Monday, January 20, 2014

Harvest Monday, January 20th 2014

This is a hard time of the year to be hosting Harvest Monday. I won't see a harvest for months. And though I am eating from my preserved stash, none of my recent meals have inspired me to take a lot of photos. It is just same old, same old. I have been having fun with making crackers, but no great successes. Though my last attempt had my husband happy. Of course crackers aren't from the garden. I'm also trying to transform some of my recipes to healthier versions.

Turkey meatloaf, purple sweet potatoes, kale

Take meatloaf. It has always been a family favorite. I finally got a version that we all liked that didn't have tomatoes (since I can't eat them). Then several months ago I decided I needed more fiber and made a version that was vegetarian. It was just OK. I think all bean "meat"loaf has a weird texture. I'd eat it but the rest of the family wouldn't even try it when the regular version was on the table too. So I'm trying to work out a turkey version. The two versions I made the other night were decent. One was all turkey and the other had black beans substituting for half of the ground turkey. I liked the bean version best. Half beans and the texture is right and the meatloaf is more moist. Now I just have to not over cook it next time. Maybe next week I'll try again and tweak it a bit too.

So I'm hoping my posters do better than I. In the middle of January with a long winter still ahead, I could really use some eye candy so I can dream about next year's garden and harvests.

Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to show off, add your name and link to Mr Linky below.

10 comments:

  1. I hear you, winter can be hard on gardeners, but the days are getting longer and pretty soon indoor seed starting will begin and spring will be here before we know it.
    Have you tried substituting tofu for part of the beef in meatloaf?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Enjoy the rest and the preserved harvests. Year-round gardening has few down times.

    ReplyDelete
  3. There's a little bit of garden eye candy on my post today. Now I could use a little eye candy featuring rain!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Enjoy your off time, it will get hectic and busy soon.
    Got a small harvest today, still in winter doldrums, trying to get into swing of things but don't have the energy yet.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am afraid I am not any help as no harvesting here either. Doing more kitchen work though probably. Your meals are all so interesting and different than mine. Isn't kitchen work all a part of gardening? Guess we can't control the weather. Hang in there! Nancy

    ReplyDelete
  6. We had a little harvest this week. I wouldn't call it eye candy but hey it's better than nothing!!

    We tried vegetarian meat loaf too and it really wasn't a big hit around our place either. My wife and I both liked it but the kids just turned up their noses.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have never knowingly either made or eaten meatloaf. My mum never made it for me as a kid so its not something I am particularly familiar with. I do very occasionally make a lentil and walnut loaf that I quite like but sadly the rest of the family is less than enthusiastic about it. I think 'never make this again' was the refrain last time....

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hang in there! Thank you for still hosting Harvest Mondays :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Much as we miss getting into the garden, we enjoy the chance winter provides us to cook with all that we've stored!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I remember when you first started blogging about your solanum allergy a couple years ago. Sorry to hear hear that it hasn't improved. Food plays such an important part of one's life and I'm sure that developing an allergy in adulthood must be really tough!

    I really like Ina Garten's turkey meatloaf recipe, though I forgo the ketchup and add chopped carrots, celery and mushrooms to it.

    ReplyDelete