Nancy on the Home Front

Tomato and Ricotta Frittata

We have been eating a lot of frittatas lately, such a quick dinner to prepare and the combinations are endless. This tomato and ricotta frittata is just such a dinner. You probably have all the ingredients on hand or at least most of them. In under ½ hour dinner can be ready. Serve it with a salad and you have a complete meal. The recipe says it serves two but I find if I’m serving it for dinner with a salad it will serve four.

Tomato and Ricotta Frittata

Ingredients:

2 tsp. Olive oil
1 small red potato, scrubbed and shredded (about 4 oz.)
½ onion, chopped
3 large eggs
¼ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Pepper
1/3 cup ricotta (part skim)
¼ cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1 Tbsp. minced fresh chives or basil

Directions:

Preheat your broiler. Heat oil in a medium oven proof skillet over medium heat. Add the potato and onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender, about four minutes.

While the vegetables are cooking, beat the eggs, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Pour the eggs over the vegetables and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, lifting the edges frequently with the spatula to let the uncooked eggs flow underneath until the eggs are set, 2-3 minutes.

Dot the eggs with the ricotta and sprinkle with the mozzarella. Place the skillet under the broiler and broil the frittata 5 inches from heat until the top is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with tomato and chives and cut into four wedges. Serve immediately.

My First CSA Order

You may remember that I decided that I would join a CSA this year instead of trying to join the Community Garden or scrambling to get my own garden in with the busyness of just moving. This week my first CSA order from Pumpkin Ridge Gardens arrived!

Since it is just the two of us the majority of the time we decided to just order ½ share. Having always grown our own vegetables I had no idea what my first CSA order from Pumpkin Ridge Gardens would look like! Would it be too much or too little? It was just perfect.

With each order you get a wonderful printout of what you will find in your basket as well as several recipes that incorporate the ingredients found in the order. There is even a member only website with additional recipes.

This week my first CSA order contained: potatoes, garlic scapes, snap peas, beets, kohlrabi, cilantro and cooking greens (kale and Swiss chard). Can you believe I have never eaten kohlrabi before? The description was tender, sweet and very similar to broccoli stems.

They included a recipe for Avocado and Kohlrabi Salad. We had company arriving for dinner so I decided to make the salad and try out the kohlrabies. They were delicious and the salad disappeared before my eyes!

The recipe was very simple. I made a few adaptations as I was feeding a large group. I used my own balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Avocado and Kohlrabi Salad

Ingredients

3 medium Kohlrabi, bulbs
2 ripe avocados
3 Tsp. lime juice
1 scallion, chopped
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
6 T extra virgin oilive oil
¼ tsp. garlic powder
Salt
Fresh ground pepper

Directions

Peel the kohlrabi by cutting off the top and bottom, and peeling with a potato peeler. Cut into ¼ inch thick slices, and then cut the slices into chunks. Place in a bowl. Cut the avocadoes in half lengthwise and discard the seed. Quarter and peel the avocado and cut into chunks. Drizzle the lime juice over the avocados to prevent browning. Set aside. Whisk together the scallion, vinegar, oil, garlic powder salt and pepper to taste. Pour dressing over the kohlrabi and mix to cover. Mix together the chunked avocado and the kohlrabi mixture. Make a bed of the salad on four plates, top with the kohlrabi and avocado mixture and top with feta cheese. Rather than putting the greens on each plate I just made a large bowl of salad and combined everything together!

The greens and garlic scapes were lightly sautéed in some olive oil along with some mushrooms and onions and used as a pizza toping. The cooking greens made a perfect pizza topping.

In the past I have grown our own garlic and used the garlic scapes in various ways. I didn’t have enough to make garlic scape pickles or pesto this year but we certainly enjoyed them on our pizza!

I miss having my own vegetable garden this year but I am certainly enjoying bing part of a CSA. It’s such fun to try out new vegetables and learn new ways to cook them. I’m looking forward to my next CSA order!

Goal Setting Week 24 Update

Another week with company! I love hosting and having company especially family. My daughter and granddaughter spent a few days visiting and I couldn’t be happier. I just love being so close to family once again. Goal setting is happening but I have to say it is on the back burner, mic more fun exploring the area especially the Farmer’s Markets!

Goal setting is happening but I have to say it is on the back burner, mic more fun exploring the area especially the Farmer's Markets!

Continue to monetize my blog. This is my ongoing goal. Have you taken the time to check out my page on Amazon? This page is where I put all the items I just love, from favorite cookbooks to gardening tools. Please check it out. My page on Amazon and being linked to Amazon Affiliates is slowly paying off. I thank those of you who have taken the time to check my page out or if you have purchased items through the links you find on my blog. Every little bit helps to support the expense involved in running a blog.

2. Create a cookbook. This goal is slowly coming along. My office is set up and about 85% organized. My new thought is to create eBooks as I work on my cookbook. Perhaps numerous eBooks on the different chapters of the cookbook such as appetizers, bread, desserts etc. What do you think?

3. Have 20 minutes of exercise at least 5 times a week. I absolutely love where we live. So different from our life in Vermont. It is so easy to just walk into town and go pick up our mail or go to the library. When our company was here last week they wanted to take us out to breakfast. I had heard of a little restaurant in town called “Hits The Spot”, we decided to check it out. It was about a five minute walk which was just perfect. After breakfast we took the “long” way home and showed our company the center of town, including a visit to our wonderful library!

4. Explore ~~ten~~ 5 parks or hiking trails in the state of Washington or Oregon! No new parks this week but took time to enjoy one we had already visited. Had to make a quick trip to Tacoma last week and we made a stop at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. It was the perfect spot to stretch our legs, enjoy a walk and eat lunch.

5. Incorporate 20 5 new recipes into our dinner plans with the focus on healthy eating. With my fist CSA order being delivered last Friday I had the opportunity to enjoy a kohlrabi for the first time! Made a delicious Kohlrabi and Avocado Salad, I will share the recipe tomorrow.

6. Read 35 14 new books this year. No new books read this week. I am currently reading The Garden of the Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng. Took me a while to get into the book but I am now enjoying it.

7. Complete ~~Four~~ 1 knitting or sewing projects this year. Just one more project to complete and I’m hoping it’s the mitten that I’ve started. However this is getting put on hold for a bit.

8. Visit family on the west coast. Been so busy with our immediate family we haven’t had a chance to connect with the extended family yet! Enjoyed a hike in Forest Park this week as well, fun looking at the growth rings with my granddaughter.

9. Explore ~~Six~~ 5 new museums in the area. Found out we actually have a little museum right in our town, the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals. Also found our that our local library has a pass so we can enjoy this museum for free! They also have a pass for the Japanese Gardens in downtown Portland. We visited years ago and I would love to go back.

10. ~~Find A New Home~~ COMPLETED! Wonderful to have this goal completed! Our new house is finally feeling much more like our home. the majority of the unpacking is behind us and we just have some art work to hang on the walls. So nice to have this goal completed!

“Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.”
Seneca

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site.

For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting Nancy On The Home Front.

Sourdough Blueberry Pancakes

Like sourdough crumpets, making sourdough blueberry pancakes is a wonderful way to use up your discard when refreshing your starter. Each week I have a cup or two of starter to use, I You only need four ingredients and a bowl and you’ll be enjoying pancakes in no time! Sourdough starter introduces a pleasant, mild tartness to pancakes. Add a little maple syrup and enjoy!

Sourdough Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups of sourdough starter
1 Tbsp. honey
½ tsp. Baking soda
¼ tsp. Salt
1 cup blueberries

Directions:

To make the pancakes, in a bowl, beat the sourdough starter with the honey, then beat in the baking soda and salt. Let the pancake batter sit for a minute or so while the baking soda and starter react. You will notice bubbles forming and the batter will increase slightly.

Melt a little butter in a skillet over medium low heat. Pour ¼ cup of pancake batter onto the skillet and drop a few blueberries onto the pancake. Let the pancake cook until bubbles appear and then flip the pancake to brown the other side. Keep the pancakes warm in a 200-degree oven while you use up the remaining batter.

Serve the sourdough pancakes warm with maple syrup and additional blueberries. Sourdough blueberry pancakes are a delicious way to start the day.

The next time you are trying to use up your sourdough starter and don’t feel like making bread try making pancakes!

This recipe has been adapted from a recipe I found in The Nourished Kitchen cookbook.

Setting Up a Home Composter

One of the first orders of business in our new home was setting up a home composter. We have always had a compost bin outside and a compost bucket next to the sink. After moving into our new home we quickly found out there was no place to put the food scraps.

Our lot is too small to build a large composting bin like we had in Vermont so we looked at other options. Our son-in-law had a Lifetime Compost Tumbler that spun and the compost was created rather quickly because it is constantly being turned over. We decided that would be the perfect composter for our small lot.

Why compost when you live on a small lot? It saves landfill space, as well as time and gas transporting yard waste. It also improves the soils ability to retain moisture, reducing water costs. Composting also provided needed hummus and nutrients for healthy plants.

I’m sure when our house was built the good soil was scraped. As a result we have a very shallow bed of soil before you hit clay. In Vermont we dealt with gravel and rocks, here I am learning to garden in clay. I figure the more compost I can add to the soil the better the soil will be.

What impressed me with the composter we set up is the small amount of space it takes up. We tucked it in the corners of our lot but it is so convenient. I can just step outside to dump our small kitchen bucket. The lid latches so there is no danger of rodents getting in, or the compost falling out.

How do we start filling the compost tumbler? We save all of our kitchen scraps such as fruit and vegetable peelings, cores, egg shells and coffee grounds. You’d be amazed at how quickly you can fill a small kitchen bucket. We also bag all of our lawn clippings to add to the composter. Leaves and weeds from the garden can also be added. You can also add manures from herbivores such as cows, rabbits or chickens. One of our neighbors has chickens so I may ask if I can have some of their discarded shavings.

What not to compost? Meat, bones, greases, dairy products or bread will attract pests. Don’t add anything that has been treated with pesticides or herbicides. Black Walnut leaves which inhibit plant growth and oak leaves and pine needle because they decompose slowly. Do not add any diseased plants or weeds with seeds. Don’t add any pet or human waste.

Setting up a home composter is an easy process and there are many options to fit into your property. After 4-12 weeks we should have some beautiful rich compost to add to our gardens.

Goal Setting Week 23 Update

We had our first company this past weekend! Our two sons, our grandchildren and a grand puppy! Full house for the first time since we left Vermont. We also had dear friends from Eugene, OR come spend the night. So nice to have company once again although we’ve been too busy to focus much on goal setting!

Goal setting is not easy when you have a busy week!

Continue to monetize my blog. This is my ongoing goal. Have you taken the time to check out my page on Amazon? This page is where I put all the items I just love, from favorite cookbooks to gardening tools. Please check it out. Another aspect of this goal involves increasing my readership. If you enjoy reading my blog, please recommend it or share with your friends. I sure appreciate all my new subscribers!

2. Create a cookbook. My goal for this year is to have my cookbook ready by November 2019. with my office set up I need to buckle down and get this goal underway! the office is set and other than the garden calling me I have no excuses!

3. Have 20 minutes of exercise at least 5 times a week. The days have been packed! Went on a five mile hike over the weekend and enjoyed a local farmers market! Beautiful weather so no excuse not to be outside!

4. Explore ~~ten~~ 6 parks or hiking trails in the state of Washington or Oregon! Explored the Veronia-Banks State Trail a 21 miles beautiful trail ideal for bicycling, walking ro horseback riding. We did’t do the whole length but did walk a five mile segment. Can’t wait to go back on bicyles.

5. Incorporate 20 6 new recipes into our dinner plans with the focus on healthy eating. Made a delicious chicken dinner this week called West Coast Chicken, basically chicken cooked in an orange sauce. It was enjoyed by all!

6. Read 35 14 new books this year. I finished one book by Susan Wigg called Family Tree. I enjoy Susan Wigg as an author when I’m looking for a quick, light read. This book was about a small town in Vermont which is probably why I enjoyed the book so much!

8. Visit family on the west coast. Been so busy with our immediate family we haven’t had a chance to connect with the entered family yet! We did enjoy connecting with our friends from Eugene!

9. Explore ~~Six~~ 5 new museums in the area. Found out we actually have a little museum right in our town, the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals. Keep hoping this might be the week we check out this museum.

“My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose – somehow we always win out.”
Ronald Reagan

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site.

For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting Nancy On The Home Front.

Exploring the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge

One of the last places we visited before moving to Oregon was the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Our park pass covers this National Refuge so no fee was required to enter! The Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife preserve operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service on the Nisqually River Delta near Puget Sound in northwestern Thurston County, Washington and northwestern Pierce County, Washington.The refuge is located just off Interstate 5, between the cities of Tacoma and Olympia. It was a fun Saturday exploring the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge.

This area has been set aside for wildlife and if you are interested in birding this is an excellent place to see lots of birds. The refuge was established in 1974 to protect the delta and its diversity of fish and wildlife habitats. Birds on their migrations north and south use the refuge as a stopover to feed and rest before continuing their migration.

Exploring the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is easy. There are four miles of trails that are open from sunrise to sunset. The trails are flat and easily accessible by anyone. The Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk Trail is 4 miles round trip from the visitors center.

We had driven by the wildlife refuge numerous times and I’m so glad we finally took the time to stop and explore. We saw numerous ducks.

There were beautiful herons along the water’s edge.

The scenery was stunning and I imagine it would be fun to explore this area any time of year.

We also spotted so many eagles. Many of them immature.

My husband was lucky enough to see a snake on a log. He has the best eyes for spotting wildlife.

It was fun to see all the different kinds of birds and it was also interesting to find out the history of the river delta. In 1904 the Brown Farm Dike, five miles long, was created to protect farmland from tidal surge. While this may have protected farmland it resulted in a loss of important habitat for young fish, birds and marine mammals. In 2009 a new 10,000-foot dike was installed behind the old dike and four miles of the old Brown Far Dike were removed. This enabled the tidal flows to reclaim 762 acres to the estuary.

My goals for this year have been to explore various parks. If you ever find yourself near this area I would encourage you to stop and spend some time exploring the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.

Edamame and Couscous Salad with Feta

This is a wonderfully versatile salad that you can make with whatever ingredients you have on hand. Use arugula instead of spinach for example or green beans instead of the sugar snap peas or even basil instead of the cilantro. The recipe serves 4 and if you have leftovers they are good for lunch the following day! I have never tried adding couscous to a salad before but this edamame and couscous salad changed my mind! Couscous is a great addition to a salad!

Edamame and Couscous Salad with Feta

Ingredients:

1 cup couscous
1 cup vegetable broth
1 ½ cups frozen shelled edamame
6 ounces of sugar snap peas, trimmed and halved lengthwise
3 Tbsp. olive oil
6 scallions, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, havled lengthwise, seeded and thinly sliced
2 tsp. Harissa spice
4 cups spinach
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
¼ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Pepper
¼ cup crumbled feta
Lime wedges

Directions:

Cook the couscous according to the package directions, using vegetable broth instead of water. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a large bowl to cool slightly.

Meanwhile bring a pan of water to a boil. Add the edamame and cook until tender, avout 5 minutes. Stir in the peas. Drain immediately and rinse under cold water until cool. Drain again.

Heat 2 tsp. of the olive oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the scallions and jalapeno pepper and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the harissa spice and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in the spinach, just until slightly wilted. Add to couscous.

Add the remaining 1 tsp. of olive oil, lime juice, mint, salt and pepper to the couscous mixture and toss to combine. Sprinkle with the feta and serve with lime wedges.

Goal Setting Week 22 Update

Unpacking after a cross country move has definitely been a lot of work. However with the exception of a few boxes left in the garage we are pretty much unpacked and just have a few pictures left to hang on the walls. I am so glad the majority of the work is behind us because it’s time to get outside and create some gardens!

Continue to monetize my blog. This is my ongoing goal. Have you taken the time to check out my page on Amazon? This page is where I put all the items I just love, from favorite cookbooks to gardening tools. Please check it out. Another aspect of this goal involves increasing my readership. If you enjoy reading my blog, please recommend it or share with your friends. I sure appreciate all my new subscribers!

3. Have 20 minutes of exercise at least 5 times a week. Next thing I want to do is plan on daily exercise, either find a class to join, an online workout or even a daily walk. We did enjoy a nice walk while visit your daughter in WA this past weekend. Couldn’t have asked for nicer weather!

4. Explore ~~ten~~ 6 parks or hiking trails in the state of Washington or Oregon! No new parks this week. Looking forward to re-visiting some of the parks we enjoyed in the past!

5. Incorporate 20 6 new recipes into our dinner plans with the focus on healthy eating. The new recipe this week was a spaghetti squash casserole called, Creamy Spaghetti Squash with Ricotta and Spinach. Delicious casserole which makes a great side dish or a meatless main dish. Here is a picture of the casserole before it was cooked. We then proceeded to enjoy it and I didn’t take another picture!

6. Read 35 15 new books this year. Finished reading Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone by Phaedra Patrick. I was concerned I wouldn’t;t have time to read it before it was due to be returned but once I got into it, it was quick reading! Phaedra Patrick also wrote The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper which I just loved!

8. Visit family on the west coast. Been so busy with our immediate family we haven’t had a chance to connect with the entered family yet! Spent the weekend in Washington with our family there.

9. Explore ~~Six~~ 5 new museums in the area. Found out we actually have a little museum right in our town, the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals. Hoping this might be the week we check out this museum.

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act.
There is no other route to success.”
Pablo Picasso

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site.

For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting Nancy On The Home Front.

Sourdough Crumpets

Having sourdough starter on hand means I’m always looking for ways to use the discard. I have to say the favorite so far is the Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread. However Sourdough Crumpets take a close second.

I am still not quite sure of the difference between an English muffin and a crumpet. They are very similar. Both are griddlecakes, meaning they are cooked on a griddle. Crumpets have baking soda in them while English muffins are a little denser and have yeast in them. English Muffins are usually split and often toasted while crumpets are served whole.

I have not made English muffins yet, but after trying crumpets for the first time I have to say they are like a combination of an English muffin and a pancake and are delicious with maple syrup! Making sourdough crumpets is a quick and simple recipe. Three ingredients and a little oil or butter to cook them in.

Sourdough Crumpets

Ingredients:

2 cups sourdough starter
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbsp. butter

Directions:

Butter two eggs rings or metal biscuit rings and set them aside. I have a pair of silicon rings, which worked perfectly.

Pour the sourdough starter into a mixing bowl and beat in the salt and baking soda. The batter will start to puff and bubble so you want to work quickly.

Melt the butter in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Set the rings in the pan and pour two tablespoons of batter into each ring. If your rings are large you may need to add three tablespoons of better. Allow the batter to cook until bubbles begin to appear in the center, about three minutes.

Remove the rings and flip the crumpets. Brown the crumpets on the other side for about two minutes. Transfer to a plate and continue to cook more until you have used up the batter. Depending on the size of your rings you should make 6-10 sourdough crumpets. Store any extras in the refrigerator for three days.

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site.

For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting Nancy On The Home Front.