Last night’s dinner was so delicious and summery.
It was also so easy I was able to make it while doing a grad school chat.
- Slice zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes
- Place zucchini and eggplant on a foiled cookie sheet, sprayed with pam, and sprinkle with my favorite seasoning, Garlic Wine Seasoning from The Melting Pot restaurant.
- Broil for about 10 min, or until browned how you like them. I would have had Brady grill them but he was playing basketball after work and I didn’t want to wait until 9pm to eat!
- When veggies are done, slice some fresh mozzarella and fresh basil.
- Layer eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes. Add cheese and basil. Drizzle with balsamic and EVOO!
- Enjoy
So I have been having some troubles in my garden that I was a little ashamed to share. I decided I might as well share and see if anyone can help me.
The problem is I don’t know why some of the plants in my garden are growing out of control. I used an organic plant food called Platitone at the beginning of the planting – a few months ago and I have not put anything on the plants since then.
I think one of the problems is that I didn’t/don’t know when to pick the harvest…Check this out.
Broccoli
To show how tall this broccoli really is, I took a picture of my fence, which comes up to my waist.
Check out the lettuce – romaine, in the background and the huge broccoli plant.
Romaine on the left and butter lettuce on the right. Weird, I know.
What is going on?!
To show that I am not a complete failure, I will show you parts of my garden that are flourishing!
Kale
Zucchini
Peppers
Stoplight tomatoes
More tomatoes
Any ideas for the crazy tall plants?!
Roasted Cashews- A soft blend of roasted cashews, granola and a touch of honey
Nutritional facts: serving size is 1oz (about 8 clusters); about 4 ½ servings per container; calories- 150; calories from fat 60; tatal fat 7g, saturated fat 1g, trans fat 0g; cholesterol 0mg; sodium 200mg; total carbohydrates 18g; dietary fiber 1g; sugars 8g; protein 4g.
Honey Roasted Peanut- A blend of honey roasted peanuts, granola and a touch of honey.
Nutritional facts: is 1oz (about 7 clusters); about 5 servings per container;Calories 140; calories from fat 80; tatal fat 7g, saturated fat 1g, trans fat 0g; cholesterol 0mg; sodium 160mg; total carbohydrates 15g; dietary fiber 1g; sugars 8g; protein 5g.
Nut Lovers- Filled with cashews, pecans, peanuts, granola and a thouch of honey.
Nutritional Facts: serving size is 1oz (about 7 clusters); about 5 servings per container; calories- 160; calories from fat 90; tatal fat 7g, saturated fat 1.5g, trans fat 0g; cholesterol 0mg; sodium 130mg; total carbohydrates 14g; dietary fiber 1g; sugars 7g; protein 4g.
Roasted Almond- Delicious blend of roasted almonds, granola and a touch of honey.
Nutritional Facts: serving size is 1oz (about 7 clusters); about 5 servings per container; calories- 140; calories from fat 60; tatal fat 7g, saturated fat 0.5g, trans fat 0g; cholesterol 0mg; sodium 160mg; total carbohydrates 15g; dietary fiber 2g; sugars 7g; protein 4g.
Overall, each of these bags of treats were delicious. You could use them as a snack, crumbed on oatmeal or tossed in a bowl of cereal. I would pick up a bag for a treat!
For more information on the New Granola Nut Clusters visit Nature Valley’s official website for more details.
Thank you MyBlogSpark!
I have a new love. Well, actually two new loves.
1. Banana Soft Serve – Thanks to Gena for getting us hooked!
- 1 frozen banana – cut into cubes before freezing
- splash of almond milk
Blend the two in the magic bullet and you are done!
2. Cocoa Sauce
- 1 tbsp. dark cocoa
- 1/2 tsp. agave
- 1 teeny tiny splash of almond milk
Stir together and enjoy with fruit!
The two together:
Today was a good day. I ran about 6 miles with Katie this morning, after a delicious mug of iced coffee.
Then I …
- watered the plants, especially the garden
- weeded
- vacuumed the whole house
- dusted the down stairs
- cleaned out my hair stuff – headbands and ribbons I don’t use anymore
- folded laundry and put it away
- washed the kitchen floor
- cleaned the bathrooms
- wrote a few belated thank you notes
- unloaded the dishwasher
- painted the mudroom
- wrote a grad school paper on Increasing Reading Comprehension
I didn’t really leave the house today because I had a ton to do and if I went anywhere, chances are, I would have ended up shopping!
Somewhere in the middle of the list of things I was doing, I stopped for lunch. The perfect lunch. A repeat from last night’s dinner with the addition of some sprialized beets.
In the collard greens:
- hummus
- guac
- refried beans
- spiralized beets
- mango salsa
- a spoonful of rice
- spicy taco sauce
Lunch Dessert:
Cherries, Strawberries and AB
Then I had a purple monster(blueberries, banana, Vega Smoothie Infusion, almond milk) around 3:30pm, while I was working on the paper. It was the perfect day to sit outside on the deck and write, warm and sunny but not hot and sweaty.
Then Janelle, Brady’s sister, and I rode on the bike path for about an hour. When we got home, we were hungry!
I have an obsession with cookbooks and cooking magazines, as I assume many people who read food blogs do, and Brady called me out on it this weekend. We were driving to the lake and as always, I was looking through a magazine ripping out recipes I want to try. Brady looked over at what I was doing and said “why don’t you every make any of the those recipes, you are always finding them.” True. Very True.
So tonight I made my own adaptation of Cous Cous Cakes from this month’s Cooking Light. We enjoyed these little cakes/piles of whole grain goodness, with salmon.
Balsamic Honey Salmon
- balsamic vinegar
- honey dijon mustard
- honey
- salt and pepper
Cover salmon with the listed ingredients and marinate all day!
Quinoa Cakes – adapted from Cooking Light’s CousCous Cakes
- 1 c. quinoa cooked in 2 c. water
- 4 fresh basil leaves chopped into little pieces
- 3 small peppers, chopped into little pieces
- 2 egg whites
- 2 laughing cow light cheese wedges
- salt and pepper
- Mix cooked quinoa with above ingredients.
- Spoon quinoa mixture into a sprayed frying pan.
- Let quinoa cook until golden brown on one side and the egg white is cooked.
- Serve warm!
* I believe these should be fried a little bit, but I didn’t want to do that so they fell apart. Next time, I will put them on for longer before flipping them!
Yum!
This recipe was great and I am excited to try some of the other 4083508243 recipes I have ripped out over the past few years!
I am off to do an online grad school chat and visit our neighbors new baby!
His:
Hers:
Fantastic His/Her Fish Tacos
Ingredient List for Both Styles:
- tilapia – marinated in lime juice and cumin
- sweet peppers
- homemade guacamole
- brown rice
- tomatoes
- fat free refried beans
- lettuce
- special sauce
His:
- cheese
- flour tortillas
Hers:
- collard green leaves
Special Sauce
- 1/2 c. fat free plain yogurt
- cumin
- lime juice
- hot salsa
*Have each person load up there shell as they wish and enjoy!
After such a fun weekend of wine, snacks and relaxing it was time to get myself back together this morning. After a good run with Katie, I made a green monster packed full of good things:
Green Monster of the Morning:
- 1 c. almond milk – unsweetened
- handful of frozen strawberries
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 1 scoop of wheat grass
- 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein
Then I ran some errands and did laundry and other house things. A few hours later I was ready for lunch. . Lunch was a random salad with tons of fresh goodies from the fridge. We did a major Costco run last night on the way home from the lake. We were in desperate need of some produce!
The final result was this:
- romaine
- spinach
- Sabra hummus
- hot pepper relish
- fat free swiss
- guac, Brady made last night
- mango peach salsa
Then I went to babysit for a few hours. I am going to be watching these adorable twin 3 year olds for a few days a week until the end of summer. We almost made it to the playground today when one of them decided it was time to go to the bathroom so we turned around and went all the way home. We will have to try again tomorrow!
When I left, I ran to the store for a few things we couldn’t get at Costco. Then it was about time for Brady to get home so I started making dinner – I decided on fish tacos. He came home and we ran out the door to play tennis before dinner. We were off to a great start when we were kicked off the courts because a league needed it. Bummer. So we came home and made these:
His:
Hers:
Recipe to come!
Last weekend, along with celebrating the country’s birthday, we celebrated my cousin Mandy’s engagement! We had a brunch on the porch of the Atheneum, an old wooden hotel in Chautauqua, overlooking the lake. For the special event I made engagement ring cookies!
The Bride to Be in white, and her sister and MOH in blue!
Our view of the boys playing on the lake, from the porch.
Super Simple Strawberry Shortcake
- bunch of fresh strawberries – cut up
- agave nectar – a few squirts
- Trader Joe’s multi-grain baking mix (biscuits, pancakes and waffles)
- milk
- agave
- Mix baking mix as directed, omitting oil and adding a squirt of agave for sweetness
- Bake for a little less than directed because there is no oil.
- Top with sweetened strawberries and Coolwhip!
So fresh and delicious!
Have a great day with your family and friends!
