Sweet Cherries
I haven’t posted anything this week because I have been so busy with my garden. Last year we had little rain in Illinois and the crops were poor. I have a sweet cherry tree and a tart cherry tree but last year it was warm early and both trees blossomed and then we had a hard frost. So we skipped a year with cherry picking but this year is bountiful! Previously we just had enough sweet cherries to eat but this year I am having to think up some ideas to use them. I also only made jelly out of the tart cherries but there are too many of those also. The nice thing about jelly is that you don’t have to pit the cherries, just cook them and strain them.
Cherry pitter
I bought this little cherry pitter for $18.99 at my local farm supply store and it came in handy yesterday. I just simmered the tart cherries (they were kind of sweet this year) with a little sugar and the last of the rhubarb. I froze it in little containers for our morning Chobani yogurt.
Today I am going to try to pit some sweet cherries and put them in my dehydrator and we’ll see how that comes out. I’ll post some of my recipes/products in case anyone has cherries or access to them at a farmers market.
If you have any ideas for me leave me a comment. Happy father’s day to any Dad’s that follow the blog…I need to get back to Mike’s checkerboard cake! Yes I’ll post the recipe.
Turquoise snowflake Pyrex
Here’s my latest Pyrex find! Yes, I’m running out of room…it’s a sickness and that’s the only cure!
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Tagged as:
cherries
Low Fat Sausage Patties
This is a recipe I promised to my cardiac rehab patients who miss things like sausage patties. Everything in moderation I always preach. The thing that patients always bring up here in Central Illinois is they miss having their big hearty breakfasts of biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, sausage, fried potatoes etc. Well that is next to impossible to fit into a heart healthy breakfast. So they eat oatmeal everyday until they get sick of it and then “fall off the wagon.” On the blog I have already posted a recipe for healthier biscuits and gravy. So here is how I make sausage.
Start with a loin pork chop and remove the visible fat. One chop makes 4 patties.
Process in a food processor or very finely chop with a knife.
Ground pork
Recipe:
Trim the fat from one loin pork chop, discard. (The fat is normally processed into sausage).
Cut into chunks and add to bowl of food processor. A small processor can be purchased for about $10 and works well.
Add any desired seasonings. I either use Mrs. Dash or I use ground sage, paprika, garlic powder and pepper. The paprika adds some color to the sausage. You may use a little salt if desired but I don’t.
Make into patties, on small loin chop makes 4.
Brown in a skillet coated with olive oil. Watch carefully, do not overcook. When it is still barely pink in the middle I turn off my skillet and let it sit there for another minute. The problem with these is that they will be very dry if cooked to long as they have no fat! I sometimes add grated onion which adds a lot of flavor.
Without the seasoning this ground pork is good mixed with hamburger for a meatloaf.
Note: I will try to post the other request for low fat fried potatoes! I am a little bit behind in my request list! Be sure to add your email to the subscribe box so you receive all new recipes!
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breakfast,
diabetes friendly,
Healthy,
low carb,
pork
Roses in abundance!
Hello poodle followers! Today I had a random vacation day from work. Things were a little slow and I took advantage of the opportunity. If any of you work in healthcare or any other stressful occupation you know that sometimes you just need a mental health day! I am the only dietitian at my hospital and I have a good boss who knows I manage my schedule well and she keeps me on a very long leash! If I announce that I am all caught up and staying home the next day she just says “Have fun!” Today I lucked out and had a beautiful sunny day. We have been having tons of rain in Illinois so it was a really welcome change. Once I got outside it was amazing how everything had grown. The entire back of my house is covered in roses that were there when I moved in. They just needed some serious pruning.I’ll show you some of my little gardens.
Vinca
I had a big pot of geraniums last year with some Vinca vines in it. They obviously took root and went crazy. I didn’t even know they could survive an Illinois winter and I didn’t know they would get cute purple flowers. Since this is only a small area around my lamp post I am fine with them taking over. I’ll just say “I meant to do that.”
Hummingbirds
I was trying to show you the two Hummingbirds in this hanging plant but I guess I scared them off with my camera. Poodle pink aren’t they?
Herbs on my deck
I have some herbs in my vegetable garden, but no formal herb garden yet. I am kind of waiting for hubby to build me a cute little shed so I can plant the herbs around it. I keep some on my deck also, it is so convenient as my vegetable garden is about a half acre away.
Chocolate mint
I never plant mint in my yard as it takes over. But I couldn’t resist this chocolate mint plant that I am keeping in a pot on my deck. Does anyone have any good ideas for what to do with it in a recipe? Besides alcoholic drinks which is all I can think of!! Chocolate Mohito???
Salad in a Pot
I also grow lettuce on my deck. It works out well as the bunnies and deer have not attempted to climb the stairs to my deck!
This year I stacked three clay pots and planted things in each one. We’ll see how it turns out, but so far so good. I imagine it will just look like a ball of plant.
Asparagus
I’ll leave you with my final picture of asparagus cooked in a basket on the grill! Yum, we have tons of asparagus right now and I have been freezing some for later in the year.
Hope all of you are having a good week! Gloria
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