Pantry Challenge: Week Four Finale

The Pantry Challenge ends this week and I believe it was quite a success!

The most important two things I learned are planning and time are the keys to saving money in the kitchen.  If I don't plan, I forget to get out things to defrost and end up flying by the seat of my pants.  Once I get out things I must take the time required to cook it!

I did a little bit of experimenting this week and came up with a really easy way to make homemade pizza dough!  I take my no-knead bread recipe and when it comes time to put it on the stone, I carefully spread out about half of the dough to the edges of the stone.  Make sure your hands are pretty wet so that they don't stick to the dough.  Put the spread out bread in the oven until it gets just a tiny bit brown, take it out and put on your sauce, cheese, and toppings, then continue baking it until it's done to your satisfaction.  The leftover half of the bread can go in the refrigerator and be baked in the next two weeks - just preheat the stone (and don't forget the water for steam).  No thawing, rising, or anything else is required. 

I bought two bunches of organic bananas and of course they didn't all get eaten before they started getting overripe.  Banana bread to the rescue!  Everyone has their favorite recipe, here's mine:

  After creaming together the butter and sugar, I just dump all the ingredients one at a time while the mixer runs (even the whole bananas!).

Banana Bread

1-1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter

2 eggs

3-4 ripe bananas

1/2 c. buttermilk or milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2-1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Bake at 350-degrees for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Makes 2 loaves.

My own personal Pantry Challenge will continue into the spring so that I can clean out, use up what I have before the new spring and summer vegetables come in and in the fall when the new batch of chickens, pork, and venison get put in the freezer. 

"Being frugal does not mean being cheap! It means being economical and avoiding waste." 

--Catherine Pulsifer

Fresh: The Movie, FREE Streaming Until February 1st!

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.

FRESH Details

Total running time: 72 minutes

Production Year: 2009

Produced and Directed by: ana Sofia joanes

Edited by: Mona Davis

Director of Photography: Valery Lyman

Music: David Majzlin

Sound Design: Eric Milano

Mixing: Tom Paul

Poster Design: Seltzer Studio Graphics

Go HERE to get FREE streaming of Fresh: The Movie now through Wednesday February 1st.  

You're NOT going to want to miss this!




I wanted to get this free offer out there as quickly as possible.  Tomorrow I'll post my wrap up of "The Pantry Challenge."




And don't forget to hop over to Homestead Revival!

How To Become Certified Naturally Grown

"Organic" has been thrown around so much that it's hard to tell if some of the things we buy are really organic at all.  Do the organic standards for produce coming from Chile match the standards in the United States?  It's hard to know.  Maybe they're better, maybe they're worse.  Certified Naturally Grown is farmers policing themselves and each other.  It is an honor system and, I feel, a point of honor, to raise the best/healthiest/chemical free vegetables, chickens, pigs etc. that I can.  

 Certified Naturally Grown offers certification programs for produce, apiaries, and livestock.  The standards generally follow the USDA organic practices.  

1.  Complete Certification Application/s Online   Each type of certification has its own application: Produce (fruits, veggies, and maple), Apiary (for beekeepers), and Livestock (includes poultry and eggs). Once accepted, applications become part of your online farm profile on on the CNG website. This public document should be kept updated to reflect your current practices.
Be prepared to sit down for about an hour to complete the online certification application.  Most of the answers you will probably know off the top of your head.  
2. Make a Contribution   An annual financial contribution is required for certification. We recommend $125 - $200 per year, and the minimum contribution for livestock or produce certification is $110. The apiary certification program is newer, so while a contribution is required, and we recommend $75 - $200 per year, we don't specify a minimum. You may wait until after your application is accepted to make your contribution.
I certified my produce, and while $125 - $200 is recommended, a lesser amount, at this time, will be accepted.  
3. Sign & Return Your Declaration/s   This is quick and easy, but essential. Your signature indicates you meet and agree to all the Certified Naturally Grown standards, and you understand and accept the terms of participating in the CNG program. Your signed Declaration will be posted on your online profile. Declarations must be returned annually to keep your certification in good standing. We'll send you this one page form once your application is accepted. With livestock certification a Feed Supplier Declaration is also required.
Easy-peasy, sign and mail back.  
4. Arrange On-Farm Inspection   All farms must arrange their own on-site inspection, which should take place within two growing season months of being accepted into the program, and then annually, at least once every 16 months. Inspections are done by volunteers for free, ideally by other CNG farmers. Inspection forms and guidelines are available online.
The inspection is ideally done by other CNG farmers.  As I did not have anyone CNG Certified within an one hour drive I had the inspection done by our local Penn State Extension Agent.  
5. Conduct an Inspection   A true grassroots organization, CNG does have a work requirement. All participating farmers and beekeepers agree to conduct at least one inspection of another CNG farm or apiary annually. This requirement is waived if there is not another CNG farm or apiary within a 1 hour drive. Be pro-active and contact farms near you that need an inspection (nobody "at CNG" does it for you). To maintain the program's integrity, you may not "trade" inspections with the person who inspected your farm or apiary.
As I did not have anyone within an one hour drive I had this requirement waived.  The one person I contacted on the border of this limit had already had an inspection done on their farm.  
6. Record Keeping   This is something that you should do in your own way. The observations you record today will help you plan tomorrow. We simply ask that you maintain records of the following items in one convenient folder for your inspector to quickly and easily access. Copies should not be sent to us.
Receipts and orders of the following: seed and transplant orders; any purchased soil amendment items (off farm compost, rock powders, pre-mixed Organic Fertilizers, etc.); and any purchased organically acceptable botanical and biological pesticides (Bt, Sulfur, insecticidal soap, etc.)
An updated copy of your application. This was emailed to you when it was accepted by us, or updated by you. It can also be printed from your online profile.
Farmers that need to use chelated micronutrients to correct a soil deficiency must have soil tests from within the last one year that specifically note the deficiency.
Have a folder labeled "CNG" and throw everything (or copies of everything) in there.

The very best thing you can do is go to the Certified Naturally Grown website and poke around to get complete information.  

I have found, through years of practice, that people garden in order to make something grow; to interact with nature; to share, to find sanctuary, to heal, 

to honor the earth, to leave a mark.  Through gardening, we feel whole 

as we make our personal work of art upon our land.

-   Julie Moir Messervy, The Inward Garden, 1995, p.19

Certified Naturally Grown

Fitzgerald's Family Farm, LLC is Certified Naturally Grown!  Check us out here!

(we're dead center on the PA map)

What is Certified Naturally Grown?

From the CNG Website:  Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) is a non-profit organization offering certification tailored for small-scale, direct-market farmers and beekeepers using natural methods. 

CNG was born of a commitment to healthy food and healthy soils, and grew out of the belief that we could create something uniquely valuable to small farmers and the communities they feed. CNG was founded when the National Organic Program (NOP) took effect in 2002. 

Our certification model encourages collaboration, transparency, and community involvement. Our programs are based on the highest ideals of organic farming, and the requirements are reasonable. Many farmers find the peer-review inspection process a valuable learning experience.

CNG farms don't use any synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or GMO seeds, just like organic farms. Certified Naturally Grown is an independent program not affiliated with the NOP.

CNG is nationally recognized and endorsed, and it thrives because of enormous volunteer efforts and the commitment of the people who participate. Please join the farmers and beekeepers at the heart of the movement! 

Why create a whole separate program?

Certified Naturally Grown provides a much-needed complement to the National Organic program. While the NOP is an important program that primarily serves medium and large-scale agricultural operations, CNG is tailored for direct-market farms selling in their local communities. These farms often find the NOP’s heavier paperwork requirements (and fees!) are not a good fit for their small-scale operations. CNG enables these farms to get credit for their practices while showing some accountability to their customers. Some CNG farmers become certified organic after a few years with CNG, and we think that’s just super.

The Grassroots Alternative to Certified Organic




Tomorrow I'll tell you how this came about and how easy it would be for you!

Why Your Teenager Can't Use A Hammer

As I was running through my blogs, I came across this article about how many of today's teenagers have never learned how to use simple tools. 

Why Your Teenager Can't Use A Hammer

As humans developed, "The conversation between hand and brain grew more complex, too. We advanced to the unique ability to visualize an idea, then create that vision with our hands."

The article discusses how some engineering students at MIT can't estimate a problem without their computer and the college had to build remedial courses into their curriculum.  It discusses how even architectural courses have had to add back to basics courses.

Our local Jr/Sr High School, due to a shrinking budget, cut shop class last year.  How many of our children will never learn the skills necessary to build a simple birdhouse?  What does this do to the thinking and reasoning process?  What happens to the paths between hand, eye, and brain?  And how can I combat this loss of skills in my own children?  

Easy Carpentry Projects For Children by Jerome E. Leavitt can get us started.  The book lists all the tools required to complete the projects.  Every project is made from entirely from hand tools.  Will it help a child learn patience and lose the need for immediate gratification when they must cut out the base of a simple sailboat with a coping saw?  What about the intense pride of watching your own project float?  The projects in this book are simple and do-able.  It includes 15 easy-to follow-plans for projects like a bird feeder, clock shelf, candlesticks, a cart, and more.

Wouldn't a handmade candlestick holder, bird feeder, flower box, book rack, or shoeshine kit make great Christmas presents!?!   

Lefty loosey, righty tighty?

Just Label It

The U.S. and Canada -- unlike Japan, Australia, and the European Union -- don't require GMOs to be labeled as such, even though 80 percent of packaged foods in this country contain genetically engineered ingredients

We are really behind on GMO labeling!  What do you think makes us so different from the countries who have done it?

Pantry Challenge: Week Three

The Pantry Challenge still chugs along.  All I've bought this past week is milk (of course) and while buying organic salad greens I saw that organic bananas were fairly inexpensive and picked up a couple of bunches.  

When I'm figuring what we're going to have for dinner, I either poke around in the freezer to see what needs to be cooked, or I look at my rough list for ideas.  This list isn't anything fancy, but  I just jot down dinner ideas that I find while rummaging through my cookbooks. 

Sometimes I note what special ingredients the recipe has that I want to use up and I always write down the cookbook and page where it was found.   

This week we started with a cheese tortellini that had been hanging out in the freezer with homemade canned spaghetti sauce from the summer (when I first made it I thought it might be a bit sweeter than I liked, but now it has melded into an incredibly good flavor!) and homemade bread into which I mixed a little less than a tablespoon of garlic powder and dried parsley.  

Another meal we ate was chicken breasts baked in a 9 x 11- dish with cut up carrots, potatoes, and garlic all tossed in olive oil, and a baked acorn squash.  I cook my squashes by throwing the whole thing in the oven on the oven rack and baking it until a fork pokes in easily.  I then cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and the skin usually peels right off.  Then I mash it with what ever seasonings I want to add.  It's simple and good!

Homestyle Chicken and Sausage was a big hit.  I only added sausage though.  

One night we ate out.

And our Sunday dinner was an easy Baked Ziti Casserole from Family Feasts for $75 a Week.  

My family loves their desserts and this week I made a pumpkin pie and brownies and last night a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies.  I freeze some of the cookie dough in dropped spoonfuls so that I can just take them out, put them on a cookie sheet, and have fresh baked cookies anytime.    

One goal of this challenge is to clean out one of the freezers we have (we have a chest freezer and an upright freezer) so that I can defrost one and then move everything over and defrost the other.  It would be nice to actually be able to turn one freezer off over the summer until we stock up on our meats in the fall.  

Next week will be my last week reporting on my Pantry Challenge, but I will continue following it all the way into the spring - when the fresh vegetables start coming in!