Last week my husband was in a very minor (thank goodness!) fender bender, so I had to bring the car in this week to get repaired. This left the girls and I without a vehicle for two days and I must admit that it was a wonderful couple of days!
While sequestered we had the most marvelous of times! We read a ton, made a few more kinds of soap, and worked a great deal in the garden. It was wonderful to know how much fun we could have, without ever leaving the comfort of our little home.
This week the girls and I have been out working in the garden planting beets, carrots and lettuce. We are trying some different heirloom varieties this year, so we are all excited to see how they work out. We have ordered all of our seeds from The Seed Savers Exchange the past two years and have been thrilled with the results!
For beets we planted Early Blood Turnip and Detroit Dark Red
For carrots we planted Dragon (This one we have planted in the past and my girls love it because the outside of the carrot is a deep purple and the inside of the vegetable is a brilliant orange!) and St. Valery.
For lettuce this year we ordered the Seed Savers Heirloom Lettuce Collection which contains Amish Deer Tongue, Bronze Arrowhead, Crisp Mint, Forellenschuss, Red Velvet, and Susan’s Red Bib.
(A quick side note on “Gardener Number 2″…She is currently only wearing dresses because she said that jeans are not “girl clothes” 🙂 This summer should get quite interesting with all of the gardening this gal loves to do. Love her.)
Spring has definitely sprung in our neck of the woods these past few days. Although we did have those crazy few days a couple of weeks back when it felt more like summer, the last few days have been very “springy” in feel for sure. Cool in the morning, then toasty in the afternoon, and back to cool again in the evenings. Love it. And our flowers and perennial fruits and veggies have been loving it as well.
Have you ever peered into your cupboard to find nothing inspiring to bring to the dinner table? Can you imagine being in such a situation and then realizing you are able to literally go into your very own backyard to find it brimming with life, just waiting to be consumed on your dinner plate? I’m not talking about your annual vegetable garden here. I am referring to those plants that are often viewed by mainstream culture as being a nuisance, something that needs to be sprayed, pulled, or plundered so that our lawns and backyards can look “good.”
I have recently been reading up a bit on backyard foraging. I gained inspiration from this blog, The Rhythm of Family, and Many Paths, One Journey to Health for simple recipes that incorporate those bits of vegetation that almost anyone can find in their very own backyards!
**A note: You must be sure that you are only foraging in an area that you know for sure has not been sprayed with weed killers, insecticides, etc. We stick to our own yard only. I don’t even let the girls pick those edibles near the road way, just in case some “yucky stuff” made its way to the plants via a passerby.
Now, I know you are all reading this and wondering, “What the heck is this crazy lady talking about? Lasagna without pasta. Madness!” And honestly, the Italian in me is saying the very same thing.
Recently, my husband has been trying to significantly reduce the amount of refined carbohydrates that he consumes. And truthfully, this new eating style has placed quite the strain on my dinner-making abilities. Yesterday though, I was struck with a moment of genius! I got an idea to use butternut squash, sliced very thin, as the “pasta” element in normal lasagna recipe. I tested the dish out last night and I unequivocally say that the venture was a success!
Here is the recipe:
2 quarts tomato sauce (I used sauce I had frozen back in August when our tomato plants were the size of the ones in The Godfather!)
1 large butternut squash
1 yellow onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 lb. grass-fed ground beef
1 lb fresh, local spinach (chopped)
1 lb mushrooms (chopped)
1 lb ricotta cheese (I used the fresh ricotta we made last week.)
1 lb mozzarella (Again, I used the cheese we made last week.)
I first took a 13 X 9 baking dish, drizzled it with olive oil and then coated the bottom of the pan with a layer of sauce.
Then I shaved the top portion of the butternut squash very thinly like this:
I then layered the pan with the sliced butternut squash. Then I added a layer of ricotta. Then sauce again, followed by another layer of squash.
Then I cooked up the onion, garlic, spinach and mushrooms in a bit of olive oil. Once the meat was cooked through and the veggies tender and wilted, I added that to the lasagna pan, followed by more sauce and another layer of squash.
Then I finished it off with a final layer of sauce and topped it with sliced, fresh mozzarella.
I then covered the pan with a metal cookie sheet (you could use foil as well). I baked it at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Then I took the cook sheet off and baked it for another 15 minutes, or until the cheese begins to brown.
Enjoy!
I would also like to apologize for my absence yesterday. We have a ton of projects going in our house right now, many of which I will be sharing with all of you over the course of the next few days 🙂
I hope all of you have a marvelous week!
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have a bit of a crush on Jamie Oliver. In fact, this year our Thanksgiving meal featured all dishes we gathered from various Jamie Oliver cookbooks. I am just in love with his fresh approach to food, and that is why I find myself constantly reaching for one of his recipes time and time again when it comes to feeding my family.
My all time favorite cookbook of his is Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life. The cookbook is broken down by season, and also explains how he grows the many vegetables highlighted in the recipes.
Yesterday, when I looked out my kitchen window and saw all of those asparagus sprouts reaching out from beneath the soil, I knew it was time for my favorite spring soup. The recipe below is an adaptation of a recipe from Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver.
1 1/2 lbs. asparagus (chopped)
2 white or yellow onions (chopped)
2 leeks (chopped)
2 celery stalks (chopped)
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lb fresh spinach
3 quarts stock (You can use any stock of your choice here, depending on your preference. The soup I made last night featured pork stock.)
salt and pepper to taste
Put the olive oil in a large stock pot and heat over medium to high heat. Then add your onions, leeks, and celery. Cook until the veggies are tender, but not browning. Add the chopped asparagus and spinach. Stir a bit more until the asparagus is warmed and the spinach begins to wilt. Then add your stock, cover the pot and turn down the heat. Let the mixture simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Take the lid off and run an immersion blender through the soup. Salt and pepper to taste.
I normally then poach some fresh eggs and add those to the soup once it has been dished up.
Enjoy!
Yesterday we enjoyed a fabulous day of gardening! We mapped out our 2012 garden beds, read a little bit about companion planting, and got our hands dirty. All the makings of a great day!
Here are some of our go-to books for gardening:
And if you are wondering about the girls’ sun dresses…I made them last summer from a pattern from Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule.
I hope all of you have a wonderful week!
Kairos—“a right, opportune, or supreme moment in which something special and unique happens”
Ever since we started our garden three summers ago, the third weekend in February marked our “Seed Starting Day” for the year’s garden. This past Saturday marked this occasion and a wonderful day was had by all. As I said last week, I was feeling the need to get in the soil and grow something, so I was very happy to see that day pop up on our calendar!
We normally start the morning off with some sort of yummy breakfast, made with products from last year’s harvest. This year I made pumpkin scones, and they were delicious! (This recipe to follow in a post later this week.)
Then the girls drew pictures of what they thought would happen to the seeds once they were planted.
Here is my five year old daughter’s drawing. She said, “This is a picture of a pot, with the plant marker and a few sprouts coming up. The sun and rain are coming down on the sprouts.” Such the gardening expert!
This is the drawing my two year old completed. She said, “This is a plant with a rainbow.” She is on her way to garden expert status very, very soon I’m sure.
This year for our seed starting mix, we took a five gallon bucket and filled it up half way with compost from last summer. We then mixed in one small package of coir (coconut husk fiber), which helps to retain moisture much like a peat mixture does.
We mixed away until we had a nice ground mixture, perfect for seed starting.
Then my husband and girls got busy planting tomato seeds (Amish Paste, Martino’s Roma, Speckled Roman, and Italian Heirloom…all my favorite tomatoes to make tomato sauce with in August), basil seeds and Butterfly Weed seeds. The girls were really able to contribute to the effort this year and it was awe inspiring to see those little hands working the earth, and instinctively knowing how to plant these small seeds so that they will later grow to provide us with a bounty of vegetables.
We keep our seeds in our craft room in our basement. My husband hooks up fluorescent shop lights that can be moved up as the plants grow. He also hooks the lights up to a timer so that the plants can get 14-16 hours of light per day. We also put an oscillating floor fan in there with the seeds to help prevent mold or fungus from growing on the surface of the soil.
This morning I feel a bit remiss because as I peer out my kitchen window I find a fairly hefty amount of snow fell overnight. The garden that was showings signs of early spring just yesterday is now covered with a thick layer of snow and the earth is hardened once again by the cold temperatures. Even though we have had a very mild winter, the need to delve into the soil and plant something is seeping into my veins.
I often find myself feeling this way on these cold February mornings and I think today I have come up with a temporary solution for my need to plant something, anything.
The girls and I grab a few Mason jars and go to work. We will sprout some seeds this morning! You can purchase sprouting seeds at just about any garden center and all it takes are those seeds, cheese cloth, a Mason jar and water.
Simply follow the directions on the back of the seed package and in about 4 days you will have lovely little sprouts to add to salads, stir fries or smoothies.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend filled with fun and family! Enjoy!
Making of a Home 