Homemade Sauerkraut

When we put cabbage into the garden I didn't have much more of a thought than seeing if I could grow cabbage. How would anyone know otherwise? So, as I watched the cabbage grow throughout the summer I was amazed at how they went from these loose leaves growing into a head type of shape. We checked on it several times throughout the summer and I was getting excited about having three heads of cabbage actually growing in the garden!  

A few weeks ago we had some store bought sauerkraut which I like to cook up with some brown sugar and sliced apple to serve along side either brats or pork chops. It dawned on me that maybe I could make sauerkraut with my cabbage. So I started to search Pinterest for recipes and landed on The Prairie Homestead pin and got interested - in the recipe AND the website. 

The recipe was easier than I thought and required no cooking! Well, that was a happy moment for me because I have been known to make a mess doing anything new. The least amount of items in use at anytime is best for me. I still made a fair size mess, but it was fun!

I was a little skeptical that all of the cabbage would fit in a quart size mason jar. Seriously - there was a lot. As soon as I started mooshing the cabbage into the jar, my skepticism turned into surprise and I had NOTHING left in the bowl after spooning and mooshing. Well, I had some of the liquid left over which I used to fill up the jar a bit more before storing it. 

Now the hard part will be to leave it be until it's time to open it up to try it out. I will need to "burp" it here and there, but otherwise it's a waiting game. I better take a look at the part where it needs to be burped!

I am hopeful that this will turn out and that instead of buying pouches or jars of kraut I can just make my own when the hankering strikes. 

If you are looking for homesteading tips or cool recipes check out the website HERE. 

My Latest Obsession

shishito pepper

Seriously, I have been a little obsessed with this little thing call a Shishito pepper. I follow Gimme Some Oven and last year the author posted about these delectable little dudes by sharing THIS recipe. Since then I thought that if we made it out to Trader Joe's I should look for a package of Shishitos. However, we are almost never in the neighborhood of Trader Joe's which is across town, so it never happened. A few weeks ago I spotted them at Chuck's Produce FRESH! Once I laid eyes on them I decided to get some and finally try that recipe out. Which is great and all, but as soon as we got them home they got "lost" in the fridge and were promptly forgotten. A couple of weeks later I pulled the bag out and they were very sad and very inedible. I hadn't thought about them much since tossing the peppers into the compost.

This past weekend I decided to go and browse around Wilco and Chapman's Nursery. Which were fun and all, but the BEST thing happened after Tom and I went for coffee. I mentioned that I wanted to go and check out the veggie plants at Freddy's - knowing that I wanted to find Shishito pepper plants. I didn't see anything the first time through the peppers, but then BOOM...out of no where they were right in front of me!

I was so excited - so much that I declared that I wanted to buy all of the plants. There were maybe 7 or 8 total - Tom gave me a look. So I settled on three.

As a bonus I got some more peppers at Chuck's yesterday evening. They will not be going bad this time...

(photo credit Gimme Some Oven)

Arugula

Until a few years ago I had never had arugula before. It may have been part of a green salad that I ordered at a restaurant or eaten at a friend's house, but I never specifically went looking to add arugula to my diet.

One year I decided to sow some in one of the garden boxes and within a few weeks I had arugula coming out of my ears! I didn't realize how prolific it could be! It's a good thing that we took a liking to this leafy green because it would have gone to waste. Boo.

this was taken about 10 days ago

One of the first recipes that I came across that included this tasty green was a Prosciutto and Fig Spread Sandwich. Two words: OH. MY. It was so good! Yet, we haven't made it since then...we'll have to fix that mistake somehow.

Just looking at this makes me hungry!
(photo credit: MarthaStewart.com)

I subscribe to a food writer's blog and in today's post was an Arugula Salad recipe that is made up of simple ingredients that most people would have in their kitchen. Go HERE to see the recipe.

It helps to have nice photos of pretty food. I would make this!
(photo credit: Gimme Some Oven)

Doesn't it look good? Arugula, fresh lemon juice, parmesan cheese, olive oil and fresh cracked pepper. Super simple! This will have to make it onto one of our weekly menus...and more than once!

The arugula that I planted this year is a little different that what is shown in the recipe pic above, but we have tons of it! If we love this salad as much as the blog author does I'll have to grow more arugula this summer!!

Enjoy!!