Books that we love and books recommended by our blog tribe

This blog post will be saved for books. We love books! These are books that we recommend and also books recommended by people in our Heading Home Farms family of readers. If you have a book to share, please let us know. Recommended by Heading Home Farms. This book has some history and a great story and makes us glad we weren't born in the 1800's : )

3 Healthy and Delicious and Fun and Colorful snack ideas.

1. Greek nachos.... really? You can imagine how good this will be right from the picture. This is so fresh and tasty and makes your tongue do a little dance.
Click here for the recipe from NotWithOutSalt.com. 

2. We will be making this this weekend. Basil Hummus Stuffed Mini Peppers. Seems perfect for movie watching when you need to keep popping things into your mouth but don't want to gain 25 pounds : )

Thanks SheKnows.com.

How my dryer got some balls

Dryer balls are good for several reasons. Here are the top 3:
1. They cut your drying time by about 15-20% on average because they keep your laundry fluffed up and separated and allow the heat to get to everything evenly.
2. You could eliminate using fabric softener and switch to vinegar quite comfortably because the wool helps prevent static and the gentle bouncing of the dryer balls softens your clothes.
3. If you love to hang your clothes outside to dry, but don't love your jeans and blankets feeling like cardboard, you could dry your clothes outside and pop them in the dryer for about 10 minutes with the balls and they will bounce the soft back into your clothes.

Making them is super simple. You need a skein of wool yarn. It needs to be 100% wool yarn because the wool felts together to make the balls solid. Wool also doesn't hold onto moisture.

You take the yarn and start winding it into balls. If you're new to this, you start by wrapping the yarn a few times around your fingers, then slide it off, pinch the ends between your fingers and start wrapping. Keep wrapping around and around making sure you turn the little baby ball frequently to avoid bunching and to make your ball.

I didn't make huge balls. They comfortably fit in the palm of my hand.

You can use a crotchet hook or a stick or scissors to poke the end of your yarn deep down into the center of your new dryer ball.

The you take your dryer balls and put them into the bottom part of a stocking. Put one in all the way to the bottom and knot the stocking, then put your next one in and knot, and so on and so forth until your balls are all firmly in your stocking. This step helps to keep the yarn in place until it felts up.

Now you wash and dry them at least 3 times with loads of laundry. Try to make at least two of these washings be in a hot water load. Just drop your dryer balls into the load of laundry and then into the dryer.

After 3 washes, you can see if they have felted into solid blobs. You can check right through the stockings and try to gently move a piece of yarn. Once it's solid, you can take them out and you are done.

Dryer balls just get thrown into your dryer with each load and they bounce around and work their magic. They last for ages.

Please share your story with us if you have been using them : )

Beef Bone Broth

I very frequently get these bones for our dog. I always boil them first because I can't imagine giving raw meet to my dog, even though in the wild it's all he would get,  and he eats old tissues from my wastebasket so I am sure he'd be fine. But all in all, I prefer to boil them first.

Imagine my homesteading horror when I realized what I have been dumping down the drain each time after I cook them.

Perfectly good BONE BROTH!!!!! Ack!

I have been searching for effective natural replacement for collagen for our faces as an ongoing companion for our face creams.
Plus something for healthier hair.
Plus something with protein. 
Plus bone broth has glycine, which makes our livers stronger.
Plus glucosamine and chondroitin for building muscle and repairing joint tissues.
Plus better nails (remember when everyone was drinking gelatin for nails and hair?)
Bone broth has all of these. It's a cold fighter sister to chicken soup with many gelatin and protein benefits.
Plus doggie gets a bone. Win Win.
The best method to get all of the minerals and healthy bits out of the meat is to let it cook for a long time at a lower heat. So crock pot is best here.

Put the bones in your crockpot and add a few finely chopped vegetable to make it taste the way you like. You can use celery, onions, potatoes, garlic, carrots, maybe ginger for as snappy taste...
The vegetables are better left in with the broth and enjoyed in each bowl, but you can always cook them in a cheesecloth or food grade food strainer and pull them out when cooking is over if you want pure broth that is easier to sip out of a cup.
Add 2-3 tablespoons of apple cider or regular vinegar. This helps draw the minerals and proteins out of the bones.
Put everything in the crock pot and cover with water and let it cook on low heat for 8-10 hours.
Then enjoy. A cup a day would be so good for you. Store leftovers in the fridge. If you have a ton of left overs, you can freeze it until you need it.