Just another Day on the Farm

Our Fancy Sunday Breakfast, 3 slices of homemade bacon with sweet Mustard Glaze, Herbed Oven Baked Homefries, Scrambled eggs with Dried Nettle, and that glass of stunning sunshine color is homemade pinapple with juice, blended together into a fruit smoothie.

So its week two, and time for our overview..

DH-It was fine, far less tempation this week, would have been useful to have premade meals in the freezer, for when we don’t feel like cooking and would typically go to town for a meal out but can’t.

FG- Well, lets see, I can’t say that we are missing anything in the house in terms of me being able to cook meals or make the different things that DH takes to work etc. Depending on the day, I am falling into. dang I want a meal off, off cooking, off the farm, just Not of my hands.. thankfully those moments are few and far between.

Most of the time, I have been feeling the need to hit the cookbooks and read for idea’s, I know I want to use this an this, and the cookbooks help in finding interesting ways to do so.

My own biggest challange was the bird sale, I had DH’s permission to consider it work related, as it was directly tied to the farm, and therefor he said I could eat there if I wanted, but that I could not bring anything home within reason.

I was so excited at the thought of it.. I was planning a large double, double, drooled at the idea of a box of timbits, and could not decide what I would have for lunch.. but when I got there and looked at the available things.. guilt got me.. I didn’t need to eat something here, I had a good filling breakfast, I was not overnighting it, it was work related but I could be home in time for a very late lunch..

In the end when I was there, I walked way from that freedom, and stuck to the plan.. I can’t decide if I was just stubborn or just stupid ;P

Would you have eaten out, or would you have waited it out?

Today was a run day from the moment I staggered out of bed just after 5 am listening to the lamb, bananing me.. I needed to be out and on the road by 6:30, which gave me only an hour and half to get ready, have breakfast and get my share of chores done. As I did morning critter chores, I also set my porridge to cooking, Half for me, half for my old girl Lily, she gets her’s with yogurt, I get my typically with a bit of sheep milk, and somedays a touch of sweet. The out the door and to the Bird Sale. Home early afternoon to find DH coming up from the barns where he was working, and I was hungry enough to chew on wood just for the taste, typically I would have eaten at the sale but I am on no food outside the pantry and I forgot and left the packed snack bag, thank god I remembered the water.

So ask if he had made lunch, nope, nor had he eaten since breakfast.. so into the house and in the same time it took to make the porridge (about five to eight min) bowls of hot steaming soup where hitting the table, and yes seconds were  had.

Back out to the barns where work began again, finally we called it and came back in the house four plus hours later, tired, sweaty and hungry again, whipped together pasta an sauce, the meat was cooked and in the fridge, in the time it took to cook the pasta, everything else came together, again under ten min and plates of hot comfort carb filled food was filling tummies.

Do I think that todays meals where as well rounded as I would like,  Heck no, what  who am I Kidding.. my Hubby eat cake for breakfast LOL and where the heck was the fruit or veggies??

However even when living out of your pantry, there are days where life gets busy, and that means you want fast food at least in the sense of getting something filling on the table and in you.

Breakfast FG-Red River Porridge, done fancy, brown sugar with sheep milk. DH’s Watermelon Cake, two big Pieces.

Lunch, Chicken Noodle Veggie Soup

Supper, Pasta with Corn Beef, Mushrooms and cream sauce, spices.

Drinks: Water, Tea and Hot chocolate

Extra’s Popcorn and Chocolate Cranberry Loaf.

What about you? What is your homemade real food quick meal? What do you cook or make if you have want to eat now but don’t have extra’s in the fridge or leftovers to reheat? Give me your thoughts on all three meals of the day? On hard working days, are you ok with cold meals or do you like hot meals like we do?

• To Fold is the process of mixing a very light substance with a heavier one without losing any lightness. The heavy mixture is lifted from beneath usually with a large metal spoon and folded over the light one, but NEVER stirred in a Circle.
• To Freeze is to chill food below the freezing point of water 32F Freezers for storing food should be kept at 0F.
• Fry Dry-to cook meat over a high heat in fat barely covering the base of a heavy frying pan. Shallow- to cook eggs, fish or breaded meat without burning in 1/4 to 1/2 inch of layer of fat. Deep-to immerse and fry food that is coated with batter, breadcrumbs or flour in fat or oil.
• Glace is a sugar iceing for cakes, candied fruit or cookies. It is made with sugar and can be flavored.
• To glaze means to make shiny with egg, water, sugar, or milk. Jam or fruit glaze is used for coating desserts or cakes. Meat glaze is reduced bone stock that is added to sauces.
• To grate means to scrape into small pieces by rubbing hard food such as cheese or raw vegetables on a metal or plastic grater
• To grease means to coat with a think layer of butter, margarine or shortening.
• To grind means to reduce to tiny pieces by working though a food grinder.
• To infuse means to steep flavorings in warm but not boiling liquid. The flavorings are usually strained out before the liquid is used.
• To knead is the process of pushing dough way with the heel of the hand, then bringing it forward with fingers so all the ingredients become thoughly combined. When making yeast doughs, kneading distributes the yeast and develops the gluten in the flour.
• To Pit means to remove stones or seeds from fruit
• To Poach means to cooke gently in trembling (not boiling) liquid, Fish, Poultry, fruit, Pasta and eggs can all be pouched.
• To pound means to reduce to a powder or smooth paste, pounding is usually done in a mortar or pestle, or to weaken muscle fibers in meat, can use a rolling pin to do so.
• Puree is a mixture of fruit, begetables or meat that is sieved or blended to a thick cream, the ingredients are usually precooked before pureeing.
• To reduce means to boil down a sauce or liquid to concentrate the flavor and sometimes to thicken the consistency.
• To Render means to melt down fat gently into liquid, then strain and boil with a little water and strain when clear.
• Roux is a blending of a fat and flour mixture that is used to thicken many sauces.
• To Scald means to heat a liquid such as milk to just under boiling point.
• To score means to mark with a series of shallow even cuts.
• To Sear means to brown food over fierce heat for a few min to seal in natural juices. This often precedes stewing.
• To Shred means to cut or break into uneven strips
• To Sieve means to work food through a strainer or food mill.
• To Sift is to shake a dry powdered substance through a sifter to remove any lumps which gives lightness.
• To Simmer means to cook in a liquid at about 195, or just below boiling point so that bubbles occasionally break through the surface.
• To Skim means to remove fat or scum from the sruface of sauces, soups or stocks. This is done by bringing the liquid to a boil over slow heat, taking the pan from the heat and skimming it.
• To Steam is to cook food by moist heat on a rack in a closed container, the food must not touch the water.
• To stew means to cook meat, vegs, fish or poultry slowly in liquied in a covered pan.
• Stock is liquid made by simmering meat bones, poultry, vegs or fish for several hours, it is the base for many classic sauces and soups and is used in stews and to make gravy.
• Stuffing is a mixture of savory ingredients used to fill cavities in fish, poultry, meat or game. Stuffings can include ground meat with breadcrumbs, rice, vegs, nuts, spices and often eggs, milk or a sauce to bind. they are often highly seasoned.
• Whisk means to beat fast with a circular motion so that a mixture is made lighter by incorporating air. This can be done with a electric mixer, a rotary beater or balloon whisk.
• Zest is the rind of a lemon or orange that is removed without any of the underlying pith which can be very bitter.

Breakfast- FG-One waffle with a peanut butter at 5:30am/Porridge at 9am and tea

DH 4 eggs, Herb Bread

Lunch- DH-Leftover Soup plus Extras Slice of loaf, two cookies and trail mix for snacks

FG-Cabbage Salad, with Dill crackers on the side.

It looks good even raw and just ready to go in the oven, do you ever brine your meat before cooking it? I will post a after photo.

Supper: Brined Whole Chicken Breast on the bone, with herbs/spices, onion, carrot, celery with oven baked fries.

Drinks-Water, Tea

Extras-Dill Crackers, Chocolate Cranberry loaf, Cookies, and herb bread, biscuits.

Reuben Pie Recipe

• 1 and half cups of sauerfraut either homemade or store bought, drained
• Pastrry for one 10 inch crust for pie
• 8 oz of swiss cheese, thinly sliced
• 8 oz corned beef-diced or strips (or 1 cup)
• 1 onion-Peeled, Halved and sliced thin.

Preheat your oven to 375, layer half the cheese in the bottom pie shell, then half the corn beef, then a layer of  well drained saurkraut, then the onion, then the rest of the meat and finish the layers with the cheese.. Then top with with the pie crust.. don’t forget to put your cuts on the top of the pie to allow for steam.

Bake for 35 to 45 min or until the pie is golden in color.. Let it stand at least ten min, serve hot.

A few basic and not-so basic  terms you will see written up in recipes or when talking about cooking and what they mean,

• Agar agar -is a setting agent made fom seaweeds and is used in jellies, icecreams and for clarifying the japanese rice wine sake.
• Aspic is a clear jelly ued to coat cold foods. It is made by clarifying stock with egg whites and sometimes egg shells. Gelantin may be used to set it but if at all possable, the stock that sets it should be natural.
• Bake-to cook by Dry heat in a oven
• Bake Blind- is the term used for baking unfilled pastry without the sides falling in or the bottom rising. The pastry is lined with foil then filled with rice or dried beans, or Pie chains, the filling is removed once the pastry is set so that it can become crisp and brown.
• Balm is a herb that is seldom used in cooking but a large handful of fresh or dried balm can be infused in boiling water to make a herb tea.
• Barbecue -is to broil or roast on a rack normally over charcoals or propane.
• To Bard- is to cover lean meat or game with thinly sliced fat before cooking to prevent the flesh from drying out. the fat is usually tied on with string and barding can be done with strips of bacon or with thin even slices of pork fat.
• Basting-is the process of spooning hot fat or liquied over food as it roasts to keep it moist and juicy.
• To beat-is to stir vigorously with a circular motion using a spoon or whisk to give lightness to a mixture.
• To Bind- is to moisten with liquied such as egg to keep a mixture together.
• To Blanch-meats to whiten meats or to remove strong flavors from vegetables by immersing in boiling water, then into cold water and draining before further cooking.
• To Blend- is to stir a mixture until it is completely combined and smooth.
• To Boil-is to immerse food in water or stock when the liquid has reached 212 f and is bubbling vigorously.
• To Braise-ist he process of cooking meat, poultry, game, fish or vegetables in a small amount of liquied in a pot with a tight fitting lid so the food cooks in the steam from the liquid. First the food is browned in fat, then the cooking is continued on a bed of veggies tradionally.
• Brine is a salt and water solution used in perserving food.
• To broil-is to cook meat, fish or poultry by direct heat, unsally under an oven broiler or over a fire.
• Casserole is a stewpan or Dutch oven in which stews of meat, game, fish, poultry and vegetables are cooked very slowly in liquid or sauce. The pot and the food cooked in it are both referred to as casseroles.
• To Chill-Means to cool food in the refriderator or over ice without freezing.
• Chowder usually refers to a soup based on fish but there are also meat and vegetable chowders.
• To Clarify- To remove impurities by melting used fat, such as beef drippings with one third quantity of water, then boiling, straining and cooling the mixture. When set, scrape any sediment from the base of the solidified fat. or  to clarify butter by heating gently until foaming, skimming well then leaving to set to a solid cake, the sediment (milk solids) at the bottom taken off. or to clear cold stock with egg whites by whisking while bringing to a boil then cooling and straining.
• Consistency-is the degree of the thinness or thickness of a mixture, expecially important in batters, cakemaking and pastry.
• To deglaze- means to dissolve congealed juices from the bottom of a pan, first the food is removed, and excess fat saved, then the remaining sediments are heated with stock and wine to make a gravy or sauce.
• To Dice means to cut food into small squares.
• To Dissolve means to melt a solid substance, sometimes over heat, usually by mixing with a liquid.

What do you think, did you know all the above, anything new in it?

Breakfast DH- Waffles, Chocolate Cranberry Loaf and One Cookie FG- 2 biscuits with turkey meat with tea.

Lunch-Took the leftover taco meat with beans and turned it into a pot of Taco Soup served with biscuits, enough for lunch for two, plus Leftover soup for DH’s Lunch for tomorrow.

Supper-Corn Beef* with roasted cabbage, onions with herb bread, Strawberry/pinapple dessert.

*My first small cornbeef is ready and I wanted to give it a try and see how it turned out, so its currently simmering away in a lovely spiced pouching pan for the next few hours. My larger Peices are currently still in their lovely salty brine solution curing till next week.

Drinks -Water, Tea

Extra’s- Bread, Biscuits, Cookies, Chocolate Cranberry Loaf and Watermelon Cake

So what do you typically put in your corn beef pouching water, I went with  Whole Black Pepper, a stick of cinnamon, Bay leaf, Hot Chili Flakes, Whole Cloves, a pinch of Kosher Salt, two whole garlic Cloves and a onion peeled an sliced in half.  The house smells heavenly at the moment. I am finding it very interesting that the meat is pinking up as its cooking to a lovely rose red color by the time its finished.

I have enough being done so that we can have one for fresh use, and one to be slowly smoked and used for making Rubins.. will need to make some fresh sour cabbage to go with.

While I am aware that the average person won’t have stringing nettle frozen in the freezer or jars filled with it dried and crumbed for use all winter long or a place for it growing in their garden, I personally do, and if you have read the recipes on the site, its used all the time, all year long.. Just love the stuff.. Remember that cooking takes out the sting

For fresh eating and or harvesting, young and tender is best, but if you keep cutting the tips off, you can keep the plant giving you fresh tops for months, even if you don’t want to grow them to eat, at least use them in your garden, Nettles make a great general plant food, they have lots of nitrogen and also contain magnesium, iron and sulphur.

To make your liquid plant food, gather up some nettles and into water-tight containers, pack the container tightly, then cover with water until they are covered and leave to ferment for about 2 weeks or so, wait till the frothing died down, strain (putting the solids in the compost pile) and keep the liquid, mix it 1 part stinging nettle to 10 parts water for use on the garden plants, typically every two weeks.

I did a review of nettles on this site already, and about the little green nettle book called 101 uses for stinging nettles.

Breakfast-DH-Waffles, Mixed Fruit Compot FG-Red River porridge with a touch of sheep milk.

Lunch DH-Herb Bread Sandwhich with turkey, mayo, cake peice, and the rest of the grape compot. FG- 2 small bun turkey sandwhichs, with a large cabbage side salad.

Dinner-Homemade flat bread taco’s with homemade salsa, sheep yogurt and a bit of fresh sprouts for green with seasoned ground lamb and onion. Will use the other pd of seasoned lamb and onion to make a pizza for later use.

Drinks-Water, Tea and hot chocolate

Snacks: Herb Bread, Watermelon Cake, 2 Buns, Dill Crackers

Extra-Have strawberries thawing in the fridge that need to be used, have 2 pds of ground lamb that needs to be made into something.

1. Made 2 quarts of Strawberry/Pinapple Fruit compot
2. Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
3. Chocoalate Cranberry Loaf
4. Baking Powder Bisquits
5. Bread Batch, a loaf of bread, a dozen sandwhich buns and one large Pizza dough.
6. Baked off a Pot Roast, a Chicken and a Leg of lamb

We are under a really bad storm warning and typically in spring when we are to get high winds, heavy wet snow and then freezing rain, we can expect power going, so topping up extra water for the livestock, touching up any laundry that needs to be done, giving the hounds a extra run, hauling extra hay and bedding to the barn, in case I need to shut them up raither then coming out to eat at the hay feeder. Now we wait to see if the weather man is right? or if I am doing the extra work for not.

So do any of your grow or use Stinging nettle? If so, what do you use it for? What is your favorite recipe? Do you use it in the kitchen? the garden? for your livestock? in your herbal medical chest? If you don’t use stinging nettle, what is your “Go To” green herb that you grow an use all the time?

Well, it was time to find a subject and as I was cooking eggs in the origanal non-stick  Pan. Cast iron, I went huh, while its not a food, and the big ones weight a good amount, to be without cast iron would, well it would just be wrong somehow.. What else can you cook anything in, regardless if you are cooking over a open fire, on coals, on a wood stove or in your gas or electic stove, will last you a lifetime of wear and tear, has been hauled all across our great land tied to backpacks, dog packs, horse packs or by wagon.

When I was a young’n an my family was into Rendezvous (Black Powder Gun Clubs), one of the ladies events was the cast iron frying pan throwing contest, I don’t know if this was real or a yarn that I got told as child, but the ladies swore that the the frontier ladies used those frying pans as weapons when needed, All I know is that I spent a fair amount of time (or at least it seemed that way as child 🙂 learning how to hit targets with it LOL They said that you could take guy out in the knees with one of those suckers, and now as a adult having taken a few self-defence class’s , I gotta agree, a cast iron to the knee would really slow a guy down*

*Please note I am not recommending anyone try this at home

Breakfast -DH/FG -Toast with scrambled Eggs.

Lunch-Leftover Stuffing, Took Leftover Chicken/Potato’s/Onions and turned it into a soup, with extra veggies added from freezer (mixed) and a slice of cake (8 x 8 cut into nine) with cold Mint Tea.

Dinner-Waffles with mixed fruit compot on top

Snacks-Watermelon Cake, Dill crackers, 2 buns, and a herb loaf

drinks-Water, Tea, Hot Chocolate

Extra’s- double Batch of waffles made today.

I have 9 different sizes of Cast Iron cooking pans, ranging from little tiny ones, to the typical size to bean pots to meat cook ribs to pancake flat griddle.  What about you? Do you use Cast Iron in your cooking? Are you a wipe out owner or a scrub with soap and reseason owner? Have you used your Cast Iron over the coals to cook outside? What is “the one thing” that you have to cook in a Cast Iron pan only? For me its baked beans.