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~

Showing posts with label Basil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Basil. Show all posts

Friday, June 7, 2019

Freezer Meat Sauce ~ Lasagna ~ Utilizing Fresh Grown Tomatoes, Fresh Basil, Garden Garlic and More

I'm always looking for good, healthy freezer friendly recipe.  It saves time and money in the long run, especially if the organic meat is purchased on sale, and I take advantage of vegetables from the garden and fresh herbs from the herb garden.

I made a trial run, using the alternative canned organic tomatoes to see if we'd like to make a few batches this summer when the tomatoes are ripe.  We found the sauce and lasagna to be very good.  I twist on the dish, but a healthier version.  Here is the how-to, on the meat sauce first.  Make a double batch, and freeze one for a later meal.  The recipe makes a 4 layer, 13 x 9 inch baking dish meal.  You could cut cut the size down to a 9 x 9 or 8 x 8 in, and freeze even more of the sauce.  I just have to figure out how many noodles I need for the smaller pan (for 4 layers).

The meat sauce could be used for other recipes such as stuffed spaghetti squash, spaghetti, stuffed shells, and many other recipes.




Meat Sauce:

1 lb. organic ground beef, browned in organic olive oil and drained

While you are browning beef, quarter 2 onions, place in a food processor, add 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (or 1 Tbsp prepared organic pesto and 1 Tbsp. homemade organic Italian Seasoning).

Add this mixture to the beef, along with:
2 cloves of garlic, minced.  Cook about 3 minutes.

Add:
6 fresh tomatoes, seeded and chopped (or 4 cups organic canned diced tomatoes)

2 cups home canned crushed tomatoes (or purchase organic canned crushed tomatoes).

1 cup organic dry red wine (pick one you like to drink and enjoy the rest of the bottle at dinner)

1 cup organic chicken stock, or homemade chicken stock

1/4 cup home canned tomato paste (or organic canned tomato paste)

1/2 tsp. organic ground black pepper

salt

pinch of organic nutmeg

5 organic bay leaves

Stir in remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring of and on until thickened.


The "white sauce" for the Lasagna recipe:

4 Tbsp. organic butter
1/3 cup organic potato starch, 
1 1/2 c. organic milk
2 egg yolks, fresh out of the coop
1 1/2 cups organic shredded Parmesan and/or Asiago cheese
organic ground black pepper

In a saucepan, melt butter, add potato starch and let cook a minute or so, and drizzle in the milk by stirring with a whisk.  Remove from heat,  add a small amount of milk mixture to a bowl of whisked egg yolks, then add the egg mixture back to the milk mixture and return to the burner.

Just heat until a bit thickened, remove from heat, add cheeses and cover to keep warm.


To Make the Lasagna:






Butter a 13 x 9 inch pan.

Layer meat sauce, then white sauce, then cooked organic or non-gmo lasagna noodles, repeat up to 4 times with cheese on top.  

Bake at 400° for 30 minutes covered.  Remove foil, bake 30 more minutes (I added some organic mozzerella 15 minutes of last 30 minute cook time).  Remove from oven and allow to cool 30 minutes before serving.

I used a mix of the two cheeses and it was very good.  I also found a non-gmo potato starch from a health store.



Friday, May 4, 2018

Tidbits ~ Herbed Omelets or Scrambled Eggs

Hubby and I were up at 5am this morning.  Had coffee on the porch before he left for work and I made him a sweet potato (more like an egg hash) burrito.  Both of us were up since about 3am.

I had to laugh this morning.  He asked me to open the door so he could carry his lunch, mug of coffee and half eaten burrito out to the car (truck is still down).  I looked down and he had socks and slippers on, ha ha ha ha!  I had to tell him, "um, hun? You don't have your shoes on."  We laughed and laughed.

It's operation homestead clean up again today.  I was abandoned by all kiddos, so I didn't have any help, but today I will.  More spider traps are going in place again too.

I don't see that it even rained last night, so we'll dig out more porch furniture.  I put a few pieces out yesterday, but golly, there is more to tidy up than I thought.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Pumpkin Stuffed Shells ~ Winter Prep

It's a chilly 32°F here this morning.  Brrr.  We have not yet turned on the heat (nor burned wood).  Wood....let's not be reminded we are so far behind on that chore (gasp!).


I recently used some pumpkin puree to try another new recipe - Pumpkin Ricotta Stuffed Shells (Country Living, online).

I purchased my pasta shells.  Barilla is certified Non-Gmo.  If you prefer, you could use homemade lasagna noodles and roll them, slice and bake in the tomato sauce too (for a completely self-sufficient dinner, adding a garden veggie for a side, homemade rolls etc.).  The basil and sage came fresh from my herb garden.  I had just enough of each herb.

We absolutely loved this dish, but to me it lacks a protein.  I think I'll have a side of meatballs or something with it next time, for us meat eaters. 

Tuesday night I went to bed completely e-xh-aus-ted.  I spent the day baking and mashing sweet potatoes, amongst other chores.



We had a freeze warning Wednesday night, so I froze the last of the chives, and green onions.  It was a humdinger of  a morning.  The parsley filled my 9 tray dehydrator.


I brought in more thyme to dehydrate, but not much.  It's recovering from the cat sitting in it all season the year prior, and is finally getting more growth.  It'll be used in another recipe very soon.  A recipe I should have started 4 weeks ago (gasp!).

I brought in my pots of rosemary, tarragon, and tulsi. I brought in one last geranium.

After getting the laundry on the line, I drained the rain barrels, and flipped them over for winter.  I started to put the front porch to bed too.  Sigh.  Just some small stuff - plant hanger pots, small furniture, wind chimes, bird houses, etc.  I pulled out all of my painted mushrooms from the flower beds.

The flags came down too.  I waited for the morning dew to dry them, and rolled them up for winter.  We fly the American flag, the Army and the Marine flag.  


I pulled all of the hot pepper plants, green pepper plants, and removed all the old squash and cucumbers out of the garden.  

There is much more to do, but rotten veggies are out.  I have dead tomato plants, beans, and other veggie vines to yank yet.  I did a quick check on the raspberries too.

That's not all I did though.  I brought in all the garlic hanging in the garage.   

I gave my ladies and gent extra straw for the cold nights ahead.  Just after I snapped that photo, a barred rock jumped up and pushed this blondie out of that roost, ha ha!

And....

I washed and bleached the shower liner and curtain (both are fabric), and put up my Christmas shower curtain.  My pitiful attempt at the continuation of my "extreme clean."



I thought, "why the heck not?"  I don't have a fall one, and I need to steam out the creases.  So up it went, he he!  By the way, Hubby loves it.  Thought it was "cute" and laughed when he saw it.  I have never changed out my white shower curtain.  Ever.  This was the year to do it.

And I came in and vacuumed, before I declared it quits for the day.  Nettle tea to the rescue!

However. . .


There is always something I forget to do.  Pick the pears.  At 5:30pm, I tra-peezed out to the tall grass (in muck boots and with Hubby's help) where the pear trees grow, and picked them.  Just in time before that hard freeze arrived. 

Hubby agreed that we will try the wine making again next year (if we get pears next year).  We just have too many "irons in the fire" and we want this holiday season to be a happy and restful one.

 King and Zuri, waiting for their master to return home.  They sit at this door and watch for her (Grad Daughter).  They were also keeping a stray cat from coming up to eat our barn cat food.  Good Pups.


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Homemade Mosquito Repellent ~ Summer is Not Over


I know it's a bit late in the season, but I have been wanting to try a recipe using basil and vodka.  The temperatures soared up to the 90's this week.  It definitely feels like summer is still here.  

I spent the early part of the week deep cleaning my kitchen.  That was a relief, and it kept me out of the heat.

I also took some time to file recipes, pitch the ones that didn't make the cut, and recycle most of the paper.  

The kids are still sick, and I am feeling better.  There is nothing worse than to have severe congestion when it's 95°F outside.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Gardening Season Ends ~ Others Begin

The kids went back to school this week, except for my college daughter.  Unfortunately, she had to withdraw from this semester, even after buying all her books and preparing.  The balance leftover after all her loans and financial aid, could not be paid by her nor us.  The monthly payment for the balance was way too high for her (or us) to pay as well.  

Mornings are rather quiet, but exceedingly demanding.  I have been catching up on watering flower beds, dead-heading flowers, weeding, checking the tomatoes, and so forth.  Not to mention putting up the last of the 20 pounds of blueberries.  All of the onions are pulled, except for the red onions. Half were rotten, and what was left, were very small.