Garden Plant Protection and Tips

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To protect your new plants from pests and frost, cut the bottoms out of milk jugs and soda bottles (plastic) and put over your new little plants. Sprinkling them can also help, as the evaporation provides some heat and can safe guard them from early frosts.

Old stockings and pantyhose legs make great “tie to stake or trellis” material. The brown blends and the nylon does not deteriorate or cut your plants.

Put your egg shells in your flower planters or garden soil to keep it from getting acidic and it adds nutrients and keeps the soil loose.

Moth balls or dried blood can help keep pests from eating your plants, depending on what is getting into your garden. Some people sprinkle kitchen cleanser to protect their gardens. Remember after a rain, the above might have to be replaced.

Work your vegetable scraps into the soil for nutrition and recycling of the food. If you have someone that goes fishing, use their scraps in your soil for healthy plants. Coffee grounds and used tea leaves are also good for your plants.

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Nut Tips

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The easy way to crush or chop nuts with no mess is to place them into a sturdy plastic bag and roll them with a rolling pin. No mess, and very quick. If you want them finer, roll them longer.

Nuts are best stored in an airtight container in the freezer to avoid getting rancid (stale tasting). They have oils and the oils can spoil if left in the warm of your cupboard too long.

To substitute for nuts, you can often use toasted coconut or honey toasted wheat germ, depending on what you are making. Often nuts can be omitted from recipes. Toasting the nuts brings out their flavor better. Often you can substitute one type of nut for another, depending on what you are making. Keep in mind that they each have their own flavor and texture and color (sometimes is important to the eye appeal of your dish).

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Honey-Lime Fruit Salad

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HONEY-LIME FRUIT SALAD

3 cups Torn salad greens (spring mix is great)
2 cans (11 oz.) Mandarin oranges, drained
2 small *Red apple, sliced
6 Tablespoons Limeade or lemonade concentrate
6 Tablespoons Honey
6 Tablespoons Vegetable oil
1cup Poppy seeds

On salad plates, arrange the greens, oranges and apple. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl whisk until smooth. Pour over salads.

* To keep apples from turning brown, dip in limeade or lemonade concentrate before putting on greens.

Yield: 4 servings
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Mushroom and Swiss Cheese Omelettes

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MUSHROOM AND SWISS CHEESE OMELETTES
Low Carb

2 Tablespoons, divided Butter
4 ounces *Mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup Finely chopped red onion
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon Grainy Dijon mustard
To taste Salt
To taste Pepper
6 Eggs
1/4 cup Chopped fresh parsley
3/4 cup, divided Shredded Swiss cheese

Melt 1 Tablespoon butter in a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; saut? mushrooms, onion, garlic and thyme 4 minutes, until tender. Stir in mustard and season with salt and pepper; transfer to a bowl.

In medium bowl, whisk eggs, parsley and 1/4 cup cheese until mixed. In skillet, melt 1/2 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat and add half the egg mixture. Tilt skillet or spread eggs to cover bottom. Cook until set, lifting omelette with rubber spatula to allow uncooked egg to flow underneath.

Top omelette with 1/4 cup shredded cheese and half the mushroom mixture. Fold up filled portion over center of omelette and roll it out onto serving plate. Repeat with remaining butter, egg mixture, cheese and mushroom mixture.

Yield: 2 servings

Nutritional information per serving:
Total carbohydrates per serving: 19 grams protein: 39 grams; fat: 42 grams; calories: 611

*White mushrooms are fine in this recipe, but more exotic varieties, such as morel, shitake or cremini, would be even tastier.

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Florida Pork Chops

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FLORIDA PORK CHOPS

4 Pork chops (do not pre-brown)
*1 cup Orange juice (water added)
? cup Brown sugar
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Dry mustard (found in yellow can in spice isle)
? tsp. Lemon-pepper seasoning

Place chops in casserole dish. Mix remaining ingredients. Pour over top of chops. *Add additional orange juice, if needed to cover chops. Bake at 350? for 1 hour.

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Hot Potato and Sausage Salad

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HOT POTATO AND SAUSAGE SALAD

5 medium Potatoes, unpeeled
2 Tbl. Olive oil
1 lb. Polish sausage, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 medium Onion, chopped
1 Green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove Garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup Red wine vinegar
1/3 cup Chicken broth
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
1 tsp. Parsley

Boil potatoes approximately 25 to 30 minutes. Drain, let cool, then peel. Cut potatoes into bite-size cubes and place in large serving bowl and cover to keep warm.

In a large skillet, heat oil and cook sausage, stirring frequently until lightly browned. Remove from heat and add to potatoes. In the same skillet, saute onion and green pepper until crisp-tender. Mix in garlic, vinegar, broth, salt, pepper and parsley. Bring to a boil and continue mixing for 1 minute.

Pour mixture over potatoes and sausage, tossing lightly; serve hot.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

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Smart Squash

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Acorn squash is wonderful when made with pineapple. I wanted to eliminate all the calories in the butter and brown sugar when eating squash.

I take a large acorn squash. Wash the outside, slice it in half (the long way makes it easier to set in the pan without spilling) and remove the seeds.

Open a can (15 1/2 oz. approx.) of crushed pineapple (in its own juice) and do not drain. Divide the pineapple and juice between the 2 squash halves and put on a baking pan or casserole dish. Bake it for about 1 hour (covered) at 350 degrees.

It is moist, saves basting, easy to clean the pan and nutritional. Your fruit and vegetable (food pyramid) are combined in one dish to serve. If you have leftovers, scoop out the squash and pineapple and mix together ( mash if desired). If needed, add some milk or cream to make it creamy. Serve it at another meal by reheating it in your oven and brown marshmallows on the top.

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Thread tip

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Keep a bottle of your old bright red nail polish in your sewing kit. I use it to mark the slot on a thread spool so I can slip the thread end into it after sewing. This way the thread does not unwind and the slot is easy to find.

Running the thread through a cake of bees wax makes the thread stronger so it does not bread as easily. This makes it easier for gathering material. It also helps with threading the needle if the end also goes through the wax cake. If you do not have bee's wax, you can use a soap bar to make it easier to thread and both will help keep them from tangling during sewing.

A flat soap sliver is great to mark a hem or sewing location, like where a button goes, darts to sew, etc. It washes out nicely and makes a nice sharp mark if you use the edge.

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Cereal Yogurt Bars

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CEREAL YOGURT BARS

2 cups Raisin Bran cereal
3/4 cup Flour
1/4 cup Firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. Ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter or margarine
1 container (8 oz.) Strawberry lowfat yogurt
1 Egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbl. Flour
Vegetable spray
8×8″ pan
Pastry blender
Small bowl

Mix cereal, 3/4 cup flour, sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press 1/2 of the mixture firmly onto bottom of greased 8-inch square baking pan.

Mix yogurt, egg and 2 tablespoons flour in another small bowl. Spread over cereal mixture in pan; sprinkle with remaining cereal mixture.

Bake at 350?F. for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Yield: 16 bars

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Corn Chowder for 2

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CORN CHOWDER

To coat pan: Vegetable cooking spray
2 Tbl. Sweet red pepper, chopped
2 Tbl. Onion, chopped
2 Tbl. Celery, diced
2 cup Potato, diced
1/8 tsp. Salt
1 (10 2 oz.)can Low-sodium chicken broth
2 Tbl. Yellow cornmeal
1 cup Skim milk (no fat milk)
1 cup Frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed and divided
1/4 cup (1 oz.) Reduced-fat sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Coat a medium saucepan with cooking spray; place over medium-high heat until hot. Add sweet red pepper, onion and celery; saute 1 minute or until tender. Add potato, salt, and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender.

Place cornmeal in container of an electric blender; cover and process 1 minute or until powdered. Add milk and 2 cup corn to cornmeal; cover and process until smooth, stopping once to scrape down sides. Add processed corn mixture and remaining 2 cup corn to potato mixture. Cook over low heat until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently.

To serve, ladle soup into individual bowls, and top each serving with 2 tablespoons cheese.

Yield: 2 servings

Nutrition: Per Serving
Calories 264
Calories from fat 18%
Fat 5.2 g
Saturated fat 2.2g
Carbohydrate 43.6g
Protein 14.4 g
Cholesterol 12mg
Sodium 374 mg

Exchanges:
2 2 Starch
2 Skim Milk
1 Fat

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