Independence Days Challenge - Week 2

1. Plant Something.

Not yet, but I did place two out of three of my remaining seed orders, and gathered up my seed starting stuff (tray and pots and soil, oh my!) to see what I had and what I needed to order - and placed that order as well.

2. Harvest Something.

Nada. It's still February!

3. Preserve Something.

Once again, it's only freezing, but I put a big batch of corn chowder in the freezer (see #6).

4. Waste Not.

I had a craving for pizza yesterday. I also had some bread that was going stale. So, instead of doing what I would normal do (which is pick up the phone and order pizza), I made something that resembled pizza from food I already had in the house. I brushed some slices of the stale bread with oil, and set them under the broiler to brown. I thinned down some tomato paste, and cooked it along with some oregano, basil and onion powder, then spread it on the bread, topped with some shredded mozzarella, and put it back under the broiler to melt and brown the cheese.

Was it pizza? No. But it satisfied my craving, was the perfect supper (I had a late lunch and wasn't that hungry), and saved me money. And it used up the stale bread. I know you can use stale bread for bread crumbs and croutons, but I don't tend to use either of those items a lot, so I end up with a freezer full of odd and ends of loaves, which then get tossed when I clean out the freezer.

I also added more scraps to the stock stash, and have almost filled the bag already!

5. Want Not.

Still mostly in the organizing phase.

6. Eat the Food.

I used 2/3 of the remaining garden potatoes to make a double batch of potato soup. Half fed Dad and I for lunches for two days (with some still leftover for my lunch today), and half I used to make corn chowder by adding frozen corn, finely diced jalapeno peppers, and a bit of cumin and chili powder. One lunch this week was grilled cheese sandwiches, with chili sauce and bread and butter pickles on the side. Yum!

7. Build Community Food Systems.

Attended Seedy Saturday! And shared some local resources with someone new to the area. And arranged with my sister to start some tomatoes and peppers for her (she's going to help my with drywall seams, so I get the better end of the deal, imo) so my seed doesn't go to waste and she doesn't have to buy transplants.

8. Skill Up.

Deflated Dutch baby

The only thing I did here was try a new recipe: Dutch baby. It's basically a baked pancake, and works really well in a cast iron skillet. There are a ton of recipes on the net, but most call for a 10" skillet - which I don't have. So I halved the recipe and used my 8" skillet, and it's perfect - just enough for a big breakfast. I know it's not the healthiest breakfast, but it's a nice treat once a week, and it's easier than making pancakes. I also realized I need to start writing these things down - not just recipes, but my modifications of them, so I started a book which will contain the original recipe and my modifications. I think I'll limit this one to bread (and other bread-like foods), and start another for savory dishes. That way, I'm not dependent on either my memory or the internet - both of which are liable to fail at the worst possible time ;)

Bread book, with Katy's head. Because it is all about the dogs, of course.