Does this look like a future garden spot?

Imagine it without the snow. What do you think now?

First off, I want to tell you that I did not drop off the side of the planet. As much as I missed everyone here, it seemed that snow, meetings, teaching, and a really bad cold hindered me from adding a post.

I am going to take a few minutes tonight to give you; Garden Update, Budget Update and School Update.

First off the Garden Update.

Can you imagine seeing, 4 raised garden beds here?

I have been looking my back yard over, trying my best to figure out the best place to put 4 raised garden beds.

It has good drainage. It has enough hours of sun. Most importantly, it is close to my outside water hydrant. I could put the raised garden bed way down the other end of the yard. It is level there. It has full sun. But, it is really a long way to drag a hose to water it.

I do have some things to work out. I have two buried lines. One is the water drain from my gutters and the other is the buried cable wire.

The Super Hero is going to dig up the water drain from my gutters. I am  going to replace it and rebury it. I know (pretty much) where the cable wire is buried and we will just leave it alone.

I have horrible grass in this whole area. My plan is to put in the raised beds and then mulch around the beds and whole area from the tree to the fence.

I still have time to decide while I wait till the snow melts away.

Now it is time for Budget Update:

My shopping has pretty much been a mess the last two weeks.

It pretty much depended on who could get their car out in the snow.

I did make it to the grocery store twice and spent a total of $42.03.

I had two $5.00 gift cards that I received a few months ago at one of my shopping trips. Sometimes  Target offers gift cards if you buy certain products. I used $5.00 from one and then $1.00 dollar from the other one. So I bought all of this and did not pay anything for it. I still have $4.00 left on one card.

After using my the $4.00 left on my card, I paid $4.36 for everything here.

So, the total amount I spent on groceries and toiletries for two weeks is $46.03.

The only reason I did not spend more was because my car was buried in the snow (thanks to the snow plow) and my totally fab children was able to get out and buy some groceries. Getting prepared for two  snow storms, you always need extra milk, bread, eggs, ect. My oldest daughter who does not cook bought all of those items plus fresh veggies and fruit. My son the super hero, bought a big roast for the crock pot (I still manage to get it cooked the day we lost electricity) and more perishables.

Thanks to my children, they stocked up for us for the storms.

Here is my total so far since when I first started keeping track in January.

I had a balance of $262.83 on February 17th.

I added another $75.00 on February 24th.

Giving me a total of $332.83.

I have spent a total of $44.03 in two weeks.

Right now I have a balance of $288.80.

Today is Sunday and I can add another $75.00 but I decided not to. This is because of the snow storm and my kiddos bought the groceries.

It just seems fair.

This means, that of Sunday May 3rd I have $288.80 in my grocery budget.

Now it is time for school update:

For Valentine’s day my club made chocolate covered strawberries to take home. I think they ended up eating most to them before they took them home : D.

For Mardi Gras the foods class made king cake. I hid a bean in each cake for the kids to find. You are suppose to use a plastic baby but I was afraid the students might eat it by accident.

My foods class also made, no bake cookies, pop corn balls and egg frittata. I was unable to get pictures of those. Those pesky kids ate them too fast : D!

Tomorrow we are making waffle batter. The students will cook the waffles on Tuesday. I will try to get photos to show you.

Ok, my dear friends. I know this was a long post. But, now you are all updated on my little adventures from A Small Town Kitchen.

Thank you so much for following my blog. I appreciate each and everyone of you!

Rachel, I know you asked about my artichokes. I have transplanted them to bigger pots and they are doing great. I will have picture updates soon. You will be surprised how big they are getting.

Have a great start to a new week!

Love,

Becky

I have missed you!

If you live in Mid Missouri, you know that we have been hammered with back to back snow storms.

We missed two days of school last week.

We have missed two days of school this week, so far. They are making a decision about whether to have school tomorrow,  later on today.

You probably are thinking that I am  jumping for joy, laughing through the roof tops and watching every old movie on Netflix while I drink heaping cups of hot chocolate with a ton of miniature marshmallows floating on top.

This in not entirely the case.

I have been shoveling snow, then coming in and drinking hot chocolate : ).

Can you barely see the tops of my solor lights?

Two days ago, I had all this shoveled out, all the way out to the street.

 All 11 1/2 inches of snow.

 I know how much snow, cause the oldest grand girl measured the snow every hour.

Now, I need to shovel, again.

My poor gazing ball and little metal birdies look buried too.

Yesterday, we even lost electricity and the internet was down for over 24 hours. (that was why you have not heard from me).

My car is buired in the driveway, the front walk needs shoveled again, and I think I might be out of hot chocolate. : )

And oldest grand girl stuck the shovel in the middle of front yard.

Why?

I don’t know.

I hope everyone is safe and warm in thier houses!

That is where you will find me, until I decided to go rescue the shovel.

Becky

What do you do when you are stuck in a house with 10 inches of snow outside?

How do you entertain yourself?

Do you get out all the Harry Potter movies out and watch them all from start to finish? Or maybe Lonesome Dove. Better yet, all the Lord of the Rings extended play movies.

Do you read?

Maybe read a little Hunger Games, James Patterson, or read all the Harry Potter books from book one  to book seven? Can you tell I love HP?

I usually bake something or putter in the kitchen or my sewing room.

My oldest daughter who does not cook, shovel snows and plays word games on her phone.

My son, the super hero, goes and picks up his stranded friends and gives them rides home. See I told you he was a super hero.

Baby grand girl, watches her mommy, oldest daughter who does not cook, shovel snow from the window.

Oldest grand girl, well she stays busy making snow art.

Here is some of her masterpieces:

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She calls this masterpiece, “My future Snowman.” See the carrot in the snow?

I think that is my pampered chef spatula. I paid a fortune for that thing. Good Grief, I was looking for it this morning!

Her next masterpiece is a, “Snow Angel.”

Next one, is her half snow angel.

Her Crystal Ornament is next.

And LAST……..

Here is her Snow Bathers.

I don’t know how those Barbis are keeping a smile on thier face?

Brrrrrr

Are you still snowed in? Are you out and about?

Happy Snow Day, and remember…

Beauty (snow art) is in the eyes of the beholder.

Becky

I don’t remember the first time I ate asparagus.

I am thinking it was at a picnic and someone brought some blanched asparagus and put it on a vegetable tray and I tried them.

I was in love.

Over the years I have blanched them, roasted them, wrapped bacon around and grilled them, but the simplest of all, is just to simply steam them.

Over the weekend I purchased a nice little bunch of asparagus to use as my vegetable to go with my grilled chicken. I decided to just simply steam the asparagus and show you how I do it. 

First you need to buy some aparagus of course ; )

When buying asparagus, one of the most important things to look at is the end of the stems. You want the flower part to be closed and not to be slimey. When an asparagus is getting old the stem flower will start to open and start to fall off.  Double yuck!

Also the stalk of the asparagus can be different sizes. You may find stalk about as round as a pencil or some as round as dime. The larger ones are great wrapped with bacon on the grill. It just depends on your preference and the availability as to which ones you want to buy.

The ones I purchased  were rather on the slim side.

To prepare the asparagus to be cooked you first must take off the bottom woody stalk. The best and easiest way to do this, is to just take the asparagus and snap off the end. It will break off right were the stalk end is too tough to eat. I just snapped the bottom off of these and did not even get a knife out.

I then took the asparagus and rinsed them off.

The equipment you will need, is a sauce pan, a steamer insert or basket and a lid.

In your sauce pan, put approximately 2 cups of water in the bottom. Add a little salt. You may wonder why. Well, because my foods teacher in college told us that water comes to boil faster if you add salt to it because the molecules have something to vibrate against. Yea, I don’t know what the means either. My teacher was scary, very smart, but scary, so I always add salt. See after all these years, I am still scared of her : ).

Bring the water to a boil, put the steamer insert in the pan, add the asparagus and cover with a lid. Steam the asparagus until it is still slightly crisp (about 4 to 5 minutes)

Take the asparagus out of the steamer insert and season it. I used roasted garlic and herb seasoning, a pat of butter and a sprinkle of salt.

Yum!

Sometimes simple is best.

These are super easy, super tasty and sure to please!

Enjoy!

Becky

I have never eaten or made butternut squash soup until today.

Was I crazy or something?

Who is their right mind would think that you could take this:

and turn it into a creamy luscious soup?

I didn’t.

It all started when my friend Angie from work had too many squashes than her family could use. Her family orders a bounty box each week from local farmers. In the box is an assortment of various home grown goodness. This could be honey, jam, roast and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Right now, they are getting a abundance of squash. When she asked if I wanted her extra squash, I took her right up on the offer.

Two of the squashes are butternut squash.

 The red/orange color one is a red kuri squash. I am saving that one to cook later this week.

You will have to wait to see what I do with that one.

I brought my squash home and started looking for recipes that I might make out of them. I had already made a stuffed acorn squash a couple of weeks ago, so I did not want to make a stuffed squash again.

I kept coming across butternut squash soup recipes.

I love soup, so this was the ticket!

After some searching, and tweeking, I finally put together a recipe that I thought sounded like one that I would like.

This is what you will need. I did not include the sour cream and shredded cheese that I used for a garnish.

First thing you need to do is cut the butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds.

Rinse off the squash and salt and pepper each one. Turn them over and place them on a baking sheet. Add about a cup of water into the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for around 50 minutes.

When the squash has cooled off slightly, scoop out the flesh. You will need around 6 cups of cooked squash for this recipe.

While the squash is in the oven you can dice up the onion (1/2 cup) and mince 3 cloves of garlic.

To get the soup started, melt the butter in the bottom of a large sauce pan. When the butter is melted add the onions and saute.

When the onions are cooked thru, add the garlic and continue sauteing.

Place 3 teaspoons of chicken soup base into hot water to dissolve.

Pour in the hot water with the soup base, stir in. Add the 6 cups of squash.

Simmer the soup making sure all the squash is cooked until tender. With an immersion blender, regular blender or food processor, puree the soup until smooth.

After you puree the soup it will start to become thick and smooth.

Cut the cream cheese into small cubes and add to the soup. Pour in the whipping cream.

Add the basil and oregano. Pour in the honey and stir.

Stir all the cream cheese, cream and seasonings together until the cream cheese melts. Puree one more time if you feel you want it to be a little more smooth.

Stir in chili powder to taste.

This soup is beter than I hoped it would be. My oldest daughter who does not cook, kept coming up stairs to get another bowl.

If you have some extra squash or want to go buy a couple of try this recipe, go for it. It really is pretty simple to make!

It even taste better the day after you make it.

Squash out girl friends!

Becky

Here is the recipe

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

6 cups of cooked butternut squash (oven roasted with salt and pepper)

4 tablespoons butter

3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

1/2 cup of onion, chopped

3 cups of water

3 teaspoons of chicken soup base

4 ounces of cream cheese

3/4 cup of heavy cream

3 to 4 tablespoons of honey

1/2 teaspoon Basil

1/2 teaspoon Oregano

Salt to taste

Chili Powder to taste

Sour cream and shredded cheese for garnish

Directions:

Cut butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Rinse off. Salt and pepper the squash and put them face down on a cookie sheet with a small amount of water. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until squash is tender. When the squash is cooked, remove from the oven and scoop out the tender flesh of the squash. You will need at least 6 cups of cooked squash.

In a large sauce pan melt the butter. Add the onions and saute onions until tender. Add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes.

Pour in the hot water and chicken soup base.

Add the roasted squash. Stir. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook until all the squash is tender.

With a blender, blend the soup until it is smooth. Be careful to do in small batches because the soup will be hot. If you are using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth. Put the soup back into the pan if you a blender.

Cut up the cream cheese and add it to the soup. Pour in the heavy cream. Stir together until the cream cheese melts.

Stir in the basil, oregano and honey.

Add in the chili powder (to taste).

Heat on low.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheese on top.

To save on calories you can always use fat free cream cheese, and half and half, or maybe whole milk.

Enjoy!

Becky

I really did not buy too much at the grocery store this week.

I hope you don’t think that I go out to eat all the time either :  ).

I have been couponing for a year now, and I seem to have built up a nice little stockpile of groceries.

Though, I did go out to eat twice this week….hehe…my bad

My oldest daughter who does not cook, will usually buy the milk, bread and the occasional fruit for all of us. Just, so you know, that I do have milk to go with those 40 boxes of cereal in my stockpile. : D

I went to Walmart yesterday. I found a great deal on fresh bunches of kale. I don’t know if you have ever made kale chips, but you just bake them in the oven with a little olive oil and sea salt and Walla….you have these great crispy chips, that are full of vitamins.

Anywho…I bought two bunches of kale and Walmart had them for just .98 cents a bunch.

I also bought a bag of mini peppers. These are great on a vegetable tray and roasted in the oven. I bought this bag for just $1.96.

I am thinking I might be making some chicken gnocchi soup later this week and needed some potato gnocchis. I was able to get a bag of $2.50.

Earlier this week, I bought 2 bags of peanut butter cups for that Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake, I made for Valentine’s Day. I spent $7.00 for the two bags.

I spent a total of $14.83 this week.

I had a balance of $202.64.

When I subtract what I spent this week, I have a left over balance of $187.83.

Also, today is Sunday and it is time to add my weekly  $75.00.

So starting for this week 2-17-13, I have $262.83.

Do I see steaks, shrimp and ribs in my future??

Only if they are on sale : ).

How is you budget going? Have you added to your stockpile, started a stockpile or trying to use up your stockpile (this is what I am doing)?

Becky

Here is what I was surprised with today.

Roses from baby girl college girl and chocolates and Taco Bell for dinner from oldest daughter who does not cook!

I am a happy Mama!

XOXOXO

Becky