Colorful Turkey Casserole

I really must share this recipe as it is fairly quick and easy and surprisingly yummy!! The pictures just don't do it justice! The recipe is from the Kitchen of Ginny Vietmeier - I have to be honest, I don't personally know Ginny, but I feel it only right to give credit where credit is due. Who knows, maybe one day she'll Google herself and find that she's been written about; and that just might make her day. Thanks Ginny for the wonderful recipe!

Colorful Turkey Casserole

1 (6 oz) pgk. stuffing mix

3/4 c. butter

3 c. zucchini diced (I add half zucchini and half yellow squash)

2 c. cooked turkey diced

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 medium carrot, shredded

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/2 c. sour cream

1/4 c. Craisins

Combine stuffing mix and melted butter (save 1/2 c. for topping). Add zucchini, turkey pieces, soup, carrot, onion, sour cream, and Craisins to the remaining mixture.

Transfer to a greased 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle top with remaining stuffing.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes.

Serves 6 - Prep time 20 minutes

My husband and I double the recipe so we can have left overs to feed us during the week. Just something to think about.

The baby buns are going to be 8 weeks this Wednesday. Where does time go? Here's my favorite, Gray Baby Cinders sitting in my hat on my (messy) desk watching me work. He's a sweetie. I say 'he' but Lord only knows what they actually are. I still can't tell. All look the same still. We let them romp in the kitchen this afternoon and gave them their first combing and nail trip. Some did better than others, but I certainly don't expect perfect little angels for their first time. This week will be 'weening week'. I'm sure Mama Buns is ready and things are getting a bit crowded in their cage now.

Oh the Worm Bin...

Farewell to the worm bin. We will try again in the spring, but the miscellaneous bugs were getting out of control. We got infested with these super tiny little flies. I mean REALLY infested. I think there was more of them than there was dirt, and definitely more than there were worms. I'm not sure what exactly did it or where they came from. Initially we developed some fruit flies and these little black (smaller than knats) flies, but these were something completely different. They were even tinier than the knat-like flies. I've never seen anything like it. The only thing I can come up with was the addition of the rabbit poo. I saw on another YouTube post that worms love rabbit poo. And we found this to be true. Maybe the two are somehow connected? Any other vermiculturists out there? We tried all of the methods we could find to rid the bin of these unwelcome guests: burying the food scraps, laying newspaper over the top of the soil, and placing a jar to catch fruit flies. They really didn't work all that well. Guess I'll have to do some more research and try again in the spring. All I can think is that I missed something, somewhere.

It's been cold here! In the negatives. I don't remember winters this cold since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Today, however, we got a little bit of a reprieve. It was almost 30 degrees Fahrenheit. The chickens were happy to get out. It was so cute to see all their little feet prints in the snow around the farm. Heck, the ice even melted at the bottom of our stairs. I realize that we've still got some winter left, but I sure can't wait for spring flowers. I can almost smell them!

Baby buns are doing well. Feisty things! And curious to boot! Hercules (who I am pretty sure is a female) almost jumped out of the hutch tonight. Quite a feat. I believe their angora is coming in, and I will need to start combing them very soon. Oh I can't wait to spin their fiber! Mr. Buns (or maybe I should say Papa Buns) is in need of a pluckin' but I am hoping to get him to March before I harvest. It's just too cold to be so 'naked'.

Hope y'all are fairing the winter weather and staying warm!

Keepers for Sure

House Sitting

I am house/pet sitting this week. Eight days and seven nights. I'm thankful that I can help out a friend like this, really I am, but I've come to the conclusion that this occupation is for single people, still living with parents or roommate and needing to get away. Or better put - I enjoyed this while younger and living with my parents and working as a vet tech, but not so much as I get older. It's hard when you have your own farm animals.

The animal count here is: 5 dogs, two pygmy goats, and thirty chickens. Boy these pups can bark! They feel it is their duty to inform me of every deer, bird, or other miscellany that comes close to the house. On one hand this makes me feel quite safe, but on the other hand, I have a splitting headache. For now, everyone is quiet and asleep in various places in the house. All is well. I'm sure the neighbors are thankful for this too.

One of the nice things about staying here is that there is a fireplace. Oh how I love a warm crackling fire. There are even special pine cones that are treated to give off blue flames. You can't really see them that well in the picture above, but they really were bright blue. I'm not sure what was put on them. Hopefully it wasn't something horrible for the environment, because I really enjoyed them.

The temperature has dropped into the teens the past couple of nights. It might have even been in the single digits last night. Tonight they are calling for icy precipitation. I suppose I would go for that over feet of snow. I'm sort of back in the woods, and massive amounts of snow would prevent my poor beetle from getting out to the highway. I don't think they are calling for that kind of snow this week. I'm thankful for that.

Cold

It always seems like there are a few days just as the new year gets underfoot that tease us with the thought of spring. I don't mind the snow, I really don't. It is welcome to come in November if it wishes. But once the Christmas and New Year holidays are over, my mind starts to wander towards spring things. And as if Mother Nature is echoing my thoughts, along come a few warm days. Warm enough to melt the snow and make me ready for flowers and life to start popping up out of the frozen ground. We had a couple of those days last week. My thermometer read 67 degrees Fahrenheit at it's warmest. You sure could smell spring in the air, and everyone seemed to have a little more spring in their steps. The chickens absolutely loved it! They hadn't been much for coming out of the coop the past month, but this certainly got them cluckin' around the farm. Even the cows dared to meander out from the barn. Then just like that, before you could say "Jiminy Cricket" it was gone. In it's place were the familiar subarctic temperatures. Once again we are in the throws of winter.

Still it has got me pondering this year's garden. Last year most of my support went to the local garden supply stores. This year I want to get my seeds ordered (soon) and start them inside. If you're into gardening, you're sure to know how buying 'pre-grown' (or sprouted) plants can add up quickly. So this year I start my own! The next step will be to SAVE my own seeds to replant the following year. The progress is slow, but I AM getting closer to becoming more self sufficient. Even if closer comes in baby steps. I wandered across a website that calculates you global footprint today and was shocked to find how many Earth's it would take to sustain our world's population if they lived like I did. I can't even admit how many, I'm so ashamed! And I do so many things to lessen my footprint; I can't fathom how many Earth's it would take if I lived less frugally.

Good Morning Chickens