Mini Garden Update

Hey hey there! I decided I couldn't wait until the end of the month to show you what's going on in my garden - so instead of taking pictures of all of the plants - I took one of everything I harvested this morning! :)

 And of my helper - of course. :)

Looks like I know what I'm doing this morning....what about you?

German Potato Salad

Alright.  We admit it, we BROKE OUT THE BACON!!!  I have been saving 3 packages.  One to make German Potato Salad and the other 2 to make BLT's.  I couldn't take it anymore and on Wednesday I used up the potatoes I got in the reclaimed produce box and I made the best German Potato Salad I have ever had! :)

When I was browning the bacon, Te-Man was happily playing in the living room and he stops what he's doing all of a sudden, whips around towards the kitchen and says "Bacon? Bacon! BACON!!!" and comes running full speed into the kitchen and then proceeds to chant Bacon Bacon Bacon until it is done. :)  He ate probably 1/4lb of bacon - it was ridiculous!

So I found this recipe over at A Feast For the Eyes.  Her site is great - you should totally swing over and check her out! I have only made the potato salad, but if her other recipes are only half as good as that one, we'll all be set! :) You should at least swing by and read this touching story about her mom and this potato salad - so sweet! You can also find her on Facebook.

German Potato Salad

Original Recipe Here

What's In It:
1 1/2 c red onion,  finely chopped
1/2 lb bacon, browned and finely chopped
5lb potatoes, boiled, skinned, and sliced 1/4" thick
2 c vinegar*
2 T bacon grease
1 t dill, heaping
1/2 c rice vinegar
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 t sugar
1 1/2 t kosher salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

What To Do With It:
Combine all ingredients together, gently.  If you can, skin and slice the potatoes while they are still warm so they soak up more of the seasonings.  Allow to set at least 30 minutes before serving and serve at room temperature.

*I used white but if I'd had red wine vinegar, I'd definitely have used that.

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

Man oh man.  You know those recipes that your family has been making for years and yet every time you have it, your mouth is just like YES! :) This is one of those recipes.  We eat it on chips, in tacos, in enchiladas, over rice, when we used to eat eggs, it makes a mean omelet...can't say I've ever eaten it on anything and didn't like it. :)

It's so simple - but I think that's what makes it awesome! We just had it for dinner Thursday night over some wild rice from the Organic Market in town.  It is fantastic!  Also - this has nothing to do with the salsa, but one of the guys that works at the market told me that you can cook the rice covered in the oven for an hour and it turns out perfectly - he isn't kidding! So easy and I have a rice cooker but I usually leave it in the cabinet and I like to have as few things on the stove as possible if I'm not in the kitchen full time....don't want little Te-Man to burn his fingers.  I just throw in a little poultry seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and some good old S&P. And it is phenomenal! :)

Well, back to the Salsa - make this!  And make some of these Corn Tortilla Chips to eat it on. :)  YUM!

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

What's In It:
1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 qt sized bag of corn*
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained**
1/2 c olive oil
1/2 c vinegar
3 limes or lemons, juiced (approx 1/3 c)

What To Do With It:
Combine all vegetables and beans.

Whisk oil, vinegar, and juice together.

Toss to mix.

Can be eaten immediately, but it tastes so much better if you let the flavors combine for a few hours.

*About 3-4 cups.  You can use canned, but go for the higher quality corn - it makes all the difference.
**I use homemade black beans and I use 3 heaping cups.

Plant Based Apricot Fig Bars

Sometimes you just need a nice gooey dessert.  To be honest, I'm not a big dessert person, but there is that odd occurrence when I just want to sink my teeth into something luscious.  Now....sometimes I want that to be a piece of chocolate cake the size of my head, but for the most part - I'm a fruit girl.  These Apricot Fig Newton Bars fit the bill perfectly!

They have just enough fig to remind you a little of fig newtons, but enough apricot to make them feel a little grown up.  I can't really remember if the kids got more than one each of these - I think Wolverine and I scarfed them down before they got the chance. :)  

I see these in my future again very soon....I've even been saving a half a bag of figs in my cabinet for these! :) I think I might even change up the "other fruit" in these to maybe strawberries or peaches...thinking I could sub in some homemade jam for the dried apricots and syrup....I'll keep testing it and see what we like!

Have you guys been over to see Chelsea at Whole New World?  She has some great recipes and a generally fantastic site!  Swing by and say hello - you can even find her on Facebook!  

Apricot Fig Bars

Original Recipe Here

What's In It:

Filling:

1 1/2 c (8oz) dried apricots, roughly chopped

1 1/2 c (8oz) dried figs, roughly chopped

1/4 c 100% maple syrup

1 T finely grated orange zest

1/4 t ginger

1/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t salt

2/3 c water

Dough:

3 T ground flaxseeds

1/4 c plant based milk

1/4 c unsweetened applesauce

1/4 c almond or peanut butter

1/3 c dry sweetener (I used raw sugar)

2 t vanilla

1 c oat flour

3/4 c whole wheat flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

What To Do With It:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 7x11 pan with parchment paper (If you don't have a 7x11 you could also use an 8x8 or a 9x9, but adjust your baking times a bit).

To make the filling: 

Combine all filling ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook 15 minutes or until fruit is tender, stirring occasionally.  Remove pan from heat and puree.  I used an immersion blender, but if you don't have one, you can use a blender, just be sure you don't put the lid on tightly or it will blow off.  

To make the crust:

In a large bowl, stir together the flaxseeds, milk, applesauce, nut butter, and sweetener.  Mix well and stir in vanilla.   Add remaining ingredients and stir well to combine.  Knead with your hands a few times until it all holds together - add an extra bit of milk if necessary.  You want the dough to form into a ball.  Divide the dough into two balls.

To assemble the bars:

Place the first ball of dough into the bottom of the pan and using a spatula (or your fingers) spread the dough to evenly cover the bottom of the pan.    

Spread filling over crust.  

Shape or roll the second ball of dough into an 8x8 square (or the size of the pan you are using. I had to actually roll it out with a rolling pin between greased sheets of parchment paper.  It was a mess, but totally worth it!). Gently place second crust on top of the filling.

Bake for 20-24 minutes - the top should be firm and starting to turn golden at the edges.  

Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before cutting into squares.  

Yields approximately 12-16 squares.    

Whoa! Reclaimed Produce is CRAZY!

So I haven't been very good about taking pictures of the reclaimed produce.  Things just got busy and I just got....well not lazy....but busy doing other things and arranging produce nicely on my table was just not at the top of my priority list.  I think you guys will forgive me?

We have been picking it up twice a week every week - unless we are out of town.  And I can not even begin to tally the hundreds of dollars we have saved!  Look at all the produce I hauled in yesterday!

It was so heavy that twice people asked me if I needed help getting it into/out of my car and I had to haul it into the house in our wagon!

I am currently listening to the peppers being pickled in my canner, I am cooking black beans (with the onions) in my slow cooker for black bean and corn salsa (to use up the red and orange peppers), the potatoes are boiled for German Potato Salad, the pickles and green onions are waiting to be sliced.  The grapes, strawberries, and cantaloupe are half gone already, the broccoli will be going into some stir fry with some squash, and the spinach will be blended to be added to smoothies and what not.

What am I going to do with all that squash though?  Have a recipe I can't live without because I feel like I can live without yellow squash. haha. :)

Have you reclaimed any produce?

Corn Tortilla Chips

These chips are FANTASTIC!!!  They keep for at least 3 days (I say at least because they have never lasted longer than that so I can't attest to a longer time!), they are seasoned however I want, crazy easy, they are not fried, but they are crispy as all get out!

Load them up with your favorite salsa - I'll be posting my new favorite one later this week - or guac or refried beans, or cauliflower and lentil taco mixture, or all of the above and dig in!!!  :)

I don't think I'll ever buy a bag of tortilla chips again!

Corn Tortilla Chips

What's In It:
10 corn tortillas
Oil (I use olive)
Seasonings (I use garlic salt and chili powder)

What To Do With It:
Stack tortillas (I cut all 10 at once, but you can do as many or few as you are comfortable with), and cut into 6 wedge shaped pieces - I cut in half and then make two more cuts at angles like a pizza.

Place on cookie sheets, it's okay if they touch a little, but don't have them overlap.  I lay them in alternating rows and I can fill 2 cookie sheets exactly with 10 tortillas worth of chips.

Pour a little oil into your hands, maybe a teaspoon.  Pat your hands onto the tops of the chips to get a little oil onto each one.

Sprinkle with seasonings of choice. You could even do a cinnamon and sugar coating and use these with a fruit salsa.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 8 minutes, rotate pans and bake for an additional 6-10 minutes.  Watch the chips the second half - the brand of chip and it's thickness will greatly influence the time it takes to cook.  They need to only be lightly browned - if they look like toast, they are burnt.

Allow to cool a bit before eating - they get crispier as they cool.

Are you ready for June's Garden Pics?!

What?!  Another post of garden pictures?  Yup....you better believe it.  It's 0900 and Te-Man is still sleeping.  I can't believe it.  I am here typing with a nice hot cup of coffee and 2 dogs curled up at my feet - flowers blooming, garden growing, birds chirping (but not eating my tomatoes)....a full day of canning ahead of me.  Life is GOOD!!!

I thought this was a post about garden pictures? :)  Here ya go. :)

Sweet corn and sunflowers

1st Bell Pepper of the year!

 Banana Peppers

 Tomatoes! I decided I didn't want to have to buy 40 tomato cages and I procrastinated too long to have time to make my own, so we went with fencing stakes and para cord.  It is working wonderfully! Well, except for the Sun Gold Cherry tomatoes, but nothing can contain those crazy tomato plants, I had them as tall as my garage gutters one year!

 Cauliflower

 Beets and cucumbers

 Jalapenos

 Jalapenos

 Cauliflower

 Limas! and the Okra is still there on the left as well

 Onions!

 Radishes, kale, and carrots

 Lettuce, Kale, and Radishes

 Candy Roaster Pumpkins, lemon balms, sage, lavender, collards

 Tomatoes, jalapenos, cabbage

 Candy Roaster Pumpkins, mint, rosemary, thyme, lettuce

 Candy Roaster

 Peppers, Lettuce

 

 Kale, Basil, Thai Basil, and Chocolate Mint

 A Candy Roaster!!!

 Thank you Mr. Bee

 Lemon Grass (I re-rooted these from some lemon grass I bought at the farmers market.  I just placed them in a glass of water for about 2 weeks, changing the water every other day, then planted them in the pot, kept them moist, and WOW!)

 More Lemon Grass

 A lonely tomato of unknown variety....I just couldn't throw him away.

 I harvested my onions! Not as many as I'd hoped, but still a good showing for my first year and growing in the cruddiest soil ever.  Well, not ever, but compared to what I'm used to, I pretty much just walked up and planted these on sand dune.  

 My garlic...drying on my front porch like I'm all uncivilized and such.  None of the neighbors have complained...maybe that's because I am keeping them steadily supplied with radishes and tomatoes. :)

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my garden! I would like to take a minute and personally thank Wolverine for putting up with my craziness....the constant dirt under my fingernails, the constant weird green hand prints on our back door and muddy footprints in the kitchen, the plants, seeds, and seedlings that always seem to be EVERYWHERE in our house and yard.  For never complaining that I bought another plant or more dirt or more seeds, etc etc etc.  For listening to my constant crazy plans for the garden or what I want to do next year, or fretting over the weather....I think the delicious bowls and bowls of fresh veggies that come in from the garden on a daily basis make it worth it for him, but a good thank you never hurts either. :)