Camping Meals - Eating Fresh, Local, & Healthy without Refrigeration!

My apologies for not posting anything as of late. August is a crazy month for us: my two children's birthdays, their family birthday party, lots of canning, our family camping trip, & getting ready for the first day of school on top of the usual chaos.  ;)

Recently we went on our families longest camping trip to-date: 5 nights.  Besides the normal parental worries of how to keep the kids busy for that long & what all we were going to do, I was worried about food.  Specifically how NOT to eat garbage out of cans, jars, bags, & boxes for 5 days.  To be honest, we eat so fresh & healthy at home 99% of the time that our bodies are simply not used to that much processed food, so if we had eaten junk foods for the entire trip, we all would have been sick.

I spent a lot of time before we left thinking about what I could bring that was fresh, (mostly) local & in-season, & could be stored without refrigeration.  My initial plan was to not even bring a cooler & just cool down our beer & watermelon in the river next to our camp site, but we did end up bringing it & buying bags of ice for safety reasons.  We couldn't leave our food that needed to stay cool in the car as it'd get hot & spoil when we were out & about, & we couldn't leave it at the camp site in the cool of the shade as there are bears in the area &, well, that's just not the brightest idea.  But still nearly everything I chose would be fine for several days without refrigeration, as long as it were kept cool.

I'm pretty finicky about certain things in my kitchen, so, for example, I brought one cast-iron skillet because those stupid aluminum pans that fold in on themselves & nest along with a cup, lid, etc, & a handle that swings out & is supposed to be secured with a nut but always seems to come loose when the pan is hot & full & you're trying to move it - those things drive me up the freaking wall...  ;)  So I brought one cast-iron skillet & a wooden cooking utensil & a wide spatula.  I also brought my good knives because it can get quite frustrating trying to chop lots of veggies with a cheap, dull camping knife when you're used to beautiful, sharp stainless steel ones.  And we brought one bread knife & our good salt & pepper grinders as well.  I did forget a few things, though, that will make it easier for next year: a cheese grater, a large cutting board (trying to cut a 12" zucchini on a 6" cutting board is quite comical), & a splash guard for the cast iron skillet as we got splattered on a few times.

So here's what we did for healthy meals while we were car camping for 5 nights in August:

Snacks:

• grapes (good for the first day, maybe overnight as long as it's cool at night where you are)
• apples (great with cheese or with peanut butter & raisins)
• oranges
• bananas
• peaches
• personal-sized watermelons

Snack-sized baggies of:

• raw, organic cashews
• raw, organic almonds
• organic raisins
• homemade chex mix
• organic peanut butter puffs cereal
• pretzels
• organic O's cereal
• organic bunnies

Other ideas for snacks (which we didn't do this year but good ideas just the same!):

• snack sized baggies of trail mix (if you do chocolate, just keep them cool unless you like them melty & messy!)
• homemade granola bars
• muffins (would last for a few days, at least, as long as the muffins aren't too moist & you can keep them relatively cool)

Lunches:

• peanut butter & honey sandwiches
• cheese, tomato, onion, & smashed avocado sandwiches (I would eat a cheese-less version of this, cucumber slices would be great on this too)
• grilled cheese (if we'd been hanging around the campsite one day during lunch, we may have made this, but we were out during lunch every day, so we packed the above two sandwiches with us)

Dinners:

Dinner #1: Soft taco night:

flour wraps

cucumber

tomatoes

purple/red onions

sweet peppers

jalapeños (for the grown-ups)

rice & black beans (brought dry, cooked on our camping stove)

cheese, cut into cubes (shredded would have gotten clumped)

I chopped up all of the veggies, arranged on plates in the center of the table, & we each made our own.

Above: most of the fixings for our soft taco night

Above: My soft taco before wrapping it up & enjoying it along with a cup of sun tea.

Dinner #2: Grilled wrap with sautéed veggies night:

flour wraps

Sautéed veggies in olive oil:

zucchini

yellow summer squash

purple/red onions

sweet peppers

jalapeños (for the grown-ups)

Wrapped sautéed veggies in a flour wrap & grilled on my cast-iron pan.

Dinner #3: "Meat" & Potatoes night:

This was too yummy for me to get a picture, I just wanted to eat it.  ;)

Zucchini burgers (zucchini, sliced, marinated for several hours in baggies with olive oil, balsamic, & fresh chopped garlic), served on organic buns, avocado as a condiment (instead of mayo, mustard, etc), with slices of onions & tomatoes.

Smashed garlic potatoes (peeled & boiled, smashed with freshly chopped garlic).

Grilled corn on the cob (silks removed, re-wrapped in husks, soaked in water for at least an hour, wrapped in aluminum foil & grilled until cooked).

Dinner #4: Fajitas night:

flour wraps

chopped cucumber

rice & black beans (brought dry & cooked on our camping stove)

smashed avocado 

I sautéed all of the following separately & arranged everything on their own plate in the center of the table & we each made our own fajita:

yellow summer squash

purple/red onion

jalapeños

tomatoes

sweet peppers

Above: My make-your-own fajita with rice & beans & smashed avocado prior to wrapping & enjoying.  Yummy...

For the 5th night, we actually went out for pizza (a tradition for the last few years now).  However, here are some more yummy dinner ideas:

Shish-kabob night:

I didn't end up making this, although I'd planned on it instead of fajitas, because we only had a propane cookstove & our fire pit did not have a grate to cook on, so I wouldn't have been able to cook the kabobs in anything other than the skillet, & that wasn't the cooking method & taste I was going for.  Next time I'll bring a grate for the fire pit, because I'd love to try these over a wood fire.  ;)

Cut veggies into 1-1.5" cubes & marinate in large baggie in olive oil, balsamic, & freshly chopped garlic, skewer, & grill.

Veggie suggestions:

onions (yellow, red/purple, or sweet vidalia)

sweet peppers

zucchini

yellow summer squash

Eggplant (or Portabella Mushroom) burger night:

This was another meal I wanted to do while camping, however my husband is not the biggest eggplant fan, so I opted for a zucchini burger night instead.  ;)

Grill slices of sweet pepper in olive oil with freshly chopped garlic & set aside.

Marinate 1/2" thick eggplant slices in olive oil & vinegar, grill, serve on organic bun with smashed avocado for a condiment, & slices of onion & tomato & pieces of the grilled sweet pepper.

If you're doing portabella mushrooms, I'd have these be a "first night meal" as I am not sure how well portabellas keep outside of the refrigerator.

Eggplant parmesan night:

This could be labor-intensive for camping but still doable, especially if you're nuts about food like me & don't mind taking the extra time for something special.  :)

Dice tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, & chop garlic, add a dash of olive oil, cook in a skillet, covered, over low heat until you have sauce (remember, it's camping, all food tastes better when eaten al fresco & it doesn't have to be perfect ;) ). 

Slice eggplant to 1/4" thick or less.

Dip in flour, then raw scrambled eggs, then breadcrumbs, & cook on a skillet with olive oil.

Serve with sauce & (optional) parmesan.  YUM!  

If you wanted to, you could do pasta although that's not really camping food, IMO, but griddle toast with roasted garlic on the side or fire-roasted garlic bread would MAKE this meal...

Nacho, Casadilla, Mexican Pizza or Mexican Deep-Dish-Pizza Pie night:

Chop up your favorite veggies, plop on top of tortilla chips or a flour tortilla, top with cheese (optional), & cook over low heat.  

For the Mexican deep-dish pizza pie, stack a *flour tortilla, rice & beans, veggies, cheese (optional), repeat from * & finish when you have the depth you want - you might want to bring a cast iron or terra cotta dutch oven for this or a round baking pan to assemble & cook it in.

Dinner side dish ideas:

• Baked potato (wrapped in aluminum foil & set on coals, turning occasionally, until cooked through)
• Roasted garlic (cut tops off of a head of garlic, set in aluminum foil "bowl", add a dash of olive oil, close up top of "bowl", grill on hot coals until cooked)
• Griddle toasted bread (get a fabulous loaf of local, organic bread, place in skillet with a drizzle of olive oil, & toast).  This would be perfect with roasted garlic cloves spread on top like butter.  :)

Breakfast:

I had a blast with breakfast.  Essentially I took whatever leftovers we had from the night before, mixed them with eggs, cooked them on the skillet with olive oil, & served them in a flour wrap or with a griddle-toasted bagel or slice of bread & VOILA!  Breakfast.  Yummy.

Leftover Sautéed Veggies & Eggs with Griddle Toast & Grilled Bagels:

Mixed leftover sautéed veggies (zucchini, yellow summer squash, purple/red onions, sweet peppers, jalapeños [for the grown-ups]) with eggs, cooked on the griddle with olive oil & served on griddle toast.  The kids had grilled bagels.  Yum!

Leftover Taco Night Veggies & Eggs with Griddle Toast:

I diced garlic & more jalapeños, adding the leftovers from the prior night's taco night: cucumber, tomatoes, purple/red onions, sweet peppers, jalapeños (for the grown-ups), & rice & black beans, & sautéed them all in olive oil, adding eggs, serving on griddle toast & adding cheese to my husband's.  The kids had griddle toast.

Leftover "Meat" & Smashed Garlic Potatoes & Veggie Pancakes:

This might have been my favorite breakfast just because of how wacky it felt to mix so many different things together & have it come out as yummy as it did, although to be honest, the breakfasts were ALL great.  

Mix together left over: smashed garlic potatoes, chop up zucchini burgers, chop slices of tomato & onion, cut the corn off of leftover corn on the cob (we had two), add eggs (I added two), mix thoroughly & cook on a skillet like pancakes in olive oil.  I served mine on griddle-toasted bagels & the kids had griddle bagels too.  Cheese optional!  

Above: My Left-over "Meat" & Potatoes Pancake on a griddle toasted bagel.  YUM!

Leftover Fajitas Veggies & Eggs

Mix together fajita leftovers & sauté on skillet in olive oil: chopped cucumber, rice & black beans, yellow summer squash, purple/red onion, jalapeños, tomatoes, & sweet peppers, add eggs & cook until eggs are cooked through.  Serve on a flour wrap, griddle-toasted bread or bagel.  YUMMY!  

Breakfast #5:

Since we'd gone out for pizza the night before we left, I didn't have leftovers with which to make eggs on the 5th morning, & besides I'd run out of eggs & didn't want to have to buy supermarket eggs or try finding local, free-range ones, however, if I had eggs, I would have done a simple egg wrap with sautéed peppers & onions & put cheese on my hubby's wrap.

Here are some other breakfast ideas:

• Scrambled eggs or fried eggs served with griddle-toasted bread, bagels, or a wrap.
• Pancakes.  I actually meant to mix together dry ingredients before we left to make pancakes while we were there but I didn't!
• Potato pancakes with white potatoes and/or sweet potatoes.  I usually add tons of grated veggies (zucchini, eggplant, yellow summer squash, onions, garlic, carrots, chopped hot peppers, etc) to mine so that they're more veggie than just potato so I don't end up in a carb-coma first thing in the morning.  ;)  I grate everything & mix it, adding eggs & sometimes a little bit of flour until they're a good "potato pancake" consistency & cook in a skillet with olive oil until cooked through, flipping half way.  These would be insane with smashed avocado on top instead of apple sauce or ketchup...  Mmmm...

I saved the best for last...  Dessert!!

So I only did dessert on one night because as it was, we were eating WAY more than we normally eat.  During a regular week day, it's normal for me to have a veggie juice for breakfast & lunch, have an afternoon snack, & a light dinner.  The kids usually have toast in the mornings (unless it's a weekend), a sandwich for lunch, & whatever I make for dinner, & they snack throughout the day too - sometimes skipping lunch all-together in lieu of snacks.  And the hubby sometimes has an egg wrap or two for breakfast or juice if I've made it early enough, sometimes eats out with a vendor for lunch or takes left-overs from home or has a "lunch & learn" at work where food is brought in, & for dinner, well, that varies greatly too.  But long story short, because I didn't have any normal housework, laundry, cleaning, errands, etc, to do, I had so much more time to cook so every meal we ate was quite large!  (I didn't bring my juicer with me as it is quite large, although I missed it desperately!  Those store-bought juices are not the same, they're too sweet for my liking!)  

Anyway here is my one dessert I made all trip, but I think we may have to do this more often than just camping!  It was scrumptious...

Peanut Butter, Banana, & Honey Roll-Up Surprise!

On white flour wrap spread peanut butter, drizzle with honey, top with banana slices & sprinkled with (dairy-free for me) chocolate chips.  Roll up.  Wrap in aluminum foil.  Cook over an open flame until the wrap is warm & the chocolate chips are melty.  Cut in half.  Serve warm & enjoy!  

Above: one flour tortilla ready to be wrapped up, wrapped in aluminum, & cooked until melty & gooey & yummy...

That's it!  Those are my camping snack, breakfast, lunch, dinner, & dessert ideas so you too can eat fresh while you're camping!  I hope you enjoyed reading!  If there's anything that sounds particularly yummy I'd love to know what your favorite is.  Please let me know if you have any ideas to add in the comments, I've LOVE to hear them!  :)

Thanks!  And Happy Cooking & Camping!  ;)

Subtly Fresh Cucumber & Sugar Snap Pea Summer Salad

This is chock-full of veggies & basil that are all in season right now, so if you try to eat locally & seasonally like us, give this salad a whirl!  It was rated a "10" by my "no where near as picky as most kids but still pickier than I'd like her to be"-daughter.  ;)  *Proud Mama moment*!









Ingredients:
2 large scallions/1.5 cups sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 small cucumbers/1 heaping cup, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
8 small-medium radishes/2/3 cup, finely chopped
2 cups sugar snap peas (strings & ends removed) cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup cooked black beans
2/3 cup fresh chopped basil
Wisk together the ingredients for the dressing & pour over veggies, mix well:
1 tbsp organic soy sauce
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp local honey

Enjoy!  And Happy Cooking!  :)

Banana-Oatmeal Pancakes

Doesn't it just figure that it's supposed to be 90 degrees today & my 2-going-on-3 "I know what I want" son wants pancakes, so here I am heating up the kitchen first thing in the morning.  ;-P  The things we do for our kids...  ;)

I use basic pancake recipe from The Joy of Cooking (doubled) simply to get the proportions of ingredients correct.  The recipe is entirely my own creation.  :)


Ingredients:
Wisk together in large mixing bowl:
3 cups water (if you want, you can use milk or your favorite non-dairy milk, however I use water to cut the Calories - these are just as flavorful made with water, trust me!  :) )
4 free-range eggs
1/4 cup olive oil (or vegan butter)
3 tbsp local honey, real maple syrup, or vegan sweetener
Slowly add the following, wisking as you add:
3 cups organic spelt flour
3 tsp baking powder
Fold the following into the pancake batter:
1/3 cup organic flaxseed
2/3 cup organic quick oats
2 cups ripe, mashed bananas
Yield: approx. 44 3.5-4 inch pancakes

Parenting note: The kids LOVE to help me in the kitchen, & pouring the ingredients into the bowl & wisking the batter is one of those things that they can help with, even at ages 8 & 2 (yes, even 2).  ;)  They love to be in the kitchen with me (it's one of the places I spend the most time in addition to being in front of the washing machine & at the clothes line, at the sewing machine, & in the garden) not just for the quality time, but they both seem to get a real sense of accomplishment out of just adding & wisking ingredients!  It really is the little things that kids remember, & I hope that they look back when they're older & have fond memories of being in the kitchen with their Mama.  :)

Work in batches, cooking over medium heat on a cast iron griddle, drizzled with a bit of olive oil/veggie oil/etc.




These are a big crowd-pleaser in our house.  :)  Our daughter had 3, the pup had 4, & our son has already gobbled up 5 (without sweetener like honey or maple syrup!!) with no signs of slowing down!  :)  My intention when I make these is always to have left-overs & these end up lasting 3-4 days, but one of these days it'd be nice to double this recipe so I have enough to freeze too, especially in the summer so I cut down on the number of mornings I have to heat up the kitchen.  ;)

Enjoy!  And Happy Cooking!  :)

Short Tour of the Kitchen & Flower Gardens July 11, 2012

Venting time. ;) I've been a vegetarian for 17 years (but I still ate fish, dairy, eggs, & honey) & I've only had a handful of incidents where I got take-out or was eating out at a restaurant & ended up with meat in my dish, either because I didn't understand what an ingredient was (like Mexican chorizo mixed with refried beans) or because the server or cook didn't listen to my request for a "meatless" meal.

However, since I've given up dairy just about a month and a half or two months ago, three times when we've gotten take-out from two of our favorite Mexican restaurants, I've ended up with cheese in my taco salad even after multiple requests for no cheese.  sigh  Yesterday evening my hubby brought back taco salad & he even checked it twice before leaving the restaurant parking lot to see if they'd sprinkled cheese on it.  Nope.  Got home & we all sat down to eat & I when I got down to the refried beans & cooked veggies, I saw cheese melted thoroughly & mixed in with the veggies & beans.  sigh  No, I'm not allergic to it.  I won't die if I eat it.  It doesn't even really make me sick to my stomach.  However it does make my allergies flare up & makes working out, well, challenging.  This morning, after my workout, I had a monumental coughing fit that was so bad I nearly threw up multiple times, just from accidentally eating that small amount of cheese yesterday.  Yes, I realize that there are bigger problems in the world ;) , heck, there are bigger challenges in my own life, it just bugs me when people don't take their jobs seriously.  In every job I have ever held, even if I was only making $7 an hour in a retail position, I always gave it my all because I take pride in what I do, regardless of the paycheck.  Even doing what I do now, not getting paid at all & putting in 15-16 hour days (full-time mom), I do it 110%, so the fact that people whose job it is to make food to order can't follow a ridiculously simple request like "no cheese" really irks me...

Anyway, back to happy things ;) , after working out, showering, & getting dressed, I went outside to let the chickens out of their coop & into their run & I watered the potted plants & walked around my garden beds, deadheading all of the day lilies & inspecting my veggie plants.  That is, without a doubt, one of my favorite times of the day.  :)  Before the (sometimes oppressive) heat & humidity hits & the kids are bouncing off of the walls, it's nice to have calm, cool, & quiet...


I've been checking on my yellow straight-neck summer squash plants once/day because I just love to see how quickly they produce fruit, but I accidentally knocked off one of the tiny squashes two days ago.  Whoops!  I've got to learn to be more gentle... ;)




(Sorry for the blurry-ness.)  My pepper plants are small this year.  I've scratched Epsom salts into the soil around the plants twice now (a tip I learned from a local organic farmer two years ago) which, when I did it to my pepper plants two years ago, had such an effect on my habaneros that my husband & I couldn't keep up with them & we're still eating the canned bounty.  So this sweet pepper plant is short, maybe 8-10 inches tall, but she's still bearing fruit!  :)  I hope the jalapeños, habaneros, & Hungarian wax peppers will soon follow suit.



I'd been worried that my (over a dozen) zucchini plants weren't getting pollinated even though I see plenty of pollinating insects outside all of the time so I was thoroughly relieved when I saw that most of the plants had started to bear tiny little zucchini fruits.  YAY!  No hand-polinating.  :)  It really is the simple things that make me happy.  ;)



I just love this variety of day lily although I'm not sure of it's name.  Like most of my flowers, it was given to me by someone thinning out their garden which, as far as I'm concerned, is the best way to get perennials because, never mind the fact that they're free, each flower reminds you of the gift-giver so it's like walking amongst your friends as you walk through the garden.  :)  This particular plant has gotten quite a bit bigger than last year, producing several beautiful blooms like this each day.




The hubby & I enjoy our heat...  Spice, that is, not temperature; we both actually seriously detest the heat & humidity.  ;)  This is my first year growing cayenne peppers & they're really coming along!  I have a feeling these will be a regular in our garden from now on.  :)




Our single-bloom day lilies have been going like gangbusters for a couple of weeks now.  I try to let no more than two days go between deadheading them, as they keep producing more blooms if you remove the spent blooms right away.  You can see a flower spike from a hosta too.  This is the only garden bed that had obviously been cultivated when we bought the house & every year I take many, many transplants from this area & add them to one of the garden beds that I've put in over the 5+ years we've lived here.

For more views of my garden, check out my short tour that I posted on on July 7, 2012.

Enjoy & Happy Gardening :)

Fresh, Juiced

As I've said many times before, I am not one of "those" people who can drink 30 ounces of liquified lettuce & other "green stuff" with a smile on my face & be happy about it.  ;)  *barf*  While I am whole-heartedly committed to my health, nope, not going to choke it down; if it's going in my body, it better not only be good for me but taste good too!  ;)

That being said, this is a fresh juice full of green stuff that won't turn you green as you drink it!  ;)



Ingredients:
5 large carrots
5 medium-large celery stalks with leaves
1 medium-large head of romaine lettuce
Yield: 26 ounces

Enjoy!  And Happy Juicing!  :)

(FYI - this was juiced in our Breville juicer, not blended in a blender)

Tropical Tart Juice

While my husband (who doesn't have a sweet tooth for candy, chocolate, ice-cream, etc, mind you) loves the sweet juices, I prefer the veggie ones.  However the tartness of this juice was a real treat!  It was good to shake things up this morning.  :)



Ingredients:
1 papaya, seeded
4 oranges, peeled
2 limes, peeled
Yield: 36 ounces

Enjoy!  And Happy Juicing!  :)

(FYI - this was juiced in a Breville juicer, NOT made in a blender)

Fresh Salad for Late Spring/Early Summer with Peas, Radishes, & Cherry Tomatoes with a Lime-Basil Dressing

Someone I know who used to garden quite a lot but who now buys the majority of their food at huge chain stores (*sigh*) once told me that, across the board, it's a waste of time to plant a veggie garden because you spend 20 minutes shelling peas only to end up with a tiny little bowl-full.  Well, not to be rude, but DUH!  That's why you plant snap peas & snow peas instead of shell peas!  ;-P  It's all about balancing the time & money that you put into it with what you get out of it, just like anything else.  There's a reason why I plant so many different varieties of beans & tomatoes - pst: they pretty much grow themselves & are simple to harvest & eat too!  ;)

Suffice it to say, I do not plant shell peas in my garden ;) however we did end up with a handful in our CSA share this past week in addition to a larger bag of the "less time-intensive" snow peas.  YUM!  What at treat!  :)  So I scoured my favorite vegan recipe website for a great salad or side dish with fresh peas but all I could find was a few hundred recipes for split pea soup!  So I did some experimenting and oh... my... WORD!  This is my new favorite salad!  It utilizes mostly veggies that are ready for picking in the late Spring, early Summer, so if you try to eat seasonally like us, this is the perfect salad for you.  :)




Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup fresh shelled peas
• 3 scallions, chopped (white & green parts)
• 1 handful of radishes (about 6 small-medium sized), chopped
• 1 handful cherry tomatoes, quartered (about 8-10)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lime

Mix all ingredients well.
Serve.
Enjoy!  :)





Variations:

• Substitute cilantro or parsley for sweet basil.
• Add 1 cup of cooked black beans (yummy protein!).
• juice of 1 whole lime as opposed to just 1/2 (I found that adding black beans weakens the lime flavor so using the juice of 1 lime instead of 1/2 of one evens it out).
• Later in the season, when local corn is harvested, I'm going to have to try this with corn too!
• Add 1 tbsp of honey, maple syrup, or your choice of sweetener for a sweeter salad.

Enjoy!  And Happy Cooking!  :)

A (Pretty Much) Perfect Day & a Short Tour of my Kitchen & Flower Gardens

It was a great day. It was one of those days that makes a month of, ahem, "challenging" days, worth it. ;)

In the morning, I watered the potted plants & deadheaded all of the flowers, including my vast number of daisies, which are by far my favorite for their simplicity, cheerfulness, & resiliency.

One of my double-day lilies. As much as I love all of the single day lilies that I have so many more of, these are a rare treat.

Elegant & beautiful. Day lilies. Hardy, non-invasive native or non-native plants are all you'll find in my flower beds. No invasive species here!

In the afternoon, I taught my 8 year old daughter the difference between a weed (grass & clovers) & a veggie or herb plant (basil, beans, cilantro, dill) & she happily & proudly partially weeded one of my raised beds. :) She'd hand off the weeds to my 2 year old son who'd happily run them down to the chickens - even managing to open & shut the door of the run all by himself!! (Proud Mama moments all around!!) :)

Here are several of our 12 week old chicks, happily munching away on their treat of garden weeds.

Later in the afternoon, I painted a good portion of the window & door trim on the exterior of the house while the kids played with the chickens & the pup.

The calm of the day was broken by a screech from my son.

Parents - you know "that" scream. There's "Stop bothering me!!," "I want that toy, give it to me!!" and then there's, "I'm hurt." This was a true "ouchie" screech. :(

Now since its been so muggy, the kids have chosen to spend their outside play time in the shade of their sandbox, the afternoon shade of their swings, or their pool as opposed to their clubhouse, so no one noticed when yellow jackets decided to move in to their clubhouse. (We've also never had an issue with yellow jackets in the 5+ years we've been here...) My son, in all of his 2-going-on-3 cheerfulness & playful glee disturbed their nest & got a nice bite on his cheek for it. :(

Fortunately he's not allergic (he's never been stung before!) so he just had a slightly swollen cheek & he bounces back quickly, & he was back to happily screeching while chasing after his big sister in no time.  :)  I was able to finish the painting & most of the weeding.  Happy kids, happy Mama!!  :)

While rain is a great thing for a garden, 5 days of non-stop pouring rain, a day or two to dry out, then another week of rain is nothing but paradise for slugs. I've never had an issue with slugs until this year but I knew that setting out beer traps would take care of them, however with so much rain falling every day I knew the traps would just overflow & dilute the beer & I doubted they'd catch anything. Above is my one remaining cucumber plant, the short, sad specimen that she is, bearing flowers. We'll see what happens. The slugs killed all of the rest, at least a dozen others. I replanted the area with peppers & tomatoes instead of more cukes.



My little man hanging out in the shade of the lilac bushes while I weeded.



We always have enough thyme, but never enough time...  ;)




One of our four little yellow squashes & the plants are promising more!  I'm not a fan of the heat, but these gals love it.  :)



One of our five varieties of lettuce.  They're doing better than they've ever done before!  Guess the trick is to buy transplants, not start from seeds.  ;)



They weren't quite ready for July 4th, but it was close!



Grasshopper on some beautiful lettuce.



So THIS is where the phrase "dog tired" comes from.  ;)  A very satisfied pup snuggling with her human brother's stuffed animal.

All in all, it was the best day we've had in a while.  :)  The memories of this day will get me through more challenging, chaotic days to come.

"Have a Great Morning" Juice

I've been making a batch of this almost every morning for the past few weeks, it really is a great way to start the morning, & it's super-simple to boot!  This is one of the hubby's favorites.  :)




Ingredients:
9 large carrots (or 12 small-medium ones)
6 oranges, peeled
Yield: approx. 44 ounces

This makes enough for the hubby & I to each have a jar.

Enjoy your morning!  And Happy Juicing!  :)

(FYI - these were blended in our Breville juicer, NOT blended in a blender)

Bok Choi Bliss Juice

One of the veggies that we've gotten on a weekly basis in abundance from our wonderful CSA share has been bok choi.  There's only so much stir fry & soup that one can eat, especially in this heat & humidity...  so I've been juicing with it!  If you love bok choi, you'll love this juice.  :)





Ingredients:
5 large carrots
10 bok choi leaves
Yield: approx. 20 ounces

Enjoy!  And Happy Juicing!  :)

(FYI - these were juiced in our Breville juicer, NOT blended)

Orange-Lemon Frozen Juiced Pops

(Okay just kidding, THIS is my final post today ;) )

If you've read my posts before, you most-likely know that we got a juicer a few months ago (a Breville) & I've been on a juice kick lately now that the full intensity of the summer heat is upon us. ;)

My daughter wanted to make freeze-pops with juice from our juicer last evening.  I was beyond exhausted from working outside all day on the house & in the garden (never mind the two crazy kids being at home with me) & I still had to make dinner, so making a mess with the juicer was pretty low on my list of priorities, but she'd been beyond well-behaved & a SUPER helper ALL DAY, so I sucked it up & we made juice for freeze pops together.  :)





Ingredients:
3 oranges, peeled
1 lemon, peeled
Yield: 4 large freezer pops, 6 small freezer pops

I'm going to have to invest in some more freeze pop holders!  These were ready to eat at 9 pm yesterday evening & as of this morning we only have 3 left!  ;)  My 2 year old son ate 2 bowls of watermelon & five of these pops for breakfast & snacking, so when he asked for a plate of melted cheese & banana-raisin muffins for lunch, I didn't have a problem with it.  ;-P

Enjoy!  Happy Freeze-Popping!  :)

(FYI - these were made with a juicer, not a blender)

Summer Punch Juiced

One last share for today.  :)

This is one of my husband's & daughter's favorites.  Not surprising, it tastes like candy.  ;)  I like it, it really is incredibly sweet, too sweet for me to enjoy an entire jar of it.  However if you have a sweet tooth, this will be right up your alley.  I made one batch of it (3 jars) this morning so I am planning on making some of it into frozen juice pops later on.  Yummy...  :)





Ingredients:
1/2 watermelon (yield: 36 ounces juice)
1/2 pineapple, peeled & cored
1 lemon, peeled
Yield: approx. 60 ounces (I split this up into 3 jars)

Enjoy!  And Happy Juicing & Freeze-Popping!  ;)

(FYI this is JUICED in a juicer, not blended)

Green with Envy Juice

I do know people who actually LOVE green juices...  I am not one of those people!  ;)  I've had one 100% green juice ever, & I barely choked it down.  Unfortunately I'd made some huge amount of it too, something like 40 ounces, but somehow I managed to get it all down.  Barely.  *gag*

So this was an experiment... I began with the spinach & bok choi, gave it a sip (*gag*), then added parsley & carrots.  This concoction is not only drinkable, it's really quite yummy!  :)




Ingredients:
2 handfuls of spinach (yield: 3 ounces juice & lots of foam on top)
10 pieces of bok choi
5 carrots
1 handful of parsley
Yield: 20 ounces

Enjoy!  And Happy Juicing!  :)

(FYI - this was JUICED not blended)

"Beet-ed" Veggie Juice

I have to admit when I did the juice feast a few months ago, I only drank one 100% veggie juice, & let's just say that nothing but liquified lettuce IS as gross as it sounds... *gag* For those 4 days, all of the juices I made were either 100% fruit or a blend of fruits & veggies.

However, with the arrival of summer, both my garden & our weekly CSA share have been overflowing with veggie-goodness, entirely too many veggies, actually, more than we could ever hope to eat, so I've been doing some serious experimenting...  I came up with this treat this morning!



Ingredients:
5 large carrots
2 medium-sized beets WITH greens
5 large celery stalks with leaves
10 bok choi leaves
Yield: approx. 32 ounces

Enjoy!  And Happy Juicing!!  :)

(FYI - these were JUICED not blended in our Breville juicer, which is a serious powerhouse)

Earth Goddess Juice

Now that summer is in full-swing, I've been doing some serious juicing. I don't know about you but when it's 90 degrees and 90% humidity, the last thing I want to do is eat anything beyond watermelon and frozen grapes. But I've still got to get my vitamins somehow... So I've been juicing for breakfast & lunch & enjoying a light dinner, something like a salad wrap with local veggies & home made dressing with garden- or farm-fresh herbs.  Sometimes I add a miso soup to that if it's cooled down enough in the evening - I like to throw a handful of chopped green onions or chopped radish greens into the pot as it simmers. If we're grilling I'll have a portabella mushroom, eggplant, or zucchini burger with a locally-made bun, piled high with farm-fresh greens and a little Vegenaise as a treat. ;) Yum!

Back to the juicing... This morning the kids, the pup, & the chickens & I were all outside enjoying the breeze & sunshine (especially after the muggy-ness that was July 4th, yuck...). After watering the potted plants, deadheading all of the flowers, doing most of the weeding & checking on my various veggie beds, I was getting dizzy-spells every time I stood up & realized it was 10:30 am & I hadn't had anything to drink yet (besides the obligatory 3 mugs of coffee ;) ). So we headed inside so I could make some juice for myself & get rehydrated. The result was this Earthy, satisfying blend of veggies that I've aptly called "Earth Goddess Juice."






Ingredients:
3 medium-sized carrots
2 medium-sized beets WITH the greens
2 handfuls of radishes (about 12)
2/3 head of romaine lettuce
Yield: approx. 28 ounces
(Tip: this is juiced, not blended. We have a Breville juicer.)

I like to pour my juices into a canning jar or reuse an empty, clean spaghetti sauce or a Vegenaise jar for the big batches (like this one) because I can put the lid on, carry it around with me, & give it a quick shake before I sip as some juices tend to separate.

Enjoy! And Happy Juicing!! :)

Grilled Veggie Tostada in a Tortilla Shell Cup with Crumbled Feta Cheese & Fresh Salsa & a Side of Cilantro-Lime Rice

Cinco de Mayo, to us, is margaritas, our spin on Mexican food, & spending time together as a family.  Actually, now that I think about it, a lot of our holidays revolve around good food, good drink, & time with family!

The Grilled Veggie Tostada in a Tortilla Shell Cup with Crumbled Feta & Fresh Salsa was inspired by Martha Stewart's recipe for Grilled Vegetable Tostadas & the Cilantro-Lime Rice that I've paired with the tostadas is Martha Stewart's original recipe (click the link to view her recipe).  This is a fresh but surprisingly filling dish & is just perfectly paired with the Cilantro-Lime Rice.  Add your favorite margarita (I'll share mine soon!) & this is a wonderfully satisfying, tasty meal perfect for Cinco de Mayo.  Both the hubby & I desperately wanted to eat more because these were so tasty but we were beyond stuffed after 3 of the tostadas & a side of rice!

Ingredients:

1 handful (1 bunch) of scallions, use the white & light green ends (personally I save the dark green ends for salads or omelets)

8-10 large white mushroom, cut ends off stems & compost, chop stems & tops into 3/4 - 1 inch pieces

1 medium yellow onion, chopped into 3/4 inch pieces

2 small zucchinis, chopped into 3/4 inch pieces

1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese (we prefer Cabot)

1 cup of fresh salsa (at least)

3/4 cup of freshly crumbled feta (I buy it solid & crumble it myself - it's a better deal & I believe it tastes fresher than pre-crumbled feta)

2 1/2 12" white wraps (I used white for a treat but my husband also like tomato & I prefer wheat)

several tablespoons olive oil for sautéing veggies

Get cooking!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using a large knife, cut the wraps in half & in half again (1 whole wrap yields 4 pieces).

In a large-cup (2 1/2 cup) non-stick muffin tin, gently press each wrap piece into each cup, forming, well, a cup!  You'll have 10 cups.

Bake the wrap-cups for 5 minutes.  This will "stiffen" the form.

In a 10" cast iron skillet, heat 2 tbsps of olive oil over medium-low heat (on a scale of min, 0 - 9, max, I set mine at 3.5).  Add more olive oil as needed.

Sauté each veggie individually until desired tenderness is reached (the scallions & onions only take a few minutes while the zucchini & mushroom take at least 10 minutes).  When each veggie is done, divide evenly among the 10 wrap-cups.  I layered mine first with scallions, then the mushrooms, zucchini, & finally yellow onions.

When all of the veggies are sauteed & in the cups, sprinkle the shredded jalapeno jack cheese evenly on top.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Remove from oven & allow to set for 5 minutes.

Serve & let everyone top to their liking with crumbled feta & fresh salsa.

After a week on nearly non-stop rain, it was great to spend the day outside.  We took our kids to "Touch a Truck" day, came home & got plenty of yard work, gardening, & mulching done while the kids played outside in the fresh air & sunshine.  The hubby & I whipped together this great meal & paired with my hubby's fabulous margaritas it was the perfect end to the perfect day!  :)

Enjoy!!  And Happy Cooking!  :)

Oven-Roasted Cauliflower with a Garlic-Mustard Sauce (w/ vegan version & several variations)

[For the record, this recipe was inspired by this recipe for California Poppers which was submitted to VegWeb by upforair on 8/31/07.]

I'll be honest, until I started incorporating more vegan cooking into my every day diet, I didn't cook with cauliflower that much.  Yes, I know, how odd, a vegetarian who never cooked with cauliflower much until she tried to vegan, how bizarre.  ;)  This is what I *love* about eating vegan dishes without actually going vegan (besides the obvious benefits of eating less dairy) - it's opened me up to vegetables & spices that I've rarely cooked with before and I probably wouldn't have experimented with were it not for my many failed attempts to go vegan!  ;)

This dish, or one of my many variations (seen below), is one of my favorite "cool-weather" dishes.  It's a pretty safe bet that when cauliflower is on sale & the temperature is regularly below 45 degrees, I'll be preparing this for my family.  That is, if I LET them have any; I've been known to eat the majority of this myself!  ;)

And yes, I am aware that it's not "cool-weather" right now, at least not in NH where it's in the low-mid 70's, I just had a craving for it is all.  ;)

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a large, oven-proof casserole dish, combine the following:
Ingredients: 
1 large head of cauliflower cut into small, bite-sized pieces
1 yellow onion, diced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled & cut into small, bite-sized pieces
1 small head of garlic (4-5 cloves), minced (or less if you're not as fond of garlic as I)

Set aside 1/2 cup of organic raisins to be added later.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the following well with a wisk:
Ingredients for Sauce:
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tbsp of your favorite mustard (I usually use a spicy mustard, but all I have in the house is yellow...)
1 tbsp local honey (vegan option: 1 tbsp vegan sweetener of your choosing)


Pour sauce over the veggies in the casserole dish &, using a spatula or cooking spoon, combine well.

Cover the casserole dish.

Bake for 1 hour with the cover on, stirring every 20 minutes.

Remove the cover, stir in the 1/2 cup of organic raisins, stir well, & bake for another 10 minutes withOUT the cover.  This gets the veggies nice & toasty on the edges.

Remove from oven.  Stir well.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes.  Stir & serve warm!

If you hadn't noticed, many of my recipes don't call for salt & pepper.  While *I* have weened myself off of adding salt to everything, my husband "needs" to add salt to everything!  If anyone in your family is like mine, I recommend keeping a pepper grinder full of sea salt as well as a pepper grinder full of, what else, peppercorns, close-at-hand for those salt-crazy family members to add on after the dish is served.  This will cut down on their "excess salt" consumption since the dish doesn't have any in it already.  ;)

Variations on the veggies:
Try red/purple or sweet vidalia onions instead of yellow onions.
Add a few chopped up carrots instead of the sweet potato.
Instead of adding a 1/2 cup of raisins for the last 10 minutes of baking, try a 1/2 cup of currants or other dried fruit, or a chopped apple or pear (if you chose the chopped apple or pear, you'll want to add it 20 minutes before the end of cooking to give the fruit time to cook through).

Variations on the sauce:
Instead of white wine vinegar, try balsamic, red wine, or apple cider vinegar.
Experiment with different types of mustard - my favorite is spicy brown mustard, but honey dijon, spicy dijon, or horseradish would be great too.
Add the juice of 1/2 lemon or lime to change up the flavors.

Happy cooking!  Have fun!  & Enjoy!  :)

Garlic Focaccia Bread (Vegan)

I'll be honest. I've made bread dough from scratch before. I enjoy it. I do. But having two kids & a home, a husband & a pup & half a dozen chicks, trying to get the house ready to put on the market, & making everything that I feed my family from scratch provides it's own unique challenges - lack of time being one of them. I make most of my yeast bread dough in the bread maker (it takes 110 minutes) & then I take it from there.

Preheat oven to 350.

(Place each measured ingredient in the bread maker in the following order)

Ingredients (makes 2 loaves):

2 cups water

3 tbsp local honey or maple syrup

3 tbsp olive oil

5 cups organic spelt flour

1/2 cup organic flaxseed

1/4 tsp yeast

Work with 1/2 of the dough at a time, knead, & roll out. Place on pizza stone. Drizzle with olive oil & rub in, working to the edges of the dough. Rub in minced garlic (as much or as little as you like - I like a lot). Grind fresh sea salt & pepper on to the dough.

Place in oven (preheated to 350 degrees) for 25-30 minutes). Let sit for 10 minutes. Cut into bread sticks.

Happy Baking!!  Enjoy!  :)

Broccoli & Black Bean Salad with a Citrus-Vinegar Dressing

For the record, my kids (ages 2 1/2 & 8 1/2) are not wild about this salad.  They DO, however, LOVE plain broccoli; so when I make this, I just cut up some extra broccoli for them.  ;)  As much as I wish they loved this salad, just the fact that they love plain broccoli is enough for me & it means YAY!  More salad for me!!  :)  This never lasts nearly long enough, even if I am the only one eating it...

Salad Ingredients:
1 c dried organic black beans, cooked & cooled; yield: 2 c cooked black beans
8 cups broccoli, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 organic apple, cored & diced, I like to leave the skin on (chose your favorite apple - mine is Cameo)
1/4 c toasted pine nuts

Combine all salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Dressing Ingredients:
2 tbsps local honey (vegan option: use vegan sweetener of your choice)
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 c low fat, plain organic yogurt (vegan option: use vegan yogurt)
juice of 1 naval orange
juice of 1 lime

Add all dressing ingredients in small bowl.  Combine well with wisk.

Pour the dressing over the salad.  Using a spoon or spatula, combine well.  Transfer to container with tight-fitting lid.  This salad is best after it's allowed to sit for several hours.  Place in fridge.  Shake occasionally - this is why a tight-fitting lid is a must!  Let sit at least 3-4 hours before serving.  I find this is really better after one day.

Variations on the salad:
Try a hand-full of raisins, currants, or other dried fruit.
Substitute diced pears for apples.
Try substituting toasted pecans, walnuts, or other nuts for the pine nuts.
Try switching out 1/2 of the black beans for long grain wild rice, quinoa, or another grain.
Substitute red/purple or sweet vidalia onions for yellow onions.

Variations on the dressing:
Experiment with different types of vinegar: balsamic, red wine, apple cider, etc.
Add 1-2 tbsp of your favorite mustard.
Add the juice of 1 lemon instead of lime.

The possibilites are nearly endless!  Have fun!  Happy Cooking!  :)

Enjoy!

Pomegranate Lemon Spritzer (variation: Pomegranate Lemon Raspberry Spritzer)

I love beer. I love good beer. And the good beer I love has lots of Calories. And good beer loves me (it likes to stick on my stomach & hips & thighs & not let go LOL!)... So I've been experimenting with lower-Calorie cocktails. Follow me all summer for fun, low-Cal drinks! :)

What you need:Citrus vodka (variation: Raspberry vodka)
Plain seltzer
Pomegranate juice
Lemon slices (I prefer organic)
Ice
A double-old-fashioned glass
A shot glass
A liquid measuring cup

How to make it:Place 3-4 ice cubes in a DOF glass.
Add 8 ounces of plain seltzer.
Add 1 shot of citrus (or raspberry) vodka for full-strength (or 1/2 shot for half-strength).
Add 1/2 shot of pomegranate juice.
Squeeze out the juice of 1 slice of lemon into the glass & place the slice in the glass.
Mix well. 

The spritzer made with citrus vodka is very refreshing. Substitute raspberry vodka & the drink is like liquid candy. Enjoy responsibly! :)