Christmas, Caterpillars and Chips

Christmas has come and gone, along with Santa, leaving two very happy kids behind.

 

We found a Christmas caterpillar too :) Actually we found many!  They love frangipani leaves.

And . . . our final discovery . . . kale chips!  A friend made these as hors d'oeuvres and the kids could not stop eating them :)  Healthy "junk food" grown in the garden!

Kale Chips


Ingredients


Kale
Sea Salt
Pepper
Olive oil


Instructions


Tear up the kale into bite size pieces.  
Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.  
Spread out into a thin layer on a baking pan
Bake at 350 C for 15 minutes
Enjoy!

A Field Trip and A Fungus Lunch

"Next time, buy eight!" was the request (not from the kids - although they did love them) after we lunched on our stuffed portobello mushrooms.

This lunch was inspired by a trip to the new Fresh Market grocery store nearby.  They have a huge selection of organic fruits and veggies.  The kids loved it!

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the ability it gives me to feed our children nutritiously at every single meal and snack.  There are no processed "school snacks" in our cupboard, so every treat is made from scratch and there is no temptation to feed them junk food.  

STUFFED PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS

INGREDIENTS

4 Portobello mushrooms

2 cups bread crumbs

1 can crab meat

3 Tbsp. butter

1/2 onion - finely diced

2 cloves garlic - minced

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese - grated

chives

sage

thyme

salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  Wipe the mushrooms gently with a damp cloth and place them in a baking pan.

3.  In a large bowl, combine the other ingredients.

4.  Separate the mixture into four equal amounts and form it into a flattened circle.

5.  Place the stuffing circles on each of the mushroom caps.

6.  Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Green Soup

"What's in it?" was the first suspicious question - not from the kids :)
"Zucchini," I replied.
"Wow! It's delicious!"

Some friends we met from the Dominican Republic on our sailing expedition introduced our kids to this yummy soup.  This is the first time I have tried making it, but it is definitely a favorite now.

GREEN SOUP


INGREDIENTS


1 large zucchini, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
fresh thyme 
2 Tbsp. butter
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
4 sprigs parsley


DIRECTIONS


1. Gently saute the onion, garlic and thyme with the butter in a saucepan until translucent.
2. Add the chicken broth, water, zucchini, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
3. Simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Puree in two batches in a blender and serve with a floating parsley garnish.

Colored Greens :)

Tonight with our Corned Beef and potatoes I substituted collard greens for the cabbage I ordinarily use.  Madison confessed that she originally thought I said colored greens until she saw my blog post about what was in the garden!  :)  I thought that was pretty cute.  So the consensus is that collard greens (and colored greens) are delicious.

Garden Greens!

Collard Greens                            Red Cabbage                                        Basil

       Bok Choy                                                   Swiss Chard                                            Tomato

                                                 Cherry Tree                                      Eggplant

Beaten by the Birds

"Marco, what else should I put on the shopping list?" I enquired.
"Milk, pears, eggs . . . " he listed off.
"Eggs?" I questioned.  We looked at each other guiltily and nodded in resignation.

We will persevere with our egg laying plan but it seems we cannot forgo eggs in the meantime :)

We measured for chicken wire today to enlarge our coop.  I think we may need to try our luck with more hens!

These are the chickens in question:

I also took some photos of our raised beds:

Radish Recipe!

Radishes with Pasta and Arugula

20 radishes, sliced

2 cups arugula

2 tablespoons olive oil


1 medium onion, chopped


12-ounce package penne pasta cooked


1/4 cup cooking water from pasta


1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Salt and pepper

  1. Wash and trim radishes. Thinly slice.

  2. Rinse arugula leaves and tear into small pieces.

 3. Heat oil in large pan. Add onions and cook just until they begin to soften.    Add radish slices and cook for five minutes.  Add arugula and cook for another two minutes until radishes are almost translucent and arugula wilts.  Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
4. Add to pasta and toss.  Add cooking liquid from pasta and stir. Sprinkle cheese and toss.
5. Serve with additional grated parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.


I was looking for a way to cook radishes to see if planting them in our garden would be a good idea.  I also have a ton of arugula to use up and the kids find it a little spicy in salads.  In this recipe it is all delicious and they came back for seconds  . . . and thirds . . . and fourths!