7houston, we 7have a problem

you may remember when biggles knocked her mug of water on my laptop. three days in the shop and two hundred dollars later it was fixed. or so i t7houg7ht.

and t7his is w7hat 7happens w7hen i try to delete a 7 - 8h - it becomes an 8!

o7h t7he 7horror.=)

time to take a little break from blogging. i will be doing lots of gardening, dehydrating and jammin'. there may even be some fun outdoorsy things. i shall return to fill you in and catch up on all your blogs!

community garden harvest

almost ready to be picked...

muth family farm's organic csa week ten:

watermelon, cilantro, fennel, romaine, green leef lettuce, rainbow chard, celery, raspberries, tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, squash, zucchini, eggplant, and a mix of cherry tomatoes 

7hope you're 7having a 7happy 7hump day!

(7hee7hee)

weekend in photos

blackberry kombucha tea

peaches and plums

sunflower buds

hibiscus

...with fuzzy stigma

cereal with banana in an organic bamboo bowl

... and a cozy new corner in our turquoise room

with a pretty paisley pillow.

a nice cozy place for grooming...

sleeping/stretching

and watching sweet head rubbins.=)

stuffed zucchini and nectarine cobbler

muth family farm's organic csa week 9: kale, chard, romaine, watermelon, fennel (woohoo!), green onions, eggplant, golden squash, zucchini, jalapeno, sweet peppers, heirloom tomatoes, white onion, white pepper, cucumber, blackberries and raspberries

the zucchini didn't have to go into our basket, and we were encouraged to take as many as we wanted. i could always make more zucchini chips, but i stood there thinking, 'how could i use these for dinner tonight?'. enter bernadette.

bernadette says something like, "oh i love when they're big like that" and i resist the urge to yell out "that's what she said!".=) she begins explaining to one of the workers that she stuffs and bakes the larger zucchini. my ears perk right up and i butt join right into that conversation!

bernadette says she simply scoops out the centers and makes a stuffing made of chopped onions, tomatoes and italian seasonings, which goes in the hollowed out centers.

raw

like zucchini boats! she bakes them for her family with a rice-based cheese and describes them as being like pizza! genius!

baked

herb stuffed zucchini with fennel

1 large zucchini

1 C. diced tomato

1/4 C. diced onion

3/4 C. chopped fennel

1 T. balsamic vinegar

1-2 garlic cloves

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. rosemary

few basil leaves, chopped

drizzle olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

slice zucchini vertically and hollow out the center (a teaspoon does the trick). chop the center and add all ingredients to a large bowl. mix well, adding olive oil to your liking. pack stuffing into centers.

enjoy raw, dehydrated a few hours at 115°, or baked for about 20 minutes at 400°.

for a cheesy flavor and added protein, top with gina's hempasan.

•

so bernadette introduces herself and says she eats a lot of raw food (figured - she had the glow). she tells me of a website  (i forget the name) with a recipe for a raw peach cobbler made with peaches and mangoes. tell me more!

bern says she blends some of the fruit with dates to make a sauce, then pours it on the sliced peaches. she tops it off with walnuts and raves that it tastes just as good as cooked cobbler. just to be sure, i had to try it for myself... *wink*

and she wasn't kidding! fresh out of peaches, i substituted nectarines, as any fruit would taste amazing, i'm sure. mmmmMMM! when are you making this!?=)

community nectarine cobbler
(serves 2)

2 nectarines, sliced thin

sauce:
1 ripe mango
1 medjool date
pinch of salt
1/4 inch piece of vanilla bean, or 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
juice of 1/4 lemon

blend all sauce ingredients until smooth. pour over sliced nectarines.

topping:
1/4 C. walnuts
1/4 C. pecans
1 medjool date
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
drizzle of maple syrup

in a food processor, blend all topping ingredients until crumbles form. sprinkle on nectarines and enjoy!

•

if you're reading, thanks bernadette!!!

artichoke hearts•pickles•kraut•kale salad with hemp seeds

banana soft serve with raspberries

•

banana soft serve with raspberries

+

peanut butter
=

heaven

=)

enjoying summer's bounty

muth family farm's organic csa week 8: red chard, bok choy, yellow watermelon, lettuce, canary melon, sungolds and other heirloom tomatoes, white and purple pepper, onions, amaranth leaves, raspberries, yellow squash, cucumber, 8 ball squash, beets, corn...

and another cute eggplant - this time a girl!

emma the eggplant

the vase in the center is holding just a fraction of the pears i have from my mother and stepfather's tree. pears are up there as one of my favorite fruits, so i've been eating them as often as possible.

smoothie ingredients pre-blending

(pear, collard leaves, lemon, canary melon, cucumber, purslane, bloobs and banana)

yummy pear-based smoothie with frozen watermelon

i made pear-tinis with frozen banana...

and used pear in most of my fruit roll-ups, along with bananas, blueberries and canary melon.

the idea struck to recreate my pearberry bliss ice cream cake with muth raspberries. (can't believe it's mid-august and i haven't made a raw ice cream cake - shame on me!=)

...

our generous neighbor has been sharing her harvest of cantaloupe, tomatoes and potatoes. john and i made a delicious italian-style tomato sauce to top our raw pizza, with garden basil pesto sauce and zucchini pasta.

(some purists may think it sacreligious to put cooked tomato sauce on raw food, but i say, why not? it tasted great, and i'm told that cooking tomatoes increases the lycopene, an antioxidant known to decrease cancer and heart-disease risk.)

we found another little friend in the potatoes...

potsy the potato

that we fried in a big wok with olive oil, garlic and rosemary. the potatoes made a delicious side for grilled tomato sandwiches on ezekiel bread smothered in raw ranch dip. super yummsies!

the raspberries for the vinaigrette were from muth, as well as the tomatoes...

and our garden green apple cucumbers topped the salad.

...

my mom sent me this funny picture of a friend she found in her cucumber patch with the caption

"has anyone seen my friend edgar?"

ha! like mother like daughter!=)

...

on the gardening front, things aren't looking too good in our raised beds. i'm not sure why. it's been a pretty dry, sunny summer, though our plants at the community garden are flourishing.

we've got at least 10 butternut squash growing from seeds that i saved last summer. with global seed saboteurs like monsanto, i feel it's wise to save seeds that have not been genetically modified. no franken-fruits in my house!=)

here's an interesting video i had to share (cute goats about 7 and a half minutes in!=):

i hope you're enjoying fresh fruits and veggies around your way!

=)

raw ranch dip and fruit roll-ups

i'm grateful to live in the "garden state" and have access to amazing local produce. white and purple bell peppers are grown at my organic csa. i've never seen such peppers before - the white one looks glow-in-the-dark! incorporating these peppers into our repertoire was a must as they were too pretty to pass up.

... then john requested i make meredith of the raw seed's noritos again, but this time asked me to recreate his favorite dorito flavor - cool ranch.

meredith's original raw noritos recipe calls for a red bell pepper to get that orange color. *light bulb moment* to keep our noritos ranch-y, i thought to use the white bell pepper and modify the recipe with help from carmi's ranch dressing recipe. the result - a delicious raw cheezy ranch sauce perfect for ranch noritos, crackers, dipping, and topping raw tacos.

raw ranch dip

inspired by meredith of the raw seed and carmella of the sunny raw kitchen

1 1/2 cup cashews, soaked

1 white bell pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder or 1 tablespoon fresh onion

1 teaspoon sea salt, more or less to taste

1 teaspoon dried or fresh parsley

juice from 1/2 a lemon

2 cloves garlic

blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy (high speed blenders work best). you may need to add a bit of water. garnish with chili powder (optional of course).

...

the ranch dip was so tasty, i decided to mix some with flax to make crackers. i love using flax seeds because a) they are nutritious b) they are inexpensive and c) they make a nice crunchy cracker.

 raw ranch flax crackers

using the corn and jalapeno from the csa, i dehydrated these crunchy chips...

raw tortilla chips

and we had a mexican feast with ani phyo's nut meat on collard wraps smothered in salsa, guacamole and raw ranch dip.

there goes the purple pepper!

...

for dessert and breakfast, on the same day, we enjoyed raw crepes with coconut cream and local jersey peaches and nectarines. mmm!!!

raw banana crepes are basically fruit roll-ups. there was an abundance of ripe fruit in our kitchen, so i made lots of them with peaches, bananas, pears, and strawberries.

fruit roll-ups are really simple to make - just blend ripe fruit with a little lemon juice (to keep them from browning). spread the mixture in rounds on teflex sheets and dehydrate at 115° until dry but still pliable (about 8 hours).

homemade fruit roll-ups are perfect for kids and adults with a sweet tooth, and are a much healthier alternative to sweets with artificial ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and dyes.

=)

soap nuts sample winners

averie (#39) and hihorosie (#48)!

happy washing, ladies!
=)

csa goodies and giveaways

muth family farm organic csa week seven: corn, red russian kale, collard, lettuce, cantaloupe, raspberries(!), white and purple peppers(?), heirloom tomatoes, squash, zucchini, jalapeno pepper, and onion

...was kinda bummed there were no canary melons or curled kale this week, but the raspberries made up for it.

...

some giveaways going on -

k. grace $100 gift card (ends tomorrow!)

raw soap nut samples (ends wednesday)

terra chips (wednesday)

himalayan salt lamp (aug. 15th)

operation beautiful (sept. 9th)