Tag Archives: garden

>Mush!

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>It’s not what you think. It’s really the story of a kitchen near-disaster that spawned not a doorstop, but a colorful end product.
I bought fresh peppers from the farmers’ market in september and planned to dice and freeze them for fresh pepper flavor and color in the middle of winter. I thought, “Oh, I’ll use my new food processor! It’ll go so quickly.”
Famous last words.
I chose a blade that was much too fine, and the yellow pepper quickly became pureed instead of diced. Oops. I switched to a blade that allowed a larger cut for the red pepper, and my lovely kitchen gadget still blended it to a smooth consistency. I was left with colorful but slushy red and yellow pepper mush.
I froze them both anyway. I knew the flavor would still be good, and I was certain there would be a way to use this accidental concoction.
Last week I spread the yellow pepper mush on tilapia under the broiler along with the usual butter and lemon. It was delicious and looked lovely.
The red pepper mush ended up in several places. Tacos, superburgers, meatloaf, and eventually quesadillas.
I won’t make the same mistake a second, er, third time. But if this happens by accident, well, I know there are lots of ways to use pepper mush!

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>Crock Pot Potato Soup with or without Ham

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>Today’s recipe is simple because my life has been chaotic recently. When I have meetings after school and little time to cook, my crock pot is my friend. This was an experiment, since I’ve never been able to make a potato soup that satisfied me. Can I replicate it the next time I want to? As with most of my kitchen experiments, only time will tell.

4-6 medium russet potatoes, washed and sliced thin (peeling optional)
3-4 cups water or chicken stock
(From my garden, a few leaves of spinach, this summer’s add-in)
a sprig of fresh thyme
green onion, chives
lemon pepper to taste
1-2 cups diced ham
potato buds (for thickening)

Place potatoes and spinach and thyme in chicken stock or water.
Let cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Mash potatoes, but leave enough small chunks to be satisfying.
(Alternative: Use an immersion blender.)
Add 1/2 cup potato buds.
Add ham.
Turn crock pot to high for one half to one hour.

Serve with grated cheese and a delicious homemade bread on the side.

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>Green up your Act!

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>

I’d like to convince Husband that we need to invest in some additional greening for our house. I don’t mean landscaping, although that would be fun; I mean a few simple additions to our yard and home that will save energy, water, or otherwise help us Green up our Acts.

  • Already in place:
    programmable thermostat
    small kitchen, concentrates heat in one place
    old chest freezer replaced with smaller, energy efficient unit
  • Could have an impact:
    thermal drapes on the french doors: would keep the sun out in the summer, heat in through the winter
    solar panels on roof
    water barrel in or near garden
    additional compost bin

What?! Another compost bin? Why? Isn’t the one you have doing the job?
Well, (as I told my nearest and dearest) yes and no. Yes, it’s doing the job. We create significantly less garbage when we’re composting. The fully decomposed matter makes the garden soil more fertile and easier to till. If we had two…well, if we had a second bin, I’d let one settle for a full year before spreading it in the garden. In the meantime, I’d fill the other with all the grass clippings and kitchen garbage and leaves and other organic materials that we generate in a spring-summer-fall season. We do look for places to toss the grass clippings in July and the garden waste in October because the bin is full to the top. A second bin would be useful, no doubt about it.

The water barrel? Our water bills are predicted to go up dramatically due to expensive repairs on our community’s out-of-warranty treatment plant. A rain barrel (or two or three) could save us money as well as use water more efficiently. Thinking back to recent history, there were weeks in June when there were floods all over the state. A week later, the weather was so hot the lawn and garden dried out. The sprinkler got a workout. That water could have come from the previous week’s rainstorms if we’d been ready.

I could go on and on. Husband is willing to go Green — to a point. I’d like to convince him to try the simple pieces and move from there. If the rain barrel works well, we could get a second one. If we generate too much compost (if there is such a thing!), we could build the berm we’ve been considering for the back of the yard.

For now, I think I’d better put the hoses and sprinkler away for the winter. And rake leaves. they won’t all fit into the compost bin, so I’ll spread them on the garden. But if we had a second bin…

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>Preparedness: but for what?

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>Over supper we talked about expanding garden again. If we do, we could take in another 10 feet by 8 feet. What would we (I) plant there?
I’m talking about adding asparagus to the garden, but the area may not be wet enough. I’ll look into it. Peas will do better if I place them better. Beans, well, if I get the right seeds, we’ll be in luck. I picked up herb seeds already; hope they last through the winter! I have a new planter that will hang on the deck so the fresh herbs are easily accessible for cooking.
Then there’s my desire for a rain barrel and a second compost bin…

But why? That’s the question. There’s an election coming up in two days, a Packer game today, and Major Test Season starts in school on Tuesday, too. I don’t need to deal with the garden until spring. Well….

The outcome of the election will have a huge impact on our economy. Before the new president even takes office, I predict wild fluctuations on Wall Street and major losses in retirement accounts. No, it’s not what I want, but what I want doesn’t matter. Reality is what matters.

If the economy goes (ever farther) in the dunk tank, my job will become harder and my salary will lag. We in the public sector sometimes enjoy job security; not this time. Our salaries, our workloads, and our benefits are all up for negotiation in times like these. Producing a little more of our own food, improving our diet, and saving a few bucks are all important.
The county has already cut garbage pickup to small businesses. Small companies who used to get garbage and recycling picked up by the local govt. now have to contract privately for this service. When will our residential pickup be cut back? Compost cuts back significantly on the amount of garbage we put on the curb. If service gets cut to biweekly or if we need to pay extra for it, the additional compost bin might pay for itself, not to mention provide me with material for many blog posts.

Our local water treatment plant has expensive repairs due, all out of warranty. This will cost big $$$ that will be reflected in our quarterly water bills and our annual property taxes. a rain barrel (or two!) will cut back on our use of water for the garden and lawn, and contribute to keeping that bill down.

Facing reality isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Planning ahead to make the garden a significant factor in our lives, not just a fun hobby, could be a very good move.

Oh, yes. I mentioned the Packer game today. There’s always a Packer connection. I’m not making my own cheese, but I do grow Packer Beans. 🙂 Aaron Rodgers, get out there and earn that new contract extension!!

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>Oops Soup

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>In college, they’d serve us a soup they called minestrone. We called it “Oops Soup.” It would have a tomato-like broth, and in it would be leftovers from all the week’s meals. Mixed (very mixed) veggies, several kinds of noodles, we even found a whole hamburger in it one week.
My Oops Soup is better. At least I dice the leftovers into pieces.

This week it started with a tomato soup that didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped. It wasn’t tomato-y enough, a wee bit bland, and just not up to the standard of the usual fresh tomato soup in our home. So…the leftovers didn’t go in the freezer; they went back into the crockpot.

Added to the leftover tomato soup (I could call it Oops Soup Stock):
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can black beans
1/4 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup rice
a dash of fresh thyme (from the deck, of course)
leftover noodles (from the chix noodle soup Amigo was eating: he was on clear liquids, so he couldn’t have the noodles)

Served as a side with stuffed pork chops.

Why not more vegetables? That is a valid question. The original tomato soup had many, many vegetables grated and blended into it. I could have added more, but why? A can of tomatoes might have looked good, but the taste and the nutrients were already in it.

Oh, yes. Cooking time! In the crockpot on high for 3-4 hours. This soup just had to heat through, not cook thoroughly, so it didn’t take as long as most crockpot dishes.

Oops soup it is. See, Mom, I did learn something in college!

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>Pantry Raid

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>That’s what Working Mother Magazine called it in their short feature on saving time. The writer suggested skipping the grocery stop and making do with the existing contents of the pantry.

It’s October. We do that all the time; I didn’t know it had a name.

Parent-teacher conferences for me, High School Homecoming for Amigo, NFL football games to work and Packer follow-up shows to produce for Husband, and this year, medical testing for Amigo, too. We don’t get to make our weekly grocery stops every weekend, so when we do, we make it count. And the afore-mentioned Pantry Raid? That happens more often than you’d think.

Leftover sloppy joe meat? Add red beans and tomatoes and make chili.
Got the grill fired up? Cook a little extra for the freezer.
One potato, a carrot, and some celery leftover? Feed the rabbit. Or maybe….skillet stew!! The results of my latest Pantry Raid:

Skillet Stew

Please note: in the spirit of a true Pantry Raid, this could include just about anything. The “recipe” is really just a guideline.

Ingredients (this time):

3 potatoes
1 stalk celery
1/4 small onion
a little garden spinach
1/4 cup frozen corn
1 can cream of mushroom soup
4 cups of water, as needed, with chicken bouillion added proportionally (Chicken stock would have been better, but it was a raid. No time to thaw.)
4-5 chicken thighs
lemon pepper and cumin to taste

Slice potatoes thin. Dice celery, onion, and spinach. Add to 2 cups water & chix flavoring in electric skillet on medium heat. Simmer until soft (about 20 minutes on low). Add cream of mushroom soup and refresh water/chix as the first evaporates. Place chicken thighs on top. turn heat to med-high. Cook covered for another 20 minutes. Add water/chix again, stir, and add corn and seasoning.
Optional: take chicken thighs out and brown them in a separate pan. Check with meat thermometer.

And if that’s not vague enough, turn the main skillet to low and keep stirring the mixture until it’s time to serve. Serve with a green salad (with garden tomatoes, of course) and zucchini bread.

After supper: make chicken stock for a delicious soup or stew later.

That’s one heck of an efficient Pantry Raid! Not only did it produce a decent supper, it yielded the starter for a future meal!

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>next year’s resolutions

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>In fall, a gardener’s thoughts turn toward the following year’s garden. Since Husband enlarged the area, I have plenty of room to play in the dirt. Plenty of room to grow a few goodies to supplement our nutritional needs and save us a few pennies on the grocery bill. But I could do a better job.

First, the layout. Think sun, Daisy. Sun. Plant the beans and the tomatoes along the north end. They grew so tall this year that anything behind them suffered.
Separate the spinach from the lettuce. Both thrived for a while, and then the spinach took over. Next year I’ll leave a barrier — my walkway (old boards from old fence) should do the trick.
New tomato supports. Now that I’ve improved the soil with several years of compost, the tomato plants are growing to five-six feet tall. If they hadn’t fallen over this year, the tomato might have resembled an NFL football player in height! (‘Tis the season. You didn’t think I’d get through an entire autumn post without mentioning football, did you?) This poor plant looks like it’s been tackled, but it held on and didn’t fumble.


Peppers did better than ever this year. I put some on pizza, in soups and stews, on salads, and more. They’re really, really good when they’re fresh.
Zucchini? Who knows. It seems to be feast or famine, and this year it was famine.
Peas, if planted south of the beans, might do fine. The greedy bean plants hogged all the sun this season.
Cauliflower didn’t grow well. Broccoli usually does. I could plant that again.
Parsley was slow to start, but then grew steadily, which made the pet rabbits happy.

Herbs need a bigger pot. They look cute in the coffee mugs, but they’d thrive with more root space and room to grow.
Next spring, I’ll have to look back at this post to remind myself how to overcome this year’s weaknesses. Then the whole cycle will begin again, with a deep sigh of satisfaction.

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>Muffins formerly known as Kitchen Sink

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>How much does a recipe have to change before it becomes new? I looked into the refrigerator this morning, saw too many carrots and a final zucchini squash, and decided to make these. This recipe started as Kitchen Sink Muffins (courtesy of Michelle at Scribbit). With my changes it’s still recognizable, but it’s definitely different, too.

Not-so-Prosaic Mosaic Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon cinnamon
ÂĽ tsp. nutmeg
½ teaspoon orange peel
½ teaspoon salt
2 cup grated carrots
1 diced apple, skin on
1/2 cup raisins
½ cup crushed walnuts
½ cup grated zucchini
3 eggs or Âľ cup egg substitute
2/3 cup oil or ½ cup applesauce + ¼ cup oil
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl separately mix the next eight ingredients (carrots through vanilla extract). Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing only until just combined. Pour into 18 lined or greased baking cups and bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes.

Will wheat germ work in these? I forgot to try it. A small amount of honey might be fun, too.

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>Earworms! There oughta be a walk for the cure.

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>Earworms. They happen to the best of us. They’re contagious. They spread. And they don’t respond to antibiotics.
No, an earworm isn’t a viral infection. It’s a song that won’t go away, the song that never ends (yes it goes on and on my friends). Oh, sorry about that.
An earworm can be one you hum under your breath, a classic tune that inspires air guitar while cooking dinner, the one you whistle in the shower, or the refrain that you belt out while behind the wheel when you’re on the road again (just can’t wait to get on the road again). Oops, I did it again.
It’s the type of song that makes a mom walk over to the computer and comment, “Oh, Rod Stewart. Classic rock!” only to be told by her teenager that it’s actually Adult Contemporary.
I truly do believe that there is a song for every occasion, and for every song, an occasion. The occasion isn’t always obvious, either.
Playoff action? Take me out to the ball game!
Waking up so early it’s still dark out? Good morning, starshine!

My hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to work I go anthem? Java Jive, of course. I love the java jive and it loves me.
Don’t even get started on the Wheels on the Bus song.

Tired of working, ready to go home? It’s five o’clock somewhere!

In our home, the place where the cheesehead lives on the piano, the music varies so much you’d be amazed. When Amigo was little, he was always requesting, “Mama, sing!” Now it’ s more likely to be, “Mom, stop that, we’re in public.” But within the confines of our own four walls or even our own minivan, we sing our loud, sing out strong.
Sing of good things, not bad.
Sing of happy, not sad.
Sing, sing a song, make it simple, to last your whole life loooooooong!
Don’t worry that it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear…
because —
I love you just the way you are! (Did you really think I’d make it through a songfest like this without a little Billy Joel? Not a chance!)

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as an entry for a contest sponsored by Bush’s Beans. Remember, no matter how much you “toot” your horn (or sax or tuba), beans are really a vegetable. In this part of the world, they grow in our team colors, too.

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