Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Interesting info for anyone who crochets . . . I received a few different crochet tension rings, and have yet to give them a try.  I have heard of them, but have never used one.  Very interesting concept.  The ring holds the yarn tension as you crochet, vs. wrapping the yarn in between fingers or around your hand.   I never did get any comments on the best row counter.  I'm still looking into that.  As for the lack of posts?  Well, I'm busy weeding gardens.  However, yesterday I realized I forgot to trim back the lavender plants and they are already starting buds.  I believe I am too late this spring.  I will wait for blooms and maybe trim what I can after that.  The plants are becoming too big for the flower beds. We are slowly working on a plan to get the vegetable garden planted.   I'm glad to say, I am back to using our clothesline, but using it is hit or miss around here.  The rain comes and goes ofte...

Do you freeze your home grown blueberries, or freeze locally picked ones?  We are unable to grow the plants, due to the limestone here, so I hunt down produce stands that sell blueberries grown in the area or in MI. I've been looking for more creative ways to add nutrition, protein (not protein powders), fiber and whatnot into our breakfast. I look for more ways to utilize what we have in the freezer, like blueberries.  My husband was intrigued at this idea for the blueberries.  It looks like blueberry jam, but it is not. I used a slice of sourdough (or use what you like), topped with the freshly ground peanut butter (peanuts only) we purchased, organic hemp hearts sprinkled (to get 1 full Tbsp. I need to sprinkle some on the peanut butter and then on top of everything), and finally topped with frozen blueberries heated with organic cinnamon mixed into it . I used about 1/3 cup of blueberries.  Yum!  Healthy.  Fills us up. I just heated the blueberries, sma...

  First, here is the link for the Pumpkin baked oatmeal with toasted pecans (The Real Dietitians).  One of my biggest challenges has been to cook and bake without white flour, sugar and pasta.  Per my husband's doctor's strict instructions (for the last 7 years), I am trying my best, but as a baker and cook from scratch gal, it's been a huge challenge.  Hence, the new recipe trials. I found this recipe on social media, but have no source for it.  I'm thinking someone just tossed stuff together.  Anyway...   1st - I added cinnamon and nutmeg, and I'm glad I did. 2nd - they are a bit on the "dry" side, any ideas on what to add that is healthy? 3rd - they need more blueberries Notes:  I used 1/3 cup monkfruit (I feel monkfruit is sweeter than real sugar), and used homemade vanilla. I tried this recipe first, as I had frozen (vs. fresh) blueberries, and plain greek yogurt.  Oven bake times may vary, as you see mine are a bit toasty on top. Mix ...

  It's been pretty "busy" here lately.  So busy, that I baked a Georgia Peach Crumble with the oven off!  Multi-tasking at it's worst ha ha! I kid you not!  I thawed the last of the peaches in the freezer, and turned the oven on, but forgot to hit the "start" button (which is required for it to actually turn on).  How I didn't notice it when I put it in the oven, is beyond me.  Other than I have been up to my eyeballs in garden work, harvesting, and then when it comes inside, it of course has to be dealt with. (full of stems, leaves, etc.) It was another race-against-the-clock sort of day.  Hurry and get the bedding and laundry on the line, so it will be dried and put away, bed made etc. before my husband got home.  Hurry and get the dishes washed, dried and put away, so I can take the blueberries, that were flash freezing, out of the freezer and bagged.  Hurry to process some green beans and freeze, and hurry all of everything to get out to ...

  (this was a few days ago) Me to my husband:  Sure looks like it's about to come down out there. Husband to me:  Oh great!  Another 1000 green beans (ha ha ha!) We have been getting rain off and on.  We are also getting heat.  We canceled our first camping trip as fast as we booked it due to the heat.  What's the fun in camping, if you can't enjoy a campfire meal?  Not only will the heat be here this weekend, so will thunderstorms.   I decided to only freeze shredded zucchini, and not diced this year.  I prefer to be able to squeeze the water out prior to freezing.   I sent a large bag of squash with my husband to work.  I also picked more, and reduced the numbers by about 10 of them with some baking and cooking (and freezing). The muffins are delicious, but a bit sweet.  I may make them again and swap the honey for maple syrup, and only use half amount. Although we recently got a small bit of rain, it was not e...

  I haven't knitted in a long, long time.  I have only knitted a scarf, and most of the time dishcloths.  Socks are still on the bucket list, but I realized how sore my finger tip can get.  I found these at the Dollar Tree for $1.25! I've been focusing meal planning on what needs rotated out of the freezer and pantry.  Other than fresh fruit on the menu.  You know like the canned ketchup, frozen blueberries, frozen bell peppers, frozen green onions - just anything put up last garden season.  I use home canned ketchup, and frozen bell peppers in Four Beans and Sausage. A one meal in a crockpot recipe. A random breakfast dish I layered with cooked sage sausage, cooked (from the freezer) garden bell peppers, and added green onions I froze last summer.  Oh, I chopped to jalapenos I froze last summer, and boy it was delicious.  I also freeze the cheese blocks that go into dishes like this (grated), so I checked that supply as well as butter. ...

The blueberries are all done for the year.  I canned a small batch of blueberry cinnamon jam, and froze the rest.  I picked more green beans, tied up more tomatoes, and had a mound of dishes.  I mucked the chicken coop, and boy was it a hot day.  I did a check on all of the tomatoes and thankfully, only found one tomato worm. I came inside and snapped a photo of the flooring going in for the bathroom.  Sigh....look at those seams!!  I sent the photo to my husband how immediately got in touch with the men doing the work. They were putting the seams way too close.  Oh my gosh, by the way, the two men were arguing the entire time.      It was taken out and fixed.  Sorry for the bad photos, I took them with my phone. It's hard to get a good photo, due to lighting and time of day as well, but we discovered there is matching trim, so we'll possibly be returning the trim we did buy and buying matching trim.  Hopefully, the bathro...

Yesterday was horribly humid and hot.  We had a heat index over 100°F.  There were sever thunderstorm warnings and we literally got a few drops of rain. I drove my 62 minute round trip to pick up 10# of Michigan blueberries.  I did not get the chance to plant potatoes this year, so I also picked up some potatoes, more peaches, and garlic.  If you read my blog, you'll know that we are pretty sure I forgot to plant my garlic last fall. Anyway, I spring planted my garlic and two entire grow bags have zero garlic, so yes, I could have, and yes it may be a squirrel problem.  I'll be picking up some 1/2 in. wire to cover the grow bags this fall. Daughter K sent me a message she loved the zucchini I sent home with her, and we decided to use some for our favorite side dish (to also use up corn in the freezer).  The recipe is no secret.  It's online with AllRecipes called Corn and Zucchini Sauté I think. Wednesday, my day completely changed gears.  I ...

I wasn't sure I'd even get blueberries this year, as it was a dry spring.  Strawberry season was short too. However, I was on top of it, and brought home 10# of blueberries.  We cannot grow them here, so I'm tickled pink we can re-stock them. I made this the other day.  It's a side dish, but I made it a "main" dish for a hot day.  It has black beans in it, so that counts as a protein.  So good too.  It's Tex Mex Pasta and the recipe is online at Spruce Eats.  You can utilize your garden goodies for this recipe.  Oh, I forgot to add the fresh cilantro from the herb garden.  Will add that today too. Do you know what these are?  Hard to see in the bag, but Hubby surprised me.  French waffles.  A country nearby town had a food truck.  Woohoo!  We helped someone out financially, and filled my tummy with some yummy fair food (I know it's not healthy, but it's once a year ha ha!). Got up early (ag...

Monday was not about the garden, it was about dropping another $200 for Youngest - school uniforms, photos etc.  It will still save us in the long run, but man.  School is not cheap.  That doesn't include her shoes, supplies and other necessary clothing.  They told us we'd spend only 1 hour there, but ended up spending 2 hours, and it was a 30 minute drive there and back.  We didn't get home until almost 2 pm. Rain was in the forecast again, but the weather man has been wrong this year.  So wrong.  We need more, so I was hoping they were right for a change.  We didn't get any, and it's in today's forecast too (slight chance). I had food to freeze, and a lot of it.  Despite rain and dry/hot weather, the cucumbers, zucchini and other stuff needed dealt with. Three bags (slightly short of 3 bushels) brought home.  We'll need a tractor to plant this much sweet corn in the future. The fun started.   Younge...

Zucchini continues to produce nicely, but our yellow squash has mold.  And since it was 90 degrees with 70% humidity, and outdoor work slowed for a blip in the week, I made a cake.  Zucchini snack cake with lemon butter cream frosting.   Hubby's favorite, and made only once a year.  It requires fresh blueberries.  We haven't found them in bulk form yet either, so these were not cheap.  This cake requires fresh blueberries, hence why it's only baked this time of year.  Although, as Hubby has graciously reminded me, we sometimes find organic blueberries later in the season. Here is a close-up photo of the drying radish seed pods.  We are tickled pink.   It's the first year our plants went to seed. What we'll do without this season?

Say that three times - Bourbon Blueberry Banana Bread.  Ha! I made up the recipe.  Sort of.  I whipped up a loaf of it, and frosted it with an oh-so delicious, bourbon-y frosting.  Not kid friendly, but a guaranteed way to make your bread last longer if you do have kids.  Oh, and I forgot the oil, but because I added blueberries, I was lucky it added some moisture to it.

I've been cooking with booze (again).  This time it's with blueberries.  When Hubby whisked me off to Kentucky, we visited a restaurant that had the best steaks.  They also served salmon with blueberry bourbon barbecue sauce.  It was delicious.   I had to try making it myself.   I thought it would be best to measure all my ingredients prior to starting.  Jalapenos were from my garden, and boy are they hot this year.