Taco salad

We had some very hot weeks this summer. I made a few successful recipes I would like to share here so I can find them again in the future. I made Taco salad to take to a potluck. I put all chopped ingredients in separate containers and mixed it at the last minute at the party. I cooked 1 lbs of ground beef and added taco seasoning. That was in one container. In another container I grated d 2 cups of cheddar cheese. 2 chopped tomatoes, 1 head of iceberg lettuce, I bottle of Catalina dressing. Almost a whole bag of corn chips ( I ate some) I like to add peppers and avocado. I woul happily call this supper and make it early in the day and put it together after work for a quick cool meal.

Freezer spaghetti 🍝

Our garden this year started out great. Unfortunately we went many weeks mid summer with no rain. Many plants did not survive but 6 tomato plants did. All 3 of my basil plants went huge. I canned 2 batches of my homemade salsa. And now I’m working on spaghetti sauce. I have adapted a few recipes to make my own version. I am freezing it so I don’t have to worry about tomatoes in a can with the wrong PH balance. Tomato Sauce Blanch tomatoes by putting in boiling water for 3 mins. Remove and put in cold water. Peels will come right off. Chop onions 2 tbsp of olive oil, 2 small cooking onions , 5 cloves of garlic, Sauté until onions are translucent. 1/2 cup of loosely chopped fresh basil, 1 cup of chicken stock, 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes , 20 peeled fresh tomatoes , 1 can 6 oz of tomato paste. 1 tbsp of dried oregano , 1tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper, 1/4 cup of parsley , Simmer for 3 hours

Porkchops

No frills has porkloins on sale for approximately 9$ per piece. I bought 2. I cut them up into pork chops. I got 4 bags of 6 pork chops for the freezer and one bag of kabobs. Planning for the summer makes me happy

Salad

We got our first two cucumbers from the garden today. the girls were happy there was one for each of them to pick. They both cut up their cucumbers and started eating them. The carrots aren't big yet but they are too fun to pull out. I picked a red onion and we still have some lettuce growing since it has been a rainy cool summer. The two red cedar boxes in the picture Ashley made with Poppa this morning. I bought our first feed of corn on the cob from a vegetable stand. The girls are husking it for supper. Gary is out cutting second crop hay. Hopefully it stops raining for a few days.

Small Potatoes

I have been collecting lettuce and radishes from our garden for a month now. The girls are very proud of eating what they grew. I emptied a potato plant I grew in a bucket. I only got enough potatoes for one supper but Ashley found a worm and now has a new pet. So winner winner, potato dinner. Here is a picture of the sad bucket potato plant with the rabbit that came to visit us last week.

Strawberrries 2017

Today we kept up the tradition of picking berries to make jam. It was fun. The girls were very helpful today and picked quite a bit themselves. We bought subs on the way home and had a picnic under a tree. I cleaned my berries and they played on the zipline. This evening Emily and I made a batch of jam. She helped measure and pour and crush berries and stir. She was really good help. The jam turned out good. We tried pilsbury crossants stuffed with strawberries for dessert. They were good with a little fresh jam on top.

Garden 2017

Today I started putting my garden in. May 31st. It's very wet and not very warm. I'm waiting for my pepper plants to get a little bigger before I transplant them. Gary made me a new raised garden. It is 8x8. My dad made a wire cover for my side garden with Ashley's help. This year I have planted, cucumbers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, lemon cherry tomatoes, cucamelon, marigolds, radishes, leaf lettuce, red onions. A few annuals as well.