May Garden Update

I was up early this morning and took advantage of the cooler temperatures to take some more pictures of the garden. Houston has been blessed this year with a mild spring and which I think has really helped the plants have a great start.

We have bell peppers, poblanos and jalapenos coming in.

There are lots of green tomatoes, these ones are cherry tomatoes! I can’t wait until they’ve ripened.

I’ve already eaten two eggplant and I have a least four more coming in. We have some Black Beauties and a Japanese variety that are long and slender.

We’ve had lots of cucumbers.

The first yellow squash and zucchini also came in this week. The black berries look like they’ll be ready any day now, right now only these three are ready. About two weeks ago I also started getting lots of green beans. I’m hoping they’ll re-flower and I’ll get some more before it gets too hot.

I had two strawberries. That’s right had. Did I get to eat them, no. There was a raccoon visiting earlier this week and I witnessed him eat the two ripe ones! Rude I know. Hopefully I’ll actually get to eat this one and the others that are coming in.

Can you believe how tall everything is? It amazes me every time I go out to the garden. And to end with a picture of the sun rising through the trees because I thought it was lovely. I hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Tags: garden, Summer Vegetables

Baked Chocolate Donuts

If you know me well, you probably know I love donuts.  This past weekend Sean and I went to go see The 5 Year Engagement, which was entertaining and a good laugh, and part of the story has to do with people eating old donuts instead of waiting for new ones to arrive and what this says about their emotional well-being.  Anytime this plot point came up all I could think was I would probably eat both, especially if they were Dunkin Donuts with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.  Just saying.

I try not to eat donuts too often,  being that they’re not the most healthy of foods, but a little while ago I got a donut baking pan and I came up with this baked chocolate donut recipe.  It’s still not the most healthy of foods, but they’re baked and not fried, so that’s a plus.  They are also easy to make and taste delicious, so give them a try.  I’m sure mom would like them for Mother’s Day!

Adapted from Camille Styles

Makes 12 Donuts

For the Donuts 

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup and 2 tablespoons milk ( I used almond milk)
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup applesauce
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup melted semi sweet chocolate chips

For the Icing

½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
½ cup coconut milk
sprinkles (optional)
 

To make the donuts, preheat your oven to 325 degrees F and lightly grease your donut pans.

In a bowl whisk together the flours, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.  In a separate bowl mix together the milk, olive oil, applesauce, vanilla and melted chocolate until well combined.

Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.  Spoon the batter into the donut pans.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  Let cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before cooling on wire racks.

For the icing, place the chocolate chips and coconut milk in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for about 25 seconds and then stir.  Continue to heat the mixture in 10 second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  You can also do this over a double boiler.  Dip each cooled donut into the icing and let set on a wire rack.  Add sprinkles while the icing is still wet if desired.

Enjoy!

 

Tags: Breakfast, Chocolate, Donuts

Weekend Brunch: Cheesy Herb Waffles Florentine Style

Lazy Saturday mornings are one of my favorite things. Sean usually makes me coffee and eggs and we can both relax for a bit before starting our weekend to do lists. This morning breakfast was a combined effort and we made cheesy herb waffles with sautéed spinach and poached eggs. Delicious!

I have poached eggs before, but they have never turned out as pretty as they did on this day. I recently read an article about poaching eggs were they recommended putting some white vinegar in the tea cup with your egg and letting them sit for a few minutes before you cooked the egg. The vinegar helps the white of the egg stay together better. I also created a whirlpool in the pot of simmering water before I put the egg in the middle, which also helps to keep the egg together. After two minutes I had a beautiful egg, yumm!

Cheesy Herb Waffles with Sautéed Spinach and a Poached Egg

For the Waffles (Makes 4)

2 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
4 scallions, whites and light green parts minced
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Beat the eggs until light and fluffy and then stir in the oil. In a separate bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, herbs, scallions, and cheese. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just smooth and let sit for a while, or even overnight if you wish. When your ready preheat your waffle iron and make the waffles.

For the Spinach

1/2 tablespoon butter
A large container of fresh spinach
2 cloves of garlic minced

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add handfuls of spinach to the skillet and using tongs toss until the spinach starts to wilt and you can add more spinach. Keep doing this until almost all of the spinach in totally wilted. Add in the garlic and let cook for about a minute or two more. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The Poached Egg

4 eggs
1 cup white vinegar

In four tea cups place 1/4 cup of vinegar each. Crack open one egg into each cup and let sit for about five minutes. Meanwhile bring a pot of water to a simmer. When you’re ready stir the water to create a whirlpool and gently poor the vinegar and egg into the middle of the pot. Cook for two minutes and then scoop the egg out of the pot with a slotted spoon. Repeat for each of the other eggs.

Assemble the waffle, spinach and egg. Season with salt and pepper. Add extra cheese on top if you’d like and enjoy!

Tags: Breakfast, Brunch, Cheese, Eggs, Spinach, Waffles

Vegetable Garden Update!

I finally got my act together and have my summer garden up and running and I’m very excited about it. Last year I was a little more on the ball and had early spring vegetables like broccoli and peas in the ground by February, but some how February came and went in a flash this year and getting the garden ready just didn’t happen.

Here’s what the garden looks like as of this morning. About a month ago Sean and I cleared the beds, which were very overgrown with weeds because we never had a hard freeze this winter. We ended up using a water and vinegar solution to spray some of the really tough stuff down, and after a few days the weeds had died enough for us to pull them up. I am also trying a new weed prevention method this year. I have lined all of the beds with newsprint paper, I had a plethora from college art classes, and then I’ve mulched on top of the paper. So far it seems to be helping a lot, and I can also see a big improvement in the moisture retention of the beds.

Here’s a picture of the last bed I did today. I layed down the damp paper and then put a layer of mulch on top. These are the green beans. I grew a small bed of them last year and they did really well, plus they also froze very well, so I decided to plant a whole large bed of them this year.

Here are the two yellow crook neck squash.

In this bed we have a variety of peppers at one end and eggplant at the other.

Here are the cucumbers and zucchini which have lots of flowers on them already!

This year I also decided to make a change and plant my tomatoes in the ground. I had been planting them in large pots, but during the hot Texas summer it was very hard to maintain a constant moisture. They already seem to be doing much better than in past years. Here’s one bed of three different types of tomatoes and basil, and I have another one next to it.

Just outside the garden, along the fence, we planted black berries last winter and it looks like we will have lots of berries pretty soon.

I also found this renegade today! Last year I planted poll beans and I found this guy growing on the fence across the garden from were I had originally grown them. I think I’ll just let him be for now and enjoy the beans.

I’m getting excited to cook and eat fresh veggies from the garden.

Tags: garden, Vegetables

Orange Marmalade Muffins

Earlier in the year my uncle sent me two delicious jars of orange marmalade he made from the oranges that grow in his yard. It’s great on scones and toast but I was trying to think of some other ways I could use it when I found this recipe. I had never thought to put the marmalade in the muffins! It is a delicious combination and they are fast and easy to throw together. I’m pretty sure you could also swap out the marmalade for other preserves if you have a surplus sitting around this summer and they would taste great too.

Marmalade Muffins
(Makes 12)

Adopted from Poppytalk

3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup marmalade or jam

Pre heat your oven to 375F and grease your muffin tins or line them. Whisk together all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl add the milk, oil, vanilla, apple sauce, and honey and mix until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined, no more, so that the muffins stay tender. Gently swirl the marmalade into the batter and then fill your muffin tins. Bake until the muffins are just lightly golden on top, about 20 minutes. When the muffins have cool enough to handle take them out of the tins and let them cool the rest of the way on wire racks. Enjoy with a cup of tea and have a delicious breakfast!

Tags: Breakfast, Marmalade, Muffins, Orange

Beautiful Egg Art

This past week at school my second graders have been learning about the art of Ukrainian Pysanky Eggs. After talking to them about he process and showing them a few examples we watched this video together.

I think we were all mesmerized by Father Paul. The kids especially liked seeing the ostrich eggs. They then designed their own eggs on paper with marker and construction paper crayons. It was a quick one day lesson, but maybe next year I’ll spread it over two classes so we can focus on more details and have more time to learn about the tradition.

The kids really wanted to decorate real eggs, so hopefully they might be able use what they learned at home this weekend. Decorating around 120 eggs with 38 second graders at a time is just a bit out of my budget and comfort zone.

Tags: Art, Easter, Eggs, Ukrainian

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