Category: Life

Random posts that have to do with my life in general. Many of these posts were written when I lived in New Hampshire.

My Own Turkey Chili Recipe

My son smoked the Thanksgiving turkey this year and it was delicious. With only two of us to eat, we had a lot of leftovers, which I froze.

Now it’s time to make some winter chili, and I broke out the turkey and broth from my freezer to make this recipe tasty.

Turkey chili recipe
My version of chili made with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving

To begin, I got out my LeCrueset Dutch Oven, which I love.

I sautéed lots of green pepper (from my garden) and onions in oil for a few minutes. Then I added chopped garlic and cooked a bit longer. Then I added the turkey broth (thawed), can of organic diced tomatoes, and spices. I chopped the leftover turkey into bite size pieces and threw it in. The spices I used were parsley and basil from my garden. Dried spices would work too. I had bought some jalapeño peppers at the local farm stand so I chopped a small amount of one jalapeño to add some heat.

To begin with uncooked meat, brown it first then remove from the pan.  Add the pepper and onion with oil and sauté.  Add the liquid broth and scrape the bottom of the pan.  Add meat, spices and tomatoes.

It’s really your choice about how hot and spicy you want your chili to be. I like a little heat, but not overwhelming. If you don’t have flavored broth, use broth granules in water. About a cup or 2 is needed depending on the amount of meat, tomatoes and veggies you use. I basically wing it!

Once those ingredients simmer for about an hour, I add the black beans (or kidney beans can be used) with the liquid (I use organic beans only). Then I simmer for at least another half hour.  Don’t add the beans too soon or they will get mushy.

Because our turkey was smoked, this chili has a slight smoky flavor. Between the jalapeño pepper and spices and melding of the flavors while it slow-cooks, it turned out super yummy!

When I make chili or soup I fly by the seat of my pants and add whatever I have on hand or seems to work.

I had made a batch of cornbread (recipe on the cornmeal box) and froze it.  That way I had ready-made cornbread to add to my chili.

Use your freezer.  It’s your best friend.  BTW I froze a serving of this chili to enjoy later.

End of Year Yard Happenings, Orchids, Hibiscus and More

It’s the end of 2018 and I have decided to share some recent yard happenings. One of my orchids is blooming. My orchids don’t look too good, so I was surprised to see two blooms on one of my plants.

blooming pink orchid
My orchid is blooming!

The orange hibiscus plant is growing like mad! I have neglected this plant and am frankly amazed it is doing so well. I’m planning a new garden along the front of the house and another hibiscus is in the plans.

Orange hibiscus
The hibiscus is huge now!

One of the plants you must have if you are a true Floridian is a Staghorn fern! And now I have one hanging from the trees out back. I had a Staghorn fern which I gave to my best friend before I left Florida and she still has it hanging in her yard. She offered to give it back, but her yard is much nicer, and if the plant is happy there then I’m happy to leave it with her.  This new one is in a pot but I will re-pot it into that hanging basket eventually.

Staghorn fern
My new little stag horn fern

The rubber plant I propagated  is still growing nicely out front under the oak. If I can keep it from freezing over winter it may grow and live to be tall and beautiful.

rubber plant
New little rubber plant in the yard

Hope you have fond memories of 2018 and the new year brings all good things!

Go With the Flow and Stop Wasting Time

I’ve been growing fresh vegetables in my backyard for years. Now I struggle to get food to grow.

We learn from experience and observation. Life is about change. If we are wise, we will go with the flow and not waste time with something we cannot change. I am applying this philosophy to my backyard vegetable garden.

Observation and Common Sense

One thing I have observed since I began gardening in Florida is that a lot of vegetables simply won’t grow here. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I grew veggies fine in New Hampshire. I am not an inexperienced gardener, but vegetable gardening in this climate is obviously beyond my grasp.

It’s been two years. That is plenty of time to grow something well. I’ve built up the dirt with compost and fertilizer, watered like mad, and thwarted raccoon attacks on the plants. I’ve picked worms, loved the lady bugs, and sprayed off mites. My little raised bed garden has given me very little to eat in return.

With the exception of about three eggplants (total) and occasional small bell peppers, there is little food coming from the backyard.

Herbs Seem to Flourish

On the other hand, my observation is that many herbs do grow very nicely here. In fact, my parsley, basil, thyme, mint and fennel have lasted a very long time.

Herbs are hardy. When I first began growing parsley I lived in New Hampshire. The green stems would push up through the first snowfall, which amazed me. Deer used to help themselves to the lush green herb.

In Florida I have had the same parsley plants growing in my garden for over two years! Parsley not only survives the cold, it can take the heat and oppressive humidity.

It is depressing to put work into trying to grow decent tomatoes, squash, zucchini and root vegetables, only to watch them rot, wilt or end up too tiny to bother with.

How long do I keep trying, only to watch the plants produce nothing I can eat? I’m about over it.

Changes All Around

My life is always changing, and recently it went through another change. My youngest son has moved out. He’s nearly done with college and does online classes, so he went back to the northeast to live. Good for him. Wish I could afford to do the same.  I did take a trip back to stay for a week, which was so nice.

My youngest son has always been a very picky eater. If I don’t make food he likes, he could literally go all day long without eating. So, I tended to make food he would eat. That type of food was very different from the type of food I eat.  Now that he has moved out, I can concentrate on cooking for me only.

This is a very new idea and it will take a while for my brain to wrap around the concept. I’ve been cooking for my children for over 40 years!  My way of cooking will be changing. Although I am not crazy about spending a lot of time in the kitchen, I am a very good cook. As an “almost vegetarian” meat is not my main focus. I love to cook soups, stews and one pot meals (using my Dutch oven) which are full of fresh vegetables.

Since I can’t grow all the vegetables I’d like to, I will concentrate on growing the herbs. I learned very late in life how much herbs can brighten the flavor of a meal. Now I can’t make anything without using herbs because it’s not worth eating.

Because my herbs will grow year round, I don’t have to spend time drying or freezing them.  Sometimes I even get to collect their seeds.  I still need to find a store that sells good fresh, organic vegetables.  Publix is a good store, but as I have discovered, their produce is not the best.

I also have access to fresh citrus, which I should begin incorporating into my food as well.  Both my lime tree and lemon tree are still growing, but the lime needs re-potting.

So I’m collecting recipes to make for myself and will concentrate more on eating healthy. The weather is much cooler now here in Florida, and I do get outside for walks as much as possible.  My neighborhood is a boring place to walk, and there are no hills to get my heart pumping, but I do what I can.

(They Yacht is not mine. Photo taken at a nearby Marina.)

The Bird’s Nest Mushroom

I kept seeing these interesting little growths in the dirt in my vegetable garden. As I searched for info about the orange mushrooms that keep popping up, I came across the bird’s nest mushroom (fungi), and I said…”Ah ha… that’s it!”

The Cyathus striatus is tiny and very unusual looking.  To me it looks like a little bowl full of seeds. It begins as a little bumpy round ball- I’m not sure if it begins as white or brown, and then top “disintegrates” leaving the bowl shape and serving of beans inside.

Someone named it the “bird’s nest”.  That works, but the bits look more like beans or seeds than eggs.  These things are really small and easy to overlook unless you get down close to the earth.  (The red post in my photos is one leg of a tomato cage.)

birds nest mushroom
Bird’s Nest Mushroom (Cyathus stratus)

This is only one type of bird’s nest fungi. The “eggs” do not come out. I tried tipping a bowl over but the contents remained intact.
birds nest mushroom

I’ve been seeing other mushrooms in my raised bed garden. The bright orange mushrooms continue to grow beneath the eggplant and pepper plant.

birds nest mushroom

Are Orange Mushrooms in the Vegetable Garden Okay?

I’m trying to find out about these orange mushrooms that keep growing at the base of my vegetable plants. Are they okay to leave there? Are they good or bad for the garden? I have lots of questions because I have never had this happen in my garden before.

Read on for the answers I found.  (All photos on this page are my own.)

orange mushrooms in the garden
Orange mushrooms continue to grow in my raised bed garden

As soon as one “batch” of mushrooms dies down, others begin to form. They seemed to begin around the base of the eggplant, which has been growing for nearly 2 years now.  I am wondering if that plant is dying.

So after searching around the internet, many gardeners say that mushrooms in the garden are a good thing. It is a sign that the soil is alive and well, or something like that. But I don’t know about when the mushroom grows off the stem of a plant.  Usually mushrooms grow on dead or dying things, like trees.  It could be that the mushrooms just look like they are on the plant, but are really coming out of the dirt.  It’s hard to tell.

I did dig up the stinkhorn mushrooms that must have arrived when I added certain bags of soil to the bed. They really did stink, and were not something I wanted to look at either. I love nature, but those things were really disgusting.

orange mushrooms
Mushrooms growing at base of eggplant

Some people have mentioned that mushroom compost is excellent for amending the soil, so when these mushrooms die they are helping to compost the dirt in the bed.  Mushrooms will grow on organic matter.  We’ve had lots of rain lately, and they grow in the shady areas, beneath the bigger plants.

orange mushrooms
Orange mushrooms growing under and from the base of the pepper plant

I would love to know what type of mushroom this is. When I search “orange mushrooms” I get info about the chanterelle (good to eat, although I won’t ever eat a wild mushroom found by me!), and “pumpkin, or jack o’lantern, mushroom” (which is poisonous). I don’t believe it is either of those.  Of course there are so many types of mushroom, I may never know the identity of this one.

For now I will let them grow and do their thing. I found some “bird’s nest” mushrooms in the garden as well.
Screen Shot 2018-07-25 at 11.18.04 AM

orange mushrooms

Here are some links to more “mushrooms in the garden” information.

Are Mushrooms in My Garden Bad? @ Garden Mentors site.

Gardening With Mushrooms @ Mother Earth News.

The Washington Post

Ways to Use That Overload of Cucumbers From the Garden

It is mid-June as I write this and I am beginning to get an overload of cucumbers from the garden. I am the only one in the household who eats them. Since I hate to be wasteful, I’ve begun using my cucumbers in places other than salads.

Please note: Not all food here is Keto friendly.  I wrote this page before I changed my diet.

Cucumbers in Smoothies

A few years back I bought an Oster personal blender. Because of my diagnosis of poly-cystic kidney disease, I began to create healthy smoothies full of fruit and vegetables.

This morning I picked 2 more cucumbers from the garden to add to the collection of 5 I had already sitting on my kitchen counter. Cucumbers can be very good for for patients with CKD (chronic kidney disease) and of course, for everyone else as well.

I chopped one whole cucumber for my smoothie. To that I added five frozen, organic strawberries, organic red grapes, and some unsweetened cranberry juice. Once I remembered that I had bananas to use, I added a small banana too.

Cucumber smoothie
Cucumber smoothie with fruit

For those with any type of kidney problem who have to watch their potassium levels, don’t add the banana.

Of course this is my made-up-on-the-spur-of-the-moment recipe, so change it up. Adding other greens along with the cuke would also work. Throw in some kale or spinach. That goes well with strawberries. Use orange juice or iced tea for the liquid. There are many options when it comes to creating a healthy smoothie.

Screen Shot 2018-06-23 at 11.04.34 AM
Ready to drink from my House Targaryen GOT glass

Easier still, add sliced cucumber to a glass of water. Throw in sliced apple, orange, lemon or lime if you have it. Most people should drink a lot of water every day and this may help you do so.

Cucumber Sandwiches

Although I try hard not to eat much bread, I love a cucumber sandwich. When slicing the cukes for a sandwich I leave the skin on. I only remove skin from store-bought cukes.

Add mayonnaise and a little pepper and yum… the perfect summer sandwich.

cucumber sandwiches
Crustless white bread cucumber sandwiches (photo: Pixabay)

Or choose a more healthy type “bread” by spreading hummus on a (gluten free, low sodium) tortilla and fill with chopped cucumber and other veggies. Roll it up and you have a tasty meal without the bread.

Cucumbers and Hummus Dip

Cucumbers are quite delicious all by themselves, but it’s more fun to dip them into a healthy dip. I love cukes and hummus. Again, if you have no health issues, eat what sounds good. Chic peas are the main ingredient in hummus and most brands offer additional varieties along with plain old hummus.

Hummus is a wonderful and healthy dip that goes with any vegetable. It provides fiber and protein and other nutrients.

bowl of hummus
Hummus

More Ideas For Using Fresh Garden Cucumbers

I can get tired of eating salad pretty quickly, but the trick is to change it up. Use a small amount of greens and add lots of cucumber, tomato, sliced onion and green pepper. I like to add walnuts and fruit to my salads too.

For a simple cucumber only salad, check out this recipe at Taste of Home.

I have a no-cook recipe link for making sweet bread and butter pickles.  Be aware that these pickles last only a couple of weeks before the slices get soggy.  Eat them quickly or they will have to be thrown away.  Still, it’s a good and easy recipe for an abundance of cukes.  Maybe give some away?

Also, cucumber slices can be used to play checkers. (Smile)