Garden in January, Eastern NC, Zone 7b and Harvest Monday

January 12, 2015

I am combining Harvest Monday with my monthly garden update this week. It is AMAZING to see how the garden has changed in the last two months!

Beginning of NovemberBeginning of DecemberBeginning of JanuaryWow. In the course of two months, the bushes and trees went from green, to red, to nothing! I never realized how quickly that happened before documenting it in pictures.

We dipped into the teens multiple nights this week and never got out of the 30s many days. So I went ahead and harvested a bunch of veggies — better safe than sorry! The garden is still covered. I am hoping the kale and broccoli plants will survive the cold and will bounce back. We will see.

Celery (from store cuttings) Used them juicing and in soup.

Cabbage (softball size but again, better safe than sorry! And they made enough coleslaw for three nights!)Kale (salad) Lettuce (salad) I remembered to take a picture one night as an example of how we ate from the garden this week:This is my 2yo’s plate. Sloppy joe (marinara sauce from our tomatoes & wild onions), coleslaw (our cabbage), roasted sweet potatoes (ours), steamed green beans (ours). Bread is homemade from freshly milled flour.

All-in-all I spent money on pinto beans, chickpeas, carrots, mayonnaise, mustard, some spices, honey and olive oil (bread). (I buy dry beans, soak, cook, and freeze them in 15oz bags) I may have spent 50c on the whole meal (no more than 10 cents/child, including seconds). Tell me eating healthy is more expensive! Pbsh!

Most of our grocery money these days is going into buying fruit! Fruit is costing us so much, I have fruit on the brain. I ordered extra watermelon and cantaloupe seeds for next summer. I ordered ground cherries. And this past week I ordered two sweet cherry trees and two fig trees. I wanted to order concord grapes as well but the order was getting pretty expensive so I guess I’ll have to wait until next year for those.

My hope is that soon, I will not have to buy any fruit during the spring, summer, or fall and maybe we can dry some fruit so we will not have to buy very much during the winter months either.

Right now, we freeze strawberries and blueberries for use during the winter. We went strawberry picking last May and we are still eating raw strawberry jam. We eat our blueberries in cereal and oatmeal.

Are you harvesting? Are you still eating from your stores? Whether it is your goal to eat only from your land one day, eat only in season, or you just like looking at others’ gardens, check out Daphne’s Dandelions this Harvest Monday 🙂

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Part 3: Recipes (American)

March 14, 2013

I am continuing my series on menu planning, grocery shopping, and easy vegan/vegetarian meals…Click here and here to see parts 1 & 2. Today is Part 3: Recipes (American).

We LOVE American cuisine! We love bean burgers, pot pie, baked beans, sloppy joes…
wipe off your mouth & keep reading 😉 Today, I will share an easy meal and a more involved meal. Both are wonderful.

Easy meal: Baked Beans, sweet potatoes, broccoli, salad

Crockpot Baked Beans

• 2lbs navy beans (soak overnight)
• 1lg onion, chopped
• 1/3 c. maple syrup
• 1/3 c. ketsup
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 t dry mustard/2T prepared mustard
• 2 t Worcestershire sauce
• 1.5+ c. water

Mix everything in the crockpot. Cook on high 5-6hrs or on low 10hrs. Stir once halfway through & add water if needed. The sauce is not as thick as baked beans you would buy in a can but that is because these do not have HFCS, so I see that as a good thing 🙂

Sweet Potatoes (bake 1.5 hrs or if you don’t have that much time)

• Chop sweet potatoes
• place on silpat so it does not stick
• sprinkle with cinamon
• cover with tin foil
• bake at 350 for 30-45 min

“Tastes like sweet potato pie” – child #2 🙂

Steamed Broccoli (we choose this specifically because it is high in calcium)

And, of course a salad! Go as crazy as you want with the salad. Please do not use iceberg lettuce, as it is the least nutritious of all lettuces/greens but other than that, top the salad with anything you want! fruit, beans, nuts, mushrooms, carrots, celery, peppers, cucumbers – whatever you & your family like 🙂

Whatever is coming out of the garden is added to our meals as well – green beans, corn, tomatoes, whatever – add it in for another vegetable!

More ‘involved’ meal: Sloppy Joes, Coleslaw, Roasted Potatoes, Greens

Sloppy Joes

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 8 oz tempeh, crumbled OR 8-15 oz chickpeas, mashed
• 2 t minced garlic
• 1 t chili powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 t apple cider vinegar
• 1 t maple syrup
• 14 oz tomato sauce
• 15 oz pinto beans

1. Water saute the onion
2. Cook tempeh 2-3 min (if using chickpeas, skip this step)
3. add everything else & heat through (15 min on med/low heat)
4. Place on burger buns

I used to use tempeh for a more ‘meaty’ taste but the only store that has it is 45 min from my house so, trying to save money, I decided to try mashed chickpeas (I have used this as a chicken substitute in ‘chiken salad’) and the Sloppy Joes tasted basically the same. Tempeh is also more expensive so it is a win (gas savings) – win (grocery savings) – win (taste)!

Again, does not taste as greasy (is a lot lighter-tasting) as normal Sloppy Joes but this is a good thing! I promise! 😀

Coleslaw (this is your salad)

• cabbage (med)
• 2 carrots
• salt & pepper
• mayo
• mustard

1. Shred cabbage and carrots (in the food processor w/the grater attachment is easiest – if you have one)
2. Add salt & pepper
3. Mix with your hands
4. You will have extra – I will post soon about how I save the extra for later…i promise!
5. Dole out how much you want, squirt & dollop with mustard & mayo (or Vegenaise)

How simple, cheap, and healthy was that?!

Roasted Potatoes

• chop potatoes
• place on silpat so it does not stick
• sprinkle with sea salt
• cover with tin foil
• cook at 350 for 45 minutes

Greens: Kale Chips (which I STILL have not mastered), or creamed kale is our favorite

Creamed Kale

• Kale (pull off stems, roughly chop, steam)
• Cashew sauce (raw cashews, water, garlic & onion powder in blender)

Steam kale & pour cream sauce over it. This is the vegan version. You could also just saute kale in a *tiny* bit of butter and sprinkle w/ground cashews or parmesan cheese. Whatever makes it palatable for you (remember – your taste buds WILL mature) – just start introducing kale whenever you can!

Those are two of our beloved American meals. I tried to be as detailed as possible – I hate being left in the dark when it comes to recipes online. I will post in the near future how I precook and save beans in order to avoid buying canned beans (for health, taste, and monetary reasons).

One more note: if you sit down for sloppy joes expecting the same sloppy joe taste as beef and canned sloppy joe sauce, you will be disappointed. Prepare yourself – these are beans, not meat. If you go into supper with the right expectations, you will be pleasantly surprised.

I say this because I remember eating mashed cauliflower for the first time, thinking it was DISGUSTING because I was expecting them to taste just like mashed potatoes! Once I changed my expectations, I found I enjoyed them a lot more!

Please try one of these soon and let me know how it all turned out! 😀