The Modern Victory Garden

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone submits links to their blog posts summarizing their harvest for the week.   It’s fun to see what people are producing from gardens from so many different regions, and how they are using it.   Check it out and join in too!                

It was another week of minimal fresh harvesting.   As always though, we use stored, frozen, and canned items a great deal in the preparation of our evening meals, but the fresh harvests are at their annual low point for the time being.   If you are interested in what was cooked and what garden produce was used (whether fresh, preserved, stored, or frozen), you can always find that information on the calendar page.   I always note the harvests, what was cooked for dinner, and what garden produce was used in the preparation of those meals.                                    

Sunday afternoon I harvested some fresh chard leaves just before the snow began to fall.                                               

This was used to make the Sunday evening meal of stir fried boneless/skinless chicken breast strips in a homemade Thai peanut sauce served on a bed of cooked (stir fried) swiss chard leaves.   Usually I use spinach for this recipe but swiss chard is a great substitute.   Hot cooked rice served as a side dish.   This is one of our favorite meals featuring spinach or swiss chard leaves.   I found this easy peanut sauce recipe on the internet some time ago and have made a few modifications to suit our tastes.                                                

Simple Thai Peanut Sauce

• 1 13.5 ounce can of coconut cream (or coconut milk) 
• 1/4 cup of Thai red curry paste
• 3/4 cup of creamy natural style peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup of water

Mix all the ingredients in a medium sauce pan and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.    Turn the heat down low and simmer the mixture for 3 to 4 minutes.    Be sure to stir frequently so that the sauce does not scorch.     Remove from heat - use immediately as a sauce for stir frys or allow to cool to room temperature if using as a dipping sauce.     This makes a fairly large batch, but the extra sauce keeps nicely in the fridge for several weeks or can even be frozen.

Harvest totals for the week of January 9th through January 15th (rounded to the nearest ¼ pound).

• Swiss Chard 0.25 lbs

Total For Week 0.25 lbs

Total Year to Date 2.00 lbs                                  

Eggs collected this week – 7                                               

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener