Another garden cooking day

Today I made a batch of salsa from the garden.  For supper tonight we will have roast chicken with carrots and baby potatoes from the garden.  I'm making chocolate zucchini muffins right now.  My garden still has lots of zucchini.  I also made a batch of molasses ginger cookies for mom and dad.

Garden 2020

This year has certainly been strange. As a family we spend LOTS of time together. We clean and divide up chores continually. Our projects have included, many many crafts like arm knitting, making friendship bracelets, shrinky dinks and painting.  Also many board games

We have been camping at our cottage lot and swimming most days. We work together on our farm. Our pets and cows are the center of these days. Bonfires and backyard visits with friends are a highlight.  I avoid public places and we don't travel but we visit grandparents almost every day.  In someways it's an opportunity to do the most important things in life.  Conversations and phone calls have less small talk and more of sharing our fears with each other and supporting one another.  I know where my kids have strengths and weaknesses are in school and in fitness and in socializing.  I have to be intentional about working on these areas of their lives because more than ever I am their main sounding board and friend. 

Since our home is where we spend almost all of our time. Our garden is more important than ever. We have had lettuce, basil, parsley, chives, tomatoes, beets, rhubarb, hot peppers. I planted a couple cauliflower but they don’t look to promising. I planted what I thought was cucumber but instead squash grew and also a white pumpkin.

My tomato plants are huge and I had a lot grow of volunteer plants come up from the seeds in the soil. I had some tomato bugs but not as bad as last year.  we’ve already had four tomatoes from my garden. The zucchini seeds I planted grew zucchinis out of control and we probably had 50 zucchinis. Luckily I found others to take them since Gary and girls have decided zucchini is an enemy. 

I have about 4 carrots that are sad. 

I planted 32 potato plants. They did surprisingly well. Gary thinks we should wait until the end of August to dig them up. They are not big yet.  I am looking forward to having some crab apples from our tree.  

This is zucchini pizza from the BBQ. I thought they were good. No one else tried them.  Other ways I have used zucchini is chocolate zucchini cake, in stew and soups, in butter chicken, on skewers for pork kabobs.  Also in spears with foil on the BBQ with butter. 

April self isolation

It is a crazy time we're living in. Who knew that when I left for Mexico March 9th, We would return to self isolation and quarantine that is still going on. It's been a real range of emotions for everyone to not be able to see family. Also to spend time with our immediate family all the time. There's a lot of pressure to homeschool and the kids spend a lot of time on electronics. I'm having to learn new things to keep up with what they're doing. I'm trying new recipes and try coming up with crafts for the afternoon. I find myself thankful for so many unexpected things. Having a farm so we can keep working and get out of the house. A large amount of craft supplies, that at times I've even felt guilty about, has truly been a blessing. We have made melted crayon crafts, Easter cards, we have planted seeds to start a garden in May. We have tried arm knitting, sewing triangle bags, we have even sewed clothes for the cat. The girls are good at coming up with thier own activities if it means avoiding school work or cleaning. Most days they bake something that we eat at lunch time like mini pizzas, tuna melts, muffins or cinnamon buns. I was very fortunate to have beautiful friends and family that got me groceries while we were on quarantine. Now that lots of time has passed I made a big grocery trip last weekend and hope to only go every two weeks. I make a list of things we need and a plan for what we will eat. I write the meal plan on the fridge so there is no surprises of not knowing what is for supper or not having the ingredients we need. This week, Sunday- ham and scalloped potatoes and salad. Monday - leftover with chicken fingers and fries. Tuesday - spaghetti, extra sauce to make a lasagna that I froze. Wednesday - tacos Thursday chicken kabobs and rice. Friday homemade fish and chips with salad. Saturday -sheppards pie. Sunday - venison roast cooked veggies and mashed potatoes, Monday - quiche and leftovers, Tuesday- lasagna, Wednesday- beef stroganoff. Thursday- chili or homemade pizza, Friday - hamburgers Before I go to the grocery store i make sure I have the ingredients on my list. I still get celery and carrots, bananas and apples. We eat alot of veggie trays tuna and grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade soups with our baking for lunch. Maybe this list will give you some ideas.