Can It Be Done? - Getting Off The Grid

Can It Be Done? - Getting Off The Grid

What to do? 

Life is just happening right now and its spinning out of control, work and work and then more work on top of that work.

I am not even talking about working toward my goal of getting off the grid either, it seems I am being pushed more to use the grid and depend on it.

Is this a sign? 

The garden is now looking more like its a part of the lawn, I have a few bell pepper plants left and those are small, and the fall squash, I get some without worms and some with, I am tossing as much as I am harvesting.

I cannot seem to find the time to get the area plowed for the winter greens, at this point I am not sure if I can get them into the ground and growing before the cold temps get here.

Greenhouse? Nope! That is the impossible dream at the moment, not just the finds but the time to build it.

Food storage?

I have not canned or froze anything in weeks. However I did buy four pounds of carrots yesterday and two and a half dozen of eggs that I will try to get home canned today. More pickled eggs and more pints of carrots for meals or to add to soups is not much but its better than doing nothing.

Savings?

I can bet that this coming month the savings on the electric bill will not be much, since I am working so much I am having to do laundry at night again, meaning I have to use the electric dryer.

One or maybe two nights the hot water heater was left on by another member of the household, that is a real power sucker!

Should I give up my dream to be Power and water bill free for the rest of my life?  Should I not worry with a garden and buy my food? Should I continued to be a slave, getting a low income and just surviving month to month for the rest of my life?

Well, I dont know. But..... what I do know is that anything worth something is always, I mean always hard work.

Life pushed me down and now I am back up dusting off the seat of my britches.

By Andria Perry

Photo By Andria Perry

How To Pickle Eggs - Getting Off The Grid

How To Pickle Eggs - Getting Off The Grid

Many people off the grid or getting of the grid have chickens and collect eggs daily, if you do not use them up or freeze those eggs, or do not use a freezer because of the power usage on the solar, then you can pickle  the eggs! 

I have to say that I will try many recipes, some passed down and some new. But I have this bad habit of changing the recipe to better fit my tastes. Some recipes call for more salt than I consume in a month, some recipes call for so much sugar it`ll rot your teeth with just a sample.

First you have to pick the size of eggs you would like to pickle, I prefer medium because I can get six eggs per pint jar or one dozen per quart jar.

You don`t have to home can pickled eggs, you can just make a batch and put them in the refrigerator, they will keep well for a month when covered in a plastic container or in a glass jar. 

This is my tested and approved ( by everyone that has ever ate one of my pickled eggs) recipe, this will made one quart or two pints.

12 medium size eggs

One white onion

2 cups of white vinegar 

1 tablespoon of pickling spice

1 teaspoon of canning salt

2 tablespoons of white sugar.

Place eggs in a cooking pot and cover with water, bring to boil and cook for five minutes.

Peel onion and slice into thin slivers, set aside.

Remove eggs from heat and drain the hot water, carefully not to burn yourself, and run cold water over the eggs. 

Peel the eggs and put them in clean sterile jars, or the container for th refrigerator, by layering, a few boiled eggs and a few of the onion slivers till the jar or container is filled. 

In a stainless steel cooking pot add the white vinegar, pickling spice, canning salt and sugar. Bring to a rolling boil, turn down the heat to medium low and simmer for five minutes.

Pour the hot liquid over the eggs and onions. 

Note: if you want you can add a couple drops of red food color because the eggs will be brownish from the spices, I do not. Also you can strain the spices from the liquid, I do not.

For canning : Fill jars leaving one inch head space, wipe the rim clean with a damp clean cloth. Add lid. Put in  a water bath canner process five minutes. Remove from canner onto a cloth and allow to cool completely before storing in a cool dark place.

For refrigerator : Let the cool completely before covering with the lid, then refrigerate.

And that is how you make pickled eggs at home! 

Do you make you own? or do you buy what the store has to offer? 

By Andria Perry

Photo By Andria Perry