Tag Archives: spinach

His and Hers Quiche

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Ed and I both enjoy quiche, but we like it different ways.  His has meat and onions.  Mine has spinach, mushrooms, and onions, along with some sun-dried tomatoes.  The spinach from our garden was the inspiration for this post.  The great thing about this recipe is that you can add whatever you want, or even use it as a way to clean out the fridge.  You can make double the crust and egg/milk mixture, and vary the other ingredients to make everyone happy.

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Meat Lover’s Quiche

  • pie crust, baked and cooled
  • 1/2 lb sausage, or 10 strips bacon
  • 1/2 onion, sliced
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups milk (or half-and-half, or cream)
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp chopped chives or parsley

Brown sausage or bacon, then remove from the pan to drain and cool.  Cook the onions until they start to brown, then remove from the pan and allow them to cool.  Mix eggs, milk, and pepper, then pour into the pan.  Arrange the meat and onions in the filling, then sprinkle on the cheese and chives.  Bake at 375° for 30-40 minutes.  Cool slightly, then serve.

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Veggie Lover’s Quiche

  • 1 pie crust, baked and cooled
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1/2 large onion
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 1 lb fresh spinach, chopped, or whole baby spinach
  • 3-4 finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper

Melt the butter in a pan, then saute the onions and mushrooms.  Remove to a plate to cool.  Saute the spinach in the same pan, adding more to the pan until it wilts.  Drain off any liquid.  Mix the eggs, milk and pepper, and pour into the pie shell.  Arrange the onions, mushrooms, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes in the filling.  Top with cheese, and bake for 30-40 minutes at 375°.  Cool slightly and serve.

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Filed under Food, Gardening, Living from Scratch, Recipes, Sustainable Living, What's for Supper?

Buds and Anticipation

Sunday Stroll

So many leaves have popped since the last time I had a chance to post a Sunday Stroll, so this is a long one!  While I’ve got a few flowers, there are many more buds yet to open and I’m impatiently awaiting the show they’ll put on in June.

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The bleeding hearts are taking over the partially shaded back garden, even after I pruned them back and picked a bunch of the flowers yesterday.  Believe it or not, this is only their second year in bloom.

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Buds on the blue lace-cap hydrangea in the back garden.  This will be the first of my many hydrangeas to bloom.

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The peony in the front flower garden has a bunch of buds, and I can’t wait to see those big pink blooms.

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Our one and only apple blossom.  I’m surprised that the Jonathan tree got a blossom so soon after we planted it, but I’m happy to report that all six trees are alive.  I don’t expect an apple this year because there’s no other flower to pollinate it.  Unless, of course, a bee makes her way from my parent’s orchard a few minutes away. 

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The mixed baby lettuce is doing well.

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The spinach that overwintered is ready to pick.

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The peas have started to climb up their wire supports.

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One of the heritage red raspberries in our brand new berry patch.

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Some wildflowers in the neighboring hayfield.

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Our two sugar maples that we planted last fall survived the winter and are full of bright green leaves.

To see who else is strolling today, visit the Quiet Country House.

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On the Bright Side

I’m usually an optimist, and depressing is just not my style.  Sure, times are hard, but walking outside and taking in all the beauty around me makes me smile.

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More daffodils are opening.

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I can imagine what this patch will look like in full bloom.

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The spinach that overwintered is starting to grow again, and the bright green leaves are a welcome sight in my mostly empty garden.

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A johnny jump-up that seeded itself in my flower garden.  Walking by and spotting this little guy made my day.

What simple things make you smile?

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Filed under Gardening, Home, Living from Scratch, Outside, Sustainable Living

Winter Vegetable Garden

Sunday Stroll

When I went out this morning, I planned to use my new camera (thanks to mom and dad!) to snap pictures of where I want to plant apple trees, put in a bird/bee/butterfly garden, and build a chicken coop.  Spring has been dancing around in my mind lately, so that’s what I was thinking.  The temperatures today are supposed to be around 60, and it was pretty warm when I went outside.  I walked through the garden gate to daydream about sunflowers, lettuce, snap peas and tomatoes, and instead I decided to try pulling up a carrot.  I’d heard that carrots left in the garden until after the first frost are especially sweet, and I’d been waiting to try it.  I was surprised by how easily the ground released the bright orange carrot, so I decided to pull up all the carrots while the ground was soft and make hay while the sun shines.  Now I only wish I had planted more carrots in August, so we’d have more throughout the winter.  Mental note for next year.  I also spotted some of the turnips I planted on a whim peeking up out of the ground.  I’m honestly not a big fan of turnips, but mashed like potatoes they’ll do.  I’ll have to go pull them up tomorrow.  The spinach I planted late in the fall is small but alive, so I’m planning to cover it with some hay to overwinter it to have some extra early in the spring time, if I can restrain myself from picking and eating the little leaves now.

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These carrots are even nicer than the summer ones.

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A purple globe turnip peeks out of the soil.

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A spinach plant will have to wait for spring to keep growing.

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The carrots in my new garden hod sitting in a snow bank.

To see who else is strolling today, visit the Quiet Country House.

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Filed under Food, Gardening, Home, Outside, Sustainable Living