CSA Sunday (Box # 10)

Lots more goodies from the farm!

Corn

Tomatoes

Butter Beans

Okra

Green and Red peppers

Jalapenos

Banana Peppers

Green Beans

Rosemary and Thyme

Lots more goodies from the farm!

Recipe Friday - Pickles

Not much to share this week since I wasn't cooking much. I did manage to can sweet and bread and butter pickles last weekend, 8 pints each.


Bread and Butter:





Sweet Pickles:

The applesauce and butter are all that are left from last fall . The apple pie filling was gone quickly.

I don't have any pictures but I will share my rotisserie chicken recipe:

Rotisserie Chicken

1 whole chicken, insides removed

Rosemary, Thyme, Sage - fresh is best

Butter and coconut oil

Combine herbs and butter, set aside. Run hands under the skin to loosen from meat. Spread butter mix under skin. Rub outside of chicken with coconut oil, salt and pepper to taste. Arrange chicken on spit and cook 1.5 to 2 hours depending on size.

This can be used to roast the chicken also, just add 1 onion, quartered, 3-4 cloves garlic and 1 lemon, halved to the inside of the chicken and roast as normal.

Don't forget to save the carcass for making stock!

Baseball

Chris and I took the girls to a baseball game (we have a minor league team in our city). The game was sponsored by Ladybug's daycare and one of the perks was being able to go out onto the field to 'play catch' before the game. I don't know who was more excited - Ladybug or Chris!

I decided that this was a great father/daughter opportunity so I stayed in the stands with Butterbean and tried to get pictures. Trying to take pictures one handed and zoomed all the way didn't work out to well. Sorry for the blurriness.

Chris is all excited now because apparently our little girl has quite the arm!

Meal Plan Monday

Not a lot to plan this week, I'll be at the lake with family through Tuesday night and then we have a business dinner on Thursday so ...

Wednesday - Roast Chicken
Friday - Hamburgers

CSA Sunday (Box #9)

The heat has made the boxes smaller, and we might be losing some eggs also. The heat is taking a toll on the chickens too.

Here's what we got:

• corn


• potatoes


• tomatoes


• okra


• green beans


• snow peas


• zucchini


• eggs
  
  
  
  
  

Recipe Friday - Egg Custard Pie

I have been on the hunt for the perfect Egg Custard Pie. This is one of the desserts that I remember so well from my childhood and my Great Aunt Lucille made the best (lemon chess too). Well as people from her generation did she didn't measure or write anything down, leaving the rest of us to pine away for her pies. She used to even make me my own to take home after the family reunion. I think I have finally found the right combination - creamy, smooth center and crisp top. It even looks perfect ( I promise I didn't eat the missing quarter)-

This recipe is so easy, I think it took me 3 minutes to get it into the oven and all you need is a bowl and whisk.

Egg Custard Pie

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 cups Sugar
2 tbsp Flour
1 cup Whole milk
4 eggs

2 tsp Vanilla extract
9 in Pie crust, unbaked

Whisk butter and sugar together, add flour and whisk until smooth. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour into pie crust. Bake on a cookie sheet (please save your oven) at 375 for 50 minutes. If the top starts to brown to much tent with foil, being careful not to let the foil touch the pie. Remove from oven and let cool 1 hour. Can be served warm (if you are impatient like me) or chilled overnight in the fridge.
Please practice patience and let it chill, it is much better chilled (but still delicious warm if God is still helping you in the patience department).

Mommy's Little Helper

Ladybug had a blast helping me snap beans on Saturday. She did a great job too.

This one is yucky! She did really well with finding bugs and not freaking out.

So while Butterbean was napping we snapped beans and watched Little Women, I couldn't have asked for a better Saturday afternoon.

Wordless Wednesday

Stocking Up

Last week I showed you the five quarts of green beans I canned. This past weekend I was busy storing up some more summer goodness for the winter.

12 pints of green beans ( you can also see the dill pickles in there too)

2 pints of tomato sauce

cups of green peppers - frozen

1 cup jalapeno peppers - frozen

3 cups banana peppers - frozen


This adds to the 3 pints of peas I froze a few weeks ago and the 16 pints of dill pickles. My goal this weekend is to make both sweet pickles and bread and butter pickles (probably 8 pints each). I'll let you know how it goes.

I will also do a tutorial the next time I make tomato sauce. It really isn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Meal Plan Monday

So last week we didn't follow the plan very well so this week might look a lot like last weeks plan. Here's what we had last week:

Monday - Deer burgers
Tuesday - dinner at my parents
Wednesday - we had to go to Amelia to visit family so we ate there
Thursday - Chinese take-out
Friday - Pizza at Costco
Saturday - Steak, corn on the cob, potatoes, scallops
Sunday - Ruby Tuesday's with Chris' dad

Needless to say when we get off schedule we end up eating out a lot. Hopefully this week will be calmer and we will be able to stick to the schedule.

Monday - Sloppy Joes (plus extra to freeze)
Tuesday - Brunswick stew, salad and grilled cheese
Wednesday - Roast Chicken (crock pot), potatoes and peas
Thursday - Leftover stir fry
Friday - Grilled Mahi Mahi, squash, broccoli and quinoa
Saturday - Meatloaf, veggies from the CSA box, potatoes
Sunday - dinner at the Flying Squirrels game

CSA Sunday Box # 8

Here's Saturday's delivery:

Included are:

• Tomatoes


• Green Peppers


• Green Beans


• Okra


• Zucchini


• Cucumber


• Eggs


• Bread and Butter Pickles


• Zucchini Bread


• Banana and Jalapeno peppers


• Potatoes


• Corn

I even think Chris is starting to get on board with it!

Wordless Wednesday

Green Beans

I canned, in a pressure canner, and did not blow anything up! I had enough green beans to process 7 quarts (a canner full) so I gave it a try last night. Boy was I nervous, so I waited until the girls were in bed and safe.
Here's the canner at work. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Just follow the directions and keep an eye on the pressure.

Here is the end result. Only six of the jars sealed so we will just have the unsealed jar for dinner one night this week. I probably have another 7 quarts to snap and can so I may do that tonight, it only took about an hour and a half (not including snapping the beans) from start to finish.

Meal Plan Monday

Here's the plan for the week:

Monday - Deer burgers, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn on the cob
Tuesday - Brunswick Stew, Grilled Cheese
Wednesday - Grilled Chicken, corn on the cob, grilled zucchini, tomatoes and cucumbers
Thursday - Leftovers/Costco
Friday - Grilled Mahi Mahi, grilled peppers and onions, Broccoli, Rice
Saturday - Meatloaf, Mashed potatoes, green beans
Sunday - Roast Chicken and vegetables

CSA Sunday ( Box #7)

A huge box this week:

2 head of Cabbage

8 ears of corn

1 dzn eggs

12 green peppers

Banana peppers

1 bunch Kale

2 large zucchini

Okra

Kolrabi (given to my sister)

Lots more cucumbers

5 Tomatoes

1 bag green beans

Plus we went to the farmers market and got:

5 ears of corn

1 pint blackberries

12 small apples

And we were gifted with:

1 grocery bag green beans

5 ears of corn

5 tomatoes

We are overflowing with vegetables right now. I can't wait to have fun with them!

Recipe Friday - Asian Marinade

No pictures just a quick and easy recipe this week. This marinade works well on venison hindquarter, bear, tenderloin, steak and chicken. We use it mostly on venison and it really tenderizes the hindquarter well.

Asian Marinade

1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 handful fresh oregano, minced
1 cup olive oil
1 tbsp chili oil and sesame oil (optional)

Combine first six ingredients, whisk in oils until combined. Pour over meats and let marinate overnight.

Grill or an sear meats to desired doneness*.

*I promise this is a real word - just don't look it up.

MMMMM Steak

Butterbean decided that she was not waiting until she was six months old to start eating. She fussed and fussed at dinner last night and threw every toy offered on the floor, Chris finally said give her a piece of tenderloin. So I did - she did not make a peep for at least 20 minutes until she dropped it on the floor. Then she fusses at Chase for eating it! I guess this would really be baby led since she initiated it.

Wordless Wednesday

Grandpa's Bear

Ladybug has been so excited about seeing this bear and she now says she wants to go bear hunting with daddy and grandpa! I asked what she would do with the bear if she saw it - her answer? Pet it!

Here is the bear we brought home.

Meal Plan Monday

After being out of town this past weekend things are pretty slim around the house food wise so I have to get creative. We also didn't receive our CSA box since we were not around to get it.

Monday - Pizza
Tuesday - Tacos
Wednesday - Deer tenderloin, pasta, green beans
Thursday - Hot dogs (at the Flying Squirrels game)
Friday - Mahi Mahi, quinoa, grilled zucchini, onions, peppers
Saturday - Grilled chicken salads
Sunday - Meatloaf, peas, mashed potatoes

Recipe Friday - Dill Pickles

I don't really have a recipe to share today so I will show you what became of those 13 pounds of cucumbers we received on Saturday.

16 pints of dill pickles. That only took 10 pounds so I still have 3 and will probably make some relish out of those. I have plans for the next haul also - bread and butter pickles and sweet pickles.

Chris helped me out with this batch -handing me jars and screwing on lids. He has decided that canning is too much work - we will see what he thinks when we break open the first jar in about 4 weeks.