Christmas Dinner

My Christmas Dinner Menu

(give or take)

One 10 lb Ham

One can of sliced pineapples

Brown sugar

Honey

Whole Cherries

Frozen yeast rolls

Potatoes 5 lbs

Butter and Milk

Salt and Pepper

Can of Vegetables

Easy Bake Pumpkin Pie Mix in a Can

Pie Plate and  One Pie Crust

Cool Whip and Eggs and a can of condensed milk

 Directions are on the can.

or 

(Make my Coconut Cream Pie under my recipe tab)

This will need to be done the day before.

This meal will feed around ten to fifteen.

Allow approximately 4-5 hours to cook entire meal 

1.   Put Rolls in corn muffin pan after spraying with Pam non stick oil and cover with saran wrap.

Leave out to rise in room temperature for approximately 3 hours--follow directions on bag.

One bag of rolls is two muffin pans = 24--12 each.

2.   Wash and prepare Ham and secure pineapples to ham and mix glaze, drizzle on top and cover with foil (refer) to my Glazed Ham on my recipe tab) Put Ham in oven at 350 degrees for approx. 

2 1/2 - 3 hours. (directions are on the package for size, I am estimating 10 lbs)

3.   Peel Potatoes and cut up and put on to boil.

4.   Prepare the Pumpkin Pie and cook Pie beside Ham til it is done approx. 50 minutes.

When done take Pie out and let cool. 

5.   Drain Potatoes and put in mixer, add salt and pepper, butter, and milk to taste and  mix til you have a good creamy texture. (taste as you go, its always better that way! lol)

Cover and set aside.

6.   It is close to time to take your Ham out of the oven. So take a break and have some Holiday Cheer (eggnog) lol

7.   Take Ham out of the oven and set aside to let it rest!

8.   Start warming your vegetables up.

9.   Put rolls in oven and remember my rule on checking on baked goods early!

Check often because every oven is different and you want these to be perfect!

When they are done take them out and set them away from the heat of the oven! Melt a little butter in your microwave and brush or drizzle over the top. Now they are ready to transfer to a large bowl.

Slice your Ham and lay slices on a platter as desired

Place your platter of meat

on your table with the bowl of hot rolls. Add your vegetables and mashed potatoes to your table. Set desert close to the table to be viewed while dinner is being eaten!

Everyone will be envious of

  your 

Christmas Dinner

ENJOY

This is a picture of what the rolls and ham will look like at the store that I cook.

Cooking Tips

A Few Tips in The Kitchen

A Cake Or Baked Goods

Always check a cake five minutes before the end of required cooking time.

I have found that the last five minutes of cooking time can dry a cake out.

Of course you will need to know your oven for the most part. If it cooks faster or slower than recommendations. Just be mindful of cooking time and you will find that the last five minutes will get you praise and compliments on your cakes!

A Toothpick

Did you know that when a box says to do a toothpick check to see if it is done-they are talking about putting the toothpick an inch from the edge? This will not apply to all toothpick checks but its worth checking out. It could be the difference of  "that wasn't very good" or "I'll cook that again"!

Eggs

When a recipe calls for two large eggs, use three. Now if you have fresh eggs use two!

This will again make a big difference in taste.

Hamburger Meat

When you brown hamburger meat (scramble) for instance for tacos, let it brown a little before stirring  it. This will keep it from becoming too soft or mushy. When hamburger meat is done use a hand held potato masher to de clump the meat instead of trying to use a spatula or what ever you can find. This makes easy work of it.

Re fried Beans

Have you ever tried a can of re-fried beans and needed to throw them out! Did they taste bitter or just down right bad? Do you wonder how the restaurants make them taste so good? 

This is what I have figured out to do with them.

Water, yes water, add a little bit of water to your canned beans. That is all you need to do.

For two regular sized cans I add 1/4 can of water (half of a half) of one can. That's it! And you have decent re-fried beans.

I hope this has helped to make dinner at your house a little better for you and your family.

So after you eat your Nacho bell grande and have your cake for desert let me know if this has helped to make it all taste better!

Enjoy

Are You Failing to Prepare?

I'm Preparing and YOU Should Too !

Something I just have to wonder, is why are more people not into preparedness? Sure there are reportedly millions of “preppers” out there, but what about the regular folks out there? More often then not, I find that people just aren’t concerned about prepping. Is it the term “prepping” that turns people off? Or are they just too involved in the age we live in to ever think something bad could happen that affects them personally?

I know that you can not truly prepare for everything, as I’ve said before there are just too many everything’s out there. However, I stand by my belief that is of the utmost importance. I began my homesteader Facebook page with the intention of sharing information about homesteading and related matters. I feel that preparedness, a.k.a prepping, is very relatable with homesteading. Homesteading offers many valuable skills that teach people how to make their own…well almost everything. This translates into prepping because once you know how to use these skills if the preverbal poop did hit the fan, you would know how to not only survive but thrive as well !

I would be lying if I said that the lack of interest and urgency by some doesn’t bother me.  Personally, I feel compelled to get prepare to the best of my ability. Do I fear a coming apocalypse… No thanks, I am good with my maker . But quite honestly I do think that an economical collapse of sorts is a serious possibility. So, maybe your reading this thinking…so what? Well, that could lead to a serious breakdown of society, hence civil unrest. I’m not even going to describe the types of things that could happen during that time, but preparing is not only necessary but heck is also biblically taught... and Yes, I went there ! 

Here are 5 examples:

Proverbs 27:12 “A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”

 Proverbs 21:20 “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.”

Luke 21:36 “But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

1 Timothy 5:8 “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Proverbs 6:6 –11 “6:6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! 6:7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, 6:8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. 6:9 But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? 6:10 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—6:11 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.”

Please do not misunderstand:

(I do have faith and believe that God can protect us, but I also understand that He requires us to do things for ourselves as well.)

 

So, back to my original question:

Are YOU Failing to Prepare?



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Author Information:

 Sharon Pannell is a self proclaimed "Prepsteader", both prepper and homesteader combined. She authors the blog The Trailer Park Homesteader where she teaches others about the importance of disaster preparedness and self-sufficiency. Sharon believes everyday the stuff can hit the fan, it is not one big epic event necessarily and it only takes one set back to create a hardship; so big or small prepare for them all! Along with her blog, Sharon can also be found managing her other social media sites including her Facebook Page The Trailer Park Homesteader, TTPH Pinterest Page, and TTPH Twitter Page.

D.I.Y Family Size Meals in a Bag…

How We Made Our Own Meals in Mylar

 

The Purpose:

We made 39 meals all using dry ingredients this past weekend to add to our long-term food storage. The idea behind it was to make meals that already had all the necessary items and spices in the bag, and we could simply just add hot water to reconstitute when needed. In thinking about what kind of meals to make, we chose to go with a few soups, a couple varieties of seasoned beans, mac & cheese, black beans & rice, sugar & cinnamon oatmeal, and some biscuit mix. These are great items for camping and prepping!

Potential Fails:

As mentioned, these meals are were made with the idea of being ‘ready-to-go’. That mindset was kept throughout the process, and so all spices were mixed in with the items. Afterwards, the realization came that perhaps we should have put the seasoning in separate smaller bags within the main bag? But if you try this method, you can decide which would be best for you. These items are intended for use with a Cast Iron Dutch Oven.

Exact Items We Used:
1 Quart Mylar Bags: Find Them Here
Provident Pantry Butter Powder: Find it Here
Provident Pantry Shortening Powder: Find it Here
Oxygen Absorbers 2000cc 30 Pack: Find Them Here
Norpro 3245 Grip Easy Manual Pastry Blender: Find it Here

You need the various ingredients, Mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, pastry cutter, and a sealer (we used a hair straightener on the highest setting, worked perfectly!). Make sure you are storing your oxygen absorbers in a sealed glass jar to keep them fresh. Leave them in the jar until you are ready to seal everything at once. You don’t want them to go bad before you get to use them!
Remember: to seal half of the bag, press out all the air you can, then add the oxygen absorber at the end and seal the bag. Getting all the air out before you add in the absorber, will ensure it’s effectiveness.

Recipes:

Super Easy Seasoned Split Pinto Beans:

This is one of the two simplest recipes we bagged. You can do it one of two ways, first you can either cook one pound of your beans, then dehydrate them, and bag or put them in the bag uncooked. Then add 3 tablespoons of Fiesta Brand Pinto Bean Seasoning. See, told you it was simple! The specific seasoning mentioned is amazing and can be used in a variety of bean dishes. If you have freeze dried ham or bacon, you can add it to the bags for more flavor if you’d like. Note: for our recipe, we did not cook the beans ahead of time and plan to use our Cast Iron Dutch Oven to cook them.

Just As Easy Seasoned Navy Beans:

This is the second easiest recipe's that we put together, (don’t worry they get better). We used triple cleaned navy beans that we found on clearance in one pound bags for .55 each at the dollar store! You can also pre-cook the beans, then dehydrate them, and bag or like we did; just throw them in uncooked. Once again we added 3 tablespoons of Fiesta Brand Pinto Bean Seasoning to the beans, seal half way, press out air, throw in one oxygen absorber, and seal. Bam, easy as that nine pounds ready to go!

Lentil Soup Dry Mix:

2 Cups Lentils
1/4 cup Minced Onion (dried)
1/4 cup Dehydrated Green Peppers
2 tbs. Parsley
1 1/2 tsp. Thyme (dried)
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper (dried)

Combine all ingredients, bag per previous instructions. To cook add 6 cups of water, cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until the lentils are tender. If you have diced tomatoes add in a 14 ounce can, or if you have dehydrated tomatoes you can add one cup in also. (you can also substitute some of the water, and use 2 cups of chicken broth {reduced sodium} and then only use 4 cups of water.)

Chicken & Rice Soup:

2 Cups Rice
1/2 cup Minion Onion (dried)
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/4  cup Chicken Base or Bullion
1 cup Freeze Dried or Dehydrated carrots (optional)
1 cup Freeze Dried or Dehydrated Celery (optional)
2 tbs. Parsley (Dried)
1 Cup Freeze Dried Chicken (optional)

Combine and bag per previous instructions. To Cook: Put all in a Cast Iron Dutch Oven, add 7 cups of water, cover, and simmer 25 minutes or until rice is done. (You can substitute 6 cups of the water for low sodium chicken broth and use one cup of water; if you have it available.)

Black Beans & Rice:

2 Cups Rice (for this we used pre-cooked, then dehydrated rice that we had stored, but it is optional)
2 Cups Pre-Cooked & Dehydrated Black Beans (can use uncooked)
1/2 cup Minced Onion (dried)
1 tsp. Oregano (dried)
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

Combine all and bag per previous instructions. (you can add in 1/2 cup tomato powder while bagging, or one can of stewed tomatoes when your cooking). To Cook: Mix with 4 cups of water, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes or until rice is done.

Ready-to-Go Mac & Cheese:

One Pound (16 oz.) Macaroni Noodles
1/2 Cup Cheese Powder (Kraft Cheese Powder)
1/4 Cup Powdered Butter (Provident Pantry Butter Powder)

Combine all and bag per previous instructions. To Cook: Mix with 5 cups of water, cover, and simmer for 35 minutes or until noodles are done.

Cinnamon & Sugar Oatmeal:

3 Cups of Quick Oats
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cinnamon
2 tbs. Powdered Butter (Provident Pantry Butter Powder) (optional)

Combine all and bag per previous instructions. To Cook: Boil 5 3/4 cups water, add in mix, cook for 1 minute. Let sit for a few minutes before serving.

Trailer Park Biscuit & Drop Biscuit Mix:

5 cups All Purpose Flour
3 tbs. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Salt (I used sea salt)
1 cup Powdered Shortening (Provident Pantry Shortening Powder)
1/2 cup Powdered Butter (Provident Pantry Butter Powder)

Makes Approx. 6-7 Biscuits

Combine all and bag per previous instructions. To Make: Add full bag to 1/2 - 1 cup of water (add slowly, so you can judge if you need the entire amount). You may have noticed that this recipe does not include milk or sugar like some, but it is a great and versatile recipe still. If you would like to replace the water with milk it works fine as well. These work terrific in cast iron and are warm and buttery! (can be thinned to make pancakes as well)

*NOTE: if you double this recipe you will make enough for 5 quart size Mylar bags as we did. We separated it all out evenly in 5 different bags, this is why you have to slowly add water until you get the consistency that you need.

To Use For Drop Biscuits: use one entire bag of mix & decrease water to 1/4 - 3/4 cup; add to soups as you’d like.

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In Total We Made:

 

39 Ready To Go Meals: 9 Seasoned Navy Beans, 5 Chicken & Rice Soup Mixes, 2 Seasoned Split Pinto Beans, 6 Lentil Soup Mixes, 6 Mac & Cheese, 5 Biscuit Mixes, 3 Black Beans & Rice, and 3 Cinnamon & Sugar Oatmeal.

           
  
                                         

If You Have Any Questions, Feel Free to Leave a Comment or Message Us on Facebook!

(Also Feel Free To Test & Exchange Ingredients to Your own Liking)

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Author Information:

Sharon Pannell is a self proclaimed "Prepsteader", both prepper and homesteader. She authors the blog The Trailer Park Homesteader and co-authors on the A Prepper Quick Tip Blog where she teaches others about the importance of disaster preparedness and self-sufficiency. Sharon believes everyday the stuff can hit the fan, it is not one big epic event necessarily and it only takes one set back to create a hardship; so big or small prepare for it all ! Along with her blog, Sharon can also be found managing her other social media sites including her Facebook Page The Trailer Park Homesteader, TTPH Pinterest Page, and TTPH Twitter Page.

Apple Pie

Apple Pie

Homemade Crust

What You Need:

One 9 inch deep dish pie plate

2 cans of apple pie filling
1 1/2 cups self rising flour

1 cup shortening

A couple teaspoons of sugar

A couple teaspoons cinnamon

Rolling pin
Butter knife
Now

Cut shortening into 1 1/4 cup flour til all is crumbly 
Add cold water slowly til makes a ball

Put rest of flour on work surface
 Take half the dough and form a ball and roll in flour til covered 
 Roll out for the bottom crust 
Gently place in pie plate
Make the edges on top of pie plate and trim access 
Put two cans apples and all the juice into the pie plate
 Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and set aside

Now roll out the rest of dough and place on top of pie
 Now pinch edges together of top and bottom

Clean sides of pie plate
Make designs on top with a butter knife

Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon

 Bake at 425 or 450 for 40 to 50 minutes til golden brown 

Let cool and.....

ENJOY

You can watch the tutorial on my You Tube Channel

The Trailer Park Homesteader: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway Announcement

The Trailer Park Homesteader: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway Announcement:

Announcing The Trailer Park Homesteader's 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway!        

 December 14th-22nd

List of Prizes:

Day1: Preppers Guide to Food Storage (print edition) by Gaye Levy of Backdoor Survival

Day 2: Survival Mom: How to Prepare Your Family for Everyday Disasters and Worse-Case Scenarios (print edition) by Lisa Bedford of The Survival Mom

Day 3: Your Own 72 hr Kit Plan (Ebook) by Misty Marsh of You Own Home Store

Day 4: The Gardening Notebook (Ebook) by Angi Schneider of Schneider Peeps

Day 5: The Urban Chicken (Ebook) by Heather Harris of The Homesteading Hippy

Day 6: Mind Yo' Beezwax Lip Balm & Raw Honey Sample made by Karen Lynn of Lil' Suburban Homestead

Day 7: Food Storage for Self-Sufficiency and Survival (signed copy) by Angela Paskett of Food Storage and Survival

Day 8: The Preparedness Planner (E-planner) by Jennifer Osuch of AreWeCrazyorWhat?

Day 9: Natural Essential Oil First Aid Kit made by Jennifer Owen of Our Happy, Healthy Home

Day 10: Pandemic QuickKit by Contagion Survival, Provided by Nebship Shop

Day 11: Bug Out Bag First Aid Kit, Provided by Survivalist Prepper

Day 12: $100 Amazon Gift Card Grand Prize, Provided by The DIY Homestead 

Entering is Easy:

Just Check The Trailer Park Homesteader's Blog to Enter Each Daily Giveaway !

A Very Special Thank You to All of Our 12 Sponsors. 

We Hope Everyone Enters and Shares with Your Friends!

Potato Box

Our version of the online Potato Box!

We doubled the size for a couple of reasons:

One because we were running late getting the potatoes in the ground and two, because we had a lot on our plate. Being that said if you use our method., we suggest you put a brace bar in the middle for later as this will hold a lot of dirt! We will do this as well before we start adding dirt. Our boxes measure 3 ft. x 4 ft. these are the boards end to end and the ones we saw online are 2x2 end to end.

1.  One end put together before we start the box. Make two of these the size you want your box. Most online boxes I saw were 2x2, we doubled ours and it is 3x4. Make enough cut of boards for two more sides.

2.  We put up two ends already made and made the frame on the bottom.

3.  The  two ends with frame on bottom.

4.  Getting all boards on.

5.   Now start removing all boards between top board and bottom board.

6.    Getting all boards off. Then store them until needed.

7.  This is our finished product. We used a rototiller on the ground where box will sit and put our potatoes in! Good luck, hope you follow us with your own potato box. We will update progress and see how well the boxes do!

     The Completed Potato Box !!

Let me know if you try this and like it.

Enjoy

Friends in Oklahoma

Two Homesteaders

Sharon Pannell and myself, Carla Dean-Bales

I thought I would share a picture I have.

On the left is a good friend and fellow Homesteader and Prepper, Sharon Pannell.

Sharon is creator and owner of  The Trailer Park Homestead.
Sharon is starting her own radio show! I want to let everyone know and ask you to take a listen when she broadcasts!
I will add a live link to the show soon or check out her blog now!

http://thetrailerparkhomesteader.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much
Carla

Glazed Ham

My Glazed Ham

What you will need:

1 10 lb Ham

(I prefer the butt or shank cut)

Whole cherries

Whole cloves (optional)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 can of sliced pineapples

Juice from pineapples

1/4 Honey

1 9x13 baking dish

Preheat your oven at 350 degrees

Wash your ham set it in your baking pan

In a bowl mix 1/4 cup brown sugar and all of the juice of your pineapples add 1/4 cup of honey,

stir and set aside

.

Take your sliced pineapples and lay them on the top of your ham.

This is where your taste buds come into play.

You can secure the sliced pineapples onto the ham with cloves or if you do not like the taste of them you can use toothpicks.

Once you have the pineapples secured place a whole cherry with stem in the middle of each pineapple and secure with a toothpick.

Now take your ingredients (glaze) in your bowl and pour on top of your ham.

Cover your ham loosely with foil (a tent) and place into preheated oven.

After 30 minutes I baste the ham and replace the foil tent.

After 30 more minutes I take the tent of foil off (after an hour) and baste again. Leave it in the oven for 30 more minutes to brown the pineapples.

Take your ham out of the oven and let it cool just a bit (rest) then remove the pineapples and cherries and set on one end of your meat platter.

Start slicing your ham and lay out onto your meat platter.

You can drizzle the remaining juice over the sliced ham if desired.

You now have a very tasty 

Glazed Ham

Enjoy 

Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is expensive in my opinion.

The coconut oil above is approximately half the price than name brands.

When I purchased this brand at Walmart I paid 5.98 for LouAna (above)

The One at Sams (below) was just about double the price.

I hope this saves you a buck!

Enjoy

Laundry Soap

Laundry Soap

How I make my own laundry soap

What you need:

2 cups 20 mule team Borax powder

2 cups Arm and Hammer super washing powder

1 or 2 bars of Fels Naptha laundry bar

One five gallon bucket

All of the ingredients can be found at Walmart 

The buckets I use for my soap are in the paint department in Walmart and they sell for three dollars and the lid is one dollar (yes you have to pay for the lid). lol

(any five gallon bucket will work)

I am starting to see these products in more stores (Dollar Store) than they used to be. Probably due to increased consumers of the products used to make our own soap, like you and me.

First I grate the Fels Naptha bars into my food processor.

(you can use one bar)

These bars are extremely hard but you can do it with a hand held grater.

I use my food processor because it is much easier and it is soap so I do not worry about the soap being in it as it washes out!

Take a medium size sauce pan and fill it up with water and put your grated bars into it and devolve on medium heat. Be sure to stir often.

Fill your five gallon bucket one fourth full of water and add dissolved bars and stir

Now add your powders, stirring constantly.

When you feel that everything is mixed well finish filling the bucket with water.

This soap gels so don't freak out about it, you just need to stir it when using.

Some people scoop this soap out of the bucket as needed. I find it easier to pour mine into mason jars. 

Also this soap will not give you suds because they are all laundry boosters.

You can use this soap in ALL washers!

(HE and Older)

Just remember that you will not see suds in either one.

I use a half of cup per load. I just leave an older half cup measuring scoop beside the soap.

DONE!
 You now have your own homemade laundry soap!

Enjoy

Lysol

Lysol 

What I do with Lysol

Make your dollar stretch with this money saving tip.

When you have used your cleaning bottle up, save it and pour half of your new bottle in it, then fill both bottles up with water.

I have found that this cleans just as well and still smells clean when done! 

Cleaning is always easier when it doesn't cost a fortune.

I hope you will try this and I hope it saves you a buck!

Enjoy

Mylar Bags

Mylar Bags

Not knowing what I was doing with Mylar

When I bought my first Mylar bags I goofed and ordered the five gallon bags. 

So I used them in my five gallon buckets but I wasn't happy storing my large quantity food like that.

 I had ordered ten of these bags and I was panicked.

So I started looking up what I could do with these large bags. I thought I had basically thrown my 

money out the door. And that just didn't sit well with me.

So I started looking up what in the world I was going to do with these large bags.  

I realized that these bags are ironed closed to seal,

so why could I not just cut my own size and reseal all of the edges myself? 

So that is what I did.

It worked very well to my delight.

I made six bags out of one large bag!

I wasted NO money

There are always to fix mistakes

Rabbits

Rabbits for Food, Supplement Income, Barter 

Or all of above!



 From what I have read a lot of people raise Rabbits off of the ground for sanitary reasons of "clean meat"? I am giving mine a yard when the new building goes up. I will be eating them and think it is a healthy environment to the health of the rabbits. Now I may change my mine once I get into "rabbitry" full blown. Of course either way you do this it is of personal preference.

The most popular rabbits for consumption are the
New Zealand and the California. It is also OK to cross breed these two.
Rabbits are low fat and low cholesterol and all white meat. These traits make rabbit meat very healthy and desirable. Rabbit meat is becoming very popular and is also becoming a mainstay in your local grocery store. I might add that at this time they are on the high end of the price scale in the public market. This is even more reason to raise your own.


Here are a few examples of hutches I thought I would show you.



 The one above is off the ground as you can see. This is a pretty basic hutch and I think it would be of low maintenance. The out side attachment is constructed of all wire which lets the waste fall onto the ground and there fore you can scoop the waste out from underneath and use it for fertilizer. The inside is where they would have the weather break of sun and heat or winter weather. This is also their home to deliver their babies or "kits".



This hutch above and below is allowing them to be on the ground obviously. The one above is a  sweet one in my opinion, You have the walk through gate for ease of cleaning and it looks like they either have a two story or there are two inside hutches back there. The main set back on this hutch that I see is that pray could get over that low fence. Other than that, this would be a good size to have for one families supply of meat from rabbits in my opinion.

The bottom hutch is the one we like the most and are going to model our hutch after.
First of all it is covered and safer from predators. Also a larger area therefore less time spent cleaning and it is tall enough to walk through. The sloped roof of ours will raise up for cleaning and maintenance.
This seems to be a win win for us.



Here are a few facts of rabbitry:

I have three rabbits and I feed a cup a day of feed as required and a fifty pound bag lasted me two months. In addition I got a small bag of alfalfa for treats. I am now on my second bag of feed but I am still on my small bag of treats. I also give carrots and celery etc.
Rabbits become pregnant when ever put with a male as they do not have "heat" cycles. They carry kits for 28-30 days. The mother, doe, can instantly get pregnant after birth. This is not recommended because it is very hard on the doe and will ultimately shorten the life span.
The New Zeland Rabbit will fully mature at 6-10 months and weigh approx. 10lbs.

I hope this has answered some of your questions about raising rabbits for food and has encouraged you to venture into Rabbitry. Do not forget as a bonus of homegrown healthy white meat we also get their skins (pelts) to make anything you want. Make hats, hand warmers,etc. You can also sell the pelts as they are desirable.

So a quick pro rabbitry:
Healthy meat
Pelts
Fertilizer
Low cost to raise

Happy Rabbitry and Enjoy

Mile High Meringue Pie

Coconut Cream Pie

Hey everyone! I get a lot of compliments on my pies. Yep I do. And it makes me feel real good about making them. It gives me a lot of pride. So I want to share how to make a mile high meringue! As Ailene in a group I am in named it. lol

I also get "how did you do that" So I am going to tell you how to do this.

 Ready, here we go...

Get a 9in deep dish pie plate

Put your crust into it or this is how I make mine...

Approximately 1 cup of Crisco lard and 1 and 1 1/2 cup of self rising flour.

Cut flour into Crisco (I use a fork) until this looks like large crumbs.

Now run the cold water until it is nice and cold. Start adding water on the edge of the mixture and roll around with fork until all of the mixture forms a ball

Put a hand full of flour on counter and place ball of dough on top of it and put flour on top of dough ball...use a rolling pen to roll out...

You can eye the size of the rolled out dough by holding the pie plate above the dough you have rolled out and see if it is big enough. As soon as you think it is stop and fold the rolled dough back onto itself, so now it will look like half. Put your pie plate next to the fold and grab the fold and ease it just over the inside of the pie plate...now take the edge of the part you folded back and unfold it toward the rest of the pie plate til it is all covered.

Now, you need to finish out the edge of the crust. You can do this a lot of ways: you can pinch the crust along the rim of the pie plate with both sets of your forefinger and thumb. Or you can put your bent forefinger knuckle on one side of the rim and push the dough against it on the other side with your forefinger and thumb until you have went around the pie plate. Now trim off excess dough with a butter knife at the lowest point of outside edge of rim. Get a clean fork and poke holes all over crust bottom and up the sides and I turn the faucet on cold and wet my finger and wet the inside where the bottom meets the sides, like a circle, and then I trace the top edge of the crust that you pinched on top of edge with water.

This keeps the crust from shrinking up while cooking.

Place pie plate and crust in oven and bake at 350 until crust is light brown.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Now start your pudding of choice: of course this one is going to be coconut.

I do not use instant pudding for my pies: I use Cook n Serve puddings.

Follow the directions: 

Cook n Serve pudding takes time and constant stirring or it will scorch and taste bad.  

When pudding is done and has set off the heat for five minutes (having stirred it at least twice off the heat) pour it into your cooled crust. Set it aside to cool and set up. 

Now the fun part:

Get your mixer out and use a medium bowl.

You need 6 egg whites and 1 cup of sugar.

Blend your egg whites on high until they are fluffy and consumes most of the bowl.

(it takes awhile to get the egg whites to this point so be patient)

When you think the egg whites are finished turn your mixer down to medium speed.

Now...

Start adding the sugar a little at a time, just pour some in while it is turning and wait until it gets mixed in...then do it again...repeat this until the sugar is all gone...

(again, this will take awhile...so be patient!)

At this point you will need your oven on 350 degrees and lower your oven rack!

I use a soft plastic spatula for this step.

Get the cooled pie next to your bowl take the spatula and get a good amount of meringue on it and start on the side by the crust, all the way around the pie, now this will look like you left a hole in the center when you are done. So when you do this first circle of meringue you must meet the meringue with the crust...in other words when you make the first swipe of meringue take the spatula and smear it onto the edge of your finished crust. This smearing, if you will, prevents the meringue from shrinking away from the crust when you cook it.

Now you can fill in the middle with meringue, and start layering on the meringue in a circle like you did the first round, go as high as you have meringue...woohoo

Now take your lose coconut and start sprinkling it on the meringue as heavy as you want, I have kind of thrown it onto sides because it gets so big and has a lot of layering. But that will be personal preference. When your done put it in the preheated oven at 350 degrees.

Again this takes patience there really is no way to time this step because it is just browning meringue and all stoves are different. You will just need to stand watch til it is browned.

TA DA!!!

I hope this has helped and I hope you try this

Mile High Meringue

Enjoy