New Year, new garden, new mac and cheese

So, we have made it to warm weather.  My peas are taking off fantastically and are now in full flower.  Even though we let the garden go completely last summer, we managed to till it all back up in February for Valentine’s day planting.

New this year – potatoes!  They are doing very well, but now I have to figure out how to harvest them.  I am always leery about root vegetables, because they are hidden from view.  It’s times like these I wish I had superhero powers so I could see through the dirt and check to see if the potatoes were ripe or not.  More on this later after I research.

I used a lot of saved seed from last year, so that cut down on a lot of the costs of this year’s garden.  We tilled it up with the shovel, which was much easier than last year when we shoveled through the sod.  Grass and weeds had overtaken most of the patch, but they were not as tough to extract.  We still have a major weed problem, even with hay covering half of the garden space, so the hoe is my best friend at the moment.  I love to dig in the dirt after the rain – so satisfying.

Our experiment in limited meat is going fairly well, considering that Tony and I are both in stressful college programs and crazy most every hour of the day.  We have not found a source of organic, grain-fed, or free-range meat, so we have resorted to using little meat in our cooking.  This rule bends a bit for cookouts with the cub scouts, when hot dogs are the main staple.

My new favorite recipe is from my brother, Jason, and although it breaks some of my high ideals of cooking from scratch, it is most wonderful and pleasing to all in the house.

2 boxes macaroni and cheese

1 stick butter

1/2 cup milk

1 can diced tomatoes

1 pound ground turkey

1/2 cup onion, diced

1 tsp Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

Cook mac and cheese noodles.  While waiting, cook turkey meat.  When meat is done, add onions and continue cooking until tender.  Stir cheese packet, butter and milk into macaroni noodles.  Add meat and seasonings.  Serve to happy children and adults.