I have a garden!

This post is not going to include a recipe. It may have some useful info on doing your own vegetable garden though. Keep in mind, this was my first time planting anything edible. Last year I had some tomatoes in pots but that was it. So if I can do it, so can you. It wasn't nearly as complicated as the numerous gardening blogs and magazines etc make it seem.

     This summer Joseph and I have our first vegetable garden! We're located in Atlanta so we planted kale, broccoli, carrots, spinach, beets, lettuce, and onions toward the end of march. We had a couple more frosts after that and we were worried but our garden is doing fantastic!! Two weeks ago (mid May) mom came to visit and she helped me plant two tomato plants and one yellow bell pepper plant as well as some acorn squash and two rows of bush beans.
     Prepping the garden was the hardest part and even that was pretty easy. Our yard already had a fenced in area that had been used as a playground for the previous tenants children. It looked like the whole area was mulched but when we started to dig around we realized that under the layer of mulch was black plastic sheeting. We kept it in place and scraped the mulch off of it where we wanted to plant our rows then we used a utility knife to cut long lines in the black sheeting. Underneath the soil was great! We mixed in a little bit of mushroom compost (Just poured it in a line down the row) then planted our seeds according to the package instructions. We also planted about 12 marigold plants around the perimeter because we heard they keep out pests but a lot of them died in the frost. Oh well.
     For the past couple weeks we've been harvesting the kale, spinach and  lettuce. We could have been doing it earlier and eating baby spinach etc but I wasn't really sure if we could or not (I know that sounds silly- I can be a very by the book person haha so I was scared of doing anything wrong)
Having a garden has been really fun and because of the mulch that was already there weeding is not that hard. We decided to keep everything chemical free so we haven't used any weed killer or store bought pesticide on the plants. Every few days I go out and rake in between the plants with a small hand rake to get rid of the majority of weeds. It takes like a half hour max.
     As far as pesticide, I looked up a homemade non toxic one and bought a large spray bottle from Home Depot and put the mixture in there. I keep it in the shed and I try to spray the plants after it rains. Sometimes I forget, but its not the end of the world. Our spinach has some little chewed holes in it but we just wash it off and eat it anyways (I looked it up- its safe haha yes I google everything). I will include the homemade pesticide recipe at the bottom of this post.
   Having all these leafy greens in our garden has been great. It saves so much money especially because Joseph and I have become pretty healthy eaters and we were buying like 2 big containers of those pre-washed salads a week.  I learned the hard way that a salad spinner is one of the best investments ever. After picking the greens I put them in a mixing bowl with cold water (and a few ice cubes) I let them soak for like 4 minutes and swirl them around a couple times to wash them off. If they're really dirty, I'll empty and refill the mixing bowl a couple times to get rid of the water. Drying the greens I've found is the most important part and it can be hard without a salad spinner. After a couple tries of blotting my lettuce with paper towels and still finding gross wilted lettuce in the fridge the next day, I gave up and went to Target to buy a salad spinner. It's really fun to use haha. They only had the small salad herb spinners left but that's fine I just do a couple batches. To keep our greens fresh I fold up a couple paper towels and put them at the bottom of plastic salad containers we've kept from our store bought salad mixes. Then I put the greens on top and another paper towel folded up at the top. This helps keep moisture away from it and if the paper towel gets really wet I just replace with a dry one.

    I'm hoping my tomato plants do well. The acorn squash we got is actually some seeds that Joseph saved from one we bought and cooked (the recipe is on this blog!). He saved the seeds and put them in Tupperware with damp paper towels in the fridge. I rolled my eyes like usual. A little later he put them in a cup and put some dirt on top. Again, I sighed, but I've learned to tolerate his eccentricities haha. However a couple weeks later I was eating my words. Every seed had turned into a tiny seedling. When my mom was here, we separated the tightly packed seedling and planted about 6 each in the top of some mounds we had made in the garden. Two weeks later and they're doing great! The acorn squash is the one part of the garden I didn't even google a little bit haha so we'll see how it turns out.

Homemade SAFE NATURAL garden pesticide:

The Caffeine keeps aphids away, the herbs keep most insects, mosquitoes and squirrels etc away, and the soap works really well on soft-bodied insects.

1. Gather any or all of the herbs, spices, and roots listed below 

(in any form although fresh is best):

lavender

catnip

thyme

horseradish

garlic

onions

ginger

mint

rhubarb

cayenne

2. Place in a crock pot with 2 tbsp coffee grounds (used or fresh)

3. Add enough water to cover your mixture plus about 4 cups. 

4. Cook on low for up to 24 hours and atleast six hours. 

5. Let mixture cool and sit overnight, then strain it and discard solids

6. Add 2 tbsp of liquid soap to mixture (use a biodegradable one- it will say on bottle, my dishsoap was and it was just from walgreens)

7. Use a funnel or a friend! to pour into a spray bottle. You can keep extra in the fridge (just make sure to clearly label it as non-edible!)

You're favorite casseroles but Gluten and Dairy Free

I love comfort food; I guess that's why they call it comfort food haha. Meatloaf, mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, tuna noodle casserole all make my mouth water. When I found out I was allergic to dairy I realized that most of my favorite casseroles are made with cream of mushroom soup which obviously has dairy. I brushed it off for a couple months but lately I have been craving casseroles and I've been so busy that I can't help but think how perfect they would be. So! This past week I've made two of my favorite casseroles the dairy/gluten free way. Even if you're not allergic to dairy or gluten, both things are not necessarily "healthy" so eat these and feel guilt free and...comfy :)

I didn't make either of these up myself so I will just give you the links to both of them:

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Chicken and Rice Casserole 

Keep in mind both of these take a little more time than the versions with dairy and you'll probably need to go to the store to get mushrooms (I used baby bella mushrooms for both) but they actually tasted better to me because you're not using canned soup.

Vegan Pesto

Being allergic to milk I mostly miss italian food, goat cheese, and kraft mac n cheese (oh and cheetos!) oh dear this is getting depressing haha. but another food I found myself missing was pesto. which is suprising because I never remember liking pesto that much but I've been craving it so the other night I was on my own for dinner and decided to experiment with making a vegan pesto that still had that cheesy flavor. After a couple attempts I got something that I was pretty happy with. I cooked some rice penne pasta and poured the pesto on top and it turned out really good. Quick tip for rice pasta which can often turn out slimy, cook it al dente then rinse it in cold water. It helps SO MUCH. Surprisingly, it was even better the next day as the garlic had mellowed a bit.  The recipe below makes enough for two servings of pasta. I took a picture but my boyfriend accidentally deleted the pictures on my camera :( This recipe also uses nutritional yeast which sounds disgusting but is actually really good and helps provide that "cheesy" flavor. If you're vegan or dairy-free I highly suggest you keep this as a pantry staple.

Ingredients

• 1/3 c olive oil
• 1/4 c of pine nuts
• 2 cloves garlic
• handful of basil
• 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
• salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a food processor. The end!

Coconut Curry Shrimp

So last night at 5:30 I was informed that our previous dinner plans were falling through and we had nothing to feed our guest that was coming over in an hour, so after work I stopped by the grocery store and thought "hmm shrimp sounds good" then "hmmm coconut milk sounds good" and what resulted was actually good and almost 100% original! There aren't that many ingredients and some of the additional flavorings are optional. Before you start any of this you make want to start making your rice unless your rice is instant. I served mine over brown rice with a side spinach salad and it was delicious! However, I did not get a picture of it :(

Ingredients (makes 2-3 servings)

• 1/2 lb of peeled shrimp
• 1/2 of a 13 oz can of coconut milk (I used light coconut milk)
• 1 clove of garlic (or a little garlic powder)
• 1 tsp curry powder 
• salt and pepper to taste
• a pinch of fresh grated ginger (if you have it but not necessary)
• 1 red pepper diced
• 1 yellow onion diced
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or olive oil)
• 1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro (OPTIONAL)

Steps:

1. Put 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a pan and let it melt. dump shrimp into pan and cook both sides until they're slightly pink. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Add additional tablespoon of coconut oil. Saute onions and red pepper for 5 minutes.  
3. Add curry, salt, pepper, ginger, and garlic. Let cook for another minute.
4. Pour in half the can of coconut milk and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes to let flavors mix.
5. Add shrimp and cilantro. Cover pan and cook on low for 5 minutes.
6. Serve over rice

Stuffed Acorn Squash (Vegan and gluten-free)

     So I'd been planning on trying this recipe for a while but hadn't found time so I had an acorn squash just sitting in our cupboard and I was worried it would be spoiled...but it wasn't! they last forever. Anyways, getting to the point, these are delicious and cheap (especially if you have the ingredients in bulk which at our house quinoa, kale, and dried beans are staples). So after a quick search through our pantry I found some dry white beans, a package of red quinoa and realized it was a perfect night to try out this recipe. Also if you decide to go on the cleanse that I blogged about in January this is something that you can eat!! I almost didn't believe that because it tasted so good! And even though it's a vegan recipe, my carnivorous boyfriend was very full at the end of the meal. The only downside to this recipe is that it takes a little planning (but not much) and plan on it taking about an hour to make including prep.

Here is the link to the original recipe: Stuffed Acorn Squash

And here is a guide on buying acorn squash. I got mine at the market here but I know Kroger has them sometimes How to buy acorn squash

My tips

• Earlier in the afternoon, soak dried beans in cold water. Let soak for at least 3 hours then dispose of water and rinse beans again.
• While oven is preheating for squash, cook quinoa on the stove according to package instructions and use another burner on your stove to start simmering your beans (I cover mine with an inch of water, then once it gets to a boil I let it boil for 2 minutes, then turn it down to low heat and let it simmer for about 45 minutes or until they're soft)
• Hopefully by the time you're done cooking the squash the first time and chopping up all your vegetables, and cleaning any prep dishes you can, the beans and quinoa will be ready and you can continue to follow your recipe
• I had extra "stuffing" so I put it in a Tupperware and took it to work the next day for lunch :)
• I didn't have any toasted hazelnuts so I just sprinkled some crushed up almonds on the top. It was still delicious
• I served mine with steamed asparagus but any kind of green veggie or side salad would be great with it. 

"Stuffing" cooking on the stove:

 

 Delicious Squash after Roasting:

Finished Squash! 

Coconut Chicken Curry

This was one of those- Ok! this is what I have in my pantry, what can I do with it?- recipes. The past two weeks have been hectic with work! (but that's a good thing!) so this week I'm on set for 12+ hours a day every day. Going out gets pricey and when I get off set at 8pm and have to be up at 5:30 a.m. the last thing I want to do is cook! So... I googled a little bit the other night, picked up the few ingredients that I didn't already have on my way home from set, and then prepared it all the night before then stuck it in the fridge (in the crock pot dish) and the next morning at 5:30 am I pulled it out and started my crock pot timer for 6 hours (mine keeps it warm after the timer goes off). After work it was an awesome surprise and the thought of delicious curry waiting at home for me made the tough parts of work better :)

Check out the recipe here!

Tips:

1. I blended all the ingredients because I don't have a food processor, I just had to chop up the onion a little smaller. (I also chopped the pepper up instead of processing it into the sauce)
2. I didn't thicken mine with cornstarch and it was still delicious
3. I used refrigerated coconut milk instead of the cans and again still good :)
4. It was good but if I did it again I would eat it right after the 6 hours (I feel like the additional 6+ warming hours in the crockpot didn't do great things for it, it was still good but I have a feeling it could've been better)
5. I served it over brown rice (I cooked the rice the night before while chopping up all the veggies then stored it in the fridge)
6. My chicken was only partially thawed (I think chicken breast is easier to cut when it's still partially frozen)
7. I used 2tbsp of curry instead of the 1tbsp in the recipe.
8. I did not have garam masala (who has that just sitting in their pantry?). Instead I used this mixture:1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp bay, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and a dash of ground cloves if you have them.

butternut squash soup (vegan and gluten-free)

So...
a couple weeks ago I decided I was in the mood for some butternut squash soup. I ended up buying way too much squash haha so I ended up making two batches of soup, one in the crock pot and one on the stove. Both were good, but the one on the stove was my favorite.

Source

Here is the recipe for the soup on the stove: click (main ingredients: pears, onions, broth and squash)
Here is the crock pot recipe: click (main ingredients: apple, onion, squash, broth)

Tips:

1. Buy your butternut squash from a local farmer's market, or I've heard you can find pre-chopped and frozen butternut squash at trader joe's or Walmart.
2. You need a good amount of vegetable broth (especially if you're making two batches). Look at my previous post on how to make your own in a crock pot for cheap!
3. The most time in these recipes comes from chopping up the various vegetables but especially the squash-it is HARD to cut
1. If you have a food processor you can use this to chop up the onions etc
2. If you have a boyfriend/husband you can use this to chop up the butternut squash
3. Here is a quick how to for peeling and chopping the butternut squash: click. I thought their idea of putting it in the microwave beforehand to soften sounded great. 
4. Butternut squash soup freezes great so if you have extra squash I suggest doing what I did and making two batches. It may seem ridiculous but you'll thank yourself later when your fridge is empty and you remember you have delicious soup in the freezer!