Hello, friends. Monday's high was in the 40's, but it was sunny and breezy, so I hung laundry on the line, which all dried by late afternoon. Good thing, as I was planning on putting our warmest flannel sheets back on the bed. A delicate shirt was hand washed and hung on the line as well. I had a pile of kraft paper I'd set aside to reuse for gift wrapping, but didn't use this holiday. I ironed it all, and put it with the holiday things, so it will be ready for next year. I made gnocchi with tomato broth, which used our tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil and homemade broth. Our lettuce was used in a salad, and dressing was made with honey and lemon juice.
While wrapping soap, I enjoyed listening to an On Being podcast on silence. I got our four little butternut squash from cold storage, and cut them up for squash crumble. The chickens got the seeds and innards. I went grocery shopping for the first time this year on Weds., mostly for fresh produce. At Aldi's, I found butternut squash for .99/#, and was happy to see 40# of sunflower seeds for $22.99 at Tractor Supply. I wanted to be sure I had plenty of bird seed, for the wintry event they predicted for the weekend. I stopped by the library to drop off a book, and picked up another, along with some Ken Burns documentaries about the National Park system. For a dinner, I baked some of our sweet potatoes, and used our cabbage in a new recipe for southern fried cabbage. J had leftover cranberry blueberry sauce with it, and I had warmed applesauce with cinnamon.
With frigid temps at night, I brought in a large container of parsley plants, to keep them going. I went through Swagbucks, for a Vitacost order, to get 6% back. A bag of figs in the freezer was used up in oatmeal during the week. I strained and bottled usnea tincture, stevia glycerite, lemon balm glycerite, and pine needle vinegar. Two loads of laundry were done on Friday, and hung on the line, in advance of the wintry weather. I gathered a few large potatoes from our outdoor storage, for fries, and made veggie burgers with lentils, oats, onions, garlic and spices, along with a salad. I'm loving eating our lettuce in mid-January.
The first hellebore bloom is a bit bedraggled, but welcome nonetheless. We woke up to sleet on Sunday, which fell all morning, then changed to freezing rain. I made the chickens a warm concoction of grains, powdered milk, nettles and lambs quarter. Our power flickered a few times, but stayed on. The gnocchi with broth always makes more broth than needed, so I added some of our cabbage to it (it already has carrots, celery, tomatoes, onions and garlic), and had soup for lunch. A bag of our broccoli was pulled from the freezer, and used in vegan mac and cheese, a comforting meal I've had in mind to make recently. Season One of A Chef's Life, about a restaurant in eastern NC we've enjoyed meals at a couple of times, was picked up at the library, and enjoyed for several days. Seeing all the wonderful meals makes me want to go back there. I hope you're staying warm and eating well. Have a great week, friends.
4 comments:
It sounds like you were thoroughly prepared for the snowstorm. I need to try that lentil burger recipe. Lentils are so versatile and we always have them on hand.
Hope you are enjoying the beautiful snow. It is so peaceful and it brings a lot of birds to our feeders.
Take good care.
Yes, I've been trying to use up some of the lentils in the pantry with these burgers. I alternate between these and black bean burgers. I hope you're having some cozy snow days.
I can see you are getting plenty of birds on your bird feeders. I love the one hanging upside down. I haven't seen one like that around here, ever, so I'm guessing it is an east coast bird. It's nice to see birds from other places, so thanks for the picture.
You are doing do good using up all your preserved/stored veggies and fruits. I love that. I've had friends in the past who preserve, then won't let anyone eat it. I understand it's a lot of work to do, but for me, the point is to use it!
I was trying to use up some red beans I found in the back of my pantry shelves. They were up high, and Rob reached them down thinking they were pintos. I decided I had neglected them long enough. But, I started some chili this morning, was not able to feed Patsy chili for first lunch, then dinner (it's her favorite and she wanted some today), and the beans finally softened at 8 this evening. I had to add water about 6 times. Thankfully, when I put the other 1/2 of the beans into my Instant Pot after they weren't softening either, they got almost too soft. I've got over a gallon of dry ones left up there, so I think I'm going to target them, using the pressure cooker, and get those guys used up! Good luck on using your lentils.
The bird is one of the woodpecker species here, the red bellied woodpecker. We're blessed to have several different species visit here. I hear you about the beans. Yesterday morning, I put a pot of homegrown crowder peas on the woodstove, and they thankfully softened up nicely, though some were from a 2017 harvest. When I've had beans that wouldn't soften in the past, I canned them up, which does the trick. I'm glad Patsy got her chili!
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