Our First CSA Box!

Well, so far the tooth, or lack there of rather, isn’t giving me too much trouble. It’s been a bit sore, but the real kicker is not being able to eat fully solid foods. I’ve been relegated to what I call ‘semi-solids’, yesterday I was able to eat a can of Amy’s Black Bean and Vegetable soup which I doctored up with some cayenne pepper (any surprise there?), and for dinner I cooked up some soba noodles and tossed them with some store bought Thai Peanut Chili sauce, which I doctored up with some hot chili sauce (again, any surprise?) and a splash of lemon juice. It hasn’t been too bad, but I’m used to eating far more substantial food than this (read: lots of beans, rice, fiberous fruits and veggies, etc), so I’ve been really hungry. Luckily, I was thinking when we ran to the store last night, I got some So Delicious Chocolate and Peanut Butter ice cream, which I've never had before (I think it's awesome that there is such a good selection of vegan ice cream). Now, I am a freak in that I don’t really like ice cream very much, I never have, but I was wanting chocolate and I knew I couldn’t eat the dairy-free wheat-free Newman O’s I love so much, they are just too crispy, so this is what I got. And it’s really good, just very sweet, I couldn’t eat very much of it.

Today has been pretty much the same, I can’t really eat anything crunchier than roasted asparagus, which isn’t very crunchy, but I’ve planned out some menu items that I think will make it tolerable. I just cringe to think that it could be weeks before I can eat tortilla chips or raw veggies. :-( But I am lucky that it hasn’t been for me how it was for Alice, I can actually eat some substantial foods (read: she was only able to eat blended food), just not anything I want. I'm so sorry you had to go through that Alice, it must have been rough.

We got our first ‘box’ from our CSA today! It was fairly skimp as the weather has been very rainy and quite cool as of late, but with my tooth situation, I think it worked out well that we didn’t have a ton of stuff around. Anyways, the forecast is looking great, warm temperatures, no rain for the near future that I saw, and SUNNY! Good news for the garden. Speaking of which, the bad weather last week got one or two of the starts we put in the ground, one broke off pretty cleanly. The rest of the plants got a little beat up, but look like they are going to make it. Since there is extra space now, Brett and I decided to pick up a Roma tomato plant at the farmer’s market this morning. We are also going to be getting a cucumber start as that was one of the things that broke. I’ll post pictures of the gardens status tomorrow as today I will be transplanting all the peppers into pots on the porch and tomorrow we will be going down to weed and clean up the garden from all the bad weather this week.

We also stopped by the grocery store to pick up some grub for the next few days. We are taking smaller, more frequent trips to the store this week as I can’t really predict what I will and will not be able to eat later in the week. But I thought I’d leave you all with some pictures of our CSA and grocery store grub, as well as the new addition to the garden.

Our first CSA box consisted of spinach, oregano, radishes, green onions and some gorgeous asparagus. When we got home, we roasted the asparagus with some garlic, and sauteed the spinach with some of the white part of the green onion and some garlic. It made for a wonderful, local breakfast, and one that I was able to partake in! And I'm telling you, this asparagus was the best I've ever had. We will be drying the oregano to use for spice and the radishes, well, those will be eaten raw, with sugar. Yum! Well, Brett will be enjoying them that way, I'm not sure they will still be around when my mouth is up to that.

Our small trip to the grocery store. We've got: 2 anaheim peppers, 2 habaneros, serrano peppers, 2 avocados, a poblano pepper, an orange, red onion, lemons, an orange bell pepper, and 4 small red potaotes.

The new tomato plant! It's really big. Some of the tomato plants at the market already had fruit on them! Crazy!

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys their Saturday!

'Til next time.

Black Bean and Quinoa Taquitos

So, my tooth is finally gone! I didn't think I'd ever be so happy to go to the dentist. I am now happily at home, with gauze in my numb mouth, but the jaw pain should be gone! Wahoo! It's likely that I won't be able to eat solid food for a day or so, but seriously, I'm just happy the whole 'tooth fiasco' is over with!

Last night, I was still able to eat solid foods, so I whipped up some taquitos. Yet another good finger food, and really easy. Enjoy!















Black bean, quinoa and veggie filling!















Taquitos ready to go in the oven.















Black Bean and Quinoa Taquitos
1 cup black beans, cooked
1/2 cup quinoa, cooked
1 cup mushrooms, finely minced
1 zucchini, chopped
4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced
1 Anaheim pepper, seeded and minced
1 habanero, seeded and minced (optional)
1/4 red onion, minced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small can of sliced black olives, drained
chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
salt

corn tortillas (we used white corn)
toothpicks
guacamole
Green Chile Taco Sauce

Preheat oven to 375.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the mushrooms, peppers and onion and cook for 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional 5 minutes. Drain any excess water.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and season to taste.

Layer filling in warmed corn tortillas and secure with a toothpick.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until tortillas crispy and golden brown.

I hope when the numbness wears off that my mouth isn't too painful. We get our first CSA box this weekend and I want to be able to enjoy some of it!

Anyways, I'm off to read, it's a gorgeous afternoon here in Mid-Missouri.

'Til next time.

Spicy Chipotle-Citrus Marinated Veggie Fajitas

Ah, these were really spicy and really good. Both Brett and I agreed this meal was a major hit! I do think, though, that next time, I will reduce the amount of hot peppers in the fajitas as it was a bit on the spicy side for Brett.

The marinade really pulls the whole meal together, the sweetness of the marinade complements both the spiciness of the peppers and the savory flavor of the potatoes and mushrooms. Yum!















Veggies marinating.















Yummy cooked veggies!















This meal was served 'family style', Brett and I shared a plate of warmed tortillas, a bowl of olives and a bowl of guacamole. We each had our own bowls of veggies and sauce.

Spicy Chipotle-Citrus Veggie Fajitas

Chipotle-Citrus Marinade:
juice of 2 oranges
juice of 2 limes
4 Chiles Japones, minced (dried de Arbol chilies would be even better)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp good olive oil
4 chipotle chilies in adobo, minced
3 tbsp dry cilantro
cumin
salt

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

The Veggies:
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 poblano pepper, sliced
2 jalapenos, seeded and sliced
2 serranos, seeded and sliced
1/4 red onion, sliced
2 cups sliced mushrooms (I used half a pack of baby portobellos and half a pack of white button mushrooms)
2 small red potatoes, sliced

Combine veggies with marinade, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least an hour (about 4 hours is perfect).

Once marinated, heat a large skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add the veggies and a few spoonfuls of marinade. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until veggies are soft. You may need to add more marinade to the pan, and covering the pan with a lid will really reduce cooking time, but won't get the potatoes golden brown.

The other stuff:
fajita sized tortillas
can black olives, drained
guacamole
Jalapeno-Tomatillo Green Sauce

Enjoy!

This was really good, but if you don't like a lot of spice, I would recommend reducing the hot peppers, and maybe just adding an additional red or yellow bell pepper.

I love the combination of spicy peppers and tart, sweet citrus, it really works.

Well, I'm caught up now!

'Til next time!

Dr. Kathy's Cupcakes and J's Perfect Lunch

So this should come as no surprise but I hate the dentist. To a fault. You see, I have a tendency to avoid going to the dentist until the problem gets really bad, and I have no excuse (though I will try to come up with many). Case in point, about 6 months ago, I noticed that I was getting a cavity in one of my back teeth. Well, I decided I would just ignore it, pretty much. Let's just say, that over the past few months it has really started to bother me, so I finally decided to set up an appointment. Over the weekend, my tooth decided it was going to start really giving me trouble. The pain was off and on until Sunday, then it was pretty much on all the time. It was so bad that I couldn't sleep last night, so I ended up staying home from work in hopes of getting some sleep and maybe getting in to see the dentist sooner. I got some sleep, but the dentist situation isn't looking very good. What I can say though, is Brett (so sweetly) got up around 4 in the morning with me, when my pain was really intense, and put a cold pack in the freezer. Thanks to that, I am experiencing a reprieve from the pain, and I was able to sleep. I think I'm also going to get some Advil or something, I hate taking medicine, but I think I'll just deal with it at this point.

Anyways, woe is me, right? Well, don't feel too bad for me, I've known this was an issue for awhile, I have dental insurance, I've had the money to pay for it, I have sick time and an understanding employer, I just put it off because going to the dentist sucks and it's always painful.

You know what I don't understand either? It doesn't hurt when I eat, or anything like that, it's just an aching in my jaw. Argh! Dumb teeth!

Anywho, enough of my complaining. A positive aspect of this is that I can catch up on my blogging! I got a bit behind this weekend, as I was busy in the garden and such.

I'll start with the baked goods. A dear friend and co-worker of mine, Kathy, recently successfully defended her dissertation and is now officially Dr. Kathy! (Congrats again Kathy, I am so proud of you!) Well, of course I had to do what any good vegan does: bake for her! I decided to make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Who doesn't like chocolate on chocolate?

A couple of notes: these are not healthy. I generally use less or no oil in my recipes, but find that when I feed vegan goodies to omni's I like to make things really decadent, it makes us look better. :-) So this is an oil laden recipe, but I did use whole wheat pastry flour.

I also attempted to make my own chocolate frosting. It must be an art, it seemed like all was going well, and the next thing I know I have something resembling a marshmallow. So I took Bianca's tip and got store bought 'accidently vegan' (but really unhealthy) chocolate frosting. Thanks Bianca!

This picture is obviously sans frosting.

Dr. Kathy's Chocolate Cupcakes

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 cups organic raw sugar

6 heaping tbsp unsweetened organic cocoa powder (I used Green & Black's)

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup vegetable oil (eeek!)

2 tbsp white distilled vinegar

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups cold water

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

Slowly add in the oil, vinegar, vanilla and water and stir until smooth.

Fill muffin cups (or an oiled muffin tin) 2/3 of the way full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when cupcakes pierced in the middle.

They turned out really good, and I had to leave some at home for Brett, but apparently what I left him wasn't enough as I had to make another batch this weekend. Brett is weird with chocolate, I think he and Katie (the Chocolate Covered Vegan) would get along just fine.

Next we have what is a very common 'Jen Lunch' over the summer. Hummus, veggies, pita, etc. The type of hummus and veggies change but the general idea is the same. What is pictured below is my lunch packed into my Zojirushi lunch jar. I really like that thing.

It's classic hummus (with extra cayenne pepper on top), pitted organic kalamata olives, pickled hot peppers :-), organic 'baby' carrots, sliced organic red bell peppers and organic broccoli, and whole wheat organic pita bread (called 'Bible Bread'). This makes for an awesome lunch.

J&B's Classic Hummus

Makes about 4 cups of hummus.

4 cups of garbanzo beans cooked

1 clove garlic, minced

juice of one lemon

1-2 tablespoons tahini

1 tablespoon olive oil

cumin to taste

cayenne pepper to taste

salt to taste

water for consistency (bean cooking water if possible)

In a food processor combine ingredients until desired flavor and consistency.

Well, I've got one more post and then I'll be caught up!

Spring Veggie Fusion Quesadillas

This meal consisted of an odd variety of ingredients, but I like to rebel against the norm and do crazy things with my food. Sometimes it turns out really good, other times not so much. This was a good one.

And on the name, Spring Veggie Quesadillas, I think the only 'spring' vegetable in here is the asparagus, but that's the idea I had for a name for it, and I'm not all that creative with titles, so there it is! :-)

My freezer has been filling up with the sauces I've been making for the past few weeks, so I pulled out a couple to have with the recipes I chose for this week.

Spring Veggie Fusion Quesadillas

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed

1 small can chopped black olives, drained

1/2 bunch of asparagus, woody ends discarded

2 small red potatoes, srubbed and cubed

1 red or yellow bell pepper, halved

1 poblano, halved

1/4 red onion, minced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups mushrooms (I used a pack of Enoki and half a pack of baby portobellos)

4 jalapenos, seeded and minced

1 habanero, seeded and minced (optional)

Mexican oregano

ground coriander

cumin

salt

vegan jack

tortillas

guacamole

Chipotle Tomatillo Serrano Sauce

Preheat oven to 425.

Melt 1 tsp coconut oil on a baking sheet in the oven.

Layer asparagus, potatoes and peppers on the baking sheet and toss with oil, sprinkle a pinch of salt over veggies. Roast for about 20 minutes or until veggies are soft.

You may have to remove the asparagus and peppers before the potatoes are done.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of water in a medium skillet. Add the onion, garlic, mushrooms and peppers and cook for 10-15 minutes or until veggies soft. Drain any excess water and transfer to a large bowl.

When roasted veggies are cool, chop and put in bowl.

Add artichokes and olives and season to taste.

Layer filling and vegan jack in warmed tortillas and fry if desired.

Serve with guacamole and Chipotle Tomatillos Serrano Sauce.

'Til next time!