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.

Chicken stew

https://www.theseasonedmom.com/healthy-slow-cooker-chicken-stew/ I made this chicken stew in the crockpot. Everyone in the family liked it. I used three big chicken breast. I chop them into bite-size pieces. Sautéed vegetables and chicken just for a few minutes. Put everything in the crockpot and left it on high for five hours. I did add some corn starch to thicken it just 30 minutes before serving but you don’t have to. I thought you might like to try it. I will be making it again. 2 medium sweet onions, diced into bite-sized pieces, 3 stalks celery, diced. 4 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds. 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced into small bite-sized pieces. 1 bay leaf. 2 teaspoons salt. ½ teaspoon paprika. ½ teaspoon dried thyme. ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning like rosemary and thyme. 3-4 lbs. bone-in chicken breasts, skin removed. 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth or chicken stock. 1 tablespoon corn starch + 1 tablespoon cold water For garnish: chopped fresh parsley Instructions Place onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, bay leaf, salt, paprika, thyme, and poultry seasoning in the bottom of a large slow cooker. Stir to combine. Place chicken on top of vegetables. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Pour chicken broth over everything, cover, and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours. When there are about 30 minutes left in the cooking time, remove chicken from the slow cooker and chop or shred the meat. Return chicken meat to the slow cooker and discard bones. Discard bay leaf. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon of corn starch with 1 tablespoon of cold water until smooth. Stir into the stew and cook on HIGH without the lid for 30 minutes (or until broth thickens a little bit). Garnish with chopped fresh parsley, just before serving. Recipe Notes

Homemade donuts

Today is a snow day. The weather predicted 25 to 30 cm today. The girls have a list of stuff to do before electronics. Baking counts as a useful activity. We tried making donuts in the air fryer. We found this recipe online FROM SCRATCH WAY: 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1.5 tsp fast action yeast ¼ tsp ground nutmeg salt 1/2 cup whole milk at room temperature 2 tbsp unsalted butter melted 1 large egg beaten EASY BISCUIT WAY: 1 can of biscuits 8 biscuits, flaky kind GLAZE: 1 cup (about 4 oz) powdered sugar 4 tsp tap water various sprinkles and edible dried flowers INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE THE FROM SCRATCH WAY: Combine flour, sugar, yeast, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl. Add in the milk, butter, and egg and stir into a soft dough. Place donut dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a couple of mins until smooth. Transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl, cover it and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out 7-8 doughnuts using a 3-inch round cutter. Then use a 1-inch round cutter to remove center. Place the both the donuts and donuts holes on a lightly floured surface, cover loosely with a cloth and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size (approximately 30 mins). Pre-heat air fryer to 350F / 180C and spray the basket with cooking spray. Place half of the donuts in single layer inside the air fryer basket and cook for 4-5 mins until golden. Repeat with remaining doughnuts and holes.

Ashley’s turkey noodle soup

Ashley and I made turkey noodles soup with leftover Christmas dinner. We took the meat off the turkey,and cooked the bones in water to make broth. I had cut up carrots and an onion in the carcass. I cooked broth for 1.5 hours. Ashley’s recipe : Get out pot and sauté veggies. We used carrots and celery, onions and broccoli leftover from our veggie tray the night before. Add 1 cup of chopped turkey. Sauté until onions are clear. Add 2 cups of broth. Bring to a boil. Add spices, 1/2 tbsp of salt and pepper and Parsley, 1/2 tsp of oregano, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1 bay leaf 🍃. Add 2 more cups of broth, taste and adjust seasoning. Cook for 20 mins, add Mr noodles- just the noodles. Stir all the way through. Cook for 4 mins. Eat.

Slow cooker Beef Bourguignon

This recipe I found online. I fried the bacon and removed it from the pan. for meat I used a blade steak that I cut up. I browned my beef in the same pan and coated it with the flour from the recipe and removed from the pan. I sautéed 1/2 an onion chopped and 3 cloves of garlic and the Carrots. While they were cooking I deglaze the pan with red wine and a 1/4 of water. I put everything in a large ziplock bag to freeze. When I was ready to cook it. I dumped it in the slow cooker. I added remaining ingredients. It was delicious at supper time. Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon has crazy tender melt in your mouth beef and hearty veggies slow cooked to perfection in a rich sauce. This meal is comforting and perfect for the cold months ahead! Author: Alyssa Serves: 6 INGREDIENTS 5 slices bacon, finely chopped. 3 lbs. boneless beef chuck, cut to 1 inch cubes. 1 cup red cooking wine. 2 cups chicken broth. ½ cup tomato sauce. ¼ cup soy sauce. ¼ cup flour. 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped. 2 Tablespoons thyme, finely chopped. 5 Medium Carrots, sliced. 1 pound baby potatoes.( I used 3 large potatoes cut up). 8 ounce fresh mushrooms, sliced. Slow cooker on high 6 to 8 hours