Two Frog Home

Plant something - Not much happening here in the way of planting.  All inspections have come back good, so it looks like we’ll be moving in a few weeks! 

1. Harvest something - Dandelions and chives that’s it so far, but mint and rhubarb soon.
3. Preserve something - I canned chicken and beef stock from bones I’d been saving in the freezer (I’m keeping a tally on the pantry building page). 
5. Prep something - I’ve been saving newspaper and finding burlap sacks at the coffee roaster to snuff out grass and plan new gardens at our new place.

Cook something New - Nothing new this week, just lots of old standards and using up things we have on hand so as not to have too much excess when it comes time to move.

Manage your reserves - I started a 2008 pantry building tally to keep track of what I have on hand, and I always label and date jars when I’m done canning.

Work on local food systems - I shared some worm compost water with a neighbor, for their strawberry patch.  That’s about it, I’m not doing well on this Independence Days Challenge.

Reduced Waste - Saving the newspapers for mulch means no recycling necessary.

Learned a Skill - Does learning the intricacies of real estate and mortgage processing/procedures count?

PS: It does look like all is good for us on this house deal, as long as the appraisal comes in like we’re expecting.  Posts may be a little light and because of the move I don’t know that I’m going to do as well as I’d planned on this independence days challenge.

I’ve been cleaning out our freezer, hopeful for an impending move.  I found a small ball of potica dough left over from the holiday baking extravaganza,that at the time I was sure I would use up quickly.  Well, I finally pulled it out last night to thaw.  When I pulled it out last night, I planned to make some traditional potica filling and cook it up.  This morning, I just didn’t feel like messing with the traditional walnut filling, so I rolled it out and figured I’d try cinnamon rolls with it.  I did put some nuts on the bottom of the pie plate, so it’s almost like potica, almost but not really at all, ha!  They turned out quite delightful and were yummy with a cup of coffee.  The ball of dough I had made less about 5 very small rolls, I’m not sure why I saved such a small piece to begin with, except that I just have a very hard time throwing food away.

Yesterday, I cooked up all the chicken bones I had been saving as well and will be canning that stock up later today.  If time permits, I’m going to work on some beef stock from the bones in the freezer as well today.

I decided to participate in the Independence Days Challenge hosted by Casaubon’s Book.  I’m a week behind, but here’s what I did this week:

1. Plant something - Considering we had snow, yes snow this morning and our hopefully impending move, I haven’t done much planting.  I did transplant some seedlings into bigger pots to keep until we hopefully move.

2. Harvest something.  I picked dandelions & chives this week.

3. Preserve something.  I made dandelion jelly.

4. Prep something. I mended a pair of Jeff’s pants and have been preparing to move, include moving some of my plants.  I also have 2 quilts pinned and ready for quilting.

5. Cook something new. Nothing new this week…

6. Manage your reserves.  Nothing really new this week, there are some chicken & beef bones in the freezer that I hope to can this weekend.

7. Work on local food systems.  I gave some of my raspberry canes away to help someone else start their own patch.

100 Things :: 11) I bring my lunch.

I almost called this one - I brown bag it.  However, I bring my lunches in beautiful, reusable handmade tote bags, not the disposable plain brown paper sacks.

I do bring my lunch to work everyday and I pack Jeff’s too.  We also pack our lunches when we go for hikes, scenic drives, various festivals, etc.  It just seems a better way to ensure our health and our frugal nature.   It also seems the most ethical way to keep disposable items from getting into landfills.

Our lunches are pretty standard - soups in winter, salads in summer.  We usually have some kind of fruit, fresh in season, home canned when not in season.  We pack wraps and sandwiches on occasion.  We don’t generally have leftovers for lunch, however; because we save those for dinner.  I like to include homemade bread, biscuits, muffins, etc when I can as well.

I like packing Jeff’s lunch too in that I find it a great way to connect with him in the middle of a hectic work day even when we aren’t eating a meal together.  Occasionally I tuck a little love note or treat in his bag too, just because.

I’m grateful for my little tote bag sitting in the office kitchen/break room because its an insurance policy of a little bit of home in my office.  It’s also a promise of a healthy nourishing break mid-day to just rejuvenate and in some small way reconnect with my love.

I had the urge for some apple juice this morning.  Having no juice, but some apples, I pulled out the much neglected juicer and got to work.  Satisfied with just a small glass for both Jeff and I there was some juice left and of course, all the pulp.  I core the apples before putting them through the juicer so the pulp is usable.  We’re going to meet some friends later this morning and I figured I could do something with the pulp as a treat for them.  I pulled out my trusty Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts and modified their Apple Spice Cupcake recipe to fit what I had on hand.

Apple Spice Cupcakes

• 1 Cup of Apple Pulp (remove any big chunks of skin, etc.) or 1 Cup shredded apple
• 2 Cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2/3 Cup butter (I used salted if you use unsalted you may want to add a little salt to the recipe)
• 1 Cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 apple juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tin with papers or grease.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Cream butter and sugar until light.  Add eggs one at a time, add vanilla.  Alternate the flour and apple juice into the creamed mixture until well combined.  Fold in the apple pulp.

Pour batter into muffin tin.  Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool before frosting.

Frosting: The recipe in the book had an apple cream cheese frosting that used apple juice concentrate, which I never have on hand, so I just used a basic cream cheese frosting which worked wonderfully with a few ground walnuts sprinkled on top.  I was super generous with the frosting mainly because I made enough to frost about 11 cakes,  I always make too much frosting not sure why I do that.  However, I did use a light whipped cream cheese (because that’s what was in the fridge), so that makes it ok, right?

Notes: I ended up with 14 cupcakes, however 12 would have been just fine if I had filled the cups almost full before baking.  They didn’t rise as much as I had expected so be generous in those cups.  Next time, I might add a touch of maple syrup instead of the vanilla extract, I think that would add just a little more dimension, if you try that, let me know how it works, please.

Enjoy!

100 Things - #10. Breakfast is my favorite meal.

I love a good hearty breakfast.  It’s definately my favorite meal of the day to eat, while not always my favorite in the way of cooking.  I don’t put a ton of creative energy into breakfast most days, but I always have it.  Weekends sometimes get a little more creative but not terribly so, we keep breakfast low key.

My favorite and most common breakfast is two eggs over easy and a slice of homemade toast with just a smidge of butter.  Coffee at breakfast is a given around here, too.  Our breakfast routine doesn’t change much: eggs, oatmeal, granola, maybe cheerios with fruit.  That’s about it.  On days where I know the morning will be especially busy or full of hard work, eggs are the must have food, they just keep me full of energy until lunch. 

I only use local free-range eggs.  We’re blessed with about 4 different sources for eggs and seem to always have some even in the darkest days of winter, we’re able to get some from our various sources.

Jeff needed to run to town to look for a new light fixture for one that blew out this morning.  I tagged along and we decided to check the thrift stores before going to the hardware store for the needed fixture.  We scored in more ways than one, Jeff found a great light fixture for $1.50 and I found 69 canning jars for $5.00 (a mixture of wide mouth & regular pints and quarts)! 

I must say that’s a God thing.  I let my desires for more self-sufficiency and the needed jars be known and low and behold the jars appeared.  I’m grateful, honestly, I rarely find jars at the thrift store, they always seem to be scooped up before I get there. 

Further along the thrifty score line, Jeff snagged an older KitchenAid mixer at a yard sale yesterday for $10.  The mixer had its bowl but no paddles or attachments.  It works wonderfully, and will most likely be used for my grain grinding adventures.  The grain mill seems hard on the mixer, this way we’ll have something as a back up.

Tomorrow is the annual AAUW book sale bargain day - $3 a sack for used books, we’ll be hitting that too.  Sometimes thrifty scores can be just the thing to lift the spirits.  That and lots of gorgeous sunshine and temperatures in the 60s, finally. 

Last week one of our local grocery chains had their biannual case lot sale.  The sale is exactly what it sounds like, good deals on entire cases of goods, traditionally its things like canned veggies, bottled water, sugar, all purpose flour, canned chili, ramen noodles, etc.  Looking at our depleted pantry we decided to take advantage of a few of the deals - mostly we bought canned green beans, corn, peas, and mushrooms.  We also got some 4 gallons of distilled water for $2.50 (I only use distilled water for ironing and my new iron really puts out the steam hence the water needs refilled often).  We don’t buy things like canned chili or cases of condensed cream of mushroom soup.

The deal on canned veggies was good and a case of each gets us a long way until we can start harvesting some of our own again.  I do always feel a little guilty about stocking up on these non-local, non-organic goods, however my pocket book thanks me and it is always good to know that we have a well stocked pantry, just in case.  The purchase did remind me of how much further we have to go in producing and canning more of our own and/or locally grown goods.  

Our growing season is so short here, and I’m learning to do with it what I can, but oh I’m so jealous of all of you who are already planting outside.  We’re still getting snow.  Jeff and I canned a good bit of stuff last summer (check out my pantry building page), but we have a long way to go to get us through an entire Montana winter.  I need more jars, too (honestly I can’t believe I’m saying that - I can’t imagine how many jars a large family must need).  I’ll be on the lookout for those as soon as yard sale season begins in another month.  I like to can more than freeze simply because freezing requires a stable power source, and I’m not sure we’ll always have that, freezing also requires a lot of freezer space, obviously and that isn’t something I want to invest in (see my thoughts on not always having power).  I don’t dry enough foods and that is something I may start dabbling in again this summer.

This winter just seems especially long to me, and I’m experiencing my own version of cabin fever.  Cabin fever seems to be expressing itself in the fear of not being self-sufficient enough alongside the urge to just start digging in the dirt and getting my hands dirty.  The upside is the daylight hours are getting longer and longer (that is something that is so sublime about Montana summers).  Even more on the upside is that seeds are started indoors and soon, I’ll be canning again.  

PS: I’m starting to think folks who practice home canning have their own seasons - preparing to can, canning, and eating the canned goods.

Our Favorite Nachos

(This is more of a method than an actual recipe.  Get Creative!)

Serves two as presented as a filling meal.

• 6 - 6″ Corn Tortillas, cut into quarters
• Chopped Onion
• Chopped Pepper (sweet and/or hot)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1 pint pinto beans, undrained
• Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Saute chopped onions, garlic, green peppers in a little olive oil until soft.  Add undrained pinto beans and ground cumin, bring to a boil.  Mash the beans to your likely with a potato masher and keep warm until ready.  If it gets too thick, thin it out with a little water.

Lay the quartered tortillas chips onto baking sheet, so they aren’t touching.  Spray lightly with olive oil.  Bake for 8 minutes or until crispy.

Lay out 12 chips onto each plate.  Top the chips with half of the bean mixture, top with cheddar cheese and various toppings.  Optional Toppings: Salsa, chopped olives, sour cream, chopped avocado, chopped cilantro.

Enjoy!

100 Things #8 - I love to bake.

While that probably doesn’t come as a shock to anyone who looks through the photos on this blog, it is something that is very much ingrained into my genetic code.

I can remember baking with my grandmother from a very young age.  At Christmas time, I can remember, my Grandma rolling out & cutting the sugar dough into shapes and brushing them with the egg wash.  My sister and I would then decorate the cookies with colored sugar, sprinkles, raisins, chocolate chips, cherries, and more.  My dad’s was on oven duty during these baking sessions.  He would put the sheets in the oven and remove the cooked treats to wire racks to cool.  I fondly remember hearing my dad say things like, “oops this one broke or this one burned a little, I suppose I’ll have to eat it.”  I use my grandmother’s sugar cookie recipe to this day. 

It was my grandmother who taught me things like shifting flour and kneading bread dough.  Everytime I have a baking sesson, I feel my grandmother’s spirit right next to me as I sprinkle sugar onto cakes or pull crusty loaves out of the oven.  No doubt, because of my fond memories of baking as a child, I associate baking inherenty with love.  I do my best to shower that manifestation of love onto others.  I do love watching someone bite into something I’ve baked and see their eyes light up, and know that I did bring just a hint of love and my grandmother into their life.