Whole Foods and The Little Wild Garden

By Lynn, on February 9th, 2011%

My dear readers, I was thankful for lovely words in my mind upon getting up this morning.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there by any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.  (Phil 4:8)

Good for copywork, I think.

Yesterday the weather here was really nice.

I took a walk in The Little Wild Garden.  I admired Faithful, our dogwood, realizing that I have not journaled about her again and that I need to.  Coming soon to a blog near you.

Much to my delight, there were snowdrops in bloom around the goldfish pond.  Aren’t they sweet little flowers!  I wandered over to see if the hellebores showed any signs of blooming.  There is new growth, but no sign of a bloom yet.

The sun was so bright!  The air was warm enough to turn the fountain on for the goldfish.  My goldfish pond does not have a heater, so if it’s too cold (think ice) I can’t turn the pump on to run the water that climbs up through the fountain and runs back down.  I do love that splashing sound.

The birdseed fills the feeder that hangs, of course, from Faithful’s branches.  (Note to self:  Journal soon about your dogwood. )   The birds make me happy while I’m typing.

I consoled myself (over the fact that here it is cold February, which sometimes can get a person down) knowing that there will soon be daffodils in bloom in The Little Wild Garden.  The little neighbor girls will ask if they can have one. 

I’ll say, “Yes, take two.” 

They’ll make us all very happy.

Finally, friends, it is quite the chore keeping enough food for a crowd.  Remind me.  Is six a crowd?  I thought so.

Anyway, I’ve been buying the organic broccoli that’s on sale locally and keeping it cut up for dipping in Newman’s Own Ranch Dressing (I could drink that stuff).  I hate throwing out the broccoli stems, and yet they are rather tough and not as delicious as the crowns for dipping.  I decided to cut them into chunks and then run them through the food processor with some sweet onion.   Used in a recipe I have for broccoli quiche, with venison sausage, oh my did it turn out lovely!  I went ahead and made four of them, because three boys gathered around the table can eat one whole quiche as a “snack.”

Broccoli Quiche – Meant to make one deep dish quiche

Pastry or shell for deep dish pie shell
1 to 1-1/3 cups half and half (I use 2% milk)
6 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
4 oz swiss cheese, grated
6 eggs, beaten until frothy
1 bunch fresh broccoli — steamed and chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup chopped cooked meat (in my case, venison sausage)

Combine all ingredients.  Pour into uncooked pie shell(s).  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done. 

Now, I doubled this recipe, using only 12 eggs, 2-2/3 cups of milk, only cheddar cheese (no swiss)–and probably more of it than called for as far as cheese in total, and lots of venison sausage.  It came out fine.  I made four regular pie crust sized quiches (not four deep dish).   The point is, I think this recipe can be altered quite a bit.  You just need to have enough egg (and milk/moisture) to hold whatever else you’re putting in.  Twelve eggs for four regular pie crusts worked out well, but I did have the added moisture of probably a cup and a half of broccoli and sweet onion for two of them. 

Anyway, I am thankful today for food and the fact that I can easily walk, even, to a local fresh market and get good things.

I’m working on my goal to have 10 new things in the shop by the end of the day.

Enjoy this day.

8 comments   Cooking and Food, Debt-Free Life, Faithful Dogwood, Gardening, Goldfish Pond, My Crafty Self, Quotes, Wild Game Recipes

Venison Sausage-Vegetable Pot Pie

By Lynn, on January 27th, 2011%

Even though this is cooked in a large dish, about 12 x 16 inches, I call it a pot pie because it’s topped with a biscuit-type crust.

  • about 1.5 pounds ground venison sausage, browned (season to taste with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, if you like)
  • 1 can green beans, drained
  • 1 can corn, drained
  • 1 can sweet green peas, drained
  • 2 jars Ragu alfredo sauce
  • about 1/2 a Ragu jar of water

Mix above ingredients right into the baking dish.   Cover with bread topping mixture.

Topping

  • 1 stick butter melted
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 cups milk

Whisk topping until blended.  Pour evenly over meat and vegetables. 

Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes.  Switch oven to broil and let the top brown for about a minute or so.  Watch closely so it doesn’t burn!

Just wanted to share, for those of you who have hunter husbands.  May seem fattening, I know, but I don’t always do pot-pies with alfredo sauce.  :)   It’s a thing I keep on hand for the nights when I have no idea what to do!  And this topping makes a great topping for any large casserole.  I use it with chicken and beef as well. 

Enjoy this day!

6 comments   Cooking and Food, Wild Game Recipes

Quiche, Anyone?

By admin, on February 26th, 2009%

Spinach Quiche

Prepared deep-dish 9-inch pie shell
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons grated cheddar or Romano cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Combine eggs and the next 6 ingredients and blend well. Stir in spinach and feta cheese and pour into pastry shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes (or until set).

Venison Sausage Quiche

Prepared deep-dish 9-inch pie shell
1 pound ground venison sausage, browned
8 ounces grated cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons minced onion
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1-1/2 cups milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Layer alternately into pie shell the browned ground sausage and cheese.  Top with minced onion.  Combine the eggs with the next three ingredients and mix well.  Pour over meat and cheese in pie shell.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until set. 

Be Happy This Day,

Lynn

7 comments   Cooking and Food, Wild Game Recipes

Reading Rainbow

By Lynn, on September 25th, 2008%

Sometimes I get out a little pair of rabbit-ears and tune in PBS for Reading Rainbow.  Generally speaking we are a non-TV family but we live very close to UNC-Chapel Hill where our local PBS station is broadcast.  It’s very handy to be able to tune in educational television and nothing else, but even educational television has a limited place here.  I do regularly check the PBS weekly schedule to see if anything fits our unit study for the week.

On Wednesday’s Reading Rainbow was Little Nino’s Pizzeria. Even though we are not rowing Little Nino’s this week, I knew it’d be fun to tune in and watch! You know what it did right? It had us all craving pizza.

So Princess of the Universe and I made some homemade pizza dough, a good measuring follow-up to How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, and we topped it with fried bacon from Whole Foods, browned ground venison, sliced turkey meat, bell peppers and purple onion.  Oh my, it was SOOOOO good.

See what Reading Rainbow and Five in a Row can do for you?  :)

Lynn

2 comments   Five In A Row, Homeschooling, Little Nino's Pizzeria, Wild Game Recipes

Let’s Talk About Venison

By Lynn, on July 9th, 2008%

After posting my sweet little picture of the deer head all dressed up in a hat and shawl, I felt I better show some true love for the deers, which I really do have, and so does my husband.  I am not personally a big meat eater, but I do eat meat.  As a family overall, we have meat every night.  I would say that 80 percent of the meat we eat year round is venison when my husband and sons have a good hunting year. 

So, let’s cook some venison.  It’s healthy and it’s lean and it’s really, really good.

Venison Cube Steaks

First you take the venison cube steaks out.  You can marinate them, but I don’t for this recipe.  I prepare a Ziplock bag with about a cup of flour, a teaspoon or so of salt, lots of fresh ground black pepper and a liberal amount of the Rosemary Garlic Seasoning we buy in bulk from Sam’s club.

The cube steaks go into the bag and get shaken up and coated really well.

Then the steaks go into a hot iron skillet with plenty of melted butter to cook on medium high until nice and brown and crispy on one side, then turn.  I keep cooking and turning until they have a nice crusty outside and are very tender on the inside.

Yummmmm.

What would venison be without a pan of onions cooked in olive oil until they are carmelized?

With a fresh salad and a bowl full of green beans, it’s ready to eat!

A Little Something About Hunters

Did you know that hunters and archers are of great benefit to wildlife restoration and preservation?  Their purchases of hunting and sports-related equipment each year are in the billions of dollars.  Taxes on those purchases go towards preserving wildlife.

Here’s a paragraph from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the Pittman-Robertson Act.

“At the urging of organized sportsmen, State wildlife agencies, and the firearms and ammunition industries, Congress extended the life of an existing 10 percent tax on ammunition and firearms used for sport hunting, and earmarked the proceeds to be distributed to the States for wildlife restoration. The result was called the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration act, better known as the Pittman-Robertson (or “P-R”) Act after its principal sponsors, Senator Key Pittman of Nevada, and Representative A. Willis Robertson of Virginia. The measure was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 2, 1937.”

Who knew?  :)

Lynn

4 comments   Wild Game Recipes

Rainy Day Fun

By Lynn, on February 26th, 2008%

I sure wanted my mulch delivered today, but the tree service got rained out. 

It’s okay, though.  My daughter and I decided that if we can’t plant outside, we’ll plant inside!

I bought a little Jiffy Greenhouse and a packet of shasta daisy seeds. 

We also chose some seeds from a collection that I keep in an old, green McCoy planter.

The seeds are tiny, even next to a sweet little hand.  We planted three seeds into each Peat Pellet.  Fun.

Planting shasta daisy seeds is serious business.  We planted 3 seeds x 72 Peat Pellets, so that’s a lot of potential.  :)

Thankfully, I had already started supper earlier: a chunky, mostly-homemade spaghetti sauce with lots of bell pepper and onion and mushroom:

Venison Spaghetti Sauce

  • 3 lbs ground venison, browned
  • 1 large onion cut in chunks
  • 1 large bell pepper cut in chunks
  • 3 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 jar of whole mushrooms
  • 2 jars of Classico 4-cheese pasta sauce
  • crushed tomatoes to your preferred thickness and taste
  • seasonings such as oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, etc. to your liking

Simmer it all for a couple of hours and serve over Barilla Plus thin spaghetti.  :)

For dessert, my daughter and I made chocolate chip cookies.  I could have eaten 10, but I only at 3, and they were SMALL!!!

I did swing by Goodwill today on the way to get laundry detergent.  (We’ve been out for two days, so it’s Mt. Laundry at every turn.)  I bought only one thing.  I spent 52 cents.  It was a beautiful Degas print of Dance Class.  It is now on my kitchen cabinet with a bit of sticky-tack.

School Lessons:  Joseph read a lot today (always at least a couple of hours) and wrote a poem today.  He’s been talking about Edgar Allen Poe today.  Oh, he also watched Dances with Wolves as part of our study of early American writing/Native Americans.

Oh, and we have our first worksheet on line.  You’ll see the link at Dragon Speller.  We’ll be adding to this regularly.

Lynn :)

Leave a comment   Cooking and Food, Dyslexia, Gardening, School Lessons 11th grade, Wild Game Recipes