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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.

Yesterday, Jeff and I hit the thrift store.  One of the local thrift stores moved recently into a much larger building and we decided it was time to check it out.  It was much better than the old one in that things aren’t so cramped together.  The book section grew quite a bit too, with tables and chairs for folks to sit a spell and look through the volumes.  As we walked by the one table, I noticed a book sitting there as if left just for me to notice, World Sourdoughs from Antiquity by Ed Wood.  I, of course, couldn’t pass it up.  The book is a treasure, though obviously geared by the author to sell his starter products, it is chock full of wonderful looking recipes and lots of tidbits regarding sourdough throughout different regions of the world.  Today, I tried out the Honey Walnut Sourdough recipe, more or less.  I always seem to modify recipes a bit and I used my local whole wheat starter instead of the one he sells that includes white flour.  The bread turned out wonderfully moist and flavorful.  I can’t wait to try a few more of them in the future.

I’ve been working on ways to use up my large stash of scrap fabric pieces in various sizes.  I have a quilt top in process and finished two placemats, this morning.  I’ve been wanting to practice my free-motion quilting skills as well and the placemat seemed a good way to do that.  I used the same fabric for the backing of each placemat and I have enough of that backing to make a few more placemats, this way I’ll have a collection of mis-matched yet matching placemats for all occasions.

Last night I met with a few folks, I’d gotten to know through my last job.  It was a pleasant evening with lots of laughter and general conversation very relaxed at a restaurant on the shores of Whitefish Lake.  I had taken little bags full of thank you gifts in the form of espresso whoopie pies.  Its a new recipe and I figured they wouldn’t mind being taste-testers (I was right, they didn’t mind one bit).  They also gave me a little thank you gift in the form of some heavy duty hand garden tools, some awesome gardening gloves, and seeds (including some saved seeds from the gal’s garden).  Really, a gift that includes saved seeds from a local garden is the best gift a gardening gal can receive.  It was a grand night and I’m so glad that I’ve had the opportunity to work with these folks over the years and look forward to seeing how our paths continue to cross in the future.

Happy Easter! Besides the obvious gift of Christ’s resurrection, this weekend has been full of amazing gifts for me.

This morning, I made some sourdough pancakes in frog, bunny, and duck shapes as part of my Easter gift to Jeff.  I’m happy to say they turned out quite well.  Honestly, I can’t believe its taken me so long to embrace sourdough and all of its many possibilities.  I gave Jeff the sweet pancake shapes and I hate the “scraps” with some real maple syrup. 

Yesterday, I received the gift of a very good job offer.  Jeff and I took the day to think about it and after a small bit of negotiating, I accepted the offer today.  I start on April 1st.  I can admit, that at first I was hesitant, mainly because I’m enjoying not working so much.  However, at this stage of life, I need a good paying job so that we can continue working on our home/property ownership goals and dreams.  Those goals include as little debt as possible on that home as well and this job will only help us accomplish those goals sooner.  I’m excited about this new possibility, despite my initial hesitation.

Jeff cleaned out my car and it is sparkling (I had spilled some soil from potted plants I brought home from my old office)!  That was an unexpected but oh, so appreciated Easter gift.  He also took me to get a new iron.  My old Rowenta died, and considering the number of sewing projects I have going on, an iron is a necessity.  I got a new Black & Decker Digital Advantage, after reading several good reviews of the product.  It’s much better than my Rowenta (which was at least 8 years old), this model produces a ton of steam and quickly irons my most wrinkled cotton - the Rowenta took forever to do the same task. 

Happy Easter!

I’ve been using my first few days of freedom from work to do some spring cleaning.  I keep a clean house, normally, but there’s something so wonderful about deep spring cleaning.  I’ve been tackling one room at a time, washing down walls, washing the inside of windows, moving furniture, washing drapes, deep dusting, etc.  I just feels so good to have that done, and to enjoy each room as it gets done.  I’ll finish up this coming week and then will plan on shampooing carpets.

Yesterday, I tried my hand at sourdough bread again.  This time, I followed my own instincts and had much more success then when I tried to follow a recipe.  The bread had, if I do say so myself, that perfect sour flavor with a crispy crust (thanks to moisture during baking) and a yummy chewy interior.  Jeff loved it, too.  Tomorrow, I think I’m going to try my hand at sourdough pancakes with my starter.

Here in Northwest Montana, we still have a ways to go before its officially spring no matter what the calendar might say.  However, today was a wonderful day in the 40s with sunshine.  We spent a good bit of time outside, cleaning out perennial beds, pruning raspberry canes, and just generally soaking up those rays.  We spotted tulips, daffodils, and rhubarb peaking out of the soil, that’s definitely a nice spring sign.

Last summer we bought two large bags of Feline Pine at a charity yard sale.  Our cats just didn’t take to it for whatever reason.  The bag mentioned that the litter made excellent mulch and so we dumped both bags onto the daffodil and tulip beds.  It does make a very nice mulch, though its not something I would normally buy or have on hand.

Before we went outside, I spent some time baking this morning.  My first attempt at sourdough bread was a complete flop - I have a good sense when it comes to bread and while the one recipe I was using just didn’t “feel” right to me, I followed it anyway, sadly the bread didn’t turn out at all.  Next week, we’ll try again.  I also made some miniature loaves of pumpernickel to give as samples to a few folks who buy bread from me on occasion. 

Jeff and I don’t eat a ton of beef, but we do have it now and then.  We also occasionally use beef broth in soups, however; its something I’ve never attempted to make until yesterday.  We’ve been saving beef bones for months now, and freezing them.  I took those frozen bones out of the freezer yesterday, filled a giant stock pot with water, added some carrots, onions, and celery and let the whole pot simmer for hours.  Then I drained all the solids out and put the stock in the refrigerator overnight.  This morning, I skimmed off the solidified fat, reboiled the stock and canned it.  I tasted a bit of the broth and it turned out well.  I’m looking forward to using this in some soups in the near future.

Not bad for a Sunday, I’d say.