A hard days work... really messy job!

My day was NOTHING but cleaning Navarre.
We went from this...

To THIS

I didn't get to finish today... so this weekend I have to shave his legs... and the rest of his belly.

I braided his mane on BOTH sides so this is not all his hair. 
I braided his tail into 16 braides then braided them into braides... you have to see his tail to believe me.  His tail took me from 10am till 2pm just to get it clean and braided...

I left the TIP of Navarre's tail down... about the same amount of tail the SweetPea has.  and put the rest of it up... as good as I could.

I have had two wonderful days in the last three days.

Lets just put Monday out of our minds... Mondays are always bad and frankly ... I wish I could forget them.

But ... Sunday was a good day.  I spent all day with one of my life long friends Troy.  For the last 10 years we have seen little if nothing of each other, but he is in my area for a while and I hope to have a partner in crime to go do day adventures in the area with....

Sunday we went to the Biltmore.  EVERYTHING at the Biltmore is OVER and BEYOND what you could ever expect for a "home"

Troy and I took the audio tour and enjoyed the walk to four level and a basement.  Although after taking it we both with we had done the behind the scene tour or better yet roof top tour.  Keep this in mind if you do go.  AND if you only do the audio tour make sure to listen to the additional info you have to type in per your map. 

Otherwise spend the 12:95 get the paper back and take the audio tour home with you in bound form with pictures....

At any rate we had a good time.

Walked around through the green houses, the gardens today are all domant.  I hated that Troy didn't see them in all their glory BUT I can only hope it gives him another reason to come back later in the spring for all the bulbs or summer for all the roses, fruit and other flowers in their hay day!!!!!

The scenery took us to the glory of in door growing... three green houses in origional form... I can only imagine...

I love it when people get to enjoy the Biltmore and other things in the area...

TODAY TUESDAY<<<<

I took the horses over to our property while I was doing a little work... I allowed them to play.... what is WRONG with all this... while the fence keeps them out of the road at this point, the fence is in NO WAY complete... they could have run away at any point they wanted, while I was working. 

Jerry was there sitting at the largest opening... but something tells me if they came running and kicking... he would LET them run by him with no question of who was going to be larger than whom.

It is hard to see the little speck that is me... but I am throwing seed.

 The neighbor has a german shepherd... Sweet Pea was really keeping an eye on him.

He never once got too close for comfort.

Navarre did nothing but play in the mud and EAT like a PIG...  Can you say NASTY!!!!!

He is the worst looking thing unless he is VERY clean... of which I HOPE to give him a bath this week!

My plan for the day.

It is close to 9am and I wanted to already be at the barn, brushing and getting a horse ready for the first ride of the day.  The weather was suppose to be in the 50's today, but the reality is... it is only 31 degrees and the wind blows about 15 mph so it takes the feeling down in the 20's.  While riding is work (if done correctly) not so much work for me to have my fingers frozen in the first mile of riding...

so I will wait till the chill is above freezing to get my plans started.

I hope to start my day riding Navarre,

I then hope to take a second ride out with SweetPea

Clean stalls when I get back,

Then come home and start to turn the compost pile... Yes a hopeful thought, but I can at least turn what ever is NOT frozen, and cover the rest with plastic to pull in heat during the next few days...

I hope to hear from a Joelton friend, get our tickets to the Biltmore for tomorrow
I then need to get all my paper work ready and renew the Equestrian Pass I hold while we are there tomorrow.  List... Shot Records, Coggins, Pictures for files etc...

I then hope to enjoy the rest of my evening and go to bed early. 

I will be in serious pain Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (if I don't get too lazy riding) but the walk around the house and the grounds tomorrow will help work some of this out.

I may actually get out of the house...

To take up my time this morning awaiting the warmth of the sun... here is yet another food item.

Please note I took pictures of my kale, heritage curly kale because I wasn't sure how it would taste considering all the freezing we have had here.  But each time it a new weather situation came in I covered my Kale with more hay.  Yes it should have been straw... and I will  pay for using rotting hay ( that I could not feed to the horses) but I was not going to spend more money and wanted to use the resources I had on hand.

Kale... another new way to eat the stuff most just throw vinegar on and cook it too death!!! Well cooked my way I crave it, I can only hope you will like it.

This is what you will need.
Kale about the size of a grocery bag...
Garlic, two or three pods.
Soy Sauce... nto 1/8 of a cup if orgional.. but if low sodium... 1/4 cup.  for taste...
ONE cup of  water.

I took this picture, because this is the average size of my leaves this late in the year.  TINY!!! Most of the time I harvest leaves that are the length of my standard knife shown in this picture... most were not the length of my fingers.

I collected Kale from the garden, yet another thing that you can just throw out seeds in the late summer early fall and let them take over.  I tend to thin them out by just cutting lines in my free seeded areas then I thin them out more as they get larger eventually leaving only one plant every 7 inches or so.  These plants are just about gone but (having nursed them) they have lasted me the winter. Well... truth is... normally I would be planting MORE THIS MONTH, but it is still too cold for the seeds to germinate so I will have to wait till April... this is a wierd year!

At any rate... I use my small cast iron skillet for this... Nannies! I gather ( or you can purchase) a collection about the size of a standard grocery bag.  ( not our reusables... but the Ingles, Krogers, Food Lion non recyclable pieces of crap)    Now this sounds like a lot but it cooks down to LESS than my 8 inch skillet!  

I wash the kale by soaking it in the sink first.   Then I use my fingers on EVERY leaf and soak it again.  Then I fill the other side of the sink and soak again.   I put mine in the fridge for an hour or more so it will crisp back up.  The store purchase ... you can skip this.. it's done or has preservatives!

I then cut the tender parts off the stem.  This is NOT hard... just hold the end and let your knif easily slide down the center vein.  What does not come off ... well you probably don't want it anyway... Don't force it but hold the knife firmly.  But do make sure it is a decently sharp knife so not to waste your kale.

These are ALL my center veins after I am done... See they are NOT CLEAN just managed...

Put as much of the cut off kale leaves into your skillet (does not matter the size) WITH one cup of water.   This will seem impossible but trust me this amount here will cook down to LESS than 1/2 of the skillet size.
Put a lid on it! Cook on NEXT to high untill the lid fits.

The kale will turn a brillian green as it starts to cook.  In this picture I have moved over some of the wilted kale to add more into the open (boiling) area, then I will put my cut up garlic on top of all of this so the garlic is steamed to perfection. Then I will add more of my kale on top of the garlic as well.

I use a LOT more garlic than most... One more thing I get honestly!  My maternal grandfather... Paw Paw... loved garlic as do I BUT ONLY if it is cooked properly.  People are afraid of garlic.. when steemed like this it is SWEET not garlic strong in taste.  But use the amount above unless you are like me and love roasted / steamed/ or boiled garlic taste.  It is like onions.. I can't stand them raw either.

At this point start to add your soy sauce but use it sparingly... you do not want to over do the salt thing...( you will note, I don't use a lot of salt but for some reason I love this dish... )

As it all starts to cook down even more you can start to stir it flip it put what has been on the bottom on the top etc...

You can see I eat my kale with my sweet potatoes... This is what I am packing in my back pack for todays ride... Both are great eaten even cold... But I do all the work on my potatoes and then I prep and cook my kale while the potatoes are cooking... it's all done about the same time... So the kale only took about 25/ 30 minutes..

Beautiful taste, Beautiful food, Easy, cheap, and something we can grow even if we live in the city...

Now Hopefully I am out for my rides... Hope your day is Sunny, Warm and FUN!

Food, easy to grow, easy to cook, and great to eat.

Ok... So here I am again... and it is more about food than anything else...

Reasons. I'm stuck in this house due to weather, and I'm always thinking about food.  I get it honestly! My paternal grandmother was always worried about what she was going to cook for dinner, while on the other hand my maternal gradfather was asking what is for lunch as soon as he got up from the breakfast table.

With the weather as harsh as it has been, life is a little harder out of the garden BUT here are things that are easy to grow, easy to store, and foods I take with me even on horse back, out for the day.

I finally had to break down purchase some herbs because the weather here as taken its tole on mine!

The Sweet Potato... While I love sweet potato casserole, I am getting to old to eat a stick of butter, a lot of sugar and top it with marshmellows and or nuts! 
My way of eating them is ... well a little less of a pound punch to my stomach.

I always wash my potatoes no matter if I am going to peel them or not. 
I also gather everything I will need for this dish.

Potato...one for each person!  or more if you are a heavy eater.

Garlic one clove... one for each person or each potato.  Peal it, smash it let it sit 10 minutes while you cut your potatoes.

Thyme, if dried...  1/4  a teaspoon for each person or potato. If Fresh 1/2 teaspoon, peal leaves from branch... hold branch at top and pull DOWN to take leaves off in seconds.

Red Pepper!  Only a Dash! over the entire dish.  I use about 1/2 a teaspoon for everything just before I throw it in the oven.

Olive Oil.  any will do ... I use light for this dish just because I don't want to taste it.

it is amazing how easy this is...

Just peel your potato, and cut it into strips like thick french fries. 
Barely sprinkle olive oil over the strips, then sprinkle the thyme, throw whole cloves into the dish, and sprinkle with your red pepper flakes.

Toss to coat it all perfectly and put it into an oven at 350, cook till tender and sweet. 

It takes my oven about 45 minutes to an hour depending on how many of the potatoes I decide to cook.  

Potatoes are SO EASY to grow... you can do this even if you are in the city on your patio.... use a kitchen size garbage can, take a potato that has eyes, or strings starting to grow out of it.  Cut the potato up so each piece as at least one eye or external growth.    Put 1/2 a bag of garden dirt into your kitchen size garbage can and put these pieces on the top, cover the cut up pieces with about 2 inches of dirt .... a plant will emerge from each cutting... as it does and startes to get larger... tear off the bottom leaves and add more garden soil.  this will allow more room for more potatoes and the plants will continue to grow.  otherwise throw them in your garden, cover, and continue to pickoff bottom leaves cover more as they grow...

THEN once they bloom their beautfiul blooms, cut the tops off,( like tobacco) this will stimulate the bulbs>>>>your Potatoes to grow larger.  NEVER let a potato skin see the sun! this is very important.

Last year I got about 10- 15 good size potatoes from each cutting!    So think... One potato you would have thrown out just gave you at least 20 to 30 more.    These plants like it cool but not freezing. so start them early.  I plan to throw mine in the ground with in the next 30 days.  I am zone 6 ... but I plant zone 5 due to elevation issues.

Garlic is a fall plant.... so while it does save over winter... mine is all starting to sprout again so I am almost out, BUT I have plenty in the garden once again doing it's thing over the winter.... I only hope as harsh as this one has been it will survive.

This photo is before I cook them.

This is After cooked.  Yumm...

Yes I use my cast iron skillets for everything! I don't know what I would do without them.

Just another Day in the South???

This is my house as I type... Yep!  It's MARCH 2nd and this is the weather!   What is going on?

there is little I can say! 

What are you doing with your time? 

Me?

??? Taking a hint from a girlfriend...

I'm doing my fingers and toes, praying for Summer fun, Summer Sun, and getting OUT of this house!

Cheap and GOOD casserole.

so back to eating...

     We can still get cheap food IF you watch for it! case in point....   When I go to the grocery I watch for the expiration dates.  I stop back by on that date and get great deals like this...  Now please note, I did not always have the ability to be driving by a grocery store each day... but I drive past two on my way to the barn at least twice a day.  So it pays off to watch the dates and stop back by early on that date.

As you can see I got 5lbs of chicken thighs for less than three dollars.  I took them directly home and dropped them in a pot of water.   

This is where I don't understand what the big deal is... I still had chicken left over in the freezer from the pot pie day and had it in the fridge defrosting so this goes directly into the freezer with no questions.

But from the pot with all my herbs, I don't salt or pepper the chicken at this stage because I never know what I am going to use it for AND salt can make things more dry coming out of the freezer.

You can see the rosemary, thyme and I put some dry sage in it because dry is all I have (but I dried it from the garden... it hangs on the rack in my dinning room) during the winter.

Yes it is greasy on top but that is easily solved!!!! besides you want all the flavor you can get from your money.

After everything has cooked till it is falling off the bone... drain as much of the juice as you can, if for no other reason than to just get it out of your way!

I use my trusty old strainer to get out all the bits and pieces... but make sure you are not throwing away any meat at this point! 

Look at this beautiful  tasty Juice, better than any can, carton, concentrate you will ever purchase!  And that alone just saved you money for chicken stock!

Yes it still has the grease on it for now... but we will get to that!

Just cover this stock, get it out of the way, and put it in your fridge so we can get ALL that fat off later.

We still have the chicken, herbs and what knots in the pot to take care of ...

Pour the remaining contents of the pot into a bowl WITH a strainer...

Yes it looks strange, but as much as Money is something I save so is Time... so I left all the bones, the fat, and the herbs in there and this is where we take the time to seperate it all.

Note... the strainer... is there due to more glorious juices to be saved, as well as tiny pieces of meat that will have fallen off the bone while in the pot.

While this picture looks groose you will see I have seperated the bone, cartlidge, and fat from the tender meat, I have my bags ready and labeled to speed up the process.

More Chicken Stock below all the meat is normal... just put it in the fridge with the other...

I Lay all my zip lock bags as thin as I can EXCEPT my chicken stock!  I lay most thin so they thaw out more quickly and evenly.  I keep the stocks thick so they fit into my stock pots when I throw a chunk of "ice" frozen stock into the pot.  Otherwise laid thin like the meat,  they are too wide at the top and I loose some of my juices as they melt.   I just have to plan ahead.

 This is one of those dishes you just watch the sales...

You will need Chicken about 1 1/2 cups. .... I have a bag defrosted from earlier save.

You need a can of mushroom soup...    I am not promoting any specific brands... what ever you like or your own in concentrate form if you like.

Sour Cream... about 10oz ... use your can of soup as the measuring cup if you need.

Mexican Melting cheese.  You will need at least 10oz ...

One 4 oz can of green chilies... for mild, you can add other chilies if you like it hottier.... But this needs to be your base.

Corn Tortillas from the fridge section.  not fried...

 Line the bottom of your pan with Tortillas...

 Line the Tortillas with Mexican Melting Cheese... use all 10 oz  or more... if you want.

 Cut up your cup and a half of chicken and line it over the cheese and Tortillas...

 Take your Sour Cream... Your Can of soup and the Chilies and mix them together...  

Put TWO THIRDS of your mixture over the chicken...

Add another layer of Tortillas over the mixture...

Top with the rest of your mixture... and put it into the oven at 350 for 30 to 45 minutes depending on how brown you want the top to be....

We both ate before I remembered to take the picture... ha ha ha...

OK Now... that Chicken Broth...

Leave it in the fridge over night... and this is what you will get.

   The FAT will have seperated and is now easy to skim off.

Nasty looking but ... look at that broth underneath...

Perfect!

I got enough chicken for three casseroles

and enough broth for at least three things.  Saving me at least 20 dollars over time! 

It is worth planning all this out!

Pot Pie... Easy, medium, and Scratch!

For those of your who know me I am a "foodie" I love good food, I love strange food, I will try anything once.   My love for food is NOT understood by the love of my life... He eats to survive not for the experience. so... I cook several things in stages... and in degrees of complication.

Chicken Pot Pie is one of his favorite things.  Something I like / will eat if done from scratch.

Here is my pot pie story...
1.   Chicken...    I only use about one cup of cut up meat
2.   veggies...     any of your choice I use about one cup of cut up veggies
3.   base...         you can use a can of cream of mushroom soup or make your own base however difficult you want to get.... I do both depending on time, money, and flavor...
4.   Crust...       you can use what ever you like... Dad like Puff Pastery, Jerry like regular old crust (boxed/or frozen pilbury or miss smith) or I like gluten free for me...


I am cheap!  I only purchase whole chickens, or thighs because they regularly go on sale.  DARK meat as much as people say they don't like it ... is the BEST to use in a receipt because it have more "chicken" flavor.   

1. Boil what ever chicken you purchased...
        Why do I purchase only whole?  Because I use it for everything I make for the next month!  Sound crazy?  Well get this... One Whole chicken cost less than 10 dollars.  For $10.00 I get enough meat for this pot pie, a mexican chicken enchallada casserolle, chicken parmazan pasta.  I get three bags of chicken broth to freeze for rice, pasta, or soups.  Tell me how far your perfect boneless, skinless chicken cost, and how many meals do you get out of it?  

2. Veggies...
     I grow carrots every season I can, so if the ground is not frozen I go dig up a few for this... as of late it has been frozen...
     I keep CHEAP frozen veggies in the freezer... a cheap store brand, I pull them out once a day for the birds to have a hot meal... instead I use a cup of them for this when I need to.   You can also get canned veggies if you like but ... a. they have salt, ... b. they are mushy already! so I like to stay away from them and I have other uses for my large cheap frozen bag. 
     Other wise I have only the cheap stuff when in season from the veg. section of the grocery.  Corn on the cob (I put ENTIRE cobs silks and all in the freezer, you can only do this IF YOU GROW IT), carrots (from the garden), celery, onions (usually from the garden), one piece of garlic head ( from the garden IF I have any left over... I use garlic a lot!)  if they are all fresh, what ever you have, what ever you like or don't like is perfect.. BUT as my sister and brother in law do NOT like celery, onions or anything else green these FRESH things put sugar into the mix that needs to be replaced.  so ... take a hint of sugar, a pinch too samll to measure and put it into your veggies you do like...

If Frozen veggies, barely cook them per directions... just a little under so not to over cook them for the pie, which will warm through more as we go along....
If Fresh veggies, just barely cook them till warm through so to release their natural sugars... so slighly limp, have beautiful bright colors or onions go almost see through....

IF you do not use FRESH HERBS as I did above in step ONE... this is where you would add your store baught poultry seasoning mix... no more than a teaspoon at best!  mix it in your cooked veggies before the base is added...


3.  BASE...
     Easy is just use a can of cream of mushroom soup, a can of cream of chicken soup or even a can of cream of potato soup which ever you like.

     Hard,  make a base from rue with butter and cream. it is really easy to do once you get the hang of it! easy. cheaper than a can of soup, and used for so much it is not funny!


4.  CRUST...
     Easy is just get a roll of crust (pillsbury) from the buscut section of the store.  Put one in the bottom of your pan and cook per directions...
     Fancy... is a box of puff pastery doe... also place one sheet in bottom of pan and cook per instructions...
     Home made ... make your favorite doe and cook bottom crust
     Gluten Free... the trick to your basic doe is to use LARD not butter but Crisco etc... this is the only way I get it flaky... also cook bottom as normal.

Make sure what ever crust you use.. poke holes in the bottom so it will not bubble up on you. 

    While your crust is cooking ... mix cooked meat, cooked veggies and base into a sauce pan and heat all three together till warm.   IF it is too thick... thin out with Heavy Cream/ or milk of your choice just remember the less fat the more runny it will be in the end... becareful not to add too much at a time/ I add only a table spoon or so at a time.

     When bottom crust is done... pour your mixture into the crust... level it off... and put the other crust on top / bake per directions on the back.   Poke holes in the top as your mixture should be pastey... bubbly and will omit air.

Good luck and have fun with it!