Vegetable Stock

Recently Jenny sent me a recipe for vegetable stock, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's amazing we pay for this stuff when it's so easy to make and for a fraction of the cost. I started with a base of carrots, onions and celery then added a few other things like a leek, some scallions, garlic, bay leaf, parsley, and mushrooms. I sauteed all that in a tablespoon of olive oil for about 10 minutes just to bring out the flavors then added 2 quarts of water, brought it to boil and then let it simmer for about an hour. A little salt, pepper and Taa Daa!!!! Soooo easy and soooo good. After straining it through a colander then again through a very fine strainer I pulled out the carrots to put in Annie and Rory's food later. No reason they shouldn't get some reward after having to smell those wonderful smells all afternoon. I can't wait to use it. I think I'll make the Split peas soup recipe Jenny posted awhile back and maybe cook up some brown rice. Yummy!!!!

Christmas is over!!!

Well it's all over now, but it was a great one. Christmas day was very enjoyable. We opened presents, ate and then went out to visit the girls. I think everyone visited with the chickens. Irene even held one, although I'm not really sure that was her intention. Irene was sitting down and one jumped up in her lap. I think she liked it though. Jenny liked to watch them run, which is kinda funny. They half run half fly and pop a couple of wheelies now and then. It really was a great Christmas.

A trip to the farm!!!

After satisfying our growling tummies, we decided to take a ride up to a farm. This farm is owned by Vince's boss and it's huge. He's building two ponds and it has acres of field. The 4 of us and Broch crowded in the VW Golf and off we went. Broch loved it. He ran and ran and then found the water. He jumped right in, brrrrrrr!!!!! After swimming after a few sticks, we let him run around some more to dry off a bit. Then we all crowded back in the car for the drive home. Broch laid his head on Jenny's shoulder for a couple minutes then curled up in a ball and that was the last of his consciousness till we got home. It was a fun time. I think we'd like to have a farm some day, we'd have some goats, chickens and a big garden!!!!

Non-traditional Christmas food!!

Well I can't say anything we ate for Christmas is what you would call "traditional" for other people but it is becoming our tradition. We started Christmas Eve with some veggie subs. We had a foundation of homemade french bread, layered with some baby romaine lettuce from the garden then as many other veggies as we could pile on. For a side we had fresh steamed broccoli from the garden, yummy!!!! Then on Christmas day we cooked up a large pot of veggie style Brunswick stew, a pot of veggie beef soup for Matt and Irene brought over a really good spinach lasagna. So I'm guessing our food doesn't really meed the traditional standard but it was delicious. And as an added bonus there's lots of leftovers that freeze well so we can pull it out later.

Gotta have dry feet :-)

Poor chickies!!!! Their run was just so wet and it's not good for them to have wet feet all the time. Parasites and insects and stuff get to be a problem when there's too much moisture. So I shoveled out all the wet leaves and stuff, ahhh, 5 wheelbarrows full of decaying leaves and bedding. Then I put down clean fresh kiln dried wood shaving. To help keep it dry I put clear plastic over the part of their run that wasn't covered. I used clear so I wouldn't cut out any more light than I had to. Well they danced around all afternoon. I looked out several times and they were dancing and bathing. There were about 4 taking a bath all at the same time. I think they like their dry run. Now I need to take a long hot bath.

It's a 3 egg day!!!

Yippie!!! It's a 3 egg day!!! We've been getting 1 a day but today there were 3 little eggies. And what is that?? Do I see an egg in a nest? Well yes I do. Good girls. They are starting to get the hang of this egg laying thing. We're still finding them on the ground and in the corner of the coop but more often than not they are starting to be in the nest. It's kinda hard to tell but the egg in my hand may have been a first egg for whichever little girl laid that one. It was very long and skinny and sometimes the first few eggs can be funny shaped. They sure do brag very loudly after they finish laying one too. One girlie came out of the coop, definitely announcing that she had just done her duty. We may just have to have an egg dinner tonight :-)

Have you hugged a chicken today?

Oh go ahead, hug one, kiss one even, just don't let them kiss you back it might hurt!!!! It's really funny how they want attention. I have one that is just content to sit in my lap the whole time they are out. She'll snuggle way down and tuck her head under the crook of my arm. It's also funny to watch their interaction. They have a certain "language" all their own. They do okay for chickens :-) Anyway it's a lot of fun and also a lot of work but the kind of work that's worth it.

Fall veggie stew, Yummy :-)

Well, I wasn't quite sure about this one but thought I'd give it a try. My mother-in-law clipped this recipe from our newspaper. It turns out it's definitely a keeper. It was yummy!!!! It is slightly spicy and has a smooth texture, and it has peanut butter. I thought the peanut butter would be strange but it's really interesting. Not overpowering but you can taste it. Here's the recipe:

2 large onions, chopped
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt or powder
1 1/2 cups chopped cabbage
1 cup apple juice
3 cups tomato juice (I used V-8)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 40 oz can of sweet potatoes, cut into chunks or cubes
( I used some I had baked the previous day)
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained
1/2 cup peanut butter

Saute onions in vegetable oil until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in cayenne pepper and garlic powder (or salt) and saute for two more minutes. Add chopped cabbage, saute, covered, for three minutes. Mix in apple and tomato juices, salt, ginger and tomatoes. Add sweet potatoes, and black beans. Simmer for five minutes. Stir in peanut butter and simmer gently over very low heat until ready to serve. Stir frequently to prevent scorching. Add more juice if stew is too thick.

A new book!!!

I'm so sad :-( I kinda guess I knew with all the recent hype about "organics" that the big industrial giants would eventually just take all that over. But knowing it and "knowing" it makes me sad. I'm reading Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan and it's really a good book in fact I got this one from the library but it's going on my list of books to buy. It is very informative about the sources of our foods. He traces different meals back to their origin, like his organic meal for instance. His chicken which he bought at Whole Foods, (which he names Rosie) apparently lives a life not much different from those raised on a factory farm. During an interview with Gene Kahn, owner of Cascadian Farms, which is owned by General Mills, Kahn makes the statement, "everything eventually morphs into the way the world is." Oh boo, so true and so sad. My favorite part is his adventures at a place called PolyFace Farms. The owner runs things so opposite of the way the big industry says you should. Their website shows video clips of their farming methods. Oh well, I guess I am turning more towards supporting the local farmer instead of the industry giants.

French Bread

So today was bread baking day. I made 6 loaves of whole wheat, 6 whole wheat and buckwheat and decided it was time to try something new. Since we love veggie sandwiches from Subway but have a hard time getting them to put any veggies on them I thought I'd make our own bread to make them on. The recipe says it makes four loaves but they are giant loaves. I think next time I'll try to get six out of it. I saved a little piece of the dough to bake a bread bowl for serving chili or stew. It turn out nice. We had French toast for breakfast this morning and I used Agave instead of maple syrup, yummy!!!! Next time I think I'll try pitas!

Drinking carrots!

I don't think I ever thought I'd be drinking carrots. We've had our juicer for probably 20 years. I can't even remember what got us into juicing. I know healthy eating has been a lifelong process for me. I do remember going to the Brownstone downtown Raleigh for the demonstration. Over the years it's been the thing we pull out when one of us are feeling a little sick and honestly it does help with colds and such. Lately though I've been trying to have at least a glass a day sometimes two. Today I added an apple and a beet from the garden. I had no idea the beet would be so sweet. It was only about half the size of a golf ball but it gave a lot of juice. I think I might try some pears soon.

Scones Yummy!!!

Yummy Yummy!!!! I love to eat scones. I wanted to find a good recipe so I went to the perfect source. I have a friend from South Africa and not only does she have a wonderful accent but she's a great cook. So I find out that we (Americans) put a lot more sugar in our scones. Does that surprise you???? I used my fresh ground whole wheat pastry flour and added dried cranberries and some orange zest. I also juiced the orange for some delicious fresh juice. The scones turned out wonderful. Just like she said they should, more like biscuits. I like them just the way they are but I also want to try one with pumpkin butter. Maybe I'll do that with my afternoon "tea."