kale chips...

...or "what to do when you have too much kale and people at church have started avoiding you."  Just kidding, no one's avoiding me.  But we have a lot of kale and Swiss chard.  We've been eating them in some form at least 4 days a week since November.  It's so bad my kids are checking the garden every day to see if there's some zucchini ready.

One night last week I decided to go ahead and try making kale chips.  Several of us thought they were good, several didn't, some refused to try them. They're not at all like potato or corn chips so don't compare.

I looked at several recipes and then just did my own thing.

First I tore the kale into pieces.  I'll confess that I rarely wash veggies that come from our garden.  I know, I know.  But I do check and make sure there's no bugs or dirt.  Bugs don't seem to like the kale and since the bottom leaves are 3 feet off the ground there wasn't any dirt on them.

I drizzled olive oil on them and sprinkled sea salt, garlic powder and Parmesan cheese.
Then I baked them at 350 degrees for about 15minutes.

Here they are, all crisped up.  The crispier ones tasted better.  I used a little too much oil and too much salt.  Next time I'll use less oil and probably no salt.  But I might use a little more Parmesan.

 

We had some leftovers.  I used them in our scrambled eggs the next morning.  They were pretty good. 

organizing media

All I can say is, we have way more DVDs and Cd's that I thought. I'm not really sure where they all came from but somehow they've busted out of their drawer in the entertainment center and I found them stashed in various places when I set out to declutter the living room.

Now, I could, in theory, just get rid of them.  But most are movies my children have bought or been given, and some we watch over and over - like Magic School Bus and What's in the Bible.  

So, I started looking for a way to organize them so that they are easily accessible (I did think about putting them in a box in the garage, but that would get frustrating) and take up no more space than the drawer in the entertainment center.

I found this at iheartorganizing.  But I couldn't find those sleeves locally.  While I was looking for them I found these colored ones at Target.  They're plastic so they should last much longer than the paper ones.

For a while each evening I would take DVDs out of their cases and put them in sleeves.  I categorized them as I went and used 3X5 cards as dividers.  Esther always "helped" and Phoebe and Benjamin enjoyed helping, too. 

OK, I'm going to admit that I had this weird thing going on in my head that really struggled with taking them out of the cases and getting rid of the cases - and it didn't have anything to do with filling up the land fill because I'd recycle them.  So I put the cases in a box in the attic, just in case.

Originally, I used a shoe box to put the DVDs in.  But it was too flimsy.  So I found some old zip lock bowls that no longer had lids in my kitchen cabinet.  The DVDs fit perfectly. 

 



Here's the DVD drawer.  Eventually I'd like Carl to put in some wooden dividers in the drawer but for now I'm happy with the re purposed bowls. Actually, eventually I'd like a large family room added on to my house with a built in entertainment area with lots of drawers and shelves.  But that's years down the road, so for now it's plastic sleeves and zip lock bowls.

Here's the video game drawer.  I know- lots of wires, but I don't play the games, so as long as the controllers get put back in the drawer I don't care what it looks like.

Now I'm slowly working on putting the name of the dvd on each sleeve.  I think that will help us keep them in alphabetical order.  It will also help me know if one hasn't been put away properly.

Have you found a good way to store media?  Be sure to leave leave your thoughts in the comments. 

In the kitchen...breaking out of the rut

During the school year I find myself cooking the same things over and over and over.  Fortunately for me, my family doesn't mind.  They're all about quantity not necessarily quality.  As I've gone through my day planner and looked at what I we had for dinners over last 6 months each week looks pretty similar....

 

Monday - canned venison or sausage, potatoes, kale or Swiss chard

Tuesday - pasta, Swiss chard or kale

Wednesday - leftovers

Thursday - roasted chicken or pulled pork sandwiches

Friday - homemade pizza

Saturday - grill outside or stew

Sunday - baked potato bar

 

 

Snacks

Banana bread muffins

Breakfast cookies

Granola Bars

Peanut butter treats

 

 

 

Lunches

Lentils and rice

Pintos beans - burritos, taco salad, chalupas, etc.

 

 

Breakfasts
Oatmeal
Eggs with potatoes and/or Swiss chard
Waffles
Pancakes (I half the recipe and put it in bags with the instructions for easy preparation)

But now that it's summer it's time to break out of the rut...

These lovelies are from Heather's 30 Day Vegan class

 

I've been trying Jami's homemade salad dressings - so far we've made the ranch and my ranch eaters love it.

 

We made Pioneer Woman's Hot Crash Potatoes - twice.  (when she says to brush oil on them don't try to use spray oil - I did the second time and let's just say I had A LOT of leftovers for the eggs the next morning.)

 

I'm open to exploring more recipes this summer.  We have a few weeks before our canning season will start so I'm wanting to make the most of my time.  Please leave your recipe goodness or a link to it in the comments.

 

This post is shared at Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Natural Living Mondays, Barn Hop, Backyard Farming Connection,





In the Garden....sweet potatoes

Last year was the first time we've planted sweet potatoes.  A friend was sweet and bought me some slips when she bought hers from the feed store.  I later found out that they were $9...ouch.

We didn't do a very good job of digging them up, the soil where they were planted has a lot of clay and it was compacted down.  In February, Benjamin found a few more still in the ground.  Then when Gabriel tilled up the area more sweet potatoes went flying.  So I wasn't super surprised when I found quite a few sweet potato sprouts coming up in the area they were planted last year. 

After watching them grow and seeing more and more pop up, I decided to dig them all up and replant them in some looser soil and give some away. I was able to share with 4 people, including the person who originally purchased the slips for me last year.

Here's what I planted for us...27 slips.

This is about half of what I gave away. 

Here's some things about sweet potatoes:

• Sweet potatoes love heat.  So for our zone they are some of the last things we plant.  Planting season  is April 15-May 15th
• Need at least 100 frost free days (northern climates can cover the ground with clear plastic to help warm up the soil)
• Sweet potatoes are not the same as yams and they're different than regular potatoes
• Like loose, well drained soil
• Once established you only need to water if you notice the vine wilting
• Sweet potatoes are started by slips not seed potatoes (like white potatoes).  You can buy slips (ouch) or start your own by planting a sweet potato and letting it sprout.  After you see sprouts you can dig it up and gently removed the slips (sprouts) that have some roots on them.  You can replant to potato and see if more slips develop.  You can also do the same thing in water but it hasn't worked very well for me.
• Plant slips 12-18" apart and to a depth of about half its length
• If you live in a warm climate you might be able to grow them year round.  As the vine grows you can bury it every 12" or so and it will re-root and begin a new tuber

Pests and Problems:

• Wireworms and grubs can be a problem for any root crop
• We had a problem with pill bugs eating the potatoes last year.  We're using diatomaceous earth to help with this
• nematodes may be a problem and you can add beneficial nematodes if you have poorly colored or deformed potatoes

Harvesting and Storage:

• Unlike regular potatoes, sweet potatoes vines won't die back when they're ready to be harvested
• Anytime between 100-120 days your potatoes will be ready. 
• Harvest before first frost (although some of ours went through our mild winter in the ground just fine)
• Sweet potatoes need to be cured before storage.  They need to held at 85-90 degrees and 80-90% humidity for 5-7 days.  This will help them not dry out.
• To store they need to be kept at 55degrees or higher.  They'll begin to rot if its lower. 

Any other tips?  Feel free to share in the comments.

Information about other vegetables can be found by using the search button on my sidebar or in The Gardening Notebook.

This post is shared at Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Natural Living Mondays, Barn Hop, Backyard Farming Connection,  Tuesday Garden Party, 

summer projects {bathroom}

 

I spent last week cleaning, decluttering and prettying up the main bathroom.   We only have one and a half bathrooms so this room gets a lot of use. 

 

The bathroom is quite large and has a little privacy wall by the toilet.  There's quite a bit of space on the outside of the wall and I've always wanted a little shelving unit there.  However, I've never been able to find one that fit and that I liked.  So, we made one.  Don't look too close because it is far from perfect.  Josiah and Gabriel helped me make it, I probably should have just asked Gabriel to make it and let me assist as he had to come back and take part of it apart to make it square. 

 

Here's the almost finished bathroom.  Whoever put the linoleum in did not replace the quarter round so I'll be doing that.  And I really want to paint the white walls.  They look fine in the photo but in real life the previous owners just slapped a thin coat of white paint over the old white paint before selling the house.  Any color ideas?  I'm thinking a cream/taupe color with white trim and white ceiling.

Our bathroom has a nautical theme to it.  Carl and I grew up on the beach and love all things "beachy".  My sister made this hanging quilt for my dad years ago.  When he passed away she gave it to me.  It fits perfectly in our bathroom.  This week I finally got a real rod for it. 

Just in case you want to make a shelving unit, I took pictures to share.

 

I just used inexpensive pine board.  I used 1X12's.  We cut four lengths 23" and two lengths 36".  We nailed them together using finishing nails.  It's a bit wobbly at this stage but that's ok.

Measure the outside of your unit and cut a piece of thin plywood that is will fit.  This is where it's handy to have someone who knows how to square up a box.  You need to use a speed square and maybe even some clamps.  Nail the back on using finishing nails.

The top doesn't look very nice....

So we cut another piece of the thin plywood for the top and nailed it on.

I used paneling moulding to trim it up.  The boys cut mitered edges for the top front and then just flat ends for the rest.  For nailing this on, I drilled tiny pilot holes after splitting the wood a little.

The shelf shown here is stationary and I just nailed it in from the sides.

I used wood filler and filled all the holes and gaps.  Then painted it with a primer.

I made the middle shelf adjustable by drilling two holes on each side and using shelf holders to hold it up.  I did this because this piece of wood was cut just a little smaller than the others and the gaps would have been too big.

I finished it off by painting it "Tranquility" by Valspar.  I only used one sample can that I had gotten free from Lowes. 

Any ideas on paint colors that will look nice with the yellow pine paneling?

This post is shared at Make it Pretty Monday, Take it on Tuesday,  Home and Garden Thursday, Anything Blue, Clever Chicks Blog Hop,

this moment

Inspired by SouleMama...

Dewberry season is coming to a close.  Some have picked more and some have eaten more...

 

 

Have a lovely weekend!

{garden surprises}

After traveling this past weekend, I was glad to spend some time in the garden yesterday.  It's amazing to me just how relaxing piddling around is the garden is to me. 

Our Swiss Chard and kale are still growing well and have not gotten bitter yet. We're enjoying them several times a week either sauteed, in soups or in eggs.  We're also still harvesting beets.  My favorite way to eat beets is to grate them and put them in a salad. 

I found this beet hiding in the Swiss Chard.  I've been clipping the leaves thinking it was chard...oops. 

When Benjamin saw it he said, "Let's take a picture of it.  It's the biggest beet I've ever harvested."  Well, he was there a few minutes after I pulled it up...I guess for an 11 year old that counts as harvesting it.

This is what my dish drainer is looking like each day.  I'm going to have to rename it the dish and vegetable strainer.  We picked our first green beans of the season.  We're pretty excited about that.

How's your garden going?  Any surprises?

This post is shared at Backyard Farming Connections, An Oregon Cottage, HomeAcre Hop, Home and Garden Thursday, From the Farm,  Little House in the Suburbs,