Menu plans with recipes, shopping lists and recipes to cook along with. All recipes are gluten, dairy and egg free.
Cooked the brisket this weekend. Was glad to have had the trial run with the Chuck Roast, as it made me more confident with the brisket. Flavor was amazing. Added a little brown sugar to the rub, which I really liked. Also let the meat chill out in the fridge a few days with salt layer. The brisket was tender, no knife needed! A programmable thermometer is a must, in my opinion. Mine was inexpensive and has worked great. Good luck with yours!
Recipe can be found here.
I cooked a chuck roast as my trial brisket and it was AMAZING!! The coloring was perfect, the taste phenomenal and the new meat thermometer worked great. Ready to make my brisket this weekend!!
Next up was to map out where all my plants would go, how much area each get and how many seeds I need. Using the chart I found on pintrest of which plants like each other and which hate each other, I had already grouped my seeds. I started by placing the melons on the edge of the garden where the most water would be available. I kept the Bell peppers away from the Jalapenos and Poblanos so they cross breeding is minimized. It took me about 3 different versions before I got it laid out fully.
Next step in my garden planning is to determine who likes whom, when to plant, how to plant, etc. My first order of business was to create a spreadsheet to gather all the pertinent information together. The most important things to note are plant spacing, row spacing, depth of planting and when the plant. The other data was more for me to be able to know when I should be harvesting and seeing shoots breaking through the dirt. By gathering this information all in one place, I can determine how many seeds I need for a given area and if I want to stagger any of my planting. For instance, with the watermelon we don’t want 20 melons ripe at the same time, so we plan to stagger the plantings by a week to extend the harvest season.
First steps in planning your garden are;
We determined that the size of my garden will be 30’x50′ with the rows going in the 50′ direction. The entire garden will get Full Sun, with just a small portion shaded by a tree in late afternoon.
I want to grow the foods that I use the most in the kitchen, what will store well and I’d like to make some salsa. We love sweet corn, so that is a must. Being in Idaho, no garden is complete without some Russet potatoes. Watermelon and Cantaloupe are staples in our house during the summer.
I found the majority of the seeds at Fred Meyers (Kroger brand store) at buy one, get one 1/2 off. Even with the sale, I still spent over $30 on seeds.
For my garlic, I’ll use some cloves that have begun to sprout on their own from my kitchen supply.
For the yellow onions, I need to get starters from the local nursery. We don’t have the growing season to start from seed and I don’t want to start them indoors.
I just had to share the amazing presentation of this Charcuterie board! Courtesy of Holesinsky Winery in Buhl, ID. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one so pretty. Definitely didn’t look that good once we were done with it!
Nothing is worse than being excited for a new recipe (especially a dessert) and having it fail. I tried a non-dairy French Silk Pie that called for using 4 cans of coconut as the “whip cream”. The pie set up well and looked like it should taste good. But the hint of coconut flavor just ruined it. I will say, it still tastes fine, just not what I wanted or expected. I think I would use vegan whipped topping instead next time, the flavor will be better.
An expert Brisket Maker that I work with has been advising me on how “real” brisket is made in the south. Because, let’s be honest, the south has AMAZING BBQ! So I’ve got the recipe and timing all down. Bought a meat thermometer that can be programmed and send alerts to my phone…I’m ready. But I don’t want to ruin a brisket if my first run doesn’t work out…so it was suggested that I use a chuck roast. This is the “poor mans” burnt ends, or so I was told. The date has been set for Saturday! I’ll let you know how it turns out!
We measured out my garden space, I have 30′ x 50′ available for planting. Bought the majority of my seeds over the weekend, so now I just need to plan out the garden layout. Thanks to Liz who shared her Garden pintrest board with me, I was able to organize my seeds by who doesn’t like whom and who gets along best. Seems growing a garden is a lot like planning the seating arrangements for a party! Next step is to determine location, spacing, row distances and planting times! Stay tuned…
Something I’d never have expected to not just like but love…are cauliflower grits. I even made focaccia bread as a back-up for the meal because I expected to hate the grits. But I was wrong. They were amazing. And it wasn’t just me that thought so, there were no grits left on any plate! Thanks to @dohomemade for the cooking class! I’ll get the modified recipe up shortly!
