Internet Black Out

March 9th, 2010 by Dawn

Well… It started on Friday and here it is Tuesday and nothing has changed. My internet went down and I have been terribly patient and will have no choice but to continue doing so! HughesNet will not be here until MONDAY of next week!!! I have never been down this long and it’s reprehensible service! So.. blog posts will have to wait until then to resume. I’ll try to write while I’m offline and post once I get back online.

Until then… I’ll check emails occasionally when I drive to twon from a WiFi hotspot, but please don’t expect anything quick or regular over the next week’s time.

Until next week….. you should get busy planting, because while I haven’t had a chance yet to blog about it, I have already planted lettuce, spinach, carrots & radishes. I’ve also already moved all the winter chicken coops and am anxiously awaiting my Colored Rangers who arrive this week!!

March 5 – The UN Official END OF WINTER!!!

March 5th, 2010 by Dawn

Oh, I can’t tell you how excited I am!  Yes yes, I DO love ski season and snow, but I’m getting HUNGRY for fresh foods!!!  My husband, an amateur meteorologist, proclaimed last week that after March 5th, we were “done” with the freezing days!!!  I’ve waited, we have watched and just moments ago, I too checked the report on accuweather:  http://www.accuweather.com/us/tn/del-rio/37727/forecast-month.asp See it for yourself!  WARM SPRING DAYS AHEAD!!!  Now, that isn’t to say there won’t be some freezing nights.. but as far as planting goes.. you can protect for that.

The chickens are going to be so much happier now, as the grass has already made it’s first attempts at regrowth for the season.  Bushes & ornamental grasses are working themselves out of hibernation, and even the trees are starting to look like Spring is about to SPRING! :)

Today I have to go out & put Diatomaceous Earth in the coop dusting beds and the ones in the yard, so that we are ready for “bug” season before it gets here.  I also have to figure out how to better build in the next boxes for the 4 Post Coop so that they will lay their eggs in there.  Right now, 15 or so hens are frolicking around the yard laying eggs in dog crates, under steps, and even in the Bantam Barn!!!  Which is ok…  but some days we are experiencing a LOT of loss to the dogs, who have grown to LOVE raw egg.

I tried sprouting some seeds for the chooks (chickens) and I’m still not sure what kind of seeds your supposed to sprout, but I tried some food grade peas and it did seem to work.  I did a fairly simple process and will go into details later on once I figure out how to best accomplish this and after I see how much good it really does.  Seems like it is a GREAT alternative for full time cooped chickens and in the winter months where living greens are non-existent.

Well.. 3 days this week my lovely daughter was home from school due to snow.  Monday she went, and today she went (thank goodness) and as a result I have a TON OF THINGS TO DO on the computer here to catch up.  I don’t usually get too much computer work done with her around because it does require focus, especially programming and the like.    So, on that note, I’m off to get some things checked OFF my To Do: list.  :)

That’s all for now….

except

HAPPY SPRING :)

Black Bean “Veggie” Burgers by Dawn

March 3rd, 2010 by Dawn
Black Bean Burger

Black Bean "Veggie" Burger - No Soy GREAT taste!!!!

Part 1 – Make the Black Beans

  • Rinse & Sort 1lb of dry black beans into a 4qt sauce pot
  • Fill pot with cool tap water and soak overnight, min. 12 hours
  • Rinse several times & drain beans
  • Add 1 chopped white or yellow onion & 4 tbs of chopped garlic to beans, a few dashes of salt & pepper & 1 tbs of olive oil
  • Use 2-3 Boxes of beef broth or 2-3 cubes of beef boullion & water to cover beans with about 2″ of liquid (regular water or any broth is fine)
  • Cover & boil for 60 minutes stirring occasionally (add more water if liquid level drops below beans)
  • Simmer up to 15-30 minutes more with the lid off to remove most of visible water content, stirring occassionally to prevent sticking
  • Let cool on the counter & then refrigerate until COLD

Seperate into pint canning jars (or zip lock bags), 1 cup per jar

Each jar makes 4 “burgers”

Freeze remaining jars for later use (great served over white rice (add 1/2 tsp cumin) with leftover pork,ham or chicken, or in burritos, tacos, as chip dip etc)

Part 2 – Make the “Burgers”

To 1 pint jar of cold black beans add:

  • 1 tbs chopped garlic
  • 1 tbs onion powder
  • 1 tbs ground flax seed
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne
  • 3tbs Worcester Sauce or A1 or Chili Sauce
  • mix with fork until thoroughly combined and the black beans are smashed (do NOT mash or puree or use a food processor)

In medium mixing bowl add:

  • 1 cup of frozen corn (crisp & fresh would be fine too)
  • 1 cup of frozen green/red bell peppers (crisp & fresh would be fine too)
  • 1/2 cup of diced frozen carrots (blanched or quick boiled fresh and then cooled would be ok too)
  • 1/2 cup of quick oats
  • 1/3 cup of bread crumbs, plain or italian
  • 2 small eggs (3 banty eggs)
  • and finally add the 1 jar of cold mixed seasoned black beans from above
  • blend & mix with the fork, stirring, folding & combining THOROUGHLY!!!

To test consistency: Press mixture into a big ball against side of the bowl and sit bowl upright.. the egg/bread crumb mix is right when the mix doesn’t flop down but instead holds its shape against the side of the bowl. This is a meatloaf type of consistency.

Spray cookie sheet that will fit your freezer with non stick spray

For Mini- Burgers – use ice cream scoop, pack with mixture and drop onto cookie sheet, slightly flatten & adjust shape

For Std Burgers – use a 1/2 pint mason jar, pack with mixture and drop onto cookie sheet, slightly flatten & adjust shape

Freeze until SOLID — 1- 2 hours

Ready to Bake Black Bean "Veggie" Burgers & Sweet Potato Fries

Ready to Bake Black Bean "Veggie" Burgers & Sweet Potato Fries

Bake @ 350*F in pre-heated oven** on a cookie sheet greased with olive oil for 10 min then flip for 10 more minutes (do not use skillet cooking as the egg will not firm up properly)

Add cheese & all the usual amenities, then enjoy!!!

DO NOT expect this to taste like a ground beef patty, it is a VEGGIE burger

** if your oven is not hot, you may need to increase cooking time on side one until egg firms up enough to flip the patty

Freeze cooked burgers without cheese to thaw & reheat in a skillet or microwave in the future.