Garden Update
Posted: June 29, 2010 Filed under: garden | Tags: garden 3 Comments »Time for a garden update!
I have a ton of these growing! I am just waiting for them to turn orange, yellow and red…I am not a fan of green peppers. All peppers start at green, did you know?
Kale! my kale is actually doing well. It is a little slow growing but seems to be healthy and happy.
These are my yellow pear tomatoes. I can’t wait to eat them! I have two other tomato plants once of which has some tomatoes that are almost ready for picking.
Eggplants. These are probably the coolest ones to watch grow because of their colors and shapes. Their flowers are also purple incase you were wondering.
And now we have some issue plants…
My zucchini. I cannot get one to grow past about 3in except this one and ALL of the leaves are dying on me! It was doing so well and seems to have lots of flowers, but none seem to come to fruit.
Cauliflower. Yep, that is what this is supposed to be. I am not really sure what happened. It started out looking like normal cauliflower but then I forgot to water one day and it was all down hill from there.
Things I need to remember next year…
- plants can get really big
- don’t over do it
- maybe try some mulch?
- watch out for over crowding
Do you know what is up with my zuc and cauli?
I also have some serious white flies but that is another issue all together…
Creative Eggs
Posted: June 28, 2010 Filed under: eggs, Great Harvest, Meatless Monday | Tags: carrot fries, dinner, eggs, Meatless Monday Leave a comment »Hello! Sorry it has been so long. I have been super busy and no pictures have come of it.
I thought I would post about a lovely Meatless Monday.
I was inspired by Ashley’s kale eggs for my dinner. I always wonder if it still counts and meatless if there are eggs?
Anywho, her mess looked much better, but at least mine also tasted good!
I tore up some spinach and kale and sautéed that in a pan with EVOO, S&P. While this was cooking I broke up 2 eggs in a bowl with some S&P, parsley, oregano, thyme and rosemary (All from my garden).Then I added some peppers to the greens and next, the eggs, slowly.
Covered and cooking – I toasted a piece of Great Harvest 9 grain topped with some mushroom herb cheese.
Carrot fries were in the oven.
When the egg and kale “pancake” was done I topped my toast.
Not as pretty and my whites didn’t seem to want to cook, but I got it done!
Great meal with no meat included!
Buitoni
Posted: June 24, 2010 Filed under: buitoni, dinner, foodbuuzz | Tags: buitoni, dinner, Foodbuzz Leave a comment »Another dinner brought to you by FoodBuzz Taste Makers Program.
Buitoni sent me a coupon to try one their new Riserva pastas or sauces. I opted for the Wild Mushroom Agnolotti.
The calories were pretty typical for ravioli, but I was a little confused about where all the fat came from. High in protein though.
thought they would be great paired with some veggies and ummmm homemade pesto!!!!!
I used basil from my garden, lemon, parm, EVOO and S&P to make my simple pesto.
So how did they taste? GREAT! Every bite was full of actual mushroom and cheese flavor with a perfect balance.
That is one big mushroom piece!
I don’t really buy many fresh stuffed pastas, but if/when I do I will definitely keep these in mind.
Things I hope Buitoni might consider; figure out how to get rid of some of that saturated fat and maybe try and whole wheat line?
Overall I would have to say these are the best grocery store stuffed pasta I have ever eaten and Nick also gives it two thumbs up.
Check ya later!
Purple Stuff
Posted: June 22, 2010 Filed under: dinner, farmers market | Tags: dinner, okra, tempeh Leave a comment »Have you ever seen purple okra?
Well I hadn’t until I went to the farmers market today.
Obviously I was game!
When I asked the farmer what they tasted like she said she wasn’t sure they were the first purple crop ever and they were just picked last night…give them to me anyway. I honestly don’t have many veggies I don’t like…radishes?
It looks the same on the inside.
Guess what happens when you cook it!
It magically turns green again!
I served my okra stars with onions, tempeh, S&P, EVOO and balsamic.
Okra is furry.
Have you ever had purple okra? Did you notice a difference? I did not, it was just as delicious!
Buns
Posted: June 21, 2010 Filed under: Nature's Pride, salad, veggie burgers | Tags: dinner, Foodbuzz, salad, veggie burger 1 Comment »I received something on my doorstep from the FoodBuzz Tastemakers program over the past week and tonight was the night to use them!
I used the buns as the mode for our veggie burgers tonight. They were soft and smelled great, but they were huge!
Where’s the beef? Does anyone remember that commercial? Well I do not but I did feel that way when I bit into my burger. I had read Sabrina’s review of the buns so I knew what to expect, but even with added spinach, mushrooms, onions, cheese and hummus you can see there was a lot of extra bread.
I enjoyed the taste and they toasted really well, but the thing that concerns me is that with these growing bun sizes, does that mean that America’s burgers are growing? I know there are some big ones out there, but are the every day burgers becoming 1/2 pounders?
This is nothing against the bun itself, just something I worry about in America.
From Nature’s Pride:
The Nature’s Pride Premium Harvest Hamburger Buns and Deli Rolls are the latest addition to our 100% natural, 100% delicious breads. [They] are the only all natural buns and rolls available across the country, and they are the perfect addition to your cook-outs this Summer–and beyond!
To go with my burgers I made a large side salad and leftover sautéed onion, mushroom, spinach and our first baby zucchini!!!!!
I had a nice little furlough day today so back to the grind tomorrow. Off to enjoy this first night of summer!
When It Gets Too Hot to Cook
Posted: June 20, 2010 Filed under: picnic, summer meal | Tags: bruschetta, hummus, olives, picnic, salad Leave a comment »When the temperatures get hot, the last thing I really want to do is spend a lot of time in the kitchen on a Friday afternoon.
Enter the picking picnic.
I stopped by Wegmans after work and picked up some olives, hummus and a whole wheat baguette.
I sliced up and toasted the baguette with EVOO S&P and while that was cooking I mixed up a little burschetta topping with tomato, basil, evoo, S&P, garlic and a little balsamic. I also chopped up some carrots to dip into the hummus so we weren’t going too bread crazy.
We also had a small cheese plate with goat, gouda, and a mushroom herb cheese from Whole Foods. Sissy was also invited to the garden picnic.
I love have lots of nibbles of different things and trying new combos on flavors.
The best combo that Nick and I came up with was – goat cheese + burschetta + toasted baguette.
Amazing flavor combo.
We needed a little more veg to go with dinner so I made up a giant salad for us to share from the bowl.
Garden lettuce, mixed baby greens, patty-pan, cucumber, avocado, golden beets.
Lots of goodies to go around. Nick likes to hunt out the avocado.
To wash it all down I double fisted it.
A little white wine and a glass of tangerine lime bubbles.
This was Nick’s 3rd vegetarian meal of the week and when I reminded him of that he said he was ok with that. I’m glad my boy has come so far! A year ago I am sure he would have never been drinking spinach in his smoothies or believing that a vegetarian meal could fill him up. I am thankful for having someone that is willing to try everything at least once and be willing to eat everything I make.
Lastly…
Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there!
Veggies Tonight
Posted: June 16, 2010 Filed under: dinner | Tags: ezekiel, goat cheese, grilled veggies, vegitarian meal Leave a comment »A veggie filled dinner:
Lovely salad of home grown lettuce, green beans, cucumber and tomatoes
The best part was defiantly the grilled veggie open faces on an Ezekiel English muffin.
Layers…
- Muffin
- goat cheese – key
- grilled zucchini from the farmers market
- roasted red pepper
- mustard
- (For a “man meal” I added a small grass fed beef burger with hot peppers to Nick’s and made it a sandwich instead of 2 open faces)
x2
I also had half a sweet potatoes worth of sp fries with mustard. I went a little crazy with the mustard tonight.
I am working on some races…nothing bigger than a 10k except maybe the Baltimore 1/2…I am so up in the air about it!!!!
Time for Top Chef! I am so excited for the new season!
Have a great night all!
Ever See a Green Bean Do This?
Posted: June 15, 2010 Filed under: dinner | Tags: chicken, dinner, green beans, harvest grains Leave a comment »Tonight I experimented with a recipe I read about in Heidi Swanson’s book Super Natural Cooking. This cookbook is really amazing. It isn’t just recipes but ways to make your whole life more natural.
I made my own version tonight with what I had for her citrus green beans.
The coolest part of the recipe was using my mandolin to slice little circles of green beans.
- 1 lb organic green beans
- 1/2 pint mushrooms
- zest of one lime
- zest of one lemon
- EVOO
- S&P
- garlic clove
Slice the green beans into tiny circles with either a mandolin or food processor. This takes time and try not to cut your finger like I did. While you are slices start sautéing the mushrooms in the oil, S&P and garlic. When the mushrooms are almost done add the beans and then 3 min later add the zest.
I really liked these simple beans and I think they would be great cold at a summer bbq. The original did not include the mushrooms but I love them so they went in.
Along with the beans I made some harvest grains and organic chicken breasts baked in an almond meal, garlic powder, chili powder and S&P crust.
I think tonight was the first time we haven’t had salad with dinner. It was kind of weird, like something was missing.
Salads and summer go hand in hand.
Meatless Monday Meal
Posted: June 14, 2010 Filed under: Meatless Monday | Tags: eggs, salad, tortilla, veggies Leave a comment »Before the food I must say that I had the best experience at REI this afternoon. The bike guy sat down with me and helped me changed my tire one on one and adjusted my detailer and brakes. We spent 1.5 hours on Chip and I got three tubes, a mini pump, tire levers and a tool all for $89. I was so thankful for his help, I felt bad not tipping him or something.
Anyway onto the food!
I had planned on making veggie stuffed crepes from Clean Eating, but when I read that the crepe batter needed to set for a hour, I switched to tortillas.
I also needed to figure out how to get the protein back in the meal (crepes have lots of eggs)
So I ended up making a sort of frittata on a tortilla.
In the pan
- 1 onion
- 1/2 pint mushrooms
- 1 roasted red pepper
- 2 scallions
- goat cheese
- 2 eggs
- splash skim
- spinach
- splash of white wine or rose (I found a way to use it mom!)
- sauté onion and mushrooms in pan
- add spinach until wilted and wine
- add roasted red pepper and scallion
- beat 2 eggs with skim
- pour eggs over flattened veggie mix
- sprinkle with goat cheese
- cover
- cook about 3 min
- cut in half and place on tortilla
Along with our veggie and eggs I made a little side salad of garden lettuce, green beans, tomatoes and cucumbers.
Good Meatless Monday, but it would have been better with crepes I think to make it lighter. Maybe next time! At least Nick enjoyed it too!
Slowly Headed Back
Posted: June 14, 2010 Filed under: weekend | Tags: maine, Sicily Leave a comment »Good Morning!
Sorry I have been MIA for awhile. I should be posting more often now that my momma loaned me her camera for a month.
Thanks Grandma!
Here are a few pics from memorial day weekend in Maine that I found on the memory card.
Mom and Poppop playing croquet. I won!
Gig playing with Poppop’s new Boston belt.
Me and Poppop. See the ocean?!?! It smells amazing there.
See you later tonight for a new recipe!
