Getting Ready for the New Year

If you work in education, or if you have school age kids, then you know that the new year doesn't start on January 1st.  The true first day of the year is the first day of school.  For us it's also the first day of after school activities.  Let the games begin!

Goodbye relaxed easy days of summer when time wasn't at a premium, and the day planned itself.  So long to not caring if the To-Do list was finished because you could finish it tomorrow.  Sayonara to saying yes to one more episode, one more game or one more chapter - sorry kids - the alarm will go off when it's still dark.  Au Revoir to afternoon naps... welcome to afternoon coffee instead.

But still, it's fall, and as much as I hate for summer to end I'll welcome the change in the weather, the lessening of garden and food prep chores, and being the first born, Type A that I am, I'll even welcome the return to routine.

There are a few things on my before school starts check list that make our year run much more smoothly.

1)  Food Prep:  When I'm making something that will freeze I always double the recipe, but I also dedicate one day over the summer to preparing an abundance of freezer meals and lunch box muffins.

Pizza Biscuits:  In a muffin liner - biscuit round, pizza sauce, pepperoni slice, shredded mozzarella.
Bake at 400 for 15 min.
In picture below - Dogs in a blanket:  Biscuit dough wrapped around a hot dog, bake at 400 for 15 min.  Send with ketchup.

Mexi Muffins:  In a muffin liner - corn bread mix, salsa, black beans, shredded cheddar.  Bake at 350 for 20 min.
Not show - corn dog muffins:  In a muffin liner corn bread mix, half of a hot dog cut up, corn bread mix.
Bake at 350 for 20 min. Send with ketchup.

Twenty Three Freezer Meals (took about 5 hours total to make - including clean up time).  From back:  Burrito Bake, Oven Enchillada, Burgers and Fries Casserole, Mommy's Recipe, Pizza Casserole, Mac and Cheese, Chicken and Biscuit, lunches packed and ready.  Not shown:  Vegi Lasagna, Tuna Rice Casserole

Most of these at this point are really no recipe recipes.  They all pretty much bake at 350 for 20-30 min.  I try to freeze them in throw away pans, but I usually wash and reuse the pans if I can.  I label them all on the outside with the oven temp and the time so other people in the family can start dinner.  I pull out what we'll eat the night before and let it thaw in the fridge, but if it's still frozen when I go to start dinner then I cover it with foil, crank the oven to 425 and bake it at high heat for about 15 min. before proceeding to the regular time and temperature.

Burrito Bake - adapted from Simply in Season:  Cook some brown rice with some tumeric and salt.  Put it in a casserole dish, cover with taco seasoned black or kidney beans, cover that with sauteed swiss chard and garlic, cover that with cheese.  Freeze with flour tortillas so they'll be there when you need them.

Burgers and Fries - adapted from Taste of Home:  Saute about a pound of hamburger, turkey burger or vegi burger with some onions and garlic.  I also add TVP to make it a bit healthier and to stretch my budget.  Drain the meat mixture.  Add in a can of golden mushroom soup, and a can of cheese soup or a cup of shredded cheese.  Put the meat mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish, cover with frozen fries.

Mommy's Recipe:  Make your basic chili, but don't make it as soupy.  Make your basic corn bread.  Fill the casserole dish about half full with chili.  Top with corn bread mix and cheese.

Pizza Casserole:  Cook some noodles.  Toss with Spaghetti sauce.  Add in some cooked ground sausage and pepperoni.  Cover with more pepperoni and shredded mozerella cheese.

Mac and Cheese:  Cook some macaroni.  Toss with a cup of shredded cheese and a cup of cottage cheese, add a T of dried onion and a t. of dry mustard.  Add salt or soy sauce if needed for flavor.  If you have an egg add that too to help it all hold together.

2)  Processing and Garden:  I try to get as much of my big processing chores out of the way before school starts.  Our after Labor Day start is a big help, so I usually have everything except Spaghetti Sauce done before students start.  I'll keep chipping away at my processing tasks, and doing garden maintenance during the teacher work days, but once school starts I won't make it into the garden or do any processing until the weekend.  I take a Laissez-Faire approach to the garden at this point in the year.  I figure that any plant that has made it to this point in the summer will probably make it to the frost, and if it doesn't then we like supporting our local farmers.  At this point, if the zucchini dies I think I'll be OK.

The August kitchen....

Salsa party!  The girl chopped the peppers.

Onion goggles make chopping onions much easier.  Kids with good knife skills make this job much faster.

3)  Decluttering and Organizing:  Life is easier if you don't have as much junk.  We did a huge purge this summer, five truck loads, and multiple other smaller loads to the thrift shop and the dump, so the house is much easier to maintain and organize.  I'll also continue to hold everyone accountable for putting their things away every day.  If everything has a place, and it gets returned where it belongs, then there is no early morning scramble for soccer cleats, or science homework.  Of course, my kids are... well kids, so this doesn't save us from all headaches of missing things.  Why, oh why, is it so hard for the boy to keep track of his shoes?  Must he always take them off in the car and then leave them there?  However, being organized goes a long way to keeping us all sane.  Backpacks are packed with school supplies and hung on hooks; the dance bag, gymnastics bag and soccer bag are all packed and ready to go; closets and dressers are organized, clothes that don't fit have been passed on to younger friends, and new clothes have been bought and put away.  If I can make it to December without the boy wanting to wear the same pair of pants three days in a row because "He has no pants"  translation- he has no pants he likes - then I'll be really happy.  The pantry is stocked with fast meals for those days when life throws me a curve ball and there's no time to turn on the oven for a freezer meal.  The snack box is filled and ready for lunches and before practice snacks. 

If you need to buy a backpack I highly recommend L. L. Bean.  The red one is mine - bought 22 years ago and still in great shape.  The purple one is the girl's - new this year - but I won't need to buy her another one ever again.  The black on is the boy's - bought 6 years ago.  He'll grow out of it before it wears out.

4)  Routine:  I'm back to getting up super early in the morning and I'm working my way back to an earlier bed time.  It's time to reset my clock.  We'll do the same thing with the kids after they finish their last grandparent adventure.  We'll relearn how to set our alarms.  We'll remember the sweet spot to leave to avoid the bus and school traffic and still make it to our classrooms on time.   We'll make it.  It won't always be fun, and it won't always be simple, but at least we'll start the year off as well as we can.

 May your coffee be strong, and may you never spill it on your white shirt on the way out the door.  May you remember to turn the burner off, and let the cat out every day.  May you see your house in the daylight, at least for a little while, and may you find some peace in your day.

God Bless and Good Luck!  Happy New Year everyone!  I hope 15-16 is a good one.

It's All Bliss

I spent last week enjoying one of my favorite places on earth, spending time with my favorite people.  I read almost all day and didn't feel one bit guilty.  I ate good seafood.  I inhaled the ocean air and tried to fill my soul with peace for the upcoming year.  It was bliss.

This week - I'm spending time at one of my favorite places on earth, with my favorite people.  There's a bit more work to do, but it's that satisfying, fill the freezer, organize the house, cross the last items off of the summer to do list, get ready for the frenetic fall kind of work.  Guess what?  It's still bliss.

It's all about the perspective my dear, all about the perspective.

I think the flowers are the best crop this year.

There were some monster potatoes.

The winter squash/pumpkin crop looks huge.

It's pretty much a jungle in the garden now - but not too many weeds or bugs.  I'll take it.

Oh man, this one hid - it was bigger than my forearm.  I'm gonna sneak this baby onto someone's porch!  Beware neighbors.

Can you see the fall crop of red raspberries - hoorary!

Finally, tomatoes.

The boy's lunch request.  Bliss on a plate.

Totally Tomatoes

The garden is winding down - there are a few tomatoes and cukes hanging on, but for the most part the big summer harvest is over.   In some ways I'm really ready for fall.  I've pulled out my warm clothes, I'm ready for The Woodsman to start making fires, I've got my crock pot soup recipes in the recipe file, and I'm definitely ready for the gnats to die.  But, saying goodbye to fresh tomatoes from the garden is difficult.  It's the end of the season and I'm still remembering recipes that I want to make and others that I want to repeat.  Just in case you need some ideas for your end of the summer tomatoes here are some non-recipe recipes for the last of your tomato harvest. 

 

Sungold, Black Cherry, Chelsea and Sweet Million

 

Tomato Corn Cups (created by Lily)

Put guacamole, corn and a cherry tomato in scoop type tortilla chips.  Makes a wonderful summer appetizer - and kids enjoy making them.

Panzanella

Toss bread cubes, chopped tomatoes, chopped cukes, mozzarella cheese chunks, basil and garlic with a simple red wine vinegar and oil mixture.  Stir and eat.

 Fancy Sliced Tomatoes

Layer in this order - tomatoes, onion slices, balsalmic drizzle, olive oil drizzle, salt, pepper and basil chiffonades.  Repeat.

Also on the plate - Quickles and Ratatouille over Polenta

 Caprese

Put big slices of heirloom tomatoes on a platter.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Place slices of fresh mozzarella and basil leaves on top. 


Roasted Tomatoes

Cut tomatoes in half.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Bake in a 325 oven until they are a bit dried out.  Stack in a canning jar alternating with basil leaves.  Fill jar with olive oil.  Keeps for months in the fridge.



Canning Season Comes to a Close

With the exception of the Applesauce Party at the farm in two weeks I'm done canning for the season.  I've put the canner away and I think I'll finally scrub the floor - it just might stay clean for a while.  In the past few weeks I've made spaghetti sauce, fermented Kosher Dills, V-8 juice, whole canned tomatoes, grape maple syrup and banana pepper honey mustard.  The canning cupboard and freezer are fully stocked - I'm hoping for a hard winter with lots of snow (and snow days). 

Other Processing Odds and Ends

I had a bumper crop of Red Peppers.  This is the first year I can remember that I haven't needed to buy any at the farmer's market.  I have an abundance of roasted red peppers in the freezer - they're going to provide some of summer's warmth in winter soups and pizzas.  We also had a decent root crop - the sweet potatoes, carrots and potatoes are all in the root cellar.  I'm letting the beets and turnips grow for a while yet - they like this cool weather.  I love all the varied colors in the fall.  It's a feast for the eye as well as the mouth.

Back to School

We're a month into school and everyone has settled into their classes and the fall routine.  Life is good.  

Late Summer Kitchen News

 

August is such a busy month.  There is so much happening in the garden, and so much transitioning happening with the start of school. It's overwhelming and exhausting at times - but gardening, processing and cooking is so much a part of the fabric of who I am.  I wouldn't want it any other way. Summer is just too busy for blogging.  It's hard to keep a record of our days- time seems to flow very quickly.  Late August is always a nesting sort of time for me.  I can see the storm  of our busy September and October calendar approaching - so I try to do what I can now in order to save myself time later.  This time of year I try to add at least two meals to the freezer for every meal I make.  It's less work to make one big mess with several meals to show for it.  I like to think of it as banking time.   So, on that note here's what I've been up to in the kitchen this summer. 

 

Here's what I've canned so far this year:

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam - 12 half pints

Rhubarb Cinnamon Jam - 11 half pints

Strawberry Jam - 9 half pints

Peaches -49 quarts

Summer Applesauce (Rambo and Ginger Gold) - 44 quarts

Nectarines - 7 quarts

Dill Pickles - 10 quarts, 4 pints

Salsa - 43 pints

Tomato Juice -6 pints

Whole Tomatoes - 9 quarts, 1 pint

 

 

The freezer is almost completely full of frozen vegis, fruit and ready made suppers and lunches.  I'm not as good about keeping track of what goes into the freezer - so here's an approximation.

 

Beans - 2 Gallons

Sliced Peaches - 5 Gallons

Berries (Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, Raspberries) - 20 quarts

Broccoli - 1 quart

Zucchini - 1 quart - chopped

Zucchini Bread - 10 loaves

Chard Enchilladas - 2 pans

Cheeseburger Casserole - 2 pans

Quiche - a plethora of different kinds

Soups - too many to keep track of

Black Bean Pie - 2 pies

Corn Bread and Chili Casserole - 5 pans

Greens and Rice Casserole - 2 pans

Pizza Muffins and Corn Dog Muffins - for lunch boxes

I know there are more freezer meals, but I can't remember what I've made. 

 

 I've also been drying herbs (mostly basil) and doing a bit of fermenting (kim chee, sauerkraut and kosher dill pickles).

 

It gives me a warm cozy feeling to know that when students come next week, and when time becomes short on nights with practice and classes, the freezer and canning cupboard are full of meals in minutes.  I can't imagine the stress of trying to figure out what to make for dinner when I got home - or having to find the time to actually make dinner.  This way I'll be able to enjoy my family- and hopefully still get to bed at a decent hour.  What strategies do you use for surviving back to school?

 

 

 



Chard Enchiladas, Corn and Cucumber Salad

We've been eating a lot more meat this summer - pretty unusual for this mostly vegi family.  Reading Girl became a bit obsessed with Hebrew National Hot Dogs as evidenced by the hot dog face painting at the library reading party.  I love her quirky personality.

Chicken Cacciatore in the Crock pot

Finally, finally bringing in loads of tomatoes

Snow? Again? Here? In March? Awesome!!!

Having grown up in the North, where we have real winter, I am a snow sceptic.  So, when the forecast called for several inches of snow, but only grass was showing when I went to bed I did not believe.

 

When I woke up this morning in the pre-dawn I discovered that several inches had fallen, and it was still coming down fast.  I knew that this meant no school!  I relished in the quiet.  Got some work done and had some time to exercise and have a cup of coffee without interuption.  I made plans for what how our menu would change for the day, and then wondered what the kids might choose to do with the day. 

 

I'd hoped to get in one more ski day, but, since we've had such a small amount of snow on the ground this winter, the kids chose to stay home and play in the snow with friends.  Fresh powder, and real snow are rare around here.  I definitely would have chosen to be on the slopes.  I'm working more though on trying to be content in the moment, so after going outside to take pictures I came in to bask in the warmth of a good wood fire, and to enjoy this free day with my family.  I can't really find it in myself to complain about an unexpected winter gift in March.

 

Snowed in - the fort in winter.

Boarding in the back yard

Snow buddies

Yikes!  Watch out for the wood pile.

Snow ball fight!

On the Menu Today:  Peaches and Cream Muffins and Bean Soup

Peaches and Cream Muffins - Adapted from Taste of Home, 2000

1 egg
1 mashed banana
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
3 c. flour
1 c. sugar
4 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
2 c. chopped frozen peaches

Mix together the wet ingredients.  Sift the dry ingredients together and then add to the wet.  Fold in the peaches.  Bake at 400 for 20 - 25 min.  Makes about 18 muffins. 

I used to make these in the summer with fresh peaches and freeze them already made, but they don't actually freeze very well.  They get a bit dried out.  These are much better made with frozen peaches and then served hot out of the oven with a little butter. 

You can substitute another egg for the banana.  You can also use yogurt or regular milk instead of the buttermilk.  The buttermilk gives it a nice tangy flavor that we like.

Bean Soup

This is a simple soup.  It takes a bit of time because you're starting with dried beans, but really it's just simmer time.

I used a bag of soup beans with a flavoring packet, but you could substitute regular beans and bullion or a ham bone.

Soak or parboil 2 c. of beans.  Then add 8 c. of water and seasoning packet, or 8 c. broth.  Add a few chopped carrots, a chopped onion, some garlic, some pepper and a few pieces of chopped celery.  Cook for about an hour.  Then taste for salt and season accordingly.  You may need to cook it for another 1/2 hour. 

Strange, but Wonderful

Tomato, Peanut butter and Mayo Sandwich:  Trust me the combination is heavenly.  It is especially transcendent when you use homemade mayo, homemade bread and a big slice of an heirloom tomato.

I don't know about you, but this time of year I start craving summer food.   It seems like as soon as I order the tomato seeds I remember how bland winter eating can be.  We've eaten our way through the potatoes, there are enough sweet potatoes for one more meal, and there's one big Hubbard squash ready to be cooked.  The freezer is still packed, but we're down to just green beans and chard for anything green.  The greens in the garden aren't ready to be picked yet, and sprouts aren't much fun without anything else.  Finally, we opted out of a CSA share this time around because we're trying to reduce our grocery budget and eat what we have.  So this Valentine's Day I'm not dreaming of chocolate, or a fancy seafood dinner.  Nope, I'm just dreaming of the day when I can start having these every, single day for lunch (and sometimes dinner too).  Can't wait.