Emergency Room Fun

I can honestly say that 2013 has been a tough year so far for me medically.  I've had new allergies pop up, tried new medicines for my migraines that didn't work and made me have horrible side effects and now I can say I've had my first trip to the Emergency Room as an adult.

Last Friday, I was walking in the yard to feed the chickens, when my foot found a new hole in our yard.  My foot went in the hole, my ankle popped and down I went to the ground face first.  Between the pain and tears I couldn't do much yelling for Bill, but I tried.  He was in the barn and couldn't hear me...stupid me didn't bring my cell phone.  While I'm screaming for Bill to help me, my beautiful black lab Sadie, licked the tears and dirt off my face.  What a scene that must have been for anyone that drove by.

Long story short, Bill came to my rescue.  Scooped me up in his arms and then asked what he should do with me.  I told him to get the truck and take me to the Emergency Room.  Although I couldn't see any bone sticking out, the pain was so intense, I felt like I had broke or fractured something in my ankle.

Probably because I was sobbing, I made it through the paperwork portion of the Emergency Room in what I was told was "record time."  They weren't very busy, so I was able to see the doctor right away.  They took x-rays and luckily nothing was broken, just severely sprained. 

Needless to say, I used a walker to "hop" around the first two days because I couldn't put any pressure on my foot and they didn't send me home with crutches.  I then graduated to a cane and now I'm just hobbling. 

Fortunately for us, a 4-H friend of ours was one of the nurses working the Emergency Room, so she made the experience better by talking to me and taking my mind off of the pain.

I hadn't been in the ER since I was 3 years old.  Hopefully I can wait another 36 years before I ever have to go back! 

Busy on the Farm

May has been a busy month on the farm, but then again, it always is.  The beginning of the month starts off with the guys double checking all the equipment to make sure it's ready to go in the fields.

Then, I usually try to get Bill to till up the garden two or three times so the soil is just right and all of the weeds are good and dead.  Usually, sometime after Mother's Day, we plant the garden.  It's always a good idea to wait until after Mother's Day to plant a garden or flowers so that all chances of frost have passed.

The weekend of May 17th, my beautiful cousin Emily married the love of her life, Jared in West Lafayette, IN.  It was a gorgeous wedding and I was excited to be able to be in the wedding and share in this exciting event. 

In addition to all of the above things, we have also taken out a loan to build onto our farmhouse and remodel the kitchen.  Things that really need to be done.  The addition on the back of the house will be a mud room for Bill.  It will be a place where he can come in and have all his farm "things" in one area.

Here is a glimpse of our kitchen before everything is taken out and down.  The kitchen is/was functional, but can be much better with a little remodeling. 

I've truly enjoyed seeing all the styles through the years from the past McDonnell wives.  The mushroom wallpaper on the left is from when Bill's brother Mark and his (ex)wife Debbie used to live in the house.  The vegetable wallpaper and the mint green paint (which I haven't taken a picture of yet) is from when Bill's grandparents lived there and the white wallpaper all around the other two are from when Bill's Mom and Dad lived in the home.  Old houses have such wonderful history and again, I am blessed to live in a home where other McDonnell wives have lived and worked.

One thing I've done as we've remodeled is to write mine and Bill's name and wedding date on each wall.  Just for something fun to do and maybe for another generation to find and treasure. 

I hope you've enjoyed the month of May as much as we have.  We're looking forward to the summer and I'll keep you updated on the remodeling. 

P.S. I'm not enjoying eating out.  I'd rather be home cooking:-)

Strawberry Season is Upon Us

Strawberry Season is Upon Us

Since I work for a local Extension Office, I wanted to share the following article with you.  I love strawberries and thought you might find this article useful.

The strawberry is the most popular small fruit grown in the home garden – red, ripe and luscious.
It is relatively easy to grow, produces large quantities of good-quality fruit without requiring extra equipment, and it can be grown in home gardens all over Indiana.   A planting originating from 25 plants can yield 25 to 50 quarts of berries ripening from mid-May to late June, depending upon the area of the state in which they are grown.  Many of us enjoy eating berries frequently during the height of the season. You can buy them at the grocer's or at a roadside stand, but many people enjoy picking their own strawberries at places like Bell’s Strawberry Farm in Hagerstown, IN. There, you can enjoy the fresh vine-ripe quality and the opportunity to select your own fruit.  Strawberry season lasts 3 to 4 weeks, so you can plan several trips to enjoy fresh fruit.  According to owner Ed Bell, “The strawberries are looking great this year, much better than last year.”  In 2012, the Bell’s lost 97% of their strawberry crop because of a hard freeze.

This year, strawberries should be ready to harvest around Memorial Day.  When selecting strawberries, make sure they are free from bruises, cuts, and mold. Strawberries should be evenly shaped and not too seedy or white at the tips. Strawberries are highly perishable.  They will only hold a couple of days. . Berries will last the longest when stored in a stainless steel bowl. For best results do not wash or remove caps until you are ready to use them. To clean them, gently rinse strawberries under running water with the green cap still on. Once they have been washed, remove the green cap and store them between 34 and 38 degrees Fahrenheit for best results. If possible, store them in the plastic container from the store. Under ideal conditions, strawberries can be kept in the refrigerator for up to two to five days.

There are many ways to use strawberries such as:  strawberry shortcake, fresh strawberry pie,

strawberry sundaes, and strawberries and cream are hard to beat. Strawberries combine well with dry cereal and milk for breakfast or with custards, puddings, tapioca, and other desserts made from milk. They add color and flavor to compotes and salads.  Popular combinations are strawberries with bananas, pineapple, or cooked rhubarb. Strawberries also make a handsome garnish for salads, desserts, and fruit punches. To use them as a garnish, clean the berries but don't remove the caps and stems.

 

When you have more strawberries than you can eat or when strawberries can be obtained at a
reasonable cost, freeze them to eat later. For freshly made strawberry jam at any time of the year, freeze berries and then make the jam at your convenience.  To freeze strawberries, follow these simple rules:  don't freeze more than 2 pounds of food per cubic foot of freezer capacity per day. Strawberries may be packed with syrup or dry sugar.  To make a syrup pack, mix and dissolve 3 cups of sugar in 4 cups of water. Add 1 cup of this syrup per quart of prepared fruit. To make a dry pack, mix 2/3 cup dry sugar per quart of prepared fruit. To package, fill pint or quart freezer bags to a level of 3 to 4 inches from top, squeeze out air, leave 1 inch of head space, seal, label, and freeze. Before freezing, bags may be inserted into reusable rigid freezer containers for added protection against punctures and leakage.  No matter which type of pack you choose to use, follow these general directions for preparing and packaging strawberries for freezing:

        o Use only firm, fully ripe berries.

        o To avoid bruising and soaking the berries, wash only a few at a time in cold water. 

        o Drain on absorbent paper or in a colander or sieve.

        o Remove the hulls with the tip of a floating blade peeler.

        o Chill the fruit in ice water to lower its temperature for fast freezing.

Bell’s Strawberry Farm is open from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. daily except for Sunday.  For additional information or recipes on strawberries, contact the Henry County Extension Office at 529-5002 or Bell’s Strawberry Farm at 765-489-5753 and on the web at www.EatMoreStrawberries.com.


Written by: Bethany Ratts, Purdue Extension - Henry County
Source: Ed Bell, Bell's Strawberry Farm, Hagerstown, IN

 

Breakfast Sausage Casserole

Living on the farm and having fresh eggs readily available is such a blessing.  We recently had a cow butchered and one of my friends had a hog butchered, so we made a trade...10 pounds of hamburger for 10 pounds of sausage. 

Since I had fresh sausage and eggs, I decided to make a casserole that we recently had at church for our Easter breakfast.  It's simple to make and will last for several days.  I like to put mine in small containers to take to work and eat there in the mornings.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 lb sausage
10 eggs, beaten
2 and 1/4 c milk
1 and 1/2 t dry mustard
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 and 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
(save the 1/2 cup of cheese until 5 minutes before the casserole is done)
6 slices bread - torn up
1/4 t Tabasco sauce

 

Directions:

Brown sausage and drain. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs until they are thick and frothy. Add all of the ingredients to the egg mixture except the sausage and the 1/2 cup of cheese.  Pour the egg mixture into a greased 9x13 pan. Drop the sausage on top of the mixture evenly until the casserole is covered on top with the sausage.  Refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.  Take the casserole out 5 minutes before it's done and add the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.  Cook for an additional 5 minutes. 

Breakfast Egg Cups

When I was in high school, I would rather sleep in then eat breakfast.  Although I haven't changed much on the sleep part, I have found that I do need to eat breakfast every morning because I just need that extra boost (besides the one my coffee gives me).

Living on a farm and raising chickens, we naturally have a lot of eggs.  I've seen recipes for what's called "Bird's Nest" and this recipe is very similar.  You can adapt it as much as you want.

Breakfast Egg Cups

Ingredients:
Hash Browns, 24 oz bag, thawed
1/2 cup Shredded Cheese + extra
Eggs
Bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 t salt
2 t pepper
1/2 cup of diced onions

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees/
In a mixing bowl, combine the hash browns, olive oil, cheese, onion, salt and pepper (if you don't like onion, try red and green pepper).  Stir until well mixed.  In a muffin pan, grease each spot, or use muffin liners and grease them, and divide your hash brown mixture evenly among the muffin spots (a 12 count muffin pan works perfect).  Bake the hash browns in the oven for 20 minutes.  Take the hash brown mixture out of the oven and turn the oven down to 325 degrees.  Crack an egg in each muffin spot over the hash browns.  I like over easy eggs and my husband likes hard eggs.  Therefore, I punctured the yolk in half of them and left the other half with the yolk in tact.  Sprinkle crumbled bacon and cheese over the eggs.  Cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked through and the cheese has melted. 

I ate mine with some hot sauce and loved them.  For a family on the go, this would be a quick fix the night before for breakfast in the morning.

Start Seedlings Now

I enjoy summer, but I don't enjoy the humidity.  One thing that I am looking forward to is my garden.  I don't grow more than we need, but I grow enough to eat on during the summer and to can for the winter.

Even though the weather still isn't as cooperative as we like, it's a great time to start seedlings in doors.  I like to buy the little kits that has 48 or so peat pellets in it and start my seeds.

 Here are some of the seeds that have started

and are ready to transplant to a larger container.

 Keep those 2 liter bottles and milk jugs!

Clean them and cut them and half and they make

excellent containers for starting plants.  I roll up

a couple of balls of aluminum foil and put in the

bottoms of each one to help with watering and

drainage.  Plus it gives the roots a chance to breathe.

 I use every available window that has good sunlight

and put the plants there.  I also label each container

with what is growing inside of it.

On the far left, I have Boston Pickling Cucumbers,

in the middle I have Mini Sweet Peppers, and on

the right, I have Heirloom Cucumbers.

Here is a close up of a container of Mini

Sweet Peppers.  I usually plant 2 plants

per container.

 

 



Here, I have cut milk jugs in half and put the

aluminium foil balls in the bottom and planted

2 containers of Roma Tomatoes and more peppers

and cucumbers.

 

 

When the weather turns nice for good, I'll start introducing these plants to the outdoors and sunshine for a few hours each day, gradually increasing the hours until they are ready to be outside permanently and ready to be put in the garden. 

 

By starting your plants indoors from seeds, you're able to save a huge amount of money.  A packet of seeds costs between $1 and $2 and a single plant can cost between $2 and $5.  What are you waiting for?  Give it a try!

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

Things have been a bit hectic lately.  We had our 7 and 9 year old niece and nephew for a week during their Spring Break last week, and I didn't get much done.  We had fun though.  We went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum (I highly recommend going if you've never been), Chuck E Cheese, a cowboy store and so much more!

This week I am back on track.  I have vegetables started and they are coming along wonderfully and I just ordered a pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid!

My husband, who does not like chicken, had three piecesof this recipe last night.

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

Ingredients:
4-5 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (mine were partially thawed because I put them in the fridge the night before, but you could use frozen as well.  Be sure to cook the chicken longer if you use frozen).
1 bottle of BBQ sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions:
Insert your slow cooker liner into the slow cooker.  Place the chicken in the slow cooker.  In a medium bowl, mix the BBQ sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, garlic powder and red pepper flakes.  Mix well and pour over the chicken.  Turn on low and bake for 4 hours.