growing

Foraging

/ makingofahome / 1 Comment

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.

Pastaless Lasagna

/ makingofahome / 4 Comments

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!

Surroundings

/ makingofahome / 2 Comments

Each morning, I try to rise before my girls so I can enjoy some quality quiet time before the craziness of the day begins.  It is during these darkened, wee hours of the morning that I try to make an effort to take in the surroundings of my home:  The little left overs from the day before and the projects set up for the moments to come.

I hope each of you has a few spare seconds to take in your surroundings…before the craziness begins 🙂

It’s In My Blood

/ makingofahome / 6 Comments

My great-grandfather, Hans Jacob Untersee, arrived in The United States from Bern, Switzerland on June 8, 1922.  Upon his arrival, he made his way to northern Illinois  to find work so that he could send for his wife and children, who still remained in Switzerland.  It was in northern Illinois that he established himself as a successful cheese maker, and was able to save enough money so that his family could join him in America.

Ever since my youth, I have been drawn to all aspects of my heritage.  I love connecting to my ancestors, whether it is admiring old photographs, thinking of my grandfather while in my garden, or cooking family heirloom recipes.

About three years ago I stumbled upon Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and I must admit that that read greatly impacted my life.  Her discussion of food as a connection to our ancestry drew me in like I never thought possible.  It was while reading this book that I began to think of my Great Grandpa Untersee.  He was a cheese maker by trade, why couldn’t I become a hobby cheese maker?

I used Barbra Kingsolver’s references in the back of her piece, and found Ricki Carroll’s website.  I never looked back.

Yesterday we decided it had been far too long since we had made cheese, so we ventured to our local, natural grocer where we are able to purchase milk from a local source.  We then busted out our New English Cheesemaking Supply Company cheese kit and got to work.

Here we are making a batch of ricotta cheese:

And here we are making mozzarella:

Hopefully Great Grandpa Untersee was looking down on us yesterday and smiling.

Spring Soup

/ makingofahome / 3 Comments

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!

 

Breakfast for Dinner

/ makingofahome / 1 Comment

Yesterday I decided to have an impromptu rummage sale, so by the time the sale ended and the left over items were boxed up, it was dinner time and I had nothing in my arsenal ready to go.  It was actually my oldest daughter who said, “I know Mom, we should have breakfast for dinner!  It is fast, and my favorite!”

Well by golly that was a fabulous idea!  So breakfast it was:  pancakes, scrambled eggs and fruit salad.  I have come to adore my pancake recipe, and I wanted to share it with you today.  It takes under ten minutes from start to finish, so it is a perfect homemade dish to prepare when you are crunched for time.

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 T oil (I use an organic canola)

1 egg

1 cup milk

Enjoy!

Planning

/ makingofahome / 1 Comment

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:

Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening by Louise Riotte

Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by Anna Kruger

The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre! by Carleen Madigan

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!

 

This Week

/ makingofahome / 3 Comments

This week I will remember…

~eating fresh asparagus from our garden…in March!

~listening to local farmers speak so passionately about being stewards of the land.

~tiny hands cutting fruits and vegetables.

~sweating, while in a sleeveless shirt, pulling weeds in my garden…again, in March!

~bird song drifting through my windows.

~raspberry green sun tea.

~eating outdoors for the majority of our meals this week.

~sharing a meal with my family at an amazing restaurant that serves delicious local food. Yum!

~searching for a great new read.

~my girls, sitting in their own petite rocking chairs, reading books for over an hour.

~exciting new changes coming about for our family.

I hope all of you had a great week!  Enjoy your weekend!

Completely

/ makingofahome / 6 Comments

Yesterday we embarked upon a new adventure in our household:  the girls made dinner!  From start to finish (with a little help from Mom with some knife skills and boiling water), they created and prepared our entire evening meal.

The three of us girls went to our local natural foods store and I told them they could pick out anything they wanted to use in their dishes for dinner.  What seemed like a very random combination of items to me, ended up turning out just great!  Yet another example of what goes on in those little minds of theirs.

On my two-year old chef’s menu was a fruit salad with watermelon, kiwi, apples and blueberries with a homemade raspberry lime dressing (recipe courtesy of her big sis).

And on my five-year old chef’s menu was a spinach salad with apples and kiwi and a homemade raspberry lime dressing.  (She created the recipe for this dressing completely on her own.  In the store she told me she needed to buy limes to use as the acid with the olive oil in her dressing.  A smart cookie this one is!)  And the main course was her all time favorite:  angel hair pasta with pasture butter sauce.