QUICK AND EASY SLAW

With the temperatures reaching over 100 today, it seems best to keep cooking to a minimum.  A cold side dish for dinner makes sense, and coleslaw is just that.  Not to mention, the CSA delivered a perfect head of cabbage yesterday.  So today, I'm sharing a recipe for coleslaw.  I don't know of too many people who would claim coleslaw as their favorite side dish, nor go out of their way to make it.  It's definitely not something I make.  In fact, the only way it has made it into our house is by tagging along side the fish from that fast food place in town.

So, "when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade", and when it gives you cabbage, you might as well not let it go to waste.  After perusing around the net looking at the numerous recipes online, I decided, "I got this.", and went with the basic route.   I used what I had on hand. 

The result is a cool, creamy, crunchy, and somewhat tangy side dish.  It'll go great with the grilled chicken on tonight's menu.   As a matter of fact, I could see it going great with many dishes.  So without further ado...

Quick and Easy Coleslaw

1 small head of cabbage (shredded)

1 medium size carrot (shredded)

1 tsp of salt

1 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup white vinegar

1/2 tsp of celery seed (optional)

Mix all ingredients, refrigerate, and serve cold.

Enjoy :)

The CSA Report

The CSA Report  will be a regular Wednesday post from now until October.  CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, is still a relatively new term to people so I want to expand on what it is, what it's all about, and what one could get out of it.  For me, I like the idea of getting fresh local produce on a prepaid and regular basis. By joining the CSA, I've made a commitment to local farmers that financially help them start their season. In return, I get the freshest of produce and a variety that I would not normally think to buy.  So I'll also be getting creative in the kitchen.

Week four...

Let me just be the first to say - "seriously".  Yep, that is my share of broccoli.  Let me just take a minute to remind myself that I only bought a half share, and that half share is dependent on what is harvest-able for the week.    It looks like I'll be taking cream of broccoli soup off the menu for the week.  But such it is when you belong to a CSA.  You are at the mercy of the field.  Delight in the bounty.  Frown otherwise.  Oh well, there's always next week.

Now, I'll be positive.  That broccoli, zucchini squash, and onion can and will be quite tasty in a chicken stir-fry.  Soup out.  Stir-fry in.  Done.  The lettuce won't last long.  We've been without for a few days and even the kids have been asking for it.  Salad then it is with tonight's pizza dinner.

I must say that after two trips to the u-pick patch this week, these blueberries are small potatoes.  The kids and I picked and froze 25 pounds of blueberries.  We'll definitely enjoy these fresh though.  Maybe even some more Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes.

Hmmm, now for the tough one - cabbage.  Let me expand my repertoire with this.  I would love to say I could make sauerkraut, but I can't.  I tried it once and it turned funky.  Any pointers would be appreciated.  I'll stick to something safer for now.  With all the Fourth of July picnics and cookouts coming up, I'm going to use it to make slaw.  As for the cilantro, for me, cilantro = salsa.  How bout you?  What tasty things will you be cooking up this week?

Productive...

is the key word for this week.  I've decided to be home bound this week due to the kids' activity schedules.  There is just no solid blocks of time between taxiing to go places so might as well stick around the house and get stuff done.  Today marks day two of working in my sons' room.  We've been pulling everything out and giving the room a deep cleaning, plus going through and sorting stuff into keep and donate piles.  It's nice to see empty containers at the end of the day.  Less stuff = less to clean/put away later.

We've also been enjoying the productivity of the garden.

It was just a little over two weeks ago that I wrote my first blog post on the garden.  Then only a few flowers had appeared on the tomato and cucumber plants.  Now, the tomato plants are bearing and the cucumber plants are loaded with flowers.  In just two weeks, the cucumber plants have trellised  over three feet.  I've even been able to harvest the first cucumber of the season.  I was very skeptical how they would do at all considering the small containers they are in and the limited amount of sun they do get.  What I once considered experimental is beginning to look rather successful.

Even the watermelon in a bucket has taken off..

That's Jojo's feet in the background.  He's the family dog and now sharing his pen with the garden. 

No "Knead" to Have a Machine...

When I started making bread a couple of years ago, I didn't have a bread machine or a stand mixer with a dough hook.  However, I was determined not to let that stop me.  The thought of making bread from scratch  fascinated me - from a few simple ingredients to a warm comforting loaf of bread.  There would be no need for a trip to the store nor would there be a need to frown at the rising cost of that pre-made tube of dough that I could toss into a preheated oven.  Plus, the smell of yeast and baking bread are incredible.

Baking bread does not require special equipment, and is done quite easily once you get the hang of it.  So today's post is how to make a French loaf which can be used in oodles of ways.  The simplest of course is to slice it with dinner and smoother it with butter.  Plus there is  the obvious French toast.

Other ways could be to slice it longways and use a hoagie style roll.  This is great for Italian beef sandwiches or sliced grilled chicken.  You can also use it to make french bread pizza.  At the end of the week when  you've all but used it up, it can be made into bread crumbs or croutons.


All you need is a few simple ingredients...

This is a doubled recipe and will make two loaves of bread.

  warm water...

{2 cups for a doubled recipe}

Next, add a hand mixer...

[You could do this part by hand too.]

After you've mixed for two to three minutes,

This is about all my hand mixer can handle before I have to start mixing in flour by hand to stiffen the dough.

Then,

You'll want to stir in additional flour by hand so that the dough is not runny when you begin to knead.

Now from this point it's easier to show and tell with video.

Once it's all rolled and ready to go, put it into a preheated oven at 400 degress.  I usually cook mine for 25 to 30 minutes.


Time to review:

• For two loaves, start with 2 cups of flour, 2 Tbsp of sugar, 5 1/2 tsp of yeast (two small packets), 2 tsp of salt, and 2 cups of warm water.
• Mix everything by hand or with a hand mixer until it resembles cake batter (3 min).
• Add additional flour 1/2 cup at a time until you get the consistency of cookie dough.
• Sprinkle flour onto clean surface/counter top and turn the dough out onto surface.
• Knead the dough by pushing down and away from you, fold top half back towards you, push down and away again, give it a quarter turn and repeat.
• Knead for three to five minutes (adding flour to surface as needed) until dough is not sticky.
• Place dough back into bowl and cover with warm towel.
• Let rise for one hour.
• Punch down dough and turn out onto floured surface.
• Roll out the dough to a quarter inch thick rectangle.
• Starting at one end, fold about an inch of dough over and continue until it is rolled to the other end.
• Bake in a 400 degree oven 25 - 30 minutes.
• Enjoy :)

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberries have arrived and according to the Indiana harvest calendar, they're at least a week early.  We are planning to do the u-pick thing this weekend, but we got a pound of them in the CSA bag yesterday.  So I put them to good use with one of the better recipes that I have for blueberries.


I came across this recipe a couple years back when I started experimenting with whole wheat flour.  You know, gotta get those grains and be healthy.  I am actually not a pancake fan, but the photo that went with the recipe looked sooo good to me.  Had to give it a try.  These are now my preferred pancake of choice.  

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

3/4 C. of wheat flour

1 3/4 tsp. of baking powder

1/2 tsp. of salt

1 1/2 Tbsp. of sugar

3/4 C. of milk

1 egg

4 1/2 Tbsp. of melted butter

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until batter is smooth.  Gently fold in blueberries.  Melt a table spoon of butter in a preheated skillet - low to medium.  Spoon 2-3 TBSP of batter in to the skillet.  Allow pancake to cook until the edges look dry/crispy.  Flip Pancake and cook for two to three  minutes longer.  Enjoy hot with maple syrup.

The CSA Report

The CSA Report  will be a regular Wednesday post from now until October.  CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, is still a relatively new term to people so I want to expand on what it is, what it's all about, and what one could get out of it.  For me, I like the idea of getting fresh local produce on a prepaid and regular basis. By joining the CSA, I've made a commitment to local farmers that financially help them start their season. In return, I get the freshest of produce and a variety that I would not normally think to buy.  So I'll also be getting creative in the kitchen.


Today's pick up is just another reminder that we have been having awesome weather so far this year.  Although it looked as though we were heading into a drought, we got three and a half inches of rain last Saturday.  That certainly helps.  In fact, the weather has been so cooperative that blueberries have come in early.  Last year it was July before we had blueberries.  Though I'm planning to head to the u-pick this week to stock the freezer, a half a bucket full in today's CSA will make for a tasty treat.  On the menu for breakfast tomorrow - Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes with [local] Maple Syrup.

Lots of goodies in today's bag...

Each week, the CSA sends an email with suggestions and recipes.  This week's recipe was wilted chard with garlic.  Basically, just sauteing it down with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice.   Chard is new to me so I'll have to try this out tomorrow (preferably because it doesn't keep long).  Kale is a hardier green that I normally think of going in to soups and stews.   However, this particular kale is tender and mild so it can be eaten as a salad green.  The potatoes and onions will keep for sometime, and the snap peas are going into the freezer for a future stir fry dinner.  


Do you eat chard or kale?  How do you prepare them?

Making Plans...

It's nothing tremendously important - just this week's dinner menu.  In making my plans, I got a little stumped.  Remember I had told you I got a 1/4 beef from Seven Sons?  Well, part of the standard package that I got comes with round steak.  I don't buy round steak at all.  When I was growing up, my dad made round steak.  It was laid flat and topped with stuffing.  He then rolled it up and held it together with toothpicks.  That was then baked in the oven.  Two words... dry and tough.  Since I'm not that into ketchup anymore, round steak has since lost it's appeal .  Anyhow, Emma and I were due for a trip to the library.  She got Biscuit books.  I got a little inspiration.

It has become unbearably hot to cook and I know I want the round steak to be moist and tender so I picked up a slow cooker recipe book.  Preserving the Harvest was something I had to have since I am anticipating putting up a lot of food this summer.  I haven't even looked at the Farm Food book yet, but I have been so intrigued by the idea of farming lately, the title caught my eye.

The slow cooker book was a score.  It has at least seven recipes  that use round steak.  They all sound good - Mexican Sound Steak, Swiss Steak, Philly Steak and Cheese, BBQ Beef, and others.  I've decided to go with the one whose ingredients I already have on hand -Saucy Pepper Steak. It has tomatoes and peppers in it so it's perfect with the garden coming in.

Aside from the round steak, our menu for the week is looking like this...

Monday - Stuffed Shells with French Bread (working on the bread tutorial )

Tuesday - Honey Mustard Chicken Strips with Salad

Wednesday - Saucy Pepper Steak

Thursday - Homemade Cheesy Broccoli soup and sandwiches

Friday - Tacos with refried beans

Saturday - Hamburgers on the grill
Sunday - I'm leaving open for suggestions

What tasty things are you serving up this week?

PRETZEL BREAD

Welcome to my first "how-to" post.  Pretzel bread is something my family really enjoys.  It's also not that hard to make.  If you are already making bread, it's just the added step of putting your ball of dough into boiling water that has baking soda added to it.  The ingredients are simple and easily kept on hand.

Yeast, butter, flour, baking soda, brown sugar, and milk

Hold off on the butter and baking soda.  You're going to start by combining a cup of flour (mine is all purpose), 2 1/4 tsp of yeast, 1 cup of warm water, 2 tbsp of milk, and one tbsp of brown sugar.

The ingredients just hanging out waiting to be mixed.

Mix it well for about three minutes until it looks like thin cake batter.  Then, slowly add  1 1/2 to 2 cups of flour until the dough comes together like cookie dough.  At this point, I switch from my batter beater to my dough hook.  If you're working it by hand, then you would turn it out onto a floured surface and knead by hand.  Either way, you're going to continue adding small amounts of flour (1/2 to 1 cup) until you get a clean ball of dough.

The dough needs to rise in a warm place for an hour.  Wet a small hand towel with hot water ( as hot as you can stand), place it over the bowl and let it sit.  In an hour it'll be ready to punch down and work into smaller balls of dough that will become your pretzel bread rolls.

From this point, it's easier to show and tell with video rather than talking you through...

Just to recap - the dough balls take a thirty second soak (flip them midway) in the boiling baking soda water.  Lift with a slotted spoon to drain and place onto a greased baking sheet.  Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes.  If desired, melt 2 tbsp of butter to brush over the tops of your rolls.

So that's it.  Pretzel bread rolls in the making. We like it best fresh out of the oven with BBQ chicken or pork as sandwiches.  I have to say ( a small disclaimer), yes I know the end shot was lame.  My apologies.  Dinner was well past due and I could barely record the shot before they were devoured.

A Plan in Mind is a blog about thoughtful homemaking.  For me, thoughtful homemaking helps me manage my resources and make the most of what I've been given.  In my 22+ years of homemaking, I have come to realize that you get closest to what you want when you have a plan.  You might not get exactly what you want as things don't always turn out the way you plan, but at least you're heading in the right direction.

My plan never included Hostas, but they are in fact what grows in our yard.

A plan can be as simple as what to have for dinner or as complex as where you want to be years from now. For the last couple of years my plans have revolved around minimizing household expenses, learning new skills that will help me do so, and living thoughtfully for tomorrow and years to come.  As it turns out, these plans have given me hobbies that I enjoy, a sense of contentment and satisfaction in making my own things, and low and behold, a minimized household expense sheet.

But back to the intentions of this blog.  I want it to be a resource to readers - be it a new recipe, way of doing something, new skill, etc..  Two years ago, I had never baked bread, rolled out a pizza crust, made pajamas for me and the kids, preserved food by canning, or recovered hand-me-down deck cushions.  In the last two years, I've never taken a class to do any of these things.  I've been like you - reading online.  Independent learning at it's finest.  Yes, it's been trial and error, but ultimately success.

Now it's time to pay it forward.  The plan is to blog about gardening, cooking, baking from scratch, stretching resources, minimizing cost, and how-to tutorials.

The CSA Report

The CSA Report  will be a regular Wednesday post from now until October.  CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, is still a relatively new term to people so I want to expand on what it is, what it's all about, and what one could get out of it.  For me, I like the idea of getting fresh local produce on a prepaid and regular basis. By joining the CSA, I've made a commitment to local farmers that financially help them start their season. In return, I get the freshest of produce and a variety that I would not normally think to buy.  So I'll also be getting creative in the kitchen.

Having just picked up this week's share, I am pleasantly pleased.  I've said it already, but it's worth saying again... we're off to a good start.  I was looking back at last year's records before writing this to make a comparison. Honestly, I remember being disappointed.  Last year was simply slim pickens.  At this time last year, there were three items in the bag.  There was spring garlic greens, rhubarb, and asparagus.  Today's haul included two types of lettuce, knob onions, radishes, kohlrabi, spring garlic greens, and cilantro.

I know it's the weather.  Last year we had horrible storms at this time.  This year it was an early spring and has been warm/hot and sunny.  Although now they're saying we're going into a drought.  Strawberries and asparagus are over where this time last year they were just getting started.  No sweat though, I've already put up a dozen pints of pickled asparagus and many bags of frozen asparagus and strawberries.  I'm getting serious about preserving what's in season and local.

So what to do with all these goodies?  The lettuces will be used for salad to accompany our homemade pizza.  The radishes have already gone by way of snacking.  The knob onions were sauteed and added to tonight's patty melts.  The kohlrabi (that round weird looking thing with leaves poking out of it in the back) is new to me.  I've decided that it will get sliced and grilled with a fair share of butter and salt.  The only thing that comes to mind for the cilantro is salsa which I am out of anyhow.

Do you belong to a CSA?  How's it looking in your bag?

When a Plan Comes Together

Who doesn't like it when a plan comes together?  It occurred to me that if I didn't want to, I didn't have to go to the grocery store this week (at least not for dinners).  Skipping a trip to the grocery store has been wishful thinking of mine for some time now.  Thanks to a little planning, skippin' is beginning to look like a real possibility.

Sweet Gherkin pickles and Sloppy Joe Sauce

The plan I've been working is this:

1. Purchase a large supply of meat to stock the freezer.
2. Join a CSA for fresh local produce.
3. Build a respectable pantry stockpile.
4. Preserve food for future use.

Happily, I purchased a 1/4 beef from Sevens Sons this past week.  I am hoping that the 90lbs of beef will last a good six months for our family of five.  We average eating beef about three times a week.  This is the third time I've purchased from them.  I've found the meat to be very lean, tender and tasty.  Plus, I like that it's local.

Back in February, I rejoined our local CSA.  This will be our second year participating.  We are into week two of the season and off to a good start.  This past week, we enjoyed strawberries, romaine lettuce, asparagus, knob onions and radishes.  It's nice having this paid for in advance.  Now, it's just a matter of picking it up every week which is no trouble at all.

When I say "respectable stockpile", I just want you to know that you won't be seeing me on TV for extreme couponing or prepping.  I don't have a basement or garage lined with shelves bursting with consumables.  Although I do use coupons and take advantage of a good sale.  I did get twenty free bottles of salad dressing by using coupons once.  Yep, we used it all :)      Seriously though, most of my pantry is stocked via my Sam's Club membership.  I tend to buy only the basics - flour, sugar, yeast, rice, pasta, etc..

As for preserving food, I am always thinking about how to make what we have stretch and last.  I have begun canning, tried dehydrating, and acquired a second freezer with then intentions of making food last and making it more cost effective.  I also go by the saying "waste not, want not".  If a meal provides extras for us, those extras go to use.  For example, a weekend breakfast of homemade sausage and cheese English muffin sandwiches makes seven.  We eat five and the other two go in the freezer to be used later as sandwiches for my husband's lunch.

So what are we eating this week?

• Grilled steak  with asparagus 
• Sloppy Joes with sauce that I canned last fall 
• Homemade pizza with premade crusts and sauce from the freezer
• BBQ chicken sandwiches on homemade pretzel bread rolls
• Patty Melts with mac and cheese
• Tacos and salad

Beef and produce from local farms ~ dry goods from the pantry ~ everything else from the freezer 

The plan is coming together.

The pickles are coming...

So are the tomatoes...

The peppers have arrived...

Look dead center.  It's there.  It's so cute in person :)

For some time now I've been debating what to write about in my first post.  Today, I decided.  I've decided to write what I'm excited about.   I am excited that my garden is producing, and I have big plans for that.  My plans include making sweet gherkin pickles, pizza sauce, and salsa.  All of which I want to post tutorials for.  Hopefully, my harvest will be ready to do so  in late June or early July.

For me, it's been rather experimental - my garden that is.  I have a few things working against me.  One, my yard is about 80% shade.  Vegetables don't like that much.  Two, oak trees make up that shade which doesn't help the soil much in terms of the right PH.  Three, we live on a hill.  If I could plant in the one decent sunny spot, it would cause for the soil to wash.  Did I mention that when we get a good rain that we have a river in our back yard?  Quite interesting.  Those will definitely be some pictures to post.

Back to the garden.  It's very basic.  I'm using containers - any that I can find.  The containers are on our small trailer which is movable should I desire to help the plants follow the sun.  I have around eleven tomato plants - Romas, cherry, and slicing tomatoes.  There are two broccoli plants which are not doing much, and a few pepper plants which are producing.  I also have six cucumber plants in containers next to our dog pen where they can trellis.  Emma, my daughter, wanted to buy a watermelon plant which now resides next to the pickles in a bucket.  Like I said - experimental.  

How is your garden shaping up?