Venison Wild Rice Soup

We are not hunters in general. This year my son decided he wanted to learn how to hunt. Luckily, we have a few good friends that are avid 'hunters'. He is learning many lessons about conservation and land management in the process. Well, he also got his first deer this fall. That means, we have a bit of venison to eat. I have never cooked with venison before, so this year will be a year of learning and experimenting in the kitchen.

So, tonight I made venison wild rice soup. I think it turned out relatively good. My hubby liked it too. As for kid friendly, my middle child that is most adventurous of the 3 ate it well. My son ate just the meat - with the sauce wiped off. My youngest wouldn't touch any of it (yes, she is going to be hungry tonight). In general, my kids are rather picky, so you will have to judge kid friendliness of this recipe.

Family rating: 3.25 of 5

WARNING: you may want to half this recipe - we had a ton left over. I will be cutting it in half next go round. But, if you have a big crowd, go for it!

2 lbs venison stew meat
4 cups chicken (or beef) stock
4 cups water
1 package long grain wild rice
1 cup wild rice
3 TBSP onion flakes
2.5 cups dry milk
2 TBSP corn starch
3oz cream cheese
4 oz light sour cream
salt/pepper to taste (~1 tsp each)
garlic salt to taste (~2 tsp)

In the beginning...

I just threw everything (expect the last 4 ingredients) into a large pot, mix. Bring contents to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer for 1-1.5 hours. You can add some more water or stock if you want to thin it some. Cook a little longer if you want it thicker. At the end, I put in the last 4 ingredients. The meat was wonderfully tender. I only cooked for about an hour. If I let it cook a bit longer, the wild rice would have curled nicely and had been more tender. You may need to adjust the liquid. Next time...

The end result...

Parmesan Knots

This recipe is from the Frank family. If you are interested in a recipe that is not all sugar, you are in luck! These little babies are always requested by my husband. They really could be used any time of year - but for no specific reason, we only make them at Christmas time. Most of the Frank family wonders why, but no one ever breaks from tradition. Well, this year, I broke from tradition! I just made some this past weekend - and they were devoured.  


Recipe:

3 cans Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits

1 1/2 cups oil

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon oregano ( I sometimes use less if I'm using the powdered)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon parsley flakes

Cut each biscuit into thirds.

Roll and stretch each piece into long round strip and tie into a knot.

Bake as package directs...until golden brown.  As soon as the knots are out of the oven put them into the oil mixture to soak up the flavors.

Drain then on a cookie cooling rack set on a paper bag lined jelly roll pan.

These can be made ahead and frozen.

To serve:  Warm in the microwave or they can be reheated in the oven at 350* for 10-15 minutes.

Thread Sketching Love

I am totally in love with thread sketching. I guess I am a few years behind the times, but I don't really care. I saw this tutorial on Pinterest and thought - I MUST try this! So I did. These are the 3 pillows I have made to date, with several more planned. I have also done a few kitchen towels and napkins. Ohhh the possibilities. I have started a Pinterest board for thread sketching ideas. There will be MANY more pins over the next few months.

Most of my sketching is simply done with straight forward stitching and a TON of fabric turning. I have JUST started to try true free motion for this technique. Let's just say it is a learning process. I think it works well for some designs and not so well for others. But really, free motion has a large learning curve, so I won't know until I have a LOT more practice.

For me, this has been a great way to express my artistic side through sewing. It may really just show I am not that artistic. :) Oh well, I don't care. I like it and I plan to continue doing it. So, if you happen to receive one of these projects as a gift, please humor me and tell me you like it.

Have you ever tried thread sketching? What do you think?

Crochet projects 2013

It is getting cold again - a time I usually start turning to my yarn for projects. There is not much better than curling up on the couch with some yarn, hot chocolate, a fire burning, and the TV on chick flicks!! Seriously, one of my favorite ways to spend an evening. Now, if we could just get our fireplace converted back to wood burning, I would be set!

Last night, I was able to whip up this hat and scarf for my youngest. She picked out the hot pink at one of the big box stores. I usually don't buy that kind of yarn - it is rough and hard on the hands. But that is what she really wanted. I combined it with a lovely grey SOFT fuzzy yarn I picked up on sale at Twisted Knitter - the local yarn shop. The button was also from Twisted Knitter. Seriously, they have some AMAZING buttons. Again - the 4 year old picked this one out. It doesn't exactly match, but she loves it so we are all happy - even if she likes to show off her pouty face.

We took a few pics this morning - and yes those are her pajama pants. I at least was able to convince her the jean jacket would work better than her red sweatshirt. Your eyes can thank me now. :)

I hope to get through several more projects over Thanksgiving.

Happy yarning!

Upcycle Projects

Yes, we have been really busy outside lately, but I have still found some time to sew. Here are some pics of a few of the projects I have been working on. These projects are focused on finding new uses for old items.

Up first: coffee sack tote bags. This is the front and back of one bag. I have several more in the works. I love the look of these - but really, working with burlap is not my favorite. It is SOOOO messy. Luckily, I have a serger which makes the job a little less messy.

Fun, right?

Next up: summer dresses made from men's shirts. Fun sun dresses that just slip on. The elasticized area sits above the waist, just below the bust to flatter most body types. Every dress is unique. Cool and stylish or just off?

 I have a new respect for picking fabrics and envisioning the final product. Some items are easier than others.

Until later...

Jill

Peaches and Blackberries

We love peaches around here. Sadly, we don't get good peaches very often. I was fortunate enough to find a road side stand this year that is selling peaches from South Caroline. They have been sooooo good!!! I have gone back to buy more, twice. I hope to go back and buy a whole case to can, but we shall see how much time I have on my hands.

I have made a low sugar peach jam. Yum.

Peach crisp. Put over ice cream, extra yum.

And my first attempt at canning peaches: let's just say, my mother-in-law and I decided to quit while we were behind. I think the end result was good, but the process did not go overly well. I was so glad to have her by my side - otherwise I really would have thought I was crazy and completely inept. Turns out, it was the peaches, not me. Phew. I hope to try again next week.

And yes, I have made some blackberry jelly too. I love to have a bit of jelly with some of my homemade peanut butter.

The first berries of the season were really pretty. The last week, not so much. I am not sure what has gone wrong, but I assume all the rain has something to do with it. The jelly still tastes good, but is a little more cloudy. Oh well, I will still enjoy the jelly come this winter!

Have you been preserving any of this summer's bounty? What are your favorite methods?

Until later...
Jill

7-up biscuits

Yep, I've made them too. YUM!

There are a ton of recipes out there, all a little different. Of course, all have Bisquick. I had no Bisquick in the house. Bummer. So, to Google I went to find a way to make my own Bisquick from scratch. Yes, I wanted the biscuits that bad. Again, there are a million recipes out there, all a little different. So, I decided to just wing it and see what happened.

Homemade Bisquick:
http://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-bisquick-mix-69051

I also added 2 TBSP sugar, as most of the other recipes used sugar. Although, not sure it matters. I will probably omit it the 'next' time I make this - assuming there is a next time. Yes, it's good, but it takes time. Just depends on how desperate I am.

I used my food processor to cut the shortening into the flour. You have to do this in stages, unless you have a massive sized machine. Then I just kind of mixed it all together.

Biscuits:
4 cups Bisquick
1 cup 7-Up
1 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Put butter in a 9x13" pan. Put pan in oven to melt butter. Don't over cook this, burned butter is no good. :)

Mix everything else together. The dough will be wet. Put some flour on the counter. WARNING: the next part is messy. Grab about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of dough (I just guessed here). Roll dough in flour lightly and form it into a ball. Place in the pan. Repeat to make 12 biscuits.

Bake until golden brown approximately 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven.

And when they come out, you really should wait a FEW minutes so you don't burn your mouth. But, if you are anything like me, have a glass of water on hand and just bite and swig at the same time. Yeah, I am not very patient.

I will be working on a slightly healthier version - to see if I can keep the same great taste and texture but reduce the calories and fat while increasing the good stuff.

Until next time, increase your exercise to help counteract these little lovelies.

Jill

Homemade Laundry Soap

I don't know about you, but man - my laundry mountain is getting crazy big by this point in the week. So, I thought this might be a good day to share with you my homemade laundry soap. Yeah, I am getting a little crazy with all this homemade stuff. I doubt it will last - or be consistent. Just something that is fun to do from time to time. If I can save money and have time to do it - of course I will.

There are tons of recipes out there, again I tweaked mine a bit - more with a method than ingredients.

What is needed:
2 bars FelsNaptha laundry soap
1 box washing baking soda
1 box borax
1/2 container scent crystals (optional)
1 container to hold finished soap (I have used my empty Tide box for most of the soap and the empty scent crystal container works well for what sits next to my machine.)
1 kitchen garbage bag - to mix everything


I have a family of 5 and average 7 loads of laundry a week. This recipe lasts us 4-5 months. 

What to do:
Cut the bars of soap into thirds.

1. Microwave each piece separately on a piece of parchment or wax paper for about 45 seconds.  It will expand and form 'clouds'. Once it is done expanding, you can stop the microwave. NOTE: You may want to set your microwave for something like 2 minutes and just wait to see how long it takes to stop expanding. That will give you a better estimate of how long it will take with your microwave. 

(soap bits pre and post microwave) 

1. Put each piece into a large mixing bowl to cool. Do this for all the bar soap. Let it all sit for about 30 minutes - or until it is COMPLETELY cooled. Seriously - wait.
2. Mash the soap with your hands. It will turn into a powder.
3. Add all ingredients to the trash bag and mix. I just tied it closed and moved the whole thing around for a few minutes.
4. Pour into your storage container.

And that is it! You only need to use 1-2 TBSP per load - but I pretty much always use 2 TBSP. And yes, I use this in my HE front load washer. It does not sud, so it works great.

There are also recipes for liquid versions. I haven't tried those yet as I tend to like powder soaps better.

Enjoy!

Semi-Healthy Banana Bread

I LOVE banana bread. Like most of my baked goods, I always strive to make them at least a little bit healthier than the original recipe. Every little bit helps. I have seen recipes that say you can use all whole wheat flour and it is yummy. Well, I disagree. The texture and flavor are all wrong - when what you are expecting is a fully loaded piece of banana bread.

I have a standard recipe I have used for years. It came from a school fundraiser recipe cook book (Brown School Sampler - 1995). The recipe I really like is called Grandmother's Banana Nut Bread. I have made several tweaks to increase the whole grains and of course have omitted the nuts as my kids don't like nuts in things. I have also played around with the fat content in this recipe. Since there is only 1/4 cup to begin with, I usually don't bother. You can substitute up to half of the fat with a non-fat yogurt and still have a decent texture.

So, when I have bananas that look like this:

I know it is time to make some bread!

1/4 c shortening (or 2 TBSP shortening plus 2 TBSP yogurt)
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
2.5 TBSP milk
1/2 TBSP cider vinegar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 SMALL bananas
(a total of 2 cups 'flour' is needed. The exact combination is not as important as the ratio of white flour to everything else. I would not use any less than 3/4 c white all purpose flour. The rest just depends on what I have on hand.)
3/4 c all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 c wheat germ
1/4 c quick oats
optional: you can add nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
Mix everything together. If you don't have a mixer, you can certainly mix everything by hand, but you will want to mash the bananas first.

Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake for about 45 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean. Sometimes I run into the problem of the top getting dark before the loaf is done. I check at the 30 minute mark and if it looks like it is getting dark, place foil loosely over the top of the bread. 

Hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Until Later...

Low Sugar Strawberry Freezer Jam

I think I finally have a Strawberry Jam recipe I really like! AND, it is a freezer jam that is LOW in sugar. BONUS! In general, I prefer freezer jams because they retain the fabulous fresh flavor (say that 5 times fast) of just picked fruit. However, there are not many recipes out there for freezer jams using the low/no sugar pectin. Last year I made a variety of jam recipes ranging in sugar amounts. I found the full sugar recipes taste more like sugar than fruit. AND, since I am dealing with too much sugar in our diets, I really wanted to use a low or no sugar recipe.

The Ball pectin is what was available to me here, so that is what I am using. I started with the recipe for no sugar jam on their label - as is. I suspect if you have really sweet berries, this would work well. I ended up using 1TBPS of sugar in this first round. I added it while in the cooking stage. I tasted as I went and found it needed sugar to balance out the tartness. I probably could have added more sugar. The jam is fine and we will finish eating it, but since this is a cooked recipe, I wanted to keep experimenting.

Last year I tried this recipe. Mine did not set - but then none of mine set last year, so likely it was user error. So this year, I came up with a solution that is somewhere in between the cooked version from Ball and the recipe I tried last year. The result is a big success! At least it is to me. :)

One tip I learned - work with small batches. Yes, that is written on the label of the pectin, but I missed that previously. Ooops. Probably why things failed last year.

I have found, I like using my food processor to 'mash' the strawberries. I know, I know - most other recipes will tell you absolutely do NOT use a food processor. Well, I like the texture. Small to medium bits of strawberries without the stringiness I get when I hand mash. I like to use the pulse function to get the right texture. Do Not puree the strawberries, we are making jam, not baby food. :) Also, don't do all the berries at once. I do 3-4 rounds to get the 2 cups.

What you need:

• 2 cups processed strawberries
• 1.5 TBSP low sugar pectin
• 1/3 cup 100% apple juice concentrate
• 2 TBSP sugar (This is flexible and can be omitted entirely if your strawberries are nice and sweet, or you can add more if you have really tart strawberries.)
• 3 - 8oz Jars - prepped as per jar instructions (either boil for 10 mins to sterilize or run through the dishwasher)
• sauce pan
• metal strainer
• spatula

Pour the strawberries into a metal mesh strainer. Catch the juice - I like to use the sauce pan I will be cooking the juices in (let's not dirty more dishes than necessary). Use the spatula to mush things around a bit to get as much of the juice into the sauce pan as necessary.

1. Combine the strawberry juice, pectin, and juice concentrate in the sauce pan. 
2. Bring to a rapid boil. Hard boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
3. Add strawberries and sugar to taste.  Stir all together.
4. Pour into jars. Clean the rims, put lids on, finger tighten. Let cool. Put in freezer.

Yes, it is a bit more work than other recipes, but combines the best of both worlds. And look at that mess!!! Luckily, it cleans up fast. 

Are you ready to make jam?! I hope to use this base recipe for other fruits this year too. I will let you know how it goes. 

Until next time...

Jill

Cake Pops and Chocolate

Yes, I have posted before about the cake pops I have made here. Everyone seems to enjoy them. After the last party, I had a ton of left over cake. I did NOT want to be eating cake forever, so I made cake balls. This time I stepped it up a notch and dipped in chocolate. This could be a good Mother's Day dessert!

A chocolatier I am NOT. But, these were SOOO good. I just used chocolate melts, half milk chocolate and half dark chocolate. Melt in the microwave (50%power) and then dip chilled cake balls. I placed them into mini cup cake liners to help limit the mess. I think it makes the presentation nice too - not that anyone around here cares about presentation! I had to freeze them so I didn't eat them all super fast. These were an even bigger hit that the plain cake balls.

What is your favorite way to deal with left over cake? I probably should just throw it out, but I have yet to be able to bring myself to do that.

Later.

Quick Projects

Lots of little projects happening around here.

Summer Hat

It's getting nice again, which means lots more time outside. Which means, bring on the sunblock and hats! Lucy has grown out of her hats, so I had to whip one up so she can really enjoy being outside - and NOT have to worry about burning her scalp. Yes - her scalp will burn - a lot. So hats are mandatory for her. Not to mention, they just make good sense for additional sun protection of the face, ears, and neck.

Since she loves Dr. Seuss these days, and Mom sent me a bunch of Dr. Seuss fabrics - she got a Dr. Seuss hat!

Cute right? She loves that it is reversible - she can choose what color she wants to show off. And, now that I added a little elastic in the back, it will stay on while she is twirling and playing. 

Crayon Rolls

Just a super quick project that can be nice for the little ones. Holds 16 crayons and has an elastic hair tie as the holder - no need to tie a ribbon on these. Each one takes about 20 minutes - love that!

Yard Projects

Then it was off to create a compost bin. We needed something fast, easy, and functional. This is what we came up with. 

Left over chicken wire and 4 plastic stakes that easy go into the ground. I used zip ties to anchor the wire to the stakes. The last 'end' I left free and added about 8 inches that 'overlapped' with the beginning. This allows me to open one end so I can dump the wheel barrel in here when necessary. Works great for now. If we end up doing a lot of this, we will likely build something more substantial.

Then I added a little landscaping fun to the yard. I wanted a nice spot to look at when standing at the kitchen sink washing all those dishes by hand! 

   

Amazing what a little mulch, bird feeder, flowers, and azalea plant can do for a grassy area. That tree is a pink dogwood. Much better now. Again, this was a quick project that I finished in just an hour or so. 

Until next time...

More Birthday Celebrations

Yep - more birthday fun these days. My son turned 10! YIKES! Not sure how I can be old enough to have a 10 year old - when did that happen?!

We had quite a delay between the actual birthday and the party with friends. Seemed every time we started to think about the party, we got sidetracked or had a full weekend with other events. Finally, we just decided to do it. I sure wish I would have taken pictures. Really, I was so busy with all the party stuff, I didn't take a SINGLE picture! Oops. At least I have some great memories.

My son continues to push my cake making skills. He wanted a battleship at first, but then I was able to convince him it would NOT look like the professional cake pictures we were finding. Sorry, my skills are NOT that good. We finally decided on a Mayan Temple. I would have loved to have had trees and more decor  but really, I ran out of steam. This is what I ended up with.

My daughter just wanted a strawberry, so that was easy.

And yes, I made cake balls like this with the left over cuts of cake. And now, after the party, I have made additional cake balls with all the left over cake. Into the freezer they will go until another time. We have had ENOUGH cake for a while. :)

We ended up doing a BIG birthday bash with friends and their families for both the oldest and the youngest (which worked out great since so many of our friends have siblings that overlap). We broke out the smoker and had pulled pork and ribs. YUM! Our friends were wonderful enough to bring some sides as well.

My hubby has worked a lot on converting the hayloft of the barn into a 'club house'. We put up some twinkle lights, a few hay bales, a white sheet, and brought in a movie projector. So, when it was time to settle down for the night, the movie viewing began. All the boys were in the barn for the night, cuddled up watching movies. Yeah - it got a bit cold. The girls and little ones were in the house with me. :) I was plenty warm.

I will say - having lots of space to run around really helps to wear out the kids.

We are looking forward to the next party - in a few months. ;) We did NOTHING most of the day sun as we just rested and tried to recover. It really was a lot of work, but well worth it. And, thank you to Sunday afternoon chick flick-a-thon. I took an early shower and curled up in the playroom watching girly movies and doing a little crochet. Pizza was delivered for dinner. The girls did my hair and the kids basically let hubby and I do nothing.

It was a fabulous weekend!