You asked for it...

I have had a few inquiries as to what I do with all these peppers I grow!  I really do use them all, and I don't see myself as being a pepper freak, but maybe I am - you be the judge...

Got Hot?

or sweet?

There's lots to see here, so don your mask and gloves and let's get started!

Sweet Bell Peppers are easy, no blanching, just chop and freeze.  They go into everything, all winter long - stir fry, soups, stews, sausage casseroles, anything goes here.

Even the frozen bell peppers will keep pasta salad lively long after the tomatoes are gone...

The old standard, salsa...

Nachos!

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

Garden Convenience Food - stuffed peppers, frozen and bagged... dump a few out and bake in oven with a bit of tomato sauce and cheese makes a quick meal...

Of course there are days when there are more than I can use at dinner...

ya think?

Canning keeps us in nachos (Garden Junk Food) and chili all winter long -

Hubby likes jalapenos on his pizza sometimes :)

I use diced jalapenos or green chiles to jazz up the chicken filling inside enchiladas -

But wait, there's more!

Jalapenos can be frozen whole for more Garden Junk Food in winter...

One of my favorites is Stuffed Baked Jalapenos -

I halve them, seed them, stuff with a mixture of cooked sausage and cream cheese, sprinkle cheddar cheddar and french fried onions over the top and bake, the ultimate!  I never said this was healthy :) (*you can also make ahead a few hundred and freeze on sheets then dump into bags, ready to go party food!)

Excess small hot peppers are dried for grinding later or making fermented hot sauce.  Larger chiles such as Poblanos can be dried and soaked later in the year to turn into stuffed Anchos.  (Fun fact - Poblano peppers are called Ancho Chiles after they are dried).  Anchos ground and mixed with other spices such as oregano, savory, salt, pepper, dried garlic, etc make a great steak rub, too!  Drying is the quickest way to preserve for sure!

If I have a little extra time on my hands, I'll roast and peel the Poblanos and pressure can so they are ready to go all winter for Chiles Rellenos.

Peppers are always welcome in tacos here -

Canned sweet or mild peppers or peppers packed in oil are always good on sandwiches or panini, stuff them right into jars with your pickles, don't discriminate!  It'll give those pickles some kick, too :)

Apparently I've made quite a name for myself as the pepper-chick, hence this gift that arrived a ways back from the lovely Apple Pie Gal....  :)

Now even my beverages are decorated in pepper style!

Party Fun:  host a dinner party, then stuff peppers of random heat into homemade sushi and watch people's expressions, this is good times!  Kind of like loading a bunch of .38's along with a randomly placed .357 in your gun just to keep you on your toes.  Come on, I know a few girls out there that have done that, usually courtesy of your laughing husband, right?

So there you have it, the most common pepper dishes at our home - 

Embrace the pepper!

Sick of me cooking yet?

Me too!  I had intended to get some photos of the garden today, but Mother Nature isn't cooperating.  Speaking of, holy heck what is UP with those storms that ran through part of our country yesterday?  I hope you all fared well, and if you were in the path, chime in and say all is well, please.  I know I'm getting antsy waiting for Alabama blogger E.G. to pop up in my Reader and say everything is okay there.

The line of storms is just a couple of hours east of us now, so far nothing but massive winds here, if it was cold outside the whistling wind I can hear outside would remind me of Laura Ingalls!  No cold, though - it was 82º at 10 a.m., with winds in excess of 45-50 mph.  We are under a tornado "watch" right now, #271 according to the NWS LOL...nothing really expected to develop here though until after 3 pm.  

With a lack of garden progress photos today, looks like it's going to be food again...

Last night's harvest:  Olympia spinach, Tango and Bronze Mignonette lettuces, Mizuna, Mache, scallions and a few pansies to dress it all up.  Annie's Granny and her harvest post reminded me to start weighing my harvests for this year, so I'll have to update my sidebar today.

Dinner Salad

My 1st loaf of whole wheat sourdough bread!  My starter is now about 12 days old, it turned out really well, and I can't wait to get better at fine tuning the baking to my oven.

I made the kids eat some salad before they were allowed to have bread.  One thing I have found to work a bit:  the "Salad Spritzers"... Finn calls it his "salad shooting gun" and it works for him, but Loch remains unconvinced.  Once these are empty I plan to foil them even further by filling them with my homemade dill and herb vinegars :)

This morning at 6 a.m. hubby says "oh, the guys have a potluck today"... today?????  Luckily I already had lots of chickpeas soaking overnight, I have yet to get that amount thing down, but due to my poor estimation I figured out that I had enough for a huge batch of hummus and I would make pitas again and just drive it all over to him when it was done.

No kidding, it made about a quart LOL!  This time I used up some of the oven dried tomatoes, and roasted garlic with the tahini and lemon juice & salt.  It turned out really well, and I'm anxious to get some fresh peppers out of the garden to roast and put in there as well.

The smell of roasted garlic at 7 am is interesting...

On to the pitas...

- then the phone rings... it's hubby stating that for the 2nd week in a row, the guys at work forgot to bring their stuff in, so the potluck was put off until next week.  Really?  LOL I bet they all tried that 6 am "I forgot" excuse at home with their wives and they all got laughed at!  

So now we are set for the whole weekend... we have a massive amount of hummus to eat, looks like I'm not cooking!  I have no problem with hummus, pitas and salad every night this weekend, so I can get some outside work done instead of cooking!

Where did we go?

To the Middle East!  

(or as hubby thinks of it - "home cookin'"!)

Kebabs,  Naan, Hummus, Iranian Tzatziki, Olives, Basmati Rice & Slata Jida

Funny to think that after cooking most of the day, it was all over in 30 minutes!  I couldn't wait any longer and ended up pouring a home brewed ale before hubby got home.  He then proceeded to point out that there is no beer in the Middle East :) 

The meat substitution turned out great, I used a lean beef tri-tip cut and marinated it in garlic, olive oil, mint and rosemary - hubby said he thought it was lamb, and he's the Persian Gulf food guy so I guess it was a good substitute, and was much cheaper.  

The kids did okay, they loved the meat and "dip", and each ate one spoonful of Slata Jida, which is like a Middle Eastern version of a fresh salsa, they only did that since I promised them dessert if they ate it :)

I can't wait until the garden really gets into high gear since that's when these dishes really take off, there so many of our favorites that I can't even think about making until then.

Where are we going tonight?

A little cool and blustery gray today, so I don't feel too bad about not being outside in the garden (excuses, excuses).  I did decide to cook up a storm today, however.  We've been cooking on and off since about 7 am this morning, and I'm not sure the kids know what they are in for, although they helped with bits and pieces of it :)

First we needed a trip to the market to stock up on a few things I was missing, and it turned into the shock of a lifetime...

I needed tahini... needless to say I did not buy it at the natural foods market - check out the price... $22.69!  What???  I went here to save myself the 15 minute trip to an ethnic store that  keeps several varieties, duh... I ended up going there anyways and buying it for the more normal price of $6.59 which will give me enough to last for months.

Another gem at the natural foods market... I just had to get a picture of this - individually wrapped turnips, has everyone lost their d@mn mind?!

I was able to stock up on a variety of dried beans and whole grains, what a savings over buying canned/prepared stuff.

Luckily all my herbs for tonight came right from the garden: rosemary, parsley & mint.  Also from the garden for tonight is the garlic and peppers.  I also pressed my own olive oil... gotcha!  :)

  

I made pitas first thing this morning, this was my first time making them from scratch and I'm really happy with the way they came out.  Next time I think I'll try whole wheat.

The kids helped me with the marinade by peeling garlic, I hate that job :)

I then decided to sub beef in for lamb due to the ridiculous price of it at the store.  I really need to be raising a few of my own for meat, or at least get an order in locally, but it won't happen in this area.  Ideally, what I'm cooking tonight would have lamb or goat ('chevon' for the trendy folks), neither of which is something sold very much around here.

I'm finally getting this dry bean thing and remembering to soak them! Sooooo much cheaper and healthier.

Finn helped with draining cucumber

  

Here he is cleaning up my mess... what a strange child...

An hour ago, as I prepared the "dip", they couldn't keep their hands off it.  This is due to them not seeing what went into the food processor, and me making up a fake name for it... can you guess what it is?

None of this kitchen flurry means I have any real energy for outside chores, I am stumped by this latest behavior of mine - I seem to be constantly moving inside and am really enjoying cooking again, but the thought of pulling weeds and building garden contraptions instantly has me depressed.  Maybe just a cyclical thing?  At least I am dealing with it by cooking and not gambling some other destructive avoidance technique LOL.  Although I've been having such a good time in the kitchen today I kept looking at the clock wondering if I could yet imbibe in a glass of wine or homebrewed ale...not very mom-like but my favorite time to enjoy an adult beverage is while I'm cooking.  If I would have started at 7 am though my kids would have walked to McDon@lds by now, stepping over me to get to the door.  Hubby is at work now so this is for him:  don't worry, I'm waiting for you!  :)

So who can guess where our dinner table is taking us tonight?

I'll post the dinner and the answer later this evening...

Strange news and strange food...

Tick, tock, tick, tock... I'm all ready to get going in the garden, but the nighttime temps need to cooperate a bit more before the seedlings start going in.  So what else has been going on?


Thought you might enjoy a few snippets of our local news - these things have all happened in just the past week, sometimes I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone...


- Bear in a Tree - this might not be strange in other places, but this was near an elementary school just off Atlantic Ave, at the oceanfront!  Yep, a few sightings of a black bear down on the resort strip I think were written off to people that were just a little off their rocker maybe, but the next evening it was spotted by 2 police officers, and it was a pretty large specimen.  Poor bear was up in a tree surrounded by news crews and someone from PETA dressed in a bear suit and they shot him up with tranquilizers and put a trampoline under him.  Problem was, he didn't fall out of the tree.  They proceeded to cut branches down until they got him and he was later released into the wild, probably the Blue Ridge mts or the Dismal Swamp.  No clue how he arrived here, I guess he wanted to go on holiday like all the other tourists.


- Overturned semi carrying..... blood & plasma?!!  Ummm, ew!  That was yesterday morning's news during rush hour.  Of all things to be called out to, can you imagine the hazmat crew getting that call?  What are the chances?!


- School Superintendent apologizes to parents:  This one's a doozy - A 2nd grade teacher was teaching a lesson in civil rights the other day and decided that it was a good idea to separate the students into groups, African American and caucasian... then proceeded to "have an auction".... WHAT???!!  


Just a few things that cause me to shake my head in disbelief on a daily basis!


***
On to the strange food... some of you may know I've been trying to cook more one-pot meals, in part because I can get them going in the morning in the crock pot, freeing up my afternoon time when it's warm out and I want to be in the garden, but also because I am trying to always have leftovers to freeze for quick healthy dinners or lunches for hubby to take to work.  At the same time I have been trying out new recipes, adding new veggies, and trying to use more whole grains and less meat.  (don't get me wrong though, I will never become a vegetarian!)  I really want to learn how to cook lots of different dishes using these ingredients because they are so easily stored, inexpensive, and very nutritious.  Jane of 'Hard Work Homestead' and Mama Pea of 'A Homegrown Journal' have been pretty influential in my newly rediscovered love of cooking and trying to get more wholesome grains and such into it and Thomas of 'A Growing Tradition' has inspired me to keep trying on my bread until I get it right!


It's been a daily struggle with the kids peppered with the occasional bright spot... take a look!


This dish was called "Peasant Stew", it is basically  chicken pieces cooked in a slow cooker seasoned cumin and pepper, stewed with our canned tomatoes, chiles, beans and cilantro.  We topped it with  sour cream and more cilantro and it was fabulous!  Mine and hubby's opinions, of course.  The kids started out whining, but they actually ate this one after bribing them, and said they ended up liking it.  But why, oh why do they always have to whine first?!

Finn finally liking it below...

Another night was a meatless dish to serve up on tortillas like burritos.  Also, turned out very tasty except I overcooked the barley in the slow cooker.  This one doesn't need to be started until about 3-4 hours before dinner, not all day - oops!  It has pearled barley, black beans, corn, canned diced tomatoes, green chiles, cilantro, cumin and a few types of peppers.

I pretty much got "Worst Mom of the Year" award for this one!  

Hubby and I liked it, of course:)

Listen in on their hate and discontent, love how hubby literally pitches it onto their plate in his frustration with their whining LOL...

whole grains and beans, hmmmmph!  

"The beatings will continue until morale improves!"

Just food...

Definitely no gardening today.  I woke up to a severe thunderstorm warning and winds gusting over 50 mph, so this food will have to suffice for a garden post, there's a little of the garden in each one, we are quickly getting down to the bottom of our freezer and canning stash of veggies.

More bangers & mash - this is quickly becoming a staple around here, but I'm soon going to have to sub out those potatoes for salad and Guinness for water since this dinner will definitely sneak up on waistlines before we have time to even notice!  Bangers & Salad?!  Not sure if the Irish in me will be able to handle that.  This one just has frozen onions from the garden and fresh parsley.

This bread was not as good as it looks, LOL.  It was kind of doughy still in the middle but I had a feeling it would be since I waited so long to start it, then at 6:30 pm with it still trying to cool the kids were "starving" so we had to slice it!  This one had fresh basil, peppercorn & parmesan.  Those are my freeze-ahead stuffed shells which makes dinner prep fast, they have my canned tomato sauce in them and fresh basil (those poor basil seedlings are taking a beating!), also still trying to eat to the end of the frozen garden bean supply.

This was a nice surprise at dinner last night...

  After hurriedly getting the kids ready for school this morning before we lost power, I decided that the library and sewing would be the perfect way to spend the day, since the driving sheets of rain and 40+ mph winds were expected to last all day, with temps dropping like a rock after noon.  Was 80 yesterday, tonight in the 30's?  A.D.D weather...

I did get to the library first thing, and this is what's on the reading agenda this week...

and then life got in the way of my sewing plans... I realized we were low on milk and a few other things so that turned into a whole grocery shopping ordeal and literally rained on my sewing parade.  When I got home, I had exactly 1.5 hours left before Thing 1 and Thing 2 get home from school, and that doesn't leave me with enough time to properly get any sewing planned or started, so I decided to do some more cooking:

 

I made made meatballs!  These are simmering in my canned tomato sauce and canned stewed tomatoes and will be dinner tonight with pasta, and also dinner for hubby to take to work tomorrow.  The rest of the meatballs were quick frozen on a baking sheet and dumped into a bag for ready-use later.  I'm trying really hard to always cook ahead and store things, since it helps keep us from eating out on busy nights.  I'm hoping if I do this for long enough it will just become habit and I'll forget all about my favorite salad bar and sandwich place in town!

So no sewing, just cooking... think of me this way:

 (I'm still so puzzled by her!)

yeah, right! 

One more thing, we are resuming family reading tonight!  We were working our way through the Little House series before hubby left for deployment.  These were my favorite books as a child, and when I found out hubby hadn't read them, it became top priority to inflict my passion on those around me!  He was enjoying them so much while we read to the kids nightly, that when he left for the Middle East I stopped at the end of 'Farmer Boy', and waited for him to return so he wouldn't miss any.  So tonight we begin 'By the Shores of Silver Lake'... I can't wait!  When I was a kid I loved Laura Ingalls, but now that I'm all grown up, I love reading these over again this time channeling my Ma Ingalls, now that woman knows how to homestead!  :)