Pioneer Woman at Heart

I really liked this new recipe we tried recently - Pasta with Spinach and Ricotta. You boil 8 oz. of rotini pasta and drain.  They suggested the tri-color veggie noodles, but I can only find organic regular noodles. While the noodles are boiling, drain and squeeze a frozen and thawed box of  chopped spinach (or use equivalent of homegrown).  Place in a 12 inch skillet, add 1 minced clove and heat 5 minutes.  Add 1 cup ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup water and 1 1/2 Tbsp (I didn't measure) of Parmesan cheese.  Ad d salt and pep per.  When heated, add drained rotini and serve.   I doubled it for our family, and had to buy the spinach, but I can typically find organic ricotta at our one grocer.  It was very good.  I had practically no leftovers.

Last night's dinner - chickpea stuffed shells, corn off the cob mixed with sauteed onion, butter and zucchini, and a pot of baked beans with sliced cooked brats in it. The beans/brat pot was Son's only request at dinner.   We had a fun dinner too, as Oldest Daughter called and said she had "three hungry teenagers" and stopped in with them.  Of course they are her age, but it was fun to have them here for dinner.  Then just as they arrived, Hubby pulled in with Youngest Daughter's friend.  It was a full house, but lots of laughs, and plenty to go around. I don't see that I have ever shared this recipe...

The weather went from a chilly morning to 60°F by dinner time yesterday.  The days are slowly starting to heat up nicely.  

We had a nice visit from my older brother yesterday.  I gifted him 1 dozen fresh eggs to take home and fed him some lunch.   He brought us boxes from my sister-in-law (his wife).  One full of cloth napkins and placemats, one of ceramic cats and one of ceramic dogs.  Oh, and some bottles of nail polish. I absolutely loved these antique rose napkins.  Snag!  Those were mine.  The kids and I went through them, saving some for their hope chests too.  Anything left will be used in the camper.  The kids went nuts with the dogs and cats, running upstairs and chattering on, and setting them in place in their room.

Thursday was a normal inside chore day.  I am having a bit of difficulty coming up with an interesting post that doesn't have to do with sweating through 3 pairs of underwear, or chasing chickens. Or scrubbing a toilet or two. I did mak e a batch of homemade ricotta that will be used for a few dinners this coming weekend, but the highlight to share is our trip to the gym.

My 17 year-old helped a lot with this year's cookie tradition.  She also wanted to add a "lemon" cookie to our baking this year.  We searched the internet and found Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze (Giada, Food Network) . These were delicious.  We will keep this recipe for future holiday baking (and more).  We will however, make them half the size next time.  And of course we used organic lemon juice too. During summer, I plan to bake these using our homemade ricotta cheese (made from our goat's milk), and organic (or homemade butter). Tidbits . . .  It's a whopping 2°F wind chill today.  We got a bit of snow last night too.  Thank goodness my son re-stocked the wood pile. I went and got myself a head cold, and am sorry I didn't get my elderberry elixir made yet.  I best get on that.  Nobody likes it when Mom is sick around here.  I tend to get grouchy. I was actually up early this morning, searching pattern sit...

I tried another recipe from All recipes:   Gra nd ma Johnson's Scones.   I used my homemade ricotta in place of sour cream and used frozen blueberries.  Th e y were soft and moist, and the family loved them.  I think they did need something like nutmeg or cinnamon, but they were still delicious. I ventured around the Internet the other day, in search of a dinner that would utilize our homemade go at's milk ricotta (once again).  This crock pot mac aroni and cheese dinner was delicious.  Just to warn you, it's not y our creamy mac n' cheese, but still good.  I did spice this recipe up , by add ing some grated gr uyere cheese in place of about 1 /2 cup of the che ddar ch eese.  The kids loved it!  Oh, an d I double d it, all except the butter.  Yum! 3 Cheese Mac Cr ock Pot Recipe   I am selfishly taking the day off for myself today.  Although I have laundry to do, I am going to refresh with a good book, good t...

I bake when I am stressed.  However, th ere is a leve l of stress, that I should remember to never a ttemp t baking .  I baked a batch of Walnut Co c o nut Cookies , but accidently doubled the butter. After I realized that, I realized I only had 3 eggs in th e house.  I sent my 16 year-old out for one from the coop, and luckily she brought one it. While she was out there, her younge st fema le goat (Pri m) came up be hind her.  S ome how she got out of the fence again.  Lucky for her she discovered it . ...back to the cookies.  I had preheated the ove n at 400°F, but read over the recipe for the u mp -teenth time, a nd realized that I needed the oven on 350°F.   W ith my mistake of doubling, and by the way was on ly baking to use up some homemade goat's milk ricotta (in place of sour cream in this recipe), I was able to double the amount of ric ot ta too. By the way , the last time I baked these cookies , I used sugar in place of honey....

I made homemade deodo rant for the first time. I learned to be more resourceful.  Finished a crocheted bla n ket to take camping.  Had "wig" night with the kids (and pets too).  I baked more foods from scratch. (pho to take n by my daughter) Buried a very much loved barn cat named Joey.  D id many farm/barn repairs.  Tried new foods and recipes.  (photo taken by my daughter) Experienced the birth of two different baby goats. Took an "accidental" road trip with hubby. I added a few more useable anti ques to our home. I nvested in Araucanas .  (our daughter who tends the goats and makes the soap) Ha d successful soap making.   Partici pated in the Farmer's Market fo r the first time ever.   Got through m any trials and tribulations.  Took more time out for my self.  Made homemade ricotta cheese with our go at's milk for the first t...

Making cheese this year was one of my goals.  I am so thrilled I did.  We have been using our goat's milk ricotta cheese for many dishes lately - Lasagna, Chickpea Stuffed Shells. Yesterday I baked us a Ricotta Frittata with spinach, onion, garlic, oregano, kohlrabi, farm fresh eggs and ricotta cheese.  Yum! Oh, and I threw in some organic Swiss chard (red stems removed). Here is how I made this Frittata:   Saute one small onion with 2 cloves of garlic and one (trimmed, peeled and chopped) kohlrabi in olive oil.  Cook until the kohlrabi is softened.  Next, scramble about 8-9 farm fresh eggs and set aside. When the kohlrabi mix is ready, toss in any amount of spinach you prefer in your frittata.  Cook until it wilts.  You can also used frozen spinach - thaw, squeeze dry and use the amount you prefer.   Place your kohlrabi mix into an oiled quiche pan.  Pour eggs over it.  With a teaspoon, drop spoonfuls of ricotta ...

Use an over-sized safety pin to hold yarn needles.  I can pin this to just about anything when I am working on a project. We lost one of our Araucana pullets yesterday.  Such a sad loss.  My 15 year-old daughter has been working with them and they are very friendly with us.   She started to feed another hen with a dropper, in hopes to solve the issues.  We believe they have worms and we are treating them with apple cider vinegar.  They enjoyed being outside yesterday. After 6 hours of weeding and tilling  and harvesting the garden, I spent the night in bed with my foot up.  Yep, I did it again.  It hurts so bad I can't walk on it.  Between that muscle (I can't remember what the doctor called it) and my sciatic nerves, I won't be able to do much this week.  This is not a good thing. I did start another batch of goat's milk ricotta cheese. It will need to be rinsed today and put in the refrigerator.  I hope to make (or ha...

 (draining after the rinse) I used 4 1/2 quarts of goat's milk