Asparagus Fries

It’s been a very long time since I have posted and I apologize.  Life has gotten away from me a little with time and I promise to be back at my blog much more often!!

These baked asparagus fries are delicious and super easy to make.  You can season the panko bread crumbs any way you like or even make your own bread crumbs to use.

Here is how I made ours:

Trim the asparagus, dredge in flour and then dip into one beaten egg

Roll in the seasoned bread crumbs (I used seasoned Panko crumbs with a mix of parmesan and some ground pepper added)

Place on a wire rack on a foil lined cookie sheet or you can lay them directly on the foil lined sheet but should turn them once half way when cooking.

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 12-14 minutes.  The crumbs should be browned and the asparagus softened.  Serve right away.

I served ours with our oven roasted potatoes (recipe here: Oven Roasted Potatoes ) with a bit of sour cream and a ham steak that was warmed in a frying pan in a little pineapple juice.

Don’t forget to visit our family Facebook page to see all of our crazy daily happenings on the farm!!  Chasenchanceranch

Veggie Tips

We eat a lot of vegetables in our house.  Raw, grilled, steamed, chopped, pan-fried, over the open fire, you name it, we eat it that way.

I thought I would share some tips we have learned along the way as well as how we (ok it’s me really) sneak more veggies into our family diet.

Keeping sliced carrots and celery in our fridge in some cold water to make them last longer is a trick I do every week.  I keep blue cheese and peanut butter around so they can dip them instead of just munching on them raw all the time.  Works like a charm!

Chopping up all types of vegetables and storing them in baggies or small containers that are visible when opening the fridge is another way of getting the kids to snack healthy as they will grab them when hungry.  I keep some ranch dressing along with the blue cheese for these types of vegetables.

Storing my own homemade salad in a bag is another easy thing for kids to grab.  I have a few different dressings to choose from and also red wine vinegar as that’s the Teen Queen’s favorite to top off her salad.  You would be surprised how quick a kid will eat salad if they only have to grab a handful out of a bag and put it in a bowl!

Keeping things colorful is inviting to all.  In our chicken stir fry I use all different color peppers and also for when I am making a vegetable side dish for dinner.  The kids call these dishes “rainbow vegetables”.

Kale chips are another great crunchy snack.  You can do the same thing with brussel sprouts by peeling them and baking.

Topping veggies with sauce and cheese is a great alternative to pasta.  This gets scooped right up in a matter of minutes!

Filling them with meat and rice topped with sauce…who could resist!

Loading up your crockpot meals with all different types of veggies that soften, add flavor and break down into the gravy is sneaky!!  This is how I hide parsnips from the Boy!

Grilling is huge in our world.  I will grill many many vegetables in the summer.  Seasoned with a little olive oil, garlic powder and salt and cooked until charred and soft.  Every vegetable is delicious!

And last, keeping fresh corn around and teaching the kids how to microwave their own for 4 minutes and then peel allows for a delicious, no string ear every kids loves!

I have shared recipes on this blog (you can find them under the “Categories” section) as well as on our Facebook page: ChasenChanceranch for all of these pictures.  If you can’t find one, just ask!

Baked Zucchini and Summer Squash

Baked Zucchini and Summer Squash on the menu tonight.

Slice and layer squashes, cover in sauce, top with grated mozzarella. We like onions on ours too but you can use anything you like (mushrooms, peppers, ground beef, shredded chicken and so on).

Comfort food minus the carbs!!

Bake at 425 until squash has softened, cheese has melted and onions have browned.

Let the season begin

Goodbye relaxing nights and those extra 20 minutes of sleep in the morning.  You are being replaced with garden “engineering” which includes layout, planning, planting, weeding, working, and non-stop love and care!

Today’s project was getting some of our late producing vegetables planted.  We did pumpkins, butternut squash, kale, cabbage, brussel sprouts and peas.  The kids love to help with this and the tween queen planted a container of Morning Glory, Cosmos and Zinnia.

And of course there’s always a jokester in the group!!  I knew something was up when the giggling was getting out of control.

If you saw my garden tip on Facebook, these are the little cups I save throughout the winter to use as planters.  These are lemon ice and yogurt containers.  Poke a few holes in the bottom and they are perfect for starting plants.

You can store these on a tray with sides and fill with water from the bottom so it hits the roots and nourishes the plant and you don’t have to water each one individually or with a sprayer.  This is a HUGE time saver!

And now they are gently covered with the sunlight hitting them to begin their growing process.  Fingers crossed they all produce.

Regrowing Scallions

I am asked quite often if it’s true putting a scallion in a bit of water that it will regrow.  I always do this during the winter as it’s an inexpensive way to have scallion greens throughout the winter when your garden is not producing.

Place the white ends in a cup of fresh water and change it every couple of days.  Chop what you need and in a few days it will sprout again and grow.

These 2 scallions were first used in mid December.  I have since been using just these two when I need scallion greens.

You can see where I have chopped them and the new growth.  This was 4 days after I used them.

This picture is 11 days later.  They are almost full grown.  The one laying down I was using tonight and started to chop it but decided to put it back in for the picture.

Give it a try for fresh scallions all winter 🙂

Butternut Squash

I LOVE butternut squash.  It’s such a rich vegetable so filling and creamy when you whip it.  It’s loaded with vitamins and so good for you.

Tonight’s project was processing our squash to freeze.

You can see how I prepare our squash and freeze it for the year on my Facebook page here:  Butternut Squash

Fall Gardening

Certain items do so well in the fall.  The temps here are around 55 – 65 during the day and 39-45 at  night.

Right now our Celery is thriving.  I have 6 bunches growing and they are all perfect just like the one above.

Brussel Sprouts are another fall item here.  They take a looong time to produce and ours are starting to produce finally now.  I have 12 plants and they all have nice little “babies” forming.  We harvest them on the small side as we prefer them that way when we cook them.  These plants have about another 10 – 12 days before we will harvest.

These little hardy Cherry Tomatoes are still hanging in there.  They are a great snack at night or for lunch!!

And it’s nice to be greeted by the zinnia still in bloom when entering the garden!!

Peppers (Container Gardening)

The sun gently nourishing the leaves of my pepper plant in the container. 

This picture was taken this morning, 9/4/14.  While I have 3 pots with pepper plants, each pot is only producing one pepper on the plant.  Hopefully they will get a little larger and then they will be cut into strips and frozen to use later in the year!!

This is the first time I have used containers for my pepper plants and I can’t say it was a success with only 3 peppers.  I may have to work on the soil to try it again next year as my grandmother used pots for her peppers also and she has triple the amount on each plant that I have.

This was one of the peppers on August 15, 2014

And here is the same pepper today, September 4, 2014

Container gardening

Very small orange pepper started

I have used containers for gardening for the first time this year for some of our vegetables.  The lettuce has done very well in small containers throughout the yard.  The potatoes seem to be growing very well as the tops are beautiful bushes and I won’t harvest for a few more weeks.

romaine

potatoes

The carrots are awesome and really growing into a nice size

But I am not sure of the container peppers.  My grandmother always grows regular green bell peppers in pots on her balcony.  Hers are doing wonderful.  So far this is my first pepper on the three plants I have in my pots.  You can see it’s not very big but I am hoping over time it will grow and turn orange as that is the color it’s supposed to be.

I am glad there are farmers markets all over as I am not too hopeful about these and I like to stock up and flash freeze them to use throughout the winter and spring.  If the weather we have been having is any indication, fall will be very early.  It was 59 degrees here last night and today the high is only 72.  Cold already!!  But I won’t complain as it’s helping my cabbage and brussel sprouts along.

Gardening fun

In Buffalo this is about the time of season you start to see all the fruits of your labor.  Our red cabbage is coming in nicely, the brussel sprouts are healthy and growing, broccoli, celery, peppers, carrots, corn, pumpkins, apples, pears, grapes, strawberries, zucchini, butternut squash, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, and onions are all coming along for harvest.  It’s a busy time but a rewarding time as well.