Wet Your Plants

My dear friend shared with me this sign she saw at a garden center: "Spring is here. We're so excited we wet our plants!" I must say I concur! At the time of my last post, Clint had just built the frames for my raised beds. This past weekend, he filled them with a truckload of deliciously-rich-with-compost soil, and I finally got to plant my first garden!

I know you're going to be a little surprised about this, but I went a little overboard in my planting (all from seed). I planted, or have started inside, four varieties of heirloom tomatoes, heirloom lemon cucumber, a flower petal salad, four varieties of basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley, oregano, lavender, heirloom summer squash, heirloom sweet pepper, heirloom okra, cardoon, heirloom purple carrots, spinach, red romaine, heirloom curly kale, borage, swiss chard, beets, broccoli, mesculun, beans, heirloom peas, milk thistle, calendula, chives, lemon balm, cilantro, dill, and echinacea. I promise I held back. The list of what I didn't plant but wanted to is just as long. Maybe we can add another bed or two next year.

Yes, I have a superman husband, and Vivian even helped too!

And, our CSA starts in two weeks, and the farmers market reopened this past Saturday! Yes, I'm definitely wetting my plants. Are you wetting yours? Have you planted anything this year?

THINK!

I had a conversation recently that really saddened me. It was a conversation with someone I care about, and it was about a subject that's frequently discussed on this blog. I'll be the first to say that the topics on here aren't necessarily "conventional" (What would be the fun in that?), and I'm used to being received with strange looks when I bring them up! Things like babywearing, minimalist living, extended breastfeeding, whole foods plant based diets, natural remedies, elimination communication, composting, making your own clothes, alternative vaccine decisions, growing your own food, and even yoga aren't widely embraced in our society. And that's ok! I don't expect anyone to have the same opinions as me or to agree with me about all of these things. But what saddened me about this conversation I had was the absolute, blind, and uninformed closed-mindedness of the other person. Instead of looking at the subject honestly, it was incorrectly stereotyped and flippantly dismissed in a ridiculing way. Ouch. Ouch not that I was made fun of, but that this person who is important to me so brazenly and intentionally discarded evidence-based truth in favor of a (literally) toxic norm, for no reason other than that what I think is "weird," and outside the status quo. A different opinion based on scientific evidence and logical reasoning would have been most welcome! But this was based on nothing. I am no expert in anything discussed on this blog and am hopefully always learning and open to ideas that seem foreign to me. But a different opinion based on nothing other than what's considered "normal" in this country that is anything BUT normal in comparison to the rest of the world, is sad. I say all of that to say that I hope Ear to the Earth is an environment where THINKING for ourselves is encouraged, topics are considered critically, and positive change is encouraged! Isn't there always room for improvement? Aren't there always more questions than answers? Wouldn't we be foolish to assume that just because something is normal, it's right? Let's encourage each other to honestly explore all types of various issues, think critically about them, and then put what we learn into practice! Who's with me?!  :)

Soup and Study

Potatoes have been taking over my kitchen! I've gotten them every week for the past four or five weeks from the CSA, and I finally put about a third of them to good use in this soup loosely adapted from PUREmama blog.

Potato Leek Soup
3 leeks, sliced
6 medium sized potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 cup almond/cashew milk
2 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon sea salt
Dried thyme, parsley, and salt to taste

• Boil potatoes till soft, about 20 minutes. Heat oil and water in large saucepan and add leeks, garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt. Saute/steam until soft, about 15 minutes or until your potatoes are done cooking.
• Add almond/cashew milk and dried herbs to the leeks and simmer a little longer. Meanwhile, drain potatoes and roughly chop them up. Add them back into saucepan along with leek mixture. Add the water and blend with hand mixer.

Simple, easy to prepare, and delicious! Goes well with a yummy salad!

It goes even better with this Isaiah study I've been doing. My friend Kelly told me about Precept Upon Precept Bible studies a long time ago, and I've really been dying to do the Isaiah one ever since. Well, one day not long ago, a delivery man showed up with the complete Isaiah set - Kelly had sent it to me as a way to bless us with our baby on the way! I seriously couldn't have asked for a better gift, and I'm so thankful for all the generosity and love friends and family have showed us during this special time. This study by far and away the best one I've ever done. If you're looking for an in-depth, Scripture-based study, I can't recommend Precept Upon Precept studies enough! Has anyone else ever done one? What's your favorite method for studying the Bible? I would love to hear what everyone else is doing!

Creamy Kale Comfort

Have I told you about this yet? My obsessive love for a simple dish called Creamy Millet and Kale Salad from my favorite food blog, YumUniverse? It's one of my all time favorites. It's easy to make. And it's kale, which is basically the most wonderful food on this planet.

I made it for my lunch today as a comfort food because I was all wound up about the prenatal appointment I was about to have. I woke up at one in the morning and couldn't get back to sleep because of it! Pathetic. I thought a warm, familiar food might help calm me down before I got to the clinic. I was wrong. I was wound as tight as a spring on the drive there! (I was worried that I would have high blood pressure from how jacked up I was, but I practiced my yoga breathing before they checked it and I guess that worked.) The only thing that alleviated my psychological turmoil was prayer. Duh, I should have known. The kale was still delicious; it just doesn't have the magical calming powers I was hoping for.

All my anxiety was silly anyway. The appointment was great, and I love love love my midwife! We're on the same brainwave about everything, and I feel loads better after finally having a real appointment. I thought this clinic was going to be weird and not supportive of natural childbirth, but the midwives are all about it and even have a wonderful water birth option I've chosen to do. We got to hear Baby Ross' heartbeat, and he/she was having hiccups at the time too. So cute. I finally feel relaxed and confident about this final stage. I hadn't realized just how stressed out I was until that weight was lifted. You know what I mean?

In fact, I felt so relieved that I came right home and made these Vegan Cow Pies and promptly devoured two of them.

I have no idea what proportions I used, but I combined oats, cashew butter, coconut oil, vanilla, and fair trade cocoa powder in a saucepan over low heat till it was all melted together and tasted good. Then I scooped them out into little "cow pies" on a nonstick surface and, like I said, ate two :) If you have a sweet tooth and need something pronto, this is the perfect treat to make. Quick, easy, and not too unhealthy. And with that my friends, I'm going to go pass out in exhaustion till dinner.

A Feast!

We're having friends over for dinner tonight! I love hosting dinner parties, probably because I love food, and I think it's the perfect connector between people. I also love when my house is perfectly clean and everything is in its place :)  My only problem is that I tend to go too big and end up over-doing it. But I guess that's an ok problem to have. Tonight I'm keeping it simple enough and getting as much as possible done ahead of time. The menu includes Goat Cheese Cashew Encrusted Chicken, Emerald City Salad, Thai-Spiced Pumpkin Soup, a dinner salad from fresh CSA produce I'll be picking up this afternoon, and Vegan Cocoa-Coco-Nut-Nut Cookies. These are some of my favorite recipes, and I'm excited to share them with you!

Goat Cheese Cashew Encrusted Chicken
However many chicken breast you want
Salt and Pepper
Dijon mustard
Goat Cheese
Crushed cashews (original recipe calls for macadamia nuts, but two stores were out of them so I subbed cashews)

• Preheat oven to 400. Lightly oil shallow baking dish and season chicken all over with salt and pepper. Place in baking dish and brush Dijon mustard on top. Cover with a generous portion of heavenly goat cheese. Crush cashews and sprinkle over goat cheese. Cover and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 5-10 more minuted, until cheese is golden brown and chicken is cooked through.

Emerald City Salad is from my favorite cookbook I talk about all the time. It's a warm salad that involves wild rice and kale. What more could anyone want?

Here is the Thai-spiced Pumpkin Soup recipe. I'm using my heirloom Long Island Cheese pumpkin and saving the seeds! It's going to be extra good. (I'm glad Clint doesn't like pumpkin - more soup for me!)


Vegan Cocoa-Coco-Nut-Nut Cookies (adapted from this recipe by Sketch-free Vegan Eating)
2 cups gluten free flour blend (recipe immediately below)

• 2 cups brown rice flour
• 2 cups oat flour (I didn't have this so I used whole wheat flour, making mine non gluten free)
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/2 cup ground flax

2 teaspoons non-aluminum baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder (buy fair trade!)
1 cup sucanat
3/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup water
Two handfuls chopped walnuts
1/2 cup shredded coconut
About 6 ounces vegan chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in another. Gradually add dry mixture into wet mixture. Stir in nuts, chips, and coconut. Scoop heaping tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet and flatten a bit. Bake for 5 minutes, rotate cookie sheet, and bake 5 more minutes. Makes 24 cookies if you don't sample any of the dough!

Oh, and here is a photo from my trip to Maggy's! It was taken right before I hopped in the car to head home, and we were both trying not to boo-hoo. I miss those two girls like mad! And I'm totally jealous that they have another guest right now :)

One last piece of news - we are at the 30 week mark! Yup, I'm 30 weeks pregnant and think I'm starting the whole nesting thing. (Clint thinks I'm always nesting, but he hasn't seen anything yet!) I have such a strong desire to get everything perfect before the baby arrives. I have somewhere around 10 weeks to achieve it!

Rich, Creamy (and vegan!) Butternut Squash Soup

I'm becoming more and more of a soup fan each year, and when I received two butternut squash fresh from the field in my CSA share on Friday, I had to make my favorite butternut squash soup. It's so good that even some who aren't squash fans may like it. Plus, it's super quick and easy.

Butternut Squash Soup
2 butternut squash, baked and skin removed
2 cups vegetable broth
14 ounces coconut milk
2 teaspoons dried cilantr
1 teaspoon ground ginger

• Place all in soup pot and blend with hand blender. Warm on stove and garnish with fresh cilantro if desired.

I had the soup with my kale chips for lunch today. One of the best meals ever. The only thing that would have made it better is a warm slice of sourdough bread . . .

Speaking of, here's the sourdough update from yesterday.

Day 4 5:00pm

On Day 4 you refresh the culture. I added 1/4 pound lukewarm water and 2 ounces whole wheat flour. Now, for Days 5-9 fermentation will continue pretty much on its own, and there's not much I do to the culture. Regular feedings don't begin till Day 10.

New CSA

Well, I love my new CSA, the one with Full Moon. This week's share included potatoes, arugula, green peppers, baby salad turnips, head lettuce, bok choy, beets, and eggplant. I feel like I'm drowning in arugula, peppers, and eggplant because I just got all of that on Tuesday from my other CSA that just ended, so I'm all ears if you have any recipes to share that use lots of those ingredients. Today I made Potato Salad with Bok Choy, Turnips, and Basil, a (slightly modified) recipe that was sent out in the CSA newsletter. It's very fresh tasting on a cool fall day!

1 pound medium-sized potatoes
5 stems of bok choy, with leaves
4 turnips
3 tablespoons finely minced fresh basil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil
Place potatoes in pot. Cover with cold water and a little salt. Bring to boil then reduce heat to medium, cover, and boil 15-18 minutes, till done. Chop choy (stems and greens) into small dice. Thinly slice turnips and mince basil. Combine vinegar, garlic, salt, sugar, oil, and basil and whisk together. Drain potatoes and cut into bite sized pieces while still warm. Toss in bowl with choy and radishes. Pour dressing over top and combine well. Refrigerate till completely cooled.

Thinking of food, health, and nutrition (as usual), this is a very important quote from The China Study that I want to share with you. I do not share it to be an insult to doctors, but to shed some light on a typical doctor's knowledge of nutrition. It's not a subject that's taught in medical school.

"You should not assume that your doctor has any more knowledge about food and its relation to health than your neighbors and coworkers. It's a situation in which nutritionally untrained doctors prescribe milk and sugar-based meal-replacement shakes for overweight diabetics, high-meat, high-fat diets for patients who ask how to lose weight, and extra milk for patients who have osteoporosis. The health damage that results from doctors' ignorance of nutrition is astounding."

I saw evidence of this just the other day while my friend was in the hospital with her newborn. She was served bacon, fried potatoes, eggs, and Fruit Loops for breakfast, and those choices were made specifically for her as a nursing mom. Some of the lunch choices included fried fish, hot dog, BLT, and hamburger. I was shocked and appalled by this information. In a hospital, in a place that is supposedly all about health and healing, they are serving the very food that is at the core of our modern diseases. It's really sad because the vast majority of Americans don't know any different.

CSA Dinner

Last night my goal was to make good use of as much of my CSA produce as possible, and this is what happened. I thought it was going to be gross, but it was quite delightful! On the left there are Simple Braised Greens with Garlic. I made them with toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds. Yum! At the top of the plate is Roasted Sweet Potato and Rocket Salad, my new favorite way of eating arugula. And bottom right are some lovely Zephyr summer squash. If you've never had a Zephyr, go find one! They're so good! I just brushed them with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, and stuck them in the oven till they were cooked through. Simple and delightful. Almost this entire meal was local and fresh, and it was completely plant based whole foods. I think it offsets the nasty candy I ate yesterday . . .

Later today I have my first pickup of the second CSA we're trying here, Full Moon. I'm excited to try something new, but also sad to be done with Roots Farm for the season. They've been good to us. I'll be sure to share about the veggies we receive!

A Confession

I just ate a bag of candy (not going to tell you what kind so you don't get the craving) because I was stressed out, not having a great day, and not feeling real well. Sick Sick Sick. Isn't it weird how I craved the very thing that is worst for me right now? Highly processed foods only add to the stress on our bodies, and sugar actually depresses the immune system. Brilliant. But, even as long as it's been since I've had such a packaged and processed food, that's still what I craved and then gave into so easily. And you know what? I don't feel any better. And I knew I wouldn't. Ok, there's my confession. Time to move on to better things.

I've been getting kale in my CSA share every week! Considering that kale is one of my favorite foods, it's been marvelous. Last night, I made Spicy Kale and Cannellini Beans from one of the best food blogs ever, YumUniverse. Almost everything I make from there becomes a favorite recipe. My version turned out to be as ugly as it was good, so I didn't take a picture, but she has a pretty picture on her blog, so you can see what it should look like. So easy, healthy, and delicious.

Yesterday I got to eat lunch at The Grit, Athen's vegetarian restaurant! I've been dying to try it out, so when the opportunity finally presented itself I was all over it. In addition to the delightfully pleasant company I enjoyed, the food was divine. I had a falafel pita and a spicy garden tomato soup. Yum. They have a cookbook that's at the top of my birthday list if anyone was curious about that :)

Mizuna

Ever heard of it? I hadn't either till today. It reminds me of my favorite running shoe: Mizuno, and makes me miss running even more! Mizuna was in my CSA share today. It's a cool season Japanese mustard green. With mystery ingredients like this, I'm always thankful for the recipes that come along with each week's pickup, and I think I'll try making soba noodle salad with mizuna this week . . . more details on that when it happens.

Here's the bounty from this week, photo from Roots Farm blog. That's farmer Sarah in the photo. This is her fifth year on the farm, and she has a wealth of knowledge and a love of produce. The share included tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, kale, turnips, summer squash, mizuna, arugula, and basil.

But, most importantly, Maggy's baby was born today at 2:36pm! Fern Fiona Hanlon is seven pounds, six ounces, and 21 inches long. She is beautiful, and I can't wait to meet her in real life. I couldn't be happier for my friends.

CSA Cookin'

Kale. It's one of my favorite foods, and it's incredibly good for you. Did you know that one cup of cooked kale contains over 1300% of the RDA for vitamin K and almost 200% of the RDA for vitamin A? It also contains vitamin C, manganese, fiber, calcium, potassium, magnesium, folate, vitamins B6, B2, and B1, iron, protein, and phosphorus. It provides over 10,000 mcg of beta carotene and over 23,000 mcg of lutein. Talk about nutritious and delicious!

The kale. Washed, dried, and ready to use!

Considering how healthy, tasty, and versatile it is, I was delighted to discover a bunch of Red Russian Kale in my CSA share yesterday. I had to use it up quickly and didn't have many ingredients around the house, so I made my old standby: Sweet and Spicy Kale Chips.

Here's how you can make them too: De-stem and chop one bunch of kale into whatever size pieces you want. Whisk together 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons agave nectar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne (depending on how hot you like them). Massage dressing into kale and spread into single layer on mesh dehydrator trays. Dehydrate at 105 until they're nice and crispy! I like to flip mine after about halfway through to "cook" them more evenly. I don't have a picture of the finished product because Clint and I ate them too quickly!

Mounds of arugula came in the CSA as well! (There's a little basil in the photo too.) I'm not a huge arugula fan and again, needed to use it quickly, so I made it into a pesto that I plan to use on pizza later this week. The rough recipe came from the Roots Farm Blog, but I didn't really measure or follow it exactly. I like to just make pesto to taste.

I threw the arugula/basil mix, olive oil, walnuts, garlic, and a little salt into the food processor and processed till it was the right consistency. I did NOT use the nutritional yeast they recommended because it's not a whole food, and I don't think pesto needs it. They had it in there because it's a vegan recipe, but I'm not a vegan so I put a tiny bit of parm in there instead.

That whole mound of greens made just one little 8 oz container of pesto! I bet it will be tasty on a pizza with mushrooms, tomatoes, and onions!

We also got French Breakfast Radishes in this week's share. I'm not a real big fan of radishes either, but they're so gorgeous I had to give them a chance.

I tried another recipe from the Roots Farm Blog, Sauteed Radishes with Radish Greens. Cooking radishes makes them a little less bitter, and the result was edible. I didn't love it; I didn't hate it, but I was at least able to eat a serving of the dish.

We got MORE okra this week too! I really didn't know what to do with it this time, so I just poked them onto skewers, brushed them with some olive oil, sprinkled them with salt, and grilled them!

When they came off the grill I added a squeeze of lemon juice. Again, the recipe came from the Roots Farm blog. Grilling okra is the way to go! I will definitely do that again.

Finally, I made Honey Garlic Grilled Eggplant with the single eggplant I got yesterday. No photos of that, but it was yummy! A great alternative to any other eggplant dish I've ever had, which all seem to be fairly similar.

Well, I hope this lengthy post gives you some ideas for your late summer produce and inspires you to eat more local, seasonal produce as well!

Potatoes and Purses

I have to admit that after the weekend cooking frenzy, I was a bit burnt out on being in the kitchen. Plus we have plenty of leftovers in the fridge to get us through a day or two. But, the remainder of my CSA produce was calling, and I hate wasting food, so into the kitchen I ventured again today, and boy oh boy am I glad I did! I made Salt and Vinegar Potato Salad from what is quickly becoming another favorite blog of mine, Joy the Baker. The main ingredients: potatoes, green beans, red onions, and apple cider vinegar.

I love red onions!

A wide variety of potatoes I picked up at the farmers market on Saturday. Did you know that the pigment in blue potatoes is the same pigment in blueberries and therefore the two share some of the same health benefits?

My lovely heirloom beans from the CSA.

It makes a HUGE batch, so either take it to a potluck or halve it if you're just feeding your family! You can also either eat it hot or cold. I can't wait till it's been sitting in the fridge for a little while and the potatoes really soak up the flavor of the dressing.

My main project today was this purse! It looks a little droopy and lopsided in the photo, but it's much better in real life. I made it using this free pattern from the Made By Rae blog. It's the most complicated sewing project I've attempted yet, with lining and an interior pocket, but still easy enough for a beginner. I learned a lot from it and will know how to make it better the next time!

(What do you think, Maggy? Want one?)

Salsa

I had no idea what to do with all the peppers I got from the CSA last Tuesday, and some of them were starting to look pretty rough, so I hurried up and made a batch of this roasted red salsa last night to use them all up. It made that whole quart in the photo plus two small freezer bags. It's good and easy! A great recipe to make if you have some extra produce to use up.

There was no way I could let those adorable little peppers go to waste, so into the salsa they went!

What's better than the farmers market?

You all know my love for the farmers market. It's a treat every Saturday morning to get up and peruse the fresh produce, talk to the farmers, see the unique varieties of vegetables, observe the changing seasons through what food is available. The farmers market is great because the money goes straight from the buyer to the producer. No middle man. It's great because it's local. The farmers care about their food. You get produce at its freshest. It builds a sense of community. But, as much as I love the farmers market, there's an even better option . . .

. . . the CSA! (Community Supported Agriculture) CSAs are "a way for consumers and farmers to share the benefits and risks of sustainable agriculture. Each growing season, members pay a pre-determined price up front to support the farm. This price is based on the running costs of the farm divided by the number of households the farm can feed, without over-taxing the resources of the farm. In return for their investment, members receive a weekly supply of fresh, organic produce. Shareholders and farmers thus become partners in the stewardship of the Earth's fertility and in the production, distribution, and consumption of locally-grown food" (www.rootsfarm.org).

Yesterday I received my first CSA share from Roots Farm, and take a look at all of the amazing stuff it included!

Purple beans, three varieties of eggplant, an assortment of hot and sweet peppers of all shapes and sizes, arugula, basil, okra, and two pounds worth of tomato varieties

I love being a member of a CSA because I'm partnering more closely with the farmers, sharing in both the abundances and scarcities of the harvest. It's a great way to experiment with new ingredients and try new foods. I would never go to the farmers market and buy that many peppers or that much okra, but now that I have it, I'm determined to use every last bit! It fosters variety and creativity in the kitchen, which is not only fun, but healthy too! Tonight I'll be trying this okra gumbo, with the majority of the ingredients coming from my share! (To find CSAs in your area, check out www.localharvest.org.)