Nothing Happening

My kitchen is hibernating.  Nothing has been happening in it besides my trying to get my children to do their chores and get the dishes done.  Meals have been haphazard...grab some cereal, toast some bread, grab some cheese and crackers, eat a few cherries, thank goodness for Taco Bell, "there's nothing to eat", "what can we eat?", and so on...

I think by tomorrow, we'll have it clean again, and I need to tackle the tiny, apartment size fridge that we have in our tiny, apartment size kitchen.  We have lettuce in the garden.  The least I could do is make a salad like the Wood Man did (hubby's new blog name).  It would be pretty, taste earthy and fresh, and be full of nutrients.  That will be my goal for tomorrow!  See you then!

First Summer Salad

This is the first salad from our garden this year. 

I'm sure it was delicious! 

I didn't make it, wash it, or pick it, but my hubby did. 

He enjoyed eating it too!

Bad Day in the Kitchen

Threw together Haystacks for lunch and everyone fended for themselves for the rest of the day, including breakfast.  Kitchen is a disaster, table is a disaster, sprouts are rotton and need to be thrown out.  Food from grocery shopping still not put away and cluttering up the living room.  Tomorrow will be a new day.

Oops, Forgot to Water the Sprouts

Sabbath, the day I usually don't have to do much in the kitchen.  This morning I skipped breakfast (only Daryl ate a quick bowl of cereal).  We had potluck at church, and then a picnic supper with the Pathfinder group.  I didn't spend any time in my kitchen, which is a welcome relief, but it also means that I didn't see my sprouters, and therefore, forgot to water my sprouts. 

Oops.

One batch smelled rotton, and the newer batch smelled ok.  I went ahead and watered it tonight, so hopefully, missing one watering won't hurt it too badly.  I am noticing that the sprouts are not doing as well as it's getting warmer in the house overall.  I may have to set aside my sprouting during the summer and pick it back up as September rolls around. 

Carob Drink and Raspberry Syrup

Carob.  It is definitely NOT chocolate.  Not even close.  It has a flavor all it's own, and most of the time, it's not really my favorite.  But there is one way that our whole family loves to eat it, and that's in a Carob Smoothie.

The recipe is simple.  Take a bunch of frozen bananas and fill your Vita Mix 3/4 full.  Then add 3-4 cups of milk (soy or rice milk is what we usually add), and 2 T of Carob Powder.  Put the lid on tight, and turn Vita Mix on high!!  This makes a nice, very thick, carob shake, and while it's not a chocolate shake, it's almost just as good!!

I topped this one with mint leaves from the garden and a home canned raspberry.

I talked about my raspberry syrup in a previous post.  The juice from the home canned raspberries is EXACTLY enough to fill my "Denny's" syrup dispenser.  It feels so professional to serve syrup out of this cute little jar and I'm so excited that this non-kitchen savvy girl figured this little gem out on her own!!

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Cleaning Out the Pantry

When food preparation has been neglected, it's only natural that the Pantry organization would also be neglected.  Today I tackled the Pantry.  Well, actually, I had tackled it a few days ago, but all these bits and pieces were still in ziplock bags, waiting for their permanent homes.





There was all kinds of stuff, some of it, to be honest, I didn't want to keep, but Daryl said he'd eat it, so I durifully put it in a jar.  I found rice crackers, rye crackers, dried onions, dried zucchini...






...dried beets, dried peaches, and some hard black beans that we grew in the garden last year.  I decided to put them all in jars, so I could easily SEE what was inside, and to be doubly sure, I added some labels.  Now, I just have to figure out how I can use these bits and pieces, and turn them into yummy food.  I don't know about those beets.  Where in the world did they come from anyway??? :)


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Quick Pasta Lunch

Fridays are always busy around here, so I opted for a very easy lunch of pasta, spaghetti sauce from a jar, green salad, and boiled broccoli.  I love these noodles from Costco.  One bag is just enough for our family of 5.

I made another green salad, this time adding cold peas, avocados, carrots and tomatoes.  This is my salad before it was tossed!  I also had some croutons that I was able to serve with the salad today.  I love the crunch of a crouton!!

I did add some TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) to the spaghetti sauce.  It is a vegetarian, meaty type of food that can be boiled, and then gently fried, something like hamburger.  I added 3 cloves of garlic chopped, 1/4 cup dried onions, sauteed them together, and then added those to the veggie meat, before adding it all into the spaghetti sauce, giving it a heartier taste.

The broccoli is boiled for 1 minute, and served with simple mayo.  It was a quick and easy meal, perfect for a Friday lunch!

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