Green Bean Bonanza!!!

Wow!  In the span of just a few days my green beans have really taken off! 😀😀  I had picked just a handful last week and then we were gone for a few days.  I came home and checked the garden to find a bean bonanza!!!  So I thought I would share a recipe here for a Sweet and Sour Green Bean Casserole.  I really love a traditional green bean casserole, but this one is an awesome variation and a family favorite too!


SWEET & SOUR GREEN BEANS

You can make this with fresh, canned or frozen green beans.  If using fresh, I trim and clean about 3 cups of beans then saute/stream them in a large covered skillet for 3 minutes in 1/3-1/2 cup of water.

For frozen beans, I cook about the same quantity in the microwave.  For canned, use 3 cans.

Drain prepared beans.  Brown about 1/2 package of bacon with one chopped medium size white onion..  Drain well and chop bacon.  Mix together 1/2 cup of mayo, 4 1/2 Tbsp sugar and 2 1/4 Tbsp vinegar.  Mix everything together and place in a clean skillet to heat thoroughly and serve.


Hope you enjoy this one!  Share the YUM.

~ Connie

Quick Broccoli Salad

Getting the garden in this Spring has been a challenge.  Our family life was disrupted a bit with helping out our aging parents and work trips out of state.  I've decided to treat each gardening season as an experiment and give myself some extra grace and forgiveness.  Family is way more important than good looking flower beds, and my husband jokes that the veggies seem to do best when they are ignored! 😁  We have not had good luck with raising broccoli, but it's still one of my favorites so I hit up the local farmers market for my fix.  Below is a favorite recipe that I've fixed for years, I hope you will enjoy the yum!

Quick Broccoli Salad (serves 5-6)

1 head broccoli chopped small

1/4 cup diced red onion

1 cup raisins

8 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/3 cup shelled sunflower seeds

Combine above in a mixing bowl and stir.  

In a separate bowl combine the dressing ingredients.

1/2 cup mayo

3 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp vinegar

Pour over veggies, stir well and chill.

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Happy Munching!

~Connie

Just tending my plant babies ...

 

A couple of weeks ago I started some of my plants for the garden and for my flower beds.  I usually hate the weather this time of year as everything is gray, gloomy and still brown outside. This year those warmer Spring days are coming fast!

Two years ago my wonderful hubby build a growing rack in one of our buildings.  It has racks for flats of seedlings and some grow lights.  We heat that area to about 50 degrees so it works well for starting seeds early when it is still snowing on occasion here in central Iowa!

Flowers are what seem to take the longest to sprout.  I have petunias, coleus and nasturiums started so far. And this week I should add marigolds, holly hocks and dwarf zinnias to the flower plans.  As far as veggies planted early I have started red onions, yellow onions, bell peppers and hot peppers.  Tomato seeds will be planted next week as well as some herbs and squashes.  

I will be busy tending these plant babies indoors until the week before Mother's Day.  At that point I will begin hardening them off with gradual introductions to sun, wind and outdoor temps.  

Our area's predicted last frost date is right around Mother's Day so I will be prepping the garden soil and getting ready to do my transplanting in mid May.  It will be a busy but fun time digging in the dirt!

I will try to occasionally update the flower and garden's progress here in my blog.  I've gardened long enough to know there will be both success stories and failures along the way, so check back to see what's happening down our gravel road!

~ Connie