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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

WIAW: Running Low on Veggies

Mid-Week! More food! What could be better? This past few weeks I've been making some delicious meals. I don't think there's been one thing I've made that I haven't devoured. Ok, maybe I'm bragging a bit. But, it's really hard to mess up fresh vegetables, they're just SO good.


 

Breakfast: Oatmeal with golden raisins and pine nuts. Do you guys like pine nuts? They're like crack to me, and expensive, but so worth it. They have a wonderful piny taste to them.
Lunch: Whole wheat pita stuffed with pinto beans, onion, spinach and a Greek yogurt, horseradish sauce. Green beans, apricots and blueberries on the side.
Snack: Pita chips, hummus, carrots, mushrooms, cherries and Gouda.
First off, I'm not sure there's a better combination then Sabra hummus and Stacy's pita chips. I think the grocery store knows this too because their sales always go together. This week it was 2 for $6 on the hummus and buy one get one free on the pita chips. Score!! And raw carrot in hummus is very, very good.

Are you wondering what I did with those fiddlehead ferns? Well, I sauted them with olive oil and garlic and a bunch of swiss chard. Then added a few of our Chipotle Cheddar Cheese curds. I really liked them, the best way to describe the flavor is... green. They tasted fresh.
Dinner: Pasta tossed with swiss chard, fiddleheads, curds and stuffed eggplant(onion, spinach, zucchini).

Overall, another great week of food. Farmers' markets on Saturday again because my veggies are running low, hopefully I can find something new to try. If not, well, I'm definitely buying more swiss chard. I love that stuff!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Back to Texas: Japanese Tea Garden

More Texas!!! It already seems like it's been forever since I've seen Andrew in Texas, but it's just barely been a month. Only a few months left.
We managed to get a really good tour of San Antonio this time. Last time we were there together Andrew had just graduated BMT. Our exploring was limited by the heat and Andrew's requirement to wear dress blues everywhere. In the 100 degree heat, who wants to worry about walking around with blousings? So, we took it pretty easy.

This time, we saw all the things we didn't know about or have time for. Like the Japanese Tea Gardens at Brackenridge Park. This is a free attraction, and I like free.

I have no idea why the entrance sign says "Chinese Tea Gardens" there was a brown historical sign but I didn't read it. I blame the heat. It made me just want to walk around without reading signs. 

 The stonework was pretty cool, the park charges for professional photography sessions. And I can see why, it could make for some very dramatic portraits.

I was really there to take pictures of the coy...and the few random turtles.

Oh...and the ducks. So cute!
The flowers were great too, but I just wanted to walk around and enjoy them.

It was really hot at the bottom, and humid. So we only spent about 40 minutes here, but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we saw it this time. 

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

WIAW: Farm Market Finds

Happy Wednesday everybody!! Let's talk about food with Jenn at Peas and Crayons. 


My mom is here to visit this week!! By the time this posts, my mom and I will be on a river canoeing!!!
I've been doing a lot of cooking, trying to show her the food I've been eating. And I've got to say, I think I've been making some pretty yummy stuff. I go through a lot of veggies so last Saturday we went off to two farm markets, the Springfield Farmers' Market and the PNC 2nd Street Market in Dayton.
 We found lots of yummy stuff like swiss chard, carrots, beet greens, green beans, zucchini, yellow squash and fiddlehead ferns. Once the farmers' market nearest me opened I told myself I'd try something new each week. A few weeks ago I tried swiss chard and loved it. This week we went for a small handful of the fiddlehead ferns. We only got a small handful since they were $17 a pound. We also got some Chipotle Cheddar Cheese curds and a Gretna Grilling cheese. Which is like grilled cheese without the bread.

Now for the eats!
 Breakfast: Fried egg with wilted spinach, yellow squash, portobello mushroom and tomato. With fruit salad on the side.

 Lunch: Veggie tacos: pinto beans, squash, mushroom, onion, tomato, avocado and cilantro. With delicious green beans on the side.

 Dinner: Stuffed eggplant(spinach, mushrooms and gouda). Then a swiss chard dish with golden raisins, pine nuts and onion...soooo goooood!!! I'll be posting that recipe sometime. And roasted carrots with pepper.

Since we're talking about sensible snacking I figured I'd include a bowl of cherries. Which has been sitting on the table for daytime munchies

Cooking has been a lot of fun with my mom. She's a great helper and having her around encourages me to change it up and try my veggies in new ways.
Have a great week everyone!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

WIAW: Stuffed Eggplant

After a few weeks on vacation, it was time to get back into the cooking mode. Which means it's time for WIAW with Jenn over at Peas and Crayons.


 
 Breakfast: NAKED brand granola with vanilla soy milk.
Lunch: Grilled zucchini, portobello mushrooms and a greek yogurt, horseradish and dill sauce in whole wheat pita with fruit salad on the side.
Dinner: Stuffed eggplant and pasta.

After getting back from Texas I was in desperate need of groceries. I wanted a bunch of fresh stuff so I grabbed spinach, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms...you get the idea.

In a moment of inspiration, I decided to stuff that cute little eggplant.

Stuffed Eggplant: Slice eggplant in half, scoop out seeds. Don't scoop too close to the sides, you want all the meaty insides. Spray both sides with olive oil cooking spray and coat with pepper and a sprinkle of salt.

In pan saute zucchini, mushrooms and onions. Add spinach until wilted. Spice as desired, I did pepper and garlic.

Add veggies into eggplant boats and bake in oven at 375 for 15 minutes. Add cheese(optional). Bake additional 15 minutes.

While that's cooking make some pasta. Since I had leftover veggies I just tossed the cooked pasta in with the veggies and added a quartered Roma tomato to the mix.

It was kind of delicious.