Lately I've been all about the RHUBARB. For a few reasons....

1. I love it anyway shape or form

2. It's really really good for you. There are new studies out that rhubarb has an anti-cancer agent. It is also antioxidant and is being studied as a glucose regulator.

3. I have a lot in my freezer and want to use it up before this years crop is up.

It is really one of the easiest plants to grow up here. It's a perennial and I enjoy what it looks like so that makes it nice to use when landscaping. We also get two harvests of it in Alaska.


The new Martha Stewart Living Magazine had something like 6 full pages all about rhubarb and recipes. I tried a few new ones out and they were AWESOME!

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake- it has a crumb topping that actually ends up on the bottom. YUM. I would add more rhubarb than what it said on the recipe.

Rhubarb Meringue Pie- I think this might be my new pie for the holidays! I liked it even more than lemon meringue. Tip: if you are going to make this pie don't bother with a juicer as the recipe stated (who has a juicer anyway?). Use frozen rhubarb (or freeze first if you have fresh) then thaw out over a strainer and squeeze out the juice. It is sooo much easier and you don't have to mess with the pulp.

On a side note...my yard is finally getting the work it needed before planting time begins. FYI to all those that are slacking or having a hard time getting help....hire a teenager! It's worth the money to hire someone to help. It's amazing what got done in my yard in 6 hours! I don't know if it's when money is involved or when you bring in help from outside the family but whatever it is I'm doing it again! Teenagers also need the extra cash as well. :)

Easy recipes...Do you like rhubarb?

If they help make it they just might eat it!
This is my picky eater of the family. Growing up I have fond memories of escaping to a family friends house (her kids were gone and I still had 4 under me at home ...enough said) and she would make the BEST Chicken noodle soup! The best part was that she'd whip out homemade pasta to throw into it.

Well thanks to Pam I now make homemade noodles too. It took me about 10 years to do so but I finally did make them. There really isn't much to them. You can go with many different variations but they are all about the same ingredients (flour (I should have used wheat..afterthought),eggs,water, oil, salt) I added basil to mine.

Now my favorite part to this chicken noodle soup is that my kids help me. It definitely adds to the character of the pasta as well. :) I have found, especially with my oldest, that the more they help in the process the more they are likely to eat it. I have also read it can take up to 20 times tasting something for kids tastes buds to adapt to it and like it. I can attest to this as it took me close to two years to get this kid to eat anything green. Now he eats veggies like they are going out of style. This has also helped me realize that...the gag reflex after the umpteenth time of mushrooms means he does not like them so, move on.

Try this out (by the way I made this before I had kids so you don't have to use them as an excuse to get dirty:).

My Seeds are Now Out of Hiding!
Seeing all the gardening/spring magazines out right now enspired me go and get my bag of seed packets out of my closet. They have been in there for a month now just waiting to get in the dirt. They will still wait another month but I thought they deserved to see the light like the rest of us now.

I usually go with the the Denali Seed brand as I know they have been tested for Alaska and I always have great results. This year though I branched out due to 50% off sales of seed packets and thought I would try a few new ones.

Can't wait to see if the rainbow carrots and swiss chard this year are winners. Think I'm going to plant the chard in pots on my deck for the color along with cabbage and other veggies that look cool visually. My goal is to have mostly edible annuals this year....minus my ever favorite geraniums and a few others of course.:)

I always throw in cosmos/nasturtiums/sweat peas throughout my garden beds because I love the look of random flowers popping up.

Ruby Queen beets are for my mom. I pickle them for all of us but get, Ruby Queen, for my mom...Ruby. I bought these French Breakfast radishes last year and they were our favorite! They were milder than the others but still had the radish taste. After some more trial and error I've found that Nante Coreless Carrots are our favorite too. They are sweet and very crisp!

Here is what I have for seeds thus far: By the way....I ONLY buy seeds that are EASY to grow! Even though I always try something a little different each year for change I always stick to my basics as I only want to spend the time to plant things that I KNOW will come up and produce alot!

Sugar Snap Peas (Never buy anything different!)
Nante Carrots
French Breakfast Radishes
Arugula
Parsley
Cilantro
Dill
Chives
Scallions
Rainbow Swiss Chard
Ruby Queen Beets
Rainbow Carrot Blend
Lettuce Blend
Blue Lake Pole Beans (trying these new as my I haven't had luck with low bush beans in the past)

Sweet Peas (I plant these amongst my snap peas for visual effect)
Nasturtiums (you can eat these too!)
Cosmos (one of my favs, I just scatter throughout my pots and beds and come fall they are all over!)

What are you planting this year?

APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY ......hmmm flowers right?

It's been snowing ALL day. LAME. Okay, for all you optimists out there, yes it's beautiful, but beautiful for December not APRIL! Only positive thing I can say about this weather right now is that I stepped out onto my porch at 9:42 pm to take this picture and we still have light! Summer is coming, I know it. Even though at times likes these it's easy to forget that I will have a garden in the ground in a month from now. Weeks away....bring it on!

Thai Springrolls without the Spring

So, I was proud of myself today. Not only did I cart 3 kids to the gym (mind you the youngest is 8 weeks so this in itself is a big deal) I then proceeded to go to the grocery store (with these same 3 children, in fact I can't tell you the last time I went grocery shopping alone) to get nothing in particular...not a good idea by the way...$$$$...but this time it turned out okay

As I'm discussing with my 5 year old on why we can't get a $3.00 Mango (Costco is cheaper) I remember hearing that it might snow tomorrow. SNOW TOMORROW as in APRIL 13th!! Anyway, my endorphins must have still been high after the gym because for once I let this thought pass without a "bahumbug" feeling. What my brain did grasp upon was "spring"... as in SPRINGROLLS

I had never made them before but good friends of ours had sent some over one night after bringing home our baby and they had been on my brain ever since. Love these things and after buying the ingredients realized that they weren't that difficult to make either. The best part I was that I substituted about everything in them except the rice noodles to what I had at home. Add the sweet chili sauce and it was a hit to even my kids. So much better homemade and so inexpensive!

I can't wait to make them this summer with all my own fresh veggies!

This is what I added to mine. (note: the direction's are on the back of the package)

rice noodles
carrots
yellow bell pepper
cilantro
cabbage
.....chopped peanuts and sweet chili sauce for dipping

 

I'm a mother of three who decided that staying home with my children was the best for everyone in our family. We live a crazy life and have a crazy schedule but when the light begins to consume our days and dirt starts to show outside we go in full swing.

Unfortunately, no matter how much I love my big state of Alaska, I'm not the biggest fan of our extended winters. So, as I look outide my window at the fresh dusting of snow I try my best not to let it get the best of me. Instead.....I'm back in dream mode. Getting my lists of veggies and flowers I want to plant this year and projects I hope to complete.

Let the planning begin and let spring fever step aside. I'll put my list of things I'm planting along with pics from last year up soon.