I hope everyone had a terrific 4th of July weekend. Ours was a good one. The kids were all here, and we enjoyed the visit and the food….always good food when the kids are all here 🙂

I did manage to get 11 pints of diced beets canned to go along with my pickled beets, and there are a few more smaller beets still growing in the garden. If they get any size to them at all, they’ll probably end up as more diced beets (unless I can sneak a few to make more pickled beets for me!).

Kevin pulled the pea vines as they were dying back, so I got a few quart bags of those put in the freezer. One patch of onions really had been too wet this year and were starting to rot on the outsides, so we pulled those and diced them up for the freezer. I really prefer to dry onions to keep for the winter, but once an onion starts to “cook” in the garden, it just won’t keep…..so at least they’re ready to use and in the freezer for later use.

Since the pea vines were dying back, we just had to dig a couple hills to find some new potatoes…..can’t go without at least one dinner having creamed new potatoes and peas. And we managed 2 meals with it…pure heaven! Now we just have to leave the rest of the potatoes alone so they can grow, which is really, really hard when fresh potatoes taste that darn good!

I’m going to be on the lookout for green beans to can later on……I thought they’d come out of the pounding they got after the last round of storms, but on closer inspection today, the deer have completely destroyed them. I do have a few pole bean seeds that I can plant, and it’s not too late yet (but close!). Cross your fingers that I’ll have some kind of bean to can later on this summer…..we’re completely out on the shelves, and we love home-canned green beans.

I did manage to bake a new bread recipe this weekend. It was actually cool this weekend, so we put a pot of chili on in the crock pot, and I wanted to try Cajun Whole Wheat Bread (in my bread machine). I thought it was tasty, although a bit spicy, and Kevin said it would make a really good sandwich bread for a spicy burger with cheese….maybe someday down the road we’ll have some left to try his idea 🙂

Cajun Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients for 1-1/2-Pound Loaf Size:
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
4 teaspoons Wildtree Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil
1-1/2 teaspoons Wildtree Cajun Seasoning
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons honey or mild-flavored molasses
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
1 Tablespoon gluten flour
1 teaspoon active dry yeast or bread machine yeast

Ingredients for 2-Pound Loaf Size
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 Tablespoons Wildtree Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil
2 teaspoons Wildtree Cajun Seasoning
1-1/3 cups milk
3 Tablespoons honey or mild-flavored molasses
2-2/3 cups whole wheat flour
1-1/3 cups bread flour
2 Tablespoons gluten flour
1-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast or bread machine yeast

Instructions:

In a small saucepan, cook the onion and the green pepper in the Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil until the onion is tender. Cool mixture slightly.

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl (except the yeast) and stir to combine.

Add all wet ingredients to your bread machine pan, including the onion and pepper mixture. Add the dry ingredients. Make a small “well” in the center of the dry ingredients and add your yeast.

On your machine, select the loaf size. If available, select the whole grain cycle or select basic white bread cycle.