Taco Seasoning

How many times have you seen a recipe and were drooling to make it but, it called for a packet of taco seasoning? Well, this has happened too many times in this household, so I set out to experiment with some spice mixtures to get one I loved.
I need to feed a large group tomorrow and thought I would make my famous Taco Soup. It's much more hardy than soup, more like a stew. It requires some taco seasoning. This recipe makes enough for the soup and leaves you enough to use it two more times for ordinary recipes.

Taco Seasoning
4 teaspoons chili powder
3 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Mix together and store in an airtight container.

Taco Soup
1 pound grass-fed ground beef
3 - 15 ounce cans kidney beans
2 Tablespoons taco seasoning mix
2 cups (or 1- 14 ounce can) beef broth, organic

Brown the ground beef until no longer pink. Add to a crock pot. Add beans, taco seasoning, and broth. Mix together. Cover and cook on LOW 6 - 8 hours.

Garnish with:
sour cream, shredded cheese of choice, diced onion, snipped cilantro, chopped tortilla chips.
Simple, hardy stuff. You are invited to add your own take on both the seasoning mix and soup.
Thought I would share that I always add more stuff to this recipe. I chopped a bunch of mini carrots and added one half of a very big green pepper. I didn't have 3 cans of beans so I added a can of diced tomatoes and more beef broth. It still came out a very hearty, thick soup. Have fun with it. It's a winner. It did feed 7 very hungry adults.

Adding seasonal veggies to your diet: Asparagus, Goat cheese and lemon

Our son's ongoing problems with his cancer treatment and some weird side effects has given risen to a new issue: getting enough vitamin K. How do you keep a steady supply of this vitamin? It's in a lot of vegetables available right now, through the summer and beyond.
One of the most delicious recipes I've come up with mixes asparagus, goat cheese, pasta and lemon juice. Sounds yummy? It does to me. Asparagus is a moderate supplier of vitamin K. Broccoli, basil and so many green vegetables has this stuff. And if you like eating kiwi, it's got loads.

For this incredible pasta, you'll need:
1 pound spiral shaped pasta
1 pound slender asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1 -½" pieces
¼ cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons fresh tarragon
5 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled
fresh lemon juice

Cook the pasta in salted water. About three minutes before it's done, add the asparagus. Cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Drain. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
Combine the olive oil, lemon peel, tarragon and cheese in a large bowl. Add cheese, hot pasta and asparagus and some pasta water. Mix thoroughly.  Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Serve immediately. It should feed 6 people. There is no telling how much you and your munchins eat, so the number 6 is pretty crazy. You be the judge.
If you can't find fresh tarragon, try thyme. It's equally delicious in this dish. I love pasta dishes with cheese and fresh goat cheese does melt into total yumminess and makes this dish special. Throw some slices of sourdough bread on the table and you'll be adored. I mean it, adored. Hurry, find your fresh ingredients and start cooking!

Easter at our "Farm" House

A member of my family suggested a new twist on egg decorating for this Easter. My ears were wide open. Using any form of coloring devices: Crayola coloring pens came to mind, you could easily draw the minion overalls and the spectacles they wear. This suggestion went to the grandkids who have been staying with us all week. Kenny and Dylan were so excited to do this! I gathered the supplies, boiled the eggs and away we went! Kenny, the oldest, wanted to do the evil minions in purple. Dylan opted to do Easter cards for his uncle, Mom and Mom's boyfriend. We turned him loose on that project. I did most of the yellow, normal (?) minions. We all love the two movies with these little guys in them. I wish I had two of them. Life would be so funny and crazy with them around!!

By now, they have been hunted in the backyard, peeled and made into deviled eggs. My daughter makes awesome deviled eggs.
Sun is out and shining and warm. We are attracted to the garden. Much to do there. I am so content to have had my family together. It is a blessing I don't take for granted.
Have a wonderful holiday. Hugs and kisses to all!

Sourdough goodness

I've been feeding a sourdough starter now for over a month. I noticed it was producing some larger bubbles so I ventured to adjust a favorite bread recipe to use some of my starter. So this bread used some organic sourdough flour from Mary Jane Farms and half organic white whole wheat flour. Both flours would have wild yeast in them adding to the rising factor which is huge when you're using natural yeast. More is better!
To bake this luscious loaf I use my Emile Henri clay pot. I use it in a hot oven, 400º. The pot containing the dough is put in the preheated oven cold. This take about 40 minutes to bake. I then take the lid off and let the bread brown to make a crispy crust. This 4 quart pot holds a 2 pound loaf. That's 6-7 cup flour recipe.
I love how the bread turned out. It looked gorgeous. It's almost gone now. The family men, big and little have been gobbling it up!

Tinted Mason Jars

You're supposed to have some mason jars you can no longer use for canning. They've got chips, dings, whatever. Somehow all of mine are in good shape. So I checked the canning jar cupboard and found some real old ones with icky labels. First challenge, remove labels. I did. Gathered up some Mod Podge, high gloss variety, food coloring, some water, a jelly roll pan and popsicle sticks. Make sure your jars are really clean.

You put 1 tablespoon of Mod Podge, 1 teaspoon water and 9 or more drops of food color of your choice in a pint mason jar. My goal was to make some pastel colors. I used a small mixing spoon and mixed and mixed and mixed. It was hard to mix but a little challenging. Then you twirl the color all over the inside of the jar and around the top. You'll lose some so do this over a sink. After completely coating the entire inside of the jar, turn it upside down on top of a popsicle sticks place inside of a jelly roll pan and let it drip. The pan has a lip to contain the extra color mixture that will drip out. Let them sit for at least two hours. Patience my little friend, patience. Heat your oven to 200º. Turn jars right side up and put them on a clean cookie sheet. You're going to bake them for an hour. Under an hour, you might have streaks. Around an hour, nice smooth colored glass. Let them cool completely before touching.
Now you can have some fun decorating them for Spring or Easter.

I did a batch of these for our chapter meeting. Here's how some were decorated.

Hawaiian Meatballs - a real treat- a small trip to Paradise

Yes, I'm from Hawaii and love pineapple. When I decided to add  crushed pineapple to some lean, ground beef, oh joy! Major delicious. I love rice, too. Any type of rice! Making a fruity sauce to drizzle over the meatballs and rice is pure heaven. So here's how to make these bad boys:

1 can - 8 oz crushed pineapple in juice, divided
1 cup barbecue sauce

1 pound ground round beef (85% lean) grass-fed pastured2-1/4 cups instant brown rice, uncooked,divided 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray or extra-virgin olive oil

Stir together half the pineapple and 3/4 cup barbecue sauce in small bowl; set aside.

Mix remaining pineapple, remaining 1/4 cup barbecue sauce, beef, 1/4 cup rice, salt and pepper in large bowl until well blended. Shape mixture into 24 meatballs, about 1-1/4 inches each. Place in large skillet sprayed with cooking spray; spoon sauce mixture over meatballs.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir gently and cover. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 16 to 18 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through (160°F).

Meanwhile, prepare remaining 2 cups rice according to package directions, omitting salt and butter and adding bell pepper. Serve meatballs and sauce over rice.

So, defrost or buy some really good ground beef, crushed pineapple and make yourself a treat. You're probably staring at a lot of white stuff and need a mental trip to the tropics. Just the yellow color of the pineapple will cheer you up. :)

Douglas Fir Trees

We had 5 Douglas Fir trees as of 7 am this morning. By 11:30, they were downed, chopped up and done for. Two were damaged, the other 3 were close to being toppled in future wind storms. Sadly, and also, cheerfully I watched the crew who leveled them. They'll be back to do the stump grinding. My two large ash and maple trees will benefit by having more sun. We will also see our beloved Olympic Mountains. Not today, rain and fog prevail. My living room which faces west is filled with light. I remember these things from years ago when the firs were little. We could see the mountains, our room was always full of light. Three of these trees were almost 100 feet tall.

Tomorrow, our two cedar trees will be thinned. They'll be able to breathe better. Our three large apple trees are being shaped and trimmed. Looking forward to better crops. One tree is a wild one. It grew from a seed dumped in the yard eons ago. It took me a couple of years to realize to pick the apples when they are fully shaped and green. The moment they turn a bit of yellow, they're mushy and tasteless. Green, they make super tasting apple pies and sauce. I can a lot of applesauce. Both of my children and now grandchildren have grown up eating those apples, one way or another.

And, speaking of canning, my search for a large canning pot lead me to a Graniteware 33 quart. Ordered it from Amazon, it came quickly, was on sale but arrived damaged. Did a return, reported the damaged, asked for better packaging, got another. It is now waiting to be returned. Damaged due to not enough packaging. Getting a refund and hip hip hooray, found a local source for this canner. Joy comes to us FarmGirls when we realized our little dreams of great equipment which we use to make sure our families are fed healthy food. I don't mind investing in equipment for my kitchen. This particular pot has been on sale. Makes things even sweeter. It actually fits quite well on my largest burner on my stove. It'll do 9 quarts, same for pints and 13 half-pints. Stainless steel pot covered with enamel. Both pots that have gone back had the enamel chipped off inside. Once that starts, it doesn't stop. Hopefully Amazon figures out the shipping issue. They are a great company to deal with.

My 21 quart canner spews water when I use it to do quarts. It's just not tall enough. I don't even have the 1" requirement going for me. So this bigger bad boy should do the trick. So off I go into canning land feeling much better. It was getting tricky dodging the boiling hot spews of water and wondering if I was canning properly. The new pot has a stainless steel rack with dividers. Love that!