Journal, What I'm Doing Now

Two Years In: Lessons From Living With In-Laws

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In January of 2024, it will be 2 years since we moved in with my in-laws! It has been one wild roller coaster ride that seems to not be slowing down any time soon! I am unable, due to our current living condition, to be brutally explicit about everything but I just want to give an update on life.

Initially, my in-laws wanted to sell their property, buy a house closer to town, and have us live either with them or have a modular home built on the property for them. However, due to the high real estate prices (and low valuation of farm land), this was not financially feasible. So, we moved from a less-than-one-quarter-acre downtown house onto roughly 23 acres. We had such high hopes and plans!

We knew it would be a challenge, adjusting to living with other people after living alone for so long. We had no idea just how challenging it would be. You never really know someone until you live with them. I know this door swings both ways, since I am not an easy person to get along with, but I knew I could make it work. The main issue was there was no room for us here.

We moved from a roughly 800 sq. ft., 2 bedroom home with a garage to a bedroom. We were without any internet for almost a year, having the worst cell phone reception (I never understood the term “Internet Desert” until we move out here, and we only live two miles outside of the city limits). Despite a barn, there was no spare room for our things. “We’ll just get some cargo containers.” We bought two 20-foot cargo containers, yet we still have things at our old house (which is why I am truly thankful my sons are living there).

If this was one of those old homes in Utah, with two kitchens, that would help immensely. However, sharing a completely stocked kitchen (including refrigerator) with another family is difficult. We bought a second freezer … there still isn’t enough room. We have considered buying a mini-fridge and having that in our bedroom, but our space is already so limited.

As for my animals and farming, I had to give all of that up. Thankfully, my former neighbor bought my pheasants from me. My quail came out here and were fed to the land and air spirits (predators fed well for a week while we were moving). I am unable to farm because there are already plans in place for this area or that area.

We began this journey thinking we were finally going to have the space we needed and the ability to help wherever we could. Our hopes got raised, then shot down without a second thought. Now, we have notched that back to being merely caretakers. We are here to fix up the property, “getting it ready to sell.” There were so many projects my in-laws could not keep up with that we still have not completed. We are also here to take care of them if they need it (there have been two health scares that justify our move out here).

What have we learned from this experience so far?

  • We LOVE living alone
  • We LOVE having our own dog (they have two)
  • We LOVE cooking (we never realized how much we loved to cook until we could not)
  • We LOVE being able to plant whatever plants we want
  • We LOVE living in the country, on small country roads (this property borders a rather busy highway that used to be a small country road)
  • We LOVE having neighbors way over there
  • We LOVE raising animals that may end up on our table
  • We LOVE our drama-free life
  • And we still LOVE each other, through all that life has given us over these 25 years together.

Stay tuned for our next chapter, which will be a few years from now. Until then, I have a few other bits of my life to share (I am SO HAPPY to have decent internet)!

Pets and Other Animals

Quail and Pheasant Care: Insights from Two Years of Experience

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It has been over a year (close to 2 years raising coturnix quail), so it’s time for an update. If I could get my pheasants to lay year round, I would exclusively raise pheasants. They require much less maintenance, except keeping only one male in the coop (I found out the hard way what can happen if I leave an extra male in there too long).

  • Since the pheasants are on dirt, they do not need to be fed as often as the quail.
  • Neither birds need special treatment (like chickens) but the pheasants will eat anything (just like chickens) while the quail are picky (they didn’t even like peaches).
  • While both birds are easy to harvest, more quail are required per person (which takes up a lot of space in our fridge while they age).
  • I receive more money per pheasant chick vs. quail (my local feed store prefers 4-6 week old quail over chicks).
  • The biggest downside (so far) with the pheasants is they require more square footage.
  • Both birds eat the same high protein food, so that makes feeding them simple and you do not have to switch up their food based on their age.
  • 2 pheasant eggs = 1 large chicken egg
  • 5 quail eggs = 1 large chicken egg

I have a few really bad (and one that is a bit more edited and not handheld) videos of my bird setups. My quail hutch I built based off a design by Slightly Rednecked on YouTube. Mine would be much lighter and easier to manage if I would have used similar materials but I reused the lumber and wanted as few cuts as possible.

My feeder is different but it’s basically the same concept. I now am using a plastic ice cream container with 1-inch pieces of PVC pipe hot glued around the base.

And here are the two videos of my automatic waterers for the birds. The first one allows you to actually see how the bird cups are attached to the PVC Ts, the second video is me rebuilding the quail setup due to algae buildup.

This was the last video our dog appeared in. He was such a good boy!

Health, Health And Wellness, Journal

Ivy Bromius’ Journey: Cancer and Spirituality

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Last year, I learned about a cancer diagnosis of an online friend. We (our little group) prayed and intended for her. After all of her treatments, she let us know she was cancer free. That was the extent of the information I was privy to. This year, I received my own scare. I had her email address ready for me to pick her brain. A week after I received my benign diagnosis, Ivy Bromius released, free for all (you do not even have to give her your email address), “The Cancer Grimoire – Magic on the Poison Path.”

Ivy’s Grimoire is beautifully written and she didn’t hold back, fearing her descriptions of what she went through would scare people away. I love, too, that no matter what your spirituality is, you can take the basic framework of her method and mold it into your spiritual path. After reading this grimoire, I realized this magical/spiritual journey could be applied to so many more maladies. Especially when you really look at what cancer is: it is you. Cancer is not some foreign invader that needs to be destroyed. Cancer is your body destroying itself. As much as I want to continue writing about Ivy’s process, my words will never do justice to hers. Here’s her first interview after the release of “The Cancer Grimoire“:

https://runesoup.com/2021/09/talking-health-crises-as-initiations-with-ivy-bromius/

And here is the link for Ivy Bromius’ “The Cancer Grimoire – Magic on the Poison Path.”

I encourage everyone to download this and read it.

Breakfast, Journal, Low Carb, Recipe

Basic Egg Loaf

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For those who don’t know, this is keto/low carb french toast! Today, I made french toast dippers in my corn stick cast iron pans (and they turned out better than I have ever made them).

This is one of the easiest recipes! It’s full fat cream cheese, eggs, and melted butter in a ratio is 2:2:1. That means it can easily be adjusted up or down!

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Basic Egg Loaf

Author: brendanolen Cuisine: Courses:
Difficulty: Beginner
Estimated Cost: $ 1

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

  2. Once all of the ingredients are at room temperature, place them all in a bowl and blend until smooth. You can use a Kitchen Aid, a food processor, a blender, a stick blender, etc.

  3. Pour into a greased baking dish (just about any will work: loaf pan, 13×9 casserole, muffin tins, etc.) and bake 30 to 45 minutes (or until brown).

Keywords: egg, keto, low,

Here’s the link to my meal prep containers:
https://amzn.to/31czIBI

Bread, Recipe, Sourdough

Sourdough Starter and Bread

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This all began when I read an article (which I can’t find any longer … I wish I could because it was fascinating) in which a chef stated that refrigerated old, neglected sourdough started was completely dead, so reviving it (bringing it to room temperature, then adding flour and water) was no better than starting from scratch.

So, I pulled out my 3+ year-old ignored-in-the-refrigerator starter and got busy. Then, I realized others may not have leftover starter, so I showed you how to make fresh sourdough starter, also.

Now, I had to show how to make bread! The problem was I obviously hadn’t made sourdough anything for over 3 years and it shows in the following video. I did (after failing miserably) end up making edible bread and now I need to make more! Hopefully my next loaves will be prettier. 🙂

I have this THIS POST with a ton of recipes but I just wanted to point you to King Arthur Flour. They have some fantastic recipes (and not just sourdough).

The recipe I used in this video is Extra Tangy Sourdough Bread from King Arthur Flour.

I hope you learn to love playing with your food as much as I do!

Dinner, Level 1, Levels 2 And Above, Lunch, Recipe, Soups

Chicken Soup and Canned Chicken Broth

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I did not grow up eating many root vegetables, so when I found a recipe for chicken soup that included parsnips and turnips I was highly skeptical. After I made it, I was hooked! There can be no chicken soup (or broth) without them! In this video, I am not only making soup but am canning broth. For the specifics on the equipment (and tools) you will need, please read my Home Canned Meat post. I am not including a nutritional analysis with this recipe. This recipe is so variable and I have no way of knowing how many carbohydrates are in the strained broth.

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Chicken Soup and Canned Chicken Broth Recipe

Author: brendanolen Cuisine: Courses:
Difficulty: Intermediate

Ingredients

For the broth:

For the soup:

Instructions

  1. Place all of the ingredients for the broth in a large pot (or slow cooker, electric roaster, or pressure cooker). Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium or medium low (you want it at a slight boil). Depending on your cooking method, let cook for 4 to 12 hours (you want everything cooked to absolute mush). Strain the broth from the solids, making sure to remove all bones.
  2. Place the broth back in the pot. If you used whole pieces of chicken, separate the meat from the bones (once cooled enough to touch).
  3. If you are going to can your chicken broth, you can evenly distribute your chicken meat between all of your jars and top with broth or just leave the meat out. Process in a pressure canner for the recommended pressure (and time) per your elevation. Remember that this broth can be used just like store-bought chicken broth. You do not want to over-season the broth prior to canning it to allow you the flexibility to use the broth however you wish.
  4. Now, if you aren’t canning your broth, throw the rest of the ingredients in the broth, bring to a boil, then turn down to medium. Let it boil until everything is cooked. BAM! You have soup for days! 🙂
Keywords: chicken, soup, broth, can, preserve, keto, low, carb, paleo

Canning, Dinner, Food Storage, Lunch, Preserving, Pressure, Recipe

Home Canned Meat

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Canning meat at home is one of the easiest canning you will ever do! The only special items you need are a pressure canner (not a pressure cooker), jars and pickling salt. If you want to keep canning after you try this, I would also suggest a tool set. I will be including links to these items on Amazon but, aside from the pressure canner, you can get most of these at a local store. This is the picture I took at Ace Hardware. LOOK AT ALL OF THESE GOODIES! I have never seen so many canning supplies in person! There were so many I ended up buying more than I intended (they had 1/2 gallon jars!!!!).

20200312_105638

This is my pressure canner.

Presto Canner
It’s a Presto 16-quart pressure canner and holds 7 quart jars (16 quarts is the total liquid the pot holds). There are times I wish I had a bigger one but it would make it too heavy to move around if I did have a bigger one (which means, maybe, I should get a second one). Now, even though mine isn’t the largest, it IS heavy. You cannot use canners on glass top stoves! If that’s what you have, you could use them on a stable/secured turkey fryer base (you don’t want it tipping over), a propane grill, or a tabletop electric burner (as long as it can handle the weight). You need your heat source to be easily adjustable, so wood or charcoal would be much more difficult.

Pickling Salt
Pickling salt: why do you need this? Well, table salt has iodine and anti-caking agents (which can change the color of the foods and leave liquids cloudy), whereas pickling salt is just that: salt. Officially, this is the only salt you can use for canning. Unofficially, I have used kosher salt and never had any issues.

Now, you will need jars. For meats, I like to use pint or 12-ounce jelly jars. They are perfect for a meal (or adding just a little meat to a dish). Every grocery store I have been to in my area has canning jars but if your stores don’t, here’s a link to the best deal I found on Amazon. You don’t need anything fancy. How many jars will you need? It depends on how much meat you want to can. Roughly 1 pound of raw meat will fit in a pint jar.

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Home Canned Meats

Author: brendanolen Cuisine: Courses:

Description

Canning meats at home is simple once you have all of the right tools.

Ingredients

Home Canned Meats

Instructions

Instructions

  1. Wash jars and lids.
  2. Cut meat into cubes.
  3. Place in a clean jar, packing the meat down to ensure there are no air pockets. Continue to fill, leaving 1 inch of space between the meat and the rim of the jar.
  4. Pour 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of pickling salt on top of meat (amount of salt depends on your tastes).
  5. Pour some vinegar on a paper towel and wipe the rim of the jar (this is to ensure there is no residual fat or liquids from the meat). Place lid on top of the jar, then screw on the ring. Do not over tighten the ring or it will be virtually impossible to remove later.
  6. Process in your pressure canner for the amount of time required (I am at sea level, so I process at roughly 12-15 pounds pressure for 90 minutes). Remember to add about 1 tablespoon of vinegar to your water to prevent mineral buildup on your jars.
  7. Turn off heat and allow the natural release of pressure (let sit until the pressure gauge is at 0).
  8. Remove jars from canner, placing them on a towel. Let them cool (and seal).
  9. Remove the rings, wash the jars with soapy water, write the contents and date on the lid, then store in a cool, dark place.
  10. As long as the seals hold, these should last for at least a year.
Dinner, Level 1, Lunch, Recipe

Basic Meatloaf

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I don’t typically crave meatloaf often (it’s not a dish my husband enjoys) but for some reason I had to have some this week. Why? I want a leftover, cold meatloaf “sandwich”. I want the mayonnaise and mustard, mostly. So, I am slapping a slice of this onto a leaf of iceberg lettuce and BAM! I have my cravings met! I let this cool in the refrigerator, sliced it, placed each slice between parchment paper, and threw those into the freezer.


This recipe is totally adaptable. You can add diced bell peppers, salsa, cheese, tomatoes, jalapenos, etc. As you can see in the video above, I added caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms.

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Basic Meatloaf

Author: brendanolen Cuisine: Courses:
Difficulty: Beginner

Description

This is a low carb meatloaf option

Ingredients

Low Carb Meatloaf

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Use either a baking sheet with baking racks or a broiler pan, to allow as much of the fat to drain away while baking. Line the bottom with aluminum foil for easier clean-up.
  2. Place all of your ingredients in a large bowl. With your hands (gloves help), squish all of the ingredients together. You want to make sure the seasonings and onion are well incorporated.
  3. Pour out your meat mixture onto a platter and shape it into a loaf. Place the platter into the refrigerator to let it solidify (about 15 minutes).
  4. Now, take your meatloaf out of the refrigerator and transfer it to your baking tray. Place it in the oven and bake for roughly 1 1/4 hours (or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees F). You can serve immediately or let cool for easier, less crumbly slices.
  5. Nutrition Per Serving (includes sugared ketchup): 193 Cal; 19 g Protein; 10 g Tot Fat; 4 g Sat Fat; 4 g Mono Fat; 0 g Trans Fat; 7 g Carb; 0 g Fiber; 5 g Sugar
Keywords: low, carb, paleo, carnivore, beef, ground, meat, loaf
Bread, Breakfast, Food Storage, Recipe

Sprouted Grain Buttermilk Biscuits

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My favorite biscuits are Baking Powder Biscuits from Kraft (https://www.myfoodandfamily.com/recipe/051722/baking-powder-biscuits). Out of all of the recipes I have ever tried, these always turn out fantastic. So, I thought I would try to adapt that recipe for my sprouted grain flour. I think I have a winner!

Recipe Card

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Sprouted Grain Buttermilk Biscuits

Author: brendanolen Cuisine: Courses: ,

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

    In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Grate the frozen butter into the flour and, using a fork, coat the butter with the flour. Add the buttermilk and mix until almost all of the flour in incorporated (do not mix too much or the biscuits will be dense).

    Sprinkle flour on your countertop and scoop out the biscuit dough. Gently fold the dough until it becomes more solid (roughly 20 times), only adding flour to prevent it sticking to your hands or countertop. Pat flat so the dough is at least 1/2 inch thick.

    If you want circles, cut with any item that is at least 2 inches round (a biscuit cutter, a drinking glass, an empty food can, etc.). If you want squares, just cut with a knife. Place biscuits on the parchment-lined baking sheet an bake for 8 to 12 minutes (until the edges start to brown). Let cool a few minutes, then split with a fork (use the tines of a fork to split the biscuit instead of a knife). Serve.

Level 1, Levels 2 And Above, Recipe

Jerky!

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Yes! I made jerky (and since this is low carb, I am posting this everywhere)! Join me for my first time and check out the updated recipe below. I learned a lot. The first thing I learned is it’s not as difficult as I thought it would be. The second thing is, when it comes to dehydrating, time is relative. In this video, I cut the meat VERY thin and now I know it didn’t need to be in the dehydrator for over 5 hours. This was fun and I can’t wait to try other meats (maybe some fish?).

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Jerky

Author: brendanolen Cuisine: Courses: ,
Difficulty: Beginner
Servings: 10

Ingredients

Jerky

Instructions

  1. First, decide what meat to use. If it is frozen, let it thaw a bit (when the outer edges are thawed, that’s good). If the meat is fresh, place it in the freezer until almost frozen. This makes slicing any meat easier.
  2. Next, make your smoked salt. You can either place some salt on a heat resistant pan (metal pie pans work great) and place it in your smoker. Here’s a write up all about how to do it: https://heygrillhey.com/smoked-salt/. OR you can cheat. Mix 1/2 cup of your chosen salt (I used kosher) with 1 Tablespoon of liquid smoke. It doesn’t matter what flavor of smoke you use. Spread it onto a heat resistant pan and place it in your oven. Turn the oven on warm and stir the salt to ensure it dries evenly. Once dry (and cooled) store in a container. Use to add a bit of smoky goodness to any recipe! Place all of the ingredients (except your meat) in a Ziploc bag and mix.
  3. Next, slice your meat 1/4 inch thick (thinner will take less time in the dehydrator and give you a crisper result) and add to the Ziploc bag. Close the bag and squish the meat to ensure the marinade coats every slice. Seal, trying to remove as much air as possible. Place in your refrigerator for 1-12 hours (or more, depending on how flavorful you want your jerky).
  4. To kill most food borne pathogens, you need to heat your beef to 160 degrees F and your chicken to 165 degrees F. To do this when your dehydrator temperature is too low, heat your oven to 300 degrees F. Pour your meat into a baking dish and heat in the oven for 10 minutes (if you aren’t sure, wrap a piece of meat around a meat thermometer). For other jerky safety tips, check out this page: https://www.jerkyholic.com/6-steps-to… Line your dehydrator shelves with parchment paper and add your meat slices, making sure the slices are not folded or touching.
  5. Dehydrate at 145 degrees F for 5 to 7 hours (but begin checking it at the 3 hour mark). Let cool and store in an airtight container. If you are worried about shelf life (especially if you live in a warm area), store in the refrigerator.
  6. For only Chicken Breast Per Serving: 140 Cal (22% from Fat, 71% from Protein, 7% from Carb); 24 g Protein; 3 g Tot Fat; 2 g Carb; 0 g Fiber
  7. For only London Broil Per Serving: 166 Cal (58% from Fat, 37% from Protein, 5% from Carb); 15 g Protein; 11 g Tot Fat; 2 g Carb; 0 g Fiber
Keywords: jerky, beef, chicken, dried, preserve, snack, low, carb, paleo, carnivore
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