Lentil Soup

This is a super easy, delicious winter soup. Lentils make it hearty even though it's meatless.

4 carrots, diced
2-3 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp avocado oil
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 can or jar stewed tomatoes
8 cups water
2 cups lentils
1 cup chopped spinach

Saute vegetables in oil until soft, then add seasonings. Add tomatoes, water, and lentils and simmer on low until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Add chopped spinach 5 minutes before serving and allow to wilt.

Chicken and Butternut Squash Quinoa Stew

Ingredients

1 tablespoon avocado oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

  1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

  4 cloves garlic, minced

  8 cups water

  2 tbsp Better than bullion

  6 chicken tenders

  1 can diced tomatoes (I like to pulse in the blender)

  3 cups chopped butternut squash (about 1 medium squash, peeled and seeded)

  2/3 cup uncooked quinoa

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  1/2 teaspoon black pepper

  1-2 cups chopped fresh spinach

Directions

      In a large pot heat the oil until hot. Add the chopped onions, oregano, and garlic. Saute for 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is softened. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and boil until the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken to a plate.

      Add the tomatoes, butternut squash, and quinoa. Simmer for 15 minutes until the squash is tender and quinoa is cooked. If desired, scoop out some of the squash, mash it and return it to the pot. Shred the cooked chicken and return to the pot. Add the salt and pepper. Stir in the spinach. Cook 1-2 minutes until the spinach is wilted. Serve warm.

    (Recipe adapted from melskitchencafe.com)

Giant Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

4 ½ cups all-purpose flour (whole wheat flour is good too!)

4 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups butter

2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

½ cup molasses

¾ cup coarse sugar or granulated sugar

Directions

In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds to soften. Gradually add the 2 cups granulated sugar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and molasses. Slowly beat in the flour mixture.

Shape dough into large balls. Roll balls in the 3/4 cup coarse or granulated sugar. Place about 2-1/2 inches apart.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until cookies are light brown and puffed. (Do not overbake or cookies will not be chewy.)

Planting the Early Crop

Saturday March 28th was our planting day, a little late but better late than never. It took a little longer than I expected to fix the irrigation and prepare my rows, but we were finally ready! 

Pea planting is such a fun kid job. The "seeds" are just the dried peas so they are recognizable, and kids fingers are just the right length to push them to the desired planting depth.

We also did a row each of lettuce, chard, broccoli, spinach, and kale. I already can't wait for the garden fresh produce back in my kitchen!

Spring Posies

Spring amazes me. It always comes-- whether winter was warm or cold, wet or dry, seemingly endless... Spring comes.

The first bloomers in my yard are the crocus. Hello flower.

 My purple hyacinth are next. They smell like heaven.

I try to teach my kids, boys and girls alike, to stop and smell the flowers. 

I took a start of forget-me-nots from my mom's house, and they are blooming this year!

The vincas are greening up and blossoming. These are still messy to clean up every year, but hopefully they spread more and I won't have to worry about cutting them back every year.

I have quite a few varieties of fdaffodils, and more blooming this year than ever before. I think they're finally comfortable enough to show their colors.  

The crabapple trees were in all their glory for Easter. These are also very fragrant--I love to stick my nose in alongside the bees and take a deep breath.

Thankfully the crabapples weren't bothered by the frost we had a week or so ago! My redbud tree wasn't so happy... half of it's flowers froze in the bud, poor thing.

Gardening Treasures

My dear old friend Doris just told us a week ago she is moving. She is 90 and feels like it's time to move in with her daughter because she's getting forgetful. She was our first neighbor here in Lehi and has been a sweet friend to our family.

This morning she showed up on my doorstep with her whole library of gardening books to pass on to me! I feel so honored and lucky, like I won the lottery! I can't wait to delve into them, as much to learn as to read her little notes and bookmarks throughout.

Also of note, I ordered my early seeds today on heirloomseeds.com. I am going to try tomatoes and peppers in milk carton greenhouses on my back porch! I also got my peas, spinach, kale, broccoli, and chard to start in the garden in about a month! Can't believe gardening time is almost upon us again... especially with this warm winter weather. I need to get out and do some tree pruning this week and take advantage of the sunshine!

Hollyhock

A few years ago my mom gave me lots of seeds from her yard, but I didn't plant any right away. This last summer I started noticing how beautiful the hollyhocks were everywhere... and then I remembered I had seeds from her! My kids and their friends helped me plant them, and even though it was a little late I thought it was worth seeing what came up. They usually don't flower their first year from seed, but guess what we found last week?!

The combination of a wet summer and a really warm fall made for late hollyhock blossoms, and we couldn't be more thrilled to find them!

Ella went right to work to make a hollyhock doll.

I can't stop taking pictures of them. They are so pretty and remind me of home!

The plants themselves got too huge because I planted them too close together, but we can thin them for next year. It never ceases to amaze me that this kind of glory can come from a tiny seed.