Category Archives: Urban Homesteading

Simple, Easy Recipes for Summer Dinners

Posted on July 24, 2013 | 2 comments

I love summer. I love having extra daylight in the evening. Best of all, our garden is at it’s peak. I often slack on grocery shopping. Driving home from work, I will approach panic and then realize, between the garden and the chickens, I can pull together a simple, easy dinner recipe without having to stop and buy any extra ingredients.

The other night was a classic example. Our refrigerator was extremely bare. But I had recently made fresh goat cheese, our chickens are laying eggs, and we had giant zucchinis, cherry tomatoes, a spaghetti squash, garlic and plenty of herbs all from the garden.

As soon as I got home from work, I threw the spaghetti squash whole into the toaster oven. (The regular oven works fine, but the smaller squash fit in the toaster oven, which saves energy and keeps the kitchen from getting as hot.) After about 45 minutes at 350°, it was soft. I cut it in half, pulled out the flesh, discarding the seeds and shredded it with a fork. Click here for the pesto recipe. This time I experimented by throwing in an avocado from a friend’s tree. It made it extra creamy.

Next up was a frittata. I sautéed the zucchini and garlic in some ghee a friend made, had Little Bird stir, stir the eggs, and then mixed in tomatoes and thyme. After baking, we topped it with our fresh chèvre rolled in truffle salt. For the full frittata recipe, click here.

Victory Gardens for the win!

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Posted in Backyard Chickens, Food, Healthy Recipes, Home Dairy, Recipes for the Whole Family, Recipes from the Garden, Recipes to Make with the Kids, Seasonal Recipes, Urban Agriculture, Urban Homesteading

Tagged Backyard Chickens, easy dinner, easy farm to table, easy recipes, easy seasonal cooking, easy seasonal recipes, eggs, farm to table, homesteading, meals for the whole family, naturally gluten free, naturally paleo, Urban Homesteading, vegetarian, victory gardens

Part Two: Making Cheese with Young Kids

Posted on July 11, 2013 | 1 comment

Thought I’d share some quick pictures I took on the second day of making chèvre with my daughter. Check out my original post on making goat cheese for step by step instructions and the recipe. I recently shared how she liked to sprinkle in the chèvre starter and stir the pot. Today she spontaneously played cheesemaking with her toy pot and spoon, saying, “Stir milky.” She also enjoyed putting salt on a plate for rolling the logs. (Check out this post for more ideas on cooking with babies and toddlers.)

Here are some of the logs we made out of the goat cheese. Shown are one plain, two with black truffle salt and Little Bird’s cranberry. This batch came out a little dry, so I mixed in a few splashes of fresh milk along with some salt before shaping the logs. Can you guess which one Little Bird helped shape? She loved getting the cranberries ready, but once we formed the log she had a minor temper tantrum when I wouldn’t let her stuff the entire log into her mouth, squeezing it in both hands like a burrito.

She finally got to enjoy the fruits of her labor during her after-dinner cheese course. She’s Euro like that.

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Posted in Backyard Goats, Food, Home Dairy, Our Family, Parenting, Recipes for the Whole Family, Recipes to Make with the Kids, Urban Homesteading

Tagged cheese making, cooking with children, cooking with kids, dairymaking, gluten free, homesteading, making cheese with kids, Urban Homesteading, vegetarian

Making Cheese with Kids

Posted on July 8, 2013 | Leave a comment

Making fresh goat cheese (chèvre) at home is so easy even a young child can do it! My toddler LOVES to be involved in the kitchen and we believe it helps teach her healthy habits and attitudes about food. It is time to make a fresh batch of chèvre and here are some quick shots of Little Bird demonstrating how we enjoy making cheese with kids.

In the above picture, Little Bird is holding a digital thermometer in the milk to make sure it is the right temperature. (I accidentally overshot 86°, and had to put it in a cold water bath to bring it back down. I learned the hard way, do not put your starter in milk that is too hot, i.e. over 90°, or it won’t set. It won’t “go bad” or make you sick but it will be more like buttermilk or runny sour cream than nice, sweet cheese.) Below she is sprinkling in chèvre starter.

For all the details of how to make chèvre, including step by step instructions with pictures, please click here. And for more on how to involve very young children and babies in cooking, please read this post.

Anasazi Green Beans

Posted on July 7, 2013 | Leave a comment

If you have seen my previous posts on Anasazi Beans then you know I am a huge fan of the heirloom bean. Although we typically allow them to dry right on the vine and then use the beans as you might use pintos or black beans, I recently learned that Anasazi green beans are another delicious option!

Papa Bird has Anasazis growing as vines along our bottom fence, but discovered a gopher had eaten the roots off of one of the plants. Since the plant was on the verge of toppling over, he picked them for use as Anasazi green beans!

For a recipe for the most delicious veggie burger ever, the legend of Anasazi Beans, and more on victory gardens, see my post on Anasazi Bean Burgers. And for more growing tips on Anasazis and a recipe for a twist on a Southern holiday classic, check out Anasazi Bean Hoppin’ John.

Can you recommend a recipe for Anasazi Green Beans?

We usually cook green beans simply, and Little Bird loved to gum them as one of her first “holding” foods at 8 months. But please tell me, what are your favorite recipes for green beans?

Baby Goats! (…Which Means Fresh Milk!)

Posted on April 22, 2013 | 1 comment

I’m so excited! Yesterday we received our first milk delivery in a while. As I explained in my Home Dairy 101 post, we are members of a goat co-op and receive fresh milk weekly. We actually haven’t been receiving milk for the last few months as all of the does have been pregnant and just had their babies.

Springtime is for babies! I know I claimed that there was nothing cuter than a baby chick in the post on how we hatched chicks without a rooster, but these baby goats are pretty cute!

Many thanks from Cari at White Mountains Ranch for the use of her photos, as well as taking such excellent care of our goaties. You can see more of the goats and their babies here.

Even if you don’t own goats (or a part of a goat) spring is the best time to buy fresh goat milk at farmer’s markets and other stores. Not sure what to do with fresh goat milk? Brush up on how to pasteurize milk at home, homemade cajeta, and how easy it is to make goat cheese (chèvre) at home. I hope to add some posts soon on ricotta, feta, and a mold-ripened goat cheese, inspired by Humbolt Fog.

Click on any picture in the gallery below to enlarge.