Independence Days

Mad House and Independence Catch Up

Posted on January 25, 2010 by Anisa

Is that February I see?  The first month of 2010 has FLOWN by!  We’ve had a hard time catching up since the holidays (as evidenced by my absence from the blog), but we’re looking at a few clear weekends, then a trip to the Tucson area to visit friends, and then a (hopefully) nice relaxing break from the hustle and bustle!

So in the last month, I completed my student teaching for my childbirth education certification, worked on the test, nearly finished the reading, and scheduled my last required observation.  I picked a business name (stay tuned for it, complete with links), and bartered a web design.  Yay!

Additionally, E is now up to six teeth, we had several dinners with friends, a game night or two, bartered hunting for mechanical work on the truck (hallelujah!), had to post bail to get Josie out of doggie jail (she made a break for Hampden and got picked up), and held a Mad Tea Party for Rick’s and my un-birthday!  The last was so fun, and I made an amazing hat thanks to a great tutorial, and a little friendly encouragement.

It’s been 37 weeks since I started tracking our family with the Independence Days project.  I use the term ‘tracking’ loosely, however, since I have not really kept good track for the last ten or twelve weeks.  This is what I can say for sure, from my memory.  Every day we collect three eggs from our five hens.  Pretty good since it is the dead of winter and we don’t give them a heat lamp or anything.

We have not planted or harvested any veggies whatsoever, but Rick did go make hamburger and sausage with his uncle and grandpa.  We used all the lard from the hogs (this years and last years) for this.  So we added about 30 pounds of ground meat to the freezer.  We also found pints of blackberries on sale for 77 cents each once, and bought like 20 and frozen them.  We should have bought more though, since we’ve eaten them all already (Rick went on a smoothie kick last month).

As I mentioned above, we bartered hunting for mechanics – and I say this totally falls under building community food systems.  Our friend is a mechanic and replaced the belts and water pump on the 4 Runner for us, with the promise that Rick would teach him and his family to hunt this year.  He saved us over $900!  I say we really got the better end of the deal in some ways because Rick loves hunting so much, and he is very happy for another reason to spend more time outdoors doing it.

We have surely been eating the food as well around here.  Most weeks all we buy at the store is dairy, bread, rice or beans, flour and sugar, coffee, peanut butter, maple syrup, and sometimes eggs to supplement what we’ve got from the hens.  And bananas, as I think Henry is addicted.  We’ve been eating veggies and meat from the freezer, our peaches, pickles and jams, frozen fruit – delish!

We’ve been talking about the garden a lot the last week or so.  I think that the sun coming up at 7:00am again is making us think Spring is around the corner.  We received the Baker Creek heirloom seed catalog in December, and have since been lustfully drooling over every page and variety since.

Alas – my writing time is up today – E is, shall we say, requesting – my presence.

More to come soon.

Categories: Chickens, Childbirth, Community, Hunting, Independence Days | 6 Comments

Where I’ve Been and Independence Update!

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Anisa

Wowza!  I’ve been off the blog for over a week – it’s been a mad house around here!  What with the teething and growing and friends over for dinner and getting all set for the holidays, plus prepping to do my student teaching!  Yikes!

So a quick update…. I think I owe a few weeks of Independence days.  We’d be on week 28, but I really don’t feel like I have all that much to report for the last three weeks or so (see the mad house comment, above).  The chickens are just hanging out (or hanging in) in the snow, and we are still getting two or three eggs a day from them.  The two older hens are not laying, and I’m guessing they won’t lay through the winter.  The three little girls are busy, but they can’t keep up with Henry, the egg eating machine, so we did buy a couple dozen this week.  Yes, they are both local and humane.  😉

So there’s nothing in the Plant Something, and only eggs in the Harvest Something category.  Does any one know if it is too late to put garlic in the ground?  We’ve wanted to do this, but have kept putting it off and now it might be too late??

We did pick up our hog (well, only half a hog this fall) last week.  We split it with Dave the Dentist, and so maybe that counts as Want Not/Prep & Storage or Build Community Food Systems??  Since we didn’t harvest anything new, there was nothing to Preserve.  Wait, no, I take that back.  We did boil a turkey carcass to death, so we preserved some turkey stock (which is delicious!).

Waste Not – well, compost and recycling, of course, and we are still mucking about with the pallets Rick brought  home for the new bins we want to make.  Rick brought home a piece of drywall that was to be cast off at work (they’re remodeling his office), to replace a damaged piece in our basement junk room.  Also, found a couple of cute uses for scrap fabric that have been transformed into Christmas gifts.

Eat the Food – ah, food.  The one category that never fails me.  I always eat!  So this week, we are making green bean casserole from beans we froze, and chardonnay glazed carrots from the sweet carrots of the late summer/early fall.  And mashed potatoes from the spuds stored down in the basement.  Yum.  Yes, we are hosting Thanksgiving dinner.  I plan to break out the home-made dill pickles and watermelon rind pickles for snacks while the turkey roasts.

And I made my cranberry sauce ahead of time.  I adapted an Everyday Food recipe.  I was standing there cooking it, when suddenly the urge to add rosemary overcame me.  I put it in and I think it turned out pretty tasty.  So here’s that one for you:

2 packages fresh cranberries (24oz each)
1.5 cups sugar
4 large strips of orange peel
1/2 cup water
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish

Rinse and drain cranberries.  In a large sauce pan, add cranberries, sugar, orange peel and water.  Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer 15 minutes.  Add rosemary sprigs and simmer 5-10 minutes more.  Remove from heat, and stir in orange juice.  Let cool, cover and refrigerate for up to a week.  To serve, bring to room temperature and remove rosemary, garnish with a fresh rosemary sprig.

So that catches up the Independence Days.  Happy Thanksgiving Day to you!

Categories: Chickens, Food, Independence Days, Recipes | 1 Comment

Independence Days – Weeks 23, 24 & 25

Posted on November 2, 2009 by Anisa

Sweet E - 4 monthsThree weeks on one post… sheesh!  Things have been crazy for me the last three weeks.  Rick has, of course, been hunting which has left me with my hands full with the boys and not a lot of time for sane blog writing.  I’ve also been working on my childbirth educator’s certification, and am very close… this weekend is my workshop, and then I should hopefully be able to take my test and be certified.  Trying not to stress about this, but I am getting down to the wire a bit.

Then, this morning I woke up to one dead chicken and one chicken missing.  I thought Lavender, our grey chicken, had flown the coop… I saw what I thought was her jump over the back fence.  When I went out to investigate, she was nowhere to be seen and still (as of 7:00pm) has not come home.  Unfortunately, we don’t expect her back, as one of her Rhode Island Red comrades was lying dead (and partially dismembered) in the yard.

FALLJosie was trying to help herself to chicken for breakfast, but we don’t think it was her that did the killing.  There are fox tracks all over the place and I had only just let Josie (who has never tried to attack the chickens before) outside.  I didn’t hear a ruckus of any kind, and she didn’t have any blood on her.  But you’ll not catch her saying no to a free chicken either.   😦

We’re a bit bummed on that front, as it means we’re back down to only five.  And oddly (or maybe not so oddly) I’m not too sad about the dead red-head, but I have a bit of heartache about Lavender… this is why you don’t name food.  She was one of the originals, and though she was meanest and leanest, she laid a white egg everyday and was fun to watch.

So anyway, here’s the dirt on Independence Days.  All in all, not the most successful three weeks since we’ve started this.

Plant Something –  um, none.

Harvest Something–  Rick successfully harvested a doe!  Eggs from just the young chickens, as the older hens are molting and looking quite pitiful.  A very large bunch of kale (and gave the Spicy Kale and Potato Soup a second – and much more successful- go ’round).

Preserve Something – venison and elk in the fridge, potatoes to the basement, carrots to the freezer.

Waste Not – I really think we had a big FAIL in this category.  The upright freezer door got left open a crack and we lost a bunch of food in the door.  The stuff in the body of the freezer stayed frozen, since it was full, but we had a mad rush to eat some pork chops and beef remnants.  The rest had to be tossed.  😦

Want Not/Prep & Storage – nothing new

Build Community Food Systems –  we were able to share a few veggies this past week, but I didn’t get to the last of the farmers markets to get those apples I wanted.

Eat the Food – mmm I.O.U. some recipes.  Not in the mood to type recipes right now, but I will say that we’ve been eating venison, practically finished the pork completely, enjoyed some tomatoes and chiles for a pot of home made green chile, eating potatoes, and peaches.  We did share a few of our preserves as well… mostly as gifts to my awesome bro-in-law, Dan.  🙂

Categories: Chickens, Food, Hunting, Independence Days | 3 Comments

Independence Days – Weeks 21 & 22

Posted on October 12, 2009 by Anisa

Wow twenty-two weeks at Sharon’s Independence Days already.  It’s been fun and eye opening to track all these little baby steps each week and see how they are adding up.

We had the first frost of the year last week and therefore had a mass exodus of produce from the garden.  5 gallon size bags filled with tomatoes went into the freezer and lots of winter squash went down to the basement for storage.  There is a lot of damaged squash that we’ll be cooking up this coming week, turning it into puree for soups and bread recipes.

Look at the last of the garden goodies:

before the freeze

That of course doesn’t count the spinach, radishes, chard and kale that is still growing despite the weather.  I don’t think that the beets or lettuces pulled through though.  Next year we will have to put in those for winter a bit earlier so they can get better established.    Also, the potted herbs I brought home a few weeks ago bit the dust, besides the rosemary, which seems hardier and possibly strong enough to survive my kitchen gardening “techniques.”

Also, after the awesome compost class that Rick and I took in September, we’ve been working on the big compost remodel… first moving the chicken coop, then deciding on a plan for the space then collecting materials.  Rick was able to dig up some pallets from his work, so the biggest part of the bins will have cost us nothing.  Yay!

So down to the nitty gritty:

 

Plant Something –  none

Harvest Something –  all the acorn squash & butternut squash, the pumpkins, all the tomatoes & zucchini.  Eggs.  Also Rick & H got a dusky (blue) grouse, and Rick brought home a mallard drake as well.

Preserve Something –  Potatoes and winter squash to basement, froze tomatoes, froze the duck and a second grouse that Rick’s uncle gave us, made a double batch of curried carrot-leek soup for the freezer.

PalletsWaste Not – Lots of “new” clothes for me from my sistah.  Rick brought home some pallets from work to use to build our new compost bins. Also traded a large propane tank for a smaller one that will fit our gas grill.

Want Not/Prep & Storage – besides items added to freezer, nothing to add to this category.

Build Community Food Systems –  posted on craigslist for the Englewood Farmer’s Market.  Ordered the hog that we’re splitting with friends.  Checked out another market in Littleton, will be going back to get apples this coming week… refrained from buying honeycrisp apples brought in from Washington at Costco for only $0.50/lb, even though the Colorado ones are $2.20/lb at the farmer’s market.

Eat the Food – ate the grouse, used some frozen peaches for a tart (yum!), butternut squash, spaghetti squash, zucchini bread, pickles (they turned out!  Yay!), potato soup, potato-leek quiche… lots of yummy things these last two weeks.  Here’s an old Field & Stream recipe for awesome duck breasts:

Doug’s Grilled Duck Breasts
Marinade for 4-6 duck breast halves:
1 T olive oil
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 T fresh sage, chopped
2 T fresh parsley, chopped
6 oz teriyaki sauce
1 oz +/- Jack Daniel’s
salt & pepper to taste

Place duck and marinade into a ziplock bag in refrigerator and marinade for 2-4 hours.  Heat charcoal grill.  Place duck breasts on grill when flame has died and coals are hot.  Cook for 2-1/2 to 3 minutes on each side until rare or medium rare.  Let rest 1 minute.  Serve.

*note that duck is a red meat (not like chicken), and can safely (and deliciously) be eaten rare.

Categories: Canning and Food Preservation, Food, Hunting, Independence Days, Recipes | 2 Comments

Buy Local/Eat Local and the Big-Box Ban of 2009

Posted on October 4, 2009 by Anisa

Photo by grokdotcom.comLast Tuesday marks four months since we last made a purchase from Wal-Mart.  We can’t yet say the same about Target or Costco or some other big-box chain stores.  But it’s a start.

About a month ago, we watched “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” (good flick, check it out).  Many people know the reasons we should avoid shopping at big-box chains; artificially low-prices, low wages and benefits for workers, killing local businesses, but I was surprised to learn about other concerns such as global economies, surrounding property values, and environmental impacts. 

Wal-Mart isn’t the only culprit when it comes to these issues, but they are among (if not THE) worst.

To us, it seemed like the next logical step in our lifestyle changes… buy local means buy local, right?  So we should avoid buying products from national big-box chain stores that don’t support local business owners, and often don’t stock any products even made in the USA. 

But it gets tricky.  I mean where do you find alternatives?  And with the box store’s buying power, they really DO have lower prices, so will I have to pay more?  Well, there are alternatives, and yes, you might likely pay a bit more.  But you can be comforted knowing your extra few pennies or dollars went to support a local business or family, not line the overly large pockets of the Walton family. 

Here is the list of store Rick and I are avoiding:
-Wal-Mart & Sam’s Club
-Target
-Home Depot & Lowes
-Sports Authority & Dick’s
-JoAnn’s, Michael’s & Hobby Lobby

So where can you shop instead?  Well, we recently got canning supplies, pieces to repair the sprinkler system, a yellow jacket trap and a shower organizer at A&A Tradin’ Post, a local hardware store.  Instead of getting bike accessories/locks/inner tubes/helmets at Sports Authority, we shop at Treads, Arapahoe Cyclery or Campus Cycles.  I get fabric from Denver Fabrics and scrap booking supplies from locals as well (though I have to find a new store since Scrapbook Destination closed down 😦 ). 

I wanted to add Costco to the “do not shop” list as well, but we are still taking advantage of our membership there at the moment.  Though I do hope that we can eventually eliminate that as well, we just need a local store that stocks organic cane sugar in large quantities for canning season.  We generally avoid King Soopers and Safeway in favor of the slightly more local Sunflower Market to buy our milk and grains (and we usually buy Colorado products over organics), and try to grow/CSA/farmer’s market all the rest. 

What about restaurants?  There are so many great local places to eat instead of typical chain restaurants.  And the food is almost always, fresher, tastier and prepared to order.  Instead of ordering from Pizza Hut or Papa John’s, try that little pizzeria (we recently ordered from Frank the Pizza King here in Englewood, and often miss Sal’s up in Thornton).  Instead of Panda Express, spend a few extra bucks at Heaven Dragon (our fave!).  Don’t get steak at Lone Star or Outback when you can try Bastien’s Steakhouse or The Capital Grill.  Why eat at Old Chicago, Chiles or Applebees when you can get better eats at Pearl Street Grill, Wash Park Grill or The Hornet.  Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill can’t hold a candle to Undici down the street.  And Mile High Coffee (or Stella’s or Kaladi Bros.) brews a tastier and less expensive cup-o-joe than Starbuck’s ever could.  And seriously, I-HOP can NOT compare to Toast or even The Breakfast Queen.

These are, of course, baby steps in supporting the local movement.  And it does take some extra effort.  Sometimes we do without for a while until I can locate a local source for what it is we’re looking for (I want some storage tubs, but I don’t want to get them from Wal-Mart or Target, for example).  And sometimes we have to come up with creative alternatives (like using repurposed cardboard boxes instead of those tubs).  And, yes, sometimes it costs a bit more.  But I don’t mind paying more than rock-bottom prices, if it means supporting my local economy, neighbors and community.  Do you?

Categories: Independence Days | 8 Comments

Independence Days – Week 20

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Anisa

DinoNot much to add this week.  We had a fun weekend, but not a lot of it was spent with food.  We went to a new friend’s home for dinner on Friday night (we met through the Urban Homesteader meetup group).  They are actually neighbors, and we had a wonderful time talking natural parenting, homebirth, food, gardens.

They are restoring their 1925 home to orignal condition as much as possible.  It was so cool to see what they’ve done and to imagine what the home was like back when it was owned by a Madam!  How cool that they know the history and are working to preserve it! We swapped recipes and pediatrician names.  I’m happy to have neighbors who are as crazy as us!

We also went to the botanic gardens (on Saturday) to see the Jurassic Gardens exhibit.  H liked seeing the dinosaurs and the weather was just perfect.

We wrapped up the weekend on Sunday with the cheesemaking class, and that was really fun.  I made another batch of addicting and horribly bad for you chocolate chip cookies, and we roasted the last pie pumpkins we had.  (Only have big ones left now).  Besides a few tomatoes, we mostly stayed out of the garden this week… (unusual for us lately).

Here’s the rundown on what we did do:

Plant Something –  none

Harvest Something–  tomatoes, zucchini, eggs, pie pumpkins at the farm

Preserve Something –  Froze tomatoes, made pumpkin butter, froze pumpkin puree, toasted pumpkin seeds…

Waste Not – I took advantage of the extra “damaged” pumpkins that were not good enough to put into shares from the farm.  These would have otherwise gone to waste.   We also saved the whey from the cheesemaking class… some for the chickens, and some for our friends who use it for grains.

Want Not/Prep & Storage – nothing to add this week.

Build Community Food Systems –   I hosted a cheesemaking class in our home on Sunday.  It was cool to learn how easy it can be, plus, I got to meet a few more ‘Urban Homesteaders’ from the meetup group.

Eat the Food – mmm… we opened the dill pickles we made earlier this summer…. YUM!  I’m so glad they turned out well, since we have quite a few quarts of them!

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds:  Rinse seeds and spread on a kitchen towel to dry most of the way.  Mix 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp sugar.  Spread the seeds on a baking sheet, and sprinkle spice mixture over them.  Stir the seeds to make sure they are all covered with the spices.  Place in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.  Stir the seeds and roast another 10 minutes.  Check them frequently so they don’t burn.

Categories: Canning and Food Preservation, Food, Independence Days, Recipes | 2 Comments

Independence Days – Weeks 18 & 19

Posted on September 21, 2009 by Anisa

P9180029So this week, I learned a bit more with canning.  While we were pickling beets on Friday, Rick and I had our first jar break.  And our second. 

We had about two hours before we had to leave to be at his family’s home for a party, so we (I) decided to get the beets finished.  Right as we were putting the filled jars into the pot to process, one of my quart jars cracked open, the whole bottom came off and beets and pickling brine filled the pot.  So I dumped the pot, refilled it and set it to boil again, while Rick called and said we were going to be late. 

You know the saying, a watched pot never boils.  And it truly felt that way.  But once it was going again, we put in all the jars, brought it back to a rolling boil and set the timer.  Well about ten minutes into the processing, I noticed that there wasn’t much steam coming from the pot.  I lifted the lid to see what was going on, and saw that another jar had broken.  😦  We didn’t dump it all out this time, we just got it back to boiling and processed the rest of the jars in beet pickle water. 

P9180030In all we lost a quart and a half of the gorgeous beets I’d been hording for this batch.  And we were an hour late to the party.  We’re still not totally sure why those jars broke, but they were jars that I had bought second hand.  I don’t know if that had something to do with it or not, because I looked at all the jars closely before I bought them.  But if that was the reason, I don’t know if it was worth the savings on the used jars. 

Plant Something –  none

Harvest Something–  mint, the last cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, eggs, chard

Preserve Something –  Froze tomatoes, watermelon rind pickles, carrots, concord grape jam (thanks to the Carlsons), pickled beets, beans.

Waste Not – Made a mei tai baby sling all by myself!  This cost me about $20 instead of 80 for one from the store!  So far I love it!  I’ll post pictures and more on this later this week.

Want Not/Prep & Storage – made a lot of progress on the food log.  When I get this complete, I will post for you to check out. 

Build Community Food Systems –  Went to a Meetup about composting.  It was through DUG (Denver Urban Gardeners), and we learned a lot.  We also got to share a little info about our chickens, and we met another young couple in our neighborhood who are doing some of the same things we are. 

Eat the Food – One Pot Chicken Cacciatore (adapted from Glorious One Pot Meals)

Serves 4
Olive oil
1 large onion, sliced in wedges
1 1/2 cups pasta
3/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup water
Oregano, salt, pepper, marjoram, & savory to taste
4 pieces of chicken (we like to use thighs)
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small yellow squash, sliced
1 small zucchini, sliced
2 bell peppers (any color), sliced
2 large, juicy tomatoes (or (1) 14oz can of tomatoes), chopped
2 TBS capers

Preheat oven to 425.  Spray inside and lid of dutch oven with olive oil.  Put sliced onion and pasta in the bottom of the pot.  Combine water and white wine, and pour half over the pasta and onions.  Put in chicken thighs, and season with salt and pepper well.  Sprinkle in oregano, marjoram and savory (I’m guessing here, but maybe 1/2 tsp each, dried?).  Layer in garlic, squash, zucchini, bell peppers, and tomatoes with juice.  Sprinkle capers on top, and season again with salt pepper, oregano and marjoram.  Pour remaining wine/water mixture over the top.  Cover with lid and bake for about an hour.  Check chicken for done-ness, and finish baking if needed.  (this always take me longer than I will think, because I always pack the pot full of veggies).

Categories: Canning and Food Preservation, Food, Independence Days, Recipes | Leave a comment

Independence Days – Week 17

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Anisa

We’ve been learning so much in the last few weeks.  The bumper crops from the farm and garden have made us do a bit more research into preserving, storage and preparation.  Also, gardening in the winter has been on the radar. 

We’ve always talked about but never tried planting things for the winter here.  But I went to the Rocky Mountain Seed Company, and got a few tips.  This year we’re going for it!

Plant Something –  spinach, beets, radishes and lettuce.  Also, bought some little pots of herbs to put int the kitchen.  🙂  I’m not great with potted plants, but I have a good feeling about these ones.  🙂

Harvest Something– eggs: in fact, so many eggs that I have three egg cartons in the fridge, and one is an 18 egg carton! Also mint, tomatoes, chard, zucchini, and on the farm we picked melons and winter squash! 

Preserve Something –  beans, corn and carrots into the freezer, canned peaches, peach jam.

Waste Not – How about this – I went to the Goodwill on Sunday to get more jars for canning.  They were $1.00 each (too much!), but while I was there they announced that Monday everything would be 50% off.  So I went back Monday morning, and got two books and 19 jars for fifty cents each.  AND they had a 2002 Burley d’Lite for $74.99.  I got it for half that!  $37.50!!  It needs a cover, and that will probably be about $100 or less.  Still an incredible deal!!  I did not waste money this week!

Want Not/Prep & Storage – started a food journal to track what’s being grown and stored, how much, and how long it lasts!

Build Community Food Systems – We are thinking of trying to sell a dozen eggs a week (I’m afraid to commit to more), and that money would help off-set the feed costs for the hens.  I’d like it to be to one person every week… someone who’s committed to buying them, I don’t really have time to market them.  😉  Let me know if you’re in the area and want to buy a dozen eggs from free-range, pastured chickens! 

Eat the Food – peaches!  And peppers and eggplant and carrots and melons… so many things!

Harvest Stuffed Peppers

P9030012This recipe makes enough hash to stuff four peppers (serve four people), but I only stuff two for Rick and I.  The remaining hash gets divided into two portions – one for Henry, and one for Rick’s lunch the next day.

2 bell peppers that can stand on their ends
2 medium sized potatoes
1/2 white or yellow onion
1 or 2 peeled carrots
1 small or medium sized squash
1/2 to 3/4 cup protein of choice: left over diced ham is in the picture, but eggplant, eggs, ground beef or sausage works great too.
Fresh torn basil – to taste
Salt & pepper
2 TBS olive oil

Cut the tops off of the peppers, remove seeds and ribs and set peppers aside.  Chop all other ingredients into a 1/4-inch dice.  In a 12-inch skillet with a lid heat olive oil; add potatoes, onions and carrots.  Season well with salt and pepper. Put on lid and let cook over medium, stirring to keep from sticking to bottom of the pan, until onions are soft and the potatoes and carrots are on their way to being cooked through. 
Add squash (sometimes I add the pepper tops too).  Let cook uncovered until potatoes are almost tender, stirring as needed to keep from sticking. 
Add cooked meat (or raw eggplant), and basil.  Mix well, taste and adjust for seasoning.  Scoop mixture (which I call hash) into the peppers.  Place peppers in a rimmed pan and bake at 375 until heated through and potatoes are done.  They could also be finished on the grill instead of the oven.

Note that this is one of those recipes that ends up catching all the random veggies in the kitchen that need using.  It’s great with mushrooms, garlic, eggplant, celery, zucchini, extra peppers, even a tomato added at the end.  It would also be great topped with grated cheese.

Categories: Canning and Food Preservation, Chickens, Food, Garden, Independence Days, Recipes | 1 Comment

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