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Bent Arrow Challenge 2018: The First 10 Days

August 31, 2018 by Erika

August is basically over and I have yet to update you all on what we've been making to eat local  (unless you're following along on Instagram).  I will do three posts, ten days each, of what we ate with links to the recipes if they weren't an original creation.  I do hope to upload some new recipes sometime in September and October as well.

If you are looking at some ingredients and wondering how in the world they are local, make sure to check out my first post on what our freebies were.  We also allowed ourselves to eat anything that was already in the house so that we didn't waste food and allow it to spoil.  These already bought items show up especially in the first ten days.  Another thing to note is that we do make our own mayo and sour cream regularly, so those were homemade using items from our freebie list.

Also, some of the meals are what I ate and not the kids.  I tried to avoid things like American cheese slices on my burgers even though we let the kids have them on theirs because the slices were already in the fridge.  However, for the most part, the kids ate what we did.  I caved once or twice for things like bananas and raisins when they were shopping with me for their snacks.

Alright, here we go!

August 1

Breakfast

  • Eggs with tomatoes & basil

Lunch

  • Arby's (lunch out with my Dad before our oldest started kindergarten)

Dinner 

  • Smoked Sausage zucchini skillet over pasta
    • NOTE: sausage was already in the fridge because of a change of dinner plans the previous week

August 2

Breakfast

  • Toast with jam
    • Both were homemade.  All bread was either homemade or locally made unless otherwise noted going forward.

Lunch

  • Chick-fil-A (lunch with my mom before my oldest started kindergarten)

Dinner

  • BKT (bacon, kale, tomato) sandwiches
  • grilled corn on the cob

August 3

Breakfast

  • Toast with jam

Lunch

  • Big Brick House Pasta linguini with roasted red pepper sauce
  • peaches from the farmers market
  • green tea with lavender syrup (made with my dried lavender)

Dinner

  • Mississippi roast
    • pepperocini peppers were some canned last garden season we were using up
  • Mashed potatoes
  • Corn on the Cob

Snack 

  • Homemade Brownies
    • used canola oil from Healthy Hoosier Oil

August 4

Breakfast

  • Homemade biscuits with sausage gravy
    • We had a local hog butchered to put in our freezer this summer.

Lunch

  • Pesto over pasta
  • Peaches

Dinner

  • Eggplant quiche
  • Fried green beans (without the wasabi dressing)

Snack 

  • Stopped at a local coffee shop for an iced coffee and also grabbed a can of Mountain Dew (not really a freebie but technically I'm allowed to eat out and they had it......LOL!)
  • Cilantro hummus from the farmers market with some tortilla chips we had in the pantry

August 5

Breakfast

  • Leftover biscuits with sausage gravy

Lunch

  • Grilled hamburgers topped with tomatoes and homemade refrigerator pickles
  • Deviled Eggs
  • Watermelon

Dinner

  • Fresh homemade bread with butter and jam
  • Watermelon
  • Spoonful of Revival Almond Butter

(NOTE: Because of how late our church lets out, we usually eat lunch between 1-2 on Sundays, so our "dinners" are usually snacks or leftovers.  On our meal planner, I call it the "clean the fridge" night.)

August 6

Breakfast

  • Toast with jam

Lunch

  • Leftover eggplant quiche
  • Leftover deviled eggs
  • Watermelon

Dinner

  • Tacos
    • I made the flour tortillas found in The Hands-On Home
    • We also have a beef in our freezer from last fall

August 7

Breakfast

  • Toast with jam

Lunch

  • Leftover tacos
  • Peaches

Dinner

  • Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup
    • I left out the tomato paste to keep things local and I make my own stocks throughout the year and freeze them.
    • Also, we make this fresh, eat it for a meal and then freeze the leftovers to use in the winter.  Try it!
  • Dairy Queen ice cream for dessert
    • The kids earned free cones this summer at the library from the summer reading program and I wasn't going to not get some too!

Great Indiana-made products

August 8

Breakfast

  • Toast with jam

Lunch

  • Leftover eggplant quiche

Dinner

  • Pizza Hut
    • It was the night before Kindergarten started so we let our daughter pick dinner
    • Peach and Blueberry Greek Yogurt Cake
      • Blueberries were some we picked and froze earlier in the summer.
    • Homemade whipped cream

August 9

Breakfast

  • Pancakes and Bacon

Lunch

  • Leftover pizza
  • Leftover cake

Dinner

  • Caprese Bread
    • We didn't use the balsamic
    • I tried to make my own ciabatta using the recipe in The Italian Baker
  • Deviled Eggs
  • Chocolate Chip Cookies

Snack

  • Chocolate chip cookies

August 10

Breakfast

  • Leftover pancakes

Lunch

  • Leftover pizza
  • Peaches
  • Cookies

Dinner

  • Eggplant Parmesan
  • Big Brick House Pasta linguini
  • Pesto ciabatta

Snack

  • Chocolate chip cookies

And there you go!  The first ten days of meals in the eat local Bent Arrow Challenge 2018.  Let me know if you have any questions about how we sourced some ingredients locally.  I'm loving that we've discovered new Indiana brands and are making the most of our garden.

Erika
Influence Network
Food Lovers Devotional

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Bent Arrow Challenge 2018: Eat Local

July 30, 2018 by Erika

Y'all know how important local food is to me.  I'm all about gardening, farmers' markets and supporting local agriculture.  So last year when my friend Claire over at Bent Arrow Acres challenged herself to eat only local for the month of August, I was in awe!  And I planned to try to do it for a week this summer.  BUT Claire is doing the whole month again this year and has created a challenge (with prizes) for others to join her.  So we're going to give it a go and join in.

Concerns

My biggest concerns are: Our oldest starts kindergarten this year, and I have no idea how this will affect our schedules and daily life yet.  My husband will continue classes for his masters.  And I have small kids that eat what we eat for meals...no short-order cook here.

As a perfectionist, I have already identified that I could easily let the challenge overwhelm and stress me out.  I DO NOT want that!  To prevent this, I'm already speaking grace over myself.  The challenge does allow for people to pick some "freebie" items and I'm probably being more lenient with our family than I would if it were just my husband and myself or if we had older kids.  And if I fall off the wagon for a meal or a day, I'll just do my best the next.

My Plan

My plan is to visit Lucky's Market and Bloomingfoods a couple of times during the challenge.  While they are a bit further away, they have a great variety of Indiana produced foods and products.  There are also a few things that I'm allowing as "freebie" items that I'll only allow if I get them from either of these stores' bulk sections.  Partly because I'm excited about how this challenge can help us reduce our waste and partly because doing this will keep me from being too quick to grab things off the local grocery's shelves.

Obviously we have the garden and our own eggs, so we will try to eat a lot from there.  We also have locally raised beef, pork and one of Bent Arrow's chickens in our deep freezer that will take care of any meat we eat.  Things from the garden that we will definitely be able to eat are tomatoes, eggplant, green beans, carrots, shallots, garlic, peppers and maybe corn (It isn't looking too hot.).  Hopefully my zucchini, summer squash and watermelon plants will do something this month too!

We also have access to two farmers' markets, one on Tuesdays and one on Saturdays.  We will shop here frequently as well during the challenge.

Baked goods are something that we already make homemade most of the time.  All bread will be homemade and I'm excited to try to make tortillas and hamburger buns this month!

Our Freebie List

Freebies are things that you can't find local or can't easily make yourself.  HOWEVER, this list should not allow you to buy everything you normally do.  It's a CHALLENGE, remember?  That being said, I do have a few items that are freebies for the kids and not for my husband and myself because I'm just not going to make a 7 month old, 3 year old and 5 year old go completely without some of their favorite things like bananas and shredded cheese.

  • All flours (bread, all-purpose, whole wheat, etc.)
  • Sugars
  • Additional baking items (baking soda/powder, salt, etc.)
  • Cocoa powder (bulk only-we make our own chocolate syrup for the kids' milk and my coffee creamer)
  • Spices (although most herbs dried or fresh will come from my garden)
  • Butter
  • Heavy Cream
  • Cultured Buttermilk
  • Milk (do plan to try to get some from Traders Point and Oberweis, but won't be able to get it all from them)
  • Peanut Butter (bulk only-my kids love PBJ sandwiches and my husband takes them to work a lot)
  • Coffee/Tea
  • Dry pasta
  • Cooking Oils (plan to purchase California Olive Oil and Healthy Hoosier Oils when at all possible)
  • Cheeses (This is mostly for the kids.  I plan to try to avoid cheese as much as possible.  And I do plan to try my hand at making mozzarella!)
  • Lemons
  • Condiments (ketchup and mustard mostly.  I plan to try to make my own ranch dressing and always make my own mayo)

As far as restaurants are concerned, I'm saying that all are fair game.  I know this is an area that Claire is really good about choosing only locally owned places, but one request of my kids when we have to go to Bloomington is Chick-Fil-A.  We also occasionally grab a pizza when I'm single parenting for the night while my husband is in class.  So the plan is to TRY to avoid chains, but I'm not going to beat myself up if its been a crazy and I breakdown and get a carry out pizza from Pizza Hut.

I'm also giving myself a pass on anything already in the house...and no, I'm not going out to stock up on items before the challenge so that I can use this as an excuse.  However, I haven't planned a cleaning out of the pantry this week because of other stuff going on, so if it's already here, its fair game until it runs out.

And my new kindergartener will eat in the cafeteria at school on some days.

How You Can Join

If you think this is something you want to try, even for just one day or one meal, you CAN make a difference!  Visit Bent Arrow Acres's website for more information and to get on their mailing list for tips and rules for the prizes!  I hope to be able to share weekly posts about what we ate, but at the very least, you can follow along on social media.  Use the hashtag #bentarrowschallenge2018 to see what I'm cooking as well as what everyone else is trying!

 

Erika
Influence Network
Food Lovers Devotional

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Farmer’s Dandelion Salve

May 1, 2018 by Erika

As I've read more and more about homesteading and reducing waste, foraging has become a topic of interest, mostly because you're getting something for nothing.  Great for the budget!  The plant that has caught my attention most this year is the dandelion.  And while I still don't know if I love them all over my yard, I do know we don't want to spray them because of the honeybees.  So why not make lemonade out of lemons...or salve out of dandelions?

The other day, after spending the afternoon working on my raised beds, my hands were rough.  That's what happens after they spend all winter inside.  And I had to keep reapplying lotion to make them feel moist again.  I had heard of salves for farmers, and I knew that people were in love with dandelions for stuff like this, and so the Farmer's Dandelion Salve was concocted!

Dandelions are used in salves like this because of their analgesic properties.  They can help reduce inflammation and ease muscle fatigue.  Who knew that a "weed" that we work so hard to get rid of, can actually ease the pain of all that work?!

I added a few additional ingredients to this salve for varying reasons.

  • Unrefined coconut oil: Coconut oil is a great moisturizer for skin because it penetrates deep.  This will help with the excessive dryness that can occur after a day of working in the dirt.
  • Beeswax pellets: Beeswax creates a barrier on skin to help lock in the moisture.  Plus, it helps the salve harden!
  • Raw Shea Butter: Raw shea butter is extremely moisturizing and can provide immediate relief to dry hands.  It also does not liquefy at room temperature helping to harden the salve a bit.
  • Lavender essential oil: Lavender oil contains antimicrobial properties which can help to speed up the healing of cuts and burns.
  • Helichrysum essential oil: Helichrysum has been shown to contain anti-inflammation properties and is also used in many anti-aging products to help with the appearance and heath of skin.  It is easy for a farmer's or gardener's hands to look "old" because of the hard work those hands endure.
  • Roman Chamomile essential oil: Chamomile also had anti-inflammatory properties to help your tired hands or neck muscles.  The anti-inflammatory properties, along with the anti-bacterial properties, found in chamomile also make it a great oil for skin health.

The first thing you want is to go in the morning or early afternoon on a sunny day to pick the dandelions.  You want the dew to be dried up, and the flowers to be fresh and open.  This is a great job for little hands to help with!

Once you have a good amount of flower heads, pluck out the petals and lay them out on a towel or drying basket.  Allow them to dry overnight or close to 24 hours.  Dandelions have a lot of moisture, and many people cautioned that adding the flowers without drying them first will cause your lotions, oils and salves to mold or mildew.

You want to make sure to melt your coconut oil.  This does two things: First, it allows you to pour it and mix the flowers in.  Second, the heat helps to allow the oils from the dandelions to infuse into the coconut oil.  Keeping the oil in the sun allows the oil to stay warm and liquid, helping the infusion process.  Your oil should be a golden yellow when you are done.

I used beeswax pellets because of how easily they melt and how simple they are to work with and measure.  However, if I had access to our own beeswax, I would definitely use that instead.

Glass jars are perfect for storing this salve.  Plastic has been reported to leach chemicals into products.  Plus, essential oils will penetrate the plastic so that it will forever smell like whatever oils you have used.  Filling  small glass Ball Canning Jars, like I did, would make a great gift for the farmer, gardener or homesteader in your life!

I personally use doTERRA essential oils and love visiting Dr. Axe's website for essential oil information, but I am NOT a medical professional and you should always do your own research before starting to use essential oils.

Disclaimers: Erika Bault is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

I am a doTERRA wellness advocate and do make a commission if you purchase any of the oils via the website link provided.

Farmer's Dandelion Salve
2018-05-01 15:18:07
A great salve to help hands heal after a day working on the farm
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Ingredients
  1. 1 cup dried dandelion petals
  2. 1 cup refined coconut oil*
  3. 1/4 cup beeswax pellets
  4. 1 TBSP unrefined shea butter
  5. 7 drops helichrysum oil
  6. 7 drops roman chamomile oil
  7. 10 drops lavender oil
Instructions
  1. Collect several dandelion flowers. Pluck the petals from the flowers. It's ok if some of the green gets mixed in. Let the petals dry overnight.
  2. Heat the coconut oil until it is melted.
  3. Place the dandelion petals in a glass jar and pour the warm coconut oil over the petals. Place a lid on the jar and place it in a sunny spot for several hours while the dandelions infuse the oil.**
  4. Pour the oil through a fine mesh strainer and squeeze the oil out of the flower petals into a small saucepan.
  5. Add the beeswax pellets and shea butter to the dandelion infusion. Heat until all are melted.
  6. Remove from heat and add the other essential oils. Stir.
  7. Pour the salve into your jars and let them cool, making sure not to bump them and disturb the salve or it won't harden as pretty.
  8. Store in a cool place and use as needed after a hard day working with your hands.
Notes
  1. *Do not use fractionated coconut oil since it remains liquid. You want your salve to harden back up.
  2. **I let mine infuse for 6.5 hours, but you can do it even longer. I was just too excited to wait anymore.
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Erika
Influence Network
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How To Build a Raised Bed Garden

April 20, 2018 by Erika

Last year we (meaning I) decided that we (again, I) needed a raised bed garden for some of my perennials like herbs and strawberries along with space for my root vegetables and lettuces.  So I did what I always do and I went to Pinterest for some inspiration.  And then I did what I always do again, and I combined a few different ideas to work for my needs.

We built four of these beds for under $200 total!  I love being able to step off of our back deck and snip some herbs for dinner or pull up a carrot or two.  Just last night I was able to cut some chives for baked potatoes, and I can't wait until we can go gather strawberries for breakfast!

Now, I want to again say that we built these last year, so the prices are from 2017, but I don't see how they could have increased too much.

Supplies

We started by purchasing six 1"x6"x8' cedar fencing boards at Menards for each bed we wanted to make.  This will give you a 4 ft by 8 ft raised bed.  Then we bought 2x4's to use in the corners to screw it all together.  I wanted to be able to add row cover or plastic to create a greenhouse. To do this, we bought 3/4" PVC pipe and the fittings to attach them to the boards and 1/2" PVC pipe to use as the hoops.

Since these beds are frames without a bottom, you will also need to start saving all of those shipping boxes from Amazon and decide where you will get your soil from.  I'll describe what we did for this a little later.

Build the Frames

Start by cutting your 2x4's.  If you want yours flush with the top, then they would be about 12 inches.  You need four 12 inch boards per bed you're making.

The next thing my husband did was to cut off the "dog ear" on our boards.  You can totally leave them if it won't bother you, but I just wanted a really clean square look.  This does technically make my beds slightly less than 4ftx8ft, but what are a few inches?

Now cut two of the cedar planks in half.  These will become the four boards you need for the short ends of the bed.

Once you've made all of your cuts, you can screw it all together.  Place two of the long boards flush together and screw the 2x4 pieces to the top and bottom, but make sure you leave space for the side boards, about an inch. Repeat with the other two long boards.  Now screw the side boards to the 2x4.  And you should have at rectangular frame.

Adding Hoops

If you want to have the ability for the row cover or plastic,  now is the time to add your 3/4" pipe.  Using a pipe cutter, you will cut 12" sections.  For each bed, you'll want eight 12" pieces- four per side.  Screw the pipes in place equally down the long sides of your bed.

Prepping the Bed for Soil

Find a level area to place your bed frames and arrange them however you like.  I moved and moved mine until they were equidistant  and seemed straight with the house!  It is worth taking your time because hopefully they won't be going anywhere anytime soon!

Take all of those boxes you've been saving and remove any tape or labels the best you can.  You want to line the bottom of each bed with this cardboard to kill the grass underneath.  The cardboard will eventually compost into the soil, but tape and labels may not depending on what they're made of.

Another thing to do before adding soil is to use tape to cover the holes of your PVC pipe.  You don't want them filling up with soil so that you can't easily slip your hoop pipes down in them!

Adding Soil

Once you have lined the bottom with cardboard, you will want to add soil.  Now many of you know that our mini farm is actually attached to my family's larger farm.  We simply bought 10 acres of the family farm and then the 20 acre plot next to it and rounded things out.

Our family no longer raises cattle, but they do lease the land to a cattle farmer and he feeds hay in various sections of the pasture.  These areas are frequented by the cows, so there is quite a bit of manure that gets mixed into the dirt near these areas.  We lovingly refer to this as "poop dirt."  Fancy, I know. LOL!  Anyway, my dad filled up the front loader on the tractor a few times and we filled our beds with the "poop dirt" and some left over dirt that was piled up from when we built our chicken coop.

And to just make things even better for our plants, I went to the local gas station and picked up some nightcrawlers.  For those of you that aren't from the country, nightcrawlers are REALLY big worms that are used for fishing.  I bought one container for each bed and added the worms to the beds so they could help mix and aerate the soil.

Plant

You're now ready to plant!

I loved the idea of these beds for my perennial plants like strawberries, horseradish, lavender, thyme, chives, etc. because this gave them an area that would be safe from my husband "accidentally" mowing them down.  And it also contains them from spreading too much.

These beds are also FANTASTIC for root veggies.  We have a lot of clay in our soil in the main garden, and even though we are working on adding organic matter to the area to loosen it up, we always ended up with short carrots and and shallots never grew.  The looseness of the soil in these beds allowed for long carrots and my shallots did wonderfully!

Add straw, mulch and fertilizer as needed to keep weeds at bay and harvests plentiful.

Greenhouse or Row Cover

After you've planted, you can add the hoops and row cover or plastic.  I placed the 1/2" PVC pipes down into the 3/4" pieces on the sides.  My 1/2" PVC was 8ft long.  Honestly, this is probably too long.  I'm thinking of cutting some of the length off so that the plastic and row cover is closer to the dirt.

I used metal clips to keep my plastic attached to the hoops.  I think they were 99 cents each at our local hardware store.  Just make sure to allow for some air movement or you'll cook your seeds instead of getting them to grow!

Well, that's it!  If you have any questions, please comment below and ask!  I hope you enjoy your raised beds as much I have enjoy having mine!

Erika
Influence Network
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Carrot and Leek Pie with The Harvest Baker

November 7, 2017 by Erika

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this cookbook in exchange for my honest review.  All photos and opinions contained in this post are my own. Erika Bault is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

Before I started to learning about or even caring about local, seasonal food, one of my favorite meals was this chicken in leek cream sauce with a side of asparagus.  WHAT?!  Asparagus and leeks couldn't really be further apart as far as growing seasons go with asparagus being an early spring treat and leeks being a fall and winter crop.

Now I have such a hard time when I'm looking at recipes on Pinterest because I see so many with ingredients that don't come from the same growing season.  But with a supermarket mentality, where everything is available year-round, we as consumers don't usually know what season something should actually be bought and consumed.  This is why I advocate so strongly for people to start growing at least some of their own produce and visit farmers markets or join CSAs.  This is also the biggest reason I am in love with the new cookbook from Ken Haedrich, The Harvest Baker.

In The Harvest Baker you find recipes that keep things seasonal.  No asparagus and leek pairings here.  And as a gardener, I get excited about new ways to use our produce.  Most of the recipes include vegetables or fruits that we already grow or buy locally, so I can feel good about meal planning from this cookbook because I know that it will encourage me to eat more sustainably.

When I was approached by Storey Publishing about this cookbook and trying out the recipes, I was immediately excited about the Carrot and Leek Pie because I knew that we should have both leeks and carrots ready soon.  Unfortunately, before I got the recipe made, something destroyed my leeks.  I was however able to use two different kinds of carrots and parsley from our garden and our own eggs.  I can't tell you how accomplished I feel when I can make a meal with ingredients we have made from scratch or grown.

In this recipe I used the vegetable broth, which is easy to make yourself as well if you don't want to go the store-bought route.  And I chose to use the Monterey Jack cheese because our local grocery didn't have Havarti.

This pie, especially if you grew some of the ingredients yourself, will be a stunner at any Thanksgiving potluck this season.  It is packed with veggies but has a richness that won't make your fellow diners feel like they're being deprived of that delicious home-cooked goodness we all expect at Thanksgiving.

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I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as we did.  AND as a special bonus, I've partnered with Storey Publishing to give one lucky reader the cookbook, The Harvest Baker by Ken Haedrich!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Carrot and Leek Pie
2017-11-06 16:22:23
Serves 8
Excerpted from The Harvest Baker, © by Ken Haedrich, used with permission from Storey Publishing.
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Ingredients
  1. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  2. 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
  3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  4. 1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  5. 1/3 cup ice-cold water
  6. 3 thick leeks, white and pale green parts only
  7. 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
  8. 1 pound carrots, peeled and grated
  9. 1/4 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
  10. Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  11. 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
  12. 2 large eggs
  13. 1 cup cottage cheese
  14. 1 cup grated Havarti cheese or Monterey Jack cheese
  15. 5 tablespoons Italian-style bread crumbs
  16. 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or dill (or 1 tablespoon of each)
Instructions
  1. Combine the flour, cornstarch, and salt in a food processor. Pulse several times to mix. Remove the lid and scatter the butter over the dry ingredients. Pulse the machine 8 to 10 times, until all of the butter is broken into small pieces, none larger than the size of a split pea.
  2. Add the water through the feed tube in a 5- to 10-second stream, pulsing the machine as you add it. Stop pulsing the machine when the mixture is still fairly crumbly but starting to form larger clumps. Turn the mixture out onto your work surface and shape it into a 3/4- to 1-inch-thick disk. The best way to do this and keep your hands off the dough (the warmth from your hands will make the dough sticky) is to place two long pieces of plastic wrap on your work surface, overlapping them by several inches. Dump the dough mixture in the middle, grasp and scrunch up the edges of the plastic, lift the plastic, and pull the mixture toward the center. When your hands meet in the middle, press down on the dough with your fists, to flatten it out somewhat; then move your hands around the plastic and repeat several times to make a round disk. If this sounds confusing, just remember that all you’re trying to do is form a dough disk without actually touching the dough.
  3. Wrap up the dough in a fresh sheet of plastic, and refrigerate for 11/2 to 2 hours before rolling.
  4. On a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper, roll the dough into a 12- to 12 1/2-inch circle. Invert the pastry over a standard (not deep dish) 9- or 9 1/2-inch pie pan, center it, and peel off the paper. Gently tuck the pastry into the pan without stretching it. Sculpt the overhanging dough into an upstanding ridge; flute the edges, if desired. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
  5. Quarter the leeks lengthwise up to the root end, but don’t cut through the end. Fan out the sections and rinse them under running water to wash out any sand and grit. Slice the leeks thinly. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large sauté pan. Stir in the leeks. Cook over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until wilted, stirring often. Stir in the carrots and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the stock, and salt and pepper the vegetables with a light hand. Cover the pan and cook the vegetables gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar. Set aside to cool.
  6. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Whisk the eggs and cottage cheese in a large bowl. Whisk in 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add the cooled vegetables, Havarti, 2 tablespoons of the bread crumbs, and parsley. Mix gently but thoroughly.
  7. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the remaining bread crumbs over the pie shell. Turn the filling into the shell and smooth with a spoon. Sprinkle the remaining 3 tablespoons of bread crumbs evenly on top and dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top has developed a rich golden-brown crust. Transfer to a rack and cool for 20 to 30 minutes before serving. Refrigerate leftovers. Reheat individual slices on a baking sheet or in the pan, loosely covered with foil, in a 300°F (150°C) oven for about 12 minutes.
Notes
  1. Excerpt from The Harvest Baker, ©
  2. "I love big flavors and bold seasonings, but some of the most successful dishes happen when ingredients get to speak softly for themselves. That is the case with this one, one of the most popular garden pies I make. First we gently sauté the carrots and leeks in butter to help bring out their sweetness. The remaining ingredients mostly serve to bind everything together, not influence the flavor; we want the carrots and leeks to shine. The pie has a moist, compact texture, and each slice has a gorgeous profile, a mosaic of finely textured carrots and leeks. If you use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock, this pie will please vegetarians immensely. I’ll usually serve it as the main dish with sautéed greens on the side."
By Ken Haedrich
Full & Simple https://fullandsimple.com/

Erika
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Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: book, book review, carrot, gardening, Ken Haedrich, leek, local food, Main Dish, Main Dishes, pie, recipe, seasonal eating, The Harvest Baker

Drying & Storing Herbs

September 6, 2016 by Erika

Learn how to dry your own herbs and how to store them so they stay fresh.

Summer is winding down.  Most of our garden is done, the tomatoes are hanging on though and I still have a TON of basil growing.  I've been interested in trying to dry some of our herbs in addition to freezing them and using them in my other canning endeavors.  When I was contacted by Infinity Jars, I decided that this would be the perfect time to give it a go.

Cut above where the leaves Y on the basil to encourage continued growth

Cut above where the leaves Y on the basil to encourage continued growth

The first thing that you need to do is harvest your herbs.  Do this in the morning so that the essential oils created overnight aren't burned off by the sun.  If, like me, you are still wanting to use some fresh herbs you need to take care to harvest them properly in order to not cause damage to the plant.  With basil, this means cutting above the "Y" so that new shoots can grow.  I'm trying to train my rosemary into a topiary of sorts so I cut off shoots near the bottom, and my thyme is just spilling over it's pot so I gave it a good trim.

Full & Simple Drying and Storing Herbs (2)

Full & Simple Drying and Storing Herbs

Next, you will want to tie your herbs into small bunches.  Don't make the bunches too large.  This prevents air flow and will make the drying time take longer.  After you have the bunches tied, find a place to hang the herbs where they will receive plenty of air flow.  You don't want them in a cool or damp space.  I strung mine up above our basement stairs like a clothesline.

Full & Simple Drying and Storing Herbs

Then you just wait.  You want the herbs to be crispy to be certain that they don't mold after storing them.  I let mine hang just over two weeks.

Full & Simple Drying and Storing Herbs (3)

I recently read on Mother Earth News that whole leaves maintain the essential oils better than their crumbled counterparts, and since the 250mL screw-top Infinity Jar was so big, I chose to leave my basil leaves whole.  I took care to remove them from the stem first, and then gently packed them into the jar.

Full & Simple Drying and Storing Herbs (4)

For the thyme and rosemary, I slid my fingers down the stem in the opposite direction of the leaf growth to remove the leaves from the stems.  Then I stored them in the two different 100mL screw-top bottles from Infinity Jars.  I still have plenty of room to add more before the herbs go dormant or die off.

Full & Simple Drying and Storing Herbs (5)

Infinity Jars are airtight and the deep violet glass blocks out harmful rays of light while permitting two beneficial rays to still filter through.  These jars even kept a tomato from getting moldy or drying out!  These qualities make Infinity Jars perfect for dried herbs and your essential oils too!

Full & Simple Drying and Storing Herbs (6)

Disclaimer: I received free jars from Infinity Jars as a sample to try.  All opinions and content in this post are my own. Erika Bault is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: basil, drying herbs, gardening, herb garden, herbs, Infinity Jars, preserving, rosemary, storing herbs, thyme

Getting Simple with Food

August 8, 2016 by Erika

Recently my husband and I watched Cowspiracy on Netflix.  Cowspiracy is a documentary exploring the effects of animal agriculture on our environment.  Last week, The Blog Bloom announced a challenge that they have created for themselves (and others) to eat only locally grown food for the month of August.  And lastly, our garden is FINALLY starting to produce a good amount of veggies for us.  All of these things made me decide to try to spend August focusing on getting simple with food.

Okay, so Cowspiracy...I liked it and here's why:  While it did talk about the negative aspects of animal agriculture on the environment, it did not villianize farmers.  It actually focused on how poor of a job environmentalists are doing about recognizing animal agriculture as a problem for the environment even though the United Nations did a study and basically said that animal farming is worse for the environment than all of us driving cars!  The documentary came to the conclusion that if anyone truly wants to call themselves an environmentalist then they must adopt a vegan lifestyle on top of their low-flow showerheads.

Now, I do not plan to become vegan or even vegetarian because...BACON.  But I've watched enough other documentaries and read enough articles to know that a mostly veggie diet is better for your health and, now it turns out, the environment.  That's why I've started to try more vegetarian dinners, made with vegetables grown by us or bought at the local farmers market.

Not only is this cheaper on our family's grocery budget but it is better for us, and could help save the environment.  A quote that The Blog Bloom shared when announcing their challenge to eat local this month that I found extremely profound was:

“Each food item in a typical U.S. meal has traveled an average of 1,500 miles….If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week.”

Wow!  Food that is not locally grown and raised contributes to the need for more fuel usage.  Plus, the extra time spent in processing, transportation, and sitting in the grocery store leads to the vegetables loosing nutrients.

I realize that us having a large garden makes it much easier for us to eat locally grown produce, but as far as meat goes, we do buy off of a local butcher shop, but that meat is not necessarily locally raised.  That's another reason I'm trying to focus more on vegetarian dinners, health benefits being the first.

Eating locally also means less processed food, which I'm not sure we've done very well with.   We still buy Teddy Grahams and apple sauce pouches because they're easy snacks to through in the diaper bag.  And I still buy white pasta, frozen chicken strips and Drumstick ice cream cones and I still drink my Mountain Dew even though I don't buy it to keep at the house.  We do however, avoid frozen meals, canned soups and things like Hamburger Helper most of the time.  We could still improve in this area.

So the goals this month are to continue to eat the majority of our meals straight from the garden, put up as much produce as we can for this winter, and to not drink pop for the rest of the month (which will probably be the hardest for me).

How about you?  Do you have a favorite vegetarian dish or something that you cook with only local ingredients?  Share it in the comments!

Disclaimer: This post does contain affiliate links.

 

Erika
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Filed Under: Simple 2016 Tagged With: #simple2016, cowspiracy, documentary, gardening, inspiration, local food, motivation, movie review, review, simple 2016, simple living, simplicity

Hand-Picked Peach: Anthropologie Pail

July 1, 2016 by Erika

Hand-Picked Peach Post Header Web

I've been seeing people on Instagram and Facebook sharing photos of their garden's bounty....beautiful pictures of fresh produce grown by proud gardeners.  But you haven't seen any from our garden...because so far there is no bounty.  We got most things out about a month later than I had wanted to and some things even later than that (I just transplanted my pumpkin and squash starts.).  Plus we've been infested with rabbits (as you can see below, I haven't been upset about that at all...) and just the other night I saw a raccoon in the compost pile. Ugh!

Full & Simple Rabbits

 

Even though I don't have any vegetables to pick just yet, I found this cute little Dairy Pail Colander on Anthropologie's website, and I think it would be perfect for picking veggies or berries!  With the slots on the bottom, you could wash those veggies outside over other plants with the hose to save water and keep your kitchen clean.  Plus, I love anything that makes chores cuter.  I mean, who wants to do chores with ugly equipment, really?

Anthropologie Dairy Pail Colander

Now, I need to find a really cute egg gathering basket!  I'd love to get something vintage.  My grandma gave me a basket to hold the eggs in the fridge that is vintage.  Let me know in the comments below what you use to pick your veggies or gather eggs.  I'd love to get some more ideas!

I hope you have a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!  Stay safe!

Painted Fox | Welcome Home 728x90

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Filed Under: Gardening, Hand-Picked Peach Tagged With: Anthropologie, dairy pail, gardening, Hand-picked Peach, picking vegetables, vegetable garden

Hand-Picked Peach: Week 39

May 6, 2016 by Erika

Hand-Picked Peach Post Header Web

Since this weekend marks the last frost date for my area, I am so excited to get the garden fully planted!  As I've been planting my starter seeds and spinach and carrots in the garden, I have been using this garden apron that I bought from White Barn Mercantile on Etsy and you guys, I'm in LOVE!

IMG_9311

I saw this apron during the Cyber Monday madness last winter and bought it in anticipation of spring weather.  It is made from a durable canvas fabric in several different colors.  I got mine in Kelly.  The canvas helps keep my clothes from getting too dirty or even ripped while working out with the chickens and garden, but what I really love is the pockets.  It has two deep pockets that I can keep garden markers, scissors, seed packets, gloves and even a trowel in.  Gardening in this apron is so much easier with those pockets!  

Full & Simple- Planning the Fall Garden in April (8)

And I'm so excited to let you know that Ashley at White Barn Mercantile is offering 10% off to Full & Simple readers!  Just use the code FULLANDSIMPLE at checkout.  

If you work outside at all, then you will love having this apron!

‪White Barn Mercantile Garden Apron

 

Erika
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Why You Need to Start Planning Your Fall Garden in April

April 25, 2016 by Erika

Full & Simple- Why You Need to Plan Your Fall Garden in April

Last fall was the first time my husband and I had tried to grow a fall garden.  Some things did extremely well, like the arugula and kale, and some things didn't come up at all, like my carrots, shallots and leeks.  When things didn't work out, I did additional research.

Vegetables like leeks, shallots, and Brussels Sprouts are considered fall harvest veggies, but here's the thing; they need to be planted now!  I didn't start my seeds for these until July last year (about the same time I started my seeds for kale and cauliflower).  My leeks didn't even sprout last year, and I blame that on the fact that it was too hot on my deck.  I have started all of my seeds indoors this year and so far so good.

Full & Simple- Planning the Fall Garden in April (8) 

Brussels sprouts mature 80-115 days after TRANSPLANT, not from planting the seeds.  I planted the Brussels sprouts last week indoors.  Seeds take 5-10 days to germinate, and then you don't transplant for another 6-8 weeks.  This should give me a harvest sometime in September for this batch.  I'm going to try to plant some more seeds in a week so that I have a staggered harvest.  Plus, Brussels sprouts are said to be sweeter if they are out in a frost, so the second planting should go through one frost at least.

Full & Simple- Planning the Fall Garden in April (9)

Leeks take even longer after transplant to mature, at 110-135 days.  I planted my leeks a few weeks ago and then again last week, for another staggered harvest.  They should be started indoors 4-6 weeks before the last frost date, which in my area of Indiana is May 5.  You can find out what yours is by visiting your state's extension service website.  I find a lot of helpful garden information and planting guides at Purdue's Extension website.

Shallots also need a very long growing season.  Seedlings mature about 100 days after transplant, which should be done 1-2 weeks after the last frost date.  I may still have started mine too late by starting them this month, but we will see.  Shallots also need a lot of fertilizer and mulch to keep the ground moist.  

Full & Simple- Planning the Fall Garden in April (4)

Besides the fact that there are some fall harvest vegetables that need planted now, you want to start thinking about your fall garden as you plan the layout of your summer garden.  Last year, we had many plants like our tomatoes and spaghetti squash still in the garden when the time came to plant the fall vegetables.  This caused us to have to fill in with our fall veggies in odd places.  If you know that you will have certain things in the garden for a long time, you can create a more intuitive layout for summer.  Planting as early as possible will also help to get the summer harvest completed sooner, freeing up space for fall spinach, kale, Swiss chard, etc.  Planting the fall seeds too late may increase the likelihood that you'll have duds....like my fall planting of carrots.

If you've ever been on the fence about trying out a fall garden, I HIGHLY recommend you try it!  Last fall we supplied salads with greens from our garden at Thanksgiving and I was still picking spinach and kale in December!  There is nothing like fresh vegetables straight out of garden, and having a fall garden extends your ability to enjoy them.

Full & Simple- Why You Need to Plan Your Fall Garden in April

Erika
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Filed Under: Gardening, Uncategorized Tagged With: Brussels sprouts, fall gardening, garden planning, gardening, leeks, shallots

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