"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

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.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Spinach Cups

Don't these look like green eggs?  This would be fun to make on St. Patrick's Day too.

This recipe calls for 6 oz. of fresh spinach, chopped up in the food processor.  I tripled the recipe, but did not triple the spinach.  I used organic baby spinach for mine.  The only thing for me making these in winter, was using up all the eggs we had.  With the colder weather, we are not getting as many.  I did not triple the salt either.

By the way, these re-heat nicely too.  Only one of the kids didn't like these - must have been the spinach.  In fact, one daughter ate them for her after school snack.

I'm betting that these could be cooked and frozen individually also.  I did that one school year, but with mini frittatas.  The kids just took one out the night before, and heated it quickly for breakfast, before school. Next summer I plan to make these again using homemade goat's milk ricotta. And of course home grown garlic and spinach.  Yum!

Spinach Cups
(from Tired and Wired? by Marcelle Pick)

6 oz. fresh spinach
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs, beaten
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Unsalted butter, for greasing muffin cups *

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Finely chop spinach, using a food processor if preferred (this is what I did).  Then in a large bowl, mix ingredients together well.

Lightly grease 4 muffin cups.  Divide mixture among the 4 cups.  Bake 17 to 20 minutes, or until the spinach cups are set.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then loosen cups by running a butter knife along edges.  Serve.

Serving:  2 (2 spinach cups for serving)  

*Tip:  We save butter wrappers and keep them in a container or ziploc bag in the refrigerator.  They are then a quick way to grease pans (or to butter corn on the cob).   

Also, you could probably leave the salt out of this recipe.  I think the ricotta is salty enough for this recipe.

  

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Kid Funny ~ More Frozen Pipes

"You'll all need to go get a jug of sink water in the other bathroom to brush your teeth," I told the kids since the pipes were froze (again).

"Be careful for what you wish for," said my 11 year-old daughter.  "Yesterday I was just saying that I wanted to go camping.  I feel like we're camping."





Blondie finally got a nicely warm turn out blanket, to cover her.  Golly, I'm so thankful for that.  She's looking better and better every day, and even the hair around her neck appears healthier and thicker.  Her foot seems to be getting better also.

I'm praying that the water pipes do not have any damage during this cold spell.  They seem to warm up later in the evening, but I still worry when the water starts to flow again.  Say a little prayer we don't have damage.
  

While my oldest daughter was shoveling frozen horse poo, her dog Sadie was having a blast playing with the ice that was knocked out of the buckets.  Silly dog.