What’s On The Menu – Farmhouse Scramble

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This post is part of a series for 2016 on real meals served to my family of 7 that conserve energy and time while preserving nutrients.  This also serves the secondary purpose of eating out fewer times, providing both nutritional and fiscal benefits.

Farmhouse Scramble
Sausage patties
Bacon
Refried potatoes

Sorry, no photos today! 

Sautéed in butter:  torn leftover turkey shreds, sliced baby bella mushrooms, minced spring onion and minced celery.  Poured over: a dozen eggs, scrambled with salt and a bit of half and half.  These were stirred over medium lowish heat until set, as a casserole.  I stirred frequently, so the curd was very small.  You could also pour the eggs over the veggies in a casserole and bake, topped with cheese, like a frittata.

Fried sausage patties and bacon in a cast iron skillet.  Used reserved fat to refry chunks of potato that I pressure cooked to save time.  Season potatoes with salt and garlic powder.

Serve immediately with cold milk.  I would have liked a fruit salad or citrus wedges alongside.  Yogurt and berries would also make a nice addition, as would lemonade or iced tea.

Decent hearty meal, and we avoided eating out, which would surely have happened otherwise because my chickens weren’t thawed sufficiently in time for dinner.

Eating Out Less in 2016

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2015 was the year of insanity.  It was also the year of amazing.

Okay, really, it’s just that my twins were born in January and oh my GOODNESS we ate out every time I turned around.  Especially the first three months.  Soooo much of the dreaded golden arches.

So, in 2016, I’ve made a goal to eat out twice a week or less:  one church service and one outing with the kids.

I have a few things that make this feat manageable.  First of all, we moved halfway through 2016 and now live a minimum of 9 miles from the nearest gas station, much less a restaurant.  Secondly, the twins are having their first birthday, so they are no longer nursing every 30-45 minutes and have some semblance of a routine with their demands on my body and time.  Finally, I have added an electric pressure cooker / multi-cooker to my appliance list.  Between my range/oven, microwave oven, slow cooker and pressure cooker, I can now cook a variety of things all at the same time.  My stove only has two full sized burners, effectively cutting back on my cooking space.  The pressure cooker is like adding another burner without the cost of replacing my range.  I will eventually replace my range, but this helps keep the time frame manageable.

In addition, a pressure cooker can quickly cook fully frozen meats, a sizeable advantage for any busy person but especially for a homeschooling mom of 5.

You may have noticed my series on quick meals for 2016; I plan to continue the series through the year.  Hopefully this will inspire others to take the real food, less-eating-out plunge.

What’s On The Menu – Pressure Cooker Steaks

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This post is part of a series for 2016 on real meals served to my family of 7 that conserve energy and time while preserving nutrients.

Pressure Cooker Chuck Tender Steaks
Onion and Mushroom Gravy
Mashed Red Potatoes (stovetop)
Kale in Broth (microwave)

Put pressure cooker on sear/brown setting. Dredge steaks in flour and brown on all sides in hot oil; I always use organic extra virgin olive oil. Set aside. Sauté a large onion, slivered, and about 8 oz sliced mushrooms until well browned on the outside. This whole process will take about a half-hour.

Put salted water on to boil in a stew pot and drop in a few pounds of red potatoes, cubed, skins on. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to simmer while other items cook.

Layer steaks and sautéed veggies in pressure cooker. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour broth over these (between a cup and a pint); tonight I used homemade turkey stock. Seal cooker and cook on high pressure for 20-25 minutes. I used the steak setting and reduced time to 20 minutes. (Please note that I use an electric pressure cooker and times may vary between brands.)

While steak cooks, fill a covered casserole with kale. Season with a little salt, about a cup and a half of broth, and a lump of butter (about 3 tablespoons). Mine was tender when microwaved on high, covered, for twelve minutes – stirred – and microwaved again for 2 minutes more.

When steaks finish cooking, move meat and veg to a serving dish, reserving broth. Change back to sear setting and stir in about a quarter cup of water with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch added. Be sure to use cool water and incorporate the cornstarch completely before adding to the hot pot, unless you enjoy lumpy cornstarch dumplings in your gravy. Stir frequently. When thickened, pour over meat and stir. I also added a big dollop of sour cream – about a quarter cup.

Drain potatoes and mash with about 4 tablespoons butter and some half-and-half or cream to thin. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Dinner was successful. The kids were excited about kale cooked in broth. Steaks weren’t as tender as I liked, but they were a cheap cut and still turned out well, all things considered.

Total time from start to finish – approximately one hour.

What’s On The Menu – Seared Steelhead Trout

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This post is part of a series for 2016 on real meals served to my family of 7 that conserve energy and time while preserving nutrients.

Seared Chilean Steelhead Trout (with dill and browned butter)
Rice and quinoa
Green beans (previously frozen)
Beet coins dressed with olive oil (canned)

Organic whole milk

Gingerbread ice cream (on clearance)

My family thoroughly enjoyed this meal, although the grains were a bit bland this time.

Cook time was about half an hour to forty-five minutes.  Pre-heated the cast iron and put the grains in a multi-cooker on rice setting to save time.  Seared each piece of fish skin-side down in a cast iron skillet with a fresh pat of butter and put fresh dill and a sprinkle of sea salt while the skin crisped up.  While the fish pieces cooked, I heated a can of beets in good olive oil with a sprinkle of salt in a covered saucepan over low heat.  The green beans were put frozen with about a half-cup of water into a covered casserole and were cooked in the microwave on high for 12 minutes, and then again for 3 minutes after adding a bit of dill and a lump of butter.

All in all, dinner was successful.

Note:  I used Kenji’s method for searing fish filets as my inspiration.  Find it in The Food Lab, an amazing modern cookbook that utilizes the scientific method to discover better home cooking.

My Spoiled Pig

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So recently, we’ve discovered that Malcolm is picky.

Yes, I know.  It completely defies everything you thought you knew about pigs.  It’s true, though.

You see, Malcolm will step right over a pile of dried corn to eat a handful of fresh grass from my daughter.  He will root through an entire bucket of scraps for boiled potatoes before he moves on.

This has resulted in an enormous waste of expensive animal feed.  I, in my infinite silliness, decided to try a bag of swine feed from the feed store, even though the ingredient list was questionable.

Would you like to know what happened?

He ignored it.

Mountains of it.

I’m fairly certain that bag of feed was a complete waste of money, because Malcolm even started ignoring his previous favorite, dried corn.  Really, would you want to crunch on dried corn when you knew that potatoes were coming eventually?

So, I decided to cook my spoiled pig some corn.  I used the electric kettle to boil some soaking water and poured it over a bowlful of corn in my crockpot.  I left it on high for a few hours and then turned it off to cool.

I drained the cooled corn and squirted some flaxseed oil over it, and proceeded to the hog pen.

He ate it right up.

So, this evening, Malcolm will be getting a “stew” of asparagus stems, potatoes, and dried corn, courtesy of my slow cooker.  He’ll be happy, and I’ll be happy that at least part of that corn isn’t going to waste.

I have no idea what I’m going to do with the swine feed.  The birds won’t even eat it.  Maybe I’ll throw a little in the stew.

Visiting Wild Life

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The rainy season has come in Northeast Texas, and with it creeps and crawls a slew of visiting wildlife. 

This week yielded a lovely black box turtle, a precious garter snake (not pictured), and a jewel of a green tree frog.  And it’s only Wednesday!

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We met this little fellow on the way to the pig pen.  We watched him for a bit and then set him back in the direction he was already going.

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No red ears and yes webbed feet, so that makes this little guy (girl?) an eastern box turtle, or an American pond turtle. 

Turtles, by the way, scurry much more quickly than their tortoise cousins!

By my best identification, and with the help of friend Google, we’ve discovered that these leaves the pig likes so much are called dock.

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They are all over the place here, so I wanted to determine if they were human edible.  After all, the pig loves them and he has similar digestion to a human.

Evidently dock leaves ARE edible, like mustard greens, and this will yield a fun source of vitamin C as well as a homeschool lesson in botany.

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I discovered this bright little fellow on the dock I was picking near the smokehouse.  I left it undisturbed and it sat wisely as I picked a few leaves from its perch and moved on.

I wonder, what other treasures will we find as we explore our new farm?

Rainy October Morning

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Some posts are for your readers.  This one is just for me.  I love our little farm, and this sleepy October morning just does it for me.

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Rainy mornings make digging in the sand pit perfect for sand castles!

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This is my husband’s smokehouse, built from reclaimed wood and cinderblock around our homestead. See that smoke? The pecan wood is getting ready for the weekend cooking!

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Malcom T. Porkchop, enjoying the morning rain.

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Double trouble, watching the action.