Roasted Vegetables are the Best

Here is the last of my fresh picked Brussels sprouts and my second head of cauliflower. I used my extra large cast iron frying pan but a cookie sheet works great too. This time I used a little bacon grease to roast my vegetables, sprinkled the veggies with salt and placed the pan in a 400 degree oven .Takes about 30 minutes check veggies and cook until light brown or soft.  The bacon grease was okay but I wished I had stuck with olive oil.  Next time I will use olive oil to roast the veggies but still crumble bacon over the veggies for a little extra crunch and flavor.

 

If you have never roasted vegetables in the oven it really brings out the flavor. Only one pan is needed to roast several different vegetables, since the flavors stay true to each vegetable.  If you cooked on the stove top each veggie would need its own pan. 

 

 I can't wait for my first picking of squash and zucchini so I can roast up a big platter of oven roasted squash. 

 

 

Drying Herbs

 

The parsley is really growing in the vertigro
pots.  I cut a bunch and

 I snipped it from the big stems I gave it a rinse then a spin   

 

 

Next I arranged the parsley in my food dehydrator, put the lid on and set the temperature at 105 degrees.  This temp keeps the green color --a  higher temp seems to cook the parsley and then it turns an ugly color

After 6 hours in the dehydrator the parley is dry and feels kind of crumbly.I check the feel of the parsley after about four hours and once an hour until it is dry. Rub the parsley gently in the palm of hands onto a flat tray lined with parchment paper. This separates the tiny leaves from the stems. Pick out the stems and discard.  Using the paper as a funnel fill your glass jar and label.

 

Parsley is simple to grow and simple to dry.  If you do not have a dehydrator all you need to do is tie a bunch of parsley together and hang to dry.  This takes longer but it works just as well.

 

Most important is knowing how the plant was grown and how clean the plant is when it is dried. Sometimes dried herbs are years old when bought at the store.  Growing your own means you know how old your dried herbs are.

 

It's spring so grab a container, fill it with dirt, and plant some herbs.

 

 

My Favorite Rice Dish

My sister and I loved to cook together since we were little children.  One of my favorite dishes was and still is Spanish Rice made with ground beef. Today this meal would be called Hamburger Helper.

This is how we cooked this dish
 

Brown 1 Lb ground beef and drain off grease

Sauté one chopped onion and one chopped bell pepper and add to meat

Stir in one 15 ounce can of tomato sauce and one can of water

Add one cup of uncooked rice in pan

Salt and pepper to taste

Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes until rice is cooked 

I do stir the rice every so often while it cooks

Can't wait till my next visit with my sister. 

My garden this week

Pepper plant left over from last year Plant looks skimpy but it is starting to flower out

This is the first year our potatoes look like this We are hoping for a great crop
to go with our onions

The cauliflower is ready to pick The leaves are actually green don't know what happen in the pic.  A couple of weeks ago I roasted cauliflower in the oven with olive oil and it was better than any I have ever cooked before.  This one looks ready for the oven.

R wanted to try container potatoes and they are looking good

 

Can you believe the size of that tomato -- We were blessed with tomatoes all winter and looks like the bushes are going to continue to produce through the spring.

 

 

For the Love of Beans

Beans are another of my favorite foods.  Unlike my love of bread, beans are good for you and they are also low in calories.  Dried beans take time and preparation unless you prepare them ahead of time.  Canning dried beans can save time and most of all save you money. Black beans and kidney beans are easy to can.

 Chili beans cost over a $1.00 per can for store bought chili beans.  When I make chili I use at least two cans of chili beans.  With 2lbs of dried kidney beans and a few spices I can make my own chili beans for far less than that.  Her are the spices needed to make 9 pints of chili beans.

 

Mix together the following

2 Tablespoons chili powder

2 Tablespoons paprika

1 Tablespoon coriander

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon salt

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tsp red crushed pepper flakes

 

Soak 2 lbs of kidney beans in water for 24 hours

 

After 24 hours drain beans, cover with fresh water , and boil for 30 minutes.

 

Meanwhile gather supplies and sterilize jars in dishwasher

 

A few utensils needed for canning

Sterilize pint jars in the dish washer

 

Fill jars 3/4 full of beans that have been soaked and simmered for 30 minutes

fill with liquid that beans were simmered in but leave 1 inch space, add 3 tsp of seasoning for the chili beans  and 1/2 teaspoon salt to each jar of chili beans or black beans . Place seal and ring on jar and place in pressure cooker canner

Can at 10 lbs pressure for 70 minutes - turn cooker off let cool until pressure is 0

 

 

Take jars out of cooker and let rest on counter for several hours to set seals

 

Chili beans only need to be heated or can be added to chili. Black beans can be used in many dishes or can be used for refried beans.  Takes a little time but this is such a money saver and beans are ready when I need them.

 

 

 

 

Making Low Carb Bread

 

 

Bread is one of my favorite foods and homemade bread is at the very top.  Always wishing I could loose weight but never really doing anything about it I decided to try and find a bread I could eat and not feel so guilty about eating all those carbs. 

After searching several websites I found a recipe that sounded simple yet tasty and best of all the recipe was for using a bread machine.  Love my bread machine!!

 

 

Here are the ingredients to make a loaf of low carb bread.  Place the ingredients in the bread pan in order as listed

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1 room temperature whole egg

1 tablespoon of honey

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1/2 cup oat flour  (make this by putting oats in a food processor and pulse until oats become flour)

 

    This is what my oat flour looked like

 

3/4 cup of wheat gluten (found this at Walmart next to the flour)

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 teaspoon yeast

 

set bread machine setting to 1 lb basic and the crust to light

After I took it out of the bread machine one side started to deflate.

 After I sliced the bread it looked good inside and it tasted good

 

It is hard to slice and the texture is a little chewy but not bad overall. After I slice and toast it I'm sure it will make a great tomato sandwich.  With low fat mayo of course.

Growing a Pot Roast

So excited on how our potatoes are looking

 

R planted these on February the 1st and 25 days later the bushes are growing and looking green.  We plant taters every year but never can seem to harvest more than a gallon bucket.  Hope this will be the year of potatoes. 

Some of the carrots are finally coming up

 

The onion crop is really coming along -- Do I smell a pot roast or stew beef-- potatoes, carrots, and onions.  If we could only grow a cow it would be a true homegrown meal.