If you buy fresh asparagus you have probably experienced asparagus wilt after the bunch has been in the fridge for a while. You know it gets all droopy, soft and looks like it needs to be tossed out… I was surprised to learn how many people don’t know that the limp asparagus is NOT bad.

Asparagus are like cut flowers, they need water to stay firm and crisp! If you have mushy wilted asparagus in the fridge don’t throw it out, just stand the the bunch in a shallow bowl of water (cut ends down)! They will perk right up after about 8-12 hours and will be all firm and crisp again.

And now my wordless Wednesday contribution:

The post Wordless Wednesday & Wilted Asparagus Tip. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Now I just need to wait 2 weeks before I can take a pregnancy test and confirm with my waking temperatures whether or not we conceived. Conveniently enough I have the “woman doctor” appointment in 2 weeks. Oh, the suspense is killing me!

If you are trying to get pregnant or even if you are trying to avoid pregnancy you should consider learning the fertility awareness method, it offers great insight about how your body works and gives you much more control over your fertility!

I bought the book taking charge of your fertility and have learned so much from reading it. Every woman needs to learn about her fertility signs and gain more control over whether or not she gets pregnant.

The post Did we conceive? My NFP-FAM charting and ovulation. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

It’s surprising to me that others are also interested in my old-fashioned, simpler ways of doing things obsession and now I am not so embarrassed to share my tips. You know many people think a not so old girl sharing these discoveries/ tips is a strange thing but I am really into all this simple living stuff and I am glad you are too!

So here are a few more of my favorite bits of old fashioned know how & do it yourself remedies. Feel free to share your own in what ever way suits you or to stumble me or link to your favorite tip. Enjoy!

Want to stop smoking? I am not a smoker but my mom is and she reads this… I did find a old-fashioned recipe that is said to help you curb the urge to light up. You just drink it down with your morning tea/ coffee or juice and you will have decreased desire to smoke.

Here is the recipe: Mix 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tarter, 1/2 teaspoon of rochelle salts (from pharmacy). Or you can simply obtain some Ginseng root and chew it in the morning/ swallow the juice to curb your cravings.

Alright ladies, many of you have tried those facial masks that you apply, allow to dry and the peel off right? They remove dead skin cells, black heads and tons of other junk but are costly and sometimes hard to find so why not make you own facial mask that peels off? Also, If you enjoyed peeling dried glue off your hands as a kid this mask is for you.

All you need is 1/2 cup of apple juice, 1 packet of unflavored gelatin and a drop of essential rose oil (or another oil of your choice). Heat up the apple juice (try using a double boiler if you can, keeps the mixture from burning) and mix in the gelatin. Remove from heat when the gelatin is dissolved and allow to cool. When mixture is almost set (begins to firm) add the essential oil, mix and then apply to your face. The mask will dry, then you can peel it from your face or you can scare little kiddies with your gelatin cover shiny face. Finish by rinsing your face with warm water to remove all excess mask that you couldn’t peel off and you are done!

I have this strange spot on the carpet in my bedroom that I need to spot clean. I have tried those spray on, foamy carpet cleaning solutions and it seems they just make the stain spread. I found a recipe for a non-soapy carpet cleaning solution that only uses stuff you already have in your home!

All you need is 1 cup of white vinegar (don’t worry about the vinegary smell folks!) and 1 quart of “denatured alcohol” (or cheap vodka or rubbing alcohol). You just mix the vinegar and alcohol and then sprinkle drops of it onto the carpet or sponge it onto the bad spots. Next rinse very lightly with cool water, allow carpet to dry- soak up excess moisture with towel and then vacuum.

By the way, I love the vinegar microwave recipe I posted on sunday! All you need is one or two cups of white wine vinegar, a bowl and your nasty microwave oven. Place the uncovered bowl containing the vinegar into your microwave and turn it on full power for 5 minutes (or more if your microwave is extra nasty). When the microwave turns off simply use a dry dish towel to wipe the greasy mess off the top and sides of the microwave oven. I repeated this process twice casue mine was super dirty but it worked great! No elbow grease needed to clean the dang thing and then I poured the vinegar down the garbage disposal to keep it disinfected.

If you like this post consider reading some of these other do it yourself remedies that have been posted:
Homemade Cold Relief
Find the miracle products in your home that will clean and save you money.
Remove sweat/ perspiration stains naturally!
Alternative Hair Removal Recipe (sugaring)

The post Old-Fashioned Know How- Do it yourself remedies part 2 appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter (8 tbsp = 1 stick)
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 cups milk
• 6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat.
   
2. Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth.
   
3. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. You can add more or less milk depending on consistency preference. I like less than 2 cups in mine for a thicker sauce
   
4. Stir in Parmesan cheese and pepper.
   
5. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency.
   
6. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long.
   
7. Toss with hot pasta to serve.

You can view the recipe @ http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quick-and-Easy-Alfredo-Sauce/Detail.asp

I like to make my Alfredo with shrimp or with chicken chunks but it is also quite good without a meat. Also I tend to add more garlic at the end. I season to tase with garlic salt in addition to using the garlic powder which gives it more of a kick. Don’t forget to make garlic toast too, yum!

The post Make your own Alfredo Sauce appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

In earlier posts I talked about how to make simple yet helpful cleaning solutions with products you already have in your home. You can remove stains, disinfect, whiten your teeth and much more without buying expensive specialized products.

In the next few weeks we are moving out of our current place and into an new one. This means massive amounts of cleaning and fixing will occur and I am trying to find simpler ways of doing this.

My first old-fashioned know how concoction I want to share with you is homemade spackle- hole patcher for your walls . Everyone hangs photos in their home, but when you move and your landlord expects you to patch the nail holes don’t go buy a product, make it yourself- from scratch! All you need is table salt, cornstarch and cold tap water. It doesn’t get easier than that folks! Mix 2 tablespoons of table salt and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in a small bowl then slowly add 5 teaspoons of water to the mixture- it should for a paste. If it’s too runny the mixture wont work… Now just fill the holes with your mixture, allow it to dry and then sand rough spots down. If you want you can go over the spot with a wet sponge to remove the dust from sanding.

In the house we are renting they provided a microwave in addition to all the other appliances. We have the bad habit of microwaving stuff without covering it first.. Bad news, I know. Obviously we need to clean the microwave before we move and I thought it would be fun to use this simple and easy Microwave Oven Cleaner.

All you need to do is get a microwave safe bowl, add 1 1/3 cups of water and 3 tablespoons of baking soda. Put the uncovered bowl inside the microwave and run it on high for 3-5 minuites. After the 3-5 minutes is up carefully remove the bowl- It’s going to be extremely hot! and wipe the inside of the microwave with a paper towel or dish rag.

The water and baking soda will steam and cover the interior walls of the microwave then you just wipe the excess liquid and the microwave oven is clean! You can also substitute 3 tablespoons of lemon juice in place of the baking soda or you can simply microwave a bowl filled with 2 cups of white vinegar. They all will work to remove the mess that accumulates inside your microwave.

Do you have a remedy you want to share? I would love to hear them.. I am expecially looking for a way to repair/ remedy a burnt wood counter top…

If you like this post consider reading some of these other do it yourself remedies that have been posted:
Homemade Cold Relief
Find the miracle products in your home that will clean and save you money.
Remove sweat/ perspiration stains naturally!
Alternative Hair Removal Recipe (sugaring)

The post Old-Fashioned Know How- Do it yourself remedies appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.