Food

Green Chile & Zucchini Quiche

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Anisa

I had to share this recipe for the best quiche ever!  My good friend, Genny, made two for our family for E’s birth, and she got the recipe from someone who made the quiche for her home birth a few months before that.

It was perfect to eat during or after a birth, since it’s high in protein and easily made from frozen (just reheat in the oven)!  And I thought it was perfect for summer too, since it is a creative and tasty use of summer’s most over abundant food: zucchini!

We’ve been fortunate enough to be able to use vegetables from the farm, or grown in our garden… the squash, onions, garlic, chiles AND eggs!  Rick and I both loved the quiches Genny brought us, and the ones I’ve made since Emmett’s birth as well!  We can’t wait to share it with our friends!

The original recipe calls for a crust made with crackers, but Genny used a premade whole wheat crust, and I loved it, so that’s what I used too.  Here’s the recipe:

Green Chile & Zucchini Quiche

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 medium zucchini (about 6 ounces)
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
  • 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 pound freshly grated Monterey jack cheese (about 2 cups)
  • 1 cup whole-milk cottage cheese
  • 1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained (I substituted chiles from our freezer)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.   Grate the zucchini, preferably using the grating attachment of a food processor. Toss the zucchini with 1/2 teaspoon salt and let drain in a colander for 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over high heat until hot. Reduce the heat to medium; add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Squeeze the zucchini well with your hands to remove excess moisture. Add the zucchini to the onion and cook over high heat for 3 minutes.

Stir together the flour, the baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl until combined. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the eggs until thick and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the Monterey jack and cottage cheeses, the flour mixture, and remaining melted butter to the eggs and beat well. Stir in the zucchini mixture and chiles and pour the mixture into the crust. Bake the quiche in the center of the oven until the top is puffed and golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Set aside at room temperature 5 minutes, cut into wedges, and serve. 

Categories: Childbirth, Community, Food, Recipes | 1 Comment

Adventures in Cinnamon Rolls

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Anisa

Cinnamon 7Early last week, Rick came home talking about cinnamon rolls.  They sounded so good, I started craving them myself.  I am not much of a baker, but I decided to look for a cinnamon roll recipe that would make something resembling a Cinnabon.  I love how gooey Cinnabons are.  The recipes I’ve tried in the past always bake somewhat hard, dry rolls.

Well, thanks to google, this is what I came up with.  It’s adapted from recipes that I found on this blog and this website.

Rolls:
1 (¼ oz). pkg. yeast
1 c. warm (not hot) milk
½ c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. melted butter
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
4 c. all-purpose flour

Filling:
1 c. packed brown sugar
2½ TBS. cinnamon
1/3 c. butter, softened

Icing:
8 TBS. butter, softened
¼ c. (2 oz.) cream cheese
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
1½ c. confectioners sugar

To make Rolls:
Oven to 400° F
1.) Place yeast and milk in a large bowl about 5 minutes.
2.) Whisk in sugar, butter, salt, and eggs. Add flour; mix well.
3.) Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead into a large ball. Cover; let rise 1 hour.
4.) Roll dough into a 21″ x 16″ wide rectangle, about ¼ inch thick.
5.) Spread the dough with softened butter.
6.) Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over entire buttered rectangle.
7.) Roll carefully from long-side. Pinch the ends.
8.) Using a sharp knife, cut into 1¾ inch wide rolls, making twelve.
9.) Put rolls into greased 9” x 13” baking pan.
10.) Let the rolls rise in the pan for 30 minutes. While dough is rising, prepare the icing (see below).
11.) Bake the rolls about 20 minutes until the rolls are slightly browned and not doughy. Do not over bake.
12.) Remove rolls from oven and let cool about 15 minutes. Cover with icing and serve warm.

To make Icing:
Cream ingredients together with an electric mixer, beating until fluffy.
Spread on hot rolls.

And after about three and a half hours, and a few angry tears on the phone to my mom (I told you, I am NOT a baker), this is what I got:

Cinnamon 1  Cinnamon 2

Cinnamon 3       Cinnamon 4

Cinnamon 5  Cinnamon 6

And after all that – they were worth it!  They DID taste just like a Cinnabon!  I think with a little practice, I should be able to shave at least an hour off the prep time, and I know that I can do it without the tears… I thought I had killed my yeast with too-hot milk.  But they turned out deliciously!

Categories: Food, Recipes | 12 Comments

Pullet Surprise!

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Anisa

Little ChickensDid you know that little chickens lay little eggs?  About three days ago, Rick found an itty-bitty egg in the nest box.  And one each day since.  Either we have one pullet trying on her egg-laying shoes, or they are all gearing up to be omelet producing hens. 

We were really surprised that they are laying so soon… it took our hens until the end of August to start laying the year they were pullets, and even then, it was inconsistent and they were really spread out for a long time.  We weren’t expecting any for another month or two.  Three in  a row already this year is pretty exciting!

egg scalelittle eggsHere are two of them with an egg from our adult Aracauna (Mayzie).  As well as a close up view of one of the newbie eggs next to one of Poppy’s big brown eggs.  Quite a difference!  I wish I knew which of the Rhode Island Reds were laying them!  

The eggs will continue to get bigger over the next year until they are nice and large like the ones our adult hens give us. 

Categories: Chickens, Food | 4 Comments

Independence Days – Week 7

Posted on June 26, 2009 by Anisa

Henry & DaddySummer arrived this week, and not just on the calendar.  It finally got hot.

We had a couple days without rain, and I was lamenting this, because I really love the rain, and because I don’t want it to be really hot when I am in labor at home with no a/c!

On Tuesday, I headed to the farm to do my weekly work on the CSA.  I’m glad I did because we got produce for the first time this year!  We got peas, red leaf lettuce, purple kohlrabi, turnips, garlic and a zucchini.

We actually got bonus veggies too, since the guy I car pool to the farm with is on vacation in Alaska with his family, he said we could eat anything from their share that wouldn’t keep.  So I will refrain from eating his garlic (though it will be hard), and we’ll see if the turnips and kohlrabi make it (though I’m taking the tops).  😉

Here are the facts for week seven:

SprinklerPlant Something –  nothing new went into the ground this week.

Harvest Something – Eggs and our first peas! Besides that, does hoeing billions of weeds count as harvesting?!?!

Preserve Something – Froze two containers of the below soup.

Reduce Waste– or, as I’ve recently seen it called: “Waste Not” – I’m excited to put something other than my ‘usual’ list of recycling, etc. in this category this week.  Instead of tossing the tops of the kohlrabi to the chickens as I normally would, I made a soup with them and a left over ham bone that would have otherwise gone to waste!

Preparation and Storage – nada.

Build Community Food Systems – still spreading the word about the Englewood Farmers Market, working on the CSA.  Discussed splitting a buffalo with another CSA member as well.

Eat the Food – We’ve been enjoying the CSA goodies and snacking on peas here and there.  I’ll have to think up a recipe to share….

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

Independence Days – Week 6

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Anisa

Short and sweet today…

Plant Something – I planted a lot of mellons on the farm this week.  Otherwise, I didn’t plant anything here in our garden.   

Harvest Something – Spinach, lettuce, a radish, eggs

Preserve Something –  Strawberries are on the docket today.  I bought a bunch, and if I don’t eat them all first, I’ll try to make some jam.  🙂

Reduce Waste – The usual… chickens, compost, recycling, etc. 

Preparation and Storage – This week I signed up for a veggie canning/jam making class in July.  I’m actually going to get to go for sure (not just on the waiting list), so I’m very excited about that!

Build Community Food Systems – still spreading the word about the Englewood Farmers Market.  Otherwise, nil. 

Eat the Food – The stuff we harvested, plus pork as usual.  We also used some more of the anchos left in the freezer.  Here’s a quick recipe for green chile mayo, tasty on burgers:

In a food processor, put 1 cup of mayonnaise, 4 (or so) garlic cloves, 2 roasted, peeled and chopped ancho chiles, and a tablespoon of lime juice.  Process until smooth.  Taste, and add more of anything you think it might need.  Yum!

Also, a side note, my ‘Independence Days – Week 4’ post was generating a lot of spam for some reason, so I took it down.  If you want the recipe I had posted (a pasta sauce), just send me a note!

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

Real Food in Season – Mindful Mama

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Anisa

Mindful Mama posted a great article about eating locally and in season.  I thought I’d share it for you all to check out too! 

Real Food in Season – Nourish – Mindful Mama

Enjoy! 

Shared via AddThis

Categories: Food, Recommended Reading | Leave a comment

Independence Days – Week 5

Posted on June 12, 2009 by Anisa

These last few weeks I’ve been a bit distracted, and not really posting as much as I was.  I’ve missed two Thrifty Thursdays in a row now!  Yikes!  I promise to get back on the wagon next week (but Katie Jean had a great tip this week about paper products). 

I’m officially 36 weeks pregnant (almost 37), and come Tuesday, when I hit that 37 week mark, I could have the baby anytime.  So I have anywhere from one to seven more weeks to be pregnant (but only the high end if I go past my due date).  I had Henry 3 days before I was due with him, so I don’t think it’s likely that I’ll go far over this time, but you never know.  🙂 

In the mean time, I have tried to keep up on the Independence Days post to share with you…

Plant Something – Saturday, Rick planted more spinach, radishes, kale, Swiss chard… I think  that’s all.  🙂  It’s been so cool and rainy, we’re hoping to eek out a little extra time with our spring greens this year! 

Harvest Something – Spinach and radishes and lettuce all ready almost every day now.  It sure is nice to go pick a bowlful of spinach for lunch.

Preserve Something–  This week, I didn’t really do any preserving, but I DID start making kombucha for the first time (fermented green tea).  We’ll see how it goes – it takes two weeks!

Reduce Waste – The usual… chickens, compost, recycling, etc. 

Preparation and Storage – We didn’t do anything really in this category this week either, but I did hear recently that Colorado is now allowing rain water collection, so we are talking about rain barrels and where and when we want to go about doing that! 

Build Community Food Systems – Well this week we finally made it up to the CSA!  We planted a musk melon field and cucumbers.  The pick your own strawberries were ready, but I was pooped at the end of the day, so I didn’t pick any.  Please cross your fingers for me that there will still be plenty of strawberries next week… I really want to make lots of jam and other yummy goodies!!  Also, I do post weekly ads on craigslist and other sites for our city’s farmers market.  I’ve gotten a couple of responses from potential vendors in the last couple of weeks, so that is good! 

Eat the Food – This week was a tight week, so we ate mostly from the freezer.  Lots of pork on these kinds of weeks.  😉  We did BLT’s with our bacon and lettuce from the garden, and spinach a few times as well.  Here’s a recipe we had last night (based on one from Everyday Food magazine), called Ham & Egg Fried Rice. 

For Four:

1/4″ thick by 8″ (or so) cured ham steak, cut into bite size pieces
One bunch of scallions, one shallot, or half an onion finely chopped (the real recipe calls for the scallions, but I always use whatever is handy)
3-4 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1-2 inch piece of fresh ginger, finely minced or grated
2 cups cooked rice, rinsed and drained (we use brown)
2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS rice vinegar
4 eggs
salt & pepper

In a large skillet or wok, heat 1-2 TBS vegetable oil over medium high heat.  Cook ham, onions (or white parts of scallions), garlic, and ginger until ham is nearly cooked through, onions are soft and garlic & ginger are fragrant (you could also add red pepper flakes if you like it spicy) – about 4 minutes.  Add the rice, soy sauce, and rice vinegar (also, if you used them, add the green parts of the scallions).  Season with salt (if needed) and black pepper to taste.  Cook stirring frequently, about five more minutes, until ham is completely cooked.  Put into serving dishes.
Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel and add a little more cooking oil.  Fry the eggs, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Top the rice bowls with the fried eggs and serve. 

This goes great with steamed bok choy or spinach as well.  It’s quick and tasty!

Categories: Food, Garden, Independence Days, Recipes | 2 Comments

Urban Homesteading – Denver’s New Trend?

Posted on June 3, 2009 by Anisa

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a writer for the Denver Post.  He was doing an article on Urban Homesteading.  Cool!  Yes I was interested in talking to him (and thrilled he might be interested in talking to me, just based on my blog here).  After a few emails back and forth, he ended up not being able to meet up with Rick and I as scheduled… his deadline was too close. 

However, I wanted to share the article with you all.  Looks like there’s a trend going here in the Mile High City.  Glad to say we’re more than three years into it ourselves… And cool to see others in Englewood (my town) and other places in the Denver-metro area that are doing it too.

Check out the article: Green (1/8) Acres Sprout in the City by Douglas J. Brown.

Categories: Chickens, Garden, Recommended Reading, Urban Homesteading | 4 Comments

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