Friday, November 30, 2012

Primal Friday: Sesame Crusted Tuna, Wasabi Sweet Potatoes and Egg Drop Soup


Tonight I decided on an Asian type dinner.  I had some sushi grade tuna and I wanted to make a soup but didn't want Miso (hard to find any without MSG) so I looked up Egg Drop Soup and it was easier than I thought it would be.  I had sweet potatoes too so I decided to make them wasabi mashed.

It all came out pretty good except that I cooked the tuna a little too long, they were kind of narrow pieces so they cooked much faster than I thought but it still tasted good with a little added wasabi and soy sauce. Yumm.  The soup came out pretty good but I used fresh ginger instead of powdered...I will either mince finer or use powder next time.

Seared Sesame Crusted Tuna:

- toasted sesame in a bit of olive oil
- coated tuna with sesame
- sauteed tuna on high
- sliced tuna

Wasabi Mashed Sweet Potato

- peeled sweet potatoes (I had regular and white)
- cut into cubes and boiled
- mashed and added wasabi paste

Egg Drop Soup

- sauteed onion in butter
- added sliced ginger, a tsp of sesame oil and soy sauce
- added 4 cups veggie broth and 4 cups water (called for 8 cups beef broth but I had used mine up already)
- mixed 4 Tbs arrowroot with a little water then added to stock
- brought to a boil and let thicken a bit
- whisked 6 eggs in a bowl and slowly added to stock while stirring with wisk

Monday, November 26, 2012

Preserving Challenge week 2

Okay, I have been much more successful at "putting up" thank I have been at writing about it!

So, I am heading into week 3 and the past two weeks I have put up:

1 batch of Cardamom Apple Sauce canned
1 batch of Ginger Apple Butter canned
1 jar of Kimchi (I count this because it will be around for a bit then I will try stew...and this is my very first Kimchi...came out a wee bit, okay a lot, spicy!)
1 quart of RoastedBroccoli Cauliflower Soup to freezer
1 quart of Broccoli Soup to freezer
1 gallon bag Broccoli to freezer
2 gallon bags Cauliflower to freezer
6 gallon bags Cabbage to freezer
2 batches sauerkraut on
1 pint bag okra to freezer
1 batch Okra Cauliflower stew in freezer
2 batches turkey stock to freezer
2 batches veggie stock to freezer
2 pints tomato paste canned
1 pint dehydrated tomatoes canned
2 quart Sweet Potato Soup in freezer
1 quart of Cream of Broccoli and Cheese Soup in freezer
1 quart + 6 pints apple slices canned
1 batch sage dried

More preserving to do this week!  I am enjoying making the soups, having some for dinner and putting the rest of to freeze!  I am crossing my fingers for the sauerkraut...the last batch didn't work right, think too much air was allowed in and the cabbage didn't release enough water soon enough and I didn't catch it in time to add saltwater...so I dumped it and started over.  I made 2 batches in different containers, hopefully they work!  I plan to make some cabbage soup and an Indian cabbage dish this week, some for meals now and the rest to put up in the freezer. Hopefully I remember to blog at the end of the week!

Friday, November 23, 2012

One more step in the organizing and purging - closet

Since I live in an old house with my brothers, I don't have a lot of storage space.  My bedroom is part of the newer part of the house and has a walk in closet so it ends up accumulating alot of stuff.  My living room ends up cluttered with all kinds of things, like my hiking and camping and kayaking gear...etc.

So, I finally tackled the closet and after a couple days got it organized and purged a bunch of stuff...this is my goal, to simplify, organize and get rid of what I don't really need.  I consolidated and organized my clothes so they take up less than half the space.  This left room for me put a tuffy tote of ritual clothes, and a couple tuffy totes of all my kayaking, diving and hiking gear. I should have enough room for all my camping gear too once I get that organized. This means it is all in one place and out of the living room.  I have a couple laundry baskets full of stuff and clothes to go to good will.  More work on hiking gear and then sewing and craft supplies should make the living room a bit less messy and crowded.  Hopefully will be done by end of weekend.

Primal Friday - Bison Meatloaf and Mushroom Soup

This week's Primal Friday dinner is a Bison meatloaf with mushrooms - super easy.  I made some extra Cream of Mushroom and Celery soup yesterday when I made the soup for the Broccoli Casserole so we had that with the meatloaf.  Tasty and filling!

Both recipes are pretty easy:

Bison Meatloaf

2 lbs ground bison (from local farm)
mushrooms (I didn't measure but half a large package)
1 egg (from my chickens, of course)
Cheddar

- mix up the bison, mushroom and egg
- put in loaf pan, bake 45 min in 350F oven
- add cheddar to top (I just sliced) and cook another 10 min or so

Cream of Mushroom (and Celery soup)
(I decided to make a combination soup and leave it chunky - but it can be pureed)

half package or more mushrooms
couple stalks celery
broth (I used turkey broth I had just made) - 1 1/2 cups or so
onion
parsley and sage (from garden) - I added sage because I had that in the turkey sauce too
cream (mine was fresh and real)
butter (fresh as possible - mine was from Amish store - didn't get to make my own)
flour

- saute mushrooms, celery and onion in butter (I did in cast iron dutch oven)
- add broth
- in another pan melt butter and add just enough flour to thicken
- add roue to broth
- add cream and cook down until as thick as you want.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

turkey day

Well Turkey Day started yesterday...when I got home from work and harvested Mr. Royal. So, first on my "thankful for" list is: I am thankful for the life that fed us tonight.

Mr. Royal is the black and white
(a Royal Palm Turkey)


We had a very simple dinner this year, just me and my brothers.  I was up until 2am processing Mr. Royal after getting my homework done.  I decided to breast and leg the turkey and use the back meat and everything else for "Trollie food" and not cook the turkey whole. This is what I usually do throughout the year.  It came out okay but it could have been better if I had basted more or kept whole.  I made a nice sauce that i had originally basted the breast and leg with but I think it needed a bit more basting throughout.  It was all good but the meat was a little dry.  The sauce ended up mostly on the bottom of the pan so I made a gravy and it was very tasty.  We also had my family Broccoli Casserole but instead of the canned cream of mushroom soup I made my own, instead of frozen boxed broccoli I used the local broccoli I had put in the freezer and instead of store bought mayonnaise, I made my own.  My brother made a home made stuffing and we had our traditional stuffed celery and stuffed dates for appetizers through the day.

The turkey sauce was a Blueberry, Apple and Sage.  I took one of my blueberry jams that was a little soft, put it in my cast iron pan, added 2 chopped up apples and sage from the garden.  When I scraped it from the pan after cooking the turkey, it was mixed with fat, so I sautee'd it in the cast iron pan again and reduced down with some mead. Quite tasty.

A small amount of each will be given to the landwights.  The rest leftovers in the fridge.

And for my being thankful:

For my health, my family - chosen and actual, friends, for having rewarding work, a chance to grow and have a career in the future, a place to live that enables me to continue my goals of homesteading while I continue in school. I am thankful for many things including all my furry and feather heads...they bring me joy, a feeling of hope and purpose and responsibility.  For all my blessings now and hopes into the future. I give thanks.

Hail the Gods, Hail the Ancestors and Hail the community.


Monday, November 19, 2012

homesteading prep...house work...



Today was general homestead work.  I cut up all the ripe tomatoes, filled a couple trays of tomatoes to dehydrate:




filled the crockpot with the rest to make tomato paste and both are cooking along now.  And I have a basket of green ones still that I will probably add to a stew.

Then I cut up apples, have a bucket going to make apple cider vinegar with the scraps and have the apples on the stove making a thick applesauce with green cardamom.  It smells amazing.  Other than that, I chased a rabbit around a bit and did cleaning of the kitchen and living room...it is all slow work but I am purging lots of stuff and rearranging and hopefully it will be all organized at some point soon...with less clutter.

And I took some pics of my free-ranging ducks and chickens.
Buffy
Lizzy





   
Lancelot
Gawen (Front) and Cynric (back)
 (They are Charlie's babies and the two boys I am keeping besides Lancelot)
Igraine

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Hunting Day 3

I went hunting again this evening, the last day of regular shotgun season until after the new year, there is still one week of antlerless before the end of the year. I was not successful in bringing home a deer but it was one more step in my hunting experience.  I enjoyed the usual time of peace in the woods,  The most exciting thing was seeing a pileated woodpecker, they are just so very cool, it was pretty awesome. 

The most amazing part of the hunt however was just a little before end time.  A doe started walking into sight...I have never seen a deer on a deer hunt, believe it or not.  I have seen them when I have been out hunting other animals but I have never been able to get a deer because I have never seen one during deer season, I have never shot at one either, obviously.  So, I was like...oh my...now what?!  My adrenalen kicked in and I was all shaky.  The doe stayed mostly behind a tree for quite a bit of time.  It was getting darker and since I knew I would either hit the doe or completely miss, not much chance of wounding, I finally took a shot.  Sadly, I missed and no meat for my freezer but it was an amazing experience.  It was the deer's day and I do not begrudge her life.  Hunting is all about luck and skill, being at the right place at the right time and a bunch of fate.  Today's fate was I want home empty handed and the deer went on running through the woods.  I will have another chance to put food in my freezer and I am thankful for the opportunity and the experience of being out there and a part of that natural cycle.

Hail the landvaettir and hail Ullr and Frey!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Day One and Two of Hunting

This week is shotgun season.  I missed most of antlerless for a variety of reasons...Weddings, Hurricanes, important things like that!  So, I really wanted to get at least a little time in this week...not like it produced anything for my freezer but I usually enjoy the time anyway.

For one thing, it forces me to slow down and just be.  I was only able to spend a couple hours Monday afternoon and this afternoon.  I was off Monday and doing a lot of work on the homestead and today I went into work early so I could get out early.  The guys that lease the woods behind where I live said I can use their stands when they aren't in town.

So, Monday I spent a bit of time watching a Red Bellied Woodpecker, he was quite amusing, carrying one piece of corn at a time to the nest by hopping from tree to tree, depositing it and then ziplining back to the corn pile where a couple squirrels were munching away.  Today i watched squirrels mostly at a different spot.  The squirrels were the active ones this time and zipping all around with leaves and acorns.  I watched one stuff its cheeks so much it couldn't close its mouth and then went zipping up to a nest at the top of the tree.  Another squirrel kept playing peek a boo with me from the tree next to mine and then went bounding back and forth almost smacking me in the head. One of the amazing things when sitting in the woods at sunset is when it just starts to get dim out and the birds just erupt in song everywhere at once...pretty awesome!

Sadly, no deer but It was nice to chill with nature for a bit.  Then I got home to all of my Muscovies out of the coop and refusing to return...so they are all hanging under the Juniper tree because I wasted quite a bit of time trying to chase them back in the dark and finally gave up!

So, now I have bread rising and am trying to relax a bit because homework is done and I have a very busy next couple days working out of town at training - gonna be nice because it involves hiking through woods and wetland but also long hours and lots of driving.

Next hunting opportunity will be black powder week in a couple weeks.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Primal Tuesday - Smoked Ham and Broccoli Soup



Tonight's Primal Tuesday dinner was a smoked ham that is from the last of my half hog I got from Green Branch - grass-fed, organic and local.  I slow cooked it rubbed in olive oil, lavender and rosemary last night then refrigerated it and collected all the drippings.  I harvested all the broccoli from my garden for the other part of dinner, a simple broccoli soup with chicken broth (from my chickens), a bit of mead, garlic and green onions from my garden. I made that last night too.

Tonight I took the ham out, cut some slices, heated up the drippings and cooked it down with a bit of mead... sadly, I am about out of mead. :-( I took the slices and heated them up in the ajus.  I heated up the broccoli soup and served it with a sharp cheddar.  The broccoli soup could have used a bit more spice I think...but I will freeze it, as is, and spice when I heat it up.

Very simple but good dinner.  I will take the rest of the ham and slice up some for sandwiches with cheddar, homemade mayo and cheat a little with some homemade oat bread since I need a good quick lunch for training classes this week.  I will bring the sandwich and my applesauce, eat a good breakfast before I leave of egg omelet muffins.  The rest of the ham will be cubed up and some frozen for a part of another meal and the rest will be to go with the kimchi this weekend.

Trollie food for the night was local bison liver with pumpkin puree I made the other day and some cottage cheese (was bought, gotta figure out how to make) and an egg.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Friday Primal Dinner and mystery on the homestead

Well, first dinner...sorry no pic tonight.  I made a Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli soup and Stuffed Pork Chops.  I made the soup last night, took a little time but was really easy, had a small bowl last night for dinner and let the soup blend overnight...was even better tonight.  So, when I decide on a dinner I often figure out one type of food I want to fix and then try to make them work together.  I had cauliflower and broccoli that had to be used, so found a simple soup recipe and the rest was put in the freezer.  I also had boneless porkchops that I thought would be good for tonight. So, I decided to add some blue cheese to the top of the soup, the parmesan was good but I thought the blue cheese would add a good contrast.  I figured i could stff the porkchops so I mixed some of the blue cheese with some  roasted garlic (also in the soup) and some sage, 'cause sage is just awesome!  It all came out well and I enjoyed...the rest of the soup is in the freezer for another meal.  The recipes are below.

Now for the mystery.  This morning as I was feeding eveeryone I found Mr. Royal (the Royal Palm turkey tom) in the pen with Mr. Buff and big tom...they were not happy with eachother but I didn't have time to deal with.  I figured maybe he got out and my brothers put him in there the night before (though they know he doesn't get along with the other toms so was curious).  When I got home tonight I found out that my brothers did not put him in there and that he was there last night when they got home around 10pm.  Mr. Black was out all day yesterday and was still out this morning...I decided to let him free range for a little bit before chasing him down.  Mr. Royal has always been the aggressive one and he is the reason I had to split everyone up in the first place.  Well, it is dark when I get home from work so I fixed dinner then decided to make sure everyone is in bed.  Oddly Mr. Royal was not in the coop with the turkeys or in hanging with the ducks...after searching with the flashlight I finally found him hunched up in the far corner of the pen and I finally got him to hobble out...he has a bruised leg and a bloody face.  Apparently he isn't king of the mountain anymore.  As much of a pain he is I felt bad for him.  He let me wal in the pen and pick him up.  I brought him in the house, checked him out and made sure there were no injuries I needed to take care of and then put him in the small pen where I put Mr. Black this morning.  *shakes head* If it isn't one thing it is another!  Hopefully everyone behaves until I can work on the pens tomorrow and sort everyone out!
I still haven't a clue how Mr. Black remained roaming around while Mr. Royal escaped the front pen and ended up in the big pen??? 

And now the recipes if anyone wants them.

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup (original found online and adapted - original had a lot more stock, I like a thicker soup)

1 head of local broccoli
1 head of local cauliflower
1 bulb roasted garlic
olive oil
1 large onion
butter
2 quarts home made chicken stock
paprika, salt and pepper


1. chop broccoli and cauliflower florets and put in roasting pan with , drizzle with olive oil, paprika, pepper and salt.
2. roast at 400F for about half hour or until tender (flip if browning too much)
3. carmelize one sliced onion (slice onion, saute in butter until golden)
4. place roasted vegetables and carmelized onion (don't forget bits scraped from pan) with chicken stock into blender in batches (I actually put in food processer first but it didn't make it smooth enough so then put in blender)
5. put all in pot and simmer to blend flavors.
6. enjoy as is, with parmesan cheese, blue cheese like I did or yogurt or sourcream (might try next)

Blue Cheese, Roasted Garlic, Sage Stuffed Pork chops

1. mix blue cheese, roasted garlic and chopped sage
2. make pocket in boneless porkchops
3. saute in olive oil on med high so the outside browns then turn down to make sure the chop is done through

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Primal Tuesday: Venison, Rosemary Nut Bread and Sweet Potato Soup


This week's Primal Tuesday dinner is Venison tenderloins (very simply sauteed), Sweet Potato Soup with roasted garlic and a Rosemary Nut Bread (that was extremely filling!).  It was all very good and pretty simple.

The soup was an adaptation from some recipes I found online.  The bread was from this website, and I followed it pretty closely.

http://aliveandwellness.blogspot.com/2012/10/rosemary-and-olive-oil-bread-grain-free.html

The Sweet Potato Soup was actually made yesterday and I refrigerated enough for dinner tonight and froze the rest in meal size portions.  This is how I made it:

I cut up and peeled about 4 sweet potatoes, thawed out about 4 cups of chicken stock (I like my soups a little thicker than the 6 or 8 cups I saw on a couple recipes), an onion and cut the tops off of 2 garlic bulbs (twice as much as called for in some recipes).  The sweet potatoes, onion and garlic bulbs were placed in a baking pan, coated them in olive oil and roasted in the oven for about 1/2 hour at 425F until soft.  The sweet potatoes, garlic and onion were added to the chicken stock in the food processor in batches and blended in a pot on low on the stove.  It came out really good so I think I will make more.

And...Trollie food (my pug/boston for those who don't know) was left over ham, raw salmon, cottage cheese, egg, garlic, salmon oil vitamins and blood from the venison when thawed out.  It was practically inhaled!  She has gotten a bit picky since she has gone on a 90% raw diet but she is doing really well on it.

Homesteading has no time off

Well, I have had a bad cold since the middle of last week and I am on a mini vacation - stay at home vacation with holidays extending the weekend.  I have been doing my best to not let my cold get worse since others who have had a similar cold have gotten much worse and been sick for weeks.  Luckily I think it is working and just from resting, tea and cough drops.  No meds if at all possible and so far it is working!

However, the homestead doesn't know I have a cold and chores still have to be done.  I have skipped the late night chores and tried to get the feeding and watering done once in the day.  It has been working mostly, except the baby chicks are still inside because I haven't felt comfortable with them being outside since it is much colder than I thought it would be and because I haven't done the extra work converting the coop.  So, peepy little chicks in the bathroom but it is actually okay, it means I can monitor them better and have more interaction which I wouldn't if they were in the coop.  So, really, it is pretty good.  The muscovies are also still sharing the chicken coop because I want to change their pen before I release them to the outside again, there are a few things that aren't working as well as I had hoped when I originally put it together...they have kinda chosen to stay in the coop.  I open the door to the coop a bit and all the chickens come out and the ducks stay in. 

The muscovies are pretty amazing.  I went into the coop today and they were all roosting at the roof level!  They sure can fly even with clipped wings!

Hopefully this storm coming tomorrow won't be too bad and I can get some work done on the pens and coops Thursday with a bit more energy and over this cold!

In the meantime I am trying to get bits of stuff done around the house on my "mini vacation".  I will post on that later.

The babies are growing and are feathering out!