Fresh Picks of the Day - July 31, 2013 and How to Freeze Peas

Once again today I picked the usual:  green beans, the last of the pea pods, and peas.  This is the first year we grew peas.  Usually we just grow pea pods, but I wanted to try peas too (I was watching Anne of Green Gables and saw someone in the moving hulling peas, that's what made me want to!).  We planted the rows right next to each other, and they look identical.  I got confused for a little while which was which (I was pretty sure I knew which one was which), but once you look at the actual vegetable, you can tell the difference.  Pea pods are more flatter, and peas bulk out more.

To pick the peas:  You want peas that are fresh and crisp.  Pick them when they are fully expanded but immature.  You don't want them to be hard and starchy.  Don't use peas that are old, overripe, starchy, or have leathery, wrinkled pods.

The peas at the bottom of the plant will mature first.

It is best to freeze the peas right after they are picked.  The quality, especially sweetness, gets worse quickly.  But if you can't freeze them right away, put them in the fridge.

Freezing peas is just like how you freeze green beans.

To Freeze the Peas: 

Hull the Peas.

Most people probably wouldn't plant peas because of this.  It takes away to hull them, and you don't get that many.  But, right now I can't do much and am confined to my butt because of a sprained ankle, so it gives me something to do.

Wash them.  This is a couple pickings' worth of peas.

 

Bring a pot of water to a boil and get a large bowl of ice, cold water.

Once the water is boiling, blanch the peas.  Place them in the pot and let them sit in there for one and a half minuets (90 seconds).

 Put the peas in a bowl of ice, cold water and let them cool (about a minuet).  I used a slotted spoon to do all the moving of peas.  But, I realized that dumping the peas into a strainer from the pot and then immediately into the bowl of ice, cold water would have been faster.  And, then again from the bowl to the strainer.

Fill labeled freezer bags with peas however full you want to.  Then freeze.

Fresh Picks of the Day - July 29, 2013

I just absolutely LOVE the garden!!  It is so beautiful!  I don't know why I find this so... but I do.  It is so exciting having fresh veggies from the garden, and having them successfully turn out.  It is like having a loaf of bread rise well and turn out... if you've ever made bread, you would know what I mean.  The flowers in our garden are blooming, so I just had to take a picture of the beautiful sight.

Today I picked some rhubarb.  I also picked the usual:  green beans, peas, pea pods, radishes.

I cut the tops and bottoms off.  Then washed it.

I cut the rhubarb pretty small.  That way its not a huge chunk in a bite of whatever you do with it.

I used some to make a Rhubarb Delight.  Then, I froze the rest.

I really made if for my assistant coach.  It is his birthday tomorrow.  He loves food and loves rhubarb.  And I love baking and love baking for other people.  I absolutely love it when I can make a dessert, or anything, have some for myself and whoever else wants any in my house, and then give the rest away.  Since I love baking, and love trying new recipes, I can try some, give the rest away, so there isn't a bunch sitting around our house, and then make something new.

I gave him the rest that wasn't eaten.  But, as I was trying to put it a container for him, it got a little messed.  Oh well, I don't think he will mind. 

My mom, dad, and I all had some, and it was really good with ice cream.

I'M GONNA GO CRAZY!!!

Long story short:  I got a sprained ankle.

Long story:  Ok.  So, a little over two weeks ago, I kept asking my mom if my ankle looked a little swollen, thinking from a bug bite (I had a bug bite down there), but my mom didn't think it looked swollen.  Then on July 13, I went for a run.  I was running on the edge of a road to where it went on the gravel shoulder.  I think I stepped wrong, but I kept on running, it wasn't a big deal.  After that run, I asked my mom again if my ankle looked swollen, from a bug bite, and my mom said no.  I think it hurt a little when I got done.

The next morning was a Monday Morning Run.  I got up usually, ate some food, but my ankle seemed to hurt a little... but not bad enough to stop me from running.  It then occurred to me that I stepped wrong yesterday while I was running. I went for a 6 mile run, but for the last mile of it, my ankle really hurt, pretty much limping.  I haven't ran since then.  So, I decided to take a couple days off from running, treating it like a sprained/twisted ankle.  I TRIED to take it easy, ice it, and take motrin and tylenol.  But, it only got worse.

Then, on the Friday, I walked around Valley Fair all day, which probably didn't help much, because the ankle only got bigger.  The next morning, Saturday, I woke up with this rash like thing on the inside of my ankle.

 (The rash only lasted a day or two.)

 (The little brownish dot on the outside of my left foot is a scab from a bug bite.)

I was at my grandma's, so, my mom, my grandma, and myself were all the more concerned.  So, we went into Urgent Care.  The doctor there said it wasn't a sprained ankle because my entire ankle was swollen, and with a sprain, only one side would be swollen, depending on which way you twisted it.  She took an x-ray, it wasn't broken.  So, she thought it was either lymes disease (which we were just up in North Dakota, walking through long grass, infested with ticks!!!), an autoimmune disease (which my grandma, aunt, and maybe mom have all experience.  I say maybe my mom because when she was in college she had a mysterious condition, where both her ankles to knees were swollen and she had a fever.  So, mine isn't as bad as my mom's, but you never know!!), or a joint ankle infection.  So, the doctor at Urgent Care tapped my ankle, to get the fluid out, to check to make sure it wasn't infected.
And holy cow, I have never had that done, and I was shaking.  I had to have my mom kind of squeeze me and not let me see what was going on.  After that I felt so sick!  I have never felt that way before.  Almost like fainting, but not really, or throwing-up.  But once I got outside, to the nice warmness (I HATE air-conditioning), I felt a little better.  I hadn't eaten for a while, so I think I was maybe also really hungry.  The doctor put me on amoxicillan, so that in case it is an infection, I can get it stopped right away.  So, while my mom went to get me the medicine and a Naked juice, my friend and I (Oh yeah, my friend was with me the entire time) went over to Punch to get some pizza.  I hadn't ever eaten at Punch, the pizza was a little different, but good.  My mom got me a Green Machine Naked juice, which looks disgusting, but tastes great (it says that on the bottle and it is totally true!).
After we got some lunch, the doctor wanted me to get a blood test.  Super scary, and once again I squeezed my mom's arm, but it wasn't really that bad.  The blood test was to check for lymes disease and an autoimmune disease.  Both came back negative (since they were negative the doctor told me to quit the medicine she put me on).  When my mom talked to that doctor last, she still hadn't gotten the ankle joint infection test results back (and still don't, so who knows if we ever will), but she didn't think I had a joint ankle infection.  She thought I maybe had an autoimmune disease, even though it came back negative, and suggested that we go to a doctor that treats arthritis.  Arthritis can be a symptom of an autoimmune disease.
All this last week, we have been trying to figure out what is wrong with my ankle.  It was only getting worse.  We thought it could be arthritis, a stress fracture, and all the above.  Thank goodness we had scheduled an appointment with a podiatrist a while back for this last Frinday, thinking I needed orthotics.  This podiatrist is supposed to be great!

(That little dot on the outside of my left foot is from a bug bite.)

My brother went to this podiatrist last summer, and the way my mom described him, I thought I was going to be going to this 80 year old, mean doctor, wearing old blue jeans, a stained, white t-shirt, old sneakers, and in a run down home that was converted to a doctor's office.  But, no, it was in a nice building, and the doctor was nice. He wasn't 80, probably in his 50s, and he wasn't dressed the way I thought he was going to be dressed.
The podiatrist, took an x-ray, but didn't see any thing in that looked broken (x-rays don't show everything).  He said it is a really bad sprained ankle that got ran of for 6 miles.  The reason my entire ankle is swollen is that sometimes when you twist it one way that then you go back to much the other way then too.

He wrapped this wet wrap stuff around my ankle, then another dry wrap, and then the dry cloth.  As the wet wrap dried, it would also shrink.  That would help push the fluid up, and out of my ankle.

Then, he gave me one of those walking boot things, and we had the crutches that I am suppose to use.  I AM SUPPOSED TO STAY OFF MY FEET!!  Also, he put me on some medicine, to take down the inflammation and pain.  He told me to ice under my knee because that is where a major artery is and on my ankle, even though it is wrapped, and keep my foot elevated.

I AM GOING CRAZY!!  I can't really do anything.  I love running, gardening, cooking/baking... moving around.  I can't really do any of it, even sleeping in my bed is hard!  Everything takes way longer.
Today, I got together with some friends and they helped me get going on knitting hat that I started a couple years ago, and then couldn't figure out which direction to go since it is a circle.  We knit and had supper, we had a good time.  I am going to have to figure some things out to keep me occupied. 

My mom is so glad that all this has happened while the coach is is Norway for three weeks.  She is sure that he would have kept me running on it... making it worse.  Then, the friends/teammates reminded me that he would be calling me like 3 times a day, checking in with it, because that's what is does (he doesn't have much else to do).

Fresh Picks of the Day - July 24, 2013 and How to Freeze Green Beans

Today was another great day of veggies!  I picked green beans and more pea pods (I only have pictures of the green beans).  Green Beans are one of my favorite vegetables.

 To pick the green beans you have to flip the plants around and search for them.  It is amazing how you can find more when you are looking from a different angle.

We pick them when they petite.  My mom likes them to be long, skinny, beans.

 We will eat some fresh, but we end up freezing a lot to enjoy throughout the winter.

How to Freeze Green Beans

Cut the ends off.  We leave them nice and long, but if you like them little and short, you could cut them in half.

Wash the green beans.

You could wash them and then cut them.

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  I use a smaller pot because I don't like waiting for a large pot to come to a boil, and then I do a bunch of smaller batches, but if you want to do a larger pot and do one big batch, you could that.

Meanwhile, get a bowl of ice cold water.

When the water is boiling, place some green beans in the pot.  You don't need to leave them in there too long... about 2-3 minuets, until the green beans turn bright green.

Once the green beans are bright green, take them from the pot of hot water straight the bowl of ice cold water.  Leave them in the water for a few minuets, long enough for them to cool down.

If you do a bunch of smaller batches, you will want to make sure the pot is back to a boil before you do the next batch.  Also, you will probably want to add more ice to the cold water in between batches.

(This isn't a good picture, but I don't think these bags of green beans wanted their picture taken.)

Place the cooled green beans in labeled freezer bags.  Fill them however full you want them.  Place the bags in the freezer laying down.  That way they freeze flatter and then you can reposition them.

We do a bunch of batches of freezing throughout the summer.  We save up a couple days' picks and then freeze them.

Pam Anderson's Multigrain Medallions

Every-now-and-then I like to get a Runner's World Magazine.  I love running, so they are just kind of fun to look through!  One of them had this recipe for pancakes in them, so I decided to give them a try.  They are yummy!  You feel kind of healthy when you have them, since they are multigrain and from a running magazine.

They are excellent with real maple syrup!  I guess you could call it 100% pure maple syrup, but I call it real (I call the "pancake" syrup "fake"... because it fake).  I wouldn't eat the fake stuff... well... because it's fake.  And of course, have some delicious fruit with them too!

Pam Anderson's Multigrain Medallions

1 cup white flour

1/3 cup each:  cornmeal, whole-wheat flour, and old-fashion rolled oats

4 t.  sugar

1 t.  salt

1 t.  baking powder

1/2 t.  baking soda

1 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

2 large eggs

2 T.  vegetable oil

1 t.  vanilla

1/2 cup low-fat milk (or water)

Mix dry ingredients.  Mix wet ingredients.  Mix together.

Pour 1/4 cup batter on griddle... cook.

Serving Size:  2 pancakes, 296 calories, 26g carbs, 2g fiber, 8g protein, 6g fat

(A person needs more than 2 little pancakes!)

Fresh Picks of the Day - July 23, 2013

All the wonderful veggies are starting to come for this summer.  It is so exciting when they come!

Picking the radishes.  We grew French Breakfast Radishes.  Radishes definitely aren't my favorite vegetable, but they are pretty and another veggie to have in the garden.

The peas pods.

Washing the radishes and pea pods.  I think the radishes look better with the greens left on, so I didn't cut them at all.

 

I got some ready for my mom to give to a friend of hers.  Just from the picks today I knew we had more radishes and pea pods than we needed.  So, why not share?

A while back my mom purchased some of those little berry crates, just cause they are super cute.  We haven't ever used them, so I put some pea pods in them to give her.  Then I tied a few radishes together with bakers' twine... cute!

Knit Dish Rags

For another one of my 4-H projects this year, I knit dish rags.  These are pretty much the only thing I know how to knit...  besides a straight across row to make a "scarf".  These are pretty fun and can be quick to make.  It is fun to watch them grow and then shrink.  Also, I suppose these dish rags would make great gifts.  They are made from 100% cotton, so when they get dirty, you can just throw them in the wash.

Here are a few that I have made.  All you need is Peaches & Creme Yarn and size 7 needles.  I suppose you could use a size bigger or smaller, but 7 is a nice size.
Now, for the instructions.

First cast on 4 stitches.

Knit 1 row.

Next Row:  Knit 2
                    Yarn Over
                    Knit to the end of the row

Repeat until there are 45 stitches.  You could make it bigger... or smaller, but going until there are 45 stitches makes a nice size dish rag.

And watch it grow...

Grow...

Grow...

Half-way done!
Now, to decrease:  Knit 1
                                Knit 2 together
                                Yarn over
                                Knit 2 together
                                Knit to the end of the row
Repeat until there are only 4 stitches left.
Bind off.

And watch it shrink...

Shrink...

Almost done!

Bind off...
Cut off the extra yarn...
And done!

Knit Dish Rags for Peaches & Creme Yarn

Use Peaches & Creme Yarn and size 7 needles.

Instructions

  Cast on 4 stitches

Knit 1 row

Next Row (Increasing):  Knit 2

Yarn over

Knit to the end of the row

Repeat until there 45 stitches

Next Row (Decreasing):  Knit 1

Knit 2 together

Yarn over

Knit 2 together

Knit to the end of the row

Repeat until there are only 4 stitches left

Then bind off