Nancy on the Home Front

Worth Repeating: Coleslaw Chicken Wraps

I originally shared this recipe over a year ago but it is well worth repeating in case you missed it! It’s a perfect spring – summer recipe, fast and fresh! The recipe originally came from Healthy Cooking, which is a part of Taste of Home. I love their recipes as they all taste wonderful and usually come out looking exactly like the picture. The dressing serves as both a marinade and as a topping for these wraps. The chicken is grilled but could be done ahead of time; the wrap is as good hot or cold. Which means if you have any leftovers they would make a perfect lunch the next day!

Coleslaw Chicken Wrap

1 bottle of poppy seed salad dressing or make your own
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 can (20 oz) unsweetened pineapple tidbits, drained (I used crushed pineapple)
1 medium sweet red pepper, finely chopped
8 whole wheat tortillas (8 inch)
½ cup sliced almonds, toasted (op)

Marinate the chicken in 1 cup of the dressing for one hour.

Drain and discard the marinade. Lightly coat your grill with oil and grill the chicken for 6-8 minutes per side or until done. Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile in a large bowl, combine the pineapple, coleslaw mix, red pepper and the remaining dressing; toss to coat.

Divide among the tortillas; top with chicken and sprinkle with almonds.

Layer chicken and coleslaw mix on the tortilla.

Roll up tightly and secure with toothpicks if you like.

Just perfect for a casual lunch or supper.

Linked To: FoodieFriendsFriday, FridayLinkParty, #FoodieFriday, FreedomFridays, RealFoodFriday, WeekendReTreat, FridayFlashBlog, WhatToDoWeekends, FoodieFriday, FridayFavorites, LHITSDIYLinky, #GetHimFed, WeekendPotluck, SaturdayShowAndTell, FridayFrenzy, SixSistersStuff, SimplyNaturalSaturdays, ShowStopperSaturday, CleverChicksBlogHop, MeltInYourMouthMonday, MixItUpMonday, What’dYouDoThisWeekend, InAndOutOfTheKitchen, You’reGonnaLoveItTuesday, ShowMeWhatYouGot, TheGatheringSpot, FatTuesday, HealthyTuesdayHop, WordlessWednesday, ShareYourStuffTuesday, TastyTuesdays, TimeToSparkle, TotallyTalentedTuesdays, CreateLinkInspire, TuesdaysTable, TastyTuesday, RealFoodWednesday, RivertonHousewives, WhimseyWednesday, WonderfulWednesdayBlogHop, WonderfulyCreativeWednesdays, WakeUpWednesday, TotallyTastyTuesday, AdornedFromAbove, CatchAGlimpseParty, ThursdayFavoirteThings, TimeTravelThursday, LinkParty, FullPlateThursday, FourSeasonsBlogHop

My Garden: Feed Your Soil

What is your garden soil like? Is it rich loamy soil or sandy? No matter what your soil’s structure may be, you can improve it by the addition of organic matter. Last year we made some new compost bins. After filling them all season we will now empty them into our vegetable garden. The rich compost will greatly improve the soil.

How does that work? In the process of decay, formerly living things give up the substances from which they were built so that other living things can use them. In the soil, with the aid of bacteria and fungi, plant and animal matter decomposes into a substance called humus. Humus bonds soil particles together with spaces through which water and air can pass. Organic mater also moderates the soil’s temperature and contains important nutritional elements, which our gardens need.

You may not have your own compost pile yet, but there are many kinds of organic soil additions you can use.

Animal Manure – Manures from farm animals are popular soil amendments. They must be sufficiently decomposed or they will harm your plants. Well-rotted manure is odorless and looks like dark soil. Farmers often have piles of it that they would like to get rid of. Or they may be willing to sell it to you for much less than it would cost to buy in a bag.

Plant Humus – As mentioned above this is the term for decomposed plant material. Peat moss is a from of plant humus. Grass clippings are another form. If you use grass clippings on your vegetable garden, make sure they are herbicide and insecticide-free.

Neighbor's compost — (Photo credit: Joi)

Cover Crops – Cover crops sole purpose is to provide organic matter. Rather than being grown for harvest, they are tilled under so they can enrich the soil. Buckwheat and winter rye are especially good at smothering weeds, and members of the pea family, such as clovers, vetches and alfalfa are best at enriching the soil. If you have a large garden cover crops are especially useful, as they eliminate the need for carting in large quantities of soil amendment.

Another good way to add organic matter and nutrients to your soil is through composting. Composting is like making a big casserole of organic matter that you put together yourself. Usually you have some sort of enclosed area, a bin or other container. You mix an equal amount of green and brown matter and let it sit. The decomposing matter needs warmth, moisture and air to make the decomposition happen.

gardening, composting, prudent living — Compost

Composting is a great way to recycle the debris from your garden as well as kitchen scraps. Nothing is wasted. No matter how you feed your soil it will definitely benefit your garden to add some sort of organic matter.

composting, prudent living — Three Bin Composter

Linked to: GardenTuesday, TuesdayGardenParty, OutdoorWednesday, WildcraftingWednesday, FourSeasonBlogHop, FromTheFarmBlogHop, LHITSDIYLinky, FarmgirlFridayBlogHop, SimplyNaturalSaturdays, CleverChicksBlogHop, HomesteadBarnHop, TuesdaysWithATwist, TheBackyardFarmingConnection

Frugal Tips: Will Being Thrifty Get You To Heaven?

We all know that being thrifty will benefit our wallets. Living on less than you make is a good idea. Did you ever wonder if there might be eternal rewards as well?

The Bible has many references to money. One of the more familiar quotes is from 1Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, in their eagerness to get rich, have wandered away from the faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.”

If money is “the root of all evil”, is spending less of it a fundamental good? Or, if you are spending less in the moment in order to have more in the long run, might that not be considered self-serving? Hmm… I think my head is spinning!

Well if you go back to the original quote from the New Testament you must look at the full quote and realize it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. The danger is not the money itself, it’s the worship of it.

Don't worship money! — Don’t worship money!

If you look further in the Bible you will read in Proverbs 13:22, “A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous”.

Now we know it is not whether or not you are thrifty that will get you into Heaven, however as you read the Bible you realize that being thrifty is a Biblical responsibility!

Linked To: WakeUpWednesday, WonderfulWednesday, PennyPinchingParty, WFMW, WhimseyWednesday, FabulouslyFrugalThursday, ThrivingThursday

Prudent Pantry: Continuing with the Pantry Challenge

Have you decided to clean out your pantry and freezer and take part in the pantry challenge? It’s something I do every spring as I get ready for the next season’s harvest. I’m pretty good at planning our meals from what we have on hand, but this time of year I make a big effort to use up what is still left from the last harvest.

The best part about the challenge is getting my freezers organized and having an updated inventory. I now know exactly what I have on hand, at least in my freezers!

Last week went well, I managed to use up some of my frozen peppers by making Corn and Cheddar Cakes. We also enjoyed a delicious roast turkey, well actually only ½ turkey. When we purchased our turkey from our neighbor we also purchased one ½ turkey. The ½ of the turkey was huge, couldn’t have imagined the size it it had been whole!

This week I am continuing the challenge. It will be a short week as we will be away for the weekend. Instead we will be enjoying our daughter’s cooking. Looks like I’ll have to continue the challenge for yet another week.

Here is our menu for the week:

Monday: Herbed Stuffed Shells (Pasta from the pantry)
Tuesday: Pork chops (from the freezer)
Wednesday: Bolognese (from the freezer)
Sunday: Whatever looks good in the leftover department!

I love trying to be creative with what I have on hand. I realize that even when I am not focusing on the challenge I am going to the grocery store less and less. When I do go it is only to buy produce. Our meat is being raised locally, I make most of our bread, dairy I sometimes purchase from the local farmer’s market or else purchase raw milk directly from a local farmer and make my own yogurt, etc. Trying always to eat close to the source!

How are you doing with your challenge?

Corn and Cheddar Cakes

In my ongoing effort to clean out my freezer and pantry for the Spring Pantry Challenge, I decided to make corn and cheddar cakes. Replacing the flour with masa harina yields an unusually light, soufflé like breakfast cake. We often like to eat breakfast for dinner so this was a perfect weeknight meal. I served them with a mixed green salad for a well-rounded meal. This recipe was adapted from a Weight Watchers recipe.

I was able to use up some corn and chopped red pepper from the freezer, a little leftover buttermilk and sour cream from the fridge and some masa harina I had in the pantry!

Corn and Cheddar Cakes

Ingredients:

4 eggs
3 Tbsp masa harina
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp butter, melted
½ tsp salt
pinch of pepper
2/3 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen thawed)
¼ cup chopped seeded red bell pepper
½ tsp jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
¼ cup grated cheddar cheese
¼ cup sour cream
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Whisk together the egg and masa harina in a bowl.

Add the buttermilk, butter, salt and pepper. Fold in the corn, peppers and cheese.

Spray 4 (1 ¼ cup) ramekins or use large muffin tins. Spray with non-stick spray and pour the batter into each.

Put the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake until browned and puffed, about 20 minutes. Using a knife unmold each cake onto a plate.

Mix together the sour cream and cilantro and place a dollop on each cake.

Makes a very satisfying dinner.

My Garden: What a Difference a Week Makes!

What a difference a week makes! We’ve had some very warm and sunny weather over the weekend followed by a bit of rain. As a result the snow is just about gone, just a little lingering in the shadows. The streams are raging and we are actually under a flood watch.

Luckily it takes a lot for our stream to overflow the banks so we should be fine.

I can finally see my entire vegetable garden and even the herb garden is completely free of the snow.

The entire vegetable is free of snow! — The entire vegetable is free of snow, can you spot the rhubarb coming up?

Much as I would love to get out and plant something we are expecting more snow today! Still to early to be out in the garden!

Inside my seedlings are doing quite well despite the fact that I was trying to raise the grow light and it fell! Tomato seedlings are quite resilient and it didn’t seem to hurt them in any way.

The tomato seedlings are doing just fine.

Nice to have this bit of green in the living room. I will have to transplant the seedlings into larger pots, probably this weekend. In the meantime I am keeping them warm and watered.

Not only did all the tomato seeds sprout but the peppers and eggplants are also doing well.

I’m looking forward to watching them get larger and eventually moving them outside into the cold frame. I may not be able to get outside and get my hands in the dirt but I am enjoying this first step of the gardening season.

Of course what a difference a day makes, this morning we woke up to snow!

Linked To: GardenTuesday, TuesdayGardenParty, OutdoorWednesday, WildcraftingWednesday, ThursdayFavoriteThings, FromTheFarmBlogHop, SimplyNaturalSaturdays, FarmgirlFriday, HomesteadBarnHop, TheBackyardFarmingConnection, TuesdaysWithATwist

Time For The Spring Pantry Challenge

Just before the gardening season starts I try to go through our pantry and freezers and use up various food items that are lingering from last years harvest. Both our pantry and our freezer are well stocked. I usually have all the ingredients on hand at any given time to create a meal on short notice.

It won’t be long before the gardening season will be in full swing and I will have fresh produce from the garden to enjoy.

gardening, vegetables — Vegetables from the garden

To prepare for the harvest I want to make some room in both the pantry and the freezer! For the next 2-3 weeks I am going to challenge myself to use what we have on hand. I am only going to go to the grocery store to purchase items that are absolutely necessary! My budget for the grocery store will be $50.00 for the two weeks. During this time I will utilize food from the freezer and pantry. This will give me a chance to use of leftovers, pre-made dinners and make room in the pantry!

The first part of the challenge involves updating the inventory in my freezer. I was away when our ¼ cow wwas delivered and I’m thankful my husband packed it all away in the freezer for me but I like to know exactly where everything is and what I have on hand. So I emptied the freezer, updated my inventory and put everything back nice and neatly! Now I know what we need to work on eating up!

The challenge starts today and will run at least for two weeks! I will give you an update next week and share our menu plan as we go along. This is our meal plan for this week.

Monday: Teriyaki Chicken Thighs (two packages of chicken thighs from the freezer)
Tuesday: Corn and Cheddar Cakes (corn from the freezer)
Wednesday: Macaroni and Cheese (pasta from the pantry, cheese from the fridge)
Thursday: Roast Turkey (we had a ½ turkey in the freezer left over from the turkeys our neighbors raised)
Friday: Mexican Turkey Salad (using leftover turkey)
Saturday: Bolognese Sauce (from the freezer)
Sunday: Easter Sunday, we will be eating with friends.

Breakfast is easy, we usually eat the same thing; homemade granola, oatmeal or eggs from our chickens. Homemade waffles are another option, which my husband loves! Lunches will be leftovers, soup or sandwiches from what is on hand using our homemade bread.

bread, whole wheat, homemade — Homemade Bread

I actually look forward to challenging myself this way each year. I cook from scratch most of the time and I like having to create meals from what we have on hand. Anyone else have a similar challenge? Care to join me?

Linked To: HomesteadBarnHop, CleverChicksBlogHop, You’reGonnaLoveItTuesday, WhimseyWednesday, WonderfulWednesdayBlogHop

Pasta with Leeks and Tomato Cream Sauce

The end of winter I usually try to start using up items in our freezer or pantry to make room for the next season’s harvest. I needed to make a dinner that made use of food we already had. A simple meal of pasta with leeks and tomato cream sauce sounded perfect. I was able to use up some of the leeks I had previously frozen.

Pasta with Leeks and Tomato Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter
2 large leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced thin. (I used the leeks I had frozen)
½ cup dry sherry
1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes, drained, halved, seeded and chopped (you can also use home canned tomatoes)
¼ cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
1 pound of pasta, I used linguine

Directions:

Melt the butter over medium heat in a medium size skillet. Add the leeks and sauté until softened.

Add the sherry, tomatoes, and simmer until the sauce has thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and cook another 2 minutes. Add the tarragon and salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to boil to cook your pasta. Cook until al dente and drain. Toss the pasta with the tomato sauce and serve immediately.

My Garden: April Update

Recently I shared what March in Vermont looks like. We’ve had a lot of snow melt since then. Maple sugaring is just about finished.

I can even see the corner of my herb garden! However we still have a bit of snow to melt before we begin to see spring flowers! Over the weekend we went to CT to visit family and it was wonderful to be out and about without any snow anywhere! The crocus are blooming.

Even the daffodils are getting ready to bloom.

We visited a local farm and my granddaughter was fascinated with the various animals.

There was a beautiful garden with raised beds.

The garlic was coming up in one garden bed.

It was a beautiful day to just enjoy the farm.

Linked to: TuesdayGardenParty, WakeUpWednesday, AdornedFromAbove, WonderfulWednesdayBlogHop, GardenTuesday, OutdoorWednesday, RuralityBlogHop, FourSeasonsBlogHop, TimeTravelThursday, SmallFootprintFriday, FromTheFarmBlogHop, TheBackyardFarmingConnection, TuesdaysWithATwist

Simple Saturday Supper

You may remember hearing about my friend Laur and our adventures of cooking together. Our cooking style may differ but we love creating meals together and this Simple Saturday Supper was one of those meals we created a few weekends ago. It was simple and delicious. Perfect for a laid back Saturday.

Next time you’re enjoying a laid back Saturday check your refrigerator for these ingredients and put together a meal that is bound to please everyone!

Simple Saturday Supper

Ingredients:

1 pound Kielbasa, cut into 2 inch chunks
2 pound bag of sauerkraut, rinsed
2 apples, cored and cut into chunks
1 large onion, cut into chunks
¼ cup beer

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Place the sauerkraut in a large bowl. Combine with 2 Tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Add the apple chunks and the chunks of onion to the sauerkraut mixture. Mix well and add the kielbasa and the ¼ cup of beer. Combine gently and place the mixture in a large shallow casserole.

Place the casserole in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until bubbly.