harvest has begun

transportation units

raspberries my favourite

tomatoes, vine ripe

lettuce... and some weeds

radish, best I've ever had

zuchini

peas

cucumbers

big cucumber or tiny hands

beautiful

basil, cucumber and radish

Sustainability

“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” 1987- Our Common Future

feast your eyes on this

LENTIL SUMMER MIXER

Add your choice of above ingredients and substitute for what you like best or have on hand. Your favourite bean or couscous will work best just make sure they are cooked.


I chose to make a light dressing to accompany this particular salad with a mixture of fresh lemon juice, Savory, Dill, Parsley and fresh pepper and some of the left over juice from the feta container for its natural saltiness.

In the past I have made a dressing with a bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar a dash of sugar, dill and oregano. Follow your desires when it comes to dressing and use your favourite things.

toss together

ENJOY this super healthy salad.

Farmers Market

I was so excited to take a trip to the farmers market on Thursday. I usually never get to go beucase I am always working on Thursdays and Saturdays when the markets are on. I finally got to enjoy a visit. Here are some pictures of the Bonzai Guy and a few other things.

above tree is 30 years old

Farmers market booth

super good bread from the market, red pepper and feta

What I brought home plus free savory. BONUS

Check out the farmers market near you. Always a good time even if to just explore.

Happy Environment week

I encourage everyone to take part in the commuter challenge and use alternative modes of transportation whether its walking, biking rollerblading or whatever you can do to lesson your environmental footprint. Pack litter less lunches and unplug all cords from outlets that are not being used. Together we can reduce, reuse, recycle and refuse to buy products with excess packaging. Just becuase you are not in school anymore doesn't mean you can't pick up garbage or make yourself more aware of your own local natural environment. Happy Enviro Week fellow earthkeepers!
Environment Canada for helpful Eco-tips

Hummus in the Park

I love making homemade hummus, it taste great, super healthy, simple and impressive
What you need:

2 tbsp Tahini paste (sesame seed puree) must have

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 can chickpea reserve a small amount of liquid and drain the rest

2 garlic cloves dice fine and cook in olive oil for a couple minutes on low heat

1 tsp olive oil

I like to add some ground red pepper for heat and parsley flakes, some like to add paprika etc.
Mix all ingredients together using a blender, food processor, emulsion blender etc. add more oil or reserved chickpea juice to make as smooth or chunky as you desire. Serve with fresh cut veggies, pitas, and crackers whatever you prefer. Hummus is an excellent summer picnic item.

Cocoa Fudge

1/3 cup soy milk

3 tbls of butter

2.5 cups powdered sugar

6 tbls powdered cocoa

pinch of salt

and 1 tsp of vanilla

Step 1: Mix all the ingredients in a saucpan except the vanilla stirring constantly until it comes to a boil

Step 2: Turn down heat slightly while maintaining a simmer for 8-10 minutes or firm ball when droppe dinto water, stir occasionaly to make sure ingredients don't burn

Step 3: Turn off heat, Add in vanilla and give a quick stir

Step 4: Pour into lightly buttered baking dish and refrigerate to let set 45 mins to 1 hour atleast, cut into squares when firm enough

ENJOY!

The Big Plot

Here is my second garden project I am working on this summer along with my little garden in my backyard. This garden is a group project I am doing with other students. We planted a week ago today, the greenhouse feature from earlier is where we started our tomatoes, cucumber, zuchini and peppers indoors. We planted lettuce, radish, peppers, cucumber, zuchini, a bunch of different types of tomatoes, basil, carrots, peas, beans, dill, other mixed herbs, onions and a few others. I hope this is a plentiful season and am looking forward to makign new recipe creations with the harvested produce. We also have a raspberry bush and rubarb. I am super excited!

our pepper plants

radish's planted from seed less than one week ago, they harvest within 20-25 days of planting

lettuce that came up like a perannual which I didnt know could happen

tomatoes with marigolds for protection

the stakes your see on the right are where we are growing peas

zuchini

cucumbers with strings to eventually cling onto, mulch to keep in moisture and mounds to provide extra nutrients

the gang of zuchinis

other tomatoes grown in the greenhouse with marigolds between as well as basil planted that hasn't sprouted yet in between

we didn't all come over on the same ship, but we are all in the same boat- Bernard Baruch

Iris

from my backyard

cute butterfly on the old sink in the back corner of the yard

Put the garden in

Finally put the garden in my mini plot in our backyard. Feels good to know I'm that much closer to healthy food. Vegtable gardenign is so rewarding and makes you feel healthy as a person inside and out. I can't even describe how amazing it is and how good of a feeling one can get from growing your own food and making things from it's source. Looking forward to a great growing season and learning lots more.

Before weeding

After

Recruited a friend to help me put in the garden, sure is a tiny garden

after a good soaking

Borscht

Borscht just starting to cook

I thought I'd eb experimental and try cooking some borscht. I am trying to cook up some imaginative vegitarian recipes and try new things. I have never had borscht and it was very good. I would amke it again and it was even better second day!

Here is the final product, added some dill and sour creme

cookbooks

Went to the public library, got a library card and took out some cookbooks. I got one book called la dolce Vegan, Growing & Cooking Vegtables, The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook and the Ultimate Vegetarian Cookbook. I like cookbooks with pictures best. If you know of a great cookbook of any kind or have a favourite let me know. I have a trusty Betty Crocker cookbook my mom gave me complete with pictures that I use for inspiration all the time. Please let me in on your favourite books.

vegan spaghetti (Zooghetti)

Zuchini spaghetti

This is a simple meal that is totally healthy with no butter, flour, preservatives and even salt if you choose to omit it. I used zichini for the pasta replacement and choose to use chickpeas instead of meat as they were the beans I had on hand. Use your favourite fresh vegtables you have on hand, I used vidallia onion, garlic, red/green peppers, red pepper flakes for spice and added some edamme and plum tomatoes with juice for the sauce. Saute the onions and garlic with olive oil if you desire, then add other vagtables of your choice and canned or fresh tomatoes. Right before you are going to serve add your zuchini pasta to heat it up along with sauce. Do not over cook as you are simulating al dente pasta.

For the chickepea meatballs: Drain chickpeas from can or cook dried beans. Boil the chickpeas, no salt for a couple minutes to make sure they are soft enough to mush with a fork. Drain and transfer to a bowl where you will mash them, leave a few rough chunks for texture. Dice a small handfull of onions add to mixture add favourite Italian seasongs and red pepper flakes, pepper etc. mix around and form small meatball size balls. Cook in oven at 375 degrees and turn every five minutes to crisp outside. do not cook longer than 12-15 minutes as you don't want them to dry out.

Add chickpea meatballs to tossed pasta and serve. super healthy super good!

Chickpea meatballs

Zuchini pasta and sauce

Wholesome dinner

wants

1. more wooden spoons
2. cake decorating tips
3. old fashioned egg beater*
4. thin icing spreader
5. cupcake baking tin
6. wok*
7. bamboo steamer
8. good art paints/more canvas's
9. plants for the house
10. old fancy tea cups
11. springform cake pan

the list goes on. i need to record things so I'll remember

The egg beater is one of my top priorities right now, if anyone knows where to get a nice one please let me know