Menu Plan

Supper Menus
June 30th - July 6th

Sunday
leftovers
Monday
country fried ham, old fashioned stuffed tomatoes, roasted summer squash, country white bread 
Tuesday
fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, zucchini onion pie  (just zucchini, the chickens didn't lay me enough eggs to make the pie!)
Wednesday
spaghetti with marinara sauce
Thursday
4th of July cookout - hotdogs with all the fixings, deer sausage wraps, homestyle macaroni salad, baked beans, chips, veggies and dip, watermelon, chocolate eclair cake, firecracker cookies
Friday
out for supper
Saturday
leftovers

Linked to Menu Plan Monday

~summertime peach smoothie~

2 peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped

1 banana, frozen

1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1 tablespoon honey

Place all in a blender and blend until smooth. 

Enjoy!

From the Farm Blog Hop #40

~every moment~

"The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, 

and surely it is in the everday things around us that the beauty of life lies." 

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks 

Linked to Wise Woman Linkup July 3rd 

Asian Quinoa Salad

This Asian Quinoa Salad was planned for supper this evening,

but Mr. H. decided he wanted to go out to eat.

So I whipped it up to enjoy for lunch today and tomorrow.

Quinoa, purple cabbage, red bell peppers, edamame, cucumber, and carrots!  Yum!

~milk and honey~

I've been on a kick lately of making one of my favorite 

homemade breads - Milk and Honey Bread.

This evening I gifted out a loaf to my secret sister at Bible class.

Tied up with a sweet yellow ribbon. :-)

Linked to Homestead Barn Hop #117

Butterfly Beauty

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful;

for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament.

Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky,

in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Linked to Wise Woman Link Up June 26th

Share Your Cup Thursday #62

From the Farm Blog Hop #39

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop #114 

Homestead Barn Hop #117 

PF Chang's Copy Cat Complete!

I've shared recently how much my family enjoys the chinese food restaurant 

PF Chang's.

And, also, how I enjoy making 

"copy cat" recipes at home.

Our "PF Chang's at Home" meals typically include -

yummy lettuce wraps

spicy kung pao

and spicy green beans.

But, something has been missing.

If you've ever been to PF Chang's you might have tried their special "house" tea.

It is so very good and one of my favorite parts of eating there.  

I usually go through at least two, if not three, glasses 

to help cool down all of that yummy spiciness. ;-)

Most of the time when we have chinese food at home,

I like to make our tea taste a little like what we get a PF Chang's.

I have brewed Lipton's jasmine passion fruit green tea

and Lipton's mandarin orange green tea.

Both go really well with chinese food, but they don't taste exactly like that

wonderful tea at PF Chang's. 

But, recently I discovered the secret!

Last time we ate at PF Chang's was while we were in Austin celebrating

my daughter's birthday with a group of her friends.

When I ordered my tea I requested the "mandarin tea".

The waiter was a little on the snooty side ;-) and he said, 

"M'am I believe you mean our mango tea."

I replied, "Oh yes, please, thank you."

He left.  Everyone laughed at me ;-) and then I enjoyed my tea.

But...that snooty waiter made me realize that I had been looking 

for the wrong thing at the grocery.

I needed to look for mango tea, not mandarin tea!

Bingo!

I got this box (on clearance for $1!) brewed it up,

poured it over ice and took a sip.

I immediately hollered to Mr. H.,

"Come try this!  I just made PF Chang's tea!!" 

And with that, our PF Chang copy cat meal is now complete. :-)

~summer afternoon~

"Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been

the two most beautiful words in the English language." ~ Henry James 

Menu Plan

Supper Menus
June 23rd-29th

Sunday
leftovers
Monday
kung pao chicken, lettuce wraps
Tuesday
crock pot enchiladas
Wednesday
leftovers
Thursday
spicy black bean burgers with chipotle mayo and avocado slices, french fries and spicy ketchup
Friday
asian quinoa salad
Saturday
out for supper

Menu Plan Monday 

~cucumber water~

Cucumber water.  Have you heard of it?

Evidently it's very popular - just check pinterest. ;-)

My sister-in-law made some recently and my daughter loved it.

When I brought our first two pickling cucumbers in from the garden this morning

one of them was kind of funky shaped, 

so we decided to slice it up and make some cucumber water.

water, ice, thin cucumber slices

and a few hours in the fridge

It is very tasty and refreshing!

So far, my cucumber plant doesn't seem to be going crazy like in summers past.

If it doesn't take off, maybe we'll skip making pickles

and just make cucumber water all summer! ;-)

Now if zucchini water tasted good, we'd be all set...

Linked to Homestead Barnhop #116, Wise Woman Link Up June 26th, 

From the Farm Blog Hop #39, Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop #114

Blueberries and summertime just go hand in hand...

...so why not bake up some 

old fashioned

Blueberry Hand Pies? :-)

You start by making a tender, flakey pie crust 

and then cooking up some yummy fresh blueberry filling.

You can't buy this stuff in a can, folks. ;-)

Don't forget to add plenty of cinnamon and sugar on top!

Blueberry Hand Pies
makes 10-12 pies

To make the crust -

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup shortening

6 tablespoons cold water

Combine flour and salt.

Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add water and combine until dough comes together.

Wrap in saran wrap and place in the fridge while you... 

 Make the filling - 

½ cup sugar

3 tablespoons corn starch

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ cup water

2 cups blueberries

In a saucepan combine sugar, corn starch, salt, cinnamon,

lemon zest, lemon juice and water.

Stir until smooth.

Add blueberries and bring to a boil.

Boil for two minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and let cool.

Meanwhile...

 Prepare the pies -

1 egg

2 tablespoons water

Beat egg and water together; set aside.

Roll out dough and cut into 5 inch circles.

(I used a cereal bowl.)

Fill each circle with 2 tablespoons of filling.

Using your finger, dab egg wash over one edge of the circle.

Fold dough over and seal edges with a fork.
Place pies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Put pies in the freezer to chill; about 10 minutes.

While they are chilling...

 Preheat oven -

to 375°.

Remove pies from freezer, brush with egg wash

and sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar. 

Bake at  375° for 20-25 minutes. 

Let cool five minutes,

 serve warm and enjoy!

Linked to Homestead Barnhop #116, 

Wise Woman Link Up June 26th, Share Your Cup Thursday #62, 

From the Farm Blog Hop #32, Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop #114

Nine Weeks - and some sad news :-(

The kittens are nine weeks old today!

Little Leche still thinks she should be nursing,

but I can tell Reeses is trying to discourage it.

Doesn't Leche just have the sweetest little face? :-)

Chiclet is always so serious, just watching and hunting.

He is starting to keep to himself more.

Which is kind of good.  He will be going to live out in the country 

with some friends of ours when he is twelve weeks old.

Chupa, above, and Leche will be staying with us.

We certainly couldn't give away Leche.

She is her Momma's girl for sure. :-)

Chupa says, "Please, no more pictures." ;-)

Our very sad news is that we lost Dulce earlier this week. 

She was my favorite and my son's favorite.

She was always very curious 

and wandered off on her own a lot.

Bless his heart, Mr. H. found her in the chicken yard.

We're not sure what happened, 

but I suspect Loretta got her.

Those kind of things happen we know,

but it sure doesn't make it any easier. :-(

And, I could tell that Momma knew that she'd lost one of her babies.

And that just broke my heart.