MPM

After a 4 day hiatus, I'm back! Sometimes, things just get really busy. In the last 4 days, we've transplanted several climbing roses, built strawberry beds, hauled in organic soil amendment, visited our first farmer's market, made another 30 pounds of sausage, (60 down, only 30 more to go!), dropped off kids for a weekend church camp, picked up the same kids tonight and grocery shopped. Besides all of that, our lawns are mowed, the chicken feed is restocked, and the laundry is done.

Until tomorrow.

Our trip to the farmer's market brought more to us than some lettuce and tomato plants. It introduced us to our local CSA program.(Community Supported Agriculture) It is alive and well in Cowlitz County, so if you live near me and desire organic fresh veggies, please visit the Willow Grove Gardens. I highly recommend the curly leaf lettuce and lamb's quarters!

Here's what's cookin' this week....

Breakfasts:

Soaked Oatmeal w/ blueberries or peaches,*Baked Oatmeal, eggs & toast, granola

Lunches:

~Popovers w/ organic nitrite free turkey & cheese, fruit

~Peanut butter & jam sandwiches, fruit

~Plum Smoothies, sourdough English muffin "pizzas"

~Strawberry/Peach Slushies, simple nachos

~Egg salad sandwiches, fruit

~leftovers (x2)

Dinners:

~Chicken Tortilla soup, cornbread

~Boeuf Bourguigon, sourdough bread (This time...using the crockpot!)

~Veggie Burrito Bake, sourdough tortillas (new)

~Asparagus Soup, sourdough bread (new)

~Garlic Potato Salad (new), Bun-less Cheeseburgers

~Lentil Burritos, salad

~Big & Bold Chili (new), cornbread

*I use this Baked Oatmeal recipe as a guideline for our own version which replaces the brown sugar with sucanat. We also use different dried fruits, depending on what we have at the time. I encourage you to make recipes your own and add/change ingredients as you see fit...if this is new to you, start small and only change 1 ingredient. As your confidence builds, change something else! Just remember, exchange fat for fat, sweetener for sweetener, etc...and don't get discouraged if it fails. We all have failures.

And the local pizzeria on speed dial!

Freezing Ingredients for Later

Today, I attempted to make Boeuf Bourguigon , you know, the dish from the movie, "Julie & Julia."

And just like the character Julie did in the movie, I burned it.

To a crisp.

The recipe I used wasn't a difficult one. In fact, it was very easy to put together. But this recipe called for me to cook it in the crockpot for 8-10 hours. I didn't have that kind of time today, so I used a dutch oven.

Lesson learned? Never, and I mean, never, cook Boeuf Bourguigon in a dutch oven at 325 F. for 6 hours. It is not a good idea.

Ever.

Because it smelled so good for the first 4 hours, I will be trying this again next week.

In the crockpot.

In the meantime, since this recipe called for 1 Tb. of tomato paste, I had to figure out what to do with the remainder of the can. I've heard of people freezing the leftovers in ice cube trays and I think that is a lovely idea. Unless of course, you don't have ice cube trays.

Which, as of my cleaning spree 3 weeks ago, I do not.

To freeze leftover tomato paste without ice cube trays, measure out 1 Tb. "blobs" and plop them onto a cookie sheet. Cover them with saran wrap or waxed paper and set them inside the freezer for approximately 2 hours.



When they are frozen, remove from cookie sheet and drop them into a freezer-safe canning jar.

Place a lid on top and return to the freezer! Now whenever you need to remake a dish that everyone was salivating over, but it somehow failed to make it to the plate, you'll be able to do so without opening a new can of tomato paste!

*BTW...the Boeuf Bourguigon didn't go to waste. My dogs are fat and happily sleeping it off.

Maple Walnut Scones

I'm giddy with excitement right now! The weatherman, with whom I've had a love/hate relationship with all winter, just announced 4 days of dry weather is on it's way! 4 whole days of glorious rain-free...clouds. But they are empty clouds, so I am satisfied. More than satisfied actually. This means that the garden will finally be uncovered, the compost tilled under, and some seeds will be sowed.

After attempting to buy groceries today, this is welcome news. Apparently, not everyone shares my enthusiasm for locally grown foods. When I asked the produce man where the asparagus was from, he said "To the right of the broccoli."

Uh...okay...So I proceeded to hunt for a tag, label or sticker with the asparagus' origin. Mexico. It was from Mexico, but currently residing near the broccoli/cauliflower border of aisle 4. Or thereabouts.

Yep, the garden is way past due. And this weekend, it's going in, even if I have to erect a tent to cover it!

I had to switch our meal plan around a little since my trip to town took a little longer than I thought it would. So tonight we had Sunshine & Sausage Casserole and Maple Walnut Scones. The scones were not on the original menu, but I got a new cookbook today and couldn't wait until next week to try these! Just to be sure that they were as good as I think they were, they'll be making their encore performance on Saturday.

Maple Walnut Scones

2-1/2 cups organic white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup walnuts, finely chopped

4 t. baking powder

1 t. sea salt

10 Tb. unsalted butter

1 cup milk

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

Glaze (recipe follows)

Combine flours, walnuts, baking powder and salt. Cut butter into mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk and maple syrup.

Knead 5 or 6 times. Roll out into a circle, about 1/2 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut into 12 wedges. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake at 425 F. until golden brown, about 17 minutes. Drizzle with glaze.

Maple Glaze

Combine 1 Tb. melted, unsalted butter, 2 Tb. maple syrup, 1 Tb. heavy cream and 1 cup confectioner's sugar in a small bowl and whisk together until smooth. Stir in 1/4 t. maple syrup flavoring. Drizzle over warm scones.

*These recipes were adapted from the cookbooks, "Simply in Season" and "The Farmchicks in the Kitchen".

Living La Vida Local

On April 1, we started our "Living La Vida Local" food experiment. This is supposed to be meant as a way to prove to ourselves that we don't have to rely on mass produced produce (no pun intended), but can subsist on our own home-grown foods. We always have a vegetable garden, but still manage to bring home quite a bit of fresh fruits and veggies from the grocery store.

What we are finding is this: we have been very spoiled. While it can be quite pleasant to bite into a juicy mango in January, it is not mandatory for good health to do so. And really, who says that that mango from the grocery is actually how a mango in a tropical location would taste? (To show my complete ignorance on the subject of mangoes, I have absolutely no idea where they even come from! If someone were to ask me, I would say, "Safeway".)

So what does local mean to us? It means that the food in question must be grown within 100 miles of our home. It means that it must be grown from gardens that have actual people tending to them. It means that the animals we consume lived happy lives, munching on grass and maybe even had names. It means that there were no chemicals, growth hormones or antibiotics given to ensure rapid growth. It does NOT mean that it must have an organic label on it. I'm going for beyond organic, where the farmer/gardener is in charge, making decisions based on what they would feed their own families. And let me tell you, they are pretty wise about that stuff.

Unless they eat cat. Or horse. Or opossum and raccoon. Then I'm not on their team. Because that's just gross.

I'm also finding that there are some foods that we just cannot grow or buy local, that are a necessary food for our home. Here's a few: peanut butter, olive oil, *raw milk, *butter/cheese, cocoa powder, sugar/sucanat/rapadura, and coconut oil. And while coffee is not necessarily necessary for good physical health, it is necessary for good mental health.

It's also a safety issue.

So here are the rules that we have given ourselves, because without them, we'd just flounder around and continue to live in the land of justification. (And what a happy land it is!)

*Eat in season. This may sound easy, but living in the Pacific Northwest, I'm finding that it's easier for me to say "Eat in season" than it is for me to actually do it because we only have 3. Wet, really wet, and not so wet.

*Grow it ourselves, buy it locally, or do without. In the book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver said it best...Food should not come with a passport!

*Only grow the foods that we will eat. Now this is something that I struggle with. Last year, I planted amaranth because it was pretty. When it came time to harvest it, I had no idea how, or what to do with it! (I've since learned how to use it!)

*Try new recipes with old favorites. Recently, I read an article about freezing pesto sauce, while the basil is in season. Instead of using pine nuts (this is not a local nut!) the recipe called for walnuts. Not only do walnuts grow locally, but most people will pay you to pick them up off of their lawns!

*And finally, allow for 3 items per month that are not local. Even though we cannot grow peanuts in our wet climate, I can buy organic roasted peanuts and make my own peanut butter from them. (Hazelnuts are another popular northwest nut, so we'll be trying our hand at hazelnut butter.) The rule for the 3 items though....they must be organic/fair trade to make sure that we are getting a quality product and the farmer is getting his rightful pay. I purchase coffee beans from a local shop that roasts the beans twice a week. The coffee is both organic and fair trade and I get to show support for a local business owner who does a fantastic job.

And my family gets to rest easy since Momma is getting her cup, or three, of coffee daily!

**Our raw milk comes to us via our local health food store. The laws of Washington state regarding raw milk purchases are pretty strict and we have yet to find a neighbor who is willing to milk a cow for us. The butter and cheese that we use the most is from Tillamook, Oregon. While it is over a hundred miles from us by road, as the crow flies, it would be close enough to be local!

There's that justification thing again....

I hope you had a wonderful Easter Sunday! We had a nice time, even though my Mister had to work. Well, he would say got to work, because that would be the difference between serving and being a slave. Our daughter Melissa, who also had to work, would argue that on Easter, it was had to work!

We're still working on her attitude.

We did watch a movie that I am going to highly recommend. It is called, "God Grew Tired of Us", and is about the Lost Boys of the Sudan. Even though it is a documentary about a very sad situation, it shows hope, faith and above all, love. You will laugh and you will cry, but you will come away from it blessed. (It's on DVD.)

This week is going to be a busy one with school restarting, both for us and our college kids, and more sausage making. We're also waiting for a break in the weather to prepare a place for our beehives that will be coming soon! Exciting!!!!

Here's what's cookin'...

Monday

~Soaked Oatmeal, blueberries

~Pb&J sandwiches, salmon dip, tortilla chips

~Meatloaf, Creamed Swiss chard, sourdough bread

Tuesday

~Plum Smoothies, Banana bread (new)

~Simple nachos

~Crockpot Boeuf Bourguignon, Pear crisp & Vanilla Ice Cream

Wednesday

~scrambled eggs w/ elk sausage

~leftover meatloaf sandwiches, apple

~Spinach lasagna, roasted asparagus

Thursday

~Simple soaked oatmeal, blueberries

~Popovers, with organic turkey & cheese, clementines

~Sunshine & Sausage Casserole, spinach salad

Friday

~fried eggs, sourdough toast

~Veggie roll-ups with sourdough tortillas, ranch dressing, Strawberry/Peach Slushies

~Sloppy Joes, green salad

Saturday

~Granola

~egg salad sandwiches, fruit

~Chicken Tortilla Soup, brownies

Sunday

~Granola

~Simple Supper Sunday

For more meal planning ideas, visit Laura on Monday morning!

From the Kitchen...

It has been very quiet around our home for the last couple of days. My sister, Erin, took 3 of the kids to her house, and I'm realizing that they might be the noisiest members of our family!

Since my Mister is working this weekend, I thought I would spend the days lazing about in my sweatpants, working on a quilt, reading a book, watching some movies, napping on demand or even just staring blankly at the wall for awhile.

But the kitchen beckoned me. I realized that I cook not just for good health, but for enjoyment. It relaxes me. It calms my spirit to slice, dice, mix and bake. To create. I don't necessarily have to eat what I prepare, it is enough to just watch my family enjoy my labors of love.

Ah, who am I kidding? I make it, I'm going to eat it. It's that simple.

But because I love them, I'll share.

Key Lime Pie (from MaryJane's Cookbook)

1/2 cup Key Lime juice

1/4 cup water

1 14-ounce can organic, sweetened condensed milk

1 packet (or 1 t.) Chillover Powder

2/3 cup plain yogurt

1 t. grated lime zest

Optional: whipped cream and lime slices for garnish

Blend together lime juice, water, and sweetened condensed milk and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium, sprinkle Chillover Powder into liquid, and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Fold in the yogurt and lime zest.

Pour into pie crust and chill until firm. Garnish as desired.

Almond Date Pie Crust

1 cup raw almonds (soaked in water overnight)

1 cup dried pitted dates

Chop the almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Add the dates and chop until well blended. Press into a 9-inch pie plate and refrigerate until ready to fill.

Sourdough Bread -3 Ways

Usually when I make sourdough bread, I shape all of the dough into 3 loaves. My family goes through 3 every other day, so it works for us. But sometimes, I will do different things with the dough.

I separated the dough into thirds.

#1 became a loaf of sourdough.

#2 became a loaf of Cinnamon Swirl bread. It makes great toast!

#3 became Rosemary Rolls for Easter dinner.

And finally, since we are having an elk roast dinner, I thought I'd share with you a recipe for a dry rub that makes any roast taste spectacular!

This recipe was given to me by my sister-in-law, Kola, whose twin, also my sister-in-law, Malish, gave it to her. I don't know if it is a top secret family recipe or not, so try to keep it a secret, just in case!

Dry Rub

1-1/2 Tb. finely ground dark roasted coffee

1/2 Tb. chili powder

1/2 Tb. garlic powder

1 Tb. black pepper

1 Tb. coarse sea salt

1 Tb. dark brown sugar

Rub on roast before cooking. Can be used for grilled roasts too!

(If you don't like too much pepper, decrease the pepper by half.)

Blessings!

Peach Kuchen

Lately, I've been obsessed with desserts.

If it were only with chocolate, I'd write it off as hormonal.

This is far worse though.

I've started working out again. Now I can't help but think about the calories that I'm burning and wondering just how many more calories I can add without gaining weight.

Makes sense to me.

So does making desserts, using the fruit that we canned last summer!

Peach Kuchen

1-1/3 cup organic all-purpose flour

1/4 t. baking powder

1/2 t. sea salt

2 Tb. sugar

Sift together in a mixing bowl.

Cut in 1/3 cup unsalted butter

Press flour/butter mixture over bottom and sides of 9" pie pan or cast iron skillet.

Add: 1 quart drained, sliced peaches.

Mix 1/4 cup sugar with 1 t. cinnamon and sprinkle over peaches.

Bake at 400F. for 15 minutes.

Combine 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt with 1 beaten egg. Pour over hot peaches.

Sprinkle lightly with more cinnamon.



Bake for 30 minutes.



This makes a great dessert, but is also wonderful for breakfast/brunch.

Seriously. Pie for breakfast. Your family will love you for it!

Enjoy!

*Join the recipe swap at Grocery Cart Challenge!