With all the rain that drought-stricken Austin has experienced lately, my lawn has gone kind of crazy with green growth. In addition to the weedy grass that inevitably grows there, I have a great herbal pharmacy and salad bar.

So far the following plants have graciously popped up in my front yard:

1. Dandelion
2. Milk Thistle
3. Shepherd’s Purse
4. Wild Lettuce
5. Cleavers
6. Plantain
7. Henbit
8. Sow thistle

Most people wouldn’t understand my excitement. Cleavers? That’s the sticky weed that clings to your pants. Shepherds Purse? It’s tall and spindly with its flower stalks and little heart-shaped seedpods. And dandelion? Heaven forbid. But I’m giddy with excitement, particularly when I saw the giant dark green rosette appear – my very first milk thistle!

I’ve already discovered that wild lettuce, added to the bath, makes for a relaxing soak and Shepherd’s Purse is a favorite herb because of its antihemorrhagic properties (I tend to cut myself and get nosebleeds so something that can stop bleeding is a-ok in my book). So I’ve made wild lettuce and shepherds purse tinctures by harvesting the leaves/aerial parts, removing excess moisture and processing them in the food processor. I filled two quart jars about 2/3 or 3/4 full of fresh herb and then filled the jars with (cheap) vodka.

Henbit and sow thistle aren’t particularly strong medicinals, but they both can be eaten as fresh greens (the sow thistles are best when young). Other good greens include dandelion, which is also a great diuretic and liver cleanser. Cleavers is fantastic to support and strengthen the lymphatic system. Plantain contains baicalin, which among other things helps to support other herbs’ anti-microbial functions.

One important aspect of “survival” and self-sufficiency is being able to cook tasty food that is both inexpensive and simple to prepare.

Recently I was going through a bit of ‘food fatigue’ where my usual dinner fare just wasn’t exciting me, and I found myself wanting to pick up BBQ or something on the way home. As someone who follows a (s)low-carb, no grain diet, I really needed something besides my usual chicken, eggs or beans.

I had some ground beef in the freezer that I pulled out for dinner, and figured I’d do meatloaf or something with it. As things went into the mixing bowl, I must have grabbed a jar of inspiration because what happened next was nothing short of brilliant.

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/3 lb bacon (roughly 1/3 of a package), chopped
• 3 tbs or to taste chopped dried onion (I use my LDS onion!)
• 1 tbs garlic powder
• 1 tbs or so salt
• few shakes of black pepper
• 1/4 cup catsup or 1/2 can of tomato paste + splash of vinegar
• squirt of Siracha
• 8 oz goat cheese (or in a pinch, cream cheese will work)

Line a square or rectangular cake pan with parchment paper (for easy cleanup). Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix all ingredients other than goat cheese in a large bowl as if you were preparing meatloaf. Then while it sits for a few minutes for everything to meld, make marble-sized balls of goat cheese (pretend it’s playdough) on a plate. Then make a ball of meat and form it around your marble of goat cheese. Place in baking pan.

Bake in oven until tops of meatballs are lightly brown, roughly 20-30 min (okay I didn’t time it, I just eyeball them).

And.. eat. No sauce needed. (Really!)

If you want to get super fancy, add some chopped fresh cauliflower, mushrooms, onion and garlic to pan and allow these to roast shoulder to shoulder with your meatballs. Even better than meat and potatoes!

Makes between 10-12 meatballs.