Fried Rice

I made Fried Rice (recipe below)

 the other day along with a Green Pepper Beef that 'needs something' but we just can't figure out what. (UPDATE - We're thinking that it need a thicker sauce and red pepper flakes)

 

Also made a Green Bean, Pork, and Peanut stir fry  - There was kinda a recipe for this one ... more on that later. (Krista didn't really like the green beans in it so next time I'm gonna try green bell peppers or broccoli)

 

 

Green Beans, Pork, and Peanuts

)

 

 

 

Green Pepper Beef

 

 

 

 

Fried Rice

 

 

Fried Rice Recipe

 

Ingredients:

 

4 Cups Cooked Rice

6 Large Eggs

1 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper

4 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1/2 Cup thinly sliced green onions

1 Cup peas

1 cup diced carrots

8 tablespoons Soy Sauce (more if needed)

 

Meats (see below)

Choose or combine Chicken, Shrimp, Pork

        (we will some times do all 3)

 

(Use any combination of meats)

1/2 -1 lb chicken breasts - cut into your favorite sizes (we like bite sized pieces)

1/2 -1 lb pork chops- cut into your favorite sizes (we like bite sized pieces)

 Bag of baby shrimp

 

Make the rice and set aside.
Add 1 tablespoon oil to Pan. Cook your chicken or pork (if adding) in a pan seasoning with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Beat the eggs with the 1 Teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and set aside.

We like to heat all the veggies in a pan with a tablespoon of oil before adding them to the wok ... just cause. Cook the peas for about 2 minutes (longer if frozen) then add the carrots then the onions. Set aside.

Add 1 Tablespoon of oil to wok and get hot. Cook eggs until fluffy. Stirring a lot.

Add rice then vegetables to wok. Add soy sauce. stir stir stir
(Add enough soy sauce for a light brown color on rice.)

Add shrimp at end ...

This is a VERY flexible recipe. This is not anything close to the original one I found . Play with the amounts of salt, pepper, eggs , soy sauce and other ingredients and adjust to your taste. The original called to bean sprouts (which were really good in it) but just not available at our market all the time so we generally leave them out.
 

Brats

Got a chance to make 'Day after Christmas' Bratwurst ... Ended up with almost 120 sausages to go in the freezer.

Also had enough pig left over to do 9 pounds of breakfast sausage too !

Wish we had some more wild pig this time instead of having to buy it at the store but it seems, that after all our rains, the pigs are not coming in to the feeders any more.

Mix of wild and store bought pig

After grinding

Some of the finished product

And in the freezer

Garden Plans - 2016

Here's what the plans look like for 2016.

2016 Spring Garden
 

Past Canning

This summer we tried our hand at cannning and making jelly for the first time. Both of our grandmothers had done this in the past and we both remembered bit and pieces of this from our childhood.

We post a few of what we did this year and next year more of the process.


Apricot Jelly

Raspberry, Blueberry, and Plum (Wild Plum)
We've got wild plum growing all over family property.



Pickles






Salsa




(Bear with us as we learn to format things on these pages)

The pickes were 2 batches.

1. Kosher Dill (slices and spears) and Bread and Butter
2. Kosher Dill spears

Not being a fan of Bread and Butter those were given away and Dills were kept. Had great reviews of both the dills and the Bread and Butter.

The jellys turnd out AWESOME. ... Some were a but runny but a bit longer cook will cure that..

Salsa was a good, not to spicy, eat and eat and eat salsa ... all ingredents were from the farmers market or from our garden.

Can't wat until next year !!!

Enlarging the Garden

    We planted a garden for the first time in a number of years last year. Decided on a little 42x42 raised garden kit from Home Depot. We also purchased some gutter materials and a water storage tank (330 gallon).

 Since we we still in our drought at that time I first got the gutter installed (about 20 ft) and the barrel in place. then went on to the garden.

I installed the garden, placed in some soil and selected some plants. We chose green onions, red, yellow, and green bell peppers (one of each) and 2 Celeberty tomato plants.

Then the rains came .... and did not leave for a while. At least it got us out of the drought.

The onions did well, but the peppers never produced. Tomatos did very well.

So this past fall I decided to enlarge the garden. 10x12

The PVC pipe is for a small solar powered sprinkler system that runs along the outside edge( A corner sprinkler in each corner and

2 360 degrees on center line in each 3rd of garden)

Link to new garden