My hubby had come home with a large variety of seeds the year before, gearing up for the growing season. Up until last year, I had hardly even heard of bok choy much less eaten it. So when I saw that one of the packets contained bok choy seeds, we weren't even sure they would grow here.
Last year was the year we became VERY familiar with bok choy. The hubby got a bit heavy-handed with planting those seeds because we had so many bok choy plants growing in our gardens that we couldn't keep up with eating them. We also let them grow to full size before harvesting, not realizing that they can be picked much younger. There was so much that I was giving it away to anyone that even looked my way in the neighborhood.
"You can grow bok choy here?" and "I've never eaten bok choy!" is something I heard a lot.
Bok choy is apparently from the cabbage family. The stalks remind me a bit of celery without the strings and the greens are like swiss chard or kale with a slight bitter taste. Baby bok choy is also milder tasting than the fully grown version.
We've already enjoyed two harvests of baby bok choy this year, since we started growing them earlier indoors. They are great in stirfries, curries, soups or as a side dish.
Fresh from the garden, doesn't get more local than that!
It started a couple of years ago. First, it was jumping on the couch. The children got bigger and I eventually forbid them from couch jumping, as they could make serious dents by now. Then, they moved onto our bed. King-size bed for two kiddos makes for non-stop jumping fun.
Last year, the hubby mentioned we should look into a trampoline for the kids. I hummed and hahhed, as I was nervous for many reasons. Injuries, having to constantly watch the kids and their friends, mowing around a giant apparatus in the summer and then, what the heck to do in the winter?
But then, a sale came. The hubby stated he was going to pick one up. And now a done deal and question is history.
The summer is going to look a LOT like this:
There have been surprisingly no injuries thus far. The constant onslaught of neighborhood children streaming in and out of our backyard hasn't driven me mad. (There was 6 children jumping at once at one point). My kids have probably logged enough bouncing hours on it already to have paid for it (not to mention all the other neighborhood kids who have spent their time on it!) And, it wasn't too hard to mow the grass around it.
All in all, a great purchase. The kids now are forbidden from further tenderizing my mattress and I can watch them from my kitchen window as I'm cleaning up or cooking. Not a bad deal. Here's looking forward to summer!
It often happens that I will have an ingredient in abundance in my pantry that leads me to scout out different recipes. This time it was raw peanuts. I was cleaning out my freezer and noticed a big bag of them.
I love cookies and I do like to try something a bit different at times and I felt that these fit the bill. Chocolate cookie with peanuts. Reminiscent of a
Reese's Peanut Butter Cup though? Well, not quite. I think next time I'll make a peanut butter cookie with chocolate chips in it, if I want to get closer to that nostalgic feeling.
Otherwise, I quite liked this cookie. Like I said, it's different. My hubby said it could of been sweeter, but I liked it just the way it is.
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Chocolate Peanut Cookies
makes about 24 cookies
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup unsalted raw peanuts
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and mix.
Sift together, in a separate bowl, the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until well blended.
Add the flour mixture to the butter/egg mixture. Mix until combined. Fold in the peanuts.
Drop by the tablespoonfuls onto baking pans lined with parchment paper.
Bake at 350F for 15-16 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
Recipe adapted from: peanut cookies, donna hay modern classics 2
I have no idea how grocery stores keep their strawberries or other berries looking fresh without them developing mold or getting soft so quickly. Never fails, when I buy a big batch of strawberries, there are always casualties by the next day. Either they shrink a bit and become soft, with their skins looking unappetizing, or a few start a mold science experiment by the next day. I hate throwing out berries I just bought.
So, I have made the no-waste berry challenge this year. I'm going to prolong my berry eating, without waste with two easy techniques.
Freezing and Macerating.
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Freezing:
Why let berries go bad when you can freeze a bunch for those winter days? I froze the bulk of my fresh raspberries last year and enjoyed them all winter long. I made shakes, pies or just enjoyed them over pancakes whenever I wanted. So fantastic when you are craving some tasty fruit.
Freezing is simple enough. Wash your berries or fruits and let them dry. Remove any stems, pits and hull your strawberries. Cut them into any desired size or leave them whole. Line a wax paper in a baking pan and arrange your berries, keeping space between them. Pop them in the freezer. Once frozen, you can put them into freezer bags and since they are frozen individually, you can take out as little or as many as you wish later on.
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Macerating:
I often macerate my fresh fruits and berries. It's a delicious way to prolong the fresh berry eating. I often eat my macerated fruit over ice cream, use it on pancakes or my yogurt or just even eat them like that.
Wash all your fresh fruit and cut them into your desired sizes. Place them in a bowl, sprinkle them with sugar and mix. With a little time, the fruits release their juices and makes it very flavourful. I then pop it into the fridge and use it up within a couple of days. It's an easy technique that prevents any berries being thrown out.
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Both these techniques can be used for all sorts of berries and fruits. I often mix up different fruits together too. Good luck!
I was looking at the dried beans in my pantry the other day. They were looking sad. Sad because I haven't used them in a while. I try to incorporate more beans and lentils in my meals but I don't often get around to it. Dry beans need to be soaked and cooked and I don't always remember to do it until I need it. Much like frozen meat that has to be defrosted. Canned beans to the rescue!
It was one of those times I was getting cravings for something fresh. Whether it be a salad with a tangy dressing or a piece of sweet watermelon, I am always looking for something that gets my taste buds satisfied and I remembered this recipe which contained beans too.
I also like when a dish can do double duty. I've served this dish as a salad side or as a chunky dip alongside tortillas for scooping. It's great both ways.
But, now I'm soaking a batch of beans to use. I
will whittle down my pantry of dried beans.
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Mexican Style Salad or Chunky Dip
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 cup whole kernel corn, fresh or frozen
1 can (19 oz) black beans, drained or 2-1/4 cups cooked black beans
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, optional
Mix together ranch dressing, cumin and chili powder. Set aside.
Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Stir in the dressing mix. Serve as a salad or as a chunky dip with tortillas.
Recipe adapted from: Mexican Salad
