1 avocado
1 can organic sweet corn
1 c organic garbanzo beans
3 inch cube ginger, minced
4 strawberries, thinly sliced and quartered
Salt to taste
1/2 lime's juice

1. Drain and rinse corn and chick peas
2. Add to serving bowl and add salt, strawberries and ginger.
3. Mash avocado and add to main bowl
4. Mix and add like juice to taste

This is served great with a mild fish like Monkfish (for the pescos!), over cous-cous or alone. Also great for baby led weaning.

This is a great recipe for baby-led weaning because it's nice and STICKY! Easy for those little hands to pick up, but also great for those little ones who insist on a utensil.

This is also a great recipe for those little ones who need some extra calories. The tahini, pumpkin and coconut milk all provide healthy fats and are a tasty alternative to coating their food in olive oil as some pediatricians recommend.

1/8 of a 1lb bag small egg noodles cooked and drained (or if preparing vegan, try orzo or barley (get creative!)
2-4 tbsp puréed pumpkin
1 tsp local honey (optional- for allergies)
1 tsp fresh minced or powdered ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 c light coconut milk
1 tbsp tahini
1c frozen mixed veggies

1. Over medium heat, add coconut milk, honey and veggies. Sauté for 5 minutes until garlic is tender. Stir often to avoid sticking.

2. Add pumpkin, tahini, ginger and noodles. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes over low heat.

3. Serve warm

Completely divine.

This is a newer version of asparagus that is picked young. It is thin, long and a beautiful shade of purple with a perfectly constraining lime green inside.

I cut the stalks into threes and sautéed in 2 tbsp butter for maybe 5-6 minutes in low heat. Add a dash of salt and 2 splashes balsamic vinegar and you have a delicious vegetable.

This can also easily be prepared vegan with olive oil or a vegan butter.

April's showers bring May's flowers!

Companion gardening in an organic, small space with hanging herbs in reused pasta sauce jars.

4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tbsp butter, melted
4 handfuls baby kale (the whole size small bag from the market)
1 handful deluxe mushroom blend (this was a hand picked selection of fresh mushrooms from the market. They were all buttery or nutty tasting, if that helps)
A dash of salt

1. Melt your butter on low and sauté garlic for 5 minutes.

2. Add kale and turn the heat up just a bit and sauté for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue to sauté for a couple more minutes until kale has turned very dark green.

3. Sprinkle with dash of salt and serve.

This year there is also a fresh donut stand!!

From Ikea

2 portobello caps
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Honey
1/2 orange bell pepper
1/2 bag garlic croutons
1/4 onion, chopped or minced
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c orange juice
Water as needed
2 tsp chopped basil
2 slices of tomato
Salt
Pepper
Garlic herbed Boursin cheese (optional)

1. Marinate mushroom caps in balsamic vinegar after removing the stem. Drizzle with honey, salt and pepper.

2. While mushrooms are marinating, heat olive oil over medium heat to sauté the onions, garlic and peppers for 5-7 minutes. add croutons, orange juice and splash of water. Continue to add water as needed to soften the croutons. Once the mixture is blended, add basil and continue to fry on low heat to remove excess liquid- stirring to prevent sticking. About 3-5 minutes.

3. Shake excess balsamic from mushrooms and place in a glass baking dish that has been oiled.

4. Add a thick slice of tomato to mushroom cap and cover with stuffing. Top with desired amount of Boursin cheese.

5. Cover with foil and bake at 425 for about 12 minutes.

I have really been neglecting this blog. We have been having really great luck and feel very fortunate for all of our blessings. The downside of engaging, awesome opportunities is less time for the stuff I normally do on my downtime. Hopefully with the semester coming to a close and farmers market season beginning to pick up, I will remember what it's like to relax and be more consistent with this blog. Until then, here are some things keeping me busy

xo

Natural egg dyes:

Turmeric *
Turmeric + paprika *
Strawberry juice *
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll + green tea
Red cabbage + red onion *

Add vinegar to the eggs while hard piling them. This helps them to absorb the dyes into their shells.

For the ones with an asterisk, they require being boiled. Add enough water to be able to submerge the egg and enough of the spice to make your desired color.

For the strawberry juice, I soaked the egg in the cold juice for atleast 1 hour then boiled the egg and juice for another hour.

For the green tea and chlorophyll, I steeped the tea bags in enough ware to completely submerge them then added cold water and a couple drops of chlorophyll.

The rest of the photos are of my garden. So far I have: collard greens, broccoli, mesclun, Swiss chard, basil, parsley, French lavender, lavender, a third kind of lavender, sunflowers, heather, nettles, sunflowers, two types of beans, morning glory, poppies, wildflowers, bluebonnets, pansies, phlox, hot peppers, Roma tomatoes, bell peppers, and a few othr types of flowers like daisies.

Yum!

1/2 medium butternut squash (the neck part- no seeds)
1 bunch lettuce leaves
A big chunk of fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 mango
1 peach

Juice.