Little Susie Homemaker

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  • Away from home: Grand Staircase – Escalante

    *some links in this post contain affiliate links which means I will make a portion of any sales directed thru my links

    Ahh, southern Utah – you are so beautiful!!!

    We recently went on vacation to Southern Utah and visited Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Capital Reef, Arches and Canyonlands national parks.

    I’ll start with the first bit of our trip in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

    Upon flying into Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), we rented a Toyota 4Runner and drove to our VRBO in Boulder, UT.

    The Toyota 4Runner was needed for the high ground clearance. It was comfortable, had 4×4 options if we needed it (used once) and the ground clearance was fantastic.

    We stayed in the upstairs of a barn on a working ranch in Boulder, UT. It was beautiful, quiet and dark (amazing skies at night)! The unit was large, well equipped with a super comfortable bed and bedding. The kitchen was large which made making dinners easy.

    The hiking is beautiful in this area. We will be returning! We hiked

    Golden Cathedral

    The Golden Cathedral trailhead is in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. About a 1/2 mile down into the canyon, you will see a sign where you cross over into the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

    Golden Cathedral is worth the effort to get there!!! Strava clocked this hike at 10.46 miles with 1561 elevation gain. My husband found a map ahead of time that made this hike a loop rather than an out-and-back.

    At the bottom, we crossed the Escalante River to head into the canyon to the Golden Cathedral. We changed out of long pants and jackets (Avery leggings and Ryann hoodie) into shorts (Dani bike shorts) and water shoes. The water was ‘refreshing’ and not too deep at this crossing.

    It’s then an easy walk to the end of the canyon to the Golden Cathedral! What a spectacular site! The overall hike was a typical desert BLM hike in southern Utah, but the destination was worth it!!

    This hike is on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, so the trails can be fairly primitive compared to National Parks or what we’re used to in WA. We veered off on cattle paths multiple times and then bushwacked back to the main trail. If you have AllTrails, be sure to download the map.

    Hikes that are backloaded with elevation are not what we are used to being from WA. The hike out got harder once we started to walk out of the river valley. We crossed the river about 5 times and the deepest came to my knees. Back at the trailhead, the wind was still blowing and was a bit chilly, but after the effort up the side of the canyon, it felt fantastic!

    Escalante Natural Bridge and Cliff House Arch

    Day 2 took us to another river valley after we changed our plans to allow for adjusting to elevation, dry desert air and sun. We decided for a shorter, flatter hike than the day before and went to see the Escalante Natural Bridge and Cliff House Arch.

    This was a lovely short hike that is fairly flat. We walked through a river valley with multiple water crossings. (Wear or bring along water shoes).

    Upon getting to the Escalante Natural Bridge, make sure you cross the river and climb around in the area underneath and behind the bridge. It is spectacular and a great place to stop and grab a snack while you’re taking in the beauty.

    Head down the trail another ~1/4 mile to the Cliff House Arch. You’ll easily see the ‘cave’ in the rock and then you’ll see the arch. But make sure you look into the ‘cave’ to see the Cliff House!! (Zoom into the middle of the picture above to see it.) Incredible to see the structure still in place and it makes you wonder how anyone got up there to build it and use it. Ladders rule!

    Being the spring, watch out for poison ivy! Unfortunately, I found some. I didn’t even think to watch out for it thinking it wasn’t something in the area, but it is, so keep an eye out to be able to avoid it!

    Devil’s Garden

    After we hiked to the bridge and arch, we headed into the town of Escalante for some lunch, groceries, gas and a mocha!

    Once all of the above was accomplished, we headed back out the Hole in the Wall road for a quick, short walk around Devil’s Garden.

    This was a great, short little wander around some rock formations and hoodoos. The trailhead has a pit toilet which is pretty rare on BLM land (from what we saw). There are a couple of picnic spots too with picnic tables and grills.

    AllTrails said this was about a 1-mile loop, but it is really more of a rock playground that you can wander and climb around in. This is a great fill-in hike when you aren’t quite done for the day, but don’t have all that much more in you for a longer hike. (My feet were done after wearing water sandals that allowed too much debris in, so they were overly exfoliated from all the sand)

    Lower Calf Creek Falls

    On our third day, we got a late morning start to Lower Calf Creek Falls. This hike is pretty exposed as far as sun with little shade until you get to the falls, so be prepared with sun cover and sunscreen and plenty of water (I use this water bladder in my backpack).

    The Lower Calf Creek Falls hike begins in the campground. Grab a brochure at the start to get more information at the number posts along this hike.

    This runs along the Calf Creek and has areas with water that spread over the valley where beavers have dammed it up. There are petroglyphs across the valley (zoom in on the shadow on the wall where it curves down in the picture below)

    The falls were beautiful with a cool pool underneath. It is a great spot to plan to stay for a bit and have lunch or a snack.

    This was a fairly easy hike with some rolling spots as you navigate up and around the creek.

    When we walked out of this hike, we headed up the hill on Highway 12 to Kiva Koffeehouse! I highly recommend grabbing a drink and snack up there. The views of the valley below are breathtaking.

    Stay tuned for the next stop on our Southern Utah vacation!

  • Reducing food waste – Freeze Drying

    *some links below may be affiliate links which means if the item is purchased through the link, I may make a small commission

    Have you ever seen those foods/meals you can buy that are supposed to last up to 25 years? Those are freeze dried meals!

    Why would you want a freeze dried (FD) meal? Do they even taste good?

    Well, let me tell you!

    First the why – preppers prep, gardeners preserve (tired of canning or ran out of freezer space) or backpackers want to eat in the back country without needing a mule to carry the cooler.

    My husband & I fit into the 3rd option above (although I fit into a bit of all three). Ultra-light backpacking. WITH water, my pack is usually about 25 lbs. My husband’s pack is a bit more at around 28 lbs. (We have friends who do this with 45 lb. packs – no thank you!!)

    One way our packs stay light, making backpacking more enjoyable, is bringing along freeze-dried food. Freeze drying taking the water out making the food feather light.

    Two weeks after we got married is the first time I went backpacking and I fell in love with being out in the back country. Wanting to control the ingredients consumed, I knew I didn’t want to eat the store-bought FD’ed meals.

    The investigation into freeze-drying began! Buying a machine is expensive! Then I did the math. Based on what we were paying for meals at REI (breakfasts – $9-$13 each, dinners – $13-$16 each), it would take 40 nights for the 2 of us (80 nights total) for a machine to pay for itself.

    That math made sense to both of us that buying a machine was worth it. A medium Harvest Right Medium Freeze Dryer was purchased during the Christmas sale at the end of 2022. Harvest Right changed the configuration shortly after I bought ours and the medium now has 4 trays, not 3 like what I have.

    ***Harvest Right will be having their May Mega Sale May 1-21st, 2024 and machines will be up to $500 off!!! If you’re in the market, take advantage. Black Friday is their only other sale of the year!!

    After the first season of having the machine, it is half paid off by backpacking a total 35 nights between the two of us. In addition to full meals, there are individual ingredients and snacks available not include in that total. I consider this a big win!!

    FD’ing our leftovers allows for extremely lightweight food to pack. We take a Jetboil to boil water which we then pour into either a mylar bag or a titanium cup to rehydrate the meal.

    By making and taking own meals, we know what to expect and we know exactly what went into these meals. There is also a much bigger variety of meals than what are sold in the stores.

    To answer the second question, YES, they taste good!!! There have been a couple of things that we didn’t care for (Asian flavors – I think it’s the soy sauce that I don’t like). The most surprisingly delicious meal was fish tacos. We tried it on a whim and were VERY surprised at how delicious it was when rehydrated!!!

    The other two reasons listed above (prepping and gardening) have been a side benefit of having a freeze dryer. Having grown up out in the country, my desire to be prepared has not left me in spite of city and suburban living. (umm, multi-day power outage???) And now that I’ve started a garden, I like having the option of FD’ing some of the harvest! (FD’ed blueberries anyone!?!?!)

    There was more than one evening this past winter that I didn’t want to go to the store. Instead, I shopped the pantry and used FD’ed ingredients (carrots, celery, onion, chicken and chicken broth) into a delicious soup.

    You’ll notice in the picture above that most of my FD’ed stuff is stored in mason jars. I like being able to quickly see what and how much I have. And we’re also not wasting other materials if we have to repack something to fit better before we head out backpacking.

    I use the “accessory” button on our Foodsaver machine along with these mason jar vacuum sealer tops to seal the jars. The thing with FD food is to keep moisture away until time to use it. It slowly rehydrates from the humidity in the air and get soft and squishy and will eventually go bad.

    How does this reduce food waste you ask? It gives another option of what to do with leftovers to ensure they get eaten and not thrown out. It also is a wonderful tool to have when finding amazing deals on food (like the apple grower in Wenatchee that sells their Honeycrisp apples in the off season for $1/lb or less!!)

    It was an investment worth making for us. Freeze drying for the win!!!! 🙂 Hooray for HarvestRight!

    For more ideas on how to reduce food waste, you can read more in my previous post about Cleaning out the Fridge.

  • Garden Update – April 2024

    As spring is approaching (or here), I am excited to share my garden pictures. If you’ve ever grown a garden, then I know you understand my excitement for what seems like weeds popping up in the dirt!

    In the spot we usually grow tomatoes, I started out with peas and spinach. I have had to replant from one of the pea packets as nothing grew from the first round of planting. We’ll see if anything grows this second time. If not, then those seeds will go to the trash as they are no longer viable. (Or I’ll just throw in the ground somewhere and see if ANY of them grow)

    In front of the peas, I have two types of spinach planted. Of the first round planted, about 7 have popped up. I sowed a second planting in between the rows of the first planting. (First and second plantings were about 3 weeks apart). I am beginning to get an idea of just how much I may have to plant to be able to actually get a salad from these plants…I may need to turn the WHOLE backyard into a salad garden in order to grow enough. In the photo below, the spinach are the things that look like blades of grass (bottom left corner and middle left). There are some weeds in there too that are getting plucked out as they are big enough to actually grasp.

    As I walk around the side of the house, we have a couple of blueberry bushes, and rhubarb plants. I harvested 2 lbs. of rhubarb yesterday!! Any ideas on how to use so much rhubarb? I can only do so much jam, sauce or pies. (I still have strawberry rhubarb jam leftover from last year)

    Across from the blueberries is a raspberry patch. These are coming along nicely. They are everbearing raspberries, which means we get a spring/early summer harvest and then a fall harvest. I learned that last year and was pleasantly surprised with our large fall harvest!

    As I circle the backyard, next up in ‘the mound’ where I have strawberries planted. Because this area gets quite a bit of shade, I chose to grow alpine strawberries here. I won’t get a big harvest from these, but they’re cute and a good use of this space. I’m hoping that over the coming years, these may expand out and fill in a bit more.

    Here is the Mignonette strawberry plant from last year that has new growth this spring. The second picture is the two Mignonette plants I planted this spring. There’s a pretty considerable size difference between the plants from one year to the next.

    On to the actual garden plot, my radishes are coming up well. My beets are barely visible (I’m pointing to what has come up) and there’s more spinach. Because the beets and spinach haven’t done so great, I did a second planting of both of those about 3 weeks after the first planting. I’m hoping I’ll start seeing that second planting in a couple more weeks and that the first planting continues to get bigger!

    And finally, rounding out the backyard, we have flowers coming in on the honeyberry (haskap) bushes! These are an interesting early berry that when ripe, looks like an elongated blueberry.

    The bees are starting to come out so having flowers for them to pollinate is fantastic. My husband put out his Mason bees and I’ve seen some bumble bees buzzing around.

    I have also planted potatoes, kale and carrots in the garden. But nothing is showing yet, so I won’t bore you with pictures of dirt.

    It’s exciting to see things blossom and grow in the spring and quite fun to see what works in our garden and what doesn’t.

    My goal for my 2024 garden is 100 lbs. harvested from the back yard.
    Goal status: 2 of 100 lbs.

  • A day in the life – April 2024

    Today is a rainy April Monday with some typical activities of my retired life!

    After coffee & breakfast, I headed to barre class. If you’ve not tried Barre, it’s a fantastic workout! When I was introduced to it several years ago, some co-workers asked if I wanted to join them for bar class. I said “sure, like learning how to mix drinks? Sounds fun!” Their eyes got big and they just shook their heads and said “no, Barre workout” Oh, ok, I’ll try it! Boy, am I glad I did, although I wasn’t too happy after my first class. I couldn’t move well for about 4 days after. If anyone ever takes you to a Barre class and you’ve been before, do yourself a favor and take a walk later that day or the next day. You’ll be able to move a LOT better a LOT quicker!

    After class, I ran a couple of errands to pick up a hold at the library and then pick up a couple of items at Sprouts for a granola recipe.

    Had lunch once I got home, and relaxed while eating playing a silly game on my phone while watching a bit of TV. (real productive, I know!)

    I then mixed up the stuff for a loaf of sourdough bread. From start to finish, the recipe I follow takes about 7 hours, so I try to plan accordingly. (I fed the starter yesterday and again this morning to it was nice and active in time to get started)

    Since I had some discard and more in the fridge, I also mixed up the dough for a double batch of sourdough crackers. That dough sits in the fridge for several hours (if not overnight) so I’ll roll out that dough and bake them tomorrow.

    I then strained my latest jar of kefir and got another jar started. Then realized I don’t remember when I did my last batch of kombucha, so I checked that and it is ready to go. I bottled up the kombucha and started the next batch.

    I have plans to make up a batch of granola, but that may wait for tomorrow too.

    We’re heading on a hiking trip by the end of the weekend and I’m looking at what to make to take along for snacks without buying a bunch of junk food or not very good for me bars at the grocery store.

  • Reducing food waste – Fridge Clean-out

    *links included may contain affiliate links which means I may make a small commission on any product purchased from that link

    Wednesdays are my at-home day. (I work out the other days, so my mornings are broken up.) I usually do a variety of tasks throughout the morning and decided that today, there were some things in the fridge that I needed to use up before they went bad.

    I had 1/2 an onion, more than half a bag of cauliflower and an old pear.

    I have this handy-dandy food chopper, slicer thingamabob and I LOVE IT!!!! (The official name is “vegetable chopper“. I think I like my name for it better!)

    (I had a great set of photos for this blog post but for some reason, they won’t save and upload properly, so sorry for just words.)

    I love that it has different sizes available for a dice/chop, multiple shred options and a slicing blade. (I used the slicing blade like a mandolin slicer the other night for dinner when I needed chopped cabbage for fish tacos.)

    I used the small dice to chop the onion and freeze it. I also used it to make cauliflower rice. I blanched the cauliflower and then riced it and put it on a small baking sheet in a thin layer to freezer before bagging it up. If I don’t freeze it that way, then it will be a solid mass of cauliflower rice and not easily used in smaller servings.

    I used the larger dice for the pear which I used to make a double recipe of a single-serve apple cinnamon muffin that I adjusted to make into a pear ginger muffin instead.

    I still have a couple of things in the fridge to use up or put up (freezer or freeze dry), but I will work on that throughout the rest of the day!

    No need to throw money down the drain by throwing out perfectly good food. Getting it taken care of ahead of it fully going bad makes a huge difference in spending, but also prevents filling up the landfills. (If it has already gone bad, then put it to good use by composting it – either in your backyard, yard waste bin or a community composting arrangement.)

  • Garden 2024 – Start of the Season

    The garden for 2024 has begun!! Hooray!!!

    Anyone who knew me in my childhood or early 20’s, you’re probably wondering, ” “who in the world is THIS Susie?” LOL

    Rhubarb is coming in well, berries and other trees are starting to bud, and the hyacinths are up! (If you have any good rhubarb recipes, please share!!! I’m at a loss beyond, jam, pie, or sauce)

    Earlier I consolidated all of the chives to one spot. They’re doing well. I have cut some to have with dinner a couple of times. I’ve never just walked out, cut herbs and thrown them into a dish before. I definitely see the appeal of it! (that is thyme in front of the chives – that got pruned significantly at the end of January – we’ll see how it does this year and with a bit more attention when watering)

    Mignonette strawberry plants arrived and have been planted. They are tiny little alpine strawberries. The spot where we have the room for them if also fairly well shaded. Alpine strawberries do quite well in the shade, so I’m going that route rather than getting frustrated by trying to do regular strawberries in a bad spot. The plant I had last year yielded about 5 berries and they are about the size of the first knuckle up to the end of your pinky finger. I think I may need 1000 plants to actually get enough to do anything with, but I’ll worry about other better producing things and enjoy the novelty of these in my garden.

    I have planted spinach in two spots in the garden. Peas, radishes and beets have also been planted in the ground.

    Seedlings started in February are a mixed bag. One type of pepper has done well, as have the marigolds. But just about everything else I planted has done nothing. I’ll do another round in hopes that I’ll get some viable plants.

    I’m excited to see how last fall’s efforts to improve the soil result with this year’s garden. Hooray to the start of the season!!

  • Stores! Who needs ’em?

    (I still do for a LOT, but that list is beginning to shrink)

    Since I retired, I have taken on a sense of frugality that is up a notch or two from my past level of frugality. I now look at just about everything we buy and bring into the house to see if there is a way to make it myself and not need to buy it from stores.

    Someone asked me not too long ago if I was a prepper because apparently this pursuit makes me rather ‘granola’. LOL, No, I’m not a prepper. I’m more of a preparer.

    I grew up out in the country and we were snowed in just about every year and had summer storms that made us lose power or even kept us home with trees down over the driveway. Being prepared is just in me!

    I also like the idea of being more sustainable and not throwing things away that I spent good money on. For some of the things I’m working on and intend to make for myself in the future, I am also looking at what kind of chemicals are in the storebought stuff and in making it myself, can I get a ‘cleaner’, non-toxic product?

    Bathroom swaps:

    So far, I have made make-up removers using cotton and flannel that I had in my material stash. They’re not pretty but they work great. (I’ll make nicer ones in the future or deconstruct these sometime and redo them with a more finished look) They’re simple two-sided squares with the cotton (cute) pattern on one side and the flannel (soft) side on the other. I use those to replace cotton balls and throw them in the wash and reuse. (I’ve obviously used the ones in the picture and will keep the flannel color in mind for the future when I make more. The flannel will get stained from the mascara)

    I used to use cosmetic sponges to apply foundation and switched to a reuseable one that I can wash between uses. I’m still getting used to this one, but I like not shopping for cosmetic sponges anymore!

    Just the other day, I made my first batch of foaming hand soap. It was SO simple! (Castile soap, water and essential oil for scent). I refilled two bottles and so far, I love this soap. I’m looking forward to future refills and being able to play with the scents.

    Kitchen swaps:

    Most of these are on my to-do list and haven’t been done yet. But, I bought some flannels yardage to make reuseable paper towels. I’ll also use this material to make some Swiffer pads. All of these will be able to be washed in the laundry and reused over and over.

    I have started making sourdough bread. This has been a learning curve, but I have stopped buying “THM on-plan” store-bought bread (sprouted bread). I’m still working out how to consistently get a good sandwich loaf. Some have been great, others, not.

    I have started doing some fermenting with making kefir, kombucha and apple cider vinegar. These items store-bought are expensive, but SO incredibly simple to make at home. Kefir uses “grains” that eat the stuff in milk turning it into really good bugs for gut health. Kombucha uses a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) which ‘eats’ the sugar in sweet tea and turns it into a yummy drink that replaces pop and again, gives me good gut bacteria. And apple cider vinegar is so useful in the kitchen and delicious! This uses apple scraps and grows a ‘mother’. (yes, this is all VERY ‘granola’)

    This is a continuing process and I keep thinking about what to make or try to get away from buying from the store. I think dishwasher tabs and liquid dish soap make be next on my list to make.

  • A day in the life – Feb 2024

    *none of my links are affiliate links at this time!

    Today was a day of domesticity. (I would say domestic bliss but didn’t sleep well last night so if I’m honest, I wasn’t all that blissful. The dog woke up at 3:45, I took him out and then couldn’t go back to sleep for over an hour)

    My Morning:

    I started with cleaning a couple of bathrooms and throwing in a load of laundry. I checked my seed starts and had planned to throw out the ones I started in milk jugs as they haven’t done anything. Or so I thought!

    The spinach seeds I planted on Jan 31st finally have 2 sprouts! Still nothing in the two types of lettuce though. I think I’ll give them another week and then use that soil for something else.

    The tomato seeds I started in milk jugs also seem to be doing nothing, except when I went to throw them out, I checked one last time to find that I have several beef steak sprouts!! All is not lost, and I’ll let them all continue on their little journey!

    I also have quite a few onions and marigolds sprouting, a couple of cauliflower, and it seems that a couple of pepper seeds might be starting to try to break through. As with all gardening, time will tell!

    I threw dinner into the crockpot to have it ready tonight. I’m making “wicked white chili” from the Trim Healthy Mama cookbook!

    My Afternoon:

    When I got home from a chiropractor appointment, I decided that I needed to do something with all of the sourdough starter in the fridge.

    I made a loaf of lemon huckleberry quick bread (recipe is lemon blueberry, but we have huckleberries in the freezer), a batch of chocolate chip cookies and the dough of a double batch of crackers.

    I fed my started to work on getting a loaf of bread started tomorrow. And after all of that, I still have over 3 cups of started to use up. I guess I’ll have to decide what else sounds good!

    As I follow Trim Healthy Mama, I use Glenda Groff’s “All About Sourdough” cookbook which sticks to THM plan.

    That’s been my day of domestic bliss! I LOVE that I get to live this life and experiment and try things!

  • Garden 2024 – the start

    I’ve started gardening for 2024! Yep, you read me right, I have started gardening.

    We have a large variety of seeds, but I think many are so old they’re no longer viable. The only way to find out is to plant them, give them time and see what happens.

    On January 31st, I planted 3 different lettuces in milk jugs. 2 weeks later, nada. I’m not giving up yet!

    Next up, February 12th, I planted what need to be started inside – peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, parsley and marigolds. I have two flats and three more milk jugs.

    If these seeds aren’t viable and don’t sprout up, then I’ll plant more in another week or so or buy starts from a local blogger I found last year who is in my USDA zone.

    I’ve marking my labels with the seed packet I’m using (brand, not just what the seed is). If they don’t sprout, I’ll throw that packet away.

    After last year’s rather first attempt at a garden, we have amended the soil. Last year, we planted in dirt and hoped for the best. This year, we started in the fall by adding a couple of inches of fertile mulch, grass clippings and a light layer of leaves. Last month, I turned that over and raked it in together to help break up what had matted down. I will get more compost added to the garden before I start planting outside.

    My goal for my 2023 garden was 50 pounds harvested and ended up with almost 100 pounds from the back yard. (Thankfully my husband had several types of berry plants planted years ago and a couple of apple trees.) My 2024 garden goal hasn’t fully been decided yet, but it will be over 100 pounds.

    I’m happy to get to play in the dirt already!

  • Housewifeyness

    It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, but since my last post, I got married and am fully embracing (and LOVING) being a housewife. I was able to join my husband in retirement back in April. In retirement, I get to try whatever housewife’y’ whim that comes to mind!

    So far, I’ve done sourdough (its a learning curve and thankfully on the up curve), kefir, kombucha (also a learning curve and still on the down – time for more learning), gardening, and most recently embroidery.

    "Happy Camper" pattern from Bareroots.com
    "Coffee Please" kit purchased from Joann's

    I want to embrace being as frugal as possible and make things myself as much as I can. I had someone ask if I was becoming a prepper and no, I’m not. I’m a “preparer” meaning, I want to be ready in case something should happen (a bad storm and we lose power) or get the whim to do a no-spend period of time. Plus, I want to save any money I can so we have more money available for travel! (I think travel is the real reason for wanting to be frugal – priorities!)

    For food items, I want clean, few ingredients, hopefully homegrown, healthy, nourishing food. For other household things, I’ve been thinking through what we buy from the store and whether I can make it myself. So far, I have replace cotton balls with cotton/flannel make-up remover squares. These did not turn out very cute, but they are quite functional. Because its only me using them, I don’t yet feel the need to make pretty/cute ones yet. But, one day, I will make some more and make them look nicer.

    I look forward to finding more ways to be a frugal housewife. With spring on its way, I am looking forward to getting back into the garden. Pruning has started and seeds are going to be put in dirt inside here in the next week or so.

    Lots happening and lots more to come!