Roasted tomato pasta sauce recipe and winter stores report

How is everyone doing the day after Thanksgiving?  We are having a quiet day at home and are looking forward to Thanksgiving  leftovers for supper tonight! We spend Thanksgiving at my in-laws. This year I brought a pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce, but came home with enough leftovers to feed us for another meal at least. Thank you Cindy! 

The media is always full of ‘how to use up your leftovers’ recipes the day after Thanksgiving, but I like the leftovers just the way they are! Instead, I have a great recipe for you - a four ingredient pasta sauce I made this week, using some of my frozen roasted tomatoes. Sometimes simple is just right, especially after a Holiday (it is also delicious).

Lets talk turkey and have some pie

Today I made two pies with real pumpkin. After careful consideration by both Computer Boy and Art Girl, it is official. Real pumpkin rocks!! This pie is lighter and has a creamier texture than the canned pumpkin pie I made last week. It truly is a superior product. Good thing I made two.

New England Cranberry Sauce and the original local foodies

Today, eating locally grown food is trendy. To do so is a choice, given the selection of food we can find at our local supermarkets. Go back in time and not as far back as you would think, and eating locally was the only choice. Your diet consisted of what could be grown, raised or foraged near by.

The original people to do this in my part of the world were the Narragansett Native Americans, who lived here (and still do), in what would become Rhode Island. With Thanksgiving just two days away I have been wondering about what that original local diet consisted of.

Finding the interest in Pinterest

These are some of my Pinterest boards.

Do you use Pinterest? I started learning about it when I started blogging. Pinterest is an online scrapbook and organizational tool and if you are a visual person it is a great way to group your ideas. Many people use the site to pin recipes they find on line, or save images they find inspiring for their kitchen redo project, for example.

I began using Pinterest as a way for Less Noise, More Green readers to pin posts containing information they wanted to keep to their own boards. If you click on the Pinterest page at the top of the blog you will see that the information is grouped into categories, hopefully making it easy to find the information you want.

Homegrown peanuts make amazing peanut butter!

Today was the day I have been waiting for. In October, I pulled up the peanut plants I had growing in the garden and hung them up to dry (the peanuts dangling like some kind of alien creature). Now ready, the time had come to see how many peanuts we had and to decide what to do with them.

Biscuits for Bandit

This is my dog, Bandit. Isn’t he cute? He is an All-American, which in the world of 4H Dog Clubs means he is a mutt. I think that term is great. Bandit had a sad beginning. He was born in Arkansas and was admitted to a kill shelter by the time he was three months old. No one wanted him. He was scheduled to be euthanized but was rescued by a group that saves dogs in southern kill shelters and brings them to the northeast to try for adoption here. He spent many days in a cage in the back of a truck with lots of other dogs. 

We found Bandit in a shelter here in Rhode Island. He was eight months old. He was the last of the group to be adopted. When we saw him he had an eye infection and was skinny, but he was very friendly and played ball with the kids. We couldn’t understand why no one had adopted him. I think he was waiting for us.

How to lose fifty pounds in one day for charity and this week's winter stores report

Goodbye!

Aaahhhh, I‘m fifty pounds lighter! No, it’s not a miracle diet, I had a good old fashioned house purge. We do this a couple of times a year, once over the summer and again before the end of the year. Clothes, housewares, books, sports equipment- whatever needs to go.  

It always upsets me how much we find to donate. For a family that tries to not purchase anything they don’t really need, we accumulate a lot of stuff. I really hate clutter so out of the house it goes and hopefully to someone who can use it.

Recipe for Spicy Pumpkin Gingerbread

I make gingerbread all year round. It travels well and I have to make three packed lunches five days a week! This recipe is my tried and true, go to safe bet. It has a lot of ingredients in it for a “quick” bread but I promise it is worth the effort. At this time of year I add pumpkin to the mix to shake things up a little.

This is the first time I’ve used fresh pumpkin in this recipe and I am thrilled with the result!  I put the fresh pumpkin in a strainer for about thirty minutes and was amazed at how much water drained out. Even after that the puree was quite light and I think this really adds to the moist texture of the bread. The pumpkin taste is identifiable but does not compete with the gingerbread spices, of which there is a lot because that’s how we like it! Feel free to cut back on the kick.

New Providence Journal blog entry with pasta recipe

I have a new blog post in the Providence Journal:
http://www.providencejournal.com/features/lifestyle/garden/master-gardeners/20131119-master-gardener-preserving-produce-in-season-makes-for-frugal-locally-sourced-winter-meals.ece

It's about preserving food for the winter and includes a great recipe for sun dried tomato and pea pasta. If you visit the post, please give me a "like"! Art Girl made the labels!
Thanks!
Sue

Vegetable stock recipe

Vegetable, bean and orzo soup made with homemade broth.

This pile of vegetable scraps looks destined for the compost bin and that would be a great way to recycle the nutrients still viable in these plants. Another great way to use them is to make vegetable broth.

Using vegetable stock in soups, stews or to cook grains adds flavor and nutrients to your meals and is really simple to make. By making stock yourself you can control the amount of sodium used which can be very high in commercial broths.

Here's how I make vegetable stock.

Using fresh pumpkin in fall desserts

This is the post where you are reminded that anybody who writes a blog is human and not perfect in any way. You are reminded and then you forgive the blogger (me) for being a bubble head.

Today I made a pumpkin pie. The purpose of making the pie was to use the fresh sugar pumpkin that I had roasted and pureed. I promised Computer Boy that I would make him a real pumpkin pie this year and this was to be the pie. Except that’s not what happened.

Disinfecting seedling pots

I grew a lot of seedlings this year.

I have thoroughly enjoyed using grow lights this year. I was able to get stronger plants into the ground earlier and was able to grow a wider variety of plants, flowers and herbs.  I plan on using them again next growing season and every season after that!

 

Part of preparing for growing seedlings indoors next year is to sanitize all the equipment that came into contact with the growing mediums this year.  Bacteria or fungi, such as Rhizoctonia (causes damping off) and Pythium (root rot) can live on in caked on soil or root debris. If your seedlings had diseases you shouldn’t reuse the pots they grew in. All other pots and trays should be washed and disinfected before they are stored for the winter.

 

As I grew a lot of seedlings this year I had a lot of pots to wash. Ugh. I had been putting it off but as the days were getting darker, shorter and colder and I had to do this task outside, I took advantage of the warm temperature this weekend and got the job done.

How to clean leeks

Leeks are dirty vegetables and they are sneaky about it. Look at a leek from the outside and you see a beautifully sleek, slender, green and white vegetable- but you are being deceived. Cut a leek open, separate the layers and you expose the truth. Leeks have a dirty little secret. Literally.

Have you ever cooked with leeks and found the dish to be crunchy? That's the dirt. Is your leek soup gritty? Same story. Washing leeks only on the outside is a recipe for a ruined meal. Unless you know where to look, the soil hiding in the leaves can easily be overlooked.

 Here is a quick tutorial on how clean leeks.

Food For Thought: Do we need retail shopping on Thanksgiving?

 

Whatever our individual philosophies are concerning food, I’m sure that we would all agree that food is an important part of our lives. I believe that food and the shared experience of preparing and eating a meal is very important to family life. Food, when tied to community, becomes nourishing for more than just the body. Meals eaten with loved ones strengthens ties and creates an opportunity for conversation, debate and humor. 

For me, a naturalized American, Thanksgiving is the one holiday where as a nation we celebrate how lucky we are to have family and community, regardless of faith. The meal becomes part of our families’ collective memory and shared experience. We think about others less fortunate and give (Thanks giving, remember) so that all can participate in the holiday.

Granola Recipe and Winter Stores Report

My family loves cereal in the morning and Art Girl and Computer Man are big granola fans. I like granola because you can add extra nutrition in the form of dried fruit and nuts. We often eats it with yogurt  instead of milk. Here is the recipe for the granola most requested in my house.

Preparing the beds for winter

The cold snap we're having has encouraged the lettuce, spinach and beets.

 This is the weather we were treated to this morning:

NOOOOOOOOOOO!..........................................NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 Freezing sleet, oh joy! As we knew this was coming, it prompted a lot of activity this weekend to prepare the garden for winter.

Homemade Chicken Soup

Is there anything better than chicken soup on a cold day? I love everything about it. I love how the aroma fills the house, how the soup tastes better the next day and that the recipe is so flexible and forgiving.

Soup is a great way to use up whatever needs to be eaten in the fridge. I have a loose recipe that I follow but it is never the same soup twice. I don’t measure the ingredients yet it always turns out delicious. 

Included each time I make this soup is the following:

Chicken stock, one pound of tomatoes (defrosted or canned), cooked chicken, oregano, salt and pepper. The rest depends on what I have on hand.  I always add a green (kale or spinach) and then either a grain or beans. Here is the recipe for the chicken soup I made this week.

Facebook and Pinterest Pages

New to Less Noise, More Green this week is the addition of links to this blog's Facebook and Pinterest pages! You can click through to see these by using the links on the page bar, which is located under the banner. Hope you enjoy them and thank you for the support!

 Sue

Homemade chicken stock

I buy a lot of whole chickens. They are a frugal way to buy meat and one bird can serve as the basis for several meals.  As with any convenience food, the more processed a chicken is, the more it will cost. This is why chicken breasts cost so much more per pound than a whole chicken. You are paying for someone to cut and trim your meat.  

This week I roasted a six pound chicken. The four of us ate the breasts as part of a roast dinner then I pulled all the remaining meat off the bones and refrigerated it for later. The carcass I used to make stock.

Homemade chicken stock is so much tastier than store bought. You can adjust the seasoning to your tastes and control the amount of sodium added. I don’t add salt or pepper to my stock. I add it when I add the stock to a recipe. This way I avoid over salting.

Here is my simple recipe for Chicken Stock.

Transplanting strawberry runners

These runners were hiding amongst the green beans.

There are chores in my vegetable garden that I just haven’t done and now I am running out of time. After I planted the last of the fall crops, including the garlic, I just ran out of steam. Writing yesterday about winter moving closer each day motivated me to get back out into the beds and wrap this up, already.  

On the list today was pulling up all the remaining flowers and annual herbs that are dead and a general tidy up of pots, frames and supports. Check and check.

 I also needed to transplant strawberry runners which had crept into neighboring beds. I should have done this task six weeks ago. The weather today was mild and wet so I took the opportunity and moved the runners.

Winter is coming and winter stores report

This is the dogwood in my front yard

 There is nowhere I would rather be than New England in the fall. It is spectacular. As we move into November, though, the leaves are changing from vibrant golds and ambers to burnt oranges and rust tones. The days are colder and nights are freezing more frequently. Winter is coming.

Eating with the Seasons: using preserved fruits and vegetables in the winter, part 2

Kousa berry muffins. I have another cup and a half of puree frozen for use this winter.

Yesterday, I shared with you some ideas for using the preserved vegetables we've all worked so hard to put up this summer, in our winter meals. Today, lets talk about cooking with preserved fruit.

During the winter I use a lot of dried fruit. Currants, raisins, golden raisins (sultanas), apricots and cranberries, all find their way into my cooking. I use them in scones, muffins and quick breads, or add them to homemade granola or muesli. I often soak dried fruit to plump it up before using in baking. Pair dried fruit with nuts, such as apricots with almonds and cranberries with walnuts, for great flavor combinations. Sometimes I create my own trail mix for snacking, but dried fruit is high in calories so watch portion size!

Eating with the Seasons: cooking with preserved fruit and vegetables in the winter, part one

Dehydrated zucchini and summer squash

Eating fresh and local in New England is not hard May through November. November through April is more challenging. I use extending techniques at both ends of the season to produce more fresh food but there comes a time when all the fresh is gone. We have a winter farmer’s market here were I shop for some local fresh produce, but during the winter months I rely on the produce I preserved during the rest of the year.

Home Food Budgeting and Management

Firstly, let me give a warm welcome to all of you who have found your way here from Rhonda’s wonderful Down to Earth blog. I am honored and grateful that she has sent you my way. Please make yourselves at home and I hope you find something of interest among the posts here.

Budgeting for food to feed our households is a very personal thing. We all have our priorities when it comes to where the food dollars are spent and some have more dollars to spend than others.  Whatever the size of the budget, we all want to get the most value from those dollars and the best quality food.