household meanderings

In the garden: we've been picking lettuce, onions, chard, strawberries, garlic, cilantro, parsley,  potatoes, peas, radishes, spinach, carrots, even a few cherry tomatoes that have actually survived in our hot house.  Even the littles have been a huge help in hauling in all of the goodies found there.  I've begun planting our fall garden of parsnips, turnips, more lettuce, spinach, carrots and maybe some cauliflower. . . only because last year we harvested our brocolli well into December.  I've tried something new this year for preserving my herbs - freezing them into small individual rolls as well as dehydrating them.  This works so much better than hanging them to air dry - plus it helps retain color and smell of the herb.

In the kitchen:  I've been experimenting with many new recipes, such as Carrot Zucchini Soup and the latest pinterest pick we tried was Watermelon Slushies - WOW - so  yummy!  How many pinterest picks have you tried lately?  I made my first batch of soap - shampoo bars. .  and I'm patiently waiting until next month when I can test it out.

From the homestead:  Our two nubian goats, Milkdud and Skittles are thriving, coming up on 2 months old.  Anne and I still take turns bottle feeding them.  I love the way that they give goat kisses everytime they are excited to see one of us.

On the fun side:  we went camping last month.  Even though we were only about 2 hours away from home, the weather was warm, sunny and so beautiful.  The kids swam all day in the lake and enjoyed the house boat and paddle boat.  Smores and roasting marshmellows later in the evening were also a must for our happy campers.

What is happening at your homestead?

Blessings,
Michelle

Creamy Carrot Zucchini Soup

Here it's already July and I am still anxiously awaiting our squash to grow this season.   Our coastal area has not seen much sun during the month of July.  It seems the hotter it is inland, the more marine layer we get like a thick soupy fog over us.  Even through this layer of fog, the garden is producing an abundance of lettuce, chard, kale, radishes, spinach and carrots.  I have even harvested a few onions.  The snap peas are close to harvest and I still have high hopes for our pole beans which haven't flowered yet.. . .  But NO squash.

So, when the general manager brought home freshly harvested zucchini and green peppers from  one of his customers in warmer country than us, I knew just which recipe to try.  It has been sitting on my pinterest board just awaitin' to be fixed up for one of our Northwest foggy days.

Creamy Carrot Zucchini Soup, found on Natures Nurture blog was so easy to fix and even more yummy than I expected.  I might have even got the kids to try the soup, but they all watched the zucchini go in the pot.  That was the end of the soup for them!  Maybe one day their taste buds will change and they'll realize how yummy zucchini really can be, but for now, I'll continue to find ways to hide it in their foods. . .preferably when they are not looking.

Have you tried any new recipes lately?

Blessings,

Michelle