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Tasty Tuesday: Carrot Cups – A Biscuit w/ Carrots! Simple as ABC
I have a calendar that Pillsbury sent to me. It features a recipe a month. A few months ago, there was an idea of taking Grands or any large baking soda biscuit, flattening it and baking a mini-fruit pie in a muffin cup. (Oh my, they were good!)We are not always ‘allowed’, ‘encouraged’ or looking to have sugary desserts. Diabetes frowns upon that part of meal! Careful preparation of the menu does allow for it from time to time. However, this simple dish just invited me to play. Enter springtime. We love vegetables and their colorful display. When I added Boursin and a sharp New York cheddar to carrots, we…
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Tasty Tuesday: Rice with ZING! A+ Sidedish for leftover Restaurant Meal
Ever have a take home “doggie bag” of great Mexican food, like a whole chile rellano, or a couple of enchiladas? My mind always thinks I can eat all that I order, because it always looks so good… or is it the fact that the food is presented on a platter that could feed all of western Michigan at one feeding? So, I take home a foiled lined dish with more than half of my meal! When it comes time to reheat, I realize I love the side dishes almost as much as the entree.Here is a great Zesty Rice dish. The summer’s tomatoes bring this dish color, and the…
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Our Pepper Plants are A’Popping: Ready for Nacho Topping
No luck this year with green beans… at least not since early July when we got our first harvest. Then the bugs, or elements or something came in and wiped them out. Ugh. Little luck with tomatoes. We have walnut trees, so I know the tomatoes have to fight for survival. Other rows of plants have flourished… and I love it. Ball jars or Mason jars will never go out of business as long as I am in control of the pressure cooker. That big old pot goes nonstop during this time of the year. But what to do with peppers. Can’t can them; chopping and freezing work well.. but…
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What is in your Garden? – Military Family Life Question of the Week
There is stress relief for me found in getting down and getting my hands dirty. It starts in very early-Spring and extends through the beginning of Fall. I feel capable. I feel healthy. Wielding a shovel makes me even feel *a little* stronger as I work arm and leg muscles. I swear at the weeds and talk baby-talk to the very-capable vegetable plants. (I’m quite certain that’s why they ‘produce’ for us!) Summer time equals a small (yet growing every year) garden for us. This year we have: Cucumbers in abundance Peas, their season has passed, but blessed us with lots of early Spring munching Carrots that need to be…
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In the mood for some Mexican Food?
I was in our local grocery store last week and eyed the tomatoes, corn and other fresh items that were on sale. Soon it will be our local products sitting in the bins. (Small store, with lots of local flavor!) I don’t know, but the picture I took in of the vegetables just put me in the mood for some good Mexican food. Right there, sorting through the red peppers was a good friend with a recipe card in her hand. She volunteered to share it with me… and said it was good to pass it on. I love getting tried and true recipes. This one is great, give it…
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Fruit Basket Upset
Childhood games were the best: interaction, laughter and goofiness reigned in my ‘organized fun time’. Fruit Basket Upset required at least 10 friends, names of fruits: each child picked a fruit type. Then, with one less chair we waited for the ‘it’ to call out two or three fruits – at that time up we would jump and change chairs before ‘it’ could take our spot. Perfect name and game for this time of year. Soon the Thanksgiving fruit bowl will be assembled: pineapple, pears, apples, grapes, bananas, oranges and tangerines. The table will be arranged… and usually there is one less ‘good’ chair than I would like. (NEVER too…
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Fall Produce Features Perfect Bell Peppers
The frost is coming. The temperatures are creeping down each night, going a degree lower and getting within striking distance of the first freeze. The frost will soon be on the pumpkins. Yes Autumn is here. As the garden patch is reduced to empty rows… the bell pepper plants still are heavy with beautiful colors of a fall palate. Our tomatoes are long gone, but the local orchard is still selling them by the 1/2 bushel. So… the mix of the vitamin rich, dark gems of tomato and red/green pepper are just perfect for an evening meal. I made Stuffed Peppers last night, a great meal for watching the amount…
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Creamy Poppyseed Dressing
When the garden is bursting with fresh vegetables, and salads ingredients are growing right next to each other, it is the time to host a salad luncheon. Blueberries are at their height right now in Michigan, and blackberries are going deep red… with a few into that beautiful black color. Even the ever bearing strawberries are producing.So, invite your friends, clean up that larger than life bowl, or platter that you have as a great decorative piece (make certain it doesn’t have lead paint: decorative only) and pile on the fresh lettuce, beet greens, and spinach leaves. Top this with grated carrots, chopped broccoli sprigs, chopped sweet banana and green…
