Thursday, October 24, 2013

Organic Gardening: Getting Started, Choosing What to Grow When, & Pest Control


Over the past couple months, I've had the privilege of sharing some things learned in the garden.  There is a three-part series containing this info over at Abundant Harvest Organics.  It just occurred to me that those posts were never shared here on this blog, so here they are:

First, I share a recipe for getting a green thumb.  Maybe some come by it naturally.  Mine came from the resources I share about in this post.

After sharing about how to acquire a green thumb, we talk about the process of choosing the perfect seeds and varieties for your personal garden, as well as when to plant things.

There is so much to learn about controlling pests organically.  It was hard to narrow down information to fit in one post.  I hit the three main ways I've found the most success in keeping critters out of my garden.

Whether you're done gardening until the spring or are tending a leafy-green autumn garden, it's never a bad time to start thinking about what to plant next and how to do it.  I hope these thoughts on organic gardening can be of help and spark some excitement for the growing season to come.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Weekly Menu Plan: Third Week of October


There are countless stories and moments waiting to be shared here, as well as some new recipes.  It's crunch time to get us into our home, and currently time only yields enough of itself for function.  Here's hoping that November posts will be more diverse than just menu plans, but for now, I'm sharing what's bringing me peace of mind: something to follow at meal-prep-time.

Monday:
Lunch: Turkey & Cheese Sandwiches, Hard-Boiled Eggs, Ants On A Log

Tuesday:
Lunch:  Nut Butter & Manuka Honey Sandwiches, Carrots, Raw Cheese Slices, Sprouted Pepitas
Dinner:  Honey Mustard Slow Cooker Chicken, Garden Veggie Stir-Fry

Wednesday:
Lunch:  Turkey & Cheese Wrapped in Butter Lettuce, Eggplant Hummus, Cucumber Slices, Leftover Muffins 
Dinner:  Slow-Cooker Brisket Sandwiches (modified), Salad

Thursday:
Lunch:  Quesorritos & Apple Slices

Friday:
To do: Jeremy's Birthday!
Breakfast:  Croque Monsieur
Lunch:  Cheeseburgers & Potato Wedges
Dinner: Celebrate Out

Saturday:
Breakfast: Porridge & Eggs
Snack:  Pear Slices

Sunday:
To do: Our Girl's 8th Birthday!
Breakfast:  Cinnamon Rolls, Bacon, & Eggs
Dinner:  Pizza





Sunday, September 29, 2013

Weekly Menu Plan: First Week of October

Featured: Parmesan Zucchini Crisps & Warming Butternut Squash Soup
We didn't grow pumpkins this year.  Instead, we tried our hand at butternut squash for the first time, and I'm so glad we did.  We received a bumper crop of them that will last us through the winter and into spring, even if we enjoy one each week.  I don't feel deprived of pumpkins at all.  Wanna know why?  Butternut squash can be used in any pumpkin recipe, exactly the same way.  Ive been roasting them in the slow cooker at the beginning of the day that we will use them (use this method only substitute butternut squash for pumpkin).  I actually prefer butternut squash because it's not as runny as pumpkins.  Butternuts rule!

Monday:
To do: soak porridge
Lunch:  Turkey & Cheese Sandwiches, Hard-Boiled Eggs, Ants on a Log
Dinner:  Organic Chicken Sausage (from Costco) Marinated Tomatoes (using olive oil instead of canola) over a big bed of lettuce, topped with feta

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Porridge
Lunch:  Nut Butter & Manuka Honey Sandwiches, Raw Cheese Slices, Carrot Sticks, Sprouted Pepitas
Snack:  Cleansing Grape & Fig Smoothies
Dinner:  Ratatouille, Slow-Cooked Short Ribs (skipping the flour part)


Wednesday:
To do: make cookie dough bites
Breakfast: Grain-Free Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Muffins
Lunch:  Gluten-Free Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal
Snack:  Apple Pie Smoothies
Dinner:  Mexican Beef & Potato Melt, Salad


Thursday:
Breakfast:  Chocolate Breakfast Shake
Lunch:  Turkey & Cheese Wrapped in Lettuce, Cookie Dough Bites, Sprouted Sunflower Seeds
Snack:  Blueberry Bliss Smoothies
Dinner:  Creamy Tomato Bisque, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches


Friday:
Breakfast:  Cranberry Vanilla Qia over Raw Yogurt
Lunch:  Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, Carrot Sticks, Hummus, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies 
Snack:  Nut Butter & Honey Popcorn
Dinner: Zucchini Gratin, Buttery Gluten-Free BiscuitsSalad


Saturday:
Lunch: Quesorritos
Snack:  Mexican Hot Chocolate
Dinner:  Tomatillo Chicken Stew


Sunday:
Breakfast:  Paleo Caramel Apple Spice Waffles
Lunch:  Leftovers
Dinner:  Leftovers
(Sunday is my day off)





Sunday, September 22, 2013

Weekly Menu Plan ~ First Week of Autumn


Hot tea (and coffee too, of course), rainy days, turning leaves, sweaters, scarves, boots, and everything pumpkin.  It's true.  I am one of those autumn-lovers.  With such a long, hot summer that we have here, the transition to fall always feels miraculous.  It gets to the point where you start to wonder, will it ever cool down?  One starts to doubt.  But then it does, and all of us lovers of cool, crisp, and cozy dawn as many layers as possible and rejoice over a bowl of soup.

Monday:
To do: soak porridge
Breakfast:  Paleo Breakfast Bread (sans stevia)
Lunch:  Turkey & Cheese Sandwiches, Grapes, Hard-Boiled Eggs
Snack:  Carrot Cake Smoothes
Dinner:  Gluten-Free Turkey Pesto PastaZucchini Gratin


Tuesday:
To do: start chicken stock after dinner
Breakfast: Porridge
Lunch:  Nut Butter & Manuka Honey Sandwiches, Raw Cheese Slices, Carrot Sticks, Sprouted Pumpkin Seeds
Snack:  Cleansing Grape & Fig Smoothies
Dinner:  Slow Cooker Herbed Lemon Chicken, Salad 


Wednesday:
To do: make cookie dough bites
Breakfast:  GF Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal
Lunch:  Olives, Tortila Chips, Raw Cheese, Pears
Snack:  Apple Pie Smoothies
Dinner:  Summer Veggie Skillet Pizza using pesto instead of tomato sauce


Thursday:
Breakfast:  Chocolate Breakfast Shake
Lunch:  Turkey & Cheese wrapped in Lettuce, cookie dough bites, Sprouted Sunflower Seeds
Snack:  Blueberry Bliss Smoothies
Dinner:  Caprese Salad over Zoodles (zucchini noodles made with a julienne peeler), Leftover Chicken


Friday:
Breakfast:  Apple-Cinnamon Qia Cereal
Lunch:  Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, Carrot Sticks, Hummus, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Snack:  Nut Butter & Honey Popcorn
Dinner:  Warming Butternut Squash Soup & Gluten-Free Biscuits


Saturday:
Breakfast: Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes (using butternut squash instead)
Lunch:  Quesorritos
Snack:  Pears & Walnuts
Dinner:  Simple Taco Salad


Sunday:
Breakfast:  Grain-Free Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Muffins
Lunch:  Leftovers
Dinner:  Leftovers
(Sunday is my day off.)





Sunday, September 8, 2013

Weekly Menu Plan: Mid September


I will be honest with you.  Because we are moving this week (move number five out of six since May), This plan will probably be followed until Wednesday.  I have hopes to make as much as possible that is listed below, but at some point the kitchen does have to be packed and we will likely succumb to something packaged from Trader Joe's.  I'm hoping to make as much as possible for the entire week tomorrow and Tuesday and live off of whatever has been prepared in that time.  

My apologies for the late post.  I had the privilege of sharing at our church's "To Your Health" class this morning and then pumped out a post for Abundant Harvest Organic's blog to be published later this week.  Oh and my husband is on tour.  And we are packing again.  Weeeeeee!

Monday:
To do: soak porridge
Breakfast:  Eggs & Avocado Slices
Lunch:  Turkey & Cheese Sandwiches, Plums, Almonds
Dinner:  Slow Cooker Tri Tip with Butternut Squash (halved & seeded), Zucchini GratinSalad

Tuesday:
Breakfast:  Porridge
Lunch:  Nut Butter & Manuka Honey Sandwiches, Raw Cheese Slices, Carrot Sticks, Sprouted Pumpkin Seeds
Dinner:  Slow Cooker Herbed Lemon Chicken, Olive-Fig Tapenade with Sweet Pepper Slices

Wednesday:
Lunch:  Olives, Tortilla Chips, Raw Cheese Slices, Grapes
Dinner:  Leftover Chicken over Quinoa & Truffled Cauliflower Mash

Thursday:
Lunch:  Turkey & Cheese Lettuce Wraps, Cookie Dough Bites, Sprouted Sunflower Seeds
Dinner:  Caprese Salad over Zoodles (zucchini made out of noodles using a julienne peeler), Organic Chicken Sausage (from Costco)

Friday:
Lunch:  Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, Carrot Sticks & Hummus, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Dinner:  Kale Sausage SoupSalad

Saturday:
Lunch:  Hamburgers & Potato Wedges
Snack:  Grapes & Cheese
Dinner:  Eating Out (moving day)

Sunday:
Lunch:  Leftovers
Dinner:  Leftovers
(Sunday is my day off)






Sunday, September 1, 2013

Weekly Menu Plan ~ Welcome, September


This week's plan is merely a suggestion.  After moving last week and preparing to do so again in two weeks, I would of course love to make everything from scratch, but am prepared to let go of that dream if life demands something else.  It's a wild, crazy season and I cannot wait for the dust to settle.  To be back in my very own kitchen seems almost foreign.  In the meantime, my mom's kitchen is practically equipped the same, so there is no sacrifice there, just in available time between packing, cleaning, and maintaining connection with the children, husband, and folks.  And continuing the fall garden planting.  Beloved autumn is just around the corner and I can almost taste it!  Can you?  Happy September!

Monday: Labor Day!
Dinner:  Hamburger Salad, Potato Wedges, Summer Salad, Watermelon

Tuesday:
Breakfast:  Porridge & Eggs
Lunch:  Nut Butter & Manuka Honey Sandwiches, Raw Cheese Slices, Grapes
Dinner:  Spaghetti Squash & Homemade Sauceeggplant hummus, Bell Pepper Slices

Wednesday:
To do: make Cookie Dough Bites
Lunch:  Raw Cheese, Olives, Plum, Tortilla Chips

Thursday:
Lunch: Raw Cheese Wrapped in Turkey & Lettuce, Grapes, Cookie Dough Bites

Friday:
Lunch:  Nut Butter & Berry Wraps, Leftover Muffins, Raw Cheese, Plums

Saturday:
Breakfast:  Pancake Bar
Lunch:  Quesorritos
Snack:  Watermelon

Sunday:
Lunch:  Leftovers
Dinner:  Leftovers
(Sunday is my day off)

Friday, August 30, 2013

Six Moves and Happy News


After the sudden serge of daily posts, silence fell over this space once again.  Summers are normally very busy around here, but as I sit down for a moment after moving our family (again), I calculated that we will have moved six times before re-moving back in to Christmas Cabin once it's all grown up.  Six moves in five to six months.  Granted, we are not moving all of our belongings each time, but it is enough for a family of seven to get by on for half a year.  And I bulk-buy grains and legumes.  By the 25-pound bags.  And preserved the harvest that ended in over two hundred pounds of canned goods.  It's a lot.  Enough to make one's eyes cross, even.

So here we are, back with my generous parents, bunking at their house until we can move into ours.  Here is where I share the news of a dream come true: my parents are closing escrow on a home right next to ours!  One that we have dreamt of them living in since we moved here.  This is a very long story with many twists and turns.  It deserves it's own series of posts.  My mama is working on one over at her blog presently.  All I have to say is that I feel so very spoiled.  It makes moving two more times within the next six weeks bearable.   Until next time, whenever next time will be (I am ever hopeful that each day will be "next time"), may these last bits of summer be as sweet as watermelon straight off the vine and ice cream scooped right out of the churn.  Love to you all.

Little Joseph & Nana

Thursday, August 15, 2013

In the Garden ~ Second Week of August


 It might be 103 degrees outside, but we are busy, busy, busy putting in the autumn garden, dreaming of cooler weather and beautiful, changing leaves.  We were able to get all the seeds in that were on 
the docket last week.  The cabbages have even already sprouted!  I am looking forward to the first autumn garden hardest in a week or two when we thin the seedlings and enjoy the thinned sprouts sprinkled on top of the night's supper.

I read that it wasn't too late to plant some fast-growing varieties of beans and cucumbers in our area, so we purchased a few more summer seed packets and lived on the wild side.  The seeds (below) went into the ground last night.  I hope so badly that we can enjoy a nice harvest of these beauties before a frost gets them.  It's hard to believe it will ever frost here with this constant extreme heat, but I keep reminding myself that it will happen in time.


The black beauty zucchinis are doing quite well, now that we adjusted their water to what they needed. We have really enjoyed this variety.


Our first batch of corn came out of the garden this week.  We used the three sisters method and grew pole beans up the stalks.  Several hidden pods were revealed in the final corn harvest.


While we wait for our porch to be done (along with the rest of the house), the corn stalks wait patiently in a garden corner, ready to become part of the outside entryway autumn decoration. 


We pulled the rest of the chard out, along with some of the kale that's been infested with little white bugs (I must research a remedy for those buggers).  


My, the chickens love it when old plants are wheeled out of the garden.  It doesn't get much better than bug-infested kale, in their opinion.


This week's autumn planting includes sugar snap and sugar ann peas, French breakfast radishes (they are so yummy pickled!), onions (Bianca di Maggio and Noordollandse Bloedrode), and 3 types of lettuce (Brune D'hiver butterhead, May Queen butterhead, and Marvel of Four Seasons).  I really like butterhead lettuce.  Maybe because of the "butter" part of their name.  Also because I adore their texture and making lettuce wraps out of them.  Next week, we plant kohlrabi and some more peas!  What have you been up to in the garden these days?

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

More Changes for the Christmas Cabin

Where old meets new.  Memories from the past and future dreams are fastened together.


New outlooks. 


What began long ago, begins again; only this time with the richness of history.


New shelter for the elements to pound upon above, and a refuge for those under it's covering below.  


Watching our house take shape is a constant reminder of life's ever-changing-ness.  Sometimes it's uncomfortable.  Parts of the process exposes more than we'd like it to.  It's not always pretty.  In the end, if we allow it, we become stronger, our capacity to give of ourselves is greater, and a new beauty that we never knew could come about, does.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Healthy Back to School Lunches for the Real Food Family


It's that time of year again.  School lunches.  Whether your family homeschools or your children go to school (or if you pack your lunches for work!), it's always nice to have a game plan; especially if you are a real food family.  Real food, although it does not need to be extremely time-consuming, does take more time than grabbing a packaged something-or-other.  A little bit of planning makes real food meals happen with no stress.  Preparing healthy packed lunches can be a daunting task; but I promise it's not and quickly becomes a happy rhythm to dance to.  In hopes of keeping things short, sweet, and to the point, here are some posts I have written throughout the year on this subject. By the time you are done reading, you will have resources to pull from to find many easy, healthy recipes and everything you'll need to pack your yummy lunches in that won't break the bank or destroy God's beautiful planet.
  • Equipment.  If you want to send nourishing, non-pre-packaged lunches with your children to school, you will need something to put them in.  I have compiled a list of what has been very handy and useful for our family in this post.  
  • A note on snacks.  The only lunch-packing problem we came across last year was the unease at snack time (this kids had to bring their whole bento box containing their entire lunch to snack time because it was all in one container).  So we invested in these dishwasher safe, easy-to-open, leak-proof snack containers.  My children breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing them (they're cute!) and discovering how easy it was to open a close the leak-proof lids.  Their sizes are perfectly portioned to fit nourishing snacks like fresh fruit slices, grapes, berries, nuts, cheese, cookie dough bites, or even homemade yogurtapplesauce, or apple chips.
  • Complete Lunch Plans.  Back in January, I wrote a guest post that includes a game plan, how to stock your kitchen for healthy-packed-lunch success, and several complete lunch menus, chock full of the recipes needed.  Browse through that post here.
What are some things your family likes to pack in lunches?

I'm sharing this at Simple Lives Thursday.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Weekly Menu Plans are Back! (Kind Of)


After the final farewell to publishing our weekly menu plans here, they are back!  With the routine school time brings and our lives still in quite a bit of limbo as far as housing goes, the desire to keep whatever I can as organized as possible is a pretty big deal to this mama's current mental well-being.  So here the plans are again!  I can't promise how regular they will be, or that they'll be as in-debth as the old ones were, but I'll share what I can, when I can, making whatever I can with whatever the garden yields at present.

Monday:
To do: soak porridge
Breakfast:  Paleo Waffles & Blueberries
Lunch:  Cheesy Bread (1 slice sourdough, sliced tomatoes, cheese, in the broiler for 5 min, top with avocado, salt, & pepper)

Tuesday:
Breakfast:  Porridge & Eggs
Lunch:  Quesorritos topped with Creme Fraiche
Snack:  Blueberry Bliss Smoothies
Dinner:  Ratatouille Polenta Pie (from A Year of Pies)

Wednesday:
Breakfast:  Gluten-Free Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal
Lunch:  Mostly Raw Wraps
Snack:  Strawberry Cacao Smoothies
Dinner:  Butternut Squash & Caramelized Onion Galette

Thursday:
Breakfast:  Chocolate Breakfast Shake
Lunch:  Carrot, Sweet Pepper, & Cucumber Slices with Eggplant Hummus & Raw Cheese Slices
Snack: Apricot Creme Smoothies
Dinner:  Simple Summer Succotash

Friday:
To do: thaw beef for tomorrow night
Breakfast:  Grain-Free Dutch Baby Pancakes
Lunch:  Zucchini Noodle Pesto Pasta
Snack:  Watermelon
Dinner:  BBQ Steaks & Caprese Salad

Saturday:
Breakfast: Croque Madame (with one slice of sourdough instead of two)
Lunch:  Irish Nachos
Snack:  Cantaloupe
Dinner:  Spaghetti, Lattice-Top Triple Berry Pie & Ice Cream

Sunday:
Breakfast:  Grain-Free Zucchini Chocolate Chunk Muffins
Lunch:  Leftovers
Dinner:  Leftovers
(Sunday is my day off)

Saturday, August 10, 2013

This Week in Pictures (First Week of August)

Thanks to my amazing parents and their incredible help this week while my husband was on a trip with our two eldest children, I was able to write in this space every day this week!  Who knows when this will ever happen again, but I am reveling in the current activity.

Here is a collection of snippets from the week past.  Have a lovely weekend, friends.








Friday, August 9, 2013

Things Learned From Watching My Mother


It's amusing how one can know a person all their life and still learn new things about and from them;  especially when the relationship is a mother and her daughter.  My mother tried to pour so much wisdom and knowledge into me (repeatedly), and some of it I am only just now really absorbing.  I have to remember this as I mother these five children of my own.  Just keep plugging away, and perhaps one day, in their thirties, they will head my words.  How very encouraging (tehe).  

Now that I am older and our relationship has transitioned from instructor/student to more of a mentor/friendship dynamic, I learn mostly by observing. 


Jeremy and our two eldest children have been on an events trip this past week and my folks invited the three youngest and I to stay with them in the meantime.  What an enormous, life-saving help it has been to be in their home.  First of all, I had enough time to challenge myself to blog once a little bit every day (hence the sudden onslaught of riddlelove).  Secondly, the autumn garden has finally been given the care it needed to get started.  Most importantly, all of our love tanks have been filled instead of dangerously drained, which is what usually happens when Jeremy is away.  I'm not the only adult to prepare food, do the dishes, or play with the children.  They are pure love and magic, these parents of mine.

We celebrated my mother's birthday this week, and this post is in honor of her and what I've learned from her these past days: (Oh!  And she just started a beautiful blog of her own!)


  • Nothing is more important than relationship and connection.  Not even clean floors and uninterrupted routines.
  • When a toddler has just discovered the joy of books and bangs the same one on your leg that you've already read to him five times today, you stop what you're doing and read it to him, anyway.
  • Slowing down to teach children neat eating etiquette is much smarter than having to deep clean the floor after every meal.
  • During seasons of stress, surround yourself with loved ones to bring perspective of the big picture.
  • The house only gets as dirty as you allow it.  Ignore the mess and it grows.  Tend to it immediately and the task is frequent but light.
Thanks for being so awesome, mama. xoxo

I'm sharing this at Simple Lives Thursday.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

In the Garden This First Week of August


Posting a weekly look into the garden has been a goal since April.  Well, it's August.  Many of the plants have already yielded much, are very tired-looking now, and here it is, the first entry.  Better late than never, right?

The highlight of my time in the garden this week was opening it's gates to out-of-town family, including my sweet, 91-year-old grandma!  I could hardly believe that she was there, in my garden!  It was such a sweet moment that I will forever cherish.


My amazing parents joined the fun Saturday morning, bringing bluegrass music and a whole lot of joy. Although the garden is looking quite tired, it is still providing a good amount of food for us, and for that I am so thankful.  I wouldn't get a fraction done in this plot without my mother's massive help with the children.  I bring them with me to the garden a lot, but when it's really hot, they get to stay with Nana (which is always their preferred option, anyway).


Corn was a crop I was really excited about, but it has done the worst, I'm afraid.  I have a lot to learn still.  I either pick it too early or too late.  We had irrigation issues during it's crucial growing time and that really messed them up as well.


I keep hoping every time I open and ear that one will turn out okay, but so far that hope has been deferred.


In the words of wise Ma Ingalls, There is no great loss without some small gain.  I plan to gather the stalks up, tie them in bunches, and use them as part of our front porch Autumn decoration.  We should be in our house by then, and looking at the stalks, thinking about them on our porch (our porch!) makes my heart leap.

The chard produced well, but has been scorched by the sun and is just plain tired.  We pulled it out of the garden today and will direct-plant a fall crop in a couple weeks.


Then there's this little helper.  Little hands do a lot of picking, but almost just as much shoveling-garden-treats-into-little-mouths.  I set him by the cherry tomatoes and let him go to town while I scurry about like a mad woman, desperate to get done as much as possible before he dissolves and it is nap time.  It's quite the site, I'm sure.  


We started planting the autumn garden this week, but first I had to irrigate the empty beds.  It's a glorious site, seeing a bed getting evenly sprinkled by a line that you put in yourself.  You just have to stand there for a while and look at it sometimes.


In the ground for the autumn garden so far are potatoes (Red Gold, German Butterball, and Austrian Crescent Fingerlings), and Half-Long Guernsey Parsnips.  I am hoping to get fennel and cabbage seeds planted before the week's end (meaning today), because next week, the plan is to plant lettuce, more cabbage and fennel, peas, radishes, and broccoli, oh my!  And that's just the beginning...

I'm sharing this at Simple Lives Thursday.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Garden To Table ~ Tomatoes







Besides sun-scorch on several of our beefsteaks, the tomatoes did really well this year; the Roma's especially.  We planted Caspian Pink Beefsteak and Martino's Roma; both are heirlooms. 

Garden Notes  
  • Caspian Pink Beefsteak were ideal for where we live because they are an early variety.  I learned that once the temperature gets higher than 95F, the pollen in tomato flowers burn up and can't render fruit.  It stays above that number basically from mid-June until September so the earlier our tomatoes can flower out, the better.  This also made me very happy that we were able to start the plants as early as possible and get them into the garden the second day after the Last Frost Date.  That was a risky move, I know, but it paid off.  They aren't, in my opinion, the prettiest of heirloom tomatoes, but their flavor.  Wowza.  Unbeatable.  I also love how thin their skin is.  These guys are indeterminate, meaning they'll grow and produce fruit (barring exposure to extreme heat) until they die off from a frost.  They can grow up to eight feet tall!
  • Martino's Roma were wonderfully easy to grow and so prolific.  They are determinate, meaning they bare their fruit at one time (over the course of a few weeks) and die.  They only grow a couple feet high so there is no need to steak or trellis them.  Glory!  Their fruit is smaller than the Roma's that you see at the market, but the flavor is wonderful and I have made so many tasty canned goods with them (listed below).

To the Table

I was more than happy to put up many different tomato-based canned goods at the beginning of the season.  We have been waiting for them all year and just about every meal has fresh tomatoes tossed in somewhere these days.  Now at the end of the season, I just traded twenty pounds of Roma's for some of my friend's peaches.  Those little guys wore me out.  But oh, the flavor of garden-fresh tomatoes...

Dishes with Fresh Tomatoes
  • Ratatouille (Smitten Kitchen version) has quickly become a new favorite.  Serving it over some polenta and sprinkling feta on top is unbeatable.  We grow each of the ingredients, making this dish extra satisfying.
  • Salsa (pictured above).  I wish I had a recipe to share, but I don't.  It changes a little every time I make it (which is currently a daily ritual)  All I can tell you are the ingredients that usually go in are tomatoes (about 4-6, chopped), an onion, cilantro, a few peppers from the garden (poblano, sweet Italian, and jalapeño), a few garlic cloves, a heaping teaspoon (probably closer to a tablespoon, actually) of cumin, Celtic sea salt, and the star ingredient that takes it to the next level: smoked paprika.  If your kitchen is without this little gem, go get some.  Now.  It will change your life.
  • Zucchini Noodle Pesto Pasta.  We make several batches of pesto (to freeze and use throughout the year) after the weekly basil harvest and this is usually what we have for lunch on those days.  The picture above with the two fried eggs on top is a much simpler version.  Instead of pesto, I used basil flowers and leaves and for protein, I fried up those eggs (complements of our now-laying hens) instead of lunch meat.  I enjoy this version because everything came from our land (well, except the salt and pepper that was sprinkled on top) and it's quicker to make.
  • Caprese Salad.  A fresh tomato must.
What We Canned
This was my first time canning anything with tomatoes.  I decided to make what we use a lot of.  That just makes sense, right?  I also learned that unless I am canning salsa, it is an exercise in futility to use any other tomato than a Romas when canning tomatoes.  Any other kind has to cook down so far that it feels like there's almost nothing left.
  • Catsup. 24 pints.  12 with the cayenne, 12 without (because I was worried that it would be too spicy for the children who seem to think catsup is a food group).  Both batches came out really well, but I will cook it down more (and not use anything but straight romas next time) because it was still on the watery side.
  • BBQ Sauce. 24 pints.  I like it.  Jeremy really likes it.  That's all I am interested in.  We are the only ones in the family who use this sauce to begin with.
  • Salsa (found in The Rhythm of Family). 24 pints.  Nothing beats fresh salsa, but when these golden days of ripe tomatoes are over, these pints will be treasures to pull from the pantry; little tastes of the summer past.
  • Tomato Sauce.  36 pints.  I used fresh lemon juice instead of the bottled kind (ew).  This guy and I were best friends in the kitchen during tomato season.  Wow, it sure sped things up (once I realized you mill the tomatoes  after they have been cooked and not before).  We will use this sauce throughout the year for chili, pizza sauce, and spaghetti sauce, mostly (using 2 pints sauce instead of 3 jars paste).
  • Tomato Paste.  9 half-pints.  I didn't make much of this because it takes forever and I still have about 12 half-pints that I had bought in bulk a few months back.
I have also froze many tomatoes whole to thaw for later when it's soup season to make this creamy tomato bisque.

So yes.  Tomatoes are largely to blame for this season of Riddlelove silence.  They have kept me just a little bit busy.  I know I will thank me as I pull those jars of summertime out to use throughout the year though.  I think it was worth it.  I quite enjoyed it all, actually.

How do you like to eat and preserve tomatoes?  I'm thinking about dehydrating some of the next batch...

I'm sharing this at Simple Lives Thursday.

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