soup...for later

Hello, friends!  It's been so long since I've posted and I've been missing this space--and missing the regular creating that normally happens in my house.  My kitchen and house are slowly returning back to their normal messiness (rather than utter disaster) and the creative juices have begun to flow again.  Hooray!  

This past week, while this was happening to Dan Rodriguez, I found my way to the farmers' market and back to my kitchen where some soup making soon commenced.  Throughout last winter's long, long winter, I decided that pulling homemade canned soup from the basement on a lazy Sunday night was probably one of my favorite things (at least in the way of canned goods that come from the basement).  There's nothing quite so lovely as putting little to no effort into making dinner--especially when the finished product is entirely homemade, by you.  

Not that there was no effort put into the soup making, but just not at the time in which it was eaten.  And that, my friends, is why I love preserving my own food.  The end product is not only better for our bodies and better for our tastebuds, but it's also better for my sanity.  I love cooking, but hey, we all love (and need) those meals where we don't have to work, right?!  

So, this year I decided to make a bit more soup than I had last year and stash it in the basement again.  This year I made Carrot-Tomato Soup and Tomato Basil.  I kind of just made up my own tomato basil recipe and canned it like I would a tomato juice/sauce, in my pressure canner (a no-no in the official world of canning, but hey, I'm fine with that.)  Both soups are so delicious with a grilled cheese made with homemade sourdough bread and local cheese.  I've found that the carrot-tomato is also fabulous with buttery popcorn.  Yum!!

I ended up with 5 canned quarts, another almost full quart in the freezer, and a pint or so in the fridge.  While we could eat more than this, it's still a great amount for us for this winter.  I'm looking forward to that first lazy Sunday afternoon when we first decide to pop open a jar and cozy up on the couch with a steaming bowl of soup, a warm oozing sandwich and our favorite show. So lovely!  It will just be so lovely.  

making dirt

Composting!  I love it!  I first became actively interested in composting when I read Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson.  I was impressed and inspired by how her family is able to use composting as a way to reduce waste in her home.  Learning that I could reduce waste, while adding good nutrients to my garden soil, made me excited to get a pile of our own going.  

So, last fall, Dan built us a compost bin out of wooden pallets that we got from my uncle's manufacturing company.  It's a simple design, but it works great.  We then began adding leaves, yard waste, and kitchen scraps.  As we got it started late in the season, it didn't reach a healthy composting state before winter.  This meant that it froze solid pretty early on in the winter and once it finally thawed in May, it was a bit on the stinky side (because it was unbalanced and not really composting).  After a month of adding greens and browns (nitrogen and carbon), it heated up and began to really break things down quickly!  We now have quite a bit of finished compost that is ready to go into the garden this fall! 

After composting for a year now, there are a few things that I've learned.  

  1. I love it!  This is weird, I know, but the reason I love it is that I feel less wasteful when I find nasty celery in our fridge because I'm putting that nasty celery to use by turning it back into dirt.  I've also found that our trash can in our kitchen stays fresher longer, as we're not filling it with as many things that get stinky.  
  2. We waste less!  We're just not throwing as many things away, because we're compositing more.  I'm also more mindful of what food I toss, because I'm taking the time to decide between compost or trash with each and everything that I toss from the fridge.  I've found that I'm using more of what I buy and tossing less.  
  3. It's easy!  It's pretty easy to keep a compost pile in the kitchen and bring it outside every day or two, or three.  The hardest part with composting is fighting fruit flies in the house in the summer.  We've solved this buy keeping a bowl for compost scraps in the fridge and just emptying it more often than we need to in the winter.
  4. The soil is fantastic!  Because we didn't have any ready compost in May, I wasn't able to add any to our garden.  However, in July, I planted some lettuce and kale on our deck in boxes.  When I planted them, I added half dirt/half compost to the boxes and we were amazed by how quickly and how well those greens grew!  There was a definite difference between what I grew in the boxes and what I grew in my garden.  I'm excited to get the compost added to the garden for next year's plantings!  
  5. It's fun!  It's so fun to watch those corn husks slowly disappear and that dark, moist organic matter to appear!  Sometimes, when I walk by the chicken coop, I stop by the compost bin just to stir it for fun (weird, yes, but fun!!)

If you're interested in finding out more about composting, there are a few books that I've found to be helpful.  

Happy dirt making!!

summer squash & oatmeal muffins

Last week I decided to experiment with using summer squash, rather than zucchini, to bake with.  Up at my dad's house this summer, we planted a decent sized plot of multiple varieties of squash and pumpkins.  We planted acorn squash, butternut squash, pie pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, zucchini, and summer squash.  We're excitedly watching the vines completely overtake the garden, and anticipating high yields of winter squash and pie pumpkins to stash away for winter.  

For now, though, it's zucchini and summer squash time!  Unfortunately, though, the zucchini has been a bit slow to produce.  So, we've found our counters being stacked more with yellows than greens.  Now, I'm not actually a huge fan of either zucchini or summer squash.  I just find them rather dull.  Zucchini, obviously, is great for baking, but I've never heard of people baking with summer squash.  So, after my husband kindly asked if we could have a dinner without summer squash (after 4 in a row with summer squash), I figured that I'd better find a different use for all that squash!  

So, I made up a recipe for muffins!!  We think they are yummy and hearty.  I do hope you enjoy! 

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Summer Squash & Oatmeal Muffins

2 cups grated summer squash

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1/3 cup coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup oatmeal

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

handful of raisins

Mix squash, sugar, molasses, oil, vanilla, and eggs together in a mixer or by hand until well blended.  Add everything else, except the raisins.  Mix well.  Fold in raisins.  

Bake at 350* for 15-20 minutes.  Yields 12 muffins.