Heat Wave

The heat wave continued through the first of the week, bringing us more uncomfortable weather, but I needed it for more ripe tomatoes so I tried not to complain.  Today, it's supposed to be the last of hot day.  I guess we'll see.  It was so hot some schools without AC let out again early and will again today. 

Hubby has to work in rooms with hot machines, and yesterday, he almost got sick twice.  I told him to request an ice jacket (vest filled with ice) today.  Some machines can be from 130° up to 700-800°F.  He is requesting those jobs be delayed by a day today.  He was so sick when he got home, all he could eat was the blueberry bread I made.  So glad I made it.

Our daughter's school has AC, but the school buses do not.  We are not used to having heat waves in fall, and she has a black school uniform (pants).  No time to change to shorts on the way home either.  She came home miserable too and went straight to the couch.

Update on our Moroccan Creole garlic - horrible harvest.  The cloves are the smallest of all small.  Too small to plant, so it won't be continued here unless I purchase some for fall planting.

On a "happy" note, the heirloom green bell peppers are starting to produce a few.  We got more rain with the heat, so I am anticipating some going in the freezer.

This weeks breakfast was created with garden bell peppers, garden potatoes, a few hot peppers, onion, sausage and eggs.

I pickled some hot banana peppers.  Per Hubby's request, they were cut in larger pieces and with seeds.

I was low on certain baking ingredients, so I went fishing online for a blueberry cake/bread that didn't have butter.  I made AllRecipes blueberry bread I recipe, adding a bit more blueberries and added cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Your probably wondering how all this cooking and baking can be done when the heat index is 101°F?  I would have felt horrible if I didn't have a treat for my husband and daughter to come home to, or a meal.

I finished another Harley Davidson inspired lapghan.  It's up for sale.   

Tiger stole my chair.  

Dinner last night - baked lemon pepper/garlic flounder (homemade lemon pepper), with pearl couscous (zucchini, onion, basil and tomatoes from the garden).  It was very good, but not something for Hubby. It's packed in his lunch today, but he may not be able to eat it with the heat.  These were perfect to cook together.  Other than cooking the veggies before, the fish and couscous only took 10 minutes to make.

This and That

Wednesday is snowed here.  Sigh....Mother Nature has to be drunk.  It literally snowed all day and into the night.  Thankfully, there was no snow on the ground Thursday morning, we had less wind, but lots of sun.  It was still cold though.  

I'm getting a bit concerned about this gardening season.  It won't warm up for another week, and then we get an onslaught of rain for days and days.  At this point in April, I should be dehydrating tons of stinging nettle, I should have my peas, potatoes, beets and carrots planted outside.  None of that is happening right now.

Pickled Turnips

On a recent trip to the library, one librarian shared that she had been buying (Mediterranean) pickled turnips at a market, and wondered what the "pink" color was from (and if it was healthy).  She raved about the taste, so I came home and made some.

By the way, I was right on my first guess - the pink is from beets.  

I sliced my turnips in stick form.  The beet and hot pepper are at the bottom of the jar.  By the way, I will be making these again using the garlic vs. the chili pepper next.  I found a few ways to make them now. 

Wacky Winter ~ Indoor seed planting has started

I think anyone living in our neck of the woods, has lost their marbles by this point in the season.  I think most of us, look out the window and just start laughing hysterically.  This tells it exactly as it is....

Hubby got a laugh out of this too.  What a "wacky" winter we are having.


So what's going on here lately?

Random Tidbits

My weekly menu is going by the "seat of my pants."  Monday I really didn't want to go out, so I made "Garbage" soup.  Basically, it contained whatever veggies I had left in my freezer, and pantry - green beans, dehydrated mushrooms, celery, tomato sauce, the very last pint of onion soup, a small bag of corn, some zucchini....some last bits of leftover zucchini salsa in the fridge...you get the point.  It was actually very good too, and it helped start the cleaning of the fridge.

Monday was a catch up day on laundry, bedding, and what not.  It literally took all day, and in between fetching the last of the firewood pile and taking dogs out, I wrote out my grocery list for the remaining week.  I did absolutely zero handiwork.  I think I just got to a "burned out" point last week.

Tuesday, there was plenty of leftover soup, and I made a huge bowl of organic romaine/spinach and lots of other raw veggies.

A twist to succotash

The kids were wondering if I was trying to speak a new language when I mentioned "succotash" for dinner.  I have never made succotash before, so I was thrilled to try a new recipe of sorts. 

I however, did not put it over fish.  I put fish in it.  I call this dish

"Fire it Up" Herb/Spice Mix (aka Full Throttle Herb/Spice Mix ~ Good/Bad

We woke up to all the white stuff melted.  All of it.  I am so glad to see that.  It was an ice rink walking to the barn, to fetch wood and to get the mail.  It'll be sloshy out there, but I'll take warmer weather and mud over ice and freezing temps at this point.


There are so many nutritional and medicinal benefits of herbs and spices, so I won't go into detail of each one.  However, I mixed the following together for their benefits, and tried it on eggs, on sandwiches, meats etc.

Although I called it "Fire it Up" we like to think of (or call it) "Full Throttle" because it fires up our "engines."

A body boosting, immune boosting, sickness fighter, overall health boosting mix.

First I picked dehydrated garden parsley, and my home ground garlic. 

Donation Blanket ~ Lentil-Swiss Chard Soup

The fundraiser folks have asked for donations to auction off.  Hubby wants to make something from barn wood, and of course my donation will be crocheted.  We are strapped for cash, so we can't spend money to create either.

Like a crazy fool, I took on this project, and have been crocheting like a mad woman (putting all other  projects on hold).   This is how much of it I've been able to do in 4 days.  It's wider than the photo shows, but get the idea of how many rows it will take.  And colors.

I'm back

I can't say things are back to completely "normal" yet, but getting there. I've tried my absolute best to maintain my good diet and exercise, and continue to do something I enjoy each night, while sending prayers up for just about everyone.  Hubby reminded me to get back to my blog, as it too is part of what I enjoy.  So here I am.

In the process of keeping things normal, I think I converted our vegetarian daughter back to a meat eater.  While baking meals for the extended family, and the aroma and wonderful taste of casseroles from years ago, she's eating meat again (18 year-old).  Big shock to all of us, but we also giggled when she slobbered over that recent meatloaf I made. 

And in the process of so much talk about meat, Hubby is about 98% agreeing we raise meat birds this spring.  It'll be a matter of if we can whip up housing for them.  We used to raise them in a part of the old big barn.

My Best ~ Grand Pup ~ Peaches

I've never been one to eat oranges.  I'm not sure why, or maybe it was not introduced to me on a regular basis growing up?  Anyway, I am doing my best to be vigilant with all good foods this winter (on account of sickness on the rise too).  Clementines have made their way into my diet for the first time in a long time.  Regularly.  It's hard to find organic citrus this time of year too.  The store even cut back the size of bagged organic apples (so no canning applesauce yet).

I have also realized, with my scale not moving for weeks, that I am not getting enough protein (or I'm building muscle right now).  I've been adding more to my breakfast and lunch now.  Black beans mashed with onion (cooked in the crock pot all day), topped with home canned yellow squash relish has been my favorite to eat with eggs lately. 

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.

Millet Stuffed Peppers

I don't know why I have never thought of millet vs. rice when I stuffed peppers to freeze last summer.   I'm very happy with the taste of my "thrown together" recipe too.  We had a so-so bell pepper year, so I had to (gulp!) buy these (organic of course).  They were pretty large, so I purchased 4, however the amount of filling I made, would have stuffed 5 large peppers.

Here is how I made them, and the next batch I make will be doubled and some frozen for winter.  I have never frozen cooked millet, but from what I have read, it will freeze well.  However to freeze these, I will blanch the peppers first, so the crunch won't be there.  When cooked with fresh peppers, you get a nice crunchy pepper.

Made with organic ingredients, home grown etc.  


Millet Stuffed Peppers
5 large bell peppers, cut in half, seeds removed
Set aside and continue:

1 cup millet, rinsed
3 cups broth (your choice, vegetable or chicken)
Cook millet per instructions.  My instructions said to bring it to a boil, cover, simmer 20 minutes or so until liquid is absorbed. 

I removed it from the pan and poured it into a mixing bowl and rinsed out my pot.

Add:
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 - 3 tomatoes, diced (thawed frozen, or fresh, or canned)
1 jalapeno (or 2, or hot pepper of your choice), optional
3/4 tsp. cumin (I may add more next time)
Fresh cilantro (I was lucky to have a handful in the herb garden) 

I poured 1 pint of homemade tomato sauce into the bottom of a glass baking dish and placed the stuffed peppers on top.  I baked it for 20 minutes or so, at 350°F.  The peppers will be crunchy, but delicious. 

We topped our peppers with the sauce, and some grated Parmesan cheese.  My vegetarian daughter was slobbering over hers, and saying she wanted my recipe for herself.  I had to laugh, because she's not been eating any of my vegetarian meals lately (she wants to be a grown up and buy her own groceries, but has realized she is too lazy to cook healthy).

When I tossed the mix together, I never measured the amount of cumin, so I am estimating.  I may had a bit more the next time I make them.

I want to try adding my homemade sausage to this for us meat eaters here too. 

I will still freeze some peppers using Mama Pea's recipe with beef and rice too.  I'm just tickled I found another way to incorporate millet into our diet and not have it taste so-so.

Millet is packed with B vitamins and other important nutrients.  Update:  The remaining millet filling was combined with scrambled eggs and eaten on tortillas for breakfast.  The taste?  Delicious!  The garlic brings out a good flavor. 

Barn Siding ~ Getting our Legumes ~ Red lentil burgers ~ Beet Hummus

Sorry if this is a boring post about beans, but I have a few new recipes to share - from "pile to file" keepers.  I've found my voice this month, so watch out for long posts.  I think I have blog-i-tis this October.  I can't blame the weather either.  It's been hot out again.

The only other news, is that while I was sitting on the porch with leg up sipping my hot herbal tea yesterday, a car hit a deer just yards from our north drive.  The driver pulled over (a young girl), and the deer flopped around on the road for a few seconds, then got up and ran off.  The same area a car hit one early morning not long ago.  There is a corn field adjacent and north of our property.  

 Before

We also got some barn siding removed last night.  We are tired folks.  Simply tired.

We've been eating more beans than meat lately.  It helps the budget as well as our health.  These meals were over a period of time.

I soaked a bag of organic black beans for all sorts of meals/snacks.  We love it on a burrito for any meal - add scrambled eggs, any leftover rice/veggie mix, jalapenos or cowboy candy, or yellow squash relish (or radish relish)...more total goodness.  

I'll have a post regarding the yellow squash relish soon. 

(these are broiled)

I have also made red lentil burgers for the first time.

Fall Garlic Planting ~ Garlic Powder ~ Recipes that Use It

We worked on barn wood all day Sunday.  We are very tired and sore.  I took photos, but will load them later to share.  As soon as we finished removing boards so we could load up a trailer, a stranger pulled in wanting the metal hay rail.  We now know why the other guy wanted it - money.  Each little metal piece (photo to come later) is worth $10.00.  Not including the rail.  So this stranger, after we did all the work, just drives on in and asks for it for free.  I'm going to put signs up for those types of people. Oh, and the stranger immediately asked for the pulleys.  Hm.  The nerve of people. 

So, without photos of the barn clean up, I'll share my garlic.  A frost is possible in a week or so, and I wanted this job done.

Last year I planted about 175 cloves of garlic.

This year? 

I planted 70 cloves of Moroccan Creole, 56 cloves of Russian Giant, and 100 cloves of our regular variety (so far - we have no idea what type it is, as we were gifted it to start our first garlic bed years ago). 

Grand total so far:  226 cloves of garlic

In the fall I also dehydrate a lot of our current garlic, and grind it into garlic powder.  Pure home grown, chemical free, no fillers, no anti-caking agents, goodness.

Many of my recipes call for fresh, but some call for powdered.  These recipes are listed using what I grow or make, so you can adapt and of course reduce for smaller families.

Here are a few recipes (and links to recipes) I use my home ground garlic powder in:

Homemade Sausage ~ Biscuits and Gravy Oh My!

I woke up Monday to a warm 63°F and later a high of 87°.  And guess what?  

We started the "resurrection" of the flower beds/rose bed/herb garden on Sunday (no chance in convincing Hubby to break out the chainsaw for wood chores in the heat either), and now we are to get 4 days of possible rain.  I guess the Good Lord thought I needed softer soil to rip those weeds out, ha ha!  

Clean up before the end of the day.  But oh, so much more to weed (like about 60-70 feet of flower/herb beds).

Monday, we labored (again).  Hubby mowed some more, we weeded, and prepped the garlic bed.  Oh that was a joy - windy as heck, and try putting plastic down in the wind.  It took us about 1 1/2 hours or more to pull up old plastic, till, and put the new plastic down.  Now it will sit for a week or so to kill off more weeds/grass before I fall plant.

Laundry was put out.  Dried in seconds with the wind, heat and sun we had.

Pie pumpkins were picked and brought inside.  There are more, and more baby ones just starting.

A few blackberries were enjoyed.

Now about the homemade sausage.... 

In our parts of the world, we can buy "natural" sausage in patties, but it's not organic/non-gmo.  I've been buying organic pork, and making it myself.

It's the next best thing to raising my own pigs, butchering and making the sausage myself (goals). Or some day having a neighbor, like-minded, to barter with some day. 

That's the tickler about homesteading - it's a simple way of living, but so many people confuse "simple" with "easy."

To make the homemade sausage:

What's Cookin? Greens. That's what's Cookin'

In 2016, I canned sweet-hot caramelized onions for the first time.  I used them often in different recipes, meals.  This time I used the onions on pizza....

Garden Swiss Chard, ricotta, Parmesan, garden garlic, herb garden thyme, barnyard egg....topped with home canned sweet hot caramelized onions.  Tasted amazing.

Here is how I made mine, but you an google for other recipes:

Broccoli Pizza

A few days back, I made homemade whole wheat flatbread.  We ended up taking a long motorcycle ride on Father's Day evening, so the pizzas were not made.  I put the flatbread in the freezer and we finally made them.

It only took a few minutes to thaw the flatbread.  Now I know it freezes well, so I'll be putting some in the freezer vs. pizza dough.  I topped them with spinach pesto, then the broccoli (and it was supposed to have wilted spinach, but I ran out after pesto was made), topped with mozzarella cheese.

 I baked them at 400°F for about 15 minutes or so.  This flatbread worked beautifully for these.  Just enough to make it a pizza, crispy on the bottom, and delicious.

The flatbread was rolled to about 7 x 5 inches.  I got 8 pieces of bread in the batch.  The recipe stated I'd get 12, but that would be the thickness of a tortilla or thinner.  The recipe I used was from food.com for the whole wheat flatbread (used part all-purpose and part whole wheat), and the pizza recipe is from Eating Well, called "Green Pizza."  We think it needs some hot red pepper flakes, but that's about the only suggestion I got from the taste testers.

Curried Lentils ~ A Crockpot Summer

As promised, here is the recipe for the curried lentils.  However, I don't have a photo of it.  I do have one of what I made with leftovers.

 Curried Lentils with Spinach

Garlic Scape and Radish Spread ~ Roasted Spring Vegetables with Brussels Sprouts

I am still getting a few more garlic scapes, although most have been cut of.  

If you happen to have one garlic scape, this recipe is wonderful.  I have to buy the organic cream cheese.  I don't have a source for raw goat's milk or cow milk right now.

Chickweed ~ Herb Vinaigrette ~ Roasted Radishes and Brussel Sprouts

I spent the entire day in the garden weeding, then worked in the herb garden.  It was so dry, I had to water it first to weed it.  I am so glad it rained last night.  I am forced to work indoors today.  I just need to weed the carrots and then the green beans tomorrow (or the next dry day).