Do-overs aren’t all bad

You either like leftovers or you don’t. 

I love leftovers because they mean I don’t have to clean up the kitchen other than the dishes we eat on and maybe the baking dish.  

I like to think of them as positive do-overs. No mistakes made, just a chance to redefine or recreate rather than waste food. On do-over nights there are no pots, pans, knives, mixing beaters, bowls or cutting boards to wash, rinse and put away. I can go to bed with a clean counter.  I may love to cook, but I hate to clean up.

 

I grew up in a house where leftovers were rare, because we were big eaters and if you have a hot dish that is protein, starch and vegetable or dairy or all the food groups you tend to eat more because that is the only thing on the table. My mom was also a stay-at-home mom until I was in upper elementary, so she had time to put a meal on the table and clean up after it.  

My husband did not grow up with leftovers because there were 6 in his family and four of the six were men. Their family could go through a 9X13 pan in one supper without anything left when all the boys were out of junior high and working at the farm.  His noon meals were made by his grandmother who was an amazing cook and who ate the single servings of leftovers for her solitary supper when the guys went home just down the road.

The Farmer was not a huge fan of leftovers when we married.  He has grown to appreciate them, because they can mean the difference between hot food and a bowl or cereal that may or may not have milk if I haven’t had time to hit the grocery store on the way to or from work.  I have also learned to reinvent leftovers so we aren’t eating exactly the same thing every time and so portions of pans of food don't become dog treats for her insulin shots or something to slog down in our trash bags.

Wasting food is not really a joke.  That line our mothers gave us about starving children in Africa is still true and sadly it is true in America.  One in four American school aged children is dealing with food insecurity.  They don’t know that they will have enough food and the majority of the food they eat is provided through the school lunch program (that’s not very comforting to me). 

This issue really bothers me when I think about how much our family throws away. Feeding America estimates that more than 70 billion pounds of food is going to waste every year. Read that again… 70 BILLION pounds of food.  They share these food waste statistics… “An estimated 25-40% of food grown, processed and transported in the US will never be consumed. More food reaches landfills and incinerators than any other single material in municipal solid waste (MSW).” That bothers me.

Our family is not food insecure, but I do know that too much of what I buy ends up in the trash and is a waste of my grocery budget. I love what Feeding America does, because while I do think we are obligated to share culturally appropriate technology, technique and opportunity with other countries, we are even more obligated to the residents of the country we live in. So I urge your family to think about a waste not,want not way to consume food. I use do-over meals as a way to reduce our food waste.

Today I got to share one of my favorite do-overs with a friend as we husked, washed, boiled and cut fresh Iowa sweet corn.  We are super fortunate to have several local producers of quality sweet corn which means great quality, fresh from the field and a way to support local economic growth.  

My favorite producers are the Hardin City Sweet Corn stands owned and operated by Todd and Allie Kjormoe.  They hire local young people to help harvest and sell at several locations around while extended family members are also involved in the daily grind of the business, too.  You can find them at Farmer’s Markets in Ames, Fort Dodge and at stands in Iowa Falls, Eldora and Hampton, Iowa.  

I would say that this year’s crop is one of the sweetest and most tender sweet corn that I can remember. Today’s corn was so good it didn’t even need butter or salt and pepper. It was amazing.  Buy it while you can! 

I will be hoarding the 30+ bags of sweet corn that was my take from our working bee.  I loved having help with the clean up and my kitchen honestly looks better after all that corn than when she arrived. I enjoyed that my working conversation with her was about experiences, not people and her  14 month old daughter was a great diversion for the Mini's. Today was a blessing all the way around.

This recipe uses either fresh sweet corn or frozen and can be made ahead and frozen after the corn pudding on top has been baked. The Farmer likes to garnish this with Doritos and extra sour cream.  Enjoy!

Do-Over Taco Sweet Corn Casserole

The Groceries:

1 pound of left over Taco Meat (You can find our favorite taco seasoning here)

1 ½ C your favorite salsa

4 C Sweet Corn kernels divided in 2-2 cup portions

3 C shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 pkg corn bread mix (we like the Betty Crocker brand, but any kind that will make an 8x8 pan is fine)

1 large Egg

1 stick butter melted

1 C sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

1 C Sweet or hot pepper, roughly diced and seeds removed

The process:

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9x13 glass baking dish.

Combine the meat, salsa and 2 C of the corn kernels. Spread across the bottom of the baking dish.

Top with the 3 C Cheddar Cheese and set aside.

In a bowl combine the corn bread mix, egg, butter, sour cream, final 2 cups of corn and diced pepper just until well blended.

Spread the cornbread mixture across the meat and bake at 375 degrees F for 1 hour or until the corn bread topping is well set and lightly browned.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Cherry Berry Crumb Cobbler

Cherry Berry Crumb Cobbler

Last week I enjoyed the Mini Me’s second year as a 4-H exhibitor at our county fair.  I take a week of vacation from my off-farm job to be at the beck and call of my kids and their projects and fair obligations.  It is the only week of the year that I unplug from my work and it honestly isn’t a week of rest for me.  It is a week that I do cherish, because I see my daughter grow and develop as a human. It also provides me with the deadline to make time to teach her life skills that I think she will need and personally benefit from having as a functioning adult.

This year we discussed presentations and participation.  She wasn’t immediately excited about doing a presentation this year.  I was a mean mom and made her do one, because I know that the ability to speak and interact in a crowd is a life skill.  She adjusted one of her Visual Arts Projects – a yarn print – into a working exhibit. She did well enough that she will be taking her presentation to the State Fair. She is excited and nervous and I’m thrilled for her and hopeful we can make it work.

This year the conversation in the car and barn was if my daughter would to do her own calf fitting. The Mini-Me made the decision and clipped her replacement heifer project 90% herself. It was a good first shot and I enjoyed watching her surf my phone to find videos of how to clip breeding heifers. We didn’t find that many, but she concentrated on the front legs, top line and tail.  Next year I’m hopeful we can take in a clipping clinic or find some additional resources online.

This year she was the only calf in her class and had to stay for the Champion Commercial/Cross-bred Heifer.  Her class had some really showy calves and one family had what I would call a groomer in the ring with them.  All the calves waiting were parked in the ring facing North and the groomed calf and another were parked facing West.  I counted the number of times that the groomer bumped into the Mini-Me’s calf.  Her calf was easy going and handled it well and he apologized once when he saw me give him the show mom stink eye, but my daughter dealt with it just fine. She didn’t lose her cool in the ring and she had prepared her calf well enough that it just came closer to her every time its space was invaded. It wasn’t the ideal situation, but I saw my daughter hold her ground in the show ring politely and without dissolving into tears for the Farmer to come save her from his place on the fence about 10 feet away from her.  That experience prepared her for times when coworkers or even mentors question or poke at her beliefs or values.

 

 I tried something new at this fair, too.  I entered some canned cherries in the open class.  I had never done that before and earned a blue ribbon and some helpful critiques.  A friend from church was kind enough to share some of his prolific cherries. I have 14 pints of pressure canned cherries that I can now use for pies, cobblers and other treats.

Lots of folks like to think that Iowa is only corn and beans, but our plant growing capacity is far more diverse than one might think. In every area of Iowa there are pick your own berry farms and orchards.  Before the accepted use of 2,4-D to control weeds in row crops, grape vines were almost an invasive species in Iowa’s fence rows.

Today, you can find producers of grapes, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, all kinds of melons, as well as apples, pears and some varieties of peaches along with the more traditional corn and beans. There are also commercial sweet corn and green bean, pea and other vegetable growers across the state.  

I’m fine with buying fruit at the store, and have bought fruit direct from the producer, too.  I like the ripeness of fresh produce. I love it when it is cheap and on my own ground but I don’t mind cheap from the store or direct from the producer.  My food philosophy is more about food security for the masses, spreading production out over different geographies and micro climates and serving those who are looking for local food production. 

I don’t claim that my gardens or selling what I grow there makes me a farmer. But, I am a food producer all the way from the hogs and cattle, to the row crops, to our gardens that feed several local families. I am realizing that the more we sell direct to the consumer, the more risk we take on and the more profit we have potential to net.  Farming is all about risk and profit and non-traditional crops may be an area where there is more profit per square foot for our family.

This is one way to look at it...

Hardin County Iowa Average Corn Yield 173 bushels /acre * 4.28/bu= $740/Acre income or $.02/square feet gross income ($740/43,560 ft2/acre)

Garden income over 16 weeks $1,125/2,700 ft2 in my garden= $.41/square foot and a lot of handwork and personal marketing. You work hard for those extra 39 cents.

Corn and beans are far more profitable on large scale production and when producers have loans out on land and 100's of acres to cover, labor costs for intensive food production quickly impacts net income per square foot.  At our farm we have close to 5 acres and a lot of free labor, so it makes sense to use our land resources to generate what income we can, how we can.  Our garden share will produce enough to cover input and marketing expenses, pay our property taxes and provide about 30% of our annual grocery bill.  I'm okay with those payouts, but a larger landed person wouldn't be okay with the amount of labor needed to weed or harvest and the time it takes to market the products.  That is just fine. There is a spot for everyone in ag.  It doesn't have to be one way or another.  Agriculture is a free choice haven, just like purchasing food is a free choice market.  If someone if going to pay me extra to do it one way or another, why wouldn't I consider the better paid option and weigh the costs and benefits?

Back to those free canned cherries and the county fair… The canned cherries were added to some fresh blueberries for a microwave friendly desert for a family fair supper at my parent’s camper. They were delish, especially with a big chunk of ice cream. The recipe is an adaptation of my mother-in-law’s recipe.  I’ve increased the flour to adjust to microwave cooking.

Berry Crumb Cobbler

The Groceries:

Crumb Topping

2 C All Purpose Flour

1 1/3 Cup firmly packed brown sugar

¾ C Almost Melted Butter

1/8 t Cinnamon

Berry Filling:

2C fresh Berries or frozen

1 Pt or 1 can cherries with 60% of juice drained off

¼ C Flour

¼ C Sugar

Dash of Cinnamon

Process:

Lightly grease a glass baking dish ( I like the size just smaller than a 9x13).

Toss berries together with flour, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

Pour into the baking dish.

Combine Flour, Brown Sugar and Cinnamon.

Stir in butter until crumbly.

Top fruit with crumb topping.

Cook at full power in your microwave for 3, 5 minute intervals or until the topping is crisp.