Photo Project - Perspective

Linking up to the 2012 Color Photography Project 

hosted by An Offering of Love and Insert Metaphor

Mini Quiche Experiment

While we're still trying to plan ahead in order to eat healthier during our busy summer days I got the idea to adapt our regular quiche into mini quiches from Snacking in the Kitchen that I found on Pinterest a few weeks ago.  I figured I could make a bunch of different mini quiches and freeze them for quick breakfasts.

So, I made a dozen for each of us using the following combinations (Colby Jack and Parmesan cheese for Tool Lady & I and rice cheese for Fish Girl):

• Bacon, green chile & cheese
• Sauteed carrots and carrot tops
• Sauteed onions, greens (kale, chard & spinach) & cheese
• Sauteed asparagus (with lemon pepper) and Parmesan cheese
• Green chile & cheese

A few details/observations:

• I'd recommend using about 15 eggs and 1 1/2 cups of whole milk for 24 "muffins" (I used 18 eggs and 2 cups of milk....it was too much).  Likewise, 8 eggs and 1 cup of soy milk would be plenty for Fish girls 12 next time :-)
• A few small potatoes sliced into rounds makes for the perfect size for your "crust" in the bottom of the muffin tin.
• I baked the potato slices for about 10 minutes at 375 degrees before adding the veggies and egg mixture.  Then, I baked it all at 375 degrees for another 35 minutes.
• Olive oil did not prevent the eggs from sticking to the muffin tins...next time I'll try something else.  Maybe vegetable oil or butter?  
• I put them all in labelled bags in the freezer so we each have our own to choose from throughout the coming weeks.
• Having several different options/varieties is great, but once they're cooked it's a little hard to tell them apart.  Maybe next time I'l put all the same variety in one muffin tin instead of making one tin for each of us with several different varieties ;-)

All in all, not a bad experiment.  They're not incredibly filling on their own but are good with a piece of toast or a biscuit.  I will definitely keep playing with this idea :-)

Cherry Carnage & Strawberry Protection

Whelp...after all the excitement and promise of cherries last week, it looks like I was worried about the wrong pest.  This is what has happened over the past few days...

Do you see the two almost ripe cherries?
Now, do you see the devoured cherry above them?

Yep...all our beautiful, ripe cherries have been devoured, making a few nice meals for the local birds.  Ugh!  I think we've gotten a total of...oh...6 or 8 cherries.  They beat us to the ripe ones every day before we can get home from work and harvest them!

So, with all the strawberries doing so well I was not about to see the same thing happen to them!

The rhubarb and strawberries before last weekends rhubarb harvest.

As of Monday they were officially covered with bird netting...

And as of yesterday, we had our first (albeit tiny) strawberry harvest!  Oh man, they were absolutely delicious!!!

Take that stinkin' birds!

This pretty little guy landed on the fence right above the strawberries
right before I put down the bird netting.  Talk about perfect timing!!!

Strawberry Rhubarb Honey Galette

First off, these are not our strawberries.  While we are patiently waiting for our first strawberry harvest, we couldn't resist picking up a few from the store.  This is, however, our rhubarb!  Yay!  Our first real rhubarb harvest!  A whole 12 ounces...3 1/2cups worth...the perfect amount to add a few strawberries to and turn into something phenomenal :-)

The original recipe was found here and adapted in order to include the rhubarb and for Fish Girls non-dairy needs.

I made two separate crusts: one using regular butter and one using Earth Balance "fake" butter and I used regular all purpose flour instead of pastry flour.  I also added a couple of additional tablespoons of honey to the filling to offset the tartness of the rhubarb a bit.

I do believe that I have found a new favorite recipe :-)

Linking up to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways #29

Harvest Monday

Happy Monday (and Memorial Day), everyone!

We spent a lot of time in the garden yesterday trying to get as much done as possible before the onslaught of summer really begins.  While everything is planted out much sooner than it was last year at this time, I just can't seem to shake this overwhelming urge to get everything in the ground "right now"!

So, I'm clearing the last remaining spaces as quickly as possible, sticking seeds in tiny holes left by over-wintered veggies and trying my best to be patient while those same over-wintered veggies finish up going to seed (kale, beets, carrots, turnips and radishes).

While waiting patiently for the peas and strawberries to be ready, I'm still nursing along 2 kale plants that I'm only pulling from when necessary.  I also had my very first rhubarb harvest of the year yesterday!  This harvest is especially exciting since it's our first real rhubarb harvest ever (I think we got one stalk last year, which doesn't really count, does it?)!   Our rhubarb has been so much happier in the ground than it ever was in the big pot we used to have it in!

The rhubarb was used to make the most delicious galette ever (I'll post about this tomorrow) and the kale was thrown into some veggie fried rice along with random veggies we had on hand and a few sprigs of carrot tops!  Pretty good, if I do say so myself ;-)

I must say, I am very excited about this season and all of the promise growing happily in the garden!

This weeks totals:

• Rhubarb = 12 oz
• Kale = 1 oz
• Eggs = 19 eggs

Hope everyone has a fabulous day!

Happy harvesting!

Linking up to Harvest Monday @ Daphne's Dandelions

Broody - Drawing Blood & Back in Solitary

Ugh...Broody is back in solitary confinement.  This time, though, we put her in the outdoor chick brooder instead of the little one in the garage since she beat herself up last time.

Why is she in there again?  Well, because she is officially on the cull list :-(  We tried solitary the first time and it didn't work.  So, then we just kind of let her do her thing.  She'd sit on eggs, we'd take them once a day at the end of the day (trying to encourage her to eat and actually roost for the night, which she did).  Generally speaking, she'd eat a couple of times a day and drop a big one, then go straight back to the eggs.   She was  still not nice to the other hens, but she wasn't being awful, so we kind of went passive and hoped her instincts would chill out a bit.  They haven't.  She's just gotten meaner.

If you look closely, you can see the drops of blood.
She also has blood on her beak, which makes me feel like she took a
chunk of her sisters toe with her mouth.  Bitch.

Today she attacked another hen who was trying to get into a nesting box to lay an egg.  We were in the backyard, working on the coop and the garden, so we heard the commotion inside the nesting boxes and checked it out.  That's when we found blood.  Lots of little drips of blood.

It took us a few minutes to figure out what happened, but I think we figured it out...A hen was trying to lay an egg and Broody got bitchy...they had some sort of fight and the hen lost a toe nail.  Torn right off.  Gross. Poor girl just wanted to lay an egg!  So we got Broody out of the nesting box and let the hen do her thing.

Blood.

I got on the computer to figure out what to do and how to help her once she finished laying.  I read about stopping the bleeding and wrapping it up on a couple of different sites, grabbed towels and salt water and made a plan of how to help her once she was done laying.


But, once she was done she just ran out of the coop to go get some food.  Her toe stopped bleeding on its own and she's walking around just fine.  Right now the plan is to keep an eye on her and see if she starts babying it or pecking at it.

Poor bloody toe...

So, as if fighting with our other hens in the nesting boxes wasn't enough, Broody then started attacking the other hens in the run, just because.  Pecking and chasing and freaking everyone out.  Not OK.  The stress is not OK, the blood is not OK and her affect on the flock and their egg production is not OK (production has gone from about 30 eggs a week down to less than 20 a week despite the warm weather).  It's like she's become toxic for the flock.

I know it sounds harsh, but we decided before we got our first batch of chickens that if they were not producing or if they were having a negative affect on the other chickens, we would cull them.  While we love our chickens, we have enough pets, we don't need chicken pets, too.  Broody will make a better stew than a member of the flock at this point.  Now we just need to find the time to cull her properly.  In the meantime, she'll be safe and taken care of (fresh air, plenty of room to move, food and water...), just separate from the other hens.

Anyhow, I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas/tips on what to do about the wounded toe besides letting her take care of it?  Should I worry about infection?  Ugh...

{this moment}

{this moment inspired by Soule Mama} 

If you feel inspired to share your moment, please leave a link to your moment in the comments below for all to see.

Meyer Lemon Tree

Well, we finally broke down and purchased ourselves a little lemon tree!  We've been talking about it for a while and have debated the pros and cons and have decided to go ahead and jump on it.

It's really little right now...more of a bush than a tree...but it has itty bitty lemons on it and that makes me happy!

It will have to live in a pot for its entire life (I don't ever foresee us moving somewhere that doesn't go below 20 degrees) and it will have to live in the dining room during the cold months as long as we live in this house, but we hope to one day have a home with better solar gain and maybe even a greenhouse/hothouse that it will be very happy in :-)  Since it's so little right now, I think we have a couple of years to figure that out, though!

Almost a Strawberry!

Oh man...I'm counting down the days until these beauties will be ready!  Our little strawberry patch is so happy this year...I'm hoping for a great harvest :-)

What's your favorite thing to make with fresh strawberries?

Good News/Bad News

The good news is, we have cherries that are ripening up!

The bad news is, we have a million aphids on our cherry tree!

The good news is, we also have some Ladybugs on our cherry tree!

Let's hope they're hungrier and faster than the aphids...

Harvest Monday

Happy Monday everyone!

Well, I finally surrendered to the removal of all our over-wintered greens in an effort to (hopefully) fully thwart the leaf miners that refuse to give up their happy homes.  I pulled what remained of the spinach and chard and left the only beet and kale plants that have gone to seed, removing instead, all of the affected leaves on a daily basis.

In the greens department, we're left with one over-wintered kale plant that has been remarkably unaffected but that is producing slowly and a second plant that volunteered this spring in another bed that is tiny and already trying to bolt.  

If I were to guess, I'd say the garden is about 95% planted out with just a few pockets still left to push some seeds into.  With our super warm spring, everything is way ahead of last year at this time.  The one space I haven't planted out are the pallet beds.  I am excited to figure out what to do with them, but just haven't figured it out yet.  I think I'm a bit intimidated by their vertical stance.  We'll see...I have to figure it out soon, so I'm sure I will :-)

While I was messing around in the beds pulling greens, I decided to go ahead and pull the majority of what remained of the over-wintered carrots as well.  All that's left in that one bed now is a short row of Parisienne carrots.  That bed is mostly planted out now, around the carrots, except for a couple of spots.  I'm trying out bio-intensive planting in two of our raised beds by planting sweet corn, beets and bush beans.  I have my fingers crossed that it'll work!

In pulling so many carrots this year, I've been very interested in learning how to use the greens!  Yes, it is true...I have never used carrot greens before in cooking!  It seems like such a waste to just throw all that nutrition to the birds, so while it will be a huge learning curve for me (and us), I'd like to try out a few new-to-us recipes using carrot greens :-)  I found this great website all about the many uses for carrot tops and I'd love to hear any recipes, suggestions and tips you might have!!!

This weeks totals:

• Carrots = 6 lbs 3 oz
• Chard = 2 oz
• Kale = 2 oz
• Spinach = 4 oz
• Eggs = 24 eggs

Hope everyone has a fabulous day!

Happy harvesting!

Linking up to Harvest Monday @ Daphne's Dandelions

Planning Ahead

I know I've mentioned before that Tool Lady and I work for the same non-profit and that I manage the after school and summer camp program for girls age 5-15...but what I don't think I've mentioned is how much time and energy it takes to keep things going intentionally and effectively.  I've been working there for eight years now and seem to forget each and every year how much must go into getting everything wrapped up from the school year and ready for camp.  40 hour work weeks can quickly become 45-60 hour weeks of planning, prepping, training and managing.  We quadruple the number of Facilitators that work directly with the girls for the summer (which means lots of hiring), do 7 days of training 23 full time and seasonal staff and then 8 weeks of camp for 105 girls each day.  We implement research based, age appropriate, experiential activities around communication and team building, science and math, nutrition, physical activity, stress management and preventing adolescent pregnancy (to name just a few of of our programs) in addition to the normal "summer camp" stuff like swimming, art, scavenger hunts and museum visits.  It's a lot, it's very fulfilling and it's absolutely exhausting.

As summer draws near each year, Tool Lady and I tend to forget how to eat well and take care of ourselves in general.  It's easier and faster to buy breakfast, lunch and/or dinner on the run than it is to try to figure out meals early in the morning or late at night, so we fall into a pattern every year of eating a bunch of crap and spending a ton of money.  Each year we say we'll do better and then, with a fast food burger in hand, we shake our heads at each other, take a sip of soda and get right back to work.  It's hell on our wallets and our health.  It also feels quite crappy emotionally to know we can do better but to continue to fall into the same old patterns.

Well, this years training starts on Wednesday and what we've done this time around is try to plan ahead a bit.  We purchased some frozen meals at the grocery store to give us a boost and then we made a bunch of burritos to throw in the freezer.  We'll be able to grab these, throw them in the microwave and have an actual meal.  Healthy, fast, delicious and cheap.

Calabacitas Burritos – 12 total (4 for each of us) - $13.37 total  ($1.11 each)

Corn (1 can) $1.75

Zucchini (3 med) $2.5

Onion (1 small) $1

Cheese/fake cheese $2/$1

Black beans $1

Green chile $1

Tortillas $3.12

Breakfast Burritos-18 (6 for each of us) - $23.65 total ($1.31 each)

Scrambled eggs $3

Potatoes $2

Bacon $8

Green chile $1

Cheese/fake cheese $3/$2

Tortillas $4.65

30 total meals for under $40.  Amazing!

Now, we can't eat burritos all the time, so we also got the makings for smoothies and some other throw-together-quick-items (PB&J...) and have made some additional beans and rice ahead to help with meals when we get home late.  Later today I'll make some banana bread and some carrot muffins for breakfast options and I'll make a lasagna for dinner tonight and freeze what's left for a few more quick-grab meals during the week.  

We've decided that each weekend we'll spend a couple of hours making food ahead and freezing it for the week.  It's not perfect, and I don't assume that we won't eat out at all this summer, but it's a start.

What tricks do you have to plan ahead, saving money, your sanity and your health?  I'd love to hear what works for you!

Linking up to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways #28

{this moment}

{this moment inspired by Soule Mama} 

If you feel inspired to share your moment, please leave a link to your moment in the comments below for all to see.

Broody Blondie

Well, after last weekends post about our broody hen we decided to put Blondie in solitary confinement for a couple of days.

We decided to use our brooder (Version #2) and put it in the garage where the temperature this time of year is still pretty cool.  (We've had a couple of laughs about using the brooder for the broody hen!)  She went in on Sunday afternoon and was not happy about it.  She made all kinds of noise and then threw an absolute fit!  She knocked over her food and water and cut her comb a bit where it meets her beak.  Silly chicken.  Once she exhausted herself from her fit, she chilled out and tried to get comfortable (not an easy feat on wire mesh).

We kept her in there until Wednesday evening, checking on her a few times a day and hoping the experience would break her broodiness.  Then, when we got home last night we transferred her back into the coop.  At first she just wandered around and made a bunch of noise.  Then, she headed straight for the nesting boxes.  Yep.  Bitch.  Tool Lady chased her out a few times and she finally made her way the roost with all her sisters.

But then, this morning, where do you think she was?  Yep, right back in the nesting box with another hen!  See her laying behind the hen peeking out at me (there's also one of our newest Newbies in the back trying to figure out what all the fuss is about)?  Poor hen is just trying to poop out an egg and Blondie just can't wait to pounce on it!  Ugh!  Looks like we just might have to cull her after all.

Also, in addition to all her antics and their affect on egg production (way down, I think due to the stress she's putting on the other hens), she stinks!  This is gross but, because she's not pooping very often, when she does, it is absolutely vile!  I'm not grossed out by too many things, but man, I never imagined chicken shit could be so incredibly horrendous!  Poor thing...I know it's just instinct to want to hatch some babies, but holy hell!

Bread Braiding

I tried my first braided (circle) bread a couple of weeks ago and, as simple as it looked, I really struggled with it at first!  So, while baking some more bread last weekend I decided that maybe a photo tutorial might help someone else who has either thought about braiding their bread in this way (but might be intimidated) or someone who has tried it and struggled with it like I did :-)

As you can see from the above picture, I have not perfected this process yet...My rolls were not long enough to begin with and then I braided it too tight.  When it was done rising it had stuck to itself a bit.  So, at this point I recommend making your rolls longer and not braiding them so tight ;-)  If there are any gaps while braiding it, they will close up once it rises.

Hope this helps!  Please let me know if you have any questions!  

Happy braiding :-)

Linking up to the Homestead Barn Hop #63