No veggies this summer... Or?

All of the plants I planted didn't survive. The garden kit I bought was too "efficient" for what I have of possibilities when it comes to replanting and giving them enough lights.
Mid May all the plants was outgrowing their small boxes and drying. So I made a rash decision and planted them all outside. Rash indeed. When the weather started to get warmer I had no plants at all, they were all dead. Except for my strawberries and oddly enough, some sort of "salad" I planted last year, either it was a returnee or leftover seeds from last year.

This plant failure made me pay less attention to the beds outside, and when I left for Denmark a remarkable growth of weeds were showing, and not very surprisingly they were still there when I got back, a month later.

I was very curious about what was growing, so I went through the beds very fast, only to find my self amazed. In the corner a treasure was blooming. Something I definitely had not expected and was pretty sure I didn't plant it right there.










In the far right corner a cluster of tomato plants are growing, and beginning to flower. So I decided to weed out the beds, who knows what other treasures it might be hiding?

The result looks kind of sad and empty, but strongly needed. And I found another treasure, I think. I found a spouse, of what I would think is a pepper plant. I looks like a pepper plant at least.











I dug it up and replanted it in the other end. I know it's really late for a pant that small to really produce anything, but I wanted to let it grow so I can see if it's really a pepper.

The tomato plants really needed the space and air it got, so now I am just waiting to see when the first tomato will show.






My "incident" with the free growing salad made me think of a new experiment I want to try for next summer. Well new and new, maybe just trying something different, and see how it goes.
When fall comes and all the plants are done, I want to fertilize the earth and then sow next years harvest. I might not work, in fact I am almost sure it wont, BUT if the salad could they why not the rest? Ans technically that is how Mother Nature usually goes around her business so, would say the odds are fairly good.

Been away from the blog

Once in a while life just throws you out on a road that leads you furthest away from some of the things you want to do. I wanted to blog, but had very little to blog about. Since this is a crafty blog, I don't just blog about whatever comes to mind. And sadly it's not every day or even every week I create something new.

So now that I am done with exams, and visiting the "home land", Denmark, I will try and get back into the saddle and "do something" that's worth blogging about.

Chicken Soup

I know we are coming to the end of winter and soup season is almost over, but here is one of my favorite chicken soups. It's a soup that will keep you full and not require you to eat the entire pot!
This will take about 20-30 minutes to prepare and cook, fast and easy.

Ingredients for 4 people:                                       

Leeks between 3 and 4. Mostly depends on the size
2 chicken breast, diced
7 cups of water
7 chicken bouillon cubes - I often take half in vegetable cubes
250g of spinach - I use frozen, but fresh is just as good of course. I didn't note the American weight down before I threw away the bag
Salt + Peber
Rice 0.5 cup. if you want it more filling you just add more rice, but then you have to consider the amount of water too.
Garlic 1-2 cloves
                                                                                   Parmesan cheese

This recipe is so easy, and if you want to double it, that is easy too. And does not make any complications

You chop leeks and chicken, put it in a pot with rice, bouillon cubes, garlic and water. Bring it to a boil and
let it simmer for 15 minutes, just make sure chicken and rice are cooked.

Then you add the spinach and let the soup cook for 5 minutes more. If you use frozen spinach you don't have to defrost it. I take the bag out of the freezer when I start the meal, and that is good enough.






End result. May not look tasty, but I promise you it is.

Serve and sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese and you have a delicious filling chicken soup.

Brands?

As you will notice when I cook or bake, there will be many generic brands, and my recipes will never say "you must use Farmer Joe's flour" (honestly I don't know if that even exist). Some might say certain brands taste better or healthier, and I won’t argue about that. But I understand that there are some who have a limited budget, my self included, to buy expensive ingredients.

I may use special ingredients, but mostly that is when I use Danish recipes, but I shall try and compensate and suggest what or how much to use of something similar you can buy in the store.

My only thumb rule when I do buy groceries is, try to avoid artificial flavoring and such. That is really not healthy for you. But I don’t care if you use organic vegetables, dairy products or meat; that is all your decision. I just know in a household of four, there are simply things too expensive to buy.

It's really strange for me to go into a store and see "Artificially flavored" on the foods, in Denmark that is very rare, and many people would not buy it, was it available. Even our candy is natural flavored, and not artificially. 

Same goes for fabrics and yarn. For my part I buy what feels nice and I don’t check if the sheep delivering the wool was organic, or if the cotton was grown organic, if the price is right I will buy it.

Don't misunderstand me and take me for someone who doesn't care about the environment because I do. I just don't have the privilege to pick and choose like that. 

Planting the seeds

Last year I was a month or two behind, but not this time. This year I start early. Just hope spring will follow up =)

After a trip to Home Depot, I am ready to plant.

The coffee beans was a Christmas gift from one of my room mates, and I am really looking forward to see how that goes. It's a plant I need to do some more research about, but so far I know it's a plant I will have to bring in and out during night time in the late summer.

I've never tried a mushroom farm before either, but I love mushrooms, so why not, it was an easy 1,2,3 instruction so should be able to figure it out.

The greenhouse box I bought because I thought it was fancy, it's made out of re-usable materials and then it's self watering. It's okay to be lazy once in a while, and now I know my plants wont suffer if I happen to forget them. Also the box says it can be reused, so that was a huge bonus.
Most the time when I've been planting I use what I got. Meaning I will start my seeds in egg boxes and then plant them into plastic cups or empty milk bottles, and from there out side. And that works fine, no problem there, but this time I just wanted to try something different.




The first thing I did, was to take all the seeds that needs soaking for 24 hours. That means the coffee beans,
peas and green beans. Some may say the peas and beans doesn't need soaking, but every time I don't do it, nothing grows. So they get to soak!

So tomorrow they will be planted.






Then I opened the greenhouse and followed the instructions given there. It's really easy and easily understood when read. However the pellets in my box needed some encouragement to expand, that was the only issue I had with the greenhouse.

I planted broccoli, carrots ,cucumbers, green beans, 2 different lettuce, peas, peppers, and tomatoes.

For the moment my greenhouse is on the ground, but I will find a box to raise it a bit. That way I reduce

some of the cold air coming from the staircase.

Last planting of the day was the herbs. Again I bought a starter kit, but then I got the pots next time I need to plant new herbs. These had pellets too, and they just expanded perfectly.
Know this sounds stupid, but my mind was blown watching the water absorbed and poof dirt! Awesome...

I made a small trench, no deeper than from my fingertip to the first joint, and then I sprinkled the seeds in there. I don't count as I want my herbs to grow close and turn out to be more bushy.

As you can see there are plenty with seeds. Again some may say it's wrong, but it's been working just perfectly for me. So I keep doing it like that.

The end result with my herbs. However I wish the pack had more pots as the kit had six different herbs. I
don't know how well they would grow if I mixed the herbs. So I stuck with the ones we use the most.

After a job well done, I make a shoe box into my seed holder. I like to have some order, ans for now I don't have a whole lot to keep order in.

Cinnamon Rolls

A few days ago I had a cup of coffee, with cream that tasted just like cinnamon rolls. And ever since that day I craved a cinnamon roll. Finally I gave into the craving =)

Low fat Cinnamon rolls:

Original recipe:                                                                            American recipe:

25g of yeast                                                                                   1tsp of yeast
1dl (100ml) of water                                                                      0,4 cup or 100ml of water
2½dl (250ml) milk                                                                         1cup of milk                                        
½ tsp salt                                                                                       ½ tsp salt
1Tbsp sugar                                                                                  1Tbsp sugar
1Tbso oil - I used applesauce instead of oil!                                   1Tbsp applesause
500g of flour                                                                                  4 cups of all purpose flour
1 egg                                                                                             1 egg
100g brown sugar                                                                          ½ cup of brown sugar
1Tbsp cinnamon                                                                            1Tbsp cinnamon

Instructions:
Mix yeast with water, and let it stand for 10 minutes.
Add milk, salt, sugar, applesauce, and gradually the flour.
The dough has to be smooth and elastic and not stick to your fingers.
Once the dough is all done, put it back into the bowl, and cover it. the dough needs to rise for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F and bakes for 15 minutes.

After an hour you are ready to roll out the dough.
Remember to sprinkle some flour on the table, so the dough won't get stuck.

I know, mine did not turn out to be a square, but for me that is the charm of home baking, I like the fact that it's not perfect.

Of course were I making this for others I would make it perfect. But for home, it is as it is. I like being relaxed about it.

Once the dough is rolled out you add your cinnamon, because this is a healthy version of cinnamon rolls I have no butter in this.

You mix the brown sugar and cinnamon.

You mix it so there are no big lumps of brown sugar. The smoother you can mix this, the better it will be.

You sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on the dough, and again try and make it as smooth as possible, that will cause less problems when you have to roll it up

Now this is going to be a bit difficult as the cinnamon sugar is lying loosely on the dough, so don't worry. I have the same problem too =)







Rolled and cut. My dough turned out to be a bit more sticky that I had expected so moving the cut piece
s became extra tricky. But that is how they turned out before being baked.

You might want to consider moving them with a spatial or a wide knife.

You then mix the egg with some water and whip it for a bit, then you brush the egg on the rolls so they should turn out nice and brown.

And not pale like mine. Thought I could do with just spraying them with oil, but they turned out to be real pale. So next time I will use the egg.

And this is where the healthy part ends, here in the house cake and cookies must have icing. So healthier cinnamon rolls are no excuse.











These cinnamon rolls are nothing like the ones you buy at the store, as my boyfriend said "They are more chewier, than I'm used to". So when trying this recipe, don't expect store bought cinnamon rolls, then you will be highly disappointed.

Guitar carrot cake

When my boyfriend turned 28 this January I decided to make a cake for him. But not "just" a cake, I wanted it to be special, so I got this great idea to make it in a guitar shape.
Now I've never made a cake like that before so I was happy he had work that day, so I had hours to make mistakes. Luckily that didn't happen.

As I mentioned in another post, in Denmark we don't use the same measurement as America, so here comes a bit of conversion, also the reason why I say that, is because I know British cups are different from American cups.

Carrot cake recipe:

300g brown sugar = 1.5 cup 

2dl corn oil (dl means deciliter and 1dl is the same as 100ml)   = 1/2 cup +1/3 cup - Here you can substitute the oil with applesauce.

4 Eggs                                                 

1 tsp vanilla                                            

2 tsp baking powder 

½ tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon 

1dl raisins 

390g shredded carrots = 2.5 cups

Preheat the oven to 365 F (185 C)

Mix the brown sugar and oil/applesauce, then add the eggs one at the time. Beat this until it's smooth.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
When it comes to the raisins, I would suggest you wait until the batter is in the baking pan. Spread the raisins on the batter then gently stuff them into the batter with a knife or end of a fork. Reason why I suggest this, is because I noticed  that the raisins would sink to the bottom and get a burnt taste, something I find to ruin a perfectly well tasting cake.

Bake it for 1 hour and 15 minutes, but check after an hour as the time doesn't always fit.

Cream cheese frosting:
1 stick of butter, has to be room temperature
8 oz of cream cheese, 1 package, also room temperature
2-3 powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix butter and cream cheese until it's smooth, then you add the vanilla extract and lastly you add the powdered sugar. The amount of sugar mostly depends on how sweet you want it.
Then you can start to add the fruit colors.
I will advice to only use fruit coloring, as that is much healthier for you, than all the artificial stuff.

For this decoration I had to triple the recipe as I used a lot of frosting.


This was how it looked when it came out of the oven, all perfect. And this is where I decided not to make

another cake. I had my doubts if one portion would be enough for the guitar, but it was perfect.

After it cooled down, I cut it out. And it's important that the cake is cold, else it will fall apart. At least that is my experience. That is also why I use baking sheaths, or in this case tin foil. I could lift the cake out if the pan and let it cool faster.

All cut out. I did not cut the shape in free hand. I found a picture on the internet, printed it out, and use it to cut from.
So you don't have to be good with "free hand" cutting, use the internet, or even magazines or what you have at hand. Just consider the fact that it has to have contact with the cake, so I would not recommend using news papers for example.






The end result... Not 100% perfect, but for a first time, I was happy about the result.
It turned out a bit shaky, didn't have enough table space so had to put the cake on a stool. That did not do wonders for my back however, but it was what I had at the moment.


I will advice to only use fruit coloring, as that is much healthier for you, than all the artificial stuff.