A Few of My Favorite Things! #1

Mar 7, 2016

Happy Monday! I hope you are all having an amazing start to spring! I realize that the first day of spring isn’t until March 20th, but the weather is in the 60’s, humming birds have returned to the office near my building, and running OUTSIDE has re-ensued.

In this first addition of “A Few of My Favorite Things!” I wanted to share a few things that are some of my favorites! Perhaps it will be a restaurant or store review, a favorite recipe I found on Pinterest, or new fun ideas that I’d love to have if all the cards were stacked right.

1.) Trader Joe’s – Went full on grocery (& wine) shopping at Trader Joe’s last Friday! I’ve been in there before, but never really got meals for a whole week or needed assistance. Well let me tell you! The employees there are the most amazing people in customer service! When asking someone where something was, they weren’t annoyed that they had to walk me half way over the store to help me find something, but acted as if it were their mission to make me feel like the most important person in the store. I was impressed so much that I may call the store tomorrow and ask to speak to the manager to rave about the Friday PM crew! Plus their $5 wine is actually really quite amazing! (coming from a “wine snob”)

2.) Sauna time – If all of the cards are stacked right, I’m crossing my fingers that my husband can build us a sauna this summer! Health benefits aside I’ve enjoyed drooling over photos of saunas on Pinterest, but realize there has to be a bit of practicality as well!

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3.) Taco Tuesday – We have full on implemented this on Tuesdays in our family! The three of us absolutely LOVE Tacos, and with the many variations of taco we felt we would never get bored! Besides shaking it up in the protein department (e.g. Venison, Beef or Chicken) we generally stick to the tired and true taco!

4.) Homemade Tortilla Chips – In addition to Taco Tuesday – I may or may not have a full blown obsession with tortilla chips. We almost always have various salsa laying around, but inevitably we run out of chips. Now – I do prefer my brand of chips, but when I’m running low, I was blown away by how unbelievably easy it was to whip up some! The good news, though this particular chip I linked to is thicker (I prefer the thinner chips) it is very sturdy when making nachos! (A great meal for left over taco fixin’s)

5.) A Lent to repent printables by Ann Voskamp. I absolutely love these printables that Ann Voskamp made available to her viewers. You do have to sign up on her website, but it’s pretty easy, and you can choose if you want to be mailed each day, or less often. Its like a little fortune cookie of faith each day with some amazing, and practical ways to move closer to God this Lenten season.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Eat your heart out diet

Feb 18, 2016

I had found this cleanse/diet on Pinterest several weeks ago, and I thought – It sounded so crazy that I had to try it!

While it does promise to help you loose weight fast – I was using it more as a cleanse and a jump start to healthier eating.

Currently two of my co-workers are on the Whole 30 Diet, and many others are making healthy choices as well, so I started feeling a little with guilty as I shoved my face full of tacos at warp speed and so much pasta and rice that could feed a whole slew of marathon runners.

While I would never consider myself “old” my metabolism has definitely slowed down to a snails pace… and while I wouldn’t consider myself “fat” I could definitely tell you that I could be more toned… so here I am jumping in with two feet.

Day One – Only fruit.
So far, this day has been easier than I thought considering I’m not a fruit person. I actually tried to do this cleanse a few weeks ago, but didn’t plan well enough so I ended up with fruits I barely like (sorry melons) so I grew bored and tired very quickly and quit by dinner time.

I did have some coffee with a tiny bit of creamer today, but wanted to avoid the inevitable headache that would come without. So – I figure I’ll slowly wean myself off that too.

Lunch included heated apples in cinnamon and nutmeg, and some starfruit with crushed pepper on it.

For dinner I was dying for something more savory. So I scoured Pinterest with sadly no ideas. For some reason however the spice Curry and Cumin kept coming to mind… so I peeled and chopped up some apple, and sautéed with a tiny drizzle of olive oil, and a bit of cumin and curry, topped again with a tiny drizzle of sesame oil and some crushed red pepper!

Not even kidding…its delicious. I would definitely make this again with some chicken next time!

After dinner I was still a bit hungry so I made a smoothie with two oranges, strawberries, grapes, and a kiwi. It was so good, reminded me of a dreamsicle. I can’t wait to have this again on day three!

Later on in the evening by 8:30-9:00 p.m. I was dreaming of cookies, and crackers, and OMG – I was going to raid my pantry… but instead I went to bed and checked some Twitter!

Day Two – Veggie Day + a potato with butter?
Well let me tell you! Today was SIGNIFICANTLY more exciting than yesterday! Yesterday I felt like I had been eating candy ALL day long, so I was very happy and excited to switch over to veggies since I love nearly all of them.

I actually took no photos today – which is odd… but I’ll recap.

For Breakfast I had some spaghetti Squash that I had made the night before, and topped with a little seasoning (which is allowed). It was surprisingly filling, and delicious.

Lunch was some more spaghetti squash with Japanese stir fry vegetables, with the slightest sprittzle of sesame oil, and crushed red peppers. This too was actually quite good and left me feeling satisfied.

For dinner – we had tacos. I made my tacos with bib lettuce as the shell, and added on tomatoes, onions, cilantro, jalapeños and La Victoria taco sauce. I looked on with sheer envy about the cheese. I realized out of all things taco… the cheese is my kryptonite.

After dinner I had my potato, and then made rutabaga fries. I’m feeling full tonight, and my crazy passion for raiding the pantry has left me.

Day Three – Veggies + Fruit (no potato)
Today went really really well! For breakfast I enjoyed some BLACK coffee and some grapes.

Lunch I had spaghetti squash and stir fried vegetables

Dinner I made up some pineapple cauliflower fried rice! It was absolutely amazing, and with some chicken & eggs I’d absolutely make that again and again!

I was so full that I didn’t even have an evening snack.

Day Four – Banana’s + Milk (I told you it sounded crazy)
I had been dreading this day since the inception of this crazy adventure. I mean… I like bananas… but ALL DAY? Common!

Strangely though, I felt rather satisfied! I had two bananas early in the day and 3 cups of milk. I was feeling pretty darn well.

Then I was sharing this crazy diet/cleanse with a co-worker and she let me know about one ingredient banana pancakes and ice cream, but I couldn’t find it online or on Pinterest. Everything required eggs too. I was feeling annoyed and demoralized! This diet could not be healthy!!!

I finally gave in and straight up quit the craziness on the spot!

After contemplation I decided I would implement a paleo-esque, PFC approach to eating.

For dinner I had some quesadillas, but made with corn shells NOT drenched in canola oil. Yes. I had cheese… that’s why I call it paleo-esque!

Day Five – ~~Chicken + Tomatoes~~

Breakfast:Had some grapes. I failed at adding any protien or fat on this go -round :(

Lunch: Had a “taco” salad. Lettuce, black beans (I know… not paleo), tomato, onion, jalapeno, and La Victoria taco sauce which IMHO is very good/healthy!

Dinner: For dinner I made banana pancakes and some chicken sausage! Oh my word to have some REAL PROTIEN!!!!!! To make the banana pancakes it takes one banana and two eggs.

I did find they were very difficult to “flip” but they did taste just like banana bread… so that was delicious!

Day Six – ~~Chicken + Veggies~~

Breakfast: Very sadly missed breakfast as I had to work. Had plain black coffee.

Lunch: Quesadilla (same as day 4 dinner). YES I KNOW. Not a strict paleo. 🙂

Dinner: Tacos, pulled pork, serrano peppers, onions, and cilantro! YUM!

Day Seven – ~~Miracle Soup~~

In Summation

Firstly, did I loose the weight? Well… actually I have no idea… I did weigh myself mid-week and had lost 3lbs, but I believe that to be all water weight. I haven’t weighted myself since, and don’t plan to for a while. To me, it wasn’t about the weight. It was about feeling better.

Though in my mind I knew I could do it… I really couldn’t believe I didn’t eat any junk food (which had quite frankly probably gotten out of hand at work), any grains, or overly processed dairy for four days(see ya soon Cheese).

It taught me a lot about my actual needs, and what I crave, and when I crave it.

I’ve hardly had any heartburn, which I usually have quite regularly… so perhaps this has something to do with bread/pasta or something in a processed food, since I regularly drench my food in crushed red pepper, and still have tomatoes with no effect.

Where from here you may ask? While I won’t lead it strictly (because… um hello Cheese… and hello corn shell tortillas, and hello wine….) I plan to go mostly Paleo/paleo-esque as I’d like to call it. As of February 8th, I’ve been creamer free in my coffee drinking only BLACK coffee…. and have enjoyed very little wheat products… I mostly plan to eat meat, veggies & fruits with few grains or dairy…. We shall see how this goes, and I will check in from time to time. I’d really like to give it a go for the long haul to see what kind of long term results will ensue.

I don’t plan on ever repeating the original ‘diet/cleanse’. I think its absolute RUBBISH to avoid healthy fats and protiens for an entire week. I was basically getting all of my calories from SUGAR and that’s what broke me on day 4. The sheer insanity of it!

I couldn’t believe I had hardly any protein or fat for four days, and I really don’t believe in eliminating macro-nutrients from my diet.

I found that I can create really unique dishes or combinations I would have never thought of! One of my new favorites is Star fruit and hot cayenne pepper…. and apples lightly sauteed in EVOO with some curry and cumin! I’ll for sure make that again but with some chicken and onion!!! WOAH!

I will replace cauliflower rice for regular rice as I absolutely loved my tropical fried “rice” i had made, and will really read the labels on my sauces. If I have “pasta” I will try to use spaghetti squash or zoodles which are to die for by the way!!!

While I’m sure I’ll slip up from time to time, or indulge here and there, I plan to follow an 80/20 rule as much as possible. Eat this way 80% of the time, and if there is a meal or two, or snack that contains dairy, or wheat, or rotten ingredients – so be it.

I’m still going to live life… but try through a healthier lens to eating!

Pan Seared Venison Steak with sautéed broccoli and rutabaga fries!

Jul 30, 2015

So ~ for the past several seasons my family and I have enjoyed watching Master Chef – to the point where my daughter now sets a timer every time I cook to see if I can make our meal in one hour!

Tonight was no different and the menu was Venison Steak with Sauteed broccoli and Rutabaga fries!

The Deer | Venison was hunted by my husband

The Broccoli and Rutabaga came from Minnesota Fresh Farm! To say that we were having a farm to table dinner tonight was spot on!

I prepared the venison by pulling it out of the fridge 1 hour before I intended to cook it to bring it up to room temperature.

I then fished out my 12″ Lodge Cast Iron Skillet and put it in an oven and pre-heated it to 450 degrees.

Next I cut my broccoli into little florets and blanched them – and threw them into a skillet – seasoned with salt and pepper about a T of olive oil and crushed red pepper. Then mixed together 1 t of brown sugar and 3 t of parmean cheese – mixed and set aside.

Next I peeled and cut up my rutabaga and cut into fry size pieces – tossed in 1 T of olive oil and some seasoning and put on a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil and put in the oven.

With about 20 minutes out from dinner time I threw some EVOO on my venison steak (after rinsing and patting dry) and some burger/steak seasoning – took the cast iron out of the oven and put on a medium/high flame on my stove top.

Seared the venison about 90 seconds and then flipped and threw the whole thing back in the 450 oven for 5 minutes each side since it was at least 1.5 inches thick.

I then pulled it out and let rest for 5 minutes.

Tossed the parmesan cheese and brown sugar on the broccoli.

Pulled out the rutabaga fries

and plated!

Served with a red blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, Petit Syrah and Petit Verdot!

Bon Appétit

Lessons from a Girl Scout Cookie Mom

Mar 5, 2015

Several months ago I started reading a fantastic book by Lysa Terkurst called The Best Yes. The only problem is that although it is amazingly good – I got onto reading several other books instead. The problem is that I really should have kept reading this book – The Best Yes! In this book – The Best Yes, Lysa urges us in the days of multi-tasking, and plate filling (the busy kind not the food kind) that sometimes we need to set boundaries so that we can say Yes to the things that really matter. The things that are most important to us, because surely we cannot say yes to everything right?

I am a boundary breaker [to myself]. I never know when to say no. If you guilt me into something – there is a 99% chance that I will say yes. It’s just my personality. Maybe blame it on serving in the Navy with the Seabees… but if I see a need, and nobody else will step up to the plate – you can bet your house that I will grab a bat and start swinging for the team.

So this brings me to my post topic.

Several months ago – my daughter joined Girl Scouts. Our troop needed what is called, “a Cookie Mom”. A mom that is basically superhumanly organized, can order cookies for her troop, and keep a running inventory of everyone’s cookies and track progress etc while staying in excellent contact with the moms in your troop. So when our troop leader reached out to our troop to see who would be willing to be Cookie mom – we all heard crickets. I was busy – and just coming off a mental and emotional roller coaster – and I thought – I need a break. I cannot say yes… but then when they reached out again and we continued to hear crickets, I went online – read the Cookie Manager handbook and picked up the bat, and stepped up to the plate to swing for the team.

I should have known better the instant I said yes. It’s not like they post the ACTUAL job description on the website – or anywhere public – because who would actually say yes to the real job description?

I gathered the other moms around to place the initial order for our girls – and ever since I picked up our first batch of cookies I’ve felt like a bonafide drug dealer. I mean- the whole operation is actually so organized – that it probably rivals an actual Columbian Cocaine operation.

I pulled up in my vehicle – all hush hush. I pulled up and asked if I was “Lindsey” and I said yes, and before I knew it they were schlepping cases and cases of cookies into my car. I couldn’t believe they had the right Lindsey, because they barely got any other information out of me – but in the end, I had the right amount of cookies in my car. (read – $2500 dollars worth of fricken cookies) When I “checked out” with the lady at the end she gave me a sly smile – I couldn’t tell if she was silently saying “good luck” – or “haha sucker”!

I am very organized, which has been a blessing because the the system that our beloved Girl Scouts uses – eBudde is not the most user-friendly thing on the planet (IMHO). If only I could count the hours that I have spent to uncluster the F*** that is eBudde I might be up for a volunteer hours award or something. Too bad I wasn’t getting paid – because I’d be a millionaire by now.

I don’t know how it happens, lets blame it on lack of sleep but inevitably numbers are skewed, and do not match up to inventory, and I am so paranoid that I am going to mess something up and we will owe hundreds, or thousands of dollars from our troop that I have to spend hours and hours and hours allocating cookies, or reevaluating cookie counts, and making sure I hit SAVE (which is not where you think it would be) – which I think is the real problem. Lets not even mention the fact that the business practices we use are horribly outdated and inefficient. I have always considered myself to be a supremely organized person, but you absolutely have to bring your “A” game – no B Squad organization skills in this game.

Then there is the constant cookie eating, I mean – seriously – I got a stand-up desk at work to combat the cookie season. Forget the “Holiday Fifteen” – I’m terrified I’m going to gain 20lbs because I eat sleeves of Thin Mints in 5 minutes! – I somehow justify it however by telling myself I’m earning my daughter a cheap prize that was made in China, and helping her to go to summer camp. “Kid – we’re walking 15 miles at summer camp!” ” Why mom?” “Because your camp cost me 15 miles of hiking – that’s why…”

Emails! Emails, phone calls, sketchy text messages, money, money, money and constant communication. Nobody tells you that you will become ~~a drug dealer~~ that annoying telemarketer/ wall street banker trying to stay in constant contact with other moms to ensure that they have enough cookies- and find out how many cookies they’re sitting on, and how much money they’ve brought in. “Are you moving your cookies, because if you’re not, so-and-so can move them for you. – How much money do you currently have? Can you bring it over tonight at 8pm?”, and then I get frantic texts and e-mails from troop moms… “Help! My husband’s co-workers are Samoas addicts – we need three cases immediately!” Drug dealers I tell you. Drug dealers! I feel like I’m moving product and the drug is pure delicious sugar.

We still have a solid three weeks of cookie selling left and I don’t know how I’m going to make it. I look forward to freedom like a teacher feels at the end of the school year, or a prisoner of war looking to go home. For the love of Christ – if you have any kitchen cupboard room – buy some more girl scout cookies. If a girl scout stops by your house – and you’ve already purchased from Cub Foods or Walmart – help a cookie mom out and buy another box. They freeze well. And if you absolutely cannot eat anymore – then offer to contribute cash – so that they can donate to the Cookies for the Community. Our troop is donating cookie boxes to the Coon Rapids Middle School Food Shelf where 50% of kids draw from it each week.

So… lessons learned and tips to share.

1.) If you have a young daughter and someone asks you to be a cookie mom… run…. far-far away!
2.) Cookie season is done in three weeks. Come May you’re going to regret that you didn’t buy from that cute girl scout who stopped by your door in March to purchase a case of thin mints to last you all summer.
3.) I have literally had a scenario where I have needed to jump in the shower – but didn’t know when certain moms were going to swing by… I was terrified they were going to ring the doorbell and I would be half naked while trying to manage cookie sales and personal hygiene.
3.) Have fun. Though I’m kvetching about how hard this is – it is rewarding. I get to spend some precious hours with my daughter and help her with some social skills that she needs to develop.
4.) If you did happen to be suckered in to being a cookie mom – enjoy a glass of wine at the end of the day.

Venison Bourguignon

Jan 9, 2015

~ In the Classical French Style!

I just love cooking. Creating something with my hands, and the ingredients sifting through my fingers. I wanted to create something more classic than the modern fair that has been serving me and my family so well from Pinterest. Not that there is anything wrong with those recipes. I love those recipes, but I wanted a real challenge!

While at the grocery store and not having my list, I was in the soup aisle and grabbed some beef stock. On the back was a recipe for Beef Bourguignon. Since we have an entire deer I thought I would easily translate this over to a French Classic version of Venison Bourguignon. How hard could it be? So in the cart it went!

After watching several videos last Thursday night 1/1 I settled on a mashup of some professional chef I found on You Tube, and Julia Child. As a young girl Julia Child’s voice drove me nuts and I couldn’t stand her, but now as an aspiring home chef I absolutely adore her! She has so many great tips that you just don’t find in the cooking shows of today, and lets be honest… the girl is hilarious! I could easily see her and I being BFFs! (I know she has since passed) I literally stayed up until 1:00 a.m. watching her videos! She is my hero.

I started the process around 1:30 p.m. or so trimming a 1.5# venison roast. There wasn’t much to trim besides a bit of the tallow, so I then cut it into large chunks (slightly bigger than bite size) and gathered my ingredients and supplies.

10in Dutch Oven
Cast Iron Skillet
Large Batter Bowl from Pampered Chef
non-stick LARGE skillet

Firstly I sprinkled in a bit of pepper on the bottom of the Batter Bowl and then put the venison chunks. Next I grabbed my garlic slicer (also from Pampered Chef) and rough chopped 3-4 garlic cloves, and then thinly sliced the garlic over the venison. Lastly I poured enough wine over the venison to just barely cover it, and set it aside.

Set my oven to 425 degrees and put the 10in Dutch Oven inside to preheat both.

Next I started out cutting 4 pieces of bacon into small strips, and then putting them into the large skillet over medium heat to render the fat out of the bacon. After it was nice and toasty I used a slotted spoon (actually the nylon deep fry spatula works best) to set the bacon aside.

I also started cooking half a dozen boiling onions peeled with some olive oil in a small sauce pan. Normally you would finely chop these, but since my husband hates onions I settled for keeping them whole.

While the bacon was cooking I peeled and largely chopped 4 carrots, and peeled about 5 more small (boiling size) onions. You could use a shallot too, but you wouldn’t want your onions any bigger than the shallot size. You can maybe quarter or half these onions, but keep them rather large.

My venison was ready to cook. I browned each side for approximately 3-4 minutes per side without crowding the skillet too much, and then set aside leaving all of that glorious bacon fat in the hot skillet.

I immediately put my carrots and onions in the skillet with the bacon fat and had on medium heat. I also added maybe 2-3 cups of beef broth.

Once my venison was cooled enough to handle I dredged in flour. Don’t make it so that its completely caked with flour – just enough to be sticky and gooey.I then opened the oven, poured in a bit of Olive Oil in the dutch oven, and then placed my venison in there and set the timer for 7 minutes.

Now that my onions in the small saucepan were starting to turn golden brown I added in about a 1/4 of tomato paste until cooked down. After that I poured my wine marinade into the sauce pan, added the bacon in and turned down to the lowest simmer. Once that came to a full summer I added in a teaspoon of thyme, let it just simmer.

Now go back into the oven and stir the venison, and let braise another five minutes.

After the five minutes is up, add the entire contents of the small saucepan mixture into the dutch oven, add the lid, and VERY IMPORTANTLY lower the oven temperature to 320 F.

Now I got to just sit back and wait for about three hours while the venison, and the wine, onion, tomato purée mixture cooked for about three hours! Enjoy a glass of wine and pick up the kitchen while you wait, or scout Pinterest for more fun recipes!

At the tail end of the braising I put my daughter to work by having her clean the mushrooms! She thought this was super cool, and felt super important!

I then grabbed my cast iron skillet to start on the mushrooms. Keep them whole. First I melted 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once that was heated through, I added the mushrooms and gave it a good stir. Next one of my recipes said to put a quarter cup of cognac over the top and light on fire! I did not have any cognac so I tried Jamison whiskey but that did not have high enough of an alcohol content to start on fire, so instead we have whiskey mushrooms! (If you do try the cognac step back from the skillet or you may burn your eyebrows off and that wouldn’t be good at all!)

Once the mushrooms were complete and the three hours of braising was done I added mushrooms carrots and the onions that were previously cooked all into the Dutch oven and roasted for another 20 minutes!

While that was going on I started a pot of egg noodles to serve everything over and FINALLY it was time to eat at 6:30 p.m.!

I dished everyone up a plate and took my first glorious bite alongside a delicious sip of Marechal Foch from St. Croix Vineyard!

I would definitely make this again and definitely on a weekend because it just takes too long to make on a week night.

My Hero!

This list is what I used in my Venison Bourguignon.

Bon Appétit!

Caramelized Onion and Beet Soup

Sep 10, 2014

Fall is officially upon us here in Minnesota. The high today was a brisk 53 degrees, and soup definitely sounded like it was going to be the dinner entree of choice! I stopped by the Farmers Market on the way home and picked up my weekly haul from Minnesota Fresh Farm, grabbed a bottle of my favorite Tempranillo, and decided that for the first time I was going to ACTUALLY try the Caramelized Onion and Beet Soup I found on Pinterest several weeks ago.

Here is the recipe.

This dish was incredibly easy to make. All I had to do was trim the stems and tails off my beets, and then peel them up. Next I sliced up an onion and the rest was “chuck in the pot and go”. I even had FRESH homemade chicken broth from the whole chicken I made up two days ago… in exactly 4 cups! I mean… how awesome is that! Nearly everything that went into the pot was grown within 15 miles of our home. (including the chicken!)

The aromas that drenched our house were amazing! My husband did not think so, and since he hates onions he went to Burger King! (GASP!!) Instead I finished up this recipe, plucked some basil from my garden and put in several leafs when it came to blending. So I suppose mine fully integrated with basil. I toasted some walnuts for about 7-8 minutes and decorated with full basil leaves.

Isn’t it gorgeous?

Thank you so much goboroot for posting this on pinterest, or thank you to whoever pinned it… and thank you Emi for creating such a delicious and GORGEOUS dish!!! It tastes very similar to Basil Tomato soup with the basil in it, and the earthiness of the very easy drinking, light tannin really Tempranillo brings out the beet root taste.

JAM packed Saturday!

Jun 21, 2014

Miss K was supposed to have a soccer tournament today, but with most of the fields still saturated the tourney was called off. So we decided to head up to Minnesota Fresh Farm, and handpick strawberries. Neither me or my daughter had ever picked berries before today, and it was on my goals to continue to fill up her memory bucket! After we take home our haul and make jam we’re headed out to the Minnesota Zoo with Jason’s brother Jeremiah and his girlfriend Amillie for a fun filled family day!

(Scroll down for all the pic’s)

Woke up early and headed to the farm up the road! We’re going to make homemade jam today before we head out to the zoo!

Me and my girl being strawberry pickers! We were the first ones to pick this year! (They don’t open for appointments until tomorrow, but they let us sneak in! ~ Thank You!)

Working on getting lots of berries for homemade freezer jam!

Look at that load! We have lots for jam and plenty to spare for a chicken strawberry salad tomorrow on Arugula and Kale!

Destemed, slicked and now time to mash mash mash!

Starting to look like jelly, or the beginning of strawberry wine!

Time to stir in the sugar and pectin!

And finally scoop all of that into jars. Let sit for 30 minutes, and then pop them into the freezer! Easy as… JAM!

Minnesota – Week 22

Jun 5, 2014

This is a chicken farm…. and we’re the chickens!

STOCK PHOTO

I am so excited about this post! After ~~weeks~~ months of planning we finally have our chicken operation up and running! We finally got our chickens in. After pouring over several articles from Pinterest, and other websites we chose the Isa Browns/Red Stars which are very friendly/docile mega egg layers, and are supposed to do very well over the winter months continuing to lay the eggs. Now I realize that our family of seven just went to a family of 12, but our chicks whom we’ve named Beatrice, Anita, Ginger, Natalie and Babs will give us something nobody else is… FOOD! These will JUST be for eggs, and companionship of course. Our meat chicks are being raised by our friends who have more acreage.

Beatrice, Anita, Ginger Natalie and Babs arrived to the Elk River post office just this morning and our friend Phil was kind enough to pick them up. We drove over to their house tonight to get them and bring them home. They went peep peep peep the whole way home!

Beatrice, Anita, Ginger Natalie and Babs – Day old Pullets

Currently they’re all huddled around the lamp taking a nap. They’ve had a very long day of hatching and travel from Iowa at Hoover’s Hatchery.

(I just went and checked on them, and they’ve woken up! They’re currently chasing the little mosquitos that have gotten in the brooder and are happily feasting on little bugs and their food of course!)

To start with we just got our basic brooding supplies as they will live in the brooder for the first several weeks anyways.

Supplies we needed:
Like I said, to start off with – we just needed the very basics, so we got the following:

* Brooder Box
* Heat Lamp – I had a 60w bulb, but it didn’t feel very warm so I switched to a 100w.
I will check it before I go to bed and in the morning.
* Water Container
* Food Container
* Large pine shavings
* Thermometer (I still have yet to get – apparently 100 degrees is the magic number)
* Feed

Eventually they will have to move into the coop, but we’re undecided about building one from scratch or getting the 1/2 built ones from Fleet Farm. We’ll probably build our own, and I really want Jason to build this one, although I really like this style too!!!! Eh- we’ve got time.

Farmers Market

Pam, Maggie & I all headed down to the Minneapolis Farmers Market last weekend to get our plants. I got Cilantro, Basil, Celery, Rosemary, Lemon Verbena, Asparagus, Jalapanos, Habeneros, and a tomato plant. I have already harvested some of the basil and it tastes divine!

Yard Work

We’ve (and by we’ve I really mean Jason) have been hitting it hard in the backyard! Jason built a pavers ring around our firepit in the back, and has been working on some retaining walls. Soon he will bring home a dump truck of wood chips to fill in the blanks! Once semi complete I will take some pictures.

New favorite wines

I have had a love – hate – love relationship with Pinot Noir. As many red wine drinkers can attest this “gateway to reds” wine is a favorite among many novice drinkers. After trying much heavier, bolder, drier wine I began to HATE pinot Noir, but recently I have had a few amazing ones!
> Erath
> redtree (thanks to my dear friend who got this for me… yes it is VERY drinkable)

My favorite wine to date has got to be Summers Charbono! It is absolutely spectacular and VERY much worth the $25 price tag. I also very much love the Reserve Bonpas Chateauneuf du Pape, but at $40 a bottle, its a “treat”. Currently however Bota Box is on sale at the liquor store for $14.99 so this girl has been drinking plenty of that! By the end of summer I really want to try Chateau Montelena’s famous Chardonnay!

Let It Go! ~ Dinner

Apr 10, 2014

Inspired by many of my friends posting tonight about their kids singing “Let It Go” join me on a brand new series titled… “Let It Go”.

Sometimes I have a hard time letting things go…. Over the next several weeks join me on my new series of letting things go. From cooking, to parenting styles, lessons on forgiveness, and spring cleaning!

I am definitely the planning ahead of time type of girl. I cannot stand anything more than not knowing what I’m going to be doing in a particular day. In fact I found a very nifty app called the Cozi Calendar which has all but changed my life, and you might want to check out if you’re the kind of person who is like me… Everything from school activities to evening activities is completely synchronized between my husband and I’s iPhones. Now there is never the, “You never told me that we had xyz going on tonight…” Seriously, filling in my tasks, and outings in my calendar/planner gives me one of the greatest joys in life. (Moreover I do not argue with you that I am a weirdo.)

For years, I have definitely been the meal planning type of wife and mom. Oftentimes I’m planning at least a week in advance if not a few weeks and sometimes even a whole month. I would be hardly caught dead ordering fast food for the night, (and I do not judge those of you who do) although the occasional pizza delivery or Chipotle slips, but the truth is, I absolutely LOVE cooking. In my next life I am definitely going to be an executive gourmet chef, or maybe start a food blog… or maybe this will start turning into a food blog!

I’ve never quite understood women who didn’t meal plan and thought to myself, “How did they know what to eat for dinner?”

I love having my dinners for the week written very neatly in my calendar, and on my meal chalkboard next to my stove with hyperlinks to the menus that I am going use for that night.

What is happening though is that generally on Fridays or Saturdays after work I would hit the grocery store with my list of items that I needed to buy for the next week or two. But of course the inevitable happens. Schedules get overloaded, emergencies come up and I’m not having the time to prepare these extravagant meals… So we would either call for pizza or make something completely different using only a quarter or half of the ingredients I had allotted for that particular day.

Thanks to my church I now keep a budget. Like a corporate style budget for my family. While seeing what our actuals were for the month of March I discovered that we spent over $600 on groceries! Yes you read that right… for a family of THREE and that was ONLY groceries! I hang my head in shame. I can tell you we probably did not eat $600 dollars’ worth of groceries…

So… my husband and I decided to alter our plans to be a tad more on the fly! Sure I still have ideas of what I want to make for the week, or the next several days, but instead of shopping for a whole week or month, I now just get what we needed for a particular night or the next couple nights, and then using the left over ingredients up in the next few nights dinners. Plus on the account of the fact that we have so much venison and poultry there is no reason to be spending that much in groceries.

So far we’re already drastically under March’s budget actuals. (Moreover we are only a third through April!) We have a lot less waste, and there is more room for creativity on my part. I have even been throwing together dishes that sound good in my head without following any kind of recipe and its really freeing. Absolutely freeing.

Stay tuned my friends to the series, “Let It Go” over the next few weeks. What are some of the things you need to let go of? Comment below!

Thai Peanut Chicken

Jan 9, 2014

We had just eaten a big snack after lunch, so when 5:30 p.m. rolled around nobody was hungry. We decided we would just eat after gymnastics practice. Only problem was, I didn’t have a plan!

I am a total planning kind of girl. Normally I have at least two weeks of meals planned in advanced, but last night we were going rouge.

I had a hankering for Peanut Butter Chicken Wraps, which are just divine, but I didn’t have any commercially bought peanut sauce, nor did I have 1/2 the ingredients from my recipe book to make peanut sauce, so I decided to go Martha Stewart and make it up as I went. I didn’t measure anything so I’ll make complete guesses.

Chicken , maybe 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (as much as you want, cooked your favorite way)

Olive Oil (splash)

1 Cup of Chicken Broth (complete guesstimate)

1 Cup of Peanut Butter (again, complete guesstimate)

1/4 cup of Soy Sauce (guesstimate)

1 TBLS of minced onion, fresh preferred, or dry spice

2 bell peppers rough chopped (red, yellow or orange)

Mix that together until the chicken is warmed

Top with Cilantro

Top with Crushed Red pepper

A nice start ahead was that we had made Chicken Adobo a few nights earlier so I didn’t have to actually cook any chicken!

I placed the chicken in my large skillet and added about a splash or two of EVOO. Then I sprinkled in some soy sauce, and minced garlic. MMMM Creamy.

Meanwhile I started chopping up some bell pepper. Honestly, mushroom, kale, onion, broccoli would work well in this dish as well. Once I was done rough chopping I threw that in the skillet as well.

After a while I noticed the peanut butter sauce was very very thick, so to lighten it up I added about a cup or so of chicken broth until light and creamy.

Now. You could serve in a lettuce wrap right here and be done with it.

But I cooked up some rice, and served it over rice, topped with cilantro, and since I like all things spicy I added some crushed red pepper to my dish to make it really come alive.

Bon Appetit!

Little Blessed Life

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Category Archives: Food + Wine