Wildlife Gardeners - North American Wildlife Gardening

Fast Food� made at home� chicken and broccoli hot pockets recipe

Equilibrium — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:48:44 GMT

I don�t know where my kid got his first taste of hot pockets but he did and decided we needed to buy them to have on hand so he could feed his face between meals. I bought bulk from Sam�s Club and tossed them in the freezer. I don�t know why I didn�t look at the label when I bought them but�. I didn�t. Dumb dumb dumb dumb duuuuuuuuumb. Same old same old over processed crap loaded with all kinds of ickies and nasties and ingredients you can�t pronounce. But�. it got me thinking how I could make them at home in quantity to stick in the freezer for him as a �fast food� he could pop in a microwave. Here�s what I came up with for his hot pockets,
Dough

2 C warm water
2 packets yeast (I use Red Star)
2 T sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
2 T Italian seasoning
6 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in water. Stir in remaining ingredients. Let rest, covered, about 5 minutes. Knead for about 5 minutes then let rest for another 10 minutes covered.

Chicken-Broccoli Filling

1 medium onion, chopped
3-5 cloves garlic, pressed
6 C chicken, diced
2 medium heads broccoli, remove stems
1 lb shredded provolone cheese
� C grated parmesan
3 C condensed cream of chicken soup (I�ve used 2 cans of Campbell�s Healthy Request in a pinch)

Steam broccoli then chop. Shred cheeses. Mix all ingredients together. No particular order. I add pimento to it if I�ve got any laying around left over.

Divide dough into 2 parts. Roll out half the dough then slice into 6 equal parts, roll again to desired shape, and then put the filling in and fold over at ends. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Prick a couple steam vents in the tops then bake for 20 minutes at 400.

These hot pockets freeze well.
I did take some photos of these to send to one of my SILs since her kids are addicted to hot pockets too. If anyone wants to see them�. I can post em. The onions were from my garden!!!! I didn�t know it but there�s oodles of store bought brand recipes we can make using our own ingredients from our gardens, search results for recipegoldmine.com.
They�ve got major brands recipes for everything from Twinkies, hostess twinkies recipe | name brand recipes | homemade brand name recipes, to Prego, prego spaghetti sauce recipe | name brand recipes | homemade brand name recipes.

Peas

Equilibrium — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:21:32 GMT

I want some help picking peas. I found this when trying to find info on what varieties were split pea varieties…. no naming of varieties for split peas other than “smaller” “seeded kinds” that I should’ve ordered but…. I picked up on something that made sense for table peas that I didn’t know to think about, “it is important not only that the green peas be sweet and palatable, but that the largest possible proportion of the pods shall be in prime edible condition at the same time, and canners are influenced by these qualities in selecting varieties for their plantings, and in the cultural methods followed. The development of each planting is closely watched by an expert, who directs that it be cut and delivered at the factory on the day when he judges it will be in the best condition, the time for individual crops being sometimes modified by the capacity of the farmer to deliver and the factory to handle it. Not infrequently certain crops are left to ripen and be harvested as grain” How do I know from a catalog which varieties are most likely to be in prime edible condition at the same time? And, “Picking should be done after sundown or in early morning before nine o'clock and care be taken not to bulk the pods, as they are liable to heat and spoil.” and what does “bulk the pods mean”?

adding link, http://www.gardenology.org/wiki/Pea

Billions of bugs overhead highway

Gloria — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:00:09 GMT

any given summer day.

YouTube - Look Up! The Billion-Bug Highway You Can't See

Need a Suggestion

TimSaupe — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:07:54 GMT

I need a shrub/small tree that will not spread and can handle full, and I mean full, sun. It must be native and I would consider a hybrid even as long as both parent plants are native. Would prefer it to top out around 20' max.

Slap yourself up the side of the head stupid..

Equilibrium — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:58:21 GMT

I make a lot of soups and split pea is a fave around here. Coupla months ago I grabbed all the bean pods.... tossed them in freezer bags and.... tossed them in the freezer to deal with when I had more time. So this week I pull them out and decide I'm going to split them so I can dehydrate them in my oven to make my own "home made" split pea soup. Okfine. I pull out a bunch of bags and let them dethaw. I set myself up at the kitchen table and remove the pods. I've got a huge bowl of peas. Now comes the trick.... how to split them. A coupla hours later after pinching peas between my thumb and index finger to "split" them with a knife.... I don't have many peas to show for my time but.... I do have a bloody index finger from peas getting away from me and ricocheting all over the kitchen. My husband tells me to give it up and go to Bed Bath and Beyond and buy a splitter and just part with the money. So I drive over to the big mall and ask for help finding a pea splitter. Nobody knows what a pea splitter is. Okfine... I drive down to an upscale mall to go to Lechters to buy a pea splitter. I guess it's been a while since I've been to a high end mall since they tell me Lechters is long gone so I end up next door at the Pottery Barn. Nope.... no pea splitters there either but they show me some nice knives that'll split peas. I go home empty handed.... no pea splitter and I was prepared to spend $50 on one to avoid bodily injury. So I'm talking to my girlfriend.... and I tell her what's been going on with pea splitting and ask her, "saaaaaaaay.... you don't happen to know where I could buy a pea splitter online do you.... I've been looking and I can't find any to buy." Silence. The pregnant pause is broken by uncontrolled laughter. This is not a good sign. Either how to split peas was right under my nose or the only place that sold them was Lechters and they're belly up. None of the above. I've been trying to split the wrong kind of peas. Since I'm a native plant person.... not a veggie head.... would somebody tell me exactly what variety of pea to order that "splits itself" when drying? There's a green and yellow variety and it's the green variety I want.

I was had by duct cleaning people....

Equilibrium — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:27:37 GMT

I started cleaning my ceilings and every wall by hand from ladders and scaffolding ohhhhh.... a few months ago. I'm coming in for a close on this adventure.... thank God!!! Anywhoooo.... before I started cleaning the walls I figured I'd better get all our ducts cleaned so there'd be no spreading around mold spores and the like. I'm the typical neat freak they're describing at their webpage so I slapped down $$$ to rid myself of airborne atrocities. I've got my video tape here to prove how dirty some of my ducts were but.... we won't go into how much it cost me to have this handy dandy video of areas I could have reached myself with the attachments to my own vacuum cleaner. ;) Now I know exactly why they're saying "mold is gold"..... they hit the jack pot when I called and I soooooo hate being taken for a ride. I checked up on almost everything at this webpage and by gosh by golly.... the guy's right. If you're thinking about paying a professional to clean out the ducts in your home to get rid of all the ickies and nasties floating around..... read what's here, Editorial: Duct Cleaning - A four billion dollar farce? before you rob yourself of perfectly good money that could be used to buy things like ohhhhhhh..... native plants and veggie seeds!!!! Oh man oh man..... when I found that web page I had a REAL hard time showing it to my husband since he kept telling me he didn't think we needed to spend that kind of money since we were changing fliters every month.

Chicken feed.... start scooping duckweed!!!

Equilibrium — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:07:59 GMT

Scoop away, Duckweed as chicken feed. They had some good info on homemade chicken feed. Don't know that there's anyone else with chicken on the brain except me but if there is.... this was a good read.

adding more,
This post is part of our Homemade Chicken Feed series. Read all of the entries:

What do chickens eat in the wild?

The basics:
Grains:
- Growing grains for chicken feed
- Sprouting and processing grain for chicken feed
Alternative chicken feed ingredients:

Chicken on the brain!!!

Equilibrium — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:43:21 GMT

I'm ordering straight runs for spring and building my own chicken coop is around the corner the end of October soooooooooo�. I started looking for DIYs on how to kill and defeather a chicken. I don�t want to keep more than 10 egg layers and no roosters so that means we�re going to butcher the rest for our freezer. Pillsbury said he�d buy me a chicken cone for Mother�s Day if I could �process� one myself. Me�. I don�t know I can but�. I�ll have to give it the �ole college try. I watched some You Tubes and had some problems watching them but.... I made it through. I woulda posted the links to the best YouTubes I found but�. figured it wasn�t a good idea. I have a back up plan if I can�t kill food�. there�s a place called Hackers operating out of an old dry cleaning building that has a drive up window where you pass your chickens in and they pass em back out through the window plucked and wrapped in white freezer paper. The problem is the cost of gas to get there and $2 they charge per bird. I found some really good step by steps on �homestead poultry butchering��.. BEWARE�. photos show the butchering process so don�t be clicking if you�ve got a weak stomach, BackYardChickens Forum / Killing, Plucking, Eviscerating, & Cutting Up Your Chicken - Graphic! and processingphotos, and Homestead Poultry Butchering: Killing the Bird. One more, How to butcher a chicken in 20 minutes or less by Dr. Roger W. Grim, D.C. Issue #79. There�s folk out there doing this from all walks of life. I have a neighbor who said he�d teach me so here�s hoping he doesn�t end up picking me up off the ground during my �lesson�. Anyone doing their own butchering? Be honest.... if you're using a "back up" plan that's fine by me. If you're butchering your own chickens from start to finish.... do you ever get over the �hump� killing your food? I�m gonna have all my chickens from chicks and that�s making me nervous. I can�t have 50 pet chickens so I will have to take care of them myself or go to plan B.

Bay Laurel Tree, Bay Leaves, Laurus nobilis

Equilibrium — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:16:39 GMT

They're advertising 5 seeds for $7.50, Bay Leaves, Bay Laurel, Bay Laurel Tree, Herbs, Herb, Laurus nobilis - Reimer Seeds. They're saying, "Grow in containers that afford easy movement indoors during winter. Transplant into large pots as the tree grows." It's a "tender" evergreen that'll end up about 9' - 15'. I use bay leaves almost every week. They're right up there with pepper for me. Anyone growing Bay Laurel trees in pots and hauling them in for the winter with success?

Coconut Milk Yogurt

Equilibrium — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:53:09 GMT

This one's for hazelnut since we were talking about soy yogurt. **Disclaimer** I've never tried to make yogurt this way but... I remembered finding a few hints on how to do it. Here goes. This first one gives a heads up on the difference between coconut milk and coconut m Local Forage: RECIPE: Coconut Milk Yogurt (from canned milk). She says, "As promised in the Home-Made Yogurt post, today I'm writing about Coconut Milk Yogurt. A kefir or yogurt can be made with fresh young coconut juice, blended young Thai coconut meat, or even dried coconut, but this particular recipe is for canned coconut milk and is yogurt-culture based. We'll start our cultured coconut milk discussion with canned coconut milk yogurt since it's easy, and the canned milk is readily available. Then, maybe later we'll go pro with a fresh coconut recipe and slap a kefir on yo ass and ****. (Sorry Mom, I just signed up for this and, well, those words just slipped out.) Coconut milk, by the way, is not the thin liquid found inside the coconut itself; that's called coconut water. Coconut milk is a product made by steeping equal parts shredded coconut meat and warm water. The meat is pressed or mashed to release as much liquid as possible, the mixture is strained, and the result is coconut milk." This one uses agar flakes in the recipe and it's kinda obvious they're trying to get people to buy Vita-Mix but.... it probably would be a good idea pulverizing the flake, Homemade Coconut Milk Yogurt | GNOWFGLINS. That one was interesting because in the replies it's mentioned that rice milk and almond milk could be used to make yogurt too. Last one looked the best since they did mention the BPA in canned good and came up with a way around that, Homemade Coconut Milk Yogurt. There ya go. Try it and let me know if it's worth the time taste wise.

~Migration 2010! Post Pix & Reports Here!

Sage — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:46:56 GMT

I heard them coming! Honk, honk, honk! No, not traffic behind me, but Canada Geese overhead! Sorry, too fast for pix, but hopefully you'll catch some migration pix for us soon! At least, report what's happening in your area!

can someone ID this hawk?

CitraBenzoet — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:27:48 GMT

I was in my backyard today when a Bald Eagle and whatever this hawk is came flying in. They were chasing eachother and making all kinds of noise. I took some video which is pretty shaky and doesnt show too much
YouTube - Bald Eagle being chased by another hawk

here is a screen shot of the hawk

anyone know what it is? I thought it was a short tailed hawk but i guess those are only found in florida and well im in Minnesota, so i can only think its some kind of Kite but even that seems out of place according to my bird guide

Attached Images

hawk.jpg (28.3 KB)

Predatory wasp with spider prey

turttle — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:31:55 GMT

I was resting from planting my new garden, when I watched this predatory wasp escape from an eastern fence lizard, then go back for its prey and drag it about thirty feet to its den in less than a minute. It was truly amazing how fast it moved given the weight it was carrying. I'd love to know the species of wasp if anyone recognizes it (extra credit for the spider prey!) :tease

Attached Images

	unknown wasp carrying spider.jpg (170.0 KB)
	unknown wasp dragging spider.jpg (153.1 KB)
	wasp, unknown.jpg (166.8 KB)

Squirrel nest?

linrose — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 19:05:32 GMT

I think this is a squirrel nest, it looks like there are acorn shells in that droopy part hanging down the side. What do you think?

Attached Images

nest.JPG (135.8 KB)

New Facebook group!

amelanchier — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 15:29:06 GMT

I have been tasked with administering the new Wildlife Gardeners Facebook group. Please join here:
Wildlife Gardeners | Facebook
We will be using it as a promotional tool for this forum, posting snippets of interest from the forum and recent news. I also encourage members to post their photos of wildlife & native plants, & to invite people they know who might be interested. Let's make it a really attractive advertisement for our forum and for the practice of wildlife gardening!