Full Rain Barrels Thanks to an Easy Setup

I love to see it rain here in the Arizona desert.  We are always in such dire need of it.  The other day it rained and I went out in the backyard to see how the gardens were doing.  While looking around, I noticed my rain barrel system was still working flawlessly.

I bought a dozen or so rain barrels (rinsed out 55 gallon used Coke barrels) and placed them on the side of my house.  The back of my roof is pitched and has two gutter drains dumping right outside the back wall of my house.  I placed a barrel directly under each drain and to my joy, had them filled in no time.

Here's a little video:

Deal Alert: Wonderwash Hand Crank Alternative to Washing Machine $42.95

Deal Alert: Wonderwash Hand Crank Alternative to Washing Machine $42.95

Perfect for when you don't have an electric
washer OR if you have limited access to one.

If your power goes out for whatever reason (snow, heat wave, TEOTWAKI), you're gonna have to figure out how to wash your clothes without your handy electric washing machine.

That's where the Wonderwash comes in. Highly recommended on Amazon for ease of use or portability. It has been on my wish list for about two years.

I received a deal alert just now. It is on sale for $42.95 + shipping which puts it around $50. If you buy two, like I did, shipping is free and the total for two is $85. Compare that to Amazon selling them for $59.

Research at Camel shows the historical low for this item was $38 but that was back in 2009. It also has a high price of $66. This deal at $42.95 is the best we'll see for a while. Get it while you can.

Live in an apartment with limited access to washing machines? Wonderwash.
Live in the hinterboonies with no electricity? Wonderwash.

My Trailer was Bartered for Oranges!

My Snowbear trailer

I have a handy little 4x8' Snowbear trailer in my backyard for whenever I need to haul something.  I've been a little amazed at how often it gets loaned out. Everyone should own a pickup truck, if possible, but not everyone does.  Like me, I sold my Toyota pickup a few years back after burning through three motors.

So I bought a trailer. Now any time I need to haul something, I can hookup to my trailer with both my Jeep or my Suburban.  I haven't used it very much but it is reassuring to know it is ready and waiting.

6 qts of OJ, fresh squeezed

I've used it so little, in fact, that I think my friends and neighbors have used it more than I have!  A neighbor borrowed it about a year ago when he needed to move out of his house a few doors down.  He had it for a full week.  When it was all said and done, he brought it back...with several plastic bags full of tangelo oranges from his backyard.

I had no intentions on charging him anything so the free fruit was a welcomed surprise.  We broke out the juicer and went to town that day.  There's nothing better than fresh squeezed juice!

So when my friend from work asked to borrow my trailer a few weeks ago, I quickly agreed.  It just sits in my backyard...begging to be useful.  When he asked me what he could pay me for it, I jokingly said payments are accepted in oranges.  Turns out he has 52 orange trees at his place!

Gasp!  So far he's had the trailer for two weeks and I've already netted several bags of oranges.  I think I may just have to start pimping out my trailer for goods.  I mean, this is just too easy!

It's interesting to me how many orange trees there are here in Arizona.  It has been my experience that most people that have them are somewhat bothered by them.  I've been told you have to pick the fruit off every year for the health of the tree.  Another man told me he has to trim out any dead branches or it affects the tree.  At this point, I've heard "please, help yourself to the oranges" so much that if I ever did lose my job I'm pretty sure I could keep the family stocked in free orange juice until I found another job.

My 14 year old daughter came home from a sleep-over last weekend with a huge dog food bag full.  Her friend's family has numerous orange trees on their property.  They build their house in the middle of an old orange orchard. That particular Dad told me they had to clear 40 trees to make room to build his house. So he has an overabundance of oranges on his property, as do all his neighbors in that area.

We have friends in our daughters' Job's Daughters group that have orange trees on rental property.  They told me that if we didn't go pick the fruit, he'd have to pay pickers to go clear them off the trees. PAY to get rid of oranges? Wow. We took home oodles of oranges last time we were over there.

Now if we could only find someone with a cattle abundance problem...we'd be set!

Dog is Man's BEST Security

Couldn't resist sharing this one. Found it at Proudhillbilly.

Lodge Logic Dutch Oven Homestyle Ribs Recipe

Lodge Logic Dutch Oven Homestyle Ribs Recipe

Ribs covered in bbq & molasses.

I experimented with some new flavors the other night and thought I'd share.  The ribs were SO good, once they were all gone we bottled up the bbq sauce that was in the dutch ovens and put it back into the fridge for another go-round.

(For a great homemade cornbread recipe for your Dutch oven, check out this post.)

My usual recipe simply calls for straight Kraft Original BBQ sauce that I'm pretty sure is in just about every grocery store.  I originally bought it because it was only $0.99 per bottle.  It tasted so good that it has become a staple at our house ever since (and it is still one of the cheapest bbq sauces in our store.)

I stuff the dutch oven to the rafters with ribs then cover them with about four bottles of Kraft bbq sauce. Since you want your ribs as close to fully submerged as possible to keep them from drying out during cooking, I fill the empty Kraft bottles with water and swish them around to get the leftover sauce out and pour that into the oven.  After rinsing the bottles a few times each, I usually have the ribs covered in liquid.

Someone snuck a bottle of Sweet
and Spicy Chipotle sauce in on me!

This time, however, I happened to open a cabinet and see an old bottle of Brer Rabbit Mollasses that had been sitting in my cupboard for a while.  The light bulb in my head when on and I poured the entire bottle over the ribs.

This sweetened up the ribs terrifically.  The ribs were a huge hit and I look forward to making them again!

Don't forget to turn your Dutch oven every 15 minutes or so while they cook.  If you leave them in the same spot for too long, you may get a hot spot burn. Always rotate your oven 90 degrees clockwise AND turn your lid 90 degrees counter-clockwise.  This will keep the hot spots both on the lid and underneath the oven from sitting in one spot for too long. 

Enjoy!

Friends, Fun, and Eating Donuts without Hands

Friends, Fun, and Eating Donuts without Hands

Fun & Friends around the fire pit.

This past Thursday night we had the neighbors over for dinner and fun.  Our super fun neighbors have eight kids of their own.  Mix that with our six girls and there's plenty of fun to be had.

I started by making my favorite Dutch oven ribs cooked over a mesquite coal fire.  I love the smell of a burning chimney starter filled with charcoal.  I filled up our 8 qt Lodge Logic dutch oven with pork ribs and smothered them in my favorite Kraft bbq sauce and molasses.  After cooking for several hours, the meat just fell right off the bone. Mmmm!

Wifey went to work on decorations and games.  She hung donuts from strings and the kids had a game where they had to eat the donuts without using their hands.  It got REALLY difficult when someone turned the ceiling fan on...cause there were donuts hung from the blades! Laughter roared through the house!

Handmade decorations and treats galore!

A friend from work showed up with his wife and baby boy. We faded into the evening watching the girls play a dancing game (Just Dance II) on our Wii system. It was just short of hilarious watching them trying to mimic the dancers on the screen. Butts wiggling and elbows flying...what a sight!

We're blessed to have friends like these who enjoy family time more than anything else.  I had two co-workers that called off the day after St. Patrick's day because they drank themselves into such poor shape that they couldn't come to work the next day.  You can keep your green beer and coming home from a party smelling like an ashtray.  I'll take home gatherings any day of the week...and I don't need alcohol to enjoy it!

Deal Alert: Lodge Logic 4 Qt Dutch Oven - Only $22.91 (Lowest $ Ever!)

Deal Alert: Lodge Logic 4 Qt Dutch Oven - Only $22.91 (Lowest $ Ever!)

Update: Deal is dead. Now priced at $45.55.

Happy Day! Get it Quick! It won't last long!

Lodge Logic 4-Quart Cast-Iron Camp Dutch Oven

Only $22.91 + Free Shipping

(This price is cheaper than both INFERIOR knock-off brands: Camp Chef and TexSport!)

I have blogged numerous times about cooking in my dutch ovens. Dutch ovens are part of my Redundancy plan. If SHTF and my electricity or gas go out, I can always cook in my dutch ovens. I love to cook with them over my mesquite charcoal.  I have also taught my children how to start a fire in a chimney starter and cook with dutch ovens.

Wifey has perfected a homemade cornbread dutch oven recipe. And by "homemade" I mean she grinds up her own flour. This is an award-winning cornbread that absolutely will NOT disappoint!

So don't wait, they won't last long. CamelCamelCamel is a website I use to price check items. Camel says that this is THE lowest price these dutch ovens have ever been (Camel's history goes back to 2008.)

Let me know what you think.

~OJD

Homemade cornbread, Mmmmm.