Eat Local! (very local...)

I've posted previously about blackberry picking. We went strawberry picking to kick-off our first day of summer this year. And faithful readers have seen multiple recipes that include local ingredients... many of which are backyard-local. I grew up with gardens - flowers, shrubs, apple trees, herbs, tomatoes, peppers, raspberries, water gardens... My parents continue to provide us with home-away-from-home backyard gardens - all of the above, but now with strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, peas, beans, lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, rhubarb, radishes, onions, garlic, sweet potatoes... We planted tomatoes and peppers our first summer in this house and, while we obtained a great neighborhood with big trees which was a must, we also have too much shade for full-blown gardens. If we didn't have the luxury of Gran and Grandpa's garden, we'd certainly be saving for some tree-trimming!

Yesterday, Lawrence had a "Food Garden Tour" - a free, self-guided tour of local gardens, both commercial and residential. It was a great opportunity to see what other families are doing and it was impressive to see the food-production that husbands and wives, moms and dads are maintaining. Abby and Elise loved exploring the gardens, seeing the chickens, and talking with the kids. And I loved that they were getting yet one more exposure to where food comes from.

The girls are in the process of their annual garden-feast: it starts with rhubarb, strawberries, spinach, and sugar snap peas. The raspberries are starting. Blackberries will be next. Followed by sweet peppers. And the quantity of tomatoes that they will consume is downright amazing.

Let's talk for a minute about the sugar snap peas, because they are such a perfect example of where I'm going with this. I found some at The Merc about a month ago - fresh organic sweet peas are hard to come by and rather expensive, so the girls haven't had many opportunities to eat them. I tried several times and, given the ones that I bought, no one was sold. Then spring arrived. The pea plants began sprouting... growing...blooming. Abby and Elise have been eating them by the handful from the garden. They are hands-on, they are fresh, they are real... they are perfect. 

Think about it: eating local means you get the freshest food, you eliminate gas-usage from travel/shipping/buying, your children learn where their food comes from, and you can graze barefoot in a swimsuit... or half of a swimsuit, for that matter. Just think about it. 

Lawrence Lobster Fest 2011

Is it new shoes? A puppy? Maybe another computer part for Daddy? What could it be???

We were the very lucky recipients of 4 live lobsters... shipped to us fresh and overnight from Maine. Wow. We dined tonight on a lobster feast, with oven-roasted potatoes and fresh corn on the cob. The entire process was an absolute blast, from cautiously opening the box (with small children and dogs peering in) to cracking open claws and tails.

Good friends are hard to come by. Good friends who bestow upon you live lobsters are one-of-a-kind. We thank you, Lana and Jamey, for giving us a night of fun, excitement, and seafood in the midwest! We loved the novelty of our Lobsterfest and I feel confident this might be the start of an annual tradition, only next year you'll have to join! And, just to prove that this was indeed a family affair, even the dogs indulged...

Cheer-up Cheerio!

What happens when you open the cabinet to discover that you already have one box of cheerios (yes, I believe great things come in pairs, but this is a lot of cheerios...):

Well, naturally you combine the abundance of cereal with other delicious ingredients:

Cheer-up Cheerios Bars

• 3 C cheerios
• 1/2 C organic peanut butter
• 1/4 C local honey
• 1/4 C organic sorghum
• 1/4 C organic pure cane sugar
• Dried organic cherries
• Organic dark chocolate chips
• Combine honey, sorghum, sugar over medium heat until sugar dissolves
• Add peanut butter
• Mix cheerios and cherries in a bowl; add warm wet ingredients and mix
• Press into 8x8 glass pan
• Optional: I covered the top of half of the bars with chocolate chips and placed under the broiler on low until soft, then spread with a knife

Wordless Wednesday: Ahhh... summer.

Sweet Potato, Swiss Chard, and Sorghum

A home-cooked meal, from start to finish, it such a wonderful thing. For those who enjoy these meals on a daily basis, it's easy to take them for granted. And that's part of what I love about blogging like this - after baking or cooking, I get to stop and look at what we've made, take pictures of it, and then relish in the beauty and taste. 

Last week, we had one of "those" dinners, the kind of dinner that I stopped to admire because of the health factor, the homemade factor, and the yum-o factor: Chicken, Black Bean, and Sweet Potato soup with Swiss Chard and fresh Whole Wheat Bread. Now it's time to share!

Whole Wheat Bread
adapted from Zesty Cook Easy Whole Wheat Bread

• 2 tsp local honey
• 2 2/3 C warm water
• 4 tsp active dry yeast
• 3 T organic sorghum
• 5 C organic whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 C wheat germ
• 1 T oats
• Stir honey into 2/3 C warm water
• Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let rest for 10 minutes
• Combine sorghum with 2/3 C warm water; combine with yeast mixture
• Stir into flour; add salt, wheat germ, and 1 1/3 C warm water
• This is a very sticky, gooey dough
• Pour into non-stick pan, smooth top with wet fingers or spatula, and sprinkle with oats
• Cover with towel and let sit until rises to top of pan (less than 1 hour)
• Bake at 400° for 30-40 minutes

Chicken, Black Bean, and Sweet Potato Soup

adapted from our very own Gran's recipe box

• 2 local organic chicken breasts
• 1 box organic low sodium chicken broth (with extra water, if needed)
• 2 small-medium organic sweet potatoes
• 1 small organic onion
• 1/2 organic pepper (red or green)
• 1 can green chilies (I had whole chilies and chopped them myself)
• 1 can organic black beans, rinsed
• Mild salsa
• Organic sour cream and fresh cilantro for garnish
• Saute onion, pepper in organic olive oil
• Add chicken breasts and chicken broth; simmer until chicken is done
• Remove chicken and shred or chop; return to pot
• Add diced sweet potatoes; simmer until cooked
• Add green chilies, salsa, black beans - extra salsa, salt, and pepper are good flavor boosters
• Serve with a dollop of sour cream and cilantro

Swiss Chard

• 1 big bunch organic swiss chard (ours was homegrown from Gran and Grandpa's garden!)
• Olive oil
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt
• Organic lemon
• Heat approx 2 T olive oil over medium
• Add red pepper flakes (more or less depending on desired spice-quotient)
• Add roughly chopped swiss chard and cover
• Cook until swiss chard is wilted and tender
• Squeeze lemon over before serving

I loved everything about this meal. I've made the soup many times and the girls eat every drop. This was my second attempt with the bread recipe - I used sorghum this time (the original recipe calls for molasses) and I increased the salt. We thought it was much tastier and, as far as a no-knead whole wheat bread goes, it's great. And the swiss chard? Loved it. Thank you for enjoying this little walk down meal-memory lane with me - I'm so thankful for this kind of dinner. 

Banana Carrot Muffins

It was a muffin morning here yesterday! We needed something wholesome and delicious... and we had bananas in need of mashing (which A & E took care of perfectly - give those gals each a fork, a plate, and a squishy, ripe banana and wham!). 

I turned to my trusty laptop and flipped through a few of my go-to websites and I found this Banana Bread Recipe on Simply Recipes. I initially wasn't sure about the simplicity of it and worried it might be lacking in something. But as I read the recipe reviews, I had to give it a whirl! Here's the recipe, with my modifications in red:

Banana Carrot Muffins
adapted from Simply Recipes

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed 2 ripe organic bananas, smashed
• 1 C finely grated organic carrots
• 1/4 C melted butter 1/4 C organic unsalted butter, melted
• 1 C sugar 1/4 C organic cane sugar + 1/4 C organic sorghum syrup
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 C flour 1 1/4 C organic whole wheat flour + 1/4 C wheat germ
• Organic raisins
• Chopped organic pecans
• Combine bananas, butter, sugar, sorghum, egg, vanilla, carrot
• Sprinkle baking soda and salt over wet mixture
• Stir in flour
• Add raisins and pecans
• Bake at 350° for 20 minutes

These were some of our best muffins yet! The recipe made a dozen - and there are none left. I bought more bananas at the store last night... I hope they ripen quickly!

Wordless Wednesday: Play Safe