B-bye Entrecard

I will be leaving Entrecard May 5th. Please become a follower and bookmark my site so you don't miss out on anything at Lola's Victory Garden.

Why am I leaving? Too many of my blog pals have been getting hit with Trojans and Viruses while visiting sites through Entrecard to drop. I don't think I even have that many blog pals, and when I'm hearing it this often amongst a small group, that means the danger is too much to ignore. Entrecard is ignoring the problem, so it's time to leave.

Yes, I will miss the traffic, but it hasn't been that much lately anyway. Time to cut the apron strings and be free.

The other 2 blogs I own will also be leaving Entrecard, so please visit them, follow them and bookmark them so you don't miss out.

Lola's Diner
Fire Crotch Rocket

Lola's Victory Garden©2009-2010

Garden Thoughts

As the weather turns more Spring-like (well not really the past couple days, it's been fairly cool, which I do like) thoughts turn to gardening plans.

Unfortunately, this years vegetable garden will be scaled down from last year. I had originally hoped to expand, but since this year I will be handling it solo, except for when I can badger the kids into helping me, smaller will have to do.

I envision a raised bed using cinder blocks and landscape timbers. (I already have plenty on hand.) Probably mostly tomatoes and zucchini, with some herbs.

In terms of other gardening activities, I plan on adding landscaping rock to the front of the porch area. I'm thinking the white rocks, rather than river rock. That will make the Lilac Bushes stand out when they are in bloom.

I have a large planter box, about 1' x 4' that I need to paint. Looks a bit like this one:
I can't decide on the color. It was originally a boring brown, but needs repainting. My house is a kind of grayish-blue. I'm debating whether to go with a Country Blue or Barn Red. Any thoughts?

Lola's Victory Garden
©2009-2010

Scalloped Potatoes And Ham

This is one of my favorites my Mom used to make. It uses leftover ham and potatoes. When potatoes are $2.99 for 10 pounds, this is a real inexpensive meal. When I bake a ham for the holidays I cut the leftovers into cubes and put into zip-top bags. Each bag contains enough for a large batch of Scalloped Potatoes And Ham. I also take the bone and put it in a zip-top bag and throw it in the freezer for a future date for making Split Pea Soup.

When my Mom used to make this, it wasn't a side dish, it was dinner. When I make it for my family I use a large baking pan in the hopes of having leftovers the next day. Every time our son manages to eat all the leftovers before I look for them in the fridge the next day for lunch. I guess that tells you how good it is.

Lola's Scalloped Potatoes And Ham
Russet Potatoes (peeled and sliced thinly)
Ham (cubed)
Milk (you can use Cream, Whole Milk, 2%, 1% or Skim Milk.)
Flour
Butter
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Non-stick cooking spray

If you slice your potatoes very thin, the top layer gets very crispy. If you don't care for that, slice them about 1/4 inch thick. For the Milk, you can go full fat with the Cream, or you can even use Skim Milk, it still turns out delicious.

Spray your baking dish or pan with non-stick cooking spray. Layer sliced potatoes in bottom of pan. Lightly sprinkle with Salt, Pepper and Flour. Sprinkle some of the Ham pieces. Cut the Butter into small bits and dot the mixture in the pan with some Butter. Add another layer of sliced Potatoes and continue layering until you reach the top of the pan. Add Milk, being careful not to overfill your pan. You want enough liquid to make the creamy sauce, but not so much that it bubbles over while cooking.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees about 30-45 or until done. You may want to take off the cover for the last 5 minutes or so to brown the top layer.

Lola's Victory Garden
©2009-2010

Pantry Porn

This is my canned good pantry. I have all my dry goods in a slim tall pantry cabinet in my kitchen, which I will not photograph because even though I painstakingly re-organized it about a month ago, the kids have trashed it. I'm sure my canned good pantry will shortly experience the same thing. (Note: This is not the way I would have organized the canned goods, you can't see what's behind things. See that beige shelving unit? It's empty. I would have utilized that so I could see everything I had, like grocery store shelves. But beggars can't be choosers, the kids organized this with some supervision by Anastasia. It definitely is better than bags of canned goods on the floor, like it was before they re-organized it.)

Storm @ Confessions of A Psychotic Housewife posted awhile back asking for photos of pantries. So I'm a little late!

As a kid my Mom always had a well stocked pantry so that she always had basics on hand and didn't have to run to the store all the time. I've learned it comes in handy when I've experienced issues with delayed disability checks too. I always know I have food on hand. Last November when my check was delayed we had a full pantry and freezer to keep us fed. Had I not planned ahead, we would have been without food. Keeping a stocked pantry also helps me take advantage of sales too. I replenish items as they go on sale, so I'm paying the lowest price.

Lola's Victory Garden
©2009-2010

Chicken Cacciatore

I've had a taste for Chicken Cacciatore lately and since cut-up chicken was at a fairly good price I decided to made it on Sunday. Oh my! I've forgotten how good it is.

The recipe amounts are estimates, as I did not measure, I did it from memory from when my Italian Mom used to make it. Well, not exactly...I cheated and used canned Hunt's Traditional Sauce.

Lola's Easy Chicken Cacciatore
1 cut-up chicken (or whatever chicken parts are your favorite)
Olive Oil (a couple tablespoons for browning the chicken)
Flour (about 1 1/2 Cups for dredging the chicken)
Rosemary (about a teaspoon, crushed)
Basil (about a tablespoon)
Oregano (about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
Pepper (about a 1/2 teaspoon)
Kosher Salt (or regular salt, about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
Your favorite tomato sauce (about 32 ounces)
3/4 Cup Dry White Wine

Mix together the Flour, Rosemary, Basil, Oregano, Pepper and Salt thoroughly. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture. In a large skillet, heat Olive Oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces to the pan and saute until brown. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Make your own sauce, or use prepared sauce. Pour into your crockpot. Adjust the spices if you like. I jacked up the canned sauce with about 3 tablespoons of garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons of Basil and 1/2 a teaspoon of Oregano. Add 3/4 cup of Dry White Wine to the sauce. Stir thoroughly. Use tongs to transfer the browned chicken pieced into the crockpot. I set the crockpot for 4 hours and then turned it down to keep warm until dinner time.
(Sorry about the lousy photo. This was part of the leftovers. I should have taken the photo on Sunday, but I forgot.) I served my Chicken Cacciatore with fettucine, but you can serve it with your favorite pasta. (Sadly it was from a box, I had no time to make fresh using my pasta maker. I had to run errands all afternoon for my sick partner. Next time I hope to make my own fresh pasta to accompany this.)

Lola's Victory Garden
©2009-2010

Depression Era Cooking/Homemade Pasta...

This Homemade Pasta recipe in this post is from "Wisdom, Memories, and Recipes From The Great Depression - Clara's Kitchen" by Clara Cannucciari and her Grandson, Christopher Cannucciari. The name may look familiar if you've checked out her depression cooking videos on youtube.

A little book review before the recipe...I was a bit disappointed with the book. I was hoping for lots of depression era recipes, ways to stretch staples. Instead of that, there were colorful stories from Clara's past and not very many recipes. Of course she did include her Poorman's Dinner, which is a big hit with my kids. I also may try the Lentils with Rice. Many of the recipes I wouldn't even consider inexpensive. Meatballs, eggplant, caprese salad all call for expensive ingredients - beef, eggplant (unless you grow your own) and mozzarella balls (unless you make your own).

Homemade Pasta
1 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Large Eggs
Pinch of Salt

1. Add the ingredients to a food processor, or make the dough by hand, first pouring the flour into a mound on a clean surface. Break the eggs into the well and add the salt. With a fork, start working the rest of the flour into the eggs in the center. When the dough becomes difficult to work with a fork, use your hands to work the rest of the flour into the eggs. Knead the dough for several minutes, until it has a nice, squishy texture. You may need to add more flour as you go.

2. Cut the dough into six equal pieces and flatten each piece with a rolling pin. Pre the dough through your pasta machine, folding each piece in thirds as you roll it through. Keep pressing the dough through the machine until you achieve the desired thickness. After each rolling, lay out the dough on clean towels, making sure the edges don't touch. Rest them on the towels for about 10 minutes, giving them some time to dry out.

3. Pass the dough through the cutter of your pasta machine or cut by hand. Cook the pasta to the desired doneness and toss it with your favorite pasta topping. Just be careful, homemade pasta cooks much faster than dry. You really only need to warm it---probably not more than 3 or 4 minutes at most, depending on the thickness and shape.

I've been wanting to make homemade pasta for awhile now. This past weekend I snagged a Popeil Automatic Pasta Machine from my local www.bookoo.com for just $15. That's less than 1 meal out. I'll be honest, I'm a sucker for those infomercials and I'm amazed that I never did buy one when the infomercials first came out. According to those original infomercials (1990's), homemade pasta costs 25-30 cents per pound, a bit more now, but still a bargain, you can't beat the taste, and it's fun too!
Sunday night I made Chicken Parmigiana with homemade Vermicelli. The reviews were rave! We haven't had homemade pasta since going to a local (very pricey) italian restaurant. The meal at a restaurant would have easily cost $18.95 per person. Everyone in my family is now offering suggestions on what kind of pasta to make next.

Lola's Victory Garden
©2009-2010

What's for dinner when I don't feel like cooking?

Check my home canned stash.

BBQ'd Pork (also called Pulled Pork)
I got the recipe from Mom's Cafe Home Cooking - Homecanned Barbeque Pork. I did make one modification though. After the meat was done, I removed the cooked roast from the cooking liquid, pressing out as much liquid as possible, removed visible fat and then refrigerated the roast separate from the cooking liquid. This allowed me to remove the excess fat from the cooking liquid/sauce and remove any fat I missed on the roast. Then I shredded the roast with 2 forks, added the de-fatted cooking liquid/sauce, heated it to a boil, stirring to insure consistent temperature, and then canned per Garden Gnome's instructions. As you can see from my jar, very little fat.

When we opened the jar we spooned it into a saucepan, heated to a boil and served on white bread. (That's what we had, and since this was a last second meal, there was no time to make rolls with the bread machine.) This was just as delicious as if I had made the roast the very same day. Nice and moist and flavorful. I actually canned it last summer. Delish!

Lola's Victory Garden
©2009-2010