Friday, August 9, 2019

First Harvest!

Hey, Readers! It's my favorite time of year, fresh veggie time!!

This week we picked some yellow neck squash, some zucchini, and we are rolling in peppers! One of our favorite things to make this time of year is zucchini boats, and they can't be easier. Simpy cut the zucchini in half length wise, scoop out the seeds, fill with whatever you want (our favorite is spaghetti sauce, but I've also use taco fillings and that was pretty good too!), throw some cheese on top, and throw it on the grill (or the oven works too). Delish!

Our jalapeno plant is going nuts this year. It is LOADED with jalapenos, and we're not complaining because we do love jalapeno poppers. "Come on Niki, how many jalapeno poppers can you eat?", one might ask. Well, I do a play on jalapeno poppers in a couple different ways. I chop them up (I actually prefer my jalapenos chopped up rather than whole), mix them in some cream cheese and/or sour cream and/or Mayo (depending on what I'm making), and throw in some seasoning (onion, chives, garlic, salt, whatever I find) and use that as a basis for whatever I'm gonna make. Two of my favorites are dip and meatloaf.

For the dip, I usually add a bit of mayo to thin out the mixture a little. I mix in  a little (or a lot, what ever) cheddar cheese, put in in a baking dish, add more cheese on top and bake until bubbly.If you have shredded chicken laying around Its pretty good mixed in there too! I'm drooling just thinking about it!

Jalapeno popper meatloaf? Mix up your fave meatloaf recipe (hamburger, egg, breadcrumbs, season to your liking), flatten it into a rectangle. I put some cheese down, spread your popper mixture (see above) down the middle, add more cheese, and roll it and seal it up. You can bake it in the oven, or wrap it in aluminum foil and throw it on the grill. Nom, Nom, Nom!

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Weekly Update 8/2/19

This week: We named four chickens, and started building our bar room!

Among my chickens are three crazy White Leghorns. They are tough, adventurous, crafty, flighty little psychos, but they are entertaining, incredibly reliable, and oh so lovable. I never named them because I could never tell them apart. They don't really have any distinct markings, they are all just pure white. However, the other day I was watching them and noticed that I could tell them apart by their combs. So I decided that it was time to name them.


I knew I wanted a, obvious theme, and the first thing I came up with was Mean Girls. Gretchen and Regina I liked, but Karen wasn't doing it for me, so scratch that. Then I thought Golden Girls, but there is four of them and wanted to save that for when I have a group of four to name. I thought about The Pink Ladies from Grease, I thought about the girls from Friends, I thought about Charlies Angels... Nothing seemed to fit. Until exactly what I was looking for just pupped into my head out of nowhere. Meet

Dolly,
Dolly's comb is big and it flops over.

Loretta,

Loretta's comb is smaller than Dolly's.

and Patsy!

Patsy's comb has is smaller and she has a little unicorn horn sticking up!
Also, by BFF named my little  Barred Plymouth Rock pullet Athena. ❤️


This week we also tore down the ugly paneling in the mudroom and replaced all the windows and framed in the patio door. We'll have a man cave bar room before we know it!