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Farmer’s Market Fun
July 4, 2010 by 2 Comments
Sarah + Farmer’s Market = one VERY happy vegan!!
I think this is the first time I’ve been to a farmer’s market since I’ve been a grown up. My mom used to drag take us to this little farm stand place in Cleburne all the time when we were kiddos. And there’s a produce place here in Joshua (Parks Produce), but he doesn’t always have a huge amount of stuff and most of it’s not local. But the guy that owns it is really nice and I shop there quite often, because even if his produce isn’t always local I’m still supporting a local business and that makes me happy.
But it’s nothing like the experience you get at a real live farmer’s market! It wasn’t ginormous but it was pretty awesome. (top secret vegan fact… we don’t need to do drugs- we get plenty high when we come upon mass quantities of beautiful vegetables!!) Oh what fun I had wandering and looking at all the pretty veggies and handmade goods. And ALL of the stuff there is all produced within 150 miles of Fort Worth- ALL completely local stuff! I also got some advice about my zucchini from a nice farmer dude(I’m having trouble with my poor little zucchini plants!). He said that a good organic fertilizer for your plants is coffee grounds- anyone know anything about this? I might give it a try and see what happens.
Anyway, I could have very well bought everything. Yes that’s right- I said everything! ;) But alas, I’m not made of money, so I stuck to around $30 worth of goodies. And here’s what I got for my moo-lah…
These are the BEST blueberries I’ve ever had! I’m serious.
Green tomatoes! I’ve already made fried green tomatoes- recipe coming soon!!
Homemade jams!! I don’t know what I thought I would need Jalapeno Raspberry jam for, but I just couldn’t resist! And who doesn’t love blackberry jam?! I think I’m going to be busting into this one in the morning! Nom nom nom!
Bell peppers. I have some growing in my little garden, but they’re not quite ready yet. These’ll tide me over until they are hopefully.
mmmmm! Peaches! They taste like little pieces of heaven! (I’ve already used most of them actually- we chowed down on a blueberry peach cobbler about an hour ago and it was fantastic!)
My little okra plant has only given me three little okras so far, and they’re hanging out in the freezer waiting for more of their friends to join the party. So until then, some lovely okra from the farmer’s market will have to do!
Same thing goes for my zucchini and squash. I think the summer heat is just eating them up- they shrivel up and die before they are getting a chance to get much bigger than a few inches. Poor little things!
All in all I had a fun afternoon- after I got home and unloaded all my goodies I made some fried green tomatoes and a blueberry peach cobbler. Then did a little homework. And now I’m listening to all the stupid people with their fireworks and the poor dogs are going nuts. I love 4th of July but I hate fireworks.
Anyhoo- new recipes coming soon. Get excited!
Spicy Black Bean Soup
July 1, 2010 by Leave a Comment
This soup is so delicious! It makes a nice big pot of soup, so you can keep munching it for days! I think this is an old weight watchers recipe- I’ve had it forever, so who knows where it came from.
Here it is! Make it now- you can thank me later! 😉
Spicy Black Bean Soup
Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 (15 oz) cans of black beans, undrained
big pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground cumin
14 oz vegetable broth (I go a little shy on this- I like my soup a little more on the thick side)
1 can of rotel (if you don’t like rotel, you can just use a can of plain diced tomatoes or fire roasted tomatoes would be quite tasty as well)
1 can yellow corn, drained (frozen or fresh corn would work well too)
Instructions:
Sautee onion and garlic until onions are soft. (about 5 mins)
Put one can of beans in the blender; add sautéed onions and garlic, red pepper flakes, and cumin. Cover and blend until smooth. Pour mixture back into stockpot.
Place second can of beans and vegetable broth into blender and blend until smooth. Add to stockpot.
Stir in third can of black beans (do not puree first), rotel, and corn into pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 20-25 mins.
Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.
Favorite toppings: salsa, Daiya vegan cheese, vegan sour cream, crushed up tortilla chips
Pasta Salad!
June 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment
First and foremost- let’s get this pasta salad going! It’s so good, and best of all it’s amazingly SIMPLE!! And who doesn’t love a good pasta salad?!
So take your choice of pasta. I used farfalle (the little bowties). And I used the whole box.
Cook it according to package directions. Let it cool off.
Then take a jar of Artichoke Salad (it’s got artichokes, red peppers, and olives in it). Save some of the stuff that it’s marinated in. Give it a rough chop, and add it to the cooled pasta.
I also added some sliced black olives to mine because I’m cool like that.
Then add several tablespoons of the marinade from the artichoke salad. To your own personal taste level. Then add a little salt and pepper and you’re done! Let it hang out a bit so that the pasta can soak up the flavor of the marinade before you chow down. If you want to be a show off you could add some fresh herbs to it. I was just too darn lazy to walk outside and pick some out of the garden.
Easy huh?!
And so pretty!
Other than this, there’s not much going on around here today. It’s raining- YAY! My plants are going to be SOOOO happy!
I need to work on a project for my Women’s Nutrition class but I keep putting it off. I have to say that I’m kind of disappointed in this class. I thought that it would be far more interesting than it actually is. And I also thought that we would be learning about…oh…I don’t know…women’s nutrition? Instead it turned out to be almost exactly like my food and culture class. hmmmm….
Anyhoo- I’m headed to the kitchen to make some yummy chocolate chip cookies for the husband. 😀
Have a good one!!
Birthday, part two
June 26, 2010 by 1 Comment
My wonderful husband took me out for a lovely birthday afternoon yesterday! We had a blast!
We went to a vegan restaurant right here in Fort Worth. Spiral Diner. It’s the only vegan restaurant in the metroplex, so it’s a good thing that it’s AMAZING!!!! I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to just open a menu at a restaurant and order whatever I wanted. I didn’t have to ask if anything had any lard in it. I didn’t have to say without the cheese. And I didn’t have to have plain lettuce! (Which actually happened to me at a restaurant once- a steakhouse. I didn’t have a choice but to go there- it was mother’s day, so it wasn’t my decision. Can you believe that they didn’t have a single salad dressing that didn’t have milk or cheese products in it?!) This was just a nice relaxing lunch. And the food was seriously amazing!
Hubby got the Cowboy Burger! It looked really good! He said it was fab!
Cowboy Burgers make husbands happy!
And I got the Taco Salad! Holy salad batman!! This was GOOD! It had lettuce, corn, black beans, peas, carrots, their Mexican Quinoa, and avocado! Topped with sour cream, with salsa and ranch on the side! Heaven. on. earth!
I can’t wait to go back!
Then we wondered around the mall while we digested. I went to origins and got some fun face stuff.
Then I got my nose pierced! For reals!
I’ve been wanting to do it for FOREVER, so I figured my 30th bday was a pretty good reason to stop being a wussy and do it!
It hurt, I’m not going to lie. But it only hurt for a few seconds, then it stung for a bit and then I was good to go! It’s a little sore today, but I just got a hole punched through my nose with a big-ass needle, so that’s to be expected right?
Anyhoo- it’s super duper CUTE! And I’m SO glad I did it!
See?
And on the way home my hubby bought me a new cookbook! :) I love that dude!
Here’s what I got…
I’m going to try a recipe tonight- can’t wait!!
I’m headed to the grocery store now- catch ya on the flip side!!
