Blueberry Picking & Recipe Round Up

 

 This morning the boys and I went blueberry picking at a farm a couple of miles from our house.

I love this place.

If I could pick a farm to live on, this would be it! They have acres upon acres of strawberries, blueberries, apples, corn, you name it. And one of the things I love most is that not all of the blueberries are together. There's a patch toward the front, then on the other side of an apple orchard there is another patch, all set on rolling hills.

Sometimes you need to step away from everyday life to find inspiration - something I feel I'm lacking lately.

 The flowers, antlers and white clad shed was such a beautiful shot, I had to share it on Instagram.

We picked and picked until our buckets... er, my bucket was full. They ate more than they picked. Good help is hard to find. ;)

So now that we've picked 5 and a half pounds, what shall we do with them?

Here are just a few ideas that caught my eye on Pinterest:

Blueberry Oatmeal Smoothie

Blueberry Basil Dressing

Blueberry Cheesecake Roll-Ups

Lemon Blueberry Bread

Fresh Blueberry Lemonade

Frozen Yogurt Covered Blueberry Kabobs

Baked Blueberry Coconut Oatmeal

4 Ways to Preserve Blueberries

Blueberry Banana Yogurt Muffins - Gluten Free

We're off to make some "booby nama muffins" according to Ty.

Have a great weekend!

Seven Scrumptious Ways to Enjoy Strawberries

It's berry season here in Michigan, and I couldn't be more excited! One of my favorite things to do with the boys in the summer is pick fresh berries - strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries - we pick 'em all!

Last year we picked at a farm right by our house, which was convenient, but the berries weren't the sweetest. This year we drove north a bit and found a fun farm with the juiciest strawberries, ice cream, and a small petting zoo.

The boys were each given a small basket to put their picked strawberries in, then they added theirs into my big basket. Matt, of course, was a big helper! He's 4, but for the majority of his life, he has turned play time into work time. I blame his dad. ;) It's a great quality to have though, especially in this situation. He emptied his basket into mine 4 or 5 times! Ty had fun too, although he didn't pick as many as the worker bee.  In the end, we picked 11 pounds of fresh strawberries. Afterwards we ate ice cream for lunch (don't judge!) and loved on the baby pigs, sheep, goats, cow and bunny a little, before heading home.

 

That afternoon I got to work hulling and slicing strawberries in preparation for recipes that I had in my head. I've compiled a few recipes for you all to enjoy!

Recipe

Freezing Strawberries

 

 

 

Strawberry Pie

I imagine you just dip in yogurt and freeze.

Strawberry Shortcake Bars

Easy Freezer Jam

Strawberry Mojitos

I personally can't wait to make a mojito and drink is with a slice of fresh strawberry pie!

Happy hump day!

Freezer Meal Swap with Friends

In March, four of my friends and I decided to start a freezer meal swap, initiated by my friend Kristin. Out of the five of us, three are pregnant. Nope, I'm not one of the three -- no news here on that front! However this will make life easier for all of us.

We swapped our first round of meals in the beginning of March. It was a fun & relaxing couple of hours of girl time. I stopped at Starbucks on my way, and sipped on my Caramel Machiatto while we chatted about life and a little about our meals. I made Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken, and kept one for our family. That day I came home with:

Shepherds Pie

Tomato Basil Bique

Black Bean Taco Soup

& Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

They were all delicious meals! I actually made the Shepherds Pie that night, because I had nothing else planned. The other meals I spread out, one for each week of March. It was so nice not to think beyond moving the bag from the freezer to the fridge the night before. Besides the Shepherds Pie, they were all crock pot meals, so I was able to dump the bag into the crock pot and go on with my day.  Every meal also provided leftovers for lunches - another thing off my mind for the day. 

For April, we had our swap at Kristin's daughter's 3rd birthday party this past Saturday. This month, I made Paleo Crockpot Meatballs, but I assured all of the girls that once they put them over noodles, and ate the Rosemary Olive Oil Bread from Costco that I also froze, these wouldn't be so Paleo-friendly. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Again, I froze another dozen meatballs and bread for our family, and I came home that night with:

Beef Stew

White Chicken Chili

Stuffed Peppers

& Burritos (the size of my head)

I plan to make the White Chicken Chili for dinner tonight. We'll have plenty of leftovers for when my husband comes back from his business trip. :)

Have you ever done a freezer meal swap with friends or family?

Linking Up To:

I Heart Nap Time - Link Party Palooza #35

Lolly Jane - Sunday Soiree Link Party

DIY Show Off - That DIY Party

Our Favorite Meatloaf

Whenever we have company coming over for dinner I try to make something that everyone will enjoy. This recipe has been a hit particularly with my in-laws. Maybe because this family's full of men! 6 grandsons so far...

I think the first time I had meatloaf was when I first made this recipe. It kind of grossed me out to be honest. But then I thought about it, and meatloaf is pretty much a slice of hamburger without the bun, and full of lots of flavor!

My husband is an avid deer hunter, so our freezer is always stocked with venison, a naturally lean meat. So lean that we have to have pork fat added to the ground venison so that it will stay together. Last year 10% was added, but this year we cut it down to 5%... much better! I suppose venison is something I've gotten used to over time, but really the flavor isn't that different from beef, especially when seasoned and prepared well.

I've adapted this recipe from Cooking Light. The recipes they offer fit right in with my real-solution for 2014. I like to serve steamed broccoli or green beans and a baked potato with this meatloaf.

Italian Meatloaf with Fresh Basil & Provolone
Adapted from Cooking Light

1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil 
1/2 cup ketchup
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded sharp provolone chese
2 large egg whites
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground venison (or ground beef)
Cooking Spray
1/3 cup ketchup

 1. Combine the boiling water and tomatoes in a bowl; let stand for 30 minutes or until soft. Drain and finely chop tomatoes.
2. Preheat over to 350*.
3.Combine chopped tomatoes, 1/2 cup ketchup, and next 7 ingredients in a large bowl. Shape meat mixture into a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Spread 1/3 cup ketchup over meatloaf. Insert a meat thermometer into the loaf. Bake at 350* for 1 hour or until thermometer registers 160*. Let stand 10 minuted before slicing. Cut into 12 slices.

This recipe is easily doubled. I made two loaves, baked both, and froze one. Just thaw the frozen loaf in the refrigerator overnight and heat at 350* for about 30-45 minutes, and enjoy!

A Garden Update & Canning Romas

We're beginning to wind down after a very mild and busy summer. We've had our share of illnesses around this house, more than I'd like to repeat, but we survived. Between sick kids, playing at the cottage, and normal every day events, this little blog gets put on the back burner quite a bit. I think it's about time for a garden update!

If you've been following along this year, you might remember my original post about putting our garden in.  This is the fourth year of our garden, and usually we try something new every year. This year we kept it pretty basic, but have yielded bushels of Roma tomatoes, Big Boys, Early Girls (or fashionably late girls in our case...), bell peppers, jalapenos, banana peppers, and resilient broccoli.

On the contrary, our snap peas and beans didn't do so well.

I'm pretty proud of myself this year, as it's the first that I've canned multiple foods all by myself!

 I'm growing up so fast... 

In the Spring, some friends and I took our little ones raspberry picking. That weekend I canned 4 little jars of Raspberry Lavender-Mint Jam using this awesome book my mom got for me:

"CANNING FOR A NEW GENERATION"

 I've also been referencing it to can our scads of tomatoes. Last year my mom and I canned a dozen quarts or so of whole tomatoes. With a brief refresher from her on the simple steps, I canned 14 more quarts. My hubby loves them for his "Deer Camp Chili", which he makes several times each fall, and enough to feed an army.

In a nutshell, here are a few simple steps to canning whole tomatoes.

 

Every jar sealed, however I had one jar crack open. What a mess! 

For the first time I also made a tomato basil sauce with fresh basil from my mom's herb garden. I looove the smell of fresh basil! I sampled the sauce while it was still really hot, so here's hoping it has good flavor and thickness on a prepared dish. This was a modified recipe of All Purpose Tomato Sauce from "CANNING FOR A NEW GENERATION".

As a side note, if you run out of time to process your jars the same day you prepare all of the tomatoes like I did, store the jars of tomatoes in the refrigerator until you can process them. Just be sure to place the jars in the canning pot, then fill with cold water and bring to a boil to ensure your jars to crack under the temperature change. It takes longer for it to boil, but I wasn't about to stay up until 1 A.M. processing tomatoes. And no, the jar that broke actually wasn't one I had in the fridge.

Preserving might seem overwhelming, but if you work with someone who is experienced, you learn quickly, and it makes the job go a lot faster!

What have you canned this year?

Linking up to:

The Happy Housie - Work it Wednesday
StoneGable: Tutorials Tips and Tidbits
The Jenny Evolution - Friday Flash Blog No. 35

Our Favorite Granola & Kids in the Kitchen

One thing I looked forward to when I became a mom was eventually being able to cook and bake with my kiddos. I consider myself lucky to have a 3 year old who has loved helping in the kitchen since before he was 18 months. One of his first words was "hot". We would always tell him that the pots on the stove were "hot", and never to touch them. Somehow, over time, he started calling ALL pots and pans "hot pots". Truth be told, I still call them hot pots, even though he now has specific names for each one (the pancake hot pot, the "Unca Ed" hot pot, etc.).  

This is a great recipe to get kids started in the kitchen! If you measure everything out, they can just pour it in and start mixing. I believe that helping in the kitchen, along with our garden, has encouraged our kiddos to eat a variety of foods. It gives them a great sense of pride and ownership.

This granola recipe is one I know like the back of my hand. We make it often! It's a yummy breakfast option in milk or yogurt, or just a great snack. I started making it 3 years ago, and haven't really changed up the recipe too much. Occasionally I'll throw in some chia seeds or flax seeds, but that's about it. This is where my love for coconut oil started! It's evolved into a healthy obsession. ;) 

 We hope you enjoy your finished product, and share this simple recipe!

Linking up to:
Time To Sparkle 
September Before & After - Thrifty Decor Chick