Category: Uncategorized

Spicy Lemon Chicken Pasta with Garden Tomatoes and Basil

We’ve reached the end of August and summer is still going strong. Even though I’m longing for sweater weather, the extended heat is allowing our garden to continue thriving. After a slow start, our tomato plants have finally taken off and our kitchen is full of little orange globes bursting with summer sweetness.

Our cherry tomato plants, in particular, have taken over the garden. No matter how I try to support them, it seems they outgrow the space they’ve been given within minutes of being re-staked. These overgrown plants have given us dozens of tomatoes in the past couple weeks, and we’ve had to adjust our dinner menus accordingly. Continue reading “Spicy Lemon Chicken Pasta with Garden Tomatoes and Basil” →

Advertisements

fullhearthomesteadLeave a comment

Dehydrated Citrus Zest

Sometime last year, Phill and I picked up a dehydrator as an impulse buy. It was less than ten dollars and found in the “random stuff aisle” of our favorite grocery store. We knew that dehydrating was a great (and easy) way to preserve food so we figured why not?

Life got busy (like always), and that dehydrator just sat on our storage shelf in the basement. and sat. and sat. and sat. Continue reading “Dehydrated Citrus Zest” →

fullhearthomesteadLeave a comment

Growing Cucumbers

As Phill and I continue to grow new plants and read about new gardening tricks and tips, I become more and more in awe at the complexity of nature. How amazing is it that we can take the smallest of seeds and with rich soil and the right amount of water it can grow into a towering, fruit-bearing plant?

This summer, in particular, I’ve been fascinated with our cucumber plants.

The end of March was a tad busy for us given the birth of our sweet baby girl. Trying to adjust to life with two babies (the oldest under one and a half, at the time) and the general lack of sleep that comes with a new baby was exhausting. Continue reading “Growing Cucumbers” →

fullhearthomestead2 Comments

Finding family around the table

This morning I ran to the grocery store to grab a gallon of milk in fear that we wouldn’t have enough to make it to nap time. While I was walking quickly through the aisles to get to the dairy, I was struck by the sheer volume of prepackaged and canned food. And I thought to myself, What would our ancestors say if they walked into one of our grocery stores today?

I’m not naive enough to think that prepackaged foods have only been around in my lifetime. I know supermarkets have slowly filled their shelves with boxes of muffins and cans of spaghetti-os. But when did we get to the point where the majority of food in the grocery store comes boxed up with the phrase “just add water” tattooed across the front? Continue reading “Finding family around the table” →

fullhearthomesteadLeave a comment

Classic Summer Potato Salad

A summertime barbecue is not complete without a classic summer potato salad. Because, let’s be honest with ourselves, what do we actually want beside our bratwurst and burgers? Carbs, in potato form.

This past Saturday was a productive (and hectic) day for our family.Earlier in the spring I decided it would be a good idea to run a half marathon in the fall, which meant I had to run. for multiple miles. yikes! After a taxing, but fulfilling, five miles, we got to work on our list of “to do’s” including canning more strawberry jam, making strawberry and mango fruit leather, dehydrating limes for zest, and trying to figure out what pesty creatures were taking over my squash plants. In the midst of all this, friends of ours reached out for a game night. Continue reading “Classic Summer Potato Salad” →

fullhearthomesteadLeave a comment

How to be a Homesteader at Heart

I like to pretend the family and I live on a farm, especially when I get to writing. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Despite the clothesline and vegetable garden, we are rocking a quarter acre plot in the middle of suburbia.

There are a handful of times when I can close my eyes, breathe in fresh cut grass and convince myself we live somewhere else. But then I open my eyes to see my neighbor’s porch covered in weeds and hear the screech of tires when the drivers decide to actually stop at the stop sign adjacent to our house.

Continue reading “How to be a Homesteader at Heart” →

fullhearthomestead2 Comments