Green & White Chili

White & Green Chili

I like green chili. I like white chili. So I did a mix, and it worked. Matter-oh-fact, it even worked for the toddler (which is a huge plus) AND it has lots of veggies. Score!

This might look like a weird recipe list, but it's how I measure/store things in my house. It's a very flexible recipe anyhow, so do your best, in the event that you're actually reading/making this.

• 1/2 cup onion, finely diced (or roughly one small onion)
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper (or roughly one large green bell pepper)
• 1-2 teaspoons (or finely diced cloves) of garlic

I keep onions & bell pepper pre-chopped in the freezer, at all the times. And have pre-chopped garlic in the fridge (by the jar). Toss these in a hot skillet (preferably an iron skillet), and saute just a bit, but don't go overboard. Keep your bell peppers bright green. If you want, cook the onions first, then add the peppers (I like my onions to turn brown).

• 1/2 cup of diced or shredded pre-cooked chicken or turkey (again, I keep this in the freezer, but you could even use canned for this recipe, in a pinch)
• 1 can or 1 cups worth of white beans (any white bean really, or lentils even)
• ~8 ice cubes worth of chicken bone broth (or basically just enough chicken broth, canned or homemade, to cover everything up nicely, but man is homemade chicken bone broth tasty. It's much darker than normal chicken broth, when I make it. )
• 1/2 cup of salsa verde (tomatillo and cilantro)
• Nice dose of cumin
• Nice dose of oregano  and/or thyme (fresh or dry). I usually just use Zahtar (which I always have on hand from the Mediterranean market, and it's the cheapest way to get lots of thyme, plus for some reason it just tastes better than normal dried thyme).

Cook all of this until it's good an hot.

• At the end, add a large handful of kale, finely diced (like parsley, basically). 
• Dice up some extra cilantro if you like too.

Cook that until it's just wilted then serve.

Top each bowl with some sour cream and/or cheese (I like Parmesan even though that's not traditional for chili, just b/c the flavor goes a long ways w/o adding too much. 2nd favorite's extra sharp cheddar. If I'm out of fresh cheese or sour cream, then I just add whole milk.

For me, almost every ingredient is already on hand, pre-prepped, in the fridge or freezer, and this is an incredibly easy and fast meal to prepare. You don't have to simmer for a long time, with this dish, so you can make the whole thing in one pot/pan (dutch oven or iron skillet). Winner, no matter how how you look at it.

Versatile Lasagna Rolls

Versatile Lasagna Rolls

This was a creation tailored around ingredients I had & wanted to ditch quickly (and luckily I had ricotta and lasagna noodles): Spinach, turkey, and mushrooms. Also, I wanted to make a big batch of something we could eat off of for a while. Voila, Lasagna Rolls (tweaked from this recipe)

Ingredients

• Your favorite marinara sauce (24 oz worth, size of a jar, roughly). I added fresh garlic, fresh oregano & parsley, mushrooms and finely chopped turkey to this. 
• 12 boiled lasagna noodles, cooled
• Some sort of shredded hard cheese (I didn't have parmesan or mozzarella, so used white cheddar)
• Cheese filling: 1 pint ricotta cheese, 1 small zip-lock bag full of fresh spinach finely diced, salt to taste, and a few tablespoons of sour cream to smooth things out a little (it was a bit too thick), but milk or water would be fine here too. Most recipes call for an egg, but I was out.

Put cheese filling on each lasagna noodle. Roll up. Smooth sauce on bottom of pan. Place noodle rolls on sauce. Cover in sauce. Sprinkle hard cheese on top. Bake at 375F for 25 minutes.

Most of this recipe is very versatile. My only advice is whatever you put in your sauce or filling, make it small, so it doesn't mess up your rolls. Super yummy!

The Holy Grail of Fresh Southern Style Green Beans (Thank You Paula Deen)

Southern Green Beans with Salt Pork and Onions

Her recipes normally scare me. I won't lie. And this one's no exception, but I TASTED them before seeing the recipe and, by God, they're the best fresh green beans.  This is adapted to how we made it for Thanksgiving (no added grease, no potatoes, fewer onions). Soooo good. This will be our new recipe for green beans at Thanksgiving from now on.

Take a 3lb bag of fresh green beans, and get to snappin'. Toss about 1/4 - 1/2 lb of salt pork in a large iron skillet and cook on medium until browned. Add enough chicken broth (preferably homemade) to fill up the pan by about 1/3". Add your green beans and simmer on low with a lid for about 20 minutes (you want it soft but still bright green, so just keep checking).

Very finely dice half an onion, add to beans, and cook for 5 more minutes. Sprinkle with garlic powder & black pepper (no more salt, trust me). If for some reason, once it's done, it doesn't taste salty enough, add it on the plate, but that salt pork is serious stuff. 

Summer Vegetable Gratin

Saute up a pan full of onions in olive oil and fresh thyme
until well caramelized. Helps to use an iron skillet. 

Slice up some squash (and/or zucchini)
and season with salt and pepper. 

Slice up some tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
Let squash and tomatoes sit out for about 45 minutes
with seasoning on them, then blot the moisture away. 

Put onions on bottom. Then top with veggies. 

Fresh parm cheese and panko bread crumbs

Cover veggies with bread/cheese mixture

Bake at 375 until it starts looking good and brown.
Turn heat off.
Put freshly chopped basil on top.
Leave in oven for a few minutes to wilt the basil.
Serve immediately afterwards.
Doesn't make the best leftovers.

28 Tips to sleeping better

These are all things I do to try to get a good nights sleep but was trying to formalize a list to hopefully help my parents. Here goes, mom and dad:

1. Find a good pillow
2. Find a good mattress (one that doesn't sag in the middle and you're comfortable on)
3. Avoid sleeping on the couch
4. Put fresh linens on bed regularly
5. No distracting noises (fan or white noise can help here). If you just need "noise" besides white noise or a fan, try very low frequency songs designed for falling to sleep.
6. Avoid blue light (like from phone or tv) an hour before bed. Don't sleep with tv on.
7. Take a warm bath just before bed with lavender scented bubble bath or bath salts
8. Spend at least an hour winding down for bed. Nothing too exciting. No alcohol. 
9. Do physical activity every day, even if in only small amounts but well before bed time. Late workouts can keep you up.
10. Avoid day time naps.
11. Get black out curtains.
12. Seal mattress with plastic sheets. Particularly if you tend to sneeze or have trouble breathing.
13. Run a fan even if not for white noise. Just makes for more breathable and fresh air. Crack a window if the temp is right. Keep the air as clean and fresh as possible in the house.
14. Try to go to bed at the same time every night.
15. Avoid caffeine for several hours before bed or during any time when you should be sleeping.
16. It's better to have a big lunch than big dinner. Don't eat within an hour of your normal bed time.
17. If you pee a lot, also avoid drinking much within 2 hours of bed time.
18. Regulate circadian rhythm. Get a good dose of bright light by day. Lower the lights in the house 2-3 hours before bed. 15 watts will trigger melatonin release (not blue lights from tv though). 
19. Nicotine is a stimulant so avoid smoking a couple hours before bed or during the time when you should be sleeping.
20. Do something relaxing an hour before bed like read a book (while taking a bath in 15 watt lighting) or meditate.
21. Ear plugs help with partner snoring.
22. Humidifiers help with ambient cigarette smoke.
23. Setup a proper mattress in another room if partner is still too disruptive to sleep soundly after trying other tips.
24. Keep it cool in the bedroom. 65 is recommended. Use a blanket as needed to keep body warm.
25. 200 mg magnesium and 600 mg calcium boost sleep.
26. Spritz lavender essential oil spray on pillows at night.
27. Melatonin is naturally produced but in much higher doses when young. It's probably the most effective supplement you can take for sleep.
28. Valerian is a natural supplement helping 90% of people sleep better if taken regularly ( the other 10 it makes worse). 200 - 800 mg is best.

Homemade Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut. So nutritious. So yummy. So cheap. Just do it. 

• Medium-Small Fresh Cabbage with loose outer leaves removed finely sliced (not chopped). Using a mandolin is best. 
• 1 Tbsp whole peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1.5 Tbsp sea salt (no iodine)
• Toss together in a large bowl. Tamp into mason jar in layers using a meat tenderizer mallet (it's hard to over tamp. give it a good effort)
• If cabbage is already covered in it's own brine, great, you're done. If not, wait a couple hours, come back, tamp some more if necessary. If it's still not covered, make up a brine that tastes about as salty as typical kraut. Pour it over the cabbage. 
• Now you just want to keep every single piece of cabbage under that brine. If you want, you can cut out a circular piece of thick green cabbage leaf to sit on top (it needs to stay submerged too). Then fill up a small glass or water (or some sort of weight) to sit on top and hold the cabbage down. 
• Lay a light cloth on top to keep out dust. Let ferment for 1-3 weeks (speed varies by temperature). Supposedly the best tasting is at slightly lower room temperatures over more time. The warmer it is, the faster it goes. 
• Keep tasting periodically to see if it tastes ready. It will stink in a less pleasant way the first few days, so don't worry about that yet. If you see mold / spots appear on top (because a bit of cabbage touched the air), just scoop out that piece of cabbage and the spots and wipe down the side of the glass. 
• Once it's ready, just keep it in the fridge. If you eat it fairly soon after sticking in the fridge, it will be a fair but crunchier than store bought kraut (much yummier, I think). I like cutting up just a bit of darker green leaves. Prettier that way. 

Note: homemade kraut has the beneficial bacteria in it where as store bought has been pasteurized and all bacteria (the good stuff) is killed. 

Pretty mommy song

Simple Healthy Food Time & Money Savers

Lately, I've been busier than usual. It's often tempting to get fast food or buy foods that are already made (which is very difficult to find if your criteria is inexpensive and healthy). So this is a small list of time saving healthy foodies, I've come across, that don't break the bank.

Simply cabbage and carrots and in the right quantity. A whole head of cabbage is always too much for me, and I like it better never frozen. I use this for stir fry, homemade ramen, soups, and actual slaw. Getting just cabbage/carrots is the cheapest. Then I can add my own tid bits of broccoli. 

I didn't realize how much more often I'd use ginger, until I bought this stuff on Amazon. Tastes just like freshly cut ginger.

Crushed garlic preserved with citric acid. I love trader joes!

Granted, this is an all in one meal (add rice), but a) they're as simple as it gets, b) they're really healthy, c) they're fabulously delicious, and d) they go on really big sales. When they do, I buy them out. Makes for a great easy week night meal (add some veggies and rice). I usually have a freezer full of chopped veggies to add. Easy-Peasy.

Mirpoix - Carrots, Celery and Onion. Granted, you do have to take time to chop it up, but you can freeze about a 6-month supply and just pull a little out as you go. I use this in about half the things I cook (roasted chicken, stir fry, beans and rice, soups, etc....)

Fully stocked freezer full of frozen veggies. No worries, it won't go bad. My staples are mirpoix (see above), corn, peas, limas, spinach, cauliflower, bell peppers (chopped myself) and broccoli. I'm not a huge fan of the store bought mixes. They always taste funny.

Chicken bone broth saved to ice cube trays for easy re-use. Granted this takes effort, sure, but if you make a big batch, later it's really easy to use (particularly if you have some of it in ice cube size quantities). That way you don't really have to "defrost". I hate that step. We cook a whole hen on the weekend, shred all the chicken for use throughout the week, then boil the bones overnight to make broth. You could simplify this even further but buying the sale rotisserie chickens and make the broth from the leftovers in that. This broth is way better (and healthier I think) than any store bought broth, plus it's leftovers, so it's free! Boiling those bones gives it that cloudy appearance which is collagen and some extra vitamins and enzymes. It's also good for inflammation reduction when sick (read more here)

I can't always find this stuff, but when I do, I buy a bunch. You can freeze it and it tastes exactly like fresh  lemon (unlike that other lemon juice stuff you buy) and no preservatives. So easy. And cheaper than buying lemons too. 

Tiny Home?

We bought a used tiny cabin from some nice folks in mountain brook for $800. Only 8x8. We'd been exploring options for a camping / weekend stay type solution for our property which is 90 minutes from our main home and think this will be perfect. Also we'd been wanting a place to store a few garden tools we'd prefer to keep dry and not stolen. Had the cabin moved 90 miles by a tow truck company for $400. It's a bit teensy and empty at the moment, but thinking about putting a tiny wood burning stove (like you see in boats) for heating and some cooking, a futon and hammocks for seating and sleeping,  some solar panels for power, the upper loft for storage, a canopy, picnic table, and grill (or Cobb stove?) for outdoor living space, an outhouse and potentially an outdoor shower for an outdoor bathroom. 

A friend of ours built his grill from scratch using river rocks and I think it's just beautiful (pictures to come of that).

These first two pictures are the before shots before we bought the place.

Moving day:

Cabin in its new home (little knocked up from the move but help together rather well). Note: always make sure grounds super dry before moving these things. Truck for stuck. Neighbor with tractor came to the rescue but it was a bit of a mess. "City people" mistake. 

My new chicken flock

Here are my babies as of 4/9. First round of them I bought on 3/21 from a farmer on one end of town. From him, I bought 2 Dominiques, 2 Ameracaunas, and 2 Buff Orpingtons (supposedly). 1 of the yellow chicks died 2 days after arrival. The other, suspiciously began developing dark feathers. Then one week later I bought 2 marans (ostensibly blue marans) from a farmer on the other end of town. 1 ended up being a black copper maran. I sure hope the one blue ends up a girl. She's my favorite!

Today, I finally bought a coop. Really thought I'd have more time, but they're already really good at flying and clearly ready for a larger home. Made a temporary pen outside, and they ran around very very excited. I think they're ready for their new home (with a heat light of course).

Anyone know what the yellow chick with dark feathers is?

Here's a picture of them when I first got them

Chickens for the urban backyard flock

I'm a little torn. These are my top contenders all available from breeders near Birmingham except Araucana which I can't find anywhere.  Incidentally all the eggs from these birds are either brown or blue except the hamburg which is white. White egg birds are usually smaller (and eat less). Leghorns have the highest egg ratio for feed cost of any egg layer but they're flighty and not usually as friendly as these listed below

Heres a good chart comparison: http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

Blue Maran: has a really beautiful color and lays an unusual dark brown egg. Marans come in lots of colors but blue is my favorite and luckily there's breeder of just that color. They don't lay as many eggs as some of the others but if you tried to sell eggs, these would likely be popular. 

Buff Orpington: chunky little golden colored chicken that lays light brown pinkish looking eggs. Known for being friendly. 

Black Australorps: black obviously. Feathers get a pretty green irredescant color to them too. Broke records for most number of eggs (355 in a year or something).  Their eggs are pinkish brown.

Dominique: all the birds I've mentioned have been "heritage" breeds but this one has more heritage than most, I think. I see this chicken and think pilgrims. They're not as chunky and slightly more graceful than most the other chickens I've mentioned so far. Their eggs are a light brown but not pink. More of a yellowish brown.

Speckled hamburg: this little chicken is one of the prettiest but it's flighty too. That's good for free range birds that need to escape predators though. Their white eggs are small just like them. 

Amerecauna: they have cute feather puffs on their cheeks and lay blue eggs. Have had these before and they seemed super sweet, even the roosters 

Rhode Island Red:

That's the chicken in the back on the ameraucana picture. Their feathers are irredescant. Eggs are medium brown and they lay a lot! 

Deleware:

Fat white chicken with coloring under the wing

Aracaunas:

These are rumpless chickens with huge feather tuffs on their cheeks that lay blue eggs. They're really hard to find though in my parts. I've all but given up. They come in all colors

Free DIY Pallet Garden Shed

This man is amazing. He made this really pretty shed from pallets and oil drums, uses wooden dowels and dove tail joints instead of nails, and stains it with motor oil. It's a fairly long series of videos and the sound cuts in and out, but it's still relatively easy to follow along with what he's doing. I need to do this... We desperately need a garden shed, and how cool would it be to make one for free? I think I'd simplify with an actual purchased or scrapped door though, even though his door is lovely. His skills with wood working are quite a bit more advanced than mine, though.

I included some pictures of a few other pallet garden sheds that ranged from decent looking to amazing too.