Using Up the Harvest!

 This was my breakfast today. I would like to say that it all came from our gardens and chickens but no. The onions and kale came from our gardens but the chickens are on sabbatical, so right now we're enduring store bought. So sad!

But I want to chat about the kale. I love kale! And our kale plants grew magnificently this year. I had 9 plants and although I did my best to eat as much kale as I could fresh, there was just too much of it. And so, I froze it! I blanched it and then froze it in 2 cup servings. So now when I get a hankering, I pull out a bag and put it in the pan with some onions and let it cook a bit. Then I add an egg and I have a very filling breakfast! I love eating from our harvest. There's just something so satisfying about it!

Homemade Granola!

 

We love homemade granola for breakfast and as a quick snack. Nothing like grabbing a handful of this grainy goodness to tide you over until dinner! The base of the recipe which we use was found in an old magazine and is now stapled into a well used paper back book of mine. The front and back cover of the book are gone and I can no longer remember the author's name but the book is full of spills and there are pages that can sometimes stick together which tells you that it is a well-loved book. It also has a granola recipe so it is on this page that I attached the magazine recipe. So here is the Mitchell modified granola recipe that we have used for probably 20-25 years. I always double the recipe and will type it out that way. 

Homemade Granola

8 cups uncooked rolled oats (not instant)

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder

2 TB cinnamon

2 TB brown sugar

1 cup honey

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 TB vanilla

1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease 2 jelly-roll pans. Mix oats, coconut, milk powder, cinnamon and brown sugar in large bowl. Combine honey and oil in a saucepan and heat until warm. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and fold in raisins. Mix until well coated. Spread granola into two jelly-roll pans and bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool on a wire rack and seal in airtight container. You can add wheat germ if you so desire. I do not desire to. ;) I have added nuts when I have them in the house and that's always a treat! 

I always add a cup of chocolate chips to the granola once it's cooled. Love, love. love this granola and I also love how inexpensive it is to make at home. Have you priced granola lately? 

Another Delicious and Easy Dinner!

 

It started out with these ingredients!

And it ended up in all this deliciousness!

On most Monday's we enjoy a good soup for dinner. They're a quick meal to make after a busy weekend and on this Monday it was snowy and gray and just calling for soup. I haven't made this recipe in a while and I had forgotten how amazing it was. I'm going to give you the recipe I made, a bit varied from the original but not by much!

Harvest Vegetable Chowder

1 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup butter

2 cups carrots (I used a pint of put up carrots) undrained

3 cups potatoes (I left the peelings on)

1 quart jar tomatoes

2 cups water

1 quart bag of homegrown frozen corn

3 beef bouillon cubes

1/2 tsp salt, thyme and celery seed

2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup water

Cook onion and garlic in butter until tender. Add carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, bouillon and seasonings. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until vegetables are tender. Mix cornstarch and water together and add to soup. Stir until thickened. Enjoy!

The cornbread was a  new recipe from The Mac's Happy Homestead that cooks in a cast iron skillet. A new recipe that turned out delicious. 

I want to add that the original soup recipe also calls for celery but since I didn't have any I didn't worry about it. In the early days of learning how to cook, I would have run to the store to make sure I followed the recipe exactly. Nowadays, it's cooking by the seat of your pants and a lot more fun!

Easy Rice A Roni Meal, Again, On the Cheap

This boy is just too, too cute!

Tonight I used another easy recipe for dinner because we came home late from a baptism. It's a homemade rice-a-roni recipe that is quick, easy and cheap as well as delicious!

You will need:

1/3 cup broken up spaghetti toasted in 3 T of butter. To this you'll add 1 cup rice, 2 cups water, 2 chicken bouillon cubes, and garlic powder and salt to taste. Bring this all to a boil and then cover it and simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is cooked. When it's ready, uncover and add any leftover veggies and meats that you might have hanging around. I sliced up some baby carrots pretty thin, added some frozen pepper slices and about 2 T of leftover chicken that I didn't want to waste. 

I love how simple and quick this is and how I can use up any leftovers in the fridge. 

 

Easy and Delicious Dinners on the Cheap!

 

Sausage, Potato, Carrot and Onion Bake!

This easy-peasy recipe is one of our favorites! It's also very inexpensive to make! Dad had found some sausage dogs on sale at Winco and when he brought them home he put them in freezer bags, four to a bag! Whenever I want an easy meal I will pull out a bag, chop up the sausage and put them on a foil lined tray. Then I'll slice up potatoes, onions and throw in some baby carrots! You cover the whole thing with foil and cook at 350 degrees for an hour. The next step is to take off the foil and bake for another 30 minutes to make sure the potatoes are done. I also sprinkled some grated garlic and salt and pepper over all of it. Most of the recipes call for lots more meat but the 4 sausages work for us. And I will add that I did go and buy a bag of potatoes last week. I am realizing that we need to grow and store more root vegetables for our use. Lesson learned!

Cooking by the Seat of Your Pants

 

Above is the last of my spaghetti squash ready to go in the oven for dinner. I used a recipe that I had found online and made it some weeks ago. It was delicious! So I made it again and for some reason I didn't like it as well. All I can figure is, that I had to substitute something in the ingredients last time I made it and I didn't do it this time. It was good, but it wasn't delicious. That happens when you cook using what you have available. But now all of the harvested spaghetti squash has either been cooked or frozen. I hate to waste food so this makes me happy. Just like when we left town for Christmas and I processed the potatoes that were still in the bin. I turned them into frozen potato wedges and again, no waste. 

I want to share what I'm reading at the moment. Well, I'm actually reading a number of books but this is one of 6 books in a series that I picked up from the library. I read her books about 12 years ago and something made me remember them. Maybe it's the need to read about a more peaceful time where people are kind and things work out in the end. I highly recommend all of her books!

How I Beat the January Grayness!

Sweet Memories!

These pictures of fun in the sun help me to get through the January dullness and grayness! As I look at these photos I can feel the heat of the sun and hear the sounds of family interacting. I love it!

 

Monday's Are Always Full of Opportunities!

Siblings Are the Best!

What a great big brother Nolan is to help Auburn learn about percussion instruments! It's a reward of parenting to see your children actually help and like one another! Blessings for sure!

Monday's are always my most productive day of the week! I wake up energized and ready to 'getter done!' It's not quite 11 AM and while Doug has been painting Maran's old room I've made a 9-bean soup and I'm letting it simmer for a bit! It's full of canned tomatoes, leftover ham, carrots and my cannery bean mix. It smells like heaven and will be a perfect dinner for a gray and very cold winter day! I've also made pizza dough because I used my last frozen pizza crust last Friday. The recipe makes two and I just put it in the freezer to pull out on the next couple of Friday Pizza Nights! And all of my chores are done for the day. It's been a great morning!

I'll be spending the rest of the day getting other projects done like tying the quilt I have up on the rack and decluttering the family room and my office space! I love days where I can actually look back and feel good about what's been accomplished!

 

A Quiet Day

 

Finding Joy in Family!

In the midst of all the ugliness and confusion, the name-calling, the accusations, I find my solace, my peace, my sanctuary in pictures of our grandchildren! Who cannot smile or feel the spirit when you see the sweet and simple joy in the face of a child! And it makes me want to do better, to be better, to try harder to be a positive light in the world! I want to do all I can to make sure that this world is a bit better for Harper and Xander and Lacey and Mason and Sam and all their siblings! Thank you Harper for reminding me that I have a Heavenly Father who is in charge and that there is joy to be found if I just look in the right places!

Simple is So Good!

Quick Cooking Recipe I Love 

They no longer print the Quick Cooking magazine which makes me sad. I had a subscription to this magazine for many years and cut and saved lots of their recipes! 

One of my favorites was a recipe entitled Mom's Macaroni and Cheese which I made for dinner last night. I made a few changes based on what I had on hand and it turned out delicious as always.

Mom's Macaroni & Cheese

1 1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni            5 Tablespoons butter, divided

3 Tablespoons flour                                        1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese                      2 oz. process American cheese ( I used Mozzarella)

1/2 tsp salt, dash of pepper                             2 Tablespoons dry bread crumbs

Cook noodles and drain. Place in a greased 1 1/2 quart baking dish and set aside. In a saucepan, melt 4 Tablespoons butter and then stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes; reduce heat. Stir in cheeses, salt and pepper until cheeses are melted. Pour over macaroni and mix well. Melt the remaining butter and mix with bread crumbs. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake, uncovered at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. 6 Servings

I like to add onions to this because we happen to love onions and we need to use up our abundant harvest of them!

A Blustery and Dangerous Day!

"Timber" All Over Town!

We were warned that there would be strong winds throughout the day but then the above happened. I was at the table enjoying my morning devotional time and Doug came out from our bedroom where he'd been getting ready for work and said, 'I heard a loud noise and I think a tree came down in the park'. Not sure how I missed hearing it but a tree indeed did come down. Not a great picture but I really didn't want to get any closer with the winds still blowing! If you look closely you will see the stump of the tree sticking out. It looks like the tree twisted off and then fell in between the surrounding trees. This was a blessing for those who live across the park. Had it gone south it would have landed on any number of homes.

Trees are coming down all over the city and unfortunately a woman was killed up on the south hill when a tree fell on the car she was driving. Many citizens have lost power and I keep hearing reports of small fires all over the city. This could be due to falling wires. And schools all over the area were cancelled. Today is a good day to stay home and read a good book!

 

Planners Need to be Used!

 Is There Any Reason I Should Have Bought a Planner?

I wanted to show you my crackers and my hummus containers. I got 10 of the containers with lids at Dollar Tree. They also have some that are rectangular shape but I didn't see them until after I had bought these. The rectangular shaped ones might be easier to put in a tight spot like your freezer, but these are working fine for me. Love these crackers and the hummus!

I love using a planner! I love using stickers in my planner! I just love how putting in activities and events makes me feel all organized and happy! But let's face it! Life has slowed down to where my poor planner is getting dusty! I was looking at my planner from the early months of 2020 and it was full of activities and meetings and events! It was a fun planner! But now it looks sad and forlorn. And when I have a young women's activity for church or a Book Club meeting or a family birthday to put into the planner nowadays, I get almost giddy! That should not be! 

Other Saturday Fun

Homemade is So Good!

Besides cleaning the coop and grinding wheat on Saturday, I also made homemade crackers and hummus! I hadn't made hummus in a while because I wasn't using it fast enough and it was going bad but then I read that you can freeze hummus and that was a game changer. I bought some little two tablespoon size containers with lids at Dollar Tree and that's what I put the hummus in and then freeze it. I use Living Traditions Homestead's hummus recipe which I've already posted and it is delicious! I can fill about 10 of the little containers and I pull them out when I need a treat to go with veggies or crackers. I also use Living Traditions Homestead's recipe for the crackers and they too are so good. The fact that they're great to eat isn't the only reason that I use these recipes.  I also make them because I know exactly what's in them and they cost me pennies to make at home! 

Just another way to keep on with the January Pantry Challenge!!!

 

Saturday Chores!

 Saturday at Home!

We get a few things done around the house that just don't happen during the week. Before I retired it was because Saturday was the only day to get certain things done. Now however, I do it on Saturdays out of habit.

I always clean out the coop on Saturdays. I shovel out the manure and throw it on a garden spot. Can I just say that when I started doing that on my flower bed, my flowers erupted in beautiful color and size? What a difference chicken poop makes, right?

I don't do it every Saturday but when necessary I grind up wheat into flour for baking. Years ago Doug built me a little shelf right over our chest freezer to sit the grinder on. It folds back against the wall when not in use. I set a bucket for the flour on top of the freezer and start to grind. It's noisy, cloudy and smells delicious. When I was putting all the grinder paraphernalia into a clean gallon sized bag I found the paper with the date we bought it. It's older than our oldest child. We bought it on December 21st of 1982 and it's held up really great! It came with a hand crank in case we don't have electricity. I'm thinking it was a Christmas gift to one another and it cost us $191.95 which was quite the large amount back then. We must have been saving up for a long time to get it!

Happy Birthday to Our Oldest!

January 7th is a Great Day!

This boy was supposed to be born around December 27th but apparently he didn't like December as a birth month so he waited until January 7th! And boy,  he was worth the wait! Handsome, smart and very kind, as well as an amazing husband and father, this boy is a treasure and I'm so grateful to be his mom! 

Now on to the challenge! Last night's dinner was what I like to call our CTR night. You know, Clean The Refrigerator! It's a chance to get into the fridge and pull out leftovers that we need to use up. With just Doug and I it's not as effective as when all 6 kids were still home and helping us out.  Even eating leftovers for lunch, we still have to have CTR night at least once a week. I am just trying not to let anything go to waste! Isn't that what this challenge is all about? Saving money, no waste and using what we already have? 

 

How I Shop

My favorite Store

This is a picture of my shopping basket. I keep it downstairs in the food room and when it's time to gather what I need for a meal I grab the recipe and shop! The ingredients inside the basket went towards our tuna casserole dinner last night. I had everything I needed in the food room and it felt good not to have to run to the grocery store for anything. We also enjoyed some of our purple beans that we harvested last summer and just on a side note, we'll be planting those again because they're a great producer and they're delicious!

I also wanted to share the recipe for the zucchini patties that we had the other night:

Zucchini Patties

2 cups shredded zucchini

2 beaten eggs (I only used one and it was fine)

1/4 chopped onion

1/2 cup flour, parmesan cheese, Mozzarella cheese

Salt to taste

Combine zucchini, eggs, onion, flour, cheeses and salt. Heat oil in med-hi heat. Drop into oil and cook for a few minutes on each side. 

These are so good and so easy. They are also a great way to use up all that zucchini from your garden!

Is anyone else getting antsy to start planting a garden. For right now I have to be content in deciding what to plant and how to space it out. But soon we'll be planting!!!

 

Staying True to the Challenge!

Safeguarding Our Families!

I try not to worry about what's going on in the world and the country and the city around me, but I would be remiss if I didn't do all I could to be prepared for what may come. That includes setting an example for my family like the little cutie above! It is for my children and my grandchildren that I continue to learn and cultivate new preparedness skills! I want them to always know that I followed the counsel of prophets and apostles to be ready for anything, job loss, natural disasters and all economic problems that may arise. Yesterday I received an email from our Stake leaders about a monthly 'Bite Size Emergency Preparedness' newsletter that they have started. In January's newsletter there were recipes, food storage information and links for further study! I am excited for this!

In keeping with the January Pantry challenge, last night's dinner was zucchini patties made from shredded zucchini that was harvested in the fall. We also had Jojo's that I made before our Christmas trip to Utah and threw in the freezer. We had about 15 lbs. of potatoes that I didn't want to go bad so Jojo's it was. To finish off the meal we had applesauce from our pantry. A great meal without going to the store. Gotta love that!

 

A Back Ache, but Worth It!

My Hard Work Totally Paid Off!

Happy Triplets!

I forgot to take a picture of my 20 BAGS OF SPAGHETTI SQUASH so I'm sharing a picture of the triplets! I have put all 20 bags in the freezer and I want to add that that is 20 bags of 2 cups each of spaghetti squash! It took me about 7 hours to cut, cook, scoop, bag and freeze. I do have one spaghetti squash left over but I was done and just couldn't face one more squash so I'll plan to use it later. All that time on my feet without a break was not good for my back but it was totally worth the pain.

I also want to let you know that this morning I used my first egg out of the freezer. I followed Sarah's idea from Living Traditions Homestead and put one egg in each muffin pan space and then froze them. When they were good and frozen I put them in a ziploc bag. This morning I saute'd some onions and frozen kale in a small pan and then put one frozen egg into the mix. I covered the pan and let it all cook. It turned out delicious. Our chickens are on an egg laying sabbatical now so having these eggs from the summer and fall abundance is great!

My freezer is full but with this January Pantry challenge I am looking forward to creating some space. I pulled out some frozen veggies on Saturday and have created this weeks menu's to use them up. I already used my frozen corn that I pulled out and put it in a great Chicken Tortilla Soup! 

 

January Pantry Challenge

 And the Challenge has Begun (I already cheated)

And by I cheated, I mean that on Saturday Doug went on some errands that included stopping at Cash & Carry and asked if I wanted anything. I of course said no and then I thought to myself, 'it would be nice to get more yeast for storage'. So he got 2 lbs. of yeast and also some potato flakes for making my sandwich bread. I don't go to C&C often so I did want to take advantage of Doug going. But that was all he got food wise!

Today I am baking some spaghetti squash. We harvested about 30 of these babies and although I am trying to use one every week I realize that they are going to go bad before I can get through all of them. So of course I googled how to preserve spaghetti squash and they said I can bake it as usual and then scoop the cooled spaghetti noodles into freezer-safe bags. They recommend squeezing as much liquid out of the noodles as you can before putting it into the freezer to avoid freezer burn. So that's what a lot of my Monday will consist of; baking the squash, cooling the squash and squeezing and freezing these beautiful beauties!

And the New Year Begins!

Happy New Year 2021!

This year is going to be great, I can just feel it! I'm as excited for it as Tyler and Ivy are excited to see the temple! And that's pretty excited!

And the pantry challenge has begun. Today being Friday, we of course had homemade pizza for dinner! I made a BBQ Chicken pizza using a homemade pizza crust that I took out of the freezer. I also used leftover BBQ sauce from 2 bottles I found in the fridge and some canned chicken. The red onions were from our garden! The pizza crust is amazing and can be found in the book Seriously Good Freezer Meal Cookbook. The secret to the crust is putting onion salt and garlic salt into the dough. Keeping to the pantry cooking challenge on Fridays will be easy since it's always pizza!

I spent the majority of the day packing Christmas decorations and then trying to straighten out the house. It literally took me about 7 hours! I do love me some Christmas decorations! And thank goodness for a husband who brings the bins down and then puts them away. 

Only 30 more days of the pantry challenge left and I know I can do it!