When I think about planting a fruit tree in my home garden, a lemon tree is the last one that crosses my mind. Sure, I’ve caught the intoxicating scent of the lemon blossoms from next door and my grandma always had one in her garden, yet I never thought about making room for one in my own yard. After all, I didn’t really need one right?
Summer is here and the last thing you feel like doing is sweltering in
the kitchen. But you still want to provide home cooked meals for your
family. Here are a few suggestions on cooking from scratch while
staying relatively cool.
If you take your kids with you to the grocery store each week, they probably see you buying fresh fruits and veggies for them. But how often do we think about explaining where fresh produce actually originates? By taking advantage of local food events, orchards and farmers' markets we can introduce our toddlers to the origins of some of their favorite foods.
My garden and my CSA
are going bonkers with zucchini. If you are what you eat, don't be
surprised by my greenish tint and bulging girth. I am turning into a
fat ol' zucchini. Things could be worse; I could be turning into a pumpkin and losing my glass slippers and all. I have featured my scrumptious melt-in-your-mouth-like-it's-candy zucchini before.
I'm always on the hunt for new ways to use this bountiful crop. So far
my zucchini bread sucks, and the muffins didn't fare any better.
Stuffed zucchini graced our table tonight. It was divine.
For new moms, the search for quick and easy meals can be a stressful process.
Quick and easy meals are great, but it takes at least an hour to find a good recipe, and then you have to plan ahead for groceries. Sometimes it doesn’t seem worth it. The solution requires some time upfront, but will pay off dramatically in terms of time savings in the long run.
I love to have soda bread with soups (especially cauliflower soup) but
it is also great toasted in the morning and decorated with strawberry
jam. This is one of the simplest bread recipes you'll ever find. It is
high on ease and low on fuss.
As toddlers become better at self-feeding, we can start introducing them to dips! Don't limit your toddler's dipping fun to just ketchup and BBQ sauce, whip up some healthy dips to satisfy the picky palate and provide nutrition.
Summer days are filled with activity. The days are longer, the sun is brighter, and the kids are more active. Grilling is a favorite activity of my family during the hot summer months, but one rainy day can throw a wrench into the best plans for a delicious grilled meal. So on a gloomy rainy day, with kids underfoot, cranky because they can’t go outside and play, what can you make for dinner? Try something quick, easy, and kid pleasing to take away the rainy day blues!
We are fortunate to participate in a CSA that showers us with an amazing locally grown, organic bounty of produce every week. Farmer Tom of Double T Farm
takes good care of our bodies and our palates. The boys wait at the
screen door to see what goodies are in my bag when I get home from
Tom's local pick up spot. I empty my hemp bag emblazoned with "I love
green!" on the front. I always chuckle, thinking to myself that "I love
greens!" would be oh so much more appropriate.
Onions (Allium sepa) are one of those food staples that are hard to do without. Between that and the choices you’ll have for sandwich onions, cooking onions, red, yellow or white onions, there are enough convincing reasons to always have them in your garden.