McDougal’s Farm LLC

What’s Growing On !

YES, EOW week

September 16th, 2021

Farm News

This week we are eating crow while the bobcat eats chicken….urg! We may have underestimated his cleverness and our inabilities. This week he got away with three more chickens…Score right now; Bobcat- 5, McDougal’s- a big fat 0 unless you count the skunk that got caught in the live trap instead….lovely. Our chickens usually roam the yard freely….seemed right and peaceful, but not anymore. After following a feather trail 500 yards into the woods that lead to a chicken graveyard, our chickens are now locked up night and day. It makes for some unhappy (but alive) and confused chickens.

The rain kind of messed with our scheduling this week but we still managed to get plenty done. Besides the weekly harvest for the bags, we tackled harvesting all the squash and pumpkins in one morning, a huge undertaking. Felt like an Easter egg hunt in an overgrown snarl of vines and weeds. When you think you have them all, you’d find another…and another. Four thousand pounds later…we think we found them all! Way better than what we expected. We snapped a picture of the crew flexing their pipes…that is almost 700 pounds of lifting per person!

With the price of specialty peppers in the store, there are probably few surfing the internet wondering what to do with an abundance of peppers BUT, here we are again getting cozy with abundance and pleased to share it. All the bright colored sweet peppers in your bag this week look just like the trees up north…reds, greens, yellows and oranges. We are thinking it is going to be a Fajita week! Love this time of year….bright colors everywhere!

Next week we will start serving up the squash, also have a few more surprises coming your way. Have a super weekend!

Thank you for letting us be your famers,

Jerry and Maydene

What’s in the Bag

This week is a bottom holder, and it is a colorful one! We put in a head of red cabbage, the tail end of the sweet corn (don’t get too excited, it is just a few cobs), a generous portion of mixed sweet peppers, a bag of new baby red potatoes, kale, kohlrabi (amazing with dill dip), onions and  a bag of carrots.

Zuppa Toscana ***** 5 star!

Creamy Potato & Kale Soup with Italian Sausage

Creamy, spicy potato and kale soup with Italian sausage. Similar to Olive Garden’s

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound Italian sausage
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3 small russet potatoes, thinly sliced
• 2 cups kale, finely chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste

To a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil. Brown the sausage until no longer pink. Add the red pepper flakes, garlic, and onion and cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent and the garlic is fragrant, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth, potatoes, and kale. Bring the broth to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat, stir in the cream, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into soup bowls and serve

Easy Chicken Fajitas from spendwithpennies.com

• 3 chicken breasts
• 1 medium onion
• 1 lime
• 3 bell peppers red, yellow, green or orange
• 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon cumin optional
• salt to taste

Instructions

1. Cut onion into slivers & slice peppers.
2. In a separate bowl, combine 1 tablespoon olive oil, juice of ½ lime, chili powder, paprika, onion powder, pepper, cumin and salt. Cut chicken into strips and toss with the spice mixture.
3. Preheat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high. Add ½ of the chicken and cook until just cooked, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Repeat with remaining chicken.
4. Set chicken aside and add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan. Drain the onions well and cook for 2 minutes. Add in sliced peppers and cook for an additional 2 minutes or just until hot. Add chicken back to the pan and stir to combine.
5. Squeeze additional lime overtop and serve over tortillas.

Creamy Chicken Fajita Pasta from spendwithpennies.com

• 1pound chicken breast (boneless, skinless) ½” diced
• 2tablespoons fajita seasoning homemade or store bought (see above recipe)
• 1tablespoon olive oil
• 1red bell pepper seeded and thinly sliced
• 1green bell pepper seeded and thinly sliced
• 1yellow bell pepper seeded and thinly sliced
• 1medium yellow onion peeled and thinly sliced
• 4cloves garlic minced
• 1cup half and half (or cream)
• ½cup Monterey jack cheese shredded
• 2tablespoons cilantro minced
• 8ounces pasta cooked al dente

Instructions

1. Combine chicken breast and fajita seasoning in a medium bowl.
2. Heat olive oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat and cook chicken for 7 minutes or until almost fully cooked.
3. Add in the peppers and the onion. Cook until the chicken is completely cooked and peppers and onion are slightly softened, about 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
4. Pour in the half and half and the shredded cheese, stir to combine until slightly thickened.
5. Add cilantro and cooked pasta and stir to combine.
6. If not thick and creamy continue to cook until it reaches desired consistency.

Emily’s Honey Lime Coleslaw from Tasteofhome.com

1-1/2 teaspoons grated lime zest

1/4 cup lime juice

2 tablespoons honey

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 small head red cabbage (about 3/4 pound), shredded

1 cup shredded carrots (about 2 medium carrots)

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

1. Whisk together the first 7 ingredients until smooth. Gradually whisk in oil until blended. Combine cabbage, carrots and green onions; toss with lime mixture to lightly coat. Refrigerate, covered, 2 hours. Sprinkle with cilantro.