Saturday, July 30, 2016

...In a Pickle...

...we received two bags absolutely stuffed with cucumbers...the small pickling kind...
...they were kinda dirty...so we started with a good wash...
...and then because our rinse water looked a little dirty still...
...we washed them again...
...then cut off all the ends...
...all small to medium sized...so nice for pickling...
...so I got out Grandma's Veg-O-Matic...
...because I wanted uniformly sliced pickles for this my very first batch of Bread and Butter Pickles...
...but unlike my Aunt Frances' Sweet Pickles...these don't soak in lime...but Kosher Salt...
...covered with ice...for a few hours...
...got some new rings and lids ready...
...oh...and chopped up some onion...Bread and Butter Pickles have onion in them as well...
...a few spices...mustard seeds, celery seeds, turmeric, and cloves...
...stirred that all up with vinegar and sugar...
...until very hot...
...and poured it over the cucumbers and onions in jars...

...what have you been pickling?...

~Have a lovely day!

Friday, July 29, 2016

...a Frugal use of leftovers...Vegan Goulash...

...whenever friends ask us out to eat...they sometimes worry that I won't be able to find anything to eat...and I try to reassure them that I've not been to a restaurant yet where I've been unable to find any vegan options...some restaurants are, of course, easier for vegans than others...
...and that almost proved to be the case this time...but never fear...they had french fries...and a salad...and sweet tea...so I was just fine...

...and when I say french fries...I mean FRENCH FRIES!!!...an order of fries came on a platter that would probably have served 4 as a side dish...so I had leftovers...and I brought them home in a box...
...but then the next day...that box of fries didn't look all that appetizing...so I decided to transform them into my Mom's Goulash...

...I just used the box as my cutting board and chopped up a small onion...
...then used the same 'cutting board' to dice up the fries...
...not being to particular about it...and I had quite the pile of chopped fries...

...it looks like Jack is hoping I'll drop some...
...then I heated some olive oil and cooked the onion...
...then added the leftover fries...
...gave it a few good stirs...to heat through and brown up a little bit...
...then I added some burger style TVP...reconstituted...
...and gave it a few more stirs...
...and I had a delicious and frugal meal from my leftover fries...
...now...where's the ketchup...

...Have you transformed any leftovers lately?...

~HAve a lovely day!

Thursday, July 28, 2016

...W.I.A.Y. ...

Breakfast - Peanut Butter on Toast - Coffee with Silk
Lunch - Tomatoes with Vegan Cottage Cheese...recipes here...and here...
Dinner - Mexican Cornbread, Taco Casserole, Corn, Green Beans, Hominy, and a salad

...not really inspired by any of my meals...so inspire me with yours...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

...W.I.P. Wednesday...another Youth Group dish cloth...

...this one is just Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth...blogged about the pattern years ago...and it's still probably my favorite too...

...this project will end when school starts back next month...so just a few more dish cloths...and I've had a request for a Flower Dishcloth...so...send me a pattern link if you know of one...preferably free...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

...makin' fakin' bacon...

...when I saw this recipe over at VeggieSouls...I knew I had to try it out...

...I often make Vegan BLTs with bacon bits...and that's fine...but this is oh so much better...
...a few simple ingredients that you likely already have on hand...the only thing I didn't already have is the rice paper...but even my small country grocery store had it in the Asian section...
...just whisk together the marinade ingredients...
...cut the rice paper into strips and soak them...just for a few seconds...enough to be pliable but not enough that they fall apart...
...then just dip it into the marinade to coat well...I used two strips of rice paper...they will sort of get 'glued' together but you can do just one strip for a crispier vacon...
...I wanted mine to get crispy all over so I put it on a pan with a rack...but you could put it on parchment paper if you wanted a chewier vacon...
...and then just baked until it was crispy...
...and oh my goodness...does this stuff smell good...
...and my vine ripened tomatoes were just calling out for some vacon...
...isn't it purdy?...
...I broke some pieces into sandwich sized lengths...and stacked them with some lettuce and homegrown (not by me) tomato on toast slathered with Nayonnaise...
...just about my favorite sandwich ever...

...what's your favorite veggie bacon...(vacon)?...this is now mine...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, July 25, 2016

...a new fence...

...our parish is so good to us here...they have decided to add a fenced area to our super awesome shady backyard...just for Jack to be able to have a little bit of freedome...

...how nice is that...
...so a group of guys got together and got started with holes and posts...
...and Scout (and yep...he has blue hair) went out to help...they seemed to appreciate that a lot...

...I'll post a fence update soon...and maybe a little video of Jack's first romp there...

~Have a lovely day!

Saturday, July 23, 2016

...Small Batch Blueberrry Jam...

...when we picked the blueberries the Man said that he wanted some blueberry jam...it's always been his favorite...
...but I didn't want to 'waste' my fresh blueberries on jam...I said we could just buy frozen ones for that...but then I thought better of it...because who deserves fresh blueberry jam more than the Man?...right?...
...just 4 cups of fresh blueberries...and a cup of sugar - we used beet sugar...
...mashed up a bit with a potato masher...
...added a tablespoon of lemon juice...
...and simmered for about a half an hour...
...until nice and thick...
...then into a sterilized jar...
...sealed and labeled...
...but I don't really know why I bothered with that...I could have just put it into a bowl...
...because it's not going to last very long...
...so very delicious...English Muffin recipe here...

...what's your favorite jam?

~Have a lovely day!

Super Easy Small Batch Blueberry Jam

4 cups of fresh blueberries
1 cup of sugar - we used beet sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Put all ingredients into a small saucepan and mash together with a potato masher...then simmer for about a half an hour... until nice and thick...easie-peasie