Things I Do at Home

I've been spending all my energy just managing this house... Energy for blogging? Hasn't really existed, but I have the desire to share some things I've been doing. I've also been feeling the return of wrist pain, and my muscles have been really stiff in my arms. Typing isn't flowing like normal, I have to work harder to do it.

1. Grating Frozen Beef Fat:

Yes, I've discovered this trick and it works brilliantly. We bought a quarter cow last year, but the beef was unfortunately 90% lean, so we asked for beef fat to add into the burgers. I'm not a fan of lean burger because they're so dry and unpleasant, but also because the beef fat is very healthy. It fuels my poor brain!  I can write about my experience with healthy vs unhealthy fats in a later post, but beef fat is one of the best for me since I can't have dairy. Anyway, the burgers grill so much better and taste so much richer because of the beef fat! I also use it for seasoning my cast irons, and I'll cook with it occasionally. I'd use it exclusively, but it's a real (excuse me..) bitch to clean up out of my ceramic pans. I go through too many paper towels... so I use it in my cast iron pans, which I only use on the grill or in the oven. 

What I do is.... well, look at the photos:

Yep, I grate that block of FROZEN beef fat like it's cheese. The shavings are light as air, and they do not get sticky as long as they stay frozen. So they key here is to grate it frozen, then put it in the freezer for storage. As long as it's FROZEN it is very easy to work with. 

Cleaning up isn't as terrible as it looks as long as the shavings are still cold. I like to rub it on my skin as a lotion! 

2. Car Wash, Naturally! 

South Carolina pollen is INSANE, so it seems pointless to wash my car, right? But all the bugs and spiders that love to live in my car need to go away. Normal people would drive through an automatic car wash, but I'm really not a fan of them. They can cause damage, they're horrible for the environment, and the soap stinks. So if I can do it at home with fragrance-free soap, why wouldn't I? All I'm missing is a power washer... that would save me a lot of strength and energy. I just used the hose, a giant sponge, and this fragrance-free plant-based car wash:

My car is black, not yellow (pollen)!! Who would have known? This soap worked really well. It's very concentrated, lathered very well, and didn't leave the worst sunspots I've ever seen. The best part? NO SMELL. I bought it on Amazon (click this sentence.) 

Guess how many spiders I found on my car while I washed it? 3... shudder... thankfully I have never seen one inside my car, but they sure love to build webs all over the outside. It's totally unacceptable. 

3. Making Popsicles

Normally I don't like ice in my water, or even cold water. I always drink room temperature or hot liquids. Cold "hurts" my stomach, if that makes sense. It feels like it puts out the fire in my stomach, and I need that fire. That said... It's SO HOT HERE. After I've been outside for a while, especially for a walk, I'm usually sweating and really need to cool down or I'll pass out. So instead of reaching for coconut ice cream (Cosmic Bliss...mmmm....)... I decided to make these instead. 

The pink ones are Ultima Electrolytes in water. It didn't work very well. The powder settled to the bottom of the mold, and I ended up with half of it being a very lightly flavored ice cube. No bueno.

 
The white ones were supposed to be more like an ice cream replacement, and they were pretty good. I used coconut milk, allulose, vanilla, and ground orange peel. I didn't measure, sorry. I kept adding and mixing to taste. I think I watered down the coconut milk too much because it was like licking an ice cube, but the flavor was good! 

4. Sticky Bug Traps! 

I bought them and tried them... and I'm happy to report that these work!! Living in SC means waging a constant battle against bugs, and I refuse to spray pesticides inside the house. I won't argue why in this post - I shouldn't have to explain why I don't want a neurotoxin around my pet birds and I. 

The Max-Catch slides under countertops, the cockroaches get stuck on them, and they can't get off. Brilliant! 

The Safter Plug-In is really effective for all the small flies. It emits a blue UV light that attracts the flies, and then they land on it and can't get off. Brilliant! 

I do see dead roaches, and I have to assume it's because they ate the boric acid tablets I put around the house. I have to assume boric acid works too. I put a layer of diatomaceous earth around the house too, and I've seen lots of dead ants in it.   

Okay, that's all for not folks. More to come in future posts. My hands hurt and I'm way too tired.