Check out my progress on "Let Us Cultivate Our Garden"
I invoke the words of Voltaire not to commence an esoteric discussion of Candide but rather to introduce my newest endeavor: starting a garden. Several recent news stories have described how families now more than ever are beginning their own vegetable gardens, largely due to the current recession–organic veggies from your garden are quite the bargain in comparison to those available at the supermarket. While the cost-cutting consequences are appealing, I was most interested in gardening as a result of reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle for the Food Bloggers’ Book Club. Barbara Kingsolver’s account of her family’s year as a “locavore” has inspired me to adopt more a of local mentality in regard to my produce consumption. Plus, it can never hurt to further acquaint oneself with Mother Nature;)
I decided on the following items for my veggie wonderland: lettuce, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, red bell peppers, plus some basil. I am already getting excited for future bowls of gazpacho…Have you ever had a vegetable garden?
Judging by the way I have been eating today (i.e., veggie-overloading), my garden will prove quite useful this summer:
Monday
For those of you who have been reading for a while, you may recall that I had a minor obsession with mango-vanilla hemp protein smoothies last summer. Absence makes the heart grow fonder…
peach-mango smoothie with vanilla hemp, soymilk, & Mango Coconut Melange granola
Tuesday
“N” proved to be another tough letter in the Alphabet Oats challenge. Nuts, nutmeg, and nectarines were about the only sweet ingredients I could brainstorm… with no nectarines around, I decided on Nutella and nutmeg (plus several tasty accompaniments).
"N" Oats: oat bran, chocolate almond milk, pumpkin, & banana with nutmeg & Nutella
Nutella-tastic bite
I made Clean Eating’s Caribbean Tuna Salad again…minus the tuna. Chickpeas work just fine for me. I also changed up the dressing a bit by adding some cayenne for a little kick. That’s mango and red bell pepper on the salad.
Caribbean Chickpea Salad with peanut dressing; baked black bean chips
I enjoyed a little Rachel‘s bliss while browsing through the PB Teen catalog. Monograms galore, anyone?
Rachel's Pomegranate Orange Cranberry Cottage Cheese with almonds
My appetite for veggies beckoned hard-core tonight. This was my first time trying a Dr. Praeger’s product–I learned that putting the pancakes in the toaster is NOT an effective cooking method. Mushy, slight cold sweet potatoes are not so tasty. Better luck next time.
Veggie Plate: beans 'n greens; Dr. Praeger's Sweet Potato Pancakes; salad with walnuts; warm applesauce
made with canned turnip greens, Great Northern Beans, garlic, & liquid smoke
totally un-crispy pancakes
gettin' my omega-3s
Guess what I received in the mail today??
the latest addition to my small appliance collection
Hmm…perhaps it is not normal to be as excited about a food processor as I am. Anyway, I’d love to know: what’s your favorite item to prepare in your food processor? I was thinking pecan butter sounded good, but I’d appreciate any suggestions you might have!
Ta-ta for now, darlings.
Filed under: Meals
Caroline Yoder, dietitian-to-be and all-around foodie.
hummus in the FP is totally awesome!! Also pesto!
I’m starting my garden tomorrow
I had one last year and it was really small but we always had so many vegetables – its amazing. Free food!
If you microwave the pancakes to get them cooked through first (like I do with my veggie burgers) AND then stick them in the toaster, they’ll get crispy!!!
We have apple, cherry and pear trees, cherry tomatoes and an herb garden! I want MORE though!
Although I’m not a big fan of mushy pancakes myself, I probably would have wrapped them in foil and put it in the oven for 5 minutes @ 400 just to get in some crispiness. As for that processor you got: If I’m not mistaken that’s the KFP720 7-quart! I have a similar one, but it’s a 12-quarter and it’s black instead of red. I also have a little manual food chopper for when I’m fixing stuff just for myself. There is definitely one thing in particular that I loved from this post is your Caribbean salad. Wow that looks amazing!
I love Candide!
Nutella makes everything taste better.
Caroline,
I want to go to your house for lunch! That chickpea salad looks AWESOME. Is that from the current CE issue with the cupcakes on the front?
I have a garden! If you count a basil plant in my kitchen window… ;P
As for the egg white recipe. I LOVE the combo of stevia, cinnamon, and kosher salt on anything and everything. Salt is KEY to bringing out the sweetness of foods. I was trying to get away from using sugar free maple syrup and thought I’d try my fav combo on some eggs. It turned out delish so no complaints here!
Have a happy humpday!
Emily
We have a vegetable and herb garden but it’s always hit and miss. For instance our carrots we planted on year were basically baby carrots.
Yum to the N oats!! You can’t really go wrong with nutella
Dr. P’s are so mushy but I love them!
hi, i’m a new reader! your chickpea salad looks great. i’ve substituted chickpeas in tuna salad-type recipes before; i’ve found it works pretty well!
with summer coming i love to make raw soups in my food pro. gazpacho, creamy tomato and avocado, lots of possibilities!
I’m currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and I am also quite excited to start my own garden!
I dig your smoothie recipes; your blog was one of the inspirations for me to finally get a decent blender. All those smoothies look so good. As soon as I collect some fruits and other items, I’ll be joining the smoothie blogging crew
Enjoy your food processor, those things are amazing.
Thats beautiful food processor! Congrats, what’ll you name it?
I’m getting very excited about planting my veggie garden soon. I find that frozen potato stuff never gets full crispy. That chickpea salad looks awesome, much better than tuna salad. You always have the best looking oatmeal bowls.
I hope you don’t mind that I added you to my Blogroll.
Vegetable gardens are so fun! I can’t wait to hear how your garden grows LOL. I definitely LOVE sweet 100 cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs the best. They are easy to care for and don’t die on you – usually
Yeah for the new food processor – so fun! I use my food processor for everything from salsa to pestos to making up bean burgers to hummus!
That is so exciting that you will be starting a garden! It is definitely a dream of mine for the future, so I am looking forward to hearing your suggestions and tips
And I am very excited that it was inspired by the Food Blogger Book Club book!
Your chickpea salad with peanut dressing looks sensational! And I love how excited you are about the food processor…in RED!! Hehe, pecan butter sounds like a great choice.
that N oatbran looks scrumptious!!!! I need to make that!!! recipe please!!!
favorite thing to make in food processor: almond butter! so fun!
I’m so jealous that you have a veggie garden-that is so cute! I don’t have a food processor, but I think making some type of hummus or nut butter would be fun!
[...] to a certain arrival yesterday afternoon, I have been doing quite a bit of blending and processing today…read on [...]
Oooh, your little food processor is so cute! How exciting, isn’t it ridiculous how thrilling that is? My husband is always so amazed at how psyched I am at a purchase like that, it totally changes up my meals for weeks afterward! Have fun with it! -e
one of the many reasons i am excited to move back home BESIDES being reunited with my family again, is the great cooking tools….including a food processor and a GAS stove. ha!
those nutella oats look AMAZING btw. I’ve never done the choc. milk in my oats!
i agree… having your own garden is very healthy living… and it has a beautiful charm in it… ohh i like your recipe… thanks for your time… definitely going to try these too…
[...] 13, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized Remember when I planted my garden earlier this summer? Well, it has finally started to yield some veggies, [...]