Today is the last day of February for 2024.
Hopefully it's the last day of our winter as well. Although, every day has been up and down weather, and yes, more snow yesterday.
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.
"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~
Today is the last day of February for 2024.
Hopefully it's the last day of our winter as well. Although, every day has been up and down weather, and yes, more snow yesterday.
We are having some wonderfully warmer weather, causing spring fever around here, but it is more like a "teaser" for us. It will hang around a few days, and then return to colder weather.
The spring-like temperatures are making me yearn for the gardens again. Half of my chickens are laying again. Woohoo to that.
I'm also growing sprouts for a "spring" weather treat for the chickens. They will be tickled pink when they are ready.
I was just reading about how lettuce will thrive better, if you plant it with your chives. Have any of my garden growing blogger friends done this?
My chives are in my herb garden, so I am hesitant to plant anything but herbs in the same area, so I don't bring in any bugs/worms that may be attracted to it. I once planted Swiss chard in my herb garden, and it grew wonderfully (without any additional insect issues).
The idea of trying this method, with the lettuce, is intriguing. One, the lettuce would be closer to the house, making salads quicker to make, and two, if it is true then we'd have more in abundance. I'm reading that the chives actually keep the bugs away from the lettuce.
Spring Fever? More like Spring Teaser © Feb 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart
I picked up some local orchard apples, so I baked us an apple pie. Not the healthiest way to start the new year, but I did.
I freeze my pie crust crumbles, so all I have to do is add the ice water and roll the dough (recipe is online with King Flour's website).
The recipe is from a very old book of mine - Farm Journal's Complete Pie Book, printed in 1965. I haven't bake an apple pie in a long, long time. I used to can apple pie filling when all the kids still lived here. The pie was not a pretty thing, but tasted okay. I have only baked Dutch apple pies if I remember correctly. I will bake it again, but not too soon, and tweak the recipe.
I also realized, I only have one pie cookbook on my homesteading bookshelf. Do you have a favorite pie recipe book that you use? Do you have a good old fashioned apple pie recipe?
I have gotten tired of breakfast sausage and bacon lately, so I switched things up, dug into the freezer, and baked us a breakfast pie. I tossed this together with eggs, Canadian bacon, mushrooms, and a few more ingredients. There are no potatoes in this, so it's healthy, and we won't be eating it for 3 days, like our scramble breakfast. We are due for some greens on our breakfast soon too.
As you can see, the news around here is a bit boring. The rain left us, but the colder air is with us.
Kitchen-ness © Jan 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart
I've been freezing our spaghetti squash. I do not have a root cellar, or basement, and the garage is not ideal for storage.
I had one more on the counter too. I always tell myself not to plant so many, but here they are again. I had one more on another counter.I have never frozen baked spaghetti squash, so I had to do some reading on this. Everything I read, said to let the baked squash sit in a strainer (in a bowl), in the refrigerator over night.
I did that, and then bagged it for the freezer.
1 pound spaghetti squash = 1 1/4 cup cooked strands. I'm using this method to mark the bags going into the freezer. It's a first time doing this, so I am hoping for good results when thawed.
TIP: I had no idea this worked, but there is a YouTube video on sealing freezer bags with a method to remove the air, without a seal/store system. Or vacuum (I am out of my bags for my vacuum).
You fill a tub or pot with water, large enough to dip your freeze bag into it. Seal the bag up to a corner, and dip the bag into the water. The water pushed the air out, and as you get the bag dipped down to a corner, close the rest of the seal.
The only downside, is you now have to dry off your bag before placing in the freezer. Also, it did not work as well for the squash. The straw method to remove air worked better in this case, but the heavier your food is the better the water dip method works (for example for meat).
Video to watch is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrZPLF0ezw8
I have roasted and preserved all of our garden pie pumpkins now. I saved some puree for baking/cooking. I typically freeze the puree in containers, but I ran out of them, so I froze the rest in ziploc bags, and froze them flat on a baking sheet to save space, and store more easily.
New recipe tried - White Bean Turkey Pumpkin Chili (SkinnyTaste online). There are no tomatoes in this chili. We found this to lack flavor, so I added more chili pepper and some diced jalapenos.I have also saved some fresh puree for making pumpkin waffles. There may be some cookies, muffins or other baked this coming week.
Tip: Did you know you can use pumpkin in place of eggs, butter and oil, depending on what you are making? There is a good article about it HERE. I am thinking of trying the Pumpkin Alfredo recipe shared on that article.