Edible Garden

Hello and welcome to another week. You may have noticed that I like to have an edible garden. I try my best to get things growing but unfortunately not all things grow well here in my patch on the hill. 

Lettuces grow well if care is taken in giving them a good start. Garlic chives keep coming up here and there in the garden and they are welcome to use in cooking. I have it on my list to freeze some.

With the weather warmer now, having lettuce in the garden makes it easy to get a healthy lunch together. I grab a bowl and shred and dice anything I can find, add a blob on homemade dressing and fold through. It is kept in the fridge until I need to serve. Today we tried baked mushrooms made into Tuna Melts. Idea came from Stonesoup. Very nice.

The Kale is growing well and I have a bed full of it (at least 7 plants) so we will have some lovely greens to enjoy.

This pop of colour won't be eaten but is in the process of being dried to make potpourri. 

D2 set up a Christmas Tree in our lounge room and we have it glowing for a few hours each night on a timer. The Christmas cd's have been pulled from the cupboard and are now filling the air with bright music.

This was the sunset from our window last night. Gorgeous!!!

And today it is a lovely sunny day.

Keep smiling ... Dot 

Salsa

Hello Readers. Welcome to another week in the life of Dot. I have to apologise. I made the individual pizzas on the stove, thought to take a pic but they were devoured before I thought of it. They were very nice and hubby commented that he would like them cooked that way again. For the topping, I wanted to make a sauce that included vegetables so I made up a Salsa. It made up a few jars that are stored in the fridge, so I will be making those pizzas some more.

This is the Salsa minus red capsicum as I did not have any on hand. Here is the recipe.

Salsa
2 cups vegetable stock
2 large tomatoes
5 cloves garlic
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 small red capsicum, finely chopped
1 carrot, chopped or grated
2 bay leaves
1 Tb honey
2 ts oregano
1 ts basil
1 ts cumin
1 ts coriander
1 ts cinnamon
1 ts paprika
pinch cayenne pepper

Puree stock, tomatoes and garlic together in a processor until smooth. Combine with the remainder of ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes. Fill clean jars and store in the fridge.

ps. I used fresh herbs that I could find here at home and used dried for the remainder. 

In my vegie garden over the weekend I cleared out the silverbeet to make way for seedlings I raised. The silver beet was starting to go to seed so it was time to do something with it. After preparing it Hubby helped me vacuum seal 5 nice plumb bags to put away in the freezer. 

I love to get outside. Hope you are able to enjoy the outdoors too ... Dot

Back Again

Hello Readers

I love Roses and my garden has 3 varieties that are in bloom at the moment. The colours are not showing quite right here but on the left is a bright red. The next is a pink which is part of a carpet rose. The apricot one is a new plant I put in last season. Gorgeous.

This is Harry the Whale. I made him up and gave him away.

I happened to look out the window and saw this crow fly and land at the base of this trunk with something in its mouth. It ate what is had and then settled on the top of the trunk, took a look around and flew off. They are a huge bird and I have not seen one this close for a long time. Another visitor to our yard!!

This week I am going to make pizzas, but with a difference. When I make the dough I will divide into small portions. After rolling out will cook in a hot pan on the stove, both sides. When removed from pan, top with warm pasta sauce and fresh basil. Will post a picture next week.

Until then, keep smiling ... Dot

Visitors

Hello

It adds interest to life when visitors call in, don't you think? We had some interesting ones of our own this week.

A chicken coming close to see if I have food in my hand. 

Ollie, the cute dog from up the hill. 

And D2 called in with a homemade pizza to share. She made it with her dad in mind. 

A had a go at making my own Chicken Loaf. 

This lot is going in the freezer but we had some with dinner last night. It was easy to make and is healthy without added nasties. 

To find the recipe, search the internet for Skinnymixers.com.au and click on recipes and select Luncheon Chicken Loaf. 

That's it for today. Enjoy life and be happy ... Dot