Nancy on the Home Front

Spinach Stuffed Chicken

A dear friend of mine shared this recipe with me several years ago. After having this recipe for a long time I finally got around to making it myself. I love meals that are easy to make and good enough to serve company. This Spinach Stuffed Chicken is one of those meals. I’ve shared other stuffed chicken recipes such as Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Chicken Stuffed with Fresh Basil. Double the recipe and you can then freeze individual size portions for days when you are too busy to figure out what’s for dinner! This recipe serves 6 people.

Spinach Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

¼ cup chopped onion
4-½ tsp. PLUS ¼ cup butter (divided)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
6 oz. Cream cheese, cubed
¼ cup seasoned breadcrumbs
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 oz. each)
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Pepper
¼ cup honey
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

In a large skillet, sauté the onion in 4 ½ tsp. of butter until tender. Add the garlic and sauté for about a minute longer. Add the spinach and cream cheese; cook and stir over low heat until the mixture is blended. Remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs.

Flatten each chicken breast to ¼ inch thickness’ sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Place about ¼ cup of the spinach mixture down the center of each chicken breast. Fold the chicken over the filling and secure with toothpicks.

Place seam side down on a greased 11×7 inch baking dish. Melt the remaining butter; stir in the honey and lemon juice. Pour the mixture over the chicken.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, or until the chicken is done. Baste every 15 minutes with the pan juices. Discard the toothpicks and serve.

What to Do with Tomatoes?

I well remember the years of having a large vegetable garden and come August I would have such an abundance of tomatoes. Our kitchen counters would be covered with tomatoes. Did you ever wonder what to do with tomatoes?

I love fresh garden ripe tomatoes. I’ll eat them in a tomato and lettuce sandwich everyday I can but there are other things you can do with you abundance. My favorite canning recipe is Chunky Basil Pasta Sauce. I use this sauce all winter long, when making spaghetti or lasagna. It is my go to sauce. Nothing makes me happier than when I have several jars of this delicious sauce filling my pantry.

Another favorite is the Roasted Tomato Sauce. I use this sauce on our homemade pizzas. The recipe is very simple and it’s a great way to use up those tomatoes from the garden. You can use any type from Roma to cherry tomatoes. I do not can this sauce but instead freeze it in portions measured out for pizza.

Perhaps you’re not interested in canning your harvest but instead you just want to enjoy those fresh tomatoes. Make a Tomato Basil Pizza. This pizza is best this time of year when the tomatoes are so abundant.

Grilled Tomatoes Stuffed with Goat Cheese is another summer favorite. We were served this meal last summer when visiting friends and have made it several times since then. I have never tasted anything so creamy and delicious!It’s a perfect summer meal as the tomatoes are cooked on the grill and then served over pasta. For the best taste, use fresh heirloom tomatoes that you have grown or purchased at a local farmer’s market.

Looking for a slightly different salad? Try a Farro Salad with Tomatoes and Corn. This is a really tasty salad especially is you use fresh tomatoes and corn. This salad is best served at room temperature or chilled.

Another summer favorite is Fettuccine with Goat Cheese Arugula and Tomatoes. I love quick, nutritious dinners. I like to know that the dinner I’m putting on the table not only tastes good but is good for us. If I can make such a dinner in fewer than thirty minutes that’s even better! This dinner fits the bill!

Enjoy this busy time of year in the garden and if you’ve been wondering what to do with tomatoes I hope my few suggestions have helped!

Goal Setting Update Week 35

We enjoyed a wonderful week away, but after all the traveling we have done this summer it is good to be home. I’m looking forward to staying put for a while and completing my goal setting!

Continue to monetize my blog. Thanks to all of you who have checked out my page on Amazon! I so appreciate those who have made purchases through my links and my page. Running a blog has many hidden expenses and I appreciate all of your support!

2. Create a cookbook. As you might imagine I didn’t make much progress on the cookbook last week, but I am home now and I have a goal of working on at least ten recipes a day. Of course at the same time I am updating old blog posts as I go along. So many recipes and so many blog posts!

3. Have 20 minutes of exercise at least 5 times a week. We enjoyed hiking along some wonderful trails while we were away. No problem getting our exercise in.

4. Explore ~~ten~~ 2 parks or hiking trails in the state of Washington or Oregon! Our drive through the Cascades was incredibly beautiful. Definitely an area we would like to go back to. So many places to explore.

5. Incorporate 20 2 new recipes into our dinner plans with the focus on healthy eating. This past week I did not do any meal planning or cooking. It was wonderful to enjoy meals made by someone else. The challenge was making healthy choices!

6. Read 35 6 new books this year. Did not finish any books this week but did start on my 36th book of the year! Cimarron seemed like an appropriate book to start while exploring eastern Washington. It’s a wonderful story about the Oklahoma Land Rush originally written in 1929!

7. Complete ~~Four~~ 1 knitting or sewing projects this year. Just one more project to complete this year. However knitting has been put on hold until the weather cools off.

8. Visit family on the west coast. This week we caught up with friends from the east coast visiting in Washington. Wasn’t a long visit, but fun to see such dear friends!

9. Explore ~~Six~~ 3 new museums in the area. We explored a fascinating western museum in Winthrop, Washington called Shafer Museum.

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!

“In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm… in the real world all rests on perseverance.“
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, author

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

Exploring Winthrop, Washington

Last week we had the opportunity to stay at the Sun Mountain Lodge located in Winthrop, Washington. We had received a gift certificate and decided to take advantage and celebrate our wedding anniversary. It was quite a distance from where we live but well worth the drive and we had fun exploring Winthrop, Washington.

Winthrop, Washington is located in the Methrow River Valley, along the North Cascades Loop Highway 20. It is known for the Old West design of all the buildings in town. Judging from all the people it is a popular tourist destination.

There are all sorts of places to stay but our gift certificate was for the Sun Mountain Lodge and it was a perfectly wonderful place to stay. The lodge is perched on a mountaintop overlooking Winthrop. The views from the lodge were just incredible.

The one thing we really enjoyed was that none of the rooms had a television! If you did want to watch TV there was a TV Room but we didn’t notice anyone watching television. Instead people were swimming in the pool, enjoying the hot tub or just relaxing in other areas of the lodge. There was a game room and a library. You could borrow books or replace a book you took with one you had read, sort of a lending library. There were also board games available that you could take to your room. Outside there were numerous trails to explore.

We enjoyed seeing all the families busy enjoying the surroundings and taking advantage of all the area had to offer.

We spent an entire day exploring Winthrop, Washington. There was a fantastic museum of the Old West called Shafer Museum , that is supposed to be one of the best. It is a village of historic buildings which all display the history of days gone by.

There are two bridges, one at either end of the town. They are only for foot traffic. We walked across both bridges. The Sateekhwa Bridge, on the north edge of the downtown leads to a wonderful hiking trail with some great interpretative signage. The trail meanders along the river and through the woods.

We finished up the day with a private tour of the Winthrop National Fish Hatchery. It was fascinating to learn all about the three types of fish they raise and release into the rivers.

All too soon our time was up and we were heading back to Oregon. Winthrop is a wonderful town in an amazing part of Washington. Hopefully we can return again someday. We love road trips and we certainly enjoyed exploring Winthrop, Washington!

Couscous with Grilled Vegetables

This hearty side dish is almost a meal in itself. Serve it with grilled chicken and a salad and you will have a meal fit for company. Couscous with Grilled Vegetables takes about 15 minutes to prepare and another 15 minutes to cook. You can cook the couscous while the vegetables are grilling. The final step is to combine the grilled vegetables and the couscous and your side dish is ready to serve.

Couscous with Grilled Vegetables

Ingredients

2 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise
½ medium eggplant, sliced widthwise ½ inch thick
1 medium sweet red pepper, quartered
1 small onion, sliced ½ inch thick
Pam cooking oil
¾ tsp. Salt, divided
½ tsp. Pepper, divided
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1-10oz package of couscous
½ cup chopped scallions
4 ½ tsp. Lemon juice
2 1/2 tsp. Dried thyme

Directions

Spray the vegetable with the cooking oil; sprinkle with ¼ tsp. Salt and 1/4tsp. pepper. Dip a paper towel in cooking oil and lightly coat the grill rack. Prepare for indirect heat using a drip pan.

Arrange the vegetables over the drip pan and grill, covered, over indirect medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until tender, turning occasionally. Remove from the grill and let stand until cool enough to handle.

While the vegetables are grilling cook the couscous. In a large saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Stir in the couscous. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for 5 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.

When the vegetables are cool enough to handle cut into ½ inch pieces. Fluff the couscous with a fork. In a large bowl combine the couscous, grilled vegetables, scallions, lemon juice thyme and remaining salt and pepper. Toss the ingredients to combine and serve. Makes about 8 servings.

I love making this side dish when the fresh vegetables are available.

Exploring The Oregon Garden

Before we left on our whirlwind trip of New England, my husband and I had the opportunity to make use of our library cultural pass and spend some time exploring the Oregon Garden. The Oregon Garden is an 80 acre botanical garden located in Silverton, Oregon. The garden features more than 20 specialty gardens showcasing the diversity of plants that grown in the Pacific Northwest.

There was so much to see that we immediately decided this was a place we would have to visit again.

The walking trails are smooth and easy to walk on.

I was particularly interested in their home demonstration garden. This is a series of small gardens designed to inspire gardeners with ideas they can take hoe. They are designed on a scale well suited for the smaller home gardens. Each small garden is designed and maintained by a different nursery or landscape firm.

I was also pleased to see that they had an area devoted to composting and featured several different methods to compost.

The Market Garden features agricultural products grown in the Willamette Valley. There were more than 147 Oregon crops represented, including berries, grapes, other fruits, and assorted vegetables. They even had a chicken coop complete with chickens tucked into the garden.

My favorite garden was the Bosque.; a Bosque is a Spanish word meaning grove. The Bosque is a large central plaza featuring four brick reflecting ponds and 40 plantar boxes. The beautiful foliage f the trees reflected in the surface of the ponds. It was such a refreshing spot on a hot day.

It was interesting to see how they incorporated recycling water from the Silverton wastewater treatment plant to use in the gardens. It was so interesting to see how a water recycling system works.

The Oregon Gardens is a wonderful place to visit, very well maintained and thought out. At the end of our time there we took a walk through the timber management area. Amazing that this 80 acres is just a short drive from the busy city of Portland, Oregon.

Goal Setting Update Week 34

Just when I thought we were home for awhile we headed to Washington to celebrate our youngest granddaughter’s birthday and our anniversary! Seems like just yesterday we were waiting for our granddaughter’s arrival and now she’s turning three! Here is my goal setting update for the week.

Continue to monetize my blog. Thanks to all of you who have checked out my page on Amazon! I so appreciate those who have made purchases through my links and my page. Running a blog has many hidden expenses and I appreciate all of your support!

2. Create a cookbook. Making progress! I have a daily goal of working on at least ten recipes a day. Of course at the same time I am updating old blog posts as I go along. So many recipes and so many blog posts!

3. Have 20 minutes of exercise at least 5 times a week. In addition to our daily walks I thought I was going to have the opportunity to check out Orange Theory Fitness with my two daughters. I love working out with them. The nice thing about Orange Theory is that you can make the workout as intense as you like. Sounded like it would be a good workout. However we decided to spent the morning exploring a nearby beach! Fun for everyone!

4. Explore ~~ten~~ 3 parks or hiking trails in the state of Washington or Oregon! This week we are heading to the foothills of the Eastern Cascades to celebrate 39 years of marriage! I imagine there will be at least one hiking trail to explore. The goal setting update continues!

5. Incorporate 20 2 new recipes into our dinner plans with the focus on healthy eating. My favorite recipe this week was couscous with grilled vegetables. I love this recipe and will be sharing it on Friday!

6. Read 35 6 new books this year. Finished the book It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way by Lisa Terkeurst. The full title of the book is It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered. Life doesn’t always turn out the way we imagined. God does have a plan for our lives even if it’s not quite what we think it should be.

7. Complete ~~Four~~ 1 knitting or sewing projects this year. Just one more project to complete this year. However knitting has been put on hold until the weather cools off.

8. Visit family on the west coast. This week we’ll actually be visiting with some east coast friends who will be on the west coast for a wedding! It will be a quick visit but so fun to catch up!

9. Explore ~~Six~~ 4 new museums in the area. No new museums this week. Hopefully we’ll get back on track in the next couple of weeks. Nice to have a goal setting update each week as it keeps me on track!

“Keep your fears to yourself, but share your inspiration with others.“
Robert Louis Stevenson, author

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

Shopping at Your Local Farmer’s Market

Do you plan to be shopping at your local farmer’s market? If so, here are a few tips to get the most out of your day.

Find out when your Farmer’s Market opens and arrive early. The market might be less crowded and you will be able to pick the freshest produce and have the most options to choose from.

If you are looking for the best deals arrive just before closing since vendors might be willing to sell their unsold produce at lower prices.

When you first arrive walk through the entire market and check out the various vendors. This will give you and idea of the product and prices at the various booths.

One of the things I enjoy about shopping at your local Farmer’s Market is talking to the vendors. Find out where they are growing their vegetables. If they are selling something unusual find out how they use the vegetable. Do they have suggestions for cooking it?

Once you have decided on your purchases make the heavier purchases at the end so you don’t have to carry them around.

Make sure your bring your own reusable bags and containers. In our state plastic bags have been banned. By brining your own bags you are helping to keep costs down, otherwise the vendors will have to charge for paper bags.

Although many vendors allow you to use credit cards it is best to bring cash. Have a set amount you plan to spend and by using cash you will not over spend on impulse items.

Until this year I had ever spent much time shopping at our Farmer’s Market, I grew a large vegetable garden that kept us supplied with our own vegetables and fruits. However this year I do not have a garden so I am supporting the local farmers. I look forward to shopping at our local farmer’s market each Saturday. Follow these helpful tips to make the most of shopping at your local farmer’s market!

Summer Salads: Kale Salad

Summer salads are on our menu everyday. I love taking advantage of all the fresh fruits and vegetables this time of year. One of the ingredients we’ve been enjoying from our CSA this summer is kale. I enjoy kale, either in kale salad or in soup. Years ago I attended a dinner meeting where we all had to bring something for the meal. One of the other ladies brought this very simple kale salad. I thought it was delicious and so easy to make.

When looking for simple summer salads give this one a try. Using fresh kale from our CSA insures a delicious salad. If you don’t eat it all up don’t worry it will still be good the next day for lunch.

Summer Salads: Kale Salad

Dressing:

2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. sour cream
1 tsp. chili sauce
celery seeds to taste

Directions:

Chop up a bunch of kale. If you want to blanch it quickly you can do that or just eat it raw. We’ve been eating it raw. Massage the kale briefly with your fingers. This helps improve the texture of the kale for your salad.

Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.

The dressing will keep so if you don’t use it all up you can save it for another salad.

Chill in the refrigerator for a little while for the flavors to combine. The great thing about kale is it won’t wilt when dressed!

Do you have a favorite salad? I enjoy the warm summer months; a perfect time to try out all those delicious salads that you don’t eat very often in the winter.

Fruit and Vegetable Wash

I’ve always washed my fruit before eating it. Washing your fruits and vegetables before you eat them is an important step to remove germs and dirt, but there is no need to buy a commercial fruit and vegetable wash, instead you can make your own! It’s easy and effective.

We live near many commercial fields of berries. When we drove by and saw the mountains of flats waiting to be filled – and close by were the porta-potties for the field workers – I realized just how important it was to wash your fruits and vegetables.

It’s one thing when you have your own garden but when you don’t know who is picking your vegetables and fruits they should be washed. Research has shown that tap water is just as beneficial as the commercial washes and dish soap. The most important factor for reducing pesticide residues is the friction of rubbing the produce under running water. But what about the soft skinned and delicate fruit and vegetables? Soaking in diluted white vinegar is a great way to reduce bacterial and fungal contamination.

Here is a recipe for a fruit and vegetable wash you can make at home for soaking those tender fruits and vegetables.

Fruit and Vegetable Wash

Ingredients:

White Vinegar
Sea Salt

Directions:

Rinse produce under cool running water for 1 minute making sure to thoroughly scrub firm skinned produce.

Clean your sink or use a large bowl and fill in with 4 cups of water.

Add 1 ½ cups vinegar and 1 Tbsp. of slat and stir to dissolve.

Soak think-skinned produce (like berries and leafy greens) for 5 minutes and firm skinned (apples, squash for 10 minutes then rinse under running water.

Wash just before eating as washing early will make some produce spoil faster.

Summertime is the prime season for making fruit bowls and vegetable rich salads. Be safe and wash your produce!