Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Catching up ~ Basic Collard Greens


Wednesday seemed like my "Monday" cleaning day.  I had a long list of to-do's, and we were out of chicken and goat feed to top it off.  As well as vinegar, a much needed agent for cleaning.  That meant two trips in two directions, or asking Hubby to help with the feed pick up.

Before I could put pork chops in the crock pot,
I had to wash it.  In all our excitement of Daughter home, we did not do any dishes.

Here's what my day looked like

run dishwasher
wash crock pot and get BBQ pork chops in it
wash dishes to make myself breakfast
load wood stove
bring in wood
take scraps to compost
scrub a toilet
laundry
unload dishwasher and reload
wash the rest of the pans etc.
reload wood pellets
sweep kitchen
vacuum
load stove again
barn duties
clean the coop
clean a cat box
take trash out
exercise
run to the store for vinegar
order books from the library
call the vet
mop bathroom
mop kitchen



Anyone else getting new seed catalogs right now?  One has arrived. 

Even though I had (and still have) much to do, I did get one thing right yesterday - dinner.

Barbecued pork chops (with home canned tomato sauce) over organic brown rice, corn, and basic organic collard greens.


I wilt the greens with onion and basically with the water they are rinsed on.  I do have bacon grease saved for this as well, but one daughter does not like bacon.

Once my greens are wilted, I beat one egg, 1 cup of milk and 2 Tbsp. of organic all-purpose flour, and top the greens.  Also, as I coarsely cut the greens, I put them in my food processor to finely chop them, so we wouldn't have chewy mouthfuls of big pieces.


I stir until the mixture is completely cooked through.  Once I have leftover ham from Christmas, I'll mix these up with hot red pepper flakes, ham and who knows what else.  I'm really being more diligent at adding greens to each week of meals.

Another organic green I was able to locate this week was baby kale.  We'll probably have baked cod in a bed of wilted kale and onions and another side.  We did not get any greens from last year's garden (bugs chewed them down).  If you have any really good natural pest remedies for next year's garden, I'd love to hear them.  Greens are always bug laden and difficult for me to grow.  Swiss chard does very well however.

I've really been enjoying cooking up spaghetti squash with breakfast too (hashbrowns).  

Oldest daughter will soon be learning how to make her dog's homemade food.  She is already house hunting and planning her college admission process.  She's planning to keep her dog with her, so finding a rental that takes dogs is a difficult search. 

Today I am thankful for:
 ~ an article that will publish next month
 ~ Sadie's recovery
 ~ Daughter being home
 ~ stamps and our postal system
 ~ a somewhat clean kitchen
 ~ organic produce, non-gmo
 ~ God's Guidance and Love
 ~ the sunrise this morning
 ~ raw honey and organic apple cider vinegar
 ~ the support we've received for Sadie


3 comments:

Mama Pea said...

No breakfast yet here in our house, but your post this morning has me hungry for EVERYTHING you talked about! Not fair to make my tummy growl so loudly when I'm not even halfway through my morning latte!

Yes, I got the Baker's Creek seed catalog yesterday, too. It was the third catalog I've received so far. The first one coming before Thanksgiving! I don't like that. Preferred when they used to wait to start coming after the first of the year. That's the time to sit down and start dreaming!!

Enjoy your daughter's stay. And good luck to your other daughter's search for just the right living arrangement.

Sam I Am...... said...

So happy your daughter is home! Also, big congratulations on being published! I have to "catch up" with you. Love your lists as I am a list maker too. We had some of the same things on our lists too. I didn't get much done yesterday but the day before I was really productive. It's like every other day with me. Today is wrap and get presents in the mail. TTYL!

RB said...

WOW!!! Those greens look good. I'm a pushover for greens of any sort, especially parsley (known by some as one of the world's healthiest foods). I've even been known to quite regularly cook up a mess of parsley in chicken broth, salt and pepper until tender and broth is well reduced, top with butter and eat. Yum!!! And I often add chopped fresh parsley to salads and other cooked greens and vegetables too, for the nutrition and interesting flavor parsley adds.
God bless.
RB
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