Nancy on the Home Front

Homemade Savory Crackers

Lately my husband and I have been watching the Great British Bakeoff. Have you watched the show yet? I’ve been dying to do some baking and I finally decided to make some Savory Homemade Crackers. One of my goals for the New Year was to incorporate more healthy recipes, so no fancy cakes or desserts for me. Instead I decided to try my hand at making savory homemade crackers.

I’ve made crackers before. In fact one of our favorite recipes is a healthy cheese cracker, almost like homemade goldfish crackers. Figured making these crackers was a perfect activity for a cold winter day in the Pacific Northwest! The recipe is based on one of Paul Hollywood’s recipes. I just used different spices in my crackers. The measurements are in grams, but luckily I can set my scale to grams or pounds so the conversion was not hard. I used a heart cookie cutter so they were perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Homemade Savory Crackers

Ingredients:

375 grams of flour
1 tsp. salt
125 grams of butter, softened
2-4 Tbsp. water
2 medium eggs, beaten in separate bowls

Flavorings:

2 Tbsp. Everything but the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend (from Trader Joes)
40 grams grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. sun-dried tomato paste (just chop up sun-dried tomatoes to make paste)
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds

Directions:

Put the flour, salt, butter, water and 1 beaten egg in to a bowl and mix well for five minutes. Divide the dough in half and add the Bagel Seasoning blend to one, and the cheese and tomato paste to the other. I made the tomato paste by using my mini Cuisinart to grind up some sun dried tomatoes.

Using a rolling pin, roll out each piece of dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/10 inch thick. Thinner is better. Place on a baking tray. Cover and refrigerate for thirty minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Dust two large baking sheets with flour. Using a cookie cutter cut out 18 rounds from each ball of dough. I used a heart cookie cutter. Place the crackers on the baking tray. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle the cheese and tomato ones with sesame seeds.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and then transfer to a wire rack to cool. These homemade savory crackers may be served warm or cold.

I may not be cooking under the tent with Paul and Mary, but I was able to re-create these delicious crackers in my kitchen. You Can too! Roll the crackers out as think as possible, some of mine were a little thick but still tasty!

Goal Setting Update Week 7

February, where it currently feels like we’re back in Vermont! Snow on the ground and frigid temperatures. Looking forward to the warmer weather ahead. Pretty sure this snowy weather is not going to last! Very thankful that the days are getting longer and we finally have afternoon sun streaming in our apartment once again.

Continue to monetize my blog. As you know this is an ongoing goal. I hope you have taken the time to check out my own page on Amazon where I put all the items I just love from favorite cookbooks to gardening tools. Please check it out, I’ve been having fun adding items to the various categories. Another aspect of this goal involves increasing my readership. If you enjoy reading my blog, please recommend it to your friends. The more the merrier!

2. Create a cookbook. You may remember this goal was on my list last year and I finally put it aside. My goal for this year is to have my cookbook ready by November 2019. I have been working away at this. After many days I finally gathered all the recipes off the blog and I actually have over 450 recipes. The recipes have all been organized by category and now I have to start copying each recipe into a document which will finally be made into a cookbook. Another ongoing project.

3. Have 20 minutes of exercise at least 5 times a week. The only exercise we received in the last week was looking at houses. We spent the week in the Portland area and looked at numerous homes. Nothing was quite right so the search continues. We did see one nice house that had some raised beds, an herb garden and three bee hives! That was encouraging.

4. Explore ~~ten~~ 9 parks or hiking trails in the state of Washington we now call home! No new parks this week. Several of the houses we have looked at backed up to green space. It would be nice to have walking trails you could access from your home, it would remind me of Vermont!

5. Incorporate 20 16 new recipes into our dinner plans with the focus being on healthy eating. Made a delicious Italian Spinach and Tortellini Soup this week. It was so good. I will share the recipe on Friday. It was the perfect soup for these cold, snowy days.

6. Read 35 28 new books this year. Finished my seventh book , The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. I had been waiting to read this book for months! It is another World War II book and is all about the women spies. although the book is fiction is is based on real people. I would highly recommend this book.

7. Complete ~~Four~~ 2 knitting or sewing projects this year. Second project is finished! The third project is in the works. I mentioned last week that a friend of mine sent me a package of material! More placemats to come!

8. Visit family on the west coast. Had a great time in Portland, spent time looking at real estate, but also got to celebrate my birthday with some goodies! It is such fun to be spoiled.

9. Explore ~~Six~~ 5 new museums in the area. We are still waiting to grab the pass from the library for the Tacoma Glass Museum, hoping we can pick up this pass soon!

10. Find a new home. We have looked at so many homes it’s hard to keep them straight! I take photos of each one and write down various notes so we can keep them all straight. After a while they all blend together. Just want to find something that offers some gardening space and a nice kitchen! Learning to be patient.

“You can do anything is you set goals. You just have to use yourself”
R.J. Mitte

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For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting Nancy On The Home Front.

Unexpected Snow

Last week we were in Portland for the week looking at homes, while we were gone the Tacoma area got some unexpected snow! By the time we arrived back “home” it was pretty much melted. However, Friday night we got about 6” of snow and we woke up to a winter wonderland Saturday morning!

Friday we made a trip to the store where everyone was shopping as if to prepare for the end of the world! Bread aisles were empty and there was no water to be found. We were well stocked and the only worry was if the power went out. We have all electric in our little apartment. Our daughter and son-in-law have a two burner camp stove and a wood stove so we were told we could come next door if the power goes out. So far we have been lucky and no power outages.

It’s kind of funny, as a storm of six inches in Vermont would not slow down anyone! The kids would probably still have school and it would just be another storm. Here in the Pacific Northwest it’s another story! There are few plows so the side roads are pretty much snow covered. Even church was cancelled on Sunday!

The forecast for the week ahead is for more snow, at least for the next week! The temperatures are well below normal in fact it was 13 degrees when we woke up this morning. Our poor little wall heater unit can barely keep our apartment above 62 degrees!

The snow is beautiful. We’re thankful we’re in a warm home with food on hand and plenty of water. Not sure what the rest of the week will be like, but we know it’s unusual to have this much snow in this area of the country so we will enjoy the beauty and look forward to warmer days ahead.

Valentine Day Treats

Less than a week until Valentine’s Day, do you have your Valentine Day treats ready? In our house we really don’t celebrate the day in any big fashion, but my husband does have a sweet tooth so I do enjoy baking a few goodies for him. He never forgets the day and will usually make me a cute card. I’m not as artistic so I will resort to baking him a treat or two.

One year I used an old recipe of my husband’s grandmother to make some of her famous coconut candy. It was pretty good, but the next time I make it I will use fresh coconut instead of dried. She used to spend her winters in Florida where she had a ready source of fresh coconut from her trees. The extended family still talks about how delicious her coconut candies were!

As you know I enjoy making scones, and it wasn’t long ago that I shared my Maple Oat Scones. If you enjoy scones use a heart cookie cutter to shape these Cranberry Orange Scones. They create a perfect Valentine Day treat! Plus the bits of red from the cranberries add a festive touch.

If your husband is not a fan of scones make a batch of Cranberry Vanilla Muffins. You might even have some frozen cranberries leftover in your freezer. This would be an excellent way to use them up.

Now that your husband and family are taken care of don’t forget the birds! These bird treats are simple to make and are a wonderful project to do with young children. The last time I made them the squirrels enjoyed them as much as the birds did!

I hope however you celebrate Valentine’s Day you take the time to show your husband and family how much you love them! Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Gardening in the Pacific Northwest

Gardening in the Pacific Northwest is quite different from gardening in Vermont. I am looking forward to getting a garden established and enjoying a much longer growing season than I did in Vermont.

In Vermont we were in the hardiness zone 4a while here in the Pacific Northwest, outside Tacoma we are in hardiness zone 8b. What does that mean? The USDA divides North America into eleven separate planting zones based on the dates you can expect your first frost and your last frost. It is important to know what zone you are in so you can know what plants will do well in your region. It is also helpful when planning your vegetable garden.

Our last frost date in Vermont was in May (21-31) and the first frost in September (11-20). I would usually plant my garden Memorial Day weekend and even then I had to keep an eye on the weather because we could often get a frost in June. Seeds would be started the end of February-March so the seedlings would be ready to go in the garden in early June. It was quite a short and challenging growing season.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, outside Tacoma we are in zone 8b. The first frost date isn’t until early November (1-10) and the last date of a frost is in April (1-10). I’m going to have a considerable longer growing season by a month on either end. Our average frost-free growing season is from April 15 to October 24^thor 192 days!

What a difference that will be having such a longer growing season. In Vermont right now the ground is frozen solid and covered with snow. I would be getting ready to start my seeds indoors but probably not for a few more weeks. Spring would still seem so far away.

Recently we went for a walk at the Bloedel Reserve. I was so encouraged by the many signs of spring. I was so surprised to see Cyclamen growing wild in the woods and in full bloom! There are numerous seeds I could be starting right now if I was going to be starting seeds this year. The days are still short but I could be starting seeds such as onions and leeks. Believe it or not I could even direct sow seeds outdoors; seeds such as broad beans and sweet peas.

I am really looking forward to establishing a garden here in the Pacific Northwest. I know there will be challenges just as there were when gardening in Vermont, but they will be different. Pretty sure the slugs are much large here in the PNW! Having a longer growing season is going to be wonderful and that is what I am really looking forward to.

Goal Setting update Week 6

February, a brand new month. It’s also my birthday month so I’ve always enjoyed the month of February. Our days are full looking at houses. Haven’t found just the right one, but more come on the market everyday. We just have to be patient. I am making progress on my goals however.

Continue to monetize my blog. As you know this is an ongoing goal. As a result last week I wrote a sponsored post and was paid. I have also set up my very own page on Amazon where I put all the items I just love from favorite cookbooks to gardening tools. Please check it out, it is a page that I will continue to add items to! Another aspect of this goal involves increasing my readership. So if you enjoy reading my blog please recommend it to your friends. The more the merrier!

3. Have 20 minutes of exercise at least 5 times a week. No complaints with the weather at all. I am enjoying this mild weather and all the signs of spring. We have been exploring different areas and have managed to get over 180 minutes of walking in this week in between looking at houses!

4. Explore ~~ten~~ 9 parks or hiking trails in the state of Washington we now call home! This week we discovered a new park just about ten minutes from us called Titlow Park, right in Tacoma. This park has a very nice walk right along the water and then the trail makes a nice loop through the woods It is not a long hike, just a little over a mile. Such fun discovering new parks!

5. Incorporate 20 17 new recipes into our dinner plans with the focus being on healthy eating. Made a new Broccoli Cheddar Quiche which I found on the Weight Watchers website.

6. Read 35 29 new books this year. Finished my sixth book , Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin. I think I’ve mentioned that he is one of our favorite authors. We actually listened to this book which was different but enjoyable. The narrator was really good. It’s a great story of discovery with a bit of mystery.

7. Complete ~~Four~~ 2 knitting or sewing projects this year. Second project is finished! The third project is coming up. Just a few days before my birthday I received the best gift ever, a box of fabric from a dear friend back in Vermont. Best present ever! Can’t wait to get sewing, up next more placemats!

8. Visit family on the west coast. Well this week we are visiting family in Portland and looking at homes for sale. Always enjoy spending time with family!

9. Explore ~~Six~~ 5 new museums in the area. We are still waiting to grab the pass from the library for the Tacoma Glass Museum, that outing will have to wait until we return from Portland.

10. Find a new home. We are still looking for a new home; we looked at two houses which just came on the market just before we left for Portland. Our plan to look at six homes in one day while in Portland which will be just about the limit of what you can view in one day! More homes are coming on the market everyday as we head into spring. Because of this we know that we will find the perfect home sooner or later!

“It’s important to set your own goals and work hard to achieve them.” Yuichiro Miura

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For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting Nancy On The Home Front.

Where to Retire: Washington or Oregon?

As we continue to search for our next home we are wondering which state would be the better state to retire in, Washington or Oregon? We’re not ready to retire yet, but as we get closer to retirement age we wonder where to retire, Washington or Oregon?

Both states seem to be experiencing amazing population growth. It’s no wonder as both states have incredible beauty, wonderful outdoor recreation as well as the cities of Portland and Seattle.

After searching the Internet I found a few facts. Washington is the more populous of the two states. In 1990 the population was just under 4.9 million and it is now 7.4 million.. Oregon’s population was 2.8 million in 1990 and now it is 4.1 million. Washington has a younger makeup than Oregon, 13.6% of its population is 65+, compared to Oregon’s, which is 15.5%.

Real estate prices seem to be very similar. Of course it depends on where exactly you are looking for a house. Washington’s home values have gone up 6.9% over the past year and it is predicted they will rise again this year. Oregon prices have also gone up 6% over the last year and they are also expected to continue to rise. We left an area where the real estate market has not been raising much at all. Unfortunately we will not be making a lateral move.

We do not plan to live in the city in either state, but if you compare the cost of living Seattle, Washington is 38% more expensive than Portland, Oregon!

Both Washington and Oregon have similar climates. The actual biggest differences are the very wet coast sections of each state as compared to the desert like eastern reaches. Most of our exploring has been along the western part of each state.

What about taxes? Both states are actually considered tax friendly. Washington does not have an income tax. They do have a sales tax, which is 6.5% statewide and higher in certain areas like Seattle and some other cities. In Oregon the reverse is true, they have no sales tax but a stiff income tax instead. Oregon exempts social security and some pension income from state income tax. Oregon seems to treat capital gains as regular income. Both states offer senior property tax exemptions to those with lower incomes.

After weighing all the comparisons I think it will come down to where we can find a house that we want to spend the next twenty years in. Both states have a lot to offer, beautiful scenery, lots of hiking trails, youthful big cities such as Portland and Seattle. You can choose to live near the water or near the mountains or somewhere in between.

So we’ll keep looking in both states and see what we can find as far as our next house goes.

Maple Oat Scones

Another six weeks or so and sugaring season will begin in Vermont. In honor of Vermont maple syrup I decided to make a batch of Maple Oat Scones. I love these simple tasty scones because the sweetness all comes from maple syrup not cane sugar. They aren’t too sweet yet have a delicious maple flavor. They go perfectly with your morning cup of tea.M

Maple Oat Scones

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cup flour
1 ½ cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 tsp. baking powder
10 Tbsp. Butter
1/3 cup heavy cream
¼ cup maple syrup
1 large egg, slightly beaten
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Maple Glaze

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. While your oven is preheating combine the flour, oats and baking powder in a large bowl. Mix the dry ingredients well. Next use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Mix the butter into the dry ingredients until it is the size of peas. Stir in the cream, the beaten egg and maple syrup, mix until well combined. Add the walnuts.

Turn the dough onto an unfloured work surface and shape into a eight inch round about 1 inch thick. When I make scones I like to use my mini scone pan. It makes scones about half the size of a normal scone.

Lightly spray the scone pan with oil before adding the batter. Bake the scones until lightly browned, about 15-18 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Maple Glaze

Combine 1 Tbsp. melted butter, 2 Tbsp. Maple syrup, 1 Tbsp. Heavy cream and 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar in a small bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until smooth and lump free. Drizzle the cooled scones with the maple glaze and serve.

If you plan to freeze some of the scones, do not drizzle with the maple glaze. I plan to enjoy these maple oat scones with my tea and remember our neighbors’ sugar house back in Vermont.

Why Store Wheat Berries?

Whether I have a large walk in pantry with a years worth of food set by, or a much smaller pantry with only a few months of food stored, one thing you will always find in my pantry is wheat berries. Why store wheat berries you may wonder?

Making my own bread is one of the many steps I do in living a self-reliant lifestyle. Not only do I make my own bread, but I also grind my own flour using wheat berries. For the last twenty five years wheat berries have been a common household staple.

Wheat berries are a true whole grain! Without these kernels there would be no flour. They are loaded with nutrients and are as easy as rice to prepare, perfect for a meal any time of the year. Did you know that raw wheat, if kept dry and free of insects, could last hundreds of years without any loss of quality or taste?

Unfortunately, once wheat is ground into flour, it will last only a few days without turning rancid, which is why regular store-purchased flour is heavily bleached and full of preservatives. I started buying wheat berries more than 25 years ago even though I didn’t own a wheat grinder. I had a friend that would grind the berries for me. Eventually I purchased a wheat grinder of my own and have been happily grinding my own wheat for years.

In addition to grinding wheat berries to make your flour, you can also enjoy them in other ways. When they are boiled, cooked wheat berries have a chewy bite and a nutty, earthy flavor. They can be eaten as a breakfast cereal with milk and cinnamon or added to a salad or main dish. A cup of cooked wheat berries has about 300 calories and is packed with fiber, protein and iron. If you Google major cooking sites like The Food Network and search “wheat berries” you’ll find at least 50 tasty suggestions that incorporate whole wheat into soups, salads, sides and main dish casseroles.

Our favorite recipes using whole-wheat flour are bread, whole-wheat scones and whole wheat brownies.

I hope you have been following along as we challenge ourselves to live a more self-reliant lifestyle for the entire month of January.

Follow our Pinterest Board for Self Reliance Challenge posts.

Stop By & Visit The Self Reliance Challenge Bloggers…

Kathi – Oak Hill Homestead

Nancy – Nancy On The Homefront

AnnMarie – 15 Acre Homestead

Farmgal – Just another Day on the Farm

Candy – Candy’s Farm House Pantry

Kristi – Stone Family Farmstead

Marla – Organic 4 Greenlivings

Heidi – Healing Harvest Homestead

Victoria – Modern Homestead Mama

Shawna – Homegrown Self Reliance

Stephanie – Happily Homegrown

Bethany – Family Growing Pains

Dianne – Hidden Springs Homestead

Julie – The Farm Wife

Lacey – Home & Harrow

Robin – A Life in the Wild

Sheri Ann – Experimental Homesteader

Lisa Lynn – The Self Sufficient HomeAcre

The New Homesteader’s Almanac

Goal Setting Update Week 5

How can it be almost the end of January? How are you doing with your goals? Have you written them down yet? I find when I’ve got them written down and in front of me I can focus on getting them completed!

Continue to monetize my blog. This is an ongoing goal. I made a start last year and plan to continue on with it this year. I have written several sponsored posts. I have also set up my very own page on Amazon. I get to put all the items I just love from favorite cookbooks to gardening tools. Check it out, it is a page that I will be adding to! Another part of this goal involves getting my readership up. If you enjoy reading my blog please recommend it to your friends. The more the merrier!

2. Create a cookbook. You may remember this goal was on my list last year and I finally put it aside. My goal for this year is to have my cookbook ready by November 2019. I have been working away at this. After numerous days I finally gathered all the recipes off the blog. I actually have over 450 recipes. First step is to get them organized into topics such as desserts, salads, etc. Then I will begin to actually copy the recipes into a document ready for printing. What a process!

3. Have 20 minutes of exercise at least 5 times a week. Our weather has been quite nice lately and we managed to get quite a few walks in and the total amount of time spent walking was 295 minutes, just shy of five hours! I actually beat this goal this week! It’s about time. It’s been fun noticing all the spring flowers that are already in bloom! so different from Vermont.

4. Explore ten parks or hiking trails in the state of Washington we now call home! We did make it to Bloedel Preserve this week, but this is not a new park for us. We have been here several times but it is just such a beautiful place to walk.

5. Incorporate 20 18 new recipes into our dinner plans with the focus being on healthy eating. I did try Blue Apron for the first time and picked out meals that were Weight Watcher approved. I had a special discount so the price was good and I didn’t have to think about what to make for dinner. We tried a total of four of their recipes and they were pretty good. Lots of plastic waste so I might try to recreate the recipes at home, and I won’t be ordering Blue Apron again.

6. Read 35 30 new books this year. Finished my fifth book , Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg. She was also the author of The Story of Arthur Truluv, which I just loved. Night of Miracles is a continuation of The Story of Arthur Truluv and I enjoyed it just as well. I love when you find a new author who has a lot of books that I haven’t read yet!

7. Complete ~~Four~~ 2 knitting or sewing projects this year. Second project is finished! Have not finished any more projects but a dear friend of mine is sending me material to make more placemats! Love projects that come together quickly! Next up, more placemats!

8. Visit family on the west coast. Haven’t made any progress on this goal yet. However my brother-in-law is planning a family reunion on the east coast this summer! Exciting to have such a trip in the works. The difficulty will be getting all four of our grown children, plus spouses and three grandchildren to fly east in August! I’m excited as the reunion will be held in my favorite place, Nantucket. It’s my happy place, although I don’t get there very often!

9. Explore ~~Six~~ 5 new museums in the area. There is so much to learn about this new area we are living in. We thought the first museum we visited would be the Tacoma Glass Museum but we’re still waiting for the pass to show up a the library. Instead we grabbed the pass to the Tacoma Art Museum! Amazing how much money a pass from the public library can save you! We enjoyed a nice Saturday afternoon looking at all the artwork.

10. Find a new home. Still looking, our realtor is back from vacation but nothing has shown up on the market that we like! Very frustrating but we just have to be patient. Next week we are heading down to Portland to meet with a realtor there. Just curious how the prices compare.

“I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time.”
Michael Phelps

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site.

For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting Nancy On The Home Front.