Bon Appetite!

Homemade Chex Mix
Toss together in a large bowl
3 cups Corn Squares
3 cups Rice Squares
1 box Sharks 4 Kids (Baked Cheddar Snack by Savoritz)
2 cups Unsalted Dry Roasted Peanuts
1 cup small pretzels
1 cup Sea Salt Bagel Chips, broken in to bite-sized pieces

Combine:
2 sticks of butter, melted
2 tablespoons classic Worcestershire sauce**
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 paprika**
1/4 tumeric **

Pour the melted butter & spices over the cereal mixture; stir until evenly coated. Heat oven to 250 degrees F. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool. Store in airtight container.


All these ingredients (except **) are available at Aldi's. 


Winter Vegetable Lasagna
This recipe is from Saving Dinner the Vegetarian Way by Leanne Ely




Potato Leek Soup 
Most of the garden had been mowed down when we arrived. The leeks & beets survived. :))

4 cups water
2-3 medium leeks thinly sliced
4 potatoes peeled & cubed

Bring the above to a boil until the potatoes and leeks are soft. Then mash or blend to a consistency your family will eat.

Add:
salt & pepper to taste
sprinkle on bit (or bunch) of fresh parsley.
1 cup milk, cream or buttermilk depending on your diet :)

Serve with soup crackers on a chilly day. Yum!


Squash 
Poke holes in your squash (carefully) with a knife. Put squash in your crock pot on high. Or place in a pan in your oven at 350 degrees.  Cook until fork tender.


Cut in half. Scoop out seeds and toss them away. Scoop out the cooked flesh of the squash. Mash with butter & salt. I like to use quite a bit of butter. :))


Mmmmmmmmm.


I like butternut squash the best!


Freeze any leftover squash for another meal.


Concord Grape Jam
Saturday we picked concorde grapes. The first frost here was a week ago and that's what make the grapes ready to pick. We picked 4 five-gallon pails of grapes. Supposedly it is an "off year."

My first harvest assignment is to make grape jelly. Here's what I have to do.

1. Slip the grapes out of their skins. Skins in one pot and the "guts" in another. It's not as hard as it sounds. Just squeeze the grape and out it pops!

2. Cook the pot of grape "guts" until they fall apart and the seeds float free. Strain in a jelly strainer. At this point the grape jelly is green. It's not until we add back the skins that it turns purple.

3. Now you have a choice. To the strained green grape puree add back the skins. You can either add them back whole. Or you can process them in a cuisinart until they're the texture you prefer. Chunky or smoother? How do you like your jelly? The grape jelly will stain horribly once you add back the skins.

4. Now you're going to add sugar. It's a 1:1 ratio. 1 cup of sugar for every cup of mixture.

5.  Cook until it starts to gel. I like to put a plate in the freezer to get it good and cold. When I add a drop of my grape jelly to it and it doesn't run down the plate I know that it's ready to put into jars.

5. Sterilize your jars & lids and add the hot jelly.   Let it sit on the counter and cool. Anything that doesn't seal use right away!

These grapes weren't grown at our farm. My mother's cousin, who lives in town, has grape vines growing all around her tiny yard on the fence. She is older now and prefers to let us harvest and process the grapes in exchange for a jar or two of jelly. Perhaps you can find locally grown grapes by posting on craigslist. Then you can make some jam too. .




Low-Carb Zucchini Lasagna


  • 2 large zucchini
  • 1 tablespoon salt
Peel & slice zuccini length-wise. Salt and set aside in a colandar to drain. 

  • 1 pound ground turkey burger
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
  • 1 small green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 onion, diced
Brown the burger, saute the onion & green pepper and season to taste. 

1 jar of homemade canned tomato sauce

  • 1/4 cup red wine
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
Add to the meat burger & set aside

  • 1 egg
  • 1 (15 ounce) container low-fat ricotta cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
    • 8 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
    • Combine & set aside 

Putting the lasagna layers together:
1. meat sauce

2. zucchini noodles
3. ricotta cheese 
4. repeat layers 1 thru 4 one more time ending with a final topping of  sauce. 

Bake in 350 degrees until bubbly. Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve! 




Homemade Iced Tea Lemonade
This is almost Starbucks perfection!

Brew two bags of your favorite tea. Aldi's black tea works great.
Pour over ice.
Add fresh squeezed lemon juice from half a lemon
Sweeten with your fav. sweetener. I like the convenience & consistency of a packet of stevia.

*** For a twist, try it with a lime!  ***


Glazed Radishes 

Yum! My mother made this for us recently using her fresh grown radishes and it was second-helping worthy.

Put cleaned radishes into a frying pan. Add water to just 3/4 the height of the radishes. Add a glop of butter, salt to taste, and a tablespoon of your preferred sweetner. (I use raw sugar or agave). Bring to a boil.  When the water is almost all boiled down it's finished!