willsfamilyacres

Spaghetti Squash with Tomatillo Sauce

July 1, 2015 by Laura

Especially during the summer, I let the garden inspire me on what’s for dinner. Tonight’s combination was spaghetti squash, tomatillos, jalapeños, onion, and tomatoes.

I started by cutting the squash in half, and placed it upside down in about 1/2 in of water. I cooked it at 350 for about 40 minutes.

Next I chopped up an onion, about 10 tomatillos, 2 jalapeños, and a tomato. I also added 1 clove of garlic (grated), salt, and pepper.

I cooked this down for about 30 minutes, until it thickened up. I did more of a chunky sauce, but you could also add chicken stock.

Meanwhile, I cooked up some venison micro-stew pieces with some salt, pepper, and olive oil.

I pulled the spaghetti squash with a fork and added a little butter, salt, and pepper.

Then I put it all together. Simple and so yummy!

Update … the leftover venison and tomatillo sauce make an excellent addition to breakfast tacos. Just add eggs, cheese, and tortillas. Wow! I could open a food truck with those.

Posted in recipes | Tagged Recipes, Vegetable Gardening | 2 Comments »

Canning Pickles — What not to do!

June 24, 2015 by Laura

We have had an extremely rainy spring this year and the cucumbers have loved it. The lemon cucumbers are doing especially well. I’ve been pickling like crazy, and unfortunately the cucumbers don’t always ripen at the most convenient time.

I was in a rush, so rather than wait until the brine had come to a complete boil, I decided that the salt had dissolved, and that was good enough. Bad mistake! Turns out that when the temperature outside of the jars is hotter than the temperature inside of the jars, they break. The jars just started popping, and the bottoms cracked right off. 4 quarts of pickles in the trash.

Luckily, I have been able to make another 8 quarts of lemon cucumber dill pickle wedges, so my daughter is happy and I learned a valuable lesson.

Posted in cucumbers, Vegetables | Tagged Preserving Food, Vegetable Gardening | 2 Comments »

Say Hello to Hank and Larry

June 17, 2015 by Laura

Hank is a mini Alpine and Larry is a mini Nubian. These two are permanent additions to help keep the weeds in check.

Posted in Animals | Leave a Comment »

Animals are Pretty Amazing …

May 22, 2015 by Laura

One of our ducks, Priscilla, is super friendly but a notoriously terrible mother, hatched 3 guineas but then quickly abandoned them. We had 3 tiny guineas running around the chicken yard. We weren’t sure how they were going to make it, until our lone chick, just 3 weeks old, took over momma duties.

Not only did she show them how to eat, but lets all 3 climb under her for sleeping and protection.

Elsewhere in the chicken yard, we have a chicken and duck raising 7 ducklings together. They sat together on the nest for 28 long days and once they hatched, they are sharing duties.

Here’s another momma with ducklings. Wait a duck raising ducklings? Something’s wrong around here …

We currently have 15 ducklings, 1 chick, and 3 guinea keets

*Sorry — all pics with iPhone this time

Posted in Chickens, ducks | 2 Comments »

Ducklings

May 13, 2015 by Laura

Last year was a bust. We had less than a handful of ducks born at the house. It just happens some years, either the ducks don’t choose a suitable nest, predators get the eggs, untimely rain etc.

This year things are looking up. We have 7 ducks sitting on eggs, and so far have 9 new ducklings, from only 2 of the clutches. They are adorable! I’ll try to get more pics when the ducklings are wandering around, but right now mom is protective and they are constantly moving (when they’re not under momma)