastic ready just in case of frosty mornings, but this is Nebraska.  I will go out later this morning to see if anything got nipped, and then start thinning out the frost bit ones, but I can generally, if I cover the most productive and strong tomatoes, I can, and have gotten tomatoes clear into the middle of November with plastic covers, and some blankets.  I generally get tomatoes for relishes, which is fine, but I have done so on many occassions, it just depends on the weather and just plain luck.

I am feeling much better this morning, be surprised if one gets a good night's sleep and rest, you can generally feel better.  I know what I did too, I just DID too much, canning, drying, cutting, processing, and standing on my feet will generally get to me, but I just do it because I have to.  There is no one else to do it for me.  Thank you for all who wished feeling better, it helped me, so thank you for the well wishes.  I wish I could find a house boy.....Don't think that's going to happen. lol

I still do not have a camera to bring photos to you, hopefully soon.  I would like to get photos of snow, if it snows here this year.  Though I do not want to scare folks who are in the semi-tropic zones.  It  might just really spook them.  I wish that I had a camera last year as we had the 2 blizzards in October, that totaled over 60'.  I could not get out of my house through the doors, both doors were frozen, and the only way I could get out was get the hair dryer and crack the front door a little and then melt the ice around the door, and then take a very long carving knife and slice through the ice around the door enough to push it open.  That was somewhat a little spooky but got it done.  My house is pretty well insulated but those storms had 60 mph winds pushing snow and it was pretty icy also.  Welcome to Nebraska. Not!!!!

Well I need to get to drying some herbs for Farmer's Market.  Since I feel a little better, think I'll try it today and see if I can make a buck or two.
So, everyone, please have a great day, and a great week.

A good web site to visit for frugal meals and ideas

I visit this site quite a bit.  It is a site for frugal meals, emergency planning for meals for lay-offs, or when things get tight. It has a few ads but it is a nice site to get some ideas from.  It is http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/

I will be getting back to my blog in a few days. I am feeling a bit under the weather with quite a bit of pain in my spine and hip, so I will be thinking of some blogging tips to add in a few days when I feel a little better.
Everyone have a great rest of Labor Day off, and get ready to hit the salt mines again tomorrow.

catching up

Well, I am trying to play catch-up.  I will be freezing my peaches my neighbor gave me.  I made beef patties and froze those this morning.  Some of my barter beef that I barter for.

It seems from the blogs I read or follow, the weather is into play  this year.  My garden didn't do too well, but I am getting produce, but it is slow and somewhat strange in its growing pattern.  My theory is a combo of the gulf spill dispersant's, and chemicals and the Icelandic volcano.  I am not a scientist, but I am old enough and have some brains to tell me that the weather is changed and it is maybe not for the good.  I also think that a possible shift in the Earth's orbit from some of these earthquakes may have shifted things around some.  This morning it was 48*, which is great, but I recall last year, we had 2 30" blizzards in October and quite a bit of snow to total over 70+ inches last year alone.

From my last posted blog, I was going to touch on the stocking of the pantry for winter.  I keep a full stock pantry most of the time, and I keep a tally in the pantry to replenish what I have used.  I look at the sales flyer's that come out, to re-stock major things like broth, which I do keep on hand as I use it quite a bit for flavor and cooking.  I like to make my own broth, and really a vegetable broth is very quick to make, and makes a nice finale to dinner. But a beef or chicken broth takes a little more, and when you plan meals, especially when cooking any meat,  plan on a little extra from the pan to freeze and add to your stash of broth in the freezer.

When you stock your pantry, this is a very personal and taste driven endeavor, as it depends on what you or your family eat.  I keep broths, herb salts, herb mixes that I make, rice, pasta, soup bases, tomato sauces, both home canned, and tomato paste when I run short.  I keep my potatoes and carrots and cabbage for a while in the frig ( I have 2 frigs) , and then as it cools down really good at night, usually later this month, I use a ice chest with a few holes drilled into the top and sides, as a makeshift cellar.  That is one thing I miss from my grandmother's day, a root cellar and vegetable storage cellar.

I eat pretty simple, potatoes, carrots, and I try to eat with the seasons, as I cannot afford too much salad from the store, and I do grow my greens if the weather holds, in cold frames, if we don't have any snow or cold, but I did get spinach til Nov then it got really cold and I did not disturb the frames until Feb as  I took off the the heavy covers I had on my frames and my greens and spinach survived the -30+ below wind chills I had here.

How I stock is how I can afford things and I generally buy 2-3 extras if I can to add to the stash.  I really hate shopping, as for one, it is a little hard for me to get around, and I can only afford to run the car 1-2 days a week because of gas costs for me, sometimes I utilize the handy bus that we have here, and take my little hand buggy for groceries but I can only get so much in my little buggy, so, I try to plan a monthly run for groceries to really stock, and I put extra cash away, in my jar for these extras I need.   I also save on fuel and running for my green footprint.

I also make my own bread, and if I get caught not being able to make bread, I do buy the frozen loaves of wheat bread and I do those up, when I get behind, and I also make cinnamon rolls from these also, and dinner buns.

Stocking is all about just keeping things in order, and not running around like a chicken with your head cut off.  And where I live, the weather can change in a New York minute and I do not like driving or running around in 30" of snow, when you can't get around at all anyway, and everyone else is running around and can't drive in the weather.  Stocking is just being able to come home from work and have things ready to go, and you can throw soup or a stew, or veggies in a crock pot when you go out the door on low and dinner is ready when you get home.  I am a great fan of crock pots  and use several crock pots in my home during the winter.

This is where my herb mixes and dehydrated soup mixes come into play for dinner also.  But again, it does take planning, and time to do these.  This simple lifestyle isn't so simple when you cook from scratch.  It takes some discipline on your part to do them, or again, you fall off the wagon and purchase MSG laden mixes with a ton of poison preservatives in them, it's your choice.

Well, who know what I'll talk about next.  We may have a snow storm next?
Everyone, please have a great weekend, and Labor Day holiday

It's another refreshing day, guess what I'm going to do...

It's so nice this morning, cool air, and we even were greeted by a little thunder-boomer with a little lightning and a few sprinkles. I love these little boomers, its when they get big and nasty and full of lightning I don't like them, especially when they grow to become tornadoes, but I think that we are past the prairie twisters for this year.

Since it is so cool this morning, I am going to finish a batch of tomato sauce I have had in the frig for a few days.  I generally process tomatoes as I get them.  They are very slow to ripen, so I get a batch, and then cut them up or run them through my hand food mill to make sauce, and then cut onions, and garlic and get them done.  Then if I want salsa, or sauce, I just pull a jar, and finish with the ingredients that I want.  I have had a wonderful neighbor who has been sharing his tomatoes and I do not turn down free food at all.  I also had another neighbor who has several small peach trees in her yard and brought me over a small basket of peaches which I was just ecstatic to get.  I am going to freeze these and then vacuum seal these until I can make jam or jelly or preserves.  I just can't get them all done at once.

Fresh fruit is a very hard thing for low income people to get.  Even for families who have higher incomes, fruit is a luxury.  I really have never been able  to afford fruit, unless someone gives me fruit or I have been at the food pantry when I needed things when the going was tough, have I gotten fruit. Fruit and meat is definitly something that the lower end of us really are not afforded the benefits of.  And the government tells the low income to make better choices in their food selection, well, government, look at the price and ask me if I can afford it?  Even where I live, fruit is not grown hardly at all, so I am very excited about the peaches, and they are truly a gift.

I am going to give you the recipe for the vegetable bouillion I use.  Really it is not a recipe, just a mix of things and you dry it.
Sometimes when I am lucky to do a roast or chicken, and I roast vegetables with it, I have leftovers of vegetables, which I usually make more of on purpose to make this bouillion.  I generally freeze the leftovers and then in about a month, I have enough to make two dehydrator trays of the bouillion.  I bought a dehydrator several years ago, and then earlier this year, I bought a new one listed on Craigslist, that was still in the box new, for $10 bucks, so I now have 2 which I use almost daily now.

Now, take your vegetables out, whether they are frozen or from last night's dinner, and if frozen, thaw, and then if you have a food processor, or blender, run these through, with a little of the broth, and make a puree.  If you do not have a food processor, a food mill or even a potato masher will work great. Use what ever you have.  I also urge you to save your broth from your chicken or meat drippings, put in the frig, and skim off the fat, and then place this in a jar in the frig, and then if you have enough to make bouillion, then place this in a ice cube tray, freeze, and then pop them out and use them in soup, stew or gravies or whereever you need flavor.  Then place these in a bag or canning jar back in the freezer to keep fresh, they keep about 3 months, use up and keep a fresh supply from your leftovers.

Now, on my dehydrators, I bought extra trays, and fruit leather trays and also trays that you can dehydrate fruit to make candy with,  I use the fruit leather trays, they are a solid flexible tray that you can spread your purees on and then place on the slotted trays and then start up your dehydrators to dry.  I have also done this in the oven on a low oven, but this can heat up the kitchen a lot and I have burned things as you need to watch it as you cannot just leave and go off somewhere.  That is why I purchased the dehydrators as they are a great tool for me in my kitchen.
I do spray the trays with a little vegetable spray to help with sticking, and then this dries down to flakes somewhat on its own, and when dry, you break this up and place in the freezer, I use glass jars, you can use plastic, but I am not a fan of plastic at all.
That is about all there is to it.  If you cook a lot, you can figure this out.  Really its all about experimenting with things.  I did buy the book, " Drying with an attitude" by Mary T. Bell, and this is a great guide and the rest is up to you.  Drying I assure you is quite habit-forming and very fun.  I also dry vegetables and mix these to make a vegetable soup mix, and I grind  up my vegetable puree when dry to make a powder to shake onto food for flavoring, very fun.

Now this stuff, when you do it, looks different from stuff you buy in the store, this is home made bouillion, but it doesn't have the chemicals or MSG that the stuff in the store has.  So understand that it looks different when you use it.
To use, just place flakes in a little beef broth or chicken broth and let it soak up the broth. it takes about 15-30 minutes for this to do, and then pop it in your recipe.  I urge you to either buy broth ready made or save your broth from your cooking, don't throw out any of this as this is a great flavor add to your cooking.  I buy a broth that is made by a company that makes it without MSG or additives, and it comes in beef, chicken, vegetable or seafood.  Sometimes you can get caught short, and do not have time to make broth from scratch, so it is nice to carry this in your pantry staples, for quick cooking.  I also use it in cooking vegetables, and rice and making a base for gravies.

Since we are on the subject of pantries, and I am getting ready for winter here, I think that I will have a discussion on pantry stocking.  Low income folks are bad about not stocking pantries, as they usually buy processed food, and do not think of meals or meal planning for the family.  Pantry planning is purely based on your family's needs, and what you fix or eat in the house.  Each is different.  But it is nice to keep staples on hand, and you have the makings for some quick meals that you can just throw together and you are set with a healthy and filling cheap meal.  So I think that I will touch on this the next post for all of you.

Now, I do want to clear up something that I do not want folks to feel that they are excluded.  First, since I am a very low income earner, what I generally talk about it how to do things with less money.  This does not mean that this blog is for low income folks ONLY, its not, it for all who struggle, which is most of us.  I am just a advocate for the disabled or low income to handle the money they get better and eat better, as it seems that the low income do not handle money for food well, or know how to budget for food, or even cook.  I want everyone to feel welcome, and take what I have learned and then take the information and run with it or help someone else.  I do not want others to feel that you have to be a disabled to read this blog.  You don't, but its my situation and I live it daily, but everyone is having great difficulties and it seems that we all are "disabled" in some way to make ends meet.

I hope that I have helped in someway to bring a better meal, or a new idea to the dinner table.  I urge you to "play with your food" so to speak, and have fun with boring meals.

Have a great day and and up coming Labor day holiday for my US readers.