Farm to Fork

A cheap & easy meal that my family enjoys is purple hull pea soup.  I make it in the crockpot & I like to eat mine plain in a bowl with the broth.   It's a whole healthy meal in itself but you can make a pot of rice & cornbread to go along with it & it's over the top yummy!  The other night after class we made grilled cheese sandwiches to eat with it & that was good too.

Purple hull pea soup (Totally Farm to Fork or homemade version)

4 cups frozen purple hull peas (picked from the farm just down the road)
1/2 c. chopped green onions (from my garden & frozen)
1 quart chicken broth (I make & freeze)
pinch of cayenne pepper (from my garden, dehydrated & then ground up)

Put all in a crockpot & set on low for about 6 hours.

Done!

Of course you can make this with store bought ingredients & it's good too but there's just something special about knowing it all came from close by.

October 31st

Easy Meatloaf Dinner

Tonight we're having one of my favorite comfort meals.  Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, English peas, & apple crisp.  mmm...  It's in the oven right now & smells delicious. 
I make meatloaf several ways but thought I'd share the easiest recipe & the one I made tonight.

Easy Meatloaf

1 1/4 lbs. ground beef
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 egg
1/3 c. ketchup
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Mix all together in a big bowl with your hands until well combined. Place on broiler pan and shape into loaf. (broiler pan will make the grease fall underneath but you can use a regular pan too)
Bake at 350* for about 45 minutes or until cooked though.

Brown Bears

Saturday we went on a ghost walk through our downtown with some friends.  -It was a lot of fun & if you've never been on one you may be surprised how much history you learn. (on ours anyway)

Afterwards we all came back to our house and sat around the fire pit, ate good food, & chatted.

Earlier in the day I had made a pot of chili in the crockpot so we had that & then also smores and brown bears.  I had never heard of brown bears. They were really good & fun to make so I thought I'd share the recipe.

Roasting our brown bears.

Good flash on the camera because it was about 11:00 at night.

Amounts depend on how many you chose to make:

BROWN BEARS
crescent rolls in a can
some butter, melted
some cinnamon & sugar, mixed

On some dowel rods wrap the crescent roll down, like a spiral. 
Then roast it over the fire until cooked. You can feel it to tell if it's cooked through.
Carefully remove from the rod and dip in butter & then cinnamon & sugar.
Enjoy!

Thanks Ali for sharing this new treat!

Gluten free pasta

Of the several gluten free pastas we've tried the brown rice pasta is the BEST.  You can use it in place of regular pasta in everything I've tried so far.  We don't even taste a difference. It does look a little pale brown & not yellow/white but other than that it's good.
I must say that we've tried the ones made out of potatoes & a couple other things & we did not care for them. If you even barely over cook it, mushy, yucky, goo!

Something to think about

I read this today & even though I don't feel like the whole world is evil it really struck me.  I've been betrayed by people my whole life & this is how I feel too at times.


I don't have many friends.
Alot of people that I talk to, that I say hello to.
But I don't cosider any of them friends.
Friends implies that you know something about that person, that you trust that person.
But time and time again, you find out that even though you may think this, there will always be that one that will make you regret it.
Because though your enemies may be able to maim you, you can only be betrayed by someone you trusted, right?
And when you've been fooled into thinking otherwise for as many times as I have, you start to let it affect you.
You start to question everything and everyone, until you no longer know who you can trust.
And then, in one last resort to keep your heart, your soul, from breaking from the so many knives thats been put through it, when you lose all faith and the good of humanity, and that the world is all evil
You become what I have. A lost and bitter soul, longing for someone to prove you wrong...

Crockpot

My mom used to use the crockpot often, and so do I. Well, about once a week, sometimes more.  I would say it is probably my favorite appliance other than my mixer.
I have 4 meals on my 2 week meal plan I listed yesterday that are cooked in the crockpot.

Pinto beans (for a couple recipes)
Black eye peas
Crockpot BBQ pork
Creamy crockpot chicken & broccoli

I typically pick crockpot recipes for days that we plan on being busy.  However, a roast or a pot of stew on a cold day really makes the house smell warm & cozy.

For any beans or peas it is best to soak them overnight with a little lemon juice or whey then turn on the crockpot in the morning. BUT...if you forget that throw them in early and by dinner they should be done.  Add in any seasonings, especially salt,  or a little bacon or ham & delish!

BBQ pork- I just put in a pork roast and a bottle of our favorite BBQ sauce or homemade.

The creamy crockpot chicken is one I found on pinterest. If it turns out well I'll share that link.

I am a pinterest fanatic. There are lots of crockpot recipes on there that just look delicious!