This -n -That Sunday

Just a few things to take care of today.
First and foremost...clean out the fridge as the Darlin' Man is back from his trip (as of Saturday morning) and is making a trip to the grocery store for me today. He has the list and I hope against hope that he won't forget too many items AND will not buy too much that is NOT on the list. He always brings home one or two *surprises* that I have to end up incorporating into a dish or meal. That can be fun or frustrating...or fun AND frustrating.
"Really, honey? A one gallon jar of marinated artichoke hearts....and 4 jars of kim-chi? That'll go well with the chocolate chili sauce you got last week."

Back to the fridge...
My chickens and the goats LOVE fridge cleaning day. So far this morning they have received some wilted lettuce, rubbery carrots and soft grapes. There's a squishy apple and a peach that got buried and turned mushy in the back that I have cut up to toss to them in a bit. I try to not have too many goodies to toss to the critters, but things invariably get shoved to the back and forgotten or hidden. Wasted food HURTS these days! I know, I know, not completely wasted since the chickens and goats will repay with eggs and milk. Still, I'd rather see the food go to our table than to the animals!

Speaking of food...I am trying to get everyone to eat foods they are not used to. Our vegetable dish tonight with dinner will be roasted root vegetables. Turnips, beets, potatoes, carrots and parsnips. I'll peel them, toss them with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and some herbs and then roast in the oven. Serve with a bit of butter. YUM! I just hope the kids like them! Generally they like everything I put on the table...although it took a bit of convincing on some dishes. They both hated spinach when I got here. Now they argue over who gets the last bit out of the bowl! (using either fresh or frozen thawed spinach, saute some garlic in olive oil, drop the spinach in the pan and saute until fresh is wilted or frozen is heated through. Serve with a pat of butter on top)
I think the root vegetable roast will go over pretty well.

Back to the critters...the Darlin' Man was upset about the loss of Cloris and has taken my suggestion to build a separate pen for the buck. YAY! We will get to work on that next weekend.
He came home from California inspired and eager to do more projects here to increase our yields, both from gardening and from the livestock. A lot of his inspiration came from attending the L.A. County Fair. He saw animals and gardening demos, quilts and other handicrafts. He took about 300 pictures, so after I sort through the pictures, I will post some...maybe you might get inspired, too!