First Fruits

My day has drastically improved! I survived the trailer ride (sweating profusely and looking quite pale by the time we arrived at our destination!)

Chad made a nice run in the steer wrestling with a 4.4. We went to church and then came home. I've been reading some great cook books on using fresh garden produce and had my plan set on plucking some potatoes for dinner. One of my first stopswas the garden and it wasn't to harvest either. I had six head of horses that found their way over from the barn. Chad had gone to get steers in and the rest of the "boys" were in the cool AC. After a slight freak-out, yelling and cursing and the equine, (none of which actually phased them) they were rounded up and dumped in the round pen with a huff and a puff.  (Again, totally unphased!)

I then headed to the garden to pluck our meal fixings. This isn't Mickie D's or BK, good food takes a bit of time and I warned the fam. If they were hungry they'd have to scrounge around the cupboard and see what they could find until lunch. This would actually help my cause and make them appreciate lunch because the cupboards are BARE!!!!! The kids played, Chad did some outside work and I dove into the prep and cook mode.

First was the peeling and slicing of cucumbers, which were then accompanied by onions and marinated in apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar.

Next I added potatoes, rosemary and salt to boiling water. I added peas later into the boil. During this time, I melted butter, chopped fresh basil, added licorice basil, garlic powder and pepper to the butter. After about 30 mintues, the potatoes and peas were drained then covered in herbed butter and a bit of sour cream. OH MY GOODNESS! I should have taken a picture, it was really quite beautiful but as you can imagine, by this time we were so darn hungry, we didn't really care.

These dishes joined the burgers that Chad grilled and surprisingly there were no complaints or protests. If you want your kids to eat all their lunch, without fussing and complaining. Get them up at 7 am and starve them for a while! Ok just kidding,!For anyone new to the blog, that may not get my sense of humor, I will say that the kids did have "eats" at slack; if you count Hot Tamales, sunflower seeds and Barbie fruit snacks, as food, then they were not starving.

So now for the really FUN part of my day........finding the laundry room. I'll post a picture just for fun so that you can see what I am up against.

I also have pictures coming of my fab birthday boots, and treasure hunting finds. I'd really like to just write all day...........or read, or nap or..........ok ANYTHING BUT WHAT I AM ABOUT TO DO! Pray for me!

Spinach Tasties

Do you remember how, as a young child, how certain foods made you cringe? Spinach and squash did this to me. The first time I ever heard about Spinach was from the Popeye cartoons. I watched in disgust as he’d guzzle spinach from a can (barf). I had no intentions of EVER trying this food. It ranked about as low as squash, the most disgusting vegetable ever grown. My distaste was further anchored when my mom made me sit at the table until my squash was gone. I don’t remember how long I sat there but I do remember missing “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”. I also remember telling her that the reason all the Pilgrims died is because they had to eat squash. I was not a fan.


I’m not sure where the change occurred, maybe it was when I really started learning to cook, without a box and directions? Or perhaps it was during perhaps during the brief stint of juicing and eating raw foods? Spinach with an apple became one of my favorite energy boosting drinks. I also started eating it with salad, quesadillas, and calzones. Ironically, it has become one of my favorite greens. Who knew? I can’t say the same love has developed for squash or “squish” as I call it. I will eat it, for the sake of my children, who do love it. They prefer it heaped with butter and brown sugar; and I confess that this is how I first had to start swallowing it down. My tastes have refined though, I can now get by with olive oil, herbs and sea salt. It’s not bad. It’s not my favorite, but I will eat it and that means I’ve come a long way.

I wasn’t sure that I would be able to get spinach to grow. I planted it the same time as I did the onions. It was an experiment to say the least. The seeds are so dang tiny! I just scattered them about, said a little prayer and let Mother Earth do the rest. Well…………she did. It's grown beautifully and my only regret is that I didn’t plant MORE.

This week we feasted on a delicious spinach strawberry salad (recipe following) tasty spinach omelets, and chicken spinach salad. I love picking it and eating it fresh, I had no idea that I would love a vegetable this much and then again, I had no idea that I would have the week I’ve had. Surprises everywhere!

Here’s a delightful way to use berries and spinach, both in season right now:

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

Pick your spinach from garden, wash, tear and plop it in your favorite bowl or buy a good bunch of it from your favorite Farmer’s Market!

Pick strawberries, wash and slice or buy it from your favorite berry vendor

Toss it in a bowl with a handful of your favorite nuts, I use walnuts. Sunflower and pumpkin seeds would be great too. Then, drizzle dressing all over your creation.. I make this in my magic bullet and keep it for several more servings. A little goes a long way, this lasted a week

½ c. sugar ¼ Worcestershire sauce

2T. sesame seeds ¼ t. paprika

1T. poppy seeds ½ c. olive oil

1 ½ t.onion, minced ¼ c. vinegar

I sliced a grilled grilled chicken breast and tossed it over the spinach. Sprinkle dried licorice basil and feta cheese over the top. I added just a drizzle or two of dressing. (I went back for seconds………….and thirds!) There’s a picture of this on the June 10th post, Growing On

Enjoy!

Fast Food Revised

 

 

Since I've been working my time in the kitchen has been greatly reduced. There is a part of me that doesn't mind and also a part of me that has missed my soulful, culinary cre8tions! I worked full time, with two children for 9 years. When Pryce came along my dream was to be able to stay home full time. It was an easy decisions though I deeply missed the social aspects of my teaching career. All moms are working moms. Period! If you are a mom, you work and most of the time it is not just in one place or one job, there are many. I knew rejoining the work force would greatly expand and shift my perception and alas, I was not let down.

I've felt slightly guiltly for the abundance of convenince food that we've been consuming so I whipped out the knife and baking sheet and went to town on three large sweet potatoes. I've wanted to try this out for a while now though I needed to be home for more than one hour to pull it off! Food can be fast or at least can seem that way if you cook it slowly while you are attacking other chores. The only labor intensive aspect of making roasted sweet potato chips was peeling, slicing and seasoning the goods. I did this about as soon as I walked in the door so by the time I was done helping with homeworking, moving laundry, reorganizing the kichen, clearing some counter space, packing lunches and walking the dogs, our tasty, wholesome meal would be ready! Within an hour we could all smell the delicious aroma of olive oil, cinnamon and nutmeg covered sweet potatoes coming from the oven. Pop them out, sprinkle with coarse sea salt and voila......Fast Food Revised. At least it seems fast since I was occupied with other chores!

I am seeing things from a different view this month and has become clear that if I were working outside the home full time, I would be spending a lot more money on convenience foods and services. I don't think I would be saving much of my income because the first thing I would do is pay someone else to clean my house! I haven't had the slightest energy to do so myself! I would also be eating out as much as possible and buying more packages, mre's. It takes time, creativity and a heck of a lot of energy to run a household and hold down a job! Though I appreciate and welcome the added dollars in my bank account I can see a lot of old, unsupportive spending habits have croped up; "yes, go ahead and bring me a Jimmy John's sandwich and those tasty salt and vinegar chips, I don't feel like cooking tonight!" or "hey kids, want some hot dogs and spaghetti-o's again tonight?" or "just leave the mail on the counter, I'll sort through it....... next year..........." yes. I would become very lax in my home-keeping, child-rearing, and culinary skills if my energies were spent outside of these luscious walls! I understand more of what living to work or working to live means!

I have several intentions in mind for the windfall of income that I'll be getting (if you really know what teacher's get paid, you'll see the humor in those words!) Every bit helps though and after February, my Journey expenses on the credit card will be knocked out. Victory! So while my paying job ends, I see a lot more work opportunities piling up; sadly the payment is only my emotional satisfaction for checking off one more item on my to do list. Oh well, at least we'll be eating well again!