The Garden Is Giving

   Last night our family went to our community garden.  Much to our surprise and joy, we discovered our little plot was giving up LOTS of goodies.  We took home flowers, tomatoes, and small amount of beans and beets.  I am so excited about the 'matoes.  The big ones are not quite ready yet, but the Roma's and Grape tomatoes are starting to give.  There is nothing like fresh food from the vine.  This year I went with Heirloom plants and already I have started to dry seeds for next year.  I also think the seeds will make excellent gifts for friends. Seriously, how could you not enjoy the colors of red, orange, purple, and yellow?!

 

Saaaay "Cheese"

 Lately nothing has beat the convenience of soup.  There are always leftovers to freeze and let's face it, "soup is good food".  I have been experimenting with vegan friendly options on certain foods we love around here.  How does one make vegan cheese broccoli soup?  The solution for this comes from a friend and wonderful cook in her own right.  The recipe she gave me can be found here, cheesy broccoli soup.

  Who knew that cashews and nutritional yeast would make such an awesome combo?! I substituted red pepper for pimento (that was what was in the house).  Otherwise I followed the rest of the recipe as written.  The hubby enjoyed it also.  I was very happily surprised at that. The kids were dipping there crunchy bread in their bowls and actually enjoying the cheese flavor.  The best part is, the leftovers are just as tasty.  You don't feel so heavy after a bowl (so one more was had by us!) I would say this was a success around here! I will be keeping this one in my cold weather rotation!

Blueberry Fields Forever

A summer must here in Michigan is blueberry picking.  The berries are large, sweet, and juicy.  We pick plenty to enjoy now and then some to freeze for later.  There is nothing like pulling out some berries in the middle of winter and baking some muffins.  After our hard labor, we rewarded ourselves with some blueberry ice cream!

The Boys Of Summer

   This past weekend  was very busy with a big family wedding.  I am so sad at the lack of picture taking on my part.  We were so busy with both J. and myself being in the wedding. On the day of the ceremony I did manage to grab a picture of the boys.  Everyone had a fun weekend, but we were exhausted on the final day.

Now that we are back home, things are coming together.  It is a slow process, but getting back to cooking and off the road food has been a great start. For lunch yesterday I had tomatoes and basil from the garden. There was real mozzarella cheese in the fridge to add, YEAH!!  Simple and so very satisfying.

 

A Day Of Thanks

We had a great weekend of giving thanks for family, food, and time spent together. The boys also had a great time being crafty!

Halloween Time

I love this time of year. There are TONS of fun projects to do. One that the kids enjoy the most is decorating cupcakes for Halloween. We have been invaded by ghosts, vampires, worms, monsters, and lots of candy.

A big mess always is a good time. Perhaps more fun for the kids than mom, but fun none the less. Yesterday I was working on cleaning up and reorganizing the craft room. I went through all the fabric and ideas I have/had. I think it is time to revisit some of those ideas. If anything there is some great stash busting potential there!

The Great Popcicle Experiment

After reading a super fantastic idea over at the ever lovely Urban Orangica blog, I knew I must try this for fall. The idea?? Echinacea Popsicles! (she is such a genius) With the wet and damp weather upon us compiled with all the flu talk, these are a great way to keep the kids (along with their parents) healthy.

The Ingredients

The honey is for some added sweetness. A good thing for the kids. I let the 5yr. old be my taste tester. (if you can get some local honey, might also be helpful with allergies!) We just brewed the tea, and let is steep for an hour or so (to taste). The kids picked out Spongebob Dixie cups to pour the tea into.

We let them freeze and then eat. The result? Happy boys who love their new treat!! YEAH!! They ask for one everyday. Even J. thinks it is great. It is the simple and easy ideas that can be the most pleasing!

Soup's On

With the weather turning cold and my love of watching No Reservations (might have small crush on Anthony Bourdain), has caused a food craving for noodle bowls. I want something simple, something warm, something good to eat. I researched what goes in a noodle bowl. What could someone who is NOT a chef or even a good cook make? Here is what I came up with. (Sorry for glare, not very skilled with camera!)

I used chicken stock (any kind, but prefer organic), about 3 cans worth. Some hearty Asian cooking noodles. I found these by the Ramen noodles, I did not use the spice pack. Added salt, pepper, garlic and a VERY SMALL amount of Chinese Five Spice. Then added whatever veggies were on hand. Mushrooms, celery, onion, spinach. Heat it up and eat. It surprisingly good! Who new, and there was plenty left over. I think it would also be good some chicken or shrimp. Might add heartiness to the soup. Overall, I am feeling like the craving is satisfied for now.

The Seasoned Summer

There is a wonderful shop in the town where I work called The Seasoned Home. On one side of the store is the most wonderful spice area. You can find anything you may need to zest up foods of all kinds. My favorite indulgence are their spice packs. They take out all the guess work and hunting for all the spices needed for a great rub. This summer we are grilling like crazy. Since I do the semi-vegetarian thing (only chicken, turkey, and fish) these are a great way to keep things interesting. One of my favorites is the Key-Lime pack. It is amazing, melt in your mouth good when grilled up on white fish.

I am hoping to try out the Bloody Mary mix while on the road this 4th. (not literally on the road, but while at the music festival). Me thinks it would be a nice way to enjoy a good camping brunch.

Meanwhile we have been running around trying to pack for this 4th of July. The kids have been so patient and good with all the crazy. I also think they enjoy all the camping gear that has been pulled out of storage and new stuff coming in. My favorite new purchase has to be the camping shower. I have a feeling by day 3 it is going to be heaven!

Going Gardening

We made it! The family loaded up the car and headed out to the greenhouse to stock up on plants, flowers, and VEGGIES! The goal this year is to have a modest salsa garden in containers.After much research and trying to be "real" about we could accomplish this summer, the container garden idea seemed like a good place to start. We are going to have peppers, jalapenos, onion, tomatoes, herbs, and for an experiment we are trying pumpkins and peas. We shall see how it all turns out. Personally I am looking forward to fresh tomatoes and basil.
The kids are very excited about growing the pumpkins. They love fall and the idea of getting to carve something that grew in their yard is very cool! Now that we have been to the greenhouse, the next step is getting it all planted and ready for summer!

What I Did On My Spring Break.....

With Yoda as our guide, we took a trip to Ikea, just outside Chicago. As you can tell, the weather was not the best, but the force was with us.

Believe it or not, as we approached our final destination, the skies cleared and a rainbow ended at Ikea. Can you see it?? It was a sign that is was going to be a good trip.

After a busy morning of shopping and wandering around in awe at all the goodies, a slice of chocolate overload cake makes a nice reward. It also provides much needed fuel for round 2.

It was a productive trip with photos coming of fabric finds and other goodies. Lots of fun little finds and good time spent with family.

This past week I spent the day braking in the new food dehydrator. The result?? I really love it, but I do need learn more patience with this dehydrating business. What I worked on were some root veggies and then a strawberry fruit roll-up.

What I used were parsnips, beets, sweet potatoes, and I had some left over green beans that I thought I would try out. The beets are just so pretty!! I added a herb and garlic seasoning to them to give them a little zing. That was a good idea. I think that the beets and beans would have been better, but I needed to let them go a little longer in the dehydrator.( a little chewy yet) I also tried some parsnips as well.
The end result was a great first go at it. I really cannot wait until the veggies and fruits are in season! I think this spring and summer are going to be full of wonderful eats!!

Oyi! I have finally recovered this weekend from ANOTHER day of feeling yucky! Down with a fever this time. This winter has really been a tough one around here. Before going down with the sickies I managed to get the new food dehydrator up and running. LOVE it. I did some testing with a strawberry fruit roll up and some dried root veggies. I cannot wait until the farmer's market this year. I promise to have some pics up soon.

I also did get some sewing done for spring as well. My Barcelona skirt is almost done! I am taking the advice from whispering pine and NOT hemming the bottom of the skirt. I like the idea of the frayed hem matching the rest of the frayed lines that happen with the skirt. It is my first time with a zipper and my first time with a lined skirt. I really am super happy with how it turned out. I also have my 5 minute skirt done! With the weather still very chilly there are no good finished photos, but here is one that I do have. Not the best I know, but you get an idea for the fabric and the easy F.O.E waistband. Still on the To Do list are a couple of shirts and a linen skirt. Then it is time to shop for some cute t-shirts to wear with all these fun new pieces.

A Place To Start

This week I am trying to be deceptively delicious with some of my recipes. I made the chocolate chip cookies with hidden chick peas. It worked. You have NO IDEA they are in there. It was a good place to start. Something familiar with just a little change. I find it encouraging . Now maybe we can move onto some other sneaky little things. It is hard when you have a kiddo who just refuses to try new things or anything "green" for that matter. So we will take the small steps with hiding something like a veggie here and there and see where it takes us.

Crockpot Love

This week we have had so much cold and snow. I have gone into hibernating mode and so I have broken out the crockpot. I have fallen in love with Stephanie's blog A Year Of Crockpotting. I just discovered her site and I have been so geeked about some her amazing recipes. I made the chicken and dumplings (above) and then I could not resist the baked oatmeal (below). Some warm food to help you feel toasty inside and out is just the thing we need around here. I am thinking for the next go around maybe to try her Crockpot Pizza Soup or the Salsa chicken and black bean soup.

Happy New Year

What a year it has been!! Lot's of peaks and valley's. The family is all down with severe colds today. I think a run to the store to make bean soup with kale might be helpful! It is yummy and those dark leafy greens are so good for what ale's you!

This year I am NOT going to make resolutions or decide the things that I am going to do. The list would be HUGE!! Instead I am going list a few things that I am NOT going to do this year......

1. worry about things that I cannot control
2. summit a mountain
3. get down on myself for not getting in a work out every day
4 get mad when new wrinkles show up
5. let a day go by when don't tell my family that I love them very much!

I hope that everyone has a very happy and healthy new year!

A family that bakes together, stays together. What better way to spend an late morning then making those traditional sugar Christmas cookies. I think what made it extra special was having grandparents here. My in laws traveled from the great frozen north (Michigan's upper peninsula) to have some time together. It was time that was much needed. We got our hands nice and dirty rolling out the dough, making our Christmas shapes, and of course eating some dough.

And here are some of our finished cookies. My decorating skills are terrible. The thinking here is that they won't last long enough to care what they look like! Great job everyone.

Fresh fruit and berries
Photo by G. Widman for GPTMC

Feeling better around here. This week is off to a bunch of crazy. A whirlwind of a day. It really feels good to finally sit down and stop for a minute. In this crazy holiday rush of a season, I am finding that it is good to stop and take a deep breath. When I feel this way, I tend to turn toward trying new fresh foods and living simple. Simple bread making, fresh herbs, earthy smells of root veggies cooking. I am thinking of thawing out some blueberries that I froze from those warmer days. I also may be asking for a food dehydrator for the ol' birthday. I am doing the research on dehydrators and using them for the family and cooking. There are some really amazing possibilities!

C is for COOKIE

Last week we hung around the house LOTS. We are down to one car due to a slight accident. ( I was rear-ended :( no one was hurt!!) So the boys and I made some cookies to help kick off the holiday season! We had a good time in the kitchen and all that hard work paid off!

My Man's Wicked Brew!

What did we do this past weekend? We made some homemade salsa!!! We used fresh tomatoes, peppers, and other veggies from the farmer's market. It was so fresh. A really good meal in itself. We ate it up with lime tortilla chips! We also had some of my hubby's home brewed beer. I think it turned out great! This was his first time trying to brew his own beer. I think he did a great job. He tried an American Ale. It has a nice reddish color and little bite with a fruity after taste. A great beer for the summer. Never stinky, always yummy. The only thing he has to work on is getting the carbonation right. Some bottles were more flat than others. Right now he is researching a brew for the fall. I think he will start brewing that batch within the next couple of weeks. I am hoping for a nice dark beer, but it is his choice as he does all the work! So here is to my hubby and his wicked home brew!

CHEERS