Garden Saute

This past summer my garden determined what I cooked. I'd go pick what was ready and brain storm as I did it. Thats how this recipe was born. Its ridiculously easy and you could throw anything in it. Its delicious, too! This recipe has it all. Clean eating and loving every bite of it! You have got to try this!

Now being October and my garden season coming to a close I'll miss my shoot from the hip meals from my garden. But you can always get this produce at your local grocery store so this dish can go year round!

Wanna fork?

Garden Saute

1 Pound ground burger meat (Elk, beef, whatever you have!)
1 Yellow onion, chopped
1 Zuchinni, chopped
1 Yellow squash, chopped
1 Pound green beans
4 Green onions, chopped
2 Tablespoons chopped chives
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Teaspoon montreal steak seasoning (Add more as desired.)

Cook your burger meat in steak seasoning. Once cooked set aside and saute your garlic in butter until fragrant. Add veggies and saute until cooked. Once cooked add burger to veggies and stir together allowing to saute for about five minutes or so.

Serve with warm Dinner Bread and enjoy!


Click here to print!

Bacon Wrapped Brussels Sprouts

Yes brussels sprouts! Don't judge this recipe by its name... Consider the fact there is bacon in it. Bacon saves anything, EVEN little lettuce balls. This past week in my Bountiful Basket I received a handful of brussels sprouts. So of course recipes start swirling, roast, saute, grill.. what to do! Well of course my favorite cooking term FRIED comes to mind! Then bacon.. the absolute super food comes to mind. Put these two together and they will have a wonderful marriage! Taste delicious, too! 

Give it a try! May even work on your finicky veggie eaters!

Bacon Wrapped Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts
Balsamic vinegar
1 TB Montreal steak seasoning 

4 TB water

Bacon

Canola oil for frying

Tooth picks

Dash of sea salt

Heat oil in a pot over medium heat until 350 degrees. Slice ends off your brussels sprouts and half them. Take bacon slices and cut in 3 equal length pieces for wrapping. Take your sliced Brussels sprouts and put in a single layer on a large plate. Pour 4 TB's of water over them, cover and microwave for three-four minutes or until tender. Marinate for  few minutes in balsamic vinegar and seasoning for a boost of flavor. This quick cooks the brussels sprouts since the frying process is quick with the bacon. Take one piece of brussels sprout and one piece of bacon and wrap up your little veggie. Stick toothpick in ends of bacon to hold together.  Continue until done and fry for 2-4 minutes or until bacon is crisp and cooked. Drain on paper towels after fried and sprinkle salt over.

Serve with dip of your choice. Ranch is always a delicious option!

If frying isn't your thing. Steam your brussels sprouts then when the frying process would begin throw em on the grill until bacon is cooked! 

Click here to print!

Chicken Zucchini Alla Pesto!

So last week I boasted with my proud Italian heritage in my Stuffed Crust Garlic Chicken Alfredo Pizza post. How I love the traditional meals such as pasta, pizza, fresh gnocchi, cheese and so on. THIS week I am taking a little bit of a spin on an Italian dish. Instead of angel hair or spaghetti pasta I'm using zucchini! A low carb, delicious and healthy spin. Being guilt free, this dish is abundant in flavor and looks beautiful on a plate. Don't let the clean eating scare you, This dish is for real and absolutely amazing! TO put the cherry on top THIS is a 30 minute meal! Oh yes. This recipe has a lot going for it!!!

My sister who caters for a living, which means, DUH! She's an AMAZING cook, found an awesome gadget called a Veggetti! A spiral slicer that turns zucchini, squash, cucumbers and other vegetables into pasta type strings. Hence the name Veggetti, like spaghetti! Anyways my Mom purchased one and brought it with her when were were all together over the 4th of July at our family cabin. She was making fresh salads using it. I knew at first glimpse I NEEDED one of these. So I promptly purchased one on our way home! Needless to say vegetables have been way more fun since I have had it! Which says a lot, I'm a California girl so I grew up on fresh produce and have always loved it and had fun cooking with it. This gadget opens a whole new direction to take produce though and it makes my mind go crazy with creative ideas!

Chicken Zucchini Alla Pesto is a must try! You'll feel great after eating a fresh healthy meal such as this one and still love every bite of it!

Is that tongue marks on my screen from trying to lick it? NASTY! 

Chicken Zucchini Alla Pesto

For the chicken

4 Chicken breasts. (If their thicker I filet them down to thinner pieces)

1 Tablespoon jarred pesto (Can be found in fresh section of grocery)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoon vinegar

1/2 Teaspoon salt

1/2 Teaspoon pepper

*Marinate your chicken breasts in this mixture from 30 minutes to 24 hours.*

For the zucchini pasta

4 Medium sized zucchini

1 white onion

2-3 Tablespoons jarred pesto (can be found in fresh section of grocery)

2 Tablespoons butter

1 Teaspoon salt

1 Teaspoon pepper

*Optional* 1/2 Teaspoon minced garlic

Parmesan cheese for garnish! 

Heat a skillet with some melted butter in the bottom or your grill to cook your marinated chicken. Once heated cook until done. Using your Vegetti, slice down your Zucchini. Chop your onions. Heat a skillet to medium high heat and melt butter and optional garlic together. Once melted sauté your onions until caramelized then add your zucchini for a quick sauté. It won't take long. Once all vegetables are cooked add your pesto and spices and stir together. Let simmer for a minute or two then serve with chicken breasts sliced down and served on top.

Bon Appetit!

Click here to print!

Chocolate Dipped Mint Leaves

This past month I fell in love with a mint bush I was gifted. I love the smell, the taste, Just had no clue of anything fun to do with it. I have thought about teas and jelly.. Nothing really exciting popped into my head until we were headed home from our trip and drove past an olive garden. LIGHT BULB! I love their after dinner candies. They hit the spot and bring a meal to a close. So why not do an upscale version of an after dinner bite with chocolate dipped mint leaves? Oh yes! This just happened and they are delicious bites to end a wonderful meal with! Specially if you have a white chocolate dipped on... That is my favorite!

Make a good sized batch of these and have in your freezer ready to go!! Or make big batches during the holidays for a light candy! 

Sucks when you can't grab one of these through the screen, huh? Darn!

Chocolate Dipped Mint Leaves

20 Mint leaves

1/4 Cup melted dark chocolate

1/4 Cup melted white chocolate

Wax paper lined 13x9 cookie sheet

Using a double boiler melt down your chocolates separately. Pour melted chocolates into two separate little saucers to dip out of. Take ten leaves to dip on one and one in another. When dipping a leaf get both sides coated by sliding it through the chocolate. Allowing it to drip excess chocolate and then lay it on wax paper to dry. I let them completely harden in the freezer then put em zip-locs to keep in the freezer!

Click here to print recipe!!

Compost bin from pallets

Okay, okay, you got me.  It's not all pallets.  But it is all up-cycled materials! That's still cool right? No? It's okay I get it; pallets are awesome!

Pallets are so awesome I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to them.  Follow my pallet Pinterest board. Then make sure you're following this blog so you can see all the awesome things I make from the pallets I just can't quit bringing home. Seriously, when I go to town I feel deep regret if I'm driving home without a pallet in the back of my truck. I may need to lighten up on myself a little; we do have quite the stack going on right now.

I totally failed to take pictures during the process of making this but it's pretty simple. The basic concept is to make a box-like shape out of stuff that is laying around.

I used two pallets for my bin. One for the back and one for the bottom.  I tried to find a couple where the wood slats were closer together than some pallets.  For the sides, I used scraps from an old play set that was left here when we moved in. The front is a piece of wood that blew into our yard one day.  I have no clue where it came from.

Underneath the bottom pallet I put some garden edging pavers.  It keeps the bottom pallet up off the ground and will make it last longer.  It's also possible that it was a completely unnecessary step and a waste of time. But the pavers were laying around and taking up space in my garden shed.

 See how here in present day North Dakota everything is lush and green and beautiful?

I ended up having to add another piece of plywood much more quickly than I thought.  I seriously underestimated the amount of compost we make.  Between the chickens and ducks bedding, the lawn and our household waste it really adds up quickly.

I can't wait for all the good compost to come.

For inside the house, I have THIS compost pail. It's amazing.  The carbon filters do wonders. You can take the lid off and it can stink like crazy in there but with the lid on you can't smell a thing! I highly recommend one if you plan to compost and don't think you will empty your compost bin at least daily and preferably twice a day.  And I will never be that on top of things.

What is your compost bin made out of?