Cold Weather on the Farm and in the Kitchen

I have now officially started feeding my goats in the evening.  For the past two days, I have been bombarded by guineas and chickens when I feed them in the morning.  It’s ridiculous, aren’t they supposed to be afraid of me?  Therefore, I am changing it up.  The milk goats will be fed in the evening when the birds go to roost, and I will continue to throw their corn out in the mornings.  Silly, isn’t it?  But that’s part of it.  It’s getting a lot colder here in Kentucky, time for me to put the herbs to bed for the winter.  I’ll rake leaves up and cover the herb beds this week.  We’ve already winterized the well house, or I should say my husband and father-in-law did.  And next month I’ll start a few spring goodies in the greenhouse.  It’s always nice to get a head start.  We’re lucky that since hunting season is still going, we’ve had a lot of fresh meat to put up.  This year I plan to attempt rabbit sausage.  I’m excited about it; I’ve already planned to possibly add sage or rosemary?  Not sure, yet.  With this time of the year also come hearty dinners for the family.  I’m excited to share this shrimp and grits recipe.  Even though we are located in Western Kentucky, I love Cajun-style cuisine.  My dad worked for the union when I was growing up and we moved around a lot.  For a while, we lived in Louisiana; my mother hated it.  She loved the sights, but disliked the unfamiliarity of it with the food and language.  She learned to absolutely love the food and still continues to favor red beans and rice to this day.   I, also, love anything with rice and beans, and anything truly southern; which is exactly what shrimp and grits is to me.  My husband didn’t grow up eating a lot of the food that he now enjoys, my children will definitely be able to say that we went for it with eclectic, ethnic, and traditional foods. 

Shrimp & Grits

1 lb shrimp cleaned, deveined, I cut the tails off

¾ cups grits

1 ½ cups water or stock

1 ½ cups milk or heavy cream plus extra if needed.

2 tbs butter divided

¼ tsp salt

1 small onion chopped

1 green bell pepper chopped

1 small tomato seeded and chopped

2 cups shredded cheese

Cajun seasoning or make your own

1 tbs butter to skillet to cook onions and peppers until a little more than translucent.  Add seasoning to shrimp and coat well, set aside.  Add water or stock to pot and bring to boil, add grits, milk, and butter while continuously stirring.  Reduce heat to medium-low.  Cook 5 minutes or until thickened.  Add shredded cheese and stir until combined and cheese melted. May need to add extra milk or cream to keep desired consistency.  Add shrimp and chopped tomatoes to onions and peppers and cook until shrimp is just done

( pink and starts to curl).  Spoon cheesy grits into bowl and add desired shrimp mixture and enjoy.

Allergy Free Kitchen Chicken

I am so much more comfortable in my kitchen.  Those first few months were really tough!  It’s great to make the leap and make your kitchen an allergy free kitchen; catered to your food allergies.  The only food with allergies are the few goodies my son really enjoys.  The rest of the time, the only ingredients I have to choose from are those the entire family can enjoy.  It’s wonderful not to feel overwhelmed or stressed looking through ingredients, not to mention the huge health benefits for the entire family.  Everything in the kitchen is a lot more colorful.  Today is a Monday in Kentucky.  It is snowing and 20 degrees outside.  I actually wore my coveralls when I went to the barn to feed this morning.  The chickens and guineas attacked the feed for my goats which makes me have to feed again this evening once they go to roost and the milk goats can eat the feed.  Ahh, life on the farm!  I have a full day of laundry for the family and I have to make about 3 pounds worth of chicken nuggets for my daughter.  I make a huge batch at one time and keep in a huge freezer bag, that way I have enough to allow me not to make them but once every couple of months.  Her school has chicken nugget day every Wednesday.  Since I’m cooking with chicken all day, I might as well carry it through for tonight.  But I’m looking for an easier recipe since I can see how much I have to do today.  One easy recipe I made up one weeknight was a “potato chip chicken”.  I had chicken to cook, but was really wanting to do something completely different with it.  I had a full bag of potato chips in the pantry, so why not?  My husband and kids ended up loving it.  It’s not something I have made very often, because we don’t keep a lot of potato chips in the house.  I have found it so much easier to make sure my family are making good food choices, I don’t buy the junk.  This way, if they really want cookies, potato chips, etc., we have to make them.  I find they appreciate them much more when we make them homemade, plus I know what the ingredients are, and we aren’t having them on a daily basis.  It’s a win-win situation.  I am excited to share this super simple potato chip chicken recipe.

Potato Chip Chicken

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in half or tenderloins

3 eggs

¼ cup milk

Salt

Pepper

Hot sauce

4 cups crushed allergy free potato chips ( I use Wavy Lay’s)

Combine in bowl: 3 eggs, ¼ cup milk, dash of salt, pepper, and hot sauce.  Flatten chicken with smooth side of meat tenderizer to ¼ inch thickness.  Add chicken to egg wash and then coat with crushed potato chips.  Add to medium high skillet to brown on both sides.  Tip:  when chicken is placed in skillet do not turn but once to help prevent potato chips from falling off.

I discovered this recipe on a whim when I couldn’t decide what to do with my chicken.  It ended up being a huge hit with my family!

Snacks through the Holidays

‘Tis the season for the busy holidays!  We always have something going on, whether we are participating in holiday events around town, school activities, or family visiting for the holidays.  As a parent, I have to make sure I keep quick snacks on hand that are flexible and easy to keep handy.  One item I always keep on hand is granola.  I keep it in a huge glass jar in the kitchen, she eats it on her yogurt, pours a little milk over it as a breakfast in itself, or a baggy full as a snack.  This time of year I have to be a little more creative with snack-time.  The only fruit in-season has been apples and persimmons here in Kentucky.  Spring and Summer snacks are easier because our orchard is full of berries, grapes, melons, etc.  We started our own vegetable garden a few years ago and have grown to a small orchard and herb garden as well.  If we buy produce we only buy local or as local as we can, and do the same with juices.  I don’t buy from outside of the U.S. at all.  If that’s the only option then we take a different route altogether.  My husband was the one who really pushed for that, he thought that if we couldn’t get it in our area then it wasn’t too necessary for us to have it.  We did expand that to include the U.S. altogether to have more options for our family.  I am currently trying to expand on our snack repertoire with more fall and winter snacks that continue to be healthy.  Lots of cracker recipes and granola are kept in the kitchen.  I wanted to share my fall-themed granola recipe with the readers.

‘Tis the season for the busy holidays!  We always have something going on, whether we are participating in holiday events around town, school activities, or family visiting for the holidays.  As a parent, I have to make sure I keep quick snacks on hand that are flexible and easy to keep handy.  One item I always keep on hand is granola.  I keep it in a huge glass jar in the kitchen, she eats it on her yogurt, pours a little milk over it as a breakfast in itself, or a baggy full as a snack.  This time of year I have to be a little more creative with snack-time.  The only fruit in-season has been apples and persimmons here in Kentucky.  Spring and Summer snacks are easier because our orchard is full of berries, grapes, melons, etc.  We started our own vegetable garden a few years ago and have grown to a small orchard and herb garden as well.  If we buy produce we only buy local or as local as we can, and do the same with juices.  I don’t buy from outside of the U.S. at all.  If that’s the only option then we take a different route altogether.  My husband was the one who really pushed for that, he thought that if we couldn’t get it in our area then it wasn’t too necessary for us to have it.  We did expand that to include the U.S. altogether to have more options for our family.  I am currently trying to expand on our snack repertoire with more fall and winter snacks that continue to be healthy.  Lots of cracker recipes and granola are kept in the kitchen.  I wanted to share my fall-themed granola recipe with the readers.

Fall-Themed Granola

3 cups of oats

1 cup sunflower seeds raw

¾ cup flaxseed

1 stick of butter

2 tbs local honey

3 tbs brown sugar

1 tbs cocoa

3 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp cardamom

Melt butter, add honey, brown sugar, and cocoa.  Combine other ingredients in large bowl.  Add liquid ingredients and combine well.  Spread onto large, greased baking sheet and heat @ 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Leave out until cooled and add to storage container – enjoy!