This week's meals (Dec. 5-10 2011)

Monday- black bean burritos
Tuesday-homemade vegetable soup
Wednesday- Youth
Thursday- leftover soup
Friday- deer burgers and sweet potato fries
Saturday- sun dried tomato and basil frittata (see post for Fri. Nov. 18)

Okay, so I should have planned ahead a little better this week.  I was going to have the soup on Monday since it's going to be a dreary, cold, rainy day, but I forgot to get the deer meat out of my mother-in-law's freezer so soup will have to wait.  Some things I may start making ahead of time on the weekend so I just pop it in the oven on the weeknight.  My creative juices for super quick weeknight meals are dwindling. 

For the black bean burritos I will soak the beans tonight, cook them in the slow cooker tomorrow along with garlic, cumin, chili powder, lime juice, and onion powder.  When I get home I will probably cook some potatoes diced up with onions to go alongside the burritos.  I'll take whole wheat tortillas and add the cooked beans, Mexican cheese blend, and salsa.  Voila!  Dinner is served!

For the homemade vegetable soup I have some bags of frozen tomatoes, squash, field peas, lima beans, and lentil soup mix.  I plan on dumping all into the crockpot along with some browned deer meat and onions and spices.  I grew up with semi-spicy soup so I'll probably add a little Tabasco for flavor along with salt and pepper. 

Easy Homemade Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

Brown 1 lb. ground meat (I used deer) with 1 diced onion and salt and pepper.  While meat is cooking dump 3 pints of canned tomatoes (or 3 cans of diced or stewed tomatoes), 1 can of Italian tomato paste, and spoonful of minced garlic into crockpot.  Add meat and mix together.  Add parsley, oregano, basil, thyme, bay leaves, and red pepper flakes to taste.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8.  So easy and sooooo good!  Great Sunday recipe because it cooks while you're at church.  When you get home all you've got to do is cook some whole wheat spaghetti noodles!

This week's meals (Nov. 27-Dec. 2)

Sunday- Easy Crockpot Spaghetti
Monday- Garlicky Bean Enchiladas
Tuesday- Bible study
Wednesday- Youth at church
Thursday- leftover frozen chili (Christmas parade night)
Friday- homemade pizza
Saturday- Cheddar Chicken Pasta

Recipes for this week's meals

Sundried Tomato, Spinach, and Basil Frittata Recipe
4 eggs
1 tsp. onion powder
1 cup frozen spinach
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, sliced
1 tbsp. dried basil
3 tbsp. milk
salt & pepper to taste
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/3 cup feta cheese

Heat olive oil in cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Add spinach and onion powder and cook until spinach is wilted.  Whisk together eggs, milk, basil, salt and pepper.  Pour egg mixture over spinach.  Scatter sundried tomatoes and feta cheese over egg mixture.  Bake in oven for about 15- 20 min. or until frittata rises a little and becomes light and fluffy.  Cut into wedges and serve warm!

Homemade Pizza
I use whatever toppings happen to be around the house at this point.  Tonight I used sundried tomato pesto and olive oil as my base.  Go light on the pesto because it is strong.  I then added sliced black olives, cut up artichoke hearts, sliced sundried tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and a little feta cheese.  It was very yummy!  I like mine sprinkled with crushed red pepper and served with a little ranch dressing.  Once you make the crust a couple times it will go a lot faster and you'll wonder why you ever needed to go to Dominoes. 
Here's how to make the homemade whole wheat crust.  If you don't like the dense, nutty flavor of whole wheat, you can use all unbleached white flour.
Whole Wheat Pizza Crust Recipe
Adapted from a Hodgson Mill recipe

1 package active dry yeast (I use rapid rise/instant in the jar which ends up being 1/4 tsp.)

1 cup warm (not hot) water

1 ½ cup whole wheat flour

1 ½ cup unbleached white flour

2 tsp. granulated sugar

½ tsp. salt

2 tbsp. olive oil

Put water in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it.  Allow to rest for 5 minutes.  Stir in whole wheat flour, sugar, salt, olive oil and 1 cup of the unbleached flour.  Knead in remaining unbleached flour by hand and continue to knead for about 5 minutes (the dough will be smooth and elastic).

Coat the bowl with oil, place dough in the bowl and turn to coat thoroughly.  Cover the bowl with a towel and set it in a warm place and allow to rise for 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees while you’re waiting.

Lightly coat a large pizza pan (or two small) with olive oil.  Stretch pizza crust (I press it from the center outward) to fit pan and flute outer edges of dough to hold fillings.  Brush on some olive oil, then put on your sauce & toppings.  Bake until cheese is melted, about ten minutes.  Slice it up and serve it hot!

Stir-fry with Tofu and Veggies

1 diced onion

1 container organic firm or extra-firm tofu

1 bag frozen stir-fry veggies

1 tbsp. cooking oil (I use sunflower or coconut and sesame)

soy sauce to taste

1 tsp. fresh grated ginger (optional)

sprinkle of coconut (optional)

spices (cumin, curry, garlic powder, pepper, salt...basically whatever you think tastes good)

Heat oil in large skillet or wok.  Press water out of tofu and slice into strips.  Brown tofu in skillet.  While it's browning, add spices to taste.  Once tofu is seasoned and browned, add frozen veggies, ginger, and soy sauce.  Add more spices if needed.  Cook until veggies are tender, but not mushy.  Sprinkle coconut over top.  Serve over rice.

This Week's Meals (Nov. 13-20)

Sunday- White Cheddar Chicken Pasta (I switched things up a bit by using turkey breast that I had cut off a whole turkey I bought in my big monthly shopping trip and regular sharp cheddar cheese because I couldn't find white cheddar.  The cheese sauce made a lot and was actually pretty easy to prepare and turned out delicious!)
Monday- tortellini with spinach and cheese sauce
(used frozen spinach added to pasta while cooking and leftover cheese sauce from Sunday's meal)
Tuesday-Sundried Tomato, Spinach, and Basil Frittata (My husband loved this!) 
Wednesday- church
Thursday- Stir fry with Tofu and Veggies
Friday- Homemade Pizza

Saturday- Slow Cooker Cilantro-Lime Chicken (Once again, I'm substituting turkey because that's what I have! I also plan to use my own spices rather than taco seasoning- cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper)

Taking the plunge...minimizing my paper usage

For awhile I got funny looks from guests when my husband asked where the napkins were and I replied "we don't have any" and then when asked about paper towels, "we don't have those either".  I sort of played it off as forgetfulness at first but I guess secretly I wanted to find out if we could live without paper towels or napkins.  Sometimes I get a little kick out of seeing what things I can live without.  I know, I'm a little weird. 
Eventually I admitted that I wanted to quit buying those items and reduce the amount of waste we throw away and not spend money on something that would be dirtied up and thrown away.  I had a few cloth napkins so I started pulling those out for use with guests and when my husband and kids asked for them.  I think my mother-in-law felt sorry for me and brought over a bunch of really pretty cloth napkins for every season that she had made and quit using.  Now it's a pleasure to set my table with beautiful fall colored napkins complete with leaves, gourds, and pumpkins.  As for paper towels, it's all the same to wipe up messes with a dish towel although I do find myself having to wash them a lot more often.  But all in all, I haven't really missed paper towels or napkins. 
Now for the more sensitive paper issues...the ones less talked about.  Baby diapers, toilet paper, and dare I say it...feminine hygiene items. 
I bought a bunch of really nice, organic cloth, adjustable cloth baby diapers when my oldest daughter was born.  She was too little for them at first and later I did use them some, except for when they wouldn't fit in her cute little outfits.  Then she started daycare and I couldn't use them there, so I kinda got out of the habit.   When my youngest came along the busyness of having two and not having as much time off work with her kept me from using them a lot.  But, after potty training and still needing something for night time, I pulled out the cloth diapers and started using them again.  They're so easy, I don't know why I didn't use them more.  I have a water proof bag I throw them in and then when it gets full, I dump the bag inside out in my washing machine and throw the bag in for washing.  I sometimes wash them with towels (since we're dirtying up more of those now.)  You have to be careful what type of detergent you use because chlorine will break down the diapers, but my awesome natural, concentrated MelaPower detergent works amazingly well with them. 
Don't worry, we still use toilet paper and not the Sears catalog.  I feel old just saying that.  But, I started looking for recycled and chlorine free toilet paper.  Scott's Natural was a good option, but for value sake I started using Walgreen's Real Soft brand because you can get 12 rolls for $5 and it's whitened without chlorine although I don't think it's recycled. 
Now, for the big one.  Feminine hygiene.  Two months ago I switched from tampons and pads to a reusable Moon Cup made by GladRags.  I wish I had've known about these years ago.  It's amazing!  No more waste, hastle of running to the store because it's that time of the month, or icky down there feelings.  It's even safe for nighttime use.  I found it on http://www.amazon.com/ and read lots of reviews before deciding on mine.  I had thought about getting reusable, washable pads but you really don't need them.  I think my next purchase will be washable pantiliners. 

So really, the plunge wasn't so bad and I'm pretty proud of myself for becoming a little less wasteful and a little more self-sufficient. 

This week's meals (Nov. 6-12)

My inspiration for this weeks meals?  A Prevention magazine (Nov. 2011) that my husband picked up for me at Walmart along with a Whole Foods menu planner from http://www.onceamonthmom.com/.  These things allowed me to plan out 15 meals to cover the whole month of November.  I was able to plan ahead, find deals, and use coupons.  Plus I know exactly what I'll be cooking, so no excuses for eating out! :)
Sunday- Pasta and Cheese Layer Bake
               What you need:
                jar tomato sauce (or make your own)
                box of rotini pasta
                cottage cheese
                1 cup parmesan cheese
                1/2 cup mozarella cheese
                2 cloves garlic chopped (or 2 small spoonfuls of minced garlic)

                dried basil (about 2 tsp.)

               Cook rotini pasta.  Meanwhile mix  a cup of cottage cheese with about a 1/2 cup of parmesan 

               cheese, dried basil, and 2 cloves garlic.  Cover the bottom of a medium casserole dish

               with tomato sauce, then add a layer of pasta, layer of cottage cheese mixture, and then start over  
               ending with tomato sauce.  Top it off with mozarella and parmesan cheese.  Cover with aluminum

               foil and bake at 350  for about 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake an additional 10-15 min.

Monday- mother-in-law cooked :)

Tuesday- Turkey, Sweet Potato, and Cranberry Stew

Wednesday- youth night

Thursday- leftover Crockpot Chili

Friday-Pumpkin Black Bean Tamale Pie

Saturday- Butternut Squash Soup

Preserving Tomatoes

Granddaddy Jerry had an abundance of late tomatoes this year so I decided to do some preserving.  I canned about 4 quarts of tomatoes, froze another 4, and made 3 pints of green and red tomato relish, and another 3 pints of salsa.  For those of you who have never canned, it's not difficult, but can be a little time consuming.  It helps to have an extra set of hands and I had my mother-in-law to help me with my first batch.  I didn't have any fancy canning equipment and ended up water bathing the jars in my large stock pot with a steamer basket on the bottom to keep them from touching the bottom of the pot.  It helps to have something to remove the jars from the boiling hot water and I improvised with some salad tongs. 
Canning Tomatoes
1.  get water boiling in a large pot
2.  fill your sink with ice water
3.  dunk a few tomatoes at a time in the boiling water for a few seconds
4.  transfer the hot tomatoes to the ice water
5.  peel off the skin and core and quarter tomatoes
6.  place them in another pot to cook
7.  wash and boil jars
8.  heat new lids in a small sauce pan
9.  put boiling hot tomatoes in clean jars
10.  quickly place on lid and ring
11.  some may seal on their own as you will hear a "pop" and not be able to press down the top of the lid, but it's safest to put the jars of tomatoes in a hot water bath (boiling water) for 15 min. to insure a good seal

For the salsa and relish I did the same thing except followed a recipe that included other ingredients. 
Green and Red Tomato Relish
1/2 dish pan peeled tomatoes (I only peeled the red ones and used about half red, half green)
2 onions
2 cayenne peppers
2 jalapeno peppers

3 cloves garlic

bunch of cliantro

2 bell peppers

1/8 cup salt

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup vinegar

ball of pickling spices (I tied up some in a bag made of cheese cloth)

cook until thick

Salsa
1/2 dish pan peeled red tomatoes

2 onions

2 cayenne peppers
2 jalapeno peppers
3 cloves garlic
bunch of cilantro
2 bell peppers
1/8 cup salt
1/2 cup vinegar

 cook until thick

Freezing tomatoes is much simpler as you simply peel the tomatoes using the flash boil method above and then core, quarter, and place in freezer quart bags.  I let them cool, label them, and place in freezer.  Both frozen and canned tomatoes are excellent for spaghetti sauce, chili, and soup but there's nothing quite like popping open a jar of canned tomatoes. 

The Chocolate Muffin Tree: Tie Dye Coffee Filter Fall Leaves

The Chocolate Muffin Tree: Tie Dye Coffee Filter Fall Leaves: I'm so ready for the Fall colors.... so we decided to bring some beauty to our window a little bit earlier!!! We created Tie Dye Coffee Fil...

Fun craft for me and the girls! Will post pics once I get them on the window.

Composting success!

I've wanted a compost bin for years and finally have one that works!  It was fairly simple to build and is stackable and movable.  Here are the easy to follow instructions I used. 

 I followed the layering guidelines for composting outlined in "Four-Season Harvest" by Eliot Coleman and "How to Grow More Vegetables" by John Jeavons.  I placed the bin under a deciduous tree close to my garden spot and away from our dog.  I loosened the soil underneath using a spading fork and then placed a layer of sticks on the bottom for aeration.  Then came about a 3" layer of straw (recommended over hay because the hollow stems allow for better air circulation), a 1"-6" layer of moist "green material"(I used vegetable scraps and freshly cut grass), about a 1" layer of soil to keep flies down and provide bacteria and organisms to begin the breakdown process, and then a layer of "brown" material (I used day lily stalks that had been cut off and discarded by my mother-in-law).  You water each layer after adding.  The idea is to alternate "green" material (vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, bread, pasta, egg shells, etc.), soil, and straw.  So far I've gotten 2 good layers going and have only used part of a rectangle straw bale.  Instead of adding soil and straw everytime I need to empty the compost bucket, I use the spading fork to lift up the straw and soil and place the vegetable scraps underneath then recover.  One bucketful does about a 1/4 of the bin at a time, so I just alternate where I add the new scraps.  I found the perfect 2 gallon bucket with a lid containing a little bit of my husband's protein powder in it, so the protein powder was relocated and the bucket became my compost bucket.  I keep it on top of the fridge and empty when it gets full. 

I started the compost bin about a month ago and was surprised the other day when I looked at the side where I started adding scraps and realized that the only recognizable food scrap was egg shells.  Everything else had broken down into rich black compost!  It's not totally ready to use because the straw hasn't broken down, but I was really excited to find that it was already working!  I can't wait to add it to my garden beds!

Lifting the layers with a spading fork.

Compost!

Free Downloadable Paper Dolls!

Thanks to http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ I found some awesome free paper dolls to download and print.  They're the old fashioned ones printed in 1976.  I can't wait to get some card stock and print them for my 4 yr. old.  She's going to love them!
Here's a link to the dowload http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/dolls/pd_scans/ginghams/index.html. 
Happy playing!

Sweet Potato Butter

I had a few too many sweet potatoes from the farmer's market to eat before going bad, so I decided I'd try something new and make some sweet potato butter.  I've had it before and it's really yummy and similar to apple butter.  I figured it would be one less thing to buy later and could potentially make some nice inexpensive homemade Christmas gifts. 
I found my recipe at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-potato-butter/detail.aspx.  I ended up with over 8 cups of cubed sweet potato and apple with the 5 sweet potatoes and 3 apples I used.  I followed Jeannie's review and cooked it all in my slowcooker for 6 hrs.  It made the house smell wonderful!  Like fall!  This made six 8 oz. jelly jars of butter.  You can refridgerate or even freeze these, but I decided to can them since they were already hot from the sweet potato butter anyway.  I washed my jars and then placed them in some simmering water in a big pot on the stove while I blended up the cooked sweet potato mixture.  I removed the jars and filled them with 1/4 in. headspace.  To keep the jars from the bottom of the pot like a canning rack would, I used a metal steamer that sat on the bottom of the pot.  You couldn't keep the jars perfectly upright, but they mostly stayed that way.   I had just a little bit of water covering the jars, not the 1 in. that I read you should have.  I placed the lid on the pot and let them boil for a good 5 min.  I removed them from the pot carefully with salad tongs and all of them sealed!  It took a few min. but I heard them all pop.  It's best not to touch the lids too much until you are sure they have sealed. 

Can't wait to try it!

Learning to coupon and save money while eating healthy

Hunter had to go to a bus inservice today in Jackson (about an hour from us) so I decided to make the most of it and plan a day trip of grocery shopping since they have a big farmers market, Kroger, and Target (things that are not found in Union City).  I'm just starting the whole couponing adventure and trying to save more money and have found the website http://www.couponmom.com/ very useful.  You can look up your state and various large grocery and drugstore retailers and see all the sales for the week along with coupons and where to get them so that you save the most money.  It even shows you the percentage you save.  And for people like me who are beginners at this the website has a couponing tutorial!  How helpful!  So glad I found this site.
I ended up spending a couple hours last night planning my trip today including a grocery list  for each store printed from http://www.couponmom.com/ and printing and organizing coupons that I would need at each location.  Oh, and http://www.kroger.com/ lets you add coupons directly to your Kroger Plus card and print a list of them so you don't foget which ones you have.
I was pretty proud to say that I saved almost $70 at Kroger and was able to get lots of good Stonyfield organic yogurt for the girls and us along with chicken and ribs on sale, as well as healthy hormone and antibiotic free beef.  I bought more meat today than I have in a long time, but still got out of there spending around $150.  Maybe I will make a monthly trip to Kroger from now on. 
Target had lots of great Kashi products on sale as well as snack foods like organic tortilla chips. 
The girls and I enjoyed the West Tennessee Farmers Market where we got lots of yummy fresh fruits and veggies for less than at the grocery store and tried figs for the first time!  We also met some nice people and found out that there's a farmer who brings goat milk on Wed.  I left my name and number and am anxious to hear back to see if I could get in on a goat milk share. 
Successful day!

Today it begins...road to self-sufficiency

Self-sufficiency and sustainability are not new ideas to me.  As a high schooler I loved to roam my great grandparent's farm in rural VA and pick berries, cherries, persimmons for making homemade treats.  I would also pick poke berries and use them to paint with.  I thought their natural fuchsia color was beautiful.  I loved reading about pioneer days and Native American culture and their use of medicinal plants.  I wanted to be a wildcrafter like in the book "Where the Lilys Bloom". 
In college I worked on an organic CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm in Floyd, VA living off the land all summer and loving it.  We planted, weeded, harvested, and preserved or cooked the food that we ate.  It was amazing being so closely connected with the food I ate.  I also took a couple Sustainable Agriculture classes along with several other plant courses in my Biology major. 
After college I lived with a family from my church in a little old farm house on their land.  I grew a beautiful garden of heirloom beans, mesclun lettuce, herbs, tomatoes, and squash.  I even sold some of the beans and herbs to a local bed and breakfast.  That same summer I also worked alongside a full-time gardener at another bed and breakfast that grew much of the food that they cooked in their restaurant. 
Then I got married, finished my teaching degree, got a job, moved to a new state, fixed up a house, had babies, and the whole idea of self-sufficiency was put on the back burner.
Until today.  We're in the middle of trying to sell our house so that we can move somewhere out in the country with a few acres of land.  Our house is small and if we have any more children we will have outgrown it completely.  But it's completely remodeled and has a pretty good sized fenced in yard.  So, although we are in town I'm going to make the most of my time here in moving in the direction of my dream.  I'm tired of waiting.  I'm tired of buying food laden with pesticides.  And it looks like it might be some time before our house sells.  So, I'm studying up on permaculture gardening, reading John Jeavons "How To Grow More Vegetables", and researching movable chicken coops for layers.  Today I realized that my garden has been sorely neglected and decided that something had to be done.  I was also frustrated about other things.  So I grabbed my hoe and took it out on the rock hard dirt and weeds that had become my garden spot.  I hacked at the ground, sweat pourng down my face, talking to myself....if someone saw me they probably would have thought I was crazy.  And maybe I am.  But, I have a desire inside me to live simply, grow as much of my own food as possible, and teach my children the value of hard work, consistency, and knowing where your food comes from.  As I work with my hands I want the God who created me and the Earth I live on to mold me into a more useful vessel.
(The pictures are of my garden the spring of 2010, I tried to do the same thing this year but didn't even have that good of results.  My carrots this year did end up being a pretty good size even though I didn't find them until I was destroying the remains of the garden in order to start over.)