carrots – Homes In Progress

Overnight Chicken Broth

Posted on January 5, 2024January 5, 2024 by carrienotcary

One large carrot peeled and diced. One stalk of celery diced. One quarter to one third of a white onion cut into strips. 3 baked bone in skin on chicken breasts.

Earlier in the evening I baked the chicken. I sprayed the glass baking dish with avocado oil spray. I added the chicken and sprayed the top of each chicken breast before I sprinkled approximately 1 1/2 tsp of Fresco Spice Blends Penney’s Little Italy over the tops. Baked uncovered at 375 for 35 minutes

Back to the stock. Add water to cover about 8 cups. A splash of Reisling leftover from our son’s wedding weekend ❤️ probably 1/4 cup or less. If you are doing dry January skip the wine. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours overnight or whenever you have 10 hours to spare. Wake up to chicken broth and the beginning of a nice chicken soup.

I’m going to take the skin off and debone the chicken later today and dump it all (minus the bones and skin) in a stock pot on the stove to simmer and smell nice until dinner! I will also add in more carrots that are peeled and diced, diced celery, and some minced garlic and maybe ginger briefly sautéed in a little olive oil or butter.

Add more water throughout the day when you think it needs more.

Add the noodles at in the last 10 minutes of cooking when you’ve brought the soup to a boil. Follow the package directions for the noodles that you choose. That’s dinner!

Food, spices, Uncategorized

Quick dinner

Posted on June 21, 2022June 21, 2022 by carrienotcary

chicken with olive oil and Fresco Spice Mexicali salsa blend

Geez, it’s been a minute since I’ve posted anything! Supposedly life had slowed down over the past year and a half but I don’t buy it. I’m still rushing around trying to put dinner on the table.

Roasted potatoes with Fresco spice blend Everyday Seasoning

Pre heat your oven to 425. Cut up 3 Russet potatoes into small pieces and mix with olive oil and whatever spice you like best. I really like the Fresco Spice Blends. I used 1 tablespoon of their Everyday Seasoning. Mix well and spread evenly on a rimmed cookie sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking you can cut up carrots and broccoli. I was lucky in that I already had diced carrots in the fridge. Set aside.

Above are photos of my time saver, frozen pre cut chicken that I simply thaw and combine with olive oil and my favorite spice blend. This week I’m loving Fresco Spice Blends Mexicali Salsa.

Either bake the chicken in a pan at 375 for about 25 minutes or saute (fry that is) in a pan over medium heat until the chicken is cooked through.

While the chicken is cooking steam the vegetables in the microwave for about 3 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan and put in a bowl to serve later. Pour about 1/4 cup of chicken stock into the pan while it is still on low to medium heat. Use a utensil that works best for the type of pan you used. My pan is non stick so I used a wooden spatula. Scrape the browned chicken bits and mix with the chicken stock. Let the liquid cook for a minute or two and then add the steamed carrots and broccoli and mix well. I added one teaspoon of Fresco spice blends California Fresh seasoning and continued to cook until the carrots were as tender as I liked.

Ta da! A complete meal in about half an hour. It definitely helps to have frozen pre cut chicken on hand, as well as vegetables that were already cut ( at least the carrots were), and using boxed chicken broth.

backyard, gardening, seeds, Uncategorized

Digging indoors

Posted on May 14, 2020 by carrienotcary

These empty egg containers filled with dirt and seeds were the beginning of this year’s garden. When the Covid hit the fan back in March I thought I would see what I could grow. Big disclaimer here, I am NOT a gardener. However, March being as weird as it was, I thought I would try.

Two weeks later I had signs of life. So I kept at it.

By the end of April some of it was getting tall! Still it had to stay indoors. Early Spring in Indiana is not friendly to planting. It is now mid-May and last week we still had occasional frosty nights. But I’m going to have to move this soon!

In just over ten days, I’ve gone from sprouts to plants.

I did replant some of the Roma tomatoes into their own much larger pots.

I’m sure that the four smaller pots are not nearly large enough, but hopefully they will buy me some time to keep these tiny plants alive long enough to find larger pots or the right spot to plant them in our yard. I even purchased the funky tomato cages in the event that I am able to keep these tomato plants alive long enough for them to require support. I was so hopeful that I purchased a few other items for my rapidly growing peas, green beans, yellow squash, spaghetti squash, and one lone zucchini plant.

If the weather cooperates I will put the carrots and broccoli in the ground this week. The red peppers I think I will try to grow some in containers and some in the ground. The basil, oregano, and parsley will go into a container also. My flowers? I have some zinnia that sprouted, the marigolds and impatiens are struggling, and the petunias are a definite no show.

The many strawberries and two blueberry bushes that I purchased back in March? Also looking rough. I tried the laundry hamper method of growing strawberries that I saw on You Tube as a last ditch effort to see if any strawberry plants would come back. It’s not looking promising.

One surviving blueberry bush and a very sad container of would be strawberries.

Did I mention that in the middle of this my yard gave me poison ivy? Yup, that was not what I was expecting. I think it came from pulling weeds sans gloves in this spot.

I’ve learned my lesson again and will wear the gloves from here on out. Maybe in a month or so these plants will start to produce a crop. We’ll see. I’m amazed they’ve come this far just from egg containers. Next garden report in four to six weeks.