Homemade Banana "Chips"

The hubby has been coming home with a ton of bananas. I have a bunch in the freezer to use for breads and my chocolate chip banana muffins. This last bunch of bananas wasn't as ripe as I like for the breads, so I decided to dry them. I love banana chips that I buy from Trader Joe's, but they are pricey for the little package you get. So here is how I did it.


Cut your bananas in 1/4 inch slices and put them in a bowl with some Fresh Fruit solution. It helps prevent them from turning brown. Lay all the slices on your dryer trays, making sure to leave space between each slice. I used up 3 trays of my 5 tray dehydrator.

Dry at 140°F for 10 hours. I turned them over after 8 hours and then did the remaining 2 hours. They are really sticky and flexible, but not wet. Make sure to take them off the trays right away while they are still warm. It makes it easier to remove.

This was my tray after the 10 hours of drying. As you can see there are some little pieces. Those parts got stuck on the mesh. I did get them off and ate them right away. hehe

Store them in glass jars with an oxygen absorber in each jar. Matt ate half a jar right away. I don't see these lasting long.

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all the mom's out there had a wonderful day. I spent the day mostly out with the hubby. Matt stayed home to mow the lawn and to be able to have the big tv to play his guitar hero game.

The hubby and I went out to lunch at a burger place called Five Guys Burgers. The burgers were really good, the fries were hand cut, but because they are cooked in peanut oil, I couldn't have any. Peanuts bother me now. I never had any allergies to food, but I do now, go figure.

Then the hubby and I went to a garden center to look and see what they have in. I saw some black petunias that the hubby said to get, but I don't have anywhere to put them yet, so I didn't get them. I have never seen black petunias before, so I should have bought them. Maybe I will go back tomorrow and see if they are still there and grab them.

Finally we hit Walmart to get a new mini blind for one of the front windows. Very early this morning, Max and Abby got in a huge fight and destroyed one of the mini blinds. I have never seen these two act like this. Max was really ticked off at Abby. Abby was super fluffy and shaking. Later on they were acting like the best of friends and playing together.

Right now I am out on the deck, cooking steak tips on the grill, typing away at this post and listening to the Baltimore Oriels singing to each other. I have never seen them up here, so this is a nice treat for me. Now I am off to enjoy my dinner.

My view while typing up this post and cooking dinner. My new half propane, half charcoal grill. I even have the smoker box (still in the box). That will be put together this week. I have a rack of pork ribs in my freezer calling my name.

Pictures around the homestead

Spring is finally here and going strong. Temps have been in the 60's for a couple of weeks now, finally. Mother's Day is suppose to be in the mid 70's!

Lots of our spring bulbs are in bloom and our window boxes are bursting with color from our pansies.

My scarecrow needed some new clothes. Like usual, I went searching for a shirt of my hubby's that has holes in it and has seen better days. He actually took the shirt off his back because there was a hole in the sleeve, a rather large hole. They are work shirts after all.

Very faded shirt. It use to be a maroon plaid but the sun bleached it out and made the shirt very easy to tear.

The color it use to be and the color the sun turned it to. The wonders of our sun. Thinking of doing some sun pictures with Matt this week. Need to dig out my sun paper.

The scarecrow in his new clothes. He gets new shirts every year.

Our baby strawberry plants are growing up nicely. Looks like all of them have survived and are thriving. I won't get berries off them this year. I will pulling any blooms off them so the plants can focus on growing instead of producing fruit. Next year we will hopefully get some yummy strawberries. For now, I will just hit the farm up the street for my berries, like usual.

Homeschooling Again

The hubby and I have been talking about taking Matt out of school at the end of this school year. He only has 2 months left, so we are letting him finish the school year out. I am so excited to be back in the homeschooling saddle.

I have always felt led to homeschool both our kids, but the hubby wasn't into it. When we first started homeschooling, he was very against it. I took the our daughter out of school without him agreeing. He didn't talk to me for 2 weeks. Eventually he warmed to it, a little bit. I homeschooled her until she hit 9th grade. She wanted to to experience high school. I agreed to let her go. Matt wasn't in school until a year after we moved to NH. He spent until the beginning of 4th grade at home.

We put Matt in school because the schools up in my town were ranked the top in the state, however that has changed drastically since they implemented the Core Curriculum Standards. I won't say more than that about the CCS because you do not need to hear my rantings.

A few months after he went into school, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and then a year later, Fibromyalgia as well. It took me 3 years to get to the point where I have the RA managed so I can live a normal life. The only times where I really struggle is around the time I am due to have my infusion. Plus now the infusions are doing a number on me. I know that once a month we will be getting takeout because I am so tired and sick I can't do much more than lay in bed.

I truly believe that the Lord changed the hubby's heart and lead him to homeschool Matt as well. He has been so very open to it and even calling me through out the day to have me check out some website that is offering free lessons or classes that Matt can take. I am totally loving it! We even went to a yard sale last Saturday because they were selling homeschool materials. I was able to get some BJU history books, just need to get the teachers books (keeping my eye on an Ebay listing as I type, praying I win the bid).

So excited to start homeschooling again! Can't you tell?